#and yes I used colour for once and not just in the creature eyes go me

[panthermouthh]

“When I run over the frightful catalogue of my sins, I cannot believe that I am the same creature whose thoughts were once filled with sublime and transcendent visions of the beauty and the majesty of goodness. But it is even so; the fallen angel becomes a malignant devil. Yet even that enemy of God and man had friends and associates in his desolation; I am alone.”

[drachenmagier]

How to make a mimic Christmas ornament~.

Materials needed

Fimo White for behind the eyes

Fimo White for the body (or pick any colour you want, there are glitter options!)

Fimo Translucent White (for the teeth)

Clear glass Christmas bauble

Glass eyes. Roughly 9 per mimic. Do not use plastic, those need to be able to take the oven baking of roughly 100°.

First step: Make a bunch of teeth from the Translucent White Fimo. I use a baking pan, because it has the perfect curved edge to make the teefies curved.

Bake. Repeat till you have a bunch of teefies.

Put a noodle of white fimo on the baubles. This is the general shape of the mouth.

Add the already hardened teefies.

Once you have added enough teeth, add lips with White Fimo. Personally, I flattened a noodle and put two layers of that on. It's a fantasy creature, do whatever you feel is right for you. :D

Bake at 100°.

While this is baking the teeth and later the lips, you can prep the glass eyes. If your eyes come with wire hoops, clip those off and embed them in the Fimo.

I use roughly 9 glass eyes of different sizes per mimic.

I placed the eyes on a flattened bit of white fimo. Use white in any case if your eyes are see through: The white fimo here will make them look their colour. Then add lids. Same deal as with the lips, it's a fantasy creature, there is no right or wrong approach. Go wild.

Once the baubles with the lips finished baking and are hardened, place the eyes on the bauble, where you feel they might work for you.

Do that on ONE HALF of the bauble. Not both, will be hard to hold the bauble and not squish what you already sculpted if you do both halfs at the same time.

If you don't feel confident about how to get it right yet, start at the bottom.

Fill the space between the eyes and lips with white fimo.

Smooth it. I used the back end of a round pencil for that, since I don't have tools for sculpting, I just improvise.

Add whatever texture you feel like. I like swirls.

Since I'm not too great at smoothing out rough bits, I put some texture and warts on it.

One side done.

Bake at 100°.

Careful, the glass eyes get hot and stay hot longer than the rest of the sculpt or the bauble.

Repeat the eye-fitting and sculpting on the other side. NEARLY THERE!

Bake at 100° for the last time! :D (yes, this is the same image every time. <3 )

Congrats to your finished mimic!

Personal request: please do share your mimics with me! <3 I would love to see them all~! <3

I only made six though. Dunno where the seventh one came from.

[gremlinmodetweeker]

Sweets and Sours and Maggots

So, a bit more Summoned!König because he's a big sweetie. No pun intended here, because this fic is all about travelling, dancing. and chocolate. A very soft drabble with lots of bickering between Summoner and König.

TWs: None, really. Wait, mentions of maggot cheese (which is a real food)

Wordcount: 1.6K

Art from this post

Story Below the Cut

Sweets and Sours and Maggots

“So, I’m just curious,” you leaned in close as König looked at you skeptically, “what does the other realm look like?”

König relaxed as he raised one hand, “Well, it’s much like this realm in most regards, thankfully.”

“Is it?” you quirked your head to the side.

“Well, except for the fast that the colours are beyond your human comprehension,” König finished, “and surfaces are usually inverted. Oh, and I suppose the strange echoing and the ever present sense of dread and despair can be a bit much to bear sometimes. The feeling of how small you are in comparison to the rest of existence is constantly on your mind. It’s inescapable. It’s a rather psychological realm, if you will. Much less tangible than this reality.”

You blinked, “That’s not like this realm at all.”

“Oh and I suppose there is the strange phenomena where darkness is light, and light is dark,” König continued, “and how the wind feels like a vacuum. It’s a bit strange, I suppose, when your only frame of reference is this existence.”

“And is the sky orange?” you drawled.

König stared at you, “How in the stars did you know?”

“Lucky guess,” you groused as you slumped into your chair, “so I’m guessing that the other realm is ‘beyond my mortal comprehension’, right?”

“You’d be correct in that assumption,” König quipped.

“So you’re never taking me there?” you sighed.

“I’m not particularly interested in collecting the shards of your bones across time, no. Why?” König leaned his chin onto his palm.

You shrugged, “I’m bored. I kinda wanna go somewhere but I don’t know where. You know that feeling?”

“Always,” König laughed, “I suppose you’re starting to understand what it feels like to be a creature controlled by the throes of chaos, yes?”

“My mom always called me a chaotic monkey,” you grumbled.

“Then maybe you have always had an affliction,” König offered, “but either way, you want to go somewhere? Somewhere other than here?”

“Anywhere,” you lay your head in your arms, folded messily over the table.

“Anywhere where you won’t drop dead of poison, implode and/or explode, freeze to death or be instantly incinerated, I’m assuming?” König checked.

You glared at him, “I don’t wanna die today.”

“I figured would ensure proper clarification,” König sniffed, “no matters, Summoner, I ask if you are interested in accompanying me on a journey?”

You perked up immediately, “Where to?”

“Well, I’m interested in retrieving a gift for my mother, and I figured a small little trip would do us well,” König took to his feet to stretch his long body out.

“Hold up,” you held up a hand, “you have a mom!?”

“Yes?” König turned to stare at you, “don’t you?”

“Yeah but like, I’m human,” you pointed out.

“Once I hatched I was raised by my mother,” König spoke slowly, almost as though he was worried he might break your mortal mind, “much like you were, no? She fed me from her breasts and raised me to be the being I am today.”

“So you’re saying there’s more things like you?” you asked bluntly.

König gasped and grasped at his chest, “Things like me! You do wound me, summoner! Gravely so!”

“Well I don’t know what you are! You’re just… I dunno,” you shrugged pathetically, “an avatar of chaos?”

“I’m a [REDACTED FOR READER’S SANITY], don’t you know?”

Once your head stopped hurting and the images had stopped flashing behind your eyes, you were able to shake yourself off and give König a proper glare.

“You did that on purpose,” you grumbled.

“I had a point to get across,” König replied.

“Okay but did you actually,” you grumped.

König closed his eyes and offered you a blithe shrug, “It was effective, so I believe so yes.”

“You’re literally the worst.”

“And yet still you hold a place for me in your heart,” König sang, “which I do appreciate, Summoner.”

“I hate you.”

“And yet your heart says otherwise,” König walked over to pull you to your feet, “now Summoner, tell me, are you not interested in going on an adventure together? Somewhere fun?”

“Your idea of fun is mentally scarring me on a Saturday afternoon at,” you checked your watch, “three-thirty in the afternoon. So, I’m gonna ask you again, is this really fun for both of us?”

“I do believe so,” König laughed as he twirled you in his arms, “I have an idea in mind. My mother has always been fascinated by human delicacies, and so I thought I might find some to bring back to her. What are your thoughts on accompanying me on this little quest, so to say?”

“What sorts of things would you be bringing her?” you asked as he turned you to face him.

“Well,” König took your hips in his claws and swayed you both from side to side, “I have heard some fascinating things from around this realm. I’ve heard of this fermented shark up in Greenland, but there’s also something called casu martzu from Sardinia, a little island off of Italy.”

“Um, what’s casu martzu?” you asked with a laugh.

“Maggot cheese, I believe it’s also known as,” König explained, laughing at how you scrunched your face.

“Do you think she’d like that?” you held back a gag.

“Well, do you have any better ideas for sweets?” König asked as he danced you around the room.

You looked at him carefully.

“You’re kidding, right?”

“No?”

“Please tell me you’re kidding.”

“This is no joking matter, Summoner. Finding the finest sweets to bring back to my mother is of great interest to me.”

“König,” you sighed as you followed König’s steps, “you ate my chocolate, right?”

König leaned back, “I had thought you’d forgotten about that incident…”

“That was my period chocolate, König,” you bit back a snarky remark, “I’m not going to forget that so easily,” you held up a finger to his ‘lips’ (you suspected them to be a beak) and shushed him, “look, did you think the chocolate was what you’d call ‘sweet’?”

König nodded enthusiastically, “Very much so! It was delicious! It was absolutely superb! But of course, such a wondrous treat must be extremely rare, no?”

“I mean, yeah, I had that imported from Switzerland,” you admitted bitterly, “so it wasn’t like any regular old chocolate, but chocolate isn’t too hard to find.”

“Are you implying that I’m overthinking my gift?” König asked suspiciously as he dropped you into a dip, pulling you up just as easily.

“I’m implying that maybe you’re not choosing foods humans would usually consider ‘sweet’,” you explained gently.

König seemed a tad crestfallen, but was quick to recover, “Then why not go and get her some chocolate? Surely if it is as you say, it must be easy to get some of the best to bring back to my mother.”

“Well, I think we’d need to go pretty far to be able to get some,” you explained sadly, “the stuff on base is pretty shit.”

“Then let’s go to this… What did you call it… This Switzerland place!” König crowed, “it mustn't be too far from us.”

“König it’s an ocean away,” you drawled as you smoothly followed his steps around the room, taking a moment to twirl before facing him again, “and no we can’t just go get on a plane right now.”

“Why would we need a plane?” König snorted.

“How else would we get there,” you laughed before stilling, “König you’re not gonna teleport me there.”

“I think you’re being rather small minded right now,” König huffed.

“König I saw what happened to the cookies and the pizza,” you warned him slowly, “I don’t want to be killed by trying to travel through whatever magic thing you use to get around.”

“I think you’ll find I’ve improved my skills,” König sniffed.

“I don’t want to TEST-”

You were cut off by a loud VWOOSH as your world was encompassed by an inky darkness. You felt upside down, right side up and sideways all at once as a flurry of temperatures barraged against your skin. You clenched your eyes tight for fear of them being ripped from your skull. It grew hotter, hotter and hotter as you clenched your hands around König’s middle, holding as tightly as you could against the flurry of winds that threatened to tear you apart. You let out a scream, but it was completely drowned out by the raging winds and the vacuum of space around you.

Just as you ran out of breath, you stumbled to your feet. You carefully opened your eyes to find yourself in a small village square, dancing in König’s arms once again.

“König?” you asked carefully.

“Yes, Summoner?”

“Are we in Switzerland right now?”

König chuckled, “Well I’m glad your mind didn’t get scrambled by the journey.”

“You nearly did what to me!?”

“Hush, Summoner,” König held you in close, “just be happy you’re in one piece. Anyways, I never would have let such harm come to such a precious part of my life.”

“You’re lucky I like you,” you rolled your eyes, but relaxed into König’s arms.

“As you should,” König pecked you (quite literally) on the forehead.

“Ow!” you swatted his chest, “you need to stop doing that.”

“What, kissing you?”

“Pecking me!”

“Ah,” the bones under König’s hood cracked and pulled briefly before settling into a new place. He leaned down again to kiss your forehead, this time with chapped lips behind his mask.

“Thank you,” you smiled before reaching up to kiss his chin.

“Anyways,” König drew you both to a stop, “shall we get Mama some chocolates?”

“Mama?”

“My mother,” König chuckled, “did you forget why we came here?”

You tucked your face into his dark robes, “Of course not. I just didn’t expect you to call your mother ‘Mama’.”

“Mama means everything to me,” König stepped back to take your hands, “now, there should be a chocolate shop nearby. How about we go and get her something sweet?”

You stepped to stand by his side with a smile.

“Sure,” you agreed, “let’s go.”

AU Masterlist

[timeoveritasconsumofigmentum]

Yandere Fisherman x F!Mermaid Reader

Warnings: Obsessive behaviors, Stalking, Kidnapping, Implied murder(?)

A/n: I tried to use actual boat terminology idk if it’s right lmao, but enjoy ♡ (not proofread)

⋆｡𖦹 °.🐚⋆❀˖° ⋆｡𖦹 °.🐚⋆❀˖° ⋆｡𖦹 °.🐚⋆❀˖° ⋆｡𖦹 °.🐚⋆❀˖° ⋆｡𖦹 °.

Mermaid!reader that loves to hang out with her marine friends during the bright afternoons. Exploring underwater caves, collecting the prettiest shells, telling spooky stories in sunken ships. Life was beautiful under the sea.

Mermaid!reader who was dared by Kai the stingray to go one of the many forbidden zones (the one infested with humans.) Despite her fear and uncertainty, she couldn't let that flat face call her a guppie!

Mermaid!reader who encounters dozens of dinghies once in the sunlight zone. Consumed with curiosity, she swam closer to the strange shiny devices hanging from the small ships. Yes the ocean floor collected the ships and it's artifacts, but she had never seen such a device.

Mermaid!reader who felt nothing but awe at the plastic fish that they(the fisherman) threw into the sea from their barnacle covered boats, fascinated by their unusual bright colours and shapes. Giggles at the confusion of her friends, their gurgles of excitement sending waves of bubbles along the currents.

Mermaid!reader who starts investigating with her marine friends but finds out the hard way what the plastic is truly meant to do and it breaks her heart. Dozens of her friends gone in a blink of an eyes, yanked into the unknown world. Mourns for the loss of her friends blaming herself for the lack of awareness, makes herself a promise that no other innocent being would be taken.

Mermaid!reader who helps fishes avoid the sharp hooks, warning all that wander too close that they could be snatched up and never seen again. Swears on Poseidon that no more of her friends will be stolen.

Mermaid!reader who actively tracks ships and fishing patterns. Herding the small guppies and airhead fishes away from the coast, sure they understood warnings but that didn't stop their curiosity or lack of awareness.

Mermaid!reader starts using her sharp iridescent shell to cut the fishing lines and collect the plastic bait, the humans obviously aren't using them so what's the harm in collecting them? Besides it would stop her friends from being caught up by the glittering they produced.

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Yandere!fisherman frustrated from the sacristy of fish coming in. His profit and family business plummeting to the ground from lack of customers.

Yandere!fisherman swore he would get to the bottom of this. His grandmother didn't break every bone in her body for this business to die a sudden death!

Yandere!fisherman who now, never leaves his modest boat, camouflaging himself to stalk the waters every hour of the day. Waits for days with no activity, his sour mood getting even fouler. "If there's nothing there, then where all the bloody fish?!"

Yandere!fisherman who spots a large fin lift out from the water one early morning, a quiet splash following. Snatching his binoculars off the stern pulpit he spotted a human like figure bobbing around the water, clicks his tongue in frustration about to look away when splash! A pearlescent tail jerks out of the water, his eyes traveled along the long fin only to find it connect to the figure he saw previously. Wide eyes stare at the strange creature entranced.

Yandere!fisherman shellshocked from the discovery, sure his grandmother told his stories about how merpeople lived in these water but he just thought it was a bad eyesight and manatees! To think she was right. Wonder soon turned into animosity, so this was the creature causing a shortage of food?

Yandere!fisherman who starts tracking the mermaids every move, determined to capture it. Thinks of the amount of money he would make by selling the exotic legend. He could see it now, towers of gold stacked to the clouds, a large home fit for a king, no longer having to break his back to scrape together enough money to pay his bills, his very being bathed in riches. Oh yes, he would have the sea beast . Dead or alive.

Yandere!fisherman after weeks of planning, decides it's time to capture the beast. Makes a custom bottom trawl, out of clear wire, adjusting it enough to fit the mutant, takes extra care to make it sturdy. As any good fisherman would do, he starts to track her movements.

Yandere!fisherman who writes in detail the spots she would mostly visit(the abandoned boats near the colorful reef seemed to be her favorite?), what distance she was most comfortable in(half a mile away from the dock but continuously inching closer) what time she preferred to come (right as the sun peeked out from the horizon.)

Yandere!fisherman finds out that the mermaid had been stealing the bait deliberately, his callous hands wrap around his booklet in fury wringing the innocent leather, another thing he had to worry about thanks to it.

Yandere!fisherman finally gets a glimpse of the creatures face. Is stunned stupid to see such beautiful features, every detail in her face seemed as they were sculpted by hand with utmost care. The blue hue of the water did little to obscure her beauty, feels something in his chest tighten but brushes it off.

Yandere!fisherman dreams now invaded by the unknown woman. Her opal like scales that seemed softer than cotton, the halo of hair that followed her whenever she moved, bright eyes filled with childlike wonder. Soft supple lips lifted into a small smile. The feeling in his chest returns.

Yandere!fisherman commences his plan at night, gently tossing the net into the water far away from his boat. Lies in wait, white knuckling the thick rope connected to the net ready to pull at any moments notice. Sees the beautiful beast nearing his trap, grits teeth "come on.." he jerks the net snatching the side of her body, her right arm and fin tangled in the thick plastic. Bubbles flurry to the surface panicked splashing accompanying it.

Yandere!fisherman who yanks the net forward creating small waves, the veins in his arms bulging from the amount of force takes large steps back bringing her closer. Has her a few feet away from boat when SNAP the net collapses into itself, her body freeing with every thrash. Let's out a scream of frustration watching the mermaid flee the scene quickly.

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Mermaid!reader swimming back home in pure shock clutching her iridescent shell, unable to filter in the million of questions her friends asked her.

Mermaid!reader who thinks of all the fables and stories of humans snatching merpeople were true, she knew that much, but never did she think she would be one of the missing. She had been so careful, not following the same path or reappearing in the same spot.

Mermaid!reader stays cocooned in her shell like home for days, the soft hues of pink and yellow calming her soul. Small treasures displayed on weaved seaweed shelves warmed her heart, creating a bubble of peace in her rampant mind. The human objects she collected overtime glared at her, an uneasy feeling urged herself to stuff the objects deep in sand. To forget about them and everything about the surface. To forget about the existence of humans.

Mermaid!reader traces the angry marks that indented her tail, curling further on her kelp bed. Regrets taking the dare that made her get so close to the land. She could have been blissfully blind if she just stayed with the cities limits, unburdened with the knowledge of what the coast held. Shivering at the daunting feeling, she imagined what awaited her the moment she broke through the surface.

Mermaid!reader who wants to stay rooted right where she was but the other part who knew the truth, she knew she would have to go back and help her friends. But to go back was a death wish there was no telling that luck would be on her side once more, memories of her stolen friends flashed through her mind.

Mermaid!reader with her mind set, decides to go back. Asks around her city hoping to find out more about humans only to hit dead end after dead end. Deflated, swims to the coral library wanting at least to brush up on the human tales that once scared her when she was guppie.

Mermaid!reader who draws a map of sector starfish. Noting where she was almost taken, she tries to remember where her fish friends would go. They weren’t the brightest bunch so she knew they would be scattered through out the water. Despite the numerous problem she was faced with, she pushes forward.

Mermaid!reader who stays at the edge of the sunlight zone, worry seeps in her veins her tail thrashing in agitating. “It’s not a big deal..I’m just going back to the place where I was almost taken, it’s fine. It’s fine, I’m fine..”. She took a deep breath before releasing, groups bubbles tumbled from her mouth caressing her features. A soothing warmness settles in her chest at the feeling as she tried to the keep up with the uncoherent thoughts she had.

Mermaid!reader cautious of every little thing, swimming as slow as possible. Decides to split the area into smaller sectors, one sector a day. That'll keep her safe. Hopefully. Days slowly crawl by, her wavered confidence stayed stagnant riddled with the anxiety of ‘what if’s?’

Mermaid!reader shakes her head disappointed at the fish who swim merrily around the few hooks in sector starfish. ‘All those warnings floated away from them’ she thought glumly. Sees Kai the stingray stuck in a large net, doesn't hesitate to swim forward sharp shell in hand pushing away her dread.

Mermaid!reader determination set in her features she prepared herself to slash haphazardly trying to free her friend as quickly as possible. Let's out a scream of terror dropping her weapon, realizing her friend was already dead and gutted.

Mermaid!reader distracted by the horrifying scene set in front of her, she barely felt another net underneath the sand lift upwards speedily creating a cage around her.

⋆｡𖦹 °.🐚⋆❀˖° ⋆｡𖦹 °.🐚⋆❀˖° ⋆｡𖦹 °.🐚⋆❀˖° ⋆｡𖦹 °.🐚⋆❀˖° ⋆｡𖦹 °.

Yandere!fisherman who is quite glum from the lack of appearance of his prize-bag of money. Rereads his booklet, noting she would appear most when the tides were rising. The perfect time when fish would trickle in like children at a sweets shop. Reinforces a seine net and buries it in the sand underneath his ship, is about to rise from the water when he spots stray stingray swimming away from his curious eyes.

Yandere!fisherman couldn’t help but to smile.

Mermaid!reader who's dropped onto the floor the modest boat unceremoniously. Starts to beg the burly fisherman to let her go, that she only wanting to keep her friends safe "Please! I mean you no harm! How would you feel if hundreds of your friends where snatched away from home and they were never seen again? Understand me" she pleaded, voice getting hoarse from lack of water. Her limbs ached from the drop, the tight net reopening the wounds on her shimmering tail and torso.

Yandere!fisherman after weeks of watching her from the boat can't help but to tune her out. Not that her voice wasn't as sugary as he imagined, but to finally be able to drink in her foreign features. Euphoria drenched his body, this was real.

Yandere!fisherman thinks of the dreams that haunted him each night, were nothing compared to reality. Entranced by every crease, mole, and scar that covered her very being, studying her features he memorized every little detail. Dark eyes taking in the strange clothing she wore, lingering on the open wounds on her opalescent tail.

Yandere!fisherman who feels cold at the thought of someone else feasting on her beauty. He was the only one deserved to look at her, he watched for months, weeks of planning and yearning to get to this moment. He knew her. She was his. No one was worthy enough to bathe in her beauty. "Shhh, it's okay. Oh, have I got some plans for you sweetheart. But don't you worry your pretty little head about anything, I’ll take care of everything.”

[jace-writes-about-things]

A Conjured Bed

Alexa play Hot In Here! Yes, we finally have some smut! Bare with me please because this is the first piece of smut that I have written in a LONG time, I've tried to do this man justice but please if you feel like I haven't tell me! Pointers are always accepted, anyways please accept horny Gale <3

After stumbling across Gale’s apparent mentor, Elminster who had not only forced his way into camp but had come baring a mission from Mystra, a mission that she demanded Gale to basically kill himself to destroy the Absolute, needless to say Tav was seething with rage which considering Halsin had informed their party that he needed assistance protecting a portal from attacking forces so that he could retrieve Thaniel, Tav was more than happy to cut down some enemies in the name of blowing off some steam. Meant at least she would lodge her longsword in the heads of some bad guys instead of misplacing her weapon in the next innocent that annoyed her, or worse one of her campmates.

After a long battle of seemingly endless shadow monsters and undead being thrown at the party left, right and centre Halsin emerged from his barely standing portal clutching a small child in his arms, this must have been Thaniel the poor child looked exhausted, Tav quickly urged Halsin back to camp before taking a moment to assess the damage everyone had sustained during the rather strenuous fight. Glancing sideways she noticed a hungry look in Gale’s eyes pointed directly at her, the stares meaning going directly over Tav’s head she approached Gale with concern, “Gale? Are you all right do you need an artifact? Has Elminster’s magic on you failed?” Confusing his hunger for her with his hunger for magical items Gale seemed to redden in colour at the misinterpretation, “No, it’s just, it’s quite thrilling, to fight off such grim creatures as this region throws at us. Especially being at your side.” He seemed to pause, considering his next words carefully, “I once read a book that explained in some detail the effect a brush with danger has on one’s desire for… other forms of stimulation.”

“Have you ever read anything on that subject?” Tav couldn’t believe what she was hearing, the big bad barbarian reduced to, silence, stunned with what he was propositioning her with in front of everyone no less… “You’re attracted to me… in a place like this?” She wanted to flirt back but given their audience she was hesitant, “I can’t imagine anywhere that would turn my heart away from you, cursed or otherwise. You’d always be as beautiful, and as impressive.”

“Perhaps it’s just the thrill of our near-undead experience talking. But standing at your side through such darkness and disrepair. It only makes me want you more.” Tav was ready to jump his bones right there and then, again given if they hadn’t had an audience, she would have let him take her right there and then below the Last Light Inn safe haven, but her hooded eyes must have given her dirty intentions away as Gale simply smirked and shut down every thought racing through her mind.

“Unfortunately, this is neither the time nor place to indulge such feelings. So, we must be patient and push all such thoughts aside. For now.” With a wink and a smirk, he set off to gather any useful supplies from the bodies the party had surrounded themselves in, the wind knocked out of Tav’s lungs as she stood in disbelief, this wizard had stood and confessed the dirty things he wished to do to her and just walked off like she wasn’t standing there dumbfounded with wet panties, a pitied pat on her back from Karlach and a “No luck soldier” thrown her way brought her crashing back to reality, shaking off the daze he had thrown her into Tav quickly gathered herself and assisted the party in ransacking bodies for valuables.

Only after they had assisted Shadowheart in abandoning Shar and freeing the Nightsong did anything from that night of battle come to fruition. Returning to camp after freeing the Nightsong Tav found a mirror image of Gale standing in his tent where the real Gale should have been, given instructions by the rather goofy mirror image was she transported to a clearing in some woods and there in front of her he sat, staring up to the stars on his blanket he had spread out for the both of them to rest on. All the thoughts of that night came rushing back to Tav in an instant her body and mind remembering all the things she wanted to do to that man that night as he had stood dangling the prospect of a night of passion in front of her face. Turning round to look at who had joined him his smile set her core ablaze. She knew he wished to speak to her of his given mission from Mystra but all she simply wanted to do was spend a night under the stars with this man, this man who ignited such passion within her.

“I love this time of night.” Came his simple greeting as she allowed herself to sink to the floor beside him, “There’s almost a reverent silence that accompanies the peak of darkness when you’d almost believe the dawn will never break. The cradle of eternity.” Tav listened to the man’s poetry as he shifted his hand towards the sky, as if he himself was commanding the very stars himself she found herself staring at the beauty above her, unaware of Gale’s loving gaze, “The timelessness of lovers. The most beautiful of fantasies.” She was lost in his words, listening to this man seduce her with utter poetry made her melt, desperate to be consumed with him. As they spoke of his mission from Mystra, Tav noticed Gale becoming consumed by his need to flaunt his magic talents offering a night amongst the stars with her, but Tav was not swayed, she simply wanted this man in the most carnal, human way possible.

Standing, Tav dragged him to his feet willing to show her commitment to the moral man that the hunger inside her from that night had reignited full force, gazing at him with hooded eyes she slowly slunk to her knee’s gentle touches down his legs on her way down. Gazing up at him revealed just how touch starved Gale was, his fists clenched at his sides as if holding himself back from the true desire he craved, with a smile she gave him her full permission, “Don’t be afraid Gale, I won’t break, use me as you please.” With a swift hand grabbing her hair to force her back to her feet and his lips crashing into hers in a desperate kiss she paced backwards at his command, finding the backs of her legs hitting a soft bed.

Allowing herself to fall backwards out of his grasp, she fell backwards onto a rather soft, cushioned bed, gazing up at him taking in his dishevelled appearance, the usual put together wizard was panting, looking down at her with raw desire in his eyes that tried to convey every single way he wanted to take her, she definitely wasn’t getting any sleep tonight.

Kneeling between her legs, his hands slowly trailing their way up to the waistband of her sleep clothes, looking to her with a plea, begging to let him remove the barrier and let him have his way with her. Her own hands shifting down to help him shimmy her trousers and underclothes down with them, his soft hands returning to her hips to caress her hips, “You are more beautiful than any skyline my hands could ever conjure.” Readying herself to reply to his compliments Tav was swiftly cut off with a kiss to her mound, her hips reaching up to meet him but a surprisingly strong arm clamping over her hips to prevent their movement fixed her to the bed below. His comments of a practised tongue came flashing back to her mind as he carefully took her clit into his mouth, laving it with all the attention she desired moaning into the night as her hands found their way into his hair threatening to rip the locks from his hair if he even dared thinking of stopping, her hips fought against him as he brought her closer and closer to her peak, and just before she got there he pressed a soft kiss to her mound and pulled away as much as her tight grip would allow him to.

“I’m sorry love, I know you don’t want me to stop but the only place you’ll be coming tonight is around my cock.” He was almost staring into her soul as he looked up, his beard drenched in her juices and all she wanted in that moment was to kiss him, let her taste herself on his lips.

Making his way up her body, gentle kisses and touches as he went, feeling his way along her hips, up her sides, to her breasts, committing her entire body to his memory before arriving at her lips, teasing him tongue at her entrance allowing her the opportunity to pull away if she found this uncomfortable in any way, but his doubts were quickly squashed with her lips connecting with his, drinking in her taste on his lips allowing herself to taste herself on his tongue. “Please Gale.” She pulled away, begging for the release she craved, release only he could give her.

Giving her a soft parting peck he knelt above her, removing his own clothing making a bit of a show of it with each piece of removed clothing, letting her hands roam his body to discover all parts of him, everything. Leaning back down he gently kissed her body before guiding himself to her entrance, holding eye contact as he gently slid in, allowing himself to moan out as he bottomed out, stilling inside of her finally slipping inside of her felt like absolute heaven and it took all of his willpower to not cum there and then. “You feel absolutely divine my love, you feel absolutely amazing.” He moaned into her mouth, kissing her softly she felt like putty in his hands, “Gale please I need you to move.” The words were gasped out as he began thrusting, like he had knocked the wind out her lungs with the force, her once words were reduced to moans and gasps, grasping onto his shoulders clawing at skin at the overwhelming pleasure.

Although she had had a number of fantasies and dreams about this moment, but nothing she had dreamed or fantasised could compare to being here with Gale, letting herself be consumed with the overwhelming feeling of Gale. He was all encompassing, he was everywhere all at once, in front of her, surrounding her, inside her, grasping at his shoulders trying to take him in deeper to become one with him, “I’m not going to last much longer love.” Gale gasped out as his hand reached down to circle her clit, suddenly it was stars surrounding her, not so dissimilar to the stars he had conjured for her, stars and then blinding white with gasp Tav let go, let herself be all consumed.

Back to reality, a sweaty and sated Gale lay atop her holding him closer as she ran her hands along his spine, helping to bring the man down from his high. Gentle breathing and soft kisses to her chest, she gazed down at him as he looked up at her with nothing but love in his eyes, “You are the most beautiful woman I have ever had the pleasure of knowing.” His hand reaching up to stroke her face, she could do nothing but smile at this man and his genuine love for her, such as soft man that she felt nothing but the utmost love for.

“Hope you know, we aren’t done just yet.” His smirk returned as he slid himself down, ready to continue their escapades into the wee hours of the morning, Tav definitely was not getting any sleep tonight.

Cross Posted on Ao3 - jacethed00d

[igotanidea]

Gift shopping : Morpheus x reader

Christmas bingo day 17: gift shopping

She loved Christmas. Truly. Every tradition, every dish, every carol. All that came with the holiday season.

Except one thing.

Gift shopping.

Wondering around the stalls trying to figure out what the donee would like was a literal nightmare. Doing her best to choose something better and at least a bit more original then the scented toiletries set became equal to being slowly burned on the stake in her mind. The hell was she supposed to know what smell of a body wash would her cousin like? Or what colour was her aunt's favourite?

And that itself wouldn't even be the worst if it wasn't for the advertisements coming from every way giving her anxiety.

But when she suggested that maybe the family could do one year without the presents they all gave her as condemning looks as if she was at least an antichrist.

Damn.

She was putting off this duty for so long, repressing it from her mind that in the end, she was forced to rush through the shops at the last minute, feeling the pressure on her shoulders. Which was also bad for her self esteem cause y/n was always considered the one with the greatest and most creative ideas.

Yes, but only given the right amount of time, not acting in a hurry.

But what she didn't expect was to end up sleeping on her desk one night and getting some help.

Once she opened her eyes, she was in a quite different place. Yes, it did look like her hometown, but giving a strange vibe that only confirmed her beliefs that she was in fact far away from reality.

"Lucid dreaming" she muttered to herself with a deep sigh. Waking up (sort of) in dream's domain and co conscious about it could only mean one thing. She was here for bussiness. Morpheus wanted something from her, cause he rarely did things selflessly. "Dream of the endless!" She called "how can I be of service to you today?!"

The silence was the only answer she got, and such treatment made her groan in frustration. She really didn't have time for silky games with Dream, the duties falling upon her shoulders...

"you are in the only place when imagination knows no bounds and you dare complaining?"

"I'm merely thinking." She retorted crossing her arms. "Lord Morpheus."

"long time no see y/n"

"don't tell me you missed me or something."

"one cannot really miss the way you address him"

"that's not the answer. Why am I here?"

Dream didn't answer instead turning his back to her and starting walking ahead not even caring whether she follows.

Which she didn't not really wanting to give him satisfaction of complying. At least not until the ground started cracking behind her and she was forced to rush after dream, causing about him acting like a kid.

"Morpheus." She said getting bold enough to use his name even though he ignored her once again. "Morpheus." She repeated, foolishly hoping for another outcome but it was futile. "Lord Morpheus" finally the official title made him look at her with tiniest amused smile.

"yes?"

"why am I here, um- consciously?"

"your imagination seems to be running short."

"not sure if that's an offence, state of facts ot reveling that you were stalking me..."

"you think too much of yourself" he said with the flat voice leading her across the dreaming bridge

"then why-?"

"I'm going to boost it"

"boost what?" Now she was almost running after him trying to keep up the tempo pretty sure he was making her move slower on purpose. "My imagination? Why? To prove you are better or something? You're the lord of the dreams, damnit, a creature of centuries old. I think it's pretty obvious you are more qualified in the ideas subject than me."

He didn't even give her a word of response, guiding her inside the palace to the ground where no one else was allowed to and it was making less and less sense by a second. And since asking questions was obviously pointless she decided to just settle on observation. Taking it the huge Christmas tree, decorations placed here and there and colours that seemed to take over the whole palace. It gave such a contrasting vibe to the usual outlook of the place and dream's character that it left the girl with eyes wide and mouth agape.

"you did this?" She whispered almost feeling the warmth coming from the interior instead of darkness and gloominess.

"dreamers did" Morpheus retorted sternly, but time it had a tone of softness to it. "It's the only thing on their mind of late."

"you could have prevented it though. And didn't." She smiled "never took you as for a fan of festivities"

"why?" Dream seemed truly interested about it.

"why?" There were so many reasons to assume that he didn't enjoy Christmas but she was not going to bring them up "I don't know. Maybe I was being judgemental, sorry. It is actually pretty beautiful. Holiday spirit kingdom of dreams" she pointed out, her gaze now resting on the boxes under the tree.

"You can open them."

"i can what now?" She frowned in confusion even though her hands were tingling in anticipation to see what was hidden inside "why?"

"cause you lack inspiration." The answer made her frown even more.

"and you're really going to help me out here?" There was this little fear in the back of her mind that if she didn't follow the order she would actually encounter some nightmares on her way. "Why? Why would you--" it made zero sense. She was just a human with no greater meaning. A human, whose path happened to cross with Dream's when he was retrieving his attributes and restoring his kingdom back to greatness. She meant nothing, right?

Right?

Dream didn't make it easy on her giving her the silence and just pointing towards the packages stacked under the tree. Leaving her with no choice but to grab the closest one and pulling at the ribbon, innate curiousity taking over.

However, before she could actually take a peek inside -

"y/n! Y/n wake up! We've overslept! We'll be late for classes!"

Shit.

Y/n could not care less about adulting, duties and classes right now, torn from the Christmas version of the Dreaming, groaning at the lost opportunity of seeing what Morpheus considered a gift. And getting her imagination boosted. Once in a lifetime opportunity cause she was aware Dream would not be generous again.

Shit

But her still hazy mind, slowly started working and much to her surprise she found out, that even without seeing the box in the Dreaming actually got the gifts ideas.

***

"did your family like the presents?"

"they actually did, thank you" she smiled softly as the familiar dark dressed silhouette joined her on the bridge. She has been watching the skaters on the ice rink, not really expecting company but dream's appearance was actually warmly welcomed.

"it was all you who did this. It was your imagination"

"Maybe. But it was only because I was given the right incentive" her eyes sparkled a bit as she gave him a happy look "thank you Morpheus, even though I still don't understand why you did it. Guess I'll be left waiting for some sort of collecting the debt on your part" she chuckled before turning head back to watch the people skating.

Maybe that was why she missed the tiny amused smile formed on Dream lord's face.

The smile that was screaming without words.

This was not a debt he was going to collect in the future. Not when it came to her.

[urfavsnia]

dance this sadness away

pairings : severus snape x fem! wife reader

summary : just a little dancing in the rain fic

warnings : nothing that i can think of!

word count ; 693

you watched your husband rolling your eyes as the other woman tried to keep on a conversation with him. you were just at the other shop while he was waiting for you. but now this surely had caught your interest.

you looked at the woman. she was a solid ten. but the unmistakable stiffness in severus' shoulders made you realize the inevitable. your husband had no interest in that woman who looked like a goddess in human form.

❝it's so crowded here, isn't it?❞ you heard her ask. my god, even her voice was so much like a soap opera actress.

❝yes.❞ a single syllable response and he turned away.

oops. you would have almost felt bad for the other woman except that he was your husband and she was trying to flirt with him.

❝those crystals are so pretty, aren't they?❞ she gushed, probably trying once more.

❝they're,❞ severus replied in his usual bossy tone which he used on his students, ❝i'm selecting one for my wife.❞

the colour had rushed out of the woman's face and you almost felt like laughing. poor her. she surely didn't know that your husband, this beautiful creature, had his eyes set only for you.

❝i saw you two,❞ you informed him once she was gone.

❝baby, i was not flirting with her,❞ he looked almost worried that you'd suspect him of cheating on you.

❝i know,❞ you grinned, ❝for someone who claims to be not conventionally attractive, you surely do get picked out a lot.❞

❝oh, i wouldn't mind being flirted with,❞ he held your hand, ❝as long as it's you who's flirting with me.❞

dang this wizard. he surely knew how to melt your insides.

❝oh my god, sev. it's about to rain!❞

you could barely keep the excitement away from your voice. you loved, loved, loved rain. even more so, dancing in the rain had always been a part of your bucket list.

❝merlin,❞ severus cursed, ❝if i was dressed in my normal attire, i would have hidden you under my cloak. but now we need to find a shelter.❞

❝i have an even better idea,❞ you smirked and before he could refuse, you dragged him in the rain. the raindrops fell on your bodies and you sighed.

❝what are you doing, y/n!❞ he widened his eyes, ❝we're going to get all we- never mind, we're already wet. but i don't want you to catch a cold.❞

you stopped him with a silly smile. ❝i promise it'll be worth it, sev. just come. i have always wanted to dance in the rain with the love of my life.❞

he stared at you and you snort. he must be thinking of how dunderhead his wife was. but the sight of you so happy and carefree, it warmed his heart. but of course he was not going to let you win so easily.

❝are you a dunderhead, y/n?❞

❝dunderhead enough to do this!❞ you giggled, ❝come on, it's fun! take my hand and let's dance this sadness away.❞

relentlessly, he took your hand in his and slowly, you both were in a rhythm with him twirling you around and you both giggling like kids in the rain. you could feel passersby staring at you both but you couldn't give a darn. you were too lost in the moment. the sky poured down over you and severus had the goofiest grin. somehow the scary professor snape looked so much like a normal human who's in love with another human as he clutched onto you, both of you laughing at the madness.

❝you remind me so much of the rain,❞ you softly mumbled.

he stared at you for the softest of seconds and then pulled you into a kiss mid-dance, rain soaking through your clothes. this was your most favourite kiss from now on.

and when you parted, you looked into each other's eyes and you could swear your husband was blushing.

❝merlin, i am soaked,❞ he complained once the rain was over.

❝but that was fun,❞ you pouted, ❝wasn't it?❞

❝yeah, yeah it was,❞ he kissed your forehead lightly, ❝because it was with you.❞

[lisbeth-kk]

May 11 prompt: stars (Thanks @notjustamumj)

Planned to perfection

It’s their last evening in Sussex before going back to London. Seeing Sherlock relaxed and content, not once bored during the whole week, is still something John marvels in. He wants to make the last hours special. John’s planned a little thing, nothing fancy, but he knows Sherlock will appreciate it.

The garden outside the cottage is fairly large, with a wisteria tree, a few cherry and apple trees, flowers in every colour known to man, small bushes and at the far end, bee hives. That’s were Sherlock currently is. Saying his farewell to these creatures he’s so fascinated by.

John’s lit candles and placed them on the table by the large daybed. A bottle of champagne is cooling in an ice bucket and on a glass platter, chocolatecovered strawberries are waiting to be feasted on.

Sherlock’s approaching John and his eyes blink rapidly. He’s been too spellbound by the bees to have noticed John’s activity.

«John, what’s this?» he asks puzzled.

John looks at him and smiles that radiating smile which makes Sherlock warm with sentiment. He takes Sherlock’s hands, bring them to his lips and kisses every knuckle reverently.

«I just wanted to make our last night a little special. It’s been such a lovely holiday and it deserves a proper finale,» John says.

Sherlock bows his head, grip John’s shoulders and kisses him. Softly at first, then tilting his head slightly to deepen the kiss. His tongue finds John’s mouth open and willing, and when John’s tongue meets his, it sends sparkles down Sherlock’s spine. They’re both a bit breathless when they part.

«I love you,» Sherlock murmurs and places his forehead on John’s.

«I love you too,» John says. «Now, come on. Let’s indulge in the gastronomic treats I’ve prepared.»

John leaves it to Sherlock to open the champagne, which he obviously does impeccably. He fills the flutes, puts the bottle back in the ice bucket and hands one of the flutes to John. The wine is exquisite with small bubbles and a hint of biscuits and slightly citrusy.

«Perfect,» John states, and Sherlock concurs.

They seat themselves comfortably against the cushions and John places the platter with the strawberries between them. With an ardent expression, John picks one up, lifts his hand and leads the treat to Sherlock’s mouth. He parts his lips and takes the offered sweet. Before John withdraws his hand, Sherlock’s tongue licks at John’s fingers, with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

«Jesus,» John whispers.

Sherlock reciprocates the favour and John makes good use of his own tongue on those long delicate fingers, which elicits a moan from Sherlock’s throat. He’s reluctant to remove his fingers, but John just pulls away with a grin.

«Later, sweetheart,» he promises and pours some more champagne into their flutes.

It’s getting dark, and just as John hoped, the sky above them is filled with twinkling stars. He scoots closer to Sherlock, the platter’s long gone and the bottle’s almost empty.

«Lie down with me, and look at the stars for a while» John prompts.

They lie hand in hand and revels in the beautiful sky.

«Thank you for this, John,» Sherlock says quietly and squeezes John’s hand.

John props himself up on an elbow, looking down at Sherlock. He brushes away an unruly curl from Sherlock’s forehead and just takes in the sight of the beautiful man. The temptation to bend down to kiss the irresistable neck is suddenly too strong and Sherlock’s evident approval tells John all he needs to know.

«I want to make love to you,» John whispers against Sherlock’s skin.

«God yes, John, please.»

A little precious moment for you lovely people 😘

@totallysilvergirl @calaisreno @topsyturvy-turtely @missdeliadili @raina-at @meetinginsamarra

[fr-wiwiw]

15 questions, 15 people

I was tagged by @lienwyn! it's been ages but i have time to do this one now! Thank you for the tag dear ✨

1. Are you named after anyone?

I'm not. My mom's eldest brother gave me my name collaboratively with my parents. It was supposed to be something different like great figure from my country but it felt like a huge responsibility, so they changed it thank God for that lol

2. When was the last time you cried?

Just today. I wouldn't say full on crying, just a minute or less type of crying when you feel overwhelmed by something or when your brain decides to rewind a certain event in your head.

3. Do you have kids?

No but I have a baby turtle that I love <3

4. Do you use sarcasm a lot?

Sometimes yea when I'm having certain conversations with my group of friends or when we're playing online games and if there's a current event (ex: politic figure doing something foolish), it will jump out if i'm flabbergasted once or twice.

5. What's the first thing you notice about people?

Hmm.. depends. But my eyes would scan them up and down- and I realized that can come off as eyeing them like i'm some kind of arrogant person. I'm sorry to these people, I never meant to come off like that. But i like observing creatures and I draw too, so I tend to see them as a whole or if they behave and talk in certain ways and tone. I just notice things

6. What's your eye colour?

Dark brown almost black if there's no lighting. Typical asian eye color

7. Scary movie or happy ending?

Happy ending. I cannot watch scary movies bcs of my strong visualization and imagination. I can visualize almost anything from my memory and imagine them do anything next to me right here right now. It's... uncomfortable especially when my brain decides to scare me when I see dark places. it's the downside of being an artist

8. Any special talents?

So far.. I'm good at art related things. I want to try my hands on sculpting, painting in canvas, diorama, play more music instruments as a hobby and many more. But I don't have the time and money, hopefully in the future. I just love being involved in my curiosity and see what I can make out of it xD

I'm also good at reading people and situations. I'm a big empath too which comes in handy when I imagine or write. Or connect to people. I'm people's go to listener usually hahah but I create some more boundaries for this. It drains me because I feel deeply.

9. Where were you born?

Indonesia.

10. What are your hobbies?

Uh.. drawing, reading, playing video games, writing, listening to music, sing, eat out and take walks in mall or just strolling through shop marts.

11. Do you have pets?

Yes. I once had 2 red eared slider turtles for 11 years. Then 2 mini pomeranian, and another baby read eared slider turtle which sadly didn't make it for only a month. But my friend gave me another baby turtle, she's always ravenous and lively ^^ so cute.

12. What sports do you/have you played?

Oh man.. I played a lotta sports I even got a tan back then lol. Futsal (indoor soccer), soccer, kasti (kinda like softball / baseball), swimming, running, basketball, badminton. Would love to try snowboarding tho ngl it looks fun but I heard it's damn expensive. And horse riding. The only sport I play now is playing console games😂 would love to be active at sports again in the future

13. How tall are you?

156cm (5'11)

14. Favourite subject in high school?

English and art (but depends on the teacher)

15. Dream job?

Right now? A freelance or full time artist with stable income or good amount of followers to pay off my day to day living without a worry. I am a freelance artist, just not financially stable yet. Hope I can get there

I'm so late to this particular tag game so I apologize if any of you have been tagged before. @gaylilsherlock @uhhhhmanda @gayautisticraccoon @briwates @technitango @kdramastrix

[selsieeeo]

Tell me a Story

Inspired by @llondonfog post and the comment section of that post of Silver being Lilia’s original son 500 years ago but lost him due to the war that happened between Briar Valley and a neighbouring human kingdom. He finds him again 500 years later reborn as an abandoned human child and names him Silver and takes him in.

“What’s true Malleus?” he asked.

“I heard rumours that you used to have a son,” Malleus answered.

Ah, that.

Lilia hummed sadly. “Well, I shouldn’t be hiding the truth from the crown prince now should I?”

“Is it true?” The dragon fae prodded again.

Lilia only could pause before answering, saddened at the reminder that he used to have a son. “Yes. It is true. I did use to have a son.”

“What happened to him?” The younger fae asked.

“Hmm…you know, he would be older than you and you would have an older brother,” Lilia said teasing him.

The crown prince huffed. “That didn’t answer my question.”

Lilia stared at him and Malleus saw for a second a hint of sadness behind those blood-red eyes before he hid the sadness. “Why don’t I tell you a story?”

‘Once upon a time, there was a vampire. He was a cautious creature but had recently been blessed with something.

A child.

He adored his child so much. Even as a vampire, he was usually alone but now he had a son by his side to keep him company.

Then the vampire was called away. It was to assist in a war between a human kingdom and the fae kingdom he lived in. He went away leaving his son behind, promising him that he’ll come back.

As the war waged on, the vampire became one of the most decorated war generals and was hailed as a hero.

One day as the war continued to wage on, he went home briefly to visit his son.

One mustn’t forget that you will make many enemies during a war.

The vampire forgot.

When he returned home, he found his home burnt to a crisp. And what of his son? He found his son dead, impaled by a spear covered in iron.’

The young dragon fae widened his eyes as he made a realization of what happened to his mentor’s son.

Lilia could only nod sadly as he was reminded of the events that separated him from his son forever.

The fae general had just returned to his home to visit his son before he was whisked away by war. What he hadn’t expected was his home collapsed sustaining burns. He could only stare in shock for a few seconds before rushing in when he realized his son was most likely still in there.

He searched nonstop in the pile of burnt wood and broken furniture desperate to find his beloved son.

Then he finally found him. Not in a state that he would like him to be.

He uncovered the last of the fallen debris that was covering his son. The first thing he saw was the spear impaling his son. The spear was covered in iron.

His heart dropped.

“No…no…no…” Lilia muttered. He felt himself going into a state of shock to see his fallen son in a state like this.

He took the spear impaling his son, giving himself small burns and cradled his child in his arms.

He felt tears falling down his face. Strange. he did rarely cry. He continued to cry as the reality that his son was dead finally hit him.

Soon later on he would build a grave for his son. As he stared at the buried body, he said. “I’ll find you again. Be it five hundred years or even one thousand.” His voice cracked. “My beloved son, I know we will meet again.”

“Papa that’s such a sad story.” Silver said with a frown.

“Perhaps it was.”

“Do you think the father and son finally met each other again?” his son asked.

“...perhaps they did.”

“Then they’re living a very happy life then.” Silver concluded happily.

Lilia thought back to when he found Silver. An abandoned human baby alone in the woods. He stared at the child of man until he opened his eyes. They were an auroral colour. He recognized those eyes anywhere. His son five hundred years ago had only one difference from him. That difference was his eyes, they weren’t a blood-red colour but an auroral colour.

Lilia smiled at his human son. “Yes, they are very happy.”

[no6secretsanta]

The Siren

For: @dragons-of-ara From: @a-still-small-vox

Author's note: Happy holidays! Your request for a fantasy AU with Nezumi's singing immediately made me think of sirens for some reason (...the mythical creature, not, you know, loud warning noises), and I decided to go with my first instinct. The song lyrics at the end are from The Riversitter, which is Vienna Teng's newest single. A Vienna Teng AMV got me into No. 6 in the first place, way back in 2013 or 2014, so to me it was very fitting. I hope you enjoy!

General Audiences • No warnings • 2,500 words • Fluff • Alternate Universe • First meetings

(This story will be posted on my AO3 account by December 29th if you'd like to read it there.)

___

“Take the ship around to the cove. If I don’t come back in three days, assume I either drowned or I decided to stay here for a while,” Shion said, neatly folding his last shirt and tucking it on top of his pack, then closing the bag.

“Are you sure about this, Captain Shion?” asked Safu, the sailing ship’s navigator and first mate.

“I know it seems strange, but yes,” Shion said, putting the bag on his back. “Don’t worry about me, Safu. This is my choice.”

“Yes, Captain,” Safu said as they made their way through the ship to reach the deck. Once there, Shion prepared a rowboat and retrieved a ball of beeswax from his pockets. He divided it in two and carefully moulded each half over the outsides of his ears. Soon he could no longer hear the slap of the waves against the hull of the ship, or the creak of the wind in the rigging. Perfect.

“You have the con, First Mate Safu. Be well,” Shion said. She raised a hand to him in farewell and he hopped into the rowboat. She winched him down to the water below. Shion spared a backward glance for the ship as he rowed away. It had been his pride and joy, and the crew were all good people. But he had sort of mislead Safu a little — he had no intention of ever seeing it again.

Shion was less than half a mile from his destination, and he was a strong rower. He insisted on staying fit so he could lend a hand with any emergency situations on board the ship, such as a storm, a pirate encounter, or even a wreck. The coastline grew larger as he approached the rocky shore. And it was then that he saw him.

The siren.

The siren appeared to be a man around Shion’s age. He had moon-pale skin and long, glossy blue-black hair that hung down his back like an inky curtain. He wore a jagged skirt made of dark seaweed and a trailing necklace of pearls that reached almost to his waist. But from the waist down he was covered in silvery scales, with clawed feet similar to those of a bird, but with webbing between the toes. He had sheer silvery fins on the backs of his legs and arms. Shion had never gotten close enough to confirm it, but he imagined the siren had sharp teeth and maybe even claws on his fingers. Sirens were said to be incredibly dangerous creatures, who used their magical voices to lure sailors to their deaths and then eat them or rob their corpses. Or both.

But to Shion, the siren was a beautiful, fascinating creature, and he was determined to meet him.

As he got closer he saw that the siren was singing! Shion rowed harder, although he was mindful of the rocks as he manoeuvred into shallower water. Once he got close to the shore he hopped out of the boat, neatly arranged the oars inside, and dragged it up onto the sand. He turned and faced the siren, who was still singing at him. His teeth were pointy! From the looks of it, it was quite a performance. Shion was sad that he couldn’t hear a thing, but he also knew better than to remove the beeswax.

Instead he just sat down on the sand and waited until the siren’s face crumpled in confusion. He closed his mouth and tilted his head. Shion noticed that his eyes were the same beautiful silvery colour as his scaled legs. He had never seen a colour like that before in anyone else’s eyes.

Now the siren was saying something. His mouth was moving differently than it had when he was singing, less exaggerated to let pure, round sounds out.

“I can’t hear you,” Shion said, pointing at his ears.

The siren said one word. Shion guessed that it was “What?” but it could have been any number of other things. A special siren insult, or something.

“I can’t hear you,” Shion repeated. “Don’t sing at me anymore, and I’ll take this out.”

The siren looked incredibly offended. He scowled, folding his arms across his chest. Shion noted with a scientist’s glee that his fins were fluttering with agitation. But since his mouth wasn’t moving, Shion cautiously rolled the wax down from the outside of his ears.

The sounds of the waves crashing on the shore and a gull crying overhead reached his hearing. But the siren was silent.

“Thanks, that’s better. It’s nice to meet you. My name is Shion,” Shion said, putting the wax back in his pocket.

The siren scowled. “If you couldn’t hear me, why did you come here?” His voice, even when speaking, was beautiful and musical. It was a light, cool voice, with a certain androgyny to it. Shion imagined that his range was incredible.

“I wanted to meet you,” Shion explained, crossing his legs.

“Aren’t you afraid I’m going to eat you?” the siren said, leaning towards him menacingly.

“I did consider that could be a possibility. But regardless, you’re an intelligent being. You probably have fascinating life experiences,” Shion said. “Also, don’t freak out, but I did bring a gun in case you attack me.”

He swung his pack around to the front of his body and patted the side pocket, where there was a loaded pistol.

The siren’s eyes narrowed. “Are you planning to hold me hostage until I entertain you?”

“No. If you don’t want to talk, I’ll just leave,” Shion said with a shrug. The siren hesitated for a moment and then said, “Talk about what, exactly?”

Shion felt a little thrill go through him. He might actually be able to convince the siren to have a conversation! “Well, for starters, what’s your name?”

“Nezumi.”

Shion smiled. “You know, in my language, that name means Rat.”

“In mine it means Silver One,” Nezumi retorted sharply. He gestured at his tail. “I think you can see why.”

“Yes, your eyes are the same colour,” Shion said.

Something about his tone was clearly displeasing, as those self-same silver eyes narrowed again. “Wait a minute. Do you think I’m attractive?”

“Yes. You’re beautiful,” Shion said, not seeing a reason to lie. Maybe it was because he was an aquatic creature, but Nezumi had a natural grace to the way that he moved. Then there was the long hair and the silvery eyes. No one else Shion had ever met had enchanted him in such a way.

“Oh, great. I got the one human who doesn’t see me as a weird, alien creature,” Nezumi said, rolling his eyes. “Well, I don’t think your nubby little teeth and your stubby fingers are all that appealing, so back off.”

At that, Shion laughed. “I wouldn’t expect you to. I’m sure you find the traits of your own subspecies much more attractive than those of humans.”

Nezumi tilted his head and just studied him for a long moment. “You’re really going to try and convince me that all you want is to talk to me?”

“Yup,” Shion said, nodding.

“And I’m supposed to believe this because?”

“Oh, well, I will pay you, if it helps?” Shion said, opening a different pocket on his bag and withdrawing a small cloth bag with a drawstring.

“What exactly do you think you have that might be of value to m— are those emeralds?” Nezumi said, as Shion poured the contents of the bag out on his palm. “Or are they just glass?” Nezumi tacked on, attempting to recover.

Shion took one, set it down on the rock of a nearby tidepool, took another rock, and bashed it down on the emerald. It didn’t break. “They’re real.”

“Who are you?” Nezumi said, looking somehow even more aghast than he had when Shion told him about the gun.

Shion looked him dead in the eyes and said, “I am a very bored captain formerly in the employ of the Moondrop Trading Company.”

“Formerly?”

“Yeah, I just resigned this morning,” Shion said, glancing up at the sky. The sun was only just getting high enough for it to be called noon. Maybe 11:30. “I used to think my job was part of a harmless mercantile endeavour, but I’ve come to realise that it’s a tool of global oppression. As you can see, I’ve been very successful at it, so I decided to just retire young. Maybe leave human society completely and dedicate myself to research.”

At that, Nezumi started laughing. “Oh, I get it now. You’re insane. I suppose I can work with that. Give me some of those stones. You can have one hour of my life for each.”

He held out his hand, and Shion passed him three emeralds, putting the rest back in the pouch and replacing it in his pack. Nezumi started putting the emeralds into a pouch of his own that Shion could now see he wore around his waist, camouflaged among the strands of the seaweed skirt.

“Thank you,” Shion said earnestly. “But you should know, I’m not insane. Just principled… and honestly pretty angry I was a part of something so detrimental. I only wish I could do more to stop them from hurting more people, even though I’m not a part of it anymore.” “If it makes you feel better,” Nezumi said, “sirens don’t eat people. I sing to get idiots to give me their valuables. And every last one of the men I’ve had swim out to me over the past few months has been from your precious Moondrop Trading Company.”

“You’re in a shipping lane,” Shion informed him with a shrug. “I would say sorry for the disturbance, but it sounds like it’s been pretty lucrative for you. Are you the only siren around here? Are sirens solitary?”

Nezumi snorted. “No, I have a family and a tribe. Most of them prefer not to interact with humans.”

“Do they live nearby?” Shion said, looking around. He didn’t see any signs that another siren could be lurking on the shore or in the water. He couldn’t imagine what kind of home a siren might live in. Did they live underwater, in deference to their aquatic abilities? Or did they live on land, since they could breathe air equally well?

“Yes, we live all over and under the peninsula.”

“And how many of you are there? Are there many old ones? Young ones?”

“Are you going to just ask me inane questions for the next three hours?” Nezumi said.

“I paid you, didn’t I?”

Nezumi sighed. He leaned forward until he was lying down on his stomach in the sand, with one elbow bent to prop his head up in his palm. “Fine. What’s the next one?”

That was the beginning of a long conversation, over the course of which Shion learnt that the sirens of Nezumi’s tribe lived in a labyrinth of underwater caves, some of which ran clear underneath the peninsula. There were other siren tribes living nearby, some of which came to the peninsula to trade or find a partner. Sirens had their own stories, religion, and art, even a limited degree of science. To Shion’s surprise, Nezumi loved human books ever since he’d taken a book of fairytales from a sailor he’d charmed with his singing. It was all so fascinating that the time flew by. Shion felt like he could sit there forever, just listening to Nezumi talk and tell stories of his culture and his home.

Eventually, Shion realised with alarm that it was well into the afternoon and the time he had paid for was almost up. Before he lost the chance forever Shion said, “I have one more question. Do sirens sing for each other?”

“Yes,” Nezumi said brusquely. Shion could tell he was ready for this conversation to be over.

“I wish I could hear you sing the way another siren would hear it,” Shion sighed.

“It’ll cost you,” Nezumi said, glancing at Shion’s pack.

“I’m not paying you to rob me,” Shion chuckled. “It would take more hours’ worth of emeralds than I have on me to bring us to a level of trust where I’d feel comfortable listening to you sing.”

Nezumi shrugged. “That’s a shame,” he said, not sounding like he meant it at all.

⁂

Most siren songs didn’t have words. They conveyed their meaning by the feelings and images they evoked in the mind of the listener. It was almost a form of thought transference. Ever since he first heard Nezumi sing like that, Shion had been unable to stop himself from thinking of it now and then as magic.

But every so often, Nezumi decided to sing a song with words for Shion.

“You don’t have to tell a tidy story, You don’t need a home for every hole, You can just sit in the river, let the river rush to you.

You don’t need to find and lose true love, You don’t need a twisting in your soul, You can just sit in the river, let the river run you through. You can just do the thing that you get the idea to do.”

Nezumi’s voice rang pure and clear as a silver bell, shaping and forming both the words and the sounds with perfect clarity and intonation. The song rose and swelled and filled the rooms of the small home they shared, built partly of pieces of wrecked ships and hidden in the woods just off the shore of a nearby secret cove. The magic of siren-song filled Shion’s mind with images of silver water, currents and streams light as air and cold and sweet as mountain melt-water.

Shion had done many things that he once had the idea to do. He had the idea to meet a siren, and he met one. He had the idea to get to know the siren that he found, and he became Nezumi’s friend. He had the idea to make a home for himself on the peninsula where Nezumi’s family lived, and he moved into a cave that connected through underwater tunnels to the sirens’ own home.

He had the idea he might be falling in love with Nezumi, and that idea turned out to be correct. Then they had the shared idea to build a life together, and so they made this little home. Now Nezumi wore a necklace made of pearls and emeralds, and their waterproof library was full of books from all over the world.

“So come on, let’s search among the strangers and the souvenirs; How gorgeous and grand you have grown! Sit with me among the branches of this chandelier While flesh and blood remain between our bones, And I will show you the most precious thing I own.”

And Nezumi looked right at Shion as he sang, and he held out to him a small silver and emerald ring.

[nicole-tivan123]

How Taneleer found Tibby!

(This is going o be a story of how Taneleer found Tibby, Tibby being the little creature on his shoulder that I made up. Hope YALL like it)

Taneleer one day decided to go find something for his collection on his own, he heard of a planet that recently got attacked and left abandoned called Tribeous. It was an accident planet and he thought he’d find valuable stuff for his collection considering the planet is destroyed and that anything on that planet will be worth a fortune.

He landed on the planet in his ship and checked to make sure the air was breathable for him first. Once it was in the clear, he stepped outside and saw trees destroyed, buildings turned into rubble and bodies decaying. Taneleer felt sick to his stomach at the sight of all the bodies, even though he was used to it from visiting many destroyed worlds, it still made him uneasy. “Who could have done all this? Sick bastards…” he said to himself.

“Everything and everyone is dead…it’ll be a miracle if I find something here for my collection that isn’t at least broken somewhat.” He continued his search for something, relics destroyed, flowers and trees all burned to the ground, there was no hope to find anything here. He was about to give up and go home when suddenly “squeak!” He heard a little squeak coming from a pile of rocks. Taneleer then rushed over to the rocks and took some off.

After a few rocks were removed he saw something in the middle of the rocks, luckily unharmed as the rocks formed around it. It was a Tribble, they are small, colourful creatures, very round fluffy bodies and two antennas on its head to communicate telepathicly. This one was green and looked very scared. It looked up at Taneleer, “squeak” it said weakly as if it’s asking for help. Taneleer without hesitation picked up the creature gently. “Aww you poor little thing…how long have you been under those rocks for huh?” Taneleer gently stroked the Tribbles round fluffy body to which it chirped in happiness.

“You are coming with me little one” he then headed back to his ship. Once on the ship he went to put the Tribble in a cage for his collection, but something stopped him from doing so, the tribbles big black pleading eyes. He was used to creatures doing this to him but for some reason this was different…he then held the creature close and looked down at it in his arms. “Oh I can’t put you in my collection….you are just too cute…I think I’ll keep you as my little pet…would you like that?”. The Tibble then chirped with happiness and started to lick Taneleers fingers. “Hehe ok little one…now for a name…”.

He then started to observe the creature carefully “ok so you’re a boy tribble…hmm….how about….Tibby? You like the name Tibby?” The tribble then jumped onto Taneleers shoulder and then onto his fluffy hair and snuggled into it. “I take that as a yes then hmm?”. Taneleer then headed home.

Once home, he then got a small bath ready for Tibby to clean him up. Once he did that then he dried him and he looked as good as new. Taneleer then went to his collection room to which Tibby followed. “I’ve got something in this collection for you Tibs!” He then stopped at a box full of stuff he hasn’t placed in his collection yet and pulls out a small black collar. He then places the collar around Tibbys neck and stood back to look. “You are now officially my little pet Tibby! My little companion, my friend…my family…”. Tibby then jumps up to Taneleers shoulder again and licks his cheek. “Aww Tibs…glad you like it…I’ll take care of you forever as my little baby…I love you Tibs”. He then places a soft small kiss on the Tribbles head to which Tibbys antennas glow meaning he loved it. From that day on, Tibby was Taneleers best friend and companion that helped him with his collection and they loved each other very much. Taneleer saved Tibby from dying and Tibby saved Taneleer from loneliness.

End.

(Hoped you guys liked the story!)

[clazberryk]

An unfair hand has been dealt

Yes I know I am sorry it is Saturday not Friday, after work yesterday i just crashed I did not even play on BG3.

Anyway here is the new story part of the SOmetimes the unknown is safer series. I hope you enjoy.

An Unfair Hand has been Dealt- Chapter One: The Aftermath.

Astarion felt cold, icy tendrils, creeping through his veins, up his arms, frosty tips, causing his extremities becoming numb, this was not supposed to happen. How did this happen? He stared into the black inky void. He could not decipher any colour, he was in a permanent state of dark vision, shades of black and grey. There was no light, no shimmers of gold, or slithers of silver. The world had been plunged into monochrome and he found he did not care, or he could not care. Or was he just numb? If he were numb, he could manage that, move through the world like a shadow, when he was turned two hundred years ago. For what was the point? What was the reasoning of enjoying life and colour if he could not share it with her? He stood, his movements felt less fluid than normal, he felt like the ungraceful half-starved spawn he was when they first met. Unknowing that the blood of thinking creatures would sharpen his senses, improve his already preternatural abilities, and ensure he moved with a grace that even living elves could not achieve. Her blood had allowed him to become more, allowed him to feel more, and understand his vampiric abilities. Her blood that kept him alive and ran through his body, his veins, her life song, no longer singing.

Astarion stumbled, he felt the viscous liquid move up his system, through his stomach up his oesophagus and he gagged, bending over and stumbling to the ground he wretched, but nothing came up, as for a vampire he could not vomit, he could not expel her blood from his body, could not return it to the rightful owner. He wretched more, tears stinging his eyes and falling down his icy cold cheeks. He felt like freshly blown glass, which would shatter at any moment, however he could not bring himself to feel this pain just the emptiness that she left behind, that monochrome life that he would now live alone.

Isolated.

Unloved.

Devoid.

He stumbled to his feet again, Karlach came into his view, she gripped his shoulders and talked to him, he could not hear what she was saying. Someone had plunged his head underwater. He felt his head tilt to the left, was it in agreement he was not sure. Everything was blurry. Everything was muted, how do people go on, once there other half was taken from this mortal coil? We were supposed to have centuries. Centuries of growing together learning from each other. Centuries of preparing and getting use to the thought of not have Taveleigha in the world with him. Not a small, short handful of months. Astarion stumbled forward, and then fell to his knees, he knew the fall should hurt but he could not feel the sting of his knees hitting the stone floor without being braced or prepared, he scrambled to his feet again, and moved forward again, steadier than before. He would disappear into the darkness. Let the tadpole turn me! Someone was shouting his name, he thought it was Shadowheart, but he could not decipher voices, he could not hear with his full ability of his vampiric hearing.

“Astarion, wait!” Shadowheart called after the silver haired elf, again, but he just kept stumbling forward. “Astarion please” Shadowheart pleaded again, that caused him to stumble to a stop, he whirled around. Shadowheart’s words died on her lips, the look on Astarion’s face was one of loss and despair, what could she say that could comfort the vampire in his time of need. As the months moved by and their group travelled longer together, they had all grown to care for each other, it was clear everyone loved Taveleigha dearly and even their resident snide vampire, however the look Shadowheart could not bring him relief or comfort, for it was a look of total loss. A man that had lost purpose to his life, his once bright eyes glowed a darker shade of red, the bright rubies dimmed by the loss of their leader. Why could she not revive her? What was the point of being a cleric if she could not bring the one person back who deserved a life as much as anyone else. Why did Taveleigha had to die, and a man like Gortash still lived? It made no sense.

She gripped her Moonmaiden locket around her neck and bowed her head. For what could she say?

Karlach moved forward, and then bend down to pick up Taveleigha, she held the red-haired elf with such reverence Shadowheart strained to keep her tears at bay. Their revivify scrolls had not worked, nor had her spell of revivify she had expended several of her own spell slots, she only had one left, but she did not want to try the final spell in the room. She did not even what to be in this building anymore. Only moments ago, she had said goodbye to her parents, and once the moon motes had floated away did everyone realise that their resident read head was not with them.

The three of them returned to the main area, where the fight had started and finished, moments ago and found Taveleigha’s body under Viconia’s dead body. The elf was unresponsive, and a lot of blood was staining the marble floor around her.

“By the gods” Karlach had rushed forward with Astarion, both of them slipping and sliding in Taveleigha’s blood, how did such a small body hold so much. The vampire reaching his lover first. He pulled her into his arms, a vile parallel to how he held her in Murkyl’s chamber.

“Tavi, my sweet” He had pressed his head against hers, but he knew, he knew this time it was different, it had been too long. He was not a magical user to the extent of Taveleigha or Shadowheart, but he understood the spells that they had used and had been lucky enough to find an abundant amount of the scrolls that had been used on the members of their part throughout their travels. This time there was no saving her, regardless of the amount of attempts Shadowheart tried. Astarion had fallen back onto his bottom, his whole body going slack, and Taveleigha a dead weight on top of him. Everything around him filtered to the back of his vision, only focusing on the slack and now cold body of his partner, his equal. The feeling of dread snaking through his veins as that was quickly, almost instantaneously replaced by the ice-cold numbness of isolation, of knowing that his love was gone. His better half of him was no longer in the body he held against himself.

Shadowheart numbly followed the Tiefling, out through the way they came, once they came out of the House of Grief, Astarion was nowhere to be found, and the sun was mockingly bright. It was too much. They would broker too much attention if the two of them walked through the streets with Taveleigha to The Elfsong, it was not a quick walk to the tavern, they were on the other side of the city, near the entrance to the upper city bridge. Karlach turned to the cleric, adjusting her hold on Taveleigha, and waited.

“We could go to Jaheria’s it’s just down the street” Shadowheart suggested.

“Someone needs to go after fangs” Karlach whispered, keeping her voice low, almost as if she herself was working in autopilot just like she was.

“We need to let the group…...” Shadowheart stopped, a thought occurring, they needed to let the party know. They needed to inform Isobel. Oh, Gods Isobel. She looked out to the water, the little stream running under the current bridge they stood on.

“Hello…. Earth to Shadowheart!” Karlach stood in the half elf’s line of vision, and she snapped back into existence, rousing from her reverie. “Where did you go?”

“Isobel”

“Fuck!”

@roguishcat @shewhowas39 @asweetlovesong @lirotation @astarionancuntnin @asweetlovesong If you want to be tagged please let me know. I try and tag everyone that interacts with the snippets and the WIP's. i am sorry if i have missed anyone.

[cutieterrarium]

🏛️🌱 #kavetham

haitham and kaveh knew each other as babies. kaveh reminisces about baby!haitham.

-

"You used to be so cute," Kaveh said. "A wriggling... squirmy little worm."

"You think wriggling, squirmy worms are cute?" Haitham said, dry.

"With... these BIG... green eyes!" Kaveh said, drunkenly. He threw his arms wide, as if that might illustrate how lovely and glimmering and big Haitham's eyes used to be. Not that they weren't still lovely and glimmering. And green. But.

"You're spilling your wine," Haitham said, rescuing Kaveh's glass. Plucked it straight from Kaveh's hand... and then drank it. He was, he rationalized, stopping Kaveh from getting even more stupidly drunk. "Let's go home," he said.

"Go to your home, you mean," Kaveh slurred. Like a boneless creature, he slumped against Haitham's side.

"Our home," Haitham said, but Kaveh's eyes were closed. If he was listening, he was pretending not to.

Kaveh re-invigorated himself on the way back, which was annoying. Haitham preferred just carrying Kaveh. ("You carry me like a sack of potatoes!" Kaveh had once accused. "Well, yes," Haitham had replied.) It was easier than coaxing a drunk, but conscious Kaveh home. Despite his slight build, he was very strong, and when intoxicated he often forgot to control his strength. He might go here, go there, go everywhere, and how was Haitham supposed to stop him? He'd have more luck corralling a sumpter beast.

Luckily, at least this time, Kaveh was stuck on the topic of baby Alhaitham. "You were THIS big!" he cried, demonstrating with his hands. "When we met! Tiny! A worm!"

"Would you stop calling me a worm? No, this way, our house is this way—"

"A worm," Kaveh repeated. He looked down at his hands and suddenly stopped walking. Haitham had a hand on his arm, and so he, still walking forward, rubber-banded back.

"Kaveh—"

"And you used to follow me around." Kaveh stared down mournfully at his hands. "You'd follow me... EVERYWHERE. Holding the back of my shirt. So cute. You used to be... cute."

"I did not follow you everywhere," Haitham protested.

"Yes you did," Kaveh said. "You were my little tail." He looked behind him. "Where's my tail?"

Haitham tugged on one of Kaveh's many scarves and shirt tassels. "Right here. Can we keep walking?"

"Yes, but you have to follow me," Kaveh said. He set off again. "You're my tail."

"..." Haitham put a hand to his forehead. "That's the way to the market, Kaveh."

"Big brother Kaveh." Kaveh whirled around. He pointed angrily to the nearest tree. "Why don't you call me big brother! You don't even call me senior!" Then he sniffled. "Wh... why did you get even taller?"

Haitham looked at the tree. "I don't skip my meals or sleep late drawing blueprints for clients," he said.

"Oh," Kaveh said to the tree. "That's... that makes sense." He turned and, thankfully, started walking in the right direction. "You were this tall," he said. "With big... BIG green eyes."

Haitham followed. After a moment, he reached out and grasped Kaveh's scarf. Kaveh wasn't the only one of them drunk, after all.

"You used to smile at me all the time," Kaveh said. "Why don't you smile at me anymore? And you don't... You don't think I'm funny anymore! You never laugh!"

Haitham rolled his eyes. "What is there to laugh at?"

"Me!" Kaveh said. "I'm a joke!" He stopped walking. So did Haitham, who curled his fingers tighter on the fabric in his hand. He stared down at the deep red colour.

"I don't think you're a joke," Haitham said. "Big brother Kaveh."

Haitham was still staring at Kaveh's scarf, and so it took him a moment to realise Kaveh had turned around. This time, when he looked at Haitham, he had at least not mistaken him for a tree. "You're so big," Kaveh said. "And tall. And rich. And... and... a big shot! ... An ex-big shot," he corrected himself, before Haitham could point out he was no longer Acting Grand Sage. "I... I..." He stared up at Haitham with mournful red eyes. "I can't take care of you anymore. I'm no good."

Haitham tugged the scarf, as if it were a leash, drawing Kaveh closer. "And didn't you ever think, big brother Kaveh," he said quietly, "that it might be my turn to take care of you?"

Kaveh's lips parted. He stank of wine. "Oh," he said. And then: "I... I'll take care of you too. I'll grow even taller. I'll earn even more money! Y... you won't even have to read anymore!" A pause. "I taught you to read!"

Haitham's lips quirked. "I remember," he said, and then: "I'll hold you to that."

"Good!" Kaveh cried. He reached up to grab Haitham by his headphones and said, very seriously: "You... you're not a worm anymore, but you're still cute."

"... Thank you," Haitham said, dryly, and allowed Kaveh to pull him down for a kiss.

[mossy-thing]

@tathrin Here you go, I hope you find this as awful as you found the concept of it. I know I do.

TW for descriptions of violence (I mean, its the nirnaeth) and also vague mentions of Fingons body aka canon typical lack thereof and slight dissociation. Additionally, I can't stop describing noise.

The noise was nearly deafening. For the last hours (or days, Maedhros really was not sure), he had swung his sword nearly blindly, led along only by an endless sea of coloured blurs, screams and roars of agony, fury and fear threatening to pull him under and blinding his senses until he was trampled by his kinsmen, a fate he avoided reliant only on instinct as the battle went on and on.

He already dreaded the days after the battle, if there were to be those for him, yet slain ye may be, and slain ye shall be, when his ears would refuse to work, creating a sensation like being deep underwater, and going over to a ringing that would last him for weeks.

But for now, he would not need to worry about after.

From the second Ulfang and his people had betrayed them on, everything had been a horrible, unforeseeable mess, a whirlwind of overwhelming heat and clashing metal Maedhros could not keep track of, and the best chance he had at surviving was to go on. He was sure that the sun had risen more than once since the battle had begun, and yet he had not seen the blue banners of Fingon at all.

Despite all the planning, they had completely lost control over the entire situation.

Something attacked him from his side, and he lifted his right arm just in time to catch the blow with the strapped on shield, throwing the creature back and plunging his long sword deep into their chest.

He growled as he twisted it, maybe to add a sound of his own to the cacophony of screams, and reveled in the pained gasp the orc gave as they died.

Another attack almost got to his neck, and his long braid swung around his head as he spun around to defend himself from the next enemy, and the next, and the next, copper strands sticky with blood, both black and red sticking to his forehead, and when he suddenly slipped, he could barely take a breath in before it was forced from his lungs by the impact.

The ground had turned from one resembling a dry desert to something like a swamp from one step to the other, and Maedhros struggled with all his might to get up, because he knew that if he let his aching limbs rest for just a second, he might never get up again.

He tried to find hold, and something crunched under his hand when he managed to push himself up, cutting his finger, and absentmindedly, he thought that he had better remember to clean that cut later. It would not serve him well to lose another hand.

His feet were slipping underneath him, adding a wet sound to the endless sea of noise, and for a moment, something about the colour of whatever made the ground so swamp-like tried to push through to him, but it was gone before he could grasp it.

A stray arrow flew straight at his head, and he dodged it just in time, causing his hand to slip and make him fall once more. At least the arrow had landed somewhere useful, he dimly thought as he watched it pierce an orcs eye, but he quickly gathered enough focus to stand up again, plunging his sword into the ground to push himself up on it.

His armor hung heavily on him, and for just a second, Maedhros' shallow breathing was a noise louder than the rest of the battle. He pulled his sword from the ground, from which it came free with a disgustingly wet squelching. Then he saw something that made his heart stop.

Trampled into the mud, barely recognisable, was a ripped banner. Blue, its colour might have once been, and Maedhros recognized it instantly.

More so, he recognized the golden ribbon sticking to it in a mixture of blood and black dirt, nearly artfully, and it came free together with two dark strands of hair when he bowed to pluck it away from the torn fabric.

Something in his mind refused to understand.

Surely this could not mean -

His breath came haltingly and shallow, and the noise around him was dying down in a way it had not for days. His fingers shook around the ribbon.

Shock, he thought like from very far away, I am in shock, but it did not matter. Nothing did.

Not the orcs, or the balrogs, or even his own people. All he could do was stare at the ribbon, remaining miraculously unharmed until he was pulled onto a horse, some nebulous voice he should recognize screaming his name and shaking his shoulder as a dragon roared behind them.

He barely heard it.

[mothnita]

TW!! insects, beetles, frogs

i find it very interesting that Olimar notes in the Piklopedia how the White Pikmin, despite being poisonous beings, do not have a bright or striking colour, rather having their titular hue

it's amazing!! normally, in nature, an animal or a plant that's venomous/poisonous will display vibrant colours to warn other creatures to stay away

this is called Aposematism!

the use of warning colouration in animals and plants to indicate that they are dangerous in one way or another, be it poison, venom or any other kind of threat!!

while yes, white is one of the colours some will display, it usually comes in a striking or eye catching pattern like that of a skunk or a honey badger

but for my main example i'm taking notes from the Poison Dart Frog and Yellow Blister Beetles (yes, they look a lot like Anode Beetles!!!)

the frogs have very bright colouration, ranging from a solid coat of colour, like the Golden Poison Dart Frog, to more intricate patterns like the Amazon Poison Dart Frog

Yellow Blister Beetles have yellow stripes or sometimes spots on their solid black backs, and once crushed or squeezed, they will release toxins

as for plants, i think my best example would be the Nightshade family

but Moth!! there are many poisonous flowers out there with white colouration!!

you are very right! there are! Lilies, Giant Hogweed, Jimson Weed and Water Hemlock to name a few!

however i bring you this: Pikmin, and by extent the Ambuloradicis class, are both stated to exhibit both animal and plant traits, and since they do show more "animal" traits, i decided to give this one characteristic to them

therefore, it would make sense the Pikmin are very brightly coloured! little guys won't go down without a fight!

but White Pikmin?? why not show vibrant colours or eye catching patterns??

and here's where i want to do some fun speculation:

creatures that consume the Pikmin are also prey, yes? the Pikmin coexist with the planet's flora and fauna through the natural cycle of life and death: the Pikmin that are consumed give life to others, produce nutrients and therefore produce more offspring for said bugs; the beings that are hunted by the Pikmin will, in turn, become nutrients for the Onion to produce more seeds

what i'm going for is - the Pikmin and the Creatures need each other to thrive, they consume each other so that they will both live, it creates a balance!

back to the White Pikmin, i think it would make sense that they don't decide to outright present themselves as dangerous: to be consumed by a bug would mean that it would get poisoned and die, therefore becoming another corpse for the Pikmin to feed to their Onion- simple!

however i do see some flaws in this little headcanon: while not very striking, the White Pikmin's body colour makes a nice contrast to their vibrant red eyes and you can even see a hint of purple creeping on their limbs!

maybe there's no special reason for them to be just white, maybe it's just a fun colour!

a hungry Bulborb would no doubt eat the very first tiny carrot in front of it, even if it's got an interesting colour to it!

but this was all just an excuse to ramble about my favourite things: nature and Pikmin!!

edit: added pictures! pretty pictures... :]