#as seen from afar

[neonthewrite]

Two Thieves

Finally, some progress on GTJuly (2023)! This next prompt was "Weapon" and I really flip flopped on what to write for this one. Until I remembered Eral and his extremely effective weapons that really level the playing field for a teeny little pixie.

~~~

Two thieves watched and waited, putting in their best effort to avoid looking like thieves. Leaning against a wall and keeping an eye on the many coming and going in the market could easily start to look like loitering if they weren’t careful, but they’d been at this long enough to mind their demeanor. Sturdy, plain canvas clothes, a little too worn to mark them as students at the college taking up a good portion of the eastern district of the city but not worn enough for anyone to accuse them of being hard workers, helped them blend in. Just another pair of humans in a city largely populated by humans. They could be travelers, or locals on a break from tending one of the nearby shops, or youths sneaking off from their errands.

But no. They were thieves.

The taller and bulkier of the two, who usually went by Arden, scanned the crowd without noticing most of the faces. The city wasn’t huge, but it wasn’t small, either, and a lot of people from all walks of life wandered through. Arden looked for signs of an easy mark anywhere but the faces he wouldn’t remember anyway.

His companion, Willow, an aptly-named little thing who used his extra-youthful looks to great advantage most of the time, watched the crowd with much more boredom, until suddenly his face lit up. “Arden. By the tailor shop. Red topped foreigner.”

Arden lazily scanned towards the tailor shop. No need to be obvious about his gaze. Indeed, near the shop, he found said foreigner happily chatting up the owner of a fruit and wine cart on the broad sidewalk. The guy wore travel clothes that might have been fine once, but had since worn out. His pack hung heavy on his shoulders. His armor was light and spry and he held himself like one who knew how to draw attention. By his brown skin and deep red hair, he probably got his fair share of sidelong glances in this area. Something seemed familiar about the tattoos on his forearms, bared by his rolled up sleeves as he gestured along with whatever tale he told the cart owner.

“Meraevrian?” Arden guessed, his mouth barely moving. “What’s he doing all the way up here?”

Willow shrugged, but he’d clearly made up his mind about something. “He’s probably got some good trinkets from far away. What say I find out where he’s—is that a pixie with him?”

Arden hadn’t noticed right away, either. From several shops away, the two thieves could hardly be blamed for not noticing the tiny figure standing right atop the cart, also involved in the conversation. Leaf wings and verdant armor made them look like a little decoration for the wares on offer. The pixie couldn’t be more than six inches tall.

And suddenly Arden thought he knew who that pair was. “Foreign redhead with a leafy pixie … we’re gonna forget we ever saw them, you hear me, Will?”

Willow turned a frown his way. “Seriously? A wandering chatterbox and a tiny little fairy? They’d be a cinch. We might even be able to get some pixie dust, if not a whole pixie—”

“We don’t muddy our hands with stealing people, you idiot,” Arden snapped at him, again barely moving his mouth lest someone somehow read his side of the conversation. “Besides. I heard about those two. If it was just one or the other I’d have missed the signs. But there’s been rumors about the Meraevrian and his pixie friend.”

Willow slumped against the wall again, but seemed to accept the warning. “What, is the guy a tough mage or something?”

Arden huffed in lieu of shaking his head. “What I hear, he’s just a bard. Not much going on there that we need to worry about. It’s the pixie we need to be careful not to piss off. And not for any of those ‘beware the fae’ reasons.”

Willow’s expression flattened. “Horse. Shit. The little fae are still little. You could cart that guy off in a pint if you wanted to.”

Arden turned a sharp gaze on his confident friend. “That pixie has weapons, Willow. Weapons no pixie ought to have their tiny little hands on, and yet they’re made for him. Take a good look at him, yeah?”

Willow did so, and Arden watched warily, too. The pixie, seen from a distance, really didn’t look formidable at all. If not for his wings being open and occasionally twitching with whatever he said to his companion, they might not be recognizable. He looked just like any of the small fae, entirely too easy to mess with if they decided it. Willow was probably coming to the same conclusion all over again, so Arden nudged his shoulder with an elbow. “That little guy has a crossbow that shoots through anything. See it on his belt? And the rapier on the other side deals more pain than any needle that size ever should.”

Willow scoffed. “I dunno. Anything better than rumors about them?”

Arden scoffed back, managing to sound much less like a petulant child as he did so. “Take it from Sal at the bar, who heard from a friend of an acquaintance of an associate that a man two towns over got both hands lopped off by one shot from that pixie. So he’s got good aim, too. And maybe they are just rumors. But I like having both hands. So I’m going to leave the damn pixie and his bard alone, and you can sing that to the gods.”

Willow glared up at Arden, still unconvinced. Arden stared back, unbothered by Willow’s disbelief. He’d never apologize for being cautious, especially when there were far less risks involved in targeting almost anyone else visiting the market that day. Neither of them could afford those rumors being true.

As usual, eventually Arden’s steady conviction won out against Willow’s impatience. Willow sighed and returned to scanning the crowd, though they both glanced towards the cart when the bard and pixie took their leave. Those leaf wings became a green blur for the short flight from the cart to the man’s shoulder, and the sun winked off the rapier at the little guy’s hip even from that distance.

Two thieves watched and waited and pretended they never saw either of those newcomers to town.

[soapsinthebox]

Now that the date for part twos release is edging closer and closer, i think i should mention this:

Please PLEASE be normal about the characters.(ironic i know, but listen to me)

For a whole year, we have had nothing but fanfiction and headcanon to base our perception of the characters off of, do you know how long that is?? of course when the episodes release, theres gonna be a huge chance that characters might not behave how we expect them to.

Please dont get mad or angry that a character isnt fitting your expectations of how their arc is going, whether its its pacing, direction, or just writing in general.

Fanfiction is at the end of the day, fanfiction! its probably not going to fit the canon , and thats okay!! just dont let it alter your perception of this show. We dont want another digital circus problem on our hands, especially in a community as small as this where news and drama spreads like wildfire. just... please be mindful.

(this post is NOT saying you shouldn't criticize the show for aspects it does poorly! please dont read it like that)

[sachart]

Been suffering from ArthurEames brain rot on a 24/7 basis for what I think is now months

Based on the cover of The Sting (1973) which I also watched and loved and can be seen under the cut

[caitas-cooing]

Yes, not all aces and aros and not all aros are ace. Yes, there are ace people who still have sex and there are aros that still date. Yes, some aspec people will enter QPRs. All these things are true, but if I tell you that canonically a character is aspec and you say these things a lot of the time it doesn't feel like you actually want to explore the complexities of aspec identities and the relationships they form with other people, you just want to be able to write shipping and smut fics or fanart without getting accused of erasing a characters Identity. And it's hollow justification because again you don't really care about learning about our identities. And like I'm not gonna harass people for writing or drawing things regardless because frankly I have better things to do, but I do wish some people would be more honest about their intentions with certain things. Idk if any of this makes sense, I'm just writing down my almost 3am thoughts about things

[cupiidzbow]

what the freak so silly ……..

[fisheito]

wait. puss in boots rei? unfulfilled dream? as.. as in. kinda like. a last wish.? like. the last puss in boots movie.? perrito garu?????

[lunaetis]

my mutuals on why you followed me meme : i followed you bc i thought you were cool :D me, doing a double take : HAVE YOU SEEN ME ?

[hajihiko]

kuzunami :3c

The puppy crush .... ! I've talked about The Square before hut honestly they could be so cute. And short. Fuyuhiko 'oh fuck is that a sweet and nerdy girl oh no' Kuzuryuu and Chiaki 'I already know you're nice stop hiding' Nanami

[deadqueernoldor]

Thinking thoughts about those from Cuivienen and how they later treated the Valar, especially after Cuivienen was destroyed.

I imagine a foundation of sorrow and a layer of betrayal and pettiness. They had promised safety. And how did it turn out? Kin of Tata and Tatie their first leaders, slain in Valinor by the Dark Hunter from which the Valar promised protection in Valinor.

And then, the War of Wrath comes and with it the destruction of Cuivienen.

If any of those were re-embodied in Aman, I wonder if they make it a point to always turn their back to Valar and Maiar. I wonder if they only speak in the tongue they had first devised all those millennia ago and spoke in Cuivienen before time and different kindreds changed the tongue, not Sindarin or Quenya from the Great Journey's time or later. I wonder if they sing songs in their ancient tongue, songs about the beauty and unsullied health of Cuivienen every time any of the Ainur are near.

I wonder if the Valar feel any shame when those who they once looked upon in wonder and love gaze back at them with indifference or disgust.

[hotmessmaxpress]

I need to know vale's pov after he started following Marc on instagram.... I bet he was going crazy

I might write an actual verson of that in his pov eventually but I want to ramble!

He’s absolutely losing his fucking mind. Marc’s instagram content is so tame compared to his onlyfans stuff (obviously) and it makes vale even crazier than just outright seeing marc's dick. It's like in the victorian era when men would lose their mind at a little collarbone or ankle... seeing marc doing things like riding a bike in a tight shirt gives the insinuation of his naked body without showing it. It forces vale to picture it. It forces him to remember what marc's naked body looks like, which forces him to think about marc moaning his name... he's also smart enough to know that marc is probably posting this thirst-trap ass content because of him.

I also think that seeing his real life does things to vale's brain. It sort of starts to break down his stubborn walls; he sees marc as human, so uccio's insistence that marc is some sort of criminal mastermind out to steal all his money starts to seem unreasonable. Seeing the way marc snuggles with the sausage dogs and loves his brother and his bikes is really impactful to vale. Vale starts to picture what it would be like to be around marc in person, and mesh their lives together. It's the start of vale's romantic feelings stepping forward, rather than just his dick running the show. Marc is kind and sweet and charismatic in addition to being incredibly sexy, and vale gets to start seeing that.

[ashes-in-a-jar]

Wakes up in cold sweat Did I dream that a few years ago Castiel confessed gay love to fucking Dean in the finale of the CW show Supernatural

[drawballa]

Shield & Shelter Chapter 7 (2/4)

ALL CHAPTERS: https://www.tumblr.com/drawballa/708347107446226945/shield-shelter-royalau-master-post?source=share

[icewindandboringhorror]

just a few little bits from the past few days

[regretfulcorrine]

idk if I even should open the ‘hazbin hotel’ can of worms, but gd i am extremely tempted to redesign and redraw these two smackin’ lips 🧍‍♀️

[nyxypoo]

as much as i LOVE kiryu, i could never STAND being in the same room as him bc ik for a fact he'd dress better than me

[realcowboysdrinkjuice]

nobody is gonna see this but like two years ago i read a fanfic and in it badboyhalo was the daycare worker and every day i wonder if that person still watches mcyt and knows that they were so right cause here we are w qsmp and bbh is basically the daycare guy mf watches those kids