#dahlia would mostly be the same person

[spaciebabie]

so unamed does a lot of outwardly awful things throughout the story both to dahlia and to the people around him as a result of the trauma hes experienced, but dahlia is also not innocent in her treatment specifically of unamed. the bad things she does to unamed are more invisible/you have to look closer to see it. it starts off when they first meet and dahlia takes him in. unamed has been living on the streets for like 20 years so he doesnt really have good home etiquette nor does he know how to co-exist with other people. dahlia will constantly chastise him for not acting like a "normal" person. she may play it off as a joke, calling him a slob or a freak, getting passive aggressive, complaining when he does something, getting pissed at him for something that was his fault....but unintentionally implying that hes a screw up. treating him with harshness when its all hes known his whole life, rather than the gentleness he needs to heal.

and its not like dahlia has any clue that her words are hurting him. unamed doesnt even know himself! he's so deep in his cptsd flashbacks and abandonment depression that everything dahlia says he already believes about himself. so dahlia is really just confirming his (unrealistic) cptsd fueled thoughts he has about himself. hes the worst person alive he deserves to die he'll never be a good person even if he tries and so that directly makes his relationship with dahlia worse.

dahlia doesnt realize that she is part of the cause of why unamed acts the way he does and the reason why he seemingly gets worse over the course of the story. if she did, she would change her behavior immediately. but these characters are so uninformed about each others plights their relationship is doomed to be toxic.

dahlia is also...Kind of Clingy. literally forgetting that unamed is an adult and his own person and doesnt need her protection all the time (but then at the same time he feels anxious now when shes not around hehe codependent ships for the win). like. hes a literal BIOWEAPON for christs sake. he is more than capable at taking care of himself (and has for 20 years!). and when unamed disappears for awhile and suddenly appears back at dahlias doorstep shes (understandably) pissed, but lays into unamed instead of having literally any other healthy reaction.

and then there's her people pleasing. ohhh shes already a really bad people pleaser but when it comes to unamed? shes floored every time he demands something of her. she effectively has no boundaries with unamed. she may get real pissed at him about stuff, but whenever unamed exhibits his awful behavior she literally just takes it. maybe she gives him a gentle "hey stop this" but there are no consequences for when he hurts her. she just lets it happen over and over again and gives him a pass, once again, actively worsening him in the process.

and then at the same that she acts awfully towards him...she treats him Like A God. will tell him how amazing he is, how she loves him so much and will always be there to support him....in DIRECT contradiction to the way she treated him before. unamed already has a god complex, but dahlia makes it so much worse. he feels like he has really high expectations to fill now. hes being held to a standard that he has no hope of ever reaching which makes it all the more awful when he fails.

these lesbians are nawwwwwt good for each other at all. they both need relationship therapy as well as individual therapy if they ever have any hope of making this work.

[periwinkla]

Character Parallels

I've been replaying the trilogy recently, and it made me think... there are so many parallels? Some may be unintentional perhaps, but still. But what fascinates me the most is that all the paralells have pretty blatant contrasts by the end - somehow emphasized by the 'ending' of it all. Gregory - Phoenix Both become parents at 26, but Gregory loses Miles when he's 9 and Phoenix gets Trucy when she's 8 - so the difference is that basically Phoenix resumes where Gregory left off. Trucy - Miles Both adopted by lawyers at around the same age - both lose their parents in a courthouse - both precocious children who excel in their chosen path at an extremely young age - both somewhat extravagant, Trucy with her magician getup and Miles with his formal way of dressing and fancy talk. The difference between them is obviously that Trucy was lucky enough to have a decent, loving parent while Miles was not. * the above stuff is also why I really want Miles to co-parent because it would just come full-circle and would be fodder for great character development for both him and Trucy but I digress Phoenix - Miles The contrasts between them are mostly about their attitude towards things and nothing too specific, so I'll focus on the similarities here. They're both manipulated by someone they trusted, both accused of murder because of that person's plot - both kinda try to rush to their deaths because of it (Phoenix eats a necklace(d) with poison, Miles confesses to a crime that would lead to a death penalty). The difference here is basically that Phoenix tends to prefer taking care of things himself - he likes to help, but hates to be helped. Probably didn't even let Miles be in the country during the whole thing, he probably only him help with the implementation of the jurist system from afar. Both try to hide their emotions and are secretive (but Phoenix is more successful, while Miles kinda sucks at it) - both accused of forging evidence (although Miles doesn't get disbarred because of it). Both try their darn hardest at helping people because they've helped each other and were inspired by the other's words and actions in the past and become the person they are today because of it. They're mentors, but they also learn from their mentees, and each other - okay this is turning into narumitsu real fast I'll stop Kristoph - Manfred Both manipulative, egotistical and prideful to the point where a minor blow to their ego makes them go murderous and vindicative - both dedicate their life to ruin the one that offended them. In Kristoph's case, it's both towards Phoenix and Zak, actually - Kristoph also murders a father (well, actually, he murders two fathers), like Manfred killed Gregory. Both also have a relative that needs to cope with what they did (Franziska and Klavier). The contrast here is mainly that while Manfred ultimatelly confesses fully, we never discover what Kristoph's black locks were truly about. Franziska - Manfred Both shot, but in different circumstances - Manfred takes a vacation in order to recover and make sure absolutely no one knows anything, but Franziska tries to go straight to court and wears her injury with something akin to pride (a bulletshot won't stop her, neither will what people think of her) Dahlia - Kristoph They both manipulate their sibling to do their bidding (although Klavier was unaware, unlike Iris) - both fans of poison - both destroyed by the person they despised the most - the difference here is that Kristoph did everything by himself (he manipulated Klavier, but he wasn't aware), while Dahlia conspirated with multiple people (Iris, Morgan, Valerie) There are probably others, but these are the ones that stuck out to me the most. Gosh I love Ace Attorney's writing.

[harlequinoccult]

Looking back through old asks... specifically at the one regarding MC owning a flower shop and I am just imagining how funny it is in regards to everyone but host.... like '???? why is this killer I met in the woods so familiar.......' only for them be like 'wait.... the killer I met in the woods is the person who owns the flower shop?!?!?! they are the same person???? huh???? do they realize we've met before? do they recognize me?' please I need to know how they each specifically react lol

Elysium continues on like normal. Mostly because they don't know if they should even bring it up. Like. Should he get involved? Do you even want him to bring it up?? Overthinking like mad but all the while outwardly they'd be a cordial and well tipping customer.

Dahlia realizes it and will never ever bring it up unless you bring it up first. She will staunchly continue to be a customer, hell, even a regular, but she will never acknowledge why you know each other until you're the one that brings it up.

Overdose....doesn't know how to be normal about it. It's like running into your teacher or coworker during a day off. like. do they...say something?? They try and fail to bring it up a few times but it's....weird. just speaking to you in a normal setting around normal people.

Cold is. Amused by this if it seems like you haven't noticed. They are going to start messing with you a little, vaguely referencing things that only the two of you would know, in front of other customers, just to see if you sweat.

The amount that Sweetheart visits increases greatly once he realizes, he'll speak like you're old friends even if MC hasn't realized it yet, to the point that i could imagine one getting kind of freaked out by it.

[cyandreamzaceattorney]

♡ April May ♡

Oh boy it's been a hot minute since I was last on this site, long story short I've been super busy with real life stuff and, while I've now gotten more time to draw than last week, I may become less active over the next few months :P

Anyways time to talk about the drawing! Yesterday I felt like drawing April May, why? Because not only did I feel like drawing something super cute and pink but, also I actually do enjoy April May's character quite a bit! It was a lot of fun to draw her and design a cute outfit loosely inspired by her canon outfit! I also gave her a fuller figure because she kinda has one in official art though that's probably mostly due to trilogy art style drawing often drawing aa characters (especially men) thicker, but I like drawing all kinds of body types so I decided I'd draw her chubby/mid sized anyways :P

now to talk more about her character >:-). A lot of people seem to think of her a lesser version of Ini Miney or even Dahlia Hawthorne but personally, I feel like all three of these women are quite different from each other, sure there are many traits that are same but that's the case for well, any one if you compare them to someone else, let alone characters in the same fictional franchise :P

So why do I like her? Well the main one is that to me she's to me a women who is unlikable but, you can't help but feel sorry for. I feel this way because while yes she did help Redd White blackmail many and kill Mia, and she does have a rude, harsh and literally catty personality but, she's was also stuck in a bad and potentially dangerous situation. A lot of people seem to forget that Redd White is a powerful and dangerous man, who had enough power to blackmail people with a lot of power and influence. also in one of her dialogue options she does outright mention being scared of him, because he knows how to shut people up. Personally wouldn't be surprised if Mia wasn't his first murder but that's a hc based off that line of dialogue.

speaking of hc's I do have a few for April May! (these do have minor spoilers for AA3, AAI1/2)

She's from Zheng Fa, now I haven't finished AAI2 yet (on case 4 atm) so idk if case 4 and 5 will effect this hc or not, but I noticed both Shi-Long and Di-Jun kinda act and look animal like in a similar way to April, of course her name doesn't really fit with Zheng Fa names but given she has a fake cutesy personality the name could also be fake (or she legally changed it to April May either after moving to America or after she started working at Blue Corp)

She met Dahlia in prison, I feel like she would've been sent to prison for a while due to being an accomplice in many of Redd White's crimes and since Morgan was able to meet Dahlia any other prisoner could as well, including April. I mostly have this hc cuz I feel like these two would at first bound over hating lawyers and how easy it is to fool people with a cutesy act, but than stop bonding when April learns a bit more about Dahlia.

Before working at Blue Corp she wanted to be a model and even dating a bit during that time, but neither worked out. One of her bf's just so happened to be Larry Butz (did I only come up with this hc because I learnt April and Larry are same age? maybe XD)

because she's a one off character in my mind she got her life together after serving her jail sentence. Maybe she got into a completely different job like running a bakery or something, idk lol

I hope you all enjoy my hc's and this drawing X3

[pearl-kite]

Hi I know this is out of nowhere and sorry if you answered it before. Also totally ok if you don’t want to answer

But your blog got me super interested in the redacted asmr thing

I did some research and you seem to know a lot about so do you know if there’s any like, chronological order I should watch them?

Love your blog!

Absolutely no worries! I like getting stuff to respond to, it's the opposite of a bother <3

So Redacted Audio, formerly Redacted ASMR, is a channel on youtube with a, quite frankly, massive amount of audio, and since it's been running for over 4 years now it can be a LOT to sort through. Fortunately, he's done a really good job curating and organizing playlists for the different speaker-characters.

Everything is within the same universe, and many of the characters have interacted with each other. The context is that the location is a fictional city named Dahlia set somewhere in California, which is a "cornerstone" city for magical society. The best way to get a solid rundown on magic and the setting is to listen through the Freelancer Season 1 playlist.

This one is already arranged in chronological order* and also has the benefit of giving a sampler of sorts for a wider variety of speakers. One thing to be aware of ahead of time: While this was actively being published, Erik hadn't decided who the listener-character (nicknamed Freelancer) would be romancing, so it starts off with a lot of potential toward all of them except Caelum. As it went, there were polls in the discord server that he used to run, and popular consensus eventually narrowed it down to Gavin. The first time I listened was after all of that, and I was more fond of Damien, but I'm personally pleased with Gavin now, and this playlist has been one of my favorites to just revisit if I'm bored.

*Well, mostly. There was a point where the channel got a strike for some of the audios being too spicy and he removed and/or edited some of them to try to avoid being demonetized. The first Gavin audio is one of the ones that got edited, and #3 on the playlist accidentally got relocated. It's been a long time, but I think it was originally after what's now #6, the second Caelum audio.

Aside from that one as a good introduction to the channel as a whole, there are some "main" characters that have had the most attention.

One is a group of wolf shifters: David, the current head of the pack (Chronological for his listener. A lot of people aren't super fond of the earliest ones for him, #3-5, because the character evolved a bit and they aren't really representative any longer) Asher, his second Milo, another pack member, which is absolutely underselling him, he's one of my favorites

There are a couple of vampires: Vincent, the OG for the channel Sam, a common favorite who's listener is a member of David's pack

While most of the playlists are specific to character, there are a few thematic ones as well, all of which are chronological within themselves. Now, chronology with respect to each other can start to get a bit confusing, because of how long it's taken for some of them to play out.

If you want to get a feel for the characters before worrying too much about timeline, I'd listen through most playlists as they're arranged with one main caveat:

When you hit the audios titled Inversion, give those a pause until you've listened to more speakers. Inversion was a huge crossover he did that has 10+ speakers involved.

A personal favorite has been Vega. I'm actually super not fond of the first audio he's in, which is also in the Freelance list, so I skip that one when I relisten. The first one in this list is that one with the Freelancer, but the second and onward has a demon listener nicknamed Warden. We just got an update on his story today/last night and I've been a little unwell about it 🙃

I am realizing I could go on and on and on and I kind of have, so I'm going to stop there. Hopefully that's enough to dip your toes in. I'll gladly help out with any follow-up questions, too :3

[the-clay-quarters]

Okay this took me three days bcus I spent Way too long thinking about it but! here's my guys in @t6fs' template!

The only bit of this that was left blank for non character reasons is the dreams- I avoid all the dream cards in game to avoid nightmares, so I don't really know the vibes oops. Oh, and the key items are distinctive things they carry regularly, excluding things they'd own at home. Otherwise, detail bits under the cut! I ended up with a lot of notes and wanted to ramble, it's really fuckin long <3

Silverstein

"His" pet is Pembroke's Half-Wild Mandrake (from bag a legend). They both agree that it is still hers, it's just hard to take care of in the middle of the city so it lives out with him. Otherwise, he keeps no pets.

Apathetic but also opinionated: On most things, he's very apathetic, simply agreeing with other people's decisions. On the other hand, though, he is strongly revolutionary and aiming for a lot of change... Not that he'd tell you that, not that you should know.

Dreams: It's canon that clay men can't dream :( No rights

Habitat: He likes being out and about, he spends most of his day out in the streets. He does a lot of "low skill" but high strength work, like moving services or construction.

Both hot/cold and coffee/tea are Neither for clay man reasons: Very high and cold temperatures cause him issues in different, equally annoying ways, and he can't eat/taste either, so no preference on food or drink.

Items: The gloves are clay stained, actually, and primarily on the inside. He started collecting first city coins for heart's desire and just has a habit of keeping some on him now. Horse head amulet... fear of death and uncertainty about the particulars of clay men :)

Flower, white rose: Did you know all the funky coloured roses (ie blue or rainbow) are made by dying white ones? :)c

Animal, saint bernard: Big but fairly gentle and lazy, would be a guard dog if asked but is mostly content to just sit

Element, rock slide: Change! Upheaval! Rocks :3

Pembroke:

The pet is her hunting dog, lovely lil thing <3 She doesn't keep many pets as she's a very busy person (and wouldn't want to put that on her poor housekeeper) but a good dog is always useful.

Rude-polite range is because she defaults to, and is usually, quite polite but often is also overcome with the need to be an absolute lil shit. Duality of man <3

Lodgings: Rooms above an ex-bookshop, now her tailoring shop!

Enemies: See: habit of being a chaotic lil shit. Apparently people don't like it when you think their party is too boring and try to spice it up smh

Items: A wedding ring with no match. A pocket watch to keep a tight schedule. A weapon of some sort, picked from a diverse collection. A travel sewing kit for rogue buttons and popped stitches. A hat pin, back up weapon :)

Flower, green dahlia: .......This one's mostly a pun off of Delia ngl

Animal, borzoi: Fancy and elegant looking, but still a hunting dog. Pretty but vicious~

Vincent:

The pet listed is a frost-moth but they have so. many. bugs. The phosphorescent scarabs are also pets. They have spiders. They keep any and every type of bug to either study or have as a pet. Please never visit their flat if you don't like bugs.

Gender: Bureaucratic misunderstanding. They filled out various forms wrong when they were first travelling to the neath, rolled with the neutral pronouns, realised they like it more than they probably should, and simply refused to think about that at all

Logic-emotion range is them trying to lead with logic but also having high anxiety

Lawful-chaotic and apathetic-opinionated are also anxiety, honestly. Though, for the latter, they are just quiet about their more out-there opinions, especially in the realm of politics. It's a culture thing kinda sorta, if I get into that here it'll add like 3 paragraphs at least.

Cultural identity: Catalan! Very proud of that! But won't default to that and will usually say they're Spanish. I can't get into that for the exact same reasons as the last point oops

Allies: This guy ☝ is depressed and isolating themself

Remember vs forget: When you're this far from home, your culture comes just from your own memories that you can't afford to lose. But also fuck wouldn't it be nice to simply forget the things causing you anxiety.

Items: Big round glasses to counter their shortsightedness. Bugs. Anti spider goggles that aren't prescription, both because they were originally lent and because they don't usually need to see very far with them on. Catholic rosary, worn under their shirt. Bugs. Surface currency, specifically Spanish pesetas, sent from their parents. Bugs. Bugs. More bugs.

Flower, forget me nots: Blue, anxiety coded, pretty <3

Animal, mantis: Awkward looking, vibes <3 Also, specifically hierodula papua bcus it's blue!

[brodorokihousuke]

Sad part is, if Apollo told Phoenix or whoever could potentially defend him (Assuming he get caught) is the fact that likely no one would believe him. In canon spirits can only take over the bodies of Women in the fey clan. Considering the closest event we have to Possession was Dahlia and Maya, there’s still no evidence to back up that him being possessed is possible.

(Plot twist, Thalassa’s mother was a Fey and Apollo technically has Fey blood in him.)

[cracks knuckles] i will use this opportunity to expand on my personal headcanons here

(which are mostly only relevant to this au but can be applied elsewhere)

so like yeah. spirit possession is pretty exclusive canonically. However, in my little bubble here... perhaps, if two people had a strong bond in life (familial, friend, or romantic, etc), it is possible for the deceased to interact in some sort of fashion with the one who is still living. This usually only happens if there are incredibly strong emotions at play, and if the one who is living has been weakened in some way. This rarely happens, due to either chance or some other unknown factor at play.

But importantly it is distinct from 'standard' spirit channeling, in that both spirits are fully aware (unless the living one falls asleep or is knocked out), the body does not change in appearance aside from a slight white light emanating from the pupils, and can go on indefinitely with no direct harm to the host body. However, exorcisms still work the same.

As a kind of unrelated aside, the deceased spirit cannot feel the pain of the living host! Which can be both a bad thing and a good thing (imagine getting into a debilitatingly painful accident only for your dead friend to get up and walk your sorry ass to safety)

if Thalassa was a Fey... so many goddamn Feys lmao

[snackara]

Character Fun Facts

Progress on Chapter Six has been a little slow, so I decided to offer something different in the meantime.

Asha 🗡️

She’s actually very good with children, and occasionally they’ll ask her to tell them stories from her adventures in Rosas. She also tells them a lot of the same stories Thomás told her.

She’s not very good at drawing people. She sticks to mostly drawing landscapes and animals.

Her sword was passed down to her from Thomás, who received it as a special gift from King Enrique himself.

She looks a lot more like her father then her mother.

She’s actually 20 in this story, while Flazino is 19. I decided to make her a little older in this story since she started stealing from Rosas at 14, giving her 6 years of experience, which made the most sense to me.

Earendel ✨

His real life counterpart is WHL0137-LS, which is actually the earliest and most distant star we know of at 28 billion light-years away.

His favorite animals are deer, hence the addition of antlers on his cloak. Quite a bit of the time he spent watching Earth was spent observing deer.

Since the sun is a star, his powers are connected to Rapunzel’s from Tangled. However, since he is a star himself, he doesn’t have to sing to heal people or make them younger.

He’s considered very odd for a star with his interest in Earth. The stars around him are old enough to still remember their conflict with humans, and they don’t understand how anyone could see them as anything besides monsters. But Earendel believes things could be different if they just tried to make peace.

Due to his beliefs he’s very ostracized from the rest of the stars. All except for Queen Charia, who seems to hold the same beliefs and treats Earendel with the most respect and kindness. Because of this he came to look up to her like a mother figure.

Flazino 🎵

On his eighteenth birthday, Dahlia scrapped up enough money to buy him a lute, which he absolutely loves. Which his parents watching him a lot closer however, he’s had very little chance to play it.

Although he lacks skill in magic, he’s very talented in things such as philosophy, literature, and the arts. Which really annoys Manuel, who is heavily into magic and politics.

Whenever he has a chance, he’ll slip off into the city wearing a cloak as a disguise and just pretend to be a normal peasant for a while. The only person besides Dahlia who knows this is Gabo, a local merchant’s son he befriended a few years before the story.

He’s actually a little allergic to cats, which he uses as an excuse to avoid Charo and Amaya.

Some rumors float around the castle that him and Dahlia are a thing, but that’s never been true. Him and Dahlia have always been just really close friends.

Manuel 👑

He always viewed Enrique as a weak and pathetic king who didn’t realize the potential of his own power. Although Enrique could never figure out why Manuel grew so distant from him.

He was actually the one to set Thomás up with Sakina when they were teenagers. He saw a spark between them and ultimately knew they would be a perfect match.

Instead of flowers, Manuel gifts Amaya bundles of herbs for special occasions that she can use in her potions.

He hates Charo just as much as Flazino does, but doesn’t dare to admit it around his wife.

He knew Asha before him and Thomás went their separate ways, back when she was a baby.

Amaya 🧪

There have been some accidents and shenanigans with her potions, like spilling a potion and making several of her books fly around the room, or Charo drinking a little and becoming huge.

Speaking of Charo, she found him as a kitten alone in a crate while walking through the marketplace. She took pity on him and took him in, even after Manuel told her no.

She’s actually very talented with the flute, and is probably where Flazino got his love of music from.

She always despised Tomás, viewing him as a dirty good-for-nothing peasant who just got lucky with the king. Completely ignoring her own history with Manuel of course.

She and Manuel never wanted kids, but since it would look off if they never had any heirs, the had Flazino out of obligation.

[unrealistic-ideas-for-writers]

Idk if this is an odd question or not, but considering the lore work your doing with dahlia, I gotta curious--

What would caladin be like if he was a member of the Fractsidus? (Like if he joined after being freed from that time trap thing after so long and that group were the first to find him instead of other ocs & the rover). Would his element/Weapons be the same? How much would his personality be changed ?

Yknow, just alternate timeline thoughts :3

Oh this is such a cool idea!

I’ll be honest with you though, I think even if the Fractsidus were the first contact Caladin had, it would be nigh impossible for him to join them once he discovered their motives and experiments.

But let’s ignore that for now^^

There’s a few ways I could see this going:

1) He “joins” the Fractsidus under his sisters care, and Dahlia painstakingly keeps him in the dark on their full motives, slowly planting ideas in his brain about evolution.

I think in this case, if Dahlia specifically was present, it could be done. She’d totally use her acquired Forte and its unique ability to manipulate him into thinking this was the natural evolution of humans. He probably would still be in the dark on human experimentation, and he’d still be a bit skittish about such topics. But he’d be very loyal to his sister. Dahlia and her husband are all he really has left.

I think there’d still be that factor of “Who the fuck are you and what did you do to my sister’s body-“

Which would be a huge hurdle for Dahlia to overcome, and something that could be used (along with other evidence) to coax him to the Rover’s side should they meet later.

Pretty sure his element and weapon would stay the same. Overall, I think this scenario would be really hard on him.

2) If he got out on his own and stumbled across a Fractsidus camp. Unlike in-game, I don’t think they’d be necessarily hostile just because you got too close unless it was a high profile project. This could lead to him recovering with Fractsidus members and just aimlessly traveling for a bit before returning to base. Now this is where meeting Dahlia and her husband would be a little more comfortable, I think???

Cal’s tired, he’s been traveling and learning about the world, hearing from Fractsidus agents directly about their choices to integrate with Tacet discords- I think he’d be a lot more open to it this way.

Dahlia would obviously be ecstatic that her brother just stumbled in on accident- and probably even more overprotective. She’d probably try and keep him mostly confined to bases under her supervision in both cases, but I think he’d be more willing to let her do so in this scenario.

The other Overseerers would actually get to interact with Cal in this one, which is a *hilarious* thought. We’ve only seen Scar (and I haven’t seen much of Rinacita but also Phrolova)- which could lead to one sided fights??

I’m just thinking of Scar trying to be friendly and Cal is just *not* here for it. He’d hide like a child behind his sister or her husband-

But really, they’d probably be sparing partners.

I’ll probably add to this after seeing more of Phrolova.

[achaotichuman]

Do you think you could write about dehlia in this context: https://www.tumblr.com/praetorqueenreyna/737196004108058624?source=share, hopefully featuring deadbeat at first mom feyre, horrified stepdad rhysand, tired of it all tamlin and a supportive lucien/eris.

This has been sitting, marinating in my drafts. But it is finally complete. I am fully aware I fucked up the timeline here, but I'm not rewriting all of this, so we're gonna pretend that fancy Fae tests can reveal a pregnancy at four weeks instead of eight like the post said.

And disclaimer before anyone calls for my head, for this fic I am also rewriting Ianthe's character, because she is too interesting for me to just write off as a sex offender and never think about again. Also, it is very interesting to see her as a genuinely morally grey person with good intentions. So, in this fic, she never SAs Lucien, but she does get a cool plot twist so stay tuned for that.

Basically, I have turned this into a rewrite of Acomaf and Acowar. A lot of the events were written from pure memory, and asking Tumblr, so forgive me if some scenes from the OG series were left out or written significantly differently. We mostly got Feyre's version of events anyway, so I'm not too worried.

This will be split into several chapters. Three being for the Mist and Fury rewrite, and then two for the Wings and Ruin rewrite. And if I have time, I'll do an Acofas rewrite. I'll be uploading all three of the Mist and Fury chapters today, and linking them in this post. You can also find it on SquidgeWorld here, and Ao3 here.

Anyway, here is the long-awaited fic, anon. And @r-biter, thank you for the original post, I hope I do it justice. Also @praetorqueenreyna who reblogged the original post.

Also, did I turn this into a Tamcien fic? Yes, of course I did.

A Field of Dahlias

“Are you alright with this?” He asked, it may have been the hundredth time he asked, Feyre gave him the same exasperated eyes she had given him all night long. 

Everything pointed to her being more than alright with this. Him pressed into the sheets below her, their clothes forgotten on the floor, her eyes glazed with lust. The rush of new hormones in her head no doubt fuelled the arousal that was now pressed against his wet slit. She leaned down, teeth a touch sharper than normal. She kissed his neck, dragging her canines along his fluttering pulse like he would for her. 

She ran her now larger hands down his slightly smaller than normal frame. Hands finding his breasts and squeezing relentlessly, pinching his nipples, her rough fingers, calloused from years of work from before she had been turned fae. Tamlin bit down on his lip, not wanting the whimper that pressed against his vocal cords to be released. A part of him still didn’t understand the switch in the power dynamic and begged to flip her over, to shift them both back to normal and continue this the way he knew well. 

But he didn’t, he remained underneath Feyre. Her chest flatter, set a touch wider, her shoulders broader. Her hips, now more narrow, rocked forward ever so slightly, as if on their own accord, as if her body was begging to bury the length now resting between her legs into the tight warmth before her. 

“I’m fine, more than fine, like I’ve said a hundred times already.” She added an eye roll to the last part, Tamlin countered it with his own. 

“Fine, but if you want to stop at anytime-”

“Are you okay with this, Tam?” She asked, hands becoming more gentle, roaming his skin like she loved it, like she cared. 

It was still new, the loving and the caring, the likes of which Tamlin hadn’t felt in years. 

“I’m okay.” Tamlin said, forcing his voice to remain steady. He loosened a breath, then spread his thighs wider. 

“Well?” He asked, adding a grin to his words, “Lets see how sloppy your form is, wicked creature.”

Feyre gave him her own wild grin, eyes filled with that lust and love. Something caring and devoted in her face, she leaned down and put her face into the crook of his neck, licking at the skin in a careful, deliberate manner. 

“Let’s see how well you hold up, Faerie Lord.” 

***

Tamlin shuffled a few papers on his desk. Briefly glancing over all of them before sorting them into piles and picking up the one closest to his left. With nimble fingers he paged them apart and began to read each complaint. A sigh escaping his throat. 

He tried to ease the worry sitting low in his belly but it wouldn’t relent, as the pile of complaints grew higher, the headache pounding behind his eyes tightened. 

After he was done reading the letters, he moved to open a drawer in his desk. Then the feeling of his stomach lurching overwhelmed his senses. Nausea made his legs shake, he retched, then quickly slapped his palm over his mouth before winnowing to the nearby bathroom. 

He had all of about three seconds before he was bent over the toilet, vomiting until he was shaking so badly he could barely stand on his knees. He dry heaved for a minute before finally his body relented and he slumped back, panting heavily, beats of sweat gathering on his forehead. 

“Gods dammit.” He cursed, forcing himself to his feet and quickly cleaning up. 

As he rinsed out his mouth, a pain shot up his spine and the sickness returned with a festering wrath. Tamlin groaned, a low sound from the back of his throat, he gripped the sides of the sink. 

***

It didn’t relent, the sickness came and went throughout the days. Tamlin thought he could handle it. Thought he could make it through the seemingly endless hours without anyone knowing something was amiss. 

“Two of you will head for the south border and I will send another group towards-” Tamlin was cut off by bile rising quickly in his throat, burning him from the inside out. He couldn’t get another word out before he sprinted back inside. Leaving five very confused sentries outside. 

He rushed past several servants, all of which stopped to stare in concern. Tamlin ignored all of them. 

It was Alis that didn’t stare. Rather broke into a sprint after him. The Summer Faery found Tamlin practically doubled over while he emptied the contents of his stomach. Alis snapped in a gasp, then quickly ran over to pull back his hair, sticking to his face from sweat. 

“Tam…” She murmured. 

Tamlin could barely see, the world tipping from one side to the other. 

“Why are you staring?” Alis shouted at somebody, or somebodies at the door. Tamlin had enough sense to look back over his shoulder. He saw several servants who were loitering at the door, wondering what exactly was happening. 

“Leave this instant, go back to your duties.” She shouted, then quickly slammed the door, everyone scattered as quickly as possible. 

Tamlin panted as he sat back on his heels, tilting his head to the ceiling, “Gods.”

“Tamlin, are you alright?” Alis asked, helping him onto his shaking feet. He wanted to shove away from her and insist he was fine, but he was still getting his bearings back and the world was too bright, and he had a headache. 

She led him to the sink and coaxed him into washing up. Tamlin splashed his face with ice water, and rinsed out his mouth. Then he looked up to see the mirror. 

Gods, he hadn’t realised how little sleep he had been getting until he saw the deep purple under his eyes. The gauntness in them, along with his too pale face, made him resemble something of a ghost. 

“I…” 

“Tam.” She murmured. Putting a hand to his forehead, the rough bark of her hands rubbing against the soft skin. She furrowed her eyebrows, “You don’t have a temperature. 

“I’m fine, Alis.” He said. 

She breathed in deeply, face carefully controlled, “You need to see a healer. I will call for one-”

She turned to leave, but Tamlin took hold of her wrist. The light shining from Faelights in the bathroom too bright, he was so tired. 

“I don’t need a healer, Alis. It’s nothing.” He told her. Ignoring the image of himself in the mirror, ignoring that fact he knew very well that he did not look fine.

Still Alis wouldn’t go against his orders. She sighed, shoulders slumping slightly, her eyes cast downwards, “Just… fine then. Just please see one if this gets worse.”

Tamlin bit down on the inside of his cheek, but nodded all the same. 

***

It got worse, and there wasn’t anything he could do to hide it from anybody too close. 

So he locked himself in his study or his room, and tried to focus on anything else. Anything other than the constant headache pounding behind his eyes. The never-ending wish to lay in his bed and sleep until his days ended, and the constant vomiting. 

It didn’t relent, instead it worsened. 

Alis found him again. In the bathroom in his room. When she spotted his hair, dirty and tangled, eye bags even darker and skin paler than ever. She narrowed her eyes, but quickly tied back his hair. Once he was done, she told him, “We’re getting a healer.”

Tamlin wanted to protest again, but he was so tired. So he said nothing, instead he slumped against the nearest wall and closed his eyes. 

Why was this happening? Now of all times, when he needed to be alert for his Court. For the people who were still recovering. 

“It’s just stress.” Tamlin told Alis as she put a dampened cloth to his forehead. 

“I would still like for you to see a healer.” 

‘I don’t believe a word you say’, is what that meant. Tamlin chuckled, but the sound was hollow. 

“Alis, I-”

“Hush now, child.” She murmured, brushing a stray strand of hair away from his face as she sat down beside him, “I’ll call a healer, we will figure out what is happening.”

It felt too familiar. Like the days spent in his childhood when he and Alis would sit on the ground in the gardens, whilst she sang him songs in a language he didn’t know at the time. A language she had taught him, so he could sing with her. 

It was too nostalgic. He didn’t deserve to feel that love again. That deep rooted, innocent love, it belonged to the child that hadn’t been stained by the world. 

It belonged to the kid that hadn’t been ruined in every sense of the word. 

Alis didn’t seem to care in the slightest. She took in her hands three strands of blond hair and began to weave a braid. 

“It’ll be okay.” She assured him. 

Tamlin scoffed, he felt her fingers pause in his hair, so he mumbled, “Nothing seems okay now.”

Alis tilted her head slightly, to see his eyes better. Her brown irises rose to meet his green ones. Alis reached out, her rough fingertips caressing the side of his face ever so softly. 

“It will.” She whispered, “It will get better, Tam.”

***

The healer that he saw was named Heilda, she was a short sweet-faced lesser Fae with fluttering mosaic wings and short near white curly hair. Her eyes were all black and her teeth were sharpened. Tamlin was sitting in her office, in a small cottage in the middle of one of the busiest villages, close to the Manor. One of his hands rubbed his temple while the other tapped his leg. 

Lucien had dropped him off at Heilda’s residence before leaving to inform Alis he had indeed gone to the healer and not run off. Tamlin had then insisted he didn’t need to, but the headache came back, and Tamlin was powerless to stop the determined redhead. 

“How long has the vomiting been happening?” Heilda asked. 

The High lord bit the inside of his cheek, quickly thinking back on the past few months since they left the Mountain, “Give or take a month and a half.”

She quickly jotted that down in a leatherback notebook in her hands, then asked, “I’ve also been told you’ve been experiencing severe headaches? How long has that been happening?”

Tamlin shrugged, “I’ve had them all my life, just recently they’re occurring more and more.”

Heilda nodded as she jot notes down in her leather book, before turning to a variety of medicinal herbs and bottles of strangely coloured liquids. 

She rifled through a few before taking a mortar and pestle and began to grind a mixture of dried plants and herbs, asking questions as she did. 

“Have there been any recent changes in diet?” 

“No,” Unless Alis was slowly poisoning him, but he didn’t think her the killer type. 

“Drinking water regularly?” 

“Yes.”

“Have you been sleeping properly?”

Tamlin almost answered yes, then he remembered the nightmares that riddled his sleep, “...No.”

“Alright, that could be one cause, but from the extent of your headaches I’m inclined to believe there could be something else.” She took the herbal mixture and went to a fireplace where a small cauldron bubbled incessantly, “I’d like to run a few tests, my Lord.”

“Whatever you need to do.” He said. 

She took a blood and urinary sample. Tamlin waited for what felt like hours as she put them through several tests, mostly mixing strange things together and watching what happened. Occasionally noting reactions. Tamlin was bored out of his wits, staring at the ceiling, Heilda had given him some strange purple tea, it eased the pressure in his head and the nausea in his stomach, thankfully. 

There was a light rapping on the door, followed by a very familiar voice, “Lady Heilda, I was sent by Alis.”

“Come in, Lord Lucien.” Was all Heilda said, not looking up from her work. 

Lucien opened the door, his eyes immediately drawn to Tamlin and the drink in his hand. He nodded to it, a silent question, Tamlin just shrugged and jutted his head in the direction of Heilda. 

Lucien sat down in a chair beside Tamlin, “How are you doing?”

“Better since drinking this thing.” He said, showing Lucien the painted mug. Lucien nodded. 

“What's happening now?” He asked. 

“Heilda’s running tests, hopefully we’ll know what’s causing the nausea, we can fix it, then be on our merry way.” Tamlin said, drinking the last of the strange tea.

That was when Heilda clicked her tongue, “I don’t believe this is a problem we can simply fix, my Lord.”

She spun around in her chair, “I believe this problem will be a bit bigger than originally considered.”

Lucien and Tamlin furrowed their brows, glancing at each other before eyeing the healer worriedly. It was Lucien who asked, “And what is the problem exactly?”

Heilda took in a breath, seemingly steeling herself, as if on instinct, Lucien took Tamlin’s hand in his own. Holding him tightly. 

“My Lord,” She said, addressing Tamlin, “Have you shapeshifted into a female form, sometime within the last five or six weeks?”

Tamlin was taken aback by the question, he blinked at her, hand tightening in Lucien’s, “I mean… yes, but I’ve done it before, I don’t know how it could cause any issues. Especially not…” He counted the weeks since that night with Feyre, “Six weeks later.”

Now Heilda snapped in a deep breath, “This may be an uncomfortable question, but did you have any penetrative intercourse whilst in female form?”

“You’re right, that is an uncomfortable question.” Tamlin said, blinking at the healer like she had grown a second head, “That shouldn’t have anything to do with my symptoms.”

“Just trust her, Tam.” Lucien said, squeezing his hand in an assuring manner. 

“I just need a yes or no answer.” Heilda said gently. 

Tamlin sighed deeply, eyes squeezing shut, “Yes. Feyre is a shapeshifter as well.”

Heilda nodded, then leaned back in her chair, “Did you use any contraceptives this night in question?”

Now Tamlin gritted his teeth, “What does this-”

“Tam.” Lucien said gently. Tamlin looked over at his friend and sighed. 

“No, we did not.”

Heilda nodded, then she rubbed her hands together. Wringing out her fingers and cracking the knuckles as she crossed one leg over the other, “Okay. What I’m about to say may be shocking.”

“Just spit it out.” Tamlin said, finally and fully fed up with these riddles and strange questions. 

“Alright,” Heilda looked between Lucien and Tamlin, Lucien tightened his grip on Tamlin’s hand. 

“Congratulations, Lord Tamlin Fairburn, you are pregnant.”

One heartbeat, then a dozen. Tamlin stared at Heilda like she had two heads and a tail. Lucien had gone completely white, the fire lord looked as though he was about to pass out. 

Heilda looked between the two, she smiled, then clapped her hands as she wheeled her chair away, “This is what happens when you don’t take contraceptives.”

Tamlin laughed, he laughed hard, nearly falling off his chair. He gripped Lucien’s hand so tightly he could feel his bones grinding under his fingers, Lucien didn’t pull away regardless. The Fox remained silent whilst Tamlin fell into hysterics. 

“No!” Tamlin said, pushing himself back into his chair, “No, no, no. I am not- I am not at all. That is wrong!”

Anger now pressed through the hysteria. Heilda sighed like she expected this reaction, turning around she looked over at Tamlin, “Listen, you were in a female form and you-”

“I am not now aren’t I?!” He shouted, standing up from his chair. His sudden motion snapped Lucien from his daze. He quickly stood up and wrapped an arm around Tamlin’s chest. He made to wrap his free arm around his stomach, but suddenly didn’t. When Tamlin looked at him the Fox was breathing deliberately slowly, staring at his abdomen with an unreadable expression. 

It only served to piss Tamlin off even more. Heilda, unlike the two before her, stayed calm, her voice soft and gentle when she replied, “No, but you can still retain a womb in this form if your magic allows it.”

“I shifted back the morning after!” Tamlin shouted, “This should’ve never happened! You are wrong!”

“I’m not, and I think you know I’m not. Spring thrives off of fertility magic, your magic protected the foetus growing in your womb.” Heilda replied. So casual as if this happened every other day. 

Tamlin stammered and stuttered, trying to figure out someway around this. Some loophole or information that would directly challenge this. Like if he wished hard enough he could prove her wrong. Like if he managed to get angry enough, he could make this go away. Tamlin eventually looked to the floor. Beginning to process the information for what it was. For exactly what it meant.  

“I recommend shifting back into the form of a female, it will make this more comfortable.” Heilda said, her voice still so gentle. It stopped making him angrier, and as the initial shock and denial wore off, the world began to tip from one side to the other. Lucien held him up. The red-head’s fingers intertwined with Tamlin’s. 

“Is there anything else, Heilda?” Lucien asked, his voice a soft murmur behind Tamlin, yet a dull vibration in the face of the ringing in his ears growing with each passing second. 

“Bring him back for some more tests once he’s processed this.” Was all Heilda said. Tamlin was caught between wanting to wake up from this as if it were a dream and wanting to rip her throat out for being so casual about this. 

Only Lucien murmured his thanks. Tamlin considered cursing out the healer, but his sudden lack of energy made that impossible. 

In the future he would thank Heilda for being so calm, for now, he hated her for it. 

Lucien and Tamlin were silent as they left the healer’s office. Lucien kept his hand on Tamlin’s, gently leading the way as Tamlin was still reeling. Barely thinking, he couldn’t hear much besides some of Lucien's gentle murmurs and promises that they would figure it out. 

But as Lucien made to winnow them he suddenly stopped, eyes wide, face pale, hands shaking. Tamlin furrowed his brow whispering, “What?”

“Can-Can I winnow you? That won’t hurt…” Lucien bit his lip as he made a quick gesture to Tamlin’s belly. 

Tamlin snarled, his fangs a flash of white. He ripped his hand away from Lucien’s and marched in the general direction of Rosehall.

“Tamlin!” Lucien called out, quick to follow him, “Tamlin you can’t just storm off!”

“Watch me!” Tamlin turned around and screamed at him. Lucien stopped dead in his tracks, his nose scrunched as he furrowed his eyebrows. 

“Don’t scream at me, I’m only trying to help!” Lucien told him.

“I don’t need your help, Lucien! I don’t need you!” It was a dirty lie, because Tamlin needed Lucien more than air. Especially now. He felt his legs shaking, he wanted to fall to the ground. He wanted to sleep for a thousand years. He wanted to cry. He wanted to scream and rage and throw things. He wanted to get angry. He wanted to go back to this morning when this didn’t exist to him. 

Tamlin didn’t wait to see Lucien’s reaction to his venomous words, he turned around and continued to storm away.��

He didn’t get far. Lucien appeared behind him and picked him up. Holding him in bridal carry. Tamlin yelled and thrashed, spitting curses at him, some of which he had forgotten he even knew. 

“Put me down!” His voice was drawing attention from passersby, but Lucien didn’t put him down, just waited. 

“Lucien fucking Vanserra let go of me!”

“Stop being a dickhead and I will.”

“You-”

“Tamlin.” Lucien warned. The tiniest hint of a growl in his voice, something about the way he said it made Tamlin stop squirming. The glare of death in the High lord’s eyes never left but he gritted his teeth and stopped moving. 

“Good.” Lucien said, putting him back on the ground, but keeping two hands on his shoulders. 

“Tamlin, we need to deal with this.” Lucien said, his eyes hard, his face unforgiving. 

“I know-”

“No, you will try and ignore this until you are physically unable to any longer, and then we will be unprepared. You and I are going to talk about this, and form a game plan.”

Tamlin’s eye twitched, “Then can you wait until we get back to Rosehall?”

“We will walk back.” Lucien said as he let go of Tamlin and plucked a paper and pen from the space between realms. The red-head scribbled something down before sending it off. Tamlin knew it would be something to Alis to say they would be returning later than expected. 

Tamlin’s hands once again curled into fists. He took in a deep breath, “I have shapeshifted, a little magic will not hurt.”

Lucien’s chest rose and fell with a deep breath, “We don’t know that Tam.”

Tamlin laughed quietly, at what he didn’t know. The world was going so fast, at the same time it came to a complete halt.  

“What the fuck are we going to do?” Tamlin asked quietly. 

Tamlin stared at nothing, vision slowing like a haze was settling over his bones, a dark mist that made everything seem so far away. 

“Hey.” Lucien murmured, taking the High lord’s hands in his, “We’ll figure it out.”

They walked. Over the rocky cobblestone paths and through the blooming gardens abounding through Spring, the smell of pollen wafted through the air, mixing with the scents of sweetened coffee and baked goods. The sun was speckled over the ground by the constant clouds passing overhead. Gentle breezes caressed the delicate petals of roses, lilacs and lilies. 

Tamlin resolutely stared at the ground ahead, each footstep deliberate and careful. He could feel whenever Lucien’s watchful eyes flicked to him. The High lord wrapped his arms around himself, releasing Lucien's hand, and made sure to not so much as flick his gaze to his emissary. 

Eventually it felt like Lucien got the message and looked ahead as well, the clicking of his eye never directed in Tamlin’s direction. Finally Tamlin looked at him, to see Lucien with his head held high and facing straight ahead. His red hair a banner behind him in the breeze. His stride never faltering. 

Tamlin felt like a newborn foal next to him, not so graceful and elegant, more clumsy and foolish. 

Then a sound filled his ears, one that made him stop dead in his tracks. Tamlin quickly snapped his gaze to his left, looking across a nearby field, filled with a plush blanket of white, purples, pinks and reds, there he saw a gaggle of children. Some lesser Fae, others High Fae. All blowing on dandelion fluff and laughing until they fell to the ground. Two boys with purple skin and big black eyes, chased each other with worms on sticks. A girl with delicate fluttering wings carefully placed a flower crown on a girl with pointed ears, freckles and ginger hair. 

Another two girls threw mud onto each other, ruining the delicate lace of their baby blue dresses. And one boy, much smaller than the rest, with wispy brown hair laughed until he fell onto his back. 

“Tam?” Tamlin didn’t look at Lucien as his eyes were captivated by the children of his Court playing without a care in the world. 

One hand scrunched in the fabric of his trousers, strands of blond hair were picked up by the wind, fluttering over and around his face. 

Lucien walked back to stand beside Tamlin as he saw what had halted him. The Fox of Prythian reached his hand out and wrapped Tamlin’s in it. 

“It’ll be okay Tam.” He whispered. 

“Dahlias.” Tamlin rasped, voice breathy and shaking. 

Lucien hummed in confusion and Tamlin pointed to the field, “The field its… the flowers are all dahlias.”

A heartbeat of silence passed them by, floating along like a butterfly on the wind, Lucien squeezed his hand ever so slightly, “A field of dahlias.”

***

The rest of the walk home was less exciting. Mostly Tamlin stayed caught in silence whilst Lucien broached the harder topics that would later need more discussion. The complications of having an Heir of not just Spring, but of the Cursebreaker, so quickly after Amarantha’s reign had come to a completion. Even Feyre was not completely settled into her new body as a High Fae, and certainly not settled into her new role at Court.

Tamlin wouldn’t dream of putting a singular extra duty on her shoulders that she didn’t need to have to stress about so soon after all had been said and done. But he had to admit they needed more publicity, something for the rest of Prythian to see that Feyre Archeron was the Lady of Spring, the saviour of the Mountain, and the Warrior who sent Amarantha to her grave. 

He didn’t want her to be a show pony, only to be paraded to see her achievements. She had said it herself on a number of times that she wanted a quiet life. But if a baby was now on the way-

No, not thinking about that. 

He didn’t want to think about ‘it’ , he wanted to think about how to get Feyre properly settled. Then how to stabilise the Court, and regain what had been stolen and lost to Amarantha. He needed to focus on the Court right now. 

The sight of Rosehall came into view and Tamlin felt a heavy weight settle over his shoulders, he spoke to Lucien while his eyes examined every detail of his home. “Organise dinners, celebrations, prepare for the upcoming holidays. Pay special attention to the farmers, whatever they need, send it to them. The doors of Rosehall are completely open to the public and any that come in seeking refuge from other Courts. And Lucien.”

Tamlin stopped and Lucien halted as well, his brown eyes meeting green, “Make preparations for the tithe, we need to get it back up and running. We are barely holding on as it is, with everything Amarantha has done we cannot afford the losses that have hit us.”

Lucien nodded, Tamlin went on, “Most of the money and jewels from the treasury were stolen and until we send people back under the mountain to retrieve what they can we are on a tight budget. Every coin goes straight into the refugees, the farmers and the villages that have lost their homes.”

“Of course, but Tamlin-”

“The people are in low spirits and the magic will sense that. Spring thrives off of fertility and celebration from the Fae. I haven't even seen the wisps since before we went under the mountain. Until the native creatures of the land return we are in emergency mode. I want a list of everyone we lost to Amarantha, I need a spreadsheet of the damages and the costs necessary to return everything to its former glory, until we are back to normal we will not rest-”

“Tamlin Kali Fairburn!” Lucien eventually yelled.

Tamlin blinked, then he blinked again. Lucien gritted his teeth, the light hitting the emissary in just the right way that his skin seemed to glow with his frustration, “You are stressing yourself out for no reason.”

Tamlin gawked at that, “There is a reason, our Court is still half in ruins-”

The fire lord marched forward and put his hands on his shoulders, “And I will help you to restore it. But you cannot try and handle everything yourself.”

“I am not trying to do everything myself-”

“You are thinking of everything at once, when you need to calm down.” Lucien’s head fell, he took several deep breaths, “Listen, Tam. Like it or not we… you are now responsible for another life.”

Tamlin bristled at that, fangs starting to point through his teeth. Claws pressed against his skin, threatening to burst through. 

“Tamlin.” Lucien said slowly, “I know you don’t want to think about this, but that doesn’t change the fact that Spring is…” Lucien took another steadying breath, like he was falling apart at the news himself, “Spring is having an Heir.”

There were the words that crushed Tamlin even more. This… it wouldn’t be just another baby, but an Heir of Spring, a possible successor. A potential future ruler of the Spring Court. 

They had no choice but to think about this. 

“We will take this one step at a time.” Lucien moved his hands down to clasp his friends, thumbs rubbing the backs of his palms. 

Tamlin stared down at the dark fingers massaging gentle circles into his skin. He closed his eyes, the headache pounding harder. He was so fucking tired. 

“This is awful.” Tamlin whispered into the space between them. 

“I know Tam.” Lucien murmured, his voice near drowned out by the sounds of laughter in the distance. 

He felt like he might collapse. A headache pushed into his temple. He noticed a flicker of movement, and then saw that it was in fact a butterfly, small and blue and clueless. Making laps around their heads. 

“It’ll be okay.” Lucien reassured him. It was false, they had no idea if it would be okay. 

***

It was not okay. 

It was absolutely not okay. 

He had a headache all the time and sleep became a luxury he apparently could not afford. All of a sudden complaints pushed from all sides as bandits began to infiltrate the Southern and Western borders. Seeing quick money and easy blood to draw. 

Many of the servants and sentries had left the grounds for other Courts in order to visit family after the Curse’s conclusion. With quickly hired, inexperienced staff, the grounds began to descend into chaos. 

Not to mention how everyone was coping. That being barely. 

Nowadays even into the dark hours of the morning, every hall was lit and not a single room didn’t have some form of a faelight and an open window. No one wished to be forced back into darkness, and everyone needed the reassurance of open, blowing air. 

The second Tamlin had stepped foot back into his office he was thrown back into work. Now, days didn’t end until he was near passing out from exhaustion and they started the second the ray of first light hit his face. 

He wasn’t the only one. Lucien he barely saw anymore, as much as the Fox of Prythian attempted to check on him, they both lost all sense of time. Unable to keep up with their workloads and desperately attempting to pull the Court back into order. 

With everything going on, Tamlin had yet to tell anyone about… it. 

Alis had tried to push for answers, but even with all her stubbornness, the female knew when she had to back off. The quick snappish answers and flare in temper were enough to tell her, it wasn’t time for her to ask what happened that day with the healer. But Tamlin could tell she was worried. 

With everything happening. Tamlin had forgotten the last time he even so much as laid eyes on Feyre.

He was sure he saw her during the nights at some point, but as everything merged into a dazed blur of work, work, work, he couldn’t be sure. 

That wasn’t even including the constant strain from symptoms. 

Vomiting, and headaches were just the start of it. At times he could barely keep his eyes open even after hours of sleep. If he stood too quickly, all blood rushed from his head and black spots filled his vision. Random outbursts became more prevalent, everything setting him on edge. 

"Dear Gods," He cursed, rubbing his temples. Elbows planted on his desk. Tamlin screwed his eyes shut as yet another wave of throbbing crashed over him. 

There was a light rapping at his door. Tamlin didn't need to look up as the door opened to know who it was. The scent of cinnamon spice was enough telling. 

"Tam." Lucien said tenderly. 

Without opening his eyes, Tamlin said, "Lucien Vanserra, if the next words out of your mouth aren't, here is a giant cookie and hot chocolate, I will toss you over the border and back into Autumn."

There was a heartbeat of silence. 

Tamlin wouldn't throw Lucien back into Autumn, Tamlin quite liked Lucien. 

He would very possibly steal and hide all of his left shoes. Lucien was fully aware of that. 

Lucien left the office, and when he returned, he opened the door saying, "Here is a giant cookie and hot chocolate."

Indeed, he was carrying a tray with a giant chocolate chip cookie and two mugs of steaming hot chocolate that made Tamlin's mouth water when he saw them.

Lucien is a smart man. Everyone should be like Lucien, Tamlin thought. 

Setting the tray on the dark wood coffee table by the empty fireplace. Lucien sat down on the green velvet lounge. 

Tamlin left his desk and joined him. Settling into the soft fabric and hands immediately reaching for said cookie. Lucien smiled softly as he took up his mug. 

"Heilda said it would be more comfortable to shift to female form." Lucien said as he absentmindedly toyed with the handle. His voice was soft as he broached the subject, not wishing to provoke anger. 

Tamlin bit into the cookie and nearly moaned. 

To shift into a female form. To stay like that. It would raise eyebrows and suspicions. And good Gods, when he started to show-

No, not thinking about that. 

"So?" Tamlin asked. He knew he had to listen, he had to take into account the possibility of having an Heir for the Court. 

Gods, an Heir so soon. They just came out from Under the Mountain. It was all still fresh, too fresh. He could still see her eyes above him. Pushing him down into the sheets-

No. 

Not thinking about it. 

"So..." Lucien traced the rim of his cup with his finger, "Perhaps you should think about listening to her."

Tamlin's eyes snapped to Lucien's to find the fiery male staring right back. He lifted a perfectly groomed red eyebrow and waited for a response. One leg crossed over the other and head held high. 

Lucien didn't back down for anyone, not Beron, not Amarantha, and certainly not Tamlin. 

"Or perhaps I won't." I am a grown male, and I will make my own decisions, did not need to be said for Lucien to get the gist of it. 

"She is the professional, Tam." He hummed. 

"Don't call me that." Not now. Don't be gentle with me. 

Lucien put the mug down on the table, it banged as his hands didn't bother to control his strength. 

"Alright, this has gone on long enough." Lucien said, "We need to do something about all of this."

"What do you want to do exactly?" Tamlin snapped, temper flaring. 

"Gods above." Lucien rubbed his temples and Tamlin wanted to throw something. 

"Come up with a goddamn game plan, Tamlin. I want to know what the next moves should be. I mean, have you even told Feyre?" Lucien bounced his knee up and down. Tamlin thought that at any moment he might get up and start pacing. 

"Well I- there isn't anything that can be done Lucien!" Tamlin shouted, finally beginning to snap. He hated this. He wanted to be done with it. 

And he hadn't told Feyre. He didn't want to. He didn't want to talk about it. 

Like if he refused to so much as think about it, it wouldn't exist. 

Lucien opened his mouth, eyes blazing and preparing to yell. Then he cut himself short and snapped his mouth shut. Face falling back into carefully crafted blankness and eyes losing any emotions at all. 

Tamlin's claws nearly shot through his hands. Fire blazing through him, not just because of the subject at hand, but because of how easily Lucien put his mask on. Hiding his true thoughts so well. 

Tamlin wished for the courtier mask, but no matter how hard he tried there was nothing he could do to hide himself. 

Fuck this all. 

"You need to tell Feyre," Lucien said, crossing his arms. Relaxing back into the lounge, as nonchalant as ever. Tamlin hated it. 

"I don't need to do anything." Tamlin hissed. 

Lucien chuckled and claws finally pierced to the surface. He dug them into pillow beneath them, slowly counting back from ten. 

"What is so funny?"

Lucien picked up his mug again as he shook his head, "Sure you don't need to do anything Tam."

"Get out!" Tamlin shouted. 

Lucien rolled his eyes, he put his mug down and slid off the lounge gracefully. A swagger in his step as he left the room, as he passed through the threshold his hand caught the door. He tossed a seething smile over his shoulder and said, "Figure it out on your own then, but figure it out, Tam."

Lucien slammed the door shut before Tamlin could yell at him. 

***

Feyre wasn't happy. She didn't know when she started feeling this way, when the total weight of how she felt finally settled into her bones. Like mist in the morning, it descended slowly until she was consumed by it. 

She couldn't look the Fae around her in the eyes anymore. Not without seeing the Faeries she had stabbed. The boy's screams filled her eyes at every ring of a bell or snap of a tree branch. 

And dear God, the girl who had prayed before she had ended her life. The words seemed carved into her skin, she heard them in the laughter and song of the Priestesses that came in groups for lunch after long days working in the Temple. Every time those swishing robes passed her by, she remembered that prayer. 

One of the Priestesses had taken a special interest in her. One of the twelve High Priestesses. Feyre knew little of how religion worked in the Fae Lands. The idea of Gods and such had never interested her. She had worked for too long back in the cabin to spend her time thinking of them. 

And if they did exist certainly the Mother was laughing at her.

As of now, Feyre stared out at the gardens. She was sitting by a small table on the porch, watching dahlias sway in the wind. The grounds were covered in them, they had been a flower Elain had grown back at the cabin and then at the new manor they resided in now. One of the only plants Feyre could pin-point. 

"I thought I might find you here." A voice said, breaking the silence. Feyre looked back over her shoulder and despite herself a small smile graced her lips. 

"Good morning Ianthe, shouldn't you be at a ceremony or such?" Feyre asked.

Ianthe chuckled, her voice and sweet face reminded Feyre a little of Elain. But her overall demeanor and strange stoniness reminded her of Nesta.  

"No, the girls are handling everything this morning. I have a break." 

Ianthe strolled over to where Feyre was sitting. She pointed to the chair opposite of her and asked, "May I?"

"Please." Feyre said. 

Ianthe gracefully slid into the seat, crossing one leg over the other. She did not wear her robes this morning. Her body still completely covered. However, the layers of her dark blue dress were lighter to account for the warmer weather this morning. A pale blue silk scarf covered her head so only a few curling blonde hairs fell around her face. 

"Did it hurt? The tattoo I mean." Feyre eventually asked. The tattoo of the phases of the moon, they interested Feyre. Whilst she now had a swirling tattoo along her arm, that one had been stained magically. 

Violet cruel eyes. Taunting hands and a laughing voice. 

No. Not thinking about him. 

Ianthe watched the swaying gardens as she answered. Her face was not cold, but it wasn't warm either. Like a stoic mother, Feyre thought. 

"Yes, but it was worth it to be given this honour." Ianthe answered. 

Feyre hummed, "Did you always want to be a High Priestess?"

Ianthe chuckled, finger tracing her knee, "My, my, many questions this morning."

The Archeron sister stiffened for a moment, "You don't need to answer if it makes uncom-"

Ianthe lifted a slender hand, she turned her full eyes back to Feyre and smiled, "I am teasing Feyre."

"Oh."

"As for your question, I always knew I wanted to be part of the Court. I worked well with the others. And I knew I could help this Court, the way the former High lord ruled he..."

Ianthe cut herself off as a darkness filled her eyes. Her mouth twisted into a straight line. Feyre furrowed her brow, concern beginning to creep in, "He...?"

Ianthe quickly shook her head and straightened, pulling herself from her thoughts, "He just... He wasn't a good male and I knew I could do something to help. As for becoming a High Priestess specifically I-"

Now a soft smile adorned her face as she lifted her eyes to the white sun's rays. 

"I have always had an affinity for the Mother and her creation." 

Feyre turned her own eyes back to the dahlia flowers. Blooming prettily as if not just months before the Spring Court had been ravaged and left in ruins. 

"The world is going back to normal." Feyre noted. 

Ianthe laughed suddenly, and Feyre snapped her eyes back to her. 

The High Priestess shook her head and murmured, "Nothing will ever be normal again."

"You weren't even here for the fifty years," Feyre pointed out, recalling what Lucien had told her before. How Ianthe's father had sent her and her sisters to the continent right as the curse was hitting. 

At her words Ianthe balled her dress up into her fists, "You don't know my story."

"Then tell me." I will listen, Feyre wanted to say. 

Out of the corner of her eyes, Ianthe watched her. Blue eyes like sapphires in the light, "You won't understand."

"Try me."

A shake of her head and an amused smile, "Count the blessings you have flower, appreciate them. For at any moment, they can all be taken."

Feyre blinked. Then her face fell into deadpan. 

What was it with Fae and their riddles?

Ianthe threw her head back as she laughed at Feyre's confusion, "Flower just know not to take the word of Faeries at face value."

Ianthe leaned back into her chair and Feyre asked, "Can you guys just... tell me what you mean?"

A sly smile and glinted eyes, "Now where's the fun in that?"

***

She hated her reflection. She stood in front of the mirror as Ianthe carefully placed a crown of daisies and dahlias in her hair. 

"Why dahlias?" Feyre had asked.

Ianthe had shrugged, "You seemed to like them."

They had gone through enough dresses to last Feyre a lifetime. She had never liked dresses and today did not change that. She longed for something she could move in. Felt like restricted in. But she sucked it up. 

Ianthe had brought in a myriad of different dresses for her to try. To find one she liked best. 

"Do they all have to be so..." Feyre had gestured to large puffy sleeve and Ianthe had snickered. 

"For the record these were the former Lady of Spring's dresses."

Feyre had gone very, very still at that. Guilt shocking through her at how she hadn't liked the look of them. 

Ianthe had then rolled her eyes, "Do not fret, child, the Lady hadn't particularly adored them either. But it is tradition to wear the dresses of the former Lady. This were the Lady of Spring's before hers, and before hers. Now they will be yours."

Ianthe had then reassured Feyre, "Just for today at least, then they'll go back into a bag and into the closet to sit for the next several centuries."

Feyre had laughed suddenly at that, and the knot of anxiety welling in her stomach had begun to ease. 

Feyre had then rifled through the atrocious amount of fabrics. And eventually her hands landed on one particular dress. It was the biggest of them all, with an atrocious amount of tulle, lace and puffs. It was beautiful, Feyre could admit as much as that. But it was... so much. 

Feyre had bit down on her lip, trying not to laugh. Then she had looked at Ianthe whose eye was twitching as she pursed her lips, desperately keeping her own laughter down. 

They met each other's sights and were helpless but to fall into hysterics. 

The dress had been laid on the bed, but Feyre had decided on a far simpler one. Long, green silk simple sleeves, and a high neckline that opened just above her cleavage. The corseted part of the dress was embroidered with gold designs and tightly hugged her waist. Her far too small waist. As Ianthe had tied the back her eyes flicked up to Feyre in the mirror, hands still on the strings. 

Feyre had looked down, Ianthe continued and neither spoke of just how frail she had become. The High Priestess occasionally opened her mouth to say something, just to snap it closed. Ianthe didn't appear to know how to comfort, how to reassure. So, she didn't try. 

Now the look was complete. Feyre watched herself in the mirror. The long green skirts of her dress swirled as she moved. 

"There." Ianthe said. Feyre met her eyes in the mirror. 

"Are you ready?" She asked. 

Feyre didn't answer. She thought back on that day in the field when Tamlin had proposed to her, how happy she had been. How in so long the memories of Under the Mountain hadn't haunted her. 

Yet after all was said and done, it all came back. All had asked to show them the ring and expected her to gush about the future wedding and her engagement. Yet all enthusiasm had drained from her. Like the second Tamlin was not directly in front of her she no longer felt that passion any longer. 

It was just nerves. Nothing else. Once this day was said and done it would no longer bother her. 

"Yes."

Ianthe nodded, her eyes firm and set on Feyre through the mirror. A heartbeat passed and Feyre said, "We best be going then."

As she moved to leave. Ianthe put her hands on Feyre's shoulders, "One moment, my Lady."

The Cursebreaker furrowed her brow but remained still. Ianthe didn't break eye contact as she swiftly pulled a necklace out from underneath her robes. It swung from her neck, a beautiful green emerald that shone in the light. It was small and hung from a golden chain. 

Feyre blinked, opening her mouth to ask what was happening. But Ianthe answered her question, as she unclasped the necklace and swiftly placed it around Feyre's throat. 

"Ianthe-" Feyre started. 

"Take it, Cursebreaker." As she let it hang from Feyre's neck she murmured, "You may need it."

"Need it?" Feyre whispered. 

Ianthe just smiled, "Trust me."

"You said yourself not to take the words of Fae at face value." Feyre countered. 

"I did." She stated. 

Before Feyre could once again point out the blatant hypocrisy, Ianthe said, "Try to see past the person, Feyre. Try and see what may lay underneath."

***

He hated his reflection. Standing in front of the mirror whilst Alis fixed his hair and jacket burned a flaming rage deep in his core, but there was little he could do. Other than stand still and allow the Summer Faery to do her work. 

"You look very handsome." Alis smiled up at him as she stepped back, admiring her handiwork. 

Tamlin tried to give her a smile back, but he could only manage a weak nod as he stared at himself. 

Shell of a person. Eyes sunken from lack of sleep, skin unnervingly pale, gaunt, hollow. 

At least the suit was well made, tailored, green with whites and golds. Alis had braided flowers through his hair and dusted his face with just the slightest of makeup, she told him it was for the look to come together perfectly. But he knew it was to coverup the deadness in his face. 

The lesser faery opened and closed her mouth. Eyebrows furrowing. Tamlin nearly groaned. 

"What is it, Alis?" 

"Are you sure you're okay?" She asked, brushing away a speck of lint from his shoulder. Tamlin resisted the urge to roll his eyes. 

"I am sure." He said, finally turning away from that godforsaken mirror. He faced the door of his bedroom. Lucien stood there. Dressed to the nines in green. Far more understated than Tamlin but just as gorgeous. 

"Ready?" Lucien asked. 

Tamlin shifted under his piercing gaze. The Fox scrutinized every inch of him, he was on display, wholly and completely. 

"I'm fine." Tamlin settled to say. He wouldn't admit how he felt sick to his stomach and the fluttering of anxiety was threatening to send running to bathroom to throw up once again. 

He held strong. He wouldn't be made weak. No matter how weak he truly felt. 

Lucien didn't believe that for a second. But he said nothing as he moved from the doorway and said, "Well then, the wedding is on in less than five minutes."

Feyre hesitated from her place at the end of the aisle. 

Her eyes agitated, hands shaking. Tamlin held his breath. She looked beautiful, but Feyre was always beautiful. A ring of flowers adorned her head, her eyes held the wedding venue before her. 

Ianthe was the one she watched; Tamlin risked a glance at the Priestess who watched Feyre closely. Slowly she raised a hand, and with a soft voice beckoned, "Come, Lady of Spring."

Feyre loosened a breath, her chest rising and falling with measured, calculated breaths. She took a step forward and Tamlin's chest constricted. He sucked in a breath, and she took another step forward. The knot pulled tighter and tighter. 

He remembered when she had been dragged in by Attor. Tossed to Amarantha's feet. 

Panic had filled him. He had nearly fainted. Surely, she wasn't there, because he had sent her back. She was back in the human lands there was no possible way for her to have come Under the Mountain. 

Yet there she had been.

The image faded in and out. Shifting from Feyre's perfect, unmarked face to the bruised snarling face she had worn that day so many months ago. 

She took a step forward. 

He was going to throw up. 

Then she took a step back. 

For a second, for a fleeting moment, the knot in his chest loosened and he felt like he could breathe again. 

Then she took another step back. The knot tightened once more. 

Eyes widened, and whispers erupted in the crowd of Fae. 

Fuck. 

No. 

Like a rope pulled him forward, Tamlin took a step towards Feyre. The world slowed to one moment in time. She stumbled further back, shaking her head. And Tamlin stepped further into the aisle. 

Something snapped in her gaze. She turned on her heel and sprinted. 

There was a gasp, and hot white rage flew through the High lord. Filling his veins, breaking something that had been pulled taut for too long now. 

He nearly launched into a run after her. 

"Tamlin." Lucien hissed, as he lept forward and pulled Tamlin back. 

Tamlin turned around to snarl at him, but in a second they were gone. Winnowed. 

Tamlin shouted into the darkness that enveloped them. And by the time they landed he was screaming curses at the red head. Lucien didn't seem to care. 

They were in his study. The window were open and sunshine was pouring in. Yet the house was empty as the grounds descended into chaos as the groom and bride had each disappeared. 

"Why did you-" Tamlin shouted, but Lucien snapped. 

"She was running away, what were you going to do?! Grab her and force her to marry you!" Lucien shouted, whilst pointing a finger into Tamlin's chest. 

"You-"

"Don't start with me Tamlin! We will find her, but for now calm the fuck down!" 

Tamlin blinked, initial rage simmering into something else entirely. 

What just happened. 

In the span of a few seconds, he had gone from jittering at the altar, watching his bride, then watching her run from him as he attempted to go after her.

He must have looked as shocked as he felt, because Lucien put a hand on each of his shoulders and guided him to the lounge. 

"Sit." Lucien ordered, Tamlin obeyed. Staring into nothing, mind horribly blank. 

Eventually one smaller thought came to mind, "I thought I wasn't allowed to winnow."

"You can in short distances, I spoke to Heilda. But she recommended it be someone else doing to actually winnowing."

"Oh."

"Yeah." Lucien sat down on the arm of the lounge. 

"What do I do now?"

Lucien stared at him and for the first time said, "I have no idea."

***

"Feyre!" 

Feyre didn't respond to the call. She crossed her arms and pressed further back into the trunk of the tree she was sitting in. Her knees bent, keeping her curled into the branch and just out of sight. 

"Feyre oh sh- Mother lead me." Ianthe hissed as she caught herself from cursing, "Where is that girl?"

Feyre craned her neck to look down. She saw Ianthe holding up her pale blue robes in one hand and her shoes in the other as she trod through grass and mud. 

"Feyre! I know you're out here somewhere!" 

Somewhere indeed, currently right above her. 

Ianthe screwed eyes shut and sighed deeply, "Couldn't have run somewhere inside, no we had to go out into the forest."

Despite the guilt and shame, the anxiety and hurt knotting and writhing in her stomach, threatening to make her lose her breakfast. Feyre chuckled. 

Bad decision, as Ianthe straightened, her fae senses alerting her to the sound. 

Ianthe whirled her head back and forth, "Feyre?"

Feyre had the muffle her laughter with the palm of her hand. But it wasn't enough to escape the hearing of the High Priestess. 

Finally, Ianthe furrowed her brow and looked right up. Her confusion fell into deadpan as she saw the Cursebreaker nestled in a branch. 

Mouth pursing, Ianthe gripped her robes a little tighter then asked, "Flower why are you in a tree?"

It hit her again. 

As she had walked down the aisle. Seen the people, the faces staring and waiting. Seen Tamlin watching her. Then had seen Ianthe. 

Permanant. Permanently stuck here. Permanently with the memories. Seeing everyone watching, like they had watched Under the Mountain. 

That prayer had rushed through her head again. And she saw their faces when she stabbed them. 

"Feyre?" 

Feyre looked back down to Ianthe, but gritted her teeth and did not answer. 

"Feyre." Ianthe said, deadpan, "Do not make me climb a tree."

Still Feyre remained silent whilst she brooded on her branch. 

Ianthe's eye twitched. And finally she sighed heavily, mumbling something about the Mother punishing her. 

"Fine! Fine." She said, dropping her shoes and letting her robes down from her hand. 

Then Feyre watched as the pristine, tidy, and uptight High Priestess of Spring, grabbed onto a branch and planted her foot into the trunk. Climbing the tree. 

She nearly slipped and fell, a curse nearly falling from her lips before she caught herself. 

Her robes got caught on a sharp piece of bark and there was a ripping sound. Ianthe made a disgusted sound, before she climbed up higher and higher. 

Finally, after clumsily forcing her way onto a branch right beside Feyre, she sat down. Panting heavily. Then she checked the small hole made in the hem of her robes. 

She gritted her teeth but ultimately let it fall away as she faced why she came out here. 

"Feyre, lovely spot you have here." Ianthe said, sarcasm lacing her voice. 

"Thanks, picked it out myself." Feyre snapped. 

The High Priestess sighed, "Feyre, you have to come down."

"Yes, I have to go down. And I have to go back to the wedding, don't I?" She snapped. 

Ianthe observed her for a moment, before shifting uncomfortably. Stoic face seemingly trying to figure out what the best course of action was. Thinking logically, no doubt just wondering what the quickest way to get Feyre back to the wedding was. 

It struck her that Ianthe didn't actually care what Feyre was feeling. She was doing as she was told, no other reason. It made Feyre feel all the more alone. 

Back in that dungeon, with nothing to keep her company but her will and a bargain. 

"Do you... Do you not wish to marry him?" She asked. 

Feyre gritted her teeth, she screwed her eyes shut. Darkness pressed in and she remembered the Attor dragging her into the throne room. 

She wanted to scream. She wanted to forget anything that ever happened. She wanted to go somewhere none of it ever touched her again. 

"Feyre-"

"Just go away Ianthe I don't want to speak to you!" She shouted. 

Ianthe bristled, "I am just trying to help-"

"Well you aren't!" 

Now, her face iced over. Stone cold and fed up, "We have to go back, now either we can go willingly together, or I will get the sentries and they will drag you back."

A tremor ran up her spine at the threat, "I don't want to go back, Ianthe."

Ianthe loosened a tight breath, "Feyre, let's go home now."

"No."

"Archeron-" Her tone was warning. 

"I don't- I don't want to go back." Feyre insisted. 

Ianthe scrunched her nose slightly, eyebrows furrowing. Then her face evened out and her voice sweetened, "Feyre, we must go back."

The sudden change in tone, in face, a lure. An attempt at false comfort. The Priestess held out her hand. 

Feyre looked at the pale hand before her. 

Then at the ground. 

Back to the pale hand. 

Feyre reached out and Ianthe smiled. 

The Cursebreaker batted her hand away with enough force that Ianthe shouted but nearly fell off balance. Giving Feyre enough to time to jump to the forest floor and bolt. 

"Feyre Archeron!" Ianthe clung to the branch as she watched Feyre's form disappear further into the dark forest. 

Slowly she took inhaled, before releasing her breath. She closed her eyes and asked the sky, "Why, why, why, why, why?"

Feyre ran and ran and ran. She lost a shoe but she didn't care. The feeling of dirt underfoot somehow comforting. Reminding her she was still there and breathing. In the wind, in the open space. Not in that cave, not Under the Mountain. 

Yet still there. Always there like it followed her. A ghost of those months looming over her head. 

She reached a clearing of grass and wildflowers. She fell to her knees. Legs unable to hold her any longer. 

She shook, trembling hands and arms. She should've been able to run faster and far further than that. 

But looking at her arms, they were spindly. Her legs which were sticks compared to what they had once been. She felt her cheeks, her face which was hollowed out. 

Her fingers to skinny, her organs pressed against the skin of her torso. 

When was the last time she had eaten? Had felt the urge to eat anything?

She licked her lips, her throat dry. The air was suffocating. Pollen that was sickeningly sweet. Air open, without any end. 

A part of her wondered whether she had ever come out from Under the Mountain, feared, dreaded that at any moment she would awaken. 

She heaved a sob, cries racking through her too fragile bones. Like she was made of glass she trembled. 

Feyre felt like she was made of glass. Like at a single touch she might crack and fall into a thousand pieces and never be able to be put back together again. 

'Make it stop.' She cried in her mind, sniffling, 'Someone make it all stop.'

'Take me away.' She pleaded with nothing. 

There was the sound of stick cracking underfoot and Feyre's head snapped up. 

But instead of Ianthe or sentries, violet eyes shone down upon her. 

"Hello Feyre Darling."

"You!" Someone shouted, Rhysand and Feyre looked up to see Ianthe panting as she pointed to Rhysand. 

Feyre had never seen her quite so dishevelled. But rage lined her features. 

Rhysand however, simply smirked, before grabbing Feyre's arm as she screamed. The Night Lord lifted her tattooed hand and pointed to it. 

"Don't mind me, pretty Priestess, I am simply collecting."

And just like that. 

Rhysand winnowed them away. 

***

"What do you mean she's gone?" Tamlin asked, voice near breathless. 

Ianthe's eye was twitching relentlessly. She looked as though she had been dragged through a thorn bush. Then again if she had run after Feyre she may have been. Stick and leaves were stuck in her hair, some parts of her robes were torn. And dirt smudged her cheek. 

"I mean she was whisked away by the Night Court." Ianthe said, "Our worst fears came true, and Rhysand made good on his word."

"Bastard son of a bitch." Lucien cursed from behind Tamlin. 

Tamlin said nothing, unable to move. His eyes turned to Alis by the door who looked between the Priestess and the High lord with sympathetic eyes.

Slowly it lapped at his core. Rage that made his eyes start to black out. His hands trembling by his sides. 

Chest rising and falling quicker. 

Ianthe looked him up and down, then said to Lucien, "I'll leave you two to deal with this. I am going to have a six-hour long bath."

In a second the Priestess was gone. Alis following after her.

"Lucien, get out." Was the only warning Tamlin gave him. 

Lucien's eyes went wide, and he sprinted out the door, slamming it closed. 

And Tamlin's magic exploded in a second. 

The High lord screamed as his magic ripped through him. flooding his veins with uncontrollable, overwhelming power. He screamed and fell to his knees. A ringing filled his ears, his vision went white. 

When it resided, a sob wracked his body as shaking overtook him. His skin heated, getting hotter and hotter until his clothes were soaked with sweat. Trembling, Tamlin tried to pull himself to stand, but he suddenly doubled over and threw up. 

The door flung open and Lucien shouted something he couldn't hear. The world was a swirling, dizzy haze of nothing. 

Someone gasped and Tamlin looked up to see Alis sprinting for him. The female cupped his face, and Tamlin blacked out.

Link to chapter 2 is here! Link to chapter 3 is here!

[dislyteshack]

Rambling

Originally I did not know what to do with my Odysseus esper but after listening to some epic the musical songs I have some really cool ideas

Basically like he hasn't technically seen his family in 10 years but that's only because he was in the union all this time but then

Starting from 2027 he's like unironically missing

And also for context I have his son as an esper of Patroclus

Tldr

Achilles esper event: Adrian helping his boyfriend track down his dad

Also I like to think that they end up metaphorically encountering some events that are inspired by obstacles in The Odyssey

It's going to be very very very very loosely based

I am including certain espers with patrons like Scylla calypso and what not and they are going to be a few new OCS

Some of them non esper but representing Odyssey characters

Some of them existing espers who might not be in the same mythology but they do serve a purpose

Oh epic the musical we're really in for it now

I know technically it means the event technically focuses more on relationships other than Adrian himself but like he's kind of like the glue starting it and moving stuff forward

And there is in fact a personal character arc for him in there

I'm going to be putting a bunch of four stars in this event

I imagine some of the events happened to Peter and it would be Adrian and Orion walking in on the aftermath

While some of the loose events would happen to the boys directly

It's probably going to be like an odyssey Saga where the characters kind of move back and forth between the worlds but it's held together by the story

So there's going to be an event for

Adrian (Achilles)

Orion (Patroclus)

And Peter (Odysseus) to tie it all together

Although I am a little torn as to whether I should put Orion first or Adrian

Because technically you can count them as both protagonists because they're the ones following the trail that was left behind by peter

Peter can also be counted as a protagonist but I'm having parts of his perspective obscured until his event

Supporting characters include dahlia, Meredith, a little cameo from leora or David maybe

I was almost thinking about Arcana making an appearance but no one will probably need to give me propaganda for that dude to make me consider

Biodina has a partial role that shares loose similarities to Poseidon's actions but it's more impersonal

If anything she would be acting on behalf of a client or someone who had accompanied Peter on his personal project that caused him to disappear but then they disappeared too

I think you can tell I have kind of been listening to epic the musical because this is why I have so many thoughts on this

I Def am planning on Peter having certain espers as temporary traveling companions

For the prophet who ends up giving the prophecy on one hand I could take a certain canon character who is already predisposed to seeing the future but on the other hand it would not be wrong for me to make an entire OC

But also dont I want to go through the effort?

Because they effectively share the same purpose of saying a prophecy

And also I think the problem I have the most is that like I already have arcs planned out for Orion + peter

It's mostly me figuring out stuff for Adrian

All right I did figure out a reason for the disappearance

Basically I kind of engineered my own ocean monument where I imagine there's like a bunch of Raya shit in there and then initially Peter owed a favor to someone and they decided to cash in on that favor so that he investigates the archeology site for him but then after that stuff starts going wrong when he decides to turn around and go home after they got everything

[corvitine]

This ended up being a lot longer than I intended but here’s the backstory and stuff about my Tavflayer, Dahlia! @wisp-of-chaos tagging you for the infodump lol

Dahlia Ainsworth is my Tavflayer, a bard with the entertainer background. She was born and raised in Baldur’s Gate and was a Tiefling whose great grandfather is Mephistopheles. Her family is actually rather proud of their heritage, mostly because of their powerful magic that they inherited from Mephistopheles. Her family members are all mages of some kind, and most of them study or teach magic. However, Dahlia decided she’d rather be a bard, as she has a passion for music. She is good with magic and does like using it but decided she wanted to be a bard. Her parents didn’t approve and saw it as a waste of her talents as a mage and they had a bit of a falling out. Dahlia thought they were unsupportive and wanted to be able to choose what she wanted to do with her life. This led to them having little contact for a few years.

She made her living as a traveling bard/adventurer, singing songs and ballads of great heroes. She always dreamed of having a grand adventure, the kind bards would sing of for years to come. Dahlia got her wish when she ended up captured by mind flayer and infected and having to save Baldur’s Gate.

Dahlia isn’t quite sure how she became the leader of their group and at times was a little overwhelmed by having to be the one to make decisions for her and her new friends. But she never let it show, putting on a brave face even when she was scared or unsure. She’s an upbeat and optimistic person and did her best to keep everyone’s spirits up.

She ended up having a massive crush on her dream guardian; after all, “How could I not fall for my knight in shining armor?” The Emperor had appeared to her as a handsome Tiefling man and the two of them grew close. When she found out his true identity, she felt hurt. Not only because she felt he had been lying to her but because he seemingly didn’t trust her. Despite this, she still loved him, and was very happy when she found out that he felt the same and they became lovers.

Dahlia chose to become a mind flayer, not only to defeat the Netherbrain but because she came to realize it was what she wanted. She was a little afraid of losing herself but made the choice anyway, and came to love her new illithid self. She loves being a mind flayer and her relationship with the Emperor became even closer than before. She feels she understands him better than before. She also loves her new powers feels very cool as an illithid. She just wishes more people saw her as more than a brain-eating monster. Dahlia had a bit of a difficult time controlling her new powers (and her emotions) at first, but luckily had the Emperor to help her, who was incredibly patient and helpful to her.

After saving Baldur’s Gate, Dahlia started mending her relationship with her family. She has her parents, an older sister, younger brother, grandparents, an aunt, uncle, and cousin. They were a little unsure at first with her now being a mind flayer (and being in a relationship with one), but slowly accepted her and her new partner. They were happy to be back on speaking terms with her, and proud of her for saving Baldur’s Gate. The Emperor is cordial but rather awkward around her family though they do their best to accept him.

Dahlia joined the Harper’s after the reunion with her friend, and has been helping to rebuild. She also assists the Emperor with the Knights when she can. She and the Emperor live together.

Out of all of her friends, she is closest with Wyll and considers him to be her best friend. She is also very good friends with Blurg and Omeluum.

Personality-wise, she is what many call a ray of sunshine. Outgoing, bubbly, and friendly. She’s the type of person you can’t help but like. She does have her limits though. She’s protective of her friends and incredibly loyal. Some see her as naive and too kind and trusting, though. When she sets her mind to something she is very stubborn.

And yeah, that’s what I have right now? I’m sure there’s a lot more I could say about Dahlia because I love her a lot and she lives in my head rent free lol.

[blood-darkened-moon]

(1/2) What headcannons do you have if Alessa was evil? For instance, everything is the same except: in the first game she wasn’t burned for the ceremony, and was somehow extricated and went on to become one of the cult leaders (or the right-hand man), what would she be like if she was erratic and lethal?

Actually, I like that Alessa was not evil despite everything she had to endure. I find this more interesting than the stereotypical possessed/evil child or creepy little girl. Also, it doesn’t really matter here, I guess, but I want to mention that I only consider SH1-4 canon. I don’t care what Konami says, the other games are, for me, just fan-project spin-offs at best or horrendous bootleg trash at worst. Anyway, evil Alessa AU. I took some liberties with it regarding the source material, though.

Instead of being burned, Alessa made a deal with the incubus. The demon will stay with her. He grants and enhances her powers in return for human sacrifices.

The demon does not directly interfere with Alessa’s actions. He’s mostly there as an observer, but he talks to her in her mind. At least at first, the older Alessa gets, the more she changes. She becomes more and more radical and cruel. Whether these changes are of her own making or whether the demon is gaining more control over her, no one can say.

Dahlia was baffled when she saw Alessa walk out of the fire unharmed. She was the first who got a demonstration of Alessa’s new powers, but Alessa did not kill her yet. Half of Dahlia’s face was burned. She wore a mask in public to cover up the massive scar afterward.

Dahlia stayed the leader of the cult for several years. Alessa was her right-hand man, but many members started to worship her directly and saw her as a goddess.

In her early 20s, Alessa took over as the leader and sacrificed Dahlia in the flames, as she wanted to do with Alessa all those years ago. Claudia became Alessa’s right-hand man. She was her “sister”, always loyal and a believer. Who would be better suited for this position?

Many people in town joined the cult out of fear or because Alessa’s powers convinced them to become believers. She promises peace, health, and prosperity for her followers.

The cult can do whatever they want in Silent Hill and some neighboring towns, and their influence keeps expanding. The police won’t go against them. They even help to cover up the cult’s activities. Some police officers are also members, others are simply afraid of them.

Alessa’s first victims were some kids at school who used to bully her. She trapped them in the otherworld one by one and let monsters kill them.

She can drag people into the fogworld or otherworld at will if they fulfill certain requirements. The feeling of guilt or an overall negative mindset is helpful. Probably due to her connection with the demon, it’s even easier if they are sinners, have hurt people, or have committed crimes. If not it’s more difficult, but she can use a ritual for the same effect. In that case, Alessa needs a personal item or part of the person’s body. Some hair or a little blood will do. She can trap people there forever until they die.

Alessa herself can switch between dimensions as she pleases and take people with her in and out. The ritual with the personal items may be necessary beforehand.

The older Alessa gets, the more control she has over the fogworld and otherworld. At first, the areas covered by these dimensions were rather limited (about one building), but over the years, she learned to expand it so she could cover the entire town.

Everyone who opposes Alessa or the cult ends as a sacrifice. Most of them are burned alive or sometimes bleed out. Technically, it’s enough if Alessa kills these people or if she’s present, a specific method is not required. (She could just shoot them if she wanted). However, Alessa wanted a ritualistic approach for the show, and flame purifies all. Most of her victims are killed without witnesses, though.

The cult has multiple sacrificial sites in town. The most holy one is located in the otherworld and is only accessible with Alessa.

The people Alessa traps in the fog- or otherworld are usually sacrifices for the demon. She doesn’t have to kill them herself, she can just wait. Sooner or later, these people are killed by monsters, commit suicide, or die of dehydration or starvation (or they risk eating or drinking what they can find). Sometimes, even other people trapped there kill them.

Alessa enjoys it to see them suffer. She sometimes plays with them and promises them help or a way out just to lead them into their doom.

If these people are lucky and Alessa considers them worthy, they may have the chance of salvation, and Alessa offers that they can join the cult.

The area around Silent Hill became notorious for its disappearances, even though not even a quarter of the actual number is known publicly. The police usually claim these people went missing in the surrounding woods while hiking.

[okartichoke]

I FORGOT TO SEND MY RESPONSE LOLOLOL

id never heard of chickens being seen as cowards, interesting! they mostly have a reputation afaik as the “dont mess with my friends” birds, so the thought of a very friendly orpington adopting people into its flock and becoming VERY defensive of them seemed right for fulbright. then again a “cowardly” bird species on the opposite personality type would just be some fun irony, especially then bc the phantom could be considered a “coward” based on how they act in the finale. i straight up forgot eagles exist tho

i also straight up forgot owls exist! that would definitely work for athena, i think a golden masked owl could be cool bc theyre in the tyto family with some of the best hearing plus Yello :] (and totally not because “masked” is anOtheR PARALLEL)

I HAD THE SAME THOUGHT ABOUT THE FEATHERS i was like i could see clipping their flight feathers and shit to fit, and having to make excuses why theyre not flying/target flightless/near flightless covers. you could sorta handwave it and do some sorta. wing mask? similar to their face masks just with faux wings, and it would DEFINITELY mess up their real flight feathers. another thought, that the distortion of their feathers and stress bleaching (similar to how u said dahlia poisoned herself to bleach her feathers) would add to the breakdown where they dont even remember what bird species their wings are meant to be 😭😭😭 ( <- number one phantom stan here remember).

blackquill slashing at the phantom and theres just an EXPLOSION of feathers as the wing mask tears and their bent and molted feathers florf out of it, and they just deadpan “oh look. youve ruffled my feathers.”

also yes steal my ideas they are made to be stolen >:3 (/gen) im just very into the aj trilogy (mostly dual destinies lol)

LOL DW. after you asked if im cool with long responses and then didn't follow up for a day i was like "HOW LONG IS THIS GONNA BE"

yeah, i guess chickens as a bird don't really have a reputation for being cowardly,, but like calling some a chicken is calling them cowardly. but yeah 100% chicken give off a familial energy 100%%%. I def think I like it over an eagle (especially cuz, aside from the justice thing, bobby is not a bird of prey there's no way)

yeah bet !!! the golden masked owl seems to me like a good fit ! might go with that one when i get to her

omfg forgetting what bird he is is fucking crazy i love that fheaofja after the explosion of feathers, when he finally gets to his true breakdown, the stress of it all could cause the feathers to slowly fall out one by one until he's shot.

also "oh look you've ruffled my feathers" is so comical and ace attorney and i'm now imagining all of the culprits throughout the series saying it LOL

dambbbb mate i wish i had more time to draw I WANNA GET THESE IDEAS ON PAPER there are so many characters fejdsalfjeiawo

[somecallmejohn]

Honestly I too am kind of sick of seeing just Asha x starboy too

It just feels kinda boring

(like she couldn’t be shipped with her best friend Dahlia or at lest a femme version of Star or something)

Like I’m not opposed to romance in a Disney movie and would totally love to see one in a new animated movie,but seeing how most of the Wish tag and rewrites are mostly a copy paste of the same main idea (Asha x Starboy romance) it’s turned me off a lot

(Also the casual dismissal of platonic love,as shown with Asha and Star in the movie, in favor of a romantic relationship making the movie better irritates me)

Also your Asha x Simon art is just mm mm so cute and wonderful and I love it

Yeah, I get that! A lot of the Wish (mainly Asha x Star) posts in the tag feel rather samey, artswise at least, I dont read rewrites because personally Im fine with the mess we got and I also got my own messy "rewrite" in my head, so I cant really judge them, but from what I've seen it does seem to be pretty much the same concepts, Starboy that's just basically an off-brand Jack Frost, Amaya is also a villain usually and all the focus goes on the potential romance.

And while I too yearn for the return of romance in Disney movies, I wouldn't want it to be the sole focus, but more like part of the story like it was during the Disney Renaissance.

Also, I am very surprised that there isn't any Asha x Dahlia fan art, while I'm more interested in Asha x Simon I'd love to see some Asha x Dahlia art too.

And yeah it's kinda funny how Starboy can only exist as a love interest for Asha and not as a new friend who can help her out with her journey.

Also I'm glad you like my Asha x Simon art, I just love these two!

[drowninginblox]

Bittersweet Band AU

This I use inspired by a playlist I found on Spotify under the same name.

Below is going to be my headcanons and personal alterations to their AU. All I know is the following: Finn is the lead singer Alphonse is the Bassist Seth does Guitar Charlie Drums

The following are my thoughts and my thoughts alone. I don't tune into YurriVoice streams (im sorry!) so if the man himself has said anything about the guy's singing habits- they're not taken into account here. My b.

Finn isn't the only one that sings

Even though he is the main man for vocals, Al and Charlie are always ready to offer up their voice for a few songs. Seth on the other hand, I think he'd be apprehensive as hell.

Seth thinks he fucking sucks at singing but he's the best. If it wasn't for shitting on himself, management would force Finn out of the job. But no one can convince him otherwise. To Seth, the only singing he can do is background vocals if anything.

Seth and Finn started the band

Seth and Finn met in college. Well, let me rephrase that- Finn was in college, while Seth was the cute boy at the local bar who just so happened to play sets when he wasn't bartending.

Seth always stole the show. Mans was radiating main character energy. Magic shit going on.

Finn introduces himself and the pair somehow became good friends. Slowly Seth introduces Alphonse and Charlie to Finn, they all find out they have talent (woah) and after fucking around for a few months in Al's garage, they decide to go indie.

That is until they have a single that goes mainstream and they follow the success from there

Bittersweet isn't the band's name + fictional fan service (?)

I personally have no idea what the band's name would be but it defo wouldn't be bittersweet (to me). Instead, bittersweet is Al and Seth's ship name created by the fans (much like the main series but Yurri made the name instead and... yknow). All the ships created in this AU have names like this one instead of smashing the pair's names together (no I'm not jealous of the RWBY fandom- you are!)

Below is my indulgence of this idea

Finn and Al: Lavender Floss

Seth and Finn: Black Dahlia

Finn and Charlie: Heathens (a reference to when the two ask for pineapple pizza, Al, Seth, and the greater fandom haven't let this atrocity go)

Seth and Al: Bittersweet (ofc)

Seth and Charlie: Thrifting Queens

Al and Charlie: Bad habits

Little dose everyone know the band's own manager is at the center of a harem *cough cough* yeah bitches. Y'all walked into my trap card- Y/N is canon in this AU.

Conflict (if i were to write further into this AU)

Derek/ dark gang shit would still happen in this AU. Along with all of Al and Seth's shared fucked up shit. However, the dynamic would be somewhat like the beginning of Bittersweet- Seth and Al have tension between them but they act like mostly nothing is wrong. They don't wanna talk about it and Finn and Charlie won't bring it up out of fear for fucking up what the band has going on. To put it simply- the water is under the bridge, but the bridge is rickety and held together with duck tape and chewing gum but no one wants to bring up how crappy it is since it gets the job done.

While this is going on in the background, the public sees Seth and Al's chemistry and think that they are besties (or maybe more wink wink nudge nudge). This would eventually turn into some kind of big fight, one that Finn hasn't seen out of Al and Seth while Charlie has only seen this like... once ...a long time ago

Have it all be framed as shit no one talks about with Y/n because the band's relationship with them is mostly business. Hell- have shit that even other members don’t talk about happen!

Have people from everyone's past come up and like try to bear their fangs into what stakes the band has, whether the actual profit or like social stuff (Ex: an old EX of Finn or Al’s, maybe Charlie’s family ykno?)

Regardless of what conflict you make, the important part is that nothing should be addressed until it absolutely has to be addressed. Regardless of who brings it up first.

The main plot and side plots that I've thought on

There can be conflict in a plot, hence why this is seperate

So the main plot overall is going to be the band growing from indie into the main stream (maybe a tour arc too?)

Side plots would include, but are not limited to

Fandom meddling (This includes shipping, and the fans poking, and prodding into the band. Members even spoiling stuff before the band even announces it)

People from each member's pasts come back to “lay their claim” on any and all profit the band makes (as stated before)

Corporate meddling, whether it be Y/n themselves, or someone upper or lower down the ladder

The looming anxiety that every one of them if not any one of them can, and will be replaced if the band is not doing consecutively well

Social stunts (hooking up with other celebrities, in person or radio interviews, the tour in general)

Being stuck in different locations for varying moments in time

Each boy's relationship with a Y/N and each other

The sudden realization that the boys can do almost anything they want (with varying consequences to their actions) +how far you're willing to push that.

Okay, I'm done with my ramblings. I'm never gonna write about this AU but I think it's really fun to think about.