#eirenical bakes

[hyakinthou-naos]

Hyakíntha Day 3: Feasts and Mysteries - The Mustērion

Descriptions regarding the traditions of the third day of Hyakíntha are sparse, leaving some scholars to believe that it was a day dedicated to Mystery Cults and communal feasts.

To honor the Mystery Cults of old, The Temple will be celebrating this day with a secret ceremony that will not be shared online. We encourage our patrons and visitors to hold their own ceremonies in private, and refrain from describing them or posting about them. This day can be a day of reflection, of truly focusing on your practice and relationship with The Theoi outside of communal judgements or pressures.

Additionally, to incorporate the tradition of communal feasts, we have listed below 4 recipes that aim to mimic Hellenic Greek desserts.

Be advised that The Temple has not yet personally tested the following recipes - so we cannot speak to the consistency or taste of any of the foods listed below.

If any of our patrons or visitors do attempt the recipes listed below, we would love to hear how it went and what the foods tasted like! We hope to attempt these recipes in the near future - but are unable to at this time.

Eirene - peace and farewell,

- The Temple of Hyacinthus

1. Seskoulou Plakous - Sesame-Honey Cakes

Ingredients:

1 cup sesame seeds

1/2 cup honey

Optional: ground nuts (almonds or walnuts) & cinnamon

Instructions:

Toast the Sesame Seeds: In a dry skillet over medium heat, lightly toast the sesame seeds until they are golden and fragrant. Be careful not to burn them.

Mix with Honey: In a bowl, mix the toasted sesame seeds with honey (If desired, add ground nuts and a pinch of cinnamon).

Shape the Cakes: Press the mixture into small cake shapes, about the size of a cookie.

Set: Let the cakes sit at room temperature until they firm up (this could take several hours)

Serve: Serve the cakes as a sweet treat or as an offering.

Historical Context:

This recipe is inspired by Ancient Greek offerings and festival foods - where sesame seeds and honey are thought to be common ingredients in various cakes and sweets used in religious rituals.

2. Melitoutta - Ancient Greek Cheesecake

Ingredients:

1 cup wheat flour

1/2 cup honey (plus extra for drizzling)

1 cup fresh, soft cheese (like ricotta or a soft goat cheese)

Note: you can substitute ricotta /soft goat cheese with cream cheese, but it will change the flavor and texture slightly. If substituting with cream cheese you may need to add milk or water to it to make the consistency similar to ricotta/soft goat cheese.

1 egg for binding (optional)

Instructions:

Make the Dough: Combine the wheat flour with 1/4 cup of honey and, if using, the egg. Mix until a dough forms.

Form the Base: Roll out the dough into a round shape and place it in a baking dish.

Top with Cheese: Spread the fresh cheese evenly over the dough base.

Bake: Bake at 350°F (175°C) for about 20-30 minutes, or until the dough is golden and the cheese is slightly set.

Finish with Honey: Drizzle with the remaining honey and let cool slightly before serving.

Historical Context:

This recipe is adapted from description found in the words of Athenaeum’s and other ancient sources, where simple cheese and honey combinations were a popular dessert.

3. Glykanisous - Anise-Honey Cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup wheat flour

1/2 cup honey

1 tsp anise seeds

1/4 cup olive oil

Water (as needed)

Instructions:

Prepare the Dough: Mix the wheat flour, anise seeds, and olive oil in a bowl. Gradually add honey and water until a dough forms.

Shape the Cookies: Form the dough into small, flat cakes or cookies.

Bake: Place the cookies on a baking sheet and bake at 350°F (175°C) for about 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown.

Cool and Serve: Allow the cookies to cool before serving

Historical Context:

Anise is believed to have been a popular flavoring in Ancient Greece, often used in both sweet and savory dishes. This recipe draws inspiration from descriptions of ancient baked goods flavored with honey and spices.

4. Oxygala with Honey and Figs

Ingredients:

1 cup strained yogurt

2 tbsp honey

Fresh or dried figs

Instructions:

Prepare the “Oxygala”: Take the yogurt and thin it slightly with a bit of milk or water to achieve a more liquid consistency, similar to oxygala.

Add Honey: Stir in the honey, adjusting the amount to taste.

Serve with Figs: Serve in bowls, topped with fresh or dried figs.

Historical Context:

Oxygala was a common fermented dairy product in Ancient Greece, similar to yogurt. It was often sweetened with honey and enjoyed as a simple dessert.

These recipes are reconstructed based on historical accounts, and while the exact measurements and methods may not be precisely as the ancients did, they aim to give a close approximation using available modern ingredients.

[hils79]

I posted 3,486 times in 2022

219 posts created (6%)

3,267 posts reblogged (94%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@pangzi

@elvencantation

@sarah-yyy

@eirenical

@merinnan

I tagged 2,096 of my posts in 2022

Only 40% of my posts had no tags

#dmbj - 740 posts

#guardian - 152 posts

#pangxie - 122 posts

#weilan - 83 posts

#my fic - 67 posts

#liu chang - 62 posts

#other people’s art - 57 posts

#wang pangzi - 56 posts

#wu xie - 49 posts

#asks - 43 posts

Longest Tag: 139 characters

#things i associate with you: mushrooms and moss freshly baked bread streams in the depths of the woods and the feeling of searching for hom

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

The fight choreography in the HeiHua movie is delightful. Xiao Hua takes off Hei Xiazi’s jacket and then Hei Xiazi puts it back on and it’s all done seamlessly

101 notes - Posted November 5, 2022

#4

108 notes - Posted February 8, 2022

#3

He's now killed 4 people in less than a minute of screentime but look how happy he is

118 notes - Posted February 13, 2022

#2

See the full post

151 notes - Posted November 3, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

I think the reason most of my DMBJ fics are set during or post Lost Tomb Reboot is that there’s something appealing about characters who have been through hell together and come out the other side.

By the time we get to Reboot the Iron Triangle is so solid that none of the drama comes from within. Even when Pangzi finds out Wu Xie has been hiding his illness they don’t fight about it. Pangzi aggressively feeds Wu Xie soup, bundles him in a blanket, makes sure he takes his medication and Wu Xie lets him. Xiaoge spends the entire time doing whatever he can to save Wu Xie.

The scene where Pangzi and Xiaoge go blind and Wu Xie needs to lead them through a tomb is a perfect example of how much they love and trust each other.

Sometimes you just want to write stories where the getting together and settling into the relationship aren’t the focus. It’s three men who love each other living happy in domesticity, who sometimes go tomb raiding and fight monsters.

In short: them

179 notes - Posted February 8, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[yellowmagicalgirl]

Blood of Our Bond

No one from Pamella's old life working for the vampire mafia should have been able to find her. And yet, her ex still finds her.

Finally crossposting the fic I did for the Rare Femslash Exchange, and it’s a rare piece of original work from me.

AO3 (Archive-locked)

Pamella jumped a little when the bell to the bakery rang. No one came around this late at night. Sure, it wasn’t quite yet the closing time of eight, but most businesses in the small town of Thistlebrook closed by six in the evening. Even tourists from the city wouldn’t come in after seven, and no vampires passed through Thistlebrook. There were too many rivers around the area to be comfortable for them to cross, not when there were equally short roads between the cities that didn’t have to cross that many waterways. That was a major reason why Pamella had picked Thistlebrook, even though no one should have been able to find her.

Pamella placed a hand over her holstered wand before she turned around. Baking wasn’t the only skill she had picked up while running a front for the Squalis. Her wand was wooden and plain. She could have afforded something with inlaid quartz that would’ve added extra emphasis to her spells, but she had wanted something that could double as a stake.

“What can I getcha, hun?” came out of her mouth before she had a good look at the woman who had walked in. She was a little shorter and skinnier than Pamella, with long jet black bangs framing her face. She hadn’t had bangs the last time Pamella had seen her. Her beautiful brown eyes half-hidden by the hood of her long, red-lined blue cloak. Or rather, a blue-lined red cloak that was turned inside-out as a poor attempt to hide her allegiance to the Squalis.

“Hey there, Eirene,” said Courtney Bosco. She was an enforcer for the Squalis. One of the more influential human enforcers. Last Pamella had checked, Courtney was on the track to getting herself turned. Pamella herself had just laundered money at a bakery with some spells to back her up if there was an attack. Sure, Pamella had the home front advantage, but even with that she wasn’t sure if she could have ever beat Courtney in a fight, and that was assuming Courtney was still human. Courtney was responsible, responsible enough to still be wearing a mask over her mouth and nose that would also hide whether or not she now had fangs.

“Is there anything I can get for you, ma’am?” This time, she asked with more venom than honey. Pamella meant the words to hurt, and yet the hurt expression on Courtney’s face still stung.

“I’m not here to drag you back, Eirene, if that’s what you’re worried about. I just wanted to talk.”

“It’s Pamella now. How did you find me? I paid good money for a new identity.”

Courtney raised an eyebrow. “Did you pick that out, or did your benefactor? You’re going by a name one letter away from your middle name, Eirene Pamela, and by your grandmother’s maiden name. Not a good cover, if you ask me.”

Pamella had picked her name out. She had wanted to keep a connection to someone when she gave up her life. Courtney couldn’t be that connection; not when there was no way she’d give up her career. The few members of Pamella’s family she had still be talking to would have been put in danger. The grandmother who died before Pamella was born and the Aunt Pamela who had died shortly after had been the best choices.

“It’s not a cover. Pamella Brodbeck is who I am, now. Now again, how did you find me?���

“We were close, once,” Courtney said with an ache of – of what? Regret? Betrayal? Longing?

“You went to a blood witch, didn’t you? Which one? Titus?” There were several blood witches in the employ of the Squalis, and Titus and Courtney were friends. Eirene and Titus had been friends by extension, and that meant that Pamella thought she knew Titus’s weaknesses. It was how Pamella had known to word her bargain with the fae. She had given up every single untrue love Eirene had ever had, and in exchange the Squalis would never find Pamella.

Pamella hadn’t given up her true love, because she was still holding onto hope that one day she would find her family again. At least, the ones she wanted to find. Maybe they would have forgiven her by then.

And they would be able to find her again.

Which meant that Titus or another blood witch could find Pamella through her family.

Dammit.

“Which member of my family do you have?”

“None. I knew you weren’t speaking to half of them back when we – before you left me. It sucked, you know? No one else remembered you.”

What?

“I get it, though. You wanted out of the Squalis. You could have talked to me. I would’ve left with you. Left for you, not because I’m taking the fall for one of the capo’s overindulgences. And no. It wasn’t Titus. Remember Lisbeth?”

“The werewolf we had both dated and found out we were both her exes after we started dating each other? Yeah.”

“She doesn’t remember you. She was still able to track you – your scent still clung to the cashmere sweater you left at my place.”

“I had wondered where I’d left that sweater when I was packing,” Pamella mumbled before shaking her head. Courtney remembered her. Despite everything, Courtney remembered her. Pamella’s hand left the holster. “You said you wanted to leave the Squalis? I suppose I can help you with that. Let me just close up shop, first.”

A/N: According to Google Translate, squali is the Italian word for shark. I thought I was being funny by combining that with Courtney's jet black hair.

[manyfandomocs]

🌟 + Eirene Collier? <3

My final ten facts let’s go let’s go

Eirene calls Haymitch “Company” and he calls her “Misery” because of “misery loves company”

District 12 and honestly most of the Capitol just call her “Hermit” because she rarely makes appearances in her own district and only is in the Capitol when she absolutely has to be

She only killed one person in her games and it was an indirect kill at that

Eirene entirely retreated from her previous life after the Games, the bakers and Haymitch were the only ones that heard from her on a regular basis

President Snow has largely left her alone, both due to her not defying the Capitol ever (until the Rebellion of course) and her just being a boring Victor in the eye of the Capitol citizens

The first time she really talks to Katniss or Peeta are after their games in the Victor Village

She loves fresh baked bread

She’s a very fast runner

Her father worked in the coal mines

Eirene does drink more than she should

🌟 Drop one of my characters’ names in my inbox and I’ll tell you 10 facts about them 🌟

[alatismeni-theitsa]

Hello @eirenical thank you for the answer and the details! 💙 Genuine observation for technical reasons because I am curious for what we have in common: Isn't challah and tsoureki the same type of bread? I understand that challah is made only kosher, but other countries/ethnicities make this type of bread also without dairy products on their fasting periods.

Of course as you said Challah can only be kosher so I won't call a tsoureki with eggs and milk inside "challah". But I might compare it to the non-dairy tsoureki, because when I searched images and recipes of it, I found it looking indistinguishable in texture from the tsoureki. That's what I mean by the same type of bread. Some Greek tsoureki:

Often people here cannot tell the difference between a dairy tsoureki and a nistisimo (non-dairy) or a vegan tsoureki. It can also have slightly different textures depending on how you make it. But for us it's still tsoureki, dairy or not, so that's at least one cultural difference.

I'd love to know if you see any similarities. Feel free to focus on the non-dairy tsoureki.

Last but not least:

It goes without saying that I can grasp the context of regional differences, coming from a country myself. And through cultural imperialism we all know how the US is structured. At the same time, you'll be surprised how easy it is to spot a USAmerican culture-wise, and the differences between states are not so stark as one might think compared to different countries. Also people from different states were saying that they didn't grow up with fresh baked bread so that's why I got curious. At least now I can be content knowing that fresh baked bread is still going strong! xD

[eirenical]

Bye-bye, little loaves! Have fun in the oven! See you in a half hour! ^_^

(...what ELSE are you supposed to do on a rainy day in quarantine when your grading is done? ;D)

[anarimamoved]

findekáno gets lost in space, having been found by the enigmatic time traveler, nòm, findekano takes the long road home through the bowels of spacetime itself. and maybe, just maybe, nòm finds his own way home along the way.

or, a space elves au.

Pairings: Fingon/Maedhros, Finrod&Fingon, Nolofinwions, Arafinwions

[abookishdreamer]

Character Intro: Eleos (Kingdom of Ichor)

Nicknames- Ellie by her family & the others in the pantheon

Age- 14 (immortal)

Location- Hearthwood neighborhood, New Olympus

Personality- She's a friendly young girl who's also solemn, pensive, kind, and charitable.

She's the goddess of mercy, pity, & compassion. Her powers/abilities include inducing feelings of empathy, compassion, and pity in other people (temporarily), dulling an enemy's weapon so it won't cause wounds, and limited vitakinesis (healing).

Ellie lives in a large farmhouse-style home in the Hearthwood neighborhood of New Olympus. She lives with her parents and younger sister Eulabeia (goddess of caution). Ellie is the eldest child of her mother Soteria (goddess of safety) & Ktesios (god of the household).

There are many pets- including parakeets, hamsters, guinea pigs, different breeds of cats like scottish folds, maine coons, & ragdolls, and different breeds of dogs like golden retrievers, beagles, border collies, & cavalier king charles spaniels.

Ellie's bedroom is sizable with the major colors being blush pink, eggshell white, and cream. Even though others might say it's juvenile, she loves her collection of plush toys & stuffed animals! The flooring is soft and fuzzy white carpeting. There are also mounted shelves along the walls for her book collection.

A typical breakfast for her is a bowl of Golly Grains honey o's cereal, a butter & cream cheese sandwich (on whole wheat toast), a bowl of vanilla spice oatmeal along with a small vanilla muffin, or scrambled eggs (added with onions, ham, and cheddar cheese).

She has a good relationship with both of her parents. Aside from her friends and school therapist, Ellie feels like she can talk to them about anything- with them always loving & supporting her. An often moment with them are their family dates!

Ellie often thinks of herself as her little sister's protector. The two of them like going to the library and sewing store together.

Her go-to drinks include her homemade tropical smoothies (made with coconut milk, mango, banana, & pineapple), water, iced tea, ginger ale, lemonade, apple juice, green tea, and a medium white chocolate mocha frappuccino from The Roasted Bean.

Ellie also has a pretty good relationship with most of her extended family. She loves her Yiayia Anchiale (Titaness of fire), her aunt Hestia (goddess of the hearth), her Pappoús Hecaterus (Titan god of manual labor), and her cousins Arete (goddess of virtue, valor, & excellence); who's also her official mentor, Calocagathia (Aggie) (goddess of nobility & goodness), and Homonoia (goddess of concord).

She's not that close with her uncle Soter (god of safety) and his wife Praxidike (goddess of judicial punishment).

She loves using the black vanilla products of Glory's Crown for her short curly copper brown hair- especially the curling jelly.

Ellie feels like her uncle Adranos (god of fire) is more like a best friend than an actual uncle considering the fact that he's only a few years older than her. She definitely feels like he's the coolest relative!

In the pantheon she also looks up to Demeter (goddess of the harvest & agriculture), Themis (Titaness of justice), Epione (goddess of soothing pain), Aletheia (goddess of truth), Paregoros (goddess of soothing words), Dike (goddess of justice), and Athena (goddess of wisdom).

Her favorite snacks include soft baked pretzels & parmesan-garlic gourmet popcorn (which her dad makes).

She primarily writes in cursive.

Ellie's currently on break from school in the summer, an esteemed private school located in downtown New Olympus. Other godly schoolmates include Eileithyia (goddess of childbirth), the twins Eirene (goddess of peace) and Eunomia (goddess of law & legislation), Circe (goddess of sorcery), Philautia (goddess of self love), Morá (goddess of babies & children), Theodon (god of reality, uncertainty, & fate), Cedalion (demi-god of smithing ore), Telesphorus (Rusty) (god of rehabilitation), Dysnomia (goddess of anarchy & lawlessness), Koalemos (god of foolishness). Her two best friends are Heimarmene (Marnie) (goddess of shared fate) & Eiresione (Ren) (goddess of offerings).

In school her favorite classes are literature, history, home economics, and art.

She loves listening to pop, classical, country pop, & synth pop music. Her favorite artist to listen to is Pale Blu, a popular nephelai singer.

Her favorite desserts from Hollyhock's Bakery include apple pie, cinnamon rolls, & toasted marshmallow vanilla bean cupcakes topped with marshmallow fluff frosting.

At school, Ellie is the student council secretary while Eunomia is the student council president and Eirene is student council vice president. One of her ideas was approved- which was to do a charity chariot wash. Ellie is also part of Haven for Beings. She'll also sometimes help out in the school's kitchen, doing food prep with the other lunch ladies.

A guilty pleasure for her is the hot dog combo from Olympic Chef. The meal consists of a hot dog (she likes it topped with ketchup & mustard), large fries, and a large drink- Ellie likes lemonade with a bit of ice.

At school, she's always nice to Koalemos- even inviting him to sit with her and her friends during lunch. She stood up for him when a group of other students called him a retard.

In her free time Ellie loves spending time with her family (doing home improvement projects with her father & cooking with her mother), reading, knitting, sewing, yoga, drawing, listening to music, pottery, riding her bike, & hanging out with her friends.

She's also gotten really good with painting- mainly doing realist art & portraits.

Some of her favorite dishes include a caesar salad (with honey mustard dressing), chicken curry stew with white rice, steak with roasted potatoes, beef stroganoff, & spanakopita.

"Why waste one's energy being mean?"

[queenoftheboard]

The words of acceptance (even if they sounded hesitant at first) pleased the business magnate; Eirene uncrossed her legs and prepared to leave her seat at the very second Cinnabar's agreement came through their call, promptly signaling for a man who had been standing around to approach. "Perfect - just what I wanted to hear. I look forward to speaking in person, then. Goodbye, Cinnabar."

That ended the call - from the other side, at the Quinn warehouses, the blinking light announcing that the camera had been turned on would have gone dark, and the security specialist would be able to confirm she was left alone (for now). Across several blocks in the same district, Eirene asked for the man who stepped up to her desk to retrieve the usual pastries she liked for meetings, pushing herself up and then walking away from the office with the familiar cadence to the steps: determined and exuding the power Eirene had over her own business empire.

The woman paused only to pick up some of her personal belongings, and check her own appearance in one of the many mirrors fitting that hallway. As usual, Eirene looked perfectly composed - a necessary trait when one wished to give the impression to be invulnerable; looking the part was the first step in creating a similar notion in the mind of her rivals (and enemies), after all. Followed by two bodyguards, the Quinn CEO got into the car which had been waiting for her, and they departed once another employee delivered a large box which filled the interior of the vehicle with a delicious scent of freshly baked treats.

By the time they reached the district, the timeframe promised by the businesswoman had been rigorously observed; it suggested that Eirene was not one to be comfortable with a mere desk job, and that the head of Quinn was frequently at the company's facilities scattered all over DisCity to supervise their operations. Surprise spot checks were a routine of anyone working under Eirene - her thirst for conquering (and controlling) were largely known across the entire workforce, from the most high-ranking directors to the simplest production line operators.

Getting inside the warehouse had been a much easier job for one in possession of the right access codes and recognized by the surveillance system in place. Eirene got in without a problem, and immediately went to the same room where Cinnabar had been during their unconventional chat. The two bodyguards from earlier walked inside, but after placing the food (and of course, the coffee) over the table located there, Eirene immediately dismissed the men with a firm tone, satisfied to see no rebuttal of her orders were attempted. For many, it could sound incredibly stupid - a prominent Eastside figure like her, meeting with a fugitive while being unaccompanied; surely it was an invitation for trouble?

And yet, Eirene was far from unprotected.

"Hello again, Cinnabar. This is so much better - I do prefer the face to face meetings over remote ones; perhaps I'm just old-fashioned that way," the blonde said by means of a greeting, following up with a business-like smile and then gesturing towards the table where she invited the other woman to get close to. Eirene was working on the coffee - pouring it into two disposable cups that her employees had included with the pastries, and then also removed the plastic wrapping keeping the food warm. An assortment of baked treats of all kinds were available, among them a few cinnamon rolls which made Eirene chuckle despite herself; the accidental joke was just too funny.

The Quinn president, however, did not ultimately move to pick any food - just the coffee, handing another cup to Cinnabar. A couple of chairs were pulled closer and the business magnate took one, sitting down as if she was in her own audience room despite the less than glamorous surroundings. Not even the fact that they were in a small office inside a warehouse seemed to remove some of the blonde's refined and dignified air, really.

"I hope these are to your liking - please, feel free to sample whatever appeals to you," Eirene said with a polite tone and a nod towards the food; she didn't need to say that it looked like as if the other female had starved or at least struggled with food; the difference in Cinnabar's famed physique was evident to the naked eye. "You looked surprised at the idea of working for Quinn - or rather, me. Did the image of the camera deceive me or do you have concerns about the job, Cinnabar?"

An employment offer? Cinnabar’s certain she did not mishear her words, but with everything that had happened, all of Eastside now knew of Cinnabar’s awakening as a Sinner and the Council wished for her arrest enough to list her as one of Eastside’s most wanted. Eirene seemed to be well aware of this, so why, then, would Quinn’s very own president and CEO offer her a place of employment? Should Cinnabar accept her offer, not only would Eirene’s standing amongst the elites plummet, but so would Quinn Group’s reputation.

Thus, Cinnabar had, in fact, intended on turning down the offer then and there. Desperate for shelter she may be that she even went against her own principles and break into someone’s property, she would still hate to drag another’s name with her. Unfortunately, before Cinnabar could even begin to speak, the woman on the other side of the screen appeared to already be preparing for their meeting, even offering her breakfast.

Would it be rude to say she wanted to turn the offer down now? Rather, wouldn't be even more disrespectful not to hear the rest of what Eirene wanted to say? Eirene had been kind enough to reassure Cinnabar that she had no intentions of calling the authorities on her (truth be told, the former security didn't even realize how she was holding her breath until she heard her say that), the least Cinnabar could do, then, was to meet her, no?

But then... wouldn't she be wasting Eirene's time if she were to agree to their meeting, only to say she cannot accept the position? But, ah... Eirene sounded so certain when she said she would arrive in just a few minutes... What should she do?

"Just..." She trailed off, one hand finding its way to the back of her neck.

She could already feel a headache forming from all of the overthinking, her sigh deep and heavy. Very well. It was only right to kindly accept the opportunity to meet Quinn's CEO and apologize to her in person. But it shall only be for that. Should the topic of employment arise, then Cinnabar shall be sure to say no. The bodyguard nodded to herself, content with the array of excuses she came up with. "... just coffee is more than enough. Thank you, Miss Eirene."

In the meantime, she should search for a washroom and try to make herself look as presentable as she could.

[servantofclio]

Book recs (second half of 2020)

It’s December 16, and I thought I’d do a rundown of some of the books I read this year. I did the first half of the year here, and a similar post a year ago here. Losing myself in a book is part of how I’ve been coping this year.

Becky Chambers, To Be Taught, If Fortunate: The journey of an exploratory deep-space expedition; enjoyable characters and the science seemed pretty sound.

Kate Elliott, Unconquerable Sun: This was sold to me as “gender-flipped Alexander the Great in space” and it was awesome. Princess Sun is the only child and heir of Eirene, a ruthless space conqueror; Sun herself has all the drive, charisma, and creativity you’d expect of an Alexander-alike. She also has her dear Hetty and a loyal entourage, and both internal politics and external enemies are about to move against her. There is a ton of great worldbuilding and touches here -- Sun and her entourage are social media stars and manipulate that status ruthlessly for their own benefit, and there’s some very mysterious deep lore that I hope the sequel will unpack. Great space opera, one of my favorites this year.

T. Kingfisher, A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking: A teenage baker has only a little magic -- dough-based magic. (She has a sentient sourdough starter and a magically animated gingerbread cookie accompanying her.) But someone is killing the mages in her city and soon she might be the only one left. An ultimately hopeful and lovely fantasy.

I also binged a bunch of her other books:

T. Kingfisher, The Clockwork Boys; The Wonder Engine; Swordheart; Paladin’s Grace: I liked all of these; they have fantasy, adventure, and romance, likable characters, an interesting world, and a generally positive outlook. Exactly what I have needed this year.

Tamsyn Muir, Harrow the Ninth: HARROOOOWWW. Okay, I really think you need to read Gideon the Ninth first, as I’m not sure how much will make sense without. And in fact, I spent the first chunk of this book desperately trying to figure out what the hell was going on. @probablylostrightnow and I were reading it at the same time, but not quite at the same pace, so we kept sort of leapfrogging each other. I started keeping notes about my reactions for each chapter so I could share with them, and some of the notes are just all-caps keysmashing. In a lot of trilogies, the second book is kind of filler-ish, and that is so not the case here. Muir somehow manages to answer a lot of the lingering questions from the first book, while opening up a whole slew of new questions, like what the hell did you do, God? Ahem. I’m so so looking forward to the third volume, but I already think this series is a tour de force, and I can’t say more here without spoiling both this book and its predecessor.

Allie Brosh, Solutions and Other Problems: This book is sometimes heartbreaking and frequently hilarious, and it was great to get Allie Brosh’s work back in front of my face.

Alix E. Harrow, The Once and Future Witches: The tale of three estranged sisters, the youngest and boldest of whom wants to bring back the secrets of witchcraft. The dynamics among the sisters are lovely, there’s also a labor movement and a suffrage movement, queer characters and characters of color, and I love the way folklore is threaded into the story.

Courtney Milan, The Duke Who Didn’t: Courtney Milan gives us a half-Chinese duke wooing a determined Chinese lady in Victorian England The characters are fun, smart, and likeable, with some plot twists that made me laugh out loud and a very satisfying ending.

[raindropsduringthesunset]

Chances Few and Far Between (TSS Fateful Fae AU)

Ao3 ~~~ Wattpad

First Part, Last Part, Next Part

Characters: Remus, Virgil, Janus, Roman, Logan (for a moment)

Relationships: Dukexiety (Platonic), Dukexiety (Romantic), Anxciet (Platonic), Anxceit (Romantic?), Analogical (Implied- Momentarily) (Platonic)

TW: panic/fear, arguing/bickering (playful context), violence, drowning, trauma (flashbacks?), attempted murder

CW: Remus (mentioned) cursing, Janus (sympathetic), insecurity, slight non-con kissing (only on cheek, platonic), anger, monsters, water/swimming, embarrassment, talk of gods (Greek pantheon)

Summary: Remus wants to be able to spend time with V. With a little convincing and a bit more time, he realizes a few things.

~~~

Humans were weird. Remus couldn’t tell if he liked or hated that. Judging by how his human was affected by other humans, he decided for the time being that yes, yes he should hate it. He was weird too- mortals didn’t seem to like that though. Good, he had thought to himself, let them hate me.

Mortals were cowardly. Remus despised that trait. Cowards were always too afraid to have fun- too afraid to just live a little. It was so fucking stupid to him. He hated cowards. Another thing humans and him had in common.

They hated cowards too. They ridiculed them, teased them, provoked them until they did what they wanted them to do. Remus hated cowards, but even he knew that was a line to simply not cross. Humans hated cowards, yet created them through trauma. Remus could see that when he looked at V. They tried so hard to make him a coward- to make him scared of everyone and everything.

But V wasn’t a coward.

Sure, V was afraid. He was scared and hesitant to do anything- keyword hesitant. But, as afraid as V was, he pushed through and did things he was scared of. Cowards didn’t do that. Remus admired him for that- though, he would admire him regardless of cowardice or fear. Remus admired that V had enough confidence to do things he was afraid of. He liked that in a being- mortal or not.

What he didn’t like was how everyone was babying V and not letting him near Remus. Sure, V was just hanging out with them, but Remus wanted a turn! He hadn’t gotten to spend any time with V past when they had met in the forest. He’d been hearing about and seeing V interact with everyone but him and it was really starting to get on his nerves.

He was aware that he was scary. He was large, he looked mean, he looked like he could kill- which in all fairness he could. It didn’t quite help that he was half chaos fae. I know, fucking wild, right? Now, with the knowledge that Remus had some chaos fae, it would probably be safe to assume that the Prince was also some sort of chaos fae, right? No actually. Fae children ‘laws’ were strange and made it so Princey- oh so conveniently- was not a chaos fae. Remus was always a little cross about that because that just wasn’t fair.

Being a chaos fae was annoying. He had retractable tentacles- though holding them in too long tended to make his back hurt. He also was more hyperactive and fidgety, L constantly quipping at him to sit still every time they had dinner. He also had a different aura than the rest of his clan.

Everyone else had an aura of something calming- or just in general something good. L had a calming and clarifying aura of a deep blue, Pat gave off a welcoming feeling every time he entered a room, the prince radiated confidence and gentle passion, and J… J’s aura was confusing. He gave off confidence and security, but it also always felt like he was up to something.

Remus gave off a chaotic aura. Being around him made people want to be reckless. He and his brother had broken far too many things for his effect to not be apparent. L would spiral into an infodump whenever Remus was around. Pat would be more reckless with his baking or foraging- Remus had once gotten him to eat a berry that he was 80% sure was poisonous; everything turned out fine but it was still worrying. J was more powerful so he wasn’t as affected as the others were, but Remus is sure he’s done something.

Remus didn’t like the idea of accidentally affecting V with his aura. He was too small, too influenceable. The human mind is so easily broken and he was not about to test its limits.

Still, he so desperately wanted to truly meet V. To just sit with him, to play games. V wasn’t his, he knew that from the beginning, but he just wanted a chance to see what it would be like to have him, if only for a second.

Linebreak

“No Re, you can't hang out with V!” Roman complained, wrestling with his brother in the dirt- thank the gods he could magic his clothes clean or he might actually have to kill Remus. Remus rolled his eyes and flipped them over, sitting on his brother’s back.

“Why not?! I can be civil!” Remus squawked as the prince grabbed his ankle and pressed down on the pressure point. He took the time to squirm out of the position to tackle him again.

“I’m not quite sure you can- hey!” Roman flicked his hand that Remus had licked before grabbing his forearm and using what momentum he had to scramble Remus onto his back. Remus cackled in his position, squirming a bit in an attempt to put Roman off balance.

“You're so possessive of V, I swear. It's like he's your lover or something.” Roman froze above him, his hold faltering just enough for Remus to flip him over and crawl away for a moment to catch his breath.

“What? Do you actually love him?” Remus asked, pushing some of his sweaty hair out of his eyes. Roman stared at him from across the dirt, breathing heavy and shaking slightly from exertion. Remus’s teasing smile faded as Ro looked away, pushing himself off the ground without a word.

“Wait, are you serious?” Remus scrambled up, stepping over to his brother quickly. Roman sighed and rubbed his hands across his face.

“I don’t know, I’m figuring that out. I- well I do love him but I don’t know if I love him like… like how I love you or like… love love him, you know?” Remus whistled and slung an arm around Roman’s shoulders.

“That’s… heavy. Sheesh, and I thought I was the emotionally burdened twin,” Remus joked, laughing when Roman rolled his eyes and pushed him off, “Oh come on, that was funny.”

“It was and I hate it.” Roman huffed, the corners of his lips twitching up. Remus counted that as a win.

“But really, can I please spend time with V today? I don’t care if someone supervises I just-” Remus took a deep breath, he hated admitting defeat just as much as his brother, “I just want to at least be able to know him.”

Roman blinked over to him for a moment, taking in his sullen state before pursing his lips. Remus glanced between Roman and the floor. A few moments passed of neither of them talking. That was long enough for Remus to sigh and open his mouth to throw in the towel.

“Fine-”

“Alright.”

“What?”

“Alright, but I’m sure everybody would prefer if you bright someone else along with you. I’m going to be busy tomorrow, so I suggest asking everyone else before supper for a chaperone and then asking V- at least then you can warn him who’s going to be tagging along.” Roman conceded, much to Remus’s surprise. Huh, who would have thought?

This was big. Nobody- and that means nobody- trusted Remus with V. He didn’t really think his guilt trip plan was going to work but… huh, nice.

Thank Tyche I guess.

“Thank you-”

“Don’t get your hopes up,” Roman snipped, slightly deflating his own ego at the hurt expression on Remus’s face, “There’s no guarantee that everyone is going to be as… willing for you to be around V. I suggest asking J to go with you. V seems most comfortable around him and J also tends to be quite… possessive.” Remus smiled again, this time it was crooked but playful.

“Second most possessive to you.” He jabbed. Roman laughed a bit and looked down at the dirt.

“I can’t say you’re wrong dear brother.” Remus’s smile faded. He had a lot to compete with if he was going to spend time with V.

Timeskip

It, unsurprisingly, took several weeks to convince J- or anyone for that matter- to let him and V spend time together, even with supervision. Roman had listened to his complaining the night of the day he and Remus had the whole “You can spend the day with V if…” conversation.

“Eirene give me strength- FINE! Gods, if you could stop squawking at me while I’m trying to work that would be wonderful,” Janus groaned, his hands hovering over a plant that he had been attempting to grow for the past half hour. Remus whooped and did a little dance before leaning down to where Janus was knelt in front of the plant and placing a sloppy kiss on his cheek with a loud shmack.

“Thank youuuu! You’re the best J!” Remus shrieked, standing up and bouncing around, “I’m going to go ask V now- oh he’ll be so excited-”

“Ah-ah-ah, slow down there. Stay here until I’m done. We need some rules before you run off. Sit, I’ll only be a moment if you could not distract me for once.” Janus sent him a quick glare before looking back down and closing his eyes. Remus groaned loudly and flopped onto the floor, drawing little doodles into the dust and dirt.

After what felt like forever, Janus finally lifted his hands, frowning at the plant in front of him and petting its leaves before turning to look at Remus. J stood up swiftly and gestured for the other fae to follow, already moving by the time he was standing.

“Are you ready for the rules? I assume you understand that I will not be letting you near V without fully understanding what you can and cannot do with him,” Janus said, putting his hands behind his back. Remus nodded eagerly and walked directly next to him.

“Yes sir!”

“Do not call me sir,” He bit before sighing, “First rule is you are not to do anything to V without asking him first. If that thing you wish to do with him puts V in way of any harm, it must go through me first.”

A nod.

“Good. Second rule, if V says he doesn’t wish to do something or wishes to back out of something, you must abide by these wishes.”

A nod.

“Third rule,” Janus snapped his gaze to Remus, stopping in his track, “Do not break him. He is not a toy. He is not replaceable. He is a mortal, Duke. Mortals are fragile. We are not going to test the limits of mortality under any circumstances with V. Think of him like… like a glass.

“Glass breaks easily. V also breaks easily.”

Glass is pretty. V is also pretty.

“While glass is replaceable, V is not. Priceless, inimitable, one of a kind. If you break him, we will never have someone like him again. If you break V, it will be the last thing you do. Do you understand me?” Janus threatened. Remus nodded, stepping slightly away from him with his eyebrows raised. Janus nodded and continued walking.

“Good. Now run along and go ask V. He should be with your brother today.” Without another word, Remus turned on his heel and ran for the gateway. Janus sighed and shook his head fondly.

Timeskip

They decided to spend the day at the lake. Remus had some maintenance to perform in the water anyway so he took it as a blessing. Janus and V were sitting on the dock, V reaching his bare feet into the water every few moments. Remus popped out of the water intermediately, having a quick conversation before diving back down. Eventually, Remus popped up and used his tentacles to prop himself up high enough to rest his arms on the dock.

“Hey V,” Remus said, looking up at the human with a toothy smile, “do you maybe want to swim for a little?” V raised his eyebrows and looked to Janus as if asking permission.

“Darling, you can decide this for yourself. I’m not going to be the one to control everything you do.” Janus send a small smile to V and squeezed his hand for a moment. V looked at him, his eyes asking the silent question of ‘really?’ before he turned back to Remus.

“I… Sure? Can we-” Virgil hesitated, looking into the dark water, “Can we go somewhere more shallow first?”

“Yeah, it’s tiring swimming in deep water anyway.”

Remus used a spare tentacle to push himself up onto the dock, retracting them into his back with a gross squelch. V stared up at him with wide eyes as the appendages slotted into Remus’s back, otherwise invisible incisions closing up quickly with a green-tinted clear goo dripping down his back. Remus shuttered and shook his head to get water out of his hair.

Water droplets splashed onto V’s white shirt, leaving dark semi-translucent patches on the cloth. Janus frowned slightly and wiped a bit of water off of V’s face, smirking when he flushed against the touch. Remus rolled his eyes at the sight and placed his hands on his hips.

“Do you need to change clothing or are you fine to swim in your normal clothes?”

“I’ll be fine in this. It’s already wet anyway.” V paused for a moment before pushing himself to stand, stumbling slightly as he tried to gain balance. Remus reached forward and carefully grabbed his forearms, helping to ground him.

“Careful, wouldn’t want you falling,” Remus winked, far too smooth for how awkward he felt saying that. Janus sent him a small glare as V’s face heated up. A smug smile spread across Remus’s face.

V looked out onto the shore, a puddle of nervousness settling in his stomach. The water looked deep. He couldn’t swim in deep water. What if something grabbed his leg? What if he forgot how to swim? What if a storm was coming?

His breath sped up, catching Remus by surprise. Janus on the other hand simply walked over to V’s side, taking his hand and whispering in his ear for a moment. Remus would swear up and down that J used some sort of magic on him because there was no fucking way it was that easy to calm the mortal down.

“Are you ready to go in?” Janus asked, squeezing V’s hand. V looked to Janus for a moment before looking back at the water.

“Would you swim with us?”

“I apologize my darling, but I can’t at the moment. I’ll watch carefully though. If anything happens, I’m here.” Janus sent a look to Remus who suddenly felt very out of place.

Keep your things away from him. I don’t want them to pull him under.

I’d kill them if they even came close.

That’s a lie

J, we literally can’t lie, we’re fucking fae.

Oh, you get my point. Just be cautious. Remember what I said. V is-

Glass- yes, yes, I know. I promise it’ll be fine.

Remus walked into the water, turning around and offering a hand to V.

“Are you ready?” V looked between Janus and Remus before letting go of J’s hand. Remus smiled as V carefully placed their palms together. He gave a gentle squeeze and walked them deeper into the water.

V let out a shaky exhale at the cold water as it soaked into his shirt and shorts. Janus had gotten him to at least wear something that wouldn’t weigh him down. Weigh him down.

God- wait- fuck nono not yet. It’s fine just take a breath, V thought to himself freezing in his spot. Remus sent a worried look back to him, the water only at the waists. Before he could even say a word, V snapped out of it and continued walking forward.

The water was around their shoulders when Remus decided it was far enough for them. It was cold in the lake. One would have thought that one of them might have used their magic to warm it but no. Remus almost regretted not planning to warm the water first until V drifted closer to him, carefully slotting himself nearby to get what heat he was radiating.

It was… cute. Remus didn’t find many things cute, but dear god this was definitely one of the cutest things he’d seen. He could feel Janus’s eyes on them, boring into his head but for the time being, he couldn’t care less.

Somewhere, in the back of his mind, an idea sprouted. For a moment- only a moment- he debated even doing it. But he never had much self-control.

Remus reached a hand under the water and reared it back before rushing it forward and splashing water all over V. He flinched and closed his eyes, bringing his hands up to shield himself from the wave going over him. Once the water stopped, V looked over to him, a dazed expression on his face. A beat passed, then two. Then a smile broke out across V’s face. Remus’s heart sped up. Oh.

V splashed the water back at him, laughing slightly when Remus flashed his teeth and copied his movements. Janus watched their antics with a fond stare, rolling his eyes when Remus sent V an offended look when he dumped water onto his hair.

At some point, the two had drifted farther into the water, them having to kick slightly to stay up. Every few seconds V could feel rocks graze over his toes, smooth and detailed. He bobbed slowly up and down, using his arms to steady himself between splashes- speaking of.

Remus dove under the water for a moment before springing out and splashing water all around them- absolutely drenching V and somehow managing to send a few droplets to Janus. V laughed and brought a hand up to push the water and some of his hair out of his face. Bad move.

Remus should have been paying attention.

V let out a gasp as something thin wrapped around his ankle, tugging to pull him under. The faes eyes widened, Remus reaching forward to grab V- but he was just out of reach.

Water surrounded V as he attempted to kick the thing away. A few bubbles escaped his mouth. He couldn’t breathe. Fuck fuck fuck he was there all over again. Kids had flipped him into the well- there was so much water. It was so cold. They laughed at him. He couldn’t breathe, he was drowning.

Look at the freak! Drowning as he should!

Maybe he won’t drown- then we would know he’s a witch!

Yeah! What are you going to do freak? Are you going to die? Are you going to drown?

Oh, stop that- as if your ‘mommy’ would even come for you. Just fucking die already- useless monster.

A hand wrapped itself against V’s forearm, tugging him roughly to the surface. He took in a sharp breath, the oxygen burning his lungs as he was pulled against someone’s chest. His breathing couldn’t slow down- was he breathing? Shit, he still couldn’t breathe. He was going to die here, in this person’s arms. He was going to die.

“Shh shh, little one it’s alright. It’s alright, breathe V,” The Duke's voice called- Duke? “It’s alright, I have you, you’re safe. I’m sorry, I’m sorry. Just breathe V.” Water dripped heavily from his clothes, an extra pair of footsteps splashing through the shallow.

“You said you would keep your things away from him!” Janus yelled before reaching out and pulling V away from Remus. J’s eyebrows pinched together, his lips curling up into a snarl as he held V to his chest, rubbing his back gently.

“I know, I know, I’m sorry.” Remus moved forward, ready to fuss over V and comfort him however he could. Janus flinched them away, tightening his hold on V.

“No, run along. I’ll handle this.” Janus hissed out. V was gasping sobs against his chest, shaking like a leaf from either the cold or the adrenaline-maybe both. Remus looked at V helplessly.

“Please, just let me-”

“You’ve done enough. Go.” Pain shot its way through Remus’s chest. Janus brought his coat around V, covering him completely.

“Please,” Remus begged, his hands still outstretched. J looked up and sent him a murderous glare.

“Leave.”

Remus let out a shaky exhale, clenching his fits before shoving them to his sides. A stew of emotion boiled in his stomach. He decided it would probably just be best to leave before it boiled over and he somehow managed to make things worse. He always managed to make things worse.

There was one less sea monster in the lake by the end of the day.

Timeskip

About a week passed after the incident. Everybody was- understandably- very pissed off with Remus. The only person who seemed to tolerate his presence at the moment was his brother- somehow. L was also fine with him being around but Remus could tell he was on thin ice around him.

He felt guilty- of course he did. Remus knew there were dangerous things in the waters and he wasn’t paying attention. He should have at least been aware of how far in V was pushed. The only thing he was glad about was that he got to V before he was pulled too deep in or ran out of air.

As much as he was angry with the animals in the lake, he knew there were plenty that were passive creatures and many more that knew well enough to not dare touch what wasn’t theirs. Remus decided to keep lake maintenance to be done strictly at nighttime. If anything picked a fight with him, there’d be extra room in the lake for more passive creatures.

The moon lit up enough of the terrain and most of the plants were bioluminescent- as were Remus’s tentacles. Hues of light greens and seafoam lit the pebbles and shells under the water. Every so often Remus would find a piece of sea glass and pick it up, putting it in his pocket as a reminder to leave it at V’s door.

He had been doing that every day since V and him had last spoken. He felt bad but gods he was bad at words. He took it as a win when he would leave his ‘room’ every morning and see that the glass he had left was picked up. Sometimes he would get lucky and find a piece that was- according to L- ultraviolet. V really liked those pieces from what he’d heard from Prince.

At the moment, Remus was cleaning up the bottom of the lake and getting rid of the remains that some of the carnivorous creatures would leave behind. When he broke the water’s surface to place the bones of yet another dead lake salamander, he was surprised to see a body sitting on the other side of the dock. He was even more surprised when he noticed the soft and oh so quiet crying and shaking of the figure’s shoulders. He watched them cry for a few moments more before it clicked.

“... V?” Remus called, waiting somewhat impatiently for him to turn around. When he never did, Remus dove under the dock and swam to resurface in front of him.

“Hey, hey V, are you alright?” V sniffled and looked up from where his head but buried in his legs, tears rushing down the sides of his face. He blinked at Remus for a moment, opening and closing his mouth before letting out a near-silent sob and putting his head back down. Remus cooed and pushed himself up and out of the water, the strain on the muscles in his tentacles causing them to shine just a little brighter.

“Little one, I need you to take a deep breath alright? Just in,” Remus exaggerated his breath, frowning when V just heaved and shook his shoulders harder, “Little one, hey, look at me- good. Can I touch you?”

V nodded and unwrapped his arms from his legs, making small grabby hands for a moment before pulling back. Remus caught them before he had taken them too far and moved closer, rubbing his knuckles with his callused and wrinkled hands. V let out a shuttered breath, the sobs fading slightly into cries and weak whines.

“I know, I know, take a deep breath for me- yes that’s it, perfect,” Remus breathed along with him, rubbing his thumb along V’s knuckles in time with when he should breathe, “Good job little one, just keep breathing like that. What’s wrong- what happened?”

V made eye contact with Remus, eyes still glossed over with a panicked sheen. The bags under his eyes were dark and bruised, the moon making his eyes look brighter- the color of his iris seeming to glow in the dark.

“I… I had a nightmare.” V mumbled, looking away. Remus’s lips tightened, his heart heavy as he drifted closer.

“Would you like to talk about it?”

“Not… right now. I’m just- I just don’t want to be alone right now.”

“I get that- that’s fine. I’ll get out of the water for you-”

“No! I mean- no I was um… I was thinking maybe uh…” Remus raised his eyebrows and gazed at V gently.

“Would you like to try swimming with me again?” He asked, rubbing his hands against his arms slowly. V paused before nodding, Remus giving him a warm smile. Nervousness settled in Remus’s chest, he can’t mess this up again.

“Hold on just a moment, I need to go check on something then we can swim.” Remus patted his arms before backing away and diving back under.

Swimming through, Remus glanced around for any of the more grabby monsters, sending a silent and rippling threat through the water. A threat of don’t touch what’s mine, if you do I’ll rip you limb from limb- I’ll make you an example. The vegetation squirmed and the creatures buried themselves below the dirt and rocks.

Remus sent a glare to a particularly brave monster and flashed his teeth, flexing his tentacles. It seemed to suffice but he used a bit of his magic to force the creature to bury itself in the rocks like the rest of them. Just in case.

Resurfacing, Remus looked to the mortal who was now standing up and lacking pants and his overcoat. He was shivering slightly, goosebumps all across his body. Remus smiled and offered him a hand, helping him slowly sink into the water.

Once he was completely in the water, Remus slid his hands up to V’s forearm. They were swimming only a few inches away from each other, Remus doing most of the work with his extra tentacles. V squeezed his eyes shut, gripping Remus’ arms tightly as he got used to the water’s temperature.

“Are you alright? Do you need anything?” Remus whispered, trying to read his face. Virgil opened his eyes and sent Remus a pleading look- and oh did that just make his heart break.

“Just- Just help me?” He begged, trying to pull Remus closer.

“I will, I will, I promise. You have my word my horror.” Remus pulled V against his chest, his heart racing. V felt a tentacle wrap underneath him, helping him sit up. He let out a distressed keen, holding Remus’s shoulder with a vice-like grip.

“It’s alright, it’s alright, it’s me,” Remus pressed a kiss to V’s head, “I’m not letting anything touch you.” Remus pulled his head back, using his spare hand to wipe some tears- or water- from V’s cheek.

V looked up at Remus, the light from the moon reflecting off the water and onto V’s face. Remus drifted his hand up the side of his face, tangling his hand in V’s hair. He looked so… precious. Janus was right.

V was glass. He was precious, breakable, one of a kind. Remus realized why the Prince and J were so possessive of him. He understood why Roman wanted to steal him away. He understood why Janus wanted to hold him to the end of time. He understood.

“My horror?” Remus breathed, “May I kiss you my horror?” V nodded and wrapped his arms around Remus’s neck. He didn’t need any more of an invitation.

Remus leaned forward and captured V’s lips with his, pulling him impossibly closer. He could feel his pulse against his lips, he could feel his hands pull at his hair. He could feel so much.

V wasn’t fairing any better, trying to lose himself completely in the smoky taste of Remus’s lips. Gods, other people absolutely did not taste like this. He tasted just like fireside rum- smokey, warm, addicting. A shiver shot down V’s spine as Remus licked gently against his lips, asking a soft question. There was nothing insistent about the kiss, no pressure to move on.

“Well well, what’s going on here?” A new voice asked, making the two of them jump and pull their heads apart.

“L you’re such an asshole!” Remus cursed, his heart pounding, “Don’t scare us like that- holy shit I think I just died a little.” L rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.

“You aren’t going to die, Duke,” L looked to V, “Good evening V. Why are you awake? Aren’t you going to be busy tomorrow- both of you?” Remus sighed and loosened his grip on V, not quite letting go. He sent a glare to L, starting to push the two of them to the dock.

“V couldn’t sleep, I was working on the lake. Sue us for having fun why don’t you.”

“Oh, you seemed to be having more than fun. I’m sure J or the Prince would be thrilled to hear about this.”

“You wouldn’t dare.” L sent Remus a playful smirk.

“Wouldn’t I?” He looked back to V, “You should head to bed little one, it’s very late.”

Remus whispered a warning before raising both V and him to the dock, placing them carefully onto their feet. V shook the water from his hands, shaking his leg to the side to get what water that was still in pooled in his boxers to fall out. Remus ran a hand from his forehead to the back of his neck, squeezing out the excess water from his hair.

“I’ll go change and sleep in a moment L. Can you… go- please?” L huffed and rolled his eyes, turning his foot to start walking away.

“Alright, I’ll go. Sleep soon, good night.” L turned on his heel and left, disappearing in the brush a few meters away. Remus sighed and rubbed V’s back.

“L is right, you should go to bed.” Remus hummed, looking down slightly to make eye contact with V.

“If I sleep, will you wait by my door in the morning?”

“If the others don’t shoo me away, yes.” Remus chuckled. V nodded and bent down, picking up his clothes. He took a few steps away before pausing and turning around.

“Can you… can you walk me back to the clearing?” Remus smiled and outstretched his hand, allowing V to take it.

“Anything at your request, my love.”

Linebreak

Remus understood. He liked understanding. The others expressed their love for V constantly in gentle touches and soft words. Remus had the privilege of being able to be more intimate with him- to kiss him and hold him close- even if it was at a much lower rate than he would prefer. He understood why the others wanted to keep him. V was everything. Remus wanted to tear the world apart for V.

He didn’t want to keep V forever- honestly, he preferred sharing him. V seemed happy around the others and it made Remus happy to see him happy. There was nothing he loved more than V’s smile, nothing he adored more than his blush, nothing he wanted more than his taste.

Remus wasn’t afraid to say that he loved V- he would scream it to the gods themselves if he could. He thanked Eros for everything he blessed him with feeling and Aphrodite for how she had blessed V. V may be common folk, a mere mortal, but Remus would never hesitate to treat him like a king. He understood.

V was a precious glass and a gift from the gods. Remus would do anything and everything in his power to keep him together- to keep him alive and happy.

Taglist: @i-read-by-lamp

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[sleepykittypaws]

A Sugar & Spice Holiday

Original Airdate: December 13, 2020 (Lifetime) Where to Watch?: Lifetime will re-air it in this, and likely future seasons, too; It’s also available to purchase on iTunes et al, or you can watch now, with ads, for a limited time, on mylifetime.com (cable login required)

A Sugar & Spice Holiday was another one of Lifetime's marquee 2020 holiday projects, and it shows. Great cast, great script and actual attention paid to telling a diverse, yet still cozy Christmas story. 

Lifetime's first Chinese-American Christmas tale (filmed, like most of these movies, entirely in Canada), it featured not only a main cast all of Asian descent—Jacky Lai, Tony Giroux, Tzi Ma, Lillian Lim and Cardi Wong—but also writer Eirene Donohue and director Jennifer Liao.

The diversity behind-the-scenes clearly helped shape some of the movie's best moments, like Lai's "Suzy" calling out the casual racisim of a co-worker, with a blunt, "I'm from Maine." Smart, funny and pointed, without feeling overly message-y. 

Wasn't really familiar with Lai before this, but she's sharp, funny and has great delivery, and the first 15-20 minutes of this movie was easily one of the very best of the season.

The movie followed a very traditional formula—successful businesswoman returns home and takes part in holiday baking contest with old crush—but turned it enough on its head to make it feel special, different and true to the characters. 

Introducing all the characters by comparing them to cookies was a genius move, that really worked, and I laughed out loud at the scone joke. There was tone of whimsy here that was incredibly charming, and truly endearing

Even the flashbacks, for once, really worked to help establish Nema as a real presence and influence in Suzy's life, though I'm not sure what we're supposed to think when she wakes up with the rolling pin in her arms. Is Ghost Grandma real? Was Suzy sleepwalking?

Even the ubuiqitious baking contest is improved with the addition of Grandma's recipe, and the metaphors about life and happiness. Plus, the rival baker, played by Sasha Hayden, was really making a meal of her villian role and I was there for every intentionally over-the-top moment. Not to mention that Prince Harry ginger cookies are a genius idea.

Unfortunately, love story was probably the least strong part of this story. Both actors were very charming, but they went from supposedly being annoyed with one another to absolutely in love with little expiation showed or given, and while I liked seeing a couple that actually gets together before the very end, and the recreating the Christmas Dance moment was extremely swoon-worthy (minus Giroux's white socks and tennis shoes with a tux look), just didn't see enough about how Suzy went from "Oh no, not him!" to "He's the one." 

The whole lost-my-project thing also really didn't seem to go anywhere, and was fairly unecessary. Not to mention unrealistic that she had so little frustration about it.

And, as with every Christmas movie, Sugar & Spice have used more Cardi Wong, here as Suzy’s underused brother. But do have to say the young boy cast as his son was spot in, at least in terms of resemblance, so much so that I tried to look up and see if they were actually related in some way. Anyway, the child actor is Micah Chen, and as far as I can tell, he and Wong aren't relatives, but it was pretty uncanny. I mean…

The ending, where (spoiler alert) Giroux's “Billy” decides to follow Suzy to Australia after she does, in fact, get the big Christmas promotion at work is perfect. A rare you-can-have-it-all moment in these movies that are constantly making women choose between success in their work or personal lives.

Honestly, the somewhat rushed love story is the only reason I'm not giving this one four-paws, but it was still one of my very favorite movies of the season, and if Lifetime could make a dozen movies a year like this and The Christmas Setup—with that quality, attention to detail and cleverness—instead of presenting 34 mediocre or worse movies of which only half a dozen are actually pretty good, they'd kick Hallmark's butt. Because when Lifetime movies work, they're a little fresher, a lot funnier and just the tinest bit more special than anything Hallmark has produced. A Sugar & Spice Holiday is one of those special movies, and well worth a watch.

Final Judgement: 3 Paws Up and now I'm craving pork buns

[youreawizardharr]

Cradlesona

The images used can be found here. Please credit the original creator of these images.

Credits = @lovingsiriusoswald

Tagging: @cradlesonanetwork

Notes: Meet the villain of my lore. In the beginning stages of my Cradlesona's creation, I thought about making a sibling for Eirene, but ended up discarding the idea.

This is more of an original character.

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Name: Arion Chapman

Alias: Prince of Cradle (former)

Age: 28

Date of Birth: May 12th

Astrology: Taurus

Gender: Male

Height: 6'2"

Weight: 159lbs

Occupation(s): Lieutenant General

Affiliation(s): The Regnum Order

Place(s) of Residence:

Cradle (former)

Country of Glass

Alignment: Chaotic

Weapon(s) of Choice:

Longsword

Multifunctional Halberd

Parry Dagger

Antimagic Helmet and Armor

Family:

Hephaestus Chapman (father)

Aregonis Lachesis Chapman (mother)

Laasya Chapman (younger sister)

Erza Chapman (uncle)

Eirene Chapman (first cousin)

Andrasta Silver (second cousin)

Pet(s): a stallion named Zephyrus

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Background

Arion is the eldest and only son of Hephaestus and Aregonis Chapman. He was doted on as a child, and the royal family made the assumptions that he was going to succeed the throne after Hephaestus dies. However, Evander chose his younger son, Erza Chapman, after giving his sons a test. Hephaestus failed, thus he was humiliated and scorned by the other members of the Chapman family. Erza succeeded their father's expectations, and inherited the title and responsibilities of King, angering Hephaestus to the core. After Evander's sudden death, Arion and his father turned against Erza, allying themselves with the Magic Tower: specifically Amon Jabberwock. Together, they revolted against the Chapmans, with Arion being the marionette who slaughtered the royal family.

Arion avoided prosecution, escaping from the two armies, and now resides in Glass.

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Personality

Ever since his father was humiliated and scorned, Arion despises the Chapman family. To this day, he still harbors the belief that his father, being the eldest of King Evander's children, should have been given the rights to the throne. Instead, Evander authorized his youngest son, Prince Erza Chapman, to be his rightful heir and to succeed him after his passing. Hephaestus and Arion plotted a coup d'état against Erza by forming an alliance with the Magic Tower.

Arion, with the help of Amon Jabberwock, slaughtered the remaining members of the Chapman family, allowing Amon to extract their souls for his cruel experiments in the creation of magic crystals. Arion escaped prosecution, leaving Cradle on a cargo ship heading east. He took refuge in the Country of Glass, working his way up the ranks of the Regnum Order, where he retains the rank of Lieutenant General of the Glassian Special Forces underneath the Glass King, whom Arion befriended and manipulated into believing Cradle, their western neighbor, murdered his entire family because of their unique magic, accusing the country of fearing their potential, wanting to eliminate a possible threat. The Glass King believed his white lies, denying the request of alliance talks with Cradle without giving a reason.

His close friends have stated Arion is always stoic; barely showing any emotions at all, unless someone mistakenly brings up his past, or asks too many personal questions.

Arion is really clever, masterminding the entire plot of obliterating his family, allying himself with Amon Jabberwock. The two are still working together. At some point, Amon informs Arion about Eirene, who he hates more than the Chapmans because of who her father is. He antagonizes her, sending mercenaries after her, including threatening the entirety of Cradle in exchange for her life. Eirene agreed, but only if he sworn to never harm anyone in Cradle. Arion made her suffer, intending to prove a point to her.

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Additional Information

Arion likes taking long strolls through the luscious gardens of Glass. The Glass King has exceptional tastes for decor, no matter how expensive the decorations really are, or whatever country they are imported from.

Unlike Eirene, he's experienced with magic.

Arion wields multitude of weapons, having trained himself in combat, but only really uses a longsword, multifunctional halberd, and the parry dagger. His antimagic armor was forged by a blacksmith from Glass.

He likes any dish with poultry, but it has to be boiled, grilled or baked. He eats healthy.

[vermiculus-incipiens]

OOC INFORMATION:

What’s your name? Kay!

Preferred pronouns: she/her

Timezone: Arizona/MST/GMT -7

IC INFORMATION:

Character Name: Andromeda Eirene Black Tonks - She has always felt that her name was particularly fitting for herself. Andromeda, the chained maiden; she always felt trapped in her family, even if she couldn’t identify the feeling until she was older. Trapped by her family, by their reputation, by the weight of expectations. Eirene - meaning peace, a trait she has always attempted to embody. Even at home, as much as she tried to be unseen by the rest of her family, she equally tried to bring peace when there was conflict. She has left behind her maiden name, choosing to shed her Black identity as easily as she shed the expensive gowns that she left behind. Instead, she revels in being Andromeda Tonks. Ted has and always will embody all the good that she sees in the world and she wants nothing more than to attempt to imitate him to the best of her ability.

What’s a hobby or pastime that your character enjoys? Andie began learning to cook after she married Ted; before, she never needed to cook. So with Ted, she learned to cook the Muggle way and discovered that she loves working with her hands in that way. She cooks herself as much as possible, and loves any type of cooking. Her favorite thing is to bake cookies with Dora but whenever she’s worried, she’ll disappear into the kitchen to cook and alleviate her stress that way. (A controlled outcome, something she can predict and determine, is very important to Andie. Relinquishing control is very hard for her, and there is very little that she can control anymore.)

Do you have any preferred ships or anti-ships? I am and always will be a Tedromeda shipper. I think they have the most beautiful love story and I always have enjoyed the chance to write it. The changes she goes through in order to be with him are so fascinating and compelling to me. (Sorry, this has deviated a little from the actual question but long story short: there is no other ship that I can see for Andromeda.)

What do you think your character’s Boggart would be? If their greatest fear isn’t something that could easily take a solid form, what is it? Why? Andie is most afraid of her sister Bellatrix. She doesn’t want to see her other family members (well … Narcissa, maybe, because the only guilt Andie has ever held for her choice to be with Ted is the fact that she had to abandon her younger sister to be happy) but there’s far more fear of her older sister than anyone else. She has no doubt that Bellatrix could and would hurt her if given the chance, and Andie will do everything in her power to protect herself - and more importantly, her new family. So her boggart takes the form of her oldest sister, attacking Andie’s family.

What’s your character’s biggest pet peeve? Sloppiness - whether that’s the form of an actually dirty house or room, or just someone looking ill-kempt or slovenly. It is not unusual for her to be found moving around the room when there’s an Order meeting at the Tonks home, tidying up after their guests even while they are in the middle of the meeting. She doesn’t go so far as to make them remove their shoes (although it’s thought that has been given a lot of consideration) but she’ll pick up glasses and set coasters under them, or run a rag over a sticky spot on the table during the meeting (not even a glare from Moody himself is enough to stop her; he’s not that intimidating, not compared to Cygnus or Bellatrix Black. She will stop at a look or comment from Dumbledore, of course).

What would you consider to be an eccentricity of your character? Andie is very particular about the aspects of Muggle culture that she takes into her life. For example: cleaning and cooking the Muggle way is acceptable and enjoyable; Muggle travel is totally out of the question, except when it’s absolutely necessary. She finds Muggle money absurd, and has little wish to be in Muggle cities, but she loves Muggle fashion and prefers it to anything she wore as a Black. The wireless is fascinating, and the cinema (she loves watching films), and the television, but she doesn’t like or understand the need for a telephone. And don’t get her started on pens or pencils; quills are highly preferable and she consistently refuses to use any of Ted’s writing utensils except in extreme circumstances.

What is/was your character’s favorite subject in school? Why? Andromeda always liked potions. It was a controlled form of magic, something where she could predict the outcome. Follow the steps, make the potion. She also got along fairly well with Slughorn and enjoyed that aspect; not all the professors were as easy to befriend and while she never disliked a class because of a professor, liking her professor helped a lot.

What time of day is your character’s favorite? What time of year? The best time of day, in Andie’s opinion, can be divided into two specific moments of the day. First, the very early morning when she and Ted are up together, making breakfast or just sitting and enjoying their tea, before Dora joins them. It’s important to Andie that she and Ted have moments to themselves, to remember their relationship apart from their daughter. But she also loves the early evenings, when she comes home with Dora and together they start making dinner. She loves to hear everything Dora has to say about her day and what she’s done. Her favorite time of year is summer, when she and Ted and Dora have longer hours to do things in the evenings after dinner. She doesn’t particularly like being bundled up for the cold and revels in the chance to wear shorts or dresses without added layers.

What’s your character’s Patronus? If they can’t conjure one, what would it be if they could? Why? Andie’s Patronus takes the form of a tiger. She conjures it with the memory of the first time Ted told her that he loved her. (The tiger symbolizes an independent person who doesn’t like to show weakness to others and is a bit cynical due to their past, all of which Andie embodies. Information found here.)

What is your character’s biggest vice (bad habit or immoral craving)? Andie is arrogant. It’s a bad habit, and one she has tried to break, and also one that only affects certain things (for example, she doesn’t view any group of people as better than others; she isn’t the sort to think she’s better than Muggleborns, for example) but it’s certainly there. She grew up being told that her family was the best and that’s a hard lesson to shake off, no matter how false she knew it to be. So even though she knows she isn’t better than anyone else, she’s still shaking off that arrogance that seems to be born into the Blacks.

Is your character an introvert or extrovert? How well do they handle social situations? Andie is an introvert. She prefers to be at home with her family rather than out with other people. She learned how to handle herself in social settings though - she didn’t like all the attempts to teach her how to be a pureblood lady, but she learned them very well. Now, it’s extremely rare for her to let on how badly she wants to be alone when she’s surrounded by people. If they’re at her house, she wants them to leave, and if she’s out, she wants to go home. She can circulate and make small talk with the best of people though, so no one would know her inner turmoil.

What is your character’s diet like? What’s his or her favorite food? Andie has worked very hard to learn how cook healthy meals for her family (and encourage Dora to eat and enjoy them, although she settles for just seeing Dora eat the food at this stage in life). Their meals are almost always homemade, as Andie turns her nose up at most restaurant meals (with the exception of a few places, or the times Ted really works to sweet-talk her into a family night out.). Meals are also quite varied, as she likes a challenge in the kitchen and is always looking for something that her daughter will enjoy. She’s never really sat to think about her favorite foods though. However, Andie loves popcorn and often pops some for her and Dora and Ted to enjoy after dinner.

How do you think your character’s psychological issues have manifested and changed your character up to this point? Andie is becoming more and more brittle as the war progresses. She is, at heart, a soft person, the kind with seemingly endless optimism and hope for the future, who can forgive and love and welcome people into her life with open arms. However, much of that was ruthlessly squelched under her family’s influence, and now is fading even more as the war progresses. Andie values her poise above almost everything else; she sees a lot of self-worth in how well she can handle a crisis without falling to pieces and the thought of actually cracking under the pressure she feels is unbearable. Where she was once more cheerful and hopeful, she has become more fearful and pessimistic. She hides it as much as she can, and her spectacular poise means it’s hard to see past the polite expressions to the true turmoil underneath. Perhaps the hardest part is the distance she feels from Ted now; at Hogwarts, she felt like they were inseparable, that nothing could ever come between them, that she could go to him with anything and that he felt the same way. But she’s seen his struggles and though she’s waited for him to come to her, he withdraws instead. Andie has never handled rejection very well, and seeing his withdrawal only makes her withdraw as well. She wants to turn to him and be supported and offer support, but she doesn’t know anymore how to bring it up. It’s starting to wear on her, and Dora is starting to realize something is different at home. She’s empathetic but it means that she has taken a very heavy burden during the war (one of the reasons she couldn’t work at St. Mungo’s was because the weight of working with all those people would be too much for her; it’s easier to work privately, offering aid as she can to a select group of people).

Give us a headcanon for your character. Anything is acceptable. Andie is a clean freak. She has always kept her things tidy, and when she left her family and joined Ted, she learned that cleaning the Muggle way (much like cooking the Muggle way) is very rewarding. She has a strict schedule for cleaning their house (it isn’t very big, but Dora generates a lot of chaos and mess) and rarely deviates from the schedule. When she’s especially stressed, she can often be found scrubbing the baseboards or beating a rug, something that requires more exertion from her. It is not unusual these days for her to wake in the middle of the night and turn to cleaning when she can’t fall back asleep.

[shrapnelsong]

Before she allowed Alice to begin gushing over the giant cake baked especially for her, Eirene uses her ability to drag over a giant ribbon-wrapped bunny plush doll, being almost the same height as the bookkeeper was. ❝Also, this.. A second birthday present. I saw it while window shopping the other day and I thought that you'd like it for some reason.❞ The brunette gives her friend a gentle smile. ❰2/2❱

@maestrobe 🎂 pt. 2~

     A preposterously huge bunny plush waltzes into the kitchen, having Alice legitimately gasping. “Oh my god!” Baffled by the sheer enormity of it, she steps closer and cups the bunny’s cheeks, falling into a tiny giggling fit. “How did you even get it through the door?” How is she taking him home being an even better question. 

“You’re impossible.” She tells her best friend, voice still fluttery with laughter as she walks back to where Eirene is and hugs her tight. “I love it! Thank you so much!” 

[flange5]

@eirenical You should!! Once the weather turns like this, baking is the best. 

>_> (frantically ignores the end of the semester madness)