#elemental shit

[helmip]

✨🌟star light, star bright🌠✨

[littlelightfish]

He cares very much about his elemental just look at this man

He raised this bubble monster since it was a baby and worries about her getting mixed with other water things... Dad behaviour...

It's like he asks her to come out to fight.

He can't ask her that, he alredy sent her to battle. Is it either them or the quimera and he knows it damn well, that's why he looks at Marcille with something close to pity. He can't ask the undine to stop. He needs, they all need, the monster to be dead.

And then his baby droplet gets obliterated by this monster. He's not recovering up emotionally from this anytime soon. He freezes a few seconds in absolute shock.

"I even find it cute now". His baby is dead. It's gotta be something akin to adopt a stray cat since baby and then he gets run over. He starts tearing up. Look at this man's poor face, he's destroyed.

Here he's mourning the loss of his undine possibly, all sad faced. He is, at the end, the only one that lost someone there (many died but revived, and Falin doesnt count because she's alive). Either that or he managed to, somehow, save a bit of her and put it on the bottle and it's feeling sorry for his elemental or saying sorry.

[rmsebi]

THE JUICE WAS KRAZY BRO

credits to loser @schyrosoreffs for a better shogun kai design 🔥🔥

[orionsangel86]

There is a phenomenon happening on Tumblr right now which may be a product of the Twitter exodus or maybe its just modern fandom mentality vehemently rejecting the old, but you guys have GOT to stop being so damn MEAN about fandom.

There are posts circulating on Tumblr right now hating on so many aspects of fandom. Yeah we all know the incorrect quotes format can be cringe and most of the time its the same quotes used for every fandom ever reducing the characters to stereotypes. Yes we know most fandoms scramble to ship the two basic white guys over all the other characters. Yes we know your blorbo probably Does Not Fucking Say That. Yes we know A/B/O is weird AF (especially now its breached containment and found its way into mainstream hetero erotica). Yes we know SuperWhoLock was ridiculous and attempts to make modern shows into a new SuperWhoLock have got old fast.

But do you have to constantly drag these things all the time? Why is it suddenly cool and popular to ridicule and criticise and hate on peoples fun?

Let people be cringe

Let people play in the fandom sandbox

Let people have their fun

Not everything has to be an intellectual critique and it doesn't make you a better person to constantly shit on fandom ON THE FANDOM WEBSITE

Fandoms can be problematic, toxic, and infuriating at times. But all the negativity isn't making things better. Yeah okay some aspects of fandom can be annoying, but must we have so many call out posts go viral on here specifically for hating on parts of fandom culture? Yet people wonder why fandom creators are quitting and there isnt as much art and interaction on here as there used to be.

If you see another negative post shitting on aspects of fandom cross your dash, maybe think before you reblog it. Maybe ask yourself if that post may be hurtful to a mutual? Perhaps youve got a mutual who writers A/B/O or CharacterxReader fanfiction who doesnt wanna see your reblog of the callout post stating reader×character fanfic is gross, or perhaps your mutual creates fun text posts applying quotes to their fave characters and youve just reblogged a 90k+ note post calling them cringy and overdone.

Just THINK please. Its not necessary. We've got to be KINDER to each other. Please don't let this place become like Twitter. Twitter was a toxic cesspool where no one had anything worthwhile to add to the discussion, no one created, everyone was just screaming angry rants into the void. Dont let tumblr become like that, because it will be the death of this place. And where will you go to find fanart and gifsets of your blorbos then?

[bigfatbreak]

Question about your changling AU, where did you learn about the ins and outs of Fae and Changling myths? I'm interested in learning too but not sure where to start lol

some of the lore I have for the AU I crafted myself, otherwise I read a lot of old faerie tales growing up and my mom, for some reason, knows an awful lot about shit like that, so some of it is just innate from her. otherwise i just read a lotttttt of books around the concepts of these things when I was younger because I was fascinated with jim henson's worlds

[crustycrackhead]

I got possessed dude, did a line of flour— some crazy shit anyways… Swampcat

Swampcat, Kremy Lecroux x Morning Frost

They both find each other interesting like anatomy wise, drastically different, some “lemme examine you 🤓☝️”

Kremy slowly blinks and Frost gets flustered… that’s the good shit to me man. Purring, Bellows… I SHOOT THEM TWO WITH MY AMERICAN GUN

[kurikorso]

oh shit look who it is!!

please click him for better quality

[sixtysixproblems]

i want to see Fox have the most chaotic ass relationship with some feral investigative journalists. and it somehow turns into a fix it fic. like this somehow leads to Palpatine getting taken down. how funny would that be.

like. journalists are fucking insane man (i mean this as a compliment), and insane in a way I think fanon Fox would 100% get along with. Like, what Palpatine didn't realize when creating a clone army to kill the jedi, is those clones might be very enthusiastic whistleblowers.

Fox stresses out the journalists by how much he's willing to divulge despite the potential consequences (or, yk, actual consequences cause it's palps), and the journalists stress out Fox bc they're catching up to Padme in number of assassination attempts. meanwhile--

Thorn: how many hours of sleep did you get last night

Journalist: i got like 30 minutes at my desk

Fox: omg twinsies

Thorn: nO

thorn's just. stressed.

[digifag]

is anyone else ready to acknowledge that its not fnaf to blame for modern mascot horror but instead bendy.

bendy started the chapter releases, bendy started exploring an abandoned facility, bendy had lore unearthed with each chapter, bendy has the cute mascots turned evil and scary, the walk around gameplay, it literally all started at bendy.

[theonewhowails]

Golden Fleece

[a-larry-retrospective-blog]

No bc it's like. They don't even use fire imagery THAT much as songwriters. Which tbh it's even weird considering that it's a very versatile simile and a staple for writers everywhere. Fire is usually the perfect simile for passion, for sex, for love; but also pain and fleeting relationships, as they burn out; it can be a symbol of home (the hearth around which we gather) and destruction.

If we pretend for a second that they're not That Skilled, and their recurring use of metaphor and imagery is just a coincidence because they're naive in their writing and they're able to apply only those few images to anything they write about without them being linked thematically, one would assume that fire would be every-fucking-where.

But the element of fire (or being immune to it) is actually... Pretty limited. Like yes, there are references in passing to heat/fire being linked to passion, but the Most we get, especially back in 1D days, it's actually fire as a synonym to adversities in the relationship. Even more: it's fire as public scrutiny.

Love truly is a church of burnt romances, isn't it?

(On read more bc I went full Unhinged on the fire imagery)

And the thing is. The thing is. As it very often happens with these two, the best image that can explain the relationship between their writing is the relationship between the I can't change tattoo and the quote tattoo: both could have meaning alone, but one gives you additional context to fully understand the other. We don't understand completely what Louis is getting at in his writing unless we take into account Harry's own. It is as beautiful as it is maddening.

The fire imagery starts as early as Story of my life (in which they ALL have writing credits), where they say

And I'll be gone, gone tonight The fire beneath my feet is burning bright The way that I've been holding on so tight With nothing in between

Now, story of my life is a song about a relationship ending, right? I think we can all agree on that. It's also a story about a heart that feels caged even thought it's set free. Right now we won't get into the song analysis because for one, I'm on a time crunch, and second: i feel like a headache incoming because too many people put their hands on these lyrics and you can physically feel it when you read them.

But I urge you to look at the position of the fire. The fire is beneath the writer's feet. He's walking in the path of it, but it's not as much hurting as it's lighting the way (towards the muse?). This isn't (yet) highlighting the very real sacrifice of walking through fire for someone you love, the fire is low on the ground. It's bearable. It's even a guide. This has Louis Tomlinson written all over it. We don't know what the fire represents yet.

There's a mention of "lighting the fire in your eyes" in Diana but I do feel like we can easily write that off as inconsequential because... That's your average metaphor for passion/zest of life.

And then! We get the key to this puzzle! Harry Styles' own Happily. Here, the fire is evoked through the chorus of "we're on fire". As we've said, fire could be Anything: could be passion, could be destruction, could be pain, could be the safety of home. We were standing with fire beneath our feet just a few songs ago, now we're on fire. Completely.

And the thing about happily is that it's truly an interesting song: right off the bat, it's about a relationship not being able to continue despite being "meant to be" because a "twist of fate" made them unable to work out. Fire is a destructive force, coming from the outside, that is burning the both of them. They had to walk away BECAUSE they ARE on fire. Still, even after they supposedly walked away. The fire here is both linked as the reason of their split, and to the very next lines, which feel like an admission: "I don't care what people say when we're together / you know I want to be the one to hold you when you sleep". So, they're on fire and he says he doesn't care about people's opinions and he wants to leave everything to be with the muse. Fire is painful, and leaving seems to be the solution to its extinction.

Fire is the public scrutiny, right? Right?

Now, whether you interpret this song as about miss swift of our homeboy, it's up to you, but... there are still people who would Die to have Haylor back (I'm one of them, bc if anything they seem to be actually civil w/ each other and ANYTHING would be better than another ratty healy). Like. I don't care what people say when we're together??? The fuck were they saying that was so disagreeable to YOU about America's sweetheart hooking up with the hot one of 1D? Babyboy??? Also the idea of miss Americana herself wanting to leave the industry... Don't make me laugh. I'm not saying she didn't bear the brunt of whatever stunt they were pulling bc boy SHE DID, but that woman wouldn't leave her place in the music industry for ANYTHING. I love her but as much as she might sometimes yearn a regular life now, I don't believe for ONE fucking second she would actually leave. And I don't believe for one fucking second that her in 2012, when she was starting to go big Big, would actually express the desire to leave. Not miss "will you still love me when I'm nothing new".

You know who actually mentions finally being ready to leave with his lover? One guess, if you didn't think of Mr Ready to Run himself, you're out.

So. Fire, to Harry in between 2012 and 2013, is public scrutiny. It's living in the spotlight. If we didn't live in the spotlight, we would be able to stay together and you wouldn't need to be with that other person who probably doesn't know I touched your skin (which, if we believe this is about Haylor, it's doubly funny. Who the FUCK didn't know about the two of them. We were BOMBARDED). It's something that will consume the author and the muse, that has already caused damage to them and they should try to escape.

This idea of fire meaning public scrutiny, meaning being in the spotlight, retroactively could give more meaning to the story of my life line, because that same fire that was burning bright, the same existence of the spotlight, guided the author to his muse. If it weren't for the fire illuminating the way, they wouldn't be able to be together.

Interesting.

Then we get to Through the dark. Oh Louis Tomlinson you absolute unit of a man I love how optimistic you are. Because reading H's lyrics is always like the most apocalyptic pov you could imagine, and then L's are like "ok this is the same situation but fucks sake put a positive spin on it". This is very much a conversation. It's the most compelling thing ever I think we should have full writing analysis courses on it.

I'm not gonna do a full writing analysis on it, bc while this one is more linear than story of my life, I still am on a time crunch and i want to get this out before i have to go, but, yeah. The muse is sad and ashamed and running away, which does ring some bells, and the author is gently telling them:

But don't burn out Even if you scream and shout It'll come back to you And I'll be here for you

Oh. Is the muse perhaps... On fire? While being ashamed, which is a very public-oriented emotion? While screaming, perhaps something that's close to "I don't care what people say when we're together"? I don't know, just checking!

The song goes on to say:

Oh, I would carry you over fire and water for your love And I will hold you closer, hope your heart is strong enough When the night is coming down on you We will find a way through the dark

Let's just ignore the way that this mirrors and completes the scenario of "I just want to be the one who holds you when you sleep" and focus on the fire. Yes, this is a very classic and average love declaration - I love them but using the elements this way is not groundbreaking - but it's interesting anyway.

First of all: once again, fire is an external danger that accompanies the relationship. It's not related to the passion, which is SO strange to me because love being linked to fire would be pretty par for the course, but is always, always, something external that attacks the author and the muse. Here, the author is begging the muse not to let the fire, the threat of the public scrutiny, consume them (the muse) completely. From this it would seem that only the muse is on fire, but the chorus tells us otherwise: it's the author offering to carry them over the fire. This implies, a. the fire is a temporary threat, and b. They're both touched by it. They're both on fire, even if apparently unburned (...yeah, we'll get to that later). This also goes on to tell us that, to L, the fire is the same fire of Story of my life, it is the fire beneath their feet. It is still originating from the path they walk on, and while in Happily the perception is that they have caught fire with the contact to the road they're walking on, L seems more ambiguous: by carrying the muse over the fire, he seems to imply that this would shield them from it, leaving the author as the only one touched by the fire (being scrutinised by the public).

The water mention IS interesting but I fear I haven't done enough of a deep dive to have a good grasp on its meaning. Because oh boi, I'm sure it has meaning. Don't worry for a second I don't doubt Mr Compass and Rope and Mr ship and anchor have a very deep and complex relationship with water and bodies of water. I just feel like it doesn't represent the hardships of the relationship in here as consistently as fire does.

Little white lies starts with a nice "if the room was burning I wouldn't even notice" but I'm sorry I don't feel like this is as relevant to the trend. It's too much of a figure of speech.

Same goes for No Control which, in their 1D days, it's literally the only outlier we have re: "they don't use fire to indicate passionate love". It's also SO blink and you miss it I usually wouldn't even think about it.

And now, onto our queen Fireproof!

The thing about homegirl (pun absolutely intended) here is that you simply... Would not get it if you didn't have the context from all the other queens here. There's a fucking clear development in the concept of what being on fire means. And the thing is: most of these songs were penned by Mr Tomlinson himself, which would make you think this is simply self-referential and thus we know nothing about the muse. But the key of interpretation, the one that makes it all make sense, comes from Mr Styles himself. If we didn't have happily, we wouldn't know why the fuck these people are fireproof. Like, we could try to imagine, but we wouldn't know! The only reason why it makes sense for them to be fireproof in 2014, after "so long", is because they have been on fire since late 2012!

Because, for a song that has its chorus about being immune to fire, one would think the rest of Fireproof would describe said fire that attacked the relationship. Y'know, to be coherent to the theme and everything.

Except it's not. Fireproof, as a song, has nothing to do with fire. If there's a natural element dominating the song, it's wind and, even more, currents. (Y'know, those things ships have to ride to sail the sea.)

One could argue that there are references to fire to build up to the chorus, specifically in the second verse:

I'm feeling something deep inside,

Hotter than a jet stream burning up,

I got a feeling deep inside,

It's taking, it's taking all I got, yeah,

It's taking, it's taking all I got.

Except... Jet streams are wind currents. Interestingly, they can be either very hot like this one, or very cold, which is presumably what comes out later.

They're not directly linked with fires and flames and being on fire, which brings us back to the fact that there's absolutely no lead up in the song to the fact that author and muse have withstood the fire for so long they must be fireproof. Also, it wouldn't make sense for the jet stream burning up to be linked to the fire imagery, because fire is always external for them.

This one here, this hot current is internal, which makes me think that it has something to do with internal states and feelings and will. It is something intangible that has a force on itself and could change something of their fate, but only if aided by luck. Also, it is both tied to fire, as we see here, and water and bodies of water (as we also see here!) Interestingly, the act of rolling itself could both be tied to the movement of currents and the roll of the dice. (Note to self: Oh god, I have to track even wind now. I hate my brain. We'll come back to this at some point.)

Wind is an interesting element to pair with fire, because it can either fan the flame or extinguish it.

Here, we see both: the current goes at first to fan the flame and make it reach a greater height (I roll and I roll till I'm out of luck, the jet stream is burning up) and then to dim the fire:

I think I'm gonna win this time,

Riding on the wind and I won't give up,

I think I'm gonna win this time,

I roll and I roll, 'til I change my luck, yeah,

I roll and I roll, 'til I change my luck

First of all: as I said before, y'know, to set sails on a ship you need the right wind. Which, Mr My hand your hand tied up like two ships, maybe did not know that! Who knows! Here it's not stated that the wind is actually dimming the fire, but the opposing way this goes from the first two verses makes it easy to guess. The wind changes, maybe temperature, maybe direction, and something changes for the state of the fire.

But that doesn't actually matter, because they're fireproof. They've survived the test of fire, which, at this point, poses more as an inescapable existential condition: sure, the wind can reduce or maximize the intensity, but it cannot alone turn off a fire this big. They've been under public scrutiny for so long, nothing will actually take them off of it. But they've gotten used to it, and it didn't burn them, because they are fireproof.

And, once again, we COULD grasp a lil bit of what it means to be "fireproof" from the chorus and common sense, but the context is, still, residing within Happily. You could NOT have the full context without that song confirming it for you. I hate it here.

I would love to finish off here but we have two more songs with the fire imagery from MITAM. Which are both interesting in the evolution of the fire and what it means for them, because once again: none of these songs view fire as a positive force or a sign of good passion.

Honourable mention to my good friend End of the day bc it goes

I said you're on fire babe then down came the lightning on me Love can be frightening for sure

which is an interesting callback to the fact that they're both on fire, since... Y'know, one thing you can rely on is the fact that a person who is struck by lighting will catch fire. There's no indication of what the fire actually means here, it seems at the start to be something with a positive connotation, maybe related to passion, but also, like, three verses later

All I know at the end of the day Is you want what you want and you say what you say And you'll follow your heart even though it'll break Sometimes All I know at the end of the day Is you love who you love, there ain't no other way

I'm sorry, is this 1D's "you can want who you want, boys and boys and girls and girls"? Here the element of public scrutiny tied to fame is dimmed, but it's very highlighted another element: the same scrutiny would come even without fame being an element of it.

The priest thinks it's the devil, my mum thinks it's the flu But girl it's only you

Okay Catholic guilt! (I'm not even sure he's Catholic but like...) Okay being punished by a higher power for loving who you love! I guess! I get that mr no control is apparently insatiable (I did NOT need to know), but give me a good fucking reason why the priest would think it's the DEVIL.

And even here, the fire is Not that much explained.

If you want me to be reaching, I could easily say that the existential condition to the fire is deepened in this: not only is it public scrutiny that haunts them, the idea of what the public would say follows them even when they're completely alone (they're supposed to be on the roof alone). It is haunting them, even at their happiest, but the author doesn't care (they're still fireproof):

If there's something I've learnt from a million mistakes You're the one that I want at the end of the day

Our last stop is, sadly, Long way down. Long way down is the actual outlier in their 1D production because it's the first time they actually burn. I would love nothing more than to think that it was written before End of the day, but I know Nothing and the track list goes like this, so.

We made a fire Went down in the flames We sailed an ocean And drowned in a wave Built a cathedral But we never prayed We had it all, yeah And we walked away

Oh boy. I wish I could point this to Mr Tomlinson and compare it to my good friend Only for the brave. Just. I'm sorry babes. A

Anyway, we're still talking fire here and I feel like it's interesting that it's still something external to the people in the relationship, but also it's something they're taking ownership of: we made this fire. We decided to become this. We wanted the fame and the public eye on us, and that was what destroyed us.

It's depressing, but it ties to the author asking in Through the dark for the muse not to burn out.

In the end, they both did. They both went down.

Want to end this on a nice note, because even thought I haven't finished with their solo albums analysis, what struck me as amazing is how the one who goes back to the fire metaphor is not even Louis (if we don't count the fucking church of burnt romances), but H, when in Adore you goes:

I'd walk through fire for you

Just let me adore you

Which. Is insane. Not even for the fire imagery bc that's... Kinda average. Walking through fire for someone is the kind of imagery Every songwriter has used at least once. But it's so moving the idea that he doesn't do it for the muse's love (like, two verses before he says "you don't have to say you love me"), but just for the chance of being able to love. To love as an action, to love as a gift for both the giver and the receiver.

The fire is still scary, is still present, but it's also something you can go through, something that some day will end and will lead H to his muse. We're back to the fire beneath the author's feet, the one that is burning brightly and might guide him towards his muse. To the idea first presented to us by Through the dark, that you will go through something as painful as a path of fire just for the one you love, possibly shielding them (here it seems like the author is offering to be the one going through the fire while the muse stays put).

This is me freeballing here bc I haven't run the numbers yet (BC yknow...... I don't have that much free time) but I think there's something to be said about the main metaphor for the adversity in the relationship shifting from fire to water. I don't know yet what it says, but I feel like there is something there

[fumble-art]

the way you draw Reth is 😍😍*chefs kiss*

My compliments to the Chef

alt (just lines):

[inamindfarfaraway]

I love how Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse said “Anyone can be Spider-Man”. I love how it inspired everyone to imagine their own Spider-People, saving the day in their own universes, with all kinds of cool, interesting personalities and aesthetics and mutations and life stories and relationships. We all put pieces of our soul into these homemade heroes. We had fun. We found community. And then Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse said, “Wow, great job! You’ve really taken our message to heart. Well, get ready for even more of everything you liked from the first movie and a new message to complement the first. Anyone can be Spider-Man… and anyone can be pulled into a cult.”

So now we all have to contemplate whether our lovingly crafted heroes would ever be on Team Mandatory Trauma Because Martyr Complex or not and why.

[baldursgate3tempobsessed]

Please let Astarion meet Tav's family and have a younger sibling like 6 be like im gonna marry the prince points at Astarion.

Tav : Sorry, im married to the prince

NO IM GONNA MARRY THE PRINCE

That's so fucking cute kill me. But I just realized AFTER I finished it I read this wrong 😭😭 I read it as "marry" instead of "married" so whoops now it's an asking for your hand in marriage fic.

Also, I'm going to make this a weird little, unofficial, alternate reality, off shoot of this fic to explain away why Astarion can be in the sun without ascending because I am ~lazy~

Quick summary if you didn't read it, Tav serves Selune, gets a blessing for all the good work, and uses it to cure the anti-light issue of the vampirism (but not all of it). It's not a literal extension of that fic but I'm stealing my own plot explanations. That's it! Now here we go:

~

Astarion wasn't nervous per se. He was just... on edge. And the two-week journey it took to get here wasn't helping things, not when it gave him so much time to ruminate in his thoughts. He never expected to be in the position of "meeting the family," let alone in anticipation for asking for someone's hand in marriage.

Astarion wasn't even quite sure how his life got here. He had always fantasized that a life without Cazador would be one of selfish hedonism, not one where he would be legitimately concerned about a damn six year old sibling's first impression of him.

But then you came along, effortlessly shattering all of his grandiose plans with a batt of your eyelashes. Perhaps the entire journey of falling in love was more complicated, but it felt like it was that simple. In hindsight, he never stood a chance against you, but it was hilarious that there was a time he ever thought he did.

All of his prior dreams and fantasies felt like nothing in comparison to just being with you. It had been a year since you both saved the Sword Coast, a beautiful, fantastic year. That had ended with him somehow more in love with you now than when he first confessed. Selune's blessing had certainly helped with that he was sure. He still couldn't quite believe that you would use a god's blessing on him of all people, but gods, was he appreciative. Because being able to walk in the sun again meant that he could live the life he wanted, with no restrictions. He could be the partner you deserved, the kind that a father would happily say yes to when asking for your hand.

Which brought him back to his current dilemma. Perhaps he hadn't seen any of your family members in the time you'd been together, but he had heard plenty. You loved them all to death, especially your little sister. You wrote to them constantly, the mere sight of a letter from your parents enough to put you in a great mood for the rest of the day. He was aware that your mother was supposedly a saint, a fact that your own father had instilled in you often. He knew that they had a wonderful, loving marriage and were both higher ups in the Church of Selune. A fact that Astarion didn't particularly enjoy.

As grateful to the moon goddess as he was, he was aware that you were an expectation to the very normal belief that vampires were bad. And that marrying one was one of the stupidest things you could ever do from an average person's perspective, let alone a Selunite.

Why you hadn't done the smart thing and lied about what he was, Astarion would never know. But he did know that the thought of their rejection over his admittedly sordid history was putting him in a tailspin.

"They're going to love you," You said for the hundredth time, giving his hand a squeeze as you led him up the steps to your childhood home, "You have nothing to worry about sweetheart. I promise."

Astarion highly doubted that, but you were already knocking on the front door before he had a chance to argue. The door instantly slammed open, a beaming child already launching themselves at you before Astarion could process what was happening.

But you were more prepared them he was. You effortlessly caught them in your arms, laughing at their excited shouting, "Titi! You're late!"

So this was the famous Arabeth.

"No, I'm not!" You laughed as you settled her on your hip, "And what happened to my little girl's manners huh? You haven't even introduced yourself yet."

The child glanced over at him, like she was just realizing for the first time that someone else was standing over there. She looked a little shocked at the sight of him, staring at him with wide eyes. Wide enough for Astarion to start to wonder if something was on his face.

He gave her a little wave only for her to bury her face into your shoulder, peeking out at him with her lips pursed. Which was not the best start to the whole making his darling's family actually like him plan.

"Well, as you've probably guessed this is Arabeth. She's just a little shy," You reassured as you stepped inside, muttering a quick invitation inside under your breath. He appreciated that, he didn't need the whole house to be reminded of his... limitations.

"But she'll get over it soon enough," You continued as you called into the house, "Mom? Dad? We're here!"

And just like that they were rushing into the room, acting just as excited as your sister had been. Your mother wasted no time in smothering your face with kisses while your father swept you up into a hug. It was a rather impressive display of coordination, considering how they hadn't managed to knock you and your sister to the floor in the process. Astarion was pretty sure they were both saying something along the lines of We missed you! But it was hard to tell with all of you so tangled up in each other.

It was heartwarming to see, in all honestly. Of course such a loving person would come from an equally loving family, what else would he expect?

Though he certainly hadn't been expecting for your mother to throw her arms around him next. She brought him into a tight hug before looking him up and down, "So you're Astarion huh?"

She turned back to you, grinning ear to ear with her hands set on Astarion's shoulders, "He's so handsome! Selune help us, do you remember the last boy you brought home? He had a nose the length of my arm-"

"And that's enough of that," You said with a strained laugh, pulling your eccentric mother back a few inches, "And we've talked about the impromptu hugs. What happened to asking for permission?"

"Sorry, sorry!" She said with a wave of her hand, "Let me try again. I'm Seliras, and this is my husband-"

"Marcoul," Your father interrupted, putting his hand out for Astarion to shake, "It's been awhile since we've met a boyfriend."

"He's a little more than that," You said with a sigh as everyone exchanged pleasantries.

"We'll be the judge of that," Marcoul said with a sharp but friendly grin, the grip he had on Astarion's hand briefly tightening before he let go, "From what we've heard, you're quite the character aren't you?"

Ah, so the interrogating was starting early then. It was nothing that Astarion hadn't expected. Besides, turning up the charm was his strong suit, even when he was uncharacteristically nervous.

Astarion smiled back at him, "You've heard right. And I'm more than happy to answer any questions you might have."

"Oh gods please don't say that," You groaned, but it was too late. Your parents were already leading him to sit, rapid-fire questions coming out of their mouth.

Where are you from? How did you meet? Are you serious about our Tav? What's your religion? Where's your family? What are your plans?

But Astarion answered them all, with only mild censorship for the child's sake. The child who suddenly couldn't stop staring at him. It wasn't exactly easy to sell himself as a future husband when he was a vampiric ex-slave, but he made do.

It was an overwhelming experience to say the least, but not necessarily an unpleasant one. That was one good thing about trying to marry into a family of zealots, it was a lot easier to convince them of your virtue when you received a personal blessing from their goddess.

By the end of the night, they were all throughly appeased, enough so to get off the topic of him for a moment.

"You look a little young to have a thirty-year old child," Astarion said to your mother. He was actively trying to compliment her for obvious reasons, but he was also genuinely curious. She barely looked a day over 40.

"Oh we breed young," She said with a laugh, "We had Tav in our teenage years. Arabeth came much, much later. Our favorite little surprise. Gods, I can't think of a single person in our family who didn't have kids young. Our little Tav is the only exception to the rule."

"But maybe not for much longer, huh?" Marcoul added with a grin, yelping when you lightly smacked him over the head for the comment.

"Do not start the kid talk again!" You hissed out, cheeks red, "We've talked about this!"

Astarion couldn't help but grin at your reaction, charmed by your embarrassment. Though... the idea of the two of you having children together sure was an interesting thought.

Astarion felt a tug on his sleeve while you were distracted arguing with your parents. He turned, smiling when he saw your little sister standing there, still staring at him with wide-eyes.

She took a deep breath before blurting out, "You look like a prince. Are you?"

"Not exactly," Astarion said with a small laugh. That couldn't be further from the truth, "There's no blue blood in my veins."

She frowned, cocking her head at him like he wasn't making any sense. But then an idea obviously struck her as she excitedly asked, "But if you married a princess, then you'd become a prince too. Right?"

"I suppose?" Astarion answered with a shrug.

"So if I become a princess, and I marry you, then you'll be a prince?"

This conversation was quickly becoming out of his depth. But luckily enough for him you were swooping in to save him.

You laughed at her question, turning your attention back to the two of them, "No offense Bethy, but I'm going to be the one marrying this particular prince."

But Arabeth wasn't having it. She crossed her arms, looking at you like she was the one talking to a child, "You can't. Because if I don't marry him, he won't be a prince. So there. I have to do it."

She looked so serious, her facial expressions incredibly similar to your own. Astarion was holding back a loud laugh as you tried and failed to reason with her, "I can marry him without the royal status-"

"No! I'm marrying the prince!"

Your parents were doing a much worse job at hiding their reactions, both of them opening giggling behind their hands as you came up with a compromise.

"Okay, okay," You said with a sigh, kneeling down to look the small girl in the eye, "How about this? I marry him first. But only until you become a princess. Then he's all yours. Sound fair?"

She thought about it for a moment before nodding to herself, "Sounds fair."

Well Astarion wasn't going to get a better set-up then that. He turned to your father, his nerves coming back for a brief appearance, "I'm assuming now might be a good time to ask what I came here to ask. Though I do promise I only intending on asking for one of your children's hand in marriage."

Marcoul nodded slowly, his face unreadable as he spoke, "I mean no offense when I say this Astarion, but you aren't exactly who I imagined for my daughter."

"Dad don't-"

"Darling, let him finish," Astarion gently interrupted, his eyes still locked with your father's.

He took a deep breathe before continuing, "That said, I've never seen her so... herself with someone else before. So yes. The two of you can marry. On one condition."

"Anything," Astarion said instantly, nearly giddy at the fact that he was so close to the official yes, "Just name it."

"You have to have the wedding here," Seliras answered for him, a massive smile on her face, "No ifs, ands, or buts."

"And I get to be flower girl!" Arabeth chimed in, her past indignation completely forgotten as she climbed all over you, "And there has to be chocolate cake!"

"Oh gods, help us," You groaned, but Astarion was already nodding along. He couldn't give less than two shits where it happened or who was involved. He could scarcely believe that it was happening at all. But that was the last thing he had needed.

He already had the ring, the most amazing person he could ever fathom being with. Who actually wanted him back.

Now all he had to do was ask.

[lichenbug]

support your evil wife

[ups3tti]

Since Nya could communicate with whales/sea creatures as a water elemental in sea bound it's only fair that Euphrasia should get to communicate with flying creatures. Send post