#i love love LOVE when Knowledgeable People get involved in fantasy world building on the side of 'lets figure out the fun thing'

[aniseandspearmint]

#OH EXTREMELY HYPED ABOUT THE HAIR GENETICS#okay by degree i am a geneticist. off the top of my head this checks out!!!#please note that im very tired and have been studying for a standardized exam all day so im not tracking too closely#BUT you’ve got me thinking about the light refraction involved in color production#what with metallic colors having a sort of shine to them that melanin/other pigment granules don’t produce#in feathers/scales/etc - which ARE still keratin structures and not too far removed in terms of homology - you get light refraction#BY the structure of the complex itself#like you can get lattice structures that refract light and this is why hummingbirds are iridescent etc etc#thinking maybe elven hair just has a different protein complex structure that allows it to refract light!!#it’d work it’s not too far fetched#like this is an a&p thing im discussing here. which WASNT my area of concentration. genetics Was.#specifically cancer so like don’t ask me too much about other things lol#but yeah off the top of my head. that’d do it.#not to make your fun fea hair colors more grounded in physical possibility and less grounded in fea stuff#but this DOES open the possibility of feanor with Actual Raven Hair#maybe his is a little more refractive. like a crow feather. nothing crazy insane without his fea inside his body but like.#just a little something. you know.#eyes. anyhow.#when i saw pole dancer celegorm i didn’t expect to be reblogging this for Science Reasons but here we are!! top tier post it has it ALL#we love science in this house. we also love pole dancing and archery for the purposes of being hot and showing off <3#silm#i should have a science tag for the sideblog but i don’t#alas (tags via Nelyoslegalteam)

realized the @blumineck pose was perfect for celegorm so here he is!

[wisteria-lodge]

hi op!! hope you're doing well. genuine question, but do you think lucius pays his taxes? he makes public donations and associates with the ministry to a rather personal extent that i imagine he at least forks over some to whatever department at the MoM handles taxes but he does strike me as the person who'd at least find ways to evade being taxed (writing off business dealings as personal purchases to avoid getting taxed for them, donating to charity to get a write-off for the money, having some under the table deals so what taxes he has to pay for wiltshire are rather minimized) but what do you think?

Now I'm thinking about how taxes work in the wizarding world.

Okay, so one of the interesting things about HP is that pure-blood wizards are sort of stuck in the 1700s. There are a few aesthetic/fashion details from the 1800s, but in terms of tech level and the way the world is set up, we're still pre-industrial revolution. Which makes sense! The wizards never had an industrial revolution, and split away from the muggle world in the late 1600s.

(Phillip Pullman was also doing a psuedo 1700s-1800s thing for his children's fantasy series at around the same time. Cannot prove that JKR has any knowledge of His Dark Materials, but another English author writing a similar kind of book? Stealth-setting a book in the 1700s isn't such an out-there choice.)

That means a lot of the issues people have with the HP world building are really just issues with... life in the 1700s. Why is there no mental health care? 1700s. Why is the Hogwarts curriculum so weird? 1700s. Why is slavery okay? 1700s. Why is there no drinking age, and you can just purchase drugs (love potion) over the counter? 1700s.

In a similarly 1700s way, the Wizarding World seems to be composed of semi-autonomous fiefdoms, which report back to the Ministry of Magic. On paper, the Ministry has has control over Hogwarts, St. Mungos, the various pure-blood estates. Whether or not that's that's totally true... I mean the Ministry tries and fails to take over Hogwarts in Book 5, and in Book 2 they clearly *try* to prosecute the Malfoys for holding dark contraband, but never get very far.

Here's what I would do, if I were writing something political based in the Harry Potter universe. The Wizengamot seems to be the oldest ruling body (its name is a pun on the Wittengamot, which is from the 7th century.) So probably those seats are inherited (House of Lords style) possibly with a magical component involved. New members can be added, but only by existing members voting them in. The Wizengamot serves as the High Court (as we see - more normal cases are processed by the Council of Magical Law, and Arthur is really wrong-footed when he hears Harry is getting a *Wizengamot* trial.)

They also probably have some sort of pass/veto power, and the power to elect/replace a Minister of Magic. (the position was "offered" to Dumbledore multiple times, but he turned it down. So he's definitely not campaigning in a general election.) I doubt they actually *write* laws - that seems to be handled by the more bureaucratic-flavored Ministry members like Arthur and Percy, who do *not* sit on the Wizengamot.

I'd also have it so that taxes were handled in a more 1700s style. There'd be a lot of sales tax, which the Ministry would be able to enforce because I'm pretty sure they they oversee food production. There would also be a fee for the various Ministry-run procedures like booking overseas portkeys (and legal-social functions? the officiant at Dumbledore's funeral and Fleur's wedding is pretty Ministry coded.) "Pay a fine" seems to be a pretty common punishment in this world - which isn't a tax, but definitely a way for the Ministry to make money. I wonder if people like Ludo Bagman *bought* his position. It would be very 1700s of him.

Then there's property tax, and this is where the the old pure-blood families on the Wizangamot come in. I think the Ministry presents a budget to the Wizangamot, and *they* make up the difference, among themselves. At which point yes of course Lucius finds ways to weasel out of paying if he doesn't like the current minister, if he doesn't like the deal he's getting, if he's just feeling pissy that day, whatever. But at the end of the day, they collect their own taxes from the various spheres they control.

Now we're getting into headcanons, but I think the Malfoy money comes from primarily being landlords. At *very least,* Malfoy Manor has a magical satellite village (a la Hogsmeade or Ottery St. Catchpole) that they just own and probably low-key police. (they probably also just own a chunk of Wiltshire.) I also highly, highly doubt that the Malfoys gave up all their ties to the muggle world post Statue of Secrecy. If every new Muggle Prime Minister has a meeting with the Minister of Magic, then... I bet every time Lloyds of London gets a new CEO, Lucius Malfoy shows up to say, "We get 1.5% off the top. My bankers will be in touch." Goblins don't care about the Ministry's laws even slightly, and there's got to be an exchange rate if Hermione's parents can show up to Diagon Alley and buy her books.

All of the old pureblood families are going to have their own *thing,* their own under-the table agreements and sweetheart deals. The Blacks strike me as being big into shipping, probably because they're so based in *London.* But yeah, at least to me, this is the sort of thing that gels with the universe that we see.

(Hogwarts and St. Mungo's would be funded the same way, on a smaller scale. A huge part of St. Mungo's budget just seems to be the Malfoys. And Hogwarts has a board of governors who under normal circumstances raise money and make decisions on how to run the school... but they don't seem especially powerful these days. I'll bet it's because whatever endowment Hogwarts has/whatever funds Dumbledore has at his disposal *are* enough to run it... which is why Dumbledore can do whatever he wants, and becomes an almost independent political entity.)

[ecargmura]

I Finally Watched The First Episode Of The Apothecary Diaries

The Apothecary Diaries has been one of the seven animes I said I would be reviewing for Fall 2023. This anime aired in October. It’s December right now. I finally stopped holding it off and got to watching the first episode; I’m eight episodes behind! What are my thoughts of the first episode? I think it’s interesting!

I love fantasy shows, and Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End is one of the animes I am watching this season. I know that The Apothecary Diaries is another hyped up show and I actually love the difference between them. Frieren is a western-inspired fantasy story while The Apothecary Diaries is an eastern-inspired fantasy story. I love that I’m now reviewing two fantasy shows of opposite spectrums.

From what I saw, this anime seems to be about Maomao, the protagonist, who was kidnapped and sold to work as a palace servant. She used to be an apothecary and lived with her dad before her kidnapping, so she has a plethora of knowledge about herbs and poisons. She had involved herself with solving the mysteries behind the illnesses of the baby prince and princess and realizes that they were poisoned. She tries to warn the consorts about the poison, but it was too late for Consort Lihua as the prince died while the princess, daughter of Consort Gyokuyou, survived thanks to the mother heeding Maomao’s warning. This catches the attention of both Gyokuyou and Jinshi, a very beautiful eunuch who is in charge of the rear palace where this all takes place. I think that the story is going to be about Maomao using her knowledge to solve poisoning cases, so I think that the story will be episodic in a way, which isn’t bad.

Maomao as a character and protagonist is very interesting. Because she’s an apothecary, she was able to educate herself into knowing how to read and write, a trait that not many low-class girls like her have; this is evident with how Xiaoling, her friend, asked her what her tag said and how she was the only one who read Jinshi’s sign when servant girls were called to his office. I really like smart characters, so to see Maomao be that sort of character makes me excited to see more. I just hope the writing will be consistent for her. She was super cute with how she liked seeing herbs and such. I can’t wait to see how she’ll use her knowledge to help people. I already like her.

Jinshi feels very sketchy to me. He’s beautiful as heck, but he’s giving me trust issues. Is he using Maomao or does he genuinely want to work with her? If so, what’s his reason? He seems like a man of high status and what I know about asian/oriental fantasy stories is that any man of high status are suspicious. I do have to say, the anime really does like to emphasize how beautiful this man is as there are always close ups of his face or some parts of his face to show off his beauty. Someone in the animation studio must really like him.

The other characters in the story haven’t shown much, so I can’t say much about them. Xiaoling is cute. Gaoshun is probably that one character that has screen time but doesn’t say much due to his role as Jinshi’s attendant. Lihua seems like she’ll either be a villainous woman or one with development later on. Gyokuyou seems like a nice lady. I’ll talk more about the characters once they get more screen time in future episodes.

This story is Chinese inspired from names to buildings, but why is it that Gyokuyou’s name is in Japanese while everyone else’s names are in Chinese? I’ve noticed that Japan has a tendency to do this sometimes when it comes to animes with Chinese affluence. From this spreadsheet I saw on TVtropes, Gyokuyou’s name in Chinese would be Yuye. I mean, sometimes, Chinese, Japanese and Korean names would be translated into how it would be pronounced in their respective languages, but in a world where there are names like Maomao, Jinshi and Lihua, a more Japanese name like Gyokuyou does stick out like a sore thumb.

Not just Jinshi, the entire animation is very beautiful. The studio is OLM Incorporated; they have done many projects, but they’re also known for animating the Pokemon anime since the beginning and are even animating Horizons. The whole scenery and the way everything is colored is so beautiful. I really love how the flowers look, honestly. The rhododendron flowers look really pretty. Maybe it’s just a me thing, but any anime that can animate nature super well is a good one for me. The music is also really good too! The opening is addicting to look and listen.

The voice acting is superb. They got an all-star cast with a few rising stars. Aoi Yuuki stars as Maomao. I think this is a perfect fit. Yuuki has the range to pull off the serious, comedic and cute moments. Maomao was so entertaining to watch just from the first episode because of her performance. Jinshi is voiced by Takeo Otsuka. I feel like I’m seeing that name a lot in recent animes. I know he voiced Aqua in Oshi no Ko and Aqua is one of my favorite characters there. Unlike Aqua, Jinshi is more of a dynamic character, so instead of seeing him all moody and depressed like in Oshi no Ko, he’s all chipper. I think this shows Otsuka’s range and I can see why he’s getting casted left and right—he’s definitely a rising star. I don’t think I’ve heard Yui Ishikawa voice such a hot woman before. I’m usually familiar with her voicing teenagers, so this is the firs time I’ve seen her voice an adult and a mom at that. Lihua hasn’t shown up yet, but I do commend Ishikawa for going out of her comfort zone. I didn’t even know Yoko Hikasa voiced Gyokuyou until I looked it up. I don’t remember the last time she used that tone for a character. She has been voicing strong-willed, tough older ladies lately, so hearing her using a rather softer tone caught me off guard. Everyone else did a great job; I’ll talk about their performances in future episode.

Since this will have 24 episodes, I will be taking my time with the reviews for this anime. I know I am behind, but I want to take my time since I am juggling with a plethora of other animes to review. I hope you enjoyed my review! What are your thoughts on the first episode of this anime?

[soulforayandere]

So I love Br0ken Colors, and in making an OC for it, ended up writing a whole Urban fantasy AU. My discord friends have really taken a liking to the AU too, making their own characters for it, and we've been calling it "Br0ken Fantasy".

Seeing how each of the main guys are getting a love interest via me and my friends, and some character changes to fit the AU, I'm gonna post each as their art is completed.

First up, my gal Fef!

Art by: Ozaya

Name: Fenfaffina Mizurath

Race: Dark Elf

Age: 29

Height: 5'8"

Occupation: Mage (police consultant)

character info below the cut!

In a world much like our own, only where humans are not the only race and magic is a part of everyday life. In most rural areas people just go about their lives as normal, but when you get into larger cities that's when you start having issues. It’s commonplace for parts of the cities to be sectioned off into wards, each one tailored to a different subraces specific needs. Be it larger buildings for Orcs and Trolls, wider sidewalks for centaurs and other taur races, more greenery for fae and weres - whatever the needs there is likely a ward in a large city for them. This doesn’t mean it’s a utopia. Just like in our world, when you put lots of different types of people in one place there’s bound to be issues and friction.

Fenfaffina is a dark elf from a rural farming town. Believing her name too old-fashioned, being a traditional elvish name, she’s gotten in the habit of telling people just to call her “Fef”. Her family was overall rather traditional, having Fef and her siblings grow up bilingual in common and elvish, celebrating old elf traditions, and the whole family practicing magic. Normally one would need to go to specialty schools and acquire permits to practice magic, as unchecked spells could wreak havoc on society. However, if going through the right channels, many elvish families bypass these rules and laws via a myriad of legacy clauses. 

More so than her siblings, Fef found herself rather gifted in magic casting. Memorizing the spells themselves and the movements or components required for each was hard enough, but where most fail was the personal cost of magic. Spells require energy from the caster, with harder spells having the tendency to cause the caster great pain or grain them to the point of fever. What makes a powerful caster is not just knowledge, but also tolerance, and Fef had a disturbingly high pain tolerance. This was encouraged by her parents, who would put her in painful situations regularly to help her raise her pain threshold. While abusive, and would have had the kids taken from the home if anyone cared enough to report them, it eventually did its job.

Fef went to a caster’s technical school, graduating as a full fledged mage with high marks. She worked in a large town for a few years to build her skills, but really wished to get away from her family and move to the big city. She applied to most any mage team she could, but most were either looking for better credentials she could get where she was or just plain didn’t want her (not everyone likes elves). She finally hit her break when she got an offer to join the mage division of Hueväri City’s police department. The job was more of a civil servant than a cop, but Fef felt like she might actually make good use of her skills in such a big city. Her family were starkly opposed to the idea, Hueväri City was known for having some of the highest crime rates in the country, but Fef only saw her chance for freedom.

There were lots of growing pains at first. Such a big city was expensive to live in, so Fef had to get a small apartment in a rough neighborhood. Her job, as well as the rest of her department, was to investigate reports of rogue magic and help the police on cases involving magic or beings out of their control. Typically this would be a child or teenager freshly unlocking their magic abilities, although in the more difficult cases this might be monsters summoned out of malice or incidents where race relations have completely deteriorated. Her first day on the job there was a murder, a set of kids setting a local church on fire with waterproof flames, and an illegally smuggled dragon breaking from the apartment it’s owner lived in and eating the landlord. If the cases themselves weren’t trying to kill Fef, the paperwork certainly was. On top of all that, she was a bit hurt to find out the mage division wasn’t respected by the police and not trusted by the public, making her feel even more alone than back in her hometown. 

One day while running errands, Fef found a quaint little flower shop with an apothecary counter in the back. Deciding she could use some herbs for home spells, she looked around. The scruffy man all but slumped over the counter looked beyond depressed, not even picking his head up to look at her and just picking at the dried rose on the counter. Fef could tell by his unusual ears and fluffy tail that he was a Warg, a being that could transform into a “mindless beast” at will, an ability fueled by their consumption of raw meat. Old stories say wargs ate magically gifted people to gain their power, but Fef never believed that and wrote it off as old-timey racism. It took a couple tries to get the man’s attention, but once their eyes met he seemed to perk up. Fef tried to make idle chat, just wanting to cheer the guy up and make his day just a little better.  He was animated when talking about his plants, even showing interest when she mentioned she was looking for spell components. 

When she asked why he seemed so down, he reluctantly told her he got rejected by the woman he had a crush on a few days ago, and was still down about it. Without even thinking, Fef told him she found him both charming and “very handsome”, mentioning whoever must have been blind to not see him as a total catch. When he reluctantly asked “even if I’m a warg” it broke her heart. She knew the pain of bigots, dark elves not the most welcome in her own experience, but she assumed his people got so much worse. Filled with sympathy, she brought a hand under his chin to lift his head higher, telling him he had nothing to be ashamed of. “You’re passionate, beautiful, and deserve the world.” She left him her name and number before leaving. “In case you need me to knock some chick's head…or wanna get dinner, either one works for me.”

Needless to say, Damon was in love. He first cyber stalked her to get information, like her real full name and address, then started stalking her during her day. Her apartment was actually not far from his place, making it really easy for him to pay her nightly visits. He collected dozens of photos of her going about her life, on the street, relaxing at home, and sleeping. One night, when she came home drunk and ranting to herself about “dickheads at work”, he snuck into her apartment after she passed out and cuddled up to her, petting her hair and whispering how he’d make them pay for upsetting her. She actually talked back to him in her sleep, a thing he discovered days ago she did, and managed to get information out of her that way. Over the next week her pig-headed coworkers were subject to attacks or accidents after hours.

This came to a head when a call for a dangerous case came in, and Fef was the only totally able-bodied one left with the credentials to take it. Together with her partner, an older human named William, they attempted to subdue the rampaging Gnoll. Unfortunately the beast seemed to have been doped up on “pixie dust”, a magically charged drug that can turn beings into feral monsters if overdosed. William was knocked out rather quickly, his gun having no effect on the oversized being. Fef struggled to get him under control with suppression spells, but was knocked hard into a wall and nearly had her head bitten off. Right as it was making its killing blow, the thing was intercepted by a snarling ball of red and white fur. Damon had followed them to the scene, and rushed in when Fef was hurt. Shifted in his fully Warg form, Damon wasted no time killing the feral Gnoll, not even sparing the body a second thought to go check on Fef. She was bleeding, feverish from casting, and shooken up. As he cautiously reached out to check on her, she threw herself into his arms and silently cried. She nuzzled him, thanking him for saving her, and clung to him despite the blood in his fur covering them both. Backup and cleaning crew were called after she calmed down, and she introduced Damon to her coworkers (well more she tried, but realized he never gave her his name). When he said he was her boyfriend, she didn’t correct him and just gave him another tight hug in thanks.

Notes

She can cast a number of various spells, but has a couple she prefers to use most.

Magi Whip - an energized whip she can create from her right hand. It glows a florescent lime green and can be super heated or electrically charged with magical energy. Typically she just needs to bring it out as a show, with a loud crack, to get her point across to people and settle fights down. If she actually needs to use it, it can be used as a whip or a lasso, the end casting out to about 50 feet max (length of a semi). She can choose to charge the whip either during use, or after to subdue targets.

Gyromancy - actually a series of spells, she can control and mess with the force of gravity around her. Usually she used this to fly on her staff or to make shields/ redirect attacks, she struggles to use it on living things due to all the logistics that would involve. These spells cause the most pain to casters, so she needs to be smart about when to use it and how much.

Fef didn't have the best first meeting with DG. She was walking home from work later than usual and took a turn down some back allies to avoid a rowdy couple of bars, not looking to get heckled. Unfortunately DG happened to be "hunting" down that ally, and gave chase when she tried to run away. Knowing calling for help was useless in her neighborhood, Fef instead tried to but enough distance between them for her to try and cast some form of spell. But it had been a long day, and she was already tired from work, so both running and casting was difficult. The two got into a scuffle, Fef trying to get past him and DG getting a couple good stabs in. As they rolled onto the ground and DG got the upper hand, a loud roaring bark echoed in the ally. Damon came to her rescue again, but Fef was a bit mortified to find out the two men were good friends. 

DG told Fef the two hunted the allies for fun. letting Damon eat the victims when DG was done playing with them. He threatened her not to tell on them, but Damon separated them. DG promised not to hurt Fef as long as she kept Damon happy, wording it more as a threat to her rather than a protective proclamation for Damon. 

Though conflicted, Fef keeps her end of the barging and doesn't report them, even helping the two cover up their crimes time to time. She doesn't like or trust DG in any way, a fast DG takes pleasure in when messing with her.

Fef is physically incapable of screaming. She can yell, and raise her voice for a limited time, but can't produce "screams". She's unsure if she's always been incapable of screaming, but if she could in the past she's sure her parent's "training" broke that ability in her.

Like other dark elves, Fef can't eat overly sweet things, they burn her like hot coals. She does seem to have a limited tolerance and can eat things like pie or cookies some days, but when she hits her limit it's beyond painful. This doesn't seem to hold true for sweet drinks, only solid food (pudding is also safe).

She's rather short for an elf, as most are 6 foot or taller. She suspects she might have some human in her, but her family would never admit to having anything but elf (and mostly dark elf at that) blood in them.

[pocketramblr]

I know you won't be writing dozi and respect that but I read someone bringing up Greek Chorus and your tumblr seems like the designated place for dozi content so I hope you don't mind. See, I'm a dirt poor soul so the only way I get to experience videogames is via gameplay walkthroughs in youtube, which is how I came across the amazing "Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical" (10/10 would rec). And as soon as the concept of "eidolon" was introduced (aka the thing that makes someone a God) I just couldn't unsee the parallels with OFA and immediately started wondering just how that would fit into DOZI. As it turns out, I think it would do so quite naturally so long as the passing of an eidolon isn't the inciting incident for the AU's existence. With Izuku established as the class biggest weirdo and secretly entrenched in the OFA-AFO War path, it would open some really interesting avenues of exploration. Sure, some of the Gods plotlines may need to be reworked, since Zeus would need to be still around in some capacity or just very recently gone in order to be a grandpa, but it would still make for a solid scafolding for a plot. At least if we are going with the premise of AFO trying to avoid fighting his family as much as possible.

Let me elaborate; there's a lot going on but for the purposes of this story what you need to know is that Stray Gods is an urban fantasy murder mystery where in order to survive you need to prove to some worn down Greek Gods that you didn't murder their Last Muse in order to get her eidolon. Considering everything in PJO, BNHA, Stray Gods, and what we've seen so far of DOZI, there's so many ways to play this out but here's what I've come up with:

Far as I remember in PJO there's this undercurrent of the Gods depending on their demigods kids for strength and protection and I think that would be a lot more obvious with *these* gods. Maybe the eidolon vessels were always the norm or maybe the situation is new and yet another sign of the gods weakening but either way it's what's happening now. And one of the many lovely things about it is that, while the vessels do get Godly Power OFA-style and even bonus technical immortality, you could argue it is a very empty immortality for the vessel since they may as well be dead. It's not some violent take-over from a new consciousness but more like the powers are not the only thing that seeps through. Soon enough the memories overwhelm the host previous personality until whoever they were is replaced by a true embodiment of the god who chose them. A new vessel could be chosen from anywhere since amongst the demigods (which seems awkward to me) up to amongst completely random people with no previous knowledge of their world, it wouldn't matter since it would be completely up to the god and all demis are duty-bound to respect the choice. *writes while side-eying Knighteye* Another thing is, no matter how much of NOOB the chosen one may be they'd still carry a godly soul within them so they'd outrank even the most badass of demis and are therefore entitled to their protection and respect.

With AFO doing his best to play dead, these world-building changes could open a door for conflict from Inko's side of the family. Like, the eidolon's implications would only compound this Izuku's plentiful reasons to prefer humans to gods. And here he was, doing his best to be his own hero away from his family legacies and suddenly one of his friends gets dragged into the mess in one of the worst ways imaginable. Even if he wasn't a demi he'd still feel duty-bound to step-up as their knight in not-so-shinny red sneakers and it would probably serve as the emotional equivalent of his vigilante arc in this AU. With who his closest friends are in this AU I considered Kouda or Shinso for the role (blame their voice quirks) but surprisingly, I feel Ojiro would make the most sense. The whole reason the game's protagonist got involved in this mess was because a Muse took a liking to them when despite their obvious talent they were feeling stuck and therefore lost, and Ojiro is a criminally underrated badass who'd just like for people to actually acknowledge his skills. Imagine how it would feel like to suddenly be at the seeming center of everyone's radar because you are the main suspect of a murder and your friend's family is even scarier than anyone theorized so he's helping you survive it. But to all of that you can also add the fact that the godly power he was bestowed with was that of A Muse. If you were looking at it from a traditional POV thiss may as well be literal Divine Intervention claiming you are destined only to a supporting role, which may be especially grating coming from the family of that one friend who always stands out naturally. Honestly by the point he realizes how OP Muses can be he'd probably have plenty of cause to regret ever having wanted the attention in the first place.

On the other side, there's no way everyone wouldn't notice their funky little green bean turning into a brooding knight that's intensely invested in Ojiro's well-being. And, for all that he'd hate that someone he cares about must be stuck with an eidolon or die, the muse who died is a pudgy short queen with an affinity for pink so he'd probably want to see justice for her as well. The poor boy was already drowning in secrets without trying to navigate just how much he *can* reveal to save his friend while avoiding disappointing All Might or bringing down Divine Wrath upon them; but "serving" the gods is what he was born and trained for so that's just what he's got to deal with now. Something very fitting with the "Stray Gods" vibe of everyone having unfolding secrets and good intentions which often lead to terrible outcomes. This could be taken to some pretty heavy places, especially if the Furys plotline is kept. So all in all, it'd be really interesting stuff. Heck, I even have a PJO OC that I'm probably never gonna use but that may fit this AU surprisingly well in case anyone wants to adopt this premise.

Well I'm not writing dozi and I'm not writing sg:trm/dozi crossover (had never heard of stay gods before but I'll check it out!) but can I just thank you for sending me all this it was very fun to read. Like fun lore, but also ough the character choices. You said Ojiro and mmmm perfect yes I realized last night I had not been loving Ojiro content as much as I should. He's such a fun pick and this is such a fun (and sad but in a good way) twist of him and Izuku's friendship in dozi. A good helping of being careful what you wish for, friends refusing to let go of each other as life complicates and they change but well. Everything changes. They can change together. They can still be heroes and do good even as it looks different.

Anyway I love the idea and would happily read more about it, thank you for sharing it!

[emachinescat]

A Year in (Book) Review: My 2024 Reading Journey 📚

#55 - Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger

Fantasy / Mystery / LGBTQ+ / Elatsoe #1 / 368 pages / published in 2020 / Finished Jul. 5

One Sentence Review: As a demi, i really loved the asexual representation, and it's awesome to read from an Indigenous author, but the world in this book is not as clearly defined or developed as I would like; still, the story really drew me in, even if it took a vastly different turn as it went from mystery to horror - but the odd ending felt rushed and uncertain and left me unsatisfied.

Favorite Quotes

"It's hard to know that you're flying too high until the feathers start dropping."

*

Ellie: Where are you going after that?

Lenore: Across the Atlantic. England, France, Spain.

Trevor: The Apache invade back!

*

"That's why some stories are particularly important. They're more than entertainment. They're knowledge."

*

"I can't wait to have my own car. It will have a tray just for crumbs."

*

"To her, Six-Great was immortal; the stories made her that way. They carried her personality through generations."

*

"Sometimes, guilt haunts us more intrusively than ghosts."

*

"People don't give animals enough credit sometimes. Or maybe they give humans too much credit."

My rating: 3/5

A Few More Thoughts (Spoilers):

Though there are aspects I do appreciate, such as the interesting concept, the adorable ghost dog, the mystery, and most importantly, the Indigenous and aro/ace rep, overall, I found this book lacking. It's almost a maximalist work - there's so much going on with not enough background or world building. Plus, it ended up being very violent and the ending didn't make sense.

I did very much enjoy reading a book by an Indigenous author about an Indigenous hero, and I greatly enjoyed getting to learn about Elatsoe's culture and traditions, even if the book as a whole wasn't my favorite.

Through Elatsoe's interactions with her cousin's wife and other non-Indigenous people, I was reminded of just how complex culture and identity are, and how messy the intersections of different cultures can be, especially when close-minded people are involved.

[hugintheraven]

Because I see this sentiment a lot:

So, TES is a video game series. Open-world fantasy. That’s the simple part. Thing is, because it’s been around since the 90′s and subject to a lot of lore and feature creep, there’s a LOT of random BS magic floating around in the history. That’s where comments like “The PC in TES3 being able to save and load the game is canon”, “khajiit are a sapient race that includes everything from housecats to the full spectrum of furry art”, or “elves are actually interdimensional demons brought to our world and they’re trying to destroy it in order to go home” come from, they’re players or devs patching inconsistencies between games or setting up lore for various purposes. And the older games were not afraid of getting weird with it, which has carried forward to influence the games today. 

But the games are kind of unique to the genre of open-world RPGs in that they have meh story but let you do a lot of different things, so fans kind of build their own experience even before mods get involved. There’s jokes about ignoring the main quest because it’s truly not the point. You can ignore it completely without issue, and many people do. But doing that and building your own experience means that when one player is talking about their game where they married a beggar and turned him into a major political power, it’s unclear unless someone is very knowledgeable exactly what parts of that are headcanon, which are mods, and which are the player exploiting various existing systems for their own purposes. 

The games are also extremely modable. And they have to be, they’re glitchy as hell without fan-made mods. But needing the Unofficial Patch means that most players on PC learn how to download mods, which means that some other fixes are relatively common.*

And players not really having other options to play means that we have to put up with stuff that would be dealbreakers in other games(severe glitches, shallow content, etc), but that also means that stuff gets discussed to death because it’s such a glaring issue. Combine with no new releases in over a decade, just the same game with more DLC on every platform in existence, and you can see why fans are getting stircrazy. But the more people dig into the games looking for new stuff to talk about, the more people figure out that really makes no sense, thereby confusing everyone who doesn’t follow the lore of these games excessively. 

*That’s what the above is referencing, Serena(vampire female DLC companion shown above) is non-romanceable in the base game. Many players dislike this and have downloaded a mod to make her into a love interest, with or without a NSFW option. Other people dislike this for ethical reasons. Her dad is an asshole villain(but also someone certain people want to call Daddy) so KS is going to mod the game to put him in a sexualized outfit instead of doing anything to Serena.

[wheresmycontent]

One In A Billion [Bleach]

Mayuri Kurotsuchi x Reader [afab]

C|TW: nsfw, a bit of yandere

★ Tell me this man doesn’t keep a small video of you on the screen during his research. Multitasking isn’t a problem for him, the man with multiple brains. To the right of his screen remains a small frame playing live footage of you doing lord knows what. He’s rarely with you but at least he can watch you while he works.

★ If he can remove his brain and make another, I think he can make a copy of his dick. It’ll be the best dildo you’ve ever had. Knowing him it’ll come with all kinds of settings! You can adjust the length, and play with the girth. Test out all the different vibration patterns he added just for you!

He gets a random ping whenever you’re using it. Nobody knows what the sound means but him. The second he hears that little chime he starts grinning. Even switches through the cameras to find your depraved expression.

You’ll never know this. Unless you ask Mayuri what his favorite show is.

★ You are considered to be an anomaly. Mayuri Kurotsuchi, the one who disregards all life for the sake of doing his job, loves you. Like genuinely loves you, albeit in his own sweet way. The seireitei wants to know how the fuck you pulled that off! May even ask you to submit an article for the next magazine because it’s just bizarre to think that Mayuri, of all people, would “love” someone.

Mayuri doesn’t care what you do or say because it won’t affect him in any way. It’s not like people are going to start stopping him in the streets asking for a tell-all. Most people avoid him because of his track record. So if you must let the world know, by all means, do it until your heart’s content.

★ You’re an anomaly but there are lines even you cannot cross. The day you’re dumb enough to ask him to choose between you and work is the day you become as disposable as anyone else. Never ask him to stop working so much, or whine about the lack of quality time.

“I won’t be around much but I’d cherish every minute I have with you”

What the hell did you think that meant? He never said he’d cut his time in the lab, he just said every moment with you would be considered valuable. Besides, you see Mayuri every night! The only time he stays in the lab is when he’s made a breakthrough or is dealing with an imminent threat.

★ After Mayuri removes all his makeup and washes away the day’s work from his skin, he’s more than happy to fuck you. Especially if you were using that dick he made for you! It serves as a reminder that nothing you do will ever compare to the way he fucks you. Sure he made the damn toy, but you’re never going to replicate his talented fingers, the strokes, or his touch.

★ I believe he’s got a ton of kinks involving submission, bondage, power dynamics, light humiliation, pissing, orgasm denial, overstimulation, etc. simply because he likes to see you depend on him. To prove that you’re just not capable of being in control. All it takes is a couple of strokes and the promise of an orgasm to turn you into a bitch in heat. You’re his pet. His beautiful, beloved, pet.

★ Mayuri fantasizes about being buried in your cunt as he’s working. It’d be an inconvenience for sure, but the thought of being able to work seamlessly while your warm cunt twitches around his dick turns him on. Yet he’d never build a replica of your pussy for the sake of fulfilling his fantasy.

★ Modern - Powerless AU. Mayuri Kurotsuchi is a feared yet popular scientist who has made great achievements for mankind. He has more money than he’d ever spend in his lifetime and is more than willing to become your wallet. He works because he loves knowledge but also to make your money.

Mayuri loves it when he comes home to the sight of you opening a ton of packages or trying on the new jewelry you bought with his card. It’s such a feeling, knowing that he can give you anything your heart desires. Even if he has to invent it himself!

★ Yandere AU Mayuri watches any footage that contains even a glimpse of you. Jotting down any new detail that he discovers. He knows nearly everything about you! He’s got information on your health, favored foods, preferred fight style, weird habits, favored sleeping positions, hobbies, etc.

★ Mayuri’s goal isn’t to marry you. He would be content watching you through a screen for the rest of his life. But! He has to have control over you. He wants to manipulate your life to his liking, like sabotaging your dreams if he doesn’t think it fits you. If you’re part of his division it’s easy since captains don’t interfere with other squads.

Given that Mayuri has gotten away with blowing up his comrades and killing off dozens of people, I’m sure they won’t care too much about it anyway. Besides the last thing the seireitei needs is for Mayuri to become a rogue mad scientist.

[ladyartemesia]

TEASER: Kim Seokjin and the Mean Omega

Pairing: Nerd Alpha Kim Seokjin x Popular Omega Reader

Genre: A/B/O • Enemies to Lovers • (Sorta) College AU • Best Friend's Brother AU (Who is surprised? No one?)

Teaser Word Count: 3.6K

Teaser Warnings: A/B/O sexual dynamics • suggestive content

Rating: Explicit (18+) (Teaser is PG-13)

Summary: In the modern world, alphas are almost unheard of so why even bother learning about them? After all, as a spoiled (but reasonably kind-hearted) omega who is used to getting whatever she wants, you have better things to do. However, when unexpected circumstances throw you in the path of (extremely) nerdy and (probably?) shy Kim Seokjin, you're shocked to discover that he won't be wrapped around your little finger as easily as all the rest. Bringing that infuriating geek to his knees quickly becomes your personal mission in life... But it turns out that Kim Seokjin is not what he appears to be and the mean omega who eats beta boys for breakfast is about to get way more than she bargained for...

Author’s Note: This story would not be here without the love, support and friendship of my incredible support system. You talk with me, you laugh with me, you listen when I’m crying, and you read my chaotic drafts when I am ready to pull my hair out of my head in frustration. I love you all. @ppersonna @xjoonchildx @untaemedqueen @lemonjoonah. ALSO thank you to each and every one of you who encouraged me to post this story. This fic is dedicated to all of you as a token of my love and appreciation. Your support keeps me writing. Never doubt that for a second.

“...due to discriminatory anti-alpha policies in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, alphas were nearly eliminated from the general population…”

You heaved a weary sigh and rolled your shoulders—stretching the buttons of your high-end Oxford shirt to their limit. The beta sophomore to your right whined audibly and you smirked.

“...despite efforts to restore the genetic balance of designations, alphas currently comprise less than one percent of the population…”

Your back arched slightly as you crossed your legs, letting the absurdly short hem of your skirt ride up even higher. The poor boy you were tormenting shifted miserably in his seat.

How was he supposed to focus on a Human Biology and Designation Studies lecture when the living breathing embodiment of every sweaty undergrad’s fantasies was twisting her fingers in her hair and wrapping her pretty pink tongue around a strawberry lollipop right there in the middle of class?

“...unlike betas and omegas, alphas possess enhanced strength and the ability to compel other designations with their voice. Unmated alphas especially were often baselessly feared and distrusted...”

You knew exactly how you affected boys like him. You were a shameless tease who relished their attention and the power it brought you. Who needed drugs when driving a man mad with desire was a rush more potent than any high?

“...and that’s all for today so please read pages 450-466 in the text over break and remember to turn in your essay on scent and consent in intimacy—”

That poor sophomore looked like he had finally worked up the courage to speak to you, but you were already out the door and tearing down the hall toward your beautiful (and entirely platonic) counterpart, Kim Taehyung.

“Do you think Professor Moore is unaware that class is over at 3:25 or is he just torturing us for science?”

Taehyung shrugged, falling into step beside you with practiced ease.

“I mean I would torture you for free so it’s hard to say.”

The corner of your mouth quirked up at his characteristic dry humor, but the irritation at being held in that sweltering lecture hall for an extra ten minutes had frayed your temper.

“It’s the last class before spring break, I’m sure he was on some sort of twisted power trip.” You dug around in your purse for some chapstick, ignoring Tae’s amused snorting, “Alphas barely exist anymore and none of us are likely to meet one. Why bother learning what they can do?”

Taehyung tilted his head in amusement.

“You might be surprised.”

The final party before the beginning of spring break was always a laid back affair.

Many people had already caught planes to their various destinations, but your flight was scheduled for early tomorrow morning—leaving you with some time to kill.

Taehyung pressed his newest experimental concoction into your hand within minutes of entering the house (a surprisingly neat bachelor pad owned by two seniors, Jung Hoseok and Min Yoongi) and then darted back to the kitchen to craft more questionable alcohol potions like a deranged party warlock.

You had just found a comfortable place on the couch and were contemplating whether sampling your best friend’s mad scientist elixir would be worth the probable damage to your body when—

“H-Hello...”

It was that sophomore from your Designations Studies class. What was his name again? Jungwoo? Jinwook?

“Jungkook,” you smiled, delighted to have remembered before it became awkward. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

You motioned to the empty cushion next to you and the man in question scrambled over like he’d won the lottery.

“I—I know we don’t know each other well, but I noticed you were absent during Professor Moore’s lecture on intimacy and scent consent so I—” he blushed deeply, “I wrote the essay for you—and I brought a copy on my flash drive if-if you want it.”

Your heart melted immediately.

“Oh my gosh Jungkook, that is so sweet of you!”

Your gaze darted over his muscular form and thick brown curls.

Sweet indeed.

“I don’t want to miss out on the learning though,” you pouted, placing a hand on his tattooed bicep. “Can you explain it to me?”

Jungkook nodded vigorously even as his wide eyes fell to where your fingers were sliding slowly over his chest.

Scent consent was a pretty basic and universally known concept, but you really were touched by the handsome sophomore's consideration.

Why not give him (and yourself) a little reward?

“Um so basically if two people are involved in...intimate activities—”

You leaned forward to nip his ear lightly and he whimpered.

“Like this?” you asked innocently.

“Y-Yes. Like that.” He gulped. “In an intimate situation consent or refusal can be smelled. The scent of refusal or reluctance in intimacy is strong, unmistakable, and has a high chemical potency.”

“Is that so?” you drawled, sliding over onto his lap. Jungkook’s eyes rolled back into his head and you bit back a grin.

He was adorable.

“Uh-huh—it—oh my gawd,” (you were nibbling on his ear again) “it can immediately block sexual arousal and performance in the other partner. Meaning, if consent is not present, then it becomes difficult or—ahh” (his voice began to waver under your continued attention) “—or even impossible to continue with intimate acts.”

Your hand slid up to his cheek, bringing him closer till your lips were almost touching.

“Then what does it mean if I’m still so turned on right now?”

“It means,” Jungkook shuddered—nearly delirious with your scent, “that I really really want you.”

Across the room, Park Jimin chuckled as he watched you seduce his enthusiastic friend.

Jeon Jungkook was such a sweet kid.

Hopefully he wouldn’t get too attached.

“Wow... Some people are genuinely born blessed I suppose.”

Jimin turned to see Jung Hoseok eyeing the dimly lit corner where you and the eager young sophomore were exploring each other.

It was a rather...provocative spectacle. Not quite raunchy (you weren’t truly an exhibitionist)—just insanely sexy.

Jimin’s gaze lingered on the smooth curve of your thigh where Jeon Jungkook was currently holding on for dear life.

Lucky bastard.

“Ah you know how she is,” he sighed. “That boy isn’t going to get any farther than anyone else.”

It was relatively common knowledge that you liked to mess around but rarely—if ever— fully hooked up with anyone.

Jimin asked you about it once during a drunken game of truth or dare and you had just shrugged, mumbling something along the lines of avoiding STDs (which—to be fair—was at least part of your motivation), but the truth was a little more complicated than that.

In terms of experience, you weren’t a virgin, but... you hadn’t actually had sex in years.

You loved the chase, the foreplay, the build-up—the game of cat-and-mouse between two people who were attracted to one another.

But the final consummation was always so…

Wildly unfulfilling.

Every encounter left you frustrated. Empty.

Grumpy—even.

So you stopped bothering with it all together. (That was what sex toys were for after all.)

At the end of the day you were perfectly content being labeled a tease—it meant that people tended to know what they were (or rather weren’t) getting into when they rolled the dice with you.

Besides…it hadn’t even put a dent in your throng of admirers.

You were sunny, spoiled, indulgent, almost universally adored—

And you loved every minute of it.

“You know…” Hoseok took a long sip of his drink. “I always thought she would end up with Taehyung, but it’s been three years.”

Like you, Kim Taehyung was a trust fund brat and it was only natural that two beautiful and absurdly privileged people would gravitate to one another. You met at a freshman pledge party and had been an inseparable (and formidable) dynamic duo ever since.

The undisputed king and queen of campus.

Yes—maybe the two of you were a little self-absorbed at times, but it was hardly your fault that people tended to instinctively cater to the force of your combined looks, wealth, and charisma.

And it didn’t hurt that neither of you were ever intentionally cruel or unkind.

Just... habitually thoughtless.

(Though not when it came to each other. If anything your friendship was one area where you were both a little more human.)

Jimin shook his head.

“Nah that’s never gonna happen.” He tapped his nose. “They’re scent-crossed.”

Hoseok’s eyes widened.

“Really?”

Scent-crossed pairs didn’t smell sexually attractive to each other.

Like. At all.

No matter how physically or visually appealing an individual might be, it would be near impossible to form a sexual or romantic attachment to them if you were scent-crossed. Alphas, betas, and omegas were all subject to their noses first and foremost in the realm of attraction.

You and Taehyung smelled like comfort and home to one another...

But you were more turned on by a crisp cup of apple juice than you were his scent and the feeling was quite mutual.

He might as well have been your actual brother.

“That explains so much.” Hoseok snorted as he watched a drunken Taehyung do a flying leap on top of both you and Jungkook.

“Why is sunlight so offensive?” you croaked, dragging yourself and your luggage toward the boarding ramp next to an equally miserable Taehyung.

“The next time I book a flight before 9 AM, please shoot me,” he grunted.

Your parents were celebrating their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary with a month-long European cruise so your best friend had graciously invited you to spend two glorious weeks of spring vacation at his family estate.

The invitation had actually come as somewhat of a surprise because—for all your closeness—Taehyung was uncharacteristically tight-lipped about his family.

Not that he was deliberately withholding information per se… It was just that he never really brought them up beyond an occasional passing comment.

The one time you did ask him about them directly he sighed and said—

“We’re very close, but… I suppose we’ve just gotten used to being very private.”

There was clearly more to the story, but you were confident that Tae would share it if and when he was ready.

“My parents are in Seoul opening a new branch of the company. They took my little sister with them and my older brother has his own house so it will be just us.” He snuggled deeper into the first class seat directly next to yours. “We’ll hang out by the pool and chill during the day, then hit up some of the new clubs or whatever at night.”

“So… No one from your family will be there?”

Perhaps the invitation was not so surprising after all.

“Nope. Just you and me and thirty acres of ocean front property.”

You grinned.

“Perfect.”

“Whose room is that?”

The two of you were lugging your bags down the main hall of Taehyung’s expansive mansion when a strange hint of...something caught you right by the nose.

Your friend turned to find you frozen and staring curiously at a familiar door near the balcony.

His eyes widened, but you were too preoccupied to notice his momentary concern.

“That’s just Jin’s room.”

A firm hand wrapped around your wrist and dragged you away, but your eyes stayed glued to the source of the mysterious scent until you were around the corner and out of sight.

Your suite for the next two weeks was right across the hall from Taehyung’s. There was a whirlpool, a full bath, a balcony, and an ocean view that would rival the cover spread of any travel magazine.

Tae headed for the shower (to ‘wash the airplane off’) immediately after showing you the room and you were thinking of doing the same except…

Your mind kept going back to that door and the hint of scent you detected.

There was something… different about it.

It was faint—and far from fresh (which made sense considering that one of the few things you did know about Kim Seokjin was that he hadn’t lived in this house for years).

But still…

The need to smell it again pressed insistently at the back of your mind.

Suddenly the sound of Taehyung singing raunchy lyrics in the shower carried over through the walls and you found your feet moving almost of their own accord.

What Tae doesn’t know won’t hurt him, you rationalized, making your way down the hall toward Jin’s door. Besides—it’s not as if I’m going to steal anything…

You just needed to find that scent again.

By the time your fingers closed over the knob every one of your nerves was strangely—acutely—alert but nothing could have prepared you for what was waiting behind the door.

Oh. My. Gosh.

“What a colossal nerd.”

The room was covered floor to ceiling in Nintendo memorabilia.

Bright primary colors assaulted your eyes from all directions in the form of action figures, posters, pillows, and every other conceivable merch variety known to man.

In the center of the suite stood a large king-sized bed covered in a custom black couture toile-style Mario-verse bed set (that looked every bit as expensive as it was geeky) and a mountain of high quality Nintendo character plush toys.

Everything was simultaneously luxe and nostalgic—a rare combination of sophisticated aesthetic balance and childlike indulgence.

And the scent was there.

It was faint and covered under layers of cleaner and air fresheners, but still lingering just below the surface—too weak for you to get a really good whiff, yet potent enough to torment you.

You moved forward unconsciously toward the strongest source of the hypnotic smell—the strangely inviting expanse of Kim Seokjin’s mattress.

Suddenly the urge to climb—no crawl—across the bed itself and roll around in it like a kitten in catnip gripped you out of nowhere.

“What the hell?” you muttered, rubbing absently over the mating gland at the base of your neck.

Something very odd was going on with your body.

Your restless gaze zeroed in on one of the stuffed toys piled atop his pillows. It was a cute little mushroom man your brain recognized as a Mario character named ‘Toad’.

Take it.

Your mouth dropped open in shock.

You need it.

“Am I going insane?” you wondered aloud.

You have to take it.

Muscles in your hand began to twitch involuntarily. You bit your lip.

Bring it back with you.

Several minutes later a freshly washed Taehyung wandered over to your room and found you sitting perfectly still on your bed while staring off into space.

His head tilted in curious concern.

“Everything ok?”

You started a bit at the sound of his voice, but recovered quickly.

“Never better!” you chirped—almost too brightly. “Let’s go get some dinner, I’m starving.”

Then you grabbed his hand and pulled him down the hall toward the kitchen—shutting the door before he could catch a glimpse of his brother’s stuffed Toad doll stashed underneath your pillow

“...a critical water main rupture in the city’s New Market district early this morning has forced several residents out of their homes as flood water swelled up to nearly two feet. The governor declared a state of emergency and ordered hotels around the city to accommodate the displaced citizens. Crews are still clearing the water and assessing damages. We expect—

“Hey!” you shouted through a mouthful of cereal, after Your best friend switched off the television, “I was watching that!”

“And what you should be doing is getting ready for the pool.” Tae snatched your cereal bowl and dragged you by your shirt collar toward the stairs. “It is the first morning of our vacation. I’m not trying to waste any time. Now go.” He shoved you forward, smacking your ass for good measure.

You swatted back at him half-heartedly as jogged back up to the room where you enjoyed a surprisingly restful sleep last night.

Kim Seokjin’s door glared at you accusingly as you shuffled past—unable to let you forget that you had kidnapped it’s little mushroom man in an unexplained fit of kleptomania, but that was a problem for your future self.

The you of right now was going to zen out in the Kim family's premium glass-enclosed indoor pool (it was still a little chilly for the outdoor pool) with her best friend and bask in the simple joys of good company and no responsibility.

...Or not.

A few minutes later you bounced into the living room wearing a simple black tankini with a cute floral cover only to find Taehyung on the phone with his head in his hands.

“Yes, sir. I understand… I...I know this is my responsibility...”

That didn’t sound good.

After a few more tense moments, Tae hung up and collapsed backward into the couch with a heavy sigh.

“That water main break you heard about on TV this morning was the last straw between the province and its current contractor. They called an emergency meeting for new bids.”

Your heart dropped as you sank down beside him.

“Your dad wants you to go...doesn’t he.”

Taehyung nodded miserably.

“He can’t leave the Seoul opening on such short notice and managing government construction contracts is part of what I’ve been training for. This could be huge for our company.”

“Well...why doesn’t your brother go?”

“Jin is the brains behind most of our patented gaming and tech innovations. He wouldn’t even know where to begin with this sort of thing. Besides,” his lips quirked up in a rueful grin, “my brother doesn’t have the patience to stroke entitled geriatric egos for hours on end—which is likely what I’m going to have to do.”

The two of you headed back to Taehyung’s room where you helped him pack some suits and toiletries for his trip.

Naturally you were disappointed but...this was a great opportunity for your best friend to prove himself in his chosen field and you both knew it. In fact, he was already starting to brighten a bit.

“The meeting is about a hundred miles north of here. My dad’s secretary already handled the flight and hotel room.” His eyes darted around the suite to see if he was forgetting anything.

It was clear he was nervous, though you were sure he didn’t need to be. Kim Taehyung was a trust fund brat, but he was also talented and deeply passionate about his family’s company.

Someday this would be the norm. The two of you were stealing time in college, determined to live a little before the expectations of your powerful families transferred fully onto your shoulders.

It was becoming more and more clear, however, that your carefree time was slowly running out.

Mother had already spoken to you about potential marriage alliances and your father expected you to intern with his Vice President this summer just as your elder sister had...

Taehyung’s voice suddenly interrupted your bittersweet introspection and you couldn’t help but smile at how grown-up he looked in his suit and briefcase ensemble.

Everything was going to change, but not quite yet.

“They estimate negotiations should take around a week or so…” He walked over and pulled you into a tight hug. “There should still be some vacation left for us when I get back.”

“Hurry back then,” you mumbled grumpily into his chest and he chuckled.

“I will.”

Taehyung had been gone for less than twenty minutes when you decided that the best use of your time would be to eat more snacks.

The last thing you expected when you skipped merrily into the kitchen was to find it occupied by a shaggy-haired homeless man in glasses.

Your first instinct was to scream which caused the homeless man to drop the apple he was biting right onto the floor where it rolled around for a small eternity before coming to rest at his ankles.

Your second instinct was to grab a butcher’s cleaver from the nearby knife block and wave it chaotically at the intruder while shouting something along the lines of—

“You’ve made a huge mistake! My boyfriend is the biggest, meanest mafia boss in Seoul! Leave now and he might let you live!”

The homeless man continued to stare at you with a mixture of confusion and shock, but made no move to run away in terror like you were hoping.

So you tried again.

“Didn’t you hear what I said?! The last man who touched me drinks his steak through a straw now! Do the smart thing and leave before my boyfriend comes down those stairs and it’s too late!”

Infuriatingly, the homeless man was still not fleeing for his life and frankly you were starting to get frustrated. You drew in a deep cleansing breath and were prepared to issue another grandiose threat when he finally spoke.

“I’m sorry, miss. I... think there’s been some sort of mistake. Who is your boyfriend?”

There was no rational explanation for what came out of your mouth next, but it rolled off your tongue so smoothly and you didn’t even flinch.

“Kim Seokjin.”

For the first time in your entire exchange, the intruder looked truly alarmed.

Now that’s more like it.

“You’ve heard of him I see. He’s a dangerous man and my body belongs to him.” You slammed the cleaver down onto the countertop with a (hopefully) menacing slash. “Kim Seokjin doesn’t like when other men put their hands on what belongs to him.”

There was a long, unpardonably tense moment of silence…Then the stranger slowly reached forward and picked up a mobile phone from the table in front of him.

His eyes remained locked with yours as he pressed a quick series of buttons, brought the phone to his ear, waited a few seconds and said—

“Taehyung… Would you mind telling me why there is a half-naked, knife-wielding omega in our kitchen claiming to be my girlfriend?”

Hello! Please comment on this post if you would like to be added to the taglist!

You guys were all so wonderful, and encouraging, and excited that I literally got this teaser out in three days! If you like what you read so far, please let me know! I cannot put into words how meaningful and valuable feedback is to me. I truly treasure it! It fuels my creativity and keeps me writing. I would love to hear from you!

[vinylhazza]

For Keeps (G.D)

Summary: Jesse knows what she wants and isn’t afraid to say it, or rather demand it. Grayson, who carries respect and dignity like a shield of armor, walks the line of being the vanilla boyfriend he always thought she’d want, or the guy that listens to the devil on his shoulder and embellishes on the fantasies that won’t leave him alone every night. There is a first for everything, a time and place to try something -- or some one new. There is a chance to set the fire in motion. He might just take it.

Word Count: 4.9k

Warning: Strong sexual content, giving head, fingering, spitting, explicit language 

          There is a first for everything.

          The first time you ride a bike, the first time you try your favorite food, the first time you win an award, the first time you hear your favorite song, the first time you talk to the person you’re meant to spend the rest of forever with, the first time you overcome your worst fear, the first time you read your favorite book, the first time you travel to a different country, the first time you have thoughts that should damn you for eternity and for some...there is even a first time for eating pussy.

         It’s an embarrassment he’d never wanted anyone to discover let alone put to the test. Sure his friends had their time to talk about their extensive knowledge on female anatomy, but whenever the topic of him and Jesse doing anything outside the box he himself had placed them in, his lips were sealed. For one thing it wasn’t their business, for two he’s not entirely sure what he would say. He knew the time would come. He didn’t view their relationship like a race and he knew Jesse didn’t either. They’d been friends for too long and knew each other too well for him to base their relationship off of sex. 

       Grayson keeps his eyes glued to his hands holding Jesse’s hips tight -- unsure of what to do now that he’s got her beneath him and wanting him to have his way with her. He knows what he wants, but doubts that he has the courage to pursue it within him. He’d watch her with careful eyes as she peeled off each article of clothing before pulling him close by his belt loop and on to the bed to kiss her rough busy day away. A picnic was nice, but his complete and undivided attention was better. Even if his eyes trailing up and down every part of her body made her nervous. 

          He’d done plenty of things with his ex before Jesse, but none of those things had involved his lips and tongue anywhere beneath the waist. Not anything like he’s inevitably about to do. 

         “Cat caught your tongue?” Jesse had snickered minutes ago, a sly smirk lacing up her ruby red lips from so much kissing -- moment’s before he’d gotten them both all hot and bothered. He couldn’t help it when he was with her, his self control falters and he’s drunk off her touch once again, swimming in a pool of despair he can’t control. All he can think about is her. Wanting her. Needing her. Touching every single inch of her velvety skin. Wanting to do things to her. Wanting her to do things to him. Things he would blush at in the future.

         Jesse was a woman with desires he’d only dreamed of women having. She was shy at times but the devil danced in her bright eyes. Grayson knew she wanted things she’d never had the guts to say out loud and things she only wanted from him alone. It all made him a fierce kind of nervous, but gave him an electrified thrill. A challenge for him to explore the workings of her body and all the ways he can make her more satisfied than she’s ever been. He didn’t plan on letting her go anytime soon - and if he wanted to do her right, he had to go outside of his comfort zone for her.

         Knowing Jesse was more experienced did things to him that he couldn’t begin to hide -- but more than anything it made him jealous of every set of hands that had ever touched her skin before his. It made him reckless and competitive, focused and haughty. He was better than them, he could be better than them.

         He could rapture her into a whirlwind of pleasure that would ruin her image of every man except him, wanting no one's mouth but his, daydream of no one’s lips but his own, beg for no one else’s touch, want no one else’s hands but the ones holding her now. It wasn’t about him, this wasn’t about his pleasure for once, it was truly all about her. 

         Pulling him back into the flames, he’s burning up under her intense stare, waiting for him to do something, do anything. Anything but watch her long enough to find something less than stellar, less than grand, less than exceptional. With her fears unfolding she pulls him down for a kiss of her own, a soft feather of a thing he can feel all the way to his toes. She’d always been good at that, giving  him more to miss when she’s away. The way she hugs him close is one of those things.

         Grayson fell hard into love—which wasn’t particularly unusual for the hopeless romantic he was, but he always knew Jesse was set apart from the seasonal heartthrobs. He was truly bewitched by her creativity, wanderlust, unapologetic confidence, patience, and beauty.

         An enchantress she was, beautiful beyond anything he could ever deserve. Drop dead gorgeous with the personality to match, there wasn’t a head that didn’t turn when she walked into a room, not a man that didn’t fumble over their words at any opportunity to talk to her, not a woman who didn’t want to be her friend. Sure her beauty was undeniable, but her benevolent heart beat it all.

         He may never know why Jesse had leaned in to kiss him seven months ago save for three days in a hidden corner in Café Verona -- a quaint treasure he’d always hold dear to his heart. Fairy lights criss-crossed along the ceiling, soft Jazz waltzing with the beat of his heart, emerald green leather bench pressing into his thighs. But he’s glad she did. He’s glad she leaned in to kiss him when he’d been building up the nerve for weeks. So afraid to go there but more afraid of not knowing what would happen if he didn’t. He’s glad she took his chin in between her fingers to hold him still enough to feel her lips press to his securely, a warmth swarming in his chest where the heart shaped hole once was.

          If he flipped through the pages of his memory, he would remember a statue-like stillness about him before he sunk into her touch, caging her head in his large careful hands. Feeling the gasp she tried to hide, the smell of grapefruit shampoo and the way her flushed cheeks felt under his stroking thumbs. He would see himself fall into her, around her and through her, off the edge of the rocky cliff and into the dark blissful deep of nothing but her.

          He’d be eternally grateful she looked at him with utmost sincerity and whispered with a raw kind of intensity that he’d “driven her mad you see” -- and he’d heard it then, the brittleness of her voice because fear rattles her to the core, and she had been scared out of her mind. A crack that tracked through her careful confession and to the root of him. Jesse was scared of what he meant, what he was in terms of her heart, what he could be if she continued to kiss him the way she was.

          In that quiet moment he remembered what made her so deeply rooted in his heart: the laugh that rattled him, the soft smell of peaches and vanilla, the way she never drives without sunglasses because her mom who passed away much too early did the same, the dance she does when she finally eats the first bite of food after damn near breaking the world in half in hanger, the way she punches the roof of her car after making it through a yellow light because her best friend in high school did the same, the way she always turns her spoon upside down when eating ice cream, and the way she always has answers for everything no matter what topic, even the way she laughs entirely too hard at Family Feud. 

         For that reason alone he waited for the physical parts to come when they may. It was new and exciting sure, and he’d always loved her heart of course, but her body was uncharted territory. He was patient, yes. A gentleman guarding some assumed virtue, even if he knew better than to think she was anything but a seductress. Patient enough to tell her no when she’s had one too many drinks and not enough discipline. They’d been friends before anything else - the best of friends with a foundation of trust. He’s spent years trying to gain that trust and he vowed to keep it.

          Of course he could have been that guy on many occasions: possessive, selfish, greedy and crude. He could have played his cards and dealt his dirty hand at the wrong moment and still pulled out ahead. I mean hell, how often do guys get out of the friend-zone? But he wasn’t that guy. No matter the relationship status — they weren’t ready.

         They hadn’t been ready to cross that carefully drawn line in the sand, not until now. With the strawberry White Barn candle burning in the corner on the cluttered desk one could expect from a college student and a half full can of Arizona tea on the night stand...her face lit with a mystical kind of magic he’d only ever seen the day she leaned back after their first official kiss. 

         “Hold my hair.”

         Grayson found the words slipping off his tongue easier than they’d come all night. All he’s planned on was a simple date in the park that was tucked away and secluded from all the people that could interrupt, he’d even brought her favorite book and laid back on a soft patch of grass to listen to her melodic voice read to him. He’d planned to come back and share a peck or two while watching a new episode of Daredevil and holding her through the night. She’d had a long day full of texts to him, trying to get him to give her the okay to walk out of her low-paying job and not look back. He never planned on laying her down on his bed and caressing every inch of her skin until he was finally delving into a place he’d never been quite like this.

          He was nervous but he could do anything, be anything with her hand in his hair and her kind eyes watching him defile her. He just knew from this moment on he would have a reputation to uphold, as cocky as it sounded. He had to prove he wasn’t as lost as he felt. He felt like a virgin all over again, like he was doing something raw and real and scary. A secret only the wrinkled sheets would remind him of later.

          Her touch, her soothing him through something that frightened him has always been a crutch for him to lean on. When he got in a fight with his brother, she was there to comb through his hair and talk him through the proper apology, when he decided to change majors and had a breakdown so crippling he couldn’t breathe she rocked him through it until his breath was even once again, when he wrecked his new car on the way home from a party he never should have been at she was right there to give him a kiss on the cheek and help him call the insurance company and his erratic mother who loved her like a daughter. She led him through the rough parts of life and then some.

           He never imagined she would be leading him through something so sensual, but he needed her bringing him back to earth all the same.

          Jesse obliged with a grin of her own, feeling him shuffle down to trail a string of kisses across her torso and down to the base of her need and desire. The fireball of want burned in her stomach, turning her rational thoughts brown and charred. He was good at that, making her need him fiercely. She’d never wanted anyone so much, and even if she thinks back to past flings - she’d never been satisfied like she was with Grayson, and they’d done much less.

         “What are you thinking?” Jesse wonders, distracted by his soft supple lips and his nibbling at her hip, but wanting to hear the inner workings of his brain. Her fingers fidget, wanting to push him by his brown mop of hair down lower - just to feel him at last. She needed this distraction, she just needed his help to forget. Not that she hadn’t been waiting for months for this exact moment, there was just urgency in the way she’s stripped herself bare before him. 

          She almost expects him to wait for her direction, but jerks against him when he takes the lead all on his own. How could he not with her as his complete mercy, giving him the fuck me eyes and twisting a lock if hair around her finger? 

          Grayson thinks on that as he trails his mouth down, down, down to slick his tongue up the base of her, smirking to himself when she wiggles against him. “I’m thinking that I like you this way.”

          The contact was a shock to her nervous system and a promise of what was soon to come if she kept tempting him the way she was. She was a heathen with angel eyes. Someone infatuated with his innocence (at least he was more innocent than she) and curiosity to learn every curve and dip of her body. He made her feel powerful, unstoppable, undeniable. She craved it as much as he craved her own lips tracking across his skin - in the heat of the moment or in the still of the night.

          “Naked you mean?” She laughs then, trying to keep herself at least somewhat under control now that he’s grown some balls and taken the first step. She’s shocked momentarily that she didn’t have to practically order him into touching her.

           She grips her breasts at another bold swipe of his tongue. Rolling her hardened nipples between her fingers and tensing at the sparks flying up her center. The feeling of him spreading her open, blowing against her throbbing clit is almost too much to bear. Jesse curses then, a soft “fuck” she tries to reel back before he gets too big of a head. She knows it fell on eager ears when he delivers another bold stripe of his tongue up her center -- slow and deliberate. 

           “Unguarded,” he finally grumbles, rubbing away the goosebumps that pepper her thighs. She thinks for a moment that she could gave turned off the ceiling fan circling over top of them, but feared she might burn up if it wasn’t for the white blades blowing on her crown of hair going every which way on the pillow. 

          She ignores how right he is - that she’s never been this vulnerable with him before, but instead rolls her eyelids shut to feel him really delve into her - opening his mouth and pressing his tongue to her flat. This is just what she needed, her favorite person trying something new and succeeding at it. 

            For someone that’s never given head, he was pulling it off. He was going to ruin her.

           Glancing down at the yellow glow of the lamp illuminating the right side of his face, Jesse curled her fingers into his plush head of hair once again, somewhere between heaven and hell with no real knowledge of the difference.

           She moans at his lips wrapping around her, the suction to her lower region and the way his thumbs dig into her skin to hold her in place. No running this time, she had no choice but to feel it all. This is what she wanted right? 

          “This feel okay?” he teases, tentatively trailing the tip of his tongue around the place she wanted most. He loved to see her eyes alight with that devilish incomprehensible lust. He was truly winging it, doing anything he’d heard from friends or watched himself late at night, anything to further her soft pants and moans tumbling out of her O shaped mouth. She was too good to be true and felt like one lucky bastard. 

           Nodding down to him she groans, wanting him latched to her. “M-more than okay just keep going.”

          He never knew it could feel so pleasurable to be the giver and not the receiver nine times out of ten. He didn’t know how selfish he’d been and the opportunities he'd missed to feel compliant and...obedient. He liked it. He loved it. He loved the position he was in - her looking down at him like the goddess she was and always had been, him crouching down at the end of the bed to devour her in the best way he could, his hair disheveled, eyes dark with hunger, hands gripping her tight.

          He lets instinct take the wheel, peppering kisses to her clit and bringing his own  hand down to slip in a finger to add extra stimulation - pleased when Jesse releases another string of curses. Fowl language huh? Wonder what she’d do if he stopped-

          “You’re such a dick-“ she tugs at his roots, rolling her hips into his mouth that savors  her now, lips slick with her wetness. She tasted good, he’d concluded. It wasn’t anything like what he imagined it would be, no, it was better. It felt better than all of the horror stories he’d made up in his head. He’s sure if he wanted to - he could stay right down between her legs for hours -- until his lips were sore and his tongue tired. Stopping wasn’t an option. Not when she’s been waiting so long, fantasized too often. She huffs out again “Thought you’ve never done this before.”

            That must be a good sign, right?

           “Never,” he slurps at her, shaking his head and groaning into her core. He felt the slickness of her on his cheeks now. Bowing down to eat her out was harder than it looked, especially with back problems as it was. 

            Focused and drunk on Jesse’s gentle hip thrust into his mouth he hugs her thighs and stands upright, just off the edge of the bed, bringing her lower half up in the air with him. He can feel her trembling now, wide eyes gleaming at him with surprise and delight at the new and better position.

            She was losing it. She’d had him compliant at first, her soft-hearted boyfriend trying something new...but damn he was tugging the ropes from between her fingers and leading her to a path less traveled. Quick learner he was.

           “Grayson put me down! Have you lost your mind?” Jesse squealed, grinning at his closed eyes and moving lips, deaf to her antics. She was expected something quick, maybe even simple, but him switching up positions was not in the game plan as great as it was. 

           She could see it now, the guy that was always hiding just beneath the surface. She could see how her sounds urged him on and made him try harder. She could see his arms shaking from the weight of her legs and the effort it took to hold her pussy as close to him as he could. She could feel the heavy breath fanning out across her pelvis from his nose. She could feel the tickle of his hair dangling down and whispering across the skin of her stomach. She could feel that same ball of fire seated in her stomach slip lower and lower with each passing second - until the words that fell out of her mouth were nothing but strings of profanity would make a sinner blush.

             It was going to sear her in half, that fucking ball of fire. Hot lava stirring up a flood she couldn’t stop. It was splitting her in half just as his digits were now, pumping into her hard and fast, curling at his knuckles. His rings gleam from the yellow lamp-light and shock her when they touch her dewy skin. She had lost all sense of control.

            Hearing his own moans, hearing how desperate he was to keep eating her pussy and make her feel better than anyone had, got her inching towards the edge. It was a low kind of growl itching at his throat.

            The taste of her blurred his senses, the soft smell of her making his mind spin out of control, the tightening walls of her cunt around his fingers fucking her fast, the light sheen of sweat that glowed in the dim light of his room - he was a madman with no direction but forward. He had to keep going, for stopping would surely break them both. He would love to tease her, but knew if he stopped one more time she would kill him in a heartbeat. 

          “Open your fucking eyes and watch me.” He barked down to her, stopping only for a moment to glare at her. His fingers continued their fast paced in and out, in and out, in and out.

                         He’d figured if he was going to take it all the way, he needed to pull every string. Needed to pull out the nasty daydreams and make them a reality. This is something he would have for keeps. Something he’d want to do over and over, something he couldn’t wait to do again. Something he’d want to remember. 

          Peeling her eyes open she sobbed at the sight of him spitting into her pussy with a smile, staring at her darkly. Light eyes blacked into pits he ruined her through and through. He had to be lying, he just had to be.

          “Fast learner,” Grayson sneers, leaning forward to smear his saliva around her slick folds, arms circling her midsection to hold her close again.

           “ Fuckfuckfuckfuck- keep fu- keep going!” Jesse begs, barely holding on to the light threatening to slip away into the fire burning her up. “Doing so good Gray, so fucking good.”

             She had discovered soon in the relationship and the minimal sexual acts they’d indulged in that Grayson was a man that adored praise. He wanted someone to tell him how good he was doing, even if he already knew it. He wanted someone to look him in the eyes just as she was doing now and watch him succeed. He wanted complete undivided attention, verbal acknowledgment. 

              He sucked at her still, sliding his tongue into her quickly then — remembering someone in a poorly shot amateur porn video did the same to the tatted up blonde he was practically fucking to death, and hoped it would have the same effect on his beautiful princess begging for him to keep going. He kept note while he watched the video, knowing one day he would be standing where he is now relishing in the gold mine that belonged to him. He fucker her with his tongue, humming into her cunt for the added stimulation. 

               Fuck all she was the end of him. “Pretty pussy all wet for me, yeah? Want to cum? Bet you doubt me huh? Thought I wouldn’t do you right…”

               He chucked at the vigorous nodding of her head, the eyes rolling in the back of her head, the hand that leaves his hip to pull at her own hair. Her eyes squeezing shut in panic now that she feels the tip of the iceberg coming up fast. 

               “Don’t even know how crazy you drive me, how long I’ve wanted to do this to you.”

               Hearing him admit it only made her thighs quiver against his strong arms, only made her want more, made her creep dangerously close to the edge she was for once in her life afraid to fall off of. The crash into the sea would be the biggest shock she’s ever had. Jesse tried to focus on her breathing, trading the heaving for squealing when he dipped his tongue in her entrance to give her something to fantasize about. She’d never had someone tongue fuck her, let alone stair into her soul while they did it. 

              Fuck he was good. Too fucking good.

             “Baby you have t-to slow down,” she warns, the big splash terrifying and so close. He was a wicked man for doing just the opposite, spreading her legs wider and shaking his head against her again, eyes squeezed shut like he knew what would happen in only a few seconds.

               “Grayson step back,” she tried to warn more firmly, afraid of the unfamiliar feeling of something new about to happen, embarrassed already but too worked up to stop it. “Shit - Grayson step back!”

                And there it was, the strongest orgasm she’d ever had and certainly the wettest. Her release soaked the bed beneath, sheets spotted with her arousal and breath stolen from her lungs. She’s not sure when Grayson had dropped her, or whether her convulsing body wiggled out of his grasp during the black out she’d just had. She was spread on the bed in her own mess, her chest flushed, damp hair stuck to her forehead in waves, vision blurred, eyelids drooping in exhaustion, hand somehow in Graysons.

              He’s there then. He’s everywhere and nowhere all at once, his hand a ghost on her forehead brushing away those tendrils of hair, his thumb rubbing over her knuckles with tender care, his lips smoothing the furrow of her brows. Grayson is lifting her without a word, caging her legs around his waist, her arms around his neck, and smoothing her head against his chest to feel the weight of her there - just to feel the heat of her consume him.

              “Holy fuck,” she breathes, spent. 

              “I hope it wasn’t too much,” he whispers into her hair, hand smoothing over the locks while rocking her around the room, mind racing with every image of what he’d just done and the feeling of complete bliss flooding his body.

                He’s almost worried she fell asleep in his arms until he feels the shaking he can only assume is laughter, before she’s hugging him tighter. “Idiot. I can’t believe you’ve never done that. And I can’t believe I’m this tired. Feel like a rookie.”

               “Guess I passed the test then?”

               “Flying colors.”

                Jesse nuzzles in as far as she can, tucking in her arms against his chest and letting the state of Nirvana wash over her. With a sigh Jesse thinks over the shocking events of her boyfriend being 100% nastier than she’d initially thought — not that she’s complaining.

               She barely remembers Grayson running a bath, or setting her in the steaming tub with a kiss, or waiting for him to strip the bed with a giddiness sitting in his chest at all that they’d done, barely remembers him joining her in the tub and catching soap in the calm of his hand to smith the suds over her post-sex body. That’s the only way she would describe herself in the moment, her skin felt sensitive to the touch, sparks still shooting through her with the feeling of his hands on her.

             What Jesse does remember is laying with Grayson in a bed freshly made, arm draped over his stomach, head resting against his arm, lips peppering kisses against his chest randomly through-out the night. She remembers the feeling of adoration and understanding. What they’d done was both the most foul thing she’d ever done, but also the most liberating and beautiful experience. To lose yourself in another person in such a way that you’re utterly consumed by them was...foreign to the pair laying together in the still of the night.

              Jesse waited until Grayson was softly snoring until she said the only thing she’d never had the guts to tell him in the months they’d been dating. He’d been waiting on it patiently. It was different between friends, but it meant so much more when you don't want to say it to anyone else for the rest of your life. The moment she says it, she can’t ever take it back. Maybe that’s why she chooses the early hours of the morning to lean in and press her lips against his feather soft, blinking back the mist clouding her vision. 

              “Don’t know if you could tell...but I'm kind of in love with you...so just be patient with me please I’m trying for you.”

              Maybe she would get the guts one day to say the words while he’s awake, maybe face to face or with the lights off because she has some kind of comfort in the dark, or maybe it would slip out on accident. In any way that it happens, she hopes he will smile. She hopes that he knows how insanely incandescently happy he makes her each and every day, and how honored she feels that she got to experience another first with him.She hopes he will be comforted that his feelings are 100% reciprocated. She hopes that she gets to see that beautiful  smile he wears on special occasions -- the true smile that he doesn't show too often. For now she presses her lips to his once again, smiling softly as the slow ride and fall of his chest, arm holding her close, the ring she won him out of a shitty machine in the corner of a tattoo shop he’d stopped into on a whim secured on a thin chain around his neck, and the fluttering of his eyelashes while he dreamed. 

[thestraggletag]

The Changeling, Chapter 3

Rating: M

Summary: Belle and Lacey had always been as different as two twins could possibly be, but always ready to do whatever it took for each other. Which includes Belle putting her life in pause to replace Lacey in hers as she checked herself into rehab to kick a drinking habit that could potentially end her modelling career. All she had to do is attend some fittings, do a couple of photoshoots, avoid if possible the slimey and two-timing Killian Jones and steer clear of Lacey’s boss, Mr Gold, and his suspicious nature.

How difficult could it possibly be?

A/N: Posting today because it’s my birthday and my present to myself is comment-based serotonin.

Belle made no mention of their small dinner date, and was glad when Gold didn’t seem inclined to share the interlude with anyone either. Jefferson would’ve for sure known about Lacey’s vegetarian status and that she would’ve never agreed to go out to eat with Gold.

Though there was a bit of a lull after the show things picked up again quite quickly. There was a lot that went into the after-show portion of launching a collection, including photoshoots. Belle was excited when she saw that Jefferson had managed to reserve a day in the Frick Collection to do most of the shots, having never been there before. The early 20th century building was done in the Beaux-arts style, with three stories and expansive gardens. It was lovely, and housed truly impressive works of art. Belle was particularly interested in the sculptures of Malvina Cornell and the busts of Houdon displayed throughout. 

She didn’t get to explore much, though, because she was kept busy from the start. Jefferson teamed with a photographer who clearly managed to capture his vision, an up and coming young woman called Alice, who was unlike what Belle had imagined a fashion photographer to be. She was very sunshine-y and not at all demanding, finding a way to guide people into looks and poses without barking orders or giving vague, unhelpful directions.

Being the face of the collection had its advantages. Belle got to get all of her single pictures taken right away, right after the artful group photos around the garden, with the models posing as woodland sprites in their makeshift forest. After she was finished she was allowed to wander around unaccompanied. She was admiring a sculpture of a nude woman holding a bow when she felt someone right behind her. She recognised the scent of leather, polish and sandalwood right away, even before the person spoke.

“Diana the huntress.”

Mr Gold looked from the statue towards her, and it was then that Belle realised she could have possibly been mistaken in time past for some mystical archer. Her flowy dress had an almost armour-like structure overlaying it, just enough to highlight the contrast of soft and hard. She smiled, trying not to notice the way his eyes took her in, the admiring glint in them. He was appreciating the dress, that was all.

“I didn’t know the great Mr Gold tagged along for photoshoots.”

Though she did not know much about the fashion world she could easily guess that Mr Gold, as the money, did not often get involved in these sorts of things. 

“Well, I was the one to arrange for us to use the Frick House. I suppose I felt obliged to tag along. Can’t say it’s a chore, though. Have you seen the whole collection?”

Though there was a small voice inside Belle that still reminded her that she should act like Lacey, who would have little interest in seeing the collection and even less in walking around with Gold, it was surprisingly easy to ignore it and follow Mr Gold around. He was both knowledgeable and enthusiastic about the art, having a clear preference for romantics like Turner and the porcelain objects. Afterwards they got to talking about books while they walked through the galleries around the gardens. He grudgingly admitted her recommendation for an urban fantasy book he would actually enjoy, The Shadow of the Wind, was rather enjoyable, though he had mocked her when she had first predicted he would like it. It was the first time either had dared acknowledge their little dinner date.

“See? There’s no genre so disliked that a good book can’t overcome. Pity we didn’t bet on it.”

“Why? What would you have asked for, if we had?”

The question was playfully asked, but there was something charged behind it, and between them. Belle felt something curl in the pit of her stomach, both frightening and exciting. He was looking at her expectantly, almost hungrily, in a way that could not possibly be mistaken. Belle wetted her lips, trying to formulate a reply, only for his gaze to drop to her mouth.

“Lacey, love, you’re a hard woman to get in touch with lately.”

Someone’s arm caught her by the waist, an unfamiliar chest pressing against her side. She frowned, taking in the newcomer, from his expensive suit to his sleek black hair, alarm bells immediately ringing off inside her head. Smarmy was the best way to describe the stranger, his clothing expensive but lacking in taste. His ostentatious tiepin alone was an eyesore and his clunky gold watch dug itself painfully against her waist. He also had an honest-to-God pirate gold hoop in one of his ears, and traces of eyeliner around his eyes.

“Jones.”

Mr Gold’s voice was like acid, unlike Belle had ever heard it. Not cold and indifferent like he had been with her at the beginning. Hatred dripped from it like venom. Killian Jones seemed happy to ignore him, tugging rather insistently on Belle’s waist to get her to come to him.

“Miss French is working, Jones. She doesn’t get to socialise on the clock.”

Though she understood that the animosity was with the newcomer it still stung Belle to have Mr Gold talk about her like that. But she pushed the feeling to the side, aware now that this was Killian Jones, and he meant trouble.

“You also shouldn’t be here. The building is off limits.”

“It’ll be quick, mate. Relax.”

Gold’s hand tightened around the handle of his cane, and Belle became worried some sort of physical confrontation would happen. Though neither man was showing anything but a thin veneer of politeness the tension was palpable. As much as she didn’t want to she knew the best option was to take Killian to a side and talk to him.

“I’m finished with the shoot anyway. A quick word won’t hurt anyone.”

She tried not to notice the way Jones smiled at Gold, like the cat that got the cream, all loathsome self-satisfaction and smugness. The Scotman, for his part, did not pay attention to the other man, but directed a look towards Belle that made her shrivel up inside, the disgust evident in his face. She told herself it didn’t matter. In a few weeks she would go back to California and likely never see him again.

Mr Jones- “Killian, love, please, we’re past that sort of formality.”- was all false charm as he lavished her with compliments on her beauty and gently chided her about keeping away for so long. From what Belle gathered Lacey had once been a regular at Jones’s bar, Neverland. She had gotten free drinks out of it and he had gotten good publicity and plenty of business from people dying to drink at the same bar as a supermodel. From what she could also sense, and what she had gleaned from Lacey, they had also slept together at least once. Thankfully, it was clear her twin considered it a mistake and had started to pull away from him before she had gone to visit her in California.

After some very painful small talk the Irishman finally got to the point, inviting her to his club for dinner. He claimed to have a ‘business proposal’ to pitch her, and that it would also stay platonic.

“Unless you’ve changed your mind about that, Lace. I’m always open for a bit of a reconciliation on that front, if you know what I mean.”

Belle didn’t try to conceal the disgust in her expression, certain that Lacey would make the same face in her place. 

“Yeah, that’s not happening.”

Though she could firmly reject his advances it was clear based on his increasingly-threatening tone that she would not be able to avoid the dinner invitation. She reluctantly agreed, managing to set a day far away enough to allow her to at least be more prepared for the confrontation. After the date was settled Jones, blessedly, took his leave, but by the time Belle made it back to where Alice was snapping the last of the pictures Gold was nowhere to be seen. She told herself it was for the best.

Things were strange after that. Belle was sure that Mr Gold was avoiding her, which she told herself over and over was a good thing. But it did not make her feel relieved, and though they hadn’t met often around the fashion house Belle felt the absence keenly. The few times they managed to be in the same room he ignored her quite with surprising ease, as if theirs was a passing acquaintance easy to discard now that he had found something objectionable in her again.

She took refuge with Ruby, who had by then become a genuine friend to her, one she would miss when she went back home. Her thesis consumed a lot of her spare time as well, especially after she got to visit the NYPL Rare Book Division, which provided with a lot of additional information on the topic she was writing about, the inherent value of rare book collections in the age of digital preservation. It felt liberating to dedicate entire swatches of her time to something other than living her sister’s life for her.

The relative standstill the company seemed to be in was broken finally with the arrival of a private show. Select fashion icons and representatives were invited to take a closer look at the collection, see more of the details. Private shoppers and stylists would perhaps select an outfit for one of their clients’ major events, or an editor would choose whether to make the collection the centre of their next month’s edition. It was altogether a more relaxed affair, the looks toned down to make the outfits more wearable and the pressure also low. The models were expected to be professionals and make the clothes look good, but nothing quite like the magic they needed to conjure up for major fashion shows.

Being backstage for a second time was altogether a nicer experience for Belle. There were no surprises, and she more or less had gotten used to dressing in a semi-public space- though Ruby had commandeered, once again, a corner of the room for the both of them- and having people touch her constantly as they adjusted her hair, applied more blush as she passed by or rearranged her hair with barely a warning.

What she had not counted on was the fact that she could see people this time. The runway was low, a few feet off the ground at most, and the lights were not focused on the strip itself, and were altogether more natural. It meant she could see the audience sitting down, clustered all around the catwalk in groups. She caught a glimpse of a woman wearing glasses and a pageboy cut surrounded by a small army of assistants that she recognised instantly, and heard at least three different people speaking French all around her. Jefferson flitted about the room, going from cluster to cluster to answer a question, socialise or attend to a VIP guest. 

She didn’t spot Gold till she was at the end of the catwalk, striking a few poses before turning around. He was immaculately dressed, as always, and not alone. A gorgeous brunette, a few years older than Belle herself, was sitting next to him, both looking very cosy. She was dressed sharply, her looks matching his own. Like a power couple. Belle felt both their eyes land on her, Gold’s quickly flickering away and the woman’s lingering almost speculatively. She did not stay more than she absolutely needed to, deftly avoiding Ashley as they met halfway on the runway. The blonde was clearly bothered by something, and had been a pain to deal with since early in the morning. Even Ruby, who sought to always get along with everyone, was being short with her. 

In retrospect Belle realised she should’ve paid more attention to Ashley’s volatile mood, which was that day a step above her usual snippy, confrontational attitude. There was something almost desperate about it, and desperate people do desperate things. In Ashley’s case it meant that, when she could not get Belle to bump into her she resorted to, accidentally, jamming one of her stilettos into her ankle through the flimsy layers of see-through tulle of her skirt. Belle went down like a ton of bricks, one of her hands clutching her ankle as the other kept her partially off the floor. She took a moment to breathe the pain out and when she was convinced she hadn’t broken her ankle or twisted it she stood up shakily, thankful she was already on her way backstage. Hoping that the voluminous skirts would hide most of the hobbling she hurried out of the catwalk before she was too teary-eyed to see properly. 

No one backstage had seen what happened, too busy with the near constant work to be done, so no one stopped her as she went behind the folding screens Ruby had set up for them and sat down on a cushioned stool. By then she could feel the sole of her foot getting sticky, which meant that though she had managed not to twist her ankle, the stiletto had torn through her skin. Gingerly, trying hard not to move too much, she struggled to unbuckle her shoe. By then she was crying, a delayed reaction to the pain, and could barely see what she was doing.

“Let me see.”

Mr Gold’s voice came out of nowhere, startling her. He seemed to appear out of nowhere, gingerly kneeling down, his right leg placed awkwardly to keep his ankle off the floor. Instinctively, she hid her own ankle under the skirt of her dress, but he made a chiding sound.

“None of that. Let me see.”

“I’m okay.”

She was, really. She had been lucky to land the way she had, and knew that though there was a lot of blood the injury was unlikely to be serious. She would have to bandage it and ice it, but it was better than it had felt and currently looked. The real danger was not her ankle, but Gold’s close presence in such a small, secluded area. 

“I’ll be the judge of that. Can’t be too careful with an ankle injury.”

Reluctantly, she extended her foot, watching as he unbuckled her shoe and took out a handkerchief to wipe out the blood. His hands were soft and his movements sure, but the look on his face was murderous.

“I’m gonna fucking fire that little twit Ashley. She’ll come crying out to Jeff about it all being an accident but that’s a fucking lie.”

Though Belle wasn’t particularly fond of the blonde at the time she baulked at the idea of getting her fired. There was something strange about the other model’s behaviour, something that was beyond the petty, mean-spirited nonsense she had pulled from the start.

“I’m alright, no need to fire anyone. No need to fret. Go back to your date, I’ll get this wrapped up for the last look.”

He looked up at her then, a frown on his face.

“Regina? She’s not my date, she’s my protegee, though she’ll deny it. Helped her out when she was just starting out in the fashion business. She’s married. To a woman.”

Belle tried hard to pretend she did not feel a wave of relief at the revelation. The pain in her ankle was dulling, making her more and more aware of other things: the warmth of Mr Gold, the tension between them as she stared down and he stared up, the gentleness with which he still held her ankle, solicitously keeping his folded handkerchief pressed against the wound. Later she would wonder who moved first, or if they both did at the same time. All she remembered is that one moment she was struggling to control her breathing and the next his lips were pressed against hers, the hand caring for her ankle travelling upwards to curl around the back of her calf, pulling on it in an effort to move closer to her. She opened her mouth with a sigh of relief, her hand going to the back of his neck to pull him closer. It felt like something that had been building for weeks, since the beginning, was suddenly exploding around them and all she could do was cling to him and let herself go. There was no hesitation when she tugged on his hair or dug her fingers into the expensive wool of his jacket, no doubt when she felt his tongue stroke against hers, tentatively at first but gaining boldness once she sighed and tugged on his hair, showing her appreciation. He growled, the sound passing like a vibration between them, and shifted the hand on her calf towards the back of her thigh.

“Lace? Are you okay?”

Ruby’s voice washed over them like electricity, making them instantly aware of where they were and what was happening around them. They pulled apart, staring at each other for what felt like forever before Belle urged him to stand up, feeling panicked.

“She’ll be here any second. She can’t find you here.”

Ruby would kill her if she found out, and with reason. Thankfully, Mr Gold didn’t fight her, laboriously standing up, and disappearing along a corridor Belle had not noticed before. She, in turn, struggled to get a hold of a compact mirror to wipe the lower half of her face clean, the lipstick having smeared in the heat of the moment. By the time Ruby got to her she was by no means presentable but could blame her botched make-up on her crying.

“Don’t worry, we’ll fix it in no time. And Granny gave me this plaster to tie you over till the last look is done. After that I’ll take you to the ER myself. Gotta make sure nothing is broken, sometimes the pain takes a while to set in.”

Belle could only nod, her ankle the least of her problems at the time.

The day after the second runway show was dull. Jeff was taking the day off, as were most of the seamstresses and some of the models. Belle had gone to the House of Gold as if on autopilot, too used to the routine to think about changing it.

Having nothing to do meant that she wound up going to her preferred writing spot, not at all surprised to see that Gold was there already, waiting for her. He looked almost unlike himself, uncertain and almost shy, altogether a rather adorable combination that had her resolve to put the kiss behind her wavering. Still, she hovered near the doorway, feeling a bit like she was a deer, ready to spring away to safety at the first sign of anything that could be remotely construed as danger.

“Oh, good, you’re here. I’ve been waiting for you.” Her stomach did an odd little summersault, but he made no move to grab her, instead walking over to a corner of the room. She had noticed long ago the empty glass display case, but when she approached she saw that it was now occupied by what she knew immediately to be a very expensive book. It was bound in contemporary calf, showing the slightest bit of water damage,  with some wear and tear to the upper spine.

“Is this…?”

“A second edition of the first part of the Quixote, translated by Thomas Shelton. Original woodcuts and engraved title page. Been keeping it at home, but I’ve always meant it to go here. I just never felt motivated to arrange the move. But then yesterday I remembered the Quixote was a particular favourite of yours so I thought you would like to see it.”

He did not play fair, skillfully taking advantage of her weak points, luring her into the room with something he knew she could not ignore. She walked closer, taking in the small details obscured by time and deterioration.

“Would you like to hold it?”

She wanted to say no, but the glee in her face must have ratted her out. He offered her gloves and then fished out the key to open the curio, letting her carefully pick the book up. It was heavy, and felt sturdier than it looked. Though the cover had taken some damage over the years the pages were crisper than she had expected, and she could tell there had been some level of careful restoration done to the backing in order to keep the integrity of the piece.

“What do you think?”

The eagerness in his voice, his honest desire to hear her opinion, to perhaps confirm he had pleased her, was endearing.

“I think I’m holding a $60,000 book. Very rare. But it’s not just about the money, or even mainly about the money. This is a bit of history. The Quixote was revolutionary for its time, I can only imagine how it affected the person who purchased it the first time. It’s a piece of art, even down to its small imperfections. Priceless.”

Reluctantly, with the care most people would have while handling a newborn, Belle placed the book back on its stand, closing the glass case afterwards. The seal was hermetic, guaranteeing the best possible protection, and she could tell the glass was UV proof. Mr Gold certainly took care of what he found valuable, and it went beyond money. He had a real appreciation for what he collected.

“I should’ve had Alice give you a book to hold during the photoshoot. It would have made for a beautiful picture, some sprite laid down on the grass, cradling a book she was reading. You get a certain expression on your face when you handle a book that would have certainly added to the beauty of Jefferson’s creations.”

Her face must have lit up with excitement at the idea, because he smiled down at her, something soft in his eyes as he helped her remove the protective gloves from her hands.

“Your love of books is the thing that made me realise I hardly knew you, but I wanted to.”

She told herself to take a step back. Several in fact. Leave the library altogether. She had already messed up but if she got a hold of herself she could keep the damage to a minimum. But when he lowered his head, slowly, giving her ample opportunity to reject him if she wished, she took a step forward, meeting him halfway. His lips were as soft as she remembered, but the rest of him was hard beneath the expensive fabric of his suit. She sank into him gratefully, wrapping her arms around his shoulders, feeling as if her whole body was on fire. 

Though Belle was not a strange to sexual desire it did not happen to her the way it happened to Lacey, not in that immediate, magnetic connection to a stranger she found attractive or as an itch she needed to scratch. She needed to know the person, to let the heat simmer and build between them. She had been so preoccupied with everything, and later on so much in denial about it all, that she had completely ignored the tension growing between her and Gold. Now, however, she was drowning in it, in the heat and the almost uncomfortable tingling in her lower abdomen. It had never felt this bad before, to the point that she was too distracted to second-guess herself, to question her lack of talent in the art of kissing or whether Gold would expect someone more experienced. All she could do was cling to him as they devoured each other, with little finesse or thought behind it. It was all need, like eating after being starved for a long time. At some point they changed positions, stumbling till Gold sat down, taking her down with him till she was straddling him, exposing her bare legs to the cool air of the room as her short skirt rode up.

Sexual desire, on a theoretical level, wasn’t something that Belle was unfamiliar with, but she had seldomly felt it outside of erotic stories and her own imagination. She had felt it for her first boyfriend, Will, who hadn’t seemed to mind her being an inexperienced virgin, and later on she’d felt the spark of it in the couple of short-lived relationships she’d had afterwards, but she’d always felt desire was something that she enjoyed more on her own, with her books. But not even the dirtiest of books had ever made her feel what she was feeling then, the utter consumption, the way her body felt like it was on fire, every nerve-ending acutely sensitive, almost to the point of pain. 

Below her Gold seemed just as possessed, hands gripping whatever part of her they could reach, his mouth so forceful in its attentions it felt bruising. This was the sort of reckless passion she had only read about, the kind she had always thought wasn’t real outside the realm of fantasy. She understood then why people did stupid things and blamed lust for it later.

“Oh fuck, Lacey…”

It was the name, her sister’s name, that brought her back to reality, like someone had doused her with frigid water. She pushed against his chest, scrambling to stand up, only then realising that she had ended up straddling Gold on top of the Chesterfield.

What the hell was she doing? She was supposed to be there as a temporary replacement for her sister. This was not his life but hers she was living. A borrowed life.

“I’m sorry.” She was breathless, still flushed and hot from their actions just seconds ago. “I don’t do this, ever. I don’t sleep with people I need to have a professional relationship with, and certainly not my boss. Whatever people may think, I'm not that kind of person.”

He seemed confused at first, befuddled in a way that would’ve been flattering under any other circumstances. It was as if she had kissed him senseless.

“I’ve never implied or thought-”

“Doesn’t matter.” She gathered her bag, trying to sound indifferent. “I can’t stay. I have a date with Killian later tonight.”

She saw her dig work, saw the moment his adorable confusion melted away and a cold, aloof expression took over his face.

“Wouldn’t want to make you late for that. Go.”

He spat the last word out, with venom she didn’t know whether it was directed at her or at Jones. Without a reply she turned around and exited the librarY.

[sydneysageivashkov]

3, 11 and 18 if you're doing the books ask game :)

Curious about 18 considering your profession, and if that enhances the experience or makes it impossibly annoying

3. what is your favourite genre?

fantasy! and sci fi and speculative fiction in general. I love the escapism and the creativity of the genres

11. what non-fiction books do you like if any?

I haven't read a non-fiction book that didn't have to do with my dissertation since I started my dissertation 💀 my brain is still a little fried. I think tales from the haunted south by tiya miles is a great book for anyone interested in ghost tours. I'm also trying to build up a little professional library and first on my list is queering the museum

18. do you like historical books? which time period?

okay so I've got a lot of conflicting thoughts about historical fiction in general. some writers will do enormous amounts of research and create really beautiful narratives with it, some people just throw pop culture knowledge at the wall and claim it's accurate. then there's the book I had to read in undergrad about a village in england during the black death that was literally entirely historically accurate, nothing happened that couldn't be 100% confirmed on historical record, and that was a terrible book (but at least partially because the historian writing it wasn't good at writing prose!).

shows like bridgerton (sorry to use a show as an example in a book ask) doesn't bother me at all because no one expects accuracy out of bridgerton even though it's set in a real historical period. then you've got game of thrones/asoiaf, which is fantasy, but markets itself as being accurate to the medieval period when it's not lmao and people do take it as historical fact even though it's set in a fantasy world! or like, there's this really well-known novel in australia called the secret river. to add a little more context, there was some very high profile debates between historians in the 90s/00s about the nature of the colonisation of australia: the (accurate) view that it was an invasion and involved massacres and dispossession of land and genocide, and the view that it was all good actually. some of these debates happened on live television, like really high profile; I got taught about it in high school. the author of the secret river once talked about how as a fiction author she could "be above the fray" looking down on these "polarised positions" and end the history wars by seeing the truth of it as a novelist and like no??? a novel, regardless of intent, can't get the magnitude or scale of 150 years of conflict across. henry reynolds was not a polarised position he was right god dammit!! representing your historical fiction as "the truth" when you haven't done enough research to realise that windschuttle is a fucking hack is just flat out wrong. (if anyone curious would like to learn more about the australian frontier wars, frontier war stories is a good podcast! some of the interviewees were actually active participants in the history wars)

but you know, while some historical fiction can really bug me, I've also loved a lot of historical fiction novels too. I don't have a specific time period. one of my favourite books, she who became the sun, is historical fiction (historical fantasy? because of the ghosts?) and I've got books on my shelves from periods ranging from ancient greece to 1920s china. it's all a matter of how it's done I guess

[dumdumsun]

Of Starlight

A/N: Alright, this entire story has officially been written ❤️

Warnings: none that I’m aware of

Word Count: 3067

————————————

Chapter 5: Extra Ordinary

Five years ago, Vanya Hargreeves began writing her autobiography, “Extra Ordinary: My Life as Number Seven”, less than two weeks before her sister’s novel, “One-Sided”, was announced in the papers. Those around who enjoyed her writing were buzzing with excitement, for it was the second book of her trilogy. (Y/N) was thrilled, herself, to be publishing her novel within the next month. Finally sharing her work with the world would have taken a tremendous weight off her shoulders, leaving her with only the weight on her bladder. While working herself nearly to death with her writing, she was with child for the second time, which added to her stress. Thankfully, she had a very supportive husband at the time to assist in anything she requested. It was in those times in which (Y/N) was grateful she decided to make something of herself rather than letting her past as Number Eight define her.

Once “One-Sided” was published, (Y/N) sent two copies out; one to Allison, one to Vanya. She figured her brothers wouldn’t want to read her romantic fantasy as much as her sisters, so she didn’t bother asking. Allison seemed ecstatic for the new addition, but she wasn’t too sure about Vanya, supposing it wouldn’t hurt to send it. If she didn’t want to read it, that was her decision. What she didn’t expect, however, was Vanya’s novel sent to her. After Jada was born, (Y/N) had taken time to read her sister’s autobiography. While Anthony was at work during the day, she’d multitask by reading and taking care of her newborn. She would quietly gasp at certain parts of the book before checking to make sure she hadn’t woken her daughter up. (Y/N) couldn’t believe some of the things her sister dared to put in that book. Some things she wrote were blatantly about (Y/N)’s own insecurities that she had trusted Vanya with knowing. Insecurities about her powers, her capability of being a suitable member of the Umbrella Academy. Vanya had compared it to her own doubts, stating that (Y/N) had no right to complain to her, of all people. Looking back now, (Y/N) could admit that it was a bit selfish to do that to her sister. Regardless, those had been personal and it was unloyal of Vanya to share that with anyone willing to read. Despite this, (Y/N) saw to promote “Extra Ordinary” along with her own work. Someone had to be the bigger person in this situation.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nostalgia wasn’t exactly what (Y/N) was overcome with when awaking in her childhood bed. In fact, she’d much rather have opened her eyes to the empty side of her king-sized mattress at home instead. She debated closing her eyes and pretending she had never drifted into consciousness, but sat up when remembering everything Five had told her the day before. If she remembered correctly, there were six remaining days leading up to the end of the world. She had promised Five to assist in preventing the apocalypse, and her drowsiness was not going to hold her back. So, she dragged herself out of bed and began looking for Five. She figured the first place to begin was his bedroom, so she stopped in front of his door and knocked. Hearing rustling on the other side, she asked, “Five, are you decent?”

“Decent enough. You can come in,” He called out, the door opening and (Y/N) stepping inside. He glanced at her over his shoulder as he fixed his white button up. “I take it you had a difficult time sleeping?”

“What makes you say that?” Her hand slid down her face, sarcasm in her tone. She didn’t need a mirror to know she had bags under her eyes. Five chuckled and moved to his vest and jacket, finishing with dressing himself. As he zipped his duffle bag closed, he glanced out the window.

“You tagging along today?”

“I plan to. I… suppose I have nothing to do.”

“Nothing, huh?” Suspicion hid amongst his words as he picked up his bag. “What is it you decided to do with your life, (Y/N)?” The question was simple, genuine, but the weight of it was suffocating. She really couldn’t go back to her normal, beautiful life after all.

“I… found my mother,” She slowly started out, carefully watching as Five curiously glanced up at her under his dark brows. “I became an author… and a mother.”

Suddenly, Five couldn’t breathe. He had anticipated this conversation, prepared himself for everything (Y/N) had accomplished while he was gone. But nothing could have prepared him for the stab in the heart at the mention of her having children. Children with someone who wasn’t him. It was stupidly selfish, he knew, to expect her to wait for him, to do anything else with her life except for the things he longed to do with her. Past the pain, however, he was happy for her. Something in him knew that (Y/N) would one day make a wonderful mother. She was patient, selfless, caring, and oh, how he wished he could’ve been the one. He didn’t even want to ask about the individual she had trusted enough to raise children with her.

His hesitancy to respond worried (Y/N) and suddenly she wanted to apologize. But for what? Her success, her marriage, her children? She had every right to those and she shouldn’t have to apologize. Her concern washed away when Five raised his brows in acknowledgement, opening the window. “Really? A mother? That’s great, Starlight…” God, that nickname… She thought. Why does everything feel so complicated now? Her feet moved her to follow him out of the window and down the fire escape. She thought it was best to not continue the conversation for now.

“Dammit, where’s Dad’s stuff?” The two heard an irritated groan on their way down. (Y/N) craned her neck to see Klaus digging through the dumpster. “Shut up! I’m trying to find whatever… priceless crap was in that priceless box so that Pogo will get off my ass!”

“I’d ask what you’re up to, Klaus, but then it occurred to me…,” Five turned to his brother. “I don’t care.” His useless comment earned an eye roll from (Y/N). Klaus glanced up at the two with a small laugh.

“Hey! You know there are easier ways out of the house, buddy? And bringing little (Y/N) along, too? Whatever could you two be up to?”

“This way of leaving involved the least amount of talking,” Five hopped off the ladder, helping (Y/N) down afterwards. “Or so I thought.”

“Klaus,” The eighth Hargreeves made her way closer to the dumpster. “Is Ben there?”

“Yes, dear, he says hi.” His hand waved in Ben’s supposed direction, (Y/N) softly smiling at her ghost brother. “So, hey, you two need any more company today? I could, uh… clear my schedule.” His eyes shifted to Five as he took a drink from his flask.

“Looks like you’ve got your hands full.” The boy falsely smiled.

“Oh, this? No, no. I can do this whenever. I’m just- I just misplaced something. That’s all.” He then fell into the trash as (Y/N) joined her traveling companion at his side. After a few seconds, Klaus reappeared with a bagel. “Oh! Found it! Thank god!” (Y/N) nearly gagged as he began to chew on it, muffling a ‘delicious’ in forced content.

“I’m done funding your drug habit.” Five spit out before walking away. She followed him and waved at Klaus, barely listening to him yelling after them as they climbed into a plumbing van.

“Why are we stealing a van?”

“Shush.”

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Once again, the two teenagers found themselves in front of Meritech Prosthetics. (Y/N) watched as Lance entered the building before sighing. “We’re really gonna sit here and spy on the man?”

“You got a better idea?” Five only kept his stare on him.

“I guess not… What’s the bag for, then?”

Five immediately turned his attention to the duffle bag he brought with them. “Oh, shit,” He muttered before unzipping it. “Hey,” He softly greeted before handing a bottle of alcohol to (Y/N). She blinked once, twice, thrice when he brought out the top half of a bald mannequin and set it between them. “Sorry you were in there for so long, Delores.”

“Wait,” (Y/N) choked. “That’s Delores?! The one you were with for over thirty years?!”

“Well, obviously,” Five frowned before turning back to ‘Delores’. “This is (Y/N), Delores. You know… the one I told you about.”

“You… talk about me to the mannequin? Should I be flattered or weirded out?”

“Oh, be quiet,” Five sighed and turned away. (Y/N) suddenly felt silly for being jealous last night. “No, I’m not drunk.”

“What?” (Y/N) frowned at the boy, who shook his head.

“Talking to Delores. She thinks I’m- Yes, it’s about the eye thing. This is the place it was made. Or… will be made,” His eyes moved up to his human friend. “We just have to wait…”

He’s actually talking to the mannequin, (Y/N) thought as she turned forward, eyes wide. So, that was what the apocalypse had done to him. She felt bad for him now. Initially, her heart warmed at the thought of Five finding someone to love, but knowing that his mind had gone somewhere far away enough for him to turn to a mannequin for comfort…

“So, (Y/N),” He started, his gaze once again trained on the building before them. “Your children… tell me about them.” Truth be told, Five wanted to know how much they had gotten from their mother. Were they just as humorous? Just as passionate? As wonderful? (Y/N) let out a heartfelt laugh as she closed her eyes.

“Where do I even begin? Michael, he’s… so intelligent. He has the highest reading level in his class and they’re thinking of letting him skip the first grade. He’s such a big help at home with his little sister… I swear, he’s a little man. He’s always trying to test my knowledge. Tries to get me to solve his ‘really hard’ math homework problems…,” She chuckled, Five looking at her with an unreadable expression. “And Jada… she’s such a character. No matter how many times I teach her the days of the week, she always gets them wrong… She wakes me up every morning, trying to guess. I say ‘Jada, if yesterday was Wednesday, what is today?’ and she just starts listing off every wrong answer… She’s a performer, too. I enrolled her into dance classes. Oh, it’s her favorite thing to do… And I’ll admit, she’s good at it. Don’t know where she got that from. Definitely not from me or her dad...”

Five tilted his head thoughtfully. “They sound… just like you. They think they know everything,” He joked with a small smile, (Y/N) playfully glaring at him. “Really, though… They sound like great kids… I’d like to meet them one day.”

“Yeah,” She smiled down at her lap. “I’d love for them to meet you… But I need to be an actual adult before I can face them again. Until then… It’s just checking up every once and awhile…”

“(Y/N), I’m so sorry,” Five frowned as he sat forward. “I- I’m going to figure this out. I promise.”

“I know you will,” She breathed and closed her eyes, her world slowly crashing down on her yet again. “Sorry, I need some air.” And with that, Five was in the car alone. Well, save for Delores. Outside, (Y/N) didn’t have much time to really be with her own thoughts before she heard Luther and Klaus’s voices nearing her. Turning to her right, she spotted the two walking side-by-side towards the van. Upon seeing her, Luther raised a hand.

“(Y/N), you need to get back to the Academy. We found something… and Grace might’ve had something to do with Dad’s death.” He gruffly explained, the young girl straightening to attention.

“Wait, what-”

“I can explain at the house, but we need both you and Five there for the family meeting. Is he in there?” He pointed to the vehicle their brother sat in.

“Yeah, but-”

“Great. Be right back.” Luther’s massive body brushed past her to get to Five, Klaus following behind to get in the back. Not waiting a second longer, she followed her junkie brother inside. When she entered the van again, Luther was trying his hardest to fit his body into the passenger seat as Klaus grabbed Delores, smirking at (Y/N) as he began to dance with the mannequin. She only watched him in disinterest. Once Luther was finally in, he turned to Five. “You okay?”

“You shouldn’t be… How did you find me?” Five’s question was answered when Luther turned to Klaus. With everyone’s attention on him, he looked up from Delores and dropped his smile.

“Hey, a little privacy, guys. We’re really hitting it off back here.” He began to caress Delores’s cheek before screaming when Five threw an object at him, Klaus using the mannequin to block. (Y/N) shook her head and moved closer to Five and Luther, the former fuming.

“Get out! You can’t be here! I’m in the middle of something.”

“Oh, but (Y/N) can be here?”

“Yes! We’re in the middle of something!” Five turned forward as Klaus joined (Y/N) at her side, poking her cheek gently.

“Any luck with your one-eyed man?” He asked her, receiving a head shake. Five sighed and turned to Luther.

“What do you want, Luther?”

Turning his attention away from the conversation between the two, Luther answered Five, “Um… So, Grace might’ve had something to do with Dad’s death. So I need you to come back to the Academy, alright? It’s important.” His request was met with silence for a split second before the time traveller shook his head.

“‘It’s important’. You have no concept of what’s important-”

“Hey!” Klaus interrupted, holding his sister at his side. “Did I ever tell you guys about the time I waxed my ass with chocolate pudding?”

And that was when (Y/N) tuned out the entire conversation between her family. She left Klaus’s side and pressed her back against the back of Luther’s seat, closing her eyes. She knew Five wasn’t going with Luther and Klaus to the house, and she didn’t need to listen to the bickering that would’ve led to that outcome. Her attention was eventually brought to Klaus swinging the back door open, huffing as he got out. She watched him slam the door closed and make his way towards the store across the street. Not trusting him in the slightest, she sent a clone after Klaus, telling it to “watch over him”. At this point, she was waiting for Luther to leave so her growing headache would subside, but it seemed the man wanted to talk some more.

“What the hell are you up to, Five?”

“Believe me, you wouldn’t understand.”

“Try me. Last I checked, I’m still the leader of this family.”

“Well, last I checked, I’m twenty-eight years older than you.” Five tightly smiled before (Y/N) snorted with laughter. The boy rolled his eyes and smiled fondly at her before Luther pulled his attention away.

“You know what your problem is?”

“Really hoping you’ll tell me.”

“You think you’re better than us,” Luther’s words wiped that sarcastic smile right off Five’s face. “You always have. Even when we were kids. But the truth is, you’re just as messed up as the rest of us. We’re all you have… and you know it.” Luther stared at his brother, as the boy slowly inhaled.

“I don’t think that I’m better than you, Number One. I know I am,” He hissed, Luther only chuckling. “I’ve done unimaginable things, things you couldn’t even comprehend.”

“Right...”

“Just to get back here and save you all…” Five stared out the window. (Y/N) sighed and grabbed Delores.

“Luther, out.” She ordered, her “big” brother turning to her with an offended look. “Five’s clearly not going with us. No use arguing with him either. So, just go and I’ll catch up-” She was cut off by the sound of a voice whooping in excitement. The three looked across the street to see Klaus running out of the store, arms full of stolen snacks, the clone following close behind.

“Hey, bitches!” He shouted as a cop chased after them, blowing his whistle. The clone turned to the officer and pushed him away with great force as Klaus was nearly hit by a car. Five’s head followed Klaus’s movement.

“I’m starting to wonder if that was the wisest decision…”

After Luther was sent out of the van, (Y/N) took over the passenger seat once again and set Delores down between them, Five quietly thanking her. “So… I’m going with the guys.”

“What? Why are you wasting your time, I thought you wanted to help me?”

“I do, and I will… But I don’t trust Luther to make decisions right now… I mean, if Mom really did have something to do with Dad’s death… Who knows what he’ll do? The least I can do is try to talk him out of it. I promise, when I’m done, I’ll come and find you.” She softly smiled, gently patting his hand. Five shook his head at her.

“You don’t have to promise me anything… I’m the one who owes you.”

“All you owe me is this,” She gently squeezed his hand. “You being here… That’s what I’ve wanted for so long. Now I have it. So, your debt is paid.” She chuckled. Five rested the back of his head against the seat as his eyes searched her face, trying to find anything that should worry him about her. But all he found was her warm smile and eyes that shone with affection. It suddenly felt inappropriate to have Delores around right now.

“Well, then, you should get going… You’ve gotta catch up with those idiots.”

“Alright. Don’t be out here forever, okay?” (Y/N) leaned in and pecked his cheek before getting out of the car and rushing after her brothers. As he watched her speed away, he tried to regulate his breathing, heartbeat increasing.

————————————

Taglist: @melinda-hargreeves @43sparrows @sapphicsyn @m00n-sh @starcurrent @alexander-hamilhoe @youcandalekmyballs @wonderlandfandomkingdom @yrdadjstcallsmekatya

[steve0discusses]

Yugioh S5 Ep 19: Yugi and the Only Neck Accessory He Didn’t Really Want to Wear

Been busy! Hopefully stuff will open up soon as I’m taking a hiatus on a different quarantine project and will be finishing painting the entire roof of my car this week? One can hope. Sanding the rust off the whole top of a car takes a long time it turns out?

Also, fun Yugioh fact, I recently painted a book cover for an author who is older so she’s never seen the show, and she looked at my tumblr, saw my Duke Devlin fanart and was like “That’s him. That’s my main character. OMG. You captured him perfectly!” and I was like “Ma’am that is Duke Devlin, hence the single dice earring on his lobes there, but we can work with this.” and now a spiritual Duke Devlin is on the cover of a Wuxia-style fantasy trilogy on the Vella. Had to give him a top knot and delete the eyeliner for Wuxia reasons but uh, that’s just Duke.

So long story short, fanart can get you work, don’t even worry about posting that stuff online because most people don’t even know it’s fanart anyway and older ladies freakin love it.

Back in Yugioh, the team was doing their best to navigate a map through the woods and they do about as well as they normally do.

And inside Tristan lifted up the floorboards and was like “I found the only way out, this is it, this is the only way.”

And they ended up in something that has a color scheme I would actually associate with a jungle. Finally. We have finally left California (in order to go to another Hell.)

Youknow, when we went to California, we visited Hell, and when we went to India, we also took a stop at the nearest death destination. There’s just so much death on this show and sometimes I forget because there’s been a ghost in our party for so freakin long it’s been normalized.

(read more death imagery under the cut)

Joey freaks out at a flock of crows and reveals in this episode something I never realized about him before.

Like I’m not always the perfect observer as I’m sure you’ve noticed, but I love that this is canon for probably only this episode, but I will never forget it for the entirety of this series.

You go on hating birds, Joey.

Bro was like “Maybe it’s a deep cut about Mai Valentine because she’s a harpy lady” but eh...pretty sure we spent like an entire season of Joey telling us that Mai was a good experience? Would be incredibly funny if immediately after all of S4, Joey was like “You know what? Screw Mai, guys.”

So my thoughts...it’s probably just a literal bird experience. Like I had a friend who hated deer because once she went to a petting zoo, got some pellets to feed the deer, but her finger was sticking up, so when the deer came over to nibble on some pellets her finger went up it’s nose by accident. She was so disgusted by this event that was entirely her fault, that she brought up how much she hated deer basically whenever we saw one.

So like...maybe Joey fed a bird wrong at a petting zoo. I can see him getting bit by a parrot because he was too Joey Wheeler.

But now that we’re in a graveyard neighborhood, Pharaoh decides to hop out because there’s a lot of ghosts here and he needs to practice socializing with his peers.

So that’s just a Yugioh monster doing the ostrich dance, right? Like this is a meme from like 2010 but on Yugioh in 2003(4?)

Good to see the Ostrich dance here in the land before Vine.

So they pull out their Pokemon to do some antics, Tea looked like she was about to do something useful, and Yami does a yump across time and space to get her as far away from playing (not)cards as quickly as possible and y’all...sure was a position these animators animated.

Holy crap.

And I was going off about that scene last season where they woke up in the same bed like...

...have these two been together this entire time? Like together together?

They’re like...way more comfortable than you’d figure they’d be considering Yugi nearly passes out every time he gets a hug. But Yami just like....How long has this been going on? As long as Joey’s fear of birds?

Like obviously this show would never cover what the hell Yugi may be thinking about this overreaching move here, because we’re gonna gloss right over that, and just run away up a flight of stairs. No one mentions this ever again. Which is mind blowing for an anime to do. I think in most anime I watch, the kids would be like “ahh ahhhh I bumped into a booooob!” like it does for I want to say every other episode of My Hero Academia. But in Yugioh, they saw that low hanging fruit and they were like “we expect a higher level of maturity out of our audience. Now here’s a fleet of ostrich dancing tree monsters with faces for crotches.”

They decided to sprint up this flight of stairs, and it enough of a slope to deter the monsters who are only unbalanced weird legs.

I want us to take a moment and admire this background painting. I can’t unsee the rocks that are all the same size, just piled on top of eachother. Did Alexander the Great just plop rocks here--or was the mountain made up of tons of similarly shaped boulders?

Like there’s a lot of nice bg’s in this arc, don’t get me wrong, but this one...I’m just trying to wrap my head around the logic of it.

At the top, they meet a pantheon, that is immediately blocked by this wall, because if this arc had a tagline, it’s “Yugi gets inconvenienced every 4 seconds.”

Bro was like “Clearly they would have pushed it over if Tea wasn’t slacking off” and like...she is actually. Look at her. Only used one hand? Slacker.

Joey was disappointed he couldn’t push over a massive wall, and the team decided not to analyze how much Joey Wheeler thinks of his own strength and instead fixate on these statues.

Usually in anthro characters they kinda look birdlike but act human. But what about an anthro that’s just a bird? Like human torso, but can turn his head 180 degrees? Yugioh made me ask this question.

And then Joey was like “wait, there may be a solution that isn’t just to use brute strength!”

Youknow it is a bummer that Kaiba couldn’t witness Joey own a dragon while he himself only has a robot jet dragon. Although, the jet is probably faster, stronger and overall...better than this baby dragon. It would have been great for Kaiba to witness Joey under-utilize this dragon and forget he has it for like huge swatches of the episode.

And then Grandpa pulled some body horror out of nowhere.

Wow.

I mean that is really gross.

I guess Grandpa can’t use Blue eyes, because Kaiba ripped it up, Grandpa can’t use Exodia because Weevil tossed it off a boat, and grandpa can’t use the card that’s just a building because...it’s a building.

So instead Grandpa has a bunch of meat and bones that look like something out of Doom. It’s probably from a more obscure Konami property, but I forget which.

I’ve seen Tristan hold back Joey in this hold, first time it’s been Tea.

So much shipping in this episode, it’s wild.

It’s also wild how low my standards are for what could possibly be shipping when it comes to Yugioh because of how freakin tepid all of these characters are, which as I’ve brought up before, I really don’t mind.

So Yugi decides that because Grandpa was folding his arms like one monster and it made a gem light up or something, to just do the video game thing and use the giant ass statues as clues.

Why was this arc not a video game? Like parts of it really feel like it was meant to be.

So Yugi falls down a hole, where the walls cave in like it’s that dumpster in Star Wars but like...it barely phases him.

Also...Yugi might be able to see in the dark. It’s never been brought up but like...the more I think about it...has Yugi ever struggled to see without the lights on?

After Joey disappoints everyone, he confronts death.

And Pharaoh and Yugi decide to solve the puzzle of “how do I get out of this trap dungeon room” which, honestly, is probably what they’re doing every time they hang out in the brain pyramid.

So they summon their mascot monster, and surprisingly the show decided its ability to fly cannot help them out here.

Kuriboh manages to become enough of a doormat to push Yami up to the stone and they end up in a set of weird cuts that ended in this?

Like seriously it was like flashes of light and then they were just...up here like this.

Hey like...

Alexander the Great, my man...

Were you planning to put that stone in the middle of a exhaust vent hoping someone would touch it? Because there’s no way anyone would rationally have done that. You would need to fly to do it. This is the world’s worst DM.

Like Yugioh pulls a lot of fantasy nonsense but this arc is a lot more like a “it’s a kid’s show, just go with it.” arc than most of them. It’s not a bad vibe, necessarily, it’s just not the vibe I’m used to.

So once I witnessed maybe the most boring conversation I’ve ever witnessed about corn (this was on a twitch stream, by the way, a guy was playing an interesting game, and then a guest came on and started talking about corn and plants for 2 hours) and they would not shut up about how all taxonomy is wrong because there are no such thing as trees and how all animals are labelled incorrectly, and then they started comparing it to like all sorts of mushrooms and phytoplankton as you would if you clearly got a little bit high before dumping your corn knowledge on a twitch stream.

Anyway, after that bizarre experience I suffered so I could learn how to play an obscure video game, I think I can safely say, that while I know everyone here thinks a bird can’t be a dog. If you’re a high biologist: a bird is absolutely a dog. Apparently you can just do that if you’re the most boring biologist alive and no one will argue with you because to do that would involve talking to you. We’ll just say a bird is a dog and no one can fight me or I will talk about the corn book that this guest on this twitch chat was thinking about renting from the library about the different types of corn mutations inherent in freakin Indiana. Therefore, Joey’s fear of birds and dogs is same.

So they use Dark Magician to save them from the statues, and Yugi busts into the pantheon again because they got to open this casket before a time limit that I kind of forgot about, tbh.

And inside the casket, is...this thing!

(enjoy this line on the bottom of the image I don’t feel like fixing it)

And you may say to yourself...it looks like it’s just floating in mid-air, that’s silly, and so I want to introduce you to the next panel where you can see that it is...quite literally...just floating in the air like a video game.

and it just slurps itself onto Yugi before he can be like “nonono.”

Wasn’t there some horror movie where you were stuck in some sort of body brace that slowly tortures you (was that Saw?) This has that vibes. Like man that looks uncomfortable to wear over a jacket and two belts and a collar that is another belt.

That and I...I gotta appreciate that Yugi popped his collar while wearing body armor and chunky necklace. What 00′s fashion appreciation right there.

Bit like...this isn’t breathable, right? Like Yugi’s gonna finally take this thing off and his jacket will just be completely soaked in sweat?

Anyway, that’s it for this post, next week we’ll see if Yugi can walk through a doorway in that thing.

Also, I can’t bring up the ostrich dance without sharing the vines of my generation

[bloededhoine]

world building cause twn doesn't part 4: elves!

everyone loves elves! they're a fantasy genre mainstay, archery is so sexy, and they have those E A R S. plus, they play a pretty important part in the witcher universe!

series masterpost

colour code cause i fucking love colour codes - already happened/introduced, probably s2, important background info, stuff that might be in the prequel, extras

background

i'd recommend going through the last parts, or at least the tl;dr's first

elves arrived on the continent about 2000 years before humans, and are divided into 5 distinct cultures of varying importance: aen undod, aen elle, aen seidhe, black seidhe, and aen woedde

elves only came to the continent in one group, but not all of that group stayed. the different branches based on where they settled make up the different cultures

the main two languages in the witcher are common speech and elder speech (aka hen llinge), the former used by most humans and the latter used by the elder races

aen undod

the aen undod are the oldest elven culture, having existed years before the conjunction of spheres

their home world faced some huge catastrophe, so the aen undod left in search of new worlds, leaving their descendants to become all the future elven cultures.

the aen undod spoke the oldest dialect of elder speech, laith aen undod, or one speech

aen elle

the aen elle use a language derived from hen llinge called ellylon, in which their name means "of the alders"

they don't actually live on the continent, having abandoned it years ago for their own world.

however, when the aen elle arrived in this new world, it was already populated by humans and unicorns. unfortunately, these elves are notoriously ruthless and both the native species were eradicated.

the capital of the aen elle world is tir ná lia, and is described as stunningly beautiful, featuring open air buildings made of marble, alabaster, and malachite. here it is in the third witcher video game, by djkovrik on nexus. their screenshots are amazing btw.

[ID: screenshot from wild hunt showing tir ná lia. the city is built on cliffs above a sea, there are waterfalls falling from the cliffs and bridges connecting them. there are mountains in the background and the buildings are fairly small and out of focus, they seem to be in the gothic revival style with ornate windows and steeped roofs. end ID]

the ruler of the aen elle was auberon muircetach, king of the alders and aen saevherne (aen saevherne is the honorary title of an elven mage who has extensive knowledge of magic, geneology, history, and many other subjects). auberon was also ciri's 5 times great grandfather. this gwent card pretty much sums up his vibe: scary yet sexy.

[ID: illustration of elven man with long white hair on a brown horse. he has defined cheekbones and facial features and is wearing a gold crown and blue robes with a red sash, gold belt, and leather boots. he is holding a white unicorn head in one hand. the unicorn's horn is cut off, and is bloody around its neck and where its horn was. end ID]

auberon's consort was another aen elle named shiadhal, with whom he had one daughter, lara dorren. lara is so so so important for the witcher, as she is the beginning of the elder blood, or hen ichaer.

hen ichaer is a gene that carries incredibly powerful magic, and those who have it are usually sources. i talk more abt this in part 3.

for better or for worse, lara dorren fell in love with a human sorcerer, cregennan of lod, and left tir ná lia for him. auberon took this as cregennan "stealing" his daughter and therefore the hen ichaer, and developed a pretty hefty vengeance and dedication to "take back" what was his (yikes).

this also set a precedent of people "claiming" the lives of carriers of the hen ichaer

auberon also formed an elven cavalry known as the red riders or wild hunt (dearg ruadhri in ellylon) and he appointed eredin bréacc glas as their commander. the initial purpose of the wild hunt was to travel to different worlds and capture slaves for tir ná lia, although they later became auberon's tool to find and exploit carriers of hen ichaer.

the wild hunt also uses specially trained mages known as navigators to open portals to other worlds, the most notable of these navigators is caranthir ar-feiniel, who doubled as one of eredin's most trusted men.

the aen elle also live a pretty long time, average is around 650 years, so the timelines are kinda hard to keep track of.

notable aen elle include: auberon muircetach, shiadhal, lara dorren, eredin breácc glas, crevan espane aep caomhan macha (aka avallac'h, also an aen saevherne and lara dorren's ex), caranthir ar-feiniel (also avallac'h's foster son), ge'els (the viceroy of tir ná lia), and imlerith (general of the wild hunt)

aen seidhe

put simply, the aen seidhe are the elves that did not leave when the aen elle did

the aen seidhe don't really have a society like the aen elle, they're pretty dispersed across the world. but, there are certain areas the aen seidhe have claimed as their own.

one of these little civilizations is dol blathanna, also known as the valley of flowers. unfortunately, it's not an independent state, as it was conquered by aedirn in the 1150s. however, then-king baldwin thyssen did allow the elves to retain a lot of their cultural identity and live in peace.

dol blathanna includes the village posada and the capital silver towers, which is where filavandrel aén findháil is from. he's that sexy man right there

[ID: photo of white elf man with blonde hair going to his shoulders. he is wearing tattered green robes and is looking slightly to the side with his lips pursed. end ID]

not that anyone cares, but here's him in the hexer. it's not important to the lore or twn it's just fuckin funny

[ID: old man with white frizzy wig. he is wearing a headband that appears to be rocks on a string. he has what looks like a potato sack tied around his shoulders over a green tunic. he is scowling. end ID]

outside of dol blathanna, there aren't really any places where elves can live with minimal human interaction, although the blue mountains are home to a few incredibly powerful elves

side note: dol blathanna is technically part of the blue mountains, but is in the far southern foothills so they're usually treated as separate entities.

the blue mountains are also a natural border dividing the northern kingdoms from the far east, and where filavandrel went to live after he got fed up with dol blathanna.

they're also the home of ida emean aep sivney, who's also an aen saevherne and future member of the lodge of sorceresses.

next season, we're going to meet the beautiful elven sorceress francesca findabair, also known as enid an gleanna (hen llinge for daisy of the valley)

here she is with fringilla vigo (nilfgaardian sorceress) in twn season 2. note that enid is preggers! that's very odd and i will go into detail on it later

[ID: photo of two women walking side by side. the one on the left is black and has black hair in braids going over one shoulder. she is wearing a silver dress with a similarly coloured floor length coat. the one on the right is biracial and has strawberry blonde hair in a braided updo. she is wearing a floor length blue gown with gold embroidery and a metallic brown cloak. she is pregnant. end ID]

enid is crazy interesting and important for the story of the witcher (and confirmed for season two!), so i won't go too in depth about her now

as i mentioned in part 2, nilfgaard tends to favour elves, leading to a lot of militaristic forces allied with nilfgaard. most notably, the scoia'tael, or squirrels. the scoia'tael are an incredibly ruthless and effective nonhuman guerilla force, generally divided into commandos, units that patrol a given area and eliminate the northern (or simply human) threat.

there are a lot of scoia'tael, so i'll just give you the commanders for now: angus bri cri, coinneach dá reo, iorveth, isengrim faoiltiarna, riordain, and toruviel.

you might remember toruviel as this sexy angry lady from twn, and she is possibly going to get a much bigger role later... pay attention to toruviel.

[ID: young elf woman with white skin and red hair tied over her shoulder. she has a bloody nose and is wearing a light green top with a dark brown leather studded belt. her belt is also around an olive green coat. she looks quite angry. end ID]

the scoia'tael were very well organized, but also quite dispersed, so when nilfgaard needed more specific tasks done, they would assemble specific military units (usually led by some of our favourite squirrels)

the vrihedd brigade was the most important of these units. they were especially notorious for their cruelty in the second northern war, so i'm sure we'll meet at least a few members next season.

their leader was colonel isengrim faoiltiarna (aka the iron wolf), and his officers coinneach, iorveth, riordain, and angus.

francesca findabair is not directly involved with either the scoia'tael or the vrihedd brigade, but she does work quite closely with them very often.

also important to note that not all scoia'tael are aen seidhe elves, most (including all higher ranking commanders and officers) are, but there are a number of nonhumans including dwarves and halflings.

unfortunately, the aen seidhe are slowly going extinct, both from years of genocide from humans and their slow reproductive cycles (elves live a Long time, but can only have children towards the beginning of their lives)

that's why it's so surprising to me that enid is preggers! we don't exactly know her age, but by my calculations she was over 150 in twn (pretty far past the age elves can have children).

because of this, elves are pretty divided between fighting against human rule and seeking coexistence. there are arguments for both camps, mainly that humans are colonizers and should not be trusted for the former, and that elves are dying out already and need to live with humans to survive for the latter.

the most prominent stand for the fight was in the 1060s when an aen seidhe named aelireen led an uprising against humans. most of the elders told her that it wouldn't end well, but she didn't listen and led hundreds of young elves into battle. it was an utter massacre, and basically all elves who could have children died.

yikes

unfortunately, the movement for coexistence was just as unsuccessful. it was led by our man cregennan of lod, lara dorren's husband. the poor simp just wanted to live in peace with his wife, but a lot of humans thought he was a traitor because he married an elf, and he and lara were murdered in 1137 in redania.

the last real push for independence was with the formation of the scoia'tael in the 1260s. I say 1260s because the very beginnings of the scoia'tael were right around 1262-1236 (the start of ciri's timeline) but they became majorly important around 1267. although, even the scoia'tael realized they needed humans to survive and began working with nilfgaard.

however, some scoia'tael are less keen on being nilfgaard's attack dogs, leading to further division amongst the aen seidhe.

black seidhe

remember the elves i talked about in part 2 as being the ancestors of the albans? this is them!

the black seidhe are native to the south, more particularly the valley around the alba river. they are practically extinct, but the nilfgaardians carry a lot of their cultural identity in the nilfgaardian language, a variation of hen llinge.

aen woedde

the wood elves, or aen woedde, is the elven culture we know the least about, they primarily live in the areas around nilfgaardian forests and speak hen llinge.

the only notable wood elf is aenyeweddien, or iskra, a member of the rats, a gang of semi violent youths in the northern realms. we'll learn more about the rats in future seasons.

tl;dr: elves, especially the aen seidhe and aen elle cultures, make up a large part of witcher lore. they are most notable for their long lifespans, magical and historical knowledge, and militaristic alliances with nilfgaard.

[yurimother]

Interview: Shilin Huang, Creator of Amongst Us and Carciphona

Shilin Huang ( @okolnir​​ )is a Canadian freelance artist and comic creator, known for her long-running series Carciphona. She has a Bachelor of Music in Performance from the University of Western Ontario. Carciphona is a long-form fantasy story set in a world where demon-magic is forbidden. The series follows a young sorceress named Veloce, and the mythical assassin assigned to kill her, Blackbird.

Shilin’s newest book, Amongst Us, based on the webcomic of the same name, is an alternate universe comic that reimagines Veloce and Blackbird as musicians and girlfriends in the modern world. You can support the physical release for Amongst Us book 1 on Kickstarter today.

The first book of Amongst Us is coming soon. How do you feel about the release?

Eager and relieved!! I had worked for so long to make the web format viable for print format, as well doing all the extra drawings that were necessary--like covers--that I had to keep under wraps, it felt great to know that that part is finally done and I can release my child into the wild. I was very worried too before the launch of the Kickstarter, because though I am the one who made this story, I am not quite a slice-of-life type of person myself, and it was hard for me to see value in this mundane, not-plot-driven kind of story as a printed book. But I was very lucky to have that worry dispelled!

What drew you towards creating comics and artwork? Was it a dream of yours?

I’ve been drawing since before elementary school because I enjoyed it, and somewhere along the way, I wanted to create my own characters, and then I wanted stories for them. It was always just me doing what I felt like doing, more so than something that I aspired towards achieving consciously. If I had to analyze the allure myself, maybe it was because people and the world are so interesting, I’ve always loved thinking about their nature and circumstances, and art/storytelling was the best way for me to explore and share those thoughts.

Could you briefly walk us through your creative process for making a page of Carciphona or an episode of Amongst Us?

Carciphona is a long, plot-driven story, and so the scale of preparation required before the page eclipses the actual drawing of the page itself. [A] small moment has some larger impact in the plot, character development, and accuracy of world-building. So I usually spend about half a year or more writing out an entire volume, read it over many times over the course of the years, before I do the same thing with sketching the entire volume on the computer, rearranging pages and panels and entire scenes for best delivery, before I finally commit to drawing out each page in detail on the computer. 

Where Carciphona is like an elaborate set course where I chop up and measure ingredients and time their cooking with a careful game plan so everything can be served as they should, Amongst Us is more like an omelette that I’m making to taste. There is still planning and writing ahead of time, but each episode is much more self-contained, and I do more of the planning of the episode within the episode itself, adding and taking away details as I see fit before I feel like it reads naturally enough for me to fine line, colour, and paint.

You talk about being a self-taught artist, how did you learn to create artwork? What are some of your favorite educational resources?

While I did come across many tutorials, they were mostly short ones here and there made by my peers, so I don’t have any favourites in my mind that I can share ): . I learned by just looking at the art of my peers at the time and drawing a lot myself, thinking about what I could learn from each time I see something great, and what I could try next time to make the next drawing look better to me. When I had just started drawing digitally, the internet was quite new, drawing tablets expensive and uncommon, with no social media to share art or find resources. Over time, I did try to learn more properly by doing studies and seeking out professional tutorials, but I found that I hated it and decided that I’d rather learn and make mistakes at my own pace and be happy than to commit to effective and efficient learning and make myself dislike drawing.

Amongst Us is, of course, an Alternate Universe comic featuring characters from Carciphona. What inspired you to put your characters into a GL slice of life work?

Back in 2006, when I started drawing Carciphona, I had no plans of this frenemies dynamic for the two main characters, Blackbird and Veloce, and when the thought had occurred to me as I continue to tweak the story, canon GL relationships were still rare and rarely accepted. I was even told on many occasions by readers that they hope the two do not end up with some couples dynamic, or they will no longer be interested in the story. Ultimately, Carciphona was a fantasy story about an entire world, and I wasn’t going to risk the story’s reception over a small detail like whether or not Blackbird and Veloce sleep together, so I just played with the ideas of their relationship on the side, in paintings of many different AUs. Eventually, all that did was make me become so attached to the idea that I decided to say, screw it, I need someplace where they could be together, and I’m drawing an AU for real.

Where do you draw inspiration from for your work? Both Amongst Us and Carciphona.

I love a lot of things, feelings, aesthetics, and I eat up all of that and take it back out in the form of my stories. The inspiration is everywhere, from beautiful imagery I witness in pictures and in real life, to [the] lives of people that I hear about or experience firsthand, to the ethics and structures of professions from mechanics to medicine… In feelings, knowledge, and perspective, there’s an infinite amount of things that makes me think, and that thinking is what creates AU and Carciphona, whether or not that line of inspiration can be clearly drawn back to the root of the thought.

What are some of your biggest challenges or fears creating Amongst Us? Was there any realization or advice that helped you overcome those difficulties?

My biggest fear is always in relatability because it’s a difference between me and the reader that I do not and cannot have a solution for because it involves another person. In such a relatable genre as slice of life/comedy/romance, where the readers have more experience and therefore more varied but stronger expectations of a version of life that is relatable to them, I know that even if somehow I become a master writer, I still would not be able [to] say whether I could story that others would get or would be interested in, especially because I am aware I am an oddball when it comes to how I think, how I live, and what I value. What helped me the most was simply seeing that there were readers who did enjoy the stories for what it was, and reminding myself that I’m telling the stories to find those who might enjoy it, not to avoid those who might not. It’s a different perspective, rather than a solution, so the worry constantly resurfaces, but I hope it becomes easier over time as I am proven wrong more often!

Amongst Us readers have gotten to see Veloce and Blackbird as an established couple, and now we are witnessing flashbacks to how they first met. Where do you hope to take the series in the future?

I intend to tell both of these timelines concurrently, so as the couple timeline ended at episode 20, I intend to end the flashback at around episode 40, and then switch again at episode 60, and so on. While this kills the momentum for each arc, I made AU so that I can have the cake and eat it too--I want both their back story and a happy ending at the same time without having to wait 10-20 years for it, like I do with Carciphona’s plot haha!

What is one dream or aspiration you would like to accomplish? Even if it is unrealistic.

My only dream right now is just to finish both Carciphona and AU before my time’s up! Funny how unrealistic is specified, it made me realize that I rarely consider unrealistic dreams/aspirations as worth thinking about as they are unlikely to happen when there are so many other things I want to do that are actually possible. Most of my unrealistic dreams actually revolve around music, a profession I had left behind with an aching heart. I dream to play a concerto with an orchestra someday, or even learn to conduct, but for now, drawing my dreams out feels enjoyable and fulfilling enough a compromise!

What advice do you have for people wanting to create artwork and comics?

The true challenge these days I feel like is rarely in the work itself; there are so many readily available free resources that anyone who is capable of working hard and thinking critically will sooner or later be able to master skills they acquire to some degree. What is truly challenging is finding, and then accepting, what paths work for you. Someone might find great joy in working in a studio with a group on something big, while someone else might only enjoy drawing what they feel. Both, in this current climate, will be compelled to adhere to the standards of drawing what others want to see in order to gain recognition and financial stability, one will thrive, one will not. 

I think the most important thing to keep in mind is understanding what you want out of drawing/creating, and why. Understanding yourself is often not as straight-forward as it may seem, everyone has different circumstances that subtly motivates them to sometimes misdirect energy and misinterpret what it is they truly want. Some people need to be understood, some people want an excuse to execute, and some people want fame, money, recognition, validation. Whatever it is, and all valid, understanding and accepting your own motivations to create can tremendously help you find the path forward that is suitable for you, not anyone else, even if it might mean following an impractical path that no one else recommends.

Finally, after the release of the first Amongst Us book, what is next for you? Anything special your fans can look forward to?

My game plan through the decades has always been to just keep going. I did choose long-form projects such as the comics that I draw, and the best thing I can do is to just keep it up and reach those exciting points of the story that I’ve always worked towards, no matter how uneventful that may make my work routine sound. However, I do have a little side thing with a(nother) recurring theme that I’ve been doing here and there for fun whenever I had time, people who keep up with my social media art posts may have noticed. If I ever accumulate enough material, maybe there will be some bonus snacks for my readers on the horizon!

Read Carciphona and Amongst Us online now and be sure to support the physical release on Amongst Us book 1 on Kickstarter today. Also, be sure to follow Shilin on Twitter @Okolnir.