#introduced the faerie queen

[six-of-ravens]

Final wordcount tonight: 14,422!! Under 600 words behind now!!

[sailingtheimaginarysea]

"Master, would you happen to know why that druid girl keeps looking at me like that?"

[margareturtle]

Ngl not making Ash a ginger,, kinda a missed opportunity (I mean he is 75% ginger between the Seelie Queen and Jocelyn sooo)

There would be such great scenes like:

Ash: I am Prince Ash of the Seelie—

Dru: yea sure okay Faerie Clary

Ash: I’m not—

—

Kit: Come on, Carrots! Let’s get going!

Ash: ISTG IF YOU CALL ME THAT AGAIN—

—

Dru *introducing Ash*: Hi Magnus, this is—

Magnus: oh I recognize you! It’s baby Biscuits!!

Ash: No I’m—

—

Kit *introducing Ash*: Jem, Tessa this is—

Tessa: Henry?!

Ash: I’m Ash 😐

[shadowdaddies]

Ouu, wb Amren x a reader who speaks a different language and very little Prythian(idk, whatever they speak) and struggles trying to get across what she wants from Amren(in bed) but eventually they work it out and it's all smutty 🤭😏

I love your mind omg

Foreign Tongues

Amren x f!Reader

warnings: laborious faerie political ramblings above the cut, smut below the cut, breath play, slight blood play? (it is Amren, after all), tribbing, oral f!receiving

The moon had risen high in the night sky by the time Rhysand decided to call the meeting to an end. Your eyesight was blurred, vision struggling to stay focused on the heavy texts you’d pored over for the better part of the day. 

You’d been in the Night Court for several days now, working officially on behalf of Vallahan to discuss trade relations, but your king and queen did not know of the spy in their midst. 

When Morrigan had come to Vallahan to seek aid in the war against Hybern, you’d seen both the cruelty of your people towards humans, and your own opportunity to give Prythian the advantage to leverage an agreement that banned slavery from your lands.

The issue laid in your lack of time - you were only given four days in Prythian to devise a plan with the right amount of leverage to achieve both countries’ goals - and the language barrier. Vallahan had spent so long secluded from negotiations with the other territories that the dialect had changed greatly, and you knew little of Prythian’s language as well.

Mor spoke enough of each tongue to work as translator, allowing you to work with her and Rhysand - along with Rhys’s second in command, Amren - in your research and deliberations. 

From the moment Amren had introduced herself, steely silver gaze meeting yours with an unwavering confidence, you desired her. Her low, smooth voice as foreign words rolled off her tongue and the intelligence with which she quickly picked up on your language was as arousing as the glances she would flash in your direction when she thought you weren’t looking, the slight flush of her skin when you would notice.

It was as Rhys nodded to you in farewell, Mor standing to follow him toward the door that you caught one of those looks - but this time, Amren didn’t look away. Instead, her eyes seemed to glow like molten silver, bottom lip tugging between her teeth as her scent of black cherry and merlot grew darker.

It was your skin that grew flush this time, eyes darkening at the silent understanding that passed between the two of you. Looking over your shoulder, you realized that Rhys and Mor had already left, and the air grew thick with tension as Amren stood from her seat across the table, hands spreading on the wooden surface as she leaned closer.

As though a magnetic force were drawing you to her, you matched her movement, mere inches separating your mingled breaths. A delicate finger tucked underneath your chin, dragging slowly up to run over your lower lip as her brow arched in question. 

“Yes?” she asked in your language, eyes searching eagerly for permission, the leash on her restraint growing taut. 

“Yes.”

No sooner had your broken attempt at her language left your lips than she swallowed the sound with her mouth, hand moving to your jaw in a firm grip as she slipped her tongue through your lips. 

A lewd moan escaped you as she caressed the roof of your mouth, your lips sucking on her tongue in response as you pulled away to see her wild expression. “Here,” she murmured, pointing to her side of the table before urging you to crawl over the furniture towards her.

Perching on the edge of the table, your hands found purchase in her silky black hair, legs winding around her trim waist to pull her as close as possible. Soft hands slid up your thighs, squeezing the flesh of your ass as Amren’s head dipped to your neck.

A harsh bite pierced the flesh there, her tongue flicking out against the quickly-healing wound as she sucked hard enough to mark you as her own. Teeth and tongue taunted your skin in a symphony of pain and pleasure as she worked her way further down your body.

Fingers softly trailed from your ass, tracing light patterns up your body to draw sharp nails down your sternum, around your breasts to rest at the top of your pants. Lips left your skin when you tugged on Amren’s hair, her gaze lifting to yours in question once more as she snapped the waistband of the fabric.

You couldn’t have found words of any language in that moment, breath catching in your lungs as your need grew into a frenzy. You granted her a frantic nod, your own hands fumbling with the fabric of her top as you hastily undressed each other.

Eyes roved hungrily over your body for a brief moment before you wrapped your legs around her waist once more, one of your legs dropping to the ground so you could lean against the table’s edge. 

Amren’s lips found yours once more, the kiss tantalizingly slow as your hand dipped to her thigh, hoisting it over your hip to pull her body fully against yours. A high-pitched whine left her lips as you wound your hips against her own, the crack in her smooth facade making you smile.

Her clit rubbed against your own, nails raking down your back while you twisted and thrust against her. You were coated in each others’ slick, sticky warmth making a mess over your bundle of nerves as you chased your high. 

Amren’s small hand wrapped around your throat, squeezing gently as your eyes rolled back at the pleasure. The coil in your stomach began to tighten, legs shaking in attempt to hold yourself upright. 

Just as you felt the pleasure begin to crest, Amren pulled back, hand keeping you in place against the table as her fingers dipped into your folds. Lifting the digits against her lips, pink tongue flicked out, a wicked smirk spreading across her face at your low moan.

She never released her hold that gently pinned you to the wood as she dipped her hand between her own thighs, collecting the slick there before pressing those same fingers to your lips.

You accepted them eagerly, tongue flicking to collect your shared juices, cheeks hollowed as you aimed to suck every last drop. Amren’s chest heaved, lidded eyes shining down at you with approval.

You released her from your mouth with a pop, grin turning wild when she released your bruised neck in favor of tapping the table. 

“Here,” she directed in your language, hand sweeping flatly to indicate for you to lay down on the hard surface. Quickly sliding up onto the furniture, you laid on your back, craning your neck to see her climbing onto the table as well. 

You practically writhed under her, pussy dripping to the surface beneath you as she straddled your face, round ass perched perfectly above your mouth.

Wasting no time, Amren’s hands wrapped around your thighs, pulling them apart as her tongue licked a broad stripe against your clit. Back arching against the wood, your parted lips were soon smothered by her warmth, hole perched atop your nose as her clit nestled between your lips.

You sucked the bud on instinct, hips rolling against her mouth as the two of you pleasured each other. Fingers parted your folds, spit landing on your clit before being spread by those soft hands. 

“Amren,” you moaned, the foreign name pleasant on your tongue when her fingers dipped inside of you, stretching and curling, bringing you to your high incredibly quickly.

Spurred on by her movements, your own tongue flicked and sucked her bud, moving to thrust inside of her as you lapped at her flavor. 

“I- now,” Amren stuttered, the only words she could manage as her legs shook. 

Your name spilling from her mouth as she reached her high sent you spiraling into your own, heart pounding at the intense ecstasy rolling through your body in waves.

Sweaty limbs tangled, Amren twisting around just enough to be face-to-face with you while you caught your breaths. Thumb sweeping softly across your cheek, Amren pressed a chaste kiss to your lips, her own expression shifting into a rare, bright smile.

Biting your lip, you found it impossible to tear your gaze from her, instead finding any excuse for small touches, admiring the planes and curves of her bare body beside yours.

“And now?”

You knew what Amren was truly asking with that question - but you were set to return home tomorrow, back to a land where you were now a traitor. Nothing was sure anymore, no future could be predicted. 

All you knew was what you wanted next, so with a sheepish grin, you interlaced your fingers with hers and pulled her palm to your lips. “Now, your bed?”

Loud laughter rang out, Amren shaking her head with amusement as she muttered something in her language that you couldn’t understand. Collecting your clothes, she reached out her hand to you in invitation. “My bed,” she nodded.

[tigris-types]

Yesterday, @starbiology posted that in cannon Neopets lore, Dr. Sloth arrived to Neopia and started creating experimental lifeforms on the empty planet. These lifeforms started to mutate into the Neopets we know today after magic was introduced, and then faeries were later discovered. Faeries are seen as immortal being and on the Neopian Times, Queen Fyora is often used as a stand-in for god. This means that our timeline is Dr. Sloth experiments - magic arrives - Neopets appear - deities/faeries appear.

I think it's safe to say that's deities are created by belief, and in the world of Neopia, "believing" can affect the weather and magic. So Neopets believing in a persona that controlled a force created the faeries, but where did magic originally come from? For that, we look to the stars.

Aishas are a unique neopet as they are the only one that can be painted alien. In their lore, the alien color was actually the original aisha, but they lost the additional ears when they adapted to life on Neopia. Aishas also have phychic abilities and a tie to the mystic arts; they are magical beings.

I propose that alien aishas brought magic to Neopia and created the faeries. Here's how I imagine it happening:

Alien aishas are explorers of the galaxy who come from a matriarchal society. They pray to their patron of stars and safe space travel Mira to guide them on their journey. They have discovered a planet that can sustain life just on the edges of their explorable range. The aishas send a small crew to check it out, but unbeknownst to them, it's under the watch and protection of Dr.Sloth.

He doesn't want anyone messing with his planet wide experiment! He found the planet first! It's his! So he shoots down the incoming ship. The aishas are able to make it to their escape pods and land on Neopia.

But how could this have happened? Were they too far away from their home planet for Mira to protect them? If they were truly out of range of the deity of space travel, could none of their gods help them now? Did they need to pray to new ones? No! That's blasphemy! Accidents happen, they should send out a rescue signal and wait.

So they do. But they find the planet full of hostile lifeforms, monsters of every shape, size, and color! And every time a rescue party gets near to the planet, it gets shot down in a similar manner. They assume it's something in the atmosphere that is breaking up their ships, and they loose faith in their old gods. Dr. Sloth meanwhile leaves his moon base to go investigate where all these ships are coming from as Mira looses her power as the Neopian aishas loose faith in her.

The colony of aishas are trying so hard to survive the monsters. They don't know the deities of the world they are now inhabiting, but they know how to be respectful to them.

They pray to the Mother of Protection so they can fight the monsters at their doors, and a battle faerie comes to aide them.

They pray to the Mother of Survival when their rations and supplies run out, and so a faerie with a cooking pot appears to teach them what can be combined to create something greater than its parts.

They pray to the Mother of Medicine in the winter when they start to fall ill from the cold. So a faerie of healing and snow appears to help them, and disappears when it's spring.

The faerie of survival tells them about neggs, and when they find a fruit that contains all their nutitrial needs, they praise the Mother of Neggs, and a faerie appears to tend to the negg bushes so the aishas will always have something to eat.

And although they have lost faith in their old gods, some rituals still carry over. Losing a tooth is still considered a great milestone that must be honored. The Mother of Milestone is manifested as the tooth faerie that gives money in exchange for teeth, but these aren't the nerkmids that they use as money. Could their be other civilizations on this planet?

As the aishas start to explore the planet to find other civilizations, they take their beliefs with them. They thank Mother Earth for soft grasses, shady trees, and protective caves. They thank Mother River for fresh water and Mother Ocean for a safe seafaring journey, and they thank both for the bounty of fish. They thank Mother Air for fresh breezes and to keep them upwind from the monsters. They thank Mother Fire for keeping the monsters away, and Mother Light for keeping their spirits bright.

But mothers can also be mean and nasty, and mothers can be cruel. They attribute the monsters and their hardships to Mother Decay, a spectral shadowy faerie that lives in our nightmares and can corrupt our minds until we become the monsters attacking our friends.

The aishas know they need protection from Mother Decay when they go to sleep. They need a force in the darkness to help keep them safe from the nightmares when no other mother can reach them, so they pray to Mother Dark for sweet dreams and sanity. Mother Dark may not always be nice, but she will do what no other mother can and make it so we can brave the night.

As the aishas expands, and new faeries start to appear in their settlements, things been a little hectic. No new civilizations have been found yet, and while their own has been more established, these faeries cause just as much help as harm. Magic is a new force that is altering the landscape, but they need it to make sense! Some have even claimed to find a land made out of jelly for faeries sake!

So the leaders pray to the Mother of Order and the Mother of Faeries. "Please" they say, "Please control your children so we may have order in our lives again" and Mother Faerie appears. It manifests as the Queen of all faeries and all must listen to her. Queen Faerie, no, Queen Fyora, whisks the most unruly faeries away to Faerieland so the Aishas can have peace again.

But with the Mother of Order and Civilization making an appearance, civilization is also brought to the monsters that have plagued Neopia. Everywhere the floating city goes, the monsters turn into the Neopets we know today. They start worshipping the faeries too, and the faeries' power grows. The world turns.

Monsters still exist, as the faeries can't solve every problem, but the aishas have neighbors they can trade with now. Some of the monsters can even be tamed and trained for pets or for jobs!

As Neopian society grows and thoughts and feelings change, new faeries take on the mantles of older ones. Faeries become a species of their own and can form relationships, although no one really knows how new faeries are created. They believe they have always been there, and their belief makes it so. Queen Fyora is thought of as the oldest faerie, and their belief makes that true as well. (Eventhough she is technically the youngest of the ancient faeries, but she is the only ancient one who remains in modern Neopia) (Besides Mira and maybe Kari, but idk)

Other notable faeries and how they came to be:

Library Faerie - Mother of Knowledge

Soup Faerie - Mother of Kindness - the current light faerie took over from a faerie with unquie wings that wasn't meeting the community's needs

Bree - Mother of Quests (when society became more modern, neopets got bored and prayed to be given more involved quests than just simple fetch quests, so Bree spawned and created Key Quest)

Kaia - she spawned as a kid, so idk what she would represent. A daughter of Culture perhaps? She can see into the future, so maybe she is the deity of Time who is in training?

Honestly, Kaia confuses me. But I hoped this made sense of how the faeries came to be! I also went for the mother angle to explain why all of them are female. Please let me know what you all think of this!

Oh yeah - faeries can die if no one believes in them, but if their domain is still needed, then a new faerie takes up that same domain. As a side note, that might be why Kari has an apprentice now. Neggs aren't as obtainable as they used to be and are pretty expensive, but they are still useful. Neopians opinions of Neggs are changing, so there is another faerie to represent the current generation of Neopians' thoughts on Neggs.

Same thing with Delina. Modern Neopians know that dark faeries aren't automatically evil, but they don't know what they can help with that isn't evil magic, so a good crafty dark faerie spawned. All dark faeries are crafty, but Delina is DIY crafty instead of magic crafty.

Thank you for reading! I know this was long but it was fun to write, and please excuse any errors as this was written on my phone. Also, please let me know your thoughts on this! If you agree/disagree or if their is some ancient lore that needs to be incorporated in this!

[zorosprincess]

To Know Now

PAIRING - Faerie Prince!Kita Shinsuke x Wingless Faerie!Reader WC - 1.1K GENRE - Fluff CW - pining, really just fluff, kinda filler

PREV PART | MASTERLIST | NEXT PART

The queen regent of the Inarizaki Kingdom was not usually a suspicious woman. Although she was the ruler of a prominent kingdom, having held the throne as a lone woman for decades now. Although she had learned to play politics among the best of them, who to trust and who not to. She was kind and fair and she took what she was told at face value... usually.

However, when her grandson came to her with baskets full of petals and the request that she would help him to make them into different perfumes... she has trouble believing his claims that there was nothing going on.

Shinsuke really didn't mean to ask her for help at first. He'd spent weeks intent on trying to figure it out on his own after ruling out the possibility of asking his friends for help without being teased incessantly.

He was attempting to do more on his own now. Teas and dresses were becoming too common of gifts to bring you in his opinion. He'd filled your shelves twice over with teas and sweets you liked and you'd started to run out of places to hang the dresses that he'd made and brought for you.

You had no complaints about his gifts. Every new tea or dress made you smile just like the first one had. Unsurmountable happiness consumed you that he'd even taken the time to consider making these for you.

Shinsuke wanted to give you more. More and more and more. Which is how he ended up hovering in the doorway of his grandmother's private study, nervously scratching his neck as he stuttered around the question he wanted to ask.

"I - um," Shinsuke cleared his throat and stood up straighter, remembering his royal training, "I was wondering what a lady might like." The queen regent's quirked eyebrow had him clarifying himself. "I meant, what a proper lady might like. I was -" he cleared his through again, "I was trying to make things from all these petals but I've run out of..." He trailed off and looked around sheepishly.

There was a small smile on her face as she stood and approached him with grace. "Perfume." She walked past him and waved him to follow her quickly. "Ladies often like perfumes." He followed her dutifully until they found themselves in a rom Shinsuke had never entered before, looking like a semblance of a lab.

"Let me ask you a question, dear." Shinsuke watched as his grandmother pulled down some vials, seemingly knowing exactly what she was looking for. She waved him over to the table with her. She picked through his basket of flower petals, sorting out the ones she wanted. "When do you plan to introduce her to me?"

Shinsuke's eyes widened as his gaze snapped over to his grandmother's face. He found no anger there, like he'd expected. Instead, she wore a soft smile on her lips as she teased him. He sighed and focused back on the basket of petals, trying to pick up on which ones she wanted.

"She might not exactly be someone the court approves of." He sighs at the thought, the injustice of not being able to have you the way he desired, to publicly announce that he wanted you. "She's..." he trailed off, thinking about the repercussions of admitting to the queen regent your lack of wings. "She might not exactly fit into the standards of our society."

His grandmother hummed thoughtfully, shooting him a knowing glance as he looked down, worry written across his face. "Let me ask you this." Her words drew his attention back up to look at her. "Do you love this girl?"

Shinsuke's breathing stuttered and he didn't answer. He didn't have to, the blush that rose to his cheeks then was enough for her to know the answer.

"I see." She mused, nodding and turning back to her work. "Then that is enough for me. It would be lovely to meet her one day."

They worked silently after that, not pushing the subject further. You loved the perfume he'd made that day. Put it on the second you could. But his conversation with his grandmother, small as it was, played through his head on repeat.

The two of you laid in the meadow, the late afternoon sun beating down on you. You'd fallen asleep not long ago and he couldn't bring himself to wake you.

He'd been telling you about the dances in his kingdom, the huge parties and the lights that twinkled in the trees of the kingdom, making the night seem like day as music played and laughter rang through the air. His hands had been messing with your hair, twisting strands and twirling them this way and that.

He found himself now, staring down at you softly, humming small lullabies as your head laid in his lap. They were lullabies that were common in the faerie kingdoms, ones that are sung to all the children, ones that you never got to hear. Ones he hoped to sing to your children someday.

He hated himself for that thought for a moment. The momentary image of the two of you having a child, or children together. The image of coming home to the palace to see you with your children running around the corridors. To have that image in his head but not yet having the courage to tell you how he truly felt about you. His refusal to confess until the flowers tell him it was the right time.

But he couldn't help it. You look so perfect to him.

Your hair spread out around you, your head in his lap comfortable, safely. He wove flowers into your hair softly while you slept, shaping you a crown of your own. He was determined then. Determined to give you a real one. A crown befitting of a queen. His queen.

He knew then that he wanted you to be his queen. To hell with the laws and the courts. He'd find a way around them. For you.

His hands halted their motions when your eyelids flutter, worried he'd disturbed you for a moment. But your lips only parted in a soft sigh and your eyelids remained closed. He smiled down at you, and when your eyelids fluttered in your sleep again, he leant to press featherlight kisses to them.

He hopes, deep down, that your dreams were of him too. That you, like him, dream of being with him. He hopes too, that the flowers will tell him soon that it's the right time to confess to you.

He knows then, if he were to have that conversation with his grandmother again... if he were to be asked again... if he loved you. He knew now, the answer would be yes. And he would know that that would be enough.

TAGLIST - OPEN

@all-in-the-fandoms @pearl-blue-musings @qichun

[julescarstairs]

Meet The Gang: That Which Is Precious and Lost Edition!

~~~

So, for those of you playing along at home, my best friend @tsc-reader and I have been writing a TSC Next-Generation Fanfic about our fanon kids of Kierarktina, Blackstairs, Kitty and Morgenthorn for two whole years now, over on Instagram. It’s called That Which Is Precious and Lost. We’ve written a complete instalment of 52 Chapters (which we call Book 1) and are currently working on a sequel, titled That Which is Gracious and Cruel (which we usually abbreviate to TWIPAL2, since TWIGAC makes us uncomfy ✨) as we speak!

Book 1 follows the kids as they embark on an epic journey to save their parents from a certain faerie matriarch, who is holding each of them captive for ransom — what ransom, you ask? Why, it’s none other than an ancient faerie spellbook called the Sage Scripts, which has long since been lost to the sands of time. Sands of time or not, the kids have a meagre fourteen days to find and retrieve the Scripts, and return them to the Seelie Queen’s hands — or run the risk of losing their family once and for all.

In book 2, the stakes grow higher, but there’s not much more I can tell you other than that, lest I spoil some big pointers from Book 1 for you 🤭 what I can tell you is that Book 2 introduces a staggering six more characters to the cast — five of which who are love interests for five of our main kids (and one who is honestly there solely to be an annoyance. You will hate how much we love pulling him into things. We’ll introduce you to those six on a different post, though.)

But I bet you’re wondering just who these kids are — and we would love to introduce them to you! See below the cut to meet our babies: The TWIPAL GANG!

1. Arrius ‘Ari’ Blackthorn-Kingson-Rosales

‘Ari passed a hand over his face and took the time to ask himself why he had to be born into such a ride or die family. He loved them all dearly, but this was getting ridiculous.’

— That Which Is Precious and Lost, Chapter Twenty Three: A Saccharine Melody (Written by @julescarstairs )

Ari is the eldest of our ragtag team of Shadowhunters at age 18, and is the son of Mark, Cristina and Kieran. A new adult, he takes it upon himself to guide his baby cousins, and younger sister Celeste, through the trying times that rise before them when their parents are kidnapped and held to ransom. His hair falls in short curls of medium brown, which lightens to a dirty blonde in the sun, and has the signature Blackthorn-Blue eyes, a trait shared by himself and only two other of his cousins. He stands at a staggering six foot four inches tall, though no one can really work out why or how he is that tall (not even us, the authors, but we love him for it anyway.) Ari simply grew, and everyone has come to accept that.

Much like Mark and Kieran, Ari chose a bow and arrows as his weapon of choice. Whilst he is capable with a balisong or a handful of knives, he prefers to work at a distance. In his childhood, he spent hours upon hours of his time mastering the art. Though often humble, Ari isn’t afraid to tell you he never misses.

Ari is a very mellow individual, often seen as the calm, grounding ‘rock’ in the lives of most of his younger family members. He is patient, thoughtful, but if you can scratch away that shell of responsibility that he so often hides himself away in, you will find that he does, indeed, have a sense of humour! (Ask Luc, he’ll tell you.) He loves very deeply, especially his younger sister Celeste, who he spent some periods of his childhood babysitting when his parents were busy with the Shadowhunter-Downworlder alliance, or, you know, ruling the Unseelie Court. Despite being Mark’s son, Ari bears a lot of resemblance to Julian personality-wise, and quite often looks to his Uncle for advice and guidance where his parents’ doesn’t quite suffice.

Ari’s fatal flaw is his stubbornness and his temperament. It takes a lot to send Ari into a fit of rage, given his cool and calm demeanour at the best of times, but if he is pushed over the edge, it’s hard to make him see reason. Like a bull with a red flag, Ari won’t stop something if he has his mind set on doing it, and will do anything he has to in order to get his way. His is a cold, quiet anger, which is frightening in its own regard and amplified by the fact that he stands over most people. The only person, aside from Celeste or his own parents, who has the ability to bring him back from such a dark anger, is Eleanor Blackthorn-Carstairs, who is only one year younger than him but not afraid to square up against him when he isn’t seeing the forest among the trees.

2. Celeste Blackthorn-Kingson-Rosales

‘Celeste let out a breath. Maybe it wasn't that she was part Shadowhunter. Maybe it was just that it had been a very, very long time since the Unseelie Courts had had a Queen. Now that she thought about it, Celeste wasn't sure there had ever been a Queen of Unseelie. The thought made her lift her chin defiantly. She would be a good ruler. Even if it was just for a short period of time, until her father got back. She would show her people that there was no reason to doubt her.’

— That Which Is Precious and Lost, Chapter Ten: Forgotten Memories (written by @tsc-reader )

Celeste is Ari’s younger sister, coming in at 16 years old to her brother’s two years senior. The daughter of Kieran, Cristina and Mark, she has her Father’s blue hair, which changes colour and value with her mood, and her mother’s warm, brown eyes. In a baffling contrast to her brother’s stature, Celeste is among one of the shortest of the TWIPAL twelve’s lineup, if not the shortest.

But don’t let that deter you. Celeste is a pocket rocket, and — much like her brother — won’t stop until she has what she wants, or achieves what she wants to achieve. Promises are like liquid gold to Celeste: when she promises you something, she will not break it, and will not forget about it. She’ll shake on it, pinky-swear, write it in blood if she has to, and will always follow through with what she claims. If ever she is rendered unable to do so, it breaks her heart. Minimum four business days should be allowed for her recovery. And if you break a promise with Celeste? I’d recommend digging your grave in advance, because she will come for you. She might even make it quick, since you did some of the dirty work for her.

Being Kieran’s biological daughter, Celeste takes her role as Heiress to the Unseelie Court throne very seriously. During the course of TWIPAL, Celeste actually splits off from the main gang to take her Father’s place on the throne, since Kieran is rendered unable to do so. She puts a lot of pressure on herself to do well, to do her Father justice and respect him and his wishes in every decision she makes. Every year, on her birthday, Kieran would take her on a walk through Unseelie Tower, showing her anything and everything he possibly could. The year she turned fifteen, Kieran gifted Celeste Windspear, his steed, just as Adaon had handed him down to him.

Celeste’s weapon of choice is a balisong, much like her mother. Unlike Ari, who likes to keep a distance from his enemies, Celeste likes to get up close and personal. She is very easily swept up in the fierce thrill of fighting. Though faeries may fight remarkably cleanly, Celeste does not. She’ll roll around in the dirt if it means she’ll win.

Celeste’s fatal flaw is her perfectionism. Because she so often strives to be perfect, to be everything everybody wants her to be, it makes her a bit of a control freak. Being raised by who she was raised by, Celeste recognises and admires her own autonomy and individuality, so any situation where that autonomy is taken away from her frightens her more than anything. She wouldn’t wish that on her worst enemy, let alone herself…

3. Eleanor ‘Ellie’ Blackthorn-Carstairs

‘Eleanor Blackthorn-Carstairs seldom ever found her home empty— at least, not without a note on the kitchen bench, or a text from her Mom or Dad letting her know they were going out. But when she returned to Blackthorn Hall from patrol, she found the vast home dark and so silent you could hear a pin drop, and there was not a single text on her phone. Maybe some teenagers her age wouldn't mind their parents stepping out without saying anything. Maybe some would savour the quiet ambiance: the faint chirping of crickets out the window, or the hum of wind as it blew past the curtains... But this was not a comfortable sort of quiet. And Eleanor's parents NEVER stepped out without letting her know.’

— That Which Is Precious and Lost, Chapter One: Pure Distilled Horror (Written by @julescarstairs )

Fun fact! Eleanor was the first of the TWIPAL gang to be born from our collective mess of brainstorming. Coming in at the second eldest of the cousins, Eleanor is an only child of age seventeen. She’s Emma and Julian’s daughter, and you would be able to see it from a mile away. She’s got Emma’s blonde hair and Julian’s blackthorn-blue eyes, as well as a face full of freckles, a trait often attributed to the Blackthorn bloodline.

Eleanor is just as chaotic and energetic as her mother is, often bouncing off her younger cousin Luc’s obnoxious, sardonic energy with witty remarks of her own (can you tell that Luc is going to be an important character to the narrative? I’ve mentioned him in two other characters’ descriptions already.) She is a strong swordswoman and she knows it, and as a result she has a competitive edge. She isn’t arrogant, but she knows her strength and her worth. She isn’t backwards in coming forwards about the things she wants.

But, despite everything, Eleanor is a balanced individual. Whilst she can be loud, bubbly and barbaric, she also has her Father’s maternal/paternal instinct, and is very quick to swoop in and lift people up when they’re falling apart inside. Where Ari is the dad of the TWIPAL gang, Ellie is very much the mom (but she’s not a regular mom, she’s a cool mom!) and it’s BECAUSE of their shared maternal instinct that Eleanor can call Ari out when he’s out of balance. She knows him better than he wants to admit, and will back him to the ends of the earth — as she will all of her cousins, especially LJ, whom she wants to be Parabatai with desperately, if her deep fear of the Parabatai bond wouldn’t keep holding her back.

Eleanor’s weapon of choice is Cortana, since she inherited it from her Mother. She values the heirloom dearly, and loathes being parted from it more than anything. Whilst she will always be found with Cortana strapped to her back, she is also quite competent with a crossbow, thanks to her dear old Dad.

Eleanor’s greatest weakness is her trust — or rather, her inability to trust. This excludes her family, of course, since she’s grown up among them and knows them better than she knows herself. But whenever new people come into her family, she isn’t quick to trust them. This is all primarily due to one person, who blindsided both her and her family into believing he was in love with her, only to drop her and walk away in a heartbeat. Whilst trusting too easily can be a flaw, being afraid to trust can put strain on new relationships she develops over time.

4. Livia ‘LJ’ Blackthorn-Herondale

‘LJ’s feet had barely touched the floor when she began to run. She sprinted through the hallways of the upstairs of her house, overcome with fear. Something was wrong. Something was very, very wrong. She could hear the commotion coming from the floor below, something crashing to the ground, metal clanging against metal. When she got to the banister, LJ didn't hesitate. She jumped. There was the brief feeling of weightlessness as she fell, before she landed hard in a crouch on the floor. LJ burst through the doorway ofher living room, just in time to see a flash of blonde hair, a glint of gray eyes, and the spark of a Portal disappearing into nothingness.’

— That Which Is Precious and Lost, Chapter Two: Stuff of Nightmares (written by @tsc-reader )

LJ is the third youngest of the TWIPAL gang, at fifteen years old. (She’s only the ‘third youngest’ because the last couple of characters in the lineup are twins, and were born two months after her.) The adoptive daughter of Kit Herondale and Ty Blackthorn, LJ has long, black, curly hair and dark eyes to suit. In average lighting, her eyes seem black — but in the sun, or if a lamp or campfire hits her eyes just right, you’ll find that they’re actually a dark violet. LJ, despite being the youngest girly in the gang, happens to be the tallest, standing above both Ellie and Celeste but below Ari and the twins (who you will meet below.)

LJ was found on Kit and Ty’s doorstep, a classic image of a baby in a basket, swaddled in blankets. Neither Kit nor Ty know who left her there, only that the mysterious individual trusted them to look after her, and that they were going to look after her with their whole hearts. Sure, there must be a reason why they were chosen to look after baby LJ, but that was a fact they were yet to learn. With Livvy’s endorsement (because, yes, she is still here as a ghost), they named her Livia as well, but her whole family calls her LJ — with the exceptions being Kit, Ty and later Eleanor, who call her Liv.

LJ is a very, very bright young woman, nothing short of a brainiac. She is the first to seek logic and reason in everything she and her cousins come across — even in matters of magic, when logic and reason don’t really come into the picture. She’s also, possibly, the most levelheaded character in the entire gang. I’m convinced she carries their collective braincell 99% of the time (and the other 1% of the time is taken up by Ari and Oberon, who can lead when their siblings aren’t driving them insane.) In a way, LJ idolises her Father, Ty, for his intelligence and innovation. She spent hours upon hours of her childhood sitting with him in his study, watching him work on projects and inventions, and as a result she has developed an inventive streak within herself as well.

Liv’s weapon of choice is the Herondale dagger, handed down to her by Kit. When the dagger isn’t feasible, however, she also has a keen hand for throwing knives. Any small, sharp object — a dagger, a knife, a dart — is LJ’s specialty, but thats not to say she hasn’t at least made herself competent at every other weapon she can get her hands on. On top of that, LJ trained herself to be ambidextrous, not only to be able to handle weaponry better, but to be able to work on projects and experiments for longer periods at a time whilst minimising fatigue.

LJ’s biggest weakness is how she feels restricted by how little she knows. LJ can often spiral into a state of self-deprecation if she can’t solve a problem or puzzle herself. Even if her intelligence runs rings around that of her cousins’ — Ari himself actually comments on this — she beats herself up endlessly if she cannot work something out that flew over their heads. Liv puts a lot of pressure on herself to be great, to know the answers to anything and everything when it’s physically impossible for her to do so. She gets herself down a lot, but Ellie is the first to lift her back up and remind her that if she doesn’t know now, she will find out soon.

Second to Eleanor, LJ’s closest companion among her cousins is none other than Oberon Morgenstern, one of the twins. Oberon often finds himself recruited by LJ as her lab assistant, whether it be voluntary or not. He doesn’t mind, though, because if helping LJ means seeing her smiling and happy, then he’d do it any day of the week. The two are close, a dynamic explored regularly through TWIPAL’s fifty-two chapters, in a number of ways.

Speaking of Oberon, that brings us to our next character in the lineup…

5. Oberon Morgenstern

Oberon rarely ever lost his cool in bad situations, but his twin brother lying unconscious on the ground was clearly the exception. He sped downwards, the world turning to a blur around him. He landed in a crouch, bracing himself on the ground with his hand. Ari looked over at him, surprise touching his face at Oberon's sudden appearance, but he sat back on his heels, letting him take over. Whipping out his stele, Oberon sketched a neat iratze on Luc's arm. "Come on, brother," Oberon said softly. "Come back to me. Stay with me." He touched Luc's cheek lightly with his fingertips. His twin's face was icy, his pale curls plastered to his forehead with sweat. A few seconds passed.

Then Luc's eyes fluttered open, ocean blue behind his eyelashes. "Oberon," Luc said, his voice hoarse. "Im okay."

"Lucas Andrew Morgenstern, you are not okay." Oberon said, his fear coming out as anger. "Stop being an idiot, and tell me what's wrong.”

— That Which Is Precious and Lost, Chapter Twenty-Four: An Exquisite Dance (written by @tsc-reader )

Listen, we don’t pick favourites in this household, but the Morgenthorn twins are definitely a step above the rest. Oberon, and his brother Luc, who you’ll hear about next, are fraternal twin brothers, both the sons of Drusilla Blackthorn and Ash Morgenstern. Oberon is the older twin, and even though there were only a few minutes between their births, he isn’t afraid to tell you, your friend, or even Luc himself that he’s older. He takes his role as ‘the older twin’ very seriously, much to Luc’s irritation at times. Oberon is a gentle soul, with his mother’s dark brown hair — which falls in picture-perfect curls around his face no matter how many times he runs his hands through it — and his Father’s green eyes, reminiscent of his Fairchild heritage. Much like Celeste, Ari and his brother, Oberon has the tapered ears unique only to the fair folk, though they aren’t quite as pointed as a full blooded faerie gentry. He stands at five foot ten inches at age fifteen, which renders him the second tallest of the TWIPAL gang, second only to Ari (he is about one inch taller than his brother, which he also may or may not rub in his face from time to time. Oberon isn’t arrogant, but will take any opportunity to humble Luc when it arises.)

One thing that sets Oberon apart from his faerie family members is his wings, which he also inherited from his father, Ash. At age ten, a pair of black-feathered wings sprouted from his spine, taking permanent purchase between his shoulder blades. It was only a matter of time before Oberon — and Luc, for that matter — found that these wings were integral to his way of life. As a result, he is very skilled in the ways of flight, and utilises his higher vantage point regularly during battles and patrol.

Oberon is a deeply, deeply loving young man, a gift who keeps on giving even when his heart has been scraped dry, trodden on, broken and put back together again. His open, forthcoming kindness and friendliness may seem quite startling to most people when they first meet him, but it can also be very deceptive — because underneath that warm, loving teddy-bear that Oberon so often is, lies a dark, determined warrior who isn’t afraid to stand between anyone and anything if it means protecting those he loves. He is a very intelligent young man with a gift for strategy and deception. If it weren’t for his heart, for the fact that he loves and is loved by his family (and his boyfriend, Aaron Longford, who you will meet on another post), Oberon would make for quite the terrifying enemy.

Oberon is protective of no one more than he is protective of Luc. He and his brother have a very special bond, unlike no other. They are seldom seen apart, and when they are separated, it’s cause for concern. Their connection transcends the waking world, so much so that if they’re found sleeping side by side, they’ll often sleep-talk to each other. Oberon loves Luc so much that is causes him a lot of pain and heartache, especially as the narrative grows thicker, deeper and darker. Oberon hasn’t known a time in his life without Luc, and will do everything in his power to keep it that way. Wherever Luc is, Oberon will never be far behind. No matter how far Luc falls from grace (because, believe me, he can be ungraceful sometimes) Oberon will be there to catch him. Oberon and Luc were born into a social climate where people are still wary of the Morgenstern name, and as a result, the boys have always believed that, in part, it’s been them against the world. Oberon made it his mission to change the Council’s perception of the Morgenstern name. This means keeping both himself and his brother in line.

Oberon’s weapon of choice is Phaesphoros, the first of two Morgenstern family swords. Though the ‘normal’ world’s Phaesphoros was destroyed along with Sebastian Morgenstern during the Dark War, it is said that Ash brought both Heosphoros and Phaesphoros back from Thule with him (at least, in the TWIPALverse he did.) When the boys turned 10, and were old enough to bear marks and start their formal Shadowhunter training, Ash laid the two swords before his sons at let the blades choose their bearers. The connection was almost instant: Phaesphoros chose Oberon, Heosphoros chose Luc. It only made sense, after all, for the twin brothers to have twin blades.

Oberon’s biggest weakness, his fatal flaw, is his tendency to self-sacrifice. Whilst he might be a gift that keeps on giving, this doesn’t always work in his favour. He is quick to throw himself under the bus or in front of a train if it means preserving the wellbeing of those he loves most in the world. Whilst he performs these grand, sweeping gestures of self sacrifice under the pretence of nobility, he’s rarely met with the reactions he was expecting to get from them. It’s actually Eleanor, during a late night conversation in TWIPAL’s epilogue, that expresses how Oberon’s selflessness concerns her. There is a fine line between selflessness and not valuing your own life, after all. But, for all the conflict it causes, Oberon is steadfast in his decisions, as he is in everything he does, and firmly believes that every sacrifice he makes, no matter how big or small, is for the better of those he loves: of Luc, of Aaron, of everyone.

Even if Luc disagrees.

6. Lucas ‘Luc’ Morgenstern

‘… a whirlwind of memories rose before his very eyes: Luc falling out of bed the first time he and Oberon had slept in their new bunk bed, and Oberon being the one to help him up off of the ground. Oberon being unable to sleep the night before they got their first marks, and Luc being the one who sat awake with him until he lulled himself to sleep. Luc crafting matching bracelets for himself and his brother with teardrop-shaped agates as the centrepieces - agates, because they symbolised safety and security, and there was nowhere Luc felt safer than by his brother's side. Oberon throwing himself into Luc's arms, sobbing, when they finally reunited in the labyrinth.

The deluge of memories struck Luc like many punches to the gut, leaving him doubling over and gasping. He had always thought that he needed Oberon more than Oberon needed him, but watching his life laid out before him now, Luc realised that he was wrong, so very wrong. Because Luc was half of Oberon just as much as Oberon was half of him. Together they made a formidable warrior, in which Luc was the sword and Oberon the shield. But what good was a shield without a sword? A sword without a shield? Without one or the other, they were incomplete.’

— That Which Is Precious and Lost, Chapter Forty-One: My Sword, Your Shield (written by @julescarstairs )

Luc Morgenstern is the firecracker to Oberon’s lit candle. Despite being twins on paper, Luc couldn’t look any more different to his brother in terms of colour palette. He has Ash’s platinum blonde hair, which manages to stay stylishly spiky as Oberon’s stays stylishly wavy, and the signature Blackthorn Blue eyes, which give him the appearance of a high-brow Snow Prince. But despite his difference in hair and eye colour, both he and his brother share near-identical bone structure. There’s no mistaking that they’re twins, no matter how different they may seem at first glance. Both Luc and Oberon (which I forgot to mention above) have faces full of freckles, a trait brought out by many of their days spent outside in the Los Angeles sun. Like Oberon, Luc has a pair of silken black wings, which sprouted from his back at the ripe age of ten. He has mastered the art of flight alongside his swordsmanship, rendering him a highly skilled and agile opponent (something Luc himself will tell you, even if you didn’t ask.)

Luc has a loud personality.He’s proud, cocky, obnoxious and dramatic in the best possible way, to the point where it’s charming — because as confident as Luc is in himself and his abilities as a Shadowhunter, he never actively puts anybody else down in order to make himself look good (unless you put him down first, in which he will engage in verbal combat, but don’t take any of it to heart.) Luc can be quite hotheaded, a stark contrast to his brother’s colder, quieter anger, and struggles to curb his temper, especially when people challenge his pride. He’s got all the witty, sarcastic comebacks, something he shares in common with his older cousin, Eleanor. Luc is also the self-proclaimed President of The Disaster Blondes, a group consisting of three people — Himself, Eleanor, and Skylar, Celeste’s girlfriend — who have banded together for two reasons, and two reasons alone: one, they’re all blonde, and two, they’re all down to try any batshit crazy scheme under the sun, even if it’s to their detriment.

But despite Luc’s loud, self-assured exterior, he is actually very self conscious, deep down. He cares deeply what people think of him, and how they perceive him as a person. He worries, often, that he is seen as a bad person, and doesn’t believe that he is able to be loved. He experiences a sort of imposter syndrome, where he believes that he shouldn’t be among these people who love him so much, that he doesn’t deserve the good things that come his way. This is a trait that develops more in the latter half of TWIPAL, but a trait that presents itself all the same. It interferes with his relationships regularly, both past ones, present ones and future ones.

It’s Oberon that keeps Luc in balance, even when he isn’t actively trying to. Luc depends on Oberon more than he realises, sometimes, and often feels like he needs his older brother more than Oberon needs him, even when this isn’t the case at all. Luc would die for Oberon, just as Oberon would die for him, but he would also kill for his brother, get his hands dirty, if it means that Oberon is safe, well and happy. It terrifies him, how much he is willing to do for Oberon. He wants nothing more in his life than to be Parabatai with his brother, to reinforce the strength and power of their bond with an oath signed in blood and fire.

(Luc can also be found third-wheeling on a lot of Oberon and Aaron’s dates, but Oberon doesn’t really mind. Nor does Aaron, who has just accepted that his brother in law will be down to hang at any given opportunity.)

Luc’s weapon of choice is the shortsword Heosphoros. Like Eleanor, he has a very personal connection to his sword, often talking to it and reminding it (yes, the sword) how much he loves it. Luc trains ruthlessly, with the desire to be one of the best Shadowhunters of his generation, if not the best. Combat is also a release to Luc, who can be found decompressing and letting off steam in the training room of the L.A. Institute, just as often as he is found formally training.

Where Oberon’s greatest weakness is his tendency to self sacrifice, Luc’s is his tendency to self sabotage. Luc is fast to deny himself good things and positive outcomes purely because he himself doesn’t believe he deserves them. Aside from his tendency to self-sabotage, his only other weak point would be Oberon himself. If not for Oberon’s bottomless love and faith in him, Luc would tumble into an irreversible darkness. As much as Luc desperately wants to rewrite his own legacy, independent of his family’s sinister history, if Oberon were to give up on him, Luc fears that he, too, would be the one to light a match and watch the world burn.

~~~~

There you have it! After nearly 3,000 words of ceaseless rambling, you’ve met the core six characters of @tsc-reader and I’s TSC fic, That Which Is Precious and Lost. Whilst the story in full is accessible on our Instagram accounts, we are more than happy to reformat and repost the chapters here on tumblr if there’s enough interest in them 🤭💗 (so, if you would like to see TWIPAL make an appearance here on Tumblr, let us know! )

We would also LOVE to hear your thoughts on the main six! We’re always open to feedback, and will take any opportunity we can to talk about these silly little guys 🤭🥹💗)

Also going to tag a few peeps down here who I think might find this interesting:

@princeash

@bookishjules

(Also, there was one person here who posted a whole post about their fanon kids of the TSC gangs but I CANNOT find you. I am so sorry. If you’re seeing this please, give me a sign.)

And, of course, my best partner in crime @tsc-reader who I have already tagged copious times in this post 🤭🥹💗 love you, girl!

[twistedminutia]

Twst Talk: How Natural is Unnatural Hair?

Like a lot of anime and cartoons, many of the characters in Twisted Wonderland have fantastical hair (and eye) colors that seem to be natural to them, despite being completely unnatural hair colors here. Which made me wonder: how common is it to have strange hair colors in the world of Twisted Wonderland?

Some basic guidelines before we start: first, I will be doing two groups of comparison, one human and one nonhuman. We don’t have merfolk or beastmen or Fae in our world, so there’s no telling what kind of hair color is natural for them, and it didn’t seem fair to include them with other humans without a baseline looking at just humans. For the purposes of this writing, Sebek will be classified as a Fae (I’m sure he’d be thrilled).

Second, hair dye and presumably even magical methods of changing hair color exist in Twisted Wonderland. I am going to assume that everyone’s hair color is their natural hair color unless there is canon material (in or out of game) that states otherwise or I have a good reason to suspect their hair color is not natural.

Third, in the interest of getting as big of a sample size as possible, I’m going to be including all named characters with sprites that have been introduced so far, including in the JP server, so there will be spoilers for JP server events and chapter 7. Theoretically, I guess I could include the background characters as well, but I am not interested in trying to categorize all of them. If someone else wants to do that and add to my results, feel free.

Fourth, there are going to be some exclusions. First on the list: Idia and Ortho. Their hair color is explicitly stated to be part of a curse, which means that it’s magically caused. Since this list is supposed to be about what hair colors occur naturally in Twisted Wonderland, they’re out. Second: Marja (Epel’s grandmother) and professor Trein. Both of them have had their hair turn white and gray, respectively, with age. Since we don’t know what their original hair color was, I’m making the executive decision not to include them in the count. I’ll also exclude the Faerie Queen and assorted elemental fairies and Eliza, since their hair seems to be more like element or vapor based than actual hair. Everybody else is fair game. Let’s get into it!

The Humans

We’ll be listing all humans with unnatural hair colors first, along with their hair color, then the natural ones, then the conclusion and percentages.

Unnatural hair colors: Deuce (blue), Trey (green), Riddle (yes, red is technically a natural hair color, but what we refer to as red is usually more of an orange color, like Cater or Ace’s hair; I’m going to consider Riddle’s blood red hair as unnatural), Kalim (yes, white is also technically natural, but it’s pretty rare for someone his age and there’s no indication that his hair color is unusual that I’ve seen so I’ll count it), Epel (lavender), Mama Spade (seemingly mixed blue and blonde), Rollo (white/gray). Total: 7

Natural hair colors: Cater (ginger), Ace (ginger), Jamil (brown), Rook (blond), Vil (OKAY YES HE HAS PURPLE IN HIS HAIR but we never see any other character who has ombré hair like that, even in other two-color characters, so I’m going to make an executive decision and list him as blond), Silver (yes, silver hair is not natural, but we learn in Ch 7 that his silver hair is caused by magic and his natural hair color is blond, so he will be listed as a blond here), Coach Vargas (black), Crewel (black; he canonically dyes the white part of his hair), Sam (black), Najma (brown), Neige (black). Total: 11

So that makes 18 total human characters with 7 having unnatural hair colors and 10 having natural ones. It’s unfortunate that the characters I had to exclude were all human, since this is kind of a small sample size. But, with 7/18 characters having unnatural hair colors, the total percentage of weird hair is about 39%. So, a bit below half. Unnatural colors would seem to be less common than natural colors, then, at least in humans, but not really rare. Let’s see how that stacks up with the nonhumans!

The Nonhumans

Unnatural hair colors: Jack (I debated on him being considered natural or unnatural, since he’s a wolf-boy and white hair is technically a natural color for a wolf, but to keep things consistent, we’ll go with hair colors that are unnatural for humans, so we’ll count his white hair as unnatural), Jade (turquoise), Floyd (turquoise), Azul (white), Sebek (green), Baul (green), Snick (this one’s on the edge, but it looks more red to me, so I’m giving it to the unnaturals), Dominic (silver), Grum (magenta), Shelpie (green), Timmy (blue), Toby (purple? I think?), Chenya (purple), Cheka (red/yellow), Kifaji (blue), Gidel (kinda reddish-purple, I think?) Total: 16

Naturals: Leona (brown), Ruggie (blond), Lilia (black; according to an interview with Yana, he dyes the pink part of his hair), Malleus (black), Crowley (black), Malenoa (Malleus’ mother, black), Hop (blond), Fellow (orange) Total: 8

Wow, pretty much a complete reversal! That’s a total of 24 nonhuman characters with 16 having unnatural hair and 8 having natural hair. Literally over twice as many have unnatural hair! Even if we remove the seven dwarves, who you could argue are slightly skewing the total, we still have 9 people with unnatural hair and 6 with natural. That makes 68% of the characters here with unnatural hair! As for specific species proportions, Fae have 8/13 or 61% unnatural hair, beastmen have 5/7 or 71% unnatural hair, and merfolk have 3/3 or 100% with unnatural hair (and this makes me realize we literally haven’t met any merfolk outside the main cast. Huh. Makes sense, I guess, if they all live underwater and have to attend a boot camp to learn to live on land.)

Interesting comments: this means that nonhumans as a group outnumber the humans, though only by 6, and no single group of nonhumans outnumbers humans. Fae have the most characters shown in game as nonhumans (not even counting the faeries from the gala and camping events!) thought the seven dwarves skew this a bit. There are more recurring characters who are human, though- of the humans, 14 of the 18 characters are part of the main cast whereas only 10 of the 24 nonhuman characters are recurring. The dwarves might be skewing this again, though.

Final Totals

If we combine all characters, human and nonhuman, that makes 42 total characters. Of those 42, 24 have unnatural hair colors and 19 have natural, meaning that, overall, 57% of characters have unnatural hair. That makes a majority! Unnatural hair colors are actually more common is Twisted Wonderland, just based on the sample size we have.

Couple other fun stats: for exclusively the main cast, 10 out of the 24 (42%) characters have unnatural hair, so side characters bulk out a lot of the unnatural hair havers. Speaking of side characters, their total is 13 out of 18 (72%) characters with unnatural hair. The seven dwarves seem to be the biggest skew in terms of unnatural hair, so if we remove them from the original total, we have 18 out of 35 (51%) of characters with unnatural hair, which may be a slightly more representative sample.

Conclusion

Based exclusively on this data, we can say that having unnaturally colored hair is actually more common in Twisted Wonderland than having naturally colored hair. Humans have the lowest likelihood of having unnatural hair, and merfolk have the highest.

Of course, this is an extremely small sample size, so this data may not be generalizable to the entire population of Twisted Wonderland. The sample also has a lot of mages in it, so we also don’t know if having magic may affect your hair color or something. Regardless, this was an interesting attempt to study hair color in Twisted Wonderland.

As always, I appreciate comments. Let me know if the math is wrong or if I’ve missed any characters. Or if you would classify anyone differently! I know Vil’s positioning might be controversial… and let me know if you want to see anything else analyzed too. Thank you, and good night.

[jessread-s]

✩🍄💍 Review:

This book made me forget time existed and left me begging for more! 

“The Prisoner’s Throne” follows Oak Greenbriar as he tries to regain Wren’s trust from the confines of his icy prison. With High King Cardan and High Queen Jude willing to use any means necessary to ensure his return to Elfhame, Oak will have to decide where his loyalties lie—with the girl he’s always loved or the kingdom he will one day rule. 

Having been introduced to Oak in the Folk of the Air series, I was beyond excited to read from his perspective and Black does not disappoint! Like her other characters, Oak is very complex and layered. Black reveals that shortly after the events of “The Queen of Nothing”, Oak adopts a coy, spoiled prince persona. We learn that he does this so that he becomes the target of assassination attempts instead of Jude and Cardan. His motivations stem from the belief that he owes his family a great deal for all they sacrificed to protect him as a child.

Wren is the one person that Oak cannot hide his true self from and I loved watching him grovel after he realizes the effect his betrayal had on her. He draws out her lingering attraction for him with his charm and little games. I was overcome by emotion at the end when he laid bare his heart. Their messy love story is one that I will not soon forget and I cannot wait to see what role both of them play in the next faerie adventure! 

Cross-posted to: Instagram | Amazon | Goodreads | StoryGraph

[mylordshesacactus]

Shiny Math Rock (Diagetic)

Now, ten rounds without a single failed concentration save for one character is a big ask. To help make it fair, I had two sessions previously given the players (who were, after all, robbing the faerie queen's treasure room) access to a legendary homebrew item to help:

Essentially, it lets any ally, exactly one time, Incapacitate themselves for a round in order to give another character a single use of Legendary Resistance.

(I honestly don't think the Die of Fate is gamebreaking--it's very nearly a cursed item! That round-long Incapacitation is a hell of a drawback, as is the fact that every character can only use it one time EVER.

I genuinely feel this item could be introduced early in a campaign and become a really cool recurring mechanic that would lead to EXTRAORDINARY roleplay moments--I obviously didn't introduce it into my campaign until the endgame, but I think I balanced it okay!)

[princesssarisa]

Character ask: The Robber Girl (The Snow Queen)

No one asked me, I just felt like sharing because I've been thinking about this story lately.

Favorite thing about them: How remarkably complex she is for a fairy tale character, especially a little girl. She's introduced as a savage little brat, in total contrast to the gentle, innocent Gerda. Yet from the start Andersen hints at her better nature, as she saves Gerda from being killed (albeit for selfish reasons, to force her to be her playmate), and her eyes are described as melancholy. We realize that she's a product of her upbringing, as we see her vicious drunkard mother and the un-familial way they treat each other. And of course, she eventually proves her inner goodness by becoming a genuine friend to Gerda and letting her go with the Reindeer. Yet she does this without losing any of her rough-and-tumble demeanor. There are very few characters in children's stories quite like her.

Least favorite thing about them: Her habit of casually threatening to kill Gerda in the earlier part of their acquaintance, and the way she teases the Reindeer with her knife and laughs at his terror. Did Andersen need to give her that much of a sadistic streak?

Three things I have in common with them:

*I'm broad-shouldered and have dark eyes.

*I can sometimes be selfish, but compassionate and caring too.

*I love animals.

Three things I don't have in common with them:

*I'm not a robber.

*I don't sleep with a knife in my hand.

*I don't torture animals for fun.

Favorite line:

This passage as she lets Gerda go, with its blend of rough yet sincere kindness, lingering selfishness, and irreverent humor:

"Here, take back your fur boots, for it's going to be bitter cold. I'll keep your muff, because it's such a pretty one. But your fingers mustn't get cold. Here are my mother's big mittens, which will come right up to your elbows. Pull them on. Now your hands look just like my ugly mother's big paws."

Her words to Kai when she meets him for the first time near the end:

"You're a fine one for gadding about. I'd just like to know whether you deserve to have someone running to the end of the earth for your sake."

From the Faerie Tale Theatre adaptation:

"Fraidy-cats like you give girls a bad name! The forest is no place for sugar and spice and everything nice! If you run with the wolves like me, you gotta be quick as a cricket and brave as a bear!"

"If word gets out I took pity on a city girl, I'll be booted out of the robbers' league for sure!"

brOTP: Gerda.

In crossover-land, I might also like to see her meet Éponine from Les Misérables, since they have a lot in common. Both are the abused daughters of ruthless criminals, both are wild, hardened, amoral girls as a result, both can stand up to a band of armed robbers and get their own way, and both sometimes skirt the edge between "good guy" and "bad guy." Yet both become deeply attached to one of the protagonists, which reveals their capacity for caring and unselfishness, and they both help to bring the story's innocent girl and boy together. Of course there are key differences too. The Robber Girl is a child, while Éponine is a teenager; the Robber Girl is robust, fierce, and aggressive, while Éponine is more frail, ghostly, and whimsical (in the novel, at least – I've seen productions of the musical that played her more like the Robber Girl); and of the aforementioned boy and girl they help to reunite, Éponine is devoted to the boy, while the Robber Girl is devoted to the girl. But I still wonder if Victor Hugo drew just a little inspiration from Hans Christian Andersen in this case.

OTP: Maybe Gerda, if you view Gerda's love for Kai as sibling-like.

nOTP: Her mother, or any of the adult robbers.

Random headcanon: This isn't a rare or original headcanon, but I'll cite it anyway: she's a baby lesbian with a crush on Gerda. Now, I won't pretend this is the only way to read her. She can also be seen as just a lonely, mistreated child desperate for a friend. But in a story written by a bisexual author, she wraps her arm around Gerda's waist as they ride together, insists that Gerda share her bed, sleeps with her arms around Gerda's neck, and playfully insults Kai (her male "rival" for Gerda's affections) when she eventually meets him. Does that seem entirely platonic?

Even Disney seems to have seen it, since when they very loosely adapted the story as Frozen, they made the Robber Girl's counterpart into a male – though Kristoff isn't a criminal, or as wild or initially nasty as the Robber Girl, he's still the gruff, unsociable reindeer-owner who becomes the heroine's unlikely friend and helper – and made him the love interest of Gerda's counterpart Anna.

Unpopular opinion: Her appeal for me isn't because she's "badass." Repeatedly I've seen critics fixate on her feistiness as the reason to like her. But while it is endearing – and I do like that she's not "tamed" in any way, but gets to end the story by leaving her mother and setting out with a stolen horse and pistols to explore the world – that's not what matters most about her. It's that she has all the potential to be a villain, and at first she seems as if she'll be one, yet she feels compassion for Gerda, and as a result, without losing her hard edge or changing too much to believe, she chooses to do good.

Song I associate with them: None in particular.

Favorite picture of them:

This illustration by Arthur Rackham.

This illustration by Margaret Tarrant, showing her protecting Gerda from the adult robbers.

This illustration of the same moment by Nika Golz.

This illustration by Milo Winter.

This illustration by Honor C. Appleton.

This illustration by T. Pym, with Gerda.

This illustration by Henry J. Ford, showing her letting Gerda and the reindeer go. I like that strange, exotic (and probably stolen) outfit she's wearing!

Another illustration of the same scene.

From the 1957 Russian animated film.

Linda Manz in the Faerie Tale Theatre adaptation. (Too old for the role, yes, but it works because Gerda and Kai are aged up too. I wish I could find a good full-body picture, though, because I like her androgynous, fur-covered costume.)

@ariel-seagull-wings, @themousefromfantasyland, @thealmightyemprex

[dedalvs]

what kind of books do you like reading?

My favorite era is 19th century Russian literature. Some of my favorites from there are Dead Souls by Gogol, Fathers and Sons by Ivan Turgenev, Eugene Onegin by Alexander Pushkin, and Oblomov by Ivan Goncharov (I was utterly baffled as to why everyone was talking about Ivan Goncharov when I came back to Tumblr!). I loved a lot of early 20th century American literature, in particular F. Scott Fitzgerald, who was an early hero, and I also read a lot of Joseph Heller and Vladimir Nabokov (Russian/American). I've read everything by Franz Kafka—even the bizarre stuff, like Amerika—and loved it all. My favorite writer of all time is Virginia Woolf, and I love reading writers who experiment with style (Lewis Carroll, of all people, has a nice early example of stream of consciousness with Sylvie and Bruno). I think the best piece of writing I've ever seen from America is Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison.

I've also read and enjoyed some stuff from the 16th-18th centuries (in particular, Ludovico Ariosto's Orlando Furioso, Edmund Spencer's The Faerie Queene, and John Milton's Paradise Lost), but a lot more that's a lot older. Giovanni Boccaccio's The Decameron is a great collection of tales like The Canterbury Tales, but better (note: I haven't yet read 1,001 Nights. Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur was a lot of fun. I slowed down a lot about eight years ago). I even love the fake ones that are tales within tales like Jan Potocki's The Manuscript Found at Saragossa. But I love chasing down and reading older works, like sagas and epics. Some of my favorites are The Nibelungenlied, The Kalevala, Njal's Saga, and The Epic of Sundiata. Gilgamesh is absolutely incredible. I've read some clunkers, though, like The Song of Roland, which I found dry, dull, and short.

As my reading slowed, I liked to read books aimed at young readers. Growing up, I loved the Oz books, which I find to be an utterly fascinating example of uniquely American (and non-European) fantasy. We have that and Little Nemo, but most other fantasy you get (outside of modern times) is distinctly European, and owes more to Lord Dunsany and Tolkien than anyone else. I loved The 13 1/2 Lives of Captain Bluebear, which I just finished ready to my daughter (Walter Moers). Michael Ende's The Neverending Story is probably the best book for young readers I've read. And then there's the Moomin books by Tove Jansson... What a find those were! Written for kids, but so unbelievably melancholic and subtle! Every page is packed with so much loneliness and longing! I couldn't even believe what I'd read after reading Tales from Moomin Valley. "The Fillyjonk who Believed in Disasters" is something I think every adult should read. It reminds me a bit of The Magic Mountain (see below) in how subtly it captures a character or series of character traits that are quite natural and recognizable, but so hard to pin down! Tove Jansson was brilliant.

For utter, nonsensical, bizarre, indulgent, and absurd escapism, I read E. T. A. Hoffmann. It's hard to even describe how ridiculous his stuff is. Like...you read this stuff, and are saying, "You can't DO that! You'd be laughed off AO3 for that!" And yet he does. And he doesn't care. He had an audience of one, and that was himself. I have no idea how his works are even remembered. Utterly bizarre.

That captures a lot of it. Here are some that don't fit elsewhere:

The Buru Quartet by Pramoedya Ananta Toer (masterful)

Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller (wrecked me)

Moby Dick by Herman Melville (tore through it!)

Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (this one, too! Thick book, but such a quick and joyful read—and written with such exquisite detail!)

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (one of the best of the 19th century)

The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann (so subtle... Let me tell you, this is a long book, and like, it's 90% over, and suddenly this new character is introduced, and it's like, "What even is this…?", and yet, somehow, he takes like 50 pages, and you suddenly care about this guy... Astonishing)

The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton (tour de force; her best, in my opinion)

Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut (his best that I've read, and the one I'd recommend to everyone)

Forest of a Thousand Daemons by D. O. Fagunwa (terrible translation, but so wonderfully inventive!)

Black Elk Speaks (I want to mention this, because I really loved it, but it has a problematic history, so fyi)

True Grit by Charles Portis (one of the most beautiful short novels I've ever read; the Cohen Bros. adaptation is actually very, very close to it)

The Awakening by Kate Chopin (what a smack in the face that one is!)

The Tempest by Shakespeare (my favorite of his)

The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (best written work from America in the 19th century)

The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin (by contrast, one of the most ridiculous things I've ever read in my life; HILARIOUS)

Journey to the West by Wu Cheng'en (read the whole thing, and...wow. lol So much repetition with humor throughout capped off by brilliance)

The Bostonians by Henry James (the best demonstration of exactly what he aimed to do: produce an ending that has two equally plausible and utterly opposite interpretations that can both be supported textually)

Nohow On by Samuel Beckett (the culmination of his work, and a worthy one)

Three Tales by Gustave Flaubert (I bawled—loudly—after reading "A Simple Heart"; I couldn't help it)

Thanks for asking this! It's been so long since I've really read... It's nice to remember. I wanted to read the Studs Lonigan trilogy for ages now... Oh, and I went through a Gabriel García Márquez phase! And Tom Robbins! And, of course, I've read all the wonderful comic novels by my friend Nina Post, whose wit astounds me.

Okay, now I'm just not getting to sleep. But this is some of what I've read that I've loved. Also, for certain things, I've read a lot (like 19th century Russian literature and Samuel Beckett), so I can tell you what not to read. For example, A Hero of Our Time by Lermontov? Pass. Same with The Golovlovs by Saltykov-Shchedrin. You can probably pass on War and Peace, as well, due to its girth, but you're going to miss some good stuff (amidst a lot of dry stuff).

Okay, hitting the button now! I'm done.

(Oh, but if you were assigned Their Eyes Were Watching God and kind of passed on it because it was a "school book", that was a mistake!!!)

(Oh, Cane by Jean Toomer!)

(Oh, and if you want a short one that has a "wah-wah!" ending, check out As I Lay Dying by Faulkner! lol That rascal...)

(OH! And the "school book" thing? Hard ditto on Of Mice and Men. Holy shit, that book... Wow.)

(OMG BABBIT!!!!! I loved it!!! Pass on Main Street, though.)

(Oh, and John Updike can miss me with his Rabbit stuff... YIKES!)

(Oh, and if you like Woody Allen's style but not Woody Allen, try Portnoy's Complaint.)

(Last one: Jasmine by my short fiction professor Bharati Mukherjee, who sadly passed away far too soon. On the last day of class, she'd forgotten she was going to have us read Notes from Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky. As we were walking out the door, she made us promise to read it. I never saw her again, but I did, Ms. Mukherjee, and it was tremendous. Thank you so much for what you gave me. I had so much trouble showing my work to other people before that class. You helped me so much, and I wish I could've told you. You may think those who have influenced you will be around forever for you to thank one day, but they're not. Today's the day. Tell them what they meant to you. You'll regret it if you don't.)

[wondereads]

Weekly Reading Update (01/15/23)

Reviews and thoughts under the cut

Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones (10/10)

It's been a year since I reread Howl's Moving Castle and that's a bit too long in my opinion. This time it was with my book club, and it was so fun to see everyone's reactions to the story. I feel like every time I read this book I notice something new about Sophie's character or the magic or the romance. I just love this novel so much, the characters and plot are all just amazing and it has such a unique, comforting feel. Diana Wynne Jones is a master of the fantasy genre, and I have yet to read a book by her I didn't like.

Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett (9/10)

This was a lovely continuation to the adventures of Emily Wilde. She's still a stellar protagonist with a really strong voice and lots of tangible flaws while still being incredibly likable. As usual, her dynamic with Wendell, both in a platonic and romantic way, is top tier; they really have me giggling and kicking my feet during this books. There are two new major side characters, who introduce a lot of good character conflict, and the return of some old favorites from Encyclopaedia of Faeries. The beginning is a little wonky in terms of pacing, but there are some great subplots in this one and some surprising throughlines from the previous book.

The Evil Queen by Gena Showalter (8/10)

Another reread, I think I'm just in the mood for fantasy romances. I will be completely honest and say that this book is a guilty pleasure of mine. I cannot look anyone in the eye and say this is well-written, but it certainly is enjoyable. Gena Showalter writes some really good chemistry, even if Everly and Roth are the fantasy equivalent of that one high school couple that can't stop getting mad at each other and breaking up before getting back together again. There's a lot of wish fulfillment in this story, and it's just a fun time for me.

Wolf-Speaker by Tamora Pierce (CR, 68%)

While I love this series, Wolf-Speaker was always my least favorite in the series. However, my opinion of it is improving because a) the message of unity and Daine's character growth are really good and b) I'm listening to an audiobook and it has a full cast and just has great voice acting. Unfortunately, I'm at a point in the book where Daine and Numair have been separated for a while, and I won't lie, I love his character and I'm missing him.

Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation Vol. 4 by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu (CR, 12%)

I'm so excited to finish up the MXTX novels! I've been putting them off because I wanted to read my physical copies thanks to the beautiful illustrations, and I've been abroad without them. I am kind of nervous about this one because I'm fairly certain this one includes the end of Wei Wuxian 1.0, which is going to be so painful to read. Still, I'm really excited to finish this one and Heaven Official's Blessing!

[astraechos]

—-Welcome to the Spellgrove’s Embrace!—-

Hello! Oh my god, Hi!! Welcome to the Spellgrove! Mu name’s Astra, I’m kind of the queen of this place, but! But…I’m more of a real friend than a ruler… Anyways! Let me introduce you to a few people!

Astra (Queen of the grove, VTuber, Witch)

Lucas (Winged Angel, Principal of The Academy for the Arcane & Mundane, Father )

Alistar (Father, Demon Hunter, Destroyer of Magical Artifacts)

Feyre (Pronounced as Fey-air; The Moonlight Stalker, Fairy, Murderous, Can be sweet)

Maplepaw (aka Maple) (Kitsune, Nature lover, Dragon Mother)

There’s not many of us, but we hope to learn more about you!!

Here, you’ll find a network of Dungeons & Dragons characters somebody (Me) created! They’re all horny, in some ways, and they’re all in this universe I’ve named. Some character names who are not introduced here (Ardin, Dawnhunter, etc) may be brought up!

Colors indicate the speaker in larger posts, but in stories, they wont be colored.

Come, and enjoy your magical spells and adventure to your desires!

TW TW TW TW:

This blog may contain lots of graphic, adult content. This blog will have some direct NSFW statement, whether in questions, art, or story posts. I tend to swear a lot, so beware of that. Adult content can include the obvious and will be a reflection of kinks via character or a complete projection of my own thoughts and ideas. Some of these include: incest (to a degree); somnophillia; bdsm; Sniffing partners used underwear; etc.

All the stories are in good fun!

Rules:

- NSFW asks of characters and myself are allowed.

- Do NOT be disrespectful to anyone, comments, reblogs, or otherwise.

- No asks that are offensive (transphobia, racism, homophobia, etc.) You will be ignored.

- Asks that make me, the page owner, uncomfortable will also be ignored.

- Have fun and stay horny!

—- Masterlist —-

Nighttime Soup (smut)💦

Taming Bratty Faeries (smut) 💦

Trapped with You (smut) 💦

Learning Inside You (smut/somewhat wholesome?)💦

Lovesick Alistar Len P1 (smut) 💦

Lovesick Alistar Len P2 (smut) 💦

Lovesick Alistar Len P3 (smut) 💦

Women Stick Together (smut) 💦

Family Secrets (smut) 💦

Lucas’ Magical Uses (smut) 💦

——————-

A little Alastor for you all! 🦌🔥

[lsleofthelost]

my urban fantasy au that i never finished:

stained with blood and faery dust

2.2k | no warnings

He loves Evie, he really does. She turned him into a vampire, held his hand through his oh-my-god-my-best-friend-is-a-vampire freakout, saved him from his crazy mom and was the smartest person in his engineering class at college. Not in that order but whatever. The point is: he loves Evie, who is the leader of their clan and who made him her right hand.

But she is so dramatic.

It’s not really surprising, the girl came to 8 pm classes looking like a model. Flared pants, thick heels, glittery eyeshadow like full on disco queen.

And Evie is similar to the vampires in those new, 21st century movies, which Carlos finds hilarious. She keeps to a strict colour palette (he can’t really talk tho) of deep blues, blood reds and platinum. She broods, she smirks, her voice is a little breathy. She loves holding things like a 19th century dagger and staring intently at Carlos for minutes before saying something like “This is what my mother used when she tried to kill my sister,” and then never bringing that up again. Even her eyes have a reddish hue, though she swears that they were always like that.

She really turns the dramatics up when she has company.

Like tonight, there’s a faery who just wants to announce that she took over the neighbouring territory and that she doesn’t want any trouble with vampires. They all know it. It was written in the agenda. It should all take like 10 minutes maximum, for them to introduce themselves and for the faery to tell how she got the Fae Guardian of LA title. But does Evie let her do that? No! She greets the faery and her guard and starts preparing her meal.

As if just drinking blood wouldn’t intimidate the young (is she? Carlos is so bad at telling ages) fae and her guard enough. Evie has to do it the dramatic way. There’s a routine to it that he memorised ages ago:

She pours the blood from this beautiful crystal bottle into a matching glass that are probably older than Carlos.

The set itself is impressive. It’s tall and thin and has this intricate designs etched into it. The bottle always stands on Evie’s desk, half full. She doesn’t let them fill it for...reasons? He’s not sure.

But the important thing is, she does it in complete silence and maintaining eye contact with her guest. She makes a show of letting her fangs out when she opens the bottle. Then there’s only the sound of blood pouring and her intense maroon eyes. It usually pins whoever is visiting in their place.

The fae tonight are not an exception. The girl doesn’t look as scared as she looks intrigued, or enthralled. The boy (man?) though is a true professional, stoic in face, his eyes looking around for a possible threat. They just happen to flick to Evie every few seconds.

Carlos hears the slow pouring stop and the bottle being set down. Which means it’s time for the next step:

Evie drinks.

It’s slow and deliberate at first but when it becomes impossible to keep eye contact, she gulps it down and sometimes even sends a drop rolling from the corner of her mouth.

He is somewhat grateful that she is taking so long, because it gives him a chance to stare at the fae pair some more. They are beautiful in a slightly otherworldly way.

The girl’s hair is a shock of deep purple and it lays in soft loose curls to her shoulders. Her outfit is dark, not what he expected from fae, which might be biased on his side but he never handled fae relations before. A green tank, studded black leather jacket, black jeans, black combat boots. If he looks carefully, Carlos can see the edges of something dark, like a tattoo, near the top’s neckline. Her most decidedly non-human feature visible are her eyes. Green and cold, like winter grass, they are set just a touch wide, with outer ends pointing up, giving her a slightly predatory look.

On her right side stands her guard. Tall and lithe. He probably has the most natural looking hair colour in the room - a warm dark brown. It’s up in a bun with a few wavy strands framing the face, leaving his pointed ears on display. He has small round scarlet earrings in, which is probably the most colourful part of his outfit. The rest of it is black, as far as Carlos can see: the leather vest, the tank underneath, the jeans, the sneakers. The vest shows his arms and wow what great arms, thanks for wearing a vest, mysterious bodyguard. Aside from looking like he could knock someone out with one punch, the bare arms show multiple markings, several times darker than his skin but not quite black. Thorny vines enlace him up to shoulders, some creeping on his neck. And on his right bicep a blood orange snake that looked like it was moving but that was probably just the flexing muscles underneath. Carlos noticed that he was repeatedly making a fist and relaxing it.

He sees from his periphery that Evie finished drinking (and she did let a drop on blood out, the dramatic little shit), which means it’s time for:

Evie checks how uncomfortable she can make her guest.

Well, this whole thing is her checking how uncomfortable she can make her guest, but Carlos isn’t sure what else he can call it.

You see, she lowers the glass, now stained red from the inside, blood still rolling down her chin, and licks her lips in the most sexual way possible. Then, as if it’s not enough, she wipes the remaining blood away with her thumb and licks it. By that point everyone in the room usually reaches “scared but horny” maximum.

Looking at the fae tonight, Carlos sees that the guard stopped even pretending to be on high alert, and now is just staring at Evie. The leader’s cheeks are turning blue and for a second Carlos is worried, before he remembers that fae’s blood is blue. She’s blushing.

And here comes the kill shot:

Evie makes an “I just had sex” face.

Not that he knows that this is her after-sex face, but he’s not some blushing virgin, so he recognises it. She sighs with her eyes closed, smile tugging on her lips. On days she’s feeling particularly mischievous (thank g—- it’s not today), she makes it sound almost like a moan.

After the sigh comes the smile. It starts as somewhat content, almost happy and morphs into what he calls “I know more than you and I am more powerful, so it would do you well to remember it” smile. It’s a mouthful but it perfectly describes her face right now.

At this point, even people who initially came with requests are offering something to the clan, to Evie. (Once, a werewolf who wanted to call for a duel because Dizzie crossed into their territory, surrendered said territory.)

The fae stay silent, if a little blue. Finally, Evie breaks the silence:

“Well? Who are you and what is your business with vampires of Los Angeles?” She hasn’t even retracted her fangs back! It’s not comfortable to speak with them, Carlos knows but Evie manages to make it look effortless. Sure, her “w”s are bordering on a “v” sound, but other than that, she talks like usual.

The fae both straighten up a little and the girl clears her throat to speak.

What the fuck? Mal has already talked to witches and werewolves and, sure, their leaders were eccentric but vampires are next level.

First of all, their headquarters is an “online security office building” called B-te. (That’s too on the nose if you ask her.) It stands out from other skyscrapers, with it’s toned to almost black windows, shining white light down the facade and overall looks very modern.

When she and Jay arrived they were greeted by a young man (though you never know, he could be in his 300s), very polite, didn’t ask for their names, didn’t offer his. Just said that they can call him Red. THis outfit is...interesting. Above the waist it is classic, a white shirt, a black suit jacket lined with red thread and a red tie. Below that, he is wearing knee length shorts, matching to the jacket and very tall black boots. Like, you can only see a sliver of skin between the shorts and boots. Somehow, he makes it work and doesn’t look foolish.

The white-haired boy, Red, took them up to the 22nd floor, where they are now. No windows but it doesn’t look cramped, though it’s probably the size of this place. It looks like the whole floor is something of an office/meeting room. Along the right wall is a dark blue oval table with leather chairs around it and a huge screen on the wall. If Mal concentrates she can see red stitching on the chairs. Everything about the set up screams that it’s is custom made. There are lavish couches, loveseats, armchairs and small tables in the corner. They are sitting in the opposite corner, in front of a big desk made of mahogany, etched to look like a forest and dyed blue. The walls on this side are holding shelves full of old looking books.

And sitting behind the incredibly gothic desk, on a plush velvet throne, is one of the most beautiful women Mal has ever seen. She is pale, like Mal expected. Her hair is inky, almost black in shadows, but blue in the light. She is wearing a topaz blue silk dress with long sleeves, which reminds Mal of the nineties (what a decade! Mal has some really good memories that may or may not involve starting a fight in a concert pit). Her whole show with blood would have made Mal question her sexuality if she hadn’t already gone through the whole “oh fuck, I’m bi” ordeal. Though the silence and the feeling of two people watching her makes it hard to stop blushing.

When the clan leader finally speaks (in a breathy voice that Mal can’t determine is a part of the show or real), Mal has to clear her throat to speak.

“You may call me Violet. I have recently gotten the title of the Fae Guardian of Los Angeles. I have come to you to say that I will uphold and honour the agreement you have made with the previous Guardian. Neither me, nor any of my loyal subjects wish you and your clan harm.” She recites the speech she wrote with Jane, one she can say without lying about or promising anything. Red’s eyes are narrowed as if he caught on but decided against speaking up.

“I accept your proclamation, Guardian. But,” Mal can feel Jay stiffening up behind her at that, “I was wondering if you could answer a question?”

“That depends on the question.”

“To my knowledge there is a number of ways that one can get the title you currently wear. And as far as I know, in all the history of Los Angeles since the founding of this city, you are it’s third Guardian, Violet. The first one only lasted 24 human years before being overthrown. Her successor was thought to be permanent.” Mal doesn’t see where it’s going and it agitates her. “It is an incredible feat, taking a place of someone who was at this position for more than two centuries. How did you do it?”

Mal straightens her back. It is an unexpected question, she is surprised at the attention to fae history and politics from an outsider. She can feel her always simmering rage start to boil, remembering how she got her title, and contrasting it, her body feels cold with sadness and grief. Now is not the time to think about that.

“My title is twice bestowed. Once by blood and once by conquest.” She can see the moment the vampires understand what it means. Their eyes widen and the leader even loses hold of her transformation, fangs clicking back to the roof of her mouth. They both compose themselves a moment later, the leader smirking a bit and looking at her with something new shining in her eyes. Red just studies Mal with more curiosity.

Mal feels like she needs to say something. Parry a personal question with a personal question, or explain that she had to do it, for all the fae, that it was the only way to make her mother proud, that she isn’t a power-hungry leader. Then she remembers that she owes them nothing. Who are these vampires to question her, to stare with such dissecting looks?

“I think we are finished here, Princess,” even as she says it, she knows that it was too harsh, that this might transform vampires from neutral neighbors to enemies for fae.

The vampire just smiles. “Princess? Haven’t heard that one it ages, huh, Red?” It’s such a drastic change in tone, but it doesn’t feel forced, it just lightens you the atmosphere, lets tension diphuse.

Chuckling, she continues: “Anyway, I think I kept you here long enough, sun is about to rise.” Even with no windows or a clock, Mal can tell that it’s true, knows it like she knows it like she knows that it’s going to rain next Thursday. “It was a pleasure to meet you Guardian. I hope we can be not only good neighbours but also friends.”

[careful-pyromancer]

The Pyro Cinematic Universe 2.0!

Hello hello!! I think it's time to re-introduce my WIPS as a LOT has changed! (there will be a more in-depth introduction when the time comes to it)

Chronicles of Avalon:

Chasing Crevices: includes a vampiric deer boy, a zombie who can't die for no more than 5 minutes, a possessed queen, a cult leader, a 7 foot tall snake faerie, an omnipresent mother, a 2 for 1 combo in a faerie and his demon brother//The Gods are being...Weird. Castien finds himself in a maze of a cult when his aunt owes a debt to them. His mother and fathers are not going to be happy with him. Or his brothers, Jami and Kit, who are determined to find out where and when the Gods are rumored to rise from. //ok this one is absolutely bat shit crazy BUT I LOVE IT SO MUCH I'M FINALLY PROUD OF THIS PLOT...there's also a whole thing with castien and his "best friend / partner in crime " Wednesday and it very quickly turns into a gay vampire thing...y'know cause the gods will it....(it's me I'm the gods),,also everything is not as it seems ;)))))))))

Lab Rat: including: the world's angriest tests subject (402), a very scared ghost living in a computer (001), a half flesh half machine spider lady (777), and a woman who happened to be the right place at the right time // 402 is determined to become more than a pawn in some great search for science. She will rip the secrets from these walls if it means she will be freed. Unfortunately, this knowledge comes with a heavy price, including making some enemies in her own facility. If 402 proves herself, she could earn the favor of the researchers and become stronger. if she can play the long game, could she finally see the outside world? // OKAY OKAY I LOVE THIS ONE SO MUCH it has liminal horror vibes and a really spooky vibe, I like the oppressive nature of the lab and her initial ideas of the outside world are....fantastical LMAO. It also has a lesbian romance !!

Sparrow's Flight: including a non-binary lead that needs to know what happened, faerie sisters who are the manifestation of winter, ghosts!, a demon who can't believe she has to spend her time protecting faerie brats, a transgender boy who needs to compile evidence of the paranormal, and a boy haunted by an unknown entity // Sparrow needs to know what happened to their mother. If that includes provoking demons, so be it. Their girlfriend, Lorelei is eager to help solve a mystery. This drags in Lorelei's older sister, Adelaide, and Jasmine, the demon bound to the family. Sparrow is accompanied by their best friend, Pallas, who is desperate for a safe space and willing to be the only one keeping track of things, and the new kid, Jedediah, who would rather die than be at home // this one takes place in Ohio and I fucking *LOVE* it....it's such a love letter to my own life and rural queer communities MWAH MWAH MWAH I love you all so much,,,,,also I enjoy complaining about the midwest.....

Resisting the Knife: including Noxys, chosen by the Goddess of Nature and PISSED at the Queen of Haren Aethal, Gwyneira (the queen of Haren Aethal) who is desperate to undo her family's bloody and oppressive legacy, a faerie spy, and Noxys' old partner in crime who can't read but is somehow the Queen's handmaid, and a mysterious man in the woods// Noxys needs to get revenge for the Wraiths burning down her village. She was forced into the cold at a young age due to the orphanages not willing to risk angering the royal family. Noxys has figured out that alchemy can solve almost any problem, so why not try to show the true nature of a blood thirsty beast? Yep. She's gonna turn the queen into a vampire. Surely this will go well and have no negative consequences whatsoever (it does). // i absolutely love this story it has such a fun cast and it's always fun to write a little enemies to lovers........

The Day We Disappeared: including a ghost who doesn't know she's a ghost, a poltergeist, a vengeful spirit, and a witch in the woods who doesn't want kids (but secretly does)// Lucy and older siblings are taken in by a witch interested in studying their paranormal abilities. Little does Lucy know, but she's dead. The elder sister, Okiku, is hoping there is a way for Lucy to realize that is not too damaging on her little psyche. Wolfgang, the elder (but younger than Okiku) is ready to provide a distraction so Saoirse (the witch in the woods) can try and figure out something about ghosts that may help//okay I love cozy horror and this is also a murder mystery bc the person who murdered Lucy also had a hand in Wolfgang and Okiku's deaths too oohoohooohoo......

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