#like imagine if they got the soren situation

[tategaminu]

I love the Viren/Callum parallels but we all can agree Callum would never treat Rayla the way Viren treated Lissa. This guy would rather explode himself than hurting her on purpose. Divorce won't even exist in their dictionary.

[theraccoonprophet]

We’re Okay

Soren x Corvus

Summary - Corvus and Soren see each other for the first time since the events of We All Fall Down

Word Count - 424

Warnings - Fluff, hurt/comfort ig??? It’s really just comfort

Season 6 spoilers ahead. Set in season 7. BTW I’ve been imagining Katolis sets up a New Lux Aurea kind of situation.

Soren trudged through the camp that now housed all of Katolis. He moved slowly with his head hung low, limping due to his injuries sustained in the dragon attack. Opeli had begged him to rest, but he’d argued that as crown guard it was his duty to make sure all survivors had their needs met in the king’s absence.

A yell rang out ahead of him, “SOREN!” He raised his head to see Corvus, throwing himself off Pyrrah and sprinting towards him.

Despite his injuries Soren managed a weak run, meeting Corvus at the camp’s entrance. Corvus crashed into him and wrapped his arms around him, nearly sending both men tumbling to the ground. Soren returned the hug, breathing into Corvus’s shoulder.

“You’re alive! I–I heard about the castle and I thought. . . I wasn’t sure If you– I mean–” Corvus, teary eyed, pushed himself off Soren enough to look at him. His hands traveled upwards, cupping Soren’s face. “Your face is all cut up! Are you okay?”

“I’m fine! I just got a little banged up! I’m okay. . .” He shifted his hands hold onto Corvus’s arms for support. “I’m two-for-two on surviving dragon attacks. Pretty impressive, right?” He asked, raising an eyebrow.

Corvus beamed. “Very.” Something like an idea flashed in his eyes, then doubt. Clearly he paid it no mind, because suddenly he pulled Soren into a kiss.

Soren went stiff for a moment. This was very unexpected. 

Although, when he thought about it. . .

The way their friendship had grown as fellow crown guards. . .

Their adventures with the mushroom mage. . .

Corvus’s hands right now, holding his face oh so gingerly. . .

No, yeah, he absolutely should have seen this coming.

He relaxed into Corvus’s touch, kissing him back softly. When they pulled away he was bright red, but Corvus just smiled warmly.

Soren squeaked out an, “Oh!” as he stared at Corvus. “You know I wasn’t entirely expecting that.”

Corvus’s smile wavered, and in a panic Soren kissed him again, this one shorter but just as sweet. “Not mad about it though! For the record.”

Corvus breathed a sigh of relief and dropped his hands, hugging Soren again and speaking into his chest. “I was so, so scared that you might not have made it out,” he whispered.

Soren held him close, one of his hands making its way into Corvus’s hair. “I’m okay! I got out. it’s–” His breath hitched. “It’s okay. We’re okay, Corvus.”

I’m so ill for them

[fiery-emblems]

Like a lot of people I sometimes ponder what my favorite characters might look like if they were allowed to grow older. I've been seeing a lot of good designs for older Soren specifically so of course I got to thinkin' about my own take!

Some notes on design process under the cut cause I think we should all share our thought process once in a while:

So, for this I didn't want to just want to go with "Soren, exactly the same but older". My thought was "if I was actually in charge of designing for a fire emblem game, one that takes place in a future Tellius perhaps and featuring this character as a guest (a la Tiki or the Awakening trio, which they should keep doing BTW) how would I go about doing that".

You have to think of course, about what the character is actually doing and what their role is. It seems pretty likely that after RD Soren is either traveling the world with Ike or wandering around (probably the former) so "traveler" was the theme. As far as the overall shape and the outer layer especially it seemed obvious to reference the dragons, who are also travelers:

I don't want to just straight up copy the look of the robes though for a couple of reasons. 1) that's boring and the idea here is for an updated visual style 2) I wanted to combine different elements to evoke a feeling of mixing cultures. I figure if this scenario takes place say, 80 years in the future or something, fashions will have moved forward and perhaps you would see elements of beorc and laguz fashions mixed together. Especially for Soren given what he is. So I went with an inner layer that looks more Victorian puffy sleeves (which you don't actually see a lot of in PoR or RD since the characters favor more stiff looking tunics, but they are there and I figured its the future and maybe Crimea has entered its puffy shirt era) with the outer layer looking more like what the dragons wear. 3) Staying with robes seems kind of stagnant. I imagine that a much older Soren who's lived a good life along side his love has probably chilled out a little bit. A little bit. 4) I think having more leg visible gives a more adult silhouette.

The other consideration is the hairstyle. As much as I love Soren being a carbon copy of Rajaion, it wouldn't be the most interesting design choice if I was the character designer of a game to just copy a past design 1 for 1. So I decided to just lengthen his hair a little bit and give it a look like its been blown around in the wind. Soren is the windy guy and I'm assuming he would be more chill here so why not let it be loose and free? This also helps avoid him just looking like Sephiran cause I see that a lot too lol.

Yes I also changed the shape of his brand. I've always been fascinated by the fact that it changed shape between games. I know it was likely just a design oversight but what if it changed because he isn't an adult yet and it changes more as he ages?

Lastly there's the why. Why would your fav show up as a guest character? What would he even do?? Well I think Soren could be really fun actually if we assume he went with Ike and that Ike kept Ragnell with him. I'm picturing a situation where Ike has lived out his natural life and died, leaving Soren to return to Tellius alone in order to tell Mist's family what happened (cause Ike just left without telling anyone anything lol), and to return Ragnell to them. Instead some conflict breaks out, you know how it is, and the more chilled out Soren is convinced to bestow the sword onto the new starry-eyed lord who reminds him of his beloved.

Oh yeah. I can see it now.

[catcherwrites]

TDP S7E3 Rewatch (feat. my commentary)

Janai and Amaya! It’s been a while and I missed you queens <3

You think the soldiers wanted to prank the traitors? They looked so serious

Queens of Mercy, Janai must really take after her grandmother (SIDE NOTE, THIS REMINDED ME OF SOMETHING ELSE I’LL TALK ABOUT IT AT THE END)

I feel like we’re in a weird grey area with Janaya + Gren. Janai seems confident reading sign language in private conversations with Amaya, so why does Gren interpret when it’s just the three of them? I know it’s for the audience’s sake but I have to wonder if they’ll change things up for Arc 3

Oof the smash cut to Ezran slamming that elf figurine on the table. The first time I saw this scene I was blown away by the return of the bloodthirsty elf imagery from S1

Ez seems far angrier about Callum’s betrayal than Rayla’s, likely because he understands they’re both choosing to prioritise their own dads

“You’re the bread” oh my god the way Soren pouts when Corvus glares

Claudia’s nose-finger-move! Her glee is infectious! I love character quirks in animation!

Aanya and Ezran’s friendship is so important in this season <3

When I watched S7 the first time, I got to this scene and immediately picked up on Miyana’s pregnancy, but I need to shoutout Gren for his reaction because, same buddy

The whole Garden of Innocents is GORGEOUS

Terry having the same reaction to dark magic as S1-2 Soren was a big hint as to what direction his arc would go

The Mage Wars backstory was nice to see!

Claudia and Aaravos’ dynamic is so…intriguing this season. I’m very torn between finding it endearing and disturbing how quickly they grew attached to each other

“My child will avenge me” a not-so-subtle parallel to Harrow and Viren in S2 (“it’s name will be vengeance!”)

God Rena’s voice acting in this scene was really great

Soren shielding Ezran alert!

I can’t help but wonder if a fire ruby would’ve contained enough sun magic to fuel the spell Viren cast to save Duren/Katolis? If there’s another world where Aanya’s parents were honest about Duren’s secret, and none of the queens died?

Janai laying down the law was brutal, but reasonable considering what’s happened

Overall thoughts:

This was one of my ‘meh’ episodes from my first S7 viewing, and honestly? My opinion hasn’t changed much since. It feels like a middle child caught between True Heart and Unfinished Business. There’s a lot of really interesting lore developments and character interactions that left me theorising and analysing previous seasons. It’s still a good episode, but it’s just…good (if that makes sense).

Now, the thing I was reminded of, was a theory I’d had in the lead up to S7 regarding Aaravos, Aditi, and Kim’dael. Basically, I had this idea that 300 years ago, Kim’dael offered her loyalty to Aaravos if he could kill Aditi as revenge for her mercy bind (since she couldn't do it herself). For Aaravos, taking Aditi off the board and gaining Kim'dael's services was a two birds-one stone situation, so he did it, not realising that choice would cost him his freedom. I was going into this season imagining Kim’dael making an appearance as a lieutenant for Aaravos and a mentor figure to Claudia.

I don’t know, it felt like a cool idea and I can’t believe I forgot about it until I heard the soldiers calling Janaya the Queens of Mercy

[keto-keyes]

The Misfit Gang (Slytherin Gang ff)

This is a OC insert imagine, with multiple parts. If you don’t want to use the name ive chosen, feel free to insert your own :)

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5

Part 6

With Tom at the lead, everyone else circling Soren, and Mattheo at the back, the group travelled like a pack of wolves and made their way to Snape's office. That would be the teachers' most-likely meeting point if they were going to take down the troll. As they walked, Tom berated them for 'choosing to do something so stupidly irresponsible' even thought it had been his idea in the first place, but no-one contradicted him. He was the most capable with magic of the six of them and the best dueller, having come from a strong dark wizarding family, and therefore also the natural leader it seemed. To Soren, at least. 

They continued to walk for a few minutes in silence until they reached the office, where the teachers were indeed meeting. Tom, taking initiative, knocked on the door and informed the closest professor, Professor Sprout, of their situation. 

"I see..." Snape mused, "So you all decided to warn us about a girl nowhere near the troll who has no idea it exists?" 

"Yes, sir," Tom muttered, looking down, "De Ville was worried it might move while the students were evacuated. Due to the noise, of course." 

Soren's head shot up - she'd been looking at the floor in embarrassment - and she stared at Tom in shock. She hadn't even thought about the troll moving, that was all him. What shocked her the most was what Mattheo said next. 

"We saw them hanging back from the group and decided it was best to tell you, just in case you didn't know about it," he said, "There might also be two others who stayed behind, two Gryffindors. We think they might be in trouble, even if there is three of them." 

Snape nodded in contemplation, then looked up at McGonagall. They exchanged glances and McGonagall looked away, somewhat annoyed and angered. 

"We'll go there before finding the troll," he decided, "Five points to Slytherin for each of you, but if any of you tries to pull something like this again it'll be ten taken from each of you." 

"Hopefully the girl can explain herself, and the other two. I have my suspicions as to who they are, but nothing we should discuss here," McGonagall added, waving her hands to dismiss the Slytherin first years. 

The six youngsters rushed back to the Ravenclaw common room without even a thanks.

Even though they'd probably saved the idiot girl's life, It was possible that the other two dimwads would gain more points for Gryffindor than the Slytherin's had for their own good, selfless act, because ✨favouritism✨.

Soren didn't bother lending any more thoughts to the three in the bathroom, although the others definitely did, and she could hear them muttering under their breaths, she only thought about how both Riddle brothers had decided to back her up instead of tearing her down like they did to everyone else. She didn't really understand why they would do that, but the idea that they didn't completely hate her warmed her cheeks and kept her going, even up several flights of stairs towards uncommon ground.  

After a few dozen flights of 16-18 stairs each, Soren began to fall back towards the tail-end of their little huddle. They'd been running  for almost 20 minutes without break and she was not as athletic-ly capable as her male classmates. Mattheo, who was right behind her, noticed her falling behind little by little, and called out to get the rest to stop. 

"We need a break," he panted, putting on an act even though he wasn't remotely tired yet, "I'm sure we can walk the rest of the way, can't we?" 

Tom looked pissed, but then noticed Soren bent over panting and trying to catch her breath and immediately nodded. Mattheo, too, seemed to notice her struggling more, and the two walked a little slower than their friends. 

Everyone turned to stare at them when they finally got to the Ravenclaw common room, Slytherins and Ravenclaws alike. The blue-clad house was well-respected for it's wise and understanding students, who simply stared without saying anything, but the self-righteous Slytherins jeered and laughed at their tardy first years. Tom, Theo and Mattheo managed to hold off the downright abusive ones who tried to latch onto Soren just to make fun of her, but even their deadliest glares didn't stop the incessant staring. It was obvious there was something different about her, something most Slytherins cast out as weak. And that was what made her their primary target whenever there was some bullying to do, even after the troll debacle. That's why, even though they too were cruel and horrible bullies to others, Soren made friends out of Tom and Mattheo Riddle. 

[zariahthechocolatecookie]

Thoughts on TDP 6x06 - "Moment Of Truth"

Made it through episode 6! Oh my god are things picking up and is exciting stuff happening! The pace is definitely picking up and I'm very excited to see what comes next, and what the implications of this episode are for later ones.

Starting with what I feel is the most important revelation from the Callum and Rayla section - they brought the wrong pearl!?! What the hell?? That is bad. Very incredibly bad for so many reasons.

Okay, screaming about that aside - onto my actual composed thoughts. So, obviously, Callum having the fake pearl means the real one is back in Katolis. First, the shot of the pearls at the end of the last episode makes a LOT more sense now.

Second, I think everyone is in significantly much more danger now. Two of the people Aaravos has / is manipulating are in Katolis or on their way there: Viren and Claudia. I could very much see a world where one of them is manipulated into freeing Aaravos - which would put Katolis under a lot of threat immediately. Very worried about what will happen then.

The other thing is, what will happen when Callum and Rayla learn about the mistake? Whatever Kosmo did made it so they don't know (anymore), but from what brief glimpse we got of it, Callum was devastated. I imagine that will be significantly worse if he learns about it after when / of Aaravos gets freed.

The other thing is important interest is that the term "timeblind" makes a WHOLE lot more sense now. I was horribly confused about that when it was mentioned in previous episodes, so I'm glad there's some clarification on that. I'm very curious to see how it plays a role in future episodes and/or the next season.

Also the whole scene with Callum finding out that RAYLA is his "deep truth" or whatever it's called was ✨ amazing ✨ Not only is it super adorable, it's a really powerful way of representing their relationship and how they've helped each other through their various struggles. It's just so cute 🥰 Also sparkle Rayla is so pretty!!

Okay, moving to Viren's section... I know there's other things from Callum and Rayla's section, I'll touch on those later.

So, first of all, Viren really fucking sucks. Like, he deserves his lonliness. He deserves to rot to death in his cell. He deserves to never see his children again. I know all the things he did to save Soren STARTED with good intentions, but... Pinning his wife to the wall to get her treats for a spell is WAY too far. Waaaay too much.

Lissa was definitely right to leave him. However, I'm really wondering why she didn't take Claudia and Soren with her. I feel like that would have helped both Claudia and Soren in the long run, even if they did still have some problems that arose. I could see Claudia having an Azula-like situation, if she was still into dark magic, but I think Soren would have significantly less issues. Anyone got any fanfics dealing with this concept / idea?

Viren being a horrible human being aside, the backstory on how he got his staff and his old mentor is very interesting. Specially his mentor. From how it was described, it seemed like he had quit dark magic. I want to know WHY and how he was able to make that choice without going back to it. I'd say Claudia could learn some things from him about not doing dark magic, but he's a coin now, so...

Circling back to the ending... I absolutely LOVE how both Astrid and Kosmo told each other the line about truth being light vs. a burden. And how when Kosmo was saying it, we saw Viren burning the letter? Masterful. I still hate Viren, but at least he did the right thing there. Soren doesn't need to know about anything that was in that letter.

And, last but not least, the Rayllum kiss at the end!!! Oh my gosh was that moment so cute!! They're just so adorable together and it spectacular. And the fact that it was a 'redo' of that one scene all the way back in season 4 - gah it was just a perfect moment!!

Alright, that's everything about this eoisode. Onward to episode 7!

[raayllum]

I honestly can't imagine Rayla not dooming the world for Callum if the situation required it. She literally called going to dark places an "act of love."

I mean, there's a few things:

The opinions of anyone working on the show (cast, crew, etc.) are not gospel and not the default, nor do they need to be treated as the be all end all. You can disagree and that's more than gouda

People will give misleading answers and/or answers that are true in the moment (i.e. would S5 Rayla doom the world for him? Maybe not. Would S6 Rayla after some development? If the answer's yes, that's gotta stay under wraps) to avoid potential spoilers

I was actually honestly pretty surprised 1) someone asked such a direct question and 2) even more surprised that it got directly answered, since it feels like it could skirt into spoilery territory potentially for next season given the possession plot line. (I was personally gunning for a "what do you think Rayla and Claudia would think of Callum's S5 dark magic use, if they knew?")

I will admit Paula's response was, admittedly, what I've leaned to for Rayla as a whole in terms of that World vs Loved One binary. One of the things that makes Ezran and Rayla interesting to me was the uncertainty of "would they risk [insert thing here] for their immediate circle of loved ones" routinely being a "I don't know." Not that they necessarily 100% wouldn't, but just that I was genuinely 50-50 split on whether they would, or leaned towards No or Yes but could see the other way being plausible too. That uncertainty paired with the certainty I had that Callum would, and that contrast, has always been one of my favourite things about the Trio as a unit and Rayllum as a duo. It's one of the reasons that Heart vs Duty conflict for Rayla as a character has always been so compelling to me and why 4x07's introduction of the "You have to kill me" conflict was so (and is) exciting!!

But I digress.

I don't think that Rayla's letter is the best example of what I think you're trying to illustrate (I'll raise something I think that is perhaps more indicative in a moment) purely because the whole reason Rayla ultimately left was to protect the world. I've talked about this before in my "Priorities in Through the Moon" meta from ages ago, but Rayla does not go into the portal because she's primarily concerned about finding her parents. Callum researches the portal and helps recreate it and his whole side of things because he wants to help her with her parents, even being the one who brings them up when they resolve to go ahead. Rayla's concerned primarily with Viren, stating her reason for going into the portal even after finding out it requires facing water:

"Listen, Callum. Soren was worried about Viren too. Worried that we never found his body. We need to know what happened to Viren. He's a threat to the whole world! This might be the only way to be sure he's actually gone."

This is in line with how Rayla operates and references her parents in her letter to Callum, given her goodbye exchange for her parents:

Rayla: Surprised you even noticed, considering you've got more important things to do. Lain: Nothing is more important than our favourite child. Rayla: I'm your only child, and you're still leaving me behind for the Dragonguard. Tiadrin: We have to leave, Rayla. For you and for all the other Moonshadow children as well [...] This is our duty that we're doing for Xadia. For you. Someday, I hope you see that.

Just as trust and love are not necessarily synonyms to her, duty and love are not necessarily exclusives. Her parents left out of love for her and for the world, even if that meant prioritizing the world over her in the immediacy of their choice. Rayla leaves to go kill Viren out of a similar mutual desire to protect Callum, yes, but that's mostly there in the fact she left alone and didn't want him to stop her. Not necessarily that she went to hunt down Viren in and of itself, but that she went by herself ("I was trying to protect him. I knew I had to be strong alone"). Protecting the world - and a Viren-less world being one Callum would be safer in by proxy - was worth blowing up her relationships to her.

Going to dark places wasn't what she was doing just to protect Callum - that played a part, too, but her primary goal was to hunt down Viren (going to said dark place) alone and by leaving Callum behind, hence the "Stay safe, and stay in the light. Don't look for me, and don't follow me" - a sacrifice she was making on her own so that Callum wouldn't have to, but still for a collective cause that she deemed meaningful: "I have to make sure Viren never hurts anyone ever again." (Which is also why she goes after Viren again in 4x09, tbh)

That doesn't mean leaving in TTM wasn't also an errorful, self-destructive choice to leave (see like every other TTM meta I've written) but that the goals she could conceptualize was to protect the world, full stop. Anything else along the way (getting closure with her parents, protecting Callum) were extra stops and bonuses to help her have the courage to go through with it, maybe.

This is also in line with how we see Rayla treat other scenarios where it's a choice between individuals / individual relationships vs the potential to help or harm the greater good

Prioritizing the world / new mission of stopping the assassination mission > her relationship with Runaan ("This is a miracle, a chance for peace!") in 1x03

Being willing to and convincing Callum to let Ezran search for the egg under the ice in 1x06

"Then it's time to go. War's coming like the world's never seen, unless we get the wee dragon home to his mom" (2x01)

"Callum, I know you trust them, but by the time we know the truth, it'll be too late. Do you understand? We'll lose everything" (2x03)

"So please, allow him to pass into Xadia and help bring the Dragon Prince home. Because I don't think I can do it without him" (3x01)

Do I even need to specify 3x09? Or TTM?

"I hate it too, but we have to keep moving [...] We can't save everyone, Soren. There's too much at stake. I'm leaving, and you better be right behind me" (4x05)

"If I threw the coins in the lava, would it release their spirits? Or would they just be trapped in some of eternal burning agony? Let's trade. You let him go, and I'll give you the coins." "I'm not making a deal with you!" (4x09)

"I love you, and I haven't forgotten about you. But I can't help you yet. Because right now, the world needs me. Callum and Ezran need. There's a great evil trying to return to Xadia, and we have to stop it, at any cost" (5x01)

"It hurts me to know they're trapped like this. It's agonizing. But I know our mission comes first. The world is in danger, and you can trust me to stay focused" (5x04)

This is, arguably, the strongest core trait she has in common with Viren, just for the record, especially in arc 1. He's very greater good centric as well, just with the push of his own ego and thirst for power + he only considers humanity's concerns, whereas Rayla has minimal pride and arguably not enough ego, and she wants to improve situations for everybody on a collective scale post-1x02 onwards.

The exceptions to this consistent behaviour is largely 2x07 and 3x08, which I've talked about more in my Dragon Quartet meta (from Dec 2019 good god??). These are arguably two of the times, in addition to TTM in some ways, where Rayla is operating the most out of her emotional core ("My allegiance is to my heart" —Tales of Xadia) and what feels 'right' on that level. For better or for worse.

"That dragon was defenceless, and I just left there." / "So I have to stay, and defend the Dragon Queen."

I say Rayla is at her most emotional largely because in each scenario she's abandoning the mission of keeping Zym safe (and thereby her own identified "world's best hope" for peace) in favour of protecting a different individual dragon. This seems to go completely against the "mission first" if indeed, like in 1x03, Rayla can abandon one mission she's devoted herself to in favour of another one just like that [snaps fingers]. If she cares about the world first, why prioritize these individuals, neither of whom she particularly knows or personally cares about? BH also spells this out for us, since it's likewise a mirror to her offering to go up into the tower with Callum to defend Harrow even though the egg should technically be her first priority:

But to Runaan and those like your parents, love is rooted in all families, all creatures. Souls like that feel called to protect everyone as fiercely as those they hold close.

In 2x07, Rayla is at her best, if least logical, whereas in 3x08 she is at worst (until arguably S4) and likewise her least logical ("I know you feel guilty, but you're not thinking straight"). In each scenario the boys stand a Much better chance of survival and of accomplishing their mission with her from just an objective point of view (they don't know Xadia's terrain at that point and circa 2x07, neither could really be combatants in a fight since Callum didn't have a weapon or primal magic). We could slap an easy "you're being a dumbass and dooming the world" label on it and be done with it. But not only does Rayla think the boys are fully capable of completing their mission without her ("I believe in you") but 'the world' as a stake never enters her mind.

Instead, Rayla looks at each as an individual last stand where the only neck on the chopping block is ('rightfully') hers. Whether she's right or not to do so regardless of how she frames it is debatable (I personally view it as understandable, admirable, but more than a little short sighted or guilt ridden considering The Stakes), but that very much seems to be the thought process.

She's not risking the world, in her mind. All she's risking is herself.

And that's perfectly acceptable to her as a trade off. It always has been. It's one of the perfect kind of microcosms of the cognitive dissonance she lives under, where why should she care about herself when there's bigger fish to fry ("Don't worry about my hand; the egg is all that matters now") ignoring the fact that 1) she can & arguably should let herself care about two things at once and 2) she's going to be much less effective as a team member / dual wielder if she's recovering from a messy at best recent amputation.

This path of "Rayla works to save Callum because she doesn't care about what happens to herself" is admittedly probably the option I leaned towards most when it comes to Rayla in S6, even if I do wonder how it might be streamlined time / arc wise cause it does elongate her arc further. Either way, this is the route that lets her not kill Callum, working free him instead while also being able to justify trying to free him to herself, because she's not conceptualizing the Big Picture. She's narrowing it down to him and her and deciding if one of them has to get hurt in order for him to be freed, it's gonna be her.

It's not the Character Development route as I call it, but it sure is consistent.

TLDR; While I still lean towards Rayla having an ultimately positive impact (i.e. breaking Callum free from potential brainwashing) in s6, it would not surprise me at all if from her perspective it is framed as a self-sacrificial move on her end > a big picture risk to the world, even if that's how Callum may see it.

More thoughts on Rayla + the possession plotline in S6 here, here, and here.

[enbyleighlines]

Leigh plays Tellius prt 26

I love how this game does not shy away from how fucked up some of the people can be. Like this man was seriously intending on stuffing a laguz and giving it to his child. The anti-laguz prejudice in Daein runs so deep, man.

It was around this moment that I realized that I didn't have a meteor tome for Soren to use on Micaiah, and if I wanted to get that conversation, I needed to steal the meteor tome on this map. Unfortunately, getting Heather close enough to the mage to steal the tome before the mage used up all 5 durability of meteor AND without Heather dying proved to be trickier than anticipated. And once I finally managed to get Heather to the mage in time, it turned out her strength wasn't at a high enough level to steal it.

And so I had to restart the map from the beginning, return to the base, and try to get Heather's strength stat up. I only had enough bxp to level her up twice, but she needed 3 more points of strength. So I gave her blossom and finally, finally, got her strength up to 19.

All of that hard work for one meteor tome. Ugh. I really should have remembered to transfer Calill's meteor tome to the Greil Mercs via Neph or Brom, but I guess I wasn't thinking that far ahead.

Oh, well. At least I managed to pull it off.

And we're back with the Dawn Brigade! I am glad that Sothe reacts so strongly here. I do understand where Micaiah is coming from— she can read Pelleas's heart, and knows that his intentions are good. Even knowing that, I can't help but feel frustrated at this part in the story. I'm not blaming Micaiah, but man. The whole situation just sucks.

However, I am judging Micaiah harshly for this line. What the hell, Micaiah? Why would you even say that? You do know that's the exact reason you shouldn't be joining this war, right?

Anyway, I'm going to skip ahead a couple of maps. The fog of war map was long and boring, and the whole time I was just distracted by how nervous I was about the next one. In order to get all the extra content that I want, I have to A. have Soren attack Micaiah, and B. have Ike attack the Black Knight without dying.

And I was right to be nervous, because this chapter was a nightmare. I lost count of how many times I had to redo this map.

Getting Soren to attack Micaiah was the easy part. He has already become a dodge tank, so I wasn't worried about leaving him within the range of the wyvern knights. I just gave him an Elthunder and he easily wiped them all out.

Anyway, I love this conversation. I really wish Soren and Micaiah got to interact more. I also love how Soren starts out cold and indifferent, but the second Micaiah brings Ike into the equation, Soren's temper flares to life. To be fair, I always thought it would be uncomfortable to interact with Micaiah. I love her, but imagine being around someone who can look into your heart and read your thoughts. I feel like it would feel so violating. Especially for Soren, a man who deeply values his privacy.

On the other hand, getting THIS conversation took a lot of trial and error. It wasn't necessarily getting Ike and the Black Knight to interact that was the hard part. It was 1. ensuring Ike's survival, and 2. making sure that no one else entered the Black Knight's range. Twice I made the mistake of leaving someone in the BK's range. Once it was Boyd, and once it was Soren. And the worst part was, I had battle saves that locked me into those situations, so Both Times I was forced to redo the battle from the beginning. Ugh.

However, at long last, I finally managed to make it to the end of this chapter without losing a single unit. Thank Ashera.

And that's it for this part. This was definitely the hardest part of my playthrough thus far, and I think I need a little break to rest and recover. See you all in part 27!

[finitevoid]

soren thinks omegaverse is stupid. mpreg has potential but is also mostly just stupid. If he wrote mpreg fic himself he could make it so deep but he would never waste his valuable time actually contributing to a fandom. whatever art he makes he keeps to himself (so at the end of the day he is still wasting his valuable time just not posting it)

the impression i got from stefan in his support with soren in game wasnt that he didnt see merit in sorens relationship with ike. He more took issue with soren finding permanent community with beorc because the inevitable will happen (being branded becomes obvious when he doesnt age. and hes going to outlive ike. branded end up floating around different communities of beorc in isolation to hide being branded). he encouraged soren to leave ike and join him but soren was like wahhh and so stefan just leaves him with the When the time comes—and you will know when—ride to Grann Desert. Ominous

translating that to this au... stefans definitely pissed at soren about the whole thing but it doesnt sour his opinion of soren. Yes he does feel betrayed soren put a beorc above him and is VERY passive aggressive with soren the next time they meet but its cool. stefan is actually pretty chill with ike but you know. your people first. he thinks sorens relationship with ike and greil isnt sustainable but good for soren. he wont stop annoying soren about his branded revolution or whatever but he really doesnt have anything to back it up like he does in canon hes just the resident school shooter

stefans impression of almedha is a whole different matter. hes suspicious of her adopting soren after everyone assumed she abandoned soren. she actually lost custody of him because court deemed her mentally unfit to raise him (THEY HATE BROWN WOMEN EMOTING!!!). ashnard fought against her and wanted that baby so he didnt have to pay child support (hes legit stupid) but regretted it immediately so off soren goes to the system. sorry i have no idea how to translate the actual canon of ashnard disposing of infant soren for being weak and sickly and not a half dragon superbaby. i guess that too. he was an expensive faggot baby that had severe jaundice stefans also never seen a laguz even foster branded children so hes like What. What the fuck is happening. he really cant imagine a laguz having an amicable interaction with a branded but is further baffled by the fact shes not being straight forward about it. laguz when they have issues are overt about it and they ignore the existence of the branded to their face. adopting a kid to screw him over is like. such a beorc move. stefan cant comprehend any of this situation but doesnt trust it

soren gets into internet fights about race. hes pretty much an exclusionist because he scoffs at ace people saying theyre oppressed but he refuses to engage in tumblr discourse like that. He instead goes nuclear on tumblr about race and no ones happy. His blog really isnt centered around that its actually a fandom blog he just reblogs and then he gives his input occasionally in the tags and starts ww3 but only responds to people if he started ww3 about race or class. he used to have a political discourse (anti sjw???) blog when he was younger on tumblr but he got very annoyed with the userbase. arguing with them stopped being cathartic he does that on reddit now. he just enjoys being cruel on tumblr

remember that lore about soren using his branded status as an excuse to say the worst things ever on tumblr? Yeah that s all canon here. including ike stepping in

Why are these asks getting longer

also I KNOW THE JOKE but click on the #i hate it here tag. Look at the two posts. Was that intentional

No it was not intentional. I had no idea I’d used that phrasing twice. For the same joke. I guess I really do hate it here

they’re getting longer because you’re describing increasingly complex relationships

anyway. I’m still confused on how the whole “he’s going to die before you’re middle aged” thing translates into a modern au. Is he just generally mistrustful of beorc intentions towards branded people . Like why does he think it’s not sustainable? because he thinks soren needs to be with his own people ?

Stefans position on almedha is understandable given the circumstances. He’s not in a position where he can assume good intentions. particularly not from someone he thinks has betrayed soren once before

Is soren going to join his revolution in tje future or is he just like egh

Also you could have it that ashnard wanted the money but he also wanted soren to like be his heir. Inherent whayever expi you’re using for being the ruler of a country (municipal politician lol? Large business owner?) and then soren is a sickly kid or something so he just dumps him off on the system because he wanted a strong man to be his heir or whatever

middle school soren having an anti sjw tumblr blog is so easy to imagine it’s hilarious actually. I’m glad he’s having fun in fandom . Im glad that lore about him being evil online applies here I think it’s perfect. Ikr knows he’s starting ww3 on tunvlr because he spends all day tapping at his phone and when not will start unprompted talking about horseshoe theory or something

[taliesin-mistry]

Taliesin nodded and obliged, wiping his face on Soren's hoodie sleeve. It got rid of the snot, thought it only seemed to move the glitter and makeup around. He drew his legs up to sit cross-legged on the sofa, making his lap a larger surface area. He leaned to watch where Soren was going, his face breaking out in a huge beaming smile as he spotted the white streak of fur bounding down the hallway. It was always funny to watch her move at such speed, like watching someone click a tank into high-gear. As she rounded the edge of a table, she stopped and stared at Taliesin, watching him pat his thigh with the flat of his palm, shocked. Then she hopped up onto the sofa and into Taliesin's lap, her front paws up on his chest so she could butt her head against his face.

"Hello. Hi. Yes, hi Baby." Taliesin was crying again as he stroke her fur, scratching behind her ears as she meowed, loudly, repeatedly, as if she were yelling at him. Where have you been? Where did you go? Don't scare me like that again, he imagined her saying. She bapped him on the nose, gently, he claws tucked away. Mrs Robinson could be downright mean to other people, Soren included, but she'd never so much as scratched Taliesin. He only ever got a dirty look if he accidentally trod on her or tried to give her medication or a bath. He'd had her since she was a kitten, five or six years now. When he was home, and without company, she'd sleep in the bed with him, spend most of the day sitting on him or beside him, when she wasn't on important cat business like yelling at birds outside. "I'm sorry. I know. I know. I'm here now. I missed you so much." Taliesin was getting glitter in her fur as he showered her in little kisses.

Mrs Robinson was emitting a great, rumbling purring noise, like a jet engine taking off. After a few minutes of fussing at Taliesin, she turned around and settled in his lap, facing outwards. She glared at Soren, hissing at him as if the entire situation was his fault, while Taliesin scratched under her chin. "Is the climate okay here for her? She's not cold? You don't let her outside, do you? There's all sorts of things roaming around. Someone might hurt her."

Soren found himself smiling, of all fucking things, but Taliesin's immediate understanding and his demands to see his pet were so infinitely relieving he couldn't help it. It certainly made the ordeal of bringing Taliesin's cat, who seemed to hate life itself, all this way worth it in the end. "I'd never. She left when I left." One of many things he'd rescued, for fear they'd never be seen again. Most were still in Mumbai, locked up in his safe until he returned. If he returned. Shoving down that impulsive thought, Soren stood and nodded, gesturing for Taliesin to stay in his seat, "She's here. Wipe your face one more time and I'll get her, alright? Just - no shouting. She won't like it and neither will my neighbors."

Taliesin looked such a disaster still, it was hard to leave him on the couch, but Soren only had a short way to go to where he'd sequestered the Missus when he'd nervously left that evening to look for him. He'd learned the hard way what happened to his toilet paper if she was shut up in the bathroom while he was gone, so Soren had given up on the rampage of white fur in the apartment and let her have the run of the place now. Tonight had been different though, so bathroom it was, and the toilet paper shut away in the cabinet just in case. The silence behind the door was ominous as he approached. Soren felt a prickle of unease, a sudden panic that she'd somehow miraculously managed to squeeze her way into trouble, hastily prying open the door only to have to narrowly dodge the furious beast that came barreling out between his legs with an irate yowl. "Behave yourself!" Soren hissed completely irrationally to that indignant upturned face before the cat went streaking off towards the kitchen, likely in search of her dinner. She didn't actually know Taliesin was there, surely...

[owlbloop]

Fallen Stars:

-Can't be that off prediction wise lol. Didn't exactly predict much about the episode

-IS CLAUDIA'S STAFF SUN SHAPED???

-VIREN! TACT!

-Terry already best boi

-New favorite mythic creature

-Callum just trying to shush him

-Me when I buy a new book

-We all do Ezra

-Hah! The veggie thing is actually kinda cute

-Random thought? Dragon rider Soren lol

-The animation definitely improved

-Terry looks so awkward lol

-Awwww. That looks ominous but he's adorable

-Watch Terry be a flat out necromancer. Interesting that Claudia likes the blooming life abilities so much

-thats actually pretty funny

-Truth. Wlw power couple for the win

-RIP

-...Does Terry get panic attacks ever? Does Claudia? Does Terry have a dramatic backstory?

-...Makes sense

-"But only the one time?"

-"Am I about to vandalize an ancient book?"

-Roll credits

-I see both sides

-Okay.. now I'm kinda getting vibes of old arguments against needing legal queer marriage

-i will never get fart humor

-RIPx2

-Honestly I respect Virens view

-im also respectful of Claudia not wanting to lose the only family she has left

-I'll admit this seems more for Claudia than Viren

-Definately a bit of a pun of Viren and Callum

-Okay. So my timing of prediction was slightly off

Breathtaking

-That eye roll… You know what. Fair. Callum did just get this chucked at him

-Okay. He may need to vent if he wants to get his emotions stable

-Great boundary acceptance Rayla

-I LOVE BOTH COUPLES SO MUCH

-Ominous but valid Terry. Definitely think, particularly with the cuddle monkey explanation just before, Terry got the backstory. Maybe it's why he cares so much about helping Claudia with her dad

-I do actually understand that

-Claudia may be autistic is all I'm saying

-This will be great

-It was great

-Wait… if Terry steals someone's breath trying to protect claudia

-Solid nat ten Callum

-Love the armor. I'm just imagining dragon prince as riders of pern

-Thats totally what I would do and will come back later

-NOOO DON'T SAY THAT

-That can break or bruise ribs alright

-Probably unpopular opinion.. if Terry kills Ibis here I won't blame him considering the other option is likely loosing Claudia to Ibis' hand

-If that makes you sick Claudia…

-Ill add a if he thinks he'll lose Claudia

-Neat snake form. Easy nerve damage spell

-Not helping Soren

-Fair enough ezra

-Yeah I'd panic if I was Claudia. A choke hold like that can cause serious permeant injury

-CLAUDIA!!! I MEAN I GET ITS KINDA SELF DEFENSE ON BOTH PEOPLES' PARTS BUT THATS A LITTLE MUCH

-Wow. That's a really good parrelel speech and scene. Both of them are trying to protect themselves and it just escalates so fast

-That might have been poisoned and either way is very close to an artery. Realistically she'd probably have throat bruising, bruised or broken ribs, both interfering with breathing, probable concussion, potential further fractures, would devolp solid bruises, alongside solid blood loss even if it hasn't hit anything major

-I am not a killer. I just risked potentially leathal injuries

-F*CK!!! IBIS IF TERRY KILLS YOU I WILL COMPLETELY UNDERSTAND IT!!! NOT THAT I DON'T EVEN UNDERSTAND YOU VIEW BUT WOW THIS IS BAD??? WANNA AT LEAST EXPLAIN WHATS SO BAD ABOUT THE STAFF??????

-.....I. the way Claudia doesn't even try to get away

-Terry realizing he just killed someone

-WOW REALLY AIMING FOR THE PAIN AREN'T YOU

-TERRY AND CLAUDIA LEFT HIS STAFF??? THAT MAKES SENSE IF THEY'RE WORRIED ABOUT EACH OTHER BUT NOW THIS FEELS EVEN WORSE AND THEY CERTAINLY DIDN'T WANT HIM DEAD AND JUST AHHHHHHHHHH

-AWW

-Welp

-I called the angst and literal darkness of the title, more or less the Raylum reunion, and the breath casting, but I'll admit I didn't get expect this situation

What Terry did was drastic but I don't really think he had more than two choices

There was so little time

Either he had to do something big enough to completely stop Ibis from casting the spell, or he'd watch his girlfriend get electrocuted to death. That's gotta be traumatizing.

Callum's reactions to Rayla returning really do feel natural

Claudia's reaction really does seem both real and odd at the same time. She doesn't freeze or flee or fawn or fight, she just surrenders, accepting nobody is going to be there to stop Ibis, barely flinching at the idea of dying via lighting

I wish Ibis didn't die though

Ezra's speech held so much nuance that I so rarely see in conversation. People deserve to be angry, they're going to feel hurt, you can't just move past something without aknowleging it, and even in the fight.. Claudia is fighting for her dad, Ibis is fighting for his work and home, Terry is fighting to protect his loved one, all of them are fighting out of love more than anger, and maybe if they were angrier or more open, fought verbally, maybe Ibis would be alive and Claudia less hurt. Maybe. But we can't know and nobody really wanted to hurt anyone. Also Ezra deserved his trauma getting acknowledged

If the flower comes back later imma cackle. Also, as ridiculous as the petichor thing is I feel like I'm missing some aspect of intentionality in Claudia liking the rain so much

[wish-spinner]

look me in the eyes. I'm wearing sunglasses and also inside your phone so you can't but metaphysically please look me in the eyes. What are your Comprehensive Greil Mercenary Literacy Headcanons

i just made the face from the comic on the guy driving and he thinks abt penis. Cracks My Knuckles. get ready

- i think most of them are like. relatively bumpkinish in terms of how they grew up (i. also have hcs for several of them in terms of their parents + their professions but. thats Extraneous here) so i think that more or less, none of them were actually taught how to read as young children with the exception of soren

- soren is by far the Most literate like he can get through rlly dense and verbose texts with ease. his sageparent taught him the basics and from there on out he just kind of. had it down pat?? i think hes always read a lot. just to entertain himself or unwind

- rhys was taught by way of Bible Study basically. i hc that when he was ~12 he started clerical training and generally priests have the distinction of being Educated. him and soren are the only ones who frequently read for leisure

- titania is abt the same Literacy Level as rhys but shes less of a fucking nerd. she learned the basics while working towards Knighthood (bc while its different from irl knighthood, where u were most likely a noble kid who would be training for years and years as a squire + would already know how to read and write, i imagine crimea still likes its knights to at least have a grasp on the written word). and tbh since then??? shes always had sort of a management role in the mercs. im convinced she did the paperwork + finances before soren joined/was old enough

- mist!! is also rather literate!!! she was taught by a combination of all of the above,, images such as titania sometimes letting her watch her write and draft up payment documents. and then her and rhys in the infirmary and shes flipping through a book and asking him abt the odd word she cant figure out?? its Good. tbh mist is just the sort of person where if she finds smth of her interest then she wants to work towards it and get better at it!! shes got a determination abt it and she Did succeed

- oscar is in a similarish boat to titania in that he Is literate bc he was taught in his training for knighthood, not to mention that hes probably been doing the shopping since he was fairly young, so hes got both theory and practical situations under his belt. i cant imagine hes much of a writer however

- rolf!!!! when the three brothers join the mercs, rolf actively Wants to learn how to read!!! bc oscar can and he wants to do it too!!!! unfortunately oscar has spent the past little while being very very busy trying to make sure that the two kids in his care are not starving or freezing to death and thusly hasnt had much spare time to teach him. fortunately at this point mist more or less knows how to read so i think she helps him get going on it. and then a while later once rhys joins?? he helps to. rolf somewhat literate hours. hes allowed

- ike is also semi-taught by soren.... i think he Can read but not necessarily. well?? its not rlly smth that catches his interest beyond its very practical applications, nor has it ever been something hes Had to do. he can go shopping and read a map and thats all he really needs

- boyd is similar to ike except he actively finds reading + anything related to learning it to be a bit of a chore. rolf can read bc he had the desire to do so and found learning it to be fun but boyd doesnt particularly care and also he kind of hates it!!! he recognizes words from the marketplace plus the odd Excited lesson he received from rolf but not a whole lot else

- gatrie shinon and mia straightup cannot read at all. they were never taught and have never rlly sought it out bc of a combination of a) Other Shit Going On and b) its just never been overly relevant?? in life??? its easy enough to shop without it. just pick up the thing u want and ask how much it is. honestly gatrie and mia Might have learned how to write their respective names but shinon actually doesnt rlly. know how

[official-weasley]

Charlie's Helping Hand

A/N: For all who don't know @am-i-space and I are (healthily obsessed) with freckled gingers who steal your heart because they are adorable and pure! Two of those are the one and only Charlie Weasley and Commander Gren from The Dragon Prince.

We have made up quite a few stories about them (separate and together) and about a month ago we came up with Charlie being friends with Gren and Amaya. @am-i-space had the idea for a drawing of the 3 of them at once and without really knowing we were doing it, we started working together on this little project below my rambling!

After definitely not losing their mind about the eyes and Charlie's hair EVEN ONCE and me finally getting the inspiration for how to bring Charlie into a different universe, we are ready to post it!

As you might've figured by now the drawing below this author's note belongs to the beautiful, talented and amazing @am-i-space who pleasantly surprised me with every draft piece I received of this drawing and the story behind how this drawing "came to be" belongs to yours truly.

PS. Read to the end to find out how this beautiful piece of art came to existence in the story 💙🖤

“Charlie, you are going to love Katolis.” Gren grinned at his friend as they were walking up the path that will take them back to Gren's homeland.

“I love traveling so I think I will have no problem with it,” Charlie smiled back at him, “and besides you said that it's full of magic and dragons just roam free. It's like you are describing a dream.”

“It wasn't always like that. Dragons were feared and people and magic folk didn't know how to live together.” Gren sighed, remembering the days before their land became one.

“Right, king Ezran and his brother were running away from an elf assassin and they found an egg and joined forces to return it to its mother.” Charlie narrowed his eyes, trying to get the facts straight.

—

It's been almost two years since the great battle at the Storm Spire. The dragon queen has awakened and Zym was finally reunited with his mother. She took care of him, taught him how to fly better – even though Ez did an incredible job already. She also showed her son how to roar and how to use his electric breath.

Xadia was one land again and it thrived like never before. The magic spread to the Five Kingdoms and the people and the magic folk could move freely without sneaking around and fear each other.

Everything was perfect until one day when the dragon prince went flying and got caught up in a giant storm. Because he was still struggling to control his wing movement – when the winds were strong – he got caught up in a whirl and got smashed into a mountain.

Azymondias was found by his mother after she went looking for him as he didn't return home. At first, he appeared to be fine but when the queen wanted to take him flying she noticed that one of his wings was damaged. She sought help from the king of Katolis and his friends.

King Ezran's heart was broken when he found out and gathered a party to visit Zym at once. He couldn't believe it was even worse than he imagined it would be – all of Zym's bones in his left wing were broken and no matter how many elves and how many mages they gathered, nothing could mend his wing.

It seemed that all was lost and that the dragon prince will never be able to fly until one night when Commander Gren was finally ready to talk about his experience of being locked up in the castle dungeon by lord Viren.

He told his best friend general Amaya about everything he heard and seen happening. With his help, they were able to find the coins in which Viren stored souls and with the help of a high mage from the kingdom of Duren their lives were restored and Runaan was safely returned to his husband Ethari and his adopted niece Rayla.

Because Gren found it hard to talk about the whole situation and would gladly completely forget about the horrid experience, he decided to visit Runaan at his home in Silvergrove.

Every time Gren woke up in the middle of the night, having a nightmare that he was back in that dungeon, he felt like he was missing something. He knew that Viren was going down there for a reason and not just to interrogate Runaan. The thoughts kept him awake and he tried his hardest to remember where he was going and if he heard any noises that would help him figure it out.

As Gren expected, Runaan wasn't keen on talking about his experience in the castle of Katolis either but when Gren explained his feelings and the need to talk about it and to help him find out what was happening while they were there, Runaan put his feelings aside and decided to share his part of the story.

When Runaan told Gren about the weird questions Viren was asking him about a mirror and what does it do and how important it had to be for the lord because he seemed very frustrated when he didn't get his answers, Gren decided that it was time to put his fear aside and head down to the dungeons once more.

After telling Amaya everything and informing her of his plan to go and investigate – being so sure that the guards missed something when they rescued him – Amaya wanted to go with him.

She knew Gren more than anyone and it still pained her to this day that she was so far away when everything Viren was doing back at the castle went down that she simply couldn't allow him to relive that alone. She knew Gren was brave and just about the most optimistic and cheerful person she will ever have a chance to meet but she also knew that behind his bubbly personality Gren was hiding all the negative feelings and the trauma of what he went through in those few weeks while being down there.

She knew there will be no way of stopping Gren from going because he has never been so sure that something Viren was hiding down there could help Zym so instead of arguing with her lieutenant she decided to go with him.

As always when they go on a mission they geared up – better be too safe than sorry – and headed to the dungeons.

Before they opened the door that led to the lower parts of the castle, Amaya turned to Gren one more time.

Are you really sure you want to do this? She signed.

I am. I have to see what is down there or I will never have a peaceful night's rest. Gren signed back, his brows furrowed in determination.

Amaya just nodded, admiring how brave her best friend was for facing his problem head-on, and opened the door.

They walked down the stairs and came to the place where Gren was cuffed.

Amaya gave him a worried look while Gren avoided looking at her and the wall he was chained to. Taking a deep breath he first headed to where he knew Runaan was kept. They only found an empty cell with a small window with bars on it so they headed in the other direction.

They have been looking around, opening doors to empty cells for about half an hour until Gren tried turning the knob of a wooden door and it didn't open.

He exchanged a look with Amaya who nodded to him that he should force-open it with his foot. Gren did as he was told but the door still didn't move.

Amaya frowned – not liking when something didn't go her way – so she stepped next to Gren and counting to 3 on her fingers they repeated the action together. The door gave way to their force and they stumbled inside.

The room was a bit bigger than the others they have found. It was windowless making it completely dark with only a small wooden table, a chair, and something covered with a cloth.

Is this it? Amaya signed at Gren who was observing the covered artifact with his mouth slightly opened.

Gren could only muster a small nod. Amaya knew that this was hard on Gren and even though her curiosity was growing she gave him the time to make the step toward it and uncover the object.

The commander shook his head to collect his thoughts and swallowed thickly before approaching it. He lifted his arm slowly, grabbed the cloth, and pulled it down. Amaya and Gren both gasped, not prepared to see a mirror in front of them.

At the first glance, it looked like any other mirror, but then something shone inside it and their reflections disappeared. They saw what looked like an empty office or a library. They knew at once that this was no ordinary mirror and that it would be best if they don't meddle with it but call in someone who might better know what this mirror is for or better yet what it does.

After a month of searching and inviting the best mages in the whole land, including elves from all parts of Xadia, they figured out that the mirror served as a prison in another realm for a startouch elf. They were able to find an elf that knew of startouch elves and who they were.

The only one of their kind the king of Katolis and his aunt Amaya knew was Aaravos who they had to fight to keep Zym alive at the battle that brought them peace. Since lord Viren was associated with Aaravos it was only reasonable that he was the one who was inside the mirror.

King Ezran wasn't delighted to find out that this wasn't the last they would hear of the elf and wanted to resolve the mystery behind the mirror at once.

“You mean the little bug that turned into an elf with a bigger bug around his shoulder?” Soren asked, perplexed when Ezran was telling him, Callum, Corvus, and Opeli what was going on.

“Do you know anything about him?” Ezran gasped, encouraging Soren to tell him more.

“Well, not really. Father was very secretive about him. I remember when we were marching to Lux Aurea he was talking to the little bug on his ear. If my memory isn't deceiving me, Viren was telling him about how he and your dad, Ezran, defeated the dragon king.” Soren said, rubbing his chin and trying to remember more.

“Why would Aaravos want to know about that?” Opeli failed to understand.

“Perhaps he was trapped in the mirror when that happened?” Corvus suggested.

“Viren sounded very proud of his accomplishment, speaking with the voice he uses when he brags about something to someone for who he thinks he did them a favor.” Soren continued.

“Why would killing Zym's dad be a favor to Aaravos?” Ezran thought out loud.

“No!” Callum gasped and stood up.

“What? What did you remember?” Ezran wanted to know.

“No, it's too farfetched.” Callum swung his hand for them to stop paying attention to him.

“No, no. Do tell,” Opeli encouraged him, “perhaps you are onto something.”

“Well,” Callum cleared his throat, “would it be possible that the dragon king had something to do with Aaravos' imprisonment inside the mirror?”

“Get aunt Amaya and gather the elves and the mages again! We have to discuss this!” Ezran stood up and gave the order to Soren and Corvus who nodded and rushed out of the throne room at once.

“It would be possible for the dragon king to entrap the elf inside a mirror.” The high mage of Bel Dur said after hearing the proposal from prince Callum.

“However,” a mage from Neolandia cut in, “in order to do that Thunder would need someone from the realm on the other side of the mirror to help him, making your idea invalid.”

“Why?” King Ezran wanted to know.

“Well, to do that sort of powerful magic, the dragon king would have to have a dragon on the other side of the mirror from which to draw that kind of power.” The mage explained.

“Why would that make my idea invalid?” Callum asked.

“Because there is no such thing as dragons in other realms,” the mage said confidently.

“An hour ago you didn't even know there were other realms and now you are trying to convince us that in those other places dragons can't exist?” Opeli raised her eyebrows.

“Alright,” the mage sighed, “let's say that a place where Aaravos was entrapped does have dragons, how exactly does this help us with the dragon prince's wing?”

“Don't you get it?” Ezran stood up. “Nobody in Xadia can help Zym and this other realm could be full of dragons. What if there is someone who could heal Zym? What if they possess just the magic we would need to help Zym fly again?”

“You do have a point, your majesty,” the high mage of Bel Dur bowed to the king, “however...”

“However, how do we know whoever lives on the other side isn't a threat to us? To the dragon prince, to our kingdoms? Who is to say that they would be willing to help us?” The mage interrupted him.

King Ezran decided to call a meeting with the dragon queen to ask her if she could confirm their speculations and wasn't all that surprised when she told him that it was the dragon king who imprisoned Aaravos in a realm called Earth where magic works differently than in Xadia and despite Aaravos being the strongest and the most ancient of elves, he wouldn't be able to use their type of magic.

After much deliberation, king Ezran has decided to take the risk and explore the realm on the other side of the mirror.

“We have to help Zym. No one in the whole Xadia could mend his wing and we have to try. We can't have the dragon prince not be able to fly. I know it's dangerous and a lot of you will think that I am making a rash decision based on my feelings and me being a kid, but this is how I decided and I am willing to take the risk for Xadia and our kingdom.” Ezran said, his brows together in determination. “We needed years of war and conflict to unite our lands together again and if we aren't willing to help and take the risks needed to move forward then we are back at the beginning and I will not allow that to happen.”

The crown guards and the king's advisors nodded, agreeing with him, while some of the mages from other kingdoms had their reservations.

In the end, it didn't matter as only a day later were they gathering a team courageous enough to walk through the mirror and seek help.

You want to do what? Amaya was signing as fast as her fingers allowed her, frowning at the idea Gren just proposed.

I need to go. I feel that I need to go. I had the feeling about the mirror and look where it brought us. Gren tried convincing her.

You did enough, Gren. Amaya pleaded.

It's been so nice to have him by her side again after being separated on so many occasions during the war and now it will happen again and Amaya wasn't sure she can let it happen.

Soren is going. I have to try. This could be my chance to prove that I am not only good at interpreting.

Nobody is saying that Gren, and you know it.

You never protested so much before, what has gotten into you? Gren wanted to frown but his expression softened instead, looking at his best friend.

I guess I got used to the fact of you being by my side again. Amaya moved her fingers slowly as if she was hesitant to admit this.

“Oh.” Gren breathed out loud before stepping closer to Amaya and pulling her into a hug.

I know. I feel the same but please give me a chance to do this. I will be back before you know it.

Gren bestowed Amaya with one of his warming smiles to which she never could stop her lips from curving too.

Alright, but promise me you'll be safe and cautious. She playfully nudged him in the ribs before hugging him again and saying goodbye.

The next day Gren, accompanied by 5 of Ezran's most trusted crown guards – including Soren – and a mage made their way down to the dungeons once again to walk through the mirror and seek help from the other side.

It took 7 mages to figure out how the mirror works and how to get the crew through it. They warned them they will have a small window to do this that's why they couldn't take more people.

Gren was standing in front of the mirror – the last one to be transported through it.

“Here we go,” he whispered to himself, took a deep breath, and without turning his head to see his best friend one more time, disappeared.

—

“And this is where I come in.” Charlie wiggled his nose, trying to hide that he was nervous as Gren told him the story for the fourth time.

“Look, I know it sounds insane.” Gren sighed. “We found a mirror who entrapped the most powerful elf that ever lived in Xadia and then we went through it, followed the roar of a dragon, found the Sanctuary, and for some reason you were mad enough to say yes to our proposal.”

“In my defense, you said that a baby dragon... No, no, let me correct myself – a storm baby dragon – which is a myth here on Earth, needed help and then you said that you are not from Earth at all but from another realm so you tricked me.” Charlie sniggered.

“Well, my hidden talent to know when someone cares for something deeply has finally come to use.” Gren smiled proudly.

“Just don't get your hopes up. I might be a dragonologist but you said that no wizard...”

“Mage.” Gren corrected him.

“That no mage could help Zym so I am not sure how much I can do.” Charlie bowed his head.

“I know, but it is admiring that you are willing to try and I believe that you will be able to do something, if nothing else advise us what we can do to help the dragon prince,” Gren said cheerfully, looking at his friend.

He and the guards have only been on Earth for a month and they are already going back – needing far less time than Gren or anybody expected them to need to figure out how the people on Earth could help Azymondias.

They were lucky enough that the late dragon king set Aaravos' prison near the Carpathians mountains which also happened to be the secret hideout of the Romanian Dragon Sanctuary.

They were walking for 2 days before they heard a dragon roar and followed the sound for another day before they arrived in front of what looked like an abandoned gate. The mage tore down the enchantments and without thinking twice about it, they entered.

To say that the people working in the Reserve were in shock and not really sure what they were looking at was an understatement. It doesn't happen every day that a group of people with armor and swords walk straight through the gate.

Luckily, dragonologists are very simple and open-minded people – Gren has noticed – so it was easy to explain what was going on.

The second they said that a dragon needed help, a bunch of them volunteered but Gren knew that they can only take one person back so he asked the kind people if they could stay for a few days to observe their work and then pick the one that seemed the best suited for the job.

Charlie stood out to Gren immediately, because he was one of the few that simply raised their hand to volunteer instead of being loud and jumping in the air. His calmness suited him and he intrigued Gren the second he followed him around the next morning and saw how he handled the dragons.

The fellow red-haired dragonologist reminded Gren very much of king Ezran and how he talks to animals. The second Gren decided that this business was too urgent for him to be shy and not talk to him, he approached the dragon tamer and asked him about his ability to talk to dragons.

Charlie cocked an eyebrow at him and laughed a little, thinking the commander was joking, only to compose himself a second later when he saw just how serious Gren was.

With observing his work and asking him all sorts of questions Gren deemed him perfect for the job.

He wasn't even that surprised that he got Charlie on board without any effort.

The second the sun rose the next morning and Charlie said goodbye to the dragons and his co-workers, they made their way back to the mirror.

—

Gren, you are back! Amaya was waiting next to the mirror for them to come back and hugged her friend the second he came out of it.

I'm alright. It went pretty smoothly. Gren smiled proudly.

Who is this? Amaya signed, nodding at Charlie and scanning him from head to toe.

This is Charlie Weasley, he's a dragon tamer back in the other realm and he is here to help Zym. Gren explained.

He's cute. Amaya winked at her friend.

I thought you were in a committed relationship with Janai? Gren giggled.

I meant for you. Amaya nudged him, making Gren's face as red as a strawberry.

Without replying, Gren rushed everyone out of the room, making the excuse to see Zym as fast as possible.

Amaya sent a squad to bring Zym to Katolis so that Charlie would have the time to settle in and get some rest and that he wouldn't get too overwhelmed by his surroundings.

The second he saw the dragon prince and heard his cheerful squeaks despite having an injured wing, Charlie's eyes glowed and he felt like all his dreams came true to see a dragon that not only doesn't breathe fire but can zap you with electricity.

Gren explained to him to the best of his abilities why they call Zym the dragon prince but when he bowed to the young dragon and heard the people behind him giggle, he knew he took it too far. With his cheeks turning scarlet, he cleared his throat and asked everybody to give him and Zym some space so he could do a proper check-up on him.

Amaya, Gren, Ezran, Callum, Soren, and Opeli all watched as Charlie sat down next to the dragon and started whispering something to him. It only took about a minute for Zym to trust him which – with everything Gren saw back in the Sanctuary – wasn't surprising at all.

Zym let Charlie position him in a way to have full access to the wing, while constantly murmuring something under his breath.

“So, did you manage to find out how to help him?” Ezran asked the second Charlie stood up and walked to them.

“I...uh...” Charlie stuttered not knowing how to begin.

“What? What's wrong?” Callum put his hand over his little brother's shoulder.

“I don't want to be rude so I don't know how to say it.” Charlie was embarrassed.

“Hey, we trust in your expertise so don't worry about it.” Gren encouraged Charlie to speak.

“Well, his wing is broken, you got that right but because dragons here and on Earth are magical creatures, magic can't help them much.” Charlie shook his head.

“So, there's nothing we can do?” Ezran was on the verge of tears.

“Quite the opposite, this is very good news. I thought that we would have to mend his broken bones with magic.” Charlie said in a cheerful voice to put Ezran in a better mood.

“And we won't need to use magic?” Soren got curious.

“No. Because Zym is still so young and will need years to grow fully, we would just have to immobilize his wing as much as possible until his bones mend themselves.” Charlie explained.

“It's that easy? ” Amaya signed, looking impressed and Gren interpreted.

“Yes. Zym is still growing and like with children it's easier to have a broken bone when you are young than when you're an adult. If Zym will be a good boy and obey when I put bandages on him, he should be better somewhere from around 6 months to a year if he is like the dragons we have back at home.” Charlie couldn't hide how proud he was of all the knowledge he had on dragons and healing.

“How are you going to wrap him up?” Ezran was beyond happy to know that his friend is going to be just fine.

“With magic, of course.” Charlie pulled out his wand.

“You made a mistake of trying to heal his wing with magic directly, that simply doesn't work with one of the most powerful beings in the world. In cases like this, you have to turn to the good old remedies.”

He walked back to Zym who extended his wing as much as he could for Charlie to do his magic.

Gren and his friends couldn't quite decipher what Charlie said for pieces of cloth to start flying out of his wand and bandage Zym's wing for him not to be able to move it.

“So our mission was all for nothing?” Gren bowed his head.

“On the contrary, commander,” Ezran grinned at him, “if you hadn't brought Charlie here, we would worry about Zym for years and his bones could regrow in a wrong way, and from what I can see, you wouldn't have made a friend.”

“True.” Gren gave the words of his king some thought.

“Also, I think that mister Weasley doesn't mind meeting another species of dragon.” Opeli giggled.

Gren turned around to where Charlie was trying to make Zym hold still so he could cast the spell with bandages on him a few more times and smiled to himself.

“Yeah, you're right. It was completely worth it.” He observed his friend doing his job for a few seconds more before the heat on his cheeks became too much and he turned to Amaya who winked at him with a smug expression on her face.

Gren playfully rolled his eyes and walked to Charlie.

“So, after you do this, how long is it going to last?” He wanted to know.

“Well, Zym is a very energetic and jumpy dragon and these bandages have to be tight for as long as possible so I would have to change them a few times per day.” Charlie chuckled when Zym let out a happy squeak.

“Meaning you will stay here?” Gren tried sounding normal but was bad at hiding his excitement.

“Would that be okay?” Charlie scratched the top of his head. “I mean I don't know how realms work or if this is even allowed?”

“We can ask the mages but since we stayed on Earth for a month, I think it wouldn't be a problem.”

“Well, I love traveling and would love to help Zym for as long as I can, so I wouldn't mind at all.” Charlie couldn't believe how lucky he was to embark on this amazing adventure.

“What about the people back at home? Won't they miss you?”

In the time Gren spent with Charlie, he had the opportunity to get to know him very well and it became evident early on that Charlie was a man who would do anything for his family and his loved ones.

“They will,” Charlie shrugged, “but they are used to seeing me only a few times per year and besides, it's work-related and they understand how much my job means to me.”

“In that case, I would...” Gren cleared his throat. “...I mean we would love to have you.”

“It's settled then. I am staying. I would just like to ask if there is a way for me to send a message home?”

“I am sure that can be arranged.”

Charlie and Gren turned around to the voice and saw king Ezran smiling at them.

“I would like to thank you personally, mister Weasley...”

“Please, king Ezran, call me Charlie.”

“Only if you stop calling me king,” Ezran giggled, “my friends call me Ez and I think it's safe to say that you are now a friend. Wouldn't you say so, Gren?”

“Exactly!” Gren exclaimed.

“As I was saying, I would like to thank you for doing this. You have no idea how much this means to the magic folk, to us people, and me personally.” Ezran walked to where Charlie was kneeling next to Zym and wrapped his arms around him.

Charlie let out a suppressed chuckle, not expecting a king to hug him, but then returned the embrace before standing up.

“I will need a place to stay.” Charlie giggled nervously as they were standing in front of the castle door, waiting for the guards to let them in.

“You can stay with us,” Gren said and pointed behind him.

Charlie turned around to see Amaya signing to Gren for him to interpret.

“I think you will fit in with us just nicely,” Gren translated while Amaya sent Charlie a wink.

No amount of freckles could hide the dragon tamer's burning cheeks as he couldn't believe just how nice everyone in Katolis was.

Gren and Amaya took him to the garden the second he came from the much-needed shower from all the kisses and licks Zym gave him. They were sitting on the bench and conversing – Charlie trying to take in as many signs as he could because he was determined to learn sign language.

“Charlie, I bring good news!” Prince Callum came out of nowhere. “Ez told me that you want to send a message home and asked me to talk to the mages. They can prepare the mirror for you tomorrow morning.”

“Thank you, Callum. That is indeed great news.” He grinned at the prince, relieved that he will have a chance to explain to his family where he has gone to.

“Now that it's official and you're staying I think we have to give you a rank.” Ezran appeared next to Callum.

“A rank?” Charlie tilted his head in confusion.

“And armor!” Callum exclaimed.

“What are you two talking about?” Gren chuckled at how excited they were and glanced at Amaya who just giggled as if she was hiding something.

Amaya, what did you do? Gren's curiosity got the better of him.

Well, since Brandon retired last year I am without my third in command so I am giving that position to Charlie. Amaya explained.

“To me?” Charlie jumped in his seat after Gren told him what was going on. “But I can't fight!”

“You are doing admirable work, worth of a title.” Gren interpreted.

“I-I don't know what to say.” Charlie was left speechless.

“Oh, I know what you could do!” Callum gasped loudly before running away from them.

Not even 5 minutes later, he came back with his sketchbook in his hands. Without saying anything he ordered Gren, Amaya, and Charlie – who were sitting on the bench – to stand up.

“We will celebrate with your official portrait,” Callum explained his actions.

The trio exchanged a look and then turned around when they heard someone clear their throat.

“Callum, you can't draw them without Charlie being in his new uniform.” Soren shook his head and handed Charlie a package.

The redhead was looking at it in awe before being rushed to the closest bathroom to try it on.

“Oh, look at you!” Soren and Ezran said together, admiring the scales on Charlie's chest.

“You look...” Gren's mouth fell open, lost for words.

Dashing. Amaya signed and winked at her best friend.

“Uhm, yeah.” Gren nodded.

Come on, Gren. Say it to him. She encouraged him.

“Dashing. Uhm, you...you look dashing.” Gren knew there was no way to hide his strawberry freckled face but seeing Charlie blush at his words too, he no longer cared.

The trio positioned themselves in front of Callum who drew them and as the crew watched him hard at work, sneaking looks at Charlie, they knew their group gained a new friend.

[senerist]

"Begnion," soren replies quickly. There's a trick to lying, and it involves quick responses that allow one to fill in the gaps mentally in the interim. If it's a question of dress, he knows the style of his own clothes; beorc-fashioned. Neither crimea nor daein were old enough by the time they left to differentiate themselves so much culturally as to wear distinctly different dress, at least where the common folk were concerned, so soren had never learned to sew in a different style.

Begnion is very close to Goldoa, however, and he suspects that a Goldoan ship wouldn't be preyed upon by the bird tribes, so he can't use that as a reason to turn around. The woman had expected more time to pass before seeing them, so he needs something else that would make sense, and he needs somewhere else that would hold up to scrutiny.

"We reefed before reaching Persis and discovered a stow away while the..." he pauses, inwardly furious with how slowly he's able to adapt. he's drawing inspiration from a memory, of huge dragons pushing their ship free out of sheer hospitality by the goldoan prince.

'Your highness'... The goldoan prince...

soren's jaw sets, and his teeth clench, but he tries to keep it subtle enough to go unnoticed.

"...guard assisted in unshelfing the ship. He'd apparently stayed the entire duration of our stay in the capital under deck, and he had discarded much of our rations by making space for himself in the crate he'd been smuggled in on, so for his safety, we turned around to restock, rather than make dock again elsewhere."

he glances at ena again, cuing her to agree with his story. It may be too much information to give in whatever role this woman thinks he fills, but it's thorough and believable, and about the best he can do given the situation.

It goes unscrutinized. The woman's smile doesn't falter. "How interesting!" she replies. "Of course such a journey would be exciting without such setbacks, but I must imagine experiencing them was memorable in its own right."

"That's right," soren lies. he can't bring himself to force a smile. he doesn't know what sort of man this woman expects him to be. It's uncanny to be recognized like this. he's had a reputation before, but one he knew. he knows how to be the curt strategist people expect of him. he doesn't know how to be 'your highness'. he doesn't know how he could ever be 'your highness', and he can't think too hard of it while he needs tight control of his facial expression, either.

"We've got a surprising amount of shopping to do, in any case, so if you would excuse us."

soren's hand wraps around ena's arm, directing her away from this interloper and towards a shop that helps create an alleyway with its neighbor. After they approach, he checks to make sure the woman isn't watching, and pulls her into the alley, and hopefully away from prying ears.

his voice is low when he speaks again, but harsh and jagged. he wants to be furious, but he only manages anger with the calmness ena exudes. Even if she's excited herself, it seems as though her dampening aura prevents soren from seizing on the full depths of his own emotions. it should be obvious how he truly feels about this new revelation by the fact that he manages anger at all.

"Rajaion was the crown prince, fine. You're queen here, okay. But 'your highness'?! T-to me?! That isn't -" his hand touches his forehead. he feels light headed. he feels dizzy. he could pass out. When was the last time he's eaten? No, it has little to do with that.

"What aren't you telling me?" he hisses. Each word is a distinct phrase, delivered just as icily as the red glare he fixes ena with.

You Who Granted My Wishes For Me, Are Already Gone

Distress | Outrealm Gate

[josiecarioca]

On Soren’s love life and Audrey (also Lavinia).

In a recent post I asked you which of my fictional couples you’d like to read more about, and @artisticreptilequeen  and   @latitisoso  Soren x Audrey and @artisticreptilequeen mentioned wanting to know more about Soren´s dating/love life.

This is a question @snapescapades also asked me once, and it’s an interesting topic to go back to.

To quote my answer to @snapescapades :

(Soren) flirts with the same ease everybody else breathes. And he flirts with anyone, particularly if there’s something in it for him (the Slytherin runs deep). 

Soren is very much “in love with the idea of love”, he´s a musician, an opera singer, an avid reader,  he’s very attracted by the concept of love and the idea of all consuming passion as played on a stage or in the pages of a Gothic novel. That doesn´t necessarily translate into actual romantic relationships in life.

Soren has a lot of “romantic friendships” with friends of any gender, that is relationships which have the intensity of a romantic relationship but without the sexual aspect. He´s only been in a traditional romantic relantioship twice in his life and both were with girls he’d been friends with since childhood 

I think if I absolutely had to label Soren, I’d say he’s panromantic and demisexual. Which basically means he tends to “fall in love” waaaaaaaay more frequently than he feels sexual attraction/compelled to engage in sex. In fact, for somebody who basically walks around looking like the embodiment of sex appeal, Soren simply doesn´t have a lot of sex. 

He is a consumate performer, he enjoys dressing up (from Armani suits to gowns, and every theatre costume you can imagine) and he loves being the center of attention. Wether he´s on stage, or going undercover to gather intelligence for the ministry, or just out and about partying, there´s a huge chance Soren will flirt with everybody he finds interesting, make most of them fall in love with him, and be in love with at least a dozen of them for maybe a week or so. Actually having sex with any of these people? Not necessarily. (he did go through a “Casanova period” as a teenager, but that was short lived and mostly a misguided attempt at trying to be popular/finding an identity)

Soren had a grand total of TWO actual relationships, if you consider “relationship” as a combination of romatic feelings and sexual attraction. And both of them happened to be with women who were in his life since childhood, and with whom he developped an extremely strong emotional bond. 

The first was Audrey, a muggle girl who lived near Soren´s grandmother. Soren and Audrey were born just a few months apart (him in October 2005, her in the following March), and have basically known each other since. Audrey is the only child of a very strict, very religious, and emotionally abusive mother (her father died when Audrey was still a toddler), who frequents the same church as Soren´s grandmother, Sophia. Sophia sort of took Audrey under her wing (sensing Audrey´s home situation wasn´t ideal) and invited her over so often that Soren became the girl´s most frequent playmate (she wasn’t allowed many). Soren grew extremely attached to her over the years, in part because Audrey´s personality was a soothing influence to his own mercurial one, and in part because Soren felt like she needed him, somehow. Of course he was too young to understand how emotionally abusive Audrey’s mother was, but he did understand Audrey was a  “sad” girl and he wanted to help her be happier. Audrey and Soren never really left each other’s lives, and through the years they were there for each other whenever needed, even as her muggle life and his magical life should have naturally separated them.

The second deep emotional attachment of his life was Lavinia Llwynog, a fellow Slytherin. Lavinia is the child of an unhappy marriage between a Voldemort sympathizer and a young woman half his age. Lavinia´s father narrowly avoided being prosecuted for aiding Death Eaters, and entered a marriage with her mother because she was the daughter of an important Ministry official (the bride´s family got access to his fortune, and he got important connections in the ministry, a win for everybody involved except Lavinia´s mother who was extremely unhappy in the marriage). For that reason both Lavinia and her older half-brother Hadrian, were frequent targets of malicious gossip and bullying (mostly coming from Gryffindors). Much like what happened bewtween him and Audrey, Soren also grew attached to Lavinia because of a feeling of protectiveness towards her, initially. Lavinia and Soren would continue to be lifelong friends and often work together in professional projects (Lavinia would end up being Soren´s ministry contact). While Audrey is always in his life as an emotional and sometimes moral guiding light, Lavinia tends to be the one who helps him work his own ambitions and impulses into organized goals.

In Evelyn’s words, Soren has this “overwhelming neeed to make the people around him happy” and he’s profoundly idealistic (which is ironic given who his father is, but Severus often notes he’s “his mother’s son through and through”). It’ s the reason he became an artist, and also the reason he became an auror, Soren needs to feel needed, and he longs to love in a profound, life changing way, the kind of love that only happens once or twice in a lifetime. Hence why he has so many platonic “romances”, and the only two people he felt the need to have complete intimacy with, also happened to be those who, he felt brought out the best in him, as a friend as much as a romantic partner.

[onceuponanaromantic]

An Exercise in Unexpected Situations

(Written for @flashfictionfridayofficial​‘s prompt: FFF93: Broken Windows. I haven’t been very active because,, exams among other things so enjoy this piece! It has characters that are variations on characters from Black Cat of Hearts and setting also taken from a mix of some of my WIPs but you don’t need to know them. Enjoy!)

“Long story short, your assignment has been compromised to hell and back, as has most of the Agency and we’re definitely going to need new employment. I’m coming to get you, ETA sixteen minutes. Oris, do you copy?”

 “I could tell the ‘compromised’ part on my own, yes.” She slipped another knife out of her jacket sleeve and slammed it into one attacker’s ribs before twisting to kick the knees out of another. “I’m moving to the left wing now.”

 She heard the gunshots approaching and cursed, evaluating the stairwell for a moment before deciding to run down the stairs to the second floor.

 And to think that she had thought the assignment had been going as okay as any of her assignments normally went.

 She brought up a mental map of the building and decided not to risk any of the normal exits. She exited to the floor, keeping close to the walls and the floor and extending her senses to check for other human presences around her.

 Shit, she thought, they’re getting nearer.

 She pressed her watch to the door of a meeting room nearest the exit and broke the lock, slipping in and closing the door behind her. The meeting room itself was empty except for the normal décor and an elaborate vase of flowers in the centre. She got herself under the table. Then, she took a deep breath, centring herself and running over the assignment brief in her head.

 Normal intel op, information on some financial dealings of the people in the company, in short, nothing of particular note. Several past crimes and illicit dealings by various people but that was nothing unusual, as far as ops went.

  The door slammed open and she remained still but grabbed the leg of the chair near her.

 “Oris, I’m approaching the building now.”

 Perfect timing.

 She uncurled from under the table, swinging the chair and taking out a man that way. She checked to see the black car nearing, and then smashed the vase against the window to break it, and jumped out.

 She landed and rolled on the grass before getting into the car.

 “How good is your aim?” Her twin asked, even as the car continued on its path. “Second window once we get around, guy in a dark suit, gun’s in the side.”

 “Go fast.” She said, pulling the gun out and loading it.

“Knew it.” Her sister said, pressing on the accelerator and rounding the corner.

 She leant out the window, spotted said silhouette, took aim and fired twice.

 After rolling up the window, she leant back in the seat as her sister sped down the road.

 “Soren and the girls are out already.” Her sister said. “Thought you should know that first.”

“Update me.” She adjusted her glasses, changing the settings.

“Turns out that the Agency is full of traitors part of some organisation seeking some strange tech for mind control or immortality or something like that. Those who weren’t either were collaborating or were idiots and got killed around an hour ago.” Her sister paused. “One of those idiots was your handler, I think.”

 “That explains why he was so quiet.”

“Yeah, well, I figured out something was up a couple of weeks ago so when everything went down, I got all my research and myself out and blew up the research labs and half the building. And then I figured you would appreciate someone getting you out. Also, turns out the old man, apart from being a general piece of shit, was also up to some shit so I got all the information on that out too and then crashed the system.”

 “So where to?” She asked, digesting the information quickly. “It’s just us here now.”

“Wanna blow some shit up before we get out?” Her sister bared her teeth in what would typically be called a grin.

“You had me at ‘blow shit up’.”

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

 “I suppose you could say I’ve had an interesting life.” Doctor Avis says, sipping her tea.

 “That doesn’t explain anything.” The younger woman says. “Especially not why you apparently know how to foil a kidnapping and make the kidnapper go running to the police crying.”

 “I made some mistakes in my sordid youth.” Doctor Avis turns a page of her book. “Are you feeling warmer? It can’t have been comfortable falling into the canal like that.”

             The younger woman waves her hand impatiently. “Yes, I’m warmer, thank you for the change of clothes. But you’re some kind of investigator on top of being a chemist? And how do you know that woman? The one in the suit. The one who was at the police station.”

             “Oh, Oris?” Doctor Avis says. “I’m very fond of her. As she is of me, I imagine.”

           “That is literally the most suspicious thing I’ve ever heard.”