#lovely wraiths

[wingedblooms]

Wraiths wear bodies

When we find out that Vanir wraiths wear bodies and change them often…

It reminded me of Elain asking Amren about her ability to change bodies.

And I can’t help but wonder about the moment Nesta scans her sister and considers if she’s been training with the shadowsinger or…the half-wraith twins.

If Elain has learned to move like a wraith from her friends, is it possible she could learn to wear bodies or shift her appearance, too? Is that why she looked so wraithlike after she was changed in the Cauldron? I have a feeing their powers are much more similar than we realize.

More on wraiths here.

[valtsv]

i never feel closer to my ancestors than when i start having visions of scary faces while i'm trying to get to sleep. i just know in my heart that grug the mammoth hunter and edward the 18th century dandy also saw the skull.

[bluegiragi]

in action (part 1)

early access + nsfw on patreon

[x-letsbreaksomerules-x]

little collection of Fenris stuff from the past like. three days. i missed him a lot. first two are both blue wraith comic panel redraw stuff, and the last is a few referenced drawings i did with the help of the fenris MMD model since i can. make him make whatever faces i want now.

[softmangoes]

how the LIs kiss

18+

pure!sydney's kisses are sweet, mouth soft and his tongue warm. he kisses you in the same way he savors the hard candies you'd slide over the library counter, slipping them into his hands just so your fingers could brush. when he pulls away, his glasses are foggy, a nervous smile on his face. "was that..." he says, blushing. "was that alright?"

corrupt!sydney's kisses are hungry. he's got his hands under your shirt and his tongue deep in your mouth. he's been waiting so patiently, after all, and now he finally has you to himself. "you taste divine, beloved." he says, fingers slipping under your waistband. when you sigh against his mouth, he smiles. "but i think it's time i have my dessert."

whitney's kisses hurt. they're full of teeth and bruises and blood and his nails digging crescents into your skin. whenever he crushes his lips to yours, he always makes sure to leave you aching. and like every fight you've had against him, you never come out unscathed. "there," he says, marveling at the fresh marks blooming along your neck. "now everyone will know whose slut you are."

kylar's kisses are desperate. his hands roam your skin as his mouth murmurs endless promises into the hollow of your neck. "we'll be together forever," he says, drunk on the scent of you. he presses his body to yours, eager to get closer, to envelope you in his embrace. to never, ever, let you go. "nothing will ever change that."

eden wastes no time when he kisses you. he has known the lean months of winter and the lonely days of fall. you cannot deny him the sweetness of spring. he bites into the curve of your neck like the first fruit of warmer days, licks at your lips to drink in your sweetness. but a hunter is always hungry, always wanting. "it's been a long day," he growls, deepening the kiss. when he takes your shirt in his hands, the fabric rips apart easily. "too long without you."

robin's kisses are warm. they're fingers running through your hair, a smile against your mouth. sunny days and lips that taste like fresh lemonade. he always laughs when he kisses you, like he can't believe he's doing this. like he can't believe he's yours. when he kisses you, the world is a little brighter. softer. "it's a beautiful day to be with you," he murmurs after he pulls away, pressing a peck to your cheek before taking your hand in his.

there is no way you can truly describe how the ivory wraith kisses you, but there is a note of familiarity to it. your mind conjures memories of kisses whispered in passing, of lips locked in darkened halls. "as sweet as ever," he hums, licking your lips with his cool tongue. "as sweet as always." the passing of centuries have done little else but make him yearn. the wraith, with his great and terrible beauty, kisses you like he's been waiting for you all this time.

[handhelld]

Hunting

[vampirtulpe]

Chapter 3

[apathetic-kiss]

Kerch History Museum (Section 2B, Ketterdam Artifact Archives)

Photograph of Inej "Wraith" Ghafa and an unknown individual crossing the rooftops of Ketterdam. Ghafa was infamous due her ties with the Dregs and her association with Kaz "Dirtyhands" Brekker, but would later go on to become one of the most renowned pirate captains known for taking down hundreds of slaver ships and rescuing thousands of kidnapped individuals being trafficked to Kerch under exploitative indenture contracts. (For more information, see Exhibit 21: Indenture Laws & Kerch's History of Slavery, Exhibit 23: The Dregs & Other Notable Ketterdam Gangs, and Exhibit 26: Sankta Inej & Other Modern Saints) Obtained from an anonymous donor 4.25" x 3.14" Photographer Unknown Artifact #24383

[anama-cara]

just some more Kaz quotes because I'm obsessed

If you can't beat the odds, change the game.

"I don't hold a grudge. I cradle it. I coddle it. I feed it fine cuts of meat and send it to the best schools."

When backed into a corner, you cut a hole in the roof.

"Fate has plans for us all," Inej said quietly. "And sometimes fate needs a little assistance."

It was a smile he thought he might die to earn again.

"Suffering is like anything else. Live with it long enough, you learn to like the taste."

[wr-n]

Smoke

Trying to cover up one addiction with another... And failing.

[wingedblooms]

Wraithlike

This is a Maasverse post, and as such, there are spoilers for all Maas series. Proceed with caution.

In the Throne of Glass series, Sarah makes quite a few references to wraiths. Forms that are wraithlike are nearly transparent; they are bodies that aren’t bodies. These forms move like the wind and appear suddenly. The most striking references include the void, like when Aelin and Manon enter a witch mirror and watch a memory in the space between. Or the references to hell, especially the grieving queen who walks like she is traveling through a dreamscape, or an empty, barren hell. Take a look for yourself:  

He dragged a hand across the floor before the darkness, and greenish lights sprung up from where his fingers passed before being sucked into the void like wraiths on the wind. One of his hands was bleeding. (tog) Dorian Havilliard stood at the ballroom window, watching Celaena and Chaol dance in the garden beyond, their dark cloaks flowing around them like they were no more than two wraiths spinning through the wind. After hours of dancing, he’d finally managed to get free of the ladies demanding his attention, and had come to the window to get some much-needed fresh air. (com) Slowly, like lovely wraiths from a hell-realm, the witches appeared. (qos) Aelin had a body that was not a body. She knew only because in this void, this foggy twilight, Manon had a body. A nearly transparent, wraithlike body, but … a form nonetheless. (eos) Clad in white silk, her long curtain of dark hair unbound, the Grand Empress strolled, silent and grave as a wraith, down a walkway wending through the rock formations of the garden. Only moonlight filled the space—moonlight and shadow, as the empress strode alone and unnoticed, her simple gown flowing behind her as if on a phantom wind. White for grief—for death. […] Nesryn lingered in the shadows of the pillar, watching the woman drift farther away, as if she were wandering the paths of some dreamscape. Or perhaps some empty, barren hell. (tod) Silent as wraiths, they appeared across the glen. As if they’d simply sparked into existence in the shade of the foliage. Little bodies, some pale, some black as night, some scaled. Mostly concealed, save for spindly fingers and wide, unblinking eyes. Elide gasped. “The Little Folk.” (koa) It was over before it really started. The mercenary got in two hits, both met with those wicked-looking daggers. And then she knocked him out cold with a swift blow to the head. So fast—unspeakably fast and graceful. A wraith moving through the mist. (ab) The moon illuminated the mist swirling along the leaf-strewn ground, and made the trees cast long shadows like lurking wraiths. And there—standing in a copse of thorns—was a white stag. Celaena’s breath hitched. (ab)

Naturally, I was curious how these links held up when we actually meet wraiths in A Court of Thorns and Roses (acotar) and Crescent City (cc). In acotar, we meet half-wraith twins who appear and disappear suddenly, even into a puff of smoke. Amren says they are nothing but shadow and mist, and can travel through walls. 

They appeared through the cracks from slivers of darkness, just as Rhysand had. But while he’d solidified into a tangible form, these faeries remained mostly made of shadow, their features barely discernable, save for their loose, flowing cobweb gowns. They remained silent when they reached for me. I didn’t fight them—there was nothing to fight them with, and nowhere to run. The hands they clasped around my forearms were cool but solid—as if the shadows were a coating, a second skin. (acotar) The shadow maids, as usual, walked through the walls and vanished. (acotar) Nails clicked on stone, and my escorts swapped glances before they swung me into an alcove, a tapestry that hadn’t been there a moment before falling over us, the shadows deepening, solidifying. I had a feeling that if someone pulled back that tapestry, they would see only darkness and stone. One of them covered my mouth with a hand, holding me tightly to her, shadows slithering down her arm and onto mine. She smelled of jasmine—I’d never noticed that before. After all these nights, I didn’t even know their names. (acotar) Amren, at least, knocked this time before entering. Nuala and Cerridwen, who had finished setting combs of mother-of-pearl into my hair, took one look at the delicate female and vanished into puffs of smoke. “Skittish things,” Amren said, her red lips cutting a cruel line. “Wraiths always are.” “Wraiths?” I twisted in the seat before the vanity. “I thought they were High Fae.” “Half,” Amren said, surveying my turquoise, cobalt, and white clothes. “Wraiths are nothing but shadow and mist, able to walk through walls, stone—you name it. I don’t even want to know how those two were conceived. High Fae will stick their cocks anywhere.” I choked on what could have been a laugh or a cough. “They make good spies.” (acomaf)

In Crescent City, Vanir wraiths change bodies often to maintain a youthful appearance (thanks for this reminder, @offtorivendell!). We learn this when Bryce meets Vik, a wraith who is trapped in the beautiful body she possesses, and then ripped from that same body and contained in a box at the bottom of the Melinoë Trench as punishment. (This is a terrible punishment, but the name is fitting—Melinoë was associated with ghosts, and wraiths are ghostly in appearance.) Micah is truly the worst. 

The wraith folded her alabaster hands in her lap, the unnatural elegance the only sign of the ancient power that rippled beneath the calm surface. Vik had no body of her own. Though she’d fought in the 18th, Isaiah had learned her history only when he’d arrived here ten years ago. How Viktoria had acquired this particular body, who it had once belonged to, he didn’t ask. She hadn’t told him. Wraiths wore bodies the way some people owned cars. Vanir wraiths switched them often, usually at the first sign of aging, but Viktoria had held on to this one for longer than usual, liking its build and movement, she’d said. Now she held on to it because she had no choice. It had been Micah’s punishment for her rebellion: to trap her within this body. Forever. No more changing, no more trading up for something newer and sleeker. For two hundred years, Vik had been contained, forced to weather the slow erosion of the body, now plainly visible: the thin lines starting to carve themselves around her eyes, the crease now etched in her forehead above the tattoo’s twining band of thorns. (hoeab) At least Bryce could now appreciate the beauty before her: the dark hair and pale skin and stunning green eyes were all Pangeran heritage, speaking of vineyards and carved marble palaces. But the grace with which Viktoria moved … Viktoria must have been old as Hel to have that sort of fluid beauty. To be able to steer her body so smoothly. (hoeab) “Through the glare of the firstlight beams atop the remote submersible, more fleshy white bits floated by. This was what the wraith Viktoria had been damned by Micah to endure. The former Archangel had shoved her essence into a magically sealed box while the wraith remained fully conscious despite having no corporeal form, and dropped her to the floor of the Melinoë Trench. […] The wraith’s shoebox-sized Helhole had been bespelled against the pressure. And Viktoria, not needing food or water, would live forever. Trapped. Alone. No light, nothing but silence, not even the comfort of her own voice. (hosab)

What does this mean for Elain’s story, and why am I even mentioning her in a wraith meta? In the acotar series, Nuala and Cerridwen, half-wraith twins, draw Elain out of her grief and help her learn how to bake. Sarah mentions that Elain considers them her friends twice in acosf alone: 

Tending to the gardens of Feyre’s veritable palace on the river, helping other residents of Velaris restore their own destroyed gardens–she had purpose, and joy, and friends: those two half-wraiths who worked in Rhysand’s household. (acosf) “You came,” Elain said behind her, and Nesta started, not having heard her sister approach. She scanned Elain from head to toe, wondering if she’d been taking lessons in stealth either from Azriel or the two half-wraiths she called friends. (acosf) 

She also plants the idea that Elain might be engaging in stealth training with them (and/or Azriel, who trained them). That would make sense since she has learned from them before and she started to move like them after developing a friendship. She tends to move silently and appears suddenly, even stepping out of shadow. Before she was Made, Elain moved with the grace of a doe, so that newfound skill may have come fairly naturally.

In acosf, Nesta also recalls how Elain was after being Made and refers to her as a ghost. She comments that she (Nesta) was the ghost now, worse than a ghost: she was a wrathful wraith. This description of a wraith doesn’t quite match what we know about the few wraiths in the maasverse we’ve met; it seems more like a frightening bedtime story of a legendary monster, which is perhaps meant to reflect Nesta’s own inner turmoil. But the description of Elain when she is first Made is eerily similar to the wraithlike queen in tod:

Where Nesta had been in contented silence before we found her, Elain’s silence was…hollow. Empty. Her hair was down—not even braided. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d seen it unbound. She wore a moon-white silk dressing robe. She did not look, or speak, or even flinch as we entered. Her too-thin arms rested on her chair. That iron engagement ring still encircled her finger. Her skin was so pale it looked like fresh snow in the harsh light. I realized then that the color of death, of sorrow, was white. The lack of color. Of vibrancy. […] Nesta’s rage was better than this…shell. This void. My breath caught as I edged around her chair. Beheld the city view she stared so blankly at. Then beheld the hollowed-out cheeks, the bloodless lips, the brown eyes that had once been rich and warm, and now seemed utterly dull. Like grave dirt. (acowar)

The interesting part about this connection is that Elain likely was wandering through some dreamscape like a wraith with her Sight. This pale, hollow image of Elain also aligns with the definition of a wraith. 

Elain appears wraithlike again (probably on purpose) when she wears a black gown in the Hewn City, a place of rotting darkness. Cassian notes: 

“Yes, she was beautiful, but the color of her long-sleeved modest gown leeched the brightness from her face.” […] He’d never once in the two years he’d known her found Elain to be plain, but wearing black, no matter how much she claimed to be part of this court…It sucked the life from her.” (acosf)

Elain’s black dress makes her look plain and invisible compared to her sister. She lacks color and vibrancy just as she did in the House of Wind, though in black instead of white. It’s possible she did this on purpose since she’s altered her appearance before and the half-wraith twins helped her dress for that occasion, too. Could they have dressed her strategically to escape notice on solstice, and could this be another hint of wraithlike powers?

In Song of the wind, I wondered if Elain could be a pale wraith, a force of light and color and wind, who moves like Hope through the Void. She’s described in terms that do not have a definite form (pale, golden mass in his arms; sunlight on gold; purple and gold flashed), and even asked Amren about changing bodies in acofas. We know that Vanir wraiths can wear different bodies, like shapeshifters walk in different skins (ie., skinwalkers). Wraiths, however, have no definite form beneath the body they wear. Is that the true reason why Elain boldly asked Amren if she could take a different form, change bodies?

“Could you have done it? Decided to take a male form? […] Then why did you pick this body? […] And once you were in this body, you couldn’t change?” (acofas)

Elain as a wraith (or wraith adjacent, lol) would be a fun way to come full circle with the parallel @kimsnnn discusses here. After pointed inquiry about Amren’s otherworldly eyes, Nesta’s otherworldly power glowed silver in her eyes. It’s possible the dinner conversation about changing form might then be a hint that Elain and Amren will share otherworldly forms. Amren’s otherworldly form was a bird of prey, a messenger. She watched over humans, and when ordered, acted as a soldier-assassin. 

Amren smiled slightly—at me, at Varian. “I watched them for so many eons. Humans—in my world, there were humans, too. And I watched them love, and hate—wage senseless war and find precious peace. Watched them build lives, build worlds. I was … I was never allowed such things. I had not been designed that way, had not been ordered to do so. So I watched. And that day I came here … it was the first selfish thing I had done. For a long, long while I thought it was punishment for disobeying my Father’s orders, for wanting. I thought this world was some hell he’d locked me into for disobedience.” (acowar)

You know who else watches others through physical eyes and Cauldron-blessed Sight? Elain. I’ve wondered before if she is an otherworldly messenger and/or guardian like Silba’s owl or the Suriel (who is your stereotypical wraith). Alert and aware. Silent travelers, full of wisdom. There are some who even believe the word wraith is connected to the Norse word for watcher, but several sources indicate the origin is unclear. Regardless, Elain acts like a wraithlike guardian, appearing suddenly out of shadow to protect her family. It's possible she used this skill to wear the body of Balthazar and help Nesta and Emerie find safety during the Blood Rite.

Even if Elain isn’t an actual wraith, I think we can reasonably predict that she will learn more from Nuala and Cerridwen, and their gifts may complement her own as she practices using her Cauldron-blessed powers. When she cannot see something, Elain says it is all mist and shadow, and Nuala and Cerridwen are nothing but shadow and mist, able to walk through walls, stone. Could they teach Elain how to break through the walls of her Sight? 

With all the connections wraiths seem to have with void and hell, Nuala and Cerridwen may help her use the Void to peer into and/or travel to Hel (as both @offtorivendell and I have theorized). It would make sense for them to use the space between together, especially if Elain has mystic abilities and can move fluidly across space like a wraith’s essence. They’ve been helping her all along and will probably continue to do so. In her own words, Elain already told us that “Nuala and Cerridwen will help her [me]” (acowar). And there are so many things Elain seems eager to learn from them. 

Elain stood between Nuala and Cerridwen at the long worktable. All three of them covered in flour. Some sort of doughy mess on the surface before them. The two handmaiden-spies instantly bowed to Rhys, and Elain— There was a slight sparkle in her brown eyes. As if she’d been enjoying herself with them. Nuala swallowed hard. “The lady said she was hungry, so we went to make her something. But—she said she wanted to learn how, so…” Hands wreathed in shadows lifted in a helpless gesture, flour drifting off them like veils of snow. “We’re making bread.” (acowar)

P.S., Is it any coincidence that they likely look like three lovely ghosts, covered in flour, when they work together?

[artemismoorea03]

DP x DC: The Ghostly Army

The fact that Ghosts can be brainwashed and hypnotized gets out and ends up in the wrong hands. Specifically the hands of Lex Luthor. When he finds this out he's ecstatic. He's been half paying attention to Ghosts since he started getting reports from the Ghost Investigation Ward after he passed their Anti-Ecto Laws, it was part of the law that had been brought to him.

For as long as the law existed he would get as much of the information as those who funded the G.I.W.. It hadn't been something he'd actively cared about until he learned just how powerful one of the ghosts - Phantom - was. Strong enough to take down Superman if he was on the right team, which he wasn't and the G.I.W. wanted him destroyed so it was complicated.

However, after enough 'negotiating' and keeping the situation in Amity Park under the radar and blocking out all calls in and out of the small city to avoid the Justice League from paying them any attention, he was able to convince the G.I.W. to help him out. Bring him Phantom and any other particularly powerful ghost like Phantom and he would allow them to do whatever they wanted with Amity Park.

Now he has not one but three exceedingly powerful Ghosts under his control.

Wisp: A tiny ghost who appeared about 12 with white hair and green eyes.

Wraith: A much larger ghost around 15 who could be Phantom's twin but with red eyes.

and Phantom: A 15 year old child who was apparently more powerful than Wisp and Wraith combined.

They were all under his control, and impossible force that he used to take down not only Superman but any member of the Justice League who dared stand in his way. With Wisp's small size and speed, Wraith's rage and strength, and Phantom's power and experience there would be no stopping them!

----

Meanwhile, in Gotham City there is a very pissed off Vampire and two people in jumpsuits running around looking for their three missing children and anybody who will listen to them. Which, Batman was already planning on doing before the Vampire decided to all but kidnap Nightwing as collateral in case they 'didn't have his full attention'.

Whoever these three pissed off parents were, their kids were important to them and soon they would become important to the entire Justice League... maybe even the world.

[bluegiragi]

check in.

early access + nsfw on patreon

[glassrunner]

MARVEL'S SPIDER-MAN 2 ➤ Tag-Team Celebrations

[kxmpfflieger]

Transformers dump ft Soundwave, Wraith & the cassettes

[softmangoes]

you, the LIs, and a bundle of rope

18+ only

pure! sydney is intrigued. "is this what you needed help with?" he chuckles softly, his golden eyes are so warm, so honey-sweet. you want to drink him, have him melt onto your tongue like communion. when you tug on his chest harness to take his bottom lip between your teeth, he mewls against your mouth.

corrupt! sydney is ecstatic. "beloved," he purrs, his limbs ensared by the rope you carefully wove around him. a bead of drool glistens in the corner of his mouth as the vibrator hums inside of him. "why don't you come a little closer?" his tongue, wet and pink, traces his lips. there's hunger in his eyes. "it's been too long since i've tasted you."

whitney fights you. "fucking freak," he spits, struggling to free himself. you knew he would be difficult and you certainly have a few more bruises. and yet, you can't help but admit that he looks so cute all helpless like that, fury twisting his flushed face. his protests quiet once you take him into your mouth, his snarls turning into nothing more than breathy huffs.

there's a glazed look in kylar's eyes. "m-my love?" he stutters, straining against the rope constricting his arms. tears begin to well in his eyes. you are so far. too far. can't you see that he needs you? why can't you hold him? it's only when you straddle him and take him inside that he finds his breath, planting desperate kisses along your chest as you fuck him into a whimpering mess.

"you thought this would work?" eden scoffs, breaking free with ease. he's on you before you can even realize it, tying your wrists to the bedpost with the practiced grace of years of trapping prey. his breath is hot on your neck, his teeth sharp. "it'll take a lot more than that to keep me from you," he growls, taking ahold of your hips before thrusting into you.

robin laughs. "i didn't know you were into this stuff," he says. you trail your fingers along his skin, grazing the knots across his chest. his breath hitches as you reach between his thighs, his length twitching against the warmth of your palm. he licks his lips, nervous. a blush spreads across his face. "you'll be gentle with me...right?"

"you think that can bind me?" the wraith croons curiously, the rope phasing through him. a cool tentacle wraps around you, pulling you into his embrace. fingers slip under your shirt as his tendrils caress your thighs. they sink into you while a pair of luminescent eyes train on you, amused. his gaze is depthless and full of a desire you cannot begin to fathom. the tentacle curls within you, making you moan against his neck. "we are already bound, droplet."