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neonblessing · 1 year

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⚠️ SPOILER ALERT! ⚠️ Click here to read Neon Blessing from the beginning!

A rickety access stair off the side of the road led below street level, a rusted railing the only thing between her and a ten thousand foot drop into the churning sea of waste at the bottom of the Diluvian. Everywhere, banners hung from the grates and pipes, extolling the virtues of the god at the bottom of the stairs.

Shiv couldn’t read the Eldest Tongue, but Raz used to tell her what all the banners said: Prince of Birds, Father of Thieves, Bright-Eyed, Swift-Tongued, Dark-Winged, Clever-Handed, Purse-Cutting, Theft-Fed, Ever-Hungry, Ever-Proud, Ornarch. The same symbols on every banner, repeated a thousand times, more and more frequently, as candles began to crop up along the railings and the heady scent of incense suffused the misty air.

A magpie sat on a pipe that snaked out of the wall, looking down at Shiv. “Hail, brother. I bring an offering for our lord,” she said, waving the uneaten half of the tart. The magpie chattered at her mockingly, then flew off. Fifteen years she’d known Ornarch, and she still didn’t know if the birds could understand her.

A few hundred feet down the path, under one waterfall and over another, lay the entrance to Ornarch’s home. It was once a drainage pipe, but it had long since fallen into disrepair, now the domain of rats, birds, and the god of the gutter. She hesitated a moment outside the pipe.

“Come in, Shiv.” His voice sounded frail, but was clearly audible over the roar of the water. She stepped inside, and laid eyes on her god.

Ornarch looked like shit. He’d aged twenty years in the month since Shiv had last seen him. His once-ageless face was carved through with lines, his raven-black hair faded to a dull grey. His threadbare black suit couldn’t have gotten any more dilapidated, but the wings that swept from his back looked tattered and mangy. Even his gilded earrings had tarnished. Only his eyes were completely unchanged: hollow voids that expanded as Shiv met his gaze, wider and wider, deeper and deeper, until points of light shone through an infinite expanse of nothing, and nothing else was real. Shiv had never seen the night sky anywhere but those eyes.

In contrast to his wretched appearance, his home was more or less unchanged since last she’d seen it. The pipe in which Ornarch held court was easily thirty feet in diameter, its curved floor dotted with the melted-down corpses of innumerable tallow candles. Censers dangled from the ceiling at regular intervals, smoke transmuting the industrial lighting into something soft and warm. A thousand black birds stared down at her with beady eyes.

God clung to a wheeled IV drip like a drowning man to a board. How he’d gotten it down here, she had no idea, and as far as she knew mortal medical technology did nothing for gods. The bag glistened red in the dim light of the drainage pipe, a line of crimson curving down and disappearing under a shirtsleeve.

“I brought breakfast.” She once again pulled the pastry from her pocket.

“Put it on the altar with the rest.” Ornarch’s altar was a flat stone carved with circling birds, piled high with worthless trinkets and stolen treasures in equal measure. Every god was fed by sacrifice, and Ornarch demanded a cut of his congregation's pilfered goods. She gingerly placed the tart atop a wallet and a jeweled locket.

“It’s been a while.” His lips didn’t really move as he talked. Shiv had seen him open his mouth all the way, had seen that cruel beak that jutted from the back of his throat.

“Yeah.” Unspoken, the fact that she’d lost her arm on a job he’d sent her on. The job she’d failed. A month of recovery, the burning pain of the blade parting her flesh, all for nothing.

“You haven’t been answering your phone.”

“I lost it.” Some time in the panicked escape from the botched job, it had slipped from her pocket.

Ornarch’s thin lips curved into a frown. “Well that simply won’t do.” He patted his pockets before procuring a thin box from nowhere. “The newest Obol model. Top of the line. Trackers removed.” He offered it to Shiv.

She hesitated.

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#neon blessing #4 #shiv #ornarch

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contreparry · 1 year

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'patting the other’s head' for the pairing of your choice? happy friday!

Absolutely! Here’s some Sera x Dagna for @dadrunkwriting !

She was a tactile sort of person, which Dagna understood and appreciated. She was like that as well. Much easier to get a grasp of a thing when you could hold it in your hands and fiddle around to see what made it work. She wouldn’t be half the scholar she was if she was only confined to books and observation. She needed to touch in order to know. That she had Sera had that in common was a comfort.

But Dagna had to confess she wasn’t quite used to Sera’s companionship yet. The woman would drop in at the oddest of hours for a chat. Not that Dagna wanted complain, of course, because she was always happy to see Sera and it wasn’t like she kept a reasonable schedule herself. But Sera would clamber in through a window or slip in through the door and pounce like a kitten, ruffling her hair and kissing her all over her face before darting around her workroom to see whatever new experiment she was cooking up. And Sera got into everything, picking up ancient artifacts and dangerous alchemical solutions and turning them around in her clever hands as she peppered Dagna with rapid fire questions: Where’s it from? What does it do? Funny little thing, innit?

And this was something Dagna loved about Sera: she might act indifferent and incurious, but she had a thirst for knowledge that rivaled her own. She was just a little more reserved about it. Dagna longed to ask her why, but she had a feeling (a tiny, wriggling little thing) that Sera would bolt if she asked too soon. No, best to keep that question in reserve until Sera was ready to answer it. Instead Dagna watched Sera hold up a vial of quicksilver up to the sunlight and swirl the contents around.

“Been askin’ Inky about this quicksilver stuff, since she’s an alchemist an all-“ Sera said slowly. “Well, botanist and herbalist, but she said somethin’ ‘bout having to be good at your alchemy to be good at herbalism.” Her eyes were fixed on the quicksilver like a magpie staring at her collection of treasures.

“Magical fields of study do tend to intersect, or so I’m told,” Dagna replied. It wasn’t a surprise that the Inquisitor was skilled in alchemy, considering how she utterly dominated the herbalist work area when she was in Skyhold. Dagna mourned the fact that a fellow scholar had to take to the battlefield so often. The work they could have accomplished had they lived in more peaceful times- but thinking of what might have been wasn’t very useful, and besides! If things hadn’t been as they were Dagna might never have met Sera, and that was a terrible thought!

“Right! So I was thinking, she told me ‘bout quicksilver and the fumes it lets out. And how they can make the fumes give off a bright light if you run some electricity through it,” Sera explained, and she held up the tube. “Maybe make it a tougher bottle, make sure the lightning magic stuff doesn’t blow it all up, but with it all worked out-“ Sera waved the vial of quicksilver in the air excitedly. This, Dagna thought as a smile overtook her face, was why she loved being around Sera. Sera was curious and clever, and she was utterly fearless. She had a thought and she’d say it, and then work out the way to achieve her goal. It was refreshing- and very, very attractive, Dagna acknowledged as Sera lithely hopped off the windowsill to strut about the room, quicksilver vial in hand.

“Light! Good for your readin’, Widdle, and maybe if we make it REAL bright-“

“You’re not planning to blind people with it, are you? Might blind yourself in the process,” Dagna cautioned, but visions of lamps that ran without oil and a candle-less future danced in her eyes. Now, to find a proper energy source…

“I don’t plan for shite, you know that,” Sera declared. “But might be fun. Do an experiment an’ all that.” She wandered over to Dagna and patted her head, tangling her fingers into Dagna’s curly hair. Dagna leaned back into Sera until the back of her head was pressed into Sera’s stomach.

“Between the two of us we can figure something out,” Dagna promised. “Though we might set a few things on fire during the process.”

“Ooo, fun! Let’s give Commander Uptight something to really complain about, hmmm?” Sera cackled, and she pressed a kiss to Dagna’s forehead before darting away towards the box of scrap parts, vial of quicksilver still in hand.

#my writing #da drunk writing circle #I’m now obsessed with the idea of a secretly nerdy Sera #blame it on the fact that the actress also voices Y’shtola from FFXIV #I have FFXIV brain rot I’m afraid

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yesteryearsnows · 2 years

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Hyperfixation chronicles: I learn something about silver

Yesterday I had the day free so I did what I do best which is rummage for treasure and obsessively google

Some cool finds include vintage KJL hoop earrings, a 90s Kate Spade, a John Weiss print of two labs that can sell up to 500-1000, a pretty Mexico candle holder, an vintage crockpot with mushrooms and vintage butterfly brooches! It’s a good thing I don’t have a set home rn or guess who’d be a hoarder in a week.

I did find and keep all these sterling silver rings! All moderns but super eye catching. I want to be Yubaba from Spirited Away with her blinged out fingers. I’m also totally a magpie carefully building a colorful nest on the forest floor to attract mates in the rainforest. Something about this soothes something in the lizard brain.

And my new collection of costume jewelry! It sparks joy

#antiquing #vintage

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whitexwingedxdoves · 3 years

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waterfall [request]

Pairing: Daryl Dixon x Reader Pronouns: She/Her Warnings: babe its just fluffy as heck. Summary: Now he had a ring, Daryl Dixon needed the perfect way to propose to you and after many dead ends, he finally cooks up the perfect plan. A/N: Requested by @witch-of-letters . Erm this is just the cutest request ever though. My heart is so full. (this has fully let me live out my Mrs Daryl Dixon fantasy) Tags: @chloe-skywalker

Marriage had never even been a passing thought in Daryl’s mind before, though with Negan behind bars now and the fact you were carrying his child something seemed to switch in his mind. He spent a good week searching for the perfect ring for you despite the limited options, he even considered mugging a walker for one at some point. He found a lucky escape one day when Carol, who was also searching for the perfect ring for you in between her time at the kingdom, found a perfect silver band with a singular diamond that glistened in the sun. She managed to disguise the delivery to Daryl as a visit and you thought nothing of it, soaking up most of her time talking about how hard you found the first trimester of your pregnancy and how everything seemed so much easier in your second.

Cursing under his voice as he sat on the porch of your home, Daryl caressed the ring in-between his fingers. Now he had the ring he would have to come up with the perfect way to propose to you, feeling you deserved so much more than a kitchen floor proposal. The advice he managed to pull from Carol before she left was nothing other than ‘as long as it comes from the heart’ which was no help to him. The sound of the front door opening almost made him drop the ring, he scrambled to tuck it away into his vest turning to face you. His eyes landed on the bump that had finally formed on your stomach, a smile cracking his face. You gave him a small smile, rubbing your bump before looking outwards to the street, letting a small sigh pass your lips. “I’m gonna go see if the infirmary has any more vitamins left” you finally spoke, the man just nodding your direction, chewing on the corner of his mouth. “I won't be long” with that, Daryl scrambled to be by your side and planted a soft kiss on your cheek before waving you goodbye.

Daryl was sure his brain was fried after straining to come up with a proposal idea, not understanding why it was so hard, he had come up with plans for tracking and war on the spot but this was the first time he encountered a block. He knew it was time to pull in some reinforcements and who better than Michonne. When he found her, he just pulled the ring from his pocket and showed it to her. Michonne could barely hide her wide smile as she saw the band, not that she wanted to hide it.

“Are you asking me to marry you?” she joked as her eyes finally met his, a soft grunt left Daryl’s lips as he placed the ring back into his pocket. “So, when you asking her?” Her grin resembled that of a girl who had just witnessed her friend get asked to prom by their crush, it made the archer a little uncomfortable as he shifted on his feet.

“tha’s the problem” a sigh filled his words “Dono how ‘m gonna do it” his brow cocked at the sound of Michonne’s teasing laughter

“You know you don’t need to make a big deal out of it!” Finally making her way around the kitchen, cleaning up what was left of Judith’s lunch, Michonne just shook her head at the man. “She’ll say yes, whatever you do” even though her words were confident, it didn’t convince Daryl.

“Na, she deserves a big gesture” he argued, Michonne shot him a look but chose not to argue with the man as she placed plates into the sink. “Don’t go tellin’ e’ryone!” he added before turning on his feet to leave the house.

“Your secret is safe with me”

With the lack of help from Michonne, Daryl sort out other people for ideas – all having the same results, Nothing! Aaron was far to giddy to even think of anything on the spot, Gabriel just spoke about the beauty of marriage and the ceremony, not really answering any of Daryl’s questions and Rosita... well Rosita suggested he propose over a hog’s carcass, even going as far as telling him to hide the ring on one of the ribs – of course she was joking but even Daryl couldn’t deny that you loved hunting just as much as he did. He only had one person left he could ask and he scolded himself for not thinking of it first, Rick.

Of course Rick was at your home, talking to you when he found him, Daryl just waited and waited for the conversation to come to an end, shifting on his feet throughout Rick’s visit. He never caught the sly looks Rick would send Daryl’s way every so often when you weren’t looking, he was too focused on the task at hand to notice much of anything. When Rick finally announced he was leaving, Daryl followed after him making sure the front door was closed before he started to talk.

“Hey, can I ask ya somethin’” Daryl shouted after the sheriff, making him turn on the bottom steps to your porch.

“Is this about askin’ Y/N to marry ya?” Rick teased, sending Daryl a knowing look which only caused the archers' brows to furrow slightly “Michonne told me!” he admitted with a small laugh.

“I told ‘er not to tell anyone!” Rick shook his head at the angry tone in Daryl’s voice, the smile never leaving his features.

“She’s right, ya dont need no fancy candle lit dinner – just ask her. She’ll say yes” The advice offered to Daryl only made him roll his eyes, Rick didn’t stay long and left with barely another word leaving Daryl with no new ideas and just as confused as he had started the day.

The next day he woke up with an extra spring in his step, he finally had an idea. You couldn’t help but be baffled by his sudden mood change, yesterday he spent all day on edge and every time you brought it up he would just brush it off as if nothing was the matter or when he massaged your feet while you read a book, he seemed to press a little harder than usual and jump every time you spoke to him. Today though, he told you to spend the full day relaxing and gave you a soft kiss before he went out on a hunt, which you did, you spent half the day reminiscing on the hunts you’d go on together, how he always seemed impressed with how skilful you were with a knife or how he’d comment on how much of a magpie you were when you’d come home on a run with the most impressive treasures. It wasn’t long until Daryl showed up again, he wasn’t the usual messy Daryl that you’d encounter after a hunt, nor did he have a belt full of squirrels. You didn’t question him, scared to make him just as jumpy as he was yesterday and just offered him a kiss when he walked through the door.

You noticed how proud he looked as he set his cross bow on the kitchen counter “M goin back out, just wanted to know if ya wanna join?” he questioned you which confused you even more. Since the day you found out that you were pregnant, he had practically wrapped you in bubble wrap, arguing with you every time you wanted to leave the gates.

“You want me to go on a hunt with you?” Your hands naturally settled on your stomach as you cocked your brow at the man.

“It’s safe, made sure before I got ya.” His tone was convincing but you still questioned his motives “Figured ya’d wanna get out for a bit” he finally added and you accepted his invitation. He was right, you needed to get out of Alexandria badly, you loved it there but every day it seemed to get smaller.

He took you in a spare car, refusing to let you get on the back of his bike while you were carrying his ‘son’. It wasn’t long until he had parked up at the side of a road, and led you into the forest. You watched his movements carefully and questioned every step he took, not seeming to follow the same formula he used every time he tracked.

“What are you doing?” you questioned, noticing the obvious tracks in the ground that he ignored.

“Trackin’” he argued, mimicking his past actions to seem more convincing as he led you further into the woods. You figured it was best not to question him anymore, despite your knowledge of tracking, it was nothing in comparison to Daryl’s. He finally stopped at a waterfall, one you didn’t even know existed, it was small but god it was beautiful you could barely peel your eyes from the view. You stood there for a moment, allowing the tranquil energy to take over.

When you finally turned to Daryl, he seemed to be fumbling in his pocket for something which only made you laugh a little. He took a few steps closer to you with something buried in his fist, you weren't sure what it was but your heart seemed to race a little at the possibilities. He looked around at the waterfall only confirming this was the best place to propose to you; the sun now had a golden hue as it fought with the leaves on the trees to find the ground. His eyes finally met you as he took your hand in his.

“I aint ever done this shit before” he whispered which only made your giggle reappear. “Ya the most importan’ person in my life. Fer god sake, ya carryin’ ma son” you rolled your eyes at his assumption but couldn’t wipe the smile from your face as you watched him awkwardly try to find the right words to say. “ a love you” he finished which only made your smile widen, you opened your mouth to respond to his loving words but nothing left as he knelt down on one knee in front of you. Your heart seemed to beat harder than it ever had done in your life, your eyes filling with tears as you watched the scene unfold, secretly wishing someone would capture the perfect moment on film for you to watch forever. “Y/N Will ya marry me?” he held out his palm to show you the perfect ring, you couldn’t believe something so beautiful existed in this world let alone the fact you’d get to wear it.

You stood speechless for a moment, the only sound you managed to get out was a squeak of some kind, you nodded your head a little too vigorously holding out your hand for the man to squeeze the ring on, it was a little small but with enough pressure it fit. Before he could find his way back to his feet, you managed to knock him onto the ground, his arms wrapping around you as you attacked his face with small, sweet kisses. “I love you, Daryl Dixon” you whispered in between the kisses, only making the southerner laugh.

You sat there watching the waterfall between Daryl’s legs, his back providing the perfect back rest, only turning away to glance at your ring, not sure what was more beautiful. Finally you looked up behind you to find his eyes had been on you the entire time. He lent down to place one of his tender kisses on your lips as you reached your hand to his face. You sighed on his lips before he pulled away, your eyes remaining close as you let the feeling linger. “Mrs Y/N Dixon, I like how it sounds”

“Me too”

#daryl dixon #norman reedus #twd daryl #daryl dixon fanfiction #the walking dead fanfiction #twd fanfiction #daryl dixon x reader #daryl dixon x female reader #daryl dixon x you #daryl dixon x y/n

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bibliocratic · 4 years

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I was going to write this for the Aspec Archives week, but I got overexcited, so here we are.

AU: Mythical creatures. OG Archive team.

Some CWs apply, see tags.

The sea is more than water, her elder brethren taught her, warned her, chided her. It is home and harm and hungry, and you should not face it alone. Her siblings were older, ever knowing better, boisterous and boasting braver, but even they worried, scolded and fretted when she swam out too far alone into deep waters.

It will love you, but it will not always be kind, her eldest sibling bit out, snapped to mask their anxiety. There can be no bearings, in the deep-deep down, no anchors to denote where the sky lies.

When her people sleep, they rest wedged into some secure rock or crevice, tails looped around tails so no one is lost while dreaming.

You cannot be a shoal of one, my dearest, my youngest and bravest, the oldest of their shoal had said, when she told her she was planning on taking the rising when the waters warmed. Ascending landward on the tide swell, letting the shimmering scales of her tail split into skin.

She had not used the name Sasha at that time because that was a landward name she chose with care. Her folk gather names like a garland of pearls, to be constantly strung longer through life as age advances them; names for qualities, for momentous events, for hopes and desires. Her first name, gifted by her shoal, was guttural. It starts at the back of her throat, trails off into a susurration through gills. Mer is a difficult language to learn, though not impossible.

Tim tried. There is no one singular language of those who skirt the deepwaters, so he attempts to mimic her dialect. His pronunciation stumbling, he makes tentative sentences with the butchered grammar of fry. Martin’s grammar is even worse, though he picks up the eddies and waves of the sounds easier.

Jon, like most things in life, takes it as a challenge. One day, almost stubborn with nerves, to perform his task to perfection, he pushes out a juvenile approximation of her first name. Clipped and textbook and the stress in the wrong places, but Sasha smiles, showing her sharpest teeth in delight. Instructs him where to hold the hum at the back of his throat, how to roll the third phoneme upwards like an air bubble. Jon repeats it and repeats it, quietly smug and pleased at his achievement, and the sea in her soul rocks fondly at the sight.

She broached landward in the rising two moons after her age of maturation. She was one of a handful to come to shore. A sibling in Brighton who she phones every week, another two in Holyhead. Her first shoal traverses to warmer waters when the season shifts, and she would feel the rock-hollow absence of them if it was not for Tim, inviting her to participate in a hundred-and-one inane activities that keep her from feeling swept out; Jon, with his libraries of questions and intrigues, his quick-silver tongue; Martin, who sometimes swims a little further out from them but who finds her small knick-knacks in charity shops and craft markets and leaves them on her desk for no reason other than he has thought of her.

She makes three necklaces, plain with a strong chain, a single pearl attached. And on a day where her folk traditionally string garlands of seaweed and mangrove roots and colourful plants from coral reefs in a celebration of family – there is no one word in her language for this idea; it poorly translates into hierarchies like sibling and brethren and elders, but these are not concepts that fit it exactly – she gifts them to the shoal that will anchor her in the depths of the sea, and bestows upon them names. Most Mer names are wishes for quick fins, calm waters, safe shores, and so she wishes these for them in a language they are not quite proficient in yet.

Her landward shoal is smaller than is traditional. But she loves them as treasures of her heart, and thinks she understands what her siblings told her, about anchors.

His parents, both harpies from local nests, are perplexed when his wings start coming in.

Must be a colouring from your mum’s side, his dad hums thoughtfully when Tim’s primaries grow in long and shining like struck bronze. He runs a careful finger down the central line of the rachis, and the wing shudders and jumps, the feathers still sensitive, and Tim complains that it’s ticklish. His wings are too small to fly away as his dad dives in, captures him in careful arms, corkscrewing upwards a little off the ground with Tim squirming and squealing and squawking in play, but they flutter and flap nonetheless.

The wing span’s from your dad’s side, no-one from my nest ever went more than five foot, his mother says, rubbing at the dark brown of his downy secondaries. Tim stretches them out wide, eager to boast at their length, the tips of his longest feathers reaching past his arms held out wide.

Danny’s wings are smaller. Magpie like, bold lines of white broken up by blue and black, the same as his parents. Tim’s wings, broader, a colour like beaten brass that tips into gold at the ends, draws attention, but he’s never been embarrassed. His family never treated him differently, so he didn’t dwell on it.

He can fly, though he doesn’t often. After his parents died, and after… after Danny, he moved to London, where there’s tighter airspace regulations and permits involved, so he mostly doesn’t bother. This doesn’t mean never, however. He has learned, while working in the Archives, that from the ground, his wings have enough lift to pick up both Jon and Sasha by at least a foot. He thinks he could probably manage Martin as well, if it wasn’t for the unfortunate fact that Martin is mildly allergic to a whole host of things, including feather dander, meaning he gets a bit watery eyed whenever he gets too close to Tim’s wings, and he’s a sniffing, red-eyed mess come moulting season.

Anyway, he can always fly when he leaves the city. When it’s been too long since Sasha’s scales touched seawater, she invites him out to the coast. Jon apparently has had enough of the coast to last a lifetime, and Martin gets funny about large bodies of water, so it’s often the two of them. She swims out, the greenish scales of her tail catching the sun-struck water, and he, above, feeling the breeze brush through his cramped wings, follows her wake. When she breaches the surface in a playful arc, he swoops down, trying to catch her at the same time as she tries to splash him.

“You never thought to look into it?” Jon asks. Always brewing with questions. Tim is obligingly holding out one of his wings, and Jon, who takes everything like a project, has books out and webpages up but with no further clue as to why his colouration and span differ so from his parents.

Tim shrugs. “Doesn’t matter really, does it?”

Jon hums, clearly not agreeing, and Sasha rolls her eyes fondly, and that is the end of that.

Marysia had hoped her child would not take after her husband. She’d lit candles and attended masses during her pregnancy, worn the beads of her rosary smooth. Her child had been born on land, miles from shore, and her husband had been a grounded man, who had folded up his pelt on their wedding night for her and swore to wear no other soul than his human one.

But then her husband leaves, the box where he kept his second soul empty, and Martin is eight years old, and he wakes up one morning glassy-eyed and complaining of nausea, his lip bleeding from where his sharpening teeth have ripped the skin, and she knows her prayers were not answered.

It is not unknown, for the second soul of some folk to flourish later. But it is a rough awakening, to have one’s body grow a new skin out of itself, and Martin is off school for over a week, riddled with fever and fervour, constantly parched, crying and sweating out salt-water.

She watches his skin prickle with grey and black fur, blotching with white over his stomach as he coils up under his covers, throws them off only for his limbs to reduce to shivering. His brown eyes have gone black-shot, his cries a mix of language and barks, and Marysia fears she will lose her only child to the sea.

It will be hard for him to fit in, she tells herself. It would be best to choose one, and he has his friends and family and her on land, and who knows where his father is now, and surely it would be cruel, an unnecessary agony for him to endure some other foreign pull away from all he knows.

She does what she thinks is a kindness, though that is neither excuse nor forgiveness. After nine days, his fur has come through, sleek and soft, his whiskers twitching, and she helps him peel it off as one would do clothes, revealing sweat-sheened limbs, his eyes slipped back into brown again. His gaze still distant and feverish, he tries to cuddle into her, and she soothes him while she finishes stripping off his pelt and folding it neatly.

While he sleeps, she burns it in a fire in the back yard.

When he comes back to himself, she lies and tells him that he’s been sick with a bad fever. And he trusts her, and never questions it. He doesn’t understand that she’s burnt a part of him up, scattered the ashes to the winds, but it was for the right reasons. To keep him safe, and happy, and with her.

He grows up human-limbed and cloven-souled, and she never tells him the truth.

Sasha floats in an ever-dark, stolen away and hidden. There is a knot, a cage-trap around her legs, which have fused into her tail although there is no water. The sea, far away, like the wail in a conch shell, throbs in her soul as she strains and shouts and snarls in the wrapping of spider’s webs.

The sea is the only thing with her in the dark.

Sound has a particular quality, underwater. She hears it first, an echo that shivers through her, like being thrummed on the backdraft of some shallow wave. And then it is a wash of insistence. A command.

The compulsion uses her names, landward and seaward and it pulls and demands her attention, and she shrieks and cries back, struggling in the depths. She is being called home, up up up to breach the surface, and she cannot help but answer.

There is a crack and the sea splits, and she is choking on cold and dusty air.

“Sasha!” someone is saying. “God, is she – she’s not – ?”

“Get that stuff off her, come on. Sasha. Sash, love, can you hear us?”

A series of thuds as she splutters. A twisting, gnarling screech, and several swear words.

“Jesus!”

“Shit – shit, get her out of the way.”

“Boss, move, give me the – ”

The screech degrades into a glitching, warping scream. There is the multi-layered sound of compressed air, and crackling fire,the woosh and stench of something burning.

In time, she cracks her eyes open to the punch of light. Her tail flaps weakly. Someone is pulling great strands of silk that has clumped like poorly soldered iron around her limbs, making visceral noises of disgust. She’s cold-stream shivering, surrounded by broken wood and chippings.

“Hey, hey, we got you. We got you. You with us, Sash?”

The faint scratch of feathers against her cheek. Furnace-warm arms are holding her.

Jon is kneeling down in front of her. Holding an axe and stinking of smoke, and she knows, she knows, that it was his voice she heard, although she doesn’t yet understand why.

Martin throws a blanket over her as she shivers, her tail shrivelling and bisecting into legs. He has silk in his hair, and his fingers are trembling, but his face is broken with a look of such relief.

“It’s you,” he says, and his hand touches at his throat, at the necklace she made for him. “It’s you. It’s really you.”

It’s Martin in the end that carries her out of the tunnels, tucking the blanket completely around her. He is talking in the scatter-gun way he does when he is anxious, babbling, and she can’t bring herself to listen. He smells of soot and saltwater, and she’s never noticed that before.

She falls asleep, curled up into his hold, drained and shaken, but feeling utterly safe.

Jon is human. Completely, one hundred percent, although Sasha had joked once that way way back there must have been some Spinx in the family. Tim’s long suspected that Martin’s not quite human, no matter how he presents, but that’s Martin’s business, not his. Some folks have lineages that are rare, or mistrusted, or misunderstood, and Tim’s not one to pry.

Jon, though. Human through and through. Which is why he’s so worried.

“I shouldn’t have been able to do that,” Jon says. Martin’s with Sasha, making sure there’s no nasty side effects to her imprisonment in the table. Jon’s had a face on him for a while which means he’s Worrying with a capital W, and it’s taken hours for him to untangle himself into a blustered declaration to the rest of the class, spiked with nerves. “That place, it had her. It shouldn’t have… I don’t know what I did, but I told her to leave, a-and she could. And she shouldn’t have been able to.”

“And you think that you did that?”

“I – I know I did that, Tim, I felt it, o-or. I mean, I felt something!”

“Ok, alright. Alright. Let’s, let’s calm down and look at this logically.”

Jon goes over what he said while they struggled to rescue Sasha from the deep. It was something he said, he’s sure of it, which is why he is sitting cross-legged on the floor of the main archive office space with Tim, his trousers getting dusty and his temper scraping frayed, getting increasingly frustrated when he tries recreating exactly what he did with his voice, going through questions and commands and instructions and inquiries. And while Tim answers, it’s clearly not what Jon’s looking for, and he’s rubbing the hair at the back of his head in the way he does when he’s getting increasingly frustrated and is too bull-headed to walk away.

Then Jon, rolling his eyes and seething in annoyance, asks him a throwaway question, one of many he’s been trying – what’s your favourite colour? (seriously, Jon, that’s what you’re going with?!); What did you do at the weekend? (you know what I did, you and Martin were with me!).

“Why did you join the Magnus Institute?”

They both sit, frozen and horrified as Tim’s mouth opens and his words trip over his tongue in their eagerness to leave his mouth. As his eyes grow wide and water with tears as he cannot stop speaking about Danny, about the Covent Garden circus and Joseph Grimaldi. As Jon sits, ramrod-backed and cannot stop listening, a muscle jumping in his jaw. His expression wars between frantic and panicking and hungry.

Tim feels wrung out and hollow once he’s finished. Jon’s manic with apologies. It takes both of them a long time to calm down.

“Maybe… maybe you’re a siren or something?” Tim suggests, but Jon is shaking his head.

“It’s this place, Tim. It’s those statements, when I read them. It’s … I – I think they’re doing something to me.”

Tim looks at Jon and the light strikes off his eyes in a way that it shouldn’t on a human.

He touches Jon’s arm.

“We’ll sort this,” he promises. “We got Sasha out, didn’t we? The four of us, we can get to the bottom of this, yeah?”

Jon nods, and gives a small fragile thanks, and that’s human enough for Tim.

Marysia told herself she was not a bad mother. That her son was simply a hard child to love, that he had all the worst trappings of his father, his brown eyes perpetually caught with a far-away look that doesn’t know where to place its longing. But even as she sickened, and he sloughed off every facet of himself in a pathetic attempt to please her, she couldn’t find anything but sorrow in her heart to look upon the man grown over familiar in face, a growth that grew deep-set and fungal into contempt.

She almost spat the truth out to him. Once or twice, with the thought that confessing might bring them closer. She wished he’d chosen the sea instead, so she wouldn’t have to look upon her amputated, half-formed child who would always be lost.

But she never did.

And Martin finds out alone, cornered in an unlocked office, his hands dropping the lighter as a thousand eyes open and watch satisfied as they pour his mother’s choices down his throat to choke him.

It starts when Martin starts sleeping in archive storage. When Tim watches worms burrow into Jon’s skin at the same time as they latch and gnaw and wriggle under his own. When they get Sasha back, and find Gertrude’s corpse and Jon leaves and gets hurt and hurt and hurt again, and the world around them gets smaller and meaner and there is nothing Tim can do.

He takes to storing food in their desk drawers. Nothing that will go off, or won’t keep. Tins and dried goods and non-perishables. He lines the walls of Martin’s storage room with fire extinguishers of different types, fire blankets, and spare first aid kits bulging with plasters and bandages and antiseptic wipes. He buys blankets and pillows and rope and penknives. He stress-moults constantly, and tucks his feathers out of sight, irritated and embarrassed at the sight of them, and it occurs to him that nesting is not a healthy way to deal with this.

He wants his family safe. He used to think it was such a small thing to ask for.

He thinks about that when the bomb goes off.

He burns, and he is dying.

His rage and fear burn off into a different fury. That it has come to this, his family so threatened, that all he has to his name is his sorrow and trauma and frustration and vengeance.

Tim wants nothing more than to live. To see them safe. To rail and rage against what seeks to harm them. So he burns and he burns and burns, his wings aflame and his mouth twisted in a scream, and does not die.

They dig him out breathing from the rubble. His skin stained grey with ash and soot.

His new wings stretch out red as the sunset.

#tma #the magnus archives #fic #alternative universe #mermaid!sasha #pheonix!tim #selkie!Martin #regularOGhuman!Jon #with added Beholding spicyness #cws for implied child mistreatment #cw fire #cw burning #cw canon typical violence #cw compulsion #ask to tag

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arwenkenobi48 · 3 years

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Golden Dreams - A Faustus/Mephistopheles Oneshot

Night had descended on Wittenberg like a celestial blanket. The only creatures that stirred during that midnight hour were a parliament of owls, perched lazily in their hollows, and a restless scholar, alone in his study. Doctor John Faustus sat alone at his desk, poring over a tome on alchemy. Aside from the crescent moon’s silvery gleam, only the faint golden glimmer of a tallow candle illuminated the darkness. All was still and peaceful, yet the troubled man could not sleep. Turning to an oft-read page in his book, Faustus whispered in a voice that a mouse would struggle to hear. “Mephistopheles...” he whispered, as soft as rustling curtains. “Mephistopheles...”

There came the faint sound of flapping wings and the demon Mephistopheles, dressed in a dark robe (a twisted mockery of a friar’s habit), cautiously approached the one who summoned him. “You called?” He asked, in a voice so sweet and charming it was almost hypnotic. A smile tugged at the corners of Faustus’ lips. “Who else would it be?” He chuckled. “It must be of great importance that you should summon me at such an hour,” the demon replied. He arched one slanted eyebrow and tilted his head slightly to one side. “Any particular reason?”

Faustus sighed and rubbed his temples, leaning against his desk. “Sweet Mephistopheles, I am troubled by intrusive thoughts,” he murmured glumly. “They eat away at my mind and disturb my chances of receiving a decent night’s rest. I do hope you can do something to alleviate them,” “But of course, Faustus,” Mephistopheles smiled, gently placing his hands on his master’s shoulders. “I would do anything for you that is within my power,” As he massaged and rubbed the scholar’s shoulders, Mephistopheles leaned forward slightly and whispered into his ear: “Anything...”

As he uttered that word, a marvellous vision manifested before Faustus’ weary eyes. As he gazed out of the window towards the stars, their light and the light of the candle seemed to morph together, swirling into a torrent of light. The light transformed into a forest, dark and beautiful. Fair folk and strange yet glamorous spirits danced among the trees. Fair maidens combed their shimmering hair by the bubbling streams. He saw himself wandering, almost floating, through this ethereal place until he reached a clearing. And there he beheld a dragon’s treasure, a wondrous collection of gold and jewels. He was drawn to it like a magpie to a penny. There, reclining upon the immense pile of gold, Mephistopheles lay, more handsome than Faustus had ever seen him. With a seductive smile, the demon beckoned with a bejewelled finger. Slowly, Faustus came closer, right into his arms...

Mephistopheles’ smile widened as he took note of Faustus’ blissful expression. A rare feeling of compassion entered his heart. No, it was more than that. One could say he was feeling...love for this man. Mephistopheles also felt a brief ripple of unease as he remembers what would become of Faustus once their contract expired. But for now, he decided, he should make the most of the time they had left. “You are mine, Faustus,” Mephistopheles cooed in a singsong voice, wrapping his arms around his beloved. “You are mine...and I am yours,” Faustus leans back slightly, his head resting on Mephistopheles shoulder and his eyes closing. A soft moan of pleasure was released from his mouth. A quiet, contented purr came as Mephistopheles’ reply. There was nothing he loved more than spending the nights with Faustus in his arms, the two of them dreaming golden dreams.

—————————

*whispers gently* Happy pride month everyone ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🖤🤍🤎💖🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

#pride #pride month #mlm #mlm positivity #dr faustus #mephistopheles #oneshot #wholesome #fanfic #faustopheles #faust #christopher marlowe #fluff #(honestly I wrote this mainly bc I needed to give myself a bedtime story)#(but also bc I’m gonna be on here more often over the summer)#(sorry for being away so long)#(had to deal with life and mental health)#(but anyways I’m back)

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project-ohagi · 4 years

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Keigo Takami ღ Hawks {Folklore AU/Tanabata}

Buy me a coffee!! <3

Tanabata - Star Festival [In the original, Hikoboshi was a cow-herder, but here, Keigo is a falconer! Also, I used hawks instead of magpies]!

Vega/Orihime: (Y/n)

Altair/Hikoboshi: Keigo

----

The stars danced overhead, flickering in and out like a near-extinguished candle, painting the sky with shimmers of silver.

What could it have been, if not a testament to an incandescent romance? With the moon as their witness, the lovers embraced, spilling sweet, heartfelt nothings to atone for their months of separation - in which they awaited, perpetually, the very next July. The anguish and longing faded for merely a day.

The children, with robes tightly wound, turned their attention heavenward. Expressions of joy overtook them, for although the lovers were woefully star-crossed, their love transcended every boundary, no matter human or divine. It was because they loved in earnest, that they would survive, bear children, and thrive among the stars. A weaver and a falconer - a tale of instant love, of sorrowful beginnings and bittersweet endings. For the lovers, 'goodbye' held no great meaning past 'I shall cross this bridge again, my dearest'. There happened a throbbing pain, which waxed and waned throughout the year, but tore neither of them apart completely. Their story of love and loss was a cycle, destined to repeat until the universe ceased to exist.

For this one night, peace and serenity would come upon all the creatures, and all the gods. But the herald of morn was approaching with haste, and time was of the essence.

"Is there something on your mind, dove?"

Oftentimes, your reveries consisted of scenarios you couldn't bear to imagine, or the many years (when consecutively, your heart slipped into a deep mourning) in which the rainfall had seemed to forbid your meeting. You were trapped on opposing sides of the galaxy. It was your punishment, for once, love clouded your vision such that you had neglected everything, except one another. It was a powerful fire, that yielded to nothing. It could never be reduced to embers, nor quenched. You and he together embodied home, warmth, security. There were never doubts, nor arguments. You had not been endowed with the luxury of time.

"Do you remember when my father first brought us together?" You asked, fingers gliding delicately across his skin.

He chuckled. "How could I not? I fell in love with a single glance."

"As did I." His aura soothed your very soul. "Then, how about our first meeting, after the exile?"

"I remember it vividly, angel. I was in awe - you looked as beautiful as ever, and you felt as soft...like feathers." His blonde locks tickled your nape.

You giggled. "I remember my sorrow, and how I cried."

"Because there was no bridge, and the hawks, who heard your cries, came to assist?" He guessed, peppering your neck with kisses.

This subject carried a heavy emotional burden, and yet...addressing it seemed almost imperative.

"Indeed, my love. I was despaired of ever marrying, finding someone to treasure...so when father threatened to part us forever, I pleaded with him so desperately. I would never allow you to be taken, and I in turn, would never stray from your love. And if you were to pass, my heart would leap from my chest, to join you."

"I wish to echo your sentiments. You have long been my everything, and my heart, my lips, my soul...each part of me belongs to you. I vow to always hold your hand, even in death. My loyalties will never waver."

For this one night, embosomed by the arms of your prince, your saviour and your hero...you could break from all obligations, melt into him, feel his cold breath upon your skin. "I hope the rain is staved off again, come next year. I am lonely in your absence, my darling."

"Not too lonely, I hope? I miss you terribly each year, but when Summer dawns, the prospect of meeting you warms my heart. I long for this day. It is my favourite, above all others." He nuzzled you, relishing in the small, contented sighs escaping your lips.

Those gorgeous, plump lips.

You gazed at him, affection twinkling in your eyes. "Lonely beyond compare. I yearn to hold you close, to ask you questions - oh, I have so many, but...time is not something we have an excess of."

"If it were, I would still spend every second with you. You could ask your questions, I could ask mine...I would hold you closer, I would kiss you more." There existed a mischief in his voice, but you wouldn't ever trade it - strip away that roguish spark and replace it with innocence.

There would be no fun, no thrill.

Perfection was impossible to improve upon, regardless. "If that is your wish, then perhaps we do not need infinity?"

"Perhaps not, but I would still pray for it. It pains me that I cannot sleep beside you - my destiny. That, come the morning, I will be without you, once more..."

"Oh, Keigo...I will find my way back into your embrace. Always." Your devotion was genuine, unbridled - a thousand eternities could pass you by, and you might never notice.

His strong arms were no prison, no gilded cage; you felt the freedom coursing through your veins. It was freedom of choice, of love...but you would always return to him. The perennial years caused no disillusion, like perhaps your father had hoped. And your wistful words only strengthened the bond, as you recalled every fleeting moment together, whilst mapping out your future - the future that you would decide upon, as husband and wife.

Vega and Altair, (Y/n) and Keigo, lovers quick to matrimony, adored by the stars. "You will be welcome. Always."

This state of bliss was something you had only dreamed of, all those moons ago. "Keigo...I was losing myself, until you found me. Our hearts share a rhythm."

"(Y/n)...my life was void of colour, and happiness, until we met. Without you, I would succumb to that dark, sorrowful abyss of my past." The truth in his words was almost tangible.

You giggled, disturbing the motion of his hand on your stomach. "Why do you suppose they are hawks? I had envisioned a bridge of magpies - would they not better suit my character?"

"A hawk is a good omen, to see your dreams and goals through to completion. Perhaps they sensed your desperation...your lament? Ah, they are also messengers of the Spirit World."

"The Spirit World...? Then...were we perhaps mentioned? By the spirits of the flowers and the trees?" There was beauty in such starry-eyed curiosity.

A wave of grief crashed down, as he considered yet another year bereft of your seraphic voice, and feather-light touches. "It could be."

"Maybe they are watching over us. Oh, does that not sound divine?"

"Your voice sounds divine. I could listen for aeons, and never tire. I find myself longing to hear it, all too often." He confessed, with a sigh.

Such a doleful response should have been stifled - your conversation was never supposed to sour so. "Can you hear them? The children? They are hanging more tanzaku, by the shrine."

"Do you wish for children? Is it possible for us?"

"Nothing is impossible, my love. But I fear that time is not on our side, this year. So...perhaps the next?" Intimacy, in all its forms, was glorious.

Faint heartbeats and breaths amplified in this closeness. "Hmm...dove, if I could grant a single wish, for what would you ask?"

"I would ask for you." There was a pause - it was typical of him to be so sentimental, but this question carried a melancholic undertone. "To be yours, even as everything fades."

His stubble scratched against your skin. "In the reversed roles, I would ask the same."

You knew this, and you loved it. "I often wonder whether Okuninushi proposed our match."

"Haha, I wonder that as well." His laugh was spellbinding. "Had you rejected my courtship, I might have relinquished life to heartbreak, before your eyes."

"I would sooner perish myself, than cause you such misery."

"I would never allow that. I have an obligation to love, and to protect - as both husband and soulmate. My happiness is trivial, in comparison to yours." He swept aside your hair, cold fingers sending waves of pleasant feeling straight to your heart.

He tilted your head, as the weight of your eyelids became too great.

"You are my happiness, my home. If there was no spark of joy in your life, how could there be one in mine?"

The illumination below, from lanterns and torches that clung to trees and children's hands, was beautiful but brief. Some tanzaku glided with the wind, while the others were determined to remain on their branches. You sensed each and every wish, as if they were whispered into your ears. And perhaps this was true. Your faces were reflected in all the lovers, from young to old. Gratitude and hope, you directed toward them. Gratitude, for their wishes of well. Hope, for the flourishing of their love. Romantic love, self-love, and anything in-between. You hoped for them to find it, to show it in a fashion both pure and prudent.

For this one night, peace and serenity would come upon all the creatures, and all the gods.

Keigo and (Y/n) were finally reunited.

[Word Count: 1535]

#bnha #bnha hawks #bnha hawks x reader #keigo takami x reader #keigo takami #tanabata #folklore au #japanese folklore #vega #altair #orihime #hikoboshi #romance #my hero academia hawks #my hero academia scenario #my hero academia x reader

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theabominableblogger · 5 years

Text

Best Bits of Gotham S5

That opening flashback. Enough said.

The return of Oswald’s red sunglasses

Jim and Oswald being locked in the same cell and having to work together to get out

Bruce and Barbara still being petty AF over who has the tallest building in Gotham

Ed immediately deducing that Barbara’s pregnant because “she’s glowing”

Actually him and Oswald’s reactions are stellar

Bruce Freaking Wayne whooping all the freaking ass

“People. Ugh.”

Eduardo meeting Ed in the library on his first day in Gotham and being immediately annoyed by him

David Russo’s musical score for this final season. Holy shit.

“I hate stairs.”

THE ENTIRE CAST

Jim’s reaction to Oswald calling for Edward (the dog)

The submarine

“DID YOU NAME YOUR DOG AFTER ME?”

Ed being the true Dumpster Man that we all knew was inside him

Also the universal call to arms in order to chop off his raggedy hair

Edward the Dog

And Oswald being absolutely adorable over him

JEREMIAH VALESKA

ALSO ECCO IN EXTENSION

THE ENTIRE FANDOM going after the Gotham Twitter account and the writers (sans Tze Chun, who is one of us) for not recognizing that the Babitha ship is/was a thing

ZORRO

“There’s nothing there.”

Bruce being super duper concerned for Selina

And also being completely and utterly in love with her

THE COSTUMES. Enough said.

“Let’s do like my daddy did before my sixth birthday and move out!”

Harvey remembering that high fact from high school about the mouse even though it was like eons ago

Lili Simmons as grown up Selina in the series finale. We just need to recognize how brilliant she was

Victor Zsasz: Confirmed Chaotic Bisexual

Actually him in general

Jim trying to change the subject every time someone recommends killing Oswald

Have I mentioned that I would die for Jeté Laurence as Barbara Lee Gordon because I will and no one can stop me

Jeremiah eating a grilled cheese sandwich that Alfred made and really liking it

"Mrs. Ivy Pepper Zsasz.”

The complete banger of a plot twist: Mr. Penn returning as the Ventriloquist

“IT’S A CALLBACK!”

Barbara deciding to name her baby after herself because shut up

Oswald and Ed planning to run off together in the submarine

One-hit wonder Magpie

EVERYONE SQUASHING THEIR BEEF WITH EACH OTHER AND WORKING TOGETHER YESSSS

Jim and Lee FINALLY getting married

“You hurt my boy and I will bite your face off.”

Ed and Jeremiah digging into their figurative thesauruses for Episode 5

DIG A LITTLE DEEPER

Ed trying to steal the file away from Lucius and utterly failing

Barbara and Lee finally settling their beef and Lee being named honorary aunt

Ed pointing out how “thick” Oswald has become in the time jump

The fact that this season has a 100% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes

The fact that there was a cult/church out there who put Jeremiah Valeska on STAINED GLASSED WINDOWS and little candles

THIS MAN’S EGO IS SO BIG CAN WE JUST-

“Why would anyone be a cop in this world?” “Well, the Halloween shop was all out of gas masks so it was either this or Sexy Nurse.”

Actually, just Harvey Bullock in general is a National Treasure

EXPOSED GUN HOLSTERS. EVERYWHERE

Also, I saw y’all thirstin’ over Ben McKenzie in the pilot ;)

#Gotham #gotham spoilers #gotham season five #gotham fox #FOX

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prismatic-skies · 5 months

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QUICK GLIMPSE:

Cruella DeVil

Disney Villains, Vol.1

🖤❤️💛🤍🐾🤍💛❤️🖤🐾🖤❤️💛🤍

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ccsteiner-blog1 · 5 years

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Lyra’s Erotic Frolic with a Fairy

C.C. Steiner.

She could see through him, the dust floating inside his body like if the millions and millions of stars in the night-sky swam instead of staying put. Despite all this, he was a solid enough presence that she felt it as if he were a regular man. He was much taller and wider than her, and his face was both beautiful and plain at the same time. His head had horn-like points on the back. She couldn’t quite explain it but she was attracted to him. Him standing there, completely still...

1. An Introduction to Fairies

Fairies are curious creatures, possessing intelligence nearing to that of a human, but they lack the ability to communicate with us. It is unknown how they communicate with each other, or if they even communicate at all, no two have ever been seen together. They are an introverted creature, residing in a glade - a small forested enclosure similar in nature to that of a birds nest, but far more magical in nature - and they lure passers in by the magical glowing aura surrounding it. One could easily withstand it if they know what to expect, but caught by surprise their magic acts as a siren song to passers by.

The dim light from the solitary candle on the desk illuminated Lyra, who was sat in her study with her elbows on the desk. She was reading the book she had taken out of the library, The Encyclopedia of Magical Beasts. She did not want to be caught by surprise, and so was making sure to take in every word without distraction.

One thing to note of fairies is they are as attracted to humans possibly more so than humans are to them. Like a magpie to silver, the unaware may be trapped and become part of their collection. But unlike a magpie, they are

Lyra yawned and stretched, wondering when the book would get to the good stuff. She decided that it was time for a break, and got to to get a glass of water from the kitchen. A single apple was loose on the counter, so she grabbed it and took a big crunchy bite, before walking back to her study. This had better be worth it she thought to herself. She had had a boring week, no adventures to be had or treasure to be found. She decided that if the adventure was not going to come to her, she would go to it.

She got back to the desk and wondered where she was in the book. She thought that she must have finished the page if she had gotten up, so turned it to the next chapter.

2. Powers

A fairy may possess supernatural powers akin to that of a witch or wizard. But unlike them, they use the power at whim and without the need for aid from magical instruments or ingredients.

Fairy powers have been known to include the ability to shoot blasts of an elemental nature, rapid healing of wounds both theirs and others, teleportation and invisibility. It is unknown the true limits to a fairy's power. For a full list of known powers, turn to page

Lyra slammed the book shut. She could hardly keep her eyes open and scrolling down an index of fairy powers was not going to help her. She chuckled to herself as she thought that a fairy book had the power to send her to sleep. She tucked it under her shoulder and left the study, dragging her feet to bed and landing face down.

Lyra had her arms wrapped around broad shoulders. Feeling rippling muscles on a back she could see right through...

She woke and couldn’t remember quite what she was dreaming about, but knew what the feeling between her legs meant. Reaching her hands below the covers, began rubbing herself, she was already wet and ready and it didn't take her long. She thought about how she would not be caught unawares because she was to seduce the fairy. That must be the way to outsmart it. She got wetter and wetter and heard the smacking sounds of her fingers against herself as she rubbed herself exactly in the way she liked.

After she had finished - and made a pot of tea - she sat in bed with bent knees, her thighs holding up the book. Mug in hand, she read the last bit of information it had to give her on fairies, wondering if her theory about seducing the fairy first would be confirmed.

Defeating a fairy is not that different to defeating a vampire. One must consider the weaknesses and use them to their gain. All fairies have a weakness to iron, it being an often used tool by humans, they’ve evolved to have a natural aversion to it .(Turn to page 86 for an explanation on the workings of sympathetic magic) One cut from a sword will be enough to extinguish and gain its power. Although only at a fraction of the original strength. Still, a natural magical ability without the need for tools or ingredients is useful. A novice wizard or witch would find it so only for a brief moment before they surpass it, however those possessing no talent for magic would find use for it eternally.

So don’t get caught unawares, how hard could that be? Especially when she was actually looking for one. The book said unawares people got trapped, not people on the hunt for one. She took a sip of tea and closed the book.

Climbing out of bed she had nothing but a nightshirt on, and when she stretched in front of the mirror, she admired herself. A slight tuft of hair hid herself from immediate view, and she ran her fingers through it. Pulling a bunch of hairs taught before releasing them to their natural curly state again. She did rather fancy herself.

Lyra’s leather pants were hanging off the chair and when she put them on, the windows-flaps were open, they revealed parts of her hair down there, she thought it quite the pretty sight. Lyra tightened and knotted the thin rope holding them together and thus was covered up. Next her leather chestplate, which she would not draw too tight. She slid it over her outstretched arms and pulled it down over her chest. In the loosened state she admired herself in the mirror, wondering who would be next to tug on the rope and expose them like this. She tightened the rope, hiding her cleavage. Lyra tied her quiver belt around her waist and put on her boots. Ready to leave, she grabbed the book off the bed and tucked it under her arm.

Lyra had been and gone to the library, and now that she was free of the weight of the heavy book, she felt rather joviel. She almost skipped in her step, as if she was the only ray of sunshine on this grey day. Many passersby gave her a second glance, groups of men nudge each other as she walked by, some whistling and making comments. Today though, she didn't mind, she was going on an adventure the likes of which these common townsfolk had never seen. She felt as if she could defeat the whole lot of them unarmed.

She reached the edge of town and stood hands on her hips facing the forest. Eager for what awaited.

The dense forest turned out to not await much, all she saw was the occasional fox and rabbit. All she heard the light wind rustling through the trees. It seemed to go on forever and frankly she was bored, so you might forgive her for thinking the gods played a hand in her fate when it was at this moment she saw something that caught her eye. In the forest she seemed to be drawn in one direction more so than others, she was yet to see any reason for this but walked that way all the time. The trees seemed to get thicker and greener as she went, the dry dirt of the floor slowly turning into beautiful green grass, which was short enough for her to comfortably walk over. The air seemed to change too, earthy smells of the forest seemed to fade away and be replaced by that of serenity, how could serenity have a smell? She didn't know but it was what she felt. Each breath putting her more and more at ease, like she was in the bath after a long day. What brief wind there was turned to the feeling of silk on her skin as it blew past her, before becoming still. There seemed to be more birds chirping, birds she had never heard before, more musical in nature than should be possible, they’re melodies harmonising and dancing around each other.

Lyra saw a kind of wall of trees and bushes, and wondered how she would cross into it. She knew the answer when she got closer and came upon a vertically hanging tree branch, something inside her told her to swing it to the side so she could walk past it, like it was a door. She did so and it opened with ease. When she entered, she saw a beautiful glade, light shining through the trees was highlighted by a kind of misty dust in the air that sparkled and had her transfixed. When she got closer though it seemed to disappear. She could neither touch nor smell it, so she felt no danger from it. She felt at peace.

He was standing in front of her.

She didn't see him appear. She did not see him walk out from anywhere, He was just, there. Half transparent, he seemed to be made of the dust that she had seen all around her, which was entirely encapsulated in his body now, she didn't see it anywhere else, at least she didn't in the corner of her eye as she daren’t look away from him. Instinctively knew him to be a he, his aura was that of hulking power and domination.

She couldn’t quite explain it but she was attracted to him. Him standing there, completely still. She remembered what she was there to do, and reached out a hand to touch him but retrieved it straight away out of a kind of nervous anticipation. He didn't moved so she did it again and this time touched his skin, which to her surprise felt completely solid, his large pecs were definitely so, and as she ran her fingers down his stomach, also muscly and hard, she saw something appear between his legs where there had been nothing before. It didn't grow as much as appear from thin air, as if it was always there and she could merely not see it. But now it stood proud, larger than average, but not too large she saw, just the right size, everything was going to plan as reached her hands down below it, feeling what hung there, they retracted slightly at her touch, but they soon relaxed again. She stood there, massaging them. He infront of her. That's when he grabbed her arms.

Gripping with both hands, he pulled her towards him and kissed her, she felt her heart racing at his sudden animation, wondering in anticipation what he would do next.

He found the string of her leather breastplate and pulled, it easily came undone and her breasts became freer, her cleavage now exposed. He lifted her arms up for her, then grabbed her breastplate and pulled it off, her breasts bouncing out of their enclosure, nipples exposed and hard.

He then bent down on his knees and placed one in his mouth, slowly licking, he was gentle. His other hand was too as it pinched a nipple, lightly and securely. She closed her eyes and gasped, her hair on the back of his head. He did not have hair but he was not bald either, it seemed a kind of crown of horns. They felt thick and hard, as if they were made of bone, she opened her eyes to see that they had the same look as the rest of him, made of stars.

He pulled her leggings down, she hadn’t noticed that he had undid them before and she climbed out of them and her boots when they were on the floor. She was now fully naked except for her sword belt.

Still holding onto her breast, the fairy clicked the fingers of his other hand and they were somewhere else.

She was laying on her back completely naked on what seemed to be a bed, it was circular in shape, ten times the size of any regular bed and made entirely of a kind of black bud she could not identify, she felt like they were laying on a giant flower with the way its border was circled around them, giant golden petals each as large as the bed itself. The fairy had one hand holding her by the back of her neck. He kissed her and laid her down gently. The tips of his fingers were running down her stomach, which tingled and slightly tickled. They made it down to the tuft of hair between her legs, which it stopped at and found the spot which sent waves through her body. She stretched out her arms and arched her back in pleasure as he massaged it and she gave herself to him fully, she would let him do with her whatever he wanted. And that he did as he stood up and she automatically got on her knees, putting him in her mouth in one motion, whilst the fairy remained ever stoic. However, by the way his hand rested on the back of her head, gently pushing on it told her that he was enjoying himself. She used both hands now, massaging and gripping and licking and sucking it all over. She wondered what it would look like when it came out. She wanted it inside her. She took him out of her mouth and swiftly turned around, sticking her rear in the air with her back arched as far as she could make it go, fully presenting herself to him. If he couldn't speak her language he would at least know what this meant.

She was all his. He knew.

He got on his knees and guided himself into her, her wetness allowing her to fully embrace him inside her without any difficulty. First he held onto her sword belt, which she still wore. Then her waist, his fingers under her at the sides, allowing to both pull her higher up and towards him, and to also control her as he filled her up, taking it out all of the way but the tip and submerging it again. She screamed in ecstasy whilst moving an arm down below to play with herself at the same time. He noticed and grabbed both her arms and then used one of his to hold both of them behind her, pulling her upright towards him, he reached around with the other and started playing with her with all of his fingers close together. He was slow at first, but the incredible way she was feeling seemed to tell him that he could be fast, flicking his hand back and forth with more than enough pressure on her. She felt like a goddess. Waves came crashing through her and she felt closer and closer. The fairy increased his pace and his pelvis was bashing against her as he tried to go deeper than was possible, she was already so full as he started being rougher with her. He grabbed her hair and pulled so even though he had let go of her arms, she still had to lean back from her neck being arched. Still he remained silent. A regular man would be grunting and huffing and sweating all over her, but he merely stayed silent as he she felt like he was destroying her from the inside out. He let go of her hair and before she fell he grabbed her neck and he squeezed tightly but not too tightly, enough to get a good grip on her as he went even faster and rougher, the sound of him going in and out and her skin on his skin got louder and louder as he thrusted one last time and stayed there, twitching inside her. He reached around and, other hand still holding her by the neck, worked the area between her legs whilst releasing his thrust into her only slightly and going back to fill her up again. He played with her and played until she couldn’t take it anymore and started writhing around from her climax, she grabbed his leg and the floor and anywhere she could but it was too much and he let go of her, she fell on the ground with her rear exposed in the air and she couldn't move for the pleasure she was feeling, whilst this was happening he moved to the side of her and stuck two fingers inside her, she was so wet and he thrusted them in and out rapidly with seemingly no care to her comfort. She didn't mind though as it merely gave her another orgasm. She finally finished and felt him drip out of her. She saw it land between her legs and it looked much the same as the rest of him. A puddle of starry night on the bed.

He clicked his fingers and they were somewhere else.

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love-sallo-blog · 5 years

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Escape to Paris for the Most readily useful Holiday Knowledge Ever

It is just a city that has maintained landmarks, formal German gardens and also first class art choices which makes it a marvelous position to be in for a earned holiday. The fashion stores really are a must mention when speaking about that Town contemplating that it is home to some of the very most popular style developers; participate in a few looking spree and bring out your style sense.

A sightseeing tour of Paris unveils the treasures it hides and when you yourself have a guide to provide aid, you can't make a mistake or lose out on whatever justifies your time. Paris Attractions There are all sorts of visit packages, giving you the flexibility of picking according to your interests. But despite having therefore several things to supply, there are some internet sites which are will need to have on your own visit if at all you are to express that you've observed the very best of what the town offers.

It is truly the top appeal that is a must see in Paris being probably the most renowned making across the globe. You will not just enjoy the architecture, but additionally the wonderful opinions of the town from up the tower and the incredible meals you are able to appreciate at the cafe on the next floor. It stands at a whole meters and stayed the tallest creating on the planet for a long time before the Empire State Developing needed over.

It is a memorial hosting selections representing good works of all impressionism masters. The performs you will discover in that museum are from famous musicians such as for instance Bonnard, Monet, Truck Gogh and Cezanne among many others. If you adore artwork then here is the museum to possess in your tour package to take a look at some of the most unforgettable pieces like Claude Monet's The Magpie.

This palace is nothing lacking spectacular and wonderful and is where the leaders lived. Every single room within it's well-maintained and elegant with the hall of mirrors being the peak of parts in the palace. In addition to the intriguing interiors, the gardens on the outside add to the grandiose of the palace making it value looking into in your tour.

It is a bit of artwork with a façade done in lovely ornamental design detailed with statues, gargoyles and soaring buttresses. The decorations are manufactured with amazing stained cups for the windows and the beautiful entrance is something that'll certainly attract your interest as you enter in to this sanctuary. The flickering candles lighting the refuge makes it have a feel of holy serenity.

Formally Place Loius Le Great, the square was actually built to install elegant academies, elegant selection and the peppermint but financial difficulties pushed the king to sell it to wealthy citizens. It is none the less still a good website to see in Paris.

Paris is capital of France, really famous and interesting city. Most useful time for visiting Paris is spring or Christmas time. At The holiday season every ting is very nice furnished and bright. Specialties are looking windows and Visit Eiffel. City transportation is extremely effective but you should avoid time when people are returning from work. It is also very intriguing to visit Tour Eiffel during the night since view is fabulous. When you have time visit show at Moulin Rouge but

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post-itpenny · 6 years

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Abditory

A consealed location used for storage.

Lets take a look at a very personal moment with the hunters of the Vampire AU.

Magpie’s home had at one time been a small country estate. Why and how she had acquired it her nephew and ward had no idea but it was as much apart of the woman as the woman herself. Maggie imagined that in its original state the house would have been quite grand with its Georgian architecture and many rooms. But now it was a sad and faded shadow of the before. The stone walls had become stained from weather and time. Small chunks had even broken off at corners. Inside the wallpaper was peeling, the wooden floors were dull and creaked terribly, the carpets faded. The garden outside an untamable mess.

But to Maggie and Vespers, it was a quiet beauty that could only be appreciated if you actually lived there.

Magpie never allowed a speck of dust, the air was never musty, a mix of candles and electric lights chased away all shadows at night. The garden while wild was not overrun with weeds but garlic flowers, wild roses, rosemary, a few rowan trees, and a variety of other plants all serving the same purpose of protecting against the powers of evil. Magpie was meticulous and loving of her home leaving her housemates to assume that the initial appearance of the home was to keep people from feeling inclined to want to visit…. which worked.

Magpie was a private person who had only allowed her two housemates and a dog into her world. They knew her as someone who had a sense of humor and was fearless in nature, who they had come to love and place a great amount of trust in.

Which was why they hated keeping secrets from her.

Neither had told Magpie about their interactions with the Vampire community. The same community that all three had taken an oath to irradiate for the greater good of humanity. Granted, they were certain she had at least some idea what they were up too but Vespers was certain had she known about Stellar himself Magpie would intend to hunt and kill the D’Vitt herself.

Maggie was terrified to tell Magpie she intended to leave humanity behind all together.

Instead she quietly announced over dinner that she planned early retirement. Feeling that she was not cut out to be a hunter.

It was true that their clan did not care much for Maggie who they found unfocused and squeamish when it came to killing blood-suckers. That being said a deep frown settled on Magpie’s features and she said nothing. The rest of the evening Magpie was unreadable which put the two younger hunters on edge, especially when she went to bed early, her pet dog trotting at her heels.

The next day Maggie found a note under her bedroom door.

#13, 2 panel, opposite of cracked glass.

It was an unsolvable riddle, except for Maggie.

When Maggie was first brought in to Magpie’s home she was a small child and very overwhelmed with the size of the house. For some reason she had decided that it would help to assign a number to each room, even the attic and broom closets. There were 17 rooms in the house, number 13 was on the top floor under the attic and happend to have a window with a cracked pane.

Maggie tapped on the wooden panels across from this window into she found what she had been assigned to find. A small hollow space behind the second panel. Inside there were a few boxes and a leather trunk but plenty of space for a few more thing not meant to be found. Maggie quietly ripped up the note and put the pieces in her mouth before closing the panel and going to pack.

Previously, any evidence of her friendships with the undead she had hidden in suitcases under her bed. But Maggie knew the clan elders had little trust of her like they had little trust of Magpie. She knew they occasionally spied on her movements in the evenings but she had always been careful, however it seemd Magpie worried the house would be searched.

Which meant she knew what Maggie and Vespers had been doing the whole time.

Maggie chose not to dwell on this as she carted suitcases to the hidden space. Her momentos of friendship: Letters and invitations for various gatherings, a few pictures she had taken with Coralline and Lilly, flowers she had carefully pressed from her best friend’s funeral. Diary entries discussing her evenings spent in the D’Vitt manor and her growing closeness with the vampire Billy. She had never thought of these things being incriminating but now that she was so close to the end…. logic would have been to burn it all but she just couldn’t bring herself to find a match.

The final thing she had to hide was her dress. The beautiful gold-trimmed thing she had been given to wet during the D’Vitt’s holiday festivities. She had treasured it and previously kept it hidden in the depths of her closet. Maggie hates the idea of leaving it exposed for moths and dust to attack and decided the trunk that was already in the hidden space might be able to hold it.

The trunk had plenty of space for the dress but what caught Maggie’s attention were the other contents of the trunk. A stack of file folders…. and a dress.

It was a deep purple that slowly faded to a creamy white. The skirt was flowing and sparkled under the little light that filtered into space. Maggie pulled out the dress to admire it. The careful stitching of a built in corset made her realize the dress had been tailored to someone. It was upon further inspection however that Maggie gave a gasp of surprise and stuffed the dress back into its trunk out of fright. She had found why the skirt sparkled.

Maggie grabbed one of the file folders and quickly flipped through it’s contents. They were case files. Magpie’s last mission before she retired. Maggie had head this story but only in small bits and details. Magpie had been tasked with going undercover in a following of humans and vampires alike. Her job to take out their leader, a vampire simply known as Jack. Magpie had apparently been successful but was immediately ordered out out the hunter clan at the mission’s end.

In one of the files there was a photo. A young Magpie in the purple dress, wrapped in the arms of a man who was clearly one of the undead. He had given her a dress with diamonds sewn into the skirt. He must have been fond of her. Maggie examined the way Magpie looked up at him in the photo and wandered how much was she really acting.

Maggie sighed and packed away all the contents of the hidden space including her own additions. Deciding that for now at least, it was best to leave the past alone.

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365creativechallenge · 4 years

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365 Creative Challenge

2020 has been a hell of a ride. But I want to try something different for 2021. I want to get back to my creative roots. I used to write all the time, I wanna get back in that habit.

So, here’s the idea:

I have created 365 (and then some) prompts for me in 2021. The aim is, each day I will pick one at random (except 1. and 365) and I will do something creative with that prompt.

I might write something, cook something, sew something. It might not get completely finished that same day because #life and also my job is going to keep me busy. But the point of it is that I will have 365 days of doing SOMETHING creative.

So, here is my list. Hopefully under the cut. Feel free to follow me on this journey. We’ll see what happens!

1. The beginning

2. Butterfly

3. Jay bird

4. Pumpkin

5. Yellow

6. War

7. Talisman

8. Fish

9. Quote to live by

10. Haiku

11. Three best words

12. Song lyric

13. Garden

14. Award

15. So weird

16. Comfort food

17. Dull

18. Challenge

19. Fruit

20. Hope

21. Sidekick

22. Three wishes

23. A magic spell

24. Sloth

25. Cider

26. You and what army?

27. Happy place

28. Slug

29. Sailor Moon

30. Vanilla

31. Family

32. Dragon

33. Goodbye

34. Insanity

35. Mermaid

36. Whisper

37. Brilliant

38. Overgrown

39. Autumn

40. Break away

41. Forgotten

42. Wear it

43. Heart of glass

44. Sprint

45. Wild

46. Invisible

47. Birthday

48. Japanese

49. King

50. Spill your guts

51. Villain

52. Beyond the Oath

53. Sun

54. The locket

55. Tomorrow

56. Leather

57. Rumour

58. Vent

59. Sin

60. Rawr

61. Slaughter

62. Dog

63. Dungeons and Dragons

64. Forgiveness

65. Thrill

66. Enemies

67. Sex

68. Cheat

69. Crime

70. Betrayal

71. Mute

72. Chink in your armour

73. Legend

74. Gold

75. Snail

76. Angel

77. Forest

78. Eyes

79. Breathe

80. Demon

81. Dragon

82. Tiefling

83. Magpie

84. Secret

85. Original character

86. Queen

87. Hunter

88. Error

89. Tame

90. Bride

91. Letter to my future self

92. Blackmail

93. Bright

94. Stolen

95. Envy

96. Twin

97. Eternal

98. Cat

99. Just one night

100. Treasure

101. Chibi

102. Freedom

103. Chains

104. Gems

105. Bravo

106. Moon

107. Apocalypse

108. Hate

109. Circle

110. Float

111. Strong

112. Sinking

113. Legend of Zelda

114. Help

115. Ghost

116. Cliff

117. Letter

118. Tickets

119. Adventure

120. Rescue

121. Advice

122. Transformed

123. Coral

124. Flooded

125. Blank page

126. Happiness

127. Shiver

128. Fist

129. Lullaby

130. Rainy day

131. Found

132. Dusk

133. Can you hear me?

134. Delivered

135. The gift

136. Post man

137. Wtf?

138. My hero

139. Roses

140. The Woman in the Portrait

141. Frail

142. Shadow

143. Survival

144. Water

145. Twilight

146. Shield of Oak

147. Friends

148. Sugar and Spice

149. Eulogy

150. Greed

151. I will never regret…

152. Ancient

153. Sacred

154. Guilty

155. The Blood in the Winter

156. Locked

157. Stars

158. Imagination

159. Mine

160. Cosy

161. Absent

162. Shoes

163. I found a key…

164. Pastel

165. First step

166. Who are you?

167. Anxiety

168. Drunk

169. Out of breath

170. Wet

171. No entry

172. Stiff

173. Mist

174. Frozen

175. Paladin’s shrine

176. Metamorphosis

177. Pokémon

178. No pen

179. Hello

180. Dear Diary…

181. Dawn

182. Purple

183. Wooden

184. The new guy

185. Temptation

186. Blur

187. Horses

188. Hero

189. Always

190. Necklace

191. Runaway

192. Death

193. Gunshot

194. Free delivery

195. Laughter

196. Hustle

197. Luck

198. Love

199. Video games

200. Moonlight

201. Mirror

202. Flicker

203. Disease

204. Scribe

205. Unopened

206. Rainbow

207. Night

208. Day

209. Dreams

210. Sushi

211. Five years from now…

212. Fire

213. Blind

214. Don’t look down

215. Surprise me

216. Daughter

217. Ripples

218. Harry Potter

219. Zodiac

220. Childhood

221. Tarot

222. Apart

223. Memory

224. The Lightning Heavens

225. Train

226. Snow

227. Ocean

228. Revelation

229. Handful of light

230. Beach

231. Blue

232. You bastard.

233. Summer

234. Dizzy

235. Teacher

236. Call your name

237. History

238. Plague

239. Paradise

240. Starry night

241. Horror

242. Lunar

243. Hunger

244. Quiet

245. The clouds gather

246. Tea

247. Loud

248. Peace

249. LGBTQ+

250. Bread and honey

251. Injured

252. Pier

253. School

254. Murder

255. Nightmare

256. Curse

257. Doom

258. Burning the midnight oil

259. Spring

260. Air

261. Superstition

262. Lost

263. Thunder

264. Heart chains

265. Magic

266. Yeet

267. Spare parts

268. Candle

269. Look back

270. The Oracle in the Sea

271. Glitter

272. Innocent

273. Embrace

274. Son

275. Dinosaur

276. Heal

277. Immortal

278. Unexpected kindness

279. Embers

280. Earth

281. Spirit

282. Me

283. Strange sign

284. Tension

285. Fallen angel

286. Banned

287. Silence

288. Window

289. Daydreaming

290. Escape

291. Succulents

292. The fight

293. Giant

294. Chocolate

295. Surrender

296. Potion

297. Frog

298. Eclipse

299. Glass

300. The three friends

301. Halo

302. Siren

303. Thief

304. Oracle

305. Breaking the rules

306. Tiny

307. Broken

308. Voices

309. Purity

310. Charm

311. Drowning

312. After all this time?

313. Stunned

314. Solitary

315. Infinite

316. Patience

317. Regret

318. Lean on me

319. Sleep

320. To catch a dream

321. Collapse

322. Wake

323. Imprisoned

324. Thief of Smoke

325. Feather

326. Constellations

327. Tired

328. Coat

329. Justice

330. Left hand

331. Waiting

332. Reflection

333. Grey

334. Threat

335. Music

336. Can I come in?

337. The main character

338. Space

339. Impatient

340. Son of the Devil

341. Ever a Never After

342. This time

343. Get your hands dirty

344. Fangs

345. Together

346. Hidden

347. Here and now

348. Spider

349. Cruel

350. You knew?

351. Tangle

352. Joy

353. Idea

354. Revive

355. Wild things

356. Half

357. Glimmer

358. Storm

359. Clear

360. Winter

361. Puzzle

362. Sanctuary

363. Tower

364. Doubt

365. The end

Extras

366. Pour

367. Drop

368. Support

369. Kindness

370. Friendship

371. Ransom

372. Hostage

#365creativechallenge #365 #create more

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tipsycad147 · 5 years

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20 Fascinating Sea & Air Creatures To Focus Your Magic

SL Bear

I had so much fun writing about animals in magic in part one of the animal magic series but there were so many animals I wasn’t able to cover the first time around. I’m going to try to get to everyone’s favourites in the next two parts, and a few intriguing creatures that we may not think about as magical. Animals can lend such a wide variety of energies to a witch’s work that it’s worth it to delve into more of their associations. I hope you enjoy learning about these animals as much as I did!

Water Bound 1. Shark

With its jet-black eyes, ghostly movements, and uncontrollable power, the shark is an animal that strikes fear in the hearts of many. Sharks stay in perpetual motion to keep oxygen flowing into their gills and are great animals to channel when you feel stagnant and need to get out of a rut (or revive lost motivation). Sharks also have exceptional senses of smell and go after their kills with tenacity. The term “shark” is applied to those in business who are shrewd and obscenely rich, so this animal is a great inspiration to any witches looking to advance their businesses or careers. Invoke the shark by keeping an (ethically sourced!) shark tooth in a mojo bag or wear as a piece of jewellery around your neck. Also a wonderful protection totem.

2. Swan

Swans are associated with the Valkyries, or Swan Maidens, and transformation. The story of the Ugly Duckling plays on this transformative angle as well. In fact, swans feature prominently in fairy tales, often as devices of mystery, secrets, the night and the moon — typically in the form of maidens turned into swans to hide their true identity. You should use swans in your magic when you need to keep something hidden. Place an image of a swan on your altar when you’re trying to keep secrets or veil something from prying eyes. Pair the swan image with the moon or water for extra protection and to amp up your intuition.

3. Otter

An animal built for play. The otter embodies both earth and water energies and a joyful nature. They relax. They hold on to each other while they sleep, floating in the water, and symbolise support and friendship. Pair seashells with an image of an otter before a family outing to ensure a good time for everyone. Light a green or blue candle and invoke the spirit of the otter whenever you’re getting too serious!

4. Crocodile & Alligator

These animals can symbolise patience and stealth, and embody many of the dragon’s characteristics, but what I find most impressive about this reptile is their ability to survive. Crocodiles actually roamed the earth with the dinosaurs! They are also quite long-lived, and so I recommend using this animal in spells for health and longevity. In the south, alligator feet are sold to gamblers for luck, so drawing this animal somewhere on your person before buying lottery tickets may be just the edge you need.

5. Frog

Like the swan and the butterfly, the frog is a transformative animal. It changes dramatically from a polliwog to a frog and can live on land and in the water. Frogs were the second plague in Exodus and are seen in a bad light by some. However, in other cultures, the frog is seen as a good omen because he comes out when there is a lot of rain — a symbol of life. I suggest two ways to call on the frog symbol. First, if you’re a weather witch and would like help summoning rain, draw a frog symbol in a patch of dry earth and sprinkle this area with blessed water. Second, if you’d like to curse someone with an abundance of something unpleasant, draw a frog somewhere on your target’s taglock.

6. Fish

Fish have evolved to live in the deepest, darkest corners of the earth — places humans can’t go — and therefore they represent mysteries and deep understanding of the self. They are also one of the more colourful and brightly patterned animals and so are associated with artists, creativity, and enlightenment. Incorporate the fish symbol in sigils (as this shape is quite easy to draw) and focus the sigil on self-discovery. Some truths are hard to take, which makes the fish an especially good symbol for this type of magic. They remind you to learn, but not to dwell, and always keep moving forward.

7. Crab

Protection, stubbornness and emotion. In the zodiac, the crab is the symbol of Cancer and the moon. One of the most important things I have learned in life is how to set boundaries and the crab is an amazing animal to invoke if you wish to protect yourself in this way. Light a white or black candle, include a water element, and use a piece of real crab claw or a just simple drawing of one to represent yourself. Light the candle and reflect on simple and more complicated boundaries you’d like others to respect. Carry the image of the crab with you to remind you to be firm about how you expect others to treat you. Use the crab to get in touch with your emotions, in control of them, and responsible for them at all times.

8. Dolphin

Because this animal looks like it’s smiling, it is seen as a joyful, playful animal. However, dolphins are renowned by scientists for their intelligence — rivalling even our own. They use echolocation to find their way through water and have highly evolved communication skills. Some believe dolphins even have extra senses as they can perform extraordinary feats of athleticism, show high empathy, are extremely curious, and possess the ability to connect with other animals in unusual — even baffling — ways. They are a symbol of communication and cooperation, so I suggest using dolphins in your magic when you’re having difficulty saying something or letting someone know how you feel.

9. Turtle

Tortoises and turtles carry a lot of weight — literally and symbolically. In Hinduism, the turtle carries the weight of the universe on his four legs (which represent the four cardinal directions and elements). Because turtles live for a long time, they are natural symbols of longevity, health and of course, wisdom. Illustrated in fables like the Tortoise and the Hare, the turtle is also a symbol of perseverance and taking things at your own pace. After all, it’s not about how fast you get there but that you get there in the end. At home in water and on land, you can use the turtle symbol with both these elements. You can wear the turtle symbol as jewellery or draw it on your altar or somewhere in your workspace to remind you to keep at your goals and to be unconcerned with rising to anyone standard’s but your own.

10. Orca

The blackfish, or wolf of the sea, is a respected predator, but is also known for its deep familial bonds, intelligence, and prowess — the human being’s ocean counterpart. Orcas travel great distances each day and are a symbol for travellers. Perhaps more than anything, the orca is known for their devotion to their families, often becoming despondent after losing a mother or calf. Call on the spirit of the blackfish when you need inner strength, especially when dealing with family conflict. Before travelling to see family, draw a symbol of an orca in chalk on your dashboard to ensure safe travel.

Made Of Air11. Crane

This elegant bird is a prominent symbol in Asian cultures for good fortune, long life and a strong marriage. Cranes also represent serene calm — retaining your dignity during chaos and storms. The iconic origami crane is a symbol for happiness and learning how to craft one to add to your altar will bring joy and good luck. You can also invoke the crane before a wedding to bring good fortune and wishes for a stable, happy life together.

12. Dove

Peace. Strangely, these birds produce “milk” for their offspring and because of their pure white feathers and nurturing nature, doves are a symbol of motherhood, sharing links to the Virgin Mary and Ishtar. Doves are symbols of communication, appearing in the bible with an olive branch to alert Noah to the presence of land. They can be trained to carry messages back and forth between parties, like pigeons, but even before that were seen as messengers from the gods. Any mothers facing problems with their children can call on the dove for assistance by lighting a white candle and placing a white feather before it while asking for help.

13. Eagle

Courage and communication with the divine. Known as the “king of birds”, the eagle has excellent eyesight and flies much higher than other birds, it sees all and knows all. This also gives it a link to the sun, as it is often appears to fly straight into it! The eagle is a symbol of power, and its feathers are treasured among the Plains tribes who use them to make magnificent headdresses. However, those who don’t have a right to own one of these creatures feathers will face heavy fines if caught with one. Use the eagle symbol in magic to communicate with spirits and your chosen patrons. Draw an eagle before yellow and golden candles to receive messages about which direction to take during confusing times.

14. Hummingbird

This jewel-bright bird can live in the desert, jungle, or mountains and survives on nectar and small insects. Its adaptability and flight maneuverability have made it a symbol of mystical connection — the hummingbird can move in all directions, even beyond the veil to converse with spirits. The hummingbird is a master at conserving energy, slowing down its heartbeat to a near standstill at night only to revive in the morning light and begin its endless mission for food all over again each day. You can use hummingbirds in your magic to bring things into perfect focus. Throughout the day, we waste time on so many useless or petty things, but the hummingbird does not! Keep a hummingbird figurine on your desk or wear a piece of hummingbird jewellery to stay clear on your goals and stop wasting time on things that simply don’t matter.

15. Magpie

A delightfully fun trickster bird. The magpie collects shiny objects and can imitate human voices and other sounds with eerie perfection. Because of its thievery and imitation skills, the magpie is often seen in a negative light, but I happen to disagree with this assessment. I see this bird as resourceful and a wonderful totem to those who like to think outside the box and play the game by their own rules. It’s not an easy path, though, and invoking the spirit of the tricky magpie may be just the thing to evade those who seek to impede your individual journey. Remember to pay homage to the magpie when you ask for his help by placing mirrors and other shiny things on your altar as thanks!

16. Rooster

Each morning on the farm, the rooster heralds the sunrise. He is alert, ready, and brave. Universally, the rooster is a symbol of sexuality and the sun, though to some he is vain, prideful, and flamboyant — “cocky” if you will. This is a bird to call on when you need confidence before a big event in your personal life or at work. Be sure to include a fire element, either stones or candles, face east, and perform any rituals involving the rooster as the sun rises.

17. Sparrow

This unassuming brown bird is so common she often goes unnoticed but the sparrow represents perhaps the most important part of many of our lives: Family and home. We often take for granted the simple things in life, things that were they to go, we’d miss more than anything else. Paint or frame a small image of the sparrow in the kitchen or living room to remind you to appreciate the things in your life that are most important: Your loved ones, your safety, and your home.

18. Wren

This clever little bird is a surprising symbol of royalty and shares the title “king of the birds” with the eagle. It is a symbol of magic and intelligence, and despite its small stature, is considered quite powerful. The wren can be used to amplify spells, especially those concerning wisdom and truth. Carrying an image of this bird will also give you an edge in games of chance and any competition where you may be an underdog.

19. Peacock

The peacock is a showstopper with a big reveal. The eyes in the peacock’s tail feathers lead some to believe that the peacock is a symbol for visionaries and was the protector of royalty. In Hinduism, the peacock is associated with Lakshmi, a goddess of good luck. I suggest using peacock feathers in your magic for any new projects that require creativity and your psychic gifts. This beautiful bird’s gifts will facilitate art projects, writing, and anything involving design.

20. Vulture

For some the vulture is a symbol of oncoming death, which is understandable because vultures are scavenger birds and follow death around to survive. However, in Egypt they were revered for keeping the city clean. The vulture is the perfect bird to help with cleansing. Keep an image of this bird on your altar to peck away any invading negative energy or channel its spirit while doing personal cleansing to clear away any residual bad vibes.

https://thetravelingwitch.com/blog/20-fascinating-sea-air-creatures-to-focus-your-magic

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