#might update it as more relatives make an appearance

[twisted-x-hearts]

Was bored, so compiled a list of the relatives now revealed in TWST.

Potential Spoilers below.

First up, we have Leona's nephew, Cheka Kingscholar and the source of Leona's angst. Based of off Simba from The Lion King.

Next up is Jamil's little sister, Najma Viper. Believed to be based of off Jafar's sister Nasira from the PS1 game Nasira's revenge.

After that, we have Meemaw Felmier, A.K.A Marja, the Sledding Champion. A picture you find duirng the Harveston Event shows her looking identical to Epel in her youth, meaning this could be Epel's future as a sweet little old grandpa.

Speaking of grandparents, we have Sebek's grandfather, Baul Zigvolt (I know the English Translation has it as 'Baur' as in 'Briar', but being named after one of the most powerful demons in the Ars Goetia sounds much cooler and fits with Maleficant's raven being named Diabolo/Diaval so!) It'll be intersting to see if we ever meet him in the modern era, while we know he's probably where some of Sebek's internalised anti-humanisms come from, I do like to imagine meeting him and he's sporting a comfy cardigan and moustache.

Next up is Deuce's sweet mother, Dilla Spade! A delivery woman in town, she's done her best to raise Deuce the best she can.

Another parent we've now encountered, Eric Venue, Vil's very doting and supportive father and celebrity in his own right!

And the last parents, Mr and Mrs Shroud. Can't you just see the family respemblance?

[qwimblenorrisstan]

Insufficient Pt. 2 | Azriel x Reader

Summary: Following the disastrous breakup between you and Azriel, Nesta invites you out to a night at Rita’s, where you then discover that you might not be as safe in Night Court as you think.

Word Count: ~ 4.3k

Warnings: Stalkings, nasty public bathrooms, alcohol, drunk people, obsessive behavior, painfully bad description of blackjack, etc

A/N: ok so I kinda switched gears with this one, I’m trying to flesh it out before introducing another man, but lmk if you liked it, or if you have any opinion on where you’d like it to go, hope you enjoy <3

Requests are open!

Previous | Masterlist | Next

Only a week had passed since the disastrous breakup between you and Azriel, and as it turns out, it was harder to get rid of him than you’d originally thought.

Beforehand, he’d always seemed so controlled and stoic, that even being one of the main problems in your relationship was that he couldn’t ever let go of control. Being in charge meant he felt safe and secure, regardless of his feelings.

He had always seemed almost above you at times, above groveling and begging in bed, above communicating his feelings and emotions normally as he just expected you to read his mind or moods despite the way he hid any kernel of emotion from his body language. However, all of that seemed to have changed.

After the breakup, you’d gone back to working in the bakery, working specifically in the back making bread with your family, so you wouldn’t have to see him when he came in, probably trying to hunt you down. The heat the ovens gave off also seemed to repel his shadows, for whatever reason, so they wouldn’t spy on you any more than they already had. Though he had come asking for you before at the counter, your family had always shut him down. You felt bad about it for a second, but thinking back, you also didn’t. He’d chosen his words, and he was only sorry because you were his mate.

You’d moved back into the family home for now, your relatives surrounding you in love and empathy, and plenty of righteous fury regarding Azriel, and even a few “I told you so.”’s from the older generations.

Nesta would come by to visit now and then, having tea with you and updating you on all the latest news and developments, if not just funny stories to bring your spirits up, such as Nyx swallowing an ancient coin that he got from Rhys’ desk, only to poop it out shiny and clean a few days later, or how Cassian got so drunk he jumped from the top of the townhouse into a nearby pool that belonged to a neighbor.

On the bad days, she would offer some quiet company, or even open up to you about similar things that happened to her in the past.

Specifically, her past relationship.

She didn’t give a name, simply the details that he was a poor man’s family, his father abused his mother, and he was no better. She only was going to marry him to let Feyre take better care of Elain, really, even if it ended up with her getting beaten by some pathetic man. And then she told you of the night she rejected him, and tried to break it off, and how she almost barely got away before he could take what wasn’t his.

You both sat in silence after that, your hand in hers.

Eventually, though, the conversation continued. You told her of the flowers that would mysteriously appear on your windowsill each morning. Neither of you knew how Azriel knew what room you occupied in your family’s home, or even how he knew your address or favorite type of flower, Ditch Lily’s, but he knew. Or the letters you received nightly, always carried by some bird of prey to your window, and would leave it there.

She snorted when you told her about the letters.

“He’s being ridiculous, seriously, even Cassian isn’t that bad. He only cares because you’re his mate, not because of who you actually are, and until he gets his shit together I wouldn’t even open them.”

She said, taking a sip of the herbal tea your mother had prepared for both of you. It was a special recipe, one that some of your distant relatives in Autumn Court had created, originally meant to relieve muscle tension and stress from overuse of magic, and even assist in alleviating burnout. You were mildly convinced that there might be some healer blood in you, because of that half of the family.

You could’ve sworn you felt a tiny tug on the bond at the mention of Azriel.

“I know, I’ve just been burning them, but he won’t leave me alone. Every shadow feels like they’re watching me now, and I just…”

You sighed, trailing off as your hand went to rub the bridge of your nose, and she gave a hum of acknowledgment, finishing your sentence for you.

“Don’t feel safe in the one place that you used to only feel safe in?”

You glanced up, eyes widening a bit. That was precisely how you felt.

“Yes, how..?”

She took another sip of her tea, glancing over to the window and looking out of it, eyes almost glazing over as some memory must’ve come to light.

“Beneath the House of Wind is the library, though I’m sure you’ve already heard of it. The priestesses stayed there, and it was always quiet, and something about it made me feel…safe, even when I was in an unfamiliar body in new surroundings, the world in the middle of a war.”

She said, and you nodded, waiting for her to go on. You knew plenty of the library beneath the House of Wind and how massive it was.

“One night, me and Feyre both descended nearly to the bottom, for what I can barely remember, and there were two twin males. Sent by Hybern, I think. They were taken out before they could do any harm, but the damage was still done. It took me quite a while to think of the library as a safe space after that.”

The glaze in her eyes faded away as she took another sip of her tea, looking more relaxed than before. She looked over at you, her eyes meeting yours.

“How did you get it back like that? A safe place, I mean.”

You then asked, and she looked away for a moment to think, a common habit of hers. One you’d noticed by now. Always noticing things, something you must’ve learned from Azriel, and as much as you hated the reminder of him, it was useful regardless.

“Changing environments helped me. During and after the war, we were always traveling a lot, which forced me to appreciate the thought of home more. Then again, home was also linked with Cassian for me.”

She said, thinking aloud before eventually speaking again.

“I’d try moving around a bit. Exercise helped me, especially travel and hiking, or breathing exercises. I could teach you a few if you’d like?”

She offered. You would be a fool to refuse any sort of advice or help from Nesta Archeron, and she’d never led you astray before, so you nodded, and she smiled brightly, clearly happy to show you.

The next few hours were spent in the backyard on whatever flat surface there was, practicing impossibly stretched that seemed like whoever made them wanted to turn you into a pretzel. Nesta managed them just fine but didn’t laugh when you fell, only helped you back up, telling you all about how when she’d first started training with Cassian, it had been just as hard for her too.

She’d even outright refused to do it the first few times.

However, after that, she showed you cool-down exercises and helped you practice breathing techniques.

“Wait, so…I hold it for how long?”

You asked, and she held back a giggle at the sheer confusion in your tone as she answered.

“Twenty seconds, but you can-“

“TWENTY??”

At that, she burst out laughing, and before you knew it you were laughing too, both of you laying back on the grass of the yard and hoping none of the seasonal bugs crawled up onto you. She finally sat up a moment later, wiping tears from her eyes as she stood and helped you up.

“Build up from five, you can start at five seconds and build up, is what I was going to say.”

She said, and you sighed.

“And I thought I was in shape before.”

You said in an amused tone, and she snorted again, only for the both of you to look over where you heard another loud snort and see Cassian standing, leaning against a large tree in the backyard. He was grinning widely as ever, his eyes full of pure glee.

“Having fun without me, ladies?”

He asked, putting a hand over his heart in a dramatic expression as he rolled his eyes, acting fatally wounded.

“Honestly, I’m hurt-“

He wasn’t able to finish his sentence before you barreled into him, giving him a tight hug that he chuckled at and returned, ruffling your hair. Nesta was soon to follow, and hugging him in a much more elegant manner than you.

When you finally separated, you spoke.

“Gods, I’ve missed you. We should let him come to tea time, too, Nesta.”

You said with a grin, and Nesta rolled her eyes playfully, squeezing his bicep. A tiny twinge of jealousy seemed to echo down the bond, as if Azriel had seen you hugging Cassian, and didn’t appreciate it. Another tug on the bond that you shut out, now hyper aware of any shadows.

“You’d be surprised at how much of a gossip he is, it’s never-ending with the Devlon-rumors.”

She said, and his expression shifted to playfully offended as he swatted at Nesta’s hand. You giggled, and Nesta glanced over at you, before gaining a thoughtful expression.

“We could do Rita’s tonight if you could make it?”

She asked, and Cassian gave a little nod as if also agreeing with this. You didn’t have any plans tonight, so why not spend a night out with your friends? It would certainly help you get your mind off of things.

“Sure, what time?”

You asked, head cocked slightly to the side. Nesta shrugged.

“Is 6 good for you?”

She asked, and you nodded in confirmation. She gave you one last smile before Cassian scooped her up to fly away.

“See you tonig-“

Her words were cut off with a little shriek as Cassian launched into the air at maximum speed just to spook her like he always did, and you giggled to yourself, heading back inside the family home. Unbeknownst to you, a shadowy figure lurked behind that tree after Cassian left, watching.

To be fair, the shifts were switched out now and then so everyone had a break, but he usually ended up babysitting. Despite his objections and complaints, he was good at it, sort of a baby-whisperer.

“Who was that pretty lady?”

He asked, a slight touch of color on his cheeks as you smirked with a knowing look.

“That was my friend, Nesta. She’s taken.”

You clarified for him, noticing the way his face fell in disappointment all too clearly before you patted your baby cousin on the head, and walked up to your temporary room. Maybe Nesta’s idea of traveling a bit and exploring different places was good. You had all of immortality ahead of you, after all. Might as well use it well.

You walked to your room, before going to the bathroom attached to it. You were more than lucky to get a room with a bathroom attached, and you knew it, since everyone bickered over who got to shower first and who had been in there too long for the normal bathroom in the hall. Stripping your clothes off, you turned the water on, letting it settle to a warm, but refreshing temperature.

You went through your entire hair routine and washed your body off, shaving and everything. Tonight was an everything shower. You wanted to look your best at Rita’s tonight, and you desperately needed a confidence boost after what Azriel had said to you.

Nearly half an hour later, your hair done all pretty, makeup on, and a pretty red dress gracing your form. You’d even painted your nails yourself, forgoing the usual stylist you went to for it.

By the time 6 had rolled around, you were almost to Rita’s, walking down the bustling streets of Velaris as the cool air blew by, the sun already beginning to set as early as it did in this season.

The moment you walked into the bar, already full of people, it only took a few seconds to spot Nesta and Cassian inside. Cassian was drinking and laughing his ass off with some other males, and doing arm wrestling that he never seemed to lose at, and Nesta was playing poker, and by the looks of it had already won a few games before based on the sly smile she wore.

You walked over and ordered your drink, nothing too strong, and decided that you could take a little time away from Nesta for now. You couldn’t help but feel a little guilty, considering she’d been listening to all of your problems every time she’d come over. It was probably best if you gave her a little alone time for herself.

Walking over to a table to try your hand at what looked like a boring game of blackjack, you were about to sit down when something captured your attention.

A lone shadow lurking beneath your feet.

You swallow, getting a weird feeling about it, but you simply stomped one foot down on it before sitting down, determined not to let something so small ruin this night for you. The cards were dealt, and you received a queen of spades and eight of clubs, and as the game progressed, you took risks, choosing to hit, and somehow miraculously not going over 21 the entire time. You felt the lightest tug on the bond, but ignored it.

It was mildly suspicious, considering how bad you usually were at cards. That was until you spied the same wispy shadow from earlier on the deck of cards, hiding in the normal shadow of it. It was discreetly moving cards, changing them for you to win.

Now incredibly annoyed, you excused yourself from the game and walked to the bathroom. Rita’s bathrooms weren’t extremely clean, but you just needed a place to take a breather.

You pushed the door open, not surprised by the few females in here who were either redoing their makeup or drunk out of their minds and crying. Oddly enough, though, they filed out almost as soon as you entered, some giving you off looks as you entered one of the stalls, sliding the lock closed, and sat on top of the toilet seat, pulling your knees to your chest.

Sure, things were weird tonight, but it was probably just Azriel trying to play mind games with you. He was a Spymaster. His entire job revolves around torturing information out of people and playing mental gymnastics to get what he wants from them. You wouldn’t be surprised if he was now hyper-fixated on you, determined to get you back if only to feel better about himself.

You heard the bathroom door open, barely creaking as the lightest footsteps became apparent to you. Probably another drunk woman, or someone looking to fix their makeup or outfit. Nothing out of the usual, you told yourself, even as your body began stiffening and your heart rate sped up. A lock clicked. The bathroom door.

You couldn’t get a decent whiff of the stranger, whether it be the alcohol or the reek of the bathroom in and of itself. Not daring to open up the stall or peek out, you became still as a statue.

Nearly silent footsteps.

A knob creaked, probably the sink, and water began running at its maximum speed.

Another sink turned on.

Then another.

Until all the sinks were on.

Your heart began beating faster. Why would anyone turn all the sinks on, if not to cover up the noise of something else, or someone else making loud noises?

Louder, bolder footsteps in your stall’s direction.

Glancing down beneath the door, you could see a pair of thick, black leathery boots now standing in front of it. You recognized those. How could you not?

A certain shadowsinger’s shoes. His work shoes.

You didn’t dare move, even as you heard a knock against the stall. It would’ve seemed polite in any other situation, but not here, not now.

“I know you’re in there.”

His quiet voice spoke, still filled with that tension you’d seen in his eyes the day you’d decided to finally break free of him.

He knocked again.

“I’m sorry for what I said, I shouldn’t have said that, if you would please, please, just give me another chance, I’ve been trying to talk with you for days but you were busy, and when I saw you here tonight, I thought that maybe we could talk this out-“

He said, voice filled with pleading and desperation as he rambled on. You’d never heard him express so much emotion before in his voice. It was interrupted by the bathroom door almost being opened, despite it being locked. A bang on the door, and Nesta’s muffled voice was heard through the door.

“Bullshit, I’m getting a worker..”

Azriel must’ve known he had limited time now, because he banged on the stall door louder, a bit more panicked.

“Please, just open the door. I’m sorry, just let me in. We can figure this out.”

He said, now shaking the stall door with the handle, and you didn’t dare move. Didn’t speak, didn’t do anything other than sit and pray to whatever gods you believed in. The Mother. The Cauldron. Anything. Whatever would make him go away. You had known the respectful, kind Azriel. The one that had waited centuries for Mor and not pushed anything, even when she openly went to other males and pushed him away. The one who wouldn’t push any boundary, but this Azriel…you didn’t know him.

The jingling of keys outside the bathroom door was heard, the worker Nesta must’ve called, and a frustrated sigh came from the voice outside your stall.

You could almost see it now, him angrily running his hands through his inky black hair, shadows swirling and writhing in agitation as he tried to think on how to fix this.

“You can’t hide from me forever, you’re just confused right now. I will get you back.”

He spoke finally, before the bathroom door burst open, and his presence was completely gone. You released a shaky breath, not daring to move still, even as the worker cursed and began turning all the sinks off.

“Haven’t seen it that jammed in a long time,”

She muttered, walking out eventually, you unlocked the stall door when you felt alone, only to swing it open and Nesta to pop into your vision. You almost screamed, jolting backward and slamming your head into a wall. She raised her hands in mock innocence.

“Easy, it’s just me. I figured you might be in here when I couldn’t find you, and…..”

She looked you up and down, noticing how shaken and pale you seemed, and frowned. Tilting her head sideways, she asked the obvious.

“What’s wrong with you?”

You looked all around the bathroom, finding no sign of him anywhere, no moving shadows or dark presences.

“He was here, Nesta. He kept begging me to come out and—I don’t know what he would’ve done if you hadn’t shown up.”

You said, tears welling up before falling as you began sobbing. She frowned deeper, now scowling as she pulled you against her chest, worry filling her expression.

“It’s alright, I’ll take you home.”

She said, helping walk you out of the bathroom, and as she passed by Cassian she grabbed the big Illyrian by the ear and dragged him out of the bar, outside with fresh air. Cassian immediately looked concerned, brows furrowed, but one look from Nesta was enough for him to nod grimly as his expression darkened, the two of them no doubt communicating mentally as most mates did.

He scooped the both of you up, and despite the alcohol in his system, managed a decent flight to your house. He gave you a pat on the head before Nesta walked you inside, and as soon as the two of you were in the privacy of your room, she spoke.

“Look, I’ll tell Rhys to keep an eye on him, but it’s not like Azriel will listen to anything Rhys orders him to do regarding…this. Just…be careful.”

She said in a hushed tone, and you nodded weakly.

“I can’t stay here. Not when he’s..watching and following me.”

Nesta gave a little nod, as she understood, but she still looked concerned. She was friends with Azriel, you knew as much, but even this was pushing it.

“I have family in Autumn, I could go find them.”

You suggested, and she sighed.

“You do realize he could just have one of his shadows follow you? Unless you left without telling anyone, then…”

The both of you shared a glance, and in a moment, understood what you needed to do to get away. A stalker problem wasn’t one that you thought you would have, but Azriel was obsessive and possessive, even after you’d thrown out all the flowers he’d left, and burnt all the letters you’d given him. He wouldn’t stop at anything, no matter what boundaries you tried to set.

You dragged the duffel bag out from under your bed, the same one you had used to pack your things the day you’d left and began shoving clothes into it, clothes that would suit a few days of travel in the wilderness. You nearly tore your dress off, shoving dark clothing that covered almost every bit of your skin.

If you headed through the main routes of the Court traveling system, Azriel could easily find you. The mating bond would only make it easier from there.

Nesta began helping, choosing clothes from your closet that she deemed acceptable and neatly arranging everything in the duffel bag.

“Are you going to tell your family?”

She asked quietly, and you sighed.

“My grandmother, she’d understand. She fled Autumn when she was younger, some long story about escaping a lover from the royal family.”

You said as you continued packing, and hurried down the stairs. Everyone was asleep this late, except for your grandmother for her nightly tea session. She was sitting in the living room, sipping away, and her eyes shifted to you. Despite her young form, her eyes were old and carried a wisdom you couldn’t explain.

“Grandma, I can’t explain, but-“

“You need to leave, I understand. Under the stairs, there is food. I expected this. Find your great aunt in Autumn.”

That made you pause for a moment, eyes widening, a little twinkle in her eye, and a small mischievous smirk made its way onto her face as she saw your confusion.

“I am not nearly as oblivious as you think I am, now go. Time is of the essence.”

She said, making a little waving motion, and you hurried off to find the little place under the stairs, opening the tiny area beneath it through the small cabinet door, rations were stashed there just like she’d said. You grabbed them, and hurried back up the stairs, and walking into your room you shoved it into the now-full duffle bag and zipped it up. Nesta gave you a confused look when she saw all the pre-prepared food you somehow had, but you only shrugged and she moved on.

“You’re going to need a way to travel, it’ll be thousands of miles to Autumn.”

She said, and you sighed, looping your arm through the handles of the duffle bag and throwing it over your shoulder as you hurried down the steps again, trying to be quiet for the sake of your sleeping family.

Nesta followed you out of the front door as you shut it, Cassian still standing outside, quietly watching with that same grim look on his face as you hopped your neighbor's fence, running across the mass of property they had in the backyard, straight to the small horse stables they had. You went in and opened the first one you could find, a dark-colored mare with a splotchy white stripe down her face, and some white near her hooves.

Pulling the winter coat off of her the gentlest you could, you scrambled to find a bridle that fit the mare as she stomped nervously, and you eventually found one and slipped it on, the horse not seeming eager to get the bit in its mouth, even though you managed to get it in.

Nesta caught up with you and glanced from you to the horse.

“You are crazy.”

She said though she had a slight smirk as she said it. You sighed, grabbing the reins and leading the mare outside of its stall, and you glanced over to Nesta.

“Give me a leg up?”

You asked with a small attempt at a grin, and she sighed, shaking her head in fond exasperation as she held her hands out for you to put your foot in, and you did, and she counted down from three before hoisting you up over the horse.

The large animal did not seem happy about that, either. But despite its protests, and the fact that you were riding it bareback because taking care of a bridle, saddle, stirrups and more was probably more than you could handle, you managed.

“Tell Rhys to ignore anyone complaining of a missing horse for me, will you?”

You said with that weak little half-grin, and she returned it.

“Sure, I can manage that.”

She said in an amused tone.

A moment of silence passed, before she swallowed, and spoke.

“Be careful. Don’t get yourself killed.”

She said, and you nodded, laughing softly.

“I won’t. Once I’m..safe, I’ll figure out a way to let you know. I promise.”

The inky mark of your oath spread around both of your wrists, reminding you of the promise. You didn’t know how you’d tell her without anyone else, or a specific shadowsinger catching wind of where you were, but you would figure it out.

The wind blew by, and you swallowed again.

“Well…I guess this is goodbye.”

“For now.”

She replied, and you nodded.

“For now.”

And with that, she gave a single nod and began walking back over to Cassian, who offered a dip of his head in goodbye. You gently nudged the horse with your foot, gathering up the reigns, and it jolted forward, taking any excuse to run wild after being cooped up in a stall for so long.

It hopped the fence easily, despite how you almost fell off and began bounding off before you adjusted it Southeast, where you would skirt the boundaries of Night Court, and then head to Autumn.

Into Autumn, where freedom loomed, and into Autumn, where the threat of more than just your self-discovery loomed as well.

Tags:

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[matan4il]

Daily update post:

Israel has been preparing for the possibility of a direct strike from Iran. To that end, the IDF has been initiating GPS jamming, first in the south, and now in central Israel as well. On a personal note, I had to calm my mom down today (I could do this thanks to having heard about it on the news already), because it's a scary thing for people, and they don't know what to think, when they open Waze and find themselves "appearing" in enemy territory. Iran's attack options might also include drone attacks, or anti-Jewish terrorist attacks around the world. We've heard about Esther and Mordechai's Tomb being attacked tonight in Iran itself.

Speaking of the country that's the biggest funder of terrorism globally, tomorrow it's "Al-Quds Day" (Jerusalem Day) in Iran. It was established in 1979, after the Islamist revolution, as an antisemitic political measure, meant to help radicalize people against the Jewish state. Officially, it's a protest of Israel's sovereignity in Jerusalem, the city which has been the capital of the Jewish people, the place we pray to, for over 3,000 years, longer than Islam has existed. Some people worry that Iran will use this date specifically to strike against Israel or other Jewish targets around the world.

With or without connection, the chief of Israel's army intelligence is quoted as saying in private conversations, "I have told you time and time again that it is not certain that the worst is behind us and we are ahead of complex days."

Back in February, we heard that the niece of Hamas' overall leader, Ismail Haniyeh, gave birth in an Israeli hospital, and her baby, which was born prematurely, was treated in an Israeli hospital's NICU, the same hospital that had to have millions of shekels spent on, in order to make parts of it safe during Hamas' rocket attacks. While at it, we were reminded that several of Haniyeh's sisters live in Israel after marrying Israeli Bedouins, and that a few more of his relatives were allowed from Gaza into Israel for medical treatment. Just a small reminder that Haniyeh's personal wealth is estimated to be somewhere between 4 to 5 billion dollars (Taylor Swift's is only a little over 1 billion dollars), and if he wanted to, he could have flown his entire family out of there, to join him in Qatar, with the best facilities and care, rather than get medical care at a hospital subsidized by the "genocidal Zionist enemy."

Now we get the news that one of Haniyeh's sisters, a 57 years old woman, has been arrested for helping Hamas, including support for the Oct 7 massacre.

This is 34 years old Lidor Levi.

He was critically injured in the Palestinian terrorist attack in Gan Yavne. He was in a hospital, fighting for his life for 4 days. Today we got the news that he succumbed to his wounds. He leaves a pregnant wife and a daughter behind. May his memory be a blessing.

I will never understand how the accidental killing of 7 civilians in Gaza is making more headlines, and causes more rage, than the on going and intentional killing of so many Israeli civilians targeted in terrorist attacks along this entire war. I can't remember the world even addressing it, let alone raging about how unacceptable these killings are, and how they're proof that Palestinian terrorist organizations must be stopped. For that matter, I haven't come across anywhere as many headlines and world leaders' statements about an intentional drone attack that killed several rescue workers in Kharkiv, where a residential area was targeted. The hyperfocus on the one conflict where Jews can be demonized, is also leaving a lot less attention for, practical aid, and just general caring about other conflicts, which are in many ways far worse (just look at Tigray alone on the below map). It's harmful to so many more people than we come close to realizing.

(for all of my updates and ask replies regarding Israel, click here)

[randomdragonfires]

Time Can't Stop Me Quite Like You Did - The Other Woman [SNEAK PEEK]

Oh, and there was a woman.

WORD COUNT | 3.5k (and it's only a sneak peek ffs)

Author's Note | Hello everyone! So I am working on a relatively short 10k word chapter that is centred around Alys and Aemond from this story. How they came to be, what it is that they talk about... just the general progression of their relationship.

What follows is the first scene of that interlude chapter. The full thing should be up soon, following which I'll begin the final chapter. You'll see mentions, the ghost of Wylde - but for obvious reasons, Alysmond is the star of the next update.

Be warned. I see that many don't take well to the Alys and Aemond pairing - I will not appreciate any hate being thrown towards me or the story. There's always a civil way to say things. The strong reactions to their pairing is what kept me away from continuing it immediately in the first place, but mama didn't raise a quitter so here we are lmao

MORE THAN A YEAR AGO - AEMOND POV

"Of course I'm here. It’s summer vacation, and it’s only one of the biggest art gallery openings in the country," Wylde said with a grin. He was still new to Oldtown, while she was heading into her final year of school at King’s Landing—but they both knew where they belonged in the world. He would eventually take his place at the top, running one of the oldest commercial institutions in the realm. She would become a prominent socialite, wielding her family’s art connections with pride and skill, possibly on the arm of one of the men in this room.

For a fleeting moment back home, he had wished that man would be him. But that had passed—or so he liked to believe.

"Hm."

"Anyway, I have to make my rounds, shake hands," she sighed, as if already exhausted by the thought. "Most of them will try to get to my father through me, hoping for a chance at our family’s paintings for their displays." She paused, her expression softening. "My plane to King’s Landing leaves soon after, so I might not catch you to say goodbye, okay?"

She leaned in on the tips of her toes, instinctively brushing her lips against his cheek, a gesture so familiar it felt natural. His skin warmed under her touch as he held onto her for a moment, before letting her go and watching her slip into the crowd.

"It was nice to see you, Aemond," she said, giving him one last smile before she disappeared among the other guests.

He watched as the crowd welcomed her with open arms. And why wouldn’t they?

Aemond stood quietly near the back of the gallery, his head turned as he swirled his wine and pretended to be interested in the pieces around him. But his focus had already drifted.

From across the room, she had become the only thing he could think about.

She was magnetic in a way that defied simple description. It wasn’t just her beauty, though he could hardly deny that. There was something in the way she moved - fluid, deliberate, as if every gesture, every glance, was part of a conversation only she knew how to conduct. Aemond watched as she floated through the crowd with an easy grace, her black dress brushing the tops of her heels - not revealing, but just enough. 

But it wasn’t her appearance that intrigued him the most. It was her detachment. The way she seemed to occupy the room and yet remain entirely separate from it. Like she knew she was better than the herd. How can she possibly not? He knew it, and he’d barely seen her for ten minutes.

He studied her carefully, trying to decode the way she interacted with her surroundings. The other guests barely held her interest, even her husband - Brynden Rivers, the artist on feature - who was basking in the attention of his admirers, seemed peripheral to her thoughts. She would smile and nod at the right moments, offering polite responses when addressed, but her eyes - sharp, dark, endlessly curious - always strayed back to the art. It was as though she were in search of something she hadn’t quite found, or perhaps she was testing the art itself, waiting to see if it would reveal anything worth caring about.

He found himself wondering what she saw. What was it that drew her attention so intensely? Was she, like him, disillusioned by the pageantry of it all? Or was she simply beyond it, a part of a world he hadn’t yet glimpsed?

Aemond’s eyes lingered on her, captivated by her subtle confidence. He could tell she knew he was watching - how could she not? And yet, she gave no indication that she minded. Instead, there was a knowingness in her movements, a quiet acknowledgment of his gaze that sent a strange thrill through him.

Almost as if she moved just for him.

As she turned from the group around her to admire one of the larger paintings, she glanced over her shoulder, her eyes meeting his. It was fleeting, just a flicker of recognition, but the brief moment stretched out in Aemond’s mind. She didn’t look away immediately, nor did she smile - there was something almost challenging in her gaze, as though she were testing him, daring him to keep watching.

And he did.

Their eyes met again several times as the night wore on, each moment charged with tension that had heat penetrating him through his black turtleneck. He couldn’t place it - this feeling that they were circling each other from opposite ends of the room. They had not spoken a word, yet it felt as though they were in conversation, their glances exchanging ideas, questions, provocations. What was she thinking? Did she feel this pull too, or was she simply toying with him, amused by the attention of a younger man?

She leaned in to whisper something to her husband, her lips barely moving, and Aemond felt an unexpected surge of jealousy - irrational, yes, but undeniable. She was so at ease, so unattainable, yet there was something in the way she kept looking at him, as if she wanted him to see her just as much as he wanted to understand her.

He’d never, in his entire life, felt like this before.

Their eyes locked again, and this time her lips curved into the faintest smile, not of politeness or pretense, but of acknowledgment. She knew exactly what she was doing, and Aemond, for all his careful control, felt the thrill of the chase. It wasn’t just desire - though there was plenty of that - it was the curiosity that gripped him. Who was she? What did she want from this night, from this life? And why did it feel like, in this crowded room, they were the only two people who mattered?

There was a moment when their gaze lingered just a little longer than before, the silence between them almost deafening, despite the buzz of conversation around them. Aemond felt something stir deep within him, a strange excitement, as though this unspoken challenge had a life of its own. What was he to her? Just another man in the gallery, or had she singled him out the way he had her?

It wasn’t until she broke the connection - turning back to the painting in front of her - that he realized he had been holding his breath.

Aemond had been standing in the corner of the gallery, nursing a drink that had long gone flat. His eyes drifted back to her, stealing glances, trying to untangle the mystery she presented without making it too obvious. He couldn't quite understand why she fascinated him so much, but her presence demanded his attention.

Then, it happened.

She moved.

At first, he thought she was simply changing her position to get a better view of a painting, but when their eyes met across the room for the third time that evening, something shifted. She wasn't just glancing anymore - she was walking toward him.

Aemond’s heart rate spiked. He forced himself to remain calm, to not show his surprise, but he could hardly believe she was coming up to him. The crowd of art enthusiasts seemed to blur, and the distant hum of voices faded into nothingness as she neared. He couldn't help but track every step she took, as though each one was part of a dance he hadn’t learned yet.

And then she was there, standing in front of him. Up close, she was even more striking than he had imagined - her features sharp and graceful, with an aura of confidence that was almost magnetic. She had an air of quiet authority, but not in the way the old-money elite around them carried themselves. Hers was different, more subtle, more powerful.

“Aemond Targaryen,” she said, her voice smooth and knowing, as though they were already well acquainted.

He blinked, still processing the fact that she was speaking to him at all. “You know me,” he said, though it wasn’t exactly a question. It made sense - he was a Targaryen after all, but still, something about her saying his name with such ease unnerved him.

“To no one's surprise, yes.” She smiled, the corners of her lips curling up in a way that was almost teasing. “You didn’t think I’d notice the only one in this room who's barely looked at the art?”

The comment threw him for a moment, but then, intrigued, he leaned in slightly. “A room full of some of the finest art, and yet you’ve been watching me,” he pointed out. 

Did she notice him before, the same way he’s noticed her?

For a moment, her dark eyes sparkled with amusement. “Alys Rivers,” she began, letting the name roll off her tongue slowly, as if inviting him to puzzle it out.

Aemond’s brow furrowed. "Rivers..." he muttered, almost to himself, trying to jog his memory. The name wasn’t entirely unfamiliar, but he couldn’t quite place it. And then it came to him - he hadn’t heard that surname in relation to anyone important in his world. 

“Strong,” she corrected softly, the name falling like a small bomb between them. “My maiden name is Strong.”

Aemond’s eyes widened as the realization hit him. Strong. Of course. Lionel Strong, the headmaster of the school he attended for years. Harwin Strong, whose presence in Rhaenyra’s life had always been whispered about, and whose children were a constant point of rumor and speculation.

She is a sister to them both. How had he not known of her all this time?

His gaze snapped back to her face, searching for any sign that might have connected her to that family before, but there was nothing immediately obvious. “Lionel Strong...” he said aloud, piecing it together, more for himself than for her benefit.

“Yes,” she confirmed. “Lionel is my half-brother. Harwin, too.”

He exhaled slowly, letting the weight of it sink in. It was like a secret door had been unlocked, revealing more about her than he ever could’ve guessed. She had roots in his world, in his life, that had been there all along, just hidden beneath the surface.

Alys smirked, clearly enjoying the way his mind raced to catch up. "Surprised?"

“More than I’d like to admit,” he replied, a slow smile pulling at his lips as he found himself even more intrigued than before.

Aemond leaned back slightly, still processing everything. His mind, usually so sharp and analytical, felt slower than usual in the presence of Alys Rivers - or Strong, as she had just revealed. But as much as her family ties surprised him, it didn’t change the allure she carried. She was still an enigma, now with even more layers to uncover.

Alys shifted her gaze to the painting nearest them - a sprawling canvas of abstract forms, colors bleeding into one another in what he deduces as an intentional mess. “So, what do you think of the work?” she asked casually, her eyes tracing the chaotic lines as if she already knew exactly what he was going to say.

He tilted his head, not willing to offer anything up too quickly. “It’s… bold.”

“Bold,” she repeated, her lips quivering. “That’s a safe assessment.”

“I suppose it is,” he conceded, allowing himself a small smile. “But it’s honest. What about you? You seem like someone with stronger opinions on art.”

“I do,” she admitted, folding her arms across her chest as she took in the piece again. “This one... it’s my husband’s.”

Her words hung in the air, and Aemond couldn’t stop the faint sting of jealousy that crept into his chest at the way she said ‘husband’ - with a sense of familiarity that only came from many years of being tied together. He glanced back at the painting, trying to find some reflection of the man behind it.

“Your husband’s quite the artist,” he said, keeping his tone even, but his interest was undeniable.

Alys nodded, her gaze still on the painting. “Yes, he is. Brynden is one of the best, I suppose, but you don’t need me to tell you that. Everyone else here already has.” There was something dismissive in her voice, a casual indifference that caught Aemond off guard.

He narrowed his eyes slightly. “And what do you think of his work?”

Alys tilted her head and gave a half-smile, as though considering the question for the first time. “It’s... fine. I appreciate what he’s trying to say, but it doesn’t speak to me in the way art should.” She paused, then turned to him, her dark eyes finding him with a sharpness that left him momentarily breathless. “But you already guessed that, didn’t you?”

Aemond smirked, amused by how easily she read him. “It’s a little obvious. The way you talk about him, about his work… It’s almost as if you’re disconnected from it.”

She met his gaze, unflinching, her smile growing. “You’re observant, aren’t you? That must be exhausting.”

He chuckled softly, unable to help himself. “I’ve been told as much.” There was something thrilling about it - this mutual understanding, this wordless challenge.

“So,” he said, redirecting the conversation with purpose, “if your husband’s work doesn’t speak to you, what does? What kind of art do you appreciate?”

Alys turned away from the painting, her attention fully on him now. “The kind that demands something of me. Something that won’t let me look away. I want to be moved, even unsettled. The kind that makes you question everything you thought you knew.”

Aemond’s eyes flickered, intrigued. “You mean the kind that unsettles you in the same way a person can?”

She raised an eyebrow, her lips curving into a sly smile. “Exactly. Sometimes, the most impactful art is the kind that forces you to confront things you’ve been avoiding. It’s messy, uncomfortable, but unforgettable.”

He found himself nodding in agreement, feeling the conversation dip. “I suppose that’s why art and history are so closely linked. Both make you confront uncomfortable truths. The more you understand the world, the more you realize how fragile everything is.”

She sighed softly, as though she’d found someone who shared her exact thoughts. “Yes, and that fragility - that’s where the beauty lies. When you can’t control it. And when it’s gone, you’re left wondering why you didn’t appreciate it enough.”

They weren’t just talking about art anymore, and both of them knew it.

“And history,” she continued, her voice softer now, “is like the ultimate piece of art, isn’t it? Layered and complex, full of contradictions. No matter how much you study it, there’s always something more to uncover.”

Aemond nodded, his gaze intense. “It’s a reminder that nothing is permanent. Not power, not legacy, not even love.”

The way he said it, the quiet certainty in his voice, made Alys pause. She studied him for a long moment, as if searching for something behind his words. “You’re quite young. Do you really believe that?” she asked, her tone challenging, though her smile remained.

“Of course,” he replied easily. “Everything has its limits.”

As their conversation deepened, they moved through the gallery, eventually stopping in front of a painting that caught Alys’s attention. The piece was striking - two figures, intertwined in an abstract embrace, their forms blurring at the edges, as if they were dissolving into one another. The colors were bold, almost chaotic, bleeding into one another in a way that suggested both unity and dissolution.

Alys tilted her head, her lips curving into a thoughtful smile. “What do you make of this one?”

Aemond studied the painting, the mingling figures, the way their outlines seemed to waver as if they could hardly contain themselves within the frame. It was both intimate and unsettling, a reflection of connection and the inevitable loss that comes with it.

“It’s fascinating,” he said, voice measured. “There’s something about the way they’re almost… becoming each other. But it’s not peaceful, is it? It’s like they’re losing themselves in the process.”

She nodded, eyes still fixed on the canvas. “It’s about boundaries, I think. How much of yourself are you willing to give before you start losing pieces of who you are?”

Aemond glanced at her, sensing the weight behind her words. “Isn’t that what love does, in a way? It strips you down, forces you to let go of your boundaries until you’re not sure where you end and the other person begins.”

Alys met his gaze, her eyes sharp, thoughtful. “But that’s dangerous, isn’t it? Giving up so much of yourself. Maybe that’s why so many people cling to the idea of monogamy - one person, one connection, to keep things simple. Less risk.”

Aemond raised an eyebrow, intrigued. “Do you think monogamy keeps things simple?”

She laughed softly, shaking her head. “Not at all. Monogamy is just another way of complicating things, if you ask me. The idea that one person can meet all your needs… it feels like an illusion.”

He considered her words, watching her closely as she turned back to the painting. “You don't have much of an opinion for loyalty in your connections?”

Alys shrugged, her smile a little mischievous. “I believe in connection. But I also believe in freedom. Sometimes, those things don’t go hand in hand.”

Aemond’s gaze lingered on her, his mind swirling with the implications of her words. “Is that why you don’t believe in monogamy?”

She didn’t answer right away, instead turning to look at him with that same sly, knowing smile. “I didn’t say that - I can’t, given that I am married. But I don’t think it’s the only way to live.”

Aemond chuckled, shaking his head slightly. “I think monogamy works for some people. But for others... perhaps it’s just another form of control.”

“And what about you?” she asked, her gaze locking with his, challenging him again. “Do you crave control, Aemond?”

He didn’t answer right away, but the intensity of her gaze made his heart race. “I think we all do, in some way. It’s human nature.”

Alys took a step closer, her voice dropping to a near whisper. “But sometimes, the most exhilarating moments come when you let go of control. When you surrender to something - or someone - you can’t predict.”

Her words sent a shiver down his spine, and for a brief moment, he felt the air between them grow charged. The flirtation between them had evolved into something far more potent, far more dangerous.

“Are you speaking from experience?” he asked, his voice lower now, the distance between them shrinking.

She didn’t break eye contact, her lips curving slightly. “I think you know the answer to that.”

Aemond glanced around the bustling gallery, the laughter and chatter of art enthusiasts fading into a background hum as his focus narrowed back to Alys. The way her eyes sparkled, the slight tilt of her head, and the intoxicating warmth of her presence drew him in like a moth to flame.

In a bold, instinctive move, he reached for her hand, intertwining his fingers with hers. The contact sent a jolt through him, a mix of excitement and nervous energy. Her skin felt warm against his, soft yet somehow grounding, and he marveled at how effortlessly their hands fit together.

Without a word, he began to lead her away from the crowd. They slipped through a doorway and into an empty stairwell. As they stepped into the dim light, Aemond turned to face her fully, their hands still clasped. He felt a rush of exhilaration, the act of holding her hand feeling significant, almost intimate. 

“What now?” she asked, her voice low and playful, her gaze unwavering.

He hesitated, caught in the intensity of the moment, the gravity of her presence. He reached into his trouser pockets for a cigarette and lighter, and soon there was the ashy smell of smoke around them. 

“I don’t know,” he admitted, his voice barely above a whisper. “But I want to find out.”

The smoke from Aemond’s cigarette curling lazily into the quiet space. He took a drag, exhaling slowly as his mind raced, the sharp taste of nicotine mingling with the tension. He kept his gaze on the blank space ahead, the smoke filling the air around them. She, however, hadn’t taken her eyes off him. He could feel it—the way she watched him, measured him, waiting to see what he would do next. The silence between them wasn’t uncomfortable; it felt charged.

He took one last drag before carelessly flicking the cigarette to the floor, grinding it under his boot without a second thought. The small, defiant gesture felt freeing, as though he was stamping out a part of himself—his restraint, his hesitation. He turned to face her again, her gaze steady, her lips slightly parted as if she was waiting for something.

For a moment, neither of them moved. The world outside the stairwell ceased to exist. Then, with a low exhale, he stepped closer, his eyes locking with hers. It was a split second of tension before he leaned in, his lips brushing against hers. The kiss was slow at first, exploratory, testing the boundaries between them. But the moment her lips parted, the intensity between them flared to life.

Aemond pressed her back against the cold, hard wall, the warmth of her body against his heightening his awareness of every touch, every breath. His hands moved with purpose, one sliding up to cup her face, the other finding her waist, pulling her closer. As the kiss deepened, his fingers traced the line of her neck, her collarbone, before they slipped lower, teasing the hem of her dress.

She let out a soft gasp as his fingers found their way between her thighs, and he swallowed the sound with his mouth. There was no hesitation, no awkward fumbling—only the smooth, practiced confidence.

Her hands clutched at his shoulders, fingers digging into the fabric of his coat as he continued, the rhythm of his fingers drawing soft moans from her lips. He could feel her tightening, her body trembling as she reached the edge. His thumb brushed over her in just the right way, and that was all it took. Alys stifled a cry as she came, her body arching against the wall, and Aemond kissed her again, this time slower, more tender, as if savoring the moment. Her breathing slowly evened out, and Aemond felt a strange sense of calm wash over him. Neither of them spoke. There was no need for words. 

They simply stood there, foreheads pressed together, sharing the stillness as the world outside continued to move without them.

Look forward to your thoughts! (No seriously, say something. I really need to be motivated and that usually happens through fic related discourse haha)

[thewritetofreespeech]

Hola!

Could I request Solomon defending his s/o when her older sister (very poorly) attempts to bully her?

Solomon x Reader

It was good to be home. ‘Home’ being a relative term for just being back on Earth, but the sentiment was still the same.

Though being in the Devildom was exciting, and certainly lively with the brothers & their friends, Solomon liked coming back to the mortal plane with [Y/N] to be alone. He honestly never cared what they did when they had their ‘top side’ dates, but visiting their family was usually on the list and typically pleasant. Most of the time….

“Oh [Y/N], since you’ve been in the exchange program for so long, I went in your closet to rotate a few things out. You know, to make more space and freshen things up.” Their older sister was not one of the more amenable visits they had planned for this week. Solomon had met the type before. The undercutting, faux helpful character. The kind that would smile with a knife in your back. She always came off sweet to [Y/N], but Solomon knew her intent was never that genial.

“Um…ok. You didn’t get rid of any of my stuff did you?”

“Just a few boxes. It was all stuff from like…high school.”

“Some of that ‘stuff’ is important to me! Which pieces did you get rid of?”

“I don’t know like..some of the shirts and stuff. God. Try to do something nice for you and you jump down my throat…”

“And what, pray tell, did you replace it with?” Solomon asked, getting her attention. “You said you were going to ‘freshen things up’, so what did you get [Y/N] in exchange.”

The sister looked shocked but quickly bounced back and showed [Y/N] some of what she had gotten from her phone. As expected, they were all clothes that fit her taste more than [Y/N]. “So, you cleaned out her closet to make more room for your own things. Lovely.”

The sister frowned at him. “That’s not what happened!” She insisted. “I was only trying to help! Besides, if it was so important why didn’t she just take it with her?”

“If it was so important, why didn’t you just put it in boxes for [Y/N] to review on her return, if you really only wanted to help?”

The woman growled at him and then turned to [Y/N]. “You know, I’ve been meaning to say this for a while, but we all hate your boyfriend.” Despite the conversation, Solomon grinned at the term ‘boyfriend’. “He’s always making these snide comments and passive aggressive remarks. It’s not cool!”

“Ironically, it is the very definition of ‘cool’ behavior.” Cool: to appear unfriendly and unsympathetic by not showing much emotion, especially affection. Solomon would have laughed at his own joke if tensions weren’t running a little high.

“I was just trying to help, and you’re making it out like I’m some bitch!”

“The senators of Rome were also just trying to help, and yet Ceasar is still dead.” That had been a very sad day for him as well. “But, if we are going to dissolve into foul language, I think we will take our leave. Profanity is the parlance of fools.”

Solomon stood as the sister’s jaw dropped wide enough to catch files. He sheathed his retort on that and offered his hand to [Y/N]. “Please email [Y/N] on where you sent their belongings, so we might buy them back. Even if it costs me tenfold, I will return you whole my love.” With this promise they leave the café to enjoy the rest of their Earth visit.

“You really didn’t have to say all that to her.” [Y/N] said when they were down the street.

“Why? I enjoyed it. Besides, your sister was right about one thing: she is a bitch.” He didn’t have to ‘make her out’ to be anything, and he already felt bad enough to stooping to her level. “Now, let’s go shopping until your sister texts where she sent your things.” He doubted she would, but he sent a quick text to their mother, who he had a great relationship with, to hopefully push the needle. “I’ll text Asmo for some fashion tips. He’ll be over the moon when he hears you are updating your wardrobe properly, and we’ll be on the hunt for the rest of your things.”

[kykyonthemoon]

Xavier doing a light show for you short story please? Thank you. 😊

Fireflies

Lost in a dark place after a mission, you find comfort and support from the little friends sent by him.

ಇ. Xavier x Reader/MC

ಇ. Tags: soft fluff, no established relationship yet, guiding lights

ಇ. Word count: ~1k1

ಇ. Masterlist

ಇ. Notes: This fic was inspired by the two songs: Fireflies by Owl City and Daylight by Taylor Swift.

Thank you for the request <3

The lights above your head flickered and then turned off completely, plunging you into darkness in the heart of a cold abandoned tunnel. You quickly turned on the watch on your wrist, but its flickering light was little compared to this pitch-dark place.

Trying to remain cool, you used the watch to scan the surroundings once. There was no longer any threat as your mission was completed. What remained was to find a way out of here. Since this location was relatively distant from Linkon, the tunnel had been abandoned, and the map had not been updated, you could no longer rely on the Hunter's Watch to discover the way out. So you fumbled in the dark and returned the same way you had entered.

But the battle just now with the Wandering Monsters had collapsed a section of the tunnel, making it impossible for you to return, so you must go on. The further you went, the darker it became. The cold and all the unpleasant smells in the tunnel made you dizzy. You truly wanted to escape this place.

Because it evoked unsettling memories.

You had no idea what those memories were or when they had happened to you. You felt a faint sense of being imprisoned, abandoned in the dark and cold. There was no life—only oblivion. All of a sudden, you were paralyzed with fear. You were not a weak Hunter and were completely able to finish the mission on your own. But, at that very moment, you needed a companion more than ever.

At that point, you noticed a tiny bit of light ahead. Perhaps the exit was right there. You rushed towards it, only to find that the light was also racing at you.

You paused. The light moved. It resembled a firefly, but with a brighter golden hue than usual. It danced around you, as if it was delighted to have discovered you in a place like this. You extended a hand to receive it. Its warmth seeped into the palm of your hand, calming and reassuring you.

Then, from where it came, hundreds more fireflies just like the first one appeared. They flew close together, filling in to wake up the tunnel that had recently lost power as if they were hosting a light party. They followed one another, whirling over your head and buzzing around you. Then they fanned out on both sides of the path, carefully lined up to illuminate the route ahead for you.

Why were there fireflies? You were startled, yet grateful to these lights for coming by your side, accompanying you and supporting you when you didn't want to be alone in this situation. You thanked them with a nod before taking a step forward.

You followed the guiding light. Every turn and obstacle on the route was clearly marked by their lights. Sometimes they even formed an arrow to indicate the direction. And occasionally they made you giggle by forming adorable plushies that were so similar to the ones you had piled up in your bedroom. Such a pleasant and familiar warmth had you wondering, were these guiding fireflies sent from an angel you might know?

Feeling the chilly wind and the rustle of leaves over your head, you knew you had exited the tunnel. However, the landscape ahead was still somewhat gloomy. The moonlight was unable to penetrate through the foliage, and the woodland in front of you was dense with mist. But you were no longer terrified. The fireflies that had always been at your side suddenly flew forward, guiding you through the forest.

"Hey, where are you taking me?" You couldn't help but be fascinated. "Are you taking me home, or somewhere else?"

A small cloud of fireflies gathered in front of you, creating the shape of a charming rabbit. He gave you an adoring gaze for a brief moment. His warm, luminous nose caressed your fingertips, beckoning you to follow him. The entire woodland blazed with firefly light as the rabbit galloped onward, dashing into the mist.

You hurriedly followed. The rabbit led you along the path up the mountain. The woods thinned out as you ascended higher, revealing a pure sky with the moon and stars lazily staring down. All the rays of light raced past you, converging on that very golden rabbit. Then the entire thing flew into the sky, exploding like magnificent fireworks.

Your eyes were wide open, in such amazement that you were speechless with the light show above your head. You climbed to the top of the mountain and recognized that silhouette from afar.

"Isn't it pretty?"

A familiar voice rang out. Xavier stood there, surrounded by tens of thousands of glowing fireflies. He turned slightly to look at you. He raised one hand to chest level, and the dots of light gathered into a swirl, as if he were holding the entire galaxy in the palm of his hand.

“It's you.” You shouted in joy. You had already guessed it. Who could possess such a warm, beautiful Evol light other than him? Who could find you no matter any darkness you were, but him?

The light from him gradually flowed towards you, touching your body, your hair, gently leaving a tickle on your nose, and making you laugh. You gazed at him, who was gently striding towards you. You used to think that love had all kinds of brilliant colors, but it turned out to be just a simple yet wonderfully warm golden. His golden color.

Xavier released the lights up high, allowing them to blossom into a new series of fireworks. Then you both sat down on the grass and watched.

“How did Xavier find me? I recall you have no missions today."

Xavier smiled. He did not rush to answer right away, simply gazed at you like that. Perhaps you had also guessed something. Was it not a coincidence that every time you went on a mission alone or got into a dangerous situation, he would always appear in time to help?

"Thank you." You said. Despite the fact that you had only known him for a short time, you felt at ease with him, almost dependent on him somehow.

“In the future, if you get lost, just follow the light from my little firefly friends.”

You nodded. The breeze wafted the aroma of wildflowers about. Shoulder to shoulder, you and Xavier seemed to be drawing a little closer together.

No matter how frightening the darkness I fall into, I will always find my way home, thanks to you.

[thepotatopizza]

WELCOME HOME THEORY

I 'm not sure if I remember this correctly, but there was some sort of order of appearances on the Homewarming update from each character in the official material (not counting the secret video). From the least to most appearances (again, if I remember correctly, I will watch the update later just to make sure), was Eddie, Poppy, Julie, Sally, Frank, Howdy, Barnaby, and Wally.

It struck me as weird ever since because up until that moment, all of them in the website-released material had relatively the same amount of spoken lines (not counting Home). I'll watch this update again to count the appearances to see if Julie is the one who appears less in the story without counting Poppy to see if it follows a pattern.

It's also noticeable how, in the story, Poppy is weirded out at the beginning and then completely accepts the others blocking her windows, and how Eddie seems to act normal even after what happened in the last update. I don't know what to make out of this; if Frank managed to calm him down, if he got his mind erased, if this story is supposed to be before that happened, if the website-released material is on a different realm apart from the hidden material one, or what it is supposed to mean.

I've been trying to think how all of the hidden and official website-released material connects, and I noticed that until this update, all the website-released material was pretty harmless and not very important, and the hidden material was the lore-relevant one. If we have in mind the order of appearances on the Homewarming update and how this one seems to follow it from least to most appearances, this is the first time a website-released material is more relevant and it might mean that the beginning of the end is close as eventually, the website-released material will become just as dark as the hidden one.

[swisccfinds]

Expanded Storytelling Relationship Bits Mod by maple bell

This is such an awesome mod, this adds more storytelling, and relationships to the game. It's very realistic in my eyes!

Creator's notes-

July 15th: Feature update available to download now for early access: here

I'm so excited about this! Revamp your Sims' relationships and unlock a world of storytelling possibilities with Custom Relationship Bits!

Whenever I play the game I always wanted to be able to visually see how each relationship was different so I thought it would be a great idea to add more relationship bits in the game.

I don't know if I am the only one who loves to open the Sim Info Panel and look at the different relationship descriptions between sims. Gone are the days of generic labels like "Friend" or "Romantic Interest." With Custom Relationship Bits, you can now give your Sims personalized and meaningful relationship titles that reflect their unique connections. From "Childhood Sweetheart" to "Love-Hate Relation" and a lot more, the possibilities are endless.

This mod is perfect for storytellers who want more depth and nuance in their Sims' relationships. Some of the custom relationship titles add depth to your Sims' interactions and help to shape their narratives.

You can access the relationship bit option my pressing on the target sim while you are in control of the sim with whom you want to set the relationship by clicking on actions and then the Enhanced Rel Bit Pie Menu.

Above you can see all of the possible relationship bits you can choose from. They also each have their own description. (The Secret Admirer Rel Bit is the only one-sided bit)

Some of the relationship bits have interactions that come with them. I would love to make more and expand on them but I don't know if this is something you would be interested in so let me know.

More about some of the interactions:

Travel to Visit Long Distance Partner will have your sim leave the house for about two days and return with possible different moodlets.

With the virtual date option your sim will video call their long-distance partner for a few hours and it will make them really happy.

Star-crossed lovers can share a forbidden kiss. And sims who have a love-hate relationship can share an "I hate you"(kiss).

That is all for this mod! A lot of it is cosmetic, But I think it can really help relationships between sims feel more distinct.

Does this mod require any DLC?

No, it does not.

What else do I need for the mod?

Lumpinou's Mood Pack Mod, so it is required for the mod to work properly.

You can get her mod here.

If you already have it great! But make sure it's up to date. Otherwise, it will break the UI

Maplebell Pie Menu: Download Below. If you already have it ignore.

XML injector

More Kisses Mod here. If you don't intend on using the kissing interactions you don't need to get it.

Questions and concerns you might have?

I want to remove the relationship bit

After you set the relationship bit an option to remove it will appear in the same pie menu.

Some interactions aren't showing

The interactions depend on the relationship bit you may have with a sim. For example, only sims who have had a summer romance can "Share Summer Memories. Only Study Buddies can quiz each other, only long-distance relationship simmers can have virtual dates etc...

I'm experiencing some weird bugs!

Let me know, please.

Report it here: Mod Bug Report

How to install the mod?

Electronic Arts/The Sims 4/Mods <--- Unzip the file and make sure it's placed in this path.

Lets show our support to maplesims for creating a realist love relationship based gameplay mod!

download - patreon

[ejzah]

A/N: Thanks so much for your lovely response to this story! It’s been a little while since I’ve really whumped Deeks. I’m trying to keep the medical and concussion/TBI parts fairly accurate, but I will take some liberties.

***

Blunt Force, Part 2

Kensi sat there for however long it took for the tears to subside and some of the immediate grief to dampen. She felt completely rung out; exhausted in a way that went beyond the physical.

Her phone buzzed, and she pulled it out, unsurprised to see a text from Callen, asking for an update. Pushing herself up with a wince, Kensi went over to the single sink, cupping handfuls of cool water over her face. A quick check in the mirror confirmed her cheeks were blotchy and her eyes red. No one would miss that she’d been crying.

With a sigh, she dried her hands and face, finally leaving the relative privacy of the restroom to find a secluded waiting room to call Callen back.

“Kensi, how’s Deeks?” Callen answered her, not wasting time on greetings.

“He’s awake.”

“Good.”

“Deeks has amnesia,” she blurted out, relieved to tell someone else.

“You’re joking,” Callen responded, and she snapped back,

“Would I make something like this up?”

“You wouldn’t,” he said carefully. “Are you sure this isn’t one of Deeks’ games though? You know he is.”

“I thought he might have been messing with me too at first, but it’s legitimate. He thinks he’s still a public defender.” She paused. “Callen, he didn’t recognize me.”

Callen paused for several seconds, then spoke in a softer, slightly uncomfortable tone. “Did the doctor give a prognosis?”

“She’s seeing him now. I mean, he’s alert and still Deeks…just from six years ago.”

“Well that’s not great,” Callen sighed after another long pause. “I need to go update Hetty.”

Kensi felt a surge of fury at both him and Callen. It was senseless; of course Hetty would need to know, but it seemed so callous with Deeks barely conscious.

“Let us know what the doctor says.”

“Right.” She started to hang up, but Callen asked,

“Hey, do you think he’d like any visitors?”

“I’ll ask, but it might be too overwhelming right now since he probably won’t remember any of you either.”

“Right. That’s going to be weird,” Callen mused. He sighed loudly enough it sent a blast of static in her ear. “Ok, let us know when you need a break.”

“I will,” Kensi said, knowing that she wouldn’t.

***

The doctor was still in with Deeks when she made it back to his floor. With nothing else to do, she grabbed a cup of coffee and sat on the bench at the end of the hall, sipping on the bitter drink. She kept going back to Callen’s mention of Hetty.

The implications of Deeks’ amnesia went so much further than just him not remembering the team. Assuming his memory loss didn’t resolve quickly, he wouldn’t be able to work with NCIS, or LAPD for that matter.

“Agent Blye?”

Her head snapped up, and she almost knocked her coffee from between her knees. She caught it at the last second, her hand shaking a little as she looked up into the kind, but vaguely concerned face of Dr. Lesley.

“Sorry. Hi. Is Deeks alright?”

“I just finished his exam. Mr. Deeks gave consent for me to go over the results with you,” she explained. “Would you like to come to one of the conference rooms with me? The chairs are more comfortable and the coffee’s better.”

“Uh, sure. But don’t you think Deeks should hear this too?” Kensi asked.

“I already filled him in. He was concerned he might not recall some of the details and figured you should know too.”

“Oh, ok.” Kensi nodded. At any other time, she would have been flattered that Deeks trusted he so quickly, but her brain had picked up on another indicator of memory loss.

She followed Dr. Lesley to a small conference room, which looked more equipped for staff meetings than patient debriefings. Dr. Lesley brought Kensi a fresh mug of coffee and a pastry from a white box before taking a seat across from Kensi.

“Alright. Based on the screenings I administered, Mr. Deeks doesn’t appear to have significant cognitive deficits aside from the amnesia,” Lesley explained.

“Amnesia seems pretty significant to me,” Kensi observed, methodically shredding her danish into minute pieces.

“It is. It would be worse though if he was showing signs of short term memory loss or trouble with executive function for example, which can be present with a traumatic brain injury and concussion. He answered all of the orientation questions correctly, aside from the date. Which makes sense since memory loss of the traumatic event is extremely common and he believes it’s 2006.”

“What about a brain bleed or swelling? I know you said the last scans didn’t show minimal damage, but could it get worse again?”

“It’s a possibility,” Dr. Lesley confirmed slowly. “I’ll order follow up tests to confirm there haven’t been any changes, but I’m not overly worried about it.”

Kensi nodded, worried enough for both of them. When had anything ever followed the normal path for their team?

When she didn’t say anything else, Lesley continued.

“I didn’t assess his overall motor function yet since Mr. Deeks said he was experiencing some dizziness and disorientation.”

“That’s not surprising,” Kensi muttered. It was more surprising that Deeks had been so alert. From her own injuries, she knew how debilitating a minor concussion could be.

“Do you have any questions? I know I just gave you a lot of information during an overwhelming time.”

“No, I’m fine. It’s just…he’s my partner.” To her horror, Kensi’s eyes welled up again before she could even think of controlling her response. Looking down, she tried to force the tears back before it turned into full-on crying again.

She froze when Dr. Lesley laid a hand over hers, her touch cool, yet oddly comforting.

“It’s alright to not be ok,” she told Kensi. “You’re probably used to being strong all the time, but you don’t have to do this alone. Marty’s in the very best of hands right now.”

“Thank you,” Kensi whispered. “I appreciate that.”

“Of course.” With a final squeeze of her hand, Dr. Lesley retreated, gathering up Deeks’ file.

“Can I see Deeks now?”

“Yes, but I should warn you that he was pretty exhausted by the time I finished with him. He may be sleeping or irritable. I also ordered a liquid diet for his first meal, so if you can convince him to drink some, that would be good,” Dr. Lesley said.

“I’ll try, but he’s pretty stubborn. I guess it’s part of the reason we worked together so well,” Kensi joked.

“Good. Most of my stubborn patients have something to prove. And he’ll need your support to get through this.”

Kensi smiled faintly, not overly reassured by the sentiment. She didn’t know if Deeks would want her around once he r got to know her again.

***

In contrast to earlier in the day, Deeks room was as dark as it could get, his bed lowered almost completely. He lay on his side, face buried in his pillow. She closed the door quietly in case he was sleeping, moving silently to the chair by his bed.

“Who’s there,” he muttered, making Kensi jump a little in surprise.

“It’s Kensi,” she whispered back. He turned his head, the slit of one eye visible in the dim light. “Go back to sleep.”

“Wish I could.” He sounded miserable, and as she sat down, she saw the faint lines of pain creasing his forehead. “What time is it?”

“A little after one,” she answered. “Dr. Lesley said lunch should be coming soon. Maybe there’ll be some lime jello.”

“Oh god no,” he groaned, swallowing convulsively. “I don’t even wanna think of how awful it would feel to throw up right now.”

“Is there anything I can do? Do you need more pain medication?” She’d already half-risen from her seat, but he waved her back down with a limp hand.

“I just had some. Doctor’s ordering Zofran.” He tensed suddenly, and Kensi grabbed the plastic basin nearby, ready to hand it to him. Clenching his fists, he inhaled through his nose several times, his lips tightly clamped together before he finally relaxed again, his head falling back on the pillow. “God, this sucks,” he sighed.

She hated seeing him in so much pain and discomfort. Kensi didn’t know what possessed her, but before she’d fully registered the action, she’d reached out and brushed his hair back from his temple. Deeks tensed at her touch, and she started to pull back, completely embarrassed.

“Don’t stop,” he begged. “‘S only thing that doesn’t hurt right now.”

Kensi stayed frozen for a few seconds while she process the revelation that Deeks found her comforting. Slowly she slid her fingers back into his hair, carefully drawing the tips through his curls, working through the knots and tangles.

Deeks made a small sound of relief, leaning into her touch. After a few minutes, his breathing evened out as he fell asleep. She ran her knuckles across his cheek in a soft caress.

Studying his now peaceful features, she knew this was something she could and would do for him. She would be here as long as he let her. Even if he wasn’t her Deeks anymore.

***

A/N: You didn’t think I was going to let Deeks off quite that easy did you? At least he has Kensi to take care of him.

[bakawitch]

Miraculous Twinflame OC/Kwami Submission Guide

Alright! You know what time it is!~ OC time!

While taking submissions for Enchantlings!, I noticed that most people submitted completely original characters instead of canon inspired ones, which I had absolutely zero problems with, but I figured that I might as well make a series completely for the OCs since the demand was so high! XD

Below you can see an example character (Baka self insert who will probably not be canon), the OC/Kwami submission template, a few quick guidelines/requests to keep in mind while submitting characters and the available slots which I will aim to update as often as possible!

For everyone's sake I will try to keep this as short as possible, but first things first, the guidelines.

First come, first served. If I get multiple submissions for a single slot, the slot will be given to the first submitter.

Follow the guidelines. Please. Submissions that don't comply, will be ignored, and I hate doing that, please follow the guidelines TT

The protagonists are in high school, so high school aged (15-18) characters would be preferable, but it's not a hard requirement. Just note that characters who are not in the age range might not be interacted with as much.

The story is set in Japan, in a relatively sheltered and introverted city, that might better qualify as a town. Most characters should be from the city because I can only do the 'outsider who proves themselves to the standoffish villagers' plot so much.

Japanese character names are preferred. Not a hard requirement, but I am going for a silly anime feel for this project.

Backstories can be as convoluted as you want, just please don't make everyone secretly the wizard who crossed over from the fairy realm thousands of years ago waiting for the right moment to show themselves XD

I will allow a few non-humans (fairies, changelings). These will have a separate counter to show how many characters are available to have these species, because I still want humans to be in the majority. (Do note that changelings don't really have any special powers other than being 'off' and fairies who get Kwamis are generally on the weaker side magic-wise and would need to have a good reason to be in the mortal realm.)

Seelie Kwamis are colourful and bright, while Unseelie Kwamis are usually darker with a bit more graphic appearances and powers. Seelie Kwami users don't strictly need to be heroes and Unseelie Kwami users don't need to be villains.

Anons are welcome as always, but non-anons will be credited.

Quick Update: I already have plenty of out of Sen City characters, so please don't submit any more of those!

Update 2: I introduced additional magically inclined role options for those who missed the changelings and the fairies! Their counter is available below just as with the previous ones! Quick explanation for what they are: a Fae Touched is a human who was infused with fae remains through magical means (super unethical). These humans gain some minor fae features and a fae instinct. Since fae are very animalistic compared to fairies, these humans will get strange predator like and animalistic urges, and sometimes they're hardly in control of themselves as the spirit of the fae lives on within their mind, fighting for control over their body. A Displaced is a human who at one point in time entered the Fairy Realm and exited out into the Mortal Realm a different time period since the flow of time between the realms is so unsynced. They might have gained a sensitivity to magic in that realm which gives them a supernaturally good sense of direction when it comes to navigating to locations, items or structures embued with magic (especially of the Fairy kind).

Update 3: And another fairy magic human influenced human variant has been added to the roster in the form of Stolen Humans! These humans are people who have been actively lured away into the Fairy Realm by fairies to acts as servants/entertainers in courts (also unethical and very yikes! Oberon still had some at one point probably before coming into the human realm). They tend to soak up a lot more magic than Displaced humans due to their constant proximity to fairies and magical structures. Since they're usually under the influence of some sort of charm their memories usually fade and become murky over time, to the point of forgetting their own name. The faeries they serve usually rename these humans after things they like (Rosehip, Higanbana, Moon-glance, etc. names you wouldn't usually give to a human). These humans are capable of performing the task they do in court supernaturally well and they have a lot stronger immunity to glamour spells than other humans.

Alright! With the boring stuff out of the way, let's get to the fun bit! Character building! Below you can find a handy dandy character sheet and an example sheet, along with a text version. Just fill one out, send it to my ask box, and I will draw the character!

Appearance: (character picture and/or physical description) Surname: (character surname) Given Name: (character name) Age: (character age) Gender: (character gender/pronouns) Sexuality: (character sexual/romantic orientation) Species: (character species) Backstory: (character backstory, personality, likes, how they got their miraculous, anything important or miscellaneous) Alias: (hero/villain name) Tree: (Seelie/Unseelie type) Moodboard Picture: (a moodboard a kwami is inspired by (link or pic), if you want you can just attach a moodboard and leave the kwami generation to me and leave the following bits empty!) Kwami Name: (kwami name) Concept: (unique adjective/noun + animal + concept ending in 'ion') Miraculous: (miraculous jewel) Weapon: (weapon/tool) Power: (miraculous power name + description (nothing too OP))

Slots Available:

Seelie Tree - Oberon's Champion: (a hero chosen by Oberon)

Slot 1

Slot 2

Slot 3

Slot 4

Seelie Tree - Finders Keepers: (got a seelie miraculous through other means inherited, found, stole, etc.)

Slot 5

Slot 6

Slot 7

Slot 8

Slot 9

Slot 10

Slot 11

Unseelie Tree - Mab's Disciple: (a villain chosen by Mab, can change sides)

Slot 12

Slot 13

Slot 14

Slot 15

Slot 16

Slot 17

Unseelie Tree - Finders Keepers: (got an unseelie miraculous through other means inherited, found, stole, etc.)

Slot 18

Slot 19

Slot 20

Slot 21

Slot 22

Fairy Counter: 4 3 2 1 0 Available

Changeling Counter: 2 1 0 Available

Bonus round! (Since the magical beings' demand is so high XD)

Fae Touched Human Counter: 1 0 Available

Displaced Human Counter: 2 1 0 Available

Stolen Human Counter: 2 1 0 Available

Happy OC making!~

[homestuckreplay]

acrobatically fucking pirouetting off the handle so hard i turn into my best friend

(page 607-614)

9/7/2009 Wheel Spin: Sburb Lore Verdict: i fucking wish :(

9/8/2009 Wheel Spin: Character Switch Verdict: HELL YEAH JOHN’S BACK !!!! :D

A couple of shorter updates compared to the bumper 13 pages on September 6, but it’s all relative, and would be silly to complain about.

The narration on p.607 tells Dave, ‘It is time to face your destiny.’ In the short term, this obviously refers to the trap that Dave’s bro has set up for him, but it also gets me thinking about whether destiny more broadly will play a role in this story, and if so, what Dave’s might be. On p.293, GG – who appears to have knowledge their friends don’t share – theorizes that saving the world is John’s destiny. Nannasprite in her exposition refers to John’s ‘purpose’ (p.427) but it’s left very unclear whether this is a fantasy-novel style Prophesized Destiny, or just a result of John choosing to play Sburb.

I think this might be intentionally vague in the story right now, either to allow for readers to theorize, or because Hussie hasn’t yet decided the exact nature of the story. However, when destiny is a theme in fantasy, a chosen one's destiny is usually to defeat a great evil. I think it'd be neat if Dave's destiny was actually to defeat Bro once and for all - probably the most evil character we've seen yet, and certainly the one who's most affected Dave's life - which would make this line on p.607 end up looking really prophetic and bringing things full circle.

I am wondering just how many Smuppets Bro owns, and what the turnover rate is like. There’s at least 20 in the puppet pile Dave’s stuck in, and a lot of them get sliced in half. Bro needs these for work and has a large collection to draw on at any time, but they’re regularly getting destroyed, so logistically I am imagining a large crate of a couple hundred Smuppets showing up at the apartment each week, which is a horrendous thought. No wonder they are in Dave’s dreams. The ‘puppets per square meter’ and ‘new puppets per day’ are probably much higher numbers than the equivalent for harlequins or wizards in John and Rose’s houses. If these decorative choices represent sources of alienation and anxiety for the kids this could suggest that Dave’s mental state is even worse than that of his friends.

Also I think that if Bro really wants to be Jigsaw so bad he needs to put some variety into his traps. Puppets every time is nowhere near as creative as the saw traps in the movie.

Page 611 repeats a Dave-Rose Pesterlog from p.522. I like when this happens – it clarifies where we are in the timeline, as well as giving the characters equal importance while showing both perspectives. Earlier when Dave referred to himself as ‘enrobed in chafing, wriggling god fucking damned puppet pelvis’ I did think he was exaggerating for effect, and was just describing the puppet-strewn living room with an overactive imagination. Reading this for a second time knowing that Dave is being extremely literal is very different – it feels like someone begging to be taken seriously and failing, instead of someone committing to the mutually constituted bit.

Dave’s bro referencing Sweet Bro & Hella Jeff – ‘where doing it man where MAKING THIS HAPEN’ – on a sinister note pinned to the crawlspace hatch with a weapon feels really insidious. Taking this piece of art that Dave made and is proud of, and turning it into something threatening, is upsetting to me. What does Dave get to have for himself? Is there an aspect of his life that his bro doesn’t twist into something evil? Does Bro know about Dave’s friends, and if so, does he work them into his schemes too? And yet it’s effective despite all this – it does provoke Dave into action, jumping up and escaping the puppet prison, leaving Dave’s story on the cliffhanger of what exactly Bro wants to ‘make hapen’ as we smashcut to John.

I am very excited to see what John and Rose get up to and I hope it is not famous last words to say that it will surely be less disturbing than what is happening with Dave. At the very least, I feel lighter and freer knowing that I don’t have to think about Dave’s bro for a few days.

[thepixelelf]

and the universe said,

05 “trust no one”

genres/tags: soulmate au, idol au, comedy, romance, dumbassery relationship(s): ot13 x reader chapter warnings: language. note: sorry for not updating in a while <3 it will happen again <3

When soulmates are suddenly thrust upon the world, you are one in a million who wishes they weren’t – and that’s before you meet the person (people?!) making your life much harder than it needs to be. And before someone asks you to sign an NDA.

series masterlist

prev ⭒ chapter five (3.2k) ⭒ next

You walk out of the interview room with your shoulders straight, your stride smooth and confident, and your chin held high.

Then you leave the building, and your “I got this” persona drops like an ice cream scoop on hot pavement. You don’t show any outward signs of your turmoil because there are people around, but in your head, you’re screaming.

If there’s one thing to make you feel the tiniest bit better, it’s the fact that you’re now wearing short sleeves on such a nice day. After the coffee spilling debacle not even an hour ago, you’d luckily been able to run into a random clothing shop that was between the cafe and where you had your interview. The clerk probably thought you were crazy for grabbing the first thing off a rack which might fit you and buying it within a minute of walking through the door, but you couldn’t find it in yourself to care. It was either that, or go to your interview drenched in cold brew.

The downside of the short sleeved shirt you’re wearing now, though, was just as expected. You weren’t even done introducing yourself before your soulmate started singing again. For all the staring you’ve undergone since the discovery of the existence of soulmates, the interviewer was relatively apathetic towards your moving mark. You thought maybe she didn’t care — that you’d actually be able to snag a job without being bombarded with questions about a person you haven’t met yet.

And then she asked, “Have you met your soulmate?”

You told her the truth. No, you haven’t met them yet. You didn’t mention how you’re not sure if you even want to right now.

Thoughtfully, she nodded her head and wrote something down on her clipboard. You wondered what she could have possibly needed to write down from that information. “I’ve read that soulmate pulls can negatively effect work performance,” she said, monotone. “Do you have any solutions in mind if that should happen?”

And at that, you just blinked. Of all the interview questions you’d practiced with Heejun, that certainly wasn’t one of them. You hated the way you floundered for more than a few seconds, practically silent while the interviewer waited for your answer.

Damn coffee guy. If it weren’t for him, you wouldn’t have looked like such an idiot.

Thinking of him again, you sigh and pull out your phone. Right before the interview, you’d swiped away the text you’d sent yourself from his phone, but now you open up the near-empty message thread. 

Maybe you were a little harsh. You were nervous for your interview and panicked when you had to deal with one more thing on top of your stupid soulmark. 

Then again, he did pour an entire fucking coffee on you. So maybe you weren’t harsh enough.

You stare at the message and the unsaved number. If you were a perfect person, an ideal member of society, an utter angel, maybe you’d just live and let live. But that was one of your nicest shirts, and you’re not a perfect person.

So you send him the account you use for e-transfers. Nothing else, just that. If he ghosts you and doesn’t send anything — fine. You won’t harass him. You’ll just complain harder to Heejun later. If he does pay you back, then maybe he’s not an asshole and it really was an accident.

Still, if this costs you another job opportunity…

Shaking the thought away, you sigh and close the messaging app to find the fastest bus route home.

⭒

Boo Seungkwan really thought that when the vocal unit of the band Seventeen was invited for a radio show appearance, they’d be asked about music.

All of the members were advised to keep their marks as hidden as possible — while being subtle about it, of course. Their fans know about the five lines, but the music note part of their marks has remained off camera and unmentioned while the company tries to figure out a plausible explanation to pedal to the public. Seungkwan doesn’t like lying, but he can’t deny that keeping their extra soulmate a secret would probably be best for their privacy. Each member chose to be a part of this life, and with that, chose to lose a certain level of privacy between themselves and the public eye. Their soulmate never signed up for that.

“A lot of your fans have mentioned how unsurprised they were to find out you all were soulmates,” the radio host starts, kicking off yet another question about the phenomenon linking all the members together. Seungkwan has tried to be funny about it — that’s sort of his thing — but the questions are starting to grate at him. “Were you guys surprised at all?”

Jeonghan, somehow taking over most of the questions today and managing to keep calm, has steered a lot of the conversations exactly the way management wants them. He’s doing it so well that Seungkwan is almost suspicious.

“Oh, it was definitely shocking,” he answers with a half chuckle, which earns a polite laugh back from the host. “I mean, I woke up with a brand new tattoo! To be in that situation without any context, then find out all your friends are going through the exact same thing… it was something straight out of the imagination. We were all so confused until we came across news of the phenomenon worldwide.”

Seokmin leans closer to his mic. “The night before, I practiced really late. When I woke up and saw the mark, I thought I’d drawn it and forgot.”

“But you couldn’t draw lines that straight and perfectly spaced apart even if you were awake!” Jeonghan teases.

“Exactly!” Seokmin scoots his chair closer to the table, hands excitedly gripping the armrests. “I thought I unlocked secret artistic talent when I was tired, or something!”

“If you told me you thought that before all this soulmate stuff came to light, I would’ve thought that was way more probable,” Joshua jokes.

The host laughs, but he prods on. “I’m sure waking up with tattoos you don’t remember getting was a surprise, but are any of you surprised that you’re each other’s soulmates? Many fans have always thought of you as soulmates.”

The vocal unit members look at each other, and Seungkwan makes eye contact with Jihoon, who’s been quiet for most of the show, amicably nodding along and smiling at everyone’s jokes. It’s not unusual for him to dial down his presence during interviews, especially when Seungkwan is there to keep everyone entertained. Since Seungkwan has been a bit quieter today, though, (less focused on making jokes and keeping up the atmosphere,) he’s noticed something about Jihoon.

He’s… happy.

And not just “on camera” happy. This bitch is glowing.

Jihoon is honestly not a grumpy guy. Sure, he’s not as outwardly sunshiney as someone like Seokmin or Soonyoung, and sure, he’s not the biggest fan of skinship — or even a fan at all — but he always treats the boys like family. He likes his alone time, but he likes time with them, too. He laughs at everyone’s jokes, and you can always tell when his smile is genuine. 

This smile? There’s more to it than just being plastered on to keep up a good public image.

Something is up.

Jeonghan is the one to break the short silence. “I’ve said this before, but the members of Seventeen are my best friends. Most people are lucky to have one or two best friends, but I get to say that about 12 people I love.” He looks around the table, smiling softly at each of the members present. “So, no. I’m not surprised at all.”

Seungkwan can almost hear the fangirls screaming in the distance at Jeonghan’s sweet, sweet lie.

He peeks down at his right hand, which he’s kept under the table for most of the show, and recalls how the notes had appeared while they were in the car waiting for Jihoon to come back from the cafe. His eyes had widened, and he watched his mark with rapt attention while Seokmin did the same, trying to hum along to the notes but not quite getting there. Jeonghan just held his hands on his lap, smiling down at the mark as his left thumb rubbed over it. None of them had really paid attention to the way Joshua just kept scrolling through his phone, not noticing the music notes at all.

Seungkwan totally forgot to ask Jihoon if he saw the mark move. Would that have anything to do with him coming out sans food?

Seokmin quickly recovers from Jeonghan’s answer, playfully pushing at his shoulder. “Wahhh, so sappy, hyung!”

Laughing, Jeonghan pushes Seokmin back. “You’re right, Seokmin. The universe must’ve made a terrible mistake— none of you brats deserve my love!”

Everyone laughs, Seungkwan joining in once he realizes he should, and the host flips a page on his script. “Ah, you all seem so close. It’s no wonder you are platonic soulmates.”

At the word ‘soulmates’, Jihoon smiles again, a little wider as he looks down at his lap. Seungkwan can’t see from across the table, but he can bet dollars to doughnuts Jihoon’s looking at his mark.

Okay. Let the investigation begin.

⭒

Hansol Vernon Chwe takes great pleasure in the way Jihoon jumps out of his skin when Vernon spins around in his swivel chair like a villain in an evil lair. The only thing that would make this better would be if he had a cat in his arms so he could be the true epitome of cartoon antagonist.

He’s only in Jihoon’s studio, though, camped out there ever since Seungkwan’s cryptic message about Jihoon hiding something soulmate-related. 

You’re his favourite, he texted. Get him to spill. But be subtle.

“Shit, Vernon.” Jihoon clutches his chest, his phone trapped there under his fingers. His other hand is still on the doorknob from the way he was ready to flee the fuck out of there when Vernon surprised him as soon as he turned the lights on. “How long have you been sitting there?”

Vernon pretends to inspect his nails. “Oh, not long. How about you, hyung? Did the radio show go well?”

“It was… fine.” Jihoon lowers his hand from his chest, suspicious. “Why?”

“No specific reason. Can’t I just check in on my favourite hyung?”

“After waiting in my studio with the lights off like a creep?”

Vernon tilts his head, putting a hand over his heart. “A creep? Ouch, bro. That hurts.”

Groaning, Jihoon rolls his eyes, but a pinging noise coming from his phone makes his eyes widen. He immediately brings the phone up to his face, almost comically close to his nose. “Shit,” he whispers to himself with a hint of self doubt and a dash of desperation in his voice. “No no no, wait. No. Shit.”

Curious, Vernon looks up at Jihoon. “What’s up?”

Jihoon ignores him, still speaking to himself. “What do I say?”

“Who is it?” Vernon stands from the chair and takes a step towards Jihoon.

Eyes darting up, Jihoon hides the face of his phone against his chest again and curls to the side, using his body as a shield. “No one.”

Vernon raises an eyebrow and steps even closer. “No one?”

“No one!”

Jihoon backs himself into the door of his studio, trapped between Vernon and a hard place. 

There are only two people Vernon can think of that would make Jihoon react like this to their texts.

One: IU

And two: well, the person who’s stirred up all of their lives like chaos soup.

“Y’know, hyung, it seems to me like you’re in a rough spot,” Vernon says, holding in a chuckle when Jihoon sneaks another glance at his phone. “I could help you figure out what to say.”

Jihoon gulps, looking up at him. “Really?”

He smirks. “At a price, of course.”

Jihoon’s brows pinch together, and he glares at Vernon for half a second before sighing out through his nose. “What kind of price?”

“Nothing big. Just this—” He puts his hands up in air quotes. “— ‘nobody’s’ number.”

Jihoon looks like he’s about to refuse (adamantly), but another ping from his phone plays, and as soon as he reads it, he shoves his phone in Vernon’s face.

“Fine. Help me. Please.”

Triumphant, Vernon takes Jihoon’s phone and plops back down in the swivel chair to read back on the messages to and from the unsaved number.

I’ll pay you back for the shirt

[unknown] email@domain.url

?

[unknown] You can send the money to this account

Oh What if I can't 

[unknown] …?

Uh I can’t transfer money digitally

[unknown] why not?

I don’t believe in banks?

[unknown] you… don’t believe in banks [unknown] look, if you didn’t want to pay me back, you could just like. not answer [unknown] you don’t have to waste both of our time with dumb lies [unknown] just forget it

Vernon looks up at Jihoon, whose ears have burned bright red at this point. “Holy crap dude. You’re more hopeless than I thought.”

“You don’t think I know that? Help me!”

“I know I was playing coy and not naming names…” Vernon shakes his head slowly; he can’t believe what he’s reading. “...but please tell me you’re not flubbing it this hard with our soulmate.”

Jihoon tries to defend himself. “I am not flubbing—” He cuts himself off when Vernon raises his eyebrow again. Stupid pronounced features. “Okay, yes, I’m messing up and maybe I found our soulmate this morning and maybe I poured coffee on them and maybe I feel like every rational thought has left my brain and now I can’t even text like a normal human being and you said you’d help me so help me!”

Vernon rubs his chin thoughtfully. “Fixing this might take some drastic measures…” Frowning, he blinks once and looks back up at Jihoon. “Wait, what do you mean you poured coffee on them?”

“It’s a long story— now say something with your ENFP ass before they block me!”

“This is gonna take more than a text.” Vernon stands from the chair, presses something on Jihoon’s phone screen, then turns it to face him.

Jihoon’s eyes widen at the sight: the entire screen taken over by an outgoing call to the unsaved number. Frantically, he whisper-yells, “How is this helping?!” even though their soulmate hasn’t picked up yet.

Vernon puts one hand on Jihoon’s shoulder. “Do you trust me?”

“No!”

But Jihoon doesn’t have the time to tackle Vernon and get his phone back like his brain so helpfully supplies as plan A. Your voice, quiet but undeniably yours, sounds from his phone’s speaker.

“Hello?”

⭒

“And he goes, ‘I don’t believe in banks’,” you recount to your friend, whose face takes up your phone’s screen while it sits on your bed. You were tidying up your room when he video-called you to ask how your interview went. “Banks, Heejun. Banks!”

“The hell…? Maybe he’s one of those weird apocalypse survivalist bros.”

You scoff. “In this economy? I bet he payed for that stupid coffee with a credit card.”

“Probably,” Heejun says, nodding along while he watches you fold laundry. “Was he cute?”

Your brows furrow, and you frown at your phone. “Why should that matter?”

Heejun shrugs. “Dunno. Kinda sounds like you went through a romcom meet-cute. A fucked up meet-cute, but still.”

Unable to discount his logic, you tilt your head to the side and try to remember coffee guy’s face. “He was wearing a mask… so I couldn’t really tell. Oh, I guess he was on the shorter side, but that’s pretty much all I can remember.”

“Short… red flag.”

“Get you and your toxic masculinity out of here.”

Cracking a smile, Heejun wags a finger at you. “So you’re saying you’re into short guys?”

“Don’t put words in my mouth,” you retort with a barely veiled smile on your own face, relaxed now that the interview process is over. Either you get the job, or you don’t. It’s out of your hands now. “You know what is a red flag? His aversion to banks! I mean, what’s with that?”

“Maybe he’s allergic to electricity.”

“Heejun, in what world—”

His forehead gets covered by an incoming call from an unsaved number, but you recognize it.

“Oh,” you say. “He’s calling me.”

“Coffee guy?”

You nod. “Should I answer?”

“Get your turtleneck money, bub. You heard Smash Mouth— get the show on, get paid!”

Rolling your eyes at him, you say, “Okay, I’m hanging up, nerd.”

You end the call with Heejun and press answer to the unsaved number, bringing your phone up to your ear. “Hello?”

Nothing.

“Hello…?”

You hear some shuffling on the other end of the line, and maybe some hushed whispers, but nothing you can make out.

“If you’re trying to be funny, it’s not working—”

“Hi!” the slightly familiar voice of coffee guy filters through the phone, and you wait for him to say more, but he doesn’t.

“...Hi.” You switch your phone to your other ear. “Listen, I know I was a little intense at the cafe, but I really don’t think it’s unreasonable to ask—”

“I can pay you back! I can.”

“Okay… the email I sent you—”

“Could we, uh, meet up in person? I can give you cash.”

You’re not the best at identifying red flags, but this sure feels like one. “Because you don’t believe in banks?”

“Uhhhh…” He pauses. “...Yes. But also… we could meet in a cafe? So I can replace your drink too.”

You raise your eyebrows, knowing he can’t see it. “That’s not necessary—”

“I want to.” Some more rustling in the background. “I mean— it’s… my bad? I’d— I’d like to by you a drink.”

It’s not one of your habits to meet up with weird guys who pour coffee on people and don’t believe in banks, but for some reason, you feel weirdly flattered. “That’s the kind of line I’d usually hear in a bar.”

Coffee guy clears his throat, and you wonder if he looks as flustered as he sounds. “So… would you…?”

Sighing, you debate between your options. Meet a weirdo once and get the money back for your nicest turtleneck with the possibility of him not bringing the money at all and/or murdering you and wearing your skin as a suit because stranger danger… or avoid the situation entirely and pay for the dry-cleaning yourself.

Well, like Heejun said, if you don’t get the show on, you won’t get paid.

“Fine,” you say after a couple seconds, and you swear you hear a relieved exhale on the other end of the line. “But I’m picking the cafe and time. My friend works there, and if you try anything, he’ll beat you up.”

(Heejun wouldn’t hurt a fly if it personally wronged him, but coffee guy doesn’t need to know that.)

“Great!” he breathes out, completely glossing over the threat. “That’s great! Just, uh— text me the address!”

“I will. Just one question.”

“Uh huh?”

“Are you allergic to cats?”

⭒

When Vernon returns to the dorms, Seungkwan pulls him to the side and whispers, “So? What did you find out?”

Vernon stuffs his phone in the back pocket of his jeans, and the tiniest of smiles appears on his lips. He quickly puts on a straight face. “Nothing, sorry. You must’ve been seeing things.”

Seungkwan’s jaw drops. He gawks in disbelief as one of his best friends claps him twice on the shoulder and walks off.

You can’t trust anyone these days.

prev ⭒ chapter five (3.2k) ⭒ next

updates for and the universe said, are not on a schedule. there is no taglist. thank you for reading!

[omorimodreverie]

Reverie Devlog - 2024 July - CHAPTER 4

Overview

It has been a while since the last update since before the release of Reverie Chapter 3, so we finally are making an update on what happened in the past 3-4 months.

What’s with the Inactivity?

First, let’s get the reasons for our inactivity (at least to public) out of the way:

Chapter 3 released around April-May, so that period would be redundant to cover in a Dev Log in that time period.

Around the same period, some people have had high school finals (like in my case, Stahl writing here), or college exams. 

Despite that, there has been steady work done in the background by others in the team. The past few weeks have also picked up in activity as well, so things are moving in a positive direction.

Chapter 4 Info

Area

As it’s no longer a much secret since it's been speculated since forever ago: Chapter 4 takes place in dreamworld. The next area involves 1 major area, Sweetheart’s Castle; and 2 minor optional areas, Pyrefly Forest and Metro Depths. This info is relevant to development, as it changes the development process quite significantly.

The obvious benefit is that many assets can be reused and modified, especially for the castle. What will be done with it though, we’ll leave up to speculation. This applies to tilesets, maps, and even some sprites like enemies, leading to far less workload than Chapter 3 had demanded with the real world.

Gameplay

Gameplay wise, this will be where the “mid game” should start ramping up, so difficulty would start spiking here as well compared to base game. Normal mode would still be accessible for most players, but Hard mode would get more aggressive in terms of mechanics, and start to really pose a challenge. Regardless of mode, both would really push for players to learn emotion mechanics properly (I mean seriously, some people still played the entire mod without using emotions at all???).

For a rough overview for what’s coming gameplay wise:

Enemies throw ailments far more often

Some enemies nullify, absorb, or repel specific emotion damage innately

Charge skills and Telegraphed heavy attacks appear more often

Troops tend to appear in larger sizes

Considering feedback received from Chapter 2, it won’t be as tedious as Cattail fields, where enemy encounters tend to be spongy and slow-paced: leading to the next point;

Battles are generally more dynamic, going in a more aggressive direction: enemies are easier to kill, but so are you.

Area conditions that spice up the initial battle a bit

Progress

As of now, Chapter 4 is going relatively fine. There is a temporary knock down in activity from external factors, but we’re still able to keep a steady pace, which is what really matters in the long run. For easy viewing, the progress will be split into sectors:

Writing is going steady, it isn’t as difficult as the real world which has higher stakes, but it still matters to write in character. 

Pixel art side of things is also going well. There is far less work needed in terms of pixel art, due to less of both sprites and maps. Basically, anything now is relatively easier than CH3.

Drawn art also is going fine, the majority of spriteworks are already done. As mentioned before in CH3 dev logs, half of the sprites were done before CH3 even started, so this is not new information.

Music is also similar to Drawn art in progress, the majority of songs having been completed beforehand. Though one major difference is that a decent amount of those assets became “outdated”, so we might need to work on replacing or recomposing. This also happened in the art side, but just not to the same degree.

And finally in RPGMaker work itself, there is also some progress made, though less than others as this would be the final step after all assets are completed. The work here so far is mostly implementing all the assets and organizing files. On top of that, we have also started working on cutscenes as well as enemies.

Final Notes

Overall, progress is going steady, despite earlier difficulties in terms of activity. All sectors are progressing in some form, which is a nice change of pace compared to CH3’s very lopsided work allocation.

Thanks for reading this far, here's a preview of some work done so far!

[arminreindl]

Baru iylwenpeny: The Last Baru

Happy to announce that there's just been a major new publication for mekosuchines. The Alcoota Baru, which I briefly touched upon in my post on the genus, has finally been named. The new name, Baru iylwenpeny (pronounced eel-OON-bin-yah), derives from the Eastern Anmatyerr dialect (part of the Arrernte language) and means "good at hunting". A name that seems quite fitting when you look at the skull.

As a reminder, this animal stems from the Alcoota Fossil Site in Australia and dates to the Late Miocene, making it the youngest of the three recognized Baru species.

Previously this species was already referred to as being "the most robust Baru" and they weren't kidding. This thing looks more like something out of the Cretaceous than an animal that lived a mere 8 million years ago.

The morphology is interesting in many ways. Many of the ridges that are so prominent in Baru wickeni and less developed in Baru darrowi are absent. The seventh and eight tooth are so close they theres basically no space. Instead of four teeth like other Baru it has five in each premaxilla and the nasals reach the nares, like in Baru wickeni but unlike in Baru darrowi. The teeth also show the same small serrations as Baru darrowi and, unlike either of the other species, the jaws appear much less wavy not because they are but because the first festoon of the maxilla is followed up by a second one so developed it makes the first look almost flat. It's a fascinating mosaic of characters that makes its relation to the other species a puzzling question. You'd think that the ridges for instance point at it being derived? After all wouldn't it make sense? Baru wickeni had the most developed rigdes, Baru darrowi smaller ones and Baru iylwenpeny none. Plus, the teeth of Baru wickeni are smooth unlike those of later forms. Yet at the same time.... The fact that it has five teeth instead of four and the fact that the nasals reach the nares are both ancestral traits, so you'd expect it to be closer to the base.

Left: Baru wickeni Right: Baru darrowi

Well, while I think this isn't going to be the final place of this species among Baru, the most recent phylogenetic analysis suggests that Baru iylwenpeny was weirdly enough the basalmost species. Which means that it must have split from the other two species at the latest during the Late Oligocene and outlived the both of them without us ever knowing.

The paper also discusses how these animals may have gone extinct. If you look back at Kalthifrons, you might remember how I mentioned that mekosuchines kinda had a drop in diversity when transitioning from the Miocene to Pliocene. While the new paper avoids calling this a drop in diversity, it does highlight that there certainly was a turnover in fauna. The reason is an old enemy of mekosuchines. Climate. Yates and colleagues suggest that Australia was hit by an especially nasty dry period at the end of the Miocene, severe enough to drive Baru to its death but not severe enough to whipe out all mekosuchines. And after Baru was gone, Kalthifrons and Paludirex moved into the open niche.

There's also a final little piece of information that's not focused on yet really fascinating. Baru iylwenpeny had a friend. At least one other croc lived at the Alcoota site during the Late Miocene and tho it hasn't been studied in full yet, one thing is apparently known. It was a relative to the Bullock Creek taxon that coexisted with Baru darrowi and a relative to "Baru" huberi, the small croc that coexisted with Baru wickeni. This grouping has yet to be given a name, but its fascinating to me that each Baru species seemingly coexisted with a much smaller mekosuchine. Alas, like Baru this lineage seems to have fallen victim to climate change.

Baru wickeni and "Baru" huberi, in truth an unnamed genus.

The paper is accessible here for those that wan't to dive deeper into the matter. I'll also be working on an updated size chart, this time featuring all three species of Baru, tho I can already tell you that despite being more robust its surprisingly not that much larger.

The last Baru (Crocodylia, Mekosuchinae): a new species of ‘cleaver‐headed crocodile’ from central Australia and the turnover of crocodylians during the Late Miocene in Australia (wiley.com)

[humanitys-strongest-bamf]

"get me a damned matcha" | Chapter 23: April II

{{ Chapter 22: March II | Chapter 24: May II }} Chapter Directory

publishing early because i'm out from 8am-10:30pm tomorrow and i'm not ready for it :|

if you wanna get tagged for updates, fill out this form here!

✧ pairing ➼ levi ackerman x fem!reader, college x coffee shop x roommates!au ✧ summary ➼ After you find yourself plagued with misfortune due to struggles in your personal and family life, you find yourself needing to move last minute. As a junior in undergrad with little money and little social support, you considered yourself lucky when you found a sublease that was close to campus and was relatively cheap. Unfortunately, it seemed that your roommate did not seem to be so excited regarding your presence. ✧ content/warnings ➼ fluff, fem!reader, afab!reader, smut (minors go away) ✧ word count ➼ ~6k

“You’re going to be in the middle of nowhere just to write for two weeks?” Levi asked with a clear hint of skepticism in his voice.

You nodded as you continued packing.

“I think it’ll be a nice change of pace compared to how chaotic it can get on campus.”

Levi blinked at you a few times without saying anything, maintaining that skeptical expression with the way that his eyebrow was slightly raised. He knew there was more. As wonderful as the alone time might have sounded, the inconvenience of having to travel so far and be in an area with little to no services seemed too much to be explained by getting a “nice change of pace”.

You noticed his silence and looked back at him.

“It’s also paid,” you reluctantly admitted.

“Ah,” he muttered, suddenly understanding. Getting to do your graduation project while being paid to hang out at forest reserve did sound appealing. “Still, two weeks?”

“Actually a month,” you corrected with a shrug, “but I couldn’t afford to go for that long, so I went for the two-week option instead.”

“Hmm,” Levi mumbled without really responding.

Two weeks was a long time. The last time you left, it was only for a week and it had prompted that huge fight that resulted in you storming out of the apartment and crashing on your friend’s living room couch instead of coming home.

While he was still annoyed at himself for getting as attached as he was to you, he internally made a promise to himself to at least put some effort into not immediately regressing back into being a dick the minute you left for your trip.

“Wanna come with?”

“What?” Levi asked abruptly, having not expected the question while he was deep in thought. It wasn’t a request that even crossed his mind.

“You said Erwin’s out of town for the month, right?” you asked as you vaguely remembered Levi complaining about being locked out of lab for a few weeks and being unable to do any real work. “So you can’t even really go into lab?”

Levi was still blankly staring at you, struggling to process your sudden request.

“I can bring one guest,” you explained. “You wanna come?”

His instinct was to say no. Spending two weeks in the middle of nowhere was not something his mind would jump to when he thought of things he wanted to do to relax, although being away from people did sound nice. Plus, the idea of getting to be by you for those two weeks sounded much more pleasurable than staying at the apartment on his own when he couldn’t even do any work.

“Might be nice to be away from others for two weeks,” you said as a small smile appeared on your face. “Just you and me.”

Levi scoffed.

“And be trapped with your insufferable ass for two weeks?”

You pouted and chucked a rolled up pair of socks at him from your bag.

An ever-so-subtle smirk appeared on Levi’s lips as he caught your socks and threw them back at you.

“If I must,” he mumbled with a feigned sigh of annoyance, but that small smirk on his face betrayed him, making his desire to simply be around you more than obvious.

~~~~~

The cabin was cozy, but was by no means small. When you had imagined spending two weeks in a “remote camping resort” that was quite literally in the middle of nowhere, you imagined staying in a small log cabin that had no internet and was running on minimal electricity. Instead, you ended up staying in a fairly large cabin with multiple kitchenettes, bedrooms, and bathrooms. If you had the money, you’d pay to vacation here, so you were astonished that you were getting paid to stay here and write. Granted, you had to fill out a lengthy application regarding your ability to write, publish, and sell your light novel, but considering the fact that you needed it just to graduate, getting the application processed was a piece of cake. 

The fact that you were able to stay here, as well as being able to bring a guest along, was an opportunity that you were immensely glad to have taken. It was indeed refreshing when compared to being trapped on a crowded college campus filled with students that were either stressed, drunk, or both.

There were three other applicants that you were sharing the cabin with. Some of them brought friends or significant others as their guests, so it ended up being more like five people that you were sharing the same building with, but with how big the cabin itself was, it essentially felt like you had it to yourself.

“You said they’re paying you to do this?” Levi asked skeptically as he began methodically unpacking your duffle bag.

You had originally thrown your bag onto the queen-sized bed, which immediately made him scrunch his nose up in disgust that you were bringing something that had clearly touched the floor onto the bed where you were supposed to be sleeping. He immediately took it off and placed it onto the pouf in front of the bed to begin unpacking it.

“Under the condition that we finish whatever it is we’re supposed to be writing and submit it,” you explained as you looked out the window, which showed a serene scenery into the forest that immediately brought you a sense of tranquility. “Since I have to turn in a light novel for my capstone project, all the pieces just kinda came together.”

As expected for Levi, everything was the textbook definition of organized by the time he finished unpacking. You had stopped to help, but then he got grouchy over how you placed something a tad too haphazardly, so you just raised your hands and walked off, letting him do his own thing instead of fighting it. Your toiletries were neatly placed into the bath, with your bathing supplies standing next to each other on the shelves in the shower-bath unit. Your computers were placed on the desk near the window, with your jackets hanging off the back of the armchair in front of the desk.

Content after getting unpacked and settled in, you flopped backwards onto the bed, the memory foam mattress being a refreshing sensation compared to the spring mattresses back at home. 

“You think the landlord would be mad if we switched up the beds?”

“What’s wrong with the ones we have?” Levi asked with a frown.

“Just not as comfy,” you said with a shrug, rolling over onto your side as Levi sat down next to you, leaning his back against the headboard.

You looked up and saw the slightly unsettled look on his face as he adjusted to staying in a new environment for a few days. It was a welcome change, but one he’d have to adjust to nonetheless. No matter how you put it, staying in a cabin in the woods was vastly different from staying in an apartment on a college campus.

Realizing that the two of you found yourselves out in the woods again together made your cheeks heat up ever-so-slightly, but it was enough for Levi to immediately notice once he looked back down at you.

“What?”

“Nothing,” you mumbled, awkwardly looking away in embarrassment. “Just remembering…”

“Remembering what?” he asked with a skeptical expression.

“...that our first time was in the forest…”

You shuffled around uncomfortably, feeling a mix of embarrassment and nostalgia upon pulling up the memory.

“That was in a tent, though,” Levi noted as he scooted towards you before pulling you in flush against him.

You let out a small squeak of surprise as he pulled you in, looking up and seeing that he was affectionately looking back down at you.

“We can consider this an upgrade,” he whispered as he pulled you in, gently pressing his lips against yours.

The kiss took you by surprise at first, but it was quickly returned as you parted your lips more, grazing your teeth against his bottom lip. Your hand grabbed at the collar of his shirt as you pulled yourself over him, straddling him, never separating your lips from his. You moaned into the kiss as your hand traveled down from the collar of his shirt and down his chest towards his waist.

However, any chance of you getting to feel his cock in you immediately disappeared once you heard an obnoxious ringing tone from your phone. It was your alarm, and it was saying that it was time for you to leave to go to the orientation meeting in the main dining area.

Frustrated, you groaned and buried your face in Levi’s chest without moving from your suggestive position. Even if you skipped, the moment had already been ruined. You had no choice but to save Levi’s “upgrade” offer for later, although you weren’t sure when that would be, given the busy day you had ahead of you.

You sighed and rolled off him with a grumpy look on your face.

“I’ll be back in twenty, I guess,” you grumbled as you haphazardly put your shoes on and made your way out the door, fixing your hair and t-shirt on your way out, hoping that any of your fellow housemates wouldn’t put two and two together on what was happening behind your bedroom door.

~~~~~

It was at that point in the spring where it was both no longer cold and yet to be warm. It meant that it was the perfect weather for you to throw on a thin jacket and sit outside. Given the fact that you were at a remote resort, you were able to find peace in the outdoors, with just you and Levi. 

The two of you currently sat on the edge of the pier that looked out into the lake. The sun hadn’t gone down yet, so you still had lighting, but it was approaching evening. The orange and pink hue reflected off the water. If you had a knack for painting, this would be the perfect scenery to try to replicate. The colors of the sky blended together with the reflections in the water, almost making it difficult to differentiate between the horizon and the water itself.

Your legs were dangling above the water, hanging off the edge of the pier, with Levi sitting criss-crossed next to you. You had a notebook and were plotting out one of the last chapters of your novel, choosing to write by hand instead of bringing your laptop to avoid even the slightest chance of dropping your somewhat expensive computer into the water. Levi sat next to you, quietly gliding his pencil over his sketchbook—the same one that he had received as a gift at the white elephant exchange in December. 

You sat in comfortable silence next to him as you both focused on your tasks at hand. Once you saw how intensely he was looking into his sketchbook, you glanced over at what it was that he was trying to draw. 

It was the scenery in front of you: the water in the lake, the way the sun was setting in the sky, and the way the forest was separating the horizon and the water line off in the distance.

“I didn’t know you could draw,” you mused, looking closely at how the different elements of the sketch were elegantly coming together.

“Never had the time to,” Levi mumbled as he glanced up at the lake momentarily before looking back down at his sketch.

Although he was weirded out by the idea of coming here with you at first, he ultimately knew that it was a good thing for him as well as you. It gave him a chance to be away from lab and the cafe and mentally reset. While having a routine was great for him, it had certainly become mundane and he found himself entering a mental fog of doing the same thing every day. Coming out and being forced to adjust was something that he desperately needed.

He looked down at his sketch. He had fully expected it to be nothing but chicken scratch and was pleasantly surprised to see that it actually somewhat looked like the scene he was trying to replicate. The last time that he drew was when he was around eight years old, so it felt like a lifetime ago. This was effectively his first time actually drawing.

“Used to draw sketches for-”

Levi paused for a second as he stumbled over his words, indicating that he was bringing up a slightly sensitive topic.

“Used to draw sketches for my mother when she was sick,” he said quietly as he looked down at his pencil, although he was vaguely able to tell that you had tilted your head to indicate that you were listening.

“Haven’t really touched it since,” he finished.

He had picked up the hobby at a really young age and he really did enjoy it at the time. However, given the chaos that led up to and followed his mother’s death, he could never bring himself to do it again. It was always a ‘save it for later’ thing, and ‘later’ just never came until now.

Despite the painful memories that were brought up from him branching out into a hobby he had long buried, he did draw some sense of comfort from it. He had coped with his grief through avoidance and bitterness as he grew up and it wasn’t until he was in his late-teens that he got a chance to properly process. Even after he fully processed, he still found himself salty without getting any real closure. Helping you come to terms with your own grief was slowly moving him in that direction. Things like celebrating his birthday or visiting his mother’s grave were still painful, but it was at least more bearable compared to before.

“Wanna draw cover art for my book?” you asked with a completely serious expression.

Levi snorted at you, finally looking up.

“If you want shitty 8-year-old-level drawings.”

“I think I’ll take my chances,” you said with a nonchalant shrug, glancing down at Levi’s sketch.

The only thought that crossed your mind was that he must have been a stupidly talented eight-year-old. The sketch already looked better than anything you would have been able to produce. This didn’t really come as a surprise to you, but part of you definitely hated how quick Levi was at picking things up, even if this was something that he used to do as a child.

You were joking about him drawing cover art for your book, but given how his initial sketch was already looking, you began seriously considering it, despite the fact that him having a knack for the art right off the bat irritated you beyond belief. 

~~~~~

Being out in the middle of nowhere at least made the insomnia more bearable.

Levi was able to get a view out the window that wasn’t just the parking lot in front of your apartment building. Instead, he was able to look out into the woods, the terrain being lit up by the full moon shining above you. The stars were more than visible, given how far away from the main city you were.

The fact that the scenery would have been pitch black if it weren’t for the moon made the view seem that much more serene. Levi took a deep breath as he sipped on some tea that he had made himself earlier once he knew that it was going to be one of those nights in which it was pointless to try to get any sleep.

You must have felt the same way. Levi glanced over towards the bed as soon as he heard you shuffling around. The corner of his lips slightly pulled up as he observed how you had the blanket bunched up as you wrapped your arms around it, while burying your face into the pillow. It was so strange to him that the person he was looking at now was the same annoying brat that came barging into his life nearly two years ago.

He sighed, going to rinse out his cup in the bathroom sink, not wanting to go back out into the kitchen area this late into the night. After placing the cup upside down to dry on a laid out hand towel, he went to change into a tank top and sweatpants to attempt to sleep. Even if he couldn’t sleep, at least he could rely on you to curl up next to him (and occasionally even on him) for snuggles.

After he crawled under the blanket, Levi gently wrapped his arm around your waist, nudging you towards him. He saw you shifting around to adjust for his presence.

“Still up?”

“Mhm,” you mumbled, scooting backwards so you could feel him on you. “Sometimes if I just lie still and shut my eyes, I can trick my body into thinking I’m asleep and then I’ll actually fall asleep.”

Levi responded with a scoff, clearly skeptical. 

“That’s bullshit.”

“Sometimes it works,” you grumbled with a pout, your bottom lip slightly poking out.

“Yeah?” he asked with a raised eyebrow even though your eyes were still closed. “Like when?”

You remained silent for a few seconds as you tried to come up with a clever answer.

“Not the point,” you eventually responded, admitting defeat.

Levi rolled his eyes, but pulled you closer against him so that he could bury his face in the crook of your neck.

Although he only intended to focus on the smell of your fruity shampoo that still lingered in your hair, he quickly noticed just how close you were to him, with your ass fully pressed up against his dick. He couldn’t tell if you were doing so on purpose or not, but it didn’t stop that tight feeling in his pants from forming. Levi let out a quiet sigh of frustration as he felt his boner growing. Given your close proximity, he was sure that you’d be able to feel it too.

“What?” you asked in a slightly mocking tone.

He couldn’t see with your back pressed up against him, but the mischievous smirk on your face gave away your intention of rubbing your ass on his dick to get him worked up.

“You know what you’re doing, you little shit,” he scolded, scowling at you.

“Aren’t we just cuddling?” you asked innocently.

Levi let out an exasperated sigh as he tightened his grip around you, with a quiet growl emanating from his throat as one hand traveled up to gently grip at your neck, while the other began traveling down to your waistline.

“What was that comment about this being an upgrade earlier?” he whispered directly into your ear, making it so that you were already feeling your body heating up.

His lips brushed up against your earlobe as he spoke before traveling down to your neck, planting gentle, but chilling kisses against your skin, sending shivers down your spine. 

You were already acutely aware of his growing erection, but you could now blatantly feel his hardening cock pressing up against your ass, prompting you to press yourself against him harder, letting out a small moan as you felt his fingers reach underneath your panties to gain access to your clit.

As soon as he began moving his fingers in circles around the small bundle of nerves, you gripped at his hand, with you now being the one that was groaning in frustration as you felt your arousal begin to leak out onto your panties. 

Feeling more than a little horny, you quickly turned around, pushing him onto his back as you crawled onto him and straddled him, roughly pressing your lips against his. Your hands were tightly gripping at his shoulders as you began grinding your crotch against his, getting increasingly frustrated with the cloth that was separating his cock from your cunt. 

Your tongue prodded against his lips, which slightly parted to grant you entrance, and you heard his breathing hasten as he reached down to pull his sweatpants down, allowing his cock to finally pop up directly under you. 

You immediately pulled your lips away from his, a string of spit connecting your lips to his as you impatiently reached down to move your panties to the side, which were already long soaked with your slick. You groaned as you felt the tip of his cock rubbing up against your folds, and essentially felt your pussy throbbing and begging for more.

A small whine escaped your lips as you reached your fingers down to line up his cock with your entrance so he could go in, your face flushed and eyes clouded over with lust.

However, before you could engulf his cock with your pussy, he shoo’d your hand away.

“Never were any good at being patient, were you?” he mumbled in an amused tone as he saw the frustrated look on your face. “Relax. ”

He put his hands around your face and pulled you into a kiss that started off gentle, but quickly grew heated as he firmly placed his hands on your waist, flipping you over so that he was looming over you.

You placed your hands around the sides of his neck, pulling yourself up to keep your lips connected with his, letting out a small moan as you felt his tongue find its way into your mouth, asserting its dominance over yours, further soaking your panties with your slick. Your hands then traveled down to his waistline and you reached underneath his tank top, running your hands over his abs up to his chest as you took off his tank top and threw it across the room to the side.

Once he finally pulled away, you were able to see that the full moon shining into the room made the normally gray hue of his eyes more like silver, mesmerizing you with his gaze, which was further exacerbated by the fact that you were always weak for the way that he looked at you.

Levi gently placed his hand on your shoulder and pushed you down back onto the bed so that you were laying down fully, with his other hand lifting the hem of your tank top. You slightly arched your back and held your arms up as he removed your tank top, your nipples quickly hardening from their sudden contact with the cold air.

His hand gently massaged one of your breasts, with your breath getting caught in your throat as he pinched your hardened nipple between his fingers. His other hand ghosted over your stomach as it traveled down towards your hips, and his index finger looped around the hem of your panties, gently pulling them down and off you. 

Both of his hands squeezed your ass as he moved back up to you, slightly lifting your hips as he lined up his leaking cock with your slit.

A quiet groan emanated from his throat as he slowly pushed his throbbing cock into your dripping cunt, his eyes rolling into the back of his head from the sensation.

“...Fuck, you’re perfect,” he muttered underneath his breath, having to pause for a split second to gather himself. 

Once he opened his eyes again, he leaned down, pulling you into another deep kiss as he began to rock his hips against yours, his cock getting completely coated with your slick as he moved in and out of you. His lips traveled from your lips down to your neck, drawing a quiet whine out of you when he began gently grazing his teeth against the sensitive flesh.

One of his hands tightly gripped at your hips, with the other traveling to your throbbing clit. Your entire body jerked as you felt him press down on the small bundle of nerves, tracing agonizingly slow circles around it as he pumped in and out of you at a steady pace.

His pacing was driving you nuts, with your whining getting louder with each following thrust, which only resulted in Levi sinking his teeth into the flesh of your neck, biting you as a warning to quiet down.

You bit down on your lip to try to muffle your moans as your hands clawed at his back, needing to hold onto something as you felt the heat build up in your lower belly. Your legs were shaking around him as he continued to plunge his cock repeatedly into your dripping cunt, causing you to arch your back off the bed, pressing your chest flush against his, your hand immediately going to cover your mouth to quiet yourself down as you felt your entire body clench up from your orgasm hitting you like a freight train. 

For those few seconds, all of your senses seemed to turn off, with the world becoming a blur around you, with the only point of focus being how Levi felt on you as he held you down and fucked you through your orgasm, his pacing of his thrusts and tracing patterns on your clit never changing, repeatedly causing your breath to get caught in your throat.

By the time you zoned back in, Levi had his face buried into your neck, with subtle whimpers escaping from his throat. His pacing began to ever-so-subtly pick up as his thrusts became sloppier and harder. One of his hands gripped at your shoulders and you heard him curse underneath his breath, sinking his teeth into your shoulder as a way to muffle his own moans as he filled you with his cum, thrusting into you slowly a few more times until your pussy milked him dry. 

He held himself above you for a while, panting as he mustered up the resolve to pull himself out of you, his cock more than sensitive after the intensity of his orgasm. Levi let out another small whimper as his breath got caught in his throat as he finally pulled out and rolled over to lay next to you, immediately pulling you in for a kiss afterwards.

“Well, this will definitely help me sleep,” you mumbled as you rested your head against his chest.

He planted a kiss on the top of your head, his arm wrapped around you as he traced his thumb back and forth on your shoulder.

You took comfort in the motion, which only added to the sense of warmth resonating through you from both feeling him around you and the post-sex euphoria. Less than five minutes passed before your breathing slowly began to change, with you taking in deeper, but slower breaths as you finally began to fall asleep.

Levi immediately noticed this and gently shook you to wake you back up.

“Let’s get you cleaned up first.”

It took you a second to respond, having been pulled out of your very brief slumber.

“...whose fault is that?” you mumbled with your eyes still closed.

You could practically feel him frowning at you—or glaring, you could easily imagine both. What you couldn’t predict was the slight tint of pink on his cheeks. He technically was the one that initiated it, although it could be argued that that was your intention all along. Levi brought attention to this.

“You’re the one that stuck your ass on my dick,” he grumbled.

“You’re the one that pulled my ass in,” you retorted.

A cheeky grin appeared on your face as you heard him tut in discontent.

“You’re so annoying,” he said with a sigh before he drew his arm back and got up from under you, which immediately prompted a pout to appear on your face as you quietly whined at the sudden lack of warmth.

By the time you got yourself to actually open your eyes to see what he was fumbling around for, you saw that he was grabbing fresh sets of towels and was likely planning on dragging you into the bathroom to get you to shower.

You watched as he prepped the bathroom, warming up the water in the bathtub. He was meticulous about setting up the bath, making sure the water was at the perfect temperature and that the bathtub was filled to just the right amount. It was unclear if he was planning on sitting in the tub with you, but you wouldn’t have minded either way.

You couldn’t deny that you were surprised at first that he was willing to just drop everything and spend two weeks with you in the middle of nowhere at some camping resort for you to technically do nothing other than write your light novel. You had fully prepared yourself to be on your own for these two weeks and then come home to a grumpy Levi—that was generally how he tended to react whenever you were gone. However, you certainly didn’t mind that he decided to end up tagging along. It made spending time at the resort less lonely, and although your concentration wasn’t entirely there since you were hanging out around him, it made the whole thing much more enjoyable, and that was enough for you.

~~~~~

The fire provided some warmth, but it was a small bonfire, so you ended up still feeling the chilliness of the air around you now that the sun was starting to go down. The approaching darkness made the gentle, dancing orange flames seem that much brighter. It occasionally hurt to look at when it was freshly rekindled, but was a pretty sight once the fire settled down.

You, Levi, and the rest of the people at the resort had decided to spend your last night having a bonfire while making some smores and generally chatting about the experience. Most said that being around nature helped them focus, appreciating the time away from the hustle of modern society. You were all sitting by the bonfire, which was close to the resort, but isolated enough that it gave you a new environment to be in.

After about 30-45 minutes of chatting, people began heading back inside, preferring the warmth of the large cabin to the dark outdoors that was growing more chilly with every passing minute. After lingering behind a little, you began to get up as well.

Levi had his hand on your thigh, and he squeezed a bit as he felt you begin to get up, indicating that he wanted you to stay seated. You looked over at him.

“Stay with me for a bit.”

A small blush crept onto your cheeks as you shuffled in your seat again, moving closer to him.

“Thought I was annoying,” you mused with a raised eyebrow. 

“You are,” he said with a shrug, the corner of his lips subtly raising into a small smile.

“Well,” you said with a huff of feigned frustration, “if I’m annoying, then you’re insufferable.”

A cocky grin appeared on your face as you saw Levi roll his eyes before sighing. The banter that had formerly caused you so much grief was now something you appreciated and occasionally needed to be around. It was a staple of your relationship with him and you wouldn’t trade it for anything.

You watched the flames reflect off his silver eyes for a while, mesmerized by them as you usually were. Eventually, you noticed some of the leftover s’mores materials on the picnic table behind him that some of the others conveniently forgot to take back to the cabin. You stood up and approached it, grabbing one of the skewers.

“Want one?” you asked, looking over your shoulder back towards Levi.

“And have all that sugar right before bed?” he responded skeptically. “Fuck no.”

You snorted at his comment as you stabbed the marshmallow.

“Whatever you say, buzzkill,” you mumbled as you held the marshmallow over the fire, turning it until it completely caught on fire so the outside would char. The thought of the flakey texture of the outside and the chewy texture on the inside was already enough to get your mouth watering.

However, the world seemed like it didn’t want you to enjoy your marshmallow because as soon as you lifted the skewer, the marshmallow immediately decided it had been charred for too long and slid off the skewer, falling directly into the fire.

You stood over the fire, holding the now empty skewer without moving, desperately trying to hide the disappointment from appearing on your face. You could already imagine the smug and subtly amused look in Levi’s eyes and didn’t want to turn around to face him.

You sighed as you heard him step up next to you, taking the skewer from your hand.

“Can’t even toast a god damn marshmallow?” he asked in an amused tone as he stabbed into another fresh marshmallow.

You stuck your tongue out at him before grumbling something underneath your breath about it apparently being harder than it looks.

“Keep that up and I’ll eat it myself instead of making this stupid sugar sandwich for you,” he scolded, frowning at you, although his tone indicated his lack of true irritation at your antics.

“Thought you didn’t want all that sugar before bed?”

You called him out on his empty threat by referring to his previous comment, which only resulted in a barely audible grunt from him.

Sitting down on the bench that you had previously occupied before you got fixated, you watched as he meticulously broke apart both the chocolate and the cracker in half after what seemed like perfectly charring the marshmallow that was making your mouth water the more that you were staring at it. He put together the sandwich and then handed it over to you. 

Your assumption that he had charred the marshmallow perfectly was correct, which further pissed you off regarding Levi’s apparent ability to do everything perfectly. You knew that wasn’t necessarily true—with the primary example being his inability to grasp modern technology—but it certainly felt like it when he cooked it to the perfect texture immediately after yours tragically dropped into the bonfire. You smiled as you bit into it, with the texture of the melted marshmallow’s insides being silky smooth mixed in with the slight crackle of the burnt outer shell. That, plus the crunch of the cracker and sturdiness of the chocolate, made any potential worries nowhere to be found as you momentarily indulged in the sugary snack. You were enjoying it so much that you weren’t aware that the melted chocolate was leaving its mark on your lips.

“Tch,” Levi tutted as he sat down next to you. “How filthy can you get?”

He sighed as he brought his hand up to your cheek, using his thumb to rub off the chocolate on your lips. 

Even after the chocolate was gone, his thumb hovered over your lips and you became increasingly aware of the skin-to-skin contact. His gaze slowly lowered from your eyes, down to your lips, and then back up to your eyes, the creases underneath his eyes becoming more faint as his gaze softened. The flickering of the flames reflecting off his eyes died down as the fire dimmed, but that didn’t make his eyes and gaze seem any less mesmerizing. 

His hand that was gently cupping your cheek became slightly more firm as he pulled you towards him, gently planting his lips on you, moving them against yours in a gentle kiss, the darkness protecting you from any prying eyes.

“You went from calling me filthy to kissing me,” you whispered after he pulled back slightly, although your lips were still brushing up against each other. “I’m confused.”

“Shut up before I change my mind,” he grumbled, pulling you back into another kiss before you could think of a clever response, tasting the sweetness of the smores lingering on your lips—maybe a sugary snack before bed wasn’t so bad after all.

#: @levisbrat25 @gothgril69 @sckerman @berrijam @notgoodforlife @meowjaa @averysmolbear @roseofdarknessblog @bejewelledd @hhighkey @ayame236 @sad-darksoul @velouria17 @kamyru @l1zk4 @layenacreates @lamees004 @whoami-72 @highgoon69 @chaotic-on-main @levishotgf @nube55 @chosos-mascara @heichoucleanfreak @svftackerman @v4mp-wife @moonchild-angel @astri-ackerman @auriuswolve @noctemys @you-always-made-me-blush @raginginferno267 @sugurusdiscordmoderator @jennamelinda12 @noodlejitsu @nalu-trashytrash

[y-rhywbeth2]

Elves: Homes

(At least sun, star, moon and probably wood elven.)

Link: Disclaimer regarding D&D "canon" & Index [tldr: D&D lore is a giant conflicting mess. Larian's lore is also a conflicting mess. There's a lot of lore; I don't know everything. You learn to take what you want and leave the rest. Frankly these posts may get updated now and then. etc]

Physiology and quirks | Names & Clans and Houses || Pan-Cultural things: Social life | Time and Age Categories | Homes | Art | Entertainment | Technology || Elven 'Subraces' still a wip || Philosophy and Religion & Pantheons || Half-elves | [WIP]

Seeing if I can make this easier on myself and move faster by breaking it up into more specific posts.

So here's an idea of what the homes of various elves and half-elves might looked something like.

(From what information I have on hand anyway: information on home décor and the normal life of peasants is so often cast by the wayside so that we can have adventurers and noble idiocy instead.)

-

'Amid the tree castles were lesser mansions of spired stone and what looked like blown, sculpted glass. However it seemed by the hanging gardens that sprawled over such edifices that elves could not bear to live unless growing plants or trees shared the same space with them.' - Elminster in Myth Drannor

'Furs lay everywhere underfoot, and polished wood sculpted into lounges and chairs rose in flowing shapes on all sides. Wealthy elven families seemed to love varicoloured blown glass and chairs that rose into a variety of little armrests and shelves and curved lounging cavities.'

Elves in human lands will usually keep their massive house plant collection to unobtrusive levels, unless the downstair neighbours have earned their ire in which case they will cover the floor with soil and create an indoor forest (and a downstairs flood) out of spite.

As well as turning their homes into walk-in garden centres, surface elves are apparently really fond of glass ornaments, and particularly suncatchers; '[the houses] sparkled back the sun from swirling glass ornaments hanging like frozen raindrops from their balconies and casements.' Drow also like decorating with light, but go in for faerie fire decoration since the Underdark has no sun to catch.

'High' subraces will use the word 'ever' to mean home, wood elves 'vand.' Immeet is the yearning to return home to ones family and hearth.

Your typical basic elven home consists of about three rooms, and regardless of their economic standing an elf will strive to make it aesthetically pleasing: they're very aesthetic oriented beings, and creativity and passion for art/life is a core value so they'll often be unique and unusual in design and décor. Even the homes of the poorest elves, like tiny caves sheltering impoverished drow citizens, will always be made 'as beautiful as possible.' Even wood elves, who live relatively aesthetic lives in quiet little communes have houses built with elaborate decorative wood carvings in their structure. An elven construction is made to express the talent and creativity of the residents, as well as enhancing the beauty of their surroundings and adding to a larger picture without disrupting the natural beauty of the land they're built on too much. Practicality means nothing, it doesn't matter if you can live in it if it's not pretty. 'Functional' buildings like most houses and the tallhouses most N'Quess city dwellers rent rooms in are called 'ridiculous' and 'intrusive.'

You can spot the wealth of the elf by how crazy the design is getting and how many extra rooms they have. Glass windows, clear and coloured, are for the poor, elves of means use fancy magic forcefields instead. Although I expect that outside of an elven city you have to deal with human architecture where glass window panes are expensive.

I'm not sure what the layout is. For the 'basic' layout I assume it's common room, contemplation/nesting/bedroom (probably communal in shared homes), and kitchen. Bathing appears to be communal, with (magically heated) bath houses, public fountains, and natural springs. Sanitation never gets covered.

Since elves don't sleep - save an increasing number of drow who are incapable of reverie - they don't have bedrooms. Their personal rooms usually resemble studies or lounges more than bedrooms. While a non-elf might recognise the purpose of a personal room where one keeps ones clothes and possessions and has a comfortable place designated for reclining and relaxing (a 'reverie couch'), and they will term it a bedroom, elves tend to use other names. Said names vary, but Evereskans call them 'contemplations' or 'a/the contemplation,' and the elves of the High Forest call it a 'nesting,' and that's likely what elves encountered in the Western Hinterlands (and further North) call their rooms, assuming they don't just use the common term for it by osmosis.

Tables obviously exist but may be less common than expected, especially in elven settlements and especially amongst the nobility, as magic being more normalised and readily available amongst elves means that floating platters can be provided.

Lighting is preferably done with magic, such as objects imbued with continual flame whose intensity can be adjusted. Fancier versions come with colour and visual effect settings and the ability to be coded to triggers, like being motion sensitive.

Preferably an elf lives above ground level, 20 or more feet into the air (500 feet has been mentioned) in deliberately shaped grown trees or magical structures. For those living subterranean lifestyles, hollowed out stalactite mansions are a popular alternative. Ground level structures are for the young children, elderly and disabled who are at risk that high up (elves don't believe in safety railings). I've seen passing mention of elven homes in human cities which seemed to assume elves will live above the ground floor by default, so I assume their desire to be tall applies to how they chose what apartments to rent.