#or the mine is a waystation

[ottpopfic]

My Stan and Deacon headcannon is that they are actually not demigods but decedents of sorcerers or witches, meaning they have magic but not from a godly parent.

Deacon in particular is very skilled at manipulating the mist

[thegospelofhaven]

Time to introduce our second lead- the fabulous B. Narr ( @sassylich)

B. is a dear friend of mine, as well as a fantastic actor and writer known for their work on The Silt Verses, The Dead, The Waystation, and Mayfair Watchers Society. They have brought all of their ample talents to bear on this project and I am so grateful they are a part of it!

-D

[weatheringandweary]

Is there a possibility that Apollo’s throne on Olympus changes at some point in the future to better reflect himself?

I don’t know if there’s some way it magically undergoes this change on its own or if Apollo himself would have to commission Hephaestus for a new one,, but the thought intrigues me,,

I’m divided on the comedic gold mine of him switching it out for a beanbag chair for shits and giggles, or going the more sentimental route of it mirroring a comfortable rocking chair from Cabin 7 back at Camp Halfblood. Or something from the Waystation? Aeithales, maybe?

[shewho-conceals]

she looks just like a dream..

uh hi I guess. i'm calypso. unless your close, then cal (you know who you are and if you can call me that.) anyways, if you ever find yourself in Indianapolis, feel free to come down to leo and calypso's garage! run by me and my best friend leo :) and the waystation is always looking for new visitors, and my (basically) moms are always happy to help! //OOC hey there hi there its me ya alien castor *cheering erupts in the back* hato calypso RP blog cause I miss her yk au not mine! hermits and the olympians au goes to @ahllohehn //TAGS hatolypso - general character tag hato - general au tag hermits and the olympians - also general au tag hatolypso answers - answering ur asks

the prettiest girl i've ever seen <3

[theamazingmaddyas]

I've been thinking a lot about the Valdez family—and not just Sammy, Esperanza, and Leo—so I decided to make my own in depth Valdez family list with headcanons (obviously, since some we don't even know the name of)

Sammy Valdez was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. He was the first in his family to be born in the United States, his parents having immigrated from Mexico right before he was born.

Sammy's wife (Leo's bisabuela), Otília Delgado-Fuentes, was born in the Dominican Republic and immigrated to Houston as a teenager with her parents. She met Sammy at his shop when her car broke down and the rest in history. She ended up working the business side of Sammy's shop, selling spare parts, as well as putting in transactions for what Sammy was doing.

In addition to Sammy Jr. (I'm just gonna be calling him Samuel for the sake of simplicity for now on), I think they had three editional kids: the others being Emilio, Aleyda, and Evangelina. Samuel was the eldest, followed by Aleyda, Emilio, and finally, Evangelina.

Samuel, as well as Evangelina, followed in their father's footsteps and became mechanics. Aleyda became a writer, and Emilio helped his mother run the business portion of the shop. Both Emilio and Aleyda decided to attend college, while Samuel and Evangelina did an informal trade school under their father's tutegale.

Aleyda moved away to New York and married a fellow latine writer named Salvador García, and barely keeps in touch with the family. They have no children.

Emilio married a woman named Martha Delacruz and had three children—Silvia, Estefania, and Enrique.

Evangelina never married, instead focusing on her career. She was Esperanza's favorite person when Esperanza was a girl, and her biggest inspiration, and also adored Leo. I haven't decided why or how, but unfortunetely, Evangelina died sometime before Esperanza, because I'm convinced she would have fought tooth and nail to get custody of Leo if she was there.

Samuel, of course, had two daughters, Rosa and Esperanza. Samuel married Margarita Rosa Iglesias-Perez, a Mexican immigrant who went to Houston to attend college.

Rosa, in addition to Raphael (who Leo mentions in Mark of Athena, I believe) has two more children, María Rosa and Carmen with her husband, Matías Cisneros-Cortez.

Esperanza, obviously, has just Leo, who is the eldest of Sammy's great-grandkids, as stated in Mark of Athena. Some childhood Leo Valdez headcanons of mine is that he attended a bilingual school up until third grade (we know why third grade) and that he had to be taken to another classroom during math because he would act out due to boredom. (He has ADHD and was at a college math level at 8, of course he'd be bored.)

These next three are future, or my headcanon for Leo's kids, so if you were just here for the possibly canon-compliant ones, that's over! I'm totally fine with people using the previous name headcanons in fics without giving me credit, as it is just names, but I'd appreciate it if people tell me about some Valdez family fics! I'm always looking for some, and have only read like one or two. However, for Leo's children, if you take more than just their names, I'd appreciate the tag. I've had them since like 2016, and am really attached, even though some details have changed a lot since then (example being, back then, I thought canon couples were infallible and I had to make them Leo and Calypso's kids, when now, they're just Leo's).

This part is detailed in my Solangelo future fic, Surprise? but my favorite hc of all time is aro/ace Leo who adopts demigods to give them the childhood he deserved. So all three are demigods (children of Hephaestus as well, because I think that's fitting) and Leo's a single father who gets help from everyone at Waystation.

The eldest is Madalena Esperanza, who has her own POV in Surprise? in Chapter 7: Leo and Calypso's Garage: Auto Repair and Mechanical Monsters. She was born in Portland, Oregan, and her mother died of childbirth. With no other living family members, Hephaestus took her to Waystation to see if Emmie and Jo could take her (as Leo was still in college, at 20), but Leo saw her and instantly realized that he wanted to adopt her because he saw bits of baby him in her, and had the funds to as he was working part time at a local mechanic shop on weekends that paid decent, and Emmie and Jo were able to help. Madalena was the name her mother had planned to give her, and Leo added Esperanza when he officially adopted her. Random fact about her is she grows up to be an Olympic level skateboarder, and Leo built her a few pipes to practice.

Next, also in Surprise? is Leo's middle, Aidan. His story is detailed almost completely in the fic—his bio mother didn't want a kid and was going to give him up for adoption so Hephaestus went to Leo to ask him if he wanted to adopt another kid. Leo said yes, and him and Lena went to Illinois to pick him up from the hospital. His bio mother also didn't want to name him, so Leo and Lena did.

Finally, not in Surprise? is Emilia. Leo's youngest, who's seven years younger than Aidan, and thirteen younger than Lena, so she's not present in the fic, but is special in my heart. Her bio parent, like Lena's, died in childbirth, and Hephaestus once again asked Leo if he had room for one more kid. She was born in Miami, Florida.

So, there's my Valdez family tree! Again, feel free to use everyone in your fic, but Lena, Aidan, and Emilia are my children so I'd like a tag for them.

[child-of-the-sky-people]

hi Ali! im looking for a new narrative podcast to get into, what's your current rec list? :)

Oh god it’s so long 😂

Horror:

Human Error - this one is mine so of course I’m recommending it 😂 it’s about a found family of survivors going on a road trip during a zombie apocalypse 12 years after the world ended!

We’re Alive - also zombie horror and was the show that got me into audio dramas! It’s very long and looks overwhelming but I promise it’s good!

Darkest Night - anthology horror where you find out how people died but each case is actually related and there is a bigger mystery and this show lives in my head rent free lol

The Waystation - found footage style show about a group of people on a space station that all died (the story is trying to piece together what happened). It’s along the same lines as The White Vault

DERELICT - a research group are studying a door at the bottom of the ocean, and then shit goes sideways. I binged this series super fact and I need season 2 immediately lol

The Eleventh Hour episode called The City of Statues - I made this! It’s about a group of survivors trying to make it out of a city filled with statues trying to hunt them down 👀

Someone Dies in this Elevator - mix of horror and thriller I think. It’s an anthology series where every episode someone dies in an elevator 👀 I composed for a few episodes and it’s v fun 🤩

Thriller

The Liberty Podcast - made by the same folks behind The White Vault and VAST Horizon. It’s an anthology series of stories taking place within and surrounding a tower where a civilization lives. Some episodes might lean more towards horror but I personally consider it more thriller

The Walk - made by the same folks behind zombies run! In this show you the listener are the main character, an individual making their way across Scotland with a package they were mistakenly delivered. I love this show so much omg

Primordial Deep - scientists are finding extinct dinosaurs alive and well under the ocean and they’re trying to figure out what the fuck is going on. I fucking love this show omg

Spines - woman wakes up in the middle of a cult ritual with no memories and is trying to figure out who she is and where she came from. Also there are powers!

Mirrors - same person behind Spines! Three women from three different centuries (who are all related to each other) discover they can communicate with each other through ghost like figures. It has a bigger mystery and the ending made me cry it was so good

InCo - a woman finds a prince from a world that shouldn’t exist floating in space. This show is a delight and is a micro series and I love the humor within it so much omg

Where the Stars Fell - the Antichrist is roommates with their guardian angel and they’re trying to stop the rapture

DUST - anthology series about science fiction and technology! Season 3 is definitely my favorite as it is one story but the entire show as a whole is very good

Feel Good/Light Hearted Shows

Unseen - this show lives in my head rent free and I ache for it to be real. It’s about magic existing in the real world and is an anthology! It’s made by the same folks behind Wolf 359

Joy to the World - holiday series I helped produce! It’s about an astronaut named Joy talking with different people on Earth about the holidays! It’s an anthology and v warm and I highly recommend it as a holiday series

Sidequesting - a person who is totally not the hero is avoiding the main plot and going on a bunch of side quests! It’s charming and lovely and made by the wonderful Tal

Back Again, Back Again - a woman is retelling her stories of his magical world she was transported into and about the prophecy she became involved in

If none of these are your jam lmk and I can suggest some more! If you tell me what you like to listen to/what kinds of stories you enjoy I can make a more personalized list

[poppitron360]

One thing I felt like HoO really dropped on is the characterisation of the Argo II itself.

Where a lot of shows like Star Wars, Firefly, Doctor Who, and Star Trek really shine is where the ship itself becomes it’s own character.

I’m gonna use firefly as an example here, because I started re-watching it today, and this is something that’s a VERY key theme.

I think Joss Wheadon (the creator of the show) talked a lot about Serenity (the ship) actually being the “ninth cast member”. “Serenity” is the name of both the pilot episode and the follow-up movie, it’s name-dropped in the theme song, and the show is called firefly because it is a “Class-3 Firefly Spaceship”. And we as an audience really connect with the ship- despite the show being only fourteen episodes long (If I was only able to throttle 20th Century Fox… I answer to no god)- and I think the reason we do so is because every single character has their own personal connection with the vessel. Wash being the pilot (Also, if I remember it correctly, it being the place he met Zoë), Kaylee being the engineer, for Simon, it being a safe space to hide his sister from the totalitarian government trying to do experiments on her brain, and Mal and Zoë starting the ship together- Mal naming it “Serenity” after the battle of Serenity Valley which he fought in with Zoë (I could lore-dump about this show ‘til the gorram cows come home). And the whole premise of the show being about surviving with your rag-tag crew on this piece of shit that you love dearly, and just… keeping flying. Ugh, there’s something so magical in the writing that makes you adore the ship itself.

Other examples, like the Millennium Falcon, the TARDIS, and the USS Enterprise, are also good for this.

Now, onto how the Argo II itself:

The only person who really has a personal connection with the Argo II is Leo. The rest of the Seven just feel like they’re… on Leo’s boat. All the food is provided by the magic plates from Camp Half-Blood. Most of the piloting/engineering is done by Leo, and a little bit by Annabeth and sometimes Percy when they’re on the water. You never get the sense that any of the others really love the boat, or have any connection with it at all.

I think that’s the reason why the Seven never felt that close in my opinion. There was never a sense of community. Of people united by a common location.

I think, just love for a place in fiction is something really powerful to me. That’s where Harry Potter most thrived, not necessarily the plot, but wanting to be in the world, go to Hogwarts.

Camp Half-Blood had that charm and homeliness. So did the Waystation in TOA. Camp Jupiter didn’t for me, but I think that was kinda the point. But I never really got that from the Argo II, because of the way it was set up so that Leo was the only one who could really bond with it. And this is what makes Leo so compelling to me, is that he actually connects with his flying ship. I just feel like the Argo as its own character, similar to Serenity from firefly, could’ve been so good if it had been written right and was such wasted potential. It would’ve strengthened that bond between the Seven, and made that “familial” dynamic feel a lot more natural.

In conclusion? Everyone should go watch Firefly on Disney plus. It’s just fourteen, forty-five minute episodes, plus the movie. But man, is it worth it. You will cry at the deaths (why do all the good ones get impaled?). You will laugh at the jokes. You will probably say, “Wait- is that a young Zac Effron?” When a young Zac Effron has a cameo. You will wish you were as badass as River.

Idk, it’s 3:03am and this is basically a good idea of what the inside of my brain looks like most of the time. I’ve mentioned at least six obsessions of mine in this post.

[exhausted-archivist]

Where are the Deep Roads?

Thoughts as of July 2024 - watch The Veilguard just kick this all over like a sandcastle.

So I've been plucking away at maps for a while, and I've been finding new things and yelling about them near endlessly. The depth of the Deep Roads being one of them, and how they're so cold you will apparently freeze to death without a heat source. There is a lot, and I really hope we get more for da4. But I digress. I've been trying to figure out where the dao Deep Roads map fits on the map, especially as I finish up my Ferelden map.

My current thoughts are that it roughly looks something like this:

Assumptions Made for this Map

The golem marker on the Deep Roads map to the left of Orzammar is Amgarrak and not Kal'Hirol.

The star marker on the keep map for Orzammar is the actual location of the thaig, as the surface entrance itself is likely several miles/km away due to the depth of the Deep Roads.

That like in Horrors of Hormack short story in Tevinter Nights, the staircase leading into Orzammar isn't one straight shot but a set of spiral staircases and antechambers.

That the Deep Roads section we traverse are smaller than Ferelden since it takes only a month to cross them despite collapsed pathways, cave ins, darkspawn, mega fauna - blighted and otherwise; while it takes a year to travel the entire nation of Ferelden.

The crossed axes south of the Anvil of the Void are a marker for an entrance to the surface/to the Avvar. This is used to mark entry points to the surface in the DA TTRPG as well.

Where am I Getting the Lore?

Dragon Age Keep World Lore Map

It gives some information not found elsewhere, however it is taken with a grain of salt; because like most BioWare lore sources there are some contradictions on locations of previously visited locations. Such as the Kal'Hirol thiag and Soldier's Peak.

The Keep map marks Kal'Hirol south of Amaranthine and next to Soldier's Keep. However, this is a discrepancy compared to the location provided in Awakening.

Amgarrak's location

On the Dragon Age Keep, they label that Amgarrak is south of Jader and west of Orzammar.

Deep Roads Lore from the TTRPG

This, while canon unless stated otherwise by more recent/direct from BioWare, should be taken with a grain of salt. In the adventure Buried Pasts establishes this lore provided by BioWare.

Heat and Fuel

The majority of Deep Roads and thaigs are built about two to four miles beneath sea level, although in the Frostbacks that means they're actually much deeper beneath the surface. Dwarven mining galleries normally stretch up rather than down, tunneling up into the mountain regions of Ferelden and Orlais from beneath, while the thaigs themselves burrow downward toward pockets of lava that have moved up from the mantle. Most older thaigs (including Orzammar) have open regions of molten rock near their center that are used for heat, while more modern thaigs (ironically those more likely to be abandoned thanks to the darkspawn pushing the dwarven empire back on itself) used steam heating. Inhabited regions between thaigs are heated and lit by oil lamps using the fat from nugs and brontos. Away from lava or artificial heating, the Deep Roads are bitterly cold. The lack of weather is a mercy, but travelers that go too long without a source of heat will begin to feel the effects. As their lanterns are likely the source of their heat as well as light, travelers must take extra care with the amount of fuel they have; the dwarven empire once maintained frequent waystations along the Roads for resupply, but running out of lamp oil in the modern Deep Roads can be a death sentence...

-- Dragon Age Tabletop RPG, Buried Pasts p. 4

[twoidiotwriters1]

Almighty (Leo Valdez xFem!Oc)

A/N: I love making boys miserable -Danny Words: 1,650 Series' Masterlist Previous Chapter // Next Chapter Listen to: 'Wake Me' –by Bleachers

XLIX: Give Me My Horrid Self-Awareness Back It Was a Gift From My Mother!

I wake up standing on top of a bonfire.

"HOLY—" I jump out of it, frantically checking my feet and legs. I look up and find Leo looking at me wide-eyed. "What...?"

I hear a highway in the distance, but I can't really see anything more than a few scattered trees around us. It's nighttime, and Festus is curled up behind me, his tail wiggling excitedly as he sees me. "Holy crap, it worked!" Leo gets up. "When you said you'd listen if I gave you offerings, I didn't think you'd show up in person..."

"Yeah, no... this is new," I look at myself. "Are you asleep?"

Leo frowns. "No. Are you? Like a projection of yourself, or something?"

I examine my hand. "I don't know... this only happens when I pass out—but Lester says I'm... dividing my essence? I don't know, I just show up when I'm needed." For some reason, saying that and realizing who I'm talking to makes me extremely self-conscious. I look at him through my lashes, his gaze making my heartbeat race in a way I'm quite addicted to feeling. 

"So that means... you're here-here?" He asks, glowing golden. "I can touch you?"

I watch him take a step closer. Instinctively, I stretch out my arm, palm open. Leo reaches for it and gently presses his palm against mine. I feel it. We lock eyes, and the effect is instant. We kiss.

"Gods, I love you," he mumbles against my lips, his free hand reaching to tangle in my hair. A single minute in his presence makes me feel ten times lighter. "I love that you can just do this—I thought I wouldn't be able to see you until..."

"I can't do this all the time," I lean back, frowning. "I still haven't learned to be conscious everywhere—to do this, I gotta leave them unprotected."

"You mean Meg and Lester—and how's Grover?"

"Fine. We're with Piper right now," I smile. "She can't wait to see you. And punch you."

Leo laughs. "Yeah, checks out." He hugs me, burying his face in my neck. "Gods, Ara..."

"Where are we?" I ask, holding the back of his head against my shoulder.

"Nevada. I'll reach the camp any day now. How's your search going?"

"We've found out some things..." I don't have the heart to tell him about Medea's plans. "We're getting closer. We'll see Jason at some point, too. He and Piper broke up."

"What? That's not possible, they're like... they're like us!" I shake my head gloomily, and Leo's expression falls. "Or not. Damn soul lights..."

"They're okay," I card my fingers through his curls. "I'm actually glad you called on me... I think I was the one who needed to see you."

"Hard to believe, Sunshine, but I'll take the praises." Leo beams, grabbing my face and kissing me once more. "Tell Piper and Jason I say hi. And tell Lester to keep his slimy hands away from you."

I snort. "Leo..."

"Kidding, kidding... not." He hugs me tightly again. "Also, why do you smell like a roasted barn?" 

"Long story," I sigh. "I should go back... but they'll be happy to hear you're close—when I tell Jason about you, I'm sure he'll..." I pause. "You know, he's all on his own, you don't think—"

"Already moving on to the next case," my boyfriend smiles. "Maybe he wants to be left alone, Doll..."

"I really, really doubt it," I say, knowing how Jason and I feel about alienating ourselves as a coping mechanism. "He could be happier at the Waystation. More chances of seeing his sister, and he'd have his best friend to keep him company..."

"Don't flatter me to get your way," he pokes my side playfully. "You know I'll say yes. But you should ask him, not me."

I nod, then shake my head. "That place isn't safe, not while the emperors are around and—"

"I get it," he holds my face. "I'm with you. Just remember that demigods make their own choices—like you did once."

The statement stings because it reminds me how quickly I'm losing my humanity. I'm already trying to control the life of a demigod! "Right. Yes. I... I should go now. But I'm glad I saw you, and I'm glad you're okay."

"I'm glad you're good, too. And I'm proud of you," Leo replies, not fighting it. "So... bye?"

I blush. "I sort of uhm... I gotta fall asleep to go back." I look around. "We have until then, I suppose."

"Sweet," Leo grins, already pulling me to sit against Festus. "Let's cuddle, then."

Ara jolts awake, and Grover quickly eases her. "It's fine, you're fine, you're at our camp."

She relaxes. "I saw Leo."

Her friend hesitates. "Like, a hallucination or...?"

"No, dummy. He called on me, so I went... he's getting closer to Camp Jupiter," she feels a throbbing pain in her lower back. "Gods almighty, I feel as if I've been carrying sacks of cement up and down!"

"You held back the power of a titan all on your own, Ara," he says with reluctant respect. "Percy and Annabeth almost died when they held the sky, so it doesn't surprise me."

The girl rubs her eyes, leaning back against the cistern. "Can I be honest with you a moment?"

"Go ahead."

"I don't know what I'm doing anymore," she looks up tiredly. "I want to protect my demigods, but I can't relate to them—I want to be the very best, but I don't want the power it's giving me... and to top it all, now I'm being hunted for some divine essence that I no longer know if I harvested alone or was taken from Apollo so I could thrive!"

Grover picks on his hooves, cleaning them. "You are to all demigods what I am to these dryads. Help. Guidance. And many forces will try their best to get rid of you, because unprotected demigods have endless potential... You keep them from using it wrong."

"Nemesis said something like it to me once..." She examines her blistered hands, thinking of the piece of paper the goddess had given her a year ago. You will have cause to reconsider your choices soon. "When I saw her that time, she looked like me—An older version... I think that is how I look now."

Grover frowns. "That is one thing about you that makes a lot of sense."

"The scales balanced by the mighty daughter of Greece..." she says, still deep in thought. "I've gotten away with many things... but soon I'll have to make a statement."

"About what?"

She glances at Lester's sleeping form, sunburned and vulnerable. "What I'll be."

Lester wakes up before the girls and goes to Ara as soon as he's healed enough to stand. "I heard you saw Leo."

"He should reach San Francisco in a day or so," She glances at him, visibly troubled. "Lester... a titan's essence at their disposal... How are we going to defeat that?"

"We'll find a way," he says, sitting beside her. "You controlled him."

"And it almost killed me. I went blind for like, a good five minutes. He wasn't even focused on getting me, and I couldn't do more. I can't fight him."

"Maybe we can find a way to set him free."

"So he can kill you?"

"He's only pissed because he was forsaken, I'm sure we can send that energy to... wherever retired titans are." He changes the subject. "How are you feeling? You used up a lot of power."

"Body seems to be holding up," she leans back on her hands. "I ate some ambrosia and nectar, healed my eyes, my hair grew back—wish I could say the same about Piper and Meg's... they'll have a few weeks of looking choppy."

He hums, eyeing her carefully. "But you're still... human?"

"Debatable," she looks back at him. "You said some emperors used to try and become deities by being worshipped, and some had actual powers—does that count as being a god?"

"In the most technical way possible, yes, they were. But they didn't have a place in Olympus, like a Great Value version of us. Sure, they can be mighty, but they're never as good as the real thing."

"We both know that's what's happening here." Ara fidgets with Almighty, running her thumb over the Greek letter embedded on the compass. "Medea said that no matter what I'll lose, and I know I sound like a broken record, but I once told Leo that as long as I was up and breathing, the quest would keep going, that I couldn't fail because that meant I was dead. What if dying is the only way to guarantee my work is done?"

Lester's expression sours. "Don't talk like that. You're not disposable, you're not—"

"I'm a soul who's already lived too many lives," she responds calmly. "What if the fates gave me this task so I could finally rest? If I die, it's a direct pass to the Isles of the Blessed. My situation isn't like yours, I'll... go somewhere better."

Lester lowers his gaze and scowls as he picks at his nails. "What are you suggesting?"

"Take my power."

"No."

"We'll find out how Medea was planning to do it, and then we're doing it. You'll be Apollo, and you'll release the oracles."

"I can't do that to you," he scowls. "You know why."

Ara's eyes fill with anguish. "Think of all the demigods affected by this crap—you can make it stop! All I do is postpone it."

Lester wants to refuse; he wants to say that it doesn't make sense, but it does, and she's not even using charmspeak. Ara's path is reaching an end.

"Do you realize what you're asking is basically for me to kill you on purpose? I already suffer enough watching you risk your life indirectly!"

Ara can't even feel embarrassed at his reply, and she wishes she could, really, because that would give her an excuse to drop the subject. "A crush isn't worth the trouble, Lester."

"It wasn't a random flower that my mother grew on your hair, it was Hyacinths," he says quietly, eyes on his feet. "I can't lose you."

She stands, voice firmer and slightly angry. "I'm not yours to lose."

Next Chapter –>

Taglist.

@siriuslysirius1107 @ask-giggles1303 @im-planning-something-look @bandshirts-andbooks @coolninjapaper @thewaterlily @whenisthefall @1randomcomic @you-bloody-shank @sunflowergraves @owlalex44 @taylordaughter @typicalsolangelolover @writingmia @espressopatronum454 @slytherinnqueen @orbitingpolaris @obxstiles @ellipsisspelled @thepixiechicksh @ebony-reine-vibes @chxosunbound

[axterr]

Breakfast at the waystation (ft Leo and Reyna)

I haven't even finished reading TOA but wdym they live in the same house?? 😭

(No soy ni mexicana ni puertoriqueña, pero les juro que hice lo mejor que pude 🙏😭. Si alguien tiene alguna crítica me avisa porfa)

Translation:

- Hey, can I get a bite?

+ No, dude. I asked if you wanted one and you said no.

- Just a bite...

+ No, it's mine!

- Tch, you're so selfish, y'know?

[ottpopfic]

One day I will finish getting down all of my Waystation notes, one day

[space-writes]

wip extract

tagged by @chauceryfairytales, thank you! here’s a recent bit from Valloroth things, ft the grumpiest man in Mohaade, my beloved Vren 🔪🖤

[ID - a green and black decorative divider]

“No job Zhira’s given you. Another private client?” The disdain in the words was audible. “Been taking a lot of those lately, Wraith. What is it, family business not exciting enough for you any more? I’m sure grandfather would send you back into the Empire if you asked.” Vren ground his teeth. Pure needling, the kind only born Zarahmin could get away with. This child would always have a place, never need to earn his keep, pay down a tally of life debt; he was of Zhira’s line, his position assured, so long as he didn’t do anything stupid. His rank would always be higher than Vren’s despite the fact he’d done nothing of worth, and never would. He wouldn’t have lasted five minutes in Voi’xindiiri. “Can I use the Waystation or not?” If he was refused, he’d simply go the long way down the Kalah River, take a boat over to Iaseri. Weeks of wasted time, but rather that than grovel. The divining power he could find in Voah’kasis would make up for it. “You can. Here.” From a pouch at his belt, the man pulled a small metal token, and tossed it to him. The spoked wheel of the Zarahmin was stamped on either side. “Take your trip. But Zhira will want to know why you’re taking it.” “He can want all he likes. My business is mine.” Khazen Zhira’s grandchild pushed off from the wall with a laugh. “You’re family, bhahan. All your business is ours.”

[ID - a green and black decorative divider]

no-pressure tagging @rhikasa @jmhwritesstuff and @eccaiia

Valloroth taglist: @cherrybombfangirlwrites @reininginthefirewriting @memento-morri-writes @foxboyclit @lawful-evil-novelist

@at-thezenith @morganwriteblr @fayeiswriting @serenanymph

@sam-glade @viscerawrites @thegreatobsesso @flower-reads (ask to be +/-)

[the12thnightproject]

Chapter 30 - The Waystation. This is what happens when you cross the streams. 

Mitsunari x OC; Nobunaga x Mai

Previous Chapter

Logline -  In order to protect a political alliance, Katusko and Mitsunari must pretend an engagement. But this “all business” arrangement is threatened by a coup against Nobunaga… and by feelings.

From the Military Notes of Ishida Mitsunari

With regard to my previous journal entry, I believe I now understand the concept of irony…

Unfortunately, our “road trip” has been anything but uneventful. It feels like time is conspiring to keep me from speaking to Okatsu. And yet, that’s not exactly true. There have been moments of repose, when I could take that space and use it to tell her how I feel. But whenever those moments occur, I find the words freezing in my throat.

I don’t need a strategy for love. I need a strategy for breaking the silence.

Hiding behind the trunk wouldn’t have been my preference had there been any other options. Unless the newcomers were completely inept, they would discover me within moments. I took hold of the war fan, planning to jam it into the ribs of anyone who attacked, as the wall groaned open.

Then the woman said. “Wait. Aki usually has a lantern on his desk.”

The man, however, didn’t wait. “There’s enough light from the office. Hand me that cushion, I’ll prop the wall open.”

Wait.

The cushion already had been in the mechanism… hadn’t it?

No time to puzzle over that. I could hear the man’s footsteps coming closer, as he confidently glided around the perimeter of the room. He paused, right by the trunk I was hiding behind.

I held my breath, refusing to move, preparing to strike if he threatened me.

But instead, the man leaned over and stared into my face with an expression of surprise. “How did you get over here so fast?”

Before I could react, he took hold of my hand and helped me to my feet. The light from the entry haloed his face, a vaguely familiar profile. I had seen him before… somewhere?

Behind me… the whistle of a sword, as Mitsunari jumped to his feet. “Let go of her.”

The man reacted instantly, pushing me behind him, then said, “Ishida Mitsunari.” He looked back down at me, as if he wasn’t sure what to make of me. Then he pushed the sleeve of my kimono up and examined my arm. “And you are not my-”

“Got it!” The room turned a warm amber as the lantern light filled the space. The woman stood in the entry, looking at us all. And she was…

Me?

Mitsunari made a strangled noise, and the man let me go.

I couldn’t move  – I could only stare at the me who was not me. We were both wearing similarly cut kimonos, although hers was darker than mine. There was also – I thought for a moment to find the right word – a serenity, yes, serenity about her, despite the startled look on her face – a look that I was sure was reflected on mine. “Oh hell.” She raised the lantern a bit higher, illuminating the scene. “Are we in the wrong timeline?”

“How?” The man strolled to her side and put his arm around her waist. “We didn’t go through either wormhole.”

I finally managed to break my trance and scooted backward until I bumped up against Mitsunari. If there was any timeline jumping going on, then I was going to be doing it with him. He put his hand on my shoulder and held on tight, apparently of the same mind. Or maybe he simply wanted to reassure himself that I was real.

I sort of needed that reassurance myself.

The awkward silence was finally broken, not by any of us, but by a sound above – that of people walking across the ceiling.

We all looked up.

“That better be a Sasuke,” the me who was not me said, even as all four of us readied our weapons, just in case.

Then a trap door in the ceiling opened and two ninjas stared down at us.

One of them was definitely Sasuke, and I relaxed a bit at the familiar figure. Even so, the surreal events of the day were enough motivation for me to keep my hand on my sword. Maybe it was Sasuke’s evil twin – at this point anything was possible. Maybe the not-me was my evil twin? Or maybe I was the evil twin?

Although there was clearly a rope ladder available, both ninjas leaped gracefully into the room. Sasuke removed his mask.

He bowed to the other me, and the tall man. “Katsu, Lord Shingen. It is a pleasure to encounter you both again, though I’m aware you might not say the same.” He turned to Mitsunari and I, then bowed again. “Mitsunari, Okatsu, I’m happy to make your acquaintance.”

“Sasuke, we just saw each other two days ag-.” I sighed, remembering what the other me had said. “That wasn’t you, was it? Two Sasukes. Two of me.”

“Three.” Mitsunari bowed to the as-yet-silent other ninja. “Three Okatsus. I told you. She has your eyes.”

“I thought you recognized me that day.” The ninja, or kunoichi, took off her balaclava. Mitsunari was right, this was another me – although unmasked, no one would confuse her with myself or ‘Katsu’ because this woman had chin length hair that was dyed purple, and I was instantly jealous because I had always wanted to do that to my hair.

“Well, at least now I know how I would look with that haircut.” I didn’t realize I had said it out loud, until Katsu murmured, “Indeed,” causing the tall man – Lord Shingen – to tangle his fingers in her long ponytail. “You’d look lovely in any style, but I confess I love the way you have it now.”

They smiled at each other, almost as if they had retreated into their own world. Mitsunari watched them with the expression he normally reserved for reading a new book, before turning to me. “I would always know you, Okatsu, no matter what color your hair – but will someone please explain why there are three of you when you don’t have any sisters.”

Before Sasuke could respond, the other Katsuko – the one with Lord Shingen, and not the cyberpunk me – raised her hand. “Wait. Whose timeline are we in – mine, that Katsu’s… or that Katsu’s… or jeez, I’m confusing myself.”

“No one’s, actually.” Cyberpunk Katsuko impatiently swiped her hair behind her ears. “And Iook, just call me Kayten. I’ve met far too many versions of myself to use ‘Katsu’ at this point.”

Feeling the urge to contribute something helpful, I said, “I’ve gotten used to answering to Okatsu.” God help Mitsunari if he had to learn another name at this point. “What did you mean we’re not in any timeline. We’re not dead, are we?”

I didn’t feel dead. Then again, having never been dead, how would I know?

“Simply put, -” Sasuke began before Kayten interrupted, “Spidey, you’ve never put things simply.”

He pushed his glasses up further along the bridge of his nose. “That… is accurate. To answer your question, Okatsu, this room exists outside of the multiverses. I surmise that the four of you separately came in search of Professor Yamaoka in your own timelines and found yourselves in this… for want of a better word… waystation.”

When no one corrected him, Sasuke continued. “Kayten and I will make sure you’re able to return to your original timelines without further incident.”

I glanced up at the door in the ceiling. “Not that way, I hope?” Ugh.

“Ditto.” Katsu rubbed her hands over her arms. “Kayten, how were you able to go through there?” Lord Shingen patted her on the back, so presumably he was aware of the claustrophobia.

“I designed a series of cognitive behavior desensitization exercises for her.” Sasuke seemed rather proud of himself although Kayten rolled her eyes and elbowed him. “Though, of course it was Kayten who put in the work.”

“Where is Aki?” I didn’t want to go anywhere without the information I was looking for.

Kayten and Sasuke looked at each other in a silent conversation. “We actually don’t know.” For the first time, Kayten dropped her above-it-all attitude and looked worried. “Okatsu, the last we saw of him, he was going to your timeline to ensure Hikosane’s safety.”

Oh. In which case, Mitsunari and I had been the last people to see him. “He and Iekane fell off a tower, but… they disappeared between there and the ground.” Did Kayten know about the paternity issue? “Right before that happened, Iekane told me that Aki is my… oh I guess, our-”

Kayten cut me off. “When we find him, I’ll make sure he comes back to discuss that with you.”

Hm. Katsu hadn’t reacted to our half conversation, except to look mystified. So, Aki hadn’t told her either? I kind of liked knowing something that she didn’t. Besides, Aki deserved to repeat what was sure to be an awkward conversation over and over.

Crrrruuuunnnnch

Now what?

The rumbling noise had come from somewhere outside the room, seeming to surround us. The four of us who weren’t ninjas again gripped our weapons, in preparation for… well… whatever had made that sound was big… I hoped it wasn’t dinosaurs.

“Please tell me that wasn’t a dinosaur.” Katsu eyed the trap door.

“No… I think the failsafes that keep the timelines from crossing are weakening. This room was only intended to be a pass through.” Sasuke pulled out a phone – at least it looked like a phone and glanced at it. “The longer we stay in here, the more likely it is to destabilize. Theoretically-”

“I hate it when you say that.” Katsu and Kayten had both spoken at once.

Sasuke continued as if he had not been interrupted. “Theoretically, we could be trapped in here indefinitely, therefore, my recommendation is that we end the discussion and return to our respective timelines.”

“Agreed.” Kayten looked us all over. “I’ll guide Okatsu and the cinnamon roll. You can deal with the flirt.”

Sasuke looked over at Katsu and Lord Shingen. “My apologies Katsu, but the simplest and fastest way back to your timeline is vertical.” He looked up at the trap door.

The rumbling from outside continued. I’d been in a couple of minor earthquakes, including one a few weeks after I arrived in this era. That’s what this sounded like. Earthquake. And I did not want to be trapped in here if that occurred. Katsu seemed to feel the same way, for she simply nodded, and reached for Lord Shingen’s hand. “If we must.”

“I’ll be right with you, Devil, if you start feeling overwhelmed.” Lord Shingen gave her shoulders a light massage.

She reached back and took hold of his hand, leaning into him as if he gave her strength. “Better a few minutes in the crawl space than an infinity in here.” She winked at me. “I already live with one voice of me in my head – I don’t need that tripled.”

“Imagine that times ten,” Kayten muttered, before shooing Mitsunari and I toward the rotating wall. “This way for your timeline, Okatsu.”

Sasuke, Lord Shingen, and Katsu were already climbing into the ceiling. As they disappeared above, I heard her say. “Sasuke, if this this room links the timelines, why couldn’t I have used this last year when I was stuck-”

Another rumbling noise made it possible to hear the rest of the conversation, and Mitsunari and I hurried after Kayten.

Aki’s office was just as deserted as before. I heard a metallic clunk and looked down – I’d nearly tripped over the lantern that Katsu had left by the wall.

Kayten let the bookshelf swing back into place. Then she opened it again and gestured us back into the waystation, even though we’d just been in there. But it was already deserted.

It seemed redundant to go back into the waystation, shut the wall, reopen the wall, and then again go back into Aki’s office. The only difference I could see from the room that it had been the moment before was that the lantern was not on the floor. Right. We had brought it into the waystation, whereas Katsu had left one by the wall.

Keeping one foot in the waystation and one foot in the office, Kayten braced the bookshelf open. She pulled a cell phone out of her pocket, and glanced down at it, frowned, then held the phone closer to the waystation. Finally, she nodded in satisfaction. “Welcome to Timeline B. Please put your tray tables up and raise your seats to their original upright positions.”

“Is that a time travel app on your phone?” That seemed incredibly advanced tech, even for my original century. “Right before he and Aki went over the edge of the tower, Iekane had a device that looked sort of like a phone. But more-.” I tried to mime out the dimensions of the thing he’d had.

“Yeah. That’s a prototype that he stole, and it’s the only one…  Francisco is trying to make another one, but without Aki, we don’t even know enough about how it works.” Kayten stabbed at her phone with a scowl on her face.

Francisco is a time traveler too?

Before I could ponder the implications of that, she continued. “Whereas this … this is more like timeline GPS. Sasuke programmed it to help us make sure we always could figure out which when we’re in. But it only works for the timelines we’re aware of. There are others we haven’t visited – and I’m sure some we don’t want to visit.” She waved the phone at me, but I only caught a glimpse of the year 1582 before screen went dark. “Ooops. The waystation is the only place with a signal though.” She held the phone closer to the wall and it rebooted. “Anyway, it’s just time, date and timeline.”

I stepped closer to examine it. “Wait… if that’s correct, we were in there over a week?”

Mitsunari blinked a couple times. “I have occasionally lost track of time reading, but never an entire week.”

“Katsu-” Kayten inclined her head to indicate she meant the other Katsu. “Katsu got stuck in the wormhole for a year, but she didn’t realize that much time had passed.”

That sounded like a nightmare – and here I was planning to go into one in… well, if we had truly lost a week, then tonight was when I was supposed to meet Toshiie and Sasuke. Unless… “Do you use that room to go back and forth to the future?”

“No, the wormhole is the only way to go forward and backward in time. The waystation is for sideways – to skip from timeline to timeline. It must have been an unlucky coincidence that you two and Shingen and Katsu all went searching for Aki at the same time, because the waystation sticks pretty close to the same time. Or… well, that’s what it is designed to do. Hm.” She paused, and for the first time looked really concerned. “I think that Katsuko and Shingen were from 1584, though… they had to have been, because of that whole got stuck in the wormhole for a year thing.” She tapped on her phone app. “A two year slippage… That’s… not a good sign.”

“Do others use it too? I mean, is it ok to leave it unguarded?” I hated the idea of enemies from another timeline using it as a backdoor to here.

Kayten didn’t look up from her phone. “So far, we’re the only people who know of it, so. But yeah, I’m going to talk to Sasuke about this. And Aki… if he ever shows his face. Anyway, you two should be able to manage from here, right?”

“Yes.” I was getting a little tired of her – I guess my – above it all attitude. “I do know how to exit a building.”

Neither Mitsunari nor I spoke until we were a good distance down the mountain. Negotiating the tricky paths meant there was no additional mental space to think about what we had just learned – and not learned - until we were on more level turf.

Eventually, after we had completed the most treacherous part of the journey, we pulled our horses to a halt and climbed down.

“Were you as weirded out by that as I was?” We led our horses to a stream. Since it was a warm day, I took off my sandals and bathed my feet in the water. The feeling of the cool water and the smooth stones helped ground me after such a surreal afternoon (week?).

“I am unsure what you mean by ‘weirded out.’ Though seeing copies of yourself must be… unsettling?” Mitsunari took off his sandals as well, and then winced when he dropped one in the stream.

I grabbed it as it floated past and handed it back to him. “I kept thinking ‘that’s not-me. And that other one is not-me either. It was stranger with Katsu. Kayten looked different enough that I could pretend she was a cousin.” How long ago had the timelines split? If all three of us had claustrophobia, did that mean we had been one person at least up through the time Iekane had first tried to kill us? Maybe he had killed some of us and that was the moment of the split? I should have asked one of the others. “It’s giving me a headache just thinking about it.”

“It appeared to me as if you were not the same but sisters. Even were the three of you to dress identically, and wear your hair the same way, I believe I would be able to tell which one was you.” He reached out and lightly touched a lock of my hair, absently spinning it between his fingers.

That was sweet of him to say, though I didn’t believe him, given his usual difficulty with names and faces. Rather than call him on that, I changed the subject. “I guess we’re not going to be able to find Aki in this timeline. And we didn’t get a chance to learn why Iekane wants to kill Hikosane.”

“Only that he is important enough for Akihira to come and help us.” Mitsunari replaced his sandals. One of them squooshed water when he walked.

“Can you help look after him once I go back to my time? I know that Nobunaga will treat him fairly, but it will do him no harm to spend time with you too.” I wiped my feet dry on the grass and shoved them into my sandals. “I guess if we’ve truly lost a week, we should hurry in case the wormhole is early.”

He looked up into the cloudy sky. “I feel as if I’ve had a week stolen from me. I thought we would have more time before you are to leave.”

So did I.

@lorei-writes @bestbryn @katriniac @lyds323 @briars7

[enkisstories]

A fishing spot with safety rails... logs ready to get processed into beams or furniture... actual street lamps and, the main attraction, a sturdy bridge - after the abandoned village and the cabin in the woods, now this waystation was earning its name!

"What is this place?" Connor and Amadeus asked. "It doesn't look like a trade post. A logging camp, perhaps?"

"When was the last time you saw a lumberjack camp with a moon dial?" Amadeus teased his brother, knowing only too well that neither of them had ever seen a lumberjack camp in their life.

The boy was notably awed and when he beheld the brick buildings next, he squealed with delight. There were what looked like a foundry, several smithys and an archive. In the far distance loghouses for the workers were nestled into the forest. Some of the miners had already founded families and were in the process of building larger, permanent homes a bit aside of the singles' community living houses.

Connor only nodded appreciatively. He was impressed, too.

Rupert: "Welcome to Stern Mining Inc. headquarters!"

Amadeus: "Connor, Connor! Did you hear that? We've made it! We're HOME!"

Gavin: "We're still a full week away from New Henford, though?"

Rupert: "Mister Graff says that will be a train's ride of an hour or two at best in the near future. Well before the end of the century, there won't be a place where humans haven't gotten to by then... Not below and not above ground, and looking at how high they build, maybe not even in the sky."

Gavin: "Not your comfort thought, huh?"

Rupert: "Not at all. Although I think I could warm up to living in such a towerlike house. All the way up, with a view like the birds... That would be neat!"

[ienianstories]

I guess as an author it might be wise to explain what I write about, huh?

Hi! I'm Annie. I'm a two spirit cree transbian living in the diaspora. My nation was displaced in the 60s, and now all of my family lives far from our homelands. It's from this position I started to explore the idea of what a queer utopia in the diaspora would look like: Ienia.

Outside of fiction Ienia started as a place for me to write queer romances in an urban fantasy setting that explored concepts of what an attempt at utopia as designed by refugees and immigrants, those displaced to an utterly hostile un-land, would be like to live in, or dream of. What healing looks like for people who have escaped their homes for better or worse. Ienia is a perfectly flat, blank, impenetrable floor with a dome far above, and it feels like that to live off my homelands oftentimes. To live on someone else's land because mine is taken and destroyed, it feels so utterly hostile, even when I have been taken in by the local indigenous people so kindly. I raise my hands to them in thanks, but their land is not mine, and I don't want it to be. Ienia is a magnification of that feeling.

Pronounced Eye-En-Ee-Ah, Ienia is a country that exists in a magical subdimension connected to Earth, but Earth if it had magic and elves and orcs and such. It started out, in fiction, as someone's master's project in the 1500's at Oxford University. Ieni himself made a magic closet bigger on the inside than the out, but it got a little bit bigger with each new person who entered. It grew to be an archive, then a college, then a waystation between British colonial universities, then a military outpost, then eventually, a colony. Since it is a non place, the only people living there are immigrants, refugees, and their children. It took independence in the 1960's, and became its own country after shutting all the portals back to Earth down for months.

[officialleehadan]

Gift of Trust

Hello darlings! Today's story was brought to you by Jennifer! Darling, thank you so much for all your support! it means the world to me!

Prompt: Treebrothers

+++

“My brother murdered your mother.”

Aspen stood in a tree, utterly hidden from anyone who could possibly see him. The willows around him rustled, their fury banked but not ended by the death of the lord who murdered a dryad only a few paces out of the forest. They were not human and their rage would not fade for a very long time. Only the humans of Waystation were spared their vengeance.

Aspen didn’t dare think about Waystation and the woman he loved. Not now. Not when his brothers wanted more blood on their roots. Not when he wanted to help them put it there.

There would be time for joy after the blood was done.

The human who stood below him was young. About the same age as Rosemary’s sister, Verbena. He came without weapons or even armor, dressed only in simple pants and boots. He showed his empty hands and walked well within reach of the hungry trees.

If nothing else, he was brave.

“My father came here for revenge, but he didn’t understand how much evil my brother did,” the young human, barely old enough to be called a man, said steadily. There was grief deep in his voice, but Aspen suddenly thought that it was not for the lord, or for this boy’s brother. “He came here because he was prideful and cruel. I’m not him. I’ve already ordered what’s left of the army to leave. We won’t… we won’t bother Waystation anymore. I’ll make sure.”

It was strange to think of this human who wanted to make things right, but Aspen thought maybe that was exactly what they all needed. He was angry, so angry, but the man who was responsible was dead, and so was the one who came to avenge him. Even now, Aspen could see that the army was packing up, just as the boy said.

It was a difficult decision. This could still be a trap, although Aspen doubted it. They were far out of range of even the finest bow, and the forest would protect him from any magic that might come for him.

He dropped out of the tree with the ease of long practice and brushed aside the long fronds of the willows around him.

“You chose to leave so easily?” he asked quietly, ready to duck back into the trees if he had to. There were some noises of alarm from the camp, but the young lord held up his hand to ward them off almost as Aspen spoke. “Why?”

“Because there’s been enough death, and I can stop it,” the young lord said, and hesitated. “My name is Elieist. I can’t give you anything but my word that there will be no more cruelty from anyone beholden to me, but you have that much. I hope it is enough.”

“You do not want revenge for your father or your brother?” It was such a difference from the two nobles Aspen had met already. “You will not bring harm to Waystation?”

“Neither I nor any of mine will come through for anything but a call for aid from the town. I’ve already sent word to my seneschal.,” Elieist assured him and shifted from foot to foot nervously. Aspen considered him and listened to the magic he still wore, the gift of his brothers, and their mother before that. “If Waystation needs anything, I will see to it, but nothing else. I owe them my loyalty as their lord, but I do not demand- I don’t even ask for anything from them in return.”

He was young. Younger than Aspen, and grieving for the evil that had been done.

He might even grow to be a good man, in time.

“Come sit,” Aspen said, surprising himself as he nodded to a fallen log nearby. It was not one of his brothers, but a nurse log, with new trees already growing from her trunk. A good place to talk about peace. “You gave me your word, so let me give you mine. I will not harm you, or allow harm to come to you, today.”

“Already you show more mercy than I’ve earned,” Elieist said, but he offered Aspen a hesitant smile and came over to sit. After another moment of deliberation, Aspen sat beside him and set his bow aside. Here in the shadow of the willows, there was little that could harm him. Certainly not this young man who was brave, and hopeful. “May I know your name? Or if you are of the Good Folk, who do not give names freely, may I know what to call you instead?”

“If I was of the Fae, I would own you already,” Aspen said, suddenly amused that the boy had simply given his name so easily and without hesitation. “My mother named me Aspen. You may use it.”

Rosemary told him that he could be intimidating for his direct way of speaking, but Elieist seemed reassured and his smile steadied. The trees around them rustled and he jumped, before he looked up and his smile dropped away.

“I cannot undo the evil my family has done to yours,” he said hesitantly, not to Aspen, but to the trees. Aspen immediately like him more for it. “But I am sorry.”

“They don’t understand you,” Aspen told him and did his best to be kind about it. “They don’t speak the way that you do. But I’ll tell them.”

“Thank you,” Elieist said, his smile returning, tentative again but sincere. “Would you… if it is not too painful, would you tell me about your mother, and how I could honor her? If we are to move into a brighter time, I would like to start it well.”

Aspen thought about it, and came to a decision that was perhaps unwise, but which would lay the seeds for the brighter future that Elieist seemed to want so much.

“Come with me, if you think your people can be trusted without you for a few hours,” he offered instead, and stood. Elieist stood with him but waited politely to hear what he had to say. “The people of Waystation need reassurance. I think perhaps you can give them more than I can, but you will have to brave the trees.”

“Of those in this world I have trusted, the tree that sheltered me from my father’s rages was the dearest,” Elieist said softly with his eyes on the pale leaves above him. “Lead the way, Aspen. I do not believe I will find harm under these trees.”

+++

Treebrothers:

Born and Grown  (Subscriber Only!)

Grown and Known

+

Wild Roses and Birdsong

Willow Glow (Subscriber Only!)

Under Angry Trees

Boar Hide Charge

At Dawnbreak (Subscriber Only!)

Gift of Trust (New!)

+

Bare-Handed 

Snow Elf

Sheltered  (Subscriber Only!)

Siege Breaker (Subscriber Only!)

+++

MASTERLIST