#selkie vi would have a very

[mantisgodsdomain]

3,4,15 for any member of team snakemouth!

...how about all three?

(for this ask game)

3. Obscure headcanon

For Kabbu, though we may have noted this before, we think that the North is quite firmly considered a patch of Deadland - and its inhabitants, as a result, tend to be very, very strange from the perspective of the rest of the world. For Kabbu, specifically, this means a variety of things, both biologically and culturally - though Northern beetles are a lot more common in Bugaria, deadlands in general come with a very high rate of mutation and a very high rate of death, and that means a high rate of superstition both in things that actively impact survival and in things that do not - as well as the simple fact that a constantly-changing set of genetics means that what a northern beetle is like is often very, very open to change.

Kabbu is an example of a burrower - a subspecies of sorts primarily identified by claws designed, very specifically, for digging. His claws grow into a sort of broad shovel shape and tend to be much sturdier than an equivalent beetle's - getting underground in moments in soft ground isn't really an exaggeration! Though he can dig through harder ground, it takes time and effort, and he can't go at it with the sheer speed of softer soil - technically, he could burrow through solid rock given enough time, but it would be both hard and extremely painful. It's a trait that's heavily prized in the North for its ability to create shelter and safety - beetles dominate the North's underground, and there's nothing that can really pose a threat to them. Tunnels are safety, and it really surprises and disorients him when things underground attack him, because back home that just kind of doesn't happen unless it's Another Beetle specifically targeting you.

In terms of more social things, he has a lot of trouble getting used to the concept of mimics. This is mostly due to the fact that mimics as a whole don't really... exist in the north, at least not in the means of gaining benefit from mimicking anything else. If you can talk to them as any other awakened bug, they're usually exactly what they say they are, and species mimicking normal geological features and plants haven't found any success, unless you're willing to get extremely generous with describing the snow-bank camouflage of a Northern Silk Moth's topcoat.

Though sand wasps or "white bees" still exist, the thing they're mimicking no longer exists in the same area. Any Hive that once was in the North is long dead, overly-large groups of bugs tend to die out quickly thanks to the handful of large predators that may decide the benefits outweigh the consequences when enough tasty beetles gather in the same place, and when the enemy you're dealing with is both too heavily armoured to be really deterred by most weaponry and capable and intelligent enough to stalk your group through the snow until the cost outweighs the benefit of eating you... well, the sort of small groups generally sent to start a new colony of social bugs really don't stand a chance.

It is, occasionally, very hard to get used to the fact that southern silk moths only grow a few heads taller than him. He's used to them presenting a lot more of a threat.

For Leif... we think he's completely, 100% blind. His eyes are frozen over due to quirk of his biology - the thing about his integration that makes him a failure, specifically. With any of the Snakemouth cordyceps, they do not naturally transfer the immunity to their own magic that any other variety of mage would have, and so need to alter their hosts in order to get the appropriate biology across. With Leif, that protection is not sufficient to protect the host, much less to preserve valuable organs - eyes, especially, are fragile, after all. The cold he naturally generates exceeds the host adaptations he provides, resulting in, even beyond the blindness, unusually brittle chitin, extremely stiff and easy-to-damage tissue, organic food processing efficiency appropriate for a bug currently freezing to death...

Well, you get the idea. Functionally, if alive, a host body would be in a state of perpetual hypothermia, prone to breaking down over time and needing persistent repair that his strain of cordyceps cannot provide, as any repair he could offer that's not within his host's natural healing capabilities requires manually breaking down and reconstructing any parts, which... is inconvenient at best. As he is, he gets around most of these issues by simply replacing his host body's soft tissue with cordyceps, but that has its own issues, mainly in making him look and move incredibly uncanny. Injuries take a very long time to repair, relatively, though the less tissue damage is done the easier it is to fix - being cleanly sliced in two, for example, might be easier to handle than any sort of crushing damage. As far as his eyes go... eyes of any sort are delicate, and the slightest damage can permanently blind someone. Any of Snakemouth Den's cordyceps tend to go blind anyways as the fungus burrows into ocular nerves - if anything, this is better for hiding, since the frost over his eyeballs conceals any mycelium in the eyes themselves. In theory, it can be repaired... in practice, it would be far too much of a pain for work that will be undone the moment he overtaxes his ice magic again.

...also, he doesn't really care. Sight is not the most important sense a moth has and his scent and ability to sense pheromones is fine, along with a general sensitivity to things like vibrations in the air. More than fine, even, since he's now kind of hybridized with both Ant and Bee and the number of pheromones he's sensitive enough to sense has shot through the roof. This on top of the "magic sense" he has means he has absolutely no trouble getting around, though reading books requires more or less sticking an antenna or fungal tendril over them and parsing out where the ink is by scent and texture. He full-on didn't notice he was blind until after the cordyceps reveal.

For Vi, while this might be one we've mentioned before, we headcanon that she's got a bit of minor mutation throwing her antenna... maybe 2% more towards a non-social relative, which gears her just slightly more towards being able to detect "foreign" scents - predators, prey, and any pollen or nectar in the area. Unfortunately, this slight shift in what scents she's made to pick up comes with a reduced sensitivity to pheromones and pheromone communication within the hive, along with loss of the general innate understanding that an average bee would have of how she's meant to "fit in" to a structure that utterly cripples her communication and social life in the hive.

It's minor enough of a mutation that she's never been flagged - she's a mutation of a social bee, not a normal variant of a solitary - but she smells weird, and she doesn't pick up on pheromones quite enough, and the variation in signals she puts off means that she both fails the communication to get across what she might need and fumbles the communication conveyed back to her about what she should do. Subtle things build up over time, and within the Hive, the negatives far outweigh the benefits - the Hive is only built with bees that fit to a standard in mind, and even minor deviations can get you dragged far, far behind.

This is getting very long so, uhh. Here's a cut. Everything else is below it. We enjoy getting very long-winded. There's a lot in here.

15. Worst thing they’ve ever done

Well, this one will depend on if it's "in general" or "by their standards". Putting any sort of objective moral judgement on just about anything is ridiculously difficult, especially with how values vary by culture or individual.

There is no such thing as objective worst, and we absolutely don't guarantee these would line up with your idea of worse, and so we'll offer two options here - what we believe they would think of first if posed with the question, and an alternative answer that would likely crop up.

For Kabbu, his own response would be easy - abandoning his teammates to The Beast. It haunts him to this day - really, what sort of beetle abandons their swarm to a fate like that? If he was a little faster, a little braver, a little less of a coward - but no. He abandoned those he was meant to care most for, and they died because of it.

For the other...

There are some things that are necessary, to survive somewhere as harsh as the Deadlands. Not everyone can be saved. Not everything can be helped. Not everyone can be taken in. Tradition and law is the heart and soul of the North - rules that everyone must comply to, if not for the sake of themselves, than for the sake of those they may interact with. To break a law, for any reason, is to be shunned by the community, most likely to your eventual death.

She broke a law. It could have been for understandable reasons, or not - it doesn't matter. She put the community at risk, and for that, she couldn't stay. She was put out in the cold, despite her pleading to the contrary. She was allowed to beg and plead and bang on the door, and yet, it meant nothing. The beast she would have lead to them caught up, eventually. He would still believe it was justified.

For Leif, his first response would be... exactly what you expect of him, really. The body he took without a care. The life he stole. He might vary on whether it's the action of stealing it or the lies he's told with that body, but the answer would be the same.

For the one he wouldn't think of... He could have spoken up. He didn't. He met their eye, slated for execution on crimes that he could parlay them on if he implicated himself, and he said nothing.

The look on their face still haunts him sometimes. It hurts more now that he's two, rather than one. It's what was needed to protect his family.

For Vi... a fault in a machine. The instructions were boring, and confusing, and hard to read. She tried to do whatever she thought might work, instead of following the manual. There was an injury. Then another one. It was her fault, really, for rigging it wrong, but she was tired and angry and she argued instead of just sucking it up and fixing it when confronted on it, and it went unfixed for days more. A minor fault can very well lead to deaths, and though this one didn't, it came close - one more inch, a slightly looser bolt, and it would have cracked a bug's shell clean open. It's a miracle it turned out as well as it did. It's a miracle that no one connected it to her enough, even when it was fixed. Someone else was punished, and she was old enough to know not to step forward - she's not stupid, after all.

The guilt still haunts her. The "what-if". The possibility of it. If someone died of her own stupid negligence, if she made someone else take the fall - she would let them, really, her sense of self-preservation isn't that bad, but she's not sure she could live with it after.

With the one she wouldn't think of personally... considering the background she's got, the journey to the Ant Kingdom, and the fact that it's already stated she took jobs before canon? We think there's a fairly good chance that Vi's off jobs got... shady. It's not like she has much in the way of morals when it comes to money, and "will do just about anything for enough cash" is a decent market. If you're willing to forsake your morals, you can get more money than your heart desires - at the cost of just a bit of risk, at that!

She doesn't think about it, really. It wasn't something she needed to think about. They were threatening her, they were a risk to her team, they were the price she had to pay to eat, the specifics of what happened don't matter much at this point. Put in the position again, would she choose their life, or hers? It doesn't matter. They're dead, anyways. She should know. She was the one to take the payment for it.

4. Favorite line?

We're copy-pasting these straight from the game! These Direct Quotes are all sourced from @aquilamage's Bug Fables Transcript project, which we highly recommend checking out! It's an excellent resource for double-checking dialogue without having to replay the game first, and a repository for just about all the dialogue in the game (provided it wasn't taken out by previous patches, of course).

We will be honest: there's a lot of dialogue in this game. This might not be our absolute favorites, as a result of a general poor memory as well as Too Much Game. Also, we have blatant favoritism towards Vi in all ways. Most of these are favorite interactions, rather than anything else, so...

For Leif:

Kabbu: Leif. If you need to take a break, let us know. Vi will carry you. Vi: That is not happening. Leif: Oh, the fatigue, it kicks in... Vi: I said it's not happening!

...and for Vi, we're fond of this dialogue, specifically because the first time we encountered it we misread "exploring" as "exploding".

Leif: Science looks like a lot of hard work. Vi: It's like uh...the thinking version of exploring!

But of course, our favorite Vi Dialogue as well as our personal favorite dialogue in the game in general would be the Bee Guard overworld spy.

Leif: Vi, you're the only Bee explorer, right? Vi: Huh? Uh, yeah! That I know of... Leif: We've been thinking it's a bit weird, to see so many Bee guards, but only one explorer... Vi: Look, they're not guards because they want to or anything, okay? Vi: They were born to be guards, so they guard. That's it. Kabbu: That's a bit somber... Vi: ...That's just how the Hive is sometimes.

"I'm allergic to bouncers" is a close second, of course. In terms of story implications, we pull on her Jaune interactions and especially the point just after getting kicked out of the studio for the first time during Jaune's request, but that's... it's less we "like" it, per se, and more that the implications are fun to toy with. In terms of the actual dialogue, it just... makes us feel sad. Sad, [], and maybe a bit angry on her behalf. We've been there more than we care to admit, after all.

We... wouldn't wish something similar on anyone. And no matter how good the good gets with Jaune, it still can't really outweigh the fact that the bad starts ticking boxes about emotional abuse in a way that makes relationships like Mothiva & Zasp that more people are willing to try and call out pale in comparison. We probably need to finish that essay some time...

Anyways, we like it when Kabbu gets mad enough to yell at people.

Kabbu: This is ridiculous! You realize you could be dooming us all!? Kabbu: What if the Termite King loses trust in the Queen!? Kabbu: What if you lose to the Wasp King without our help!? Kabbu: Have you gone completely, utterly insane!? Have you lost all intelligence! Mothiva: Yikes. You're overthinking this WAY too much. Mothiva: The Ant Kingdom's way better in our hands than with you LOSERS. Kabbu: We have SAVED YOUR LIFE BEFORE, you WITCH!

[riddlemaster101]

What is one book, one tv show and/or movie, and one fic you think more people should try?

Unexpectedly hard question that I've been thinking about for days now, thanks Rifle! Done my best to answer with things I don't see on tumblr all the time.

tl;dr: Book (fiction): The Wizard of Earthsea. Book (nonfiction): Worn: a People's History of Clothing. Movie: The Secret of Roan Inish. TV: skipped in favor of explaining why you should go watch speedrunning to learn how computers work. Fic: The Edge by jplus (link below).

The in depth summaries/rec:

Book (fiction): the Wizard of Earthsea series by Ursula K le Guin. A bunch of short novels investigating what it means to be a person and grow into yourself as seen through the eyes of a number of different characters from different walks of life. Set against the backdrop of some of the most breathtaking worldbuilding I have ever read.

Book (nonfiction): Worn: a people's history of clothing by Sofi Thanhauser. An in depth look into the social history of clothing and cloth, and with a heavy focus on the global commerce's reliance on the fast fashion industry. If you want to know why the clothing market is Like That and exactly how deeply western economies/foreign policies revolve around cheap and exploitive labor, this book is for you. Heads up: it is a very heavy read.

Movie: The Secret of Roan Inish (1994). A story about family and growing up and industrialization taking over nature/the old ways and the sea. And also about selkies. You know that post that goes around about "that one weird movie your parents happened to have (on vhs) that absolutely no one else has heard of and also that changed your life?" Yeah. This one's my very favorite childhood movie.

TV show (but not really): I...really just don't watch any shows anymore, so I'll pivot and answer something that was not asked instead! Which is:

If you want to learn how computers work on a practical level (hardware, software, programming) but it's always been so abstract or confusing or you just can't visualize what is going on and it refuses to stick in your head (...this is me), I cannot recommend watching in-depth technical explanations of video game speedrunning enough. They tend to be an excellent demonstration of the intricacies and delicate balance of programming and exactly what it means to break/screw with that balance, in a way that is a very visual and memorable and often funny. Seriously. 10 university classes on programming don't hold a candle to what I got out of a few well-commentated GDQ speedruns. DM me for specific video recs.

Fanfic: The Edge (series), by jplus. An epic that explores the Star Wars plot from Rogue One onward through the end of the Sequels, the stories of which are all twisted (in excellent directions) to fit into this AU. Mostly follows the separate but interwoven stories of Bodhi (who survived to fight in the Rebellion) and Jyn/Cassian (who are stranded on a planet with only the barest ability to communicate back and yet manage to contribute to the rebellion anyway). Deals with survivor's guilt, ptsd, trauma, healing, growing, and moving on. AMAZING worldbuilding. Told in a non-linear fashion that helps break up what would otherwise be unbearable building plot tension.

This is ultimately a rebelcaptain kid-fic (way down the line) and one of the only one's I've read where I can see "yeah in this specific world they might have kids". Also, since it's my unofficial RO fic litmus test: some of the best characterization of Davits Draven I've ever seen.

[bugs-in-situations]

Please tell us about Vi's skin-selling

so the the uh The underground tavern huh

it's generally Very Illegal to sell a living pelt whether it belongs to yourself or someone else but there is some legal leniency with selling dead pelts. a dead selkie's family won't be persecuted for selling off the pelt of their lost loved one, so certain individuals have made an operation out of taking pelts from recently dead selkies that didn't leave pelt ownership in their will or w/e and putting them up on the market since this technically isn't a crime

the tavern is one of the major hubs for this whole Thing, and while vi was a frequent patron of it she did participate in the whole "finding selkies who just died to take their pelts before someone else does" part (other members of the operation would handle the "making sure it doesn't already legally belong to someone else" part). finding dead things is one of her natural specialties as a scavenger animal, after all

on one particular occasion, a living selkie who was selling their own pelt For Reasons (desperation, mostly) paid her to deliver their pelt to the bug who bought it. this causes a bit of a subplot around... chapter 6? maybe? when that guy tried to get their pelt back and wanted vi to do it since they assumed she would still know where it is now. this is also how leif and kabbu find out vi Did That (they already knew about her involvement with the technically-legal-but-morally-dubious pelt market stuff but did not know about this little detail)

tl;dr if you don't give your pelt to someone else in your will then legally anyone can take it and sell it. vi was involved in Doing This with the other tavern bugs for a while, along with some other stuff that was actually illegal and came back to bite her in the tail feathers

[oraclekleo]

Oh Seung Min (Xdinary Heroes) Kissing Style Tarot Reading

Disclaimer:

All readings have purely entertainment nature

I don’t know any of the celebrities personally

Don’t base life decisions purely on tarot readings

I can never guarantee any of what’s said in the reading

Before requesting, read the pinned post and appropriate linked post

Tarot readings are my hobby - I’m not obligated to accept any of the requests nor to complete them, it’s my choice, not duty

Waiting time is long, even several months

If you can’t wait, please, seek other tarot reader

Reading Info:

Rating: 18+

Reading Type: Single - Couple

Requested: Yes - No

Requester: /

Deck(s): Goddesses and Sirens Oracle, Wild Mystic Oracle, Dark Wood Tarot, Moon Oracle, Deep, Dark & Dangerous Oracle

Spread: Kissing Style

Questions:

O.de’s Kissing

Celebrity Info:

Full Name: Oh Seung Min

Stage Name: O.de

Group: Xdinary Heroes

DOB: 11.06.2002

Sun Sign: Gemini

Chinese Sign: Water Horse

Life Path Number: 3

Zodiac Tarot Card: VI The Lovers

Personality Tarot Card: XII The Hanged Man

Soul Tarot Card: III The Empress

Masterpost: Xdinary Heroes

Ko-fi - Voluntary Tip for Readings

Oh Seung Min

O.de (Xdinary Heroes)

Spread / Question: Kissing Style Deck(s): Goddesses and Sirens Oracle, Wild Mystic Oracle, Dark Wood Tarot, Moon Oracle, Deep, Dark & Dangerous Oracle

Cards:

Goddesses and Sirens Oracle

Hathor (Contentment)

Wild Mystic Oracle

Salamander (Grow)

Shark (Fear)

Dark Wood Tarot

5 of Cups

10 of Pentacles

Page of Wands

V The Hierophant

Moon Oracle

Earth Full Moon (Flower - Achievement)

Deep, Dark & Dangerous Oracle

31. Erinyes (Vengeance)

2. Selkie (Freedom)

Interpretation:

Seung Min is a highly sensual kisser. He’s so well connected with his physical body and his skin and lips are so sensitive to the touch that he can pick on every single tiny signal his lover sends when they kiss. Seung Min loses his better judgement when it comes to kissing and focuses his full attention to feel and sense, to be in the moment when he’s kissing his lover. Nothing else exists for him, he fully dives into the deep and passionate kiss, exploring the depths of his lover’s mouth and reaching their very soul in consequence. It feels mesmerising, dangerous even like Seung Min was luring them to slip into the unknown, inviting, yet risky.

Seung Min is likely to attack his lover from behind, jump scaring them when he puts his arms around them suddenly and his lips leach onto their neck or his teeth nip onto the sensitive skin. He loves how it instantly increases the pulse rate of his lover, he will make sure to latch his lips to the neck vein to feel the pulse or he might caress it with his fingertips while nibbling on his lover’s ears and whispering seductive invitations. Seung Min emerges from the depths like a shark, tasting, grasping his lover and pulling them into his embrace only to devour them with his love and kisses. He’s the feasting type of kisser, always seems so hungry for more kisses, for more intensive experience.

Seung Min never holds himself back when kissing, it’s his way to express his true authentic self. While he might seem a bit reserved or secretive sometimes, all his masks and shields drop when he mingles his hot breath with the breath of his lover. Kissing means freedom to him, he becomes daring and adventurous, he’s restless and changes angles and body parts to kiss often to drive his lover crazy. It’s very likely for Seung Min to use his kissing skills as his final argument in a quarrel with his lover. It’s his way to overpower them, how to show them what’s actually important; not the petty issues they were fighting about, only passion is important. It’s his way of revenge for hurtful words that have been said - to suck them out of his lover’s throat and melt them and dissolve them in the heat of his desire.

Seung Min is for sure the dominant one when it comes to kissing. Giving up his control would ruin his plans and take away the power he embeds into his kisses. He’s the one setting the rules here, he decides when the tempo slows down or quickens, he controls when his lover is allowed to catch their breath.

I have included the picture of the pulled cards in this reading for a specific reason. It’s not a good quality but can you see the 10 of Pentacles there? The tree with an opening in it, a gate to another world? The shape of it is a bit suggestive, isn’t it? Not a perfect depiction but the hint is there. As I have mentioned before, Seung Min is a highly sensual and daring kisser. Sometimes, not always, but sometimes he’s likely to literally explore his lover's body with kisses entirely, kiss them all the way down and dive like a shark into the deep waters. Gemini sign is known for being very skilled with their tongue so I dare to say Seung Min’s lover might find this habit of his very pleasing.

Let’s finish this up on a less naughty note. Seung Min’s kisses are in fact healing. Whatever sorrow or worries were bothering his lover, Seung Min’s breath melts them and blows them away as soon as his lips touch theirs. It’s like when they were missing something vital and crucial in their life, like if their limb was missing but they couldn’t name what they lack. Then Seung Min kisses them and suddenly the last piece of puzzle comes to its place, this is it, this is what was missing the whole time and now it’s there and it makes them feel whole and regenerated. Seung Min’s kisses have this power in them as he puts all his inner fire into them, his life force channels through his kisses into his lover, making them feel contented and grateful. Seung Min seems to be indeed a powerful kisser.

Despite the fact I have written a lot about Xdinary Heroes already, I don't stan them. I would truly appreciate if you could tell me whether it sounds remotely accurate or not. 😊 Thank you!

Thank you for reading!

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[littlereds-fanfictions]

Once Upon A Dream: Prologue

Part 1 of ????

Mixed POV

Nesta Archaeon was not the most vied after lady in the ton. No, after nearly three seasons she was still out and about as a single young lady. It would have made her mother turn in her grave and made all of the other young ladies snicker.

There were a very small few she knew she could rely on and some of those were her sisters. The other two were her best friend Emerie Irillen and her faithful maid and childhood friend, Gwyneth Berdara. Emerie and she met many years before. At her first appearance at Lady Morrigan Hewn's salon. The got along quickly and it wasn't long before Emerie and Gwyn met and the three of them became nearly inseparable.

Growing up in the life of nobility, as the daughter of a viscount, Nesta rarely knew poverty. So starkly different from Gwyn.

Gwyn didn't remember much about her childhood. She did recall her mother's smiling face before her, and her sister Catrin were left at the Archaeon estate. The two became maids there before an unfortunate incident left Gwyn alone. of course, before this she met and began to attend to the cold and supposedly cruel young lady of Archaeon, Nesta.

Cruelty never worked on Gwyn, and she grew on Nesta, though Catrin seemed to charm her much easier, the two of them grew much closer after the loss of Catrin.

So now, with her newfound sisters Gwyn cherished her life. Though she wasn't a lady as her sisters were, Gwyn never seemed to notice the difference in how they treated her.

"Gwyn, come sit with us! We were just discussing Selkie Dreyken's newest book!" Emerie exclaimed her face lighting up, highlighting the cream clinging to the corners of her lovely mouth.

Gwyn sighed moving towards the table where she and Nesta sat. Shaking her head, she picked up a napkin and cleaned the cream off of her friend's face.

"It's wrong for a commoner to sit and eat with nobles."

Nesta snorted into her teacup muttering something along the lines of 'since when did you care about that?'

Tossing the napkin at Nesta's head Gwyn rolled her eyes. Nesta squawked and Emerie and Gwyn burst into a fit of giggles.

Nesta smiled at the two, glad to have laughter in the house once again. Ever since her younger sister Feyre began being courted by the Duke of Velaris the house had become nearly silent. And the silence was deafening. Reminding Nesta of the times when her mother would prowl around with a switch in her hands, ready to discipline and teach her young daughters.

"My lady," a voice remarked, breaking off the girls' giggles.

All three turned to see the family butler standing in the doorway to the Archaeon mansion. Nesta stood and Gwyn raised an eyebrow.

"Yes? What is it Jerimich?"

The butler bowed and rose, half gesturing towards the mansion his face tight and eyes heavy.

"There is a visitor who requests your presence my lady."

Nesta's body went stiff, and Gwyn moved forwards causing Emerie to rise. The two gathered around Nesta hands hovering when Nesta sighed.

"Where are they? And what do they want? Unannounced visits are the bane of my existence."

Emerie and Gwyn giggled causing Jerimich to smile before gesturing fully towards the mansion.

"He waits in the parlor my lady. And he insists you bring your current guests with you."

The three shared a look of worry and confusion before Nesta nodded and waved a hand.

"Tell him we will be there in just a moment."

Jerimich nodded with a bow and turned heading back into the mansion. Gwyn began gathering Nesta and Emerie's things as the two stared at each other.

"I'll clean everything up then join you my lady, Lady Emerie."

The two turned towards Gwyn, their faces somewhat pale when Nesta nodded.

Then with somewhat haste the two moved towards the door. Curiosity was racing through the both of them. Who exactly had come to the Archaeon household and why would they want to meet with both Nesta and Emerie?

It took a few moments to arrive in the parlor, door creaking open, the two entered to find the newly appointed Duke of Hydref. Emerie blinked and Nesta froze for just a moment before the two moved towards the couches. The Duke rose and gave a short bow.

"Lady Nesta, Miss Emerie." Duke Vanserra remarked, something in his eyes looked disappointed.

The two girls bowed

"It is a pleasure to see you your grace."

"It is an honor truly," Nesta muttered through clenched teeth, "to have you in our humble home."

Duke Vanserra smiled slightly before sinking back onto the couch.

Nesta's voice echoed into the near empty room, "So, what brings you here your grace?"

Emerie froze her dark skin flushing as she turned to her friend in shock. leaning towards her she hissed out a whisper, "Nesta! You cannot say such a thing!"

"I don't see why not; this is my house after all." "Nesta, your father is the viscount. Not you."

Nesta rolled her eyes with a huff of sorts. Since her father had left to due to trading with the merchants at their land's seaport Nesta had been in charge of the Archaeon household. At this point she was as good as the viscount.

"it's quite alright Miss Emerie. Lady Nesta just wishes to keep her family safe. Correct?"

Nesta narrowed her eyes at the duke, something was off, but she couldn't place her finger on it. The duke's disappointed gaze shifted to something as he looked Nesta over.

However, before anyone else could speak, there was a knock at the door and Gwyn poked her head in.

"May I come in my lady?"

Nesta opened her mouth to reply when the duke sat up suddenly his eyes locked on Gwyn. Nesta's body went stiff, and she stood. Gwyn hurried into the room as Emerie raised her head sharply. Racing to Nesta's side Gwyn pressed her hands to Nesta's arms.

"Are you alright my lady?"

The duke stood looking Gwyn and Nesta's huddled figures over.

"Are you... are you Miss Berdara?"

Gwyn froze and Nesta raised her head eyes wide. Gwyn nodded slowly and he moved towards Gwyn and Nesta.

"Miss Gwyneth Berdara?"

Gwyn nodded and Nesta pushed her behind her. Eyes blazing her body almost like a wall between the duke and her maid.

"It's alright Nesta. It's alright."

Gwyn poked her head around Nesta and stared at the duke her blue eyes wide.

"I am Gwyneth. How may I help you sir?"

A look of relief crossed the Duke's face and he cleared his throat, eyeing Nesta somewhat curiously, "I'm Eris Vanserra, Duke of Hydref. And you will be coming with me."

"Pardon?" Nesta exclaimed.

Emerie jumped to her feet and Gwyn went pale.

"What business do you have with Gwyn?"

"Gwyn?" Duke Vanserra questioned a smile flickering in his eyes.

Nesta's eyes narrowed even more, and Emerie joined her side making it so much harder for Gwyn to peer around the two of them.

"The name I called her is none of your concern your grace."

A smile, genuine and amused quirked on the Duke's lips. Gwyn peered from in between her friends' shoulders and met the duke's eyes.

"Why?" She remarked causing everyone to blink.

Even the duke looked startled as he looked at Gwyn. He raised an eyebrow and Gwyn blinked, her pretty eyes wide and clear.

"That is my business and it is with you alone."

Rolling her shoulders back she shook her head, " Anything regarding me can be said in front of Nesta and Emerie."

Humming slightly the duke nodded and raised a hand to Gwyn who was still trapped behind her friends.

"Because I've come to take you home."

[whatshername-please]

Out of the Water - Chapter VI

Synopsis: You were very proud to be a mermaid, thank you very much. You didn't want to be where the people were. Actually, you'd rather avoid it. Defending the merfolk was the biggest goal in your life... well, it was until you meet a certain pirate... it seems that your family really had a thing for humans, after all. Not that you'd ever admit it...

Word Account: 4875

Part 6 of ?

Pairing: Harry x reader (he is not in this chapter, sorry)

 Warnings: Some cuss words and underage drinking. 

A/N: English isn't my first language, so I'll probably mess up some tenses, grammar and stuff. Go easy on me, please. Feedback is always appreciated

Masterlist here

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"I'm never, ever setting foot on shore again, grandpa will have to find another diplomat because I quit!" you announced very eloquently to the only merman in the room: your brother who, on the other hand, was trying to make you help him with his summer homework.

"Yeah sure, it's not like you say this every time you come back from Auradon or anything" he didn't even bother looking up from his essay "Who won the battle of the Irish Sea?"

"But this time is true, they made it personal" you grumbled, swimming back and forth impatiently.

"They always do..." he said absently, knowing very well it was pointless to try to reason with you when you were having an outburst "Was it the Kappas?"

Ok, no matter how pissed you were, you could not have your own brother messing up the Water Kingdom's History like this, so you sat by his side and took the paper from his hand.

"Let me see this" you corrected him, perusing through the essay he wrote "Not the Kappas. The selkies won after the kelpies joined their side."

"I know you're sad..." Nereus said after a while, eyes filled with concern.

You sighed and put the essay down.

"I'm not..." you began, but he interrupted you before you could come up with some excuse.

People believing that you were angry and cranky was one thing, but Neptune forbid anyone to know you've got a heart.

"Yes, you are! It's been almost a week since you went to Auradon and I've never seen you so off. Yesterday Aethra said she couldn't wait until she was old enough to go to the surface and you didn't even roll your eyes. Last year, when Ogen spoke the same thing, you made a complete speech of why life under the sea is much better than anything humans have to offer, you had slides and everything."

He squeezed your hand gently and offered you a supportive smile.

"Even Aqua noticed how quiet you are… Please don't tell her I'm telling you this, but she said she prefers you ranting to this silence."

"I doubt" you let out a breathy chuckle.

The presence of your brother was comforting so you allowed yourself to let your guard down and lay on his lap while he stroked your hair. Both of you stayed a while like this, each one absorbed in your own thoughts. Yes, it had been almost a week since everything had happened and you still had nightmares about that; the look on Harry's face when he said Ben was just going to throw them all back inside the Isle would hunt you forever.

Truth be told, you swam next to the barrier a couple of times, but the only things you saw were seaweed, rocks, some weird looking fish and a dead goblin. It wasn't like you could ask someone to tell Uma you'd be expecting her and, even If you could see her, what would you do? People inside the barrier could not hear anything from the outside, and again, even if they could, what would you tell her? How sorry you were? That it wasn't fair? Uma didn't need anyone saying what she has known all her life.

You were torturing yourself, feeling your stomach turn on itself with guilty when your grandfather glided into the room. Both of you and your brother stood up, showing respect to the king of the seas.

"May I talk to you for a moment, my dear" he pointed to you and your brother took his belongings and left the room, he whispered a "good luck" as he passed by you and swam off.

"Yes, grandpa?" your chest filled up with hope that your grandfather had spoken to Ben and made him change his mind about the Isle.

However, it was only wishful thinking because the reality was way crueler than whatever you could have imagined.

"About tomorrow…" he started.

Oh no! Ben and Mal's engagement party was tomorrow, but you had already decided you weren't going, no matter how hard your grandfather or anyone tried to convince you to.

You couldn't stand the idea of having to smile to them while all you wanted to do was to scream and cry. How could you pretend that everything was okay when nothing was? The hypocrisy made you sick.

"I won't go" you told him, you even tried to use your 'heiress of the throne' tone, but of course the current king of Atlantica wouldn't fall for that.

"You're the diplomat between the human kingdom and the water kingdom" he reminded you, his expression turning as serious as his voice.

"Was" you corrected him "I quit".

That little voice inside your head was telling to stop defying your grandfather. He could be very understanding of some things (like you still didn't believe he knew about Uma all the time and didn't lose it), but he also had plans for you that required you to be Atlantica's representative, because, accordingly to your grandfather and mother, no one would defend the water kingdom's interests better than you.

Actually, that was their way of saying "We don't want to deal with this and since one day you'll have to rule, it's better that you know what to do. Also, we don't want the fish eaters thinking that we hate them".

But, being honest, your grandfather liked humans now as much as he did in the past; the only difference was that he learned how to tolerate them.

Anyway, the truth was: Auradon wasn't as great as people wanted to believe. In theory, having all kingdoms unified was a superb idea, but in practice most of places were losing their own cultural identity, adapting their traditions and habits to fit in Auradon's new rules. If your grandfather had followed all King Beat's proposals 20 years ago, Atlantica would have become a tourist attraction for humans.

It wasn't like King Triton didn't want to be more engaged in Auradon society, but he was afraid to lose the independence of the merpeople. Thus, he hoped that when you assumed the throne, you'd have a better foreign policy than he had without giving up Atlantica's culture and pride.

He looked at you and his piercing glare went right through your soul...

King Triton, intimidating? No, not at all.

"This is not just the King and Queen's engagement party, but also your friend's"

"But grandpa..." you cried out.

"I won't hear it" he raised his hand to show that his decision was final and he wouldn't hear anything else.

You tilted your head back and groaned, if you couldn't talk yourself out of this, you could very well show your dissatisfaction.

"Glad we came to an agreement" he gave a pleased smile like he always did when his wishes were fulfilled and, as he swam past you, he patted your hair "And you might end up having fun"

You rolled your eyes and lay on the floor, defeated. You don't know how long you stayed there, contemplating your misfortune, when suddenly you felt something walking on your tail; you craned your neck and saw Sebastian staring back at you.

"Traitor" you murmured.

"Being in the human world is never my choice. Your grandfather asked me to" he explained, sliding down to your side and you turned over to have a better view of him.

"No one likes to be there, so why do I have to go?"

"For the same reason I had: your grandfather is the king. But I didn't come to discuss the fairness of life" his words caught your attention and you raised an eyebrow in curiosity.

Sebastian seemed a little anxious: he looked side to side and beckoned to you to get closer and, when you did, he said in a muffled and rushed voice:

"You know Derek? That lobster? Yesterday, he was near the northern part of the barrier and saw a girl with teal hair there... even better, he said it was the second time he spotted her there by sunset"

Before you could refrain yourself, you picked the crab up, holding him on the palm of your hand. There was no use in denying that you knew Uma because Sebastian had followed you in Auradon and was aware that you and the sea witch's daughter were friends.

"What?" you practically yelled and your whole body shivered with joy for knowing that Uma had been looking for you "Are you sure?"

"Yes" he confirmed "I thought it could lift your spirit up "

"Sebastian it did! I'm going there now" you stood up in a heartbeat, but before you could make your way to the Isle, Sebastian called you.

"If you go there now, King Triton will think you're avoiding the engagement party" he remarked reasonably.

Damn it, he had a point

"Why don't you go tomorrow after greeting King Ben and his future queen?" He suggested, eyeing you innocently, but you saw right true his intentions.

The only reason he told you about Uma was to give you a boost of encouragement to go to Auradon again, this way you would be excited for the party and wouldn't complain too much about being there.

He was a clever crustaceous.

Well, it worked, at least now you could pretend you were having fun, whereas what you were really looking forward to was seeing Uma again.

"Deal" you hold out your hand and you he shake it to seal the deal.

Even if the party was dreadful, the perspective of meeting Uma again was pretty motivating. You should have asked if Derek saw someone else with her, it was weird but you wouldn't mind seeing Harry again.

_____________

"Ugh, I can't believe I'm going back there"

Talking to Sebastian got you very excited; however, now that you really had to go, you were having second thoughts about it.

You didn't have to attend to any human gathering to go to the barrier; you could very well wait in Atlantic until sunset.

"Why can't grandpa send someone who actually wants to be there? Aqua wouldn't mind, or April or Adryan..." you whined - any of your cousins would gladly go to Mal and Ben's engagement, but of course you were the one your grandfather insisted on.

Nereus, who tried to fix your hair in a new style, hummed blankly to show he was listening.

"I'm feeling sick... Grandpa can't make me go if I'm sick" you turned your face to him and he casted an annoyed look at you before going back to applying pearls in your hair.

"You already used that one not to go to the Royal Cotillion" he reminded you, turning your head forward impatiently when you tried to look at him again.

"But I was sick" you protested, earning an amused glare from him "I was sick of human's bullshit".

He burst out laughing.

"I don't think our grandfather will consider it a good reason to skip this ball" he said after regaining his composure.

"Well, at least I'll be closer to the Isle" you mumbled to yourself, but Nereus heard you.

"Why? What will you do?" he stopped what he was doing and sat on the dressing table, staring at you "Please, don't tell you plan on bringing the barrier down by yourself".

"I don't have the power to do it… You know I've tried" you joked and thankfully, Nereus played along.

"You don't need power, use your head... I mean... it is very hard. I'm pretty sure if you swim fast enough you can make a whole in the barrier"

You punched him playfully and got up.

"Hey, I didn't finish your hair" he called out.

"But I have to go, otherwise I won't arrive in time" you explained, grabbing your comb and placing it between the shells and pearls your brother had adorned your hair with.

Of course, the truth was you weren't leaving because you didn't want to be late, but because your brother was smart enough to figure out that you were up to no good.

"Wish me luck" you hugged him.

"Good luck!" he kissed your cheek and with that, you left.

Your mother told you to be kind and not to forget the manners she taught you, your grandfather said how proud of you he was and even asked if you didn't want to take his royal carriage, to which you denied politely.

You rather swam by yourself and if you were going to the Isle after the party, a carriage pulled by dolphins would be hard to go unnoticed.

You bid goodbye and took the path towards Auradon. The City wasn't close to Atlantica, but years of comings and goings made you an expert and you were able to arrive there in a very short time. Also, fins were so much faster than legs, which made the travel easier.

In other circumstances you'd have stopped to talk to many friends that lived nearby, but a little mantra was echoing in your mind "The faster you get there, the faster you leave. The faster you get there, the faster you leave" - you didn't mean to stay more than the necessary; after all. Your grandfather told you to go to Auradon, but he didn't say how long you had to staythere.

Besides, Sebastian said Uma was seen at the barrier by sunset, but what if she decided to go earlier?  You were going to be there one hour in advance for precaution.

Although magic was highly discouraged, there was no other way for the merpeople to become human without it. That's why a magical necklace was given to any mermaid or merman who wanted to venture themselves ashore.

Those necklaces weren't given away easily, though. In order to acquire one, you had to fill a formulary explaining why you needed it and it had to be accepted by King Ben and King Triton themselves. It was very bureaucratic and the only reason this process had to be done was because King Beast declared all magic should be banished so you could not hand around magical objects freely.

However, since you were a royal diplomatic, they made an exception.

Call it privilege.

One good thing about those necklaces was that King Triton made sure that once you went through the transformation, clothes would magically appear to. It was a huge improvement since your aunt Ariel had gotten her own legs from her deal with Ursula; imagine how would it be if you had to walk around naked until you find something to wear.

At least the merfolk didn't have to worry about that anymore. So, once you got on the beach and turned into human you had on a beautiful dress that matched the shells your brother chose to decorate your hair.

It wasn't as pretty as your tail and fins, though.

You headed to Auradon Prep because the party would be held near the school (why they were so obsessed by this place was beyond your comprehension). When you finally arrived, everyone was already there, talking and having fun.

Thankfully, your cousins that lived in Auradon weren't hard to find and rushed towards them - you couldn't help but notice that, as you got closer, they exchanged money between themselves.

"What's going on?" you asked, intrigued by what you just saw.

"Nothing" Arabella answered "What a lovely dress you're wearing. How is gramps doing?".

She changed the topic way too fast, which made your curiosity grow, but you decided to ignore it for the time being.

"He is fine. He misses you a lot and says you should visit us more often. I can't understand Bella, why do you prefer being here among sweaty humans?"

"Do you ever change the subject?" she complained, rolling her eyes "This is a party and I refuse to deal with your bullshit today"

"Maybe tomorrow, then!" you fired back and she voiced her discontentment with an exasperated shriek.

"Why are you like this?" she said before flouncing off, bouncing her hair as she did so.

"What did I do?" you asked Ella, who had been quiet up to that moment, and she chuckled.

"I miss this" she said, pointing to you and the crowd.

"You're the only one"

"It wouldn't hurt if you came to visit us once in a while, you know" she looked up, her hopeful smile made her eyes crinkle and you mirrored her expression, smiling too.

Ella was Ariel's younger daughter and, even though you didn't see her as much as you would like, she was probably your favorite cousin; she was kind and outgoing, which was a good counterpoint to your not so affable nature.

Before you could reply, one of the merfolk who attended Auradon Prep joined you both, he gave you a little bow and handed your cousin some money. You waited for him to leave before question her about it.

"Ella, what's happening?" your tone made clear you wouldn't take a "nothing" for an answer.

The girl sighed, knowing it was a lost battle.

"Maybe there is a bet going on…" she told you, voice trailing off.

You raised an eyebrow, face turning stoic and you feigned boredom.

"Does it involve me?"

"Well, some people didn't believe you'd show up today after the whole Audrey fiasco" she glanced at you out of the corner of her eye and, when you didn't say anything, Ella went on "We made a bet: everyone believed you wouldn't appear, you know. I was the only one who knew you'd be here and now I'm making a lot of money."

She showed you the amount she had already won and it was kind of impressive. It seemed that half of Auradon was sure you hated the human world.

They were right.

Okay, not hate. It was a great dislike.

"I can't believe you thought I'd come" you said without hiding the indignation in your voice and a little offended that your own cousin didn't know you better.

"C'mon. I knew you wouldn't want to, but I was certain grandpops wouldn't give you much of a choice, so even against your will - and I know you must had protested a lot - you'd be here today"

Your cousin was kind, yet cunning, and that was why she was your favorite.

"I'm impressed" you clapped, nodding your head slowly as you did so.

"I know. I'm amazing" she teased and then, her expression became concerned "How are you, by the way? I've heard they will close the barrier forever"

You whined, for one moment you had forgotten about how you failed the Isle and Uma. First you were angry at Mal and Ben, but now? Now you wanted blood... not literally, but you were kind of mad.

"I've been better... you just remind me I had to wish Ben and Mal my best regards in the name of Atlantica."

"Okay, see you later" she cheered and added on for precaution "Try to be polite, please"

When she asked you that, the memory of Sebastian, your mother and grandfather pleading you to be civil in this party echoed in your mind.

What did they think of you? That you were a mannerless monster?

You were very well educated, thank you very much, but didn't waste your good manners on people who didn't deserve it.

"Can't make any promises" you laughed off, disappearing into the crowed to find the King and Mal.

You didn't have to look for them for long as a mass of people was surrounding the fiancés to be while they thanked everybody for coming to their party. They seemed so merry and pleased whilst their subjects wished them all the happiness of the world. People in Auradon were just so fucking good and gracious, weren't they?

Hypocrites.

You had a plan, though.

1- Smile.

2- Greet.

3- Leave.

It was simple, short, and impossible to mess up.

Smile, greet, leave, smile, greet, leave. You kept repeating it like a mantra as you approached them.

For one moment their cheerful expressions froze and their eyes widened to the size a saucer, but they recomposed themselves quickly enough. Either they were surprised to see you there or they were afraid you were going to snap.

But you wouldn't snap.

You had a plan.

"Your Majesties" you smiled, bobbing a curtsy to them.

1 - Smile. Check.

They saluted you, asking how things were back in Atlantica and the conversation was brief and polite, like it should be.

"In the name of Atlantica I wish you both prosperity and wisdom to rule, and that your life is filled with great joys"

You said that in a very diplomatic tone that could have fooled anyone.

2 - Greet. Check

They thanked you and you made your exit.

3 - Leave. Che...

"And…" you turned back with a spin.

Screw the plan; you didn't sell your voice to a sea witch, so you may as well use it.

"Speaking for me, I really want you both to be happy. I mean, someone has to, right? Considering that you doomed thousands of people to a life of suffering just so you could have your perfect happily ever after without any inconveniences"

Then, you left.

One day you'd be all diplomatic and shit, but that day wasn't today.

And, to be fair, you've tried to be reasonable for years and all you got was "Oh sorry, we can't let anyone off the island. It's not that simple, this would require lots of planning and social reintegration, but we will take this matter into consideration in the future...". That's why you started speaking your mind: even if didn't change anything, at least it wouldn't leave a bitter taste in your mouth for not saying your real opinion.

Yeah, your grandfather really should reconsider who he sent to land for affairs of state.

Whatever, just a few more hours and you'd be making your way to the barrier to see Uma.

You were trying to find your cousin again when Audrey intercepted you, looking rather tense.

"Hey" she greeted you but without meeting your eyes.

Audrey seemed to have taken a strange interested in her hands, which she wringed unsteadily, you noticed.

"I just wanted to say I'm sorry for.. you know... cursing you and your family..." she said, voice shaking a little.

Oh! So Audrey was a nervous wreck to talk to you, how amusing. It boosted your ego but you weren't that mean.

"Relax, Audrey. It's all forgiven" you put her mind at ease.

She let out a breath and her face brightened up.

"But" you offered her a smile that slowly fade into a severe frown "If you do it again I'll make you wish for something as sweet as sleeping for 100 years".

It was clearly a joke but Audrey didn't get it as she excused and made herself scarce in seconds.

"You know... if you want people to understand when you are joking, you shouldn't keep a straight face"

You jerked your head to face Jay, who handed you a glass with a purple liquid in it.

"I wasn't that intense" you took a sip of the drink, it was way too sweet for your salted water taste, and you were pretty sure that it was alcoholic too.

Well, maybe alcohol was the key to survive this party.

"C'mon! You were like this" he mimic you, making quite a murderous expression. Then, resuming his neutral expression, he added "You are like the sea'.

That was new… but you weren't sure about what he meant by that.

"I'm salty and I scare people?" scrunching your face up in confusion.

It took some good minutes for Jay pull himself together.

"I was going to say imposing and beautiful, but that too" he said, wiping the tears from his eyes.

You couldn't help but crack a smile and, since you didn't think of a good answer (which was very unusual), you took another sip of whatever beverage that was.

Fortunately, Jay didn't notice how embarrassed you were by his compliment and changed the topic soon after.

"So, how ar..."

"Stop right there" you warned him, holding your finger up.

"What?" the VK's brows burrowed in confusion but deep inside he was afraid that he had said something wrong.

"I know this face." you explained "Every time people ask how I am, they do this pitiful face and I can't have that... not from you…".

It was painful how most people assumed that you were miserable because of last week events. Okay, you were sad and pissed but gosh, you hated that condescending attitude.

"Sorry, I just wanted to make sure you were okay" he didn't seem offended by your words, but the atmosphere between you two grew colder and awkward.

Great, of all people you could have snapped at today, you did it to Jay.

Now, you were sad, pissed and stupid.

"Sorry... I didn't mean to be rude" you apologized "If you really want to know, I'm a mess. The only reason I didn't cry this whole week was because I live under water, but if you tell this to anyone, I'll deny it".

"It's going to be our secret then" Jay stroked your arm  to show support "You really care about the Isle, don't you?"

You shrugged, not knowing what to say to him. Yes, you cared about the Isle and the people there; it was hard to explain the reason, though.

Maybe another time…

"By the way, I wanted to ask you this..." he cooed and if you hadn't been so busy with that drink, you'd have seen the mischievous gleam in his eyes "Did Uma and you already know each other, by any chance?"

You choked.

Hard.

Jay went to your aid quickly and helped you to recover, slapping your back lightly.

A mermaid choking on a liquid, what a joke.

"No..." your voice cracked and it wasn't because you're still faint "Why would you think that?"

"Well…" he began, but was cut off soon after.

Thank goodness,  Mal and Ben announced they would start their pronouncement and Jay joined his former friends. All people gathered under the balcony where the Royal Family stood proudly, and everybody was eager to hear the news their King and Queen would say.

It was difficult to hear one's thoughts over the cheering and acclamation. However, since you didn't share their happiness, you stayed away from the commotion, enjoying your sweet drink.

Ben started his speech, of course he was very pleased to have Mal as his queen and everyone was happy.

Everyone, except the people on the Isle, of course.

You scoffed so loudly that if people hadn't been hearing Ben's speech, they would have heard you. Subsequently, the king proposed a toast to Mal and you wondered if it would be rude to ignore it.

Everything would be so much easier if your grandfather had made your brother the diplomat of Atlantica, considering he was a people pleaser like you would never be.

Well, it wouldn't hurt to raise your glass, so you did it... very discretely.

For everyone's surprise, Mal announced she couldn't be Queen of Auradon, causing a wave of gasps and murmurs from the puzzled crowd.

Really? Were they really surprised? Like, Mal was a drama queen, she just needed an emotional solo or Evie knocking some sense into her head for her to change her mind.

Unless it involved the Isle of course, then she didn't care to condemn them forever, you thought bitterly.

Yep, you were salty enough to cause hypertension in every single soul in Auradon.

However, you did not expect, not even in your wildest dreams, what followed next. Actually, even after years, you'd still remember that day and think "what the hell just happened". If people were shocked when Mal said she couldn't be queen, they nearly had a stroke when she brought down the barrier. It wasn't like she let just the villain kids off, she destroyed the barrier, and everyone was free.

As a personal note, you observed how fast Ben changed his discourse from "We can't get the merfolk off the Isle without consequences, we need preparation, meetings, plans..." to "Ok, my bae wants to bring down the barrier and I won't argue with her. So yeah, let's do it".

Not that you were complaining but, had you known that it only took a love potion for Ben do what you wanted, you'd have done it.

Wow! What a wild thought to have...

Maybe you were getting a little drunk...

But the barrier came down so, whatever...

You looked at King Beast's face and he was about to pass out any moment, but other than that, everyone seemed very excited to meet the villains.

It wasn't like a minute ago they didn't give a damn about the people there or their fate.

Well, maybe that was Auradon's magic: one moment you hated each other, in the next you were all singing and dancing on a bridge.

You finished your drink in one go, because that was going to be a party to remember.

[ericsonclan]

Push up Pals

Summary: Prisha decides to work out for a bit to get muscles for Violet when suddenly she spots her friend, Oakley.

Word Count: 1684

Notes: Oakley is a mare which is short for Nightmare, a type of monster that usually visits humans while they sleep.

Read on AO3:

“Getting muscles?” Prisha glanced over at the flexing frankenstein who nodded enthusiastically.

“Yeah, the ladies love muscles!” Louis smiled brightly.

“Louis is right, muscles are hot,” Clementine leaned forward and smiled over at the vampire. Prisha glanced ahead for a moment, her grip on her pile of books tightening slightly.

“Clem loves my muscles,” Louis lifted up one of his arms and flexed again, sending a flirty wink to his girlfriend before he grew self conscious.

Clementine gave a soft laugh and let her heartbeat settle before speaking up. “I do,” The human’s answer made the frankenstein extremely flustered and he moved to awkwardly scratch the back of his neck but he had moved too fast. Within seconds his hand flew off with a loud popping noise and ended up hitting another monster square in the face.

“Ow, what the fuck!” Mitch grumbled as Louis’ hand landed on the hallway floor with a pathetic thud.

“Oops, sorry,” Louis gave a sheepish grin and picked up his hand.

“I can help you out,” Brody offered and helped the frankenstein twists and turn the hand back into place.

“Thanks!” Louis gave an appreciative look towards the selkie.

“So what made you lose your hand this time?” Mitch asked as he and Brody soon joined in walking down the school hallway with the others.

“He was trying to prove that Clementine loves his muscles,” Prisha stated simply as she continued to walk.

“That and we were trying to convince Prisha to start working out to impress Vi with her muscles,” Clementine smiled smugly when she saw that the vampire was getting flustered.

“Oh yeah, muscles are fucking sexy!” Mitch spoke up with a smile. “Brodes has some from practicing swimming in her human form for competitions.” Brody blushed at her boyfriend’s words and pulled the sealskin closer around her shoulders. “That's really sweet, Mitch.” She leaned over, getting on her tiptoes and kissing the minotaur who looked shocked by the romantic gesture before smiling. His tail gently curled around his leg and he reached from Brody’s hand and intertwined their fingers.

Brody smiled at the gesture.  “I agree with Mitch, muscles are very hot. Whenever I see Mitch’s arm muscles-” Brody paused her sentence and gave an embarrassed seal noise. Mitch laughed goodnaturedly to which Brody playfully whacked his arm before noticing the light blush on her boyfriend’s face.

“Alright, I see your points,” The vampire spoke and fidgeted with her braid for a moment. “I’ll work on getting muscles.”

“Yeah!” Louis high fived Clementine.

“But aren’t you a vampire? So shouldn’t you have super strength and shit?” Mitch’s question made Prisha glance back.

“That’s a myth. Something that was fabricated through tales and the media to make us look dangerous and fearsome. At most vampires have a twenty percent higher strength level than a human’s.”

“Another question - why the hell didn’t you get muscles over all the years you’ve been alive? Were you just lazy?” Mitch had a smug smirk on his face when he noticed the vampire’s annoyance.

“Mitch!” Brody scolded and looked up at the minotaur who flicked his tail this way and that before it went slightly limp.

“For your information I was strengthening the most important muscle of all: my brain.” Prisha huffed and walked forward. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

With that the vampire strolled outside, her eyes scanning for one of her favorite trees to sit under its cool shade. Her fangs poked out when she spotted the tree and she immediately made her way over there. Sitting down, the vampire leaned her head against the bark of the tree and let out a small sigh. Luckily she had finished up her homework in study hall. Unluckily for her Violet had a basketball practice which meant that she couldn't hang out with her girlfriend.

Still she had something to pass the time. The vampire reached for her copy of Frankenstein that the Finer Things Club was currently reading. Flipping through the pages, Prisha got to the section she was reading. It really was fascinating reading this once more but this time personally knowing a frankenstein. To think that this was the way people viewed Louis’ kind was fascinating, comparing what the author thought of the monster versus what one was actually like.

Both the book and actual frankenstein had a childlike naivete to them. Prisha could still recall the early days with Louis and how little he knew of the outside world. It was quite remarkable how much he had learned and grown. The vampire quickly got back to the book and devoured the contents of it. It was a truly memorable read.

After a while Prisha was staring at the closed book having finished the entirety of it. Now what was she supposed to do? There was still a little less than an hour before Violet was done with practice. The vampire glanced at the dorms off in the near distance, She could go back to her dorm or… Her mind turned to the conversation she’d had with her friends earlier. A few push ups would be a good start to getting muscles.

With that thought and the image of Violet’s face when she saw Prisha’s muscles in mind, the vampire cleared a spot and began to do push ups. She got into a simple rhythm when suddenly she felt an extremely uneasy aura. Prisha recognized this aura and stopped her push ups to see Oakley standing a small distance away. The mare’s head was covered by the hood of their hoodie. The front was completely shut except they had opened it enough for their eyes to peer out. Their hazel eyes stared at the vampire.

“Oakley, you’re staring,” Prisha stated and resumed her push ups. Oakley was an odd monster but she knew they wouldn’t bother spreading the word about her trying to get muscles. Besides the ones who were the sort to tell the others already knew she was doing this for Violet.

The mare walked forward, their sunken eyes still staring at Prisha. The bags under Oakley’s eyes were prominent as they rummaged around in their pocket for some granola to munch on.

“Would you care for some company?” Prisha looked up at Oakley who had a blank expression on their face.

“Nervous. Want to sit on your back,” Oakley pointed at the vampire’s back.

Prisha paused for a moment. Oakley had a tendency to like to sit on people’s chests and backs. It helped calm down the mare - as they put it, their heart felt a fuzzy good. The vampire thought for a moment. The added weight would help her get muscles faster plus she could help her friend. “Alright, give me one moment,” Prisha repositioned her hands and gave a nod.

Oakley walked over and was about to get on when they froze. “Are you sweaty?”

The question made the vampire look towards the mare. “What? No! Vampires rarely sweat!” Prisha could see the disbelief in Oakley��s baggy hazel eyes. Slowly they opened up their hood then tossed it back revealing their brown hair. Unzipping the hoodie, they tossed it on Prisha’s back.

“I feel slightly insulted,” Prisha mumbled while Oakley sat criss cross on her back. Their overwhelming aura tempered down a bit. It was still unnerving but less so now. Oakley happily munched on granola as Prisha continued with her workout. This certainly was a challenge but one that Prisha wouldn’t back down from.

“Thank you,” Oakley said matter of factly while they looked up and watched the clouds. “Duck tells me I should say that when I sit on backs and stomachs.”

“You’re welcome,” Prisha tried to smile up at the mare.

A few moments passed. Oakley’s hair bounced lightly with the movement of the pushups. Prisha could see a small smile on their lips.

“Why are you doing pushups?” The mare asked while tossing some more granola in their mouth.

“For Violet. I was told muscles are hot,” Prisha tried to move back her braid as she continued her work out. “Why are you nervous today?”

“Date with Duck. Gonna be out in public.” Oakley’s aura grew more unnerving for a moment; their anxiety was rising. The vampire could sense this and decided to focus on happier topics.

“You seem quite fond of Duck,” Prisha’s statement made Oakley smile more.

“He’s my favorite,” Oakley began to talk more freely now, going on and on about their boyfriend. Prisha listened thoughtfully, adding some comments here and there while she worked out.

After a while Oakley’s aura had mellowed out and there was a more peaceful version of it around them. The two friends continued to talk casually about this and that. Prisha took breaks every now and again before starting back up again.

Soon the time had flown by and basketball practice was done.

“I see Violet,” Oakley commented and nearly fell off Prisha’s back due to her panicking.

It took a moment or two but soon Prisha had recomposed herself and was walking towards Violet to greet her. “Hey, Vi. How was basketball practice?” Prisha asked while intertwining her hand with her girlfriend’s and stealing a quick kiss.

The romantic gesture made the werewolf’s tail wag excitedly. “It was good.” Violet smiled up at her girlfriend before spotting the mare. “Hey, Oakley.”

“Hey.” Oakley stared for a little too long as they zipped up their hoodie before speaking up again. “Bye, I have a date.” The mare didn’t wait for a response and tossed the hood over their head before pulling on the strings to completely close it then left.

“Well, Oakley is odd as always.” Violet commented while she walked forward with Prisha.

“True, but I find them charming. An unusual yet good friend,” Prisha smiled as she watched the mare wander off, nearly bumping into different monsters as they walked away. “So, shall we grab some food?” The vampire smiled lovingly over at the werewolf.

“I’d like that.” Violet returned the smile and soon the two were off, talking happily as they made their way towards their food destination.

[sleepless-in-starbucks]

Screw it

LAOFT from someone who’s never read the main story

100% of my knowledge of LAOFT comes from askes of @tulipscomeinallsortsofcolors that I read and the one-shots I’ve read. Some of it will be right. Most of it will be wrong. Hopefully all of it is a hilarious, sleep-deprived mess.

Since there’s a good chance I’ve got at least a few bits of plot right there are some spoilers herein so beware weary traveler who really should just skip past this mess of a post.

Sleep-deprivation baby let’s go.

The basics:

Setting: Wickhills

Creepy fae town

I think it’s based in Ohio. Maybe. Probably. idk

Tho if you came here for exacts buddy oh boy I have bad news for you

I digress

I think the description of the first part says smth about the people not minding having their things stolen

Except for uh I think her name’s May Gage

Ro’s Mom?

I think

NO WAIT

Description has to do with Dot Sanders

Mum of Lo and Tho

Will talk about them later but I just had to get that straight first

Even tho there’s, like, nothing straight in this AU

I think the main plot problems arise, originally, due to miscommunication

Or lack of communication

All I know is in the drunk history of Wickhills that I barely remember there was a mention of them not communicating and that basically dooming them

And y’all... lots going on around here

Lots

So uh we’re jumping into characters now here I go

Virgil Lastnamesmth: 

No I don’t know his last name and no I’m not going to learn it just for this post

It’s Lastnamesmth now deal with it

I think he’s Spider King

Or smth like that

He rules the forest

After he gets out of his magic coma

He’s in that for a long time tho

100 years I think?

And uh I think Durant did it to him but we’ll talk about the devil in a snake suit later

He got put in a protective coffin by... I want to say Greta but ngl I know nothing about Greta. 

She may be one of Vi’s sisters

He has a LOT of siblings actually

Many are spider sisters I think

And I think Elliot and Thomas are also his siblings in a way

Maybe

idk

Again don’t trust what you read when it comes from me peeps

But he’s super powerful

And I think he’s in the winter court

Whatever that means

I know courts exist for the seasons, and I’m reasonably sure Virgil’s is Winter, but that’s about it

He has magic but I don’t think he used it in any of the one-shots I read so what do I know

Well he does in one

That one where Logan gives his full name

That one was good I quite liked it

Well actually they’re all good I like all the ones I read

Back to Virgil

Hates parties which is a mood

He has to host them tho

Being Spider King is cool other than that bit I gather

And the part where the court gossips about you but oh well I suppose

I believe he’s autistic too

Or at least written with a lot of autistic traits

Is that how you say it? Autistic traits sounds wrong

Can fae be autistic? Or just like it?

Y’know what fuck it fae can be autistic and the only one allowed to @ me about that is the author screw off haters

I think the rest of what I have to say can live in the misc section

NEXT CHARACTER

Roman Gage:

I’d like to start with I love him and every time I think about what little I know of his backstory I want to cry

idk how he ended up in an abusive relationship but I know he did

And he’s such a good boi

He doesn’t DESERVE IT GODSDAMNIT

Only Vi would get me this emotionally invested in characters I only sorta know I swear

So yeah

Current Ro still has some problems with that

For very obvious reasons

And yet!

He is a gentleman and a knight and a champion and a prince

Yes that is a direct reference at that one one-shot shhh

His family is also one of witches right

He has a familiar 

Tis a cat named Dizzy

I only know about Dizzy from like one fic tho so that’s all I can say about her

Dizzy can talk too in case that wasn’t clear

He made a potion in the microwave despite knowing that he probably shouldn’t and I think that’s a good summary of his character

I think he found Virgil first

At the very least he did find Virgil

He’s a human who found a hot dude in a glass case crawling with creepy crawlies and thought ‘ah yes the perfect place to spend all my time’

Sounds legit I’m sure

I don’t know how this lead to him in a bad place with the motherfucker also called the Serpent King

But it did

But in the end he got glass coffin boy and two others so at least he’s got that going for him

We move on once more!

Patton Uh what’s Remy’s last name again I think it’s that:

Or it isn’t

I said it before I’ll say it again:

Looking up info for this defeats the point

Deal with my horrible misinformation

He got a gift from White!

I believe this is because his Mum saved her or something

The problem?

Uh

The gift is also a curse

Because while it’s incredibly written that’s the cliché folks

People have to do what ever he ‘orders’

Basically anything that techincally demands something from the other

Including things like ‘stop’ which is like one-hit KO murder word

Patton had a nightmare about that

That was a fun one-shot

Though if you could just like kill people on accident I guess I’d have nightmares ‘bout it too

He’s the other human of the trio plus one

No I don’t remember the word for a group of four people and no I’m not going to look it up

A Professional Cuddler according to that one fic where the description’s like ‘Patton thinks he’s got the best seat in the house’ or whatever

There’s one fic where Emile help him put make-up on

Wowsers

That fic was fun to read because he flustered ALL his bfs

No question

What else what else

I think he’s got a bodyguard

Named... Bell???

Maybe???

Okay I think that’s most of my Pat knowledge

ONWARDS

Logan (Berry) Sanders:

Yes adding the Berry was very important

It’s a huge part of that name fic

And I like it so

Deal with it

He’s a fae

I believe a changling to be exact

And a selkie

He’s... spring court...?

He was replaced for Thomas in typical Changling fashion

But then Thomas came back (I think Dot got Tho back idk) and suddenly he had a brother

He has nature magic of some form

But his best power is his flower power

He can’t control it and I love it so much

I don’t even KNOW what each type of flower appearing means 9 out of 10 times but that doesn’t make me any less happy about it

*Sigh*

I wish I sprouted flowers at random...

I think he’s also autistic

He and Virgil occasionally bond over that it’s sweet

Like with the painted nails tap tap tapping

Or the singing walls

I know something happened to him

Something relating to something stupid Ro did

I think that’s the stupid thing that got Ro forced to be with the dick that is Deceit in this

But I honestly don’t know what happened to Logan

Hmph

He can be a nervous boi

That fic where he tried to say I love you with his notecards?

Love that one

...Twenty-five percent of this is just me randomly complimenting Vi’s one-shots ain’t it

Huh

Oh well

No regrets

I just realized I use ‘Vi’ for Violet and Virgil interchangeably

That may be problematic but screw off if you think I’m going to change anything

That’s too much effort

BACK TO LOGAN

He has a honey problem from that one fic I read

Where he gets real sappy about his bfs to Thomas

Not like a bad problem

Just a ‘maybe he should stop drinking it if he wants to pretend he has dignity’ problem

Okey-dokie I’m moving on to his bro now

Thomas (Bug) Sanders:

Lo’s incredible brother

And when I say incredible I mean it

Very nice

Will squish Logan when needed

Actually will squish anyone when needed

He has a Squish Instinct

Also has Brother Instinct and no it’s not the Cain Instinct

It’s the opposite

Will Fight if you try to hurt Lo from what I can tell

I think he also had a monster in his head

The monster has a longer name but I can’t spell it so I won’t try

This fact is based on One (1) one-shot where he has a weird freak out

That’s also the fic I base my belief that he’s somehow Virgil’s brother on

But no promises

The fic starts with italics and bolded lines interchanging

I don’t remember the name tho

If you haven’t already figured out I’m not going to look it up you’re even more sleep-deprived then I am

But yeah Thomas is great

Teases Lo about his crushes like a good bro

Helps Lo when he’s panicking or freaking out or something

Even when Lo’s at college

I don’t know as much about Tho so let’s leave it there

Onto the Monster

Durant (is that his name idk) Monsterunworthyoflove: 

His last name is Monsterunworthyoflove because that’s what he is

I know almost nothing about him actually

They call him ‘he’ a lot because I think trigger reasons

But honestly he also doesn’t deserve to have his name spoken

He was the Snake King

Maybe Serpent King 

Eh idc

I believe he put Virgil in magic coma to rule as King

I think they were brothers but idk

HE SUCKS

I think he’s dead

I wish I knew how or by who’s hand but he is

He got a coffin in the ground which I think if unfair

Let the worms devour his flesh and let me make his bones into my furniture

I am a part of the Kill Durant Again squad only because I missed my chance to kill him first

Like I said I know little about him

But he put the abusive in Roman’s abusive relationship so honestly fuck him to Hell and back and then do it again for good measure

Every time I read a scene with Ro being uncomfy because of him

I want to strangle him

I fucking mime the motions

Violet honestly props on making such a hate-able character

I could talk about him more because I do know a few other things

But honestly the fact he’s not real and my dream to choke him slowly is therefore impossible makes my skin crawl

I hate him so much it’s not healthy so we’re moving on

To minor characters!

Minor Characters:

As in characters I know very little about

I guess they could be vital characters

REMY

MY BOI

I know he’s a classic badboy who will die if Emile kisses him and I love him

Also he’s super smart with his moonshine and I’m so proud

I love him so so so so much and I barely know him

Good job Violet you wrote him well and I love you

Emile is also great

Remy has protected him for wearing skirts because Rem’s a good boy and he’s RIGHT

Emile feels bad for treating Patton bad in the past I think

Hence that one make-up session

Emile also crushes on Remy hard the remile in this AU is on point man

Elliot exists

I think they’re Virgil’s sibling. Somehow. Maybe

I read one one-shot that focused on their relationship with Vi and that’s all I know about them

Mawmaw (Mamaw? mawma? I’mma just call her May. If she’s May. I think she’s May) is Ro’s Mom.

Also a witch I think

Really tough but she cares

Dot is super nice

She’s Lo and Tho’s Mum I think

I don’t remember the one-shots with her in them well but she’s always sweet

Okay there’s this one character who’s name starts with an E

I think she’s Logan biological mom

Logan cut a knot he had with her or smth

Apparently she’s awful and Vi would kill her but it would have a bad mental effect on Ro for... some reason

he got pale when the idea was brought up idk

I would have thrown her in forever prison if I couldn’t kill her but that’s just me

She placed a curse on Lo that stopped him from leaving Wickhills I think

Or smth

Lo broke the curse tho so what does it matter

Linda is the LAMP’s daughter??? I think???

I... haven’t actually read the fics she’s in so idk

But people really seem to love her so that’s neat

Out of minor characters so we progress to my fav part about the series

Gay bois:

Aka the LAMP gang

They’re so gay guys

The gayest gays

I like to think I can write decent gays

But these???????

They barely have to look at each other before they’re dead, murdered, killed by the mere beauty of one of the others

I LIVE FOR IT

In the one-shots I’ve read they’re either completely 100% fluffy gays

Or gays helping each other with one Trauma or another

But they still end up gay-ing over each other in the end

and the KISSING

as an aroace I generally find kisses meh or ew

But these gays

All they want to do is kiss

Sometimes it’s tender and sweet and loving

More often than not tho the kisses are like

‘If one of you didn’t manage to barely hold onto a brain cell throughout the gay you’d be fucking in public’

I am repulsed to write that sentence but it’s TRUE

...I think

Note: idek the difference between passionate but just passionate kisses and passionate about to get steamy kisses

Because you know

aroace

But the main point:

I find kisses meh

But these gays very clearly illustrate how beautiful kisses can be and I think that’s wonderful

Also I just generally love LAMP and this is good good LAMP A++ Vi

They’re so gay and loving and protective of each other

They really deserved their own category

Onto the final section

Misc:

Aka stuff that doesn’t fit in the other sections and/or stuff that did fit in the other sections but I forgot about it and am too lazy to put where it belongs

I realize now that Remy and Pat do not have the same last name

They’re not brothers (I don’t think......)

Does Pat’s last name start with a W?

That sounds right

Fug me if I know what Rem’s last name is tho

Where do they all live

I thought only Vi lived in fae land

But I think Pat may live there too

But Lo lives in non-fae land???

idk

Also fae land is called fairyland and I can’t tell if that’s it’s actual name or the name one of the Bois gave it jokinly

Because if fairyland is it’s serious name, that’s hilarious

No shade Violet I’m just easily amused

Y’know I always forget how young these bois are

Then I remember Lo’s not even 18 by the time the after main plot one-shots come in to play

So like

Damn son they young

I feel double bad for all of them

Triple bad for Ro- the Serpent King’s head will be mine I swEAR

I think Ro’s been a knight twice

Tho if you ask me he’s only been a knight once

Because I refuse to associate him in any way to the dick that is Durant if I can help it so he’s only ever been Vi’s knight suck it

Apparently like almost all of Wickhills hate the Sander bois

Probably the LAMP crew too idk

What I mean to say is despite how desperate I want to live there a lot of Wickhills’s residents are jerkwads

I think I saw a post where Lo can do photosynthesis and idk if it’s a shitpost or not but in this mess of a post I have decided it is canon

Mainly because that’s cool and I would like to do photosynthesis

A new one-shot I didn’t read has sparked a lot of askes about a Matt

I believe this man to be Pat’s father

But I can make no promises as to the accuracy of this belief

Did Linda come out of a tree?

idk why but I feel like she did

That’s weird man

How do you come out of a tree

(me @ me: ‘you could... you could read the fic and find out’

So turns out I can shut the hell up

I am a bitch who understands nothing)

And I have ONCE MORE gotten off track oof

My favorite part of reading LAOFT is all the fae knowledge I learn

Really has sparked my interest in fae

Even if I’ll never know enough to do anything with it asfsdfb

Plus apparently Vi just sprinkles in her own fae lore here and there

Which is super cool

But also means if I tried to write something I’m quite sure someone would be like ‘umm this isn’t true’ and I would feel played

Also what is up with Vi and Lo and rainfall

In that one fic where they hide in a tree and Logan senses a raindrop

His skin breaks open and sews itself together????

wtf????

So confusion

But hey guess whose bitch’s fault that is

*finger guns at a mirror*

ELDRITCH MONSTORITY

That’s not at ALL how you spell it but that’s it that’s the thing that was in Thomas’s head

Go me for remembering it

Fae land has a lot of customs and I know very few of them

Tho I do adore that one Flirt fic

Poor poor Virgil

Oh yeah Logan can make these super cool bushes

I know he used one rose bush when fighting someone who’s name started with a Mrs/Miss

Yes I know the first name wasn’t actually Mrs/Miss

But all I know of her name is Mrs/Miss something

And he used another bush against some idiot of a fae who grabbed Patton

By the way go protective Lo go

Like they can all get crazy protective of each other and I LIVE for it

ROMAN HAD HIS MEMORIES SPLIT UP??????

I mean I knew about a Night Roman and a Day Roman but I thought that was

like

a metaphor 

Like Roman acted differently during the night because he was stuck with a monster whom I shall revive simply to kill again

And he was trying to be separate from that person??

Or something like that

But NOPE

Serpent King is a Bastard of a being and I would happily crush his wind pipe beneath my foot

I hope the most amusing part of this sleep-drunk post is my different names for Durant the Dead Bitch because I am having fun insulting him

Okay listen peeps that is not even CLOSE to everything about this series but I wrote this over a couple of days, and my memory of what has been written and hasn’t been written is nonexistent, and if you think I’m rereading this to edit, you’re a fool (no offense) so like. We’re just gonna do a wrap-up summary and call it good.

Summary: Gay fae messes who should figure out the value of communication get themselves in a LOT of shit because of their lack of said communication.

Also, final apologies to Violet, because LAOFT has incredibly deep, rich, intricate lore and my response to this lore is to grossly misrepresent it and also write this while I’m in the constant state of being sleep-deprived, and more or less acting like I’m drunk or smth

So uh. I hope this was amusing.

[jessthebooklover]

Fic Rec List (a tag game!)

Thank you very much for tagging me @mercia-lachesis!!!!

Rules: Post links (Ao3, ff.net, etc.); specify fandom/pairing/etc; don’t answer the same fic twice - spread the appreciation; tag other people; you don’t have to answer all the questions, but leave them in the list so the next person can answer if they want.

Fandoms mentioned: American Horror Story, Hataraku Maou-Sama!,  Les Misérables, Game of Thrones, Liar Game, Cloak & Dagger, Shades of Magic

1. Favourite complete fic you’ve read this month (multiple chapters/parts): Coat Skin by Shiero (shieroell029) (ao3) >> American Horror Story: Apocalypse, AU, Selkie, Fantasy, Historical, mythological creatures, Domestic Fluff Michael Langdon/Mallory

(I haven’t finished it because I don’t have enough time, but it’s been great)

2. Favourite complete fic you’ve read this month (one-shot): demon king's hug is all she wants by jaecken (ao3) >> Hataraku Maou-Sama! | The Devil Is a Part-Timer!, Existential CrisisLight AngstFluff, Maou Sadao | Satan Jacob/Yusa Emi | Emilia Justina

(After finishing the anime I needed more of those two)

3. Favourite WIP you’ve read this month: -

4. One fic/series you’ve read which you keep coming back to again and again: -

5. Most underrated fic you’ve read this year: Where A Wasp Does Wear Its Sting by  Aurelia_Combeferre (ao3) >> Les Misérables, 10 things I Hate About You - Freeform, The Taming of the Shrew, Modern AU, Shakespearean AU,  Enjolras/Éponine Thénardier

(Brilliant idea)

6. Most underrated fic you’ve read EVER:-

7. Favourite whump/angst fic of the year:  -

8. Favourite hurt/comfort fic of the year: -

9. Favourite fluff fic of the year: 

10. Favourite gen fic of the year: -

11. Favourite smut fic of the year: -

12. Favourite fix-it fic of the year/ever: I would have to post each and every Jonerys fix-it fic on the internet, can’t pick just one, all of them are masterpieces compared to GoT S8

13. Favourite crack-fic fic of the year: Bare Feet on a Stone Floor by  sakurahaiku (ao3)>>Game of Thrones (TV)A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Wedding Night, smut, Meera Reed/Aegon VI Targaryen

(I have no idea how I ended up there and i know it was written ages ago but I don’t have a better one for this, btw if George ever finishes the series I beg the old gods and the new to check out this crack ship, it’s worth it)

14. Favourite sick-fic this year: –

15. Favourite kid-fic this year: -

15. Fic this year which you didn’t expect to love as much as you do: Wishes on Bamboo by  dagas isa (dagas_isa)  (ao3) >> Liar Game,Tanabata, Holidays, Fluff, Romance, Akiyama Shinichi/Kanzaki Nao

(I got so late into this fandom but dagas isa got my back, their fics are *chef’s kiss* and I thought this one was the cutest )

16. Fic which convinced you to ship a pairing: -

17. Favourite AU you’ve read this year: A Thousand Times Goodnight by  valkysrie (ao3) >> Cloak & Dagger (TV 2018) Cloak & Dagger (Comics), Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Soulmates, Soulmate AU, Reincarnation, Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, Slow Burn, Denial of Feelings, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Childhood Trauma, Immortality,  Tandy Bowen/Tyrone Johnson

(Best Tandy/Ty fic ever and it’s not even finished)

18. Longest fic/series you’ve read this year: What Lies Beyond byOnlyInAutumn (ao3) >> Game of Thrones (TV), 

Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Jon Snow/Daenerys Targaryen

(I needed some high quality Jonerys and this fic delivered)

19. The last fic you’ve read:  A Promise by Andrea O'Down (ff.net) >> Shades of Magic, Hurt/Comfort, Delilah ‘Lila’ Bard

(I still have to read A Conjuring of Light but I needed a fic so badly without spoiling myself and I found this gem on ff.net)

20. Wildcard fic you haven’t mentioned but deserves a shout-out + why: Atonement by Starboundwanderer(ao3) >>American Horror Story, Hades and Persephone AU, Michael Langdon/Mallory

>> Because it is my favourite Millory fic and it deserves all the love <3

I’m tagging: @darisu-chan, @queenofloveandloyalty, @mrs-storm-andrews, @popping-pills-at-popeyes, @daenerys-the-unburnt, @paperinfinities, @lilacs-with-lavender, @graaaaceeliz, @shipsofthedamned, @paulfwesley, @lostinparisphotography, @dawnandpiplup and everyone else who sees this and wants to do it I’m tagging y’all, and if you don’t want to do it just ignore this.

 This was harder than I thought it would because I don’t really bookmark my fics anymore and I had to search my ao3 and web history for fics but I’m glad I got to share some of the best fics I read this year.

Big shoutout to all of you fic writers out there, whether I mentioned you or not I want you to know that you are appreciated and loved, keep doing your thing!

[craostulpa]

Day 2317: Adventure!

So, I have to admit that I might have lied to you. Well, I definitely lied to you. And I can’t really give the story I’m about to tell justice without revealing it, so here we are. I actually have another tulpa called Fen, she’s very very shy (because apparently that’s a checkbox that every system has to fill), and because of this she didn’t really want me to talk about her on the blog so I’m going to skip over her as much as possible when I can. But in this one instance, I need to talk about her.

Fen is a selkie, which if you’re not aware is a type of creature from Scottish mythology that is a seal in the water but transforms into a human on land and carries their seal coats around. There’s more to those actual myths that I don’t particularly want to get into because there are definitely some dark themes there, but that’s the gist.

So, Fen obviously loves the ocean. And over the past 4 days, we have gone on a road trip with a friend around the northern coasts of Scotland, the North Coast 500 to be exact, so you can see where this links. There’s lots of ocean and plenty of pretty lochs along the way, and the north coast is also where the legends of selkies seem to originate.

We started off from Inverness at 11am and immediately realised how many other tourists were coming along with us, despite our decision to do the 500 backwards in a hope to not get stuck in a convoy along the way. This was probably a stupid idea since it meant that we’d be going head-on with Germans and Italians in massive RV’s on single-track roads, as we’d find out on the second day. On the first night, we camped on the banks of Loch Brora, a little ways off the main 500 route, and managed to set up just in the treeline with a beautiful view of the loch. Of course, camping in the highlands near water is a bad idea because midges exist, but overall it wasn’t so bad. First night in a new tent wasn’t as bad as I expected it to be, to be honest, although it did rain rather heavily which woke us up.

The second day was full of activity. We drove up to Wick, where Axelia and Faith decided that we needed an extra blanket in the tent, and so we bought a very very fluffy blanket from a B&M store. The next stop was Tesco to grab some snacks and hopefully a camping grill that worked properly (they didn’t sell any, and Argos was out of stock).

After the brief shopping trip, we headed up to John O’Groats to do the traditional tourist thing of taking a picture of the signpost at the most northerly point in mainland Britain. There was also a gift shop here, which sold all sorts of touristy crap about Scotland (which I don’t really need since I actually live here so I honestly just wanted to leave), and also some plushies. There was a plush seal, and Fen immediately latched onto it, so I had little choice. The label was a little faded but read £13.50 which wasn’t a bad price for touristy stuff, so I took it to the counter. The lady asked for £16.50 and, despite my irritation at being done out of £3, I paid without a fuss because I really couldn’t be bothered arguing. It was only when taking the label off in my tent that night that I realised the label had faded so much that it had originally read £18.50 and I had actually done her out of £2. Score.

After staring across the sea to Orkney for a little while and being battered by the wind, the only way to head was west, towards Thurso and very little civilisation. When we arrived at Thurso we realised how wrong we were to call it “civilisation”, since it was the size of a small town and most of the shops had closed down. We just passed through without stopping. What followed was fields and more fields, most of which were in the rain while we were stuck behind a Dutch couple who were doing 60 through 40 zones and 40 through 60 zones. There was a fair amount of road rage. Eventually, though, the skies cleared and we found ourselves on the first real single-track road of the 500, battling oncoming RV’s and tractors. The views were beautiful, and to post all of the pictures that I took would be far too much, but at one point we entered out onto an entirely flat moorland with nothing in any direction aside from some mountains looming out of a distant rainstorm. Shortly after the flats turned back into winding mountain tracks and, as the sun dipped and we fought our way past 3 large farm vehicles (including a combine harvester, despite the fact that there was nowhere suitable for growing crops within a 50 mile radius, more like 100 if you take the windy roads into account), we came across our next campsite just before Durness. The site was filled with tourists, mostly Italian, but there was a Polish family and we had been stuck behind an Estonian RV for the past 10 miles who had also stopped. But despite the activity, it offered one of the best nights of sleep of our trip. The patch of ground was situated directly underneath the Golden Eagle zipline, which is apparently rather famous to tourists in the area. Having done very little research before embarking on our journey, this was news to us, but waking up in the morning to people screaming as they flew overhead was certainly an experience. But the most important part of the campsite to us was the fact that it had easy beach access and looked out over the north sea.

Naturally, I had a wander along the beach as Fen enjoyed herself in the waves, and after a little while, as the sun set, I collapsed onto a sand dune and watched it go down.

Unfortunately, I was eaten alive by a cloud of midges shortly afterwards and retreated back to our campsite, but it was nice while it lasted. The next order of business was not a pleasant one, it had been roughly 100 miles of driving since there had been a public toilet and my stomach was making complaints. I waited until dark and squatted down behind a stone wall despite the threat of ticks. This proved to be a horrible decision. The next morning, we woke and I picked off around 7 ticks from my legs. To cut a long story short so that I don’t have to keep coming back to it, the following night there were 5 more, and when I got back home last night there were at least 10 others I found. Moral of the story is: Don’t ignore the threat of ticks and find a decent place to poop. We packed up our stuff and were gone by 11am, the sun shining beautifully. There isn’t a whole lot to say about the day aside from that it was a day of worrying single-track roads, 25% gradients, and beautiful landscapes. The few villages that we passed through were barely more than a handful of houses and a general store, although just down the road from the campsite was a wonderful little public toilet. Typical. Towards the evening the sunshine turned to beating rain as we passed Ullapool, and we desperately looked for another place to set up camp. The spot we found was at the bottom of a glen, under some pine trees, sandwiched between a river and the road. We set up camp and after a quick meal of undercooked burgers and pot noodles, we went to bed. The night was by far the worst I have had in years, the rain wouldn’t stop beating against the tent and, being at the bottom of a glen, the wind sounded like a jet engine through the trees, and our little tent was shaking violently. Luckily, I had a seal plush to cuddle and soak up heat, and a fluffy blanket beneath my sleeping bag, so at least I wasn’t freezing cold. At one point I heard a scream and, scrambling out of my tent to investigate, I found my friend also scrambling out of his tent wielding a knife as a bat had become pinned to the side of his tent by the excessively strong winds. We pulled it off and let it get on its way. The weather didn’t let up in the morning, and we were packed up and in the car within 5 minutes. In our desperation to get back on the road again, our friend managed to back into a tree and dent his bumper, but we ignored it and carried on.

The plan for the day was to leave the 500 and gun it across to the Isle of Skye and visit the famous fairy pools, an old grudge from the last road trip to the western isles where we never made it, and then return home. A few miles drive away from where we had been camping, just before Torridon, there was a small village that I forget the name of that we stopped to grab breakfast in. It was a line of houses on the edge of a loch, and it was gorgeous. It was also at this point in the trip, as I paid for my sandwich in the village store, that I had to wonder why every young lady we came across in the middle of nowhere was very very pretty. What do the westerners know that we don’t?

The following drive was filled with chatter about what car we would need for the next road trip, and other things to prepare for the future. As we passed onto Skye, I found out that my phone also has a nice robot lady to give me directions when needed, and we proceeded to the fairy pools after a small detour to a very overpriced gift shop. We arrived at the pools at just gone 1pm and were not prepared for how busy they were. There were tourists everywhere, and after a reminder earlier on Skye about how dangerous the roads could be (two cars were on their rooves down a small drop and in a forest on the side of the road) we were very nervous. Despite this, we arrived in one piece and were directed to a parking spot by a very nice man in a high-vis jacket, something that we didn’t expect in the middle of absolutely nowhere. Faith then got very overexcited with pictures.

I got a few nervous looks from tourists due to the fact that I was wearing full military gear that I had bought from surplus stores, which was nice because they got out of our way. Especially useful since parts of the path along the pools include crossings over rivers, and many of the tourists were pausing and scared to cross, whereas my friend and I just casually wandered across due to years of having to deal with this country’s shit. Mildly amusing. Once we had taken in the sights for an hour and a half, we piled back in the car and started the 200-mile drive home, which we managed to do in almost one trip. Last night I got home, unpacked my stuff, had a shower, and collapsed on my bed. I love camping and adventure, but nothing beats home. Fen misses the coast, but we have beaches near us too on the Moray Firth, ones with seals that show up more reliably. Still, one day I would love a house on the west coast, and probably a Land Rover Defender to go with it. That way we can get pretty views and visit the beaches all the time, and can drive reliably towards civilisation when needed. Thanks, Guys.

[deathofamemer]

hi! just found out about dadverse recently and want to know about ash?

hello friend welcome to the hell that is dadverse

ash (full name asher katana fairway) is the fourth kid of edd and tom; they’re entropy given humanoid form and a badass flower crown. this got long so it’s going under a read more

personality wise, they live life in the fast lane to avoid their crippling depression and tend to leap without looking. they use pranks and jokes to divert attention from their own issues and unfortunately don’t think things through well (this leads to accidentally setting off triggers and losing a forearm)

their interests include flowers, travel, running, sports, gardening, clothes, fashion, sex, their wives, and any permutation thereof. they run a tailor’s shop/clothing store with their friend kenzie, who mentored them in learning to make clothes and is a spider-centaur edna mode. they have a massive garden, but due to being highly radioactive, they wear a suppressor bracelet at all times, to the detriment of their own health and the chagrin of their loved ones.

ash is polyam as fuck and really likes to fuck around, but they have two very beloved wives who they’d give their life for. the first one they met was addy, a selkie who really likes to surf and do rock climbing and anything hands on and physical. she’s a boisterous icelandic leopard seal and tends to make out with ash in public. they met when ash tripped over her in the ocean.

the other wife is eva, who’s a really old greek dryad. for several thousand years she was kind of in a coma/stasis inside her tree, so when she emerged from the cypress tree the world was totally different and she had no idea what was going on. ash met them while travelling and when she mentioned wanting to move in with them, ash uprooted her tree and replanted it outside their house so eva could live their. she’s grounded but old fashioned and really likes to sew and knit and learn historical stuff.

uhhh other ash stuff: 

they Will Fight for their loved ones and have kind of a vicious streak? 

they’re so fucking fast it made physics reevaluate the ‘nothing can accelerate faster than light speed’ rule, much to tord’s chagrin and excitement

they’ve got a handful of biological kids, who i won’t get into now

they’re super fucking close with their older sister indigo (who’s about 6 years their elder but doesn’t look it due to how fucking weird ash ages) and would protect her with everything they have

they have a reeeeeeally fast metabolism and eat constantly

they love citrus stuff

they’ve got soft bunny ears and hate them sometimes bc they feel like they can’t look masculine with them

they have small raven wings on their back that taunt them bc they’re too small to fly with and ash is one of the only members of their family who can’t

ash can change their size but it’s way easier to shrink

their eyes aren’t eyes so much as voids full of glowing green goo

they cry goo

when they get too upset their brain fucks up and makes them glitchy and less articulate

they eventually get into relationships with 4 different greek gods, bc they’re a talent and very gay

their main superpower stuff is strength and speed in ridiculous amounts

they’re a pyromaniac

they can vibrate their molecules so fast that they can run through walls

they always have on a flower crown

they have an artsy flower tattoo that they designed themself

they’re a brilliant textile engineer but due to their adhd giving them a hard time in school they think they’re dumb

they dropped out of high school

they have a tooth gap

i wuv them dearly

so yeah that’s ash for you; here’s a link to the best art i’ve ever done of them and here’s a link to my fave art vi’s done of them

[cishetuppermiddleclasswasp]

World Building June 2017 #6: Gender/Sexuality

(written in collaboration w/ @aitu) Homophobia is not a major issue in our setting. Romance is most often seen as an extremely personal matter, not something that needs to be pried into or judged. As long as no one is being harmed, it doesn’t matter if a person marries a man, woman, or nonbinary individual. The sexual act itself is seen in different lights by different people, of course. In the Côte d’Rois it’s not uncommon for couples to live together and have sexual relationships for one to two years before committing to marriage, while In Aetherrack, it’s expected that individuals will be married before copulation (though how often people hold up to this standard is anyone’s guess).

 Aetherrack especially finds homophobia to be downright sacrilegious. In Aetherrack, the majority religion has reincarnation as a central tenet of the faith, so the whole “reincarnated lovers” trope is a very common motif in their popular literature. Common enough that it garners some eyerolls by more cynical folk, though sentimental types lap it up. The idea is that a person’s soul can end up in literally any body, and that soul’s mate can end up in any OTHER body, and they’ll still be meant to be together--thus, making judgments about the combinations of physical bodies that come together is ridiculous and cruel. The same concept has also made misogyny a non-starter. Whoever is a woman now, could be a man later, and vice-versa, so any hatred towards women for being women is a waste of time and energy.

Aetherrack also has a bit of an interesting stance on prostitution. Though the ruling government’s official stance on extramarital sex is that it’s unfortunate and best to be avoided, they also acknowledge that it is impossible to curtail entirely. They also came to the conclusion that unhappy spouses and single people would come to frequent privately-run brothels if they could not find [love] elsewhere. These brothels were not always the most well-run places, and disease ran rampant. The Aetherrackian government eventually came to the conclusion that, if they couldn’t stop people from using brothels, they could at least stop people getting sick in them. It was also important to them to ensure anyone who decided to become a sex worker was not exploited or unfairly abused. It was, essentially, cheaper for the government to buy and [run] these brothels and do frequent health checkups on the employees than to run around trying to track down and tend to the ever-increasing number of people contracting venereal diseases. Prostitution, thus, is not illegal; it’s socialized.

Finally, one of the most interesting societies to talk about vis-a-vis gender and sexuality is that of Sauronesia, home of the lizardfolk. If you put two nude lizardpeople side by side, it would be impossible to discern whether either, both, or neither was a male or female. Such is the blessing of internal genitalia. Gender is assigned purely on presentation, and sometimes not even then. It is not uncommon for lizardpeople to go by they/them pronouns simply because it’s easier than having to put effort into choosing a binary gender. But the most interesting fact about lizardperson sexuality is that, if an individual decides that they would like to have a child with an individual of the same biological sex, one of them can decide to briefly change sex by careful use of poultices and temperature therapy. Once the egg has been fertilized and laid, then they can change back. Or not. C’est la vie.

This, of course, is not to say that trans and nonbinary individuals do not exist outside of Sauronesia. Of course they do; they always have, everywhere, and we’d like to say that, in our setting, these individuals are met with love and acceptance more often than not. There is one question we still have to explore, however. Selkies, you see, are an all-female race. If a selkie mates with a human and has a child assigned female at birth, that child will born with a sealskin inside the amniotic sac; ‘she’ is a selkie. If the child is assigned male at birth, then ‘he’ is a human and cannot transform into a seal. If the AFAB child decides that, actually, he is a boy, he can choose to discard his sealskin and live life as a human man if being associated with an all-female race causes him too much dysphoria. We don’t know, however, what we can do for the trans daughters of selkies. The magic in our setting is limited; in a higher fantasy world, it would be easy for a ceremony to be performed that rendered unto trans selkies a sealskin of their own as affirmation of their gender. There are places in our world where magic is more powerful than the rest of the world; maybe the selkies know of one of these places and can work such magic.

[fountainpenguin]

Hey, I noticed In "Baby, You're a Rich Man" and your other stories that you make references to fictional court cases and such. In the interest of world-building, can you compile the court-cases that you've devised so far? I find them oddly interesting (I'm such a dork...).

Not dork enough to know I already did! /shot

The compilation is only in my story bible, not on Tumblr, so I don’t blame ya for missing it. Makes this post really easy for me. Here it is on Tumblr, with links:

FAIRY COURT CASES

Amity Angel Safety and Protective Recall Agency v. Abdul - A court case which ruled that only those with current godparent licenses are allowed to act as godparents, and if you don’t have a license and are not assigned to the godkid in question then you’re not allowed to “springboard off” their wish and/or grant their wishes directly. Nice going, Binky.

Anti-Cosma v. Adelinda von Strangle - This court case allows Anti-Fairies, Pixies, and Anti-Pixies to interact with humans as much as they want, so long as they’re acting as neutral parties. Only if they are being obviously antagonistic are Fairies allowed to interfere, at their own risk (See also, Pinewater v. Shadewind). Anti-Cosmo himself is the one who fought for it.

Anti-Firebox v. Ivywish - A court case which states that business owners can refuse to serve “anyone whom they deem suspicious and/or threatening”; i.e. it ruled that discrimination by Fairies against other races (namely Anti-Fairies and later Pixies) is justified. See also, Ivywish.

Anti-Gonzo v. Fairy World - A court case which ruled that members of the Unseelie Court (later was extended to include Pixies as well) can consume sugar as they please and should not be held to the laws of the Fairies which formerly told them not to. See also, Mintwave v. Wandflick. Anti-Cosmo’s grandfather is the one who fought for this.

Cloudjump v. Anti-Shale - A court case which ruled that riding the trams repeatedly to exploit them for cheap food is not okay. Arguably allows prejudice against the homeless.

Dustfinger v. Cadence von Strangle - A court case which ruled that godkids can keep their godparents through to adulthood if it can be proven they have an utter physical dependency upon their godparent, such as if they choose to live alone in the desert with no friends and limited access to food and water, or if there is reason to believe the godkid will be drastically damaging to society without a godparent. This is also known as Utter Dependency Clause, and Juandissimo called the “drastically damaging” loophole just before “Remy Rides Again” to justify returning Remy’s memories. See also, Magnifico v. Amity Angel Safety and Protective Recall Agency.

Ebonii v. Cairo - A court case which ruled that after the memories of a godkid or other witnesses are erased, all memories must be kept in storage in the Fairy World Archives basement until they die.

Epipole v. Fairy World - A court case which prohibits outsiders from interfering with the will o’ the wisp lifestyle, given that most of them live underground in their burrows and very few interact with the Fairies anyway.

Eros v. Longwood - A court case which ruled that pixies are forbidden from being in any Fairy World time zone where the time has passed seven in the evening. Additionally, pixies can only mate in Pixie World, or Cupid is legally allowed to arrest them. See also, Kalahari Act.

Ivorie v. Goldenglow - A court case which argued that the tax will o’ the wisps pay on non-wisp drakes living with them should not be dropped; rejected due to conflicts with Epipole v. Fairy World that prevent outsiders from interfering with the goings-on of will o’ the wisps and their burrows.

Longwood v. Sanderson - A court case which ruled that despite their genetic relations, pixies are considered individuals and therefore that eating each other’s specially-marked packages of food out of the freezer is legally considered theft.

Longwood v. Sanderson II - A court case which ruled that pixies who don’t perform the minimum required hours of work in the office per week will be required to pay a fine and make up hours via community service over the following week(s), in addition to scrambling to meet their minimum for that week.

Longwood v. Sanderson III - A court case which ruled that pixies who do not follow curfew rules can be fined for disturbing the peace.

Longwood v. Sanderson IV - A court case which ruled that breaking and entering is not a crime when one has reason to believe their health and safety may be in danger, especially if it’s Halloween.

Longwood v. Sanderson V -  A court case which ruled that even pixies over age of majority are not allowed to stray beyond the borders of Pixie World after hours without the written consent of the Head Pixie or some figure of higher rank (such as the Keeper of Da Rules, Mother Nature, Father Time, the Fairy Elder, or the Eros Triplets).

Longwood v. Sanderson VI - A court case which ruled that selkies and swanee are immune from the rulings of the Kalahari Act, which forbids relationships between Fairies and Pixies. Nothing can be done about the sideways glances one might get from the breaking of social norms, though.

Longwood v. Sanderson VII - “The Tree-Hugger Case”;  A court case which ruled that murders which occur on Pixie vapor fall under Pixie jurisdiction unless the murdered figure was ranked a duke or duchess or higher in terms of social status (You may notice the loophole that if a pixie kills you on Pixie vapor, he could theoretically be ruled innocent by the Head Pixie and get off with no charges).

Longwood v. Sanderson VIII - “The Bumper Cars Case”; a court case which gave Sanderson the right to legally adopt young Gary and Betty (and Betty’s brother, Kenny) after their respective parents hit each other in a car crash. This is the first case of a non-Fairy adopting a human, so it was kind of a huge deal. The Fairy Council settled the disputes over whether Pixies would use wishes to manipulate the universe in their favor by deciding to “lock up” the three humans’ abilities to “wish”. Which was the whole reason behind Sanderson trying to adopt them, so then he got stuck with them after that.

Luna v. Fairy Court - A court case which ruled that memories are too easy to manipulate with magic and cannot be used as evidence in court without multiple witnesses and the existence of items clearly not touched recently by magic.

Magnifico v. Amity Angel Safety and Protective Recall Agency - A court case which ruled that Juandissimo could be reunited with Remy and that Remy is allowed to retain his godparent and his magical memories through adulthood so long as he remains rich and influential, doesn’t spill the fairy secret or wish Juandissimo away, and accepts that he’s forbidden to make wishes after the age of eighteen. See also, Dustfinger v. Cadence von Strangle.

Mintwave v. Wandflick - A court case which ruled that Fairies who practice magic under the influence of sugar will receive high fines and may have their starpieces revoked for up to three months. See also, Anti-Gonzo v. Fairy World.

Obsidian v. Horace - A court case which ruled that genies don’t have the right to lawyers.

O’Weskar v. Pixies Incorporated - A court case which ruled that Fairies are forbidden from interacting with injured or sickly pixies, and that pixies must be kept in the isolation wings of medical care facilities. Also, killing a pixie will incur capital punishment.

Pinewater v. Shadewind - A court case which ruled that deliberately antagonizing or interfering with a neutral party on Earth (as determined in the rulings of Anti-Cosma v. Adelinda von Strangle) is grounds for getting in trouble with the law, including paying a fine and potentially doing jail time.

Pixie World v. Starshine Studios - A messy court case about what you can and can’t say in songs about minority groups. It first came up when Wanda sang her “Mamas, Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Pixies” song.

Porter v. Starshine Kiss - A court case which ruled that if a godchild draws their godparents and someone sees it, the godkid can say “I drew my fairy godparents” or “I drew my imaginary friends” and won’t lose their godparents.

Quickflap v. Abel - A court case which ruled that there are no legal punishments for killing sprites.

Sanderson v. Longwood - An attempted court case which argued that pixies shouldn’t be allowed to kiss during work hours; never went through due to pixies being laughed out of the courtroom for bringing up the idea at all.

Snow v. Carmichael - A court case which ruled that godchildren who intentionally reveal the existence of another kid’s godparents will lose their own godparents as a result.

Sparkletail v. Whimsifinado - A court case which ruled that Pixies can make their own starpieces, but aren’t allowed to distribute them to non-pixies. Any non-pixie caught with a pixie starpiece will have it terminated.

Tenderfir v. Redbrush - A court case which ruled that humans aren’t allowed to spend more than eight hours straight in the lowest areas of the cloudlands, and as little as one hour in some of the upper areas. This is due to the limited amount of oxygen there, so humans who stay too long will asphyxiate. Visits to Earth to break up these periods of time in Fairy World are required by law.

Valleysky v. Geraldson - A court case which ruled that Fairies are allowed to legally adopt humans under the age of eighteen if said human has no legal guardians otherwise. You have to be cleared by the Amity Angel Safety and Protective Recall Agency and possibly the Fairy Council, though. Sanderson argued in Longwood v. Sanderson VIII that pixies should be allowed to adopt humans under the same conditions too, and won.

Whimsifinado v. Caudwell - One time Caudwell tried to abandon his life as a pixie. H.P. said no. In fact, this case ruled that age of majority for pixies is 250,000 and not 200,000 as it is for Fairies, and that the Head Pixie has legal say to choose whether his pixies can leave. Technically, all pixies out beyond the borders of Pixie World without a permit written by him are supposed to be arrested and brought back. This is where it comes in handy to be a species of hardly five hundred members, I guess.

Whimsifinado v. Eros Nest - A court case which ruled that under Aphrodite Protocol, the use of a yoo-doo doll to restrain someone does not qualify as cruel and unusual punishment.

Whimsifinado v. Fairy World - A court case which ruled that Pixies should be their own class and are no longer to be classified under the Fairy umbrella on the grounds that they cannot reproduce with Fairies (or members of the Unseelie Court, or beyond the class of the Fairykind either).

Whimsifinado v. Knuckleheads - A court case which ruled that the Fairy World courthouse is to be used for serious purposes only and not for settling silly squabbles, particularly if said squabbles can be resolved through good communication and/or the weighing in of the Head Pixie.

Additional Notes:

Blood Processed Sugar Content - The equivalent of blood-alcohol content. Under Mintwave v. Wandflick, it’s against the law to practice magic with a blood sugar concentration of .10 or more.

Ivywish - A common word in Anti-Fairy society in reference to the Anti-Firebox v. Ivywish case. Saying something like, “They pulled ol’ Ivywish on me” or “They went Ivywish” means, “They discriminated against me on the basis of my being an Anti-Fairy”.

Kalahari Act, The - A law passed in the name of Aphrodite Protocol that forbids Fairies from mating with pixies. Longwood has toed this rule by pulling the selkie girlfriend card. See also, Eros v. Longwood and Longwood v. Sanderson VI.

Xero Act, The - Under this law, the sterilization of Anti-Fairies (Refracts were later included) is forbidden (It wasn’t an uncommon thing in the olden days, until Fairies realized that their children were dying due to not having an anti-fairy to split their heavy load of magic with). It’s also against the law for Anti-Fairies to sterilize themselves in an attempt to avoid having pups.

Come. Be a dork with me.

[bugs-in-situations]

Fungus Vi, 1, 3, 13, 19. Your choice of Mothiva, 9, 4, 19. Your choice of Selkie, 11, 7

1 describe what [fungus vi] looks like physically

she's varying shades of green and greenish blue, as we couldn't think of a better color for wind magic. as with snakemonsters leif, she's very visually fungal, with prominent growths on her head, legs, and abdomen. she has a unique swirl pattern on her wings and is always staring like this O_O

3 what is [fungus vi]'s stance on religion

vi being completely unimpressed by the divine once the novelty of seeing venus wears off is fairly consistent across our AUs. this version is "she makes plants grow and i can't? so what? i control the wind and she can't do that. she's not That powerful" flavored

13 how does [fungus vi] deal with pain, physical or emotional

by complaining about being hurt but not actually accepting help for it, usually

19 how does [fungus vi] connect with people around them

sort of in the way a shelter rescue cat connects with a new owner. you gotta be patient and if you try to force her to socialize it will make the situation worse for everyone. if she's warmed up to someone then she'll start engaging in typical vi humor and banter, and in the physical sense she's quite a lot more cuddly than most other vi-riations (vi variations) (for parasite reasons)

9 how does [selkie mothiva] fare in cold or hot climates

she Does Not like being in places that are too hot or humid. she yearns for the cold arid steppes in Middle of Nowhere, Asia and she's been cursed to live in brazil. truly she suffers more than anyone else we've written

4 how does [evprim mothiva] act when she's sick

pathetically

19 how does [snakemonsters mothiva] connect with people around her

this is... something that's uniquely difficult for her! sirens in general have a brand of magic that makes genuine connection with others a struggle, and for mothiva it's nearly impossible, as anyone who hears her speak will be wrapped in infatuation that's impossible to see through. she trends towards forms of connection that involve minimal verbal communication in the few close relationships she does maintain as a result

11 how is [selkie kabbu] seen by people [in the north]

as a prize, more often than not. selkies are very rare there, and the population of bugs who would poach a selkie for their pelt is more substantial. that was most of his motivation for traveling to bugaria, more than wanting to see bugaria itself

7 what's a food that [selkie vi] would never turn down

vi is the absolute stereotype of her species when it comes to cheese. cheese For Bugs is less varied than cheese For Humans since the only source of "milk" is aphids, but vi can still detect the minor differences and has an elaborate ranking of which cheeses are better. she'll take any of it regardless, and explain at length where it is on her cheese ranking and why while eating it

[the-synergized-heroes]

Reboot - Part 2: Internships and Invasions

Synergy looked around the empty classroom, confused. It was empty, like no one had been in the desks in months. He was also pretty sure he wasn’t supposed to be here. Why was he-

“Can you wonder a little quieter, I’m working here,” Aura Palm said, more notes in front of him. He chuckled to himself. “The kids have been busy, Chapu is especially coming along well…”

“Oh, those are the internship reports…uh, how’s that going?” Synergy said, getting close to Aura Palm but looking for the exit out of the corner of his eye. He was sitting in the chair across from Aura Palm.

“Take a look.”

Name: Denshō Minato - LoreSight

Quirk: History Lesson

Hero Gear: A blue trench coat, high collar, with yellow highlights and gloves. A hat that hides their third eye until it opens, protecting it in the meantime. Combat cuffs: weighted handcuffs he can use like nun-chucks.

Interned with: Wanted to work with Night Eye but after they…well, you know, he ends up interning with the Wild, Wild Pussycats primarily under Mandalay. He rounds out their group as a much more ‘relaxed’ persona and even gets some cat-ears on his hat for a time.

Name: Nikkō Hachirou - Helioscope

Quirk: Solar Glare

Hero Gear: Black and white tights with curved orange padding, rings simulating sunrays. A rounded helmet that allows them to adjust their brightness and can focus their light into an intense burning laser.

Interned with: X-Less to practice w/ his hero gear’s offensive capabilities (laser) and develop his support skills. Welcomed X-Less’s cautious nature, emphasizing cause and effect. Glad he learned of his death while it was raining, it’s hard for him to see past through his light in-between his tears.

Name: Shōgekiha Nariko - Rumble

Quirk: Concussive Strikes

Hero Gear: Salmon colored leotard with a single gold pauldron and a wrestle championship style belt w/ mask. Reinforced arm bracers to protect her arms from the recoil of her talent in open air.

Interned with: Death Arms to better hone her quirk in more than combat situations. Scolds her often for rash action and over-bravado, but she still appreciates his advice…even if she won’t admit it.

Name: Haiga Umeko - Mekogen

Quirk: Sickness

Hero Gear: A helmet semi-shaped like a bacteriophage, rainbow-chrome hazmat hoodie. Capture nets: deployable mesh netting best used for capturing groups of villains simultaneously.

Interned with: Her family wanted her to work at their agency, but she very bravely ignores them to work with Ectoplasm, getting her acquainted to crowd control and working under pressure. He pushes her very hard, but she manages to hold it together. He floods her with praise afterwards.

Name: Tanaka Daitan - Guts

Quirk: Fearless

Hero Gear: Black tights with green highlights, knee, and elbow padding. Straps and hook-loops for climbing gear and swinging around.

Interned with: Mt. Lady! He demands to work with her and reluctantly, she takes him on. He constantly flings himself at the larger enemies she tends to fight, much to her dismay (even if she is a bit impressed.) He literally tells giant villains to “choke on him” and…well, they do.

Name: Hōshasen Yoko - Xeta

Quirk: X-Ray Touch

Hero Gear: Black short jacket with white highlights, a skeletal pattern. Thick boots. A pair of stun batons that use her quirk to project their x-ray light over a distance.

Interned with: Centipeder at Night Eye’s Agency. Primarily there to work on her support skills, providing a look into rooms before raid breaches and unknown containers, alongside Jaehee. Gets better at using her batons and unexpectedly, infiltration.

Name: Koizumi Rei – Figurina

Quirk: Figurine

Hero Gear: A very toyetic costume, light blue spandex adjacent to dance tights with an goggles, arm and shin guards and bandolier belt. Arm mounted grappling hooks for better mobility when she’s shrunk as well as a headset w/ a megaphone function.

Interned with: Gunhead to better improve her close quarters combat skills. Begins developing new ways to use her shrinking in a fight. The two playfully tease each other in several ways, primarily on Rei’s clumsiness.

Name: Miyamoto Takuya - Scatter Point

Quirk: Scattering

Hero Gear: Something simple, like a hi-vis vest and shorts.

Interned with: As an admirer, he requested to work with Cementoss. Cementoss however passed him over to Edgeshot, believing the fold-a-body hero would be a much better fit for improving his skills. Takuya was disappointed but trained hard as to not let his idol down!

NEW MOVES: SCATTER SHIELD – Holds his body in a wall-like configuration to protect others

POINT MASK - Reassembles part of his body around a target’s head to deprive oxygen

Name: Hayashi Chāpu - Tricket

Quirk: Cricket

Hero Gear: Body armor-esque acrobatic gear with a set of goggles designed for his eyes.

Interned with: She doesn’t like teams but ends up with Mirko, to better improve his combat skills. She tries to hype him up often, much to his dismay since it usually comes off as teasing. Develops the TRICKET KICK, storing energy before the kick connects and pushing off, launching the target further.

Name: Wasureru Akira - Miss Step

Quirk: Immediate Memory Wipe

Hero Gear: “Tactical turtleneck” under a holster vest. A set of custom-made dart pistols commissioned by her father.

Interned with: Her father pulled some strings and managed to pair her with Snipe, to improve her firearms skill and draw speed. She dislikes her dad’s tampering and Snipe tends to use this frustration to motivate her.

Name: Shimizu Shirogane - Hydrogane

Quirk: Wave Ride

Hero Gear: Deep Blue surfing tights with black highlights. White chunky boots, almost sculpted like jagged seashells, and hooked to an excess water storage tanks to better activate their quirk.

Interned with: Was going to work with Manual but ends up with Kamui Woods. Better develops his ability to move civilians to safety and control the flow of villains. The two get along well, Kamui Wood's focus maximizing Shiro's training. But Kamui gets very emotions if Shiro gets hurt, viewing his mentor-status as an honor.

Name: Rizumikaruna Isao - Groovemeister

Quirk: Flow

Hero Gear: A break-dancer’s jumpsuit with throwable weighted glow-sticks. A pair of headphones wired into the jumpsuit, turning his movements into sound, and better allowing their moves to flow.

Interned with: Present Mic to become better acquainted with his hero gear and further push/strengthen the rhythm matching aspect of his quirk. Every day is a party with them,

Name: Jiba Rinko – Lady Flux

Quirk: Magnetic Tide

Hero Gear: An almost Victorian style ball gown, but with more of a modern fashion flair. A reinforced metal umbrella she uses to move around with while using her quirk.

Interned with: Dragoon Hero Ryuko, finding new ways to apply her quirk. Ryuko encourages her playful pompous attitude, finding it a good way to psyche out villains. The two get a long great!

Name: Gyaku Samara - Tearway

Quirk: Dimensional Tear

Hero Gear: Dark blue cloak with neon red lining. A dark black helmet with a set of red eyes, acting as thermal goggles for better tracking targets while moving through her dimensional tear.

Interned with: Thirteen, maximizing her ability to move other people around for search and rescue. Maximized avoiding villains or surprising them at opportune moments. Starts spending a lot of her downtime with Thirteen and her agency whenever her parents are out of town on business.

Name: Tatsumaki Hideo - Winning Top

Quirk: Spin

Hero Gear: White, Red, and orange Armored suit with a wide-brimmed pointed hat and arm-fins. Designed to be blunted for fighting people or deploy sharp edges when tearing and drilling are necessary.

Interned with: Crust, who almost bursts into tears every time Hideo pulls off something new. Hideo always shows up early for their patrols and Crust makes sure he has everything he needs. Hideo is the angriest anyone has ever seen him when he learns about Crust’s fate during the war.

Name: Watanabe Yuzuki - Zipstream

Quirk: Frictionless Plasma

Hero-gear: Speed-suit coveralls with orange-lensed goggles. A belt that uses air tanks to change direction quickly and provide thrust, controlled by little controls near her wrist and fingerless gloves.

Interned with: Ingenium’s Agency to maximize her speed and control in combat with her quirk alongside Kotsuke. Uses the other heroes as a springboard for jokes and small pranks every day.

Name: Ikeda Ago - TIGRANTIC

Quirk: Giant Tiger Shark

Hero Gear: Orange and Black leotard.

Interned with: Selkie, getting her more actual experience in the water and acting as their heavy hitter. Enjoys Selkie’s attempts at being cute and lowkey wants to be seen as “cute” too.

Name: Moyasu Hiromitsu - Artillery

Quirk: White Phosphorus

Hero Gear: Black hooded cloak, steel facemask w/ visor, metal belt. Steal boots and gauntlets with vents for their quirk.

Interned with: Endeavor’s Agency. Doesn’t say much, is mainly focused on further controlling his dangerous quick. Didn’t get along with many heroes, teased a lot by sidekick named “Burnin.”

Name: Bāsuto Kosuke - Kosuke the Roaring Star!

Quirk: Rear Rockets

Hero Gear: Full on Kamen Rider-esque suit of armor, with retro-thrusters to give him better control in the air. Red, Black, Gold with star symbols. Long golden scarf.

Interned with: Ingenium’s agency, to maximize his speed in pursuits, as well as his aerial tracking skills, alongside Yuzuki. Tests out a lot of catchphrases and poses before taking off, much to the amusement and dismay of his colleagues.

Name: Junji Jaehee - JunJammer

Quirk: Disrupt

Hero Gear: A yellow jacket with white highlights. Gloves that shoot taser-like progs from her fingertips to extend the range of her quirk and the number of targets at once.

Interned With: Centipeder at Night Eye’s Agency. P rimarily there to work on her capture and restraint skills by shutting off communications or stunning multiple foes, alongside Xeta. Ends up becoming the lynch-pin in several operations.

Name: Kane Eito - Deluxium

Quirk: Golden Body

Hero Gear: A purple wrestling leotard with black highlights.

Interned with: Thought he would be working with someone like Best Jeanist but ended up working with Fourth Kind as some sort of punishment from his parents, picking up trash for a lot of his internship. Gains a bit of much needed humility.

Name: Rīchi Ryouta - Para-Hype!

Quirk: Monstrous Parasite

Hero Gear: A magnetic and off-set white colored spacesuit-like costume. Ports for his parasite’s eyes, mouth, and tentacles.

Interned with: Fat Gum! Trained to improve his general combat skills and primarily get a better handle on his parasite’s biological needs in balance with his own. Ate lots and lots of good food. Gets a lot wider after his internship and the two of them are happier for it.

“Uh…uh, AP,” Synergy said his throat dry. “That’s all neat and everything but uh…you kept mentioning heroes dying, and a war. What are you talking about?”

Synergy blinked and AP was now standing near a board. He raised a sword and pointed to the board, no swirling with images and diagrams.

“Heroes and villains. Modern society and a better one. The one raging right now. The one that needs troops, Sundowner.”

“Who the hell is Sundown-Aagh” Synergy felt a sharp pain in his head and tried to duplicate, ready to counterattack. But he found himself alone, clutching his head in an empty classroom.

Synergy looked around, realizing the doors were gone. He turned back to AP, but simply found a similarly empty chalkboard. Wait, no, there were…little shapes on the board, repeating. He crept closer, squinting at the board.

It was him. Tiny little chalk drawn versions of him, marching in perfect tandem.

The board seemed to go one forever, trailing into some impossible space.

“Okay you got me, haha, very funny.”

No response.

“Seriously, it’s great, this is awesome hahaha please let me!”

Silence.

“No…nonononono, let me out! Stop it! I don’t-I don’t want to be alone!”