#so she could learn to use her magic/manage her sensitivity to spirits

[ozziyo]

Dove Ingellvar posting because look how precious she is actually. resting :c face

[lumilasi]

Next up, Kiyoi. I adjusted his look slightly, removing the extra poncho layer thingy as I felt it looked kinda ugly. Also tidied up his hair.

Bio below:

Kiyoi Hayashi

Firstname translation:  clear/pure/noble

Lastname translation: woods/forest

Nicknames: witchboy (Those who don't know his name) Kiyoi-Chama (Youko)

Age: 20

Family: He was taken in by the Murasaki parents after his birth parents died.

Friends: a moth spirit Yoruga, water spirit Shizuka, young chimera Yago, and Yago's niece Youko

Love interest: Kouya, a wild dog spirit

A rare case of a male child of a witch born with magic powers.

Personality: 

He tends to act kind of posh and subdued in front of people due to being a former son of a mayor and now living with another arguably more powerful family. In truth, he’s a very sensitive and emotional person, who’s holding up this distant act as a defense mechanism. 

He has strong aversion to violence and doesn’t like seeing people hurt, even people he doesn’t like, and can often feel sick if he sees blood. Kiyoi also has self-esteem issues due to his past, and struggles to trust anyone claiming they like him or care about him, which can sometimes make him lash out frustrated and say things he doesn’t mean.

Despite his reservations, he’s very curious and loves to learn about new things, and can drop his posh act almost involuntarily, passionately rambling about his new favorite subject for hours to Yoruga, Yago, or Kouya. 

Abilities:

Charm: Ability to essentially hypnotize and make people do whatever he wants. His Charm-power is very powerful, and only very few people are immune to it. If he ramps up the strength of this ability enough, it can even cause one’s soul to “float away” from their body (I.E you die). This is something he's only ever done on accident though.

Nature magic: he knows some basic healing spells, and ability to make plants grow or wither rapidly.

Vision ability; he can monitor everyone’s movement at a specific area using the nature around him as a conduit. It doesn’t need to be an animal with eyes, he can process any kind of information, such as touch, movement, sound, etc. 

management ability; since he did grow up with staff back home, he does know how to manage people and get them to do what he needs them to. His charm spell does help with this though

Weaknesses:

He’s physically weak, which is typical to witch sons, and often has vertigo and dizzy spells. He is often being carried by others when he has to go somewhere, either by Kouya picking him up unprompted, or his adoptive parents ask the staff to do so using a special seat made for him. (He feels awkward about it, but the staff doesn't mind accommodating him as they like him)

He has self-esteem issues that make him not easily trust people when they say they like him, even if he’s not using his Charm on them. He also sometimes has flashbacks to the time he was almost killed by his former hometown folk, which can make his powers go a bit haywire.

In general, Kiyoi sometimes struggles to control his plant growing powers, creating full on jungles and forests on the yard of his home, or killing everything in the garden by accident.

BG STORY

Kiyoi used to live normal life as the son of a town’s Mayor, albeit secretly studying magic, as his mother had disowned magic use and stopped using her own, due to some trauma from her past, having lost an important mentoring figure.

She mainly did this to protect her son, knowing he could be in danger if people found out she was a witch; The town they lived in had had bad experiences with witches in the past, something his mum had only found out after marrying the mayor, as he'd feared she'd leave if he told her about this.

Despite feeling somewhat betrayed by him, she chose to stay as being a single mother while wanting to avoid her witch heritage would be difficult. His dad, feeling guilty over omitting such important information from her did everything he could to keep them both safe, even telling Kiyoi to never use his magic powers, or tell anyone he had them. He however, failed to tell his son why this was important, not wanting to scare his child.

Unfortunately, her secret ends up being revealed to the townsfolk by a begrudged staff-member, who'd been fired after some inappropriate behavior towards Kiyoi's mother. He'd seen Kiyoi practice his magic and concluded his mother had to be a witch.

Upon finding this out, the townsfolk kill his mother out of fear, and execute his father too, for hiding her true nature from them.

They even go after Kiyoi as well, but he ended up accidentally killing everyone while defending himself, overcharging his Charm spell he'd been practicing, that basically banished everyone’s souls from their bodies.

He was found, scared, lost, and alone, by the Murasaki family father Hanma, who took pity on the child and took him in, giving him a safer, supportive place to practice his magic.

FUN FACTS

Kiyoi's parents were both very flawed and made lot of wrong choices, but did love their son dearly; Kiyoi's dad even told him to run away, once he realized they were in mortal danger.

Kiyoi feels somewhat bitter towards his father, wishing he'd just made them move somewhere safer to prevent this. The same time he also feels his mother is guilty as well, for not just leaving with him. In general, his feelings towards his late parents are about as conflicted as they are towards his aunt.

Kiyoi in general feels very upset over how broken and dysfunctional his family has been as a whole, so once he moves in with the Murasakis, he sometimes gets almost overwhelmed with how much healthier this family he is now a part of is.

People immune to his charm include; Kouya, Yoruga and yago.

Kiyoi has a lot of patterned outfits, most of them are varying shades of green and blue, or mix of both.

Kiyoi has an entire shelf for Yoruga's smileyface masterpieces, from rocks to planks, to vases, and even a bird skull. (that one creeps him out, but he doesn't dare to throw it away)

He is very close with his new adoptive mother figure Rikka, who is the most hands-on with helping him train his powers. Since lot of his struggles come from emotional instability, he is able to help him learn how to keep himself calm.

[edda-grenade]

Nature.

Adaar and her parents have a very serious debate about why Solas is… like that.

#feral verse, 1100 words. on AO3.

Adaar wasn’t sure what exactly Solas was—only that he definitely wasn’t an elf. Not fully, at least.

He sounded strange. Like an elf raised among the Dalish, but… off. Maybe he was originally from a far-off clan where they spoke with the lilt and affect he had, but she had never encountered it.

But then again: he didn’t have vallaslin, despite being more than old enough to wear them.

It could be that he had refused them for some reason, although she couldn’t imagine why. All the young Dalish she had known before and after they had received their vallaslin had seemed so happy and proud to bear them, even when their faces were still raw and sensitive from the markings.

Or he had never been offered vallaslin in the first place. That at least would explain why he didn’t appear to be on speaking terms with any Dalish. Adaar still cringed when she remembered the fight he’d gotten into with Lavellan’s First. And Keeper, and Hahren. At least they hadn’t decided to cut trade ties with her family’s settlement.

He wasn’t much better with city elves, the few times she’d managed to convince him to accompany her into the villages or, on one occasion, the town to the north. She had promised Iolain to fetch him the next time a Dalish clan made camp near their land again so he might join them, and Solas had watched the entire exchange like a man watching an execution. They can’t give him what he’s looking for, he had told her afterwards. All they do is play at being elves, like shadows of the real thing.

And what are you? she had asked, angry and baffled. Solas had given her a look of such abject sorrow it had stopped her right in her tracks.

A shadow of what I was.

So he acted like no elf on earth could be his people. And yet, sometimes, he said things like: My people used to, this place was sacred to my people, back when my people were—

He always caught himself rather quickly, and either ignored or avoided any follow-up questions she might pose. Which was infuriating, but also, horribly understandable…

Because Adaar had the feeling his people weren’t considered people by anyone else. The way he talked about spirits and demons, with a fond melancholy he usually reserved for tales of the ancient Arlathan…

“I don’t know,” said Reth, expression skeptical. “He definitely looks like an elf. And he’s a mage, who apparently didn’t learn in a Circle, or from a Keeper, or the Qun, or in Tevinter. I’m more curious who taught him magic than anything else.”

“That’s my point!” said Adaar. “What if he never learned magic because he didn’t have to?”

“I think he was a slave,” Ari said quietly. “From Tevinter. Probably manifested magic late, and then that presented an opportunity for escape.”

“He’s haunted enough for it,” agreed Reth. “It’s like looking into a mirror, sometimes. Terrible.” He shook himself and downed an impressive amount of the sweetshine they were sharing in one go.

“Leave some for the rest of us, kadan.” Ari swiped the bottle while Adaar folded her legs up on the bench.

“Fine, be boring and sensible,” she said, with two fingers pointed at Reth and Ari. “So Papa’s bet is he’s really just an elf mage, Tama’s bet is that but also a former slave—”

“I’m not going to bet on it,” Ari interjected. They drank a deep swig of sweetshine, then pushed it into Adaar’s hands. “I don’t actually want to be right on this. But I most likely am. Definitely more than any of you lot.”

“That’s depressing,” Adaar said with a grimace. She drank and passed the bottle to her mother. “I bet he’s an—not an abomination, like possessed, but something like it probably? An elf and some kind of spirit, fused together.”

“An old spirit,” Tehenan threw in.

“Oh yes, absolutely. The way he talks about ‘the old world’, it sounds like he was there for it, y’know? Like he’s seen it. Watched it all get sold up the coast.”

“My money’s on one of the Forgotten Ones,” Tehenan said with a grin. “Do you remember how pissed he was when Keeper Deshanna told the story of the Great Betrayal? That reeks of personal involvement.”

“Oof.” Adaar rested her chin in her hands, gaze unfocusing as she imagined what Solas might’ve looked like in the old days, before he got attached to his current shape. “That would be amazing.”

There was a soft lull as her parents’ gazes met among the table. Reth leaned his crossed arms on the table so he was at eye-level with his daughter.

“That doesn’t scare you?” he asked quietly. “The thought that you’re learning from someone who is—who is that old and strange and powerful? Whose nature is so alien?”

Adaar met his eyes. “Should it?”

“…No. You shouldn’t ever have to be afraid of anything.”

“I’m not.” She grinned. “Also, he has a really cute sneeze. I don’t think some creepy old god up to nefarious shit would sneeze like that. And—” she lunged all the way across the table to grab the sweetshine, “—if Solas was going to hurt me, he wouldn’t be teaching me all this magic, right? I can do so much more already.” She tapped the bottle, and frost bloomed along the glass from her fingertips. She set it down in mid-air and left it floating there, spinning lazily, drifting across the table. Ari’s posture shifted, tensed, and she listed against their shoulder, fumbling blindly for their hand, then squeezed it tight once she caught it.

“Don’t worry, I’ve got it. I’m not gonna make it explode or anything.”

“But you could, huh.” Reth’s eyes flashed from across the table.

“Sure. But that’d be a waste of perfectly good sweetshine, and it’s really not that hard. Not breaking stuff is a lot more complicated than, well, breaking it.”

Ari sighed, and squeezed her hand back. “You have no idea how true that is.” They relaxed, and rested their cheek against Adaar’s temple. “Can you heat it up again, Sunspot? It’s too late for cold sweetshine.”

“Yep, let me just…” Adaar curled her claws and forced warmth back into the bottle at a measured pace. And, because she wanted to show off a bit more, she pushed further than before until the glass was comfortably hot to the touch and the bottle sailed from hand to hand without ever touching the table.

“This is good, kiddo. We should have it like this more often.” Tehenan smacked her lips after the first sip of the now heated drink. “Do you think Forgotten Ones know how to make sweetshine?”

Adaar laughed. “No idea. But if he doesn’t, I’ll teach him how when we make the next batch.”

[popurikat]

Trying to make sense of parts of Future (Mystery Skulls)

Since my last analysis went so well I thought I’d make this post as well, especially because Future really did confuse me and I know others might be lost as well; so lets discuss this together! It will be lengthy as I am basically spewing my thoughts out right on the videos immediate release date (there will be a read more option after my first thought to avoid long positng). Well first things first, I wanna address that I've been curious about what kind of spirit Arthur's arm could be (since I am not too well acquainted with any canon on its background part at least) and I think I have concluded that the closest thing to it could be is a Tenome; which is a Yochai that possesses a man's body and moves the eyes to the palms. "found lurking in cemeteries, hands outstretched, as if he has only recently lost his vision and is searching for something. Get close enough, and you’ll find out in quick succession that a) he’s not blind, but looking with eyes embedded in his hands, and b) what he’s looking for is a snack." (fyi, most of my mythos information is coming from Wiki just as a heads up)

And sure enough he found a great source for his hunger. Something he has been EYEING since the start. Which now leads me to my next points on the video...

At first watch I was convinced that each strand found on Mystery’s heart represented a singular soul bond, I thought that blue was for Vivi, Green was for the hand, pink for Lewis, purple for Shiro, Yellow for Lance, Orange for Arthur, and black and white were unknown. Which, didn’t settle right for me. SO I went in and re-watched the clip a couple more times and saw this:

Vivi’s (blue created after she got hurt) and Shiro’s (white created after she died) strands were connected to the strands located next to them. A start and an end. Mystery’s promise to Vivi to stay at her side for generations as he was spared upon prior defeat of Mushi. And then of course we have the promise of power and sustenance for Shrio as they held a symbiotic relationship for most of their lives that was only severed due to an interference. These double strands of fate are especially clearer in the scene with Shiro in Future. As the black strand gets clearer the more she gets injured or emotionally hurt, it eventually leads to the leak of the white strand on her death. Meaning; Black/white=Shiro; Purple/Pink=Lewis; Blue/Green: Vivi; and Orange/Yellow: Arthur. And why am I inclined to believe Lewis and Arthur are apart of Mystery’s heart? Well that's because those two were the only ones fully streaming before Vivi’s and Shiro’s appeared. We know that Arthur lost an arm to Mystery and discovered his identity (ergo losing most of his trust in him) insinuating both strands to arise early on of his color scheme, as well as with Lewis’ death occurring under the protection of Mystery when they were grouped and having his soul go restless/ in pain. It wouldn’t make sense to add family members or side characters not included in the mainline story to this grouping unless they would play an important role in the finale, which isn’t likely since we have only one more video left as Ben stated it was going to be a 5 video series. I am also inclined to believe each person has two strands because of Kitsune lore: “ Kitsune keep their promises and strive to repay any favor. Occasionally a kitsune attaches itself to a person or household. They follow their word of honor. They become self-destructive if they break a promise, and when someone else breaks a promise, they become deadly enemies.” Plus, It would make sense as to why in this short battle Mystery sprouted his last 3 tails when it came to Vivi and Shiro and how their connections affect his power. (more on this in a bit) But, furthermore; if anyone else notices, the Band-Aids on the heart are also remotely located on the sections of Vivi’s and Shiro’s strands specifically because for both, Mystery has vowed to protect them and has failed. 

Now then lets talk about a few things on Mystery’s ultimate form shall we? The final form of a Kitsune, its celestial form as shown here is called a Tenko. (yes I am aware of the Kumiho, but that is a fully evil, flesh eating, 9 tailed fox that specialize in illusions and well Mystery has never been portrayed as human). The Tenko makes even more sense when taken into consideration that Mystery’s third eye (typically a form of wisdom connected to overpowering the mortality of ones self) opens. So how was this done in such a short amount of time? “Kitsune do not accept aid from those who are not willing. they do not ask for help, and as such, most aid must come from another's initiative. Kitsune are emotional and very vengeful. Kitsune will lose their temper at the slightest provocation. Once someone has earned a kitsune's enmity, the kitsune will begin enacting revenge that can become quite extreme. On the other hand, those who have earned a kitsune's trust and loyalty will see a friendship that can last through many trials. Freedom is very important to the kitsune. They do not accept being forced into something they do not wish, and do not like being bound or trapped. Doing so weakens the kitsune.” Mystery as we know is very much controlled by his emotions, going head first into things constantly based on reaction and his inability to control his power under distress. His tails arose in the fight sequence every time he fulfilled his oath AND used 100% of his form/power. Therefore, his tails grew because he wasn’t holding back anymore, not his grievances, not his appearance, nor his hesitance in his evident distress of being bound to two entities that both required his aid.  My last note on these images comes from a tumblr user’s reverse audio clipping (https://nebulous-rain.tumblr.com/post/633555549749952512/ok-so-yknow-that-one-reversed-part-of-future). The rewind of the clip of Mystery’s transformation plays “When I’m With You”, which yes, cool a possible Easter egg to the next song! BUT what is this song about? Let me just bring up the first line of the song: “You got me hanging by a THREAD...I wish I could turn back time...I wish I could rewind life...” and before the chorus “I’m gonna make it right”. We know that this can refer to rectifying the wrongs of Lewis’ death, but more accurately to do so we need to defeat the evil inside this mutt that is pulling the strings of this whole fiasco. And this might just be the intro portion of the next mystery skulls mind you as we’ve also gotten many false starts with the previous two videos where hellbent used “every note” and future used “enemies” alongside the main song. BUT WE HAVE TWO YEARS ANYWAY, WHY BABBLE ON ABOUT THIS. LETS MOVE ON!

Hearts in this series have not been just for identifying the dead or for aesthetic purposes, they are the life force of each powerful legend. I am actually surprised to see Shiro have a heart as she started off as a creation from Mystery and therefore her lifeforce is just his blood and without it she is nothing. I am curious about her color pallet though, her heart is purple and pink. Lewis’ is gold/yellow with touches of orange. And Mystery’s is just red, but it has a mix of everyone’s essence within it to keep it tied and whole. Shiro’s could be colored this way in reference to Lewis’ aid to help find her creator; which would explain why Mystery surrounds himself by color as he required outside help and how Lewis’ heart is yellow in reference to how recently Arthur helped him remember his friends/hidden memories. One thing we have learned about hearts is that they can be broken repeatedly and can be ripped apart from the body, but they can be repaired too through resolution/hope. Lewis restored his heart in hellbent by using Vivi’s flower petals and finding hope that he will get revenge, only for his heart to be repaired again through Arthur’s touch. Shiro may have withered away, but her heart is essentially not broken, she’d need Mystery to restore it as it was flung into space (and that again relies on Mystery finding his sanity and finding it in himself to even bring her back). And as for Mystery himself, he’s gonna need the whole gang to reach out to him to extract the parasite within and restore balance. I really want to know more about the heart properties and how they give their users their powers as well Vivi is able to summon her strength through a material connection (bat) that function in its own way as the vessel a heart does since its connecting her to her ancestry.

NOW to finalize, I offer you two queries:

WHO IS ARTHURS HAND REACHING FOR!? I know it seems like Mystery, but that would be counter productive for the hand demon if he has Arthur interfering with his control. Is it still after Lewis as we’ve seen previous times where his arm acts up only in Lewis’ presence and when specifically other “magic” is at play? If so, is the goal to ward off Lewis and Vivi from defeating Mystery? Is Arthur gonna use the arm to find his own power as we’ve seen when he is able to momentarily cease control of it he kinda ruins anything electrical he touches and well, electricity is currently running rampant in there.

and lastly, I am really curious how touch sensitive hearts are, We know that even the smallest of brushes can detect memory/links to the person holding it (as seen with how Shiro managed to get soul flowers in hellbent), but the fact that Lewis was so in touch with the feeling of Arthur EVEN THOUGH ARTHUR GRABBED HIS HEART THROUGH HIS METAL HAND MIND YOU!, that he still managed to feel the disturbance instantly. So my question is, is the touch sensitivity reliant on how close someone is to someone? I would like to say yes cause when Shiro touched his heart he didn’t react instantly, he felt her rummaging his memories and was awoken, but he didn’t kick her butt by fully reforming until after she had long since stepped on his heart and then forced the memory of Mystery to arise. But yeah, its a nice little detail.

Either way, thanks for reading! Feel free to add on, comment, or even dm me about more Mystery Skulls information and theories! Love to hear them!

[justgottafinishthischapter]

Writing Romance: Opposites Attract

One of the most widespread among romantic tropes is opposites attract, and with good reason. When a couple are opposites, they’re meant to be one of a few things to each other: 1. An inverse reflection of each other. 2. Compliment each other 3. Cover each other’s shortcomings

In a sense, a good Opposites Attract serves to turn two incomplete people into one solid force. If they’re a battle couple, they’ll tend to fight very well together, often balancing force and finesse, melee and ranged, or physical and magical abilities. If the show or book has a lot of time dedicated to foils and character moments, they are more likely to be the ones that each other lean on, since their opposing characters makes them interesting to react off one another. Their roles, story arcs, and backstories tend to run opposite or parallel to one another depending on the series. If one character’s arc is to mature and become more responsible, likely their partner’s arc might be to learn to loosen up and have fun, learn to trust people, or to face a trauma in their past that made them so mature at a young age.

In terms of design, opposites attract partners tend to be inverse in color schemes. Light and dark hair or eyes, warm and cool color schemes, clashing or complimentary fashion styles, etc. The degree in opposition also varies. Some opposites attract look very similar with only a slight difference, indicating that something small is what set them on different paths in life but are otherwise very similar, almost as two sides of the same coin. Other couples are stark contrasts with virtually nothing in common to really emphasize their differences so that they can better make each other whole, as shown very literally through the character of Garnet in Steven Universe. 

Femme and Butch

While typically, you’re mostly going to see this in femmeslash/yuri pairings, this dynamic is actually fairly universal. This divide focuses on a pairing where each couple reflects the values of masculinity and femininity. Although mostly used as lesbian terms, a femme and butch pairing can also be gay or heterosexual. A fashion-loving twink who cries during romantic movies dating a jock who likes sports and drinks beer is still an example of Femme and Butch. Heterosexual is rather obvious, but can also be inversed, with a tough, assertive woman partnered with a sweet, sensitive man, such as Calhoun and Felix in Wreck-It Ralph. A Femme and Butch pairing doesn’t need to check off every box on this list of traits, but these traits tend to be common in these types of relationships.

Brains and Brawn

Also known as Jock and Nerd, this romantic dynamic prioritizes the usefulness of both intelligence and brute strength. Another variation is Book Smarts vs Street Smarts. The Brains will be good at doing research, organizing, and will tend to fight more strategically while the Brawn is primarily going to be good at fighting and likely protecting the Brains from serious harm. Princess and Bodyguard is another possible example of this dynamic, albeit a little less directly.

Hot and Cold

Hot or Warm characters tend to be friendly, outgoing, upbeat, loudmouthed, temperamental, boisterous, and battle-ready. Cold or Cool personalities tend to be shy, calm, quiet, logical, reserved, serious, and emotionally withdrawn. However, while these extreme opposites of hot-head and cold-shoulder balance each other out, it’s worth discussing same heat relationships. Kiribaku is an example of a Hot/Warm relationship, as Bakugou Katsuki is an angry little spitfire with an aggressive streak, while Kirishima Eijirou is a happy-go-lucky sweetheart with a good attitude. This is sort of the same concept, just that both boys are on the warm side of the spectrum, with Kirishima being the cooler counter to Bakugou’s temperamental hot-head. This also works inversely, as the ship Tododeku is a Cold/Cool relationship. Midoriya is a shy, but upbeat young man who tends not to draw too much attention to himself, while Todoroki is stoic, logical, and a bit dense socially. In this case, Midoriya is Cool while Todoriki is Cold, with Midoriya serving as the “Hot” aspect of their relationship as the more friendly and outgoing of the two.  

Light and Shadow

This archetype is often used as a “opposite sides of the same coin” format, where the characters serve as foils to one another. In Teen Titans, Raven’s powers are dark and demonic, while Starfire’s are bright and extraterrestrial. Both girls get their powers from their emotions, but where Starfire revels in her emotions to make her powerful, Raven must suppress her emotions to retain control of her powers. As the only two girls, they stick out as the obvious foils of the group. Many times, when this trope appears, it’s in the form of Classic Paragon Hero vs Cynical Anti-Hero. Superman and Batman are a great example. Superman is a boyscout token good guy, while Batman is a brooding loner. One is the hope for justice and goodness to always triumph while the other acknowledges that people are flawed, and maybe not everyone deserves to be saved. Naruto is interesting because he has two dark reflections. The first is Sasuke. While Naruto is the golden-haired idealist who befriends villains almost as often as Steven Universe, Sasuke is a dark counter consumed by a thirst for vengeance and the power to exact it. Naruto’s other dark counter however is Gaara. Both are Jinchuriki, but whereas Naruto eventually found friends and love in his fellow genin, Gaara was very much still alone when he met Naruto, reflecting what Naruto could have become without that love and support in this life.

Protagonist and Rival

Another case of “two sides of the same coin”, most anime protagonists and their rival tend to either have very similar backstories, very similar motivations, or very similar personalities, if not some combination of the three. Both Naruto and Sasuke were abandoned in the world at a young age with the Hokage looking out for them from afar. Naruto started off having nobody, and was always reaching out hoping to connect with anyone. Meanwhile, Sasuke started with a family and lost it, and decided to keep everyone at arm’s length and isolate himself further. Rin Okumura and Ryuji Suguro are practically the same person. Both lost their families and homes due to Satan, both are strong-willed loudmouthed tough guys with a knack for leadership, and both share the goal of killing Satan. Natsu Dragneel is immature and battle-ready, but while Grey Fullbuster at least pretends to be above it, he’ll jump into a fight with Natsu practically unprompted. The main appeal of the anime protagonist and his rival is that they push each other to succeed, often coming from very similar roots, but where they end up is entirely up to the effort they put in and the path they choose to take. They both refuse to lose to each other, and that propells them to constantly want to out-do each other.

Sweet and Sour

My best friend and I are polar opposites in this sense. When we met, she was far too trusting, submissive, and far too forgiving. Meanwhile, I was a lot more cynical, mean-spirited, and unfortunately, a little more closed-minded than I’d like to admit. After five years of friendship, my friend is far more assertive, has a lot more confidence in herself, is a lot better at handling criticism, and rather than just submitting in an argument, she now has the nerve to get in someone’s face and make her point heard. Because of her, I’ve become less stand-offish, more patient and polite, less of a control freak, more aware of valuing other people’s emotions, and more tolerant of a group I hadn’t realized I’d been intolerant toward. We saw the world in such distinctly different ways that we have managed to rub off on each other, and now we’re both such stronger and more complete people for having known each other.

Serious and Goofball

A classic comedy duo, the comedian and the straight man. The Goofball character tends to be immature, a knucklehead, a jokester, and comes off as a bit inexperienced. Meanwhile, the Serious character tends to be mature, responsible, disciplined, but comes off as a bit aloof. The Goofball reminds the Serious character to have a little fun every once in a while, while the Serious character reins in the Goofball before they hurt themselves or somebody else.

Hero and Sidekick

The hero has their act together and the sidekick is just doing their best. This happens a lot in Action movies where the handsome tough guy and the hapless damsel (who he kidnaps a little too often for my liking) is just kind of along for the ride. The two live in entirely different worlds. Sometimes this comes in the variant of Starlet and Manager where one in the relationship takes center stage while the other is content to help them run their life, promote their career, and help them. Another variation is Superstar and Random Extra, wherein one person leads a very visible life in the public eye being adored by millions of fans while their partner works 9-5 in an office dealing with insurance claims. Although they coe from very different worlds and lead very different lives, that doesn’t mean they still haven’t found love in an unlikely place. Often, the reason the hero or big shot loves this random nobody is because they fell in love with them before they ever became famous, or they didn’t know/care who the celebrity was and just liked them as a person without interest in using their celebrity to climb the social ladder.

Loud and Quiet

She’s quirky, outgoing, bubbly, energetic, and talkative. Too talkative. She never shuts up. He’s quiet, simple, down-to-earth, and calm. Too Calm. He never gets excited. This pairing works to push and pull each other until they’ve harmonized. The Quiet one will be pulled out of their shell and learn to be more open and talkative, while the Loud one will learn to think before they act. This couple is divided along lines of Introversion and Extroversion, and together can navigate the anxiety-triggering unease of a social gathering, and finding joy and pleasure in just enjoying each other’s company without needing to fill the silence with pointless chatter.

To be fair, many Opposites Attract couples will fit into more than one of these archetypes, and there’s probably more I didn’t list. But if you’re wanting to create a couple that balances each other out, I hope you find this helpful to you in your writing.

[kauma-kardia]

New Characters!

Emir “Kidd” Farooq

Age 23

A young man with a high spiritual sensitivity, who comes from a family of traditional occultists and capacity for honing his own spiritual prowess inwardly, though the honing the process of channeling his outward is the subject of his tutelage under Issea. 

Coming from a line of traditional Exorcists and Spiritual Advisors, you would be surprised to hear that his family thought that he would have nothing to do with the trade. For the longest time, Emir held no interest in keeping up with his brother as head of the family business. 

It wasn’t until Issea, a random man with little connection to their world, shielded and aided the young Emir during an exorcism gone awry in a small town with techniques he’d never seen before. It kindled a new fire in the young man to learn under the Tactician, from which he would come to hone new destructive forces over a variety of missions in the following years, including his claim to fame; a common ability but used by Emir with great efficiency, his ‘Spirit Gun’ and its variations.

Hence, his title and status as a sharpshooter, Emir the Kidd.

Kidd, in return for all of the guidance, with the intention of helping to save the people of his doomed world, centers around missions that will exceedingly push him deeper into the Ethereal Realms. Trips that, could potentially require him to be gone for extended periods of time, which Issea himself cannot do.

Leia “Moon” Mahina

Age 25

An alchemist and a regular visitor to the Valemede Family in seeking the council of Issea, as a friend to the Mahina House. She's a capable tactician in her own right, but often comes to challenge Issea to some manner of sparring, though ends up tossing around Kidd instead, while Issea is left to coach the both of them. 

 In reality, a lot of their games are a front, as much of Leia's family are tied to much of the underground resistance efforts against a malicious organization of elites and is typically the one doing recon and middle manning for Issea. If nothing else, she acts as a solid second-in-command to her mentor due to her capability to keep up with and even surpass him in moment-to-moment deliberation. 

This is mostly due to an advanced technique passed down from the Mahina Family, as one of its 4 secret weapons. This ability is called Memory Partition where the user is able to partition their thoughts to form multiple independent thought processes. While normal people can only have a single "room" in their brain and focus on one thought, partitioning adds partitions to the one room to create multiple rooms.

Her abilities are typically on higher end of her family, especially with consistent aid from Issea, but magic is not her forté and she relies on her agile speed and hand to hand, ranged and multi-purpose physical weaponry mixed with on-the-fly applications of alchemy. Leia also utilizes the deadly wire projected by her own spiritual energy, made easily malleable, retractable and can either react with physical and spiritual forces. Funnily enough, despite Kidd’s moniker, Leia is the one with efficient weapons knowledge. 

Leia’s codename “Moon” comes in part from the alchemic significance of it and in practicality for team formations on missions dealt by the family. Significant elements are managed by one user or another when on team missions, with her frequently handling Silver. In keeping with that, QuickSilver, for which the moon represents, is a dissolving force that blurs and adapts. It often brings home particular words of Issea’s teachings:

“… Let go of yourself,  so that you may decide and adapt, in any moment, with any notice, who to be.”

From time to time, she may accompany Kidd on his missions and vice-versa but as her exposure to spiritual planes continues, her capacity for Ki Control will also strengthen, which enhances things like her gunplay, reaction & strength.

She’s also cousin to Lana Mahina, but they’ve never had a real interaction.

[shadaofallthings]

Harrow is thoroughly haunted (also very mentally unhealthy due to her parents/culture’s practices)

There are a couple points to this theory crafting I have, but the basic statement is as such: Harrow is haunted by more than one revenant, at the very least The Sleeper and AL/The Corpse but likely way more, potentially including every one of the 200 ghosts Harrow’s parents killed to make her. I’d also like to note that this theory will discuss mental health a main subject of its theorizing. Having mental health issues or possessing certain traits that society deems mentally unhealthy is not a mark against your own character, or a reason to try and be normal by society’s standards. This theory will also discuss potential physiological causes for mental health issues. If you are sensitive to such discussions, this is probably not the theory for you to be reading on a bad day for your own mental health.   The first thing this theory hinged on is Ortus’ ability to contribute to the summoning of Matthias Nonias through, as Abigail says without the narrative challenging her, passion alone. This establishes that while most works of passion and people’s attempts to connect with their departed loved may not be enough to create a link, a notably obsessive work of passion and focus, one worked on for years, can have effects on The River, and Revenants summoned from it. Pretty simple, all you gotta accept for this one is that people with certain obsessions or fixations, the kinds that keep them thinking about someone for years, can help summon ghosts. The second thing this is hinged on is that when you summon/forge a bond through the method that Ortus did, you shape how the ghost will be summoned into reality. This is most easily demonstrated by Matthias Nonias commenting, multiple times, on the fact its strange that he is speaking in meter, that his behaviors in his duel with The Sleeper were not the normal ones of a trained, legendary fighter, and that as people took on/professed the belief in that work of epic poetry fanfiction was legit and could summon Matthias he actually managed to be summoned to the reality bubble they were in and impose specifically that fanfic’s rules on both Matthias and The Sleeper.  Third, this theory is hinged on the actions and mental state of Harrow the First/Ninth, and the actions/culture/beliefs of people surrounding her. First off, I would like to establish that Harrow has been exposed to conditions that would cause her to be likely to develop symptoms that are on the schizo-spectrum of disorders (schizophrenia, schizotypal, etc etc). The first of such conditions is actually the most important from a biology perspective: Harrow’s immediate family has a practice for keeping their secrets. When they wish to discuss the family business they draw a bath of cold saltwater, get in it, and do it from there. It is explicitly described as “freezing” in both Gideon the Ninth and Harrow the Ninth by Harrow herself. Repeat hypothermia is a physiological trigger that can cause a person to develop schizospectrum disorders, and I would argue that her parents exposed her to repeat hypothermia, and Harrow would confirm these baths have been going on since she learned to keep secrets (likely around 5-7). Second, we have contributing factors to this mental state, most notably is the Incense that is described in Gideon as being used by The Ninth House in their worship. If, and this is a big if given how little we know specifics, this incense was Frankincense or uses similar molecular structures (possible given the influence of Christianity over the Dademperor’s Cult), we would know that Harrow all her life has been exposed to a mild hallucinogen (and also antidepressant, but that effect of frankincense isn’t relevant), which while unless overexposed significantly (to the point it would cause some lung damage if done repeatedly) she would’t have hallucinations NORMALLY, we have already discussed why Harrow’s brain chemistry wouldn’t be normal and this could have an affect overall on the development of her mental health. We also know from Harrow’ behavior and information about her parents that she herself gives that she has been instilled with a rather potent guilt complex over the 200 dead who were sacrificed to make her (One of her prayers included “and let me be buried in 200 graves” ffs). More miscellaneous stuff to include in contributing factors to Harrow being predisposed towards guilt and hallucinations and fixations as well includes Harrow being around the dead and dying for her entire life, being a Necromancer, both bad ventilation due to the infrastructure of the Ninth House as well as exposure to a nerve agent that canonically throws your brain into destructive overdrive, and discovering The Corpse in The Locked Tomb (this last one being notable as having happened around the beginning of puberty or during giving her a reason that her death fixation might become what is in cannon called Corpse Lust). She’s a kid, basically, in a hormonal shitstorm of growing up: she doesn’t know how to stop her head from doing fuckshit to itself). In addition to her fixation on The Corpse however is the sheer amount of time she spent worrying about it, lusting after it, being comforted by hallucinations of it, and otherwise spending a large amount of her mental effort thinking about The Corpse one way or another. Now, lets braid these threads into a rope. We know that passion and obsession can make a legitimate metaphysical link to a revenant, allowing them to find their way back into Shallower waters or even the world through objects and ideas (such as an epic poem fanfic, and potentially people, but DEFINITELY prayers [poems and phrases repeated that cause certain patterns of thoughts) given the nature of what we’ve seen). We know that Harrow has spent a large amount of her life giving worship, strong emotion and most importantly obsession towards The Corpse/AL. Also, we know from Harrow the Ninth in direct statements by some spirit focused allies that Revenants can use any connection they have to the world to get back into it, even if that’s in a limited capacity. For good measure, we also know that Harrow’s been giving this treatment to a more nebulous idea of All The People Who Died To Allow Her To Be Born/A Necromancer, and we also know that she has more connections spiritually which likely support that 200 people as well. As such, my claim is this: Harrow is both mentally affected in a way similar to what she thinks is her stated insanity in that she does experience hallucinations, moments of paranoia and panic over very little/nothing, and so on (worth noting is that Harrow would be exceptionally well adapted for coping with this. These changes are physical almost purely, as Gideon while inside Harrow’s head and getting a show of her perceptions either can not tell that Harrow didn’t have a corpse under her bed, or didn’t know that a potentially fugue state ridden Harrow moved a corpse there (its very unclear what actually went down in that scene and there’s a lot potentially going down but Gideon experiences life as Harrow does and that is what’s important). On the metaphysical side of things though, Harrow is Haunted by at least 2 ghosts, likely many more. She wouldn’t know because she is bad at Spirit magic, and potentially could be having her ghosts give her an aversion toward learning it, but it is commented on by more than one capable spirit necromancer (Dademperor and Abigail). She has to be haunted by The Sleeper, as the plot literally revolves around that being a thing, but she also shows more signs of a haunting. Harrow loses one of the hallucinations that always has been present with her in times of stress when she leaves her physical body behind during the Resurrection Beast fight, but the same hallucination is also present when Gideon rides her body into The River, potentially being a saving factor for Harrow’s original body, the body that would actually have the connection to The Corpse. In addition, Harrow when she emerges from The River had a connection that she followed back to her home in the form of the tomb, and where her obsession previously slept, a body that could never have been moved by anyone but her, the Dademperor or the revenant herself. In addition, the Corpse gives her advice on things she could have never known about more than once, and generally tries to do things that Harrow would find helpful or supportive (even if that would be creepy to her, like “bringing her tea” during a conversation with someone). As such, we can say without a shadow of a doubt that Harrow is haunted by two people, The Sleeper who is latching onto her thoughts through magics, likely, and The Corpse/AL who is entering our reality primarily through Harrow’s thoughts as she figures out how to be a person again and is exposed to more things that would give her connections (note how she becomes more coherent and proactive after Dademperor reminisces about her, her only other strong connection to the world beyond Harrow and her corpse). We can also infer that after so much time thinking about all the people who died for her in terms of guilt and their lost lives that she might also have the revenants of a few angry children/teens/young adults holding on.  TLDR: Harrow’s got a ghost “girlfriend” (wildly unhealthy for her) that possesses Harrow’s hallucinations of her, is haunted by The Sleeper for the course of at least Harrow(the book) and is potentially haunted by the revenants of every person who died to make her birth/magic possible.

[vs-redemption]

who are your favorite top ten black clover characters & ships? talk about them! ~tat!

From Cindy: Hello tat! I hope you are doing well today and thank you for visiting my blog. It was really fun to write this because I got the chance to really think about the characters in depth. I’ll be honest, I’m not much of a shipper so I couldn’t come up with 10. I did my best to think of and write about as many ships and brotps as I could though.

Also, I got your other ask about BNHA as well! I have a Japanese lesson I need to prepare for this evening, but I’ll definitely get that posted tomorrow sometime!! Thanks again!!

This is very long, so I put it under a cut :)

Top Ten Black Clover Characters

Yami Sukehiro

I love everything about this guy. He’s hilarious, number one. Everything he says cracks me up and the nicknames he uses for people are gold. I like that he insults people and makes toilet jokes so casually. He comes off crass, but it’s the fact that he treats everyone equally that makes me respect him so much. He holds everyone, including himself, to the same standards. He doesn’t care about your past, wealth, appearance, gender, unconventional magic abilities or wacky personality. No matter who you are, he will call you out if you’re not acting the way you should, but will also back you up and support you when it’s needed. He’s a great leader because he treats everyone equally and is also very accepting that everyone is different.

Luck Voltia

Luck was one of the first characters I fell in love with. I don’t have a lot deep meaning behind how I feel like I do with Yami though. I just really enjoy his chaotic energy and the fact that he wants to fight people all the time. I also think his magic is super badass. His little lightning boots and gloves are so cute. I just wanna cuddle him and ruffle his hair.

Finral Roulacase

I feel so bad for Finral. This poor love starved boy doesn’t deserve the heaping amounts of anxiety he always seems to be feeling. I know he’s supposed to be the ‘perverted’ character, but compared to characters from other anime (Mineta [BNHA] Meliodas [SDS]) he’s not that bad. He tries so hard to be a gentleman by taking people on dates, complimenting them, giving them flowers, and not physically molesting them lol but they never give him a second glance. I also love his character growth so far. Watching him find self-worth beyond being just a mode of transportation, and confidence enough to stand up to his brother has been really fun to watch. I’m so proud of him and I think he’s amazing!

Zora Ideale

This guy. Haha His blunt honesty is so uncomfortable but hilarious at the same time. Like Yami, he calls people out but is somehow so much more offensive about it. I love how he just gives people unsolicited criticism and then adds injury to insult like “oh by the way, here’s a freaking stink bug in your nostril.” To be fair though, he is just as harsh on himself and will acknowledge (to himself) when he made a mistake. His backstory is also so tragic! It is seriously messed up what happened to his dad, but I love that Zora uses that trauma to try and change the word for the better by being the best magic knight he can be and also encouraging (threatening?) other magic knights to be better too. He could’ve so easily become a villain, but he didn’t and I think that’s really honorable.

Mereoleona Vermillion

Oh my god. I love this woman so much. The fact that she was supposed to be the captain of the Crimson Lions but said “nope” and then just went off by herself to live in the most dangerous places in the wild to get stronger is just phenomenal to me. I also really like that, even though she’s a royal and a member of the Vermillion family, she doesn’t just focus on her own squad. It was great when she showed up at the Black Bulls hide out and straight up kidnapped them to have them join her training. I’m just in awe of both her physical and mental strength. She was so cool when she went up against all those elves by herself. I’m not caught up with the manga, but I think I saw a spoiler about her recently and I’m very excited to find out more about it. I pretty much wish I was Mereoleona. She is my spirit animal.

Charmy Pappitson

There is a lot to adore about Charmy. First and foremost, she is an adorable badass. I love that her passion for food is something she shares with her allies and friends instead of being something that makes her greedy. I feel like Charmy is underrated because her magic is great for restoring mana, defense and offense. Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t she one of the highest ranked knights in the black bulls? I also love how she gets away with a lot of shit just because she’s cute. The episodes where she straight up just hops onto the wizard king’s lap and feeds him snacks without anyone batting an eye get me every time!

Vanessa Enoteca

Sometimes I think about how Vanessa was willing to give up her own freedom just to save Asta’s arms, and how she gave up drinking for a few episodes in order to focus on a way to not only make herself stronger for upcoming battles, but the rest of her teammates as well. I like her dedication to the Black Bulls. Her thread magic is also pretty cool and I like the clever ways she’s learned to use it.

Fuegoleon Vermillion

Poor Fuegoleon is so calm and sensible compared to his siblings. I like that he’s a fair leader that makes sure to consider all angles before passing judgement on someone. He is also a dependable captain and full of great wisdom that aids in character development for important characters like Asta and Noelle. I love how he competes with his sister though, and watching them bicker in the episode where they throw a birthday party for that nun lady was silly.

Asta

How can you not like Asta? He has such a big heart and the best self-discipline out of anyone in the show. He would always rather talk things out before resorting to fighting and likes to understand the motivations behind the actions of his enemies. He is unashamed to be himself and continues to pursue his goals even when other people mock him or put him down. I also like that he is more perceptive of how people think or feel than it would seem sometimes.

Sekke Bronzazza

His personality is pretty much the worst (and I think he actually tried to kill Asta after the magic knight exam… asshole) but the way he always manages to fit “ha-ha” into his speech is so funny to me and always cracks me up. And the way everyone calls him the “ha-ha” guy is very amusing to me, especially when he tries and fails to politely correct them. I also love how he always ends up in the most random situations (in Yami’s bathroom or working for the king).

 Top Ten Black Clover Ships/BroTPs

Finral x Vanessa

I guess I just think back to that fight against the Despair guy from the Third Eye because both Finral and Venessa sort of worked together and pushed past their limits for the first time. I think Venessa is also the one that put the green in Finral’s hair, right? I don’t know. Venessa is good for Finral because he’s so insecure and she’s so supportive of other people. They’re cute together.

Yami x Charlotte

I think everyone ships this? lol Charlotte’s independence and personal strength are important to her, and the fact that Yami acknowledges and respects those traits in her makes them a great match. He also constantly encourages her to show her softer side, saying that it’s okay to lean on other people and ask for help. He could help her find balance and be comfortable in her own skin.

Asta x Mimosa

Mimosa is a much better match for Asta than Noelle because Noelle constantly needs validation and attention that she’s just never going to get from Asta. His brain just doesn’t work that way. Mimosa is content with supporting Asta with her magic as best she can, and doesn’t get jealous or competitive in the way Noelle does. Mimosa is soft and gentle which is a nice contrast to Asta’s loud and rough personality.

Yuno x Charmy

I know this is almost like a crack ship, but I can’t help but like it anyway. Like Asta, Yuno isn’t going to be the type of guy to actively pursue a relationship or be overly affectionate. This doesn’t seem to affect Charmy who seems fine with even the most minimal of interaction haha. I think it’s so cute how much she supports and roots for him when she sees him in a fight. And Yuno doesn’t seem to mind her trying to feed him and take care of him either.

Magna x Luck (brotp)

Lucky’s personality is quirky, chaotic, and frankly just difficult to understand, so I think it’s hard for people to get close to him. He comes on so strong with the pranks and desire to fight, plus he doesn’t really know how to hold back. The fact that Magna can endure all that while also seeing Luck as a person on a deeper level than just being some spazzy boy is really wholesome to me. I think it’s good for Luck to have someone who can respect him that way without asking him to change his behavior. I do not think this would work romantically though. Magna is actually pretty sensitive and emotional, and gets pretty upset when Luck is stronger or does better than him in something. It ultimately just drives Magna to work harder, but I think that sort of competition might be bad news in a romantic relationship if he’s always feeling inferior.

Yami x Jack the Ripper (brotp)

I want their friendship! I really do. The way they go from relaxed and having fun to ready to beat each other’s asses is hilarious. And there’s literally no reason for it, they’re just like unnecessarily competitive and I’m living for it. Whether they’re celebrating at a festival, about to have an important meeting with the wizard king, or in the middle of a huge fight with a major bad guy, it doesn’t matter. They will trash talk each other and probably end up brawling. I love it.

Gauche x Grey

The episodes where Gauche had to fight with Gordon and Grey were really cool because those three are probably the oddest oddballs of the Black Bulls. I don’t know if I ship them romantically or just at friends, but the development of the relationship between Gauche and Grey has been interesting and I wouldn’t mind seeing more. Also, please give Gauche something else to obsess over besides his sister lmao

Mars x Fana

I don’t have any strong feelings for them as characters individually, but I like that they fought so hard to protect each other as kids and how they continued to fight for and protect each other after being reunited.

[carewyncromwell]

[HPHL] Jackson Knightly Moodboard

We can do what we're told, We can go where we're lead, But I learned from my father to see what's ahead! Nothing here to hold me, no one that I owe... Funny how a boy can grow! Funny how a city tells you when it's time to go!

~“My Petersburg,” from Anastasia the musical

Full profile under the cut! 💚

HOGWARTS LEGACY PROFILE (template inspired by @hogwartsmysterystory​)

Name: Jackson Lucas Knightly

Nicknames: Jack, Jackie, Jax, Jacko, Knightly

Blood Status: Half-Blood

House: Slytherin

Magical abilities: Wandless/wordless magic; (5th year on) Animagus (European adder with a white line on the left side of its lower jaw)

Wand: Ebony and Dragon Heartstring, 12 inches, temperamental

Personality: Witty, animated, sociable, curious, intelligent, resourceful, resilient, impractical, ambitious, rebellious, capricious, mercurial, flirtatious, overthinker, easily distracted, procrastinator

Myers Briggs Type: ENFP

Sexuality/Gender Identity: Gay / Cisgender Male

Birthday: May 29 (Gemini)

Appearance: Short wavy dark brown hair; bright "ocean blue” eyes with flecks of green, long-fingered hands; a rather youthful, boyish face; a small white scar on the left corner of his lower lip; a charming smile “so handsome it could belong to Lucifer himself, either before or after the fall”

History:

Jackson is the only child of disgraced witch Cassandra Knightly and her husband, a Muggle named John Eglinton. Cassandra was initially disowned by her family due to her becoming pregnant out of wedlock -- even her marrying John to try to protect her honor didn’t mend fences with her family, as the Knightlys never approved of Eglinton.

It seems they were right not to trust Eglinton, for when Cassandra felt the need to tell John that she and their son Jackson had magic (after Jackson at age nine had somehow managed to levitate himself completely off the ground after nearly falling out of a tree), Eglinton decided to try to capitalize on it. Knowing his wife wouldn’t approve and would probably try to stop him with her own magic, Eglinton kidnapped Jackson and fled the country so that he would be the sole person with control over Jackson’s life and activities.

Eglinton took Jackson to New York, where he used his son as a pawn in his scams as a supposed “spirit medium.” Eglinton got a lot of acclaim and money for his supposed “supernatural abilities,” which in truth were Jackson making things levitate or conjuring up things like flowers or fog with wandless and wordless magic.

Jackson was stuck marching to the rhythm of his father’s drum for several years before befriending a young Pureblood witch named Adelia Selwyn @that-ravenpuff-witch​, whose family lived in New York City. Adelia tipped her family off to young wizard Jackson being in the sole custody of his Muggle conman father, and the Selwyns (not being very keen on Muggles) tipped off the MACUSA. The MACUSA took Jackson into their custody and erased all memory of his magic from Eglinton’s memory, leaving him to try and fail to recreate the tricks he’d had his son do with magic and subsequently lose all credibility and fade into obscurity and poverty. Despite how amiable Jackson generally is, he feels no pity whatsoever for his father’s fate and if pressed would have to admit he doesn’t even care if Eglinton is still alive or not.

Jackson was subsequently returned to his mother Cassandra in England and the following year was allowed to finally start attending Hogwarts. He was delighted to find his friend from New York, Adelia, in his year and house, and the two soon became very close confidants.

When he arrived at school, his talent for wandless and wordless magic without training and marked affinity for ancient magics in particular got Jackson a lot of attention. Jackson doesn’t dislike the attention, but he’s of the opinion that there’s so much more he can learn and do, so no one should think he’s going to be satisfied just being where he’s at. Now that he has access to all of this knowledge and magic, he wants to take the Wizarding World by storm!

Other Facts:

Jackson fashion-wise would be considered a “dandy” in the vein of Oscar Wilde. Expect a lot of tailored jackets, embroidered vests, thin-legged trousers, and perfectly tied ascots.

Jackson’s best subjects tend to be “flashy” subjects like Defense Against the Dark Arts, Care of Magical Creatures, and Transfiguration, though because of his talent for ancient magics, he is actually rather capable at History of Magic as well. His worse subjects tend to be “quieter” subjects like Potions and Herbology.

Although Jackson’s a charmer, he’s actually very hard to woo as a lover given his tendency to overthink people’s intentions and growing up with a hyper-masculine and therefore rather homophobic father. Jackson’s very friendly and a total flirt, but he’s actually a lot more sensitive than his witty, rebellious, affable air would first suggest.

One of Jackson’s dreams is to one day own and tame a dragon, specifically a Hebridian Black. In the meantime he’s contented himself with adopting a black cat familiar, who he calls Lenore.

Jackson is very fond of poetry, especially the works of Edgar Allen Poe, Oscar Wilde, Lord Byron, and Robert Browning.

One of his loftiest ambitions is to become Minister for Magic, though he’s also quite fancied the thought of becoming an actor, Dragonologist, or Cursebreaker. No matter what, he wants to do things his way and ruffle a few feathers along the way. Because hey, f*** the system, right?

Jackson has undiagnosed ADHD -- he’s pretty much always moving and always thinking, and his brain never really turns off. It also makes it difficult for him to finish projects and causes him to procrastinate and forget important details and deadlines.

One of Jackson’s special talents is public speaking -- if you need someone to help you give a presentation or convince someone else of something, Jackson is your guy. He pretty quickly finds a comfortable position as a Quidditch commentator during Inter-House Quidditch matches.

Jackson is the sort of person to add monikers onto just about everyone’s names and/or give people affectionate “titles,” i.e. “my dear [name here]” or “my [adjective here] friend.” He also frequently sticks to “Mr./Miss/Ms./Professor/whatever [surname]” until he considers you a friend, at which point he will definitely give you a nickname or two. (His best friend Adelia Selwyn’s are “Addy” and “Lia.” For male friends, he’ll sometimes just call them by their surnames, though he just as frequently will call them other nicknames too.)

Face Claim: James McAvoy (specifically in the film Becoming Jane)

[webmegami]

Let me introduce the Sages of Twilight!

Each sage represents a domain of magic, since it is an essential part of the Twili culture and of their daily life as rightful descendants of the Interlopers. Those aspects of magic can be used in both white or dark magic and many disciples keep following and teaching the inheritance of the sages to the younger generations. The Sages of Twilight are considered as historical figures and are known by every Twilis since their childhood.

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Hamara – Sage of Arcana (ancient magic and secrets): Chief of the Sages of Twilight, she’s the guardian of the most ancient and mysterious kinds of magic. In their researches to reach the Light Realm again, she was able to find a way back to the other dimension without using the Mirror of Twilight, but she kept it a secret. Legends say that she decided to hide her discovery in order to preserve the Realm of Light from the Seventh Sage (Lykofos) and his dark designs.

Imirt – Sage of Divination (visions and prophecies): Imirt watches over the enigmatic and ineluctable threads of destiny. She was known to appear at the most critical moments of the Twili kind in order to guide her people and to bring them advices under the shape of visions or prophecies. Imirt is blind but is always followed by her trustworthy owl who acts as her eyes and servant.

Senja – Sage of Sigils (talismans and pantacles): Don’t be fooled by her appearance, she’s not a kid but a very old lady in age. Senja is quite smart and controls the powers of sigils perfectly. She can create and use any kind of seal, rune, and so on. She even used many of them on her to keep her youth: so much things to discover, you don’t want to die before having it seen all!

Rokkur – Sage of Ritual (rites and blessings): Rokkur has always been considered as a weird and lunatic man who could hear voices and see things no one else could. However, he’s not a bad guy and he’s the most sensitive to magic among the Sages. No need for tricks, just feel the energy flow through your body and let it go. His teachings are those of humbleness and simplicity.

Krepusko – Sage of Astronomy (cosmic and elements): Krepusko is the wisest and eldest of the Sages. He knows everything about how the stars and elements can influence people, magic and the different outcomes they create. He rarely leaves his observatory, surrounded by tons of books, parchments and artefacts, but if you need any kind of knowledge, you shall come to see him.

Roavayi – Sage of Evocation (summoning and conjuration): This one Sage was known to live in the wild, among spirits and magical creatures. His experience taught him about taming and using the magic of evocation: totem animals, demons… he could summon or send away any kind of magical being. Only those with the greatest will and spirit are able to follow his path.

Lykofos – Sage of Alchemy (creation and transformation): Lykofos has been mostly erased from the legends even though his teachings about Alchemy are still followed by many. His amazing talent was recognized by everyone and nothing could resist his patient and analytic mind. However, his thirst for knowledge and dangerous experiments brought him to the darkest paths. In the end, he tried to take over the other Sages and wished to get the Triforce for the Interlopers too… He disappeared after one memorable battle against his fellows, but it is unsure what became of him aftermath.

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A bit of history: Long ago, before that the events of the Twilight Princess take place, the Twilight Realm was ruled by a council of the strongest Interlopers of the dimension, exactly 6 of them like counterparts of the Ancient Sages in the Realm of Light. These exceptional beings were so powerful and had gathered so much knowledge that they were considered and worshipped like deities. The Golden Goddesses having banned their kind to this dark dimension and forsaken the world of the Twili, only the Council was left to keep the faith of people and thanks to it they increased their own powers. Even though the Interlopers had brought the judgement of the Golden Goddesses upon themselves by their actions, they still needed to keep a fragile order in their tribe and to learn about their new world. For a few centuries, everything was chaotic till that these “deities” manage to pacify their kind and started to build the Twilight Realm as we know it. Their task being over, the Council decided to give its authority to one single ruler, a king or queen of Twilight that would take care of the people as their rightful monarch, generation after generation. After this, the Sages of Twilight fully merged with the Twilight dimension and embraced a kind of transcendence, totally disappearing from the scene but keeping an eye on their people from afar. Time passed… till that new troubles come to disturb the balance of their world and “awaken” the Sages of Twilight for worse or for better.

Characters, sages concept/story and art © @webmegami The Legend of Zelda © Nintendo

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You are NOT allowed to use my art and characters in any way without my written permission. Thank you! ;)  

[classywritings]

Black and Silver

Description: Nephilim, a sub-race of humanity with wings and magic capabilities believed to be descended from angels. They are our guardians, protecting us from Shadows and Palace Rulers, which are corrupted spirits intent on wiping out humanity. You, the Reader, are an assistant to Doctor Takemi, who specializes in taking care of Nephilim. You’ve always held a fascination with their kind, and it only grows with a chance encounter...

Words: +1,200

Note: this is for day 2 of @p5auweek, which I’ve chosen the Wing AU for this day.

“Sorry about that,” you swallow thickly, avoiding eye contact with the Nephilim. Just barely, you can see him watching you with his sharp eyes. Even without looking you can feel his gaze, it reminds you eerily of a bird of prey watching its next meal. It isn’t a bad analogy either, for he does have wings that upon closer inspection are broad and look to be short even while folded. Owl, is what your head is sure of.

“It’s all right.” He tilts his head back, not blinking once. “...are you Doctor Takemi’s assistant? I’ve never seen you here before...”

Your shoulders rise before you can notice. “Huh? Oh, yes, I am. I’m only here on Sundays.” You force them to drop as you smile lightly. You’re still not looking at him, instead focusing all your attention on a spot of wall just next to his head. “Is there something you need? Doctor Takemi has stepped out for a break, but I’m allowed to give a general check-up while she’s away. Anything else you will need to take a seat and wait for her to return. She should only be another ten minutes.”

He hums. “I’d just like a regular check-up. Hunting Shadows has made my wings sore.”

That finally gets you to look at him, your eyes wide. You have yet to come across a Nephilim with magical abilities. It’s only ever been the odd older Nephilim with joint troubles or the young ones who’ve managed to hurt themselves while trying to learn to fly, and since Tae gets so few patients even those are far and few between. “Okay!” Now excited at the possibility to ask him questions, you stand and gesture to the door on your left, his right. “Please head into the examination room.”

A short minute later, you walk in, grumbling a little. “The order for my gloves hasn’t come in. Dang it. Her gloves are too small for my hands.” You look to the male, smiling apologetically. “Do you mind if I use my bare hands? I know your feathers are sensitive to touch, so if not, you’ll have to wait for Doctor Takemi to return, after all.”

“It’s fine.” He shifts his position on the exam table, his wings slumping upon it as he relaxes. As he gets comfortable, you grab a clipboard and pen, ready to write.

In a matter of minutes, you fly through the basic questions: asking his name (which is Ren), age, and a few other minute things. He answers them in a clipped tone, but is still relaxed and polite. Silently, you study him some more as he answers your rapid questions, noting how handsome he is. Even laid against the table, you can see his feathers are the same color as his hair, which is black, but unlike his hair they seem to have an iridescent sheen—at least you think they do. The secondaries are different; they’re actually a beautiful sheen of silver that shines under the fluorescent lighting, unlike the black ones.

“All right.” Breathing in deeply, you hold the breath then let it out in a shaky exhale. You’ve already placed your clipboard and pen down, so now you step around the exam table to stand at the male’s back. “I’m going to start at your neck, work my way down, then to both your left wing and the other after that. I’m checking for injuries, but from what you’ve told me it sounds as if you’re just overexerting yourself.”

Just as you stated, you start at his neck and work your way down his back. You pay close attention to the wing muscles along his side, but feel nothing out of the ordinary. Once you’ve thoroughly searched and found nothing of note, you hesitate.

“Is something wrong?” You stiffen when Ren turns his head and his eyes meet yours. The deep gray color of his irises reminds you of storm clouds—right now they’re calming instead of the raging storm they could potentially be.

You smile. “No, nothing is wrong.” When he blinks slowly, you move forward, gently placing a hand on the wrist of his left wing. He doesn’t so much as twitch, even when you feel what can only be described as a zing of electricity, if it could be called that at all.

Was that... magic? You wonder internally. Goosebumps rise on your arms as he continues to watch you. Now your movements are even slower and more thorough. Your sure as you marvel over the softness of his feathers that this is turning less into a medical examination and more of quiet marvel over the stranger. It had to be, though I was never told that can happen from my studies.

“Can I ask you a question?” Your hand slides to his primaries, checking those for missing feathers, displacement, or even damaged ones.

“You may.”

“What’s it like to hunt Shadows? I’ve only heard tales and rumors, and you can never be too sure if it’s the truth.”

Ren hums, his eyes closing as he finally looks away from you. It brings you some relief as the goosebumps settle on your arms. “...exhilarating. There’s never a moment where suspense isn’t present. Hunting Shadows is less fulfilling than taking out Palace Rulers, however.”

Your eyes widen, your hand freezing over his feathers. “Wait, you’ve taken them out?!” Palace Rulers are much more dangerous than Shadows. They may have once been Shadows themselves, but when they’re left alone too long they gain too much strength and create a Palace from their malice, deforming into what’s known as Ruler. They’re hard to handle and even harder to kill, even for the most seasoned Nephilim. At least, so you’ve been told.

A corner of his lips twitch as if he’s about to smile. “Only three. I had help from friends.”

“That’s impressive, though!” Making sure to get back to your examination, you slide your hand back up, feeling the top of his wing for any swollen joints now. “Especially for a Nephilim as young as you.”

He says nothing more, simply humming in response. You continue the exam, moving onto his right wing once you’re sure everything is okay with the left. You find nothing out of the ordinary with that one, either. Reluctantly, you walk away from Ren’s wings and grab your pen and clipboard, writing down all of this. “I’ve found no injuries, so, as I thought you’re just overexerting your muscles. There’s not anything that can be done besides making sure to stretch them before you use them, eating healthily, and drinking plenty of water.” You smile politely at him. “Is there anything else you need?”

The male stands, clearly understanding that he’ll be asked to leave shortly. He’s expressionless, but you swear you see a glint in his gray eyes. “There’s only one more thing.” He reaches in his pocket, pulling out his phone. His brows raise. “Might I have your number?”

You’re struck speechless, mouth falling open slightly. As your cheeks warm, you swear you see his lips twice again, except this time you see it linger a little longer in the tiniest of smirks. “Righ-right! You may. For further exams should you wish, of course!”

Ren chuckles softly. “Of course. Your hands are much more gentle than Doctor Takemi’s.”

His statement makes you flush further. This one just may cause you an injury...

[sunflower-swan]

Wolfstar Chapter 1

A/N: Here’s what you need to know: I created this story for Writer’s Month 2020. Every day is a new prompt, and therefore a new chapter. This is an AU Wolfstar where Remus is a tattoo artist next door to Sirius who manages a flower shop. James and Lily are alive in this universe and own a coffee shop across the street. And to make parts of the story work with the prompts, Remus is about 10 years older than Sirius.

Day 1 Prompt: Tattoo Artist/Flower Shop AU

Rating: Teen and Up

Word Count: 1318

Tags: smoking, language

Chapter One

Remus

Randy Newman “You’ve Got a Friend in Me”

If you've got troubles, I've got 'em too

There isn't anything I wouldn't do for you

We stick together and can see it through

'Cause you've got a friend in me

“Missed you at the Potter’s Wheel.” Remus handed a steaming cup of coffee -- black with cream, no sugar -- to the younger man. He had grown accustomed to their morning coffee ritual, so he had worried when the other didn’t show up that day.

A bearded face peeked around the large floral arrangement. His grey eyes widened and then looked down at his watch. “Shit. I’m sorry,” Sirius apologized and accepted the cup. “We’re a little swamped at the moment,” he chuckled.

Remus looked around the Flower Loft. It didn’t seem any more crowded with floral arrangements than usual. In fact, it looked as it always did. The same cooler containing premade arrangements stood along the wall near the door -- for those spontaneous or impulsive people. Small tables containing other trinkets and tokens for sale dotted the wood floor. He couldn’t see anything different or out of place.

He looked back at Sirius. “So everything’s ok then?”

“Everything’s fine except I have two florists out sick this week, plus one on her honeymoon, which means I’m coming in early and working late this week to get our orders done on time.”

Remus noticed the dark bags under his friend's young eyes and worried that his ambition might be greater than his ability. “I grabbed a couple takeaway sandwiches, too.” He held up the wrapped sandwiches. “You need a break. Come on.” He took a sip of his mocha cappuccino and headed for the door.

Sirius followed him out the door and down the sidewalk. Remus stopped at a bench under the shade of an oak tree and they both sat down.

“Ham or chicken?” Remus asked.

“Mmm, chicken!” 

He passed the container with the chicken sandwich inside, and Sirius ripped into the package.

“Fank ‘oo,” he said through a mouthful of sandwich. Swallowing the bite he asked, “What would I do without you, Remus?”

“Learn to take care of yourself, I imagine.” Remus chuckled to himself. If only that were possible. Or if only I could learn to let you.

Sirius stretched his legs out with a sigh, leaned his head back and closed his eyes. “Silas doesn’t like me working all these hours.”

Ah, yes. Silas. Remus scarcely avoided rolling his eyes.

Silas was Sirius’ younger boyfriend who was studying something to do with animals. Remus wasn’t really sure because Sirius had never been very forthcoming with the details of his boyfriend’s profession. Over the last couple months in which their relationship had grown more serious, he had tried really hard to be nice to the young man despite the significant instinct he felt to be anything but.

Preferring to avoid Silas conversation, he gave Sirius a noncommittal, “Hm?” through his mouthful of ham sandwich. Even if he also thought Sirius was working too hard, he wasn’t going to admit out loud that he agreed with Silas.

“Yeah. Between his work stuff and me at the Flower Loft, it doesn’t leave much time or energy for … you know, boyfriend stuff.” Sirius shrugged and took another bite of sandwich.

Oh, Godric. Boyfriend stuff?! Remus was in agony. This was neither the time, nor the place to contemplate Sirius and…‘boyfriend stuff.’ How can I steer this subject away from Silas?

“Hem,” he coughed. “So, how’s the guitar playing?”

“Oh, man!” Sirius leaned forward with enthusiasm. “It’s awesome! Difficult as hell, but awesome!” 

“What are you working on right now?” Remus inquired. He was eager to keep the conversation on a safe subject. Music was one of the few things, apart from floristry, in which Sirius had a true passion.

“‘Wonderwall’ by Oasis.”

And off Sirius went on a long-winded explanation about the ins and outs of music, and chord shapes, and who knew what else. Remus didn’t understand half of what Sirius said, but he enjoyed listening. Watching the way Sirius’ eyes would light up; the way his hand gestures would grow more wild when he got over-excited; the way his eyes would crinkle when he smiled...Remus liked it when Sirius was happy.

He was in awe of this warm and sweet man. Regardless of the tingle he felt inside himself anytime he was in close proximity to Sirius, he buried those feelings. It was safer that way. For both of them.

Sirius finished his sandwich in between pauses, and lit up a cigarette.

“That shit is terrible for you,” Remus admonished him for the millionth time.

“That’s what you keep telling me,” Sirius responded, blowing a puff of smoke up and away, so as to not offend Remus’ sensitivities.

It didn’t help. His senses were more delicate than the average person.

Sirius stood up and stretched his hands over his head. The front hem of his shirt came untucked from his jeans, and a sliver of tan abdomen was visible. Remus felt himself flush and he looked away.

“Thanks for the break, Remus. I have to get back though.” Sirius gestured with his thumb over his shoulder. “Flowers won’t arrange themselves, unfortunately.”

Remus nodded and looked at his watch as he stood. “I have an appointment coming in about ten minutes anyway, so I need to get back too.”

“What are you working on today?” Sirius asked as they began the walk back to their respective shops.

“Finishing a sleeve for an Irish fella. Started it almost a year ago.” 

The pair reached the Loft. “Maybe one day I’ll let you do me,” Sirius said with a playful smirk.

Phrasing. “You figure out what you want, and let me know,” Remus responded as level as possible.

Sirius barked a laugh and opened the door to the shop. “See you later, Remus.”

Remus waved good-bye and went next door to his tattoo parlor. Once inside he shut the door and leaned his forehead against it.

“Fucking hell.”

Remus banged his head a few times against the door, hoping against hope that he could knock some sense into his skull. Does he say shit like that on purpose? Taking a breath, Remus stood up straight, and pulled his wand out of his jacket pocket. He checked that the gold suede curtains were pulled closed over the front bay window and gave a complicated wave of his wand. His tattooing equipment sprang to life and set themselves up just how he liked. 

Even though Remus had chosen a corner of Muggle London to set up his shop, in no way did it mean he had abandoned magic. Separating himself from the magical world wasn’t without its drawbacks, and he had to be more careful about not breaking the Statue of Secrecy, but the change had been necessary. It wasn’t too bad now he was accustomed to it.

~~~~~

The afternoon passed without incident. The Irishman’s last sleeve session lasted a good couple hours, and Remus was proud of the finished product. He had a couple walk-ins later on, but nothing came of them. Slow day overall.

He was leaned back in a chair with his feet propped on the desk, flipping through the latest issue of Inked, when Sirius came through the door.

“You made a tattoo decision then? That was quick,” Remus joked.

Sirius rolled his eyes. “No. I came to see if I could buy you a bite from Potter’s.” Sirius shifted his feet with his hands in his pockets and looked down. “You got me some earlier and all.”

Remus studied the younger man. Why did he seem … embarrassed? Shy? “You don’t owe me for that,” he replied, with a wave of his hand. Remus closed the magazine and stood up.

“Well, then I want to.” Sirius smiled at Remus now. “My treat.”

Remus shrugged. “All right,” he said. “It’s been slow as hell here today anyway. Let’s go see what specials James and Lily have today.”

Remus locked the door to the tattoo parlor and the pair walked across the street to the Potter’s Wheel Cafe.

A/N: The name of Sirius’ flower shop comes from the name of the flower shop in my hometown. The Flower Loft was on Main Street, which wasn’t actually named “Main Street.” It was one of two highways that intersected the small town in which I went to public school, and made some of my life-long best friends. “Main Street” was the “main drag” -- as we small town folks say -- and it was where 90% of the town's businesses resided. This chapter is dedicated to my first friend: my little sister. She is not only my sister, a mother to my two adorable nephews, and sender of spicy Harry Potter memes. She is also my number one beta reader. Our perfectionist and competitive spirits were bred into us and she doesn’t let me get away with crap writing. I love ya, Sis! Thanks for reading my words.

Next Chapter: Chapter 2

[aurorasilverthorne]

Total Misunderstanding Part #1:

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Disclaimer: I OWN NOTHING!!! Esteban, Shuriki, Armando and Fiero belong to Disney.

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Note: Elizaveta, Aléjandro, Llorona and Esperanza all belong to me. If you use them in fanfiction or fanart, please remember to give me proper credit as their creator. Thank you.

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Esteban wasn't prone to sleeping late. He'd been an early riser all his life, but he'd spent the night entertaining the queen, and had indulged in one too many glasses of wine.

I should've stopped at three...

But Shuriki had been in such high spirits and invitations to her bed were rare these days. Esteban had begun to believe Shuriki was losing interest in him altogether. The previous evening had assured him she still desired his touch.

Esteban groaned. His head kept throbbing like a pulse as he tried to go back to sleep and not think about the day ahead.

Dame Elizaveta Kapeka of the Northern Islands was going to arrive later that afternoon and that was troublesome. Shuriki always viewed other women as competition. Esteban should've been worried, but all he could think about was the noise their constant bickering would make.

I'm starting to sound like Shuriki.

Shuriki was probably still in bed sleeping off her hangover. He sat up slowly so as not to irritate his already nervous stomach.

Had he even eaten anything? He couldn't remember. Esteban was debating on whether they should just forego their meetings for the day when his bedroom door flew open startling him so bad that he fell off the bed. When he opened his eyes, Armando was standing over him, his expression that of a man on the verge of panic.

"Dame Elizaveta Kapeka is here!"

Of course she is...

Esteban hauled himself up off the floor. "Where is the queen?"

"Sleeping," Armando answered sheepishly.

Esteban gave the steward a half-hearted scowl then snatched his coat off the back of a chair as he headed for the queen's personal chambers. He managed to make it halfway down the hall before pausing to retch in a gilded vase.

Apparently he'd eaten something after all. Carrots, or corn maybe? Esteban didn't really care and he wasn't going to stick around to find out.

The drapes were closed and the previous night's candles burned down to the wick when Esteban stepped into Shuriki's bedroom. He nearly tripped over a pile of clothing before pulling back the curtains on the massive canopy bed.

"Your Grace?

Shuriki groaned.

"Elizaveta Esfir Kapeka of the Northern Islands has arrived."

"Who?" Shuriki asked her voice muffled by the blanket covering her head.

Esteban could tell she was still half asleep elsewise she would have launched into a tirade.

"Elizaveta? Older lady, silver hair pulled back in a braided bun? Green eyes? Any of this ring a bell?"

Shuriki pulled down the blanket to scowl at him. "Seriously, Estéban? We've met a plethora of women that could fit that description."

The chancellor sighed. "La Monstrua de Ojos Verdes."

The Green Eyed Monster.

Shuriki had thought she was being clever when she had given Elizaveta the cruel nickname. He wasn't about tell the queen most of the palace staff called her that when she wasn't within earshot.

Shuriki scowled. "Ugh, not her."

The last time Kapeka had come to Avalor to talk trade, she and Shuriki had almost killed each other due to an argument over negotiations. Shuriki refused to say why she detested the other sorceress so much, but she and Elizaveta were always vying for dominance any time they had to interact with one another.

Shuriki wanted nothing to do with it. "Leave me here to die."

Esteban huffed. "It's customary in Avalor for the ruling monarch to greet visiting dignitaries."

Shuriki buried her head under a pillow. "I really don't care about proper decorum."

Esteban folded his arms and began to tap his foot impatiently as he tried to figure out a way to rouse her. Then it hit him like a runaway carriage. "Well, if you aren't feeling up to it..."

"-Oh, thank Maru-"

"I'm sure Doña Paloma wouldn't mind helping with the dame."

"That money hungry hussy?!" Shuriki grabbed his cravat and yanked him towards her. "Estéban, I told you to stay away from her!"

"Mamá...? Papá...?"

Esteban and Shuriki both turned to see their seven year old twins, Aléjandro and Llorona, hovering in the doorway.

"Oh, my little darlings..." Shuriki cooed.

She released Esteban and held out her arms to the pajama clad children. "Come here..."

Esteban knelt to steal a hug from the little ones before helping them up onto the bed.

"Why are you fighting? Did Papá do something wrong?" Alé asked.

"We weren't fighting, were we, Estéban?"

Esteban shook his head. He couldn't help smiling when their children were around. "No, just having a discussion, that's all."

"About what?" Alé asked.

"Oh, nothing important," Shuriki answered, giving Esteban a warning glare to drop the subject. She smiled softly at the twins. "What are you two doing out of bed so early, hmm?"

"I don't feel good," Aléjandro replied.

Shuriki frowned. "You don't? What's wrong?"

"My nose is stuffy and I keep coughing. It makes my throat hurt, Mamá."

"My poor, sweet boy..." Shuriki pressed a hand to his forehead. "You're running a fever. Estéban, cancel everything that's on my agenda for today. If Elizaveta throws a fit about rescheduling, tell her to go eat sand. And have breakfast brought up. The children need to eat, especially Alé or his illness will worsen."

Shuriki was adamant about not using vulgar language in front of the children. She would've been spewing obscenities at Elizaveta by now if not for them. "Yes, querida."

"Can we have ice cream for breakfast?" Aléjandro asked, giving her the cutest look he could muster.

Shuriki quirked an eyebrow feigning displeasure, but her facade cracked, and she gave him a smile. "Oh, alright. The cold treat will help with your sore throat, but you'll have to finish the real food first. Only then can you have the ice cream."

Aléjandro nodded and smiled. "Si, Mamá. Gracias!"

Shuriki chuckled. "You're very welcome."

What she didn't tell the child was that she'd be lacing his treat with a medicinal potion to combat his illness. Shuriki had learned early on that the best way to convince a child to take medication was to hide it in their favorite desserts and not tell them it was in there elsewise they wouldn't eat it and she'd have to force it down their throat which was something she didn't enjoy doing.

Esteban knew it was probably a bad idea to make Elizaveta wait, especially given they intended to reschedule, but his son was sick, and he felt like it had been ages since he'd enjoyed a warm meal with his lover and their children.

Esteban even made breakfast. He cooked them guava-cheese empanadas and pão de queijo with atole and avena because they'd do less damage to Alé's sore throat when he ate them. He prayed the fruit he'd put in the oatmeal would strengthen the boy's immune system and speed up his recovery. He also prepared some green tea with honey and lemon in the hopes that it would keep Shuriki safe from the illness while she was caring for their son.

Shuriki was waiting for him when he brought in the food. She'd retrieved four year old Esperanza from her crib so she too could enjoy eating with her parents and siblings.

Esteban blocked young Aléjandro's view of the ice cream bowls so that Shuriki could stir a vial of healing potion into the already half melted treat then feign resignation as she handed the child the bowl.

Aléjandro ate every bit without questioning his mother's motives. If he'd asked, Shuriki would've just fibbed and claimed she'd let him have the sweets first due to him giving her the puppy dog eyes. They couldn't risk him getting too full off the empanadas or the potion would upset his stomach.

The boy was half way through his second empanada when he began yawning and rubbing at his eyes. "Mamá...I'm tired..."

Shuriki bit her lip to suppress a triumphant smirk as she pulled him close and stroked his hair. "I know, child. Close your eyes. I'm here. No harm will come to you."

Alé tucked himself up against her side and buried his face in her shoulder. At first, she thought he'd fallen asleep, but then the boy lifted his head. "I can't sleep, Mamá. Sing for me, por favor?"

Shuriki groaned. She wasn't a fan of music or dancing due to having a problem with sensitivity to noise. She'd gone so far as to ban both from Avalor, but had allowed Esteban to keep a guitar. Shuriki had also let him teach the children how to dance. She'd even sung a lullaby or two back when they were infants in the hopes they'd fall asleep. She'd been in desperate need of rest herself, of course, elsewise Shuriki would've taken a dagger to the throat rather than be heard singing or seen dancing around even if it was for her children who were the only people she loved more than Esteban or herself.

"Why would you want that?" she asked. "My voice sounds terrible when I sing."

"But I like when you sing, Mamá."

She quirked an eyebrow. "You can't be serious."

"It helps me sleep and makes me feel better." He gave her another one of his puppy dog pouts. "Por favor, Mamá?"

Shuriki sighed. "Fine..."

The sorceress closed her eyes trying to gather her thoughts. The Northern islanders didn't have too many lullabies as music, dancing and art were all considered nonsensical frivolities. There was a song she did remember from back when she was a child. Her mother had sung it to her on the rare occasions when she was ill.

Now is the time for the wolves and thrushes, to sing to the moon from the forests and rushes.

Sleep, my love. Sleep my only dear, in the dark.

Fragile and magical shadows will suddenly start to appear, lovely and lyrical, a frightening miracle, within your ear.

Carefully raising their voices, in a chorus loud and gracefully clear,

Over and under, the multi-toned, wonder of dreams endear.

Why are they singing, calling, and braying all night long?

What are they trying so hard to convey with their haunting song?

Sometimes when somebody loves you, they say and do things you don't understand.

And there in the harsh truth lies the proof of a parent's love.

Aléjandro fell asleep midway through the song. Esteban sat and listened to Shuriki sing while she stroked their eldest child's hair.

He tended to forget just how hard her childhood had been. The Northern Islands was a dark, cold place with authoritarian laws and an intolerance for failure of any sort. It was a miracle that she'd survived what with the horrid weather and the unrealistic expectations heaped onto her by her parents, peers, and the royal family she'd once served.

Shuriki laid Alé down beside her and curled herself around him to cuddle and protect the child while he slept.

"Put Esperanza back in her crib, and make sure Llorona gets back to the nursery on your way out, would you, Estéban?"

Esteban nodded. "Si, mi amada."

"But I want to stay with you," Llorona pouted, "I don't want to go back to the nursery. There is no one there for me to play with."

"Nonsense. You've more than enough toys to play with," Shuriki said, "And the last thing I need is for you to catch whatever it is your brother has. Now run along..." Shuriki was only half listening or she would've realized it was the lack of playmates not the quantity or quality of toys upsetting her eldest daughter.

"But, Mamá-"

"I said no," Shuriki snapped.

Shuriki hadn't meant to be so harsh towards the girl, but the damage was done. Llorona recoiled at the sharpness in her tone before retreating over to Esteban who was putting Esperanza down for her midmorning nap. Shuriki wanted to tell Llorona to come back, that she was sorry for having lost her temper, but the girl had bypassed a preoccupied Esteban and already left the room before she had the chance.

Shuriki sighed. "Estéban, would you-"

"I'll check on her on my way back to my office," he promised, pressing a quick kiss to her temple. "You just focus on Esper and Alé right now and leave everything else to me."

"Thank you."

"You're muy welcome, mi corazón."

"I didn't mean to shout at her," Shuriki admitted. "I just...it's so frustrating at times..."

"I understand what you mean," he assured her. "Llorona is going to be fine."

"Are you sure?"

Esteban nodded. "She's always been a resilient child. Give her an hour or two and she'll have forgotten all about it."

[mike5579-t3a]

Frozen 2, "The Crucible."

Before going to see Frozen for the third time, I read "Attatchment Styles Of Frozen 2" from belchthefrog here on Tumblr. Link in the quotes. So I went to see Frozen 2 again, and see a little closer from the point of the shipwreck to the reunion of Anna and Elsa. The whole of F2 I mentioned in my Open Letter post i called "The Crucible."

The first definition of "crucible" is obvious "a ceramic or metal container in which metals or other substances may be melted or subjected to very high temperatures." But in this writing we're using it as the second definition "a situation of severe trial, or in which different elements interact, leading to the creation of something new."

Starting at the moment where this took place:

Elsa couldn't take seeing

this site anymore, blaming herself for their parents' deaths. Anna explained how Elsa was a blessing, a gift for the life-saving actions of Iduna saving Agnarr, who at the time, was the enemy. And that out of the love Agnarr and Iduna had for Elsa, they took the trip and the risk to help Elsa (and in a way, Anna as well.)

I'm going to stop here for a minute and do a quick skim on where Elsa and Anna's issues lie.

Elsa;

She is emotionally distant, and despite being closer to Anna

still rejects intimate relationships by keeping them a “safe” distance away or at arms length.

A "lone wolf," one who would rather "go it alone" than have a partner. She loves Anna, but would rather not have her there dependent on Elsa.

A cool cucumber, stoic, longer fused on her temper before she has to explode. Also can be a bit bullheaded.

Keeps emotions to herself rather than let them out in deed or talking about them.

Anna;

Clingy to Elsa. The separation from her for 13 years plus the deaths of their parents caused Anna to find relationships plus loving a man who turned out to be a skunk (Hans) all because Elsa kept her away in fear. After the thaw, Anna kept too close to Elsa in fear of losing her or being rejected once again.

Her emotions are worn on her sleeves. Elsa is an introvert. Anna is an extrovert.

Anna wants to blame Elsa for her distance, she has done so since they were young.

She is unaware that sometimes she may push her away with her own expectations.

Terrified of being alone, and places the expectation of Elsa always being there for her as she is always there for Elsa.

Overly sensitive to Elsa's moods and decisions, even when the danger is manageable for Elsa, yet it's beyond Anna's paygrade. (Running into fire)

Armed with the answers from the shipwreck, Elsa decides that she has to go to Ahtohallan alone. And of course, Anna objects. After a heartfelt 3-way group hug with Olaf, Elsa makes the ice canoe and shoves it with a pissed off Anna and Olaf down the ice path. River, sleeping stone giants, cave, falls, and more cave, Anna and Olaf are on their way.

Meanwhile, Elsa is at the Dark Sea. Strips down to the basics to get to Ahtohallan. Meets, fights and wins the respect of The Nokk, then rides him to Ahtohallan's "front door." Speed ahead to where Elsa has transformed and is seeing all of the past memories until reaching her Grandfather, King Runeard. Happiness turns to disgust and frustration, hearing how he distrusts the Northuldrans and the magic they have, seeing it as only a threat to his power. Fear and hate have overrun his thinking. Elsa follows him into the edge to see his evil plans. Then she does the "too deep" dive, starts to freeze. Witnesses the cold-blooded murder of the Northuldran leader (chief). Elsa is freezing to death, but before she does, she sends a magical signal to Anna. Then is frozen.

Anna and Olaf are in the cave. They receive the message from Elsa. Then Olaf degrades away, Elsa's power is gone. Olaf, gone. Elsa, feared to be dead. Kristoff, MIA. Anna is alone, her biggest fear is now real, and she is in full grief, the lowest point in this positive woman's life. Frozen in grief and fear.

The Crucible Anna and Elsa are in is at full intensity.

Anna is that way for seemingly overnight. The morning light shows the cave. Anna pulls herself up to "do the next right thing." And the next sequence of events is her leading the earth giants, Kristoff. Lt. Mattias and his troops into destroying the dam that has caused the land to be cursed with the mist. Once destroyed, Elsa thaws to life, but falls through the ice floor to the sea, with The Nokk getting her to ride lightning fast to stop the flood, saving Arendelle. Elsa the races back to Northauldra, to show Anna that she's alive, well and transformed into her full destiny, and that they both are the bridge, the 5th spirit. But more importantly, The crucible of this adventure has burned off a lot of the faults listed.

Quotes from linked posting and follow up;

"For Elsa to overcome her insecurities, she had to listen to a voice outside of herself. She had to learn to trust and follow something outside of herself. In doing so, she realized how much she needs Anna. That she can’t live in complete isolation, and that she does need other people: specifically her sister."

Not only that, since she is living in the Northauldran country, she has new friends in Yelena, Honeymaren and Ryder she can count on and confide in as close friends when Anna is not there.

"For Anna to overcome her insecurities, she had to listen to a voice inside herself. Once Olaf had faded away and she assumed Elsa was as good as dead, Anna had to learn to trust and follow something inside herself. In doing so, she realized that she does not have to be so dependent on Elsa. That she is her own person, and that she can’t live in complete dependency of another person. She needs to give people appropriate space and boundaries, and know that people still love her: specifically her sister."

And sometimes, trusting in something bigger than herself (like God) when you run out of inner strength. Still though, knowing that you can "stand on your own two feet" without having to depend on sis all the time, is very empowering. And knowing that Elsa will still love her and be there, no matter what, is reassuring, even though Anna knows that she is good to go when everything comes down to her. And that everyone around her, even Elsa, needs space. Yeah, game night fridays! But, you know, Anna, change it up a little. Maybe no charades for a while. Maybe a few rounds of cards, a bull session with sis over tea, etc...

In the end, the crucible of Frozen 2 has sucessfully burned off the dross and impurities that could poison this relationship between Elsa and Anna, and has tempered thier bond as the bridge, loving sisters and BFF's to a new level of strength. It will be interesting to see where my fanfic and fan art friends here, plus Jennifer Lee and WDAS take these two from here on. They have grown into two fine, young, mature women, ready for any challenge.

[swimmingnewsie]

Little

...I wanted to do a canon-ish take on the Big/Little Ice Bros verse. Please love me.

Link to AO3

---

"Good morning, Gale!"

Anna smiled as Gale twirled into her bedroom window. The sun was finally rising, slowly waking from the long winter's night. Despite her distaste for it, early mornings were a part of life now. But her morning letters from Elsa made it all the more worth it.

"What have you got for me today?" She put her brush on the vanity and reached out for the note. A chill ran down her spine as Gale fluttered feverishly around her. "Elsa isn't feeling worse is she?"

Her sister had wrote the previous morning she felt like she was getting a cold. And though she had assured Anna it was nothing to worry about, Gale was giving her reason to think otherwise now. Quickly, she opened the note, reading a message that wasn't her sister's handwriting.

It wasn't even her sister's language.

Northuldran characters were scattered all over a piece of parchment. They had been doing their best to learn the language of their mother's people, but progress was slow. She could only pick out her name and Elsa's name. Her heart sped up, confused by everything that was happening. She needed to get to her sister.

"Will you take me to her?" she asked quickly, scribing her own note for Kristoff.

Gale responded by lifting Anna into the air, taking them off into the abyss. They took Anna for a ride as fast as they could manage, but Anna, filled to the brim with worries, couldn't help but feel like they were wasting time. However, soon enough the Northuldran camp came into view with people hustling and bustling far more than was normal.

"Anna!"

A familiar voice called out to her. It was Honeymaren, the woman who was so kind to take Elsa in and help her adjust to life in the forest. Hopefully she would have some clue what was going on.

"Honeymaren," Anna breathed. "What is happening? I got a note in Northuldran andI can't read it and I'm worried and where is my sister?"

Honeymaren sighed, taking Anna's hand. "It's easier to show you than tell you." Anna nodded, allowing herself to be dragged out to the clearing.

Near the reindeer clearing, Anna saw Ryder holding a small bundle in his arms. She eyed him wearily, her head tilted when he raised a finger over his mouth. A small tuft of white hair was visible. Was that-

“She went to bed early last night without much of a fight. I thought it was just her cold getting worse, but when I woke up this morning, she wasn’t in her hut or mine or Yelena’s. I couldn’t find her anywhere. But Ryder was already out working in the field, and she must have found him and thought he was safe because she hasn’t let go since,” Honeymaren expressed, trying to get the words out as fast as she could. It was clear to Anna that she was just as worried.

Sure enough, a smaller, younger Elsa was fast asleep in Ryder’s arms. In all of her worries, Anna couldn’t help but think that her sister was adorable in the garb. She had been dressed in tiny Northuldran furs and wrapped up in a scarf that Elsa had taken so much pride in making. She looked happy in her sleeping state.

“Thank you for writing me,” Anna said, squeezing Honeymaren’s had before going over to sit next to Ryder. “And thank you for taking care of her,” she whispered to Ryder, brushing back a few stray hairs from her sister.

“Anytime,” Ryder said, gently shifting the child. “But I don’t know what to do now. We knew you needed to know, but where do we go from here? We have no idea what happened, not to mention she’s probably not feeling well still.”

Anna pensively touched her sister’s forehead. Whatever had caused this certainly hadn’t eliminated her sickness, for she was still very warm. “We should take her to the trolls. If it’s something to do with her magic, they may know something that will help. It’s about a half day’s journey by wagon, but it’s the only thing I know to do.”

Honeymaren placed a hand on her shoulder. “We’ll go with you. You shouldn’t have to make this journey alone.”

Anna nodded. There was no reason to deny their help. She knew how much they cared for her sister. “Can I- can I hold her?” she asked softly.

Ryder shifted Elsa, resting her so she could lie against her sister. “She’s worn out. We fed the reindeer together and before we could even finish getting her clothed, she was knocked out, poor kid.”

She held her sister close cherishing this very odd moment. Elsa looked maybe seven or eight- at least that was her best guess. With how young Anna had been at the time of separation, she was never sure what Elsa looked like then and what was her imagination of her sister. She was peaceful in sleep, despite the slight wheeze in her chest. A hot bath and oils would do them both wonders, she figured.

Suddenly she felt her sister jerk, harsh coughs rattling through her lungs. Anna rubbed circles into her back, trying to help settle her again. “It’s okay, Elsa. It’s okay.”

Elsa looked at her with wide terrified eyes. Her breathing quickened, only making the cough worse. She tried to wiggle her way out of Anna’s arms. “Who- who are you?”

It broke Anna’s heart to hear the fear in Elsa’s eyes. “I’m Anna,” she said, desperate not to scare her further.

“No! No! Please let me go! I don’t want to hurt you! Not again!” Tears fell from her eyes, desperate to escape Anna’s grasp.

Anna shook her head and did her best to hold onto the young girl. She obviously remembered the accident. “You’re not going to hurt me, Elsie. Your powers won’t hurt me. I promise.”

Elsa gulped. “You know I have powers?” she asked softly.

“I’m your sister. Of course I do.”

Anna wasn’t sure if there was any right way to go about this, but her sister breaking into more tears told her that she might not have chosen the best way. “You’re! You’re supposed to be little. Why- why are you so big?”

Anna laughed, trying to lighten the mood. “You know it isn’t proper to comment on a lady’s weight, princess,” she teased.

The little girl look sad and ashamed. “I’m sorry,” she said, tears welling in her eyes and coughs escaping her chest.

“Hey, hey,” she soothed, continuing to rub her back. “It was just a joke, sweetheart. I’m not upset. I promise.” Anna made a mental note to be more cautious with her language. Elsa was anxious as an adult; it only made sense that she would be sensitive and anxious about others’ feelings.

Elsa nodded cautiously, burying her head into Anna’s shoulder. Maybe some part of her remembered, remembered that she was safe and loved in Anna’s arms.

Ryder moved, crouching in front of Elsa. “She’s the real deal, kid,” he said with a smile. “Do you think if I got you some tea from Elder you would be able to drink it? It’ll help that sore chest of yours.”

Elsa nodded shyly before shutting her eyes. Anna rocked her gently, hoping she was giving the young girl some relief. She knew today would be far more busy than she anticipated, and if she could give her sister even the slightest comfort she would. “I won’t let anything happen to you. I promise.”

The small squeeze of Anna’s hand was the only reply she needed.

---

The trip in the wagon was a never ending blur of colors and figures and shapes. Elsa found it hard to pay attention to anything in particular with so many moving parts.

A shiver ran down her spine, reminding her just how bad she felt on top of her confusion. This all had to be a bad dream. It was her punishment for hurting Anna: lost in the far away land that her papa had told them about before they were supposed to be asleep. She didn’t mean to; it was an accident.

But at least in her dream, Anna was safe. And Anna was older, oddly enough. She let herself be comforted by this older Anna, the way she failed her real Anna. If she could dream like this every night, maybe it would make being seperated okay. She clutched tightly onto this older Anna’s cloak, desperate to commit this to her memory.

“Elsa, we’re here, sweetheart,” Older Anna said, picking her up. Part of her wanted to tell her sister she was big enough to walk, but if this was all just a dream then it wouldn’t matter. The trolls from the night before were there. There was no way this wasn’t a dream.

Pabbie had put his hand to her head the way he had Anna’s last night, as if he were inspecting her magic. She couldn’t make out his words, her head fuzzy and aching. She wasn’t ready for this dream to end, but maybe it would get rid of the wrong-ness of her body. She only made out phrases like “rebirth” and “natural course of magic”, but it didn’t matter much to her. Dreams were silly things.

Soon enough Older Anna and the nice reindeer man and his sister were carrying her back and her home was in view. Maybe if she shut her eyes, it would all go back to normal. Yeah that sounded like a nice plan.

---

Anna took great care to conceal her sister as the wagon approached Arendelle. There would be a diplomatic way to handle this situation, she was sure. Or at least she pretended to be. Her sister’s magic turning her into a child again in order to develop properly wasn’t exactly in her training as a princess and queen.

Thankfully the cold that had served as the catalyst for all this seemed to exhaust her big sister. Or little sister now, she supposed. That would take some getting used to. Elsa slept for most of the journey home- aided by what magic Pabbie could offer them. He may not have been able to bring her to her former age, but he could help her sleep off the illness.

Explaining all this to Kristoff had been another story. He had obviously fretted when he awoke to her note, but worried even more seeing the young girl asleep in her arms.

“So there’s no going back? No magically aging her back to how she was before?”

Anna pinched the bridge of her nose. Getting Elsa into the castle was easy enough with all the hidden entrances and corridors, but that was the least of their worries now. She shook her head, pulling the last of her covers over her sister.

“Pabbie said it had something to do with the spirit inside her. That her magic had been held back for so long, that it somehow reverted her to the moment it stopped growing right. Apparently it has happened to many that the spirit embodies.”

A tear slipped from Anna’s eye. She had been very good about hiding these hard feelings, not when Elsa was so scared. But Elsa was asleep and it was okay to let go.

“I don’t want to mess this up,” she said softly. “She gets another chance, and I can’t mess this up.”

Kristoff had his arms wrapped around her, holding tight. “You’re not going to mess this up. She doesn’t have to conceal this. Even if we make for rough parents, it’s going to be different.”

“We?” Anna sniffled wetly.

Kristoff smiled, kissing her on the head. “We. We’re getting married aren’t we?” She nodded slowly, heading bobbing under his chin. “That means we do this together.”

“Together,” she sighed.

Anna turned around to give him a kiss herself. No matter what, they were going to do this. They had a second chance, and they were going to get it right this time. They would give Elsa the childhood she was robbed of. They owed her that much.

[alvaar-aldaviir]

Wondrous Tails: Patching Up Wounds

Time Frame: Post-Stormblood. Major spoilers for 4.4

(Unnecessary) Notes: It was somewhere around in here when I was playing that something awful happened to me and Alvaar both. After absolutely adoring Alphinaud for the bulk of the game (and being you know… worried about how hard Squenix was going to misstep on fleshing out Alisaie’s character like they’d pretty much done for almost every female up to now,) Alisaie kicked the door in like, ‘YOU THOUGHT YOU COULD HAVE FEELINGS TO YOURSELF?’ It made later events and the shitty ‘not even a major decision but I stood there contemplating it for literally 5 minutes, you know, THAT questline split…’ in Shadowbringers give me a terrible gut punch. The rest as they say, is history.

    …. I picked Alisaie first btw. I’m still not over this betrayal.

  Alvaar’s fingers are light and gentle as they thread through her hair, patient and unhurried as her head rests on a throw pillow in his lap. In a way she can almost tell his thoughts on whatever he’s reading based on the pauses and movements. The stillness of a long thought or light tousle when something amused him. Only the rustle of a turned page interrupting the ticking of the chronometer on the wall before the warm weight of his hand settles back against her hair.

On some level Alisaie’s appalled with herself, being this close and indulging in something so... childish and weak, with the Warrior of Light of all people!

But as much as she wished to be out there doing something, anything, that might reveal her brother’s whereabouts or find a solution to whatever had laid their friends low...

The truth was there was little else she could do but wait. Wait and feel her stomach twist in anxious knots as she grit her teeth and tried not to think of how terribly this could go. That there might not be an answer or that her brother might never return or...

A thoughtful noise leaves Alvaar’s throat before he ruffles her hair with a bit more force, calloused fingers massaging at her scalp carefully. An unspoken reminder she’d learned to read in the last month.

‘Relax. I’m with you. As soon as we have any form of word or direction, we’ll both be out the door.’

The Bard had a patient calm that was infectious, and if he hadn’t been around so much, she was almost certain she would have done something foolish before anyone could have stopped her. More than once in the passing weeks she’d felt his hand on her shoulder quietly urging her to tolerance when she’d almost snapped at messengers or their fellow junior Scions.

Her impatience was why she had never fancied herself a leader. The art of long-winded exposition and careful political maneuvering had solely been the talents of her twin, but with their key members missing or unconscious it had fallen to her instead. Alvaar had enough on his plate managing Primals, an increasingly more ludicrous sounding venture in Doma, and an equally fantastical excursion with the Garlond Ironworks tracking down Omega. He hefted enough weight on their behalf so the least she could do was act as a Scion proper and field what she could from the Rising Stones.

In a way it had almost made her bitter and angry to see him around all the time. Alvaar had seldom been away from the Rising Stones since Urianger and Y’shtola had collapsed, something she had a hunch lay with Tataru’s hushed words to him in the following days as they waited for news. And though the thought of him staying around out of some sense of obliged pity infuriated her, deep down she knew better. The Bard was there because he wanted to be, and as the days had passed by with them in increasingly close space, she had discovered something else.

She wasn’t the only one worried and needing a distraction. Under the stoic calm there was an equal amount of worry and fear.

And an overwhelming amount of anger.

    She’d heard a little about it from Alphinaud, the murderous and single-minded rage Alvaar had shown against Ilberd when they had journeyed to rescue Raubahn in Halatali. When he’d brushed with death and dragged himself after their retreating adversaries half bleeding out and choking on poison gas until he’d finally collapsed.

The Burn was the first place she had seen any semblance of it for herself, following the trail of slaughtered monsters and blood once the sandstorm had cleared to find Alvaar huffing in air like a winded beast, the blade point of the Halonic bow embedded in a dragon’s skull, and eyes half wild when she’d healed him. They’d never spoke of it though the silent shame on his expression after had said enough.

But that moment of seeing the cracks in the armor had said she wasn’t alone in her grief and feelings of helplessness. That the hand that gripped hers in those tense moments of silence was offering comfort but also seeking it at the same time, whether the Bard knew it or not.

So... she indulged in his time because he let her. Took a moment of respite with her head resting on a pillow in the Bards lap.

It had been an accident at first of course. She’d only meant to perhaps use him as a bit of a shoulder rest as he’d been reading in the study of the Rising Stones. It was something she had done often with her twin growing up, studying side by side until one or both of them fell asleep. And while a part of her was worried it would be like trying to replace Alphinaud, like admitting in some way he wouldn’t come back, the other and louder part of her had wanted the familiar reassurance now more than ever. But waking up with her cheek pressed against his thigh and his Twin Adder jacket draped over her shoulders had not been anywhere in that plan.

She probably would have startled herself upright if not for how slowly and comfortably she’d woken up, safe and warm and thoughts oddly clear of her recent worries. A glance at the black Choral Chapeau that rested on the coffee table where dark booted feet were propped up had confirmed Alvaar’s presence even if she’d doubted her instincts. Nowhere else in Sharlayan or Eorzea had she encountered another person with that same palpable aura, a quiet and calm feeling of certainty and strength. The brush of fingers over her hair intimate and distantly familiar...

Her family had never been one prone to frequent contact. There had always been a weight of dignified properness and personal distance, something expected from a highly esteemed house of scholars. The sole exception had been her Grandfather, who had often ruffled their hair or scooped them up in his arms as they’d listen to his stories or he indulged in answering a million excited questions.

But touch came with an easy deliberateness to Alvaar, sensitive and observant as he was if still cautious of boundaries. Ruffling her hair and telling her she’d done well after distracting the Red Kojin or pulling her against his side comfortingly when she’d lamented being unable to protect others from Lakshmi as he could. Or how he’d carried her off before she broke down in grief after watching Y’shtola and Urianger lay still and unresponsive in the medical beds for an hour after they’d fallen in the Rising Stones. Spirited her off into his loaned room where she could break down and no one else would see, face buried into his jacket and the Bard holding her patiently and stroking her hair and back comfortingly even long after she’d fallen silent.

    She hates feeling weak around him. Hates the idea he feels obliged to stay at her side when all the world begs his attention. That he pesters her to learn to cook properly or fumbles his way through red magic at her instruction to keep her distracted from grief. How much she’s grown to rely on his presence as the days pass.

But for as observant as he is, so is she. There’s a tightness in his expression that eases in those moments they share; the way he laughs as she grumbles over learning baking or honest surprise when he finally manages to land a spell. The tension like a coiled spring that finally releases in moments like now, stroking her hair patiently and relaxing until he almost falls asleep himself.

They’re patching each other’s wounds in these moments, mending cuts and bruises and breaks that are deeper than any white magic or tonic could hope to touch. Readying themselves for the next battle that lingers on the horizon. And she prays more than anything that she can hold fast at his side until they are victorious and things return to normal.