#that we could all just die down here while the world is living its beautiful life and no one gives a fuck

[meownotgood]

let us live, if we must die. / chapter one: fate entwined

You are a witch, and since the purging of all magic, you've been forced to live a life of solitude and secrecy. Your destiny was always beyond your control — until, by a pure twist of fate, you unknowingly fell for the kingdom's only prince. 

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pairing: prince!aki x witch!reader

word count: 5.3k

tags: fantasy au, royalty au, reader is fem, lots and lots of initial worldbuilding, essentially reader is a mage in a world where magic is forbidden, reader has a very well-established backstory, aki is there but you'll be seeing more of him later. warning: some darker themes in this chapter + blood mention

notes: here we go!! mostly establishing reader and the world here... you'll be seeing aki's cute face more after this, I promise. I hope you like it, and please look forward to the chapters to come... 💞

masterlist read on ao3 join the taglist here!

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is love like the sea 

will it wash me to the shore 

or drown me with it? 

—

You knew you should have cast a spell for better weather. 

As crows shake the swaying trees when they flutter into the air, cawing and dotting the sky with speckles of black, you're drawn to tilt your head upward. Dark knots of gray clouds obscure the sun, blocking its light. Thunder rolls ominously overhead. You breathe a quiet tsk to yourself. The cool air smells of that familiar, earthen promise of rain. Turning back to your work, you hurry to collect the rest of the patch of colorful mushrooms, grabbing fistfuls and stuffing them into your pack. 

It was a beautiful day mere hours ago. Sunshine warmed your skin in plentiful rays, before the clouds had taken over. If you were at all aware of a coming storm, you wouldn't have spent so much time dilly-dallying. Your preparations would have been completed way faster. You would have made sure to leave the cottage much, much sooner — No, if you'd known about the rain, it wouldn't have stormed to begin with. 

You can't cancel out a downpour entirely. Such a feat is impossible, even for the most experienced of mages. The world can't be broken, no matter the strength of a mage's will — but it can bend. You could have pushed the storm back to the next day, at the very least. It would have given you the time you needed to forage, and you simply would've opted to stay inside tomorrow. 

Damn it all. It's no use worrying about what has already been done. You need to hurry. Your distraction spell will wear off in the rain. 

You snap the buckle on your pack shut, rising to your feet while clumsily slinging both straps over your shoulders. You shiver; the first droplets of water hit each blade of grass, they tap against your bare arms and the top of your head, but you're already running. You're taking off through the dense forest, following the well-known path you took on your way in. 

Leaves flatten under your feet. Running against the strengthening wind, you feel goosebumps kiss your arms and your legs. You run and pant and run some more, until you can finally see the faint, warm light of your cottage, shining through the forest like a beacon of assurance. Trees taper off into a large clearing, with your cottage at the very center. 

Your spell dispels on its own. A cool wave rushes over your body, the magic fading, before disappearing. Thankfully, you've made it home, just in time. 

The wooden door of your cottage creaks when you slam it shut behind you. Your kitchen is warm. Blessedly warm. You take a moment to catch your breath: your chest heaving, palms on your knees, the fireplace crackling. You toss your heavy pack onto the kitchen counter with a huff, and you plop down in a wooden dining room chair. Thunder splinters, the sound loud and forceful. Rain blankets the cottage's roof, pattering to a persistent, calming rhythm. 

You need to stop having close calls like this. 

What would have happened to you, if you were out in the woods for even a moment longer? It's not that you doubt your skills. Your magic is versatile. A damn good defense and offense, despite your chosen spells functioning passively, for the most part. Without anyone to assist you, you're still capable enough to hold your own against a handful of demons, should they choose to attack you. But a whole horde of them? 

The kind that live in these woods aren't like the ones you learned to deal with when you were younger. These demons are resilient. They're smarter. They stay hidden, until the chance arises to enter a fight they're sure to win. You've seen the prey they hunt. Despite their small footprints — six footprints for each, meaning six legs with clawed feet — they've been taking out magical beasts nearly twice their size. 

Great Elk, mostly. Nearly nothing is left of their flesh by the time you find them, making for quite the grim scene. No matter how many times you see it, your stomach still churns. The creatures boast a gigantic set of horns, and you'll harvest parts of them for yourself, to keep your mind off things. You're appreciative of what those elk can provide for you, in death. That'll be your fate, if you ever screw up. 

In a way, it's a double-edged sword. The forest is what protects you, those demons are what keep anyone from venturing close enough to discover you here. At the same time though, they prove a danger to you every single day. 

You wish this wasn't how you had to live. Of course you want to be safer, happier; who wouldn't? 

Gazing up at the long shadows on your ceiling, your mind brews with the same darkness as the rumbling storm clouds. The patter of rain only seems to worsen the longer you stay sitting there. Your stomach grumbles. Darkness looms in the expanse beyond your cottage, as the sun begins to set, allowing itself to be swallowed by the thick clouds and the horizon. Finally, you sigh. You stop your sulking to sit up, and you head for the kitchen to sift through what you collected. 

You were hoping to practice potion-making, so most of the herbs you collected are for healing, not necessarily for eating. A few edible mushrooms, and the potatoes you still have leftover from yesterday will have to do. 

Your knife chops the mushrooms swiftly and effectively, into small, square chunks that you scoop up in your palms to dump into a pot. 

When you were much younger, you lived in the city. You haven't been there in a long, long time. Everything you learned, you had to teach yourself: how to cook, how to fight. How to hone your spells. Books taught you most of what you know now. They were your mother's, once. After she passed, with no-one left to hide you, you fled. You've kept yourself stashed away here, ever since then. The threat of discovery didn't leave you with much of a choice. 

You built the cottage yourself. Magic made things relatively simple. It took some trial and error, sure, plus a few nights spent out in the dark when your preparations weren't complete yet. When it rained then, you were woken up by water dripping onto you, getting in from the gaps in the shoddy roof. It's been a long time since you first came here, since you found the farthest clearing in the depths of the forest, and decided to let it encompass the rest of your life. You've managed to make a rather nice home for yourself, you think. 

By all accounts, you should have perished a long time ago. The kingdom probably assumes you did. Without magic to help shield you, to feed you, to protect you, you doubt you would've lasted long out here. Perhaps that's why most people fear it. 

Where would you even go, if this wasn't how you had to live? Your hand freezes up, knife stopping midair before it can come down on a half-sliced pile of parsley. Suddenly, you realize you've hardly thought about it. Gods, if you could go anywhere, as free as the songbirds you've always been envious of, you have no clue where you'd want to go first. 

You could follow the sea breeze to the ocean, allowing the wind to rustle in your feathers. You've never seen the ocean before. Or maybe you'd want to soar over the kingdom, finally, and honestly free. There would be no-one to hunt you, not a soul that could catch you. It's peaceful there. For those unlike you, at least. 

To the people who live in the kingdom, the nobles and the knights and the common folk alike, you aren't human. You're less than that — You're a witch, a seer, a miscreant. You are the very reason for this world's ruin: the source of all demons, and to some, the sovereign who can lead them. Ridiculous rumors, every last one. Those creatures listen to you no more than they listen to the cries of the Great Elk they're feasting on. 

Still, you don't place blame on the fearful. 

More than anything, you wish things could be different. You would do whatever those people wished of you to prove you aren't what they say you are, but none of them would ever give you the chance. Your magic could help people. You want to help people, not harm them. And yet, if you were anyone else — if you were normal, if you weren't you — honestly, you'd be scared too. 

Demons are horrifying. They're soulless creatures, who can take a life away in an instant, only to break whoever they wind up leaving behind. And magic, magic in the wrong hands is just as frightening. 

It was innocent, at first. Elves were the first to compose spells, the demons simply came afterwards. Death plagued the land; the people's magic grew stronger, but the demons were already learning to adapt. Magic became selfish. No longer were spells used to protect, to flourish a field of crops, to create a light in an endless darkness. As the first war on demons came to a close, a new threat was quick to emerge: near unstoppable mages, wielding a darkness of their very own. 

Humanity nearly destroyed itself. In the process, the magic which once brought them the closest they've ever been to the Gods, that filled them with the strength of the sun, and fell into their palms like stars — That magic is all but gone, and forcefully forgotten. 

You never forgot, though. 

You were a child, you hadn't seen more than six winters, and already, the patriarchs were calling for what remains of the kingdom's spellcasters to be turned in and killed. Your birth was done in secrecy, your presence hidden. You stowed away in your mother's home, while you practiced conjuring simple illusions and small sparks of flame. 

Young or old, it hardly mattered to those who sought you. Your father ran. Your mother was burned. In more "lucky" cases, some people would be allowed to live — relatives of knights or officials, mostly. The regency had their tongues carved out, so that they might never speak an incantation again. 

Your jaw clenches, your hand tightened around the handle of a wooden ladle. You breathe in deeply, and you force your mind to wander elsewhere. Lest you lose your appetite. 

There's places you've heard of only in passing. Towns and cities where magic is not only accepted, but allowed to thrive. It certainly sounds nice. However, the logical part of you struggles to find the truth in such stories. No matter which way you look at it, everything is telling you those rumors are nothing more than traps. They'll do anything to find you, to cleanse the land of what they feel brought it to rot. They're luring you, their detestable songbird, just for the chance to finally cage you in and clip your wings, once and for all. 

To remain undetected, one's magic must be sharp, and their mind ever sharper. Those were your mother's words, at least. She taught you to stay focused, to be smart, and you most certainly are. 

You aren't unhappy, per se, when it comes to living like this. You're safe, and that's about as much as you could ask for. You've been content for a long while, living off the forest, practicing your magic by your lonesome. It's better than stifling what you were born with. Or trying to be someone you're not, allowing the imminent risk of capture to remain hovering over your head. No, you aren't really free. Perhaps you never will be. But this is the closest you think you'll ever get to it. 

The cottage is home. A lonely form of home, sometimes. No-one visits you. You'll talk to yourself when moments grow too quiet, just to fill the gnawing empty space. You aren't the kind of mage who can speak with animals, and even if you could, there isn't much to converse with; the demons have slowly begun to drive out most docile species. 

Gods, you miss the kingdom. You miss when you could see the castle from your bedroom window, stone towers reaching so high into the sky, you swore they were touching the clouds. Lanterns shone from every window once night fell, glowing brighter than any of the stars in the sky. A young and hopeful you would dream of becoming an honored guest, or a knight, or perhaps a princess. One day, you'd find yourself atop the heights in the castle, staring down at your old home instead. 

Foolish as it is, you miss the peace that came with those childish dreams. You never got to see it, but you remember reading books and hearing stories of the times where magic was nourished, not suppressed. Now, there is nothing. You have no-one but yourself. You miss when you didn't feel so alone. 

Though, for now, you should put the rest of those thoughts aside. 

Dipping your spoon into the finished stew, you breathe gently to cool it down, before taking a sip. Delicious. It warms you, chasing away the growing chill from the setting sun and the raging storm. Once you're done eating, you'll clean. Then, you think you'll spend the rest of the night rereading an old grimoire, until the complicated spell descriptions paired with the lull of the rain put you right to sleep. 

After fetching a bowl from the cupboard and filling it, you sit down at the dining room table. Your hands clasp in brief prayer — a force of habit, considering no plea is actually spoken, no blessing is internally asked for. You don't have anything to say to any God. Not anymore. 

Thunder crackles in the distance, like it plans to split the sky open. Rain drums and echoes against the roof. You take a moment to let your stew cool off, you manage just one bite, and —

Something's tripped the mushroom circle. 

With a single fast snap of your fingers, every light in your cottage goes out. The candles and lanterns flicker briefly, before they vanish. The roaring fireplace suddenly dissipates into nothingness, leaving ashen logs of wood behind. Instantly, you're enveloped in total darkness, save for the small, floating flame you produce at the end of your thumb, with a murmur under your breath of the spell ignis. 

It's been awfully long since the last time you've had to do this. Your heart begins to pound in your chest, in your eardrums. Your mind races, trying to picture the possible outcomes. 

Demons have been growing in number around these woods, but they wouldn't be here; they stick to the outskirts, where they've made their dens. With the rain washing away the scent left by prey, they'd go back into hiding, not wander out here. 

When you established your home here, one of the first things you did was create the mushroom circle around the clearing. Using your own blood and that of the demons, you fashioned it to inform you of anything hostile that walks over, barring any docile creatures. Wildlife wouldn't have set it off, so it's surely a stray demon, it must be. It will return to its horde once it realizes there's no food here. Unless… 

Flame flickering over your trembling hand, you fruitlessly try to stay deathly still. You can't hear a thing because of the rain, no footsteps and no demon snarls. Only the steady downpour, and the echo of droplets, splattering when they hit the roof above with loud, persistent thunks. 

Dammit. It's been an entire minute, and the spell is still telling you there's something within the circle. Just one presence; the spell can't tell you who or what is near specifically, but you can detect each entity inside. 

You sense your magic, keen and continuous, invaded by the scorching, resolute soul of another. A deep, brilliant ocean, rippling in the wake of a pebble thrown into it. And those ripples aren't stopping — They're surging through your brain and your body, with a forcefulness that bleeds nothing but blood-red danger. 

Your head spins faster the longer the seconds tick into minutes. You feel dizzy. The last time this happened, the last time anything stuck around this close to the cottage for more than a minute, it wasn't a demon. It was two presences, two men. They were lost, after they had traveled many miles into the forest from the main road, looking for one of their horses. Apparently, it was spooked on the trail, and broke away from their carriage to bolt into the woods. 

They didn't stay for long. You were in your cottage at the time, and you remember not wanting to open the door, but they wouldn't stop knocking and knocking. When you gave in, cracking the door open hesitantly, it was just enough to meet the first man's eyes, but not enough to let either of them see inside. 

Their tone was cordial, not suspicious. We weren't expecting anyone to be living out here, so far from any nearby villages, you remember one of them remarking. The first man ran a hand through his messy blonde hair, while flashing you an easy smile. You hardly noticed, because your gaze was focused on the sheathed dagger at his hip, and the glittering pendant hanging around his neck. A menacing shiver twisted up your spine and gripped you tight. 

Still, you held your ground. You told them you hadn't seen a horse, and only that. They thanked you for your time, and left soon after. 

Fucking hell, those men were knights. The pendant one of them was wearing — it was silver, engraved with text and a depiction of a lion. The knights in the kingdom have that same symbol on their armor, and out of respect, they'd be the only ones allowed to wear it as a necklace. 

Those men, despite the clear hostility you must have been showing them, spoke to you so kindly. They told you they'd be nearby for a while longer, and if you needed anything, you only had to ask. The blonde man gave you a polite nod, and told you to be well as the both of them left, May the Gods continue to smile upon you. 

If either of them grew suspicious, or if even one of them was capable of sensing the magic your cottage was surrounded with, they would have driven their daggers into your stomach right then and there. Townspeople might hesitate, before proceeding to slit the throat of their loved one while they slept, hoping to claim some sort of bounty for dealing with another wretched spellcaster. But knights do not. They are trained not to hesitate. 

Thankfully, sensing spells is something very few can do, and most never know they can. Perhaps they can feel something, but they'll attribute it to an odd uneasiness, to a brief spark they felt flicker across their skin. It couldn't be magic. Not a soul would risk an utterance of the word, because to feel magic is to be able to use magic, and for that, they are better off keeping their mouths shut. 

Either way, right now, you can't risk drawing attention to yourself. That day was almost a year ago. You lucked out last time. Anyone else who approaches your cottage next might not be so quick to leave. One wrong move, and you could easily wind up dead. 

So, you hold still. Very, very still. A lone cabin out in the middle of nowhere, in the pouring rain, with no lights shining from inside isn't likely to draw much attention. Anyone in their right mind would assume it was abandoned. 

Whatever it is, whoever it is, you only need to wait for them to leave, and you'll be in the clear. In the wake of your spell, you can feel the strength of the intruder's presence tugging at you, burrowing into you, cold like winter's breath and absurdly, ferociously sharp — but you'll be fine. They'll be stumbling back over the mushroom circle any second now. 

You're probably panicking over nothing, honestly. There's no way anyone would be this deep in the forest during this kind of storm. They'd have to be crazy, stupid, maybe utterly lost. A lost fool isn't your problem. If the storm doesn't deal with them, the demons most certainly will. 

Perhaps your magic is malfunctioning. Right, you haven't used this spell in so long that you've gotten rusty, and there actually isn't anyone here, you're simply mistaken. The storm is messing with you, is all. You shouldn't panic, because you have absolutely nothing to worry about. 

That would be true, if someone hadn't just knocked on your door. 

The sudden sound gets you to practically jump out of your own skin. You freeze up, your breath catching in your throat. When you hear the clear pounding of a fist against the wood for a second time, your concentration slips away, and so does your fire spell. The flame you held in your fingers goes out, leaving the cottage in complete and utter darkness. 

"Hello?" Oh, great, that someone is talking outside your door now, "Is anyone there?" 

At a pace that could rival only the most sluggish of snails, you shakily rise from your chair, and whisper another small flame into existence to light your way. You tiptoe over to the door ever-so carefully, directing the flame to follow with a wave of your finger. Briefly, you hesitate, before another set of knocks — more hurried, this time, as though whoever's on the other side is growing just as anxious as you — has your cheek pressing against the door while you peer through the peephole. 

There's a man leant on the door, your door, clutching his side, and supporting his weight with his other arm resting on the doorframe. The soft light of the moon and stars dimly illuminates him. He's shielded from the rain, underneath the roof's overhang. His clothes are simple: pants and a tunic with long sleeves, fabric clearly soaked from the continual downpour. 

It isn't anything you'd place as out of the ordinary. Even commoners would most likely be donning a necklace or a pin or something that'd tie them to the kingdom. You glance the man at your door up and down once, twice, but he seems to carry nothing of the sort. 

More importantly, surrounding the hand he has pressed into his side, the off-white of his tunic is stained a dark red you can recognize even in the obscured darkness. His chest heaves as he struggles to breathe, and you feel an ache twist in your gut. His hair is dark, shoulder-length, and tied in a half-up style, his messy bangs in his eyes, with a small ponytail on the back of his head. Poking out from his hair is a pair of distinct pointed ears. They're decorated by an array of studs and hoops, with black, star-shaped earrings hanging from his lobes, glittering in the moonlight. 

Your protective spell wanes. When you felt the chill of his presence, and the sharpness of his soul, perhaps you were feeling a fraction of his pain. 

You watch the man's jaw tighten, droplets of water dripping from his hair. He raises his fist to weakly knock at the door one more time, and when there's no answer, the bridge of his nose forms a troubled knot. 

"Please, I don't mean any harm, I was-" He winces, stumbling slightly, and he sucks a painful breath in through his teeth. "I was training in the woods… and the devils- I'm just an adventurer, I'm not a mercenary. I just want to rest until this storm clears, and then I'll be on my way. I swear it." 

Devils? 

Wait. Your gaze flickers back up to his expression, his brows pinched slightly as he attempts to hide his discomfort. Then, you look at his side, where his hand is pressed to an obvious wound, blood staining his fingers and speckling onto the sleeve of his shirt. 

This is your fault. 

When you head into the woods to forage, you always cast a distraction spell on the opposite end of the forest; it'll lure demons over to it, giving you a while of temporary safety. Sometimes there are stragglers, but nothing you can't sneak around or handle yourself. Most of the demons will head towards the area you've marked, drawn by the magical rune without their control. The spell is cast directly into the ground — hence why the rain on the soil causes it to disperse. 

This stranger sounds like he's telling the truth, and with the condition he's in, he doesn't have any reason to lie. About most things, anyways. You seriously doubt he's an adventurer. There isn't anything out here of interest. Just endless woods filled with endless demons. Still, he's clearly injured, clearly in need. And you can't help but take some responsibility. 

If he came to the forest to train, he must've been expecting a fight he could win. The demons here are strong, but mostly in numbers. If he's at all capable, a handful of them wouldn't give him much trouble. But you sent every single demon in the area to one location. A risky spell, but effective, as long as you know where it's been cast. He didn't. 

Even after the rain came down, even once the spell dispersed and the demons ran to hide in their holes, there would still be a ton of them gathered, all in one place. Hell, as far as you're concerned, if he found himself facing down hundreds of those bastards, he's lucky to be alive — let alone still standing. He might be the luckiest man you know, actually, to have escaped that forest with nothing more than a single injury, and all four limbs intact. 

But what if there are more wounds you can't see? 

Nervously, you take a single step away from the door, clutching the front of your shirt as your heart continues to pound. Rain drums overhead, seeming to only grow louder and louder. Although it drowns out most everything, you can still hear when the man shifts, mumbling a swear to himself through gritted teeth. Gods, your poor heart won't stop racing, and you don't know what to do. 

You're scared, for the first time in ages; scared of him, scared for him. You shouldn't let him in. That would be the stupidest thing you possibly could do. You shouldn't help him, shouldn't heal him. You should pretend no-one's home, and leave him be without letting yourself meddle. 

You know that, and yet, you can't help but tell yourself you have to help him. No matter how much you try and force yourself to believe the opposite, you can't shake this feeling that you're the only one who can. 

There isn't anyone else out here, not for miles. He won't make it out in this storm, and once he leaves the protection of the cottage, it's likely he'll get attacked again. From what you can tell, he doesn't even have a weapon on him. He'll get lost in the darkness. Demons will smell the sharpness of his blood the moment he steps back in the trees, and no matter how fast he can still run, he won't get far. And tomorrow, when you find what's left of him — 

Another faint knock at the door has you stirring, your lips parting, although you aren't exactly sure what you should say. It's been a while since you've last spoken to someone other than yourself, not since those knights almost a year ago. Instead, your legs seem to move before you've truly thought about it, and you rush over to the kitchen, fumbling through cabinets to search for whatever medicine you have left. 

Perhaps you can't let him in, that much is true. He walked over the mushroom circle with no problem, so you're assuming he isn't capable of detecting spells. Regardless, your cottage is covered in magical items. In potions you've made, and spellbooks that were supposed to be burned with the rest of them. You can't risk anyone sifting through your belongings. 

And you already know pressure doesn't bode well with you; if you can't keep your cool, if you say one wrong thing and he somehow figures out you're a mage, dealing with his injuries will be the least of your concerns. He could leave and come back by sunrise with an army of knights prepared to slay you, for all you know. 

You shouldn't be helping. This is dangerous. He is dangerous. You're foolish for caring about someone you haven't met, no matter how responsible you might be feeling. But that's the thing. You never get to meet anyone. And maybe, just maybe — 

No, it'll be best if you give him some medicine and let him be on his way: some standard herbs, nothing infused with magic. Just something for him to take to ease the pain, and some ointment and bandages to help with the bleeding. You'll crack open the door, tell him you can't accept visitors, and offer him what you can. That's the most you can do. That's what you have to do. 

You'll never see him again after this, but you know it's for the best. 

You gather the herbs from the kitchen, and the ointment and bandages from the bathroom. You place them all into a small, spare pouch you had lying on the counter, which you hastily work to tie shut. As you walk over to the door, you can barely breathe. Your hands are shaking, and you stop in place, attempting to gather the courage to open it. 

It'll be fine. I'm sorry, I hope this will help you. That's all you have to say. I'm sorry sir, you can't come in, but please, accept this. He'll leave, he won't know a thing, and you'll do just fine. 

"Okay," The man's smooth voice starts from behind the door, causing you to abruptly tense up. He sounds more out of breath than before: "I don't think anyone is home, so I'm… I'm going to try to come in now. I'm not going to hurt you, just need to get the hell out of this rain- Please, don't kill me." 

Shit. 

You're unlocking the door in a hurry then. You fling it open, coming face to face with him; the man sways forward, almost tripping. He's rather tall, even taller when he stands up straight to look at you. Deep, worried blue eyes meet yours. Blue like the drawings of the ocean you memorized from your childhood story books. His expression is a muddled mess of pain, relief, exhaustion — and you must be making a face, because he's quickly attempting to make amends. 

"Thank the Gods- It's okay," He says, giving you a reassuring look, and raising his hands defensively, his palms stained a dark crimson. His skin is pale, his eyes heavy, like he's lightheaded; "It isn't as bad as it looks. I'll be… fine, I'm-" 

With one last stumble, his eyelids flutter. Bright lightning rips through the sky in the distance, and you're watching his knees buckle, leaving him to fall into you. You squeak in surprise, just barely managing to catch him. He's already gone limp in your arms. You're hardly able to hold up his weight, struggling not to just drop him to the ground. 

Rain pelts the ground and the grass and your roof. In between the steady drone, tiny droplets of blood splatter onto the wooden floor of your cabin with a plip, plip. 

Damn. And you were hoping to eat your stew while it was still hot. 

[welcomingdisaster]

Rec List: Favorite Fics of the Year!

hey hey hey! here are my favorite fics that I read this year. This is not an all-encompassing list, and I know I am missing some fics I read and loved. I always appreciate more fics recs. That said, here are some things that really stuck with me this year!

before the black gate by TheChasm ( @thelordofgifs)

Lôminzil would mark her, if she could: leave the indentations of her fingers on Abraphêl’s hips and thighs and kiss-bruises on her neck, carve her name into Abraphêl’s flawless skin so that all who set eyes upon her might know to whom she belongs.

Lôminzil does not much like her job as one of Tar-Míriel's attendants, but there are consolations. Her secret work spying on the Queen for Ar-Pharazôn, for one: and Abraphêl, too.

This list in in particular order, but I am putting this one first because I believe it is CRIMINALLY underrated. The odds are stacked against it as a femslash, original character, Numenor centric fic but listen it is SO good. The tragedy and inevitability is SO peak Silmarillion to me. The character work is delicate and intense at once. It is both soft and violent at the same time. It makes me feral. It makes me cry. Please read it.

Also, because I feel weird recc'ing ghosti without including any M&M fics (which are all excellent!) - her little one shot, crowns and other trinkets, somehow stuck with me a lot. It's quiet and understated and just catches something about the characters to me.

A Common Chord by sallysavestheday ( @sallysavestheday)

I loved him first, Maglor liked to tell himself. Fingon and Maglor and Maedhros, loving.

Just so obsessed with this dynamic. Sally's language is as always so creative and vivid and good to read; the characters in this are so vivid and breathing. This fic is warm and cold at once. Please read it.

Silence Stretched as a Shadow Between the Trees by Melesta ( @melestasflight)

This is what Maedhros wanted all along, this is why he selfishly stole Fingon from his duties and brought him here at the edges of Beleriand. Because here, there are no houses or banners, no wars to fight, no rules of propriety. They are not the eldest sons of great fathers, nor lords of mighty kingdoms. To the forest and its cycle, they are no more worthy than the mayflies that emerge and die within a single turning of the Sun.

A late entry, published a few days ago; but I've already read it twice, so I think it has to count. I'm always a sucker for art writing and location writing, and this has both in droves. Just really beautiful writing and great character work; this is kind of cheating as a compliment to Melesta, but what a wonderful wonderful Fingon. Aurgh. Love the osanwë work in this as well.

I was also going to include Red by the same author, but I think I actually read it last year. Go read it anyways.

Oh everybody waits so long by polutropos ( @polutrope)

In the summer of 2017, Fingon is called to the scene of hit-and-run while on duty. He's shocked to discover the victim is Maedhros, his ex-boyfriend he hasn't spoken to in two years. Over the next six months, they stumble and fumble their way back to each other.

I am jealous of this fic's ability to render the Silmarillion believably in a totally different world. It takes a lot of writing chops and a lot of brain juice to do an AU this different, and boy do you pull it off. This is emotional, intense, and quite often funny. I think about it a lot.

The ficlet collection in this universe is also so so fun!

On the same note - Hearken Still Unsated by the same author.

“For how many years have we two listened for the echoes of the Music of Creation in the oceans and lakes and rivers? And yet we will never be sated. Like the water in which they say it lives, the Song does not rest but ever moves and changes. It may pool in a great lake for an age and then pour down into the Sea in another. It fills whatever spaces it can and flows by whatever paths most easily open before it.”

When the Noldor return to Middle-earth to make war on Morgoth, only rumours reach Menegroth of their reasons for coming, but Doriath's minstrel experiences their loss and longing through his connection to Music and the gift of his Queen. Years later, he is sent to the Feast of Reuniting and meets the Elf whose grief he felt. A story about the Eldar returning home, their connection to the land and to each other, and their relationship to Music and fate, love and free will. 

Not a fic from 2024, but I did read it in 2024. One of the most lovingly-crafted, carefully made fics I've read. No word is out of place. Foundational to the ship. Check it out.

arrangement of flute and harp by jouissant ( @jouissants)

“What sort of man leaves his lover abed with his brother? Fingon, hast thou ever heard of such a thing?”

Incredibly tasty character dynamics in a lot of ways. The writing is delicious and vivid and extremely witty at the same time. I love the character voices in this most of all - so sharp and well-defined, fitting for the ebb and flow of the fic. The way the characters are intertwined and tangled up together is so striking. And the smut was really hot, which goes without saying for the author.

Mockingbird by littlewhitemouse @littlewhitemouseagain

One of his captains had asked him, “Maglor, do you not sleep beside with your brother when visiting him?” and Maglor had replied, “I do, as it makes it easier for me to sleep,” and his captain had said, “Which is good, because you do not usually sleep,” and Maglor had said, “I do not.” But his captain had then asked, “but doesn’t Prince Fingon also bed with him, on account of their completely secret and frankly astounding incestuous affair that no one knows about (and I certainly don’t myself)?” and Maglor had replied, “Yes, and that makes it harder to sleep.” On account of that being a full and complete explanation, Maglor’s captain had said, “Ah,” and that was the end of that conversation.

This caught me from the absolutely-hilarious description and kept me for each word. You can probably tell this is a very funny fic, but it is also an extremely thoughtful and earnest fic, an incredible Maglor character exploration, and a gorgeous rendering of the world and customs and clothing and jewelry and AHHH. Love this fic. Frequent re-read.

In Memory to Dwell by EilinelsGhost ( @eilinelsghost)

"I was healed, they told me. As ready as a soul could be." Bitterness laced through Finrod's words and he drew the robe close about him once more. "In what way is this readiness? Is there no longer healing in Námo’s halls?"

Immediately after his reembodiment, Finrod shuts himself within his chambers and allows none but his mother to come near. When Eärwen is called away, Finarfin must navigate his grief at this new separation and both father and son wrangle together with the toll the First Age has left upon them.

Really thoughtful and carefully crafted examination of elven culture, disability, reembodiment. The author is extremely precise with her language and her characterization; the little details in the text really make this fic very striking and real. I loved how this balanced the family dynamic (and Finarfin's longing for his son as a child again) against the adult separation. Bittersweet in the best way.

And a lot of philosophy, which is suitable for Finrod, ha.

Finrod/Sauron One Thousand Nights Esque AU by am_fae @meadowlarkx

In which Finrod does not die at Tol-in-Gaurhoth, but begins an extended game of wills as Sauron's captive. Mairon is intrigued by the mysterious Elf singer. That's all there is to it.

Cheating by posting the whole series but GAUGH this is just so good. I was chomping at the bit to learn how Lark was going to wrap this one up and it SO delivered. This is tender, brutal, and so crisp. It left me wanting so many contradictory things for the characters (escape. love him. escape. stay) and dug at the core of goodness and corruption in such an interesting way. As always I am blown away by Lark's dialogue and POV writing. Just really great stuff.

And that is all, for now! I unfortunately read less fic than I wanted to this year, so I know I missed out on some gems. I'm thinking of putting together a quick list of some favorite short fics and drabbles, if I can find them (I have lost more than I thought) - keep an eye out for that! And always feel free to add on to this post with your own recs. :)

[barrenclan]

Chonny Jash's cover of The Moss seems very patfw-core to me. I think someone's brought it up before but I'd like to specifically point out some of the new/changed lyrics that I think fit

But everything you see isn't everything that is

Every thing you think to be, every thought you can't dismiss

The lives we try to lead and the time we try to give

Well it's all a fallacy, we continue to relive

^ Cats like Pinepaw and Rainhaze's curiosity about what's beyond Barrenclan territory, how cats like Cootstorm try to discourage that type of thinking and how their actions unintentionally lead them to their fates. Also very cyclecore

And every thing will live, just as every thing will die

Every foe that you forgive, and every friend that you deny

Every single first hello, and every single last goodbye

Every smile that you show, every tear that you hide

^ In my head I'm picturing an amv/pmv and for this part I'm very much imagining a sort of slideshow section about contrasts and various events: Barrenclan/Defiance, Rainhaze and Ranger/Rainhaze and Asphodelpaw, Pinepaw and Saturn/Pinepaw and Wild Rose, Slugpelt and Cashew/Slugpelt and Dustfeather. Idk if that makes sense

Well, legend has it that we're all just doomed

And we've ruined our society

Well, legend has it that we dug our tomb

Which we'll lie in for all eternity

^ Barrenclan's whole staying as punishment for their cowardice ideology

Well legend has it that, the world once knew a whole palette of lovely blues and greens

Well legend has it that, our corpses lie a foundation of insincerity

^ what Barrenclan's territory used to be - blue and green - and what it is now - on a foundation of corpses

*Attempts to Jashify Raz* *Attempts to Jashify Raz* *Attempts to Jashify Raz—

I've seen a lot of people in the server talking about Chonny Jash, he seems pretty fun. But if I'm honest, I'm more of a Johnny Cash fan. :P

Ooh, yes! You've targeted me with a TMBG suggestion, I actually went ahead and added "Don't Let's Start" to the playlist but I love this song too.

Even when you're out of work you still have a job to do Even when you don't know what it is Your job knows what it is What it is is it's coming to get you

And when you wake up you can feel your hair grow Crawl out of your cave and you can watch your shadow Creep across the ground until the day is done All the while the planet circles 'round the sun

Haha, that is funny irony. But I agree with you! Isn't it interesting how despite being named that way, "Defiance" doesn't allow any of its members to defy Deepdark?

Compliance We just need your compliance You will feel no pain anymore No more defiance

Fall into line, you will do as you're told No choice fatigue, your blood is running cold We lose control, the world will fall apart Love of your life will mend your broken heart

Will Wood is ever-popular, of course, though I never got really into him. I can see this is as a Pinepaw song!

All nightmares start as dreams and I hear my subconscious screaming They say that beauty's just skin deep So naturally, please show me your

Bones, bones, bones, let me see your bones Well, I don't wanna know if the feeling follows home Bones, bones, bones, hell, we're all alone If I come home, baby, will you show your bones?

They say that beauty's just skin deep So Ana stands and rends the rancid meat from her

Oh... Rainhaze and Slugpelt song.

Are you dead or are you sleepin'? Are you dead or are you sleepin'? God, I sure hope you are dead

Well, you disappeared so often like you dissolved into coffee Are you here right now, or are there probably fossils under your meat?

Defiance song! Spefically, I could see it as from Ranger/broader Defiance's perspective as he navigates the group.

We're at a revolution And we're baying for your blood We're laying down the law And your name's mud

Cause you say you fight for us Cross your heart and hope to die You're the bully in the playground and we'll hang you out to dry

Oh yeah, I remember this song from the IncuriousCat PMV. I like it! "Nowhere King" is also a Deepdark song, so that creepy children's song-esque music does fit with the series. If anyone wanted to edit together a trailer it'd be cool!

Perfect. No notes.

Actually, someone's already made a PMV to the comic with the song! You can check it out here.

I don't think it's been suggested yet! It's a Pinepaw song, of course.

I'll cut my hair (Ooh) to make you stare (Ooh) I'll hide my chest And I'll figure out a way to get us out of here

I can't really think right now and this place Has too many colors, enough to drive all of us insane Are you dead? Sometimes I think I'm dead 'Cause I can feel ghosts and ghouls wrapping my head But I don't wanna fall asleep just yet

[day-drawn-blog]

Jealous over Astarion's affections

Pairing: Astarion x Reader -- This is set in Act I

I got triggered by some flirtations banter between him and Shadowheart and I realized, my tav, if anything like me, would probably feel extremely jealous too. We are not together yet, so do I even have a claim on him? I needed to write down this scenario.

Tags: angst, fluff, sadness, angst, fluff, then maybe eventually smut because I do love that

Part I. Crowned light moon of mine - I found you too soon

Part II : Lace your heart with mine Let your sleeping soul take flight

Part III : maybe tonight I'll rest in peace

Part IV: There is much to do and I still want to live

Part V: Our futures bound, our bodies known

Part VI : These ain't my sins, I broke my chains

Part VII: You are not mine and am I truly yours?

Part VIII : your blood like wine, invite me in

Part IX: I'll welcome my sentence and give you my penance

Part X : I can't go yet...don't let me die

--------

What a day. As you all were sitting down next to the campfire, your eyes couldn't help but wander at Astarion. While you all were fairly new to each other, you noticed, Shadowheart was quite comfortable around Astarion. and Astarion was acting quite familiar around her too. You wished you didn't see that. So you quickly averted your eyes. Every one else seemed to be busy being merry, laughing, drinking and having a good time. So why couldn't you relax?

You stood up, intending to clear your head. Why do you feel such a sharp pang. You don't love him. You barely know him, he may not even be a good person for all you know. What had you hoped? That he would favor you over everyone? But why... is it because, you yearn...

You yearn for him.

Your heart lit up. And then, you remembered, he didn't, yearn for you. He likes Shadowheart. The beautiful Shadowheart. And she is powerful. Of course he would. She was like a dangerous flower. But a flower all the same. And you? Just a nobody, with no past, and a future you cannot envision. Nothing to your name. Except for a sword, bound to you by a pact. Power. To dispel enemies. To fight your way in this madness that has engulfed your world. But they weren't enough. Not enough for him to yearn for you...

You ran.

Through the woods, far away from your friends, and the warm fire. Through the darkness, like your racing mind. Till you were out of breath in a field bathed in silver moonlight. And the world was quiet. And you felt welcome by Nature. And loved. By the world around. There was not a soul around, and you broke down, in tears. As you felt sorry for the state your heart was in. And how brutally it was crushed. You blamed yourself for even getting your hopes up.

You wailed.

Your cries could not be heard by anyone here. You felt grateful for the serenity. You lay on the grass, hugging yourself. Before long, you closed your eyes, and were drifting off due to exhaustion. The day was hard. The night even more so.

Your light sleep was interrupted by the sound of twigs cracking under approaching light footsteps. You jolted up and were shocked at the shadowy figure looming over you. Instantly your hand reached for your Pact Weapon, but the other party - just as shocked initially - cried out in self defense. "Its' me! Astarion! Please, I did not mean to scare you. Please."

You lowered your weapon. But he had some explaining to do.

"I am sorry, I - I didn't realize it was you. I - I thought you were someone else. A bandit. And I, I was going to well... I was hungry."

He took a deep breath. Resolved to his fate. "I would never hurt you. Or any of my friends. I want you to trust me."

"Alright, let's say that is true, what did you want with this.. bandit? You wanted to loot him I suppose." You put your weapon away.

"That's the other thing. I am not sure, if I should be telling you this, but, I am so hungry, and .. and I have been very unlucky tonight, you see."

"Did Karlach not leave you any food? Or were you so distracted, talking to Sha- other people, that you forgot to eat?"

"I, I need blood to survive."

Silence followed. Deafening silence. He looked down. As if he was ashamed. Then looked up at your with pleading yes.

Your eyes widened in disbelief. Incredulous, you couldn't believe you had missed the signs that were there all along. Everything pointed to him being a Vampire. So that boar..... But now what? There is a Vampire in your midst! OMG. Had you just put your entire party in danger?! You and your stupid trusting heart. What now? Should you kill him?

"I never, please believe me, I never hurt people I know. Those who are my friends. But please, I am very hungry, I just need... a little bit.. it will help me fight better, and make me feel like myself, again".

He knelt down. On his knees... "If it isn't too much, I only need a little bit - or you are free to stake me".

You looked down at the sorry state he was in. This man who you were yearning for, on his knees, pleading you. He was pleading for your blood. That was the only problem. You didn't want him to, but wanted him to not be in such a state either. You wanted to help him. There went your stupid kind heart again. You never learn.

"Will it hurt?"

Astarion looked up - incredulous that you even entertained the idea. "What? Oh! No, only a little prick. And I can be extra careful too -"

"Does it have to be the neck? Because I don't want-" "And you don't have to - if you don't want to" He had stood up. He lifted your right hand, and lifted it to his lips - placing a light kiss. "I am more than happy, with your hand. May I?" He looked up. A darkness in his eyes. Hunger? Greed? Deception? Maybe all of it. You nod slightly.

He caressed your hand with both of his, dragging his lips over your wrist sending sparks through your body. This felt so wrong, yet your body liked his touch. You could smell his hair, bergamot. He was taller than you. Lit up in the moon, this man was gorgeous. And dangerous, as he was just about to prove himself to be. You looked away as he bared his fangs. You hated anything piecing your skin. Hoping you don't feel a lot, you closed your eyes, and you did not. It was barely a prick like he promised. You were grateful.

After a while, you decided this was more than enough of a favor. You tried withdrawing your hand. He got the hint. He let your hand go and stepped back, and looked at your with a grateful smile. "Would you like me to...escort you back, to camp?"

Should you let him? Weren't you running away from how he was making you feel. Wouldn't Shadowheart notice? What would she think? But, how could you refuse him. After all, you may never get another chance...to walk with him. Through the woods. Just the two of you. Even as friends. Or strangers. You grasped at what you could get.

You two walked back in silence. Him next to you. Every now and again you would look at him. He seemed lost in thought, smiling. You figured he must be thinking of her. Your heart sank, and the gratitude you were feeling at being able to walk next to him, quickly dissipated to pangs of sharp pain again. What started as a romantic moonlit walk quickly turned into an unbearable awkwardness for you, and you wished you were back already. So you quickened your pace.

Very soon, you could see the warm glow of the fire. What a relief. You just need a hug. From Karlach. Or Halsin. And you could forget about the unceremonious way you let your heart pine for a man out of your reach. And upon reaching camp - you did just that. You forsook Astarion immediately and without another glance at him, ran to Karlach and buried your face in her, lest you start crying again. You didn't care what he did, whether he went back to Shadowheart, you did not want to witness that.

Afterwards when the whole camp had quietened down. You hung around with Karlach, Gale and Wyll. You assumed, Shadowheart was in Astarion's tent. And you dare not look that way. You asked those lingering - what their reason to live was. Did everyone have something to live for? What would they do, after all this was over?

An interesting discussion followed. You felt you got to know your comrades a bit better. It made you feel warm. The cold that was left due to the lack on one was filled by the warmth of many, and you smiled. You liked it. And you liked your new found friends.

Later that night, you lay in your tent, and tried to drive away all the thoughts about how no one would miss you. If you were not there, or how you were not as interesting as some of the others. And as you fought hard, with yourself, you realized, that there must be others like you out there who needed someone to know them, to look at them, and value them. And you realized you had a purpose. You could be needed. You could carve out a meaning for your existence in this crazy world. You wanted to be there for those that needed you. You will be the hero. And that would be the reason to exist, you would love yourself, so you can love those who needed to be loved.

And with that comforting thought you drifted away.

Part II : Lace your heart with mine Let your sleeping soul take flight

[aonungyou-shit]

Hi!! , I just read one of your fics and absolutely loved 🥰 I’ve never requested anything before but I saw that you’re are open so here goes nothing…

A Tsu’tey x reader ( jakes younger sister) who was one of the first dream walkers who was sent ahead of her brother and went to graces school to learn along side the children of the clan who they had hoped would be seen as less of a threat and could lean more and get abetter footing in the clan for them , when the school was attacked the reader ran away scared of what the rda was capable of asking the clan for help and since she was still considered a child they took her in when jake gets to there he’s told his sister had died and instead he comes to find her alive within in the clan mated to Tsu’tey and with a family of her own but she’s terrified of her brother

Hi Hi so so terribly sorry its taken me this long to respond! That is an excellent idea and i wish to kiss your brain because the FLAVOR this has is mwah! I hope you enjoy this

Actually i quiet enjoyed this a little too much.

To Lose, To love, To be afraid

When you came here Around four years now you were fresh to the world of possibilities. You were 17 one of the youngest personal that had been selected for the avatar program. Down on your luck you reluctantly joined. You had never seen yourself live the life you currently had.

You were clumsy at your feet in your new body and new height. Young was your avatar too. Seeing as how some older avatars and Na'vi were just taller than you. Dr. Augustine had been your guide in your new life. The school had been running for 8 years successfully and you were new to said studies. Lucky for herself and you, you were quick to learn.

You were always by yourself. never really fully talking to anyone the first few months. But then Neytiri was the first one to speak to you. You spoke to her sometimes until one day where she caught you outside of school following the gentle flowing of an Atokirina

"what do here Sully?" She asked you stopping you from following any further. It wasn't until she spoke that you realized just how far you were from the RDA camp.

"oh Pardon me. I guess i just got too caught up in Pandora's beauty"

From then on you continued to talk as if you were nothing else than sisters. She has made great company while you were extremely homesick and missing your only family Jake and Tom.

then Came Sylwanin and Tsu'tey. You knew they came to school. Tsu'tey sometimes when ever given the chance and you had grown to really grow fond of them. A little circle.

Grace had been happy that you had made such progress within the year. You were shown how to hunt, what and what you shouldn't eat. You were being taught much more than grace could teach. Little by little the earth you knew as your home was now a long forgotten past.

And then tension grew. You were dining waiting for Sylwanin and Neytiri when you heard the hushed whispers of the Omatikayan

"Sky demons do not belong here, Walk in a suit of flesh and plan to take over our way of life, We must do something"

"Do not be foolish. Hush your howling and continue to eat least of all do not cause trouble"

"I just think we should speak to One of them. they continue to destroy our land, coming here not knowing what to do"

You felt guilty yes, Felt like this could all be your fault and yet you knew that it wasn't the case. You were just here lucky to be one of the people to hopefully unite humans and Na'vi people.

But the fates are cruel and unkind.

Somehow without your Knowledge Sylwanin and a few other hunters had Destroyed what Humans saw most valuable than some 'savage' lives.

In turn causing one of your friends to die. With a broken cry you yelled helping Dr. Grace to get the remaining children out alive. And with it you ran way with them too.

Your heart sank when you realized that somehow you had managed to drag Sylwanin's body back to the people. Begging Praying that somehow she could still be alive.

Heartbreakingly that would never be the case. Mo'at's cries or anguish, Eytukan's wails of rage and the silent sobs of Tsu'tey and Neytiri was all you could hear. You wanted to cry. Hell you did cry, But your crying could never be the same as them. Life is sacred. You had learned that now. So many lives were lost. You knew that sooner or later you would have to wake up from this horrible sight and awaken in your human body.

But all you did was beg and cry with the family that this was not the way it should go. You spoke that if they banished you. If they sought to kill you then you wouldn't mind. A life for a life.

However Neytiri refused. Knowing that you had done all you could to save her people's children and bringing back what was sacred to her family clan.

You were young. You were like a baby and for that reason perhaps too had Mo'at allowed you to stay.

But you could never let go of this guilt. You told them that you came here to seek peace to hopefully live united. But humans can be cruel and no doubt would never see anything wrong with killing sentient living beings.

For humans can be selfish and don't see people as people. But obstacles.

You swore that you were of the people. That you would do what you can with your human body to help the Omatikayan people. But you knew maybe not all of them trusted you. You had grown wary of what you say or that of how you speak.

When you awoken in your human body you went to console Dr. Augustine. Who in her heart break yelled and screamed that what they did was detrimental to what they were trying to accomplish.

But her status meant nothing to men with power.

Threatening her to silence.

"How are the people" she asked you sometimes when you came back from your walking with the Na'vi. And you relied what information you could. Wary of prying ears.

It was only weeks and already You had before one of the people. You would soon be able to make Your bow from home tree. Neytiri congratulating you. and begrudgery Tsu'tey as well.

He Grew to like you once before. But after the death of his promised he had grown to be avoidant of you. Heartbreak was a rather hard thing to get over. You can deny it all you want but you had lost two friends that day.

"You did well" He spoke to you.

You couldn't shake the feeling the immense guilt. The spark was brighter yes but it was anger, discomfort hatred for what you once were.

"are you well?"

"I am, You have proven yourself to be with us"

"That is not what i mean Tsu'tey"

He bit his lip. Ears flattening as he looked at you. You were once what he hated. But it never was your fault. He couldn't forgive that which was only ever filled with greed.

But you weren't to blame. and he could not be angry. For better or for worse things happen as Eywa deems it to happen. He lost someone and in turn found someone with you.

"It keeps me up at night"

"im so sorry"

"do not apologize, You were never the one to blame." he spoke hand now resting on your shoulder. " you and i are one in the same now. You are one mighty fine warrior. I am sure if you were to choose a mate then they will be lucky to hold you"

" i dont think i deserve such thing"

"why? did someone say something like that? just say the word."

You couldn't help but laugh just a little as you sat down. It would be a while before neytiri would call you to receive your paint and be celebrated as that of the people so you could only figure to kill time

"once, Back home"

"Someone said that to you?"

"Yes. But i hold no ill will no malice. Perhaps they are right"

"none sense! Y/n you are mighty and you are strong! Who ever said that is foolish"

You saddened a little. To have someone say that it was different. It felt nice to be told you were something that you never saw yourself as. "Humans are cruel"

"i know"

"Humans kill each other. they kill that of what gives life. Our mother's dead. She died a long time ago and we killed her. Tsu'tey if i am honest i dont want to return. I don't ever want to blindly follow that who brings sorrow and destruction. Tho i know i cannot leave my human body behind." You didnt know where this was coming from.

But he just sat there and listened to your troubles.

" i think it be cruel to leave my potential mate while i live with humans one moment and return the next. That is not right i know it. To be without your other at night. Its dreadful to think about"

Tsu'tey listened to that and somewhere deep in him. Something enlightened. Some crazy idea. he would bring it to mo'at once you had chosen your mate.

However somewhere inside him he began to frown. Was he angry, no he was..lost. Truly he had never held romantic feelings for anyone but Sylwanin and even then it was solely cause he had so much time to try and develop something for her.

Once he was chosen to be her's well he saw no greater honor then to burry his thoughts of choosing someone for him, and here you were disassembling everything he build up.

However now he was promised to Neytiri and while he saw her as a younger sister he had taken that role too. Eywa had her plans. But had she placed you right here in front of him? making his heart beat a little more for you than anyone else?

"Do not worry im sure something will work out"

"Ah Sully there you are" Neytiri said now looking at Tsu'tey and then at you. "good Tsu'tey can help too"

He frowned a little before sitting in front of you and Neytiri behind you.

Your eyes were down cast as you felt the two Na'vi paint you. Not wanting to think too much. There was a lot to think about but that would be all for tonight.

Tsu'tey was having trouble however. How could someone he have hated for being a demon now become someone he longed to protect too? no. You weren't a demon now.

His fingers now lingered on your lips as you stared at him. his eyes staring at where his fingers remained. Before looking at your eyes.

You were uncanny and yet not at the same time. Your eyes were just a little smaller than theirs. Your lips a little fuller than theirs. Your figure was just the tad bit more fuller. You were a dream walker yes.

"You are Omatikayan now"

you wanted to cry a little. but didnt want to ruin the paint before the ceremony.

But once you returned to your human body you didn't tell Grace. You could not tell her. Even if you trusted her. For you were going to try something absolutely insane with the help Of Tsu'tey.

-*-*-*-*-*-

"Y/n Sully is dead" Was all grace got suddenly when your lifeless body came back. Your mask hanging off your face where no doubt this planets atmosphere had killed you.

She wept of course but pushed on as to guide the new people But she mourned you as she had Sylwanin, as she mourned the many Na'vi children who caller her Sa'nok.

You were happy. You had lived 2 full years with the Omatikayan people. In your once fake body now your fully in soul and mind. In those first few months of being fully Na'vi Eywa seemed to test you. You weren't strong like these Women You had always left the fighting to your two older brothers. So you took up the role of a gatherer.

But you were mighty as Tsu'tey had said. Which caused him to seek guidance within The Tsahik and Olo'eyktan. He didn't want to dissapoint them he hadn't wished to grow to fond of you. But you had helped save many children. You adored your role now that you were of the people.

And he could not deny his feelings anymore. He wanted to have you if you would ever so much as liked to have him too.

You had been out when Neytiri had brought you back. Your basket filled with goods as you entered Tsahik's hut.

"Oel ngati kameie, Mo'at" You greeted. Setting your basket in between you and her. Her gaze was one that had looked through you a lot of times. one that before had caused a chill to run up your spine.

That time she had seen you.

She told you what Tsu'tey has asked. She had never seen him be serious like he had been in asking, pleading with her to be with you instead. She understood that Her remaining Heir did not love Tsu'tey and so with guidance from Eywa she let it be.

You would not take long to return those feelings. And it wasn't long after that of which you two had mated that you fell pregnant. Life was not as it once was for the Omatikayan people. Never had a sky demon infultrated their clan and lived along side them.

It wasn't as it once was. The threat of the RDA still rose high. And yet you had welcomed a healthy baby boy into pandora.

That had been almost six months ago and counting. Tonight you had decided to accompany Neytiri in her hunt. Tsu'tey had been reluctant of course, Having to take care of a six month old and then you with your prominent belly full of your second child.

However as night fell You watched as Neytiri pointed to a figure.

You looked from where you stood. An Avatar. It caused your body to run cold. You had not seen an Avatar in over two years. But never the less you followed Neytiri's lead.

Jake Had been told that you had lost your life due to the harsh world of Pandora. Now left alone in this cruel life. Tom and yourself lost to this world that he wanted to help conquer. He hadn't seen your body. But Dr. Augustine had been frank with him. This oxygen killed you.

The Training killed Tom. And now facing off the dangers he was going to get killed too.

Within a blink he had seen two fierce figures jump to his aid. Slaying that of which he could never understand. Before stopping to thank one.

Then They turned to look at him.

"Don't Thank, You do not Thank for this. This is sad" She spoke with vigor as she had been furious.

Jake Turned to look at you and in that instant you felt your body run cold.

"you... Jake or Tom?" you asked between a hushed tone as you looked at said Avatar.

"Y/n? but. But your dead! Dr. Augustine said you were she saw you, you were dead" he exclaimed. At that tone you instantly knew.

Marine. It was Jake and maybe that's why that sinking feeling of fear dropped to your stomach.

Jake knew your features. They were one of a kind. He knew instantly he did and yet it made no sense as to how you were here in front of him. How were you alive when you were dead? You died two years ago did you not? meaning you were now twenty one? but how could it be

how is it possibly to continue to live once you died.

"Quiet!" Neytiri spoke breaking you out of your haze as she began to ask you in Na'vi to come. To let him be lost to the forest. With fear in your heart you did. Running ahead of her and by default Jake as he tried to reach you to talk to you. Trying to get answers and thank you at the same time.

You wanted to retort back before you stopped. The great mother that had guided you here long ago now there she was. Floating gracefully down to your brother.

which he then swatted at.

"Kehe!" You yelled

"Ftang nga!" Neytiri retorted.

Jake Paused before trying to swat again.

"Rutxe. No" Neytiri said now holding his arm as she was the one closest to him. "Atokirina!"

You looked at each other in awe as more seem to go down around him. "Atokirina.."

Neytiri turned to you now. "Lolu Aungia"

Biting back the fear you felt you nodded as you helped guide Jake back. Neytiri telling him to follow.

And when Jake would wake once again in his human body he had quiet a bit to tell back.

-*-*-*-*-*-

When Dr. Augustine was welcomed back to the clan She sought you our first and foremost. She could not believe what jake had told her. It was impossible to believe. That an Avatar was no longer that but a breathing conscious body that once was human.

Moreover she could not believe when She had tried educating Jake on the roles of the people that Tsu'tey no longer was the next Olo'eyktan in line. She could not believe that you were now a mated pair

She was morbidly curious about your offspring too. So once she had gotten permission from Mo'at she went to talk to Tsu'tey.

How big he had gotten. How strong he was.

"Tsu'tey, Oel ngati kameie" She greeted him formally before he turned to look at her

"Sa'nok! Oel ngati kameie, how long its been"

She agreed and Asked him to sit down and talk. And talk they did. She asked how life had been treating him and if he was happy. And once that was all she apologized.

"Forgive me for what they done to Sylwanin"

"Don't fret. It is not your blame." He spoke reassuring her "she lives within our great mother now."

"yes i know...How, no.. is it true that you and Y/n have.."

"It is. She has bore me one strong son. And we await the arrival of our newest member of our family clan"

As if right on time you barged into your home. A babe strapped to your chest resting atop your swollen bump. and a basket resting on your hip.

"Y/n!" Grace spoke without even thinking. hugging you tight. Ever so grateful that Jake's words ran true. You were alive. You were spared.

"Grace?"

"You're alive."

You couldn't help but smile. Trying to hug her as best as you can before your son began to fuss.

"oh Shit sorry" she excused herself seeing the little tot fuss at suddenly being squashed.

"What is his name?"

"Tsaro Rongloa Tsu'tey'itan." You proudly stated Sitting down finally to let yourself rest.

Dr. Augustine stayed and spoke with you two. Far longer than you had thought you may have allowed before she had to leave. Leaving you and Tsu'tey to speak.

"Something troubles you"

"i am afraid as to Why Jake is here"

Tsu'tey rose a brow.

"you've seen first hand how the RDA are. And what greed does to them. My brother was a marine when i left and he came here armed. And i know he is family but i am afraid"

"i dont like him either. He is a threat to my family"

You smiled feeling his large hand on your growing bump. Looking down at your son.

Your fear was justified. You lost friends and people to the RDA. And if what jake told you was true about Tom. Then you had lost family too.

Your fears were Tsu'tey's but you felt safe within his embrace, unbeknownst to you however Jake would be what would bring you peace one day.

======================

please excuse if my ages make no sense. I really couldnt see how to mathmatically make it make sense so im sorry if it troubles anyone.

EITHERWAY i do hope you enjoyed it

[mcflymemes]

MISCELLANEOUS SENTENCE PROMPTS *  collection #9

i just wanted to take another look at you.

next time, you can clean up your own mess.

come on, let's go dance.

i will make you so sorry for what you've done to my family.

it might be done now, but it was beautiful, and it was real.

you felt it. i felt it. don't lie.

maybe we're both gross inside.

it's the same story told over and over, forever.

everyone in this bar is talented at one thing or another.

that's just the truth.

are you fucking kidding?

i felt like we had a secret, just the two of us.

i hate the fact that you wore a football jersey to dinner.

you're afraid to be alive. you're afraid to live.

i do this! time after time after time! i do all this shit for other people, and then i wake up and i'm empty! i have nothing!

just look at me while you do it.

we took down some very big guys.

i would never say anything bad about your father in front of you, but your father is a sick son-of-a-bitch.

thank you, by the way.

i saw the way you were looking at me.

this place never felt like home before.

you can fuck me if you turn the lights off, okay?

i was trying to be romantic.

the art of survival is a story that never ends.

you're a conformist.

you know what? forget i offered to help you.

can we stop at the library?

i have a ring on my finger. we have a child together.

don't repeat that... but yes.

don't you understand what i'm trying to tell you?

i'm not supposed to be talking like this.

i'm gonna stay here a few days.

i'm sorry that i ever met you.

keep your voice down.

the car's a little dinged up.

you got any other questions?

i opened up to you, and you judged me.

you forgot where you were going in the first place.

could i ask you a personal question?

we have a very unconventional chemistry.

why did you order tea?

did you ever have to find a way to survive and you knew your choices were bad, but you had to survive?

you have poor social skills. you have a problem.

i don't sing my own songs.

i get anxiety when i have to meet people.

do you feel that? that's emotion.

we're not exactly friends here.

have some respect for what i do.

what you have right now goes way beyond just this.

i just don't feel comfortable.

i could get used to this shit.

you don't have to show it to me. i've been looking at it all night.

you're full of shit.

i'm telling you the truth.

if i really wanted to fucking bother you, this is what i would do.

you might not have experienced the shit that i did, but you loved hearing about it, didn't you?

you wanna go back to baltimore?

humanity is just nasty and there's no silver lining.

what's wrong with my hair?

who's that? who are you with?

it's really amazing what you're doing.

let me just touch it for a second.

don't make such a big deal.

you're a hypocrite.

can i tell you a secret?

i can't begin to explain that.

i love you. i knew it the minute i met you.

i think you might be a songwriter.

just get the hell out of here.

it's not bullshit! i read it in an article.

maybe that could work.

you say more inappropriate things than appropriate things.

nobody ever asks about you, huh.

did you just write that now?

there will always be a part of me that is sloppy and dirty, but i like that, just like all the other parts of myself.

maybe its time to let the old ways die.

you didn't do anything. it's not your fault.

if i don't say this then i'll never forgive myself.

all you got to do is trust me.

how am i being rude?

i haven't dated since before my marriage so i don't really remember how this works.

you want to get a drink sometime?

i'm not flirting with you.

you gotta pay attention this time.

you had nothing to fucking say.

why don't you have another drink?

let me walk you down to your car.

you're just fucking ugly.

i won't do this again. i won't come and find you.

you know, what i'd like is for my boyfriend to love me.

we have to change the color of your hair.

have a good one.

i think it's pretty fucking good.

the world will break your heart ten ways to sunday.

what do you want me to play?

you gotta be careful.

what are you trying to say?

can you forgive? are you capable of that?

i thought you were doing it.

i used to think that you were the best thing that ever happened to me, but now i think that you're the worst thing.

[pentacass]

Sol: Now do the rest of the prompt list

my fandoms may change but my followers will forever be unhinged lmaoo thank you <3 here we go!! [prompt list]

4. Hiding/sneaking/hidden movement

“One with the shadows.” “They will never see me coming.” “Don’t miss me while I’m gone.”

5. Taking a short rest

“Rested and ready.” “I’ve had enough. Let’s move.” “That helped…more than I’d like to admit.”

10. Sending them to talk to an NPC

“Do I have to?” “Perhaps they’ll say something useful.” “A bit of conversation couldn’t hurt…much.”

13. Picking a lock

“Child’s play.” “A second is all I need.” “Lock, meet key.”

14. Looking at a globe

“Humbling, to be reminded how vast the world is, and how small we are.” “So much to explore…”

15. Looking at an astrolabe

“Are the other worlds as chaotic as ours?” “Wonder if I’ll ever get a chance to see them.”

16. Looking at a telescope

“Do not make me use that in the day.” “The stars look beautiful.”

18. Looking at a nonmagical lamp

“A lamp. Nothing more.” “I am not rubbing that.”

19. Noticing a trap

“Step carefully, or lose a limb.” “I can disarm that.” “Such shoddy handiwork.”

21. Comments/reactions near an Act 1 location

Emerald Grove: “A defensible position. Are its inhabitants capable of doing so, I wonder.” Goblin Camp: “This place reeks of savagery. But it can provide an army, if you know how to harness its strength…rancid as it is.” Rosymorn Trail: “Some views on the surface are worth leaving home for.” Underdark: “How I’ve missed the Underdark. A part of me will always regard it as home.”

22. Comments/reactions near an Act 2 location

First time entering Shadow-Cursed Lands: “Be wary. These shadows unsettle even my heart.” Last Light Inn: “A safe refuge. How long can it stand against such darkness?” House of Healing (surgical chamber): “Reminds me of the torture dungeons back home.” Moonrise Towers: “Be on your guard. We approach the heart of corruption.”

23. Comments/reactions near an Act 3 location

Rivington: “Chaos sowed, disorder blooms, opportunities abound. We should take advantage of it.” Lower City, Guild entrance: “The Guild’s a good source of information. Just don’t let them bilk you out of your coin purse.” House of Hope: “I’ve stolen from many, but never a devil. How exciting.” Bloomridge Park: “A peaceful place for reflection…at night, at least.”

24. Lines said in the Morphic Pool or High Hall

[Morphic Pool] “The Netherbrain lies ahead. Steel yourself - it will not go down without a fight, but oh, what a fight we will give it.” [High Hall] “The final battle awaits us. If we live, let it be in victory. If we die, let us go in a blaze of glory.” [How are you feeling?] “I feel good. I feel alive. My blood sings at the thought of battle, and my blades ache to dance once again. Even if these are to be our last moments, I shall live gloriously until the end.” [Ready to be a hero?] -laughs- “I am not a hero, and never will be. I live for the thrill of victory, not the accolades it brings. But you will be the city’s hero, and I shall be proud to call you friend.”

25. Party banter with Astarion

A: “Your eyes are more receptive to sunlight with that tadpole, aren’t they? Why do you still complain so much about it?” S: “I hate the sun.” A: “Come now, must you insist on being a soggy little blanket all the time?” S: “And I hate you. I tend to kill the things I hate.” A: “What, do you intend to kill the sun?” S: “One day.”

26. Party banter with Gale

S: “You mentioned you would go somewhere remote if you were ever to leave us, Gale.” G: “Yes, I did say that. What brought this to mind?” S: “Any chance I could persuade you to detonate the orb at Menzoberranzan’s gates?” G: -weary chuckle- “Assuming that I would find myself in such desperate straits…no. The point of heading somewhere remote is to prevent needless casualties.” S: “That city deserves it, but I suppose it would be a pity to lose you in such an endeavour.” G: “Ah, you do care.”

29. Party banter with Lae'zel

L: “Your ferocity on the battlefield is impressive, drow. It is a pity that you fight like a coward.” S: “Of course you take issue with my methods.” L: “You have proven your ability as a warrior, yet you waste it skulking about in the shadows. It is unbecoming.” S: “Let the gloryhounds be bait as they wish. I will take my kills while you take all the hits.” L: -scoffs- “You should not take pride in being fragile.”

30. Party banter with Shadowheart

SH: “You look unsettled by the shadows, Solistre. Now I’ve seen everything.” S: “These shadows are unnatural. I question your wisdom if you are not unsettled by it.” SH: “My Lady protects me from the ill effects of her curse. I have nothing to fear.” S: “Nothing to fear, yes - until Shar no longer has use of her little pawn.” SH: “Your barbs mean nothing to me. My immunity is proof of Lady Shar’s favour.” S: “You close your eyes and revel in blindness. Perhaps your ‘Lady’ took more than just your memories.”

31. Party banter with Halsin

H: “Are there drow druids in Menzoberranzan, Solistre?” S: “Worship of Lolth takes precedence in the city. Reverence directed anywhere else is…frowned upon.” H: “I see. So, none at all?” S: “None that I know of.” H: “Ah, well. I was just curious what are the common forms a druid would shift into in the Underdark...”

34. Party banter with Minsc

S: “Boo was watching me sleep last night, Minsc. Tell him to stop it.” M: “Oh? I apologise for his rudeness. It is most unusual. Boo! You will stop watching Solistre sleep!” B: -explanatory squeaks- M: “Ah…I see. Boo says you smell like a drow we once knew, someone who tried to hurt him once. But, even though you smell bloodier, he says you are to be trusted.” B: -more squeaking- M: “And he thanks you for handling him gently despite the surprise last night.” S: “Whatever. Just stop watching me.”

36. What are some situational dialogues they would say when something happens to another companion or you talk to them while in a quest-specific location (such as commenting on Karlach’s heart, Elminster visiting Gale, visiting Cazador’s mansion, etc)?

“Shadowheart did well to defy Shar. It will hurt deeply, but she cannot stop moving forward. Her former family will be hunting her now. Let us ease her burden, and make their lives difficult.” “Karlach looks much happier with her heart fixed…even if partially. She is too liberal with her hugs now, but her smile is a light amid this Shadow Curse.” “When a god tells you that suicide is one path to redemption…that is a good sign to stop listening. Gale has proven an intelligent man thus far. He will find another way. He must.”

37. How would they respond to a player character prompting them with, “Tell me about yourself”?

-tired scoff- “Very well - let us put your foremost questions to rest. Yes, I am from the Underdark - the city of Menzoberranzan, in fact. Yes, desperate circumstances forced me to the surface, and no, I will not elaborate. I am not a spy for my brethren or the Spider Queen, nor am I a threat to you - for now. I do not ‘like’ the surface world; it is merely where I live now, and I have no strong feelings about it. Save for the sun, perhaps. That wretched thing could do my eyes a favour and explode someday.”

38. If a player character asks them to consider consuming tadpoles or using the Astral tadpoles, how would your Tav/Durge respond?

“Have you lost your mind? A tadpole nests within our skulls and you think to consume another? Power or no, the consequences will be brutal - mentally and physically. Nothing it can give us is worth the cost.” [Persuade Success] -slow, heavy sigh- “Fine. Power always comes at a cost, but if it helps us survive, then… -glances away- I suppose I have nothing left to lose.” <a/n: regretful, depressed>

39. If romanceable, what lines would they say if a player character prompted them with, “Can I kiss you?”

“Why don’t you come here and find out?” “I’ve been thinking about you all day. Come here.” “You’d better, before I wither without your touch.”

40. If romanceable, what would they say if a player character asks for a “last kiss” at the Morphic Pool/HIgh Hall?

“No better excuse, hm? But then, you never needed one. Come here.” [kiss happens] “I have always fought for battle itself, to find the most vicious fight worthy of taking my life. But today, and every day after, I shall fight to see the next sunrise - with you, for you.”

[thewritingstar]

So hear me out for a fic idea yeah u know how after gray and juvia fought for the first time and they were seated on top of the guild, let's say her and gray were talking for a bit and then he asks where she go from here and she says "just like the rain wherever the wind blows" and she leaves

This request is from 2021.......I-I don't even know what to say.

I do hope that you like this. I love exploring Juvia's mind and feelings in these <3

we are switching povs like changing lanes in this one lol.

Please enjoy <3

--

He was officially out of breath. His lungs were screaming and while it wasn't the longest battle he had ever encountered, it was still a contender for one of the hardest.

How did she even do that? Lock him in a chamber of water? He thought for a second that she would kill him. She easily could have and he assumed that she might have. There was a flicker of something in her eye when she released him and he wasn't sure if he should be thankful or not.

Usually you don't stay and talk with the enemy. Usually one of you is dead or you walk away. Not this time. Instead of running or hurting her further, he had saved her. She slipped off of the rooftop and for some reason, he couldn't let her die. It wasn't in his moral code to kill someone and even thought this guild was trying to do that to his members, he didn't think it was her idea. He knew what it was like to be a pawn in someones game.

Her dark blue hair that was once curled perfectly into big ringlets had now started to loosen. She looked paler when she first showed up on the roof but now? Now she looked more human. She seemed like something just happened and he couldn't place it. He was always a mess after a good fight but she sat perfectly still and looked...rejuvenated.

"So what now?" Gray asked.

He thought she was like a deer. Her eyes were wide when he spoke and her head turned sharply towards him. It was as if no one had ever spoken to her before.

"What do you mean?" She questioned.

She felt weird staring at this man. What was weirder was the sky above them. A beautiful cyan that she had never seen before. She almost started to cry but held those tears back. She had just gotten the sky, she would not let it darken.

"Where are you going to go after this?"

The question confused her. She was a Phantom Lord member. She was S Class wizard in the most frighting guild. Where else would she go besides there? Deep down, she didn't want to return. She had failed to kill a member but how could she? Somehow kindness leaked from his pores even as he was trapped in her spell. She wouldn't remove that light from the world. She couldn't.

She wanted to say that she was going back home where she belonged. Did she belong? Did she really want to return to a place that didn't care about her well being. They cared that she was strong. They cared that her magic could frighten anyone. But thats all she was. A weapon of destruction.

She looked out towards the fields. Flowers grew within the sea of green grass. Oh how she wondered how they smelled. The feeling of the soft petals. Its been a long time since she had seen a flower not be drowned by her presence.

While she stared at the field, she thought about what he had said during battle. That he would fight to the death to save a member of Fairy Tail. It hurt her. She knew that no one would do that for her. That if she were to die, not one member would bat an eye. No flowers would be at her grave.

She wasn't even sure if she would have a tombstone.

Juvia Lockser. The one no one knows. The rain woman, she is as forgetful as a raindrop. One hit of the pavement, and then that was it.

Phantom Lord didn't care for funerals. They didn't care for much in general.

She wondered if she was someone else, maybe she would receive flowers on her deathbed. Could she ever live in a world where her death meant something? Could someone ever love her enough to shed tears for her permeant absence?

Where are you going to go from here?

That is what he had asked and he was still waiting for her answer.

The clouds had left and she wanted to stay here forever and gaze at a sight she had missed. Oh how the sun felt against her skin! This is where she wanted to go.

She wanted the sunlight on her forever. She wanted to see the flowers bloom and the snow melt. Those dark clouds had cleared something up in her.

Perhaps maybe, just maybe, she could find a home.

Home.

The word felt foreign in her mind but she liked it. She wanted to be wanted and to be loved and remembered. She didn't need a legacy. She didn't need to be the rain woman. She just wanted to be-

"Juvia?"

Her head snapped to his.

He said her name. It sounded like heaven. The way he said it, it was almost like she had forgotten her own name. She couldn't remember a time that her name sounded genuine from another person. There was so much good surrounding him, she almost couldn't believe it.

"Yes?" Her voice almost cracked.

"I asked where you were going to go after this? You can't possibly think your guild is good?" He said sternly.

He was right. This beautiful stranger was right. He had shown a kindness she had never found before so simply. She wanted that. She wanted to be kind. He had saved her. A man from an enemy guild saw something in her and decided she had a life worth living.

A life she should treasure.

If the sky could be clear and hopefully, then she could be too.

Little did she know, he thought that too. Gray knew she was stronger. Much stronger than she let on. Right now all he saw was a fragile woman. Someone who needed to be healed. He knew what it was like to feel hopeless and lost. He was lucky he found people before the darkness corrupted her. Most would think that she was off in the deep end. Too lost to be saved. Not him.

Even in the height of their battle, he could tell she was a gentle soul. Someone who needed a light to guide them, even if it couldn't be him. He wanted to scream at her and tell her to leave that guild. To have her run into Fairy Tail's arms and to never look back. Maybe she would. Maybe she could find a place that treated her better.

No person should look content falling to their death. There was no fear in her eyes and it almost broke him. It wasn't his place to tell her things, just question if she was alright. He didn't know her, but he knew she needed something better. Somewhere to thrive.

When they weren't fighting, she looked delicate and soft. He wouldn't place her as a dark wizard, not a chance. She was a good person, he could sense it.

"No. Juvia does not believe it is good. Juvia is tired of being seen as a monster. She shall find a new home." She stood and dusted off her coat. She began to walk away. "Thank you Gray. to just for saving Juvia's life, but saving Juvia's future as well."

"Is there a chance I'll see you again? Where will you look for your home?" He didn't want her to leave oddly.

"Hopefully." She smiled. "Just like the rain, Juvia will go where ever the wind blows. Maybe one day she will find her way back to you."

"I wish you the best." He waved at her and watched her walk away until she was nothing but a memory.

---

Thank you very much for reading/liking/ commenting. Thank you to whoever submitted this once upon a time ago, it means a lot and im sorry it took so long.

request/ questions/inbox always open :)

[khr-guilded-cage]

Uchiha Yuka loved the world she was reborn into, for all its brightness and too much sound for any shinobi worth they salt

Children are allowed and treated as children, to grow up and old without taking a life. People cared about innocents, about murders, about ruined lives, they FIGHT it and don't try to pretend things like child soldier and killers are normal and accepted

Its was...peaceful. The kind of peace Obito dreamed of when they were children

The Red-Eyed Demon was at peace, finally

Except....the Mafia

Yuka hated them, hated them with the same force the burning fire in her heart had

Children still denied the right of a childhood if the Mafia got them first, taken from their families and freedom and lives in the dead of the night to never been seen again, kind and sweet children like little Sasuke was, forced to train and fight and die with their this strange fire they have or are pretty enought or valuable in some way. Denied to right to choose their own fate

Just like her now

Vongola...

Little coffins for little corpses. Yuka is tired of dead broken children and old man toying with their lives and sacrificing them

She remembered the massacre, the corpses, the blood and smell and the betrayal

Itachi...

Kinslayer

Blood of my blood, we were cut from the same cloth, made of fire, and thus, we are all meant to burn

The Uchiha were mean to burn, their corpses consumed by the gentle and beautiful fire her clan wielded for hundreds of years, their funeral rituals folowed religious by all of them.

For clan who breathes fire from their lungs just as well as any of the ancient dragons of the legends

They werent mean to die by the hand of kin

Shisui-kun did not perish by fire either, he drowned in the cold and unforgiving waters. His yes open and empty looking at the night sky

But death...absolute thing it was, taking both innocents and guilty...

...is a mere annoyance in the eyes of the gods of old

Yuka had a new chance to protect her family, to protect children

Those people calls themselves 'Mafiosi' and 'Bosses' in the same pride Shinobi of Konoha did while training they children to kill their 'enemies'

They murder for blood and money and orders and influences, criminals that refuse to face who vile and cruel they truly are

Pround of begin a criminal bathed in blood? Of begin part of a village Family and using it as a excuse? Thinking himself above common criminals because of it? More civilized and organized and loyal than them?

Sawada Iemitsu and Timoteo di Vongola - for all their preaches of vigilanism and peace they started to shove down her throat for the moment they got their heir wont be so easy to control - are just as vile, manipulative and dangerous as any Yakuza scum she fought in her hometown

A Mafia Don was a odd mix between a Clan Head and a Daimyo. She had no desire to be either

She clearly wasn't quite the heir they wanted

A vigilante, she liked the though of that, she loved how people around here cared, about the dead children, the unnamed corpses, the blood that tainted pelple hands, about the cruelty and the kindness in people's heart...

Sawada Ieyasu

Giotto di Vongola

Maybe she could be that, to save and protect civilians instead of hurting them, even if a ruthless killer like her didn't deserve such redemption, she was given a change to stand and take it anyway.

Maybe she could bring the Vongola back to its roots and put stop to the cruel Mafiosi and Famiglia that terrorize normal innocent people and drag them into a world of blood and darkness

Maybe she was born with the same fire as her ancestor after all, like Indra, like Madara, like her mother, willfull and beautiful.

Maybe she could change it, and free herself foem those chains

[wintersshowers]

RONAN and ADAM and... ETHEL CAIN

(trust me its gonna be so good)

My thoughts on “crush” by Ethel Cain and The Raven Cycle (because my niche right now is rereading the raven cycle for the first time in 4 years and I just happened to see Ethel live and I cannot stop connecting them) 

As a prelude to my lyric/quote breakdown… Ethel Cain is a trans woman who writes hauntingly beautiful music.. She is religious and from the south, which is a HUGE part of why it is so undeniably apparent to me that she can be connected to specifically RONAN (gay catholic from the south with his barn house). Her music is so amazing and she is an awesome story teller so I hope you give her a listen.

Her most popular song CRUSH is so goddam Ronan and Adam I had to write this because I needed to put it somewhere. 

“His window's already passed, so he's shooting at the glass

Keeping guns in his locker, and he denies it

Like it's actually important, but he lied 'cause I sure did watch him

Showing up wearing black, and he knows that” 

His daddy's on death row, but he'll say it with his chest, though”

This is just very Ronan angst i don't feel like i need to explain.. 

“His friends move dope, he hasn't tried coke

But he's always had a problem saying no”

OKKK soooooo lets get into the the dream thieves helloooo 

Yes Kavinsky and Ronan’s relationship is very hard to define but whatever it is he takes up a lot of his time in dream thieves.. And he loves coke (or whatever the hell he dreamt up)… and Ronan is VERY BAD at saying no when it comes to any sort of challenge from Kavinsky.

OK NOW LETS GET INTO THE GOOD STUFF

“Can you read my mind? I've been watching you.”

“As they moved through the old barn, Adam felt Ronan’s eyes glance off him and away, his disinterest practiced but incomplete. Adam wondered if anyone else noticed.”

“Adam finally sat down on one of the pews. Laying his cheek against the smooth back of it, he looked at Ronan. Strangely enough, Ronan belonged here, too, just as he had at the Barns. This noisy, lush religion had created him just as much as his father's world of dreams; it seemed impossible for all of Ronan to exist in one person. Adam was beginning to realize that he hadn't known Ronan at all. Or rather, he had known part of him and assumed it was all of him.

The scent of Cabeswater, all trees after rain, drifted past Adam, and he realized that while he'd been looking at Ronan, Ronan had been looking at him.”

“When he opened his eyes, he saw that Ronan was looking at him, as he had been looking at him for months. Adam looked back, as he had been looking back for months.”

“Couldn't fight to save your life, but you look so cool”

“I’ve watched the evening news, Adam,” Gansey snapped. “Why don’t you let Ronan teach you to fight? He’s offered twice now. He means it.” With great care, Adam folded the greasy rag and draped it back over a toolbox. There was a lot of stuff in the carport. New tool racks and

calendars of topless women and heavy-duty air compressors and other things Mr. Parrish had decided were more valuable than Adam’s school

uniform. “Because then he will kill me.”

“Good men die too, oh, I'd rather be with you, you, you”

“See, Adam Parrish is wantable, worthy of a crush, not just by anyone, someone like Ronan, who could want Gansey or anyone else and chose Adam for his hungry eyes.”

HELLOOOOOOOOo are u kidding…. 

1st Gansey is the definition of a “good man”

2nd Adam is OBSESSED WITH THIS the whole damn series and is constantly attempting to model himself/who he wishes he was after gansey 

3rd to tie it all together… the whole series its like oh yea gansey is about to die (along with everyone else if we are being real) 

“I owe you a black eye and two kisses

Tell me when you wanna come and get 'em”

PLEASEEEEEE like this is MY WAY of describing the ANGST and SLOWWWWWburn of their relationship. When I hear her sing this I cannot help but giggle and kick my feet because of how amazingly it fits. 

“I only want him if he says it first to me”

"It was Adam’s ribs under Ronan’s hands and Adam’s mouth on his mouth, again and again and again. It was stubble on his lips and Ronan having to stop, to get his breath, to restart his heart. They were both hungry animals, but Adam had been starving for far longer.”

We all know the Ronan longing and it being a HUGE secret that he likes Adam... and Adam like knows and its like lol embarrassing (as if he isn't down bad as well)

ADAM is like oblivious to the legitimacy of his feelings until ronan gives him a little kissssss and then it's like he is all like “what is love” 

“He looks like he works with his hands, and smells like Marlboro Reds”

HELLOOOOOo this is so adam are u kidding

“Ronan crossed his arms to wait, just looking. At Adam's fine cheekbones, his furrowed fair eyebrows, his beautiful hands, everything washed out by the light. He had memorized the shape of Adam’s hands in particular: the way his thumbs jutted awkwardly, boyishly; the roads of prominent veins; the large knuckles that protruded from his long fingers. In dreams Ronan put them to his mouth.” 

“Adam twisted off the lid. Inside was a colorless lotion that smelled of mist and moss. Replacing the lid with a frown, he turned the container over, looking for more identifying features. On the bottom, Ronan's handwriting labeled it merely: manibus. For your hands.”

“Something's been feeling weird lately

There's just something about you, baby (there's just something about you, baby)

Maybe I'll just be crazy (I'll be crazy)

And piss him off 'til he hates me

Yeah right, he fucking loves me”

…… do i even need to say anything??

[my-corneroftheworld]

Child without love

Summary: Namor finds a marine biologist with the powers to control water and deep knowledge of the sea and is intrigued.

Word count: 1,4k

Tags: no minors allowed, "water-bender" reader x Namor after the events from Wakanda forever, possessive Namor, mutant reader, asphyxiation, war, violence, harsh language, the usage of y/n, nausea, vomiting, pregnancy scare, afab reader

Ps. I seem to be back on track. As usual, I accept the constructive criticism below and I am grateful for your loving support :)

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6

Chapter 6

I began spending more time with him. Though it would always be during odd hours. Early mornings and late nights. I suppose a lot of his duties get in the way during the day and in all honesty, so do mine. Training is as rigorous as always, Namora has however complimented me at times now that I am capable of fighting underwater. Attuma and Izel were overjoyed about the courtship, constantly teasing whenever they get the opportunity. After asking Izel to formally start teaching me their language and culture she has been nothing but diligent. I have so much to learn and I am so grateful to have such a patient and kind person supporting me. I often tell her but she always tries to humble herself. Being here I feel a bit isolated and having someone who truly wants to get to know me and I them has made all the difference.

I went to his place to get ready, not that it would make any difference. Tonight is the first time I leave the cave. He asked me to come see Talokan and I jumped at the opportunity. Izel would often talk about its beauty and I feel I need to know what I am striving to protect. I can't control the water pressure for too long so he said I would have to use a suit so I won't accidentally die. A hand gently placed on my shoulder pulls me from my thoughts. I turned around and was greeted by the man who occupies most of my thoughts. He pulled me in quietly for a soft kiss to which I gladly participate.

"You look as beautiful as the moon, my love," he says in between breaths. I chuckle a bit, flattery unfortunately has very much an effect on me. I just hope I am not wrong to feel this comfortable to be in his arms.

"Thank you, but I guess you won't be seeing it for long as I am going to have to put on that submarine of a suit"

"Submarine?" he asks. I look at him confused until I remember he hasn't lived my life or is even from the surface world. I keep on forgetting that I am not home.

"It's those machines that people use to explore the sea levels that have high pressure" I clarify.

"Ah, of course, I have encountered a few. Never knew what they were called though" He looks into my eyes, searching. For what? I don't know. It's moments like these that make me wonder what he is thinking. If he really loves me or it's just another ploy to get me to stay. I suppose sometimes I search in his eyes too.

" Before we go down, I wanted to give you something," he says before handing me a chocker. It was gold lace and adorned with emerald green jewels. I can tell what kind they were but they were gorgeous.

"Thank you, you shouldn't have," I say before trying it on but the threads didn't want to comply with my instructions. I hear i small snicker then a "may I?" I embarrassingly nod and allow him to put it on.

"Thank you," He always tries to bring something for our meetings, pearls, and seashells and sometimes he would visit my old house to bring some of my books. For some reason, I'm always surprised when he does though, this amount of pampering isn't what I am used to I guess.

"Let's go then" he guides me out of the cabin and shows me to the suit at the pool's edge. I maneuver myself in luckily I manage to do without his help and on his we emerge ourselves in water. It felt strange not being able to feel it on my skin but somehow I could still feel it around me, reassuring me. He swam in front of me, looking back from time to time while I followed him. The sea got darker and darker as we moved away from the cave. After a short swim, he stopped and moved towards a circular stone head. He put his hands in the hole and put the ends of his palms together whiles stretchy out the rest of his hands. Suddenly a whirlpool appeared and he motioned me to get in with him so I did. The pool had a strong current. It became hard for me to move in this already stiff suit but I loved it. I've tried commanding a whirlpool but it took a lot of focus to even get a decent twirl. Seeing and feeling it around gave me chills and a whole new perspective on its power.

Once the whirlpool ceased I was surrounded by complete darkness, nothing but the light of my small flashlight attached to my helmet to give me consolidation. I drifted forward trying to spot him and saw a faint light coming from above a bolder and in that light a figure that I assumed to be his. When I reached the top and stood by his side I finally saw, the origin of this light was Talokan. It stood there in all its wonder amongst the dark blue sea. We swam towards it and I was struck by awe, It was majestic, everything from the quaint markets to the towering buildings. As we swam around the beautiful kingdom surrounded by busy people, I found him throwing little glances my way. He wasn't telling me but I know he was communicating his pride of his kingdom. It wasn't from a place of arrogance though but from of love. I smiled. I thought I understood before but now being here and seeing it, I completely understand the importance of protecting this place.

After spending hours there I was plagued by a sense of exhilaration and unease. I wanted to be there like fully emersed in the sea, touching the fruits from the market and the ground beneath my feet. I know one day I will but right now I'll have to be satisfied with just looking.

"Did you like it there?" he asked whiles drawing circles on my skin. We went to bed after the trip and I was so exhausted that I ended up not saying a word. I suppose it's a lot for me to process.

"Yes... I did. It was astonishing" he lets out a soft chuckle.

"Good... It is your home now" I looked at him and silence fell between us. It wasn't unwanted or awkward but comforting. Being in silence with him was my home in ways I cannot explain. Caressing each other seeking no more than each other's company is all I need. But somethings knawing at me and I don't what it is. We continue like this until I fall asleep.

Upon waking I realize he is not there. He probably left early for a meeting or something. I make my way toward my hut to change and prepare myself for training. I was walking along the pool when I felt it again, the uneasiness. But this time I realized what it was. Suddenly it came out, I barely had time to react before vomiting on the corner of the path. Izel saw and rushed towards me.

"Are you alright?" she asked concerningly

"I'm not sure" I rarely vomit or feel nausea even during my period. My period. It hasn't come yet. It could just be late, that happens at times.

"How many days has it been since I came here?"

"About 30 days. But why are you asking? Come inside so I can go get you some medicine." She pulled me to a hammock in my room and went. I might be but how can I check. Should I tell her my suspicions? No, I need to keep to myself until I know for certain. It might just be a fluke or the pressure of being underwater for as long as I have. She came back with tea and encouraged me to drink.

"It's good for you when you feel sick. Drink and I will tell Namora that you will not train today"

"Thank you" She smiles before leaving me once again to my thoughts. I have no clue what the hell I have gotten myself into.

[hythlodaeus-mynewoldfriend]

WIP Monday

Tagged by @new-old-friend and saw @sasslett post originally for just the last line but the last line I wrote is for something so very self indulgent currently. But it overall has been awhile since I posted any kind of wip. So have this little long bit of Demos and Sib in Endwalker. So spoilers for that since this is in the game events after the lvl 85 dungeon. Tagging in turn: @the-unending-journey @mimble-sparklepudding @bnuuywol @umbralaetherand I don't know too many others but please tag and share! I like seeing them!

Demos shifts, letting his shoulder touch Siberite’s back to let her lean against him while he quietly sketches out Anthea and Hythlodaeus, both looking up towards the creature high in the sky. He glances out of the corner of his eye when her shoulders move to sigh though none could be heard. Her eyes haven’t strayed from the happy couple and the smile she wears is overshadowed by something deeper she’s trying so hard to hide. “What’s got your mind far away,” he asks softly, hands moving over the page with a practiced grace.

“What makes you think I have something on my mind?”

He gives a quick chuckle, “You have that pensive look on your face. Same one you claim I get when I’m thinking too hard.”

Siberite can’t help but smile as she leans her head back, “You do think way too hard Demos. Too much for such a young man.”

“So what’s got your mind going this time?” Her head rolls to once again take in Hythlodaeus and Anthea laughing at some inside joke, their arms wrapping around him as he laces their fingers together. Watches as Anthea places a kiss on his cheek, any conversation they’re having growing silent despite how close they sit to the warriors. Watches as the two wave upwards, their talks more animated, and all the while Siberite’s eyes glass over with unshed tears. “Are you trying to compare your relationship with theirs?”

“No,” she sighs, sitting up right, bringing her knees to her chest, “I just-. I just wonder if we have any right to leave everything as is, we could change things so easily.”

“Sib-.”

“Just look at them, Demos, look how happy they are. They’re so happy and we both know how its going to end….and I don’t think I can live with leaving everything as it should be when they look so happy and so in love. What right do we have allowing something so beautiful and pure and warm to eventually die and be forgotten. What if Emet-Selch had a point?”

“That bringing this world back was the only option?” She looks down, shoulders giving a quick shrug. Demos sighs looking between the couple and the drawing, “Who says that they will be forgotten?” He nudges the sketch book towards her, “You and I are here aren’t we? When we go back our memory will still be there and down the line someone’s gonna find this and maybe they don’t know the full story but they’ll remember the love stored within it. Maybe they replicate it for a legend because no other couple can encompass what they’re conveying, so on and on it goes with their faces, this moment, their love is remembered.”

“Pretty confident people will like your art that much in the future,” she says with a small smile, Demos responding with a light shove, “But what about them now? They are living this now and don’t they deserve to stay happy?”

He hums, letting silence fall as she looks at him expectantly, “Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“Did you ever watch how your grandparents acted with one another?” 

Her brow furrows, “No. I think they died or stopped speaking to us by the time I was born.”

“Oh, well okay doesn't change my point,” he clears his throat, “When I was growing up I knew my paternal grandparents, got to see them everyday, saw how they both loved the other, and once I was able to understand that there was a concept of love I recognized how pure and warm it felt. It reminds me a lot like them.” He smiles as the two move to sit side by side, “One of my first memories was watching them sit exactly like that on the porch as everyone danced after setting up a new house and they would many times after that until she couldn’t walk much and there was never a chair big enough and comfortable enough to fit them both. She used to say it was fine because it wasn’t like sitting on the stairs, it wasn’t to me and I said as much. Thought it unfair that their time on the stairs was coming to an end, think I was havin’ a hard time with learning and accepting that one day they both would be gone. That their world and way of life would no longer exist, didn’t know when but it was going to happen.”

“But you couldn’t change something like us dying. We can though.”

“And still their lives would end. We don’t know when, but whether the Final Days happened or not, those two will one day no longer exist.”

“They could have a happier ending to their lives though.”

“And how can you know that for sure? Hythlodaeus said he sacrificed himself, for all we know Anthea went with him. Couples like them, the happiest ending they could ever ask for is for their story to end on the same page.”

“And what does that mean?”

Demos laughs with a shrug, “Don’t know entirely.”

She rolls her eyes, “Well did your grandparents end up dying at the same time?”

“No,” he exhales, “Gramps went first and then she did, but not before Grandma saw me finish repairing the obnoxious chicken clock. Said she wanted it over their graves and to not ever repair it again.” Demos shakes his head, “And no, I don’t know why she had that stipulation because they both hated the damned thing with a passion. The whole town did too, being a quarter malm away and still hearing it. If I ever come across them on our trips in the sea I’ll ask in your stead.”

Siberite laughs, “Good, because I want to know the reason also.” Her eyes glance over the various researchers working, laughing, laying out in the grass, reading, or watching as Emet-Selch assists in making the creature fly. “You know how he used to tell us stories about this time? Talk about all they accomplished, the work they did, and mostly gloss over the people he once knew, tales that I could never believe. I knew he was telling the truth but it didn’t feel like the truth to me.”

“Did finally coming here make it true?”

“No. It felt more like a dream, like the tales he’d told, but seeing them,” she pauses nodding towards the happy couple, “hearing the joke I have no context for and the subsequent laughter from the group of women that passed by here earlier, the one guy taking lunch on that rock, and seeing how at ease the old man is even when taking the little jabs Hythlodaeus makes….it feels….real. They all were once real and so much like us.”

[countrymusiclover]

1 - Never Get a Break

Part 2

Family is More than Blood

@secretdreamlandmentality

Mature don't read if you're not 18 +

When we're young, we're taught the distinction between a hero and a villain,good and evil,a savior and a lost cause.

But what if the only real difference is just who's telling the story?

I come from a long line of the villains in the tales you've heard about vampires,werewolves, witches, and everything in between.

The school behind these gates protects the secrets of people like me and my children.

My name is Raelyn Mikaelson, I was born a siphon witch of the Gemini coven. The wife to Klaus Mikaelson and the mother to his four beautiful children…the only vampire in existence to be able to have children once they turn.

I could go into the long and complicated story and how all this happened but you already know everything for the most part. So let’s jump into what has happened since two years ago we finally put the Hollow down and we rid the world of its magic forever.

Hope, Alina and Missy are eighteen now. Andrea is finally a teenager. I can hardly believe it. Little Henrik is seven now. And if I’m right Lizzie and Josie should be fifteen and will turn sixteen soon. I know if you were still here you would be over the moon about all of this.

Hope isn’t a full Tribrid yet she still needs to become a vampire. Missy has become a heretic like me and J. Oh Alina and Jackson are going to school together and she has now become what I call her a werewitch. Andrea should follow her path someday when she and Henrik trigger their wolf curse. Then my little boy will have to die and become a hybrid just like his father.

Caroline has run off again in search of a cure for the merge before her twins turn twenty-two. I try to remain hopeful she will find one since I can’t provide it for her anymore ... .oh Jacob and Hayley are living with us in Mystic Falls even though we aren’t actually there at the moment.

You know Klaus, he promised me the world and everything and he won’t go back on a promise. Regardless I love and miss you with all my heart, I’m not sure why I am writing these letters even though you can’t ever read them, but it has become a hobby. I’ll write more later.

Love you mom, Rae.

Closing the book on my lap I lifted my head upwards seeing my husband come in from the kitchen in our hotel room. He insisted we have the best sweat possible. He smiled, tossing me a blood bag that we had kept in the mini fridge. "With all the letters you wrote to her you could have a whole book written, love."

"Yeah a book that no one can know about. With it saying supernatural creatures are actually real. I'm not sure a publisher would believe anything I'm saying." I sent him a glare tearing open the blood bag drinking from it slowly.

He came and sat down beside me making the bed dip at his weight. His eyes softened when he focused on me. “I could just compel them to ignore that little detail.”

“Then it wouldn’t be real, Nikkaus. If I ever wanted to tell our story. I want everything to be real. Everything to be true and see people’s reactions. But that’s not what you want to talk about is it?” I sent him a smirk, being able to read him like the back of my hand after all these years.

Klaus flopped down beside me on the bed crossing his arms behind his head. “So where do you wish to go in this big wide world next?”

“Nik, we’ve literally almost been all over the planet. New Orleans, then Paris, then Italy. I mean honestly we can’t just snap our fingers and run all over the earth.” I shook my head at him rolling onto my side so we were facing each other.

He reached up playing with hair in between his fingers while he spoke. “We’re vampires, Raelyn. We can do whatever we want. Especially you and me. After all, we are two of the strongest creatures on the planet.”

“Ah I see. You’re still holding back what you want to talk about. Spit it out or I’ll find out through a tickle ear.” I threatened him with a playful smirk on my face scooting closer to him.

Klaus used his vampire speed vamping above me trapping me in between his body and the mattress of the bed. “You said that we would try again for another baby once the kids were older. The triplets are adults now so…can we?”

“Oh my god you’re ridiculous Niklaus. I have only been denying for two years and it’s already driving you crazy!” I smacked his chest with my hands feeling my face turn red at the thoughts running through my mind.

I wouldn’t lie to myself and say that I didn’t want to sleep with him again. I mean we would always be attracted to one another forever. But we had both agreed that until things had settled down that we would do it again. After Lucien/Marcel and the Hollow we had been separated every time we were so close to a stable relationship with our kids. I couldn’t live through anymore time apart from the man I loved. "You're ridiculous, Nik. Are you seriously that needy.” I couldn’t not tease him not believing that he would be so demanding of us sleeping together again. I mean of course I enjoy it who wouldn’t when you have someone like him.

I attempted to get up from the bed but he snagged my wrist holding me still in my place.

He spun me back down onto the bed holding my wrists above my head. “Raelyn, surely you’ve felt the desire too. I mean it can’t just be me now..”

He trailed his hand underneath my shirt feeling me jump at his fingertips. “Nik please , ah!”

Klaus leans down, capturing my lips with his in a deep hungry kiss. I kissed him back gently before he started moving kisses down my face. “Ah ah I see what I do to you, Mrs. Mikaelson. That you are so sensitive just as I am.” He kissed down, nuzzling his nose into my neck as he went.

“Ohh Klaus!” I moaned, throwing my head back against the pillows. One hand was bawling the fabric of his shirt in my fingers.

He moaned, crashing his lips onto mine again where I wrapped my arms around his neck. “See you don’t want to leave this bed just as much as I do. Hmm…you can’t….help…yourself either.”

“Klaus stop. I…if you’re going to tease me…get it over with please!” I scooted up onto the pillows feeling my chest heaving up and down with the veins going underneath my eyes.

Klaus sat up on his knees shrugging his gray Henley over his head tossing it somewhere across the room. He moved his hands down to my shirt, tearing it in half. “Gentle or dominant, love?” He questioned throwing my torn shirt off the edge of the bed.

“Either way I don’t care. I just want you right now.” I told him, taking his face in my hands, I drew him in for another kiss.

He smiled into the kiss moving one hand through my hair deepening the kiss. Our hands were moving everywhere across each other. We both began to moan when he fisted the other's hair. “If we have another baby….ah…what should we name it.” My husband breathed out holding himself up by his hands on either side.

“Niklaus shut up and make love to me!” I began to move against him and leaned up pressing my lips down upon his. He embraced me back instantly when my fingers dug into his back, drawing blood that would heal later. He ran his body over every inch of my body he could reach, both of us slick with sweat as he moved against one another, our pants and moans filling the room.

The bed was moving against our actions where he kept hitting the specific spot that we both moaned afterwards to. He broke the kiss where I held his face in my hands tracing his cheek with him thrusting into me slowly. “Rae, I love you!” He moaned when I pulled his head downward burying my face in his neck nuzzling my nose and kissing into his skin.

“I love you too, Nik.” Grabbing a hold of his shoulders I flipped him onto his back catching him off guard where he flashed his hybrid eyes up at me.

He put his hands behind his head looking longingly up at me like this with him. His eyes scanned my neck before he sat up with me sitting on his lap. “Do you want to give this another go?” He traced his thumb over the vein in my neck.

“Absolutely. We belong to each other.” I smiled, brushing my long hair out of his way. My eyes never left his while put his head in the crook of my neck breaking the skin and drinking my sweet blood.

Not wasting a second I buried my face into his neck drinking his blood with the same gentle yet needy feeling running through our veins at this moment. He kept his face in the crook of my neck while our bodies were just molding against each other. We shortly reached our heights in only a matter of minutes where he drew his head back when I harshly tugged on his hair until the phone was ringing like crazy . “Bloody hell…you’ve got to be kidding me!”

“Who is it?” I grabbed my phone from the nightstand with me still staying as close to Nik as I was.

Hope’s voice came through the phone shocking us both never thinking we would hear something like that. “Mom. Dad, we just had to face a dragon. Alairc wants you guys to come back to school now.”

“Uh okay. We’ll book the next flight home.” Hanging up the phone Klaus sent me the same confused look before we separated and got dressed, both annoyed that we apparently couldn’t have a rest from craziness. Especially when we live in Mystic Falls.

Comments really appreciated ❤️

[junk-rats-studios]

The Crimson Star

Written by Brandon C McGee

Editor: Chris Williams

The moon has hung in the sky for about three days now. Ever since the star first appeared in the night sky the moon never falls, it shines a blood-red color that bathes the world in its crimson glory. Nobody knows what, or why this happened, but I have a better question, what happens next?

Here's what happened. It was a night like any other, insects filling the air with their unique songs, a gentle breeze caressing the world around us, and a bright and beautiful moon sleepily dozing in the heavens. It was pure bliss until screams from the other townsfolk echoed through our home. Red suddenly washed into our room through the window, a dark, dirty, unease began filling the air around us, then, everything went silent. The insects and critters outside were nowhere to be heard or seen, there was no need for torches as it was bright enough outside from the sinister glow.

I told my wife, Mariela to stay put as I quickly got dressed and rushed out to see what was happening. I ran to the center of town with the rest of the men and saw them looking up, my gaze wandered until I saw the sight myself. There was an ominous black, jagged streak in the moon, and just to its left was a crimson-colored star. The ill-colored star was a little darker than the sky and other than the moon, the only thing to be seen when looking up.

Today is the third day we've lived in this new world and we have made a horrible discovery. We can't die.

A few of my neighbors weren't able to handle living like this. A couple of families left our little town while a few others attempted to end it all. I say attempted, but it was a success, for a few hours anyway. They came back to life with a single difference, a black mark carved into their foreheads. Mortified, they tried again, and again, and again. With each new death, there was a new feature on their bodies, small horns would protrude from the head on some, claws and black, rotting flesh would show up on others, even to the point of twisting and distorting the bodies.

These poor souls became grotesque creatures quickly. They started losing their minds and would huddle in dark corners and fill the air with deafening wails wishing for death. One broke into my house, I don't know why but it was aggressive and acted aggressively. I grabbed my ax as it rushed towards Mariela and I brought it down severing the head of the creature. The horrific head rolled to a stop against the wall but the body began to stumble and slash around blindly while the head screeched in pain. I flipped the table to provide some cover so my wife could run out of our house, after she was gone I kicked the body into a corner as it continued to writhe. I looked at the wailing head and noticed the black mark. I grabbed the nearest blade, an old silver knife from the cabinet, and shoved it into the mark pushing the blade as deep as it would go, the wound started smoking as the head went quiet and the body slowed to a stop.

I sat there breathless as the body and head started to decay into dust, the thing was dead. The first real death in this new world. I left to find Mariela and found her being held by my friends' wife, Alyson. My friend, Lukas, stood close to my doorway with a pitchfork in hand ready to attack, I nodded as I emerged and went to my wife as Lukas went in to see what happened.

[tarotofbadkitties]

Bamon is mythic on many levels

As I was pondering the goddesses and men, Selene and Endymion dynamic I realized Bamon definitely hits several of the main notes in that vein, and that the characters pass through some variations on that theme before coming to each other.

Damon’s first taste of love is with this powerful immortal when he’s a human man. He’s enthralled with her beauty, freedom and power but alas...she was not to be his goddess. She didn’t love him back. But like Selene did for Endymion in several different versions of their myth, she did grant him a lesser version of immortality.

And our goddess Bonnie’s first love is this mortal, Jeremy Gilbert. She fell in love with him and fell hard, and when his time came to die, she defied the laws of the universe to save his life. We technically hit the notes of the song here with these two but...this was a dress rehearsal for when they found each other.

Now we get to Bamon, and for mythical love they actually give us THREE different myths, one of which is gender-flipped.

The first is the subject of my last post, the goddess and the mortal. While yes, technically Damon is immortal, compared to Bonnie he’s distinctly unmagical. It’s clearly stated in the series that vampires lack the ability to connect to and feel nature, and that is the source of magic in their world. Eventually the show breaks that rule with heretics, but that’s off topic, so I’m sticking to the main lore here. Bonnie can accomplish feats of magic that leave him in genuine awe. And, rather importantly, Damon first seriously considers using the cure when he thinks he and Bonnie might die in the prison world, so he might do so with her as a human. And when Stefan cures him, neither of them have reason to imagine this will result in him being with Elena because she’s still under her magical slumber with no apparent way out. And thus, we’re back to human Damon and fabulous goddess. But what kind of goddess is Bonnie in particular? That takes us to myth #2.

Bonnie’s a nature goddess of course! That’s why her powers are so tied to weather, the elements, life...and why it’s made clear several times that she will lose the power she has if she loses her life. It’s why her powers are intensified when she’s outside in the elements. And a nature goddess in love with a god of death...well that sounds an awful lot like Hades and Persephone, doesn’t it?

And this is one of those myths that has two versions...just like this show presented two takes on it. In one, she goes willingly to the god of death, but eats 6 seeds of a pomegranate and is thus bound to remain in the underworld.

In the other less romantic version of this tale, she’s dragged down there and has to be rescued by her mother, but as in the other version, she’s only able to get her a reprieve and not fully free her from the grip of the underworld and its king.

And to wrap up this jaunt of mystical madness...we have Orpheus and Euridice. Orpheus was a musician and Euridice was the love of Orpheus’s life. When she tragically died, he played songs so sad even the gods wept and they agreed to give him a chance to rescue his love from the Underworld.

Bonnie faced down death itself to save the lives of Enzo and Damon, while the show was giving us love triangle vibes. Bonnie used her magic to attempt to bring Enzo back from the land of the dead, and ultimately that ended in him trying to straight up drag her to hell with him. She failed in much the same way Orpheus did, and nearly met a grisly fate like his own. And Bonnie faced down Cade, the personification of death and judgment on the show for Damon...and we’re back to Selene and Endymion because this goddess defied all odds and saved his life.

Sure, it could all be coincidence, but I think it’s deeper than that. I think that versions of these myths have travelled through all the cultures of the world in different ways with some variation, but much of the core themes the same, and therefore instinctively they hold our attention. Even people who can’t tell you the names or exactly where they came from or the details usually heard a bit of this here and a bit of that there, and if you’re going to make a story feel epic to your audience, you’ve got to kick it old-school with the themes of the epics our ancestors passed down. I think in the Vampire Diaries with these characters and their foils, you see how strong and enduring a bond these dynamics can create when the love is true, and how much of a tragedy there is in gods and mortals entangling if their love is not true and their motives are not pure.

[aguineapigcouldntdothis]

I was thinking about that spider post you made and just, like… exploring your relationship with spirituality and religion is so cool. I don’t believe in a higher power and I don’t think that’ll ever change (it could, but I really can’t conceptualise that for me), but in the past few months I’ve been exploring what I actually believe and what feel right to me, and it’s been the best thing ever

I’ve come to the sort of vague conclusion that there is something that makes us as existing things special, we’re not just electrical signals operating flesh, and then there’s also something that makes humans special in some way. I both have no idea and exactly know what that something is, but it’s just way too abstract to put into words. I also believe in… I don’t know how to say this, but the universe? Like, I really believe in existence and meaning

For so long, I was struggling so badly because I was sort of forcing myself to be super atheist— nothing wrong with being atheist btw, while I don’t consider myself one I also don’t consider myself religious or believe in the moshiach or a tangible afterlife, so there’s overlap. But just, I remember all of these nights where I would just break down because of this feeling that there wasn’t existential meaning. And I just refused to acknowledge that… maybe there is meaning, outside of just what our brains create for us. And now that I’ve actually explored my beliefs and come to a conclusion I feel is right, I actually feel happy! I feel really happy and really good about this stuff

Antitheism in progressive spaces did so much harm to me, even though I never became one myself, I definitely internalised a lot of that stuff, and it was so shitty. I’m glad I’ve worked through that stuff, because it’s genuinely so toxic and nobody really tries to talk about it, aside from religious minorities. Like, it’s okay to have beliefs. It’s okay to be vaguely spiritual, or to be very staunchly religious, it’s okay. I really think a lot of people need to here that

this ask is truly one of the most beautiful and self reflective things ive heard someone say regarding their own spirituality. your explanation of your struggles with spirituality and atheism is something that so many people struggle with, especially in a world where so many are placed into the box of "devoutly religious" or "atheist with a strong disdain for any form of spirituality" with no form of nuance. i wish more people talked about being in that in-between area.

religion provides meaning to people, but unfortunately, faith is assumed to be solely for religious people. when in reality it is crucial that all people believe in something. if not G-d then at the very least a belief in nature, or science, or the stars, whatever. im sure you understand how important that is given the pain you felt when you were grappling with a lack of meaning present in atheist spaces.

there is nothing wrong with atheism, yet there is a lot wrong with the belief that humans should not find meaning in our lives. it is harmful to ourselves and others if we assume that we live just to breathe for a few decades and then our bodies give out and we die. i am 100% not saying people need to believe in G-d. they do not, plus fuck proselytizing with a spiky stick. however, everyone should strive to care about life and to find purpose in it in whatever ways that means to them

your story shows how important this is. you struggled with that lack of meaning, and when you found it it helped you because life felt purposeful once again. living is a beautiful thing and it carries the meaning that we give to it. if we refuse to give discussions about humanity and life the time they deserve, then we too will fall into the pattern of feeling disdain for the deep meanings they carry.

because maybe it's just a spider. maybe it hid in my shadow because its dark and i just turned a bright light on in the bathroom. spiders have shit eyesight and it went to the closest spot in which it figured it would be safe. spiders also are not capable of complex thought, although they are smarter than we assume (please learn about spider behavior its fascinating).

there are so many questions buried in this event. did the spider know i was alive? could it feel my presence? did it have any way to understand that i was safe? does it even have a concept of pain? was it acting on instinct or was this a decision it made? could a spider ever truly understand what a human is? what a human does? can we truly understand g-d? can we give life a specific meaning? do we even know what to believe? how do we choose our actions? are we the ones making these decisions or is it something deeply instinctual? are we all just like that little spider, running into a shadow for safety for reasons that evade us, and hoping that we made the right decision yet never being able to know until that fateful moment where we're either left alone or smushed under a slipper?