#the seelie is our best friend!!!

[that-foul-legacy-lover]

Hello ! First, I hope you had a good day and nice sleep and your vortex vanquisher looks amazing ^-^

Then I had another thought with foul legacy and seelie (also i love your little scenario its so cute)

So yeah you're helping foul legacy to (re?) learn how to speak and maybe write, and he secretly practice to say stuff like ''i love you'', ''thank you for being with me'', ''you're beautiful'' and some others cute sentences like that in front of the seelie because hes too shy to say it directly to you. And one day you come home and hear seelie squeaks from FL room so you go see and now hes embarassed but manage to say these sweet words to you! If he can write ig you can also expect the seelie to bring you FL letters (idk if it can be called letter but piece of paper with compliments on it haha) randomly while hes hiding in his room because baby is embarassed

I hope its clear enough ^^'

ohhhh my moon and stars this is soso cute i love this

Foul Legacy is still very insecure about how different his voice is now, how it's gone from strong and charming to low and growling- he's scared he'll sound like he's threatening you, so he practices over and over with the seelie floating and cheering him on via little cheeps. he wasn't planning for you to find out so quickly, it's just that you happened to come home earlier that day and walked in when he was practicing!! Foul Legacy was mortified when you seemingly appeared out of nowhere and asked what he was doing, burying his face in his hands and letting out embarrassed little squeaks

eventually he manages to muster up the courage enough to clasp your hands with his claws and mumble all the things he's been desperate to say since he fell in love with you. Foul Legacy blushes at the surprise in your eyes, turning away as his words trail off into flustered chittering, until you press your palm to his face and tilt his head to look at you, smiling wider than he's ever seen

the seelie chirps in satisfaction, twirling in the air as Foul Legacy hides his face in your hair, unable to conceal the delighted purrs that emit from his chest when you repeat his words back to him, putting as much love and care as possible into loving your Abyssal moth monster. maybe one day, when he has enough confidence, he'll show you the papers he practices writing on, the ones full of ramblings about everything he loves about you- but not yet. just holding you is enough right now

the next day, you find a piece of paper on your desk. the handwriting is slightly crooked, but still legible, and your cheeks warm as you read countless declarations of love from Foul Legacy. meanwhile, the seelie happily spins in midair, squeaking in mischievous joy

[moiraimyths]

The Good People (Na Daoine Maithe) | Official Trailer

The Good People (Na Daoine Maithe) is a lore-rich and choice-driven historical fantasy visual novel inspired by Irish mythology and Celtic folklore. Play as a tenant farmer from mid-19th century Ireland, whose path becomes inexplicably entwined in fairy affairs after getting robbed by the roadside and lured into the mythic and war-torn world of Tír na nÓg: A once unified land, now divided into the Seelie and Unseelie Courts. Will you escape and return home with your stolen belongings? Or does fate have something else in mind?

🍃 STEAM 🍂 ITCH.IO 🍃PATREON 🍂DISCORD 🍃

Eager to play? Certain route content is available NOW in early access on Steam and Itch.io! For more information, click below👇

Meet the Cast

Facts & Questions: The Game

🍃 The Good People (Na Daoine Maithe) is a Kickstarter-funded project currently in development. Due to the scope of the story, we will be releasing it serially over several years to Steam and Itch.io, and discounting it while in early access. The earlier it's bought, the cheaper it will be overall, and you'll only need to buy the game once!

🍂 Not all routes are currently available! As of Nov. 1, 2024, you can play half of Shae and Maeve's routes; both approximately 50k words. If you're not sure about paying for an unfinished game, feel free to check out our free demo first. It consists of Vol. 1, Book of the Traveller (the pre-route content). Differences between the demo's Vol. 1 and the paid game's Vol. 1 are marginal following our August 1, 2024 re-release of the demo.

🍃 The Good People (Na Daoine Maithe) has a recommended reading order (Vol. 1, then 2, then 3, etc.), which will correspond to the release order of the routes. For more information on our reasoning behind this, click here.

🍂 Due to its setting, The Good People (Na Daoine Maithe) will occasionally feature instances of characters speaking in Gaeilge, i.e. the Irish language. All instances of Gaeilge are linked to an internal translation tool, which is voiced by Nigel McKeon, a Gaeilgeoir.

🍃 The main character is yours to shape. At minimum, you must choose a nickname, pronouns, and one of four default appearances, the last of which can be your own artwork (instructions are included in the game's files). You may also choose to discard the True Name…

🍂 All routes, both current and upcoming, will have both romantic and platonic choice options. If you're uninterested in romance, feel free to make friends instead! No matter the nature of your relationship, you will still be able to reach the good end. (Want to learn more? Refer to this post!)

🍃 Our cast consists of two men, two women, and two non-binary characters. All are romancable no matter the MC, but some characters are asexual or on the aromantic spectrum, which may impact aspects of their romances.

🍂 If you are a Mac user and are having issues launching the game via the Itch direct download, refer to this guide for troubleshooting before sending us an ask. We strongly recommend purchasing the game through Steam instead of Itch if you are a Mac user; it is the best way to avoid issues with launching the game.

🍃 NDM is very intentionally set just prior to the onset of the Great Famine, which is both thematically and textually relevant to the leftist, anti-imperialist story we're aiming to tell. If you would like more insight into this, refer to this post.

🐎 There are secrets to be found in this game, with more yet to come. Prepare yourself for a lot of horse related shenanigans. 🐎

Facts & Questions: The Company

🧵 Moirai Myths is a five-person company based out of Canada. The core devs/founders go by Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos. All writing and programming are done by this collective, i.e. the Fates.

🪡 Moirai Myths has a two person in-house artist team consisting of Kazane, our Character/UI Designer, and Melinoe, our Environmental Designer. In addition to them, though, we have had a number of guest artists assist us with the creation of sprites, CGs, and an assortment of other materials. If you'd like to meet them, check out our about page on our website!

✂️ Moirai Myths stands with the people of Palestine 🇵🇸

Disclaimer: This description will be updated periodically. If you're reading this in a reblog, you may want to check our current pinned post for potential changes.

[shelbgrey]

Being Seeley Booth's Best friend Headcanons:

Paring: Seeley Booth x Platonic!Reader, reader x Lance Sweets

Summary: headcanons on what it's like to have Seeley Booth as your Person(greys fans know what I mean)

1.8) “not all soul mates are lovers”

MasterList

To the unknown or to strangers that see you on the street, might think your a couple. Sure your touchy with each other but your both strictly best friends and it's all Platonic.

Your Hodgins little cousin if your wondering, but your the first one at the jeffersonian Booth really clicked with.

You guys kinda became an unlike duo and people knew he was basically your body guard.

Like I said before you guys are close, so that means your arms might be linked sometime, you'll eat or drink after each other... You guys are just really comfortable with each other.

At time you do think you guys might be too close, like your afraid it might screw up your actual relationships.

“you think our friendship bothers Bones and Lance?” you asked.

“it doesn't bother Bones... She told me she'd figured if we we're attracted to each other we'd already be together”

You guys have been friends longer than you guys been in your romantic relationships, so Lance nor Temperance has an actual problem.

Lance might get jealous at times, like he might think Seeley is more attractive or he'll think you guys would make a better couple. You'll make sure to get those thoughts out of his head and you make sure Lance knows he's the only guy for you.

Lance knows your friendship is strictly Platonic, hell Seeley even helped you guys admit your feelings for one another.

The thought of you guys being more than friends grosses you guys out. You guys maybe comfortable with each other and might have shared a bed, but the thought of having sex disterbs the both of you.

“ew... She's literally like a sister to me!”

If you have a problem and you can't tell Lance you go to Seeley, you know he'll never judge you.

The feeling is mutual, he'll go to you if he has to vent about the army, work, or if he needs advice on how to deal with Temperance.

You are now the soul keeper of his dog tags, you wear them for good luck.

You guys say many things to show your affection, some loving and some inappropriate(you know its all love tho). You say things like, “love ya”, “suck it”, “hey, loser”, “shut it bitch”

Of course you usually call him 'bitch'. He knows it's a joke but he can't bring himself to call you that back.

His brother having the hots for you, but he actually really creeps you out. Before you started dating Lance his brother would hit on you when he visited DC, you told Seely about it and he got his brother to back off.

Nicknames are all over the the place, but your favorite one for him is 'bub'. He calls your 'shorty' or 'kid'.

Since your a 'squint' you say words he doesn't understand and sometimes he tries to talk like you a fails. “I need a.. What do you call it, I swabie thing”

“a what?” you asked as he digged through your drawers in the Lab.

He sighs. “come on, I have to figure out what you say everyday and you can't figure out 'swabie thing'?”

Some people do question your relationship and even try to get you guys to turn on each other or even try to tamper with your romantic relationship(*cough* Daisy *cough*)

“he's my person,”

He's very protective of you... Sometimes it gets annoying but you know he means we'll.

“if you ever touch her again, I WILL kill you!”

You guys do have fights, it's rare but if it happens it gets really heated. The fights are mostly about your guys stupidity at work.

“you could have died! You realize that?” he shouted.

“your not the boss of me! Your not my father!”

“well, if I was you wouldn't be this stupid!” he'll regret it immediately. If there was one thing he never want you to think is that your stupid.

He knows your knowledge is an insecurity. You feel like your not as smart as the others, so Seeley is always there to hype you up and remind you of the big brain you have.

Most of the time you guys will immediately make up. He'll pull you into a massive hug and tell you he's sorry over and over.

Speaking of hugs, he gives the best bear hugs. His hug make you feel extremely safe.

Being each other's best man/woman at your guys weddings.

You are the designated babysitter for both Parker and Christine. They both call you 'Aunty y/n'

Him and Temperance babyset your Kids when ever they can.

You guys love blasting music and just jam out in the car or at your apartments.

He's your shoulder to cry on, I think he's the only one aside from Lance that really seen you absolutely lose it.

His grandfather basically adopting you and you call him pops like Seeley dose. Sometime Hank will leave the nursing home just to check in on you and Lance.

You go to alot of crime scenes together, you have the same job as your cousin Hodgins, but if Temperance can't go with him to investigate you'll Tag along.

There's nothing he wouldn't do for you. You, Bones, and christine are his world.

He's got your back and he'll die if it ment protecting you.

Angela once said this about you two: “not all soulmates are lovers”

She's not wrong, your the sister he never had or asked for.

You'll never have a friend like him and you don't plan on getting ride of him anytime soon.

[everosfics]

Day 1: Fae

@daminettedecember

@maribat-calendar-events

A/N: Im back it's been 4 years but I'm still alive and ready to start posting again so enjoy my first one shot of the season.

You know, the stories of the things that go bump in the night, or when children are taken to the woods and dance all night until their fear bleed, those stories well those faerie tails were true. At least they were long ago before human and fae began to intermix and breed with one another. The human trying to tame the fae and the fae trying to find a way to survive in this world that was slipping away from nature. 

There are two family lines that hold the old ways pure, one from the court of Seelie who were blessed by the goddess of creation and one from the Unseelie court blessed or cursed by the god of destruction depending on who you asked. Though the family lines  were pure it was not without sacrifice each member held the power their gods had blessed them with and with each blessing came a curse the seelie were cursed with needing a blood sacrifice once every new moon. And the Unseelie were cursed with being vulnerable for the 3 days surrounding the new moon. 

Now you may be asking how this history of fae fits into our story…

Well just take a look as the most recent generation are ones who will not only break their curses but muddy the waters between Seelie and Unseelie. 

•••

Marinette Dupain-Chang the latest “pure” Unseelie. She unlike the rumors surrounding her court was gorgeous a queen in the making, or at least she would have been had the fae stayed separate from the mortals all those millennia ago. But here in Paris she was not a queen no she was an Idol not just Unseelie royalty as a civilian but the prized hero of Paris Ladybug. She though cursed with the blessing of destruction and death had managed to reign in her blood lust and become a hero one with the power of creation if you will. You could say her blood lust helped her it allowed her to discover and kill her enemy in Hawkmoth rapidly only 2 years passing by and even after that she protected her city. She was a protector now not a killer like her kind was rumored to be, and yet her label as a hero never stoped her from reveling in each kill she was allowed to make. Allowed to solely because of her so called “lucky” charm that would fix everything once the battle was over. 

She is where our story begins, with her class, one that is composed of all but 2 other mostly Unseelie children. 

Mme Bustier, a woman whose bloodline was so muddled that her fae court could not be determined leaving her in the perfect position to teach both courts and yet receive no loyalty from any child. Though she may have received no loyalty that the did not mean there were not lines drawn within her class. For Marinette that signified her development of almost a court her best friend Kagami, and their new found companion Juleka, who’s older brother had seemed to be a potential partner until his bonding with Chloe a few months prior.  

With Chloe having bonded with Luca the Unseelie girls welcomed her into their group and allowed her to protect them during new moon time and provided her with willing blood sacrifices. 

This relationship was not just beneficial, but inevitably divulged into friendship with the gap finally closing within Mme Bustiers class. With the gap finally breached and closed the class was granted the opportunity to travel abroad to their sister city of Gotham and meet the the ruling Seelie family. 

•••

In Gotham though the world was structured differently. The Bat family ruled at night, and the Wayne’s ruled during the day, tho many could guess the duality of the family anyone who voiced the idea of the two being the same disappeared on the night of the new moon.  

With the Wayne’s being kings of the Day and Pure Seelie, Gotham bent to their whim as for them the rumors about their historic court. Those rang true with each brother just as mesmerizing as the last and each just as kind in their trickery always making the world see them as benevolent. 

The outlier though being Damien the only true heir to the Seelie court though many would forget that as each Wayne child held themselves in high esteem. 

Each child was different, Richard Grayson the first son, now he was special his father had been a distant relative of bruce making the Seelie blood Dick possessed almost as potent as that of Bruce. Now Jason was interesting as he was most definitely not Seelie, but Unseelie and though the held himself together during the day at night he would allow himself the pleasure of a kill. Timothy on the other hand was the result of gorgeous mortals and a bloodline so mixed that his court was barely decipherable as  Seelie. 

Damian was the blood son the heir, supposed to be the perfect example of Seelie blood yet he had been blessed with the ability to wield the power of destruction, a gift bestowed on him by his mother one of the last true Fae who had managed to capture the tiny god of destruction in a ring. Because of this gift Damian not only needed a blood sacrifice upon the new moon but he needed to hunt and kill his sacrifice never to receive a willing living sacrifice unless they share opposing power to their court as well. 

•••

The Parisian class arrives in Gotham, and though they are quickly escorted to their hotel and told to stay put, that does not stop several children from quickly departing their temporary residence. The class travels through Gotham the Seelie children traveling to memorials and museums highlighting their court and its past.  While the 3 Unseelie children plus Chloe travel into the depths of Gotham searching for an elder fae they read resided in Gotham. Upon their arrival to Ivy’s gardens the walls open up upon Marinette’s touch, a feeling of belonging runs through her. This feeling may shock her must not as much  as she is sure the emergence of a fully Fae woman does. To not only her shock but that of Kagami Julika’s,  and Chloe, the woman bows to Marinette. 

And greeteds her with the words 

“child of destruction our guardian of creation,  welcome to Gotham I hope you will meet the one you search for the child of creation, our guardian of destruction” 

And with that the walls close again and the  girls are granted a path into a garden that seemed to be a perfect representation of what the fae realm had once been.

•••

A few blocks away our child of creation, guardian of destruction has received a message from his mother, warning him that his betrothed has been found. And based on what his mother has heard from Ivy is willing to commence the end of court separation and usher in a new court one made of mixed heritage. She had after all opened and entered a portal to the fae realm with her royal court. 

[encyclopediacr]

It's nearing the end of February, Black History Month, so we're presenting a handful of articles for characters played or voiced by black actors. This is not a complete list but a small selection featuring our best articles:

Shakäste, played by Khary Payton. Under the name Hush, he is a member of the Golden Grin, a secret organization and community that pursues ideals of freedom and justice.

Reani, played by Mica Burton. She makes sure that evil dies in Uthodurn as the not-so-anonymous Ivae'ess, the Lightbringer, and with the advice of her aasimar guide Samliel.

Laerryn Coramar-Seelie, played by Aabria Iyengar. Laerryn is the Heirophant Abjura of the Abjuration Guild and Architect Arcane of Avalir. She built the Astral Leywright so that Avalir may travel to other planes—and ultimately used it to scatter two primordials across known existence, mitigating the worst of the Calamity.

Nydas Okiro, played by Lou Wilson. Nydas is a man of many things: former pirate, designer of automata, Guildmaster of the Golden Scythe, last Dragon of Avalir, member of the Ring of Brass, a friend, a dreamer.

Jarett Howarth, voiced by Eugene Byrd. In Critical Role, he was head of the guard at Greyskull Keep, now an officer in the Pale Guard of Whitestone. In The Legend of Vox Machina, he is a captain of the guard for the city of Emon.

Devana Vessar, voiced by Toks Olagundoye. Devana is a Syngornian cartographer married to Syldor Vessar. She is the mother of Velora and the stepmother to Vax'ildan and Vex'ahlia.

Salda Tal'Dorei, voiced by Cree Summer (who also voiced Raishan). Salda is the wife of Uriel Tal'Dorei and was Empress of Tal'Dorei until her husband abdicated the throne.

Most of all, we encourage you to support organizations working toward racial equality and the improvement of black lives in the United States, such as the NAACP or the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, Southern Poverty Law Center, the Equal Justice Initiative, the Center for Black Equity, or another organization of your preference local to your area or in your country.

[lakemojave]

Sunday July 2nd @ 6pm Pacific: THE COMPLETE HISTORY OF SEKIRO!!!

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is perhaps the modern Fromsoft game I have seen the least amount of people talk about. It's also one of my favorite games ever, and maybe the best game this studio has ever made. There's a reason why it's so damn good, and a reason why it doesn't have that same industry-shaking appeal that Elden Ring or Dark Souls had. A lot of this is because of how it plays, and a lot of this missed appeal in the west is a curious bit of cultural context. I'll be unpacking all of these things and more! This stream will feature my cowriter @inneskeeper as well as our dear friends at @the-seelie-court-official and @madmonksandmaenads who know shit and fuck about this game! See y'all then!

Art by @terrafey

[tyrantisterror]

No Small Feat Art Pt. 5 - Little Girl Lost Arc

By request, I'm gonna show off some of the artwork for No Small Feat, a Midgaheim story my friends and I told through the TTRPG system Fabula Ultima. I drew a lot of characters and monsters for it, and my friends - in particular, @dragonzzilla, @scatha5, and @dinosaurana - helped line and color them so we'd have cute little sprites to use on our online battlemaps, which really helped sell the whole "we're playing an oldschool turn based RPG" vibe that Fabula Ultima's system is going for.

In this part, we're gonna look at the many NPCs introduced in the campaign's third arc, Little Girl Lost!

The titular little girl of the arc was Dora Raine, who one of my players described as "the saddest girl I've ever seen." Dora had a tense relationship with her mother, and after a fight where her mother regrettably said "Sometimes I wish I wasn't your mother!", Dora was spirited away to Fairyland, kicking off our plot.

Our heroes were already set to meet Dora's mother, Countess Maelys Raine, because of a rumor that she might hold one of the crown jewels. Unfortunately, she told them that said jewel was in the necklace Dora wore, and thus was trapped in Fairyland with Dora. Our heroes volunteered to rescue the girl, leaving the two crown jewels they had with Maelys in case they didn't come back.

Dora's kidnapped turned out to be another countess, albeit of the Seelie court rather than Engelsex. Countess Vespidi claimed she had a right to take custody of Dora, but after a brief discussion (while guarded by her army, of course) agreed to allow the heroes to try and convince the girl to return with them if they first proved their worth by overcoming the obstacles she'd lay in their path on the way to her palace. So our heroes went on a jaunt through Fairyland.

Along the way they had encounters with various soldiers in Vespidi's court - troops of hobgoblins, goblins, pixies, and orks.

A wrinkle presented itself when they met one of Vespidi's chief enforcers, Big Bubba Bugbear, who was very talkative during their fight - and, in particular, was vocal about wanting to keep Dora safe and happy because, according to him, she'd spent so much time crying recently. Bubba had been watching over Dora on Vespidi's orders for a while, you see, and he clearly thought that the fairy Countess had Dora's best interests at heart.

There were some unrelated monster encounters on the way, too. The Deofolskein had nothing to do with Countess Vespidi's plot, it was just very insistent (but polite!) about asking the PC's to let it eat their eyeballs. They're its favorite dish, you see.

Our heroes also met Four Elemental Spirits - a salamandral, a gnome, a sylph, and an undine - who gave them their first sidequest: seeking out the Four Elemental Masters in the mortal world, who would test our heroes' knowledge of the four elements of magic and present them with great boons should they prove worthy. These four just really love teaching people about magic, you see!

At last our heroes got to the court of Countess Vespidi, where they faced on final fight against three powerful enemies: a Bandersnatch, a Jubjub Bird, and a Jabberwock. Defeating the three champions of the fairy noblewoman, they were finally allowed an audience with Dora, where they learned some very important facts.

First, Countess Vespidi wasn't just any fairy, but specifically Dora's Fairy Guard-mother, and a close friend of Dora's father and her birth mother.

Second, Maelys wasn't Dora's birth mother, but rather her stepmother. And you know how stepmothers act in most fairy tales, don't you?

Third, and most horrible, Dora didn't have a crown jewel in her necklace.

Our heroes, backed by Countess Vespidi and her forces, returned to the mortal world to demand answers, only to find that Maelys had already left with the crown jewels in tow.

The campaign's main villain had duped them very, very well.

[not-poignant]

Birthday Spotlight - Gulvi Dubna Vajat

[24th March - Aries]

Gulvi Dubna Vajat, the chaos-loving, determined, vicious killer and loving sister is the Unseelie swan maiden from the canon Fae Tales series. She's the lover of Fenwrel the Mouse Maiden, younger sister of Julvia Dubna Vajat, and bucks all the standards when she chose to become the first swan maiden to turn her back against the pacifistic ways of her kind so she could train with the Council of Lammergeiers and become a highly reputable and successful assassin who ended up working for the Raven Prince, in line to be the next Queen of the Unseelie Court.

Despite Gulvi's sometimes abrasive ways, she's always been well-liked among many readers. She's a staunch supporter of Gwyn's, a best friend to Ash, and for a time, Augus' declared enemy. She spent a few chapters just stabbing him to get revenge, because, well, he did kill almost her entire family.

Gulvi is a fantastic advice-giver, lives her own life, and is well-equipped to be Queen-in-waiting and Unseelie Queen. One day she'll take the throne for herself, and Gwyn is more than aware of it and more than happy for it to happen. Even if she did get him drunk all those separate times...

‘Make no mistake, you are lucky that I am friends with both Gwyn and Ash, for nothing would please me better than to come at you through your loved ones. Think about that, for a minute. I like that this hurts you. And if I didn’t think I’d be hurting this Court, and myself in the process, I would let Gwyn be executed by the Seelie Court in an instant just to watch you make more of these delicious, frightened expressions of yours. I can smell your fear, you horrid, mess of a fae, and I revel in it. You have not Ash’s sympathy, nor his support in this. And you do not have mine.'

~ Game Theory

From the Darkness We Rise - (fanfiction) Gulvi first appeared as an OC in this fanfiction in her swan maiden form, as an informant to Gwyn ap Nudd, even then an effective assassin who used French affectations in her speech and rubbed Jack Frost the wrong way every time she opened her mouth.

The Court of Five Thrones - Gulvi came through for Gwyn ap Nudd when Augus died (temporarily), offering him sage advice and getting him drunk. She's sent to assassinate many of Gwyn's enemies in order to manipulate people into giving Gwyn what he wants as King, she falls in love with Fenwrel, and pulls the heavy duty of serving as Queen-in-Waiting, all while nursing her fragile, near-death's-door older sister, who is stuck in swan form due to Augus' actions when he was once a villain.

Into Shadows We Fall - (fanfiction) Notable for appearing as Ash's best friend and Gwyn's ally, but she makes Jack too furious and he attempts to murder her, and in return, she stabs him with one of the best verbal repartees. It is her actions which serve as the turning point for Jack and Pitch, as she inadvertently severs a very important scarf in the process...

Game Theory - Drugging Ash, giving Gwyn advice even though they're on opposite sides, and stabbing Augus repeatedly while calling him a donkey are just all in a day's work for this graceful, ruthless, and surprisingly mature swan maiden.

Unwound - An interstitial between The Court of Five Thrones and The Ice Plague, this series explores Gwyn's occasional melancholy due to well...all the burdens he carries. Once more, Gulvi proves herself to be a staunch and true friend.

The Ice Plague I: The Forest of Fire - When Gwyn and Augus leave the Unseelie Court, Gulvi steps into her role as Queen-in-Waiting, but not before trying to forbid her sister Julvia from going on a grand quest (she fails, much to her anger).

The Ice Plague III: The Ice Plague - Gulvi has been working in the background throughout as Queen-in-Waiting with Fenwrel by her side, but we finally get to see her again, which comes as a profound relief for our ensemble team.

All That We Were, All That We Will Ever Be - In the final epilogue of Augus and Gwyn, in the Fae Tales canon, Gulvi is there watching vigil over a certain someone, even as she works a truly overwhelming job.

The Spoils of the Spoiled - High school student, girlfriend of Kayla (Gulvi is so incredibly lesbian), bitchy frenemy of Augus Each Uisge, best friend of Ash, and eventual friend of Gwyn ap Nudd. Gulvi is the one who suggests the detached apartment at the back of her house to Augus and Ash, giving them a place to live when they become homeless. She comforts Augus after he's molested by Efnisien, and she offers charming, funny, and sometimes caustic commentary throughout.

The Day the Ferris Wheel Came Down - High school student and best friend of Ash, Gulvi is up to her chaos-loving antics in this short oneshot!

The Best of Broken Resolutions - In one of my favourite AUs, Gulvi is a high-powered architect working with Gwyn ap Nudd who bitches out their work colleagues, judges all their outfits, and is immaculately fashionable. She's in a workplace relationship with Fenwrel, which isn't nearly the well-kept secret it should be.

Tumblr Prompts - Fae Tales - Anyone who asks me about whether I'll ever write any F/F should go here for a little kissing between Fenwrel and Gulvi in Basorexia.

With chaos as her heartsong in the Fae Tales canon, Gulvi embraces the chance to introduce a little unpredictability into the lives around her.

Despite this, Gulvi still has her swan-maiden roots, she is a loving, family-oriented, loyal friend and lover who just wants to have a good time in life.

A swan maiden who was raised a pacifist and then proved that her turning away from peace-loving ways wasn't 'just a phase' when she became one of the most notorious Unseelie assassins in the fae realm.

Any excuse to drink - which makes her a good friend for Ash

Protective of those around her. Once you are taken under her wing, she will fight tooth and nail for you, and sometimes against you, if you're your own worst enemy.

White wings, white hair, black eyes, and uses two kris daggers. She almost always is seen solely in hybrid form, never human or true form.

Helping Gwyn to get through the hard times with hard liquor and sisterly advice

Any time she insulted Augus, while Augus was powerless to retaliate

Saying 'La!' as a form of punctuation

Swearing

Despite her sometimes casual-seeming, party-loving nature, she possessed a courtier's tongue, holding her own against Albion at the end of Game Theory, and bringing both Augus and Gwyn to their senses multiple times.

Always loves an element of chaos in her life, though it's more muted when she's in human AUs, especially once she's in love.

Lesbian for life

Graceful and beautiful, and does not suffer fools

Gulvi is all about family whether she wants to be or not - chosen family and blood family

Will always find Julvia incredibly annoying and condescending while loving her fiercely

Tends to think of Augus as a bit of an idiot, all the way from 'too stupid to live' in Game Theory to 'I still love you though' in The Spoils of the Spoiled

I've always really loved swan maidens, after meeting them in The Bitterbynde Trilogy by Cecilia Dart-Thornton. I came up with a whole scaffolding of background for these beings, and still feel very fondly towards swan maidens so I'm not entirely surprised that when Gulvi was no longer a significant character in The Ice Plague because she was holding up the fort, Julvia became a significant character instead.

People always used to ask me if I shipped her and Ash, but Gulvi's love for Ash was never quite 'that' kind of love, even though she gave her heart to him. I always loved the idea of two best friends so bound together that the friendship would last an eternity.

Gulvi has tattoos of symbols on her arms from the Council of Lammergeiers as part of her initiation but I always forget she has them, so this is one of her biggest continuity errors in that I just don't mention them enough so we ALL forget.

I always like to imagine that Gulvi and the Raven Prince are actually extremely close, and we never see it because it's private - a friendship between two bird shifters.

Gulvi is from the fae side of Latvia - she's not French! She just picked up an affectation from the human realm because she liked it.

The reasons I gave my heart to him weren’t as clear as they should have been. They couldn’t be. They never are! Swans think they have such pure hearts, but… Ash is worthy, make no mistake, but I never wanted to be with him. Even as I gave him my heart, without his consent I might add, because he would have refused it – I knew I didn’t want to be with him. I didn’t want him to fuck me, I didn’t want to lie on a bed with him beyond collapsing together on a bed with marshmallows and fried foods while watching silly human movies about very profound things. He has always been a gentleman about it, even as I took something from the both of us the moment I staked him with the permanency of my love. But, Gwyn, I’ve never wanted to be with anyone. Ash gives me all of himself in our friendship. His love is a whole thing. He has such an abundance of it. It spills everywhere. It makes him do and say stupid things. It makes him wiser than he should be. He loves love. Whether it makes him a fool or seer. And me, with my cynical heart, I needed his idealism, his romanticism, all of it. He gives me something I have never been able to give myself. And he has enough of it – so much – that he can give it freely and I never have to worry about depleting him of anything. You see? Everyone thinks it’s unrequited. But that implies that it is one-sided, and it is not. They say unrequited love is not returned in kind, but he returns it. And they act as though I accidentally tripped over his feet, looked up, and fell in love with the stupid idiot he can be. But I did not. I made a conscious declaration to myself, to the world.

~ The Court of Five Thrones

[margareturtle]

Kit and Ash’s first meeting is gonna be like

Kit and Ash already in the middle of a fight:

Kit: jeez what did I ever do to you?

Ash: i have to kill you, Janus says you want to steal my throne

Kit: what? You mean evil Jace thinks I want to be the next Seelie Queen ?!

Ash: yes so I have to kill you

Kit: woah woah woah sorry no offense Prince—what’s your name again?

Ash: Ash

Kit: look no offense Ash but the only thing of yours I would want are your wings, they’re sick and I haven’t figured out how to make my own yet

Ash: How can I believe you? You are the first heir. You could have all of faerie.

Kit: yeah yeah so what, my great smth grandmother was from there, I have no investment with the place— you can have at it

Ash: You must be lying. I have to kill you.

(Kit and Ash continue fighting; Kit changes tactics)

Kit: ok ok fine you can kill me

Ash: what?

Kit: you can kill me and have faerie all to yourself, but can I at least facetime my best friend one last time to say goodbye

Ash: …I suppose

Kit: *takes out his phone and calls Dru with Ash watching him*

Dru picks up: Kit what’s up, I had to pause my movie

*Ash stunned*

Kit: well sorry to interrupt🙄,, I’m just calling to say goodbye

Dru: don’t be dramatic, give Ty time, I swear he’s in love with you

Kit: he’s not, he hates me 😩

Dru: by the angel

Kit: ok but that’s actually not why I called

Dru: really 🤨

Kit: yeah I actually am about to get killed

Dru: shit. do they know that only me, Ty, or Thais in my absence are allowed to kill you

Kit: I’ll tell them

Dru: good, fire message me if you acc need help. I’m in the middle of what we do in the shadows tho, so hopefully it’s important

Kit:🙄 k see you tmrw if I’m still alive

Dru: byeeee

*pause*

Kit to Ash: ok so technically only Dru, Ty, or Thais can kill me, but I suppose you can now if you need

Ash: who is she?

Kit: my best friend? Dru

Ash: yes I’ve seen her before, she is beautiful I must meet her

Kit: ha, well I could give you her number

Ash: her number?

Kit: yeah ya know to text her? Oh right you’re from faerie I’d have to show you

Ash: you can show me how to text Dru and then I kill you?

Kit: I mean sure, you could, but then Dru would prob block you if you killed me so it would all be for nothing

Ash: block me? But how would she know?

Kit: Block like cute contact. And she’d figure it out fast she’s smart and she’d know something was wrong as soon as I break our 206 day snapstreak.

Ash: snapstreak— is that your special bond?

Kit: sure, but look, if you don’t kill me perhaps you too could have a snapstreak with Dru one day!

Ash: really ?!

Kit: yup! so what do you say? Still gonna kill me or are you gonna hold off on doing what evil Jace says

Ash: Janus is away for a while, so I suppose I can wait. I want a snapstreak with Dru

Kit: brilliant! You can start by being in my snap to Dru, we’ll see if she recognizes you…

[jev-urisk]

im running a little late but happy STS (Sunday instead of Saturday lol)

Why did Klaus's dad make a deal? How was he tricked?

Hehehehehe... -rubs hands together- 😈 

How did Demyen Calvaire, a first class Demon with so much power and resources at his finger tips, end up agreeing to knock up a fae- the sworn enemies of demons who fled to a remote desert after demons destroyed the fae court? How did Klaus come to be? I'll answer under the cut because of

✨ BIG 'OL SPOILERS✨ 

Alyanna Feardaigh is a fae woman who was 13th in line for the Seelie throne (or more), but when demons destroy the fae court in the war she's suddenly the next in line to inherit the title.. not that it means much now that she's out in the desert of The Outlands just trying to survive.

Two thousand years go by, revolutions rise and each is crushed. Alyanna has become 'blighted', a condition that occurs in fae when they have lived without enough magical connection to plants. To keep the royal line alive, she decides the unthinkable- to have a child that will be strong enough to survive the blight, a child that will be strong enough.. that maybe they could make their way back to the old fae court. Alyanna hides her pointed ears and starts making visits to Du'Preve, the lowest district in the empire ruled by demons.

It's time. It may even be past time. She's long felt the magic waning from the earth, growing almost imperceptibly weaker. One day, it will take her with it. She can't allow it. The fae must change, or the Court will die. They'll see that, given time. Time may be her enemy, but there are ways, and that's what brings her here. Her target is nursing both a drink and what she expects is wounded pride after his target walked off. She inhabits the space the vampire vacated and leans across the bar to order a drink. "And anotha' one of what my friend here is drinkin'," she adds, giving the dark haired man a coy look.

She eventually lucks out, finding this lust demon on vacation, and she acts the doe-eyed prey to get Demyen Calvaire to feed on her, setting up her trap.

"I might just find the time to be nice to you again." He murmurs, basking in the afterglow of the meal. She rolls onto her side, resting a hand on his chest. "I like the sound of that," she says. "You'll come see me more? And keep bein' this nice to me?" Demyen swipes his tongue across his fangs, he was used to prey reacting like this- usually he kept things vague, but.. "I could arrange for that." Certainly, she was worth a second meal. A vibration not unlike a hum of electricity shudders through where they touch and he pulls his arm into his chest at the strange feeling, "What was.." Demyen twists on the bed towards the woman walking away from him. "What, you mean our deal?" She wades into the indoor pool up to her waist, ducks under the water, and resurfaces, scrubbing away the ink of the fake litch runes she'd etched onto her collarbone. Her wet hair is plastered to her head, revealing the pointed tips of her ears. "Demon like you, I think you'd know what a faebinding is… or are you too young to remember the war?" Pink eyes widen, and a growl rips from his chest. "You conniving little-" suddenly his voice chokes off, and his hand goes to his chest. It ached. Somehow he knew it wasn't a physical strain, but none the less it pulled taut within him and threatened to snap if he said the next word. He rubs his chest as the feeling fades away just a quickly as it had come. He had heard of faebinding during his academy days.. a cursed trap that fae would place on others that would result in complete loss of magic if you didn't follow the demands of the trickster's 'deal'. "Best learn quick," she advises. "Be a shame if you slipped up. 'Be nice', Nexi." He grits his teeth, tearing himself from the bed and advancing to the edge of the pool. "What do you want, fae? Why go through all of these deceptions to curse me?"

So, Alyanna tells Demyen that she will call off the fae deal if he gives her a child. He absolutely refuses, which she expected, but he's faebound to see her more- and she lives way out in The Outlands. Over the next couple of years, Demyen makes the harrowing journey to Alyanna's home again and again. She carefully balances a give-and-take to wear him down, learning more about demons, and keeping him interested in her lust- the very energy he needs in order to make the journey back home.

He arrives at the dusty shack that torments his every moment, but it's not as he remembers it- outside the door are crates and sacks brimming with her cobbled-together ideas of medical equipment. The wretched fae woman walks out of the door with another crate in her hands. "Oh, how lucky of you to have shown up at the right time. I'm moving farther into The Outlands, it ain't so safe here anymore." Farther?? Demyen already had to come so far, and all the demons close to him had grown suspicious of his long trips and sudden illnesses. How could he.. Demyen collapses to his knees. "I'll... I'll do it. I'll give you what you want." She smiles, and it's warm and welcoming, her voice is sultry and gentle, "Come inside, Demyen. Let's talk."

Their last deal is replaced with a new one, and Demyen becomes faebound to give Alyanna a child along with a few safeguards she adds in for the safety of her future child which are major factors in how Klaus ends up where he is in the main 7 Circles story. --------------------------------------------- Thanks for the ask!! I'm tagging the 7C group just in case any of them want the spoilers lol: @gioiaalbanoart @biblicallyaccuratefruitbat @lychhiker-writes @autism-purgatory @wyked-ao3

@cowboybrunch @zackprincebooks @smellyrottentrees @tragedycoded@aalinaaaaaa

@the-golden-comet @quillswriting @nbkuhn @ddgraywrites @desastreus

@theglitchywriterboi @shanakin-skywalker @honeybewrites @sincerelydorky @the-letterbox-archives

[julescarstairs]

Meet The Gang: That Which Is Precious and Lost Edition!

~~~

So, for those of you playing along at home, my best friend @tsc-reader and I have been writing a TSC Next-Generation Fanfic about our fanon kids of Kierarktina, Blackstairs, Kitty and Morgenthorn for two whole years now, over on Instagram. It’s called That Which Is Precious and Lost. We’ve written a complete instalment of 52 Chapters (which we call Book 1) and are currently working on a sequel, titled That Which is Gracious and Cruel (which we usually abbreviate to TWIPAL2, since TWIGAC makes us uncomfy ✨) as we speak!

Book 1 follows the kids as they embark on an epic journey to save their parents from a certain faerie matriarch, who is holding each of them captive for ransom — what ransom, you ask? Why, it’s none other than an ancient faerie spellbook called the Sage Scripts, which has long since been lost to the sands of time. Sands of time or not, the kids have a meagre fourteen days to find and retrieve the Scripts, and return them to the Seelie Queen’s hands — or run the risk of losing their family once and for all.

In book 2, the stakes grow higher, but there’s not much more I can tell you other than that, lest I spoil some big pointers from Book 1 for you 🤭 what I can tell you is that Book 2 introduces a staggering six more characters to the cast — five of which who are love interests for five of our main kids (and one who is honestly there solely to be an annoyance. You will hate how much we love pulling him into things. We’ll introduce you to those six on a different post, though.)

But I bet you’re wondering just who these kids are — and we would love to introduce them to you! See below the cut to meet our babies: The TWIPAL GANG!

1. Arrius ‘Ari’ Blackthorn-Kingson-Rosales

‘Ari passed a hand over his face and took the time to ask himself why he had to be born into such a ride or die family. He loved them all dearly, but this was getting ridiculous.’

— That Which Is Precious and Lost, Chapter Twenty Three: A Saccharine Melody (Written by @julescarstairs )

Ari is the eldest of our ragtag team of Shadowhunters at age 18, and is the son of Mark, Cristina and Kieran. A new adult, he takes it upon himself to guide his baby cousins, and younger sister Celeste, through the trying times that rise before them when their parents are kidnapped and held to ransom. His hair falls in short curls of medium brown, which lightens to a dirty blonde in the sun, and has the signature Blackthorn-Blue eyes, a trait shared by himself and only two other of his cousins. He stands at a staggering six foot four inches tall, though no one can really work out why or how he is that tall (not even us, the authors, but we love him for it anyway.) Ari simply grew, and everyone has come to accept that.

Much like Mark and Kieran, Ari chose a bow and arrows as his weapon of choice. Whilst he is capable with a balisong or a handful of knives, he prefers to work at a distance. In his childhood, he spent hours upon hours of his time mastering the art. Though often humble, Ari isn’t afraid to tell you he never misses.

Ari is a very mellow individual, often seen as the calm, grounding ‘rock’ in the lives of most of his younger family members. He is patient, thoughtful, but if you can scratch away that shell of responsibility that he so often hides himself away in, you will find that he does, indeed, have a sense of humour! (Ask Luc, he’ll tell you.) He loves very deeply, especially his younger sister Celeste, who he spent some periods of his childhood babysitting when his parents were busy with the Shadowhunter-Downworlder alliance, or, you know, ruling the Unseelie Court. Despite being Mark’s son, Ari bears a lot of resemblance to Julian personality-wise, and quite often looks to his Uncle for advice and guidance where his parents’ doesn’t quite suffice.

Ari’s fatal flaw is his stubbornness and his temperament. It takes a lot to send Ari into a fit of rage, given his cool and calm demeanour at the best of times, but if he is pushed over the edge, it’s hard to make him see reason. Like a bull with a red flag, Ari won’t stop something if he has his mind set on doing it, and will do anything he has to in order to get his way. His is a cold, quiet anger, which is frightening in its own regard and amplified by the fact that he stands over most people. The only person, aside from Celeste or his own parents, who has the ability to bring him back from such a dark anger, is Eleanor Blackthorn-Carstairs, who is only one year younger than him but not afraid to square up against him when he isn’t seeing the forest among the trees.

2. Celeste Blackthorn-Kingson-Rosales

‘Celeste let out a breath. Maybe it wasn't that she was part Shadowhunter. Maybe it was just that it had been a very, very long time since the Unseelie Courts had had a Queen. Now that she thought about it, Celeste wasn't sure there had ever been a Queen of Unseelie. The thought made her lift her chin defiantly. She would be a good ruler. Even if it was just for a short period of time, until her father got back. She would show her people that there was no reason to doubt her.’

— That Which Is Precious and Lost, Chapter Ten: Forgotten Memories (written by @tsc-reader )

Celeste is Ari’s younger sister, coming in at 16 years old to her brother’s two years senior. The daughter of Kieran, Cristina and Mark, she has her Father’s blue hair, which changes colour and value with her mood, and her mother’s warm, brown eyes. In a baffling contrast to her brother’s stature, Celeste is among one of the shortest of the TWIPAL twelve’s lineup, if not the shortest.

But don’t let that deter you. Celeste is a pocket rocket, and — much like her brother — won’t stop until she has what she wants, or achieves what she wants to achieve. Promises are like liquid gold to Celeste: when she promises you something, she will not break it, and will not forget about it. She’ll shake on it, pinky-swear, write it in blood if she has to, and will always follow through with what she claims. If ever she is rendered unable to do so, it breaks her heart. Minimum four business days should be allowed for her recovery. And if you break a promise with Celeste? I’d recommend digging your grave in advance, because she will come for you. She might even make it quick, since you did some of the dirty work for her.

Being Kieran’s biological daughter, Celeste takes her role as Heiress to the Unseelie Court throne very seriously. During the course of TWIPAL, Celeste actually splits off from the main gang to take her Father’s place on the throne, since Kieran is rendered unable to do so. She puts a lot of pressure on herself to do well, to do her Father justice and respect him and his wishes in every decision she makes. Every year, on her birthday, Kieran would take her on a walk through Unseelie Tower, showing her anything and everything he possibly could. The year she turned fifteen, Kieran gifted Celeste Windspear, his steed, just as Adaon had handed him down to him.

Celeste’s weapon of choice is a balisong, much like her mother. Unlike Ari, who likes to keep a distance from his enemies, Celeste likes to get up close and personal. She is very easily swept up in the fierce thrill of fighting. Though faeries may fight remarkably cleanly, Celeste does not. She’ll roll around in the dirt if it means she’ll win.

Celeste’s fatal flaw is her perfectionism. Because she so often strives to be perfect, to be everything everybody wants her to be, it makes her a bit of a control freak. Being raised by who she was raised by, Celeste recognises and admires her own autonomy and individuality, so any situation where that autonomy is taken away from her frightens her more than anything. She wouldn’t wish that on her worst enemy, let alone herself…

3. Eleanor ‘Ellie’ Blackthorn-Carstairs

‘Eleanor Blackthorn-Carstairs seldom ever found her home empty— at least, not without a note on the kitchen bench, or a text from her Mom or Dad letting her know they were going out. But when she returned to Blackthorn Hall from patrol, she found the vast home dark and so silent you could hear a pin drop, and there was not a single text on her phone. Maybe some teenagers her age wouldn't mind their parents stepping out without saying anything. Maybe some would savour the quiet ambiance: the faint chirping of crickets out the window, or the hum of wind as it blew past the curtains... But this was not a comfortable sort of quiet. And Eleanor's parents NEVER stepped out without letting her know.’

— That Which Is Precious and Lost, Chapter One: Pure Distilled Horror (Written by @julescarstairs )

Fun fact! Eleanor was the first of the TWIPAL gang to be born from our collective mess of brainstorming. Coming in at the second eldest of the cousins, Eleanor is an only child of age seventeen. She’s Emma and Julian’s daughter, and you would be able to see it from a mile away. She’s got Emma’s blonde hair and Julian’s blackthorn-blue eyes, as well as a face full of freckles, a trait often attributed to the Blackthorn bloodline.

Eleanor is just as chaotic and energetic as her mother is, often bouncing off her younger cousin Luc’s obnoxious, sardonic energy with witty remarks of her own (can you tell that Luc is going to be an important character to the narrative? I’ve mentioned him in two other characters’ descriptions already.) She is a strong swordswoman and she knows it, and as a result she has a competitive edge. She isn’t arrogant, but she knows her strength and her worth. She isn’t backwards in coming forwards about the things she wants.

But, despite everything, Eleanor is a balanced individual. Whilst she can be loud, bubbly and barbaric, she also has her Father’s maternal/paternal instinct, and is very quick to swoop in and lift people up when they’re falling apart inside. Where Ari is the dad of the TWIPAL gang, Ellie is very much the mom (but she’s not a regular mom, she’s a cool mom!) and it’s BECAUSE of their shared maternal instinct that Eleanor can call Ari out when he’s out of balance. She knows him better than he wants to admit, and will back him to the ends of the earth — as she will all of her cousins, especially LJ, whom she wants to be Parabatai with desperately, if her deep fear of the Parabatai bond wouldn’t keep holding her back.

Eleanor’s weapon of choice is Cortana, since she inherited it from her Mother. She values the heirloom dearly, and loathes being parted from it more than anything. Whilst she will always be found with Cortana strapped to her back, she is also quite competent with a crossbow, thanks to her dear old Dad.

Eleanor’s greatest weakness is her trust — or rather, her inability to trust. This excludes her family, of course, since she’s grown up among them and knows them better than she knows herself. But whenever new people come into her family, she isn’t quick to trust them. This is all primarily due to one person, who blindsided both her and her family into believing he was in love with her, only to drop her and walk away in a heartbeat. Whilst trusting too easily can be a flaw, being afraid to trust can put strain on new relationships she develops over time.

4. Livia ‘LJ’ Blackthorn-Herondale

‘LJ’s feet had barely touched the floor when she began to run. She sprinted through the hallways of the upstairs of her house, overcome with fear. Something was wrong. Something was very, very wrong. She could hear the commotion coming from the floor below, something crashing to the ground, metal clanging against metal. When she got to the banister, LJ didn't hesitate. She jumped. There was the brief feeling of weightlessness as she fell, before she landed hard in a crouch on the floor. LJ burst through the doorway ofher living room, just in time to see a flash of blonde hair, a glint of gray eyes, and the spark of a Portal disappearing into nothingness.’

— That Which Is Precious and Lost, Chapter Two: Stuff of Nightmares (written by @tsc-reader )

LJ is the third youngest of the TWIPAL gang, at fifteen years old. (She’s only the ‘third youngest’ because the last couple of characters in the lineup are twins, and were born two months after her.) The adoptive daughter of Kit Herondale and Ty Blackthorn, LJ has long, black, curly hair and dark eyes to suit. In average lighting, her eyes seem black — but in the sun, or if a lamp or campfire hits her eyes just right, you’ll find that they’re actually a dark violet. LJ, despite being the youngest girly in the gang, happens to be the tallest, standing above both Ellie and Celeste but below Ari and the twins (who you will meet below.)

LJ was found on Kit and Ty’s doorstep, a classic image of a baby in a basket, swaddled in blankets. Neither Kit nor Ty know who left her there, only that the mysterious individual trusted them to look after her, and that they were going to look after her with their whole hearts. Sure, there must be a reason why they were chosen to look after baby LJ, but that was a fact they were yet to learn. With Livvy’s endorsement (because, yes, she is still here as a ghost), they named her Livia as well, but her whole family calls her LJ — with the exceptions being Kit, Ty and later Eleanor, who call her Liv.

LJ is a very, very bright young woman, nothing short of a brainiac. She is the first to seek logic and reason in everything she and her cousins come across — even in matters of magic, when logic and reason don’t really come into the picture. She’s also, possibly, the most levelheaded character in the entire gang. I’m convinced she carries their collective braincell 99% of the time (and the other 1% of the time is taken up by Ari and Oberon, who can lead when their siblings aren’t driving them insane.) In a way, LJ idolises her Father, Ty, for his intelligence and innovation. She spent hours upon hours of her childhood sitting with him in his study, watching him work on projects and inventions, and as a result she has developed an inventive streak within herself as well.

Liv’s weapon of choice is the Herondale dagger, handed down to her by Kit. When the dagger isn’t feasible, however, she also has a keen hand for throwing knives. Any small, sharp object — a dagger, a knife, a dart — is LJ’s specialty, but thats not to say she hasn’t at least made herself competent at every other weapon she can get her hands on. On top of that, LJ trained herself to be ambidextrous, not only to be able to handle weaponry better, but to be able to work on projects and experiments for longer periods at a time whilst minimising fatigue.

LJ’s biggest weakness is how she feels restricted by how little she knows. LJ can often spiral into a state of self-deprecation if she can’t solve a problem or puzzle herself. Even if her intelligence runs rings around that of her cousins’ — Ari himself actually comments on this — she beats herself up endlessly if she cannot work something out that flew over their heads. Liv puts a lot of pressure on herself to be great, to know the answers to anything and everything when it’s physically impossible for her to do so. She gets herself down a lot, but Ellie is the first to lift her back up and remind her that if she doesn’t know now, she will find out soon.

Second to Eleanor, LJ’s closest companion among her cousins is none other than Oberon Morgenstern, one of the twins. Oberon often finds himself recruited by LJ as her lab assistant, whether it be voluntary or not. He doesn’t mind, though, because if helping LJ means seeing her smiling and happy, then he’d do it any day of the week. The two are close, a dynamic explored regularly through TWIPAL’s fifty-two chapters, in a number of ways.

Speaking of Oberon, that brings us to our next character in the lineup…

5. Oberon Morgenstern

Oberon rarely ever lost his cool in bad situations, but his twin brother lying unconscious on the ground was clearly the exception. He sped downwards, the world turning to a blur around him. He landed in a crouch, bracing himself on the ground with his hand. Ari looked over at him, surprise touching his face at Oberon's sudden appearance, but he sat back on his heels, letting him take over. Whipping out his stele, Oberon sketched a neat iratze on Luc's arm. "Come on, brother," Oberon said softly. "Come back to me. Stay with me." He touched Luc's cheek lightly with his fingertips. His twin's face was icy, his pale curls plastered to his forehead with sweat. A few seconds passed.

Then Luc's eyes fluttered open, ocean blue behind his eyelashes. "Oberon," Luc said, his voice hoarse. "Im okay."

"Lucas Andrew Morgenstern, you are not okay." Oberon said, his fear coming out as anger. "Stop being an idiot, and tell me what's wrong.”

— That Which Is Precious and Lost, Chapter Twenty-Four: An Exquisite Dance (written by @tsc-reader )

Listen, we don’t pick favourites in this household, but the Morgenthorn twins are definitely a step above the rest. Oberon, and his brother Luc, who you’ll hear about next, are fraternal twin brothers, both the sons of Drusilla Blackthorn and Ash Morgenstern. Oberon is the older twin, and even though there were only a few minutes between their births, he isn’t afraid to tell you, your friend, or even Luc himself that he’s older. He takes his role as ‘the older twin’ very seriously, much to Luc’s irritation at times. Oberon is a gentle soul, with his mother’s dark brown hair — which falls in picture-perfect curls around his face no matter how many times he runs his hands through it — and his Father’s green eyes, reminiscent of his Fairchild heritage. Much like Celeste, Ari and his brother, Oberon has the tapered ears unique only to the fair folk, though they aren’t quite as pointed as a full blooded faerie gentry. He stands at five foot ten inches at age fifteen, which renders him the second tallest of the TWIPAL gang, second only to Ari (he is about one inch taller than his brother, which he also may or may not rub in his face from time to time. Oberon isn’t arrogant, but will take any opportunity to humble Luc when it arises.)

One thing that sets Oberon apart from his faerie family members is his wings, which he also inherited from his father, Ash. At age ten, a pair of black-feathered wings sprouted from his spine, taking permanent purchase between his shoulder blades. It was only a matter of time before Oberon — and Luc, for that matter — found that these wings were integral to his way of life. As a result, he is very skilled in the ways of flight, and utilises his higher vantage point regularly during battles and patrol.

Oberon is a deeply, deeply loving young man, a gift who keeps on giving even when his heart has been scraped dry, trodden on, broken and put back together again. His open, forthcoming kindness and friendliness may seem quite startling to most people when they first meet him, but it can also be very deceptive — because underneath that warm, loving teddy-bear that Oberon so often is, lies a dark, determined warrior who isn’t afraid to stand between anyone and anything if it means protecting those he loves. He is a very intelligent young man with a gift for strategy and deception. If it weren’t for his heart, for the fact that he loves and is loved by his family (and his boyfriend, Aaron Longford, who you will meet on another post), Oberon would make for quite the terrifying enemy.

Oberon is protective of no one more than he is protective of Luc. He and his brother have a very special bond, unlike no other. They are seldom seen apart, and when they are separated, it’s cause for concern. Their connection transcends the waking world, so much so that if they’re found sleeping side by side, they’ll often sleep-talk to each other. Oberon loves Luc so much that is causes him a lot of pain and heartache, especially as the narrative grows thicker, deeper and darker. Oberon hasn’t known a time in his life without Luc, and will do everything in his power to keep it that way. Wherever Luc is, Oberon will never be far behind. No matter how far Luc falls from grace (because, believe me, he can be ungraceful sometimes) Oberon will be there to catch him. Oberon and Luc were born into a social climate where people are still wary of the Morgenstern name, and as a result, the boys have always believed that, in part, it’s been them against the world. Oberon made it his mission to change the Council’s perception of the Morgenstern name. This means keeping both himself and his brother in line.

Oberon’s weapon of choice is Phaesphoros, the first of two Morgenstern family swords. Though the ‘normal’ world’s Phaesphoros was destroyed along with Sebastian Morgenstern during the Dark War, it is said that Ash brought both Heosphoros and Phaesphoros back from Thule with him (at least, in the TWIPALverse he did.) When the boys turned 10, and were old enough to bear marks and start their formal Shadowhunter training, Ash laid the two swords before his sons at let the blades choose their bearers. The connection was almost instant: Phaesphoros chose Oberon, Heosphoros chose Luc. It only made sense, after all, for the twin brothers to have twin blades.

Oberon’s biggest weakness, his fatal flaw, is his tendency to self-sacrifice. Whilst he might be a gift that keeps on giving, this doesn’t always work in his favour. He is quick to throw himself under the bus or in front of a train if it means preserving the wellbeing of those he loves most in the world. Whilst he performs these grand, sweeping gestures of self sacrifice under the pretence of nobility, he’s rarely met with the reactions he was expecting to get from them. It’s actually Eleanor, during a late night conversation in TWIPAL’s epilogue, that expresses how Oberon’s selflessness concerns her. There is a fine line between selflessness and not valuing your own life, after all. But, for all the conflict it causes, Oberon is steadfast in his decisions, as he is in everything he does, and firmly believes that every sacrifice he makes, no matter how big or small, is for the better of those he loves: of Luc, of Aaron, of everyone.

Even if Luc disagrees.

6. Lucas ‘Luc’ Morgenstern

‘… a whirlwind of memories rose before his very eyes: Luc falling out of bed the first time he and Oberon had slept in their new bunk bed, and Oberon being the one to help him up off of the ground. Oberon being unable to sleep the night before they got their first marks, and Luc being the one who sat awake with him until he lulled himself to sleep. Luc crafting matching bracelets for himself and his brother with teardrop-shaped agates as the centrepieces - agates, because they symbolised safety and security, and there was nowhere Luc felt safer than by his brother's side. Oberon throwing himself into Luc's arms, sobbing, when they finally reunited in the labyrinth.

The deluge of memories struck Luc like many punches to the gut, leaving him doubling over and gasping. He had always thought that he needed Oberon more than Oberon needed him, but watching his life laid out before him now, Luc realised that he was wrong, so very wrong. Because Luc was half of Oberon just as much as Oberon was half of him. Together they made a formidable warrior, in which Luc was the sword and Oberon the shield. But what good was a shield without a sword? A sword without a shield? Without one or the other, they were incomplete.’

— That Which Is Precious and Lost, Chapter Forty-One: My Sword, Your Shield (written by @julescarstairs )

Luc Morgenstern is the firecracker to Oberon’s lit candle. Despite being twins on paper, Luc couldn’t look any more different to his brother in terms of colour palette. He has Ash’s platinum blonde hair, which manages to stay stylishly spiky as Oberon’s stays stylishly wavy, and the signature Blackthorn Blue eyes, which give him the appearance of a high-brow Snow Prince. But despite his difference in hair and eye colour, both he and his brother share near-identical bone structure. There’s no mistaking that they’re twins, no matter how different they may seem at first glance. Both Luc and Oberon (which I forgot to mention above) have faces full of freckles, a trait brought out by many of their days spent outside in the Los Angeles sun. Like Oberon, Luc has a pair of silken black wings, which sprouted from his back at the ripe age of ten. He has mastered the art of flight alongside his swordsmanship, rendering him a highly skilled and agile opponent (something Luc himself will tell you, even if you didn’t ask.)

Luc has a loud personality.He’s proud, cocky, obnoxious and dramatic in the best possible way, to the point where it’s charming — because as confident as Luc is in himself and his abilities as a Shadowhunter, he never actively puts anybody else down in order to make himself look good (unless you put him down first, in which he will engage in verbal combat, but don’t take any of it to heart.) Luc can be quite hotheaded, a stark contrast to his brother’s colder, quieter anger, and struggles to curb his temper, especially when people challenge his pride. He’s got all the witty, sarcastic comebacks, something he shares in common with his older cousin, Eleanor. Luc is also the self-proclaimed President of The Disaster Blondes, a group consisting of three people — Himself, Eleanor, and Skylar, Celeste’s girlfriend — who have banded together for two reasons, and two reasons alone: one, they’re all blonde, and two, they’re all down to try any batshit crazy scheme under the sun, even if it’s to their detriment.

But despite Luc’s loud, self-assured exterior, he is actually very self conscious, deep down. He cares deeply what people think of him, and how they perceive him as a person. He worries, often, that he is seen as a bad person, and doesn’t believe that he is able to be loved. He experiences a sort of imposter syndrome, where he believes that he shouldn’t be among these people who love him so much, that he doesn’t deserve the good things that come his way. This is a trait that develops more in the latter half of TWIPAL, but a trait that presents itself all the same. It interferes with his relationships regularly, both past ones, present ones and future ones.

It’s Oberon that keeps Luc in balance, even when he isn’t actively trying to. Luc depends on Oberon more than he realises, sometimes, and often feels like he needs his older brother more than Oberon needs him, even when this isn’t the case at all. Luc would die for Oberon, just as Oberon would die for him, but he would also kill for his brother, get his hands dirty, if it means that Oberon is safe, well and happy. It terrifies him, how much he is willing to do for Oberon. He wants nothing more in his life than to be Parabatai with his brother, to reinforce the strength and power of their bond with an oath signed in blood and fire.

(Luc can also be found third-wheeling on a lot of Oberon and Aaron’s dates, but Oberon doesn’t really mind. Nor does Aaron, who has just accepted that his brother in law will be down to hang at any given opportunity.)

Luc’s weapon of choice is the shortsword Heosphoros. Like Eleanor, he has a very personal connection to his sword, often talking to it and reminding it (yes, the sword) how much he loves it. Luc trains ruthlessly, with the desire to be one of the best Shadowhunters of his generation, if not the best. Combat is also a release to Luc, who can be found decompressing and letting off steam in the training room of the L.A. Institute, just as often as he is found formally training.

Where Oberon’s greatest weakness is his tendency to self sacrifice, Luc’s is his tendency to self sabotage. Luc is fast to deny himself good things and positive outcomes purely because he himself doesn’t believe he deserves them. Aside from his tendency to self-sabotage, his only other weak point would be Oberon himself. If not for Oberon’s bottomless love and faith in him, Luc would tumble into an irreversible darkness. As much as Luc desperately wants to rewrite his own legacy, independent of his family’s sinister history, if Oberon were to give up on him, Luc fears that he, too, would be the one to light a match and watch the world burn.

~~~~

There you have it! After nearly 3,000 words of ceaseless rambling, you’ve met the core six characters of @tsc-reader and I’s TSC fic, That Which Is Precious and Lost. Whilst the story in full is accessible on our Instagram accounts, we are more than happy to reformat and repost the chapters here on tumblr if there’s enough interest in them 🤭💗 (so, if you would like to see TWIPAL make an appearance here on Tumblr, let us know! )

We would also LOVE to hear your thoughts on the main six! We’re always open to feedback, and will take any opportunity we can to talk about these silly little guys 🤭🥹💗)

Also going to tag a few peeps down here who I think might find this interesting:

@princeash

@bookishjules

(Also, there was one person here who posted a whole post about their fanon kids of the TSC gangs but I CANNOT find you. I am so sorry. If you’re seeing this please, give me a sign.)

And, of course, my best partner in crime @tsc-reader who I have already tagged copious times in this post 🤭🥹💗 love you, girl!

[heylittleriotact]

I read the rules AFTER replying to the post. The title that most intrigues me is Senna Origins, because yeah, Senna. I might be a lil obsessed.

For you, anything! Thank you, friend 🥰

This is a portion from Senna’s backstory, which mostly focused on their upbringing and youth in the Feywild, and their activities within the Seelie Court as a young adult. I actually have yet to finish this because in the campaign that Senna exists in, they’re 472 years old and have spent around two centuries in the Material Plane and having to account for almost 500 years of being alive is… well it’s a lot.

I was picking them off one by one, pulling away pieces of a war machine that was driven by greed, privilege, and hubris. Lillian was becoming more and more powerful, her ideas were holding more sway, and I was becoming far too big for my britches: It was no longer enough for me to control the ebb and flow of the Seelie Court with my humble influence. I decided it was time to bless the Unseelie Court with my unique knack for taking out the trash as well.

(It’s vital to understand that the following decisions resulted in me ultimately drinking for roughly a decade straight in the Material Plane, and then sleeping for another 24 years to nurse away the cumulative hangover.)

Back when we had our silly little pissing contest with the Unseelie Court and Lillian and I were put on the front lines for a short time, the biggest battle we fought was against a monster named Baron of the Withering Spiritual Resilience - We called him Bows’r - He was big. He was mean. He was a graceless oaf (but really probably a lot more graceful than you know… un-Fey standards), and he led a battalion of four thousand to near victory against our own force. He was high ranking in the Unseelie Court, and I figured if I’d defused the powderkeg that was my own court, I may as well balance it out on the other side too.

I approached this differently though. There was a lot of sneaking, a lot of cloak and dagger, a lot more cloak, and a lot of being really, really careful that this didn’t get back to Lillian, or the rest of the Seelie Court, who still at best barely tolerated me.

See, my goal wasn’t to take down just Bows’r. My goal was to take down Bows’r, by goading him into an attempt on Oberon himself (actually knowing full well that I didn’t really have any kind of personal issue with Oberon, aside from the fact that he was one of them, and back then that was enough. Yes. I was an idiot, thanks.)

It would have worked spectacularly if I hadn’t suffered a betrayal within my own ranks which tipped Bows’r off, led him straight to Lillian instead of Oberon, and ultimately squared things such that the might of both Bows’r and Oberon were unjustly laid upon Lillian.

This was not just a matter of mistaken identity, a few bruises, and a socially awkward situation. The world of the fey is not so droll. No. This treachery meant that Lillian was implicated in the plot that was mine, and for the fact that Oberon’s name was even mildly associated, the perceived challenge was answered with the swift, practical retribution of The Hunter.

My love was taken away. Pierced by thirty-seven golden arrows even as I sought to buy her freedom with whatever means I could.

I watched it happen, I saw her face - content, relaxed - safe. I saw it fall to fear and surprise as the Green Lord appeared and took his prize, as triumphant and gleaming as any god would be in a tale told to you by someone else. I saw her curl, stretch, curl, shudder, and succumb on her feet to the wounds inflicted on her.

There was no time to explain, you see. Between my fatal error, Lillian’s false implication, and her blood on the mossy ground, less than a few hours had passed. There was no room to talk my way out, no way to talk her out, no army at our back, and nowhere else to go but… anywhere. And if you know even the loosest concept of anywhere, you know it means little to Oberon.

All I could do was watch as the Green Lord stooped and shouldered the body of a woman much larger than he, and all I could think of was the image of a hardened hunter hauling off a well-earned kill. Her blood trailed down his green shoulders and arms as he looked at me, without words.

“Release her,” I managed, from my broken and pitiful position on my knees. The hot tears that carved down my cheeks felt foreign and terrible. I felt, for the first time in my life, that I might be sick for the fear and grief that ruled my body now. I was no longer an instrument to the music: I had been swept up mercilessly in its unyielding fury.

The Green Lord’s cheek curled in a wry smile. “Set a trap, spring the line, and request from me that which is mine?” Lillian’s form was shifted up higher on the shoulder, and I swallowed back the gag that forced its way into my throat when I heard a bit of blood drip out of her own onto the forest floor. I forced myself to my feet, horribly aware of the soil and plant-life wedged deeply under my fingernails, horribly aware of the dryness of my own mouth and the wetness of my pants as I ignored the quaking in my knees and the sharp metallic flavour of fear on the back of my tongue warning me that my life was in very severe danger. I breathed in as deeply as I could - a shallow and sad attempt at best - but I forced my head high, forced my expression blank, and willed my forsaken knees still. There was music in this nightmare too. There had to be. I just needed to listen.

I looked Oberon in the face. In the eyes. And I said (as if it mattered, which around the Feywild, it very may well):

“Let her go, please.”

And he laughed in my face and disappeared from the forest in I don’t know… a fucking raincloud or something probably.

And he took Lillian with him. He took Lillian. My love, my queen, my hero. My best friend. My only real friend.

The problem - the real problem aside from him murdering my lover in front of my eyes for a crime that was not hers - was that he also took my child. My child that Lillian had only told me about moments before Oberon’s intrusion.

My beloved, and my future: Gone in the time it takes a leaf to fall from a tree.

[x-ceirios-x]

(Part 2) City of Lost Souls, Chapter 19: Love and Blood

please see the masterlist for notes about this series/collection of works

“So,” Sebastian said, filling the doorway as he looked down at Clary. “Would it be deja vu if I asked you what you were doing in my room, little sister?”

Clary swallowed against her suddenly dry throat. The light in the hallway was bright behind Sebastian, turning him into a silhouette. She couldn't see the expression on his face. 

“Though, it’s not perfect,” he said. “We have company we didn’t have before.”

Slowly, Clary turned her head, seeing Jensen still standing against the closet doorway. He was pale, green eyes wide with fear. The boy looked like a ghost standing there, facing the man that had tortured him and killed his best friend. 

Sebastian walked into the room—sauntered, really, as if he knew something she didn’t. Something no one else knew. His calm, evil smile unnerved her. “So, what were you looking for in here when you happened to find this brat?”

The gold ring on her finger blazed, like a signal fire. She tried to hide her hand behind her back, but he was too quick, snatching her wrist. “Tricky, tricky,” he said, his grip on her tight and sturdy. “Did you think I wouldn’t recognize faerie work? Do you think the queen is such a fool that she would send you off to retrieve these for her without knowing you would keep them for yourself? She wanted you to bring these here, where I would find it.” He jerked the ring off her finger with a smirk.

“You’ve been in contact with the queen?” Clary demanded. “How?”

“With this ring,” Sebastian purred, and Clay remembered the Queen saying In her high sweet voice, Johnathan Morgenstern could be a powerful ally.The Fair Folk are an old people, we do not make hasty decisions but wait to see in what direction the wind blows first. “Do you really think she’d let you get your hands on something that would let you communicate with your little friends without her being able to listen in? Since I took it from you, I've spoken to her, she’s spoken to me—you were a fool to trust her, little sister. She likes to be on the winning side of things, the Seelie queen. And that side will be ours, Clary. Ours.” His voice was low and soft. “Forget them, your Shadowhunter friends. Your place is with us. With me. Your blood cries out for power, like mine does. Whatever your mother may have done to twist your conscience, you know who you are.”

“No!” Jensen called from the corner of the room. He stood up a little straighter, clutching his ribs on one side, and Clary could see the matted blood in his hair on the opposite one. “Clary, you can’t listen to him!”

Sebastian was on him in an instant, his hand tangled in the boy’s hair and pulling hard. Jensen fought back, scratching out at him with one arm, the other trying to pry Sebastian’s hand off of him. He kicked out at him, landing a solid kick in the center of Sebastian’s stomach, winding him. 

“Clary, go!” Jensen screamed through the pain of Sebastian’s nails digging into his head and the pulling of his hair. She was torn—she could try to save him and risk both their lives, or escape with a greater chance of saving her own. She looked around frantically, and her eyes landed on a lamp on the desk nearby. While he was distracted with Jensen, she grabbed it and ripped the cord from the wall. She took a moment to steady herself, exhaled, and threw it as hard as she could at Sebastian. It connected with the back of his head and he crumpled, not before shoving Jensen back inside the closet. Sebastian fell against the door, breathing heavily. She could hear Jensen pounding on the closet door but there was no way for her to get to him. 

“I’m so sorry,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper. Then, she ran.

[c0ffeebee]

illustration commissioned by lovely @alteregonfiction for their story Winds of Change: Simoom [chapter 17] 💚💙💛

Samael nodded at him. "I notice the … diversity of your friends. Your kind is not known for opening up to those different from them, yet you bring one of our children, a dragon, a Seelie knight, a werewolf, a god's child and a vampire – a strange vampire, too, to be out in the open under our sun without suffering for it." The ghost of a smile played on the demon's lips. "It makes me inclined to believe that you have already improved your habits by some degree." "I hope so." Alec shifted a little on his feet, adjusting his stance to be closer to the parade rest he always defaulted to. He was doing his best to appear perfectly composed, but Magnus could sense his tension. The demon either didn't notice, or chose to ignore it. He turned to Simon, his head briefly moving back not unlike a predator picking up a scent in the air. "Your kind is rare," he observed. "I can smell the dragon on you, but it's Ithuriel's blood that boosts you. How did you acquire it? Surely not from the very source. It doesn't seem like him to share." "You know Ithuriel?" Clary blurted out, unable to conceal her surprise. Simon did his best not to squirm under those grey eyes. "A friend… gave it to me. I didn't assault anyone for it."

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[tetsunabouquet]

Heir To The Lands Chapter 44

The Horrors of Love Masterpost

Dru rushed upstairs as quickly as possible, not knowing if she should lie to her friends about Ash or be honest and inform them the Seelie Queen likely knew where they lived. She knew she should do the latter, but she couldn't help but feel conflicted. Their first and second encounter had been good, he had showed he was just a teenage boy but she knew there was a sinister side of him. A side that she knew Clary feared to exist and how she seemed to fear the day he would some day come back to their dimension to wreak havoc like Sebastian had done and that it would break Clary's heart all over again. Dru felt sorry for her, and honestly didn't wanted to be the one to shatter Clary's hopes either. It was difficult to lose your family to evil, Dru's childhood memories of her father were a bitter pill that sometimes she still choked down with tears flooding in her eyes out of nowhere, missing him so suddenly. She fell on the bed just as Thais opened the door, looking concerned. Thais closed it behind her, "what's up? Are you close to having a panic attack?" She asked as she scooted next to Dru. Dru shrugged, honestly not being able to comprehend how she felt. "Tell me, what happened when you went to get groceries?" Dru looked at her best friend and took a deep sigh. "Will you swear on the Angel?" "It's that heavy, huh? Well, I swear at the Angel that I will keep our conversation as a secret," Thais said, as she laid next to her on the bed. "Ash Morgenstern came to see me." As Dru spoke the words, they honestly felt a little ridiculous. "Ash Morgenstern came to see you?" Thais repeated in disbelief, and Dru sighed. "I saw him once, through a weird Faerie artifact from Jaime before he went to Thule. He still remembered me and held onto a drawing Jules had made of me there and was the one to help me escape Faerie too." Dru explained. "Wait, you're saying that he held onto a drawing of yours for years like a creepy stalker over just one encounter?" Thais said, absolutely horrified. Dru frowned. "You think it's creepy?" "Of course it is! Dru, girl, get a grip! I know he's supposed to have all these enchantments surrounding him, but don't let it cloud your mind. This is creepy stalker behavior if I've ever seen it!" Dru sat up straight. "But wat kind of girl did he ever have a normal interaction with?" Thais sat up too. "Doesn't makes it any less creepy Dru! If anything, that just shows how messed up he and his ideas on romance are. He was raised by Sebastian for year, for crying out loud! Ash shows he's just as obsessive as his father." Dru looked at her lap, knowing Thais was being reasonable yet she wanted to defend Ash. "It's not like he ever had a choice." Thais sighed. "The same can be said for his father. It's not like Sebastian ever choose to be poisoned. Look Dru, I don't know what kind of connection you felt when you met him, but you're going to regret this so much. Trust me, I would know." Thais said, her jaw tightening. "What do you mean, you know?" Thais was silent for a moment, trying to gather all her courage. "Remember when we planned to get me hooked on a love potion so I had the courage to confess to Laura, and we accidentally spread it across the school?" Dru nodded, remembering the incident. "It went so wrong. Instead of just confessing, me and Laura… We…" Thais swallowed, not knowing how to put it in words, and Dru thought she'd never seen Thais, confident and tough Thais, ever look so distressed and vulnerable. "I didn't wanted to… I wasn't ready…." Thais said, her eyes now brimming with tears as she began to hiccup. The implications of her words dawned on Dru with horror. Now she understood why Thais didn't wanted to be in a relationship with Laura and had fallen for the secure and ever so gentle Tomas. She hugged Thais, and Thais sniffled into her hair, "Please promise me on the Angel, that you won't be as stupid as me." "You're not stupid Thais, and I swear on the Angel that I'll choose a healthy love." Dru said as she held her best friend with a fierce tenderness she hadn't known she posessed.

[adleryoung]

"Your Majesty," Ash said with an oily grin. "It's so nice to finally meet you in person. I must say, I'm impressed. You managed to free yourself on your own terms, and it only took you a few hundred years. You also dealt with that town of rabbits very handily! Have you been reading that book I gave you, perchance? Considering how much time you've spent here, I can't imagine you doing much else."

Of all my old allies, why did it have to be this guy I saw first?

"No," I snapped. "I have not spent all my time in isolation reading your demon enchanted book of villainy. I freed myself on my own terms, and I tried doing it the Seelie way."

"Tried?" Ash repeated drily. "Does that mean the smoldering ruins of Bunkirk and the mountain of charred dead bodies are evidence of another of your plans spiraling hopelessly out of control? I must say, you managed to turn your wife into your sworn enemy in what might be record time. I'd have to consult the record book to be sure. Did you at least manage to hide your heir in a safe place?"

"I don't have time to play twenty questions with a BACK-STABBING TRAITOR," I snarled. "I've already set in motion my plans for securing my rule and rescuing Faerie without your help. Now, if you don't mind, I have old friends I need to speak to."

"You think I'm a traitor and yet you still saw fit to release me from my banishment, or did you forget?"

"I gave my word," I scowled. "And the Seelie keep their promises."

"As do the Unseelie," he pointed out meaningfully. "By the by, I didn't betray you. I carried out your instructions to the best of my ability. The crux of your plan was rescuing the deranged granny-child and the pie woman, which I did with great difficulty. You probably believe I didn't do anything to help you over the last two centuries, but remember: You never gave me a backup plan and your specifically stated goal was that you wanted to free yourself under your own power. After the courtroom fiasco, I fell back on your previous orders and continued to spread artfully embellished stories of your elfly deeds throughout the land. I also built a well-functioning intelligence network for your benefit. Those Ixies of yours are a delight to work with."

"HE is part of your amazing spy network???" I demanded of the Ixie hovering nervously near me.

"Ash showed us the best ways to operate," she shrugged sheepishly, "and helped us kick our sugar habit."

"I have also been busy reestablishing myself in Faerie," Ash continued before I could yell at him. "You left our homeland in quite a sorry state, I wish to point out."

"Don't pin all of this on me!" I yelled. "You assured me that rabbit cult leader was under your thumb! What happened there??"

"I underestimated how confident he would be with an angry mob at his back," Ash admitted, almost with a note of embarrassment. "A secret as shameful as his would have brought any sane man to heel. The Parson's zealotry combined with his own personal army made him bolder than any rational person would be. Despite that unforeseen difficulty, I still rescued the granny-child and the baker. Reverend O'Hoppity only cared about going after me, as I was the only one who knew his secret. Once the melee began, no one cared about the girl or the baker anymore. I even took the liberty of escorting your student out of harm's way. No, I didn't kidnap her! I even tried to fill the role of teacher for her in your absence, and attempted to fix the damage your ridiculous Seelie poppycock did to her developing mind."

"What did you do to Rebecca?" I bellowed. "If you harmed one hair on my student's head, I swear to Fuma I'll-!"

"Your Highness, please," Ash protested soothingly. "Calm yourself. I discovered, much to my dismay, that the damage you did to her mind seems to be permanent. She was belligerent and insolent the entire time she was my pupil. I confess it was a tremendous relief to hand her off to your murderous raccoon midget when she finally caught up to us."

"Not all that murderous, since you seem to have survived meeting her."

"She thought I had turned traitor and kidnapped or harmed Rebecca," Ash shrugged. "When she realized that none of those assumptions were true, we were able to make peace."

"Huh," I grunted, frankly surprised to hear that Burnside could be reasoned with. "Well, what happened to the Parson?"

"I got to him in due time," Ash chuckled. "Revenge, after all, is my specialty."

"What did you do?" I asked hesitantly, not liking his tone at all.

"Someone with your delicate sensibilities is better off not knowing."

"Well, what do you want?" I demanded. "Surely you didn't walk all this way just to admire the stones and brag about your accomplishments."

"Why not?" Ash grinned briefly, then became serious. "But you are correct, there is another purpose to my visit. I must inform you that Queen Edessa has ensconced herself in the Persoc Tor palace library, and has permitted lowfolk to trespass there and …" he almost choked on his own outrage, "… STUDY MAGICK! This cannot be allowed to continue. You - being the only elf with any jurisdiction over her and the space she is occupying - are going to have to do something about it."