#their older siblings will say. your honor. they did nothing wrong

[s2pdoktopus]

Knife shaped siblings and Al

[legitalicat]

Out of Time

Chapter 5 - "Oh Brother, I've Returned"

an: While it does not fit this chapter entirely, I listened to "Brother" by Madds Buckley a lot during this chapter. As an older sister who moved out when my younger sibling was under 10, I feel the guilt of being gone while your siblings grow up without you. I highly recommend that song.

If you love this header go check out zaldritzosrose for more amazing work! She is tagged on the series masterlist and on my welcome post!

Find the series Master list here!

Summary: "It is not a ridiculous notion to fear what we do not know. Yet you cannot let your fears keep you from them."

TW: Anxiety, profanity, angst, dead daddy issues, literal bone crushing hugs, substance use, fear of addiction, detailed descriptions of Viserys I death, descriptions of severe pain, Vizzy is not a good parent, Aemond and Jace making a scene at dinner AGAIN, very large and physically intimidating men, Jaehaerys being very much a brother, Joffrey and Luke being little shithead brothers,

Romantic Pairings: Very brief focus on Aemond Targaryen x Velaryon!Reader, Very brief focus on Jacaerys Velaryon x Twin!Reader, Aegon Targaryen ii x Velaryon!Reader.

Other characters shining in this chapter: Ser Erryk, Jaehaera Targaryen, Lucerys Velaryon, Joffrey Velaryon, Aegon iii, Viserys Targaryen ii, Rhaenyra Targaryen, Alicent Hightower

Word count: 6.6k (oops)

The fuzzy feelings disappeared by late afternoon. A bright side was that I was absolutely starving when dinner time came. When I stood from my bed, I found I still had no pain. It was great to be able to walk across the room in less than five minutes.

I met Ser Erryk just outside my room. He greeted me as he always did, cheerful and just seemingly grateful. He spoke to me of the apparent menu for the night. We were to have braised goose with roasted chestnuts and cabbage.

“You like goose?” I asked him as we walked.

“I do, princess. It is greasy, so unappealing to some. I believe your mother is among them,” he said, smiling at me.

“It was a joke of sorts, between her and my father. A discussion they had before they were married. She likes to have it every so often as a way to remember him,” I told him.

It was true enough. The reason why Ser Laenor was who claimed us was apparent to me when I thought of him. He was never without the company of a male companion. When we first went to Dragonstone, he brought a young knight. Joffrey is named after a knight he knew in his youth, whose death devastated him in unimaginable ways. He loved them both deeply and in a way he could never love Mother.

It was known to her before they married, so when she spoke to him of the marriage, she assured him it would not impose on his life. She equated it to taste, saying like her, he preferred roast duck to goose. There was nothing wrong with that. Some people just like things and that was that.

After his death, I found Mother would request goose for our dinner. When I pointed out that he had never picked it out himself, she told me that was the point. The goose was meant to represent their effort in marriage, and for her it was a way to honor him. She had so much love for him, and he for her, even if it was not the type of love she shared with my blood father or even Daemon.

I truly believe they were soulmates. Most believed that soulmates were romantic, that it always ended with love and sex and all those things that made people gooey inside. There was not a person alive, though, that could convince me Mother and Laenor did not belong together in life even though they were not in love. You cannot have a best friend like that and tell me that the gods did not design you for that person.

Often I think how there was nobody better than Laenor to have been with her. Yes, my father and her loved one another in a way most wouldn’t understand. Yes, Daemon seems an equal match for her now. And yes, Laenor had loved his male companions the way he perhaps should’ve loved the one he married. But they understood each other on a fundamental level. They never begrudged one another, never showed anything to us that wasn’t pure love and respect for not only us but one another. Even if it were not romantic love, they were made to love each other.

“Ser Laenor was a good man. I think he would be proud of who you are,” he told me. “I truly believe that.”

Sometimes I didn’t know how to feel about Ser Laenor. He was not my blood. His opinions on me truly held no bearing in the grand scheme of things, as he was never who I had to impress. My inheritance would’ve never come from him.

But anytime I heard he would be proud of me, I wanted to beg for more. Blood or not he was my father. He was the man who claimed me. He loved me. How could I not want him to be proud of me?

“Thank you, Ser Erryk. I appreciate it,” I whispered, trying to not let my voice crack under the emotion.

We continued walking along without speaking any further. I could hear music and laughter as we approached the Small Hall. Don’t let the name fool you, though. Located in the Tower of the Hand, it had to be smaller than the Great Hall where the Throne sat, but this hall still held over two hundred people if so desired. With a family so large, it made sense to have our dinners here.

Erryk went to open the door but I reached out my hand to grab his before he could. The sounds of the ones I love being happy on the other side of this door terrified me. We were all mostly happy that night, the night I disappeared. At least we were for a moment in time.

My finger tips went numb and my bottom lip was trembling. It had been hard enough just being alone with those I’ve had time with already. But to see all of them, all at once, felt like it was an impossible task.

I had yet to speak to any of my brothers other than Jace. Trying to face the very distinct possibility of Little Aegon and Viserys disliking me felt like my stomach was being tied in knots. Joffrey was fourteen now, what if he didn’t like me either? Or if Luke was angry with me, somehow blaming me for being gone, I don’t think I could take it.

So much time had been lost. I was newly eighteen when I disappeared, now Jace and I were fast approaching twenty four. Aemond had been nineteen, Helaena twenty, Aegon twenty two, and Luke just fifteen. We all had so much time together. But Joffrey had only been nine, Little Aegon four, and Viserys only two. I had missed such a grand portion of their lives, even more when thinking of the year I was in King’s Landing beforehand, I didn’t think I could fit.

“We can go back if you wish,” Erryk said quietly to me. “I will make some excuse as to why you remain in your rooms. They needn’t know.”

“What kind of person is scared of their family for no reason?” I whispered to him, looking at him as a tear slowly rolled down my cheek.

It would maybe make sense if they had been terrible to me. But even the worst among them treated me as though I was golden. Alicent, who had undoubtedly been abhorrent to Mother and my brothers to the point she demanded all of us be brought to her when Mother was fresh from her labors, had loved me. I could distinctly remember sitting on her lap as a small child while my grandsire told Jace and I about the Kingdoms the would one day be ours.

“The first time Arryk and I went home after we were appointed to the Kingsguard, I was certain our parents would shut the door in our face,” he told me. “How could they not? I mean we were the only two heirs to our house and we both took an oath that forbade us from having lands, having a wife, having children. We effectively ended our house with us. But all our parents cared about was that we were happy and safe. It is not a ridiculous notion to fear what we do not know. Yet you cannot let your fears keep you from them.”

I could not look him in the eye. Part of me was so ashamed to feel as scared that I did. To me, it was a ridiculous notion. I’m the blood of the dragon, how could I fear anything?

He put his other hand over top mine, that still held onto him like my life depended on it. That was what let me meet his gaze. He truly looked at me with nothing but kindness in his eyes.

“When you were a girl, it is not that you were fearless. It is that you have always loved so fiercely your own fears did not stop you. When you sabotaged the soil stores so that the garden bugs would not die, you faced your mother, Queen Alicent, and your grandsire with tears in your eyes. You were scared of being in trouble, of having done something wrong. Even so, you held Helaena’s hand and explained why you did it. The night of Aemond’s injury, you were scared to anger everyone in explaining what happened. Yet, what mattered to you was the truth and so you told the truth,” he explained to me. “I offer again that I can take you back to your room and I will tell them you were not feeling well.”

The faith he had in the person I am felt comforting. At least there was one person who knew truly who I am. He had no reason to make me fit a certain mold. It was not like with Aemond or Jace in which he needed me to be this perfect representation of a person. He did not need me to understand the darkest parts of him like Aegon did. It was truly like he was a friend.

“Do not stray far from me,” I said quietly to him.

Releasing his hand, I stood straight and readied myself. He opened the door and stood to the side.

When I stepped into the room, for a moment nobody really noticed me and I just got to watch. Viserys, Little Aegon, and Maelor were all running around the room in a game. Mother and Alicent were speaking to one another, smiling. Jaehaerys and Jaehaera were animatedly discussing something with Aemond and Helaena. Luke, Jace, and Aegon were all hunched over the table as they laughed about something. Joffrey was in the corner of the room sneaking a little cake.

They were all so happy. Was this truly what it was like all the time now? Had the wounds of the past been so forgotten we could live like this?

Surprisingly, the first to notice me was Jaehaera. She very obviously lit up upon seeing me and got up from her chair near immediately. Wasting no time, she went to the empty chair in between Mother and Alicent and grabbed a bouquet of flowers that had sat in it. It was then others took notice of her movements and all their eyes shifted from her to me.

When I began feeling the fear bubbling up inside me again and my fingertips once again felt numb, I just focused on Jaehaera. This little girl who was so happy when she noticed me, a little girl I adored so much, was now running to me with these flowers in her hand. They were a pretty assortment, consisting peonies, tulips, and lilies.

“Mumma says you like flowers so I picked the prettiest ones,” she said happily when she stopped in front of me. She very proudly held out her bouquet so that I could admire her work.

I smiled softly at Jaehaera as tears welled up in my eyes. “They are lovely, thank you little one,” I said in a voice that was barely above a whisper. Carefully I took the bouquet from her and held it in my hands.

They were not flawless flowers. One of the peonies had not fully bloomed while another had already begun to lose its petals. The lilies had been slightly crushed against the weight of the other flowers. I noticed the tulips had little teeny insects crawling around on them, which Helaena and her children no doubt saw as an added benefit, and as such there were teeny holes in some of the petals. But there was not enough gold in the world that could convince me to rid myself of this bouquet. Despite the flaws, I could not think of it as anything less than perfect. Erryk took them in his own hand before he arranged for a serving girl to take them to my room and put them in water.

She took my hand in hers and began pulling me along to the table. Even in her excitement, she also seemed to be careful with me like everyone else had been.

“Do you want to sit next to me??” Jaehaerys said loudly when I was in arms reach of the table. It caused Jaehaera to stop her path, therefore stopping me.

“Inside voice, bubba,” Jaehaera said softly to him before looking at me. “Excuse him. He forgets we all have ears.”

“That’s okay, Luke was like that too when he was little,” I said to her. It caused them both to grin from ear to ear.

“Did you hear that Jae Jae? I’m like Luke,” he said, noticeably quieter this time, but just as excitedly.

“I am just glad someone else knows about brothers,” Jaehaera said with a giggle.

“I would like to point out that I had no choice but to be loud to make sure I was heard over Jace’s big mouth,” Luke said as he stood from his seat.

When Luke stood I realized he was taller than me. Not near as tall as Aegon, but a noticeable few inches. It caused a great stirring of emotions in my chest. I had anticipated my brothers growing taller than me, in fact it surprised me that Jace was only my height and not taller. Yet, not being here to notice it happening caused an ache.

Especially with Luke. He was only three years younger than me, so I did not remember his birth or his little years quite like I remembered Joffrey’s, Little Aegon’s, or Viserys’. That didn’t keep me from remembering bits and pieces, though. Like, I used to help Mother pick out the clothes he wore as a baby as though he was a doll. I snuck out of bed one night when he was a newborn so that I could sleep next to his cradle. I could remember the first time he got sick and, instead of going to Mother and Laenor, he crawled into bed between Jace and I and leaked snot all over my chest.

The bad parts, the good parts, all of it was not something I would trade for the world. Despite having more conscious thoughts when the younger three were babies, Luke was my baby. To me there was nobody better. He was as good and pure as a person could get. If Mother thought I was the best parts of both my fathers, Luke was the best parts of me. He was every good thing in this world rolled into the sweetest package.

“Now you can’t hold sweets over my head and keep me from getting them,” he said playfully.

“No, but I can still sit on your head until you cry,” I responded. My own ear to ear grin spread across my face. I did not care that it hurt my lip as the skin stretched. Luke was worth it.

“I cried one time! You were crushing my ear!” he defended adamantly.

“I maintain to this day that you should not have taken my book,” I told him with a shrug.

“Hadn’t he already handed it back to you when you sat on him?” Jace asked me.

“I don’t recall asking for your input, Jace,” I said quickly causing Luke to laugh.

Luke was truly a man now. His laugh was deeper, as was his voice. He was twenty now and by no means could he be confused as a child.

He wrapped his arms around me in a near bone crushing hug. Even with the pain shooting through my ribs, I could not ask him to ease up. The world felt right the moment he hugged me. Like the years had not passed without me.

I noticed he smelled like the sea. Salt water and open sky, with just a trace of the smell of the wood the ships were made of. If I had to guess, he spent a lot of time in Driftmark now, preparing himself for when Grandsire Corlys was no longer able to hold the Driftwood Throne. When he was little and we suffered the loss of both Ser Harwin and our Aunt Laena, he feared becoming Lord of Driftmark as he knew the death that would precede that moment. If he had been able to move past that fear, I was grateful.

“Are you a sailor now?” I asked as I pulled back from him.

“Only sometimes. Grandsire has spent two years teaching me how to,” he answered. He had a shy, goofy little smile on his face.

“And I would imagine he regales you with stories of the Velaryon blood ruling the seas every moment of it,” I joked.

“Would he be him if he weren’t the proudest man alive?” he asked.

My three Velaryon brothers and Mother all chuckled at that. Genuinely speaking I could not think of a prouder man alive. Our grandfather had held House Velaryon miles above any house, including Targaryens. I think it was because the Targaryens were dragonlords making him think we were handed power, whereas Velaryons seemed to build everything themselves. There was a pride to be held in that, of course. But Westeros was not conquered by shipmasters, now was it?

With this laughter, I took a moment to look around, turning around the room, and settling to look at Joffrey. Fourteen certainly was not the age of a man but compared to the nine year old I left behind he might as well have been. My little Joffrey, whose birth was the first I truly remember, making the three of us older ones so excited. We were downright annoying when it came to him.

Jace had decided we needed to pick the egg for him ourselves. Without uttering a word to anyone, we snuck away from the dragonkeeper charged in teaching us our lesson that day and delved far into the Dragonpit. Luke excitedly picked the egg from one of Syrax’s clutches. As the three of us had been given one, with only mine not hatching, we had to give the baby an egg that came from Mother’s dragon. Our father found us as we were trying to carry the red hot cauldron to the Keep. With his help, and the enlisted help of a few keepers, we awaited the arrival of the baby eagerly.

We took turns stoking the flames underneath it to keep it warm while we waited for Mother. And when she returned, followed closely by Laenor with the baby boy in hand, Luke and Jace both desperately wanted to get close to him. Laenor and father had to practically bat them away so that our baby brother could meet our father.

For myself, I can only remember looking at my perfect family. While in that moment I had not been told the truth of my birth, I knew. It was not so much a moment of realization that none of my brothers or I looked like Laenor, instead favoring Mother’s sworn shield. It was not even hearing the rumors and embodying them as a sort of self fulfilling prophecy. No, all it took was me seeing how Laenor yielded in that moment to Harwin and seeing the way this mountain of a man became so soft when gazing upon Joffrey for me to know. He was a man who was granted love in undeniable ways and he was a part of our family.

Joffrey looked the most like our father. The four of us all had his hair color and his complexion, of course. Jace and I got his eyes, according to Mother, and I could agree. The colors were the same on all four of us, yet we got the shape. I could see on Jace the little crinkles in the corners that our father had. Luke had his smile to the point that when our father died, I desperately worked to make Luke smile for days so that I could feel the embrace of the man who created me. Yet Joffrey had it all. His eyes, his nose, his smile, even the height and bulk of him. There were traces of Mother, like in the angles of his jawline or the placement of his cheekbones. But one could be forgiven if they thought Harwin Strong walked the halls of the Red Keep again when seeing Joffrey.

How cruelly ironic. The one who only got a few meetings with our father was the one who looked to be a trueborn Strong and not the dirty little secret I always felt like. The one who would never know our father or Laenor and the way they both loved us, who was robbed of the perfect family I loved so much, was everything I begged to be. A perfect embodiment of the father I prayed returned to me sat before me in the form of the last of his children.

“Joffrey, I believe Y/N would appreciate if you could come closer,” Aemond’s voice said from somewhere out of my view. I believed he may be behind me, with Jaehaera on my left and Luke still to my right. I could not be bothered to check.

Joffrey nodded and placed the sweet down on a nearby table before walking closer to me. He wiped his hands against his pants, highlighting to me that he was wearing Targaryen colors of black and not Velaryon ones. I could see the crumbs fall to the floor as he walked. It was almost enough to make me laugh.

“Have you been so short your entire life?” he asked when he stood in front of me. He was taller than Aemond even, wider around the middle, broader along the shoulders than Jace. It was terrifying when one realized most of that was probably muscle, and most likely he had more growing to do.

“I would like to point out I am perfectly normal height,” I said, huffing a bit. “You are just tall.”

“To you. To me, you are short. Perspective, sissy,” he said.

My heart caught in my throat. It wasn’t that I had anticipated him to forget me or all the time I had spent teaching him of the world. But hearing him call me sissy and confirming that I still had a place in his heart made my own ache in unexpected ways.

Wrapping my arms around his middle, I pulled him into a tight hug. It was a hug he returned eagerly, holding me as tight as I held him. Just as with Luke, I couldn’t be bothered to care about any of the pain coursing through my body.

Luke and Joffrey had so much of me in them. Luke was my baby and Joffrey was my sidekick. Where one clung to me the other did just the same. For the longest time you could not find me without them. I did everything for them to ensure their lives. Luke and I spent hours just standing on the deck of our ship so that I could help him overcome his fear of the sea. I was the one who taught Joffrey to read, and then taught him as much as I could of politics and history. Both of them spent so much time with me in the gardens of Dragonstone as I tended to the flowers.

When I finally convinced myself that I could let go without him disappearing, I pulled away from his hold. Concern drew itself onto his face. If the empty yet extraordinarily heavy feeling in my head and the fire spreading through my chest had caused me to look as I felt in this moment, I would imagine I’d look much the same as he did. In truth I could not care to look at everyone else. Leaning forward to lean against Joffrey, I tried to steady my breathing.

“Let’s sit you down,” Luke whispered from behind me. I can only assume I nodded as he and Joffrey both supported me to sit me in the chair between Alicent and Mother. The last note of music that filled the room just moments ago echoed from every wall before the room fell into silence.

“Y/N, you mustn’t overdo it, sweet girl,” Mother said quietly, pressing a cooled rag to my head.

“I couldn’t tell them to stop, mama. My babies still love me,” I whispered to her, gripping her wrist to still her hand. The suddenness of my movement caused me a blinding flash of burning pain.

“Perhaps we should order some milk of the poppy,” Alicent suggested, looking between Mother and me.

“No, no,” I begged her, tears springing to my eyes.

Let me be clear and say I understand the benefits of the medicine. It is extremely effective in easing pain and in large enough quantities, could incapacitate an entire Dothraki horde. Though I dare anyone to watch their grandfather wither to be but a living, skin covered skeleton and he can’t even acknowledge his breathing because he is so addled by the shit.

I am not stupid enough to think back on his life and legacy and think him a good King nor even a good father. But I do know, factually know, that he was a man who loved his family dearly. A man who was taken advantage of in his deepest grief and never fixed the mistakes made in those times. A man who deserved more than to die so slowly while his brain, his very capable and beautiful brain, wasted away because of the only treatment for his pain.

When you watch a man go from being able to tell you about the Kingdom he loves, that one day you will rule, to not even being able to remember your existence, it changes things. When you watch him become so frail and thin that being turned the wrong way breaks his bones, yet remain so puffy under the eye and in his fingertips because of the poison, you may refuse it too. His younger children may not have cared, of that I will not speak on. But I cared, and it terrified me.

Would he have been in so much pain constantly if he hadn’t taken it so regularly? What if he was being treated for an ailment that was caused by milk of the poppy? And if that was true, how much would it take before I could not exist without it?

“Y/N, you cannot live in this pain,” Mother said to me.

“I cannot live like that,” I corrected her.

“Your grandsire was very sick for a long time, you will heal in mere weeks. But you cannot heal if you live in this pain,” Alicent said. Her voice was just as quiet and soothing as Mother’s as she petted my hair.

Very slowly, I adjusted my body in my chair to look to Aegon. He was watching me with silent tears in his eyes. But when our wet gazes locked together he understood what I needed. He did not need anything else from me. He understood my pain as I did his.

After pushing himself to a stand from his seat, he wasted no time in getting to my side. All the while he was reaching in his sleeve to pull out the pouch with the biscuits. Within a moment he was by my side, kneeling to be able to look up at my face.

“Stars?” he asked me. It took me less than half a breath to know he was asking how severe my pain, if it was enough to make me see stars. He knew it went beyond feeling knives in my body but he could not tell further.

“Lightning,” I muttered to him.

He had once theorized the lightning that extended from the sky during the worst of storms would be the most painful thing to be hit by. It was on a late night adventure, one that quickly turned into a two day adventure, that he had dragged me on not long before I had Vhaela. We mounted Sunfyre together and flew to Harrenhal. Quick enough flying on Sunfyre, though it took nearly all night. When we had arrived, a storm had come overhead, and we watched as lightning struck the large castle no less than three times. The stone was surprisingly mostly unscathed, save for the burn marks permanently etched on its side. When we spoke of a human withstanding just one strike, he said you’d nearly die from the pain alone.

It was how I knew he would understand. This was not the pain I experienced falling from my bed when I was six. This was a burning, pulsating pain that caused me to lose parts of my sight. A pain so severe I could not breathe properly.

He helped me eat a significant bit more than what I had earlier. Mainly because every time I moved myself I was hit with another flash of pain. It was just easier to allow his help.

“The larger portion may not quicken the effects but it will help manage your pain better,” he said quietly to me. “Tell me what I can do in the meanwhile.”

“Stay right here and have everyone return to their joy,” I whispered to him as I took his hand. “At the least I wish to see everyone smile.”

He nodded softly and looked to Alicent. Within a few minutes, the music started back up and not long after that the chatter started up again. I would have to be oblivious to not notice the worried looks Mother and Alicent still gave me. Though those looks were nothing compared to the way Aemond and Jace were glaring at Aegon.

Genuinely speaking, it was a lot like watching children. It was as though Aemond and Jace had never once considered that anyone else would want to play their game. They only considered each other and knew what to expect from them. But now they viewed Aegon as a competitor.

Was Aegon a competitor? Sure he had said earlier how he loved me, that I was the only woman he loved. But he did not put his hand forward. He did not express a desire to be with me despite the love he held for me. I could no more count him as a contender for my heart as I could Ser Erryk.

Where Aemond and Jace looked on at him in anger, Aegon paid no mind. His eyes were focused solely on me. And every time I met his gaze, I gave him a small squeeze in the hand.

Six songs passed before I felt any relief. At first it wasn’t noticed until I could take a full breath. It was when I turned my head to watch as the food was brought in that it became clear that I could now manage. It seemed it became clear to Aegon, too, as he left my side and took his place back across from Luke.

Luke, Jace, and Aegon took the seats on the end of the table nearest the windows. Luke and Aegon on the very end, Jace beside Aegon. Joffrey took a spot next to Luke. Then beside Joffrey sat Aemond, and beside Jace there was Helaena. Next to Aemond was Alicent, with Jaehaera across from her. Then you had me and I was sat across from Jaehaerys. To my right was Mother, and across from her sat Maelor. There was two empty seats on Mother’s other side, and across from them was Little Aegon and Viserys. Then a singular chair that looked down the whole of the table sat on the very end, also empty, and that was closest to the kitchen.

Alicent lead us all in prayer. Truthfully, I probably should’ve paid more mind to the words she was saying. It mattered a lot to her, Helaena, and even Aemond. Yet, when I looked down the table and saw Aegon watching my every move, every thought from my head left. So instead, I looked directly at my plate.

The juices that flowed from the goose glistened in the candlelight that danced against every surface in stunning opposition to how the dark gravy absorbed light. The cabbage and roasted chestnuts sat to the side of it, looking decently appealing on their own. There was a basket of bread placed down for every four people. All of the adults, save Aegon and I, had a large cup of wine sitting in front of them. If Aegon and the children had the same as me, we all had water. Once Alicent was done saying her prayers, the only sound to be heard was all of us eating our food.

It was delicious. Though it was not a surprise to me, as the cooks here in King’s Landing had always been phenomenal. Maybe it was the fuzziness in my head that made it more apparent. Yet, it seemed more complex than normal. The meat was almost sweeter, the gravy with a level of saltiness that counteracted it perfectly. The chestnuts were almost like velvet in my mouth, creating a feeling akin to butter. Even cabbage, that I normally did not like, was something I would pick again and again.

“Did you try to come back?” A small voice asked. I looked up, only to see Viserys staring at me.

“Viserys,” Mother said firmly. It was her warning tone. Perhaps she did not think it proper for him to question me.

“I can’t remember,” I said quietly. “But I cannot imagine a reality in which I did not fight to return back to you all.”

“Is that why you are all beat up?” Little Aegon asked me.

“Aegon,” Mother said with the same firmness. I reached to take her hand in mine and gave it a small squeeze. She needed to understand that they were allowed to ask me, I could not fault them for being confused.

“Possibly. But I do not remember,” I told him.

“Do you remember anything?” they both asked at the same time.

“Not from when I was gone, no,” I whispered. “But I remember before I was gone. I remember loving the two of you so much. I am sorry I disappeared, and I am sorry that you both grew up without me.”

All of that was mostly true. I hated my disappearance, as it did take me away from everyone I loved. Yet to say I do not remember anything from the time I was gone may not be true.

In my thoughts, I could wade through the fog that the biscuit causes. Only in this feeling did I get any information from my brain. When I tried desperately to remember the last five years, there were only two things that my mind could conjure up. A glowing vial of shimmering red fire that I am near certain was a potion swirled in and out of my mind’s eye. And there was a distinct feeling loneliness, of knowing that where I existed was not where I belonged.

The shade of red of the potion was eerily familiar. While equating it to fire would be the right way to imagine the way that the liquid flowed, it was poor in grasping the color. One could tell me that someone was able to melt rubies into this vial and I would believe them. That was the only physical thing that was colored correctly.

Until I could explain more or had more answers, I would not say anything. With how desperate Mother and Aemond were for vengeance, giving them half answers could cause more damage that it would repair. It was not worth it.

“Do you want to come to our dragon lessons tomorrow?” Little Aegon asked.

Unable to verbalize my answer, I nodded. Spending time with my two littlest brothers felt like exactly what I needed. They may not be quite sure about me at all, but they were willing to give me a chance. I suppose that is all I could ask for.

The sound of a chair scraping against the stone floor brought my attention to the left side of the table. Aemond stood with his cup raised. My jaw tightened. The last time he gave a toast, he managed to call my brothers bastards while ignoring that it meant I too was a bastard. It caused a fight to break out, with Jace punching Aemond and Aegon slamming Luke into the table. I was not wanting a repeat and I doubt anyone else did.

“A toast,” Aemond said. “To the return of Ali. The Keep had truly existed in a darkness without you.”

A heat rose to my cheeks with his words. It was tame, I suppose, with what he could say. Although, I do wish he would just have not brought any further attention to me. I don’t think I would be able to say anything to him though.

“I wish to take this moment to make it clear,” he said. As always there was a confidence he held that I couldn’t shake. “Byka zaldrīzes, no longer do I wish to hide my affections. It is here and now that I am declaring my intention to marry you.”

My heart started skipping beats. While he had said it aloud to me, he had not voiced it to anyone else. And it wasn’t entirely like it was a secret, as he had always been rather obvious. With this declaration there was no longer a doubt about where I stood with him.

Jace stood up quickly, slamming his hands on the table as he did so. “She is my twin, Aemond, my betrothed. You do not get to decide such a thing,” he said angrily.

Aegon grabbed Jace’s shoulder and pulled him back into a sitting position. I was aware of Aemond smirking as he watched Jace. Leave it to him to make this a little game, a game which he is certain he will win.

“It is not your decision, either,” Aegon told him as though he were spitting poison at him. My jaw dropped slightly. It was not usual that I saw him actually angry.

“And you think you get any say?” Aemond asked his older brother.

“I think the two of you are so focused on this pissing contest that’s been going on since we were children you fail to realize that she is hurt,” Aegon shouted, standing up. Despite being shorter than Aemond and not as broad as Jace, he somehow made himself look larger. He made himself an unmoving force.

“I better than anyone know that she is hurt,” Aemond said darkly, to which Jace voiced the same sentiment.

“Are you both so truly lost in your desires that you are ignoring the anguish she is in? She caused herself so much pain she was barely conscious just so she could feel as though she still has a place! Do not pretend this is about anyone other than the two of you,” Aegon shouted.

“And what of you? What is your plan, dear brother?” Aemond asked, moving himself to appear larger.

The difference between them in this moment was fascinating. Aemond wanted to prove his dominance. He felt he had some claim to me just because of the love he and I share. With Aegon, though, it was because he wanted to prove nothing more than he was capable of protecting me.

Aegon turned to look at me. I could see him ease up almost immediately. It was like just the sight of me was enough to calm him.

“I am here however you choose to have me,” he said softly, addressing me directly.

[winmance]

When Our Children Fell in Love (AO3 Link)

Additional Tags:

Alpha Damen (Captive Prince)Omega Laurent (Captive Prince)Alpha/Beta/Omega DynamicsProtective ParentsPost-Canonthey're getting oldBut together so it's cutePOV Nikandros (Captive Prince)Nikandros is not having a good timeIn-Laws

Summary:

Laurent and Damen have eleven children and Nikandros loves each of them deeply.

But out of the eleven, there is this one child, the spitting image of Laurent, that Nikandros always had trouble trusting for he looks too much like Laurent.

Of course, it is the one Nikandros' child decides to take as a spouse.

Sorry below 👇

There’s nothing but silence inside the Kings’ room. Damen and Laurent are seated next to each other on the edge of their bed, Damen’s hand resting on his husband’s back. Nikandros is sitting in front of them, on the chair they use to write down at their desk.

To their right, their sons, standing hand in hand.

“Damianos,” Nikandros calls his son. “What is this about?”

“We’re in love and asking for your approval.”

“We’re not asking, actually,” Lauri says.

Lauri is holding his head high and proud, his blue eyes showing no emotion. He’s the fourth child of Laurent and Damen, one of the only two omegas of eleven children, and yet he has the pride of Auguste, their Alpha Heir.

Out of the eleven, he’s also the one that looks the most like Laurent: the same hair, same eyes, same attitude. Only his skin is a bit darker, but he’s still paler than the others. Nikandros had doubts Damen was the father, for a moment. He suggested it once and it was the only time he had been afraid of his best friend, for Damen’s anger had been so strong that he saw himself dead already.

Now that the boy is older, there is no doubt Damen is his father. Yes, he looks more like Laurent, but he also has many shared traits with Damen.

Nikandros’ boy, Damianos, has his head down. He’s an alpha and looks like one: his muscles are showing, he already has the beginning of a beard and he’s as tall as Nikandros himself. Yet - Yet his boy has always been so nice. So obeying. Of course, he would fall for his exact opposite. It had surprised Nikandros when his son presented as an Alpha.

“Are you forcing us, then?” Laurent asks.

He finds the situation funny, Nikandros can tell.

“Of course not Papa. But if you say no, we will be eloping tonight and mate in the same hour.”

There’s a laugh, then, coming from Damen, and Nikandros can’t do anything but stare as his best friend loses his mind.

“You have ten siblings. Your fathers are Kings. My sweet boy, you won’t even have time to think about escaping!”

Like his carbon copy, Lauri frowns the same way Laurent would have, if he didn’t think the situation was so funny. Nikandros doesn’t feel like laughing. In fact, he very much feels like crying. He only has two sons and he was hoping that they would have, like himself, a lovely marriage, with someone who resembled them. Don’t get him wrong, he loves Lauri. He is, after all, one of Damen’s children, one of his nephews. He would even go as far as saying that he doesn’t mind Laurent that much anymore. But enough for his son to marry his younger version? No. Absolutely not. He had secretly hoped Damianos would have fallen in love with Niklaus, one of the sweetest of the eleven children, but no. He had to go for Lauri. History is repeating itself and Nikandros can’t do anything but watch and suffer in silence.

“I love him,” Damianos says, then. His voice is strong this time and even Nikandros is surprised by it. “Please. I’ll honor him. He will be cherished and loved for the rest of his life. Uncles, have I not proven to you time and time again that I’m worthy?”

“You did, Damianos,” Laurent says. He’s sweet, like when he talks to his little ones. “But life isn’t as easy as it sounds. You’re both still very young.”

“We’re not children anymore, Papa.”

He means it innocently, Nikandros can tell, but just like his father, Lauri’s face is becoming warmer the more he realizes the implication behind his words. Laurent and Damen do, too, and the smiles that were on their faces slowly disappeared. Nikandros is very close to slapping his own son.

“Tell me you’re not that stupid Damianos,” he begs.

“It was only once, I swear Dad.”

“You were intimate together?” Laurent yells. “Lauri! What were you thinking?”

Lauri, whose face is now as red as a tomato, doesn’t drop his gaze. He looks just as proud as before, if not more. Damen’s eyes are fixed on Damianos.

“Please, like you and Dad waited until you were married. Don’t be a hypocrite, Papa.”

Something amazing happened then, that Nikandros would remember until the end of his life: Laurent stayed quiet. He didn’t answer back, having been defeated and his mistakes put into light.

“You are supposed to be smart, Lauri,” Damen says. “But now all I’m seeing is that you’re far too immature to be marrying anyone.”

Lauri wants to respond but then Damen is up, and they all know that once the King is standing, the discussion is over. It doesn’t matter that the two boys now have tears in their eyes; Damen is done with the conversation, and so it is all over.

“Nik, my friend, I need a drink,” then to Laurent. “My love, I’ll give you the pleasure of explaining to those boys the danger of sex outside marriage.”

He doesn’t wait for an answer and doesn’t look back at the boys either. It’s not the first time Nikandros sees his friend being strict with his children. He’s raising them with more love than his father did, but he’s still firm with them. It doesn’t come as a surprise; with that many alphas, and his two only omegas' children acting like alphas themselves, he needs to set boundaries and show them who the leader is.

With their drinks in hand, Nikandros closes his eyes and tries to take it all in. He wonders if, perhaps, he had anger at a God, in this life or another, to deserve such punishment. Lauri is as beautiful as Laurent, maybe even more. He talks like him, too, destroying everyone that doesn’t agree with him.

“How many times have we dreamed of it?” Damen says, suddenly. “Our children marrying each other! Isn’t that great?”

“They’re getting married?”

“Obviously! I just wanted to scare them a little but I mean, when we were their age, we were having more sex than there are hours in a day!”

It seems like yesterday. It seems like a lifetime ago.

“They’re young.”

“Yes, but they’re in love. Sure, we both married late, but I can see that they love each other. We already started getting offers for Lauri, you know.”

For some reason, this makes Nikandros’ blood boil. Lauri is still a boy, and he’s certainly not for sales.

“From who?”

“Nobles, everywhere. We only have two omegas, so of course they think we want to get rid of them. I’ll let you imagine how Laurent welcomed them.”

Yes, he can imagine.

“So it’s done, then.”

“Yes! But I’m not forgetting my other nephew, if that’s what troubles you. I was thinking that our Agape could marry your oldest, what do you think? They get along fine and I’m suspecting that their romance is already booming.”

“Agape is lovely,” Nikandros says, which is true. He’s an alpha, while his son is a beta, and he knows that they would form a lovely couple. He can see the way they look at each other, too, the little smiles they share when they think no one is looking. Yes, he could see them together. Agape is lovely, and unlike Lauri, he has never made one of his teachers cry. He has never thrown shit to a noble’s face, too.

“You don’t seem happy.”

“I do not wish for you to take it the wrong way.”

Damen frowns and crosses his arms around his chest. He’s past fifty now, yet he’s still as much in shape as he was when he was twenty. Only his gray hair and the wrinkles that are forming on his forehead are giving his real age away.

“Tell me.”

“It’s just… You have eleven children. He could have chosen any of them, but he had to choose him.”

“What’s wrong with Lauri?”

“He’s… I’m afraid he’s not the right fit for my son, that’s all. I wanted him to be… With someone different.”

“That’s my son you’re talking about,” Damen’s tone is one that Nikandros only heard a few times but knows too well: firm and strong, it’s the voice of a King warning his friend not to cross the line.

“I love all your children. This one simply looks too much like his father.”

“He does,” Damen says with a smile. “He has every quality Laurent has and more. He’s the best version of Laurent, for he was protected and loved from the moment he was conceived.”

“But is he nice? Will he loves him? I don’t want my son to have his heart broken, Damen.”

“He has a heart pure of gold. Is he a bit mischievous? Yes, and I suspect that’s exactly what your son loves about him. He’s good. My children are all good, Nik.”

“I believe you.”

Before his wife died, he had promised her that he would take care of their sons and their happiness. They had a short but loving marriage together, and he wants the exact same thing for his sons. He knows it's useless to try and change Damianos' mind. Just like his Uncles', he would be ready to defeat a whole kingdom out of love.

Damen lowers his drink, then, and forces Nikandros to look at him. His expression his serious, and so Nikandros listens.

“I swore to Laurent that I would protect them from everything and everyone. I love your son like you love mine. But tell me: will Damianos protect Lauri? Will he fight and die for him, not the way an alpha would, but the way a husband would. Not by duty, but by love.”

Damianos knows love. Just like Lauri, he's been surrounded by love since his birth. His son is precious and he raised him to be a good Alpha, yes, but also a good man.

“Yes. He will.”

Then Damen claps his back, so hard that Nikandros almost knocks his drink over.

“It is decided then.”

“Don’t you need his Majesty Laurent's approval?”

“No, Laurent had planned for both your sons to marry our children since before they were conceived. Plus, he always seemed to think that Lauri and Damianos would be a good match. Seems like he was right.”

Of course, once again, Laurent’s mastermind is behind Nikandros’ pain. He wouldn’t be surprised to learn that he’s the one who put both boys together, somehow.

“So just like that? It’s done?”

“Well, your son deflowered my son. I personally don’t care much, but Laurent will be asking for either a wedding or a funeral.”

“A wedding, then.”

They drink some more while Nikandros tries to come to terms with the fact that his bloodline will not only have Veterian’s blood, but Laurent’s blood, and that his grandchildren will look just like Laurent. It’s fine. He can deal with it.

When they come back to the room, Laurent, Lauri, and Damianos are still there, only they seem to be at ease, too. Once they’ve broken the news, Damianos can’t stop smiling and Lauri goes to hug his Dad. He’s sweet, just like Laurent, and Nikandros knows that it’s exactly where the danger is.

“ Auguste will be mad. Lauri is his favorite one,” Laurent says, a smile on his face.

“We have Auguste’s approval. I wouldn’t have done it if he had said no.”

“So your brother's words are more important than mine?”

“Yes?”

“Have you told him that you two slept together? Or should I break the news?”

“Papa! Please don’t! Auguste would kill him!”

Before the situation can escape any further, Damen is letting go of his son with one last kiss to his head, and welcoming his husband into his arms. The two blondes keep looking at each other, but there’s no trace of anger, only amusement in their eyes.

“I’m a bit sad,” Damen says. “Our children are now getting married and that means that we can’t have more.“

“Dad! There are eleven of us. Eleven! Elina is barely two. Your fifty-one. Stop having children already!”

“Is that a challenge?” Laurent asks. “Because I love challenges.”

“I love challenges too.”

And then they’re kissing, which means that Nikandros exits the room before he has to witness more of their disgusting affection. Damianos follows quickly, holding Lauri’s hand in his. He lets go, then, and goes his own way, leaving the two of them alone.

Lauri may look like Laurent, but there’s no denying that he looks like his father, too. He has Damen’s dimple. His lips and smile. He looks like both his fathers, now that Nikandros is taking the time to look at him.

“Uncle Nik, I love him. I’ll take care of him, I promise. I know… I know I’m not the one you wished for, but I’ll prove myself to you. You’ll love me more than you love Papa.”

Lauri’s eyes may be a cold shade of blue, but he has the same warmth in them that Laurent has when looking at his children or his husband. Nikandros thinks, then, that he wishes nothing more for his son but to be loved by someone capable of loving like Laurent. He will get used to him, the same way he got used to Laurent.

[thekingofwinterblog]

What do you think of the people you can romance in DAI? Who is the best in your opinion?

I honestly don't have a good answer. For all my time playing Dragon Age Inquisition, for good or bad, it's romances are something I've mostly left untouched simply because unlike Origins, and even DA2, Inquisition doesn't lend itself all that well to replaying the game with a different origins.

A Kossith Mage Herald is unfortunately not nearly as different compared to playing as anything else as it should be. The only exception is playing as an elf, and unlike Origins, that only opens up all the cracks and flaws to the Inquisitor as a character.

The end result is that i effectively only have two Inquisitors I use, and as a result, i have only two romances i've gone through.

With that in mind, i can only comment on those, and what i've seen in other's playthroughs.

Josephine

Josephine is a good character, and if you go her romance, it does feel like you forge a connection... But the game unfortunately does not let you delve into her deepest secrets on such a route the way it should.

One common thing I've seen is a big problem with all the romances is that because Bioware didn't want to touch any of the inquisitors pasts in any meaningful way, it's impossible to open up to anyone about one's past, and get their take on it all.

Josephine tells you of her past, her family, siblings, etc. But you cannot really do the same.

Do the inquisitor have siblings? How do they feel about their parents? Have you had previous relationships? I have no idea.

If the Inquisitor was written as an actual in game person, defined by their background like hawke and the Warden, then the game's way of handling romance would have hit way harder and better. Because there is good stuff here, as I know just going through two romances.

The best highlight of Josephine's romance of course is her personal romance quest where you decide to engage in a duel for her hand, a very, very antivan thing to do, and a display that goes more to flesh out the actual Antivan culture than almost anything else in the games.

This kind of open, grand, romantic displays is what actual antivan society is all about, far, far more than it ever is about the tiny minority of assassins that are their most famous part to the world ever was...

And subsequently, it's excellent to showcase how Josephine differs greatly from other Antivan noblewomen. Rather than be taken in by it all, or swept of the feet, she is angry, and terrified, a results of her own history as a failed bard in the monstrosity that is the great game.

But if the Inquisitor choses to just anounce their love then and there for all to hear(also a very antivan thing to do), she is ultimately swept off her feet, and the lord you're fighting also choses to back down as he realises it's an actual duel for love, while he merely wanted a challnge and the honor of having dueled the inquisitor.

Again, this is a very great way of showcasing actual Antivan culture.

Overall i would say that though there is nothing wrong with Josephine's romance, and i do like the way it's a departure from previous ones by being all about courtly love, it didn't exactly wow me by being outstanding the way Morrigan's and Alistair's did in Origins.

Cassandra

Cassandra's romance meanwhile is both better, and worse than Josephine's.

Better in that you have a much, much more defined and in many ways more nuanced relationship with her, which can actually have some real weight depending on your choices. Like if you decide to actually make her divine... And she no longer feels she can have a relationship with you, despite how much she wants to, because she feels it would not be proper.

I would also say i greatly do like how the game handles the fact that Cassandra's an older woman, who is also a romantic at heart, but not very experienced in such matters... Which leads to an intentionally corny, but very enjoyable wooing scene after setting up a romantic date.

Subsequently, if you are a woman, i do like how she actually does go through a moment where she intentionally turns you down due to incompatible orientations. It's a small moment that shows her awkwardly fumbling as she usually does, but showcases that she is a good girl at heart, as she tries to let you down gently.

Now to the bad stuff.

Namely if you woo her off her feet as an elf... Like I did.

Now there is the core of something good here... But it's not fleshed out at all.

As i've said before, cassandra's biggest issue as a character is that like most of the companions, there are aspects of her personality you are not even allowed to change, and in this case, it's her less than flattering opinions on Elven religion(which even if completely true in the end, it doesn't exactly paint her in the best light).

There is a moment where she questions a dalish inquistor about possible Synchronization between creator worship and Andrastian, but you are not allowed to go any deeper on the subject, either positively, or negatively.

Which sucks, because if it had been, this could have added some much needed peraonal growth for her on the subject, either if you affirm the idea that there is room for such(as we know from lore, you would not be the first dalish to think so) and through that maybe Cassandra might actually learn that Creator worship isn't quite as scary as she has been led to believe, or reject it, and she eventually grows to love you anyway.

Because that is one of the strengths of this romance playing as a dalish. For all the way she talks shit about the creator religion, she comes to both love the inquisitor, and respect them like absolutely no other, felling that they are force of nature, that can do anything. And she does that regardless of whether you convert, is an atheist, or remain steadfast creators worshipper, all the way to tresspasser.

Now, we could debate whether he actually does, but the important thing here is that she believes it.

There was room here to really make something really special by delving into this, as cassandra has a moment where she notes that in the future, she will either be recognized as the lover of a saint, or an elven madman.

It's a poignant moment, which is echoed by what happened with other historical elven related figures in the game, but unfortunately you aren't allowed to ask her the simple, yet extremely important question "Do you care what they think?", instead the closest being "I don't care what they think, what do you believe?" Which ultimately is there to affirm Cassandra's belief in the maker, and that she does fully believe you were chosen by god, rather than allow her to express that regardless of what other people might think, she does love you, and will stick by you to the very end.

That kind of thinking is obviously still there... But it's subtext, when it should have been the main thesis around which her character arc was built.

All in all, Cassandra's romance arc is good... But if you're playing as Dalish, there is a lot of jank that mirrors the way the game handles so much about a dalish inquisitor.

Sera

From here on I haven't actually played any of these, so this is more observation more than anything else.

Sera seems to be okay enough, if you like her brand of humor, and personality, but i've seen a lot of people who greatly dislike the fact that if youre dalish and you refuse to abandon the elvhen gods, she breaks up with you, and is another reason Sera is a terrible character.

I disagree heavily on that front. The fact that Sera refuses to compromise on her beliefs and accept a "pagan" partner is a character flaw... But it's a very human one, and unlike so much else, I would say it's a character aspect you should not be able to change.

Its something that makes her a fundamentally different person than Cassandra, and that is good... But if you hate her as a character already, this really doesn't help much with that.

Blackwall

From what I can tell, this romance doesn't really add much to his character... Though it does add much to the Inquisitor, by showing how badly she wants it, and is willing to play the part of the sub for some love.

Solas

Ah, the Solavellan Hell.

Cullen

I don't really have any bigger thoughts on this one, other than to note it seems to be a better told version of the blackwall romance. Also it tells us that Cullen is not into women who are either taller than him, or way shorter.

Dorian

The most interesting thing about this romance from a character perspective is how the romance quest brings out Dorian's Tsundere side, something not seen much elsewhere in the game.

You only briefly see it in his personal quest depending on your choice of words, and far more in his banter and relationship with The Iron Bull.

Other than that it seems a perfectly decent romance quest.

The Iron Bull

Now this one is interesting for a number of reasons... But by far the most facinating thing about it, is that while Bull is not being disgenious, tresspasser shows us two things.

1. That regardless of how he feels about you, you ARE second to the Qun in his eyes, and 2. The thing he truly, truly cares about more than both the Qun and You if you romance him, is his mercenary crew.

They are his true family, his home, his soul.

That adds a lot of interesting hidden subtext for his romance as far as I'm concerned.

Bull is facinating, because as Cole reveals if he betrays you, there is no malice, no hatred, nothing. This really was not anything personal. He really did like you... But you were essentially just a bond girl of the week to him, and him the great spy, the glamorous Bond, moving on from yet another conquest.

Of course bond doesn't tend to get brutually murdered by said Bond girl(or guy, Bull ain't picky) after the fling, so there is that.

That is a fascinating dynamic, and great and interesting way to handle a romance with a spy.

[deeptrashwitch]

Ashes of Freedom

Synopsis: An old kingdom filled of powerful people was forgotten after a war that costed so much to the people. Liberitas. Land of legends, steel and power. Two princes and the princess of the kingdom, spirits of the past that seem to be back.

They want vengance against the tyrant's cruel descendant and take back what is theirs. And nothing will stop them.

Sorry, I forgot to upload it yesterday!

Tag list: @stuffireadandenjoy @snootlestheangel @catterdraws @alypink @justasmolbard

Chapter 4: The honors of a new era

Soon the day arrived, the honors started that day and the royal family was preparing for everything, it was an important year after all. The younger prince was the first to arrive in the throne room, dressed with a dark blue suit and a lighter blue robe over it, and he kept his crown over his head as he read calmly. Soon his sister arrived as well, smiling a bit, dressed with a olive green dress and a darker cape, also with her crown on her head. 

"You seem surprisingly decent, Morrigan" Jair said with a side smile

"We are the crown family, of course I look good" she answered with a chuckle, looking at his brother "a long time has passed since I saw you with blue clothes" 

"The occasion allows it, so I'll indulge"

Soon a pair of steps called their attention, and they stood up once they saw their older brother, his wife and son arrive. They did the salute and bowed down, just earning an irritated mumble from Lycaon and a giggle from Elycin. 

"You look amazing today" said the blonde woman, looking at them with her bright purple eyes "maybe even better than myself"

"Please don't say that" Jair muttered with a smile "Lycaon is glaring at us for it"

"And you are one of the most beautiful woman on the kingdom" Morrigan commented walking towards her, nodding with respect "you are the best of us"

"Morrigan…" Elycin whispered embarrassed

"You get away from my wife" Lycaon hissed, staring at his sister, who laughed and backed off "but she's right, you are beautiful, my dear"

"Ma-ma!" the little kid on her arms screamed happily, clapping clumsily "boo-i-fu'l!"

"Awww, my little knight also thinks that? Then it might be true!" she cooed, kissing the kid's cheeks

Jair holded a laugh while looking how his brother was bitter, it was his own kid and Lycaon felt irritated he got all the kisses, a bit more and he looked like a kid himself. Then he looked at his nephew, a little blonde kid with the same green eyes all the family had, that's the way they were sure this kid was a Taranis. The three of them went silent, just letting the laugh fill the air, looking at the kid. 

Vinan Taranis, maybe the only descendant of this generation…they weren't sure of it, but he might be Lycaon's only child. All of them knew he'd be as good as them if not better, but it was risky as well, their power was a blessing and a curse. This year maybe would be time to find out what his magic was.

"My love, can you go first? We'll go after you" Lycaon asked with a soft smile "I need to talk with my siblings for a second"

"I'll see you outside then, don't forget the kingdom awaits!" she said before walk away with the child on her arms

The three of them looked silently as she went away, and slowly the older brother's smile also faded with the sound of the steps. Soon a heavy sigh broke the silence, and the environment became heavy with magic.

"So?" Jair asked coldly "by your reaction, it seemed like something happened" 

"Markel was right and wrong at the same time" he said with his teeth clenched, leaving his voice as a harsh whisper "Aimeric does want the alliances, the old dock and the ladies to marry the princes to…but he wants something else too"

"Which is?"

"Slaves" 

"Excuse me?" Morrigan asked as her blood ran cold on her veins "what did you just say?"

"He will 'annex' the ladies families, as a supposed good gesture, keeping them under his thumb"

"If he does that, then he'll have real power over us"

"That's what I thought, if we deny to let them go, he'll use it as an excuse to keep an eye on us" Lycaon said with a growl "but if we let him, we might upset the people and give Aimeric a…way to get the secret in his hands"

"So what are we gonna do?" Jair asked raising an eyebrow

"I'm not sure, but first of all, we need to talk with these girls…to be sure they want to do this"

"And if they don't?"

"We'll figure it out"

"I continue with my position, I can go and…" Morrigan suggested just to be interrupted by Lycaon

"No, you won't try that. Keep your power out of sight!"

"Alright, alright"

The three of them went to find Elycin and Vinan, yet in silence while walking together, each one on their thoughts. The eldest smiled again once they found his wife, trying to keep his worries down, just offering his arm to Elycin. With a last bow, Morrigan and Jair said their goodbyes before walking towards separate aisles, letting the noise of the capital surround them. 

In just minutes, across the labyrinth of the palace, they arrived at three different balconies. The square was filled with people, the ones who lived nearest to the palace, that was part of an old agreement between the parts of the city. But soon Arthur Salai, the old advisor of the royal family, called their names one by one.

The youngest, Morrigan, went out first and smiled slightly when the people cheered and some screamed her name. Next was Jair, the second younger, who was cheerful as well and winked to some ladies down in the square. And finally Arthur called the last name, letting Lycaon go outside with his wife and son, it let the environment silent for a second.

Soon the cheers started, as loud as a roar, coming from all the parts of the capital, everyone calling their names with a mix of respect and admiration. Even some people screamed something else, a nickname that just appeared one day and never left, "the returned king". Everyone seems to consider him the spirit of Nertan, known there as "the betrayed king", back in life and all of them respect him as much as they did with Nertan himself.

He listened once again to the speech Arthur gave, the same every year, speaking about the late king and queen, Darion and Lenna. But this time he told the people the news, the time to choose a new king or queen, and it made the cheers louder. 

"To the princes and the princess!" he exclaimed with solemnity "let your magic free and allow the gifts Scaris gave you to be the start of the honors!"

"FOR THE LADY AND THE KNIGHT!" the three of them roared in unison, raising a hand

In Jair's hand the wind started to become a ball with little leaves and rocks inside, ruffling his hair. While in Morrigan's hand the water crawled up, also creating a ball the had seafoam inside. And once again, lastly on Lycaon's hand a fire ignited, taking a sphere form while sparks lit up in different colors. The three magic orbs ended up finding each other, giving a show to the people, while the royal family just stared at the magic.

That was the power of that family, while the Ignias just control the metal and the fire of the forges and the Milrne family used to control the fertile earth, they control the savagest state of the elements. It was dangerous, all of them were warned during their childhood, they could lose control and destroy what they love most as well as their own bodies at the same time. Some of them already lost themselves because of it, it was their duty to control the magic and the power.

"The honors have begun!" Arthur announced with a big smiled 

Elycin looked at his husband, finding him pale and tense, so she held his hand to try and calm him. He looked at her through the corner of his eye, sighing before kissing her knuckles and starting doing circles on her hand in silence. All that while Vinan looked at the magic of his father and uncles, especially interested in the little rocks that were moved by the winds, melted by the fire and molded by the water.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapters:

<< < - >

[chaotic-aro-incarnate]

10 BL BOYS I WILL THROW HANDS FOR

Was tagged by @scarefox for this (technically my main blog but I post my bl stuff on here lol) and am very excited

I imprint on characters like nobody's business so this is a list made for me

EDIT changed the gifs because apparently the way I did it didn't properly link to the creators (only on desktop at least). should be properly credited now

In no particular order

1) Sound (My School President)

Starting the trend of lonely queer teenagers that I get a little too attached to, it's of course Sound. Like I was already a fan of Sound and intrigued by the concept of SoundWin (at the time people didn't know it was going to be the main secondary ship) but when the medal scene happened and Sound gave this so sad ans soft "oh no" look I was gone. That is my son and I WILL fight anyone and everyone for him

2) Nuengdiao (Never Let Me Go)

Another lonely queer teenager I decided to protect. I loved Never Let Me Go so much and Nueng was my special little babygirl and then Our Skyy 2 came out and it was like oh...... I will kill for him. Look I love Nueng and he did nothing wrong and also that scene where he's forcing Palm to put the gun to his head while screaming at him to shoot him leaves rent free in my mind. He's so traumatized and lonely and he's like 18 I would do anything for him especially throw hands

3) Typhoon (Star in My Mind)

Fun fact! I had to stop watching Star in My Mind because I got so unreasonably attached to Typhoon that I couldn't bear the thought of him not getting a happy ending. I wanted him to end up with Dao so bad because it would make him happy and I knew that if I kept watching they would either break his heart OR show that he's actually not that great of a guy, both which were unbearable to me. So I simply cut my losses and live in the fantasy that he got everything he ever wanted.

4) Bai Lang (My Tooth Your Love)

One of those "he just like me fr fr" characters who I would do anything for. He's my specialist little boy and I love him so dearly. Here's to having your trauma swag bewitch the local hot autistic dentist body and soul.

5) Han Ying (Word of Honor)

Talk about my specialest boy. Ying'er is my guy through and through. He deserved so much better and in every WoH fic I have written (they are all still in drafts) he lives and is happy no matter what. He IS my sweet cheese, my rotten solider, my good time boy. I will continue writing him getting railed to the high heavens by Zhou Zishu and Wen Kexing like he deserves. He is incapable of being anything other but the goodest boy possible and I will die on this hill

6) Boston (Only Friends)

He is the worst. I would move mountains for him. Enough said.

7) Pluem (Ghost Host Ghost House)

Look this man has been going through it AND he manages to be the like the most flirtatious and romantic guy around? Give me your secrets sir. Also say the word king and I'll do it. This show broke me on so many levels but a lot of those levels were tied to anytime I saw him break down

8) Ye Huo/Fire (Guardian)

A recent (and somewhat obscure) pull as I am currently watching Guardian and was just exposed to his character today but he is my guy and I will defend him to the death. The only weaker point for me than a lonely gay teenager is a self appointed older sibling who sacrifices everything for their younger siblings. I was really like man this guy is an asshole for so long but then the truth of how he was saving the boys at the fighting ring came out and I was like oh no that's my son now and I need him to live and be happy. I have not finished his arc yet so I am scared that it'll be a tragedy BUT he is my wonderful son all the same and I will throw hands for him in an instant

9) That (Manner of Death)

The return of troubled teenagers I need to adopt and protect against all costs. I WILL fight anyone for him even though he's like a rebellious teenager who does crime and I am a strange looking college student who he would not respect but it's the thought that counts

10) Mark/Village Head Ma (Love Tractor)

Why is there a random white man living in rural South Korea? I don't know!!! They never address what he's doing there. But I literally love this man. There's a reason I made him to be my pfp for bl-bracket. Seriously he's the best and I will fight anyone who says otherwise. Best character ever written. In my heart he's got the spirit of Quincey Morris form Dracula in the long tradition of just having a random American man in your story with no explanation

Tagging others!!!!! @saturnskyline @non-binarypal7 @supernovasimplicity @vegussy and anyoen else who wants to!!

There's been so many of these types of challenges/tag things lately that I have not kept track of who has or hasn't done which ones so sorry if you've already done something similar

[junoriggs]

What if everything I used to believe in was all for nothing?

►GENERAL INFORMATION

FULL NAME: Juniper Sloane Riggs NICKNAME(S): Juno LABEL: The Advocate AGE: 32 DATE OF BIRTH: December 13, 1991 ZODIAC: Sagittarius Sun, Virgo Rising, Leo Moon GENDER & PRONOUNS: Female; She/Her HERITAGE: English, Scottish, Welsh, German, Irish SPOKEN LANGUAGE(S): English OCCUPATION: Lawyer & Singer/Songwriter SEXUALITY & ROMANCE: Bisexual; Biromantic PET(S): Australian Shepherd named Blue

► APPEARANCE

FACE CLAIM: Aly Michalka HEIGHT: 5'8" WEIGHT: 125 lbs. DOMINANT HAND: Right HAIR COLOR: Brunette (Dyed Auburn) EYE COLOR: Brown SCARS: None notable. TATTOOS: None.

►PERSONALITY

POSITIVE TRAITS: Adroit, Compassionate, Adventurous, Loyal, Athletic NEGATIVE TRAITS: Stubborn, Flighty, Confrontational, Dogmatic, Rebellious LIKES: Helping others, saying 'no' to her parents, early morning workouts, walks along the shore, animals, winning a debate DISLIKES: Mansplaining, when people question her credentials

►MENTALITY

PHOBIAS: None. DISORDERS: Not diagnosed. ALLERGIES: None.

►BACKGROUND

HOMETOWN: Anchorage, AK CURRENT RESIDENCE: Anchorage, AK { Rabbit Creek } EDUCATION LEVEL: JD at Harvard Law FAMILIAL CONNECTIONS: -Mikayla Riggs - 57, Mother -Mark Riggs - 61, Father

►FAVORITES

FOOD: Trashcan Pizza DRINK: Carmel Macchiato MOVIE: How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, Silence of the Lambs TV SHOW: 911, Fire Country, Bob's Burgers BAND/ARTIST: The 1975, The Beatles, ABBA, Coldplay SONG: Ignorance is Bliss - Katelyn Tarver

► EXTRA INFORMATION

JUNG TYPE: ESFJ ENNEAGRAM: The Nonconformist (8w7) TEMPERAMENT: Sanguine MORAL ALIGNMENT: Lawful Good SIN: Pride VIRTUE: Charity ELEMENT: Air CHARACTER PLAYLIST

What if I'm too late? What if I'm lost? What if I find out I'm doing it wrong? I could wonder forever, I think I would feel better If I knew it all

► BIOGRAPHY

TW; N/A

Juniper was born into high society here in Anchorage. Thanks to her parents who were sharks in the attorney vein; helping the higher-end businessmen win over the little guys. It wasn’t something she understood at such a young age, but what she did know was: Keep your voice low but your head held high. She grew up in a household of competition. Not only between her parents with their respective careers, but also between her older brother, younger brother, and herself in the ways of academics and sports. No one would ever want to be around the family on Friday night game nights. And honestly, Juno couldn’t really blame her friends for that. Thinking back, she wonders often if this is where her need to speak up for herself came from. Each Riggs sibling was the top of their grade. Juniper found that the more she was in school and learning about the world, the more she felt alienated in high society life. She started to not attend galas and she started to let her hair down and throw caution to the wind when she hit her middle school and high school years. Though her beliefs changed, she still held education to a high degree of importance and never slacked in that field of her life. Rebelling against her parents was not what anyone was expecting from her, let alone her choice in career. Though, the lawyer aspect was a given (all Riggs siblings turned out to be lawyers), they never expected her to go against businesses and corporations and stand with the individuals who genuinely were being fucked over. Juno attended Harvard Law, and graduated with high honors. She went on to debate and go up against her own family in court through her career. Sometimes there were draws, other times she rung them dry. Recently, Juno came back to Anchorage in order to figure out if she wants to continue being a lawyer, or abandon the life chosen for her to pursue singing and songwriting full time.

► PERSONALITY (DEEP DIVE)

Juno is a force to be reckoned with. Sharp as a whip, she tends to cut deep with her words and is highly aware of it. Basically, just don't debate her, okay? On the other hand, she's loving and full of life. She loves to strum at her guitar and come up with music - especially if she's feeling quite overwhelmed with emotions. She's also one who contemplates the universe and life at a deeper level. She plays minor gigs here and there, but she genuinely believes she has potential to make it big. Juno is a free-spirited type of character, and one can find her at karaoke nights as well as on the tops of tables at the local bar. She's very minimalist. If one were to go into her residence, there would only really be a ton of books and some photographs. She's basically not materialistic. She's very giving and whenever there's charity work in town, she's always a part of it or running the show. She's bubbly, and comedic at times. Juno is prone to fighting for others, and it shows in her day to day life. Overall, she's definitely someone you want in your corner.

[juniperriggs]

What if everything I used to believe in was all for nothing?

►GENERAL INFORMATION

FULL NAME: Juniper Sloane Riggs NICKNAME(S): Juno LABEL: The Advocate AGE: 32 DATE OF BIRTH: December 13, 1991 ZODIAC: Sagittarius Sun, Virgo Rising, Leo Moon GENDER & PRONOUNS: Female; She/Her HERITAGE: English, Scottish, Welsh, German, Irish SPOKEN LANGUAGE(S): English OCCUPATION: Lawyer & Singer/Songwriter SEXUALITY & ROMANCE: Bisexual; Biromantic PET(S): Australian Shepherd named Blue

► APPEARANCE

FACE CLAIM: Aly Michalka HEIGHT: 5'8" WEIGHT: 125 lbs. DOMINANT HAND: Right HAIR COLOR: Brunette (Dyed Auburn) EYE COLOR: Brown SCARS: None notable. TATTOOS: None.

►PERSONALITY

POSITIVE TRAITS: Adroit, Compassionate, Adventurous, Loyal, Athletic NEGATIVE TRAITS: Stubborn, Flighty, Confrontational, Dogmatic, Rebellious LIKES: Helping others, saying 'no' to her parents, early morning workouts, walks along the shore, animals, winning a debate DISLIKES: Mansplaining, when people question her credentials

►MENTALITY

PHOBIAS: None. DISORDERS: Not diagnosed. ALLERGIES: None.

►BACKGROUND

HOMETOWN: Merrock, ME CURRENT RESIDENCE: Merrock, ME EDUCATION LEVEL: JD at Harvard Law FAMILIAL CONNECTIONS: - Mikayla Riggs - 57, Mother - Mark Riggs - 61, Father

►FAVORITES

FOOD: Trashcan Pizza DRINK: Carmel Macchiato MOVIE: How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, Silence of the Lambs TV SHOW: 911, Fire Country, Bob's Burgers BAND/ARTIST: The 1975, The Beatles, ABBA, Coldplay SONG: Ignorance is Bliss - Katelyn Tarver

► EXTRA INFORMATION

JUNG TYPE: ESFJ ENNEAGRAM: The Nonconformist (8w7) TEMPERAMENT: Sanguine MORAL ALIGNMENT: Lawful Good SIN: Pride VIRTUE: Charity ELEMENT: Air CHARACTER PLAYLIST

What if I'm too late? What if I'm lost? What if I find out I'm doing it wrong? I could wonder forever, I think I would feel better If I knew it all

► BIOGRAPHY

TW; N/A

Juniper was born into high society, here at Merrock. Thanks to her parents who were sharks in the attorney vein; helping the higher-end businessmen win over the little guys. It wasn't something she understood at such a young age, but what she did know was: Keep your voice low but your head held high. She grew up in a household of competition. Not only between her parents with their respective careers, but also between her older brother, younger brother, and herself in the ways of academics and sports. No one would ever want to be around the family on Friday night game nights. And honestly, Juno couldn't really blame her friends for that. Thinking back, she wonders often if this is where her need to speak up for herself came from. Each Riggs sibling was the top of their grade. Juniper found that the more she was in school and learning about the world, the more she felt alienated in high society life. She started to not attend galas and she started to let her hair down and throw caution to the wind when she hit her middle school and high school years. Though her beliefs changed, she still held education to a high degree of importance and never slacked in that field of her life. Rebelling against her parents was not what anyone was expecting from her, let alone her choice in career. Though, the lawyer aspect was a given (all Riggs siblings turned out to be lawyers), they never expected her to go against businesses and corporations and stand with the individuals who genuinely were being fucked over. Juno attended Harvard Law, and graduated with high honors. She went on to debate and go up against her own family in court through her career. Sometimes there were draws, other times she rung them dry. Recently, Juno came back to Merrock in order to figure out if she wants to continue being a lawyer, or abandon the life chosen for her to pursue singing and songwriting.

► PERSONALITY (DEEP DIVE)

Juno is a force to be reckoned with. Sharp as a whip, she tends to cut deep with her words and is highly aware of it. Basically, just don't debate her, okay? On the other hand, she's loving and full of life. She loves to strum at her guitar and come up with music - especially if she's feeling quite overwhelmed with emotions. She's also one who contemplates the universe and life at a deeper level. She plays minor gigs here and there, but she genuinely believes she has potential to make it big. Juno is a free-spirited type of character, and one can find her at karaoke nights as well as on the tops of tables at the local bar. She's very minimalist. If one were to go into her residence, there would only really be a ton of books and some photographs. She's basically not materialistic. She's very giving and whenever there's charity work in town, she's always a part of it or running the show. She's bubbly, and comedic at times. Juno is prone to fighting for others, and it shows in her day to day life. Overall, she's definitely someone you want in your corner.

[hellsurvivr]

         HE COULD SEE HER SURPRISE,    as she looks at Karina, and he could only guess that it was at the whole aura that bled from the warrior. nico knew most of karina's story. and the pain she had suffered. even recently with her divorce from his older brother. but karina was still around the family, still a part of it. which was made easier by Julius leaving. and he just hoped the woman wouldn't be too scared of karina. for nico knew under that dangerous aura, she was a loving person. (    it just took a lot to get there!    )  and strangely as he held astra, he could feel his wolf at peace. but that would also have something to do with the large beast recovering. given it had been the full moon the night before. and karina had been there, watching them, as he worked out all his agitation with his siblings.   running beneath the moon and honoring their ancestors.    and despite his wolf, hating surprises, he could feel the large beast, curling up into a ball and sleeping. a strange thing for Androkles.

          ❛   nicolai.   ❜   he says softly. offering his name with a softness that burned in his voice as well as his jade green eyes. as he looks upon her. and as he has to straighten, to move away from her as he places her in the furs. strangely he felt as though it was the wrong choice. but soon shakes it off, and goes and does as his mother asked. physically dragging his baby brother with him.    (   which was always a hard task!   )    his eyes looking over her. before he leaves. to be the dutiful son.

         karina meanwhile, observes the woman. who despite wearing clothes that spoke of the times, her seafoam green eyes, told her that something else was at play. she was old. older than even ellie, and had seen much in her time. she could also feel the remnants of someones power. someone she knew well. logan the reaper. yet as the woman speaks, she let's her face drift into one of stoic indifference. as she shrugs lightly.   ❛   it's karina stormborne. a pleasure to meet you.   ❜    she says nothing else, a woman of few words. yet they happened to be the softest karina had ever spoken in a while.     (    which spoke some unspoken volumes!    )    something she'd question later. when alone.

          ❛   you do not need to thank us dear.   ❜   ellie speaks as she draws closer, a small vial in her hand that would clear the remnants of pain the other was feeling. because if she had heard her son correct, and the woman had fallen through the air, she would have pain she would be feeling later.    (   for ellie knew the true destruction of nature!   )    a hand settles on karina's shoulder, that has the dangerous warrior, looking up at the blonde with a soft smile. the sofest she had looked since finding astra. as ellie leans down and presses a soft kiss to the womans head. her soft sky-blue eyes then shifting to astra, settling beside her and laying a gentle hand upon hers.     ❛   it is the fifth sun of the third month my dear. and no, myself, karina and my eldest daughter are of greek birth. only my sons are viking. so do not worry, your secret is safe with us. but if i do say my dear, you will be best to not speak to many. for they will not take kindly to our mother tongue!   ❜    ellie's hand, coming to run softly through astra's hair. a soothing motion that she did to most. as karina shifts to stand near the fire. eyes looking out the window and observing everyone. something that made ellie sad, to see how her previous daughter in law, was always so guarded.. so worried.

Scandinavia. Goodness, she didn't know how to speak Scandinavian - not fluently, anyway. She knew some words here and there, but it was a far cry from being able to actually speak the language. Of course, remembering from her history lessons, Greek wasn't exactly a welcomed language here.

She'd already shown her card and spoken the language. Thankfully, Nico understood and, well, Karina was here ....of all people. She did try to hide her surprise at that; Astra hadn't known that she spent time with them during their viking time.

However, this Karina was very different from the one she knew in the present time. Trauma and pain clung to her like black storm clouds, masking the loving aura she knew was there beneath. Her demeanour was cold and terrifying to the locals who saw her.

As Astra's headache subsided, she noticed the shield of magic that surrounded her, the imprint of it very unique to Nico and it had her smiling softly. In the present day, Nico rarely ever used his magic and she found this display of it wondrous. "My name is Astra," she said softly. "You are?" He was Nico, her close friend and confident, whom she sort of fell in love with recently. Though even present-Nico did not know that.

Inside the hut, she was guided to comfortable mount of furs and wrapped up in a blanket before Nico stood. A part of her was rather sad to be out of his arms, brown eyes staring at him before she caught herself and shifted her gaze to Oliver.

Oliver was only sixteen here, though there was no shortage of mischief and deviousness. It caused a hint of a smile to appear on her lips before Nico was bidding her farewell, which caused the smile to fade. "Be well. Thank you....," she said softly, missing him already.

Logan had ensured that she would land in a time shortly before Nico met his mate. However, she didn't know how soon that would be. She had to speak to his wolf without Nico knowing. Astra did not catch the moon phase on the way here and she had to figure out when the next full moon would be.

Fingers reached for her necklace, gaze looking troubled before glancing at Karina. "I ... did not catch your name," she said softly, though she was terrible at hiding her expression. She looked completely like a lost puppy when she gazed at Karina, complete with the sparkly brown eyes filled with unshed tears. She missed Karina so much. "Thank you for helping me. I don't know how to repay you all. I'm sorry I cannot remember much. What...is the date today? And are you all... Vikings?" Cautiously, she glanced at Ellie.

@hellsurvivr

[vrishchikawrites]

Some Nie Huaisang and Wei Wuxian friendship please?

Like wwx was the first person to understand that Nie Huaisang was a "useless" young master only on purpose.

You can choose if :

Post cannon?

Cannon divergence?

Cannon divergence: where he's a better friend so he makes him joint he Nie clan? Or something? who knows?

You can also choose if Lan Wangji and Nie Huaisang are friends.

(Imagine NHS-WWX-LWJ are buddies since cloud recesses days and go forth, lol. Canon divergence from the point of JC denouncing WWX)

“Listen to me for once!”

Nie Huaisang didn't mean to shout, not really. It is never a good idea to shout at his da-ge because it only provokes anger in return. But Wei-xiong is in danger and no one is helping. Nie Huaisang may be a useless cultivator in many people’s eyes but he refuses to be a useless friend.

The desperation in his stone catches da-ge’s attention and his older brother looks at him with a severe frown, “That boy is cultivating the ghostly path, Huaisang! Even his sect leader distrusts him!”

“Exactly! Da-ge, I’m not stupid, no matter how much you like to believe I am-”

“I don’t!”

Huaisang ignores him, “I know Wei-xiong. He may be mischievous but he’s not evil. If you don’t believe me, ask Lan Wangji! You can trust his word, yes? If you can’t trust your own brother’s.”

“Watch your tone,” Nie Mingjue growls, “You have earned every bit of my suspicion, Huaisang. Don’t pretend otherwise.” Huaisang winces, “I’m not dismissing your concerns but I need more than just your instincts to intervene. Do you have anything more than ‘i know him, da-ge’?” His brother asks and arches a brow.

Huaisang takes a deep breath and collects his thoughts. Hundreds of little observations, pieces of a puzzle too scattered, swirl around in his mind. He has held these pieces close to this heart for years, knowing that it would’ve been disastrous to reveal them during the war. But Nie Huiasang can no longer afford to be silent. Every time he hears someone spitting out his best friend’s name like a curse, something in him burns.

Wei Wuxian is so genuinely good-natured, he will accept everyone as they are. Wei Wuxian is always willing to step between an enemy and a friend, ready to take the blow of them.

There are few people in cultivation as honorable and compassionate as Wei-xiong and Nie Huaisang doesn’t want to see that light diminish.

Da-ge is silent, as though sensing Huaisang’s turmoil.

He straightens and tucks his fan away, meeting his older brother’s gaze head-on, without hesitation. That is enough for da-ge to frown and gesture towards an empty seat. Huaisang quickly goes about making tea as he speaks, “Please be patient with me, da-ge,” He begs, “Let me explain the full picture so you can see what I see. All of this may seem like speculation, but I have proof, circumstantial, but proof nonetheless.”

Nie Mingjue’s expression is now serious and placid, like he’s fully willing to listen to what his brother has to say.

“You… you don’t know, Wei-xiong. He cherished his cultivation, da-ge,” He explains, “It is no accident or act of fate that he was so good at it - good enough to even challenge Lan Wangji. He did the work to get there; he was brilliant but he was also incredibly hardworking. His cultivation was the result of years of refinement. Suibian was his constant companion and he wielded it like it was his soul.”

His brother is still because he’s not stupid.

“Is it not strange that we hear rumors of Wei Wuxian being captured by Wen Chao- by Wen Zhuliu - and see him return with a new cultivation that doesn’t require a Golden Core?”

His da-ge is definitely paying attention now.

“But is it not stranger that the Wens claim they had taken Jiang Wanyin’s core, only for Jiang-zongzhu to come back stronger? His cultivation is so refined and powerful, he is now a force to be reckoned with. Is it not strange, da-ge, that a man that couldn’t push his core even after years of diligent training managed to strengthen so significantly in a matter of months?”

“What are you saying, Huaisang?”

“I’m saying that Wei Wuxian doesn’t have a Golden Core. He hasn’t had it for the entire duration of the war. He lost it during or before those three months he was missing. I’m saying those rumors about him being tossed into the Burial Mounds are likely to be true. I’m saying that Wei-xiong is exactly the kind of person who would use word games to make people believe otherwise. He’s also the kind of person who would do everything in his power to protect his martial siblings.”

Nie Mingue looks stunned, “He walked into war without his Golden Core?”

“I am absolutely certain he did.”

Nie Mingjue stares at his brother, “But you… don’t believe Wen Zhuliu took his core.”

Huaisang hesitates, “This is where I hesitate, da-ge. My instincts tell me it's not that simple. I have known both Wei-xiong and Jiang-zongzhu for a long time. We lived in close quarters and I may not be a good cultivator, but that doesn’t mean I miss small details. Jiang Wanyin feels just as powerful as Wei-xiong did, back then.”

“And you believe that’s impossible?” Da-ge arches a skeptical brow, “You, by your own admission, don’t like him.”

“Wen Qing nearly published a paper on Golden Core transfer. Wen Ning rescued Jiang Wanyin from Wen Chao’s grasp.” He takes a deep breath, “Wei Wuxian just gave up everything to repay a debt that Jiang Wanyin admitted he owed.” Nie Huaisang doesn’t know everything, but he has had years to figure out enough.

Suddenly, all the skepticism leaves his older brother’s face.

“Let’s speak with Lan Wangji.”

---

Wangji-xiong takes it like a blow to his chest.

Huaisang sees him flinch and he sees Xichen-ge step forward in concern, “Wangji...” Xichen-ge looks like he doesn’t know what to say and how to reassure his brother.

Huaisang may consider Wei Wuxian his best friend, but he firmly believes that no one cares for him more than Lan Wangji.

The Hanguang-jun believes him. That's clear from his expression.

Wangji-xiong has likely been aware of those scattered puzzle pieces as well. He just hadn’t put them together until now.

“This is all speculation,” Xichen-ge tries to interject, “There may not be any need to worry, Wangji.”

“Wei Ying’s heart hasn’t changed.”

Xichen-ge stills and Huaisang watches as icy resolve settles on Wangji-xiong’s face, “I’ll bring him.”

“Wangji-”

“Wangji begs your pardon, xiongzhang,” The Hanguang-jun turns around and walks swiftly towards the door. He offers no other word or explanation.

“Huaisang,” Xichen-ge’s voice is displeased, “You should have come to me with this first. Wangji is… attached to Wei-gongzi.”

Surprisingly, it is da-ge who intervenes.

“If you can give Meng Yao the benefit of the doubt, you can extend the same courtesy to Huaisang and Wangji’s friend, Xichen.” Nie Mingjue is scowling, “We have more reason to fault his character than Wei-gongzi’s.”

It is probably the harshest thing da-ge has ever said to Xichen-ge and it shows. The First Jade visibly calms himself and nods graciously, but there’s a glint of displeasure in his eyes. Jin Guangyao has been a bone of contention between da-ge and Xichen-ge for several months now. Huaisang should probably look into the matter a little more but Wei-xiong’s situation demands all of his attention.

Now that Jiang Wanyin announced Wei Wuxian’s defection to the entire cultivation world, he’s a free agent with a powerful ability and an even more powerful tool. With the Jins and their successful rumor-mongering, Huaisang fears they don’t have much time. Jin Guangshan has already driven a wedge between Jiang Wanyin and Wei Wuxian. How much more can they accomplish if Huaisang doesn’t intervene somehow?

---

Wangji-xiong doesn’t return with Wei Wuxian. He brings Wen Qing and wears an expression of outright fury on his usually stoic face.

“I transferred his Golden Core into Jiang Wanyin.” Wen Qing declares with a straight back and a steady glare. She looks right into da-ge’s eyes, “I helped Jiang Wanyin recover from his captivity and then agreed to perform the procedure.”

Huaisang sits down as his worst fear is confirmed.

He had hoped… he had desperately hoped he had been wrong but as Wen Qing goes on to describe everything, explaining how the procedure worked and what Wei-xiong had to endure for his martial brother’s sake, he becomes certain she is telling the truth.

And this is exactly what Wei Wuxian would do. It would be too far-fetched and outrageous for anyone else, but Wei-xiong- his capacity for self-sacrifice has always worried Huaisang and Lan Wangji.

“Where is he?” Nie Mingjue demands, “Did you leave him in the Burial Grounds? In his state?”

“Wei Ying refuses to come,” Lan Wangji says, his expression pale and tight, “He must keep the resentful spirits at bay and protect the Wens. There’s a child among them, barely two years old.”

Xichen-ge sucks in a breath, closing his eyes in dismay.

“He’s injured.” Wangji-xiong continues, “He was gutted by Jiang Wanyin in a staged fight.” Huaisang looks up sharply, “He hasn’t healed and yet persists to place himself at risk.”

“Wangji, we will help him,” Xichen-ge assures, “I apologize for not understanding the situation, but now we know and we will help him.”

“So they fought to spare the Jiang Sect,” Huaisang speculates with a frown, “But… why not just tell us? Surely Jiang-zongzhu knows he just had to mention his debt to you, Wen-guniang.”

“We have misunderstood Jiang Wanyin’s character greatly.” That is a big condemnation coming from the Hanguang-jun himself. Huaisang is certain that Wangji-xiong isn’t inclined to be charitable now. Jiang Wanyin did hurt Wei Wuxian seriously, after all.

“He won’t move until we do something to help the Wens.” Huaisang concludes, opening his fan in a snap and waving it furiously, “Because he’s just that stubborn. If he owes Wen-guniang and Wen-gongzi a debt, nothing is going to move him, not even Wangji-xiong.”

“I have never been able to move him.” Lan Wangji says icily and it seems like they’re feeding off each other’s ire.

Really, Wei-xiong is so frustrating to deal with sometimes. He doesn’t know how Lan Wangji handles being in love with him, Huaisang already feels nauseous. Wei Wuxian is in such a precarious position now that if they don’t act fast, he would…

He would likely be imprisoned or killed.

“Let’s offer the Wens some protection then.” Nie Huaisang says.

“Huaisang,” Da-ge warns, “It’s not that simple.”

“Why not?” He demands, turning towards his brother and Lan Xichen, “Will the Jins retaliate? If both Lans and Nies stand together on the matter, what will they do? The Wens don’t need to be free, they need to be safe and healthy. We can keep them contained in a small farming village, forbid cultivation and absorb any children into one of our clans. Let’s take Wei-xiong into the Nie clan and let the Wens settle in the northern reaches. The area is fairly remote and life will be hard but safe, better than the Burial Mounds at any rate!”

He doesn’t know what kind of expression he has on his face but da-ge looks faintly amused, “You’ll take on the Jins?”

“If I have to!”

“He means that much to you?”

Huaisang swallows and thinks of days spent in merriment and comfort. Of a friendly arm tossed around his shoulder and a laughing voice dragging him into all sorts of mischief. He thinks of warm silver eyes that never looked down at him and nods, “Yes, he does.”

Wei-xiong has always helped him and treated him with respect. It is time for him to return the favor.

---

It is a near miracle that everything works out as planned. Well, almost everything. No one is pleased when the Lans and Nies band together to take over the Wen remnants. Fortunately, the Jiangs don’t have any room to object. Da-ge doesn't hesitate to reveal that Jiang Wanyin owes Wen Ning his life. Jiang Wanyin's honor is called into question but he suffers no other consequence for his dishonesty. Nie Huaisang doesn’t care but he notices how it guts Wei-xiong.

Apparently, when Wei-xiong and Jiang Wanyin agreed to part ways, Jiang-zongzhu only needed to say Wei Wuxian had left the Jiangs. There was no need to outright state that his sect brother had betrayed the entire cultivation world!

Either Jiang-zonghzu is incredibly naive or he deliberately placed Wei Wuxian in a difficult position without his knowledge.

Either way, Nie Huaisang is content to see that relationship severed. In his humble opinion, he makes a much better martial brother. And Wei-xiong could certainly benefit from being under the thumb of someone as protective as da-ge. He’s entirely too willing to place himself in harm’s way!

Humming under his breath and happy that everything turned out according to plan, Nie Huaisang turns around the corner and pauses. He quickly takes a few steps back until he’s out of sight. Peeking cautiously around the corner, he hides a grin behind his fan as he sees Wei-xiong fall off a tree and right into Lan Wangji’s arms.

Huaisang bites back a laugh when Wei Wuxian stays in place, arms around Lan Wangji shoulders and eyes peering up at the Second Jade.

He had been suspicious about them since Lan Wangji all but dragged Wei Wuxian to the Unclean Realm. His best friend arrived with flushed cheeks and suspiciously red lips but everyone pointedly ignored it, too eager to avoid that particular mess.

He smiles, chuckling under his breath when Wangji-xiong pulls Wei Wuxian closer and dips his head.

Turning around, he starts walking away, leaving the lovers to their business.

Besides, da-ge would want to know about this.

[im-in-love-with-pizza-bites]

Feeling faint

Tom Holland x Sister!Reader, Holland Family X Sister!Reader, Harrison Osterfeild X Platonic!reader

Summary: Your brothers comfort you after you faint at Tom's wedding.

Warnings: mentions blood, a concussion, fainting, fluff.

Reader's age: 15

Request: Anon

A/n: Thank you for the request! Also so sorry bought the name though 🤣 also like I just made the bride an OC so ya.

It was all going good, you were stood behind your brothers in a row, Harrison was the best man, your brothers were groomsmen and you had the honor of being a grooms woman. You were just behind Paddy, as you watched your soon-to-be sister-in-law come down the aisle. Once her dad was by his seat the officiant started.

"Thank you, please be seated. Today we gather to lift Tom Holland and Amelia Williams up in celebration of ever-lasting love. In the presence of their beloved family and friends, Tom Holland and Amelia Williams will pronounce their love through this ceremony and begin a lifelong journey together."

"On this day, we offer gratitude for the blessings that have been bestowed upon Amelia and Tom. In this fast-spinning, always-changing world they have at last found peace and comfort in one another." He continued, you started swaying slightly feeling faint. You subtly leaned forward putting a hand on Paddy's shoulder in an attempt to hold yourself up as you watched the ceremony.

The ceremony was just about over and you were still feeling faint, you were still leaning on your older brother as the officiant finished: "By the power vested in me by the Universal Life Church Ministries, before your families and your friends, I now pronounce you lawfully and spiritually united Please seal your marriage with your first wedded kiss." Once they pulled away from the kiss and were about to walk down the aisle a loud thud was heard along with Paddy exclaiming help. Everyone turn to looked seeing you laying there unconscious, Paddy was already down by your side. Harry and Sam moved quickly to come to your sides followed by Harrison, Tom, Amelia and your parents. Most of the crowd was standing but no one came much closer.

"She's breathing." Sam announced. After a few seconds, you were opening your eyes.

"W-what happened? Why does my head hurt so much?" You asked your family.

"You fainted your okay." Dom said. "Give her a bit of space.

"Oh... Sorry." You mumbled putting your hand up to your head where it hurt.

"It's okay." Your sister in law said softly. You moved you hand back to looked at it wide eyed.

"I don't think that's good." You said out of it.

"Yeah, that isn't." Your mom gently moved your hair out of the way to look at what happened. "We need towels over here." She said to which Harry hurried off to grab some.

"I don't feel so good." You mumbled eyes closing.

"Woah no Tom don't let her close her eyes." Dom said.

"Hey look at me." Tom said, your eyes opened slightly seeing Tom and Haz standing there.

"Oh hi. Did I ruin the wedding?" You said your words slurred a bit.

"Paddy go get her water please." Harrison asked.

"No you didn't ruin the wedding bun." Tom assured. "Just keep your eyes on us."

"Okay." You smiled, "did I ruin my dress? I wiked it." You slurred. Sam chuckled from behind you where he was standing with your mom and dad, while they looked at your head. "It wasn't a joke!"

"Your dress is fine. Sam don't be such div." Harry said handing your mom the cloth.

"Yeah don't be such div." You looked at your brother and stuck your tongue out. Paddy finally came back with the water bottle and passed it to Tom.

"Y/n drink this. Mum is she okay?"

"I'm gonna take her to the hospital I'll keep you posted don't worry." Nikki said. "Dom help me get her up."

You took a sip from your water and looked at your sister-in-law. "I'm sorry." You said once again.

"It's okay." Tom and Amelia answered.

"If you say so I guess." You mumbled eyes closing.

"Y/n look at me." Harrison said catching it immediately.

"What I'm tired." You said glaring at the man.

"You got to stay awake." Sam said as he and Harry got you to your feet, Nikki still holding the cloth to your head.

———

You were back from the hospital just into time for the reception. Tom was the first to greet you of course as he was quite worried, Sam and Paddy were close behind along with Harrison. Harry and Dom went along with you and Nikki. Harry was there to hold the towel and make sure you stayed awake. You were stitched up and had a bandage on your head but otherwise, you were fine. The doctors chalked your faint up to you not eating or drink enough that day. Once you got liquids and a snack you started to get back to yourself but you were feeling super embarrassed and bad about fainting and taking the attention off of the newly weds.

"How are you feeling?" Amelia asked when you came into the venue the reception was being held in.

"I'm fine, I'm sorry about early." You said giving an apologetic smile.

"It's fine stop apologizing." Tom interjected. "You couldn't avoid it."

"Yeah, I guess." You mumbled though you were still embarrassed.

"It really wasn't that big of a deal. Your fine." Amelia assured you once again. You shrugged, before turning around noticing your other two brothers and Harrison standing there.

"Are you okay?" Paddy asked.

"I'm fine.." You mumbled. You didn't like the attention, now normally you'd love it since you are usually over shadowed by your brothers but today was supposed to be about Tom and his wife then you faint. It was the one day that you didn't want any attention on you.

"That's good." Sam smiled. You shrugged rolling your eyes.

"She's fine look still as sassy as usual." Harrison teased. He was like a fifth brother to you so you two acted like siblings.

"Shudup." You grumbled.

"Okay what's wrong?" Tom asked you as his wife walked off to do something.

"Nothing... Just fainting in public is embarrassing.. And fainting at a wedding more so." You mumbled. "And I still feel bad about taking the attention off of you and Amelia." You added.

"Oh y/n. No one's mad at you for fainting at our wedding." Tom assured you once again.

"Everyone is just glad your okay." Sam added on smiling at you.

"I guess..."

"Are we not going to talk about the fact she was talking like she's fainted in public before?" Harry inquired.

"No we are not." You said simply.

"Okay. But really it was funny." Paddy said, "and explained why you were leaning on me the whole ceremony."

"It was kinda funny." Harrison said chuckling.

"Oh woah you found my pain funny." You said jokingly.

"There your back to yourself! Yes now we have a reception to get to come on." Tom said giving you a quick hug before leaving to find his wife.

"So when have you fainted before?"

A/n: How was it? I'm not good at comforting people so writing it is semi-hard for me. Also, I think I wrote the wedding well... Idk I haven't been to one since I was 3. And I don't remember anything about that except walking up to a guy who I honestly know if he was the groom or the groom's brother. (The groom is an identical twin)

[dragoneyes618]

shine and gleam

He was kneeling on the wooden floor. The wood was clean, but rough-Anthony could feel it rubbing his knees even through the fabric of his pants.

She was sitting by her desk, the chair half pulled out, staring wordlessly at him, eyes wide-she knew what was coming. There is only one reason why a man gets on his knees before a woman, unless she was a queen or he was begging for forgiveness, but Harriet was not a queen-she was a captain, yes, wielding ironclad and absolute authority over her own crew, with great influence over much of the Isle as well, but she was not a queen, and captains did not require kneeling. And Anthony had done nothing to wrong Harriet. So that left only the one option.

One of his hands was in his pocket, rubbing the item he had there. His fingers were shaking. He thought about putting his other hand behind his back, then reconsidered. He did not want to hide anything from her, not even his nerves.

"Hear me out," he whispered. His mouth was dry. All the flowery elaborate language he had been practicing in his head for the past month seemed to have disappeared. "Please."

She nodded, once, her fists clenched, knuckles white.

"I-I admire you," he stammered. "I respect you. Tremendously. You are my captain, you are the captain of this whole ship and everyone on it and even some people not on it. You-you're strong, and fearless, and you-but you don't let that get in the way of caring for your family. You're the captain of your own ship, half the Isle owes allegiance or favors to you in some way or another, but you still care for them. That's one of the things I admire about you." For Anthony, caring about one's family was very important. He hoped he was explaining that well, because to him it didn't sound like it.

Harriet nodded once, again, her eyes twitching. She wrapped a strand of black hair around her index finger, and then unwound it and dropped her hand.

He licked his lips. "I-I've known you for some time, and I-We are the oldest of our generation," he said, and Harriet nodded again; she, older than Anthony by a scant few weeks, had been the first child born on the Isle.

"They call us VKs," he continued, "but we're not kids anymore-and we are the oldest. I don't think we really ever were. I-the barrier is open now, Harriet, and we can leave. The ship can sail the high seas."

Harriet nodded again, her eyes looking at something in the distance-that had always been her greatest dream.

"The-" He licked his lips again. "We-Us, the children of the Isle-we can have a future now. We are no longer condemned for our parents' crimes. We can have a future. We can have a life. And I-" His heart was pounding, and he felt almost sick with nerves. "It would honor me tremendously if you-if we would have that future together."

He took a ring out of his pocket.

It wasn't fancy. It wasn't expensive. It was a simple tarnished brass ring.

It had been his mother's wedding ring. She had liked Harriet. She was dead now.

Even though Harriet knew it had been coming, her eyes still widened upon seeing the ring. This moment felt unreal, but the ring seemed to ground it in reality.

She was suddenly glad she was sitting. She wasn't sure she'd be able to stand.

"We can have a future together," Anthony continued. "We can build a family together. We can sail free on the seas. We can take care of your family, my family, the whole crew. We-"

He cut himself off, suddenly, and took a deep breath.

"Harriet," he whispered. "Will you marry me?"

Harriet stared at him, at the small circle he was holding.

She thought of her siblings, and her father, and of Anthony's siblings, and his cousins, and of the entire crew....and of the barrier, struck down forever.

They were no longer children of the Isle. They were adults, and the world was theirs.

She smiled.

Several meters away, CJ and Dizzy pressed their ears to the closed door.

"What did she say?" Dizzy whispered.

"Sshh! I'm trying to hear!" CJ admonished.

"Did she say yes?"

"He just said something about how this treasure is hers now, but it's not worth nearly as much as she is-that's the ring, right? He gave her the ring!"

"He gave her the ring!" Dizzy repeated, literally jumping for joy. "That means she said yes! He's been practicing for ages! Oh, I'm so excited-I can help Evie plan Harriet's dress for the wedding! I want to be the flower girl! And then when they have kids I'm going to have nieces and nephews! Ooh, I have to go tell everybody!" She ran down the hall in search of the rest of the crew to tell them about their captain's impending nuptials.

"I'll have nieces and nephews!" CJ corrected, calling down the hallway after the younger girl. "You'll have first cousins once removed!"

She turned back to the door to be met by the sight of Harriet Hook standing in the doorway, arms crossed and eyes like ice, with the addition of a brass ring on her right hand.

CJ offered her older sister a sunny smile. "Hi!"

[mintugiyuu]

oh! its okay, i'll try to word it as close as possible to the first time.

may i please have the main group with a trans male reader who is stealth and kind of scared of how they'll react coming out to them?

(gosh i hope thats close enough, my memory is not the best,,)

thank you so much!!

thank you so so much for resending this!! I’m so sorry it got deleted the first time around, it was early in the morning and I wasn’t using my noggin when I was trying to draft it ;3;

for the kamaboko squad, I left it so it could be interpreted as romantic or platonic! for nezuko I did it more platonically, I hope that was ok! thank you for requesting and I hope these are enjoyable to read! I hope you’re well <3

꒰🌤꒱ — as it’s always been.

sfw scenarios + head-canons

➥ characters || kamado tanjirou, kamado nezuko, hashibira inosuke, agatsuma zenitsu

➥ warnings || none

➥ synopsis || the reader hesitantly comes out as trans to the kamaboko squad, nervous to what they’ll think and say; here is how they would react.

➥ kamado tanjirou:

- Tanjirou has a great sense of smell, so there’s no hiding your anxiety/nervousness about coming out. He’s most certainly going to ask you what’s wrong, nothing but concerned for your state of being.

- As you’re explaining and officially coming out to him, he’s very attentive; nodding and making sure you knew he was listening.

- He knows this must be very hard and nerve-wracking for you, so he lets you finish speaking before responding himself.

- Tanjirou, being the sweetheart he is, immediately reassures you that he thinks no different of you and still loves you through and through!

- If he’s honest, he’s a bit surprised. The boy definitely wasn’t expecting this, but regardless he’s very glad that you’re happy with who you are and honored that you trust him enough with this information.

- Expect lots of words of support and small actions of comfort/affection. Tanjirou immediately pulls you into a hug, rubbing your back as he tells you how proud he is of you, and how the information you told him will stay between you two (unless/until you tell the others; he knows it’s not in his place). He’d hold both your hands to his chest as he promises you that nothing has changed between the two of you, giving you his infamous gentle smile.

- Like he promised, nothing changes between you two. Everything is as it was before, and unless you want to talk about the topic at hand, he won’t even bring it up. It just goes to show he doesn’t mind what so ever and supports you all the way!

➥ kamado nezuko

- When it comes to Nezuko as a demon, she doesn’t really have a true understanding of anything that’s going on around her; she goes with her emotions and the emotions she’s picking up around her. Of course, she can tell when there’s danger and understand basic conversations. But other than that, all she really can understand is protect, sleep, and head pats.

- So you wouldn’t outright come out to her, knowing she probably wouldn’t understand regardless. It happens by accident, kind of.

- She spends her days in a dark room of the butterfly mansion as the others are healing, either sleeping or doing her own thing. You’re probably pacing around the room, trying to plan out how to officially tell the other boys and properly come out to them.

- Nezuko notices your distress from where she was playing with a handkerchief you gave to her after one of your missions.

- “Hmmmph!”

- In other words, she’s grabbing your attention, looking lost to why you’re pacing. In a “hey! what are you doing?” kind of way.

- When you didn’t notice her attempts, she huffs, hopping off the bed and making her way to you. She’s in her small form currently, trying to regain her energy but wanting to be awake to be in your company.

- You’d feel her tug at your uniform, making several muffled questionable noises at your pacing. If you tried to brush her off, telling her “it’s nothing”, she’s calling you out on your bull and tugging you to the bed.

- Sit criss-cross and watch her crawl into your lap as a toddler would do to an older sibling (for she saw you as another big brother), grabbing your arms and making it so you were hugging her.

- This gives you no room but to explain yourself, so you did. As you come out to her and explain how you’re nervous to tell the others, she’d.. not be the most understanding.

- Understanding as in she doesn’t comprehend what you’re telling her. But she does her best to listen, feeling how important this is to you and how anxious you’re reacting.

- She cuts you off of a nervous ramble of all the bad outcomes with a head-pat to your head, closing her eyes with a small “hmhmph!” coming from under her muzzle.

- Expect a good ole Kamado hug, tiny edition. And she’s not letting you go, not even when it was time for dinner.

- She calms you, knowing in your heart that even if she’s not completely aware, she still loves you and hopefully the others will as well (they will of course).

- Before you have to go, she grips onto your sleeve and pulls the muzzle off her mouth, giving you a sharp toothed smile. Before you can tell her to put it back on, that you don’t want anyone to see her with it off, but she gets one word out with the biggest beaming smile.

- “Oniisan!” (“Big Brother!”)

- .... and pats her head. She wants head pats too. Nothing’s changed, you’re still the best head pat giver she knows.

➥ !! spoilers for chapter 204 !! bonus: after the final battle, if you were to come out to a now human Nezuko, she’d react much like Tanjirou; just a lot more bubbly with more bright smiles. Unlike Tanjirou, she’d be more.. “aggressively” supportive. Basically, she wouldn’t hesitate to throw hands at anyone who says something purposely ignorant. It’s terrifyingly sweet; no one messes with her big brother.

➥ hashibira inosuke

- Inosuke has very sensitive skin, so he’s getting goosebumps from the anxiety your giving off. It annoys and confuses him, not understanding what’s going on for you to be so nervous.

- “Oi! You’re making my skin prickly!! Stop that!!”

- It’s his way of asking what’s wrong, wanting to know how to stop it.

- Your anxiety hits an all time high as you let it out, officially coming out to him.

- ... But he doesn’t know what “trans” means, so he’s confused. He stands there, blinking under his pig mask.

- “... What? What the hell is that?” He may sound brash, but he just hates not understanding things. He wants to understand more than everyone else, after all, so don’t take it personally.

- After a long bit of explaining it clearly to him, you two are sitting on the ground, Inosuke with his hands in his lap as he stares at you.

- He’s surprisingly silent the whole way through, and not being able to see his true facial expression just makes you all the more nervous.

- If you were to nervously ask him to take his mask off, you were expecting a hard no. What you weren’t expecting was for him to hesitate for only a moment before taking it off, setting it down in to his lap.

- Inosuke’s eyebrows would be furrowed, his mouth turned down as he looked at you closely. Bracing yourself, he responded.

- “So?”

- That definitely isn’t what you would be expecting.

- Now he didn’t mean this in any negative connotation at all. He fully understands what it means now and what you told him - and to note he’s completely fine with it - he’s just confused to why it’s such a big deal. (If anything he respects you even more, finding you extremely strong.)

- Inosuke doesn’t care how you were born or what you choose to be; at the end of the day you’re his favorite sparring partner! Plus, he has to keep you around. He wants to understand the warm fuzzies he gets in his tummy when you do nice things for him.

- “Doesn’t matter what you are, I can still kick your ass!!” He says as he tackles you to the ground.

- All’s well ends well, and much like Tanjirou, it seems nothing would change between you two.

➥ agatsuma zenitsu

- The high-pitched anxiety sound emitting from you is giving Zenitsu a headache; he’ll make sure to complain about it loudly so you know.

- If you apologized for it while fidgeting, he’ll soften his whining tone and ask why you’re so nervous anyways? It’s day, so it’s not like you have demons to fear.

- You hesitate, stuttering around the topic before officially coming out, explaining that to him and why you’re so nervous.

- Zenitsu.. definitely was not expecting that. He’d go wide-eyed, clearly shocked at the information.

- “HUH??? YOU’RE WHAT???”

- If you were to flinch at his shouts, he’d pause and look to you; watching how you curled up on yourself, scared you looked for a bad reaction.

- Instead he immediately goes to reassure you.

- “IM SORRY!! I-I didn’t mean it like that!! PROMISE! I just wasn’t expecting that!! I wouldn’t ever have guessed!!- I MEAN-!!” He’s talking way to fast for you to even understand, so the more you looked lost the more Zenitsu feared he messed up the trust you must’ve had for him in order to tell him that.

- Eventually he’d break down, getting on his hands and knees while bowing his head to the floor, gripping your pant leg all while begging you to forgive him.

- You’re the one who originally needed comfort here, not him. Smh Zenitsu.

- In all seriousness, reassure him that he’s ok. He meant no harm by his reaction, he just tends to be over-dramatic with his reactions and emotions.

- Once he’s calm, he’d sniffle and be sitting next to you, shoulder to shoulder.

- Zenitsu gives it a few minutes before asking questions, making sure he’s understanding 100% and not getting anything wrong.

- The blonde-boy knows about how hard struggles in life can be; he’s struggled his whole life when it comes to finding a home and a place of belonging, being homeless for the first 3/4’s of the life he’s lived so far. He knows he can’t compare his struggles to the things you must’ve gone through, but he can clearly and easily sympathize.

- He reassures you that he thinks no different of you, if anything he admires the way you could be so brave about it.

- It’s a quiet moment between the two of you as Zenitsu continues his rambles (still scared he ruined whatever is between you two a moment ago), circling over the same couple topics; how he supports you, will support you through anything, that he sees you no differently and that nothing will change.

- Please place your hand over his mouth or he’ll keep going all day; his anxiety rambles are said to last hours.

- This has only made you two closer, the others finding you and Zenitsu sticking/hanging around each other more and more frequently. In the end, your happy you told him.

[robininthelabyrinth]

Spilled Pearls

- Chapter 3 - ao3 -

The closing ceremony of the discussion conference was dignified and serene, as appropriate for an event hosted by the Lan sect, and after it was done everyone milled around to chat a little more before starting to break off into groups to leave.

The leaders of the Great Sects naturally gathered together.

They were an unusual mix. Wen Ruohan was the eldest by an entire generation, technically hailing from the generation of Lan Qiren’s grandfather even if his extraordinary cultivation made him seem as young as Lan Qiren’s brother; after him there was Lan Qiren’s father and the Jiang sect leader, Jiang Menglin, who themselves were a generation above their younger counterparts from the Nie and Jin clans – Jin Guangshan especially, having only inherited his position in the past year.

Lan Qiren’s brother stood beside them, speaking with them with his head held high. Their father planned to slowly transition sect leadership to him over the next half-decade so that he himself might be allowed to retire from the mundane world to focus on cultivation, as Lan An ultimately did. In accordance with that plan, he had allowed him to take the lead on hosting certain small events at the discussion conference, like the night-hunting.

Lan Qiren was there, too.

He was lurking as far to the back of the platform as he could get, trying simultaneously to perfectly reflect his sect’s expectations for proper behavior while also doing his utmost to remain beneath anyone’s notice – Lao Nie had caught his gaze at one point and winked, a friendly older man’s indulgence of a junior, but that was in large part unavoidable given the man’s gregarious personality – and enjoying the rare moment in which he could see his father at something other than a distance.

He usually only saw his father when he was brought before him to report on his achievements, typically once a month. When he was younger, he had been accompanied by one of his teachers, who would report on him while Lan Qiren anxiously examined his father’s face for signs of approval; now that he was older, he went by himself, dipping into a deep salute as he recited anything of interest, and sometimes if he really exerted himself his father would reward him with a word of praise.

Lan Qiren was only allowed to stand with the rest of them on the basis of a technicality – his father hadn’t officially transferred power to his eldest son and wouldn’t for a while yet, so he had brought along both of them on the transparent excuse that they could provide company for Jin Guangshan and Lao Nie as members of the same generation. It was very much a technicality in Lan Qiren’s case, given his much younger age; he fell on the very tail end of their generation on account of the circumstances of his belated birth.

Lan Qiren’s birth was very late to allow him to be considered a peer to those a decade or more older than him, in fact, but that was the way of things.

He was a child of duty, rather than pleasure.

His parents had been very much in love, as was the Lan sect’s way, and together they had had two sons and a daughter within six years, each one of them deeply beloved. But perhaps their joy had been too complete, because the heavens had not permitted it to last: they lost their younger son and daughter both – one to an unexpected illness, the other to an accident. Their eldest, Lan Qiren’s brother, was still there, but it would have been irresponsible to have only a single heir to a Great Sect. Accordingly, under great pressure from the sect elders, they had sought to have another child, only to fail time and time again, enduring countless miscarriages and stillbirths alike.

There had even been some debate as to whether such a situation permitted the sect leader to take on a concubine, regardless of custom or even his own wishes. Desperate to prevent such a result, Lan Qiren’s mother had inadvisedly taken certain drugs to encourage conception and at last Lan Qiren had been successfully born in a slow and bloody labor that had sapped his mother’s already poor health. She had died a few years later, suffering a recurrence of the infection left behind from his birth. Lan Qiren had been too young to really remember her, but he knew that his brother had blamed him for her loss ever since.

He sometimes wondered if his father did, too.

Of course, unlike his brother, his father had never said as much. As the Lan sect leader, he was graceful and refined, educated and reserved, a venerable and venerated cultivator; it was widely agreed that he would never have planned to retire so early if it hadn’t been for losing his true love all those years ago. Perhaps he might even have been another Wen Ruohan, seemingly ageless, striving for immortality – at any rate, he would never be so petty as to mistreat a person due to the circumstances beyond their control. It was something he had heard that his father had said from one of the other Lan sect juniors, and at any rate it was in the rules, and Lan Qiren believed in the rules.

Besides, it wasn’t a surprise that Lan Qiren would be an afterthought in comparison to his brother, the already famous Qingheng-jun, who his father treasured like a pearl cupped in his palm. His brother was the much-anticipated first child of his father’s happy youth, the reminder of good days gone by, a child who had survived the misfortunes that had taken his siblings, and Lan Qiren’s brother repaid his father’s adoration with strength, intelligence, and endless potential. He was a cultivation maniac, yet good at managing the other juniors; he was cold and aloof, elegant, yet capable of being personable and even charming when needed. He was one of the shining stars of his generation, already a powerful cultivator and a respected gentleman even though he’d only just passed twenty-one. Even the name which he was commonly called, Qingheng-jun, was a rarity, a personal title unusual in this peaceful day and age.

Lan Qiren, in contrast, was slow and clumsy, with only average cultivation skills and positively dire social skills. While his teachers praised his strong academic skills and musical talent, the Lan sect followed first and foremost the orthodox path of swordsmanship; once his weakness in that area had been discovered, many of his sect elders lost interest in him as anything other than the inferior back-up plan that he was.

Undoubtedly that was why, when Wen Ruohan turned to Lan Qiren’s father and said, “Your son is a credit to you,” everyone assumed he was talking about Qingheng-jun.

“Sect Leader Wen does him too much honor,” their father said, clearly pleased despite his deprecating words. After all, Wen Ruohan, Sect Leader Wen, was well known to be extraordinarily sparing with his praise for any who didn’t share his bloodline or surname. “My unworthy son is still young and foolish. His eyes are always fixed upon cultivation, never straying – he doesn’t even spare time for girls, despite his advancing years!”

The other sect leaders were smiling, and Lao Nie already opening his mouth to say something teasing, when Wen Ruohan said, “I meant your other son.”

Lan Qiren wasn’t prepared at all for all the sect leaders to turn to look at him.

He shrunk back.

“Qiren?” his father said, almost as if he were checking to confirm that that was the right name, a trace of doubt in his voice even as Lan Qiren’s brother’s face went white with humiliation. “I didn’t realize you’d had a chance to hear him play.”

“Regrettably I have not yet had that pleasure,” Wen Ruohan said, a slightly strange expression on his face. “We merely exchanged some charming conversation, that’s all. Is that his most notable skill?”

“His accomplishments as a musical cultivator are sufficient to rank him among the adults of his already talented sect,” Lao Nie volunteered when there was a brief pause, and Lan Qiren’s father was quick to smile and nod along. “You missed out, Sect Leader Wen.”

“Perhaps another time,” Wen Ruohan said, his return smile still strange and almost subtly displeased, though Lan Qiren would hardly trust himself to know for sure.

At that point, Jiang Menglin spoke up, changing the subject, and most everyone joined in, all of them evidently relieved – not least of all Lan Qiren himself, who had started wondering if there was some way he could become invisible or else fall into a deep chasm that might conveniently open up beneath his feet.

Nothing more was said on the subject until the ceremony was done and the last of their guests departed, when Lan Qiren’s brother tracked him down and hissed, “What did you do?”

“Nothing!” Lan Qiren cried out. “We only talked!”

“You mean you talked at him the way you always do – ”

Their father cleared his throat, having come up behind them, and they both turned at once and dropped into deep salutes.

“Do not think about it too much,” he said, voice distant as the cold wind on a winter night. “Sect Leader Wen sometimes likes to make trouble for the sake of making trouble, especially if he thinks he has found a weakness. You will need to be on your guard against that when you are sect leader.”

He was talking to Lan Qiren’s brother, of course. Lan Qiren could count, and had, the number of times his father addressed him directly in a given year, but it was only reasonable – he wasn’t the heir, doomed to take on the burden of leadership, and so there was much less his father needed to say to him.

“Yes, Father,” his brother said. “I’ll remember.”

“Do not trouble your younger brother over nonsense.”

Lan Qiren felt his brother’s angry gaze like a flame against his skin, even if it wasn’t anywhere as weighty as Wen Ruohan’s. He did not understand what he had done wrong, whether to Wen Ruohan to decide to make trouble using his name or to his brother now that had made him angry, but that wasn’t so much different from the usual.

“Very well, Father,” his brother said. “I won’t.”

[holocene-sims]

List 5 facts about a favorite sim of yours, and send this to 10 simblrs whose sims you adore ♥♥♥

this is so sweet, thank you 😭 i'm honored to have received this message ❤️

when i get back to posting my story, there will be a lot of interaction with grant's family, so i'll give you some fun facts about him as related to his family! hopefully it'll provide some background to where things are starting in the story family-wise and to grant's life!

(1) grant actually speaks three languages! not with perfect fluency, but quite well. he's the child of an immigrant father 🇫🇮 and immigrant grandparents 🇮🇪, so multilingualism is a natural result! but grant never really tells people this fact unless you know him really well or just happen to be there at the same time he's with his family (or also his now ex-fiancee...)

bonus fact? - his grandma aoife is a native irish speaker! his grandpa joseph is not, but grandma very much was insistent that if he wanted to marry her for real, he had to learn the language (and that their kids, their grandkids, etc. should as well)

(2) grant is the youngest sibling! you have not seen them on this blog, but grant has two older sisters. his oldest sister died (i'm so sorry that this was an intentional story choice by me) from a terminal illness when he was about twelve years old. about his other older sister...they have nothing to do with each other and haven't spoken in years, really since he was about twenty-two

bonus fact again? - interestingly, on that note, grant speaks to no one from his nuclear family except for his father, and they only reconnected about a year ago canonically. his abusive mother is 100% out of the picture and excommunicated by everyone, and his father was, too, for a long time

...and then dear old dad realized he wasted his life with a woman who used him and barely loved him, lost all his kids, and was shunned by his own parents and brother for the aforementioned reasons...and he decided to stop being an emotionally unavailable enabler, divorced evil mother mary, and started therapy!

(3) so the third fact is that grant and his dad have a relationship again. it's still awkward and they're both tiptoeing around talking about the whole, you know, "you enabled my mother to abuse me because you were afraid of her lashing out at you instead of me" thing. that and his father is dating someone else, so now grant is also awkwardly trying to have a friendly relationship with this woman dating his father.

so, yeah, it's super awkward but there is a decent undercurrent of love and acceptance and apology there, regardless of how upfront about it they are...

(4) grant has a hard time conceiving his actual biological parents as his parents, though. if you were to ask him who he considers his parents or who raised him, he would immediately say his grandparents. aside from the fact they felt immense guilt over their daughter's scorched earth path in life, in the end, they are good people, good parents, and good grandparents, and they always seem to do the right thing in any situation. for him, they did the right thing by stepping in and intervening to look after him as soon as they noticed something was wrong with the home situation for him. so he's very, very deeply close and connected to his grandparents, and the three of them have a lovely relationship

so for the final fact...

(5) his cousins jokingly call him "the favorite grandkid." the thing is, none of his cousins actually believe that because the structure of their family leads every single one of them to have a very close and impactful relationship with their grandparents. every kid got the support and love that they needed out of their grandparents, and unfortunately, some of them needed more attention. "favorite grandkid" is just a weird little nickname because grant internally feels guilty that he got "the most attention" and that he didn't deserve it, and the nickname is an odd but understandable way for the rest of the cousins to sanction that it was fine for him to be treated a little differently

[blackshinychevy]

Let Me Go

Summary: Dean has to make a heartbreaking decision that effects both of you.

WC: 1.6k+

Warnings: Angst, Character Death

Pairing: Dean x Reader

It’s late when Sam gets back to the bunker. There’s a huge thunderstorm outside that has most of the roads flooded and blocked off. He’s barely made it back with the take out he’d gone to get for he and his older brother, but the question of whether or not Dean will actually eat it is another matter.

Sam’s starting to become extremely worried about his older sibling. Dean’s always been a strong lover of food, the greasier the better. But Sam has noticed the drop in his brother’s appetite, as well as the newly made hole in his belt now that his jeans are becoming too loose around his waist.

As he walks into the kitchen, he sees Dean sat at the kitchen table, nursing a beer that has probably long since become warm. But Sam doesn’t miss the other five empty bottles beside him, as well as an empty whiskey tumbler.

“Hey.” He greets, dropping the plastic bag of food in front of him. “Got you a double bacon cheeseburger with extra onions and a side of fries.” Sam smiles in encouragement as he piles Dean’s favorites onto the table. “And...” Sam pulls out the last treat with a grin. “...cherry pie. Best around for miles apparently.” Sam’s smile wilts when Dean doesn’t even show he’s heard him. He merely continues rolling the beer bottle back and forth between his hands. “Where’s y/n?” The younger Winchester asks, glancing around the kitchen.

“In our room.” Dean states gruffly.

Sam knows at this point he needs to tread very carefully. One wrong word and Dean could snap again like he did the other night. It had taken Sam hours to put the library back to rights after his brother had torn through it like a hurricane during a drunken rage.

“Dean.” He sighs softly. “Don’t you think it’s time now? You can’t keep doing this to yourself.”

Dean drops the bottle down with a clunk, raising himself to his feet and marching towards the door. “I’m going to bed.” He states, not even glancing at his brother as he leaves the kitchen.

Sam throws the takeout box onto the table in defeat. He’d tried. But he knows he can do no more than what he’s already doing. The next step has to be entirely up to Dean.

****

Dean stumbles into your shared bedroom, shutting the door with a little more force than was probably necessary and groaning at the headache that was forming behind his eyes. “Hey, baby.” He grins at the sight of you perched on the edge of the bed, a small smile on your face as watch him.

“Hey.” You greet him back, brow quirking as he makes his way over to you with a sway in his step. “How much have you had to drink?”

“Not enough.” He groans, towing off his boots and throwing himself face first on to the bed, eyes drooping closed almost immediately.

You sigh sadly at his pain. Dean’s never been good at dealing with his emotions, choosing to bottle everything up until it all reaches a boiling point. The other night was proof of that. You’d heard his drunken yelling as things smashed against the walls, as well as Sam’s voice, pleading for his brother to calm down.

“Dean.” You call softly, leaning over his body, lips almost brushing his ear. “Dean, we need to talk.”

“Later.” He grumbles. “Need some sleep.”

Your heart breaks even more. Unlike Dean, you don’t have the option of bottling everything inside. The both of you need to talk desperately. Because you can’t continue the way you’re going. It’s not fair to him and it’s not fair to you.

“Dean. This has to stop.” Your voice cracks at the end. This is going to be the hardest thing either of you has had to do. But it’s time. “You need to let me go.”

His eyes snap open and his body jerks off the bed to sit himself up right, and he looks at you with an expression that can only be compared to terror. “No!” He roars. “How can you say that?! Ask me anything, baby. I’ll do anything you want. Just don’t ask me to do that. Please.” Tears brim in the corners of his eyes and you hear the quiver in his voice. Your heart shatters in your chest as you keep your eyes on his.

“You have to.” You press. “This isn’t healthy, baby. You need to let me go. I don’t belong here anymore. We both know that.” A tear trickles down your cheek. “It’s not your fault what happened. You can’t keep punishing yourself over it.” You smile.

He sniffs, wiping roughly under his eyes to rid his cheeks of the tears. “Why’d ya do it? Shoulda been me.” He bares his teeth in anger.

It was supposed to be a simple hunt. A werewolf been terrorizing a small town and when the three of you had tried to take it down, things had gone horribly wrong. The werewolf it turned out, had a partner, and after it tried to strike Dean from behind, you’d jumped in between the two of them to save the man you loved. The next time you left the barn, Dean was carrying your cold and bloodied body in his arms. That was three months ago, and here you are still. Trapped in the veil, unable to move on due to Dean’s grief and guilt. The brothers had burned your bones on a hunters pyre, and despite not tying yourself to anything on earth, your spirit still lingered. Dean’s soul had latched tightly on to yours, desperate to keep you with him and unable to let go.

“I jumped between you and that werewolf, because you’re the only man I’ve ever been in love with. Only one for me. I could have the chance to do that day a hundred times over. And I’d still jump in front of you.” You sigh sadly. If only you’d known about the second wolf. Maybe you’d still be there with him. Able to hold his hand and kiss him awake every morning. Feel his warm skin on yours as he made love to you under the stars in the back of the impala. Maybe you’d have grown old together, had a couple of kids and gotten married. But that was never going to happen now. His heart was still beating. And your’s had stopped.

“How do I do this with you?” He whispers, eyes red as fresh tears fall. “I don’t know how to...”

You raise your hand, brushing it along his cheek, desperately wishing you could feel the heat of it against your palm. He leans into you, feeling nothing but cold air instead of warm flesh. “You’ve got Sammy.” You soothe. “He needs you too. More than I do. And you did just fine before you met me.”

“But I need you.” He whispers. “I love you, sweetheart.”

“I love you too. So much. And I’ll be waiting for you. But you need to move on from me, Dean.” He looks horrified at your suggestion, and you offer another smile of comfort. “You need to go on living. Find another girl, fall in love again. Have children with her. Marry her if she makes you happy. And one day, if I’m still what you want, I’ll be waiting for you on the other side.”

Dean’s head falls forward as he sobs into his hands. He tries desperately to catch his breath, feeling his heart splintering behind his ribs. If they could, tears would pour from your own eyes at the sight of him so distraught.

“I don’t want to let you go.” There’s an almost pleading tone to his voice, begging you to stay.

“We know what happens to ghosts that stay too long.” You say sadly. “Please don’t make me become like that.”

Dean runs a rough hand through his hair. It’s getting longer. Another thing he’s neglected since loosing you.

“I have to don’t I? I have to let you go.” He cries silently.

“Yeah, baby. You do.” You nod. You place your hand on his knee, and Dean stares at it wistfully. His eyes close as his mind flashes back to when you’d do the same thing from the passengers seat. Laughing over at him as he sang along to Metallica and you’d both head bang to Motörhead.

He remembers the first time he’d met you on a vamp case just outside of St. Louis. They’d needed backup and Garth had sent you their way with a quick phone call. Dean would never deny how he’d fallen head over heels the first time he’d seen you. Covered in vampire blood and swinging a machete like it was your own limb. He recalls the first time you’d said you’d loved each other. It had been in the middle of a heated argument after you’d been injured on a ghoul case. You’d walked away with a sprained wrist but Dean had acted like you’d lost your entire arm. He’d tried benching you and after you’d promptly punched him in the jaw for being such a Neanderthal, he’d blurted out that he refused to let the only woman he’d ever really loved kill her self out of stupidity. He’d made love to you for the first time that night. The best night of his life. He knows he’ll never love anyone the way he loved you, but if that’s what you want for him, he’ll do it. He’ll honor your memory and keep on living. He’ll do it for you.

Dean lets out a long sigh as he opens his eyes. He turns his head to look over at you and he feels his heart disintegrate in his chest. You’re gone...

*****

There you go guys! Another oneshot! I hope you enjoyed it and stay safe and stay tuned for more. More updates this week. Xx