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trashmouththeorist · 1 year ago

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severus snape fic recs

my personal favs

Young Snape:

a life of smoke and silvered glass: Slight AU in which Severus apologizes, tries harder, and stays friends with Lily. Severus doesn't become a Death Eater because he believes in it, Jily get married. Sweet, slightly sad ending. (So cute).

Falling Apart: Time travel fic, no pairings, Severus goes back to when James levicorpused him. (I loved this, I loved how Mary was included and Avery had a redemption arc. Severus never calls Lily mudblood.)

in glory and in ruin: Mulciber/Snape but it's not a main part of it. Basically, a Triwizard Tournament in between the school houses, and Severus gets chosen even though he's only 16. The Marauders and Lily aren't really in it, focuses on Snape's Gang, Charity and Aurora. WIP, and I LOVE it!

The Gryffindor Sort: WIP. Long. In which Severus is a Gryffindor, Lupin is hiding something, Potter and Black are the worst, and there's a Wizarding War about to erupt.

Severus and the Marauders: Long. What if instead of being insulted and excluded from the group, Severus was embraced instead. After all, it was the actions of the group that shaped history from the sidelines. So what if they shaped history a little differently?

That Awful Snape Boy: It had all happened on Wednesday 3rd of September 1973; Minerva committed the date to memory. She would always be amazed that this discussion could happen in the first place. If the boy hadn’t been unconscious, would they even have learnt anything before it was too late?

The Unwanted Boy From Spinner's End: Severus Snape’s existence is a mistake. His mother hints at it often enough with her regretful, drawn-out sighs, while his father prefers to get the message across with a good strapping and a lecture on his worthlessness. Needless to say, the twelve-year-old is not particularly inclined to trust adults, no matter how concerned or caring they claim to be. His life changes abruptly, however, one late evening in September when an illicit brewing session results in a forced trip to the Hogwarts infirmary. Not only is the truth about Severus' home life discovered, but an investigation reveals that shortly prior to his mother’s unexpected death, a single piece of parchment was deposited into her Gringotts vault—a Last Will and Testament in which Eileen Snape née Prince grants guardianship of her son to none other than Albus Dumbledore himself.

To Recollect the Future: Hindsight is 20/20, but when Harry's last steps into the forest set him back further than he'd ever thought, he never realised how grateful he'd be to have Snape there to help too.

Severus' choice: How one choice changed history's course, or the life of Severus Snape from Hogwarts to adulthood if characters were less caricatural, and Voldemort and the Death Eaters were more than bogeymen. This is an AU, events before and after may differ from the books.

the lost generation: The Marauders era at Hogwarts, Voldemort's rise to power and the subsequent war, family loyalties and dishonour, and the struggles of friendship in a difficult time.

Snily:

Come Once Again and Love Me: My favourite Snily fic ever. Snape and Lily time travel back from their individual deaths to when they were still at Hogwarts. Realistic-Lily misses James and Harry and their falling in love is slow burn too. Made me want to cry. I almost liked James!

The Fields of Summer: Short and sad. His past was bleeding into the present, just as his future was bleeding out of the gaping wound in his neck. And since memories were useless to a dead man, Snape plucked them out of his mind and gave them to The Boy Who Lived. He didn’t realize that in so doing, he’d forget her.

seventeen moons: After the werewolf prank. Severus was bitten and Lily figures it out. I hated Sirius so much and he was barely in it but he wasn't villainised-it's just the consequences of his own actions.. Loved the Snily! Short.

Surprising Lessons: Tensions run high between the students of Hogwarts in the time when Severus Snape, Lily Evans, and the Marauders are teenagers. New spells are invented, insults are traded, new bonds form, and unexpected support blooms. Short and sweet.

Vox Severus: SO cute. When Severus Snape's voice changes in fourth year, everyone notices.

Ambiguous: Order member Lily did not have a baby. Death Eater Severus did not hear a prophecy. Consequently, the Dark Lord did not fall. ...but what happens when a long forgotten prophecy suddenly shakes, and flashes through the colours of the spectrum..?

Switching Wands: Severus and Lily acted as best friends should and talked about the Whomping Willow incident. Lily is less than impressed with Potter’s behaviour from that point onward.

Her Slytherin, His Gryffindor: Lily has had enough of James' bullying ways, so she decides to finally take advantage of her Prefect status. Or, in another universe, Lily helps Severus, and they become even closer.

Sweet Root: Lily decides to get Severus drunk one summer night. Angst thereby incurred happily resolves itself into, uh, happiness.

You Don't Bug Me: “Is there any reason you’re half naked in my room?”

Snape/Sirius:

Two Sides: A time travel fic where Severus and Sirius find themselves back on the evening before they graduated Hogwarts. With no idea how and why that happened, they set out to get back to their respective timelines. After all, Sirius has to save Harry at the Minstry of Magic, and Severus needs to tell Potter about the final Horcrux. Right? Too bad that they find themselves back on that evening over and over again. (Personal thoughts: I loved this one, very in character and I loved how they 'fixed' their regrets of the past).

Broken Me Found Broken You: It’s determined that Severus Snape and Sirius Black are immune to punishment after years of near-fatal pranks, bullying, and homemade curses. The only person who thinks them capable of ending the feud and finishing their education is Professor McGonagall. For the summer of ‘77, she gives them a pair of charmed hand mirrors and an ultimatum: communicate. That’s it, a mere ten minutes every Saturday. Back at Hogwarts, when their animosity proves insurmountable, Sirius and Severus are relegated to a small, Eighth Year dormitory. The tight quarters—wandless—are intended to force them to make a peaceful reconciliation, but peace is impossible with a bloody war ramping up inside and outside the castle.

Sorry: Sirius Black decides to make amends for the horrid way he treated Snape when they were teenages. Snape is less than amenable to the idea. (Written around the time of book three/four). Basically, Sirius apologises a lot. And then some fucking.

The Sin in Your Grin (And the Shape of Your Mouth): The Order needed Sirius, but he doubted they'd mourn him very long when he finally disappeared. The first Wizarding war, Snape and Sirius are fucking. Sirius thinks Remus is the spy, Severus tells him otherwise. Canon-compliant: James and Lily die, Peter is the spy. The last line. Shaking.

Dead Reckoning: Severus Snape delivers a potion to Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place, holding a twenty-year-old grudge in his heart. He has yearned for revenge for so long—and he will have it. Along with something else he did not ask for.

Beyond The Veil: In one world, Sirius Black ignored Severus Snape's warning and went to the Department of Mysteries to save his godson's life. He died and went beyond the veil. In another world, Sirius Black stayed back. This made all the difference. An AU where Sirius Black survived and now knew Severus Snape's deepest secret.

Rings And Ringing Bells: A bastardisation of a traditional love story. Two men both broken by the world are at wit’s end trying not to kill each other. There’s Severus, a bitter insult who does not take fools lightly, and Sirius, a drunkard who has a habit of pressing his buttons. It involves a curse which forces them to get married, an immaculate conception, and the blurring of the line between hate and love. They fear that they have no control over their lives and are doomed to make the mistakes their parents had done before them. They’re not good for each other, but the fiasco that is their romance may be enough to teach them how to hate each other and themselves a little less.

Always (Come For Me): Snape might have been lying when he said Sirius Black wasn't punished for the prank he had pulled on him. It all started with Sirius having to live with the Snapes for the remainder of his summer...

An Interlude: Set during Order of the Phoenix. Snape comes across Black looking through some of his old school things. Memories are stirred up, grudges are held, old conflicts refuse to be resolved, and new ground might be (dis)covered. A series of conversations in the year before a death.

bite your tongue, go to the funeral: A funeral, a departure, a chance encounter, a war, a funeral (again), a snide remark, and a revival.

Two Boys Kissing: Sirius goes to a gay bar and meets the last person he expects. Under cloudy skies, two boys kiss and that one moment comes to define generations of want, need and hope.

An Occlument Heart: Snape knows that, usually, keeping a secret is the bravest thing you can do. But sometimes the bravest thing is to tell one. Complete. Canon (more or less) up to the start of Book 5, when this story begins.

Found in the Moments Between the Search: When Sirius returns from beyond the Veil with knowledge of Voldemort's Horcruxes, he takes on the task of finding and destroying them. Somewhere along the way he finds an unexpected ally and perhaps something more. (AU from the end of OotP, takes place during HBP period)

Walking the Monochrome: That’s what being a dog is like – it's like you’re walking the very edge of the world, where almost all colour has run out, and you know that should you miss a step, you’ll fall off that edge... Then again, you already know all about it. The edge and the falling.” AU of the first war.

Second Life: What happens when two men are given a second chance.

The Welcoming Feast: Severus opened his eyes and he was suddenly inside Grimmauld Place. His hand flew to his neck. He remembered Nagini biting him, Potter coming to him and then he closed his eyes, expecting death, but instead he was back here.

The Devil-and-All to Pay: Albus Dumbledore is mad. Severus is sure of it, when the old man sends him to persuade Sirius Black to come back to England and let the Order use his family home as headquarters. The problem, as always, is that Severus cannot say no.

Black Out: Snape and Black try something they have never done before. Talking.

eighty-twenty: In seventh year James left Severus for Lily. Best choice he could have ever made. It never would have worked out. Besides, he and Lily are married now, she's pregnant with his soon to be child and Severus...Severus is with Sirius.

First and Last and Always: Severus had his wand. He swallowed hard. His wand. Magic. His only defense, because Black outweighed him by at least three stone. But magic was more than enough. Severus had never needed physical prowess. His magical strength, and the keenness of his mind, gave him the advantage. Except when it didn’t.

Visions of Doom: Severus gets injured in the shrieking shack (his fifth year). While unconscious he witnesses some scenes from his future and realizes becoming a death eater wouldn’t bring him power and glory but pain and servitude. He spends the rest of his schooling trying to shape a different future for himself.

Anything by FabulaRasa on AO3.

Remus/Snape:

Fuel the Pyre of Your Enemies: A paired class assignment for Astronomy incites a mutually beneficial agreement between Remus Lupin and Severus Snape. An exploration of sexuality and friendships. (One of my favourite Snupin fics, really realistic. Also no evil!peter).

where the wolfsbane blooms: Remus and Severus friendship, and then more. 7000 words-short but sweet. Severus tries to cure the lycanthropy. James is constantly befuddled.

Have Your Cake and Eat It: Remus POV. Long. Incredible. Changed my world view. I cried with Remus at the end. Still kind of happy! Time travel fic. Remus lives. Realistic for the characters and especially for the seventies (although lowkey Remus is too woke for the nineties why does he know the word heteronormative). I loved Sirius in this one. Lying in hospital after the Battle of Hogwarts, Remus Lupin has a lovely lucid dream that he's gone back to his school days at Hogwarts. Only the day passes, then another, and another, and soon he must face the terrifying possibility that it isn't a dream — that he has irreparably altered the events of the past. Cunegonde is SO good!

DELOCAPONUM: 𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝟏𝟗𝟖𝟏. A new acquaintance to the territory of teaching, an old friend to grief and misfortune, and entirely off on the wrong foot, twenty-one-year-old Professor Severus Snape reverts to an old charm of his — a charm for things that are lost — in attempt to find the one book in which he wrote it. But when the spell starts working against him and mysterious things start happening to his own students, it seems he has no choice but to form an alliance with an old schoolyard enemy in order to find a culprit, a book, and his own identity. And one thing is for certain: the irritating charm of Remus Lupin is nearly impossible to refuse.

Creature Comforts: A classic! Remus and Severus are paired to work together in Care of Magical Creatures in 6th year. Neither one is too happy with the arrangement at first.

That Awful Boy: CLASSIC! Severitus. Petunia lets slip a twenty-year-old secret, and Harry is sent to Spinner's End to study Occlumency early. Severus Snape can see no way in which this could end in catastrophe.

Not Really Here: After the werewolf prank, Severus disappears. He’s still at Hogwarts—at least, he thinks he is—and he’s probably still alive, but no one can see or hear him. Except for Lupin. Remus, meanwhile, is avoiding the other Marauders—as well as everyone else—and Snape becomes the sole exception to his self-appointed isolation. As they work together to look for answers about Severus’ condition, the unlikely pair drift toward friendship. But building a relationship of any kind presents a challenge when neither of them is sure Severus exists at all. I've only read this once but I love it. No Marauders bashing, but no pretending they're saints either. And they have a pretty big part but obvs Snupin is at the forefront.

The Heir to the House of Prince: Harry is the main character and the main ship is Harry and Theo. While Snupin is secondary it's pretty central. Summer of 4th year and Harry's all alone, dealing with his grief and the sudden revelation that James Potter is not his father. Support comes in a strange form. The form of Theo Nott, son of a death Eater. A strange friend who says he'll help him find his true father, whoever this Lord Prince might be. Technically Snily ig? But not really.

Sight Unseen: After losing his sight during the Battle of Hogwarts, Remus struggles to adjust to his new circumstances; when depression threatens to overwhelm him, he receives unexpected assistance from an unknown source.

The Other Side of The Mirror: In sixth year, Remus Lupin nearly killed Severus Snape in wolf form. Miraculously, Severus escaped unharmed. But what if he hadn't?

The Meaning of Mistletoe: What was going on was that Severus Snape had no trouble tracking down one Petunia Evans, now Dursley, to a little town in Surrey where he saw how exactly she was treating her nephew. Which somehow led to last night and Severus knocking on Lupin’s door with a toddler half-asleep in his arms.

Spymaster: Former spymaster and one time headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry Severus Snape left the house just once a week on a Tuesday. Wherein Snape wears tracksuit pants and smokes too many cigarettes and Lupin is into it.

Well They're No Friends Of Mine: Whenever his friends pull a prank on Snape, Remus always looks the other way. But what if there's another option?

The Other Side of the Mirror: I haven't read this, but it's a 'what if Remus bit Snape.' 60000 words.

Artemisa Absinthium: The Rat and the Snake: AU set during the First Wizarding War. Severus has defected from the Dark Lord, and become a double agent for Dumbledore. When he learns of an informant it sends the Order into disaray. Can he uncover the identity of the traitor before his own true loyalty is revealed? What price is he willing to pay for his redemption? And can a man like Severus Snape ever be worthy of love?

Capnolagnia: Three times Remus caught Severus Snape smoking.

About Wolves and Snakes: Unfinished. Remus Lupin woke up being fifteen years old again, having no idea how or why. Upon learning that he could not return, he decided that he would try to change the way things happened.

One Thousand Galleons: It's been six years since Remus Lupin, age 25, left England after the death of his father and the slow dissolving of his friendship with the Marauders. A letter from James finds him in Canada at an opportune time, asking him to come home to meet his soon-to-be-born son. Remus never expected that his time away would give him the perfect resume for teaching at Hogwarts, nor did he expect that his return would spark both conflict and resolution. If only he could get the Potion's Professor to understand how sorry he is for the way things turned out. “What is the price for your forgiveness?” --- “One Thousand Galleons.”

Living Legend: Marauders-era fic, Snape decides he needs some "hands-on" experience and chooses Remus as his very special study partner. But there's more to these extracurricular activities than meets the eye.

Lily's Boy: With help from unexpected places, Harry starts on a journey to end the war, and reshape the wizarding world. With how much he looks like James Potter, people have forgotten one important thing about him - he is Lily Evans' son, and she was one hell of a witch. Side Snupin.

It's Not Over Til It's Done: Unfinished. Severus did not expect to survive the Second Wizarding War, but survive he did. Remus didn't either, yet due to unforeseen circumstances, Remus finds himself taking care of Severus in the wake of surviving Nagini's venom.

Ten Aprils: Severus must find a way for Harry to defeat Voldemort. Remus must find a way for Severus to free himself from the past. The Dark Lord is about to attack Hogwarts, and Harry needs to get over his rage, hate and despair in order to learn to summon the phoenix needed to defeat Voldemort. Snape must find the answers, then teach Harry how. In the next thirty minutes. Like it would ever happen.

A Cauldron Full of Hot, Strong Love: A story in which Severus Snape is unable to sleep; a certain werewolf is impersonating Celestina Warbek and cauldrons are used as prevention, sort of.

the week that changed it all: It’s Christmas break in Remus’ 6th year of Hogwarts. Sadly, his parents aren’t home so he has to stay over at Lily’s house for the week. He makes a discovery he didn’t know was possible. The first one was that apparently, Severus lived not far away, the second one was that he started to like the boy.

A Prince By Early Frost: While preparing his chamber for the Philosopher’s Stone, Severus encounters the dark fae borne by a black glass mirror, buried deep beneath the castle. He is chosen, but unsure by what, until over a year later, when a figure from his dreams takes the Defense position, asking for a favor.

Chocolate Cake and Other Intimacies: Remus Lupin is spending his birthday alone in the hospital wing. Severus brings him his homework to cheer him up.

Basically anything by McKay on AO3.

Snape/James:

Knowledge of the Gods: Severus was either in a coma and dying, already dead and trapped in some purgatory, completely and utterly insane, or living in the body of his past self. And, perhaps most suspiciously, why did James Potter keep looking at him like that?!

A Touch, A Kiss, A Whisper of Love: After Severus Snape and James Potter find themselves stuck in an awkward detention together, an unlikely friendship forms. As their newfound friendship develops, James discovers something new about himself while Severus tries to fight his growing attraction to the Gryffindor boy.

Cake, Please!: Slight SA gives me the ick, but vaguely fun to read. A story of blackmail, the wonderful world of sexuality, and lots of cake.

Revenge is Sweet: A teenage Snape plots his revenge on James Potter for making his life hell, but little does he know that James has plans of his own that will send both their lives spiraling irrevocably out of control.

Ninety-Three: James promises Severus that if Severus has sex with him 93 times, he will break up with Lilly and advocate that she date Severus.

Absolution: What is it that draws James to Severus? A disease? A curse? A secret wish... a need? Try as he might to ignore the Slytherin, in the end, to Severus is where James always finds himself. **SLOW BUILD** Rated M for... certain kinds of scenes later on.

The Dreamer in the Well: James got the girl....finally. She even stopped being friends with Severus, whom he absolutely hated. But one day, his curiosity changes everything.

Love Is Strange: At the start of his sixth year, James Potter decides to finally stop ruining Severus' life. His friends agree to stop the bullying but what they do not know is the reason why James decided to put an end to it. They think he just matured or grew tired of it but the truth is a little more complicated than that.

A Fickle Thing: James Potter's marriage is failing- What a perfect time to disguise himself as a muggle, follow Severus Snape to what is either a makeshift dance club or a party for gay muggles, and then do a series of things he really should not do.

Rise: Severus Snape was tired of his fate, to be a lowly snake. Luckily, fate was kind to him this time and the arrival of a tournament had come. It was a spur of the moment kind of thing, a moment of weakness and strength that led Severus to put his name in the Goblet of Fire. But he was chosen now, and he had no choice but to play in the game, maybe he will live or die, but either way he wasn't going to become what everyone said he would be.

Apocrypha: Two can keep a secret, if one of the two is dead.

Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown): Long, loved it, well written. James Potter starts his seventh year with a secret. He has amazing friends, Sirius is always right by his side, Lily is finally starting to warm up to him. His life is an endless cycle of partying and drinking. So what if the Wizarding World is on the precipice of war? So what if Severus Snape has disappeared from Hogwarts? That's not James's problem. Life is beautiful, and even if it's all an illusion he wants to hold on to that dream for just a little bit longer.

Colours of Redemption: Severus Snape was meant to die. Instead he was placed into hell. Trapped in timeloops, Severus tries to make sense of the future knowledge he suddenly had. If he made one bad move, everything is reset for him to try again. Being placed into a new house and everyone being nice to him, Severus is doing his best but it is hard. Especially when James Potter is noticing him in a different way.

Goeey Melting Hearts: In their 5th year James, Sirius and Remus over hear a conversation that makes them reconsider their opinions of the ‘future Death Eaters’. The Marauders stop bullying, but guilt eats at James until he decides to apologize. That summer James tracks down Severus, but sees something that crushes him.

Regulus/Snape:

Burning Doves: The first Snape/Regulus I ever read. Regulus needs help with potions and Snape tutors him. Not much Marauders, they're just offscreen assholes. Narcissa and Severus friendship which I always enjoy. It's done, but I haven't finished it yet. Whoops.

Severus and Snape: Severus Snape finds Lily dead in Godric's Hollow, her son's screams echoing in his ears, and decides to end his life with hers. Fate has other ideas. Next thing he knows, he's facing an 11-year-old Lily Evans, on their way to their first year at Hogwarts.

Snape & or / Narcissa:

Seven Days: Severus knows a lot can happen in seven days. Slash.

Living A Lie: All of her life, Narcissa Black has had to live as the perfect lady, and witch; to never reveal one's inner heart, nor ever go against the wishes of one's family. After being forced into an engagement she does not want during her sixth year at Hogwarts, Narcissa has kept the desires of her heart on ice; particularly, for a wizard her family would never in a million years have approved of: Severus Snape. Even after the birth of her son Draco, she has harbored these desires deep in her heart for the enigmatic Potions Master. But when she comes to Spinners End to ask Severus to watch over Draco at the start of the school term of 1997, she finds that she cannot keep her heart on ice for the wizard of her dreams any longer...

What Lies Beneath: "Please, Professor, I saw him-I saw Snape," Harry said, struggling to breathe, "he's hurt...we've got to find him-we've got to find him right now or he's going to die!" Severus Snape's redemption story told in the span of three books from multiple perspectives.

Snape/Others:

Redemption: Severus died that night at the hands of the Dark Lord, the man he "worked" for and was "loyal", at least that's what the Lord believed him to be, an impeccable servant. Even so, he ended up dying for his master's snake. He knew it would happen, he was sure his time was coming, just like the manipulative old goat's plan. However, what would he do when he found out that he wasn't the only one who had the memories of his past life? How would his life turn out? Better or worse?

Breaking the Mould: Everyone knew Severus' future. Everyone knew he'd become a death eater, maybe get his mastery in potions and eventually die at his master's hand. But what if they didn't know Severus as well as they thought they did? Rather than conform to the role people expected him to play, Severus takes action. During 6th year he leaves Hogwarts, joining an apprenticeship overseas that guarantees not only a future but his own happiness. Meanwhile the Marauders (minus Peter) are left regretting what can never be. They each had a secret, something none of them were willing to admit. Only now it's too late. But what happens when Severus re-emerges during the war? Not a death eater, not a teacher even. But a strong, independent and most importantly a free man. How will the marauders react?

Dinner and a Show: James takes Lily out to dinner, an unhappy evening made more difficult by the arrival of Severus and Lucius Malfoy at a nearby table.

Snape & Others:

O Mine Enemy: Severitus, long. When Harry finds an injured Snape on his doorstep and must hide him from the Dursleys, he has no idea that this very, very bad day will be the start of something good. Alternate 6th summer (and part of the school year): post-OotP; ignores HBP and DH. No slash, no romance. NOW COMPLETE!

I Know Not, and I Cannot Know; Yet I Live and I Love: Severus Snape has his emotions in check. He knows that he experiences anger and self-loathing and a bitter yearning, and that he rarely deviates from that spectrum… Until the first-year Luna Lovegood arrives to his class wearing a wreath of baby’s breath. Over the next six years, an odd friendship grows between the two, and Snape is not sure how he feels about any of it.

Second Life: What happens when two men are given a second chance. Snape & Sirius.

Not Entirely Tedious: Young Professor Severus Snape shows up for a meeting, but the only other person there is the Deputy Headmistress. He wants to leave and return later, after the other participants will have arrived, but Professor McGonagall explains why that is impossible. Cross about having his plans for the day disrupted for a meeting that’s not taking place, Snape resents having to spend the afternoon with McGonagall. She doesn’t seem very pleased, either, but is content to relax and wait. Snape isn’t so patient, and soon manages to annoy his companion.

The Young Potions Professor: The staff avoided him like the plague, ignored him, or straight up left when he went into the staff room. And the worst thing was that they didn't even try to hide their collective disgust for him. If he got into the staff room in the morning and any of them were there, they would immediately get up and go sit on the furthest side of the room, as far from him as possible.

Slytherin Career Day: The student of Slytherin House were born with everything: wealth, prestige and pure wizarding blood. Now it's Severus Snape's job to help them find the one thing they don't have: careers.

In Another Lifetime: HP AU. In a world where Tom Riddle was slaughtered, the wizarding wars did not occur, and Albus Dumbledore promoted peace in Hogwarts, Lily Evans and Severus Snape did the impossible: they remained lifelong friends. Snape meets his potential, and has a shot at happiness along the way.

immortalists with points to prove: The Snape kid is hardly a hero. Then again, neither is Alastor.

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shadowsandlint · 5 months ago

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WIP Wednesday!

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: There's nothing quite like an impending deadline (self-imposed or not) to give you inspiration for all other projects. Which is why I -- with a building pressure on myself to get to the next chapters of both Words We Use in the Shadows and Your Scars on My Pulse -- began writing a completely unplanned continuation of my one-shot Autumn Winds Across the Sea.

Wanna take a look? 😉😉

As a few of you might know, I've been afk for the better part of a month, so I thought that this was a good way to ease into it. Even if my inner voice is partially scolding me for not doing what I'm "supposed to". Oh well ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

If you haven't read Autumn Winds Across the Sea, that's totally fine! You don't have to for this excerpt to make sense, but here's a little reminder of what that story is:

After one of Beron's beatings, Azriel happens upon Eris laying on the ground where the Autumn Court meets with the sea. Too exhausted to put on his mask, a moment of vulnerability passes between them, and the rest is history. Or, in this case, the rest is an excerpt to a previously unplanned second part. Enjoy!

Before dawn, the puffy clouds dotting the skies had been colored in graying lavender, with hesitant rinds of peach hinting at the coming of first light. Now, mirroring the rusted and golden canopy below, those clouds were gaining more vibrancy as the sun was dragging itself out of the sea on the eastern horizon, slowly but surely climbing out of the depths towards a new day. Where sky and sea came together to embrace the sun, the light refracted into thousands of flickering shapes that broke and reformed continuously with the movements of the water, making the surface sparkle like illuminated diamonds, or the great band of stars in the Night sky.

The winds had mostly rested in the darkness, only occasionally rustling the crisp leaves of the forest as if yawning in their slumber, but as dawn was stretching thinner, so did those winds begin to stretch and swirl in between the rocks and plants and skittering wildlife. They leapt over the precipice where a few lopsided trees only threatened to do so, meeting the salty ocean in great sprays of foam, mixing and separating as waves crashed into land. Gulls were announcing their return with a cacophony of shrill cries, sailing effortlessly on the awakened winds in search of the first catch of the day.

Upon the cliff, early morning dew was still clinging to strands of grass in varying stages of losing their green tint – all in favor of Autumn’s pale yellow – but as the warmth from the sun’s rays began reaching the ground, the dampness of night was being expelled along with its coolness. Among the trees, two figures were wrapped in an embrace so tight it was hard to discern where one form ended and the other began, furthered by the large, leathery wing that enveloped them both and shielded them from the elements.

Barely visible in front of the stretch of dark skin, a pair of mismatched hands were clutched together, as if afraid to lose their way now that they had finally found each other. One of the hands held a bronzed hue that was interrupted by rivulets of rough scars paler than the rest, bearing witness of previous horrors lived and survived. The other was a fair, freckled thing, with darkened crescent moons of dirt beneath the fingernails serving as proof of the previous day’s despair.

But in sleep, neither the hands nor their owners noticed these differences; they held on just the same.

#azris #azris supremacy #azris fanfiction #eris vanserra #azriel x eris #acotar fanfiction #azriel acotar #azriel shadowsinger #autumn court #wip wednesday #wip

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copaline · 3 months ago

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IT'S WIP WEDNESDAY! You all thought I forgot!

I got tagged by @man--eater even though my writing doesn't even go to the Hazbin fandom!

Anyway! As you may or may not know, @punedrr and @mask-knife-is-scarecrows-girl straight up failed as my impulse control and I started a little one-shot spinoff of Horror Vacui called The Dealer and the Oracle!

It's a fix it fic that answers the question "what if someone had rescued a young 1982 Model Ford as he was being tortured by Bill"! Anyway the fic is 75% done but here's a little snippet of the upcoming Chapter 3:

Ford had fainted in Leaf’s arms and hadn’t stirred since. After weeks of sleep deprivation and exhaustion his body had essentially shut down to recover. No amount of noise or motion could break the spell. He stood amidst the wreckage that was his mindscape and walked through aimlessly. For the most part, his mind was quiet, like the bones of a forest after a massive wildfire. There were still corners that remained intact and stood out juxtaposed against the cinders. Most of what he encountered were echoes of a softer, more naive time. A chess piece here. A tattered book there. The fragment of a half-forgotten equation. And then there were the darker portions of his mind. These were the places where He had lurked, entire portions of Ford’s mind that had been forcefully torn open and defiled. Everything in him screamed to stay away from those shadows but some masochistic portion of himself spurred him on to face the mutilated remains of his psyche. Yet when he found them, he was surprised to see coils of violet, silver, and gold had stitched the wounds closed. Something or someone had carefully found all of his pieces and repaired the damage. He stared at each intricate swirl feeling as though he had seen this pattern before. He brushed a hand over what should have been a particularly nasty gash, and the patchwork shimmered with a violet light. Something gentle and intangible settled around him as a constellation sparkled above. As his thoughts settled, he recognized her familiar presence. It was the same creature who had dragged Bill away from him and chased him off. The same being who had held him when he found himself unable to hold it together. Hello Ford. “It’s you again.” Are you having a bad dream? “I’m not sure. I’m still processing everything that’s happened.” That is understandable. You have been through a lot. The scenery changed and Ford found himself on a beach filled with smooth pebbles. Cypress trees grew up the slopes of the seaside hills, sea lions basked on boulders just off the shore amidst a sapphire blue ocean. “What is this place?” A pleasant site on planet Sol 3. Locals call it a beach. You may be familiar with it. He smiled at the snarky answer but something kept him from fully embracing her attempt at levity. Bill’s specter still cast a shadow over his mind. Having already been once, he wasn’t exactly eager to make the same mistake again. No matter what this creature had done for him, he couldn’t allow himself to trust so easily.

Tagging @spoopyghostgirl and @i-prefer-base-twelve because I must read your things!

#gravity falls #stanford pines #ford pines #bill cipher #billford #jheselbraum the unswerving #jheselbraum #toxic yaoi #toxic old man yaoi

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hedwig221b · 1 year ago

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Trick or treat!!

Hiiiii! Based on what you usually reblog I think you'd like this piece of a wip

“I’m just feeling on edge today,” Stiles confessed.

That was one way to put it.

“Let’s figure it out then,” Derek insisted, and Stiles couldn’t help but look up at him. “You have to embrace it. You know it’s the only way for you.”

Fuck, Stiles loved this man so fucking much. His throat was closing up at the sheer determination in Derek’s voice. He was probably the only one who didn’t want “the old Stiles” back. Derek didn’t want to change him. From day one he encouraged Stiles to be at peace with what he was, to explore the new abilities in order to understand and control himself better.

Maybe, that was because he was a born werewolf, who was always told by the humans that there was an “other”, wolfy part of him that he had to tame in order to be “normal”.

But Derek was already normal. He just wasn’t human (fully or half) and that irked people because he looked like one.

Derek was the only one who could understand. Well, he and hunters, but the latter weren’t so nice about it.

“Do you need to vent?” Derek asked. “Scream? Punch someone?”

“I want blood.”

Derek’s mouth closed with a click.

Stiles forced himself to keep looking at Derek because his mate needed to know. If Stiles could demand Derek to be truthful with him, he had to do the same. No matter how horrifying the truth was.

Derek cleared his throat and blinked a couple of times in rapid succession.

“In what way?” His voice betrayed nothing.

Stiles’ heart was beating in his throat, despite him sitting still on the couch. He looked to the side, biting the skin off his upper lip. He was clutching at Derek’s hands in a pitiful attempt to make him stay.

“I don’t want to have, like, a Bloody Mary or anything, but… I have this urge, and it’s been killing me, like a constant headache. I want to—” Stiles stopped to swallow the spit that immediately gathered in his mouth. “Want to tear into something. With my teeth, my hands. To feel their last breath and keep breathing myself.”

Now he was afraid to look at Derek. It was too much. Derek was going to look at him in disgust and fear, lean away and run far to where Stiles would never find him.

“Please,” he begged in a choked voice. “Please, don’t— Don’t leave me. I don’t want you to be afraid of m— Oh, my god, why the fuck are you smiling?"

And it was a full smile, with his usual set of bunny teeth and fangs, breathtaking, wide and feral.

And then Derek said the thing Stiles never thought to hear from him in the light of recent events.

“I’m so glad to have you as my mate.”

“Fucking huh?”

Derek chuckled, rolled his eyes, then smacked a hard passionate kiss on Stiles’ lips and jumped up with athletic ease.

“I’m taking you on a hunt, come on.” The man grabbed his hands and lifted him off the couch, tugging his stunned mate after himself.

“Hunt?”

“Yeah,” another giddy smile, so beautiful Stiles stumbled a bit into his shoulder. “I wanted to take you with me for so long, but since you don’t like running in the forest…”

“When I run in the forest it’s usually because I’m running away from someone, that’s why I despise it,” Stiles said to him absently, still reeling from Derek’s reaction. “You’re… you’re not disturbed? Not even for a little bit? Not feeling any urge to call 911?”

Derek snorted and shook his head.

They finally stopped at the edge of the forest; Derek turned around, gave Stiles the softest excited glance, then cupped his face quickly and kissed him again. Seemed like he just couldn’t keep it inside himself.

“You’re a predator now, Stiles,” the wolf breathed out with an almost proud smile, “like me.”

Stiles soaked up the sunny expression on his mate’s face, and the realization hit him hard and with no warnings. When was the last time Derek was able to experience the thrill of the hunt with someone? He was a fucking wolf, for fuck’s sake. Scott absolutely refused to do it, Allison and Lydia weren’t even worth asking and Isaac was still too weirded out by his own urges.

The last time Derek hunted with someone, just for the fun of it, was probably back when his family was alive.

But now… Now he could share this with Stiles.

“Like you,” said Stiles and smiled back.

#YEEEEHAAAW #Stiles is going to be wild in this #stiles stilinski #sterek #sterek fic #my fics #stiles x derek #derek hale #eternal sterek #hedwig221b replies #ask game

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taki-yaki · 9 months ago

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Draconic Sorcerer Tav Headcanons

not an anon request this time but this was sitting on my wip for ages so I'll put it out now. Hope my fellow draconic sorcerer/dragonborn(?) fans.

As a draconic sorcerer, the blood that runs in your veins is filled to the brim with the magical potency of such grand beasts. The scales that lie across your skin are a clear sign to others of your ancestry.

Despite the power within you, it can’t transform you into a dragon but rather changes the physical appearance of your body, from the tips of your fingers becoming sharp-like claws, to your fangs ready to tear anything or one that stands in your path.

Many upon hearing of such graphic descriptions would tend to avoid your kind, but not Astarion, he’s enamoured with the way you look and act.

Astarion would be interested in your draconic tongue, listening as you speak to Gale and Lae’zel with each syllable hissing off the end of your tongue, akin to a growling beast, in comparison to the soft-spoken tone of elvish that he speaks in.

Later he tries to ask Lae’zel and Gale to teach him some draconic phrases, under the guise of wanting to learn such a uniquely rare language. Gale would attempt to teach him more simple dull phrases whilst Lae’zel would teach him phrases that mainly translated to battle cries. But soon he would tire of the dull lectures. Deciding to just stick to common instead.

After your first night together in the forest during the tiefling party, he would go around bragging about how he got to “ride” a dragon first before poor lae’zel. She’d quickly rebuttal with the threat to slice off his head, lest he continue with his antics.

When he drinks your blood, apart from getting a slight boost to his magic, the flavour changes based on your blood ancestry. acid has a slightly sweet-sour aftertaste, fire has a spicy flare, lighting leaves a jolting taste on his tongue and cold creates a slight tingly numb sensation.

Other elements of your ancestry also affect your day-to-day life, from fire blood making you his personal hot water bottle, full of blood. Or your cold blood, creates a faint aura of ice upon your skin, causing you to have Gale create an enchanted heated blanket to keep you both warm.

Using your wellspring of magic within your body, you attempt to twist the arcane magic that flows in your blood in an attempt to transfer some of your arcana magic into Astarion when he feeds from you. Mainly in the hopes of making him stronger in difficult fights.

However, this backfires causing your blood cells to temporarily produce faster, causing you to get Astarion to help. He does chastise you for doing something dangerous but doesn’t say no to the offer of having seconds of your blood in one day.

A few days later, you learn how to replicate the same spell, but on a lower scale, which assists in not only keeping Astarion well-fed but also stopping the effect of bloodless afterwards.

Some traits that emerge from your ancestry is the habit of hoarding objects, from gold coins to silver plates. Even taking one of Astarion’s spare nightshirts to sleep with much to his annoyance, so he tries to steal things from you in retaliation, which becomes an unspoken agreement between you two.

When your wings finally come through, he tries to help you become used to them, mainly in the hopes that you could fly him around places, eliminating the need to walk around all the time whilst carrying such a heavy pack.

Preening habits also start to be displayed, mainly done in an attempt to impress Astarion. Everyone at camp teases that Astarion has been rubbing off on you, with his usual morning beauty care routine usually holding everyone up some days. He would find this to be cute but attempts to get you to kick the habit, by brushing them for you.

“Darling, I know you want to take care of your wings, but would it kill you to just fix up your hair as well.”

In return, you show your affection by wrapping your wings around him both when you embrace each other, acting as a sort of comfort blanket to both of you.

If you’ve grown out a set of dragon-like claws, he does your nails if they get too sharp, ensuring that you don’t accidentally scratch yourself. And if you have a tail, similarly to tieflings, you would have a habit of wrapping your scaled tail around his leg, which he would endlessly tease you for.

Later on in your relationship, you both give each other unique pet names, you call him your Isk meaning star in your draconic tongue, whilst Astarion in return calls you his miniature dragon.“An elf and a miniature dragon, hmm quite the pair wouldn’t you say love?”

#astarion x tav #astarion x reader #astarion x durge #astarion headcanons #bg3 #bg3 astarion #baldur's gate 3

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rivensdefenseattorney · 1 year ago

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Andros

Here's a link to the source for each image: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

___

(WIP)

Capital: Tides

Government of Andros: Dual-Monarchy

Demographics and Population

Population Size: Large

Population Distribution by Race:

Merfolk: (45-50%)

Fairies: (20-25%)

Elves: (10-15%)

Human: (10-15%)

Other: (5-10%)

History and Origins

In the realm of Andros, the two kingdoms, Terra and Mare, share a profound connection. Their bond traces back to a time long past, when a union between the Faefolk of Terra and Mare forged a single lineage that would shape the destiny of the realm.

The Royal Family of Terra, stemming from the fairy ancestry, preside over the sprawling landscapes and majestic cities of the surface kingdom. Endowed with wings of delicate beauty, an affinity for the natural elements, and a mastery of earthbound enchantments, they oversee the flourishing forests, meadows, and towering mountains of Terra.

The Royal Family of Mare, stemming from the merfolk ancestry, reign over the oceanic expanse of Andros. With their ethereal beauty, iridescent tails, and an innate understanding of the ocean's secrets, they hold court in the shimmering palaces beneath the waves. Their lineage boasts an intimate connection with Morphix, harnessing the elemental magic that pulses through the depths.

Though distinct in their heritage, the Royal Families of Mare and Terra are bound by blood, sharing the legacy of their common ancestors. Over the ages, this shared lineage has fostered a tradition of collaboration and mutual respect between the two kingdoms, symbolizing the inherent balance between land and sea.

Kingdom of Terra

The Kingdom of Terra represents the land regions of Andros. The fertile earth yields bountiful harvests, making agriculture one of the epicenters of this realm. Vast fields of vibrant crops stretch across rolling hills and verdant valleys, a testament to the kingdom's thriving agricultural industry. Visitors are greeted with open arms, embraced by a sense of warm hospitality that permeates the tropical air.

Amidst the picturesque scenery, a lively energy permeates every corner. Terra pulses with the rhythm of festivals, the melodies of music, and the infectious spirit of dance. The people of Terra are often fluent in a multitude of languages. They effortlessly weave a cultural tapestry that celebrates diversity. They come together in joyful gatherings, sharing their traditions through cultural exchanges.

Tourism thrives amidst this blend of natural beauty and cultural richness. Visitors are drawn to the kingdom's idyllic beaches, verdant jungles, and cascading waterfalls, finding solace in the laid-back atmosphere. Adventure seekers and relaxation enthusiasts alike find their haven in Terra's tropical paradise, where every experience is colored by the kingdom's zest for life and celebration. The air is filled with the aroma of unique spices and flavors, as Terra's cuisine, a fusion of diverse influences, delights the senses and leaves an impression on every traveler's palate.

Kingdom of Mare

Intertidal Zone

Here, where the sea kisses the land, the Halflings find their home. Halflings move effortlessly between the surface and the depths. Their communities, nestled in hidden coves and near coastal cliffs, serve as a bridge between the kingdoms of Terra and Mare. Halflings, being adept at traversing both realms, act as intermediaries, facilitating trade, cultural exchange, and cooperation between the two kingdoms.

Photic Zone

As sunlight pierces the surface waters, it bathes the photic zone in a mesmerizing glow. This well-lit region supports an abundance of marine life. Here, the cities of Mare flourish, their structures crafted from luminescent materials that harness the sunlight filtering through the waves. The merfolk inhabitants, with their affinity for illumination, enhance this zone with enchantments that create breathtaking displays of bioluminescence, turning the ocean depths into a living tapestry of color and light.

Aphotic Zone

In the dark and mysterious depths of the aphotic zone, Merfolk with unique adaptations thrive, attuned to the energies of Morphix. Their bioluminescent features, whether glowing orbs or intricate patterns that shimmer like ancient runes, attune them to the lifeforce, allowing them to draw sustenance and power from its essence. The cities of the Aphotic Zone exist as captivating marvels beneath the shroud of darkness. The cityscape shimmers with a mosaic of colors, vibrant and ever-changing, as Merfolk artisans infuse their creations with Morphix. The architecture within these cities is a testament to the mastery of bioluminescent craftsmanship.

Infinite Ocean

The Infinite Ocean is an endless expanse that transcends the boundaries of realms. The Infinite Ocean stands as a testament to the unifying force of water, an eternal realm that unites the disparate seas of Andros into a harmonious, interconnected whole.

The Labyrinth of the Abysses

A complex labyrinthine system spread across the abyssal depths, shrouded in an aura of ancient pathways. It constantly shifts, creating a maze where paths change. The Labyrinth serves as a threshold to the heart of the abyss, guiding seekers toward the source of Morphix. Explorers and seekers often traverse this labyrinth, facing trials and tests of wisdom.

The Deep Blue - Heart of the Abysses

The Deep Blue represents the epicenter where Morphix emanates, radiating a mesmerizing blue luminescence that illuminates the darkest depths. Revered as a sacred sanctuary by merfolk and creatures of the abyss, embodying the ocean's life force and primal energy. Various merfolk societies hold rituals or ceremonies, offering reverence and seeking blessings for their communities.

Morphix

Morphix, a luminescent and multifaceted energy, is the lifeblood of the infinite ocean, replacing conventional needs such as sunlight or fire, granting vitality, sustenance, and life to oceanic flora, fauna, and ecosystems. Its essence adapts to diverse oceanic environments, catering to the needs of creatures dwelling across varying depths and regions.

It emanates from sacred locations such as the Deep Blue at the heart of the abyssal depths, generating life, fostering growth, and offering spiritual sustenance to the ocean's inhabitants. It powers the ocean gates, serving as a cosmic key that enables safe passage and interconnectivity between different underwater realms.

Morphix is highly revered, enshrined in lore and cultural practices, and embodies unity and interconnectedness among diverse underwater communities. Its purity and uninterrupted flow are guarded by custodians and gatekeepers who ensure its sanctity, protecting against disruptions, and maintaining its integrity for the stability of the ocean gates and vitality of the oceanic realms.

Mood Board Notes

I decided to try adding a mood board last minute to this post, so forgive me if it isn't the best. I've created mood boards a couple years ago when I first started my rewrite, but I'm not sure if I feel conformable sharing them as they are. I don't fully get the ethics/legality of mood boards using copyrighted materials, so I just wanted to play it safe with some images I found from a free to use image website.

I'm thinking of possibly creating a collage instead for the character mood boards I currently have. I think those are more transformative? If anyone has some insight on this I'd appreciate any info and advice you have. I'd also like to know if this is even something anyone would be interested in seeing before I put all this effort into figuring out how to add some visuals. @_@

Andros Notes

I've always envisioned Andros, especially Terra, to be like a mixture of the Caribbean and Polynesia across it's various cities if it were to be real. This is only my first draft, so I'll most likely be adding more information in the future to what I see fit.

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trulybetty · 1 year ago

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october x 500 | masterlist

for the month of october I've set myself a challenge to write 500 words a day, and me being me thought why don't I do some prompts? because you know, I haven't got enough going on. but the reality is I wanted something that wasn't tied to anything currently a WIP so I could just focus on getting out of the state of mind of 'this has to be the perfect finished version on the first go' and embrace just writing and seeing what happens. are any of these going to be any good? probably not. will many of them make sense? not at all. will they mostly be marcus pike? very likely. will I hope to have fun and stick to something for 31 days straight? hopefully.

prompts list used.

oct' x 01 - ruffled hair (joel x gn!reader)

oct' x 02 - apple scent (chiffon!dieter x bryony)

oct’ x 03 - full of colours (tim rockford x f!reader)

oct' x 04 - walks in the forest (strings!joel x reader)

oct' x 05 - autumnal (dieter x gn!reader)

oct' x 06 - falling leaves (gold rush!joel x charlotte)

oct' x 07 - chestnuts (chiffon!dieter x bryony)

oct' x 08 - umbrellas (will miller x gn!reader)

oct' x 09 - ravens (maverick!frankie x reader)

oct' x 10 - oktoberfest (sequins!joel x reader)

oct' x 11 - pumpkin spice (marcus x reader)

oct' x 12 - cornfields (sequins!joel x f!reader)

oct' x 13 - black cat (tim rockford x gn!reader)

oct' x 14 - spooky (dieter x gn!reader)

oct' x 15 - first wine (sequins!joel x reader)

oct' x 16 - flying kites (frankie x reader)

oct' x 17 - whispers (chiffon!dieter x bryony)

oct' x 18 - picking apples (sequins!joel x reader)

oct' x 19 - ghosts (dieter x f!reader)

oct' x 20 - sweater weather (chiffon!dieter x bryony)

oct' x 21 - acorns (tim rockford x f!reader)

oct' x 22 - pile of leaves (frankie x gn!reader)

oct' x 23 - harvest (gold rush!joel x charlotte)

oct' x 24 - fog (tim rockford x f!reader)

oct' x 25 - jack-o-lanterns (marcus pike x reader)

oct' x 26 - campfire (frankie x reader)

oct' x 27 - witches (sequins!joel x f!reader)

oct' x 28 - samhain (tim rockford x gn!reader)

oct' x 29 - stormy days (sequins!joel x f!reader)

oct' x 30 - seance (tim rockford x reader)

oct' x 30 - seance (chiffon!dieter x ofc!bryony)

oct' x 31 - trick or treat (marcus pike x reader)

#october x 500 #autumnal offerings #joel miller x reader #frankie morales x reader #dieter bravo x reader #marcus pike x reader #tim rockford x reader #dieter bravo x ofc #joel miller x ofc #strings!joel x reader

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ficsbyuzi · 7 months ago

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Omen

Characters- Alys Rivers, Daemon Targaryen, Aemond Targaryen (?)

Words- 1550

Note- My brain came up with whatever this is about six months ago. And I wrote it because I couldn't contain it in my head any longer. I have been vibrating with excitement since yesterday after hearing Gayle Rankin talk about Alys Rivers, so I thought of reposting it from my old account.

I based this ficlet on this leak and some parts of the canon. Alys is a captive of Sabitha Frey as she experiences this prophetic dream. I often think of doing parts for it, but I know I wont because I am horrible at updating my WIPs :)

Alys was dreaming.

Her mind was weaving a gossamer tapestry from the threads of her memories.

How else could she possibly be strolling nonchalantly through the corridors of that decaying fortress if she weren't in a dream?

What she was experiencing was unreal.

In her tangible reality, she would not be walking through the cavernous hall of hundred hearths freely.

As she emerged from the massive hall, a wispy dreamscape of the Godswood unfolded before her. She stopped for a moment to observe it and looked toward the heavens.

It had been a long time since her moss-green eyes had drunk in the tender sunlight filtering through the leaden mist enshrouding the colossal, weathered Harrenhal castle.

Her home.

Alone, she ambled along the water stream meandering through the woods, a certainty settling upon her that she was in a dream. Visiting the Godswood within the recesses of her subconscious mind, she echoed the routine she had followed since beginning to dabble in herblore.

Even in the dream, her heart brimmed with familiar peace at the sight of the centuries-old trees adorning the sacred precinct of the Godswood. Those twisted birches, aromatic pines, towering oaks, and vigilant sentinels were more than mere foliage to her; they were her kindred spirits. In the rustle of their leaves and the sturdy embrace of their branches, she had found acceptance deeper than any kin had ever offered her.

As she continued to relive a memory of her routine - gathering the herbs to brew her potions and grind her poultices - the weirwood heart-tree revealed itself in the distance.

Conspicuously standing at the emergence of the stream, it marked the point where the waters of the Trident entered the forest. A silvery-white, robust trunk cradled a sparse canopy of blood-red leaves above. The rustle of the five-pointed leaves in the breeze resembled countless blood-stained hands, beckoning her forth.

Red leaves on a silver tree. Red and silver. The two colors had often filled her visions since the doomed war for the Iron Throne began.

Realizing it had been a while since she sought solace beneath the ancient weirwood heart tree, she advanced toward it.

But her effortless, airy steps began to turn unexpectedly heavy. An unseen force seemed to grip her feet.

As she struggled to move forward, the muffled crunching of leaves and twigs at a distance alerted her of someone’s presence. Her dreamscape wasn't the solitary realm she'd believed it to be.

A phantasmal figure, a man, emerged from thin air and approached the heart tree wielding either an ax or a sword - its exact form eluded her perception. The pale color of his hair - silent testament to his identity - matched the trunk of the heart-tree

She watched as the indistinct figure coalesced into the unmistakable form of Daemon Targaryen. He, on the other hand, seemed unaware of her presence.

She knew he couldn't possibly be near her in reality. However, the smirk on his face and the hubris he exuded seemed too vivid to be a mere figment of her dream.

Perplexed by his amusement, she wondered whether he mocked the grotesque, angry face carved eons ago by the Children of the Forest on the heart tree. It was a face she had prayed to throughout her life, gazing into its hollow eyes that perpetually wept crimson tears, staining its silvery-white trunk.

As she observed Daemon gripping and lifting the blade in the air, her ethereal dreamscape began to turn red with streaks of pearly silver shining through. The pigments of the heart tree began to bleed into her surroundings.

A reverberating sound of steel meeting the wood, echoed in the air.

THUD

Alys gathered every ounce of her being to free herself from the invisible ensnarement that entrapped her feet. An urgency to stop him propelled her forward. But, oblivious to her presence, he struck the trunk again,

THUD

“It is blasphemous to fell a heart tree,” she said, suppressing the disdain in her voice so as to not offend a prince of the realm.

THUD

Ignoring her, as he always did, Daemon continued to batter the tree, with what she could now see clearly - an ax.

THUD

Battling the weight that seemed to anchor her feet to the ground, Alys stepped closer in an attempt to draw his attention. Speaking louder this time, she implored, "Please don't."

“You will address me as My Prince, or my blade will meet your tongue next, witch,” he ordered, still facing the tree and ignoring her plea.

THUD

“My Prince,” she said, masking the exasperation with a neutral tone of her voice, “Why chop the sacred tree when there are plenty others that could be put to use.”

THUD

“You have some nerve to question my actions,” Daemon said, finally facing her.

“Merely trying to save you from committing a sin, my prince. The tree is…” Her words faltered when he hit the trunk again, not heeding her. A grimace surfaced at her face at the sound of the wood splintering.

THUD

“Your forest is creeping into my castle. It needs to be controlled, as does your tongue.”

THUD

“Your castle? Or your queen’s?” She asked, striking his Achilles’ heel, as the word ‘queen’s’ elicited two enraged, successive-

THUD

He halted, groaning and drawing a breath before turning to meet her mocking gaze. The words whirled in his mind like a tempest, displeasure flickering across his countenance. Yet, he opted not to respond to her impudent remark.

“A thousand men are going to join the army at Harrenhal soon. The war has begun," he replied evasively as the tension seemed to seep into his grip on the ax. His fingers tightened around its helm, ready to strike again.

Before he could hit, she took a jab at him again, “You Targaryens think of yourselves as Gods, don’t you? Only one God can reside where you are.”

Somewhere in the recesses of her mind, she found herself taken aback by her own brazen remark, fearing the consequence of her audacity.

THUD

“How did you come out of your confines?” He asked, ignoring her question which had only fueled his pride. He smirked at the crunching sound of the wood tearing apart, while hers faded away in response. The smugness on his face deepened as he noticed her visibly blanched face.

His endeavors were coming to fruition.

THUD

She could not forge a coherent answer to his question. She wanted to tell him that she was indeed physically imprisoned as she traversed the realm of her dreams. But words eluded her, and despite her effort, she could not utter anything. As if the weight that anchored her feet was now extending its influence on her tongue, rendering her speechless. She was still struggling to respond when another rending blow landed on the trunk.

THUD

The ground beneath trembled with a mighty impact. Her heart sank when a cascade of leaves and twigs showered down like a gentle rain.

"No!" Alys yelled, and just then, a distant shriek from Daemon’s mount, Caraxes, reverberated through the air, piercing her ears.

Her feet now felt as if melded with the ground, ensnared in the expansive roots of the heart tree. Mustering every ounce of strength, she moved towards him again, in a daring attempt to seize his ax.

However, the blade in his grip was slowly morphing into a Valyrian steel sword; its pommel embellished with two silver, miniature dragon wings.

“You are coming in my way, ilībōños!” Daemon growled, raising the Dark Sister sword and shoving her to the ground. [Bastard]

Her eyes fell upon the face carved into the heart tree, as she struggled to rise. It wasn't the face she grew up worshiping, but she recognised it nonetheless.

Somber features had replaced the terrible ones she had always known. One eye was open—hollow and weeping crimson tears; the other eye, closed and sapless.

Before she could act or stop him, Daemon, gathering all his strength, impaled the closed eye on the trunk with his Valyrian steel sword piercing it all the way through. Caraxes roared again, subduing her scream and his rider’s sinister, jubilant laugh.

Still as a stone, she watched helplessly as the heart tree fell to the ground. Blood-red leaves, torn from its branches, transformed into droplets of blood as they brushed against her.

A horrified scream escaped her lips again at the sight of blood staining her, prompting frantic attempts to rub and wipe it away, but to no avail. The stains stubbornly clung to her skin. She shut her eyes tightly, seeking refuge from the unsettling awareness.

An agonising shriek pierced the air, and she couldn't discern if it came from her or his dragon. But the sound jolted her awake, bringing her back to her reality.

She lay sprawled on the damp floor of a dimly lit cell, imprisoned in the Tower of Widows.

Still panting and drenched in sweat, she wrapped her arms protectively around her scantily covered midriff, where the promise of a new life burgeoned beneath her skin.

"Aemond, where are you?" she whispered, trembling, posing the question to the desolation enveloping her. The image of the somber face carved on the heart tree from her dream remained vivid in her mind.

A dream that was far more lucid than her evanescent visions in the flames.

#aemond targaryen #house of the dragon #daemon targaryen #alys rivers #alysmond #ewan mitchell #hotd fandom #hotd fanfic #harrenhal #aemond one eye #aemond fanfiction #prince aemond #prince daemon targaryen #hotd season 2 #aemond and alys #ficsbyuzi

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direwombat · 7 months ago

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tagged by @socially-awkward-skeleton, @aceghosts, and @g0dspeeed on this fine WIP wednesday (thank you my friends <3 <3 <3) behold, a bit of the werewolf au, ft jacob being an obsessed little freak and interacting with syb for the first time after turning her into a werewolf <3 all of this is super rough and what i was able to hammer out in like 30 minutes so everything is subject to change but hooray! words! it feels good to string them together again!

It’s simple enough to stage a run-in.

The Deputy needs to leave her house eventually, and while he overheard the phone call where Eli kept offering to pick up her groceries for her while he lurked just beyond her property line at the outskirts of Falls End, she’d been adamant that she could run her own errands. "I'm a big girl, Eli, I can take care of myself," she'd bristled. The rejection of Huntsman’s offerings had been enough to make him salivate.

He can’t provide for you. Not like I can.

He’d been careful to follow from a distance. Didn’t want her sniffing him out and bolting before he could trap her in societal norms. A day will come where that won’t be necessary -- where she’ll embrace the wild parts of herself just as he has -- but for now she’s too human.

She won’t want to cause a scene.

When he pulls his truck into the lot of the butcher’s shop, her’s is the only other vehicle parked. It’ll just be the butcher and the two of them.

Perfect.

The bell jingles merrily as he pushes the door open, and he inhales deeply at the mixture of scents that immediately flood his senses. Blood, thick and sweet, still flowing a vibrant red as the freshly slaughtered carcasses in the back drip onto the floor. Freshly carved cuts are put on display behind glass in a refrigerated case, waiting to be wrapped. But even sweeter is her.

He barely registers the stench of stale nicotine, the keen olfactory senses of his Wolf instead honing in on that warm, cinnamon and woodspice with a kick of smokiness that burns the back of his throat like he’s knocked back a shot of whiskey. That burning sharpens, intensifying as he steps through the door and he watches as her spine and shoulders go stiff, raising her hackles.

She makes no move to look at him even when the butcher glances up and lifts a finger. “Be with you in a sec,” he says before disappearing into the back.

Jacob sidles up beside her, standing a little closer than he would to a normal stranger.

Her shoulders hunch and she casts him a wary side eye. Her basket carries a handful of small parcels wrapped with butcher's paper and twine. She gingerly swaps which arm is carrying it, moving it away from his reach. Adorably, her lip twitches and she flashes him a small snarl -- Mine. But just as quickly as it crosses her face, she composes herself.

Pretending he didn’t notice, he rocks back on his heels and stuffs his hands in his jacket pockets. Utterly relaxed -- unthreatened -- he gives a small sniff and a nod in greeting. “Deputy.”

“Mister Seed,” she responds curtly, and she folds her arms over her chest. She’s silent for a long moment, her jaw clenched. When he makes no move to continue the conversation, and when she realizes the butcher is taking longer than she’d like in preparing her order, she speaks again. “You ever find that wolf?”

He grins, lips stretching to reveal more teeth than mirth. “Hm?”

She angles her head to look at him. “The wolf,” she scowls. “The one that killed your man. Weren’t no one there when I showed up that night. Thought y’all must’ve gone home.” The curl of her lip returns and suspicion glimmers in those forest green eyes.

“You insinuating something, Deputy?” he asks.

“Just makin’ sure ain’t no one else got hurt.”

taglist:

@marivenah, @florbelles, @statichvm, @fourlittleseedlings, @wrathfulrook,

@harmonyowl, @ivymarquis, @carlosoliveiraa, @cassietrn, @confidentandgood,

@strafethesesinners, @trench-rot, @miyabilicious, @simplegenius042,

@inafieldofdaisies, @josephslittledeputy, @adelaidedrubman, @finding-comfort-in-rain, @voidika,

@strangefable, and anyone else wanting to share a wip they've been working on! (taglist opt in/out)

#wip wednesday #wip: the horror and the wild #also to the person who voted for me to work on prompt fills...you're a real one and i appreciate you but alas the werewoof au won out

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tabswrites · 6 months ago

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Writeblr Intro 2.0

Hello again, it’s still me. I’m Tess, I’m 27 and I am an aspiring fantasy author. I finished the first draft of my new adult fantasy book, The Tomb’s Whisper, and have begun my first round of edits.

This blog will be a place to share my thoughts, ideas and inspirations as well as any great writing I come across.

You can also find me on Bluesky!

Asks/tags are always welcome :)

Current WIPs

The Forest’s Embrace (Guardians of Eternity, Book 2) DRAFTING

Plot-driven

Multiple POV

Antihero+antagonist MCs

Lots of magic, lots of creatures

Queer cast

The Tomb’s Whisper formerly The Tomb of Light (Guardians of Eternity, Book 1) EDITING

Character-driven

Multiple POV

Hero—>Antagonist

Hero—>Antihero

Magic/magical creatures

Queer cast

Of Blood and Shadows

DRAFTING

YA Supernatural/mystery

2 POV

Episodic

Growing cast of characters

Queer cast

#don’t feel the need to reblog this I just need a new pinned post #writeblr intro #wip: the tomb’s whisper #wip: the forest’s embrace

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tryingtimi · 4 days ago

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51 for the spotty ask game! @bloodlessheirbyjacques <3

Okay, this one is a bit different, because I realised that this piece I once wrote (and you already read, love) to @the-wip-project's #60daysshortstory challange was inspired by this song. I logged my progress, but never posted the finished piece because it needs polishing. But, you know what? Here it is anyway.

SHORT STORY | TW: GORE | HORROR | WC: 1,417

Flesh was never meant for worship. Belief could not live in one meant to rot and wither — or simply change. Everything that was born foul has been conceived in change. Shifting darkness, deforming forms, corrupted souls. The dead of the night brought the most viles alive, Amity knew it well from all the tales in town. Still, she questioned whether all change was meant to be from the Devil.

Nightfall hung heavy from the horizon over the main street.

Blackened blue sky waved above Amity, no stars spotting it at all. She turned around, making sure nothing and no one was following. A flower crown hugged her head, one dear Meredith made her as a token of their friendship. She said it would bring her luck on the hunt for a partner.

Amity held her basket tighter.

The Moonrise Festival never meant as much to her as it did to her friend and mother. However, what they treasured, she did too. They needed it to soothe their worries, letting them dream at night without terrors seeping inside. It was the only change that was celebrated in her community.

And celebrate they did, filling the street with booths full of fruity sweets, charm-sellers and drumming melodies. The wind tapped the lanterns hanging on every house, gently swinging them before carved wooden wolf masks over the entrances.

Amity walked behind a reeking cart, staying at the perimeter of the forest and the Festival. She listened to the people talking, thumping their feet to the ground around the bonfire nearby, sharing candid apples and decorating themselves with charms. The symbols that kept away the spawns of night, creatures that stole children and roamed to destroy without control or satisfaction. She knew the stories, but Meredith feared them. As did most of the folk.

She clutched her basket, following a familiar chestnut hair in the crowd. Amity wasn’t too eager to celebrate anything — it was her first time attending such an event. The townsfolk had never been a bad lot, but they could be much. Therefore, with so many people around she stayed in the forest’s solidarity just a little longer.

The house’s wall she was ducked behind was cold under her touch, her eyes carefully watching Meredith laughing with a girl from church. She leaned back a little to keep herself in the shadows, and her hand found paper along the damp plank’s surface. Tattered edges — as if age would have already been feasting on it — embraced a drawing made of charcoal, depicting a missing child. A little girl, barely old enough to count properly.

Amity raised her fingers to the wooden claw pendant she kept around her neck, the same as Meredith’s or the girl’s. It should have meant protection from night creatures and bad omens.

She walked the half-lit, half-shadowed grassland that lay parallel to the street her friend was taking. Would Meredith like her gift? She enjoyed surprises, that much Amity knew. Yet, her basket hung awkwardly between her fingers.

The moon’s silver shine barely flickered between two clouds as they were still some hours before midnight.

Amity should have joined them. All the preparations, Meredith’s luring, her mother’s encouraging talks. It would all be for nothing if she would decide not to show. Yet, her ears trembled from the windchimes over the porches, and her heart drummed in the embrace of her ribcage. Every hollow-eyed wooden mask watched her movements from the houses.

The forest was oddly quiet as she walked. The celebration probably sent the animals away, every deeply booming drumbeat coming from the bonfire echoing through the blackness of the woods.

Amity’s mother appeared beside Meredith and the girl. They greeted each other warmly, clearly whispering a prayer at the end. Their smiles hid their fear. Amity knew. One knew well there was no greater threat to a lurking devil than a celebration of their divinity, yet it never came without risk. They left the threshold of change; staying out after dusk, marching towards the true transformation with the deepening night.

Nothing could be as powerful as the fullest of the Moon.

Amity cocked her head, slipping over to a barber shop’s porch. The church girl’s hair billowed in the lantern’s light as her mother caressed her head. Meredith’s eyes shone at them softly, and her sunflower scent reached even Amity too. They stopped to admire the wooden figurines in a shop, sour-smelling bouquets and dried fruit decorations adorning a stand beside them.

Amity smelled blood.

The music pounded around her like a beating heart, crackling fire changing the air. Ash danced towards the starless black sky, twirling and spinning as the singing bunch. It grew louder and louder, perfect unison empowering the rhythm. Amity took a step closer towards Meredith. She awaited her, just like her mother. Their heart would never change, as change was from the Devil.

They would never change, would they?

A foul stench circulated in the air. Burned meat, sweet meat, sour blood, a never-worshipped flesh totem — a body. Many bodies. Amity heard the laughter. Amity heard the screams.

Screams.

Screams?

She faced Meredith, wide-eyed, looking right into her face. She enjoyed surprises, yet she didn’t glance at her gift from Amity. Why didn’t she?

Amity glared at her basket that was full of flowers for Meredith’s crown. Her basket that was full of blood, severed limbs and guts.

She dropped it so hard that everything spilt onto the porch’s wood. Strong-scented, ironic blood seeped inside the cracks, dripping to the earth below.

What was happening?

Amity choked on a growing lump in her throat, when Meredith fell to her knees with her mother and the girl. A terrible claw mark opened up her friend’s belly to spill out her insides, right beside the girl’s severed head. Amity’s mother didn’t stay recognisable.

Nightfall hung heavy from the horizon over the main street.

Blackened blue sky waved above Amity as she ran. She turned around, making sure no one was following, yet she knew there was someone. A blood-soaked, half-flower crown hugged her head, bone chips dangling before her eyes. Her panting drummed in her chest just like the drums sometimes ago. Wetness soaked her face, tears streaking down on stained cheeks.

She ran and ran. There was no escape from the unchanging Moon, and the slowly brightening landscape littered with horribly butchered corpses. The wooden wolf masks growled and snarled at Amity, the wind chiming along with their voices.

Loud sobbing erupted from her throat as she panted.

A noise that was identical to the wolf masks’.

Her legs nearly gave up, sore and dragged through the pooling bloodriver around her. She screamed as she recoiled from something rock solid with a grumbling bang. Skin peeling from knees, she crawled to the wall. The wall, that wasn’t wood or stone. Her nails scraped at it, popping from her fingers like rust from iron. So smooth and white it was, Amity whimpered. It was just like a skull.

Then, her hand found a hole. Quaking, and rumbling. Screaming and splashing crimson. She glanced back at the too-quickly changing — falling into ruin town. She couldn’t watch it anymore, so she turned to the hole and looked inside.

The charcoal child looked back.

A scraped-up black mass, that was snatched away from a home in the middle of the night. A little body, that bore the Devil’s work — changing every night when the Moon bloated to the fullest on the sky. Amity watched the charcoal figure distort into a terrible wolf, one that stalked a similar girl like her, and a woman with no children. Fire crackled and feet tumped at the drum beats. The creature prowled around the houses, watching them while snatching and devouring everything around them one by one. Meredith and mother. Those were the names it gave them.

The names she gave them.

Amity watched her claws rip a priest apart on the main street. Her lungs blazed from the scream-like howl that escaped her ears and crawled into her throat. However she trashed and clawed at the skull’s bone, she couldn’t stop herself. There was nothing she could do. The wolf was out, and feasting like the townsfolk always feared. The one they were terrified of, yet revered just like the Moon.

But flesh was never meant for worship. Belief could not live in one meant to rot and wither — or simply change. Everything that was born foul has been conceived in change.

Just like Amity.

#Project Lonel #Lonel: Her Howl #horror #writing community #writeblr #werewolf fiction #i'll re-work it one day

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saltwaterbells · 1 year ago

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the fool in her wedding dress

after escaping her mother's clutches, the bride is delighted to be married. alas, his hands are no kinder than the ones she had just fled, and as she runs from his knife, the forest is the only place that will embrace her. however, the forest's fingers run ragged with foul magics, and as the brush of the branches bestows a curse upon her brow, the fae come to find her. there are three ways to leave: join the eternal hunt, win one of the faerie king's games, or seek sanctuary at the witch's cottage until there is a quest to fulfill and life outside becomes a possibility you may yet grasp once more, one day. and so the bride hides, and she waits, and the forest begins to keen in pain.

the bride - she/her - shy, sheltered, deeply kind

the witch - she/they - cynical, exhausted, wise

the princess - he/him - curious, gentle, creative

the knight - she/her - chivalrous, warm, mischievous

the faerie king - she/they - cruel, indulgent, fascinated by the perishable

-x-

notes: hiya! so this is my nano project for this year <3 it arrived in my brain last week and went you're going to write me, and i listened. the goofier explanation of this wip is imagine if your parents, who were princess mononoke and the deer with the antlers divorced so bad that anyone who enters the forest becomes part of their custody battle. also, what if eldest daughter syndrome syndromed so badly you became a witch about it! and what if house full of mommy issues. and perhaps also bone magic and body horror and weird fucked up blood religion. anyway, hope y'all enjoy!

tagging: some mutuals and people, hope you don't mind <3 this is just a one time tag btw. @onomatopiya @cream-and-tea @encrucijada @macywrites @coffeeandcalligraphy @xiaofiaan

#jude.writing #wip: the fool in her wedding dress #hiiii so this is my baby #soft sapphics meets body horror meets generational trauma and also all the fairy tales i loved as a kid #i'm so sorry for all the guys i tagged there's no pressure to interact with this #nanowrimo #nano #writing #writeblr #writers on tumblr

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blissfulalchemist · 5 months ago

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WIP Wednesday

Hello I come from the void to bring you some writing! I have been tagged over the weeks by @statichvm and @adelaidedrubman It is surprise surprise FFXVI based because that little universe won't leave my brain currently while it rotates new ffxiv material. But as always with this have a (sizable) variety pack of the two gals!

Alma and Joshua during the Rising Tide DLC

It’s quiet where Alma sits looking over the village and towards the sea, embracing the fresh, salty air and imagining what this place could feel like with the actual sun’s rays. Listens as the villagers go about their day as if it were any other and the scuttling of animals hiding among the lush forest. Content and lightweight she closes her eyes a moment hearing the soft footsteps of someone she knows well come toward her. She beams looking over her shoulder to watch as Joshua comes into view and sits next to her resting one arm on his bent leg with a near matching smile. “What brings you up here?”

“I was told I might have some luck finding you here.”

“Have I been gone that long?” Joshua nods, “Oh….I’m sorry. For worrying you and for not being around you like I should be.”

“Don’t be. To be honest with you it has been refreshing to see you so exploratory once again.”

“I….I can’t be, not if I want to take care of you.” He takes her hand, criss crossing his legs, “I just-. This place is so….unique.” She looks back over the area, smile beginning to fade.

Joshua moves closer to her, bringing her hand to his lips, “What troubles you my dear Alma?”

“Hm? Oh nothing. It’s nothing, I’m fine.”

“Alma,” he pleads softly, ��please, talk to me. You know you can tell me anything.”

“But-.” Her eyes meet his seeing them full of concern and feeling the warmth from his chest as he holds her hand to it. Alma takes a deep breath, “It’s nothing, really. More stupid than anything.”

“I shall hear it nonetheless.”

“I can’t help but wonder,” she starts, eyes straying back to the sea, “what would it have been like had my parent’s boat landed here. How different their lives could have ended up had the tides taken them north. While I know many outsiders didn’t last here for very long the way these people have reacted to the last thing I have of them, the journal documenting our family’s methods of healing, it doesn’t feel out of the realm of possibility that we could have been allowed to stay. So it begs the question….” Her words trail off in a question that doesn’t need to be said and one that makes Joshua’s heart sink as realization forms.

“You don’t talk about them….your parents I mean.”

She shrugs, “What is there to say on them? They died when I was young and I was then raised by Jote’s parents in the Undying.”

“Do you not remember them?”

“I remember enough. I remember the way my mother’s voice sounded when she sang me to sleep on the boat from Ash. The way my father’s eyes never lost their empathetic softness as he healed those that came to him. I even have hazy memories of my grandmother saying how much I looked like my father, but my eyes were that of my mothers.” She sighs, pulling her hand away, “Anything else I remember about them are things I wish I didn’t.”

Bit of an AU where Alma and Joshua met before the fall of Phoenix's Gate

“Miss Martha!” Alma says as she walks into the inn lugging a sack of grain. The sack almost covers her face making it easy to miss the uneven piece of wood. Tripping with wide eyes as she quickly regains her balance, “I think I may need some help.”

Cid laughs, walking over to take it from her, “Here let me get that.”

“Thank you.”

“The abbot send that back with you did he?” Martha says with a smile, getting her some water.

Alma climbs up the barstool next to Cid, “Yes. Well kind of. I was only supposed to tell you about it.” The woman shakes her head with a playful roll of her eyes, Alma’s gaze settling on Cid. She looks him over, taking in the shadow of a torn off patch on his shirt and the small crest on the hilt of his sword reminiscent of the ones soldiers had when they would visit her grandmother on the other side of the sea. “Are you meant to take me home?”

“Pardon?”

Alma points to the hilt of his sword, letting the language of Ash come through, “You’re from Ash like me. Did someone ask you to take me back?”

He smirks, responding in the common tongue of the Twins, “Don’t think I’m allowed back,” he leans towards her whispering, “and something tells me you’re not keen on going back either.”

She nods following his lead, “Not without my-. Well this place is my home now. My parents said as much.” The young girl’s shoulders begin to hang, looking up at Martha, “Would it be alright if I came back down later for supper Miss Martha?”

“Of course, sweetheart, but first.” Alma stops her descent down the barstool, eyes fixated on Martha as she pulls out the paper wrapped package from the bag along with a letter that’s closed by a wax seal with the Archduke’s crest upon it. “This, along with the bag, came for you.”

“For me?”

Martha nods, encouraging her to open the package first. “Was told it was from some boy named Joshua.”

Alma’s face turns bright as she rips open the paper to reveal two leather bound journals and an unmarked letter on top of them. Her breathing stops as she gently puts the letter to the side and delicately runs her hands over the leather covers. “He-. He kept them….,” her eyes begin to fill with tears as she opens up one of them to find the years of notes, drawings, and instructions passed down for generations, “even after I got him in trouble he still….”

The two adults look into the journal finding the answer as to why she was excelling and surpassing what the locals were able to teach her. “These the journals you told me about?” Martha asks.

Alma nods, looking into the next one as Cid flips through, finding it written not only in the common tongue of the Twins and Ashen, but another one he just can’t place his finger on. One thing is clear though within the writings, “Were your parents healers?”

“My whole family was. My mother used to tell me that the whole of my history was here in these journals. I was to follow in their footsteps….,” she says softly, voice growing thick, “they were going to teach me and we were going to become better healers as we learned new techniques and had access to different herbs and medicines….They said life would be better here.”

The first time Clive meets Barnabas on the field

With a yell Clive primes himself and rushes the king as the other three watch, limbs tense. The king easily evades the attack and kicks him back, the three jumping in to support him. Jill is the first to catch the king prime another attack, sprinting to give him cover. In a flash the red slash sings towards Clive. Alma’s heart stops for a moment as it makes impact. Ifrit’s power fading as he hits the ground limply. The thump jolts her back into action, sliding to his side, lifting his chest from the ground. Her arm slides under his arm and around his shoulders, his weight nearly crushing her back to the ground before Joshua joins her and the two begin to drag him towards safety.

Jill yells at them to go before making the temperature drop and the sound of cracking ice before rising above them as Shiva. They make it a few more steps before the Dominant casts a wall of ice between them and Barnabas, her attention now singularly focused on the king. Alma and Joshua look up when they hear Gav call out to them, watching as Clídna jumps over the small stone fences towards them. She wastes no time in pushing Joshua from his spot, bracing Clive on her back as she wraps one of his arms around her shoulders, while her other arm moves Alma out of the way to grab onto his legs. With a quick shift as she stands Clive is securely laying across her shoulders, one arm crossed over her chest and held in place by the arm wrapped around his legs.

The cursebreaker makes it look easy as she turns and rushes back to Gav, with Alma, Joshua, and Torgal following close behind with the fading sounds of ice and darkness clashing. “Gav! When we make it to the end of the street, I need you to help Joshua take him the rest of the way.” Clídna orders, “Alma, you and Torgal stay in front of them and lead any big mobs of Akashik away from them, got it?”

Alma nods as Gav asks, “And just where do you think you’re goin’ in the middle of all this?”

“To get Jill. I’m not leaving her alone, not again.”

Gav sighs, grumbling, “Well just don’t be stupid about it, alright?” She nods, slowing down into a darkened doorway, helping the men get situated, “You remember where to meet us?”

“Of course. Take care of him, I’ll be back!” With a final nod from Gav does the small group make their way towards the Ironworks in the outskirts of the city. The four of them are a few streets away from their destination when they hear the panting and heavy footsteps of Clídna approaching them, alone. She gives a silent shake of her head when their glances all ask the same question. She picks up Clive once more, pace never faltering as they make it to the doorway of the Ironworks. “Where do you two want him?”

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

By the time Mid comes to check on them, Joshua has pushed the cot right next to the bed, pillow in the space between his crossed legs that Alma rests on as he leans against the wall, fingers combing through her now loose hair. The healer stays asleep on her stomach to better reach out to the side and have her hand upon Clive’s chest, the man’s breathing strong and steady with more color to his face, her other arm wrapped around Joshua, and Torgal sleeping at her feet. He and the hound glance up at Mid’s entrance, putting a finger to his lips before waving her closer. She sits on the edge of Clive’s bed quietly asking, “Will he be alright? Shouldn’t he have woken up by now?”

“Alma and I can only mend flesh, but the spirit….,” he takes a deep breath letting his gaze focus on Alma, “The spirit must recover on its own.”

“So it's all up to him now ain’t it?” Joshua nods, Mid giving a small smile and nodding at Alma, “Is she going to be alright?”

He nods once more, “A good rest was all she really needed, but being a healer she makes for a very stubborn patient.”

“Ah, only way you were able to get her to sleep I see.”

“Quite,” And nothing short of unusual for you my dear. He looks around trying to change the subject, “This place is remarkable. Outfitting it must have been no small feat. Why go through all the trouble though if I may ask?”Mid smiles, looking in awe at the Enterprise, “That beauty’s belly is filled with wonders the world in’t ready for. If the other guilds caught wind of what we were up to, they’d all want a piece.”

Clídna and Clive's first night together

Clídna’s footsteps are light as she weaves through the bunks to one man she knows will appreciate the contraband she has tucked away in the storage house. She finds him laying on his back with crossed arms and shaggy black hair obscuring his face even more in the darkness, at least she knows it won’t take him long to be dressed to be outside as he, like many others, wears most of their uniform to bed. She pokes his arm whispering, “Wyvern.” His eyes are slow to open but focus on her shrouded form, “Meet me in the storage house. I promise it’ll be worth your while.”

She says no more and slinks away to the quietest exit, leaving the door loose enough to open with a gentle nudge and not alert anyone else. Once out in the pale moonlight she straightens out inhaling the crisp fall air with a smile before glancing around for the all clear before rushing to the storage house. Thanks to her earlier work she’s able to navigate the maze of crates with ease to the back corner where no one would be able to spot them and where she pulls free two small bottles of wine that didn’t meet the emperor’s standards. Her body tenses when there’s a scrape at the door and soft firelight glows behind a wall of crates.

“Clídna?”

She lets free the breath she’d been holding at the sound of Wyvern’s voice. “Back here.” He makes his way to her making the fireball floating in his palm smaller when his eyes land on her. He reaches for a clay bowl stored in the rafters and pulls a dusty rag from one of the broken crates to wrap around a piece of the broken wood. The two settle on the floor where the rag wrapped wood finds a place within the clay bowl along with the fire he used to guide his way to her. She smiles, handing over one of the bottles, “Can I interest you in some South Reach wine?”

He laughs softly at her exaggerated tone taking the offered bottle, “And how did you manage to get your hands on these?”

“Let’s just say it pays to show interest in the kitchen staff once and awhile.” She holds out the neck of her drink, “So, cheers.”

He clinks his bottle against hers, “Cheers,” taking a swig of the smooth drink at the same time she does.

and finally Clídna being right as always

“Yet you still find it a bit weird, seeing him all grown up like this,” she laughs as he lets out a sigh and shaking his head, “It’s okay to admit it you know. You haven’t seen him fully since he was but an adorable child.” The two watch as the young man moves a stool a bit closer yet not sitting on it as he pets and scratches behind the hound’s ears, and Alma leans a bit closer giggling and batting her lashes as her crossed legs swing. “If it makes you feel better, sweetheart, at this moment in time the two are much younger.”

His brow furrows, “What do you mean?”

She nods her chin at them, “Just look at them. They’re flirting like teenagers(would they say teenagers like that????) in a marketplace.”

“So?”

“So it means they’ll act nothing like the refined young man and woman they front with you.” She points to someone unknowingly taking the stool from behind Joshua, his focus never leaving Alma as she goes on about something blushing and pushing her long hair behind her ear. The two watch as Torgal finds a place to lay where the stool once was and the couple staring adoringly at one another.

“I don’t believe that,” Clive argues.

Clídna cocks a brow before smirking, “You that confident Joshua won’t be stupid and oblivious?” He nods with a confident smile, “Alright then, I bet you five gil that he’ll soon trip over Torgal while still talking to her.”

“Okay, you’re on.”

He holds his hand out, the two shaking on it as Jill walks up behind them still mostly dressed in her day clothes. “And what are you two doing out here?” She asks with a chuckle before kissing them both on the cheek and leaning on them both.

“About to make Clive lose five gil.” Clídna points to Joshua and Alma, watching as his hand begins to reach behind him for the stool no longer there. “In five, four, three….”

Joshua attempts to sit only to fall back, taking a step back to try and catch his balance. Torgal stands quickly with a yelp bumping into the back of his legs, taking them out from under him as he tries and fails to grab onto the railing. He falls back with a small yell into the table, his hand catching onto someone’s left over plate causing the food remaining on it to go flying and land on him.

Alma jumps down with worry all over her features as Clídna and Jill laugh, Clive hanging his head in defeat hiding his smile and repressed laughter. The young couple look up at the boisterous trio, Joshua turning red when he realizes they had all seen what just happened and hearing their laughter grow when Torgal begins to try and clean up the food.

Alma stands up, hands on her hips trying to look authoritative with her embarrassment also creeping up her neck. “Stop laughing! It’s not funny!”

Tagging: @belorage @florbelles @unholymilf @confidentandgood @strafethesesinners @leviiackrman @statichvm @adelaidedrubman @jackiesarch @shallow-gravy @shellibisshe and anyone else that wants to share!

#and back to the void I go #sorry i only have ff on the brain recently but like i couldn't resist xvi #but enjoy my 2am writing as that's when I write like 90% of things so pardon the times i just leave notes #my wip tag #clidna ffxvi oc #alma ffxvi oc

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