#and god bless i will never be her again <3 she is gone she is dead she's in the wine cellar its beautifully tragic there's nothing we can d

[butchviking]

i just think its crazy that ppl change their name back when they reidentify or detanstion or whatever like 1. that was enough hassle the first time theres no way im bothering with all that again, and 2. didnt we learn that gender is fake and made up and you can be called whatever it doesnt matter

#im biased tho bc i was one of those ones where the name change/identity change was an attempt to run away from a previous identity entirely #and god bless i will never be her again <3 she is gone she is dead she's in the wine cellar its beautifully tragic there's nothing we can d #but i am who i am now and that is what it is.... #(yes this is all facetious i know why many of yall changed back i understand we all are different i know its even very important to many)

[mybelovedrin]

✷ ITOSHI RIN x reader. fluff, established relationship. reader talks a lot and rin listens. this is actually pointless. warnings: the writing is kinda messy, i think. note: i just really think that rin <3 ! sorry if there's typos.

"shut up."

rin probably says these two words to you more than he says 'i love you'.

yet, he really, really does not want you to shut up.

it's been twenty minutes since you came from your dinner with your friend. twenty whole minutes of you rambling. twenty whole minutes of rin lying in bed, his arms feeling empty since you're too busy turned away from him as you change into more comfortable clothes. twenty whole minutes of him having to listen to your friend's husband's family's problems while his eyes stay locked on you as you throw on one of his shirts and then start removing your make up.

and again, he really, really does not want you to shut up.

but he would really prefer holding you while you ramble, and the fact that it's been twenty minutes and he hasn't even gotten a kiss yet is kind of starting to get to him.

"so anyway, she's basically hated by everyone from his side of the family— and i told her over and over that she should talk to him about it, but she just won't listen to me. god, why am i blessed with such stubborn friends?"

at this point, he feels like he's skipped eight chapters.

and yet he still listens, humming thoughtfully as he shifts in bed a little, pulling the covers over him just a bit more as he sighs in defeat, staring up at the ceiling as he mumbles, giving his own opinion. "shouldn't pressure her into it, though."

you groan, giving him a look as you still stand in front of the mirror while doing your skincare now. "i'm not, i swear! those people suck. she shouldn't be letting them do what they want and i'm sure that her husband would do something if he knew how salty they are."

his eyes go from the ceiling to you, blinking sleepily as he stares at the way his shirt looks on you. "when are you coming to bed?"

"almost done, rinnie."

he yawns quietly, turning around so that his back is to you. if he couldn't hold you yet, he could at least listen to your voice. "then does she really plan to just endure that treatment?" his voice is muffled by the pillow as he asks, setting you off on another talking spree.

"i guess she does. i hope everything goes well for her. but personally, i would not tolerate stuff like that." you say, shrugging as you finally finish your business, before going into the bathroom to wash your hands and brush your teeth.

the few minutes of you being gone and quiet make rin feel as miserable as ever.

he waits and waits, eyelids heavy.

when the mattress finally dips next to him and he smells the familiar scent of your skin products, he swears he's never moved this fast to turn around in bed and latch onto you.

you chuckle as he buries his face into your neck, holding him close as your little giggle turns into a quiet laugh when he groans in annoyance. "you took too damn long."

his hair tickles the side of your face. it's getting longer, you realise as you play with it gently, smoothing over some soft strands on the back of his head while he sighs softly into your skin.

"i talked a lot earlier, didn't i?" you ask quietly, your lips curling into a sheepish smile.

rin stays quiet for some time, his arms around you tight and firm as he presses himself against your side, even going as far as to place his muscular leg over you, caging you in against the soft mattress of the bed. "y'know i don't mind that."

"yeah, but im sure there's a limit—"

"there's no limit when it comes to you. 'kay?" he says quietly, his voice groggy and deeper now as he gets closer to drifting off— almost as if he was ending that discussion right there, not wanting to hear you talking about yourself in such a way.

"yeah, but—"

"shut up." he cuts you off, and you stop talking, only to let out another soft laugh. "if you're gonna complain about yourself, that is. now, more sleeping and less talking. i'll listen to the remaining part of your friend's story during breakfast tomorrow."

you snort at his devotion to listening to your silly stories, a slight wave of warmth creeping up your neck. "fine."

he nods a little, before holding you tighter.

"and i didn't get a single kiss from you ever since you came, by the way."

"oh, i am so sorry. my most sincere apologies." you speak, clearly joking as you shower him with light pecks on the side of his face that's peeking out from the crook of your neck.

he grunts, not being able to hide the redness under his warm skin as he feels your soft lips. his eyes stay closed shut. "ok. good night."

"no 'i love you' or anything?"

he sighs heavily. "shut up."

"...and i love you." he adds, before letting himself relax into his sleep when you let out a satisfied sound and say it back to him sweetly, your soft voice partially responsible for putting him to sleep.

#val.talks #blue lock #blue lock x reader #blue lock x y/n #blue lock x female reader #blue lock x you #itoshi rin fluff #itoshi rin x reader #itoshi rin #itoshi rin x you #rin itoshi #rin itoshi x reader #rin itoshi fluff #itoshi rin imagines #itoshi rin x y/n #bllk x reader #bllk #bllk fluff #bllk x you #itoshi rin headcanons #divider credits: cafekitsune

[reythenerdypisces]

things that I overlooked in PJO the first time / small, funny things I noticed during my reread

Part 3: The Titan's Curse

The truth was I was kind of disappointed to hear that she liked her new school so much. It was the first time she'd gone to school in New York. I'd been hoping to see her more often.

I tried to concentrate on little things, like the crepe-paper streamers and the punch bowl - anything but that fact that Annabeth was taller than me, and my hands were sweaty and probably gross, and I kept stepping on her toes.

"The General?" I asked. Then I realised I'd said it in a French accent. "I mean... who's the General?" I want this part to be in the show

"Sweet! Let's go! [to CHB]" said Nico. this breaks my heart. he was so excited in this book

Tyson thought Annabeth was just about the coolest thing since peanut butter (and he seriously loved peanut butter).

"How would you kidnap an immortal goddess? Is that even possible?" "Well, yeah. I mean, it happened to Persephone." "But she was like, the goddess of flowers." Grover looked offended. "Springtime." you tell him grover

"That's some serious danger you're facing." Connor Stoll said. (I liked how he said you and not we.) I'm just imagining the rest of the campers not bothering to go on quests cause it's always the same few demigods and they don't care, they're just chilling safe at CHB while Percy and Annabeth do their things

The creature looked at me sadly. "Moooo!" But I couldn't understand his thoughts. I only speak horse. Percy Jackson speaks two languages: English and Horse

With a shiver, I realised that five hundred or a thousand years from now, Bianca di Angelo would look exactly the same as she did today. She might be having a conversation like this with some other half blood long after I was dead but Bianca would still look twelve years old. ouch

"It wants to kill us!" Thalia said. "Of course." Grover said. "It's wild!" "So how is that a blessing?" Bianca asked.

"That's us," he said. "Those five nuts right there." "Which one is me?" I asked. "The little deformed one," Zoe suggested.

When she smiled at me, just for a moment she looked a little like Annabeth. I know everyone talks about this part but I can't help but bring it up again, they are so cute

"Woah, first of all, I never said anything about love. And second, what's up with tragic!" little does he know. also, Percy is so incredibly insightful in this book but he's also so jealous of Annabeth and Luke and so upset about the idea of her joining the hunters yet still can't figure out that he likes her

"Seven hundred feet tall," I said. "Built in the 1930s." "Five million cubic acres of water," Thalia said. Grover sighed. "Largest construction project in the United States." Zoe stared at us. "How do you know all that?" "Annabeth," I said. "She liked architecture." I cannot explain how much this little bit means to me.

The girl I'd just tried to slice in half yelped and dropped her Kleenex. "Oh my god." she shouted. "Do you always kill people when they blow their nose?" Rachel's here!!! I love her

Five minutes later, Zoe had me outfitted in a ragged flannel shirt and jeans three sizes too big, bright red sneakers, and a floppy rainbow hat. someone draw this and tag me. what an outfit

Suddenly it occurred to me: this had happened to her before. She had been cornered on Half-Blood Hill. She'd willingly given her life for her friends. But this time, she couldn't save us. How could I let that happen to her? he is the most empathetic, wholesome guy, I love Percy

"Can't this go any faster?" Thalia demanded. Zoe glared at her. "I cannot control traffic." You both sound like my mother." I said. "Shut up!" they said in unison. I kind of wish we got more Thalia and Zoe interactions... they would've made such a great enemies to lovers dynamic, if Zoe didn't die

"Get away from my daughter!" Dr Chase called down, and his machine gun burst to life, peppering the ground with bullet holes and startling the whole group of monsters into scattering. "Dad?" yelled Annabeth in disbelief.

Grover went off with his satyr friends to spread the word about our strange encounter with the magic of Pan. Within an hour, the satyrs were all running around agitated, asking where the nearest espresso bar was.

"No," I said. "I choose the prophecy. It will be about me." "Why are you saying that?" she cried. "You want to be responsible for the whole world?" It was the last thing I wanted, but I didn't say that. I knew I had to step up and claim it. "I can't let Nico be in any more danger." I said. might I remind you this boy is 13/14 and has the whole world on his shoulders (both literally at some point and figuratively)

I feel like these are just getting longer and longer but again, I will be back for part 4!

#percy jackson #percy jackon and the olympians #pjo #pjo series #pjo disney+ #the titans curse #rick riordan #perseus jackson #annabeth chase #grover underwood #rachel dare #thalia grace #bianca di angelo #nico di angelo

[kindlespark]

sam i didnt even watch fhjy but can you tell me more of ur thoughts abt kipperlilly? any thoughts even stream of consciousness, she seems so teenager rage gone wrong im so fascinated by her

HJBFESJBFEKSFS THIS IS SO FUNNY OFC ok this is going to be a range of thoughts about the reactions i've seen from both ends of the rat grinder Discourse™

i think it's fine to be like, yeah, what kipperlilly's anger stems from is like deeply unsympathetic and comes from a very privileged status. i think being like "no that's normal for a teen girl" is silly. she is very much not normal she's a little upper-middle class brat and i love her. i love that she's so deeply distasteful and unappealing to people LOL. hate when female characters have to be smoothed down to be liked! like we don't have to downplay her negative traits when people are obsessed with male serial killers all the time etc etc

BUT i also think people forget that like... the bad kids were reading private thoughts she shared with her therapist (which is a massive invasion of privacy)! like of course it was fucked up. that's why she was going to a therapist lmao!!! it stresses me out that people are this vitriolic about a teen character who is pretty explicitly mentally ill and trying to get better about it but is being manipulated by a deity of rage and possibly her adult vice principal like. you don't have to LIKE her but calling for her to be violently murdered is wild to me. the bad kids had never even HEARD of her before this season and you can metagame about brennan not having invented her character yet all you want but in canon u gotta assume she was successfully keeping that rage down until she got got and is now being actively corrupted by a powerful rage deity lmaoooo

and like! she got her narrative punishment!! the monkey's paw curled and she lost her best friend she's got her traumatic backstory now!!! she's already suffering and at her lowest i don't need her to die (again!)

i think brennan is past the point of making teen characters irredeemable so i can only hope that the cast follows through on that bc i feel like redemption and healing from trauma is one of the strongest themes in fantasy high like i bawled my eyes out in every aelwyn and adaine scene. which is why it's really funny to me that siobhan is kipperlilly's biggest hater because i feel like she's a great mirror to adaine's spite and aelwyn's redemption..... like siobhan's characters are all very appealing to me because of their rage. god im hoping and praying they don't kill the rat grinders in the finale god bless

oh final petty thing i think saying kipperlilly's name wrong was only funny the first 200 times <3 love u all mwa

#the rat grinders #kipperlilly copperkettle #d20 #fantasy high

[slickfordain]

Your work is awesome!!

I'll read everything else rq, but first-

Hello, how was your day? How are you feeling?

If it's okay, may I share a bit of my game and ask how will characters react on it?

So uhh

I always say out loud how adorable Nahida is and how she is my "adopted child"

Also during the archon quest I was litteraly chanting "someone help, love and protect her please"

Also when I didn't get Nahida on her banner, I was like "Sages, if it was You, I'm about to destroy you"

I also always greet my team and say "bye" if I'm leaving.

I switch to every character and tell them it. Even how THEY did while I was gone

Maybe I'm going insane Idk?

If you don't want to do it, it's okay!^^

Bye-bye! And again- your work(s) are awesome! Gotta read some more

I may sound insane but I as well say “Hello / hi” to Genshin characters one time because I wanted them to feel welcomed??? I’m kind of new to this shit so I stole my friend’s phone to say hi to them 💀💀 this is such a cute request overall, Nahida is such a baby 💔💔

Also I’m doing just well hon, thank you for asking me. <3 I hope you’re feeling well yourself.

Teyvat is protective of their creator no matter what gender they’re specified with;; however, it seems that you favor Nahida more than others— Most likely as if you made her to actually be your related child. Nahida was hesitant and shy at first, but over the time when she thought about it, she couldn’t help but feel so free and blessed with such a humble God mother/father figure like you.

You’re protective, even if it’s the traveller and Paimon… You still warned them to make sure that Nahida stays secured and safe. Everyone in different nations although takes this request far too seriously- that at this point, Nahida feels rather isolated. Though she knew you never meant any harm, how could she ever assume you would? She’s a wise sweet little girl, humble as you even, she honestly could see the connection of being your child. Literally.

But, that of course makes other children jealous… NPC children would most likely have different voice lines when it comes to Nahida too— which is basically in Sumeru city, and, I guess the Archons has to be checked 24/7 all of the sudden? Confused as you are, you weren’t displeased with it, you felt… Happy actually. Happy that people are acknowledging Nahida. (Although they’re fighting over who gets to be Nahida’s other parent)

Alhaitham especially would have some rooms prepared for Nahida, like, y’know, if she’s tired in a middle of nowhere— there’ll always be a house nearby her area, her spot. The followers of you would be cooking food nonstop for the little child, hoping that she’s willing to test their taste. After all, only she knows what you love in a guy/girl ~!

Oh oh, and since you did say you want someone to also protect Nahida during a quest— Nahida will be bawling her eyes out and ugly cry. (Pretty cry actually) People will be freaking out of why the fuck is shE EVEN CRYING— The NPCs will all baby her and, treasure hoarders? They won’t even get the chance to lay a finger on her because of the Archons killing them off. (Not like you know 😻)

Nahida would be an absolute troll however. Yes, she is sweet and always devoted to drop the entire lore to help people out— (For example she dropped the entire shit lore to Aether / Lumine) But she is heavily LOYAL to her mother/father figure.

Imagine Dottore especially trying to talk it out with her since they did sort of have a conversation beforehand. So he thought it’s only fair he becomes her dad, by marrying you right? HAHAHA, wrong. Nahida is truly worried and overprotective of you, despite being just a kid version of her Archon self. She will lie, telling things to the Fatui doctor what you did not like.

And this has gone on for so long, it’s absolutely hilarious. Especially for Sumeru as they see this as an attempt to bring their divine being closer to them.

But the thing is, you’re not that expressive— you’re just existing and trying to live on while babying Nahida who just sobs into your affection. Girlie never got so much, so it was truly a blessing to have herself in your care.

And talking about Sages, just imagine Enjou overall having troubles with trying to get to you. All because of Sages 💀 look, if mans wanna get your forgiveness, better as well protect Nahida from the half monster hybrid looking ass hot man. Enjou is in so much misery… (Cue CPR)

Also, can we just appreciate how caring you are? No, it’s not only for Nahida you’re just caring for— it’s not even the reason she’s so loyal to you. (Well, it is but still) The true reason is, is because you keep saying “Hello” and “Bye” to them everyday, no matter how tiring it might get.

I think Diluc would especially love this since uhm, well, his dad ain’t here y’know y’know. (Or any traumatized character really)

…

Imagine Archon Timmie flying up to the heavens above just to replace Nahida and be your son— (Archon Timmie /srs) But then fails because Nahida is too logical and wise that his brain couldn’t take it anymore either.

Okay I’m stopping there 💀💀💀

Also have a sneak peak of my fanfic because I know some people will assume I’m not working on it 💔

It looks shitty but whatever

#various x reader #various #yandere x reader #sagau genshin #yandere sagau genshin impact #yandere sagau #sagau cult au #genshin impact sagau #sagau brainrot #sagau fluff

[shanastoryteller]

happy halloween! can I have Hades :D

a continuation of 1 2 3 4 5

Meg likes Thanatos. What's not to like? He's polite and hard working and never causes her any problems.

She's pretty sure he likes her too, but he's been awkward lately. Well, more awkward than usual, and she doesn't understand why when he could so easily solve his own problem.

Just because she and Zagreus are sleeping together again doesn't mean he's off limits. Frankly, Zagreus is easy and he loves Thanatos and if he wanted to tumble Zagreus into his rarely used bed, Meg is sure that all he would have to do is ask.

But he's not in the practice of having to ask for what he wants. Zagreus knows him so well that it's rare he has to use his words, which is really backfiring for him right now.

But all of that aside, he's the only person she can go to with this. She thinks Nyx might be on Zagreus's side and she knows Dusa is fond of him, but they have their reasons to be loyal to the house too. Maybe the rumors are nothing, or maybe they're something, and if they are she doesn't want to risk Zagreus if she doesn't have to.

She tracks down Thanatos just as he's dropping off another set of souls. He pauses when he sees her, giving her a short nod. "Megara. Do you need something?"

Meg doesn't roll her eyes at his stiffness only because giving him a reason to be defensive won't help her here. "Have you heard the rumors about Zagreus?"

He blinks at her.

Uhg. He's such a workaholic. "There's talk of two courts within one house. Of Zagreus wielding a power that's not borrowed."

Thanatos's gaze sharpens. "That's impossible. All that exists in the underworld falls under Hades's purview."

Impossible. Everyone keeps saying that, as if their queen isn't back due to the impossible, as if Zagreus hasn't fought his father and won enough times that she's stopped bothering to keep track.

Thanatos must be thinking along similar lines, because he says, "Zagreus doesn't want to be in charge of anything." He could challenge his father for the throne, and he'd win it, but he hasn't. Thanatos has a point. "He hates the bureaucracy of it all. And besides," he hesitates, then eventually says, "his skill may have improved, but he doesn't have much power himself. It's all thanks to the gods' boons."

"Do you really believe that?" she asks. There are plenty of spirits that are blessed by the gods even in death, yet she doubts Theseus would last even a minute against Hades.

Zagreus had never been especially powerful before, not beyond the gifts all immortals are granted, but - he's different, now.

Thanatos shrugs and her avoids her gaze.

She doesn't press, just sighs and says, "Keep an ear and eye out, yeah? Maybe it's just gossip. But if Zagreus is getting himself into trouble, it's better we find out about before anyone else does."

"I thought you didn't like him," he says then his pale face drains of even more color.

Anyone else she'd snap their neck, but this is Thanatos. "Liking him was never the problem. He's very likable."

"I know," Thanatos says, and that's apparently all the mortification he can stand, because he's gone in the next second.

Meg hopes he can get to the bottom of this, if there's even anything to find.

#prompt answers #prompts are closed #asks #moonbelowsea #hades game

[angelbxxy]

Hey y’all idk how this works I’ve never been struggling this hard before. My two daughters lost their dad my fiancé a week ago from a heart problem we didn’t know he had. It was sudden and now I have to plan a funeral alone. I never imagined that he would be gone we were just talking about getting a life insurance policy like a month ago but never did it. I already have our two daughters I gotta take care of on 1 income now I don’t know how I’m gonna pull this funeral off of anyone can help us send him up the right way plz consider donating 🥺😭❤️

Cashapp $prettymom18

January 15th 2023🚨⏰⚰️

Update!!!!!

Still waiting on donätîons I currently only have $250(I took out a loan that’s all I was approved for)/$3,400(cost of funeral service and funeral home plus casket. The $3,400 DOES NOT INCLUDE THE BURIAL 🪦🥺😭⚰️😣♥️

Please help us if you are able and I would appreciate it if you can not help us financially, a reblog and prayers will always be appreciated.

RIP my one and only Prince Charming 🥺❤️🪦⚰️

Cashapp $prettymom18

UPDATE JAN15th 8:54pm

Still 0 help but I’m still great full for all the reposts and likes if you know anyone who may be able to help or has a big following on here PLEASE don’t hesitate to tag them in ur repost or just tag them on the comments ❤️🙏

PS my friend said if someone wants to donate but they don’t have cash@pp I can give them her Venmo or chime or PayPal so if that is what is stopping you from donating DM me and I can send you her vënmø or paypãł

Thank y’all again♥️

XO XO XO and GOD BLESS🙏🏽

Katie 🥰⚰️🪦🫶🏽👩‍👧‍👧❤️‍🔥💔✝️

I probably should’ve put this in the original post but I’m having trouble getting donations and I’m doing this all by myself his family hasn’t even called me since I told them he passed and I was a foster kid so I really don’t have anyone to help. The only person that is helping me is financially struggling too but she took out a loan bc my credit sucks so I was denied anyway thank u if u have anyone on here who u talk to a lot see if they can repost it too I wanna get some type of traction lol

UPDATE JAN 16th

Tumblr BLOCKED ME FROM MESSAGES WTF HAPPENED!!!! Someone plz help me get my messages back

Plus still no donations so please keep reposting and thank you for all the support from the reblogs

Jan18 update

Thank you to whoever sent $5 that’s the first and only donation I’ve gotten so far

Please if u can’t donate repost and tag your friends!!! I don’t know what I’m going to do if I can’t raise enough for the funeral, I don’t even have enough for a cremation

Jan 20 update

Im $30 short to start a payment plan with the funeral home I have an appointment tomorrow morning at 9am PLEASE SEND HELP either repost or dono

Anything helps us!

Help us bury my kids dad and my fiancé!

GOD BLESS PRAYERS ARE WELCOME TOO!

Jan 30th update♥️❤️‍🔥🥺😭🚨

So I DIDNT get enough money to have a funeral for my fiancé 😖😭 we had to cremate him and they put me on a payment plan. I still want to have a repass but I need to get a hall or something to gather everyone. The cheapest one I’ve found is $350 for 5 hours

ANY HELP WOULD BE APPRECIATED AND HELPFUL

I want to celebrate his short life and the memories we all have with him ♥️

It’s been 3 almost 4 weeks since he’s been gone and life being a widow mother of 2 is a lot harder than I ever imagined. Please repost even if you can’t help ❤️‍🔥

@localmacguffin @laymedowninsheetsoflinen @enderamethyst @transgendz @othert @pixelstx @spongebobssquarepants @queenpandaxoxo @pukicho @shareyourdollar @mutual-aid-booster @horangi @jacklant3rn @bugs-for-hugs @difficult @commie-cosmo @yellowgirl93 @racism-inc @mousedetective @vaspider @shineemoon @queenpandaxoxo

#cashapp #helping hand #funeral #widowed #struggling family #please share #funeral arrangements #help #burial #anything helps #take him to heaven #pray for us #like asap #asap #direct action #rip #stairway to heaven #if heaven wasn’t so far away #our kids need you here): #please reblog #repost #share #community care #crowdfunding #rest in peace #helpusputhimtorest #please boost #LOVE #LGBTQ CROWD FUNDING #fundraising

[minecraftbookshelf]

Send me an Empire (in the notes of this post or my askbox) and I’ll do a write up of how Succession work in that empire in general and how each emperor got to the throne in specific.

-

And here’s Pixandria for free!

Mostly because it’s succession traditions are currently kind of irrelevant because they’ve had the same emperor for…a very long time now.

However, once upon a time, before the era of Pixlriffs; the Ruler of Pixandria, High Priest of the Goddess of Death, Keeper of the Vigil, was chosen via DM-ing the gods, basically.

Back in ye olden days, that was something that was possible to do, before some Plot Relevant Historical Events happened, and basically the priests would walk into Trixtin’s temple and be like “Hey, who is going to be your next high priest and keeper of the vigil?” And she would point out someone like “I like that one, let’s see how they do!”

Obviously this involved a lot more ceremony, and prophetic dreaming, and formal language (though not really on the goddess’s part)

And then there would be a big party and a training period followed by and even bigger party where the current vigil keeper passed on the crown to their successor, who would then leave the (ongoing) celebration and walk out into the desert with no supplies and spend three nights out there “communing with death”. Only about 2-3 in 10 of them never came back. (Some of them died in the desert, some of them vanished, presumably being taken by Trixtin to serve her in other ways better suited to them.) When that happened they would wait for 42 nights and then try again.

Now Pix.

Pix’s journey to becoming Keeper of the Vigil was mildly unorthodox.

I will be writing this all out in his backstory fic, but the tldr is that first of all, the priests didn’t come looking for a successor, the current Keeper got knocked on their ass by Trixtin showing up in a vision like “yo dude, this kid is going to be the next Keeper.” (This is less paraphrasing than the official Pixandrian records admit to)

And then, after the big transfer party, when Trixtin’s blessing was officially bestowed onto Pix and he went into the desert…he didn’t come back. For a whole month. And, most terrifying for everyone else, the previous Keeper, who still held the official office until the successor returned, was assassinated about three weeks into that.

In a couple thousand years, the line of Keepers had never been broken. Ever.

The surviving government of Pixandria, some military and civil advisors, some mid-ranking priests, and the trade guild leaders, were scrambling. It was a very stressful time for everyone involved.

Until Pix strolled back into the Anthill, no idea he’d been gone that long, slightly dazed, and with a notable amount of grey hairs he hadn’t had when he left (he was not yet quite out of his teens).

Anywho, things happened, Plot proceeded to happen, and the fabric of the world changed in ways that lead directly into the events of the main story (both the Lizzie and Joel arc and the Main Cast Era Arc) and Pixlriffs is there for all of it.

-

AU Masterpost

#I say for free as if the rest is not #pixlriffs #Pixandria #empires smp #empires s1 #lady trixtin goddess of death #because yes she’s in the mythology and we’re sticking with it #rain rambles #also yes this is how I beat the executive dysfunction #and decision paralysis #I outsource the executive function #marriage of state au #mos: worldbuilding #mos: pixandria #mos: pixlriffs #mos: pantheon

[normalenjoyer-png]

SBAU TIMELINE

this is subject to updates as i plan more out, but here's the main events that happen in each section of the au in a bit more detail <3

PLANNING

this is mike and vanessa working on making the glamrocks together.

OPENING

the pizzaplex opens!! mike and vanessa split shifts, with mike as a mechanic at night and vanessa as a security guard during the day. they talk less than before.

BONNIEBREAK: bonnie's mysterious disappearance, almost as if he's been wiped from existence were it not for the 4th floor of the pizzaplex and the concept drawings in mike's sketchbook.

FRIENDFALLOUT: it's revealed to vanessa that mike was the one who's been letting her therapists know about her conversations. they confront mike about it, who reveals that they have copies of her therapy sessions. mike warns her to read the fine print. vanessa storms off and they cut contact for the forseeable future.

GREGORY

gregory finds himself in the pizzaplex after closing. he'd much rather spend his time hanging out with freddy or something, but for some reason, mike refuses to let him out of his sight. therefore, he's stuck walking.

(this is regular security breach gameplay, kind of. mike has access to everything so there's never a need for them to pass through the daycare, for example (i think. i would also like a coherent map of the pizzaplex so i can map their routes but yk how it is (insane))

PRINCESSQUEST-1: after gregory completes princess quest 1, michael learns that vanessa has lost their soul to glitchtrap. as he turns around, he finds vanny right behind him, and he confronts her about it (um. not well. angrily.). vanny, suffering from mad visual and auditory glitchtrap-induced hallucinations and reality warping snaps and stabs mike. gregory tries to rush in and help but freddy stops him, and they watch as mike rips the knife from himself and slashes back at vanny. vanny, shocked and suddenly More Aware, stumbles back. mike slashes again, vanny dodges, and runs out. by the time mike gets to the door, she's gone. the knowledge that william is back and (to his knowledge) controlling his friend coworker, AND that he just failed to kill him sends him into a fit of rage that scares gregory shitless. freddy forcefully asks mike to calm the fuck down, to which he responds Disturbingly Quickly, and they're off again.

PRINCESSQUEST-2: gregory points out that the avatar they're playing as has changed, which catches mike's attention. lo and behold, it's fucking cassidy. cassidy, with a sword now. this changes things.

PRINCESSQUEST-3: they make their way to pq3, beat it, and free vanessa. hooray. Except. vanessa's removed the mask and thrown it aside. freddy goes to comfort her (hesitatingly, she did try to kill gregory earlier) while mike grabs the mask. he puts it on and suddenly, it makes sense how vanessa was disappearing so quickly; there's transparent walls and floors everywhere. and, notably, a way to descend to a very familiar pizzeria. mike goes there without another word and vanessa, pissed the fuck off at this behavior, goes after him. she and freddy and gregory have to take an alternate route down however, because mike's got the Fuck Reality powers now. in the pizzeria, mike finds one final pq game.

END

CASSIDYRECONCILIATION: mike finds the final princess quest game at the bottom. he plays it and gets cassidy to the same plane of existence, where she gives him the sword. she's ready to move on, she wants to see her parents again. but william can't be left unattended, and whatever's left of him still needs to be collected. enter michael. hw2 pq gameplay ensues, but instead of the sister location elevator taking mike and william to a claw machine, it takes them straight to hell lmao god bless 🙏🙏🙏

HELPWANTEDHELL: michael oversees william's torture from now on, but not without cost. he gave up any chance to see elizabeth or evan again, the only thing he'd been working for for decades.

#sb:au

[ladydorian05]

Rules: give us the links to your fic with the most hits, second most kudos, third most comments, fourth most bookmarks, fifth most words, and fic with the least words.

Was tagged by @hippolotamus @wikiangela @thewolvesof1998 @wildlife4life, Thank you! ❤️❤️❤️❤️

I seriously need to pick up the pace with my wips

Most hits Fic:

-When life tears you asunder, but you're not alone: (stranger things,

Max & Eddie, siblings dynamic) Co-written with @made-ofmemories Billy was a pretty shitty brother, there was no denying it, but Max still finds herself mourning for the sibling relationship they never got to have. With him gone she thinks so are her chances of ever having the big brother figure she’s always wanted. Then in a turn of events that she never saw coming, Eddie Munson waltzes into her life. Or more like, almost runs her over.

Most kudos: (The second one with most Kudos is also When life tears you asunder, so this is the most Kudos one)

-Too busy being yours to fall for someone new: Buddie Co-written with @made-ofmemories (we tend to enthuse each other with fic ideas and end up writing together a lot :3)

Natalia helps Buck pick a couch for his apartment, but when the wrong one gets delivered he starts to think maybe it's some kind of cosmic sign from the universe.

Determined to not let his best friend mope to death, Eddie decides it's time that he helps Buck find a couch so that he can stop associating a piece of furniture with the success or failure of his romantic relationships.

And he does, Buck finds the one.

Third Most comments:

Mornings in bed: (Ronance)

She’s an active person, a busy body, and her interests also demand for her to be constantly on the move, but she loves days like this when she can stay home. It’s cold outside, they’ll probably get the first snow of the season by next week, but she’s warm. She’s oh so warm laying in bed, there’s the weight of an arm around her torso and a leg draped over her hip. How can she feel anything but warmth when she’s in the arms of her Robin.

Fourth most bookmarks:

Kissing his neck: (The mandalorian, gn reader insert)

Kissing his neck and finding out he’s really sensitive there:

You’re both inside the cockpit, the baby peacefully sleeping inside his pram in the cargo hold, he just activated the hyperspace stretching his arms to the front and cracking his neck, when you noticed the strip of skin between his helmet and the high neck of his tunic.

Fifth most words:

A life in retrospection: (Kinsman, Agent Whiskey/Female reader)

He couldn’t believe this was his life now.

He thought as he watched, through a window from the inside of his warm home, as the snowflakes fell outside.

Couldn’t believe he was capable of feeling such happiness again, not after everything he’s had to live through.

A few years ago, he almost committed the biggest mistake of his entire existence, condemning millions of people just because of his trauma. Good thing a pair of gentlemen helped knock some sense into him. Literally. And god bless Champ for giving him a second chance, since then, his life had been filled with second chances.

Fic with the least words:

Eparavur takisit - Apologise: (Pure Angst, no comfort. Din Djarin/gn reader)

“No, no…no, no, please no. Cyare…Cyare please…” Din’s broken voice came through his helmet. “Please don’t leave me, please, I need you.” He knew in his mind you couldn’t hear him, not anymore.

No pressure tags:

@made-ofmemories @your-catfish-friend @diazblunt @loserdiaz @alyxmastershipper @crowleywasagryffindor and anyone who wants to do it!

#tag game #fic tag game #stranger things #buddie #911 #ronance #steddie #eddie munson and max mayfield are siblings #whiskey daniels x female reader #din djarin x reader

[queenalexandraofdenmark]

Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna to Tsar Nicholas II

November 21st, 1917.

The last letter Nicky ever got from his mother.

" My dear Nicky,

I have just received your letter of October 27th which has filled me with joy. I cannot find words to  express my feelings and thank you with all my heart, my dear.

You know that my thoughts and prayers never leave you, I think of you day and night and sometimes feel so sick at heart that I believe I cannot bear it any longer. But God is merciful, He will give us strength for this terrible ordeal. Thank goodness you are allwell and that at least you live together and in comfort. A year has gone by already since you and darling Alexei came to see me at Kieff. Who could have thought then of all that was in store for us, and what

we should have to go through. It is unbelievable. I live only in my memories of the happy past and try as much as possible to forget the present nightmare. Misha has also written to me about your last meeting in the presence of witnesses and [illegible] and of your ghastly and revolting departure.

I received your first dear letter of September 19th and apologise for not having been able to answer it before, but Xenia will have explained the reason to you.

I am sorry you are not allowed to go for walks, I know how necessary it is for you and the dear children; it is an incomprehensible cruelty!

I have quite recovered from a long and tedious illness and am able to go out again after two months.

The weather is beautiful, especially during the last few days. We live very modestly and quietly and see nobody, as we are not allowed to leave the estate, which is a great nuisance.

It is a blessing I am with Xenia, Olga and the grandchildren, who dine with me by turns every day. My new grandson Tikhon is a source of joy to us all. He grows bigger and fatter every day and is such a darling, so charming and quiet. It is a pleasure to see how happy Olga is, and how delighted she is with her baby which she had hoped for for such a long time.

They live very snugly above the cellar. She and Xenia come to see me every morning, and we have our cocoa together, as we are always hungry. It is so difficult to get provisions, white bread and butter are the things I miss most, but sometimes I get some sent by kind people: Papa Felix [Yusupov, senior] sends crabs and butter for which I am very grateful.

Prince Shervashidze arrived a little while ago. It is very pleasant to have him as he is a great asset,

always in good spirits and amusing and so glad to be here and to have a rest after Petersburg where it was so awful.

I am very glad to get those dear letters from Alix and my granddaughters who all write so nicely. I thank and kiss them all.

We always think and talk about you. It is so sad to be separated, not to see one another, not to be able to talk.

I get letters from Aunt Alix and Waldemar [her sister and brother] from time to time, but they are so slow in coming and I just sit and wait. I long for news.

[Last phrase is in English]

I well understand how you must enjoy re reading your old letters and diaries, although those memories of a happy past rouse deep sorrow in the heart. I have not even got that consolation, for mine were all taken away from me in the spring when they searched the house   all your letters, all those I received at Kieff, the children's letters, three diaries, etc., etc., and nothing has been returned yet, which is revolting, and for what reason, if I may ask?

Today is November 2nd, dear Misha's birthday. I believe he is still in town, God grant him health and happiness.

There has been a sudden break in the weather, a sharp wind is blowing and it is cold, only 3 degrees, and although the rooms are heated they are not warm enough, and my hands are cold.

Nikita saw K., the dentist [Kastritsky]. It was through him that I got some news about you. I am glad poor Alix does not suffer from toothache and that he has finished treating you.

I hope Isa B. [Buxhoeveden] has arrived safely and has recovered from her operation.

Please give my love to them all, also to Il. Tatishcheff.

Which servants have you got with you? I hope dear Teteridtnikoff went with you. I have only kept Yashchik and Poliakoff and have not enough words of praise for them, such splendid, trustworthy people. They serve at table and manage very well. Kukushkin and Yashchik are great friends and chatter a lot together.

On December 6th all my thoughts will be with you, my dear darling Nicky, and I send you my warmest wishes. God bless you, send you strength and peace of mind, and may He not allow Russia to perish.

I kiss you tenderly. May Christ be with you. Your fondly loving old

Mama. "

#empress maria feodorovna #dagmar of denmark #tsar nicholas ii #romanovs #1917 #letters/diary entries/quotes

[doll-elvis]

Your posts about Arlene and the time she spent at Graceland with the other girls got me thinking. Do you think it’s right to victimize people if they don’t view themselves as victims? You’ll often see people online say he groomed or abused these girls that spent time with him but judging by what you’ve shared of Arlene’s book, she clearly doesn’t view herself as a victim and has never said Elvis harmed her in any way.

oh my god I love you for asking this because the victimization of women who do not see themselves as victims is getting tiresome, so thank you so much for the ask <3 😩!!!

this is such an important topic and it is exactly why I find the r kelly comparisons particularly disgusting because the two situations couldn’t be any more different

the women who were with r kelly have identified themselves as victims of a crime and have called for action against r kelly time and time again because of it (and thankfully people finally listened and now he is sitting in prison where he belongs 😄)

and then you have the women who were with Elvis who have never once referred to themselves as victims or have said they were victims of abuse yet, like you said, that is how the media is telling their stories and thus leading their audiences to believe that Elvis acted in a predatory way

for example in the Barbara Walters interview with Priscilla, it is very clear to me that Barbara had an agenda and it showed in the way that Barbara was asking questions, it was like she was fishing for a specific answer from Priscilla to sell the story that Elvis victimized Priscilla

I just find it insane that people think they have the authority to tell a woman whether she was a victim or not that because by doing so they are literally taking away their agency

these women have had decades to reflect on the past, Elvis has been gone for almost 46 years, and yet they still speak about him with love and cherish their time spent with him

here are the last 2 pages of Arlene Cogan’s book where she expresses her love for him and her gratitude for ever have even knowing him

“You were so very special and I am so much better a person and so proud that I was blessed enough to have been one of those who were extremely close to you. To have been so much a part of your life, as you were mine”

please find one of r kelly’s victims speaking so highly about him like this and I will shut up… but no one ever will, because the two situations were just vastly different and I don’t understand how anyone could think they were comparable at all (like Alanna Nash saying Elvis would have shared a jail cell with r kelly) In order to have a crime, you have to have a victim and like you said no woman who has been with Elvis has ever proclaimed that they were a victim… periodt.

#thank you so much for the ask!!! #let’s stop telling people how to feel about their own situations 🤧 #like why would I listen to Alanna Nash when we have a first person perspective who tells a completely different story #also yall the book is finally scanned 😭 #will be posting the link soon so stay tuned 💗!! #Arlene cogan #elvis presley #elvisaaronpresley #elvis #elvis history #elvis asks

[separatist-apologist]

The Wildest Winter

In the cracks of light, I looked for you

Summary: Viviane had not been Under the Mountain. As her childhood friend, Kallias had been protective of her to a fault over the years- had placed the sharp-minded female on border duty to avoid the scheming of his court. He didn't let her near Amarantha, either. Didn't let anyone get a whiff of what he felt for his white-haired friend, who had no clue- not one- that he had loved her his entire life.

Read More: Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 Chapter 6 | AO3

[50 years before Feyre]

Kallias stood before the army that had defended Winter for centuries. Amarantha, too, surveyed them with gleaming interest. 

“Yours isn’t half as large as Autumns,” she crooned, her eyes sliding up his clothed chest. Beside her, Rhysand from Night grinned, as if every filthy remark she made was the height of comedy.

Kallias could have forgiven Rhysand if he’d done what Beron Vanserra was attempting to do—seem mildly pleased with Amarantha’s cruelty, without outright joining her. But Rhysand had sold them all out and for what? Kallias heard half his court had been wiped out the morning after Amarantha’s coup. Perhaps he truly did thrive in darkness, and it didn’t matter who wielded it, so long as he got to have his fun. 

Kallias also didn’t bother to mention that this was merely three fourths of his army. The rest were with Viviane at the border. Not enough to challenge Hybern and still better than nothing at all. He knew what Amarantha meant to do the moment she raised her hands. Rhysand stepped forward, her little puppet given Amarantha couldn’t actually utilize their magic. She was merely a rather ugly box, holding it until someone managed to steal it all back. 

Kallias didn’t dare close his eyes. Standing beneath a bright morning sun in snow that came to his knees, he watched that entire army collapse to the ground row by row like falling dominoes. It was all a miserable waste of life. Kallias meant to send a letter to every family, to offer them a warrior's burial even if Amarantha mangled their corpses, too. As if that offered their families any peace. 

“Anything else?” Amarantha asked, eyes sliding to Rhysand. Kallias refused to speak, furious when that claw slid itself over his own mind. It was a warning of what Rhys could do to him should he choose, a violation of everything Kallias was.

“Just his hatred.”

Amarantha mockingly pouted. “You hate me? Perhaps some time at court will fix that.”

Her cursed court in their sacred mountain. Kallias waited for Amarantha to turn her back before he spat at Rhysand’s boots. Rhys merely smiled, rolling his eyes. As if it was all some hilarious joke. He was too busy obeying Amarantha’s every whim to truly look into Kallias’s mind, which was a blessing.

Kallias knew what he’d find. Viviane and Wegen and everything he loved and held dear, laid out for a mad woman to wreck and ruin. He had no doubt she wouldn’t torture Viviane just to see Kallias submit. 

He pushed all thoughts of Viviane from his mind until Amarantha and Rhys departed. Off to harass another court–Spring, if he had to guess. He still had his spies, just like everyone else. Only Tamlin refused to submit. Kallias wondered if he’d choose the same fate had Amarantha wanted him to be her consort. 

Kira came out of the palace, dressed like a courtier and not a warrior. She’d wanted to join and Kallias had told her no. He needed someone. Nikolai was gone—all that was left was Kira. It was odd to see her dressed in a pine green, fur lined gown and yet it was better than staring down at her dead body.

“Want help?” she whispered. 

Kallias swallowed. He wanted to fall to the ground and scream at the gods. There were so many bodies that the only true way to dispose of them all was to burn them. It was still a warrior's death and yet Kallias thought the snow would never fall white again. The stain of Amarantha’s cruelty, the ash of the dead, would linger for centuries after her inevitable death. 

It wasn’t just him and Kira. Anyone who could, came to help stack pyres and bodies. To lay coins and offer prayers and light torches. It was utter misery, writing the names in the journal Viviane had sent for his birthday. He’d meant to use it to write her love letters, not remember the seemingly endless dead. 

He couldn’t stop thinking about her. There had been no response from Viviane, though his fox had returned. She’d read his letter, had taken the ring, and done exactly what he wanted. To send a response risked everyone now in her care—and yet, Kallias was so deeply, unearthly afraid of what she made of it. 

He needed to get Viviane out of his mind or he’d never survive. Regardless of her personal feelings, Viviane would never abandon Winter—or him, for that matter. Swallowing a deluge of tears, Kallias scanned the horizon. Not out of love—he willed himself to be made of ice. To pretend he felt nothing at all. 

He knew he wasn’t the only High Lord with a culled army. With a populace now suffering for Hybern’s continued success. Everything Winter was capable of producing had now been doubled, only to route all of it to Hybern. If he wanted to ensure his people didn’t starve, Kallias had to demand a triple output. 

While acrid smoke curled towards an icy sky, Kallias turned his back to all of it. He was a leashed High Lord, worse than the male before him. He’d get everyone killed through simple inaction. It was a choice to do nothing and Kallias couldn't abide by it. Wouldn’t. He’d rather die than see his home reduced to an enslaved territory. 

“What are you thinking?” Kira whispered, eyes scanning his face. Telling her was a death sentence.

The whole damn thing was a death sentence. She’d been spared because she was a member of his court before she was his captain. She could have fled—he’d given tacit permission the very night he’d lost his powers. Some of his court already had, packed up for the continent before the dust had even settled.

If they ever managed to get free, Kallias would be executing traitors. 

“I’m thinking she can’t rule us all unless we’re complacent,” he all but whispered, yanking Kira into his bed-chamber—away from prying ears. 

“They won’t all fight back,” Kira whispered, her voice so, so soft. And Kallias knew that. Beron would wait it out to see if they had a shot before he ever entertained the thought. Rhysand was an obvious no—he’d been so quick to align himself with Amarantha that Kallias couldn’t fathom his motivations. Thesan, too, was unlikely to join unless he knew they had a clear path to victory and Tamlin was too busy trying to break the curse (at least, he hoped) to consider war.

That left Summer and Day. Atticus and Phoebus. He didn’t know them at all. 

Nothing forbade Kallias from reaching out. From writing twin letters asking the High Lords if they’d like to have a meal and discussing how they might redesign long established trade and taxes in an effort to keep their collective people from starving. 

“Kallias,” Kira all but pleaded, reading over his shoulder. “Kallias, she will kill you.”

“She’s going to anyway. Once she’s gotten whatever she’s after, she’ll kill us all,” he replied, well aware his words were only angering Kira further. He knew it, though. Knew in his bones that none of them would be allowed to live. Even Rhysand, for all his calculated treachery, would die in the end. He wouldn’t go groveling—wouldn’t leave the world a coward on his knees. 

“Viviane will kill you, Kal,” Kira hissed, grabbing him by the arm when he tried to walk past her. It was enough to stop him, to force him to think about her again. What was she doing? 

Did she miss him?

“Viviane would understand,” Kallias decided, turning to look at Kira. He felt resigned to this fate, to always wondering without ever knowing. “She would never love me if I rolled over like a traitor.”

“She would want you to survive.”

Kallias held out a hand, unable to draw up even the barest frost. Everything he had, he’d given to Viv. Surely she understood the implications. He was wholly leashed–he had nothing to defend himself with. The once endless river that flowed through him wasn’t even a drip. It was a poisoned sludge he couldn’t touch, lest he betray Viviane and the rest of his home. 

“If I’m successful, we will survive,” he said, careful with his framing. “She’ll survive, and so will I.”She had his heart, after all. Kallias didn’t want it back—she could keep it even when he died. Kira only shook her head, as pale as Kallias so often was. 

“You’re stupid,” she whispered. 

“The alternative is doing nothing. I would rather…” Kallias took a gulping breath, swallowing his anger. It wasn’t right, directing it at Kira. She should have been with Viviane and they both knew it. It should have been Nikolai with him. Nikolai would have understood what was necessary, that duty always came first. Kallias was half glad Viviane had him—Nikolai would temper some of her impulsivity. 

“The alternative is Rhysand,” he finally told her. “Doing nothing is still a choice—it helps her. I can’t…how could I ever look Viviane in the eye and ask her to love me when I sat aside and let a foreign despot destroy our home?”

Kira wrapped her arms around the blue coat she wore. “This is why you’re High Lord, Kal. I don’t think you’ll succeed, but I’m with you until the end.”

He took a breath. “Maybe we’ll get lucky.”

Kallias needed hope. 

He had nothing else. 

VIVIANE:

[40 years before Feyre]

Refugees had been trickling into Wegen over the last decade from more than just Winter. Whatever was happening in Autumn sent people scrambling for the mountains, hoping for safety in Winter. A border Viviane had once been tasked with defending was now wide open. She and Nikolai had decided if someone survived, they deserved to be let in.

No one was allowed to leave. No letters could be sent out, warded impossibly tight by the remainder of Kallias’s magic. It was the only way she could justify letting people in at all—once they knew, even if they hadn’t realized or meant to come, they were not allowed to leave. Viviane and Nikolai locked the city down at sunset, patrolling heavily at every exit. She had bears and wolves trained in the woods and though no one had ever tried to escape, Viviane could imagine a scenario some fifty years in the future where someone got desperate.

You could argue with soldiers, at least. Plead for mercy.

The bears would merely shred someone to pieces. 

Most days, Viviane could pretend nothing had changed. Kallias was High Lord, which meant he was too busy to visit. She had that ring hidden in one of her drawers, his letter stuffed between the pages of a book. Viviane could go a full week without digging either of them out for her inspection. It had taken her a decade to manage. 

And though she had his last letter committed to memory, Viviane was still no closer to a decision regarding her own feelings. Of course she loved him. Kallias had been her best friend for the duration of her life. He always would be. He’d never given her even an inkling that he loved her, and she’d never once considered it. 

Considered him. Kallias was off-limits, and why want something you knew wasn’t for you? She could be practical. Rational, even. 

And if Viviane was honest, she was so, so angry with him. He’d made yet another decision without consulting her. He’d been in love with her since he was ten years old and never, in the centuries they’d been alive, had he ever thought to involve her in that. To tell her. He’d instead sent her far, far away from him and part of Viviane wondered if he hadn’t done that to keep anyone else from taking her from him. 

If he hadn’t done it to keep her from distracting him. 

Fingers snapped in front of her face. Viviane looked up from the dining table and her rapidly cooling porridge. Nikolai was the only thing keeping her from saying fuck it, and going back to the palace to demand he answer for himself. 

“Are you going to eat today?” he asked. She needed to. She couldn’t fall apart, not when so many people were counting on her. It was another spartan meal. Everything in Wegen was self-contained. They could no longer count on the support of the rest of the realm, and Viviane wasn’t going to be the reason someone went hungry. She took a bite, and then another, silently scarfing down the food in response to Nikolai’s watchful gaze. 

“Sentries think there are refugees from the capitol coming.”

Viviane knew what that meant. Kallias had personally sent her someone. She nodded, mentally calculating all the things she needed to do. They’d been drafting anyone willing to serve into the only standing military left in Winter. It had once been open only to High Fae—Viviane had very quickly abolished that, which saw a surge in membership, and had created what she thought was a rather vibrant, almost terrifying army in all of Prythian, assuming the rumors about the winged monsters Rhysand supposedly commanded wasn’t true. 

“Let's go check,” she agreed with a heavy sigh. 

They were quick to button themselves into warm coats and fur-lined boots before heading out into the cold. Viviane jammed her hands into her pockets, her thoughts were more restless than usual. Dawn had broken a brilliant pink over the city, throwing blinding light over freshly fallen snow. In some ways, everything seemed normal—she could hear the sounds of the bustling market and children screaming. A calendar of the week's events was tacked to a light pole. Now that travel was banned and no one could leave, a group of upbeat citizens worked each week to create activities that brought everyone together. Viviane noted cooking classes, quilting circles, and combat lessons in regular intervals.

She’d gone on ice skating excursions on more than one occasion if only to continue the charade that everything was normal. Kallias was just busy.

Kallias was coming back. 

She and Nikolai made their way to the now gated entrance of the city. A group of ten lesser fae sentries waited, shifting nervously as they always did. Winter, like all of Prythian, was divided among the High and Lesser—Viviane couldn’t undo millennia of injustice over the course of a decade. 

“Riyan,” she said with a smile instead, looking up at the ice-coated male. He was the perfect supervisor of the guard, given he stood nearly nine feet tall and his face had never once broken anything but a frown.

Today, he offered her a grim smile. Viviane’s heart stuttered in her chest as fear coated her tongue. Nikolai, scenting it on the icy wind, took half a step forward to peer around the males. 

“Oh,” he whispered, pushing open the opalescent gate quickly. Viviane half hoped it would be the High Lord waiting on the other end, come to tell her the ordeal was over. 

It was her mother. Only her mother, bundled in warm furs. Her hands laid protectively over a sling on her chest, and as Viviane came closer, she realized it was a child sleeping, tucked away from the cold. 

“Where is dad?” she asked, her stomach splattering at her feet.

Her mother blinked her jewel-bright eyes. “There was—” she stopped herself, her voice cracking. No one moved as they waited, the first news they’d head of the rest of Prythian in over a decade.

“Rebellion,” her mother finally whispered. “Your father is dead.”

Nikolai joined Viviane on the edge of their border, dark eyes searching her mother’s face as if there was some clue he might uncover.. “What do you mean there was rebellion?”

She swallowed hard, rubbing the white, fur-lined fabric that held the child. Viviane’s only sibling. 

“The High Lord allied with Day and Summer,” she all but whispered, a tear slipping down her cheek. Viviane rubbed a hand rough against her face, drinking in her mother's elegant silver hair pulled off her lovely face. She hadn’t seen her in so long, had forgotten just how much she missed her family. “They tried to bring an end to her rule.”

“What happened?” Nikolai demanded. Viviane came forward, reaching into the sling to pull out the baby. A little pink and silver bow was pinned against pretty, snow-white hair. The child flung out chubby little arms, her mouth pulling in a tiny frown but ultimately she settled against Viviane’s body. As if she knew she was safe. 

“The High Lords are dead,” her mother said. Viviane was grateful she held the baby—she might have winnowed to the capitol on the spot. “Day and Summer lost their High Lords.”

“And us? Did we lose ours?” Nikolai pressed, his olive skin ashen with fear. She shook her head.

“I don’t know,” she admitted. Viviane turned plaintive eyes to Nikolai. 

Please, she silently begged, holding her sister so tightly she threatened to wake her. Her legs shook with fear, the wound in her chest opening until she was certain she must be bleeding all over the dark cobblestone.

“I left because the High Lord told me to go. And I heard—” her mother's voice broke a second time, eyes shifting to the child Viviane held. “I heard she punished us by killing the children at court.”

Nikolai shook his head back and forth. Behind him, every sentry turned their faces away, struck by the sheer cruelty of such an act.

“She wouldn’t dare,” Nikolai breathed. 

“Please,” Viviane whispered.

“I’ll go,” Nikolai agreed. “Because my High Lady is ordering me to, and I obey.”

She ignored the way her mother’s eyes widened, or how the wind carried his silent words to the city behind them. It was well-known, to Wegen, at any rate, that Viviane was the seat of power.

Nikolai stepped away from her, inclining his head respectfully. She watched him start down the road, certain that he would wait until he was far from the city to winnow. She knew Nikolai would die to protect their secrets.

She knew he’d come back.

“Come on, mama,” Viviane whispered, her chest aching. Father was dead.

Kallias was too.

“Let's get out of the cold.”

KALLIAS:

[40 years before Feyre]

He was being summoned beneath the mountain. He, Helion and Tarquin would not be allowed to return to their homes. Kallias had sent away anyone he could reasonably spare that was willing to go. Many of his courtiers had opted to remain in a show of silent support he didn’t deserve. 

Twenty dead younglings. Every child in his court had been slaughtered in the cruelest way imaginable. Rhysand’s power, though the High Lord had been too cowardly to show his face, had ripped through the children in the night. Waking them from the pain, forcing frantic parents out of bed while their children endured a slow, painful death.

Kallias had been spared. He couldn’t fathom why.

No one had presented him with the option. Amarantha had merely delighted that he remained alive and Kallias privately wondered if she held the older High Lords of Day and Summer more accountable than him.

Or, perhaps she had grown bored with the killing, with the not knowing which new High Lord’s would arise after slaughtering the families of Summer and Day. Helion had been merely a scholar, and Tarquin the prince of Adriata, so far removed from the High Lord’s family by marriage and birth that, had they not all been murdered, he never would have been more than a prince. 

He had no family to kill. No parents left alive, no wife, no children. Only his court, now left in crumbling ruins. He’d been given a week to bury his dead, but his palace was in shambles, wrecked and crumbling. Five sets of parents had chosen to follow after their children, and Kallias couldn’t bring himself to look at the rest of them. 

So he sat on that throne of ice, alone in his throne room. Immovable, drowning in his guilt. Trapped under the sacred mountain was a fitting punishment for the High Lord who had sent twenty children to their death. He couldn’t contain his grief, couldn’t squash his misery. 

Footsteps echoed on marble. Somewhere in that dim room, Kira stood as she always did. She’d send the interloper away.

“Nik,” her voice breathed. Kallias looked up, stunned to see his friend striding through the cracked columns of the once magnificent throne room. Kira, his mirror image ever since the atrocity, seemed to crumble at the sight of him. Nikolai looked well. His cheeks were pink from the cold, but his brown eyes were bright, his hair neat, his spine straight. He looked as if he’d been eating well—like he slept at night.

He adjusted his blue jacket, catching Kira against his chest mere seconds before she might have slid to the ground at his feet. He held her, pressing his face into her dark hair. Kallias felt new fear sweep over him, forcing him to his feet. 

“Viviane is–”

“Alive,” Nikolai assured him, not releasing Kira. “And I can’t stay long. I swore I’d come and see if you survived.”

Alive. Kallias descended those steps numbly. She’d sent Nikolai to check on him? Kallias blinked away the urge to fall to his knees, to give in to the sobs he’d been suppressing. He had no right to cry. No right to do anything but accept his punishment silently. Gratefully.

No right to Viviane’s concern. No right to her at all. “How is she?” he whispered, needing to know despite everything. 

Nikolai pressed his lips together. “You should have told her before you did. She’s trying to pretend she doesn’t miss you.”

His heart jumped in his chest. “Is it working?”

A smile tugged at Nikolai’s lips. He released Kira with the softest kiss to her scalp, the only admission he felt anything for Kallias’s Captain. Kira didn’t react at all, though her brown eyes were glassy. Nikolai crossed the marble, clapping Kallias on the shoulder.

“It’s not.” His smile faded and Kallias knew what was coming. Felt utter dread knowing Nikolai would take back his answer to Viviane. Would she still miss him then? “The children–”

“Gone,” Kallias said, turning back for his throne. “Their minds were shattered, they—” They suffered. 

Oppressive silence rang around them. “A…another High Lord slaughtered children?” Nikolai asked, as if he couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

“Yes,” Kira answered, the word dripping with condemnation. “He’s a traitor. He could have allied with us, could have spared us and instead he stands beside her and delights in the cruelty he inflicts in her name. Not even Hellas herself would have him and I hope he rots.”

“How…” Nikolai shook his head, pressing his hand to his mouth. “Even Beron Vanserra wouldn’t…”

“We’re being sent to her court,” Kira told Nikolai, reaching for his arm. “You and Viviane will be all that’s left of us.”

“There’s no more fight,” Kallias added, squashing the hatred he felt. Not at Amarantha—he couldn’t sustain his anger for her any longer. He’d merely turned inwards, had directed it fully to himself. Trying again was unthinkable. What else could he risk losing? 

“For you, maybe,” Nikolai disagreed. “Not for us.”

Kallias didn’t respond, didn’t dare ask what he and Viviane were up to. “The only thing that matters to me is her life,” he told his friend, holding Nikolai’s gaze. Nikolai understood what Kallias couldn’t say well enough—she was to be protected at all costs. 

“Don’t.”

Nikolai’s jaw set in a hard line. “You made her High Lord in your stead. I obey her.”

Kallias shivered without meaning to. The thought of a whole city bowing to Viviane’s rule made his body tight and hot all at once. For a moment, Kallias indulged himself in a daydream—one where Viviane amassed an army strong enough to challenge Amarantha. Where she liberated him. Came for him.

Wanted him.

And Kallias swallowed it, because he knew how it ended. It wasn’t just Amarantha, but Rhysand and whatever armies he was hiding, too. Rhysand, who had more power left at his disposal than any of them. Amarantha, who could draw on the full might of Hybern to crush them.

He’d watch her torture Viviane.

Kill her.

“Don’t,” he whispered, unable to force anyone to do his bidding anymore. He had no authority other than the useless crown atop his head. Nikolai shook his head back and forth.

“You would do it for us.”“Look what it cost me,” Kallias replied, his anguish coloring his words. “What are you willing to lose?” 

The unspoken hung between the three of them.

“I can’t—I won’t—risk her.”

Nikolai inclined his head. He took a step back, his regret plain. “I will see you again.”

Even Kira winced at his words. To have their hope, their belief they could do something to save their home. Each other. Kira and Kallias no longer believed there was anything left to do. Any hope left to them was centered on Tamlin and the loophole Amarantha had offered. Kallias would do nothing else to draw Amarantha’s attention to Winter or what he’d hidden high in the mountains. 

Nikolai turned, leaving Kallias and Kira alone in that emptied throne room,

Surrounded by nothing but their grief. 

VIVIANE:

[an endless eternity]

Viviane stepped from the palace just as she always did. Dressed in well-fitted, fur trimmed white pants and a blue coat dress, she’d come to appreciate an unfussy wardrobe. It was practically a uniform, both practical and a sign of the unchanging times. Dyes were hard to create and blue was one of the few still available with what they could get from the landscape around them. 

The color was lovely, warm and somehow icy all at the same time. They were still in the brutal season still, though spring wasn’t far off. Viviane was looking forward to seeing the ice melt and children back in the street.

Beside her, Nikolai crunched into the snow. Hands crossed over the white military jacket on his chest, she knew he intended to go to the barracks first thing. He’d run drills until the sun set, leaving him exhausted and wrung out enough to sleep.

She knew that feeling all too well. Most nights they ended up in the same bed, backs facing the other, pretending they weren’t wallowing in their combined misery. That after nearly half a century, they were used to this. Used to life as it was. No High Lord—Kallias had been banished beneath the mountain decades ago. No one had heard from him and rumors swirled that he was dead.

Viviane couldn’t prove they weren’t true. A new High Lord might not even realize Kallias had bound the remaining magic to her. A new High Lord might have decided not to say anything and take his chances. She’d never know.

Viviane had nothing but her regrets and that fucking ring she half hated, half worshipped. She’d never been able to put it on.

He could do it himself. Could tell her properly. 

In her imagination, she pictured telling him she loved him, too. She imagined what it would be like to press her mouth against his own, to feel him hold her as he whispered everything in that letter against her cheek.

And sometimes she imagined hitting him across the face so hard it left a mark. She imagined what it would be like to see him sink to his knees while she told him she hated him and would never forgive him for what he’d done. For sacrificing himself. 

For leaving her.

Fifty years, and Viviane had no more clarity than she had when she’d gotten that letter. She’d always loved him.

She didn’t know if she was in love with him. Viviane could barely take care of the remainder of Winter's people, let alone herself and her own feelings. At night she tortured herself with it, tossing and turning until she went looking for Nikolai—assuming he hadn’t found her first. 

Viviane was their General. Their Lady. 

Hilarious. 

“The air smells different today,” Nikolai noted. Viviane inhaled sharply, letting the icy air flood her lungs. Ice and pine invaded her senses–just like always.

“If you say so,” she replied with a shrug. Still, her stomach tumbled at the thought that maybe the world had shifted. Good or bad, at least it was something. She didn’t dare hope, not after so much time, but she did let herself imagine his face when she’d last seen him.

Happy.

Alive.

Brutally handsome in a way that made her ache. 

Gods, she wanted to see him smile at her. Wanted to see his pale blue eyes crinkle at the corners in amusement. She wanted him sprawled over a chair, his lips tugged upwards as he tried—and failed—to pretend he wasn’t interested in every word coming out of her mouth. 

While Nikolai went to run himself ragged, Viviane threw herself into the mindless activities that came with running a city. Mostly, Viviane worked on settling petty disputes and maintaining their existing infrastructure. She collected no taxes in an attempt to alleviate everyone's burden given they were all struggling together. It didn’t stop people from the endless bickering over property and goods and sometimes just each other. 

And sometimes when things erupted unforgivably, the very structures Viviane was trying to preserve were damaged. She wouldn’t pretend that there was no tension. People were restless and exhausted and angry. They vented their rage on everyone around them—the lesser fae, people who disagreed with them, and most often, her. 

A decade earlier, a group had decided to leave and Viviane had slaughtered them all without mercy or regret. It wouldn’t be all for nothing. She vowed that if nothing else. Alive or dead, Kallias’s sacrifice would not be wasted on the restless and the weak. 

She wondered if people would forgive her when it was all over. A good third of the city still resented her for that choice. She’d warned them, and everyone else, what would happen if they tried to cross the border. Maybe it would have been better to leave the slaughter to the sentries.

It was an impossible situation. 

Not just the decisions she had to make, but all of it. Every choice felt weighty, like something terrible would happen no matter what she chose. Fixing a roof or barring people from leaving provoked the same panicked reaction. If she lived a thousand years, Viviane didn’t think it would ever truly leave her.

She met Nikolai in the city square. They dined there every night now, just like everyone else. He had two bowls in his hand and when he saw her, he offered up the stew. His face was battered and bloodied and she wondered if he let the recruits vent their rage on him because he couldn’t do it himself. 

“Anything interesting happen?” he asked with a wet cough. Viviane could smell the blood in the air. 

She buried her face in the stew, inhaling the meat. 

“The mountain pass is snowed in again,” she told him, sighing heavily. “And there’s a crack in the schoolhouse.”

“Could be worse,” Nikolai told her, just like he always did. Viviane titled her head upwards towards the dark sky overhead. Twinkling stars peered back against, bright in the violet night. Her breath clung just ahead of her face, creating delicate clouds all around her. She’d once found such a thing fascinating.

Now she found it tiring. Viviane plowed forward until they reached the arching doors of the mountainside palace. Her chest ached more than usual that night, and when her feet clipped on the floor, she turned to face Nikolai so quickly her stew sloshed over her dress.

“I miss him.”

Nikolai nodded his head with glazed over eyes, his jaw tight with emotion.

“I’m afraid he’s dead.”

Viviane hadn’t dared to ever actually say it. “I’m afraid he’s dead and I didn’t…”

Gods, but she couldn’t even admit it to herself. It was too painful to acknowledge the truth. Furious, angry, burning with hatred—and she still loved him, too. Loved him so much. And if he was dead, it didn’t matter. She felt doomed to miss him until she faded into ice. 

“I know,” was all he said. She knew he did. He’d lost people to that cursed mountain. Had people he was afraid were dead. That he loved. In the scheme of things, Viviane had so much. Her sister was an adult, her mother was alive, and she was bound to Winter as its Lady and Steward as long as there was a High Lord to sit on the throne.

“Come eat.”

One day, Nikolai would stop speaking entirely. Viviane wasn’t sure what would happen to her then. They ate in almost near silence and when it came time to part ways, she looped her arm through his.

“Why pretend tonight?” 

“Your room,” Nikolai agreed, his voice gentle. “Your room is nicer.”

He vanished just long enough to change, giving Viviane a moment to pull out that letter and reread it. 

I love you. Did I tell you that? Well, just in case.

I love you.

She could hear the words with that rich, deep voice. How his lips would be tugged into a playful smile but his eyes would be tight with worry. Kallias never did like not knowing how things might turn out. 

Pulling out that amethyst ring, Viviane slid it on her finger despite swearing she never would. Nikolai stepped in, dressed in his night clothes, and offered an appreciative chuckle. “Feeling optimistic?”

“Maybe it's good luck,” she replied, immediately embarrassed she’d been caught. 

“It looks good on you,” Nikolai offered, taking her hand to admire and silver on her hand. “You should keep it.”

She twisted the band, intending to take it off. “I think—”

Her knees slammed to the floor before she could finish her sentence. Palm stinging against the hard floor, Viviane took a gasping breath. Something in her chest ripped, unwinding decades of magic. Viviane was going to be sick. Distantly, she could hear Nikolai calling her name, his hands gripping her shoulders.

How foolish, to think Kallias had ever died without her noticing. She pushed Nikolai off her, stumbling for the window. The shimmering wards that had long shielded the city were gone. 

“Vivi–”

“He’s dead,” she whispered. “Kallias is dead.”

KALLIAS: 

[an eternity and a day]

I’ve come to claim the one I love. 

Three months. That was how long the filthy, underfed human named Feyre had managed to last. Kallias was still as breathless at the sight of her as he had been the first day she’d said those words. 

I’ve come to claim the one I love. 

He’d stopped dreaming about the sky. Of fresh fallen snow blanketing bright green pine. Of the smell of the cold, the sound of cracking ice.

Of blue eyes set beneath a cascade of silver hair. Kallias had stopped thinking about Viviane long before Feyre ever arrived, though she had a starring role in all his dreams. He indulged because he had no other reprieve from the endless horror of forty years beneath a mountain. 

All Feyre had to do was kill three of them. The crowd shifted anxiously, awash with a mixture of anticipation and hope. She was too pale, blue eyes wide with horror. No one held it against her. No one from his court, a small mercy given how few were even left to pick through. He saw another Summer court denizen, stolen with eyes squeezed shut tight. Across the room, Tarquin’s lips moved silently in prayer. 

The next was from Day. Helion set his jaw grimly, looking at the female with unguarded pride. Her life for everyone. For her home, her High Lord. She murmured encouragement to the trembling human. If anyone breathed, Kallias couldn’t tell. His own heart was still in his chest, his hand numb from how tight Kira squeezed it. 

Feyre hesitated.

Please, he prayed. His first since Amarantha had stolen everything from him. Please do this.

A second ash dagger stole a second life. All was left was one, was—

Kira dropped Kallias’s hand at the reveal. Of Tamlin, still in the horrible golden mask, staring back with such open defiance. Kallia turned his head, blood rushing in his ears. He’d been too hopeful. Had forgotten the little tricks of their kind. With knee wobbling fear, he forced himself to suffer through Amarantha’s taunting, of the shaking hands of the human who loved one of them. Love them enough to risk the almost certain death Kallias was certain Amarantha would foist upon her.

Feyre might survive this, but she’d never survive the humiliation of besting Amarantha. He didn’t care if it meant he could leave. It wasn’t the love of his life up there, after all. She was safe. Protected and secure.

Happy, he hoped. 

Feyre raised the dagger, blinking away rushing tears. Kallias knew what Tamlin did—what every High Lord in the room knew. Their hearts were stone, held by Amarantha and her unusual magic. Tamlin would survive, but the attempt would satisfy the deal. 

Please let her succeed, he prayed, unable to take his eyes off her.

The ash tip pierced Tamlin’s chest. Blood sprayed against Feyre’s too place face, throwing the scent of metal in the air. Across the room, the Vanserra siblings all shifted anxiously, eyes darting toward the door. She’d done it. Spring was free. Kallias didn’t know what he expected at that moment. Tamlin, perhaps, to shed the immortal skin for the famed claws and fur. Kallias wanted to see blood dripping from the High Lord's fangs. Wanted to see Amarantha ripped to pieces and eaten, so there was nothing left of her.

Not even her awful, ugly hair. 

“Oh, Mother save us,” Kira whispered when Amarantha barked out one of her awful laughs. He turned to Helion, to Tarquin when the human began screaming. What did it matter, his eyes silently pleaded. She’d free them on her deathbed ten thousand years from then. 

What did it matter? 

“Kal–”

Rhysand rushed forward, a knife in hand. Kallias couldn’t make sense of any of it. Bracketed between Helion and Tarquin, open mouthed like the other two, he merely stared in open mouthed horror. 

Rhysand bleeding against the wall.

Tamlin pleading on the floor.

“Love,” Feyre choked out wetly. The room went utterly still again. Horror and revulsion sharpened into unmistakable blood lust. “The answer is love.”

Her spine snapped loudly, but the words had been said. Beron Vanserra barred his teeth in a cruel, hungry grin. Thesan angled his body closer to that dais, eyes narrowed with unmistakable want. Kallias, too, wanted to paint himself in Amarantha’s blood. Anticipation flooded the room as Tamlin stood. His mask clattered to the floor along with the rest of his court, though it didn’t seemed to have registered for the High Lord.

Sharpened fangs erupted from Tamlin's gums, his fingers elongating into razor-sharp talons. The evisceration that followed was art, was every fantasy Kallias had harbored come to life. He delighted in Amaranthas terror, that her final moments were consumed knowing she lost to a human. That everyone she’d harmed clamored for more, would have stood there for a month to watch it drawn out. 

Though, it was smart to finish her quickly. Her last breath wooshed into the room, slamming into Kallias so hard that he, along with Helion, both nearly tumbled to the floor. Helion and Tarquin had never felt the full breadth of magic but for Kallias, it was like waking up again. He felt the soft snapping of that little pulse he’d sent to Viviane, cracking like fragile ice beneath the weight of his might. She’d feel it too.

He’d need to go to her before she panicked. 

Bring her back, a voice whispered in his mind. For her sacrifice, give her immortality. 

Whether it was his own thought or not, Kallias was too numb, too shocked and keyed up to do anything but step forward. Tarquin and Helion came with him, joining the remaining four. Kallias added his own wisp of magic to the bleeding, broken body cradled against Tamlin’s chest. 

He would have given far more than one immortal existence if it meant he could see Viviane again. It was all he could think about, even as he stood witness to the most remarkable thing he’d likely ever see in his life. Color flooded Feyre’s once hollow cheeks as life wormed its way back into her ravaged body. The bloodied wounds knitted themselves, her bones cracking and snapping back to where they belonged. 

She took a breath, and then another. It was enough to send Kallias scattering. He wasn’t the only one. The Vanserras were practically running from beneath the mountain, while both Helion and

Tarquin were gesturing for their new court, scrambling with their new power. Kallias needed to do the same.

But they wouldn’t remain. He was following just behind the Vanserra’s just as soon as he got the words from his mouth.

“We meet in Wegen,” he said, looking over the brutalized remains of his court. Amarantha had destroyed the capitol, and after forty years lying in ruins, Kallias wasn’t inclined to rebuild. Viviane was there.

And Viviane was home. 

“Collect whatever it is you need from this place. Leave everything else.”

A sea of faces stared back with disbelief, a feeling well echoed in Kallias’s chest. Decades of despair had taken their toll. The thought of going outside filled him with anxiety.

“I’ll meet you there,” he told them. Kallias didn’t want anything. Not his clothes, his crowns, his jewels. Just her. Gods, Kallias wanted to see her so badly that he, too, almost ran out of the room. He wasn’t the only one. Kira, as she had been since everything went to shit, grabbed his elbow. She squeezed when they climbed the steps to the tunnel leading out—leading to Autumn.

There wasn’t one directly into Winter, an impractical undertaking given all doors tended to freeze. 

“Can you winnow?” Kira whispered, glancing over her shoulder. Kallias was tempted to look back, too. He kept waiting for Amarantha to pop back up, to drag them all back by their throats. His whole body trembled when he stepped into Spring, his lungs filling with the first free breath he’d taken in five decades.

“Yes,” he replied, swallowing the knot in his throat. 

“What are you going to do first?” she asked, lacing her fingers with his own.

It was pure hubris that responded. “I’m getting married.”

#daddy winter #viviane x kallias #winter court #never say i dont do anything for this fandom #are they good things? #debatable #but they ARE things

[fruitcoops]

EVE🥺 I loved that fic so so much and Finn and Leo thinking about wanting kids made my heart melt! If you can I’d love it if you could please write them deciding its time to have that baby?

Food and love and family and all sorts of wonderful things because, in the immortal words of Aziraphale, "I'm soft". Cubs credit goes to @lumosinlove and Grace (also found here) is mine <3

TW for implied past car accident

Grace was a wonder.

“Careful,” Leo chided, holding the spoon out with a steady hand. She glanced up at him, then leaned forward and blew gently; the steam billowed for a moment before disappearing into her mouth.

Her little face lit up with a kind of joy Logan wasn’t sure his heart could handle.

Leo grinned, and Logan was definitely sure his heart was going to throw itself bodily at their feet. “It’s good?”

“C’est bon!” Grace announced. “Is it time?”

“Not yet, peaches, we still have to do the green beans.” Leo set her down on her stepstool, brushing a hand absently over the top of her head as he turned back to the counter. “The soup’s got another half hour, too.”

“Why?”

“So some of the water can boil off.”

“Why?”

“Because that makes it taste better.”

“Why?”

Leo looked into the living room, his smile barely hidden, and Logan set his newest pile of bookmarks down to crack his knuckles. God bless your goalie patience. “Because all the tasty things you put in get to mix when the water goes away, mon chou,” he said as he padded into the kitchen. Grace stood on her toes and tilted her head his way—he pressed a kiss just above the small scar by her brow and she bumped his chin in response. “It smells great in here.”

“Don’t sound so surprised,” Leo teased, his lips brushing the corner of Logan’s mouth. Fucking hell, Logan was far too old to be blushing that hard from a single kiss, but when had he ever been able to hide his feelings from his boys?

“Never surprised,” he murmured back. It was Leo’s turn to go pink as he stirred the soup once more. 13 years together, and he was still as goddamn adorable as the day Logan first set eyes on him. “Finn?”

Leo snorted. “Still fighting the garden.”

“That thing is going to drive him crazy,” Grace said in an uncanny imitation of her tallest parent. She leaned against Logan’s front—even with both arms wrapped around his waist, her hands didn’t touch. “Papa, you should help him.”

“Should I?”

“Ouais. I can help with the green beans.”

“I think…” Logan trailed off, lowering his voice conspiratorially as Grace perked up and shuffled closer. “I think you should go help in the garden so I can keep an eye on this one and make sure he doesn’t eat all the beans before dinner.”

“Would he do that?” she whispered in horror.

It took everything in Logan’s power to maintain his poker face. “One hundred percent. And you’re big and strong enough to get those weeds out with no problem, eh?”

Bingo. Grace was gone in a whirlwind of polka dots and denim, pausing for only a moment to slide her shoes on (no socks, a heinous habit she picked up from Logan-didn’t-want-to-know-where) before barreling into the backyard with a cry of “I’m here to help!” that made a small bird flee from their magnolia tree.

Logan didn’t waste a second—Leo’s lips were salty from the chicken broth when they found his own, his shirt soft and well-worn where it twisted in Logan’s hands. He heard the sound of a wooden spoon on the counter before a hand found his lower back. “She called you ‘papa’,” Leo said into his mouth.

“She did.” It was hardly more than an exhale. The feelings were too big, too deep for words. Logan had never been able to feel the easy way.

“That’s, what, ten for you?” Leo nudged their noses together and kissed him again. “Always the MVP.”

A burst of shrieking laughter from the yard silenced any excuse Logan would have mumbled out. Finn’s voice followed, incoherent save for his audible happiness. After eight months, the four of them had finally started edging out of the adjustment phase and into the slow understanding that they could be a family—an odd one, no doubt, one that would draw more attention than Logan preferred, but a family nonetheless.

Grace had started asking for things, like sneakers or stick-on earrings. She didn’t flinch when a car started down the block anymore (Logan hoped the well-healed scar meant she didn’t remember the accident, but it wasn’t fair to ask) and took shameless advantage of the child seat on Finn’s bike. She was messy and confusing and Logan was positive he had never loved something so small so much.

Leaving hockey had been rough for each of them in its own way. Finn had been the first—one last close call with a concussion was where he drew the line, much to Logan’s surprise and delight—followed by Leo, who had never actually explained why.

It just seems right, he had said with a shrug when they were in bed one night. The summer heat had forced them to turn on every box fan they owned, but Logan could hear Leo’s relief even over the droning buzz. The team’s in good shape. 30’s a nice, even number. By the way, Harzy, your books came and I put them on the porch. And that had been the end of it.

Logan had his own reasons to call it a day, most of which he hadn’t been able to put a name to but never regretted. He could still play at a high level if he wanted to. He still loved hockey with every bit of his heart and soul. Much of his family was still connected to it in one way or another, not that Remus or Sirius would ever stray too far from the rink.

He had won enough Cups and broken enough fingers to have a new dream to chase.

The leaves were just starting to turn all shades of warm red-brown against the rain-soaked green of the grass. Finn and Grace had finally settled down next to each other in the dirt and dug into the massive network of mint that was trying to make a resurgence despite Logan’s best efforts and Leo’s best swear words. Sweat rucked Finn’s hair up in the back; Grace’s overalls were going to be absolutely ruined by the time they were done.

“That’s another load of laundry,” Leo mused.

Logan hummed, tucking his head beneath Leo’s chin. “I’m going to find the inventor of the washing machine and kiss them on the mouth.”

“Do the same for laundry detergent, would you? And say it’s from me.”

“Kids are so grimy.”

Leo smiled into his temple and Logan turned to meet him for another chaste peck. “You say that like it’s a bad thing. We’ll hose ‘em off before they come inside.”

“Beans?”

“Beans.”

(They did spray both their husband and their child with the garden hose before they were allowed into the house. Thoroughly, unapologetically, and with unbridled glee.)

#logan tremblay #leo knut #finn ohara #grace #coast to coast #lumosinlove #next generation #my fic #fanfic #cubs baby #o'knutzy

[a-sip-of-milo]

Sorry if you dont like me ranting in your inbox like this but your recent post really resonated with me

My old school was literally named after having a community, and it was all about community and loving each other and whatever. But it had such an...outcast- I suppose- problem that the staff literally barely did anything about. The students outcasted the "weird" ones (like me) and we always were made fun of. The school was very obviously against blatant bigotry, but they were really bad with anything discreet, even when they were told directly about it by kids like me. You know it's bad when the students literally felt safe enough to say the n slur (a white kid said it, against a poc) multiple times. Yet it always seemed they cared more about kids writing in the stalls in the bathrooms than the community they always preached about. (Literally they made a whole "write your name and time you went to and came back from the bathroom" thing because of that yet did a horrible job at "fixing" the bullying/outcast problem) Hell! My mom said how she got a little annoyed too that she was never invited to or told about the facebook group that the parents apparently had despite the school being all about community. One year, the year I left, the year that was too much for me, last school year, several new kids joined the school. Apparently they were a lot more blatantly bigoted and bulliers, and rubbed off on a lot of the other students there. So suddenly they had a big bullying problem ("oh no the outcast problem we've been told about so much is now too obvious to keep avoiding") Yet they still did barely anything about it. They acted like they were trying but they really weren't doing a good job. So much of the pressure was put on the teachers (god bless those teachers btw, especially the ELA teacher, they were literally the sweetest teachers I've ever known I hope they never have to deal with something like that again), who couldn't do much because they didn't have enough power. Also the teachers were struggling to teach (and they made lessons fun!!!!) bc of the students :( I was being very blatantly verbally bullied near the end of my time there, and I remember my bully shouting out her mean comments very loudly in class (while the teacher was trying to be silly with me). And I could see the teacher know he couldn't do anything except say "just ignore it." I could tell he wanted to do more to help but... he literally couldn't. Because guess who was ignoring it? The fucking staff. The motherfuckers who talked about community soooo much Oh yeah also very very blatantly ableism last year against another classmate of mine (or well, wouldn't come across as ableism to people who wouldn't know why but definitely obvious bullying), and the staff handled it so horribly (I could rant about another thing here but you probably dont wanna hear it and this has already gone on too long lol)

Very very sorry if this was tmi/oversharing or something it's just that what you said in that post sounded like it would've come directly from my mouth so I felt like sharing /gen

(I'd get if you didn't wanna post this btw 😅)

yes, this is exactly what i mean when i say that while individuals might care, schools as a whole generally don't. I'm so sorry your school experience was so bad, that sort of thing shapes so many aspects of your life going forward and in my opinion, it's extremely important for children and teens to have positive experiences at school.

my inbox is available for people to rant in, it's okay <3

#ask #tw.ableism #tw.slurs #cw.vent

[danzohater]

Hello....If you don't mind, can I ask your top 5 (or top 3) favorite characters from Jujutsu Kaisen? And why you loved them? And your top 5 favorite moments from the series? Sorry if you've answered this before.....

hi omg YES thank u for sending i haven't ever answered this! also i'm curious about your top 5 for both!!!! <3 (sorry this is so long 😭)

top 5 characters and why i love them...

1. geto, he is hands down my ultimate favourite. i think he has the most interesting back story, and i love the whole trope of a a character that has gone through something terrible with someone else but one of them became out 'bad', the other 'good'. he's my biggest comfort character!!!! i also like that his morals never changed, it's just his vision of who should be protected did (which i think is understandable, albeit completely wrong). i also love that he's amazing at karate as well, and i love his humour!

2. higuruma!!!!! like geto, i just completely adore his CT. i actually think objectively it's the coolest and most impressive one and i love when gege gets a bit more technical in explaining stuff (like with choso's blood manipulation too), also judgeman's design is AMAZING imo

3. rn shoko, i LOVEEE HER! once again i just think her character design is really cool, i love rct as a technique and i ❤️ characters as healers. i loved her in hidden inventory, i always think about her trying to teach geto and gojo rct in the most nonsense way. i'd say gege give her more screen time but i need her alive and happy with utahime by the end of the manga...

4. YUTA!!!!! once again i just love his character design, he is so cutesy. i love how sweet and adorable and awkward he can be, and ALL of his friendships are so cute. one of the coolest character designs in the manga, and the most recent chapter with his new domain?!!!! i'm still not quite sure if i prefer that or higuruma's domain more, i THINK i prefer deadly sentencing

5. TORN BETWEEN CHOSO AND MAKI, but ultimately i think choso... honestly once again i just love his design, i like the whole idea of what makes humanity and the way he brings in curses vs humans (it works better knowing jogo, dagon, etc all mourned other curses and said to meet again). overall he's charming and funny, nothing endears to me more than a character that just wants to protect someone. the best big brother. i love that he cries a lot, i want to give him a hug.

AND my top 5 moments... (warning for manga spoilers!!!!!!!!!!)

1. nanami's death. as much as i hated it and i love him, the voice acting was INCREDIBLE in that episode. the piano, the way he speaks so quietly, the cut scenes from it being so beautiful to the noises of him being in shibuya. i first watched it drunk and i replayed it honestly about 20 times, i even called my dad and made him watch it while i cried 😭 ... THE FACT THAT JUST BEFORE IT YUJI IS HAVING A BREAKDOWN... ugh all of it!!!!!! everyone's VA was immaculate... the emotion behind yuji's 'what the hell are you mahito' was incredible, and hearing mahito scream back for the first time made my stomach drop. incredible, amazing. i've seen that so many times but just hearing nanami's 'i'm tired, exhausted even' makes me start to tear up. god BLESS the voice actors for that scene

2. yuji vs mahito, specifically the imagery and how yuji is portrayed with the wolves. so beautifully animated, incredible. mahito throwing snow at yuji was sad but satisfying

3. mai's death and maki's awakening... okay so off the bat maki is amazing. seeing mai answer back her father and then sit over maki broke my heart. they're both just kids who love their sibling. they are just so tragic, maki's 'okay i get it, now come back' after mai says as long as i'm around you'll never develop. i love that scene because it shows that maki is already willing to go against all of the odds, even before complete heavenly restriction. i remember her telling yuji she would kill her clan (?) in jjk0 and even believing her then. the burn marks also add a lot to this scene i think. it was just really sadly cathartic to see the resolution to them as sisters, and heartbreaking. the first panel where she open's her eyes telling mai to wake up BREAKS ME. the panic on her face. also the line 'destroy everything big sister'. the fact she does. UGHHH!!!!

4. hmmm... choso's fake memory. the fight scene was really cool, but specifically, the part where yuji is eating with choso and his brothers. it's beautiful. the switch up in the way it's animated, looking like it's on an old vhs tape. so emotional. seeing yuji feeding choso and calling him big brother, just to cut to choso punching something and crying like he can't breathe. ugh i love them

5. the fight scene in hidden inventory... i just love it, i think it sets up all three of their personalities so well. i love how easily it portrays geto's personality: his morals, his ego, the sense of superiority he has. it perfectly displays his and gojo's friendship, their differences. we get to see them so in sync as yaga walks in and they both look away stretching, the way they both antagonise each other in sync before that

#jjk