#apprentice alec

[into-the-daniverse]

Muriel Route Rewrite | The Lovers

In which, Alec is led out of the city by a mysterious wolf, meeting an even more mysterious man who needs her help, even if he won’t admit it.

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Alec woke up feeling no more rested than before and after tossing and turning in her bed for the better half of an hour, decided that she might as well begin her search for the day. Faust was nowhere to be found as she got ready, but she wasn’t worried. Asra’s familiar was more than capable of keeping herself safe and entertained while Alec made the trek back to their shop alone.

The sun was still slowly rising, the dew not yet dry as she walked through the streets back home. Very few people were out, which was good—she didn’t feel like talking much at all, or interacting with anyone if she didn’t absolutely have to. After the day before… well, she didn’t remember all of it, but it had drained her.

As she approached the shop, she sighed. She hoped Julian had been telling the truth yesterday when he said he wouldn’t be returning to her shop, but she wasn’t completely convinced that she wouldn’t find him rummaging through her cupboards once she opened the front door. She could still feel the magical protection charms around the shop, which was good, at least.

But when she put her hand on the door to unlock it, it swung open.

Frozen, she stared hard at the door. Right next to where her hand had touched it, there was a horrible smear of blood, and gouges in the wood by the handle. It was like someone had broken in. But the protection charms were intact.

Fear trickled chillingly down her spine. Asra. He must have gotten hurt, and maybe that animal she saw him with before carried him here. Instantly, she ran inside, struggling to see in the dark shop, all of the curtains drawn.

“Asra?” She cried out for him, her voice choking as she took in the shop. Things were scattered about, chairs, clothes, cushions—there was even broken glass on the floor, but she was almost too preoccupied to notice that. The destruction led to the back room, but so did a trail of blood. She ran towards the room, heart pounding in her ears. “As!”

What greeted her in the middle of the room, eyes bright and yellow, pacing in front of the old couch, wasn’t Asra. It was a wolf. Alec stopped breathing. It was huge, and it was dripping blood onto the floor. She felt dizzy, wondering briefly how well she would fare if the wolf attacked.

Its body tensed, and so did hers. But when it opened its mouth, instead of a snarl came a mournful whine.

Alec blinked. The wolf whined again.

Finding herself able to breathe again, she slowly knelt down, holding her hands out towards the animal, palms up. “Hey,” she called out, voice soft. “Hey, sweetheart, are you hurt?” The wolf watched her, and she shook one of her wrists, bracelets chiming, and a small light appeared in her palm. It started to approach her, head down. When it got close enough, she ran her hand between its ears, petting it gently. “How’d you get here, hm?”

This close, she could see that the wolf itself wasn’t injured. Which added yet another question to the growing list in her mind. Whose blood was it? Why did it come here? The wolf was able to get inside the shop, however violently, without breaking the protection charms. Which meant… like Julian, this was someone Asra knew.

“Did you… are you looking for Asra?” The wolf perked up a little, tilting its head at her hopefully. She frowned, holding its chin. “Oh, I’m sorry, baby. He left a few days ago. He’s not here.”

Slumping down, the wolf whined, low and long. It looked dejected, confused. Lost. Alec stared down at it in her lap, her thoughts churning. It needed help. If not for the wolf exactly, it must be for someone it knew, someone Asra also knew. Again, her desire to help was stronger than her unease.

She shifted, lifting the wolf’s head up slightly. “It’s okay. I’ll help you. I’m a magician, too.” Her voice sounded much more confident than she felt, but it seemed to be enough for the wolf, who lit up, its tail thumping happily against the ground as it stood up again. It nudged her cheek and started walking to the front door. “Woah, hang on!”

Following it out of the shop, Alec grimaced as she thought about how much of a pain it would be to clean up the shop when she got back. For now, she just closed the door behind her, locking it as carefully as she could, and then took off down the street, where the wolf was already trotting along, checking every once in a while that she was still following.

Running felt exhilarating. She almost forgot why she was running, just enjoying the feeling of the wind in her hair as she chased the wolf through the city. She wasn’t sure when the last time was that she got to run as hard as she was. It wasn’t until the wolf led her to the edge of the forest outside the city that she came to a hard stop.

Chest heaving, she looked at the dark trees apprehensively. She’d never come this far before, at least, as far as she could remember. And it was so dark… she wasn’t sure she’d be able to see once she stepped into the shadows. Anxiety washed over her, and she suddenly wondered if she was doing the right thing.

Then a low whine came from the trees, and the wolf poked its head back out, giving her the same mournful eyes from before. She sighed. “I’m coming, baby.”

Swallowing down her nerves, she took the last few steps into the forest, glancing back over her shoulder at the last moment before being engulfed in shadows.

With the pace the wolf led and the intensity of the terrain, Alec didn’t have any opportunity to light the way, focusing all of her efforts on just trying not to trip or twist her ankle in the thick undergrowth. At least that was what she told herself. There was a pricking feeling at the back of her mind that made her feel like someone was watching her, or looking for her. Drawing any more attention to herself than her already less-than-graceful steps through the forest did felt like a bad idea.

Just when she thought she lost sight of the wolf completely, she stepped into a small clearing, the wolf next to her, hackles raised. The sunlight filtered through the leaves just enough that she could actually see around her, and she felt her breath catch at the sight. Much like the destruction wrought on her shop, but even worse, the clearing was in tatters, dirt and grass strewn about, tree branches cracked, and trunks split—as if a fight had taken place. And the smell of blood was almost nauseating, coming from a large figure in the center of the clearing.

The wolf broke from her side, bounding over to the figure. Once it moved, Alec could see that it was two figures, a larger man hunched protectively over something smaller that she couldn’t make out yet.

“Inanna…? What are you doing here? Get away!”

Alec flinched at the gruffness of the man’s voice, but the wolf wasn’t deterred, and started nudging at him for a moment before huffing and looking back at her. She felt her body freeze as the hood fell from his face, and his angry, piercing green glare settled on her.

“You.”

She almost didn’t even hear him recognize her, too distracted by the blood covering him, his face, his clothes. There was a serious gash on his forehead, still weeping blood, and as she watched, Inanna—the wolf, she figured—started trying to lick it clean.

“Oh.” She exhaled, the sight of blood and the taste of it in the air overtaking her senses. It felt… familiar, but she didn’t know why, and she wasn’t sure she wanted to know. Instead, she took a few hesitant steps towards the man. “You’re hurt.”

His gaze hardened even more. “Don’t touch me.”

She stopped, holding her hands out towards him, palms up, like she had with Inanna. “I won’t,” she whispered. “I… what happened to you?”

He relaxed a little when she stopped advancing, but tensed up again when she asked what happened. When he didn’t answer right away, she looked past him, at whatever he was crouched over, and realized he was draped over another unmoving creature. Noticing her gaze, he slowly drew back from it, allowing her to see that it was a deer. Or something like a deer. She wasn’t entirely sure, due to the feathers that trailed down its back, meeting two dull, ragged wings. Inching closer, she was able to see that where its heart should have been, there was instead a great gaping cavern, torn open by rough claws.

Her hands flew to her mouth, a cold shiver passing through her body. Whatever it was, it was something precious. She could feel the forest around her mourning, and her own eyes watered.

The man scowled, leaning back over the creature, his cloak covering it from her view again. “Leave. You’re not needed here.”

She wasn’t sure what took hold of her to answer: “but I am. She brought me here. I… I’m not Asra, I’m sorry. But I can help.” Slowly, she stepped towards him again. “Please.”

He eyed her warily, frowning as the wolf whined at his side. “I can manage on my own.” There was a flash of pain in his eyes, and she bit her lip. Around them, an eerie howl echoed through the air, and everything in Alec’s body told her to run, to get away from the clearing and the forest. But she stood her ground, kneeling down to look up at the man.

“You’ll get home faster if I help. Please, let me.” She was almost begging with him, but she couldn’t leave him alone, not knowing that he was someone Asra knew.

A number of emotions warred over his face, too quickly for her to name any of them. But after an agonizing pause, he relented, his shoulders slumping just enough for her to know he had given in. “Fine.”

He stood on swaying feet, and almost tumbled back down, but Alec rushed to his side, supporting him with her shoulder. He tensed, and she was almost afraid he’d pull away completely, but after a moment he relaxed again.

“…This way.”

As they stumbled through the trees, Alec felt like the forest was closing in on them, making it harder to see and even breathe. The mourning from before was replaced with something else, something foreboding that had the hairs on the back of her neck standing up. When a branch snapped in front of them, she gasped.

The man stopped; eyes wide. “He’s back.” Inanna growled from just in front of both of them, her fur bristled.

Alec almost didn’t even want to ask. “Who…?”

The man didn’t reply, just let out a low growl as he stepped in front of her, eyes scanning the path ahead. Around them, a wind picked up a flurry of leaves, swirling them up in the air like a tornado. In the middle, a figure appeared, snarling at them from the shadows. It lunged toward them, moving to strike, and Alec moved without thinking, putting herself between the man and the figure. She stomped her feet on the ground, and countered the wind with her own, whipping around them in a protective barrier. Her arms outstretched, she grunted as the figure pushed back, but with one more burst of magic from somewhere deep inside her, she sent it flying into the shadows again.

Shrieking, the creature readied another attack. “You can’t run from me forever!”

She wasn’t going to be able to push back against the next attack, she was sure. Before she could worry about what to do, the man grabbed her hand and started tugging her away.

“This way, hurry.”

She tried not to think about the blood staining her hand and just held onto his for dear life, Inanna running alongside her. Her eyes caught on a charm dangling in the branches of a tree; one of Asra’s charms. She had watched him make it. The charm signaled the beginning of a path, and as she looked over her shoulder, the figure chasing them lurched to a painful stop once it reached the path. Writhing in rage, the figure let out one more horrible scream that echoed through Alec’s bones as they continued to run, leaving it behind.

Alec felt a small bit of relief as they reached another small clearing, but the weight of the man now leaning on her made it so she couldn’t relax just yet. Inanna led her forward to a hut that she had no time to look over, only stumbling inside once the door was open, breathing heavy as the door swung shut behind them.

****

Struggling to catch her breath, she helped the man to the ground, where he let out a low groan of pain, leaning his head against the wall. Anxious, she looked him over, her hands still outstretched and trembling. Cracking his eyes open, he summoned a deep breath to speak.

“…Thank you. Now go away.”

She blinked. Go… back outside? When that thing was still out there? How would she make it back to the city without it catching her?

Inanna nudged her leg, shocking Alec out of her spiraling thoughts, and she watched as the wolf sat pointedly in front of the door, anchoring herself in place. She let out a small laugh, and heard the man grumble from next to her.

“Fine. Stay until you catch your breath. Then leave.”

Nodding, Alec slid down the wall next to Inanna, burying her hands and face in the wolf’s soft fur. There was something painfully familiar and comforting about the feeling of being enveloped in her fur, and Alec let out a shaking breath, feeling her body start to slowly calm down.

When she could speak again, she peeked out from Inanna’s fur to look at the man again. “Um… what was that thing chasing us?”

“No one.” His answer came quickly and in a gruff voice. Alec knew he wasn’t going to give her any more information, but just that information surprised her. He said no one. So that thing, that creature, it was someone, once.

Quietly, she pulled her head up a little more, and Inanna settled into her lap. She looked around the hut for the first time since coming inside. It was simple and warm, a fireplace crackling in the far corner. The hut seemed to have only the barest of necessities, very different from her crowded shop, but somehow it still felt comfortable. Like home. She sighed softly. It must be from the protection charms. Asra’s charms. The ones that saved them.

Glancing back at the man, she watched his chest rise and fall, breath stuttering in his lungs, clearly still in pain. Biting her lip, she spoke again. “What’s your name?”

“Why?” The way he looked at her made her feel like she should be afraid of him. But she wasn’t. Maybe because he had helped her, or because he was clearly Asra’s friend.

“So… I know what to call you.”

“Just don’t call me anything.”

Alec frowned; her eyebrows knit together. “I could just call you Asra’s big, weird friend in the woods, but I’d rather not.”

A surprised snort escaped the man, and just as quickly as she heard it, he groaned in pain again. She waited, and once the pain seemed to pass, he looked over at her again from under his dark shaggy hair. “…Muriel.”

She nodded. “Hello, Muriel. I’m Alec.”

He almost rolled his eyes. “I know who you are.”

Anxiety shot through Alec’s heart again, and she gripped Inanna’s fur tightly in her fingers. “Oh.” No wonder he didn’t seem to like her. She must have known him before her accident and now… even a man living alone in the woods would have heard about her memory loss, she assumed. “I’m… sorry. I don’t remember you.”

“Good. You shouldn’t.”

She wasn’t sure how to feel about that.

Before she could respond, he stood up, clearly done talking. Where he was sitting, there was a small pool of blood, and Alec gasped, shooting upright. Inanna whined as she was disrupted from Alec’s lap, and Muriel flinched, looking startled.

“W-we need to get you fixed up.”

“I can do it myself.” Muriel started to pull away, but Alec held her hands out in front of her.

“No! Let me help you, please.”

He stared at her, and Alec was afraid he’d refuse her again, afraid she’d have to try and make him let her help. But then, he sighed, shoulders slumping. “Fine. I’ll get the supplies.” He tried to push himself away from the wall, but stumbled. Alec caught him, her arms around his waist, shoulder propping him up.

Her cheeks flushed, but she didn’t look up at him. “I said I’d help. That means you need to take it easy.”

His body felt stiff under her touch, but he didn’t argue, and she led him to a small stool to sit on while she searched the hut for any supplies to use. After finding a bucket of water and a clean rag, she went back over to him, kneeling in front of him as she soaked the rag and held it up to his skin.

He pulled back. “What are you doing?”

“I have to clean the blood off of you to see what we’re dealing with.” When he tried to take the rag from her, she frowned, pulling it away from his reach. “What did I just say before? You need to take it easy.”

Mirroring her frown, he grumbled at her. “I can do it.”

She held his glare this time, and shook her head. “No, you can’t. Now, sit still. The sooner I can get this done, the better.”

His frown didn’t waver, but he relaxed slightly, and turned his head away. Gently, she slid the cloak from his shoulders. He shivered then forced himself still, staring at the wall and ignoring her, his blush reaching down to his shoulders. She decided to push forward, carefully wiping his skin clean.

She bit back a gasp as the blood was wiped away, his skin covered in scars. Many of them seemed to be years old, deep, not properly healed. Worrying her lip as she continued to pass the rag over his skin, she thought about her own scars, the dozen or so of which she had no idea where they came from. Where had his scars come from?

What happened to him?

As she placed her hand over a knotted mass of scar tissue, she could feel how tense he was under her touch. With most of his skin clean, she could see that he thankfully wasn’t seriously wounded; there was just a single deep wound on his side. She continued to clean, but spoke softly.

“I’m not going to hurt you.”

Startled, Muriel turned his head to look at her, and she could see in his eyes that he was calculating what to say to her. Eventually, he settled on a quiet, “I know.”

Questions pressed at the roof of her mouth, begging to be released. But she was afraid he wouldn’t answer, even more afraid that he’d push her away and she wouldn’t be able to help him. So, instead she just swallowed them down and continued to clean the blood away from the wound.

This time, he seemed less tense, and she could feel him watching her as she finished cleaning his skin. But when she sat back to study him and make sure she hadn’t missed anything, he was staring down at the wound on his side, upset.

“Is it bothering you?” That was a dumb question to ask, she thought, as soon as it left her mouth. Of course, the open wound was bothering him.

His eyes flickered to hers, clearly fighting with himself on whether to humor her or not. But she wasn’t expecting him to sigh and nod. “It’s… going to scar.”

“You don’t like your scars.” It was more of a statement than a question, a familiar ache tugging at her chest.

Shoulders tensed; Muriel went quiet. For a moment, Alec was ready to accept that she had overstepped, and he didn’t want to talk about it, or anything, with her anymore. But then he answered, his gaze hard at the ground. “They scare people.”

Alec set the rag down in the bucket, reaching out to place her hand on the knotted scar she paused on before. “They don’t scare me.” He looked up at her, frowning, and she pulled her hand back. “I just… I mean… Scars don’t make someone scary. But I get not liking them. I hate my own.”

Confusion showed on his face before he could hide it. “Your… own?”

She nodded, and put her hand over her side, just under her rib cage. “I have a lot of them, but this one… It looks like something I should have died from. But someone saved me. Or maybe I did it myself. I don’t know.” She sighed. “And that’s the problem. I don’t know. Scars… they tell a story on everyone. But I don’t know my own story. And I hate it.”

Muriel didn’t answer her, and when she looked back up at him, his gaze was dark and distant, like he was remembering something unpleasant. She waited, but when it seemed like he wasn’t going to add anything else to the conversation, she sighed, feeling a little embarrassed by her confession.

“I’m… um, I’m going to close the wound now.”

Only once he nodded did she move to put her hand over the wound. She closed her eyes, and tried to even out her breathing. Asra had taught her to patch small wounds and scrapes as soon as she got her magic back, in case he was gone one day and she was injured, but this was bigger than anything she had practiced on before. Truthfully, she wasn’t sure she could do it, especially without him.

But then she thought about the scar on her side. If she had healed that herself, that meant that she was still capable of doing it. Asra was always telling her to trust her magic to come to the surface on its own instead of trying to pull it up, and she trusted him.

She focused all of her energy into healing the wound on Muriel’s side, and heard him let out a low groan as the skin stitched itself together. Her eyes fluttered open, and she hesitantly pulled her hand from his side, only to see the wound healed, just a pale scar in its place.

“I did it,” she breathed, relief flooding over her. No sooner had the words left her lips than she was falling forward, into Muriel’s chest. She felt his hands on her shoulders, steadying her, but she was already slipping from pure exhaustion. The last thing she saw was his face, green eyes wide with concern, and then she fell into a deep sleep.

****

Alec woke up slowly, feeling disoriented. The ceiling above her wasn’t from her room in the shop, or any room in the shop, for that matter, and it wasn’t the ceiling of the palace either. Groaning, she sat up, and jumped as a wolf padded over to her, tail wagging.

Hesitantly, she reached out to pat its head, and it huffed happily, plopping into her lap. That, at least, was familiar. She remembered going to her shop, finding the wolf covered in blood, following it into the forest, and then… what happened then?

As she continued to wake up, she noticed a giant figure on the other side of the hut, and her heart started to race. With the weight of the wolf on her lap, she couldn’t move. But the wolf wasn’t reacting in any way to the man as he turned towards her, holding a plate of what looked like eggs, with a guilty look on his face.

“You’re awake.”

She swallowed, panic rising. “Um… wh-who…?”

He frowned, setting the plate down on a small table. Rummaging around a small shelf, he pulled out a satchel of herbs, and walked over to her, arm outstretched. Slowly, she took it from him, holding it to her chest. The scent of myrrh started to clear her senses, and she took a deep breath, feeling as if a fog was lifted from her brain.

Immediately, she remembered everything. Her eyes flew open. “Muriel?”

He nodded, turning back to sit at the table.

“I forgot you. I-I’m sorry, it’s never happened like that before—”

“It wasn’t your fault.” He sighed, as if it pained him to explain. “It’s a spell. People look away from me, and they forget.”

A shiver went down Alec’s spine. She had never heard of that kind of spell. For a moment, she was elated. There was a spell that might solve all of her problems of being recognized. But her joy was quickly erased by the feeling of emptiness that she was all too familiar with. Clutching the satchel, she looked up at him, worried. “Will it happen again?”

“Not if you keep that pouch on you. The myrrh helps.”

“Oh, good.” She relaxed, and started to gently pry her legs from under Inanna, who grumbled in her sleep as she was moved. “I… I don’t like forgetting things, or people.” As she made her way to join him at the table, she gave him a small, teasing smile. “Even big, weird friends of Asra.”

He blushed, and Alec couldn’t bite back a giggle. “What—I—you know what, I changed my mind. You can’t have any eggs. Go away.”

With no real threat in his voice, Alec shifted closer to him, and finally looked at the plate of eggs in front of her. “You made these for me?” He only blushed deeper, glancing pointedly away from her. She smiled, pulling the plate across the table to start eating.

As she ate, she looked around the hut again, trying to make sure it was committed to memory. It was a curious place, and Muriel was a curious man. Out here alone, with just Inanna and the forest for company. Well, and Asra, she supposed. She wondered how many times Asra had visited him in the past few years. Maybe that was why he didn’t like her, maybe Asra hadn’t been coming around to visit Muriel because he was busy watching over Alec. That thought made her stomach twist uncomfortably, and she paused in her eating, looking at him.

He startled when he caught her staring, frowning at her. “What.”

She shrugged, setting her fork down. “I want to know more about you.”

“Why?”

“Because. You’re Asra’s friend. And because you’re the first person I’ve been able to talk to like this in…” She hesitated, thinking back to how anxious she was at the palace. She had appreciated the company of Portia, but there was an awful feeling of being out of place that hung over her head while she was there. Not here. She felt safe here. “…well, a while.”

He seemed to relax just a little, his eyes studying her. His voice was just as gruff as ever when he spoke. “What kind of things do you want to know?”

Alec hadn’t actually expected him to agree. “What… um, what’s your favorite color?”

He stared blankly at her. “What.”

“Your favorite color. What is it?” She leaned forward a little, tugging at her dupatta. “Mine is pink. Or gold. I have a hard time choosing.”

“I don’t have one.”

“Oh, come on. Everyone has one.” She sat back, narrowing her eyes at him. “It doesn’t even have to be your favorite, just a color that you gravitate towards.”

“I don’t have one,” he repeated, but Alec waited. He stared furiously at the wall for a few long moments, before finally admitting, “green. It’s… okay, I guess.”

She smiled, leaning back towards him. “Green is a lovely color. I think it suits you.”

“Whatever.” His cheeks flushed, and her smile only grew.

“Do you have… a favorite flower?”

Much to her surprise, a small smile graced Muriel’s lips at the question, before she could even offer her own answer. He nodded slowly and retrieved a tiny, delicate flower from a pouch on his waist. It was dried and pressed, and a pale periwinkle color. He held it carefully between his fingers and gazed at it with something close to fondness glimmering in his mossy eyes before holding it out to Alec, placing it in the palm of her hand.

Gently, she traced the edge of her nail over the petals, studying it closely. “Forget-me-nots?”

“They feel….” He shook his head as he searched for the word, before finally coming up short. “I don’t know, I just like them.”

He took the flower back before she could look at it any longer, but she just nodded. “I get it. I like the bird of paradise flowers, but there aren’t ever any here, in Vesuvia. I’ve only ever seen them in books… that I remember anyway. But they feel… familiar.” She glanced up at him, giving him an embarrassed smile. “It’s weird, I guess.”

He didn’t answer, watching her with the same distant and slightly sad look from before.

She toyed with her fork for a moment before deciding to ask her last question. “Are you… alone out here?”

“Yes.”

“Doesn’t it get lonely?” She couldn’t imagine being alone like he was and enjoying it. Every time Asra left, she would feel unimaginably lonely, like she wasn’t meant to be on her own that way.

Unsurprisingly, he shook his head. “No. Besides.” She caught the glimpse of annoyance in his eyes. “You’re here right now. So, I’m not alone.”

“Oh.” She glanced down at the table, her cheeks burning. “I… I can leave if you want.”

He was quiet, and she thought he was going to agree. Then he sighed. “You don’t need to do that.” Surprised, she looked up at him, and he flustered, looking away from her. “Finish your eggs.”

A small smile tugged at her lips, and she turned back to her plate. That was when she realized that Muriel didn’t have any food for himself, just watching her eat. “Did you… give me your eggs?”

He flushed deeper, and frowned, crossing his arms over his chest. “I take it back. Don’t you have anything more important to do or something?”

She was about to laugh when she remembered that he was right. Her face went pale and she stood up, pushing away from the table. “Julian. I’m supposed to be looking for Ju—Dr. Devorak.”

“Him…?” Muriel frowned, standing up as well. “Why are you looking for him?”

The tone of his face made her pause, and she wrung her hands in front of her anxiously. “Well, the Countess… um, Nadia, she wanted me to question him. About the murder of Count Lucio.”

“What would he know about that?”

“Wh—he confessed. To killing the Count? We’re trying to find out if it’s true.”

Muriel let out a sound like a snort, and her eyes widened. “What an idiot. He confessed to something he didn’t do.”

Alec’s stomach swooped, first in relief and then in dread. “What do you mean?”

“He was locked up in the dungeons that entire night. He couldn’t have killed Lucio.”

“What?” She sat back down, legs feeling weak. “But if he didn’t… who did? He was our only lead, he confessed. Who could have killed the Count?”

He shrugged, looking down at her. “I don’t know. Go into the forest and ask him.”

Alec’s voice sounded far away when she spoke. “I… I don’t understand.”

“That… thing, in the woods. The creature that attacked us. That’s all that’s left of Lucio.”

That creature… was Lucio? Now that she wasn’t running for her life, Alec thought back to the creature, to its horrid appearance. A twisted, goatlike thing, that reminded her too much of the discomforting painting in Nadia’s dining hall. And red eyes that glowed like hot coals, no, like a roaring fire. Her head hurt, and she winced, pressing a hand to her forehead.

“Th-that’s Lucio? How?”

Muriel reached out towards her hesitantly, then stopped. “... I don’t know. I don’t know what happened to him. But if he’s dead, he’s doing a bad job.”

Another time, Alec might have laughed at that. But she couldn’t shake the awful sense of foreboding off of her shoulders, the prickling feeling on her spine. If that really was the Count, he had been existing in that form for the last three years. And he was angry. She believed in vengeful spirits, wholeheartedly, she just never expected to be on the other end of one’s vengeance.

Slowly, she rose to her feet again. “We need to tell Nadia everything. Everything about Julian, and about Lucio’s ghost.”

Muriel made no attempt to move, looking very much like he’d rather sink into the floor and cease to exist. “You’d better get going then.”

“No, Muriel, please.” Alec walked around the table, closer to him, but he backed up. “You’re a witness, I need you to come with me and talk to her.”

The frown on his dace only deepened. “I didn’t ask to be.”

I didn’t ask for any of this, she wanted to say, but all that came out of her mouth was a gasp before the door of the hut flung open, a figure panting heavily.

Alec’s heart soared when she realized who it was; Asra, looking very worried and disheveled. “Muriel, I need your help—our shop—”

Before he even finished speaking Alec was running over to him, wrapping him in a warm hug. “Asra!” She buried her face in his shoulder, fighting back tears as she held him.

“Allie! You’re alright.” He hugged her back quickly before pulling away to look between her and Muriel. “When I saw the blood in the shop I thought… but how did you get here?”

She glanced back at Muriel, and then frowned at Asra. “I think you have more explaining to do than I do right now.”

He sighed, shutting the door behind him. “I suppose you’re right.”

#the arcana #the arcana game #muriel #Muriel the arcana #muriel of the kokhuri #asra #asra alnazar #daniverse fic #apprentice alec #Alec al-saleh

[buddhisttrueist]

#Star Wars #a new hope #darth Vader #obi wan kenobi #alec guinness #master vs apprentice #Now I am the master

[fairwellersmustache]

Thinking about a Leverage Regency AU and how easy it would be…

The place is London. The year is 18—

Rev. Nathaniel Ford: a disgraced Irish vicar. (Sorry Nate, I couldn’t make the Catholicism work; you’re a Protestant now 😔✊) Fell out with God after losing his son, Samuel. Then he subsequently fell out with his patron, an Earl, who would not fund an expensive surgeon for Sam’s care, and finally with his wife, Margaret. Displaced from his station, his credibility, and power as an agent to nobility, Nate moves quietly to London, hoping to realize his revenge or to drink himself to death - whichever comes first. His parish is now being preached to by a Rev. James Sterling.

Mrs. Sophie Devereaux: a spy through and through. She might actually be a duchess, but didn’t you see her in that terrible play on Drury Lane? No one’s really sure. In society, she’s viewed as an eccentric and slightly mysterious salon hostess, but that cover allowed her to play the British and the French governments throughout the end of the 18th century. A metropolitan girl at heart, she’ll never be found in the country unless planning to procure a particular pièce d’art from one of the gaudy estate manors there.

Mr. Elliot Spencer: began his career at 9, as a cabin boy for a naval vessel. He saw the world twice over, but also witnessed the cruel hierarchy between officers and sailors first hand. He roved through the navy and the army doing little more than grunt work, but studied the martial and combat techniques of every place he went. Now he’s just trying to live the quiet life in London as a bruiser for hire.

Mr. Alec Hardison: a man who has lived many lives —aided, of course, by his job as a private banker, moving around the wealth of London at his leisure. In his line of work, he has picked up the ins and outs of all the governing bodies and businesses in the empire. Add that to his virtuosic ability to pick up any form of study and Mr. Hardison could bleed London dry, given the right reasons. For now, he enjoys the high life thanks to the fortunes of his “betters”.

Parker: an urchin, a waif, the stickiest of fingers in the nicest of neighborhoods. Once the apprentice of the notorious criminal, Lord Archibald Leech, the Gentleman’s Thief, she’s since left his tutelage and is now operating unseen in the big houses of Grosvenor Square as a scullery maid, putting enough bits and bobs aside to graduate from service and to never look back again.

#leverage #leverage au #parker #Alec Hardison #elliot spencer #sophie devereaux #nate ford #ask me about my Leverage : Redemption regency hcs #see Alex write #I mean I probably won’t end up writing for this #👀👀 unless…. #leverage: regency

[fortunelowtier]

I still 100% unironically wholeheartedly believe that this scuffed ass reality tv show from 2007 where CBS stranded 40 children in the middle of the NM desert a la Lord of the Flies is one of the most genuinely fascinating pieces of TV I've ever watched just because of how ABSURD it is on every level

-Their society is a bizarre Communism/Democracy hybrid whose entire economy is based on the barter system

-There is a set class system everyone is sorted into against their will who each get paid more or less money depending on how high or low they are on the ladder, and at the end of each episode they must compete in competitions to decide who gets to be at the top, with the "strongest" being able to get the esteemed title of "upper class"

-Every time they would complete a challenge, at the very end they were given a choice of 2 things that could be added to the town, to which the leaders of the teams would vote on which to get (For example, in one episode they had to choose between fresh produce or 50 pizzas). One of these things was letters from the children's parents, implying that the adults on site were receiving the mail from these kid's parents and deliberately withholding it from them

-In one episode the district leaders of each of the 4 teams (the classes) go out and find a chest full of buffalo nickels (the town's currency), they bring the chest to the town and naturally, this creates unprecedented inflation near instantly, as there's now a mass amount of currency that suddenly appeared in the economy

-Their entire society existed in relative stability until the moment religion was introduced in the form of various religious texts (Bibles, the Quran, etc), after which the town immediately started to go to shit. The Jewish kids and Christian kids were at each other's throats about which religion was """better""" (because they're children who had religion forced upon them at a young age before they were able to think for themselves but that's an entire can of worms I won't open), while the 1 (one) Hindu kid was trying to keep the peace

-At one point the kids start to crave meat, as their food up to that point was mostly canned goods and various produce, so one of the """eldest""" members of the group, (I say """eldest""" because he was still only like 14 or 15) who had worked as a butchers apprentice, took one of their chickens and lead the kids into the desert to where he then taught them how to decapitate, pluck, drain, and cook a chicken.

-One of the kids later did a Reddit AMA about his experience on the show, where he then disclosed various things that happened outside of the camera such as, but not limited to: Oil burns, a kid drinking bleach, scorpions, venomous snakes, an outbreak of herpes, the lack of showers, the lack of multiple toilets (up until I believe a few weeks in they only had one outhouse), etc etc etc

-The parents of these kids allegedly had to sign a 22 page waiver that was basically CBS going "If ur kids get hurt you can't sue us", specifically noting "acts of god" in the contract of things that they weren't to be held accountable for

-At the end of every week, the 4 leaders got together to choose which person would receive that week's "gold star", a star made out of 20,000 USD of solid gold (around 30k after adjusting for inflation), an unfathomable amount of money to give to kids who likely had no concept as to how much money 20 grand was

-The town used for Bonanza City is actually a ghost town/film set located just 20 miles from Santa Fe used as a filming location for movies like A Million Ways to Die In the West (2014) and The Legend of the Lone Ranger (1981). The reason I bring this up is because it's the same film set in which 14 years later, Alec Baldwin would accidentally discharge a firearm on the set of Rust, resulting in the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins

To anyone asking where to watch this, I genuinely don't know. All of the 13 episodes used to be available on YouTube by someone who re-uploaded them in 2010, but the channel was terminated last year. I've heard that there are a few Google Drive folders floating around that have the raw MP4 files and you could watch them that way but you'd probably have to go digging for it

#tv #television #reality tv #long post

[fictional-musician-competition]

the moment you've been waiting for has arrived...

We have a bracket!!

Yeah. It's a 64-person bracket, the font is small, all that. You can try to zoom in, or there will be a list of matchups below the cut.

All but the first matchup have been randomly generated, please don't complain about the seeding or having to choose between characters. It just worked out that way ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ (ig you can complain about the first one)

Polls will be released Monday afternoon. The first round will once again be a week long, but after that we'll go to 24-hour polls until the final matchup.

May the best musician win!

Side A

Orpheus (Ulysses Dies at Dawn by The Mechanisms) on mandolin vs The Toy Soldier (The Mechanisms) on mandolin, glockenspiel and others

Theodore (Alvin and the Chipmunks) on drums vs Wylan Van Eck (Six of Crows) on flute vs Squidward (SpongeBob SquarePants) on clarinet*

Hitori "Bocchi" Gotoh (Bocchi the Rock) on guitar vs Vice Principal Nero (A Series of Unfortunate Events) on violin

Murdoc Niccals (Gorillaz) on bass vs Tsukasa Tenma (Project Sekai) on piano

Ibuki Mioda (Danganronpa) on bass guitar vs Jasiker (The Witcher) on lute

Grover Underwood (Riordanverse) on reed pipes vs Marceline "The Vampire Queen" Abadeer (Adventure Time) on bass guitar

Wei Wuxian (The Untamed) on dizi vs Rodrick Heffley (Diary of a Wimpy Kid) on drums

Toki Wartooth (Metalocolypse) on guitar vs Eddie (The Rocky Horror Picture Show) on saxophone

Chai (Hi-Fi Rush) on guitar vs Sherlock Holmes (Sherlock Holmes) on violin

Wirt (Over the Garden Wall) on clarinet and bassoon vs Alec Hardison (Leverage) on violin

Raine Whispers (The Owl House) on violin vs Scanlan Shorthalt (Critical Role, The Legend of Vox Machina) on lute and flute

Raiko Horikawa (Touhou Project) on drums vs Undyne (Undertale) on piano

Riebeck (Outer Wilds) on banjo vs Candace Flynn (Phineas and Ferb) on a variety of instruments that begin with the letter "B"

Lisa Simpson (The Simpsons) on baritone sax vs DJ Octavio (Splatoon) on turntables

Ronan Lynch (The Raven Cycle) on uilleann pipes vs Venti (Genshin Impact) on lyre and flute

Rocky Rickaby (Lackadaisy) on fiddle vs Hoid (The Cosmere) on flute

Side B

Sonic (Sonic Underground) on electric guitar vs Sal "Sally Face" Fisher (Sally Face) on Guitar

Demyx (Kingdom Hearts) on sitar vs Achilles (The Iliad) on lyre

Jade Harley (Homestuck) on bass guitar vs Ryan Akagi (Infinity Train) on guitar

Wednesday Addams (Wednesday) on cello vs Maki Nishikino (Love Live! School Idol Project) on piano

Sally Thorn" McKnight (Scooby-Doo) on guitar vs Hunter Sylvester (Metal Lords) on electric guitar

K.K. Slider (Animal Crossing) on guitar vs Will Treaty (Ranger's Apprentice) on mandola

Edward Cullen (Twilight) on piano vs Miguel Rivera (Coco) on guitar

William the Gonagle (Discworld) on mousepipes vs Marzipan (Homestar Runner) on guitar

The Phantom of the Opera (The Phantom of the Opera) on organ vs Dr. Teeth (The Muppets) on piano

Kris (Deltarune) on piano vs "Soul King" Brook (One Piece) on piano and guitar

Manolo Sanchez (The Book of Life) on guitar vs Greg Universe (Steven Universe) on electric guitar

Ebony Dark'Ness Dementia Raven Way (My Immortal) on guitar vs Figueroth "Fig" Faeth (Dimension 20's Fantasy High) on bass guitar

Link (Legend of Zelda) on ocarina and panflute vs Max Rebo (Star Wars) on organ

Klavier Gavin (Ace Attorney) on guitar vs Luka Couffaine (Miraculous Ladybug) on guitar

Melody (Crypt of the NecroDancer) on lute vs Musa (Winx Club) on all the instruments

Marcy Wu (Amphibia) on drums vs Victor Hargreeves (The Umbrella Academy) on violin

*due to an unfortunate counting error, a 3rd person has been added to this matchup.

#fictional musician competition

[duckprintspress]

Celebrate International Non-Binary People’s Day with 20 Great Reads with NB Characters!

Happy International Non-Binary People’s Day! Join Duck Prints Press in celebrating with a pile of books featuring non-binary characters! In some of these stories, the representation is explicit; in others, it’s implied, or open to interpretation, and, well – we’ve obviously made our interpretation, and that interpretation is us shouting NON-BINARY RIGHTS from the rafters. Books on this list were suggested by Adrian Harley (@adrianharley), Alec Marsh (@alecjmarsh), Dei Walker (@dei2dei), Nina Waters (@unforth), @shadaras, Tris Lawrence (@tryslora), and a few anonymous contributors.

In no particular order, here are twenty books for your enjoyment!

A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers

Phoenix Extravagant by Yoon Ha Lee

Unmasked by the Marquess by Cat Sebastian

Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb

Gamechanger by L. X. Beckett

Translation State by Ann Leckie

Soulstar by C. L. Polk

A Taste of Gold and Iron by Alexandra Rowland

Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse

The Genesis of Misery by Neon Yang

She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan

The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo

Heaven Official’s Blessing by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu

Victories Greater than Death by Charlie Jane Anders

Chef’s Kiss by TJ Alexander

Shubeik Lubeik by Deena Mohamed

Little Mushroom by Yi Shi Si Zhou

Provenance by Ann Leckie

In the Watchful City by S. Qiouyi Li

The Last Sun by K. D. Edwards

You can learn more about these books and read their synopses by visiting our full blog post on Wordpress!

What are YOUR favorite books with non-binary characters? Share them with us, and let’s hear it for non-binary rep in fiction!

#non-binary character #non binary characters #rec list #international non-binary people's day #queer books

[zaceouiswriting]

Masterlist:

______________________________________________________________

Short Stories

The independence of the red desert planet

Teen Wolf

Theo Raeken:

Undying love

A good deed

Night of the nights

Love that went through hell

Love always comes back

It will get better

A rotten Christmas

Just another night in my pick-up truck

Hardening hatred

The Onlooker

Theo Raeken Series:

Water from the past P.1

Living with the past P.1

A welcome stranger P.1

A welcome stranger P.2

A welcome stranger P.3

The memory of purple fields (1/2)

The memory of purple fields (2/2)

Derek Hale:

Just one danger of loving a hale

A final decision

A hazelnut brown-eyed boy

Last breath

The unknown son (First Version) - Requested

The unknown son (Second Version) - Requested

The Art of Seduction

Liam Dunbar:

The blindness of the rain

*Art of Seduction

*His type

Jordan Parrish:

Hellish breeze of a warm late summer day

A hellhounds fading innocence

Christmas lights

If you only had known

*Art of Seduction

The dead soldier

A (funny) Christmas revelation

Peter Hale:

*Mornings like this

*Art of Seduction

Brett Talbot:

Refreshed love

*Art of Seduction

Overprotective Brothers

Ethan Steiner:

Good old times

Isaac Lahey:

Unexpected savior

*Art of Seduction

A wolf’s undead protector

Vernon Boyd:

Frat boy slasher

Multiple characters:

Broken promise of a normal day - Brett Talbot/Theo Raeken

Charming love - Liam Dunbar/Theo Raeken

Old love - Liam/Isaac

Deaths cold touch - Allison Argent/Aiden Steiner/Gabe/Theo Raeken/Scott McCall

*Warmth of two bodies - Aiden Steiner/Ethan Steiner

*Just a normal game night, right? - Isaac Lahey/Cato (Hunger Games)/Logan (OC)

The mentor - Liam Dunbar/Jordan Parrish

The jock brother - Liam Dunbar (brother)/Jordan Parrish/Theo Raeken

A night to remember - Theo Raeken/Liam Dunbar 

If I were brave enough - Liam Dunbar/Theo Raeken/Male reader

The first taste of disobedience

Lost Love (Request)

Betrayal

Snowy Winter Fun - Theo Raeken/Liam Dunbar (slight Brett Talbot and Isaac Lahey)

The new guy - Sean Walcott, Aiden Steiner, Ethan Steiner, Liam Dunbar, mentioned Theo Raeken

Series with multiple characters:

Apprentice hunter:

Part 1 - Nolan Holloway/Gabe

Part 2 - Nolan Holloway/Gabe/Theo Raeken

Helping alpha:

Part 1 - Jordan Parrish/Theo Raeken

Part 2 - Jordan Parrish/Theo Raeken

Part 3 - Jordan Parrish/Theo Raeken/Corey Bryant/Gabe/Nolan Holloway

The elf and his supernatural harem:

*Part 1 -  Jordan Parrish/Deputy Strauss

*Part 2 -  Deputy Strauss/Stiles Stilinski/Scott McCall/Theo Raeken

Lurking in the dark:

Part 1 - Jordan Parrish/Brett Talbot

The Order

Randall Carpio:

*Unexpected Love

*The Art of seduction

Multiple characters:

Worth it - Randall Carpio/Hamish Duke

Shadowhunters

Alec Lightwood - Serie:

Raven-haired beauty:

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

Part 4:

*Part 5:

Alec Lightwood:

Through sickness and annoyance

*Art of Seduction

The last straw

Vampire Diaries/The Originals/Legacies

Klaus Mikaelson/Hope Mikaelson - Serie:

The fairy stone:

Part 1:

Part 2:

Klaus Mikaelson:

Art of Seduction

Matt Donavan:

Pretty boy with ocean blue eyes

*Art of Seduction

Jeremy Gilbert:

The hunter and its prey

Former friends

*Art of Seduction

It’s always the small guys

The helpful teacher

Malachai “Kai” Parker:

The betrayed and the heretic

*Art of Seduction

Jet Tien - Serie:

Fairy vengeance and the wrath of gods:

*Part 1:

Multiple characters:

The last heartbreak

Riverdale

Sweet Pea:

The sweet and the beast

The Sweet and the Trickster

The Sweet and the Shy

The Sweet and The jock

The Sweet and The Botanist

Onto new shores

The Promise

Heartless Business

Fangs Fogarty:

*In need of better grades

Reggie Mantle:

Price of a lie

Shallow friends

The gentle love of two doves

The little brother

Connor Rowland (OC)

Sleeping darkness in a tame church boy

Multiple Characters:

The crush of three - Requested - Reggie Mantle/Chuck Clayton/Archie Andrews

The scumbag jock boyfriend - Reggie Mantle/Archie Andrews

Series with multiple characters:

The gay and the jocks:

Part 1: Chuck Clayton

*Part 2: Chuck Clayton/Archie Andrews/Connor Rowland (OC)

*Part 3:  Chuck Clayton/Archie Andrews/Connor Rowland (OC)

The Truth:

Breaking of trust: Reggie Mantle

A last resort: Reggie Mantle/Sweet Pea

Not much of a stranger: Reggie Mantle/Sweet Pea

A friendly competition: Sweet Pea/Reggie Mantle

Throne of three crowns:

General Pea: Sweet Pea

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina

Nicholas Scratch:

A warlock's false devotion

Multiple Characters:

Unholy, holy trinity: Nicholas Scratch/Caliban

9-1-1

Evan Buckley:

Nature of flames

Edmundo ‘Eddie’ Diaz:

The best revenge is a life well lived

DC

Dick Grayson:

Messages above the grave

Loving the oldest of four brothers

The smell of love

Sweet reminder of love

When your best friend is (a) Dick

A good neighbor

Winter feast

His Audacity

Death of a Nemesis

Jason Todd:

Back from the dead

The duality of love

Danger of love

Clark Kent:

Maturing of Superman

*Vivid blue eyes of a lewd All-American man

Jon Kent:

The Golden Crown

Bruce Wayne

The good Dad

Batfamily:

Worst day

Worst day (2)

The favorite Bat-Brother?

Multiple characters:

The paradox of life - Clark Kent/Conner Kent

*The Master of Fulfillment - Jason Todd/Dick Grayson

Series with multiple characters:

The unfaithful bat:

The unfaithful bat: Bruce Wayne

Reckoning: Bruce Wayne

*A new villain: Bruce Wayne/Clark Kent

An almost forgotten birthday

New Professor

Part 1: Dick Grayson/Jason Todd/Tim Drake

Part 2: Revealing: Dick Grayson/Jason Todd/Tim Drake

Lust of their shadows:

*Part 1 - Dick Grayson

Original Characters:

Son’s best friend

Marvel

Multiple Character:

Teenage Crisis - Peter Parker/Logan (OC)

Series with multiple Characters: 

Betrayal at a superhero - Steve Rogers/Bucky Barnes

Betrayal at a superhero: The judgment -  Steve Rogers/Bucky Barnes

Miscommunication -   Peter Parker/Logan (OC)/Connor Rowland (OC)

Miscommunication (2) - Peter Parker/Logan (OC)/Connor Rowland (OC)

Steve Rogers:

Save the Children

Saving the children

Fantastic four:

Multi-characters series: 

Easy corruption of the straight, human torch (1)

Easy corruption of the straight, Human Torch and Mister Fantastic (2)

Twilight

Series with multiple Characters:

Whispering of the wolves - Paul Lahote

-

Whispering of the wolves: The pain of claws - Paul Lahote

League of Legends

Sett series:

The Wanderer and The Boss

Winx Club/Winx Saga

Sky/Brandon/Riven - Series:

Fairy Prince

Fairy Prince (2)

Fairy Prince (3)

Fairy Prince - Hearts of Leviathans:

Masterlist

Vikings:

Bjorn Ironside:

Brothers

Pokémon:

Leon:

The rancher’s failing champion boyfriend

Star Wars:

Anakin Skywalker:

The light of the senate

A final revelation

Multi Characters Series:

The wild explosion of a one-sided love :

Part 1: Theo Raeken/Randall Carpio (Teen Wolf/The Order)

Multi-Character Serie:

The farmer:

Alec Lightwood/Sweet Pea P.1

The Art of seduction:

*Randall Carpio

*Liam Dunbar

*Jordan Parrish

*Derek Hale

*Peter Hale

*Brett Talbot

*Isaac Lahey

*Alec Lightwood

*Klaus Mikaelson

*Matt Donovan

*Jeremy Gilbert

*Malachai “Kai” Parker

*Malachai “Kai” Parker P.2

Info: Smut = * 

#Masterlist #Teen Wolf #Teen Wolf x male reader #The Order #The Order x male reader #Shadowhunters #Shadowhunters x male reader #Vampire Dairies #Vampire dairies x male reder #the originals x male reader #the original #Legacies #Legacies x male reader #Riverdale x male reader #Riverdale #Chilling adventures of Sabrina #Chilling adventures of Sabrina x male reader #9-1-1 #9-1-1 x male reader #dc x male reader #DC #Marvel x male reader #Marvel #Twilight x male reader #Twilight #League of Legends #Winx Club #Winx Saga #Winx Club x male reader #League of Legends x male reader

[dalishious]

Started a new game of DA:I replaying with my Trevelyan, and been thinking about his timeline a lot. So I put it into something concrete.

Pre-Birth –Royce Trevelyan has an affair with an elven servant of his estate, named Thea. Thea becomes pregnant, but when she tells Royce that the child is his, he refuses to believe her.

Age 0 – Thea gives birth to Alec in the summer of 9:16.

Age 3 – Alec at this point begins to show undeniable resemblance to Royce—most notably the iconized Trevelyan grey eyes—and rumours begin spreading through the estate. The rumours make their way to Estella, Royce’s wife, who demands the truth from her husband. Royce admits to the affair, but despite Estella’s attempts to convince him, still refuses to accept the child into the household.

Age 5 – The Hundred Days Cough has a minor break-out and spreads like wildfire through Ostwick’s lower class. Thea becomes deathly ill and brings her son to the Trevelyan estate, where she passionately begs the lord and lady to take care of her son. Royce is still resistant to the idea, but Estella goes against her husband’s wishes and promises to do so, forcing Royce to finally acknowledge his child as a Trevelyan. Alec’s elder siblings, Edwin and Valeria, are quick to love him.

Age 7 – Stricken with fatigue, dizzy spells, increasingly pale skin and notable delayed growth, Alec’s parents call upon Chantry healers to assess him. Alec is diagnosed with weak blood, (in modern terms, anemia,) and is put on a strict died of rich foods to try and counter his genetic inability to properly absorb iron, and ordered to spend more time under sunlight.

Age 10 – Alec’s magic manifests itself for the first time, when he sets a tree in the courtyard on fire. Royce is disgusted, calling Alec a sin against the Maker, but Estella’s reaction is even worse; she believes there must be a way to “fix” him. Estella subjects Alec to every superstitious “cure” for magic she can find, including submerging him in water until he almost drowns several times. After two months, Royce finally calls the templars to take Alec away to the Ostwick Circle. Alec is just relieved to be done with his family’s torture.

Age 13 – It doesn’t take long for Alec to realize the Ostwick Circle has its own forms of cruelty. Its reputation as a “sedate” Circle is achieved through authoritarian control by the templars, scaring mages into obedience. Alec excels at his magical studies though, and is favoured by all his mentors because of this. Everyone believes it is enough to keep him out of trouble. At this point though, Alec’s weak blood has worsened without the expensive diet and sun he was prescribed.

Age 15 – Alec receives a letter from Estella notifying him that his elder brother Edwin has died in a skirmish with Tal-Vashoth, while travelling home from his visit to Kirkwall. When the Circle refuses to grant him permission to return home for the funeral, Alec successfully escapes. Edwin’s funeral is interrupted by a swarm of templars who arrest Alec. They escort him back to the Circle, where to make an example for the others, beat him in front of the other apprentices. Alec’s fury against the Circles of Magi is born.

Age 18 – Alec undergoes his Harrowing, where he is confronted by a rage demon that makes promises to grant the power to burn Ostwick’s Circle to the ground. Alec is very familiar with fighting off rage demons at this point though, and is able to draw the willpower necessary to deny it. He passes the test, becoming a full-fledged mage of the Circle.

Age 20 – Alec becomes involved in Circle politics, fed up with the lack of Libertarian representation at Ostwick. He vocalizes his advocacy for a Circle free of the Templar Order. On one hand, this frequently earns him punishment, but on the other, encourages other mages to come out of their terrified shells as well. Thanks to Alec, the number of Libertarians at Ostwick grows into a validated voice.

Age 24 – When the Mage-Templar conflict breaks out, Alec attempts to pressure the Ostwick Circle out of its official stance of neutrality. However, most mages are still too afraid to stand against the Templar Order, who have basically turned to holding them hostage to prevent more mages from joining the fight—they see this as a mercy, as opposed to just killing them all. Tensions run high, and Alec is put in solitary confinement for two weeks simply for being late to get back to his quarters after curfew.

Age 25 –Divine Justinia calls for a conclave at the Temple of Sacred Ashes in Ferelden, to try and put an end to the Mage-Templar conflict. As local leader of the former Libertarians, Alec is among a small group of mages from Ostwick to attend. The events of Dragon Age: Inquisition begin.

#dragon age #dai #trevelyan #alec trevelyan #my tragic baby #art #abuse tw

[scotianostra]

The Scottish actor Alex McCrindle passed away on Aoril 20th 1990.

Born on 3rd August 1911 in Glasgow, Alex McCrindle started work at the age of 10 years, probably like many of us, delivering milk. At 15, he left school and got a job in a timber merchants’ office. He started his acting career playing heroes in plays put on by the Boys Brigade. Later, after moving to Glasgow and getting a job as a manager of a hardware firm, he joined the Glasgow Clarion Players. A pioneer Scottish theatre group with strong links to the Communist Party, this was a predecessor of Glasgow Unity and Glasgow Citizens.

McCrindle went to lectures on drama at Glasgow University and had become so engaged in theatrical matters that he had to choose to give up his hardware career. He was lucky to be able to become an indentured apprentice at Queen Theatre in London He finished up as an electrician but became immersed in the world of theatre and actors along the way.

He eventually became a formable actor himself. In the period 1937-9, he appeared in a dozen plays on the first broadcasts of television, including `Juneo and the Paycock’, before the medium was closed down for the duration of the war, sometimes being credited as Alex McCringle or Alex McGrindle, as well as in his own name. he was also in the cast of the classic Hitchcock film, `The 39 steps’, although he was more proud of his nationwide tour of `Six men of Dorset’, about the Tolpuddle Martyrs, in 1937

McCrindle began a history of the actors’ union, Equity, but was unable to finish it due to being called up for the Royal Navy during the Second World War. He produced the first ever play performed on board a RN ship during war, `Androcles and the Lion’, transmitted over the Tannoy!

He starred in the British BBC radio show `Dick Barton Special Agent’ from 1946-51, which ran for 700 episodes and had 15 million listeners. Alex played the role of Jock Anderson one of Dick Barton’s key henchmen and was widely loved for the role and enormously popular in it. In 1947, he was producer of the childrens TV programme `Larry the Lamb’.

Although he also branched out very successfully into scriptwriting, McCrindle was effectively blacklisted because of his Communist and Equity activities for much of the important years of his career, especially from the late 1940s to the end of the 1950s. In the 1950s, he appeared – often uncredited to escape the blacklist – in a string of small budget movies as a character actor. But, in the main, blacklisting resulted in him devoting more time to building up Equity and securing improved pay and conditions for Actors, to meet this objective he was sent by his union to found Scottish Equity, which only had 15 members before he began his work. He worked at this full-time for the next seven years, leaving the union in a flouring position north of the border. In this period, he only worked in British television and then only twice during the early 1960s.

In the later stage of his career, he began to secure significant parts in films and TV programmes from `The Saint’ in 1965, and then through many other projects, with increasingly more significant parts, to `All Creatures Great and Small’ and `Taggart’ and then, in the 1977 first `Star Wars’ movie in which he played a rebel general.

George Lucas, short of capital, offered the actors on the movie "points" in lieu of salary. Big stars such as Alec Guinness, could afford to indulge in some capitalist speculation and take "points" and, in the event, the film proved to be the best move Guinness ever made financially. "Hollywood thought Darth Vader was a tough nut," one luvvie has recalled, "but they hadn’t met Alex."! He campaigned through Equity for bonuses for all actors in Star Wars, among them R2-D2 (who was played, or operated inside, by Birmingham-born Kenny Baker), who also took a working wage and contributed to the success of Star Wars.

Alex had a great love of Scottish poetry and regularly read it aloud to audiences. He produced and read his own selection of 37 poems by William Soutar (Glasgow, Scotsoun, 1989) and raised money for Brownsbank Cottage., the former of the great Scottish writer, Hugh MacDiarmid, now a home for "writers in residence"

He was married twice, the first was Sandy, the second wife, Honor Arundel, the Communist children’s author and Daily Worker film critic. (See entry for Honor Arundel.) The home of McCrindle and Arundel in the fifties was always a hub of Party activity and organisation, as the writer Doris Lessing notes in her autobiography. Alex became close friends with Paul Strand, the famous photographer, and was a major asset to Strand in his `Tir a Mhurain’ photography project. He went onto become Strand’s agent in Scotland, negotiating with Compton Mackenzie and visiting the School of Scottish Studies in order to help set up the project.

In the 1980s, with US screenings no longer debarred to him, he appeared in dozens of major roles on television mini-series, including "Reilly: The Ace of Spies" and in film such as `Eye of the Needle’. As late as 1987 he played the role of a jailer in `Comrades’, the film about the Tolpuddle Martyrs.

Alex McCrindle’s obituary in the Times was headlined "Communist stalwart" and stated that he remained committed to an "unrelenting Marxism which lost nothing of its purity and uncompromising severity". His daughter Jean also became involved in politics and an award for drama was named after him. Alex McCrindle died on April 20, 1990 in Edinburgh.

#scotland #scottish #history #glaswegian #actor #theatre #television #cinema #star wars

[msweebyness]

Miraculous Barbie: (Non-Platonic) Diamond Castle, with JuleRose

And here we are, the final installment of my Barbie movie adaptation series, with Juleka and Rose as our leads! @imsparky2002 @artzychic27

“A miracle starts whenever you dream!”

CAST:

Rose Lavillant as Liana

Juleka Couffaine as Alexa

Felix Fathom & Adrien Agreste as Jeremy & Ian

Mindy Blumberg as Melody

Daizzi as Sparkles

Roarr as Lily

Nadja Chamack as Lydia

Alec Cataldi as Slyder

Clara Nightingale & Vivica as Dori & Phaedra

And so our story begins…

Far away, in a time long past, in a lovely little cottage in the forest, there lived two girls. Juleka and Rose were their names, and they were deeply in love. They had a beautiful garden that supplied their income by selling the flowers in the village, and they absolutely loved to sing together, their voices blending perfectly in harmony.

One day, as they were tending to their garden, Rose spots something in the stream, and calls Juleka over to look. On the rocky riverbed rest two shining stones of a pinkish-white hue, each in the shape of a perfect heart. They fish them out of the water and decide to make matching necklaces out of them.

But at that moment, the wind starts to pick up and thunder cracks. Almost supernaturally fast, a storm moves in and the two girls run for their house. The storm is strong and fierce, lasting throughout the night, but the girlfriends keep each other’s spirits up by singing together. Rose also presents Juleka with the heart stones, which she turned into matching necklaces.

The next morning when the storm had passed, they exit their house and find their garden completely destroyed. Wood splintered and petals strewn everywhere. Dejected, they try to salvage as much as they can, knowing they’ll have to be tight with money this year, even if they sell all the flowers that survived.

As she often does, Juleka expresses her desire that they could be better off in their living situation, but Rose cheers her up with a few jokes and they head into town. On the way, they come across an old woman who looks absolutely starving, and Rose gives her the food she intended to have for lunch. In return, the woman gifts her an old hand mirror, which while tarnished, is quite ornate and beautiful.

When they’ve returned home, Juleka counts the money they managed to make while Rose cleans the hand mirror, which is revealed to be solid gold with beautiful jewel flowers, making her feel guilty about accepting it from the woman, who likely didn’t know she had something so valuable.

After having their breakfast, they go outside and set to work repairing their garden, singing the songs they’ve written together as always. But on this day, something unusual happens, as they reach the chorus the second time…a third voice joins them! The two girls pause for a moment, only to begin singing again, and again, the new voice joins in. And it seems to be coming from Rose’s basket, in which she had placed the mirror….

Deciding to investigate, they begin singing again, and follow the voice, opening the basket’s lid…to see a girl, singing with them in the mirror. They ask the two girls to sing the song again, and they compliment her on her voice. But when Juleka and Rose ask for their name, the girl suddenly panics and insists that she is nobody and to forget they ever saw her before disappearing. Not wanting her to leave, Juleka and Rose begin singing again, and she can’t resist joining in. Rose asks her not leave, and they say they won’t, because this is too much fun!

But many miles away, in a foreboding cave full of dark magic, a serpent named Alec sees the horn on his head begin to glow, a sign that someone who’s been hiding from his mistress for a long time has made an appearance! Just at that moment, said mistress, Nadja enters with a bombastic musical number about her plans for conquest, berating Alec when he interrupts her with his applause. Alec tells her that he sensed Mindy, the muse apprentice singing somewhere and Nadja immediately sends him to find her, because they have something Nadja needs…

Back at the cottage, the three girls are still having fun singing together. Mindy introduces herself after they do the same. Juleka asks if she has a song she’d like to sing, and Mindy teaches the two their favorite song (see linked song at the bottom). But as they’re singing, Mindy spots Alec in the sky, panicking and yelling that they need to hide. Juleka and Rose race with the mirror into the house, with Juleka racing for the cellar while Rose grabs a decoy mirror to fool the serpent.

Alec breaks into the cottage and begins making a mess of things, including knocking a wooden chair over into the fireplace…. The two girls then exit the cellar and leave the decoy mirror on a table for Alec to find, and he takes the bait, flying off to return to his mistress. Unfortunately, the chair has caught fire and when Juleka and Rose return, their home is nothing but charred framework and ash.

Mindy blames herself for what happened and tells the girls to throw them far away and forget about them. Rose asks what the serpent wants with Mindy, and the girl reluctantly explains. They tell the two that they were an apprentice to the three muses who lived in the Diamond Castle, the birthplace of all music, named such because a diamond appears on the walls each time a new song is sung. But after a time, one of the muses, Nadja, got sick of sharing the spotlight and wanted to be the one and only muse! Clara and Vivica, the other two muses, had refused, believing music to be for everyone!

Nadja found a dark cave filled with evil magic and made it her lair. She transformed her flute with dark magic, giving it the power of darkness and hypnosis. When Nadja returned to take what she wanted by force, Clara and Vivica hid the Diamond Castle along with their magical instruments, giving the key to Mindy in case anything happened to them. They tried to reason with Nadja, but she used her flute to turn them to stone. Fearing for her life, Mindy fled, with Alec chasing them, and used her magic whistle to hide in a nearby hand mirror. But they dropped their whistle, her only means of escape, and Alec broke it, trapping her in the mirror. Today was the first time they’ve even said a word in years, and look what happened…

The two girls comfort Mindy, and assure her they don’t blame her for any of this. Rose asks if Mindy knows where the Diamond Castle is and if Nadja can be stopped. Mindy tells her and Juleka that if they play the muse’s magical instruments, it should be stronger than Nadja’s dark magic. Rose manages to convince a nervous Juleka that they must help Mindy or Nadja will do to other people what she’s done to them. They promise to help Mindy and the three start on their way.

Back at Nadja’s cave, Alec gives Nadja the mirror, and she demands Mindy reveal herself. She soon realizes Alec got the wrong mirror, and angrily berates him. Alec tells her about Mindy’s new companions, and Nadja orders him to take her to them at once.

After miles of traveling, the three girls end up in a valley of beautiful flowers, and decide to stop for a rest. Juleka hears something following them, and they decide to investigate, fearing it could be a snake. But when they go to look, they find an adorable tiger cub and Piglet, who seem to take a liking to them. The girls decide to keep them and give them the names Roaar and Daizzi.

After more hours of walking, they end up in a village, where an innkeeper is irate as he waits for the musicians he hired, who are very late. Juleka and Rose offer to take their place in exchange for some food, and he takes them up on it, as the crowd is getting restless. The girlfriends perform their song together, and are an instant hit. As they’re singing, the originally hired musicians, twin brothers Adrien and Felix, arrive and decide to stay and listen. However, Mindy can’t resist singing along, giving Nadja and Alec a tip what direction to go.

As the two girls are eating the meals they earned, Adrien and Felix approach and jokingly heckle them for taking their gig. The two girls match their snark dead on, before taking their leave. Adrien notices Rose accidentally left her handkerchief behind, and tells Felix they should at least try to return it, and they go to try and find the girls.

However, just a moment too late to catch the girls, Nadja and Alec swoop into the village, entering the inn where Alec sensed Mindy’s singing. She demands to know where the two girls went, and when everyone refuses to answer, she hypnotizes them with her flute and gets what she wants to know by force.

Alec quickly catches up to the girls, and Nadja demands they hand over Mindy, but they refuse. Nadja tries to hypnotize them with her flute, but their heart stone necklaces (which are actually pieces of the Diamond Castle, go figure!) protect them, creating a magical barrier. They refuse when Nadja again demands the mirror, leaving her dumbstruck. Frustrated, she orders Alec to attack them. The serpent gives chase, but Adrien and Felix arrive and give the girls an escape on horseback just in the nick of time. They flee through a wall of vines into a cave and Felix incites a rock slide that leaves Alec with a likely concussion.

The two girls thank the twins for the save, and proper introductions are exchanged. It’s then that Mindy pipes up from the mirror, asking how Juleka and Rose were immune to Nadja’s magic, leaving the two boys wondering what exactly they’ve gotten themselves into. Nevertheless, they decide to accompany the girls and lend a hand.

They take the girls to a river they need to travel in order to reach the castle, with the twin’s suggesting they avoid the bridge listed on a sign, seeming quite dodgy for some reason…The girls decide to look for the bridge anyway, telling the twins they’ll catch up. But at that moment, Roarr and Daizzi run off, leaving Juleka and Rose to chase after him. When they catch up, they find their pets have been apprehended by a nasty old troll. Rose demands he let the baby animals go, but he only mocks her in return. The twins followed them, and the troll recognizes them. Turns out they tried to cross his bridge but failed to solve his riddle, barely escaping with their lives, which the troll intended to rectify, trapping the two boys in a pit.

Rose manages to strike a deal with the troll, if they answer his riddle correctly, he lets Adrien and Felix go, but if they fail, he has dinner for two nights! The troll agrees, and poses his riddle: What instrument can you hear, but can't see and can't touch? The girls are stumped for a moment, before Rose has an idea. The answer to the riddle is your voice! You can’t see it or touch it, but when you sing, everyone can hear it! Furious that they answered correctly, the troll implodes in a puff of smoke as the bridge appears and the twins climb out of the pit. The girls step onto the bridge, but it recedes before the boys can follow. Rose tells the twins to meet them at the Seven Stones, where they’ll find the Diamond Castle.

After hours and hours of walking, Juleka is exhausted, but Rose spots smoke rising from a chimney. They make their way to a beautiful manor, and are greeted by two servants who claim that the manor and everything in it belongs to them. The two are blown away, but know they can’t stay…until Juleka finds a note addressed to her. In the note, Nadja says to Juleka that she did a little research and found her family. It shows a magical image of Juleka’s brother Luka and her mother Anarka as stone statues in Nadja’s lair. And unless Juleka convinces Rose to stay in the manor and hands over Mindy’s mirror, they’ll stay like this forever.

Desperate to save her family, Juleka tries to convince Rose to remain in the manor, struggling to tell her why. Angry that her girlfriend would abandon Mindy when they promised to help her, Rose leaves the manor with the mirror and Daizzi, leaving a distraught Juleka alone. Just moments after Juleka removes her necklace in despair, who should appear at the door but Nadja and Alec. They take Juleka back to the lair, and Nadja places her under her hypnotic spell (which now works as she’s not wearing the heart stone necklace), and sends Alec after Rose when Juleka reveals her location against her will.

The serpent abducts the blonde and takes her to the lair, where she’s tied up. She calls the spelled Juleka out to upset Rose, before taking the mirror. When Mindy refuses to come out, Nadja orders to Juleka to walk towards the edge of a cliff, saying she’ll only stop her if Mindy asks. Rose cries desperately for her girlfriend to stop, but Juleka only responds to Nadja while under the spell. Just before Juleka can walk over the edge, Mindy appears and cries out for Nadja to stop her. Mindy demands the release of her friends, which Nadja states will only happen if the apprentice takes her to the Diamond Castle. Seeing no other choice, Mindy agrees.

Alec cuts Rose loose, and she immediately rushes to Juleka…only for the serpent to knock them both over the edge of the cliff, supposedly into the boiling lava below, before leaving to follow his mistress. Thankfully, Rose catches them on a log, saving both of their lives. But Juleka is still under Nadja’s spell.

Meanwhile, at the Seven Stones, Mindy is trying to stall Nadja as much as she can, making up a lie that the key to the castle is to place diamonds in one of the stones in a certain order. Thankfully, Nadja believes her, giving them a little more time.

Adrien and Felix arrive at the Seven Stones with no sign of the girls, but are alerted that something is wrong when Daizzi runs up to them in a panic, rushing them along somewhere. The piglet takes them in the direction of the cave, as Rose tearfully holds the still-mesmerized Juleka. But thankfully, Roaar brought along Juleka’s necklace! And when Rose places it on her, the spell is broken. The two exchange apologies and share a kiss out of relief, before Rose explains that Nadja took Mindy and is on her way to the castle. It’s then that the twins arrive and they make a plan to stop Nadja.

Back at the Seven Stones, Nadja finishes placing the diamonds, but the castle doesn’t appear. Angrily, she accuses Mindy of lying to her, just as the twins and the girls arrive and put their plan into action. Adrien and Felix begin to play their guitars to draw Alec away, while Juleka and Rose sneak up on Nadja. While the boys keep the serpent occupied, Nadja’s magic is ineffectual as both girls have their necklaces again…but they don’t let her know that. Acting as if they are under her spell, they come at Nadja’s command, but instead of diving into the now swirling waters of a nearby pond as she ordered, Rose steals Nadja’s flute.

Quickly grabbing the mirror, Nadja threatens to smash it and get rid of Mindy for good if they don’t hand over her flute. But before they can comply, Mindy smashes the mirror herself, keeping Nadja from regaining her power and getting the key to the Diamond Castle! Irritated, Nadja tosses the mirror away, and goes to grab her flute, only for Rose to throw it to Juleka, who then tosses it into the water. Nadja dives after it, but the flute is clogged with water and she is overwhelmed by the magic used to create the whirlpool, seeming to be pulled under for good. The twins, having dealt with Alec, rejoin them as they all mourn the loss of Mindy.

Rose believes that if they can find the castle and play the magical instruments, it may bring Mindy back! It’s then that Juleka remembers the words to Mindy’s song, and thinks that it may be the key to the Diamond Castle! So the two begin to sing the tune, and sure enough, the stunning castle rises from the waters of the lake!

As they enter the castle, not only do Juleka and Rose’s clothes get transformed into stunning dresses, but Mindy is released from the mirror and the three girls share a hug. Mindy then leads everyone into the castle, where they find the magical instruments! But just as that moment, Nadja reappears riding Alec, having not drowned after all, and prepares to destroy them. But Rose and Juleka grab them just in time, and playing the magical instruments and singing along with Mindy, Nadja’s own evil spell is reflected back at her, turning both her and Alec to stone!

With Nadja imprisoned forever, Clara and Vivica, along with Juleka’s mother and brother, are released from their stone prisons, and the muses return to the Diamond Castle, giving the two musicians a ride to see their sister/daughter.

Happily reunited, Vivica and Clara officially appoint Mindy as the third muse, and name Juleka and Rose princesses of music. (Adrien and Felix get some pretty sweet guitars!) It’s then that the girls decide to return home, with Mindy promising to visit, and the muses gifting them magical seeds that repair their home and grow flowers made of gold and jewels, which make them more than enough money. (Adrien also meets Luka, who he finds more than a little cute!) The two girls return to their peaceful life, loving every moment and singing all the way!

And they all lived happily ever after!

The sweetest sound will always be, two voices singing one song! Leave your thoughts in the comments and reblogs and I hope you’ve enjoyed this series!

#miraculous ladybug #Miraculous Barbie #barbie and the diamond castle #juleka couffaine #rose lavillant #julerose #Youtube

[lakesbian]

Congratulations on finishing Animorphs!

If you're looking for fic recs, one I think you might enjoy is this one focused on Rachel getting ready for a trial after the end of it all, but slightly differently each time:

https://animorphs.livejournal.com/645255.html

The reason I rec'd it is that I was thinking of how an Undersider equivalent focused on Delhi might go. Like say, a different Undersider is killed in Delhi, maybe by Phir Se, maybe by Cody, maybe by Behemoth and Alec is there to witness the aftermath each time from his somewhat warped perspective.

You've mentioned before that Alec would be suitably devastated if Aisha died, and probably pretty bothered if Taylor or Brian died, but I'm not sure he would care nearly as much if Lisa or Rachel ate it beyond, you know, the obvious physical consequences of them dying for the team.

But hey, maybe I'm wrong. I am but a Alec Appreciator Apprentice™. How do you think Alec would respond to each Undersider dying at that fight in particular? Most importantly, what are the odds that Alec cracks a joke at Lily's funeral for dying 5 minutes after joining the Undersiders?

thank you i have indeed finished my Morphs Venture. it was fun. yeah i honestly don't think alec would care very much about parian or foil kicking the bucket. i think he would be like...well, that sucks, but he's not in close enough emotional proximity to care particularly much about either of their new coworkers dying. i think if he was around parian he would have enough sense to just sit in the back with aisha and keep his mouth shut, but if it was just him & the other undersiders and the rest of the team was clearly sort of down or awkward in any way, there are fairly decent odds that he might try to add a bit of levity with some morbid humor and then just cram his own foot in his mouth instead. as he's wont to doing.

but as for literally any of the other undersiders, he would care! he's not, to my memory, any closer with taylor or brian than he is with lisa or rachel. in fact, we know that he feels some solidarity with rachel as one of the team outcasts prior to taylor dyking it up with her--when he does his little Bit about suggesting that he and aisha quit the team and form their own together, he also includes rachel on his list of hypothetical "othersiders." the undersiders are fundamentally the only people he has in the world. they're his Team. aisha dying is the one that would really, really hit hard for him, but i prommy he would be very shaken about any of the others dying, as well. although i do think he would parse it through the lens of like...dissociated emotional self defense where he's convincing himself that he doesn't care because he wasn't close to them like he is to aisha, to the point where he comes off as unacceptably insensitive/blase and pisses off remaining undersiders who can't read him in the way lisa and aisha can

#ask #worm spoilers #jay don't look #yippee alec quastions in here

[into-the-daniverse]

Without You Without Them | Alec’s Prologue | Part 5

In which, Alec discovers something from her past, meets with the courtiers, one of whom seems to know more about her than they let on, and is finally able to recount her adventure over the last few days to Asra.

Previous Part

Title: Without You Without Them by boygenius 5.3k words

Much to her dismay and increasing annoyance, Alec had been right in thinking that something—or someone, in this case—would be waiting for her in the city the next day, as she opened her shop door to none other than Julian Devorak, who looked like he hadn’t been planning on getting caught by her again. For a moment, Alec’s mind went back to the information they had received the day before, definitive proof that they had known each other before she lost her memories. A hundred questions about what that woman had said whirled through her mind, but she forced them all down to focus on the issue at hand.

Planting herself firmly in front of the door, she crossed her arms over her chest. “Julian, I know I lock every door of this shop three times before I leave, and I know there’s also a protection spell over the whole thing. How do you keep getting in?”

“Ah, well, that’s simple, really.” Julian straightened himself, though not without a nervous cough. “I, uh, I have a key.”

She raised one dark eyebrow. “A key.”

“Yes!” He fished around in his pockets for a moment before handing it to her. “Here. You can keep it—I don’t need to be using it again.”

“Asra didn’t tell me he gave a key for our shop to a suspected murderer.”

“Well, we did cover the fact that there’s a lot that wit—magician doesn’t tell people, didn’t we?”

“There’s a lot you’re not telling me either—you managed to weasel your way out of telling me anything worthwhile yesterday because of the guards, but I will not let that happen again today—"

“Don’t you think it’s unwise to be caught with me standing outside your shop in broad daylight?” Julian shook his head. “You should probably just let me go.”

Alec didn’t budge. “How do I know you haven’t stolen anything? You’ve broken in twice now.”

“You would take me for a thief?” Julian gasped dramatically, draping himself against the door frame. “A murderer I may be, but a thief? Never.” When Alec didn’t answer save for arching her eyebrow higher, he sighed, taking off his coat. “Fine. Search me then, if it will satisfy your curiosity.”

She rolled her eyes and stomped one foot on the ground, anklets chiming as she stirred up a small whirlwind which enveloped the doctor, effectively turning his pockets inside-out and ensuring that he wasn’t hiding anything she couldn’t see. Julian yelped as the wind grew around him, and the moment it died, he stared wide-eyed at Alec. His hair was even more wild than it had been before, and she bit back a laugh as she smoothed her own skirt back down.

“Okay, I’m satisfied.” Alec reached out to do the clasp on his coat around his neck again, patting his chest once before stepping back, down the stairs. “But gods help me, Julian, if you find a way to break into this shop again, I—"

She noticed he was still staring wide-eyed at something past her and stopped, turning around with dread in her chest. But what happened next surprised her more than anything she could have thought of.

Watching Portia pull Julian after her, both of them nearly in tears, made something twist in Alec’s chest. She was jealous of them, though she knew she shouldn’t be. She had no intention of telling the Countess about what she had seen, but she did want to talk to Portia about it, at some point. About the feeling of finding your family after so long without them.

Deep in her musings, she almost stepped on a small leather pouch as she went into the shop, but stopped at the last second and picked it up. It smelled strongly of myrrh, a protection spell. The smell jogged something in her mind, but she couldn’t grab onto the thread quickly enough before it was gone.

With a sigh, she tucked the pouch into the folds of her skirt, another outfit gifted by the Countess. The first thing she did upon entering the shop was to go right up to her room and grab a couple of dupattas, one to wrap around her face for when she went to the square again, and another to take back the jar of swordfish spices she had mentioned to the Countess.

Walking into the kitchen, she rummaged around the cabinets, pushing past dozens of jars with brightly colored spices, humming to herself as she searched for the specific mixture she wanted. It was a bit buried, not something either her or Asra frequently used, but it was there, and she pulled it down to wrap in the dupatta when the writing on the jar caught her eye.

The words read, in Prakran, Dia’s Spiced Swordfish. As in, it was made specifically for someone named Dia—or, could it be for Nadia, the Countess, herself? She had thought it odd to have such a particular seasoning in her shop, but who could have left it here?

Alec’s mind went back to the first night the Countess had shown up at her shop. Between pangs of her headache, the Countess had remarked that the handwriting on some of the music lying about the back room looked like it belonged to her cousin. And the handwriting on the jar—

Almost dropping the jar in her haste, Alec ran into the back room of the shop, and leafed through the sheet music still out and disorganized until she found a piece that looked familiar. It was a piece she loved to play, but she knew she hadn’t written it, based on the handwriting. Neat, elegant, looping handwriting that matched what was on the jar.

Fighting through the beginnings of a headache, Alec struggled to make sense of the information in front of her. The Countess had thought that the handwriting was that of her cousin’s. She said that it was unlikely, as she would have known he was in Vesuvia. But the jar of spices—it was labelled for her. And the same person who had written the music, had left the spices in the shop, long before Alec could remember.

She couldn’t remember, but someone else could.

Turning down the hallway to the kitchen, she called out softly, “Missy?” A warm hum filled her mind, and she opened the stove with an apologetic look. “I’m sorry if I woke you.”

The shop’s stove salamander blinked their big dark eyes at her, a gentle smile on their face. What is it, child?

“I have a question, well, a few. About something from… the past?”

I will answer what I can, without endangering you.

Scooping the salamander from the ashes in the stove, Alec carried them to the back room, where she had left the music and the jar. She set them down on the table and watched as they slowly crawled over to the items. “Did the same person who wrote that music make that spice mixture?”

Yes.

“Were… are they related to the Countess?”

Missy paused, blinking at Alec. Yes, they are.

Her headache grew stronger as she pushed forward, questions spilling from her lips. “Why are these things here? Did I know them? Did Asra know them?”

The salamander put their little front foot on her hand, glowing a soothing blue that washed calm over Alec. Yes, you both knew them. Him. And he lived here.

“What…” Alec took a deep breath. “What was—is his name?”

There was a silence in her mind, and then a soft: I can’t tell you that.

Alec wanted to cry, either from pain or from frustration or both. Missy’s body glowed again, taking a little bit of the pain away, but she wasn’t done. She had just one more question, she just wanted to know one more thing… “Who was he to me?”

Crawling slowly up her arm, dark eyes never leaving hers, Missy’s voice appeared in her mind again with one word.

Family.

Alec closed her eyes, exhaling as she felt Missy’s magic wash over her to soothe her headache, but a familiar voice made her eyes fly open.

“You’re a part of our family now, kid.”

The shop was empty. There was no one around her who could have spoken, but she knew she heard the voice. And she knew she knew the voice. Worrying her bottom lip, she looked around the room, sheet music scattered around her. She took the music written by the Countess’s cousin—no, someone from her family—and folded it gently, tucking it inside her shirt, by her heart. She closed her eyes again and thought back to her dream from the day before.

She had a family. Or, at the very least, she had one person out there waiting for her. Maybe two, since the person in her dream didn’t seem like the same person who wrote the sheet music. Maybe she even made music with the person who wrote it. Maybe he would be able to help her find her voice again. Tears slipped down her cheeks, and she sniffled quietly, still feeling Missy’s magic around her.

“I wish he was here.”

I know, little one. I know.

Keeping her eyes closed, Alec drifted into a shallow sleep, just until she heard a distant clock tolling the hour, reminding her of Portia’s announcement in the square. She jumped up, almost flinging Missy in the process. Kissing the salamander apologetically on their head, she set them back in their stove before racing out of the shop. She had to turn back around to grab the swordfish spices, and then almost forgot to lock the shop up three times, so by the time she reached the square, she was completely frazzled.

She ducked into the shadows to fix her dupatta, wrapping it almost too tightly around her face, listening to Portia’s loud, chipper voice calling out to the people gathered in the square, informing them about the Masquerade. The energetic hum of the crowd only intensified the sound of her heartbeat pounding in her ears, and she shrunk even further back. Her hands fell to her pockets instinctively, and she felt her fingers brush the pouch of myrrh she had tucked away.

Then, the smell of myrrh came from behind her, stronger than before, and when she glanced over her shoulder, there was a large figure cloaked in even deeper shadows, and they started to disappear down a different alley, away from the square.

She felt something stir in her mind, and remembered the scent of myrrh clinging to her clothes as she left the shop the day after Asra left. She hadn’t seen anyone, and maybe it had just been a normal memory lapse, but her head wasn’t hurting. Which told her… maybe this was someone she knew, someone she remembered. Setting her jaw, she quickly followed after the figure’s lumbering pace, determined to not lose another potential memory just yet. Once she reached the figure, she skidded to a stop in front of them, and they took a stumbling step backward, clearly caught off guard. She ignored their reaction and furrowed her eyebrows, voice accusing. “How did you do that?”

The figure blinked stormy green eyes at her from under their hood. “…What?” Their voice rumbled low, and it made Alec feel like she was supposed to be frightened of them, but she wasn’t.

“You made me forget you—you were at the shop the other day, but I didn’t remember you. How did you do that?”

They frowned. “You… no. That’s impossible.” The last part felt like it was directed more at themself than her, but she pushed forward.

“What is?”

Mouth open slightly, they gaped at her for a moment before shaking their head roughly and turning from her. “Go away.”

Wasn’t this someone she knew before? Why weren’t they trying to make her remember? “No!” Her voice sounded desperate, she knew, but she couldn’t help it. “Please, who are you?” The figure started walking away again, faster this time, and she struggled to keep up through the twists and turns of the roads. “Wait, please! Did Asra send you?”

Finally, the figure stopped, but they didn’t turn to look at her. “…yes.”

“Is he… are you friends?”

The figure nodded ever so slightly. “He’s… my only friend.”

“Mine too,” she murmured. “He must trust you, a lot.”

They were silent, but it felt like they wanted to say something else. Before they could, a warning was called, and Alec just managed to side-step a rogue cart, the owner racing down the street after it. When she looked back, the figure was gone, and her frustration quickly changed into confusion, and then an empty resignation. She didn’t remember why she had left the marketplace, but maybe that was for the better. She glanced over her shoulder before sighing and making her way back to the square to meet up with Portia.

****

“…lec, Alec?”

She blinked, looking up from her lap. They were both on the wagon back to the palace, and Portia was watching her with a nervous, concerned look.

“Are you alright? Any… incidents back at the shop?”

Alec stared at her for a moment before remembering Julian’s appearance. It felt like days ago that he had been breaking into her shop, again, and Portia dragged him away. She shook her head. “Um, no. Everything’s fine. I…” She pulled out the jar of swordfish spice, holding it out to Portia. “I found the spice for the Countess.”

“Oh, great!” Portia lit up. “She’ll be happy to hear that, I’m sure.”

Nodding distantly, Alec glanced out of the window, watching the crowds thin the further they got from the marketplace. Portia cleared her throat, and Alec jumped a little. “Sorry.”

Portia laughed gently. “It’s alright. I just wanted to see if you’d like me to go over the courtiers with you before you met them.”

Oh, right. Alec nodded again, but leaned closer to Portia, giving her her full attention.

By the time they reached the palace, Portia had explained the courtiers to Alec, their names, their positions, and the general public opinion surrounding them—which was largely negative.

“Really, you only have to pay attention to Valerius. Milady minds him the most, though—” she looked around the wagon as if there was someone else with them, eyes glinting mischievously. “Mira told me she has some dirt on him. But you didn’t hear that from me.”

Alec giggled, a bit of anxiety dislodging from her chest. “Of course not.”

Walking to the salon, Alec thought she might wring her hands into knots. Portia had encouraged her to pull her dupatta away from her face, and she felt exposed, as if she was naked. Clutching the folds of her skirt in her fingers, she bit the inside of her cheek as Portia opened the doors of the salon and led her inside.

The soft music she heard floating down the hallway reached a crescendo as she stepped past the door, and she saw the Countess sitting behind a gleaming pipe organ, ignoring the chattering of the voice around her, room hazy with smoke. She looked up as Alec entered, fingers playing deftly across the keys, giving her a warm smile.

“Portia, introduce our guest.”

The sun starts to set, orange and pink light filtering into the salon as Portia began to introduce Alec.

She tried her best to stand still, but she couldn’t keep her hands from fidgeting at her sides, and shifting on her feet. Quickly, she scanned through the other people in the room, going over what Portia had told her, trying to identify them as best as she could. There was Procurator Volta, who was as restless as Alec felt, small fingers flitting between teacakes at lightning-fast speeds. Then Praetor Vlastomil, who reminded Alec of a worm left too long in the sun, wringing his hands as if they were jointless. Pontifex Vulgora, whose laugh had boomed off the walls when she entered, and who was giving her an unsettling, but not completely unkind grin. Then there was Quaestor Valdemar, who Alec couldn’t look at for very long without feeling a deeply unsettling chill down her spine.

Finally, her eyes caught on the Consul, and for a moment, he looked like someone else, and a great flash of pain rushed through her head. Blinking through the pain, she watched the faded blond ends of his hair change to black and back to blond again, grey-gold eyes to black and back, and the way the sun dappled across his skin looked like patterns of familiar scars.

She shook her head, and whoever the other person she had seen was gone, and only the Consul remained. But even just he was familiar. Alec knew him. She knew she knew him somehow, and judging from the way his whole body seemed to freeze in place for a moment as they locked eyes, with even his sip of wine caught on his lips, she knew he knew her too.

But before she could even think of a question to ask, the other courtiers were welcoming her, eagerly tugging at her wrists to pull her into a seat with them. She settled between the Procurator and the Pontifex, nervously trying to sink into the couch cushions as they pressed against her. As they began to question her about how the announcement went, she felt her cheeks warm, but thankfully the Countess stepped in to direct their questions.

However, when the Consul spoke, the room quieted in an uncomfortable way. Alec wasn’t sure to make of the way he was staring at her, down his nose, swirling his wine glass in his hand. He knew her, she was sure of it. From before. But he hadn’t said anything to the Countess, or, presumably, the rest of the court. All she knew now, as he circled the couch like a bird of prey, was that he didn’t like her.

“…or perhaps the witch might tell us herself.”

And she decidedly didn’t like him very much either. She bristled, eyes narrowing. “Perhaps…” she said, through gritted teeth, “don’t call me that.”

His lip curled slightly. “I misspoke. You are but an apprentice, after all.” His grey-gold eyes narrowed at her, and she narrowed her eyes right back. She could feel something impulsive biting at her tongue, but luckily the Countess stepped in, shooting the Consul a pointed look.

“If you all wanted so badly to know how that night transpired, you might have simply asked.” She shook her hair over her shoulder, fingers still dancing lightly over the piano keys as she spoke. Alec felt herself relax a little as the Countess explained the way they met, but her gaze never completely left the Consul.

He took another sip of his wine, lips pulled into a dissatisfied thin line. When the Countess paused, addressing Alec, he spoke instead, words veiled behind a sneer. “With respect, Countess, you must remember that we, your adoring court, are ever at your side. I would have thought you’d approach us with these concerns instead of resorting to consulting a common apprentice.”

Alec heard enough from him, and she stood up suddenly, ready to fight a member of the court in front of the Countess herself when she felt something hit her. She wasn’t sure if she had knocked the glass out of his hand, or if he took advantage of her movement, but either way, she was wearing the rest of his wine, feeling it drip down her chest.

The rest of the court gasped in shock, and the Countess was quick to tell them all to leave, but Alec held her stare with the Consul amongst the chaos. Now standing, she realized that he was taller than her, but only by the heels of his shoes, and that made her feel a little bit better about the wine. That, plus the fact that he looked shocked for one beat, and then his face changed.

He almost looked scared. Nervous, maybe. Then he followed the rest of the courtiers quickly, slamming the door shut behind them.

Once they were gone, Alec’s shoulders sagged, and she looked down at the ruined outfit. The Countess and Portia both approached her, the former resting her hand gently on Alec’s shoulder.

“I am sorry, Alec.” She sighed, irritated. “I do not know what came over him, but trust, I will have a word with him later.”

Alec couldn’t even look at her, feeling frustrated tears starting to well up. “These clothes… I’m sorry. They’re ruined.”

“What?” The Countess looked her up and down. “Oh, of course, but do not apologize. I hardly blame you for reacting as you did to his pettiness. We’ll fetch you something else to wear immediately.” Alec felt her gaze, and kept her eyes down, cheeks starting to burn in embarrassment. The Countess hesitated, squeezing Alec’s shoulder. “But I have taken enough liberties with your wardrobe. So please, do not hesitate. Tell me what you would like. Anything, no expense spared.”

Swallowing back her tears, Alec glanced up at the Countess, at the kind, sincere expression on her face. “Um… I’d just like to have my clothes back, please. From before.”

“I figured that’s what you’d say.” Portia’s voice from her side made Alec turn her head. The woman was giving her a similarly kind look, and looped her arm with Alec’s. Alec nodded, her lips curving up slightly.

The Countess laughed lightly, her hand leaving Alec’s shoulder. “Very well. Your comfort here is of great importance to me. Portia will escort you to your chambers. You will be bathed, and your own garments returned. I believe you will find them much as you left them.” Alec started to pull away, but the Countess continued. “Though, Alec… You are my guest of honor. You could be more selfish, if you like.”

Alec blushed, tucking a stray hair behind her ear. “You’re too kind to me, Countess. Thank you.”

She gave the Countess a small but grateful wave as Portia led her back to the guest wing. Once she bathed and returned to her room, she thought she would pass out immediately from the stress of the day. Before she could make it to her bed, however, her eyes caught on a parcel waiting by the window. Slowly, she unraveled the note on top of the package, and read the note from the Countess, her cheeks warming.

A gift for my dear guest, this emerald which seemed to call your name. Wear it in good health. And Alec, you may call me Nadia.

The emerald was stunning, and she absentmindedly played with the chain between her fingers, wondering exactly what kind of person the Countess—no, Nadia, was, that she’d give Alec such a fine piece of jewelry after having known her for only a few days. As she wondered, she noticed a trace of familiar magic coming from the emerald. It felt like Asra’s magic. She paused, focusing on his magic, tracing the stone with her fingertips. Maybe she could find him, somehow. Like she found Julian.

She waited for night to fall, and snuck down the hallways of the palace. She wasn’t entirely sure why she felt the need to be secretive, but it was better that she didn’t run into anyone anyway, not wanting to explain her late-night stroll. Her hair blew softly around her face in the night breeze, still a little damp from the bath, as she walked through the gardens, looking for something and nothing at the same time.

The sound of water drew her in, and she entered a clearing with a beautiful fountain. Above it stood a willow tree, and Alec’s heart leapt happily in her chest when she recognized a familiar snake draped among the branches.

“Faust!” She ran over to the fountain, stopping right under the snake with her arms outstretched. “Didn’t you go with Asra? What are you doing here?”

Faust dropped from the branches, landing in Alec’s arms, and wound herself around her shoulders, tongue tickling her cheek. Friend!

“Yes, baby. I’m so glad to see you.” Alec giggled as the snake tickled her, and sat down on the edge of the fountain, watching her wind down her arm, tongue flicking. “You have no idea how happy I am to have you here.”

She sighed, holding out the emerald necklace. Maybe Faust was the closest to Asra that she was going to get. Once she held it up however, Faust seemed to light up, investigating the necklace curiously. Alec glanced over at the fountain. Something about the water was pulling her still, and she hesitantly held the necklace over the water. When nothing happened, she let it fall, sending big ripples across the surface.

The water distorted and changed color, until even her reflection disappeared, and in its place was Asra staring back at her, a shocked look on his face. “Allie!”

“As!” She immediately leaned closer to the water, and he did too, their faces inches apart on opposite sides of the water. “How did I—or did you—?”

He laughed; a bright happy laugh that made her feel warm. “I had nothing to do with this!”

“Oh really?” She held Faust up, who waved her tail at Asra. “How did she get here then?”

His eyes lit up, and he grinned. “Good! Looks like she found you all right.” When Alec raised an eyebrow, he continued. “I wasn’t all that sure about leaving her, but after that reading you gave me… I thought I’d trust my intuition.”

“And what exactly did your intuition say?”

“That you needed her more than I did this time.”

She sighed, deep and exhausted. “Oh, you have no idea how much I needed her.”

“You know, for once I don’t think I do.” He peered over her shoulder as much as he could, eyes widening in disbelief. “Are you at the palace? You left the shop—the marketplace, even?”

“I did!” Alec grinned, immediately launching into her own colorful retelling of the events of the past few days. Asra’s reactions ranged from intrigued, to shocked, to horrified, to annoyed, to stunned as she explained how she had ended up at the palace.

When she got to the part about the Consul, Asra almost choked with laughter. “Oh, I know someone who’ll be furious with him for that.” He said it absentmindedly, as if he didn’t even realize he had.

Alec almost asked him who he was talking about, before she stilled, remembering one more thing. “As, I had a dream.” She paused, eyebrows knitting together. “Actually, they said I visited their dream. Anyway, I met someone. From my memories.”

“You did?” Asra suddenly became serious and sat up straighter, studying her face as she spoke. “What do you remember? Who was it?”

“I don’t know.” She closed her eyes for a moment. “They never said their name, and they wouldn’t let me see their face. But when they held me—I knew them. They had scars all over their arms that I remembered. I woke up and I remembered that I saw them, and what they told me. And then I thought I saw someone with similar scars walking through the gardens last night.” A drop of water landed on the back of her hand, and she realized she was crying.

“Alec—”

“They said they missed me, that they loved me.” Her voice broke. “They promised to come for me.” She wiped at her eyes in frustration, trying to hold onto her memory as tightly as possible. “They even—Asra, they said you love me. I don’t think it was really a dream, I think I really visited them—whoever they are—but I’m not sure. I just want it to be true. Please tell me that all of that was true.”

He was quiet for a moment, worrying his bottom lip between his teeth, and she watched his face, tears continuing to fall. When he spoke, it was slow, calculated, but still nervous. “If… if you’re starting to remember… and it’s not hurting you… Maybe it is time I tell you the truth.”

The water started to churn, and Alec sat back, watching with her eyes wide and mouth open as the water took the shape of Asra, right in front of her. All she wanted to do was hold him tight to her, but instinctively she knew that if she even touched the water, he would disappear.

“Allie…” Asra exhaled, pressing as close to her as he could, water shimmering in the moonlight. “It was—it istrue. You’re… not a student to me. You never have been. You’re my best friend, Allie, but you’re so much more than that. All my life, you’ve helped me grow, and I’ve learned just as much from you as you from me.”

Even through the water she could tell his eyes were shining with tears, and she choked back a sob, not even daring to speak as he continued.

“The person in your dream… they were right. I do love you. I love you so much, it breaks my heart every time I have to leave you. Because even when we’re apart, all I can think about is you, and how worried I am for you, and how much I want to be with you. And I’m…” His voice broke. “I’m tired of hiding that from you. I want you to know everything, to remember everything about me, about us.”

It almost felt too good to be true. Alec finally understood why Asra stayed with her, chose her, day after day. He loved her. And she remembered, she had to.

“Asra—”

A sharp, shooting pain cut through her mind, and she screamed, clutching at her head. She slumped to the ground, struggling to stay coherent with the intense agony she felt.

“Oh no, no, no, no!” Asra’s begging finally cut through the pain enough for her to hear him. “Allie, please look at me!”

She dragged her gaze up to his panicked, grief-stricken face, and immediately the pain became white-hot, nearly blinding her.

Asra gasped in horror as she cried out again. “O-okay, don’t look at me.” He sounded like he was going to cry, and she didn’t want that. She didn’t want to ruin the moment with him.

“I’m so sorry… I was reckless, I shouldn’t have tried.” He sounded so far away; why was he so far away? “Alec, I need you to forget.”

Forget? She shook her head, crying from the pain and from the thought of losing another memory. “N-no… No, Asra, please. Please, I don’t want to forget.”

She kept begging with him even as he spoke again, his voice breaking. “Gods, I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry, Allie.”

He leaned down over her, and she felt his lips on her cheek, cold like ice. Then she felt nothing.

****

A soft voice singing some lullaby she once knew laced her dreams, a pool of dark nothingness that she was floating in, alone. No… she wasn’t alone. Someone was carrying her, cradled to their chest like she was a child. And she felt like one, limbs heavy from a long day, eyes too tired to even try to open them.

What had she just been doing? She stirred, trying to remember.

The singing stopped, but the voice spoke. “Hush, my Sirène. Sleep. You’re alright.”

A part of her wanted her to open her eyes, to wake up, but she ignored it, settling deeper against the person carrying her. Eventually, the pool of nothingness turned into her bedroom in the palace, and the arms holding her turned into the blankets and pillows she nested in. She blinked in the dark room groggily, and when she saw nothing, laid back down, her eyes sliding shut again.

As she fell into a deep, dreamless sleep, her mind foggy from the events of the day, the voice that she had heard back at the shop continued, echoing in her mind.

“I promise, we’re always gonna be here.”

#the arcana #the arcana game #daniverse fic #Alec al-saleh #apprentice alec #the arcana julian #Julian devorak #the arcana nadia #nadia satrinava #the arcana muriel #the arcana portia #portia devorak #the arcana valerius #consul valerius #leon

[khaleesiofalicante]

The 'Never Have I Ever' Project

Hello Heathens,

So, I've been meaning to work on this one for a while. It's quite similar to my 'Yours with Love' project in the sense that it's a writing experiment I'm doing to push myself, test boundaries, and have some fun.

Never Have I Ever is a series of short (ha!) one-shots that intentionally focuses on "out of character" (OOC) behavior. So, each story will be about something they will NEVER do. For instance, what if Alec cheats on Magnus? What if Magnus decides to become Asmodeus' apprentice? What if David chooses someone else over Max?

It's chaos. It's a mess. I'm excited.

Some quick things about this project:

Applies to both tsc characters and my OCs :)

Only one story per character!

It could be set in a canon world or an au but it can't be about a specific fic (for example, what if alec never divorced magnus - we're talking about 'ooc' fics not 'what if' fics).

I will be working on this after lbaf - along with the rwrb au

It's very subjective. I've seen many fics about cheater alec and 'bad warlock' magnus so like remember these are 'ooc' work from my perspective, not the fandom's.

Also, please don't say shit like 'what if Alec was straight' - I can only change a person's behavior and values, not their intrinsic identities.

I need your help with ideas! You can send me prompts or thoughts or ideas about what YOU think is an "out of character" behavior/value for a tsc/lbaf character. I might not necessarily agree with it or use it (like if you say 'oohhh what is alec kills a child? uhhh that's not very ooc (to me) my friend') but please do feel free to share your thoughts. I won't be responding to these asks individually just to keep the suspense hehe

This is purely an experiment. And it might not work out the way I want it to and I might not be able to write ooc stuff. But where is the fun is not trying? And who knows what adventures this might lead to, eh?

Feel free to send prompts now or whenever you think of them! I'll be taking notes anyway :)

Dani x

Author's note: OOC in fanfiction means “out of character”. It means an author has changed the thoughts, actions, and speech patterns of an established character so much that the person is no longer consistent with the canon character.

#my writing #dani writes stuff #annoucement #never have i ever

[arrowtossingtournament]

Contestant list (full list below the cut)! If you would like to send in an image for me to use in the poll, please do it via the ask box!

Legolas (Lord of the Rings)

Link (Legend of Zelda)

Robin Hood (folklore)

Merida (Brave)

Bow (She-Ra and the Princesses of Power)

Madoka Kaname (Puella Magi Madoka Magica)

Sniper (Team Fortress 2)

Artemis and Apollo (Greek mythology)

Oliver Queen (Green Arrow/DC comics)

Chris Yukine (Symphogear)

Aloy (Horizon)

Kagome Higurashi (Inuyasha)

Decidueye (Pokemon)

Yukara Takeba (Persona 3)

Yona (Yona of the Dawn)

Hanzo Shimada (Overwatch)

Omega (The Bad Batch)

Alec Lightwood (Shadowhunters)

Susan Pevensie (The Chronicles of Narnia)

Equius Zahhak (Homestuck)

Vex’ahlia (Critical Role)

Pit (Kid Icarus)

Uryu Ishida (Bleach)

Sera (Dragon Age: Inquisition)

Varric Tethras (Dragon Age)

Zane (LEGO Ninjago)

Marcy Wu (Amphibia)

Big the Cat (Sonic the Hedgehog)

Wolfgang (Skylanders)

Katniss Everdeen (The Hunger Games)

Theon Greyjoy (A Song of Ice and Fire)

Silk (Epic Seven)

Huntress (Shadow Pixel Dungeon)

Hugh O’Connor (Ace Attorney)

Veralidaine "Daine" Sarrasri (The Immortals)

Akura Mercy (Cradle)

Anna (Epic Battle Fantasy)

Hela (When Jasy Whistles)

Barbatos Bachiko (Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun)

Bard (The Hobbit)

Ashitaka (Princess Mononoke)

Hayakawa Ken/Kaiketsu Zubat (Kaiketsu Zubat)

Junna Hoshimi (Revue Starlight)

Archer (A Practical Guide to Evil)

Beet Cookie (Cookie Run)

Lina (Riviera: The Promised Land)

Yoichi Saotome (Seraph of the End)

Kaguya Shinomiya (Kaguya-sama Love is War)

March 7th (Honkai Star Rail)

Elysia (Honkai Impact)

The Hunter (Enter the Gungeon)

Hornet (Hollow Knight)

Halt O’Carrick (Ranger’s Apprentice)

Archer (Fate)

Revali (The Legend of Zelda)

Venti (Genshin Impact)

Ganyu (Genshin Impact)

Clint Barton and Kate Bishop (Marvel comics)

Roy Harper (DC comics)

Sagittarius (the sky)

Wilhelm Tell/William Tell (folklore)

Shamir Nevrand (Fire Emblem: Three Houses)

Petra Macneary and Ignatz Victor (Fire Emblem: Three Houses)

Fingon (The Silmarillion)

#i say 'if you would like' but also i would really appreciate it bc i dont like looking for images #also any poll runners following me you can totally rb this

[saltychurr0]

Bsd characters if they had a child - PT 2

Including: dazai, tecchou, Fukuchi, Mori, ranpo(+Poe maybe) & oda

CONTAINS: FLUFF, ANGST, GENDER NEUTRAL (FOR THE MOST PARTS), MANIPULATION, GASLIGHTING, CHARACTERS INHERIT PARENT'S ABILITY, MENTIONS OF KILLING

Dazai

°..it's dazai. Just remember that

°i think he'd be a pretty.. odd parent, but be probably didn't willingly have you with a woman so Id say he probably found you somewhere.

°hes always goofing around and having a fun time with you, making light out of everything

°cannot cook for shit

°lay a finger on his kid, and you won't get far trust me.

°he wouldn't go as far as to kill them, he might get close but then again, he's apart of the ADA now.

°he likes going into town at night with you, showing you around and just having fun

°hes a teenager in an adult's body

Tecchou

°i love tecchou sm - (suegiku ❤️❤️)

°hed actually be a really good parent.

°but, when you start to grow up he'll have no clue what to do with setting curfews and rules.

° 'when will you be back?'

'maybe around 9'

'..kay.'

°will make you eat his food combination, then act really dramatic when you make a weird face

°i think he'd be really stingy about you wanting to be a hunting dog and join as an apprentice, since he knows how injured he can get. In the end he'd let you, but he'd be alot more sterner.

°he can be quite protective.

Fukuchi

°MA-NIP-U-LA-TOR 💥💥

°unlike tecchou, he would probably make you join the hunting dogs, or try and guilt trip you into joining.

°but.. I also think he'd act very father-like, and be good outside of the manipulation.

°he'll teach you alot with heaps of different weapons

°he homeschools, definitely.

°you would never really get to go to a public school or hang out with friends because of your training.

°probably overworked you on some days to the point where your knees buckled beneath you.

Mori

°same with Fukuchi, he homeschools because of his position in the port mafia.

°YOU'D BE FRIENDS WITH ELISE NO DOUBT

°teaches you how to use your ability and how to overpower it.

°not gonna lie, you probably killed someone near the age of 7, and he just stood there with a smile like 'good job'

°also a massive manipulator, in telling you that he only harms the 'bad people' and that they're the good ones Yada Yada.

°probs restricted you from going out to many places when you grew older, but you became good friends with his workers.

°you found out that he himself is very easy to manipulate, so you want a coke? Just whine and get all sad

Ranpo

°canon that you got called into the principles office with ranpo for being a 'smart Alec' and backtalking teachers.

°youd be explaining everything while Poe drove you both home and ranpo would just agree with everything.

° 'why are they getting angry at you? You're right!' there was a whole debate between respect and truth between ranpo and Poe back home.

°he cannot drive. But he has a car

°always manages to make his meals sweet, and no one knows how

°has multiple hidden stacks of lollies because you always seem to find them

°hates the beach. Hates it with a passion even if it's the middle of summer.

Odasaku

°straighforward. Takes you down to the lupin when you're young, and probably older and you'll just drink apple juice every single time.

°hes a very different person, despite working in the port mafia he led you down a different life.

°never introduced you to any killing or violence

°but.. he did reach you how to use a gun one, FOR PROTECTION.

°skeptical when you bring a friend home, he'll just stare them down silently and turn away.

°he always had little braids in his hair that stuck up because you always got upset when he took them out, that includes at work.

°he tried his best to keep you away from dazai but in the end it was all apart of him having a kid.

°NEVER in a million years would he leave you with dazai, he's always there, despite him doing nothing but try and teach you stupid, weird shit.

That took way longer, I had no motivation but I did it 😭😭 If there's any more characters or headcanons you can request it would be appreciated

#bsd #bungou stray dogs #angst #fluff #headcanon #dazai osamu #oda sakunosuke #fukuchi ouchi #mori ougai #suehiro tecchou #ranpo edogawa #poe

[therealvinelle]

What would Aro do (WWAD) when he was stalking Jane and Alec to eventually change them but then they got their hogwarts acceptance letters?

Be very confused because Hogwarts hadn't been founded yet.

As it is, and I'm fairly certain @thecarnivorousmuffinmeta made this post already, but there is every reason to believe Hogwarts is much younger than wizards claim it is. A thousand-year-old stone castle is completely ahistorical, there are no older parts of the castle signifying it wasn't always the massive stone castle we see today but rather it seems to have been built in one piece, it's many times bigger than it would need to be in a time of lower population rates (if a country of 57 million (British population in 1990) yields 40 students per year, then in the 11th century, when there were less than 3 million people living there, would... 2 students per year? Maybe?

You're not filling a castle with that. You don't even have a school, you don't even have a magic community. You have the village wise woman curing boils for people, and if she does come across a magical child then he can apprentice.

Hogwarts being founded seems to me a sign that a wizarding community was forming, which would have come much later and only when Muggles and wizards stopped being able to peacefully coexist as otherwise there would be no need to seek out a specific magic community to not just have contacts in, but live in full time. The creation of a wizarding school where all community members must be alumni screams nationbuilding to me, and probably occurred in the same period as the formation of the Statues of Secrecy in the 1660's, which is when wizards officially segregated from Muggles.

All this to say, the issues with crossing over Twilight and Harry Potter (tldr: incompatible worldbuilding, can't coexist) aside, Jane and Alec lived in the 9th century AD and would not be getting their Hogwarts letter.

#twilight #harry potter #harry potter meta #hogwarts #harry potter history #jane #alec