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fuzzhugs · 3 years

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Cycle - Redwall Midwinter Gift Exchange 2020-2021

Made as part of the @redwall-midwinter-gift-exchange. A gift for @autobot-scout-riella.

“Exactly how far north are we?” Dandin asked Mariel as he shivered against the cold wind blowing in from the sea. “I think my blood is about to freeze.”

The Pearl Queen had made ground along the sandy shores of the far Northlands. Together with Bowly Pintips, the three warriors had been sailing for nearly a season since leaving Mossflower, traveling wherever the wind took them, stopping at whatever island or stretch of mainland took their fancy.

None of them had any great experience sailing, and after floundering around for several days, they came across a group of sea otters who had spotted their vessel in distress. A dozen of the younger otters, keen to explore the oceans, joined Mariel, Dandin, and Bowly, bringing their knowledge of the ocean wind and waves, helping ensure the vessel didn’t sink or run aground.

Mariel responded to Dandin’s complaint by throwing another cloak at him. “I didn’t realize sailing around the tropics had made you soft.”

“I’m not soft, I just prefer having feeling in my footpaws.”

“Better wrap ‘em up then. We’re gonna be staying until we’ve resupplied.”

“Assuming we can find anything edible in a place this cold.”

“That’s why you and I are going to go scout around.”

“Abandoning ship, mateys?” Bowly Pintips came up to them.

“We’re going to go see if we can find food for the stores,” Mariel informed him.

“What about me? Just supposed to stay here and sit on my paws?”

Bowly was young and often stubborn. Mariel saw a lot of her younger self in him. Though he had been reliable in the past, he was not highly experienced in foraging or wayfinding on land, so Mariel found him another task to do.

“Help the otters set up a camp along the shore. We’ll probably be staying here a number of days. Keep the tents on the windward side of the Pearl Queen. We’ll stay a bit warmer that way. Scrounge for driftwood as firewood too. We’re going to need to keep a fire going.”

Bowly gave an exaggerated salute and marched off to issue orders to the otters, Mariel and Dandin fighting to stifle their giggles over his comically serious demeanor.

Before leaving the ship, both Mariel and Dandin bundled up against the cold, wearing multiple layers and wrapping up their footpaws in strips of cloth. With practiced skill, they shimmied down the ropes and landed on the beach, marching along the cold, wet sand.

As the beach transitioned into plains, the ground became hard. The dirt itself was frozen. The otters had spoken of lands where there was no summer and the earth was permanently frosted over. Dandin found the idea of a land without summer hard to believe, but Mariel, after everything she had seen in her life, found there was very little that was impossible.

While the two mice wandered, they found a few bushes that managed to grow despite the cold. The berries produced by the bushes were bitter, but edible. Mariel noted their location and began making plans to send a foraging party to gather them later.

A short time later, Dandin stopped and squinted into the distance. “I think I see a pair of trees up ahead. On top of that hill.”

Mariel stood beside him and squinted as well. They had not yet seen any other trees along the plain, so it would be strange to see any standing alone in the middle of nowhere. Nevertheless, there they were. Atop a distant hill, two of the oddest-looking trees Mariel had ever seen. The trunks curved upward in an unusual fashion and the branches that she could see were bare of leaves.

“They look dead,” Mariel said.

“I still want to have a look,” Dandin replied. “We’ll be able to see for miles if we make the climb.”

Mariel nodded, and the two mice set off toward their new destination.

The hill was covered in a layer of thick, brown grass, coated with a thin layer of frost like much of the rest of the landscape. Shortly after beginning their ascent, Mariel and Dandin began to notice there was something odd about the hill.

“This grass is strange,” Mariel told Dandin, running her paw up and down the wiry strands. “It doesn’t feel like a plant.”

“And have you noticed that the ground feels softer and warmer than on the plain? Do you think we should leave?”

“I’m not afraid of a hill. I’m going to the top.” Mariel continued toward the trees near the summit. Not wanting to be left behind, Dandin hurried after her.

“What manner of trees are these?” Mariel wondered aloud as she felt the trunks. “No bark, no twigs, no sign of any buds. This doesn’t feel like wood, it’s more like…bone.”

“Let me feel,” Dandin stepped forward and rapped his paw firmly against the strange tree.

The ground began to rumble and shake, and the hill seemed to sway from side to side. Both Mariel and Dandin were forced to hang on to the tree in order to stay upright.

“What did you do?!”Mariel shouted as the rumbling intensified.

“I didn’t do anything!” Dandin shouted back as he clung to the tree with his eyes shut tight.

Mariel glanced over the crest of the hill to see if it was collapsing, only to see the ground was getting farther and farther away. They were rising into the air.

“Dandin,” Mariel said, her voice nearly a whisper, “this isn’t a hill.”

“What do you mean this isn’t a hill?” Dandin said, still clinging to the tree.

“It’s not a hill, it’s a creature. Some enormous creature.”

The rumbling and movement stopped as the creature held still. Now that it was upright, Mariel could tell that she and Dandin were standing directly on top of its head, which was higher from the ground than the roof of the Abbey. The creature stood on four legs ending in hooves. Mariel opened her mouth to speak when a booming voice rang out from beneath them.

“K’to tam naverk’hu?”

Mariel’s ears rang. This creature was louder than even her father’s bell that now hung back at Redwall. Whatever the creature was saying, she didn’t understand it.

“Ch’to tii delayesh ‘s moyey golovoy?” the creature spoke again, just as loud as the first time.

To the side, there was what Mariel took to be an ear. She yelled at it as loud as possible. “I’m sorry! I don’t understand you! We don’t mean you any harm!”

“Ah, small-folk,” the creature said, now speaking more quietly. It lowered its head to the ground and Mariel and Dandin scurried off. “What are you doing upon my head?”

“We thought you were a hill,” Dandin explained. “We were going to climb those…trees on you head to look around the plain. We’ve never seen a creature like you before.”

“My antlers. My people are called ‘deer.’ You small ones are not from around here, I am thinking.”

“We are travelers. Our apologies for disturbing you.”

“It is no matter. It is time for me to rejoin my herd.”

“Your… herd?”

“My kind travels in groups. For safety. For companionship.”

“Can we see?” Mariel asked, ever interested in seeing new things.

The deer lowered his head and Mariel eagerly climbed back on. Dandin followed more cautiously.

“You never told us your name,” Mariel called down toward the deer’s ear.

“Rufus,” the deer said. “I am called Rufus.”

Every step Rufus took was jarring, but the mice could tell that the deer was moving slowly and trying to step gently. He brought them over hills and waded through what would have been an impassable river to creatures of Mariel’s and Dandin’s size. Rufus came to a stop above a broad valley, and Mariel and Dandin were breathless at what they saw.

The valley was filled with others of Rufus’ kind. Some had antlers, others did not. The sea of reddish-brown fur seemed to sway and flow like the ocean. The number of deer before them was uncountable. Steam rose from the valley floor out of great pits in the ground, further obscuring the true size of the herd in a thick fog.

“Even in winter, this valley is kept warm by the heat from the earth,” Rufus said, “but we often must leave to find foraging ground.”

“Why not live further south?” Dandin asked. “It is warmer there, and there are plenty of good things to eat.”

“I did once wander far to the south. I have seen your forests. While their beauty is clear, they are not suitable for a herd of deer. The trees would crowd us in and keep us from running.”

“Running?” Mariel questioned.

“We are not the only creatures of this cold and barren land. There are others. The wolves hunt us down and consume us.”

The thought of one creature eating another sickened Mariel. Eating a fish was one thing, but even among vermin, only the worst would consume the flesh of another.

Now in the midst of the herd, Rufus stopped as another deer stepped up to him. They rubbed their muzzles together in some form of greeting.

“My mate, Sylva,” Rufus said, introducing the female of his kind.

“Privet malysh’ki. Dobro pozhalovat’ v’ nashu dolinu,” the deer said in her own tongue.

Sylva does not speak your language,” Rufus said to Mariel and Dandin, “but she welcomes you to our home.”

“How is it that you speak as we do?” Mariel asked.

“I was once as I imagine you are. A traveler. An explorer. I wandered a great distance from the herd, eager to see the world. I saw many great things and learned much on my travels, but I eventually realized I had wandered enough, and I returned to my home. Perhaps one day you will feel the same and return to where you came from.”

“I don’t think we’ll ever tire of traveling and exploring,” Mariel said.

“Maybe so. At the time, I desired to return to Sylva,” Rufus nuzzled his mate affectionately, “but I see you travel with your mate. Perhaps this will be enough for you.”

“We’re not,” Mariel started to say while Dandin shifted his paws awkwardly, but a loud bellowing interrupted her and echoed across the valley. Every deer perked up its ears and spun its head in the direction of the call.

Before Mariel or Dandin could ask about the noise, Rufus had spun around and began to run alongside Sylva. Neither mouse had ever traveled at such speed. As the wind rushed by, Mariel and Dandin clung to Rufus’ antlers, fighting to maintain their position as Rufus bounded along, adding to the thunderous rumbling of countless hooves pounding the earth.

As the entire herd ran, Mariel glimpsed grey figures running near the edge of the herd, driving the deer one way and then another as they fought to escape.

“Rufus, what’s happening?” Mariel shouted, trying to make herself heard over the din.

“Wolves,” Rufus gasped as he panted. “The hunters. The killers.”

As the herd ran on, the mice managed to see the wolves more clearly. They ran on all fours like the deer. Ears back and fangs showing, saliva dripping down their sharp teeth the wolves looked like monsters.

Within minutes, the deer had crossed a distance that would have taken the mice most of the day, but still the wolves pursued.

There was a scream of pain, and as quickly as the chase began, it ended. The wolves swarmed around a fallen deer and began their carnage, ignoring all of the other deer as they ate.

The herd continued to run for several more minutes before all the deer halted their retreat and settled on a new stretch of grassland. Rufus was panting heavily, his breath steaming out of his mouth and nostrils. On his head, Mariel and Dandin were likewise breathing heavily, their hearts pounding and limbs trembling.

“Are you small ones injured?” Rufus asked once he had regained his breath.

Dandin helped Mariel to her feet. “We’re fine, Rufus. How long until the wolves come again?”

“They will not hunt again for several days,” Rufus said casually. “They have made their kill and will be satisfied for some time.”

“I’m sorry for your loss,” Mariel said. “Did you know the one who…fell?”

“No, but his sacrifice will be remembered.”

“Sacrifice?” Mariel asked, confused.

“One dies, the rest of the herd survives. This is the way it has always been.”

Mariel was shocked at Rufus’ seemingly callous to the loss of his comrade. “How can you say that? Those wolves are monsters!”

“They require food just as any other creature. They must consume meat in order to survive.”

“And why must their survival cost your people their lives!?”

“It would be far worse for us if the wolves did not chase us. If they did not take from us, our numbers would grow until we had consumed all of the plants in the land, and then we would all slowly starve to death, as would all the other creatures who call this land home. The chase ensures that we are strong enough to endure the harshness of the north. The old and inured who would otherwise perish painfully are given the dignity of a quick death. The death of one allows the herd to survive. Likewise, we encourage the wolves to be strong. If we did not run, the wolves would become fat and indolent. They would die as soon as hardship took hold. It is all necessary. The land needs us. The land needs the wolves. The wolves need us. We need the wolves.”

Mariel scowled, unhappy with Rufus’ explanation. “There must be another way.”

“What do you suggest? My kind do not have the clever paws to farm the land as you small folk do, nor are the wolves able to catch fish. While our way may seem unpleasant to you, it is nonetheless our way, and we must continue in it if we are to survive. Come, I will take you back to where we met.”

Rufus crossed the valley with the mice riding along. The wolves were still gathered around the fallen deer. Mariel made to look away when she saw the smallest of wolves nearby, running around and playing with each other as they stumbled on their inexperienced paws.

“Though they will grow to chase us done,” Rufus said, “I can still see value in their existence. Do the pups not deserve a chance to grow and thrive?”

Mariel did not answer. She was through arguing with Rufus. She remained silent until they reached the spot where they had mistaken Rufus for a hill. She gave him a cordial farewell, though she remained fuming inside. On the way back to the ship, Mariel and Dandin stopped to gather some of the berries they had spotted before.

Back at camp, the others were thoroughly impressed by the story Mariel and Dandin told them. Bowly was jealous that he hadn’t been along to meet Rufus. Mariel let Dandin do most of the telling as she warmed herself by the driftwood fire, staring into the flames as she regarded the northlands. She could not understand the casual way Rufus accepted the death of his fellow deer. Living and dying based on chance seemed an awful way to exist. Even as the fire died and everybody went off to sleep, the thoughts continued to run through Mariel’s mind until she too drifted off into slumber.

The next day, Mariel went off on her own, searching for other sources of food besides the bitter berries they had found the day before. She had wandered to the south where the grass was taller, hoping to find something edible hidden between the tall, leafy blades.

Late in the morning, Mariel’s ears caught the sound of some creature in distress. With a high jump, she was able to see over the grass into the distance where a pair of ravens were swooping down, harassing some creature who Mariel could not see. Pushing through the grass, Mariel made a beeline toward the ravens, getting her Gullwhacker ready to deliver a painful lesson to the disagreeable birds.

She came out of the grass swinging, delivering a solid blow to the skull of one of the ravens in mid-swoop. The birds gave a harsh cry and switched their attention to Mariel, diving toward her with talons outstretched.

With a whirlwind of blows, Mariel pummeled the birds with the knotted Gullwhacker, striking at the wings, heads, and beaks until they understood that their time would be better spent elsewhere.

Pushing through the rest of the grass, she came to where the raven’s victim lay. Mariel came to a sudden stop when she saw what it was. It was one of the wolves, but a young one. Though it was only a pup, it still stood as tall as a young badger. It was covered in scratches from the ravens’ talons, but it seemed unperturbed by its injuries now that the birds were gone. Its attention was now fully focused on Mariel.

Before Mariel could decide whether or not to run, the wolf shoved its face toward her a made a series of loud sniffs before it drew its tongue up the length of her body, leaving her clothes and fur slightly damp from its saliva.

“You’re welcome,” Mariel said, shaking herself dry. “I’ll just be going now.”

As Mariel turned to leave, she was suddenly lifted from the ground. The pup had grabbed the back of her cloak and was carrying her away, trotting along without a care in the world. Mariel thrashed about, trying to free herself, but the pup’s grip was too tight and Mariel was too small to have much of an impact on the pup’s behavior.

The pup continued carrying Mariel over several miles as she hung helplessly in its grasp. She had tried reasoning with the wolf, but either it did not understand her or did not care to listen to her, so Mariel waited, biding her time until she had an opportunity to run, though she had serious doubts that she would be able to outrun even this little wolf.

When they reached a clearing, Mariel spotted a fully grown wolf with several other pups nearby. When the adult saw the pup carrying Mariel, she bounded over and began to speak to the pup.

“Nikolas, ya zhe skazal tebe ne ukhodit. K’to eto? Chto vii nadelali?”

Though Mariel did not understand the words, she recognized the tone. At Redwall, she had heard Mother Mellus use the same sort of voice when scolding the dibbuns. Whatever this pup had done had evidently displeased its mother.

The pup responded, dropping Mariel as it did so, but its answer was more of a series of barks than an actual language. Nonetheless, the mother understood her pup and turned her eyes down toward Mariel.

“Tii ranen, malen’kiy?” the wolf asked, waiting for Mariel to talk.

“Sorry I…I don’t understand,” Mariel responded, fighting to remain calm while facing down the giant monster. “I don’t know your language.”

The wolf straightened up and closed her eyes for a few moments. “I speak…small tongue…little. Son say you… save son. This wolf… thanks you. My name… Sveta.” Sveta sniffed the air and looked back down at Mariel. “No need… fear. No harm you.” Sveta sniffed again. “You been with deer.”

“I met them yesterday,” Mariel said, finding her voice. “I saw them being hunted.”

Sveta nodded. “I not there. Hunters bring food… for mothers with pups.” She gave Mariel an appraising look. “I am feeling… you do not like this.”

“It is cruel,” Mariel said, unafraid to speak her mind. “Killing other creatures and… eating them,” she shuddered in disgust.

“Cruel to let pups eat?” Sveta asked. “Wolves no fish. No catch bird. No eat grass. Better to let pups die?”

“There must be another way. Some way for both deer and wolf to exist without all this killing.”

“You not first to think this. Grandfather Urgan try to abandon hunt. Leave pack. Not seen again.”

Mariel’s ears perked up at the name but she kept silent.

“Wolves not forget what deer give up. Come with Sveta. Sveta show you way of wolf.”

Sveta knelt down and allowed Mariel to climb atop her head. She barked something at her pups and led them out of the clearing along a trail which wound up into the hillside. The path took them to the bottom of a cliff that had undergone a rockslide at some point in the ancient past. Resting among the rocks and boulders were hundreds of deer skulls, some with antlers, other without. They were all perfectly aligned, obviously placed with care and purpose.

“Wolves not forget,” Sveta stated firmly. She stepped forward and brushed her face against one of the skulls an in almost intimate gesture. “Every moon pack visit memory hill. Remember prey. Thank prey,” she dug at a pile of dried vegetation, “bring offering to prey. Prey not only food. Prey are life. Life of pups. Life of wolves. Life of pack. Disrespect to prey, disrespect to pack. No kill without need. Punishment for wasting life high. Cherish life of prey. Cherish own life. Even pups know this.”

Mariel looked and saw that Sveta’s pups were walking up to skulls and imitating their mother’s gesture. Mariel had not seen any devotion to life this deep anywhere outside of Redwall, and though its form here was strange, it was not unrecognizable.

“The deer know of this?” Mariel asked.

“Deer know well. Deer know value. All have place in cycle. It is way. Small mouse understand?”

“I understand better than I did, but it is still difficult to grasp.”

“Small mouse need time to think,” Sveta proposed. “Sveta bring back to plains.”

Sveta gathered her pups and took them all back down the hills and through the clearing to where Mariel had fought the ravens. Sveta knelt down once again and let Mariel slide off her head and onto the ground.

“Thank mouse once again. Pup precious to Sveta and pack. Sveta remember mouse well.”

“Thank you, Sveta,” Mariel said. “I hope your pups grow up strong.”

Sveta nodded and called to her pups. Within moments, they were off, darting through the wilderness, no doubt going to rejoin their pack.

Dandin was visibly relieved when Mariel returned to the campsite. She had been gone much longer than she had intended, and with giant creatures roaming the land, it was no wonder he had been worried. Mariel didn’t say much, but sat by the fire, thinking about the way of life of the deer and the wolves.

“This is a strange land, Dandin,” Mariel said, “but perhaps not as strange as we first thought.”

#redwall #redwall midwinter gift exchange 2021 #mariel #dandin

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nortonclarissa · 3 years

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wander-the-wandering-weirdo · 4 years

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The Rumor Come Out: Does Wander is Gay?

((OK, analysing is not really my thing, eps. cause English is not my language, but I’ll type down some stuff for ya, anon.

There are so many scenes to cosider before coming to such a conclusion, but let’s focus on the most important ones:

We have seen Wander dressing up like a girl many times (like in “The Greatest”, “The Date”, “The Brainstorm” (in Hater’s fantasy), “The Secret Planet” etc.) and he most likely seemed to have fun doing so. I think it’s remarkable that the Blonde Wig Wander who has also appeared in “The Wanders” is considered to be one of Wander’s personalities, which might mean that Wander has a some kind a a female side, too. And I think it’s pretty obvious Wander REALLY likes pink color!..

But he also has been personating male characters, too like in “The Greatest” and “The Good Deed” for instance. And of course, let’s don’t forget his wild appearaces in “The Bad Guy” and “The Boy Wander” and “The Date”. Those appearances are usually followed by a different more quiet but rough voice of him, which is making him sounds more male-ish.

But now, let’s leave the appearance and proceed to his personality:

Wander, despite his gender, seems to have such a strong instict of maternity, as seen in “The Egg” where he was so protective and affectionate towards the egg, and that moment the egg slipped through Sylvia’s fingers and was falling down, Wander screamed “MY BABY!!!”. That and his behavior towards the baby, Huckleberry Knucklehead in “The Toddler” is the proof of that, but we could aslo consider motherrly his behavior when he was taking care of Westley in “The Little Guy” and baby cat, Lil’ Bit’s from “The Stray”.

In “The Little Guy”, when Westley was layed on the ground and Wander was checking him up to see if he’s okay, he even stroked his eye saying “eye beautiful..” and he was ready to do a CPR to him, that actually looked more like a kiss… However, when Westley stopped him from doing so, Wander stated “I was just havin’ fun, is all!”, which I belive is true.

In “The Birthday Boy” when Wander thought Hater wanted to play Spin the Bottle, he looked at him with a smug expression on his face saying :Hater, you sassy man! You do wanna get his party started!” and when the bottle pointed to Hater (cause of Sylvia) Wander said “Hater! I was hopin’ you’d win! Now, pucker up, and let’s see that smile!”

I think I don’t even need to mention “The Big Day” where it’s like Wander and Hater are preparing to get married (And that just made me realize Wander and Hater were about to “get married” like three times, in “The Date”, “The Brainstorm”, now “The Big Day”…) Anyway, there’s a bunch of quotes and gay elements in that episode, but I think it’s interesting to point out that Wander wore the bow, and Hater the “dress” as he also appeared in the cermony room as if he was the “bride”, even tho Wander was the one Hater shouldn’t meet eye-to-eye before the cermony…

So far, you probably think Wander is gay, but if you also remember the episode “The Hero” where Wander first meets princess Demurra, he says enchanted and in admiration “she’s beautifuuulll~” and he was so excited to save a princess, revealing that’s soemthing he always wanted to do.. (Some people could just say he just wanted her dess after all LOL) Despite that, we never actually saw Wander being in love with any girl, and we didn’t CLEARLY see him being in love with anyone in the show..

Oh, did I mention that Wander seemed to be on a date with a girl in “The Date”!?!?

THERE’S ALSO MORE CLUES TO MENTION BUT LIKE I SAID I’M NOT GOING TO ANALYSE THEM ALL EPISDOE-BY-EPISODE

NOW… SOME HEADCANONS:

We can only be suspicious with Wander having a crush on Hater, because I really feel like it’s the most canon ship in the show (after the confirmed ships like Demurra and King Draykor, of course). Cuz it totally makes sense and those two have a lot of moments together. Sorry but, I kinda headcanon this ship..

A theory of mine has to do with “The Brainstorm”, where Lord Hater in one of his imaginations, he gets married to Flendarian princess, only to find out it’s Wander in disguise, and Wander was super happy to be married with him, and he even kissed him on the cheek before hugging him. If we consider that all of Hater’s theories were accurate, since he proved he was right with the “banjo” thing, that means Wander could actually be happy to be married to Hater…? STILL, OF COURSE, both Wander and Sylva seemed to be relieved that they were still single in the end of the episode “The Date”…

I always thought like Wander was disappointed by himself because he didn’t actually manage to make Hater happy. With Dominator, it’s like he found hope again. He thought if he wasn’t the right person to change Hater, then Dominator would be the one! Maybe he could accept some love from her, since he does not accept Wander’s love for him.. Of course, that could never happen..

There’s also another insteresting theory of a friend of mine @thegreatestinthegalaxy, which has to do with Wander and his imaginations of Lord Hater being with Lord Dominator. It states the the entire time Wander was trying to pair those two, he was imagining himself in place of Dominator (cuz they have simular hyperactivity and all) giving him a reason to be so enamored with the idea of making them a couple. He wanted her to live out his dream of being with Hater, and that’s why when he imagines their wedding, Dominator’s look, like, her dress is very Wander-like style, “poofy” and “flow-y” with orange flowers on it! And even the pink lipstick he imagines, is a color Dominator would never use, while Wander loves it and uses it when he wears makeup. BECAUSE WANDER LOVES PINK AND ALL THE STUFF MENTIONED!! All this is just making the scene when Domianator says “Okay, go ahead. Surrender.” and Wander being like “I think you mean, surrender your heart, my studly skull muffin~” while stroking Hater’s chin even cuter and makes more sense! Cuz Wander adores ‘sappy smooshy lovey dovey silliness’~ So, Wander’s mistake is, he does not see what Dominator likes but what he likes. He’s a tea person, and she’s not. He’s in love with Hater, and she definitely isn’t at all!

Wander realizes it wasn’t meant for Hater and Dominator to be together “And it’s probably best you didn’t wind up together” but he finally sees a light in his relationship with Hater “But you know what I think is great?” I’m talking’ bout buddies~”

ANYONE CAN COME TO THEIR OWN CONCLUSION! The creators didn’t confirm any ships so people can ship whatever they want. My theory is, Wander is NOT gay. He’s a pansexual or at least bi-romantic guy because he’s mostly looking for romance, not paying much attention to the gender.. But he IS gay for HATER!!))

#wander over yonder #woy #save woy #savewoy #wander #wander sexuality analysis #anonymous #ooc #Anonymous #long post #headcanons #thegreatestinthegalaxy #the rumor come out: does........ is gay?#meme

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otmacamera · 4 years

Photo

Baroness Sophie Buxhoeveden on the visit to Constantza (1st June/13th June 1914)

Photo : The Russian Imperial family in Constantza, 1st June 1914.

from: Tsar Nicholas II 1914-1916 Album

#1914 #Sophie Buxhoeveden

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secret-engima · 4 years

Note

in the Nox AU, a lot of people are Concerned for Nox and Ardyn because of their behavior. And those two are generally good at taking care of themselves adn each other. But, Regis and Noctis's familial concerna and Titus discovering his Mom Friend/Shield tendencies aside, does anyone else more-or-less adopt and try to help them? Besides Cid, I mean.

Oh sure! Somehow those two keep getting adopted by (or adopting) people without really meaning to. The eventual list of People Who Have Adopted These Two are:

Cid and Cindy

Titus

Axis Arra

The Entirety of the Kingsglaive (Axis doesn’t count for this because he adopted Nox before getting the chance to join the glaive) with particular regards to Nyx, Crowe, Tredd, and a long-suffering Luche and Libertus.

Dave Auburnbrie: was actually the First to adopt them because he’s the unfortunate soul that first saw them post time-travel, shuffling around by the side of the road in the middle of nowhere in a daze of “what is this? What is sunlight? WHY ARE WE ALIVE?”. Being the nice, compassionate fella he is, he offered them a ride to civilization in his truck and has never quite been able to stop Momming whenever he sees them since. By extension, quite a few of the Hunters will take time out of their day to helpfully Mom these two if they spot them trekking around the wilderness (blowing up Nif Things) sightseeing.

Clarus’s wife Juno: my OC wife for him because there is no Canon Wife to my knowledge. She’s epic and no nonsense and she WILL threaten these two idiots with her razor sharp stiletto heels if that’s what it takes for them to sit down and eat stuff, Chancellor or no.

Queen Sylva: who is the only one with an inkling that they are More Than They Seem, because she knows the legends of the Healer King Who Became Accursed better than anyone and this Chancellor who swanned in and saved her and her kids during Tenebrae’s Fall ticks off ... a disturbing number of boxes (but that’s impossible, the Accursed is sealed away and plagued with the Scourge and Ardyn is neither right? RIGHT?)

Cor: Cor doesn’t trust Ardyn and thinks Nox is too reckless for his own good, but by the Astrals someone needs to help Titus and Axis keep these two alive.

Monica: Literally the Only Crownsguard that Ardyn has not successfully sent fleeing for the hills with his trolling behavior, even Dustin doesn’t want to get near the guy. Monica however just treats Ardyn like her bratty cats at home, and, to everyone’s surprise but hers and Nox’s, this strategy works like a charm. Honestly Ardyn is just the teeniest bit platonically smitten with this woman solely because of her ability to somehow talk him in circles without ever saying more than five sentences. Secretly, Monica thinks that Ardyn is a hoot when he’s not being Very Obviously Not Okay emotionally.

Emperor Aldercapt’s Son: an OC I am in the process of making because I ... can’t find his canon kid? If he has one? And I figured that in this AU, he has a son with Decent Morals who wants to reform the imperial policies. In the old timeline of this AU, he was assassinated by Bersithia/Ardyn/etc who didn’t like his peace-talking, but in this AU Ardyn is fully down with helping him overthrow his old man and while this currently unnamed OC is ... extremely wary of Ardyn, he too begins to cautiously Dad this alternately cunning and moronic wild card. He “figures out” a lot of stuff about Ardyn when he realizes that Ardyn has an LC nephew he’s been hiding and assumes that Nox being taken in by his LC relatives is why Ardyn is suddenly more supportive of ending the war.

Aranea: She doesn’t understand these two, she doesn’t understand why she doesn’t just leave them to their idiocy, but blast it all someone has to because clearly the Lucians can’t keep up with them (said after one too many times stumbling across the CHANCELLOR OF NIFLHEIM inspecting an ammo depot that goes up in flames less than twenty minutes later. She doesn’t trust Ardyn, but he helps out the little people and supports Younger Aldercapt in trying to finally end the war and make peace so she’s going to grit her teeth and put in the effort to keep him alive. Nox, on the other hand, is a treasure and is welcome on her ship at any time).

That’s everybody I can think of at the moment, but I’m sure that more people will trickle in to adopt these two as my plot notes evolve.

#SE asks #anon asks #Secret Engima Rambles #ffxv #ardyn izunia #noctis lucis caelum #basically everybody takes one (1) look at these two #and adopts them #because clearly they need Help #the fact that they are adorable in a Disaster Duo way doesn't help #also the Witch of the Woods and Ardyn get along WAY too well #Nox is honestly terrified of letting them interact #who knows what horrors against sanity they will produce #in the name of medicine

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parttimespellbinder · 6 years

Text

The Novice Review

This is gonna be a super informal one but I’ve been putting it off for a while and I’m basically just trying to crack this out all at once.

So I read The Novice the first book in The Summoner trilogy and if I’m being honest, I was pleasantly surprised by how invested I came to be in this first book It’s about a blacksmith’s apprentice named Fletcher, living in not-another-standard-fantasy-world. Whatever. Either way, Fletcher discovers that he has the power to summon demons when he reads a spell and summons a salamander. He’s later enrolled in the local Hogwarts equivalent where adepts are being trained to become battlemages for the military as in this setting we’re at war with the Orcs. Fletcher makes a couple of friends, most notably an Elf and a Dwarf and some enemies in a pair of twins that remind me of Draco Malfoy and a teacher that reminds me of Snape.

The first chunk of the book is the hardest to get through cause its’ a lot of world building and exposition about the state of the world and the relations between humans and the other races. We hate the Orcs, obviously but we also hate the Dwarves even though we have a rather flimsy alliance with them as well as the Elves who we’ve only recently stopped having a war with. Because the battle isn’t going so well, we try to get as many adepts through the proper schooling as fast as possible so we can just punt them out to the front lines. This means that because the enemy of my enemy is my friend, one Dwarf and one Elf attend Fletcher’s school for the sake of rounding out our cast. Othello and Sylva the Dwarf and Elf respectively are fine characters and I really liked how savy they were to the plight and situations of their people. I like how the novel stresses that they need to be on their best behavior so that relations between their races and the humans go well and that shapes a lot of their interactions with not only Fletcher but the rest of the cast as well. Sylva is probably the most politically savy in this regard as she very quickly tries to befriend the aforementionred Draco Malfoy twins, Isadora and Tarquin who are both obvious asshats from a wealthy family. The friendship is an obvious ruse on both ends with each being able to get something from the other but we know and so too does Fletcher that these kinds of alliances aren’t really the best baskets to put all your eggs in. Othello and Fletcher hit it off almost immediately so his decisions never come off as “why the fuck are you doing this” cause Dwaves are already treated like second class citizens so of course he’d have no reason to try to hit it off with the nobility. And that’s another thing.

This being a rather standard fantasy setting has clear lines drawn in the sand for nobles and peasents. The school that the kids attend is primrarally for nobles who do their best to keep this verse’s magic within the nobility. A noble’s first born will always be an adept and any kids popped out after only have a 1 in 3 chance of being magical. But nobles can also have kids with multiple women so as long as it’s the first born to that particular woman, the kid will always have magical power. Commoners having magical power in the grand scheme of things isn’t treated as unusual because at the first sign of talent they’re shipped off to school. Nobles, being born with the power inherently are better groomed for their impending education giving them more of an advantage while at school and better chances to promote. So we’re dealing with a Nobles vs. Commoners situation in addition to everyone generally just being against everyone. Its’ quickly established that due to the war we have to try to expidite everyone’s education but this year we’re allowing first years to participate in an annual tournament that basically allows for instant transition into the military. So even though Fletcher isn’t the only commoner, he’s barely in a position to really try to make friends cause the general attitude is one of first come first serve, dog eat dog. That doesn’t stop Fletcher from befriending a couple of kids at school but it does put a strain on their relationship later on when he’s taking extra classes and studying with the more plot relevant characters.

The characters themselves are adequate, with our main three being on the better end of the protagainst side while our antagonists are written with such banality you can see their actions and dialouge coming from a mile away. If anything I’d say that Fletcher is probably one of the smarter protagonists I've read about in a series like this as he recognizes the problems he has with the magic system and seeks shortcut his way around his obstacles with an idea so simple it’s absolutely genius. Another thing I have to praise is the use of demons with the inherent magic system. I honeslty expected this to be a story about a boy learning how to summon demons and what I got was a book where the demons are actually plot devices to make the magic work. All in all I liked it. Again, I struggled to get through the first half but once the midpoint happened I was hanging on by every word. The ending came as such a shock that I’m pissed cause now I have to go out and buy the next two books. I’d give it a 7.5 out of 10. It’s got it’s problems and could have maybe done with another draft but overall it was a fine read. I’m looking forward to the next installment.

#the novice #summoner series #taran matharu #Fletcher #Sylva #Othello #dwarf #elf #humans #nobles #commoners #magic #demon summoning #review

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araneaxdragoon · 7 years

Text

Title: Flowerbed Pairing: Aranea x Ravus ( RavAra) Rating: T Warnings (if necessary): Death Day 4: Comforting @ffxvrarepairsweek Author’s Note: Pardon the tardiness of this fic. Due to work for the next couple of days, I may be a day or two late with participating in the rare ship week. Hope this makes up for it! ;u;

It was unlike Ravus to require her presence in Tenebrae on a whim. Nevertheless, she met with him in a location that was..unusual. Standing in a field of sylleblossoms; Ravus was found standing before four headstones whilst holding a flower in his hand. Donning a black and white suit with his family crest engraved on the back, he closed his eyes as he smelled the lavender perfume of the approaching dragoon. “Did you know that sylleblossoms were Lunafreya’s favorite? She enjoyed many simple things in life, despite knowing her fate would end in ruin. What I would give to show how proud I was of her. Instead..I denied the prophecy that was foretold by our blood and argued with her till her death. I was hardly the supportive bother she needed.” He hated that all those he cared for were bound by death. Death for serving and protecting the line of Lucis. Needless to say, he was not pleased with the revaluation he had made, though kept to himself. Aranea listened to him as she looked at the names in order. King Jasper Nox Fleuret Queen Sylva Nox Fleuret Oracle Princess Lunafreya Nox Fleuret Pryna She knew that death was a touchy subject. Being the last of a royal line couldn’t have exactly have been easy. Taking a small step closer to him, she held her right hip as she spoke.“Sorry for your loss, Ravus. But..you know..if Lunafreya was here, pretty sure she’d tell you to not blame yourself. She was just doing what she had to. As much as you might hate hearing it, she was doing her duty.” An irritated sigh left his lips. “I am well aware. However..that does not mean I have to approve how eager she was to toss away her life. She was so ready to face death’s embrace.” His features fell, tossing the flower he had in hand into the tall grass before Lunafreya’s grave. “I could see in her eyes how she was slowly dying; taking in the Starscourge. It pained me to see her suffer and unable to do anything about it..” He prayed that she was at least at peace. However he could not do anything about her situation, not even if he wanted to would he be capable of doing so. The magitek attachment on his left arm was all the proof he needed. He may have the blood of the Oracle in him but he was far from pure like his beloved little sister. Had he not been so consumed in his need for revenge against the line of Lucis after the death of his mother, he could have been the supportive elder brother he was meant to be. Clenching his left hand, he turned to Aranea. He could still redeem himself..maybe. “I need your assistance, Commodore.” She rolled her eyes, giving him a small smile.”You know you can just call me Aranea, right? What do you need?” “Ensure the people of Tenebrae are safe. I..may be following Lunafreya’s footsteps by calling out the Empire on how wrong they are. This will likely be the last time I will be here in Tenebrae.” Aranea rose a brow. “You aren’t planning on doing something stupid, are you?” A faint smile tugged at his lips.”Perhaps.” “You know..you’ve already been marked as a traitor. Going to Niflhiem is a suicide mission, especially if you go alone.” His smile faded, looking back to the graves of his family. All of them died protecting what they held dear to their hearts -- even Pryna; a mere messenger hound and faithful companion to Lunafreya, was unable to continue living without the Oracle at her side. He had the unfortunate task of burying the poor thing here this afternoon. It seemed that the blood of the Oracle; bound to serve the Kings of Lucis, was haunted by death. “I know but I have to make amends with my failures.” Aranea pinched the bridge of her nose with a cringing sigh. “You’re crazy, you know that? Ugh..fine. I’ll do what I can. I left the military anyway; so I’ll be able to escort people out of here in no time. Just do me a favor and watch your ass.” Sighing in relief, Ravus inclined his head to her. “Thank you,Aranea.” Looking between the stones of his family, he couldn’t help but wonder how his parents would have acted -- had they been alive today. Corners of his lips twitched to a sad smile. “She would have liked you. My mother. Though I may have been too young to remember much of her, I do remember how free spirited she was. Quite the opinionated woman as well.”

Daring to reach out, his right hand moved on it’s own accord as he searched for Aranea’s. To his surprise, she curled her fingers within his, leaning her head on his shoulder. He turned to face the dragoon, only to see that she was staring out at the sunset. A soft hum left her lips as she gave his hand a comforting squeeze. “You know, I think I like your mother already. Not sure she would get alone with mine.” She gave a light laugh. “She was a drill Sargent..and the one who encouraged me to take ballet lessons as a kid. No one ever said ‘no’ to her. Talk about a hell of a strict parent. But..I know now that her strict attitude came from a place of love. She only wanted what was best for me. Thank the Gods she isn’t here now to see the mess that things have gotten.” Looking up at Ravus, she gave him a small smile. “Could you imagine how crazy the family reunion would have been..with both our families?” “..Certainly far from a dull affair, I’m sure.” he uttered softly. Ravus knew that his journey to Niflhiem would take a few days. He would be taking the first train in the morning, leaving instructions with Maria to evacuate the manor as soon as possible, knowing that trouble was on it’s way to Tenebrae. But for now, he took comfort in the warmth of Aranea near by. He would make things right..somehow..

#Ravus x Aranea #rarepairs week #ravus nox fleuret #aranea highwind

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loveiscosmicsin · 7 years

Text

Picturesque

FFXV Spoilers

I’m writing this by the ear and not using much reference or information. The timeline of FFXV is confusing so whatever. I wanted to write about Ardyn and Gentiana or Gentianardyn or Ardiana. There’s something going on, but nobody’s saying much about it (much like the plot of XV, basically). Can’t help imagining Ardyn/Gentiana/Luna except, not a poly ship, but a complicated love triangle of new loves, lovers spurned, and portions of hearts remaining with the other person. As far as this fic’s concerned, Gentiana had a thing with Ifrit, Ardyn, and Luna. Let me tell you that I prefer Brotherhood!Gentiana because at least she doesn’t speak in confusing riddles and actually was at Luna’s side. Might become part of a series: The Accursed and The Liars. Posted on Ao3.

She is free in her wildness, she is a wanderess, a drop of free water. She knows nothing of borders and cares nothing for rules or customs. ‘Time’ for her isn’t something to fight against. Her life flows clean, with passion, like fresh water. - Roman Payne

“Lady Lunafreya, would you like to hear a bedtime story?” Gentiana proposed to the former Tenebraen princess one night.

Lunafreya’s brilliant amethyst flickered to the older woman’s face. Her confusion was understandable. There was no precedence leading up to the inquiry. It came unexpectedly. “A little old for bedtime stories, I’m afraid,” she replied reluctantly, tucking short blonde hair behind her ears.

Lunafreya Nox Fleuret was a young woman at the tender age of fourteen. Gentiana never paid much heed to mortal lifespans for she knew that when there’s a beginning the end not far behind. Everyday was either a celebration or a curse. Lunafreya attained an air of maturity for someone barely at the peak of womanhood but Gentiana would consider her a child.

“Forgive me. I mean no offense, I seek to assuage feelings of self-doubt and reinvigorate your will.” Gentiana hovered her hands over the girl’s legs and concentrated white magic over worn muscles, her eyes shut not to betray her thoughts. “Lessons can be interpreted from stories.”

Gentiana came into Lunafreya’s service as a lady-in-waiting and her Messenger two years ago. It won’t be until two years later Gentiana would re-introduce herself as the Glacian, Shiva, one of the Six Astrals that safeguarded Eos. Though the Fleuret heiress was destined to accept the role of Oracle in the near future, there was little that the two maidens knew about each other. Lunafreya was the youngest acolyte placed in Gentiana’s care but possessed great promise. She would make a powerful Oracle under firm guidance.

Before a woman of the Fleuret lineage ascended to her calling, she must undergo a set of arduous trials. Queen Sylva, the former ruler of Tenebrae and Lunafreya’s predecessor, too, endured the training.

The princess suffered considerably through hers. Her spiritual energy was spent after dispelling a miasma that Gentiana projected. It was minuscule in scale and non-threatening, but Lunafreya collapsed after containing most of it. She was unsuccessful today, but improving with each attempt, refusing to be discouraged by present limitations.

It was nightfall now. Lunafreya’s body was plagued by severe chills and cramps that left her whimpering involuntarily and restless, a frequent occurrence. Even as Gentiana tended to the young girl, sympathy for her charge was inevitable. Lunafreya had no liberty to protest about burden when so many cannot find solace in this world. A calling must be heeded and the Oracle shall go to those in need. She accepted the hardships rather than to defy them, an attitude Gentiana herself had fostered.

One day, Gentiana would instruct the rites and the Oracle must be ready to commune with the Six so the King of Kings could fulfill his destiny. By then, the Astrals shall bear witness to humanity’s determination. After all, Lunafreya had already won over the Glacian’s unconditional admiration.

Lunafreya was silent even after Gentiana ceased healing. The servant bowed her head, interpreting silence as an answer and it was her time to retire. But the girl spoke with unwavering resolve to compel the Messenger to remain, “I’ve a feeling that this isn’t a mere children’s bedtime story. If this one is as important as you assert, I’d like to hear it.”

“Very well,” Gentiana nodded.

Once upon a time, there was fox king. He was neither of light or dark. He alone illuminated the world and fearlessly ventured the bleakest regions no one dared walk. But for that, his people loved him. He possessed a pure, uncomplicated heart that rivaled even the brightest of stars.

The gods awarded him with a bejeweled crown in all the colors of the rainbow.

A beautiful crown fit for a spectacular king! Everyone, in all the land, lauded over it.

But the gemstones on the crown were heavy, so heavy, they banged against his eyelids and weighed him down.

No one, from anywhere, wanted to hear the king’s voice again. The neglected soul contested to remove the crown.

He walked to the ends of the world to uplift his burden, but to no avail. A hole awaited him.

The fox king fell into the hole. No one remembered the fox king.

Everyone had forgotten him. Poor king. Poor king.

Gentiana paused with a grimace. That tale went untold for over a millennia, but the wounds were as fresh as received on that day. Not a day went by that she hadn’t thought of him and the Messenger lived many years. She brought a hand to her breast, feeling the medallion concealed there. It was far more than a trinket, it was a music box, the melody jarring after it had been exhausted repeatedly. A memento of better times and what could have been.

“Is there more to the tale?” The girl asked, perturbed by the ending.

Yes, Gentiana thought immediately before resigning with a painful lie, “No. This was his fate.”

Lunafreya pursed her lips, pensive as she leaned in the palm of her hand. “Gentiana, did you know this fox king?”

Gentiana laughed softly but no humor came of it. “Is that assumption you have derived from the tale, m'lady?”

“If I may be so bold, I’d say that you knew this fox.”

“The fox’s tale is a chapter read and closed by those who walked that path until they met their demise. The fox saw the world through a different lens, did what he felt was right and perhaps condemned for a nature that was but a dark seed in his heart. Perhaps he was destined to bring ruin unto others. Who could say?” The Messenger paused, extending a finger over the promised Oracle’s heart. Perhaps the girl would understand the hardship. “Tell me, Lady Lunafreya. What is heavier? The world or its people’s hearts?”

Lunafreya glanced down at the Messenger’s hand, puzzlement touched her features briefly before an eerie answer left her mouth, “The heart holds as much as it would allow, Gentiana. If we were at any liberty to choose, the weight could be lighter or heavier as we wish it.”

Gentiana tilted her head, envisioning the girl who once sewn her crown with delicate blue flowers. A halo of holy light glittered around her, leaving the Astral enraptured. “You would submit yourself to the latter if you had the choice?”

“I would, but I already do. Even if it meant giving up my life, I will defeat the Starscourge. I must.” Unwavering dedication resounded in her words.

Gentiana took the girl’s hand between her own and the Oracle-to-be flinched, never had the attendant been so forward as to touch her. A mortal’s warmth was something the goddess hadn’t felt in a long time, chipping the glacier around her heart. Gentiana had known two great tragedies in her lifetime, there won’t be another, she would rather die first before anything happened to Lunafreya.

Both the girl and the fox were willing to sacrifice their lives for the greater good. Their hearts had the capacity to hold the world and its habitants, a pure and idealistic love, but naïve. The fox possessed the eyes to distinguish the light of expiring souls yet he was determined to avert certain death or at least, ease suffering. His final act of love should’ve marked him as the last king, unparalleled and forgotten by descendants after him. The kings of yore saw to this banishment of their ilk.

She cannot erase the fox from history, this Gentiana knew, but she wouldn’t make the same mistake with her charge. Lunafreya was a paragon of the peace and should she die, then the world would come to an end.

History had its eyes on Lunafreya, after all.

“I sense you, but I find your power wanting.” Ardyn Izunia hummed to the sound of his own noncommittal tune, swishing brandy in a glass.

The mauve-haired chancellor chuckled, finger tapping against the glass impatiently. It had been a millennia since he had been ignored, having grown accustomed to commanding gullible audiences who latched on to his every word.

The uninvited guest was nothing like that. A force of nature, elusive and omnipresent. While Ardyn’s words corroded and dominated willpower to a world he made for himself, planets orbited around her without consequence. It didn’t matter to her how many devotees clung to her tits like babes or treated her name as it was a curse in itself.

“I confess, I didn’t expect your intervention. I thought you would be too preoccupied mourning your darling Lunafreya. Extinguished like a star, that one.” Feigning pity, he raised the glass to toast in the late Oracle’s memory, “A shame that her lungs weren’t in agreement with the sea water.”

Silence persisted, but the room had progressively gotten colder. Frost crept up around the rim of the glass. He took a sip.

“The cold never bothered me anyway,” he chuckled as he finished the drink. The glass shattered in his hand, crystal fragments spilled on the floor. “Come now, do show yourself. I’ve no quarrel with you though my feelings are a little hurt.” He shook his head in dismay, clicking his tongue.

A flurry of ice stormed into the room, projecting frost within the vicinity. The dance ended as the crystal particles revealed a woman donned in a black and gold dress. Her ivory face was devoid of emotion, but her temperament spoke otherwise. That woman always had an inclination for the theatrics.

“Ah, the heavenly ice goddess herself appears before me of her own accord.” Ardyn rose from his chair, removing his fedora as he bowed humbly. Though his grin was amicable, anger glinted in his amber eyes. “I must be truly blessed.”

“You lost the Gods’ favor.” The raven-haired woman brought her hands forward, the movement as gradual as glaciers coming together. “The stars no longer shine for you, fallen king.”

“I’ve made my dwelling in the darkness.” The man sighed as he readjusted his hat. “After all that has happened, still you live. I’m rather curious why you persist using that form, masquerading as something you’re not.” He paused, hissing a word as it was vile through clenched teeth, “Human.”

“A question I pose to you,” The Glacian reached out to touch the chancellor’s ageless and handsome mask. “You call yourself Ardyn Izunia.” The illusion came undone, gold pupils glinted violently through obsidian, tan complexion paled, and the ebony blood oozed from his hollow eyes and cracked lips, dousing the Messenger’s hand in its viscous taint. “Now the vessel emulates its essence.”

Demonic. Grotesque. Unclean. Accursed. Let the entire universe bear witness to his true face. The form bestowed when he was denied to pass over and condemned to eternal life. He was no longer human.

The Immortal Accursed snarled with penetrating roar and lashed out, his grip a vise around Gentiana’s throat. The Messenger’s head jerked back by the impact, but her emerald eyes bore down on him. His fingers dug deeply, searching for vitals to snuff out, crush and claw until nothing remained of her. It was unfortunate for him that the Glacian’s life couldn’t be ended in such a crude method.

Gentiana’s other hand joined on the Accursed’s face, fingers delicately wiping at the scorned sludge. They were reminiscent to tears though she doubted that he shed them still.

He was a vessel of darkness and it poured out of him endlessly; submerge the both of them in this very room, if it were possible. She soiled her hands, anointing the sanctity of her office with Ardyn’s taint. Before him, she was a sinner, embalming for a funeral, but the man knew no grave, thus, he had no need for one.

Ardyn ceased squeezing and in a huff of disgust, almost as if he lost interest, released Gentiana. The Astral lowered her hands, sludge evaporated harmlessly out of existence. The Accursed’s exposed mask lingered for a moment before the man she knew as the former King of Light stood before her. His face never left her dreams. Old wounds carved deeply into the goddess’s soul as Gentiana had guided and loved Lunafreya as immensely and passionately as she did this man.

He couldn’t end her life no more than she could his.

Even when she wished destruction upon the pariah who brought harm to the prophet.

Gentiana’s beloved Lunafreya. It wasn’t the Oracle who granted the Glacian reprieve and boundless solicitude, but the woman behind the authority.

The goddess felt the bonds she forged with the Accursed and the Oracle still, if not more strongly than ever. Those connections were all that remained. Time of separation and death could never sever them.

“Eirlys.”

Gentiana’s heart crashed like an avalanche against her rib cage. She had not heard that name in a long time, having discarded it when she was reincarnated as Gentiana. Those that knew that name had been permitted entry to the Kingdom of the Dead, Ardyn was the only exception who bore knowledge of it. Eirlys was never Gentiana’s true persona, but it was an element of herself. Part of her resonated strongly to the past and all the memories she held dear and promises gone unfulfilled with it.

“Why are you here?” The inquiry was void of malice and honeyed threats. It was hollow and splintering. When Gentiana looked to him, Ardyn’s eyes were no longer hot coals in a fire but mirth curled a corner of his mouth. “Revenge? To declare war? To ask for my forgiveness? Why, my snowdrop Messenger, does the passage of time run by too slowly for the Six? Even though it’s you, I don’t sway to the temptations of the flesh as easily as I did in my youth.”

“It is none of your concern.” The frostbite in her tone went unheeded when the man clicked his tongue.

“Ah, a courtesy call then.”

“A courtesy call would be to those holding reputable offices, correct? What is yours when your actions vanquished an empire and ultimately betrayed those who trusted you?”

“Pot calling the kettle black,” Ardyn sighed deeply as he extended a hand to the ice goddess. “I hope you see the world has made liars and traitors out the both of us, Eirlys. Allegiances fickle affairs, promises are meant to be broken. Today’s allies become tomorrow’s enemies. What comes up, must come down.” He dramatically made a circular motion. “And etcetera, etcetera. You get the picture. Deities have witnessed the worst of humanity and are no strangers to it themselves.”

“An Astral’s word has and will always be their bond.” Gentiana asserted, apprehension boiled deep within her. It took her back to the day she saw Ardyn’s face and all those promises exchanged came crashing around her. Mortals were indeed cruel.

“I recall that same gimmick that long ago so don’t delude yourself now,” Ardyn waved off as he walked past Gentiana. “And so you forged a covenant with the Chosen King. Your second choice and only hope. Save one, let your fair maiden die, too little, too late, to stop the darkness that’s to come.”

Lunafreya’s death was unavoidable but Gentiana didn’t expect her to fall at the Walls of Water. The Astral couldn’t bear the alternative even if the Oracle survived, a vessel of otherworldly power succumbing to rotting flesh and uncooperative limbs, her beloved Lunafreya paralyzed for life, losing all functionality of what made her human until her mind remained. Drowning was a mercy in comparison to fading out of existence and Gentiana knew she had no regrets.

Lunafreya had asked Gentiana not to intervene, to then form a covenant with the King of Stone to bring light back to the world. It was the most excruciating order the Glacian had to follow, she after all sought mankind’s salvation from the plague.

There was nothing else that needed to be said, Gentiana realized. She wished that she found solace in seeing her former charge and lover once more. The Glacian didn’t come to wish the peace or to free him from a millennia-old curse. There was only one king, rightful and true, who she willfully tethered herself to and even then, she had her own objectives to see to fruition.

Perhaps in another life…

“What will become of you, Ardyn Lucis Caelum?” Though Gentiana already knew the outcome of Ardyn’s plan. A goddess of death needn’t a crystal ball or tarot cards to predict the end of the Caelum bloodline. What began in blood, must also end in blood and the world would become whole again.

Would she see Ardyn welcomed to the Gates of the Undead?

“Never you fret, my dear. I’ve always been a man of no consequences. Ah, don’t tell me that there’s still a flame in that tundra you call a heart.”

Ardyn turned around, finding that the goddess was no longer there. She left no trace of her existence, but he would always remember this conversation until the end.

“My heart will always belong to you.” Ardyn whispered, remnants of his former self, a humanity he thought long forgotten, loathed the emptiness. “As it always had.”

#Gentiana #Ardyn Izunia #lunafreya nox fleuret #ffxv spoilers #ffxv #ff #ff15 #final fantasy xv #final fantasy 15 #final fantasy #gentianardyn #ardiana #gentialuna #moonflower #genluna #access to the Ao3 link #The Accursed and The Liars #Gentiana/Ardyn #Ardyn/Gentiana

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darth-bagel · 3 years

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OC Interview -- Sylvas Sha’ael (1/4)

I was tagged by @swtorizz @inventedbyawriter @shanfamilydrama and @theniveanlegacy (that's why there will be 4 parts, get ready xd)-- thank you all for tagging me 💙✨

Hello there! My name is Bagel, and I have some interesting people coming in today to answer questions, our first guest is an already infamous chiss smuggler!

(Artwork by @sentinelapologist 💙✨)

► Name? ➔ They smile charmingly as they plop down in their proper seat “At this moment in time? Sylvas Sha’ael.”

► Are you single? ➔ They chuckle “Hah, it’s complicated, but I’d say yes”

► Are you happy? ➔ “I’m good, there are refreshments, and no one’s shooting at me yet”

► Are you angry? ➔ “Nah, you’re good”

► Are your parents still married? ➔ They cock their head to the side, calculating for a few seconds “Pret-ty personal there, huh. I don’t know, you tell me”

NINE FACTS

► Birth place ➔ They shift a bit to sit cross-legged “Corellia, or so I’m told”

► Hair color ➔ “Black. Mostly. ”

► Eye color ➔ Their eyes narrow a bit “...Red”

► Birthday ➔ “29th day of 6th month, and yes I stopped paying attention to years a while back”

► Mood ➔ They flip their legs up on the armrest and sit sideways, more lounging at this point “I’m peachy, thank you~”

► Gender ➔ “Nah”

► Summer or winter? ➔ “I hate when it’s too hot so, winter. Easier to counter-act too much chill than the other way around”

► Morning or afternoon? ➔ “Morning. Surprisingly, considering I love sleeping in. But on the rare occasion, I vastly prefer it”

EIGHT THINGS ABOUT YOUR LOVE LIFE -- “Dear gods, okay” They laugh and stretch a bit more.

► Are you in love? ➔ They raise one eyebrow and smile knowingly “Maybe”

► Do you believe in love at first sight? ➔ “Not really, no. Attraction or infatuation at first sight? Yes.”

► Who ended your last relationship? ➔ They wince and smile bitterly “A sniper. No, I won’t elaborate”

► Have you ever broken someone's heart? ➔ “I wouldn’t put it past me, I always try to be upfront about my feelings in those situations but-- probably”

► Are you afraid of commitments? ➔ “Not really. It is complicated tho, considering I like having multiple partners-- takes negotiations”

► Have you hugged someone within last week? ➔ They straighten up and sit normally for a second to think “I didn’t actually. That’s unacceptable!” They jump out of their seat and run backstage. There is some commotion, a muffled yelp, and laughter following it. Sylvas returns to their seat after a few moments with a huge grin and after cleaning their throat they continue “Yes”

► Have you ever had a secret admirer? ➔ “Oh yeah, multiple. And usually not that secret honestly. I still get messages and gifts from time to time. It’s very flattering, my ego loves it”

► Have you ever broken your own heart? ➔ Their wide smile recedes slowly into a thin line “It’s hard to say. Let’s skip this one”

SIX CHOICES

► Love or lust? ➔ “Both is best. I let my lust be tinted with love, even for passing partners, or maybe not love. Adoration, infatuation. I really like making people feel good in my company. Am I romantic at heart? Maybe” They wink at the camera and lean back more comfortably.

► Lemonade or ice-tea? ➔ “Mix them!”

► Cats or dogs? ➔ “Droids” They keep a straight face for about 10 seconds before starting to chuckle “Joking! Both are great, but I’d skew towards cats”

► A few best friends or many regular friends? ➔ “A few best friends, I like having a limited, trusted circle. Safety reasons” They smirk but it has a sharp edge to it.

► Wild night out or romantic night in? ➔ “ A wild night out followed by a stay in, possibly even a sleep-in” They shrug “I like both, it’s a theme”

► Day or night? ➔ “I like day. Nights are great but, I tend to stay up late with occasional insomnia and it gets lonely… too much space to overthink things. Days are full of movement, I prefer that.

FIVE HAVE YOU EVERS

► Been caught sneaking out? ➔ “Yes, I did. Multiple times. That’s why I now have a stealth generator”

► Fallen down/up the stairs? ➔ “... Yes. Once, and then out the window. It’s a long story. No, I won’t tell it” They have a shit-eating grin on their face.

► Wanted something/someone so badly it hurt? ➔ “I’m not used to denying myself what I want but, there were a few times…” They trail off for a few seconds, eyes unfocused, before smiling apologetically.

► Wanted to dissappear? ➔ “Few times. Curiously I actually did manage to disappear for real”

FOUR PREFERENCES -- “Wait, wait, wait! Where’s the fifth ‘Have you ever’? I’m not that bad at counting you know…” They lean in and smile wider “Are you blushing, Bagel?”

--TECHNICAL TROUBLES -- WE’LL BE RIGHT BACK--

It pans back to Sylvas very happy with themselves, back to lounging across their seat. “Let’s continue~”

► Smile or eyes? ➔ “Ugh, decisions, decisions-- I like both, kay?”

► Shorter or taller? ➔ “Either is fine. I do appreciate taller tho, can be lots of fun~”

► Intelligence or attraction? ➔ “Attraction at first, but damn it-- both again. I’m predictable I know”

► Hook-up or relationship? ➔ “I do both, at the same time too. With everyone involved in the know, alright? Both is a different kind of fun and let’s leave it at that” They scoot around a bit, ending upside down with legs over the back of their seat. “What? Continue~”

FAMILY -- There’s a prolonged whine “Do I have tooooo?”

► Do you and your family get along? ➔ It’s hard not to smile at them sitting like that “I guess we don’t really talk. Becuz, ya know-- I don’t know them. But I do consider Liz and Rilfaen my family so we are pretty good. Didn’t see them for a while but we write and holo-call, they are busy ladies after all”

► Would you say you have a 'messed up life'? ➔ “My life is… interesting. But nah, some had worse”

► Have you ever ran away from home? ➔ “I did quit my apprenticeship to jump ship with some smugglers out of Corellia-- but I already was an adult, well. Kinda. And just sneaking out doesn’t count”

► Have you ever got kicked out? ➔ “Not from home!” They laugh and nearly fall over, but catch themselves on the armrests.

FRIENDS

► Do you secretly hate one of your friends?➔ “Nah, I have a handy name for people I hate. Enemies, ya know. I usually have trouble with hiding my ire towards someone, so yeah”

► Do you consider all your friends good friends? ➔ “Yes, I do”

► Who is your best friend? ➔ “Again split between Liz and Rilfaen, they are very important to me”

► Who knows everything about you? ➔ “I’d like to say no one, I try to keep some secrets to myself-- keeps things interesting”

“Are we done? Lovely” They stand up and stretch, sure to make their shirt ruck up a bit as they wink at the camera. Music starts playing over the footage but Sylvas and Bagel talk and smile, laughing at something or other. In the end, they scoop Bagel into a tight hug, picking them up.

NEXT IN LINE -- GRAZ’ZT TENAR’RI, LORD OF THE SITH-- STAY TUNED

(I’ll tag @whoever-would-like-to-do-it @chaoticspacelesbians @kyber-heart @dragonheart-swtor -- if you want obviously, no pressure from this Bagel~)

#swtor #my swtor #darth bagel writes #oc: sylvas sha'ael #swtor smuggler #smuggler #chiss #i am writing those tags third time because tumblr is stupid #but!#this was hella fun to write #get ready i have three more #but i'll space them out a bit #at least now i have a nice template #anyway #again thank you all for tagging me on this one #enjoy the chaotic blueberry~#Graz'zt is gonna be nexxxt

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rolandfontana · 5 years

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America’s Drug Problem Hits Home for North Carolina’s Cherokee Tribe

Samantha Brawley got hooked on painkillers after high school, an addiction that stole nearly a decade and cost her most of the savings that were supposed to help improve her life.

Finding her next Percocet, and the next, was easy on the Qualla Boundary, the Cherokee reservation home to roughly 8,000 people in the Great Smoky Mountains of western North Carolina.

“I began taking two or three a day for a year, maybe two years,” said Brawley, 30, a member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.

“Then it was as many as I could afford. I’ve done 10 a day.”

Samantha Brawley, a member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, right, hugs a woman who was celebrating a milestone in her addiction recovery during a peer support group at Webster Baptist Church in Sylva last year. Photo by Travis Long/ [email protected]

She says she’s been off drugs for two years now. Today, Brawley helps lead a drug-recovery program in hopes of reducing overdose deaths from prescription drugs and heroin.

The Qualla Boundary was one of 10 locations across the country identified last year as a “high intensity drug trafficking area” by the Office of National Drug Control Policy. In September, federal authorities arrested 76 people and seized opioids valued at more than $1 million during a raid on the reservation.

The number of patients diagnosed with a drug-related condition at Cherokee Indian Hospital increased 300 percent between 2012 and 2018, according to hospital spokesperson Sheyashe Littledave. Last year, more than 4,500 patients received such a diagnosis.

Now the tribe has joined a federal lawsuit that accuses several drug makers of contributing to the opioid epidemic through corrupt practices, such as shipping too many drugs into the region.

Drug companies are responsible for reporting suspicious orders of opioids to federal officials, said Chief Richard Sneed.

Drug Firm ‘Complicity’

“There’s complicity in this national epidemic because the drug companies were not doing what they were supposed to do,” Sneed said. “By not reporting the predatory numbers it led to more people becoming addicted.”

The plaintiffs want the drug companies to pay for the economic burdens opioids have caused — medical care for addicts and babies born to drug-dependent mothers, counseling and increased needs for law enforcement.

When the U.S. government ordered the Cherokee tribe from its western North Carolina land in the 1830s as part of the Trail of Tears, thousands were forced to march to Oklahoma, where they formed the Cherokee Nation.

Roughly 800 Native Americans stayed behind on the 56,000-acre Qualla Boundary and became known as the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. Now the tribe’s 16,000 members — many of whom live outside the reservation — make up the largest federally recognized tribe east of the Mississippi River.

Many tribal members live along the banks of the Ocanaluftee River, or in coves and valleys of the mountains. Motorists can see fog rising like steam from the river while driving along curving, narrow roads dotted with flea markets and military surplus stores. In the summer, roadside signs tout watermelons, peaches, strawberries and tribal wares.

It can be hard to imagine that a place so rich in history has become saturated with drugs.

The tribe’s crisis mirrors a larger epidemic: More than 46,000 people in the United States died of opioid-related overdoses in 2017, more than double the number in 2007, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

In North Carolina, fatal overdoses increased more than 22 percent in 2017 compared to the prior year, marking the largest jump of any state except Indiana, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

Western North Carolina has been hit particularly hard by opioids. An eight-county region that includes the Qualla Boundary saw 17.7 unintentional overdose deaths per 100,000 people between 2012 and 2016, state statistics show. That compares to 12.2 overdose deaths per 100,000 people statewide.

Using revenue generated by Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians has spent millions on medical facilities in an effort to combat opioids.

Tribal leaders opened an $80 million hospital in 2015 and a $16 million residential treatment center last year called Kanvwotiyi, or “a place they go to be healed,” said Casey Cooper, chief executive officer of the Cherokee Indian Hospital Authority.

Meanwhile, the tribe’s old hospital building is being transformed into a “crisis stabilization unit” that is expected to open next year for patients with mental-health issues and members who need immediate detox services.

Brawley shows the NARCAN nasal sprays and Fentanyl test strips that she carries while traveling in and around the Cherokee Indian Reservation where she offers support to people struggling with addiction. Ten percent of the tribe’s members received a substance-abuse diagnosis in 2012, the Cherokee Indian Hospital Authority reported in 2017/ Photo by Travis Long/News & Observer

In 2017, after learning that more than 600 people living in the Qualla Boundary had been diagnosed with Hepatitis C, tribal leaders approved a syringe-exchange program. More than 300 people are enrolled, Sneed said.

“There are so many different areas,” Cooper said. “The opioid crisis has really motivated tribal leaders to invest in the best health and treatment services.”

Sneed said the tribe in 2002 took over the administration of health care from the federal Department of Health and Human Services’ Indian Health Service and created the Cherokee Indian Hospital Authority.

“It has worked out tremendously,” said Sneed, adding that the decision was especially important because North Carolina lawmakers have so far declined to take part in the federal expansion of Medicaid. “We found the resources to take care of our people.”

‘Perfect Storm of Addiction’

Tribal leaders say they became aware of the opioid issue about a decade ago when members started dying from prescription drug overdoses. As tighter industry controls were put in place to make prescription drugs less accessible, many people turned to heroin.

“It was a perfect storm of addiction,” Sneed said. “Many of our members became addicted by legal prescriptions. … This is a small, tight-knit community. One death impacts the entire community.”

The tribe noticed a spike in overdoses in the months when per-capita payments were dispersed, said Jeffrey Long, a tribal member who works with the Western North Carolina AIDS project. Adult members of the tribe can receive between $5,000 and $7,000 each December and June, their share of revenues generated by the casino.

When many people received payments last June, Long said, “we had a cook-out to give people something to do, somewhere to come, so they won’t get their first fix.”

Children also get money, which is put in a trust. Until about five years ago, the money was handed out in a lump sum when they earned a high school diploma or turned 18, said Mike McConnell, interim attorney general for the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. Now the funds are distributed in increments at age 18, 21 and 25.

“The tribe determined that was probably not the wisest thing to do,” McConnell said about the single large payment. He added, “Hopefully, people can make wise choices with the money given them.”

Brawley estimates that about half of the $60,000 she received when she turned 18 went to drugs.

Attorneys for the tribe filed a complaint January 2018 in U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina. The lawsuit claimed that drug companies conspired to target the tribe through deceptive marketing practices and persuaded doctors to prescribe highly addictive painkillers.

The tribe’s lawsuit became part of the National Prescription Opiate Litigation, which includes more than 400 federal lawsuits filed by cities, counties and Native American tribes against the largest opioid manufacturers, companies that distribute opioids and pharmacy chains that sell them.

More than 50 North Carolina counties and several cities — including, Fayetteville, Wilmington and Winston-Salem — are listed as plaintiffs in the litigation, according to the state attorney general’s office. The case will be heard in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio.

N.C. Attorney General Josh Stein, who has made the opioid crisis a focus for his office, is helping to lead the case. Stein said he wants to crack down on those who are responsible for fueling the epidemic — not only in the streets, but also in boardrooms.

In late 2017, Stein filed lawsuits against against drug manufacturer Insys Therapeutics, Inc. alleging the company fraudulently marketed a spray form of the synthetic opioid fentanyl, which is about 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

Months later, Stein sued drug manufacturer Purdue Pharma, which makes the painkiller OxyContin.

“We want to hold drug traffickers accountable,” Stein said, “but we also believe in corporate accountability.”

‘Praying for a Miracle’

One afternoon in late August, Brawley sat along the banks of Soco Creek in front of her friend’s home high up in the mountains. Dressed in jeans, with a silken blue and pink shawl wrapped around her shoulders, she talked about how opioids have affected her community.

“So let’s see, right now over 15 people I knew personally have died from overdoses,” she said. “One boy died last week. He was 15. That same day we celebrated a recovery, we buried a person on the reservation. The same day we had a recovery rally in July, we buried a girl who had died from opiate use — heroin. She was like 21.”

Brawley said she quit drugs when she got pregnant by her dealer.

“I had been praying for a miracle and I got pregnant,” she said. “And my grandmother had been praying for a miracle. She knew I wasn’t going to stop for … these treatment centers. And I got pregnant and I believe to this day that it was my grandmother who spoke that truth. I have this beautiful child who saved my life.”

Liam was born in 2014. When Brawley relapsed just before her son’s first birthday, she sought treatment at the Mary Benson House, a year-long program in Asheville where children can stay with their mothers. She completed the program in nine months.

“Having your child there gives you a sense of motivation and more determination to do something different,” she said.

Brawley now works as a peer support specialist with Meridian Behavioral Health, an outpatient service in Sylva. Each day she visits clients who are still addicted. She relies on Suboxone to beat back her own cravings, and she said Dec. 30 marked two years of sobriety.

Tribal member Charles Beam, 24, said he was in his late teens when he became addicted to opioids and alcohol. He said he’s been off drugs for more than three years and alcohol-free for a little over a year. Beam and Brawley have been co-leaders at Celebrate Recovery, a volunteer program, for nearly two years.

“She speaks at all the recovery rallies,” Beam said of Brawley. “She’s a big spokesperson for Cherokee and all of the surrounding counties. She’s an awesome role model. She’s come a long way.”

It was important to Brawley to stay on the reservation instead of starting a new life elsewhere. And she echoed the commitment of her tribe’s leaders in their battle against opioids.

“I got high here, I got clean here,” she said. “And I can give back here.”

Thomasi McDonald is a 2018 John Jay/H.F. Guggenheim Justice Reporting Fellow. This story was written as part of his fellowship project. The full story and a video report is available here.

America’s Drug Problem Hits Home for North Carolina’s Cherokee Tribe syndicated from https://immigrationattorneyto.wordpress.com/

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cherryblossomcheesecake · 6 years

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How Rare & Beautiful: Chapter 11 - A FFXV OC Fanfic

This is it guys, last chapter of part one in this series. Thanks so much for being a part of this journey with me and I hope you all follow me into the next story. So this chapter's title is another Alan Menken masterpiece, from the score of the disney film The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Very dramatic and beautiful. I also had to sit through the painful opening of Kingsglaive to get the beginning of the chapter just right. There was a lot of tears. WORDS: 1,424 UPDATED: 07.15.17 Master List Previous Chapter

Sanctuary - Alan Menken

The soldiers came first, raining down through the treetops like autumn leaves. Nobles fled in all directions, scrambling to get away from soldiers who began to charge, guns raised and firing mindlessly.

The screams of terror only increased as a soldier in large armour began to cut down any of the royal guard that stood in between him and the royal families. People were gunned down regardless of who they were, simple servants were lying dead on the ground next to the nobles they served. I could see my father racing forward, his gaze locked with mine as he fought to reach me.

The soldier leading the assault darted across the meadow at an unnatural speed, cutting down any person he passed. I clung to Noctis' hand as he drew closer and closer to my father's figure, screaming in terror as the sword rose above him.

I struggled against Luna's tight grip on my shoulders, eyes wide as I watched in horror. My screams turned hoarse as Aetius' body hit the ground, my knees giving out from under me.

The meadow was quickly set on fire, the magitek soldiers burning the people along with the courtyard. Queen Sylva stood between her son and a soldier, allowing the magitek's flames to envelope her in order to protect her son. The soldier leading the attack made the burning queen his next target, his massive blade finding it's way into her body, ending her life sooner than the flames would. I could hear Ravus screaming, but it was as if my ears had been filled with cotton.

Luna tried to get Noctis and I to the king and the remains of his guard, herding my shell-shocked body forward as the prince clutched my arm. King Regis was only steps away when the soldier attacked him, his sword cutting the king across his back. I could hear Noctis' gasp, his hand tightening on my arm as we watched his father meet the soldier's sword with his own.

The king's armiger appeared in an explosion of crystal light, pushing back the soldier and sending him across the courtyard. Noctis released my arm, sliding himself forward in his chair, allowing his father to lift him up into his arms. A remaining member of the crownsguard scooped me up as well, neither of the older men risking my legs possibly giving out during our escape.

We fled down the path from the courtyard, heading to the cars that awaited the arrival of the king and his son. Noctis and I being carried, while Luna allowed king Regis to pull her along. From my view over the crownsguard's shoulder, I could see the approaching soldiers of the empire, chasing after us relentlessly. I watched as Luna glanced over her shoulder before meeting my eyes, giving me an apologetic look as her blue eyes filled with tears.

I screamed as the blonde princess slipped her hand from the king's grasp, coming to a halt as Regis and the crownsguard continued running. The king only faltered in his step for a moment, looking back at the princess before adjusting his grip on his son and running at a faster pace.

Noctis joined me in my screams for the Tenebraean princess, the dark haired boy reaching out to the blonde as the empire's soldiers engulfed her and obscured her from sight. I fought against the grip of the crownsguard until I was dumped unceremoniously in the back of a car, Noctis crying beside me. The prince curled up into my side as he sobbed himself to sleep, the car speeding it's way out of Tenebrae.

We didn't stop any where until we were deep within the territories of Lucis once more, the time lost to me as I stared off in shock. Noctis had his head in my lap, sleeping fitfully. The royal company stopped at an outpost only to top off the gas tanks of the cars and mend any wounds sustained during the escape from Tenebrae.

I could only shake my head in the negative when the king's shield asked if I was hurt, threading my fingers in Noctis' soot-covered hair to soothe the boy's whimpers as he dreamed.

The continuous movement of the car lulled me into a fitful slumber, my dreams plagued by the dead in Tenebrae. All those people, the queen, my father, all shouting it was my fault. Telling me that I knew this was gonna happen, and it was my fault.

This trend continued for the entire journey back to Insomnia, me staring into space during the day, and the dead haunting me at night.

My mother was there at the Citadel, waiting for us on the steps. Her thin figure was dressed entirely in white, a stark contrast to the other members of the Citadel staff, dressed in royal black. Myung-Hee's teary eyes sought out Aetius in the group of remaining crownsguard, letting out a choked sound when his face was not among them.

The king's shield carried me to her, allowing her to swoop me up in her thin arms, offering his condolences as I cried into the shoulder of her mourning hanbok. Myung-Hee craddled me tightly to her chest, sobbing into my hair as if we were the only ones in the courtyard.

Myung-Hee and I didn't leave the apartment for a week before she began packing up our belongings. She packed away books and photos into boxes, shedding silent tears as she sealed away Aetius' clothing. Our home slowly became bare of all life, the boxes of our belongings locked away in storage lockers along with pieces of furniture and family heirlooms.

The day my mother told me to start packing up my clothes was the day she resigned from her position at the citadel.

Myung-Hee sat me down on my bed that evening, pain in her eyes as she explained what was happening.

"I'm moving us back to Goryeo, Soo… There's too many memories here for me to raise you in Lucis. I've arranged passage for us to travel from Galdin Quay on a trading ship that's leaving for Goryeo at the end of the week. His Majesty has already sent the council word of our arrival." she told me quietly, her hair piled carelessly on top of her head as she sat on the couch in nothing but her silk robe. I stared at her silently, trying to process what she just told me.

"Soo?" Myung-Hee asked in a hushed voice, her hand reaching out to rest on mine.

"Do I get to say goodbye to Noctis?" I questioned, pulling my hand away from her grasp to pick at my sleeve.

"Oh, of course… You'll be able to do that the day we leave for Galdin…" she replied, placing her hand back in her lap, watching me as I stood up quietly and retreated into my room.

"What do you mean you're leaving?" Noctis exclaimed in horror, sitting on the couch in his bed room.

I sat next to him, avoiding his gaze as my hands grasped the white fabric of my skirt.

"My mother is taking me out of Lucis, she wants to return to Goryeo since being here without my father hurts too much… I've come to say goodbye, since we leave for Galdin today." I told the boy, my voice void of emotion.

The room was silent before the prince whispered quietly, "'The Gods themselves would have to order me from your side if you do not do it yourself, Noctis…' that's what you said to me and now you're breaking that promise?"

"I'm sorry, it's not my choice, Noctis." I replied, my voice slowly becoming thick with tears, "I'll write to you when I can…"

The prince's tear fell freely down his face as he nodded, embracing me as he cried into my shoulder.

We stayed curled up together until my mother arrived to collect me, the king having to hold his son back as I left him on the couch. Tears fell faster as the boy sobbed loudly, his blue eyes swimming with sadness. I watched Noctis cry out for me as the double doors closed behind Myung-Hee and I, hiding Noctis from sight while my mother lead me through the Citadel for the last time.

Down the steps of the citadel we went and I was guided into a crown-provided car. The citadel grew smaller by the second as the driver put more distance between us and Noctis, heading for the border gate of the city.

#ffxv #original characters #noctis lucis caelum #ffxv fanfic #my fics

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sacredrite-archived-blog · 7 years

Photo

So, I don’t know when I’ll actually post this, but under the cut is a little shit meta on Lunafreya’s tarot spread! Below is a careful analysis of the cards The Empress & The World and the link they have to my portrayal of Lunafreya Nox Fleuret.

Now, let’s begin with the major arcana and their meanings.

On it’s own The Empress represents feminity, beauty, nature, etc. upright. Reversed, it stands for creative block and dependence on others. ( I know most of you saw “dependence” and are now thinking of why this doesn’t fit Lunafreya, but please wait. ) The Empress is a motherly card who is nature around us and within us, the source of life-giving power. She is who provides security and nourishment. Often, she is pictured as blonde haired woman with a peaceful, calm aura surrounding her and a crown made of stars, showing us her connection to the realm of angels and such. Her background consists of trees, water, etc, which is suppose to inform us of her emotional link to nature and life. The pomegranates on her robes are a symbol of fertility and the symbol of Venus can be seen next to her.

The Empress encourages you to connect with your femininity and nature. To create beauty and enjoy what Mother Earth has to offer us.

When reversed, the Empress means you are too concerned with another person’s needs and, in turn, neglecting your own. You may also have issues working with others and cooperating.

The World, upright, means completion, accomplishment and travel. Reversed, it means lack of completion and lack of closure. This card is The Hangman’s opposite. The dancer in the card is suppose to be celebrating a journey that has come to an end and new beginnings that await. The wreath surrounding her means accomplishment, victory and achievement and is tied with the red ribbons of eternity. Within the wreath are stars of light which means attainment to enlightenment or cosmic consciousness. These ribbons are shaped into an infinity symbol and is symbolic for infinite rewards for positive effort in improving ones self as well as those around us. Surrounding the dancer are four fixed zodiacs which elements symbolize seasons, compass points, and the four corners of the universe ( Aquarius, Leo, Taurus & Scorpio ). Similarly, these heads are also on the Wheel of Fortune tarot which The World is associated with. ( A reflection of cyclical progression of time and the human experience).

The card represents us completing a fulfilling journey where the hardships only made us wiser. Our purpose has been achieved and we are in the right place as well as new beginnings that emerge from a journeys or cycles end.

Together, the pair symbolizes someone with a high sense of purpose, constrasting to themselves as both expressive and reserved. Self indulgent, unconcerned with consequences, but also graceful and living how you’re meant to live life.

( helpful sources I’ve painfully tried to reword are x and x as well as my own brother)

Where is the link between these major arcanas and Lunafreya?

I’m never sure where to begin with this question so we will start with talking of her qualities ( and the ones I’ve taken upon myself to develop ).

Lunafreya’s duty as Oracle to the people and her calling to assist Noctis in fulfilling his destiny is one of the major defining features in her character ( both in the game and in kingsglaive ). She holds a steady and strong resolve in order to help save their world and bring the light back, overpowering the darkness that’s threatening to consume them. She has sworn to protect those around her and have proven to be quite selfless.

In Kingsglaive, Luna was insistent that Nyx bring her back to King Regis as well as not placing Noctis in danger with the empire. It was even to the point where she jumped out of the ship in order to reunite with the king in order to get receive the ring. She takes initiative to achieve the goals laid out before her and accepted all consequences as she’s made clear here and here. It’s not an understatement to say she completely disregards herself in order to see the safety and security of others, even willing to play the martyr.

In one scene in Kingsglaive, Lunafreya, though seemingly reluctant, manipulated Luche into putting on the ring knowing full well what would happen.

Lunafreya is not known to follow the guidance and orders of others. She despises the empire for what they’ve done as well as their constant need to control and contain her. It could feel suffocating and restraining; heightening ones paranoid of being watched and building resentment in being seen as weak. Many years she had spent being constantly monitored as well as physically manhandled in any efforts to resist. The physical and emotional torment had not caused her to crumble, though. In the span of twelve years, it’s fueled the flames of her resolve to see an end to choas and war and bring peace to all. To die for ones cause is a symbolic death and Luna is unafraid of the concept of dying.

Niflhiem served as a trial in building backbone and creating conviction. There is a need to sacrifice everything in order to better the lives of her people and loved ones. To stand tall and no longer let the enemy have the upper hand against her. She seeks justice and power over herself. Being confined emotionally and physically exhausted her and the empire desperately attempted to break her down and rebuild her in their image. Yet, her mothers death and the invasion of her kingdom was enough to enforce stubbornness and inner strength. In order to keep what little independence she had left, Lunafreya forced herself to grow up faster and build emotional stability and strength.

Despite this, Luna never saw herself just guiding Noctis as if he was a follower. She saw something greater in him and desired to stand behind him and not in front of him. Though her wisdom was plenty and served to assist him, to be his equal held higher importance. Lunafreya, who never felt she could be outright selfish, wanted to be when it came to her shared duty with Noctis. It goes without saying that their bond was strong, near unbreakable( whether you want to see if as platonic or romantic ).

When it comes to how I portray Lunafreya, I have taken into thought how much I wanted her, as Noctis’ foil, to contrast and compliment him while also reversing room for her to grow into her own person.

Her relationship with the Gods is complicating. She sees no point in bending the knee and is stern, unafraid in their presence. Selfish beings who only look down on mortal and, yet, she prefers to keep her feelings towards them ambiguous. Her only concern is with her duty with destiny and her people. She forms her own thoughts and opinions, but there is a habit deep within her to always take heed of their words. When she prays, it’s often for the sake of others, but sometimes she catches herself doing it in worship for the Six. It has been something instilled in her since she was a child.

Sylva was hesitant to pass Lunafreya the mantle of Oracle. To “gift” her child heavyhearted burdens and the weight of the world seemed cruel. Luna resented her for this. The decision to keep it from her for so long made her feel weak; like in her mothers eyes she was not strong enough to wield such great powers. Upon being informed of the prophecy and what she is to do, her animosity towards her mother grew. She was but a child and had no clue where blame could be placed. The thought of leading her childhood friend to his death was inconceivable. It felt like a punishment. A curse for being fragile in the eyes of her own flesh and blood.

Even after all these years, she found it difficult to admit defeat and confess that her mother was right all along. Lunafreya was desperate to prove herself. Even with the weight piling up on her shoulders until they ached and the isolation she placed herself in, she didn’t want to say out loud how her mother spoke the honest truth in her childhood. Obstinate as always.

In order to distract herself, she shoved her head in the idea of a blue-sky future. Of light and peace and harmony. Of starry skies where the clouds could not dare touch.

In her manipulative aspects, while Lunafreya is fantastic with persuasion, she’s skeptical of using it even if it mean a necessary evil. It felt as if she was mirroring her captors in attitude. This does not sway her, though, and she will push the boundaries in order to complete her goals. If a martyr she must be then she will. A Martyr for herself. For her people. For the fate of the world. She will play this role as she sees fit.

Luna often contradicts herself and her ideals. She’s not made to make sense, but to do what she needs.

This isn’t a complete “essay” on how I wish to write her, but it’ll do for this post.

Bonus!!

Judgement.

upright: judgement, rebirth, inner calling and absolution

downturned: self doubt and refusal to self examine

please, if you have any questions ask me them!

#ᵗʰᵉ ᵍᵒˡᵈᵉⁿ ʳᵃʸˢ ᵃᶜʳᵒˢˢ ᵗʰᵉ ˢᵏʸ ; ᵗʰᵉʸ ˢᵖᵉˡˡ ʰᵉʳ ⁿᵃᵐᵉ ; headcanons #i might make a part two just in case #because i dont feel i conveyed what i wanted to correctly

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thesylvalining · 7 years

Text

Sometimes I feel like my life is like a conversation between myself and Tom Petty.

Me: Man, I’ve got the travel itch.

Tom: Time to move on, time to get going.

Me: But where?

Tom: You belong somewhere you feel free.

Me: Duh! Where would you suggest? Italy?

Tom: You belong on a boat out at sea.

Me: But Tom, you know my track record with seasickness…

Tom: Let me get to the point, let’s roll another joint…

Me: Okay, now we’re getting somewhere!

It’s all my dad’s fault: he listened to Tom Petty for ages before I could even say “Tom Petty.” In truth the first complete sentence I said — “Go play on the freeway,” to a cute little old lady at the grocery store — was his fault, too. Supposedly I heard him say it to the dogs… apparently it’s real kids understand more than you think.

Speaking of kids… munchkins actually play into the way things are evolving but first: I want to touch on the way I’ve been feeling lately: like a leaf in the wind. Every day I am blissfully unsure of how things will unfold. It’s the most free and open I’ve possibly ever felt in my silly little life.

So when I read this bit of “Jitterbug Perfume,” by Tom Robbins (borrowed from my Italian friend/queen Lisa) I almost fell off the toilet where I do most of my reading. In this section one of the main characters, an ex-king named Alobar, is having a conversation with the village shaman, who speaks first:

“I encourage you to ride this strange wind that is blowing through you, to ride it to wherever it will carry you.”

“But which way shall I go?”

“That is between you and the wind…”

Lately the wind and I have been having a riveting dialogue, because in the last 72 hours, the “plan” (if anyone can call it that) has changed. It’s worked itself out in the most enchanting of ways, unrolling like pastry dough on the counter, ready to be filled with crema, nutella or marmellata… But the last couple days, my friends, are a story all of their own. Long story short, I am not coming back to the States until September… but the details are still evolving and all of that deserves its own glorious post.

So, while this new direction works itself out like a much, much more pleasant kidney stone, let’s allow the wind to blow us back to Rome, shall we?

We therefore pick up the trail in a hot and humid afternoon breeze outside the train station in Spagna, the Spanish quarter, in search of our quaint hotel. Kelly and Jacob are uncomfortably warm; I — the lizard — am in my happy place.

After ditching our bags at in our cool hotel room and chugging an appropriate amount of water, we burst back into the sun to check off the first item on our tourist list: the ancient Colosseum. And on the way, enjoy horse hats, the stately Altare della Patria and some more really old crap.

Not to be that person (although I’m gonna be that person)… but last I spent time in Rome, it was March of 2005 with my good friend Amy (AP Photo!) and her friend, Sherry. The streets — and the Colosseum — were cold, but deserted. This round it was busier than centro on market day, but nonetheless, the ancient, enchantment of such a structure remained intact.

With throngs of other humans we wandered in awe past old columns the size of Redwood trees and arches that had watched not only gladiators, but now — with an ancient eye roll — modern-day Selfie Stick aficionados battling with their Smartphones. I personally don’t need one because I was born with an arm… actually, two of them…

Boom! The Colosseum 🙂

Frands.

The big picture.

Old crap.

Selfie sticksssss.

More selfie love.

Even people carried from across the globe and deposited there like so many pieces of guanciale in a really good Carbonara (one of Rome’s specialties), the magnificence of so much history was not obscured. To read the Colosseum was regularly flooded for ship battles is incredible; to read people were tossed into the labyrinth of the Colosseum with lions like fish food into a fish tank to be ripped into tiny little fish food-sized pieces is gruesome… but fascinating, to be sure. Ahhhh, history.

Outside the Colosseum, with sweat moving like curious ants through crevices on our bodies which — unlike the Roman ruins we stood among — had somehow until this point avoided excavation, we spotted something incredible: free cold water. Throughout Italy a refreshing army of potable water pours from the frozen metal maws of lions or stoic faces but here, there was a choice between naturale (still) or frizzante (sparkling) water. From that moment on, the fizzy water stop became mandatory on all expeditions.

Post-Colosseum we paused for our daily gelato stop and found an appropriately ugly spot to suck it down…

We took the scenic way home, bypassing the chaotic, clogged but more direct shopping hub on Via Del Corso, stumbling across this lovely courtyard that probably has a story of its own…

After the hot sun went to bed, we decided a trip to Trevi Fountain — featured in Fellini’s “La Dolce Vita,” — would be next. Despite feeling more like a zoo than one of Rome’s most ancient water sources (the Aqua Virgo Aqueduct built 19 B.C. provided water to the Roman baths and Rome’s central fountains), Trevi fountain at night was still magical. We grabbed a bottle of wine from a nearby enoteca and pizza al taglio (pizza baked in large rectangular pans, sliced in squares and re-nuked) and observed people chucking coins in the water. After some wine and some time, we noticed most people tossed over left shoulders, turned backwards. The key to a wish come true, apparently, is not to watch after the coin leaves your hands.

After leaving the zoo, we retreated to our cool, dark room and passed the flip out.

In the morning it was ____. Yep, you guessed it, hot! After an Italian-style caffeine-pastry breaking of the fast, we headed towards the Roman Forum, rented audio guides and proceeded to march around learning about, among so many other things, the 7th century Temple of Vesta, Umbilicus Urbis (the Roman entrance to the Underworld) and Basilica Julia, built by Julius Caesar. Over it all sat a blue sky over which the brilliant sun ruled; Kelly and Jacob sweated to death and soon retreated to a popular shady area to revamp; I continued my wandering, sweating to life 🙂

Listening to some audio…

The remains of the Temple of Castor and Pollux.

Temple of Saturn, in the distance…

The Temple of Saturn.

Sharing grounds with the Forum was Palentine Hill, one of Rome’s Seven Hills and where Romulus first founded the original city in 753 BC. We wandered among the House of the Vestal Virgins, learning those lucky ladies had to keep their virginal, ahem, properties intact or, of course, they were killed. Lovely.

Kelly and Jacob kicked it in the shade while I ran up to the top of Palentine Hill to check out the garden atop it and of course, the view!

Post-Forum we made a pit stop for acqua frizzante with a herd of other thirsty humans, found more pizza al taglio for lunch and made our way to Via Labicana to rent three neon bikes from Wheely Bike. With the wind in our hair, we zipped over to the (free!) and glorious Pantheon. Formerly a Roman Temple, the Pantheon was constructed between 118-128 BC.

Inside, with everyone else, we gazed silently upwards to marvel at the Pantheon’s spectacular oculus. And — equally stunning — to postulate how, almost two thousand years after it was built, the Pantheon is still the world’s largest un-reinforced concrete dome. My mind still struggles to wrap itself around such a feat like a thick spaghetti noodle around a fork in a bowl of cacio e pepe (cheese, pepper sauce — another irresistible Roman culinary masterpiece).

After the Pantheon, we zipped through nearby (crowded) Piazza Navona on our way to the river and our obligatory gelato stop of the day: Gelateria Del Viale, some of the best gelato in Rome, according to a friend of mine. We cooled off along the river and rode the long way back to Wheely Bike to return our neon steeds…

DCIM101GOPRO

Gelateria del Viale.

Looking down from steps near Altare della Patria.

Exiting the bike path by the Tiber River.

Coming around the back of the Forum…

After we ditched bikes, we figured we’d have enough time to trot over to the room, powder our noses and head to dinner at the charmingly-named Guilio Passami l’Olio (Guilio, pass me the olive oil). But suddenly we were the Lemony Snickets amongst a series of Unfortunate events: First, missing the first bus because we were on the wrong side of the street. Second, Sylva — The One Who Has Been to Italy Many Times Before forgot to pop in a Tabacchi and buy tickets before catching the bus. And the third bus (of course) was late enough to push our delayed arrival into the realm of “maybe they’re not actually coming at all…” Eventually, we threw in the cheaper public transportation towel in and hailed a cab.

At Giulio Passami l’Olio we found a hopping scene and our reservation had somehow gotten lost in the shuffle like an olive in a very loud, well-dressed salad. Eventually, however, we sat in sweaty clothes and tennis shoe to eat delectable food and consult the restaurant’s fantastic wine bible, or Wible.

To digest and enjoy the temperate evening, we wandered back along the river, enjoying the play of the lights on the water, the trees swaying in the breeze and the feel of a big city under darkness.

Back at the ranch, we made quick work of falling dead asleep. In the morning, at 8:30 a.m., we had a hot date with the Vatican and the even more infamous Sistine Chapel…

Morning found us squeezing onto la metropolitana with the rest of Rome — the Romans to work and us to Vatican City. Like an open bottle of red wine, we poured out onto the streets, directed this way and that by hawkers and helpful folks associated with the Vatican — problem was, it was impossible to tell the difference. But with such volume of people heading to gawk at the plush, art-full innards of the Vatican, we found ourselves funneled right into the gaping, rope-lined mouth of the museum. Luckily, we bought tickets in advance and soon marched up a long spiral staircase into the Vatican.

A sign presented two options: a short tour and a long tour. Two plus hours, Egyptian heiroglyphics, Roman statues, ancient painted maps and medieval tapestries, several Salvador Dali pictures and a Sistine Chapel later, we couldn’t even imagine what the long tour entailed…

From one of the many Vatican windows, Rome, on and on…

Old ass stuff.

The Hall of Muses.

Some of the coolest maps of Italy and Europe possibly ever.

The Vatican’s dome.

Salvador Dali! One of my favorite artists!

In the Sistine Chapel, I was a very, very bad monkey and — amongst loud, firm admonitions via intercom for “Silenzio, per favore; silence, please!” and “no pictures” I fake sneezed, glanced both ways and pointed my very incognito camera straight up:

Oops…

After the Vatican, we located some grub and had just enough time to sprint up the Spanish Steps for a view before getting sucked back into the cockles of la metropolitana and the expansive Roman stazione for the ride back to Faenza…

On subsequent episodes of The Sylva Lining… there’s Venice and I answer the same question The Clash pondered: Should I stay or should I go now? And furthermore, how? As they say, where there’s a will there’s a way. Or, as this Roman street artist penned:

La Dolce Vita Sometimes I feel like my life is like a conversation between myself and Tom Petty. Me: Man, I've got the travel itch.

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cenniedolls · 7 years

Photo

So, I have this Luts event head coming with my order from them around the end of the month, and I’m hoping it will work on this body, a SD13 from Volks’ last Michele release (he’s so short and cute! the hands are really nice). I had to have one of those Boy’s Dormitory outfit sets, and ended up getting the body too.

If these things work together, the doll will be Shae, my grumpy runaway prince-turned-librarian. I probably have eyes in the right color that will work at least temporarily, but I’ll need to get a wig (shouldn’t be too hard; Shae’s hair doesn’t have much particular style, just long and straight and blond with some kind of layered fringe). I tried drawing him in the Volks outfit from memory and close enough; mostly I just love the cape.

Shae story introduction under the cut, if you’re interested. Basically, his family is murdered and he ditches out to live in the library in a country that’s pretty much as far away as possible; eventually someone comes to find him oh and he’s eternally 15 and immortal

Yesterday, Shae had watched the anxious little satyr walk away from the library for the last time, hooves clip-clopping against the cobblestones in the square, and wondered who the next strange misfit to disturb his peace would be. When he had crossed the ocean to live in Cydrane, he had underestimated how busy making his life in the library would be. Every year or two, someone would show up wanting to learn - about history, magic, science; as many topics as types of people - with the assumption that the Great Library would have all the answers. They always left, weeks or months or sometimes years later, in varying degrees of satisfaction; there were some things, especially magic, that just couldn’t be contained in paper, even in this most grandiose shrine to preserved knowledge. Shae himself knew a few things about magic that couldn’t be learned here, not that he ever shared them with the visitors.

Today, he was pleased to be alone again. Helping those visitors with their research wasn’t his responsibility. Shae had carved out a very particular niche for himself, dealing exclusively with the maintenance of the oldest collections the Library held; unlike the other librarians, he didn’t guide guests in their search for information. It had taken a while before everyone forgot how he had stormed in one ordinary morning and ensconced himself in the underground stacks, but now, very few people ever bothered his peace. The library staff had realized his value with little delay, and encouraged him to stay right where he was. Only that special type of outsider sought him out now, and only after the more sociable librarians had tried their best.

Staring vacantly into the antique mirror over his vanity, Shae finished brushing his hair. His own wide eyes stared back, framed by golden fringe and perfectly smooth skin. He was past wishing that the royal family of Etenkellankar had sent their children through the Chaos Gate at an age later than fifteen. These days, no one batted an eye at the apparent child who oversaw the deepest areas of the stacks. Still, Shae occasionally wished that he hadn’t been the type of child to indulge his mother’s wishes for his appearance; brushing out all of this hair was tedious, and cutting it was no longer an option. Most of the noble children who went through the Gate came out unchanged. Shae had come out unchangeable, though it hadn’t been clear how much so until later.

Well, no one here knew the details, and it was well known that fey-blooded individuals with extreme anomalies cropped up from time to time. People thought he merely had more magic in his blood than usual. Shae didn’t try to correct the impression that there was simply something strange in his family history. It wasn’t entirely innaccurate; after all, few things were more rare and unusual than foreign princes. The handful of library staff who had been here as long as he had were all discreet, protective older figures, now, and didn’t ask questions. Other than whether he was eating enough.

Most people assumed that he was older than he looked, but in the sense that they saw a precociously successful young adult with a youthful appearance. He had been both precocious and mature at fifteen, so that made sense. There weren’t many people he knew for long enough that they began to wonder. As long as he didn’t slip up in conversation, no one connected him to the prince who had vanished from Etenkellankar a generation ago.

Well, anyone who had been looking for that prince, would have been looking for Elishon Shaiel Etenkellanka’er, not a blonde child who went simply by Shae. At first they would have been looking for a similar teenager, but what the Chaos Gate had done to him was still a little-known secret when he left, so anyone still searching now would be expecting an adult, affected by the passage of time in the usual way. Before he left, everyone had thought he was simply late blooming. The bitterness he couldn’t hide at their commiserations was typical of boys who really would gain that extra height, someday. It had been an easy enough farce to play, for the three years in between his ceremony and the murder of his family.

The assassins had found out his secret that night, when the youngest prince stood back up with swords in his back. None of them had lived to tell about it, though; at eighteen, Shae had been a dangerous mage.

Then he’d left the country. Walked out of the castle that same night. Orlie had tried to talk him out of it, but even his best friend couldn’t sway him; Shae had gotten on the first riverboat he could, and the first ocean ship after that, and ended up here, walking out of the depths of the library into the sunlit back courtyard.

Rhoselle expected him to show up in the outbuilding where the librarians who stayed on site lived every morning. If he didn’t, she would only come down to his rooms beneath the stacks to find him, and drag him blinking into the fresh air regardless.

This morning, it was just Rhoselle and Lewis, her husband, cooking breakfast in the old-fashioned kitchen; Sylvaness, the youngest permanent staff, was sipping tea at the table. A few others came and went, and of course most of the staff didn’t live at the library, but most mornings found half a dozen people tucked into the small dining area.

“Rhoselle was just about to send Lewis after you,” Sylvaness informed him, barely looking up from her tea.

Across the room, Lewis shrugged, with a smile that crinkled the skin around his eyes. The light streaming in the windows washed the grey out of his hair, turning it nearly as blond as it had been, when they’d met. Shae had watched he and Rhoselle fall in love, years ago. He had played with their daughter as she learned to walk, endured a phase of childish infatuation, and attended her wedding a few years past. Now that she had gone to live in the city with her new family, Rhoselle treated Shae as a sort of replacement child, not that there was much difference in her behavior. Even when they’d been the same age, she had mothered him.

“I didn’t realize you were beck,” Shae said, sitting down across from Sylvaness. She was in charge of unusual acquisitions, and last he had heard, she’d been out in the salt marsh to the south, after some mythical manuscript.

“Last night,” she confirmed. Straightening, Sylvaness braced an arm on the table and turned to look him in the eyes. “I got some interesting information on my way back. Apparently there’s a man who arrived in the city a couple days ago, looking for someone. He was asking around about the Library yesterday, which is why I heard about it.”

Shae raised an eyebrow at her. “That doesn’t seem particularly relevant. Plenty of people who visit the city ask about the library.”

Sylvaness, of course, simply arched a brow back at him. “Sure, but it doesn’t always get reported to me. More than one of my contacts mentioned this man to me, when I was checking around.”

“Well, the boy will show up soon enough, if it’s the Library he wants,” Rhoselle said, plunking a plate of breakfast in front of each of them. “They always do. Now eat up, you two.”

They always did, that much was true. Then again, it was hard to miss the Library, towering as it did over the city from atop one of the two hills the capital was built around. Surrounded by a cluster of outbuildings and an ancient wall, the library was nearly a city in itself, though the gates always stood open. Even Shae had been impressed, when he first came to this country. Cydrane valued knowledge, and a long history of its princes had guaranteed that tradition.

Shae went back down to the stacks after breakfast, with a promise to Rhoselle that he would come out for supper. Sylvaness brought him a few brittle old tomes from her latest excursion, and he catalogued them; beyond her brief visit, the expanse of narrow shelves that made up his realm was silent. Shae preferred it that way. Without distracting visitors, he could sink into the slow, steady flow of what needed to be done. There were always collections to check, sections to reorganize, and new books to take care of. One of Sylvaness’s most recent deliveries demanded serious restoration, and Shae had a few other books that needed maintenance. The day flew by.

Back up the narrow stairs, back through the lower levels of the public areas of the library, back up the main steps, around the edge of the ground floor, out the understated back entrance. Back across the courtyard, sunset casting long shadows all the way to the walls of Rhoselle and Lewis’s little dormitory. They would be waiting, and Sylvaness would be there; more of the other librarians too, this time of day-

“Elishon? Ellie? Is… Is that really-”

Shae froze at his name, and hearing the old nickname too turned all the blood in his veins to ice. His own hair blinded him as he spun, catching the bars of sunlight that made it past the Library’s austere shape in a haze of gold.

Squinting against the light, Shae tried to make out the person saying those names, names that ought to be thick with nearly four decades of dust. He took a step back as the person moved forward, backlit beyond hope of recognition.

“I didn’t think I’d actually find you- Well, I did, or I wouldn’t be looking, but it’s still a shock-” The man stepped into the library’s shadow, and Shae could finally see that no, he wasn’t Orlie, though the smile, the shape of his shoulders, the color of his hair, even the hint of a joke in his voice, these things were the same, familiar traits. This man was older than Orlie had been, when Shae had left Etenkellankar, yes, but still far younger than Orlie would be today, even though Shae himself had stayed the same. Shae gasped in a breath, feeling his heartbeat rushing in his chest as the first moment of blinding horror passed.

“You really do look just like the portraits. Father said you would, but it’s hard to believe, still.” That not-quite-familiar grin was swimming in front of his eyes, now; Shae tried to breath again, but the pounding feeling wasn’t subsiding. As he tried to focus, the smile on the stranger’s face began to turn anxious.

“Are you alright? I suppose I should introduce myself, my apologies…”

The rest of his words vanished, flooded out by the pounding of his heart and the sharp white light of unconsciousness.

#doll plans #Shae #my fiction #my... art :|#Prelude to War #incorrectexplicit

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