#I never did a full presentation of my picrew so!! here!

[papier-ciseaux]

What's in my Magician Maker picrew?

I will try to answer this to the best of my abilities!

Skin colours

There are 16 different skin colours! Regular human colours and some more alien-like! Yellow and Green are dark because they're meant for specific fandom characters. Grey is here for all the homestuck trolls

2. Ears

Normal ears, elf ears, mermaid fins! And earrings that fit each!

3. Vitiligo, freckles, scars, etc

Vitiligo comes in 6 different faces pattern, with the possibility of extending it to the whole body. There are three density of freckles in 6 colours to accomodate the different skin colours. There are also cheek scales, beauty marks, simple birthmarks, acne, and two attempts at portraying rashes/eczema in my style.

All of those are in one category so can't be combined

Wrinkles and scars are in different categories tho! Scars include: various facial gashes, tiny cuts, cleft lip, lichtenberg figures, burn scars, punch cheeks/black eye, frankenstein-like sutures, fantasy cracky of the skin! Each of the option actually hide a second scar in the colors

4. Facial features

Noses and mouths are pretty classic and their preview showcases what you'll get rather accurately. Eyebrows change in thickness/shape/colour when going through the colour option.

Colour options on the eye shape will change the mascara, or make it wink. The 3+ eyes offer a different set instead of winking. The sclera can be changed to different colours. The iris section helps show the various eye shapes.

5. Eyewears

Once again, some digging through colour options is necessary to find all of the eyewears (24 total with colour variations + 8 eyepatches)

6. Hijab

There are 7 different head covering with 6 unique colours for each! Some have very cool patterns if I may say so

7. Hair

There are different facial hair available in various colours, including some funny moustaches

Hair is very customisable, with straight, wavy, curly and kinky hair, all available in 18 colours, including a rainbow and a bicolour (blonde/black) options. Some hair can also have a gradient dye of black, red or blue. Examples:

8. Prosthetics

In the body section, it's possible to not have any arms, but there's also the robot arm option in the sleeve section. There's also a hook hand somewhere in the items. This is probably the most lacking section of the picrew ^^; If you have suggestions on things to add, send an ask.

9. Hand gestures

All of those come with gloves (short, long and fingerless) options, black nailpolish, and rings if possible to show. Also LOVE HATE knuckles tattoos. The 6th and 9th gestures are made to hold something: the main goal is to hold a wand because this is called "magician maker" but you can hold flags, flowers, or even a bird

10. Wands

A magician needs a wand! This is where the "gloomverse" aspect of this picrew comes in: I'm sure not everyone would call those things "wands", but in the lore of the comic, they can be! Canonical gloomverse wands examples:

But you can do so much more, if you explore a little ;)

11. Hats!

As important as wands, the hat of a magician! They can look like anything and have a lot of decoration on them. Hats can be created by choosing the brim and top's shapes, or you can choose already made ones:

Decorations are sorted by types, so I encourage exploration! They can make for fun add-on to a character, like the ears and horns:

12. Clothings

Each clothes come in 5 different "body types" with various cup sizes. That is the best I could come up with without quadrupling my workload.

There are a lot of way to customise the clothes. There's the clothes under, over, the collar, the sleeves, pride buttons/pins, logos, etc. Mostly homestuck references. Pride flags that aren't on the pins are in the background options*. Pronoun pins include: He/Him ; She/Her ; He/They ; She/They ; They/Them ; Ze/Hir ; Ze/Zir ; Fae/Faer ; It/Its

*(flags have been sorted in sexual orientation / gender / aspec at first, but due to people requesting more flags, it's not as clear cut. There are also blue version of pride flags due to fandom stuff, they're not official at all)

There's a lot more that could be said, but that's more than enough already!

[pandoa]

PANDO PANDO ILYSM <33 also your picrew is so freaking cute !!!

i wanted to request for the event so i can have more of your DELICIOUS SCRUMPTIOUS AMAZING writing hahaha

anywho

im thinking snapdragons with rook hunt ( this man will forever be my original twst crush no matter what <333 ) in a field of fireflies bc im a hopeless romantic like that

anyways , congratulations on the follower count ! im so happy and so so soooooo proud of you. you are doing amazing and i just wanted to let you know that no matter what , im always going to be here to watch you outshine the stars with your greatness.

Snapdragons ~ “this can’t be real…it feels too good to be real. tell me this is all a dream before i start believing”

~rook hunt x gender neutral reader~

AMORIS ILYT!! and omg i remember the exact picrew you were talking abt. i'm so sorry it took me so long to get to your request, this was from like august </33 i've been kinda slow lately lol. your words never fail to fill me with joy tho and i adore you so much. thank you for existing in my life, my sweet <3

i put my whole pandussy into this amora lmao, hope you like it~

♡eyes that shine like fireflies♡

You dreamt of a man such as Rook for as long as you could remember.

A man of silk-like locks of hair, a man of strength, integrity, and passion. A man of romance that valued the beauty of art just as you did. He was all that you wished for and even more. Even the poetic fairy tales that were read to you as a child could never compare to the elegance Rook presented himself with. He treated you with only gentleness entwined in lyrical expressions with every interaction you had with the man. Each word from his soft lips bewitched you like a trap set to lure in prey, with that prey being your heart. Nevermind a gastly prince; the Pomefiore third year was an enigma full of unexpectedness. His sweetness drew you in, and you were held captive by his charming disposition since the day you met the eccentric hunter. 

Every moment, hour, and second of your day was filled with daydreaming thoughts of the huntsman. He plagued your mind like a broken record that refused to change its song. Each time you stepped out of Ramshackle and into Night Raven’s campus, you looked out for the iconic feather of his hat searching for the said man. Each time you visited Epel at Pomefiore’s dorm, you longed to magically bump into Rook—in hopes of striking a conversation with him. He was someone you wished to be with. A star in the night sky you hoped to reach for. 

You loved him.

So when the golden young man had called you to an open field surrounded by the luminous light of many fireflies, your chest had risen and fallen in an uneven rhythm, nervousness coursing through your love-struck body. Anticipation was evident in the way you shuffled your feet under the alluring manner of his glances. You looked up to face him—face burning up at the hunter’s mere presence—as the lustrous gleaming of the critters around you illuminated onto you and Rook like tiny specs of magic in the night. You peered at the enchanting view in front of you in wonder.

His eyes were green like fireflies. 

“I am so incredibly besotted by your very existence,” Rook began as he pulled you out of your moment of astonishment. “You are a light brighter than the stars themselves. A cluster of glimmer I wish to keep for myself. And I stand here before you in complete adulation.” The young man then proceeded to gradually step closer to your form, narrowing the distance between your chests. Extending his hand out to hold yours, Rook delicately spoke in an affectionate tone. “Je t'aime, mon amour. I love you most indefinitely.” 

You stood in your place among the shimmering lights of the fireflies, aghast at the words Rook had just spoken. The man you adored so earnestly from afar had just admitted his feelings for you. It was like a fantasy you couldn’t even imagine. Maintaining an eager gaze, you softly muttered in bewilderment, “This can’t be real… It feels too good to be real. Tell me this is all a dream before I start believing.”

“Then believe if that is what your heart calls for, mon trésor,” Rook said in a hushed voice that matched your own, inching closer to your ear with each syllable of his sentence. “Every waking moment with you is like a dream turned into reality.”

Your face flushed at the way his breath tickled the side of your neck and smiled. “I love you as well, Rook.”

And with everything said and done, the two of you cradled one another in each of your arms as the lightning bugs continued to angelically shine above the crowns of your heads in an iridescent ambiance. Orion shone in the night sky along with the many other constellations, appearing to be staring down at you and his fellow hunter in awe. Even the moon seemed to be entirely enthralled by the two of you as it adored you in its place high in the stratosphere. 

An irresistible sight for sore eyes.

a/n: i’m imagining rook as the firefly from the princess and the frog, and idk whether to laugh or cry like- mA BELLE~~~ EVANGELINEEEEEE

[prismatica-the-strange]

I'll Forgive Your Sins | Tell Me What You Want To Hear

Warnings: 18+

Two times Aleksander asked what his nickname meant and the one time she told him

The bold in Krynn's speech is meant to signify her speaking in Falrosen.

Word Count:1.4k

Secrets by OneRepublic | Picrew Link | Dividers by @saradika-graphics

Springtime. The whole Little Palace garden is in bloom and, for once, not by her hand. But that doesn't mean she can't help them along.

"Poor thing," She coos, kneeling down by a small, slightly wilted tulip, "You're not getting nearly enough sun."

She doesn't even think before waving her hands, parting the flowers above it to let the sun in.

"I thought you wanted to keep that a secret?"

She jumps at the sudden voice behind her.

"Goddess above!" She gasps, hand covering her heart, "Are you trying to kill me?"

He smirks at her startled expression, clasping his wrist behind his back, "I suppose you're lucky it was only me."

She pushes herself to her feet, brushing dirt from the front of her purple kefta, and wagging her finger at him playfully.

"Only you," Her hand drops, "Did you need something, general?"

He gives her a look that she doesn't seem to get and he sighs, "Krynn, what day is it?"

"What kind of question is that? It's- Oh!" It dawns on her and her eyes go wide, "We had a meeting..."

He nods and doesn't understand why he isn't upset with her for wasting his time by making him wait.

"I'm so sorry, Aleksander," She says, "I was pulled outside by the lovely weather and I lost track of time... again."

"I noticed."

She snorts, a sound completely devoid of grace, but he can't help the grin stretching across his face.

"Yes well," She turns back to the flowers, "I never claimed to not be predictable, Virre'tcha."

She feels him come up behind her.

"What does that mean?"

He's asked her before but she's never given him a straight answer, if she's given one at all.

"It means, even I can't be constantly spontaneous," She teases, "Honestly, I think anyone would find that completely exhausti-"

"Not that."

Her chin raises slightly and she glances back at him, biting her bottom lip in the world's cheekiest smile, "I'm sure I don't know what you mean, Virre'tcha."

Late summer. The sun is hot, it doesn't want to rain, and the summer carnival is in full swing.

Usually, Kirigan's Grisha aren't allowed to attend because it would make it far too easy to take or injure one.

Krynn though... She sneaks out.

Since the fiasco that was her presentation to the royals at the start of the season, she's yearned for a festival that would remind her of home and the drunken laughs of civilians in the street seems like the perfect place to start.

Fresh vines get her over the walls without being seen and she's in the clear. Not many people know who she is or what she can do, so she's free to do as she pleases.

She eats, drinks, and makes merry with strangers. Perhaps she drinks a bit too much, but that thought never crosses her mind.

What she doesn't expect is one of the off-duty Little Palace guards recognizing her and rushing to alert the general that one of his precious Grisha has left their confines.

It's barely twenty minutes by the time Aleksander receives the news, gets dressed, and heads out to the party. And only another ten after that he finds her.

She doesn't notice him at first, but the people around her do, quickly backing up when he comes up behind her like a stormcloud.

"And what do you think you're doing here?" His voice surprises her for a moment but then-

"Virre'tcha!" She giggles, nearly tipping over when she turns to face him, ale sloshing out of her tankard. Her words slur together in a messy mix of Ravkan and Falrosen, "What are you doing here? I thought you didn't like parties."

"My Grisha know better than to come to these... gatherings," He scolds, gripping her upper arm and pulling her away.

"Yes, I know. They were alll very adamant on that fact," She admits, "That's why I sneaked out."

"Sneaked out? Was my protection so horrible that you had to run away?" He scoffs.

"I was just bored, Virre'tcha," She pouts, moving to hug his arm, "How was I supposed to resist the sounds of a party? It's not like you were going to take me."

He sighs, glancing down at her as she stumbles with him.

"You're drunk," He states, "And don't call me that. I can't stay cross with you when call me that name."

"Virre'tcha, It was only a little fun," She bats her eyes up at him, tugging him down to kiss his cheek, "I'm sure you were just worried I'd find someone less stubborn to make sheeps eyes at."

She's teasing him again, he doesn't know how, but the tone of her voice gives her away.

"No need to worry, my love," She nuzzles her face against his shoulder, "'m all yours."

He isn't quite sure what she means, but he isn't going to argue that fact.

A maid meets them at the entrance of the Little Palace, but he waves them off when Krynn holds tighter to his arm.

It's very late and the halls are black and silent, save for their footsteps and the creak of the floorboards.

"You're not actually mad at me... Are you?" She mumbles, the dark of her surroundings saturating her mood.

"I was," He says, but a glance down at her troubled frown makes him sigh, "No, love, I'm not mad."

He helps her into her bed, not bothering to help her change, and turns to leave. He only stops when he hears her murmur that pet name, all soft and sweet-like.

"Stay," She insists, reaching out for him, and he does, sitting on the side of the bed. She turns her face into his hand when he strokes her cheek, "...Virre'tcha."

"What does that mean, love?" He asks quietly. Maybe she's too drunk to tease him about it.

She mumbles something he can't quite understand, her eyes falling shut as she falls asleep.

He chuckles to himself in the quiet before leaning down to kiss her forehead and then going to bed himself.

"We can't continue this," He says quietly.

He'd just told her everything. His past, what he's done, the fold, everything.

"What?"

"Fryce," He sighs, squeezing her hands, "If I continue to let you hold my heart the way you do, then you will age and be ripped from me just as everyone has before you, and there will be nothing I can do to stop it."

She blinks, nose scrunching as she takes in all the information she'd just been given.

"What if..." She looks up at him, "I didn't?"

He shakes his head and pulls away from her, "I've searched for centuries, but even with amplification mortals simply-"

"But what if I wasn't mortal?"

He looks to her with furrowed eyebrows, "What?"

"What if..." She swallows and moves to stand in front of him again, "I was never mortal?"

"Love, please," He pleads, "Now isn't the time."

"What if I lied?" She continues, wringing her hands, "Aleksander... in light of everything you've just told me, I think I may have a few truths of my own to tell you..."

"When I arrived at the Little Palace I told you I was running from my father who had arranged my marriage, but none of that was true."

"But your father-"

"Died," She tells him, "A long, long time ago. The man who came here was an elder from Falros who had seen me at the docks in Ketterdam, When I saw him... I ran."

She sighs and pinches between her eyes, "I suppose I should start from the beginning."

"I was born on an island in the northern sea, nearly four hundred years ago."

His eyes widen as she goes on.

"For the first two hundred years of my life I was worshipped as a living god, but I was never given the chance to be my own person and lead my own life, so I left. I spent the next century and a half in West Ravka and the countries around it, save for the few decades I had groved."

"Groved?"

"That's another whole thing that isn't important right now, my point is," She reaches up to stroke his cheek, "I'm not mortal, not really."

He stares at her in disbelief, a million questions swirling in his mind.

"Then why..."

"No one chooses to fall in love, Virre'tcha," She smiles softly, "Human life is a fleeting thing, why waste it worrying about what might be?"

He's quiet, the terror of watching her turn to dust as the decades pass fading.

He moves to cup her face, tears forming in his eyes and kisses her.

"Shh," She murmurs, when he pulls away, his forehead pressed against hers, "I know, Virre'tcha... My Darling Black Bird."

[itzcherrybonbon]

Artemis during the years! ^^

[Disclaimer! These pictures are made in Picrew, with the simple intention of coming up with the character's design. Therefore, the art is not mine! All credit goes to their rightful owners!]

Picture 1: Present timeline! Artemis is only a 9 year old child, having the (unfortunate) luck to be born in Nightmare's castle. She is the youngest of the Killermare children (Crescent, Angst and Merciless), and the most innocent and sweet child you will ever come across! <3

As you can see, she inherited most things from Killer (eyes, his energy, the love for cats, and quite the delinquent too)

She often tries to get on Nightmare's good side by giving him small, hand-made gifts, such as flower crowns. She does love her father and wants attention from him, to the point she thinks running away from the castle will accomplish something.

She is currently being trained by the Murder Trio and her siblings, and is a fast learner. She knows a few useful tricks with her magic, and can be swift and quick with a knife. Her weapon of choice is a knife, a spear or a scythe. Though..since she has difficulty picking up a bigger scythe, she uses a miniature version of a scythe Killer gifted her.

On missions, she is often accompanied by Killer or Crescent alone.

She also has a great singing voice, and a small kitten she named Cottonpuff, or Cotton <3

"I want to be queen one day! I am not afraid of any enemy!"

Voice claim: https://youtu.be/lwV5lgXpozo

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Picture 2: Future timeline. Here Artemis is 17 years old. Over the years she has been more mature, yet distant towards almost everyone, introverted and refusing to open up about the slightest thing. That sweet girl can't be truly gone forever, can she..?

She..seems to have deep hatred towards Nightmare. Rightfully so, why love a father that has been neglecting his children for years?

Ah, don't worry. She is still a delinquent. She will do things to spite Nightmare the most, simply for fun. She never even shows her full potential.

Everytime it rains, she won't hesitate to go outside, with or without an umbrella.

"Oh why bother? It's not like he will recognize me for my success, is he? Let's play the weak and meek for a while.."

Voice Claim: https://youtu.be/FrVTVQa5NP0

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Picture 3: Perhaps..an AU? Age 25. What a drastic change. In this AU, Nightmare is trapped within his daughter, like Kurama is sealed within Naruto. Artemis couldn't really kill him, and even if she knew how, there still was the balance that needed to be kept. So what did she do? With a spell, she sealed her father and allll his hatred and negativity inside her soul. She has to recite a spell every once a full moon to keep Nightmare still sealed, and in no way must she be interrupted. Thus, she became the new guardian of negativity, earned a huge energy boost and a new look along with a total of nine tentacles, and took her father's throne.

Of course, the amount of negative energy made her extremely sick, at first. Until she learned how to handle it better.

Nightmare's anger, however, is..a burning feeling. Especially when he knows now he can't escape her. Every chance he can get, he tries to manipulate her in any way he can think of in order to get her to remove the seal and let him escape. Sometimes acting nice, sometimes being completely deranged. Of course, Artemis never removed the seal, angering him even more. Nightmare vowed he would kill her brutally the moment he escaped.

Crescent and Angst chose to stay in the castle with Artemis. Merciless left the moment he found out Nightmare was gone. None ever heard of him since.

She still goes out when it rains. She doesn't care if she gets a cold.

Artemis remained good. She recognized her servants for their work as she should, and did not meddle around with innocent lives. She even chose to make a truce with Dream. But the profile her father had built made people think she was a monstrosity as well, which..spites her.

She only feeds on children's nightmares and general negative feelings so Nightmare won't grow weak. She will not make someone suffer just for negativity like he did.

The perfect daughter, don't cha think?

"Hm? Oh, you brought me what I asked for. Thank you, I appreciate you took a bit of your time for my needs"

Voice claim is the same one as in Picture 2 <3

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Artemis is a Killermare child made by me.

Killer, Nightmare, Merciless, Angst and Crescent all belong to their respective creators.

[nagasakidivision]

Thirteen as Drinks But I Actually Make the Drinks

I love alcohol. I do (very) amateur home bartending. I really like the Picrews but also I can't do one without trying to actually make a cocktail mix in my head. I don't have pictures (that are presentable) but I can tell you what I'd do to make drinks themed after our boys from Nagasaki. I tried to make them all very summery since Nagasaki is a coastal city that is hot and humid most of the year.

Haruto

Alright, I just had this at a sushi bar I went to and it's exactly his style and I feel like it reflects his character well. Floral, slightly tart but balanced with sweetness, and VERY high alcohol content. Do not let the light taste fool you: this is pure Potion of Knock You The Fuck Out. Unfortunately, I did not take a picture of the drink menu so I don't know what brands they use but I would bet you this is one of those "you need to have the exact liquor listed or it doesn't work right" deals. Also I don't know the measurements (I tried to sneak a look over the bar but no dice, also they didn't use a bartending jigger and the bartender was eyeballing it which I'm bad at) so I'm approximating it based on taste. Here goes:

2 oz vodka (guesstimating any cocktail with vodka is a nightmare because it tastes like nothing when it's cold :| I might be a half-ounce off, if I were to guess I'd say shuffle the half-ounce into the plum wine if I am.) 1 oz plum wine 1 1/2 oz sake (????floral tasting??? sorry, can't help you there) 1/2 oz St. Germains

Mix as a martini. Must be served chilled, preferably to the point there's a bit of frost floating about in the mix. Freeze your ingredients, kids, most alcoholic drinks have a lower freezing point than water so you're usually safe to do it at least for a while. Just keep an eye on it. Add in a pickled plum to leach in more plum-y flavor, assuming you can find one...but if you're going so far as to find plum wine, you might as well. Serve with a tiny little flower as garnish if you're feeling whimsical and have them floating around for some reason, but make sure it's an edible one. Violets and roses are always safe bets.

Damien

This is something I've been experimenting with that's a (very) minor riff on the Dark and Stormy. The end result is a slightly spicy but generally cool and beach-y drink. Perfect for the man who drifted in on the shores of Nagasaki prefecture! A good balance between mellow and intense, a true drink of mystery that keeps you guessing.

2 1/2 oz Q's ginger beer (MUST BE Q'S. YES, THIS IS IMPORTANT. IT'S THE ONLY ONE WITH THE RIGHT LEVEL OF HEAT AND USING ORANGE EXTRACT. I guess you can use Reed's Extra Strong in a pinch but Reed's just doubles up on the ginger and doesn't use chili going by my personal taste test.) 1 1/2 oz rum (preferably dark rum, spiced can work but spiced rums can overtake the ginger beer) 2 wedges of orange

Squeeze one wedge into the shaker. Shake with ice to mix, add into a chilled glass full to the brim with ice. Garnish with the remaining orange wedge.

Shirou

We have to have something that properly reflects Southern charm, of course. There's nothing more Southern than a mint julep, but it's not quite got that darker, more robust flavor I think of when I think of him. So, let's make a few substitutes and additions. I'd say you can probably undercut with the honey syrup, the traditional mint julep uses either simple or muddles in sugar cubes. Honey is richer and often sweeter than regular simple and can be overwhelming. The good news is, because it's so rich you can use shitty bourbon! And by shitty bourbon I mean Kentucky Gentleman, I've never forgiven the person who first gave me that shit.

4 oz bourbon (yes, that much, do not plan on going anywhere) 1/2 oz honey syrup Sprigs of mint (at least five) Approximately one palmful of blackberries (go seedless unless you are feeling VERY adventurous and aren't worried about choking to death)

Drop the mint and blackberries into the bottom of a tall, chilled glass (you're supposed to use a tin one but w/e it barely makes a difference, you can use a solo cup for all I care) and muddle them with the flat of a spoon. Cool little showy and practical bartending trick I learned: hit any plants you're using for essential oil purposes (e.g. orange/lemon peel, mint, lavender...) before mixing with the flat of your palm to release even more essential oils and make that taste extra strong. Add ice to the top. Drop in the bourbon and honey syrup. Stir lots until the colors mix together. Add in one remaining sprig of mint to garnish. The end result is slightly more tart than your average mint julep, but still pleasant and refreshing!

[starcrossedyanderes]

Would Rygel take his darling stargazing?

Yesssss

I’m sorry I just love it when I get requests that fit my ‘aesthetic’. I decided to take my own twist on this request so it turned into this. Also with this picrew Rygel has much darker skin but this was the darkest skin tone in this picrew.

“We have an event tonight.”

You quirked an eyebrow at Rygel’s words.

“When did you do events?”

“I must admit I usually abhor going to such required events. But I believe we shall find this one to be quite enjoyable.”

A smile actually pulled at Rygel’s lips as he looked down at you from his 6’9” stature. You felt a phantom hand caress your cheek; no doubt from Rygel’s own psychic abilities.

“Besides I think now is an excellent time to go ‘public’, don’t you agree?”

The hold on your cheek tightened.

“I expect that it has been long enough for you to have come to terms with my.. actual identity. And with that the expectations and status of you being my moonlight. I trust that you shall live up to these expectations, yes?”

The way his mind and eyes drilled into yours had you give out a meek “yes.”.

Rygel’s aura immediately lightened up and the feeling on your cheek disappeared only to be replace by the feeling of your whole body being gently squeezed; Rygel’s form of an affectionate hug and sign of approval.

Rygel bended down to your height to place a chaste kiss on your lips as the feeling of other kisses being placed all over your face accompanied it. You even felt some of your hair be lifted up and twirled.

“I’ll have a car pick you up at 8:30 and I believe the money I have just provided you should suffice for preparing for a formal event. Oh, and do be sure to wear the circlet I gifted you earlier. It is only fitting with your status being announced and all.”

Rygel pulled away with his flowy purple hair slightly ticking you. He started to walk towards the exit before suddenly turning around to face you again.

“Oh and one more thing my moonlight. Try and make yourself look as good as you truly are. In other words, perfect.”

~|~

After hitting up the mall you finally stood in back home in front of your full length mirror striking poses. Like, dang, you look good. You don’t know if this is how good you truly are, but dang is this as close to perfect as it gets.

Except for a teeny-tiny issue. Your circlet. How does one even wear such a thing? You just couldn’t get it sit quite right, look quite right, or anything! You just don’t know how to circlet!

And of course it was at that time you heard the opening of a car door.

Crud.

You would have to fix it in the car as you only had time to grab your purse and book it down to the car before Rygel blows up the planet or something.

You didn’t even pay attention to the chauffeur who held open the door for me as you scrambled in.

Of course like the idiot you were this also meant you didn’t notice that Rygel was also in the car with you.

There his majesty sat, for the first time legitimately speechless. Even you could practically feel the change in the mind pheromones thing. There clad in his suit and own matching circlet the Emperor sat truly admiring all that is you. It was times like these he remembered why exactly you were his destined one.

His eyes even became hooded!

“Darling, you look positively ravishing. Yes, I do believe this is the definition of perfection itself.”

As you buckled yourself in your face blushed as you let out a meek “thank you.”. But in classic Rygel fashion his face returned to mostly normal as if he hadn’t just said such out-of-character things. 

It was with a slight chuckle at your positively adorable behavior that the car started up to wherever the heck you were headed.

As always the car ride with your ‘betrothed’ was almost completely silent since Rygel was never very talkative.

During this extended time you couldn’t help but to continuously fiddle with the garment on your head which just.. wouldn’t.. sit.. right! You had no idea how long you were trying to get it right before you were met with Rygel’s rich voice.

“Let me.”

You arms quickly fell down to your sides by both of your minds commands as Rygel lifted the circlet from your hair. You felt portions of your hair float into the sky as Rygel brushed your hair in certain directions before digging some pins out of his pocket. 

“I always find pins to work best at keeping these in place. I never really use them though but I try to keep them on me at all times just for cases like these.”

It is with a few flourishes of his hands that the circlet was perfectly placed in your hair.

“Rygel..I.. Thank you!”

A sudden pull was administered on your waist as you fell into his chest. A large inhale was heard as Rygel took in the smell of your hair. A smile tugged at his lips as he placed a kiss onto your lockes.

“It is no issue. I pride making myself and others look presentable. Besides, I’m sure you’ll become more comfortable with putting on a circlet later. I’ll send you some info about how it is typically worn.”

“I would appreciate that.”

You sat in a comfortable silence before you broke it.

“Hey, where exactly are we going?”

“We’re going to an observatory where some of my people are holding an event in honor of us soon leaving this accursed place.”

Rygel truly was a master at saying sentences with a lot to unpack.

You turned to face him.

“Hold up? Your people? Aren’t they all supposed to be in space or something?”

Rygel let out a hum as you felt your hair mindlessly float about you.

“Well of course most of them are indeed in space but a few like me have infiltrated Earth and have made lives for themselves. Such as my foster family.”

“Are you telling me there’s a bunch of aliens walking around us in plain sight without anyone knowing?”

Rygel shrugged as a playful smirk pulled at his lips.

“Perhaps. I mean, I did manage to fool everyone for what? 18 years?”

At his remark you let out a few mumbles which only earned you a smile and pat on the head.

“You truly think the most hilarious things, my dear.”

~|~

“Isn’t it a bit much to.. float?”

The two of you were currently going up the stairs to the observatory with your small hand being engulfed by his slender, graceful one.

“Absolutely not. It is a show of status and is simply much more enjoyable than walking. I will never understand you humans. Why walk when you can simply float everywhere?”

“Because we can’t float.”

Rygel frowned slightly at that. 

“Ah, yes. Pity. Really moonlight what ever would you do without me.”

“Walk.”

With a smirk you rose right up to him. His smirk seemed to widen even more once you clung to him to catch your balance.

“This.. is weird.”

“Just wait until you try dancing like this. Actually, stay like this on me for the rest of the night. I would hate for a small accident to occur.”

That was a lie and you knew it. He just liked you like this. But even so you couldn’t imagine how you would ever be able to dance on this invisible floor beneath you.

~|~

“Is that his imperial highness?”

“He’s so tall.”

“And so.. pretty...”

Rygel let out a quiet sigh only you seemed to hear.

“And all of the sudden I remember why I don’t enjoy such events.”

You had to agree with his sentiment once walking past an uncomfortable amount of gazes. How did they even know who you both were?

It’s probably because you’re the only two wearing circlets and floating that high off the ground. Curse that fancy headpiece!

The two of you began to walk deeper into the dome where the large telescope could be seen.

But you were quickly interrupted.

“Oh! Your imperial highness! How wonderful it is to see you!”

You could tell by the change of Rygel’s aura that his mood had quickly soured.

“Ah, Devah.”

Out of the corner of your eye you could both see Rygel’s strained smile and 2 glasses floating your way.

As the glass landed in your hands Rygel slightly turned to you.

“This is one of the main sponsors of the missions on Earth.”

Devah put on way too cheery of a smile as he hissed out a whisper; as if he was making sure you could not hear.

“And is it alright if I ask but what exactly is a human doing here?”

Rygel’s golden eyes flashed as his grip tightened on you and his mind readied for a strike.

“She is my mate. If you are not as dimwitted as I thought then you should know that things such as species has no effect on who a person’s mate is. Human or not, she is your empress and you shall treat her as such.”

As the aliens face paled it dawned on you that Rygel may be invisibly choking like in Star Wars.

“Y-yes, my apology your imperial highness.”

Rygel raised a purple eyebrow at this as the man jerked into a bow as yellow energy surrounded him.

“Highness?”

“Y-yes your imperial highnesses.”

Rygel actually let out a smile at this.

“Much better. But I think we’ll just leave you like this for the rest of the night. Perhaps it will help you remember your status. Come now, my darling.”

You were pulled away from the bowing alien by Rygel’s long strides towards the large telescope; the focal point of the room.

As Rygel peered in and gave some slight adjustments to the machinery you took a sip from the glass in front of you only to pull back in shock.

This was a new taste for sure. Despite scowering your mind’s attic of a memory you could not place such a taste anywhere. You were honestly kind of scared to ask what the drink was made because of the possible response being blood.

And you kinda needed to know if this was alcholic.

“Um.. Hey, Emperor?”

Rygel let out a mere hum as his only indication of hearing you as his psychic energy caressed you.

“What exactly is this drink? And is it alcholic?”

Rygel let out a light chuckle as his golden eyes continued to look through the lens.

“Don’t worry, it isn’t alcholic. I know you technically aren’t of age to drink here but you’re always more than welcome to. Beauty of world domination and all.”

You hated how he says such awful things so eloquently.

“What you are currently holding, my dear moonlight, is a drink that is drived from one my home planet’s natural fruits. I believe in your language it would be pronounced as the xoqub fruit. Care to look?”

Rygel pulled away from the telescope to give you your turn at the stars. As your eyes peered in you continue your questions.

“How did you even get that stuff here? That has to take forever to ship out.”

“It does take quite a bit to get here but it is admittedly faster than transporting life forms. We actually do a mix of getting some delivered, growing it ourselves here, and just using food replicators.”

“HOL UP YOU GUYS HAVE REPLI-”

“If you point it more this way you’ll find what you’re looking for.”

Rygel prematurely interrupted you by moving the telescope slightly.

“This is the closest point this telescope can get to our planet. It can be seen far past this point.”

You were the one to actually shut yourself up as you stared deeply at that tiny little point.

“It’s really that far away?”

“Yes. It is at least a one month journey to reach there. We will also have a few days added on as we will be making a few stops along the way for various things and your own enjoyment.”

You looked up from the vast before you.

“My own enjoyment?”

“This will be your first time into space, yes? I figured you could at least see some of your new territories. I also have some things to take care of at these places anyway. We’re mainly stopping at the Europa colony and this area by the Kupier belt. After that it’s a non stop journey.”

You turned to look back at all the stars.

“It’s weird.. to think I’ll be riding through the stars and going to places humans have never gone before. But it’s all so.. pretty.”

Rygel hummed as he took a sip from his own glass. 

“And all that ‘pretty’ shall be ours, my moonlight.”

[guigz1-coldwar]

'Finding the freedom' : New chapter for "Redemption in a Spirit in a Cold War" is out !

"Finding the freedom"

"You're not trying to hold on for yourself but for her, Yirina....keep living and fight for her !"

Chapter Summary : Thanks to Sonya Kuzmin, Yirina & Park has managed to escape the place they were prisoner by the Perseus Collective but Yirina was wounded during the escape and she passed out soon after the duo arrived back at the CIA safehouse....and in fact, her chance for her freedom was only now....

Link of the Picrew used !

To read it on AO3, click here !

Words : +3200

Taglist : @snowgoldwaylon , @clxudtea , @efingart

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

We did it....me....Park, thanks to Sonya's help....we succeeded into escaping the base that Perseus were using for their operations in Verdansk, giving us an chance to return back to the CIA safehouse we didn't see for almost 2 weeks but....I was unfortunately wounded during the escape...an bullet right into the left shoulder at an few centimeters from my heart that was shot by Freya herself to avoid me to get away. She wanted to keep me and I was going to die because of her, I was dying on the road and when I passed out in that safehouse, I was maybe thinking that I was done, that she killed me....

"Quick, we need support here !"

"We've got an wounded here, help !"

When I opened my eyes, knowing that I was still unconscious, I found myself back into the old safehouse in West-Berlin, dressed in the same clothes....with the same bullet wound at my shoulder despite not feeling it at all and the blood on the white shirt, appearing like out of nowhere in the middle of the main room near Adler's desk, still alone in that empty place, feeling it was an purgatory....mine.

At first, I started to wander around the place but in fact, I was awaiting for someone to come and it could have been Bell, Lazar, Park, anyone....anyone I could make an talk in my head to pass the time until my heart stopped or until they managed to save me out of here, this safehouse now like an waiting room, me as an patient waiting that death is coming to claim them, walking around to take an look at everything, to see how it was 3 years ago.

This was the only I could have done....waiting. I was passing through our old desks, seeing all the paperwork we did, all the files that we have decrypted, that I have decrypted, the numerous pictures inside the Dark Room, hanging around to dry up on the multiple links and seeing the dashboard, still full of intels we gathered : East-Berlin, Ukraine, Moscow and that was it but mainly, I was just waiting.

"She needs to be immediately healed, we can't lose her !"

"I know that, Sims, we don't want that to happen !"

"No one is wanting this, Woods, no fucking one !"

I was continuing to wait, longer, longer.....seems that time in my head and outside in the real world was working differently but it was seeming so long to wait. I couldn't continue to walk all over the safehouse, deciding to sit on the chair near Adler's old desk, my eyes drifting to look at every papers on it but this time, it wasn't no more about the mission, about Perseus but about me, files that were describing the brainwashing that happened to me, half of the papers looking burned.

It was surely representing the fact that the CIA tried to erase me from their records after Solovetsky but I was still here, just to suffer in my head, awaiting for my death or my recovery. I was just trying to hold on but nothing was helping me, sitting on this chair and holding in my hands Adler's sunglasses, not knowing how to feel to have them in my hands....in real life, back in that pocket.

"What are you awaiting for, Yirina ?" I didn't jump scared from hearing that voice in the room that broke the silence, recognizing my own voice....Bell...sounding normal.

"Either my death...." I started in an low voice, not looking around me to see where she was, my head down and my eyes on these sunglasses. "...or my freedom back into the living world." I finished, putting the sunglasses on the desk.

"Are you trying to say that you're losing hope ?" Bell demanded, using an tone that was looking between 2 things without exactly knowing what he could be. "Don't tell me that you lost hope !" She repeated, arriving in front of me on the other side of the desk and I raised my shoulders to her. "What does that mean ?"

"I don't know." I replied, troubled by everything around me. "What can I do now, Bell ?" I asked rhetorically, given the situation I was now. "I'm surely dying in the hands of everyone on the medical table in the middle of the USSR." I said, passing my right hand above my wound.

"And it's not because of it you have to...

"To lose hope ?" I cut her in an gentle way, starting to think that I was kinda accepting my fate right now. "You ain't the one to get shot."

"She didn't want to shot you, I think that it was only an warning shot." She proclaimed but that wasn't possible.

"If it was the case, she would have shot in the air." I stated, putting 2 of my fingers on the wound, trying to see if it was still bleeding.

"Sonya avoided her to maybe kill you but...." She then stopped her to grab an chair at another desk before coming back, having took Sims's old one to sit near me backwards. "Damnit, you can't be like that." She exclaimed, sitting on the chair.

"Yes but I'm lost, you know ?" I said, finally finding the courage to look at her, myself, in the eyes. "I want to live but all of this trauma I've been facing since I woke up, I don't know." I added, removing my hand off my wound, my two fingers with some blood on it. "More I look at myself, more I want to say that I'm better but each day, there's something that told me that how my old life was either good or shitty."

"Yirina, I'm just something that the CIA created, an piece of your life but....shit, I don't know." She expressed, sounding very painful to talk about this and seeing me like this, she was seeing herself because we're the same person. "I did existed for like what ? 3 weeks for real ? Maybe an month ?"

"I can't remember that well." I told her, having only relived an small part of the events of 1981 in my head. "That's my life in one sentence you just said : I can't remember an goddamn thing." I claimed, basically having resumed myself to that sentence.

"And each day, you're trying to find more about who we were." Bell told me, crossing her arms on the back of the chair, her head on them. "And you know well that you're not alone in this, you got Park, Zasha, Portnova and more." She continued as I was feeling tears in my eyes at hearing these names.

"Stop." I pleaded in an low voice to her.

"Stopping what ?" She asked me, worried and troubled on her face.

"Just...don't say those names, please." I snorted, passing my right hand below my eyes to clean up the tears, starting to cry for good. "It's making me sad." I cried, looking away from her in shame.

"No, it's not for making you sad and hopeless." Bell explained, hearing her getting up from her chair to get in my eyes sight. "Yirina, look at me." She ordered as I moved away my head again when she kneeled at where I was looking.

"No." I whispered.

"Yirina, look....at....me !" She ordered again, sounding also sad as me and pleading to make me look at her before I resigned myself. "Those names, you can't forget them." She alleged, putting her hands on my face to make sure that I would not look away. "They're loyal to you because they know how much you will do for them."

"Maybe." I muttered, taking an breath as the tears were still falling on my pale cheeks.

"Not maybe but entirely !" Bell corrected me, her hands going on top of mine on my lap. "You don't realize that if you die, they would never be able to get over it." She told me in an clear voice, slowly starting to think that death isn't an option.

"She's starting to lose more blood, Woods !"

"I fucking saw it, damnit !"

"Come on, Grigoriev, don't let us down !"

"I know that they're warriors, the best people I met." I admitted, smiling about thinking of Park, Zed, Portnova....all of my friends....

"Yes but...they're worried, they need to be protected." Bell proclaimed, getting her hands off me before sitting on Adler's desk, removing some burned-looking papers along the way. "And they need you !" She affirmed, pointing at me.

"Why it has to be me, Bell ?" I spoke up, deciding to go up from my seat and getting behind it, putting my hands on the back of it. "I know that I need them but..."

"Yes, you need them." She cut me out, avoiding me to speak further. "We both know how much you need to have them near you." She added, knowing the true of her words. "Each time Park isn't here near you, you're getting crazy."

"You're right." I whispered.

"Of course, I'm fucking right, Yirina." Bell raised her voice against me, feeling myself not in control of my own mind. "Right now, I'm trying to make sure that YOU...live on !"  She poked at me at my right shoulder where the blood weren't present, my head looking down at the chair, tears still on my face.

"Stop, don't be angry." I ordered in an low voice.

"I'm not angry but I'm trying to make sure that you understand." She exclaimed, using the same tone as before that was anger without been one actually.

"So, please, don't use that tone." I sniffed away, looking at Park's old desk and....I could see her at her seat, working with an headset. "Park." I started to walk in her direction but I was realizing that it was just an simple vision that couldn't speak or see me before he sadly fade away, like particles into thin air. "No..." I snorted before I fall on my knees, getting slowly weak and feeling that wound getting real to me.

"You can't accept your fate and die, you have to continue to fight for you, for Park and for your friends." Bell stepped in, getting in front of me and still up, offering her left gloveless hand. "Come on, take my hand." She suggested before I took it in mine, helping me to get up but the pain in my shoulder was still here.

"You know better than me, how ?" I questioned her as she was going back slowly towards Adler's desk but she wasn't responding directly, causing me to follow her, holding my left shoulder with my right hand.

"Because I'm your conscience, remember ?" She said, peaking her head towards before leaning back on the desk. "I'm making you do the right choices and to make you live."

"Right now, it's mostly surviving that I want to do." I quoted, walking to join Bell on the desk as she was looking deeply at the dashboard, precisely at the younger Perseus picture and next to me, there were Adler's sunglasses that I decided to take back in my hands. "I've got an bullet in me and I'm trying to hold on." I proclaimed, finding that I needed to live, not die but was I the one that could decide it ?

"Blood pressure is doing better but not good enough !"

"I'm just trying to remove that damn bullet of her, stop stressing me, Song !"

"Come on, we're going to do this and she's going to live !"

"That's good." Bell smiled at me before she was looking back at the same picture her eyes was now focused as me, I decided to....put on the sunglasses despite not loving it.

"Looking at this picture for this long is not going to help you with those files." I spoke, mimicking Adler but keeping my normal voice before I removed the glasses in shame of what I just did.

"See that you didn't lost your sense of humor." Bell scoffed, thinking that it was good for me to joke in the middle of the situation I'm facing. I'm dying but I'm joking... "It proves that you don't want to go." She stated, going up from the desk.

"By joking ?" She nodded at me, walking in front of the dashboard and facing me.

"It appease you, it's nice." She grinned at me as I was trying to reciprocate the move until I managed to do it for good, bringing an smile on my face.

"I just want to hold on." I told her, keeping the smile on me, sounding happy.

"That's all I wanted to hear, Yirina." She confided about the situation before I start to see her fading away in thin air like that vision of Park, starting by her legs. "You know that I'm still here."  She proclaimed before she was finally out of my sight, having disappeared in front of me, feeling saddened by that as I was now back alone in here.

"We're losing her, for fuck sake !"

"Park will kill everyone here if we lose her, understand ?"

"Okay, move for the defibrilator....clear !"

I didn't want to die anymore but I was still here in that safehouse, awaiting for me to recover back in the real world. Time were passing, minutes and it was getting long, prompting me to start to remake an walk inside the safehouse but now, each time I was walking near an desk, there were no more thing on them : no more files, no more personals effects....nothing...nothing...

The Dark Room was now sealed off, impossible to get inside like if the safehouse changed during my talk with Bell, feeling that it was like the last time I stepped in that place for real almost 2 months ago, the CIA having packed up everything to close the place down after it was raided by Stitch. This was maybe meaning that my time in that place in my head was coming at its end but I'm still here.

I did like....3 tours around but now, with nothing on the desks, nothing on the dashboard anymore, nothing to make me pass the time, I was now forced to await, going back to lean on Adler's desk, an blank stare towards the empty dashboard, the sunglasses still next to me until I remembered that I've got something else with me too : my mother's ring that Freya gave me back hours before my escape.

I took it out of the pocket it was along with the sunglasses, taking an better & closer look on it, seeing that it didn't change in three years...an simple ring with an diamond on it, it was maybe simple but it was meaning an lot for me, rekindling with an direct object of my past, something that belonged to my mother. My life was maybe going back together and this ring....it was showing it....

"Nice ring, Yirina." I heard footsteps coming towards me from behind and I smiled, just by recognizing the voice that just talked.

"Thanks, Laz'" I said, turning around to see him, dressed in the 'Burger Town' shirt he was always wearing in the first days 3 years ago when Bell was meeting everyone.

"See that Bell managed to make you live." He stated with an laugh, apparently knowing of the situation....we're in my head....."It's good that you're not giving up."

"I made an lot of promises." I whispered, still looking at the ring before putting it on my ring finger at my right hand. "You asked me to take care of Park, I will."

"I know and it's really good." He told me, walking to get next to me but avoiding to lean against Adler's desk.

"I....you had an diary before ?" I asked him as his presence was making me think about that fact : how the Perseus Collective managed to get their hands on his book ?

"Guy can't have any secret, these days." He replied with an grin, an bit enthusiatic. "You want to know what I write on it ?" He demanded obviously and I nodded but he shake his head. "I'm sorry but.....I'm only in your head."

"Yeah...I....fuck." I cursed, realizing that this Lazar was something that was in my head and he couldn't have all the answers I needed. "I always forgot that."

"Don't need to blame yourself." He expressed his gratitute, making an tap on my right shoulder as the pain of my wound was now gone again for good. "It's normal to feel these sort of things : I know that it's painful for an lot to not see me alive." He added, sadly removing the smile on my face to think about that day.

"No, don't talk about it." I demanded in an sad voice, looking at him clear and he nodded, knowing that the subject can't be talked now, not this close.

"To change the subject...." He started after an few seconds of silence, crossing his arms and still standing up. "I was thinking about that ring."

"What do you want to talk about it ?" I asked curious and showcasing it fully.

"An suggestion." He responded, smiling at me before looking at the direction of Park's old office. "What if you....asked for her hand ?"

"I....uhm....it is...."

"Yes, it's an good idea !" He guessed my words as I was in loss for it, putting his hand back on my shoulder. "You know that it's an chance for you to have an normal life, to have children and to live peacefully."  He exclaimed, wanting to make me believe more about an future where I could live normally.

"If it's an chance..." I whispered, seeing the ring at my finger. "I need to think about it." I confessed, needing an lot of reflection about that subject and with what happened, it will take time until I can talk about this to her..

"I know you will take an good choice." Lazar reassured me before like Bell, he slowly started to vanish into thin air but it was also the surroundings of the safehouse. "You will." He spoke up before him & the old safehouse disappeared, leaving into an black void.

I was now back alone into that strange place, with only Adler's sunglasses in my left hand & my mother's ring back into my right hand. The past....& the future. My burn mark & his sunglasses at my left, the ring and an intact hand meaning the future at my right but I couldn't let go the past because I still need an lot of answers for myself. I was still now awaiting for the moment I will open my eyes back into the real world.

"We need another charge of defibrilator, now !"

"I'm taking it....clear !"

My thoughts were mostly positive when I start to fall on my knees, exhausted by everything including my wound before I fall on my back, looking up at the endless void, an smile on my face as I was finally finding the freedom I needed after that escape from Perseus base, trying to see myself in the future, maybe married....having childrens but now I need to relax and close my eyes, the smile still present on my face when they closed....

This is how I'm feeling my freedom....I want to feel it !

[ryuto12]

Back In The Day: Part 1, Character Intro: Ginger Rose.

Here’s the picrew I used to make this dude: https://picrew.me/image_maker/54346

I was born with a gift, I use it to defend my Kingdom and it's people. If you plan on telling me I can't save my home from all Hell because I have a cool shade of grey, your wrong. I'll go down with Vacuo, or die trying.

May I present, Ginger Rose, the deuteragonist of Back In The Day, a story taking place during the Great War. The great-grandfather of Ruby Rose, during his time he was the right-hand man to the Queen of Vacuo, Cedar. 

He proudly fought alongside Cedar and the King of Vale, Zoro(Aster), up until his fight at The End, the final battle of the Great War.

Never had his name hit the pages of the history books, because the victors wrote those and he would have thoroughly murdered Aster and Cedar for putting him in.

While a noble warrior and a capable one at that, Ginger was anything but a hero, doing anything to get his way in war, even if that involved questionable killings and a complete lack of morals.

In the end, Ginger was a man who did whatever he deemed necessary to keep his people safe, no matter the cost. He did what he had to.

“You know, back in the day, I dated Cedar when we were teenagers. You might wanna stop trying now, she plays real damn hard to get.” Ginger laughed, eyeing the horizon for troops.

Aster quirked a brow, facing his new friend. “Really, you two as exes? Honestly by now you could’ve been the King of Vacuo by the way she looks at you.”

Ginger chuckled a bit, “yeah, we were a pretty good couple. A power couple too. Even back then we kicked ass. But seriously, we were friends as kids, and as we got older puberty said ‘fuck you and maybe try fucking her to,’ you know? But those ten years before all this, war was just past the every other sand dune.”

Aster nodded, “I’m listening.”

“And so basically, with war on the horizon, and how she was gonna be Queen soon, and you know like, her dad was really sick. She had an uncle trying to steal the thrown, bro I tried, but I just...” Ginger banged his forehead against his staff, before continuing.

“It was a lot for both of us, and it wasn’t just her. My eyes started kicking in around that time. It just wasn’t in either of are cards back then, with all that, we couldn’t find time for a relationship too.”

Ginger was born lucky, his parents had been friends with the former King and Queen of Vacuo. In his youth he became friends with the Princess, Cedar, along with being sparring buddies.

In their teen years they tried a romance, but with a coup, sick King, cool grey eyes and a war that was ready to explode into full blown battle, it was to much, so they ended up cutting it off on friendly terms.

When the Great War started, Ginger respected Cedar’s approach to simply not interfere at first, but did begin making some connections in case anything went south or she changed her mind.

But a few years into it, Mistral and Mantle are giving Vacuo pressure, and Cedar knows she needs to side with Vale.

So Ginger uses his connections, they get the King of Vale, Zoroaster, though he is proud to just be called Aster. He agrees, and the war now has a new face.

Ginger showed his face for every major Vacuan battle, and even some more important Valean fights. No one truly knew his name, but they knew he was in charge, and he quickly garnered the nickname: Flash.

No Grimm were ever present for the charges he lead, they were gone in a flash of white light no one could explain. 

It’s a few months before the wars end, and he’s been fighting alongside Aster for years. He feels it’s time to confess. 

“I’m going to be so bored in like a year or two.” Ginger scoffed, shaking his head.

“Why’s that?”

“Because when Faunus have equally fucking rights when this is over, I’ll be bored. It means I won’t be smuggling any more of ‘em into Vacuo.”

“You did what?!” Aster gasped, shocked by the news.

“You heard me. I used to smuggle Faunus into Vacuo so they could be free. Cedar’s whole pride is built upon the fact Vacuo accepts Faunus without harassment, let alone slaves. What do you think we did as teenagers for date night?”

“Fancy dinner, walk on the dunes, fucked a bit, you know like normal people do.”

“Nope, we smuggled Faunus into Vacuo every Friday night.”

During the four years Cedar didn’t want anything to do with the war, Ginger was making connections. One thing he did in that time was appoint a former escapee Faunus as the leader of the Faunus Railroad, more publicly known as the Fangs by the Mantle Press.

Said escapee turned leader was never given a name by the Humans who owned him, simply a number. But his friends called him Belladonna, so he took that name in stride once he escaped the grasp of the greedy Humans.

But back to the war, on that cold night on Amity Island, as the four leaders and their right-hands and their troops stared back at one another from two sides of an already blood-stained war, they attacked.

Aster grinned as he prepared to fight.

Ginger blinked.

Cedar cracked her knuckles.

 In a flash of light, the Grimm were gone, in a swing of his sword, Mistral and Mantle were down, in a bark of silver words amongst the silence the opposing solider’s stayed down.

The Duke of Mantle, Frost, took his bow. The Shogun of Mistral, Orchid, took her stance at the King of Vale’s feet.

Cedar flipped him off as she kneeled, Ginger right at her side.

Aster too beckoned himself down, and the four nations troops followed suit in the display of honor amongst the final day of combat.

Borders were redrawn, Faunus were free, Atlas was floating in the sky, Aster gave Cedar his shiny gold sword, Orchid an old lamp, and Frost a nice pointy stick. He kept his crown.

Faunus weren’t fully free, they’d need to change that. Mantle, now Atlas, had called the Railroad the Fangs, so Belladonna proposed an idea to Ginger.

“The inside of you cape, it’s white.”

“Yeah, so what?”

“Mantle always called us the Fangs, and your the man who ultimately helped end our oppression and saved my life. The inside of your cloak is white.”

“Where is this going my dear friend?”

“Were the White Fang.”

And that was that, Faunus were now freedom fighters on a legal level. Woohoo.

And Ginger was proudly eliminated from history books.

Cedar settled down with a woman she’d met during an Op. in Mantle, and within a few years Ginger was the best man, and a year later she was the maid of honor at his own wedding.

He settled down with a nice lady on an island just off the coast of Vacuo, having two kids, his son Win, and his daughter Autumn.

Ginger had fun in his mid-forties having ventured to the Dragon Continent on an expedition with one of his old helped Faunus escapee’s, Tock.

Only to never be seen again.

[the-storyteller-and-her-soldiers]

An Actual FFXV S/I!

Believe it or not but I do enjoy inserting myself into the universes of my f/os! The only thing is they’re fighters, soldiers if you will, and I’m not. I can’t even really picture myself as one since that’s not who I am and that SUCKS when I’m trying to read inserts and they’re like “Oh you met F/O in a battle, you spar together as dates, etc...” because no, I AM A SMALL SQUISHY BEAN! I don’t even run unless I have to or I want to...

But anyways I’ve finally figured out a way to insert myself into FFXV! This takes place around FFXV: Brotherhood Here we go! Picrew: [Here] 

Name: Rebecca Grace Stinheart Nickname: Becca or Ms. Grace (in semi-professional settings) Age: 18 Occupation: Full-time student part time paper writer Clothing Style:  Wears anything from a classic oversized hoodie and jeans to flowy dresses covered in lace. It really just depends on what she feels like on a certain day. Where To Find Her: If it’s any time between 3pm and 7am you can usually find her in her little corner of the castle either typing up homework of her own, royal documents, or sleeping at her keyboard since it’s become more of her home than where her family is. Otherwise she’s at school or out and about with personal friends of hers. She may take breaks in the gardens or where the Crownsguard members train to do yoga or exercises that her Physical Therapist recommends.

Backstory: “Are you a college student stuck with a term paper or a person in business who needs to create a proper presentation? Well, whatever your position may be if writing is what worries you, then leave it to me! I’m more than happy to make essays exuberant and speeches truly spectacular, for a fee, of course!”

This was a snippet of the advert that Rebecca had posted online in order to earn some quick cash after a friend insisted that they pay her for helping with an English essay that they had. Writing was what she was good at and hoped to make a career with, so she figured why not dip her toes in the career pool even if it was under the table. She needed some way to keep the lights on since she couldn’t trust her parents to do so. 

Sure, ghostwriting for other’s grades wasn’t the most credible, but there was a market for it and she knew it. Even if she just took on the role of a tutor to help the client with details and staying on task, she didn’t care as long as she got a good ten to twenty bucks for turning a few notes into five pages. 

She knew of the royal family, heard of the popular Crownsguard, and even saw prince Noctis in school since he was a grade or two above her; but none of that ever interested her. Politics were politics and the system they had created never helped her or her family. But little did she knew that her work spread quickly by word of mouth to those she’d never dream to meet. 

She had ended up writing a few essays for a sunshine boy both in hair color and personality named Prompto. He was sweet, compliant in giving her the material needed, and paid well enough. Her work got him A’s in his classes and one B+ since the teacher was a stickler, but after that they seemingly parted ways. That is until a few weeks later when this happy-go-lucky guy came back and introduced her to his good pal Noct.

She was surprised but not unwilling to take his work! This could be what she needed to really get herself out there, not to mention that she could make enough money from this one job than she could in a month of jobs... If she played her cards right. As she told the two young men straight up, “I’m a miracle worker, not a charity case.”

And a miracle worker she seemingly was since the prince’s grades perked up and he became quite the regular to her business. That is until a slightly older, spectacled royal advisor named Ignis caught wind of their trades and stopped it with a light scolding to the prince. Yet to Rebecca he proposed that instead of writing as a ghost, they make things official. Rebecca should become Noctis’ royal tutor and speech writer when the advisor had to tend to other matters. Not only would that give her the credibility she wanted, but she’d receive a much more stable paycheck since she’d be a part of the royal staff.

So she took the job and with how much she was helping the prince and growing friendly with him and his friends, it wasn’t long until she met the other royals and castle staff. Though just like her original business, word of mouth spread quickly and if the matter wasn’t too sensitive but had to do with writing, Rebecca was the one castle staff would go to. This was because she was the most available and easiest to find most of the time, since she had made her office more like her home away from home.

Yet she didn’t meet the final member of the Prince’s posse, his Shield named Gladio, until she had settled down into her work. She was done for the evening and decided to take a break in the gardens, to rest, reorganize herself, and work out the countless cricks knotted through her body. Her mind was finally at peace until a gruff voice called out and critiqued her yoga pose. This startled her so much that her Downward Dog became a Crashing Child since she fell flat on her stomach. Gladio was going to criticize her more for complaining about her soreness, until he realized she wasn’t one of the Crownsguard he trained with but a new young face he’d only see in passing. Rebecca made that abundantly clear when he finally snapped out of it and went to help her up. When she explained that she wasn’t Crownsguard but the Prince’s royal tutor that Gladio had heard about from the others, he admired her drive and efficiency to get the younger men to work while helping everyone she could out. He also felt kind of bad as she explained that she was self-taught and was doing the best she could without hurting herself.

Rebecca then avoided Gladio like the plague for a good few weeks since if she wanted to be judged on her physical abilities and lack thereof all she had to do was attend P.E. class. This sucked for Gladio since not only was she getting closer with Noctis, Prompto, and Ignis, but she was also getting close to his sister Iris as well since they shared a fashion class together. It took a few more weeks but Gladio finally got Rebecca in a place where he could explain himself at the very least. Rebecca begrudgingly forgave him but soon found that other than their differences in physical abilities, they shared quite a few interests especially in literature. He’s actually become her strongest advocate in the castle. Some say that it’s because Rebecca handed him his ass verbally, while others gossip that there’s something more to his admiration...

None of them know the full story of Rebecca’s life other than the snippets that slip out in conversation, yet they all look out for her in their own way. 

Ignis makes sure she eats, helps her with chores, and helps her try to maintain a decent sleep schedule.

Prompto and Noctis usually take her out to goof off when she’s in need of a break. Prompto also brings her snacks and new earbuds for back-ups.

Gladio forces her to stay hydrated, will carry her to bed when he finds her asleep at her desk, and takes time out of his day to go out for walks or do yoga together where he actually guides her through it

[fisheoctrashdump]

Willow 1-20 e w e

Holiday

She's not a big fan of holidays. Growing up, she didn't really celebrate holidays with her family. She didn't dress up and go trick or treating or get presents on christmas. She learned to hate pretty much every holiday, but her favorite will be Valentine's day. She loves the idea of making chocolates for all the people she loves (both romantically and platonically) and having an excuse to be so full of love for her friends.

Cooking

Willow isn't technically bad at cooking, but she's much better at baking. It's something she enjoys doing a lot, and she feels very fulfilled when she shares her creations with her friends and family. She thrives on compliments for a lot of her ideas and actions, but most of all for baking.

She doesn't have the passion for regular cooking, so most of the time when she cooks she tries to rush through it.

Sleeping

Willow had to learn to be a light sleeper. Noises and lights will keep her awake, so she has to be in total darkness and silence to fall asleep. Movement on or near her bed is also sure to freak her out.

She sleeps completely wrapped in her blankets like a little burrito.

I keep imagining that after she gets used to the Lovelace family and feels comfortable being there, she lets Dobby sleep on her bed ;w;

I also keep thinking about Willow talking softly to Zeron in the dark when she's overthinking and can't sleep. Even if he's sleeping, she feels better after she unloads all of her worries and anxieties, leading to her actually being able to sleep.

Driving

Willow can't drive, actually. (Not just because she's not old enough yet lol)

She has semi frequent syncopal episodes, commonly due to stress and fear. She can't and won't be able to drive because of it.

Bathing/showering

She hates showering and tries to avoid it for as long as possible. She hates looking at her body. It makes her feel sick and uncomfortable. It also has to do with the fact that she can't get motivated to shower as often as she should.

Hugging

She likes hugging others, as long as she is comfortable around them. I think she will very often try to get hugs from bleblesscra, Galatea, and Zeron in the future.

Kissing

Willow feels suffocated when being kissed. It's a psychological thing related to her trauma. I'm not sure when she will feel comfortable enough for mouth kisses, but cheek and forehead kisses are fine owo

Sex

Willow lost her virginity when she was nine. She is still sexually active, but not by choice.

General physical contact

Again, she doesn't mind it as long as it's with someone she's comfortable around. It's very obvious to see Willow flinching away from Erika's seemingly affectionate touch, no matter the circumstances. She probably wouldn't be too comfortable with Arvid touching her, either, but for different reasons. Currently, she is really starved for attention and human contact, and I imagine becoming friends with Zeron will mean Willow looking for any and every excuse to be physically close to him.

Physical appearance

Other than the picrew thing I did for her, here's a few little other things about her appearance

Willow has naturally black hair

She bites her nails, so her fingernails are always short

She chubby ;w;

Wardrobe

She wears a lot of purple, blue, and yellow. She also tries to wear hoodies, high collared shirts, and chokers to cover the hickies on her neck (or at least try to). Doesn't stop people from seeing them and nicknaming her "slut" for it lol

She also tends to wear baggy clothes to conceal her body, and wears more layers than necessary if she knows she's going to be alone with Erika at any point that day.

Jewelry

She doesn't wear a lot of jewelry. She wears chokers as her main accessory, and she really likes snake themed jewelry if she's feeling up to wearing it. (Like rings, necklaces, and earrings)

She will get a vertical labret at some point in the future, and I can also see her getting an industrial piercing of some kind, but I'm not sure exactly what kind yet

Nickname

A nickname I've been crying over for the past weeks is Cupcake. I'm not sure who comes up with it, but the nickname makes Willow incredibly happy, and a lot of her friends and family pick up calling her that nickname (even Arvid.) I've had a few ideas on who comes up with it, and I think either Sacra, Galatea, or Blez? Those three stick out as most likely in my mind, for some reason.

Dancing

Is ice skating kinda like dancing? Lol

Either way, nobody can convince Willow to dance. A shame, cause she would actually be pretty good at it. She feels too self conscious to do so, like everyone would be watching her if she did

Singing

She doesn't sing much. She has a pretty decent voice, but she won't use it often. I imagine Arvid encourages her to sing with him later on because he's a sucker for dramatic duets lol

Anger

She doesn't really get angry. All of her anger is usually converted into sadness, and she's more likely to cry during a stressful event.

Soft spot

Arvid

Cute pokemon things. Especially desserts and plushies.

Snakes/ferrets she like the long bois

Favorite possession

The choker she stole from Arvid. She jokes that she needed it more, especially since she was able to steal it from him so easily (and he didn't notice it was missing for nearly a month)

Favorite photograph

She currently doesn't have one. I'm gonna take a pass on this one, because I'm really not sure.

Relationship with ___

Erika

Willow has a lot of complicated emotions involving Erika

The most prominent being fear. Willow is terrified of Erika and the things she does, not just to her but also to other people. She has a certain level of adoration for Erika, however, because Erika was the only person that pretended to give a damn about Willow for, well, basically as long as she can remember. Erika of course used this to her advantage and broke Willow's spirit with the many horrible things she did to her.

Despite everything, Willow remains obsessed with Erika because she doesn't believe there can be any other way. She is aware that Erika sees her as useless and disposable, but sometimes when Erika is showing her the attention she craves, Willow convinces herself that that is what it means to love someone.

She tries to fight against Erika when they are alone together, but ultimately will lose. It's a common occurrence between them, and some days Willow wonders if fighting back is even worth it.

Erika being removed from her life (in whatever way we decide to go about it) will feel like both the best and the worst thing to ever happen to her. Erika has Willow convinced that they need each other, and working through all the damage and trauma Erika caused her will take a significant amount of time.

Arvid

She feels safe with Arvid. That's the main point of their relationship, is that Willow clings to Arvid for a sense of security.

Initially, Willow felt like she and Arvid had a lot in common. She watched most of the school harass him when she entered middle school, and she understood the feeling. She watched Arvid from a distance, wishing she had the confidence to talk to him, until seventh grade. She finally forced herself to make conversation with Arvid, and hoped for the best.

Getting to know Arvid provided Willow with a lot of relief, also. She had someone she could escape to when she absolutely needed it, and he never pushed her to talk about anything. The more she got to know Arvid, the more she identified with his unspoken feelings of isolation and fear of abandonment.

She realizes she has a crush on Arvid shortly before he starts high school, but having a crush on him causes her so much grief because 1) Arvid is gay, and she knows this and 2) some part of her feels guilty for feeling that way about someone, almost like she's betraying Erika somehow.

Arvid and Willow don't get a chance to hang out as much now that he's in high school, and she's mostly gone back to the way things used to be. Alone and unwanted by her classmates, with no one to escape to.

Galatea

I'm not sure when or how Willow becomes friends with Galatea, but I just imagine their friendship making Willow feel so safe and happy. I'm sure at first the age difference will make her nervous, and she probably won't trust being alone with Galatea no matter what, but I imagine Galatea has very friendly vibes in her own unique way, and because of this Willow warms up to her pretty fast.

In addition to always trying to impress Arvid, Willow will also try to impress Galatea almost constantly. She will also often give Galatea gifts.

Something else I've considered for their relationship is Willow having a crush on Galatea, but not like in the way Razi does or in the way Arvid and Fel have a crush on Chuck.

Because of her past experience with her relationship with Erika, I imagine Willow being very confused about how she feels for Galatea. The only older sister figure in her life before now made Willow feel like her emotions didn't matter unless there was sex involved. With Galatea, Willow will feel as though at some point to keep her around, she has to do the same as she did with Erika before. Hopefully by this time, Willow will be in therapy and be able to figure out how to ensure her relationship with Galatea remains a healthy one.

Bonus random things I thought of/info I wanna share ;w;

Arvid leaning in to Willow for their first kiss and Willow immediately passing out (kinda funny when you think about it but also :( )

Willow is nonbinary, but she doesn't have specific pronouns. Most people just use she/her and she's fine with that

Her favorite color has been purple pretty much her whole life. She didn't consider blue a favorite color until she met Arvid

Willow enjoys a variety of different music genres. 2000's - 2010's pop is the one she enjoys most, but all her favorite bands belong to different genres (Like Simple Plan, Mindless Self Indulgence, Hey Violet, Halestorm, and NF)

The scenario you came up with Willow asking Zeron to give her a mohawk will be canon (at some point after they meet, probably also after she is adopted)

She has a suicide note saved that she intends to give to Arvid, because she knows he's the only one who would care enough to know her final thoughts

[skylights422]

@ace-and-aro-wlw-positivity created a Q&A for aspec authors/writers, and as an aspec author, I am excited to participate and answer as many of their questions as I can. Under a cut since it became really outrageously long.

1. What was your inspiration for your character(s)? Are they modeled on yourself, a person that you know, or a character that’s already been established?

Typically I’d say my characters are a mix of general inspiration from other stories/characters and then bits and pieces taken from myself. I try not to make any of them like a clone of myself or another character, try to mix it up, possibly with mixed success but that is the goal.

2. How much, if any, has your character(s) changed since they were first created? What caused this change?

Oh wow, okay I have characters I still use from grade school and middle school, and those characters have changed/grown a lot. Most notoriously (to me) though are my two fellas Euphranor and Kadri. I created them while daydreaming in middle school while watching those science videos in class about how I could make a more parody-like version of said videos, Kadri being the energetic and comically sadistic teacher and Euphranor being the constantly irritated and foul-tempered student. The core of their designs and personalities haven’t totally changed (Euph is still a hot-head and Kadri still likes to troll him), but they’ve become far more nuanced as characters as their story become more involved and serious. They’ve also become softer characters, with Euph having a Heart of Gold and Kadri being a bit morally grey but generally compassionate and friendly. I think the cause of this change and others comes from a mix of things, for one I simply got older and what I wanted out my characters changed a bit. But also I think it’s because I spent so much time with those characters in my head that I couldn’t help but develop them more fully, which in turn made me want to give them a good story. Also, everyone is definitely more queer now then how they started, largely because I became more aware and comfortable with my own queer identity and spent more time in queer spaces (though with Euph I actually just realized he had to be gay because I every het relationship I envisioned for him fell totally flat and yet imagining him as having crushes on guys just seemed to work better/make more sense, and that was an earlier decision).

4. Do you intend on publishing your story one day? Why, or why not?

I definitely do! I have many, many stories I want to publish, as books or comics or tv shows or films. I’ve always wanted to publish some of writing since it’s one of my main passions and have always taken inspiration from the stories I consumed. I just love writing and would want to be able to do it as my main career, the key will just be figuring out how to focus on one project long enough to finish it. xD

5. Surprise fact! Give a random fact about your character(s), whether it’s their favorite color, food, or even song!

Euphranor loves to sing! He hums to calm himself down and even full on sings to vent his feelings sometimes. Kadri loves literature and video games, and blackberry pie is his favorite food.

6. Admit it, you have a folder on your computer of the various types of picrews you’ve created for your character(s). Would you mind posting a few (or five)?

*VIBRATES* MY TIME HAS COME. I absolutely have way too many picrews of my fellas so I won’t post them all, just two each for the core four of my main novel project. First, Euphranor:

(yes he is a Hufflepuff)

Kadri:

(also since I dragged the Hogwarts houses into this Kadri is Ravenclaw)

Ena:

(I put her in Gryffindor)

And finally, Fiera:

(Right now I have her in Slytherin. She could also be in Ravenclaw though)

7. Time to get serious for a bit. There’s been heavy debate on having non-human characters identify as ace, aro, non-binary, etc., but never actual humans. As someone who’s aspec, how would you explain to someone who’s allo why this can be and is seen as hurtful?

I mean, as a sci-fi fan I definitely love if the non-human characters are queer coded, but it’s definitely important to include human representation as well, and I think there are a few simple reasons for that. One is that queer people are, in fact, humans, and therefore our stories deserve to be told as they are in reality as well as how they could be in fiction. The other is only writing us as inhuman implies you consider our identities as fictitious or too strange for a human to have, and queer people already have to deal with other forms of erasure and invalidation in real life. (Also, not everyone is a fan of sci-fi/fantasy, and they should still be able to read stories where they can see themselves)

8. It’s a sad reality that many stories in mainstream media don’t have characters that are aspec, not to mention without resorting to harmful stereotypes. Besides there being nothing wrong with IDing as aspec, why did you choose to have your character ID as such? What would you tell other authors who’re interested in writing characters that are aspec, but are afraid of offending the community?

I have a huge list of aspec characters, which definitely started happening more once I was aware of my own asexuality (and later, aromanticism), since I realized that I could make my own aro and ace characters and then just went wild with it lol. It’s also easier for me to write since I can actually draw from personal experience somewhat for it. Beyond representation having aro and ace characters also allows you to explore more facets of human emotions/the human experience, so that’s always fun.

As for how I would advise allies looking to write a-spec characters, my main advice would be to remember that we are an incredibly diverse group of people, and so while no one a-spec character will resonate with every a-spec reader, an a-spec character written in good faith will definitely speak to some of us. Write them as an character first, and when it comes to things like how their attraction does or doesn’t work and what they want out of relationships, figure out what works best for them. Really, if you’re concerned your character would be offensive in some way you can always make a post asking about it, many of us are happy to offer constructive advice and appreciate that someone is wanting to put in the effort to write about our experiences. Reading or listening to anecdotes from an array of a-spec people is also a good way of getting ideas of how to portray us, and there are various resources for that (the tags, AUREA collects anecdotes from arospec individuals, and probably more than I can think of offhand)

9. If you’re comfortable with sharing, what is your characters’ identity? Do they use any microlabels? Does theirs reflect your own?

Unsurprisingly I have many characters who are aroace (Fiera is one of them), and Ena is bisexual and gray-aromantic. Kadri was originally supposed to just be bi/pan but has become increasingly aspec, will they end up gray-aro as well as grey-ace? Will they end up as a pan oriented aroace? I don’t know yet, but they sure are a pan a-spec. My most recent project has exclusively aro-spec protagonists, Valentine is aroace, Cedar is demiromantic, Raelene is cupioromantic, and then Clematis and Hadyn are presently just Aro and might stay that way. My aroace characters are often styled after my own aroace experiences, while other a-spec characters aren’t as much.

11. Why do you think that not just representation is important, but GOOD representation? Can you offer any examples?

Well, I think there are a few ways to make ‘good rep’. There is the ‘this character helps bring awareness/educate about the community’ and then there’s ‘this character just resonates with certain a-spec people a lot’, and the main reason I think it’s important is because rep should be for the people they’re representing. So if rep hurts the community or totally fails to be relatable to anyone who’s actually a-spec, then it missed the whole point and is doing just as much to leave the community feeling left in the dust as no rep. Of course things do get complicated when the community is divided on whether the rep is good or not, which I imagine will be a common occurrence, and many examples of rep probably fall into the grey area between Good and Bad, but generally people should aim to tell stories that will help more than hinder the people you are telling your story about. (Although I also think that the long term end goal is to get to the point where there is enough representation that it doesn’t matter if some of it is ‘bad’ or not, since I feel like that is the true state of normalization, but that is sadly not yet the case)

12. What’s the genre of your most recent story? Do you always write in this genre? If so, what other works do you have? If not, why did you pick it?

My most recent story (with Valentine) is fantasy, inspired by shoujo style anime series like Cardcaptor Sakura, while Euph’s story is more dystopian urban fantasy? His exact genre has shifted around a lot and will probably continue to do so. In general, most of my works are fantasy in some way or another. A few are more sci-fi or horror based, but definitely the majority are fantasy whether that be magical girl type stories, urban fantasy, superheroes, or dark fantasy.

14. What’s a brief biography of your character? Is their history, personality, and/or looks similar to your own?

I’m going to go with Fiera here. The short version of her backstory is that she and her older brother were born to neglectful parents, and while their grandmother was attentive emotionally she also lived far away. Her brother discovered magic, long thought forgotten, but killed himself shortly after, leaving Fiera alone and confused. She then made a point to dedicate herself to studying the theory and history of magic in the hope that she may someday understand why her brother would take his own life so suddenly like that. She has a down to earth personality and is very observant, and has a great deal of ambition and focus for tasks. She naturally has a more lighthearted and curious personality, but has become more somber since the death of her brother. While she always struggled with sustaining personal relationships, it’s only recently she started using her power of observation to be more manipulative and always keep a cool, pleasant demeanor. She has a love for fashion and sewing, as well as an interest in chemistry.

She isn’t really based on me at all backstory or appearance wise, and only slightly takes after me personality wise. Our main similarity is that we both can be quietly observant and don’t tend to get outwardly angry very often, and that we are both aroace. But I am nowhere near as focused as her, am terrible at lies/manipulation, and have different interests. I’m also way more prone to energetic rants and blunt statements than she is.

15. What are the themes of your story? Is it a lighthearted adventure, or are we talking deep, ocean-sized levels of angst? Why, or why not, did you choose them?

The tone of Euph’s story is kind of all over the place due to how often I’ve tweaked it, but there are certainly oceans of angst for all the protagonists. There’s just also decided remnants of the wacky humor from when the story was predominantly a comedy, and a lot more scenes of the characters just relaxing or goofing off than might be typical in a high tension drama adventure. My story with Valentine is generally much more lighthearted, though there will be some deeper moments for character development (and also because I want it to have a slightly gothic vibe, just Because)

16. How long have you been writing? Has your style changed from when you first began to now? What are some tips you’d give to those who’re interested in writing a story of their own, be it professionally or as a hobby?

I’ve been writing in some capacity just about as long as I can remember, and so my style has definitely taken various shifts depending on how old I was and what I was taking as my main inspiration at the time. Sometimes I went for more sarcastic and whimsical narration regardless of the events happening of the story, sometimes I went for a more quick modern-ish style, sometimes I would focus more or less on descriptions or dialogue. I don’t really know where I’m at right now though.

What I would advise to anyone wanting to sit down and write is to be patient and kind with yourself. Nine times out of ten what sounds epic in your head will come out at first as clunky and all over the place. But that is pretty much the whole purpose of first drafts; the clunky first draft crawls so the second draft may walk so the third draft may walk a little faster so the final draft may run. The other thing I would advise is to absolutely experiment, and see what works best for you. There is every kind of writing advice out there imaginable, much of it contradictory, so really you just have to mess around with styles and perspective and dialogue and see what happens, which stuff you liked and which stuff you didn’t.

17. What’s your process for writing? Do you plan your story out first, write whatever you want then edit later, or both? How might this help others?

My writing process is pretty much a mishmash of writing whatever comes to me, then planning, then writing, then using a bunch of character building exercises to have fun but make no progress in the plot, then neglect the project for months, then write some more or maybe plan. I don’t know how much this would help others, though I have found when I set goals with deadlines and some external pressure (nanowrimo, reward system implanted by friends, etc) I am far more productive, so perhaps that is something others could try if they struggle with staying on track?

18. Your book’s become quite popular, easily reaching the New York Times Bookseller list, and now, you’ve been picked to lead a writing workshop. It goes swimmingly, and afterward, someone comes and tells you that your book not only inspired them to write a story of their own, but also helped them discover and accept their identity. What’s your reaction?

Mostly I would just be flabbergasted, but also extremely pleased and honored to have been able to provide any kind of help or assistance to my readers.And I would feel very happy for the person, since that sort of inspiration is great to come by.

19. Are there any published stories out there that feature aspec characters that you also read? Do you have any suggestions?

Unfortunately not that I can think of! I am peripherally aware of some ace characters, but they aren’t in stories I personally consume. I hope to find more though!

20. Just for fun, write down a paragraph of your most recent writing. It can be an action-packed scene, some witty dialogue, or a colorful description that you really enjoyed. (Be sure to properly tag any possible triggers!)

Well, my most recent finished work would be the clunky first draft of my novel. So, here’s a silly conversation that entertained me to write:

Once they had bought the food, they went back to the park to eat. 

“You know, Fiera, I have come to a realization.” Kadri said.

“Oh? What’s that?” Fiera asked.

“Store snacks are not as filling as restaurant food, nor as refined, but they are decidedly addictive.” he said, munching on Twizzlers.

“Yep. That’s what makes them store snacks. Plus, I couldn’t get any really nice stuff. I’m not made of money.” Fiera explained.

“Which brings me to my next question, how exactly are you financing our meals? You don’t seem to work a job of any kind.” Kadri said. Fiera was almost surprised that he knew about jobs, but decided not to ask about it. 

“You’re right, I don’t. But my parents leave me about sixty bucks a week so that they can do what they want without me starving to death in their absence. After yesterday and just now, I’m down to like eight bucks, and the next payment comes in three days, so after this stash goes it's dollar store snacks only.” Fiera explained.

“I see. Fascinating. And these drinks you bought us, why are they vitamin drinks?” Kadri said,looking over a vitamin water curiously.

“Because we definitely aren’t going to get any vitamins from chips and candy.”  Fiera said simply.

“There is logic to that, I suppose.” he said. There was silence for a few moments.

“Um… Kadri?” Fiera said after a while.

“Yes, Fiera?” Kadri said.

“You know you can’t eat a whole bag of Twizzlers in one go, right?”  Fiera said.

“I don’t see why not. If it is not going to give me the nutrients I need, it may as well provide me with the maximum level of pleasure it is capable of.” Kadri said.

“Yeah, but you’ll get sick. And we have limited supplies.” Fiera countered. Kadri looked at the bag of Twizzlers in alarm.

“These are poisonous in large doses!?” he exclaimed.

“What? No, not poisonous, they just make you sick because they’re candy. All candy does that if you keep eating it.” Fiera said.

“Commoners lead dangerous lives, it would seem. I shall never forget this betrayal.” He said to the bag of Twizzlers, putting it down and taking the vitamin water instead. 

[akemiozawa]

Big Sister pt. 2

And if anyone wants to see a general pic of what the twins look like, I used Picrew. Bree is the left, Brad on the right.

Saturday

After a morning of waking, brushing, grooming, dressing and feeding the twins, Trina though it best to walk them around the campus and show them what their “future school” could look like.

Trina was clad in her casual gear, yellow headphones hung from around her neck, satchel swaying from side to side. Bree skipped in her favorite pink and white gingham dress and sneakers, her hair tied in pigtails with small red ribbons while Brad ran behind her in khaki shorts and a dark blue shirt, his blue high tops thudded to keep up with his sister. His hair swayed wildly in the wind.

They had just stopped outside the courtyard where statues of the Great Seven stood proudly alongside one another.

“So! Where you guys wanna go?” She squatted to their height.

“Whatever you want, Sis!” They said simultaneously. Their eyes bright and shining in the sun, and smiles innocent, Trina’s heart melted at their adorableness.

“Incoming!!!”

At that, a brightly colored hedgehog came sailing through the treetops like a cannonball. With her sixth sense, Trina turned, shielding the kids, and in time to thrust out her hands and catch the animal between them, landing on her feet for balance.

“Whoa!” “Big Sis, are you okay?!” The twins ran to her as she kneeled.

“I’m fine, guys! But this little one...”

The three looked down at the red-colored creature, who was shaking before it stilled and unfurled from its balled form. It sniffed Trina’s hands, looking up at the group. Squeaking happily, it curled into her cupped hands.

“Aww!” Bree and Brad cooed. They gently pet the hedgehog, just as Ace Trappola burst from the foliage. The twins looked up and hid behind Trina, unsure of this new presence.

“Trina! Oh my god, I’m so sorry! I didn’t know where he went for a second! You totally saved me!” He pushed his lips into a smile, cheeks obviously flushed from running.

“Ace! Where’d the hedgehog go? Did it get hurt?” Not soon after, Deuce Spade halted in the clearing. Before the redhead could answer, Trina snapped,

“What the hell, you two?!”

The first years were taken aback by her sudden retort. Homura’s lips were scrunched together, eyes narrowed, fists clenched. She lept to her feet with, “Nobody got hurt, for you answer, Deuce. But you could’ve put my cousins in danger!” The creature, now with the twins, wasn’t scared, neither were the latter. They could only stare at Trina with wide eyes. Even as she sped walked straight towards the two, eyes full of fire. Ace has his hands up in mock surrender, and Deuce looked ready to piss himself looking at her now glowing eyes.

“Hey! H-hold up, Trina! We didn’t know-OW!” “OW!!” The two rubbed the back of their heads from where they were slapped. But not before they were shoved to the concrete, catching themselves on their hands before they ate asphalt.

“You’re both lucky that I didn’t do worse.” She pointed out with a snark, anger dissipated. Jogging to the others, she scooped up the hedgehog carefully while introducing her cousins.

Ace smiles at the two. “Well then, BB, how’d you like to visit the Queen of Hearts herself? We’re having a small get together, and I think it’s a good opportunity for you to learn of Heartslabyul and it’s superior Queen!”

“Can we? Can we? Can we?!” The twins shouted with glee. Smirking, she looked up at Ace and Deuce.

“Why not?” A squeak of agreement from the hedgehog followed.

————————————————————

A couple minutes later, the main four were all seated in the Heartslabyul gardens, Trina and the twins included. Needless to say, the twins were enjoying their sweet tea and extravagant desserts.

Now, Cater, Ace and Deuce we’re running around the open grass, playing tag with the twins. Trina and Trey decided to stay to the sidelines, keeping an eye on them. As Cater fell to the ground, laughing as Brad pounced on him with a ‘you’re it!’, Trey turned to Trina.

“I have to say, Trina. I never knew you to be the sisterly type.” Trey commented, adjusting his glasses.

“Well, growing up with no older siblings was a bit difficult. How I managed is far beyond me.” Trina chuckled, entwining her ponytail between her fingers.

It wasn’t a lie. Trinity was the only child in her family. No other cousins or relatives around her age at the time. She had no figures to take after. The only figures she had to learn from were her mom, dad, and occasionally aunt Momo. It was a calamity. Her dad taught her one thing, but her mom and aunt taught her another. Often at times, conflicting with each other: Act a certain way, dress another way. It was very rarely for Trina, as a child, to have a say in doing what she wanted. But after the twins came into her life five years ago, that’s when things changed.....

Trina was too engrossed in her thoughts, she barely even noticed the twins screaming in terror.

“BIG SISTER!!!”

They hugged her legs, completely snapping her from her daze. When Trina saw them, she felt her heart crack: tears glazed their eyes, frowns present and they were shaking in fear.

“Oh no! What’s wrong?” Trina knelt to hug them both. They didn’t hesitate to embrace her. She wiped away their tears with her thumbs.

“There was this scary man in red who screamed ‘Off with your heads!’ out of nowhere.” Brad blubbered.

“We didn’t know if it was meant for us!” Bree sniffled. They bowed their heads in shame like they had committed a crime.

And thank god they did.

For after hearing what happened, Trina’s head lowered, bangs covered her eyes. But inside, she was hiding how she really felt.

“BB.” She spoke in an oddly calm voice. The two looked at her, but made no comment. “Both of you stay together. I just realized....I have something important to handle.”

————————————————————

Ten minutes later, Trina came back, with a smile on her face.

“Trina! Where’d you go?” Cater ran up to her.

“Oh, y’know, just had to deal with something. Where the twins?” She brushed off.

“Uh, they’re with Ace right now. Why? You need them?”

“As a matter of fact, I do! I’ll need them to help me with.... ‘important matters’ if you will.”

Cater was a bit iffy about the way that sentence was said, but before he could get a word out, Trina called for the two.

“Little Brother! Little Sister! We need to get going!”

As if they were soldiers, the two said their goodbyes to the Four Cards, and scurried to keep up with Trina’s strides.

Just as soon as they reached the front doors,

“TRINITY!”

The twins screamed and clutched each other in terror. Trina roller her eyes while turning to the person that barked her name.

“Hello, Riddle.” She spat his name like bile in her mouth. The Heartslabyul lead strode up to her, eyes stone cold, lips twisted into a scowl.

“What in Her Majesty’s name are you doing here?” He seethed.

“Aww, c’mon, Rose. Can’t a girl hang out with four of her amazingly loyal friends?” She pouted in mock sadness, hands held over her heart. She pouted, eyes glossy.

“Not with that attitude, you can’t.” He bit back. Trina let out a scoff of offense, but the former brushed it off, his steely grey eyes landing on the cowering children.

“And who are they?!” He swung his scepter down to point at the two.

“I-I’m Bree, and this is my brother, Brad, Your Majesty. We’re with Big Sister.” The little brunette managed to speak up, remembering what the Ace of Hearts taught her.

“ ‘Big Sister’?” Riddle repeated the word like it was completely foreign to him. He eyed Trina with suspicion while kneeling before the two, who were commanded to come forward.

“And why, pray tell, do you call...miss Homura your ‘big sister’?” He demanded in a soft tone.

“It’s because we love her with all our hearts!” Brad intercepted. “Big Sis is like one we never had! There’s nothing we wouldn’t do to protect her!” He shouted with glee. Then at the last minute, “Uh, Your Highness!’ with a small bow.

“Is that so?” They nodded at the question. Riddle, for a minute, didn’t seem to buy the twins’ answers. Knowing Trinity like he knew himself, there’s nothing the she-devil wouldn’t do to one-up him with all she’s got. He’d rather die than admit she was smarter, and probably scarier, than him.

But after hearing the rumors of her with two kids...maybe they have potential to help Riddle in the grand scheme in Her Majesty’s name! And possibly overthrow Trinity in the process.

“Well, then!” His voice took up a more happier approach. “Since you both have followed the proper rules towards speaking to a Royal, and with truthful answers, I can see that you both have potential! Joining Heartslabyul would be the benefit of your futures! Keep that in mind!” He instructed. With a snap of his fingers, two small badges with the Heartslabyul crest floated in midair before moving to each twin. They grabbed the pins, holding them close like they were new toy robots.

“Thank you!” They smiled. A small smile was on Riddle’s lips until-

“Uh, Your Majesty!” A timid first year ran just behind him but halted when he saw his commander busy.

“WHAT?!” Riddle snapped around to face the first year, his glare as sharp as a knife. The first looked close to pissing himself.

“N-not to make you mad or anything...b-but....we have an emergency! The roses are on fire!” He was gone as soon as the word ‘fire’ was uttered.

Riddle whipped around. If he was mad before, he was definitely seething now. His eyes were dead set on Trina, who just looked back at him with an innocent smile.

“This. Isn’t. Over. You She-Devil!” And with that, he hiked up his coat and raced towards the gardens at the sound of a fire bell.

Trina only watched him go with glee, while ushering the twins out, fingering the mini lighter in her pocket.

————————————————————

The three were out of breath as soon as they slipped out the Heartslabyul doors. Trina looked over her shoulder several times to make sure the monarch wasn’t hot on their heels, laughing maniacally as she did so running.

However, she wasn’t looking where she was going, and just as she turned her head back, she smacked into someone, sending her stumbling to the ground.

Just as she braced for impact, keeping her eyes open, she was surprised to find herself just three inches before face planting. She craned her head up to see herself inside a teal colored bubble. Her body floated in air. There was only one person who could manipulate gravity spheres like these.

“Breelyn!”

The little twin held her hand out in front of her, fingers glowing a bright green, her eyes doing the same action but were filled with fear. Her big sis nearly got hurt!

As well as the other student behind her.

Ruggie was trying to find where the hell Leona has snuck off to, only to crash into Trina (literally) sending them both in a stumble. He nearly landed on his back had it not been for the little squirt to save their asses. And was he ever relieved.

After Bree released the second years from her hold, Trina ran for Bree and scooped her into a tight hug.

“Bree! I can’t believe you did that!” Trina’s voice shook slightly. She felt so many things: anger, fear, shock, relief. But she still hugged her little cousin.

“Is Big Sis okay? I didn’t want you to get hurt!” Bree pulled away to stare at Trina with tears eyes. With one look at her, Trina felt herself tear up. She flicked her tears away before they could show.

“Yea, I’m okay.” She smiled. “But don’t do that again without me knowing! Lord knows what could happen to you if you over exerted yourself!” Bree nodded, giggling.

“Fluffyyyyyyy.” Brad cooed.

At the sound of his voice, Trina positioned her gaze to see the second twin scratching Ruggie’s ears, the latter obviously enjoying the young boy’s touch. Cheeks dusted a faint red, his tail waggling, and a stupid grin across his face was all it did to seal the deal.

Trina snickered as she held Bree closer. She silently whipped out her phone and hit the “record” button while watching the scene unfold.

“Big Sis, I’m hungry.” She heard Bree faintly whisper in her ear.

Trina silently looked at her watch. It was nearing dinner already! Luckily she knew a place that be admittable for the two.

“Don’t worry, Bree. Just a minute.” She answered, not taking her eyes off the smiling Brad.

————————————————————

After some time of prying away Brad from Ruggie, Trina carried the two with her to the Mostro Cafe for a quaint dinner.

Bree stayed in Trina’s arms, while Brad clung piggy-back style.

“Okay, you two.” Trina managed to slide Brad off her shoulders, and knelt to face them both. They were just outside the Cafe doors. “Now I want you both to be on your best behavior. Don’t act so rambunctiously. We’re in a public place, so be courteous. Okay?”

“Yes, Sis!” They grinned.

After lightly kicking the door open with her foot, Trina looked around the place.

Several students were dotted along the room as the sound of soft jazz played over the speakers. The windows displayed the calming waters of Octavinelle, the medium tone of blue set a serene-like tone to the place.

“Mmm. Pretty empty for a Saturday.” She mumbled, the twins stayed close.

“Then again, hasn’t it always?” A voice sung out. Trina smiles lazily. She looked over to see a postured figure stalk up to her, cane tapping the floorboards.

“Greetings, Azul.” She nodded in the second year’s direction.

“Ah, Trinity. Such a surprise to see you! You’re normally cooped up in your lair at this time, aren’t you.” Azul chuckled slightly. “Ain’t that right, boys?”

Slinking from the shadows, the Leech twins took their places beside their boss.

Breelyn whimpered as she hid behind her sis. She didn’t like the two new figures, as one smiled normally and the other grinned like a shark.

Trina pushed back her bangs in a subtle gesture, shrugging. “While that is true, I won’t deny. I’ve actually two reasons for being here.” Her eyes remained fixated on the trio, not a hint of anxiety in her stance or her eyes. “I’ve something that I’ve managed to find on the cameras. And I believe it could be of use...?” She raised one eye brow slightly.

“Is that so?” Jade walked closer to Trina.

“You’re not just saying this to throw us off, are ya?” Floyd echoed, following at the same pace.

“Because you know what’ll happen-”

“If you try to cross us!”

“Please, as if I’d try and think about crossing Azul Ashengrotto. He’s just as invested in the blackmail as yours truly.” Trina said nonchalantly. The twins were close to her, their eyes gleaming in dark mirth. Trina looked at them both, her eyes as stoic as ice. Just one movement could break the tension and-

The patter of little feet sounded. Then, the twins faces turned to pained ones. Jade let out a sound of pain as he fell while Floyd, well, did the direct opposite. “Ow!! Fffffffflounderfuck!” He grabbed his shin and hopped up and down, teeth clenched in pain.

Trina, eyes widened in confusion, looked down to see Brad fuming, a cute pout of anger etched on his lips. Apparently, the braver of the younger ones decided to take one for the team and kick both older twins in the shins. More like the crotch area, but who’s watching anyways?

“Stay away from Big Sis, you creeps!” He spat, hugging Trina’s leg as a form of protection, cheeks puffed out. Breelyn stuck her head out more, amazed at her brother’s actions.

Trina was amazed. Normally, any of the first years would practically shit themselves if the Leech Twins were near. But Brad, being a five year old, he’s not one for fear. Hell, one time, he stood up to one of his sister’s bullies with nothing a squirt gun full of deer urine.

He did get sent to the principal’s, but it was worth it seeing his sister smile.

“What the-? Who are these children?” Azul sputtered in surprise, looking at the twins.

Trina sighed and shook her head. This was gonna be a while.

————————————————————

A few minutes later, with proper introductions, apologies and grilled cheeses later, everything went back to normal.

The younger twins, having satisfied their hunger, slowly but surely warmed up to the older twins. Breelyn stayed with Jade. She was looking at the tri-stone earring he and his twin wore often. She stared in awe and the beautiful stones while he kept a hand on her shoulder. Brad and Floyd, however....

"Oooh! You're so high up in the air little flounder!" Floyd laughed as he held Brad above his head. "Oh no, you're gonna fall!" He said as he brought him down to his chest and hugging the boy tightly. 

“Again! Again!” Brad laughed, enjoying himself.

Trina smiles at the scene with affection, while swirling her cappuccino around in her mug. The two Octavinelle pins, with the Savanaclaw (courtesy of Ruggie) clinked together on the small dish in front of her.

“My, those two are a handful. How you put up with them is far beyond me.” Azul complimented, setting his tea mug beside hers.

“They’re my family.” She responded. “They mean a lot to me. If anything happened to them I’d never forgive myself.”

The other second year simply nodded. A small pause of silence was held between them.

“So what was it you said you found on the cameras again?” He requested, leaning forward slightly.

“One of the new Diasomnia students thought it’d be suitable to get revenge on Sebek. Called her something that didn’t stick well; she ended up cursing him. His hair changed color and his room became the next Atlantic Ocean. Wasn’t himself for a while.” She explained briefly. Azul snickered slightly, letting the conversation carry on past closing time.

————————————————————

One last part still in progress!