#Sage of Calligraphy

[welcome-to-ratterrock]

Regal: "What are you writing?"

Sage: "The government wants to know what weapons we have in the house, I'm letting them know it's private business"

Regal: ". . . This just says fuck around and find out in calligraphy"

Correction, Regal is the one to write that.

[christreginlave]

Joris Hoefnagel

[lapseinart]

I’m really fond of the idea of Zuko being a very competent bureaucrat. Is he an amazing fire bender by literally anyone other than the royal family’s standards? Hell yeah! But he’s also got an incredible head for facts and figures and his calligraphy is On Point and he can read really really fast so he’s just really good at paperwork.

And so one day Zuko gets fed up with Azula taunting him about being Fire Lord as soon as she escapes that he’s just like fine. And he dumps copies of rice tax allocations and legal petitions and a long list of candidates for a new Minister of Health and funding requests from the Minister of Education and the Minister of Agriculture and the Minister of Culture (all of whom he’s planning on firing but he gives them to her just to see what she does) and he says okay. Be the Fire Lord. Those need to be done by the end of the week. I’ll bring the rest down tomorrow.

And Azula’s beyond competent okay? She could do all of this and more. So she looks through everything, makes a few modifications, some of which Zuko even takes up because his little sister is a genius, but damn if it isn’t boring as hell. Sometimes when Zuko comes by she’s looking over a budget allocation for the Ministry of Agriculture and casually says, oh we had to arrest Minister Yu because he tried to assassinate me. His replacement gave us a new budget. And Azula’s eye twitches as she crumples up the parchment she was holding and thrusts her hand out to receive the new budget allocation form. She sets it on fire and pretends it’s the traitor. Nobody should get to kill her brother except for her.

And by Agni Azula knows what he’s doing because between the two of them there was one that actually enjoyed doing homework and one that would rather be outside practicing forms. But Azula Will Be Fire Lord mark her words. Azula was the politically savvy one. Azula was the one who knew how to maneuver all the pieces into place.

Azula wanted to burn all the paperwork, even if that was as good as admitting defeat.

She lasts until Zuko peers into her cell to comment on the fact that she couldn’t set a meeting with the cabinet on the day of the summer solstice without losing the support of the Sage’s (who were invaluable in maintaining the dynasty) that Azula loses it. She sets the paperwork on fire. Zuko opens the door to her cell and she stomps out.

Zuko is the Fire Lord, and the Lightning Princess stands at his side. Pointedly not doing paperwork.

[maopll]

May I request Diluc, Ayato, Al-Haitham and Kaveh with an s/o that likes to snuggle up to the boys when they sleep together?

Hold me close

| genshin impact !

⌗:, a/n: two same requests? damn you guys are once again on to something but...yeah even I would shove my face up their chest. it looks comfy.

⌗:, warning: none, just men with big tits.

⌗:, pairings: diluc, ayato, zhongli, alhaitham, kaveh, & itto w/ gn!reader

DILUC

It's been a tiring day for both of you. Him attending to the winery and tavern, and you taking care of the house all while completing commisons and meeting with people who want to make business with Dawn winery. As always you returned first and because of the hectic day you really wanted to just hug your boyfriend as you would cuddle him to sleep but it looks like he will once again be late... you will wait for him just like you always do.

Once he was here it was already late with the clocks hand past midnight. "were you sleeping my love?" he said softly incase you were sleeping "no, was just waiting for you" you said sitting up straight and held your arms up for him to hug you. He came closer and wrapped his arms around him. He smelled like old oak and fresh grapes. classic diluc scent. He slid under the covers and hugged you but you really wanted to feel the warmth of your lover so you snuggled closer to his chest. It tickled him a little but it never annoyed him rather he liked it very much that you felt protected within his big arms. plus you wouldn't miss an opportunity to drift off to sleep as you are enveloped by his warmth.

AYATO

He is so busy everyday and you wished that he would come join you in bed everyday. you two barely get any time to talk about the things of today, what you planned tomorrow and other useless or useful things that will help both of you to get tired and just dift off to slumber. but today he was able to complete his paperwork early. you had closed your eyes but had it not been the shuffling of the covers, you wouldn't have noticed your lovers presence.

"ayato?.." he chuckled lightly as he saw you call his name while still in a sleep like state "did i wake you up sweetheart?...come here" he ushered you towards his chest and his big hands wrapped around your body. you snuggled into his chest and smiled softly. ahh, there's no place that feels this like home. within the arms of your darling. he smelled like expensive ink. he was probably busy with calligraphy before retiring for the night. he lightly stroked your hair and waited until he felt your breathing get steady. he kissed your forehead while whispering a soft "sweet dreams dear.."

ZHONGLI

Today was lantern rite. Although before you two started dating you would visit the liyue harbor during this day but this time you two decided to celebrate this day inside your lovely abode. As the day finally ended you two returned to your bed for the night.

The light in the wharf made its way towards your curtains and dimly illuminated the room as the sound of crackers in the far distance could be heard. he smiled as he is once again reminded of the liyue of today than of the past. Closing the blinds he joined you in bed who was waiting for him. You wriggled your way in his grasp and snuggled closer to his chest taking as much warmth as you could. You two had been dating for quite a while but he still he feels the same tickles in his stomach that he used to feel when you two first fell in love. He gave you one final kiss on the lips before he himself drifts away to dreamland. He wishes to feel like this once again the next day, once more for all etenities.

AL-HAITHAM

After a tiring day in the academiya as the acting Grand Sage he couldn't wait to greet his darling back who's back at the house waiting for him. Once he entered your shared abode he never forgets to announce that he is home "I am home albi" soon enough his senses were wrapped up by his favourite dish that you were cooking for dinner that night.

"Welcome back, dear." You went up to him and hugged him close. moments like these shared between you two were always cherished by him because of how homely he feels when he's with you rather than being surrounded by tons of different books. "I cooked you dinner come to the dinner table after you freshen up" you told him and he did so as he couldn't wait till he gets to eat his favourite dish that you made for him. After having your meal, you two stayed on the couch as he read a book and had your figure wrapped up around his other arm. You thought you would spend sole quality time with your lover but the softness if his chest really made you feel drowsy plus his constant heart beat was like a lullaby and only fueled your sleep to come even closer. After he noticed your stillness he chuckled a little and carried you to bed for a well deserved rest for the both of you

KAVEH

Trying to pay off debts, convincing alhaitham to let him stay and not get bankrupt once again takes a toll on his body. He gets tired but once he looks at the trinkets you give him with little notes like 'good work' 'keep going!' along with little heart and smilies drawn that he gets his energy back. he cannot wait to return to your shared abode and rest in your arms as your body heat envelops him.

It has already been a bit late collecting all the data for his next architecture masterpiece. You were waiting in the living room for him. Alhaitham had already gone back to bed. You usually go back to bed early but you decided to stay up sometime for your lover. "baby you're still awake!" he strided towards you and hugged you to his chest. After he cleaned and dressed up, no days goes by without you two cuddling eachother it's a must everyday. You between his chest and his face in your hair as he smiles softly while he hums a few traditional rhymes he heard from the desert people and the people living in the rainforest. They never fail to make you have the sweetest of dreams. He is truly is the light of your life.

ITTO

His chest is the best. You always tell him to lend his chest to let you have your nap or sleep or whatever. it's comfortable and warm with the rapid beating of his heart working as a radio for your ears.

After tagging along with him and cleaning up whatever crimes he committed for the day, you were tired and your legs were aching. you kept running with him as he ran from the tenryou commision. you wanted some well needed rest. however, bullchucker here had some other plans. to take you out to araumi and watch the sunset with you near the cliff like how you two always did. He told you about the plan but you were too tired to move another step today. so he princess carried you all the way from konda village to the araumi and sat near the sea watching the sunset with you. He had one arm under your leg and the other holding your back as you wrapped your arms around his neck while snuggling into his chest. This was a favourite spot for the both of you. Atleast twice a week would you two come here where there are no disturbances but with you two enjoying the summer sunset while basking in your lovers warmth.

[buryam-soul]

Musings on Cyno/Alhaitham/Candace + language

.

Candace tells Cyno he sounds like a textbook when he speaks in the desert tongue. More identifiably rainforest than passing merchants or even some scholars. Cyno confides that Cyrus never told him from where in the Sands he's even from; no tribe to seek out, no dialect to learn from, no folktales or traditions to even remember.

Candace starts helping him learn the Aaru dialect since. "Lending" it to him. Maybe Aaru Village wasn't the home he was born in, but she made sure it was the second home he was always welcome in.

.

Cyno taught Alhaitham simple Matra code when he was Acting Grand Sage. "Status check", "ok", and so on, in case of emergencies. Alhaitham first uses this in the Grand Sage office after a long day; stress had stolen from him speech and sign and writing, leaving behind weak taps and scratches of "escape needed".

Cyno starts asking "status check" more often since. Still in code. Even after he returned to being Scribe, even during meet ups with friends, an escape to silence can still be necessary.

.

Alhaitham asks Candace why she writes to him in Vedanagari script in personal letters. Her calligraphy is more stilted compared to her writing in Deshret script. Candace admits she craved a connection her father who was an Akademiya scholar; she couldn't spend much time with him growing up due to her Guardian training.

Alhaitham starts writing more letters to her since. Longer letters. About the Akademiya, calligraphy, and maybe someone who knows what it's like to seek your parents through written word.

[joshym]

Le Morte d'Arthur: Chapter 5 (teaser)

⚔︎ ⛨ ⚔︎ ⚔︎ ⛨ ⚔︎ ⚔︎ ⛨ ⚔︎

*STRUGGLES WITH EATING/FOOD RESTRICTION, arguing, cussing, drinking, recollection of hickies, (lol) some good sexual tension.

“Guess I didn’t see the need in telling you what really happened, you know, since I’m not yours to claim.”

⚔︎ ⛨ ⚔︎ ⚔︎ ⛨ ⚔︎ ⚔︎ ⛨ ⚔︎

The last chorus of ‘Happy Birthday’ has at last come to an exuberant end, with Josh throwing a few dramatically loud vocal runs on the last note to be sure his is the last voice heard at the end of the classic tune.  

Thank goodness you share a birthday with Malachi, so you’re not standing in front of everyone by yourself as they serenade you, this being the first time you’ve ever been serenaded on your birthday. (You’re kind of glad you’ve not had to experience this torture every year; it’s awkward as hell.)

It seemed Malachi could sense your discomfort throughout the whole thing, so he kept his arm wrapped around your shoulder until the song ended, squeezing you every so often so you knew he was there with you. 

And Jake could sense it, too. He smiled at you the entire time, winking when they vehemently sang your name after Malachi’s and you could feel the warm blush painting your cheeks. 

The party has been far more than you could’ve ever imagined. Josh, being the master designer he is, spared no cost when decorating their apartment for yours and Malachi’s shared birthday bash. 

It’s truly so beautiful, not that you expected anything less from Josh. You and Malachi both have an adoration for plants, and this being something Josh also loves, there’s no shortage of greenery flowing throughout the space. (More than usual, that is.) He’s even put together little potted succulents for everyone to take home. 

Aside from the vines and ivy splayed throughout the apartment, there are balloons galore of white and green floating freely, along with a few clear ones complete with wildflowers inside them. 

And, your favorite part; your very own birthday cake, decorated in sage and white with “Happy birthday, y/n!” in off white buttercream, written in perfect calligraphy on the top. 

It's so incredibly sweet that you and Malachi both have your own, personal birthday cakes, that Josh made sure you both feel special tonight. It’s all so much more than you could’ve ever asked for, right down to the gorgeous spread of sushi along the bar in the kitchen. 

Though, as if they can pick and choose when to weave their way in, the thoughts are yelling at you to not partake in the incredible dinner that’s been provided for the night once Josh invites everyone to the kitchen to come eat. 

You want to eat. God knows you do. But, the voice telling you not to is nearly overpowering the hunger you’re feeling. You’d spent all day convincing yourself that the turkey sandwich from earlier was more than enough to sustain you for the day. (Though, you know that isn’t true.)

You’ll feel guilty if you eat, you’ll feel guilty if you don’t eat…but choosing to not eat would perhaps raise a few questions that you’re not in any place to answer right now. 

So, what the fuck do you do? You’ll be miserable no matter what, but what will make you the least miserable? 

Your silent contemplation seems to have garnered a bit of attention from Josh, his gentle touch to your forearm dragging you away from your thoughts. 

“You okay, darling?” His sweet voice, quiet and unassuming, is just what you needed to help make up your mind.

You’ll eat, but only a little. Not enough that your stomach will feel full and bloated, but enough that you can show Josh the gratitude he deserves for putting all of this together for Malachi and you. 

“Just fine, Josh,” you confirm with a genuine, sincere smile. “Thank you so much for all of this. I feel like I don’t deserve any of it.” 

He cloaks his arm around your shoulder, similarly to the way Malachi did just moments ago, melting a sense of comfort into your body. “You’re deserving of all of it and then some, my dear.” 

And with that, he leads you arm in arm to the kitchen, as though he could hear the burgeoning thoughts you were struggling with, knowing you needed someone to go with you. 

“Nat told me, by the way,” he says, handing you a plate as he begins filling his own with a few spider and rainbow rolls.

“Told you what?” you ask as you scour the spread for the California. 

“That this is the first birthday party you’ve ever been thrown,” he admits through a warm, tender smile. “We really wanted to make this special for you, my brothers and I. And Natalia, of course. I certainly hope it’s met your expectations,” he winks, nudging you softly with his shoulder. 

“It’s beyond my expectations, Josh.” The words are a little choked, your throat becoming tightened due to the tears welling in your ducts. It does feel special. So special. The fact that they would go through so much, simply to make sure you feel included. After a lifetime of feeling utterly invisible, this whole thing is wildly new to you— new in the most wonderful way. 

The emotions are rising, though you’re able to swallow them down. But, Josh can tell it means a lot to you. He simply smiles, planting a sweet kiss to your temple as he finishes filling his plate.

“But, I must say,” you begin, sniffing away the last of the tears that tried to form. “A giant ass sushi bar is a bit cliche, wouldn’t you say?”

“Ah, right you are,” he says. “This is not the meal fit for a queen, is it?”

You both break out in a fit of giggles together, and you’ve finally found the damned California rolls. 

“Ugh, don’t tell me you’re one of those people,” he scoffs, watching as you put a few on your plate. 

“What do you mean, one of those people?” You ask, chuckling. 

“Those who only eat that fake sushi,”  he jests. “If you can even call it that.” 

⚔︎ ⛨ ⚔︎ ⚔︎ ⛨ ⚔︎ ⚔︎ ⛨ ⚔︎

The drinks have been flowing freely for the better half of the evening, lively chatter now filling the air after a few intense rounds of charades. 

Something you weren’t prepared for (though you absolutely should’ve been) was the sheer amount of competitiveness between the twins. And that was very apparent when they both got more than a little carried away during the last round, nearly getting physical with each other. 

But, things have since quieted down, and now it’s almost as if nothing had happened in the first place. They’re right back to joking around with each other, laughing almost as loud as they were yelling only moments ago. 

You're always left in sheer awe by the way these two can fight as though they wish the other dead, then seemingly forget about it a few minutes later when they’re completely back to normal. 

“How about a little game of never have I ever?” Josh questions. “I’m up for some revealing truths tonight,” he chuckles while positioning himself on Malachi’s lap, landing a sweet kiss to his cheek.

“Only if you and Jake behave your-fucking-selves,” Danny answers, laughter sounding throughout the room at his quick wit. 

“We always do, Daniel,” Jake remarks, walking back into the living room with his freshly topped off drink. “Couldn't imagine what you’d be talking about.” 

He takes his seat in the Nova Lounge chair, while you’re nestled in the plush cushions in the corner of their sectional next to Danny and Natalia. The way Jake is sitting, he’s directly across from you, perfectly within your view and you in his. 

He’s hardly spoken to you tonight, save for a quick peck to your cheek when you walked in and when he told you you’ll receive your gift from him on your actual birthday. (It’s pure torture to have to wait an entire week to know what he got you.)

You’re learning to not take his distance too personally, though it does sting a bit. At least Stacy isn’t here tonight to take up all of his attention like last time. (Thank god for that.)

“We’ll behave. Won’t we, Jacob?” Josh insists, lifting his glass in a dramatic ‘cheers’ to his twin, who does the very same thing. “So, who’s the brave soul willing to go first?” 

Everyone is exchanging glances around the room, waiting for someone to volunteer, and you breathe a sigh of relief when Sam offers to be the first one. 

But the relief suddenly dissipates when you and Jake make eye contact, and you can tell by the way he’s rubbing his chin with his pointer finger that he has something to say. 

“No, I believe y/n should go first,” he claims, his attention entirely on you by this point. “What do ya say? Up for the challenge?” He continues, a self-satisfied grin on his lips. 

You’re most definitely not too keen on going first but, you’re also not willing to make yourself look bad by turning him down. So, you’ll do it. Get it over with.

“Sure am,” you respond to Jake, mirroring the same smug look he’s wearing on his face. “Are we doing the classic put a finger down if you have, taking a drink instead?”

“Definitely taking a drink,” Sam says through one of his notable giggles. 

“Got it,” you say, switching your attention back to Jake as he stares your way. “And, um, just how personal are we getting with these prompts?” 

Jake nearly chokes on his drink after you ask your question, and while you manage to contain your laughter, Josh and Sam most definitely do not. 

“Whoa there, Jakey!” Josh exclaims, eyes wide and mocking as he brings his hand up to his mouth. “I thought you could handle your whiskey a little better than that!” 

“Yeah,” Sam joins in, hardly able to speak through his incessant chuckling. “Pretty sure you’re supposed to drink it, not inhale it.”

But even amidst his brother’s joking antics, Jake’s devilish eyes haven’t left you, and the only ones who seem to notice this (aside from you, of course) are Natalia and Danny. 

His brothers remain oblivious, and Jake doesn’t seem to care too much about them making fun of him, which is quite out of his character. Clearly, what you said has struck some kind of nerve within him. And you’re absolutely relishing in this power you’re holding. 

“Uh, as personal as you want, I guess,” Danny interjects, breaking the tension he and Nat are sensing and effectively lulling Jake from his silent glares.

“That’s right,” Jake continues Danny’s thought, flipping a middle finger at his brothers, but aside from that choosing to mostly ignore them. “You set the stage, doll.” 

Doll. 

Fuck. You can’t deny what that little pet name does to you. And he knows that. He’s doing it on purpose. He’s trying to regain his control over you, (doing a pretty good fucking job at it.) but you have an idea of what you can do to get it back.

Two can play at that game, Jake. 

“Okay,” you begin, pretending to be deep in thought about the first prompt, though you know just how to start this whole thing. “Never have I ever given someone a lot of hickies.” 

Keeping your eyes fixed on Jake, he winks at you as he takes a big drink. You don’t even bother looking around the room to watch anyone else take a sip, though you’re sure at least a few of them are. It may not be the most revealing prompt, although that wasn’t entirely your goal. You knew asking this would ignite a specific memory in Jake, and it appears it worked just how you intended.

“Ah, what a lovely start,” Josh inserts, unaware of the growing tension occurring between you and his twin. “Who’s nex–”

“My turn,” Jake interrupts, cutting his brother off. “Never have I ever received a lot of hickies.” The prompt flies out of his mouth seemingly without a second thought.

Touché, Jacob. Touché. 

You snicker to yourself while you make sure to take a sip of your drink. His eyes have become a little heavier, darker… like they were the night he decorated your body with the very same hickies you’re referencing. 

And now, as the two of you have your eyes set on eachother, the rest of the room is finally catching on to whatever you have going on between you. You hear Josh clear his throat, attempting to move on from this (sexually) tense air you two have brought in the room. 

“Uh… next?” Josh hesitantly asks, exchanging a few confused looks with Sam. 

“I’ll go!” Nat offers after a bit of delicate silence in the room, bringing everyone’s attention back to the game. 

Well, almost everyone. 

⚔︎ ⛨ ⚔︎ ⚔︎ ⛨ ⚔︎ ⚔︎ ⛨ ⚔︎

The night has finally begun to calm down, and Josh proposed the wonderful idea to prepare some hot chocolate and relax with a movie. This is his favorite way to end any night, and you couldn’t love that more about him.

Everyone knows Josh is perpetually in charge of choosing the movie you’ll watch, so no one says much of anything when he asks for requests. 

“Anyone in opposition to a little hair-raising thriller this lovely eve?” he asks, using the Roku to pan over to their shared Prime account. When no one voices any objections, he clicks through their purchased movies, stopping at The Shining. 

Being the Kubrick fan you’ve discovered him to be, you’re not shocked in the least. More often than not, movie nights at the Kiszka’s almost always result in a film under his direction.  

Not that you’ve felt the need to complain; you’re quite the fan yourself. And of this movie, especially.

“Ah! Splendid choice,” Sam shouts from the kitchen, pouring himself yet another glass of Camarena, choosing that instead of the hot cocoa you’ve all opted for. “This one should make y/n happy.” 

Oh fuck. 

Suddenly, a flood of anxiety ripples through you, tightening your lower stomach into hundreds of tiny knots when you realize what he’s referring to…

Sam knows about your tattoo. Your Shining tattoo. And Jake knows about your tattoo, as well.

But Jake doesn’t know that Sam knows. In fact, you’re the one who told him as much. You are the one who lied to him.

You're hoping to god that Jake, by the grace of the entire universe, didn’t hear what he said. And if he did, that he won’t put the pieces of this insane puzzle together.

But, given the instant flare of his nostrils and the sudden clench of his jaw, it’s all but confirmed. 

He heard. And his mind is going exactly where you were hoping it wouldn’t. 

“And what makes you say that, Sammy boy?” He asks with a stern, knowing tone. His body is facing Sam, but his eyes, hard and dark, are fixed on you. His glaring stare is piercing through your being, and it is not a happy one.

“This has got to be one of y/n’s favorite movies,” Sam proclaims, the alcohol in his system keeping him from reading the tense, irate tone in Jake’s voice. (Or, maybe he’s just used to it by now, doesn’t think to bat an eye at it anymore.)

“Uh huh,” Jake huffs, keeping his eyes on you while running his tongue angrily over his bottom lip. “Am I to presume that’s what she told you?” 

He knows. He fucking knows.

“Well, not exactly,” Sam answers, his features encompassed in his innocent smile, taking a big swig of the honey toned liquid in his glass and spitting out the ice cube that passes his lips. 

You’re almost sure Jake can hear the erratic beat of your heart rate. You’re holding your breath, keeping it locked tight in your lungs, afraid that letting it go will result in Sam revealing your secret. 

But it’s not working. Not one bit.

Sam takes a breath as he begins to speak, and you’re mentally pleading with him to keep quiet, hoping that he’ll somehow hear the voice in your mind that’s begging him to not say it.

“She’s got that Redrum tattoo on her chest, so I assume that means she’s a pretty big fan. Am I right, y/n?”

Jesus Christ. 

Jake hasn’t stopped glaring at you, only becoming heavier in his vexed stare. His anger is very much evident by the change in his breathing, the sharp air inhaling and exhaling through his flexed nose. 

“No way!” Josh interjects, obviously blind at the sudden tension between you and his twin. “I would love to see it!”

“Don’t you dare,” Jake whispers through gritted teeth, silent enough that it’s hardly legible, but you heard it as it was only meant for your ears.

There’s no fucking way in hell that you’re about to show them all your biggest secret. It’s bad enough that Sam had to announce it the way he did, especially after you swore to Jake that no one, specifically Sam, knew about it. 

You’ve been horribly caught in your lie. A lie that you didn’t even mean to lie about; it just happened, as if you had no control over the response you gave him. You can’t be blamed. It was in the heat of a moment that you had waited for for so long. You didn’t want to risk fucking it all up.

If he were to ask you any other time, you wouldn’t have lied the way you did. It just felt like the right thing to say in that specific moment.

But you’ve a feeling the tattoo isn’t what Jake is thinking about; it’s the fact that he now probably thinks you lied about way more than just that. 

⚔︎ ⛨ ⚔︎ ⚔︎ ⛨ ⚔︎ ⚔︎ ⛨ ⚔︎

“It’s not what you think, Jake.” The words fall from of your mouth before you can even close his bedroom door behind you.

“Yeah?” He challenges, throwing his phone on his bed, but with such force that it bounces off the mattress completely and lands screen first against the floor. But that is very clearly the least of his worries right now, as it seems he didn’t even notice his phone taking a tumble. “Tell me what I’m fucking thinking, then. Since you know so well what’s going through my mind.” 

He’s not yelling. But you almost wish he was. 

The deep grovel in his voice is coming from a place of pure anger, perhaps even hurt?

God, you hope not.

No matter how many times he’s hurt you, you can’t stand the thought of possibly causing him any sort of pain. 

“I didn’t sleep with him,” you insist, maintaining your innocence with your stern tone and eye contact. 

“Then explain how he knows.” He quickly paces across the room back toward his bed, kicking his phone out of his way. “And I would like to know why you felt the need to lie to me.”

“I didn’t mean to, I just…” How do you even begin to explain your thought process? That you wanted to fuck Sam to get to him? That the only reason his brother is privy of your tattoo is because you were willing to go to the ultimate length with him, all for the purpose of making Jake jealous? 

No. He can’t know about that. 

Although…

You hate to admit, but you’re kind of enjoying this jealous streak from him. How his cheeks have become flushed in a bright red, the way his nose is twitching, his hard and stern that carry the weight of a man deprived… 

You didn’t sleep with Sam. You and Sam both know that. 

But Jake…

He thinks you did. 

And instead of tripping all over yourself in an attempt to tell him the pathetic story of what actually happened, you may as well keep him on this jealous leash for a bit longer. See how far you can take it, how far he’ll let you take it. 

Perhaps he’ll take his little envious, self loathing party out on you. 

He doesn’t own you. You’re nothing “exclusive.” What you choose to do (or not to do) with your body is none of his fucking business. He isn’t allowed a say. And his pissy fucking attitude is absolutely unwarranted. 

But however unwarranted, you can’t deny what his angry demeanor does to you… 

It turns you on in ways you can’t explain. His body language is always sexy to you. But when he’s mad…

“He just saw it. Simple as that,” you spout, keeping your tone cold and composed, your arms crossed tight over your chest. “The night of the spookhou—sorry, haunted house, before you had to take me home. Sam just wasn’t in any condition to drive that night, that’s why you had to.” 

It’s not a lie. 

But perhaps what it implies is. There are a few tiny details you’ve purposely opted to leave out, a few you’ve chosen to embellish…but you’re not lying. 

“That so?” You can see the gears turning in his mind as he’s staring blankly at his bed in front of him, keeping his arms closely held against his sides. “Care to tell me how he saw it?” He continues, looking back over to you as you’re still standing near the closed door. “And you have yet to tell me why you fucking lied to me about it.”

With a shrug of your shoulders, you carefully contemplate your next words, knowing that what you’re planning to say could potentially set him off. (But in the best way.)

“Guess I didn’t see the need in telling you what really happened, you know, since I’m not yours to claim.” 

Even you tense up at your statement, and the way his body has suddenly stiffened tells you that your words did exactly what you intended them to do. 

True as it is, that you aren’t his, (although you desperately wish you were) you only said it to get even more of a rise out of him, to test him in brand new ways, see how far he’ll let you take it.

You’re not lying, so there’s no actual validity in his accusations, but fuck…the veins in his arms are making your pussy ache with pure fucking need for him. 

And his jealousy is clearly backed with a need for you, or else he wouldn’t give a fuck about Sam seeing your hidden ink.

“How do you think he saw it, Jacob? Seriously, I shouldn’t have to spell it out for you.” 

He aggressively pushes his hair, dampened with irate sweat, before glaring at you with a vexed expression. His eyes are almost as dark and heavy as they were that night, where his fingers made home inside of you. And fuck, the things it’s making you feel…for him to look at you like this again. 

“Fuck you, y/n,” he spits through the beginings of a smirk that he’s attempting to hide.

You should be fucking pissed at the disgusting words he dares to speak to you, but the feelings they elicit throughout your being only cause your need for him to grow even stronger.  

He’s being an asshole. But all it’s doing is lighting the flames of your desire ten fucking fold. 

You’ve come to learn that the shit that comes out of his mouth, the rude shit he says to you, comes from a place of pure lust, of absolute need.

You can see it in his eyes— the way he’s breathing through his nose, the very obvious tension in his body that clearly needs relief in some way. 

And it’s as though he’s not even trying to hide it. His body is speaking the words his mouth refuses to. You can tell by the way his eyes scan over your body, and how he tucks his bottom lip between his teeth each time he does. 

There’s a chance he’s in need of it as badly as you are. It’s built up inside of him; it’s been built up. 

The way he talks to you, it just…

It doesn’t piss you off the way it used to, doesn’t make you feel worthless anymore. 

It does something different to you now. After that night with him, after filming when he got so upset over your scene with Sam, it changed everything for you. 

Now, when he’s angry like this, you know there’s something different behind it.

So, the only thing you can confidently think of to respond…

“Fuck me? Seriously, Jake?” You assert, crossing your arms across your chest, pushing your breasts up in the process. His eyes follow. You take a few steps towards him, the room silent as your next words leave your lips. “I wish you fucking would.” 

⚔︎ ⛨ ⚔︎ ⚔︎ ⛨ ⚔︎ ⚔︎ ⛨ ⚔︎

a/n: what are we thinking is about to happen?🤔 it's about to get a little...spicy. this chapter will include the most smut i've ever written. so, be prepared for that, i guess. lol

extra special thank you to those of you who follow/interact/comment on my work. 🥺 i can't begin to express the sheer amount of gratitude i have for the love i've received. it truly keeps me going. ♡

extra extra special thank you to my sister, @jakeyt. this chapter has been hard to write, & it’s only been possible because of her.

so, thank you all. so much. ♡

Le Morte d'Arthur Masterlist

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[kokofromwattpad]

Dearest tutor

Plot: Star student of the Royal Academy has been sent to tutor the only Prince of the Imperial Royal family of Lilabett Corona. They then somehow enrapture the interest of the prince and his elder sister, the Crown Princess.

Cw: Crown princess! Female! Yandere x Tutor! Gn! Reader x prince! Yandere, mentions of torture, mentions of cult(briefly), blood, yandere tendencies.

A/N: Holy fucking shit it's finally out, I'm sososo excited.

Word count: 5.3k

The student stood outside the gate of the Imperial palace with sweat streaking down the side of their face from the harsh blaze of the sun. They had textbooks held under their armpit, tightly to their right side as their left had awkwardly tried to fix the hair that had begun to fall into their sightline.

[Name][Lastname] was an extraordinary person when it came to academics. They excelled in any subject they were put in and always came out on the very top of the board when the exam results had been revealed.

But they were born with common blood flowing through their veins. Their father was a poor baker and their mother was a school teacher for the orphans by the local children's home. Because their mother had always prided herself with the fact that she believed that knowledge was a better virtue than beauty, their mother would make [Name] read and memorise any textbooks she could get her hands on.

While [Name] considered it good luck that they were able to enrol in the royal academy and had gotten a full scholarship, they were petrified when they found a neatly folded envelope on their dorm bed with a wax seal baring the Imperial family's coat of arms.

The summarised version of the letter read that the imperial advisor acknowledged their extreme academic prowess and wanted them to visit the imperial palace to tutor the empire's only prince in the few subjects he had been recently struggling with in his own classes.

Terrified out if their mind, [Name] agreed in the most cursive calligraphy they could muster with their violently shaking hand.

And now, every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, the young student will have to spend their afternoon tutoring a bratty prince. Honestly, they were shaking in their boots from the mere thought of having to interact with royalty.

A cough abruptly interrupted the student's thoughts and made them shoot their head up in surprise. A tall man with long midnight black hair stood on the other side of the twisting gate. He looked to be in his late 30s, with a face and aura that screamed 'strict' and 'do not get me mad'. His dark hair was swept up to a waterfall like pony tail at the back of his head. He wore thin lensed glasses that seemed to be nearly falling off the tip of his nose. Hie eyes however were a lovely soft sage colour.

The man placed his right hand above his heart and bowed only his head at the young student. "Good evening mx.[Lastname]. My name is Von Alaric-Holloway. It is the Koinig family's honor to have you tutor your young master." he greeted. His voice was as smooth as his hair. The student nodded at his words. "The honour is all mine Mr.Alaric-Holloway." they said back, not trusting their voice to say anything else without stuttering, or falling over their own words.

Von nodded his head at the guards, giving them the silent order to open the sill closed gates.

The gates swept open as swift as the wind, letting the advisor and the student stand in front of each other face-to-face. Von nodded his head again at the student, signaling them to follow him as he pushed his falling glasses back up the bridge of his nose. He walked gracefully, with both of his hands held tightly behind his back and his head raised high in pride. The student trailed after him, struggling to keep up with his pace.

"The young master is about two years younger than you are, so he is around your age. The empress hopes that you and her grandson will become good friends with each other." Von said in quick voice, not giving [Name] the chance to actually process the words he was saying.

The student nearly nodded their head at his words and kept their head down. Every guard or maid that the pair walked past, bowed their head down, and gave sympathetic looks towards the two. Obviously, [Name] was going to notice by the third or fourth time that they had done this.

"Mr.Alaric-Holloway, why is everyone giving us such pitiful looks?" they asked the him.

Von cocked his eyes towards the sound of [Name]'s question. "I suppose it is because of the rumour that the young master is a troubled child." Von pushed his falling glasses back up the bridge of his nose. [Name] nodded at his words and continued to follow his pace down marble walkway.

Finally the two came to a grandiose staircase with gold linings that supposedly lead to the prince's study.

A young girl stood at the very top of the stairwell.

She looked around a year younger than [Name], so possibly 17 years old. She was short but not too short. She had long golden, nearly glowing blonde hair that was tied into a flattering bun to the back of her head. She wasn't wearing any makeup, which was odd for a noble to do. Her eyelashes were blonde as well. She was also wearing what seemed to be a military training uniform. [Name] noted to themself that this woman looked like a sinister fairy. The only reason she seemed sinister was from the deep red eyes that was embedded into her sockets and the very real and very sharp sword being held in a leather scabbard attached to her left hip.

"Von, may I ask who this commoner is, who is trespassing into my home?" she quipped at the advisor.

Von kneeled on his right knee with his right hand covering his heart again. His face had a thin layer of sweat covering it as he stared intensely at the ground.

"Crown princess, Frieda. The commoner behind me is prince Beta's new tutor. They are here to assist the prince in a few academy subjects that he is having trouble grasping." Von answered in a wavering version of usual tone of voice.

'Wait... what did he say? Crown princess...?' thought [Name] as they stared blankly at the blonde woman.

'SHIT!'

Once they're sense of self preservation finally returned to them, [Name] fell to their knees and buried their head into the cold flooring.

The Crown princess stayed silent at the student's sudden movements. She gracefully walked down the flight of stairs, and stood infornt of [Name]'s bowing head.

"Please raise your heads you two." she commanded in a gentle but firm voice.

[Name] raised their head, only to see that the princess was kneeling infront of them. She held the student's jaw in her right hand and lifted it higher. She turned their head left and right, checking both sides of their face.

She then got back on both of her feet and looked down to the student with a grin. "Take good care of my little brother, alright?"

The student was stunned into silence, but quickly shook their head in agreement. Satisfied with their answer, the princess strieded away, down a seperate hallway from the pair and disappeared from their line of sight.

Von let out a what sounded to be a strangled out sigh of relief. He then whipped his head to look at [Name] with an odd look to his face. He then got up and helped the student back to their own feet, while their feet wobbled from how scared they were from the encounter.

Surely the prince couldn't be that bad if that was the CROWN princess?

He wasn't as bad as they had originally thought.

[Name] had introduced themself to the Sixteen year old prince of the empire, with no response.

He looked nearly identical to the Crown princess. Same glowing gold hair, same deep red hair. His skin wasn't tanned, rather it was a pale white colour, showing how little time he spent outside, the complete opposite of his sister.

The prince was quiet, scarily so. Whenever he was finished answering an exercise, he would look ominously at the young student until they noticed and would mark it for him and then explain how he got whichever answers wrong.

"Do you understand Prince Beta?" [Name] would ask.

The prince would then just nod at their words and write down his corrections next to his wrong answers.

The main sound that echoed throughout the study was the grandfather clock that stood in the corner, signaling the end and beginning of every second. [Name] almost every ten minutes would quickly whip their eyes towards the clock, checking to see when they could leave and run back to their dormitory back on school campus.

Once the Prince was finished with his exercises, he pulled out a thick, leatherback book from a drawer in his office desk. The lettering on the front read in gold cursive 'The rise and fall of cults.'

'Holy fucking shit. This brats' into cults' thought the student.

Instead of feeling an impending sense of neverending doom, they almost squeeled in absolute delight.

[Name][Lastname] was a true crime junkie.

Every murder mystery case, every cult, they knew all about it. The reasons as for the murders, the childhoods of the cult leaders. They. Knew. Everything.

The student cautiously stalked closer to the Prince, like how naive prey checks to see if it's predator is asleep. The Prince lifted his head from the inside of his book to look at the person coming closer and closer to him.

The student asked prudently, "Prince Beta, are you a fan of true crime?"

His eyes almost immediately grew a light in them that was not there before. His cheeks tinged a bit with pink as he looked curiously at the young student. "Are you?" he asked back.

Quickly, the student nodded their head aggressively, agreeing with the prince's question.

A smile stretched onto the boy's face almost immediately. "You are?! You don't think it's an odd interest?!" he screamed out.

[Name] nodded again with an even larger smile on their face. "Yes of course! I find true crime ever so fascinating! I'm even studying to go into criminology when I graduate!"

The Prince's eyes nearly sparkled like a small child's. He immediately got up from his chair and ran up to the young student. He wrapped his fingers around [Name]'s hands and brought them up in a clasp.

He then burst out in exclamation, "You, as of now, are my best friend!"

Being the new best friend of the only Prince of the Empire came with a lot of responsibilities. He now follows the commoner student around the academy grounds like a lost puppy. People had begun to whisper about how [Name] had cast some sort of spell on the prince to make him lighten up so much.

Because of his much more friendly nature, a lot of people had begun to approach him, hoping to become as close to the prince as [Name] did, but all he would do is wrap his arms around [Name]'s left arm and drag them away as he ranted away about a new cultist book he got his hands on a couple days ago.

At the end of the school day, [Name] went back to their dorm room to rest until dinnertime. They did not have to tutor Prince Beta that day since it was a Thursday, so [Name] was able to catch up on their loss of sleep.

They fell onto their creaky bed and groaned from the ache they felt in their bones. The young student shoved their head into the sunken-in pillow and nearly fell asleep.

Suddenly, a loud knock echoed throughout the small bedroom. [Name] groaned loudly again and got up to answer the person outside the door. The student opened their dorm door to be met with a maid in her early thirties. "Mail." she stated and then gently handed the student a neat envelope. That was unusual. Usually, the maids would shove their mail, tear it up, they would even spit on their mail. They did all of this just because the student was a commoner.

The maid walks away from the open doorway, leaving [Name] alone with their thoughts. They closed the door and stalked back to their small, wobbly desk.

The envelope was sealed with a ruby red seal, bearing the seal of the Imperial family. [Name] fingered the envelope open and took the letter out with soft fingers. The letter was written by the Crown princess, written in curly and swirly handwriting. It was an invitation to a small tea party with a couple of other noble ladies who were friends with the Crown princess.

[Name] wrote in simple print lettering a thanks and acceptance to the invitation. They licked and sealed it closed. The student then left to go to the on campus post office to send it to the Crown princess.

The student then went back to their dorm to go and try to fall asleep again.

[Name] stood outside the large glass greenhouse in the back garden of the Imperial palace. Abruptly, a young maid opened the door of the greenhouse to let the student enter.

"Welcome Mx.[Lastname]. The Crown princess has been waiting eagerly for you. Please follow me." greeted the maid as she bowed shallowly. [Name] nodded as well in greeting and followed behind the maid as quickly as they could.

The maid lead the young student through different sections of flowers ranging in shapes, sizes, and colour. What specifically caught [Name]'s attention was a small patch of pink Azaleas. 'How lovely.' thought [Name]

After a little bit more walking, the maid had lead the young student to an elevated seating area, where several tables and chairs were sprawled about.

The Crown princess sat at a table right in the middle. She was wearing a lovely red dress, with a cascading skirt that swept below her ankles. It had puffed out, see through red sleeves thst reached up too her knuckles. Her hair was tied up in a pretty up-do hairstyle, leaving little bit of hair hanging on her shoulders. Overall, she exuded an air of elegance and superiority.

Crown princess Frieda noticed that [Name] was standing on her left side, making her sweep her head in her direction. A small smile graced her face as she welcomed the student, "Good morning Mx.[Lastname], a pleasure to see you once again."

Frieda then stood up, showing her velvet red heels with a large diamond studded into the front of it. The princess pulled out the empty chair that was next to her, and gestured for them to sit down next to her. Understanding her intention, [Name] sluggishly walked up to the princess and sat down in the seat she wanted them to sit in.

The Crown princess sat back down in her original chair and sipped on her tea. Slowly, [Name] reached out and took a cookie from the large platter of baked goods. A maid came to the student's side and poured some tea into their cup as they nibbled on the sweet treat.

"So Mx.[Lastname], you are the commoner who attends the royal academy, correct?" quipped a young daughter of unnamed Baron. She placed her teacup back down in the saucer and with a smile, rested her smiling face on her intertwined fingers.

The student looked up from their cookie with a confused expression painted on their face. Recovering quickly from their confusion, they answered in shaky voice, "Indeed. I am able to attended the Royal Academy due to a scholarship I was gifted on my 16th birthday."

The baron's daughter giggled and whispered something into the woman's ear right next to her. The commoner looked down embarrassingly into their lap, wondering what they had said to warrant such a reaction from the other woman.

The Crown princess was sitting at the head of the table, her head held high, making everyone aware of her presence. The tutor sat on the seat on Frieda's left side, which definitely caused some stares from the other attendees. Definitely wasn't a good look for the poor tutor.

Frieda coughed into her clenched fist and looked at Alicia with a blank look on her face. "The honourable Alicia Crusainia. Please mind your manners towards my guest. Don't forget your place here."

Alicia's face became a bright, hot tomato red and looked down at her lap, similarly to the young student. "Mx. [Lastname]. Lift your head."

Almost under a spell, [Name] lifted their head from their lap and looked at the Crown princess in awe. Frieda was looking at [Name] with an odd looking face with her eyebrow raised. It was a mix of boredom and curiosity.

"You are my honored guest. My little brother treasures you quite a lot, therefore, so must I." She stated as if it was a well known fact.

"Yes, your royal highness." They said in a calm and deft tone.

Freida nodded her head, making her golden curls bounce. She then turned and took another sip of her tea.

"So, [Name]! How was the tea party with my sister?" questioned Beta during one of his and the student's tutoring sessions.

The student looked at Beta with a confused look on their face. "It was alright, nothing special happened." They answer the prince.

Looking confused, Beta's head knocked to the side. "Really? Because from what I heard, my sister ripped some Baron's daughter a new one for making fun of you!"

'Making fun of me? Was that what she was doing?' [Name] thought to themselves.

"It seems that you were unaware. Maybe I could ask my sister to invite you to balls more often so that you can get better at catching on to these things!" Beta suggests with a large smile on his face, proud of his brilliant idea.

"No no no no no! I could barely handle a simple tea party! No way I'll be able to survive a ball where I have to dance!" [Name] panicked.

The prince pouted at their words, disappointed in their answer. He slumps over his desk and makes his head fall into the crook of his arms. His blonde hair fell over his arms, looking like a veil over his arms.

"Mhm.... I mean.... if you can convince your sister, and I don't have to dance... then I'll agree." [Name] softly said, scratching the back of their neck in nervousness.

Beta's head immediately shot up and with an absolutely large smile, he nodded aggressively convincing the student that he may be half bobble head.

"Then you will come to my birthday ball, right?"

[Name] answered, "Of course your majesty."

The student then sat down across from the young prince with their textbook and continued on with their lesson.

After the lesson was completed, [Name] was walking steadily through the velvet covered floors of the castle's hallways. The student placed their hands on the back of their neck and rubbed tough circles into the nape of their neck, relaxing their muscles after two and a half hours of being on the tip of their toes. Even though Prince Beta had claimed them as their best friend, [Name] still stayed on guard around him, just incase he was the type to have extreme mood swings.

[Name] groaned in pleasure as they passed through another hallway of the residential wing of the Imperial castle.

"Mx.[Lastname], have you finally finished your lesson with my brother?" a voice asked behind the student.

The student whipped their head around and caught the eyes of the young Crown Princess.

The Crown Princess was wearing a light cream colored dress with many flowy layers that what [Name] assumed was to let wind in more easily to cool the princess down.

"Your Royal Highness, you are correct. I have just finished mine and the prince's tutoring session." answered the student with a cautious look on their face.

Frieda giggled maturely at the look of [Name]'s wary expression. "Have no worry Mx.[Lastname], I don't bite." she joked.

They nodded at the Princess's words.

"Then why don't you join me in my office for some tea? I'd like to discuss something of importance with you." she proposed.

The student nodded, making the princess walk past their side and leading them towards the direction of her office. The pair walked past several paintings of similar blonde haired individuals, who the student assumed was members of the Imperial family who had unfortunately passed.

The two came to two large wood doors that lead to Frieda's office. One of the guards who were standing on duty, opened the doors for the pair to let them in.

[Name] realised that the Crown princess' favourite colour was a red and gold. Many of the furniture was lined with a deep velvet including the long curtains with gold linings and stitches. The only things that were not those two colours were the floor, her desk and her book shelves that lined every wall of the office.

In the middle of the room were two overstuffed couches with a coffee table in the middle, most likely to hold meetings such as the one the student and princess were about to have.

"Tell Isabella to prepare some tea for my guest and I. Also tell her to bring some of the new pastries we received from the Levan kingdom." The princess ordered one of the knight, making him turn is tail and gallop to where [Name] guessed was where the maid was.

"Please Mx.[Lastname], take a seat." Frieda says while gesturing to the couch.

With unprecedented caution, they shift over to the sofa and sit down and nearly sink in due to cushiness. The princess giggle from their distress as they tried to sit up in the embracing seat.

A maid enters the office with a cart being pushed by her. Ontop was a large teapot and two teacups with saucers. On the level below it was a tower of pastries which [Name] recognised from it's appearance at the tea party from the day before.

The maid sets the teacups and saucers down in front of the pair and quickly prepares the tea and pastries. She then curtsys to the Crown princess, bows her head at the young student, turns on her heel and leaves.

Frieda languidly picks the teacup up and takes a long sip of the steaming hot tea. While [Name] is wandering how the princess is not reacting to the pain of the most definitely hot beverage, Frieda speaks up, "I have asked you to come here with me today because I would like to apologise to you."

She places the teacup down in it's saucer and looks and [Name] with a sympathetic look on her face. "What the honorable Alicia Crusainia did at my tea party was extremely rude and uncaring. She simply has no idea how tough one's life can be."

[Name] stunded in silence. Why was the Crown princess apologising to a commoner like them? Not wanting to deny the princess' words, the student looked down into the light brown of their tea and said, "It's alright. Honestly speaking, I didn't even understand what she had said, so I didn't feel anything."

Frieda looks surprised at their words. "But aren't you the top student at the Royal Academy? How could you not know?" She questioned.

They look embarrassed as they quickly answer, "I am just book smart! And I honestly have a lot of trouble applying my knowledge in real-life situations. I read a royal etiquette book before I left for the palace, but it honestly didn't come in very handy..." they muttered off.

The Crown princess' face morphed into a look of conviction. "Then, after school every day when you don't have to tutor Beta, you will spend it with me, and I will teach you everything you need to know about social cues, etiquette, conversations, everything!" the princess says in a voice that screamed determined.

Nearly jumping out of their chair, [Name] tries to plead that the princess did not need to go out of her way to teach a commoner. The princess merely ignored them and gently ordered them to eat the prepared pastries.

Now the young student's weekly schedule would consist of every Monday, Wednesday and Friday being spent tutoring Beta, and every Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday being tutored by the Crown princess. They would almost always leave the palace absolutely drained of their energy, a mere husk of their former self as they rode the carriage baring the Imperial coat of arms back to the dorm houses on the school campus.

The days were feeling longer and longer as Beta's birthday ball's date came closer and closer. The blonde prince would chat with the young student about anything and everything that came to his mind. The friendship between the two of them had become even stronger than before for no particular rhyme or reason. Beta would lug behind them during school hours, despite not being in the same year, and would frighten off the little amount of friends that the student would have had before the prince.

Soon enough, Beta's birthday ball came up.

A formal invitation had already been sent to them, written personally by the spry prince himself in loopy lettering.

The student got dressed in the most formal clothes they had on hand. Sure it was a bit tattered and a few small holes were sprinkled on the ends, but it would be fine as long as no one looked at them! And besides, they're a commoner! They are probably just going to sit in the corner of the hall and only get up to get more food and drinks.

With that plan in mind, the student climbed carefully into the imperial branded carriage once again and rode off to the party.

Soon enough, the young student arrived at the Imperial palace. They stumbled out of the carriage and brisket walked into the large building, not wanting to be noticed by the announcer so that they could hide away as best as can from the nobles attending the ball that night.

They had finally reached the banquet hall, entering and hiding away from plain sight from the noblesmen and women.

"Now then! Announcing the entrance of Crown Princess Frieda Köinig and Prince Beta Köinig!" announced a high ranking servant from the top of the large staircase in the middle of the banquet hall.

The entire hall was decked to the nines with red, gold and white. The diamonds hanging from the chandelier were burning even more brighter than what the young student assumed was usual. Long banquet tables were lined with finger foods of all varieties.

A servant walked up to the scholar and offered them a tall flute of champagne. Gingerly, they took the glass off the tray, making the servant walk away, and taking a few sips and proceeding to nearly lurch it out from the taste. Okay, they are definitely not a fan of champagne, duley noted.

In that moment, the Crown Princess and the prince entered through the doors at the top of the stairs. Beta held his elder sister's hand in his as he lead her down the stairs. All of the noblemen and women stared in awe of the siblings.

Beta was wearing a lovely white suit with light red and blue jewels sprinkled all of the jacket. He wore blue cufflinks and large rubies were studded into the edges of his collar. This was a big upgrade from the white tunic and black pants he wore during their tutoring sessions, or the navy blue military styled uniform they wear at the academy.

Frieda looked stunning as usual. She was wearing a new cream coloured ball gown, embedded with small diamonds across the fabric. Elbow length gloves covered her arms and gold sleeper rings were slid up her fingers, making them glimmer in the chandelier light. A floral styled tiara sat on top of her head, the same coloured diamonds were set in it as well.

The siblings came to the end of the staircase and gracefully smiled at the crowd. Frieda and Beta were quickly surrounded by the stuffy noblemen and women. [Name] stood aside and stayed out of sight of the siblings.

Beta leaned into Frieda's ear and whispered something to her. His words made the princess look around, almost frantically. The curls in her hair bounce from the movement of her head. Frieda quickly caught the eyes of the commoner, making a graceful smile spread onto her face. She tapped Beta's upper arm and pointed into [Name]'s direction, whispering something into his ear. All of this happened while the said student was slowly sipping on their champagne and gazing outside the stained coloured window.

Frieda and Beta walked past all the noble people, making them gasp and quiet down immediately. "[Name]! You're really here!" announced Beta as he unhooked his sister's hand from his arm.

Frieda smiled in happiness from the sight of Beta speaking animatingly with his tutor. "I am quite glad to see you here Mx.[Lastname]. I hope that you have so far been having a good time."

[Name] nodded at the Princess's words with a chuckle. "I have. No need to worry your royal majesty." Frieda nodded at their words and let her younger brother control the way the current conversation is going.

The cusp of the birthday ball was on it's way. Everyone was jovial and talkative. Frieda had left [Name] and Beta to themselves to that she could converse with the other invitees. Beta stuck to [Name]'s side like usual.

The duo had moved closer to the end of the hall, nearer to the food lined banquet table.

Suddenly, a loud trumpet sounded through the hall, bringing attention to a well dressed servant standing at the end of the staircase. Frieda stood in the middle of the staircase, her dress flowed down the stairs like a flowing river.

Frieda with a calming smile, announced, "I would like to present my gift to my little brother. He and I had a long discussion together about what would be the best present for his birthday. And I would like to present to you all what I had come up with. But first, I would like [Name] [Lastname] to come near the front."

[Name] stood in fear from the sound of their name leaving the princess' lips.

'Shitshitshitshitshitshit.' thought [Name] while they cautiously approached the front of the thick crowd of loudly dressed nobles. When the commoner finally reached the front of the crowd, they stood there, shifting there weight from foot to foot, shivering under the eyes of the Crown princess.

Soon enough, the princess signals at someone from behind her to do something. The large doors open up and a young woman comes tumbling out. An imperial guard grabs what little left of her brown, wet hair and roughly shoves her down the stairs. She stops rolling conveniently infront of [Name]'s feet, dirtying it with blood from a large gash on her right cheek.

Frieda climbs down the stairs and grabs the girl's hair and forces her head up to look into [Name]'s terrified eyes.

"Do you remember this girl Beta?" questioned the Crown princess, looking at her younger brother who was standing right next to his tutor. Beta looked down in awe at the beaten and bruised girl kneeling infront of him and [Name]. He then leaps from his tutor's side and falls into his sister's embrace. "Thank you thank you thank you! Oh, I love this present so so much!"

The young student stared at the bloodied girl with a look of terror in their eyes. This girl looked so oddly familiar. As if they had seen her before.

"Who is this girl, may I ask your royal majesty?" asked the tutor, not looking away from the nearly catatonic girl.

"This, my dear, is the honorable Alicia Crusainia, the one who had made fun of you at my tea party two months ago." answered the princess in a matter of factly tone of voice.

'Holy fucking shit she's fucking crazy!'

Beta made a nearly inaudible squeeling noise of happiness and quickly when back to [Name]'s side. "Now I get to take care of her properly for making fun of you! Aren't you so excited!?"

A thick sheet of sweat covered [Name]'s face as they stared down at their bloodied shoes. Frieda took notice of this action and nearly flung herself to [Name]'s side when she saw the blood on their shoes.

Frieda stomped on Alicia's head making her lower her head for the commoner.

"Now then, let's discuss our future from this time onward. How about we begin with giving you a proper title and moving you into the palace with my little brother and I"

Posted on: 30 August 2024 23:46

[thecreaturecodex]

Scalescribe

Image © Paizo Publishing

[I quite like the scalescribe, as I always appreciate it when aberrations aren't just tentacled horrors. Sometimes they're funny little guys. The caster bond/transcribe scroll is a neat mechanical effect that's in the PF2e original, but it really works best if the spellcaster goes out adventuring while the scalescribe stays behind and reads and writes. Which I think suits the scalescribes just fine.]

Scalescribe CR 3 N Aberration This strange creature resembles a snake with eight spindly arms, each ending in a delicate, human-like hand. It has five eyes arranged in a cross on its face, a fleshy hood growing over its face. Its jaws are wide, but nearly toothless. Its body is decorated with scraps of text, some single letters, others entire paragraphs in a dense hand.

Scalescribes are strange magical creatures that are obsessed with words and language. They tend to live in libraries, temples to gods of knowledge, and other places where there are lots of books. The words on their bodies are extracts from what they have read, and shift over the weeks as they encounter new writings. Scalescribes may be sought out as sages, or by spellcasters who want to use their abilities to manipulate magic writing.

A scalescribe would rather not fight if it can help it, and their bodies are not much suited for combat. Their most powerful attack is the ability to charge a written character with magical force and fire it like an arrow. They cannot do this at will, however, and usually bolster these attacks with spells cast from scrolls or jabbing with the quills they always carry. Such jabs deal little damage, but carry a creeping stain of magical ink. If they are targeted with a spell they haven’t seen before, or one that the scalescribe thinks might be tactically useful, they will attempt to copy it onto a temporary scroll so they can use it themselves.

This ability to copy and reuse spells is what makes scalescribes so valuable to spellcasters. If the scalescribe chooses, it can allow another creature to cast that spell, even crossing spell lists in order to do so. A scalescribe is most likely to use this ability if it judges the other creature “clever”, which it determines by playing word games and quizzing vocabulary. A creature that can teach a scalescribe a word it doesn’t know is likely to make a fast friend.

Scalescribe      CR 3 XP 800 N Tiny aberration Init +3; Senses darkvision 60 ft., Perception +11

Defense AC 17, touch 11, flat-footed 13 (+2 size, +3 Dex, +1 dodge, +1 natural) hp 27 (5d8+5) Fort +2, Ref +4, Will +8 Defensive Abilities lettered

Offense Speed 20 ft. Melee quill +8 (1d3-2/18-20 plus inkstain) Ranged morpheme glyph +8 (3d6 force) Space 2 ½ ft.; Reach 0 ft.

Spell-like Abilities CL 5th, concentration +6 At will—arcane mark, detect magic, read magic 3/day—comprehend languages (self only) 1/day—dispel magic, secret page

Statistics Str 6, Dex 17, Con 12, Int 19, Wis18, Cha 13 Base Atk +3; CMB +4; CMD 13 (cannot be tripped) Feats Dodge, Magical Aptitude, Scribe Scroll (B), Weapon Finesse Skills Climb +10,Craft (calligraphy) +8, Knowledge (arcana, history) +11, Linguistics +11, Perception +11, Sense Motive +11, Spellcraft +13, Stealth +18, Use Magic Device +7 Languages Aklo, Common, Draconic, 4 others SQ caster bond, intellectual, scroll use, transcribe spell

Ecology Environment urban Organization solitary or scriptorium (2-5) Treasure standard

Special Abilities Caster Bond (Su) A scalescribe can form a bond with any creature with spellcasting levels by performing a ritual that requires 1 hour of concentration, usually done while the other creature is preparing spells. A prepared caster can prepare the spell carried on that scalescribe’s transcribed scroll, and a spontaneous caster can treat that spell as if they knew it for that day. This can allow a caster to cast a spell that is not on their spell list, as long as it belongs to the same tradition of magic (arcane, divine or occult). This lasts for 24 hours, or until the scalescribe uses its transcribed scroll or transcribes a new scroll. If a prepared caster loses access to a spell in this way, the spell slots that had this spell become open. Inkstain (Su) A creature struck by a scalescribe’s quill takes 1d4 points of damage per round for the next 10 rounds. This can be removed by any healing spell with a successful DC 13 caster level check, or by any effect that removes or delays poison without a check. An erase spell removes the inkstain without a caster level check. This is a poison effect, and is an ability of the scalescribe, not the quill. Intellectual (Ex) A scalescribe treats all Knowledge checks and Linguistics as if they were class skills. Lettered (Ex) A scalescribe gains a +4 racial bonus on all saving throws against glyphs, symbol spells and spells and effects with the language descriptor. Morpheme Glyph (Su) As a standard action, a scalescribe can draw a magical syllable in the air and fire it at an opponent. Treat this as a ranged attack with a range of 40 feet and no range increment. A creature struck takes 3d6 points of force damage. A scalescribe can use this ability once every 1d4 rounds. Quill (Ex) A scalescribe treats any quill it carries as if it were a rapier it was proficient with. Scroll Use (Ex) A scalescribe can use spells from scrolls as if the spell was on its spell list. Transcribe Spell (Su) As an immediate action when targeted by a spell with verbal components, a scalescribe can attempt to copy down the spell into a variant scroll. The scalescribe must succeed a Spellcraft check (DC 15 + twice the spell’s level) to successfully copy the spell, and is still affected by the spell whether it succeeds or fails at this check. If it succeeds, the scalescribe creates a scroll of that spell that only it can use. A scalescribe can only have one transcribed scroll at a time.

[talonabraxas]

‘Yama - King of Death’ by Palehorse

The Sanskrit calligraphy, translated by Easwaran states: “Get up! Wake up! Seek the guidance of an Illumined teacher and realize the Self. Sharp like a razor’s edge is the path, The sages say, difficult to traverse.”

Descriptions of symbols: The mandalas on the left represent 6 of the Chakras, or centers of vital energy within the living body that can be awakened as Kundalini Shakti.

• The seated boy represents the hero of the Katha Upanashad named Nachiketa who sits for 3 days in meditation waiting for Yama in the Land of Death. Next is a symbol created to signify 'The Fire of Nachiketa’ - a fire sacrifice that burns out the ego and leads to immortality.

• The eye represents the eye of Yama, who stalks about from the moment we are born.

• The heart and rope seeks to illustrate the passage: “When all of the knots that strangle the heart are loosened, the mortal becomes immortal.”

• In the story, the senses are compared to horses, that unless properly trained, will relentlessly carry our bodies through time, down the roads of selfish desires.

• The upside down tree is the eternal Ashwatta Tree, whose root is above, but its branches are downward, iIllustrating that the source of everything in the universe (our world) is Brahman. His dreaming is the root cause of time and space and we are the branches.

The symbol ॐ (Aum) signifies the primordial sound of ultimate reality, consciousness or Atman. Also included is an elephant, which points to Nachiketa’s visions caused by Yama, to entice and test him, as elephants were a symbol of material wealth.

[thewrittingpan]

Random Head cannons:

Lilia

I firmly believe that he would have a Mountian Dew addiction- sure I think other sodas are possible too like Dr. Pepper but there’s this “dad clock” that has haunted every divorced father I’ve met and it’s a Mountain Dew clock and it always hangs on the wall where the kitchen meets the dinning table. Don’t ask me why it’s a trend in my life that’s between me and my therapist but I feel that Lilia would probably own one in his gamer room.

Speaking of which he’s got a damn gammer room. I’ve admittedly been out of the loop event and plot wise since the release of ignihide’s chapter (I can not spell forgive my dyslexic ass), but it doesn’t matter if it’s just his bedroom, a whole separate room, a streaming room or not. It has a fancy custom built pc, one that lights up and the whole room is themed to match. It’s very well put together and could probably pay my college tuition with the merchandise he may collect.

I personally think that since Lilia is so old, he tends to hoard things. It obviously snuck into my fic Ring of Mushrooms with just the whole house being a cluttered mess of history. Some of it is me trying not to be a hoarder myself but living nicknack because I am just a bird in a human shape, but he just has a lot of things he forgets about.

Call it time blindness, forgetfulness, or sentimentality but he just keeps pictures, books, gifts, random things his sons have drug into the house or stuffed into their pockets. He has jars of buttons that Malleus collected as a toddler, the shiny rocks Silver picked up by the stream, he’s the type of guy to have a full box of the same pencil because it’s his favorite and there was a rumor it was being discontinued.

I also think that he has a soft spot for pinks and pastels especially when the boys were young. Mint/sage greens were a common choice for blankets, hats, and mittens. He also probably color coded the boys. It doesn’t matter if they were the same age or not just for ease and avoiding fights he totally did.

Lilia probably has a bunch of abandoned hobbies. Things he did long enough to have a humans level of decent but not great. if he were to “relearn” it he would appear to be a savant to a real beginner. Some of these hobbies include: Calligraphy, Crochet, Knitting, Fish lure making, Astronomy, Woodworking

Hobbies he would be bad at:

Drawing/Painting, he has a bad understanding of color but a great eye for depth and detail. The forms are always very off putting though.

He tried birdwatching he isn’t bad at it per se, but he often gets interrupted or caught up in something that is not the birds.

He wanted to do quilting and scapbooking, it’s not that he can’t do them either but he always forgets the projects. The scrapbooks mostly the quilts he has a lot more practice with as baby shower gifts for neighbors and for his own kids. Yet his stiches can be sloppy same with the binding.

He has a fondness for spinel gems he likes the wide array of colors like most gems but he likes a lot of the vibrant pinks they come in

Malleus

I think malleus would have a habit of forgetting to eat if not reminded or brought food. I cannot explain why I think this I just have a hunch.

I think Malleus is great at word puzzles and puzzles in general, it’s not inherently that he’s super smart but he just knows patterns more often than not. However he is quite horrible at pop culture references and trivia. For example he is good at Wordle, Sudoku, crosswords, and connections, but since crosswords and connections often have pop culture references those are the ones he struggles with most.

When he was young he collected things. I mean a lot of things, buttons, pins, rocks, pinecones, leaves, he pressed and dried flowers, half of his room was just wall-to-wall collections. This continued on until now but it’s just gotten more mild, though it flares up during stressful times.

He’s very good at quilting if I had to assign a good trade themed hobby. I’m open to other needle crafts like embroidery or cross-stitch but I think quilting is something that gets done during school breaks and he often sews in former button collections to them.

I think he has an aversion to some kind of food, whether it be things like a texture like he doesn’t like the feeling of bananas or the taste of pees makes him nauseous. I don’t think it’s an allergy or anything just something that physically makes him feel like death is the only solution to the minor inconvenience.

He’s a peridot guy sure emeralds work too but if he’s being honest the peridots are cuter

Silver

One time he had a talking to about throwing sand. He was only three at the time but it had to be revisited after an incident with an ant hill when he was four.

He sleeps in a funeral-showing sort of way. His hands clasped on his chest while he lays on his back. He rarely moves in his sleep, but cheese can cause him to sleep walk.

Speaking of which he has a mild lactose intolerance. He doesn’t care to actively avoid dairy but he often forgets he has it. On many occasions he has eaten too much dairy and was genuinely confused by the way he was having tummy troubles.

He cries at weddings.

He doesn’t cry at funerals.

Silver has this hobby of wanting to bird hunt but falls asleep too often. He does however have some half okay drawing skills. Enough to have an upper hand in Pictionary maybe but a good hand on proportions and the details are messy but it works.

He has a fondness for pearls it’s the type of jewelry he thinks is the most beautiful.

[help-an-alter]

waving!! hi!! we have a fragment who’s very attached to once upon a time and can’t tell if they’re a fictive or not — could we get help with an ID? they’re very attached to fairytales and general mythos and resonate heavily in specific with the story of Eros and Psyche and with the Brothers Grimm story of Snow White and Rose Red. They seem to drift more towards masc and neutral things, if that helps? Thank you!

requested by @residentsofeurydice ~

names ~

sparrow, red, hugo, arthur, robin (alt. robyn), magnolia, rouge, gil(bert), ian, sage, theo, benji, merlin, frost

pronouns ~

ice/iceself, pen/penself, sto/storyself, ink/inkblotself, red/redself, fae/faer, dust/dustself, my/mythself

comforts ~

tea, origami, reading nights, baking, picnics, paper making, watercolor, flower pressing, calligraphy, mini figure painting, bookbinding, cleaning/tidying, audiobooks, knitting/sewing, basket weaving

went with a very storybook theme here! feel free to come back if nothing here works for you!! this was a super fun request to work on^^!

~ mod oz

[mistresslrigtar]

Chapter Twenty-four: Candles (written for @zelinktines24 day 24 prompt)

Read below or HERE

Zelda is quiet and reserved the days following their friends departure. From a brief conversation Link shared with her directly after Mattison’s party, before Zelda fell asleep, she confessed that enjoying a festive moment with their friends has triggered long slumbering grief for the previous Champions. It hadn’t helped matters when Link retrieved Mineru’s construct from his Purah Pad before Purah returned to Hateno and entrusted it to her, requesting she remove the secret stone without damaging the machinery. Mineru had fallen silent since they defeated Ganondorf, and Link assumes she’s moved on, but Zelda remains uncertain, claiming Mineru’s spirit would not leave without first saying farewell.

While they had a formal ceremony several years ago to commemorate their long departed friends, perhaps Zelda needs to recognize theirs’ and the ancient sages' sacrifices to save Hyrule. With that thought in mind, while Zelda naps, Link gathers the materials needed to construct floating lanterns. Celeste joins him in the rooftop garden, where he’s chosen to work, sprawling across the thin parchment that will comprise the sides of the lanterns, and soaking up the afternoon sun.

He soon becomes lost in the work fashioning twelve simple lanterns out of bamboo and parchment. Once complete, he picks up an ink pot and brush, that he has to pry out from beneath Celeste’s paws, and with broad strokes, paints the names of the sages and Champions in shaky, but legible Hylian calligraphy. It doesn’t help that Celeste continually paws at the brush in his hand or tries to drink the dirty water he’s set aside to clean the brush.

Link’s just pushing her away for what feels like the thousandth time and lifting the twelfth lantern, debating whether or not to paint Rhoam’s name upon it when he hears a scuff followed by a stifled yawn behind him. Looking over his shoulder, his heart thuds loudly in his ears when he sees a tousle-headed Zelda wearing one of his soft work shirts that reveals a goodly amount of her bare legs, standing in the doorway, a questioning look in her green eyes.

“What are you doing?”

Time seems to come to a standstill as he takes in how breathtakingly beautiful she is. From her small toes curling against the warm wood of the deck to her flaxen hair reflecting the late afternoon sunshine, she’s perfection in the flesh. Celeste bats impatiently at the forgotten brush in Link’s hand, pulling it from between his fingers, and splattering ink on his trousers. Growling softly, the kitten pounces to gnaw at the pointed end.

Zelda’s giggle draws Link from his trance. Heat courses through him and his cheeks flame when he realizes he’s still staring.

“I thought perhaps, you’d like to sail lanterns on Lake Akkala this evening, to honor our friends and mentors who’ve passed on?” Link belatedly answers.

Despite the tears that spring to Zelda’s eyes at his words, the corners of her pink lips turn up. “That sounds lovely, Link.”

Stepping closer, she kneels to scoop Celeste into her arms. He nods, his chest tightening as she rises gracefully with Celeste pressed against her shoulder and heads back to her room. It’s good to see her returning to the vibrant woman she’d once been, and Link hopes the lanterns will help lift more of the melancholy that still befalls them on occasion.

After an early supper, they walk hand-in-hand down the road to the north end of Lake Akkala. The butte atop which Tarrey Town sits has all but disappeared in the growing darkness, and the lamps in the windows and torches on the streets twinkle like stars in the night sky.

Link sets the lanterns just above the waterline, having decided to leave the twelfth one plain, to commemorate all the souls that were lost in the battles waged against the Calamity and Upheaval. Zelda follows after him, placing candles in the cradles within and lighting them. Once completed, they send each one adrift, offering up silent prayers to the heavens. The lanterns’ glowing soft light is reflected in the smooth glassy surface of the black waters. Sitting side-by-side on the sandy shore, Link and Zelda watch them float serenely away.

“I’m ready to pick our life back up in Hateno.” Zelda’s voice is barely audible over the lapping water, rustling leaves in the trees, and the restless crickets chirping in the long grass.

‘Our life’. The words kindle a long dormant longing in Link, fanning it into a roaring flame. Their shared life consisting of her students’ laughter in the morning, and lazy afternoons where Link dozed beneath the apple trees in the orchard while Zelda worked in her well study. Quiet evenings spent sitting on the embankment behind the paddock, listening to the soothing whickers of their horses, watching the sunset fireflies appear to dance amongst the trees. Reading by the fire for an hour or so before retiring to bed.

Looking over at Zelda, Link finds she’s studying him, a soft, shy smile gracing parted lips he yearns to kiss. Without a word he leans forward, gently cupping her face with trembling hands, and captures her lips with his.

[apas-95]

holding dick like a calligraphy brush to sagely jack off

[gale-gaze]

✦ Mavis "Vi" Lytte ✦

Knowledge Cleric of Mystra

[ detailed background under the cut ]

--- ✦  VOICE

Theme Song: Meg Myers - MY MIRROR

I’m so uptight, and I don’t know why - am I just being weird? Could you be my mirror? Could you be my mirror? Could you show me who I am? Cause I’ve had my eyes closed.

--- ✦  GENERAL

Age: 37

Height: 5’ 6"

Body Type: Pear-Shaped

Romantic Partner: Gale Dekarios

Orientation: Demisexual-Panromantic

Personality: Loyal, Pensive, Sentimental, Affable, Studious, Worrywart, Inhibited

--- ✦  DETAILS

Background: Sage

Race: High Half-Elf

Father: Ríkorin “Rík” Lytte [High Elf] Mother: Evelyn “Evie” Lytte [Human]

Class: Knowledge Cleric of Mystra

High WISDOM and INTELLIGENCE Mid CHARISMA and CONSTITUTION Low DEXTERITY and STRENGTH

Proficiencies: Arcana, History, Nature, Medicine, Religion, Insight, Persuasion

Interests: Alchemy, Literature, Art, Astronomy, Puzzles, Philosophy, Psychology, Music Boxes, Charcuterie Boards

Hobbies: Herbology, Entomology, Calligraphy, Kalimba, Journaling, Sketching, Research, Macrame, Sculpting, Jewelry Making

--- ✦  LORE

Mavis grew up a sheltered only-child to her father Ríkorin, a High Elf Knowledge Cleric of Oghma, and her mother Evelyn, a Human College of Lore Bard, with a fairly ordinary early life. Her father was well respected in their community with his dedication to preserving knowledge and understanding the world around them, and her mother was skilled in bringing people together to help her husband unite others with transcendent song and craft - their life was harmonious and pleasant, filled with compassion and learning.

Mavis grew up disconnected from many amidst her father’s dusty books hidden away in his grand library and the soothing songs of her mother’s music or the joined tinkering of her parents, but the Lytte’s were content in their personal peace while they analyzed the chaos of the world from the comfort of their home together. As such, many of the people Mavis knew growing up were friends of her parents, but as her love for knowledge deepened, her father would begin to show her artifacts he was working with and she would eventually come with him to the shops to peruse with him, leading her to meet her first and only childhood friend, [REDACTED].

[REDACTED] enjoyed the caring but excitable nature of Mavis - although they were a skilled novice Sorcerer, [REDACTED] had problems keeping their Wild Magic in check, which frequently left chaos in their wake and caused a lot of strife in their early life relationships. Even when faced with this chaos, Mavis remained curious and enamored with them and their magic, eager to offer to be their friend and quickly learned Cure Wounds so that she could keep [REDACTED] safe in case of a wild magic surge.

Mavis was completely smitten by [REDACTED] and as they grew closer, the feelings became mutual, to the dismay of the community that the Lytte’s lived in; due to this, rumors around the Lytte’s dabbling with untamed, wild magic began to stir, causing tension between her parents and the community as time went on. Despite this, the Lytte’s sheltered [REDACTED] and gave them a safe space to try and learn alongside Mavis and did what they could to keep the community at bay - even so, [REDACTED] grew to hate the gaze of the community weighing on those around them and became restless.

As [REDACTED] became distant and stopped coming over as frequently, Mavis found herself sneaking out more often to try and catch up with them and make sure they were alright - at first, it was a fun affair for [REDACTED] to have Mavis chase after them each night, but as their emotions swelled, so did their wild magic surges and the fear that they were going to hurt those they cared about.

With a written note, [REDACTED] tied up a scrying mirror pendant with a note to tell Mavis they were going to seek help with their wild magic, and that they would not be returning, begging Mavis to forget about them. When Mavis finally used the mirror, she saw [REDACTED] hurt and surrounded by a fire blazing at a location that [REDACTED] had shown her in their childhood.

Mavis left home immediately and found [REDACTED] within a ring of fire like she saw, making what she assumed to be cries of pain; as her emotions swelled, Mavis rushed to aid her friend and forgot their golden rule of checking for traps, inadvertently triggering one that pierced through [REDACTED] as they yelled out for her, dropping the letter that they were holding. A fey entity emerged from the fire, then revealed themself to be a hag as they reached a hand out to Mavis with an offer - for the small price of a handful of memories and a helping hand, [REDACTED] would be brought back.

As their hands met to shake on it, Mavis felt the flesh of her hand slip from her bones and fall to her feet; as [REDACTED] stirred to life again, Mavis questioned the hag about the final part of their agreement - the hag smiled and simply said to ask [REDACTED] before both the fire and hag vanished. Kneeling beside [REDACTED] as they regained consciousness, she saw the letter that they had been holding before she found them: “Seek me for solace from your wild heart”

Mavis reached her hand out to touch the letter and get a closer look, but caught [REDACTED] by surprise with her quivering, flesh-less bones outreached - instinctively, [REDACTED] cast Thunderwave to push her away, their voice booming as the answer to Mavis’s question to the hag was given: “Who are you?”

Scared and dazed from the events, Mavis scrambled to her feet and ran home as she left [REDACTED], recounting to her parents what had happened through sobs. The family spent the night curled up with various tomes around them in her father’s library, searching for an answer to her curse. As her parents tended to their hunger in the early morning, Mavis found herself praying for guidance; while she knelt amongst the books, her mother dropped a heavy pot upstairs that thumped to the floor below. With that thump, one of her father’s books on Mystra fell in front of Mavis, and she began to plan.

Mavis gathered her important belongings and penned a letter to her parents, explaining that the best solution was for her to find her own answers and disappear from the community’s eye. And with that, she set off to study at the temples of Mystra, seeking to understand magic and bring some harmony to the chaos in her growing obsession around magic, hopeful to perhaps reunite with [REDACTED] if she could find a way to help their curse.

In her studies at each temple, she excelled but kept her distance, her excitable nature with learning becoming more and more outwardly quiet as she worked on finding answers to everyone’s problems, disconnected from the world like she had been in her childhood. Her mind was frequently wracked with what if’s on restless nights, and she took to writing endless notes to keep herself busy while she developed solutions in her studies, her fingers constantly stained with the various inks. As she found solutions to one problem, another one came up, and her obsessive endless cycle continued on from temple to temple.

Mavis was taken to the Nautiloid after a prayer, after she had seen [REDACTED] in her scrying mirror killing a mind flayer; Mavis is hopeful to connect with [REDACTED] again, but begins to realize that they have been surviving just fine without her and she comes to terms that she should perhaps move on to help those that need her more instead.

--- ✦  NOTES

• The scar across her nose is from the day that she met [REDACTED] as a child; they collided into Mavis while running to rush and return something they had pick pocketed off someone else, after they realized they had taken something deeply sentimental - Mavis was smitten instantly

• The necklace Mavis wears is two silver hands holding a small black scrying mirror, which was the last gift that [REDACTED] gave to her; Mavis uses it from time to time to check in on [REDACTED] - old habits die hard and all that

⚬ slowly, Mavis comes to terms with needing to let go of things outside of her control after the mirror chips while in the Shadow Cursed Lands, which caused her to have a major panic attack and nearly fall in battle, forcing her to retire the necklace from her wardrobe

• After [REDACTED] was cursed, Mavis is terrified of being forgotten, as well as forgetting those that she loves and important details, so she is constantly making notes and keeping small reminders of her journey and studies

• She conceals the skeletal curse on her left hand with an enchanted silver ring she made that utilizes illusion magic to maintain a normal appearance; the ring is fairly unassuming, but has a small keyhole on the front because Mavis thought it was “best to hide a skeleton hand with a skeleton key(hole)”

⚬ the bands on her arm are tattoos that she gave to herself as a means to make the illusion magic of her ring a bit more convincing and easier to keep consistent; she is very proud of them, considering she did it stick-n-poke style with her ink and quill in terribly lit conditions, and the experience did seem to make receiving the brand of the Absolute and Loviatar’s blessing a bit easier

• To keep her company as a child, her mother and father worked together to craft a ring for Mavis that summons a rat familiar; his name is Ailmar, after one of her favorite childhood stories she would read with her family growing up, and she tells him everything despite the fact that he is simply a plain ol’ rat with an unusually long lifespan

⚬ Ailmar is extremely fond of Elminster, mostly because that man knows his cheese; Elminster seems to have a soft spot for the rat as well, and secretly quotes the book his namesake is from to the rat while sneaking him morsels

• The book that Ailmar’s name comes from is called “A Rat with Virtue and Knowledge” and Mavis cherishes it so much that she keeps it with her at all times; the pages and spine of her copy are well worn and loved, a plethora of notes scribbled in the margins that seem to show the timeline of each time she read it with new insight

⚬ on the front page is a handwritten note, eloquently done in tidy lettering - “For my Little Lightning Bug - Your Devoted Papa” - followed by a less-elegant inscription written below in a younger hand - “Property of Mavis Lytte” ⚬ the book follows the charming rat Ailmar and his journey learning from a hare named Virtue and their protective guardian construct named Knowledge after Ailmar is caught stealing apples from them and is cursed to never be able to take the one thing his heart truly wants - the heart of Virtue - no matter how deeply he falls in love through their adventures learning together

• Mavis is used to being alone or only with Ailmar these days, so she frequently mumbles to herself and gets incredibly embarrassed when someone overhears her and asks her who she was talking to, or even worse, to repeat herself

⚬ 95% of the time, she is just making a bad joke or pun - Gale tends to overhear and will chuckle to himself, but doesn’t mention it since she seems to get flustered when it gets brought up at camp by the others

• She has had a few relationships in her time traveling, but she always knew that they weren’t long-term and they were with her more out of convenience, and she just didn’t want to be completely alone despite not feeling emotionally attached

⚬ Mavis doesn’t talk much about them since she was more focused on her studies than the relationships, but she does mention in passing once that her last partner had told her point-blank that they found her too sentimental and that they “would never grow old together” before pressuring her to lose her soft side to toughen up and become physically stronger; while she will laugh as she denies that it affected her view of herself and her worth, her distant eyes tell a different story

• She always has snacks on her because she often forgets to eat when she is fixated on something; she is frequently found enjoying her favorite snack of apples in her tent while reading

⚬ there was maybe one time where Mavis got incredibly sick and nearly died at camp after eating an apple because she didn’t check the ones she picked up in the wetlands before seeing through the hag’s illusion - extensive notes reiterating how awful hags are and the importance of poison antidotes were made afterwards

• She has a few nicknames from people in her life:

⚬ Chipmunk by her mother, because of how she would stuff her cheeks with snacks growing up when she was engulfed in a new book or puzzle ⚬ Lightning Bug by her father, because of how frequently he would catch her using Dancing Lights to illuminate her late-night reading and her fascination with insects ⚬ Nightlight by her best friend [REDACTED], because of how she always seemed to pull them out of dark places when they needed it most

• While she isn’t very strong, she learned to use a mace sufficiently well at the temples she studied at because she enjoys how she can change the balance and force based on her grip position and uses gravity to help with her lower strength

⚬ after finding the Blood of Lathander, Gale makes a joke in the the Shadow Cursed Lands that Mavis is everyone’s Nightlight - the comment flusters Mavis immensely since she had not told him that that was her nickname growing up, and this causes her to nearly break the scrying mirror that [REDACTED] gave to her and have a devastating panic attack

• She keeps magic locks with an encrypted password on all of her journals, just to be safe

⚬ Mavis has removed [REDACTED]’s name from everything, since their name is the password to her journals ⚬ this is likely why Mavis doesn't really notice that Gale talks about Mystra a lot, nor mind his extravagant protocol to bring him back - she gets it

• After spending some time helping clean up from the events at Baldur’s Gate, Mavis properly reconnects with her parents and they finally decide to leave their community to move to Waterdeep and be closer to her; she opens up a semi-faux bookstore with her father, which they named “Lytte Reads” where most of the books are, in fact, not very light at all

⚬ the store acts more as a public library, where Mavis and her family have given up their collection of knowledge to share it with others freely - but if you ask really nicely and offer her something that she can woo her silly wizard fiancé with, Mavis may be willing to part with a tome or two; Dekarios weddings aren’t cheap, you know

• Mavis is extremely fond of flowers after spending so much time inside away from them while studying, and her favorite flowers are bellflowers

⚬ another name for bellflowers is Campanula - meaning “Little Bell” - and is actually her mother’s maiden name; because of this, her father crafted jingling jewelry for her mother in the shape of bellflowers so that it was easier for him to know if she was near, since he would find himself getting startled by her while reading due to how quiet her steps could be - he adores when he hears the jingles as her mother dances through their home ⚬ while not entirely interested in lavish weddings, Mavis is excited to have as many colorful flowers, including bellflowers, at their wedding; you know, once Gale and her can settle on a venue that will meet his standards

--- ✦  SONG

There was a boy - a very strange, enchanted boy They say he wandered very far, very far over land and sea A little shy and sad of eye, but very wise was he And then one day, one magic day he passed my way And while we spoke of many things - fools and kings - this he said to me: The greatest thing you'll ever learn Is just to love, and be loved in return - Nature Boy by Nat King Cole

--- ✦  MOODBOARD

[aanglican]

natla s1e6 reaction liveblog

zuko flashback with hair

”what is it” “nothing” “tell meeee”

i’m just realizing this is his room

zhao: this is my ship now

we’re at the temple heyyy

this show isn’t unbearably dark but still has a harsh quality to the lighting/color grading that i’m really not loving ughhh [insert nth comment about wishing this looked like house of the flying daggers instead]

lmao roku got jokesss

“anything you need—” “koh.” “anything but that” 💀

“friends can be a liability” oh i’m sure you know that now roku

so there’s no huge fanfare at the fire sage temple and june catches aang instead. we switched out roku possessing aang for kyoshi instead. i guess emphasizing kyoshi over roku was done to avoid giving roku the opportunity to tell aang when the comet is coming. if roku spends any more time with aang then the topic of the comet’s return will be bound to arise, but since the writers don’t know if and when they’re getting a second season then we can’t mention that for now. hence less roku.

love how aang is realizing there’s people who don’t even want him anymore because they would rather live under familiar chaos over the promise of risky liberation

so THAT’S where the chocobo promo still is from

aang psychoanalyzing zuko lol

ozai testing out zuko’s intelligence in front of everybody ouuu

i love dallas’ delivery on “but they’re gonna he lost”

ozai went straight to the agni kai damn okay

“disrespecting me means dishonoring your father”

“ozai was gracious enough to lend them to me” not fire lord? send him to the gulag

they’re not calling it hari bulkan but capital city hmm*

this exchange is so uncle-nephew i love it

zhao thought he ate that… FLOP!

here comes the fire nation supremacist speech.. ken leung slaystress

fire spitting? these fn drinking games get crazy huh

i love this escape sequence

zuko got hit and aang found out it was him under the mask and now he’s saving him ouuuu

THE HAND SLAP LMAO i love this dynamic

when are katara and sokka coming back i just realized it’s been a while

aang asking after zuko’s calligraphy and stationary awww

“the monks are all gone so all i have is your notebook” 😩

AZULA BANGS NAURRR

OZAI AND IROH SCENE

filial piety and feudal hierarchy hitting hard right now

not zuko fighting back

is this a reference to aang’s almost-killing strike on ozai in the series finale?

OMGGGGGGGGGGGGGG so zuko’s crew is the same as the new recruits that were bound to die by the machinations of the war room?? the 41st division???

“sometimes the weak can become stronger [if] you gave them a chance” “i have made a mistake”

URSA MENTION

lieutenant jee was gagged !!

one thing about waiting for this remake has done to me is make me a lot more interested in the fire nation royal family

momo keeping guard over katara and sokka’s bodies aw :(

after all the zuko backstory i’ve completely forgot about the hei bai spirit lol

i still don’t understand why koh and wan shi tong are here like huhhhhhh? i guess they wanted to involve comic content and couldn’t find a place to put the mother of faces more seamlessly?

gyatso is gone again 💔 “can we talk about it when we get back?” UGHHHHHH

this is kinda the best episode of the series 🤭🤭

*so i checked wikia: Hari Bulkan,[4][5] also known as Royal Caldera City,[6] a residential district situated within the crater of a dormant volcano hosting the Fire Nation Royal Palace and various homes of Fire Nation elite.

[jwinsorart]

Sage Advice. I backed a kickstarter for this inkwell by Ferris Wheel Press a ways back and I finally got it in the mail today. It's such a fun design. You can set it on the lid to spin your ink up and then tilt it to use for dipping your pen. It's beautiful and I just love looking at it on my desk. They might be sold out of these for now but hopefully they make more!

Also testing my final calligraphy ink color and I love it! All four colors performed perfectly with my dip pen right out of the bottle.

PS: I have a discount link with code JWA in my bio for 10% off at FWP.

🖋@jetpens Brause 361 Steno Blue Pumpkin Nib

🎨 @ferriswheelpress Calligraphy Ink in Sage Advice

📜 @maruman.usa Mnemosyne Grid