#bats and owls on demand

[quohotos]

trans pride bat!

Managed to get it done for the last day of transgender awareness week

[toh-tagteam-au]

Tag Team AU Synopsis – Pre-Canon Events

Synopsis Masterpost Link

Next [Covention]

Alright! Let's get started. This is the beginning of a Very Boring Blow-By-Blow Explanation of the whole Tag Team AU.

Luz falls into the water of the Old Gravesfield cemetery at age 7. Her dad had just died a few days prior – noteworthy because she has not read the first Azura book yet. The water is infused with Titan’s blood, and she is shunted to the demon realm. 

Luz finds herself in the woods near the Emperor’s castle during a storm, and she quickly finds out this place is out to get her. She learns to run first and ask questions later, at least until a 9 year-old Hunter discovers her on a mission. The basilisks broke out during the storm, so the coven has all hands on deck hunting them down. 

Luz and Hunter quickly become friends, once Luz realizes he’s not going to eat her skin. Hunter sneaks her food during the next few days until actual coven scouts find her hiding out. They bring her back to the castle, thinking she’s a basilisk in disguise, and she is brought before Emperor Belos. Hunter sees her brought in, and quickly comes to her defense saying that she’s harmless. 

Belos, confronted with a human for the first time in centuries, immediately locks onto how quickly Hunter comes to her aid. Seeing an opportunity to maybe have a successful grimwalker clone of Caleb this time around, he takes Luz in and gives Hunter full responsibility for her, just as Caleb did for Philip. He lies and says he will look for a way to get Luz back home, but until then she has to keep the fact that she is human a secret – who knows what witches will do to her if they find out what she is.

Hunter does not take this well, and his and Luz’s relationship sours quickly as they’re forced to stay together.

It isn’t until Belos tells Luz around the one-year mark that it may be impossible for Luz to get back home, that Hunter and Luz start actually getting along – Hunter realizes how terrible he has been to her, and Luz starts putting down roots. It’s also around this time that Eberwolf meets Luz and gifts her Backup, the gildersnake. (He probably would have been named stringbean if I had written this part post season 3.)

Meanwhile, Vee successfully escapes the Emperor’s Coven on the day Luz arrives and eventually makes her way to Eda the Owl Lady, who takes her in. Eda worries about Vee being in danger in the Boiling Isles, especially with Eda’s not-very-low profile, and she doesn’t get a solution until one of her ventures into the human realm, where she is suddenly held at bat-point by Camila. 

Camila is heartbroken, having lost her husband and her daughter in the span of a week, and she still believes that Luz is still out there. Especially when she sees a strange woman appear in town doing strange things, and disappearing into a houseless door. After tracking her down to the old abandoned shack, she jumps Eda and demands/pleads for help finding her daughter in the witch’s world. Eda agrees to look for Luz, and asks for help with her Vee situation in return. They make a deal: Camila takes Vee in, and Eda comes by every week or so with updates on if she has found Luz + Vee’s magic food.

Back to the siblings: Luz has been raised as a scout alongside Hunter. She rediscovers Azura at age 10 (Hunter age 12), and organizes a small book club with other coven scouts. Through many shenanigans, it turns into a blown out shipping war that splits the coven apart for 3 months. It only ends when Belos publicly chastises Luz, restricts her creative work, and bans Azura from the castle.

(Link to the Azura Incident fanfic can be found here.)

Hunter, realizing the power and creativity that Luz has from this incident, confronts her. He’s been trying to think of a way to use wild magic to heal Belos, and he wants her help. She accepts immediately, because if there’s a way to save a father figure in her life she’s going to try her hardest. She eventually learns her first glyph with Hunter: Light. 

Over the course of the next few years, Luz and Hunter find the rest of the elemental glyphs, they are officially made into the Golden Guards, and they start experimenting with glyph combos. There’s the Iced-Over Conformatorium Incident, where they create the Super Glyph (the one Eda made in Escaping Expulsion) and have to deconstruct it under pressure while it takes over the Conformatorium, and the Smoke-Bomb Incident, where they try to combine different magic items with the smoke combo glyph to see if Belos could inhale their magic essence that way. They don’t get caught either time, but Lilith strongly suspects it’s them.

Hunter also gets his magic staff when he becomes a Golden Guard, although Luz is told she isn’t old enough to wield one yet. This holds up until she turns 14 – the same age Hunter was when he got his staff – and she is still told that she can’t have one. 

This is where the comic starts. You guys know this to a degree already. Luz and Hunter make a deal with Eda to learn wild magic. Hunter takes Luz’s place in canon, etc etc. Everything up until the end of Teenage Abomination was written in comic form which is WAY COOLER THAN THIS. IF YOU DONT KNOW WHATS GOING ON READ THE COMIC RIGHT NOW. HERE'S THE FIRST PART.

Next [Covention]

Synopsis Masterpost Link

[loomimoosh]

Ok I'm going to say this out loud because I can't include it in my rewrite because of the way I've butchered the family tree but

Squilf should have gotten with Rainwhisker.

Look, let me lay this out.

Sootfur dies during the badger attack and Squirrelflight is the one who has to break the news to Rainwhisker. He says he'll talk to Sorreltail about it, but he appreciates her trying to save his brother even though it was too late. He opens up a little about losing their mother to badgers as well, and thanks her for trying to help Sootfur, but knows it was too late for anyone to have done anything.

In the coming moons, Rainwhisker is plagued by thoughts of badgers. He had lost his mother and his brother to them. His sister was poisoned by someone who, if you consider the canon family tree, would have been their half brother, a person who later killed their father. Rainwhisker himself was attacked by an owl in his youth. It's easy to see how he could have become convinced that the world was against him.

Squirrelflight has been struggling, herself. Being batted between two toms who are both increasingly bad for her, not being able to help her sister, all of ThunderClan struggling to settle into their new home...Squirrelflight has learned that she thrives on helping others. And here's someone who she tried to help and failed, and now he's suffering for it. Tossing and turning in his sleep, scared of his own shadow, trying his hardest every day and still coming out worse for it.

They're both struggling, is what I'm saying. And they could find some comfort in each other. They're both good cats, if a little spunky. And having someone be nice to her after all the nonsense Brambleclaw and Ashfur have put her through could really help Squirrelflight. They don't have to collide fast. Just enough to consider each other as trustworthy.

They could be friends. Coworkers, at least.

They fill their days with service, trying to build a life after a tumultuous move. Everyone has lost. Everyone is struggling. They're no different, no more special than anyone. So they both, individually, put that aside. Everyone else seems to be doing the same. If nothing else, it gets her mind off her relationship issues.

And then Leafpool approaches Squirrelflight. Leafpool is pregnant. She doesn't have to say who, Squirrelflight knows. But this is bad. Even after the messiness, no one would understand like Squirrelflight does. It was a brief moment of insecurity that is now having consequences. Leafpool is scared.

All Squirrelflight wants to do is help. But she can't take the kits without a father. She's seen how Daisy and her kits are treated. These kits deserve a normal life, free from the judging gaze of their peers. A good, loving family. Squirrelflight can give them that. But they need to be ThunderClan.

Leafpool insists; it can't be Brambleclaw. She has her own reasons, and Squirrelflight isn't sure she agrees with those reasons, but she'll agree to the stipulation. It's the one demand Leafpool makes. And Squirrelflight knows her sister. She knows how scared she is. She wouldn't even dare ask if it wasn't important enough. If the choice is Brambleclaw or the nightmare that comes with revealing the truth, she'd rather take the latter. And that alone is enough for Squirrelflight to agree to it.

But she doesn't think she can trust Ashfur, either. Not after what he did. Not after Hawkfrost.

Someone she can trust. Someone who understands the struggle of wanting to do anything to help your sibling, and not being able to do enough.

Her mind goes to him.

And so she asks. Carefully, as to not reveal the game. But she asks how he would feel about something like that. If she needed a favor, would he help? If she needed a fall guy, would he do it?

He's a little scared. He won't give a clear answer. There's something big she's not telling him.

But he promises that she can trust him. He just needs to know.

Her words are his secret. He'll take it to his grave. But he can't promise more if he doesn't know the promise he's making.

And so she tells him. In a moment of weakness, she tells him.

Leafpool, Crowfeather, the kits, everything. She feels vile telling this secret to anyone. But he listens, and he takes it. He takes it all to heart.

And it excites him, honestly.

The idea of being a father. Of having someone else to love. He's lost all but one of his favorite people. There's nothing he'd love more than being a dad, honestly. And he'd protect them, and he'd love them, and he would take every burden he could off her shoulders, if nothing more than for the love of being the father he never truly had.

He wants to do this.

And that's the thing that gets her the most. It's no longer that she's asking him to do this, to make a sacrifice for her and her sister. Now, he's begging her to let him love these little things he's never met, who haven't even been born.

And it's done.

And something happens to him. This idealized life he has in his head becomes his reality. He spends time with her, every day, talking and doting and being so excited about this. She knows it's because she's the only one he can talk to about this. But it's a good show. Whispers start to pop up. Natural whispers.

She's not even the one who's pregnant, but the show fits the narrative so well that no one questions it. Save two. But he becomes a different cat when they're involved. He stands up to Brambleclaw, taking the heat for her. He upstages Ashfur, showing her genuine kindness detached from romance.

And when the time comes, he goes with them. Sees the faces of his kits on day one as they wiggle at Leafpool's belly. It's unconventional, but it's his.

It's no small miracle that one of them is the same cloudy gray that Sootfur was. Another the same dark shade that Darkstripe was, and her and the third, a little golden kit, both have the fur that he does, the kind that squares the face and broadens the shoulders.

They're perfect.

When the six return to camp, Rainwhisker keeps his word. He loves them like his own, and no one questions a thing. Sorreltail coos that Hollykit looks so much like him, reminding them of their mother.

And Jaykit has his eyes.

And when the others whisper about those eyes, call him broken, Rainwhisker is quick to shut the whispers down. He doesn't let the words linger.

When Jaykit begins to echo them, he reassures his little warrior. No one, not even Jaykit himself, will say those words to his son.

Their relationship is just a show, Squirrelflight is painfully aware. But day by day, she starts to see him. Past the pain and misery and loss is a cat whose life has been in the name of love. And he's strong, and sweet, and he does everything for others. Wouldn't let her suffer a day in her life if he had the choice.

It's starting to feel less like a show.

And when Jaypaw is apprenticed to Brightheart, Squirrelflight knows he's right to be insulted. Firestar sees them both differently.

But not Rainwhisker. And he's quick to say as much. Telling Jaypaw he knows Brightheart is a good mentor. A fantastic hunter, a thorough thinker, and a kind soul.

She and Cloudtail had trained him, after all. It's only fitting for his son to be her apprentice, too.

It makes Jaypaw feel better, even just a little. Like he's not as broken as the others say. Rainwhisker sees past all that.

He has a way with words. An honest way. A good heart, a warm smile. It's not just pretty words he says. He's so genuine in what he says.

Squirrelflight starts to wonder if those pretty words he tells her are more true than she believed.

She feels lucky to have had him in her life.

She wonders if it's too late to ask him to stand beside her.

[bidisasterevankinard]

Wip Wednesday

I finally wrote something in this stupid heat 🎉 and I want to share it

Here is part from 5 times Eddie tries to understand why Buck spoils Chris more than ever after his coma, and 1 time Buck tells him why

Ao3

It starts a month after Buck wakes up from his coma. They are in the zoo, three of them, as Buck still feels not best sometimes and prefers not to drive for now. And Eddie actually prefers not to let Buck out of his vision if he is not on shift. Because every time when Buck is not around when Eddie can't turn and see Buck smiling at Chris, and then turns to Eddie and smile even brighter, if he can't see how Buck’s breast moves without a tube in his throat and know that Buck gets oxygen through his nose, and not tubes of ECMO machine, Eddie starts to go crazy. Nowadays if Buck doesn’t immediately respond to his message, Eddie feels stuck near the ward of his second most important person, not daring to enter, not wanting to see the life leaving Buck’s body. So yes, Eddie joined the traditional trip to the zoo, to be closer to his boys.

“Buck, Dad, look, it's a new collection of plushies. Can I have a penguin please?” Chris asks and makes his best puppy eyes and pouts. Eddie thinks he can see not a twelve-year-old teenager in front of him, but a seven-year-old boy again and he would say yes, cause he's a weak person when it's to people he loves. But Chris asked for an expensive new game console for his birthday, which will be in two weeks, and they agreed that this month he would no longer ask for any gifts.

“First of all, if I remember right, two months ago you were too old to have plushies,” Eddie points, looking at his son. He even portrays the manner in which Chris said it to him, which causes Chris to roll his eyes in response. “Don't roll your eyes, Christopher Diaz. Secondly, we agreed that since I'm buying you the fancy console you dreamed of, you don't ask for anything else for a whole month, do you?”

Christopher sighs but nods in agreement. Eddie can't help but smile at how cute his son looks and raises his head to share this moment with Buck, who is not standing next to them. Eddie almost starts to panic when he sees Buck at the checkout paying the penguin.

He returns a minute later and hands the penguin to Chris, who lights up brighter than the sun.

“Here, Chris, I didn't buy you a console, so I can let you buy it,” Buck says and turns to Eddie smiling so cute, he looks like an angel that Eddie can’t even be mad at him, but he doesn’t want Buck to spoil their son. So he looks at Buck with arms crossed and eyebrows raised demanding an explanation. “ C’mon, Eds, don’t be mad at me, please, “ Buck bats his long eyelashes and pouts and Eddie melts. He nods, but still tries to stay firm.

Chris runs ahead on the way to the ice cream cafe, and Buck and Eddie follow him.

“Next time, don’t spoil him, please. We should teach him that you can’t have everything you want. Sometimes we should say no to him, no matter how hard it is and how you want to put all the whole world at his feet,” Eddie says and Buck just nods, but Eddie sees something flicks in Buck’s eyes, but he quickly changes his thoughtful expression to a smile that makes Eddie's world glow even on the darkest days.

“We should. I promise not to buy him a second portion of ice cream now. No matter how he would beg for it,” Buck tries to put on a stern face, but they both just laugh, so loudly that passersby turn to look at them.

Eddie hopes he will never lose it again.

Tagging (no pressure) wonderful people. Really want to read if you have something 🧡 @usercowboy @jobairdxx @panbuckley @911onabc @heartbeatdiaz @ebdaydreamer @alyxmastershipper @elvensorceress @buck-coded @honestlydarkprincess @buddierights @the-likesofus @rogerzsteven @shortsighted-owl @transbuck @wildlife4life @spotsandsocks @wikiangela @gentoodiaz @transboybuckley @bekkachaos

[the-avengers-ate-my-tongue]

Transpassing

Summary: You're a cradle witch, and there hasn't been one of your kind in centuries. But even the most powerful creatures must know the rules of the universe.

Pairing: Morpheus x Witch!Reader

Warnings: Mentions of sexual assault and abortion. I wrote this as a prequel of must be the season of the witch, but it can be read regardless.

English is not my first language, if you see any mistake, let me know!

Word count: 3092

Craydon, USA, 1698

The forest was strangely quiet that evening. You could hear nor crickets, bats, owls or any other animals, only the cold wind rocking the leaves of the tall trees of Mudwood. The moon shone bright like a silver coin on the dark, cloudless sky, lighting the path to your cottage. 

Odd. Odd evening. Something was in the way, you could sense it. The air was different, somehow; thicker, heavier, with a suffocating sweetness, like snake venom. 

You sighed, crossing your arms with a slight frown. Great day for Sonja to go to town and leave you all alone. You remembered her orders; "there's someone coming to make a request. If I don't get home till then, you must offer your aid". It wasn't the first time you took over a client, but never without her supervision. Not that you were insecure or anything, just… That damn sensation that something was off was getting on your nerves. Shivers have been afflicting your spine for the last hour and, for a brief moment, you wished for Sonja to come back sooner.

Steps agitated the grass, moist with the night dew. You raised your head quickly, seeing the small figure of a girl that looked no older than eighteen coming to your cottage. Must be the one Sonja told me about, you thought, letting your arms loose and trying to look more welcoming. She seemed distressed; dark shadows under her weary dark eyes that avoided yours, arms tightly holding her own body. With a better look on her face under the pale light of the candles, you recognized her. Nancy Plath. Daughter of the magistrate, the youngest of her sisters. She was fifteen, if you remembered correctly; it was rare for such a young girl to look for yours and Sonja's services. That could only mean one thing. 

"I greet you, Nancy Plath. Come inside" you opened the wooden door behind you, letting her through. If she seemed surprised you knew her name, she had not shown. 

She gave you the basket she held, probably containing the required by Sonja as payment. It was often hard for the both of you to travel far to buy provisions, so sometimes you demanded groceries as a token of gratitude. 

"Would you like some tea? Biscuits? Please, have a seat. I don't bite."

She looked at you with an uneasy stare, but sat on the stiff sofa, accepting a cup of tea.

"What’s in this?" She asked timidly, raising her eyes slightly.

"Just plain lavender. For your nerves" you replied with a chuckle. You were used to the mistrust of the locals, even if they were in desperate need of your services. When she seemed embarrassed, you assured her it was all right. "You won't be the first nor the last to be suspicious. And, truth be told, you're not wrong. One can never be too careful."

She nodded, sipping the tea, still seeming uneasy. You waited patiently until she felt safe enough to share the reason for her visit, not rushing her in any way. Clearly, it was something very serious and possibly traumatic. In any case, you weren't in a hurry.

"All I say here shall never be heard by others, right?" She finally inquired after a few minutes, still avoiding your gaze.

You smiled assuredly, nodding.

"Of course not. Your troubles are your own. It concerns no other." You studied her with anticipation.

She sighed, covering her face in her hands, surrendering to violent sobs that made her entire body tremble. Your heart ached a bit, and you couldn't avoid feeling sorry for her. 

"Allow me to help you, Nancy. What can I do to ease your pain?" 

"Are you… are you acquainted with Jonathan Gray?"

You sighed. The Gray lad again, of course. He aimed high this time though, the daughter of the magistrate? What a scandal that would be.

"Many girls that come here have been bringing him up, lately. You seem to be the youngest one yet. Do you wish to tell me what happened?" Even if I already know the answer to that question, you completed mentally. 

"My father threw a dinner party a few months ago, to celebrate my engagement with Peter Marcher. Jonathan Gray is one of his closest friends so, naturally, he was invited. My father and him happened to become close with the share of some values in common, so he started to frequent my house a lot more."

She stopped to gather her breath, cleaning her tears with a brisk wipe of her hand.

"One night, last month, my father invited him to stay for the night, since it was already rather late. He came to my chambers in the middle of the night, and… he forced himself onto me. Since then, I haven't got my blood. I'm ruined!" She covered her face again, her voice raising a few tones. "If it was only the… the act, that could be handled. But a child! He ruined me completely. I cannot have this baby, so one of the maids told me about you. I'll pay as much as you require. And the nightmares…” She grasped her head with both hands. “I'm begging you, just help me."

You instinctively held one of her hands, caressing her with tenderness and bringing her comfort. That poor child. Anger boiled in your chest, as an ocean in your veins. Something ought to be done about the Gray lad. You would take care of it. 

"Fear not, my sister. You shall not be ruined. We will take care of that. As for Jonathan Gray, he will not be a problem for much longer."

Your tone went darker as you mentioned the lad, turning your back to Nancy as you started to gather some herbs to make her a tea to get rid of her problem. 

"Do you have someone you trust to brew these herbs for you? I can deliver you the finished tea, but you would have to come here again to fetch it."

"I can handle it. Coming here once was already difficult. Just tell me what to do."

"Very well." You put the herbs on a glass pot, sealing it tightly. As you gave her the instructions to the tea, she already seemed more hopeful, nodding attentively. 

After thanking you profusely, she turned to leave, but stopped on her tracks, avoiding facing you. 

"What… What will you do to him? To Jonathan?"

You couldn't help but smile darkly, raising your chin with a dangerous look.

"Do not concern yourself with this matter anymore. All shall be dealt with. Blessed be, sister. Go home safe and in peace." You wished, stepping forward to shut the door, alone once more. A wicked little smile decorated your lips. You knew exactly what to do, even though it was one of the deeds that had been strictly forbidden by Sonja.

You would enter the domains of his dreams and make the nasty man pay for his doings.

***********************************

You felt your body light as a feather as you laid on the bed, closing your eyes and concentrating. 

"In regna somniorum intrao, Jonathan Gray, somnia tua mea sunt." You repeated the Latin words for in the dream domain I enter, Jonathan Gray, your dreams are mine until you felt your conscience disconnected from your body, a dim image floating on the back of your brain. 

You opened your eyes. The smell of wet dirt filled your nostrils, the warm sunlight bathing your skin. You breathed the clean air of the field, listening to the birds chirping happily. Again, rage made your blood boil. That poor girl was getting nightmares every night, and this foul creature was getting the sweetest of dreams. How was that fair?

You turned around to see Jonathan Gray laying down under a tree, no worries at all, staring at the horizon with a pensive look. You came closer, catching his attention with a seductive smile on your face, stopping right in front of him.

"Well, hello there. What is a pretty thing like you doing all alone here? These are dangerous fields, you know" he cooed, a foul, maleficent smile deforming his already unpleasant features. 

You swallowed your own disgust, smiling wider.

"I've always bathed in this lake, so you're invading my safe place. But… if you wish so…" you began to untie your vestments, walking towards the water. "You may join me."

His eyes widened and, with a large smile, he started to get undressed. 

Once both of you were completely bare, you pulled him by the hand to the warm waters of the dark lake, enjoying how already seduced and under your spell he was. It was perfect. How easy it would be to make sure Jonathan Gray never hurt anyone else. 

"What is your name, my beauty?" He inquired, his hands traveling through your torso.

"You may call me that, in fact. My beauty."

"It certainly suits you." He moaned lightly when you licked his earlobe, biting it. "I simply must have you".

You chuckle slightly, holding his shoulders, your nails scratching the light skin.

"Yes? What would you do to make this happen?"

"Anything. Everything. Whatever you wish, my lady, it shall be yours. I'm your man"

"Indeed you are. Alright then, Jonathan. There is something I want. Would you grant me that wish?

You leaned in to lick his earlobe again, but this time, a snake tongue came out of your lips, the hissing noise startling him.

"My lady?" He inquired, pushing you lightly to look at your face, gasping at the sight of your now crimson eyes and sharp teeth.

"Die, Jonathan Gray" you commanded, and his body was pulled underwater even before he could scream, his lungs filling with the now iced water of the lake.

You didn't have time to rejoice in your doing, though. Everything turned black, the cold void swallowing you whole. You gasped as you looked around, trying to control your nerves.

"You dare to enter my realm uninvited?" A voice echoed through your ears, so loud you frowned a bit, holding your head. The energy and power of the being that addressed you made you instantly be aware of your terrible mistake. "You dare to use the Dreaming to your own affairs?"

As a whiplash jolted your body backwards, you felt yourself fall abruptly in your bed, gasping for air. What the hell was that? What happened?

You were not alone. There was a presence in your cottage, something that made your blood freeze in your veins. You raised your head, sitting back on the bed quickly once you realized a tall, dark haired man stared at you a few feet away. There was a raven on his shoulder, and it cawed, paying attention to you.

"Who are you? I demand you tell me your name!" You tried to look less scared and more frightening than you really were, but your voice betrayed you, crackling slightly. 

The raven haired man stepped closer, looking, if possible, even more pale and menacing with your question, his eyes glowing in the dark. You realized he had blown all your candles. 

"I have an arrangement with your kind, witch" he spit the title as he would do with a curse. His voice was deep, raspy, and you felt as if you'd heard it before, somehow. "The Dreaming is never to be used as a tool for your services, nor should you enter without a proper invitation of its ruler."

A long time ago, Sonja had told you about The Endless, anthropomorphic beings that ruled the domains responsible for the pillars of mankind. She said you were unlikely to ever encounter one of them someday, but they existed, so the witches owed them proper respect. 

Big mistake, Y/n. Huge. You've angered the Dream Lord, one of the most powerful of the Endless.

"I understand my infraction, my lord. However, it didn't seem fair that a creature such as Jonathan Gray should have such lovely dreams while six girls from the village suffer with memories and nightmares caused by him." You tried to humble yourself a bit, but failed miserably, your tone getting slightly arrogant.

The Endless' eyes glowed even more, his voice feeling like daggers in your skin. You tried to control your breathing, the waves of power flowing through your chest, tingling your spine.

"Know your place, or I shall remind it to you" he commanded, chin lifting menacingly. "Are you suggesting how I should rule my own realm?

You hesitated, wanting badly to say yes, but aware of the possible consequences to your audacity. 

"Lord Morpheus." A calm voice echoed through the cottage, and you saw Sonja cross the gateway, putting a large basket on the table and curtsying with elegance to the king of dreams. "Forgive my protégée. She's young and reckless, and only one of them I’m able to correct. As you know, a cradle witch might be a handful in early years." 

"A cradle witch, you say?" He inquired, lifting one of his eyebrows, the most significant facial expression you've seen him display until that moment. "The first in many centuries."

"Indeed. So you understand how crucial she is to my kind, and how erratic they can be. I apologize profoundly for her misdemeanor, and I assure you that will not happen again."

You felt idiotic, as she was talking about a child throwing a tantrum. As if you weren't even there. You felt your temper begin to rise again and, before you could control yourself, you rambled once more.

"Jonathan Gray's been deflowering and violating women for the past months with no punishment, and you expect me to stand still and not defend my sisters in any way I can? Typical of a man, teaming up with your equals, Endless or not…"

You couldn't finish what you were saying, for a hard slap pushed you straight to the floor, blood flowing through your lips. You widen your eyes to Sonja, covering your mouth with your hand. She'd never hit you before.

"Silence, stupid child. Show Lord Morpheus some respect!" She hissed with fury, shocking you. That was the first time she'd ever been hostile. 

A low hiss caught your attention, and your familiar, a black venomous snake called Kyrax, crawled up your body, resting on your neck, a silent warning to Sonja and anyone who dared to hurt you.

"It's okay, Kyrax. I'm fine" you assured, getting up with your legs trembling and shame making your cheeks flushed.

"I admire your passion." an unknown voice made you raise your ashamed gaze, staring at the raven. It spoke! It was a she! Her tone was kinder than anyone's there, and she seemed less likely to scold you and understand your side of the story. "However, there are rules that must be followed, Y/n."

You nodded once, raising your eyes only to her.

"I understand…"

"Jessamy."

"Jessamy. I understand, what I did wasn't right. And I apologize profoundly for it. Nevertheless, there's a young girl in pain and having terrible nightmares for the deeds of others, and I promised to help her. That 's all I want."

"I'll trust you to control your disciple in the future, McTavish." Lord Morpheus addressed to Sonja, nodding once to you. "And I hear your plea. Learn to be more humble on your requests, Y/L/N. I do not wish to come back to delegate you a punishment. As I said before, know your place."

You bit your tongue with so much strength so you wouldn't answer impolitely that you just curtsied with your head low, smiling to Jessamy only, receiving a soft caw in return. For a moment, however, you allowed yourself to take a proper look at the Endless face, parting your lips slightly with how beautiful he was. Now that you were staring at him without fear or your nerves striking in, he seemed to have a light of his own, the eyes that had the glow of a thousand stars, the dark, messy hair, the black attire, the albescent, almost marmoreal-like skin, the heart-shaped pink lips. Ethereal. 

You realized you were staring for too long and lowered your eyes, a bold smirk in your lips. He seemed to fathom your cheekiness, but no expression ever showed. He simply nodded to you, but you could swear on your life you saw one of the corners of his lips slightly rise.

"Until we meet again, Y/L/N." He said in his deep voice and, before you could reply, he disappeared in a cloud of sand.

You turned to face Sonja, who still looked hopelessly mad.

"In my defense, she was fifteen, Sonja." Kyrax was still curled around your neck, eying Sonja with distrust. "Nancy Plath. You know her. She's a sweet girl."

"You were reckless, arrogant, selfish and childish. I'm very disappointed, Y/n."

"Wow, so many adjectives…"

"Hush now, girl! Do you have any idea of the danger we were in? One must never catch the attention of the Endless, have I not told you this many times?"

"You told me once, I must have forgotten." You replied with sarcasm, leaving the other witch paler with rage. "Sonja, I love you. You took care of me all those years, and I'm grateful. Truly."

You stepped in her direction with a menacing expression and a malicious little smirk.

"But touch me again and it will be the last time you'll have hands. Are we understood?"

Sonja raised her chin in an attempt of looking less preoccupied, but she was just a contract witch. You were a cradle one, much more powerful than she would ever be. You could wipe her from existence with a snap of your pretty fingers.

You turned around, going to your room, feeling very important with your threat.

"You should go out and harvest some chamomile, juniper, thyme… even some belladonna, if you must." She cooed in a condescending tone.

You faced her again, annoyed.

"Whatever for?"

"The nightmares you're about to have. The king of dreams and ruler of nightmares is rarely merciful." She smiled with irony.

You clenched your jaw, raising your chin with arrogance before leaving for your room. You wondered if she was right, though. For precaution, you made some spells for a nice night of sleep and drank some of the last remains of the lavender tea, laying down with expectations.

You didn't know about nightmares, but part of you were eager to see the dream lord again.

[allycat319]

Unlikely Affection Chapter 15: Ministry Frivolity

Authors Note: I couldn't wait to post it! This is my favorite chapter so far and I am absolutely obsessed with it! I hope you all love it as much as I do! I am also posting this from my phone on my lunch break so please excuse misspellings or grammar errors.

Summer had been lonely without Severus, we had kept in touch by owl but it was far from the same as being able to see him on a daily basis, tonight was no different. As I sat at my vanity tying my hair back in a black ribbon preparing myself for our annual Ministry of Magic Summer Soiree a large brown owl landed on my window seal, delivering a letter from who I could only guess was Severus. I walked over to my window and took the letter from the owl, patting him on the head before he flew off. 

Smiling, I unfolded the parchment and began to read: 

My Sweet Little Star,  

I wanted to inform you that I received the invitation to the Ministry Soiree from Iferous. I can only assume that you know I declined his invitation as I am not an over eager participant in ministry frivolity. 

I hope you understand. 

I do miss you terribly and I long for the start of term so I may kiss your lips again. 

Have a lovely evening my darling. 

Sir 

I would be lying if I said that I wasn't a little disappointed Severus wasn't coming to the gala. I did have the fleeting thought that since we were in a relationship of sorts, he would possibly want to have an opportunity this summer to see me, but of course it would be a little odd if he showed up to one of these evenings for the first time now after he had declined the invitations for so long now. 

I slipped on my evening dress before sitting down at my vanity with a piece of parchment and a quill to pen a letter to Severus: 

Dearest Sir, 

I understand completely, if I was not forced to attend these events I would be curled up reading a good book at the moment. I will be sure to let you in on all of the interesting ministry gossip once term resumes. 

I know you are stressed beyond words with the events of the previous school year, but please try and enjoy your summer away from the “dunderheaded imbeciles.” 

I miss you also and I can't wait to see you in a few weeks. 

Your Little Star

After delivering my letter to my Noctus, it was time to put on a smiling face and join the large number of Ministry officials and employees that were invading the halls of Rosbell Manor. Luckily for me, I found Edwin rather quickly and stuck to him until I was called away to the kitchens to make sure the house elves were going to have dinner served on time. 

Just as I was telling the lead kitchen elf, Blinky, that the Minister for Magic would need an extra portion of potatoes near him on the table. Edwin comes sprinting into the kitchens, a cheshire cat grin plastered on his face. 

“What are you doing you lunatic?” I shrieked when he grabbed my shoulders, heaving as he tried to catch his breath. 

“Iferous…Needs…You…To…Show…A Guest…Around.” He panted and I rolled my eyes. Knowing my grandfather refused to be pulled away from the sea of drunken friends to show anyone new around the house, so it always fell to me.  

“What exactly is stopping my Grandfather from showing one of his friends around?” I said plainly, annoyed that I would now have to join the party instead of hiding in the kitchens with my house elf friends. 

After a few seconds Edwin caught his breath, “Just go, I will handle the kitchen stuff.” I huffed at his demand but complied, apologizing to Blinky for leaving in such a rush and turning to head back upstairs. 

When I arrived beside my grandfather, shock was an understatement. Standing proudly beside Professor McGonagall was my handsome Dungeon Bat. I tried my best to hide the shock on my face when I greeted the small group. 

“You needed me Granddad?” I asked, trying to avoid looking at Severus. 

“Ah! There you are my darling! Would you be able to show Professor Snape around the manor, he has finally accepted my invitation after so many years of trying to get him out of his cave.” My grandfather chucked deeply and patted Severus on the shoulder. I smiled at the uncomfortable looking mass of black cloth that was now slowly inching away from my grandfather's touch. 

“My plans for the summer changed and I decided to accompany Minerva this evening.” Severus explained and I smiled. 

“He means I threatened him.” McGonagall broke in and my Grandfather let out another loud laugh. 

I could see how skittish Severus was so I decided to intervene before he threw himself over one of the balconies. “Professor Snape, If you would follow me I would love to show you around our home.” I smiled sweetly at my secret lover who just nodded and followed me up the stairs and to a large hallway that led to the study, restroom, my bedroom and some of the spare rooms for when my grandfather's friends enjoyed too much firewhisky at their monthly dinners. 

When we were far away from the rest of the party, I turned around quickly and crossed my arms over my chest, smirking at him. “I am not an over eager participant of ministry frivolity.” I mocked his deep baritone voice and he chuckled, holding his arms open. “Come here and kiss me, Little Star.” I dropped my arms from my chest and ran into his open embrace, kissing his lips. 

I pulled away from him after a few moments of kissing and pressed my forehead against his, I let out a content sigh. “I've missed you.” I smiled and he kissed the tip of my nose, “have you been behaving yourself?” He asked, pulling away from me and grabbing my hand, pulling it up to his mouth and kissing my knuckles. 

“I always behave, Professor.”

Just as I was about to kiss him again, we heard footsteps coming up the hallway. We broke apart very quickly and I made up something about the tapestry we were standing in front of being a family heirloom when it was actually something my grandfather won in a Quidditch bet from one of his Ministry companions. 

“Apparently it was given to my Great Great Grandfather, Ivar Rosbell by-” My completely fictional story was interrupted by the screeching voice of a woman I loathed, Delilah Crow, Or ‘Ditsy Delilah’ as Edwin and I called her.  She was basically a pencil pusher for the Ministry of Magic, doing all of the paperwork when the aurors screw something up, but she irked me like no other. 

“By Salazar! Could it be Severus Snape!” She screeched and I grimaced, looking at Severus and then down the hallway towards the mousey faced, imp of a woman that was now hastening towards us in her skin tight, emerald green gown. 

When she finally reached us she immediately attached to Severus’s arm and shot him a ‘I would gladly suck you off right here’ smile. I held back the bile that was rising from my throat when she turned to me and pinched my cheeks with her talon like fingernails. “Sweet little Aurora. It's so nice to see you again! You look so much like your mummy.” She spoke to me like she was speaking to an infant. I pulled away from her claws slowly and gave her the sickly sweet smile my grandfather tells me to save for the people we are required to be polite to. 

“Miss Crow, it's nice to see you as well.” I spoke through a smile that did not reach my eyes and Ditsy Delilah immediately returned her attention to Severus. 

“I heard you never leave the dungeons of Hogwarts anymore, Sevy.” She spoke and I cringed at the nickname. He smiled at her and before I could catch myself I shot him an unapproving glare, luckily Delilah didn't notice… That man could win a million galleons and not crack a smile and he chooses to smile at Delilah Crow when she is fawning over him like a lovesick puppy. 

“My work keeps me busy, but it is nice to see you as well Delilah.” Severus spoke and internally recoiled at his uncharacteristically polite tone. I just stood awkwardly, mentally begging Merlin to make this woman go away but she stood firm, talking to Severus about the Ministry, when she suddenly stopped and turned to me. 

“Oh Aurora! Be a dear and leave Professor Snape and I to catch up, would you? It's so nice to see an old chum!” I could feel my jealousy bubble over slightly and Just as my smile returned and I was about to say something I would probably regret later, Severus stepped in. 

“Yes Astrill, Please inform your grandfather that I will be continuing the tour with Miss Crow and we will rejoin you in the ballroom shortly.” Now I was livid, but I refused to break my gala persona and show any sort of emotion other than ass kissingly happy. 

“Of course…Professor.” My smile deflated slightly as I turned and walked back towards the main ballroom, refusing to look back at whatever scene was playing out behind me. 

When I made it back to the party, Edwin had ascended from the kitchens and when he saw me he gave me a knowing grin, pulling me to an unoccupied side of the room away from the people dancing in the middle of the spacious area. 

“So, how was the reunion with loverman?” Edwin asked when we were seated in the quiet corner, away from prying ears. 

“It was ruined.” I snarled 

“What happened?” Concern was laced in Edwins voice and I just rolled my eyes and laid my forehead on the table in front of me. 

“Ditsy Delilah…Apparently they are ‘old chums’ and she came upstairs and basically told me to fuck off, and Severus went along with it.” I mumbled into the golden table cloth and Edwin rubbed my back. 

“Rora, if you think about it, he couldn't exactly tell Delilah that you two were in the middle of snogging and she needed to take a hike.” I sat up and glared at him. 

“When did you decide to be a turncoat?” I growled 

“I’m not, I'm just saying that he didn’t have much of a choice– Oye! There they are!” Edwin pointed to the stairs and my stomach tied in knots when my eyes locked on Severus and Delilah, walking down the staircase. Her arm was hooked around his and the smile that was plastered on her face was unsettling. I think Edwin could feel the anger radiation off of me because he turned and placed his hand on mine. 

“You should dance.” Edwin piped up when I clenched my fist in his grasp, trying and failing to contain my searing rage. 

“I’m not in the dancing mood Edwin.” I pouted 

“Not with me, with Salman.” Edwin gestured towards the tall, lanky boy standing next to the obnoxiously large punch fountain my grandfather insisted on. Archer Salman was in our year and a typical Hufflepuff boy, very smart and unusually friendly. 

Edwin knew that dancing with him wouldn't bother Severus anymore, but dancing with Archer…instant revenge. So while Severus and Delilah were busy talking, Edwin and I made a plan…

“Archer! Can I ask a favor from you?” I smiled as I leaned against the table beside him. 

He raised an eyebrow. “Sure…Wait, what is it?” 

“I need you to dance with me.” Understandably he looked surprised, “I want to make Edwin jealous.” I quickly explained. 

“Edwin? I thought he was your best friend?” I could tell Archer was a bit suspicious so I quickly came up with a story. 

“He is, but he has developed a crush on this girl from your house and I want to show him what he is missing. If I don't ask him to dance, he will hopefully be jealous.” I explained and Archer shrugged “I’m not really much of a dancer, but you did help me ace my potions final so I owe you one…What's the plan.” 

I told him the plan, he was to stand beside Edwin and when the next group dance song began to play, I would drag him out to the dancefloor to be my partner. Archer agreed with my plan and walked over to stand beside Edwin and make small talk. 

Edwin, my wonderful accomplice, stood right where he told me he would be… directly beside Severus and Ditsy Delilah. I was internally giddy that our plan was now working and not long after Edwin and Archer began to talk the next group dance began to play. 

I ran full speed across the room and grabbed Archer by his wrist. “Archer! Let's dance!” He smiled and of course agreed and we began to dance the medieval style jig around the ballroom with the other couples, decently close to Edwin and Severus. 

I was close enough to hear their conversation at one point and Severus was livid. Serves him right. 

“Miss Astrill has a new dance partner, I see.” He sneered and Edwin glanced over at him and smirked. 

“Aurora and Archer are old chums, Sir… I thought it would be nice if they shared a dance.” Edwin sounded incredibly sly as he spoke, Severus gave him a look of both shock and dismay. In return, Edwin just politely excused himself to the dessert table.

[chaoskirin]

Book Review--Silverwing by Kenneth Oppel

I always read the reviews before buying a book, but I knew I was going to get this series anyway. I LOVE bats.

I need to put the "bad" first for this, because the rest of my review is glowing. This is a deviation from my norm, but if anyone's started reading the first few pages and thought, "Oh. No." I want to encourage you to KEEP READING.

So the reason I almost put it down after a couple pages because the beginning really doesn't catch my interest as much as it probably should. It seems like it's going to be a rivalry between Big Strong Bat Kid and Little Runt Bat Kid, and while the characters were supposed to be children, the author sort of used stereotypical child interactions, I guess is how I put it. The rival character is named Chinook, which I dislike. It's not really a great idea to name your characters after Native American nations, especially one that's been so repeatedly shafted by the American government. So I have to take points off for that.

In any case, Chinook has a lot of lackeys, one especially, that pretty much kowtows to everything he says. I can't remember lackey's name, though, because thankfully he disappears after the first chapter and is never heard from again.

Interactions after that are MUCH more natural, and I truly enjoyed reading the entire rest of the book. The main character, Shade, is a "newborn," which just means he was born that year. He is capable and decent at hunting, but is slightly naive due to his youth. This is played with wonderfully in the story, and is even mentioned in relation to the other main character, Marina, who is a year (or two, perhaps) older then him. She knows more, and he even calls her a know-it-all in his meta at one point because of her larger span of knowledge.

This story also doesn't treat adult characters as idiots who have to capitulate to the limited knowledge of their own children. Shade has some role models, including Frieda, the elder of his colony, and his mother, Ariel. As well as a mysterious white bat named Zephyr, who has special abilities that have come with blindness and age.

The plot, in summary, is that Shade wants to see the sun, which is forbidden for bats because of their lack of taking a side in an ancient war. The owls patrol the dawn and dusk for any bats who haven't roosted, and are entitled to kill them to maintain the law. When an owl catches Shade out as the sun rises, the king of the owls demands that his colony give him up so he can be killed. That's sort of another problem I have with the book--adult characters of other species (owls/pigeons/etc) have no compulsion to give children any sort of break. It's EXTREMELY cold-hearted, but I can't really take any points off for that. I'm not going to spell out exactly why here, but we've seen the worst in people lately, and I can't really fault the author for discussing things that are happening, for real, in 2023.

Anyway, the colony refuses to give Shade up, despite the protestations of another bat elder, and this starts a war with the owls.

When Shade gets separated from his mother, he has to find his way to a place called the Hibernaculum, but he's not on his own. He meets another young bat, whom I previously mentioned, named Marina.

They also meet the trilogy-long villain, a meat-eating bat named Goth. Goth is a killer, and the actions of him and his lackey, Throbb, mean I find this book a little inappropriate for younger children. I would personally bump the age rating up to 5th grade at the earliest. He's a killer, and has no qualms about dispatching anyone who gets in his way--as well as keeping those alive who are still useful to him. He's an extremely effective villain.

I do want to note here that one other reviewer was like "bats can't do _" and I want to remind everyone that this is a fantasy world. No continents are named--only places--and the animals have been in an uneasy truce for millions of years after a devastating war. They are intelligent, capable, and interesting. I would love to see more worldbuilding, but the amount we got was plenty for me to be able to understand that this takes place on an alternate, fantastical version of earth.

Without posting any spoilers, I can say that the end of the book is satisfying and pretty awesome, and I really couldn't wait until even the next night to start reading it. I immediately opened book 2 (Sunwing) to see what happened next. This review is just for book 1, though, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I can only take one star off for the beginning and the use of Chinook as a name, but I highly recommend this to both appropriately-aged kids and adults.

[misguidedasgardian]

The White Shadow

A "White Dragon" One-shot

MASTERLIST

The story of how the son of a Blacksmith of Fleabottom became the Kingsguard and Sworn Sword of Princess (Y/N) Targaryen

Pairing: Ser Steffon Mangold x Targaryen!Reader (platonic),

Ser Steffon (OC) x Jon Rivers (OC)

Warnings: violence, blood, death of a random character, kidnapping of a child, cursing, typical Got and HotD ambiance 

Notes: I fell in love with this man of my own machinations, I hope you all do as well 😏❤️ and I'm sorry the the insult that are my photoshop skilss....

Year: 105 AC. Princess Rhaenyra is 8 years old, and princess (Y/N) is 6

The hour was late at King’s Landing, the darkest hour of the night fell over Fleabottom, right by Blackwater Harbor

“Don’t be an ass, come back to bed” he growled, extending his arm, looking for his partner

“I have to help my father set up a ship” he answered, tired because of the night activities. Steffon frowned, sitting on the bed

“It’s the hour of the owl” he answered, knowing perfectly well ships started their very preparations at the break of dawn

“Yes but they asked us to be ready to set sail at the hour of the bat” he spitted out. Steffon placed his foot out of the bed, covering his manhood with the rumbled sheets

“Who the fuck are you transporting at this hour?” he asked, at the same time, fearing the answer. His lover just looked back at him over his shoulder

“Their accent was from Volantis” he answered, “they paid at three times that much”

“They can’t be up to something good if they asked you to be ready at this hour” he explained gently, “you are some getaway boat…”

“That…” he leaned over him, kissing him roughly. Steffon grunted against his lips as he bit his lower one, “... is none of my business” 

“Where are you headed?” he asked then, grabbing the back of his neck, looking into his eyes

“Pentos” he answered 

“I want to go with you” he said lazyly

“I thought your father needed your help tomorrow, for wielding the chains for the Dragonpit” Steffon growled, ruffling the dark locks of Jon Rivers

“Damn you are right” he growled. His father never really forgave him for escaping to Braavos when he was only five and ten, 5 years ago, “But I can still help you set the ship”. 

“Aren’t you a sweetheart” he mocked

“Shut the hell up” he bit back with a grin on his face

Jon Rivers Had met Steffon 6 years ago when he commissioned his father a sword, for his travels, his mother’s lover held a small ship and did trips across the narrow sea. they became friends, he fled to Braavos because he wanted to learn how to duel. and he did, for a year, his father and mother, however held him at arms length after he ran. 

When they arrived on the docks there was already movement on the ship, a small crew of five people, moving around, setting the sails and, loading cradles of unknown objects, Steffon had learned that it was better not to know.

“Hurry, boy, they should be here soon” the captain barked. Steffon helped loading the ships as Jon climbed in to set sails

As Steffon was loading the last box, a group of three men came running from the Stone steps. They jumped on the ship, barking orders on what he thought was Valyrian.  As the last man got on the ship, he dropped something on the deck. The bundle whimpered, forming arms, hands and feet of its own.

In the dead of night, it was hard to see, but soon, the child raised his head, right in front of Steffon who watched the scene, completely shocked. It was a child, a little girl, but what was most impressive was the color of the girl’s hair…

Jon grabbed his arm roughly and shook him

“In or out Steffon” he demanded, “we are setting sail now”

“Jon” he called, panic setting on his face, “that silver hair…” he muttered, pointing to the child

“I don’t know” he just didn’t want to see him, so he grabbed he released him limb 

“That’s the fucking princess” he growled into his ear

“We don’t know that” he muttered caresly, but clearly nervous

“You’d be an idiot not to see that… she is one of the daughters of the King!” he muttered

“Shut the fuck up” he growled, surprising Steffon, “they don’t give a shit about us, why would we give a shit about them?”

“That is a little girl!” he answered

“They let us starve while they live in their castles and ride dragons, why would I care what they do with the little brat?” 

“Jon” he called, what he was seeing, he couldn’t believe it. His friend, his love, was human trafficking 

“Where are they taking her?” he asked then… not wanting to believe it 

“Pentos i think, then Volantis” he said

“You knew?” he asked 

“I didn't know it was her, ok?” he muttered, leaving his side

“Mommy!” the little one cried, “my mommy!”

“Shut the fuck up!” growled one of the men, leaving her on the deck

“In or out Steffon, we are leaving”. There were seconds away from raising anchors. And in those seconds, he made a decision 

“Out” he said firmly

So before the last rope could be untangled from the dock, Steffon made a run for it. He took the old dagger hidden in his belt, threw himself over the man that held the little girl, using all the weight of his body to throw him off balance, making him feel over the small space between the ship and the dock. He grabbed the little girl, and ran towards the railing of the boat. He jumped, second before the boat could part from the harbor

He heard screams and curses from behind him, but he didn’t stop, even though if the landing was hard on his feet he grabbed the girl who held onto him like a little cat, and started running, and never looked back. He didn’t get long before he heard steps coming for him, but he was faster, and he knew the streets like the back of his hand. 

“Mommy” she cried against his chest. He stopped for just a second in a alley, to fix a hood over her head, he finally looked down on her, her sweet little face and her beautiful eyes

“Hey sweetheart”

“Those men took me from my bed” she cried, “I want my mommy”

“I’ll take you sweet thing, I promise” he heard people coming for him, so he knew they were after him, so he started running again.

He would have to cross the entirety of the city before he could reach the Red Keep, but he was willing to do so… 

“Steffon!” Unfortunately for him, Jon also knew all the corners of Flea bottom. The blonde turn to see his lover at the end of the alley, “give me the girl” she whimpered, and hid more on his chest, so he held her tighter

“No fucking way” he refused, but as he was willing to fight him, the man he loved.

“We can go to Pentos, and never come back, we can go to Volantis, to the free cities”, he tried to reason with him. But Steffon was frozen in his place

“This is just a little girl” he said back, “like Barra”

“She is not coming back Steffon, she is gone” he yelled back, “your fucking sister is gone”

“She got stolen from us and sold to the fighting pits” he answered back, “just like they stole her” 

“She is a dragon Steffon” he said back, “Dragons pay no mind to nor gods nor men”

“I’m not letting you steal this girl” he said firmly

“We didn’t steal her” he answered, “we are just taking the people that did”

“I’m not letting this happen” and in that moment, he made a decision. He pointed the dagger he had in his hand towards his lover. “I’m sorry”

“Would you fight me, my love?” he asked, his own blade dancing in his hand

“You left me no choice” he answered back, but before he could fight for a way out of the alley, a shadow came behind Jon, stabbing him. “No!”. He screamed, blood gurgled from his mouth, and the man behind him dropped his dying body to the street. 

It was one of the men that took the princess, that was coming for him next with a small sword on his hand

“Give her to me” 

“I can’t do that,” he answered. His parents were faithful royalists, he was not going to let them take her. He adjusted the princess to his side gently, “What do you want with her?” he asked, he started moving slowly, while his contender did the same, each measuring the other, waiting for an opening. 

“Why do you care? uh?” he responded 

“You are trying to steal a Targaryen,” he said back, “a girl…”

“This girl, doesn’t have a bond with a dragon” he said gruffly

“So fucking what?” he answered back, measuring his enemy, waiting for him to strike

“In Essos we have a… problem, a wild dragon is terrorizing the free cities” and then something clicked 

“So you want her to control it”

“They pay handsomely” he said back 

“Fuck that” he growled back, “I don’t give a shit what problems you may have, you are not taking her….”

“Are you going to stop me, pretty boy?” he mocked

“I trained in Braavos… so…” he said with a smile, his determination to avenge Jon burning inside his veins

The Red Keep was at his reach… But still he hadn't thought about how he was going to approach it, or even, how he was going to say the fact that he had the princess curled up against his chest. but his feet kept moving, and soon enough, he was at the gates. 

“State your business” demanded the guard 

“I need to speak with the King” he said firmly, “I have something that belongs to him” both guards laughed cruelly 

“What fleabottom-scum like you could have that’s so important it might be of importance to the King?” They kept mocking him. Steffon just tightened the hold he had on the princess, still hidden under rags

“Oh this is good, trust me” he said back

“Get the fuck away from here, before we gut you like your father guts fish” they continued

“Actually, my father is a blacksmith, and a big time Royalist….” 

“We don’t give a shit you bastard, get the fuck away from here” When the guard unsheath his sword, Steffon cursed himself. Their interaction became aggressive and the commotion was so high, it caught the attention of a tall man dressed in white armor who was directing the soldiers of the castle for the search, he walked towards the gate, it was Ryam Redwyne, the famous lord commander of the Kingsguard

“What is the meaning of this?” Steffon was about to take a step away from the armed guard when the commander appeared, he could see the edge on his words, behind him in the courtyard, soldiers were running around in desperation, arming themselves, he guessed that they were preparing to storm the city and look for the princess

“This rat thinks he can talk to the King” explained the guard, putting his sword again

Now… Steffon didn’t trust some guards at the gate of the Redkeep, but Ser Raym Redwyne was another thing entirely, he was mythical, the lord commander and protector of the King itself

“Yes, actually, I have something of his” he repeated, this time, he grabbed the hood, covering the small princess head, and drew it back. The eyes of the knight opened as big as plates at the sight of the signature silver hair 

“Seven gods!” he exclaimed, leaning in to see her small face cuddled in the man’s chest

“I saved her from her kidnappers who intended on taking her to Volantis on a ship, on Black water harbor” he said quickly

“This is the princess you halfwits!” he screamed at the impressed guards, “Come in!” He grabbed Steffon’s shoulder and guided him inside the courtyard. All the soldiers stopped what they were doing and looked at the trio enter the big training space

“The princess had been found!” he exclaimed, he then turned into Steffon, “what’s your name lad?” he asked

“Steffon Mangold” he answered

“Steffon Mangold saved the life of the princess!” he said out loud, and he won the applause of all those present.

All of what happened next came in a haze, people approaching him, a man in his pajamas but with the broach of the Hand of the King on his chest directed him to the throne room itself. There was one thing to see the magnificent Red Keep, and entering the courtyard once in a while for a Royal sighting, but another thing entirely was being invited to the room where the mythical Iron Throne was.

The King itself sat on it, surrounded by melted and sharp iron, the golden crown on his head, and the first sun rays shining right behind him through the painted glass, drawings shapes and colors on the floor

“(Y/N)!” he heard a sweet voice, as a silver haired woman came running towards him

“mommy!” the little princess threw her small arms towards her, and he let her take the princess from him.

She immediately hug her against his chest, while her gentle eyes looked for his

“Thank you, so much” she said firmly, tears fell from her eyes

“it was my pleasure” he said back, the Queen took two steps back, while she dropped the princess to the floor so the mother could examine her daughter, and she found her a little dirty, but fine

Steffon look now at the King, and bowed to him, dropping a knee to the floor

“Your grace” he greeted

“They told me your name is Steffon, Mangold”

“Yes, My lord” his hand stood beside him, as did the Queen and the Princess, and another silver-haired girl, he guessed it was the oldest daughter, Rhaenyra. The room started to fill with people, members of the court, gold cloaks, and even the six members of the kingsguard appeared in their incredible armor and white cloaks

“You saved my daughter” he continued, “you saved the princess”

“It was my duty, Your Grace”

“Your… duty?” he asked, “Are you a guard?”

“No Ser” he murmured

“Are you a Knight?” he tried then

“Hardly, your Grace, I hold no titles of the sort” he explained, “my father is a blacksmith, my mother is a common woman”

“I see”

“I was… just there” he simply explained. The King then held in his hand the very dagger he had used to save the life of the princess, admiring his craftsmanship

“This is fine work”

“I’ll tell him that, Your Grace, it’s going to be the highest of honors” the King chuckled, and decided right then and there he liked this young man

“So, Steffon, Mann of Gold”, he started, “You hold no titles, no lands

“No coin…” he tried

“Don’t interrupt the King” barked the hand, and Steffon just chuckled, as did Viserys

“Apparently no coin,” he laughed, “What do you want?” the king asked, leaning in

“Sorry, your grace?” he asked

“As a reward for saving the princess of the seven kingdoms, what do you want?” he asked again

“I want to be a member of the Kingsguard,” he answered sharply. He heard laughs and snorts inside the big throne room, but his eyes looked upon the kind look in the eyes of the Queen, and the curious ones of the princess

“Can you hold a sword?” asked the King, a mocking but soft smile on his lips

“I sure can, your grace” he assure, his posture was relaxed though presenting his respects, his hands holding his forearm in front of him, “people at street fights in Flea Bottom claim I am the fastest and swiftest they ever seen” more laughs could be heard 

“Did you fight to save the princess?” he asked then

“I killed the three men that took her, one after the other,” he answered. “Put me in charge of the safety of the Princess and I swear to you my king, no harm will come to her ever again, as I live” 

The hand, Otto Hightower leaned over the King, to whisper in his ears his concerns

“Your grace, there are usually trials knights have to go through, to be placed as a Kingsguard” The King had been in the Iron throne for barely 18 months, “it is the highest honor, only for highborn knights…”

“This lad just saved my daughter, Otto” he said back

“So, pay him in coin, make him rich, but what he asks…” 

The King looked at his Queen, and she nodded with a smile, just then he looked back at Steffon

“Very well then, if you defeat one of the members of the Kingsguard, you can join them…” Steffon just smiled

“I’ve been practicing for this moment since I was ten” he warned with a cheeky smile. 

. . .

The King, with the legendary sword of Aegon the conqueror in its hand, started the ritual, placing it over the shoulder of the young knight

“In the name of the Warrior, I charge you to be brave” he said solemnly, “In the name of the Father, I charge you to be just” placing the sword in his other shoulder, “I charge you to defend the young and protect the innocent, in the name of the Mother.” Steffon was shaking with excitement, “I charge you to defend the virtue and honor of all women, in the name of the Maiden. “In the name of Crone, act with wisdom. In the name of the Smith, act with diligence.” he then retired the sword, “Do you accept these charges that I have laid upon you?”

“Yes I do”, he almost screamed

“Then I charge you to uphold these vows until the day the Stranger takes you. Raise, as a member of the Kingsguard” he heard applauses behind him, he then looked upon the Queen and the little princess who was holding her mother’s hand tightly, he kneeled in front of them both 

“I swear to ward Queen Aemma and princess (Y/N) with all my strength, to give my blood for theirs.” Queen Aemma smiled softly, “I swear to obey their commands and keep their secrets. I swear to defend their honor and serve at their pleasure. I will never flee, nor falter in my duty. I shall take no wife, hold no lands, and father no children. I pledge to Her Grace my life and honor, until the day that I die.” 

“And I swear that you always will have a seat at my table, and a place by my hearth, and meat and mead. I swear to ask no service of you that will bring you dishonor, this I swear by the  7 gods. Arise” Queen Aemma commanded, “As swear sword of the princess and the Queen” 

. . .

“How is Ser Steffon doing” asked the King, Ser Ryam could help a cheeky smile appearing in his lips, drawing the attention of the King

“Despite the first impressions we had of him, he is taking his new rank with most importance, your grace, he follows the princess and the Queen like a shadow, he never leaves their side, each time he has a moment alone, he practices in the courtyard, and he interacts with no one that the other members of the Kingsguard, and when he does, he does with servants with utmost respect” 

“Like a shadow, uh?” he asked, pleased, “A swift, quickly and deadly shadow dressed in white”

Just a little snippet. There is going to be another short stories like this one, telling little tales around the reader. I was thinking about doing one with Daemon, and then one where she bonds with Vhaelar!

Taglist! ❤️ @tearsarcane @integra1127 @aestmilky @thanyatargaryen @tythaitie @lostinworldofdarkness @voodoogoul

[mdhwrites]

The Owl Curse: Or How Eda Stopped Fearing the Curse and Learned to Love the Pet It Totally Always Was.

Sometimes my Discord can trigger me to want to write something. After rambling some base thoughts, someone pretty much summed up what this blog is going to say in the best way:

Eda's Curse in S1: Bit like lycanthropy, drains bearer's magic, functions well Eda's Curse in S2: "Hey guys, remember Naruto and Kurama? That was interesting."

Which is just SUCH a perfect way to describe the difference in how the curse is treated but I want to go a step further. Let’s talk about just how bat shit crazy this curse is from a narrative perspective and how many retcons Knock Knock Knocking introduces that make ZERO sense. Before I get into this though: This all effectively nitpicking. It’s not even “Oh, all these nitpicks become a genuine problem.” No, nothing like that. The Owl Beast is very effectively used emotionally and narratively and its only real problems are in lack of exploration/use of Harpy Eda and the stupidity of the plan against the Day of Unity and that’s more a plot problem than it is specifically the curse’s. So first: What is the curse shown to us in Season 1? Well, it’s actually kept pretty consistent and does a bit of back fill for why the strongest witch in the Isles doesn’t exactly do all that much magic in the first couple episodes. It seems directly tied to your magic supply and emotions, which in TOH are one and the same regardless of jokes like magic ‘coming from the heart’. If your emotions go too high or your magic goes too low, you turn into the beast. Worse yet, it chips away at your maximum magic until eventually you are always at the minimum threshold and will permanently become the beast. (Also, yes, you could claim it as a ripoff of All Might but All Might is a REALLY good idea for a mentor figure so taking from him is not exactly a bad thing.) This also frankly explains what the elixirs do. While they can’t fix the maximum mana issue, they can be a temporary reserve of mana that satiates the curse, This allows the witch to have more tolerance on both magic and emotions that might not otherwise be available, though they won’t stop a panic attack or excessive magic use from causing a transformation, at which point the mana cap is cut even harder. It’s frankly a pretty good curse and in S1 had a lot of interesting possibilities and implications. From disability allegories to possible worldbuilding explanations for why you became any sort of beast, to even the idea of soul animals seeing as both Eda’s palisman and beastial form take elements from owls. The one thing it doesn’t feel though is alive or sentient. It is feral and seemingly designed to specifically make a powerful witch into a mindless monster. To turn the intelligence and magic required to be a powerful spellcaster in most settings into a creature of pure instinct and brute force. Anytime there is any intelligence within the creature, it is explicitly stated that that is due to Eda. And a final note on the S1 elements: We do see Eda’s nightmares. She has reoccurring, lucid nightmares where she sees Lilith but shrouded in darkness. Her actions are of aggression and demands which is very fitting for Eda. This is her way of responding to something that annoys her. Something she wants answers to. Then we get the finale and Lilith takes half of Eda’s curse. Because the final stage of the curse takes ALL of your magic away though, literally any spellcasting power is taken by the curse. A possible stretch but one that works, especially since now the curse itself is halved and its floor for their magic is effectively no longer existent. It’s something that will get them without medication and in highly emotional moments but now that they have no magic, how it functions in terms of the magic they have in them is questionable. But it works well for a finale and a theoretical resolution to the curse. Except... It’s not. I’m actually going to skip Affearances. We’ll come back to it, don’t worry, but we actually first need to discuss the creation of Harpy Eda first. After all, if it’s simply a normal curse, or even mental illness because in S1 it works well enough as a disability allegory (including in Affearances frankly) the Lilith being able to gain it as well makes sense. Knock Knock Knocking makes it a literal owl beast though. It can be reasoned with, make deals and while it looks big and scary, a minor act of aggression can have you realize in your dreamscape that it’s actually tiny and pathetic. It’s just a little guy who got trapped inside you with the power of the curse. And this fucks EVERYTHING up. If aggression can have you meet with its tiny self, because Eda only shows it kindness once it’s small and effectively a baby, then why hasn’t she met the owl baby before? We literally saw that be her reaction to the Lilith dream. Also, that entire sequence is kind of awkward because Eda goes from being ready to throw hands and beat the shit out of it to “No... No. This isn’t your fault. This can be a team effort,” effectively in the span of a screen wipe. But also how about the fact that it can be reasoned with at all? Eclipse Lake straight up shows that it can communicate with its host. That it can make deals and that Eda can even understand it. Why hasn’t this ever come into play before? If it’s an active entity instead of a passive force, why does Eda have to still take the potions instead of just changing her terms with the owl baby? It didn’t seem to actually hate her at the mental beach and that immediately created Harpy Eda once Eda was willing to give it some head pats. The fact that the full Owl Beast form exists at all post Harpy Eda makes no sense. In the finale, she warns the Collector that she won’t be able to control herself before going beast form... But why? That’s not Eda. That’s the Owl Beast. And what the fuck does the Owl Beast about Luz? Instead, it should have been a true fusion of her and the beast. Put some of Eda’s red in its fur or REALLY go monstrous on Harpy Eda’s form since it’s not even as monstrous as most werewolf forms. It’s too sleek to be that frankly. But Eda and the Owl Beast are two different beings. They are not one like they were in S1 where if a fully feral Eda had protected Luz, it actually would have made sense because of the found family aspect. It’s a momma bear protecting her cub or the like. But the owl beast has no relationship to anyone in Eda’s life. It only saves Eda’s life because of the promise of food in Eclipse Lake. And all of this brings up an additional question: WHAT THE FUCK DID LILITH SPLIT!? The Owl Beast has its full form with Eda and since it is the swapping of yourself with the literal creature inside of you, not the figurative one anymore, you can’t just cut that in half. Eda’s beastial isn’t diminished after all. It comes out in full force. Why isn’t it still consuming Eda at full speed then if it’s still entirely inside Eda instead of just being a curse? Or for that matter: Why is Lilith’s beast form different? It’s a literal creature now. People can want it like the possible archivist we see in that dream which... Not gonna touch on it. The point is that Lilith just has a new creature in her that isn’t the same owl beast. When it’s just a curse that is going to have slight variations based on the host’s magic and personality, that made sense. As literal, sentient creature you can reason, NOT SO MUCH! And all of this is without getting into the fact that the plot HINGES eventually on the curse... Still being a curse. Still acting the same way it did in S1 where it just devours magic. It’s why her bard magic now destroys everything it touches. It’s where the BRILLIANT moment of “Let’s counter this spell that kills people by draining of them with their magic with a curse that turns people into monsters, effectively killing them, BY DRAINING THEIR MAGIC” comes from. It’s not good, but it is CRUCIAL to the plot that it can still work like this when we don’t even know why this beast consumes magic at all. We know it likes eating voles. If Eda caught a few voles once a week, would she need to stop taking the potions? So with all that said, with all the questions... Why don’t I condemn this like I do a lot of other half baked elements of TOH? Well... Because it actually has payoff that’s relative to the necessary suspension of disbelief. It’s a curse and it’s magic. So long as it is a detriment to the user, it can do a lot of whatever you want it to. And for S1, its arc with Eda and Lilith is powerful. It’s a lot of what makes the last two episodes of S1 as effective as they are and kind of why Affearances being the last time the two take each other seriously (and not even really that. Eda doesn’t really have a relationship with Lilith after S1 and that just sucks and plays into the utter wasting of Lilith’s character) is such a tragedy. There’s still more there to do but it’s just kind of thrown off, but the double beast battle is GREAT and Lilith’s beast form is PHENOMENAL. Even Knock Knock Knocking and all of its retcons to one big point: Eda coming to terms with the curse. Because we as an audience know how long she’s struggled with it, how much it has hurt her, her coming to find peace with it is powerful and evocative. It’s part of why I REALLY wish Eda had just mastered there and then. They never do anything with it after all and pulling back and being like “Actually, she still has little control over it and needs the elixirs,” kind of cheapens the moment. It’s in line with TOH always not allowing the climax of an episode to be fully impactful (Reaching Out with Amity and Alador, Understanding Willow with Amity and Willow, Eclipse Lake with Amity and Hunter, though that one actually works). Which, fine, but you have to have a point to an anti-climax like that and TOH doesn’t ever plan for those. It’s just another way that the show can say it’s not as twee as other kids’ media, or media in general, when in reality it’s just wasting time. Which frankly, trying to say it isn’t a problem, especially with how the plot handles it with the Day of Unity and all the ways it makes no sense, short term or long term... Yeah. It’s just bad. But it’s indicative of a deep rot at the core of the show that’s constantly eating at it so that its highs can’t ever be as they once were and their options for how to actually fix their issues become less and less. Almost like a certain curse I know. ======== I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead, If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

And finally a Twitter you can follow too!

[quohotos]

draw the bird who bats

I'm not sure what you mean by this. Do you mean specifically a chimney swift?

Or do you mean just any generic Bird that is currently trying to Bat?

[ariaachillesaphrodisia]

To Kill The King Upon His Throne - Vampire Nightwing x Reader - DC Vs. Vampires Fanfiction - CHAPTER ONE

Rating: Mature Content Warnings: Violence, character deaths, blood drinking, gore, dismemberment, blood, hunting (of vampires and humans).

SPOILER WARNING:: Spoilers for all of DC vs. Vampires, but especially spoilers for Issue #6 - #10.

As the tall golden doors opened, revealing the manor within, you could not help but marvel at the sight before you. Your breath caught in your throat as you saw the sparkling chandelier hanging what seemed like a thousand feet above you, and you could barely get that breath out as you continued to scan the room. The floors were the cleanest marble you had ever seen in your life. The pillars were a glossy mahogany, adorned with stone on the tops and bottoms of them. The most beautiful woodwork you had ever seen in your life littered the railings on the second floor, and two sets of stairs led up on either side of the room to the second floor itself. These stairs were themselves covered with a floral print carpet that looked as though it had no creases in it whatsoever. Paintings in gold frames were scattered about the walls, and you wondered to yourself whether it was real gold. You thought that it must be, for no false gold could ever shine so beautifully in the light of the candles which were on silver candleholders next to both sets of stairs. But as breathtaking as these marvels were, and though you hated to admit it, they very much were, they were not what demanded your attention the most…

No… what did that was the man standing atop the second floor, hands causally resting upon the wood of the railing. He was dressed in a jet-black suit with a dazzling golden tie that rivaled the beauty of the gold painting frames. He had on above this a navy-blue vest with silver buttons, and both his cufflinks and his masquerade mask matched the shade of blue of his vest. The design of the mask itself made you think of an owl, with its ruffled edges and pointed beak. The man’s eyes reminded you of an owl as well, as they surveyed the crowd below like a bird of prey waiting for its moment to strike. You watched those eyes dart back and forth before finally meeting your gaze, and you watched the corners of his lips form into a smile. And you smiled back at him. Neither smile was unfriendly on the surface, but both held hidden intentions, you knew. For his smile, you knew from the look of his eyes, was the smile of a hawk who just spotted his next meal. But your smile… well… your smile hid a dark secret as well. For you were not a frightened rabbit, unprepared for the oncoming attack. No… you were a viper hidden in the guise of an innocent little rabbit… and just as he was… you too were waiting for just the right moment to strike.

It had only been a few months since the world first learned of the existence of vampires. At least, the widespread existence of them. No one was surprised when a few vampires showed up. After all, your cities were defended by people who could lift trucks with one hand, people who could deflect bullets, people who could run fast enough to break the sound barrier, people who could make objects out of light, and people who dressed up in costumes designed to look like bats. The villains were no stranger to magic either, with some being able to control plants and others being… well… unkillable. So of course, the news of a few vampires here or there wasn’t really too shocking. People were worried, naturally, when the news of vampire-related deaths began hitting screens all across the globe, but most assumed that the heroes would take care of these isolated incidents and the world would be back to “normal” in no time…

But then the killings didn’t stop. Not only that… they got worse.

Villains in different cities began turning up dead. Not just the lower-threat ones that people barely paid attention to either. Some bigger names began showing up on the news as victims of the vampire attacks. The Penguin was reported missing, and not long after his body turned up with bit marks littering it.

It wasn’t only villains either. Rumors were circulating that Zan, a member of the Wonder Twins, had gone missing as well, and though nothing had been confirmed by the league… the rarer and rarer appearances of his sister, Janya, made people suspect there may have been some trust to the rumors. Then… a little while later… the Flash stopped making appearances in Central City… or anywhere else for that matter. Again, no statement was formally made… but the loss of two superheroes, especially such high-profile ones, stirred up a significant amount of panic and fear amongst the citizens of… well… pretty much everywhere. No one knew what was happening, but what people were becoming certain of was that this was not something that was just going to fade out of people’s lives. This wasn’t just a few isolated incidents that would be taken care of in no time. And more and more… it seemed like this was not something the superheroes everyone had come to rely on could handle. So people began losing hope in those heroes. Some tried to stay inside. Others tried to barricade their houses or find hiding places to stay with friends, family, or anyone else they could convince to join them. There were those who thought it might be best to try and move somewhere else, and those who fought to stay. There were some who even thought it might be best to join them. These were the people who believed there was some sort of uprising going on. A war between vampires and humans. It sounded like madness at the time. Sounded even madder when people suggested joining the vampires. Of course… no one could have known how things would progress. You supposed that, perhaps if they did… they would not have been so quick to judge those people as crazy or mad… because in those people’s minds… becoming an undead was far better than becoming an undead’s next meal.

And then there were those such as yourself, who took a very different approach when it came to dealing with the new reality that you had found yourselves in. Instead of trying to run from them, hide from them, or become one of them… you decided to hunt them. There were many stories of how people became hunters. Some had family members or friends who were taken by a vampire. Others became hunters out of fear of what would happen to them, their loved ones, or their cities and homes if they did not. Some had years of experience and training in dealing with combat, and others had no training other than the skills they picked up while trying to hunt a vampire. For some, they decided on their own to become hunters. For others, someone they knew introduced them to the life. For you, it was your best friend, Rose, who had first suggested to you that you and her should team up to try and hunt some vampires. You had no experience in combat, fights, or anything of the sort. The most you knew was the stuff you had learned from watching her. But the knowledge you lacked Rose more than made up for. You weren’t sure where she learned all her weapons and combat skills from. She has always been very secretive about herself and her life. But in all honesty, you were just glad that you happened to know someone who did have that training.

Rose spent weeks training you to kill. The first bit of your training was all theory. She showed you the different types of weapons and explained all the weaknesses she knew that could help take down a vampire, or at least weaken them enough to let you get in for the kill. She showed you a special sword which she had laced with holy water and adorned with a cross. You asked her if you could get a sword like that, and at the time she had laughed and asked you if you had ever held a sword. You’d blushed and told her no, and she told you that settled the matter. She did, however, give you a small dagger which was laced with holy water, along with a large container of holy water. She told you that you were only to use that in emergency circumstances, or when you “got really good at offing them”. You had assumed you were only going to use it in the former… but after that day… the latter started looking more and more plausible until one day, it just became your reality.

That day. It will sound cliché, but that day really did start out just like any other day. Well, any other day since you had begun training to hunt vampires, and on occasion, accompanying Rose on hunts. You had met up with Rose at the secret location you two had been holding your training sessions at over the past while. You talked for a bit with her. She asked about your life, how your family was doing, all the usual stuff. You answered and asked her the same. She gave you the regular vague and ominous answers she always did, especially when it came to stuff about her family, which she either gave a single-word answer to or a grunting sound of disapproval at the mention of them. You weren’t sure what was up with this, but didn’t want to pry, so you’d gotten used to just nodding or moving the conversation along. After some small talk, training began. On that particular day, she had been teaching you about agility. Ways to both avoid an oncoming attack and ways to strike back before they even have time to expect it. When Rose had started this part of your training, she had been serious and stern, but over time (and mostly thanks to your more playful demeanor) she had loosened up and had even started cracking a few smiles at your jokes. The sparing or exercises too became more enjoyable, with some friendly competition to see who could beat who in the matches. These were the sorts of exercises that you had been doing that day. You worked hard for a few hours, then decided to take a break. It was early evening, and while you ate you and she talked about what you thought things would be like when the world returned to normal. Rose was in the middle of a scenario that sounded like it came straight from a young adult post-apocalypse novel when all of a sudden, the room started going dark.

You furrowed your brows in confusion, wondering if perhaps the power had gone out. You looked up at the lights and saw they were indeed out and turned to ask Rose whether she knew where the fuse box was. Before the question could even leave your lips, you saw that Rose had gone completely pale, as though she had seen a ghost. Her eyes were wide, and you saw fear written clearly across your face. This alone was enough to send a shiver down your back. In all the time you’d known her, you’d never seen her afraid. Worried, sure. Stressed, seemed like 90% of the time she was. But never afraid. You were about to ask her what was wrong but before the question even left your lips, a shot of dread coursed through you as a sudden realization hit you. The reason the lights weren’t on was not because they had died, or because something had knocked out the power… they hadn’t been on in the first place. You hadn’t needed to turn them on. It… it had been so bright outside. The sun shone so beautifully that you hadn’t needed to turn on any of the lights when you entered the building. So then… why had the room gotten so dark… Your focus was brought back to the present moment when you saw Rose beginning to point at something. You followed her line of sight and noticed she was pointing out the window. You could not hold back the gasp that left your lips at the sight greeting both of you outside that window.

The world was completely dark. It was as though within a matter of minutes, time had gone from early evening to midnight. You could make out the glow of lights within some of the nearby buildings, and you saw a few streetlamps which were still lit up, but other than that, you could not see anything. Most buildings, like the one you were in, were without light, and you suspected they, like you, had seen no reason to turn on the lights. You wondered how many of them were hesitating to turn on the lights for the same reason that you were, and for the same reason you suspected Rose was: not wanting to attract any unwanted vampiric attention to yourselves. Another horrible realization dawned on you at that thought, and you looked at Rose with panic, reading the same expression on her face which made you realize you and her had both had the exact same thought at the exact same time. Before, the threat of running into a vampire during the day was minimal. People learned fairly early on to avoid any areas where there was enough shade to cover a person, or any areas where the sunlight didn’t reach at all. Businesses removed any canopies or umbrellas, and the buildings that could not remove devices or apparatuses meant to shade people put up signs that warned of the dangers of such areas, especially those more out of view of the public eye. People learned how to protect themselves during the day, and during the nights people would hide out in houses, buildings, shelters, etc. Anywhere where they could to try and avoid the vampires who would roam the streets at nights, hunting for their next prey. Some businesses such as bars or clubs took quite the hit due to this lack of nighttime activity, but it was a small price to pay compared to the alternative. People adapted to this new way of living, and it provided people with a small sense of safety. Of security.

But now… that was all gone. The sun was gone… and so too with it any safety that it had provided. There was no way in that moment to know that it was going to stay that way… that there would be no way to reverse it but… but as optimistic as you had tried to be during this entire ordeal up to that point… you couldn’t see a way that this ended well. The sun was gone! They had taken away the sun! You weren’t sure how, and you weren’t sure what their end goal was. You figured they would have to bring back some of the sunlight. They fed off humans, so it would be damning to themselves if they didn’t. Humans needed food, and that either meant animals, who require crops, or the crops themselves, which required sunlight. But you figured that they must have had some sort of contingency plan for that. After all… if they could get rid of the sun… well… you were sure they had some controlled way of bringing it back to the areas where they needed it. But while you might have been certain that they would not let all of humanity starve to death (if only to ensure their own survival), it did not fill you with any sort of comfort.

The sound of shuffling brought you back to reality and you looked over to see Rose hurriedly packing a bag. She threw her sword into its holster and threw the bag over her other shoulder. You asked her where she was going, and she told you she had to check on her family. In all the times she had ever spoken of them, never before had you heard any sort of warmth or love in her voice… but now… now you heard clear concern and fear for them hidden under an attempt to keep her voice cool and causal. The thought of your own family came to mind, and you felt the same mix of fear and concern fill you. You watched Rose rush off before you could protest or tell her it was too dangerous to go alone, even for her. You doubted it would have done any good anyways.

You immediately grabbed your phone and texted your parents, asking them if they were alright. You hadn’t spoken with them much since the “vampire outbreak”, only here or there to check-in. They lived in Metropolis, and you lived in Chicago, and the truth was that you weren’t very close with them. Nothing bad had happened between you all, it was just that you didn’t get much time to visit even before everything, and neither party was particularly good at remembering to call outside of special occasions. Still though, when everything had started, they had been good about messaging you back whenever you texted, asking how you were in return. You’d purposely not told them about the hunting, not wanting to worry them. You just told them you were staying with a friend and keeping safe. You waited for the sound of an incoming message and sure enough, you heard it. Your mother was asking if you had seen what was happening outside and you told her yes, you had. Your father asked if you were safe and you told him you were. They told you that they were staying with a bunch of the neighbors and that they had barricaded the house. You felt relieved at the knowledge that they were safe. You told them to be careful and to not go outside unless it was absolutely necessary, and even then, to bring things that could help against the vampires. They told you to do the same, and you told them you would. You felt bad lying to them, but you knew you couldn’t tell them the truth. You ended the conversation by saying that you loved them, and then you turned your phone off.

At first, you didn’t hunt. You only killed the vampires you came across when you were outside, which was a rare occurrence. You had hunted before, sure, but that was with Rose. Anytime you got overwhelmed or forgot what you were supposed to do, she was there to have your back. But now you were on your own, with no one to look out for you, and you weren’t confident enough in your skills to hunt. So, you only went out when it was absolutely necessary, and you tried to avoid the vampires as much as you could. At least… until one day when you were walking back from raiding an abandoned store and you saw a group of figures rushing after someone. At first, you assumed it was a group of vampires hunting down an unlucky prey, but then you saw that they were all carrying stakes. Your eyes widened as you realized they were hunters. You were too curious to look away, and after assessing that your location was safe, you watched the group. They were closing in on the vampire fast, and it looked like they would have a successful mission.

But then you saw movement atop one of the nearby buildings, and you held back a gasp when you realized it was another vampire. It must have noticed the group and come to aid the other vampire! You saw it leap down from the top of the building onto a balcony close by, and realized in horror that the hunters were not aware of this new vampire’s presence. You watched in terror as the vampire raced toward one of the members of the group. They were the smallest of the lot and were trailing behind a little bit. You could see the hesitation and nervousness just in the way they ran. And you could see the vampire quickly approaching them. Your eyes shot back between the two figures and then, before you knew it, you were off.

You bolted towards the smaller figure without even thinking. You made sure to keep a distance away so the vampire would not notice you, using the shadows to blend in. You swiftly pulled your knife from its holster and made sure to time your steps perfectly. You waited until the vampire had jumped down to the street and was just about to strike the figure, and then you attacked. You stabbed the vampire in the throat, causing it to let out a loud screech. It wildly grasped at the knife but it was too late, the holy water had already entered into its veins. The vampire screamed insults at you and then words turned into gargles as you ripped the knife from its throat. It crawled away, hissing at you before it disappeared from your view.

You turned to see that the group had already taken care of the second vampire. The figure in front of you was looking at you with wide eyes, and you saw that they were shaking violently. They looked about nineteen or twenty. Younger than the other people they were traveling with. The others had turned back to you and the figure on the ground, having heard the prior commotion. One of them, an older gentleman of about fifty, held a stake up at you and demanded you explain your presence. The others made no moves, but you saw they were all clutching their stakes tighter too. You were about to speak when the figure on the ground spoke for you. They explained what happened, and how you had saved them from the oncoming attack. They told everyone how you had protected them, and you saw the group visibly relax. They relaxed further when you showed them your teeth and held a cross provided by one of the people. Most smiled at you, though there were a few who still looked skeptical. You supposed that was fair, given the state of the world. What shocked you though was the offer that came from the figure you had helped earlier.

They asked you to join their group. Said they were impressed by your skills, and that they thought you’d make a good addition to the team. You were stunned. You looked to the others to try to gauge their reactions and saw they were either smiling or nodding. Even the skeptical ones were nodding, though you supposed they were only doing so because it meant they could keep a closer eye on you that way. See if you were a threat or not. The figure you had helped, who said their name was Jamie, was looking at you with hopeful, bright eyes, and you bit your lip nervously. You weren’t sure about joining this group. You weren’t sure how safe it was to join any group, to be honest. Rose had always warned you about trusting others, especially strangers, and these people were strangers. But… but looking at them… you couldn’t help but want to join them. You could tell that many of the group were injured, with most only having minor injuries or scrapes, but some having injuries that you could tell were of a likely more serious nature. These injuries were hastily patched up, with some covering the wounds with only tape and tissue. You knew that they didn’t have the skills that you had gained from Rose’s training. Knew they didn’t have the know-how required to successfully hunt the vampires. But it was more than that. You could see in their eyes their determination. Their strength. Their hope. They might not have been the best at what they were trying to do. They might not even be close. But… but they were trying. They were willing to risk their lives to try to make a change, no matter how small that change might be. And you could not help but admire that. You could not help but want to be a part of that.

And so, against Rose’s warning, you smiled at the group and offered out your hand. You told them that, if they would have you, you would be honored to be a part of their group. To join them on their mission. You told them that you had some training when it came to how to properly hunt vampires and that you could train those who were interested. You saw quite a few faces light up at this, and one by one, everyone shook your hand. They introduced themselves as they did so, each smiling at you and welcoming you into the group. Even the ones who had been skeptical offered you smiles and introduced themselves. You could still sense some hesitation, and you knew it would take time until they would trust you fully but… but just seeing these smiling faces… being welcomed like that… a small part of your heart was warmed by the scene unfolding in front of you.

You were with the group for about a month. You did as you had promised, and trained them as best as you could, trying to recall as much of Rose’s teachings as possible. When not in training, you spent your time trying to get to know everyone. You spent much of your time with Jamie, as they were the closest you really had there to a familiar face. Eventually, you began getting close with some other people though. There were two others you got particularly close with. Yana and Alexander were their names. You sat between them at meals and got talking with them. It turns out that the three of you had some similar interests, and you bonded over them. You enjoyed talking with them. With Jamie. With everyone. The more time you spent with the group, the more they began to feel like a second family to you. It was a welcomed feeling, with your other family being located so far away and with Rose… well… you had no idea where she was. How she was. So, it was nice to have some people who could take your mind off things. The hunts were not going terribly either. Time after time people would return with fewer cuts and fewer bruises, and you noticed even that the hunts were taking less time. Everyone seemed relieved by this, and it helped lighten the mood. You thought that people were happy to have their little successes where they could, and you could not help but join them in their joy. For a while, everything was great. As great as it could be, given the state of the world, but… you felt at home with them. You felt happy. You… should have known it was too good to last… but you wanted to believe that there could be some light in this darkness you found yourself living in. You wanted to believe there was some hope to be found…

But if there was… it was not there. Not in that moment, and not for you.

It happened near the end of your first month with the group. They’d planned a surprise (well… it had been a surprise until they realized they had to tell you to get you out of the place so they could prepare) party for you. Told you to wait in the furthest wing of the house while they got stuff ready. Said it was to celebrate your first month with them. Said it was a tradition. You didn’t think anything of it. You knew the house was safe. No one could get in or out without first having to get by the people stationed on guard duty, a system you yourself had put in place. It was a system that had worked thus far, and so you saw no reason not to. You’d be safe, and they’d be safe too. So, you went to where they told you to, put on some music, and sat down to read a book. There wasn’t any electricity, but the house had a record player that ran on batteries, and it turned out that the owner of the house, Morris, the older gentleman who had questioned you when you first met the group, had a stash of batteries in the basement. There was plenty there, so he didn’t mind people using some for non-essential items, such as the record player. You were grateful for this, as the music always served to soothe you and help you forget about the madness outside. On that day, you found yourself struggling to stay awake, yawning as you tried and failed to focus on the words in the book in front of you. You had offered the previous night to work guard duty, and now the lack of sleep appeared to be catching up with you. Before you knew it, you were drifting to sleep as the soft sound of piano music carried you off to the land of dreams.

You awoke much later than you had intended to and got up with panic. You hoped that you had not kept the others waiting for too long and rushed out of the room, ready to apologize for your lateness. You wondered briefly why none of them had woken you to call you to the party, but you supposed that perhaps they had wanted to allow you to get some rest. Or perhaps they had tried to wake you. You were a fairly heavy sleeper, especially after pulling a night shift, so you supposed perhaps they may have tried to nudge you awake but upon not having any success, they left you to rest up until you naturally woke you. Whatever the case was, you made a mental note to yourself to thank them for both the party and for letting you rest up a bit. You rushed out of the wing you were in and were about to open the door which connected it to the front foyer when all of a sudden you noticed something sticky on the floor when lifting your shoe. You looked down and saw a red liquid seeping under the door. You stepped back, hands flying to your mouth in horror.

You tried to tell yourself it was just juice. Or syrup. Or whatever gel they used in cakes. Yeah, it was just that. Someone had been making the cake and spilled a bunch of it. And they were coming to clean it up. That’s why no one had come to get you. They were all rushing around trying to clean up the mess. But even though all of you was so desperate to believe this… deep down you knew that it wasn’t gel. Or syrup. Or juice. You knew what it was… and so you told yourself to switch off the part of your brain that wanted to believe it was any of those things and focused on the part of you that knew what it was. That part of you reached for the holy water-covered knife in your belt, and quickly pulled the door open. You tried to mentally prepare yourself for what you would see… but when the door finally opened… no part of you could ever have been ready to see what lay on the other side of that door.

Everyone was dead.

That was the first thing you noticed. Most of the bodies were completely drained of their blood, and even from a distance, you could spot the puncture wounds littering necks, arms, shoulders, legs, and ankles. Though the bodies themselves contained no blood, the area around the bite location did. This wasn’t because the vampire’s fangs had dripped some blood onto them. No… you’d seen that before and that only left a small amount. On these bodies… the bodies of your friends… of your second family… the blood around the wound resembled that of a bad laceration. Not only that… the wounds themselves were a mess and looked as though the vampire had bitten into them over and over, never quite hitting the same spot twice but hitting close enough that it looked more like one giant hole than several smaller ones. The bite locations looked closer to something you would see in cases of wild animal attacks than vampire attacks, and you could only imagine how painful it would have been. You were so focused on looking forward at the onslaught ahead of you that as you stepped forward, you failed to see what had caused the spillage of blood in front of you. That was until your foot knocked into something as you were moving forward and you looked down. You immediately wished you hadn’t.

On the floor in front of you was a body lying face down in a large pool of blood. Their legs were bent at odd angles, and you could see bones sticking out of their ankles. There was a hole through their abdomen, and you could see what appeared to be intestines coming out of the hole. It took everything in you not to vomit on the spot. Your eyes moved upwards, and you saw that one of their arms was bent in the same way as the legs were. The other arm was resting by their side, but you noticed something that made you stifle a scream. The hand of the figure was missing. You could see bits of flesh and bones sticking out at the bottom of the arm but the hand was nowhere to be seen. You looked around, trying to see if you could find it, and that was when you spotted something hanging off the door handle of the doorway you had just entered in through. It was the hand, still tightly clinging to the handle. You shook your head, trying to clear your thoughts, and then knelt down. You shifted the body gently to the side, trying to see how the figure was. As soon as you saw the figure’s eyes, you let out a shrill cry of horror.

It was Jamie. You recognized those eyes. Somehow… even in death… they held such innocence. Such hope. Their eyes were wide and panicked too though, and you knew why. You knew why they had such an expression, and why they had been grasping so tightly to the handle so that… when they were attacked… the hand remained there. It wasn’t because they were trying to escape the vampire’s murderous rampage. No… it was because… because they were trying to save you. Trying to warn you what was happening. Trying to tell you to get out before… before the vampire got you too. They could have tried to save themselves. Fled down another corridor or out the main doors. You don’t know whether it would have helped but… but you knew that… you knew they had died trying to save your life, and the stab of pain and guilt you felt was more than you could ever put into words. Softly, you shut their eyelids and crossed their arms over their chest. Then you stood up and made your way out of the manor, shutting the door behind you as you left what was, for the briefest of moments, your home… and your family.

You began hunting down every vampire in the area that you could, trying to find information on the vampire who had killed your found family. You reached dead end after dead end, but you never gave up. Most of the vampires you encountered were not all that talkative, but occasionally you would find one who would offer you information in exchange for sparing their lives. You never did, but after stalking them for weeks and watching them feed off of the terrified souls of the city, you hardly felt bad about not keeping your end of the bargain. Plus… the carnage you had seen in that house had turned you cold and merciless, so to you, it mattered little what you had to do to get your revenge, so long as you got it. Sometimes you wondered whether Rose would be proud of you, or would hate you for what you had become. You wondered what the group would have thought of you… but you pushed these thoughts away as soon as they came. You had a mission. An objective. And you would complete that mission no matter what it cost you.

And soon that mission came to an end. You managed to track down the vampire responsible for the massacre at your old “home”. In the vampire’s belongings, you had found a pendant which had belonged to Yana. You remembered it well, as she always wore it around her neck. The clasp was broken and you suspected the vampire likely ripped it off of her either before or after feeding from her. But it was all the proof you needed. You had had the vampire tied up, ready to interrogate him, but the pendant’s existence confirmed that he was indeed the one you had been searching for. You grabbed your bottle of holy water, walked behind him, and then forcefully bent his head to the side, pouring the holy water into the vampire’s ear canal. You didn’t wait around to see how he died. You just walked out of the building, leaving him on his own, with nothing but the burning pain inside of him and the sound of his screams to keep him company until he eventually met his end. An end signaled to you when the screaming ceased, and the world around you fell silent once more.

With nothing to remain in the city for, you traveled around. You pondered going to Metropolis to visit your family. To see whether they were alright. But in the end, you decided against it. You had been hunting for a couple weeks now and while you never left a vampire alive to come after you later… you were sure that word had gotten around about your killing habits, and though the risk was low… you didn’t want to risk endangering them. Every time you thought about returning to them… the image of Jamie’s body came to mind, and ultimately that was enough to stop you from going. You thought that if there was a chance they would be safer without you there… then best take that chance. You weren’t sure where else to go though. You’d learned a lot about the world from the more talkative vampires you had captured. You learned that “blood farms” were being set up across the continent, and that in most cities and urban areas, people were being rounded up and placed on these blood farms.

However, you had heard that one city’s street was still free to be roamed by humans. Well… free to be roamed was not quite right. There were rumors that these streets were actually hunting grounds for the vampires who resided in the city. Instead of getting their blood from the farms, they got it from hunting and capturing any humans they could find. Gotham City, the vampire had told you, was one of the last cities in the country where humans were not being gathered for the blood farms. You had thanked the vampire for this information and then had staked them through the heart. As you thought back to this piece of information in the current moment, you thought that perhaps you could go to Gotham. It may have been the perfect hunting ground for vampires, but that meant that perhaps it might be a good hunting ground for you as well. And, if indeed there were humans being hunted by the vampires in that city… perhaps you could save some people as well. Perhaps you could help someone…

So, Gotham it was. You grabbed what little belongings you had and made the journey to Gotham. There were some motor vehicles that still worked, and even some which had gas still in them, but you did not wish to risk the attention a loud vehicle driving through mostly empty streets would bring. One or two vampires you could handle, but you knew that the second you fired up the engine of a car… you would be inviting a group of vampires your way, and that was not a fight you were prepared to take on. However, that did not mean you were going to walk the entire way. Motor vehicles might have been out of the question… but that was not the only form of transit, and luckily for you, the vampires didn’t seem to be particularly interested in cleaning up the city streets. This meant that all manner of things were left outside, including bicycles. You found one, found a helmet a few blocks down, and then headed on your way to Gotham City.

Gotham was exactly how it had been described to you. The entire city was dark in a way that Chicago had never been. You could practically smell the fear, pain, and anguish in the air, and you could taste desperation, misery, and hopelessness in it too. Upon arriving in the city, you immediately sought shelter in the first open house you could find. It was a fairly decent dwelling. There were already locks on the doors, but you made sure to add some reinforcements on all the doors and windows just to ensure no one came in uninvited. Once you had finished this, you began making yourself at home. You raided the cupboards and kitchen, sorting out all the food which was still good and rationing it. There was enough to last you comfortably for the next few weeks when combined with the supplies you’d brought with you, and you were grateful for this. You hid the food in the lower cupboards of the kitchen and then went into the bedroom, where you were greeted by a soft twin-sized bed. A sudden wave of tiredness hit you and you immediately flung yourself onto the bed, not even bothering to change. In no time at all, you were fast asleep in the newest place which you would call home.

Your routine over the next while was more or less the same from day to day. You would wake up, eat something quickly, and then immediately set out to hunt. Most days you would kill at least three vampires, but there were some days when you would spend all your time that day just tracking one. In such cases, it was only when you spotted a vampire in your hunting grounds who appeared to be of a higher station. It was fairly easy to spot which vampires were in this category. Vampires who were not were often more feral in their kills, and in their hunts. Their bloodlust was uncontrolled, and their mannerisms reflected this. But vampires who were… their bloodlust scared you far more than that of the more ferocious ones, but their kills were sadistic, cruel, and merciless. The other vampires did not pursue a single target but rather went after anyone in the area. These ones… they hunted more for sport than for the need to feed. They still drained their victims, sure, but instead of draining them quickly, they would draw it out. Sometimes it took an hour or two, but in many of the cases you’d seen, they normally took four or more hours draining a single victim, leaving them suspended for that length of time between life and death. These vampires were more cunning in their hunts and their kills, making them much more dangerous and much more difficult to kill.

Worse yet was the fact that they appeared to be able to utilize abilities beyond just heightened senses, increased running speed, and sharp fangs. Once, when you had been tracking one such vampire, you noticed that they used what appeared to be hypnosis to draw their prey closer to them. The poor soul didn’t even seem to realize what was happening, or if they did, they were perfectly fine with it. They had a smile on their face the entire time the vampire was draining them, and even as they were taking their final breath, you could see no panic or fear present. It was as though their mind was somewhere else completely… or perhaps more accurately, it was as though someone else had control of their mind. You had eventually killed this vampire, but you never were able to figure out exactly what it was the vampire had done to the person you had watched him kill.

On days when you encountered these vampires, you would often abandon your other pursuits in order to effectively kill the vampire you had found. You had to take extra precautions when hunting these vampires, as they were much more aware of their surroundings than others. Additionally, you noticed that sometimes these vampires would hunt in pairs or groups, and if you caught wind of this, you immediately dropped your pursuit and went back to your regular hunting grounds. But there were many times when you would find these vampires hunting alone, and so you would continue your hunt. It was, in fact, one such hunt that led you to where you were now…

You had been following this vampire for several days and had even packed additional food items and supplies in your bag a couple of days prior just to ensure that you did not risk losing your target due to having to return home for food or for a supply. You were determined to catch this one. Not only because you had seen him kill with a sadistic glee that you’d never seen before in your life, but because while watching him, you overheard him talking with another vampire about some sort of event. He asked the other vampire whether they had been invited, and the other vampire had shaken their head. Your target had laughed at this, telling them they must not have been high enough status to have been invited. He patted them on the shoulder and advised them to keep trying. You weren’t sure what he meant by that until he gestured towards the body of his latest victim and then told the other vampire that perhaps if they were more creative, “he” would take notice and the other vampire could get themselves an invitation.

This had immediately caught your attention, and your interest was considerably peaked. An invitation? To what? Why was this vampire so excited and cocky about getting into this event, and why did the other one look so disappointed? You suspected that the vampires likely had gatherings or meetings just as humans did, but this seemed like something… else. A general meeting or something like that wouldn’t be so exciting, you guessed. So what was it? And who was this “he” the vampire had mentioned to his friend? It had to be someone of importance, as whoever he was, he was clearly the one deciding who was “important” enough to get an invitation to the event, and who wasn’t. Was it perhaps one of the vampires who had proclaimed themselves a ruler of Gotham? You’d heard rumors of vampires who were doing that. You tended to avoid any areas where you’d heard rumors of them residing or frequenting. These vampires were ruthless and had killed many of their own kind to “earn” their titles. Part of you was tempted to take them on, but you didn’t want the attention that would bring onto you. Your ability to disappear into the shadows with no one the wiser to your identity helped your hunts immensely, and you hardly wanted to risk that all for some rumors and some vampires who claimed to be more important than they likely actually were.  

Still though… this was new. Most vampires who tried to pass themselves off as the rulers of Gotham rarely actually made appearances, and this was for good reason. Even if it was just rumors and they held no actual power or status, those rumors served as protection so long as they remained legends. But the moment they made their real presence known, they opened themselves up to attacks from either vampires who thought they could claim that title through bloodshed or vampires who were just tired of another vampire controlling things in the city. So the fact that someone was actually inviting people to an event was something you desperately wanted to know more about. Was one of those vampires getting too confident, or did they have some sort of plan? Just what was it they were inviting people to, and why only certain vampires? What were the criteria to get in? These questions and more rattled around in your brain and began to eat away at you, and you decided that you were going to have to find out once and for all what was happening here.

It hadn’t taken you long to make your move. Only a few days after the vampire had spoken with his “friend” about the event. You found him hunting in a more abandoned area of town, and with your knife ready, you jumped down from one of the balcony ladders in the area and landed square on the vampire’s shoulders. You wasted no time sinking the knife into his left shoulder blade, making sure not to strike anything vital. Yet. The vampire howled in pain and began trying to claw at you, but you were prepared for his attempts and sprinkled his fingers with holy water. His flesh began to sizzle and his howls turned to screams of pure agony. You jumped back off his shoulders and landed on the ground, kicking the vampire on the back of his knees and causing him to fall to the ground. You grabbed a stake and then climbed onto him, positioning the stake over his heart. You demanded to know what “event” was being held, and who the host of this event was. He looked at you with confusion for a moment, and then seemed to realize that you had been following him when he had had his conversation previously in the alleyway. You weren’t sure how you expected him to react, but you hadn’t expected him to start laughing. And yet, this was exactly what he did. He laughed and laughed as though you’d just told him the funniest joke in the world, and it was a horrid sound, that laugh. You pressed the stake right against his chest and repeated your query, in no mood for the vampire’s games. The vampire’s laughter stopped and he cleared his throat before answering your question.

He told you that the event was a ball. A masquerade ball. It was being hosted in one of the most lavish mansions in the area and was an event that was hosted every few months. He said that the event was strictly by invitation only. No one knew how the invitees were picked, but everyone had their own theories. The only thing that people knew for sure was that, around the same time every few months, people would find invitations either on their doorsteps or in their regular hunting areas. The invitations all had the same designs on them. New ones every event. The names of the invitees were never printed on them. They only gave the time and date of the event, as well as the address. At the bottom was a “sincerely and with thanks” note signed only by “The Lord of Vampires”. No name was given other than that.

You asked the vampire what he thought was meant by this, and he gave you a confused expression, asking you if you had ever heard of the Vampire King. You shook your head, and he furrowed his brows. He explained to you that Gotham wasn’t chosen as a hunting ground for no reason. That it was chosen as such because it was where the King of Vampires resided. He said that he did not know much about this King of Vampires and that the only time he’d ever been close to him was at a previous masquerade ball, but even then, he had only seen the man for a split second. But the vampire had told you that there were rumors he obtained his current position by killing the previous Vampire Queen, and so he had tried to stay far away from the current King. Still, he attended the ball every time he was invited, as for one thing, he didn’t want to upset the King by turning down the invitation, and two, it was the most talked about event for vampires and gaining an invitation… attending the event… it helped a vampire quickly rise in terms of their power and status. You asked the vampire whether he had the invitation to the event on him, and he nodded, explaining that he never went anywhere without it in the fear it may be stolen or lost. You asked him where the invitation was, and he told you it was in his jacket pocket. You thanked him, and before he had a chance to move or speak again, you rammed the stake through his heart.

After cleaning up the mess, you rummaged through the vampire’s pocket and found that he had, in fact, been telling the truth. There, in the left pocket of his jacket, was in fact an invitation that noted a date, time, and place, along with the closing statement that the vampire had informed you would be on it. Sure enough, no name was listed on the invitation. You searched on the front and back of it, but other than the aforementioned details as well as a stunning navy blue and black backing, you saw nothing. A smirk came upon your face as you realized what this meant…

The next while was spent preparing everything you’d need for the big night. The vampire was smart to keep the invitation on him, but not quite as smart in bragging about it. You, however, would not make this mistake. You kept the invitation upon you at all times, and whenever you were moving it, you made sure to keep an eye out for anyone who might have seen you pick it up or move it. The last thing you needed was for some other vampire to try and steal it from you. You wondered if that was this Vampire King’s goal in not adding a name to the invitation. Perhaps there was no method to who got invited or if there was, perhaps it didn’t really matter to him. Perhaps he just wanted to see who would be willing to spill blood… well… vampire blood, for a chance to attend the event. Or perhaps he had no idea how famous his event was? You weren’t sure, but it hardly mattered. It was beneficial to you that the invitation contained no name, and that was all that really mattered to you. Finding the location wasn’t all that difficult, which you were grateful for. Technology had ceased working a while back but there were still maps around the city, and you managed to find one that showed the location of the mansion, which was apparently somewhat of a staple of Gotham. So, there was that taken care of.

The next issue was how to blend in at the party. You worried that, perhaps, vampires might be able to tell upon scent whether someone was human or not. There were plenty of vampire tales and myths to suggest such a thing, however, you knew that there were hundreds, if not thousands, of myths and tales about vampires, and not all of them were true. The question was whether this particular one was true or not. You spent some time testing this, walking amongst vampires instead of hiding in the shadows. You had your weapons close at hand in case one of them did sense you were human, but after a few trials, you learned that they could not tell you apart from their fellow vampires. None of them came after you, and a few who were in the process of hunting even asked if you wanted to join them. This was all the proof you needed to show you that, in fact, vampires could not differentiate between humans and vampires upon scent alone. This meant that the most crucial thing that you would have to avoid would be getting cut or injured on anything. That, you knew, did attract vampires. It appeared they could not tell whether one was human or a vampire based upon their regular scent, however, you knew that they were attracted to the scent of blood. You didn’t have to test this, as you knew from past experience that this was the case. You’d had one too many unfortunate incidences where you had gotten cut by something while running about Gotham, and had had to abandon your post and try to hide out somewhere due to the sheer amount of vampires who had started on your trail simply from that small amount of blood. And that was in a giant city where you could run away… you couldn’t even imagine what would become of you if you got cut in a mansion with a bunch of thirsty vampires… one of which was the King of the Vampires. So, you made a mental note to yourself to avoid any objects that could lead to you getting injured and to do your best to avoid any situations where you may get injured. It was, though, a masquerade ball, so you doubted this was going to be an issue. Still though, best to stay vigilant. You didn’t want to take any unnecessary risks.

And with those things out of the way, you began to prepare for the big event. You found the fanciest outfit that you could and set it away for the day. You got all the accessories and things that you wanted to in order to add to the look and did the same thing. One night while hunting, you stumbled upon a small shop that had, before everything, sold cosmetics and similar things. You found several bottles of perfume and cologne and grabbed a few of those before heading out of the shop. You figured that that could help you blend in with the vampires. The ones in Gotham had not noticed you were not one of them, true, but you weren’t entirely positive that the others wouldn’t be able to. You thought that it was better safe than sorry, and if the products could help mask the fact that you were human…well… it was worth a shot. Worst case scenario, you get a chance to use some of the supplies you’d snagged during your trips around the city. Best case scenario… it helped you avoid detection. You also picked up some additional weapons and supplies, including more holy water and a few crosses as well. You altered your outfit for the ball so that you could hide the weapons inside of the coat you were wearing to the event, and you hid a smaller knife on the inside of your footwear as well. Once you had finished the alterations and gotten everything else prepared, all there was left to do was wait. And so wait you did…

Until now.

And here you were. Standing a little past the doorway of the vampire masquerade ball. Vampires dancing up ahead of you in the ballroom Some were grabbing drinks or snacks in the parlor room, and others were chatting away in the library. None had noticed that there was an intruder in their midst. None had noticed that you weren’t quite like the others. You weren’t sure whether it was the mix of cologne and perfume you had sprayed on yourself earlier, or whether your theory had been correct about them not being able to smell you unless you were cut, but either way… you were in, and there was no sign of trouble… well…

At least not any unexpected trouble.

The expected trouble, as it happened, was now making his way down from the second floor. The long, jet-black tailcoat he was wearing flowed behind him like a cape as he practically glided over the stairs. His movements were so perfect and so graceful that you swore it was as though he was not taking steps, but rather floating above the stairs as he moved toward you. The smirk you’d seen earlier upon that devilishly handsome face of his had not disappeared, but neither had the dangerous smile upon yours. Your eyes did not leave him for a second as he left the stairwell and began making his way toward you. His shoes made a distinct clacking sound as he walked, and you could tell it was purposeful. He wanted everyone to know where he was. What he was doing. He wanted his presence to be known. His simple movements demanded the attention of everyone in the room, and you watched as though who were close to him began bowing their heads in respect. You tried to hide it on your face, but inside… your smirk grew.

So, here he was. The Vampire King himself.

As he approached closer, you bowed your head to him as well, not wanting to give him any reason to suspect that you were not one of them. You kept your head bowed, but watched as his feet came closer and closer to you until they stopped, leaving him standing right in front of you. You waited, unsure of what he would do. Your heart was pounding in your chest. Your throat was dry, and so was your mouth. You tried to keep your breathing slow, but the rapid raising and falling of your chest was a clear indication that you were not doing a good job at it. For the longest time, the Vampire King stood there in front of you and said nothing. You began to fear that he had seen through your disguise. That he knew who you were. You already knew that the vampires who appeared to have a higher status did seem to be more powerful than some of the vampires you encountered regularly in Gotham, so who knew what powers the King of Vampires had? Could he have somehow sensed that you were not a vampire? Was that why he wasn’t saying or doing anything? But why? If he knew, why not just kill you? Did he want to avoid making a scene? Your fear and agitation grew worse with every passing second. You were desperate to know what he was thinking. What he was planning. Every moment of silence was anguish and felt as though it were an eternity, and with every passing second, you grew more and more sure he was onto you… sure he knew your secret… sure he was planning to end you right there and then, so what exactly was he waiting for? What was he planning? What was it he meant to do…

“May I have the next dance?”

His voice cut through the silence like a knife, and yet the sound itself bore no sharpness. It was sweet, soft, and welcoming. You looked up to see him smiling down at you, and just like before, it was a honey trap smile, and you knew it. You raised your head and offered him a small smile of your own. His hand was extended towards you, you noticed, and you waited a moment before taking it. His smile grew at this, and he began making his way toward the ballroom. You followed, your hand still in his, and the two of you entered the ballroom. As soon as you did, all eyes were on you. Well, more specifically, you and him. The Vampire King looked towards the band and nodded to them, and with that, the band quickly switched songs from whatever they had been playing before to a new tune. One that was slower, with just a hint of darkness and sensuality to it. The Vampire King gestured towards the dancefloor, and you nodded in agreement, and then the two of you made your way to the center of the dancefloor. You put one hand on his shoulder and the other on his waist, and his movements mirrored yours. You locked your eyes with his deep, piercing red ones, both of you smiling those same honey-trap smiles at each other…

And with that, your little dance began.

[celestiall0tus]

All That Remained - Conference - Velze

Beginning || Previous || Next

            Velze stared at Marinette’s friends as they stared back. A minute passed before they broke off into a group and discussed what they were going to do with it. It sighed and sat on the couch, tucking its legs under it. It curled its tail around its body and closed its eyes. The whispers of Marinette’s friends faded for the whispers of countless kwamis. It opened its eyes to an ethereal space. A white fog surrounded it in the space. From the fog, Tikki and Plagg emerged. They approached and bowed.

            “It’s been too long, Velze,” Tikki said.

            “What she said,” Plagg added.

            “That it has. Now, speak.”

            “Velze, we would like to return to the mortals,” Tikki plead.

            “Is this what you all want?” Velze asked.

            Murmurs of agreement passed through the fog, but a few objected.

            “Those that oppose, present your case,” Velze demanded.

            From the fog, the kwami of knowledge, a barn owl, and the kwami of fear, a bat, emerged.

            “Min, speak your case, then Styx,” Velze announced.

            “Velze, I believe if they are to be returned, changes need to be made. If things continue like this, we may face another incident like this one,” Min stated.

            “I agree. Perhaps it’s best to set this whole process in stone,” Styx added.

            “Explain your reasonings,” Velze commanded.

            “This is not the first time mortals have summoned and confined us to mere jewels, nor will it be the last. It’s time that we make a change. If majority rule is to have it, and they return to being used by mortals, give us all the ability to do this. Create the jewels for us to inhabit to allow mortals to utilize our abilities,” Min explained.

            “Preferably of our choosing and not the mortals. It hurts seeing them twist and warp us, making us perversions of our true nature. Altering us to suit their whims. Just look what they did to Orikko and Pollen. Absolutely heartbreaking,” Styx lamented.

            “Exactly. With you, we could be free of this cycle. We would have the choice of our holders. Be free to say no and refuse the mortals. Be free to govern ourselves as it should be,” Min declared.

            Murmurs of concern and excitement passed through the fog.

            “Wait! We need to be governed by the mortals. We’re too dangerous to be left to our own devices. Just look what happened to Nooroo!” Tikki argued.

            “Look here, brothers and sisters, you heard and saw it firsthand! Look what the mortals have twisted our leader into. A little tool to be used by them. A far cry from what she used to be. Should we really allow such lowly creatures to rule us? Are we not born of mighty Velze, creator to all? What gives any mortal the right to rule over gods?” Styx yelled out.

            Fear rippled through the fog. Tikki shuddered at the whispers agreeing with Styx and Min. The loudest of whispers manifested as kwamis that emerged from the fog to stand with Min and Styx. Tikki looked up at Styx and flinched at Styx’s smug, malicious grin.

            “Brothers and sisters, look at how our fearless leader squirms under the pressure of fear. Should we really allow ourselves to become like that? Should we follow that example? To enable the foolish mortals? To allow them to mistreat us without consequence? After all, all mortals speak tales of divine punishment, and shouldn’t it be time we delivered our own?” Styx roared.

            The kwamis roared in agreement.

            “But, it’s not that bad. We-,” Tikki started.

            “Not that bad? Duusu was broken and he had to allow people to still use him. He had no ability to deny the mortals. Nooroo was abused by a cruel master, with no ability to deny him. You enabled the horrible habits of a misguided, egotistical mortal child. Oh, and let’s not forget when you two become Gimmi and can’t refuse the little mortals, rewriting all of reality. All leading up to the mortals thinking they have dominion over literal gods! Are we really to just allow this?” Styx demanded.

            The kwamis screamed their refusal while others cried for retribution. Velze listened to them, then tapped its tail on the invisible ground, silencing everyone.

            “I call Nooroo and Duusu forward,” Velze declared.

            Nooroo and Duusu emerged from the fog, approached Velze, and bowed.

            “You two have suffered the most. What would you want?”

            “I don’t want to be with Gabriel again, Velze,” Nooroo said.

            “Do you care what becomes of him?” Velze asked.

            “I… don’t want to think about it. What… whatever you believe is best,” Nooroo admitted.

            “And so it will be. Duusu, what of you?”

            “I don’t care about Gabriel, but what of Felix and Adrien? If we are returned to our true concepts and powers, what’ll happen to Adrien? Will it mean Felix is gone forever?”

            Velze hummed. It closed its eyes and felt out into the fog. It detected the presences of the kwamis of body and soul, Terra and Psyche. It nodded and opened its eyes again.

            “I will see to the boys, Duusu.”

            “Thank you, Velze.”

            “So, is a decision made?” Min asked.

            Velze nodded. “Listen. Judgement has been passed. You will all be returned to the mortals, however, by my choosing based of the concepts I brought you into the world as, not what the mortals made you. I will do my best to return you to the mortals you were with originally but know that some of you may change hands.”

            Murmurs of agreement and approval passed through the kwamis.

            “Furthermore, a new system will be established. No longer will you be called on by mortals and bound to their frivolous jewels. As an extension of yourselves and bodies, you will all possess your own jewels of your choosing. Those who were recently bound will keep those jewels if they so desire. With these new jewels, you will all make the decisions on who will be your holders from now aside from this time where I will be choosing. No longer will you have to rely on mortals making those decisions for you.”

            The kwamis agreed again.

            “Lastly, mortals will be punished should they harm any of you. The closer and well loved you are by your holder, the stronger your connection to them. However, should they ever mistreat you again moving forward, they will face sickness and death. This is my will.”

            Silence.

            Velze closed his eyes and returned to the mortal plane.

[the-salem-devil]

KING CLAWTHORNE X READER [DATING HEADCANNONS]

Disclaimer: reader is hc to be the same age as king! I wanted to write cute fluffy young love

-You’re his first puppy love, you’re his queen for titan’s sake! You deserve only the best.

-Depending on when you meet him, let’s say season one king, he’d demand you’d be held at the same royal status that he is, commanding anybody you talk with to do whatever you want.

-Lots of gifts, which usually include some snacks, or some flowers that he found that reminded him of you, though he might get a little embarrassed giving them to you, especially if you have a loud reaction.

-Him tugging you gently over to where Eda is, he wants to introduce his queen to the cranky owl witch he reluctantly (We see how much you love her) calls mom.

-Eda teasing him by telling you how much he talks about you back home, he gets so embarrassed he does his tea kettle squeal, and starts harmlessly batting Eda on the legs.

-Speaking of that, he’d talk about you all the time to anybody who’s in hearing range, but especially to his stuffed toys, he trains them extra hard to recognise you as their queen.

-Playing together on the playground, he’d always let you pick whatever game you want first and when it was his turn to choose, he’d make a game where you have a really good role or quest.

-Sharing all of his snacks with you, nobody expected that because of how much he loves food but he loves you so much more.

-Lots and lots of hugs, especially when your parents have to take you home and you won’t see each other until you’re allowed to go out and play again.

-After his awakening in season two, and his confusing feelings about his dad, he’d really start to need you, and he’d really appreciate all the comfort you give him.

[pentuppen]

Fifteen Lines

Tagged by the lovely @dustdeepsea

Rules: Share 15 or fewer lines of dialogue from an OC, ideally lines that capture their character/personality/vibe. Bonus points for just using the dialogue without other details about the scene, but you’re free to include those as well. I feel like making a little ask game out of this SO: if you wanna you can send me one of these and i will give you context/ a snipped of what it is from! (you could also guess the context if you like!)

“Pale skin, red eyes….and honestly I question the collective intelligence of our entire party if nobody has spotted the fangs yet."

2. "I think it’s a vampire thing. Drink blood, turn into a bat, hide in cupboards so you can make spooky dramatic entrances”

3. "I don’t know where I fit anymore, every option feels like it's going to hurt one of us, and all I want, all I really want is for the rest of the world to just disappear until there is only you and me and none of these questions matter."

4. “Oak father, with all due respect, what the actual fuck?!”

5. "I’ll not be the sacrificial carcass, having pieces of myself dragged away by wild dogs”

6. “So, he’s just going to throw this expensive ‘gathering’ to say ‘This is my pet Druid’ to a host of important people whose names I’m never going to remember?”

7. “I’m about five minutes away from wildshaping into an owl bear and reducing the population in this room”

8. “Tyr’s faithful will see you hang tomorrow, and if the rats find you first when they are done with your face, they will hang you anyway because they can’t afford to seem weak. Either way, you’ll die knowing that I took your gift from you”

9. “I came here to die, despair had infected me so deeply that I only wished to disappear…That night, the world spoke to me, and I listened”

10. “I ate a Bhaal cultist, might have spilled a bit”

11. “In your palace, in your city, you may demand, order and expect all you could ever imagine from me Astarion. But not here, not now, this is my domain, my rite and you are not in charge here.”

12. “I wake up next to a vampire who wants to take over the world on a daily basis, if you were expecting sane, you probably should have bitten another accountant”

13. “Well I could have just walked in and pissed up your leg but I didn’t think that would fit a formal occasion my love”

14. “Let's get one thing straight before we go any further you piece of shit. I am not your girl, your dear or your sweet”

15. “Fine, but if you bring out the reins again, I’m doing barrel rolls the whole way there”

All of these are Verlaine's lines from Loose the Arrow and I don't have much of a summary beyond the fact that I swear I write some of these just to amuse myself!

[cinnaki]

Prowldown Fic 2

1000 word count

Lockdown sees Prowl before the final battle in season three of TFA to help give him an edge in the upcoming battle.

Commissioned by @rules-and-protocol

a/n: Yes I'm still salty at cartoon network for crying about toy sales being in favor of the movies, why do you ask?

Citrus rating: Grapes

Content warnings: None

Silence fell in the deep wood. Springtime was known for its symphony in the night. Crickets, bats, and even the call of owls settled into an eerie quiet. Prowl watched, echoing the silence, at the hazy moon above. A storm would come. Soon.

Humans had multiple ways of foretelling the future. The silence of animals, the hazy moon, and clouds resembling fish scales are hints of rain to come. He found this history fascinating, but not enough to ease his apprehension.

Lockdown had requested to meet him. Alone. The message said it was urgent. But the wording felt off. The Bounty Hunter almost sounded scared. And with Ultra Magnus dead, the hammer stolen by Ratchet, and Megatron poised to attack, both mechs had plenty of reasons to be afraid.

And so the Cyber Ninja waited at quite the scenic spot. A cliff overlooking an ancient ravine. Or, what is a glacial scar? Prowl did not know the difference but appreciated it all the same. To witness the aftermath of an ancient war between forces of nature on this world, and how beautiful they became, gave him an odd sense of hope for Cybertron.

Prowl sighed quietly, rubbing at his tense neck cabling. He could feel his plating flutter at the relief. He had been holding himself stiff without realizing it.

"Still wearing Yoketrons helmet, I see." Lockdown's voice crawled up the Autobot's spinal strut. Swiftly turning, Prowl met Lockdown's glowing red optics in the dense wood behind him.

Prowl quickly became aware of how close he was to the cliff's edge. "What do you want, Lockdown?" he demanded, voice filled with disdain. "If you haven't noticed, we have our servos full already."

"And here you squeezed in time for little old me? I'm touched." He took a confident step forwards.

"Not another step!" Prowl snapped.

Lockdown froze in place, holding his arms out in a casual shrug. "Fair enough.""I won't repeat myself again. What do you want?" Lockdown's expression was unreadable. But, for a single moment, Prowl could swear he saw regret on the Bounty Hunter's faceplate. "Right down to business, I see," Lockdown grumbled. "We're buddies now, right?"

"No."

"C'mon, after all we've been through?" he leaned against a tree. "Anyway, you and I both know this conflict is coming to a head again." He paused. Lockdown swallowed hard, dismissing his rehearsed speech about how Prowl was too young to remember the years leading up to the last Autobot Decepticon war. Watching him tread the same ground he himself did all those years ago hurt more than he would let on. He wanted to help, wanted to save him, just this once. He wanted to ask, beg if he had to, for Prowl to abandon this fight and run away with him. It was easier than taking a side in a war no one would ever win. But all that melted away when he saw Prowl's expression, his determination to stick through this to the end. And he admired that. That kind of strength is rare to come by.

"You really believe in him that much, don't you?" Lockdown finally asked.

"Who?"

"Don't make me say it."

Prowl thought for a moment. "Optimus?"

Lockdown gave a slight nod. Glad he was far enough away to escape Prowls EM Field, and thus, able to hide his own field from him. "Kid really did temper his spinal struts on this mud ball. The first time we met, he could barely hold his own axe." he chuckled.

Prowl narrowed his optics, showing impatience.

"But being a good leader won't save you when it comes down to it."

"Did you come here just to talk about Optimus, or do you have a point?"

"I do--actually." Lockdown pulled out a bundle of weapons, and equipment. "Good intentions never win battles, especially battles where an Omega unit is involved." Lockdown tossed the bundle between them, allowing silence to once again claim the night air.

Prowls optics trailed from the bundle back to Lockdown. He wanted to yell, to tear him apart for making this about upgrades again. But that expression haunted him. Lockdown never acted without purpose. "Why are you helping us? Didn't Megatron pay you enough?"

"Let us just say you bots are a group I can get behind. Maybe he can change Cybertron for the better. Maybe he can't. But we won't know if all of you die before it's over. I know you're not used to being told this, but it's your choice this time, Prowl. Make it a good one."

Lockdown turned swiftly, disappearing in the dark. The fear of possibly losing Prowl had overcome him, and he could no longer keep his vocalizer in check.

Prowl reached out after the mech, but let him go. His attention fell to the upgrades Lockdown had left behind. Most of which he would not know what to do with. Odds and ends that maybe Ratchet could make sense of. But a small bag of inverters caught his attention. They were built for helping regulate energy flow, something that could be very useful in Processor over Matter manipulation.

The ninja sighed, grabbing this new gear and stowing it away. Nothing explosive, so he would be able to safely take it to someone who would know what these were, and how best to use them for the storm to come.

[sepublic]

            I know it’s super corny, but seeing as how A Christmas Carol has always been a comfort story for me as a kid… Imagine an AU in its likeness for The Owl House; With Belos, of course, playing the role of Ebenezer Scrooge. He truly is a miserable old man with a sympathetic backstory, even if he did veer into VERY unsympathetic territory as he grew up. I guess it’s a bit of selfish wish-fulfillment to see him let go of the bitterness and be happy again, for once.

         Instead of hating Christmas, he hates magic in general, and by the time of the story, a holiday dedicated to magic is rolling around and “Uncle Phil” is less than pleased. Hunter plays the role of Nephew Fred, who else? He and his friends at dinner are the other kids, the Emerald Entrails, and possibly additional classmates, as well as Darius and Eberwolf, etc.

         Jacob Marley goes to… Maybe THE Witchfinder General, Matthew Hopkins? Of historical fame, the inspiration for Jacob Hopkins, the precedent of the title Philip looks up to, a man who lived in the same time period and area as him? That or Terra Snapdragon, or maybe Osran since he’s Oracle Coven and it’s related to ghosts, but those two seem kind of a stretch, especially since they’re nevertheless witches. Or Bill! Yeah he’s also a witch, but him and Belos seem to have parallels as those who lead a society they’ve manipulated and filter their perception of the Collector, all for their own ends.

         Bob Cratchit… Ultimately I settled for Lilith, as a beleaguered assistant whom has a family to look after and attend to. I DID consider Kikimora for the role, since she’s short like Bob (at least the version of him I’m familiar with), and in canon had a family she struggled to go home to. But in the end, while I would like to give Kiki some more love, Lilith has a family of characters we’ve actually seen and know; And since the Clawthornes are clearly related to him, that makes for another side of the family for Phil to accept and embrace for once, though whether he knows the connection, I dunno.

         Lilith is at this point her nerdy self, not quite repressed given the VERY different context, but still a bit too lenient towards her employer. Tiny Tim will be her nephew, King Clawthorne; They’re both wittle guys and the baby of their families. Not that it’d happen in canon, but Philip is actually concerned for the wellbeing of this little Titan when he finds out.

         It’s Bump and the Illusion teacher that ask Belos for donations; They’re both older characters who care about kids and support their efforts in magic, so it feels sensible to me.

         The Ghost of Christmas Past is the Collector; Short, young, scary angels associated with light. The Collector is tied a lot to Philip’s past and privy to many aspects of it, witnessing his transition from Philip to Belos in the present-day. Similarly, the Ghost of Christmas Past torments Scrooge with visions of his past, his worst memories and regrets; In canon, the Collector plays the role of The Fool, in the sense that they serve as a reckless, teasing voice of narrative commentary on Belos’ folly, and his insecurity over his home and himself changing over the centuries.

         The Collector is privy and witness to a lot of past deeds and secrets of Belos that would otherwise be lost to time; They take Philip on a visit to his childhood home in Gravesfield. Pip’s lonely at the school, but his older brother Caleb is here to pick him up, and celebrate Christmas with him! Alas, he ‘lost’ Caleb to Evelyn, and Caleb died, leaving his nephew Hunter. Philip remembers other figures from his past, including a love whom he fell out with due to his bigotry; And much to his agony, the Collector shows him how said love has moved on and married again, and now even has children, too! Philip demands the Collector torment him no longer, and uses the disk to seal them away.

         Then comes the Ghost of Christmas Present… Which, this may change in the future; But for now, I’ve tentatively chosen the Bat Queen; The Ghost of Christmas Present is very reminiscent of Santa and a parental figure. The Bat Queen is a maternal figure, granting palismen to kids. She sheds light on the plight of the Clawthornes (yeah, Raine is there with Eda), especially Tiny King, who is in poor health. We get to see a community of construction witches celebrating with their families, including Mason and his sons, Steve and Mattholomule. Salty and his crew make cameos, as do Malphas and the librarians, or the Demon Hunters.

         Belos gets to see Hunter having dinner with his friends without him, in which he hears the kids’ dislike of Belos; But Hunter really does care for his uncle and while he’s rightfully frustrated, wishes the best and no ill will. The Bat Queen’s shift ends with a haunting reminder of palismen who have been abused and died, as an homage to Ignorance and Want in the original; Maybe Flapjack is one of them.

         Finally, we have the Ghost of Christmas Future. I’ve considered the Titan himself for this; A skeletal, death-related figure, enigmatic, who’s never really spoken, and rather mysterious for it. He appears as a dark silhouette towering over everything, pointing and directing Belos to where he needs to go. Or Grometheus; A dark entity who embodies one’s worst fears, which is particularly topical here.

         The dudes who discuss only visiting Belos’ funeral if lunch is provided; Maybe Tibbles and Piniet (they are capitalists), or Coven Heads like Terra, Osran, Vitimir, etc. Kikimora is the one who loots Belos’ corpse, because she totally would; In canon, she’s a lot closer to his private matters than he knows or would like, and intent on seizing some of that power for herself after all. Maybe Wrath is also there as a fellow scavenger, as well as unnamed Coven captains; Maybe Severine too. Employees who don’t appreciate this dude and who can blame them?

         Not sure who’s going to be the couple that’s glad Philip is dead; I don’t want it to be the parents of any of the kids, or else it’d be insensitive for Hunter to vouch for his uncle in front of them. Maybe the two old ladies that Steve cried over? Boscha’s parents, Larry and their partner? Prim and one of the Demon Hunters…Roselle and Dottie, those ladies who kidnapped Eda-in-King’s-body???

         Philip learns that Tiny King has died and is devastated. And lo and behold, he finds out who it is that nobody’s been mourning; It’s himself, Philip Wittebane! He promises the Ghost of Future that he’ll change, falls into his grave… And awakens on the floor of his bedroom, still alive and with a newfound chance at life!

        Not sure who’s the kid he asks to buy a turkey for him; Maybe Braxas? Philip makes amends with his nephew Hunter and his found family, coming over for dinner; And the next morning, he vows to be better to Lilith and the Clawthornes, helping look after Tiny King and becoming like another father to him! King ends the story by declaring Titan bless us, everyone!