#each leaf held an answer;; memes

[hortusdea]

👍 for a headcanon about things they like

While the easiest answer would be a most creative and colorful speech about plants and the beauty within them, should one ask Penelope Borgin about things that she likes, there are answers that go beyond that. The Gryffindor has a fondness hot chocolate with cinnamon sprinkled on top. On any day, especially those filled with sadder moments, the simple addition of her favorite drink can alter the perception of the whole day and turn something sour into something nice. At the end of the day the drink reminds her of home, of her childhood and her brother and the way things should be in the world much rather than the darkness they've all come to live in.

[gins-potter]

What are your winx and specialists tattoo headcanons? Who would have tattoos and which one would they have?

Heyo, as usual sorry this took me a little bit but I wanted to properly organise my thoughts and find reference pics as well. and tbh I could end up coming up with more stuff but this is what I have so far.  (under the cut because it ended up kinda long af and tagging @catlliecal​ because she also sent an ask asking for this).

Bloom:

Ok so my headcanons for Bloom’s tattoos have changed a bit over the years 

but at the moment I imagine her with a fairly large hip into thigh, full coverage piece of the Great Dragon

she chose it’s position because i imagine oritel is probably a conservative old man when it comes to tats (even tho i can so see miriam also having a dragon tattoo) so she puts it on her thigh so she can easily cover it by wearing a long dress for royal events

it would probably be in black and white but I can see the Dragon being intertwined with some flowers, probably Daphne flowers for her sister (which you can see in the two images on the right) and I can see those being coloured a pale pink kind of like in the middle reference pic

and because this is the magical dimension i imagine it’s been spelled so while it stays confined to the one area, it can move a little bit and change positions

so because bloom is both a basic bitch and completely extra i totally see her having more than one dragon tat

her second one would be a lot smaller and probably be a lot more simpler in design compared to her thigh dragon, so something more like the top two images in the second graphic

also in all black but maybe spelled to breathe red fire?

and it would also be enchanted so it can fly around her body, and unlike the bigger dragon it’s not constrained to any area - it’s favourite places to be are flying in circles around her wrist or sitting on her left collarbone over her heart

the other two pics in the second graphic are just older ideas i had for bloom’s tattoos, i was convinced for ages she would have it going down her back like the one on the left (i might eventually give this tattoo to either miriam or daphne) and i just love the design of the one on the right so i briefly considered her having like a shoulder/half sleeve dragon

Flora:

all of flora’s would be in colour i think and she would definitely have that sort of water colour effect on them that’s really popular now

her first two are similar in design to the pic on the left and she would have them on either side of her torso, sort of upper rib area, to the side/just underneath her boobs and they’re like a mirror image of each other

these ones probably wouldn’t be spelled to do anything special

the one on her back is similar in design to the pic on the right, but i can see it also being drawn more like a full tree

the writing down the centre would be her and helia’s family names (because i can definitely see them hyphenating when they get married) and then on each leaf is a name, first helia, then each of her children

i’m playing around with the idea of this one being spelled to change with the seasons, the writing would always stay the same, but the leaves change colour and eventually fall off during autumn and then grow back in the spring.

Layla:

for the moment i can actually see layla only having one tattoo

and that’s this yin yang/opposites fish design that you can see in the reference images (they’re all more or less the same i just found too many cute photos)

it’s actually based on a mosaic in the andros castle that layla loves, and she gets it because it brings her peace when she’s feeling upset or anxious about anything

they would be all in white, one fully white, and the other just a white outline

i think the fish would probably be on the inside of her forearm so she can see them and they would be spelled to swim in circles around each other

i can see her maybe getting nabu’s name somewhere after he dies but i’m not 100% sure where she would put it

Musa:

musa’s are actually the hardest to pin down for me just because i can see her having A Lot

like at least one full sleeve and maybe two

one sleeve would be mostly made up of the music notes for a song her dad wrote for her mother before she died and that would run down most of her arm and would be decorated with birds and flowers important to melodian culture (like the flower top right)

like bloom’s hers would be mostly in black with a few pale red and orange accents here and there

the music notes would be spelled so that when you touch them they play the song

her other arm is more just a collection of stuff she thinks is cool or pretty like the bottom two pics or the boxing art below

and i can eventually see her completely filling her arms so the tattoos spill onto her back

Stella:

stella in my opinion just has two

they’re very minimalistic designs, plain black, and on the inside of either elbow

she has a sun for solaria on one side and a moon for celestia (her mother’s home realm) on the other side

the moon tattoo causes quite the controversy when she gets it because some solarians think it isn’t right for their crown princess to show such strong ties for another realm but stella refuses to remove it

they aren’t spelled to move or change or anything but they do have the ability to glow a bright gold at night

Tecna:

like stella, tecna’s tattoos are rather minimalistic as well

but unlike stella, tecna’s are very meme-y

literally

tecna gets a QR symbol on the inside of her upper left arm that when scanned is actually a rick-roll

and she eventually develops a spell for it that allows the QR code to change so that it takes you to whatever meme tecna currently finds the most hilarious

her other tattoo, which is on her right forearm, is written in binary code and no one actually knows what it says

they can never get a straight answer out of tecna about what it is, and everytime someone asks her she tells them something different, so they assume it’s meme-y like her other one

but actually it’s a short sappy quote that reminds her of timmy but she’ll never admit it to anyone

(don’t ask me what that quote is i haven’t decided yet)

that one has a simple spell on it that makes it look like someone is typing out the code over and over again

kind of like musa i can see tecna having more tattoos than this, i just can’t decide what they would be, but i think they would all follow the same simple, minimalistic design

Specialists:

it was hard for me to find reference pics i liked for the guys so i’m just going to give a brief description of some of the tattoos i think they would have

i don’t know if i’ve written about this on tumblr before, but i have a long-held headcanon that heros have a big tattoo culture:

getting their first tattoo is part of their graduation ceremony from red fountain

they’re encouraged to get tattoos that remind them of their family/friends/loved ones - some yada yada about remembering who they’re fighting for when facing evil forces

and it’s very common to honour fallen team members by getting a tattoo of their name or something that reminds them of the person

Sky:

sky’s tattoos are mostly on his chest and back

his graduation tattoo is an eraklyon prayer of protection that runs down his spine

he doesn’t get any other tattoos after that until nabu dies which is when he gets his friend’s name on his ribs (right side) and that’s where he adds other names of fallen friends/team-mates

later after he and bloom get married he gets her name on his left pec (right over his heart the big sap) and then adds his kids names beneath it after they’re born

none of sky’s tattoos are spelled or enchanted

Brandon:

brandon’s grad tattoo is a list of his siblings names on his left forearm and Stella’s name on his right arm

eventually, like sky, he also gets his kids names added to stella’s

all his name tattoos are individually spelled to burn really hot when that person is in trouble

brandon struggles to decide for a while where to put nabu’s name but eventually decides on the centre of his back because he likes to think that wherever nabu went after he died, he’s still there in spirit watching his back

Riven:

riven shocks the fuck out of everyone when he graduates and gets the red fountain school motto (”live with courage and die with honour”) tattooed in giant fuck off lettering across his shoulders

they all figured he lowkey hated red fountain and maybe he did at first because come on he’s a rebel without a cause at what is basically a military school, of course he kinda hates it there

but he also acknowledges that red fountain more or less turned his life around as well as brought him into contact with the people who eventually he comes to regard as family (much more than his biological one)

like musa i can see riven getting a bunch of other tattoos just because they look cool and putting them all over his arms, chest, and back

but his right bicep would be reserved for tattoos of his fallen friends

unlike sky and brandon he doesn’t get names however, but instead gets symbols, the first being a likeness of nabu’s staff after he passes

Helia:

helia i think would have all of his on his back because he understands the importance of having them but also doesn’t need to see them every day

his grad piece is kind of unorthodox because he gets his favourite line of poetry to remind him that there’s still beauty in the world even when he’s facing evil

later i feel like he would get something like outstretched bird wings just below it

and under that he gets nabu’s name in really nice script

Timmy:

timmy is probably the least prone to tattoos of the group and he has to think for a long time on what to get for graduation

and people assure him that he doesn’t actually have to get one just because most everyone else is

but eventually he decides to get a small coloured blaster on the inside of his elbow

when he was in freshman year at red fountain he was lowkey ashamed when all his classmates took to using swords almost straight away while he preferred using his gun because he thought it meant he lacked the physical strength and courage to use a short range weapon

but he slowly came to realise that it wasn’t a weakness, but just that he had different strengths to his friends and classmates and that wasn’t a bad thing

so he decides that’s a good thing to remember

and when nabu dies again he debates whether or not to get a tattoo commemorating him but ultimately decides he will and gets ‘his name written near his blaster

[botwstoriesandsuch]

Oblivious Actions (snippet)

A teaser appears!

This is for a request I got for a Revali x Reader, and its the thing I posted the “no context” memes about. This is just like, a third or maybe a fourth of the full thing. Any critiques or typos found are appreciated! Anyway, Enjoy :P

It was a perfect day to disobey your elders.

The sky was just waking, strokes of rose and honey painted the edges of the horizon. The wind was crisp, and playful, ruffling through his feathers as he flew. Lake Totori glistened below. Sunlight shone across a bright blue expanse, laced with only a few, white clouds. The plateaus surrounding the area were dotted with pine trees, their umber trunks rooted to the ground. The air was open and infinite, gliding through the sky and observing the tiny specks of nature below filled him with a sense of wonder. Revali flapped his little wings down towards the forest.

HA! See? I’m already an expert flyer! I can explore as much of the world as I want, without any adults. I’m not a kid anymore!

The Rito baby blush marks that painted his cheeks said otherwise.

Even though Rito under 10 years of age were heavily discouraged from venturing beyond the bridges, Revali had decided he was big enough to go where he wanted. Behind him, the towering spire of Rito Village continued to shrink. To his left, the jutting figure of a wooden horse head could be seen. Hylians are so weird, needing other animals in order to move around. The stable in the distance then drowned into an evergreen sea. Gliding closer to the earth, the view of the sky was now covered with dry pine needles and brittle branches. He focused his attention to what was under him, trying to find a safe place to land. The breeze cooled and quickened. Revali angled his wings downward, trying to move his body to land gracefully among the trees.

He would fail.

There was a small clearing in the middle of the grove, a dirt path that travelers would use to hike between Warbler’s Nest and Rito Stable. Supposedly, following the trail even further up would lead to the infamous Hebra Peaks, a mountain range that lay just outside the view from his house, full of secrets and sights that no one has ever explored. Being the child that he was, naivety clouded his judgement, as Revali had ignored the warnings given to him about monsters nestled in the woods. Revali was desperate to get out of the village as soon as he grew enough feathers for it. 

Trying to plan his descent, he positioned himself at an angle, moving his weight, ready to land. His feet shifted forward, ready to grip onto something solid, but the wind suddenly changed. It’s direction altered only slightly, but it was enough to catch him off guard. Flailing his wings, Revali tried to catch the current under his wings again, but it was no use, the current keeping him in the air was gone, and his baby wings weren’t big enough to flap a large gust of his own. A stray branch knocking into his side, the little Rito tumbled into the dirt. 

“Gaah!” he grunted, panic coursing through him.

Revali plunged through the trees, not unlike how a snowball tramples down a mountain slope, picking up debris as it rolls. Falling through the branches, his feathery features caught sticks, leaves, and pinecones, until he connected with the earth with a thud.

“...ow…” 

The impact caused dust to cloud around him. It got in his eyes and settled on the edges of his feathers. The dirt wasn’t the worst place to land, but it still hurt. His crash had broken a few branches, causing a couple of pinecones and leaves to break loose. One stray, falling leaf hovered through the air, delicately. Its flight was much more elegant, dancing in the wind. It landed gracefully on the tip of his beak, its cinnamon hue and crinkly features mocking him. Revali blew it off with a “hmph!”

Sitting in the dirt, Revali brushed off the dust and twigs on his tunic as best he could. It was one thing that he had snuck out of the house, but coming back all dirty wouldn’t do either. Mumbling to himself, he sat there, taking in the sights and sounds of the woods. A much better setting than sitting in the house all day. Then there was an abrupt shuffling in the bushes. 

Looking up, Revali searched for the source of the noise. Getting to his feet, he picked up a twig and held it in front of him like a sword. Was it the monsters everyone had warned him about? His heart quickened, his mind raced. The trees still swayed in the wind, and the birds and bugs chirped, but suddenly everything was looking a lot more ominous. Another rustle. He hastily faced his left side, where a single dark green bush greeted him. Do I move closer? Back away? Revali was frozen in place. Finally, he dared to whisper.

“W-who’s there?” he asked.

Instead of a cliché silence, his question was immediately answered with a loud scream from the bush.

“AHHHHH! IT’S TALKING!” the bush yelled.

Revali followed suit and screamed himself, as it was only natural to be scared of shrieking plants.

“AAHHHHHH!”

“AHHHHHHH?!”

This exchange of confused and fearful yelling went on for a few seconds. A few sparrows took off for the sky, startled by the noise. Then, silence took hold again, with only the wind brushing through the woods. The bush and Revali stared at each other for another eternity. Finally the bush spoke again.

“Why are you pretty?”

“AGH?! What?” the Rito took a step back, bewildered. “W-wha...what’re you talking about??”

Suddenly, a small face peeked out from the bush. Their eyes were wide, and curious, but their expression was still wary. “I said, why are you pretty? Monsters are supposed to be ugly.”

Revali tightened his grip around the twig. “I’m not! You’re the one hiding in a bush, so you’re the monster if anything. I’m a Rito!”

“A Rito?” a small, Hylian child stepped out of the bush. They were wearing a maroon tunic, along with stable gloves and boots. The collar of their shirt was lined with cotton. A loopy scarf, that was far too big for them, was wrapped around their shoulders, etched with the emblem of the Hylian Stable System. Their hair was messy, probably from hiding within the bush. Gripped in their hands was their own makeshift sword, a wooden spoon. They waved it in Revali's direction. “You’re way too tiny to be a Rito. The ones who visit the stables are always taller than my mom.”

“W-well, then maybe you’re mom’s short!” Revali sputtered out.

“Nuh-uh!”

“Ya-huh!’

He stomped his foot. “Obviously, I’m not a monster. I’m just of a… different height, because kids don’t leave the village, it's only the adults you see. So quit being dumb. I mean, I can talk can’t I?”

The Hylian crossed their arms, tapping the spoon against their elbow. They considered his argument… I guess a tiny monster couldn’t eat me in one bite anyhow. “Fine then. If you’re not a monster, then you should have a Rito-sounding name, right? So what is it?”

Revali held his beak in the air and turned his back, crossing his own wings in imitation. “Hmph! Well why should I tell you when you’re a complete stranger! I thought you were a monster too, you know.”

The Hylian squinted their eyes thinking. “Well… fine. Your name probably sucks anyway! Thanks for scaring me half to death, tiny Rito!”

With that, the child turned around and started marching back in the direction of the stables. They made an effort to pound their boots on the ground to make as much sound as possible. Revali was left with his beak hanging open. How dare they! They’re the one with a sucky name, whatever it is.

He ran behind them, trying to catch up. He fluttered his wings to shake off any other dirt and twigs. He matched their pace, and puffed out his feathers. “I’ll have you know that I have a supercool nickname! Nicknames are always cool, therefore my name doesn’t suck. So, Ha!”

The Hylian raised an eyebrow. “Well, what is it then? What’s your fancy name?”

“They call me…” he stopped and posed, both wings outstretched in front of them, “...the Supreme Master of the Sky!”

They Hylian clutched their stomach, laughing hysterically. “HA! There’s no way that’s true. I saw you crash through the trees earlier! Some master you are, that’s probably even dumber than whatever your real name is.”

Revali narrowed his eyes, “Nuh-uh!”

“Ya-huh.”

“Hmph! Well at least I have a cool nickname. I bet you don’t even have one!” 

“Nope. People just call me [Name], because my name is already great and I don't need dumb nicknames or titles.” They stuck out their tongue at him.

Revali made a dumb face in retaliation, before responding. “Fine, if you won't call me that, you can just stick with ‘Revali,’ and you better remember it!” 

[Name] shot him a look, then huffed. “Yeah. Sure.”

The two of them continued their walk through the woods. Revali trusted it was the route back to the stable. They talked and jeered, laughed and scowled at each other, their conversations about nothing in particular. At one point, the Rito attempted to show off by gliding through the air. It would end with another crash, and the Hylian child chuckling.

“It’s cause you still have a bunch of stuff tucked in your wings!” [Name] said with a sigh. Removing a pinecone and several bits of dried leaves, they cleaned up the rest of Revali’s wing. When taking out a twig, they accidentally took out a feather.

Revali yelped, “Ow! What was that for?”

“I’m so sorry! I was just trying to get rid of this.” [Name] chucked the twig over their shoulder. The feather they had taken out was mainly white, but faded into a deep, indigo color at the bottom. It was like a star had shot across the sky, and its streak had colored this single, delicate feather. [Name] brushed it against their fingers, and stared at it in awe. It’s so pretty.

“Pfft. I know that. Anything from me is great.” Revali’s feathers puffed up in pride.

Oh no! Did I say that out-loud?? “Uh...yeah.” [Name] mumbled. They suddenly became very interested in the condition of their boots, turning their head to the ground as the two of them walked. 

A silence fell between them. Then, 

“Can...can I keep this?” 

Revali cast them a glance. “Uh...sure, why not. Not like I need it anymore. I’ll have plenty next time I molt.”

[Name] looked up, eyes wide. “Really?! Are you sure? This doesn’t, like, curse me or anything right?”

He scoffed. “No, of course not. It’s just a feather. I’ve seen adults trade them all the time. It’s fine. Whatever...”

The large horse head was now in front of them. The trees were more dispersed, and piles of lumber scattered the ground. The muted colors that decorated the stable billowed in the wind, the breeze blowing loose cloth and banners across the sky. To the left were the wooden bridges. They led up to a towering spire, the familiar shape of Rito Village casting over the two of them. The two of them stopped by the back side of the stable. [Name] forced themself to plaster on a grin.

“Well, guess I’ll see you never!” they jeered.

“Ha! If I’m lucky, I’ll never see you or your wooden spoon again!” Revali stuck his tongue out at them. 

After staring at each other for another eternity, [Name] finally turned around and ran back towards the entrance to the stable. Revali then began his walk back over the wooden bridges.

The next day, Revali would be punished for sneaking out of the village. His grounding would include having to do extra chores, specifically by having to help around Rito Stable for the rest of the month, much to [Name]’s surprise. Neither of them minded.

- - - - - 

Years Later…

- - - - - 

The Champions had arrived. 

AAAANDD That's where that ends. Mwahahaha that’s right. I’m cutting it off right there. Take that nerds. Oh what’s that? You want more? You want to understand the no context memes? You want more Revali? And the Champions? More cute stuff? More dumb stuff? Well you’re going to have to wait.  So here’s a cliff for you to hang on

------------------------------------------------ [insert you hanging, here]

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[girl-in-the-tower]

THE CUDDLES MEME... ♪ for inigo and ✌️ for blaise with our girl koreeee i’m living for honourary flintseol member kore it rather just kore in general

AAAAA! Flintseol fluff! My favorite kind of fluff! Thank you, Shiro!! 

I’m living for Flintseol-Kore interactions.

♪ Cuddling together for warmth. 

“Kore, it’s cold.”

Inigo’s gaze was sharp. It was actually sharper than she’d ever seen it. 

“Uh, yeah? I guess? I don’t really notice such things...” 

Realizing that this was not the right answer by the way Inigo’s brows furrowed further, she began to meekly trail off, until she stopped talking altogether. The silence that followed was awkward and heavy, and she couldn’t help but squirm slightly as she waited for him to say something that would help her make sense of his odd remark. Though calling it odd might not be that accurate since it was a very precise description of the weather that they were having now in December. 

But as she thought about it she realized that it was still something rather unusual to say. Of course it was cold. There was snow on the ground and she could see how the harsh wind made Grim tremble like a leaf, every time they went outside. It made her worry about the little guy. Maybe she should knit him a sweater or something. But would he wear it? Maybe if-

“Kore.” The sound of Inigo’s voice startled her and she become aware that she was getting lost in her thoughts once again. Sheepishly smiling at him, Kore hoped that this would be enough to deter Inigo from asking her whether she was paying attention or not.

“You weren’t listening, were you?”

Unfortunately it did not work.

Sighing tiredly, Inigo began to unbutton his coat. He managed to undo two of them before he heard Kore speak.

“Huh, what are you doing, senpai?”

“Giving you my coat, of course. It’s freezing and you’re just wearing that flimsy cardigan. You’re going to catch a cold like this.”

“Wha- It’s fine! I don’t even feel the cold.”

Her protests fell on deaf ears, because just a few seconds later Inigo draped the coat over her shoulders. Though trying to button it up proved to be more difficult as Kore began to resist and take the garment off.

“Senpai! You need the coat more than me! Seriously! I’m fine!”

“Don’t be ridiculous. What kind of senior makes his junior endure the cold?”

Kore huffed, but stood still until Inigo was able to finish his task. The coat, much bigger than any of her clothes, almost reached her knees and Inigo felt a smile creep on his face at the rather endearing image. His amusement was short-lived however because only a second later Kore flung herself at him and wrapped her arm around his waist.

“Kore- what-”

“I told you, senpai, the cold doesn’t bother me! But you’re so stubborn! So now I have to make sure that you don’t catch a cold!” 

Inigo sighed as he realized that he’d pretty much have no chance of changing her mind. Maybe the path of least resistance was not such a bad idea after all. Well, at least until he figured out a way of getting to class with Kore clinging to him like a koala bear. There might be trouble then. But that was an issue for later. 

✌ Our muses start to playfully wrestle and it devolves into cuddles.

For a girl that did not set foot outside of her own house until this year, Kore proved exceptionally strong. At least that’s what Blaise thought as he was pinned underneath her on the floor, his hands behind his back and face pressed against the hard wood. Behind him he could hear Grim chanting and as he reached one he felt himself be released from her vice grip as Kore gave a cheerful shout.

“That makes it 5 for Kore and 0 for you. Hehe, guess that my underling is pretty strong!” Grim’s voice was so smug that Blaise couldn’t help but feel annoyed at this rather strange turn of the situation. It really all started when Blaise mentioned that he would like to learn some interesting fighting techniques as he and Kore were going over a book that discussed the great deeds of the pirate upon whom the dorm was based. Inspired by the passionate narrative Blaise couldn’t help but express his own desire for a grand battle to take place so that he could participate in it and show just how skilled and brave he was. That’s what pirates did, right?

“Yeah, right. Like you could do that.”

Of course Grim had to ruin it with his remark. Just as Blaise was ready to fight the cat monster Kore intervened and said if Blaise was interested she could show him some cool moves.

“Were you trained in such - I mean, how do you know that?”

“Oh, I used to wrestle with Bae when he was younger!”

Who Bae was Blaise did not know. But when he found out he was a reindeer he realized that he did not feel all that surprised to hear that Kore had been wrestling reindeer before she came to Night Raven College. Why she did such a thing, he still couldn’t understand, but he decided that was a problem for another time. 

Because right in this moment he was about to get pinned down by Kore once again. She did not have any sort of technique that he could recognize, but she proved to be exceptionally difficult to knock off her feet. Every time he had a grasp on her she just pushed him back so strongly that he ended up on his back. But this time he had the advantage, because instead of simply laying on his back in confusion he swept his right foot into hers in such a manner than seconds later she was tumbling down on top of him. As he felt her collide with his body he realized that maybe he should have thought this one better.

“Ah, sorry, are you ok?”

Kore asked, worry painted across her face as she attempted to get off him as quickly as she could. Blaise sighed as he felt the weight decrease and then couldn’t help but start laughing as he thought over the situation.

“Huh? What’s so funny?”

“Even when I knock you off your feet, I’m still the one that ends up on the floor!”

Saying it out loud only increased the hilarity of the situation and because his laugh was so infectious Kore, who was somewhat confused by what he meant, couldn’t help but join in. Laying next to him on the ground she reached over to wrap her arms around his shoulders as she felt herself be overwhelmed with a bout of sudden affection. He must have felt the same thing as he put his arm over her waist, the two still lost in a haze of joy and friendship, even as Grim, jealous by this turn of events, threw himself at them in order to join in on the fun.

Even after the laughter subdued and they are simply clinging onto each in comforting embrace, Blaise could feel the love that seemed to radiate from Kore as she basked in the presence of two of the people she held dearest to her heart.   

[reyjustrey]

@sithroyal kindly asked me  aurora: (n.) dawn from THIS meme. Tumblr isn’t letting me edit my asks format so I’m going to make my replies into posts ‘til the issue’s resolved :3

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Something was...off, with the Resistance’s resident not-quite-a-Jedi. Everyone knew it to varying degrees; from the pilots to the ground troops to the High Command. Something was different; changed; off with her of late and they couldn’t pin down what it was. She did her duties still, and to the same standard she always had. She participated in missions, took lunch in the mess, laughed with her friends and yet-- And yet. Something was different; guarded; kept so close to her chest that even its mention made her hackles rise and earned the curious quick and absolute denials. But no matter how she tried to play it off, how she tried to minimise, it was there - this hidden thing. And Finn could feel it.

Finn, with his new awareness of the Force, could sense a change - intermittent at first and then growing - in his friend. He got the same denials, even when he confronted her with his sensitivity to her energies and how they’d become something else, but he knew for kriffing certain that she was up to something and was determined to figure out what.

So. One early morning, he followed Rey on her morning walk beyond the walls of the Ajan Kloss camp. She’d disappeared through the trees by the time he’d made much ground, but he could feel her still and caught then the firmest hint of what that off-ness about her might be. She didn’t feel like she was alone. Concerned, Finn doubled his pace and focused hard; ducking and weaving and finding himself led towards an overlook he hadn’t even realised was in the camp’s near vicinity. Had he not been so fixed on Rey, the view over the jungle from her vantage point would’ve stunned him. As it was though, Finn ducked down behind a rocky outcrop and did his best to both keep well out sight, sound and presence, and to puzzle out why Rey felt like two people in the Force.

Had he asked her she’d have denied it flat. But Rey knew.

For what must’ve been three months now she and Ben had been putting real work into not only understanding their Force bond, but into testing its boundaries as well; seeing how far, how deep it reached; how much they could do through it; how long they could maintain it once they’d managed to learn how to control its comings and goings. This morning marked day five of what had been a constant, low-level sharing of presence between them. It wasn’t always visual or audible presence, but they each were with the other, always; close in the Force; aligned in how their energies resonated. And now--

Ben

Now they grew closer still, for at Rey’s mental call Ben came to her; his presence so palpable that she straightened where she stood -- gazing out over the jungle as the dawn’s orange-gold light bathed it; made its greens doubly vibrant; turned the sky azure and scarlet. As if she could capture some of that light in her fingers, she raised a hand and reached forth; like she had on Ahch-To when Master Skywalker had told her to reach out. There was no chiding swipe of leaf to palm now though. There was only the view, and the sky, and the realisation that Ben was now so close to her that she couldn’t only feel his heart beat in her chest. She could feel his body pressed against her back; his hand aligned to hers where it reached.

The Force sang around her; rippling back like a strong breeze that wisped by Finn in his hiding place. He peered out, looked  close, but couldn’t perceive what Rey did.

Can you see this? she whispered, the words a caress from her mind to Ben’s.

A roll of shock, of glee, of adulation for her and for this moment they’d stumbled into answered her before words did. The feeling of a hand upon her stomach, of Ben drawing her closer against his body, did as well -- coming first as frisson through the Force and then settling; as if he was there with her in person. 

His - Yes  - held more wonder in one syllable than Rey had felt her whole life.

[ledamemangociana]

2020 20 questions meme time UWU

i was tagged by @decertatio to do this! i havent spent enough time on here recently to tag anyone, B U T! if you see this and would like to do this, consider yourself tagged, and let me know! i wanna read your answers UWU

-----

1. Do you make your bed? - GAWD NO, at least not 70% of the time, im so bad at this. it’s coz on the weekdays, i start working at 6:30am or 7am at home coz my bosses are in Australia and a lot of our clients are in Australia and/or New Zealand, and they’re 3 or 4 hours ahead of us, so i gotta get on those emails and support case tickets as soon as i can, so i give myself about an hour to catch up, and then i hurry out of the condo to get to the office before im marked late at 10am lolololol. on the weekends, when im at home, BECAUSE im just at home, i never fix my bed coz im in it 85% of the time anyway lakdjf

2. What’s your favorite number?  - 13, cliche as it sounds. not coz i think it’s lucky or anything, but because other people around me thought it was. i kind of clung onto it when i was in high school coz i wanted to fit in by standing out.

3. What’s your job? - An accounts and client services manager at a digital services agency.

4. If you could, would you go back to school? - Probably not. I love learning, HATE studying. 

5. Can you parallel park? - i never got far enough into being taught how to drive by mom to get to parking

6. A job you had which would surprise people? I think every job I’ve ever held, tbh. I graduated interior design mainly because my dad told me to when i asked him if i should enroll in advertising instead (the entrance exam i passed was good for either course). the only ID job i ever had lasted only two weeks, at a firm i had to do my internship/OJT at. it was my first job, and i was let go after two weeks. after that, i was a call center agent for two months, and then a copywriter for 6 months, and then an SEO specialist for a year and a half, and then a social media content/community manager at one firm for one year, and then for another agency for 3 and a half, and now im in my second year as an accounts manager at a digital services cloud agency. even i’m surprised at this job list tbh.

7. Do you think aliens are real? - i absolutely do believe that we are not the only life in this big, huge, wide, expansive universe that the planet earth is but a miniscule blip on. there’s definitely other life out there.

8. Can you drive a manual car? - i haven’t driven a car legitimately outside of learning how to drive, but yeh i probably can, since that was what my mom taught me with.

9. What’s your guilty pleasure? - junk food and soft drinks, but in general i try not to feel guilty about anything i take pleasure in

10. Tattoos? - none, but i am ACHING for them. i’ve had ideas for a loooong time. one that i DEFINITELY want to get as my first one is part of a letter that i found that my mom wrote for me in high school. “i know that you will be able to stand up for yourself and the world will stop and take notice.” i still have the letter, so i still have it in her handwriting. i want it on the inside of my left forearm. 

11. Favorite color? - Pink! lighter/softer/pastel shades are my preferred ones, but i love any shade or hue of pink tbh

12. Things people do that drive you crazy? - i hate fake guilt trips. like, when someone wants me to do something that i can’t do, they’ll come in with like “nah, it’s fine, i’ll just drop all these SUPER IMPORTANT things im doing and go out of my way to do this thing that im asking you to do because i’m SOOOOO sorry that you’re unable to do it yourself” coz it’s like...dude, if you really were able to do that or if you wanted to actually do that, you wouldn’t have asked me to do the thing in the first place. like, you’re clearly just saying that to make me feel bad enough to make me drop everything im doing and do whatever it is you asked me to do. i also hate when ppl fish for compliments by being falsely humble or self-deprecating. like. PLEASE, y’all, i’ve lived with negative amounts of self-esteem for literal decades, i know the difference between actual self-loathing and you just wanting to hear good things about yourself that you don’t want to be called narcissistic for saying about yourself. i know what it sounds like when someone is actually going THRU something or is actually having an actual hard time accepting themselves and/or asking people for what they need as opposed to when someone just wants to be told something. like. don’t insult my intelligence and experiences like that. granted, there are nuances to consider for all of these things, bUT like i said, i know the differences when i see them.

13. Any Phobias? - i have a phobia of drowning that’s light enough to NOT keep me away from water but bad enough to sometimes make watching or listening to scenes where someone could potentially drown to set some triggers off for me. i also just have a really really bad fear of dying because of getting my oxygen cut off, coz that sounds like a really slow, painful way to die.

14. Favorite childhood sport? - i was never really a sports kid. the only sport i ever really enjoyed playing willingly was badminton. i trained for a few summers but never competed, but i got good enough to make games in a court fun. i still have my badminton racquet, it’s the only Legit™ badminton racquet in the house (it’s a Yonex, handed down to me by my trainer, only been restrung twice or thrice coz the last restringing was done so damn well), all the other racquets were inexpensive unbranded knock-offs that were good enough for me and my family to have casual games with.

15. Do you talk to yourself? - yes but mostly as a product of deep focus or concentration, or really heavy emotion. having social media has lessened doing it for the latter since i can just vent on here or on twitter, but when im doing stuff for work that’s hard or needs a lot of focus or concentration, i have full-on stand-up meetings with myself.

16. What movie do you adore? - “Romy And Michele’s High School Reunion.” it’s not a perfect movie by any means, but for someone who was a bullied outcast for much of elementary and high school years in a private, all-girls, Catholic school where everyone was tall and thin and pretty and pale and smart and popular, ALL the things that i wasn’t, it was - is? - like a beacon or a hug.

17. Do you like doing puzzles? - heck yeh, coz solving them makes me feel smart, and not being able to solve them but learning HOW to is so much fun for me.

18. Favorite kind of music? - i don’t know that i have one, to be honest, i haven’t listened to current radio in literal YEARS because i dont own a radio in the condo, i barely watch TV anymore, and i dont spend enough time in a vehicle to really know what’s up. i enjoy pop, hip-hop, rnb, showtunes.

19. Tea or coffee? - more of a coffee person myself, actual tea always just tastes LEGITIMATELY like leaf water to me, and i cant find a liking for it. i do really love sweet tea and milktea tho. but yeh, im mostly a bean juice person.

20. The first thing you remember you wanted to be when you grew up? - An architect, like my dad. i thought i would be one, up until i discovered writing in high school, and then i thought i wanted to become a journalist until i took it up as my first course in college and hated it. but yeh, it was always “architect! like daddy!” when i was asked that question when i was a kid. i looked up to him so much as a kid, and he and i were super tight when i was younger coz i was his firstborn and a daughter. we used to call each other best friends. i miss those days a lot; things between us seemed simpler, but maybe that’s because i didn’t have the ideals, knowledge and capacity to question the way he loves/loved me as My Parent™. our relationship these days is absolutely skewed and skewered.

[someobscurereference]

unfinished fic meme

I got tagged by @kimium in a writing meme!

“Rules: post your favorite parts of 3-5 fics that have been sitting abandoned in your drafts for ages. (for extra shame, throw in when you last worked on each thing.) tag 5 other writers to reflect on their life choices.”

I don’t think I have anyone else to tag, lol. So if you want to participate, just say I tagged you!

Most of my unfinished work here are things I haven’t looked at in a long, long time. I don’t even recall where I intended for some of them to go. Here are some brief previews of that unfinished work (under the cut because they’re long):

1. The one where I basically wanted to write that scene from Finding Nemo except with Leo and Odin instead (blood tw)

Leo’s heart stopped. He froze.

Odin.

Leo only had a split-second to register the sight before him, but that was unmistakably Odin, slung over the ruffian’s shoulder like a sack of potatoes, horribly limp. Parts of his blond hair had been dyed shockingly red with blood, and though Leo couldn’t see his face, Odin looked awfully pale. Fat drops of crimson dripped from Odin’s hair to the floor, trailing behind him.

Dead, Leo thought before anything else. He’d dead.

He didn’t know that, not for sure, but Leo was already raising his arm again on instinct. He yelled something intelligible as he fired off the shot, some words he didn’t even recognize himself, too focused on the sudden overwhelming flood of grief and anger in his chest for self-awareness.

At the sound of his voice, Odin’s head jerked up, his eyes wide. In that same moment, Leo fire his spell.

Shocked, Leo froze.

Odin did not.

With the element of surprise apparently on his side as well, Odin twisted out of his captor’s grasp, landing flat on the floor just before Leo’s spell made contact with the ruffian’s back. With a strangled cry, the ruffian hit the floor and didn’t get up. Odin pushed himself to all fours, surprised written all over his features.

“My lord!” Odin cried, sitting up. “I hadn’t expected you so soon! It must be fate’s will that we have crossed paths like this. Are you all right?”

Leo’s mouth opened and closed like a fish. Blood sluggishly trickled from a thin cut on Odin’s forehead. There was a bruise on his cheek and another just above his eyebrow. He looked dirty and worse for wear, but unmistakably, he was alive. His wounds were much more superficial than Leo had initially registered.

Still, Leo’s hands shook. He breathed in and steadied himself.

“Lord Leo?” Odin said, a little more hesitantly.

Instinctively, Leo said, “I’m fine.” He looked at Odin, who was still very much alive. “Are you all right? Can you fight?”

“Of course!” Odin was all energy and focus, same as always. He leaped to his feet and barely wobbled. “I was merely looking for a proper opportunity before I staged my surprise attack! It seems you took care of that before me though.” He flashed a smile. “As expected of my lord.”

Leo barely resisted the urge to sigh.

(Notes: I wrote 3K of this like a year ago and could probably finish it with a handful of paragraphs. I just didn’t love it, I guess. There was something about it that made me not finish. Maybe the tone or the plot not feeling as strong as I wanted it to be? I’m not sure. I still really like the concept though, lol.)

2. The Modern Trio travel between Nohr and Ylisse via water all the time (like Inuyasha) and Inigo and Owain have a fight about going out and acting their age sometimes (maybe have shown some of this before?) (alcohol/getting drunk mention)

(snippet 1)

“You just want to go out without me,” Inigo said tearfully. “You even got Severa to go with you! You both lied to me!”

Owain bit the inside of his cheek. “Sometimes we don’t want to have to play rock-paper-scissors over who has to take your drunk self home that night.”

“Excuse me,” Inigo squawked, indignant. “I don’t get drunk every time.”

“You do,” Owain told him matter-of-factly. “And that’s fine. Have fun. But you get smashed, and then one of us has to take you home and…”

He felt his face grow warm.

“Oh, I saw,” Inigo said knowingly. “Sometimes you want other people to take you home.”

Owain looked determinedly toward the castle. They were crossing the bridge.

When Owain didn’t say anything else, Inigo said, “I’m not a child, you know. Even if I’m a bit tipsy, you don’t have to fight over who takes me home. You don’t have to take me home at all. I’m an adult.”

For all of Inigo’s whining all afternoon, this was the first time he’d sounded truly serious. He might have meant his complaints before, but he clearly meant this way more.

Owain’s frown deepened. They neared the end of the bridge. The two guards stationed at the castle gate nodded solemnly at their approach, and Owain and Inigo nodded back. They didn’t speak again until they passed the gate.

“You are an adult,” Owain agreed. “But I would feel like a bad friend if I didn’t make sure you got home safe, especially when I know that if we go out, you’re going to get drunk—"

“Not every time!”

“It is every time, and sometimes—”

“You make me sound like the worst version of myself.”

“It’s not bad! It can just be—”

Inigo scoffed.

Owain spotted a flash of blond hair in the distance. He got ready.

After a beat, Inigo started, “Am I really—”

But Owain was already jumping into action. He pointed the other way.

“Ah!” he said loudly. “Lord Xander! I didn’t see you there!”

Inigo instantly straightened and looked around wildly. Owain booked it in the other direction.

(snippet 2)

“So,” Niles said, suddenly slinking out from around the corner like a cat, “men who look like they could snap you over their knees are ‘the dream,’ are they?”

For the second time that day, Owain choked on air. Under Niles’s even gaze, Owain cursed Inigo’s big mouth and recovered as quickly as he could. It was a bit of a struggle.

“An eavesdropper, eh?” he hedged. He tried to gauge Niles’s reaction, but he was a hard man to read. “You didn’t have anything else to do but listen in on private conversations then, I see.”

“Given the volume with which Inigo likes to shout from the rooftops,” Niles said, “I wouldn’t particularly call it eavesdropping.”

(This one I like the concept for but I guess didn’t finish because it’s a version of the Trio I don’t think I’ve ever written before. Or at least rarely dabble into outside of the privacy of my own head/a close friend. I don’t like going out or getting drunk or anything, but a lot of people my age do and I kind of wanted to show that side of modern life where you go to clubs and maybe have a casual hookup sometimes. I often write the Trio as people who don’t have many (or any) romantic relationships before meeting Whoever I Ship Them With In X Fic, but part of me wants to change that default sometimes. I do think about modern Odin who has no problem meeting dudes in bars and having a brief fling or doing other, wilder stuff that his friends (especially in Nohr) maybe don’t always know about. I thought it would be a neat exercise, and I still think about it. The Modern Trio having their own lives that the Nohrians aren’t privy to and are maybe curious/romantically jealous over when they find out? Also I like the idea of characters having “types” (just like real life people do sometimes) and other characters who are romantically interested in them do hear about it (as seen above, lol.). This fic was leaning to be leo/odin/niles or at least niles/odin, I think. It’s been on my computer for at least 5 months. I just really like this concept in general but I guess I’m a little embarrassed because it’s so different from what I normally write. Maybe I’ll go back to it, one way or another, someday? Also Inigo and Odin do make up, yes.)

3. The college AU Severa/Owain fic where Severa propositions Owain about getting it on (Nothing actually happens, it’s all talking)

“I can get your character sheet drawn up in no time,” Owain continued. “In fact, I think I have some extras—"

“We should have sex,” Severa said.

Owain, suddenly red-faced and wide-eyed, choked on his never-ending list of nerdy suggestions about why he thought Severa had appeared outside his window. He looked at her in disbelief. Severa took the opportunity to roughly shove Owain’s upper body back through the window and crawled in after him.

He stumbled back, too surprised to protest, and Severa fell to the floor in an ungraceful heap. She plucked a leaf from her hair with a pout, grateful to finally be on solid ground again and hoping Owain’s mother hadn’t noticed Severa sitting in the tree outside her son’s room for the past several minutes.

“Uh, I don’t,” Owain stuttered as Severa climbed to her feet. “I mean, you—”

“Seriously?” Severa said, cocking her hip in a way she hoped was sexy.

What was she talking about? She was definitely sexy, childishly climbing trees or not. So what if she’d been too embarrassed to knock on Owain’s front door and risk the chance of one of his parents answering when Severa had come with a request like this? Nobody else knew that.

She continued, “That’s all you have to say?”

Owain sputtered out several more unintelligible phrases until he finally said, “You don’t… feel obligated or something, right?”

The tips of his ears were very, very red.  

Severa crossed her arms, scowling. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing!” Owain held up his hands defensively, looking like he was regretting his words already. “I just meant—You don’t. Like. This isn’t a peer pressure thing, right?”

“What are we, fifteen?”

Owain stared. Severa’s scowl deepened.

“No,” she said. “It’s not a ‘peer-pressure’ thing or whatever.”

She used air quotes.

“Okay,” Owain said slowly. “Then… why do you want to…”

He couldn’t even say the words have sex. Severa was suddenly very doubtful she had come to the right person at all. But who else was she supposed to go to about this? Lucina? Kjelle? Inigo?

Absolutely not. Owain would have to do.

He’d always put up with her enough that she’d thought… Well, maybe he wouldn’t say no outright.

Not that things were off to a great start already.

Feigning indifference, Severa shrugged and looked at the wall beside Owain’s head. “Do I need a reason?”

“Yes,” Owain said bluntly. His hands were still raised. As though just realizing this, they fell to his side.

Severa couldn’t help but make a face. She didn’t want to explain herself. She didn’t want to say anything about what she was thinking or why she wanted to have sex, as sudden as it must have seemed to Owain. But she knew it wouldn’t have exactly have been fair of her to ask without him at least knowing something.

Because the thing of it was—

Embarrassing, she mentally chided herself with a grimace.

The thing of it was that at twenty-one years old, Severa was still a virgin.

There was nothing wrong with being a virgin. Severa knew that. Logically, she knew that.

But it was hard to convince herself that it was true.

(This one is also a modern au exploring a lot of pressures that young adults might feel when comparing their own experiences to people around them.Severa goes on to explain a lot of her reasoning to the reader about why she’s propositioning Owain, but it was getting really long so I didn’t include that here. Mostly it was about controlling the experience of your first time and when you want to have it. I never got to the actual sex part, lol. It would definitely be awkward and slow if I did. Purposely, of course. Also Severa has always lowkey liked Owain like that.)

4. The AU where royals and their retainers have a telepathic link

Niles stands at his side, impassive as any proper retainer should be at public events, and Leo does his best to appear the same when Odin’s voice rings through his mind, laughing and giddy with the exhilaration of a fight.

That was so cool! That explosion was like BOOM! And that fire! Like pfft! I wish somebody else was around to see that. Oh well, I can describe it for everyone later.

Odin’s inner voice never sounds the same as his speaking voice. Not unless he knows Leo is listening and wants to put on a show. Odin’s inner voice lacks the extravagant dressings he layers upon his words aloud. Occasionally, Odin still narrates in his mind, still writes long novels with every adjective and made up noun under the sun. But more often than not Leo finds Odin’s inner voice to be much freer and more easily understandable than he would have first expected before he’d experienced Odin’s thoughts firsthand.  

Odin, Leo projects, pretending he is paying more attention to Xander’s speech than he really is. Some of us are trying to focus on our own missions.

Not that attending a meeting is a mission, per say, but it’s an important duty nonetheless. It gets the point across, anyway.

Oops! Odin accidentally projects more than Niles ever did, even after having years to get used to it. Now that he knows Leo can hear him, Odin makes it a point to use his narrative speech instead. My sincerest apologies, my lord! I’m afraid I was overcome for a moment, my mental barrier weakened through some villain’s curse. But fret not! My mental shield—

Odin, Leo projects, aiming for serious and fearing his true feelings may betray him. He knows there is no curse or attack, though there may have been minutes ago. Odin is simply too excited and eager to share, just as he always is. Leo is trying very hard not to be distracted right now, but it’s difficult when Odin’s bluff and bravado are still somehow more interesting than running the same tactical drills Leo has run a hundred times over already, necessary as they may be.

Leo also knows Niles should be hearing their exchange as well. Niles’ face betrays nothing. If Leo didn’t know any better, he could have mistaken Nile’s tiny exhale of breath as one not so amused at all. But Leo always knows.

(Note: I’d definitely rewrite this now if I ever started it again, but the core concept is still a little neat, I think.)

I have a few other fics, but they’re not that old just yet. These are all about 6 months or more old. Maybe one day I’ll finish them? Or at least use their core concepts again, lol. I hope you enjoyed these snippets anyway! 

[frozenfallenuniverse]

The Nature of Planes

I’ve decided to do more writing during november but with the first of the long stories, i’m cheating on. @take-on-meme ‘s fanwalker Avana is a main character in this along with my Mother nature as we rped most of this then made it read more like a story than an rp. Anyway! This is about 3 times as long as my usual stories so grab a coffee, a mango and take your time.

Avana felt it. Where there once existed a barrier over the world, now there was nothing. She had learned of it long ago, when something within her soul had flared to life amidst a skirmish with the Legion of Dusk. She had glimpsed images of a place entirely unlike Ixalan. Unlike anything she had ever seen. But something had dragged her back, denying passage to the unknown. And now it had vanished.

   It would not be easy leaving the other merfolk behind, and part of her did not want to. She had guided them for many years, and there was no way to predict how any of them would react. But the desire to know what lie beyond the confines of Ixalan burned within her. She would name her apprentice the new Shaper of their band; she trusted his leadership. Farewells were given, and though many were saddened, she promised to return, and they had faith that the promise would be kept. She turned into the jungle for one last preparation.

   As Avana entered a glade slowly, the pool of water at its heart become visible. The waters were calm, save the gentle splashes where the stream that fed them came and went. She had come here many times to meditate and wished to visit it one more time. A few moments were spent regarding the place, and she knew she was ready. She felt the spark inside, focused her thoughts, and took the first true steps between worlds.

Where Avana found herself was far different than what she knew from Ixalan. The foliage was larger than the beasts of the sun kingdom, dew drops that she could swim in fell from the uppermost canopy and not a soul of a human, merfolk or beast could be found in her surroundings. The only things she knew of was that there was a terrible humidity and a strange buzzing coming from what seemed to be a large mound of earth. She approached with caution, for while the structure interested her, Ixalan's jungles had left her no stranger to all manner of insects. Even if this place was far different from the home she had left, the sound's familiarity kept her on alert. She probed the ground with her shaper senses, hoping it would give her some sense of what lay beneath. Clearly, some form of life was present.

           Her magic-infused senses washed across the visible jungle like a calming ocean wave. A chitinous serpent returned the surge from several plants away, several waves that felt like legion rippled back thousands of feet above her from the canopy and the mound before her returned millions of waves from small bugs all wrapped inside of a massive creature she had never found anything like before. A massive being curled up as though it was sleeping but it was more humanoid than the war beasts of empire. A dew drop fell onto the mound and the buzzing began to silence itself. She looked upwards for a moment at the canopy, then returned her attention to the mound in mirrored silence. She had expected perhaps a network of tunnels or chambers, but not what she had discovered. The thing was familiar yet utterly alien to her. As she watched, she felt her legs and hands tense up. She was preparing herself, either to call upon the elements around her in defense, or to flee on foot whatever stirred below.

           Before she could finally decide on what to do, the ground trembled before her. Two equally massive arms came from the mound and slowly pushed it off the ground. Overgrown Ivy and moss coated the head of the monster as its uncovered eye met with Avana's. A mischievous smile came across the creature's face as it slowly pushed the remainder of its body off the ground. She stumbled backwards several steps, giving a wide space to the being rising before her. Her gaze slowly drifted upward to its head, her eyes wide with surprise. Part of her tugged at her, told her she should leave immediately. Curiosity, however, disregarded the instinct, and instead possessed her to remain. She steadied herself, straightened her posture, and spoke.

"What are you?" The creature tilted its head in response before giving off an earthshaking yawn. It scratched at fungal growths on the side of its head as a palm sized spider crawled out from the area. It looked around for a few moments before pointing at itself and giving the merfolk a soft chuckle.

"I am both much like you and nothing like you. I walk the planes much like you, but our stories are as different as the seas and the forest. What do you think I am, little one?" The voice was similar to an autumn breeze in an expansive forest. Her voice was more suited to an old woman more than a giant one.

Avana was unsure of how to answer the question. She did not have any experience with anything like this. In fact, the only thing they seemed to have in common was each held knowledge of other worlds.

"An elemental, perhaps? One that has lied dormant for many seasons, long enough to take on new life? Or something more, which my course has not given me the knowledge to describe?" The creature shook its head several times. It grabbed at a nearby leaf and drank from the dew it accumulated. Some of the water poured down her chin and became puddles on her body. Several insects and small animals hopped from her and drank away as she began to speak.

"You are new at this, aren't you little one? I am a giant. Nothing more. I have lived for many seasons and have slept for equally as many. To compare, you are a child where as I am an elder. " She pointed at the clothing Avana wore then scratched her head again. "Where do you come from?"

To be called a child was strange to Avana, as her youth had been a few decades behind her, and she had since taken on a mantle of leadership. Still, she did not think it wise to challenge the statement, and instead answered the giant's question.

"I have traveled to this place from a land called Ixalan." The giant tilted her head back and forth, eventually settling to look over Avana. Her visible eye looked almost like it was glazed over or hardly working. She settled one of her large hands in front of the merfolk, palm up.

"Forgive me for asking but did you become a walker due to your plane being destroyed? It’s a saddening problem in the current state of the multiverse." Her voice became lower, more somber, and more suited to something her size. Avana looked down at the hand beside her, slight unease forming from being so close, then back up to the face of its owner. The next question did not help to calm her.

"We have known chaos and change in recent times, but nothing so monumental that the entire world might shatter. Though you speak of it as a thought it were common occurrence? This has happened to many worlds?"

"The multiverse has countless plans, you could equate it to the number of droplets of water in the ocean. I have lived long enough to see many end and have even joined a group to prevent others from falling. Before your recent events, two have been all but destroyed within the same number of months. Another walker wishes to break down another. The list goes on."

"If two may fall so quickly, then what is to prevent my own from following? My people have taken it upon themselves to protect Ixalan from disaster. What path do I take to uphold this?"

"You have two currently: you can devote yourself to protecting your plane for the rest of your life or you can join the group I work for. We help minimize the damage the planes, assuming we learn of their possible destruction beforehand. Keep this in mind however. If you join us, your plane will be added to the planes we keep a closer eye on and each one of the main members has lost something due to the destruction of a plane. Oh. And to talk of your point of your people. How would they, a group of planebounds, be able to stop someone stronger than I, with armies in the millions from a place they can't reach?" No malice came from her words nor did her tone of voice change. It felt like it was the thousandth time she asked someone of it. Her eyes did not even try to meet Avana's, as though she was ashamed of what she was suggesting.

The revelation put a heavy burden on Avana. She did not believe she would alone could protect the entirety of her home; the River Heralds faced enough challenge guarding the Immortal Sun from the other factions of Ixalan. Still, she knew almost nothing about the giant or the others, and there would be no way of predicting what they would do in their surveillance. Avana stood considering for several minutes, the concern clear in her expression. Finally, she reached a decision, though the trembling in her voice indicated it was no easy choice.

"I choose to join you." The giant gave her a soft half smile and outstretched her hand to Avana again, this time in a posture more suited towards shaking hands. She looked down, chuckled again, and outstretched a single finger.

"I will never make you do anything you would regret, nor will I cause your home turmoil. I swear on my honor that I will be your confidant and guide to this multiverse. What is your name, Little one?"

Avana put her hand to the giant's finger and shook it lightly.

"I am called Avana. And what are you named?"

"My name has long since been lost but my fellow walkers have referred to me as Mother Nature but if you would prefer something else, I will most likely respond to it." She set her hand next to Avana and motioned her eyes to her shoulder. Several insects scampered from the shoulder as she moved about, leaving enough room for someone to rest there.

Avana nodded in understanding and moved onto Mother Nature's hand, positioning herself so that she would not fall. She was still unsure of the situation, but she felt more confident in placing her trust in the giant.

"What would you like to learn of first? I know much but many of the others of my group know more. They are a bit more... feral than I though." Mother began meandering slowly through the underbrush of gargantuan foliage, occasionally offering her new friend some fresh dew or what remained of some poor creature she crushed underfoot. Avana took the offers of dew but politely declined the remains as they traveled.

"I am curious about this land I have found myself in. Life appears all around us, but none takes a form similar to you or I. And there is a great presence of life that I sensed far above us. What exactly hides itself beyond the great cover of leaves?"

"The sun. And the humans who enjoy it. They fear the creatures that live down here and only come down to hunt for food. This plane functions like a dome around the sun. It is an anomaly that I have been learning about for several years now." She attempted to count the time on her fingers but gave up after reaching the low twenties.

"How odd this world appears. And what dwells underneath, amongst us?"

"Insects as large as you, dinosaurs occasionally and carnivorous plants but what I'm looking for is the spot I came in here from."

"Do you have a recollection of the appearance of that place? I may be able to seek it out." Avana’s magic already began to coalesce around her body as she spoke.

"A year to me is the equivalent of a day to you and the growth of this plane is faster than I am tall. I apologize for not using your skills, but I would love to learn more about them." Nature continued her long walk through the foliage, slowly going from a general direction to a time worn animal path.

"When I was a youth, the Shaper of our band chose me as an apprentice and taught me the magic of our people. She taught how to ask the land and sky to lend their strength, and how to feel the greater world around us, beyond the senses. That is how I discovered you in your earthen slumber." The giant chuckled under her breath as her pace slowed, finally reaching a clearing void of any form of life, let alone anything she spoke of before.

"Although I should have explained this before, be careful of who you tell about being a walker and of your magic. I am an outlier amongst my group. I have mastered two forms of magic that assist my survival. Based on your magic, I ask of you to guess one of them." She helped her merfolk guest down to the forest ground before she began pacing around the clearing, chanting some form of incantation. Small bubbles of mana rippled from the ground as she walked by.

Avana concentrated and focused her mind on the ground and the bubbles emerging from beneath it. Although the incantation and the mana coming from it was unfocused, at best, she recognized two things from it. The first was that this is a leyline that is slowly being activated by someone is who is clearly an amateur with this sort of task. The second was that it felt familiar. The mana was, albeit on a larger scale, very similar to the time she planeswalked here.

"I imagine it relates to the host of creatures within you?"

"Correct. I have found a way to keep some creatures alive between multiverse travel. All it cost was dreams and some modifications to my body. I can create swarms of insects or speak to them. My other magic relates to my size." She gestures to the entirety of herself then shrinks down to about half her normal size with a small burst of magic. "Also, can make myself bigger but keeping it up requires more energy."

"I had known of some who could perform similar feats but never had I witnessed such a thing in person."

"Before I take you to somewhere more..." She looked around a bit and motioned Avana to enter the circle, sparks of mana bouncing from edge to edge. "Hospitable. Do you have any questions?"

"Will I meet the others you spoke of?" Avana asked, which caused Nature sighed and looked around.

"In due time. We have one for each color of magic. I represent green and our leader is both the strongest and weakest of us. If you like, I can take you to them right away, but I would suggest we sightsee before that point."

"I trust you to guide me. I am ready." The circle softly crackled as she carefully stepped into it, looking out towards the rest of the overgrown forest she came from.

“Kaladesh.” Mother Nature whispered into one center of the circle. The surroundings of the circle shifted around like that of a kaleidoscope. The leaves of the forest rotten away and reformed in seconds, Light pierced through the skyline, first in strands then in spirals. Mana coalesced in swirls around the circle while visions of massive cities and vehicles with nothing close to what Avana had experienced came across her vision. The surroundings finally stabilized to an equally overgrown forest, yet the foliage was much closer to a size known to Avana.

“Welcome to your third plane, Kaladesh. I know little has changed but here our magic is as rare as a mouse growing to my normal size.”

Avana looked around at her new surroundings, taking everything in. Her eyes traced the swirls carven into the atmosphere, and she took note of the plants which seemed to mirror them. The flora may not have been quite the same in magnitude, but she could tell that life here had a special kind of power. She turned to again look at her new guide.

"Little, and yet so much for one who is like a newborn." she replied, laughing gently at her own expense. Nature joined in the laugher as she meandered around several trees, grasping at branches, and scaring small mammals that lived in those trees.

“That is why I brought you here. Taking you somewhere both close and unfamiliar. A place where you can explore to an extent while still dipping your toes.” She grasped at a yearling’s branch and snapped it off. She motioned Avana to come closer as she pulled off a palm sized red yellow fruit, offering it to her friend.

“The most important part of being a walker of planes is indulging in what each offer. Some, like yours, must offer things unique to it. Be it the beasts that walk those lands or these ‘mangos’.”

Avana happily took the fruit and took a small bite of it, sampling its taste. The fruits juiced coated her taste buds. It was quite sweet in a way that was unique compared to the fruits she knew from Ixalan.

"It tastes quite good, and much different from what I'm used to. Thank you for showing me this place."

Mother Nature nodded to her companion as she tore a second mango in half. One piece she placed on her shoulder and the other she began to eat. Several wasps and large beetles came out from behind her hair, broke of pieces of the offered fruit and took their prizes back to the hive.

“You will meet many walkers, young one. Some will show you nightmares, other will show you the beauty they found in the multiverse. Not all are as kind as I. You should savor moments like these. My group focuses on destruction so much that I worry that it is all they believe will happen. Don’t become like them.” Her tone shifted downward. Her words felt both rehearsed and heartfelt, nearly ingrained into her lips. Once the words left them, she acted as though she said nothing and smiled at her companion while walking towards a new tree.

Avana plucked a mango of her own and stood for a moment while rubbing it in circles. It took a long moment before she began to speak up again.

"I will admit it may be difficult. My people spent the last few centuries diverting outsiders from our home to guard its secrets. We were charged to keep them hidden and avoid disaster by misuse. And that duty I have been taught will certainly carry over to the multitude of other worlds I may encounter. However, this power you and I possess has also granted me a freedom to experience the greater wonders of those worlds. And that is certainly something I will never forsake." The giant paused from her words, slowly turned around, and walked back towards the merfolk.  She brought a hand towards her head before freezing up and pulling her hand back with an abnormal wince of pain.

"That is wonderful, Avana. Your devotion is extremely impressive for one who has only begun her journey. Before we meet the rest of my group and this plane, do you have any questions for me?"

"No, I'm sure any curiosities will be answered soon enough." Avana shook her head as she spoke. Her giant companion began walking towards one end of the forest. Avana jogged after her as thoughts of the possibilities on what this plane or even the multiverse could hold. What creatures walked these realms with nothing close to the ones she fought on Ixalan. Were all other walkers as strange as the one she just met? An essay’s worth of questions flooded the back of her mind, but one stayed right at the fore front. Is there a way to make those mangos even more delicious?

[butihavejoy]

Barba/Carisi "I love you meme". 16, 26, or 31 whichever you prefer.

16. Over and over again, til it’s nothing but a senseless babble (only because I already have requests for the other 2)

Late one night, Carisi rested his head on Barba’s chest and told him, voice slightly muffled, “I love you.”

Barba’s hand stilled in Carisi’s hair for just a moment, just long enough for Carisi to twist slightly in a mostly vain effort to look up at him, to see if something was wrong. But instead of answering, Barba leaned down and kissed Carisi, the kiss soft and sweet and perfect.

And no substitute for the three words that Carisi wanted to hear most of all.

In the roughly six months since they had been doing this, this thing that had started as casual and grown into something more erring on the side of permanent, Carisi had told Barba that he loved him eighteen times. Not that he was keeping count, or anything — he could just remember every instance perfectly because each had been a wasted opportunity where Barba had not responded in kind.

The first time had been on a Tuesday, early in the morning, not even a week after Barba had suggested that they stop pretending that they weren’t going to wind up going home together. Carisi had been rushing around Barba’s bedroom, trying to find where he had flung his tie the night before, having gotten called in early for a case, while Barba’s heavy breathing indicated he had fallen back asleep after Carisi’s phone woke him up.

Carisi had found his tie, had tied what he later realized was a particularly lopsided half-Windsor, and had bent to kiss Barba’s forehead. “I love you,” he whispered, assuming that Barba was asleep and couldn’t hear him.

Instead, his green eyes fluttered open and Carisi blushed, grateful for the dim light, which hid the worst of his embarrassment. “Good morning to you, too,” Barba had said with a tiny, tired smirk, and kissed Carisi before yawning and telling him, “Have fun at work.”

And Carisi had left for work mostly relieved that Barba hadn’t made a big deal of it.

But Carisi had also been slightly emboldened by Barba’s lack of freak out over him saying those three words, and while he wasn’t going to pepper every conversation with them, he took as tacit permission to say it when the situation merited it.

Sometimes they were big moments — when he was almost shot by Tom Cole, for instance, when Carisi had gone straight from the precinct to Barba’s office, needing to feel someone warm and solid and alive in his arms just to forget the horrible moment where he had almost lost everything. He had gone with the intention of holding onto Barba and never letting go, but it was Barba who ended up holding him, nestled onto the couch in Barba’s office, his strong, solid arms wrapped firmly around Carisi, holding him so tightly that Carisi might’ve made a joke about it in any other situation.

He hadn’t, far too preoccupied with the hammer of the heartbeat in his chest, with Barba’s hand tracing the side of his face that had been flecked with Tom Cole’s blood, with the frantic, pained look in Barba’s eyes as he too confronted the idea that he might’ve lost Carisi.

“I love you,” Carisi had whispered, shaking like a leaf, grateful beyond belief that he had gotten the opportunity to say it again, terrified beyond belief that he had almost lost that chance.

And Barba had just held him even tighter.

Other times, Carisi said it at small moments, just because he could: on one of their very rare nights off, when Barba would take him out to a nice dinner; pressing Barba against his apartment door, unable to keep his hands off of him for a second more; and once during a court recess, so quietly that Barba could barely hear him, just because a judge kept throwing out key evidence and with Barba’s case crumbling in front of their very eyes, he thought Barba needed to be reminded of it.

And Barba had managed a small smile, which was honestly as much as Carisi could’ve hoped for.

But it had been six months now, and not once had Barba told him that he loved him. They had signed the proper disclosure forms, everyone who needed to knew about them, and still Barba withheld those three words.

Carisi was tired of waiting for him to say them.

So he broke off from the kiss and propped himself up on his elbow, frowning down at Barba. “Why won’t you say it?” he asked.

Barba blinked, confusion furrowing his brow. “Why won’t I say what?” he asked.

“That you love me.”

Barba’s brow furrowed even more. “What do you mean?”

Carisi scowled, assuming that Barba was being deliberately obtuse. “I mean, it’s been six months now, and you still haven’t told me that you love me.”

Barba looked taken aback for a moment before he schooled his expression into something more neutral. “I’ve told you that I love you, I know I have.”

“No, you haven’t,” Carisi said, as patiently as could, all things considered. “I tell you all the time — well, maybe not all the time, but you know what I mean. And every time I tell you, you change the subject, or you kiss me, or whatever. And I wanna hear you say it.”

Barba rolled his eyes. “Of course I love you,” he scoffed, but Carisi’s scowl deepened.

“Don’t say it like that,” he snapped. “I wanna hear you say it for real.”

Barba rolled his eyes again but his expression softened when he looked at Carisi. He reached out to tug Carisi over until he was straddling Barba, and Barba rested his hands on Carisi’s hips. “I love you,” he repeated, before pulling Carisi down and kissing his lips gently. “I love you,” he said again, pressing a kiss to first one corner of Carisi’s mouth, then the other, and Carisi couldn’t help but smile at that.

“I love you.”

A kiss on Carisi’s cheek.

“I love you.”

Barba’s lips moved down to kiss along Carisi’s jaw, each ‘I love you’ more breathless than the next, the words melting into each kiss, each scrape of Barba’s teeth against Carisi’s skin.

“I love you.”

Barba sucked almost languidly on Carisi’s earlobe, smirking when Carisi shivered. “I love you,” he said, his lips moving against Carisi’s ear with the simple declaration.

“I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you—”

He might’ve continued into infinity, tracing his fingers up Carisi’s sides, the soft murmur of each ‘I love you’ blurring together until the words that Carisi had so longed to hear became almost senseless in their repetition.

And the last thing Carisi wanted was for those words to lose their meaning.

So he captured Barba’s lips with his own, cutting off the litany of ‘I love you’s the only effective way he knew how. “You know, I only needed to hear you say it once,” he told Barba when they broke apart, but he couldn’t stop the grin from spreading across his face as he looked down at the man who loved him.

Barba smirked. “Does that mean I never have to say it again?” he asked, his smirk disappearing into a scowl when Carisi jabbed him in the stomach in retaliation. “You know, a simple ‘no’ would’ve sufficed.”

“Shut up,” Carisi said, kissing him again. “You know you love me.”

Barba’s expression softened. “I do,” he confirmed, resting his hands on Carisi’s hips. “And now you know I do, too.”

[hortusdea]

💗 GROWING HEART

💗 GROWING HEART - if they have a crush, is it noticable? what changes when they're in love?

Penelope does have a crush, yet it has only been noticed by very few people. Most of which either know her very well or have an incredible talent of reading people. There are moments when she may blush more than she normally would have as those feelings she tries to keep in check bubble up and take over, but for the most part her feelings remain hidden. The witch has been this way for years, never telling a soul. Though she's had her fair share of caring for someone other than the, thankfully less-than-obvious crush, those were moments one could observe her being more cheerful and bouncy. Penelope, having been raised to function a certain way may have chosen not to but when it comes down to it she very much remembers the lessons given.

[hortusdea]

🌈 RAINBOW

🌈 RAINBOW - what advice would they give to their younger self?

There are quite a few things she'd probably tell her younger self. Beyond anything that may be on the long list of things, there are two things that stick out. Believe in yourself, things will work out one way or another and you will be happier for it. Never underestimate how valuable knowledge could be that you previously didn't think you'd ever need. Many things have changed over the last few weeks and if there is one thing Penelope wishes she would have done sooner, it most certainly would have been swapping one of her classes from care of magical creatures over to defense against the dark arts. Perhaps things regarding the most recent changes in life would be a tad easier as she had very much neglected anything in that direction in favor of pursuing other topics.

[hortusdea]

💰 for a money-themed

Ever since she discovered her love for herbology, the witch has been saving up ever knut, sickle and galleon in order to finance a proper greenhouse one day. Even though plans have slightly been altered, those funds she'd been holding onto as though her life depends on it. During the summer breaks, ever since her seventh year, she's spent in Hogsmeade, working for Dogweed and Deathcap for as long as her parents seemed fine with it. Although she feels that she may not get to do that any more, Penelope still wishes to hold on to the galleons made over the years.

[hortusdea]

⭐️

For each “⭐️” I get, I’ll write a headcanon about our muses.

Sirius has always and will always be someone Penelope admires for his strength and determination. While the way their parents had set them up certainly would have caused more than just one awkward moment, he's become someone she endlessly appreciates. Where she feels too worried about the world, he puts his foot down with a strength unknown to her. After he was disowned and their parents plans fell through things shifted. By now she feels like he's truly a friend she can rely on. The only thing she's never going to trust Sirius with is plants. While many of the ones she cares about have been gifted one plant or the other, Penelope refuses to even consider the idea of handing the other Gryffindor one, fearing what may become of it. // with @thcfallenstar

[hortusdea]

⭐️ for indi

For each “⭐️” I get, I’ll write a headcanon about our muses.

Indi was the biggest surprise when it came to the friends made once she got to Hogwarts. It wasn't until a few years down the line that the witch had joined the Herbology club but prior to that, at some point she'd ventured into the greenhouses, wanting to be surrounded by the thing she loved most only to find someone equally appreciative of the green shrubbery and magic all around. It is plants that connect them and in all honesty, Indi was certainly one of the people to help Penelope come into her element, whether she knows it or not. And for that, the Gryffindor will forever admire her. // with @indixscamander

[hortusdea]

⭐️ (ludo)

For each “⭐️” I get, I’ll write a headcanon about our muses.

If Penelope had to describe Ludo, the word lost would come to mind. Lost and creative. Especially on a broom. If there is someone the witch considers to be an obstacle on the pitch, it is definitely Ludo. The Hufflepuff knows the ins and outs of a broom much more than she cares to admit. Not one for being entirely competitive, a quidditch match can still bring out that hidden quality within the brunette. // with @ludobxmxn

[hortusdea]

☕️ HOT BEVERAGE - do they prefer hot or cold drinks? what is their favourite drink?

Penelope's favorite drink varies by season and weather. On rainy days she can be found sipping on hot chocolate or tea while during the warmer days one can find her sipping on pumpkin juice or iced teas of the fruitier type. At the end of the day there's nothing that does the trick better than hot chocolate, though. Perhaps it's the fact that it feels like a warm hug, a comforting feeling no matter the occasion. Of course, she's not going to say no to a few tiny marshmallows being dropped in it.