#fic: your sharp and glorious thorn

[direwombat]

holiday + ugly sweater meiker

tagged by sooooo many people to do this holiday meiker over the past uh *checks watch* month or so that i have genuinely forgot who's tagged me, but most recently by @voidika and @fourlittleseedlings to do these meikers

meiker 1 (m/f, f/f, m/m, nb) | meiker 2

some christmas-y ships (jakesyb // sybeli // price/saoirse)

and some syb learning that joseph has invited himself and the other seed sibs to her and jacob's cabin for christmas dinner // saoirse about to lob her gift to john, very happy that he was able to make it home for christmas

tagging (more to see and less to do, but if you've yet to do these and still want to, please! take this as your cue to do so!) @statichvm, @cassietrn, @trench-rot, @harmonyowl, @carlosoliveiraa, @purplehairsecretlair, @aceghosts, @adelaidedrubman, @madparadoxum, @socially-awkward-skeleton, @locustandwildhoney, @testyfestyenthusiast, @strangefable, @inafieldofdaisies, @alexxmason, @deputyash, @josephslittledeputy, and of course, anyone else wanting to do these meikers! (taglist opt in/out)

[sunrizef1]

Coming Soon… (TBD)

☆ Glorious Thorn

☆ I couldn't utter my love when it counted • ah, but I'm singing like a bird ‘bout it now ☆

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

Summary: 18 years. 18 years since your life was turned upside down. 18 years since your fiance betrayed you. 18 years of raising a child on your own. 18 years of caring for a child who's debut driving potential would rival that of even Verstappen. 18 years after Lewis Hamilton tore your life apart, you get a call that brings you right back to where it’d all started, 18 years ago.

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

Pairing: Lewis Hamilton x Fem!Mother!Reader

Tags: Exes to Lovers | Secret Kid Trope | Forced Proximity | Rich Kid, Old Money Aesthetic | Best Friend!Seb | Jobless Reader | 0% Nepotism | Starboy!Son |

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

“I could apologize a million times and I know I still wouldn't deserve this life with you”

“Ive spent 18 years mourning what we had. After that much time, its not that easy to bring something back to life.”

“I don't care how long it takes, I would spend the rest of days by your side, praying for forgiveness. Even into rebirth, id come back just to be by your side once again.”

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

☆ Index:

Meet the Characters

Prologue: Shrike to Your Sharp

Chapter 1: Made in Your Image

Chapter 2: The Burden of Atlas

Chapter 3: Gatsby Revels

Chapter 4: Every Animal Adapts

Chapter 5: A Bird in Flight

Chapter 6: All That Time Didn’t Kill It

Chapter 7: Il Usurpatore

Chapter 8: The Goat and The Snake

Chapter 9: Most of Life is Just Knowing

To be added…☆

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

Authors Note: Ahhh! This story has been rumbling around in my brain for quite a while so I was really excited to post this. It might take a while to get chapters uploaded and it will not be very consistent but I really like this so well see where this goes ☆ Until I get consistent again and finish WHIV, this is more of an idea than a solid fic, pls remember. Im just getting this out there so I will, eventually, commit to it ☆

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

☆ Tags: @ironmaiden1313 @lottalove4evelyn @jaydaaasworld @xoscar03 @assholeinatrenchcoat @crowdthena @multifans-things @st4rgirl-ellie @judelina @jajouska @minzxt @spngi @seonghwaexile @quinquinquincy

[swordgrace]

*ೃ 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓.

collection of my works organized by fandom! each fic will be tagged appropriately with what it contains. this post will be updated on a weekly basis.

all fics are x female reader unless stated otherwise. organized by oldest first, newest last.

tags for fics: FLUFF — ✿ / ANGST — ☾ / SMUT — ❤︎︎

⠀ཾ༵࿇ ˼ 𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐕𝐄𝐋 𝐂𝐈𝐍𝐄𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐂 𝐔𝐍𝐈𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐄. ┊

robert ‘bob reynolds / the sentry.

✿ ☾ oh, scaling all your shadows. — 4.0K. one-shot.

❤︎︎ oh, scaling all your shadows (pt. 2) — 8.3K. one-shot.

✿ three words and eight letters. — 1.5K. ficlet.

❤︎︎ oh, be my rest, be my fantasy. — 8.5K. one-shot.

james buchanan ‘bucky’ barnes.

❤︎︎ every time the sun comes up. — 4.2K. one-shot.

john f. walker / us agent.

❤︎︎ bite the hand that needs you. — 10.0K. one-shot.

❤︎︎ only pretend until it’s not. — 6.3K. one-shot.

❤︎︎ a black eye and two kisses. — 6.5K. one-shot.

❤︎︎ you’re the ache I asked for. — 4.4K. one-shot.

❤︎︎ pushing it down and praying. — 13.0K. one-shot.

❤︎︎ proximity check. — 5.4K. one-shot.

❤︎︎ baby, kiss it better. — 3.8K. ficlet. requested.

❤︎︎ find my way to your tongue. — 2.7K. ficlet.

❤︎︎ take me one more time. — 3.8K. ficlet.

⠀ཾ༵࿇ ˼ 𝐀 𝐒𝐎𝐍𝐆 𝐎𝐅 𝐈𝐂𝐄 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐄. ┊

jacaerys velaryon

❤︎︎ what honor demands (i). — 11.5K. series.

jon snow

❤︎︎ shake this frost off of my bones. — 10.5K. one-shot.

❤︎︎ in the palm of your freezing hand. — 3.4K. ficlet.

robb stark

❤︎︎ laid bare before the wolf. — 5.7K. one-shot.

❤︎︎ howl, caught in the open. — 5.0K. one-shot.

aegon ii targaryen

☾ ❤︎︎ foolish, fragile spine. — 7.4K. one-shot.

❤︎︎ shrike to your sharp and glorious thorn. — 11.5K. one-shot.

aemond targaryen

❤︎︎ devotion. — 7.1K. one-shot.

❤︎︎ ascendancy. — 5.2K. one-shot.

daemon targaryen

❤︎︎ faithfully. — 13.0K. one-shot.

rhaenyra targaryen

❤︎︎ longed for as the sun-warmed earth. — 10.0K. one-shot.

cregan stark

❤︎︎ northern attitude. — 8.3K. one-shot.

❤︎︎ wolfsblood, dragonsblood. — 6.7K. one-shot.

❤︎︎ blood in the snow. — 8.5K. one-shot.

gwayne hightower

❤︎︎ touch of your heavenly hand. — 5.1K. one-shot.

harwin strong

❤︎︎ the strong and the maiden fair. — 12.1K. one-shot.

╱╱ updated 06.04.25.

[ken-dom]

I’ve got a little idea if this interest you for Sebastian 💛 the ending of la la land is so gut wrenching to me. I’d love to read something where seb gets an ending I’d like even more where he not only makes the jazz club dream a reality but he has a wife that always comes to watch him play & they’ve got babies too. The club AND a family like he deserves and dreamed about!

I'd be lying if I said I haven't wondered what Seb has going on in his life after we see him at his jazz club. Maybe the club itself is enough for him, or maybe he finds love somewhere unexpected, maybe he starts a family along the way, too. Anon, I feel like your idea deserves a long post-canon fic, but I hope this little drabble is enough for now 💕 I also have a spicy Seb one in the works too if that interests you!

Dreams

Sebastian Wilder x gn!reader

∘₊✧ 400 words

∘₊✧ Fluff, kissing, comfort, Seb having children is vaguely alluded to but not explicitly stated

∘₊✧─────────────────────✧₊∘

Visions of a life he had long left behind faded as Sebastian's consciousness pulled him away from the world of dreams.

The thorns left behind from the story his mind had chosen to tell him made his breath catch in his throat as he awoke. It was jarring. Despite this, the warmth of morning greeted him kindly. It was pleasant, and he chose not to fight that feeling.

His limbs were heavy with sleep, eyes only half-open as he adjusted to the bright room. The sounds of laughter from outside broke through into his waking senses. It was laughter he recognised, carried in on the gentle breeze through the open window, and it settled over his heart, softening the sharp edges that had been exposed while he slept.

Shifting against his pillow, he became aware of an external weight on his body - your arm, comfortable around his waist, fingers innocently grazing up and down the soft trail of hair below his belly button.

With a contented sigh, his lips instinctively pulled up into a relieved smile, and he turned to find you already awake beside him.

You, bathed in a dreamy warm glow. Perfect, and completely absorbed in him.

His lips were drawn to yours like a magnet, natural and easy, but there was no urgency in his kiss. He had forever to spend with you, and he intended to take every moment as it came, memorising as many as he could.

Slowly, tenderly, his lips slid over yours, stubble stinging at your flesh until the tip of his handsome nose brushed yours when he pulled back.

'There's a lot to do at the club. They're waiting for me,' he muttered reluctantly, husky with sleep and ever so slightly drunk on your kiss.

Your fingertips curled into his shoulders as you attempted to pull him back to you anyway. 'Aww... just five more minutes, Seb?'

'I can't, I've got to-'

'Please,' you begged, hitting him with your best puppy dog eyes.

Seb inhaled deeply, breathing all the warmth of you and this glorious morning in. How could he pass up on that? The club would still be there in five more minutes. Hell, it would still be there in half an hour.

'Alright. You're right. C'mere.'

And as his arms dragged you flush to his chest, his lips pressed to yours once more.

[beyondplusultra]

heeyy could you recommend some fics where the fucked up hurt/comfort with Akechi happens? 👀👀👀

Absolutely!

Thicker than Water by EnlacingLines

you will not take my heart alive by myotinae

an all encompassing guide on how to stop the snow from falling by akc

hold my hand by relationshipcrimes

a shrike to your sharp and glorious thorn by theexistentiallyqueer (incomplete but i love this fic soooo much)

Black Star by HassouToby

All of these have some good whump and include putting Akechi in a blender (with his newfound friends/lover who have to deal with the fact that he's a murderer). Mind the tags, of course!

[naffeclipse]

So I'm slowly re-reading sleuth jesters the past week or so as I've had free time (currently on "First Practice to Deceive" cant wait to rip out MB Eclipses heart/celestial wire if i remember whats coming correctly. Its been like 2 yrs my memory could be wrong, it's like a treat re reading cause I don't remember the smaller details)

So the detectives and bounty hunter eclipse (plan to re read bloodstain fool once I'm done with sj) are heavy on the mind so could be a bit of a stretch but Strike by Hozier came on my playlist while reading so I keep thinking about the things

But also I'm looking at the lyrics and re listening rn and I could also see parts of it fitting into your other AU's and I'm 👁👁👁👁👁👁

I'm yapping in your inbox cause I love your works I hope you had a merry Christmas :DDDD

I'm rattling you, ahhh! I love to hear that people are rereading my fics! It makes my day <3 (Heheh, oh yeah, that part is coming up.)

This song is so beautiful, and it really can bounce from AU to AU, but I do love it for Bloodstain Fool verse with Eclipse desperately trying to be better but still struggling with his every dangerous, cutting edge, especially these lines:

I was housed by your warmth Thus transformed By you're grounded and giving And darkening scorn Remember me, love When I'm reborn As a shrike to your sharp And glorious thorn

[fkevin073]

Your fics are so great! May I ask what snowbaird fics you’ve taken a liking to?

oh thanks so much anon!! means a lot ♥️

um some of my fave fics are:

anything written by framboise

right here in the old therebefore

a shrike to your sharp and glorious thorn

@teenagecriminalmastermind and all her snowbaird fics on ao3!

I am singing now while Rome burns

there's a few others I love too, but these are the ones that pop up at the top of my mind!! thanks for reading ♥️

[whiskeythefishski]

OPENING LINES WRITING GAME!

I was tagged by @lilac-hecox for a lil writing game!

List the first lines of your last 20* stories. See if there are any patterns. Choose your favorite opening line. Then tag 10 authors!

*however many you wanna if you don't have that many

I only have eight fics up, and I think I already know what pattern I'm going to find - But heck yeah let's go!

In order of upload date (oldest first):

Kiss Me Like You Mean It: The party is in full swing by the time they arrive.

And I Can Survive It (For Only So Long): “Listen,” Alé sighs, pushing up her glasses to pinch the bridge of her nose. “I know there’s some sort of… history… between you two-”

Thank You, Olive: Jackie hums absentmindedly as she tidies up from dinner, stacking greasy paper plates and crumpling napkins into a garbage bag.

(make for me) A Soft Universe: When Spencer developed a cough and a headache on Saturday, he didn’t think too much of it - just chugged some DayQuil and took the excuse to stay in his room and play Fortnite with Alex all day.

hold on to the memories (i will hold onto you): “Shayne! Shayne! Honey, are you okay?”

trying to stifle my sighs: “Okay, so explain to me again how this isn’t a date?”

lullabies from the soft side: “I don’t think the place on Highland is going to work,” Spencer says, placing the shopping bags on the counter.

it's so obvious i'm your number one: “You’re sure this is the place?”

(And I'll include a couple as-yet-unpublished pieces too just for fun, although these are more examples of how I open scenes I think!)

death gods au (working title: your sharp and glorious thorn): As he pulls back the heavy beaded curtain, Spencer is buffeted by a cloud of sharp-smelling smoke.

prequel to/spommy meet-cute in "trying to stifle my sighs:" The pair of them are almost cartoonishly suited to each other; her willowy frame compliments his bulk like a vine winding itself around the trunk of a tree.

---

Okay so the pattern i knew I'd find is that I really enjoy starting off with a line of dialogue. I think I read in a book when I was a kid (perhaps 'Writing Magic' by Gail Carson Levine?) that it was a good thing to do and it's always stuck with me. It helps get me immediately into the mind of my POV character, and I like to think/hope that it helps hook a reader by kinda dropping them right into the scene.

Of these openers, I think I like "hold on to the memories" the best. I feel like instantly knowing that something has just gone wrong would intrigue me as a reader.

Tagging!!! @lorelilly @sheisaquarius-blog @soupy-girl @spennininomenon @toomuchsmoshbrainrot @june-rassicpark @vc55bughead @doubleboyfriend @drowninginredink

[qroier]

now that we're all remembering how awesome the bloodhounds are together, might I offer you two bloodhounds fics I wrote in these trying and missing them times?

the shrike to your sharp and glorious thorn - Anonymous - QSMP | Quackity SMP [Archive of Our Own]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: QSMP | Quackity SMP Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Rayenne Guendil | Etoiles & Roier Characters: Roier (Video Blogging RPF), Rayenne Guendil | Etoiles Additional Tags: Bandaging wounds, Purgatory (QSMP)

Summary:

Roier might have gotten a bit too overenthusiastic with the whole killing and fighting thing. Etoiles is there to drag him back afterward.

On That Boat - qroier (thedarklysea) - QSMP | Quackity SMP [Archive of Our Own]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: QSMP | Quackity SMP Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Rayenne Guendil | Etoiles & Roier Characters: Rayenne Guendil | Etoiles, Roier (Video Blogging RPF) Additional Tags: Post-Purgatory (QSMP), like literally right after this is them on the boat back, reaction to the perceived death of a loved one (to the perceived death of multiple loved ones)

Summary:

Etoiles is only just fast enough to catch Roier as he crumbles.

[direwombat]

Crime boss au for sybeli 👀

ahhhhh thank you gen this was such a fun little exploration of the quasi formed "mobster syb" au i have floating in my brain. eli strikes me as too much of a hermit to be an effective mob boss, but in an au where syb gets involved in organized crime to pay off her daddy's gambling debts...well...i think she'd be able to run hope county from the shadows :)

also lmao whoops this ended up being almost 2k (but then again, as i always say...anything under 5k is "short" for me).

[SEND ME A PAIRNG + AN AU SETTING]

The great part about living in Middle-of-Nowhere, Montana, Eli finds, is that there usually isn’t a soul around for miles. 

The bad part about living in Middle-of-Nowhere, Montana, is that when an uninvited soul does come knocking, there isn’t anyone around to help.

He’d been disarmed of his rifle so swiftly that he didn’t even notice the other man circling behind him to throw a burlap sack over his head. His hands were forced behind his back, the zip ties quickly snapped into place around them, and he’d been shoved into the backseat of a vehicle. 

Blind as he is, he has no idea where they’re going, and he knew better than to ask. The kind of people who kidnap a man from his home aren’t the kind to answer his questions. He sits silently, shifting his weight uncomfortably, desperately trying to keep his hands from going numb under his weight. His jaw is clenched and his ears strain for any familiar sounds that might give him a clue of where they’re taking him. 

The purring of the engine. Soft chatter, some of it in a language he doesn’t understand but thinks might be French. The crunching of gravel as they trundle along the dirt roads of the Whitetails. 

And then traffic. 

Traffic. Other cars around them. Civilization. Town. 

They have to be heading towards Falls End. He hasn’t been sitting long enough for it to be anywhere else. 

He guesses it’s about twenty minutes later that the vehicle pulls to a stop and the driver cuts the engine. The second he’s pulled from his seat, Eli is hit with the stench of beer, stale cigarettes, and deep fried food, and while muffled, the distinct sound of classic rock blares from a jukebox nearby. A heavy hand shoves between his shoulder blades and he stumbles forward. Every step he takes is hesitant, fearful he’ll walk himself straight into a goddamn wall.

But his handlers guide him with gruff instructions. “Keep going straight,” and, “face right,” and “stop.” A door creaks open and the overwhelming sounds and smells only get stronger as he’s ushered inside what he assumes is likely the Spread Eagle. The sack is pulled from his head, hair lifting in a staticy mess. 

It doesn’t take long for his eyes to adjust. The bar itself is dimly lit and the halls behind it, just past the restrooms and kitchen, are even moreso. A single lightbulb flickers unsteadily overhead and he’s guided once more towards another door. He’d only ever been back here a handful of times -- back when Casey had been kind enough to let him store the game he caught in the restaurant freezers, before he built his own -- and had simply assumed this particular door was to the Fairgrave's office, where they kept their books and receipts. 

But as one man pushes the door open, it isn’t any of the Fairgraves he sees occupying the space. 

Instead, there stands a woman he’s never seen before. A woman with short, dark hair, dressed in a crisp white button up and black pinstripe vest and slacks. Garters wrap around her biceps and her cuffs are rolled up to her elbows -- not that it prevented blood from flecking and spattering onto it. She leans against a heavy mahogany desk in the center of the room, smoking a cigar and filling the room with clouds of smoke. Her hands are bruised and still adorned with brass knuckles while jazz plays quietly from a record player off in the corner. 

The room itself is warm, almost cozy -- styled like an antique library. Dark wood bookshelves line the walls. Heavy curtains, deep red in color, are drawn over the window, blotting out the light, or, more accurately, preventing anyone from seeing what’s transpiring inside. The space is adorned with antique, velvet clawfoot couches and chairs, and at the center stands a heavy mahogany desk. A plush carpet covers the hardwood floors, and laying on that carpet is a man whose face has been reduced to paste. 

Eli’s blood goes cold and he swallows thickly. He feels like he just walked back in time or stepped foot on the set of a film about 1920s gangsters. 

The woman’s gaze flicks over them before settling on one of the men standing behind him. “Clean that up, would’ya?” she says, less of a request and more an order. Then, she looks to Eli and tilts her head towards one of the chairs. “You. Sit.”  He freezes for a moment, deer in headlights, and it isn’t until she shoots him a glare that clearly says Don’t make me repeat myself that he shuffles forward and takes a seat. 

The other two men grip the unconscious body by his arms and legs before dragging him off, leaving a red smear across the hardwood floor. 

The door then shuts with a damning click, and the woman’s attention is solely on him.

“Little birdie tells me you know how to build things where they ain’t supposed to go,” she says, gingerly letting her brass knuckles slide off her hands. She tucks them in her pocket. “That true?” 

He swallows thickly. The bunkers he’s built for himself and a few others are violating zoning laws and he maybe bribed a friend in Falls End to help him get permits regardless. Are the structures technically illegal? Yeah, but it isn’t like he’s hurting anyone with them. “Who’s asking?”

“Someone who’s willin’ to pay you a lot of money for comparatively little work,” she says evenly. 

Alarms, sirens, and all other manner of warnings go off inside Eli’s mind. Getting involved with a woman like this one can only spell bad news for him. It’s never just one job for people like her. “I’m good,” he grits from between clenched teeth. 

Her brows lift in surprise. “Are ya now? ‘Cause that ain’t what I’m hearin’.” She grins. Smugly. Knowingly. Cruelly. “Those alimony and child support checks are a real bitch, ain’t they?”

Eli’s jaw clenches even tighter, the vein at his temple throbbing in anger. Not only does she know about his finances, she also knows about his ex-wife and kid. “What do you want?”

“I want you to do a job, Mr. Palmer.” 

“And if I say no?”

“Don’t see why you would,” she shrugs. “Like I said before, you’ll be handsomely compensated. But, I s’pose if you really ain’t wantin’ to play ball, maybe I let my good friends over at the sheriff’s department know that one of your bunkers is storin’ a helluva lotta oxy. Hell, maybe all of ‘em are.” 

Something in her smile shifts at the threat -- her expression hardens to stone and the teasing glimmer in her eyes fades. She isn’t fucking around. He believes she can and would frame him for drug crimes. But then a question scratches at the back of his mind. Is one of the bunkers he built being used to store drugs? He’s not proud of how his voice shakes. “This is extortion,” he says, as if the moral judgment behind it means anything to her.

She barks a laugh and it's one of pure, and utter amusement. “Of course not Mr. Palmer. This is just blackmail. I’m askin’ ya nicely.” She tilts her head to the side, drinking in the sight of him tied in front of her. She then quirks a brow. “Whether or not it turns into extortion is entirely up to you.” Her gaze then slowly rakes over his body appreciatively and Eli barely suppresses a shudder. “Though I must confess, it’d be a shame to do anything to that face of yours.” She regards him, considering. “How do you feel about your kneecaps?”

“I like’em as they are,” he says hoarsely

She hums and nods. “So you understand what I’m askin’ of ya, then.” 

Fuck him. Either he says no and ends up in the hospital or worse, in prison, or he says yes and ends up in the employ of someone who definitely isn’t on the right side of the law. And while the thought of affiliating himself with someone so casual about violence makes his skin crawl, at least the latter option means that his kid is still taken care of. 

Slowly, he nods. “Think so.” 

“Glad we could come to an agreement,” she smiles, as if she hadn’t coerced and threatened him into it. Setting her cigar down and pulling a butterfly knife from her other pocket, she circles behind him and cuts the zip-tie binding his wrists together. “You’ll get half your payment up front along with detailed instructions of what it is I want you to build. You’ll receive the rest upon completion. Understood?” 

Eli rubs at the chafed skin around his wrists. “Yes ma’am.”

“Good.” She goes to sit at her desk and she takes another puff from her cigar. “Now, you strike me as a smart man, so consider this a courtesy rather than a warnin’: don’t go gettin’ any stupid ideas. You take that down payment and run, and I promise you, y’ain’t gonna make it very far. See, I got a hound who takes his job very seriously and he’s been beggin’ for me to take him huntin’. I’d hate to see you end up between his teeth. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes ma’am.” 

“Good,” she says, already moving on to the stack of files piled on her desk. “Someone will contact you within the week.” There’s a beat of silence where Eli remains where he is, unsure if he’s been dismissed and too afraid to assume. She glances up at him after a moment and says, “The hell’re you still doin’ here.” Her jaw juts out to motion to the door. “Get.” 

With a nod, Eli hastily rises and shuffles to the door. He takes one last hesitant glance over his shoulder only to find the woman engrossed in whatever she’s reading. Quietly, he opens the door and shuts it behind him. He half expects the two men from before to throw a bag over his head again and drive him back to his cabin, but the hallway is empty. 

Exhaustion hits him like a ton of bricks and the siren song of booze and greasy bar food calls his name. He shuffles out into the bar, ducking and weaving between drunk patrons and wearily slides onto a barstool. “Whiskey, on the rocks,” he says when Mary May stops by to take his order. She pours him a glass and he spends the next hour or so nursing it before knocking the rest of it back in a single go. 

When he places the cash down on the bartop to pay, Mary May shakes her head. “You’re drinking on the Boss Lady’s tab tonight.” 

He blinks in shock. “That so?” he says slowly. Well, in that case, he might as well order something nice. “What’s her favorite?”

The corners of Mary May’s lips quirk into a smile and she pulls a laminated cocktail menu from underneath the bartop. Placing it down in front of him, there’s a drink called ‘Sazerac de La Roux’. Cognac, absinthe, a sugar cube, and two dashes of Peychaud’s Bitters.  

Eli considers for a moment, and then says, “I’ll take one of those.” 

[thebestbobaflavour]

as the shrike to your sharp

and glorious thorn

…

dragon age drabble | DATV SPOILERS!!!

…

Edited the first draft for a part of the Veilguard epilogue scene in my Andruil AU.

Characters: Inquisitor Lavellan (Andruil), Morrigan/Mythal, Dorian Pavus, Solas

Pairings: Inquisitor x Solas (Solavellan/Fendruil), vaguely implied Ghilandruil and mention of Solas and Mythal

Tags: Angst, comfort idk I don't publish fics.

Disclaimer: English is not my first language and I have adhd so it might be that it makes no sense. I am sorry

This is just a silly drabble, but I am practising publishing my texts since its so unnecessarily hard for me + I hope this gives me courage to write the whole thing.

I am not gonna provide too much context here to appear dark and mysterious, but it's about Andruil's memories being restored by Morrigan so that Mythal and Andruil can confront Solas together.

…

The blinding light died from Inquisitor Lavellan's eyes, and for a few seconds there was only haze, like she was frozen in a million memories at once. Finally she winced, blinking and trembling with the excess of emotions. Confusion. Fury. Love. Despair. It was familiar to Morrigan. She knew the pain of reliving it all at once, even if it hadn't been as personal to her, or as raw. They clutched the small carving in white-knuckled hands, chest heaving in terror.

“Morrigan”, they whispered. “It hurts. Is it supposed to hurt?”

“Yes”, she replied softly. “I am so sorry.”

The Inquisitor felt her tongue growing thick and dry as she bent over in silent agony and drew panicked breaths. The feeling of sinking into the depths of morals, the guilt from every evil thought and act, the fierce, defiant love; bitter betrayal. It crushed her.

Remorse filled her lungs to the point where air didn't fit in. It twisted her stomach; she gagged, but nothing came out – only acid burned in her throat. After a few ragged gasps cried into the ground, her fingertips burying into the blighted gravel, she finally sobbed, her words an uncoherent litany:

“You were right. About them... about Ghilan'nain -- and everything -- I did it; as much as he. It's my fault. All of them… even Mythal. I didn't know. I didn't know Solas would do it. Not like that.”

Morrigan’s eyes mirrored her agony. For a moment, she hesitated before pulling the elf into a hug, pressing a hasty kiss over her temple. She melted into it, yearning for the anchoring comfort of her friend. But there was no safety, no escape for the living sin. It tormented her.

“Why? Why was I so terribly blind? Why didn't he tell me?”

“He thought he did the right thing. And so did you... so did Mythal.”

Indeed, Morrigan’s smoky scent felt more familiar than before, it lived in her memories, next to the consuming regret. Feathers. Scales. Ice.

“For all the good it did. I brought this upon the world. We did. I let him. And then he dragged me along while we pretended to be its saviours. The Inquisition… Varric… the mark-- It was all because of what we did. Over and over again. So many unnecessary deaths."

“The world may be broken, many of us are gone, but we are still here. ‘Tis all we have. You cannot rewrite those things, no matter how much you may want to..”

“What do I do now?” they asked, voice shattering. “How can I deserve to decide the fate of the world again? I have wrought doom upon us since the beginning. I let him burn down our empire."

"He loves you. This might just be the moment it changes everything."

“Does he? Our love for him was never enough, why would it be now? And if I could change his heart, what right do I have that is above his?”

Morrigan sighed, pulling away from the hug and cupping Lavellan’s teary cheeks. She smiled upon her friend, her beautiful, broken friend, who had to pull off the impossible yet again. Mythal’s lost daughter who never was.

“We have to try. We owe it to the people that are here now. The lives we can save. Remember, what you feel now, ‘tis who you were when you lost everything. That's Andruil. Beautiful, fierce huntress who shouldered a weight she never should have had to bear.”

Morrigan helped the elf up to their feet gently, with gentleness that mocked the horrific apocalypse all around them. Then, a set of faint footsteps echoed from the shadows, and a soft voice added:

“Now take those ten years of ours and add them to it. Inquisitor Lavellan, who did the very same. Because that's who you are, too. Your soul is still the same. And your heart is still the same, whatever name you bear.”

The mage stood in front of his friend, now in turn pressing soothing palms upon her cheekbones. Suddenly the Inquisitor looked even smaller, more weary. Her eyes met Dorian’s, and the mage flinched at their intensity. In a matter of moments, the familiar weight of immeasurable regret tinted her expression. The same desperation that fuelled Solas’ neverending crusade now darkened Andruil’s gaze, undirected, consuming.

It was a perilous force, but he was not afraid. Later he’d come to realise that he got to grasp a glimpse of that passion to forgive and heal someone that others deemed too far gone; a fragment of the devotion Lavellan harboured for the Dread Wolf.

“Dorian-” she whispered, tears flooding her eyes as soon as he pulled her into a hug. “What are you doing here?”

“Finding out what you are up to. I knew you were even more than you led on but, another elven god? I would never have believed that not every single one was an insufferable know-it-all or a tyrant.”

“I am worse”, she sniffled, sobbing into his shoulder like a little child. “You should not have come here. I don't want you to remember me like a monster.”

“Whatever are you going on about?”

As his hand gently cradled the back of her head, her shivering shoulders dropped.

“I… I have done horrible things, Dorian. Maybe I am not a tyrant, but I have so much blood on my hands.”

“I am sorry, love, but I don't give a single damn about that. Do you think I am pure like a dove? Tevinter Magisters who have lived for mere decades? Or even that puppy-eyed Grey Warden? No one who lives is not without sin; I can never even begin to fathom the burdens you bear, but whatever it is, it won't change a thing between us."

Lavellan could not reply, for the sobs stole the words from her mouth. The Magister held her for a long while, trying his best to remain calm and composed, but as Morrigan gestured to him and he lifted a defiant hand to stop her from interrupting, his voice dipped. He gently took her hands to his, prying them off his robes, and looked at her with softness only bestowed upon the heartbroken.

“Now, dear. I understand that you are being asked the impossible, again. With all my heart I wish it was not the case. I may not know about your pain, but what I do know is what a man in love looks like. And I finally have an explanation as to why Solas looked like someone who had been yearning for you for centuries."

Lavellan let out a pained laugh. "You're a hopeless romantic, did you know that?"

"Don't try to deny it. That bastard would throw a backflip into the Waking Sea if you asked him to. Perhaps you should do that? For me?" he tried so hard to smile bravely, but as he wiped a tear off her face, his own started falling.

"At any rate, please make him end this nonsense. Then perhaps he can finally start to try to be deserving of all of this world-saving love. If he doesn't, he'll hear from me. Nothing will save him then."

“Dorian…”

“I know. I'll miss you too."

[sheithfictioncatalogue]

I have a copy of your sharp and glorious thorn if you still need it? Also I'm looking for a fic where I think sheith were somewhere on an ambassador trip and Keith had a rough day and basically walks in and demands to suck Shiro off lol. Shiro says something like "can I even talk about my day?" and it's basically about oral being a stress reliever for Keith 😅

That be amazing actually since I lost the email of it the last time someone game me the fic. As for your request I couldn’t find anything about the fic but if anyone else knows it feel free to share!

[charliem-69]

Hello! It’s the same anon from the last ask!

I totally understand fixating on a fic/author and finding it hard to find/like anything as comparable! That’s totally fair! I take it then that if you don’t have any recs, than you likely don’t need to receive any recs, either 😅

If you //would// like some fic recs tho, I do know that I enjoyed the liujiu fics “A butterfly dreaming” by tiffindale and “A cat beneath the wintersweet bush” by redketchup. I thought those were good characterization for liujiu! And If you like Qijiu, there’s “sharp and glorious thorn” by newamsterdam, too! LQG and SQQ become sort of pals in that one outside of Qijiu.

Zero pressure to read those fics tho! I just like seeing a community of liujiu fans and am passing around the love.

I think I might explore your other fandoms just because of your art! Thank you for your nice work! You’re very inspiring

awww THANKS FOR RECOMMENDATION I'll read all of it!!! and thanks for your support it's very nice 🩷

[tuffgreg]

20 writer questions

@sybaritick tagged me!

How many works do you have on ao3?

nineteen!

What’s your total ao3 word count?

260,019

What are your top five fics by kudos?

cutting through the cracks of the concrete (my first bloodweave fic)

you might love me to death (also bloodweave!)

let me know and i'll take you there (again bloodweave lol)

as the shrike to your sharp and glorious thorn (guess!!)

tinker, tailor (the only non-rated-e fic on this list)

What fandoms do you write for?

primarily bg3/bloodweave and veilguard/emmrook

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

i do eventually lol - generally i try to reply to everything or at least one comment someone sent me if someone left multiple comments. it just appreciate people taking the time to leave them so i like to reply!!

What’s the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

honestly i don't write anything terribly angsty - breeze through the willows and you might love me to death are probably the most like, ending ambiguous, but they're not angsty lol

What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

eventually it will be everything in the by the sea collection (home to cutting through the cracks of the concrete and all its subsequent fleshing-out-the-middle fics) as it ends in a wedding lol

Do you get hate on fics?

not to my knowledge. if i did i would block and immediately forget as i lack object permanence

Do you write smut?

almost exclusively lol, primarily kink-adjacent. maybe it's the autism but i just find something terribly fascinating about introducing structure into things and then using that structure to inspect characters under a microscope like a bug. not in a "my writing is incredibly intellectual" way just in the way where i am overthinking constantly

Do you write crossovers?

generally no but i have been thinking about throwing the veilguard crew into waterdeep, my favorite fictional city

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

not to my knowledge though, and i say this with full awareness of how narcissistic it sounds, there have been a couple of times where i feel like i have seen a ripple effect of my work on other works

Have you ever had a fic translated?

i have not! what a delight it would be. i feel like my stuff would be insane to read in like, french. wackadoodle language (non-derogatory, i took it for six years)

Have you ever cowritten a fic before?

sooooooo long ago but yes! i also still rp, which is like cowriting fic

What’s your all time favourite ship?

honestly it changes all the time but i still love selphie/irvine from ff8 and i've never even written any ff8 fic lol. it is also my favorite final fantasy game

What’s the wip you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

potentially my two bloodweave longfics, partly because i have pivoted from a bloodweave traitors au to an emmrook one and partly because instead of the bloodweave longfic i'm thinking of reworking all the fics in the by the sea collection into one big work and then doing a sequel which would take a lot from the other bw longfic lol

What are your writing strengths?

i think i just have a really clear vision of what i'm doing. i am committed to my bit and i think even if my bit is not typically to someone's taste, the conviction often brings them around

What are your writing weaknesses?

finishing things rip

Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in a fic?

i generally don't - i will just specify that they have changed languages lol. personally to have the language and then the translation at the end takes me out of it, and i would not execute it in a way where it would add anything meaningful to the work

First fandom you wrote for?

probably the power rangers fanfic i hand-wrote and showed my mom when i was like eleven or twelve lmao

Favourite fic you’ve ever written?

for my bloodweave fics by a wide margin it is shrike, i think just because it is like - everything i am doing distilled into a single very long fic. i think i have grown a lot as a writer since my first bloodweave fic and while shrike is probably not the best thing i will ever write, i think it is probably the thing that is most representative of how much i changed and grew in the fandom

for my (two haha) emmrook fics it's shoot the sunshine into my veins just because crow!rook/emmrich on its face can very easily just be a rehash of bloodweave and i think when i reread it i can see a lot of where i was clearly leaning into the similarities, and also kind of picking apart the things that i wanted to be very different about merrick and emmrich's dynamic lol

[queerfanfiction]

for the work in progress thing, whats "a touch like a sharp and glorious thorn"? love your work btw =]

Ooooh, thank you!!

I almost called it "Corruption", and it is my first Chilling Adventures of Sabrina fic. It's not fully fleshed out yet, but basically a new teacher with a crush on Mary Wardwell suddenly notices the change in her demeanor in S1. They pine over "Mary" who is really Lilith. And Lilith has too much fun with it... Will they eventually find out Mary is now Lilith?

[abovethemists]

Twenty questions for fic writers

Tagged by @saxgoddess25

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

85

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

944,230

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Once Upon A Time, SGU (but just Rush)

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Purgatory (910)

Little White Lie (594)

The Future's So Bright (576)

No Two Hearts (556)

A Twist in Time (501)

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I try to. I used to not because I felt weird about it, like I was trying to repost my fic constantly by responding to everything (on tumblr). But then I thought about how I like to get a response from an author when I comment on something and got over myself.

6. What is a fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I don't do angsty endings really. I like angst with a happy ending. If nothing else, my fics all end hopefully. I think. I might be forgetting something.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

I mean they pretty much all end with my babies happy and together so all of them.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Not really hate specific to my fics. I have on occasion had a comment from someone who just hates Rumbelle but that hasn't happened in a long time. Ship wars were weird.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Oh yes. It's expected in the Rumbelle fandom. It's not my favorite thing to write though. I have trouble just writing pure smut. I need there to be backstory and feelings involved. I do emotional smut.

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

I write Anyelle, so yes. Pairing up Rush and Lacey was pretty crazy.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

No.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

I think so.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Nope.

14. What's your all-time favorite ship?

Rumbelle!

15. What's a wip you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

I have every intention of finishing everything I've ever started. It might take a decade, but I'll do it eventually.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Dialogue.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Action. Kill me if I ever had to block out a sword fight. It's why smut is hard. I get caught up in where everyone's limbs are.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I only speak one language fluently and wouldn't dare bastardize another language.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Harry Potter. Waaaaaaay back when. Also Jane Austen. Not sure which I wrote first.

20. Favorite fic you've written?

I'm always partial to my Rush/Lacey stuff. My favorite Rumbelle fic is probably A Sharp and Glorious Thorn, if I ever get it finished. It's exactly my type of angst.

Tagging @kelyon, @emospritelet, @phoenixwrites, @gingerdreams15 and anyone else who wants to do it.