rangerloey

[winterfireice]

Wish they were ok

The Edaline and Della parental angst I promised all of you enjoy!

——————————————————————————

Edaline

“This is going to be fine,” I say after watching Sophie glitter away, Grady's hand is wrapped around mine, and we're both staring at the empty space in front of us where Sophie was standing.

“Of course it will be, there are a thousand bodyguards here and Sophie will be at Rimeshire fully away from any danger.” My husband says turning towards me. We both know we're both more worried about our daughter than we are about the neverseen attacking Havenfeild, we have already spent hours adding extra protection to the property and even have hidden weapons plus the number of goblins standing around us is making me feel slightly claustrophobic, I wonder if this is how Sophie feels all the time.

But Sophie somehow seems to attract danger not that it's her fault but knowing that the neverseen plans to attack tonight and that Sophie is without her bodyguard worries me.

Della

“Ok do you two have everything you need, toothbrush, toothpaste, pajamas?” I ask Fitz and Biana, “Yes mom, we have everything. You know we do know how to pack for one night right? I mean before we literally packed for possible forever a little while ago in one bag.” Biana says

“Yet somehow this time you have two full duffel bags” Fitz grunts as he puts down one of Biana’s heavy bags on the ground by his feet

“I know you two are more than capable but it's your mother's job to ask too many questions, and on that note are you sure I can’t convince you to bring your bodyguards with you?”

“Yes we are sure we're just going to be sitting in a room for hours looking at scrolls, you and dad will have a higher chance of being in danger. It's better that Grizel and Woltzer are with you.” Biana says

“Yeah plus we're going to have a great time,protecting people from danger is much more fun than reading old scrolls all night” Grizel says from the other side of the room where she’s standing with Woltzer, a bag slung over one of her shoulders.

I smile at her when Alden walks in “Just please be safe kids and don’t leave Rimeshire without proper protection.” He says

“Or just don’t leave Rimshire at all” I add there's no reason to have more people in danger than necessary, especially the children.

“We know, and we’ll be extra careful as long as you guys are.” Fitz says looking at all of us

“We will” I say pulling both of my kids into a hug, my husband joining in and the bodyguards joining moments later.

“Ok we should get going Soph is probably already there,” Biana mentions pulling away reluctantly.

Fitz pulls out his pathfinder, twirling it to Rimeshire’s location. They both say one more quick goodbye before glittering away.

“I guess it's our turn,” I say forming a linked line with our small group, Alden has his pathfinder already set to Havenfeild.

I've always loved Havenfeild, there's always something going on, it mostly being animal related. And even at the craziest of times it still somehow feels calm, even now with the possibility of an attack hanging over all of our heads it feels like nothing could go wrong.

“Hello” Edaline calls from across the yard

“Hi, how are you guys doing?” I say as we get closer to the door

“Oh you know just sent our daughter away because a group of people who kidnapped her are possibly going to attack us, so okay.” Edaline says,

I chuckle “Understandable, never did I think this would be an almost normal day for us.”

Eda and Grady nod with sad smiles on their faces. “Well, what can we help with?” Alden says after a moment

“Well we're mostly done with everything but we want to add a bit more wood on some of the animal enclosures just in case.” Grady says pointing to a small storage shed.

“If you and Grady take that half of the pens Della and I can take the others,” Edaline suggests to Alden as she gestures to the side of the property that the shed is on. “Perfect,” Alden responds.

He and Grady along with Sandor, Brielle, and Grizel start walking over while talking about the emergency plans in case they are needed.

Edaline

With a snap of my fingers, I conjure a stack of wooden planks and some nails, and four hammers.

“Cadoc and Woltzer could you put these across the Verminion’s door please?” I ask handing them all the supplies they will need.

After they nod I turn to Della “We will be putting these on Verdi's pasture there's a weak spot on one of the sides”

Della holds up the board while I hammer in the nails “It's terrifying,” I say after a few moments of silence “It's the middle of the day but I'm still worried someone is going to jump out of a shadow, do you think this is how the kids feel all the time?” I ask “They always seem so calm but the chance of danger all the time must weigh down on them right? I know it weighs down on me and it’s not even my life on the line most of the time.”

“It's worse, it’s our kid's lives, it's like having part of our hearts run around and go into literal battles,” Della responds, looking into my eyes I see a familiar face, one I see every time I look into a mirror. The look of masked terror that you can never get rid of, the mask slipping just for a moment and I feel an unimaginable amount of understanding.

“Were on the outside. As much as we want to take all their pain and fear we just have to stand here and hope for them to come back home.” Della adds adjusting the wooden plank and looking away from me. “It’s almost funny the one time my kids aren't in danger she basically begged to stay to help fight,” I say hammering in one of the last nails.

“Biana and Fitz spent the entire night trying to convince me and Alden to let them come.” Della laughs “It's concerning how ready and willing our children are to run towards the danger, says something about their fight or flight.”

“I know, I’ve gotten to the point where watching my fifteen-year-old jump off of cliffs is normal, but my heart still skips when her feet leave the ground even when I trust her completely.” I hear a chuckle from Della.

“You know what I think will make us feel better? Lunch how about we go back to the house and grab some food.” I say, hearing my stomach grumble

“I think that is an amazing idea.” Della agrees.

Della

“This all looks delicious,” I say to the gnomes that prepared all the food “thank you” they leave the room so it's just Edaline, me, and our husbands.

“Did yours call you yet?” Grady asks looking down at his imparter,

“No, me and Della told them that they didn't need to check up on us. But I kind of want to check on them.” Alden responds looking down at his own.

“I'm sure they're fine, Juline and Keslar wouldn't let anything happen to them.” Eda says, “Plus all they're doing is reading scrolls, how much trouble can they get into?”

We all look at her thinking about all the ways our children can get into surprising situations.

“Okay yeah never mind, but I trust them to be so full of anxiety for us that they don't risk their lives.” That we all nod at. The one time anxiety is helpful.

“I remember when Fitz was about five so Biana must have been three or something and they said that they wanted to be superheroes so they spent the day running around with capes tied to their necks and were jumping off furniture, it was adorable but I never thought that in about ten years they would actually be trying to save people,” Alden adds after putting his fork down on his plate and wiping his mouth with a napkin.

“When you brought Sophie to us I did not think that anything like this would happen,” Grady says, “Also I don't think we ever really thanked you for that, Sophie is the best gift we have ever been given.”

“She really is, I just wish she didn't have to go through as much as she does.” Edaline holds Grady’s hand. “Well,” Eda clears her throat trying not to cry, “We should get back to work.”

“No, you all should stay inside the house where we as your bodyguards can see you at all times,” Sandor adds from the corner of the room where all the other bodyguards are, they were so quiet I almost forgot they were there.

“How about we finish up a few loose ends outside and then we will stay inside for the rest of the day?” Edaline suggests.

“Fine, but you're all staying within sight of the house,” Sandor says.

Edaline

An hour later were officially on house arrest with no exceptions, we decide to use this time to set up some beds in the living room for Della, Alden, and the bodyguards.

The rest of the night goes by painfully slowly with no one knowing what to say or do.

“So do you think anything is going to happen… or are we just going to be sitting here for the rest of the night?” Grizel says after a rather long period of silence. “I’d rather nothing happens at all than the neverseen showing up.” Sandor responds standing against the wall.

“I think we all feel that way,” I comment coming into the room with blankets and pillows so everyone can be more comfortable for the rest of the night. Grady chuckles in the corner looking down at his imparter, “What’s so funny love?” I ask him “Kesler messaged me talking about the kids, apparently he wasn't expecting their special mix of calm and crazy,” He laughs again responding to something his best friend said, “He also has never seen a group of teenagers so focused on scrolls of papers that look like gibberish to him.”

“That does sound like our kids.” Alden laughs. “I wish that they took a break every once and a while, there's so much pressure on them and they like to pretend everything is fine all the time. Even though no one could possibly be ok in this situation.” Della frowns lightly kicking her feet back a forth.

I meet my husband's eyes and his free smile is gone and is replaced with worried creases on his forehead.

“I wish they were as ok as they pretend to be,” I add seeing somber faces all around me.

Della

The sun fully sets and we've turned off the lights pretending that any of us will be sleeping tonight, Edaline and Grady decided to make another makeshift bed on the floor for themselves instead of going up to their room, I think they feel better being with a larger group than just the two of them and a bodyguard outside there room and honestly, I think we all feel better in larger numbers.

No one really sleeps that night but more drifts in and out of conciseness. I sit up after hearing imparters ringing immediately worrying about the kids.

Grady and Edaline scramble to their devices across the room answering them as fast as they can.

“Juline is everything ok?” Edaline asks “Oh thank goodness you scared me, yes, of course, we’ll come. Love you too” she puts her imparter in her pocket and turns to us, Everything is fine Juline just wants to tell me something in person. So we start getting ready to head over to Rimeshire”

The relief is short-lived though because grady hands up his imparter and tells us

“Wylie’s been kidnapped.”

“What!” We all exclaim at the same time

“He’s back now with Tiergan at a black swan safe house, but apparently he’s pretty banged up so Physic is on her way” He adds on

“How did the neverseen even get to him?” Edaline asks

“They took him right out of the silver towers, and no one knows how they got in or out,”

“Of course, they don't, as much as I hate the neverseen they sure do know how to plan an abduction,” Edaline says bitterly Grady gently puts his hand on his wife’s arm “Forkle said that we should meet up at your sister’s so he can tell the kids too and he said they may have found something too.”

Edaline

We all get out of the house and to Rimeshire in record time. Della puts the pastries we brought on the kitchen table and Grady goes over to talk with Kesler while my sister pulls me over to the side.

“Eda there's something I have to tell you.” She says seriously

“Is this about Wylie? Forkle told us right before we left the house.” I respond

“No, well kind of but not really” Juline won't meet my eyes, and I'm starting to get worried

“You're being very vague.” I point out

“I know I guess I should just rip off the band-aid. I'm part of the black swan, actually more than that I'm on the collective and have been for years, my code name is Squall and I would to say I had been planning on telling you but I probably would have kept finding excuses not to if it wasn't for Biana figuring out my identity yesterday. I understand if you are upset or confused and I’m willing to answer any questions you have.” she becomes silent waiting for my response and I just stare at her with my mouth open for a little while. No one behind me having anything to say either though I bet they heard Juline’s confession

“I- ok that is not what I was expecting you to say, but I'm glad Sophie has family in the black swan.” I finally say still a bit shocked then Mr. Forkle walks through the door looking more disheveled than usual.

“Hello everyone, are the kids awake yet?” He asks

“No, we were just about to go wake them up,” Juline says her back straightening as she goes into a more work mode.

“Ok, Wraith and Blur should be here any moment as well” Forkle responds

We decide to wait for them to get here before waking the kids wanting them to get as much sleep as possible. After they arrive we all go together to inform our children that their friend has almost died.

[animusrox]

The Eric Andre Show Season 6 Episode 10

[abirddogmoment]

She's looking really good at a year old! I really like her shoulder assembly and rear angulation. Her tailset is her weakest quality imo but this tailset comes from her sire's lines. All in all super happy with how she's maturing!

[frizzle-mcshizzle]

i don't hate keefe i don't, but i don't want an entire book about him from his pov, i missed when it focus on the other characters

[swordplease]

Merry Pippin and Sam from the books are actually the most hobbits ever. like. frodo having them help him in this elaborate scheme to have him move away to a house in Buckland, trying SO hard to pretend that it’s bc he’s losing money and he just feels like moving and he’s like agonizing over it to himself the whole way. They get there and merry is like go take baths you stinky shits and they’re like oh well who’s gonna go first and he’s like actually I personally arranged it so there’s THREE bathtubs because I KNEW you fucking gay assholes would fight over this. Frodo working up the courage to tell them that he can’t stay there and has to go further away and they’re straight up like “LOL dude we know, youre a shit liar also you literally kept talking to yourself about for months. Plus merry saw bilbo put the ring on and disappear so he could avoid a social interaction like YEARS ago dude. so yeah danger is whatever. Btw we’re coming with you.” like. truly epic bro moments

[floofeeeeee]

Guys why tf are we arguing about the shipping I THOUGHT THIS WAS THE PLACE TO ESCAPE THAT

[siennamakeschaos]

kotlc adult headcanons :D (and theories i guess)

warning: kind of long

I also got off-track quite a few times

but enjoyy

grady and kesler were best friends all throughout their time at foxfire (their friendship was even stronger after kesler got booted out before elite levels)

kesler dated juline for a bit, then introduced grady to her sister (edaline)

grady was heads over heels for her but edaline was an oblivious sweetheart

cassius and edaline previously dated

they were cute together

they broke up bc of reasons (which may or may not include a mystery sencen sister~)

grady and cassius were also really close friends for years. and years. cassius became a lot more hostile after oralie got elected as a councillor (which is part of a theory of mine that i might talk about in another post) and the two of them drifted apart

and cassius kind of insulted edaline in front of grady, which resulted in him getting mesmerized to slap himself :D

grady and edaline moved in together on the day of their 10 year anniversary of being together

he surprised her with a new addition to the animal reserve (edaline was over at havenfield 90% of her time)

VERDI!! grady knew edaline loved t-rexes, and she instantly fell in love with verdi

verdi fell in love with her

grady was scared verdi was going to steal edaline from him

so he proposed to eda :D

their wedding was in the paddocks because edaline requested it

kesler was the best man, juline was the bridesmaid

ofc jolie was the flower girl

verdi crashed the afterparty

edaline's parents screamed while grady's parents laughed

after everybody left, grady, edaline, kesler and juline hung out together

kesler proposed to juline

the lost cities went SCREECH

their wedding was on a pretty beach

at midnight

because they wanted it to be special

jolie was flower girl. again.

grady was best man, edaline bridesmaid (yep grady and eda's wedding but swapped)

there wasn't a large collection of guests bc of the bad match scandal

kesler wore a bright yellow suit

juline wore a neon yellow dress with green glow-in-the-dark makeup

their wedding was eccentric and beautiful <3

time to move on from weddings

alden and grady were colleagues and they developed a friendship

edaline and della met when shopping one day and they developed a friendship

one day edaline and grady both accidentally invited della/alden over and that's how the two of them met

della got her match list a couple weeks later

number 1? alden vacker

she was astonished and tried not to dwell on it

but her and alden grew closer after that

then confession stuff and they dated for 5-ish years.

before proposals

they had a wedding in the everglen reception hall

jolie was excited this was her first wedding that she wasn't the flower girl at

best man + bridesmaid were close friends of alden + della's

the bridesmaid was a relative of alina's

gave her all the info (when the wedding was happening, where)

alina went and crashed it we all know what happened :)

okay back to the childhood of characters

ELWINN

a-hem. elwin's parents fought a lot and didn't pay much attention to him :(

he had a cousin named amarelle sencen

she was a couple years older than him and they were so close :D

elwin spent most of his time at amarelle's house

when he was 15 and amarelle was 18, amarelle's parents had another child

elwin was happy, he had another cousin :D

the child was named cassius (>:D)

amarelle moved out after she completed elite levels (she was an empath~)

elwin's parents literally forgot he existed most of the time so he moved in with amarelle

cassius was 2 at this point and ANOTHER child was born (elwin had another cousin!)

the name..? ahah no.

elwin saw his aunt and uncle a lot, and cassius looked up to him.

elwin babysitted cassius and the mystery child a heap, until he went to elite levels

it was around then he began to take an interest in physician and doctory stuff (look at me using scientific words /jj)

amarelle supported him every step of the way

she gave him a stegosaurus stuffed animal

he named it stinky >:D

elwin was so grateful for that he began to grow a stuffed animal collection

but stinky was always his most favourite

elwin went and got qualifications after elite levels and stuff

but he still lived with amarelle

she owned a place called splendour plains

amarelle was working as a jeweller, she often made jewellry for elwin to wear

(also when keefe was temporarily living in splendour plains, amarelle still owned it but elwin knew that the two of them had never met so he claimed it was his own house. amarelle was on a trip with a close friend while keefe was there.)

amarelle didn't have the best relationship with cassius

but she showed up to the opening ceremonies thing for Foxfire when he became a Level one :D

elwin came as well

he cheered cassius on the whole time

elwin gave cassius a special stuffed animal after that (it may or may not still be in cassius possession~)

elwin began to get really busy and he didn't have much time to hang out with cassius and the mystery child

he managed to make it to the mystery child's first opening ceremony tho

he gave HER a stuffed animal as well >:3

it was a unicorn

she named it sparkles

bc she thought the name 'queen pink of all things pink' sounded kinda weird

mystery child loved pink :)

uhh this elwin part's gotten kind of long now-

elwin became foxfire's physician

mystery child always got fake-injured (or exaggerated her injuries) to come to the healing centre to see elwin

cassius would sometimes drop by during breaks with grady

elwin had recently gotten a blue elephant stuffed animal in a hawaiian shirt and he wanted to find the perfect person to give it to

it took years to find that person-

also aro/ace elwin :)

he doesn't wanna get involved with any romantic-y stuff

not for himself anyways

he gives the best romantic advice to cassius tho

and his other patients

especially one who got a really bad injury one time named kenric

he was pining over the mystery child

mystery child and kenric became friends :)

cassius was sUsPiCiOuS (older brother instincts)

he didn't like kenric

until one day mystery child almost died in some sort of accident

kenric saved her

cassius liked kenric now :D

cassius and kenric weren't friends tho

cassius, grady and kesler had sleepovers with edaline and juline

chaos

pure chaos they were

cassius + edaline began dating the next day

grady was lonely bc kesler was dating juline

he was a single pringle

ages later (wayy after cassius + edaline broke up) grady asked edaline out

shit we're getting back to grady and edaline-

tiergan and prentice were besties

they would have been the perfect cognates

but tiergan didn't want to fall in love with sOmEoNe

so they stayed besties

then cyrah came along

prentice fell in love but it didn't feel right

he loved cyrah tho

tiergan was a single pringle

for a year

two years

three years

ten years

twenty years

thirty years

has been a single pringle his whole life :')

let's go to gisela now

she grew up with a few close friends, she did moderately well in school and she kept noticing the things that were wrong in the lost cities

after elite levels she met mr arson (a.k.a fintan) and he felt good vibes off her

a couple months later gisela is officially a neverseen member

she is really dedicated

fintan loves her (platonically)

they're bestiess

fintan puts on mini fire shows for her

gisela helps him with his noxflares

she was sad when he was taken off to exile

lol she took over the neverseen leadership position

but then fintan was back

and they were besties again

then fintan was arrested again

and she took over the neverseen leadership position again

and uhh this is kind of getting into canon things now-

okay I think this is enough for now

...i'm tempted to write more for elwin

ANYWAYS YEAH

....mystery child reveal may be in a post to come

[lava-cake-brainrot]

Question for my keeper friends

how do yall think the elves would react to finding out about AI?

[officially-shannon-messenger]

So if keefe doesn't have abs does that mean he's not hot? Which means that you don't love him as much as you say you do??

plenty of hot people don't have abs what planet do you live on. also why would i be attracted to keefe

[ofdarklands]

Fear and secret for mitr'a cause I straight up can't guess what this guy would be afraid of

fear: What is your OC's greatest fear? What do they do when confronted with it? Are they open with their fear, or do they hide it away?

i don't think he has one big simple fear i can think of

there'd be the fear of a slow death being trapped or ill or wounded in the shroud. either someone finds you (unlikely) or you waste away. it came close a couple times, before arr. though this is now less of a worry with whm spells and the drk tricks and return, which add a lot of options

there's also the old worry about his clan's safety, and the novel fears over the twins and tataru and the scions. nothing debilitating but they do linger sometimes. he doesn't usually allow the thoughts much braintime; he knows they can take care of themselves

the silent dread of slowly losing his thoughts now, after shb

in more immediate fears, like being startled or during fights or high tension moments, his flight or fight instincts are so firmly stuck on fight he's not even afraid, he's just biting you because you startled him. and then the moment is past and he's fine. this is what happened in In From The Cold for example. he ended up Fucking Furious instead of afraid and then just frustrated. also he had not slept in like 2 days so some functions were turned off

.

secret: What's one secret your OC never wants anyone to know about them?

huh. i don't think he intentionally keeps secrets? he just doesn't think to mention things he's doing/done, to often hilarious results

at most he has things he would not say to specific people not because they're secrets about himself but because the specific person would not enjoy it. unless the person asks directly

like, he's not telling the twins about ameliance, he's not using his rdm skills in front of alisaie, or told g'raha about the unpleasant time between laying the soul vessel on him in the tower and him actually coming online. he generally avoids mentioning the keeper approach to relationships and sex in front of eorzeans because the confusion is boring by now

i guess one thing that counts as a proper secret during arr-ew is the exact location of his clan. absolutely not loosening his lips on that while there were ascians about. he didn't even visit during those 4-5 years. if anyone asked, his address was nowhere and he came up fully formed from the ground

anyway, he is fundamentally a pretty transparent person, as long as you ask the right questions. and if he's in the proper mood to answer; otherwise he might fuck with you for fun, not out of secrecy

[the-hilda-librarians-wife]

Going buckwild at the way Hilda The Series portrays adulthood and loneliness. Kaisa has no one to go to to ask for help getting the due book back, even though all it would take was someone she could minimally ask to knock on an elderly lady’s door and ask for a favour; she’s in the library after hours, is shown to have no allies aside from the woman who raised her and who she lost contact with. Johanna is only ever seen working or caring for Hilda, and her lack of a life aside from those two activities is pointed out by her own daughter when she thinks that this is going so far as to affect their relationship. The bell keeper lives alone in a small cabin on the edge of town, barely within city limits and away from everyone, a house barely even inhabitable and clearly only a place to sleep and eat. He works a solitary job and he’s the only one in the town still working it, meaning he’s probably overworked and forced to pull inhumanly long shifts. Victoria hyperfocused so hard on her projects that whatever friends she had before - and she must have had some from college time at least - lost contact with her, and she never made any other connections in Trolberg, anything that would tie her to the city and it’s inhabitants and make it so it wasn’t worth it to live by herself at the top of a hill. Even when that was over, she still chose to isolate herself somewhere abandoned and keep what was essentially another machine she’d built as her source of company, something she could understand and control instead of an unpredictable human being. Gerda works a job she likes but is shown to be disregarded by the person she works the most around, her abilities and intellect thrown aside for the good of someone she has to bear because of a hierarchy she was forced to accept in order to keep working. She’s appreciated by the town, but other than the main characters, we don’t see anyone paying her any mind when they don’t need something from her.

Meanwhile no kid has ever been alone in Trolberg. The mean kids are a group, the good kids are a group, even the gloomy teenage girls are a group. One of nightmare inducing entities, but a group nonetheless. All children in that world seem to operate on a ‘no man left behind’ code, looking out for each other even if they aren’t exactly fans of one another, helping even grown ups without asking why and working together. And this logic seems to extend to the adults who work around children too; especially the Raven Leader, who we see that through the children works as a vital part of the community and a way through which it comes together.

This isn’t very articulate but do you see the point? Do you see how clever that is? That a show about growing up has these themes? You can be magical, kind, strong, intelligent, competent, but none of that will make you truly happy if you don’t keep the most important thing from childhood? If you don’t keep your friendships, your bonds, something to tie you down to your reality and your community? The adults in the show all made their choices, and it’s okay to want to be alone, we all need it and some more than others (this is coming from someone who needs it a lot), but isolating yourself completely is the one thing that will make growing pains truly painful. I’m just so emotional over it. It’s so subtle and so clever considering the whole Mountain King plot that Hilda is willing to change species because she feels detached from her main relationships and surroundings. I love this show so much.

[improvised-finish]

FFXIV Write 2024 - Prompt #17 - Sally

Content Warnings: Lehon'a is referred to with he/him pronouns, as this takes place before her transition in Shadowbringers, but not in a transphobic way.

Spoiler Warnings: None

Summary: Can it really be called a 'happy nameday' if you're getting forced to leave your tribe? Asking for a Lehon'a Nhavareh.

Check it out below or on Ao3:

As the light of dawn began to slip into his rooms through the breaks in the shutters, Lehon'a awoke to a feeling of dread. Today was the day, after all.

In truth, he'd dreaded today's coming for some time, passing from willful ignorance to rage to a melancholy that he could never quite shake. Something about it felt wrong.

The day should've been one of celebration. It was his nameday, or at least the closest thing he'd had to one. The anniversary of the day his mother had taken him in from the road where he'd been abandoned. Eighteen years it had been, apparently. Supposedly, that made him an adult, a ‘man’ in the eyes of the tribe. 

He'd always hoped that that word would come to fit him, that he'd grow into it like an ill-fitting shirt handed down from an older family member. Yet today was the day, and he felt no more a man than any other day he could remember. 

Traditions left little room for feelings, no flexibility for confused youth or anyone who might dare to question why. 

And so, in the traditions of the Miqo'te he'd been raised with, his eighteenth nameday would be the day he was expected to leave the tribe.

He could return every so often, of course, and he certainly planned to. But the expectation was that he would go and see the world, meeting other tribes and gaining worldly experience until he one day found a mate. And that expectation was mutually exclusive with the strong bond he'd formed with his mother, not to mention his female peers who he would also be leaving behind.

It felt like dying, like leaving behind the person he was in search of some vague notion of cosmopolitan knowledge. And he didn't want to die.

His bag had already been packed the night before; he'd correctly guessed that he'd feel no motivation to do it in the morning. A freshly washed white and tan tunic hung from a hook and his reliable pair of thighboots sat near the door, waterproofed and ready for the road ahead. More reminders of the impending journey.

Maybe if I just don't move or make a noise, it'll just pass me by, Lehon'a thought, knowing full well such juvenile logic would never actually hold up in a situation like this. Anything to keep it from coming, to keep it from happening. He felt every single second pass in a silence he knew would break, sooner or later, and it was almost a form of torture. Instead of spending this time with his mother, cherishing the moments they had left, he was here, hiding away from everything in bed. 

Not long after these thoughts came a knock at the door.

“Lehon'a? Dearheart, are you awake?” his mother called through the door. He couldn't bring himself to remain silent, but his lethargic voice betrayed his emotions.

“Yeah, mom… I'm up.”

She noticed immediately. “Can I come in?”

Nothing seems to matter, so might as well, he thought. “Sure.”

The door opened slowly, and Lehon stepped through, carefully closing it behind her to avoid making more noise than necessary. She crossed the space between them and sat on the bed, at his side.

“I know this isn't what you wanted, and to be truthful, it’s not how I’d like to spend your nameday either. But I am determined to make the most of the morning before you go, so I made some breakfast for the both of us, and I’ve got something to give you before you go.” She paused for a second. “I’ll give you a bit more time on your own, but the food will get cold eventually, so the quicker you’re through that door, the better breakfast will be.” She gave him a kiss on the forehead, as she’d done many times before, and then got up to finish the cooking, leaving Lehon’a on his own once more.

After another moment in thought, he pushed himself up to a sitting position, let out a heavy exhale, and then kicked his feet out from under the covers and onto the floor.

It wasn’t much longer before he’d gotten dressed: undershirt, tunic, pants, boots, one after the other. Getting ready had a certain momentum to it, even under these circumstances, and he found it easier to keep moving forward once he’d started. After some quick checks of his pack, he stepped through the door and into the kitchen.

It was far from a panacea, but he would’ve been lying if he’d said the aroma of breakfast food didn’t improve his mood at all. It was all his favorite smells, wrapped into one: eggs with cheese and fresh vegetables from the garden, a tuna spread with lemon and herbs on toast, and a pitcher of La Noscean orange juice, which was a rare treat in this part of the Shroud.

“I hope you’re hungry, ‘cause I might’ve gone a bit overboard,” Lehon said with a laugh.

“Smells great, mom.” Lehon’a stopped to set his pack down next to the table. “Thank you.”

Lehon quickly dished up a couple of plates while Lehon’a was busy pouring the juice, and they met at the table moments later.

“I know I was just making a big fuss about the food getting cold, but I’d rather do this sooner than later, on the off chance we run out of time eating,” Lehon began, fishing for something in a pocket of her apron. “I got you a proper gift for your nameday, and for the road ahead, too.” She extended her hand, which held a small box. Lehon’a took it and began to gently untie the ribbon that held the two halves together. He gingerly separated the lid from the base and set it down on the table as his mouth fell open in shock.

It was an earring, a crescent moon made of bronze inlaid with a small pearl that featured two thin crystals that dangled beneath it. The symbols of Menphina, he thought.

“Oh, it’s beautiful…”

“I’m glad you like it, dearheart. My hope was that it might remind you of me, of us, when you’re far away, and that you might walk under Her protection wherever your travels take you.”

Without missing a beat, Lehon’a took the earring out of the box and clipped it to his ear, subconsciously wiggling it a bit as he got used to the slight difference in weight.

“It really suits you,” she said as she got up from her seat and opened her arms for an embrace, which Lehon’a gladly accepted.

“Thank you,” Lehon’a replied, trying not to let the tears in his eyes escape.

“Save the tears for after breakfast, all right? I don’t think the eggs need any more salt.” The joke snapped the tension in the air, and they both let out a hearty laugh as they went back to their seats to start eating.

Lehon’a still was far from excited to be leaving home so soon, but even he had to admit that knowing he had Menphina watching over his travels made him feel a little better about venturing into the wide unknown of Eorzea.

[theeccentricraven]

Character Inverse

Thank you @kaylinalexanderbooks for the tag in this especially fun tag game!

Rules: describe the opposite of your OCs!

WIP: The Blood Cleaners

Justin - Cares about no one but himself, too lazy to work a job, and loves the cold.

Joselyn - Happy housewife, obeys the rules, and wants to keep the status quo.

Miriam - Lets others control the situation, never laughs, and has no musical talent.

Clarice - Makes her parents proud, afraid of flying, and despises bright colors.

Ellen - Cruel, uncaring, foolish, temperamental, and neglectful

John - Sweet as sugar, friendly, positive, optimistic, glass is half-full kind of guy

WIP: The Keeper of Maralla

Juva - Outgoing personality, luck is on her side, but you can’t trust her because she’s disloyal as well as lazy

Maralla - A totally average person who is shy and reclusive

Jorem - Stupid yet into fluffy things

Mrs. Terila - Knows nothing, has no secrets, and bad teacher.

WIP: Columbus Day

Julie - Hates oldies, never gets things done, and hates company

Tsicatam - Disinterested in new things, unfriendly, and somber

Demisen - Warmonger, pessimist, and cynic with no desire to leave a legacy not to mention never misunderstood by others

Tagging (no obligation): @buffythevampirelover @faeriecinna @rickie-the-storyteller @jay-avian @orphanheirs @tildeathiwillwrite @g0ttest0d @whatwewrotepodcast @poethill @americanfemcel

[frizzle-mcshizzle]

What's your take on a Fitz-Marella friendship?

not the biggest Fitz fan or Marella fan they just exist to me, so i have literally never thought about it idk how their personalities would work as a friendship, you may want to ask someone who likes the characters more than i do

[liaazhang]

one thing about me is that i love everyone in the main kotlc gang. they're all teenagers and they're all trying their best <3

[book-lover85]

Shannon's biggest writing problem is that she wants to add too many plot elements and characters but she doesn't know how to juggle them all in a satisfying way that makes sense

literally every writing problem in the series stems from this