#so i'm manifesting this reunion

[tending-the-hearth]

so steve DOESN'T die in season 5, but he and robin get separated.

idk, maybe steve, jonathan, and nancy go off fighting a group of demogorgons in a parallel to s1, and robin's with erica and max at the hospital, fighting off demodogs, and when the mindflayer dies, there's a horrible, horrible moment where robin sees the place that steve ran off to explode, and she feels like she wants to throw up

but then the party converges back to the hospital, and mike, lucas, and dustin are the first to get back, and lucas throws himself at his sister and girlfriend, and the three of them are crying, and dustin hurtles into robin's arms, because he saw the explosion to, and mike pretends to be nonchalant, but he's clinging to dustin's sleeve.

murray, joyce, and hopper are next, supporting an exhausted eleven and will, and it's then that mike's calm facade breaks, and he sags with relief. at this point, eleven and mike are broken up, maybe will has told mike how he feels, maybe not, but mike just hugs both of them, and they hold onto him, and hopper checks in on the rest of the kids while joyce stands with robin and dustin after surveying the room and realizing who's missing.

and they wait too long. they wait for longer than they should if the trio is still alive. but robin doesn't move from her spot, doesn't sit, doesn't listen to anyone trying to coax her away from the window.

it isn't until the sun is beginning to peak over the horizon that she spots three figures approaching the hospital, in various states of injured and limping, and robin lets out a shriek as she flies out of the room, mike and joyce following at her heels, but robin's the first one out of the hospital.

she doesn't slow down, doesn't pause, she collides with steve in a way that makes them both wince, but his arms are wrapping around her waist just as tightly as her arms are around his neck, and she buries her face in his shoulder as he presses his nose against her hair, and she can feel the sticky blood on his arm, and he can feel the bruises on her side, but none of that matters.

vaguely, they can hear mike and nancy crying as they reunite, nancy cradling her brother in her arms like he's a child again, joyce has jonathan tucked into her side, but all steve and robin care about is that their Platonic with a Capital P soulmate is alive and safe.

in a few minutes, robin will pull away and punch steve's uninjured arm, and ask him through her relieved tears what the fuck took him so long, and he'll explain that he, nancy, and jonathan wanted to make absolutely sure everything was closed, and jonathan will roll his eyes and say that steve got the worst of the injuries protecting him and nancy, and mike will, for the first time, separate from his sister and hug steve tightly.

and later that night, the Party will descend upon steve's house, and pile blankets and pillows into the living room, and robin and steve will fall asleep in each other's arms, dustin starfished over steve, erica pressed against robin's side, the rest of the kids curled up with each other like a giant puppy pile.

but for now, steve and robin cling to each other, tears falling down their cheeks, shoulders shaking with sobs, relieved, heavy sobs. in the back of their mind, they'll both have the same thought, because they're the same person, the same soul. they'll thank whatever deity is listening that they were paired up at scoops, because neither of them ever, ever again wants to possibly imagine a future where they don't have each other at their side.

[lotus-pear]

HAPPY 114‼️‼️ take these silly doodles i did

[firebirdsdaughter]

Actually…

… This is gonna bother me… Anyone remember/can tell me what is going on at the end there? The impression I originally got was that they just. Sent Neal right back to the start bc fuck s3 and all the people who care about him, he likes stealing too much, which for me is ugh. Guys, I’m here for the found family??? Esp bc some of the lines I know he says to Peter there are really sucky if he’s just going right back to lying to people.

But was also reading something that implied that’s not it? That he does it bc of the gang or whatever? Which is a much better reason and showcases what should be Neal’s character development from only a blind and unjustified devotion to Kate to having a family and friends and a life and something to lose. Having Neal revert not for his own enjoyment but for the sake of others is so much better than his initial selfishness.

So now I’m confused, bc I was really mad about the ending bc I thought it was the former, but is it the latter? Bc that’s much better. I do get the impression they forced Peter to be overly jerky, which I presumed was to justify Neal suddenly reverting bc ‘ooo look how mean and restrictive he is,’ and probably still is to cause Drama (which I’m like… why, I’m genuinely much more interested in Peter and Neal caring about each other and being protective of each other in their own ways), but if they at least don’t try to end it like that, I can just ignore it.

Sooo… Anyone wanna tell me which it is?

[toodelusionalforreality]

Rare

Azriel x Reader(N)

Summary: Azriel's reluctant night out with his family turns out to be more interesting than he expected.

A/N: This is an experimental piece of work. I'm testing a writing style, so feedback is welcome. I have newfound respect for writers who have mastered group dynamics in their writing.

Word count: ~5.6k

Warning: None [minimal editing/proofreading/formatting]

‘Two weeks,’ Mor whispered, trudging forward with her eyes set ahead in a daze. Her heels hit the cobbled path with soft clicks. ‘They’re closed for two weeks. What am I going to do?’

Feyre looped her arm through hers and guided her away from the closed doors of Rita’s. No one took the disappointment as hard as Mor did. Still, they each expressed varying degrees of frustration with their grunts and groans. Cassian cursed aloud for it was his idea to enjoy a night like good old times. And he enjoyed a night like good old times every two months. However, that night, the rest of the Inner Circle agreed to celebrate the few peaceful months they'd had in a while.

Except for one.

Azriel was grateful for his family’s reunion and their safety. Only he wanted to celebrate it in the quiet of their home. His family didn’t spare him the courtesy of protesting. Knowing him well, they sent the middle Archeron sister to plead their case. One look at her hesitant eyes and he couldn’t deny the soft-hearted woman. He had one regret for the night—to have not flown off when he sensed Elaine’s presence on the other side of his door. 

When Rita disclosed their misfortune, Nesta pinned him with an accusatory glare as if his ill will had manifested into the burning down of their beloved retreat. She would have calmed if Azriel had stood there with his usual blank stare. Instead, he lifted a brow as a smirk tugged at his lips.

Cass grumbled, ‘At least pretend not to enjoy this so much, you ass,’ without even looking at his brother. 

‘Two weeks!’ Mor shrieked, throwing her arms in the air as she reeled out of the initial shock. ‘How could she do this to me?’ Her blonde hair swayed behind her with every shake of her head.

Rhys walked on her other side. Besides Azriel, he was the only one unbothered by the ruin of their plans. ‘I’m sure the fire in her kitchen had barely anything to do with punishing you.’ His taunting tone was the only sign of his apathy for his cousin’s plight.

Elaine’s voice perked up as Mor opened her mouth. ‘We could go somewhere else,’ she inched away with each word as if she expected another outburst. ‘It’s not that late.’

And that’s how Azriel came to hate the woman for the night. 

He wasn’t cruel. He loved his family, and he agreed they deserved a break, but it wasn’t something he would sacrifice his peace for. He was ready with his own proposition—go back home, get drunk on faerie wine, and maybe some mirthroot if they resisted too much. His family would've had their merriment, and he’d have had his serenity.

As they stumbled and meandered through the streets, stopping at one place and the next, vetting out each other’s suggestions, Azriel found himself enjoying the moment—listening to his family’s usual banter, the comfort of familiarity built over centuries, and fussing over triviality instead of wars and courts. If his family chose to spend the entire night on the streets, he would gladly trade his peace for that.

Before he even finished the thought, his family arrived at their destination. The last on their list. Another bar. Or at least what it said on the polished plaque that hung above the rusty door frame.

Cass spoke first, ‘This is it?’ His words echoed the thought they all had in their minds.

Beyond the worn-out door held in place by a brick wedged between it and the doorframe was a harshly lit long room. Even the open door and cool breeze of the summer night couldn’t mask the stench of stuffiness from the dingy hole in the wall. Light flickered warning anyone dared contemplate entering the horrid place. Too narrow to hold any table or chair, there stood a single desk opposite the entrance. Two shelves nailed behind it sloped, the bottles stacked atop them slowly making their way to the edge. A place like that at the centre of Velaris was a swamp surrounded by beauty and life.

A woman rotten with age sat behind the table. Her hands jittered with each click of the needles held between her sharp, black claws. Her crooked nose curving past her thin lips and her non-existent ears were the only indications of her faerie blood other than her savage nails. Azriel couldn’t remember the last time he saw a creature that looked so old and fragile, yet with malice in her being, a kind of cruelty that lurked in her bones. 

Despite what he witnessed, none of it deterred him that night. His body shook with silent laughter. All that wasted trip, endless stops to pick at the tiniest flaws only for his family to end up there. 

Mother loved him. The complete disbelief on their faces was worth everything Azriel suffered since he opened his door to Elaine that night. Even his shadows seemed to enjoy the irony of their situation, skittering around his shoulders.

Mor turned to him sharply, her eyes alight with fire. ‘As long as there’s wine, this will do,’ she gritted her teeth. 

Pushing his friend, whose only purpose in life was proving a point, was the last thing Azriel wanted to do. Yet it was an opportunity he couldn’t pass. How far would his family go? What would it take to break them? Would they give in and chuck down whatever wretched brew the suspicious creature offered? He merely bowed his head and waved at the door.

Mor swallowed her squeak of disgust as she crossed the threshold. Her eyes ran over the assortment of bottles on the shelves—three filled to the brim with pale green liquid, two half-filled with something that looked awfully like rotten blood, of what Azriel didn’t care to find out. 

‘Do you suppose,’ she brought her eyes back to the woman, ‘you have any wine?’

The needles went silent for a beat, ‘Take your pick,’ and resumed. Not once did the creature glance at them as she jerked her chin to the shelf above her head.

With the seven of them now inside, the air turned hot and suffocating. Nesta pushed past to the front, standing next to Mor. ‘This is Pharus, isn’t it? The bar?’

Finally, the faerie looked up. Her eyes roved over their faces, their bodies, the detailing of threads on their clothes finer than the ones she held in her hands. ‘Of course,’ she snarled, ‘why else would you be here?’ Her lazy eyes rolled creepily in their sockets to stop at the door beside the shelf. ‘Over there,’ she said and went back to her hideous patchwork of browns and blues and pinks.

In the silence, a steady thrum of beats crept along the floor. A soft murmur lured them to trust the creature’s words and enter the unknown that awaited them behind the burnished wood, a portal out of the creature’s lair.

Mor stepped up to the door, her eyes on the glass doorknob—hypnotised, curious, so bright. As her fingers brushed against it, the faerie cleared her throat. ‘There’s a price for it,’ she added with a sly smile on her lips, a little thing that didn’t belong in her sagging face.

Azriel fished into his pockets while his family stared between the door and its guardian. His curiosity ebbed and grew to a point of no return. He had to find whatever called to him, whatever called to them. He dropped a gold on the table. It clattered on the wood, its ring echoing for a breath too long. 

The faerie stared at it and then at him, and then his family, studying each of their faces. Her claws left scratches on the wood as she grasped the coin in her palm. She sniffed it, her eyes widening.

The door didn’t make a sound under Mor’s hand. One by one, they entered, and Azriel let the door close behind him. Their heels clicked on the polished wooden floor.

Every plush leather chair, strategically arranged table, and carefully curated decorations contributed to the elegance of the room. Soothing warmth enveloped them even on the summer night in a comforting embrace. The fragrance of spices cut through the musk of the wooden furniture. Golden orbs hung from the ceiling, casting a soft glow across the space enough to enable their fae sight, but none too harsh like Rita’s.

A band sat on a raised podium at the far end, playing music that complimented their ambience. In the middle stood the majestic bar, a stretch of counter that ran along almost the entire length of the room. Bottles filled with various shades of liquor sat on the shelves behind—each of them, artistically planned and placed. Lights reflected off decanters and glasses set on trays, adding a bit of colour to the brown and gold theme of the room.  

Faerie—high and lesser—took the seats without sparing each other a glance of discrimination. There was no stench of tension in the air, only a fragile calmness. Two servers shifted around the room speaking softly with polite smiles on their lips. A female tended to the bar, her hands worked with mesmerising precision. Despite the overflowing liquor, there wasn’t any loud cry, laughter, or chatter. 

Luxury and safety were the words that came to Azriel’s mind. His shadows shaded his shoulders, falling quiet as they studied their new territory. 

One of the servers led them to the only table large enough to fit them—close to the band, a bench along the wall on one side, and chairs on the other.

Once they settled, he spoke with a rehearsed tone, ‘I’m guessing you’re new here.’ The hitch in his breath told them he knew exactly who they were, and yet his smile remained. ‘We have two rules. One, we ensure the night’s peaceful here as much as possible. So, we don’t appreciate harassment of any kind, and I’d advise you to stay out of trouble. Two, if our barkeep cuts you off for whatever reason, you leave.’ His shoulders relaxed as if it were the most hated part of his job, and his smile turned more genuine. ‘Other than that, you do whatever you want. What would you like to drink?’

‘I’ll have faerie wine,’ Mor waited for no one, ‘Any wine. Don’t care how many.’ Her thigh pushed against Azriel’s as she shifted to a comfortable position on the bench, her warmth seeping past his leathers. A swift nod from everyone else had the server scrambling back to the bar.

Nesta inspected the surrounding faces. ‘What kind of moron expects drunks to follow rules?’

‘The one who doesn’t want to be held responsible for whatever happens when they are broken.’ Nesta’s eyes snapped to Azriel’s, and he shrugged. 

Elaine looked between their faces, expecting the inevitable. But the Inner Circle indulged in spying on their night’s getaway. ‘Are we really ignoring what we saw outside?’

‘Oh,’ the server peered down at them as he set a tray with two wine bottles and glasses with a grace unexpected of his thick, manly fingers. ‘That hag is harmless. She just wastes her day knitting. If she bothered you, it’s because you’re new. Easy prey, you know? The regulars are used to her by now.’

Feyre reached for the glass offered to her. ‘Who is she?’

The server didn’t care to meet their eyes, but his words were eager. ‘She came with the building. This used to be her home. The old owner, her son, wanted to sell this bar. He found a better place for his family. But she didn’t want to move. Night and day they fought so much that people were afraid to even walk the street. Anyway, the son couldn’t resist our offer and sold it, and she—,’ he clicked his tongue, ‘she refused to leave with him. And N didn’t want to leave her homeless.’

Azriel didn’t particularly enjoy the conversation as much as his family did. It mattered very little to the server, whose words tumbled out in a single breath. Clearly, it wasn’t the first time he was telling the story to his customers. He would make a terrible spy, Azriel thought. Maybe a decent source.

'N?’

'She owns the place now. She gave the hag that hall. That’s where she and her husband lived before her son built a bar here.’ He sighed. His eyes swept over the rest of the room once he placed a filled glass in front of each of them. ‘It’s not good for business with a front like that. She scares everyone away. But N insisted, and we renovated around it. Most customers don’t even set foot inside after the first time. Some take pity and give her a few coppers. Not that she needs them though. N takes care of all her needs.’

He turned to them with a wide smile, with a server’s politeness. ‘Anyway, enjoy!’ He turned to leave and paused. ‘You didn’t give her anything, did you?’

Every pair of eyes at the table fixated on Azriel. He blinked, ‘A gold.’

‘You better stay away from her the next time.’ The server walked away laughing.

In his long life, and also as a spy, Azriel had met enough faeries ranging from the vilest to the kindest. Nothing fazed him anymore. Though it would have made quite a story on any other day, his focus remained on his family. He would rather figure out a way to coax his friends to leave early than uncover more about a hag and her benefactor. After a long night of searching for a bar which offered wine sweeter than Rita’s, he knew it would be almost impossible.

At her sister’s request, Feyre led Elaine closer to the band, both nursing their drinks in their hands. Loose chairs littered the open space in front of the dais, where they took a seat among other patrons. The musicians nodded at them with a smile. 

Cass slammed his glass on the table. ‘I don’t like this place,’ he grumbled, looking at the well-behaved mob, ‘Where’s the fun here? This is not how a bar is supposed to be.’

‘Why? Is this place too classy for a brute like you?’ Nesta smirked, sipping her drink as she surveyed the place. She fitted right in.

Years of sneaking and spying had ingrained the instincts in Azriel’s very bones, impossible to separate who he was and what he did for his family, for his court. His hazel eyes didn’t miss a thing. His shadows stayed close and whispered in his ears. Careful, calculating.

Between the bar and the band stood two doors—one the servers often drifted in and out of with trays in their hands, a kitchen; and the other too pristine to be a back door or entrance to a storage room. An office, maybe. No one entered or exited it since his family took their seats across it. 

His brother was wrong. The patrons enjoyed their time, but not the way people did in Rita’s. Like his family, they bundled together and shared a drink and a laugh with their loved ones. Their glazed eyes and flushed faces proved they indulged in the drinks as much as Cass did. A few cleared the space in front of the band, shifting the chairs around and waltzing to the music. A sense of belonging lingered in the air, unlike the mindless chaos that stained Rita’s.

As warned, the bartender declined drinks to a few. Even the ones who posed the most threat to start a fight walked away without resistance. Not one sound of protest or trouble followed.

Elaine and Feyre returned when the band paused to start their next song. As Elaine settled into the seat across from him, she gave the widest smile to Azriel. He smiled back. Rhys filled Feyre’s glass and placed a gentle kiss on her cheek. Cass and Mor still disagreed with Nesta on the essence of the true bar experience. Rhys took Nesta’s side only to watch his brother seethe with anger. With the remaining sisters returned to the table, it became clear Cass and Mor were losing the battle.

To add salt to their burn, Azriel trailed a finger along the rim of his glass and smirked. ‘I like this place too.’

‘You weren’t on board all night and now you have an opinion?’ Cass waved a hand of dismissal but his eyes burned with betrayal, ‘Go back to your brooding.’ Azriel grinned.

Laughing and stumbling, Mor headed to the bar. The bartender blushed so red that it wasn’t a mystery what she was up to. Minutes later, she returned with a bottle of amber liquor and a glass of a blue-green drink.

Bottles were emptied, banter was shared, and laughs grew contagious. Even though it was harmless, raucous laughter, they attracted the wary eyes of the server. Azriel knew where they were headed. 

He slid Rhys’s glass of whiskey out of his grasp, who turned to him with an arched brow. He mumbled with a sigh, ‘We’d need more than one ride tonight.’ 

Rhys didn’t argue. He limited his drinks as much as Azriel that night for the sake of his mate. Ever since Feyre, his brother’s usual recklessness waned. He became more attentive and considerate in ways he had never shown before. 

Both his brothers were equally troublesome. Cass with his wildness and brutality, and Rhys with his cunning and sly. And yet, after finding their mates, they were still all that and a bit more, someone better in every sense. 

Azriel looked at Mor pressed to his side, drunk and smiling. The woman he once loved. And then, Elaine, the woman he wondered to be his mate. 

Even with the passage of time and endless disappointments, his heart refused to let go of hope—such a fickle thing for an immortal life. An everlasting pain that turned the kindest of souls into a force of cruelty—worse than love, worse than torture, worse than death.

To have heard of and believed in a spiritual bond with another was one thing, but to see it with his own eyes and not long for it was not something even a damned soul like him could resist. 

Who wouldn’t want something so precious divined by Mother herself, to be blessed by her, to be born fortunate to have a mate in their lifetime and find them? 

Azriel knew love, he’d felt it. But how was it any different from a mating bond? Would a love be enough to save his wretched heart from himself? Could a love be as profound and sacred as a mating?

He looked at the happy faces of his family. Four of the seven—mated and in love. One with her supposed mate. 

Rare of the rarest.

And there he was. An ordinary rock amongst gems. One Mother didn’t deem worthy enough. Maybe she was right. What was he, after all, but an unlucky bastard? What would it take for Azriel to be one of them? Shadowsinger. Warrior. Servant. Brother. Friend. Survivor. Tortured. Abused. Broken. What more did he need to be to appease the Mother to bless him with one miracle? 

What would make him one of the deserving?

He took the glass he snatched from his brother and downed the drink in one gulp. The liquor burned his throat, a good burn, almost as good as the one his hands endured a long, long time ago.

Rhys turned to him with a blank stare. Azriel checked his mental wards and averted his eyes. It was pathetic enough to long for something that he couldn’t have. He refused to warrant pity from his brothers as well. 

His family was together and happy. He breathed in the sweet aroma of the blue-green liquor Mor swirled in her glass. 

It was a good night. 

As he drank a little more, his shadows ventured out weaving through tables and shuffling feet. Azriel allowed it for a while before he reined them back. But they never answered when they returned, only dancing around his shoulders.

Moments later, they tried again, crawling down his back. The tug and pull of control slipped out of his hands as if an invisible force stripped them off him. A gentle caress over his shoulders, coaxing him, easing him to let go. And his shadows were willing to follow this force, betraying their loyalty to him. Azriel didn’t touch his drink after that. 

As expected, the server approached their table and looked at him, the only one sober enough to be reasonable. ‘We won’t cause any trouble,’ said Azriel before he could speak.

His shadows swayed around the back of his neck and leaned to peer beyond the male in their path. They stood still, unmoving, watching, and then crashed into his shoulder, turning into a dark mist.

The server watched them wide-eyed. He shook his head and glanced behind him at the once-closed door, now open. ‘Maybe they could get something mild. Don't let N see them like this.’ With those words, he stalked back to the bar.

The room in front of him lacked the soft ambience of the bar with its golden lights and cosy furniture. A desk with a chair occupied the small space, giving a partial view of the bar outside. A woman bounded down the stairs that ran up from behind the door. She headed to the bar, exchanged a few words with the bartender, and went back inside the room. The servers paused by the door to greet her before they moved on.

N.

To own a bar for high fae and lesser faeries alike, to have her workers and customers fear her, N was laughably docile. Azriel had spent long enough around women of strength and courage to never judge one by looks, but he couldn’t help it. 

In her simple dark pants that flared at the hem and grey-white shirt, N was underdressed than her workers. She was as tall as Feyre, maybe a few inches taller. Her face held a hint of innocence, not close to Elaine’s, but something about her convinced she was harmless. Unless she had a sharp tongue like Nesta or had someone like Mor or Amren to do her bidding, it was unlikely she managed to keep her patrons in line by herself.

‘Azriel,’ called Mor from beside him. Her eyes were unexpectedly fierce after all the wine she had. ‘You’re drinking, right?’ She waved the empty glass in her hand.

He knew he should’ve said no. He glanced at the server across the room, but Nesta and Mor had already left for the bar. His attention drifted to the three drunk males who stood too close to a young fae trying to get away from them. She inched closer and closer to Mor who whispered into Nesta’s ear making her laugh. The shadows on his shoulders grew restless, creeping up and down his arms. He should have offered to get the drinks himself.

Cass was in the middle of narrating an elaborate plot of his fights in Illyrian war camps from their childhood days to Elaine as she leaned over the table with enthralled horror in her eyes. Rhys smiled smugly at his exaggerations while Feyre looked over at the bar, thinking the same as Azriel.

The crude comments of the three males circling the fae made the bartender stare between them with nervous eyes. The air silenced around them, nothing but their obnoxious laughter echoed. The smile on Nesta’s lips vanished, and Mor noticed. His friends at the table paused their conversation. 

‘Come now,’ one of the male carried on, ‘don’t be like that.’ 

N looked up from the paper in her hand. She stared ahead at the wall where the male would have stood if it hadn’t been in her way. Dropping the papers onto the table, she reached inside a drawer. She stepped out of the room, cradling a leather bracelet to her right wrist, pulling its straps taut against her skin. 

The bartender breathed in relief as N eased next to her and took a step back. N gathered her hair, securing it at the nape of her neck as the bartender whispered in her ear. Chunks of hair slipped free and framed her face. Her eyes swept across the bar, took in the faces seated before her, deliberately shifting over the three males. She stood in front of them, mixing drinks with precision and expertise on par with the bartender. She didn't lift her eyes up again.

The male moved close to the fae who immediately backed away. ‘Come on, love. It’s free drink. You should be grateful.’ He spoke into her ear but loud enough to be heard across the room.

A minute longer, and Nesta would have ripped that fool’s tongue with a shard of her broken glass. Azriel had seen enough bar fights—started a few and ended too many—to know when one loomed around the corner.

N’s eyes darted to the man’s hand reaching for the fae and then his face for a second while her body gave no sign of her attention on anything but the tumbler in her hand. A smirk tugged at Azriel's lips.

Maybe it was a bad idea to let Mor and Nesta murder a few males in a bar they had never visited before. Maybe it was a bad idea not to interfere with their authority which usually saved time with vermin like the male. Or maybe it was a bad idea to let the situation escalate, putting the fae in danger only to see N’s reaction.

But Azriel was not above making bad decisions to quell his curiosity. He leaned back and brought his glass to his lips.

‘She’s not interested,’ said N in a voice so soft and smooth. With her eyes on the pink liquor she poured into a tall glass, she added, ‘And she has a drink.’ Her eyes met the fae's, gentle yet firm. She pushed the glass with her index finger. The fae heaved a sigh of relief and reached for it.

The male turned his attention to N with a wicked smile. ‘The coins are to shut your mouth, pretty.’ He ran his vile eyes over her and winked. ‘I’ll come back for you later.’ With a bone-grating chuckle, he returned to the fae who backed towards the tables. He blocked her path with his hand, ‘So, what do you say?’

Oh, how Azriel wanted to tear every tooth from his jaws. 

N finally looked at him. Her eyes were calm and intense, a reassured stillness in them. She straightened and placed her hands on the counter. And it was enough to shift the air around them. The woman who commanded respect from her patrons was in the room instead of the quiet, lingering spirit that drifted in and out moments earlier. The band slowed their music, and the ones who refused to look at the ruckus dared to glance their way.

‘I’m going to ask you to leave.’

The male let out a grunt, mean and vulgar. ‘Shut up, you bitch.’ A grimace of impatience replaced his smile. He hissed at the fae, ‘You’re starting to make me angry.’

His eyes widened as a hand grabbed the back of his hand and shoved it face-first onto the wood of the counter. His arms flailed miserably to stop the impact, only to fail. The following crunch made the fae flinch away.

N let go and walked around the bar, her steps calculated and leisured. Her dainty fingers slipped through two gold rings attached to the inside of the bracelet. ‘You okay?’ she asked the fae softly as she pulled the fingers away, two cords of metal unwinding between the rings and the leather. Once she got a frantic nod from the fae, she diverted her focus to the crying male who swiped at his face and stared at his bloodied hands.

Cass snorted. His drink sprayed through his nose, drenching himself and poor Elaine. Rhys’s eyes gleamed with amusement. Feyre looked between N, Nesta and Mor.

The male screeched to no one in particular, ‘That bitch hit me.’ His nose flared and spurts of blood leaked soaking his shirt. ‘You’ll pay for this,’ he lunged forward.

N sauntered ahead with lazy steps and swerved when his fist came close. Her left hand went around his head once. The male stumbled forward by the wasted force of his body and his neck caught in the cords.

N pulled her hands back to her sides, the cords went taut, and the male fell to his knees. His bloodied fingers pried at the noose around his neck. His breaths grew shallow and raspy. Blood sprinkled from his nose with each strain of his chest. His pained cries echoed in the quiet. Not even his friends attempted to help him.

‘Whining on the floor,’ N curved her wrist around his head again, watching his eyes grow wider, ‘Leash on your neck. You sure you aren’t the bitch?’ She looked down at him with void eyes as her fingers clawed his jaw open.

Her other hand reached for a bottle on the counter, her eyes never leaving his. She tipped the bottle close to his mouth and his breath left his chest in a painful heave. ‘It’s free drink, love.’ Her voice was a lover’s purr, low and soft. As the liquor filled his mouth and streamed down his shirt mixed with the red of his blood, she gritted her teeth, ‘Be grateful.’ The first emotion she showed.

It was inappropriate. 

Utterly inappropriate. 

A deep chuckle ripped from Azriel’s throat, loud enough to warrant the glances from his family and the ones beside their table.

When the male choked and his eyes blurred, N stopped. Her fingers released him and slipped out of the rings with a simple flick. The rings whipped spraying drops of amber-red in the air before it latched onto the bracelet again, the cords disappearing between the black of the leather. She turned to his friends, ‘Don’t come back.’

They nodded, their eyes wide, and began to back away. The cries of their friend brought them out of their stupor and they carried him out with his blood staining the once perfect floor. 

N blinked. 

Once they were out the door, she went back behind the counter, and time resumed. The band began their music again. Servers shuffled to clean the floors and check on the fae. The bartender wiped at the splotches of blood on the counter with a rag.

N cleaned her hands and continued with her other orders. As she offered drinks to the ones still waiting at the bar, she smiled. Azriel set his glass down.

When she reached Mor and Nesta, she studied their faces and uttered a few words. Mor pointed at their table with a grin, her eyes sparkling under the light swaying over her head. 

N spared each of them a glance. Her eyes paused at Cass and his wings, Azriel and his wings, and finally Rhys and behind him where his wings should have been. The shadows didn’t appreciate the scrutiny. They went erratic around his shoulders and for a moment her eyes returned to the shadowsinger again.

‘She’s judging us,’ Rhys muttered through his grin. The amusement in his eyes flickered and N held his gaze. ‘Rather harshly,’ he chuckled. 

Feyre frowned at him. ‘Stop it!’

Rhys’s smile fell from his lips. He hummed, staring at N for a beat too long before he turned to his mate. ‘It’s not my fault. Her mind called to me,’ he kissed her cheek.

Azriel wanted to ask what his brother meant, but knew better. His shadows quietened around him, still as midnight air, draping over his shoulders with their ghostly weight. They didn’t sing to him much that night.

Mor and Nesta returned with a tray of drinks. N wrapped an arm around the bartender and whispered in her ear. Her eyes were soft and her lips still held a smile. The bartender relaxed and sighed. Azriel wondered if there was more between the two. N rushed out of her room at the first sign of trouble and took charge of every responsibility while the bartender stayed safe and recovered.

‘I like this place!’ Mor exclaimed as she slumped next to him and handed him a glass after taking one for herself.

Cass only cursed under his breath. ‘Because she gave you free booze?’ He stole a drink for himself, ‘But that show was fun.’

‘So was yours,’ Nesta laughed and pointed at his soaked front.

N accepted a sealed plate from the server with a smile and headed to her office. Her fingers paused at the doorknob. She looked down at her shirt. Crimson spotted along her torso below her ribs. She ran her fingers over them once, slowly. She blinked and wiped again at the dried stain. And again. Then she closed the door.

Once the glasses were emptied, Mor hated the place again. The drinks N offered sobered them completely. Grumbling and muttering their disapproval at the trickery and betrayal, Mor and Cass walked out of the bar with the others trailing behind them. 

Azriel sneaked a glance at the locked door smiling before he joined his family. It was indeed a good night.

Next chapter: Sanctuary

[stars-and-the-min]

☆ the wrong way to hard launch (3) | OP81

summary : oscar's girlfriend is a walking pr problem for literally everyone (including herself) social media au

pairing : oscar piastri x zhou!fem!singer!oc

a/n some band dynamics and a mini reunion in toyko

masterlist | last part | part 3 | next part

INSTAGRAM

emptybottlesbar

liked by cameliazzz and 99,284 others

emptybottlesbar Hey! Our awesome lead guitarist turned 23 today AND it's on the first night in Jakarta 🫨 Be sure to give our boy some love! P.S. we couldn't find old birthday photos without Lina (1: Kas' 23rd birthday, 2: Kas' 17th birthday, 3: Kas' 14th birthday) tagged: emptybottles_official, lukaszhang and selinabui

selinabui i'm sorry i was like his only friend growing up?

28kaslina24 kaslina 🩷❤️🩷❤️

emptybottles_official Beach City International Stadium

liked by lukaszhang and 299,726 others

emptybottles_official Snaps from Jakarta, you guys were an amazing crowd, we hope you had as much fun as we did 📸 📸 next stop: Tokyo, Japan

cameliazzz kas and aid both need haircuts why did i not notice this ↳ selinabui @ cameliazzz maybe bc ur behind them all the time

TWITTER

lila💚 @kasdanrights · 2h in honour of the next stop of the 'twelve more days' tour being tokyo, here's the best thing to come out of the 'overtime' tour (before it got cancelled):

↳ lila💚 @kasdanrights · 2h look at kas serving in that polka-dotted scarf

↳ lila💚 @kasdanrights · 2h the greatest discovery was that kas and aid shared rooms the whole tour

↳ 🕯️manifesting EB3 🕯️@ linabelles · 2h did we ever find out about the sushi train thing? ↳ lina bui x2 grammy winner @urdaisea · 2h lina and cami went to an all-you-can-eat sushi train and almost missed night 2 because they were throwing up backstage ↳ li(n)a @meliabelrose · 1h why is this giving "pam and i feed off each others energy..." "she said that?" energy 😭😭 ↳ abby <3 @devilvows · 1h can't believe this was 4 years ago???

INSTAGRAM

oscarpiastri

liked by landonorris and 109,182 others

oscarpiastri Still not over this weekend

selinabui see you soon stranger 💖 ↳ pastry81 HUH LINA WDYM SEE YOU SOON???

zhouguanyu24 the last picture 👀

landonorris great to be home, eh?

emptybottlos papaya stuff, papaya stuff, papaya- lina??? ↳ piastri_lina @emptybottlos gagged us all WHERE'S THAT COMMENT THAT SAID OSC DIDN'T CARE FOR HER

logansargeant "I did great at my home race" "the fans were amazing" "also I got to watch my girlfriend's sold-out tour's opening show" ↳ oliviafufu @ logansargeant OPENING SHOW??? HE WENT ON THURSDAY AS WELL?

selinabui Tokyo, Japan

liked by eb_jonno and 118,972 others

selinabui in the daytime (and early evening)

oscarpiastri Well, that's a completely flattering angle of me, thanks :D ↳ selinabui @ oscarpiastri omg i think so too 🥰

jemma.wren lina as linabell oh she's so cute <3333

2cami4lina serious question here, does he wear anything other than orange? ↳ cameliazzz @2cami4lina from when i've seen him? no

aidan_ebass Who won billiards? ↳ selinabui @aidan_ebass ur kidding right? don't you know how amazing i am? (kas did) ↳ 28kaslina24 @ selinabui kas was there? oooh osc*lina never beating the pr relationship allegations 🤭

oscarpiastri just posted to their story

TWITTER

pookie piastri @op81ln4 · 17h OSCAR PIASTRI WHAT THE HELL??? ↳ pookie piastri @op81ln4 · 17h i need to know what he said pls what did he say for her to react like that ↳ june @linafesting · 17h "mr piastri why are you wilding rn" HAD HER USING PROPER 'YOU'S??? ↳ pookie piastri @op81ln4 · 17h "Wdym 😇" he's sick for that now we all want to know what he meant

kayla @luna_apocolypse · 2d if my math is right... we could get lina supporting oscar in suzuka ↳ kayla @luna_apocolypse · 2d last tokyo show: friday, april 5th suzuka gp: friday, april 5th to sunday, april 7th first sk show: friday, april 12th BONUS: osc's birthday is april 6th 🥸

conNUH @chickenbirch · 39m idk what world im living in anymore ↳ conNUH @chickenbirch · 38m lina pls... he's just another pasty white guy i--

↳ lina !!! @EB_selina · 18m oh shit im realising my 'im totes interested' face is lacking ↳ president linami @ linaminami · 16m AHHH??? ↳ lila💚 @kasdanrights · 1h HELP i didn't realise she was totally blanking out as kas was yapping ↳ june @linafesting · 1h she truly looks like she'd rather be anywhere else ↳ camilina gfs fr @ drummergf · 2h kaslina stans realising the new kaslina content is this 🤡 ↳ lila💚 @kasdanrights · 1h first pic is the exact same way i look at my brother (sheer 'stfu' energy)

BONUS : the unedited insta dm

✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ:✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ:✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ:

taglist @ririyulife @ashy-kit @fionaschicken @namgification

[minnaci]

contents: neuvillette x gn!reader, reader is very old, reader dies of old age, both neuvi and reader have made peace with reader's death, waxing poetic about water and the sea

or, the end of one life is the start of another.

it was a good life. a long life, full of light and laughter and love.

today, at the end of all days, you lay in bed, blanketed by the arms of your lover. he has not changed. not in the same ways you have. you have been weathered by the world in ways that neuvillette will never understand. but tonight, he looks to you, and you know that he knows.

"you will not pass me by like a ship in the night," he says. his hands, still so smooth, still so unblemished, cup your face. he traces gently over the deep crinkles around your eyes— a manifestation of how his love has changed you for the better. evidence of the great and unbridled joy he has gifted to you.

"i won't," you agree. it is, at once, a condemnation and a reassurance. "i remain, for now. for you. will you miss me, when i'm gone?"

"miss you?" he searches your face. you hope he sees years of contentment written in the lines of your smile. "do the clouds miss the sea?"

they do. the nature of water is to return to the sea from whence it came. the sky itself leaps to the horizons, hoping against hope to run its fingers over the cresting waves. rain is a joyful reunion, a homecoming. a melding of souls. love.

"one day, i will come to the end of my river," he says. his lips brush over your forehead— one last, fleeting blessing. "i will look for the shape of happiness, and i will find you."

when you pass, it is gently, so gently. there is always time for one last kiss.

outside, it begins to rain.

[getvalentined]

Thinking about Vincent's involvement in the Queen's Blood storyline and how it's the perfect explanation for everything going south with the game in fairly recent history even though the game has canonically been around for decades. It's genuinely so clever, I'm in love.

So, for anyone who hasn't done the full questline, Vincent is the highest ranking Queen's Blood player in the entire game prior to facing off against the Shadowblood Queen herself and the completion of the questline. (After this, ranks are adjusted worldwide because of game mechanics; Nanaki is rank 10 in the QB Arena at Gold Saucer.)

A lot of people have poked fun at this, like Vincent apparently learned the game really fast and was just naturally really good at it—but no, actually, Vincent played the game before. He's this good because he was champion level back in the 70s, back when he was human.

We know this to be the case because when you match against Lidrehl, he says "the Emerald Witch sleeps in Nibelheim with a monster of chaos, and that is where it will remain." This means that Vincent already had the card when Hojo killed him. It's not clear how the Emerald Witch came into his possession, but you don't make his rank without being a very active player, so it's clear that he was very prolific in the scene back then!

And back then, it was just a game. No mysterious deaths or disappearances. The myth of the Shadowblood Queen and the Emerald Witch was still there, as Lidrehl developed the game based on the story, but everything was fine.

This is definitely because Vincent was active in the scene, and he had the Emerald Witch. The Rebirth Ultimania implies that the Shadowblood Queen is a piece of Jenova (which I thought was pretty obvious since she calls Cloud a "puppet" and he's also apparently the only one capable of facing her head-on), and the Emerald Witch is the soul of a Cetra that serves as the silent warden to her imprisonment within the game. (Imprisoning monsters in cards is not new to the series, either, since FF8 literally allowed players to turn monsters into cards rather than fighting them.) Vincent being so active in the circuit allowed him to spread the Emerald Witch's influence through the scene and kept the Shadowblood Queen quiet, reminded her to keep her head down, kept her from trying anything at risk of being spiritually shitmixed again.

But then Hojo killed Vincent, and the Cetra warden Emerald Witch was in his deck, and that deck was tucked away with his things in Nibelheim. And so she spent thirty years unable to perform her ongoing duty to assure the safety of the planet. This time allowed Jenova the Shadowblood Queen to regain the power and confidence to manifest and start wreaking havoc again, finally building up enough strength to directly possess her current holder—during the period that Sephiroth is calling for Reunion, which presumably helped to really draw her back to full consciousness.

There's a whole detailed storyline here that makes perfect sense, with Vincent's murder literally being the catalyst leading to the resurrection of the Shadowblood Queen, and Hojo never having a clue what he'd done.

This is super interesting to me not only because it actually showed some of the more far-reaching consequences of Vincent's death, but also because it indicates that Hojo has unwittingly been Jenova's most loyal emissary for decades. He gave her his wife, his son, himself—and the first murder he ever committed served to imprison the only power holding a piece of her thought lost to history at bay, allowing her to manifest decades later with her own will and personality completely intact, something that she can't do through Sephiroth.

As it turns out, Hojo and Vincent have been opposing forces in supporting fate's "chosen ones," the forces around them capable of choosing the final fate of the planet, for much longer than either of them ever thought.

Still not a huge fan of the card game itself, but I adore the way it's been woven into the story, and strengthened it as a result.

[baldursgate3tempobsessed]

Prompt: Ascendant Astarion and Consort Tav going on a decades long honeymoon just leisurely traveling from place to place because they want to and not because they have to (and leaving chaos in their wake).

Fluffy evil chaos pairing? I'm into this!

CW: Bad people doing bad things. And an attempt at some gender-neutral soft-coreness so nsfw elements. I like basically uh, made the new epilouge a fluffier verions like a psycho im sorry writers 😅 You're vision wasn't lost on me but a good idea is a good idea. Also spoliers for epilouge. And like still bad, murder, nsfw, sicko psycho blah blah blah. Probably inaccurate lore.

~

Astarion had grand visions for his future. How could he not? After everything he had accomplished. A past slave turned usurper, amassing a power that his old master could only dream of. He had gone from a pathetic, scuttling whelp prowling the city streets to being free. Utterly and completely. With no brothers or sisters to compete with, the entirety of Cazador's estate was at his disposal.

And then there was the best part, the only reason he had managed to be here in the first place. The best and perhaps only good thing to ever happen to him. His very reason for living. You.

And now, you were so much better than who he had first met. He had loved you before the change, of course he did. But the depth of feeling you shared now was beyond comprehension. He owned you, body and soul. You were shackled to him for all eternity, forever blessed with the knowledge that no secrets were possible between the two of you. You weren't equals, no. Far from it. How could you be when you had been so willing to degrade yourself for him? But you were something better. Soulmates, fated by every unholy power that existed. You belonged to him, as he did to you. His ownership just... manifested in a more literal sense.

Not that it mattered. The difference between the two of you was miniscule in everyday life. He was too busy enjoying you to worry over petty power struggles with the center of his universe. No, Astarion wasn't wasting a single moment of his newfound freedom. What was the use of endless power if he wasn't going to have a bit of fun?

So while Astarion had plenty of aspirations for regional, and perhaps world domination (in his wildest dreams), he decided that he could start on that whenever. Eternity was a long time, and he saw no reason to start it at a sprint. Not when he had the time and money to enjoy you fully, both of you parasite and responsibility-free.

The first six months were spent solely into being cooped up together, exploring each other in every way imaginable. It had been one thing to fall in love on the road with adrenaline pumping in your veins. A near death experience on every horizon, versus quiet and peaceful nights together, with nothing to do but enjoy each other's company. Astarion was nearly surprised at just how easily he fell deeper and deeper in love with you as the time passed. Everything. You're body, you're mind, you're voice, you're charm, he was starving for all of it, at all times.

It had been a lovely six months, only interrupted by an impromptu reunion from Withers. It had been interesting enough, but the exposure to others just made Astarion realize how unwilling he was to let you go quite yet. No, his plans for Baldur's Gate could continue to wait. Instead of beginning his plans, he asked you to name anywhere in the world that you had dreamed of visiting. And he took your answer and ran with it, solely because he could. So off to Neverwinter you went, the both of you still sickeningly in love on the way. It was such a silly trip, mostly spent with you obsessing over their famous gardens and flowers. A subject that would have made Astarion’s skin crawl in a past life. But… seeing you smile as you sniffed every flowered plant you could find was too endearing for him to resist. It helped that you were very… open to his own interests, no matter where the urge may struck.

It was quite thrilling, to be powerful enough to get away with anything. He hadn’t been above killing anyone who saw your more public escapades, but for the few who he spared, he had more than enough coin to keep their mouths shut. You spent longer there than Astarion had ever anticipated, but things had just happened. The two of you bought a house on a whim, tired of inn prices when you could create your own home for a combined less gold. Before he knew it, you were buying the property next door as well, opening shop for your mage and witch brews. It was a fine enough life, interesting enough to hold Astarion’s attention when you both opened up a side business, a small but lively assaination agency. 

It was fun, killing those who were totally powerless to fight against him, deserving or not. Funnier still when he was able to do it with you. There had been so many blood filled nights that ended in lust-filled moans, Astarion would never fail to remember those years with an intense fondness. Nearly eight years passed before the two of you moved onto the next area, stopping for a few years in the countryside just for the hells of it. It was nice to take breaks from society to just enjoy each other, a tradition the both of you would keep throughout the decades. 

Your next stop was Waterdeep, with an unfortunate encounter with Gale himself. Unfortunate being that you still considered him a friend, and somehow convinced Astarion to help him with his next scheme. He was once again on the topic of stealing ancient magic books, enticing them with the promise of sharing their knowledge. One that he followed through on, but also one that took six years to keep. It had been… an experience to travel with Gale for that long, even if most of it had been working separately while communicating. But still, the constant communication had been trying, even if the knowledge you both received has been more than worth it. 

 But with that, you had no reason to stay. The two of you moved on, taking a break from the larger cities to explore smaller, more ancient areas. It was quite the experience, with some villages being as dull as a box of rocks, and others exposing magical secrets beyond what his old self could ever comprehend. It was through investigation into life in rural Faerun, and a fascinating one at that. One that only ended in three villages being burned to the ground and five murderers. All within the span of ten years. How much more of a peaceful time could one ask for?

It was nearly too peaceful, enough to finally drag Astarion out of the pleasant stupor he had been in. Everything in life for the past three decades had been wonderful and beautiful. But it was time to move on to better things. He had greater plans for the both of you, visions of your names staining every history book known to man. And it would all begin with securing Baldur’s Gate. 

He told you as soon as he was sure, more than ready for your worried response, “Are you sure we can?” 

The two of you were in bed together, your arms loosely draped over each other’s bodies. Your life of leisure had made you doubtful, a symptom that Astarion had expected. 

He sighed, tightening his hold on you as he answered, “Of course darling. With me by your side, there’s nothing to doubt.”

“But… I like what we have. Will… will we always just be doing plans for regional domination?”

Astarion almost rolled his eyes. He hadn’t survived this long to be naive to the benefits of leisure time. 

“Whoever said that vacations would never come into play?” He asked with a smirk, leaking in to kiss your cheek, “I swear you’ll have plenty more years alone with me darling, you can be sure of that.”

That seemed enough to appease you. You sighed, a tell tale sign that you were willingingly giving in, “Okay. Do we leave tomorrow?”

“Not until I make a few more arrangements,,” Astarion said, “You’ll know when it’s time.”

“Okay,” You nodded with a yawn, more than used to your future being semi-unclear. But that was okay. You knew to trust Astarion with your future, just one more thing that he loved about you, “Just try to give me some warning.”

“I’ll try,” Astairon lied, more than prepared to swoop you up in the middle of the night if the urge called for it, “Now rest darling. We’ll talk more in the morning.”

“I love you,” You sighed before letting your eyes slip closed. Instantly following with your natural instinct to obey.

Astarion smiled to himself as he watched you fall under, murmuring under his breath, “I love you too my treasure, more than you’ll ever know.”He meant it with every fiber of his being, the seemingly only constant of his existence. Maybe it was closer to an obsession than the pure love that people dreamed about, but he couldn’t care less. What you had was better. And with you by his side, anything was possible.

[starlightiing]

💛 with landoscar? :D :D

💛 reunion kiss / relief - Landoscar

@lonely-seas

Sorry for the wait on this one. My brain has been a force to be reckoned with lately! I'm setting this one in my stardust WIP because I've done nothing with that one yet. Background: they glow when they touch because Lando is a star turned human and they are soulmates. Oscar has Lando's stardust inside his veins.

"Where is he?" Oscar's voice echoes down the expanse of Logan's hallway. His tone is fierce and deep, and so inherently protective in a way that in all of their years of friendship, it is not something Logan has ever heard from him before. And, quite frankly, he doesn't care how he sounds.

He cares about one thing right now, and one thing only.

"Logan, where is he?"

"He's here, he's safe." Logan sputters out after a moment, his eyes slightly widened as he regards Oscar's undoubtedly frazzled appearance. Such a stark contrast to his usual unforgiving calm, both to himself and to everyone else.

Logan quickly scrambles to twist the knob on his bedroom door, throwing it open to reveal Lando inside.

Lando, who is sitting with his legs crossed up on Logan's bed. Who has cast his gaze down to the floor, frowning, looking every bit like a wet, kicked puppy might look. Oscar's eyes roam all over Lando's body, from his face, to his chest, to his hands, down his legs - but everything appears in tact. No cuts or bruises, no blood, not even a singular ringlet curl out of place.

Then, and only then, does Oscar heave out a sigh of relief so palpable that even Lando looks up in alarm when he hears it.

"Oscar?"

Oscar all but dives for Lando, then. He pushes straight past Logan and makes a beeline for the bed where Lando looks so incredibly small and fragile.

And he holds him.

"It's alright, Lando. It's okay." Oscar soothes, whispering right against the shell of Lando's ear. Now that they've made contact, Oscar can already feel the swirling warmth of energy and love rattling around in his veins.

The reaction is almost immediate. His hands start to glow first, where they're rested against Lando's shoulders, holding on to him so tightly. From the tips of his fingers and up to his wrist, he sees his veins ignite and glow with a gold hue. Slowly, then, he traces the light from his wrist up his arm, where it spiderwebs into the various pathways and networks of veins and capillaries until they all come together at their central hub: his heart.

He is used to the faint golden glow by now. He is used to the warmth and comfort that spreads through him at Lando's mere touch. He's used to his exposed, glowing heart and all of the perks that come with being bound to Lando in ways his brain still cannot quite fathom. He is used to this, this special bond they have between them, and no matter how unusual or strange it might be to others, it is beautiful and safe and home to him.

But it never stops being so goddamn breathtaking.

Once the glow overtakes Oscar's entire body, it begins the process in Lando's as well. His glow is brighter and more silvery than it is gold. However, it manifests in all the same ways, spidering out from the veins in his wrist all the way up to the beating heart in his chest and then down again. Oscar never tires of seeing Lando lit up like this, like the actual literal star that he is, nor does he tire of watching Lando's heart beat softly in his chest, haloed by the other-worldly glow of his stardust.

Together, they fill the room with such a beautiful dance of lighting. Even Logan, still standing in the doorway of his own bedroom, cannot tear his gaze away from the marvel in front of him.

Lando sighs a breath of relief in Oscar's arms, and that's when Oscar decides to kiss him.

Lando hums in surprise, clearly not expecting the sudden affection from Oscar, but he recovers so quickly that Oscar barely has time to register it. It's a bit more desperate than usual, hungrier, needier, because Oscar thought he was going to lose Lando forever and he hasn't. Oh, he hasn't. He's right here, living, breathing, loving, right in front of him and the only thing he can think to do to show that relief and that gratitude is to shower Lando with every ounce of love he has in his heart.

Distantly, he hears the door click shut as Logan leaves to give them their moment together, and he is ever so grateful for the privacy. So long as he's alive and breathing, no one will take Lando from him. He doesn't care if he's pitted against armies, countries, or the entire fucking world, they will not take Lando from him.

For the first time since he was a young teenager, and to his absolute shock and surprise, Oscar feels the warmth a tear slip down his cheek.

[rottenpumpkin13]

Hey, @salternateunreality2 referred me to you (and birdblacksocialclub, who I'm also gonna ask for All The Thoughts) for a question I've got about Genesis in Crisis Core. I've just never really understood what's going on with him like, physically and metaphysically at the end. When Zack sets him down, he appears to no longer be degrading (at least in Reunion), like his hair is normal and his jacket isn't cracked. So did something heal him? The Goddess Materia? The grace of Minerva? But then like, something I read said he actually DIED? Did Deepground revive him (I have not played Dirge of Cerberus yet)?

Lol thank you in advance for your help.

I’m sorry I took so long to get back to you, but I’m SLOW and was fact checking what I knew so I didn’t give you misinfo lol.

Minerva healed him. Minerva is related to the planet’s consciousness, kind of like a form she uses to manifest to the rest of the world, so ultimately, the planet healed him. The exact how she healed him: for Genesis to have been healed, he would’ve needed to have been given Sephiroth’s cells since Sephiroth’s cells were (for lack of better terms) more complete, as opposed to how Genesis and Angeal were created in Project G (because the injection of the Jenova cells in the mother rather than the fetus like in Project S resulted in an unstable body). Sephiroth is long dead by the time Genesis reaches the lifestream, so the way it’s believed (this is not confirmed in canon btw) that Minerva healed him is by stabilizing his cells so that he’s not degrading anymore. Minerva doesn’t cure him completely, because for that to happen, she would’ve needed to take the Jenova cells out of his body, which isn’t possible. So Genesis still has his Jenova cells after he’s “cured.” This is why we see that he still has his wings in Dirge of Cerberus, which (timeline-wise) is the last installment in the series. I also want to note that Genesis’ cracked jacket was probably a creative choice to show that he was completely degrading, so when he’s back to normal when Zack brings him back up from the Banora underground, it’s meant to show that he’s been healed and no longer degrading.

When Genesis used the Goddess materia to power himself up, this is what causes Minerva to come to him, and we see that she’s not happy that he used the Goddess materia for something that didn’t align with his dreams. She sees that he hasn’t fulfilled his duty as a SOLDIER yet, so she rejects him from the lifestream and sends him back. You can say this is when he has the chance to prove himself now.

Genesis isn’t dead at the end. He seems to be unconscious (or at least semi-conscious enough to be dramatic and babble on about the gift of the Goddess lol). The two soldiers we see pick him up at the end are Nero and Weiss, two of the Tsviets from DEEPGROUND. DEEPGROUND is connected to Genesis because it was because of his degradation/evolution (this part is unclear to me, I’m sorry) that experimentation began. The Tsviets were spliced with Genesis’ genes. When they pick him up at the end, they take him back to DEEPGROUND, but Genesis refuses to join them, and that’s apparently when he seals himself away and goes to take his depression nap until the planet is in danger and needs him again.

It was revealed that the entire reason Genesis seals himself away is because he wants to wait for the planet herself to summon him for help, which is what happens at the end of Dirge of Cerberus when she summons him to fight against a greater threat, although we don’t know what that threat is because the series was never finished :/

[rriavian]

Ever since I saw the scene in the Sandman when Dream escapes Burgess and appears in the Dreaming I have never known peace. Lucienne is just so overjoyed to see him, and Dream is so overjoyed to see her, and it's such a tender moment where they smile at each other. It did an excellent job at demonstrating their relationship. Just an incredibly poignant reunion where you can see how much these two characters love each other.

(When she says “you’re home”?? It was just such a lovely thing to see Dream return to someone who he trusts and who cares for him)

Whatever your opinions are on Dream’s relationship to touch and how it might manifest...here Lucienne takes his hand, cradles it so gently, and he’s so happy? I don't think anyone else is ever allowed that close but Calliope? (Maybe Death because they walk quite close, obviously comfortable which each other, and she does take his arm at times. There's also that moment when she leans on him to take off her shoes? but like...affection given through the guise of practicality). Lucienne shows no hesitance, doesn't disguise it, she doesn't seem to think twice about taking his hand.

Unless I'm forgetting something major (which yeah I might have oops) Lucienne is the only one to touch Dream this way. And I think her and Calliope are the only skin on skin moments of touch.

Anyway, I just adore that scene! The love they have for each other, the care and respect, is just so precious to me. I am also forever haunted by how Lucienne was the first to touch Dream in one hundred years.

[cross-my-heartt]

Nitpicking episode four (affectionately so)

I know this may be controversial but sometimes we nitpick things out of love and that is very much the case for me here.

I love so much about episode four and much of it has already been talked about but I would still tweak some things to make it perfect because I'm an incorrigible Crosshair girlie and I'll both dissect and cherish every moment he's in the limelight while it still lasts.

Anyway without further ado

1.) Crosshair's recklessness. I love me a trigger happy sniper but my man would never come so close to decking that imperial officer.

By all means that should have been Omega. Crosshair's motto has always been playing it safe (the thematic manifestation of dispatching danger from a safe distance). The point of him staying with the Empire is that despite the drawbacks and the Empire's moral corruption, they would have been 'safer' there.

Crosshair is willing to tolerate a lot if it's in the name of safety and the only times he's downright reckless is when he's pushed to the brink (killing Nolan, escaping Tantiss). Omega on the other hand has already shown that she has a lower tolerance for injustice. Her standing up to Hemlock earlier in the season was a reminder of that and it would have been more consistent to make her the one nearly provoked into a confrontation here.

So I would have had him holding her back here seeing as assessing danger and realizing the benefit of laying low is something Crosshair should be better at between the two of them.

2.) Huge missed opportunity to make Crosshair and Omega cooperate during the gambling scene. It was fun to see them bump heads but I would have loved to see more of them cooperating in creative ways, like Crosshair using reflections to see the officer's hand and helping Omega cheat the game.

Otherwise I would have made it a game of Dejarik. Because we have context for her being good at that while we haven't seen her play much sabacc so far. It's kind of like saying that if you're good at chess you're automatically good at poker.

3.) This could just be me but that moment where it seemed like Crosshair was about to let Omega go after Batcher alone felt off for his character. Crosshair lives to fight for a cause and I'm pretty sure it's been established that Omega is that cause now.

The best explanation I can think of is that he was bluffing and I can completely see him doing that in an attempt to change her mind. If it were me I would have made it look more like a dropped bluff and less like a 'this could have gone either way situation'.

4.) Would have loved to see them resolve the escape situation a bit more creatively too. I'm not a fan of the all the creature moments (don't love them in the new Vader run either) and a cute little team up between these two, combining their shooting abilities and using stealth and the terrain in their favor would have been cool to see. And just imagine Crosshair caving in at the very end, agreeing to let the animals go anyway after Omega has puppy eyed him into doing it.

Ten out of ten would have lived for that.

5.) The tremor. Where is it?? Why aren't we seeing more of it??? This really should be a bigger deal, I really need it to be a bigger deal. Yes, we see him miss a lot of shots but I need more.

6.) Reunion. This is the hardest for me to criticize because it does make for some great drama and a great cliffhanger but I'm more for putting character before entertainment.

The only way I see them making dagger eyes at someone they were ride or die determined to rescue not too long ago is if they still suspect Crosshair of setting up some kind of trap. Which is a bit of a reach this far into the plot.

Character wise it just isn't a logical decision for me.

But yeah, I suppose it all depends on where they take this scene from here. Let me know what you think.

[n3xii]

This reading focused on what's coming towards you in all areas of life as well as what you're attracting. Close your eyes and pick a picture below. I'm also avalible for personal readings, check my pinned for prices and how to book

Pile one

What's coming towards you 》

Alignment. What's coming towards you is a sense of being in flow, connection to your higherself and seeing how everything fits together. You're gonna be collaborating with your higherself to let things flow naturally how they're supposed to. This alignment also creates a passageway for all your manifestions to just flow into your life as well. You've walked away from things that no longer resonate with the vision you're trying to achieve, you've detached yourself from old stories and concepts. You've been following your instincts more and this is leading you straight into alignment. Spirot wants you to know that you're being rewarded and gifted based on all the work you've out in to do this. You may not even be conscious of how you've been following your instincts, but spirit is rewarding you anyways.

What you're manifesting / attracting towards you》

Your manifesting a sense of escape into imagination. People who picked this pile may have been trying to align their imagination to what they're trying to manifest, and I see here you're gonna become very talented at this your manifesting and attracting your vision. You seem to be manifesting perfect flow and receptivity to flow. I think this pile is attending to their feminine energy and using that to attract their manifestions. Additionally I see you manifesting psychic ability. People who picked this pile are also manifesting a dramatic, passionate love affair with someone. Sex, gifts, dramatic displays of affection, etc all of that is stuff you're attracting towards you.

Pile two

What's coming towards you 》

People who picked this pile will be withdrawing and going inside to reexamine something in the past. This is likely about a person you have unfinished buisness with, perhaps unresolved conflict or a lack of closure. You're questioning your priorities and whether or not you just invest in thinking about them so much, others may be considering reaching out. You're going back and forth, analyzing the past and it could be making you more confused and curious. You guys are trying to find the answers within but I feel like it's making you more precarious and develop even more questions. So I do see some of you stimulating a conversation or reunion with someone who you want answers from

What you're attracting 》 organization and...conflict??? I feel like you guys are attracting the motivation to improve because people around you challenge you to do so. They don't challenge you directly, but I feel like you guys see how they've their life's, how disciplined and ambitious they are and this makes you want to refine your life. So yes your manifesting orgnaization. I also see some of your manifesting the resources that are gonna help you remove yourself from a place of financial constraint or anxiety. So overall your manifesting the motivation to get your shit together as well as the financial and emotional support that will help you.

Pile three

Achievement, something you've put in your hard work and effort into will be rewarding you with luxury. Whats coming towards you is the ultimate fullfillment and schievment of something you have independently invest time, money and work into. I'm also seeing communication coming towards you, this communication could be coming from a bold, authority like figure, or an Aries, Scorpio, cancer, etc. This person is coming in hot, their energy disrupts and destablizes. This may be someone you don't expect to hear from, or their passion towards you takes you off guard completely.

What your manifesting / attracting 》

Your manifesting a recall and awakening of all your skills and talents. I see many of you manifesting collaboration, support, sponsorships or otherwise financial support to the work you're doing. People who chose this pile will feel called to recruit others to help them achieve something, you're also attracting yang energy that allows you to initiate projects. A new era of being is coming towards you. Some of you are picking up on projects you started in the past. many of you are also attracting loyalty and commitment with someone.

[cuubism]

here have a random headcanon i like to think/obsess about sometimes: so at their 1489 meeting, the dark stranger's hand is just laying on table and Hob definitely has a fleeting moment of panic/daring where he's like 'should I touch him? can I touch him?? just to make sure he's real and not some fae illusion or passing dream' but holds out because it might turn out to be a fae trap or disappear like a dream (and maybe he doesn't want that???)

fast forward to 2022 when they meet again decades after their usual date and Hob is just desperately trying to keep it cool and casual. He laces his fingers together, trying to relax because he might do something stupid like reach out shake his stranger (his friend!!) or hug him. And if Hob does get close enough, he might do something stupider and you know, kiss this friend of his (!!!) he's been waiting literal years for. as you do.

just Hob with restless hands trying not to be too much. He slips up sometimes. Just little things like fixing or even fiddling with Dream's collar, plucking a wayward leaf from his hair and refluffing it to back artfully messy glory, a admiring sweep over his shoulders and down his sleeves. To Hob's surprise, Dream returns the touches in kind. Fixes a tie that does not pass his friend's standards, tucks a loose strand behind his ear, brief touches on his elbow or knee to silently catch his attention. (and down the line, Dream is the one to reach out to link their fingers together for the first time)

yes ABSOLUTELY I do think hob is the fiddly-est most physically restless person, always fidgeting I'm sure, and it would definitely manifest around Dream, who's so ephemeral and constantly at risk of just disappearing on him.

What I'm also thinking about now though is what if it WAS a sort of fae trap. What if living things couldn't touch Dream without consequences (or, for that matter, any of the Endless, but thinking about Dream now). Other Endless could touch him, or creatures in the Dreaming, or even living things while they're dreaming, maybe-- but you can't really 'touch' the unconscious. So imagine if there consequences to trying to get too close to Dream in the waking world.

After their reunion Hob tries to squeeze Dream's hand or hug him or something and Dream pulls away (and being Dream, doesn't explain why, so Hob just thinks Dream doesn't want him). Then later Hob dreams of him, and in the dream he does get to hug him, what kind of cruel dream is that? (Still doesn't know what Dream's powers are). He thinks Dream won't show up again after he tried to hug him but Dream comes back for coffee the next week. Hob learned his lesson and doesn't try to touch him, but this time as they're parting Dream sways in towards him like he was about to initiate a hug, then jerks back at the last second and takes his leave abruptly. And that night Hob dreams of his friend cuddling up to him on the couch and tucking his face in against his neck. And so on and so on.

Dream never tells Hob the truth about any of this. Hob's pining horribly over his friend who he keeps having incredibly vivid dreams about--hugging him, holding him, kissing him--but who's only more nervous and standoffish in real life as time goes on. Hob doesn't try to touch him in the waking world again-- until one day Dream shows up to one of their meetings visibly distraught (most likely following some dream where Hob told him he loved him), and Hob can't help himself, he goes over and hugs him.

As to what the consequences of that are... idk 🤷‍♀️, either Hob gets permanently severed from the waking world in some way... or Dream learns that that whole rule was a lie from the start.

[follows-the-bees]

I love the contrast of Ed and Stede jumping into the water to get to each other.

Ed yells at his toxic past self, a former "crewmate," and then elegantly swan dives into the water, climbing onto the ship, when Stede is freaking out, the crew is screwed. And he saves their lives, yells to hoist the white flag. He then saves Stede's life again with the act of grace. He goes toward the chaos knowing what it means. That he'll, they, will be arrested, but he goes to Stede, be with him. He didn't leave him.

On the other hand, Stede yells "Ed, I'm here." He is still in the mindset that they'll have a romantic reunion. He is so excited he belly flops over the edge, no elegance, pure instinct. He is also going toward danger. But he is not aware of the danger, unlike Ed. He gets on board his ship, and takes a second to take in the utter devastation. What has happened to his dream, his old status, the physical manifestation of Ed's mental state reflected by the storm damage.

Ed jumps to known danger, death, after leaving Stede physically but not emotionally. It's elegant.

Stede is instinct, not fully knowing the danger he is jumping to, of mutiny and almost death. It's flailing. He also left Ed physically but not emotionally.

This parallel kills me.

[skyfallscotland]

Seriously Amy? It’s not like we’re not all in love with Xaden and you had him write *that* love letter? I literally could not stop smiling!!!!

I need ch 9 AND 10….this reunion might just be one of the top remixaden scenes.

Speaking of which….what are your top 3 Remi/xaden scenarios?

I'm sorry haha, I thrive on making him a perfect(ly flawed) human being, ok?

I have to choose? 😭 Haha

The reunion/following conversation/day IS one of my top three, for sure. I feel like I'm already going to forget some of their F&F scenes? I'm going to cheat and do three from both (yes, that means multiple sneak peeks so buckle up). I think it kind of says a lot upon reflection that most of my favourite scenes/quotes are from times where they're intimate but openly communicating 🥺

In F&F definitely when Rem first manifests her signet and she's crying and overstimulated and he's laughing but comforting her all the same.

I flinch, closing my eyes against tears as he turns back toward me. “Remi,” he says gently. “Look at me.” I shake my head, keeping my eyes firmly shut as the tears spill over, running down my cheeks. He laughs softly and I shake as I feel his hands on my face, pulling me close. “Angel,” he says quietly, “why are you crying?” “I don’t know,” I whimper as he holds me to him, wrapping his arms around my shoulders.

Maybe the scene by the lake where she threatens him?

“And Xaden?” My voice is gentle and he freezes in place, only a foot away. He turns his head, barely glancing over his shoulder. I let my hand shoot forward, pressing the dagger I’ve palmed from my corset against his spine. “You don’t ever speak to, or handle me, so disrespectfully ever again.” I tell him warningly, holding his gaze. “There are so many things I could do to you that would still leave Sgaeyl intact.”

And when he tells her he loves her 🥺

“I love you, Remi.” He skates a gentle hand across my cheek and my heart begins to pound in my chest. “So much.” He cradles my face as his onyx eyes hold my gaze. “I love you in a way I never thought possible. You’re—you’re everything to me. I’d burn the world for you.” I swallow hard, blinking back tears. I’d known already that he loved me—I could tell from his actions and the way he always held me like I was something precious. I didn’t need the words, but… “I love you too, Xaden. You’re my stars,” I tip my head back so he can kiss me again, softer this time, “my centre of gravity.” I whisper. “I love you more than anything.” He presses his forehead to mine, clutching me tightly like if he blinks, I’ll disappear. “Promise me you won’t leave.” He begs quietly. “Promise me.” “I already told you,” I whisper softly, “for as long as you love me in return, you’ll never be alone again.” It breaks my heart that he’s still so convinced I’m going to hate him—that he believes there’s no possibility that I’ll stay.

In T&T definitely the reunion and the scene that follows, for which I'm keeping the best lines to myself for now, because I want you all to experience them in context, but... (Ch9-10)

“I don’t know.” I admit quietly and his expression shutters. “We need to talk about it—about so many things.” I tell him. “I can’t figure this out on my own.” It took me a while to realise that. “But what I do know is that I love you.” I tell him firmly. “Xaden,” I cup his jaw gently, “as long as you love me in return—” “I’ll never be alone again.” He whispers, finishing my sentence like it’s a common refrain, something he’s repeated to himself over and over, and I close my eyes for a second, willing myself not to cry.

This moment in (approximately) Ch14? I think? Where they have both fucked up.

“I thank Amari every day that you gave me a second chance, because no one else will ever meet my standards. I know exactly how strong you are, Remi Sorrengail.” I bury my face in his neck, trying to force back the tears that prick my eyes. “I’m sorry.” I choke out, trembling slightly against him. “I feel like I let you down.”   “No, angel.” He says quietly, cradling me close. “You didn’t let me down.” His arms tighten around me. 

And this whole scene where Remi almost dislocates her hip, that looks like it's going to sit around Ch17-ish

“Come here.” He slides away and in a second he’s hovering over me, pulling my leg out straight. His hands gently manoeuvre me this way and that, his thumbs kneading my thigh. “Stretch it out and then we can try again.”  I huff. “I’ve killed the mood already.” I mutter. “What’s the point?”  He stops, lacing his hands together over my thigh and then drops his chin down on top of them as he stares up at me amusedly. “Bold of you to assume you know how I feel.” He challenges.  “Are you still hard?”  “Are you in charge?”  We stare at each other for a moment before my lips twitch, just slightly, and then he’s grinning, dragging his teeth over the skin at the top of my thigh as I laugh softly. “Stop being a brat.” He chides, nipping gently as he pushes himself up, crawling over me. “Follow the rules.”

And yes, in case you were wondering that's just the tip of the iceberg and I plan to ruin you all xx 😇