#starlight fourteen

[strixhaven]

actually if there’s one thing i truly truly despise wrt to drawing its weapon design

[weasleyreidstyles]

Serendipity Masterlist

summary: it was only meant to be a purely transactional relationship. he would help her strengthen her abilities in return for her getting his friends out of his father's nasty path. he didn't mean to fall for her, but loving her was the easiest thing in his dark world.

series status: ongoing

“serendipity is the phenomenon of discovering something interesting or valuable by chance”

no use of y/n, but your general nickname is Meadow. All characters are aged up to be over 18. and bellatrix isn't mattheo's mother in this fic (just fyi)

pairings: mattheo riddle x fem!ravenclaw reader; platonic!slytherins x fem!reader; platonic!golden trio x fem!reader

general warning(s): 18+ content, angst, fluff, some canon compliance, some canon divergence, typical wizarding world violence, war, torture, drugging, hospitals, familial problems, mean!harry, mean!ron....

** indicates smut warning

~∞~ chapter one

chapter summary: on the trainride to your sixth year, your friends give you a proposition that you can't refuse.

~∞~ chapter two

chapter summary: it's your first day back as a sixth year student. Classes are more intense and your first lesson with Mattheo ensues.

~∞~ chapter three

chapter summary: the first Hogsmeade trip of the year has a rather unpleasant ending.

~∞~ chapter four

chapter summary: after you end up confined to the Hospital Wing, you're surprised when Professor Dumbledore pays you a visit.

~∞~ chapter five

chapter summary: Mattheo has been avoiding you. You find and confront him after a frustrating week.

~∞~ chapter six **

chapter summary: the growing tension between you and Mattheo snaps. He reveals something about yourself that you has scarcely any prior knowledge of.

~∞~ chapter seven

chapter summary: joyful dinner parties and a switch in point of view. Two juxtaposing starts to the christmas holidays.

~∞~ chapter eight **

chapter summary: you're given plenty of revelations: all equally as daunting as the other.

~∞~ chapter nine

chapter summary: Ginny ambushes you in the library and Ron's birthday is off to a delirious start.

~∞~ chapter ten

chapter summary: in the aftermath of Ron's poisoning, Harry learns a thing or two about where your loyalties lie when he overhears your private conversation with the headmaster.

~∞~ chapter eleven

chapter summary: intent on avoiding him, you underestimate just how desperate Mattheo is to be around you.

~∞~ chapter twelve

chapter summary: new friendships are formed and you finally learn to control your abilities. Mattheo comes to a life altering realisation.

~∞~ chapter thirteen **

chapter summary: idk how to summarise this but i will say it's pure smut...enjoy

~∞~ chapter fourteen

chapter summary: friendships are rekindled and you save Draco from certain death in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, igniting your powers in the process.

~∞~ chapter fifteen

chapter summary: now fully recovered, Draco has a task to complete. The fate of the Wizarding World hangs in the precipice of his actions.

~∞~ chapter sixteen

chapter summary: after a startling and gutting discovery. secrets are revealed and alliances are questioned as Voldemort's tyranny begins to fester into the beginnings of another war.

~∞~ chapter seventeen

chapter summary: Dumbledore's funeral reveals new allies as you navigate a world without its protector.

~∞~ chapter eighteen (coming soon!!)

series oneshots/headcannons:

~∞~ tulips & starlight – valentines day drabble

~∞~ serendipity hcs (mattheo) – a glimpse at his life pre sixth year

~∞~ invisible string – bonus scene from chapter 16 **

series taglist:

(striked out users are ones that i couldn't tag, reblogs of the individual posts have an extended taglist)

@camille-1019 @lovelyygirl8 @xluansstuff @babeylover @thejadeazalea @undercover-smutlover @adhxmoony @dreamingofonceuponatime @thepassionatereader @urmomsgayforme5 @aphroditeisamilf @devotedlycrookeddonut @purplegirls-posts @nofacenonamelikekira @foxboyapologist @lafrone @lovely-maryj @nromanovaswife @leeknows-wife @dracygf @wildlyobserving @ravenclawprincess33 @melllinaa @vellicora @lantsovheiress @emiliahoward @stunkbiggu @vcosette @prongsprincessworld @mattiesgirl @rachmmb @x-kermit-x @sun-fiower-seed @cas-planet @certaindreampost @weirdowithnobeardo @mikalovesicecream @sunasbbie @rainy-darling @faeriepigeons @lovely-blackinnon @hiireadstuff @gimalo135 @elsafromcabinsix @moonlightreader649 @blueshome @nopedefe @spencerreidsthings @navs-bhat @agent-tempest @magimtz23 @y0urm0m12 @sbrn0905 @leona-hawthorne @whatsupb18 @moni-cah @taylorann2013 @unstablereader @gisellesprettylies @nat1221

[acourtofwhatthefuck]

Practice On Me — Part Eleven — Azriel x Reader

Summary: Reader receives a much-needed pep talk in Velaris and gets thinking. Azriel receives a lecture in Windhaven by a frustrated Rhysand. Reader is surprised by an unexpected visitor to the City of Starlight.

Word count:

Warnings: A little bit of smut, 18+, minors dni.

Velaris feels like an entire world away from Windhaven.

You’ve been here only once before, when, as mischievous fourteen-year-olds, Rhysand had brought you. The High Lord had been in another court on business, which had seemed like the perfect time for Rhys to show you his other home. Only, his father had returned early, and had thundered — hard enough to shake the mountains — about strangers entering the shielded city without formal invitation. Not you, nor Cassian, nor Azriel, had been back since.

And that lingering encounter was why, when Roza brought you here three days earlier, you’d been nervous about coming face-to-face with the High Lord yet again.

But the handsome, roguish male had merely given you a long, slow perusal, and then smiled a charming smile — about the only thing Rhys seems to have inherited from him — and welcomed you to his home for as long as you do so please.

It’s tranquil, there’s no doubt about that. Light and airy and so beautiful that you can forget, for a time, that there’s a world outside the City of Starlight. You’ve spent the last three days at Roza’s side, exploring the city and helping her run light errands, and attending to her at the end of the day when the pregnancy tires her out.

The High Lord — Finadar, or Fin, as you’ve learned most people call him — does no such thing. He does not visit his pregnant mate after long, tiring days. Does not summon her.

Despite the growing new arrival in her belly, there’s a distinct lack of love between the two of them that surprises you, perhaps more than anything else.

But tonight, with Roza joining him for a public appearance, you’re left alone with your thoughts for the first time in three days. And you’re desperate to do anything to fight them off.

You wander the long, spacious halls of the High Lord’s opulent home, warm, despite the brutal mountain range that stands guard around it. This is a level of luxury you were never built for, and don’t quite know what to do with. You read from Roza’s broad selection of literature, and gorge on sweets in the kitchen, and slide along the polished floors on your socks, because why the fuck not.

It’s better than thinking. Anything is better than thinking.

But as the night wears on and the silence gets too loud, it’s hard to keep deeper thoughts at bay. Your heart aches relentlessly over the broken shards of your loving friendship group that you don’t know how to glue back together. Your mind swoons longingly over old memories, old smiles. You’re a hollow vessel of complications, and regrets, and excruciating love—

“I heard you were here.” A trilling voice echoes from the far end of the hall you’re traversing.

You turn, and you think you might choke out a strangled noise of relief at the sight of shimmering, golden curls and warm, brown eyes, huge like a doe’s.

Mor looks far better than the last time you saw her, that’s for sure. She’s always radiant, no matter what she has going on, but the sun-kissed glimmer has returned to her skin, and the gaunt fragility from her hardships has been snuffed out by delicious, enviable curves.

You’re in front of her in what feels like a few great strides, and she’s cupping your face in her hands and kissing both of your cheeks.

“I’ve missed you.” You breathe, realising, in that moment, just how much you have. She doesn’t spend as much time in Windhaven as she used to, and gods, the absence of a sincere female friend is a weighty one.

“I’ve missed you, too.” Concern fills her eyes as she studies you.

“Rhys, Az and Cass aren’t here. It’s just me—”

“I know.” She links her arm through yours. “And let’s be glad of it. I’ve had enough of males to last me a damn eternity.” She’s barely taken a few steps forward before she’s stopping and studying you again. “Roza tells me you’re having a hard time.”

Just like that, you feel yourself begin to crumble. There’s something about the concern of others that utterly obliterates the walls you try to craft around yourself.

And at the first glimpse of tears filling your eyes, Mor is tugging you along again.

“Come.” She says. “I know where the High Lord keeps his stash of booze.”

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“You don’t ever come to Windhaven anymore. Why is that?”

There’s the slightest tensing in the set of Mor’s shoulders as she returns the stopper to a decanter containing dark amber liquid. She turns, handing you a glass.

“I figured you knew.” She says. “My father is being strict about me not spending time there.”

On some level, you think you did know. It’s not hard to figure it out.

For a time, Mor was a pretty frequent member of your friendship group, visiting as often as she could — until a few years ago, when a fight broke out between Cassian and Rhys, and then Mor just stopped coming around. The matter was swept under the rug and not mentioned again. But with her father being so strict—

“Ah.” You murmur, the pieces clicking into place. “Cass, huh?”

Mor snorts softly. “Yes. Cass.” She shakes her head fondly. “Before you ask, no, I don’t have feelings for him. Not like that. It was just…a choice I made for myself. And I’ve never regretted it, even if my father is determined to make my life hell because of it. But I didn’t come here to talk about me.” Her eyes rake over you. “Tell me everything.”

So, you do. The words come spilling out of you in a flurry of shame and heartache. You tell her every damn detail and spare none. And when you’re finally done, you take a breath and wonder — not for the first time — how the fuck you’ve managed to create this situation for yourself.

Mor frowns at you. “I—” She seems genuinely speechless. “Cauldron, I thought my situation was complicated.”

You shake your head. “I’ve made such a mess of things, Mor.”

“Why haven’t you told Azriel how you feel?”

“I wanted to. Gods, I planned to. But I supposed walking in on him and Kaeda made me realise that there’s no point.”

“First of all, that’s bullshit.” She takes a seat opposite you. “Love is one of very few things that there is always a point to. Your self-loathing my try to convince you otherwise, but it’s always better to be honest and face whatever outcome than suffer in silence and wonder what would have been.”

You open your mouth, but she’s holding up a hand.

“Secondly, I don’t like the sound of this Kaeda one bit. I know almost nothing about Fenlaros, but what I do know is that she must have some sort of backing — not just that of her Camp Lord father — that gives her the ability to flounce in and out of a rival camp at her leisure without a single consequence. And that tells me she’s up to something. And that makes me nervous that it’s Azriel, of all people, that she’s attached herself to. Not that Az isn’t a total catch — of course, he is. But he’s also a very, very rare gift who always has sights set on him. I’d wager that that plays into Kaeda’s interest somewhere.”

You fall still in your seat, staring back at her.

You feel damn stupid for not seeing what she’s laid out before you with such clarity.

“You…don’t believe Kaeda’s interest in Az is genuine?” You ask. “I wondered why she was hanging around Windhaven, but I didn’t think…”

“I think she has ulterior motives.” Mor shrugs. “And if Az is in a blinding haze of lust — or even love — it’s not something he’s going to see for himself. He’ll need proof.”

“How could I possibly give him proof of something I’m not even certain about myself?”

“Perhaps you should play Kaeda at her own game. Do some sniffing around her and see what you find out. You’d only be looking out for Az, after all.”

Would you, though? You can’t deny that your feelings, your jealousy, would play a part. You should want, for Azriel’s sake, Kaeda to be genuine, whether your heart would get broken or not. But what you truly want is to show Az that—

That you’re better for him than she ever would be.

You want nothing more from or for him, than to make him happy.

You drag your lower lip between your teeth in thought. “What if it blew up in my face, though? I could just…end up making Az even more mad at me than he already is.”

“Which brings me to my third point. Why are you allowing Az to act like you’ve done anything wrong?”

“I slept with Cassian…”

“Welcome to the club. Tell me, Y/N. are you tied down to anyone?”

“Well, no—”

“Did you and Az agree to only have sexual relations with each other?”

“No—”

“Have you ever sworn off exploring such things with your other friends?”

“No, Mor.”

“Then Azriel has no right to be freezing you out the way he is. Is it messy? Yes. Have you created some tricky drama for yourself? Also yes. But he’s a damn hypocrite if he’s chastising you in one breath and jumping into bed with Kaeda in another.”

“That’s the thing, though.” Your gaze lowers to the table. “He says he hasn’t done anything with Kaeda, and I don’t think he would lie about that. I think…had I slept with anyone outside of our circle, perhaps he wouldn’t have cared. But it being Cassian is just…a bit too close to home for him. Especially given that Az and I were doing things, too.”

The gorgeous blonde rolls her eyes. “So, it’s an ego thing. Give me a break. If he didn’t want you to sleep with anybody else, he should have communicated that. You both should have communicated better.” A soft sigh leaves her. “Listen…Az will sulk for a little while, because that’s just what males do. He clearly has things he needs to work through, and when he has, you should talk. But in the meantime, perhaps you should try to find some more out about Kaeda and her intentions — for no other reason than that Azriel is your closest friend and you’re looking out for him. Perhaps being in Velaris is a blessing in disguise — I’m sure the High Lord could tell you a thing or two about the Fenlaros lot, if you ask nicely.”

So wise, so brilliant, is Mor. A female with such a good head on her shoulders, despite an environment that tries to wreck her.

She just…rationalises things, in a way that you’re not able to. And you hadn’t even considered talking to the High Lord.

You take a slow, pensive draw from your glass as you think on it. And then you’re deciding, “Perhaps I will speak with the High Lord. There’s nothing wrong with showing an interest in a rival camp, after all.”

“No.” Mor flashes a feral grin. “There is not.”

Perhaps it’s selfish, something felt at Azriel’s expense — but setting yourself a little task like this is precisely what you need.

You’ve wondered for a while what the hell Kaeda is doing in Windhaven. You’re determined to find out, one way or another.

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Rhysand is balls deep and utterly lost in the male beneath him.

The noises that fill the room are sinful.

Midnight-kissed moans and panting as breathy and ethereal as a winter-chilled breeze.

This has been a long time coming, and Rhys is just so glad, in that moment, that he finally gets to be inside Zakai, that he thrusts deep and captures him in a full kiss. Zakai growls and grabs his ass, encouraging those thrusts.

Honestly? Rhys fucking needs this pleasure. Never did he think he’d actually be glad to get away to his room at the dormitories, but he needs a godsdamned break. Cassian’s sulking at the cottage has become unbearable since Roza swept Y/N off to Velaris.

If Cass and Az don’t sort their shit out soon, Rhys might just launch them off the peak of the nearest mountain.

Of course, they’d probably fight each other suspended in thin air, instead.

But he banishes those thoughts and gives himself entirely to Zakai, reaching down to fist at the pretty male’s cock. Neither of them will last long. This sex has been too highly anticipated, and it feels too good, and—

And the door is practically kicked in behind them. Azriel strides in as if it’s his fucking room.

“Get out, Az.” Rhys snarls, not faltering.

Az does not, in fact, get out. “Is it true Roza has taken Y/N to Ve—”

“For fuck’s sake.” He pulls out of Zakai with complete reluctance, grabbing clothes to cover them both. Zakai exhales a long sigh and tips his head back.

“Well?” Az demands. “Is it true?”

Rhys yanks some undershorts on. “Three days ago. You’d have found out sooner if you’d just quit your sulking and talk to us.”

“Why has she gone there?”

Zakai clears his throat, awkwardly shucking his clothes on. “Perhaps I should go…”

“No.” Rhys says.

But Az counters it with a dismissive, “Yes.”

The poor male stares between the two of them, and while he may have just been lying beneath the future High Lord, he doesn’t feel like getting in the way of a temperamental shadowsinger.

Rhys releases a yielding breath and grits his teeth. “Fine. I’ll catch up with you later, Zak.”

That’s all it takes for his pretty lover to leave, sex now a distant memory. Azriel shuts the door behind him.

“So?” He rounds on Rhys. “Why is Y/N in Velaris?”

Rhys rolls his eyes at his tone. It’s not exactly any use for Az to be frantic now. Bit too late for that, he thinks.

“Because she needed a break from this place. From you and Cass and Kaeda.”

“I told Y/N that Kaeda and I have not done anything.”

“And maybe you haven’t, Azriel. That’s your business entirely.” He throws himself onto the bed. “But have you stopped for five fucking seconds, amidst your brooding and self-pitying, to consider how it might have made Y/N feel to be the practice run?”

Azriel goes preternaturally still. Doesn’t know what to say.

And that’s fine, Rhys reckons, because he’s nowhere near fucking finished.

“You explored that intimacy with her under the pretence that you were merely refining those skills for another female’s benefit.” He continues. “Whether it was initially Y/N’s idea or not, you should have recognised right away that she deserves better than that. And then you had the absolute fucking audacity to get mad at her for sleeping with Cassian, at the same time she would naturally assume you were sleeping with Kaeda, when you actually have no right to be angry. So what if she slept with Cass? So what, Azriel, that she fell into the arms of somebody who actually made her feel chosen, and not like she was just a stepping stone to a greater pleasure?”

Silence.

Stunned, heavy silence.

This room is far too small for such strong, impassioned words. They hang threateningly in the air, and Azriel feels like he’s watching them fly towards him in slow motion like poison arrows closing in on their target.

And then the shadowsinger croaks, finally, “It’s not—like that. I never wanted it to be like that.”

Rhys shrugs. “I’m not sure you even know what you intended, Az. The whole thing is one big mess. I mean…why haven’t you had sex with Kaeda, if that’s what you were practicing for? Do you even like her?”

Az says nothing.

The lack of an answer is precisely what Rhys is expecting. Even makes his lips kick up into a smile.

He thinks he’s pretty damn wise, does Rhysand.

“I’ll wager,” he goes on, eyeing Az knowingly, “that the practice wasn’t about Kaeda at all. Perhaps it was, the very first time Y/N offered.” He rests his hands behind his head. “But then something happened between the two of you — perhaps a kiss, maybe even some touching, and you were struck down by a realisation that the rest of us saw coming years ago. That what exists between you and Y/N goes beyond friendship. What you have is something special. And getting a little taster of that under the ruse of practice sent you on a downward spiral. So many emotions. So much angst. Suddenly, you were acting irrationally, getting into fights. Not over Kaeda, no, but over Y/N. Seeing her with other males makes you feel sick to your stomach. And that is why you’re so angry with Cassian. Because he had sex with Y/N, and you want her, not Kaeda. You love her.”

Well.

Azriel may as well be standing there stark naked, for all Rhys has stripped him bare.

He feels like his skin has been peeled from his bones and a patchwork of ugly truths lies in its place. He wouldn’t be overly surprised to glance down and see writing covering every inch of his body in bold, alarming ink that reads: I AM IN LOVE WITH Y/N. I AM JEALOUS AND ARROGANT AND SELFISH. I AM SCARED.

He tries to swallow down the lump in his throat. It doesn’t budge. “I never meant to make her feel like that.” He damn near wheezes, the words punching their way out of his lungs.

Rhys softens a little. “We know that, Az. But as long as you try to run from your feelings, you’ll be kicking dirt up at the people behind you.”

“I don’t…don’t know what to do — about anything.”

“You just need to stop trying to fool yourself. You need to make use of your space from Y/N and figure out what, exactly, it is you want, and what, exactly, you’re going to do about it. You need to accept that mistakes have been made all round, but not one of them is unable to be fixed. And you should start by mending things with Cassian.”

On instinct, Az scowls. He may know Rhys is right — and damn him for it, too — but he still can’t help being angry at Cass. The thought of his hands on Y/N—

“Wipe that look off your face, Azriel.” Rhys says drily. “You both know you miss each other, and you’re just as miserable as one another because of it. I’m not saying you should fix it today or even tomorrow — take your time to brood, if you like — but something has to give eventually. And if you won’t fix things for your sakes, do it for mine. Perhaps then I’ll be able to fuck Zakai and actually finish.”

This — these glimmers of wisdom and authority and reason — are like a little window into what Rhysand will one day be like as High Lord of the Night Court.

Azriel is glad of his friendship, his counsel. Even if he’s not quite ready to act on the advice yet.

“It’ll all be alright, Az.” Rhys says, studying him. The shadowsinger looks…lost. “But you should take the time to work things out before Y/N returns to Windhaven. She doesn’t need any more drama, and neither do you.”

Right again, of course.

Az can only manage to clear his throat and nod, before rasping out a quiet, “I will. Thank you.”

Rhys dips his chin. “I do love you, you know. I wouldn’t put sex aside for a conversation with just anyone.”

His answering smile is unconvincing. “I love you, too.”

“And you love Cass. So don’t wait too long to talk to him.”

Azriel inclines his chin. “Sorry for interrupting.”

“I’ll forgive you this time.”

The shadowsinger shoots him one last look that says far more than he can articulate in that moment. And then he’s slipping out of the room.

And as he walks away, he can’t stop his thoughts from venturing to Fenlaros.

To how lost he would be without Rhys — and Cass, too — if he really did leave them behind.

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Roza is so godsdamned beautiful.

You can’t help feeling a little awestruck as you stand behind her, gently combing a brush through her night-black hair.

She stares into the mirror of her dressing table, her face a sheet of serene beauty. Through her nightgown, the swell of her bump shows proudly.

She seems pensive tonight, quieter than usual. Every few seconds, your gaze creeps to her reflection. Curiosity gets the better of you.

“Can I ask you something?” You part the strands of her hair, beginning to tie them into a braid.

Roza’s eyes lift to yours. “Of course, my love.”

It takes you a long moment to work out how, exactly, to diplomatically word what you’re thinking. You imagine it might be a touchy subject.

“…You and the High Lord….” You chew the inside of your cheek. “You’re not…not quite what I expected — together, I mean.”

You’ve never seen a mating bond up close, but you’ve read about them enough to know that they should be intense, passionate, a love that is so altering that it’s almost gut-wrenching. You expected to catch a glimpse of that with Roza and Finadar, to see a bond that you may never have the honour of experiencing yourself, for how rare it supposedly is.

What you didn’t expect was the huge distance that exists between them. Not a single person could miss it.

There’s no desperation to see each other, be in one another’s company. They sleep in their own quarters of the house and only seem to come together for public appearances. The whole thing is…bizarre.

Roza smiles wryly at you in the mirror. “You mean, you didn’t expect the High Lord and I to be as separated as we are?”

“I just figured…with a mating bond…”

“A lot of weight is placed on a mating bond, little dove.” She swivels on the stool to face you properly. “I had the same thought as you, when I was younger. Fin and I tried to love one another, but…the fact of the matter is that mating bonds aren’t always right. He and I are so different, and sometimes that can be a beautiful thing. But in our case, it certainly is not.”

Your eyes fall down to her bump. “But the babe…”

“This babe was conceived on a heat-of-the-moment, impulsive whim that shouldn’t have happened. Not that I regret it.” Her hand strokes over her bump. “But sex and love are two very different things. Fin and I do not love each other. I’m only in Velaris because he only trusts his healer to see me through this pregnancy. We are mates in the loosest definition, but we are not committed to each other. And he has no problem reminding me of that, with all the females he invites to his bed as though I’m not in the same damn house as him. He’s an arrogant, salacious lech — but he’s also the father of my children, and my High Lord, too. So I choose not to confront it, because I don’t care enough to. The babe and I will be back in Windhaven soon enough.”

It makes your heart ache, makes you feel sick, to think that Roza is on the receiving end of such treatment. She deserves better. Deserves the world. Someone who will worship her like the goddess she damn well is.

It terrifies you to think that…that you could just as easily find yourself trapped in such a dire situation.

“What worries you?” Her violet eyes are soft, warm, as she reaches up and presses a hand to your cheek.

You place the hairbrush down, leaning against the dressing table. Your hand finds hers with a sad desperation. “Is love doomed, Roza? Is it real? If a mating bond can’t hold up, what hope do I have—”

“You have all the hope, dove. And as you should. You will love, and you will be loved. You just need to have the courage to face it and all that it comes with. Fin and I are a bad match. But there’s no reason to believe you’ll see the same fate. So just…don’t give up. Be brave and love.”

Tears blur your eyes as you stare down at her. You can’t stop yourself from moving your joined hands, both yours and hers, to rest on her bump. “This babe is the luckiest child in the entire world to have you for their mother.” You whisper. “And I will be honoured, Roza, to help you in any way I can when they’re born.”

She lifts your hand to her lips and presses a kiss to the back of your palm. “And I will be honoured to have you by my side.” She cracks a smile. “Perhaps you can start with making me some ginger tea before bed.”

A soft, breathy laugh leaves you. “Of course.”

Her beautiful smile follows you out of the room and into the dark, empty hallways. You feel strangely at peace tonight, more so than you have for a long while. Most likely thanks to Mor’s pep talk.

But after you’re done in the kitchen, a steaming cup of ginger tea clutched in your hands, a pair of booming male voices reach you from the antechamber. It piques your interest at once.

One voice is certainly that of the High Lord, but the other sounds somewhat familiar, too — like it’s one you’ve heard before, but not enough to place who it belongs to. It’s a dangerous, gruff baritone of a voice that seems almost impossibly deep.

You should mind your business, walk away…but it seems strange for the High Lord to receive a guest so late at night. Seems…clandestine, in nature.

And so you stay light on your feet, inching towards the door and peering through to the giant, opulent antechamber.

And that’s when you see the High Lord leading Tathaln Baralas, Kaeda’s father, in the direction of his study.

az tags: @dream-alittlebiggerdarling @sirenpearldust @queercodedcharacter @azriels-shadowsinger @ruler-of-hades @demi03 @magicaldragonlady @abrielletargaryen @ralsieq @v3lv3tf0x @achase2002 @feyretopia @hayrunnwr @don’t-feed-the-hipsters @brekkershadowsinger @piceous21 @bloodicka @acourtofinkandpapyrus @riri-is-agirlie @siriusement @4valyries @socmono @azriels-mate123 @acourtofbatboydreams @katherinearcheron @nesemi @lupinswolfsbanes @dreaming-unafraid @dxnniiix @cyrygher @liddyr03 @lmllsl @nightless @teenageeggscissorslawyer @brighterthanlonelythoughts @blitz-fall @maybefoxysouls @mschanand1erbong @juiceboxreads @bangtanbecks @florencemtrash @hyemishii @obixix @thenovarose @meshellexplosionmurder @angzlxna @lissy31xoxo-blog @supernatural99 @positivewitch @art3-m1ss @milfhunter-pdx @bbuckysbeardd @coralseacourt @towhateverend87 @sspookz @bird-on-the-wire33 @morrie-rose @megwan @catscanteleport @sevikas-whore @thickthighs-sadeyes

[im-a-hoping-beetch]

Many people seem to get genuinely confused, whenever we, zutara shippers, mention how underdeveloped kataang really is. Usually, they’ll brush it off as us being delusional, bitter and you know the drill. Their main response to that, usually is: “How, could they possibly be underdeveloped, they had 3 seasons!?!”

The thing is they forget that the amount of time isn’t as important as what you do do with it. Cuz, yeah, Aang and Katara did have 3 seasons, but their relationship still managed to feel rushed as hell. Heck, even Bryke, out of all people, admitted to it. Which mostly as to do with a bunch of things that I’ll get into right now.

Let’s start with the fact that, Katara never actually shows any interest in Aang.

Now, many of y’all will probably come for me by citing how the cave of the two lovers or even the Headband have moments of her showing interest in him, but all of them end up falling flat at some point.

The cave of the two lovers:

The argument here, usually is“if she didn’t have any interest in him, why would she kiss him?” or “why would she blush at the idea of kissing him?”. The former seems to forget this is a life or death situation and that we don’t really know for sure that if there were another way to get out if this, she wouldn’t take it. For the latter, I’d like to say that blushing can have many significations such as, embarrassment. Which, here makes sense when considering what she says and overall demeanour, after suggesting to kiss.

Like yeah, a fourteen year old girl blushing bcz she’s embarrassed at the idea of having to kiss, her friend, out of all things, cuz you know… awkward. Can you imagine that (pun fully intended)???

The headband:

This one is going to be a ride, but stick with me. The arguments can range from “What about her jealousy while Aang is dancing with other girls.” to “What about the way she looks at him during the dance.”

Here, is said jealousy being shown:

And said look being done:

Now, yeah, I can absolutely see why these two exemples would be used as a way to prove her interest, but let me remind you that this is the same episode where we have this happen.

Yeah, the same episode where Katara is acting all jealous and giving flirty looks to Aang is also the same one where she pretends to be is… mother. While, I could go on about how it wasn’t the best idea on the directors or whoever was in charge of the episode part if it was their way of giving a glimpse of Katara being into Aang. The issue is, them doing so wasn’t completely farfetched either, because up until now it’s been established that Katara can be very motherly and she acts that way with almost everyone in the gaang. More specifically, the one with who she does so the most is, Aang.

I mean, even the show makes a point of poking fun at their mother-son dynamic on several occasions all throughout the show (ie. the don’t-rub-your-eyes-when-you’re-speaking scene in “The runaway” episode). So realistically, the two exemples shown way above could somewhat work, but only if you decide to completely ignore what episode they take place in, one that hasn’t really helped at stopping the mother-son dynamic allegations kataang has been getting, for years, now.

So, back to the development aspect, I think it has always been stunted from the beginning, because, fundamentally, the ship as always been designed to be Aang-centric. If you’d like more insight on that I’d recommend checking @starlight-bread-blog’s amazing post on the issue. But also, that their lackluster resolution is way much more obvious, cuz both are leads in the show. Katara's existence in the show, isn't solely there to serve as some love inerest for Aang. Shocker, but she's actually a MAIN CHARACTER in the show, meaning that we spend three seasons where we get to learn about her battles, fears and aspirations, none of which seems to involve a relationship with Aang.

Like yeah, the reason why The Ending Kiss™ feels so unsatisfactory is, simply, because, Katara doesn't like Aang (at least not like that). Katara, likes Aang, because the show said so. Now, stick with me, cuz I can already feel some of y'all ready to jump at the screen. Within the show, name a single moment where she ever comes to thinking of Aang in a romantic way. One that doesn't involve any external sources, such as someone suggesting about it or because of the given circumstances she has to. The answer is none. The only time we ever get to see her voice her ACTUAL opinion about it, this is what she says:

That's not even counting how her overall demeanor, from the body language to her choice of words seems to suggest that she's actually trying to let him down gently. Also, may I remind you that at that point THERE'S ONLY 3 FREAKING EPISODES LEFT BEFORE THE BIG KISS™ and this is where there at in their relationship. Plus, within the 3 episodes that are left WE NEVER GET TO SEE THEM TALK ABOUT IT, EVER!!!

This obviously was part of Bryke’s horrible attempt at the will-they-won’t-they trope. Which ended up playing right in their face, cuz like I mentioned they themselves had to come to glaring realization that kataang was rushed. Now, it could’ve been it, the creators realizing their obvious mistake and if they could, trying to fix it by giving us what seemed like the natural progression of their relationship, which was for it to end.

Instead, we got comics!Katara and oooh boy…

Basically, they decided that they would throw away Katara’s meticulously built characterization in order to make her existence revolve around, Aang. I kid you not, when I say that she isn’t allowed scenes, lines and actions that do not revolve around her “sweetie”.

Remember how I said that, Katara likes Aang because the show runners said so. This is an example of this cranked up to a hundred.

Essentially, when you start thinking about where these two are in terms of growth, kataang is the antithesis to development itself. On one hand it validates the regression of one (ie. the dropped chakra plot line), while simultaneously, having to strip any previously built characterization of the other (ie. comics!katara).

On that note, I’d like to remind people, how important Katara is to the story. Without her, the entirety of the gaang would be dead. Without her, there would be no story. Without her, there would be no Aang.

She deserved to have a voice within her own relationship and not for it to be stolen by two grown men who were still stuck in their childhood fantasy.

She deserved better.

[mint-yooxgi]

{22} - Hotel California - Yandere!Demonic Entities!Ateez X Reader

Yandere AU & Demon AU - Based off of This ask and Hotel California by Eagles

Genre: Mature, Horror, Angst, Fluff, Slight Humor

Pairing: Ateez X Reader (Slight focus on Yunho, Mingi, San, and a tad of Yeosang and Hongjoong)

Words: 10,887

Warnings: Blood mentioned, minor violence. A real bad headache. This is a Yandere story, it will contain themes such as stalking, violence, obsession, possessive natures, and just general overall creepiness and swearing. You have been warned.

A/n: Finally, the moment I have been waiting for!! Ehehehe, I am so excited for the next chapter to come out since it’s what I've been planning since the beginning. The bombshell is finally here!!! I really hope you all enjoy this part and will look forward to the upcoming chapters. I have a lot planned! As always, feedback is greatly appreciated! Enjoy~

Main Story - Part Two - Part Three - Part Four - Part Five - Part Six - Part Seven - Part Eight - Part Nine - Part Ten - Part Eleven - Part Twelve - Part Thirteen - Part Fourteen - Part Fifteen - Part Sixteen - Part Seventeen - Part Eighteen - Part Nineteen - Part Twenty - Part Twenty-One - Mini Masterlist

Waking up with a headache is certainly not on your list of things to do today. Alas, as soon as you feel the edges of consciousness returning to you, you can feel a small pounding in your head. There seems to be one spot in particular that the pain radiates from, but it’s faint enough that you can ignore it for now. Besides, you have more important things to be focusing on.

The pillow you are resting on steadily rises and falls along with your every breath, a content hum sounding against your ear. You smile in response, subconsciously shifting closer.

Faintly, you register low laughter rumbling out from beneath you.

“You’ve been holding her all night,” you briefly hear Yunho’s low voice coming from beside you, feeling a hand resting on your lower back, who’s thumb strokes gently over your skin beneath your shirt.

“It’s not my fault she draped herself over me in her sleep,” you hear Mingi reply, somewhat giddily.

True to his words, you realize that you are quite literally laying half on top of him right now. Your head rests comfortably on his chest, arms wrapped securely around his torso as your one leg is tossed over his thighs.

A smile pulls at your lips as you hear his heart begin racing at the way you tighten your grip around him the slightest bit. You hum contently.

“Good morning, Starlight,” Mingi lightly trails the tips of his fingers over the side of your face, caressing you softly. 

“Good morning, Min,” you reply, voice low as sleep still clings to the edges.

“Did we wake you?” Yunho leans the slightest bit closer to you, and you can feel his one leg pressing up against yours beneath the sheets.

You shake your head, a soft ‘no’ leaving your lips as your eyes remain closed for the moment. You are more than content to continue laying in their embrace like this for the time being, seeing as you are much too comfortable to move.

“Did you sleep well?” Mingi asks, hand moving to cup your cheek tenderly as his thumb strokes gently over your skin.

A content hum leaves your lips as you nod. “Very.”

You shift the slightest bit, turning more to lay on your side and feeling just how close Yunho really is to your back as his chest presses against you. Slowly, your eyelids flutter open, looking up to see Mingi already staring at you with such a fond gaze.

Exactly three days have passed since your little escapade in the cinema room, and you’ve noticed how all of them have been that much more affectionate with you lately. If one of them doesn’t have their arm wrapped around your shoulders, or your waist, another is holding your hand, or resting theirs on the small of your back. You’ve taken the liberty to have one or more of them spend the night with you since the second day had passed, feeling the need to have the comfort of their presence with you as much as they have yours.

Which is exactly how you find yourself curled between both Mingi and Yunho right now.

“I always sleep better when I’m holding onto something,” you remind them, and you watch as a brilliant smile stretches across Mingi’s face.

“You can hold onto me for as long as you’d like, Starlight,” he leans in to place a tender kiss onto the skin of your forehead, loving the way you stare back at him with wide eyes as he pulls away.

Little do you realize the pout that Yunho wears behind you.

“I really appreciate that, Min,” you smile, hand coming up to rest on top of his chest for the moment. “You both seriously don’t know just how severely touch starved I am.”

“We’re all more than happy to hold you whenever, wherever you’d like, Petal,” Yunho keeps his voice low, placing a tender kiss onto the nape of your neck. “For however long you want us to.”

Now, a pout begins to pull at Mingi’s features as he watches you turn around in his arms to face his brother, much to Yunho’s content.

“Thank you, Universe,” a pleased hum escapes your lips as you curl yourself against his chest, tossing your leg over his waist in the next moment. “You too, Moonlight.” You turn your body just enough to look back at him from over your shoulder, noticing how Mingi's pout immediate softens into a small smile as he sees you gazing so fondly at him. “I appreciate you staying.”

“We wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.” Mingi’s response is immediate, and you can feel both of their chests hum in content against you.

A soft smile pulls at your features as you reach behind you to grab Mingi’s arm, wrapping it around yourself, and tucking it into your chest as you turn back around to face Yunho once more. Immediately, Mingi follows your movements, chest pressing against your back as you curl yourself into Yunho’s embrace. You absolutely adore the way you can feel Yunho’s one hand settle onto the skin of your thigh, thumb stroking tenderly against you.

With your eyes fluttering shut, you allow yourself to absolutely revel in this moment with the two of them.

“I love you,” you hum out, lips tugging upwards slightly. “Both of you.”

Soft rumbles of contentment reach your ears from the both of them, feeling them hold you the slightest bit tighter within their embrace.

“I love you, Starlight,” Mingi breathes, hand squeezing yours tenderly as you continue to hold his against your chest. “More than words can describe.”

“And I love you, too, Petal,” Yunho voices lowly, a small smile gracing his features as he stares into your eyes. “More than anything.”

A gentle kiss is placed against the back of your head, curtesy of Mingi, just as you feel Yunho lean in to rest his forehead against your own. Not even five minutes later, and your breathing evens out, allowing yourself to succumb to sleep once more.

Some time later, you are awoken to the sounds of the two males bickering lowly yet again. It seems as if this time, you have released your hold on Mingi’s arm in favour of tossing your own over Yunho’s side. You can still feel Yunho’s hand pressing securely against your thigh, but you also feel another one just above his own, resting dangerously close to the curve of your ass.

Only, the elder of the two doesn’t seem to like that fact very much.

“Move your hand.” His voice rumbles out, shooting a pointed look at the younger from over the top of your head.

“No.” Mingi counters. “You move yours.”

“I was holding her first,” Yunho replies, quite pointedly.

“Yeah, and she’s now wrapped herself around you,” Mingi sounds just the tiniest bit bitter when he says this.

“Oh, boo-hoo. You spent the whole night having her rest practically on top of you.” Yunho retorts. “It’s my turn, now.”

“It’s not my fault I’m comfortable.” Mingi huffs, shifting his hand down your thigh and purposely pushing Yunho’s hand off of you.

“Well, now, so am I!” Yunho practically hisses back, shoving Mingi’s hand off of you only to replace it with his own in the next instant.

“Back. Off.” Mingi harshly whispers through clenched teeth, once more swiping Yunho’s hand away to place his own back onto your thigh.

“No, you back off.” Yunho replies, pointedly, smacking Mingi’s hand away in the next moment.

This goes back and forth for about another twenty seconds, vaguely hearing them keep smacking each other’s hands away only to replace the other’s with their own. You have half the mind to start giggling at their antics in your semi-awake state. That is, until you feel a small smack land on the side of your thigh.

You twitch in shock.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake- will you both knock it off?” You huff, eyes flashing open to see Yunho already staring at you with wide eyes.

“Way to go, genius, you ended up hitting her instead,” Mingi scoffs, and you can just tell he’s rolling his eyes at his brother.

“No thanks to you,” Yunho glares at the younger from over your head before turning his gaze to you. Immediately, his expression is softening, worry taking over his features. “I’m so sorry, Petal. I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

“No, you didn’t,” your answer has him nearly breathing a sigh of relief, “but seriously. Stop bickering, or else I’ll kick you both out and ask Yeosang to come stay with me instead.”

They both stiffen at this, sharing a narrowed eye look between each other.

This is all your fault. Mingi frowns, shooting a pointed look at Yunho.

Me? This is all because of you! Yunho replies, exasperatedly.

“You called?” The sound of Yeosang’s low voice draws your attention to the end of your bed.

“Great!” Mingi huffs, lips tugging downwards as he meets Yunho’s gaze. “Now look at what you did.”

“Me?” Yunho voices, incredulously. “How is this my fault?”

You briefly meet Yeosang’s gaze, and your exasperated stare says it all.

“I’m about to physically kick you both out of bed if you don’t stop arguing with each other,” you warn, shifting onto your back for the moment.

“He started it,” Mingi grumbles, that all too familiar pout back on his lips.

Your hands come up to rub at your eyes, still feeling that familiar throbbing within your skull.

“It’s too early for this,” you sigh, shaking your head teasingly. “Besides, I’m starting to get a headache.”

Immediately, worry takes over all three of their features.

“Are you okay, Petal? Do you want one of us to heal you?” Yunho gently places a hand onto your forehead, checking your temperature.

“I’ll be fine. I probably just need more sleep,” you assure him, placing your hand overtop of his own and pulling it off of your forehead. Then, playfully, you shoot two pointed looks at the men beside you, “which I would be doing if some people weren’t being big babies over who gets to hold me.”

Out of the corner of your eyes, you see Yeosang standing at the foot of your bed with an amused look on his face. His one brow is quirked as he crosses his arms over his chest, grin tugging at his lips.

“Starlight,” Mingi whines, “you cannot blame us. We just love holding you in our arms.”

“And I love spending time with you guys, no matter the context,” you reply, feeling how the two males on either side of you shift the slightest bit closer into your sides as smiles tug at all of their features. “Now, if you don’t mind, I’d like to continue to be surrounded by the people I love.”

“We can do that,” Yunho immediately replies, leaning his head into you so that his face is practically buried in your neck.

The corner of your lips tugs upwards as you settle deeper into your sheets. Only, the way you notice Yeosang seemingly starting to turn away from you to leave the room has a small pout pulling at your features.

“Where are you going, Yeosangie?” Your voice immediately draws his attention back to you to see you already staring at him with your lips tugging downwards dramatically. 

He quirks a brow in response.

Lifting your arms, you motion for him to join you with your hands outstretched in front of you. “Come here.”

Yeosang does not need to be told twice. Instantly, he’s crawling onto the bed and over your body, resting himself between your legs as his head settles onto your chest. The feeling of your arms wrapping around his torso is simply icing on the cake.

“I said I wanted to be surrounded by the people I love,” you hum, knowingly. Your one hand shifts to begin threading your fingers through Yeosang’s hair, and the hum of content you let out is synonymous with their own. “If any of you have a problem with this, you can leave.”

“Not at all, Starlight,” Mingi shifts that much closer into your side, hand coming up to rest on your one shoulder as he leans his head into yours.

“We are more than content to spend time with you like this,” Yunho adds, practically mirroring Mingi’s position on your opposite side.

“We love you, Dearest,” Yeosang’s voice rumbles out, turning his head to place a kiss directly over your heart and loving the way he can feel it flutter beneath his touch yet again.

“And I love you,” you hum, contently, allowing your eyes to fall shut. “All of you.”

A small silence settles over the four of you as you rest in each other’s embrace. The steady hum of your heartbeat begins to sync with all of their own, smiles pulling onto each one of their faces as they are more than content to rest like this with you for the moment.

You nearly let out a sigh in bliss. That is, until your eyes are flinging open in the next second.

“I have a problem.” Immediately, three worried sets of eyes are on you. You blink, somewhat sheepishly. “I need to pee.”

Five minutes later, and you’re back in bed with the three of them after freshening up in the bathroom. Again, a content sigh escapes you lips as you manage to fall back into the realm of dreams once more.

About an hour and a half later, you feel consciousness returning to your form. Luckily, all three of them are perfectly content to lay with you for a little while longer as you fully wake up, resting in each other’s arms for the time being. That is, until finally, you decide that you should actually get up and out of bed for the day.

“We have another council meeting soon, anyways,” Yeosang informs you, all three of them sitting on the edge of your bed as you change into some fresh clothes.

Sure enough, a few hours later, you walk into the foyer to see all eight of them wearing what appears to be white military style jackets with black pants.

As soon as you see them, you freeze in your spot, breath catching in your throat. Again, each style that they wear is unique to them, and you cannot help the way your gaze trails over every single one of their figures slowly.

“Okay, you all need to warn me if you’re going to look this good all the time,” you blink, attempting to control your thoughts for the moment.

At least a few of them, like Yeosang, Mingi, and Wooyoung, have the decency to look bashful. The others, however, have the gall to look smug, smirks pulling at their features.

“We’re just happy to know that we can affect you like this, Darling.” Jongho grins, smoothing out the front of his jacket.

“Is this how you all felt seeing me in a corset? Cause if so, I understand.” You nod subtly, eyes continuing to trail over their figures slowly.

This time, all of them cannot stop themselves from smiling.

“Seriously, you all look very handsome,” you continue.

“Thank you, Gorgeous,” Wooyoung can barely stop himself from shaking in happiness, a brilliant smile stretching across his features as he continues to stare at you from across the room.

“I kid you not-“ your breath catches as if you’ve realized something. “Wait,” a devious grin pulls at your lips as you drop to your knees in an instant, hands outstretched in front of you for emphasis, “I am on my knees.”

“Petal,” Yunho chuckles, a pride unlike any other swirling within his chest as you continue to joke around with them. “You’re being dramatic.”

“Am I?” Your wide eyed gaze locks with his own. “Have you seen yourselves?”

Collectively, they all share a look between one another, brows quirked as a smugness washes over all of them.

“My fucking word, how do you expect me to survive when you all look like this?” You go on to say, swooning once more dramatically as you stand back to your feet.

Instantly, San has you in his arms, holding onto you as if you fainted right into his embrace. The cheeky grin you can see pulling at his lips has one of your own tugging at your features.

“Uh-oh, if you’re not going to survive, perhaps someone should stay back and watch over you,” he chuckles. “And by someone I mean me.”

“Like hell you’ll be the one to take care of her. Alone,” Jongho crosses his arms in front of his chest.

The two glare at each other for a moment, and you cannot help but chuckle, righting yourself back onto your own feet, much to San’s disappointment.

“Nah, Yunho’s right,” you smile. “I’m just being dramatic. I’ll be fine.”

At the pout San gives you, you’re quick to pat the side of his arm reassuringly. Then, in the blink of an eye, you’re gripping the side of his jaw so you can lean in to place a kiss onto his cheek.

The giddy smile you receive from him in response is immediate, his eyes crinkling in the corners as he giggles.

“Go get ‘em, Tiger,” you pat his arm once more, stepping out of his embrace and sending a final wave to all of them.

Just as you watch them disappearing from view, you hear Wooyoung whining about how he wants a good luck kiss from you as well. Though, from the looks on all of their faces, he’s not the only one thinking the same thing.

You chuckle to yourself as soon as you’re alone, shaking your head lovingly at their antics. However, just as you go to turn around, you hear someone reappear behind you. Glancing up, you notice Mingi making his way towards you quite steadily from a few feet away.

“I forgot something,” he mumbles, coming to stand right in front of you.

You simply quirk a brow at him in response. “What did you forget?”

Briefly, his eyes search your face for any sign of discomfort or hesitance. At the way he can see a grin tugging at your features, he knows that there is none.

“This.” 

Instantly, he has his arm wrapped around your waist as he pulls you flush into his chest. His lips gently find purchase on your own, a content rumble vibrating in his chest as he feels your hands wrap around his back, pressing him even closer into you.

Slowly, he pulls away, resting his forehead against your own. His eyes remain closed, absolutely revelling in this moment with you as he holds you to him, his hand splayed on the small of your back. At the way you lean in to peck his lips once more, smiling all the while, he can feel his heart absolutely fluttering in his chest.

“Better?” You giggle, your one hand coming up to cup the side of his cheek as your thumb begins to stroke gently over his skin.

“Better.” He confirms, a slight nod to his head as that giddy smile takes over his features. “Though, I should probably get back, now.”

“Be safe, Moonlight,” you lean in to peck his lips once more.

“I promise to return to you without a scratch,” he says, moving the slightest bit away from you as he allows his touch to linger on your skin for as long as possible.

“You better,” you teasingly poke his chest. “The only one allowed to leave scratches on you is me.”

A low growl graces your ears as he immediately pulls you flush against him for the second time in the past five minutes. “You’re giving me too many ideas, Starlight. Are you trying to make it that much more impossible for me to leave you?”

“I’m just informing you of what is still yet to come, Moonlight,” a sultry grin pulls at your lips, and you watch him swallow.

“One word.” He breathes. “One word, Starlight, and you won’t have to worry about being alone this evening at all.”

His voice is nothing but a low drawl as he stares deeply into your eyes with a hooded gaze. You can feel the growl building in his chest, low and primal, as his look continues to darken with every passing second. He licks his lips.

Just as he goes to lean in for another kiss, the clearing of someone’s throat behind you has you freezing in your tracks.

“Mingi, let’s go.” Seonghwa’s voice is low, pointed, as the eldest glares at the younger’s back.

Heaving a great sigh, Mingi is quick to be the one to peck your lips this time. “Until next time, Starlight.”

Slowly, reluctantly, Mingi pulls himself away from you as Seonghwa watches on with a scrutinizing gaze. A pout pulls at the younger’s lips as he trudges over to where the eldest stands with his arms crossed. A frown rests on Seonghwa’s features, eyes pointedly locked on Mingi’s figure as he stops just beside the elder male.

Seonghwa immediately turns to look at you, gaze softening as his shoulders relax. “We’ll be back as soon as we can.”

“Alright, Mars,” you smile softly, blinking once. “Be safe, My Kings.”

The pleased growls that echo throughout the room as they disappear have your smile widening, noticing how they both had nodded once firmly before leaving you to your own once more.

A moment later, your head throbs, and you cannot help the way you hunch over. Your one hand comes up to cradle the side of your temple, feeling that one spot pinch quite harshly in pain. Squeezing your eyes shut, you attempt to catch your breath.

Seems as if this headache won’t leave you alone. Oddly enough, you’ve noticed them becoming worse over the past few days, always lingering in the back of your mind. Perhaps you should get one of them to heal you once they get back. This is really starting to get annoying.

Meanwhile, Mingi gets an earful from all of them as soon as both he and Seonghwa reappear in the throne room. Though, from the way that lovestruck smile tugs at his features, they know he doesn’t really care all that much about what they’re saying to him. Going back to see you without the others was absolutely worth it, even if they’re reaming his ass out right now.

Then, Mingi blinks, a knowing quirk to his brow. “Don’t we have a council to attend?”

Yeosang sighs, exasperatedly.

“This isn’t over,” Wooyoung grumbles, shooting a pointed glare at his brother.

A minute later, after they’ve all composed themselves properly, and Mingi has straightened out his blazer once more, the eight of them are finally entering the grand hall. All of them are ready to start this council, and get it over with as quickly as possible. Besides, they have more important matters to deal with, like who will get to spend the night with you.

As soon as their figures breach the doorway, all bodies in the room are bowing to them in respect. With a flick of his wrist, Hongjoong motions for them all to rise from their knees, beginning this meeting without another thought.

“Any word from our allies?” Hongjoong’s eyes scan the crowd, simply waiting for someone to step forward with news for all of them.

“The harpies have agreed to support us in any upcoming battles,” Jax informs them all after bowing his head lowly. He takes a small step forward. “The Three Sisters have pledged their allegiance once more to the Eight Kings.”

“That’s good news,” Yunho observes casually, an impressed nod to his head.

Yeah, probably cause they’re hoping to bed Hwa again, Jongho snickers quietly, acting all innocent in the next second as the eldest turns to glare at the youngest.

“We have managed to infiltrate one of the rebel’s hideouts,” another demon, Vera, adds as she steps forwards. She bows her head in respect as she continues. “We have heard plans that Malik plans to attack the throne in the upcoming weeks once he’s gathered enough forces. The sirens have already betrayed us, pledging their allegiance with the crown traitors.”

“What of the gorgons?” Wooyoung raises a brow, his arms crossed in front of his chest.

“We are still waiting upon their response, My King,” Jax replies, eyes briefly darting up to meet Wooyoung’s own.

“Any word on Dimitri’s movements, yet?” San asks the room, noticing how some of the demons shift in discomfort at the mention of the warlock’s name.

“One source states they saw him and his hunters around the coast of The Forbidden Lake,” Vera states.

“That would make sense, given the siren’s betrayal,” Yeosang mumbles, furrow to his brow.

“Another has sworn they saw both him and Miyeon gathering their forces outside of The Crystalline Caves two days ago.” Jax adds, and immediately, all eight Kings stiffen.

“And no one thought to inform us of this potential sighting?” Seonghwa states, quite pointedly.

“Our deepest apologies, Your Majesties,” Jax bows deeper, along with Vera. “We only learned of such a sighting today.”

“Tighten up your watches, then,” San retorts, brow furrowing even further. “There is no room for error, or misinformation when the safety of Your Queen is at risk.”

A murmur washes over the crowd, and all eight of them straighten as their eyes flash.

“Silence.” Hongjoong’s voice booms out across the room. “What is the meaning of such whispers?”

Otis takes a step forward. “You’ll have to forgive us, Your Majesties. Some of us cannot help but question the validity of such a human, given that we have never seen sight, nor heard no sound from her before.”

All eight of them seem to grow in their spots, forms towering over the gathered council as the lights begin to flicker around the room.

“Are you questioning our integrity?” Jongho’s voice rattles the entire room, the deadliest of snarls escaping each of their throats.

“No, My King,” Otis is quick to shake his head, “Never.”

“It would serve you all well to remember just who is standing before you at this very moment.” Seonghwa’s voice is low, ominous, as his stare pierces each soul standing around the room.

“We have stood as your Kings upon these thrones for millennia,” Yeosang spits, eyes wild as he tilts his chin the slightest bit upwards, staring down his nose at all of the demons before him. “Never once has our kingdom been in such a disarray, and all because of your daughter.”

“A rebel uprising has breached the horizon,” Wooyoung’s eyes narrow as he begins to list off everything that has occurred in the past few months alone.

“Dimitri has come out of hiding,” Mingi adds, gaze firm as he stares down upon the man before them all.

“The dragon’s nest, one of our oldest and closest of allies, has been attacked,” Jongho spits, quite harshly.

“The siren’s have betrayed us,” Yunho’s voice rumbles out, crossing his arms over his chest.

“And a war is coming.” San finishes, fists clenched at his sides.

“Remind us again of just who we should be questioning, Otis.” Hongjoong’s voice is dangerous, eyes flashing black as his soul begins to call for blood. “Your daughter is set to destroy us all, and you’re not even concerned in the slightest.”

“My King, that’s not true-“

“Then where is she? What are you hiding from us?” Yunho rounds on the male, eyes blazing as he stares Otis down. “Your incessant need to protect her has already caused tremendous losses to this kingdom. She will not hesitate to betray you in the slightest when it comes down to it, so why do you insist on keeping her hidden?”

“I am not-“

“Don’t lie to me!” Yunho commands, voice loud enough to rattle the very walls of the chamber they all reside in as he stands to his full height. “I have seen your mind, Otis, you cannot hide from the truth.”

The male’s eyes go wide, breath hitching in his throat as he feels Mina step back from him in shock.

“Father, tell me it isn’t so!” She gasps, staring on at him in horror. “Tell me you have not been aiding that blood traitor!”

He turns to look at her, eyes pleading for her to understand. There’s no point in him trying to hide it now, the Kings all now know the truth. “I’ve only ever wanted what’s best for you girls.”

“You lie.” Mina recoils from his touch as he goes to reach for her.

“I thought I raised you better than that,” he tuts, shaking his head, his demeanour changing instantly. “Family is more important than anything. You know this!”

“Not when the lives of everyone we know are at risk!” Mina retorts, continuously backing away from her father. “How could you not see how selfish you’re being?”

“Do not speak to me about selfishness, daughter,” Otis spits, turning back to face the eight Kings standing before the entire room. “The Leaders you are so willing to defend over your own flesh and blood know firsthand how selfish one can be.”

Wooyoung nearly lunges for the man right then and there, but his Captain beats him to it. Gripping Otis by his throat, Hongjoong raises the man into the air, perfectly mirroring the exact same position he was in with Miyeon all those weeks ago.

“Watch your fucking tongue before I carve it from your throat.” He hisses, fingers squeezing that much firmer into Otis’ neck.

Immediately, the male begins to claw at the hand around his throat, legs dangling loosely in the air before the entire council as Hongjoong’s eyes flash.

“My daughter was right,” Otis manages to hiss out, eyes glaring intensely at the eight males before him. “Since when to Kings submit to dirt?”

Mina gasps once more, “father!”

“You should have joined us sooner, Mina,” his eyes briefly glance in his daughter’s direction. “It’s time for a New World to reign supreme.”

Blood begins dripping onto Hongjoong’s hand from how tightly he’s squeezing Otis’ throat, fingers digging harshly into his flesh as he bares his teeth in a snarl.

Otis drops his one hand back to his side, something glinting in the light.

“Long live the Queen.” 

In a flash, Otis attempts to stab Hongjoong with a blade. Except, he doesn’t get very far, the dagger clattering to the ground as Hongjoong tears the male’s throat out in the next second.

A deadly silence fills the room as every demon watches on with wide eyes. Mina stands with her hands covering her mouth, fresh tears streaming down her face.

“Anyone else like to make a statement?” Wooyoung challenges as eight sets of eyes flash black at the surrounding council members.

The stillness is so consuming within that room that none dare breathe for fear of incurring the wrath of their Kings. A moment passes. Then another, and another. Each King silently daring anyone to attempt such stupidity as Otis just has before their very souls.

When no one moves, Hongjoong is finally speaking once more.

“Leave us.” His voice commands, gaze piercing as he scans the room.

Instantly, every single demon that was in the room disappears. All except for Mina, who is currently trapped within Jongho’s grip as he drags her in front of all of them.

“Please, My Kings, I had no idea that my father would do something like this,” she begs, tears still streaming down her eyes as she watches Hongjoong toss Otis’ lifeless body aside like it’s nothing.

“Has your sister attempted to contact you recently?” San asks, tone firm and leaving no room for argument.

“Yes.” Her reply is instant. “But I swear to you, I never believed in a word she said. I don’t like who she’s become. I’ve never liked how twisted she could be. Search my mind if you have to. I swear that I never followed her. I never once have, and I never will.”

“What did she want?” Yeosang narrows his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest as he stares her down.

“She begged me to join her cause, pleaded for me to feed you false information every council meeting,” she explains, fearful gaze darting from one male to the next. “She wanted me to follow her, revelling her as my true Queen once she claimed her King.”

“Claimed her King?” Mingi quirks a brow, and they all notice how her eyes flash briefly over to Yeosang.

“What is she planning?” Seonghwa takes a step forward, watching as she trembles within Jongho’s hold as he does so.

“I don’t know.” She shakes her head.

“Do not lie to us.” Wooyoung’s eyes flash wildly as he takes his own threatening step towards her.

“Please, I don’t know!” She cries. “Search my mind. It will tell you all I know, I swear!”

Seven sets of eyes turn to look at Yunho who has been doing just that this whole time.

“Your sister and you talked the other day.” He begins.

“That is correct.” She confirms, a shaky nod to her head.

“She propositioned you to join her,” he continues.

“She did.” Mina confirms again.

“She told you about being aligned with Malik and Dimitri.” Yunho states, yet again.

“She told me that she has many uses for them.” She replies.

“What uses?” Jongho presses, hissing lowly in her ear.

“Ones that will guarantee her victory, even after death.” Mina says, eyes suddenly glazed over as she blinks, staring blankly before her.

“Which are?” Mingi pushes, frown pulling at his features.

“Ways in which solidify her chances of a New World.” Again, she blinks, somewhat dazedly.

A moment of silence passes over them, and they all notice how Mina has gone slightly limp in Jongho’s hold.

It’s no use, she’s been charmed. Yunho informs them.

Charmed? Slight worry is clear on San’s features as he turns to look at his brother.

As far as Mina believes, she is telling the truth, Yunho sighs. There are portions of her memory purposefully left blank, meaning someone has tampered with them. Normally, I’d be able to unweave the tangled mess that is her thoughts, but each time I get close, I begin to get burned. Someone has enchanted her memories, and my best guess is it was Dimitri.

How do we undo the spell? Wooyoung spares a glance at Yunho out of the corner of his eyes.

We can’t, unless we can find an equally as powerful warlock to undo the enchantment. If I try any harder, I’ll kill her, and then we’ll never know what Miyeon has planned. Yunho explains, a hint of frustration to his words.

For fuck’s sake, Seonghwa curses, along with his brothers who verbalize their discontent for the moment. This day just keeps getting better and better.

I’ve gotten everything I need to know from her for the moment, so there’s no point in holding her hostage any longer. Yunho nods once at Jongho, who immediate releases his hold on Mina. She stumbles slightly before righting herself, her eyes immediately shining with worry as that vacant expression falls from her features. She’s not a threat to us right now.

How can you be so sure? Mingi turns to face his brother, concern shining in his own eyes.

If she was, Miyeon wouldn’t have gotten Dimitri to seal off her memories. I have a feeling that Miyeon knows that Mina would have come running to tell us everything she knew as soon as she could, given how her memories have been locked off. Yunho tells them, seeing his brothers nodding along to his words.

“Alright,” Hongjoong sighs, eyes briefly flashing towards Mina as she stands there with her head bowed for the moment. “If you remember anything else, or if Miyeon attempts to contact you again, you immediately send word to us. Until then, you’re dismissed.”

Mina nods her understanding, slowly moving over to her father’s corpse and hoisting it upon her shoulder.

“My Kings, I may not know much, but I do know my sister,” she turns to face them one final time. “Whatever she has planned, she will act soon, and she will strike hard. Please, be careful, and protect Your True Queen.”

A nod is all she receives from Hongjoong in response. Faintly, their lips all twitch upwards as they transport themselves back to their domain for the time being.

As soon as they appear in the foyer, they see you trudging across the room slowly with a glass of water in your hand. Your slipper clad feet drag across the floor as you turn your head to lazily glance towards them out of the corner of your tired eyes.

Immediately, you straighten, eyes zeroing in on the blood splattered on Hongjoong’s white jacket. Your throbbing headache seemingly slips your mind for the moment as concern begins to consume you..

You raise a worried finger as you scurry closer. “Why is there blood only on you?”

You practically shove the other seven out of the way to begin inspecting Hongjoong’s torso, noticing a slight tear in the fabric where something sharp must have cut him. Luckily, it doesn’t seem as if any of it is his blood.

“I’m fine, My Love,” he chuckles, absolutely revelling in the way you glance up at him with nothing but worry in your eyes as you continue inspecting his torso.

“Good.” You sigh in relief as you straighten, sparing a glance around at all of them. ”Are you all okay?”

The feeling of someone wrapping themselves around you from behind causes you to nearly stumble forward. A chin rests on your shoulder.

“We’re all fine, Baby,” San grins, nuzzling his head against yours affectionately as he squeezes his arms around your waist. “You don’t have to worry anymore.”

San can feel the way you physically relax in his arms, loving the way one of your own comes to rest overtop of his in the next second.

“Thank fuck,” you breathe out another sigh in relief. Then, your eyes are drooping once more as your head begins to throb, reminding you of the pounding headache you haven’t been able to break lately. A headache which only seems to be getting worse by the second. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to bed. I’m exhausted.”

Slowly, you manage to pull yourself out San’s grip, beginning to trudge back down the hallway and to your room. You can feel all eight of their gazes on you, not even registering in your mind how they look on in concern.

“Dearest, are you alright?” Yeosang takes a step towards you, prepared to follow after you in a heartbeat as worry consumes them all. Never have any of them seen you like this before.

You can only manage a faint hum in response, muttering something about just being ‘tired’.

They all spare a glance between one another.

“Has your headache gotten worse?” Yunho’s brow tugs downwards in a frown as he begins to follow after you.

You falter slightly in your step, turning your head to nod at him from over your shoulder. Your eyes barely remain open, grip deadly around the glass of water in your hand. Your whole body begins to tremble.

Instantly, Yunho and Hongjoong are both at your side as the others rush over to you. Yunho once more brings his hand up to rest it over your forehead, doing whatever he can to ease the pain for the moment. It helps, if only briefly, for as soon as he removes his hand, your head throbs even worse than before.

A hiss escapes you as you squeeze your eyes shut.

Again, Yunho places his hand onto your forehead, and the relief you feel is instantaneous. Yet, every time he pulls his hand away, that ache returns, even stronger than before.

“Something’s wrong,” he mutters lowly, nothing but concern etched onto his features as they all continue to surround you.

“It’s not-“ your voice comes out much weaker than before as your eyes remain shut, as if the light is too much for you to handle right now. You swallow, “not the first time… migraine.”

Your entire body begins to sway, and it takes no time at all for San to be grabbing the glass of water from your hand as Yunho scoops you into his arms. All of them begin to walk the short distance to your room, hearts racing as fear floods their veins. It should have taken Yunho no time at all to heal your headache, but the fact that it keeps returning as soon as his hand is removed from your forehead means that there’s something very wrong.

Laying you gently beneath the covers, Yunho sits on the edge of your bed. Again, his hand is once more placed on top of your head, easing the pain as much as he can for the moment as he attempts to figure out what exactly is going on. Your mind appears to be fine, nothing out of the ordinary as your void ripples with every small incursion they give it. Only, that mist they provided for you seems to be the thinnest its ever been.

Your whole body jolts as you feel something cool being pressed to your forehead in the next second. Cracking your eyes open the slightest bit, you see Hongjoong leaning over you on the opposite side. Worry tugs at his features as he holds a damp cloth to your head, feeling for himself how your mind seems to physically struggle against the pain for the moment, even as he aids Yunho in his attempts to heal you.

A whimper escapes your lips as your feel that little point of pain you’ve always felt whenever you get headaches recently begin to pulsate. The spot seems to radiate inwards, as if someone is hammering an ice pick into the back of your skull. With each pulse, the pain goes deeper, and you find yourself squeezing your eyes shut as you cling onto your blankets for dear life.

“Yunho-“

“I’m trying.” His blunt reply ends up cutting off Yeosang’s worried tone, each male surrounding you instantly.

You vaguely register the feeling of more hands gently placing themselves in multiple places on your body. Your head begins to feel as if someone is severely compressing the sides of your skull in hopes to pop your brain out of the top. Of all the migraines you’ve ever had, you’ve never had one this intense before.

A single tear begins to trail down your cheek from the pain as your eyes remain closed. Even the darkness of your room isn’t helping the ache behind your eyes for the moment, nor is the damp cloth Hongjoong keeps pressed to your forehead. You have no idea what they’re doing, but whether or not they’re trying to take your pain away now is unbeknownst to you. Even if they are, you don’t think it’s making the slightest difference, anyways.

Yunho begins to pant, eyelids long having fallen shut as he focusses all his energy into finding whatever is wrong with this migraine of yours. Normally, it should have been healed at the first touch of his hand to your head. Given the fact that all of his brothers are aiding him with the healing, you shouldn’t be feeling any pain. The fact that your symptoms only seem to be getting worse means that this is no ordinary headache.

The only problem is, he can’t seem to find anything that’s wrong. Nothing that he can see within your mind should be causing you such intense pain. Even when he feels his brothers probing your mind, he can tell that they don’t find anything, either. The only thing he can think of that might make it better at this point is if he gave you some of his blood.

Then, as if the entire world goes quiet, the pain stops.

Instantly, your entire body is relaxing, a subconscious sigh of relief being exhaled through your nose. The way your void ripples within your mind seems to ease the pressure even more, the flow of the water ebbing away the lingering pain.

Funny. It feels as if someone has dropped a stone into your void, causing the ripples to form as you feel it begin to sink into the vast expanses of your mind.

Finally, you’re able to catch your breath as you fall into unconsciousness almost immediately afterwards.

A moment of silence passes over all of them as some of the tension eases from their shoulders.

“What the fuck just happened?” Wooyoung looks between all of his brothers, panic clear on his features.

“I don’t-“ Yunho blinks, his heart pounding in his chest as he cups the side of your face in his one hand, “I don’t know.”

They all share a look between one another. Never before has something like this occurred. Always, they’ve been able to heal or cure any ailment instantly, especially of the inner mind or body. So, to not be able to help you in the slightest, and seeing you suffering and in pain, consumed them with a fear unlike anything they’ve ever felt before. The fact that none of them could pinpoint what was wrong scared them like you would not believe.

Yeosang’s whole body begins to shake, his breathing uneven and heavy.

“This has Miyeon written all over it.” His voice trembles as he can barely get out the words as anger consumes him.

“It should be impossible,” Yunho shifts his attention from his brothers back to you, fingers pressing a little firmer into the side of your face as he stares down at you with nothing but worry shining in his eyes.

“It should,” Hongjoong agrees, shifting slightly so that he’s sitting beside you on the bed instead of kneeling on top of the mattress for the time being. “Doesn’t mean that it is.”

“How could she get passed our defences?” Jongho’s brow furrows, beginning to pace at the end of your bed to dissipate some of the adrenaline still pumping through his veins.

“Hang on, we don’t even know if it is her,” San attempts to reason, but at this point, he doesn’t know if he’s saying this more to reassure himself or his brothers.

“It could have just been something else,” Mingi suggests.

“Poison?” Seonghwa glances at Wooyoung.

“I don’t think so,” the younger male shakes his head. “I didn’t smell anything, and I doubt she could have gotten her hands on something strong enough to do that to her. Especially not in this house. The only way to be one thousand percent sure is for me to taste her blood.”

“She’s not awake to consent to that,” Yeosang states, doing whatever he can to keep his arms from trembling again for the time being.

“I doubt it’s poison,” Hongjoong shakes his head. “Either way, Yunho and I will stay with her, and make sure nothing happens like this again. We’ll call for you if anything happens.”

“Hongjoong-“ Seonghwa begins, only to be cut off by his Captain.

“Look,” Hongjoong sighs, “we’ve all had a long night, and a lot has happened. Crowding her is probably the last thing that’ll be good for her right now. We’ll watch over her, and make sure she’s alright.”

“If anything happens-“

“You’ll all be the first to know,” Hongjoong cuts San off, a tight smile pulling at his lips.

A long sigh escapes the eldest’s mouth before he’s nodding his head in understanding. “Come on, let’s let her rest.”

Each male finds it extremely difficult to tear themselves away from you for the time being. Wooyoung, San, Mingi, and Jongho all end up having to be ushered out by both Seonghwa and Yeosang, even if the two of them are reluctant to leave you alone. At least they all know that you’re in good hands.

Morning comes with the faintest of light trickling in through your windows. The curtains sway as the gentlest of breezes drifts through the room. The only sounds that can be heard are the steady breaths of all three of you as each male curls into either side of you.

Slowly, consciousness returns to your form. You can feel someone’s arm resting across your stomach, while another is draped over the top of your chest, just below your neck. Your head seems to be cradled in someone’s embrace, their fingers gently rubbing at the side of your temple and helping you to relax. In the next moment, your eyes blink open.

The sight that greets you as you turn your head doesn’t surprise you in the slightest. The last thing you remember before passing out last night was all eight of them surrounding you in bed, Yunho holding onto you while sitting on your right, while Hongjoong was on your left, pressing a damp cloth onto your head. So, when you see Yunho being the one cradling your head in his arm, and Hongjoong being the one draped over your left side, you realize that they must have stayed with you after everything that happened last night. At least it looks like they changed their clothes.

“Petal,” it’s Yunho who notices that you’re awake first, and you can hear the concern clear in his tone as he looks at you. “How are you feeling?”

You shift only the slightest, bringing your hands up to rub at your eyes for the time being. As soon as your vision clears, you notice the both of them staring at you in worry.

Blinking once more, your brow furrows slightly. “Honestly, I feel fine. Whatever you did last night worked. I don’t have a headache anymore.”

The instant way they both breathe a sigh of relief has your lips quirking up the slightest bit in the corners.

“You really scared us last night,” Hongjoong says, bringing a hand up to trace the side of your face gently.

“I don’t think I’ve ever had a migraine like that before,” you reply, sitting up in bed and noticing how they both mirror the movement.

“We’re just glad you’re okay.” Hongjoong breathes.

“Does your head feel any different?” Yunho asks gently. “Your mind?”

You take a moment to think, visualizing that all too familiar void and noting nothing out of place or out of the ordinary.

“No,” you shake your head. “Like I said, I feel fine now.”

Little do you notice the way tiny bubbles seem to float to the surface beneath your void, right where that stone you felt sinking into the depth of your mind fell.

“Good,” Hongjoong nods, his hand finding purchase on the small of your back.

“The moment you feel another headache coming on, you let one of us know,” Yunho tells you, his own hand settling onto your upper back, right between your shoulder blades.

“I will,” you nod. “I promise.”

Both males seemingly nod in agreement.

Just then, you see your door slowly open, Wooyoung, Jongho, and San all peeking their heads in. Almost immediately when they see you sitting up in bed, they’re all rushing into your room.

“You’re up!” Wooyoung practically jumps onto the bed, nearly tackling you in his embrace as you fall back onto your pillows with a small ‘oof’ escaping your lips. “We were so worried.”

You manage to raise your one arm to pat him on his back slightly before both Yunho and Hongjoong are tearing the younger male off of your form.

“Fucking hell, Wooyoung, don’t just bulldoze her the first thing in the morning.” Yunho scolds him as the others appear in your room.

You chuckle as you notice him pout while now kneeling at the end of your bed, “I’m okay, now.”

“Are you feeling better, Dearest?” Yeosang steps closer, eyes flitting all over your face as you sit back up in bed.

“Much,” you nod, a soft smile gracing your features. “Thank you for taking care of me last night.”

“Of course, My Love,” Hongjoong’s hand is once more on the small of your back, gently caressing you all the while.

“How did the council go?” You ask, and you notice them all stiffen the slightest bit around your room.

“We learned quite a bit of information,” Mingi informs you, quick to explain every new detail that came to light last night.

“I see.” You blink, swallowing thickly as you turn to look at Hongjoong beside you. “So, that’s why you came back covered in blood? Because someone tried to kill you?”

“Fear not, My Love,” he smiles softly at you, hand coming up to caress the side of your face as he sees the worry shining within your eyes. “You will find that I am not that easy to kill. None of us are.”

Subconsciously, you find yourself breathing a sigh of relief.

“It’s not the first time someone has tried to murder us at a council, and I’m sure it won’t be the last,” Jongho chuckles, clearly amused at the situation.

“So, it’s a common occurrence?” Your brow furrows.

“More often than not, but less often than you would think.” San hums.

Again, you blink, nodding slightly along to his words.

A moment later and a little black blur darts into the room, jumping onto your bed in the next second and crawling right into your lap.

“Oh, well, hello Sir,” you chuckle, immediately raising a hand to pet Kuroo. “Glad to see I’m the number one concern on your list of priorities this morning.”

Both Seonghwa and Wooyoung burst out laughing as they watch Kuroo turn to look at you with wide eyes from over his shoulder. He mewls in the next second, only causing their laughter to deepen.

“I’m dying of a headache, and you would rather nap,” you shake your head, only for him to mewl once more. “No, no, I see where I stand, you monkey.”

A wail of a mewl greets your ears as he turns to look at Seonghwa for help.

“You’re on your own, kid,” he chuckles, only for Kuroo to turn and look at Wooyoung in the next second.

“I don’t care if you were dreaming about chasing Stella around,” Wooyoung replies, amused disbelief painting his features.

Kuroo whines once more.

“Oh, come here, you little stinker,” you chuckle, pulling Kuroo into your arms. “Look at that little face. How can I stay mad at you?”

You pull him up for a kiss, burying your face in his belly as you stretch his upper body above your head. You get two kisses in when you feel him latch onto your head, attempting to bite the top.

“Ah, abort mission! Abort mission!” You’re quick to pull him away, noticing how he stares at you with wide eyes. “You little monkey!”

Chuckles resonate around the room as you place Kuroo fully back onto the bed. Only, in the next moment, he decides to jump on top of your foot buried beneath the blankets, biting at your toes.

“He’s trying to eat my toes,” you pout, mouth parting in mock surprise as you watch him pounce on your foot from over the blankets once more.

“To be fair, he thinks it’s a snake,” Wooyoung laughs, seeing Kuroo shaking his head back and forth with your comforter caught between his teeth.

“Oh, to be a kitten who thinks a foot beneath a blanket is a snake,” you sigh, almost wistfully. Then, the corner of your lips quirks upwards teasingly. “I don’t know, guys. I think he may just be more ferocious than all of you combined.”

“How can we ever live up to the standard of your ferocious little guardian now?” Mingi joins in on the teasing, leaning against one of the pillars in your room.

“Oh, geez,” you shake your head, keeping your voice playful as you respond, “I don’t know.”

At the way Kuroo sits directly over your shin now, practically loafing on your leg, you laugh.

“You’ve done it, you’ve killed the snake,” the way his tail swishes happily at your praise has you all laughing once more. “Or have you?”

In an instant, you start wiggling your foot beneath the covers, shifting your leg slightly as a large grin takes over your features. In no time, Kuroo has sprung back into action, pouncing on top of your foot and trying his absolute best to sink his fangs into your toes. You’re just glad the blankets are so thick.

A few more minutes pass by like this, all eight of them watching on with fond smiles on their faces as you play with Kuroo. That is, until you’re collapsing back into your pillows, a huff escaping you.

“Okay, Doritos, I really need my foot back, now,” you spare a glance back at Kuroo who looks up at you with wide eyes. “Well, unless you want to find out what being submerged in water feels like, I’m going to need my foot.”

You can just tell he’s pouting from the way he’s looking at you, his little mouth parting the slightest bit. You share a chuckle with the eight of them once again as Wooyoung moves to grab Kuroo from your bed.

Ten minutes later, and after kicking the eight other males out of your room, you find yourself sinking into the warmth of you tub. A small sigh escapes your lips, allowing the soothing scents of lilac and honey to flood your every sense. 

The more time you spend soaking in the tub, the more you can feel your body beginning to relax fully. Despite everything they told you that happened at their council meeting last night, it just means that you’re one day closer to finally being rid of Miyeon. The sooner she acts, the sooner you can all put this stupid incident behind you. Besides, you really want to go visit your family soon. Maybe even formally introduce the eight of them to your parents and your sister. Perhaps, even as you significant others.

A snort of laughter leaves your lips. You wonder how well that conversation will go down. 

Yeah, you can just picture it now. ‘Hi, mom and dad. These are my eight significant others I’ve been living with for a few months now, even since I quit my job and went on that spontaneous road trip. Crystal was right, but instead of only one mystery lover, I have eight!’

Definitely won’t raise any questions at all.

Another chuckle escapes your lips as you shift slightly in the tub. Your parents may be supportive of you and your life choices, but you honestly have no idea how they may react to that. Oh well, all in due time, you suppose.

A little while later, you pull yourself out of the tub. Taking your time, you get ready for the day, pulling on one of your hoodies overtop of you shirt as you slide your slippers back onto your feet. Smiling to yourself in the reflection of the mirror, you decide that you’re going to make the most out of your day. By that, you mean picking out a fresh book to read and spending some time in the library.

As soon as you open the door to your room and step out into the hallway, you notice Kuroo trot right up alongside you. A fact which makes you smile as you tease him about keeping you company now after the events of last night. At the way he mewls back at you, you know you’re right.

Stopping by the kitchen on your way to the library, you’re quick to grab a bite to eat, curtesy of San who insists on cooking you something to start your day. Of course, he wouldn’t let you do it, sitting you down on one of the stools as he grabbed the ingredients from the fridge right afterwards.

Half an hour later, and after San refused your help with cleaning up, you finally find yourself in the library for the day. Pulling a book off your one shelf, you happily settle yourself into your spot and begin to read.

Jongho joins you at some point, and you find yourself shifting in your seat so you can rest against his side as the both of you read. It takes no time for his one arm to be wrapped around your shoulders, holding you to him as you both bask in each other’s company like this for hours. A fact which you have always appreciated about him.

Sometime later, you decide to take a small break from reading. You can tell that your eyes are getting a little tired from staring at the font of this book for so long, given that it’s quite smaller than usual. You should probably take a break and stretch your legs out, anyways.

Standing from the couch, you notice Jongho’s eyes following your every move. He blinks up at you as you turn back to face him, the tips of his ears turning bright red as you lean in to place a tender kiss onto his cheek.

“I’ll be back soon,” you smile, stepping away from him as you tug your sweater off of your body. You were beginning to get a bit hot, anyways.

Straightening out your back, you begin to slowly make your way out of the library. You walk passed Seonghwa’s tailor shop, noticing him seemingly working on something through the glass window on the door. A fact which makes you smile fondly as you continue on your merry way.

Reaching the foyer, you notice San coming from the opposite hallway. His hands seem to be cradling his elbows before shifting to rub at his upper arms.

Your brow furrows as you meet his gaze. “Are you cold?”

He pauses right in front of you, nodding his head slowly as he seemingly avoids your gaze somewhat shyly. In the back of your mind, you vaguely recall Jongho’s words to you while you were visiting the dragon’s nest. You blink.

Wordlessly, you offer him your sweater.

The way he gazes at you, with wide eyes full of awe, sets your heart racing in your chest. You smile.

“Baby,” his eyes shine, gently reaching out to take your sweater into his hands.

“Don’t tear the arms off of this one,” you tease, the corner of your lips tugging upwards.

“I won’t,” his response is immediate as he pulls your hoodie over his head, basking in the way your scent absolutely surrounds him for the moment. “I promise.”

You smile at him once more: a soft pull of your lips upwards as you look at him with such tender affection in your gaze. A look San has only ever dreamed of being on the receiving end from you. However, before either of you can say anything else, the loud caw of a raven draws your attention.

Immediately, the other seven of them are appearing in the foyer as Stella lands on the desk at the front. Again, she caws loudly, and you watch as all of their eyes darken.

At the way you look between all of them as Kuroo comes trotting into the room, you just know that something’s going on. Something big.

“Miyeon’s finally decided to make a move,” Yunho is the one to inform you, meeting your gaze instantly.

“We’ll be back as soon as we can, My Love,” Hongjoong, being one of the closest to you for the moment, leans in to place a kiss onto your cheek.

“For the love of everything holy and unholy,” your eyes dart over all of them, “be safe.”

“We will, Baby. Don’t you worry.” San smiles at you, reaching out to cup your opposite cheek in his one hand briefly.

“By the time we’re done with Miyeon, there will be nothing left,” Yeosang’s gaze is the darkest you’ve ever seen it, mirrored only by the way their eyes all flash black in the next moment, snarls of agreement filling the air.

As soon as Stella hops onto Hongjoong’s shoulder, all of them disappear from your sight.

In the next moment, a sigh escapes your lips as your heart begins to pound inside your chest. Worry consumes your every step as you continue on down the hallway and towards your room for the moment. Out of the corner of your eyes, you notice Kuroo following you every step of the way.

A shiver caresses your spine and goosebumps begin to raise on your arms as you hear a small thud come from behind you.

Immediately, you freeze in your track, blinking a few times as a nervous grin pulls at your lips. Your head begins to throb.

“What’d you forget?” You tease, hoping beyond anything that it’s Mingi once more appearing back home like he did last night.

Only, the sight that greets you when you turn around nearly has a scream tearing from your throat. There, standing in the archway to the foyer, rests Miyeon, a sinister grin pulling at her features as she meets your gaze.

“Miss me?”

[puppetmaster13u]

DP Prompt

   Danny Fenton dies. 

   He dies at the age of fourteen. He dies with the cosmos filling his lungs, the world holding its breath, stars in his hair and infinity in his eyes before everything crashes down into agonized screams. 

   Danny Fenton dies and yet it feels as though he had finally woke up. He dies and yet he doesn’t, a star collapsing into a black hole only to form a galaxy. He dies and he lives, teetering the edge, never more one than the other. 

   He lives and yet tastes the ashes of a supernova. He lives yet feels the call of the abyss, the stars calling, calling, always calling. 

   He lives, yet he dies, the echoing cries of the end of it all ringing through his ears. Danny lives, yet he doesn’t, only one world in a cosmos that beckons. 

   Danny dies at fourteen. 

   Blood like glittering starlight dances down his hands, body colder than anything on this world yet hotter than the sun. Spilled cosmos that stains the mortal realm, begging to leave the confines of the ground, to fly amongst the sky, higher than any cloud.

   Danny dies at fourteen. 

   Every breath in is the birth of another realm, presence tickling at the edge of his mind. Every exhale a death, a blackhole swallowing yet another world. Dust and ash catch in the back of his throat, crystals of frost glistening at his lashes. 

   Danny dies at fourteen. 

   Yet Danny lives. 

[toasttt11]

ice princess; lando norris

summary: the basics of kaarina raikkonen

lando norris x kaarina raikkonen

tag list: @faithm120601 @chelawrites

kaarina emilia raikkonen the daughter of kimi räikkönen formula one world champion and marie de vos number one model worldwide, owner of starlight empire and ambassador for dior.

kaarina raikkonen

age: 23

birthday: december 13, 1999

job: formula one driver for mercedes AMG petronas, ceo and owner of starlight empire, admassador for and heir for christian dior

started karting when she was three for fun and have been modeling for her mother’s company and for dior since she was young. she began really karting when she was five proving to be the best of the track she made few friends during her years but did keep a few close by. she met lando when she was around seven and while she’s always been close off and quiet around anyone besides family she seemed to have a few more words for lando than anyone else. oscar she met when she went to watch a karting race and he won, they quickly became good friends as their vibes just clicked while they didn’t race against each other until formula one they still saw each other lots and considers each other their best friends. joining formula four at fourteen leading the championship with ease, untill the a few days before the last race she had to win to become the champion she lost her mother marie in a bad car accident she was killed by a drunk driver, kaarina went to the funeral and the same day went to the race, later in the day and won the race and the championship, deciding to take a year off to learn everything about gaining the company from her mother, when she joined formula three at the age sixteen she decided to drive under the belgium flag as her home country to honor her mother and the part of her she still has of her, kaarina won the championship in her rookie year with prema and heading straight into formula two winning the championship her rookie year again in 2018, and then joining formula one in 2019 at 18 and signing straight with Mercedes formula one team coming from their junior team and coming second in the championship her rookie year, winning the WDC in 2020 only in her second year of formula one, she continued to come second in 2021, lewis retired after 2021 and decided he wanted to become her engineer wanting to be apart of formula one but not wanting to drive anymore, george joined in 2022 becoming her new teamate even tho they karted together they didn’t hang out just the two of them and maybe it was his calmer nature or his presence was soothing but george became quite protective of her and began seeing her as a little sister, in 2022 kaarina secured her spot in second in the championship and so far in 2023 she is breaking records and leading the championship miles head of any competition.

kimi raikkonen

age: 43

birthday: october 17, 1979

relation: father

kimi raikkonen a formula one world champion, the last driver to win a world champion for ferrari. kimi a ice cold finish man a great driver and a excellent father, he was best friends with mother of his daughter, he is now married and has three more children a boy and two girls and the older two are know following in the footsteps of their father and older sister.

marie de vos

age: 48 (died 38)

birthday: march 13, 1979

death: october 28, 2013

relation: mother

marie de vos number one model worldwide, owner of starlight empire and ambassador for dior, and was set to be the next owner of Christian dior before her death, she grew up with the schumacher’s and always saw them as family, when michael took sebastian under his wing they became quick friends with each other and even more so when sebastian become best friends with her best friend kimi. kimi and marie were best friends since childhood, platonic soulmates you could say, the two were completely different kimi cold as ice and marie warm as the sun but they balanced each other and one night had a one night stand with each other leading to their precious daughter kaarina to be born, they raised her together with ease untill the death of marie.

carter de vos

age:69

birthday april 13, 1958

relation: grandmother

carter de vos the co owner of Christian Dior came from a wealthy belgium family and went to big school with her now husband louis, she started doing modeling and fashion design passing down her skills and creativity to her daughter and granddaughter.

louis de vos

age: 72

birthday: may 17, 1955

relation: grandfather

Louis family is the original owners of christian dior, he learned from a young age how to take care of business and continue to stay on the top of the market, he married his wife who had a passion that fit well with his job the two began growing their business more and more everyday.

michael schumacher

age: 54

birthday: january 3, 1969

relation: godfather

michael schumacher a eight time world champion. his family grew up with de vos’s making them all very close he was ten years older than marie but still saw her as his little sister and he became her only child’s godfather and she became both of his children god mother. michael is the reason kaarina wanted to driver with mercedes she never knew why but she always loved watching him race with mercedes than ferrari, she just began to want to drive with them one day and her and mick still hope they can drive together in mercades together they almsot do now as mick is now a reserve.

mick schumacher

age: 24

birthday: march 22, 1999

relation: godbrother

mick schumacher is a F1 reserve driver for mercedes, he grew up with Kaarina and her family, kaarina and him treating each other like siblings, the two dream is to be each others teammate again, they were once in F3 but they wish to be together on a team in f1. mick and kaarina have very opposite personalities and mick is like sunshine so kaarina definitely has a softer spot for her godbrother even tho he is older than her but she is protective of him.

gina schumacher

age: 26

birthday: february 20, 1997

relation: godsister

gina schumacher a competition horse rider and a sometimes a model, gina schumacher chose a diffent path than her family choosing to become greta with horses and continued to love riding them, she’s best friends with her godsister kaarina so she will model things for her here and there.

[lu-vin-it]

Safe and Sound

── ⋅⋅⋅ ────꒰ ୨ ♡ ୧ ꒱───────

Baby Momma AU M.List

Summary: How you and Ellie first met, and how you and Ellie started dating.

Pairings: Ellie Williams x Reader

Pronouns Used: She/Her

Word Count: 1,284

Warnings: They smoke weed while underage

A/N: Ty to @stqrluvr for proofreading this!! Ily!!

This is apart of the Baby Momma Au but can be read as a stand alone fic.

Your Father was a Firefly like Tommy when they both met. They became friends quickly, and eventually both expressed how much they disdained being a Firefly. So they grabbed you and left. None of you knew where you were going, but they had to get out. 

They met Maria and her Father in Jackson soon after leaving and they graciously took you all in. Your Father, Tommy, and Maria built the town into what it came to be known as. The three were inseparable. 

Unfortunately, your Father died five years after you arrived, when you were fourteen. Tommy and Maria were quick to take you in, but his death was the start of the worst period of your life. 

You didn’t talk to anyone for months. It was as if your soul was ripped away when he died. Eventually though, you started leaving the house again, and trying to get out more, even talking to Maria and Tommy.

One day, you went to the dining hall like usual when you saw Tommy and Maria sitting with two strangers, a man, and a girl your age. You grabbed your food and planned on sitting alone before being called over by your guardians. You begrudgingly walked over.

“Joel, Ellie, this is Y/N. Y/N, this is my brother Joel, and his.. ward, Ellie!” You give a small, curt, smile before sitting down and eating quietly. 

“Listen.. I’m grateful for your hospitality and all.. but it’d be nice to have a moment here. Maybe just family.” Joel grumbled towards Maria, sparing a glance at you too which made you sink into your seat. Tommy puts his arm around you and holds Maria’s hand. 

“Well.. Maria and Y/N are family.” 

“Oh shit! Congrats!” Ellie exclaims, she then hits Joel’s shoulder. “Joel, say congrats.” 

“Congrats.” He says with a sigh. “So.. Is she your daughter then?” Joel nods to you. Maria shakes her head. 

“Y/N’s Father was another founder. He died.. recently. We took her in.” The table goes quiet, you felt as though you could have exploded right then and there.

“Well.. how about a tour?” 

You walk besides Maria as her and Tommy tell the two newcomers about the community. 

“We settled here about seven years ago. Was just a handful of us back then.” You pretty much zoned everything else out as you walked. You only really tuned in when you got to the horse stables. Ellie was very excited about Shimmer, the youngest horse. 

“That’s Shimmer.” Ellie reaches out to pet her and you walk up beside her, putting Shimmer as well. 

“Shimmer, you’re so beautiful.” The brunette girl says to the horse. You smile to yourself, letting said smile disappear as soon as it comes.

“Well, I suppose they’re gonna want to take some showers.. get cleaned up.” They nod. “Y/N, why don’t you take Ellie back to the house and show her the shower? Would you mind letting her borrow some clothes too?” You shake your head. 

“C’mon.” You mumble as you start walking away from the adults. 

“So.. why are you so..” She holds her hand up to her chin. “Has anyone ever told you that you remind them of a vampire?” You scrunch up your face and stop. 

“Huh?” 

“You’re just kinda.. stoney. Stoned.” She giggles. “Wait. Are you stoned..?” Her face suddenly goes serious. You raise an eyebrow. 

“Are you?” 

“I asked first.” 

“No, I’m not.” 

“Oh. I’m not either.” You both continue walking. “So um.. What do you do for fun?” 

“I like comic books.” She gasps.

“Like Savage Starlight?” You smile and nod. “I love those comics! Do you have any?” 

“I have volumes 1 and 2. What about you?” You gave yourself a mental high five for engaging in the comics. 

“No way I have 3 and 5!” You gape at her. 

“Can I read them?” 

“Can I read 1 and 2?” 

It’s safe to say that you and Ellie were fast friends. You spent every second together until she left, and when she got back, even though she was sort of depressed, you cheered her right up when you told her Tommy found volume 4. 

You were best friends throughout your first relationships, hers being Cat and yours being a very brief situationship with Dina. 

“Y/N. Y/N. Cat kissed me.” Ellie holds your shoulders for support due to her literally buzzing with energy. You gape at her. 

“No way. Dude. Dina kissed me!” Her jaw drops. 

“We both got kissed at the same time!?” You nod. 

“We are actually platonic soulmates.” Ellie nods and points to you in agreement. 

And you were together through the breakups, too.

“Dina is blowing me off for Jesse.” Ellie’s shoulders sink. 

“No. Really?” You rub your nose. She sighs and wraps her arm around you. “I’m sorry, Y/N. You deserve better than that.” 

A month later Joel knocked on your door and asked you to come over, that Ellie was locking herself in her room, and she wouldn’t talk to him. You grabbed your bag and ran to their house. 

She let you in pretty quickly. Her puffy eyes told you everything you needed to know. You locked the door behind you and opened a window before pulling out a few pre rolled joints from your bag. You offer it to your best friend and she accepts it immediately. 

After you were done with one joint, you finally asked her. She broke down. 

“She.. Cat.. We.. we broke up.” You sigh. 

“What can I do to help?” She slowly wraps her arms around you and cries into your shoulder. “I got you.” You whisper, rubbing circles into her back with your thumb. 

When you started forming crushes on each other, everyone could tell. Okay not everyone, you guys were as clueless and clueless could be. 

You weren’t really sure what it was that made you so nervous today. You had been in Ellie’s room a thousand times, you had done this exact thing at least a hundred times, nothing was different, so why was your stomach full of butterflies? Why was your heart racing whenever Ellie would glance at you? Why did you get embarrassed everytime she caught you staring? Why were you staring in the first place? It took at least five hangouts for you to realize what it was; you were forming a crush on her. 

For Ellie, she knew the second she started falling. She caught herself staring at your lips a little longer than a friend would and knew it was over. She tried to distance herself but gave up on that pretty quickly, deciding that she was going to let what was going to happen, happen. She even promised herself that she would let you lead the relationship, if there was to be one. 

And you did. The second you realized you had a crush on her, you went over and told her.

“Ellie, I love you and I love our friendship a lot, it means so much to me, so I think it’s best that we tell each other everything and I think that you deserve to know that.. Uh.. I have a crush on you.” You look at your feet. “I don’t expect anything from you—“ You're cut off by Ellie planting her lips on your own.  Her hand rests on the back of your head, and yours wraps around her waist. You smile into the kiss. You separated a few seconds later. “So.. Do you wanna go on a date then? I have some pretty good cooking skills.” She smiles. 

“I’d love that. Any day, please just name the date.” You grin at her eagerness. 

── ⋅⋅⋅ ────꒰ ୨ ♡ ୧ ꒱───────

[raspberrysmoon]

WELCOME TO THE SOTBAW MASTERPOST!!!!

sotbaw is short for the spawn of the black and white. it follows kai drew, in her adventures being adopted and raised by the lords in black.

KAI DREW IS NOT MY CHARACTER. kai belongs solely to @pastriibunz and her custody has not transferred to me outside of this series.

kais age and condition fluctuate. sometimes shes dead, sometimes not. you'll know.

each lord has "papa" tacked onto their name. papa wiggly, papa tinky, papa pokey, papa blinky, and papa nibbly. nibbly is also called mama nibbly on occasion.

IN CURRENT CRONOLOGICAL ORDER THEY ARE: 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,9,10,8,11,12,13.

pokey, blinky, tinky, nibbly, wiggly, webby, kai, paul, emma.

FICS-

number- title | song credit | lyrics you'll find in the fic | short explanation

1- i forgot my name again. | devil town - cavetown | "i still get a little scared of something new, but i feel a little safer when i'm with you." | kai, at 15, discovering that shes not quite as alone as she thought.

2- i truly am my parents child. | family line - conan gray | "i can run, but i can't hide, from my family line." | kai, at 17, fighting for what she wants.

3- deserves the same judgement. | average - sushi soucy | "you've got the skills of an idiot, who got too much praise." | blinky's thoughts and feelings after losing his daughter.

4- i'm losing on their side. | i bet on losing dogs - mitski | "my baby, my baby.. you're my baby, say it to me." | pokey's thoughts and feelings after losing his daughter.

5- make me love myself, so that i might love you. | saint bernard - lincoln | "when i am dead i wont join their ranks, because they are both holy and free." | tinky's thoughts and feelings after losing his daughter.

6- apathy's a tragedy and boredom is a crime | goodbye - bo burnham | "am i going crazy? would i even know? am i right back where i started fourteen years ago?" | nibbly's thoughts and feelings after losing his daughter.

7- you're scaring us and all of us- some of us- love you. | achilles come down - gang of youths | "soldier on achilles, achilles come down, won't you get up off, get up off the roof?" | wiggly's thoughts and feelings after losing his daughter.

8- what if i told you i made it? | inevitable - the guy who didn't like musicals | "what if i told you a story, that settled all the dust? i'm still the man you trust. it's inevitable, for us." | pokey and kai, meeting one last time in the starlight theater.

9- i won't let go of your hand | two birds - regina spektor | "say that they're always gonna stay together, but ones never going to let go of that wire." | UNRELEASED

10- you'll never settle any of your scores | little lion man - mumford & sons | "take all the courage you have left, and waste it in fixing all the problems that you made in your own head." | UNRELEASED

11- it's so cold and i don't know where. | another love - tom odell | "so i'll use my voice, i'll be so fucking rude, words, they always win, but i know i'll lose." | UNRELEASED

12- i wanna be your left hand man | riptide - vance joy | "i love you, when you're singing that song and i've got a lump in my throat 'cause you're gonna sing the words wrong." | UNRELEASED

13- you're skin, oh yeah you're skin and bones | yellow - coldplay | "its true, look how they shine for you. look how they shine. look at the stars, look how they shine for you, and all the things that you do." | UNRELEASED

[junipersramblings]

So apparently this is what happens when the Stars Claim Them CELLO MADE OF STARLIGHT AND A BOW OF A COMET'S TAIL brainrot really hits

From a joke about Lyfrassir having the same amount of syllables as Guinevere and Marius calling them starlight to a WHOLEASS COVER (featuring cello and violin by Musescore)

Lyrics under the read more!

Verse 1: (Marius)

Oh my love, raise a glass to all we’ve left behind

You may end up dead, and I cannot lose you yet

But if you don’t return to me, if I don’t see you again

Then tonight let’s drown our sorrows down with whiskey

Lyfrassir, you’re my stars that shine against the night

And I know you’ve got to leave me at the dawn’s first light

And I’m not saying this path you’ve chosen isn’t right

But first let’s fuel a few more sins with whiskey

Verse 2: (Lyf)

Marius, you’re a fool to drink your bottle dry

Whiskey kills your fear, and knowing you you’ll need that near

Cause I don’t know what you’re doing but it’s pro’bly dangerous

And I love you but you stink to hell of whiskey

I know I’ll sound crazy but you must believe me

I’ve been spending my years fighting ‘gainst the Entities

It’s not just the Bifrost there’s least another fourteen

But since I’m here, come on now, pass the whiskey

Verse 3: (Lyf and Marius)

Drain your glass, get ready, for we’re waking up

We must rejoin our fights, there’s no more time for respite

And I promise that I will see you again

And I’ll be here with another glass of whiskey

Maybe this is real, or maybe this is fake

But I won’t leave you too soon, I won’t make the same mistake

[BOTH]

We’re not pure of heart, but we’re sure of aim

And our heads are full of love and blood and whiskey

Verse 4: (Lyf and Marius)

There’s a dream that I’ve had, whenever I have died

Of an empty void, with music flowing like the tide

But lately it’s been quiet and I know something is wrong

So I must keep up the music, keep up the fight

I don’t understand all of this but I’ll be here

I’ll stand by your side and we’ll face our fear

But you can’t be by my side when I am in that void

Then I’ll think of you, and hold you whene’er you’re near me

[green-planets]

Making up for some missed StEx Appreciation Month days! Here's an old family photo of Human! AU Freight Family. In addition to adopting all these kiddos, Momma and Poppa also opened their doors to any kids who had troubled home lives, so CB and BV were at their house quite a bit. Eventually, they'd adopt Rusty too!

I put more StEx Appreciation Month stuff under the cut because it's long

StEx Appreciation Month Day Twelve: Poppa/Momma!

Favorite Songs/Moments: The intro to Starlight Express and the Starlight Sequence, love Poppa/Momma's duet with Rusty ❤️

Favorite Costume: I don't have a favorite. All of them are fine

Favorite Ships: Poppa x Belle or Momma x Belle are fine

Unpopular opinions: I don't really like Light at the End of the Tunnel. I'm sorry, the conversion to steam stuff just rubs me the wrong way

StEx Appreciation Month Day Thirteen: Rockies! The sillies!!

Favorite Songs/Moments: Freight! Also love watching them during Poppa/Momma's blues. Shout out to Right Place, Right Time being so objectively funny! Here's Rusty at his lowest then the Rockies bust in and tell him to give up while dropping the sickest dance moves

Favorite Costume: The old Bochum ones, gotta love the booty shorts (also Pink! Rocky, my beloved)

Favorite Ships: Brocky, I don't have any ships for Rocky 2 or 3

Unpopular opinions: None I guess? Bring back Rocky 4 but make him pink??

Stex Appreciation Month Day Fourteen: Hip Hoppers! I don't have much to say about them, but their version of the Rap is cheesy and fun

StEx Appreciation Month Day Fifteen: Dustin! Super underrated, I love Dustin so much

Favorite Songs/Moments: His little moment with Rusty after the Starlight Sequence, going ham on the harmonica during Poppa/Momma's Blues, the OLC Rap where he defends Rusty. I'm so glad that he stays back with Flat-Top now after Rusty is beaten up by the gang. If you can't tell, Dustin and Rusty's friendship is so important to me 🥺

Favorite Costume: Once again, I don't think I have a favorite but the Bochum ones are nice

Favorite Ships: Rustin is cute

Unpopular opinions: None!

StEx Appreciation Month Day Sixteen: Flat-Top! The smelly garbage boy (affectionate)

Favorite Songs/Moments: He's so fun to watch in general! The brick selfies are great and he's especially hilarious during Pumping Iron and Poppa/Momma's Blues

Favorite Costume: I appreciate his London look, but Bochum edges it out for me. I like the bricks

Favorite Ships: Flat-Top x Brick I don't actively ship him with anyone

Unpopular opinions: I don't think I have any!

[lady-astras]

Solitary Confinement - Febuwhump Day 2

Face your fears, was what Gem had written, her flowy handwriting shaky and barely legible - the last thing she’d left before having gone no-contact with everybody. Etho had been quietly petrified, then, because what could hurt The GeminiSlay so badly? But now looking at it…

Twenty-four hours, that’s all he had to do. The slip of paper vanished into smoke in his hand, leaving no trace. Just one day in this room? He could do it.

The heavy metal door clanged shut and a deep, resounding voice said, “Face your fears.”

Etho didn’t fear the dark.

This wasn’t so bad, he’d spent more time alone in the wilderness. The start of season nine, trying to prove his self-worth wasn’t even that bad. So what was this room trying to tell him?

Well, it was a small room. Once the door had closed, stealing the sliver of sunlight with it, he couldn’t see a single thing. He checked what time it was but found that his communicator had been taken.

That was when the first hint of panic wormed its way in. No contact with the outside world.

Twenty-four hours left.

~~

Humming songs to himself and coming up with new base ideas only sustained you so far. It wasn’t like he could write it down or type it up anyway. But again, it wasn't so bad. Maybe he’d take a nap.

Twenty-three hours left.

~~

He couldn’t sleep. Well, if his judgement of time passing was right, it was only around 1:00 PM - four hours since he’d been chucked in here. Normally, taking a nap right now, or before now, would be out of the question.

Staring at the wall wasn’t so entertaining, though.

Twenty hours left.

~~

It was too dark. It wasn’t even like a moonless night sky with no torches lighting up the surrounding area, because then the pinpricks of starlight could be grounding. No, here it was so dark that the seams of the walls blended into each other. Rather like falling into the void, when you were far enough that you couldn’t see the end islands any more and your elytra had failed you.

Etho was curled into a corner just to keep some semblance of sanity - being able to tell where the floor was, and where two of the walls were, was like those little white specks in the sky for him. 

Maybe he could try counting to pass the time. One, two, three, four, five…

Sixteen hours left.

~~

The higher the numbers ticked up, the more nervous he got. How long was he going to be here? At a rate of maybe one number per second, he’d gotten to one thousand. Doing the maths that was… sixteen minutes? Seventeen, almost? No, no, that couldn’t be right. No way. Oh, it was… well… 

Time was so slow, too slow.

He’d given up a while ago.

Fourteen hours left.

~~

Void, Etho had to be the most pathetic sentient being ever, didn’t he?

His tears weren’t even justified. If it were BDubs in here, the little mossy man would have found a way to entertain himself, maybe crack jokes to the dark air around him, make whoever was listening laugh. But here he was, still curled next to the wall, silent tears dripping into his black cloth mask. The dark was cold, pressing him further into the corner, hard to breathe, think, function. It was leering at him, telling him to face the dark and lonely, grow up and be a real man.

The room was so impossibly big, and yet it was too tiny altogether.

An audible sob wrenched from him, he clutched his soft white hair almost desperately, to feel something, anything, other than this dark SILENCE.

This was going to be the rest of his day, week, year, life. It wasn’t going to end, because that’s how things always ended. Dark, silent, loneliness.

He wanted to scream, cry, beg for mercy, and escape.

Maybe he should take his mask off. It might be easier to breathe. His tears dripped down his face even more, landing on the corners of his lips, so he could taste the salt, that pathetic salt.

He gasped for air.

Nine hours left.

~~

Were those voices in his head? Or were his ears processing them? Were they his, or was someone coming for him? Had it been time yet?

No, they were just his pitiful whimpers for escape.

He was so tired…

Five hours left.

~~

There was a click. Etho looked up, blinking his bleary eyes. He had nothing left to cry, but everything hurt. He’d been sitting still for too long. The room was flooded with bright light from the open door, that metal door.

Everything was too bright. It hurt, it hurt, make it stop, MAKE IT STOP-

“ETHO!” A familiar voice shouted, footsteps sounding on the black concrete floor. They were too loud, he covered his ears. Slowly, slowly, he lifted his head to adjust to the light.

BDubs was knelt next to him, wavering uncertainly - not sure whether to put his arm around Etho or leave it be in case it’d scare him.

Etho made his decision for him, tentatively grasping his hand and tugging him closer into a hug. BDubs obliged, pulling his taller friend in a full embrace, murmuring quiet nothings. It helped to hear a familiar voice, a soothing drone on. He looked up at his friend’s face, twisted into a gentle smile.

Between his senseless murmurings, he could pick up, “If you don’t want to talk about it, that’s fine, I’m here for you.”

That’s when it clicked.

The start of season nine hadn’t been that bad because he could talk to anyone at any time. They were all at the push of a button, any time of day because at least one person - cough, Xisuma - was always awake (those insomniac types). 

There wasn’t much time he’d ever spend alone, and it scared him to be unsure whether anyone was even there for him.

So he leaned into BDubs’ warm touch and sighed contentedly.

[compoundvee]

tell me more about avas background pls !

yayyy! okay, okay, okay, i'm so excited! sorry this is literally a whole wikipedia article on her. i just love her so much!

CHILDHOOD.

Ava was made in a lab using Homelander's DNA and the DNA of an unnamed female superhero. Many speculate it's Queen Maeve due to their similar red hair but this has been denied by Vought and Ava's creator, Dr. Vogelbaum. Vogelbaum described Ava as his "retry" when it came to Homelander, being much gentler and less abrasive with her training so her brain could develop properly unlike her fathers. During the seven years, Ava was kept in the lab, her father would visit her twice every year. For Christmas and for her birthday. She would describe these days as her "happy days" due to them being the only time she would get to see him in person and not on her TV screen.

She was revealed to the public at seven years old, being introduced on her father's hip as he floated down during a press conference. Many believe that Ava was only brought into the public eye so suddenly to keep Homelander in the court of public favor due to him having recently committed a war crime most likely. Now viewed as a loving father, Ava would quickly become "America's Daughter" being seen with her father everywhere and becoming a child star overnight.

Ava became the face for child supes everywhere and while being able to keep a professional demeanor on camera even at such a young age, Ava deeply struggled with emotional regulation and often had outbursts in her dressing rooms that would result in injury or death of her manager at the time.

Ava would go through several managers by the time she was fourteen.

Despite her outbursts, Ava would develop a close-knit relationship with Queen Maeve, viewing the woman as the mother she never had. Ava learned how to control her emotions and her powers with the help of Maeve as her father would just get frustrated with her, resulting in the pair fighting.

THE SEVEN.

Ava would be the youngest member to join The Seven at just eighteen, officially joining alongside Stormfront as a replacement for Translucent. Ava had already been doing missions with The Seven since she was sixteen, as her connection to Homelander assured her an automatic spot in the group. Her addition to The Seven sparked many debates on nepotism in the supe industry, embroiling her in her first controversy when she claimed to "not be a nepo baby," and that she "worked just as hard as any other supe to get this position," concluding with "if those supes worked harder, they could've gotten the position too."

After becoming an official member of The Seven, her introduction ceremony being one of the most viewed specials of that year, Ava and her father's relationship would only become more tumultuous. Homelander often accosting, berating, and bullying Ava for being "weak" and "needing thicker skin" when it came to missions as her goal was to help people while his was to look good for the public. This turned every mission into a warzone, the pair often breaking into fights that would result in massive property damage.

After her father got into a relationship with Stormfront, Ava would only become more vitriolic towards the man as her and Stormfront notoriously didn't like each other, disagreeing on basic moral standpoints such as not killing innocent civilians. This would prompt Ava to team up with A-Train to expose Stormfront and get her kicked from The Seven. During this time, Ava would be attempted to be recruited by Starlight to take down Vought. Despite nearly being convinced, Ava declines to help her as Vought is the only family she's ever known.

Still, Ava would end up helping Starlight and The Boys when she and Queen Maeve would join them in taking Stormfront down. Though Stormfront would flee from the fight, Ava would follow her despite Maeve's warnings to let her go. Ava would fly after Stormfront, finding her in the woods with Becca, Butcher, and Ryan. It is unclear exactly what happened but this fight would result in Stormfront and Becca succumbing to their injuries.

After this, Ava and Homelander's relationship almost seems to mend as the rejection of Ryan brings Homelander closer to Ava, recognizing her as his child for the first time since she was a child and even hugging her.

THE INCIDENT ON 32ND STREET.

THIS SECTION HAS BEEN REMOVED BY VOUGHT INTERNATIONAL.

GOD U

After the tragic accident on 32nd Street, Ava announced to the public she would be attending God U in order to better understand and control her powers. This decision was not made by her but by Vought in order to clean up her image.

While attending Vought, Ava would study crimefighting where she would be introduced to Andre Anderson, Jordan Li, Cate Dunlap, and Luke Riordan. These would be the first-ever friends she'd make in her entire life. During this time, she would begin romantically seeing Jordan though that didn't last long due to their conflicting personalities and habit of always arguing. The pair still remain friends.

During her sophomore year at God U, she'd meet Marie Moreau and the pair would quickly become close. Upon meeting Marie, Ava finally felt like she had met a real hero and was in complete awe of her even if they argued occasionally. Marie would quickly become Ava's best friend, replacing Cate as they would begin to grow distant and cold towards each other.

During their investigation into God U, Ava begins romantically seeing Andre Anderson. Ava would find herself becoming very dedicated to him very quickly, nearly killing Sam Rioran when he attacked Andre.

Upon learning of the supe virus, Ava would take Marie's side on the matter, turning against Cate and telling her that she's reminding her of her father. A fight would break out between the two, resulting in Cate knocking Ava out and leaving to start the riot against innocent non-Supes at God U.

Ava would help Marie, Jordan, and Andre during this riot trying to talk sense into Cate but leading nowhere. The riot only ends when Homelander swoops in, accusing Ava and her friends of "betraying their own kind" and shooting Marie with his heat vision, knocking her out. This engages Ava enough to fight her father, nearly overpowering him but, despite her best efforts, losing and being knocked out by him.

INCARCERATION.

Ava is now considered a disgrace to Vought, being falsely labeled a "Supe-Terrorist" and is locked up with Marie, Jordan, Andre, and Emma in supe prison.

Her father has gone on multiple press tours, denouncing her and pinning crimes he committed on her.

[windupnamazu]

like the hands on the clock, they'll go in circles back to their places

ffxivwrite2023 #06: ring a small circular band [...] worn on a finger as [...] a token of marriage.

Lunya/G'raha. Endwalker finale. 1143wc. Content warnings: kinda gorey descriptions? ⮞ Fourteen years ago, a little girl learned something from the man who would give his life for hers.

"Mister Kichirou," Yeyema began, tugging at the sleeve of her guardian's haori as they traipsed down Ruby Road Exchange together, the old man's steps slowed to keep pace with the young girl's smaller ones. "Why's your ring got so much aether in it?"

Kichirou's face lit up with delight as they drew to a stop at the intersection of the road and Emerald Avenue. "You can sense it, little moon? That is my wedding ring—it's filled with my late husband's aether. It is all I have of him now."

"Oh." She looked upon the ring and its crystal setting with a new kind of sympathy and curiosity. "It feels like there's almost enough aether in there to make a whole person."

Her grandfatherly guardian laughed, but it sounded kind of sad. "That's because there is—he passed before we finished the full transfer. Maybe if we had done it sooner he could have been healed." He chuckled more when she tilted her head cutely. "The rings were a failsafe, of sorts. Were one of us gravely injured, we could return each other's aether back; a unique token of love, trusting another with our life literally in their hands."

"You can really do that? Transferring that much aether into such a little thing?"

"There are many old spells lost or forbidden to modern mages," Kichirou told her, in that mysterious tone he oft used when she tried to poke too much at his life before Eorzea. "If you're truly curious, I will tell you of its fundamentals later. But first, shall we pick up your snack from Momodi-san?"

"Cookies, please!"

They don't expect the first of their missing Warriors to return in the state that she does.

The teleportation spell releases her on the floor of the Ragnarok with a whisper of wind and a flash of light that draws the attention of all the waiting Scions on the ship. G'raha Tia is the first to his feet at the sight of white like starlight, a wail erupting from his mouth when he takes in the state of his wife. Majj and Einar join the chorus.

Uncountable bruises bloom like twisted flowers across Lunya's face and upper body, the light of her freckles dimmed like clouds smothering the stars, but most concerning and terrifying of all is a vicious gash nearly splintering her in twain from her shoulder to opposite hip, blood seeping through the pearl sheen of her coat and black lace barely containing her insides. Her breath is so shallow it's hardly there at all as her twilight and crystal eyes gaze blankly into nothingness, and her white hair spills across the steel floor drenched in her crimson.

"NO!" G'raha's voice breaks as he falls at her side, hands glowing with healing magic even though a voice at the back of his mind tells him it's for naught. Never before had she come back to him in such a grievous state; of all the men and monsters she's faced, only one managed to strike a blow to her in this way, and Meteion hadn't said she and the others were left with him.

"Focus, G'raha," Y'shtola orders in a soothing but stern meter, but even her hands are shaking as she pushes aether into the open cavity of Lunya's chest, coaxing sinew and skin back together as fast as she can as Theodaux redirects organs where they need to be. Alphinaud and Ahnji hover; they can't expend all their healers at once when there are still Warriors yet to return, no matter how much G'raha wants to beg them to help her or how much they want to help themselves.

"It isn't enough," warbles Theo, sweat beading on his forehead from exertion as he leans against his staff. "There's too much to replace and she's losing what's left fast."

"Short of a whole person's worth of aether, I am not sure what we can do," Fleuriri murmurs, resting a hand on the Elezen's shoulder. "And seeing as she's already received a full foreign transfer once, I can't say how her body might handle another attempt."

Gods. He wants to cry. To kick and scream and curse and tear apart the universe for trying to take her from him. G'raha scratches groves into his wrist, a nervous habit turned frustrated, but as his fingers slide down to his wrist he remembers.

"Her aether," he says desperately, turning to Y'shtola. He pries off his wedding ring, crystalline and glowing, and shows it to her. "I have her own aether—enough to make a whole person, she said. The spell she used wasn't anything we know."

Y'shtola's eyebrows shoot into her bangs as she regards it before settling in grim determination.

Lunya blinks pitch night and stars from her eyes to find the ceiling of the Ragnarok. The twins are the first thing she sees after; Alphinaud has a steady stream of healing tethered between her stomach and his nouliths and Alisaie is pacing back and forth, muttering furiously to herself. The second thing she sees has all the residual fear she hadn't realized she was holding onto drain from her body in a heartbeat—her husband is crying, which won't do at all, and she fights against the heavy weight of her body to raise a hand to his face.

"My lodestar," her Raha weeps, grabbing her hand in his and pressing it to the curve of his cheek.

Voice creaking, she wonders, "Is everyone all right?"

"You're the last person who should even ask," G'raha huffs, but he smudges away the tears at the corners of his eyes and squeezes her left hand in his own. Distantly, she notices she's not in her robes anymore, bandages winding around her chest and stomach instead. Her husband's covered in blood that can't be his own and his wedding ring is gone and Y'shtola is across the room downing mana potion after mana potion, swaying in place as Majj does his best to steady her. She gets the feeling she knows exactly what they did.

"Thank you, sinta ko," she murmurs. "I'm sorry."

"Don't."

The ship explodes in a flurry of sound as another Warrior arrives in a haze of pink fur and blood and the others rush over to administer emergency healing yet again, but to G'raha and Lunya they sound a million miles away when he kisses her brow before pressing his own to hers.

"I would do anything for you," he reminds her. "I gave you my life just as you gave me yours, so I'll remind you a million times if I must. Just—live for me, Lunya. Don't apologize—just never do that to me again."

"I promise," she says, twisting his engagement ring around his finger. They'll have to make him a new wedding ring now. "And that is one I truly intend to keep."

[applepi00]

9 people you would like to get to know better

Tagged by @subdee hii Dee, it’s been a while!

3 ships:

Soukoku- what else would I put here? They’re dysfunctional and hyper functional simultaneously, I can project with much of my usual themes onto them easily. Plus, y’all, the gender bent art lately has been so good.

Vashwood- latest obsession, I finished trimax (and 98, and tristamp) recently and as everyone that recommended it to me guessed, Vash is my exact type and wow recognition of the self and whatnot lol. But seriously when do I ever turn down a good catholic guilt character or a character with unnecessary guilt?

Trephacard- polyamourous dnd trio my beloved, could’ve been so good but the show did not agree with me (also the last two seasons were not nearly as good and look I wasn’t even considering ships for this show as things that could happen until season three so I was vibing in my own little world)

First ship: okay I was an x reader / x oc girlie until I was fourteen or so I’m not sure? Ichigo/Kisshu maybe when I was six watching Tokyo Mew Mew, Ten/Rose maybe when I got to middle school? I don’t really remember 😅

Last Song: Last hope, by Paramore! It’s in both my Saoirse playlist AND her joint playlist for her and her ex girlfriend even though I didn’t remember putting it in either!

Last Movie: Oppenheimer I think, no I haven’t seen Barbie

Currently Reading: it’s fall again so, The unabridged journals of Sylvia Plath!

Currently Watching: nothing at the moment! I’m thinking I either have to finish my liveblog of Utena, or watch revue starlight.

Currently Craving: hmmm chats with friends I think, I put my mom to sleep yesterday taking about my interests, my friends at least keep up with me lol

Tagging (if you want!): @humanis-i @blindblossom @chubsthehamster @feralrookie @idlenight @macavitykitsune @valoniel @nautilusopus