#source: witch types | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

prokopetz · 17 days

Text

On the one hand, it's true that the way Dungeons & Dragons defines terms like "sorcerer" and "warlock" and "wizard" is really only relevant to Dungeons & Dragons and its associated media – indeed, how these terms are used isn't even consistent between editions of D&D! – and trying to apply them in other contexts is rarely productive.

On the other hand, it's not true that these sorts of fine-grained taxonomies of types of magic are strictly a D&D-ism and never occur elsewhere. That folks make this argument is typically a symptom of being unfamiliar with Dungeons & Dragons' source material. D&D's main inspirations are American literary sword and sorcery fantasy spanning roughly the 1930s through the early 1980s, and fine-grained taxonomies of magic users absolutely do appear in these sources; they just aren't anything like as consistent as the folks who try to cram everything into the sorcerer/warlock/wizard model would prefer.

For example, in Lyndon Hardy's "Five Magics" series, the five types of magical practitioners are:

Alchemists: Drawing forth the hidden virtues of common materials to craft magic potions; limited by the fact that the outcomes of their formulas are partially random.

Magicians: Crafting enchanted items through complex manufacturing procedures; limited by the fact that each step in the procedure must be performed perfectly with no margin for error.

Sorcerers: Speaking verbal formulas to basically hack other people's minds, permitting illusion-craft and mind control; limited by the fact that the exercise of their art eventually kills them.

Thaumaturges: Shaping matter by manipulating miniature models; limited by the need to draw on outside sources like fires or flywheels to make up the resulting kinetic energy deficit.

Wizards: Summoning and binding demons from other dimensions; limited by the fact that the binding ritual exposes them to mental domination by the summoned demon if their will is weak.

"Warlock", meanwhile, isn't a type of practitioner, but does appear as pejorative term for a wizard who's lost a contest of wills with one of their own summoned demons.

Conversely, Lawrence Watt-Evans' "Legends of Ethshar" series includes such types of magic-users as:

Sorcerers: Channelling power through metal talismans to produce fixed effects; in the time of the novels, talisman-craft is largely a lost art, and most sorcerers use found or inherited talismans.

Theurges: Summoning gods; the setting's gods have no interest in human worship, but are bound not to interfere in the mortal world unless summoned, and are thus amenable to cutting deals.

Warlocks: Wielding X-Men style psychokinesis by virtue of their attunement to the telepathic whispers emanating from the wreckage of a crashed alien starship. (They're the edgy ones!)

Witches: Producing improvisational effects mostly related to healing, telepathy, precognition, and minor telekinesis by drawing on their own internal energy.

Wizards: Drawing down the infinite power of Chaos and shaping it with complex rituals. Basically D&D wizards, albeit with a much greater propensity for exploding.

You'll note that both taxonomies include something called a "sorcerer", something called a "warlock", and something called a "wizard", but what those terms mean in their respective contexts agrees neither with the Dungeons & Dragons definitions, nor with each other.

(Admittedly, these examples are from the 1980s, and are thus not free of D&D's influence; I picked them because they both happened to use all three of the terms in question in ways that are at odds with how D&D uses them. You can find similar taxonomies of magic use in earlier works, but I would have had to use many more examples to offer multiple competing definitions of each of "sorcerer", "warlock" and "wizard", and this post is already long enough!)

So basically what I'm saying is giving people a hard time about using these terms "wrong" – particularly if your objection is that they're not using them in a way that's congruent with however D&D's flavour of the week uses them – makes you a dick, but simply having this sort of taxonomy has a rich history within the genre. Wizard phylogeny is a time-honoured tradition!

#gaming #tabletop roleplaying #tabletop rpgs #dungeons & dragons #d&d #worldbuilding #taxonomy #phylogeny #media #literature #history #literary history #death mention

3K notes · View notes

shuttershocky · 3 months

Text

I'm FGO's biggest hater so you know I'm serious when I say this all began with FGO releasing in English in 2017. No longer could Type-Moon bury their heads in the sand and pretend an international audience for their visual novels didn't exist, not when JAlter sales alone made 3 million dollars.

Anyway, it's actually really cool that we can see Nasu go back and decide an actual intended reading order for Type-Moon works. Mahoyo was written first but never released to the public, Kara No Kyoukai sold like 6 copies on its first release so nobody read it, while Tsukihime and even the original Fate/Stay Night would stay out of mainstream store fronts due to being eroge, leading to readers coming in to Type-Moon almost entirely through (often troubled) adaptations and never the source material.

But it doesn't have to be like that anymore. Mahoyo got remade in 2012 as a VN, Fate/Stay Night got rereleased as a mainstream commercial work on the PS2 with Realta Nua, and Tsukihime got a Remake for consoles.

So it's pretty cool that Nasu used the first official English (and Simplified Chinese, they're an even bigger market tbh) translations of his novels to make something of an actual reading order.

Do you want to get into Type-Moon? Read Witch on the Holy Night, it's simple, has no routes or choices, and lays all the basic foundations of the setting. Tsukihime: A Piece of Blue Glass Moon then elaborates on the monsters and the militaristic Holy Church that Mahoyo introduced. Finally, Fate/Stay Night rounds this out by going back to the mages, getting deeper into their society and while introducing a whole other kind of monster in the heroic spirits that became so iconic to the entire otakusphere.

It doesn't have to be hard and inaccessible anymore! We're so fucking back

1K notes · View notes

keiphoria · 2 years

Text

monster high fans complaining that g3 isnt like g1 meanwhile im still complaining that theres little to no callbacks to the books

#i loved them so much and lisi harrison is a genius #i wish theyd pulled more directly from the source material because i think it wouldve been SO cool #cece chit chatz #but also a lot of the complaints about g3 are just stupid and many types of -ist #the only valid complaints are 1) draculaura being a witch (shes a vampire i dont think the witch bit is necessary)#and 2) clawdeen magically being lighter/straight. boooo tomato tomato

1 note · View note

beababoobies · 3 months

Note

Hey there you said you needed a Hazbin Hotel request? I got just the thing. Is it okay you do a Alastor x witch reader? Like reader was a witch before she died and is basically pretty powerful especially in magic? I like to think she covers up her body because she’s covered in tattoos that look like magic ruins or ritual symbols. Idk i just thought it would be cute of Alastor falling in love with a classy yet a badass witch who can put him in his place.

Heya Anon! Yes, Absolutely! I love my witchy friends (shoutout to Tatianna because she follows my blog.) I wasn’t sure exactly on which type of Witch you were referring to, so I decided on a random mix of diff witch cultures! Please shoot me a request if that’s not what you had in mind and I can re-write this for you. Thanks a ton for the request!

From Experience

Alastor x Fem!Witch!Reader

words : 1k , no warnings!

You let out a sigh as you started the spell you had been planning for weeks now. You had to go to Lust to get aphrodisiac rose powder, cannibal town to get the dried blood (and have a coffee and chat with Rosie, of course.) you even attended to Blood Moon festival very shortly to get some black tree root straight from the source from your friend Sally Mae. The candles had been lit - your spirit guides told you it was ready. You closed your eyes softly as you started to read out the incantation in your head.

You sighed softly through your nose as you felt yourself slowly start to float, the bone-marrow candles you had bought starting to glow a blood red colour as you felt the power of the spell start to wash over you, the magical ruins carved into your body lighting up, making you glow softly, and it was all coming together nicely, perfectly one might say -

“Hello, Darling!”

You let out a small scream and opened your eyes, falling to the floor with a small thud, groaning as you open your eyes to the familiar face smiling back at you, chuckling softly as you rub your head gently, rolling your eyes. Not an evil spirit. Okay, an evil spirit. But a very familiar one. “Alastor, what a surprise.” You said as he walked over to you, offering you his hand and you took it, hoisting yourself up and letting out a soft sigh as you saw the spilt wax across the floor.

“How rude of me to interrupt you! Allow me.” He hums softly, and you watch as the candles are returned back to their original state, turning back to him with a smile, brushing your now messed hair back into place, tilting your head. “Back again so soon?” You said with a chuckle, walking into your kitchen to get a cup of tea, him following quickly behind.

Now that you thought about it - he was back very, very soon. You had last seen him yesterday for lunch, and just two days before that for an evening stroll. After seven years of absence, you could’ve sworn you hadn’t even seen him this much before he disappeared. This meant he either needed something, or he was playing you in a big plan.

“Oh, well you just make the best steaming cup of chamomile, my dear.” He compliments, sitting at your small window-side table. You chuckled, taking a spoonful of the mix you had taken years to perfect, crushing the leaves, adding in just a bit of cinnamon. You had even figured out the best tea bags. Possibly your best spell ever. You dismissed your worries as your own overthinking, sighing as you poured the boiling water into the mugs.

“No sugar for you again?” You say, eyes not looking back at him as you pull the cane sugar out from your cabinet, spooning a couple helpings into your mug. “You know me too well, darling.” He says and you blush softly, putting the cane sugar back, bringing both the mugs to the table, placing one in front of him, and one in front of yourself.

“So, why are you back so quickly, hmm?” You said teasingly, leaning back in your chair, mixing the tea in your mug lazily, toying with the spoon as you watching him dip the boiling liquid - always uncanny, how he could do that - before looking back up at you.

“One could say I’ve taken a bit of a liking to you, my love.” He says with a smile, and you feel your face get hot - from more than just the steam from your tea. He chuckles softly at your reaction, taking another sip from his mug, leaning back in his chair and watching you try to find the right words. Platonically? It’s hard to decipher a man who’s walked out of a couple decades before your time.

“One might even say you… like me?” You say, testing the waters as you discard your cup back onto the table, crossing your arms over your chest, skepticism all over your expression causing Alastor to let out another chuckle. “One could say that. But I hate that way of saying it.” He responds flatly, putting his mug down as well, tilting his head at you. Trying to read a man who’s face was always carved into that sharp-toothed grin was hard.

“While we are speaking of taking a liking to things.” He says, holding out his hand, a small jar of black sand from the burning desert - one of a kind, unbelievably expensive, and your eyes widened. You swallowed thickly as you eyes the small vial, looking up at him with a small grin.

“I’m not giving you my soul for this. Tempting, though.” You said with a playful smile, watching him place it delicately on the table. “Oh, no, darling, it is yours for the price of this cup of tea. A friend gave it to me in exchange for a… favor.” He says with a small chuckle, watching you pick up the vial cautiously and inspect it, turning it upside down and watching the pitch black sand move around in the glass.

Oh, the things you could do with this.

“And why should I take your murder sand?” You say with a smile, looking back up at him as you toyed with vial carefully, raising your eyebrows, watching his eyes trail down to the vial and then back up to you.

“Well, I’ve heard it’s good for love spells.” He hums softly, taking another nonchalant sip of his tea, watching you nearly cough on your own spit over the statement, collecting yourself before piercing your lips together, eyes going from him to the vial over and over.

“And how would you know this, hmm? You some sort of ritual expert now?” You said with a playful smile and tone, clutching the vial in your hand and leaning forward, chin resting on your palm.

“Let’s just say I can speak from experience.”

#hazbin alastor #alastor hazbin hotel #alastor x reader #rosie hazbin hotel #hazbin #hellaverse #hazbin spoilers #hazbin hotel x reader #hazbin hotel x you #alastor x you

716 notes · View notes

octoberclidan · 7 months

Text

Doing Something About It

Pairing: Dean Winchester x Reader

Request: Hi love your stories btw!!! I was wondering if you could do a request… on where the reader constantly teases dean with naughty texts and finally does something about like hard core smut please and thank you 🖤🖤

Note: 18+ only. Do not read this if you're under 18.

Masterlist

Story:

[Y/N] was sitting at a table in a motel room, flicking through a book on vampires. She was currently on a hunt with Sam and Dean, a large vampire nest, but she was stuck in the motel after spraining her ankle the day before. She had her leg propped up and had her phone on the table, waiting for one of the guys to ask for some lore info. She was bored out of her mind. Vampires were her speciality, and yet she was reduced to acting as nothing more than a source of information for the time being. She hadn't even sprained her ankle while hunting, she'd tripped over a rock while getting out of the car in the motel's parking lot. A rock. Dean had made himself red in the face from laughing at her while Sam had carried her into the motel room. Sam was always sweet to her, while Dean constantly teased her. She teased him too, he was her best friend after all. If she was seriously injured she knew he'd be at her side in a heartbeat. He'd even tried to sell his soul to save her once. She knew he loved her. She loved him too. Being laughed at for having a sore ankle wasn't always appreciated though.

Neither Sam nor Dean had needed to call her for anything. Why would they? They must have taken down hundreds of vampires at this point; they knew what they were doing. She sighed, turning over another page with some more information that she already had catalogued away in her mind, when she glanced over at her phone. She smirked to herself and grabbed it, settling back in the chair and deciding that she was going to have a little bit of fun. She quickly opened her messages and went to her text history with Dean, laughing to herself as she read back over a recent conversation they'd had about Sam's defensiveness over kale.

[Y/N]: Guess what I'm doing right now in our motel room?;)

She didn't have to wait long for Dean to respond.

Dean: [Y/N], I'm in the middle of staking out a warehouse, not now.

[Y/N]: I got bored, so I decided to try on some of your clothes. That red flannel of yours feels very nice on my skin...

She waited a moment for a response. This was a common game for her, she loved teasing him. It was only teasing, they'd never actually done anything. Dean also, surprisingly, wasn't one to tease back. He'd flirt with random girls in bars but he didn't flirt with [Y/N]. She figured she just wasn't his type, and although she'd had a crush on him when they first met, she was content with friendship now. She did still like to tease though.

Dean: You better be joking [Y/N], I only brought one extra flannel on this case.

[Y/N]: It's so soft. It feels really nice. It's so long, it covers me completely, I don't even need to wear underwear with it...

She giggled as she watched a little 'Dean is typing' text pop up, but was confused when it suddenly stopped with no text. Her confusion didn't last long when a notification from Sam came in.

Sam: Whatever you're texting Dean, quit it. He's all flustered and distracted and I need him focused. We're about to head into the nest, I'll text you when we're on our way back. Behave.

She sighed but texted him back to wish them luck, then set her phone down and decided to try and hobble over to the bed and try to relax until they were finished with the hunt.

***

Sitting across from both of the Winchesters in a diner after yet another successful hunt, [Y/N] was nodding along to something Sam had started ranting about. Something to do with how the witch had messed up a certain line from a certain spell, but she wasn't really listening. They'd just spent the last week stuck in a small town, endlessly researching how to kill this particular witch; the last thing she wanted was more witch-talk. She glanced over to Dean, and she tried to hide a smile when she saw his vacant expression. He was also nodding along mindlessly as Sam went on, staring at the food that had just been placed on the counter that was almost certainly destined for their table. She wouldn't be surprised if he drooled when the waiter grabbed it and started to head towards them. He eagerly took his plate from the waiter, staring at the burger in front of him like he'd been starved for days. As Sam continued to ramble on, [Y/N] looked down at the phone she had on her lap beneath the table.

[Y/N]: Jesus Dean, wish someone would look at me like you look at that thing

Dean felt a buzz in his pocket just as he was about to pick up the burger, pulling him from his trance. He huffed and set the burger back down, reaching into his pocket to pull his phone out. He quickly read the text and glanced up at [Y/N], immediately trying to decipher her expression. She was clearly trying not to laugh, so he settled on glaring at her and shoving the phone back into his pocket. Before he could be interrupted again, he grabbed the burger and took a bite, moaning into it. [Y/N] stared at him, a sudden flash of heat spreading through her lower stomach down through her thighs. Is that what he sounded like in bed? What would that moan feel like against her neck? Her lips? Her inner thighs? Her...

"[Y/N]?" She blinked and looked to Sam. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah". He voice came out as a whisper and she cleared her throat. "Yeah, why?"

"You seemed zoned out". He shrugged and took a sip from the smoothie he'd ordered. "So I was thinking about this one word she said in that spell where she..." Sam continued to ramble on about the witch as [Y/N] heard Dean moan into his burger for a second time, this time pulling back to lick his lips. She looked down at her phone again.

[Y/N]: Do you want some alone time with it? Those noises you're making, I feel kinda jealous

Dean's phone buzzed and he looked up at [Y/N], maintaining eye contact as he pulled his phone out again and unlocked it. He glance down to read the text before looking back at her, but this time, her face was serious, no hint of a joke. He glanced sideways at Sam, who was oblivious to their private conversation, and began typing something back.

Dean: Think you could pull those noises from me Sweetheart?

She looked at her phone as soon as the message came in and felt her cheeks heat up. She liked to tease Dean a lot, but him teasing back was new and unexpected. He usually just rolled his eyes and told her to 'keep dreaming'. She quickly put the phone away and tried her best to ignore Dean and listen to Sam, but she was concentrating so hard that she couldn't keep up with what he was saying, and she kept having to force herself not to look over at Dean. She knew he'd be smirking at her.

***

It was late when the three of them arrived back to the bunker from a run in with a demon. It hadn't gone overly well, and the three hour drive back had been silent. As soon as they got out of the car, both Sam and Dean excused themselves to their bedrooms. [Y/N] decided she needed a bath to try and destress, and quickly made her way to the bathroom. She pulled out a basket that she kept in a cupboard under the sink, placing a few candles around the bath and lighting them, enjoying the floral scent they gave off. She turned off the lights to enjoy the dimness of the room, and once the bath was full of steaming water, dropped a bath bomb into it, momentarily mesmerised by the fizzing and colours. She set her toiletries down on the side of the bath and shrugged out of her clothes, setting them on a counter before stepping into the bath and letting herself be absorbed by bubbles and heat. She leaned her head back and rested it on the edge of the bath, and was just about to close her eyes when her phone buzzed. She reached out to grab it, and was surprised to find a text from Dean.

Dean: Where are you?

[Y/N]: Bath, why? Is everything okay?

Dean: Bath? And you choose now not to be a tease? Come on Sweetheart, I expected more from you

She stared at the text and frowned at it. Was he being serious or sarcastic? She couldn't tell. He'd been in a bad mood since the hunt, she didn't expect him to be up for any teasing or flirting this evening, she didn't think he'd even want to talk at all until the next day. Maybe it was the heat and bubbles going to her head, but she prepared what was going to be the most forward message she'd ever sent him. She sent him a photo of her knees sticking out from the bubbles. She didn't send any text with it, because she felt like whatever she said, it could be too forward. She felt nervous as she waited for a response, and a cold shiver ran through her when she saw he'd opened the message. Only moments later, the bathroom door opened.

"Dean!" She gasped, covering her breasts as he quickly stepped into the room and closed the door behind him, hoping the bubbles would cover the rest of her. He stared at her with an unmistakable hunger in his eyes and slowly began to walk towards her, daring her to break eye contact first. "What are you doing in here?"

"What am I doing in here? I'm finally doing something about it". His eyes finally fell away from hers, only to land on her hand which was covering her chest.

"Doing something about what?" Her cheeks were heating up under his stare, she felt very exposed but admitedly excited at the same time. She never imagined Dean doing something like this. Well, she had actually imagined a situation like this, but she never thought it would actually happen. Dean Winchester was staring at her naked body, and he wanted her.

"The teasing, the flirting, the desire. I've had enough, I cannot keep ignoring it. You thought I'd be satisfied with a photo when the real thing is just down the hall from my room?" He chuckled, pulling the hem of his t-shirt up and off over his head. She allowed herself to look at his shirtless body. She'd stared at Dean's bare chest and stomach plenty of times before. She'd touched him while stitching him up after hunts, but this was different. He wasn't showing himself to her out of need, this was something he wanted. He unbuckled his belt and pulled it out, dropping it to the floor before pushing his jeans down and stepping out of them. She couldn't keep her eyes off him as he slowly hooked his boxer briefs with his thumbs and pulled them down, letting his cock slap up against his lower stomach. Now, this was something that [Y/N] had never seen. He was putting on a show and she was giving him her full attention.

She'd assumed he was well endowed judging from the looks she'd seen from girls leaving his car in the early hours of the morning whenever he hadn't come back to the motel room. It was different actually seeing him though, already hard and knowing it was because of her. "If you want to come clean and tell me you don't want this, and that all the teasing meant nothing, then now is the time". She finally looked back to his eyes and shook her head at him, suddenly feeling shy under his gaze as he leaned over her. He knelt down beside the bath, and reached out to tuck her hair behind her ear, his gaze softening. "I want to kiss you". He almost whispered, and she swallowed nervously, conscious that the bubbles were slowly starting to disappear. "The teasing, do you know what it does to me? Do you know how many cold showers I've needed to take because of you? How many embarrassing situations you've put me in with your texts while I'm out somewhere?"

"No". She shook her head. "I didn't think you liked me in that way".

"Are you kidding? Look at you, you're gorgeous [Y/N]. You're my best friend, I don't want to fuck that up, believe me. But I can't take it anymore, I want you. Please tell me you want me too". His hand dropped to her neck, his thumb lightly stroking her jaw. His green eyes were sparkling, reflecting the bubbles and flickering of the candles, and she found herself completely lost in them. She didn't even realise that she was leaning in towards him until his eyes closed and their lips touched. He brought his other hand up to grab the other side of her neck and he quickly deepened the kiss. She could feel the desire from him, it was like he just couldn't get close enough to her. She dropped her arms from around her chest and grabbed his face, water splashing back into the bath as she did so. The sound caught Dean's attention and he pulled away from her to look down and her now completely exposed body. He groaned and slid a hand down to lightly pinch one of her nipples before he began to grab and grope at her, listening to her moans and watching as she closed her eyes and leaned back against the side of the bath.

He suddenly let go and stood up, and she opened her eyes to see him reaching for her shoulders, pushing her forwards gently to give him room to step into the bath behind her. He carefully grabbed either side of the bath and lowered himself in behind her, slotting her in between his legs. Once he was seated, he wrapped his arms around her, either hand grabbing a boob each and pulling her back to lay against his chest. She lay her hands on his thighs either side of her and leaned her head back onto his shoulder, moaning as he leaned in to kiss her neck from behind. She could feel him hard against her lower back, and he slowly ground against her, the water in the bath rippling back and forth as he did so.

"Dean". She moaned as one of his hands started to glide down over her stomach, sinking beneath the water.

"Shhh, just let me take care of you". He mumbled into her neck. Her grip on his thighs tightened as his finger flicked over her clit and began stroking up and down over her entrance. He began to nibble at her neck and continued to massage her breasts with one hand as he slipped a finger inside her, groaning when he heard her gasp. "Fuck". He mumbled before grabbing her thigh and lifting it up, hooking it over his own to give him better access as he slipped another finger in and began to circle her clit with his thumb. Only a few minutes had passed but she could already feel that she was close. He kept pumping his fingers in and out at a steady pace while keeping his thumb on her clit and his other hand alternating between her nipples, his tongue and lips exploring her neck and shoulder. There were so many sensations at once and it was all Dean. He was everywhere, and before she knew it her orgasm released waves of pleasure throughout her body, the heat from the water only prolonging it. As he felt her tighten around his fingers he murmured encouraging words to her, trying to get it to last as long as possible.

"You ready for me?" He asked after she relaxed back into his arms. He pecked her shoulder and ran his hands up and down her arms.

"Yes. God, yes Dean".

"Come here then". He manhandled her, though gently, turning her around and ignoring the water splashing over the side of the bath. She straddled him as he sat up and grabbed her hips, grinding her against him as she dropped her forehead against his. "Ride me [Y/N], I want you to ride me". His voice was deep but there was a slight whine to it, like he was begging while trying to keep an authoritive tone. He helped to lift her up in the water and she reached down to grab him, revelling in his moan as she slowly stroked him a few times before lining him up with her. She slowly sat down on him, both of them holding their breaths until the backs of her thighs hit the tops of his again. They both sighed in relief; it was a perfect fit. She held onto his shoulders as she lifted up slightly before sitting back down, the feeling of the water around her waist tickling slightly as the last of the bubbles popped against her skin. Dean was moaning as she lifted up again, he held her hips and pulled her forwards before pushing her back as she sat back down, trying to maximise the feeling of being inside her as much as possible.

He let his head fall back, leaning against the back of the bath and pulling her down on top of his chest as she continued to ride him. She let her hands drop from his shoulders and began exploring his arms, his chest, and his stomach, feeling the muscles underneath his skin tense as she moved. They were slow for a several minutes until he gripped her hips more tightly, stopping her and holding her in place before he thrusted into her, both of them groaning at the harder sensation. She lay down on his chest, pressing her breasts against him and began to kiss his neck and jawline as he continued to thrust into her. "Fuck, I'm close".

"So am I". She whispered into his ear and kissed him again as he reached back down to her clit and started circling it again. She could feel another orgasm building up, and although Dean kept his thumb on her clit steady, he was starting to chase his own orgasm with his thrusts becoming sloppier and firmer. Once she came again and moaned into his neck, he could feel her squeezing him, and he came inside her. He didn't think he'd ever cum that hard before and it lasted longer than he thought was possible, the sensation filling his entire body as he stopped moving and closed his eyes, trying to catch his breath. She could feel him softening inside her as she kissed his cheek and he wrapped his arms around her waist, just holding her. "That was..." She trailed off, not knowing exactly how to describe what had just happened.

"Yeah. Yeah, it was". He opened his eyes and looked up at her, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear and gazing into her eyes. He reached up to press another kiss to her lips and then kissed her nose, pulling a giggle from her. "We're definitely doing that again".

The end

Dean taglist: @123passwort @janineb86 @k-slla @lyarr24 @candy-coated-misery0731 @jackles010378 @hobby27 @pizzagirlxnsfwx @angelwiththeshotgun

720 notes · View notes

queennelliespretties · 2 years

Photo

Sun Witch

#sun witch #witch #witch types #aesthetic #remake #source: witch types

50 notes · View notes

arimiadev · 5 months

Text

why does aniplex want mahoyo to fail

I love visual novels. being a long time fate/stay night fan and only having heard of mahoyo from hushed whispers about its cinematography, I was super invested when it was announced to be coming to the west and I could finally play an official version of it.

however, a lot of people interested in type-moon works had never heard of mahoyo, let alone it getting an official english translation. but how? aniplex is publishing the game and they're one of the largest anime distributors in the world.

with the console release of mahoyo being almost exactly a year ago and the steam release being just 10 days away, I want to look over some of aniplex USA's bizarre and nonexistent marketing for one of my favorite visual novels.

let's clear up a few things, first.

mahoyo is the shortened form of mahoutsukai no yoru (not to be confused with mahoutsukai no yome, i.e. the ancient magus bride), which has been localized as witch on the holy night. mahoyo was a linear non-eroge visual novel released by type-moon in 2012, being one of the first scripts kinoko nasu (co-founder of type-moon) wrote back in 1996 and adapted into a VN many, many years later.

in April of 2022, a console remaster (switch, playstation 4) was announced with HD assets and voice acting, to be published by aniplex. notably, this console release would contain an english translation and was later confirmed in June to be sold in the west via online retailers. this was huge news, as this meant mahoyo would be the first type-moon visual novel (not including gameplay-oriented titles like fate/extella or fate/grand order) to be officially released in the west, as despite numerous fan translations, their more recognizable visual novels tsukihime and fate/stay night still had not received a localization.

type-moon is the developer behind mahoyo and aniplex is the publisher, meaning that type-moon made the game and aniplex is in charge of distributing (and marketing) the game worldwide.

timeline:

April 11 2022: Mahoyo rerelease announced for consoles (Switch & PlayStation 4), including English translation

July 4 2022: Aniplex confirms Mahoyo will be available to the West, localized under the name Witch on the Holy Night

October 14 2022: 2nd trailer released, more voice actor info announced

November 3 2022: physical pre-orders launched, demo version available

November 18 2022: Aniplex attends Anime NYC with Mahoyo

December 7 2022: Mahoyo released digitally on Switch / PlayStation 4 (Dec 8th in Japan, Dec 7th in America)

December 12 2022: Mahoyo reaches 110k units sold worldwide

January 27 2023: Mahoyo physicals release

July 5 2023: Mahoyo reaches 150k units sold worldwide

September 10 2023: Mahoyo announced for Steam via a now unlisted Aniplex livestream

December 13 2023: Mahoyo will be released on Steam (Dec 14th in Japan, Dec 13th in America)

some of the dates might be a little fuzzy, especially the release dates, as some sources go by japanese time and some go by american timezones, so just be aware of that.

now, let's talk a bit about mahoyo itself.

mahoyo is a masterpiece. it's a niche game not meant for everyone. its cinematography is top notch among visual novels. its writing style can be off-putting to people who want faster-paced stories. it's one of my most beloved visual novels I've ever played, and I've been in this field for almost a decade and have played well over 100 VNs.

mahoyo is a completely linear visual novel—meaning it has no choices or gameplay—that follows aoko, a high schooler mage trying to balance her perfect school president facade with her secret life as a mage, something she has to keep secret at the risk of death. this is one of the lesser known type-moon works but it's well beloved because of the care put into it.

if you've ever heard someone talk about it, it's almost impossible for them to not mention the visuals. mahoyo is one of the most visually impressive visual novels I've ever seen, with its inspired use of artwork and in-game animations. I cannot recommend this VN enough if you like modern fantasy and don't mind linear VNs.

before we dive into aniplex USA's marketing, I want to clarify a few marketing terms for people who don't market visual novels as a job. marketing is not just advertising—it's everything related to how a product communicates with potential users, including its branding, its packaging, its everything. when marketing a game, you have several different avenues: social media, press & influencers, trailers, store pages, and more.

today I want to show you how, based off what I have researched after a long, manic day, aniplex USA has failed mahoyo on all of these accounts.

so let's go back to its western release.

mahoyo has a few official english channels:

website

twitter

facebook

aniplex also has an official english twitter with almost 500k followers where they shared mahoyo very rarely—only 9 tweets about the game ever.

well, surely their other pages are more maintained right—

both accounts stopped posting July 10th/11th, with their last post being about mahoyo going on sale on consoles. let's look at their posts prior to this, though, starting with the twitter.

we can see that the twitter account was made in december of 2022. if we scroll down far enough (it's not hard, given they only have 33 tweets), we can see that their first tweet was on december 6th 2022:

let's go back to our timeline. can you tell me when mahoyo's remaster released digitally?

yes they made both of the english mahoyo social media accounts the day before the game launched

we can very easily add up the entire social media posts for the game thus far:

mahoyo english twitter - 30 tweets and 3 retweets

mahoyo english facebook - 27 posts

aniplex english twitter - 9 tweets

aniplex english facebook - 2 posts

no other english social media accounts were tied to the website, so these are the only ones I looked at. this means in total, there were only 68 social media posts for the console release of mahoyo by the publisher for english audiences.

but what about the steam release? after the game sold over 150k+ units on consoles, surely aniplex was ready to market it a bit more for pc users—

neither account has made a post about the upcoming steam release.

if we look at the twitter, they have 3 tweets since July that do talk about the upcoming steam release- however, these are retweets from the japanese mahoyo account.

we know that this twitter and this facebook account are the official social media for mahoyo as they're linked on the website, so they're definitely meant to be followed for game updates in the west. well, maybe the english aniplex twitter has posted about it—

none of the english aniplex or mahoyo accounts have made a single post about the steam release

that's right, the social media posts I counted above are the only posts for mahoyo on their english accounts, all dating back before the steam release was announced. since then, they have not made a single original post even mentioning the steam release.

meanwhile, the japanese mahoyo twitter has been hustling hard to promote the upcoming steam release—reposting trailers, character bios, and more almost every day with pretty good numbers.

in fact, the japanese mahoyo twitter did such a good job at marketing it that the aniplex USA twitter never mentioned the english mahoyo twiter, instead only @ ing the japanese one in tweets (despite the english one being linked on the website).

why they even bothered making social media accounts and then not running them despite being one of the largest anime distributors in the world I have no clue.

well, maybe they didn't need to rely on social media presence. maybe they were going for the in-person approach and marketing it at conventions.

mahoyo had basically no anime convention presence

the only reference I can find to aniplex notably promoting mahoyo at any western convention is this tweet of them at anime NYC. from someone who was at anime NYC, I've been told that they pushed the game heavily at their booth with TV screens promoting the game.

however, anime NYC is only one anime convention. you cannot hope to sell a game by just attending one anime convention. mahoyo might have had a presence at other american conventions, but I'm unable to find any images or news about this.

maybe they don't understand type-moon

aniplex is the publisher for fate/grand order, one of the most successful mobile games ever created. they're also the distributor for a majority of type-moon related anime, ranging from fate to garden of sinners to side series. aniplex's marketing team should have lots of experience with type-moon properties.

maybe it was promoted in other aniplex titles

I was also unable to find a news post in fate/grand order related to mahoyo's release, despite news posts for other type-moon series (namely fate but also things like melty blood) getting news posts in fate/grand order. I might've missed the news posts when looking back through FGO but I don't believe there was one.

maybe it sold well in other regions but not western ones

(I'm going to be referring only to the console release for these stats, keep in mind)

mahoyo released December 7th/8th 2022 with an english, japanese, simplified chinese, and traditional chinese translations. at the end of the release week, mahoyo's japanese twitter announced the game had sold 110k copies worldwide and famitsu reported that 66,344 of these units were sold in japan. this means we have around 43k units unaccounted for.

we know the game was available in english, japanese, and chinese languages but we don't know what regions. mainland china has a very large visual novel playerbase (I say this as someone who sells visual novels), which means if it were sold there then it's easy to say that a big chunk of that 43k units could be attributed to them—this also means it would be easy to believe that aniplex saw mahoyo selling worse in western countries and took this as a sign to not promote the game any more there.

but was it ever sold in mainland china? from what I could tell—no.

looking at pricing charts for the nintendo eshop and the playstation store, china is not listed on either. furthermore, searching the game's chinese title on the chinese playstation store does not bring back any results. it looks like the only predominantly chinese-speaking regions that were able to buy it are hong kong, taiwan and possibly singapore (the playstation store page for it doesn't look like it's available for purchase anymore).

so what does this tell us?

without any other numbers it's hard to tell how many of the 43k launch week sales came from english-speaking players, but even if we conservatively say that only around 20k of the 110k launch week units were from western countries, that's still almost a million in revenue (and remember, the physical limited edition of the game was available in english for $60, which is $20 more than the digital base version).

maybe the store page is so good they don't need to market it

here's a little secret: store pages matter a lot more than you'd think. there are entire job positions dedicated to tailoring store pages (like a steam game page) to make it perfect for the game's target audience. there's a science to it that includes the artwork, descriptions, tags, screenshots, and more.

let's see what aniplex did for the steam page of mahoyo.

A tale told with vivid colors and rich sound in a classic TYPE-MOON visual novel.

I don't know how to describe this short description charitably other than to say it sounds like a person who's never heard of a visual novel has been tasked with describing a visual novel.

this tells me nothing about the game other than it's a visual novel. I hope you know what type-moon is, because if you don't then you've learned nothing else from this. alright, well, let's look at the screenshots—

there's only 1.

currently as of writing this, there's 10 images uploaded as screenshots (no trailers, they keep adding and removing the trailers for some reason). 9 of these images are just the full artworks from the game while 1 is an actual screenshot.

I really hate this, as you're not actually shown what the game looks like unless you look at the very last screenshot. this will absolutely lead to some people not understanding what they're getting into. what's worse is that some of these CGs are spoilers, especially one in particular featuring my wife touko.

why are we spoiling people instead of showing them screenshots? why not show people what mahoyo actually looks like??

there's also absolutely no use of the announcements section on steam. each game on steam can post announcements related to the game, including upcoming releases, new updates, and more. it's customary to post a steam announcement when a game has a release date announcement. mahoyo's steam page has none.

well they probably released the trailers in english for hype

I wish I had that much hope.

on mahoyo's english website, all of the videos listed are from the official type-moon youtube, which is their japanese channel. type-moon went through the effort to translate these videos. aniplex didn't upload these to their own youtube, where they already upload everything related to the fateverse and nasuverse.

searching up witch on the holy night brings up no results for the trailer—aniplex never uploaded the trailer to their channel.

maybe they got influencers to play it

according to steamdb, the max amount of viewers mahoyo streams have had on twitch was 71 viewers.

furthermore, if we check twitch and look for vods attached to mahoyo, we only find 4 videos total, all of which were posted in the past week. it looks like they didn't even reach out to streamers to play the console release, much less pay them.

over on the press side, it does look like they reached out to at least a few reviewers. for example, on the review by noisy pixel, they clarify that a review copy was provided by the publisher for review purposes. we can add that to the bare minimum of marketing—reaching out to press.

however, they did get for some other influencers to share the game! ...twitter game sale influencers, that is.

there's actually a lot more of these types of tweets for mahoyo than I was expecting when I searched it on twitter. as a friend pointed out, just because it says "#ad" doesn't necessarily mean these were paid for by aniplex—a lot of these links look to be referrals, which means they're getting a cut of any purchases.

let's recap

mahoyo released over 110k copies in the launch week for it's worldwide console release despite very, very limited marketing efforts from its publisher aniplex. now that the game has proven it can sell very well despite being a lesser known linear visual novel, aniplex has done no marketing for the steam release- no tweets, no influencer outreach, no localization of trailers, no announcements via steam, nothing.

so why?

why does aniplex want mahoyo to fail?

even after all of this, I still do not know why. to me, it's clear that the marketing team at aniplex were (most likely) given no budget for this game and just couldn't do anything with it, deciding to spend what little money they had on press outreach and an anime NYC booth.

but why? why didn't aniplex give them a budget, even a small one? why was their budget so tiny they couldn't even afford to tweet? to RT more posts from the japanese twitter? to share the already translated trailers to their own accounts?

I've heard a few excuses like "type-moon hates western fans and probably caused it" but this doesn't make any sense either. why would you authorize a translation of your game and allow your publisher to sell the game overseas but specifically make them not market the game (and what publisher would agree to that)? I've even heard excuses like "they just forgot it was coming out", to which I ask "how does an entire marketing team (a company the size of aniplex absolutely has a team(s) for marketing and not a singular person) forget a release for a game that's already sold over 150k copies?". the only excuse I've seen that I somewhat buy is that they did not have much faith in the game and relied almost entirely on fans doing word of mouth marketing for the game.

I don't think we'll ever get an answer. while I do believe the marketing team at aniplex was most likely given no budget for mahoyo, it still begs the question of why. why did someone at aniplex not want to give mahoyo a marketing budget? why are the japanese accounts for mahoyo and type-moon the only ones doing the marketing?

I hope the information I've provided here is accurate—if it's not, I'll try to update with corrections. I don't want this piece to cast hate towards the staff at aniplex or anyone involved with this projects, I'm just trying to assemble the pieces on what feels like a game being left to word of mouth. I've tried to include as many links to my sources as I could so you could come to your own judgements about what has happened regarding mahoyo's worldwide release.

mahoyo is a visual novel that's dear to me and will absolutely sell well on steam—with an estimated 50-80k wishlists, it's going to have a solid launch despite the zero marketing for its steam release. if you love other type-moon works or want to see an absolutely visually stunning visual novel, please check it out.

— arimia

#visual novel #visual novels #mahoyo #mahoutsukai no yoru #witch on the holy night #mahoyosweep #type-moon #visual novel game #anyway please play mahoyo #my articles

483 notes · View notes

breelandwalker · 8 months

Text

Simple Spell - Full Moon Wish Jar

Intent: To harness the power of the lunar cycle for the manifestation and fulfillment of wishes.

Materials:

Small Jar with tight-fitting lid

Chime candle & fire source

Oil for sealing

Herbs and Items representing your wish

Ideal Timing: Waxing or Full Moon

Find a clear space to work. Make sure it’s free of fire hazards. If possible, try to work near a window through which you can see the moon. (If you don’t have one, that’s all right too, since you’ll be setting the jar out for the moonlight when finished.) Light your candle, focus your intentions, and get to work.

Select herbs and trinkets which fit inside the jar to represent your wish. For example, if your wish is for money or prosperity, you might include coins or small craft gems. If your wish is for health, you might include vitamin pills or a charm representing medicine. Check your books for herbs or crystals that correspond to your wish as well. This is your wish - make the spell your own. The contents of the jar can be whatever you want.

Use the materials that resonate best with you, but remember that your focused intention is the most important component of all. If desired, you can write your wish on a dried leaf or a piece of paper to give the spell a clear direction to work in.

Some common plants associated with wish-making include:

Bamboo

Bay Leaf

Blue Violet

Dandelion Seeds

Dogwood Petals

Nutmeg

Peppermint

Sage Leaf (any color)

Sunflower Petals or Seeds

Once your jar is complete, drip three drops of wax from the candle into the jar and circle the mouth of the jar three times with the oil to seal the charm. Then cap the jar and seal it with wax. Leave your thumbprint in wax on top of the lid. Place the jar somewhere that it will be touched by the light of the full moon and leave it overnight.

The jar should work for about a month, or slightly longer if you’re working with a supermoon. When the next full moon rolls around, you can recharge the jar by leaving it out overnight again, or make a new jar with a new wish.

Recipe suggestions under the cut. (And if you like this spell, you'll love my books!)

Happy Witching! 🌕💜

Health, Wealth, & Happiness

Lavender

Rosemary

Rice

Bay Leaf

Juniper Berries

Apple Wood Chip or Apple Seeds

Seal with Breath

Protection

Rosemary

Basil

Sea Salt or Table Salt

Holly Leaf

Juniper Berries

Seal with Sage or Dragon's Blood Oil

Healing

Basil

Echinacea

Horehound

Lavender

Hyssop

Seal with Basil Oil

Luck & Success

Clover Blossom

Galangal Root

Rosemary

Sassafras

Allspice Berries

Seal with Amber Oil

Money-Draw

Rice

Allspice

Orange Peel

Juniper Berries

Rosemary

Seal with Orange Oil

Love

Rose Petals

Apple Wood Chip

Lavender

Basil

Cherry Blossoms or Cherry Stones

Seal with Rose Oil

Jinx Remover

Sea Salt or Table Salt

Coffee Grounds

Rosemary

Sage (any type)

Black Peppercorns

Seal with Vinegar

#witchcraft #witchblr #witch community #witch tips #spells #lunar magic #moon magic #jar spells

659 notes · View notes

radiance1 · 6 months

Text

Vlad owned a cookbook.

Keyword, owned.

But you see, it was far from an ordinary cookbook.

It was a bit magical in nature, not on any purpose of Vlad's part, despite being the one to make it. It was created a while after Vlad stopped having an obsession with Maddie and became on somewhat better terms with Jack, in which he decided to entirely ignore one Daniel Fenton.

Instead, he focused on creating the perfect cookbook that has ever graced the mortal plane. Made from the highest leather, the best finest paper and bound together with the best thread he could find.

All helpfully sourced from the Ghost Zone.

Of course, after all of that he had to, well, fill it with recipes.

He had multiple duplicates scouring the internet for various recipes, and since it's for personal use he doesn't have to care for copyright or whatever since it won't be used by anyone but him. While also looking around in the Ghost Zone for specific types of ghosts.

Mostly grannies.

Overtime and with help from his multiple duplicates his cookbook has quickly become filled up, though for some reason there seemed to be an endless number of pages left unfinished, doesn't matter since it's just more space.

Then he started to encounter the spirits of witches, wizards, warlocks, shamans. You get it.

He took recipes from them too, because when he meant this would be the greatest cookbook, he meant it, and what is potion making if not Alchemy, and what is Alchemy if not cooking?

So, after some time, with blood, sweat, and tears being poured into his book with recipes from everywhere and his own personal recipe along with few decorations here and there, making it look less like a common book and more like the prized treasure it truly is, and Vlad's work is finally complete.

The greatest cookbook to ever grace the mortal plane.

He went to sleep happy, woke up the next day happy, used his newfound cookbook happily and was overall having the greatest of times.

He also found out that his cookbook became sentient. Which is nice, because he can just call out a page and it'll flip right through to it, but he doesn't recall how it became sentient.

He's been watching it carefully before completion, and every time it came in contact with ectoplasm it never became sentient like the food the Fentons produce (And yes, living food is indeed within the endless pages of his book), so it maybe had something to do with the more magical recipes contained within.

Not that he cared, really, since it served it's purpose extremely well.

Except, a few months later, with a visit from the Fentons to his mansion, he finds he lost it.

Vlad, predictably, is in shambles.

Is it because his cookbook is a genuine danger to society if in the wrong hands?

No.

Perhaps because contained within its pages are high level alchemical recipes?

No.

Or maybe because there was a recipe to create some kind of potion to kill an immortal, make someone immortal, or reverse death? (Honestly he didn't even remember where he got that one)

Fuck no.

He's in shambles because he didn't even get to use a quarter of the recipes that weren't even his own.

Also, because it's became his technical technically both his son and best friend.

Who does he accuse first?

One Danny Fenton.

Because it only disappeared after Danny came to visit, and while he wouldn't put it past Jack to do something incredibly stupid, the man was nowhere near his book at the time!

Danny, predictably, is not at all amused.

Vlad then pesters him to go out and search for his missing greatest creation and doesn't stop until Danny agrees.

So, now Danny has to find a cookbook that can and probably is a genuine danger to society if someone decides to use the far less than normal recipes.

Also, why the fuck did Vlad even have them??

#dc x dp #dp x dc #dp x dc crossover #dpxdc #dcxdp #dc x dp crossover #Hmmm #I could already feel some people tagging this as Ghost King Danny since that's a really popular hc #or maybe not #Anywho #I was going to refute that hc but now I'm genuinely considering it #Mah #I'll leave it up to whoever finds this post #Right #Did I mention that Vlad's Cookbook may or may not have a recipe to create #both a false and genuine god?#Teehee #You won't even know if I'm being serious or not

381 notes · View notes

fieldofdaisiies · 3 days

Text

Whispers of the Forgotten | pt. 7

pairing: azriel x reader | type: angst | words: 2k words | warnings: mentions of trauma | masterlist

Your neck is aching when you throw it back and release a loud groan. Your eyes are already burning from staring into books the whole day. Outside Velaris has already entered the night – many hours ago–, but you are still sitting here, your back sore from being bent over the books for hours.

The orange candle on the table, the only light source in the living room of the house of wind at this point, has almost burnt down to nothing, but you need it just a few more minutes.

You are so close, you know it. The solution is right there, you just need to grasp it.

Reaching forward, you place your hand on the onyx box, sharp nails piercing into it. With the index finger of your other hand you trail over some ancient spells written in lettering that is now longer used. The spells are most likely witches runes, you are not familiar with them, but with the help of Nesta and maybe also Amren, you will be able to open the box.

You can feel it. You can feel how the small casket reacts to your touch, to the idea of being opened. It is burning with emotion, so hot your palm heats.

You are so close – so close to opening this damn box. And so close to freedom. You will be allowed to roam freely when this is over, no one will ever lock you away again. Once the box is open you will demand your amulet back. With it your powers will return and then you are gone. To the continent or wherever the wind takes you.

Gone…involuntarily your thoughts wander to the shadowsinger. He is also gone. Has been gone for a few days now. Gone just like back then. When he left you behind, broken and bloody. He did not even check to see if you are alright. If your wounds are too deep. If you will survive.

Rhysand’s words hollow in your mind, loud, strong, and you force your eyes closed, fighting against the tears.

“My father…he threatened the other female in Azriel’s life. The only other female he would have given his life for. This was the only way to protect you both.”

All those years, you have wondered what Azriel’s reasons were. Why he betrayed you like this. Why he never came to see you. You don’t know if you will ever be able to forgive him, but what you know is that you want to give him another chance to talk. You want to hear it from him. Everything. Every little thing he has to say. You want him to talk about his mother, about how he locked you in the Prison, the moments after it, the moment when he found out what the Harp was capable of. He owes you all the explanations and you owe him your time to listen.

You shake your head, directing every thought that threatens to stray into Azriel’s direction at matter at hand again – Koschei’s onyx box. You need to open it and you are so close. You flip over to the next page, finding more cryptic lettering. Your eyes are closed when your fingers trail over the words, the runes, the pictures and you feel it. This is it.

Jumping up, the chair scratches over the ground with a loud noise. You need to find Nesta, and you need to find her now. You really hope she is not currently otherwise occupied with a certain general of the Illyrian armies because you really need to talk to her.

Blowing out the candle, you turn swiftly and head for the corridor, running as fast as your feet can take you, your thin, silken gown swishing around your legs. You head up the stairs, towards Nesta and Cassian’s main bedroom, but stop dead in your tracks when your eyes land on him. When his moan of agony pierces through your mind.

The door to his bathroom is open, his bloody chest exposed, large wings draped on the ground, his hands braced on the edges of the sink.

You can’t tear your eyes away and fully on your own accord your feet start to walk, no longer moving you towards Nesta’s room, but to him. You can’t stop yourself, it is like something is pulling you to him. And you know what it is – the tug on your chest. Before his betrayal you had loved the idea of it. Then everything came crashing down, and you hated it. You have been clamping down on the feeling of it for centuries, pushing it away, but now seeing him bloody and wounded –seeing your mate bloody and wounded– fire ignites deep within your soul, the bond once more coming alive inside of you.

“Azriel.” Your voice trembles, heart squeezing at the gaping wounds marring his entire torso, dripping with blood and puss. It looks awful and painful. Your fingers curl towards your palms.

He whips his head into your direction, and with a crooked smile, he says, “It isn’t as bad as it looks.”

“Bullshit,” you answer and step into the bathroom. “You look like you have been attacked by a beast, those wounds are deep. You need a healer to look over them.” When your eyes lifts, they clash with his.

“Don’t act like you care,” he mumbles, holding your gaze.

“You have no right to snap at me, Azriel,” you answer in a stern voice, “not after everything that has happened between us, not after everything you did to me.”

“I am sorry.”

“I know.” You close the door behind you and fully move into the room, reaching for the cloth on the sink that is no longer white, but has no a pinkish colour, stained from all the blood. You clasp it tightly in your hand, and without saying a word, attach the cloth to Azriel’s wounded skin. He sucks in a sharp intake of air, then holds his breath and lets you do your work. “I am ready to talk, Azriel.”

He doesn’t say anything, but his fingers curl around the edge of the sink, scarred knuckles turning white. “I needed time, I needed time to adapt, to understand, to progress, but I am ready to talk now.” You tip your head back and meet his hazel eyes, a flicker of hope within them now that you revealed that you are ready to talk to him.

“Rhysand told me about your mother.”

“His father threatened to execute her. I needed to protect her, but I need you to know that I didn’t choose her over you. I was…torn. I only had a few people in my life that I loved, and risking one’s life for that of another…I only tried to–”

“Keep us both safe. I know this now.” Your hand moves lower, brushing over a wound on his lower belly that disappears behind the pants of his Illyrian leathers.

“I was trying to get you out. I was looking for ways once all threats were gone, but…only when we found the Harp I had a solution on how to do it. I knew how I was going to get you.”

You nod slowly, and put the cloth aside. “Let’s patch you up and then we talk properly, yes?”

It is a big step you are taking, but you know you have to do it. You finally have to talk to him. Your heart is racing both with panic about being so close to the person that has hurt you most in your life, but also with relief that you can finally be near him without feeling like the air to breathe has been stolen from you. He still unnerves you, but now that you have learned more about why he acted like this, talking to him seems easier.

You have to talk to him. For yourself. You need to know everything. Find out what really were his reasons.

“In my room?” Azriel asks in a calm voice.

You nod again and set out to do exactly what you said – patching him up.

───── ⋆⋅ ☽☾ ⋅⋆ ─────

“He showed me what he would do to her. All the cruel things. And all the cruel things he would do to you. He invaded my mind and showed it to me.”

You find yourself nodding again, tears lining your eyes. You sit next to him on the bed, Azriel’s head resting on the pillow, close to your hips, his chest now bandaged, his body covered by the thin bed sheet. “I had no choice.”

You want to tell him that everyone always has a choice, but in this case, this was truly the only way to do it. You have been listening to him for the past hour or even longer, soft moonlight filtering in through the curtain-framed windows. It is the only lightsource, but you don’t need more. You close your eyes, your soul for the first time calm and at ease in his presence. Azriel has been talking the whole time, a rarity you think, because centuries ago when you were together he was always rather calm.

“Did it really hurt you to put me in the Prison?”

You feel the bed shift next to you, and a moment later his scarred digits brush your hand. “What a question…” You can hear how he draws in a deep inhale and his hand closes tightly around yours. “It tore me apart. It felt like someone ripped out my heart, and tore it into pieces. Like my soul lost its life, like it was diminished and I could never ever feel happiness again. All the years, the centuries that passed, where I couldn’t free you, destroyed more parts of my soul.”

You slide down on the pillow, not letting go of his hand, until you are on eye-level with him. His head is turned to you, and he is already looking at you when you open your lids.

“I knew the first moment I could find a way to free you, to get you out, I would do it. You were bound to the Prison by the High Lord’s magic, you couldn’t get out alone, not even if I had tried to. It was only possible through the Harp – the Dead Trove’s magic is stronger than any High Lord’s.”

You deep your chin, nodding slowly, the back of your mouth aching. “I thought you hated me, you loathed and feared me just like everyone else. That our whole relationship was a false-pretence.”

His throat bobs. “I didn’t fake a single thing – every I love you, every kiss, every hug, whenever we made love, I meant it all. And I meant when I said that I would protect you…I never meant to hurt you. To destroy you.”

You shift closer on the bed. “Do you know why your soul hurt after you put me into the Prison?”

“Because I lost the love of my life.” He pushes up on his elbows, groaning due to the wounds on his chest that have not yet healed. He shifts onto his side, now looking directly at you, but you shake your head.

“No, Azriel,” you say, “your soul hurt because we were mates and the bond broke the moment you closed the gates to my cell.”

tags (crossed-out I couldn't tag) : @juulle987 @marimorena06 @danikasthings @younxii @nightcourtwritings @mrofontaine @lunalilyf @whor-3-crux @tired-all-the-time @anni-was-here @ummmmmwat @azbracadabra @j-pendragonx @hollyismentallyillhelp @famousbasementpainter @bsenpai @lena-davina @red-highlady @thesugatoyourtae @azrielsbabyg @aroseinvelaris @moony-thoughts @wrensical003 @cherryjain17 @moonfawnx @crushedcloudsx @devilsfoodcake22 @valeridarkness @azrielscertifiedslut @mulansaucey @cynicalpotato95 @hanasakr @high-bi-andreadytocry @eerievixen @feyretopia @moonlightazriel @randomness-it-is @brekkershadowsinger @eliieee23 @girasoli-e-sorrisi @illyrianvalkyriecarynthian @kennedy-brooke @highladyofillyria @theworthlessqueen @marina468 @topaz125 @illyrian-dreamer @azriels-mate123 @eos-princess @courtofjurdan @a-frog-with-a-laptop @insufferablebookaddict @azrielsmate2 @callmeblaire @lilah-asteria

#azriel x reader #azriel x you #acotar x reader #acotar #azriel

150 notes · View notes