#story: The Fair Folk

[lostximagination]

I'm not dead I swear

#story: The Fair Folk #character: James Hynes #character: Mitchell Spring #oh and I'm gonna try to remember to actually put a signature on from now on

[imaginationxlost]

Ask to be added to the tag list! 🎼💜💚🎨

The Fair Folk; A Shadowed Souls Novel: An Introduction

The Story: Riichi Saito had a troubled childhood, but as a young adult they want nothing more than a quiet life far from the angst of their youth. The universe is not so kind. They think they have a chance at that peace when their absent mother’s sister leaves them a small house in a teeny community call Blindthicket, but that proves hectic as not only was it not actually from their aunt, their mother turns out to be… … A fairy dictator? Can nothing be easy in their life? Mitchell Spring is a Foundling; a human who was kidnapped as young child and replaced with a changeling. He’s not known freedom for a second in his life, but he’s willing to fight for it, and to rally the other foundlings to do the same. But the fey queens are powerful, and the Changeling Mother dangerous. He needs help to do it. Help on their level. So, when he finds out that the Autumn Queen has a secret child who could take the empty winter throne, he jumps to try to recruit them to help. But he doesn’t want to force them as they refuse, and he tries to find another way while protecting them from their mother.

Fair Folk is an extremely pro-solidarity story with found family elements, a queer romance subplot, and themes of harmful parenting and healing from that.

Main Cast:

Riichi Saito

凜一 彩冬

They/them

Childhood prodigy classical musician who quit competitions and performing in public at all when they were 16, after their father went to jail and could no longer force them. They don’t even like music anymore, but it was all they had for their entire life, and they feel like they can’t let it go.

Really, they want to find love

for it again. They just don’t know how, and it seems pretty impossible as more family drama comes to haunt them, now from their mother’s side of the family.

-

Mitchell Spring

He/him

Mitchell is a painter who never has the time to paint, instead having all his time taken by the fey who kidnapped him as a young child.

He could just runaway; he has just enough freedom to manage that, but he wants to change things, and free all foundlings and not just himself. So revolution it is.

They might be able to keep individual foundlings under their thumbs, but they can’t do it to all of them.

He hopes to make it so no kid is ever kidnapped like he was again

-

James Hynes

He/him

James Hynes is a Changeling, placed in a home to replace a child who’s name he now shares that was kidnapped. He ran away from that home when he was 16, and that’s when the Changeling Mother called him back to the Fey world, to help run the very system that produced him. And he hates it.

He was daydreaming his own revolution before he met Mitchell, and after they met, the two were inseparable, slowly and secretly building a coalition from the ground up.

Other Characters:

Nina Spring: Nina is a six-year-old Foundling girl in Mitchell’s care. He took her under his wing (and basically adopted her) as a way to protect her from the very mistreatment he received from the Changeling Mother as a child. She’s endlessly curious and very talkative.

Kyle Spring: A foundling who started in the Autumn court, but recently was transferred to Spring as to work under Mitchell.

Malina Autumn: Malina is the highest ranked foundling of the Autumn court, and she’s an ally of Mitchell’s in his planned revolution. Buff girl who kicks ass and takes no one’s shit.

The Changeling Mother: All Changelings are descended from her, though none are born directly from her these days, as she lets the lesser mothers do that, and she runs the entire awful system. She’s a very abusive woman, and no changeling or foundling wants her direct attention.

The Autumn Queen: Queen of the Autumn Court and Riichi’s mother. She’s cold, unpredictable, and cruel. She hates being denied what she wants to extreme degree.

The Spring Queen: Queen of the Spring Court, and Mitchell’s ‘boss’. She capricious and harsh and willing to go to any lengths to prove herself better than her sisters at all costs.

#nanowrimo #nano #nano 2023 #nanowrimo 2023 #I got an intro done! #story: The Fair Folk #character: Mitchell Spring #character: Riichi Saito #character: James Hynes

[peoplegettingreallymadatghosts]

bro the gnomes were helping you out bro she wasn’t the one bro

#paranormal #cryptid #cryptozoology #gnomes #fairies #fair folk #encounter story #jokes #I suppose ‘girlfriend’ meant early stage dating in this context. Not even friend-who-was-a-girl really

[whereserpentswalk]

There's a faerie chained up in your boss's house. He took you there once, for a company party, and he showed it off to everyone. It was the size of a human, looked kind of like a human, but there was something different about it's eyes. It's a rare artifact, most of it's kind had been lost to the empires of humanity a long time ago, and he claimed there was nowhere safer for a creature such as that then with a human.

He could use it of course. A creature like that could help create magical things for him, soon enough it could even be a product. And sometimes he'd take it out, and make it sing for him, in a pretty little dress, and everyone always clapped, its voice wasn't like a human's, wasn't like anything from this age.

You know your company uses magic a lot. You know most of the security guards are werewolves, they ripped apart somebody sleeping on a bench outside your office once. The company uses demons and vampires as consultants sometimes too, and you're sure there's some working there. They even say in the sweatshops your company runs across seas they use necromancers so that they workers can keep working after they die.

Your boss has been talking about his faerie more and more recently. He has plans for fae magic based technology that everyone in software says is impossible. And he shows himself with his faerie all the time, talks about how it's the future, his future. And meanwhile it looks more and more upset, and more and more uncomfortable, especially as he touches it more and more.

You came into work one day to hear that your boss was to dead. He died in his basement of all places. They say his entire body was turned to wood, his expression in constant pain as he sits there. And his faerie is nowhere to be seen.

#196 #my thougts #worldbuilding #writing #my writing #my worldbuilding #fantasy #urban fantasy #leftism #leftist #anticapitalism #anti capitalist #fae #faerie #faecore #fairies #the fair folk #fair folk #fae folk #faeries #fairycore #original fiction #short fiction #short story #flash fiction #magical realism #anti capitalism #vampires #werewolves #demons

[theunfairfolk]

Once upon a time, there was a Queen, and a King, and a castle, and a kingdom. And then, one day, there was a child. And then, many years later, there was a Prince. The only problem was that everyone thought he was a Princess.

Keep Reading

#fae #fair folk #writing #my writing #rapunzel #trans #queer #transgender #mythology #fairy tale #folklore #story #ask to tag #aset #seelie #unseelie #imp #phooka #the prince and the stranger #rumpelstiltskin #og

[innytoes]

Dark fantasy AU?

-In hindsight, as he's being chased through the forest, hunted by mythical creatures is not where Reggie thought he'd end up when his folks told him they were moving to Los Angeles. Honestly, considering how he used to roam the woods and fields near his Meemaw's farm, the fact that he'd stumbled into a fairy circle near the beach was almost insulting.

-It's not even that he manages to outrun them. It's that one night (he thinks it's night, though time moves differently here and light and dark are all tangled up and is the purple haze of the sky supposed to be dusk or dawn or just a dark stop of the forest?) he'd decided to just... give up.

He couldn't remember how long he'd been running, running from the pounding of hooves and the yapping of dogs that did not look anything like what a dog should look like. He couldn't remember a time where he wasn't hungry, or thirsty, or tired, but something inside of him just kept making him run and run and run

-But he'd had enough. So he just sat down, with his back towards the noise, and hoped they'll kill him quickly. And to comfort himself, he sang the lullaby his Meemaw used to sing when he was scared of the thunder.

-That's what saved him. One of the fae, Caleb, was so charmed by the song that instead of doing whatever it is they did with their prey, he bundled Reggie up and took him to his... castle. Dwelling. Domain.

-He was dressed in finery and made to sing as Caleb and the other fae danced and ate and did things that Reggie very much had not wanted to see, thank you very much. But eventually, they slept, and Reggie met... the other humans who were trapped here.

-Luke, a young boy who had run away from home to become a musician in 1875. He was distraught to hear Reggie tell him it was the nineties now. Even more distraught when Reggie clarified it was the 1990s.

-There was Alex, who had been cast out of his village for reasons he did not want to share, but that Reggie figured out pretty quickly when he saw the way he looked at Willie. He'd fallen asleep near a fairy circle, and the promises he'd been made had been so tempting, he'd said yes before he fully understood the deal.

-And then there was Willie. The boy who had been stolen from his parents, a changeling left in his place. Who had grown up here, a part of this world yet not really. Who did not know what the other boys meant when they talked about years, or America, or really the whole concept of 'family'.

-Luke's the one who tells them of their escape plan. Alex is worried they can't trust Reggie not to rat him out to Caleb, and Reggie is like: um excuse me I was just hunted for sport for who knows how long you think I wanna help that guy?

-But before he can Willie just tilts his head and says: his heart is pure.

-Which is very sweet but also a little creepy.

-Anyway, they do manage to escape Caleb's clutches somehow, and end up back in the human world.

-Being yeeted out of a little ring of mushrooms in the soil of a plant Ray overwatered in the big plant wall of the Molina studio was not particularly pleasant, okay. Considering a real human should not be able to fit through that. But Willie explained that as soon as a fairy portal grew, it was only a manner of time that the fairies would notice it and stake it out to see what they could lure to their realm.

-Somehow, Luke and Alex get thrown clear across the room, Luke slamming against the door, Alex dropping onto the concrete floor.

-Reggie's not sure if him crashing against a pretty wooden piano is better or worse. The sound it made was definitely worse.

-Somehow, Willie ends up sitting crosslegged on the little piano bench, and he turns and quickly crushes up the mushrooms to destroy the portal.

-Julie, of course, is screaming, Alex and Luke and Reggie are screaming. Willie is trying to explain to Julie she over-watered her fern and pouts when she runs away.

-No they're not ghosts but they are changed and they all have weird powers. Luke nearly cries with joy that he can still summon his guitar. Alex is really not okay with this whole 'walking through walls' thing. Reggie is sad he cannot summon a puppy or a pizza.

-Willie can teleport short distances and is shocked to learn humans can't just do that? You have to walk everywhere? Or ride a horse. What's a car? What's roller skates? He needs to see one of these skateboad things immediately, let's summon the human girl back to ask for one. What can they trade for a skateboard?

-They're kind of freaked out at the whole 2020 thing, but hey, Reggie's like: at least it hasn't been a hundred years like when I told Luke about the 90s.

-Queue canon but it's even worse and more chaotic.

#julie and the phantoms #I wrote a thing #AUs are awesome #what do I even call this? #kidnapped by the fae au #I had such a hard time sorting out what was dark fantasy vs supernatural vs horror so... had a breakdown bon appetit #spent days going NO WE ARE NOT DOING A(NOTHER) CORALINE AU #I've only had creepy changeling willie who isn't entirely human anymore for 15 minutes #but if anything were to happen to him etc etc #alex does maybe like the whole 'being able to turn invisible' thing #except it doesn't work on Julie #for some reason #(*cough* Rose's great grandmother may have been a changeling) #Caleb of course is unseelie and rose's great great grandparents had trouble conceiving #they asked the fair folk for help and got a child... but then their child was swapped with a changeling after a few months #and they were all: um excuse we want our child back. No we're not giving this one back to you #tough shit a deal's a deal we gave you our magic music box for a kid and you gave us two no refunds because you screwed up #the story has been passed down for generations and Ray thinks it's a sweet fairytale #except there it's real and he's like: ... okay then. And then in true Molina tradition goes: *shrug* it's free children

[words-on-pa-per]

“People speak of regality as if it deters danger and wildness. But just look at the Gentry. They are royals in their own right, yet they are the wildest, most dangerous things to ever grace this earth.”

#writing #story prompts #writing ideas #writing prompt #story ideas #story prompt #writing inspiration #story #dialogue ideas #dialogue prompt #faerie #fae folk #fae #fair folk #writing dialogue #writer stuff #writing excerpt #wriiting #writblr #writers on tumblr #writeblr #writers and poets #writerscommunity #writer things

[july-19th-club]

obsessed with how bad at anything social dean is in the first season, and equally how the show doesn't try to pretend he's good at it. he can be as earnest as possible, have the best intentions in the world, and he'll still come off like the sketchiest man on the planet . nobody trusts this bitch! hi we saw you from where you were squinting at us from across the diner and telling us to get out of town because it's dangerous around here after dark and we hateeeeeee your vibe

#dean meaning only to help: uh i know my way around cars i could get you on the road in an hour for free #oblivious young couple who dont know they're in a folk horror sacrifice story: who the fuck are you . we'll take the harvest home mechanic #spn #to be fair he doesnt really try to be trustworthy THAT hard . he loves to lie in a way that makes him look sooooo skeevy

[jackals-ships]

"Nuada."

It's fascinating, the way living with someone will change the way you understand their tone of voice. For instance you've learned when they say your name like that what your dearest consort actually means is "If you don't give me the attention I am oh so politely demanding within the next thirty seconds I'm going to pitch such a fit your father will raise from the dead to personally chastise you for ignoring your most beautiful and precious treasure."

aka local fae prince under the (incorrect) assumption his puppyboyf will live without his attention for more than 30 seconds

#jackals barks #fae au #okay 2 rb #i would do more proper shading but <3 covid has stolen my spoons but i still wanna CREATE- #also its funny I don't talk about their characterization too much but LIKE #part of their whole Thing Is this Pretty Boy Spoiled Brat energy ? bc part of becoming more fae meant dragging stuff to the surface and #amplifying it to an almost Wild degree like theres so many stories of fair folk being Like That it only makes sense jackal is also Like Tha #so while the caption Is silly hyperbole also its Kinda The Truth at the same time bc jackal DOES think they should be allowed 2 monopolize #nuadas attention and they go >:cc when he has to pay attention to things that aren't them like RUDE? they're Right There!!! Bein Baby!!! #anyways tldr fae!jackal is a spoiled lil bratty prince (affectionate) and nuada is their fantasy sugar da- [GUNSHOTS] #bc it is fun and funny to me <3 like this dog has EATEN PPL and they are WHINING bc they didn't get enough kissies in .5 seconds

[yellowocaballero]

As a fellow it/its user i am firmly shaking hands with knives. Also this might just be my own bias knowing how rare it is for people to actually use those pronouns for me, but brad and luida referring to knives as such is a subtle but such a meaningful gesture. Like yeah knives is perhaps a little asshole but they still love it.

Oh hey hello! I was worried - I didn't want to be like, "Knives uses it/its because it is inhuman and also a freak, hope that helps". Knives uses it/its because what else do you want him to use - they/them? What are they, a hive of sentient bugs?

I almost did she/hers because plants are referred to as she/hers, Knives is a plant, what's the problem. But plants are referred to as it/its too and I figured that would demonstrate my point a bit better.

It's also kinda part of the bait-and-switch of the first section. Brad is so harsh, and the way he talks about Knives to Wolfwood is pretty dehumanizing, and he is handcuffed to a bed, and him using the 'its' pronouns just make the vibes super weird. Just uncomfortable vibes. But when you actually understand the family a bit better, you see that Brad and Luida talk about Knives this way because they know him better than anybody else does, and they accept him unconditionally and with the full knowledge of who he is and what he's done.

Brad and Luida are from the future, where neopronouns are completely unremarkable. There's nothing weird about it. But everybody else is from the 1800s, and I did want to stay grounded in that, at least to a certain extent. I thought about it as...many prejudices have been forgotten, because the original settlers didn't have them in the first place. But I think what Gunsmoke rejects is non-conformity. Even if what you're conforming to is fucking bizarre. I think stuff like Knives' favorite pronouns would be too different for him to want to use them day to day.

(I am sorry that I didn't use them in the narration, or even when talking about him - spellcheck, uh, hated me enough already. You say "Knives opened its mouth" and spellcheck starts frothing at the mouth at the implications of that sentence. And I knew from experience that it would have ended up ridiculous where the pronouns jumped absolutely everywhere. I'd have wanted to practice with shorter stories first. As it stands in the story, Knives uses he/him day to day and it's not uncomfortable for him, so that's how his narration goes.)

#but you know it/its guys probably dont get that much rep #so if I write more stuff for this in the future I do want to practice with that! it could say Narrative Things #hm maybe for the Knives Teenagerhood Story that I kinda desperately want to write now #ya know there does seem to be a fair bit of trans Vash/Knives stuff out there #but kinda majority for E reasons #so maybe it's nice to just see xenogender folks vibing #also my computer needs to be taken away from me and also comedy should be outlawed #because the 'hive of sentient bugs' joke made me laugh way too hard at my own joke #my writing

[vv-ispy]

also also I know everyone likes to talk about how good of an archon Venti is because he left mondstadt to do its own thing and hey look Zhongli's doing the same now with his retirement but I also like how the story shows it isn't without flaws, with so much freedom in the city it's all too easy to take control with power, Mondstadt's people may be free but they also don't have a god to actually uphold the ideal they stand for and how personal freedoms conflict, discrimination(eg. against Eula and her clan) is allowed because the people are free to do whatever they want, the fatui really wormed their way into mondstadt during the webtoon + nearly did with Davalin bc the people of mondstadt do whatever they want so Jean is overworked and the knights are ineffective(according to Diluc), and how mondstadt might have been the least free place for the common people during the Lawrences rule despite being the region governed by the archon of freedom

Zhongli at least first tested his people were ready before retiring, Venti kinda acended, organized a bunch of celebrations for his people, then left them to have fun with their newfound freedom only interveining when things get really bad

#to be fair zhongli's only left his people for a couple of years so who knows maybe if he left them for long enough #despite honing his nation on honesty and contracts things would delve into chaos too #or a capitalistic mess and we all know what it's like to live in one of those #now if liyue didn't have plot-armour-due-to-chinese-region-in-a-chinese-game............ #my thoughts on liyue are 'god i wish its story was actually about the common folk common folk #but what i know of the chinese government is the communist party represents the common folk #so in reality it's more like common-folk-party-does-so-good-for-the-common-folk see????' #i really like liyue and its environment too! #wish they explored its flaws too and didn't present it as perfect due to china-chinese-media-relationship! #all of liyue's plots are like 'it's the time of the common folk i want to tell stories about the common people' #'(but also hold on to tradition and respect the traditions which are represented by the adepti)' #can we pls have some actual flaws like the rigidity of contracts and lack of change and rule of tradition #instead of 'contracts are good and honest and also change as the times change for the good of the people' #like yes zhongli at least tested his people before implementing that big change of stepping down #but also if the game didn't have to put china in a positive light tbh idk if he would have done that #as it might be more interesting to explore his archonhood ideal in both its good and its bad #and may have focused more on liyue's difficulting in changing and adapting to the modern tiemes #if venti is the god of freedom and is too free at times then zhongli the god of contracts is too stagnant at times #i have. complicated feelings about liyue due to my complicated feelings about being raised chinese #so mondstadt my fav for representing and giving people freedom #genshin talk

[imaginationxlost]

Seven Snippets, Seven People

tagged by @indecentpause to share seven snippets!

Long, so Under the Cut. Also from a few different WIPs! Because seven snippets is a lot!

One, from Sleepless:

My sword meets Zias’ and the force of the clash sends me skidding backward and I gasp for air, blinking quickly at him.

“You’re slacking today, Jack.” He says, smiling, and laughing slightly. “That normally wouldn’t have got you like that. Rough day at school?”

I keep my sword up defensively, staring at him. He’s talking, but that doesn’t necessarily mean we’re pausing in practice. “You could say that,” I say faintly, and his smile immediately falls away.

It was. I got reprimanded in AP Calculus for not paying attention, and the teacher didn’t at all care that I already knew the material.

Because I’ve taken this class before. So she called me out in front of the whole class, and took my poetry note pad. She didn’t even give it back at the end of class, so both my arms, from my wrist to the inside of my elbow are covered in tiny red writing.

And it was just second period, so I was more than a little stressed for the whole day.

“Please don’t make us start over in grade nine again after this. I’m so tired of high school.”

“Well,” he lowers his own sword, “for what it’s worth, you’re probably too old to pass as ninth graders at this point anyway, but you’re still too young to not be in school.”

“Hey, if we can pass as seventeen, we can pass as eighteen. We- We don’t have to be in school.” I relax out of the fighting stance, since he did. “Please, I don’t…”

Two, from Foggy Press Radio:

It was Halloween night, and Noah had his costume’s hat off and was fidgeting with it in his lap while he waited for Lucian to get back, when Haley sat down next to him.

“Your date ditch you?” She asked, fiddling with her tiara in her temporarily pink hair, “I still can’t believe you went with Pokemon rather than dressing as Finn to match me and Liz.”

“I didn’t feel like being the third wheel to Bubbeline,” he responded dryly, “And Lucille offered to make the costume for me; so why wouldn’t I?”

“Lucy’s running around as Elesa, isn’t she? I thought I saw her.”

“Yes, she is,” Noah muttered, “She loves matching costumes. Jenna is dressed as Iris. And no, Lucian didn’t ditch me, he just had something to go do. I’m just waiting for him.”

“I love,” Haley said, elbowing him, “That you didn’t even deny that he’s your date. Hilbert.”

“I’ve given up on that argument,” he put his hat back on, fixing his bangs under it, “and unless you want me to call you Bonnibel, don’t call me Hilbert again. Besides, when I played, his name was Noah. He is the player character, after all.”

“Oh tch, you’re no fun, Noah.”

Three, also from Foggy Press Radio:

Liz stares at him for a long moment before continuing like he said nothing, “Ghosts are a very broad topic, and one that deserves to be looked at on a more individual level, but for tonight, we’re doing an overview of the whole subject. The history of belief in ghosts and ghost hunting, and even a little fraud thrown in for Noah, because he is right sometimes, even if he’s an idiot about his boyfriend.”

He just sighs, staring down at the floor, while Haley bursts into giggles.

“You know, No, she’s right. You are an idiot about Lucian. When I dated his sister last summer-” Liz scoffs, but Haley presses on like she didn’t, “I saw a lot of him, and I’m poooositive he misses you.”

“He was at our house on Monday,” Liz says, “so I think that’s being worked on, but Noah’s still an idiot; because he definitely wants Lucian to be his-”

“Shut up Liz!” he snaps, leaning forward on his knees with both hands crossed to cover his eyes, and she stops talking at once.

“Noah? Are you okay?”

“Just move on,” he mutters.

Four, from The Fair Folk (ohhh I haven't even introed this one):

People are staring; who wouldn’t at the nineteen old kid waiting for a bus with two instruments and a large suitcase?

I’ve always hated people staring at me; hated attention and the spotlight. Every competition won, every round of applause had me sprinting off the stage as soon as I knew I was safe to. 

The only thing I had to turn to for comfort was the very thing that put me on that stage in the first place. It was inescapable. It even reshaped my body as I grew up with it.

I look at my hand, trying to ignore the staring of strangers. My fingers are twitching, yearning to touch an instrument to ease this anxiety. My long, calloused fingers and muscled palm; hands that literally grew differently for having been a musician growing up. 

“Do you know how to play both of those, Mister?”

“Not a Mister,” I say reflexively, glancing down at the kid, who can’t be any older than three or four, “and yes, I can.”

“Oh, sorry Miss!  That’s cool though!”

“Not a miss, either kiddo,” I say, smiling despite myself, “it’s Mx.”

“Oh! Oh! You’re non-binary? Mommy’s sibling is; it must be cool to be however you want. I like being a girl but boys get cooler toys.”

I don’t bother correcting her that I’m agender specifically, and instead just crouch down next to her and grin, “I’ll let you in on a secret,” I stage-whisper, “you can be however you want too. There’s no reason you can’t play with so-called boy toys ”

“Really?”

“Absolutely,” I say.

Five, from Eyes Wide Open:

“I wish you weren’t involving yourself in this…” I say softly, and she scoffs. “I mean it, Mia. I wish you weren’t. You… you weren’t born into this like the rest of us-” I push my bangs back to show the tattoo there for a second. I intend to get that removed eventually, if I live that long. I refuse to have them marking me forever. “You could have- should have been able to just… live, but…”

“Well, my life was never gonna be free of it all. Even if it was just in the way all of you were affected, or the precautions for if something like this did happen. It’s never been normal, and I’d MUCH rather hang with you and make sure you’re not on your lonesome than maintain some false sense of normalcy.” She shakes her head. “I don’t wanna be normal if being involved lets me help my favorite big brother-cousin.”

“You’re too goddamn nice, Mia…”

“Great!” She laughs. “Can you tell that to my history teacher? He seems to think I have an attitude problem.”

I snort. “Maybe that’s because you do. Don’t talk back to your teachers if you want them to like you, Mia.”

“I’ll stop talking back when he stops being WRONG!”

I laugh into my hand, actually smiling. It’s been a while since I laughed, like, for real. Mia’s good at that though, making me laugh.

Six, from Storms (Anna's perspective):

“Yeah,” he starts tapping his fingers on the table whilst taking a long drink, “Thank you for letting me help, Anna. Issac wouldn’t have. He still thinks of me like the helpless fourteen-year-old I was when our parents died.”

“Hey, you’re still a kid Ethan. It’s his job to look out for you.”

“You’re only three years older than me,” he says dryly, “It’s weird for you to call me a kid. Maybe more like two and a half, depending on when your birthday is…”

“Sorry, anyone still in high school is still a kid to me.”

“You’re nineteen!”

“I’m twenty in May,” I say with a grin, “I’m closer to twenty than eighteen. You don’t get to claim half years with me, kid.”

“Ugh,” Ethan puts his head down on the table, “I still don’t think the age gap between us is significant enough for you to be calling me a kid.”

Seven, from Storms (Issac's perspective):

I immediately regret walking away once I do, having to hold myself up on the railing at the top of the stairs. No one else is up here. Ethan is at work, and Lexi is supposed to be at a friend’s house. If I- If I finish going up the stairs, I will be alone. I don’t want to be alone, but I know Anna isn’t following me, because I hear her voice, with her talking to them in the dining room. I don’t really know what she’s saying, but she’s not coming after me.

I sink slowly to sit down on the steps, trying to breathe slowly. What am I so scared of anyway? That Anderson will somehow be around the corner when I go up these last two steps? That’s patently absurd, and I know it’s absurd. So why is my heart racing? Why am I stopped here on the steps, starting to cry again like a goddamn little kid?

tagging:  Doing this always makes me anxious but lets try @novel-emma, @asher-orion-writes, @blind-the-winds , @kjscottwrites , @andromeda-grace , @radley-writes, @talesofsorrowandofruin

#story: Eyes Wide Open #story: sparks #sequel: storms #story: foggy press radio #character: Issac Riley #character: Anna Kahale #character: Haley Greene #character: Liz Mason #character: Noah Mason #story: The Fair Folk #story: Sleepless #character: Ilario Heart #character: Elizias Priddy #character: Ethan Riley #character: Riichi Saito #character: Mia Jordan #tag game

[faye-writes-stories]

I wrote a short story for English today, and it turned out shockingly well! We were supposed to write something from the prompt of 'Bravery', so the character does something brave (even just making a speech, doesnt have to be a fight)

I turned mine into a short horror story orientated around a mortal girl and the fair folk. I quite like how it turned out!

The story under the cut (it's unedited, just a first draft written in about an hour.)

I ran through the forest, I had to get away. I had to get to my baby brother before it did. I knew it was hopeless. I knew it was way faster than any speed my puny human legs could take me, but, well.... I'll never know if I don't try, right? But I'd read enough 'scary' stories to know that something like this would probably take little Luke and leave a monster in its place. I don't know why it preyed on our family specifically, but it did. It always did. This wasn't the first. They took Suzy a few years ago. And last year they took my cousin, Amalie.

I suppose one of our ancestors must have done something to anger the fair folk. I wish I could do something to save our innocent souls, but it was common knowledge that the fae were soulless. But... perhaps I could offer myself up in my families stead, if only I made it to my dear Luke first...

There! In the distance! I can see the light from our window! If I can just...

Yes! I made it! I immediately dart to the cradle, my knees going weak with relief as I see my baby brother here. I don't know why the faeries let me get here first. Perhaps they thought it'd be amusing to watch me sob as my brother was taken...

No time to wallow now. I can see the barely human figure just outside the window - dragonfly wings and insect eyes, 4 arms that end with claws, fangs and needle teeth. It was horrifying, albeit ethereally beautiful, as all of its kind were - I dont know exactly what kind it was, but the sight was enough to make my heart sink. I knew I didnt have a chance at fighting. The only thing left was to give myself up. Make a bargain with the dreaded Fae.

I took a deep breath, steadying myself as it entered. I drew myself up to my full height and looked it in its eyes.

"Hello. I wish to make a deal." My voice sounded far more confident than it felt.

The creature barely showed surprise, though, and when it spoke, the sound was smooth, melodic, entrancing. Fitting for a faerie. My guess is that it must have come from the Summer Court. "A deal? How interesting. What kind were you to propose to us, mortal?"

I took another breath, shutting my eyes, then opening. "You leave my family alone. No longer take the children. And in return, I'll go with you. To fairyland, or whatever-"  At this point, it interupts. "We dont have 'fairyland'. We reside within the faewilds." I bite back a rude retort, knowing it wouldn't help. "Fine. You take me to the faewilds, and leave my family alone forever." It appeared to be waiting for more, and when I didnt say anything else, an odd smile played across its face.

"You think we would take you? We don't need something like you. You would have no use to us! You're not even that amusing! Insolent mortal!" It started laughing, the sound terrifying. I no longer thought of it as any kind of beautiful. It was simply horrible. And then, it reached out a clawed hand to me, and against my will, my own arm extended and took the hand.

It yanked me close, grinning manically as it then threw me against the wall with inhuman strength. I saw my parents rush to the doorway, wide eyed as I tried to bite back a scream of agony, but failing. It once more approached me, still grinning as it shoved its claws into me.

The last thing I saw before it all went black, was the thing eating something slimy and red. My heart.

#writers on tumblr #blood tw #faeries #the fair folk #the fae #short story

[helianskies]

“you don’t scare me.” Arthur/Antonio

*cracks knuckles* time for a new au, methinks...

Tremors

Antonio does not know for how long exactly he has been sitting in that chair, staring at the same wall, fighting tight knots, and turning over the thought in his mind that says, just because you haven’t been killed yet does not mean that that can’t change. 

The night before, he had been in bed sleeping peacefully. And then, the worst thing imaginable happened: a pirate raid. 

That being said, it was not exactly… what Antonio imagined a raid would be like. There was less violence, less screaming, less fire, and more… organised, almost. Though, he himself woke to the sound of smashing glass, and didn’t even have a chance to get out of bed properly before his room seemingly became the raid’s epicentre…

One minute, Antonio had been in his home. The next, he had woken up with a throbbing head in that very room.

Outside, he hears the sea. He fears that land is already so far away. He fears that he is destined to die away from home. 

Antonio closes his eyes. His head still hurts. He is still so, so tired. For a moment, he nods off—and maybe for a few seconds, or maybe for a few minutes—but, once more, violence pries him fiercely from the grip of sleep with the slamming of a door, and Antonio opens his eyes once more.

Finally, his captor has decided to make himself known.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," the stranger says, staying out of sight. "I trust that no one else has disturbed you just yet…?"

He does not humour the other with a response. Instead, he listens as the footsteps near, and then does his best to steel his nerves as the other pulls up a chair, legs scraping on the floor, and sits down opposite him.

“Forgive me for being a bit blunt, but you do speak English, right?” he is asked, and Antonio, though he does not provide a verbal reply, instead examining his company, has answered the question regardless: “Good. If you didn’t, I’d be worried.”

Antonio’s brows twitch and form a slight frown. That means ‘why?’ as he still refuses to talk.

“You’re the kid who speaks a library’s worth of languages, aren’t you?”

He is not a ‘kid’, he wants to point out, but instead he says nothing.

“That’s why you’re here.”

His silence remains firm. 

In light of this, the man—a pirate through and through, if the hat and partially-exposed chest and bad smell is anything to go by—leans forward, closer—too close, in fact. Antonio leans away from him, though there is not far he can go; the back of the chair stops him, and all the while, the other draws nearer. 

His hand reaches out. Antonio does not like where it is heading. Fingers start to curl. Antonio’s toes curl in turn. And then, those fingers grip the underside of Antonio’s seat and slowly, steadily drag the chair towards their owner. 

Antonio does not enjoy how close they end up, legs brushing against each other, only a couple inches of space remaining between them.

The smell worsens. 

“I have something in my possession that I need translating,” the other begins to say. “It’s not in French, Spanish—not even Dutch. But a little birdie told me there was someone near where we were docked—the son of a merchant sailor—who has a knack for languages.”

How Antonio’s existence has come to be known to someone like this man is beyond him. It seems that years of studying have indeed provided him a future, as he had always intended, but now he is not sure that this is the future he—

“You know, I thought it was considered rude to ignore someone…”

“There is a difference between ignorance and defiance.”

“Ahhh, so he does have a tongue.” The other smirks. “Good to know.”

“You want me to translate something,” Antonio goes on despite the growing taste of acid in his throat. 

“Mmh.”

“That is why you dragged me from my room, onto a ship, and started sailing away?”

“Yeah. Why, is that a problem?”

“It could be,” Antonio replies, “if it turns out I cannot translate whatever it is you want me to.”

At that notion, the other’s grin starts to fade. His relaxed posture ceases. And, in turn, what seems to have been relatively good humour, for a man of his calibre, becomes soured. 

Once more, Antonio finds his personal space invaded. Once more, Antonio is unable to back away.

“You’re going to translate what I tell you to translate,” the other insists, “and if you can’t, then I have no use for you. And for that problem, I have an easy solution.”

The Spaniard swallows. “You don’t scare me,” he says, but the words hold no real weight or conviction. 

“And yet, there is a faint tremble in your cheek,” the blonde remarks as his fingers suddenly dare graze over the skin of Antonio’s face, “and you can’t quite seem to look at me—not in a way that a brave man would.”

Antonio has no room to shy away from his touch, but the intention is there, and clear. The other pulls his hand away after a few more seconds of no doubt relishing in the reaction that has been plucked from his captive, and, once more, Antonio is able to breathe.

With that, the other gets up. He walks away. Antonio turns his head to try and find him, but hands settle down on his shoulders and lips are suddenly too close to his ear, breath tickling his skin. 

“You and I are about to be good friends. So, friend, have you got a pretty name to go with that pretty face of yours?”

The brunette takes a slow breath. “Antonio,” he offers up without protest. “My name is Antonio.”

“Mmh, not too bad, I suppose,” muses the other. “Well, Antonio, in that case, you can call me Arthur.”

And, with that, Antonio finds himself alone all over again.

[ final wordcount, 999 words; prompt list here! ]

#helia writes #hetalia #hws spain #hws england #engspa #pirate au? pirate au. #folks you have to stop sending me things that make me want to write whole stories it's just not fair :'v #(im kidding i'm here for it) #also. look. finally something less than 1k words :')

[chroniclyonline]

People crush on Cardan, but I’ve been crushing on Jude

#the folk of the air #the cruel prince #the court of shadows #jude duarte #jude greenbriar #cardan greenbriar #cardan duarte #the wicked king #the queen of nothing #how the prince of elfhame learned to hate stories #tfota #tfotadaily #tfota spoilers #faerieland #fair folk #personal #readers community #readers of tumblr #booklr #book blog #fantasy reads #faerie #sidhe #holly black #i love jude she is the best character ever #jude x cardan #jude solos faerieland #fairy books #fairy stories #fairy story

[dramaticqueerio]

And there, past the trees, deep in the forest, a faint blue glow emitted. It drew in the stray eye of travellers, luring the in, away from the path. They walked deeper and deeper, sticks and branches snapping beneath their feet. The trees around them grew thicker and taller, leaving only thin gaps between them. They were forced to slip and weave through, but their eyes never left the cold blue light.

But it didn’t seem to matter how long they walked for, the light stayed the same distance from them. It whispered to them promises of riches and wisdom, power and happiness.

After hours of walking, even the strongest fell, the ground hitting them hard. Their feet were bloodied and they were twitching with exhaustion. It was only then that the light seemed to move closer to the travellers, showering them with cold light.

Laughter echoed from the trees, but the sound was swallowed by the thick forest. Then only the sound of snapping bones and the tearing of flesh could be heard, before the forest fell silent once again. The glow distanced itself, the laughter leaving with it. Left on the ground were only stark, white bones.

#drabble #creepy aesthetic #spilled thoughts #forest #dark forest #faires #small story #fae folk #folklore #folk horror #my photgraphy #photography