I'M CRYING THIS IS BOTH THE CUTEST AND SADDEST THING I'VE READ, THANK YOU!! LET'S JUST IGNORE ANY LILIA-GENERATED

I'M CRYING THIS IS BOTH THE CUTEST AND SADDEST THING I'VE READ, THANK YOU!! LET'S JUST IGNORE ANY LILIA-GENERATED ANGST, WE'RE ALL FINE, IT'S FINE...! HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO YOU TOO! (with an emphasis on happy, no Diasomnia Depression here... ^^;)

for @bluelightning16 ♥ have the most wonderful of holidays, and thank you for being such a lovely writing partner ♥

a very merry (vanrouge) christmas; 1/3

It was perfect.

Silver sat back on his hands and knees and admired the small wristlet of acorns as if they were jewels stunning enough to rival that of the Queen herself.

With the help of the squirrels who lived in the woodlands around their modest home, he had been able to find eight acorns left untouched by the foraging creatures— it was certainly a lucky find, and not at all a generous donation of their winter stockpile given for the reward of his rare smile each time he picked one up.

Silver had hidden them safely within his pockets on the return home, but he hadn't needed to be worried. Papa was yet to return from his visit to the castle despite the late afternoon hour, and there was still enough daylight available for what had remained to be accomplished.

Each acorn had been pierced in the center very carefully by one of his father's sewing needles until a hole large enough for a piece of twine could be ran through them all, with the ends tied snugly to fit around a certain fae's wrist. To any untrained eye, it was a crude attempt at a bracelet; to Silver, it was nothing less than his greatest wish for his Papa made tangible.

"Have you prepared a gift for Lilia-sama yet?" Sebek had asked him curiously the other day as they scampered about in the woods behind the Zigvolt home, waving swords of sticks and gleefully rolling about in the fresh build of massive snow drifts. "My father says that it's a human tradition this time of the year, to celebrate family."

" . . . I've never heard of that before, perhaps Papa doesn't know about this tradition," Silver had reflected in wonder, ignoring Sebek's wrinkled up nose at the utterly domestic title for the great General Vanrouge. Letting his 'sword' hang slack in the snow and ignoring the unsubtle way that the younger boy was trying to knock it out of his grip for a cheap win, he had worried the end of his new mitten against his mouth, brows furrowing fretfully together. " . . . Did your father say it had to be something specific?"

Having given up his blatant sabotage, Sebek had merely shrugged, kicking up a puff of snow into the air. "I think it's just a weird excuse to give us things. My father told this ridiculous story about some kind of fat man who travels across the world and delivers gifts to every child to give them joy, all at the same time in one night— as if! He'd have to be more powerful than Waka-sama in order to do that, and no one can beat him! Just the other day, I saw—"

Silver shook his head to rid himself of the unfortunately loud memory of Sebek's effusive Malleus-sama praises, touching a finger gently to the shiny, smooth pericarp as if it were just as silky smooth as the rabbits outside.

A gift to give someone joy.

It had been all he could think about as he had considered various ideas as to what could replace the typical mischievous smile on his Papa's face with a true one as equally rare as Silver's own. An edible gift was simply out of the question— thanks to his unpredictable sleeping, Silver could not be trusted to cook on his own, and seeking out help from Malleus-sama, although he would be kind enough to assist, would defeat the purpose of Silver presenting a gift that he had created all by himself. Buying something was also a moot point— his father did not allow him to wander by himself to the village, and he would have to ask his papa for money which would raise all kinds of teasing questions. Which meant, the only option that remained was for Silver to craft something out of his own hands with materials from around the cottage and woods.

But what?

The answer revealed itself a few days later, having been tucked away in one of his father's old alchemy books that Silver had been dutifully copying to work on his penmanship. The sentence only truly sunk into his brain as he read over his scrawny letters that still weren't as firm and crisp as his papa's, voice soft and halting.

The oak tree, a prominent symbol of immortality, has long since been regarded as a powerful source of magic by countless traditions, as it is held in the highest of sacred honors among all other trees. Acorns in particular are often considered talismans imbued with that great power, associated with such benefits as longevity, pain relief, prosperity, and protection (especially from evil, lightning, and illness)—

He had needed to read no further. A charm that could aid not only in his father's protection and health, but to potentially bring him the relief of the pain that plagued his hips each morning? And even better, something small enough that Silver could readily find outside and make into the kind of trinket his father could keep by him at all times for maximum effect!

His smile dares to creep a bit wider on his face as he closes small fingers around the strung brown nuts, an unfamiliar eagerness beginning to build inside of him. He had even finished just on time too! Tomorrow would be the supposed holiday that Sebek had told him about, and he could reveal his present to his father who would smile at him with that special warmth actually reaching his crinkled crimson eyes this time—

"Silver?" His father's cheerful voice rings out suddenly through their quiet home, a clattering noise resounding from the front room. "Your dear old papa is home, and with dinner too~"

With a flustered start, Silver hurriedly hides the bracelet under the soft mounds of his pillows before his father's clever ears could sense a ruse, secure for now in the stacks of plump feathery down. Hastily clambering to his feet, it's with equal caution and welcome that he peeks out around the corner of the hallway at the grinning figure, scanning the room warily for any kind of noxious, smoking dish that might signal gastro-related doom for the evening. Finding none, that small smile breaks over his face once again, and he darts eagerly out to fall into the safe embrace of his father's arms around him, face pressed snugly into the fae's stomach.

"Welcome home, Papa," he murmurs into the wine-red tunic, lifting up his chin to beam shyly up at that pointed face. "Was your visit to the castle well? Did you get to see Malleus-sama while you were there?"

Dark, gentle talons stroke through his silvery locks, and his father's sharp features somehow softens as he allows Silver to cling to his middle, directing them both smoothly to the kitchen.

"Yes, yes to all things, child— Malleus sends his best wishes, and wanted me to tell you that he is greatly appreciative of your latest artwork. 'A most fearsome depiction of a gargoyle he had not seen before' I believe were his exact words," his father chortles while Silver hides a confused frown— gargoyle? Hadn't Malleus-sama realized it was a drawing of him as a dragon? He better practice his drawing skills as much as his handwriting now . . .

"And because the Queen kept me so long, I was able to sway her into sending me home with fresh dishes from their kitchens in apology to my little beast at home," Papa gently tweaks at his nose and Silver laughs unexpectedly, playfully batting the fae's hand away as his eyes light up with delight at the prospect of having a meal from the castle tonight. The kitchen table is lined with several sealed tureens and what looks to be a marvelous example of a cake, studded high with generous pieces of dried fruit.

"Really, Papa?! This is all for us?" It's even better than he could have hoped for! They'd have so much left over for tomorrow, and his father wouldn't even have to think about 'cooking' to celebrate this new holiday, they could simply dine on delicious leftovers with plenty of dessert to share!

"All for you," his papa corrects with a smile, and Silver blinks up at him as the fae delicately extracts himself from Silver's embrace.

"I'll be leaving tomorrow morning for a few days on an errand from Her Majesty, so this ought to tide you over in the meantime. I really did think I could whip you up several nutritional potions to keep you hale and hearty, but with how long the discussions took today, I just simply did not have the time. Perhaps we ought to invest in that strange refrigerator contraption that the Zigvolts use so that we don't run into these situations in the future, I wonder if it could be modified to run on magic—"

But Silver hears none of his father's merry ramblings, swallowing down the devastated feeling in his stomach as he's pushed numbly towards the table to receive a heaping plateful of what should have been fragrant, enticing food. All he can think of is the innocuous little bracelet resting underneath his pillows, and even the cake crumbles to ash in his mouth along with the visions of spending a wonderful day with just his father by his side.

For how would they ever celebrate together now?

Any mallesil fic recommendation?

Of course! :) Let me just preface this by saying that I have read literally everything in the Malleus/Silver tag in AO3—and have thoroughly enjoyed seeing what everyone comes up with!—but here are a few of my favorites (which, let's be real, is like a fourth of the fics posted because we're all so starved for content TT).

This one's in Spanish, but thanks to Google Translate, you too can enjoy the wonders of yandere Malleus...! Also, the author has started to translate some of their works into English, so you should definitely check those out, as well.

Unfortunately, most of their fics are only available to those with an AO3 account, so if you have one, I'd also recommend looking at Most Precious of Joys, Reflection, and The Perfect Puppy. Honestly, just everything they write, they're so good. ^^

Since I'm not sure if you're alright with NSFW works, here's a separate section for Mature/Explicit fics:

This fic is a part of a series, but here's the one I love the most. :)

Okay, so this one's actually a SebeSil fic, but since there are MalleSil undertones (cough voyeurism cough), it gets an honorary mention.

Hope you find these satisfactory...! If you ever want to scream about these with me or insult my taste (TT), feel free to message me or shoot another ask!!

Wow, Sebek is a little dick (I say lovingly), but housewife Silver??? I think you’re onto something here… :)

Wow, this Endless Halloween Night event is really showing us the... less savory sides of Lilia’s parenting.  And while I do enjoy the insight into his character, showing that he’s not the perfect, omniscient father that a lot of the fandom portrays him as—myself included ^^;—it’s still somewhat unsettling to see.

Are we finally going to get a more serious glimpse into how his distance and lesser capacity to empathize (cough Silver’s first birthday SSR cough) have affected his son in Book Seven? I really hope so... It would be very interesting to explore what morals, emotions, and relationships on the whole, particularly familial ones, mean to the fae.  Do they place the same importance on blood ties that humans do?  (Judging from Sebek’s eagerness to denounce his mortal side, this might not be the case...)  What even is the meaning of such fleeting matters in the face of eternity?

Or perhaps his willingness to leave Silver alone is something that stems more from circumstance; after spending so long trapped in a never-ending cycle of war and death, leaving a child to navigate the world on their lonesome may simply feel like the norm.  After all, when was the last time they got to experience the warm comfort of a parent’s coddling embrace?

But, whatever the case, let’s take this seriously, twst...!  We don’t need any more “jokes” about something that can be genuinely concerning and hurtful—not that I’m referencing any situations in particular, of course—when we can have some scrumptious angst for Silver instead.

Besides, how else are we going to get a final, parting line from Lilia, whispering, “I’m sorry, Silver.  I never meant to fail you this way... my dear son...” as he looks upon his beautiful child one last time? :’)

Hello again! This time can I ask you about Vil x Silver? I think it's a truly rare ship. I've never found fanarts about them, but they both have a lot of interesting interactions, especially at the last Fairy Gala If

Ahh, yes, another rarepair to cry about...!  I never expected the Fairy Gala IF event to have so much good food for them, but dammit I’m so glad it did!

Personally, I started shipping them after reading Silver’s PE Uniform vignette.  As proven by that and now the Fairy Gala event, both of them find each other extremely pretty—and what makes for a better relationship than two attractive boys mashed together? :)  Okay, but all jokes aside, I think that they would genuinely make for an intriguing couple.  Both of them are very diligent when it comes to their respective fields of interest; they take everything seriously and don’t tolerate slackers.  I think that once they find a common ground to meet on—which would be, as I envision it, working out—there will be a mutual respect and acknowledgement between them.

Now, as for romantic development... canonically, Vil sees potential in Silver as a stuntman and a model (technically, he wanted him as an actor first, but given his admiration of Silver’s face and his distaste for his acting, I’m gonna just sum that up as modeling).  Therefore, it’s highly possible that he decides to connect with his underclassman again to hone his skills at some point in the future.  Silver, being the sweet bean that he is, will of course go along with whatever plan he concocts, to the best of his ability.  This leads to more time spent together and thus inevitable bonding...!  Unlike the boys in his dorm, Vil finds Silver’s nonchalance to be a breath of fresh air—though he takes pride in his appearance regardless, there’s not that same sense of obligation to be perfect, especially since such matters don’t concern Silver.  This allows him the space to let more of his real self and imperfections shine through.  Silver, on the other hand, thinks of him as admirably dedicated figure whom he can learn much from.  Every lecture that he receives on grooming and personal hygiene, he absorbs with utmost seriousness.  As he comes to find, Vil is a great mentor.

Once their relationship is made official—which occurs after Vil finally summons the humility to confess—they start off with some somewhat formal courting.  Both of them are definitely gift-givers.  In Silver’s SSR Birthday Boy Card, he mentions receiving a hair care kit from Vil.  I’d like to think that they continue on this trend, with Vil giving him cosmetic products and clothing that he thinks suits him, while he gives him flowers and trinkets that complements his looks in return; some of these are even worn to photoshoots, whenever Vil has the liberty to do so.  Unfortunately, Silver doesn’t have much of an eye for fashion, but the gesture is appreciated nonetheless.  Vil will also post about their dates on MagiCam.  At first, he’s actually pretty hesitant about it; though he knows Silver would never intentionally try to steal the spotlight from him, he doesn’t want another Neige situation.  Eventually, however, his love for his boyfriend wins out, as well as his appreciation for beauty, and his already numerous following soon skyrockets.

—Okay, a quick addendum on the MagiCam posting.  Truthfully, I don’t think that there’d be a high chance that Vil makes details of his private life known to his fans, as he’s a seasoned celebrity and all that, but for the sake of fun and character development, I’m sticking with that headcanon.  Besides, who’s to say that you can’t have two contradictory headcanons coexisting?  Who knows, maybe Vil has a private account he can use instead.

Anyway... AU time!  Because they’d be such a power couple, here’s an obligatory Actor/Model AU.  (Actually, this could really just be an extension of canon, but because Silver’s so set on being Malleus’ guard, I’m categorizing it as an AU.)  Vil would obviously be the super famous idol that everyone adores, while Silver would be an up-and-coming model whose agent is looking to expand his sphere of influence.  Somehow, in true BL fashion, they end up working together on a joint project.  In this case, it’s a reality TV show.  Vil is aghast at how blunt and utterly charmless Silver is in real life.  To save face, he takes this strange fledgling under his wing, only to have said fledgling seemingly “imprint” on him.  Soon, he finds Silver everywhere, seeking him out to say hi whenever he gets the chance.  It’s not until Vil discovers just how awfully Silver is being exploited by the entertainment industry that he returns the friendly gestures in kind.  Because of how hopelessly naive his junior is, it’s up to him to protect the admittedly cute boy from any cutthroat competitors.

I think it would also be fun to throw the two of them into an action-packed sort of setting.  Just imagine it... them in suits and shades... but I digress.  In this AU, Vil—who is still a model because I have no creativity whatsoever—hires Silver as a bodyguard for an upcoming banquet.  It’s mostly for show, as no one really expects anything to happen at a gathering for the high-ranking members of society... until something does.  Suddenly, half the crowd is dead and Silver has fled from the building with Vil in his arms.  They need to lie low for a while, Silver advises once they’re holed up in a hotel, but fate has other plans for them.  Eventually, it becomes apparent that the murderer has been searching for Vil in particular and will stop at nothing to get to him.  Cue the badass attire, cool guns, and high-speed races in sports cars.  After it dawns on Vil that for the first time in his life he has someone to rely on, romance blossoms as well.  Silver, meanwhile, is a simple, underpaid man who’s just trying to do his job—let more one-sided pining commence.

Alright, last but hopefully not least, a Snow White AU.  Vil, the so-called “Evil Queen,” is known among his subjects as a fiendish figure absolutely obsessed with beauty.  But while it is true that he admires lovely things a bit more than most, the source of these rumors is actually his own husband, with whom he was forced into an arranged marriage with.  His husband, the king, has been long since dissatisfied with Vil’s affection, or rather lack thereof.  As a result, he seeks revenge, isolating Vil and beginning a torrent series of affairs.  Eventually, Vil is so lonely and desolate that every day spent in the castle drives him insane, until he becomes the vain, ruthless person everyone thinks he is.  Using his magic mirror, he seeks out the most beautiful person in the land as a last ditch effort to salvage his former self—if he can mold his appearance to surpass theirs, he’ll have happiness once more, or so he thinks.  Unfortunately, he is only driven mad with jealousy and rage.  In an envious fit, he sneaks out of the castle and seeks out this person, a boy named Silver who lives in the forest.  Upon actually finding him, however, Vil suddenly freezes.  The boy’s beauty truly is the fairest in the land.  He soon finds himself lured in, despite himself.  Soon, his days consist of nothing but abandoning his royal life to see Silver and his family; they have a lot more in common than he anticipated, including loneliness.  Once he realizes he’s in love, the story turns into one of revenge against the king who wronged him.

...And that’s all I have time for today.

I’m so sorry for the super late response...!  I’ve been meaning to answer for a while, but life, as usual, got in the way... Hopefully this proves satisfactory and reading it gives you as much of a seratonin boost as I got from writing it!

Warnings: Major Character Death // uhhhh inspired by this post regarding the wild ch7 theory with @bluelightning16

(He wonders, vaguely, if this is how it feels to watch a star die.)

Malleus does not go quickly, nor without a fight. He is as raw in his effervescent rage, stunning in his vicious movements as Silver is pitiful in his wretched, but yet, inevitable betrayal. If he could allow himself the pleasure of the moment, he might have taken the time to console the other fae (more monster than man / more dragon than fae, isn't he, Silver?) who once bore the title of Prince, who seemed almost to be staring up in accusatory judgement with every magic-laden twist of his fingers and glistening emerald hum flames directed at this lowly individual.

(Was there still any humanity left in Silver now to mourn not only the death of himself but of another long gone and who now stood before him as recognizable as a ghost?)

It is easier this way, and he wonders if Malleus understands that Silver's doing him a blessing, a favor on behalf of his dead father and mother now silenced and stilled in blissful dreams. He’s offering him a quick death and the last glimpse of his own knight fulfilling his destiny.

(Not all who have crossed his path and still remain yet to come have be so lucky.)

There is something so awe-inspiring about the whole morbidly dreary event, watching the life bleed itself out from once vividly bright eyes that seem to be reflecting the dim lighting all the brighter with each second that ticks away against his soul. He feels as if he’s witnessing the death of something greater, as if a part of the universe is mourning the loss of what a great prince could have been, taken away by Silver's very fingertips that now rest gracefully in a familial manner across a scaled throat.

(Did you ever wonder what it would feel like, Malleus-sama? To burn in your own inheritance?)

Silver can feel every pulsing breath that flutters underneath his palm like the wings of a hummingbird, the faint, whistling death knells that make Malleus sing like one. It is most odd then, when he lifts his trembling fingers from Malleus and takes a shuddering step back to fall on his knees besides the still forms of Lilia and Sebek that he takes another glance at the body below him and is struck with the startling clarity of how small and powerless it appears. It is strange how he used to think that it was once something so great and fearsome.

(He raises his hands to touch at his own cheeks, the Queen's cold fingers cupping them and whispering that he has done well; there is wetness there, as if the very stars themselves have laid diamond dust upon his skin.)