#Bc the story for this island was actually that you were sent to close the vault to seal the dragon back inside | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

noctumbra · 3 years

Text

intentional

summary ─ “fuck him,” you muttered. “fuck him sideways.”

pairing ─ avenger!alpha!bucky barnes x omega!reader

warnings ─ smut, +18, a/b/o dynamics, mutual pining, flirting, kissing, light choking (:d), rough sex, getting together, heat/rut sex, scenting, idiots in love

a/n ─ blame seb for that ig story picture. it made me do it. but seriously, can he choke me. anyway sfjdsjf hope you like it! leave a comment if you do! thankl youuuu <333 (italic is bucky, bold is reader) enjoy this 5.6k monstrosity.

You and Bucky had been flirting for some time, but it was more of a friendly flirting rather than something more. He would call you cute pet names and let you play with his hair on movie nights, and you would let him cuddle or hug you whenever he needed touch. You liked spending time and having a lot of fun with him.

Sometimes you scented each other, too.

His scent was reminding you all kinds of things that you considered safety and homey, so you never said ‘no’ when he wanted to scent you. He let you scent him back most of the time and you used it on his behalf; scenting him when he felt anxious, letting him bury his nose into your neck so that he’d calm down after a brutal mission or nightmare. It worked well for both of you.

Sometimes, though, you wished something more from him. There were times where you wanted him to kiss you, to pull you flush against his muscle-clad, big and warm body and to touch you like that. You wanted to know how his arousal smelled like up-close, but you were valuing your friendship a bit too much to make a move; you were afraid that you’d lose him, and you couldn’t take the risk.

So, you kept it to yourself.

Times went by while both of you went on with your cute flirting and occasional hair-playing and cuddle/hug and scenting game. You knew you should have stopped scenting him back, you didn’t want to get in between him and his potential mate, since he’d been seeing other women sometimes. You overheard him and Sam talking about Tinder and getting dates from there. You also saw him carrying a gorgeous blonde to his room while kissing the daylight out of her.

You wanted so badly to be her, but it was just not possible. You knew it.

Sighing to yourself, you wiggled under your thick duvet, burying your body into the bed even more. It was way too late for you to be awake, but you couldn’t sleep. Your bed was comfy, warm and you put your duvet into a position that got you looking like a burrito. You were supposed to be passed out with these beautiful conditions, but your body was too hot, you felt too itchy to go to sleep. Your heat was close. You could sense it; you were in the pre-heat phase and you had about two days until it hit you.

You growled to yourself angrily a little as you wiggled a bit more. Your head was partially under your pillow when you heard your phone ping-ing. Frowning, you stuck your hand out to grab it, seeing that you had one unread message. You opened it.

“Oh, fuck,” you moaned out accidentally when you saw what it was.

It was Bucky. He was shirtless and had his dog tags on. He was holding a cup in his big hands. All the muscles and veins were visible and bulging. He had a flirtatious look on his face. He seemed to wearing thin basketball shorts under, but they did very little to hide whatever he was… hiding there.

“Shit,” you whimpered. Your face was heating up rapidly. You felt your body was ready to burst, explode, whatever. Your heart was beating in your mouth. You could feel your pussy getting wet and even throb a little. You swallowed the spit that collected in your mouth when you heard another ping.

ah, shit, sorry, doll. i meant to send that to someone else.

Well, you thought and sighed.

“It’s not fair,” you whined and inched down on your bed, your legs spreading themselves instinctively. You bit your lip. You could finally make a move and say something suggestive, or you could just… chicken out. “Fuck him,” you muttered. “Fuck him sideways.” Your phone ping-ed again.

how is it look, though? i’m not sure about sending it rn

i think i’m chickening out

You rolled your eyes as his texts. Of course he didn’t like the picture where he looked so fucking sexy.

no, you look good, you texted him back. you look damn good, actually. idk why you’re chickening out. You saw the three dots that were inclining that he was writing and waited.

i dunno, he sent. she’s real nice, ya know. i don’t wanna fuck up

“Fuck whoever she is,” you whispered. “Fuck her if she thinks you’re fucking up when you send her a picture like this.”

why would sending a shirtless pic make you fuck up anyways?

she might think i’m a bit forward? idk honey i really care about her and i don’t want her to think i’m only talking to her bc i wanna fuck her ‘til she passes out.

“What the fuck,” you whispered again, your eyes narrowing and scent turning into its sickly sweet self by the half-dirty talk. Bucky never said anything to you like this before. You shared almost everything, but when the subject was sex Bucky was always a bit shy. Now, though, he didn’t sound shy. “I shouldn’t find this sexy.”

well, i don’t think she’ll have a problem with that, pal. esp with that pic

hell no

The three dots appeared again.

so you’re saying that she’ll know that my only purpose isn’t fucking her through her mattress?

i mean i know this isn’t a dick pic but still

You shake your head fondly. Even when he was trying to sext with a woman, he was being a gentleman. You liked that about him. He was always thinking how the other person would feel if his actions were to get misunderstood. It was cute.

you’re cute, you sent. she’ll understand.

Dots appeared but disappeared a second later. It repeated itself for a couple time before it totally vanished. You frowned but didn’t think too much about it. There really wasn’t much he could say to your last text, you thought. Maybe he finally sent the picture to the person who should have received it in the first place.

You took a deep breath as you looked at the picture again.

God, he was so handsome. He recently had a haircut, and it looked very good on him. He had faint stubble. When you first looked at the picture, you thought he had a flirtatious look, but actually he was just adorable. He was caught in mid-wink, you thought. His flesh hand was dwarfing the big navy colored mug he had in his hand. You knew that mug, you bought him that as a birthday gift, and it was a very big one. You never noticed how big his hands were before, but now that you knew, it was going to be hard to take your eyes away from them.

“Ugh,” you grunted, feeling the itchy sensation increasing. “Fuck me.” Locking your phone, you dropped it on your night stand. You were wet and horny, but you didn’t have any energy to touch yourself. So, you just hugged your pillow and closed your eyes.

──

The morning found you pouring yourself a cereal with still sleepy eyes. The sun was shining brightly, the kitchen was quiet and it seemed like you were the only living creature in the tower. You yawned as you put the cereal box down and poured some milk into your bowl. You perched yourself onto the chair by the kitchen island and dug into your cereal.

You had… vivid dreams last night. It included a pair of hands touching your naked skin, blur of colors and some moaning. You vaguely remembered that there were hushed whispers of a little dirty talk, but the details blurred as soon as you woke up.

That meant you were even achier than last night. You grunted into your cereal.

“Hey,” you heard someone murmur and jumped, it was Bucky. He looked like he just came back from a run. “Shit, sorry,” Bucky muttered. “Didn’t mean to scare you.” You shrugged as you slurped the last of your cereal. With the corner of your eyes, you saw his nostrils flare and realized he was scenting the air. “Y’alright, doll?”

“Mmhm, just achy,” you murmured and carried your bowl to the sink. Bucky stayed silent and watched you washing your bowl and rolling your shoulders a couple times. He could smell your scent; it was content but somehow… off. He also knew your heat was close. Your scent was too sweet albeit being a little off, it was like he just stepped into a bakery and got hit with freshly baked goods. It was mouthwatering. Eyes narrowing, Bucky murmured a silent ‘fuck it’ to himself, he stepped behind you.

“You seem awfully tense, honey,” Bucky muttered into your ear as he pressed his body to yours. “Couldn’t sleep well?” You tensed. You could feel the heat coming off of his body, could smell his clean sweat, cologne and his own musk; it was woody and fresh: like a bonfire in the middle of a forest. More importantly, you could feel all the muscles and ridges on his body against yours.

“Somethin’ like that,” you whispered. Bucky cooed at you softly. His arms wound themselves around your waist, pulling you in and making you rest your body against his. His scent surrounded you in a second, and you felt like you were being cocooned in your bed by your soft blankets.

“Breathe with me, love,” he murmured. “It will help you loosen up.” You swallowed and nodded. Feeling his chest moving behind you, you followed his movements. “That’s it,” he said, “You’re doing great.” You breathed in, in, and in and then let it ouuuut. You felt your shoulder relax a bit. “That’s it,” he whispered and─

His lips were right over your pulse. His stubble was rubbing the sensitive flesh of your neck. You shuddered uncontrollably. Bucky hushed you as his lips brushed against your skin. His hot breath was licking your neck, making the hair on your body rise. He nosed your glands there; taking lungful of your scent, Bucky grumbled to himself about how good you smell.

With a small grunt of his, he took a step forward and cornered you against the counter. You gasped.

“Hmm,” Bucky hummed, “You are tense, honey.” His lips found your jaw, his nose poked your temple and you shuddered again.

It felt like you were underwater but weren’t drowning; everything was peaceful quiet, and you were floating.

“Bucky,” you whispered. He hummed. “Bucky…” He kissed your neck, bit down on the flesh and sucked it a little. You felt your legs tremble when you felt your heat creeping in even closer and grabbed his arms around your waist for support. You tipped your head back, exposing your throat to him, and closed your eyes.

Placing kisses all over your neck, nibbling on your jaw, one of his hands grabbed your face to turn it towards him. “Tell me you don’t want it, and I’ll stop. I promise I’ll stop.” You didn’t say anything but leaned into his touch. “Tell me.”

“I want it,” you whispered, surpassing a shiver. Your heat was taking over your body, and Bucky needed the verbal confirmation before it consumed you.

“Honey,” he said softly. “Your heat is starting, do you want me to help you?” You gasped silently, realizing that you were feeling woozy a little and your vision was fuzzy around the edges, now.

“Yes,” you answered him. “Please, alpha?”

Bucky’s chest rumbled lightly with approval and captured your lips with his. You moaned into his mouth. It was as soft as it looked and was caressing yours so nicely. You whimpered as you sneaked your hand into his slightly damp hair. You craned your neck to deepen the kiss, letting your tongue join the game, too. Bucky groaned.

“Fuck, love,” he whimpered. “Your skin feels so soft under my hands, your body is so warm… Mmm, I wanna eat you right up.” You wiggled in his arms.

“Please,” you whispered. Bucky bit down on your bottom lip. His other hand sneaked into your pajama bottoms, sliding right into your panties and nudging your clit gently. You gasped loudly as Bucky cursed.

“Holy shit, honey,” Bucky groaned. “You’re wetting your pajama bottoms with your slick.” You whimpered when you felt one long digit swiping the slick that gathered between the lips of your pussy. “Is it for me?” He asked, a low growl could be heard in his voice. You nodded. Bucky tugged on your hair. “Words. Use’em.”

“Yes!” You cried out. “Yes, only for you, Bucky, yes!”

“That’s more like it,” Bucky murmured and slid two of his fingers inside you. Biting your lip to stop yourself moan loudly, your hand tightened in Bucky’s hair and you bared your throat to Bucky by the throwing your head back even more, submitting him.

The way Bucky was fingering you was relentless; two of his long and thick fingers were stroking your wet walls, crooking them to graze over your sensitive spot sometimes while the heel of his hand was pressing down on your clit. You were being stimulated from almost all your open ended nerves so perfectly, you wanted to cry.

“I wish you see how you look right now, baby,” Bucky whispered. “You’re so deep into your pleasure...” You hummed and let out a gasp when he crooked his fingers again. “You take my fingers so nicely. My hand is drenched, baby, goddamn.” He nosed your bared throat, taking deep breaths, Bucky filled his lungs with your sweet heat scent. “Gotta get you to your room, love. The whole kitchen is gonna smell like your heat if we don’t.” You whined, but you weren’t lost in your head yet, so you knew he was right. You nodded. Bucky kissed your neck and suddenly, your world was upside down.

You were thrown over his shoulder like he was a caveman and you were his prey. “Bucky!” He chuckled, his metal hand slapping your ass, he stepped into the elevator and told Jarvis to go up to your floor. He carried you like that throughout the whole trip. You got to feel his back muscles all the way to your room, though, so you thought it wasn’t so bad.

Bucky dropped you on the floor gently. You were standing right in front of your room. “I can wait here,” Bucky murmured and continued when he saw your confused look. “While you are getting nest sorted out, I can wait here.”

Your heart swelled in your chest because ain’t he the most thoughtful.

“Aww, James,” you whispered. He just smiled and tucked a strand of your hair behind your ear. “Really?” He nodded. You knew he took these kinds of things serious because he was a bit old-school, but you liked that about him very much.

“Yeah,” he said. “Actually, why don’t you go ahead and sort your nest out while I get us some water and snacks?” You placed your hand on your heart.

“A man after my stomach,” you said dreamily, making him snort. “Okay.” He kissed your neck one more time and walked back to the elevator.

You had a spring on your step as you walked inside of your room and stripping the bed from unnecessary things. You pulled out your softest linens, blankets and pillows; arranging them on the bed the way you liked, you added some extra tiny pillows. It looked inviting, personal and smelled like you strongly. You smiled, pleased with your efforts. Just as you sat down on the bed in your underwear, you had kept your oversize t-shirt though, you heard a knock.

“Come in!” You called out and saw Bucky’s smiling, handsome face. He had arms full of snacks and water bottles, he also had other things which you couldn’t figure out what. You watched him as he put the things he carried into your room on your small desk.

“I, uh,” he started, suddenly looking bashful. “I thought you might want, uh,” Bucky stammered over his words and just handed you something.

It was his blanket from his bed and the sweatshirt you saw him wearing yesterday.

“I can always put them aside or bring more, whatever you want,” Bucky hurriedly added. You shook your head as you reached and took them from him. You folded the sweatshirt and put it right next to your bed where you would be reaching something to wear after you were through, and spread the blanket on your bed, rearranging your pillows. You took your t-shirt off before you turned and faced with Bucky.

You walked up to him slowly until you were standing right in front of him. You could see his nostrils flaring, pupils dilating and him scenting the air. “Kiss me, alpha?” Bucky let out a broken sound before he pulled you against his body, his flesh hand cradling your face gently, and leaned down to give you the kiss that you asked for so nicely.

It was, hands down, the most loving and gentle kiss you’ve ever had. It was nothing like the kiss you’ve shared in the kitchen. This one was chaste. Bucky’s lips were soft, and he was kissing you like a longtime lover. Moaning lightly, you tilted your head to your side and deepened the kiss a bit; pushing up on your tiptoes and winding your arms around his neck, you felt his arms wrapping themselves around your waist one more time.

You felt amazingly consumed and caged and overwhelmed, and you were fucking loving it.

Bucky pulled back slightly. “Bed,” he commanded. His voice was rough and low. His woodsy, fresh smell had taken a sharp turn and now it was more like burning wood and citrus. You loved how forest-y his scent was. You quickly climbed on the bed, and a second later Bucky joined you.

His big body caged yours under him. The body heat this man had was driving you crazy because he was so fucking warm, it made you want to wrap yourself around him like a koala and never let go.

“Bucky…” You breathed when you felt his teeth grazing over the sensitive skin of your neck, gasped when he placed a soft bite there. His light stubble was rubbing your skin raw, but you were loving it just like everything else. You felt him press his body against yours fully as he drew in a deep breath.

“God, your scent is drivin’ me fuckin’ crazy,” he murmured and kissed his way downwards. He stopped when he came across to your bra, looking up in your eyes, he silently asked for permission to take it off. You nodded. As soon as your breasts were free from their containment, Bucky latched on to one of your nipples, making you throw your head back and moan loudly.

“Fuck!” You yelped when he bit down and sucked and did… things with his tongue. He was licking and sucking, his saliva had covered your nipple and you could hear the slurping sound. It was so sexy, the pleasure was so intense; you felt like you were about to come. Whimpering, you slid your hands in his short hair, pulling and scratching his scalp. Bucky hummed. The vibrations and the graze of his teeth made you hiss, your body was trashing beneath his strong one.

Bucky pulled back with a ‘pop’, licking his lips, his fingers toyed with your other nipple. “How are you feelin’, love?” He asked. You panted lightly as you gave him thumbs up but yelped again when he pinched your nipple. “Words,” he growled. “I told you to use them.”

“’m good,” you whimpered, nipple throbbing deliciously. “’m good, I swear, ‘m fine, alpha.” Bucky hummed at the name. He always liked being called ‘alpha’ during sex before, he was never shy to tell his partners to call him that when he wanted to end his dancing night with someone, but hearing you call him that was turning him on in a whole different level.

Growling approvingly to himself, Bucky’s fingers found the hem of your panties. Before he could ask for permission, you lifted your hips to help him remove them easily. Bucky took a hold of the flimsy fabric, quickly dragging it down your beautiful legs, he threw them somewhere in the room. You were now under him with all your naked fucking glory, and Bucky’s mouth was watering at the sight of you. His gums were hurting with the desire to claim and mark you.

“You are gorgeous, baby,” Bucky murmured, fingers trailing over your soft skin and making you shiver happily. He leaned in. His light stubble rasped against your nipple as he nosed your collarbone, licking and sucking small marks there. You sighed. Your hands were buried deep in his short hair, the fluffiness of it turning into a messy state. “You feel so good against me,” he murmured again, lips brushing over the sensitive skin of your breasts. You whimpered. The ache between your legs was getting intolerable with each passing second, and you wanted him to take you already.

“Bucky…” You breathed. “Please, Bucky, alpha, I-I can’t, it h-hurts,” you babbled, hands now clawing his strong and wide shoulders. Quickly, Bucky shushed you with kisses, murmured filthy nonsense into your ear as he trailed one hand down your front. You gasped when his fingers brushed against your clit. It was already so sensitive and throbbing and aching─

“So wet,” Bucky whispered. “I’m gonna taste it later.” He brushed his fingers up and down for a couple times and pulled his hand back. “Now, we make your hurting stop, love.” You nodded. Your eyes were half-closed, you looked debauched without Bucky doing anything properly yet, and more importantly you looked drunk with only a couple kisses and touching from him.

If that ain’t the best kind of ego boost, I don’t know what is, Bucky thought to himself as he bit his lip and removed his clothes. Your sweet heat scent was filling his lungs and the room, and making him feel lightheaded. His skin was prickling with the intensity of your scent. He knew very well no matter how many times he’d shower that he would be smelling like you even days after your heat ended. Honestly, that would be a dream come true for Bucky.

His crush on you was getting stronger rather than dying down. He had tried dating with other people, hooking up or just spend his rut with at least a partner, but he just couldn’t because his body was yearning yours. His lungs were desperate for your sweet, calming scent filling them, his fingers were itching to feel your skin, and his lips were tingling to meet with yours… His whole body had been wanting you, no one else had made him feel this way before.

“God, Y/N,” Bucky breathed. His eyes were now fully black, face darkened with lust and his body heat had increased. He was about to enter his rut, he knew it. Bucky leaned forward and licked a fat line from your collarbone to all the way up to your ear, making your bonding glands throb. You gasped at the feeling.

“Fuck, Bucky!” You sighed, eyes screwed shut. Bucky hummed. His fingers moved south, were quick to find your dripping and aching core, he slipped two of his fingers in you. You moaned. His fingers were moving in and out of you rapidly, thumb pressing lightly on your clit. He could feel the poor thing throb beneath his fingertip, Bucky chuckled against your throat and nipped the skin there. You moaned one more time, but louder, your nails dug them deep into Bucky’s meaty shoulders. Bucky hissed at the slight pain, but all the pain during sex was welcomed in his book.

Bucky pulled his fingers out and pushed off of you, ignoring your little whines. “Present,” he ordered, his voice was still soft even though his commanding tone. Whimpering, you flipped onto your tummy, pressed your chest against the soft linens beneath you and lifted your ass high up on the air. Bucky groaned. “Damn, kitten,” he whispered. You shivered. He placed his hands on your ass, and then moved them up, up, up and slid one of them into your hair. “Do I need a condom?” You nodded.

“Birth control is no good for me,” you panted lightly. Bucky nodded, pressing a kiss on your cheek, he leaned sideways to grab a condom from his bedside drawer. You rubbed your face, wiggled your hips and fisted the bedding as Bucky put on the condom. As soon as he was done, he walked closer to you on his knees and immediately draped his body onto yours. You sighed at the skin-to-skin contact.

“Tell me if you want to or need me to stop because you don’t like what we’re doing, alright?” Bucky murmured. You nodded.

“I will,” you slurred slightly and earned another kiss on your cheek. You hummed happily. You felt the blunt tip of his cock against your wet folds and held your breath. With a smooth, slow thrust of his hips, Bucky slid into you. “Fuuuck,” you sighed, eyes closed and mouth open, drooling just a little bit. The ache in your core was disappeared as soon as Bucky filled you up.

“Goddamn,” Bucky gritted. Your pussy was hugging his hard as hell cock so nicely, Bucky felt like he was being wrapped with the softest blankets to ever exist. Falling onto his elbows, Bucky placed kisses on your bare shoulders. He moved his arms carefully and wrapped them around your torso. One of his hands was wrapped lightly around your neck, and you felt another flame taking over your body with the feeling.

“Move,” you whispered. “Alpha, please, move.” Bucky shushed you gently. Never stopping peppering kisses on your shoulder, neck and cheek, Bucky moved his hips slowly at first. You gasped, head thrown back on Bucky’s shoulder, you closed your eyes.

Your mind was fogged, body wrung tight with sexual frustration and the coil in your belly was burning hotter each passing second. You could feel your heat taking over your body. Bucky’s strong scent was covered with the traces of faint rut, and his scent was clogging up all your senses.

It felt magnificent.

“Alpha,” you moaned when his cock touched a spot in you, your body suddenly waking up. Bucky grunted. His rut was making him a little non-verbal, but he was okay with it. “Faster,” you whimpered. “Faster, harder, alpha, fuck!” The breath knocked out of your lungs with Bucky’s hard thrust.

Grunting and rumbling deep in his chest, Bucky started slamming into you. Your slick was now covering his inner thighs and groin, making these obscene sounds to echo in your room and your skin to stuck each other whenever Bucky’s pelvis kissed yours. You whimpered. Your body was both loosening up and tightening even more as Bucky’s thrusts became harder and deeper. Your body was melting under his, muscles were getting lax because of the rut scent and soft rumbles Bucky was occasionally letting out.

“Mmm,” Bucky hummed, nose poking your bonding glands. “You smell so good, omega,” he murmured, and you shuddered under him. Bucky chuckled darkly. His hot breath licked over your pulse. His short fangs grazed over the sensitive skin, tongue poking out to lick and suck as his pace turned into even something more feral. The sound of skin slapping skin was so loud, you were deafened by it.

You whimpered when you felt his teeth again. You had no fear of Bucky mating you, you knew him enough to know that he wouldn’t do that, but feeling him dragging his fangs up and down like that on your bonding glands was incredibly turning you on. You grabbed onto his arms when he slightly straightened up so that he could drive in you deeper.

“Shit,” you gasped. Bucky growled. His arms around your neck tightened its hold a bit, enough to make you feel every drag of oxygen. “Fuck, Bucky─” His cock was driving in and out of you at a mad pace, balls slapping against your clit and obscene sounds of your wet pussy was driving you even crazier.

With a snarl, Bucky pulled you up against him, flipping you on your back in a matter of seconds. When he slid into your once again, you felt the bulge of his knot at the base of his cock. You gasped, looking down, your mouth hung open on its own. Bucky chuckled.

“That mouth of yours is hungry, ain’t it?” He asked, a filthy smirk on his face. You tried to swallow the spit, but he didn’t let you. He stuffed three of his metal fingers into your mouth. “Suck on’em, honey,” he ordered lovingly. You moaned as you did what you were being told and felt his pace falter for a second. “Fuck.” You hummed around his fingers. His rut scent getting stronger, covering your body, your bed and leaving its mark deep into your bones, you felt like a cat under the sun.

Bucky placed his flesh hand on your pussy. His hips were moving with a rapid pace, your fluids were mixing with his. His thumb found your clit and started to play with it. You cried out. your back arching, you moaned around his fingers, your pussy tightening on his cock. Bucky gasped and grunted. His balls were hurting because of how full they were.

“Come for me,” he whispered. “Fuckin’ come for me, omega,” his harsh whispering voice commanded. You felt your eyes roll back as the pleasure and blinding orgasm took over your body. Bucky cursed as he felt your mouth watering even more around his fingers, pussy walls clamping on his cock and knot. Gasping, Bucky leaned in and pulled his fingers out your mouth so that he could kiss you. Bucky was so close, so fucking close─

“Mmm,” you hummed into his kiss. “C’me f’r me, alpha,” you murmured, placing sloppy kisses on his mouth. “C’mon, breed me, fill me up, make a mess─”

Groaning loudly, Bucky slammed forward one last time before he felt his knot popped. His balls seized so hard, Bucky let out a wounded sound. You shushed him. Placing your hands on his face, you kissed him. He sighed into the kiss as he thrusted in and out of you slowly, fucking his come deeper into you.

“Fuck, honey,” Bucky breathed out when the intense part of his orgasm washed away. You smiled, kissing him again. Bucky kissed you back soundly. “Damn, I’ve never come that hard before,” he said, chuckling.

“Good,” you said. Your scent flaring up with smugness, Bucky laughed.

“Yeah, alright, you’re possessive,” he said with a smile on his face. You felt your cheeks heat up and ducked your head. Bucky continued to smile but couldn’t stop himself from leaning down for another kiss.

After a couple minutes of lazy make-out, Bucky carefully re-arranged your positions so that he could cuddle you without crushing you. You lay like that in silence, feeling content. Your heat and his rut had diminished for the time being, giving you some time to recover. You were playing with his metal hand when the thought struck you.

“Hey,” you murmured, and Bucky hummed as an answer. “What did she say?” You asked him. He made a confused sound.

“Who? About what?”

“You sent me a picture last night and said you were chickening out because she was real nice and you don’t wanna fuck it up,” you explained, a little bit jealousy slipping into your scent. “Did you send her the picture? What did she say?” You felt him freeze momentarily, but then he let out a small chuckle.

“I sent it, yes,” he said. “She said that I look damn good and that I can’t fuck this thing up, not with that picture, and that I’m cute and she’ll understand why I sent it.”

You froze.

“It was intentional,” you murmured. Bucky hummed in approval, kissing your shoulder and tightening his arms around you. “You asshole,” you shrieked, hitting his arm. “You could have just come to me!” Bucky laughed as you hit him again.

“I’m sorry!” He said. “I actually didn’t mean to send you that picture, I swear. I hit send accidentally, but I also said ‘might as well’ afterwards, so,” he murmured, shrugging.

“God, I can’t believe this,” you grumbled. Bucky nuzzled your neck. “I couldn’t sleep last night because of that picture,” you admitted.

Bucky frowned. “Why?”

“I was horny, Bucky,” you said. Bucky let out a loud laugh.

“I’m sorry, sweetheart,” he murmured, but you knew he wasn’t sorry at all.

“No, you’re not,” you rolled your eyes, pouting at the same time.

“No, I’m not,” he agreed, slowly moving on top of you. “I can make it up, though…” Kissing your cheek, he poked your nose with his playfully. “You said you were horny, right? How about I do something about that?” You smirked.

“I’m in heat, Barnes,” you said. “You better make it up to me.” Bucky smirked right back at you.

“Your wish is my command, m’Queen,” he said, sweeping you into a passionate kiss.

──

tell me what you think please!!

#bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes smut #bucky barnes fanfiction #bucky barnes imagines #bucky barnes fluff #bucky barnes angst #bucky barnes x you #avenger!bucky barnes x reader #alpha!bucky barnes x omega!reader #alpha bucky barnes #a/b/o dynamics #intentional

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bloodycassian · 3 years

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COLD NIGHTS - Cassian x Azriel x Reader - Prompt:

hi i love your work so much!!! I was thinking a cassian x azriel x reader (i just love them sm, why have one when you can have two ) where the reader is sister of a high lord maybe day or winter court, and reader goes missing (kinda angsty) and her brother (a high lord) panics and goes to the night court for help (bc if her two bat boys can’t find her who will) and az and cassian go full on panic mode and search for the reader, i was also thinking a fluffy cute ending where reader is just cuddling with azriel and cassian while her wounds heal take as much time as you need to write this, don’t pressure yourself. Take care lovely

Kallis would never forget the screams. The terror and panic that rushed through him when he realised that you were gone. He sent half the city to search for you. He called upon Helion to inspect the magic. He was frantic in finding you. But it was like you had just disappeared out of nowhere. No sign of struggle, not a drop of blood spilled. The offender was sloppy in their ways, but their magic was strong. Helion could sense it. They had a deathwish from Kallis himself if he ever found them. + The first thing you saw were your cracked and bloody hands. They were split open from the dry cold wind. Sea air drifted into the cave. The cold brutal howling outside mixed with the roar of waves breaking confirmed your nightmares. Cape Tragedy.

The islands off the coast of winter were known for their unforgiving nature to ships. Hence their name, Cape Tragedy. Also known as the Tragic coast, no stories were ever heard of any survivors of those crashes. If they had managed to survive the churning water, then the false salvation of the islands would kill them. It happened often enough that there were lighthouses set atop many of the bigger islands for ships to avoid on stormy days.

You coughed from the dry air, earning a pair of yellow eyes to dart to you. One of the three lesser fae males noticed you were awake and clapped. "She wakes! We've been waiting for you, sweetheart." His green skin was pale in the overcast light streaming in from the mouth of the cave. Snow Bear pelts lay all around. A disgrace in your culture. No citizen of Winter court would do such a thing. You looked to the walls to find weapons, and strange markings along the stone. Sailors from far away lands.

Not even sailors. Pirates. A chill ran through you.

"We're going to get your weight in gold, pretty one." The scaled male curled a piece of your hair behind you ear. Your stomach turned, and you tried to scoot away. "My brother will kill you first. And he'll take a long time doing it." You promised, trying to make your voice sound strong. Terror had you by it's grip though, and it was hard to do anything other than panic

. "Your brother? The pretty one that shears the Elk?" The green one asked. You laughed, and then were hissing in pain when the scaled male yanked on your hair. "What's so funny?"

"You think my brother is an elk herder?" You spat "You must be dumber than you look." The males glanced between each other, then to the one who hadn't said anything yet.

"Who ye think you are then?" The male holding your hair stammered, trying to keep his panic under wraps.

"Kallis' sister." You said with deadly calm. "And the high lord does not negotiate."

"If you're so noble why you got such a mouth on ye?" The third male finally spoke.

They laughed.

"Maybe we will see just how much of a mouth-" He started again. He didnt have a chance to finish his disgusting words. You kicked, bending an ice spear straight up from the rocky ice floor and through the third male's body. Then the beating from the other two came.

They bound your wrists and ankles in rope and tar. Their hands shook when they did it. It gave you a small bit of satisfaction. The potion they gave you to knock you out was just barely strong enough. You fought it as best you could, but it won. You could only hear the faint sounds of arguing then a crash of glass, then the cold winds whipping around you. And when you woke, your body ached. The cold bit into your limbs. Your fingers were pale. Far too pale to be healthy. You knew frostbite when you saw it. Your body refused to move under your own power. Your blood was frozen to the icy ground. They had used a potion and transported you to a peninsula, and you could only faintly hear the ocean below. You could feel the potion wearing off, but you knew you weren't healing. Not yet. You reached down into your own mind, picking up the fading tendrils of power. Of your bond to the two you knew could save you. And you pulled as hard as you could manage. --- "Fuck." The roaring thought shook Cassian awake. Bleary eyed, he glanced about the room as if there was someone actually shouting at him. Then he felt it. The weak tug that had been silent for so long. And he knew it was nothing good. Frenzied, he met Azriel at the dining area. Where they spent the rest of the night planning, deducing a probable reason for you to be calling so weakly. They sent their worries to Rhys, but they were shooed away. "I'm researching. Meet me in the library at dawn." The two males tried to comfort each other. But the worry pulsating through the bond was too much to focus on. So they waited. Kallis appeared that morning. He spat his story and begged for help, practically in tears as he spoke to the three Illyrians. Cassian and Az knew something was wrong the moment you were attacked. Court laws forbade them interfering on Winter Court territory though. As soon as the approval was given, the brothers winnowed to the border of Winter and started flying. + You were coming to terms that you would die in the cold. You had imagined death differently. Battle was the primary way you thought you'd die. Or at the end of a High Lord's magic for being too much of an advisor. Smiling at the memory of putting Tamlin in his place, you gave another tug down the bonds to your mates. And like a snap, they both tugged back. Almost in unison. It was hard to tell. You closed your eyes, listening to the soft waves below. They lulled you into a cold sleep yet again. + Despite the cold, the Illyrians flew as fast as they could. They could sense your light fading, and chased it for mile after mile. Their wings cut through the harsh winter winds, fueled by rage and desperation. Then they spotted the dark figure frozen to the snow below. Cassian landed first, a few feet away. The ice cracked beneath him. "Get us out of here." He growled to Azriel. "We need to make sure she's okay before we move." Cassian growled, but didn't protest. Azriel understood. He felt the anguish and frustration through the shared bond. Az's hands pressed gently to your neck, checking your pulse. He swore. "Baby, we need you to wake up for us. We're here. We got you." Cassian put a hand to your cheek and fought back the tears that threatened. You groaned in response. They both sighed in relief, their breath making clouds in front of them. "I'm stuck..." You managed through your stiff jaw. Cassian stroked a thumb over your cheek. "Stuck? Honey you're-" "Cas..." Azriel nodded to your side, to the ice that crept its way up your damp clothes. Azriel could have taken a very very long time torturing the beasts that did this to his mate. The rage coiled in his gut at the sight of your injuries. The only reason you hadn't bled out was the blood and water mix turning your wounds to ice. Cassian pulled at the ice web that encapsulated you. Under the heat of his rage it broke, and broke and broke. Azriel placed small patches of his shield over your frostbitten fingers. "We're gonna get you out of here. Just stay still." Azriel smoothed back your hair, and darkness swirled over you. The change from the harsh overcast light of Winter court to the soft sun of Night court was jarring. Madja put her hands on you and you were asleep in an instant. Her warm hands were a blessing from the Mother. + "She's lucky she has that Winter blood in her or she'd be dead." Madja wiped her hands off and handed both the Illyrians a small vial. "That is the scrap from a poisoned sword that broke off in her shoulder. I got all the pieces out, but the poison lingers. It may heal slowly, but it should get better." Anguish burned both of their stomachs. Azriel's throat tightened and he looked away, but gripped the vial tightly. Cassian stared at it, his eyes murderous. Madja left without another word. "She was almost killed. And we couldn't do anything." Cassians' voice was low, with violence dripping from it. "We need her here. In Velaris where we can... watch her." He didn't know what he was saying, but the instinct to protect was overriding every other logical thought he had. Anger burned and burned in his stomach, swallowing him with rage. He could feel Az mirroring the same feeling, but with a cold deadliness that begged to simmer out of him. "You know she wont go for that. She loves her home too much. Her brother." Azriel whispered back. "We're her mates. She should be with us." Cassian was looking for a fight. All the tension and anger of the day had to be worked out. Azriel felt it too. His shadows ran anxiously through the room.

The wind outside howled. It shifted the dark clouds that covered the moon. It seemed to be a cold day in all of Prythian. A cold day in your mates hearts to the pirates that had taken you. They spoke their rage mind to mind, imagining the ways to torture the bastards.

How to find them would be the first priority. Azriel kept circling back to that part. + The healer cleared his throat at the door. "She's asking for you." He nodded to Rhys' brothers. They left Rhys behind in unison, walking in perfect step with each other. Their minds hummed together over that bond they shared with you. "Protect protect protect." They both seemed to demand. Azriel knocked softly, his heart flipping when he heard your voice again. "Get in here." You demanded, giving them a broad smile when they practically shoved each other out of the way.

"Come keep me warm." You weakly folded the blanket back, exposing some of the bruising on your skin.

They complied with enthusiasm. Azriel's hands were cold at first, but they got better when he reached around you to hold Cassian closer. They worked in tandem to keep you covered, making sure that you weren't too crowded or too warm. Azriel summoned his cool shadows when you got too warm and had to kick the blankets off. Cassian's warm breath would keep you warm when they became too much. You traced Azriel's cheekbones, the sharp edge of his jaw while falling alseep. Cassian's muscled forearms hugging you from behind were like a heavy pillow.

"Rest now, we can have more fun later." Az winked, making your stomach flutter. Cassian groaned and pulled you further to his lap. You tried not to think of the hardness that pressed to you now. "Goodnight." The shadowsinger kissed your forehead and like a light, you were out. Finally resting peacefully wrapped between your two mates and their warm bond you all shared.

#acotar fic #azriel x reader #cassian x reader

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all-seeing-ifer · 4 years

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Greek mythology references in Ulysses Dies at Dawn masterpost

I saw a post a while back by @spacetrashpile analysing all the arthurian references in High Noon Over Camelot, and since I know quite a bit about Greek mythology I figured “hey! I should do something like that for Ulysses Dies at Dawn!” I’m just going to go through each of the songs in order and analyse/explain the references in them - hopefully other people will find it interesting!

“The City”

Starting with the title - Ulysses is the Latin name of Odysseus, legendary king of Ithaca and hero of the epic poem The Odyssey. Interestingly, Ulysses is the only character in UDAD who is given a Latin name instead of a Greek one. There’s a couple of potential reasons for this but the most convincing to me is it’s meant to reflect Ulysses’ opposition to the Olympians, who are all based on the Greek gods.

Jonny calls the story a “labyrinthine task of a twisted tale”, referencing the Greek myth of the Minotaur, which was kept in a labyrinth to hide it from the world. This reference becomes even clearer when we later learn the City’s original name.

This one’s less a reference to Greek mythology and more to like, actual history, but the description of the City expanding to cover the whole planet is reminiscent of Greek expansion in ancient times. Ancient Greece was made up of many city-states, or poleis, which established colonies or “daughter-cities”, mostly in western Asia, or “Asia Minor” as the Greeks and Romans called it.

The story opens at a “run-down gin join” called Calypso’s - Calypso is a sea nymph who plays a fairly major role in The Odyssey, keeping Odysseus/Ulysses trapped on her island for seven years.

Fittingly enough, Calypso’s apparently pays money to Dionysus, whose mythological namesake is the Greek god of wine.

Broken Horses

Ilium is the Ancient Greek name for Troy, the city that Greece went to war against, according to myth,. Part of this war is described in the epic poem The Iliad, in which Odysseus is one of the soldiers laying siege to Troy.

Much like the Trojan War of Greek myth, the siege of Ilium is said to have lasted a decade.

Ulysses’ gambit with the horse statue sending out a signal driving the people of Ilium mad is pretty obviously a reference to the Trojan Horse - the wooden horse the Greeks built as a “peace offering” to the Trojans that they used to sneak their soldiers into the City and that brought them victory in the war. Like in the UDAD version, Odysseus/Ulysses was apparently responsible for coming up with this plan.

“Olympians”

Ulysses’ wife is named Penelope, same as Odysseus’ wife in the myths

The Acheron is the name of one of the five rivers of Hades, along with Styx, Cocytus, Lethe, and Phlegethon

As a sidenote, in Greek mythology Hades is the name of the underworld as well as the name of the God of the dead - fittingly enough reimagined in UDAD as the controller of a vast network of half-dead minds (and also Ashes)

The most powerful families in the City are called the Olympians - the name given to the twelve most important deities in the Greek pantheon

Poseidon Industries is named for Poseidon, Greek god of the sea and one of the twelve Olympians. Jonny calls them “one of the architects of the Ilium War”, which seems like an odd reference since iirc Poseidon doesn’t have a whole lot to do with the Trojan War. I guess that’s just there to give Ulysses a reason to want to rob Poseidon Industries.

In the Odyssey, Poseidon hates Odysseus/Ulysses for attacking his son, a cyclops called Polyphemus. In UDAD this is changed to Ulysses stealing the diamond from Poseidon Industries’ laser, which is also called The Cyclops.

My Name is No One

The song’s title and chorus is a reference to Odysseus’ famous trick for escaping the Polyphemus’ cave. He tells the Polyphemus his name is “no one/nobody” (depending on the translation) so that when he attacks Polyphemus and the cyclops tries to call for help, he calls out “No one is attacking me” which obviously none of the other cyclopes take seriously. (There’s also a great pun in the original Greek based on the Greek words for “no one” and “cunning” being very similar, but it loses a lot in translation)

However, just like in UDAD, Odysseus messes up this plan badly by calling out his real name when he’s still too close to the island of the cyclops. (although in the Odyssey it’s motivated by him wanting Polyphemus to know his name so he can get glory, rather than just being drunk)

Odysseus bests the cyclops by taking out his eye (there’s debate around it but cyclopes are generally depicted as having only one eye). Obviously in UDAD the cyclops is a machine not a monster, so this is replaced with the diamond at the heart of the laser being called its “eye”.

Also, I’m not sure if this is an intentional reference, but there is a fun irony to the fact that in the Odyssey, Odysseus tricks Polyphemus by getting him drunk so he can then blind him, while in UDAD Ulysses steals the eye of the Cyclops while drunk themself.

“Trial By Wits”

As well as My Name is No One, the whole concept of no one knowing anything about Ulysses’ appearance, gender etc. could also be seen as a reference to the “My name is nobody” trick, or possibly just a spin on Odysseus being a kind of “archetypal hero” - they could be anyone!

Heracles is better known by his Latin name, Hercules (son of Zeus, demigod, inhumanly strong and all that jazz)!

Ariadne is the name of the Cretan princess who helped Theseus slay the minotaur

Orpheus is another of the most well-known Greek mythological figures - the main myth surrounding him says he went into the underworld to rescue his dead wife Eurydice

Oedipus is most famous as the main character of a famous tragedy. His parents are given a prophecy that he would kill his father and have sex with his mother, and so decided to abandon him. As is so often the case with Greek oracles, he ended up doing both things anyway, seeing as how he, y’know, didn’t know who his parents were. The mechs apparently chose to reference this in the most mature of ways by having Jonny call Oedipus a motherfucker. Kind of a lot.

Aside from committing both patricide and incest, Oedipus’ other achievements in myth included winning a battle of wits against the Sphinx, a monster that was killing anyone who couldn’t solve its riddle. This monster is reimagined in UDAD as a disease that Oedipus finds a cure for.

Riddle of the Sphinx

The chorus of the song is taken almost word-for-word from the riddle asked of Oedipus by the Sphinx: “What goes on four legs in the morning, two legs at noon, and three legs in the evening?” The answer to the riddle is “man” - crawls on all fours as a baby, walks on two legs as an adult, and walks with a cane (third leg) in old age. The Mechs being the Mechs, this is made completely literal in the world of UDAD.

“Ulysses’ Will”

Like the Oedipus of myth, UDAD Oedipus also ends up killing his father and marrying his mother without knowing. Since he’s replaced his eyes with data sockets by the time he helps kidnap Ulysses, it’s pretty strongly implied that he blinded himself like mythological Oedipus as well.

The “twenty years of sirens” could be a reference to the twenty years Odysseus spends away from Ithaca in the Iliad and Odyssey

Sirens

The sirens were half-bird half-human creatures that Odysseus encountered as part of the Odyssey and that tried to lure him to his death with promises of knowledge.

As well as referencing this story, the line “let the lotus set you free” references another episode of the Odyssey, where Odysseus and his crew arrive on the island of the Lotus-Eaters. Anyone who eats the Lotus fruits falls into a state of apathy and will never want to leave the island, so it’s a fitting episode to reference in a song about Ulysses drugging themself to escape their memories of war.

“Trial By Strength”

Heracles’ backstory is essentially the same in UDAD as in the original myths: one of the many children of Zeus’ many affairs, except in UDAD Zeus has affairs with women from “the lower levels”, instead of just mortal women.

Favoured Son

The tasks Heracles performs for Zeus are a reference to the most famous myth about Heracles - the twelve labours he performs to atone for killing his family.

The song references “the ferryman” who takes people into the Underworld. In Greek mythology the dead travel to the Underworld in a boat rowed by the ferryman Charon.

In both the myth and in UDAD there are...what you might you might call “extenuating circumstances” for Heracles killing his family - in the myth he’s driven mad by Zeus’ wife Hera (bc she’s very angy about Zeus having all those bastard children with mortal women) but since Hera doesn’t play a role in UDAD this is changed to him being framed by Zeus himself.

In addition to being king of the gods, Zeus is also the god of thunder - which is where Heracles’ nickname “The Thunderbolt of Zeus” comes from

“Loose Threads”

Heracles and Orpheus “Backing up Jason on the fleece job” is a reference to the myth of Jason’s quest for the Golden Fleece along with his crew (the Argonauts), which included Heracles and Orpheus.

Hylas was Heracles’ servant and another member of the Argonauts. While on the quest he was kidnapped by nymphs, and depending on which version of the myth you’re looking at, either fell in love with them and stayed there forever, or was murdered by them (Hylas is also the only character referenced I had to google to even know who they were lol)

Heracles telling Ariadne that “Your dad helped me out once” is presumably a reference to the seventh labour of Heracles: capturing the Cretan bull. Now the story of the Cretan bull is actually really long and ties into a bunch of other myths but essentially it was sent to Ariadne’s father, King Minos, as proof that he was the rightful ruler of Crete. However, Minos ended up helping Heracles by letting him take the bull with him to prove that he’d successfully caught it (which seeing as the bull was destroying Crete at that point doesn’t seem like a huge favour on Minos’ part, but ok)

Trial By Song

UDAD Orpheus shares the mythical Orpheus’ main defining trait: his skill at singing that he used to help him on his journey to the underworld.

Trial By Song is a lot more metaphorical than all the others so there’s not that many direct references to the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice in the lyrics - probably the most direct one is “But all the landmarks moved as I walked past/Now I can’t look back”, which references Orpheus’ deal with Hades that he can take Eurydice back to the world of the living as long as he doesn’t look back at her.

“The viper town that bled me dry” could also be a reference to Eurydice’s death from a snake bite.

“Hades”

UDAD Orpheus’ motivation is the same as mythical Orpheus - wanting to bring back their dead lover from Hades.

Ulysses, Heracles, and Orpheus all visiting the “underworld” is taken directly from mythology (although unlike in UDAD, Ulysses/Odysseus never actually speaks to Hades).

Underworld Blues

In Heracles’ confrontation with Hades, he says that “I was sent here your dog to seize/Of my tasks, of my tasks/This was to be the last”. There’s a couple of points here - the mythology reference is to the last of the twelve labours of Hercules: capturing Hades’ guard dog Cerberus. However, I do wonder whether this is meant to be literal (in which case guys, why are we not talking about the fact that Ashes obtained a pet dog while in The City?), or if this is a similar case to all the mentions of ‘horses’ in High Noon Over Camelot actually being about motorbikes.

Orpheus singing to Hades and trying to convince them to release Eurydice is also taken directly from Greek myth, except instead of being moved by Orpheus’ song and agreeing to release his love like in the myth, Ashes just tells him he’s poor for a bit and then says he should go commit some crimes.

“Trial By Love”:

The general concept of Ariadne’s backstory - her helping Theseus fight the minotaur only for him to abandon her - is the same basic idea as the myth of Ariadne and Theseus. Although UDAD Ariadne is at least a bit more fortunate in the sense that she wasn’t truly in love with her Theseus, and he also doesn’t straight up leave her on a deserted island.

Ariadne’s family creating the minotaur is also part of her character in the myth. The difference is that in UDAD the minotaur was created intentionally, while the mythological minotaur was the result of Poseidon making Ariadne’s mother fall in love with the Cretan Bull as punishment for King Minos not sacrificing it to him (I said the Cretan Bull story tied into a bunch of other myths!)

The presence of the minotaur in the City is yet another thing that makes even more sense when we learn about the City originally being called Labyrinth!

Ties That Bind

Ariadne’s family name is Minos, same as the name of her mythical father King Minos.

Ariadne describes her family’s actions as casting a “dark horned shadow” over her, which references the typical depiction of the minotaur as a man with a bull’s head and horns.

In the myth of the Minotaur, Ariadne helps Theseus by giving him a ball of string that he then unwinds as he walks through the Labyrinth, letting him find his way out again. In UDAD this is changed to “strings of code”, that shut down the minotaurs programming. (And if you think that pun’s bad, just wait until we get to Torn Suits!)

The song’s title also brings to mind string or thread, so it can be seen as a subtler reference to Ariadne’s gift to Theseus. Same for Ariadne’s line about “heartstrings long since cut”.

“The Daidala”

Daedalus, the leader of the Suits, shares a name with the mythical craftsman and father of Icarus

He is rumoured to “trade as an Olympian under the name Hephaestus” - a fitting alias as Hephaestus was the god of craftsmen and artisans like Daedalus

The rumour that he killed his son for “getting too ambitious” references the myth of Icarus, who famously died after literally flying too close to the sun using wings held together with wax. The heat of the sun caused the wax to melt and Icarus to fall into the sea. The story is often interpreted as a warning about the dangers of ambition.

Interestingly, it could also reference another myth surrounding Daedalus - one in which Daedalus kills his nephew Talos because he was jealous of his achievements.

Daedalus is also apparently the architect of The City, which was originally known as Labyrinth. This once again references the labyrinth which held the minotaur, and which Minos forced Daedalus to design. Considering the labyrinth’s purpose in myth, it seems like an appropriate name for a city that keeps all its inhabitants trapped with no way out.

Presumably the Daidala in the title refers to the City: Daedalus’ finest creation. In Homeric Greek, daidala is a word that refers to finely crafted objects such as armour.

This track also has another reference to the Orpheus and Eurydice myth when Orpehus offers to sacrifice himself to open the vault - “But he can’t see it through can he? Flinches, looks back. And it doesn’t work.”

Torn Suits

This song is notable for having quite possibly the worst pun in Mechanisms history - “Ulysses pulls out their snub-nosed laser and fires the last shot, splitting the beam across twelve axes”. This references one of the climactic scenes of the Odyssey, where Ulysses/Odysseus wins an archery competition against his wife’s suitors by shooting an arrow through twelve axe heads. (get it, axes as in the weapons becomes axes as in the plural of axis do you get it?????)

Another, marginally less bad pun is Heracles getting “the lion’s share” of the beams, referencing the popular image of Heracles wearing the skin of a lion he killed as one of his labours.

“Sunrise”

The code to Ulysses’ vault: Elysium, is another word for the Elysian Fields. In certain Greek religions, this was an afterlife separate from Hades’ world where heroes and those chosen by the gods would go after they died.

Ulysses’ vault is revealed to contain the “sole surviving oak tree”, under which Penelope is buried. While it’s not as direct a reference as some of the others, this is pretty clearly inspired by the way Odysseus proves his true identity to Penelope at the end of the Odyssey - by telling her that he carved their bed from a tree still rooted to the ground, something only the two of them know.

The track ends with an homage to Homer’s use of similes in the Odyssey: “And as the weary hound, once more at its master’s feet after so long, lays down with the sunlight warming its fur, breathing its last – even so did the eyes of Ulysses close forever.” Not only is this stylistically identical to Homer’s similes, it also doubles as a reference to Odysseus’ dog Argos, who waited for him for twenty years and finally died when he saw Odysseus again.

Elysian Fields

This is possibly a bit of a stretch but the image of Ulysses lying beneath the last tree, next to where Penelope is buried, especially with how they say they’re “with my beloved” and “beside my wife” really brings to mind the scene in the Odyssey where Odysseus and Penelope lie in their tree-bed together for the first time since Odysseus’ return. Which, incidentally, is theorised by some to be the “real” final scene of the Odyssey and everything after that was added on later, but that’s another story.

That’s everything I’ve picked up on but it’s possible there’s more I’ve missed so let me know if there’s any more! I’d like to thank the Mechs for giving me an opportunity to put my useless and extremely niche knowledge to good use!

#the mechanisms #ulysses dies at dawn #udad #ifer rambles

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fangirlandiknowit101 · 3 years

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12, 14 and 18☺️

Thanks for asking <333

12. Is there a trope you haven’t written yet but really want to?

There's lots to be honest, but something I still can't believe I haven't written is a horse riding au. Like, that's half a lie bc I have a few thousand words written for a Simon/Baz horse rider au that I might never finish, but I'd really like to write one for Naruto. But I always decide not to because I don't know all the words and I hate googling stuff while I write. But one day! Surely!

14. If you were stuck on a desert island with only two characters, which would you pick?

Honestly? Kirk and Spock. They'd find a way to get us out of there. And if not, it would at least be cool to meet them.

18. What is a line/scene you’re really proud of? Give us the DVD commentary for that scene.

You really had to pick such a difficult question... I can never decide on any particular line/scene. So I opened up The sun within me and looked at the chapters and thought I'd pick something that could be interesting to comment on. And in this case, it's a bit about how Naruto, Sasuke, and Charasuke have changed and their different relationships with each other. So! Here's a bit of commentary for a scene in chapter 40 (under the cut bc it's fairly long lol):

[For clarification, this is right after Naruto and Sasuke come back home from Sasuke's mission where he fought Menma and Menma then disappeared. I'm skipping ahead to the part where they arrive at the orphanage and Charasuke is waiting in their room (Naruto's POV). My comments will be written in bold text.]

The clone’s memories dropped into his head like a puff of smoke, and he groaned out loud, making a face. Sasuke gave him a concerned look, but Naruto sighed and shook his head.

“Let’s go,” he said, feeling very reluctant as he grabbed Sasuke’s arm.

He supposed he could have teleported them somewhere else, but Charasuke had seemed prepared to wait until they returned. Maybe Sasuke could deal with him while Naruto sort of… drifted away and hid in the kitchen.

Naruto is acting very childishly in this scene, mostly because he's still wary of Charasuke, and also because he's just spent two days in Sasuke's company but pretending to be Menma, which means no cuddles/kisses or anything. He's kind of clingy, isn't he? Haha. And also, he doesn't really want to admit to himself that Menma disappearing for Charasuke is the parallel to his worst fear, that Sasuke will disappear.

“Where is he?” Charasuke demanded the second they arrived in the bedroom.

“Ah, Sasuke, maybe you can explain?” he suggested, inching towards the door, but Sasuke nailed him to the floor with a single glare.

“He could be anywhere,” Sasuke said, continuing to glare until he was sure that Naruto wouldn’t escape. “I didn’t manage to get a good look through the portal.”

“The portal?” Charasuke seemed to waver, arms wrapped around himself as he looked between them. “Tell me what happened.”

You can tell that Sasuke has really started to care about Charasuke here. He's not entirely open with him yet, but he recognizes a lot of himself in Charasuke and he puts himself in Menma's position, thinking about when he left the village and Naruto was left behind. He doesn't want Charasuke to hurt the way he knows Naruto was hurting back then.

While Sasuke described the mission, including what he called ‘Naruto’s dumb interference’, Naruto dug through his closet for the shirt he would make Sasuke wear. He was absolutely sure that Sasuke would argue about it – especially since he’d sent a clone to Akatsuki and not himself – but if he talked fast enough and relented that it would be enough if Sasuke slept in it for one night…

“He really is gone, then,” Charasuke said, his voice toneless. “I’ll never see him again.”

“I’m sure you’ll see him again,” Naruto said, contemplating the pros and cons of a t-shirt versus long sleeves. “Whoever grabbed him and hauled him off probably just wanted to keep him out of Sasuke’s reach. He gets awfully strong when he’s irritated.”

Naruto is definitely acting a bit heartless here, again, because he doesn't want to think about his own feelings or feel forced to recognize that Charasuke is a person Sasuke cares about, that he should also care about. I think he can get a bit closed off when there's too much going on in his own life, and that makes it hard to focus on other people, especially since he still wants to leave the other dimension and doesn't want to think about Sasuke caring about his family here - meaning Sasuke might want to stay.

When he turned back from the closet, he found Sasuke giving him a disappointed look.

“What?”

“You’re taking this lightly,” he said, glancing at the shirt in Naruto’s hand and apparently deciding to ignore it.

“Well, unless we figure out how to dimension-hop after him, I don’t think there’s a lot we can do.”

Now that he was back to being himself, all Naruto really wanted was to curl up in bed with Sasuke and not think about the outside world at all. Charasuke, on the other hand, seemed on the verge of tears.

“And what would you have done if I was the one who disappeared?” Sasuke asked, an icy note to the question.

“How would I know? It hasn’t happened yet.”

A bit of foreshadowing lol. Except Sasuke is the one left reacting when Naruto leaves, but Naruto really is trying to keep a tight grip in his emotions here and absolutely not think about the fact that Sasuke could have disappeared with Menma, and he wouldn't have known what happened to him.

“You could have let me follow after him and we’d know where he went.”

Naruto straightened up, face hardening.

“No, you might have known where he went, but the rest of us wouldn’t. Besides, he was trying to kill you. I went through too much trouble to keep you alive to just let you jump into some unknown enemy territory.”

As you can see, putting a lot of emphasis on Naruto's fear of losing Sasuke again.

Silent tears now streaming down his cheeks, Charasuke sat down on the bed and clenched his fists over his lap. It was obvious that he didn’t like what they were saying, but Naruto pushed his feelings of sympathy aside. Sasuke was his top priority, and that hadn’t changed simply because there was another one of him now.

“I told him I never want to see him again,” Charasuke sniffled, and it was really disturbing to watch someone with Sasuke’s face – well, a version of Sasuke, really – crying out in heartache.

Meanwhile poor Charasuke is having a background breakdown. To Naruto, it's hard to see a version of Sasuke like this. Charasuke is coming face to face with the realization that he's A: definitely not over Menma, B: he really handled things badly and never even stopped to think about why Menma was doing things.

“If he survives, you can apologize,” Naruto told him, trying to sound comforting. “Hell knows Sasuke said a lot worse stuff to me.”

To his great surprise, Sasuke went over to sit beside Charasuke, frowning as his hand twitched to reach out to him.

“This isn’t about you and me, Naruto,” he said, settling for an awkward hand on Charasuke’s shoulder. “And it could be our fault, anyway.”

“You know, Sasuke,” Naruto said as the initial shock wore off, “that sounds scarily like you’ve started caring about other people.”

Naruto and Sasuke having a small fight about Charasuke... Naruto knew Sasuke cared about Charasuke, but this is when he realizes that Charasuke is becoming a person that Sasuke wants to protect. And for Sasuke it's a small step towards opening his heart for more people than just Naruto. Sasuke is honestly mad at Naruto for taking things so lightly, for treating this other dimension as something that doesn't affect them. Besides, I really wanted Charasuke to be comforted by Sasuke haha.

Charasuke kept crying, and the look Sasuke directed at him clearly said what he thought of Naruto right then.

“Moron. I care about other people, just not anyone in our own dimension.”

Naruto knew that to be a lie, but decided not to say anything. Having Sasuke admitting to something like having feelings was a huge enough step on its own. Instead he sighed, grabbed something to sleep in, and headed for the door.

“I’ll just sleep on a couch,” he mumbled.

Does Sasuke care about anyone back in their own dimension? Maybe, but you wouldn't really see him act like this with canon Sakura, not before they left for the RTN dimension at least. It's a big thing that Sasuke is starting to voice his feelings out loud, and acknowledge them more. Naruto is feeling jealous actually, because he wanted to finally have Sasuke to himself, and also he feels guilty for being jealous, and also he's hoping that if he pouts enough Sasuke will comfort him instead of Charasuke lol. Not always the most mature person, but who is?

Coward, Kurama accused as he headed towards the living room, but Naruto was too tired to argue with him. Something about Charasuke always rubbed him wrong, and maybe it had to do with how he displayed his emotions openly and so obviously thought of himself as weak. If Sasuke wanted to handle it, fine. Naruto didn’t have the patience for people who sat around crying, and a small part of him didn’t like that he had such problems with caring about Menma, either. Menma had everything, a loving family, a Sasuke who cared about him, but he was still feared and treated differently. Even in this world people treated the bijuu as something dangerous, and he wondered how much of the whole story of them losing consciousness and turning into beasts was true, and how much was justification to treat them badly.

It's a bit of 'my problems are worse than yours so you shouldn't be so upset'. In the movie, we really got to see how much it hurt Naruto to see this other world where he had everything he wanted, and then acknowledge that it wasn't real. Even if he can recognize that the bijuu were still treated badly here, he can't quite make peace with the way Charasuke and Menma can't appreciate what they have. It makes it really hard for him to sympathize with them.

Am I supposed to feel touched? Kurama snorted as Naruto rearranged pillows into an acceptable bed on one couch. You didn’t care much for us either before you figured out the truth.

No, but everything was supposed to be the opposite here, right? Well, this part isn’t the opposite, it’s the same.

Between one heartbeat and the next, Naruto blinked his eyes open in front of Kurama’s open cage. There was water sloshing around his ankles, and everything was clouded in some sort of yellowish haze.

“Oh, come on,” he complained, but Kurama tsk’ed at him with his head supported by one giant paw.

“I hate to admit it, but you might be onto something, kid.”

“Uh-huh, well I don’t know about you but I want to sleep.”

Kurama reached out and poked him in the stomach with a sharp claw, eyes narrowing to slits. Even if they were friends, Naruto didn’t feel like testing the limits of that friendship with those claws so close to him.

“Sometimes you say things in such a stupid voice that I miss how important it might be. Now shut up and listen,” Kurama growled, three of his tails swishing angrily behind him. “This world is supposed to be opposite, right?”

“I don’t know, but everything seems opposite.”

“Let’s pretend we know it’s true. So, everything and everybody is the opposite more or less. But, the prejudice against the bijuu is still there. And we were told that it was only recently that they became unable to control. So, where does that leave us?”

Naruto pouted, not bothering to answer. Obviously Kurama already knew what he wanted to say.

“I think it means that anything that is the same, is something that somebody has tampered with.”

I was going to do more with this, but it was also a bit of 'what sort of theories would they have for what was really going on?' and this one is accurate in a way, because Hagoromo did tamper with the bijuu which in turn made them become feared and badly treated. So it's definitely hinting at there being someone behind the scenes manipulating the bijuu.

“Huh?”

Kurama rolled his eyes, sighing so deeply that Naruto felt the wind from it tear at his clothes.

“Think, boy! If this is a mirror-world or whatever, people shouldn’t be afraid of me and my siblings. But they are, and it only started a while ago. Obviously someone made us go crazy. And Menma has me inside him, but a crazy version of me, so wouldn’t it be logical that whoever did something to the me inside Menma, could also do something to Menma?”

He thought about it, hard enough that his head started hurting. Sasuke would probably know, but he was busy with Charasuke.

“I guess,” he said eventually, huffing a little. “But even if you’re right, it doesn’t help us figuring out who’s behind it all.”

“Does it matter?” Kurama scoffed, and then his lips spread in a terribly evil grin. “We’re going to kill them anyway, aren’t we?”

“This is why you have such a bad reputation,” Naruto sighed.

Kurama only laughed.

I really love Kurama... His and Naruto's weird friendship gives me life. His solutions to problems are always very straightforward heh.

Well, that's that :3

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smwelchh · 4 years

Text

Ok so I know I have posted a s2 prediction a while ago but now that we know there is s2 I’m going to post and update prediction/wants

Let’s start with the kooks (since I’m clearly in love with Drew Starkey)

It’s also color coded bc I’m an organizational freak and I like things in a nice neat order. It will probably also have typos and some words left out but y’all will get the gist.

The Kooks

Rafe Cameron (people want redemption, but I honestly don’t think that would be good for him this season. Maybe later down the road)

Still under the pressure of Ward obviously

Still has a cocaine addiction

Trys to be as cool as possible when it comes to the shooting Perterkin

More back story on his life

Obviously Rose is a step mom so maybe his real mom leaving play a part in why Rafe does what Rafe does

What motivates Rafe other than pleasing his father and drugs

Topper Thornton

I think Topper slowly get redemption

I mean he saved John B in the bell tower that has to be a start right

I think he still simps over Sarah

I also think he trys to tell Kelce the truth about Rafe

Slowly starts a friendship with the Pouges

I think Topper and Rafe will still be friends but Top will be more reserved around him now

Kelce (idk his last name in the show)

MORE OF HIM

That’s all

No but seriously I want more of Kelce trying to figure out if he can trust Topper or Rafe

I also want to see Kelce and Pope form a friendship

Yeah just give me more Deion he’s a great actor who needs more credit

Ward Cameron

Eww

Go to hell

We don’t like you

But in actuality I think Ward gets what he deserves hopefully

Hopefully he gets charged with murder of Big John and of Scooter

We tend to forget about that Ward sent Scooter into the storm that killed him

And he should be charged with the murder of the mainlanders bc that was obviously Ward

Yeah jail time for boss man would be great

But he’s the biggest, richest kook on the island so I low key feel like he gets away with it

Rose Cameron

Honestly she is annoying to me

But I think she gets better

Obviously she is going to back her rich husband’s story about what happened

She still hates Rafe

Kinda trys to help find Sarah or something

Still doesn’t really care about Wheezie

That’s about it

Wheezie Cameron

Questions her whole life

Doesn’t know if she should believe Rafe and her father or Sarah

Gets super emotional when she finds out about Sarah being lost at sea

Low key over hears Ward and Rafe going over their story and tells all of the outer banks

Or maybe she hears them but doesn’t believe it idk Jonas work your magic

The Pouges

John B

Struggles to get the gold

Has to go on another treasure hunt

Bc lets face it Ward hid that shit

Deals with his emotions on his father being gone

Deals with how Sarah really feels

Finally calls the rest of the Pouges

His uncle comes back from Mississippi and find out he’s lost at sea and “murdered Peterkin”

I think I would also like to see his mom come back not sure through

Once he gets the gold back he would obviously have to figure out a way to get it back to the OBX.

When he gets back to the OBX he’s obviously going to split with the others but I also think he is going to work on being a better friend

And yeah that’s all I have for now

JJ Maybank

Let me start this by saying he should have been on the boat not Sarah, but that another story

I don’t want to think about this but he has to tell is dad what happened with the Phantom

His dad probably most likely will beat his ass

I think that he will permanently live at the Chataue or with Pope

Maybe forms a bond with Topper and low key work together to figure out what really happened on the runway

I also kind of think JJ gets the HMS and trys to find Sarah and John B that’s just the type of friend he is

I also think he finally speaks up about his abusive father to his the others and has a worse break down than the hot tub scene

I feel like there will be A LOT of crying bc of his story in s2

Pope Heyward

Pope and Kie are like “dating” the 1st couple of episodes but then I feel like by episode 3 they call things off bc it’s too weird

I think Pope gets a redemption interview

Might not get the full scholarship but gets a good amount of it

I think he forms a bond with Kelce and they low key work together to find out the truth

Then JJ and Topper find out and all 4 of them work together idk friends yay who knows maybe not and we still get the adrenaline rush from all the fights

I think Pope kind of drifts from the Pouges in the beginning to work on college stuff but then by the middle is like screw this is my friend still alive or nah

Kiara Carrera

Ditches Pope real quick

Pulls the “no Pouge on Pouge” rule

I WANT A FULL EPISODE DEDICATED TO HER KOOK YEAR

I think she had a thing with Rafe during that year and maybe that’s the real reason her and Sarah weren’t friends for a while

I low key want her to give her share of the gold to JJ or Pope since she was born a kook and knows they need it more than her

Sarah Cameron (she gets both colors bc of obvious reasons)

I think she somehow knew everything that happened was going to happen. Like idk how to explain.

Like I feel Sarah knew Ward was going to buy the Crain the house and take the gold from John B and the Pouges, but idk why I feel that way

I think while I’m the Bahamas she comes to realize that her father is a bad man and in no way can she trust him at all

Obviously she has her own things to deal with and I think she does work through some struggles

I also think once her and John B have the gold back in the outer banks she drops that boy like a hot pocket

I know Chase said he thinks John B and Sarah are end game but I don’t think so sorry bud you and Madelyn yeah I can see end game but not John B and Sarah

And I think that’s bc she lets someone get close gets what she wants and drops them

Hopefully she won’t do him dirty

But all in all I kinda liked Sarah but I have a feeling my view of her is gonna change in s2

The story enhancers

Peterkin

MOMMA IS ALIVE AND WELL

I think homegirl is in the hospital in recovery

I think she had to have emergency surgery to remove the bullet and patch her up and all that

She arrests Ward for what she was originally doing

Arrests Rafe for attempted murder and drugs

Finds out that John B is in the Bahamas and contacts him to let him him know he’s been cleared (since she low key watched out for him) and she knows everything that happens in the OBX

Also she reminds me of one of the principals I work for at one of the local high schools in my city

Shoupe

I think he starts to look into the Ward theory of things under the radar

Obviously the whole island still thinks John B did everything

But I think Shoupe slowly starts to put the pieces together and find out that Ward really killed Big John and Rafe really short Peterkin

I think he also finds out that Peterkin is alive but doesn’t tell anyone

Like I think he starts secret files at his house or something and has a whole different investigation going on outside of the police station

Bc you know “murder was the case that they gave me”

Barry

He is probably one of my favorite characters

Thank you Nick for being awesome at what you do, I know I’m supposed to hate you but it’s hard to do that

I think he keeps the secret about Rafe and Peterkin to himself for a little bit

But 25k is a lot of money that JJ took and he wants that back

He’s definitely going to still sell drugs

He definitely still going to call Rafe “country club”

I think for a while he holds the Peterkin thing over Rafes head

All in all I hope Barry doesn’t change other than like minor things that happen with people

Luke Maybank

For one Gary Weeks stand up job my friend

We were supposed to hate your character and we do we all do so fantastic job for doing your job

Also please don’t beat up JJ for taking the Phantom I know you probably will but please take this I to consideration

I have a feeling we will be seeing more of you in s2

Bc you need drugs and you like to abuse your son

I don’t think Luke gets any kind of redemption like at all

I do think he trys to act like he cares when JJ goes off the grid for a while ( he’s either at the chataue or popes or kies)

Then ends up beating his ass

But I think JJ beats his ass in return and stand up to Luke

So that’s all I have for y’all umm I’m open to discussion if you want or if you have questions. Umm yeah so have a lovely night (it’s 12:19 where I am) or afternoon or day ❤️

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missnoirr · 3 years

Note

I want the low down on your Tasmanian beef

Maybe you sent this and thought I’d go “haha they suck babe.” Maybe you don't know me very well. Maybe I wrote an essay length dissertation on why I hate them. That's how it goes sometimes, babe!

Australia is the land of “sunburnt country,” “it’s beauty rich and rare,” where you can find “a home among the gumtrees” as it is, after all “a place that I adore.” However, Tasmania was most famously described as a land of “dregs, bogans and third-generation morons” by Leo Schofield - and you can take his word for it, because Schofield lived in Tasmania for a decade.

You may think “Tiana, if he lived there for ten years surely he actually liked it” Nope! When asked what it was like to live there and Schofield said “I think I came very close to either a nervous breakdown or suicide.”

That’s right, Tasmania = so shit it literally almost killed a man

Of course, its understandable why its so fucking shit! While the rest of Australia moved on from the whole “sending convicts to die” thing pretty quickly and instead saw the growth of towns like Melbourne (sexy bitch) and Sydney (boo we hate your pussy), Tasmania was established later (1803 compared to 1788) and just never fucking developed. Other cities banned penal transportation in the mid 1800s but Tazzie just... didn't. Which means that 40% of ALL convicts sent to Australia were - you guessed it - sent to Tasmania.

Please remember that Tazzie is the SMALLEST state in Australia by a long fucking shot. The only thing that comes close to how small Tasmania is would be the ACT, which is not a state (it’s a territory we’re real weird about the difference it’s a whole thing) and was literally only invented because Sydney (bitch) and Melbourne (bitch <3) almost started a civil war over who got to be the capital of Australia. 40% is an absolutely insane number for it to be.

Penal transportation wasn’t abolished until 1853 and even then it was almost entirely due to Victorians complaining about reoffenders from Tazzie coming in and drinking their espresso martinis.

Tasmania is also widely mocked for being inbred bigots.

Where did this joke come from? Maybe from a story of Tasmanian soldiers requesting two pillows for their bunks instead of one during WW1. Possibly because of a lack of iodine in Tazzie in the 1800s which led to goitre - which induced large mumps like deformities on the neck and sprouted jokes about “the two headed Tasmanian’s,” which are pretty funny actually. Maybe just because the gene pool in Tasmania is weirdly small - 60% of Tasmanians can trace their roots back to the first 10,000 families to live in Tazzie.

And the bigotry thing? Tazzie refused to decriminalise homosexuality up until 1997, making it the last Australian jurisdiction to do so. The impetus for decriminalisation? The United Nations told them they had to. and the High Court basically said “bro you’ve gotta.” All of which came after the world's news media quite literally referred to them as “bigots island,” which was also my pet name for them! Love that.

They had the highest rate of imprisonment for gay sex for 100 years (one has to imagine that it at least somewhat backfired on them) and were the last British colony to repeal the death penalty for sodomy.

In the 80s Tasmania’s premier stated on the record that homosexuals were “unwelcome” (no one wants to come to your shitty island anyway, Robin) and in the 90s a local politician said they should be “tracked down and wiped out "which they achieved by having the police tag number plates seen at gay events and arresting 120 people at a gay market.

(I’m not a total asshole so I will give them the credit that the criminal records of those who were arrested for homosexuality have been expunged and something like 60% of Tasmanians voted in favour of gay marriage during the 2017 plebiscite. Fair game, full credit. Go fuck yourselves tho)

also: its cold as shit. they killed all the tigers but not the tasmanian devils which, yes, are real and yes, are awful. when i was two my mum accidentally pushed dropped me in the ocean in tasmania. my least favourite uncle lives there. the spirit of tasmania is just a boat. like its literally just a boat. grow up. it isn't even attached. what, are we gonna claim new zealand next? no. throw them back to the sea and let them fend for themselves. my brother split his head open on a pier in tasmania when he was a kid and we didn't get to have ice cream bc they took him to the hospital. did i mention that its cold. like its really cold.

And to close, my favourite quote of all time

“I sensed that here was a society haunted by ghosts from the past... I sensed then some contradiction between that gaiety in the very air, and some darkness in men’s minds.” - Manning Clark on Tasmania

#WA was the last place to end penal transportation #but tazzie had it for an Insanely long time and this isnt about WA we could talk about that another #time #also OBVIOUSLY there is an awful AWFUL history of mistreatment of aboriginal australians #in tasmania which is in places even worse than the already despicable treatment across australia #but i think that deserves its own much more sensitive discussion and i hate tazzie for much more casual reasons than that.#asks #history lessons you didnt want with tiana

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tirednotflirting · 4 years

Text

french press on the kitchen counter - a.i.

i recognize the severity of all that is going on in the world and i encourage all of you to please stay home and away from the humans you don’t already interact with on a day to day basis. my late night wine-tipsy fluff should not in any way encourage you to seek out additional company during these quarantined times.

I wrote most of this on sunday/monday and actually posted for about five min mon night and then ash put out that video and we were all concerned and i felt eh about putting out content then but now that we have a video of him dancing with a puppy in his lap i feel better so-

tagging @aspiringwildfire bc i actually started this before falling asleep after we talked fic and yelled about the guys for a bit the other night. thnx for the late night writing party <3

stay healthy and happy. xx

wc: ~ 1.4k

as she let her eyes blink open from sleep, she found herself asking a silent question that had become a standard to most mornings: was that the sound of rain pattering against the wall of windows in the living room or drum sticks against a practice pad once again left on the coffee table?

she closed her eyes and focused on the noise. while it mostly sounded like the white noise of a spring rain, there was something distinctly rhythmic behind it that led her to believe it might be a rare morning when she got both. she sat up slowly against her pillows in the room darkened by black out curtains, the ones she had begged ashton to buy for the guest room since she had been finding herself often falling asleep at the drummer’s house after parties and nights out since they had met some several months earlier.

their friendship had been an easy one. a friend of a friend had invited her to a house party just a few weeks after she had moved to the city, insisting this was the best crew in la to spend time with. upon meeting the hazel-eyed host of the party, the two of them found miles of common ground and spent the whole night chatting about her new master’s program and their shared adoration for the city she had recently moved from. she was added to all of the group texts before the night was over and as the weeks went on, she often found herself on ashton’s living room floor, leaning against the couch with a beer in hand, teaching her favorite party games to this glittery, talented crew of artists that had adopted her into their circle.

given the near ever-present place they had in each other’s lives during the first few months of 2020, it wasn’t all that surprising to her when she received a call from ashton inviting her to quarantine in his home rather than all on her own after hearing that her on-campus studies were to be put on hold for the rest of the semester. they spent enough time around one another that it made sense and the thought of spending at least the next month or so alone in her studio apartment did sound pretty lonely. so she sent him a confirmation text, packed up a bag, and soon found herself sitting shotgun in frankie cruising down the interstate to her new-ish best friend’s quiet home.

that was 8 days ago. since then they had been working their way through dozens of movies and books, taking turns on who cooked and who queued up music on Spotify while sipping on topo chico (sometimes spiked with tito’s and lime). there were nightly facetimes with the band, the two of them squeezing together into the frame to see what everyone else had been up to during the days stuck inside. when he got antsy, she would leave whatever book she was annotating for class to help him rig up a camera to record another drum cover. it was a fine way of living, she supposed, with all of the pain going on in the world beyond his four walls.

she was reflecting on the state of the world (and reminding herself to do her daily news check on her New York Times app) as she padded out to the living room to check if her ears had proved her right today. she turned the corner to find ashton beating away at a dark red practice pad as he faced away from her and towards the windows that were being beat with raindrops by the angry storm clouds above their sunshine city. so she was right.

she didn’t want to scare the man yielding the fast moving sticks so she moved around the far end of the long couch to take a seat beside him. when his eyes landed on her as she rounded the back of the black sofa, noting to himself how small and homey she looked in a tshirt of his she must have stolen to sleep in, he finished the lick he was on and moved the pad from where it had rested on his lap to the coffee table in front of them.

a lazy grin stretched across his scruffy face as he watched her pick up the coffee mug he had filled for her only about ten minutes earlier. after 8 days in the same house, they were starting to learn each other’s routines. setting down his sticks, he lifted the French press he had brought out from the kitchen to top off his own mug before bringing it to his lips and lifted his other arm to allow her to rest comfortably against his chest.

“hope i didn’t wake you, love,” he mumbled, his first words out loud of the day coming out groggier than he anticipated.

he felt her hum against his chest after she took another sip of the hot, pleasantly bitter brew. “nah, my body could feel the rain and knew it was time to see the world.”

“not much to see beyond my backyard, unfortunately,” he replied, his head falling to rest against the top of her own.

he felt her smile against his chest through the fabric of the old, worn tshirt he had thrown on after rising that morning. “ah, well,” she mused, “who needs anything beyond that anyway.”

they both remained quiet for a few moments, not quite sure where to go from there. his calloused fingers drew shapes against the skin on her arm that his fingers could reach as he sipped from his mug. she sat up some and his arm fell from around her shoulders to her waist as she tossed her sock clad feet over his lap. “tell me about paris today?”

this had become another regular activity in their days shacked up together. she would think of a big, beautiful city she had always dreamed of traveling to and, after remembering that he had gone on a few world tours and had probably been to most of them, she would get him to tune into his nostalgic side to tell her stories of his travels with his brothers.

he squeezed her hip before moving to stand. he grabbed the French press and both of their (now cool and nearly empty) mugs. “paris will need more coffee,” he nodded his head toward the kitchen. “come on.”

in the kitchen she jumped up onto the island and let her legs swing back and forth as she watched him refill the kettle and exchange the old coffee grounds for new as he started his stories. he told her about andy convincing all of them to take cheesy pictures with roses in front of the eiffel tower in the night time and about what he tried at the different bakeries and cafes he had discovered in their few trips there. he recalled on a fashion show they had all attended at one point and smiled with his eyes as he spoke fondly of their first trip to the louvre.

she wiped tears of laughter from her eyes after he finished the story of how they all tricked luke into eating snails during their first trip to the city of love as he stepped between her legs to hand her a fresh mug of coffee. neither thought anything of it as he stayed at that spot and gently set his own mug beside her bare thigh on the counter to wrap his arms lazily around her waist. the counter has leveled the playing field on their height difference so after taking a big sip from the mug, she mirrored his actions except letting her arms lay across his shoulders. “once this is all over and done with, we should take a trip,” she hummed, her fingers playing with the soft hair at the back of his neck.

“to paris?” he teased.

she pouted at him, her eyes rolling some. “no, silly, just somewhere.”

“why do you wanna go somewhere with me?” he was fishing, he knew that. but as he allowed himself to wrap his arms more fully around his still somewhat new friend’s waist, he couldn’t help but wonder if all of this time together had her feeling the same way that he did.

she looked into his hazel eyes with a content look to her own. “you tell the best stories,” she responded easily. “best people to go through life with are ones that know how to tell you a good story.”

and as a smile spread slowly across the drummer’s face, he couldn’t help but look forward to all the stories he would get to write with her.

#ashton irwin #ashton irwin one shot #ashton irwin fic #ashton irwin fanfic #ashton irwin blurb #ashton irwin blurbs #5sos #5sos fic #5sos fanfic #5sos blurb #5 seconds of summer #will i ever learn how to use tags for their intended purpose?#also sorry i suck at titles i swear it'll get better one day

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janiedean · 4 years

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JB THE MUSICAL TENTATIVE SETLIST

... so this week me and a few anons were discussing crack plots and THIS came up, and now I sat down and I thought about it and hahaha here we go guys have what I came up with for the possible mamma mia!jb au except that it has springsteen songs instead of ABBA because that’s how I roll. this is the tag if anyone’s interested in what madness came out of that, but anyway I did come up with a plot with songs so here’s the thing.

the musical is obviously called tunnel of love because reasons.

people actually in it: brienne, jaime, their OC daughter [catelyn jr for this exercise], catelyn, tyrion, jon connington, loras, brynden tully, possibly selwyn

plot, numbers & so on:

ACT ONE

in pure rent style because I’m that bad with musical, we open with all everyone minor characters; save my love;

the scene opens in the island of tarth, where brienne is shown working at a bar covered in rock singers’ posters and getting helped by her seven year old daughter in the background cleaning tables or something, while her boss catelyn looks at her and tells her story; a good man is hard to find (pittsburgh) [obv with reworked lyrics];

cat jr goes back upstairs since they’re about to open, brienne asks for a small break, goes out on the beach, stares longingly at the ocean and wishes to have back the happiness she had once that while she loves her daughter she hasn’t quite managed to grasp yet though we still don’t know what it’s about; hello sunshine

brienne goes back to work, we move to cat jr - she wonders where her father ended up since brienne never told her who he was while she rustles through stuff in the attic and finds some half-faded letters sent to a couple men years ago and she wonders if one of them might be her father - she finds the addresses and writes them figuring that one of them might be and she wants to see her mother happy, so what’s the harm?; waitin’ on a sunny day;

first guy who arrives is joncon who tells her that no, he’s actually her godfather but he knew her mother for reasons and wonders at how long he’s been far from the island but he had to get over his bf who didn’t love him back; my hometown

second guy shows up and he’s renly who also confirms that he’s the other godfather and one of brienne’s oldest friends but maybe she should look a bit deeper to find her real dad and when she does things will go admittedly better - brienne will find her guy again same as he’ll find his guy at some point; two hearts;

cat jr goes back to the attic to look up for more clues and ends up finding a picture of brienne with two guys one of which was torn off but the other is there and wait he has her hair - it’s tyrion, who she assumes is her dad. she asks renly and jonc to help find the address and writes him and he gets there in time for her birthday, but when he arrives he tells her that no, the dad is actually his brother but he’s delighted to have a niece; surprise surprise;

at this point cat wants to know the backstory and why isn’t her dad there. the other three guys look at each other, sigh and tell her that well it happened years ago when they all were on vacation on tarth same as the whole of the lannister family....

IMMEDIATE FLASHBACK where we see younger jaime and brienne meeting at some beach party and jaime asks her to dance; tougher than the rest (jaime only);

she accepts even if she can’t believe it [he’s coming out of Bad Cersei Relationship News so he’s kinda fucked up but he honestly wants to leave her behind], they ended up having sex; cover me [jb duet];

later tywin finds out and forbids jaime from seeing her except that brienne who at that point wanted to be a singer and had regular gigs at catelyn’s bar comes up with a scheme to smuggle him out and have a night out with both tyrion’s help and the bar’s patrons etc; rosalita (brienne mainly + tyrion/jonc/renly + jaime getting himself dragged out of the house);

after that, they discuss running away together; thunder road (duet);

FLASHBACK ENDS, we’re back on the island where brienne finds out everyone showed up and she’s like yeah no I’m not calling him again, tyrion tries to tell her that it didn’t end badly because of the reasons she assumes, she cuts him short and says that she knows she’s going to end up alone and it’s fine, she always knew; when you’re alone;

at that point shit happened in between and renly started flirting with loras who’s another new bar patron, jonc started flirting with cat’s uncle, brienne is taking herself out of the equation, tyrion is flirting with bronn ie the local cop or something, ends up with choral number with reworked lyrics for spirit in the night, end act one.

ACT TWO

always rent style, opening number with everyone going for tunnel of love;

we open up straight somewhere else where jaime is on his own, living in some shitty small apartment having lost a hand after enrolling with the army after things went sour with both brienne and his family; born in the USA;

jaime muses about how things ended - basically cersei ruined stuff for them going to brienne and telling her about their rship and jaime had gone after her to call it quits after arguing with brienne on the beach about it but then brienne wouldn’t take his calls anymore and he never had the guts to go back. he receives a letter from tarth from tyrion who tells him he has half a chance in hell of fixing things and he hopes he can manage; back in your arms;

meanwhile on tarth cat jr is like shit this place is so boring will I ever get out of here did you three have such an interesting life until now, tyrion/jonc/renly explain her that when she leaves it’s better if she sticks to being herself rather than conforming to other people’s standards; growin’ up [all four of them]

meanwhile brienne is on her break again and is missing jaime horribly bc tyrion brought it all back and wishes she could get out of this damned impasse that her life became; badlands;

jaime arrives on tarth without brienne knowing and immediately meets his daughter and learns her middle name is actually jamie and realizes brienne named her half after him and is Overwhelmed As Fuck and swears that he’ll try to do right by her; living proof [both of them];

at that point though jonc and renly are like yeah we’re the godfathers though thank you and they all assure her that they’re going to be in her life; I’ll stand by you, [all three of them];

brienne finally learns that jaime is back and she’s not exactly that hyped because she thought he left her for c. and then she realizes he’s missing a hand and they have a heated-ish confrontation; for you [duet];

jaime is despairing that he’s ever going to win her back after she tells him he’s too late, everyone else assures him that if he goes for it convincingly he still has a shot; wrecking ball [everyone but jb];

jaime feels somehow better for that and gets his spirits back together; my love will not let you down;

jaime organizes things with cat and brynden so that evening while brienne is out serving drinks at the bar he shows up on stage like HEEEY I have to tell you something and tells her he still loves her and wants to get it started again between them; mary’s place [mainly jaime, everyone else does backup];

brienne is still like OH MY GOD SHOULD I, jaime proposes; i wanna marry you;

brienne decides that damn it she still loves him and he obviously means it so yeah sure she’ll marry him; leap of faith [jb mainly, everyone else choruses]

closing number with everyone having paired up etc with born to run.

... THERE THAT’S YOUR MUSICAL

#jaime x brienne #idk if any of you guys wants this madness on the tag but i worked too hard for it so #also: for anon vote we decided that brienne's dad owns a farm or smth and has a goose #who goes around on the premises #the goose is named bruce and has bitten off hyle hunt's clothes a lot #meanwhile jaime got a pet chicken or smth named rosalita post coming back from the war #that he totally brings with #obv bruce and rosalita will fall in love midway through act two #otp: i dreamed of you #idk how the fuck i should write this #BUT ANYWAY HAVE AT IT #jb the musical

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polzkadotz · 4 years

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Asas reread their fics - ftayc - part 4

And we’re back to rereading this fic!!!! last chapter i reread was the 7k monster of chapter 3, and this one... oh. Oh, this is also 7k?

wowie

if you want a spoiler to interest you, here we go lmao

we begin with this author’s note bc I don’t think I ever really talked about it here on my tumblr???

It was sort of my first time being recommended, really. I had noticed that my hit count had gone up substantially and I couldn’t understand it, but it was nice??? and then i found the post on the library and I was like Oh. I See.

Whoever it was that recommended me, thank you. Seriously.

But enough mushy-wushy, let’s tackle this giant.

We begin with this exchange, which...

I was trying to be funny and this still makes me smile so at least I amuse myself lmao

Neil needs to free himself of the plot device I pulled out of nowhere and he taps into his reserves of power that he has hid away for, basically, forever. One thing that I wish I had made more clear, which was basically the vitriol going through my mind as I wrote this fic, was that Neil had been cutting himself of his powers and how powerful he was for a fucking long time because

1) he bought into his mom’s reasoning that his father was simply Not Someone They Could Face and Win

2) he had made himself fit into a mold that would “make him survive” but, by doing so, he basically chained himself to a fraction of the three-dimensional person he used to be, which made meeting Jean and finding out that he had become a pet god for a human even worse because Neil could see all the ways they were similar but Neil had been doing that shit to himself voluntarily.

Originally, when I thought about making Neil a god in this fic, I did think about modeling him out of an existing god but also, the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to make him be someone who was struggling with letting himself be what he was with his full-potential. Someone who had been cutting himself back for so long he had basically lost whatever sense of personhood he used to have. Someone who had started to get tired of cutting parts of himself and forgetting what he used to be so he would survive for--

What? Survive for what? Neil eventually realized he hadn’t been a person for too long and as long as his father was alive, he would never feel safe to be.

Now that I think about it, Neil was very much me working through my own shit about trying to live as myself at the same time that I had different versions of past me struggling with the person I was becoming. The person I wanted to be.

Anyway, back to the story.

There’s a throwaway paragraph where I sort of tease that Andrew’s dragon is becoming "hungry” and it was basically me trying very hard to foreshadow that the priest thing was going to happen lmao

After battling for two paragraphs against the thought of creating a new priest, Neil gets them back on track to go as far away as its possible for both dragons flying.

Nicky tries to get Neil to talk about the god thing, and I like how I made it clear that even being reminded that he had been a god was something conflicting to Neil.

And then we get to the part where Neil suddenly remembers that he has a lot more money than what he had previously said in the first few chapters, but who cares about plot consistency, am I right? Does it show that this fic was edited hastily? Because I can guarantee that it was :3

They stop in Mumbai, I think (the place is not important for past Asas and honestly... can’t say that’s changed lol). Nicky tries to get Neil to talk more about being immortal and stuff. Neil gives a bit of backstory, as a treat, and Kevin reveals what he knows, as a threat I guess lmao

I kind of imply that Neil only had one priest, which... I remember is not what I put in the sequel.............. so I do recommend you reread your fics before writing a new piece, wink-wink

OH MY GOD I MADE NICKY ASK WHY NEIL’S ENGLISH “WASN’T WEIRD” AND THEN I REPLIED WITH A SENTENCE THAT WAS BASICALLY STRUCTURED WITH PORTUGUESE GRAMMAR AND SOUNDS VERY WRONG IN ENGLISH

Asas... my god, Asas.

Anyway, after a lot of questioning, they eventually go to sleep and, when Neil wakes up from a nightmare, he has his daily fairy tale dose from Andrew, who’s also awake. I gotta be honest, I don’t even remember that fairy tale but it explains the Aaron, Andrew and Tilda.

After everybody wakes up from their naps, they go to their last destination: Tokyo.

Wait lemme check:

when did they leave Mumbai in my story?

when did they reach Tokyo?

yeah, that math totally checks out.

Whatever. As they arrive in Tokyo, Neil splurges even more money on a hotel for the whole crew, even though they had been pretty not nice to him as a whole lmao. But! The boy believed he was going to die, so what was he going to do with all that money?

Nothing, so he programmed an email to be sent to Andrew with the info for some of his bank accounts and fucked off to try and find what his mother had stolen.

Neil gets on a ferry that will take six hours to reach the island where is the volcano that his mother had made him hide his father’s immortality. Neil got nekkid because he wanted to have clothes when he got out of the volcano, you know?

(Also, yes, I’m gonna ignore the other time inconsistency from his travel inside Japan, I was very much pressured by the whole “got recommended on the library” okay, you can judge me through those lenses)

Unfortunately, for him, he wasn’t alone when he finally climbed out of the volcano.

Fortunately for him, this Ichirou Moriyama doesn’t want his father, who is very much interested in becoming immortal, to actually become immortal. Neil explains the whole immortality thingy (I found some typos and honestly? I shan’t fix them. It adds character) and Ichirou subtly kicks Neil’s clothes closer to him, which... I get it, my guy. It’s kind of difficult to have an intimidating conversation when someone’s bits are out and about.

As they are trying to hash out their problem -- as in, Neil’s father told them that Neil’s immortality would be viable to cure Kengo --, Andrew appears blowing his ball of flames onto both of them, and Neil uses his powers to create a pocket that repels the fire, so it doesn’t touch him or Ichirou.

(Why didn’t he use those powers on his clothes, as well? Dunno, don’t poke at my plot too much or it will definitely crumble right into your face, you’re gonna inhale too much dust and die from fandom toxicity, AND THAT’S NO WAY TO REACH A GOOD DEATH)

btw:

Neil, my dude. The dragon thought you were in danger? Chill out???

Neil rages for a few seconds but quickly turns that into a situation to ask Moriyama for his protection against his father, since Neil just technically saved his life.

Oh, and if you think “Uhhh, why would Neil even believe that Ichirou would keep his word?”

Don’t worry, I gotchu:

Ichirou agrees with the deal, for plot reasons. Since he got a deal out of it kind of easily, Neil thinks, “Wait a minute. If I give my father’s immortality to this Moriyama, literally passing the hot potato around, then the Moriyamas won’t be after me for an immortality, my father probably won’t be immortal and come after me as the death machine he used to be and I might be able to use it to free a certain god????”

So Neil uses his father’s immortality to bargain for Jean’s freedom, and he doesn’t wait for Moriyama’s response for that one. He simply hops onto dragon!Andrew’s back and they fly away into the... sunset? Sunrise? Don’t ask me, I clearly can’t keep track of the time passage in my fics.

And this is the end of the chapter!

Let me say something that I hope will be quick: this chapter felt much better written to me then the other three. It’s shaky in places, definitely, and it could’ve gone through a more severe round of editing, but I can certainly feel the positive outcomes of the pressure I felt after my work got a shout-out. This fic had been pretty much geared towards myself, so writing about the world-building wasn’t my focus at all in the other three chapters. In this one, I try to at least explain some concepts I came up with which???? Go me??????

I still wish I had taken the time to work on this entire fic to make it as close to what I had in my head, but in a comprehensive form for the attention that it got, you know? I mean, from the ashes you crawl is still my most everything -- most kudos, hits, comments, bookmarks... It deserved so much better but also... I like that it feels rough? I like that it can clearly help to contrast the growth of my style or whatever?

It was written after a long, long writer’s block, and it only got edited and posted because I decided to participate in an event for a different fandom and it got me excited about writing again.

Anyway, I’ve talked too much. Here’s to hoping I can contain myself in the next posts lmao

#rereading #fic: from the ashes you crawl #fic: ftayc #dragon!andrew #dragon!andrew minyard #god!neil #asas reread their fics #god!neil josten #all for the game #all for the game fic #aftg fics #andrew minyard #neil josten #my fics #tfc fics #my writing

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aprilmaybcnot · 4 years

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meet April May, resident pretentious art graduate and maker of first contact with aliens.

app

「 florence pugh , twenty three , cis woman + she/her 」 ˚╰ ❃ ╮ did you know APRIL’s real name is APRIL MAY ?! around the island they seem to be quite gregarious , but also short-sighted , but it makes sense given they are a GRAPHIC DESIGNER / INTERNET CELEBRITY and come from AN ABSOLUTELY REMARKABLE THING . you can hear DON’T STOP ME NOW by QUEEN blasting from their house , but be careful ! they can be agitated as nightmares bring back memories of KNOCKING ON HER BEST FRIEND’S DOOR AFTER BEING PRESUMED DEAD FOR A YEAR DUE TO ALIEN ABDUCTION . even so , it’s impossible to see mugs piled up in the sink, a phone lighting up with a million notifications, leaving a bed in your living room because you don’t want to officially move in with your girlfriend and not think about them .

stats

name: April May

age: twenty three

pronouns: she/her

sexuality: bisexual

fandom: an Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green

occupation: graphic designer (marketing); internet celebrity (yes she’s embarrassed by that fact)

the real story (spoilers for AART obvs)

Nothing really interesting happened in April’s life until she was already out of art school. Her parents were well-off, having sold their dairy farm and getting into the farm machine business. They were never rich but they certainly never wanted. She has an older brother but they were never very close. In fact, she was always distant from her family for no reason other than her emotional unavailability.

She went to art school in NYC where she met her future girlfriend, Maya, and her best friend Andy Scampt. The three were inseperable. Maya and April moved into together and started dating after that, meaning they always had a couch in their living room because April didn’t want to make it official.

One night, after staying over at the start-up she worked at, she came across a transformer-esque statue in the middle of NYC. She called Andy, they shot a youtube video where she dubbed the statue Carl, Andy uploaded his video, they went to bed.

Then April woke up and learned that the video went viral and that a number of other Carls had appeared all over the world. She does some appearances on TV news and one late night TV show.

So basically the Carls are actually this one alien dude and the species as a whole gave humans a mystery & puzzles to solve together so they could Judge us. This led to 1) a contagious dream and 2) far right nationalistic terrorism. April helps solve the puzzles but only technically.

The far right losers make her into their number one enemy bc she did ya know get famous for discovering them. She gets really well-known for defending the Carls and that only makes her hate them more. This goes on for a long ass time until there’s a series of terrorist attacks on a few of the sites where the Carls are and one of them tries to murder April but Carl’s hand (which detached from Carl when April, Andy, and this hot scientist named Miranda gave it some chemicals in LA) saves her.

She and Andy go to film a video at the site of New York Carl after the attacks on the same day. The man who tried to murder her tries again. He stabs her. Carl turns him into grape jelly. She goes to the hospital, meets the president, everything is all good.

Few weeks later the far right terrorists in the US (the Defenders) hijack one of the dream puzzles and trick April into going to a warehouse where they you know lock her in and then set it on fire. She uh pretty much died. However at the same time the last dream puzzle was solved by a bunch of people around the world. After the display of humanity working together on such a grand scale Carl saves April.

She spent a few months just in space I’m guessing. Idk the sequel isn’t out yet so we might learn but I kinda doubt. So i’m saying she was just chilling in space, healing, talking to aliens about how they view about humanity. She was presumed dead.

After all that, she’s sent back to earth. She buzzes Andy’s apartment and texts him knock knock. For us this is when the Forces That Be grabbed her up and sent her to Aurora.

her life 2: electric boogaloo (aka the fake shit)

April’s life on Aurora is much less dramatic than her real life. It really doesn’t get interesting until when she was 18 and getting a double major in marketing and graphic design with a minor in art history. She was goofing around with her friends and made a video about a weird art installation on campus. It wasn’t serious and no one expected anything to come from it but it got fairly popular.

So April, a broke college student, decided to use this to her advantage and built a brand around herself. She plays up the fact that she’s a pretentious pretty white girl and leans into to how generally disconnected from pop culture. She doesn’t pretend to be someone else but she certainly cultivates who people see.

wanted connection

to be added maybe

#inf.intro

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wetalkinboutbooks · 5 years

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We Hunt the Flame by Hafsah Faizal

Summary: People lived because she killed.

People died because he lived.

Zafira is the Hunter, disguising herself as a man when she braves the cursed forest of the Arz to feed her people. Nasir is the Prince of Death, assassinating those foolish enough to defy his autocratic father, the king. If Zafira was exposed as a girl, all of her achievements would be rejected; if Nasir displayed his compassion, his father would punish him in the most brutal of ways.

Both are legends in the kingdom of Arawiya—but neither wants to be.

War is brewing, and the Arz sweeps closer with each passing day, engulfing the land in shadow. When Zafira embarks on a quest to uncover a lost artifact that can restore magic to her suffering world and stop the Arz, Nasir is sent by the king on a similar mission: retrieve the artifact and kill the Hunter. But an ancient evil stirs as their journey unfolds—and the prize they seek may pose a threat greater than either can imagine. (Taken from Goodreads)

Our Ratings:

→ Geena: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

→ Kae: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Overall: We Hunt the Flame is a rich Arabia inspired fantasy with characters that you easily fall for (like the two of us with Altair lmao). Personally, we wouldn’t classify the romance as an insta-love, it’s more of an insta-annoyance and gradual build up to feelings. The story keeps you on your toes and Hafsah does an amazing job at tying in different plot points together. Also, it’s got that amazing unlikely group of friends trope :’) SO if you haven’t already, check out this book we highly recommend it!

Spoiler-Full Discussion Below...

The Good:

→ The Premise and Characters

Kae: So we start off with Zafira hunting in the Arz, a forest that is full of darkness. Once you go into the Arz, there is no coming out. But our girl Zafira is a baddie and she can travel the Arz without much trouble. She can always find her way out. She hunts in the Arz for her village because it is an icy, barren land and it is their main source of food. The thing is, Zafira is a woman so no one can ever find out she is the famed Hunter of the Arz, or she’ll probs get like, banished. But her two best friends, Yasmine and Deen, know her secret and keep it safe. Along with her sister and bedridden mother. Zafira has acquired this wonderful hunting skill from her father, who taught her everything she knew so she could fend for herself and well… Those skills came in hand because he got lost in the Arz one day, kind of went crazy, stumbled out, then tried to kill his family. So Zafira’s mother did what she had to do and killed him to save her daughters. She (Zafira’s mother) has been plagued by nightmares since.

Geena: Kae outlined the premise of Zafira’s story really well! On the other hand we have Nasir, the crown prince of Arawiya and one of the most feared assassins across the caliphates. He’s also hated by literally everyone in his life… especially his dad. Nasir was raised (See: forced) into becoming the Sultan’s weapon, killing anyone that dared to oppose him. We find out that Nasir’s mom, the Sultana, died ~mysteriously~ when he was young and after that his dad went batshit crazy essentially. Nasir does everything as a means to get his dad’s love and approval (even though he likes to pretend that he’s just doing shit just because ‘i have no life so might as well kill’). Nasir ends up falling for some servant girl, who’s tongue the Sultan serves to him in a golden box. After that he is very angsty like, “I can’t love anyone :( ” Or so he thinks.

Kae: Then we have our secondary characters. Like, the ‘friends we made a long the way’ characters who all def were trying to kill one another but it’s cool now ‘cause they love each other :)

Geena: The magical artifact was the magic of friendship :’)

Kae: LMAO YES. So we have Kifah, she is from Pelusia and she is a badass legendary warrior who is fast as lightniiiing, WILL ABSOLUTELY kick your ass with a staff (she won’t hesitate, BITCH) and she’s also really pretty and tall and she brings her own snacks and seasoning. I can relate because I too, bring seasoning and snacks when I know they will be needed. Kifah is funny, sarcastic, and one of the few people that has a witty retort to Altair and his tomfoolery. She also has a thing for Altair.

Altair, we love him! He’s a big buff boi with pretty eyes and a dazzling smile. He also makes a lot of dick jokes and is an absolute CHILD. But we love him for it and so does Kifah. They have the hots for each other. My boi doesn’t have good aim and he killed his homie on accident but we’ll get to that later. He is the #1 general in Ghameq’s (Nasir’s father) army and is ordered to tag along with Nasir on this unintentional road to friendship. He is the sunshine in Nasir’s life and Nasir HATES IT BECAUSE HE’S AN EMO BOI.

Geena: ALTAIR IS THE SUN TO NASIR’S MOON HONESTLY. ALSOO, we got our two best boys that unfortunately didn’t make it to the end :/ Deen, aka the boy that loved Zafira enough to go on an impossible quest with her and then die for her too. He’s Yasmine’s older brother and an absolute sweetheart who wears his emotions on his sleeve when around Zafira. In a way, he was Zafira’s first boyfriend who she didn’t love romantically. Deen proposes to her and she’s like *radio silence*. I DIED AT THAT KAE…. SHE WAS LIKE “NO COMMENT”

Kae: RADIO SILENCE LMAOO SHE WAS. She pulled a, “okay but like the arz tho…”

Geena: But yea! Deen literally dies in the first few chapters because of Altair’s shit aim…. No one ever hand him another bow and arrow again plz. So like I’m thinking Hafsah made him super sweet the first few chapters just so we would be devastated when he died like 5 chapters later or something.

We also have our wise old Safin (essentially an immortal Elf but like cooler) Benyamin, who is centuries old and a book nerd (relatable). He and Kifah join Nasir, Altair, and Zafira later on in their quest, and he seems to know a lot more than he lets one. We learn that Benyamin is the living embodiment of that one meme “Baby jordans, never worn - for sale” bc of his baby that didn’t make it :/. He wants the whole crew to be like a little family so bad that he enforces the word “zumra” aka gang on them and overall he was sly but sweet nonetheless and he too…. Kicked the can… all for the zumra :’(

→ The Ride or Die Relationships

Geena: One thing that Hafsah Faizal writes really well is the friendships between Zafira and the small crew that knows that she’s actually the Hunter that’s been keeping them fed for years. Zafira’s absolute best friend, Yasmine, supports Zafira in all her decisions EXCEPT for the decisions where Zafira parades as a man. Deen I suppose is the same as Yasmine, except he’s less snarky. It’s canon that Zafira would lay down her life for Yasmine, and not to sound like a weirdo but Zafira was wildly jealous when Yasmine got married to Misk... like “ugh now I have to share my bestie with a man??” only explanation is that Zafira is bi confirmed. Also, where we had Zafira ready to die for Yasmine, we also have Deen ready to die for Zafira (and he does...😭). IDK how Deen was hot, smart, sweet, and everything in between and he still died. Hafsah gave us the perfect man and was like “yeea FUCK that, the only love interest will be leech-scars sad boy.” ANYWAYS, The Zafira-Yasmine-Deen triangle is a whole “I would die for you” thing, whereas Yasmine is more of a “I would kill for you” and I think that’s beautiful :’)

Kae: Alrighty, so we also have the relationship between Altair and Nasir. They aren’t as close as Zafira, Deen, and Yasmine. At all. But they kind of have this “if it were not for the laws of this land, I would kill you” thing between them and it’s hilarious. Nasir is constantly like, “I can and will kill you, you bastard brute of a man” and Altair is like “do it bitch, I dare you” and Nasir tears up and stomps away like a brat. But as this journey continues, Nasir gets a newfound respect for Altair because he soon learns Altair isn’t a dumb brute at all and is actually pretty bright. Did we mention they’re brothers? Yeah, that’s a thing. But Nasir doesn’t learn this until the end of the story. Did Altair know the whole time? Yes. Did he swear to their mother to protect him? That as heavily implied so also yes. SO now Nasir is like, “oh noooo, I wanted to kill my brother and was also ORDERED BY MY BITCHASS DADDY TO KILL HIM” then boom goes the dynamite and Nasir finds that he can be a good boi. ANYWAYS WE LOVE ALTAIR IN THIS HOUSE.

Geena: OKAY SINCE KAE MENTIONED IT, AND THE WHOLE ALTAIR-NASIR THING. See since I have poor reading comprehension, I didn’t realize that Altair had promised to protect Nasir. SO THIS BRINGS ABOUT THE QUESTION of the servant girl, Kulsum, that Nasir realizes is working for Altair. The same girl that appeared around the time Nasir’s mom “died”, so does that mean Altair had sent her to help console his brother 👀 Does Altair feel partly responsible for the Sultan tearing out Kulsum’s tongue?? If so… both Altair and Nasir need mad therapy

The Bad:

→ The Sea Monster

Kae: So, this isn’t inherently bad and we honestly have nothing bad to say about the book, let’s get that straight. But we wanted to mention it because it was eh. So we have a sea monster scene when Altair and Nasir are on their way to the island. It’s from an old folktale they’d heard growing up, that sea monsters lurked in the sea. They end up running into a sea monster and it is blind and attacking their ship. It is following them by sound so they eventually realize they need to shut the hell up. But then there is our wonderful golden buff boy, Altair. He starts singing, taunting the sea monster and Nasir is like “BOY IF U DONT-” but then his singing kills it. Apparently, the monster hates music and song? So there’s that. It as a very quick scene and I kind of wish I was longer and more dangerous. I wanted some bloodshed! Maybe a sunken ship! But it was still okay.

Geena: Kae said everything that had to be said about that scene. And I agree, it was cool to have a monster from the author’s folklore, but at the same time, it didn’t really add much to the story other than the fact that Altair knows how to sing (whether he can sing well is a different story).

The Ugly...Crying:

→ The Lion and The Sultan

Geena: This is going to be very cliche but the ugliest thing in this book was the Sultan, our main villain, who is later revealed to be controlled by the Lion aka some ancient ifrit-safin hybrid dude that was the cause of all of Arawiya’s problems. First off, we find out near the end that the Sultan is possessed by the Lion because Nasir’s mom had a big swig of dumbass juice and gave the Sultan a pendant from the place where the Lion was imprisoned. So, following his mother’s “Death” Nasir watches the Sultan’s descent into a sort of madness and suffers under his dad’s abuse. The Lion is also Nasir’s Mom’s Ex so you can imagine what kind of shitshow that was. The Lion is also coincidentally Altair’s dad, and I’m guessing the Lion was like “fuck them kids” because he wanted Nasir to murder Altair... his only son :/ ANYWAYS, the Lion is a terrible dad 0/10 should ever have kids.

ALSOOO THIS BITCH WAS OUT HERE CONTROLLING ZAFIRA HALF HER LIFE??? And was instrumental in her dad’s death, since he’s the embodiment of dark magic -- which makes up the Arz (evil forest) -- we learn that the Lion coaxed Zafia’s dad into entering the forest and essentially turning him mad, which lead to her mom killing him. AND IN A WAY, he can control Zafira?? Or at least get into her head.

Kae: Geena said everything perfectly. The Lion is a skank bitch and we HATE HIM. But if we hate him, that means he was written really well so HELL YEAH HAFSAH. Now to the Sultan. The Sultan, like Geena said, is possessed by the Lion. And upon learning that in the book, I kind of felt bad for him and Nasir. Nasir remembers when his father was kind and loved him. He has watched the decline of the Sultan and this drastic change from kind to 100% evil as fuuuck. The Sultan has no control over this and Nasir just wants to please his father to get that love back from him. He sees small flashes of the man the Sultan used to be, but they are very quick and sometimes he almost misses it. The real Sultan is stomped out by the Lion whenever he peeks through.

Geena: Like can the sultan see the shit that the lion is doing? BRO THAT WOULD BE TORTURE! Oh my god, when they finally break the spell on him there are going to be so many tears between Nasir and his dad.

Kae: YOO WHAT IF IT’S LIKE HE CAN SEE EVERYTHING OUT OF HIS OWN EYES BUT CAN’T CONTROL IT? DUDE NOW IM EXTRAAA SAD.

Geena: What’s sadder than all that? THE FACT THAT OUR FAVOURITE HIMBO, ALTAIR, GOT LEFT BEHIND. At the height of the action as Nasir and the surviving zumra are escaping we find out that Altair never makes it to their escape ship…. Even though it was Altair’s powers that helped them escape. And then we find out that he’s stuck in the Lion’s lair…. Thinking that no one cared to look for him… scuse me while I weep…. Hafsah didn’t have to do him like that 😭

Kae: OKAY MOOD. YOU SAID IT PERFECTLY. And like, she wrote that part so well. Because you know how sometimes the reader knows something the characters don’t? Like, NONE OF US, THE READER OR THE CHARACTERS realized Altair was left behind until Hafsah mentioned it. It was heart-shattering. And everyone is instantly like “shit shit shit shit we fucked UP. We have to go back.” But they can’t go back. So everyone in this feels horrible. Altair feels horrible because he thinks his friends (and beautiful warrior crush) have left him behind. Nasir feels horrible because he left his brother. And the rest of the zumra because they left their friend. Also, the reader, because we see how all this shit went down. It’s just a whole roller coaster of emotions and ALTAIR IS LOVELY AND WE WANT HIM BACK. But this also leaves potential for him to switch sides and join his evil father. It’s totally a possibility and we do NOT WANT THIS TO HAPPEN TO OUR FAVE. OUR HABIBI (because he calls Nasir that and Nasir, the brooding death prince hates that) HAS TO COME BACK SAFE AND UNHARMED... fin

Conclusion

Geena: That concludes our review, we didn’t really touch on the romance and so on but it’s how you say… a slow burn? Also, we had so many thoughts about the characters because they’re all soo interesting and have their own stories that we LOVED. Hafsah did a great job at world-building and introducing her individual characters gradually, she didn’t just slap us with like six characters at once and call it a day. AND HER PLOT TWISTS??? POETIC CINEMA… As a self-proclaimed dunce, I did not see half of them coming, every single thing I thought would happen didn’t happen. For example, I thought that Benyamin was Altair’s dad at some point. Overall, this is a great Arabia inspired fantasy with engaging characters and a fast-paced plot that keeps you guessing what’ll happen next. I give it 9/10 (-1 for Altair’s suffering).

Kae: Ngl I totally forgot about the romance. “It means nothing” GAH THE FOOL. BUT YES. I can’t believe we forgot the romance and their collar bone touching. Also the inevitable ‘omg I just caught you coming out of the bath and now I see your scars oooo’ and honestly tho mood because I wouldn’t avert my eyes either. ANYWAY, the world-building is beautifully written as were the characters. Geena is right. Everyone has their own stories and the time was taken out to tell each one. None of the characters were dumbed down and neither were their backstories. They all had their own personalities and interests and quirks. The fantasy, the magic, and the history was rich. There was never a boring moment. I give it a 10/10 because I was super entertained and the slowburn was to die for. BUUUT. I’m still SICK that Deen was killed off five minutes into the adventure because I would’ve loved to see him giving Nasir the ~death glare~ whenever he looked at Zafira ASJDADKLJK.

Geena: IM CRYING, YES I AGREE 100% Wish we had gotten that good ol’ Deen-Nasir beef.

Kae: omg it would’ve been such a good beef because I feel like they would absolutely become friends at some point and HATE that they respect each other. WELP. THAT BE ALL, FOLKS. READ THIS BOOK CAUSE IT’S GOOD.

#We Hunt the Flame #Hafsah Faizal #book review #booklr

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indulgnces · 5 years

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hi howdy hello!! i go by jess and this is my first time playing my sweet bb girl, so i’m pumped! more about my girl audrey below the cut!

❛ ( SARAH JEFFERY ) ◈ dude, shut up ! AUDREY ROSE from DESCENDANTS is on screen. their fans swear they’re just DETERMINED & OUTGOING, but we’ve all seen their JEALOUS & STUBBORN side ! according to TRUMAN WIKIA, they’re TWENTY-ONE years old, BISEXUAL, & identify as CISFEMALE ( SHE/HER ). they’re currently a STUDENT & are RELIEVED about life in truman. luckily they have HER DIARY & HER SONGBIRD NECKLACE with them & can visit THE FAIRY COTTAGE whenever they want. penned by JESS.

sooooooooo confession: i’ve never watched a descendants movie from start to finish 😬 I know! crazy considering I’m playing a character from the movies, but like, have you guys ever seen a character and just be like wOW, that is My Type of character? cause that’s what happened with audrey. descendants 3 came out and was trending, and I checked the tag and like was 👀👀👀 to audrey to the point that I watched queen of mean and got HOOKED. caught a replay of the movie and watched all the audrey parts while skipping over the rest. since then I’ve been in love with my girl and she’s been on my mind so much that I’m returning to rp after a small break to play my girl. In preparation I skimmed through descendants 1 & 3, and adurey’s youtube short story so I’m good to GO.

CANON LIFE

“A lifetime of plans, gone. Our family status, gone. Audrey, you were supposed to be his Queen, and you let him slip through your fingers. Your mother could hold onto a prince in her sleep.”

daughter of sleeping beauty and prince phillip, princess audrey has been groomed since she was a child by her grandmother to become the queen of auradon. she’d been friends with prince ben since she was a child, and was expected to marry him when she got older.

grew up used to the finer things of life, and as such, audrey was a bit self-absorbed and spoiled. became the most popular girl in school due to her status and beauty. was cheer captain. finally became romantically involved with ben at some point in high school. life was going exactly as planned.

then ben decided to invite 4 villain kids (vks) from the isle of the lost to auradon, and everything went to shit. the stark black and white, good vs. evil mentality was deeply ingrained in audrey’s psyche, so she was very much AGAINST the idea of any isle kids coming over. convinced the vks were up to no good, she never warmed up to the them, and bullied them (mostly mal) at times. and you know what? she was RIGHT

mal used a love potion to steal her boyfriend, who then humiliated audrey by serenading mal during a tourney match, where audrey was cheering at. no one gave two shits though?? or suspected foul play at all?? they just cheered and were like “ah, cool! our soon-to-be-king has suddenly declared his love for this new vk who’s only been here for a few days! how awesome and totally natural !! “

audrey was still plenty popular by the end of the movie, but her fairy godmothers decided to treat adurey to a spa trip, which turned into an extended trip that required her needing summer school bc she missed so much school (aka why she was absent for descendants 2)

by the time audrey came back in descendants 3, everyone was ALL up mal’s ass crack. ben proposed to mal in front of everyone, serenading her with the SAME song he did in the first movie when he ceremoniously proclaimed his love for mal while simultaneously dumping audrey, and everyone cheered AGAIN for their union. damn thing broke audrey’s whole ass heart. on top of that, her grandmother chastised audrey for her failures in securing ben and basically failing the family.

she also lost her status come d3??? like, at the end of d1, she was still cool as fuck. but come d3 girl is not even being invited to her friend’s birthday parties anymore?? she has no friends?? no one gives two shits about how she must be dealing with everything? and wow does that not help things at all.

that night, in her loneliness and anger, audrey decided to steal the queen’s crown from the artifacts museum. it was a petty thing. she was hurt, and just did NOT want to see the crown she’d envisioned as her own for all her life be placed on mal’s head. she didn’t have a goal beyond taking the crown. however, when she went to the museum, maleficent’s scepter sensed audrey’s emotions and desires for revenge, and revealed itself to her. it’s glow lured audrey to it, fed into her emotions, and bing bang boom, audrey became the ultra fabulous QUEEN OF MEAN

under the scepter's influence, she put half of auradon under a sleeping spell, the other half she turned to stone, then she made ben a beast after he rejected her, and made mal an ugly old hag. she was foiled at the end by mal, and ended up falling under a sleeping curse as a result. with no True Love’s Kiss to awaken her (rip), the heroes ended up getting Hades to use his magic to wake her up.

at the end, she apologizes for her crimes & her emotions were finally acknowledged when mal and ben stepped up and apologized for their inconsiderate past actions to audrey (wELL, they never actually apologize?? they say ‘I owe you an apology” but both don’t like actually say sorry, and that’s 100% something audrey has noticed for sure). she celebrates at the end with everyone else when the barrier is brought down and is last seen dancing with harry hook

POST CANON

totally headcanon that she’s still not 100% happy as she’s shown in the end while dancing around okay

she’s STILL lonely!! she STILL wants those apologies!! she’s STILL lost about what to do with her future now that her whole life plan has blown up in smokes. she’s HURT okay. her friends? abandoned her! ben? abandoned her! that one hurts the most bc after spotting that pic of audrey/ben as children together, I 100% hc that they have been best buds for years before falling into a relationship. and while it’s clear ben was not really ~in love~ with audrey ( i image they ended up getting together bc it was just Expected yknow?), audrey still had feelings for ben. even if it wasn’t true love (she def wasn’t In Love tho she thought she was), she did still love ben. he was her best friend, and the fact that he never came around to apologize to her for humiliating her the way he did after the love spell broke HURT.

also hc that she had to take a remedial goodness class following her stunt

the ending given to her is life a brief showing of her and harry hook smiling at each other all soft like before dancing, which like, i’m game for, but in terms of her actual future, audrey was trying to figure out just how to do life moving forward following everything

TRUMAN

“Tell me it was all a bad dream.”

yeah so I said audrey was relieved about her life in truman? 100000% true!

her life was incredibly sad and lonely before, so convincing her that all that shit was all just a bad dream was an incredibly easy thing to do for the descendants actors okay (im sad for her bc of this tbh)

her life as she knows it: she still comes from a family of high status and money. not technically a princess, but she sure does act like one. believes she was born and raised in truman, but was sent to boarding school at auradon prep since she was a child, where she thrived and grew into a typical Popular Girl (head of cheer team/one of the most beautiful girls), before returning to truman after graduating. basically she believes she had the same perfect life she had before in canon, minus the vks, ben, and the whole fairy tale/royalty stuff (basically everything that ruined that perfect life).

all that other extra stuff, including going all queen of mean and losing ben and being drop kicked by literally everyone, is just POOF, fuzzy memories, bad vivid horror story nightmares! every now and then she’ll witness an engagement, or spot a serenade, and it’ll trigger an overwhelming sense of sadness, but for the most part, she’s content putting her life behind her. her new life is a much happier one. that could totally change once she starts encountering people from her past life again.

only really recognizes her family members as family members, and maybe recognizes some past auradon friends (maybe chad charming as her ex since he’s the only one who didn’t totally abandon her rip)

since “returning” to truman, she’s entered university on the island. she wasn’t sure where she was going with life, but she knew she’s always been really good at drawing and really good at event planning. so in uni, she decided to keep her artistic talents as a hobby and pursue a career in event planning. in pursuit of this, she’s a senior at college, majoring in hospitality management.

PERSONALITY

positive: determined, headstrong, outgoing, self-assured, polite, moral, dedicated

negative: jealous, stubborn, demanding, bossy, petty, close-minded, seemingly mean (tho she doesn’t consider herself mean, okay? she just can come off as mean/rude)

CANON CONNECTIONS

ben & mal: need them both bc they are the ones who hurt her the most so i’d loooooove to play out these dynamics in truman!! they’d be the most Triggering faces for her

jay & harry & chad & uma: underrated audrey ships i’d love to play out bc literally crumbs are given to the majority of these dynamics, and so I want to just...explore them?? three of these 4 are vks and 2 of those 3 are people audrey actively pursued in some sort of ~connection~ at the end of the movies when the Couples got together, and she did that even tho she is very Moral and has confusing feelings about vks, and i just wanna know more!!

TRUMAN CONNECTIONS

yeah this is getting long, so I’m planning on posting a whole separate post in the truman plot tag for these wanted connections!

and yeah! that’s everything on my girl! if you’ve made it this far, you’re the best my dudes!! I’m gonna be on mobile for a good portion of the day before coming on at night, but if you’d like to do any kind of plotting with my girl, just go ahead and hit that like button, and I’ll slide in y’alls dms! ♥

#truman:intro #♦ audrey rose — intro.#intro

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lucy-pepperwood · 4 years

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GOT AU

Robert and Cersei's first child lives, and he has a twin. How will this affect the plot of GOT?

In order of succession

(Twin )Crown Prince Tywin Baratheon

(Twin) Prince Steffon Baratheon

Prince Joffery Baratheon

Princess Cecelia Baratheon

(Twin )Prince Cedric Baratheon ( Stillborn )

(Twin ) Princess Margot Baratheon ( Stillborn)

Princess Myrcella Baratheon

Prince Tommen Baratheon

Prince Damon Baratheon ( Stillborn )

Crown Prince Tywin Baratheon is the heir to the seven kingdoms. He and his twin Steffon are the firstborns of King Robert and Queen Cersei. Prince Tywin Baratheon is a studio young man. He takes his job as crown prince very seriously. Prince Tywin was fostered from the ages of 6-12 in Casterly Rock by his Grandfather, Tywin. Because of this, he is a solemn person who has a good understanding of finical matters. While he was also taught of the ruling, he does not think his grandfather is right when it comes to the ruling by fear. Because isn't that how The Mad King Arys lost his Kingdom? At age 12, when he and his twin return to kings landing, Tywin begins to attend small council meetings once a month. His father, King Robert, is also in attendee whenever his son is. But King Robert does not attend more than that. Tywin wants to impress the small council and his father, so he always tries to be the perfect son and heir to the throne.

Prince Steffon Baratheon is the younger twin brother to Crown prince Tywin. The brothers share a close bond, but there has always been a sense of unease. Tywins' fate is to be king, but Steffon does not know what to do with his life. Does he want to be his brother's hand? Or does he want to be on his small council? Does he want to be a lord, or does he want to travel to Essos? Steffon is plagued with uncertainty. He wants to be a good son and brother but does not know how to do so. When he is six years old, he is sent to foster with the Starks in the North. He stays there until he is called home with his twin at 12. In the North, he learned a lot from Lord Stark, who was also a second son. Lord Stark helped shaped Steffon into an honorable person. He raised Steffon to not covet his brother's portion but to be ready to step up in the face of tragedy. Steffon returns to kings landing still unsure but convinced of his need to learn and be a steady shoulder for his brother.

Princess Cecelia Baratheon is the first daughter born to the Royal Baratheon line. She is a people pleaser, often torn between her mother and father's wishes. Her mother wishes for a perfect lady, but her father craves a wild daughter. She ends up an exciting mix. She can sing and dance, but she can also shot an arrow and outrace any man on a horse. Cecelia loves the freedom her father grants her and often takes these freedoms as far as possible. Her mother is not a fan of her fashion taste, but with her father's full backing, she can do as she pleases. Cecelia is the reason the court fashion is so diverse. Cecelia is currently being fostered in the Crownlands by her Uncle Renely. Fostered being a loose term as both of them are back and forth between capital always. She is at the end of her fostering, and she will return permanently to Kings Landing soon.

The difference between these three siblings is that they are actually the blood of Robert Baratheon. Whereas the other three children are not. The children themselves do not know this, but there is still divided between them. King Robert favors his black-haired children, and Queen Cersi prefers her blonde ones. King Robert makes time to attend to his Black haired sons but leaves his blonde ones aside. He does, however, spend equal time with his daughters. ( there is some debate in my story if Myrcella is Roberts are not, bc she has blue eyes instead of green; which Joffery and Tommen both have)

Some difference in my story

Tywin goes to Casterly Rock

Steffon to Winterfell

Joffery to Stannis at dragon stone ( although he is back and forth often like Cecelia )

Cecelia to Storms End

Mrycella to Highgarden, she and Margery do become friends

Tommen is too young to foster at this point, but it is uncertain where he will

Tommen is up in the air bc Hoster is old and dying, Dorne is hostile, The Vale does not have a mature enough lord and the iron island are just traitors.

Ages at the start of the story

Tywin 16

Steffon 16

Joffery 14

Cecelia 12

Myrcella 10

Tommen 4

Other Facts

With Joffery not as the crown prince, he does not get away with becoming cruel;

During his time on Dragonstone, he is often displayed harshly by both Stannis and Selyse because he often tries to bully Shireen.

Stannis has more children

A younger daughter named Elissa who is 7

And a newborn son named Willem

Tywin wants one of Cersei's children to be heir to the Rock

In this story, he pushes for Tommen to be sent to him and for longer so that he can be trained as Warden and Lord.

Robert also is much more in shape, often taking his sons out for hunts and teaching them how to fight

Both Prince Tywin and Joffery in this story learn how to use a war hammer

Steffon and Tommen do not

Roberts wants his daughters to be like Lyanna, who he believes if he had children with, they would be wild and untamable.

Unfortunately, both girls are still fathers feminine

Cecelia and Myrcella are very close

Steffon also has a crush on Sansa Stark and hopes she likes him back

Cerci get her shit handed to her by her father

A full-blown civil war does not happen in this story, Jon Arayn is killed, but Lord Stark plays the long game in the south

In which Robert is not killed quite as soon

Tywin, Steffon, and Joffery are all killed but not anytime soon

Cersei is killed

Stannis is killed

Cecelia is the one to confront Daenerys

At a later point in the story, Cecelia takes Tommen and Myrcella. She retreats to Casterly Rock, but not before brokering a deal with deanery, That her son had to marry a child of her own.

"You think you are so special, don't you?' That the Targarens have supreme right to rule over the 7 kingdoms? Well, let me teach you some history. The Targareasn won this land by force. My father did the same. He had the right to hold this Kingdom until the next conquer came. So keep your tongue and do not call my family Uspers ever again because just like yours, my family won its right to rule." Cecelia to Daenerys

The Baratheons lose Storms End and Dragonstone Storms End for a period. Storms End it is given to Willem Baratheon when he marries.

Daenerys does reunite the 7 kingdoms by marring Jon Snow/Stark who's heritage is never revealed

North is ruled by Rickon Stark

She pledges her son to marry the daughter of Cecelia Baratheon

Cecelia is married to Willas Tyrell at this point and has two children

Cecelia and Willas are both apart of the negations, and after they are finished they return to High Garden which is held by Garlan Tyrell

Daenerys ends up having to fight Aegon Tarageryn, who thinks he should rule as the son of Reaghar, half of Dorne supports him and a half does not.

Daenerys does end up having more children, though she is shocked bc she was told only a Targaryen could get her pregnant

She rationalizes in her head that she was naive and never should have trusted the word of a woman who had already killed her husband. Daenerys children with Jon Stark end up united the 7 kingdoms

Rheago marries Olenna (II), Tyrell

Aemon marries Meria Nymeros Martel He gives up his last name and becomes the ruling consort of Dorne

Shiera marries Willem Baratheon

Daenerys goes on to defeat Aegon

Help reconquer Dorne with/for her supporters

Reconquer her Essosi cities

Defeat the Night King

Daenerys is Azor Azzi

( Daenerys also bans the name Aegon from being used for newborns )

The 7 kingdoms are renamed the Sunset Kingdom

How the Sunset Kingdoms get divided

The North

Arya and Gendry become world travelers and wealthy merchants, they have a Manse in Meeren, Kings Landing and Wintertown

Rickon marries Sara Flint of the mountain clans and becomes Lord of Winterfell.

Sansa marries Ser Terrance Yonce and becomes the lady of the Vale.

The Reach

Tyrells in Highgarden

Lord Willas and his Wife Cecelia

Children: Olenna (II) and Steffan

Garlan and Lyness

Margery and Edmure Tully

Loras ( Deceased )

The Iron Islands

Greyjoy in iron islands

Yara Greyjoy is the Lady Paramount

The Vale

House Yonce becomes Lords Paramount in the vail

House Aryan is wiped out

The lesser house of Yonce is renamed as to not create any confusion.

Sansa Stark marries the third son of Bronze Yonce who is picked as the most worthy to be the new lord Paramount

Terrance Yonce.

The West

Lannister in the west

Cecelia Baratheon ensures that the Lannisters remain in charge

Tommen is named Lord Paramount

He takes the name Lannister

He marries a Targaryen supporter of Queen Daenarys choosing

Tommen is remembered fondly throughout history as one of the Kindest Lords of the west.

The Stormlands

Baratheons in the Stormlands

The Stormlands were occupied by Taragerun forces until Sheria Tarageyn and Willem Baratheon were wed

Storms End was restored to him after

Dragonstone

Dragonstone is not considered a kingdom any but an island in the crown lands

The Crownlands

Held by House Targaryen

Kings Landing is rebuilt and the castle is the seat of power

Dragonstone is more of a vacation spot now.

Houses from across the nation have Manses in Kindslanding

The dragon pit is never rebuilt

Dorne

The Martels hold Dorne

The houses that supported Aegon over Daenarys were wiped out

Lots of knights are promoted to lords after many battles.

The daughter of Trystan Martel

Meria

She marries Prince Aemon and they become the ruling pair

Meeren, Yunkai, Asatpor become part of the Kingdom

The Land of Forever winter becomes part of the North, and the willings settle it.

Hardhome becomes the only Castle in the far North,

The lord is picked every time the previous one dies.

This "lord" has the job of dealing with the Starks

Whatever his last name was before every lord barres the name "Freedman."

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annabeth-graecus · 5 years

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When I Taste Tequila

I'm a slut for college AUs recently and it's been so long since I've written anything I wanted to give this a go as a sort of warm up.

Song for this one is Tequila by Dan and Shay bc it's obviously where I got the inspiration for this

Also I’ve started posting my stuff on my AO3 account so go check it out pls kudos and likes inflate my ego

I tried to update the title and fucked up the formatting of this so soz about that

Percy can still remember the first time he laid his eyes on Annabeth.

He was at a college party during freshman year, having spent nearly the entire day trying to convince Jason to tag along with him.

“I don’t do parties.” Jason had huffed, reluctantly following Percy up the driveway to the frat house where the party was in full swing. Music was blaring from the open windows and shaking the floor.

Percy turned back to his friend and put his hands on his shoulders. “It’s time to step out of your comfort zone, my good friend.” When he saw Jason’s skeptical expression Percy rolled his eyes.

“That cute girl you like from your social sciences class will be there.” He said, smirking.

Jason’s mouth opened and closed. “I don’t- I never said-” He stuttered as Percy turned back towards the house and made his way up the driveway, chuckling. He caught up with Percy, muttering that he hated him as they approached the door.

“I don’t even know why I’m still friends with you.” Jason said.

Percy and Jason had been friends since middle school, after Jason had moved from California with his mother to New York to live with his dad. Him and Percy had hit it off straight away, and became thick as thieves as the years progressed. They were both lucky that they were accepted into the same college, meaning they could live together and avoid the awkwardness of sharing a dorm with someone they didn’t know.

“Because you’d be lost without me.” Percy responded, wrapping his arm around Jason’s shoulder.

“Sure.” Jason said.

It was true. Jason wasn’t sure exactly where he’d be if Percy hadn’t come to save him that first day of middle school. He will always remember that trouble maker smile when Percy approached him, sticking out his hand and introducing himself.

Jason was the first to enter the house. “Wow.” Jason said. He’d never been in a frat house before, and was completely taken away by the size. A large staircase led up to the second floor, a huge foyer and archway leading into the living room. There were already loads of people in the house, chatting and drinking. It was a huge house, bigger than any that Percy had certainly been in. They walked through the main hallway into the open plan living room, where the majority of people were.

“Percy, Jason!” A voice said behind them. The two turned to see Frank, one of Percy’s classmates, smiling wide at them.

“Frank, my man.” Percy said, going in to give him a bro hug. Jason smiled at him.

“You guys just get here?” Frank asked, grabbing some beers from a box by his feet and passing them to the two.

Percy nodded, opening the beer and cheersing with the others.

The three chatted for a while, chatting about college and making their way through a few beers. Percy didn’t realise how much he’d drank until he scanned the party again, and dicovering that the room was spinning more than it had been when he first arrived. When he looked at Jason he seemed the same.

“Oh, you need to meet my friend Hazel.” Frank suddenly said, his eyes scanning the crowd. “Hazel!” He shouted.

Suddenly a girl who could have been no taller than 5″3 appeared in front of them. Her curly hair was in braids, and her eyes glittered gold when she smiled.

“Hazel, this is Jason and Percy, my friends I told you about.” Frank said, gesturing to them.

Hazel smirked at Jason. “I see what Piper meant.” She said, stifling her laughter when she saw Jason choke on his beer and his cheeks flush red.

Jason coughed. “Piper? What- what do you mean?” He stuttered.

Hazel just smiled and turned to Frank. “Want to do some kareoke?”

Frank laughed. “You know me so well.” He glanced back at Jason and Percy.

Percy clapped Jason’s back, attempting to bring his friend back down to earth. “Come on, let’s go explore more of the party.” He nodded at Frank and Hazel. “We’ll see you guys in a bit.”

They weaved their way through the crowd, heading into the kitchen. The music was so loud Percy could feel the bass in his chest.

Jason was still reeling at what Hazel had said to him. “What do you think Hazel means, ‘I see what Piper meant’?” He took another sip of beer. “Does Piper know who I am?”

“You stare at her enough during classes, maybe she’s finally noticed her stalker.” Percy said.

Jason scowled. “I don’t stare at her.”

“Dude.” Percy said, resting a hand on his shoulder. “I’ve seen you in class. I’m suprised you even manage to make notes in between staring at her and dribbling.”

Jason glared at him. “I don’t-”

“Jason?” A voice said from behind him.

Jason whirled around and nearly had a heart attack when he saw who said his name.

“P-Piper.” He said.

Piper was wearing a pair of high waisted shorts and a crop top, leaving gorgeous glowing skin on show. Jason swallowed as he looked at Piper, trying to not make it look like he was checking her out.

Even though he totally was.

She smiled at him. “I’ve seen you around in a few of my classes, just thought I’d say hi.” She said, biting her lip.

Jason didn’t realise he was staring until Percy had bumped his shoulder.

“Say something!” He whisper shouted.

Jason snapped back. “Um- yeah, social sciences right?”

Jason didn’t think she could get any more beautiful, but when she smiled again he nearly melted right there and then.

“Yeah.” She turned back to the crowd of people in the middle of the living room. She looked at him. “Do you want to grab a drink?” She asked, tilting her head at him.

“Yes-uh yeah I’d like that.” Jason said, his reply instant. Piper smiled again and pulled on his hand, taking him away.

Percy chuckled at them, flashing Jason a thumbs up when he turned back towards his friend, mouthing ‘what the fuck?’ to him.

That was when Percy saw her.

In the middle of the crowd was the most beautiful girl he had ever set his eyes on. Her golden curls were practically glowing as she moved. She was holding a bottle of tequila in her hand, laughing and dancing with the others. She was wearing a sorority sweatshirt, but he couldn’t quite make out the name.

Percy’s mother had always taught him to respect women, but she really was hot.

Percy immediately felt his knees go weak as he watched her twist and turn, her smile as bright at her hair. Percy took a sip of beer and stared at her, in awe.

Then suddenly girl began to move away from the crowd and head towards the kitchen.

Right towards Percy.

The two made eye contact and Annabeth smiled at him, walking past. He got the slightest whiff of lemon scent as she passed. Percy, whose brain had turned to complete mush at that point, turned to look at her.

“Hey.” He said.

The girl spun around, the bottle of tequila still in her hand, but this time it was accompanied by two shot glasses. “Hey.” She said, smiling at him again. She set the glasses down.

“I’m Percy.” He said.

The girl took a swig from the bottle. “Annabeth.” She offered the bottle towards him.

Even her name was enough to make Percy feel weak. He could hear the West Coast accent as she said her name. He took the tequila from her hand and sipped, ignoring the burning sensation as it slipped down his throat.

“I haven’t seen you around NYU. What’s your major?” He asked, trying to casually lean back on the kitchen counter. He offered the bottle back to her.

Annabeth took it. “Oh, I’m not actually at NYU. I go to Cornell- architecture. My friend Piper dragged me to this party.” She pointed in the direction of Piper, who was standing with Jason.

“Is that blond guy with Piper your friend?” Annabeth asked.

Percy nodded. “Uh- yeah, Jason.”

Annabeth rolled her eyes. “She hasn’t shut up about him since the beginning of semester.”

Percy nodded. “Yeah, it’s been the same with him.” They both laughed and settled into a silence. Percy looked at Annabeth, taking in her appearance. The way her tanned skin seemed to glow, her blonde tresses and those eyes. Up close they were even more stunning and reminded him of a stormy day, clouds swirling and colliding.

“So, Cornell?” Percy blew air out of his cheeks. “Wow.”

Annabeth ducked her head. “Yeah, wanted to get away from my parents so moving across the country seemed like the best thing.”

Percy could tell there was a whole story behind that, but didn’t want to pry. He was also far too drunk to be having deep conversations.

“You’re from the West Coast?” He asked, sipping his beer.

Annabeth nodded. “San Fran born and raised. Although I did used to go to a summer camp on Long Island.” She frowned, trying to remember the name.

Percy tilted his head. “It wasn’t camp Half Blood was it?”

Annabeth’s eyes lit up. “Yes! How did you know?”

Percy chuckled. “I used to go there too.”

Annabeth hit his arm. “No way! Which cabin were you in? I was in 6.”

Percy loved the way her eyes shined as she was talking. “Cabin 3.”

She nodded. “Ah, that’s probably why I never saw you.” She was all of a sudden standing very close to him now, and he could smell her lemon scented shampoo even better now.

Percy’s breath hitched in his throat. “Yeah I uh- I only went for a few years.”

His mother had sent him to Camp Half Blood when he was 13 and he kept going until he was 16. It was more of a way to get Percy out of the apartment in order to avoid his step-dad Gabe, who wasn't the nicest person to be around. He had enjoyed it a lot, making friends and having an escape from his life. He wished that he had bumped into Annabeth at some point.

Annabeth smiled again and Percy had to grip onto the counter to stop him from losing it.

She looked over at Jason and Piper, who were still talking.

“They seem to be getting on well.” She said. “Now I understand why she hasn’t stopped banging on about him.”

Percy felt a pang of jealousy and sipped his beer.

Annabeth shrugged. “Not really my type though.” When she looked at him she had a glint in her eye.

Percy raised his eyebrow. “What’s your type then?”

Annabeth shrugged innocently. “Oh I don’t know. Tall, dark hair, green eyes.”

Percy felt his heart stop momentarily as he stared at Annabeth, his mouth wide open.

“Come on,” She said, picking up the shot glasses and taking his hand. “Let’s go do some tequila shots.”

Percy happily let her drag him away.

“Hey, you alright?”

Percy snapped out of his reverie, looking over at Annabeth. They were sat at the bay window of their apartment, toes touching and mugs of tea in their hands. Their college days were far behind them now. His eyes gazed at her face, then to her growing stomach, a small smile playing on his lips. He then realised she was wearing her old sorority sweatshirt, baggier now after so many years.

“Yeah.” Percy answered, blowing on his mug and taking a sip.

Annabeth gave him a warm smile, resting a hand on her bump “Where did you go?”

Percy shook his head. “Just...remembering our college days.”

Annabeth hummed. “It was a good time, wasn’t it?”

Percy reached for her hand, stroking it gently. “It certainly was.”

#percabeth #percabeth fluff #percy jackson and the olympians #Heroes of Olympus #jasiper #frank zhang #hazel levesque #jasiper fluff #oh wow it's been so long since I've written anything #fluff

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fidgetheart · 5 years

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Love Me , Fight Me? ❤️

*cracks knuckles*

okay! so, this drabble is featuring my og ocs from a WIP story called Bloodline! bc of that, I wanna preface it with some explanations real fast to (hopefully) prevent any confusion! tho, if any of y’all of questions, pls feel free to send them to me :3c

anyway, Bloodline takes place on a moon called Tahra, which orbits a gas giant called Lamarr. There are two other moons (Darwin and Fazlur) that orbit Lamarr, and overall, there are two suns instead of one, and they’re called Lam 1 and Lam 2. Tahra has one continent with a few islands around it, but is completely covered in water otherwise - the continent itself is pretty big, but not enough to nearly encircle the moon, if that makes sense

All four planetary bodies are named after gods, so you’ll see the names used in place of God, hell, etc. so: “Oh my Lamarr” is the equivalent to “Oh my god”, and “go to Darwin” is equivalent to “go to hell” bc Darwin is a dead moon

deities are basically demigods, and the gods are… well, gods, and then you got regular people. deities have powers, but they pale in comparison to the gods, and they aren’t immortal, but they do have an increased lifespan

I actually got a sideblog for this (@bloodlinetrilogy), but I mostly just have a few moodboards and a couple of drawings o:

sdfjhsdfh right, anyway, the drabble is under the cut!! also it came out a hella lot longer than I intended whoops

major angst warning too

Love Me

“Looks like Arthfael’s got a crush.” Jocosa let out a snort, leaning back in her seat as she glanced toward her girlfriend, swallowing a giggle. “I’ve never seen him look so smitten.”

A bark of laughter escaped Eliza’s mouth and she shook her head, grinning as she quirked an eyebrow. “Jo, Arth hasn’t left her side since she arrived - you honestly think it’s just a crush?”

Jocosa couldn’t help but roll her eyes, glancing back toward the couple in question. She didn’t miss the way Arthfael was gazing at Elise, staring at her as if she were Lamarr herself, and she certainly didn’t miss the way Elise’s hand was resting on his. It was clear it was more than just a fleeting crush between the two, but… it was strange.

“You expect me to believe he’s fallen completely in love with a stranger?” She finally let out the giggle she had been holding back, turning away from Arthfael and Elise before she could be caught staring. “You know how long it took him to befriend Nike, he’s not the type to fall in love at first sight.”

Eliza shrugged, still grinning, and rested her chin in her hands. “Arth’s a strange one, what can I say?” Something flickered in her gaze, a look of knowing, as if there were more than she was letting on, but it was gone as quickly as it came.

Jocosa ignored it, deciding it was a trick of her imagination, but a thought pushed its way into her focus. Had they met before?

No. They couldn’t have - Arthfael rarely ventured into city, and when he did, he always stuck with the other deities. Even then, he preferred being amongst those he considered to be his friends. She hardly knew him, despite Eliza being one of them, but she knew enough about him that he only interacted with humans if it was necessary. And there was no doubt they couldn’t have met outside of Vencuro - had Elise ventured into Sifko, she would’ve been killed.

So what was it about Elise that captured his full attention?

Perhaps she would never know, and Jocosa was… alright with that.

With a grin, she held up her glass for a cheers, eyes sparkling with amusement. “Here’s so saying Arthfael actually has a heart.”

Eliza let out another laugh, tapping her glass against hers, eyes shining with amusement. “Gee, Jo, that’s a little harsh, dontcha think?”

Holding back her own laughter, Jocosa simply winked at her girlfriend before taking a swig of her drink. “Harsh?” She said, putting her glass down as she leaned across the table. “My love, you know it’s the truth.”

Her girlfriend said nothing, instead let out a hum of thought before she leaned across and kissed her nose, causing her to jerk back in surprise. “Whatever you say, dear,” she teased.

Jocosa felt her face flush, but she couldn’t help but giggle. “You just don’t like admitting I’m right, do you?”

There was another thoughtful hum from Eliza as she leaned back against her seat, a playful smirk appearing on her face. “If it helps you sleep at night, then sure, darling.”

“Oh, shut up.”

Fight Me

Jocosa stared out the window, expecting to see eyes gleaming back at her from the darkness, but there was nothing. Not that she could see, at least.

They were in Sifko, but miles away from the laboratory - the powerplant, whatever in Darwin’s name it had been. But she didn’t feel safe, and she doubted she would again. Not with those creatures, those mutants, free to roam the land.

What was worse was that she didn’t have the answers to the questions that buzzed in her mind like a swarm of angry wasps, and the questions that everyone else had. All she knew was that Burnam had allowed Greer to do as she pleased, to manipulate humans into working for her in the bunkers, creating monsters for no clear reason. But Greer was the goddess of chaos, and… she wasn’t sure if knowing that helped or not.

Greer thrived on chaos, creating it as she pleased despite having sworn long ago to not meddle in the affairs of deities and humans alongside the other gods. It didn’t matter if there was an ultimate reason for her actions - as long it caused confusion and mayhem, she was satisfied.

But why had Burnam agreed to all of it? He had the power he craved - he controlled everyone with fear and manipulation, and it worked well for him. Had Greer been promising him something? Had she promised him status as a god, in exchange for him hiding her from the eyes of the others?

The thought of Burnam becoming a god sent shivers down her spine, and Jocosa hugged herself tightly, ignoring her sweaty palms and fluttering heart.

She wanted to focus on the good that had come out of the Uprising. She wanted to focus on the fact Eliza had survived, that Burnam was dead and gone, and that Zahera had taken control of the chaotic situation swiftly and calmly. She knew it could’ve been so much worse - the Uprising could’ve come to a head in Vencuro. Burnam could’ve won, and Greer could still be free. But she couldn’t focus on that. Not with tensions still as apparent as Lamarr on the horizon.

The humans were up in arms, lashing out at any deity that came close, and she couldn’t blame them. Arthfael had turned colder, and it was clear he was not pleased with Zahera’s new leadership. Even Eliza seemed… distant. Everything felt wrong.

“Jo?”

Jocosa nearly jumped out of her skin, the voice breaking her from her troubled thoughts. She spun around, heart in her throat, and she let out a startled laugh, pressing a hand to her chest as she closed her eyes. “Lamarr, Eli! You scared me.” She opened her eyes, offering a weak smile, but it quickly faded when she saw her girlfriend’s near stony expression. “Eli? What’s wrong?”

Eliza stared at her, her gaze troubled, and she opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Instead, she let out a heavy sigh and shook her head, looking up toward the ceiling. “Jo… I… Can you sit down?”

Her mind spun, fear and worry clawing at her heart. Unable to speak, Jocosa moved toward the couch before sitting down, staring at the other deity, desperately trying to figure out what was going to be said.

Eliza remained still, her gaze still focused on the ceiling, as if she were unable to face her lover. It was clear she was troubled, and the way her body was tense made Jocosa feel she were bracing for a fight.

“Talk to me,” Jocosa rasped, voice far weaker than she had intended. She had wanted to sound stronger than she felt, to sound calm and assuring. But she couldn’t. She couldn’t get her words to take on that facade, and she couldn’t chase the fear that made the hair on her arms rise. “Please, Eli. You’re worrying me.”

Her girlfriend inhaled deeply, finally lowering her head to look toward her, her eyes gleaming with an unspoken challenge. She was defensive, and Jocosa couldn’t read why.

Finally, Eliza spoke.

“Zahera can’t be in charge.”

What?

Jocosa stared at Eliza, her mind going blank. The words died in her throat, but she couldn’t even figure out what they were. Why? She wanted to ask. I don’t understand. She wanted to say. What in Darwin’s name are you talking about?

Eliza didn’t wait, lifting her chin as if she truly were facing against someone willing to argue. “The last thing we need to do is go into hiding - to pull away from the humans. We can’t do what the gods did. After what happened, we need to mend the relationship with them, to make things right-”

“They hate us.”

Jocosa stared at Eliza, feeling dizzy and baffled, and saw her own confusion reflected on her girlfriend’s face.

“Of course they do. I don’t-”

“Zahera’s right, Eli. We need to take a step back, to let the humans get some sort of peace. They don’t trust us, and they can’t if we keep breathing down their necks.”

She wanted to cry the moment, those words came tumbling out, to take them back. But she could only watch as those words caused Eliza’s face to harden, growing defensive once again, and it was clear Eliza had made up her mind. Listen to me, she wanted to say, but her tongue stuck to the inside of her mouth. Please, my love.

“Of course they don’t trust us,” Eliza spat, her voice sharp, and Jocosa did her best not to wince. Her sharp tone had rarely been directed at her, and it hurt.

“Eli-”

“Listen to me!” Eliza’s lip twitched as if she were going to bare her teeth, her eyes flashing with anger and… desperation. “I know Zahera may mean well, but she can’t be trusted. Burnam trusted her for a reason - he made her his confidant for a reason, Jo. Burnam was the one who caused this shitshow in the first place, but we’re just as guilty. We followed his orders, and we need to show the humans that they can trust us. That we’re going to make things right.”

Jocosa said nothing, staring up at her girlfriend as she struggled to process what she was saying. Her words sounded like that of a madwoman, and despite the belief she clearly possessed in what she was saying, Jocosa couldn’t tell if she were still trying to convince her as well as herself.

“My love,” she began, her words gentle, a little stronger than before. “Eli, I… I don’t understand. Where is this coming from?”

Eliza shifted her weight, and for a brief moment, looked uncertain herself. “Arthfael,” she said simply. “We need him as a leader.”

Jocosa felt her heart sink, and everything seemed to stop. Arthfael.

Since the Uprising at the powerplant, he had been different. Not just colder, but… determined. Full of bitterness and hatred toward those he felt had stood in his way from the beginning to get rid of Burnam.

Suddenly, Eliza’s words made perfect sense. Her words were not her own - they were Arthfael’s. And it reminded her of Burnam.

Inhaling sharply, Jocosa got to her feet and stepped toward Eliza, staring at her in the eyes desperately as she reached out a hand to touch her shoulder, but stopped short, unable to do so. “Eli, don’t you hear yourself?”

Eliza stiffened, eyes flashing. “Of course I do.” Her words were hard. “And I hear what Arthfael is saying, and I agree with him. We need to be active in earning the trust of the humans - if we stand by them, protecting them from whatever in Darwin’s name escaped from the lab, they’ll start to trust us. We’d be able to live together, nothing like before. We’re different from them, sure, but… that doesn’t mean we get to be above them.”

“That’s not what Zahera is suggesting.” Jocosa’s words came out far sharper than she intended, but she was unable to hold herself back, anger finally flaring in her chest as she pulled away from her girlfriend. “She doesn’t want us to be above them, but she doesn’t want us getting in the way. We’ve hurt them, Eli, and it’ll be best for us to pull away for a while, so both sides can heal. We don’t need to be involved.”

Eliza scowled, turning away as she crossed her arms over her chest before spinning back around to face her. “But we do need to be involved!” Her voice was rising, her temper flaring. “We’ve hurt them, and we need to apologize! Zahera just doesn’t want to face the consequences!”

“I can’t believe you’re saying that!” Jocosa did her best to ignore the painful ache in her heart, and she wanted to plead with Eliza to calm down. To just drop the matter altogether. She hated arguing with her. She hated seeing her girlfriend’s temper flare, but it never flared at her. Not like this, and it felt like it was going to kill her. “Eli, please! Zahera doesn’t want to cause more problems! She wants to make things right, but we need to give the humans space! She wants to make up for the pain we’ve caused, but to do that we need to back off!”

Eliza scowled. “And then what? She hasn’t considered what to do about those mutants, has she? She knew what went on in the lab, and she did nothing. She knew of Burnam’s cruelty, and did nothing.” She stepped forward, fury blazing in her eyes. “She did nothing to stop him! Arthfael was the one formulating a plan to overthrow him! He was the one to put his life on the line, over and over again, to get to the truth! Zahera lied to us, Jo! We can’t trust her, and we certainly can’t trust anyone who supports her!”

“You’re sounding just like Burnam!”

The moment those words left her mouth, Jocosa wanted to take them back.

Eliza stepped back, her eyes widening and her anger dying, and she looked as though she had been struck.

And Jocosa couldn’t stop.

“Can’t you see? You’re sounding paranoid, trying to convince yourself that you’re going to be doing something for the greater good when you’re not! Arthfael isn’t in a good state of mind, and you know that! It’s dangerous, Eli! The talk of Zahera lying? Where in Darwin’s name is that coming from? She needed to be careful - she has a son! Burnam wouldn’t have hesitated to kill Yezekael, even though he’s only a child! You know that! She never asked to be in that position!”

Eliza’s gaze hardened once again, her posture straightening as the anger returned to her eyes, and Jocosa felt her heart sink.

“I thought you were smarter than this,” she said quietly, and Jocosa reeled back, a choked gasp escaping her mouth.

Eliza kept going.

“Yeah, Zahera has a son, so what? We all have someone we could’ve lost, and some of us did lose someone. Dessa lost her father, and she’s just a child. Atlas lost his little sister - she was hardly an adult. Arthfael lost Elise.”

Tears blurred her vision, and Jocosa swallowed a cry as they began to spill down her face. “You don’t need to remind me of the dead,” she choked, voice breaking as she collapsed onto the couch.

“Apparently I do.” There was an uncharacteristic coldness in Eliza’s gaze. “You said I sound like Burnam, but we know that’s not true.” She paused, clearly mulling something over her tongue. “I didn’t realize I had lost someone, too.”

Those words hurt more than a scorion sting.

Jocosa flinched, turning her gaze away as she shuddered, struggling to keep herself together. She wanted to turn those words back against Eliza. This wasn’t her, and it wasn’t Eliza. What is wrong with us?

“Leave.”

“Jo-”

Without thinking, she jumped to her feet, spinning to face Eliza, hot tears spilling down her cheeks as she stared at her. “Leave!” She took a step closer, desperate anger blazing in her heart. “I don’t care what you do - but I’m staying with Zahera! Following Arthfael will only repeat this, and you know it!”

Eliza stared back at her, her expression changing into shock, her eyes wide and mouth open. No words came out, and she slowly shook her head, taking a few steps back.

For a moment… Jocosa thought she had pulled herself together. Something in the other woman’s movements made her believe she had snapped out of a trance, but then Eliza stiffened once again, and her heart sank.

“Fine.” Her gaze was cold once more. “I get it. I really do, Jocosa, and I thought you were better than this.” With a shake of her head, Eliza turned and began to leave, but stopped, looking over her shoulder.

Jocosa stared at her, struggling to breath, and doing her best to keep herself together even as it felt the world was shattering around her. Don’t leave me, she wanted to scream. Please! I love you! Please don’t do this to me!

“Goodbye, Jo.” Remorse filled Eliza’s voice, and for a moment, her expression wavered, mirroring the devastation Jocosa felt. But, despite her wavering voice, the other woman turned away, and simply walked out the door.

A choked cry escaped Jocosa as she fell to her knees, sobbing as she buried her head in her hands.

The Uprising was supposed to have been an answer to her questions. It was supposed to have taken care of everything that had nearly destroyed them - it took Burnam’s life, and chased Greer back into control of the other gods. But it left her with more questions, and took away the one person she had loved more than anything.

It had taken Eliza, and what remained of her was someone completely different.

#sdfhjsdfhjdf i keep rebooting bloodline so it's. a mess and i have no clear idea of what to write #but i do got ideas!!#and i love it a lot!! i just really gotta figure out wtf i'm writing sdfsdfhj #also i got a pinterest account completely dedicated to it pfff #Midge writes #asks #not warriors #anonymous

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