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woso-dreamzzz · 7 months

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Study

Barcelona Femení x Teen!Reader

Summary: Doing schoolwork while the team is round is not a good idea

The sun patch you were lying in was delightful.

The noise around you, was not.

You opened your eyes blearily, narrowing them to slits in annoyance.

Lucy stared at you and then pointedly turned the tv up in volume, laughing at your disgruntled look.

"Turn it back down," You said.

"No."

"Lucy," You whined," Please turn it down."

"Sorry, kiddo," Keira said as she appeared," But the rest of the team are coming over soon and you've got an essay to write."

You groaned at the reminder but sat up. The whole reason you had taken a nap in the first place was to procrastinate about writing your essay.

"Keira..."

"No, y/n," She said," Part of the agreement we made with your parents was keeping your grades up. I won't make you sit at the kitchen table to write it while the team is round but you have to get it finished today."

You groaned again but relented, grabbing your laptop from where it was charging nearby and pulling up your plan.

Your teammates flooded in through the next hour.

Asisat tapped you on the head as she passed to get to the kitchen. "School work?"

You rolled your eyes. "What gave it away?"

She laughed. "The fact that you've been staring at the screen for nearly twenty minutes and haven't typed a thing."

You darted your eyes across the room to look at Keira, who clearly hadn't noticed. You sent an awkward smile Asisat's way. "Don't tell Keira?"

"Your secret's safe with me."

The more people that arrived, the less you wanted to write your essay. The whole apartment had filled up with noise and even if you wanted to start typing, you were much more interested in hearing Claudia talk about the date she went on with her girlfriend.

You start typing your introduction before deciding you really can't be bothered right now and switch to writing about how Mark Antony's relationship with Cleopatra was the worst thing he could have done from the perspective of other Romans.

You were mindlessly typing and deleting your work when Frido and Aitana joined you on the sofa.

"How is your studying?" Aitana's English was getting much better now that she came around routinely to learn from Keira while you were forced to sit at the table and do your science work.

You gave her a deadpan look. "Oh, just great."

Frido laughed at your sarcasm. "Anything we can help with?"

"Unless you understand the intricacies of Mark Antony and Octavian's war for power after Caesar's death, then no."

Frido pulled a face. "You're studying that?"

"In theory."

Marta and Caro joined a moment later with cans of lemonade and snacks. You snatched up a KitKat quickly, anything to distract you from your next paragraph about Octavian's slanderous propaganda against his rival.

"How is our little student faring?" Marta asked, peering at your screen where you had repeatedly typed out 'I hate this class so much, I wish I could drop out'.

"Not good by the looks of it," Caro said even though it was obvious," What even is this?"

"Ancient Roman politics," Frido replied," It looks very boring."

"It's interesting," You said," Until you have to start writing essays and decide which of these horrible men was better."

"Who is better?" Aitana asked.

"...Octavian, because he won," You replied," But not because he was a better person. This is Rome - if you're not a bad person then are you really an Ancient Roman politician?"

The little group around you burst into laughter and Marta ruffled your hair. "You'll get it finished," She said," You're a smart girl."

Team bonding happened around you for the evening as you mindlessly typed and typed and typed until you were finally finished with your essay.

You stretched out in delight and headed into the kitchen where a to-do list hung on the fridge.

Irene, Sandra and Mariona were already there, studying it curiously as you grabbed a pen from the top of the fridge (standing on your tiptoes to reach it) before you crossed off your Classical Civilisations essay.

"That's a lot of work," Mariona said," This is for the whole month?"

"This is for the week," You replied, taking in her shocked look at your words," But I'm nearly done." You crossed off the Physics homework you finished last night along with the Maths worksheet you got done before practice this morning.

"It gets this bad?" Irene asked," I worry about when Mateo starts school properly."

You frowned. "I'm pretty sure that Mateo getting homework will be doing a drawing rather than writing essays."

"Well, if it helps," Sandra cut in," At least you've finished your essay now! You're free!"

You shook your head and pointed to the only thing Lucy had contributed to your list.

FINISH YOUR FUCKING PSYCHOLOGY ESSAY

"It's about language development in infants," You said, opening the fridge and grabbing some more lemonade.

When you finally made your way back to the living room, your seat had been taken by some of the girls so you ended up sitting in front of the armchair that Ingrid and Mapi had taken refuge on.

Instantly, Ingrid's hands threaded through your hair, massaging your scalp before pulling strands out of your face and pulling them into an intricate braid.

Apart from ever so slightly making you move your head to different positions, you were left mostly alone as you typed away about more research studies using brain imaging.

Mapi shifted behind you and you could tell she was trying to read over your shoulder.

"Why do you need to learn this?" She asked.

"It's interesting," You replied," I thought about doing psychology at uni before Barca signed me. I just hate writing about it."

"It looks boring."

"It's not," You said. Ingrid tied off your new braid and you turned to look at Mapi with a wolfish smile. "Besides, is it boring for you because it hits too close to home? Since you're such a child?"

Mapi swatted at you jokingly, lightly kicking you in the back until you shifted away from her with your laptop.

You refuge came in the form of the pile on the floor in front of the tv. Bruna and Jana welcomed you into the group instantly and you found yourself sandwiched between Ona and Esmee, who were viciously going against each other in FIFA.

"Is your essay finished?" Esmee asked," Keira told me not to text you after practice because you were writing your essay."

"Nearly," You replied," I've just got one more paragraph and then the conclusion. Ona's about to score, by the way."

With your words, Esmee just managed to block the shot as Ona shoved you in annoyance.

Jana and Bruna broke into laughter and peered over your shoulder.

"You used the wrong word," Jana said, pointing to where you had been writing about Piaget.

"It's kind of embarrassing that you're correcting me on my own native language," You said to her even as you corrected yourself.

"Learn Spanish," Bruna said," She makes a lot of mistakes in that."

"No I don't!"

"Yes you do!"

"You so do," Ona said," And y/n, you've got your tenses wrong."

You hadn't even noticed that the match had ended and that Ona was studying your essay until she spoke. Esmee looked over it as well, pointing at another grammar mistake.

You slapped their hands away and pointed to each of you. "Stop it! It'll get spellchecked at the end! You're ruining my creative process!"

"What creative process?" Jana laughed," You're writing an essay!"

"I hate you!" You declared with a laugh," Each and every one of you!" You pointed at them each in turn.

"Don't lie!" Bruna said," You love us."

You bat your eyelashes at her. "Write my essay and you'll have my undying love!"

"No chance!"

You finished your essay soon after without any of their help (although you would be the first to admit that your conclusion wasn't exactly the best) and hurried to cross it off the list, snatching it off the fridge. You sought out Keira in a group of the older girls. You showed her the list.

"I'm done!"

She took it from you, looking it over sceptically.

"And your psychology essay?"

"Yes!"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes! Keira, promise!"

"She promises, Keira!" Patri mocked your tone with a smile as Claudia and Gemma laughed.

You were one second away from stamping your foot but you refrained because you would never live down the 'little kid' allegations from your teammates if you did so.

"Look at this face!" Gemma said, cupping your cheeks," How could you be mean to this one?"

Keira had a contemplative look on her face.

"Come on, Keira," Claudia said," It's the weekend. We have a match in two days. She's been doing her work since we arrived. Let her have this."

"She could have had it finished before you all arrived if she hadn't taken a nap after practice."

"She's a growing girl!" Patri declared," She needs her nap so she can be big and strong like me when she grows up!"

An arm was thrown over your shoulder and you bit back your retort that the world couldn't handle two versions of Patri.

"Oh...fine, then. y/n go let Narla out of your room and then you're free for the rest of the day."

"Yes!" You pumped your fist into the air and hurried off.

Narla had been shut into your room the moment you came home after Keira watched you play with the little dog instead of doing your homework so she seemed very happy to be free, leaping into your arms like a little princess and making you walk her into the living room.

Salma and Cata intercepted you on the way, cooing over Narla like they had never met her before even though they had.

"It's strange to see you without your laptop," Cata said to you as she tickled under Narla's chin," I thought that it was surgically attached to you or something."

You would have shoved her if you had access to your hands but you didn't so settled for an unimpressed eyeroll. "Ha, ha, very funny. Make fun of my massive workload. I don't see you studying while playing football!"

"You know," Salma said and you already knew she was going to say something to tease you," When I was your age, I didn't have to worry about deadlines because I just did my work the day it got set."

You scoffed. "You're only three years older than me!" You stuck your tongue out at her. "If you want to write my essays for me, Salma, you should have just asked."

Her nose wrinkled in disgust. "That sounds like hell on earth."

You laughed all the way back to the living room, placing Narla on the floor and grabbing some snacks from the table when nobody was looking. You ended up on the floor for the most part, sat by Lucy's chair as the older woman sat above you, occasionally reaching down to feed you chocolate when she was sure Keira wasn't looking. But as it got later in the evening, you ended up migrating onto the sofa with Alexia.

"I heard you finished all your schoolwork for the week," She said as you lazed against her side, watching whatever Spanish soap opera Patri had forced onto the tv.

"Uh-huh." You were only half listening as you dozed off. Her nails scratched lightly at your scalp and the blanket that had been thrown over the pair of you made you feel all cosy and warm.

"Well done, y/n. I'm very proud of you."

"Thank you," You slurred slightly, head dropping to her shoulder as your vision got blurrier and blurrier.

"Are you tired, bebita?"

"No..."

Her chuckle jolted her body slightly but it was a little like the vibrations from being in a car so your eyes just drooped lower. "I think you are."

"Not...Not tired."

"You are. I think all that studying took it out of you."

"No..." You whined slightly and Alexia pulled you in a bit tighter. She manipulated your body in some way you didn't realise because you blinked and suddenly you were lying stretched out with your head in her lap. "I'm...I'm not tired."

You had already missed out on team bonding because of your studying. You didn't want to miss out on any more.

"You are very tired." Alexia's tone was firm but still somehow soothing and her nails drew patterns on your arm comfortingly. "You just need a little nap."

You tried to protest but Alexia's voice just got a bit firmer and a bit more like her captain voice so you knew that you couldn't argue back.

"Come on, bebita. It's nap time for good students like you. I'll wake you up when the food gets here."

#woso x reader #barca femeni x reader #barcelona femeni x reader #barca femeni #barcelona femeni #woso community #woso imagine #woso fanfics #woso

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justharoo · 10 months

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Cleopatra x Caesar WR AU

#rwby #whiterose #ruby rose #weiss schnee #rwby fanart #yuri

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53v3nfrn5 · 16 days

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‘The Suicide of Cleopatra Bitten by the Asp’ Giovanni Pietro Rizzoli, known as Giampietrino, sixteenth century, oil on wood, 28 ¾ x 29 ½/ in. (73 x 75 cm), Musée du Louvre, Paris

Cleopatra was a powerful woman indeed. Queen of Egypt (69-30 BCE), she was successively the wife of her brothers Ptolemy XIII and Ptolemy XIV, who sent her into exile. As mistress of Julius Caesar, however, she was to return to power and, with the assistance of Rome, strove to restore Eeypt's hegemony over the Mediterranean. After the death of her lover, Caesar, she married Mark Antony, who offered to divide the East with her. Threatened by this confederation, Caesar's heir Octavian fought Antony and Cleopatra's troops at Actium, roundly defeating them. In order to save their honor, the only option for the defeated was to commit suicide. Until the very end, Cleopatra controlled her own life and those of the men around her. She is for this reason a prototype of the dangerous femme fatale.

#my scans #cleopatra #art #history #historical art #femme fatale #aesthetic #dangerous women #giovanni pietro rizzoli #egypt #royalty #queen #16th century #art history

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aphroditelovesu · 7 months

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⤷✿.｡Since you voted yes to commissions, so here we are. I was a little unsure about the price, so I researched and tried to make it as fair as possible. I hope you agree with this! ❤️

Also, this is completely optional! If you don't want to, you don't have to request a commission! All the other requests works the same way!! ⤷♡.+ n a v i g a t i o n.

⤷♡.+ Status: OPEN.

What I would write

I write for any gender, both character and Reader/OC, be it female, male, neutral transsexual. Any.

Yandere!Character x Reader, Yandere!Reader x Yandere!Character, Yandere!OC x Reader and Yandere!OC X OC.

Dark!Au, Gore, Disorders, Smut/NSFW, explicit language, soft!yandere, alternative AU, Horror, Age gap (depends on how much).

Romantic, platonic and general Yanderes, as well as more specific themes; example: yandere x depressive!reader.

Stockholm syndrome.

Pregnancy, childbirth and death in childbirth.

Non-Con, Dub-Con, BDSM.

Fluff; non-yandere.

Monsterfucking, specific kinks.

Angst.

What I DON'T write

Any kind of NSFW content with children, anything with children will just be platonic.

I don't write NSFW with characters that have a childish appearance or personality, just platonic.

I don't usually write ships because I consider it something personal, but I can do it if someone wants to.

Age play, scap.

Minor x Adult (only platonic).

Prices (in $ and R$)

Headcanons

2,00 $/R$ 2,00 for 500 words;

6,00 $/R$ 6,00 for 1000 words;

12,00 $/R$ 12,00 for 2000 words;

NSFW content adds an additional charge of $3,00/R$3,00.

Imagines, Scenarios, Reactions, Oneshots, Prompts

3,00 $/R$ 4,00 for 500 words;

10,00 $/R$ 13,00 for 1000 words;

18,00 $/R$ 18,00 for 2000 words;

20,00 $/R$ 20,00 for 3000 words.

NSFW content adds an additional charge of $5,00/R$6,00.

My list of current fandoms, but I can always add more:

Anime

Attack on Titan, Amensia, Death Note, Demon Slayer, Diabolik Lovers, Fruits Basket, Haikyuu!!, Hakuoki, Hunter x Hunter, Jujutsu Kaisen, Kamigami no Asobi, Naruto, Mirai Nikki, One Piece, Blood of Zeus.

Books

Percy Jackson, Harry Potter, A Song of Ice and Fire, Pegasus and The Flame of Olympus (series), IT., A Court of Thorns and Roses (ACOTAR), The Bridgertons, Twilight, The Lord of the Rings, The Cruel Prince: The Folk of the Air, The Bridgertons, Twilight.

Games

Genshin Impact, Detroit Become Human, Mystic Messenger, Time Princess Dress Up (TP: characters), Yandere Simulator, My Candy Love (Amour Sucré), Arkyos Angel, A Plague Tale.

K-Pop

BTS, BLACKPINK, GOT7, EXO, BIGBANG, TWICE, AESPA, Stray Kids, ITZY, Hyuna and Dawn, Red Velvet, NCT, Monsta X, Taemin, Dreamcatcher, LE SSERAFIM, (G)I-DLE.

Series/TV Show

Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon, The Originals, The Vampire Diaries, Teen Wolf, Supernatural, Outer Banks, Friends, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Euphoria, Reign, Bridgerton, The Flash, Supergirl, Outlander, American Horror Story, Wednesday, Riverdale, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, The Sandman, Lucifer, Winx Club, Ragnarok, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, Invisible City (Cidade Invisível), Shadow and Bone, Adventure Time, The Witcher, Rebelde MX (RBD), Heartstopper, Hannibal, Criminal Minds, The Last Kingdom.

Movies

Disney Universe, Marvel Universe, DC Universe, Maze Runner, Halloween, Friday the 13th, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Transformers, How to Train Your Dragon, Miraculous, Ever After High, Monster High, Barbie Universe, Christmas Movies, Maze Runner, Avatar, Twilight, Star Wars.

K-Dramas

My Demon, Bussiness Proposal, Doom At Your Service, Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha, Crash Landing on You, My Name, Mr Queen, King the Land.

Mythology

Greek, Egyptian, Norse Mythology and Brazilian Folklore.

Historical Characters

Alexander the Great, Cleopatra, Caesar Augustus, Julius Caesar and etc...

Additional Information

I accept payment via PayPal and Pic Pay only (PayPal = Ko-Fi)

Payment must be made before I start and I will always send you updates if you ask me.

I write in English and Portuguese.

I have a deadline of 5 to 10 days to complete your commission, however, if something unforeseen happens and it ends up being delayed, I will inform you.

If I write more than what was asked, obviously there will be no additions.

If you are interested, DM me with details and feel free to ask me anything.

#yandere #dark #yandere au #dark au #commissions #writing commissions

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just-late-roman-republic-things · 10 months

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JLRRT’s Favorites

Includes only works that I’ve read, watched or listened to. Some works are out of date or contain errors, but are still included for their enjoyable writing or other strengths. This list will be updated as I find new media I like. Feel free to recommend more to me!

Biographies

Antony and Cleopatra, by Adrian Goldsworthy (review)

Augustus: First Emperor of Rome, by Adrian Goldsworthy (review)

Augustus: The Life of Rome’s First Emperor, by Anthony Everitt (review)

Brutus: The Noble Conspirator, by Kathryn Tempest (review)

Caesar: Life of a Colossus, by Adrian Goldsworthy (review)

A Companion to Julius Caesar, anthology, ed. Miriam Griffin (review)

Julius Caesar and the Roman People, by Robert Morstein-Marx (review #1, review #2)

Cato the Younger: Life and Death at the End of the Roman Republic, by Fred Drogula (review)

Cicero: The Life and Times of Rome’s Greatest Politician, by Anthony Everitt (review)

Clodia Metelli: The Tribune's Sister, by Marilyn Skinner (review)

Fulvia: Playing for Power at the End of the Roman Republic, by Celia Schultz (review)

Marcus Agrippa: Right-hand Man of Caesar Augustus, by Lindsay Powell (review)

Scipio Africanus: Rome’s Greatest General, by Richard Gabriel (review 1, review 2)

Servilia and her Family, by Susan Treggiari (review)

Sulla: The Last Republican, by Arthur Keaveney (review 1, review 2)

Tiberius Caesar, by David Shotter (review)

Tiberius, by Robin Seager (review)

Classical Sources

Catiline’s War, by Sallust (review)

The Jewish War, by Flavius Josephus

The Twelve Caesars, by Suetonius (review and discussion; see also my Suetonius tag)

Other Nonfiction

A Companion to the Roman Republic, eds. Nathan Rosenstein and Robert Morstein-Marx

The Last Generation of the Roman Republic, by Erich Gruen (review)

Latin for All Occasions and X-Treme Latin by Henry Beard

Horrible Histories: The Rotten Romans, by Terry Deary (middle grade audience)

Roman Homosexuality, by Craig Williams (review, chapter summaries)

SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome, by Mary Beard (review, timeline from the book)

The Storm Before the Storm, by Mike Duncan (review)

Twelve Caesars: Images of Power From the Ancient World to the Modern, by Mary Beard (review)

Comics

Cardinal's art and comics on Tumblr

The Cartoon History of the Universe series, by Larry Gonick (graphic novel; Roman history starts in Volume II; review)

The Dead Romans Society on Tumblr

Historical Fiction Books

Augustus, by John Williams (review)

The Cicero Trilogy (Imperium, Lustrum, Dictator), by Robert Harris (review)

The City War, by Sam Starbuck (review)

Cleopatra: Daughter of the Nile, by Kristiana Gregory (middle grade audience; review)

Masters of Rome series, by Colleen McCullough (review)

Roma soy yo, by Santiago Posteguillo (review)

Roma Sub Rosa series, by Steven Saylor (review, suggested reading order)

Podcasts

The History of Rome by Mike Duncan

TV, movies, videos

Fulvia y Cleopatra, dos destinos cruzados - Spanish docudrama (review)

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum

Hannibal’s March on Rome, Smithsonian Channel

Historia Civilis Youtube Channel

Invicta Youtube Channel

I, Claudius, BBC

Last Days of Pompeii, Amazon Prime Documentary

Meet the Romans with Mary Beard

Murder in Rome, BBC Timewatch

Overly Sarcastic Productions Youtube Channel

Rome: Empire Without Limit with Mary Beard

Plays

The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare

See also:

Things I look for in history books - my tips for evaluating whether a book is reliable

Warning signs of fascism in history media - also by me, with additional antifascist resources.

Disability studies for ancient Greece and Rome

White supremacy, racism, and decolonizing classics studies

Women in Classical Antiquity (list of scholarly sources)

Queer Classics: A Speculative Reading List

LGBT Meets SPQR

Lesbiantiquity: "A zine-anthology of Greek & Latin writings about women loving women"

Resources for learning about Black history

#jlrrt speaks #book rec #jlrrt reads #jlrrt watches

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asterixlabs · 2 months

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Round 1 has ended with no big surprises and our bracket is now updated. It’s now even harder to read than before! Round 2 polls will go live tomorrow, Saturday April 13th at 9AM EST and last for 1 week.

Round 1 (x)

All polls are linked under the cut

Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatra (live action) vs Asterix in Belgium

Asterix and the Golden Sickle vs Asterix and the Chieftain's Shield

Asterix the Gladiator vs Asterix and Son

Asterix and the Laurel Wreath vs Asterix the Gaul (BD)

Asterix in Corsica vs The Secret of the Magic Potion

Asterix and the Normans (BD) vs Asterix and the Goths

The Mansions of the Gods (Movie) vs The Mansions of the Gods (BD)

Asterix and the Soothsayer vs Asterix in Britain (BD)

The Twelve Tasks of Asterix vs Asterix and the Big Fight (movie)

Asterix and Cleopatra (animated) vs Asterix at the Olympic Games (BD)

Asterix and Cleopatra (BD) vs Asterix and Obelix All at Sea

Asterix and the Big Fight (BD) vs Asterix and the Roman Agent

Asterix and the Cauldron vs Asterix and Caesar's Gift

Asterix in Switzerland vs Asterix in Spain

Asterix and the Banquet vs Obelix and Co.

Asterix in Britain (animated) vs Asterix the Legionary

#asterix #best of asterix poll

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a-world-of-whimsy-5 · 2 years

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ʚ Pairing: Prince Nuada x Female Reader (First person POV)

ʚ Themes: Soft | Fluff | Supernatural | Slow Burn

ʚ Warnings: Kissing | Mention of creature death / euthanasia

ʚ Disclaimer: I don’t own the original image in this edit.

ʚ Author’s notes: Elven year Elven thousand and fifty three (Our year 2020. I just made this up for the story.)

In the elven year of eleven thousand and fifty-three, a great war raged between mortals and the children of the earth. This war was terrible, for it brought with it the awakening of the Golden Army. Seventy times seventy strong, these mechanical warriors hacked and slashed through the armies of men until King Balor, thinking there had been enough bloodshed, called for a truce before unarmed civilians fell under the blade of his army.

The agreement, mediated by members of BPRD, went like this: Humans would stick to their cities, and the forests would be allowed to flourish for the children of the earth. This was later extended to include abandoned tracks and parks. Only the threat of the Golden Army kept the humans from breaking the truce, and lasting peace was finally achieved. Part of this agreement also included an exchange of hostages to live with hosts on the other side.

I, y/n, was part of the exchange, and I had been sent to live with Crown Prince Nuada. The prince balked at my presence, begrudging even the food I ate, muttering barbs just loud enough for me to hear and avoiding me as much as he could. It hurt, but there was nothing I could do but wait out the allotted five years, and you had barely been with him for two months. Not knowing what else to do, I stayed out of his way, only leaving my rooms when I had to eat or go to work. Mister Wink, bless him, accompanied me to and from the office. Truth be told, I found him to be better company than his more eloquent friend. Mister Wink was fascinated by everything above ground, from hawks dipping and diving between buildings to the phone I was holding. While I was reading on the subway, I noticed him peering over my shoulder. I brought books to teach him to read after stopping at a nearby bookstore.

That’s when I noticed the first change in Nuada, after I bought those books. I’d feel his eyes on me whenever I taught Mister Wink how to read, but he said nothing, preferring to stick to the shadows while the two of us carried on.

A second change came not long after that. The prince would now have a greeting for me if I ran into him in the corridors. He even joined me and Mister Wink at the kitchen table for meals, but I kept my head down every time. That second shift gave way to a third, and that was something I didn’t notice until I was in his library one evening.

"Y/n."

The prince had been behind me, watching me while I was studying a stone table in its very own glass case. I mumbled an apology and moved to the side, hoping he wasn’t provoked by my being here. After seeing all the artefacts, books, and paintings in this room, I was starting to understand why he didn’t want anyone in here.

There were no scoldings. No reprimands, just a simple: "There is no reason for you to apologize." Nuada tilted my chin, his grip surprisingly warm and gentle. He then gestured for me to go back to the tablet. "This was from the library of Alexandria." He pointed to a seal at the bottom left of the tablet. "It is one of the last edicts of Cleopatra. The Cleopatra."

Woah. The Cleopatra he said. "Did you meet her?" He nodded. "What was she like?"

"Ordinary looking. Place her here, in modern clothes, on a busy street in New York, and you would not be able to make her out from the crowd. But," Nuada paused for effect. "She more than made up for it with her wit and intelligence."

I go back to the stone table and think. Nuada was over eight thousand years old. How much would he have seen in his long life? "But she backed Mark Anthony," I said, "and not Caesar’s rightful heir. That's not very smart."

He simply shrugged. "She was a mother looking out for the interests of her child. The dearest friend of Caesar was her best bet. Octavian had to kill Caesarion to protect his own claim. That was how it was back then."

"If you ask me, it seems like a very violent time," I shuddered.

Nuada thought otherwise, he had seen enough to do so. "Has much changed since then? Look at your news." Nuada gestured to the door and, beyond that, the little room Mister Wink used to watch TV. "Violence and bloodshed, pain and suffering, sometimes caused by people simply for the sheer joy of it all."

That gave me pause. "We haven't changed much, have we?"

"No," Nuada said. "Neither have we." He looked back out, to the little TV room. He grinned when he heard Mister Wink laugh at something. "He speaks very highly of you, our Mister Wink. He says you are very nice to him."

"Not many people are nice to trolls?" I’d heard all the stories, about how trolls were treated as just hired muscle with very little to commend them, and how the prince was one of the few to treat them with any decency. He and his twin, of course.

Nuada shook his head. "Many see his kind as the, what was that mortal word?" He stopped to think before his eyes lit up. "Oh yes. Knuckle-draggers of our races. As simple-minded savages, remnants of a primitive time, and nothing more than that."

That was indeed a horrible way of thinking, but then I remembered how he behaved towards me. "But you're no different from them," I said quietly. "Remember, the things you called me during my first few days here?"

Nuada bit his tongue and nodded. He had been cruel, as his sister made it clear when he called on her to ask her advice on an important matter. She said that nothing was going to happen in his little quest unless he changed. "And I have no excuses for it. Only a sincere apology. You were frightened and dependent on me, and I was just a boor to you. Y/n," when I backed away, he reached for me like I was a skittish horse, contenting himself with holding my hands. "I am so sorry, for everything. Could this be a new start for us? I promise to do everything within my power to make amends."

There was strength in those hands and a great deal of gentleness too. Strange that these hands, hands that have spilt a great deal of blood over the centuries, could be so... so... soft and tender, as if they only moved to protect, not to hurt. And that apology. It was simple and may not have meant much to others, but coming from someone as proud and cold as him, it mattered a great deal. He wanted another chance. Should I give him another chance? Or should I walk away, and fight for reassignment elsewhere? Surely the BPRD would consider it.

Fingers brushing hair off my eyes sent a jolt down my spine, made my skin tingle and my mouth go dry. Then there were his eyes. They were looking at me in a way they had never done before. There was something there, something I couldn't put a finger on, but it drew me in all the same. When I moved, he moved on instinct. "Please, y/n." Nuada was just a hair's breadth away from me. If he moved any closer, his lips would be pressing against mine.

Would that be so bad? Him kisisng me? "Yes?" I felt a little light-headed and dizzy, and I didn’t know what to make of it, until my eyes moved to his. The way he was looking at me, my mouth. "One chance." He didn’t move any further than that, but he bit his lip, as if lost in thought. "Please."

I think, and think and think. I wanted to say no, but something was stopping me from saying so. I wanted to shake his hands off and walk away, but my feet were rooted to the spot. My gut was practically screaming at me, to give him a chance. That I won’t regret it.

Oh, to hell with it. I nodded and said yes, and he smiled, really smiled, his face radiant like the sun.

✨✨✨

Things grew easier after that. He’d ask me about everything, listening to what I had to say. He wanted to know about my work, my friends, the boss who was obsessed with mythology, and my favourite coffee shop down the road.

He’d talk about his family in turn, his sister especially, and his father. King Balon was busy, but he always found time for his children. Even the simple notes he sent held so much love in each word, and Nuada had saved everything.

He joined in on the English lessons, helping me and calming Mister Wink when he complained and called it a language from the bowels of hell. He’d take me to the troll market, buying little trinkets for me, rare books. He took to reading a chapter to me every night after dinner, and I looked forward to that, listening to him. I realised I could listen to him for hours. Sometimes my mind would drift to the day he apologized and how close he was to me. What if he had actually kissed me? Simply pressed his lips to mine and pulled the breath right out of me. Nuada would see the wistful looks in my eyes, put the book away with a grin, and I’d blush before groaning and curling into my chair. Nuada said nothing, but he’d escort me to my rooms and kiss my hands before vanishing. I’d be left standing there, my skin still warm where his lips touched and a sigh escaping my lips.

My dread of him gave way to something else, something gentler and sweeter. It was there when he greeted me in the morning and again in the evening, when he searched for me after coming home. It was there when he read to me at night or when he took my hand in his. This feeling grew and grew, like a wave that threatened to drown me.

One night, when I went to call him for a late-night coffee, I found Nuada in the sparring yard, training. He moved lightning quick, so fast I could barely see him in the flickering light. A spear glinted menacingly in his hands. One strike and ropes as thick as arms were severed like thin strings. A second, and a puddle was struck. A third, and some of the water droplets that were flung into the air were sliced clean through the center. Nuada was lithe and deadly, like poetry in motion. I thought he looked magnificent.

"Y/n," he paused before tossing his spear onto a nearby rack, a shy grin tugging at his lips. This was the first time I had seen him train. "This is a pleasant distraction."

“I just came to say coffee is ready." My eyes lingered on the scars that were all too visible on his chest. Nuada’s life had been one of war and violence, and I was seeing the evidence of it for the first time. Beyond that, he was incredibly handsome, the sort of handsome I’d only hear of in poetry and song. My cheeks grew hot when I realised I had been staring. "Sorry."

My chin was tilted so my eyes would be level with his. "There is nothing for you to say sorry for."

He looked at me, a finger of his tracing a line across my cheek. There’s something different in the air, something different in me, pulling me to him, making me stand on the tips of his toes. I heard a soft outtake of breath, and then he leaned in, his lips brushing against me like soft feathers. When my mouth opened to his, the sweetness of him poured down my throat, threatening to drown me and sweep me away with the tide. It brought out a fire that frightened me, but when he held me, all my fears melted away in the strength of his embrace. My name came out like a whisper and something took root, something I couldn't explain. When he pulled away, he left me stunned and breathless. That’s when I heard coughing. Someone had walked in on us both. "Mister Wink," Nuada said, his arm still around my waist, his face half buried in my hair. If he didn't care about being found out, then I wouldn’t let it bother me either. "Are we late?"

There was a series of grunts and snarls, something to do with a tooth fairy trying to turn the kitchen into its personal hotel. "Have I lived here too long?" I listened to what the troll was saying. There were more complaints about said tooth fairy trying to force open the deep freezer so it could get at the spare ribs Mister Wink had been saving for a midnight snack. "Because he’s starting to make sense."

His chest rumbled when he chuckled in my hair. "Mister Wink makes perfect sense." Nuada grinned. "But only if you care enough to listen. Wait here. I will not be long."

When it comes down to it, anywhere away from the direct range of a tooth fairy was perfect for me. "I’ll stay right here."

One more kiss, and he was gone.

And within a few minutes there was an epic commotion, lots of yelling and swearing, of pots falling and plates shattering. When it finally grew quiet, too quiet for my liking, I gulped and made my way back inside, to the kitchen.

It looked like a hurricane had gone off. The entire kitchen was a disaster. Bowls were upturned, fruits were scattered all over, and there was Mister Wink, holding onto a trap cage for dear life. The cage rattled violently while its occupant fought hard to escape. "Here." Nuada came over with a thick towel that smelled of something strange. "Wrap this around the cage."

The rattling stopped as soon as the towel went around the cage, and they breathed a sigh of relief. "Such a tiny thing and such a mess," I murmured as I surveyed the damage. The tooth fairy may have been tiny, but the destruction it caused was something else. If one of them could destroy so much, what could hundreds do? "Is it dead?"

Nuada peaked inside. "Just knocked out. Mister Wink will take it to the BPRD. They will handle it."

Tooth fairies were too dangerous to be released. The wars resulted in them developing a taste for human flesh and bone, and all captured fairies were sent to the BPRD to be euthanized. "Of course," I said as I knelt to peer into the cage. I had never seen a tooth fairy befor, all I had were horror stories from survivors. "Not too close." Nuada held out a hand, holding me back. "The smell of you might wake it up."

I stayed where I was and looked in. Sure enough, the tooth fairy was knocked out, a piece of meat still in its hands. "Better in there than out here." I shuddered as I stood up. "And they can just get in?"

"If there is a way in, yes." Nuada took the cage, with the towel still around it. "Take this to Abe." He told Mister Wink. "Check the vents for any holes when you get back. And leave this mess." He gestured to the disaster zone that was the kitchen. "We will clean it in the morning. Let the others sleep."

"Is Mister Wink alright?" I kept a safe distance from the cage. "Are you alright?"

Nuada brushed off paint chips that had fallen onto my hair. "More than all right. Come with me." He took my hand and led me out of the kitchen. "There is something I would like to show you."

✨✨✨

On and on we walked, through winding passages and corridors, through one doorway and onto the next. There were torches everywhere, but the rooms and hallways grew barer and rockier and darker the further we went. It felt like we were going deeper underground, but to what?

"And here we are." Nuada stopped in front of a pair of thick teak doors, twice the height of even Mister Wink.

There was a loud creak when the doors were pushed open. "Where are we?"

He lit a torch and led the way in. "You will see."

It was too dark to walk around. I followed the light, watching Nuada as he lit tapers and little torches built into thick rock walls. There was moonlight seeping in through cracks I couldn’t see, but their light wasn’t enough. Then I turned around, my breath nearly dying in my throat.

It was a large indoor garden, the likes of which I had never seen before. Flowers. There were flowers everywhere, all rare and unknown. The floor was covered in soft grass and moss, and there was an actual rose tree in the center of the cavernous room. "What is that?"

"That is the crown rose tree." Nuada led me to it, let me walk around it. "The emblem of my clan. There are only three of these trees in existence."

His was the youngest, he said. The second oldest was at his father’s court, and the oldest, the mother tree, grew wild, deep within the caves of Bethmoora. Even the presence of the Golden Army did not affect it. The elves saw it as a good omen, he said, and that it meant their kind would endure no matter what befell them. "Vows made beneath this tree must never be broken."

"All vows?" I was too busy admiring the tree to notice the way he was looking at me. The flowers looked like crowns from certain angles, all gold with delicate veins of red. The tree and leaves themselves were a rich bluish black, making the roses stand out even more.

"Yes." Nuada was right behind me now. I could feel his breath in my hair. "Especially vows of love."

Especially vows of love. It is an interesting choice of words coming from him.

There was that feeling again, strong and persistent now. "When you mean vows of love," I said nervously, wondering if Nuada was saying what I thought he was saying. It can’t be. My flights of fancy had run riot again. Nuada was an elf, and the Crown Prince of his kind. His father would have expectations, standards, and a human being would fall well short of all of them. He might even be disinherited if he got involved with someone his father deemed unworthy. "Do you mean vows in general, or vo--"

Nuada leaned in, whispering something in the language of his people before moving in front of me. I had been around him long enough to pick up bits and pieces, but what he just said, admitted to me-- No. It can’t be. "I’m not sure I understand what that means--"

"Yes you do." Nuada inched closer, his broad shoulders blocking out the tree behind him. "Do you--" He was pained by the thought of my rejecting him. "Do you object to me? Was it because of how I behaved in the beginning?"

"Yes! No! It’s not about how you behaved at the start! You don’t understand!" How could I make him see, the price he would be paying for my sake? "You’re an elf, I’m-- I’m me," Didn’t he understand the gravity of the choice he was making? Of all the trouble he could bring down on his head by choosing me? "I’m human, Nuada. Human. Your father would never agree to it and--"

He kissed me again, this time hard and frantic, his hands all bunched up in my hair. I was trembling too, my body melding with his as my lips parted for his tongue. "My father approves of you," he whispered into his kiss. "He has already given me his blessings. As for you being mortal--"

Here I stop, panting, my heart racing like I have been running for miles. "Yes?"

"It makes no difference to me." Nuada’s lips captured mine again, his breath mingling with my own. "So long as I can call you mine."

This time it was he who stopped, and waited, for my answer. I didn’t need to think long and hard this time. The prince loved me, and I? I had fallen in love with him. When I kissed him this time, he knew what my answer was going to be. There was that smile again, all radiant and glorious. Mine, he whispered.

#nuada #nuada silverlance #prince nuada #nuada x reader #hellboy #reader insert #reader included #fanfiction #creative writing #writing #am writing #writeblr #a world of whimsy writes

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reignsan · 1 year

Text

Nitocris Alter has My Room lines toward:

Ozymandias

Scheherazade

Arash

Nitocris Caster

Ereshkigal

King Hassan

tfw no Erice line despite Anubis being Requiem’s main antagonist...

Characters who have a line toward Nitocris Alter (some of these may be generic “line for all servants with x trait”):

Caesar

Arash

Fionn

Caenis

Ozymandias

Quetzalcoatl

Kyokutei Bakin

Helena

Cleopatra

MHX Alter

Okita Alter

Dantes

#fate grand order #nitocris #nitocris alter

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annachum · 1 year

Text

Literally this is what happened in the Ptolemaic Coup ( aka the event when Cleopatra and Caesar formed an alliance partly to overthrow Ptolemy XIII )

Ptolemy XIII : YOU CANT DEFEAT ME!

Cleopatra : * smirks * Oh, foolish swine, yet HE can.

Cue Ancient Roman version of ' My Boyfriend's Back ' plays as Caesar led massive Roman fleets to pummel Ptolemy XIII's forces

#ancient rome #ancient greece #asterix #caesar x cleo #literally this is kinda what happened #ptolemy xiii #julius caesar #cleopatra vii

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proffesionalalpaca · 15 days

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Avatar 3 Theory: Varang is Pandora’s Cleopatra

Potential Quaritch x Varang relationship dynamic

——

So I’m a soft-core Quarang shipper, I think it’d be cool to see but we have so little information at this time, that it could go wherever with them. It might happen - it might not but let’s entertain what their dynamic could be in a potential romance.

For Funsies :D

——

Firstly let’s touch base on Varang herself - again, as of May 2024, we know next to nothing.

We know she is the leader of the ash people and that she is ‘a strong and vibrant central character who encompasses all the sequel saga."- quoted from an interview. Then, seen in behind the scenes from the way of water, she will interact with Quaritch - with him potentially wearing ash Na’vi attire in a later scene.

That is it, the following is all speculation.

——

When I think of strong female leaders from history, of course the first woman who pops in mind is Cleopatra - despite being most known for her beauty she was actually an adept mind who received the best education there was, becoming disciplined in many arts and sciences such as chemistry, strategy & politics, also speaking 9 languages. A woman with great theatric flare and a penchant for the extravagant to say the least - all apart of her persona and psychological manipulation of her allies and enemies.

This all reflects how I think we’re going to see Varang portrayed, a beautiful but fearsome leader who is capable of so much more beyond the surface - strong & vibrant enough to persist through the rest of the franchise as a central character.

——

So I’m thinking that Quaritch & Varang’s relationship will mirror Cleopatra’s relationship to both Julius Caesar & Mark Antony.

Quaritch would, in this scenario, represent both Julius Caesar & Mark Antony - he is both the older military leader & strategist, while also being the strong & young, bull-headed Antony - he is both the experienced old human man and the young yet to be tested Na’vi man.

When you read about the three of them, especially Cleopatra & Mark Antony you can see potential parallels with Varang creating alliances via wooing the leader/high ranking recombinant Quaritch of the RDA-human faction.

The romance of the relationship ultimately secondary to the political power and actual military power gained by both sides:

- The ash people gaining a powerful ally that will cement their future upon Pandora above all other Na’vi, protecting themselves in human expansion whilst emboldening their power - antagonistic but maybe not necessarily villainous.

- The RDA gaining a native fighting force with potentially knowledge of the entire moon at their fingertips (outcasts from all over the planet having joined the ash people). An entire faction of ‘Pacified hostiles’ one may even say. It would also do the RDA well to have some natives who aren’t opposed to their presence - especially for optics with Earth.

A powerful alliance to control Pandora - just as Egypt & Rome under Cleopatra & her Roman lovers - is cemented with a union between Varang & Quaritch.

Anyway this is just all speculation based on nothing really, but I think it would be cool to see if historical figures could inspire this franchise going forward.

#avatar 3 #avatar 3 speculation #avatar 3 theories #avatar varang #varang #miles quaritch #recombinant miles quaritch #recom quaritch #Quarang #jc avatar #ash people #fire na’vi #don’t know why but they’re giving me these vibes #I just love the idea of an antagonistic power couple to match Jeytiri #Ardmore will lose more and more trust in Quaritch as he becomes more ash Na’vi and tied with Varang

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youvebeenlivingfictional · 2 years

Text

Relative Dating Part Twenty One

Previous Part | Masterlist | Next Part

Pairing: Indiana Jones x Reader

Rating: M

Notes: Welcome back to the latest garbage fire! Hope y’all are doing well. Chapter's on the shorter side this week, soz.

Also the Arabic phrase used in this chapter was translated by google, so I apologize if it’s inaccurate.

Warnings: Cursing; period-typical sexism; period-typical expectations of women; angst; friendly reminder that the artifact mentioned is a fake one

Summary: You follow the host away from your table, considering your options, and how you can possibly tell Walter that you’ll only be there for a few more days. But then…How did Walter know what hotel you’d been in?

“You need some more coffee over there?”

You glare at Jones over your water glass as you draw in a greedy gulp.

“Eventually,” You grit out once you’ve swallowed.

“Seem a little tired.”

“I didn’t sleep well.”

“Oh no? That’s too bad.”

You narrow your eyes at Indiana, watching him burst the yolk of a sunny side up egg with a piece of toast.

“Did you?” You press.

“Sleep well? Sure,” He smiles. “Like a baby.”

You could slap him. You won’t, but you could. You avert your eyes, glancing around the café for any sign of Sallah. He’s fifteen minutes late meeting the two of you, which is unlike him. You turn in your seat a touch, trying to see whether or not Sallah may be on his way in, or speaking with the seating host. That’s when your gaze catches on someone that you’ve seen lingering around you and Indiana since you arrived in Amarna. The sight of the young man out of the corner of your eyes that raises your hackles. You recognize him immediately, and perhaps that’s what makes it worse. But—Perhaps it’s a mere coincidence.

“What is it?” Indiana asks, and you realize how distracted you must seem.

“Hm? Oh, nothing,” You turn back and shake your head, offering him a fleeting smile. He doesn’t seem to trust it, and you think he may lean into curiosity, but before he can, you ask, “What was on those pages?”

“What pages?”

“The ones torn out of your notebook.”

Indiana’s lips press into a thin, irritated smile at the reminder.

“Notes.”

“...On?” You press. Indiana casts his eyes at the other patrons in the restaurant before he leans in a little, lowering his voice.

“You know—About Akhenaten, Amarna, all of it.”

“Of course.”

“Then you know that the Golden Aten was taken from Akhenaten’s tomb after the temple walls were destroyed.” Indiana waits for you to confirm, and goes on when you give him a small nod:

“I found the remnants of a letter from Cicero during my last excursion in Rome, regarding one of the ‘treasures’ that Cleopatra had brought during her visit. He wrote about a ‘golden orb’,” Indiana props his elbows up on the table, holding his hands about a foot apart, “With a circumference of about a foot. It’s said to have blinded at least three people when the sun caught it at the wrong angle.”

“Unfortunate that none of them were Cicero.”

Indiana smiles, lowering his hands. “After Julius Caesar was assassinated and Cleopatra left Rome, a group of Roman dignitaries combed through where she had stayed. They found a number of things left behind, including the orb. Now, a lot of the Senate wanted to destroy it, but Octavian was determined to keep hold of it, and use it as a weapon in the offensive against Egypt. It arrived back in Egypt in 30 BC, and was said to have taken down twelve of the ships in Egypt’s fleet. But, the ship that it was on went down, too. There was no mention of the Aten for hundreds of years.”

“Until?”

“A revival of Akhenaten’s followers claimed to have found it during a Nile’s low season, in April of 1856. They claimed to try and restore the orb to its rightful place, but lost it. They’ve been trying to restore it ever since.”

“I didn’t know people still believed in him.”

“A band of them do. It’s a small group, but they’re committed. They call themselves the Alartifae Althaani Akhenaten.”

“The second rise of Akhenaten,” You murmur to yourself, lowering your eyes to your plate. “I think they may’ve been the ones that took those pages,” Jones adds. “I had leads.”

“Leads that you encoded in hieroglyphs.”

“Yes.”

You hum, leaning back in your seat and scrubbing your hand over your eyes.

“Anything you can remember?”

“A few things,” Jones nods, “I’ll be more comfortable talking about them once we’re at the temple ruins.”

“Pardon me, miss,” You hear, and look up to see the host peering down at you.

“Yes?”

“You’ve a call at the telephone in the front.”

Indiana frowns. “From who?”

“I bet it’s Walter,” You sigh, standing and pushing your seat in. “He probably tried to reach me at the hotel first. I’ll make it quick.”

You follow the host away from your table, considering your options, and how you can possibly tell Walter that you’ll only be there for a few more days. But then…How did Walter know what hotel you’d been in? You hadn’t told Jane what hotel you were going to—you hadn’t even known yourself until you’d arrived in Amarna. And how could he know which restaurant you’d gone to? You hadn’t told anyone as you’d left that morning.

You turn into the front hall, and slow as you spot him again—the bellhop from the hotel. Your gut swoops with worry, and you start to take a step back. You knock into someone, and whirl around, finding a tall, reedy man with an unnerving smile peering down at you. Before you can say a word or dart out of the way, someone puts their hand over your mouth from behind, and you feel a sharp press of a blade against your throat. You go still, eyes widening as your heart pounds in your chest.

“I suggest you stay quiet,” The reedy man advises. “Any sound will only make this worse for you.”

“Indy!”

The yell booms across the café, and Jones looks up from his food to see Sallah hurrying through the restaurant.

“Sallah, there you are. You’re late.” Indiana sits up, looking around for a waiter. “Ya want anything?”

“There’s no time for that, Indy—”

“Could eat that,” He nods toward where her food is sitting, going cold. “She’s been taking a call from loverboy for the last ten minutes, I doubt she’d notice—”

“You don’t understand,” Sallah rounds the table, drawing Indiana up by his arms. “We have to go—”

“What’s the hurry about?”

“They took her, Indy.”

Indiana’s brow furrows, head shaking a touch as panic begins to trickle into his system. “What?”

“I saw them bundling her into a truck! Her eyes were covered, there was something in her mouth—I couldn’t reach them in time—”

“Sallah—” Indiana reaches out, bracing his hands on Sallah’s shoulder—to focus him, and himself. “Who took her?”

Tag list: @missredherring ; @massivecolorspygiant ; @blueeyesatnight; @amneris21 ; @ew-erin ; @youngkenobilove ; @carbonated-beverage ; @lorecraft ; @moonlightburned ; @milf-trinity ; @millllenniawrites ; @chattychell ; @dihra-vesa ; @videogamesandpoorlifechoices ; @missswriter ; @thembosapphicclown ; @brandyllyn ; @wildmoonflower ; @buckybarneshairpullingkink ; @flameshadowwolf ; @saritanotserena ; @the-feckless-wonder ; @queenofthefetchlands ; @v0id-sp1rit ; @yellowbubblewrap ; @acceptedbyace ; @themartiansdaughter ; @foxilayde ; @introvertreader20 ; @nessamc ; @galaxyfxcs ; @romanarose

#Relative Dating #Indiana Jones x Reader #Indiana Jones x You #Indiana Jones/Reader #Indiana Jones/You #Indiana Jones fic #Indiana Jones imagine

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str8sub4domdudez · 3 months

Text

Here's a story I like very much. It has nothing to do with my Tumblr topics, but it's a lot of fun and has sequels.

It's a Superboy story based off the comics and the Young Justice cartoon.

Superboys - Part One

Archive Of Our Own

https://archiveofourown.org/works/19248841/chapters/45773932

I've included a few excerpts in the rest of this post.

Excerpt 1: Halloween Decisions

"But I think you would look lovely as a French maid!" Lex says to Clark.

"I am not cross-dressing this Halloween," Clark says for the tenth time.

"Fine. We could go as a real life couple. Intrepid reporters, Clark Kent and Lois Lane! I'll be Clark of course, and—"

"No, Lex."

"Or we could be Disney Princes. I'll go as Prince Charming and you as Prince Eric."

"That is the best you've come up with all morning. But still, no."

"I could be Koopa and you could be Mario."

"A little on the nose, don't you think."

"Well, yes, if Lois went as Peach and Jimmy went as the little mushroom fellow."

"Who would be Luigi?"

"Bruce, I suppose, but I hear he's going as the Phantom of the Opera. I know! I could be the Lone Ranger and you could be—"

"—Tonto?"

"No, Silver."

"Geez, Lex you are so bad at this. It's a good thing I agreed to marry you before we started dating."

"We're dating? I thought we were skipping that part."

"What about Ghostbusters? Then we could tease Bruce in his Phantom costume and hit him with NERF darts."

"Pass. I refuse to dress up as anything Bill Murray was in. Brilliant actor, but antithesis of sexy."

"We could always be Power Rangers."

"What is that. Some kind of video game? Oh, that's right! Those new Justice League members I keep hearing about!"

"No, Lex. It's a children's television show."

"Doesn't ring a bell."

"They made a movie recently?"

"Nope."

"Jon Lane is obsessed with them."

"I thought he was obsessed with Transformers. Did I get him the wrong gift?"

"No, I mean, yes, he loves Transformers, but Power Rangers have these robot dinosaurs and—"

"—Oh, the Megazord! I thought that was a transformer."

"Right and so the Megazord has all these people driving it like a car, and those are the Power Rangers."

"Fuck it. I'll go as Julius Caesar and you as Cleopatra."

"Lex!"

...

жжжжжжжжжжжжжжжжжжжжжжжжжжжж

"I feel silly," says Jon, trying on his costume in the dressing room at the costume store.

"Don't, just finish getting dressed," says Conner.

"Okay, but I'm not going out there. You guys have to come in here."

"Okay," says Conner. "Let me go see where Colton went off to." Just then, Colton comes walking up with chocolate milk and a donut. "Match! Did you run all the way to Double Nuts Pastries for that?"

"That depends. Which answer will get me in less trouble."

"Nevermind, just don't get frosting on the costumes."

"I won't. Is Jon done changing yet?"

"He changed into five different costumes while you were gone. He didn't like any of them."

"We could always go as each other."

"What?"

"Jon can be me, I'll be you and you can be Jon. All we'd have to do is wear each other's clothes. No fuss."

"Guys, come here," says Jon. "I'm finished getting dressed."

"Wow," says Conner, "you look like a very sexy RoboCop."

"I agree," says Colton, "very sexy indeed."

"I don't like this costume," says Jon, "I'm too skinny for this."

"We could go as Jocks." says Conner. "You could be a track star, a swimmer or a gymnast and Colton and I could be a football player, hockey player or wrestler."

"Or we could go as the Weather Girls and Jonny could go as Storm," says Colton.

Jon and Conner stare at him in disgusted and horrified expressions.

"You're saying you want us to dress up as overweight black women and Jon gets to dress up as Ororo Munroe?" says Conner.

"Fuck you! Martha Wash is incredible!"

"Screw that!" says Jon, "Let's all just go as X-Men. Or Avengers. Without having to be a different race or gender."

"That's not a bad idea," says Conner. "I call Captain America."

"I call Cyclops!" says Jon.

"We'll, fuck then… I guess I'll be Wolverine or someone. Although we would technically be going as a different species if we dress up as humans, mutant or otherwise, so we're already going as a different 'race'."

"Well, we're Caucasian-looking and it would be in bad taste to go in black-face. You could always be Gambit," says Jon.

"You have to be able to shuffle to be Gambit. I'll be… I dunno. Let's go home to figure this out. We can get Cosplay costumes online if we're going as comic book superheroes."

"Like you never wanted to be a comic book superhero," says Jon.

"I didn't. I'm supposed to replace Superman when he gets old. I never wanted to be any other kind of hero."

"Even for Halloween?" says Conner, "We could get those sexy first responder costumes. The skimpy ones for policeman, firefighter and EMT."

"The EMT is just a 'sexy nurse' costume for guys," says Colton.

"I'll be a sexy male nurse," says Jon.

"I call policeman!" says Conner.

"I could be a sexy firefighter," says Colton. "Fine. Do you guys want to get the standard costumes or look at designs online and have Dad order us tailored ones?"

"Tailored," says Jon. "It's hard being tall and skinny."

"Okay, that's cool," says Conner. "Let's do that then."

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"Cavemen?" says Roy.

"Cavemen," says Arsenal.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••

There are several fun characters in this story and one of my favorites is Jason Todd.

Here are a few excerpts.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jason Excerpt 1: The Lecture Dodge

"Drink your beer," says Jason. "Lex won't mind, but if Clark sees I'm giving alcohol to a nineteen-year-old he's gonna try to guilt trip me."

"Does it work?" asks Jay.

"Does what work?" says Jason.

"When he tries to guilt trip you," says Jay.

"Not really, but it's not fun getting one of his lectures," says Jason.

"And what about one of my lectures?" says Superman coming in from the balcony.

"You've licked my ass before, Superman. Your pure Boy Scout routine doesn't work anymore."

•••••••••••••••••••••••••

Jason Excerpt 2: Tim's Kidnapper

When Tim wakes up, he's blindfolded and tied to a chair. He listens for any evidence that his captors are nearby and when he doesn't hear any movement, breathing or talking, he reaches for his utility belt. It's gone. That's going to make things a bit more difficult, he thinks. He tries to use his wings to cut the cord but they're gone too. Finally, he decides to do this the hard way and manually tries to untie himself. It takes him a lot longer than he'd like, but he gets the cord untied and frees himself. He rips off the blindfold to find he isn't alone in the room. A man with black hair and a white streak in his bangs, wearing a black and red costume is eying him curiously. Tim kicks himself for thinking he was alone. Time to bluff.

Before he can start a convoluted speech about having trackers on him, the man walks up to him and drops several tiny, broken pieces of tech in his newly freed hands.

"I thought we could use some privacy while we're having our fun," his captor says. "We've changed locations seven times while you were out. Old Brucie has no idea where you are."

"Who's 'Brucie'?" Tim asks stiffly.

"Now, now, Tim-Tim, I know all of your secrets. His too. As a show of good faith I even let you see my face."

"You won't get away with this!" Tim says, hoping he's intimidating (but kind of knowing he's not).

"Actually, I think I will. Now, give me your best bat glare. Don't hold back."

Tim tries not to acquiesce the man, but he pulls out Tim's utility belt and gives him a look. "Come on, Timmy. Be good and I'll give you your belt back."

Tim glares at him.

"That's just pathetic," says the man. He disappears for a split second and reappears sans utility belt. "You'll have to do better if you want your things back."

"I think I'll settle for esca—"

The cold barrel of the gun is pushed against his throat before he realizes that the man has even moved.

"If you want to escape, don't tell me that's what your going to do, just do it! Here," he says getting a coil of knotted cords from a nearby table and tossing it at Tim. "Untie these behind your back. Do it faster this time." The man lazily waves the gun around in Tim's direction, and he realizes he never checked the man like he normally would. Batman trained him to observe everything about his opponents and use everything about a given situation to his advantage, but he failed to notice the multiple obvious guns strapped to the man's legs, and he was so focused on figuring out the man's powerset and thinking of what to do next that he hadn't even taken in his surroundings. As he places the rope behind his back and starts untying it, he looks around the warehouse where the man has taken him.

"About time! Now make it look like you're concentrating on the knot and looking in random directions as you focus on your goal. You're being too obvious right now."

'Oh my God!' thinks Tim, 'This guy must have a really weird fetish.'

Tim presents the unknotted cords to the man and the man does a face palm. "No! No! Buy yourself some time. Keep it looking like you aren't succeeding and use that time to take in your surroundings. Have you even seen the weapons lying around?"

"You told me to untie the knots faster this time."

"But I didn't tell you to give yourself away! Jeez. Let's try the next step. Now that you are untied and have completely given yourself away, what do you do?"

"Are you teaching me?"

"Somebody has to. My faith in Bruce is completely crushed by his inability to prepare you for this. Like I said, I have a gun, I'm pointing it at your head, you're untied, I know you're trying to escape, what do you do?"

"Surrender peacefully and try better next time?" asks Tim. The man face-palms again, and Tim uses that moment to dive for cover behind a concrete barrier where he saw several metal poles.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••

Jason Excerpt 3: Batman's Apology

Bruce shows up at the LexCorp penthouse unexpectedly. He doesn't usually call first, but Lex is starting to wish he did.

"Where's Jason?" he says when he steps off the elevator.

"Hello, Bruce, how are you doing?" says Lex. "Now you try."

"Fine. Salutations, Lex. Now where's Jason?"

"I'm here," says Jason, stepping out of the staircase leading up to the next floor. "What do you want Bruce?" Jason looks at the package in Bruce's hands and knows it can't be some sort of gift or gesture of love. They're most certainly documents and mission dossiers.

"I want to apologize. I shouldn't have called you soulless, and I didn't mean to cut your throat back then. I was aiming for your shoulder, but the batarang banked off the pipe differently than I expected. I also wanted to give you this." Bruce holds out the package stiffly and Jason sees the greeting card on top of it that says 'I'M SORRY!' in big letters.

"This is a joke, right?" says Jason. There's no way he was aiming for my shoulder! There's no way that he would give me a present without an ulterior motive. And there's definitely no way he would ever apologize!

"Lex, he's a robot or an evil clone! What are you and what did you do with my father?!!"

"Jay," says Lex gently, "why don't you try using your ring to scan him?"

Jason hesitates, but then raises his ring and a shadowy aura lights up around Bruce as the ring scans him. The ring tells him unerringly that this is the real Bruce Wayne.

"This is impossible!" says Jason. "I don't believe you! What do you really want?!"

"Jason – Jay, I love you and I'm sorry for hurting you time and time again. I know I've been wrong to do and say the things I did. I wanted to do right by you and I haven't. Now, I want to change that. Will you forgive me, son?"

"No. I won't. You're years too late for some things and others you still can't take back. Do you believe me that I really have a soul?"

Bruce's mouth clenches into a line and he looks down. He raises his head to speak, but it's already too late. Jason has seen the truth in his face.

"No. You don't believe me. You think I'm a soulless zombie so why try to make amends. If I'm not your Jason, why are you willing to apologize for stuff that happened before I was a Black Lantern?"

"I don't know. I just know it's right for me to make amends. Even if you aren't the original Jason, you have his memories and his experiences. As far as you're concerned, I did those things to you. I intend to make up for it one way or another. I don't want to lose you, Jason. I want you back. I don't care who you date and I'll accept that you do things your way, but I need you in my life Jason. I don't want to be an absentee, neglectful father anymore."

"I don't believe you about the batarang."

"I didn't think you would. Either way, I want you to know I'm sorry. If nothing else, take this gift. I want you to have everything you need. These are brand new items from WayneTech Enterprises. I had them made specifically for you, but dumbed down versions will go to market in a couple of years."

Jason takes the package and goes into the living room. Lex and Bruce follow him in there and sit down in chairs on either side of the couch while Jason opens his gift on the coffee table.

He can't believe his eyes. They're bullets!! they're all color coded and there's a color code sheet in the box. He quickly goes through the list. Smoke bombs, knockout gas, tracer rounds, tranquilizers, adrenaline, Blue Kryptonite, X-Kryptonite and remedies for Joker Venom, Scarecrow's Fear Toxin, Poison Ivy's Sex Pollen and Bane's Venom – all in convenient bullets that are perfectly made to go in his Glock. Jason is astounded.

"If you have to use guns, I want them to be tools to you and not just weapons," says Bruce. "I wanted to show that I support you as a person even if we don't agree on the ethics of crime-fighting."

"Dad, I … Bruce. You know I can't stand you. I know what you think of me. I know what you think of my life choices. Why do you think I would accept this gift?"

"I don't think you will," says Bruce, "But I hope you do. You're my son and I love you. I've always loved you. That will never change. I thought the gift would be a good way to show you that I love you, instead of just saying it."

"I'm gonna need some other caliber bullets," says Jason, "For my other guns."

"Then I'll have them made," says Bruce. "Text me the details, and I'll have R&D manufacture them ASAP."

"I hate you, Dad. But I love you too. Maybe one day you'll believe me that I'm really Jason. But as long as you think I'm a soulless ghoul, we're never going to see eye to eye."

"We don't have to see eye to eye to care about each other. I don't hate you Jason. I could never hate you. And I'm sorry that I hurt you."

"This is too much Bruce," says Jason as he begins to glow in different colors. Violet and blue dance in his aura with the black and red that fades into indigo.

"Alright, son. Do you need me to leave?" asks Bruce.

"Yes. Please go."

"Alright, son. I'll call you. Maybe we can do lunch."

Blue overshines the other colors in Jason's aura.

"Maybe," Jason says. "Goodbye Bruce."

"Bye, Jay."

Lex sits next to Jason on the couch and Jason curls up in his lap. He can't understand what just happened – what would drive Bruce to act this way. In a place in his heart he won't admit exists, he misses Bruce. The truth is Jason is afraid to hope, but hope fills him now and it's overwhelming to experience. He tries to use his Black aura to block emotions out but it glows violet instead.

"What's happening to me, Lex?"

"I thought you knew that Black Lantern Power Rings can imitate all the colors of the spectrum. Your love and hope are greater than your darkness."

"It hurts, Lex."

"I know it does, Sweetie. A lot of old wounds were opened today, but maybe when they close this time there will be less damage than before. It's okay to feel things, Jason."

Jason cries.

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