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augustinewrites · 1 year

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“hey,” you murmur, shaking alhaitham’s shoulder. “you need to get up soon so we can–”

“i only run if i’m being chased.”

you frown as he turns away from you. “but studies show that morning jogs–”

“i am well aware of what the studies say, and i am electing to ignore their findings.”

“well, i’m a doctor, and i’m telling you that running is good for you. it increases mental focus and productivity–”

your gaze turns hopeful when he finally lifts his head from the pillow, uttering the words, “against medical advice.”

“haitham,” you pout. “what’s the point of me finally staying the night if we can’t do fun things together in the morning?”

“if running was what you had in mind, then this is going to be the first and last time you stay over.”

you grumble something mean under your breath. alhaitham grumbles back, an i love you too, followed by a let me sleep, woman. it’s the weekend.

“fine,” you huff, crossing your arms over your chest. “then i’ll just go over to cyno’s place and see if he wants to join me. he’s probably a much better jogging partner than you anyway. he’s so fast that he once helped the traveler escape from the heart of a crumbling pyramid.”

you let that bit of information turn over in his mind, leaving the bedroom and grinning triumphantly when you hear him curse, the bed creaking as he gets up.

satisfied, you turn into the bathroom–

–to find someone already in there, about to help themselves to the geothermal mud mask you’d gotten from inazuma. your shocked gaze meets his and—

you both scream.

“who are you?” you question, grabbing a copy of sapiens, which would be an effective weapon if you intended to bore him to death. “what are you doing here?”

“me?” he asks incredulously. “i unfortunately live here, so who are you and what are you doing here?”

“oh, good. you two have met.”

you both whirl around to face him, hands on your hips. “haitham, who is this?”

the stranger makes an offended noise. “alhaitham, do be sure that your escort keeps the details of our living arrangement to themselves.”

“escort?” you gasp, alhaitham plucking the book from your hand before you can throw it at this strange man. “i am a doctor!”

the stranger looks you up and down. “so…alhaitham didn’t pay you to sleep with him?”

you each size the other up equally scrutinizing squints, the acting grand sage pinching the bridge of his nose and sighing tiredly. “this is my roommate, kaveh.”

wait, you’ve heard that name before. gossip about akademiya alumni spread like wildfire in sumeru. you snap your fingers, pointing at him. “oh! i know you. you’re that architect who went broke funding his own project.”

“not broke, per se,” he sniffs, turning away from you rather indignantly. i am temporarily prudent.”

you look to your boyfriend, who shakes his head slightly and mouths, don’t ask.

then he tells kaveh your name, that you work at the bimarstan, and that you’re seeing each other.

anyone else would have simply take he’d said at face value, because the scribe didn’t dance around points or over-complicate his explanations. he wasn’t exactly one to joke, either.

but the broke architect immediately doubles over, laughing so hard that his face is the shade of a zaytun peach. “now there’s a lark! you with a— with a—”

“a significant other? yes.”

his laughter quickly dies as alhaitham winds a possessive arm around your waist, looking between the two before meeting the scribe’s unflinchingly flat gaze. you watch as his prior amusement dropped from his face, only to be replaced by disbelief.

kaveh drew a breath and pressed his hands together. “when you say those words, what do you mean by them?

alhaitham expression was inscrutable as always, but the corners of his lips were curved upwards the slightest bit. “i could not have oversimplified it more. if you require more detail, perhaps we could discuss it over coffee at puspa cafe?”

“only if you’re paying,” he answered testily, to which the scribe rolls his eyes.

“of course. if the matter of payment were up to you, we’d just be thieves.”

kaveh sent him a rude gesture— one completely unbefitting of someone so respected within the akademiya.

then alhaitham returned it.

the blonde turns on his heel to leave with a huff, stomping through the house and slamming the door behind him. alhaitham moves quickly, locking it behind him.

“are we not going to join him?” you ask, watching curiously as your boyfriend saunters back toward the bedroom, a satisfied look on his face.

“nope. he left his keys here. so if you want to do something fun,” he nods his head toward the bedroom. “now would be the time. cyno and kaveh can wait.”

and, well, you can’t say no to that, can you?

#alhaitham x reader #genshin x reader #alhaitham x y/n #alhaitham fluff #genshin fluff

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cherrirui-official · 5 months

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Friendlocke Violet Gijinkas (Part 2/7)

PART 2 BAYBEE WAHOOO!! Three more gijinka designs comin right up!

I plan on posting them in order by groups of three, so there’s gonna be seven parts in total, all of which I’ll be linking here when done vvv

(Part One) (Part Three) (Part Four) (Part Five) (Part Six) (Part Seven)

!! These will contain personal headcanons I have for the cast, little fun facts, and also spoilers for Friendlocke Violet (for both the edited vids and the streams) This also contains a small amount of blood on one of the images!!

@saltydkart-reblogs

And that’s pretty much it, designs under the cut!

JOE:

The reason Joe dislikes most bird pokemon such as fletchling is because they're always stealing and pecking at the olives he... or well more specifically his company grows.

Speaking of which, they own a large plot of land which is used specifically to grow olive trees, which of course are used to make the olive oil he sells. What? Did you think that the olives come from Joe themselves? Of course not silly, welcome to capitalism.

That being said, Joe DOES know how to garden. When they first started their olive oil company they had to grow their own olive trees. Nowadays, in their spare time, they'll sometimes be found tending to the olive trees in their company's garden.

His crown is personally tailored for Joe and Joe ONLY. Crafted with the shiniest gold and the richest olives, all fit for a king! Somehow it never falls of his head. (Fun fact: the points are made to look like olive oil bottles)

Joe needs glasses but usually wears contacts when in public. Not that they look bad with glasses, it's just a personal choice.

Joe LOVES being involved in... well, anything! As long as it's not weird or sexual or illegal (that last one counts UNLESS it involves scamming others into buying his oil products), he is more than happy to invite himself into whatever is going on around him. What are you going to do? Stop him? Oh please!

HANNAH Ü:

At the start of her career, she would spend her days doing her own one-man (or.. well... woman) shows at subway stations, telling stories and entertaining other pokemon and people alike while they waited for the next train to arrive.

Her hat and cape are made entirely of salt! She is able to transform her cape and hat into different shapes and usually used this ability of hers to make stuff such as accessories, hats, and props that fit the role she's donning at the time.

Hannah LOVES collecting stickers and often wears them proudly on her body (in her poke form ofc ofc). However, she usually has to get someone else to stick them onto her bc of her lack of actual hands.

Some of her improv roles are inspired by the people she meets while others are inspired by pieces of media she's interested in at the moment.

Will ABSOLUTELY learn a new language if she needs to for a role. Duolingo speedrun world record

MYKYIE:

As stated previously, Mykyie used to be a circus performer before he quit to pursue his dreams. His most popular act involved him spinning plates on a stick while standing on a ball.

^^^ Because of this, he also has really, REALLY good balance.

Mykyie always keeps his Miku glowsticks on him, even when not attending any of her concerts.

"Anger Point" is basically an uncontrollable form of last resort whenever Mykyie is close to death but can still fight, it usually leads to him attacking whoever or whatever caused him great harm (In the instance of Lark, it was when he crit Mykyie and the ladder's health was extremely low.)

The Miku tattoo on Mykyie's arm was designed by Mykyie himself! However, it was drawn on him by an anonymous underground artist who went by many names to hide his true identity. The name that the artist went by at the time Mykyie got his tattoo was "Cl@ir33"

The cuffs and cape that he wears are... well, WERE, red. An unknown force seems to be slowly turning them into a shade of blue.

And that's all the HCs for now! Next Gijinka batch will consist of GrAce, Braidy, and Christene's

Also here's the posterless version of Joe's Gijinka bio before I go

#So far out of all the drawings I did for each Gijinka. Joe's has taken the most time #can u guess why?#It wasn't supposed to have the posters originally but I had that thought while working on Hannah and Mykyie's drawings #and I thought that would be hilarious if I went through with it so now we're here #Gee Joe! How come you get TWO versions of your gijinka bio?#Joe originally wasnt gonna have glasses but then the edited vids came out and his design in those vids has him w glasses #and so I wanted to see what my design looked like with glasses and oh... oh!! They look very handsome with them #My version of Joe gets glasses... as a treat!#it doesnt show their gijinka design with glasses here but maybe if someone asks ill draw him w glasses #Also Mykyie finally got a redesign LETS GOOOOOOOOO!!!#Personally I love how his hair turned out it reminds me of marble desserts and now im hungry :[#And Hannah has only rlly appeared in one discord doodle and the rlly epic funeral home drawing I made that I still think to this day slaps!#a knee ways TAGS!!!#friendlocke #friendlocke violet #violet gijinka au #saltydkdan #cherris canvas #cw light blood #tw light blood

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forthegothicheroine · 11 hours

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@gehayi said: can you please tell us more about Israel Rank?

POV: We are at a slumber party and I am kicking my feet and giggling and telling you about the boy I like.

"Oh my god, his name is Israel Rank, and he's from a book called Israel Rank: Autobiography of a Criminal, and he is so hot! The musical A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder, and the movie Kind Hearts and Coronets were both based on the book, but they made him other things besides Jewish, which is so bogus. Roger Ebert said it made the story more 'universal', which I guess means half-Italian is more universal than half-Jewish, which, what the fuck?

Anyway, he's the worst person in the world and I love him. He's like Heathcliff plus Steerpike plus Edmund the Bastard. He's the really distant relative of and earl, and his mother was disinherited for marrying a Jewish man. Israel isn't technically Jewish, he was baptized and raised Anglican, but he looks Jewish- and also really hot, and he says that combination upsets people! Kind of an Adrian Brody thing? I would have cast Ezra Miller before they turned out to be a shitshow of a person. And his name is Israel, kind of as a fuck you to mom's family. So he decides if people are going to give him shit about it anyway, he's going to embrace it.

He's in love with this girl Sibella, who won't marry him because he's both half-Jewish and poor, so starting as a hypothetical lark he wonders if he could just murder every single family member between him and an earldom. And then he does it! After sexual fantasies about Lucrezia Borgia encouraging him to! What an absolute freak.

So he starts killing, and his narration is so dry and funny about it. He tells the reader that in his experience, Jews aren't all that violent- he speculates that Shylock would have walked back the pound of flesh if he'd had time to calm down- but he has the blood of evil rapacious noblemen on his non-Jewish side which are to blame. He kills most of his family, except for the cousin-in-law whom he marries. He also still love Sibella. And his wife! He just can't stop fucking, he's so awful! (And I think he's bisexual. At least, I don't know how else I'm supposed to interpret the part where he's in school and "the boy I loved chose me as his Jonathan.")

And he gets away with it! He's super popular at his trial because he's so handsome and charming and the same society that scorned him, now that he's an earl, gossips that his Jewish ancestry must be very slight and distant. And there's a twist that gets him off the hook which is actually a real bummer of a plot point, even he's bummed out by it, but it's such a perfect capper to a life of cruelty.

Honestly, I do get why none of the adaptations keep the half-Jewish thing, they're probably afraid it would seem antisemitic, but in my opinion it's a real shame because it's so central to his character and I think I do want a sexy Jewish Byronic antihero. He's the worst. I love him. I would marry him. I would immediately divorce him. His favorite book is Emma!"

For a more academic discussion, I did a podcast episode on him way back when!

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cannebady · 1 year

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Well, I'm on my Stizzy bullshit.

This is steddyhands where Stede and Izzy are both smitten with each other but struggling to communicate it.

They're sleeping together, but only with Ed too and it's all Ed being dominant and Izzy being submissive and Stede kinda just being along for the ride. Anyway, they're figuring it out.

And Izzy loves how rough and possessive Ed gets loves what they do together and that they actually get to do this now.

In fact, that's what sparked his predicament. Because the only reason he and Ed worked their shit out is because Stede called them both out like a prissy little bull in a fancy fuck off China shop and if he hadn't stuck his stupid nose where it didn't belong, Izzy wouldn't have everything he could ever want.

Well, everything he used to want. He was never much for tenderness, if he's honest. Soft things don't survive at sea and he learned that young.

Stede, though. Stede survives at sea. Hell, he even fucking thrives, and he's seen that man make slow, sweet, mind-rendingly gentle love to fucking Blackbeard until Ed is sobbing, and begging, and nearly out of his mind with it.

He got to watch once and it's fucked him up ever since. Because it turns out there is something else Izzy Hands can want for. He can want for soft hands to touch him with love, and with intent. To take pleasure in his pleasure. And he supposes he could ask Ed for it, but he likes the way Ed touches him.

He wants Stede to touch him like that. He wants him to do it because he wants to, not to put on a show for Ed or to prove a point. Izzy wants Stede Bonnet to fucking ruin him with his soft hands and his filthy words, and his ridiculous cock and it's driving him out of his blessed mind.

Because Stede has seen Ed hit, kick, choke, scratch, and fuck Izzy at knife point. He's seen Izzy get his face brutally fucked by the visage of Blackbeard and yes he loves it, craves it even, but maybe, he's finding, he can love more than one kind of thing. More than one kind of person.

He handles it about as well as he handles anything else, which is not really that well at all. It starts to get into his head - why doesn't Stede initiate anything with him? The bastard takes every other damn thing he pleases, but he won't ask to fuck Izzy?

So he draws the logical conclusion; he's here for Ed and Stede and Stede is there for Ed and tolerant of Izzy. He doesn't pine for touch from Izzy, or lay awake a night imagining something as simple as a kiss. And why would he? Stede has Ed, who looks like that, and Izzy's tried to fuck him over so many times. It's not his fault that Izzy's broken, corroded heart tripped headlong into love from loathing when Izzy's given him no reason to reciprocate.

So, he makes a decision to lock those feelings down deep. He kept himself from touching Ed for nearly thirty years and he's pretty sure they don't all have thirty years left considering their line of work, so this should be easy. A piece of fucking cake.

But every time there's soft words and touches between the loves of his life, it hurts something deep in him. It hurts that Stede sees Ed and wants to give him everything and he doesn't feel that way with Izzy.

But Izzy's a selfish bastard, and he wants.

It comes to a head, as many things do, when he gets absolutely pissed on whiskey during shore leave. Ed is off doing fuck knows what, but Stede decided to come to the pub with Izzy and he doesn't know what all to make of that, but they're getting drunker and drunker, and Izzy keeps ordering drink after drink to ignore how good Stede's thigh feels against his and how much he wants those hands on him.

His mood turns sour quickly when his mind starts the whole pining lark again and, after Stede's fifth assertion that Izzy had enough and should come with him back to the ship, Izzy reaches the end of his rope.

"I'm a grown man, fuck off you poncey twat" he growls and he wants to inhale the words back into his stupid drunk mouth because Stede looks stricken, then like he's gathering up pieces of himself to put back away.

"Well then, alright." Stede replies and then gets up and walks out like he isn't taking Izzy's mangled heart with him.

Fuck.

He has a few more drinks because at this point why not? What does he have to lose save for more of his waning dignity. Getting a room and heading back to the Revenge in the morning is a tempting option, but something draws him back to the ship. It might just be that it's a home for him; very possibly the only one he's ever really acknowledged.

He's not nearly as drunk as he expects, but he's got a twisting, roiling feeling in his gut anyway. The walk was supposed to clear his head, but by the time he realizes that it didn't, he's wringing his fucking hands and already standing in front of the Captains cabin. His cabin, some may even call it (Ed and Stede do).

He walks in with a degree of confidence that only truly not giving a fuck and approximately eight whiskeys can buy you, and there's Stede, with a light blue silk robe draped across his shoulders, perfect blonde curls sitting about his shoulders, and a pair of hastily wiped red eyes that Izzy reckons he may have put there himself. He's immediately sober in a way he doesn't expect and he feels the crushing weight of his feelings and this secret he's dug into his chest.

Stede goes to speak, but Izzy's running on regret and adrenaline and just needs him to listen for one fucking second before he loses his nerve. He's sure if he doesn't say this now he never will.

"I want you," he says, and Stede's jaw drops a bit before he inhales like he's about to respond, "no, stop, let me talk." His voice is wildly steady given the shaking of his hands.

"I do, I fucking want you, okay? And I think you're a ponce too, but I see what-" his voice cracks. Fuck. He better get this out quick.

"I want you to fuck me like you fuck Ed and I want what you and Ed have too. But I don't think it'll fucking work because you love him and you don't love me and-"

Whatever he meant to say is taken away from him by Stede's warmth, and seconds later, by one of his gorgeous, soft hands brushing the swallow inked at Izzy's throat, and by the hazel eyes staring down into his and fucking shit, he's seen that tenderness a million times before, but never directed at him.

"Don't love you?", Stede's voice is soft and brimming with emotion, "Of course I love you, how couldn't I?"

And Izzy doesn't even care that it's cheesy or and doesn't want to wonder if it isn't true. He doesn't care that he can think up a thousand reasons that he wouldn't be loved, starting with slicing up Stede's shirt and stealing a hostage, then ending with actual betrayal via British Navy, but again Stede found a way to surprise him.

He's going to say it back, but what comes out is a whine and then soft lips are over his, and soft hands are around his waist and oh fucking hell.

It's good, is the thing. Stede's holding him so gently, but also like he can't imagine letting go. As he slowly licks Izzy's mouth open he's running one hand from his hair, to his jaw, to his waist, then his hip to pull them flush, and then right back up to grip the back of Izzy's head like Stede can't fathom not touching all of Izzy and fuck if Izzy doesn't wholeheartedly agree.

He remembers that he also has hands, and then buries them both in Stede's hair. It's so soft and and this close he can see the whites and grays that Stede hasn't avoided and it makes Izzy feral. This isn't the Stede of his dreams, nor some perfect gentleman from a society that rejected Izzy from childhood, this is the real deal, the mad man, the lunatic, this fucking incredible being, and fuck its doing Izzy's head in.

When Stede breaks the kiss, they both realize that they've moved so that Stede's pressing Izzy into the wall next to the bed. Izzy's panting, barely holding himself up, and he grinds up against Stede, for the friction and to be a little shit, and Stede's eyes darken. He's so lost in them that he barely realizes that Stede's hands have moved before he's being bodily picked fucking up and oh yeah, Stede has actual fucking muscles now, which fuck fuck fuck. He gets why Ed loses his fucking mind for this.

He groans and Stede whispers into his ear, close enough that he can feel his lips, his breath, "Israel, darling, let me take you to bed."

And Izzy's breathing out, "Yes, fuck, finally". He feels safe and wanted and fucking loved and it's sending him floating.

He lets that warmth light him up as Stede lays him down, curls hanging in the space between them, before he kisses Izzy again and they're both lost to the gentle, sweet expression of love and devotion they both deserve.

#ofmd #our flag means death #stede bonnet #my fic #izzy hands #ofmd fic #Stizzy #Steddyhands #edward teach #blackbeard

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utilitycaster · 2 months

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you got me. i binged all of midst in two days and it was great, but now i dont have a lot of other podcasts to listen to. do you have other good fiction podcasts you like?

DO I. I am not the Most Podcast Person I know but I definitely follow a lot because I drive a lot and walk a lot and put them on in the background while I do chores. Also, I'm sticking to scripted/plotted fiction here and not actual play but I can provide some actual play podcast recs too, though none are terribly obscure.

Wolf 359 is a completed podcast but a great binge. It also is science fiction and deals with capitalism and corruption and complicated characters and weird space stuff; it regularly makes the "great fiction podcasts" to check out and I think is closest to Midst in that it's also a tightly plotted work that goes to a natural end point.

I frequently talk about and recommend the Silt Verses and the thematic nature is remarkably close to Midst, but the vibe is very different. It has a lot of folk and body horror elements (audio-only, but they are absolutely present). Also covers the "man what if capitalism and religion were working explicitly in tandem" element of Midst with the added dimension of "what if there were many many gods and and they all demanded literal, physical sacrifices". Sister Carpenter is cut from a similar cloth as Lark and I love her dearly. To draw other comparisons would be to spoil it. It's on season 3, which will be its last. It is extremely intense in that when I fell behind I found it tough to binge without taking breaks, but it's really fucking good. (I also recommend this to people who like Candela Obscura, though that's more for eldritch horror vibes).

The Penumbra Podcast is great because it has two separate storylines (it was originally intended to be an anthology, but people fell in love with Juno Steel specifically). I like both, but Juno Steel is the more popular one - it's set in the future, in our solar system but in space, and follows Juno Steel, a private eye. It's extremely weird neo-noir. There is a homme fatale and a fantastic cast of characters, and it's also an interesting ongoing plot. The Second Citadel is more fantasy rather than sf though it's also kind of in that general New Weird bucket and is even harder to describe but I think it's underrated. It's also on its final season but it's been going on a while so it will take a bit for you to catch up.

Within the Wires is also a podcast I've recommended in the past. It's by the people who do Welcome to Nightvale which isn't listed here both because I assume you are aware of it, and because that's an ongoing slice of life sort of thing; there are plots but there's sort of that sitcom-esque "nothing really changes the status quo" element though the earlier era had some more structured stuff. Anyway, Within the Wires is found audio, so each season is different - the first is relaxation cassette tapes, the second museum audio guides, the third voice memos, etc. There are callbacks/connections between seasons at times, and I would recommend listening to at least the first two seasons in full (which are very strong) to get a sense of the world before hopping around later. The reason I recommend it here is because the worldbuilding is spectacularly done in a way that reminds me of the elegance of the worldbuilding in Midst, and because it's found audio, while it's one narrator per season you will get those weird asides and interesting tonal choices.

Tentative rec for Camlann, a roughly modern day post-apocalyptic take on Arthurian legends and the folklore of the British Isles only because it just started and has 3 episodes. I like it, but I don't know what plot it's building to (nor how long it will be; they have funding for one season but aren't sure about future ones.)

#answered #Anonymous

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crissaeatscake · 1 year

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Just some Legendborn Cycle thoughts, questions and theories

Valec is Erebus's/ the shadow king's son bc in legendborn his mom apparently slept with the red eyed crossroads man. Sounds like Erebus. And it's pretty clear and a major theory that Sel is also Erebus's kid and there is a lot of evidence pointing towards it and it'll be hilarious for Sel and Valec to find out they're brothers.

Does Nick know Sel has feelings for Bree? Sel hinted at it and Nick seemed pretty chill with it, which is a weird reaction.

Nick also clearly did not trust Sel at all in Legendborn and did not like seeing him with Bree and they never get a chance to resolve this because he gets kidnapped yet in Bloodmarked he completely trusts him(maybe bc distance makes the heart fonder??)and seems fine with his feelings for Bree which is confusing.

William is gonna die I feel it

I have a theory that Natasia watched Sel growing up from a distance after she escaped. It's unclear if she really loved him but I'd like to think she did or at least has complicated feelings about him.

And that she's working with the Line of Morgaine. The Line of Morgaine are unoathed Merlins who clearly haven't succumbed to their blood so they probably know how to resist demonia.

I believe Erebus genuinely has or had feelings for Natasia, as many feelings that a demon can have.

Maybe Natasia used Faye's root to keep the demonia at bay. And in return protected her. But then how would she have repelled it while she was in the Shadowhold?

In this world there seems to be a distaste for Kanes. Sel asked Lark how his dad felt that his son lost out to a Kane for the role of Kingsmage. Sel and his mom were both used as scapegoats. Maybe bc they're a family of powerful Merlins and everyone is afraid of them?

I wanna know more about the Legendborn's discrimination towards Merlins. Sarah said a Legendborn dating a Merlin would piss their parents off. Bc of their demon blood? Also Sel why would you date Tor where is your taste?? I do kinda want details about that and Sel's dating life after he got over Nick.

I feel like Natasia and Faye were a thing or at least there were feelings involved.

Wanna see Sel playing the violin and being A Classics Major™️

There are totally some Merlins working as spies inside the Order and I believe Natasia and the Morgaines have contact with them. Maybe there's some sort of Merlin Resistance bc they're tired of being treated like second class members of the Order.

I feel like Natasia will be a very cheerful person, to contrast Sel. Everyone won't be able to believe that she's Sel's mom. As you can see I am very interested in Natasia she's just so enigmatic and interesting

Nick will find his mom and Bree will be able to remove the mesmer from her. In the extra story in the Barnes and Noble exclusive edition of Bloodmarked we saw that Nick was super determined to make his mom remember him no matter what and I think he will. Bree can remove mesmers, so it'll probably happen.

Theory that there's gonna be a fight between Bree and the Legendborn against the Merlins working for the Regents, and at that moment Natasia is gonna swoop in to save them and single handedly obliterate the Merlins(hope it's Isaac or that Tacitus guy)

Bree's powers are gonna bring Sel back from Demonia and they're gonna be endgame

I wanna see all of Sel's tattoos and know why he got them. And what's the deal with the Merlin tattoo? Is it just for style? Or to signify that they're Merlins that belong to the Order juxtaposed to other cambions.

TELL ME YOUR THOUGHTS

#legendborn #bloodmarked #the legendborn cycle #tracy deonn #bree matthews #selwyn kane #nick davis #william sitterson #selbree #brelwyn #breesel #breenick #ya fantasy #fantasy

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reloha · 11 months

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Penelope Featherington and the Quality of Friendship

If Penelope used her wit, even her cruel wit, but any wit, more, out loud in front of the ton, she would have suitors. Philippa found a suitor over cheese, for pity’s sake. “Lady Whistledown’s“ plant puns received praise from her sister’s suitor. Prudence is having trouble because she has neither wit nor wits, not because she is too mean (and they’re all sabotaged by their mother’s “cutting edge” fashion taste). The man Eloise danced with, whom she called out for trying to “not-like-other-girls" her, would probably have gone crazy for mean Penelope. If Penelope were as vocally, publicly mean as Cressida, she would either be in her group or smashing that group. (I am not saying that being mean in public would have been the best of Penelope's available choices, but it would be more honest and, ironically, do less damage.)

Her mother pays only the most cursory lip service to Penelope’s getting married and has probably already begun to think of her as the daughter who will stay with her through her old age. But if Penelope allowed herself to speak and let either her nice or sharp sides (or both) be seen by more people, there would be suitors.

Alas, then she would have to consider other possibilities besides her long-time crush (or love, look at it how you will), and that is what she is most afraid of doing. She cannot let go of the dream of Colin, and so she embraces Whistledown, at first perhaps as a one-time lark (she tries to get out of debuting, remember, but her ability to obtain content for her “blog,” her “great” life’s work, becomes intrinsically tied to being in society). This (possible) lark becomes an identity, perhaps her truest identity, one that allows her wicked thoughts a free rein. Yet Cressida Cowper, the person outside of her family who has the best claim to be Penelope's nemesis, is rarely seen in the Whistledown papers as far as the audience can divine, except for the occasional knock on her fashion choices (with bonus slut shaming). The one time that springs to mind is aimed at running a modiste out of business to curry favor with another modiste, Mme. Delacroix, all in order to eliminate a perceived threat to Whistledown and gain leverage over Delacroix to obtain her assistance with—you guessed it—errands for Whistledown.

At first, Penelope uses Whistledown to lift the Bridgertons up. They are a family of “perfectly handsome sons and perfectly beautiful daughters.” If the audience never finds out who Whistledown is, it scarcely seems to matter at this point; she could just be one of any number of anonymous people in the ton and not part of the story at all. Whistledown uplifts Daphne at her debut. It is Whistledown, not the Queen, who names Daphne “a diamond of the first water” (something apparently forgotten in season two).

But then Anthony gets in the way of Daphne’s suitors, and perhaps Eloise offhandedly mentions it to Penelope (“I can’t think why she wants to deal with them anyway but Anthony is being overbearing” or similar), and Penelope realizes she can criticize Daphne, the pretty Bridgerton who apparently never thought of being friends with her or guiding her. Or the sister Eloise is kind of annoyed with (but would never really want to see hurt, which one would think Penelope has to realize). According to Daphne, Lady Whistledown all but declares her “unmarriageable,” a devastating fate for most Regency ladies and something Penelope fears herself to be. Lady Whistledown is powerful, and Penelope has gotten a taste for that power.

Penelope has crossed over into Whistledown’s dark side as early as this, striking out at someone she perceives as being above her and cutting her down to size. (In the books, nothing on this level occurs, although one cannot go so far as to say Lady Whistledown is a benign force there.) Yes, on the show, she is willing to “help out” by printing the Berbrooke gossip, but is she helping out? It makes good copy for her. It’s actually something of a scoop. But what if it were a lie? Has Lady Whistledown ever fact checked any of the things she has heard people talk about? How, even, could she?

For some reason, she begins to take shots at the Queen, a reckless and nonsensical thing to do. The Queen may have some input with the Prince Regent (this is never clear in Bridgerton but in the prequel-sequel-spinoff series, Queen Charlotte, we see it played out at least on a personal level), but her domain is the social season, and she has the time at least to set others on Whistledown’s trail. And what has Charlotte done to Penelope? Someone posted that the Queen looked at her with disgust (she wasn’t impressed with the three Featheringtons’ joint debut, perhaps, but that was hardly directed at Penelope personally).

While in her first season, Penelope tries to be a little discreet about her secret identity, in her second season, she becomes more obvious. When someone in a group of girls says that Whistledown will not write anything because they are all in the country, Penelope asks if she thinks so and smiles a secretive smile that could not be more blatant.

Lady Bridgerton puts Eloise and Penelope into that group of girls hoping Eloise, and perhaps Penelope too, will make more friends. Eloise asks why the girls can’t say no to their mothers’ edicts regarding suitors and is met with shocked looks. (Eloise is criticized online for this as well, for this apparently means she is inconsiderate of these girls who cannot on any account question anything, but it is entirely possible that one or two of them thought about this later and their lives were changed in even small ways by it. The idea that every woman in the Regency era never questioned anything or did anything is not true anyway, and, if it were, this is still Regency fantasy, even without dragons.)

Neither Eloise nor Penelope makes a new friend. For Penelope, who secretly longs to be part of the social life of the ton, not on the outskirts, this is a huge missed opportunity, if only she would realize it. In addition to friendship to offer, some of these girls probably have brothers or cousins or even a young uncle whom they could introduce to Penelope or even to her annoying sister, Prudence. Perhaps more importantly, Penelope might begin to see the other girls as people, not just fodder for her society pages, and she might come out into the light instead of remaining in the shadows with Lady Whistledown. But she might have to let go of the dream of Colin, the thing she most dreads doing, the thing she cannot bear to do.

When Edwina exchanges a few pleasantries with Penelope, Penelope could also use that as a springboard for a friendship, but she instead walks off to talk with Colin and never sends a note to Edwina or makes any attempt at friendship, even when Edwina is spending a great deal of time with the Bridgertons. Eloise appears to have the beginning of a friendship, or at least a mutual admiration society, with Edwina’s sister, Kate. The only friends Penelope appears to want are Eloise and Colin, and she gets annoyed when the former interrupts her while she is talking with the latter, but she never takes the step of sharing her feelings for Colin with Eloise. Although Eloise might have been puzzled by those feelings had she done so, it is difficult to believe she would be anything other than supportive of her friend, as she was when she divined that Penelope enjoyed all the parties and social whirl—the opposite of what Penelope does for Eloise when she confides her burgeoning feelings to Theo.

There may be several issues of her paper that only reveal engagements prior to the official announcements or critique fashion choices, including the Featheringtons’ (which would work to her benefit if her mother would pay attention—unfortunately, she can’t just write “Penelope Featherington looks better in pink, Lady Featherington”), and maybe she doesn’t write about couples sneaking off to the coat closet, but she is not kind. She does not wield her considerable power to help anyone unless it is in Whistledown’s best interest and will sell more papers or in line with Penelope’s current agenda, the things she believes will achieve what she wants. Breaking up Marina and Colin, getting Eloise away from the print shop and her trail, not letting Eloise do a mock version of Whistledown because Whistledown is hers—these are Penelope’s goals at different points. Penelope could tell Eloise the truth about Marina (at least Marina would not have been publicly shamed and maybe the Bridgertons would have even helped her in some way) before writing about her, the truth about Whistledown before writing about Eloise, but she does not. Before writing about Eloise, she could go to the Queen and confess. She does not.

Penelope claims, rather disingenuously and conveniently, that the Queen will never believe her. It is absurd to think Penelope has left no trail, no evidence that she is Whistledown. Even if she has burned all her drafts after sending the final to the printer’s, the printer will remember her as the person who came to make arrangements in the guise of an Irish servant (particularly as she spoke quite insultingly to him). The Queen can’t execute anyone. She could hire an assassin, in theory, but this isn’t Game of Thrones and Charlotte isn’t a monster. Penelope could go to the Queen and offer to work with her. She could confess to Eloise before Eloise figures it out, and they could come up with a plan together. She could just take the consequences of what she has done and live with them. She had other choices besides throwing her friend under the omnibus (which didn’t exist yet, but, oh, well) to “save” her.

Penelope could confess to the Queen and offer to prove she is Whistledown by having the Queen give her a false piece of gossip and allowing herself to be placed in a room in the palace while she writes it up as a mock Whistledown column. Surely Penelope is clever enough to do that, isn’t she?

Penelope tells Mme. Delacroix that the Queen wants to be flattered, so Penelope knows this. She knows the Queen isn’t out to destroy Whistledown. She could write an issue with something flattering the Queen, but she doesn’t. She writes a post that will separate Eloise from someone she has come to care for and from the people who are not rich but want to do something in the world.

For Eloise to have a cross-class love interest is not madness, although unusual in the world of the story. Theo is a printer’s apprentice and a writer who could very well own his own business someday, and Eloise is working on a novel, or at least was in season one. Both of them could be published someday beyond political pamphlets, although those are fine too. (And, yes, Penelope and Colin both write too.)

Of course, this wouldn’t make Theo a “gentleman” by the definition of the time, but Lady Mary wed a man who was not in the ton, and, although she hoped her daughters would not have to choose between love and security, it is doubtful that she regretted her choice. Her husband also wound up with a very good job in India as secretary to a royal family, and, had he died later, their financial circumstances might have been better. It seems as if Lady Mary's parents refused to put a brave face on things and instead hid away, but the Queen’s only rebuke for Lady Mary is that she did not say goodbye to her, not that she married “down” or against her family’s wishes. Eloise’s family would probably not refuse to see her as the Sheffields did with Lady Mary if she were to marry "down" (Daphne could remind Violet that she said she wished for Daphne to have the very best, not in rank but in love), and not being invited to society parties would hardly be a loss to Eloise.

Many of the people who say this would ruin her younger sisters' chances also argue that every scandal the Bridgertons go through is short-lived (which is somewhat the case) and they can never be truly ruined. (Although it’s unlikely the show will go the Theo route, more's the pity, if it were to do so, one would expect this to be a long enough road that Francesca's first marriage would already have happened, and we know her second husband wouldn't care about her sister's so-called scandal anyway. And Hyacinth, well, Hyacinth is rather similar to Eloise in many ways.)

Theo was an important friendship to Eloise and going to those meetings an important part of her growth, facts Penelope would realize about her friend if she would listen to her instead of gaslighting her.

But Eloise is not Penelope’s best friend. Penelope’s best friend is Lady Whistledown. It is Lady Whistledown whom Penelope protects, and she is the one to whom Penelope always turns when she has a problem. She scarcely shares a problem with Eloise outside of her confusion about where babies come from. She never comes to Eloise about her father’s death (which, to be fair, scarcely seems to faze her, and that is probably understandable); about Marina, the only other person who is close to being Penelope’s friend (and it can’t be because she respects Marina’s secret); about her feelings for Colin; about how to get her mother off this yellow kick. When Eloise asks her about herself, Penelope almost invariably changes the subject. There is one memorable and revealing conversation while they lie on the grass in which Penelope extols the joys and power of not being seen, of being invisible, of being a wallflower. It’s a fascinating speech, and she has every opportunity to tell Eloise about Whistledown after it, for good or ill, to ‘fess up, but she doesn't. Instead, she continues down her dark path.

By the end of the season, Penelope has destroyed her friendship with Eloise, and she has had her illusions of Colin destroyed by overheard words (not staying long enough to hear what follows, whether it’s “Penelope deserves better than me” or “Penelope is like a sister to me” or "Who would want to court Penelope?"). Her bridges are effectively burned and to rebuild them would take meticulous care, diligent work, and more than a little self-reflection, as well as attempts at apology and amends.

Lady Whistledown is the only friend Penelope has left.

Special thanks to @dollypopup and @torchwood-99, who have written so many thoughtful posts.

#anti Penelope Featherington #not really but close enough #Bridgerton spoilers #Bridgerton opinions #this got long #Bridgerton #Bridgeverse #Eloise Bridgerton but kind of incidentally #Penelope villain arc

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merlot-and-chardonnay · 4 months

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A Lark Among the Wolves and Dragons: Chapter 5

Chapter 4

-----------flashback: King's Landing, Day of the Tourney-------

It was day of the tourney. Nobles and knights had come in from all over the realm to watch or participate in the spectacle. And based on what you heard, the timing couldn't have been more perfect as Queen Aemma had just gone into labor.

Rhaenyra had asked you to accompany her by her side when the tourney started. You had noticed the princess had been a little on edge, which made sense given the state her mother was in right now. Hopefully this day long event would distract and, gods be willing, her mother would come out of her labors with little to no complications for both her and the newborn child regardless of the sex.

Before joining the princess at her spectators' box with her father, friend, and others from the family and small council, you found yourself at Daemon's tent, hoping to get a sneak peak of the prince before he took part in today's festivities.

"Ooh, look at you," you say as you walk into Daemon's tent. The prince in question just had his armor in place, which included his dragonesque helmet

Daemon heard your voice and turned to face you; he smirked a bit, feeling confident from the look of admiration at your face, "do you like what you see?"

"Oh, I sure do," you nod, approaching him and placing a hand on his shoulder and another on his chest, "I've always had a...certain weakness for men in armor.

"Well then," Daemon leans in, deciding to flirt back, "I may not be able to request your favor during the tourney, Little Lark, but perhaps you may grace me now with a kiss as a gesture of good luck...maybe a little something more to make up for denying me last night after I was so generous with you."

You smirk back and lean in, like you were going to give him a kiss, but instead you stop and whisper, "it was your choice to use your tongue on me, Prince, I never asked you to." Daemon groaned as you pulled away, you unable to hide your smirk at the power you currently had over this man, "besides," you continue, "can't have you distracted before the start of the festivities." "I said I was sorry," Daemon pouts like a child. "You actually didn't," you say, placing a hand on his cheek, "but when you win, I'll give you all the kisses you want. ANYwhere you want. It'll be worth it."

Daemon made a small smile, a glimmer of hope in his eyes, "I shall do my best then to earn those kisses." "Good luck, Prince," you laugh a bit and exit the tent to join Rhaenyra at her box.

------present day: Kaer Morhen-----------

You walk into the dinning hall with Ciri, seeing Geralt still there at the table with Lambert, Eskel, and Coen.

To your surprise, you notice Lambert holding Aemma in his arms.

"She really grows on you, doesn't she?" Eskel says, leaning in to make faces at the baby. "Yeah, when she's not screaming for ma in the middle of the night that is," Coen mutters, taking a bite of some bread, "but she is adorable. If only we knew who the father was."

"Well, we can rule out Geralt," Lambert jokes, "given that being a witcher had made him seedless."

"Very funny," Geralt deadpans, sipping from his mug.

"Seriously though," Eskel states, looking into the baby's face, "I don't think I've ever seen anyone with this type of blonde hair, it's almost silver." "And violet eyes," Coen adds, "unusual, unless the father was part elf."

"You people are really that eager to know who the father is?" you interrupt the conversation, getting the wolves' attention.

"Oh uh, good morning, (y/n)," Lambert greets. "Don't you lot have super senses or something?" you ask, taking a seat at the table, "I thought you would've heard Ciri and I walking from across the hall."

The witchers exchanged looks. "We got distracted," Coen provides for an excuse, "you daughter was distracting us."

"Really?" you snort, "far as I can see, she's been quiet this whole time."

"Uh, Lambert, I can see you and Aemma are having a special bonding moment, but I'd like to spend some time with her now," you reach out and the witcher gives you to her, seemingly reluctantly, "Huh, I never would've expected this from you." "To be fair, none of would expected this," Eskel smirks. "Why is this so surprising?" Lambert asks in disbelief. "I may admittedly be a little rough around the edges but I'm not a fucking monster."

"Hey, watch you language," you scold, giving Aemma a kiss on the cheek.

"Why is your face flushed?" Geralt asked Ciri as she took a seat next to him. Ciri straighten up a bit thinking about an answer to give him, "I uh, I was warming up in my room before we start training." "Oh she was warming up alright," you say with a smug look. Geralt frowned at you and her, not sure what that meant.

"Uh, where's Tris?" Ciri looks around. "We were running low on herbs in the alchemy lab," Geralt tells her, "She went with Vesemir to go gather some more."

"Knowing Vesemir, that'll be an all day task," Lambert snorts, "they have to be the right height, growth, and some other shit like that."

"Lambert," you scold in a firm tone, "Not in front of Aemma." "How is that swearing?" Lambert exasperates, "I heard you say that over and over again last night!"

"Huh?" "What was that?" you and Geralt perk up.

Eskel, Coen, and Lambert exchange looks, "these walls are kind of thin," Eskel points out.

"Gross," Ciri mutters, taking a bite of food.

You felt your face heat up realizing what that meant. "Uh, Ciri" you ask hesitantly, "did you...?" "Nope," Ciri says quickly getting up, "I thankfully don't have witcher senses." Geralt had a look of confusion on his face. You lean in to ask him, "Geralt, did she ever get some kind of talk from her grandparents before...?" "I did, I don't need to have it again!" Ciri calls out, practically running out of the hall at this point.

The other witchers couldn't help but chuckle at this awkward situation.

Thankfully Aemma started fussing to be fed again, "I better go feed Aemma now," you say, quickly getting up.

"What, you can stay and whip em out for-" Lambert calls out, only to get nudged in the ribs by Geralt and earning a stern look from the white haired witcher.

----------------flashback: Red Keep Post tourney------------

It was late in the night when you roamed the halls, intent on getting some sleep.

It had been a long day.

The tourney, the death of the Queen and her newborn son, the funeral that followed after, it was all a lot to process right now.

You weren't close with the king or queen, but Rhaenyra was clearly grieving from the loss of her mother and newborn brother. When you were called to entertain her, she had you stop in the middle of your first song, which was a mourning song in elven which seemed appropriate for the occasion. With tears in her eyes, the princess had you dismissed early. You couldn't blame her, she needed some time alone to process her grief.

You had thinking about how the queen had died, having heard what the maesters did, cutting the poor woman open in order to save the babe, all without sedatives or herbs to numb the pain. You could only imagine how horrible the procedure it must've been for the poor queen, and how painful her death must've been; if this had been in any of the courts in the Continent, at least a mage would've been there to help ease the pains of labor and have spells on hand to turn the babe or sedate the queen if it came to that.

If you ever found yourself with child, you would pray you would be on the Continent when the time came to give birth.

You also thought about the king, and how he must've felt being in this position. You knew Viserys loved his wife, and to be put in this situation to choose to save his son or risk losing both, and only for both to be lost anyway...

You looked to see the door to Daemon's chambers was slightly cracked open. You didn't know if the man was in there right now, but you had no interest in knowing, especially after what you heard what he said earlier among his men.

Right when you passed though you heard his voice, "where do you think you're going at this hour, Little Lark?"

That moment, the prince came out and approached you.

Before this, you were having a great time watching this man compete.

Daemon may had asked for Lady Alicent's favor at the tourney earlier today, but you knew his gazed was fixed on you when you stood by Rhaenyra's side.

You were about to turn, but Daemon was quick and pulled you back, "you finished earlier then usual this evening," the prince states. "Let me go," you struggle. "Why would I do that?" Daemon asks with a smirk, "have you forgotten so quickly what you promised me?" "You didn't win," you point out, "I'm not obligated to give you anything."

Daemon grabbed your chin so you can face him. "Why put yourself through this hell you created?" he questions, "you want me, I know this."

"Why would I want you, especially after what you just said?" you scoff, succeeding in pulling back. "What I said?" "Your sister-in-law is dead, as is your nephew," you bring up, "your brother and niece are grieving from the loss, but instead of grieving with them you run off to the Silk Street and drink and celebrate your status as Heir. From what I heard, you referred to the dead babe as 'Heir for a Day'." "He was," Daemon points out, "even less then that as he only lived for a few hours."

"You truly have no shame," you say in disgust, "all you care about is yourself. You have got to be the most selfish, arrogant, insufferable person I've ever had the misfortune to come across." "Yet, you've never stopped me or pushed me away before, Little Lark," Daemon points out. "Don't call me that!" you exclaim, "I hate it when you call me that! I'm not your pet, I'm a person. And you're not a dragon. You...you..." "I'm what?" Daemon asks, a dark look in his face.

"You're a snake," you spat out, "A spineless, limbless snake." "I'd watch your tongue," Daemon warns, "this is a battle you can't win." "Ha, don't make me laugh," you joylessly laugh, "You come at me like you did Ser Criston, I'm sure I'd be the victor. Especially if you beat your chest and shout to the crowd rather then wait for me to yield like some brainless rock troll!"

Daemon grabbed your hair and pushed you against the wall. You grab onto the hand that was holding your hair and try to yank him off, but he takes his other hand to pin your hand to the wall.

You struggled when to break free while Daemon merely stared at you darkly. You stop when you realized how close his face was to yours.

Next thing you his lips were on yours.

You feel a hand going under your skirts, but this time you slap him away.

"I mean it, Daemon!" you say with a stern tone, "I don't want anything to do with you right now. I would've made an exception after the tourney, but after that display of disregard for the life of your family, I had second thoughts."

"If I wanted lectures about my conduct, I would've gone to my brother," Daemon mutters, making you roll your eyes and turn away, "We all mourn in different ways," he continues, leaning into you, sighing a bit, "I didn't mean it. I'm sorry, (y/n)." "Don't tell me, tell your niece and brother, they're the ones who are hurting right now," you say. "I know. And they're not the only ones right now," Daemon says, voice muffled into your neck, "I kept my word not to stick my prick in other women as promised. Please allow me to keep grieving my way while also upholding my promise. I wish to hear your sweet voice again...please, (y/n)."

You sigh and turn around, ready to scold him again. But the moment you saw Daemon's face, you could see the tired look in his eyes, like he was bearing the weight of the world on his shoulders. You've seen that look before, in the face of another man you once cared for.

The Queen was Daemon's family too, and he had suffered a loss.

You sigh, hands moving to card through his long, soft, hair as you press your lips to his.

He took you to his room and you allowed him to do what he needed, what he wanted, if only to make him forget for a while.

He was fast and rough at first, but as soon as he came inside you, his movements became slower.

When the both of you were spent, you rested your head on Daemon's chest as he pulled you in and gave you a kiss on the head.

"Sing to me, Little Lark," you hear him whisper.

You did as he request, singing the same elven song you sang to the princess earlier today.

Chapter 6

Masterlist

#geralt of rivia #geralt #geralt x reader #lambert #eskel #coen #ciri #vesemir #daemon targeryen x reader #aemma arryn #viserys targaryen #rhaenyra targaryen

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undiscovered-horizon · 1 year

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🫀REQUESTS ARE OPEN🫀

Imagine Charles and Erik trying to (unsuccessfully) recruit you for X-men

A/N: this is a draft from THREE YEARS AGO. I was reminded of its existence only because Draft.ai is being taken down and I got an e-mail reminding me to download my files.

The sound of the gun's hammer being pulled back filled the quiet night. The metal weapon glistened in the moonlight. It was held by a trembling hand although it belonged to a man of certainty.

"Who are you?" Charles asked. It was quite visible that he had very little experience with firearms. The shaky muzzle pointed to a figure in the dark. Given his lack of expertise and visible nervousness, there was no chance he could actually shoot them. "What do you want?" he raised his voice.

You shifted slightly. Throwing off the hood covering your face, you turned around to look at him. The silver moon was behind Charles's back and so its light brightened up your tired face. You stared down the barrel of the gun but it elicited no worry from you; it seemed that despite both of you knowing he had no chance of seriously hurting you, neither of you was willing to openly admit that yet.

"Who are you?" he asked again. Although cursed with the ability to control and read minds, he had poor control of his own.

"It would be funnier if I thought you could actually shoot me," you spoke up.

"And what makes you think I won't?" Charles gritted through his teeth.

A dry chuckle escaped your lips. It nearly seemed pathetic how much he tried to put a brave face on but clearly couldn't. Charles knew what you were, of course, and yet he was desperate to imitate the courage that ignorance would have given him. It was one of those cases when lack of knowledge truly was blissful.

"I know you, I've watched you." You slowly moved towards him. The cold wind nipped at your skin." Violence disgusts you. You're curious about who I am, so why would you shoot? Vivisection doesn't seem to be your style."

Charles let out a shaky breath. Seeing as you were unmoved by his poor facade, his nervousness visibly grew. He took his other hand to support the gun. Despite that, the barrel was hardly pointing at you.

"Besides, your gun is loaded with blank bullets. Even a full round won't kill me."

Charles furrowed his eyebrows, clearly surprised that you would somehow know that. At that moment of his confusion, you kicked his wrist and caught the gun. While looking Charles in the eyes, you released the magazine and threw both parts in the mud.

"You were looking for me, I heard," you continued. If you wanted your peace, you had to see this little lark through.

"You heard me?" Charles asked quietly in a breathy tone. It was something new to him - you weren't supposed to know. As far as he knew, it wasn't your power.

A scoff left your mouth. "You really thought your toy works only one way?"

Gravel crunched a few feet behind you - someone else was present under the moonlight. It wasn't something you didn't expect but it made the situation a little more problematic nonetheless. Whatever you needed to do or say to get them off your back, you had to do it quickly and tactfully as now you were outnumbered.

"I came to give you a warning," you said a little louder to make sure that whoever joined this little conversation could hear you too. "Next time you try to reach me, buy yourself a casket. I don't care about any of your 'mutant war' shit."

"But you're one of us," Charles argued. As if you didn't already consider that side of things! "If the government kills mutants, it means you die too. That's why we need any help we can get."

"Moira…Raven…" you counted aloud. Maybe blackmailing wasn't a great tactic but in your position people tend to grab whatever they can lay their hands on. There had to be something to get Charles Xavier to leave you be. "Which one should I talk to first for you to back off?"

"You wouldn't make it," said a voice behind you. Just by its sound, you knew it belonged to none other but Erik Lensherr.

In a matter of seconds, bullets from the magazine you had thrown away earlier, were pulled up and flying towards you. And as if time slowed down, you dodged the bullets. While making a suspiciously perfectly timed move, a light blue light followed your movements with a slight delay - there was an interesting power at your hands.

"Take it as a warning, you two." It was obvious that the diplomatic part of the evening just came to a close. "I just want to be left alone."

Having said those words, you marched away only to disappear among the treeline, becoming one with the darkness of the cold night.

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sounwise · 2 years

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“Paul McCartney’s secret love affair” (interview with Maggie McGivern in the Daily Mail, April 12, 1997)

[Full transcript beneath the cut:]

Millions of words have been written about The Beatles — but little, if anything, is known of a girl called Maggie McGivern.

Yet now it can be revealed for the first time that she is the woman who had a secret affair with Paul McCartney for more than three years.

They were the years songs such as Paperback Writer, Strawberry Fields Forever and All You Need Is Love were enchanting the world.

More pertinently they included the years in which he had his relationship with actress Jane Asher, and when he met the woman who would become Linda McCartney.

The saga begins early in 1966 when Maggie was working as a nanny for Marianne Faithfull and her husband, John Dunbar, a Cambridge graduate and artist.

Their son, Nicholas, had been born the previous November. Marianne had a third-floor flat in Chelsea, in the heart of what was then Swinging London, the capital city of the Sixties. For more than three years The Beatles had been storming the pop charts — and society.

Help! was the sensation of the previous summer and the double-sided Day Tripper/We Can Work It Out was in the charts. Beatlemania was everywhere and Maggie, through her new job, would quickly get used to rubbing shoulders with the famous.

One day when the buzzer rang on the intercom for the flat, she didn’t recognise the voice from the ground floor. The young man asked if John was around. ‘Who is it?’ said Maggie. ‘Paul McCartney,’ said the voice. ‘Oh — come up . . .’

‘Paul ran up the stairs and came in,’ she recalls. ‘Very casually I told him John wasn’t really in — and that sent us both into hysterics. We were laughing and chatting.

‘I had made a nice lunch for Marianne and a bunch of her friends but they never showed up. Paul and I sat together and ate it instead. I’ll never forget the meal — it was chicken casserole. It was such a funny introduction that it threw us both off guard. It could have been very embarrassing, but there was an immediate rapport and we just couldn’t stop talking.’

Maggie, whose once-dark hair is now dyed honey-blonde, told how she and Paul became closer in the months that followed, even though they each had a separate relationship.

Maggie had a photographer boyfriend and McCartney was seeing a pretty young actress called Jane Asher, living for a time in her parents’ house before she moved in with him.

‘It was a gradual thing,’ says Maggie. ‘From that point on Paul kept coming up to the flat. He was very good friends with John but I knew he was coming to see me.

‘He would ring and ask if anyone was there and if there wasn’t, he would come up. We used to talk about lots of things but it was obvious to both of us that our other relationships were not going well.’

It took six months before their association, as Maggie puts it, turned from friendship to love. The Beatles had been recording their Revolver album, released at the end of summer 1966.

One evening McCartney, John Dunbar and some friends returned from Paris with some demo tapes of the album and played them for Maggie. ‘There was something in the air that night and that’s how it all started,’ she says. ‘He ended up staying the night and we went to bed. It was wonderful.

‘The next morning was one of the most previous moments of my life. We didn’t say much but it was such a tranquil, pleasant feeling — made all the more so because we left things unsaid. He stayed with me until lunchtime and we chatted and larked about. Everything with Paul was so natural. From that moment on he used to come around regularly.’

By this stage The Beatles had stopped doing live performances and tours but McCartney was putting just as much effort into recording. Maggie was frequently abroad on modelling assignments.

‘When we were having our love affair, I hardly phoned him,’ she says. ‘He used to find me wherever I was, and that was fine as far as I was concerned. He did tell me that Jane Asher had moved in with him at his house in St John’s Wood and I remember saying that it meant nothing to me.

‘Throughout the relationship I never pursued him — I just didn’t think about him having other women. My view on relationships has always been that if something works, it works. If it’s meant to be, let it be. Besides which, I had a busy life, and I was very busy living it.

‘Our relationship was a secret from day one, at first because we didn’t want Jane to find out, and later because we preferred it like that. We hardly ever went to parties. We would occasionally go to restaurants but normally we’d walk his dogs in Regent’s Park or go for drives in the country.

‘We craved isolation and I for one did not want to become an overnight superstar — I certainly wasn’t ready for that emotionally.’

Secrecy, of course, was vital for the continued success of their relationship. Maggie, who now lives in Brighton and works as a rollerblade instructor, says: ‘I don’t believe celebrities when they say they can’t keep affairs secret. We managed it quite well for more than three years.’

She described a trip to Paris in 1966 with John Lennon and The Beatles’ manager, Brian Epstein. All of them flew into France separately — Lennon had been filming abroad and Epstein had been away on business. Maggie and Paul, she says, traveled apart ‘as part of keeping the relationship secret’. During the five-day trip the foursome stayed at the same Paris hotel where she and Paul shared a luxury suite. ‘It was a marvelous holiday,’ she says. ‘. . . just walking around the streets of Paris.

‘My abiding memory is of me, John and Paul lying under the Eiffel Tower, gazing up at it. We couldn’t go up because we would have been recognised, and we were masters at the art of avoiding people.

‘Throughout the relationship we never met in obvious places. We would go to places like auction rooms in South Kensington, and say “whoops — fancy meeting you here”.’

By this point, Maggie saw Paul as a permanent fixture in her life, but gave no serious thought to marriage or children.

Maggie was 20 and McCartney 23 when they met. At the time, she says, she had no conception of the enormity of the scene in which she was involved. ‘I know it really sounds strange but I didn’t really regard it as a big deal. They were mad times and the world was changing. People look back on it now as an era — but all we were doing was living in it.

‘I knew in my heart that Paul was a real family man — when I was working at Marianne’s we used to spend hours just looking at little Nicholas. It was obvious Paul wanted children but, at that stage, I was in no way ready for it. I was a free spirit.’

Maggie worked for Marianne and John for about 18 months before leaving to set up an antiques stall in Chelsea Market. Even without that direct line to the famous, however, she still saw a great deal of McCartney.

She had a shared flat in Chelsea, but she was still busy modelling, and had appeared as an extra in films, including Blow-Up, which was released in 1966.

At one stage, she says, Paul had wanted her to be a chorus girl in The Beatles’ production of Magical Mystery Tour, which was screened on TV over Christmas 1967, but he couldn’t locate her and chose another girl, also called Maggie.

By now their relationship was becoming serious, she says: ‘By this time he knew that I was in love with him, and I knew he loved me, too.

‘I never told any friends that we were seeing each other — that was an unspoken rule. My mum and dad knew, but not in any detail.

‘I used to spend many nights at his house in St John’s Wood. It was a beautiful Regency house, and his garden was full of Alice In Wonderland characters built in stone. We spent many romantic times there. At the end of the garden was a glass-topped, circular, domed building where we meditated. I’ll never forget the first time he showed me that place.

‘We went inside the dome and he told me to stand on the floor. Suddenly, the floor started rising and there I was, up in the air, looking at the stars. After that we used to spend a lot of time together on the raised platform looking at the stars.

‘That’s what it was like, you see. By the time he and The Beatles were into the Maharishi and that whole scene, so was I — there were amazing parallels in our personalities.’

One day the couple went to the Indica Gallery in London with a group of showbiz friends, where John Lennon met Yoko Ono.

‘We spent more time with John and than we did with George and Ringo — we hardly saw them at all.’

In the summer of 1968, McCartney’s engagement to Jane Asher ended. Later, it emerged that she had arrived back at their house to find him with another woman — not Maggie, but an American called Francie Schwartz.

Maggie says: ‘By September 1968 I had rented a flat on my own in Fawcett Street, Chelsea. I really wanted to live alone. I hadn’t been there long when one day I got a telegram at my flat from Paul. It said: “Flying to the sun. Car picking you up at 8pm. Love Paul.”

‘I was so excited because I had no idea where we were going. A car drew up and we went to pick up Paul at St John’s Wood. As he came out he took an Instamatic camera from a fan, who was camped outside his house, and told us he was borrowing it to take on holiday.

‘Paul had hired a private jet so no one would spot us. There was a proper lounge, no rows of seats — we were drinking champagne and laughing and joking with a male cousin of Paul, and his American girlfriend. I kept asking him where we were going, but he refused to tell me.’

The plane landed in Sardinia but Maggie had no idea where she was until she spotted a sign. They had a hotel suite overlooking the ocean.

Much of their time was spent in restaurants where, she says, they were ‘treated like royalty’. At one banquet in their honour, they walked into a room full of women dressed in ballgowns. Maggie had a T-shirt dress. ‘Paul and I just collapsed in giggles,’ she says. ‘We thought it was hilarious.’

Most of their time, however, was spent on the golden sands. Indeed, while they were on the beach, two things happened which changed the course of their relationship.

First, they were spotted by a photographer — a picture of them together appeared in a Sunday newspaper back home. The report described her as his ‘new girlfriend’.

Maggie confirmed that they had been going out together — and suddenly the world knew of their secret liaison.

More significantly, perhaps, it may have changed the way they viewed themselves.

Maggie explains: ‘We were lying on the beach just being young and in love. Paul turned to me, smiling, and out of the blue he just said: “Have you ever thought about getting married?”

‘I said: “Yes, I suppose, one day . . .” and I thought nothing more of it. Looking back, it was obviously the wrong answer. When I said “one day” I meant in six months, maybe, but not never.

‘But Paul was always slightly insecure and probably saw me as such a free spirit that he thought I was never going to settle down.

‘On the journey home we were singing Those Were The Days and falling around laughing. I went back to Paul’s house with him — I distinctly remember waltzing around the room with him.’

Paul and Maggie continued to see each other in the following months but the subject of marriage was never mentioned again, she says.

‘I suppose I assumed we would end up together but at the time I was just enjoying it all. In the Sixties there was so much going on that I didn’t have time to sit and think about the future. I suppose that, with the pressures of fame, Paul was craving security.’

He would find it, it transpired, with an American blonde called Linda Eastman.

Maggie says: ‘One day, a little while after we returned from Sardinia, I rang Paul — and Linda answered the phone. I had seen a newspaper story about him having lunch with her before that, but I wasn’t the type to ask questions or get jealous.

‘I remember Paul telling Linda to get off the phone and I asked him who she was and what was happening. He said: “I don’t know the scene, man. I don’t know what’s going on.” ’

By late 1968 and 1969, The Beatles had massively increased the following of the Flower Power and hippie movement in Britain. It was a time of freedom, free love, drugs and music.

But for McCartney it was also, it seems, a time of emotional confusion.

Maggie remembers McCartney arriving at her flat late one night. ‘He was really down and I couldn’t seem to get a word out of him,’ she says. ‘He was crying and I knew he had been stressed. I stood and held him and asked him to tell me what was wrong. Then suddenly he jumped up and he said he had to go. Somehow I knew when I closed the door that night I wouldn’t see him again.’

A couple of days later she was walking along the King’s Road when she noticed four words on a newspaper billboard: ‘Paul and Linda marry.’

‘My heart just thumped,’ she says. ‘I couldn’t believe it. He never told me he was getting married and he never told me our relationship was over. I didn’t contact him for ages. I had never pursued him and I wasn’t going to start then.

‘Not many people knew we were going out together in the first place so there was no point in telling them it was over. Obviously, I told my mum and dad but not even they knew the depths of my suffering and depression.

‘Looking back, I think I was in serious shock and it didn’t come out properly until years later.’

Until yesterday, Maggie has never felt able to discuss her true feelings about the relationship and the separation. The remarkable story emerged only after her mother, Evelyn, confirmed details to the Daily Mail.

Maggie agreed to speak only reluctantly — she said she would always care for Paul, and desperately wants to avoid upsetting him and his wife Linda, who is fighting cancer.

Subsequently Maggie started a relationship with rock musician Denny Laine and it was through him, after he joined McCartney’s group Wings, that she saw Paul again, in 1971 or 1972.

‘It was a very emotional meeting and we had a great big hug. We were standing there gripping each other when there was a tap on his shoulder. We turned around and it was Linda. Paul told her who I was and she said she had heard about me. There was, of course, an unfriendly atmosphere and we didn’t get a chance to have a real conversation.’

The next time Maggie ran into Paul she was seeing her husband-to-be, Mel Collins, whom she married in 1974 after falling pregnant with their daughter, Naiama. This meeting was also difficult, she says. ‘There were a lot of sarcastic comments towards me.’

Six years passed before she saw him again. Maggie was shopping with her daughter at Harvey Nichols in London when she decided to try on a designer dress.

‘I was looking at myself in the mirror when a voice said: “That looks great.” It was Paul . . . he was buying Christmas presents for Linda. We got talking for a little while and then just said our goodbyes. We never discussed the relationship or anything like that.’

It was only at a later meeting, at a film studio in 1984, that she remembers rediscovering some of their earlier rapport. But it vanished when Linda appeared. Maggie says: ‘Paul’s whole demeanor changed — he’s a different person when he’s with her.

‘But, to give Linda credit, although we were still uneasy we chatted quite amiably about horses and things like that. I suppose after years of marriage and several children, there was no need for any nastiness.’

That was the last time Maggie saw McCartney, but she admits to thinking about him almost daily.

‘Marriage? I’m the type to move on and live my life and not regret anything,’ she says, ‘but obviously I still feel the pain. I kick myself for that day on the beach in Sardinia.’

#nothing really new vs what's on the beatles girls website but i wanted a copy of the original interview #huge shoutout to the friend who obligingly fished this out of the daily mail historical archive for me!!! the real mvp #endlessly fascinated by mcgivern potentially being the only girlfriend of paul's that john didn't terrorize #(unless she just didn't mention this ofc which is certainly possible but idk idk the way she mentions john feels pretty relaxed)#also she comes across as simultaneously so chill and self-possessed what a cool lady #paul mccartney #maggie mcgivern #john lennon #linda mccartney #the beatles #the daily mail #paul and maggie mcgivern #1997 #1966 #1969 #eta lmao just noticed that the daily mail labeled that first photo as 'with peter asher' THAT'S BARRY MILES LADS #scans

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officialgleamstar · 8 months

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Yeah yeah yeah I'd love to hear your thoughts on the dynamics!!!

OKAY. SO. To restate myself: I THINK (almost) EVERY OAK AND CLOSE/FOSTER SHIP IS SO INTERESTING. They always have something fun going on … and also they’re always bi4bi which is deeply important to me. Sorry if any of this is hard to understand I am so so tired XD

Meryl and Hildy are the only two where I’ve not really dedicated thought to them. However, I could absolutely see them as like… you know that trope of a Casanova desperately chasing after the only woman who isn’t interested in him? THAT. THEY ARE THAT TO ME. Hildy is too focused on her career for men and it drives Meryl crazy

My thoughts on Barry and Bill should not be said in a public setting but I will provide this

Barry is gray and bill is blue. He should fuck that old man (purposefully ambiguous on who I mean). Anyways

My feelings on Glennry are. Well explored LMAO They’re my favorite ship! I know they can be super toxic as a ship, but I do really love them, most of all, as a ship where both parties fight tooth and nail to get better for the other. Because they understand each other and care for one another and the other person is just so so so fucking worth it to them. It makes me happy :]

Henry/Jodie is like, a sleeper agent in my mind. I think they have the capacity to be so fuckin compelling but I’m usually dedicating too much time to Glennry and Rodie to think about it. I LOVE these two though. I’m not usually a huge fan of Jodie struggling with his sexuality (it’s just funnier to me if he dated Scam with no hesitation.) but I’m in love with it specifically for Henry/Jodie contexts. Something about Henry being so loose and free with his sexuality contrasted with Jodie being so buttoned up about everything makes me so fhdksgajdhskdh!!! And of course, it is canon in that one AU-of-an-AU for MnMoms LMAO

Nark <3 one of my original ships and one I’ve been thinking about a lot this weekend. The PEAK of adhd boyfriend/autism boyfriend in my mind. As I said the other day - I love them as established but ambiguous. No one knows what their relationship is, least of all them, but it has been going on for years. I find them really interesting but I don’t tend to agree with some of the like, I dunno, trademark features of popular Nark dynamics? I think Nicky is the type to do anything to get approval from those who cares about, way more so than I’ve seen some people give him credit for (more, maybe they give him too much credit? Wording LOL), and I think Lark feels intense guilt for the mere act of existing, and I think these two characteristics are SO fun to throw up against each other. Also I know Nicky is a cool alt demon boy when they’re teens, but he’s still a cop’s son and I LOOOVE that in contrast to Lark’s hot-to-those-in-his-age-group brooding and general delinquency vibes (ie (our only real example) swapping places with his twin so he can risk his life LMAO). GOD SORRY IM RAMBLING ABOUT NARK NOW I like them. A lot

In contrast to Nark, I think the general consensus on Lovesong is awesome. Sparrow and Nicky liked each other so much as teenagers, they were an adorable T4T couple, they’re adhd boyfriend/autism girlfriend, and now they’re the worlds messiest exes ever and it’s everyone’s problem <3 ohhh sword to throat scene, you will ALWAYS be famous. I also love them with a dynamic of like… Sparrow being much more confident around Nicky, but struggling a lot in general social interactions. Something about her blossoming and opening up when around Nicky in particular, and maybe neither of them even notice at first… but then one day it clicks. They’re just SO comfortable around each other and I love thinking about like. The details of how that relationship dissolves, and how much worse it must have made the betrayal. Their current antagonism is made so so so interesting, especially when Sparrow is such a pushover to everyone BUT Nicky… OUGH. LOVE THEM!!!! (do you guys like how I automatically trans fem Sparrow in Lovesong settings specifically LMAO)

Oakworthy is another one I’ve talked about at length. They are two bugs I am raising in captivity together and they keep trying to each other, so I have to separate them, but I put them back together anyways. Because thIS IS HOW OAKWORTHY CAN STILL WIN-!! I love these two, fully immersed in the fantasy that they’re going to fix things and get together in the end. I think the fact that they both have such strong identity issues but in different ways - Hermie has no idea who he truly is and tries on a million masks to compensate, while Normal tries so desperately to be someone else but his true identity always shows in the end - makes for a REEEALLY interesting dynamic. They both try so hard to be who the other person wants, and fail to realize that what the other wants is for them to be themselves. Makes me crazy

AND FINALLY. NORMAL/TAYLOR. Tayloak <3 only something I’ve started thinking about, like… in the past few weeks XD but I think they’re REALLY FUN. Obviously there’s this massive aspect of Normals jealousy of (and over) Taylor, which can be fun to play with in a “do I want him or do I want to be him” way! I think those types of crushes are SO funny in fiction. And also. Once again. They fit the autism x adhd dynamic except this time, they’re both high energy. Tackling as a love language. To me.

Obviously, all of this is just my personal opinion!!! I do not pretend to know these characters better than anybody else (except Jodie.) and this is just my interpretation of these ships :] if people have wildly different opinions I’d love to hear em as well, just be nice LOL

#I can’t tag these ships because putting either of the twin/nicky ships in the opposite tag? sacrilege #dndads #ask #babacontainsmultitudes #I WAS GONNA ANSWER THIS IN THE MORNING but my body pains are keeping me up. L #I almost talked about Morgan/Mercedes as well but restrained myself

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darlingmissmoth · 5 months

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Hi, my name is Moth and, uh, with “encouragement” from @babacontainsmultitudes (aka: “you should do it” and I went “yeah okay”) I have decided to do… A little (not a little) rambling about the kiddads (mostly Twin Focused, but still) cause I have many thoughts and feelings, most of which I tend to keep hidden but I have a blog and I’m making that everyone’s issue.

This probably won’t be totally coherent because my thoughts like to jump from point to point erratically so I’ll try to organize to the best of my ability? But there’s a good chance I’ll be all over the place! And it’s probably going to be… Very Fucking Long as a warning lmao

Anyway, uh, stuff under the read more :)

I’ve seen a lot of wild takes about the kiddads and their actions, and the general view on Sparrow is… Very Negative, from what I’ve gathered. I’ve seen a lot more positive as of late, but I still see a lot of hate. Which I get! If you do a skim of all he’s done, it isn’t a great picture. Telling your kid you aren’t proud of them, training your kids from a young age to kill things, his anger and upset, it isn’t good.

Then, of course, there’s Lark who tends to excuse Sparrow’s actions or try to smooth them over, it appears he’s the main one who did Hero’s training, and his anger is rough as well.

Then we have Grant and Nicky, one of whom is Overbearing, the other Distant.

All in all, the kiddads are, well… Not Great Parents to put it lightly.

But I think a lot of people tend to view all their actions through the lives of their own lives or what is “rational”, totally forgetting that the circumstances around the teen’s raising, around the kiddad’s lives, are not rational.

At the age of 11, all of them got kidnapped by their grandparents! And sold into slavery! They weren’t sure if they’d see their parents again! And while most of them took it in pretty good stride, they were 11 and most likely didn’t see the inherent danger of the situations they were in until they all got spirited away to Castle Ravenloft, where they had to deal with their grandparents and, no doubt, the abuse they dealt.

Both Nicky and Lark went through Real Life Or Death Experiences (not to say the other kids didn’t, but they were the only ones we see in S1 who got anywhere near actually dying) - and of them, Lark was the only one who felt death. It may have been a fake body, but that doesn’t change the fact that he actually felt himself die.

Grant had to kill something in such a horrible and gruesome way that we actively saw the way it changed his life. He got fucked up from it! Really badly. Mans is numb and struggling to feel anything which, of course, leads to a lot of self hate and self destructive habits.

And then, after all of this, Lark was manipulated by one of their abusers to stab his father and release The Doodler, which he didn’t fully understand the consequences of because, again, he’s 11. He was A CHILD.

Now he’s saddled with the knowledge he ended the world. He doomed his family, his friends, all because of an impulsive decision that he was manipulated into doing, yet he isn’t aware it was manipulation. He thinks it was just… Him. He chose to do it.

And now he, and all his friends, are wandering around trying to figure out how to stop this World Ending Creature that used to live in his family’s blood and it all seems terribly hopeless. But they keep trying. Because what else can you do? What is your other option? And he’s given a prophecy that says that his (or his twin’s) first born is the Only Thing that can stop said World Ending Creature. At the age of, like, 15.

Sparrow, who feels just as guilty for it, takes this onto his shoulders because he probably doesn’t want that tacked onto his brother’s conscious as well. Raising a kid just to be a tool because it’s either that or they continue to let this creature that he and his twin unleashed.

What were their other options? What other choices did they have? Let the world - the worlds - continue to die? They had to do something, and the only thing that would have worked - apparently - is to have this kid.

Meanwhile, Grant gets a kid and they’re in the fucking apocalypse, so of course he’s going to shelter his kid. He remembers what happened to him when he was put under extreme stress and in a life or death situation and he doesn’t want that for his baby. He loves Lincoln so much, loves his husband so much. Was it right to totally isolate him? No! Probably not! But he was terrified of the world, and he had every right to be.

A lot of people judge the kiddads under the lenses of our current world, but they need to remember that isn’t the setting. That isn’t their world. Maybe when they were children, but not now. Not when we see the teens.

Their world is a dying one, it’s scary, it’s dangerous. They did the best with the trauma they were saddled with, in a world that they were the cause of and could die in every single day. Do you think you could do better? Truly?

They did the best in the situations they were in, and for Grant, maybe he shouldn’t have had a kid. But he did! His husband wanted one and they were given one and they were small and innocent and sweet and Grant was smitten instantly. And people seem to forget he was a good dad! Lincoln turned out good! He’s smart and kind and gentle. He loved his dads so fucking much and didn’t realize anything was wrong until he was shoved into a position he shouldn’t have been in.

Grant raised him well. He raised him with love and adoration and did his best.

Sparrow and Lark did, too. They love their kids! No one can deny that! Sparrow and Lark love their kids. But it’s a dangerous world, and they knew at least one of their kids is the only hope humanity has. They had to make sure she could defend herself, she could take it down when the time came.

People also point at the homecoming scene for Sparrow and Lark and I agree that it wasn’t good. They fucked up. But it’s also made so, so clear that Sparrow loves Normal deeply. He adores his son. But it’s also canon that Normal reminds Sparrow of his younger self, who Sparrow is not proud of, and he desperately wanted better for his son. And Normal, had Sparrow and Lark not manifested, would have never known his dad wasn’t proud of him.

Which means Sparrow never let that show! Sometimes parents aren’t proud of their kid’s decisions, that’s just the long and short of it. And that should be okay. It should be okay to not agree with something your child does. But the important thing is that you don’t show it. And Sparrow NEVER DID. He NEVER ONCE showed Normal that he wasn’t proud. He showed love first and foremost always.

Which is why it came as a shock when he revealed otherwise. So he was doing good! He was a good parent!

Did they fumble? Yes. I’m not saying that any of them are totally blameless. They messed up a lot. They should have made better decisions. But they were also horribly traumatized, lost their innocence of childhood at the age of 11, and had to grow up in a doomed world with guilt on their shoulders and the fate of the world in their hands.

All of this to say that they are complex. They are human. At the core of this sillyfunny podcast, that is something that remains consistent. These aren’t characters on a traditional Hero’s Journey. They are regular people thrust into impossible situations that have to figure out how to cope with it on their feet. They’re flawed, they make bad decisions, and that is the point. They aren’t meant to be perfect or always know what to do. All of them are shades of gray. None of them are truly evil or truly good because no person is.

They’ll fuck up. They’ll make bad decisions spurred on by guilty consciouses or emotions. Some decisions won’t be rational because humans aren’t. We are made up of emotion and memory and personal values, and we make our decisions based around those things.

They aren’t perfect. They aren’t meant to be. They are complex and they are beautiful for that.

I’m sure there’s more I could say, but this is long enough as is, uh. If you want to hear more I guess either dm me or shoot me an ask about specific characters idk

Thanks for reading

#dndads #dungeons and daddies #I'm not gonna tag individual characters #moth speaks #moth writes #Here u go fandom #Long rambling thoughts from a woman with too much time on her hands lmao

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jackoshadows · 1 year

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“Harma and the Bag of Bones don’t come raiding for fish and apples. They steal swords and axes. Spices, silks, and furs. They grab every coin and ring and jeweled cup they can find, casks of wine in summer and casks of beef in winter, and they take women in any season and carry them off beyond the Wall.”

“And what if they do? I’d sooner be stolen by a strong man than be given t’some weakling by my father.”

“You say that, but how can you know? What if you were stolen by someone you hated?”

“He’d have t’ be quick and cunning and brave t’ steal me. So his sons would be strong and smart as well. Why would I hate such a man as that?”

“Maybe he never washes, so he smells as rank as a bear.”

“Then I’d push him in a stream or throw a bucket o’ water on him. Anyhow, men shouldn’t smell sweet like flowers.”

“What’s wrong with flowers?” - Jon, ASoS

I like how Jon’s first argument against stealing someone vs arranged marriages is ‘But what if they smell bad?’ Love a man who gives importance to good hygiene!!

More importantly apart from the issues of consent at the start, rereading Jon’s ASoS chapters is making me like Jon and Ygritte together. I feel like they make a good parallel to Arya and Gendry (more adult though) in terms of being like a little romcom with their banter. They are also the definition of bittersweet.

“Let’s not go back t’ Styr and Jarl. Let’s go down inside, and join up with Gendel’s children. I don’t ever want t’ leave this cave, Jon Snow. Not ever.” - Jon, ASoS

The poignancy of these chapters are mainly because of Jon’s love for her and his conflict about helping the Watch. Their back and forth arguments and the clash of cultures is interesting to read.

I know one thing. I know that you are wildling to the bone. It was easy to forget that sometimes, when they were laughing together, or kissing. But then one of them would say something, or do something, and he would suddenly be reminded of the wall between their worlds. - Jon, ASoS

I love how GRRM associates ‘You Know Nothing’ with their relationship - this is where Jon starts to understand the Freefolk as people, as human beings instead of seeing them as the enemy. This is where he starts to see both sides

We look up at the same stars, and see such different things. - Jon, ASoS

For example, when they argue about the women being stolen vs given into marriage by their fathers. Ygritte has a point, what’s the difference with Cersei being given into marriage to an abusive rapist like Robert Baratheon and a girl being stolen by the Freefolk? Or Lysa Tully and Jon Arryn? Or Ramsay Bolton and his bride? Marital rape is a still a thing in Westeros.

“And what if they do? I’d sooner be stolen by a strong man than be given t’some weakling by my father.”

Jon caught her wrist. “What if the man who stole you drank too much?” he insisted. - Robert Baratheon

“What if he was brutal or cruel?” He tightened his grip to make a point. - Robert Baratheon

“What if he was stronger than you, and liked to beat you bloody?”

“I’d cut his throat while he slept. You know nothing, Jon Snow.” Ygritte twisted like an eel and wrenched away from him. - Jon, ASoS

And here is Cersei

The queen's face was hard and angry. "Would that I could take a sword to their necks myself." Her voice was starting to slur. "When we were little, Jaime and I were so much alike that even our lord father could not tell us apart. Sometimes as a lark we would dress in each other's clothes and spend a whole day each as the other. Yet even so, when Jaime was given his first sword, there was none for me. 'What do I get?' I remember asking. We were so much alike, I could never understand why they treated us so differently. Jaime learned to fight with sword and lance and mace, while I was taught to smile and sing and please. He was heir to Casterly Rock, while I was to be sold to some stranger like a horse, to be ridden whenever my new owner liked, beaten whenever he liked, and cast aside in time for a younger filly. Jaime's lot was to be glory and power, while mine was birth and moonblood." - Cersei, AFfC

What Cersei describes here is no different to Jon’s argument against the Freefolk stealing away girls from the North. The one is no better than the other. Of course there’s always Ned and Catelyn as a positive for arranged marriages. But then there’s also Alys Karstark and Sigorn, the Magnar of Thenns.

Whichever way you look at it, the women are on the loosing end.

#Jon Snow #Ygritte #Cersei Lannister

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triviareads · 9 months

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Could you suggest any books where the heroine is a widow who discovers how good sex is with a new lover?

Her Protector's Pleasure by Grace Callaway: She's a lady, he's a cop; what's really great here (apart from Ambrose basically pouncing on Marianne like every 10 seconds) is that because Ambrose knows Marianne's husband was shitty and abusive towards her, he makes sure to check in with her during sex (specifically before a blowjob I believe, because Marianne's late husband forced her to perform them).

Pippa and the Prince of Secrets by Grace Callaway: Pippa's late husband was another shitty man who shamed her for seeking pleasure during sex, so when Pippa gets with Cull (The Prince of Larks lolol), she's finally able to be fearless in her sexuality (so fearless that they use the first sex swing ever invented... at least I'd like to think).

The Viper by Monica McCarty: Bella's husband dies midway though the book from what I remember, definitely after she's met the hero Lachlan. They don't get off to a good start; they both have immense trauma they're dealing with (Bella's husband was abusive and they had huge political differences) but when her and Lachlan do get together, it's probably some of the sex scenes in the Highland Guard series.

The Recruit by Monica McCarty: Mary is the widow of a philandering traitor when she comes across Kenneth (Kenneth! who knew a hero named Kenneth would do it for me!) having sex with another woman— truly one of the great historical romance voyeur scenes, and Ken has excellent follow-through with Mary too.

Wicked Again by Kathleen Ayers: Marissa has been widowed thrice and she's had lovers before the hero, but she chose purposefully dull "age-appropriate" men (she's 49) before the hero Haddon, who's 40 and fabulous in bed (the book starts with them having sex, which made me very happy).

An Island Princess Starts a Scandal by Adriana Herrera: Similar to Wicked Again, Cora has had relationships with other women since she was widowed, but sex with Manuela, who bargains with Cora to to take her to all the lesbian haunts in Paris in exchange for her land, is a *revelation*.

The Duchess in His Bed by Lorraine Heath: Aiden is the owner of a sex club and rumored to be a great lover, and Selena is 100% trying to take advantage of that... so she can get pregnant and pass the baby off as her recently-deceased husband's child. Classic bonkers Lorraine plot, and it WORKS.

Between the Devil and Desire by Lorraine Heath: Classic fire-meets-ice; Jack is a former street urchin turned gentlemen's club owner, and Olivia is a widowed duchess (her husband was much older) and Jack is named as Olivia's son's guardian so now they need to live together.

The Earl Takes All by Lorraine Heath: So uh, the heroine is not aware that the man she's sleeping with is not her husband, but rather, his identical twin as the husband died in a gorilla attack but, the sex has gotten way better since her "husband" came home, and he's a lot more jacked.

Lost in Your Arms by Christina Dodd: Another instance where her estranged "husband" is recovering from his injuries, and is suddenly giving wayyyy better sex than he ever did before, and is also way taller and jacked...

The Scandal of it All by Sophie Jordan: Graciela's first husband was a cheater and called her "cold" in bed, and now she finds herself inconveniently attracted to her step-son's best friend (who is younger! le gasp!). Colin's always had a crush on her and his vibe is very "I'm not a boy anymore; I'm a MAN".

Duchess by Day, Mistress by Night by Stacy Reid: Georgiana's first husband came to her "the third week of every month for three years" so Rhys is understandably a revelation for her sex-wise, being the bit o' rough hero that he is.

The Raven Prince by Elizabeth Hoyt: She's a widow and the hero's secretary, and decides to disguise herself as a prostitute to have sex with him. I'll never stop recommending this book because the sex scenes in this one are that great.

Thief of Shadows by Elizabeth Hoyt: This one has an older, more experienced widow and he's a virgin(!!!!!) so like, yes Isabel is surprised by how good the sex is (hell she cries at some point), but also, Winter is wayyyy more shook.

I know Scandalous Desires by Elizabeth Hoyt is another good widow romance but I've yet to get around to reading it (rereading it? honestly, 2020 is a fever dream).

Cold-Hearted Rake by Lisa Kleypas: Kathleen's (abusive alcoholic) husband of three days dies and the new heir to the earldom, Devon, arrives to take charge and they immediately antagonize one another even as as he's chasing after her and dragging her into carriages and stuff.

Devil's Daughter by Lisa Kleypas: Kind of the opposite of Cold-Hearted Rake; Phoebe's late husband was sweet but very ill all the time before he passed away, so a lot of the plot is Phoebe being afraid to move on, especially with a more unorthodox, forward-thinking, and comparatively vigorous man like West.

The Harlot Countess Joanna Shupe: Simon and Maggie kinda had a Thing back in the day, but then Maggie was compromised and forced to marry an older man and now the two of them have hella beef, BUT their chemistry is amazing and the voyeurism scene might be tied with the aforementioned Kenneth/Mary scene.

From the VIllian I'd Like To F... anthology:

Seven Sinful Nights by Nicola Davidson: Estelle is a recently widowed duchess who's sold off to Blake, a gambling hell owner, to pay off her BIL's debts and is thrown in the deep end of exhibitionism, voyeurism, and sex toys galore.

Lady Viper and the Bastard by Eva Leigh: This is a cusp rec for me because Violet has been widowed for a while and I think she's had good sex, BUT obviously none are on the level of the chemistry she shares with Ian (and their shared propensity for excellent roleplaying is unmatched).

I was gonna include The Conquering of Tate the Pius by Sierra Simone but I think Adelais has had fulfilling sex before she met Tate lol... but would absolutely recommend.

Erotic Romance:

His Countess by S.M. LaViolette: Another case of a prim and proper widow falling for her late husband's slutty disreputable heir; Gideon allows Alys to explore all her fantasies (bondage, having sex with other men, etc.) after their marriage of convenance.

Passion by Lisa Valdez: This book literally starts with Passion's post-mourning sexual awakening when she's groped by a stranger in the Crystal Palace, and they have lots and lots of cervix-hitting sex. Don't worry, it's better-written than the way I'm describing it.

Modern:

Wrong to Need You by Alisha Rai: He's her late husband's brother, and he's back in town and she nearly has sex with him without realizing who he is; a fabulous start and there's sooooo much guilt and angst.

Sin and Ink by Naima Simone: Another late-husband's-brother book, more angst and guilt with a side of stomach licking(?) and really good sex.

#book recs #grace callaway #lorraine heath #joanna shupe #alisha rai #naima simone #lisa valdez #s.m. laviolette #lisa kleypas #elizabeth hoyt #stacy reid #adriana herrera #kathleen ayers #sophie jordan #monica mccarty #christina dodd #historical romance #contemporary romance #ask

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teecupangel · 1 year

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Hey there, imagine an AU that has a fledgeling company a'la 23andMe who is trying to ione-up Abstergo in ancestry research because they are trying to monopolize stuff. And Desmond, during drunken lark at work, sends them his test. And see... They freak out because Desmond hits as only near human. And contact him. Wanting to meet and also cautioning him against doing other tests due to Abstergo owning a lot of them. Que conspiracy hatched by this company and Desmond going along

As much as I like the idea of making Abstergo's life miserable by turning Desmond into some kind of science-world celebrity, Abstergo would either buy the company out or some kind of scandal or 'accident' would probably happen even before they could go public with the preliminary results. Not to mention, scientific studies go through lots of reviews, including peer reviews (at least, those who are serious and wants to be taken seriously, not just out for... clout or something). Peer review is good... until you think that there's no way Abstergo doesn't have goons there too.

Soooo... have a little fic of how I think this would go?

I guess Derek Milton is now Desmond’s unofficial ‘fake name’ on my tumblr. I should have made it Miller instead. That would have been dumber.

Sidenote: My fics usually use either Delsin Mercer or Nathan Walker because I like references

=============================

“Hey, Derek.” Ted bumped his shoulder against Desmond, making Desmond freeze briefly before turning to look at him. Ted leaned close as he whispered, “I think that girl’s checking you out.”

“I wouldn’t mind more tips.” Desmond jokingly said, turning his head to look at where Ted was staring. The girl with the tightest bun to have ever been conceived by human mind waved at Desmond with both of her hands before the older man next to her grabbed both of her hands and pushed them back to the table, whispering to her something they couldn’t hear from the bar. Desmond raised an eyebrow as he recognized the pair and replied, “Oh, it’s Doc and Lizzie.”

“You know them?” Ted asked curiously.

“They had a flyer up on my apartment’s bulletin board. They were looking for volunteers for their ancestry genetic company.” Desmond replied as he wiped the glass in his hand, “Paid me a couple of bucks to swab my mouth and poke my nose.”

“Well, they seem excited.” Ted noted before patting Desmond’s back, “Go. You still haven’t taken your break anyway. Might as well do it while everyone’s busy dancing.”

“I was planning on taking it when it gets really busy.” Desmond joked as he placed the glass and towel down.

“Don’t you dare! I’ll kill your ass!” Ted shouted as Desmond began to make his way towards the table of the two excited… Desmond wasn’t actually sure if they were just colleagues or maybe a father and daughter duo?

“You can try!” Desmond shouted back with a grin before turning to face the two as he reached their table. He continued to stand as he greeted, “Hey, Doc, Li-”

Both of them pulled Desmond to their table roughly and Desmond’s chin almost smacked the table. Desmond was sure they all looked super weird and stupid, their upper body bent so close to the table Desmond was sure his back was going to hate him tomorrow.

“Mister Milton! What do you know about your family?” Doc asked in a hurried whisper with wide eyes.

Desmond frowned as he replied, “Pretty much nothing. Never met anyone. Just me and my parents.”

Desmond ignored the flash of memory his mind conjured up, reminding him how he heard from his dad that the Templars had killed them before Desmond was born.

“Well…” Doc took out a rumpled folded paper and quickly unfolded it, placing it on the table as he explained, “This is your ancestral result. We had to check it ten times just to be sure. Even borrowed a friend’s equipment to check if maybe the one we have is faulty. But, if you look here, it says here that you have approximately 9%-”

“You have alien DNA!” Lizzie exclaimed in a loud whisper, making Doc hush her which she just ignored as she continued, “Oh my god, Derek! You’re an alien!”

Desmond stared at the both of them for a few seconds before nodding, “Oh. Cool.”

Seeing Desmond’s underreaction, Doc pointed at the paper repeatedly as he said, “No, no, no, we’re serious, Mister Milton. Look here. This is the DNA of an average human.”

Then he pointed at another part of the paper as he said, “And here is your DNA.”

It all just looked like numbers and words Desmond could barely read so he just hummed.

“We don’t think you’re an alien.” Doc stressed, giving a passing glare at his excited companion.

“Oh, that’s good.” Desmond nodded, although… considering he was using fake IDs and have no actual legal documents, the term ‘alien’ did sorta applied to him. Just not in a sci-fi kind of way.

“We think you’re a descendant of an alien race.” Doc announced and Desmond stared at him for a few seconds.

“Suuureee…” Desmond drawled, wondering if he should break into their lab and take all of the samples they took from Desmond.

“We’re serious, Derek!” Lizzie whispered loudly, “This is huge!”

“Huge? This is groundbreaking!” Doc looked at Desmond with such a joyful expression that Desmond felt bad for thinking that they were a couple of nutjobs, “Mister Milton, this will answer so many questions we have in both history and in genetics! Your genes are the key to-”

Desmond tuned him out, not because he didn’t want to hear more (he did, it sounded like a plot of one of those dumb low budget sci-fi movies he watches when he gets bored) but because his instinct took over, making him raise his eyes without being too obvious about it. His vision zeroed in on the three men that has just entered the bar, noticing that their eyes immediately went straight to the table Desmond was sitting on before quickly turning around as if they were just scanning the room. The three men walked in different directions and…

Desmond saw the outline of a gun strapped behind one of the men, hidden by his jacket and pants.

Desmond’s eyes scanned the entire bar, noticing two of the men had sat on separate tables.

Near the main entrance and the fire exit.

They’ve covered the two main exits…

The last man went to the bar and Desmond knew the moves that Ted was making.

The man had ordered a nonalcoholic drink.

“Doc.” Desmond whispered quietly, leaning closer as he asked, “Did you tell anyone about my DNA result?”

“No. Not yet.” Doc added, “I mean, we would need your approval to announce it, after all, since-”

“But did anybody else see it? Did anyone else checked it?” Desmond cut him off, keeping his eyes on Doc even as he noticed that the man was making his way towards them with his nonalcoholic drink in hand.

“Uuuhh…” Doc and Lizzie looked at each other before Lizzie replied to Desmond, “I mean, I guess Doc’s friend saw it too?”

“And where does your friend work?” Desmond pressed just as the man sat on the table next to them even though there were more empty tables nearer to the bar or the dancing floor.

“He works for Abstergo.”

Fuck.

“But he’s a nice man! Been helping me with getting this business up and running! Even checks my notes for me!” Doc exclaimed with a smile that only made Desmond feel bad.

His dad’s words began to whisper inside his head and he sighed as he said, “I think we need to go.”

“Yes! We should return to our labs and-”

“No.” Desmond grabbed the paper and pocketed it as he said, “Your lab’s probably been hit already. If you’re lucky, they just took all your stuff. If you’re not lucky… well, probably torched it or something.”

“What?” Both Doc and Lizzie looked at him with a confused expressions that reminded Desmond of puppies.

That had been the reason why he had agreed to volunteer his DNA in the first place. It was clear to Desmond that these two were nice people who may or may not yet realize that Doc’s supposed friend might have been using them.

And now they have Desmond’s DNA.

Desmond wanted to believe that Abstergo wasn’t out to get him but considering there were three armed men that just entered minutes after Doc and Lizzie came in?

Desmond wasn’t going to take the chance.

Not when he had just been free for the past five years.

“Just…” Desmond sighed.

It would be easy to give them the slip.

Just tell Doc and Lizzie that he needed to check something or he had to return to work. Slip into the employee’s room and get out through the window.

But he can’t do that.

Not when Doc and Lizzie were in this fucking mess because of him.

Desmond took out his phone and dialed the only number he had ever memorized. He placed it on his ear and waited.

The person on the other line picked up even before the second ring was finish.

But didn’t speak.

So Desmond just said, “Bar called Bad Weather, Brooklyn, New York. Three men. Main entrance. Fire exit. Table to my left.”

There was silence before he heard a voice he both wished and didn’t wish to hear ever again.

“Ten minutes. Keep the call.”

Desmond froze when he heard it.

“Remember your training.”

The voice didn’t say anything else but Desmond didn’t drop the call. Instead, he slipped the phone back to the back pocket of his pants as Lizzie asked, “Who did you call?”

Desmond’s face turned blank as he replied in a monotone voice, “My dad.”

=============================

Okay, so I made Desmond younger, 21 years old to be exact, in this one because I think the main reason why Desmond got caught in canon is because he got sloppy. Nine years of peace made him think that he’s in the clear and can be a bit ‘adventurous’. But a younger Desmond would be more paranoid and still kinda dumb. That also means that this is a Desmond that has less experience being away from Bill soooo… yeah.

For those worried that this means Desmond would be taken in by the Assassins (and Bill) after they rescue them... My preliminary idea is that Desmond gets the Assassins to take Lizzie and Doc in while getting info to why his DNA flagged Abstergo. He learns about Altaïr and Ezio then gives the Assassin the slip. He can't go back to Bad Weather sooooo...

Guess Desmond just has to have an impromptu trip out of New York

#assassin's creed #desmond miles #yeah no other tags here #i like the idea that desmond ends up traveling out of states to run away from both abstergo and the assassins #or maybe he accidentally ends up in the grand temple as he run away #i don't know #ask and answer #teecup writes/has a plot

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