#it's still a mountain and i still can't climb it but its looming shadow is shelter and not danger... | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

writinglittlebeasts · 6 months

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i haven't posted anything substantial in a while, so have this . animal death warning also

It happens too quickly for Ramsey to wonder exactly how, but, later, when his insomnia keeps him glancing above the surface of sleep he'll wonder if it was the rain or the radio or the violent shivering of the grasses by the roadside that had kept any one of them from noticing it.

Creed is too impatient to slow his truck to a crawl even in the heaviest downpour, even when the tailgate of Maurice's junker disappears into the gloom and its taillights are dampened to dull blooms in the scant feet between both vehicles. If Maurice slows to examine a turn-off or a pothole Creed will lean on the horn like his life depends on keeping up a consistent forty miles-per-hour. The same principle applies to Ramsey, bringing up the rear in another truck long past its prime; experience tells him that if he should stop to get his bearings wind nor rain will keep Creed from climbing down out of his cab and stalking back the way he'd come to knock some gumption into him. It just so happens that Ramsey is more exhausted than he is afraid of peeling out into a ditch at the moment, and he knows that dying in a wreck would still be easier than arguing with the old man.

The ceaseless hollow metal clatter of the rain on the truck's tin roof is grating on his nerves, itching the backs of his eyes and making the muscles in his hands jump over the steering wheel. Every bump in the road adds to that edgy feeling, because surely this is going to be the one that sends him skidding into oblivion. On the dashboard, the radio struggles through a slow rendition of Ain't No Mountain High Enough as it's intercut by jolts of static; he can't summon the will to pry his hand from the wheel to turn it off, so Ramsey makes himself content with the geriatric warble: No matter how far-- worry, baby-- have to worry.

Creed's truck comes to a full stop in front of him so suddenly that Ramsey barely notices the change in time to pump his own brakes. There are only inches between the bumpers, and in the intervening seconds Ramsey waits for the horn with bated breath. No river wide enough to--

The horn never comes. Ramsey jerks the door handle and kicks it wide open, and rain starts to pour into the cab by the sheet. He's soaked in seconds, the downpour cold through his clothes, and he pulls his cap low over his eyes– for all of the good that it does him –as he leverages himself to the ground.

--day I set you free--

He slams the door shut behind himself when he goes, and the sounds of the idling engine and the sputtering radio disappear.

Ramsey follows alongside the flank of Creed's truck as quickly as he dares. Without his headlights he can't see a damned thing, and the embankment on the road's either side is shallow but earthy; he's liable to break a leg if he slips, and he'll never hear the end of it-- if he isn't swallowed up by the billowing switchgrass and drowned in a puddle.

"Creed!" Ramsey calls out, and he loses his own voice in the rain. His father's driver-side door is shut and the cab is dark; he isn't inside. He carries on, his feet wet in his shoes and his damp hat turning his scalp to ice. The same frost settles over his back and the rain trails miserably down his bare arms. While he crosses the gap between Creed's truck and Maurice's van he extends one cold hand and his fingertips catch briefly on a patch of rust marring Maurice's back hatch. "Creed!"

"Ramsey!"

Now he can see the shadow of a man in the headlights in front of him, seeming to loom over the hood of the van. Ramsey feels just a bit of the tension in his body fade as he realizes that Creed isn't holding a gun; that there isn't any immediate danger.

Ramsey rounds the van at the same time that Maurice appears on its passenger side holding a large flashlight, which cuts through the gloom more decisively than the headlights and finally illuminates Creed's critical frown.

Ramsey shakes his head and water flies from the bill of his cap. He shouts to be heard above the rain:

"What's wrong with the van?"

Creed's brow pops. He doesn't acknowledge Ramsey otherwise.

Maurice swings the beam of his flashlight from the wild, rolling fields to the hood of his van.

In a deep vee of crumpled metal that stretches from the roof to the hood, amidst a torrent of water and a spider’s web of cracked glass, is a hefty whitetail buck. Its limbs and neck are bent, splayed away from its shuddering exposed belly, and it shivers from end to end with the last vestiges of life.

The windshield pries itself apart from the roof as they watch, sinking into the cab and bringing the water with it, gravity pulling the body of the buck down while it struggles.

"Shit," Maurice rakes his free hand through his hair.

Ramsey casts his eyes on the bumper and finds it intact.

Creed's elbow jostles Ramsey out of his thoughts, and as he moves to take the buck by the horns Ramsey does the same. It's a labor, and even under all of this rain Ramsey can feel sweat breaking out along his back while they pull the beast from the van. The windshield fails entirely when the buck starts to thrash, and the damage to the shell of the van is extensive, but finally it slips from the hood and onto the road, where its body falls out of sight.

The van is pushed onto the roadside into that sea of switchgrass, and Maurice climbs into Creed's passenger seat before they all carry on at just the same speed as before. Ramsey focuses steadfastly on his driving as the collision disappears in his rearview, but later he'll think: deer don't collide with trucks from above. In that field, and maybe a breath from his own nose, there had been something capable of throwing one.

#or #dd

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punkymonkeehat · 11 months

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Another excerpt, a little more of an idea of the world for my story World of Mystery (working title). It's a long excerpt, but one of my faves so far :)

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“Whoa.” Talli gasped. She was frozen, body stiff. Her hair floated with the gust of wind that barrelled through the gorge, causing the rocks to whistle as it passed. Althea had finally climbed up the small hill, cursing, pulling leaves and pine needles out of her hair, and kicking sticky vines off of her boots. She finally decided to pull a stubborn one off and threw it back into the bush with triumph before joining the other.

“Whoa, what?" She asked, yawning as she walked. "Can’t be as impressive as the ley line. I can't believe how straight of a path it is! I wonder how it was created - maybe the legends are true! What do you s-” she also froze in awe. "Whoa."

A vast, gray river that looked over a mile wide dominated the center of the gorge, crashing its waves as it ran towards the direction of the ocean. The wind coaxed the rippling waves, and some came up towards the cliff the two were standing on, licking the stones as it, with full force, slammed itself on the rocks. Across the river, mountains loomed in the distance, some still with snow at their tips, like great shadows watching them. Mist hugged these towering monuments, creating an air of mystery over the land. The forest that they were in seemed to continue across the river. The two women could spot similar trees with similar patterns of dying leaves. It was almost silent, save for the wind and waves. No birds were present to the awesome view of the other side. Althea grabbed Talli’s arm in comfort. The soil beneath their boots was thin and loose, and the two didn’t dare move in fear of slipping into the roaring waters below.

“Talli...” Althea breathed. “Where are we...?” Talli stammered a moment, trying to find words

“I-I… I'm not sure.” she swallowed. “This is where the ley line ends, though. It didn't continue, and the deer path doesn't continue, i dont think.” She finally moved her head to look at the other’s worried eyes. “I believe this may be the border to the South West.”

“What?" Althea hissed, eyes widening more and demeanor shifting to full-blown panic. "The border? We hiked that far?” Althea started and backed away, releasing the other. “We are not allowed at the border, South Westerners are dangerous.” She backed up even more, pushing herself against a pine tree closest to the hill they trudged up. Talli furrowed her brows, having never seen Althea be nervous like this before.

"We can easily go back if we retrace our steps. Why are you so worried? It's not like we're in the South West Territroy. We're just... staring at it."

“I'll get reprimanded by Krow if he knew I was here. He has told me that even being close to the border would invite them to sail over.” She pointed a quivering finger towards the mountains. “He said that they can sense when we're near and start to hunt us!"

“The river is too fierce for a canoe to get over, nonetheless a small boat. I don’t think they could cross this season. Besides, I see no smoke or life across the river. I think we are okay.” Talli murmured, glancing around. "And what Krow doesn't know won't hurt him. Come on, where's your sense of adventure? You used to chide me all the time when I was too terrified to even leave the fort walls."

"I love to adventure, but not when we're breaking the law."

"We're not breaking the law, Althea, we're exploring."

"Exploring an off-limits part of our territory. I'm the Learner, I would know."

"You're such a brown noser."

"And you are a terribly curious mouse!" Althea shot back the comment with a little poison. Talli set her mouth into a frown and huffed. She started down a few rocks in the cliff towards the water. Althea squeaked with fear, seeing the other climb down. “Talli, don’t!” She whispered. The other grabbed a large piece of wood that jutted out from the ground to help her stay steady as she descended. The flat land that Talli had crawled from had abruptly stopped, and she was picking her way across a path only she could see.

"I want a closer look, then maybe I can see the terror that you're claiming exists for myself."

“Tal, wait! Please, we're not supposed to be here. Where are you going?” Althea called, finally coming away from the tree and scrambling towards the edge on her knees to see her friend. She peered down towards the ground, a shiver of fear rolling up her spine. The river was so far down. Talli was a bit of ways east, making her way along the found path. She wasn’t as quiet with her steps as she usually was. Althea looked away for a moment, swallowing air to steady her stomach. She knew that she was in huge trouble. Pranking the wall warden by slipping a small amount of bloodroot in someone’s tea to make them vomit was fun. This wasn't.

“Talli!” Althea cried again, worry starting to bubble out of her again. “Talli, come back. Are you okay? Im sorry, you're not a mouse! Where are you?” She listened to the wind for a response. Nothing. Althea started to panic. Shaking her hands to get rid of it, she got back onto her feet and paced back and forth. What should she do? She was supposed to be the adventurous type, but this was too far. What would Zayden do? She thought about it for a momen but shoved it away. Knowing her friend, he would probably do the most reckless and idiotic thing he could think of. No, she couldn’t think like a guard. She paused her pacing. She needed to think like a Leader.

A Leader would go out of their way to help their people, whether it was through physical help or education, or to establish some sort of stability. That meant that Althea, as a Leader, needed to go get Talli back. She sighed. She hated that she had to think about being brave like Krow, but she knew that if she wanted to take his position in the future, she as going to have to practice what she was learning in the field. She grabbed a stick from the pine, sending a quick thank you to its spirit and apology for stealing its limb, and started trudgin down the found path.

She tripped a few times over the upturned roots of the cliff hanging trees, but Althea managed her way, looking for any sign of Talli and the path she took. She glanced for any footprints or broken grass throughout her hike. She finally saw some bushes that showed disturbance and began following the pattern back up towards the cliff side. Every once in a while, she would glance down at the raging river below her, taking a deep breath to still her nerves. If Talli can do it, so could she. After a few minutes, she followed the path as it turned inward towards the cliff. The terrain flattened greatly, and the large path swept open. Althea was in another ley line, the manicured path wide and inviting. She dug out some berries from her pocket and laid them in the middle of the path as her offering, repeating the words that they spoke before entering the ley lines back by the fort. After speaking her prayer, she screamed out, “TALLI! WHERE ARE YOU?” There was a brief pause.

“I’m over here!” her friend called out, and Althea almost jumped for joy that she didn’t get swept away by the river. She followed her friends voice towards one of the split off laylines back towards the river. The path opened up, much like the path before, but instead of there being a deer traip leading to a cliff for them to stand on, the path abruptly stopped almost without a warning. They were back out in the open again. There Talli stood, looking out towards the river, with her eyebrows furrowed.

“Thank the spirits and forest gods. Talli, I swear I am going to kill you! You scared me half to death!” Althea cried angrily. She grabbed Talli’s arm and shook it. “We need to go back. I’m serious.” She shook her friend’s arm again, getting frustrated that there was no response. Talli still paid no mind. Althea threw the arm out of her hand and tossed her own up into the air, cursing loudly. “Lost in thought again! Why can’t you ever listen to me when I talk to you? You’re always in the clouds up in that thick skull of yours. I said we should go back and look at us now! We’re lost on another ley line, which you didn’t even leave an offering for, need I remind you, and are still close to the border! We’re not. Supposed. To be. Here. We’re supposed to be back at the fort. I thought this was going to be some quick adventure that would take up a little time, but no, we had to have trudged our way to a place where we don’t belong! Krow is going to be furious! Give your curiosity a rest for once!” Althea huffed, waiting for some kind of response. Nothing. She growled, pulling at her blonde hair, and kicked a rock out towards the river; and as it leaped over the cliff, it rattled down, clanging on something below. “What are you staring at?” She shouted. Talli shook her head and blinked. Then, she pointed towards the border.

Althea walked up next to her friend and shielded her eyes, squinting to see. She gasped.

The skeletal remains of a bridge.

Then Talli pointed down at their side of the river.

The remains of the same bridge protruded out of the cliff. Althea’s kicked rock was on one of the beams.

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#writers #mywriting #my writing #writerscommunity #female writers #my story #fantasy #north west #mystery

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giorno-plays-piano · 4 years

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Treasure hunt Part 2

Pairing: dragon!Steve Rogers x Reader

Warnings: yandere, obsession, kidnapping, mentions of breeding, non-con.

Words: 2035.

Summary: No knight would dare to save a sacrificial bride of the dragon.

Part 1

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Stepping on the cold stone floor of the cave, you carefully circled around the mountains of gold and silver and moved forward. Navigating in the dark was incredibly hard, but the soft glow of gems and shining armours here and there helped you to get through.

You were in your old torn nightgown again, the fancy garments Steve had gifted you laying on the bed along all those necklaces, earrings, cuffs, broches and rings finished with precious stones. You didn't need any of those as you run towards your way out of the deep cave. The only thing you craved for was your freedom.

Almost tripping over the golden spear, you finally saw the moonlight coming from the entrance of dragon's dungeon. You held your breathe. You were so close.

In a second you sprinted towards it with gleeful abandon, thinking of the dark night sky, huge fields and mountains surrounding the cave. It was scary to think you would have to fend for yourself from now on, but you were a traveler. You could make it as long as no one tried to seize you like those villagers, now all gone thanks to the dragon's wrath. You gulped. You prayed he would sleep soundly while you sneak out in the darkness of the night.

A part of you felt guilty for leaving him after everything he had done for you, but being his little pet because he deemed you too feeble to leave was humiliating. Maybe you would find some other way to thank him for his generosity later. As of now, the only thing on your mind was getting away from this place.

You could already feel the slight chill in the air when you got closer to the huge entrance of the cave and rushed towards it, thinking of nothing else but the cool wind blowing outside. Your lips curled when you saw the moon and stars high above you. However, before you stepped on the grass, you felt a push so strong you ended up thrown far back at the rocky floor and yelped in sudden pain - you crushed your elbow, blood seeping from it on the cold stone beneath you. Tears sting at your eyes as you hugged your arm and bit down on your lip to stop screaming.

What was that? What had pushed you so hard it sent you flying? You saw nothing in front of you, no scary creatures guarding the entrance of the prison you were locked in. Yet something didn't want you leave.

... or rather someone.

In a few moments you heard a distant sound of flapping gaunt wings and stilled. You had awoken the dragon with your cry, and now he was coming for you. You had failed terribly.

His blue eyes were glowing in the dark brighter than gems as he flew to you in his true form, big as a mountain, while you stared at his scaled golden wings with horror. His monstrous shadow covered you from above before he started landing, his gaze disturbing, anxious. A flap of his wings set off a little tornado, and you pressed yourself to the floor in panic. He was going to eat you. Burn you. Make you suffer for your disobedience. You had to stay in the cave instead of opposing his wish to protect you.

You sobbed quietly once the dragon had partly changed his form in haste - although his body was human, his sharp claws and long tale belonged to the dragon, his new appearance strange and frightening. He hurried towards you, his eyes on your blood-stained arm.

"What happened to you, my love?" Steve asked, bending over and reaching for your elbow. "Why did you leave your bed?"

What could you answer? With eyes full of tears, you kept your mouth shut, watching him growing with worry at your silence. You had betrayed his trust.

"I will heal your wound, stay still." He sighed when you chewed on your lower lip, afraid to look at him.

The ointment suddenly appeared in his hand as if by magic, and Steve had torn the cotton fabric forcefully to look at the blood seeping from your arm. He said nothing at all as he wiped the wound and applied fresh-smelling balm on your skin. You felt disgusted at yourself: your savior had been so patient and kind, yet you preferred to escape without expressing your gratitude.

"You gave up all the gifts I brought you, my love." The dragon stated calmly as he finished. "Why? Don't be silent, sweetheart. I demand you to speak."

Desperately wiping the tears falling again and again with the back of your hand, you nodded. You could not bring youself to open your mouth.

"Why?" He asked one more time, his eyes the same color as the dark sky again. "Why do you want to leave me, my love? Have I not treated you kindly? Have I not given you everything you wanted?"

"I want to see the night sky." You muttered under your breathe, looking at the torn hem of your nightgown. "I want to feel the grass under my feet and listen to the chirping of the crickets."

"You are not my prisoner, sweetheart. I can bring you wherever you want me to."

A whine rebounded from your chest at his words.

"I don't want to be a sacrificial lamb." You sobbed, shaking your head desperately. "I don't want to be a pet. I don't want to ask for permission every time I step outside the cave."

"You are not my pet." The dragon whipped his huge sharp tail with such force it ruined one of the mountains of gold close to it, and you squeezed your eyes shut, terrified of his temper tantrums. "You are the one I've chosen to keep by my side, shield from the dangers of the world and share my treasures with you so you would share yours. Why isn't it enough? What else do I have to do?"

He pressed his lips together in a thin line, his claws dangerously close to your body as if he were going to sank them in your sensitive flesh and tear you apart. He would kill you, oh he would, you felt it in your bones.

"I have nothing to give you, Steve, Sarah's son." You uttered and finally raised your head to meet his darkened gaze. "And I want nothing from you. Why do you want to keep me? You won't profit from it."

His eyes softened at the sight of your flushed face, wet from tears still streaming down your cheeks and chin. You looked so pathetic in front of him in your old nightgown, degraded bloodstains covering once white fabric, yet so beautiful, so lovely it enraged him to think he could lose you despite all his efforts. It bewildered him how fast he had grown used to your calming presence, your smell, your voice. You said you had nothing to give him, but you were so wrong. He wanted you. He wanted to feel you close, see your pretty face, touch your tender body heavy with his child, your breasts full of milk... He wanted you like no other treasure of his. No one but you could give him what he desired the most.

All of a sudden, he jumped at you and covered your trembling shoulders with his callous palms, his hungry mouth devouring yours while you were frozen on the spot. His hot tongue had poked at your lips, and you gave up to him, granting him access and barely recognizing what you were doing. It felt like a shock jolted him, followed by a pleasant tingling, and the dragon slammed his mouth down against yours with a groan.

"You have a lot to give me." He crooned when you were left gasping for air, astounded and confused. "You have something no one but you can grant me, sweetheart."

You gasped once his clawed hands cupped your soft belly through the thin cotton fabric, watching the man panting and looming above you. You realized just how wrong you were, thinking of him as your protector, a knight in shining armor while he was exactly who villagers told you he was - a hungry monster craving for his bride's warm flesh, just in a different way.

"No, no." You tried pushing him back, and his sharp tail hit the ground loudly, making you shiver. "P-please, I'm only human. I can't do it."

"My mother was human too." Letting out a chuckle, Steve lowered the nightgown on your shoulders while you desperately clenched the fabric in your arm, your other palm on his chest to prevent him from coming closer. "Why are you afraid? I won't harm you. In the end, this is the destiny of all women, isn't it? To become a good wife and mother. Surely, it is better to belong to me rather than any filthy peasant?"

You couldn't keep arguing, knowing your words would fall in deaf ears, and tried breaking free from his grip only to make the dragon more excited as he climbed on top of you, lifting the hem of your nightgown as his hands trailed upward. His palms were burning your thighs when you whimpered, shaking and moving beneath him like a snake. Why was he doing it? Did he force himself on each and every bride of his and got rid of them later once he got bored?

"Please, please let me go." You pleaded, feeling him leaving hot kisses down your neck and shoulders, his lips dry but soft. "Let me leave, I beg of you!"

"Oh you can't leave, sweetheart. You've eaten the dragon fruit, remember?" His toothy smile made you feel sick. "Now you are bound to me."

"Like all of them were?" You yelled in disgust and despair, staring at the dragon's hollowed blue eyes. "Did you truly let them go as you said? Or did you eat them when you no longer loved them?"

Your words made him laugh as he bared your breasts, ripping the fabric apart with his claws but avoiding touching your skin before his hands fully tranformed into human ones. Dragon's enourmous tail layed close to you, its razor-edged tip reminding you Steve could kill you within a few seconds.

Then he stroked your wet cheek with his fingers and cooed softly, his gaze darkening at the sight of your angered face. "None of them deserved to stay, sweetheart. I let them go. I don't know why you insist I eat humans as if I were a lowly beast, but if you're so eager to see me doing it, I will eat you."

Your mouth tasted like copper when you bit on your lip too hard, missing the mischievous look in Steve's bright blue eyes as you flinched from his touch, his tail now pressing you to the cold stony floor. The dragon backed down a bit, and you saw how he hungrily looked at your thighs and belly. He prepared to devour you, tear your flesh apart, and you were to die at his hands for your stubbornness and stupidity. Trembling like a leaf, you shut your eyes, preparing for the end.

Then you winced from a tender touch, Steve caressing your naked mound with his hand lovingly, his eyes watching you intently. What was that? Was he going to sank his teeth into?..

You covered your mouth with your palm as you felt his long wet tongue on your gentle folds. Gods, it would be even more painful than you had ever imagined. This perverted monster wanted to devour your womanhood. But before you could cry out in pain, you suddenly mewled from his pleasurable kitten licks and squirmed, trying to get up to see what the dragon was doing.

"W-wha..."

"I'm sorry, my dear." Steve smirked, raising his head a bit and pressing a shameless kiss to your mound. "But this is how I like to eat cute little girls like you. So, keep this pretty hand away from your mouth and let me show you how good I can make you feel."

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Tags: @chris-evans-indian-fanfic @kawairinrin

#dark steve rogers x reader #dark steve rogers #steve rogers x reader #steve rogers #captain america #yandere

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blackkatmagic · 4 years

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Underwater kisses, Codywan. Could be a lifesaving thing, could be a 'let's try out this neat thing' thing.

“Is this the part,” Obi-Wan drawls, balanced on the very edge of the plank, “where I say I would rather die?”

Admiral Grievous coughs, but he takes a warning step forward, saber out and leveled at Obi-Wan’s chest. “Captain Kenobi, this is the end for you. Do you really think now is the time to mock me?”

“If not now, when?” Obi-Wan asks mildly, and eyes the saber. If he can get his hands on it—

Well. The twenty men behind Grievous will still be a problem, even if he does, but at the very least Obi-Wan will feel a little bit better with a blade in his grip.

Now would be the best time for Anakin to show up, honestly.

Grievous makes a hacking sound that probably passes as a laugh, for him. “Captain, I have treated you with far more courtesy than a pirate deserves. Surrender the location of your base, and you will not die here.”

Obi-Wan is almost tempted to do it; Mace has been particularly tetchy the last few months, and in a pitched battle between a navy admiral and a sea god bound in human form, Obi-Wan is rather certain who he should put his money on. Mace won't be pleased with him, though, and that’s reason enough for Obi-Wan to say politely, “I'm afraid I can't, Admiral. Your hat is so far out of fashion, you’d be laughed right out of the camp. Have you considered changing tailors, by chance?”

Grievous growls, disgusted, and waves a hand. The sailors behind him raise their muskets, and Obi-Wan swallows a groan, shifting back as much as he’s able. The sea is choppy, a storm brewing on the horizon, and it’s hard to keep his balance with his hands bound behind him. This coat is new, though, and he’d really rather it not end up with bullet holes in it quite yet. It was a gift.

“Any last words, Captain?” Grievous rasps, and Obi-Wan hums, tilting his head.

“There was something,” he muses, and doesn’t turns his head, even when scales far below catch the half-light and burn orange-gold. “Ah, yes, I remember now. Death before surrender, and may liberty prevail!”

One step back, and he leaps off the plank, dives straight into the ocean, and goes under.

Musketballs pepper the water a second too late. Obi-Wan arrows through the water, struggling with the ropes around his wrists, and tries not to curse Grievous for his skill with knots. Not yet, at least; he’s short on air as it is, and the ship is still too close for comfort. Already his lungs are aching, and he fights the desire to surface—

Gold in the water, like the sun hammered into scales.

Strong hands catch him, pull him down even deeper until the water is dark shadows and distant sun, and it feels like climbing too far up a tall mountain. It takes effort to control himself enough not to struggle, but—

Obi-Wan trusts those hands more than any other, and he raises his head, looking right into dark eyes. His chest aches, not just from lack of air, and he smiles.

Cody gives him an exasperated look, but smiles back. He’s a vivid thing in the gloom, long, looping tail shining with its own light, dark skin scattered with bright scales like misplaced stars. Clawed fingers catch Obi-Wan’s arms, hauling him closer, and there's a sharp tug at his bonds before they fall loose.

Instantly, Obi-Wan brings his hands up, cupping Cody's face, and Cody turns his head, kisses his palm. Obi-Wan wants to tell him his timing is perfect, but—well. An ocean between them and all that, if less of one right now than sometimes happens. He glances towards the surface, but Grievous’s ship is still there, a looming shadow—

Cody tugs him back around with demanding hands, hauls him in closer, and Obi-Wan catches hold of his shoulders in surprise, raises a brow at him, and sees Cody's fond eye-roll half a second before a warm mouth collides with his.

For an instant, Obi-Wan is absolutely bewildered. Cody's usually the one complaining about romantic gestures at the wrong place and time, and this—

Air fills his lungs, a breath shared, a breath granted. Obi-Wan digs his fingers into scaled skin, kisses back, and feels Cody smile against his lips. Claws trace teasing up his spine, curl around his back, and Obi-Wan retaliates by wrapping his arms around Cody's neck, fingers scraping the sensitive scales that curl behind his ears and down his jaw. He can feel Cody's reaction, the jerk and gasp, the way Cody's tail curls around him, hot against the chill of the water.

It gives him altogether too many immensely pleasant memories of laying Cody out in the sand, making him writhe. Dragging him up onto Obi-Wan’s ship when it rested at port and taking their time in an actual bed. Good things, warm things, and Obi-Wan pulls back just enough to look at Cody, to cup his face. He frames the words he can't say, and Cody grins at him, bright and brilliantly pleased.

I know, he returns, and kisses Obi-Wan again.

#my writing #mermay #codywan #commander cody #obi wan kenobi #star wars #tarnera-blog #kat answers

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transkenobis · 3 years

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hey uh, throwback to 2019 when i made a rand fanmix. posting it because it can't hurt, but note that the track descriptions and song choices are all unedited.

. BLACKOUT — frank turner

but it’s not enough anymore

we can’t turn just around and close the door on the world

it’s asking uneasy questions

this one’s for winternight and the eye of the world. it’s the start of the world going to hell and being overwhelmed by the shadow (“are you afraid of the darkness?”), and it’s essentially rand against the world. he can’t just walk away from it— his house is attacked by trollocs, and the only option he has is to go with moiraine. he doesn’t really know what he’s up against, only that he’s up against something bad.

. HERO — family of the year

let me go

I don’t wanna be your hero

I don’t wanna be a big man

I just wanna fight with everyone else

this song’s all about not wanting to be a part of something big, just wanting a simple and easy life. at the beginning of the great hunt, rand really does not want to be the dragon reborn— I mean, who would? but it’s a role that he’s forced into, nonetheless. at his heart, he’s just a farmboy who wants to go home. moiraine kind of forces his destiny on him, not letting him postpone it or shove it aside. but at this point, he just doesn’t want to be a hero. the song itself is very soft (and acoustic to boot), which I think nicely represents the simple life that rand wants.

. UNUSUAL — typhoon

get your pitchforks out

the crowd is coming and they’ve named you

why, gentle mother, must you wring your hands and weep?

tide brings you a sword, sword will cut you free

dead demands a tribute in the hour of our need

blood be the river to wash the ledgers clean

oh, it took so much self-restraint to not put more than two songs from this album on this playlist. offerings is just so good AND highly existential, so if you’re wanting more sad rand hours, go listen to it. I think this song best fits rand’s start of really being the dragon reborn, around (you guessed it) the dragon reborn. the world is kind of a mess, and he doesn’t really know what to do, so he just does what he thinks he should do. he’s chosen by the pattern— the world demanded a dragon to save the world, and he was the unlucky soul born on the slopes of dragonmount. you know, his blood on the rocks of shayol ghul and all that. this song, like the one preceding it, is softer— rand hasn’t hardened himself like he will in later books. however, around halfway through, it gets louder and brings in more drums. tdr is the start of rand’s transition from farmboy to dragon reborn, in both good ways and bad.

. KIDS — mgmt

we like to watch you laughing

picking insects off of plants

no time to think of consequences

this song focuses a lot on the idea of self-control/self-restraint— not doing more than you have to, good or bad. it reminds me a lot of rand’s earlier experiences with channeling and being ta’veren. saidin is dangerous, what with the taint and all, and drawing too much of either half of the one power has severe consequences. he’s not as in control of his ta’veren-ness as he will be in later books— like his channelling, it’s a bit all over the place. the quote at the beginning of the music video (it’s friedrich nietzsche, not mark twain, but whatever) also ties in with this idea— if you’re not careful, you can become the very thing you were fighting against.

. LOUDER THAN EVER — cold war kids

I was carrying my cheek

I was digging my strange

I was taking you for granted

you were holding the reins

but I can hear you louder than ever

whisper to me, help me remember

I can’t see you but we’re still together

I can hear you louder than ever

moiraine’s “death” is a tipping point for rand— he feels like he could’ve prevented it, even though moiraine literally tells him that he couldn’t, and that what happened was the best possible outcome. after she passes through the portal, rand realizes that he took her presence for granted. her advice was good, if often unwelcome, and after her death rand just ends up going off the rails in so many different ways. when she returns in a memory of light, he realizes how helpful she was to him.

. SOMETHING IS NOT RIGHT WITH ME — cold war kids

something is not right with me!

I’m trying not to let it show

the taint on saidin is just really like that, huh? rand can tell that something’s wrong, with lews therin’s voice in his head. the thing is, he doesn’t let anyone know because he’s 1) scared of showing weakness and 2) sane people don’t normally hear voices. this song is fast, but not in an upbeat way— it feels chaotic, panicked, and just barely in control. the singer is almost shouting the lyrics instead of singing them, contributing to that feeling. I think it embodies most male channellers’ experiences with the taint— it isn’t smooth or calm like saidar, it’s a raging river of fire.

. DREAMS OF CANNIBALISM — typhoon

unhand me, I am not a criminal

but I’ve played a guilty part

in the modern sense that one pretends their life is original

I wrote a book and I will call it something cynical

the story’s slow, the hero does not change

and if he can, then he won’t anyway

instead his foes and lovers all become identical

this song ends with the line “soon enough you will be dancing at my funeral,” and I can’t come up with something that encompasses rand-as-the-dragon more. people are terrified of him— hell, even he’s terrified of him. the world doesn’t want a dragon, but they got one anyways. the second set of verses above is a more textual examination of rand at this point— a crown of swords through crossroads of twilight is incredibly slow, and rand doesn’t change much throughout those books (hence why this song covers 4 books). he could make a change in his life if he tried, but he doesn’t, since he thinks he needs to shut others out to protect them. the whole song seems to be conveying the idea of being stuck and not going anywhere, but running from yourself, which, to be fair, is very close to what rand experiences in his own head in these books.

. GHOSTS THAT WE KNEW — mumford and sons

so lead me back

turn south from that place

and close my eyes to my recent disgrace

so give me hope in the darkness that I will see the light

’cause oh, that gave me such a fright

but I will hold on as long as you like

just promise me we’ll be alright

I picked a soft song for the softer scene in the gathering storm where min and rand are talking about how cold he’s become. he realizes that he doesn’t have to fake an uncaring and unemotional nature— to be human is to feel, and it’s not bad to be human. the song is about going through something that’s wearing you down (a common interpretation is depression), and knowing that you have someone helping you through it. min sticks with rand during almost everything that happens from lord of chaos to the end of the series. she’s a support for him, and too stubborn to ever leave him, no matter what.

. DARKER — typhoon

I tried, you know, just to toe the line

love all the neighbors and live in the light

sure, I stumbled sometimes

self-contained; a convenient lie

every source of pain, every sting of pride

had to come from the outside

you won’t even fight me fair

wait for the darkness, catch me unaware

yeah, you pull me close

then you twist the knife

of course, that happy, warm feeling can’t last, because that scene is followed by semirhage being sadistic and deciding that now is the perfect time to use this new torture device. because of that, rand ends up shutting himself off even more than before. he’s suspicious and cruel, and thinks only for himself. it’s scary, frankly. darker, like all the songs on the album that it’s from, is very existential, though this song is, fittingly, darker than the others. it’s filled with the sense of impending death and strong suspicion that characterizes rand at this point in his life. he tried to open up, and look where it got him. this quick change is mirrored by the sharp musical contrast between the quiet, acoustic ‘ghosts that we knew’ and and the more drum-heavy, electric, and distorted ‘darker.’

. MOUNTAIN AT MY GATES — foals

I see a mountain in my way

it’s looming larger by the day

I see a darkness in my fate

I’ll drive my car without the brakes

through lanes and stone rows

black granite, wind blows

fire lake and far flame

go now but come again

dark clouds gather ’round

will I run or stand my ground

oh, when I come to climb

show me the mountain so far behind

yeah, it’s farther away

its shadow gets smaller day after day

the obvious scene for this song is the events leading up to rand’s epiphany on dragonmount. I mean, ‘mountain’ is in the song’s name. I think that this song works well to represent the weight and lack of direction he feels in the days building up to that. something that works especially well about this song is how it builds, both lyrically and musically. the song starts with a hopeless and dark tone to the lyrics, and stays that way for a while. the bridge (second set of lyrics above) is where the tone starts to change. the bridge also uses a lot of imagery that one can tie to the buildup— the streets of ebou dar, the rocky and windy peak of dragonmount, the belly of fire in the mountain itself and tar valon, the city that the peak looks over. the song then crescendos into its final segment, where the singer sings “give me my way/give me my love/give me my choice/give me my fate/give me my lungs/give me my voice.” to me, these represent rand’s realization that the reason the wheel keeps turning is so that people can live again and love again.

. COLORFUL — jukebox the ghost

we're just getting started

take your fears and let them go

for the lovers and the broken-hearted

I! love! this! song! I haven’t found another song that captures that feeling of hope in darkness: when everything around you has gone to hell, but you keep going because the darkness isn’t all there is. that’s how veins of gold ends— with rand realizing that there’s something worth fighting and living for. the gathering storm literally ends with rand laughing without bitterness for the first time in months, if not years— he’s finally looking on the bright side of life again.

. BEAUTIFUL LIFE — the collection

you do not have to be good

even the best of us have been misunderstood

so get up onto your feet

the sun is shining repentance through the leaves

its rays will wash you clean

this one’s for the end of a memory of light, when rand decides to leave and live the rest of his life on his terms. he wants to explore the world, without the pressure of his past and who he was weighing on him. he has a chance to slow down and appreciate this “beautiful life,” instead of rushing through it towards tarmon gai’don. and that’s what this song is about, i think. it’s not super peppy, and neither is rand at this point. it’s more of a quiet and peaceful acceptance.

. ALL THESE THINGS THAT I’VE DONE — the killers

I wanna stand up, I wanna let go

you know, you know, no, you don’t, you don’t

I wanna shine on in the hearts of men

I want a meaning from the back of my broken hand

over and in, last call for sin

while everyone’s lost, the battle is won

with all these things that I’ve done

first of all, the wheel of time series takes place over the span of two years, and rand does so much within that time. within this playlist, I don’t think of this song as an ending, rather a summary of rand’s life through the books. I specifically want to talk about the iconic refrain of “I’ve got soul but I’m not a soldier.” it serves as a bookend to rand’s arc as a character— initially he refuses his role as the dragon reborn (even though he’s suited for it, due to his heritage and upbringing) because he doesn’t want to fight in that way. during the bulk of the series, he embraces a role as a fighter, even though he doesn’t have the soul for it. and finally, he realizes that he isn’t a weapon, and that he never was. on another note, the line “these changes ain’t changing me/that cold-hearted boy I used to be” hits a bit too close to his character.

#the wheel of time #wheel of time #rand al'thor #wot #fanmix #dislike him but this deserves to be out there so that people who do like him can enjoy it #matt speaks

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