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reverse-moon · 2 years ago

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How Reckless (Intruality) ═SOULMATE AU═ || Sanders Sides Big Bang 2022

By Artist_Hope; beta read by @edupunkn00b and @kaythegay2022; art by @dystopiagnome and @im-an-anxious-wreck

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4

AO3 Link!!

Chapter: 4/4

Chapter word count: 1436

A total of 24 Google Doc pages, at 12 size Times New Roman font and ×2 line space.

Janus was walking out of the cafe when he saw a relatively short man recklessly cross the road. He figured it was a local who just knew the timing but the second he saw another man following the short one, he moved closer with a bad feeling. The auburnet looked down the street, seeing a car speeding closer. Without really even thinking, he dropped his cup, pulled the ravenet out of the street and held a hand on the man's waist to keep him close until the car passed. "Jackass driver…"

The man he saved blinked a little, before letting out a sigh of pure shaken relief and what seemed to be an instinct of putting his hands on Janus'. "Thank you…"

Janus went to say "you're welcome" when he saw his crazy Soulmate mark glow a bright dark blue. Similarly, the man he had just rescued seemed to have a yellow glow coming from where Janus' hands were through his top. "Did I really just save the man who's supposed to be my soulmate? Is that really how this is gonna start?" Janus asked no one in particular, but clearly not talking to the man in his arms.

Logan blinked as he stared at the man holding him. "You're telling me… I looked like an idiot for a first impression." A sigh. "I promise, I am not normally that unattached to reality. I was merely worried about my friend."

Speaking of, Patton was working on dashing back across the street. "Oh my god, Logan, are you okay?! I'm sorry for running off, I'm so out of it today—"

"It's alright, Patton," Logan insisted, before turning his attention back to the auburn-haired person. "As my friend just told you, my name is Logan. Logan Nyx…" He said, feeling his cheeks warm as the slender framed human continued to hold him.

Janus blushed himself, noticing Logan's blush and helping him stand properly before letting Logan go. "Janus Drake. Nice to meet you, Mr Nyx…" Where they had been holding each other was currently still glowing as Janus looked at the back of his hands. "Talk about a showstopper… Saving your soulmate from a driver who needs brain repairs."

Logan nodded, trying to cover his glowing shoulder with a hand. "It definitely makes for a good start on your end…"

Patton blinked, moving over to Logan and lifting his shirt and sweater up just enough to see his Soulmate mark, causing a small grumble from the professor. "Wait… You also met your Soulmate today? That's so cool!" Patton dropped the shirt and smiled brightly at Logan.

Janus blinked. "Also?"

Logan sighed and nodded, trying to calm his cheeks. "My twin brother, Virgil, also happened to meet his Soulmate. He's off with them now before starting a late shift at his job. Or one of them I suppose." He sighed. "He's working at a bar and some weekdays at an art supplies store."

"Ah, I see," Janus hummed. Then he realized something. "Did you say your friend's name is Patton?"

Logan blinked. "Yes…? Why?"

Janus moved over, gaining his normal confidence as he wrapped his arms around Logan. "Well, my own friend happens to be looking for one Patton Morgan. How exciting~."

Logan blushed again, willing to play along with this suave version of Janus. "I see… Where is this friend of yours?" Logan asked back in a flirtatious tone.

As these two exchanged information, Patton tuned out for a few seconds then turned around. "I'm out."

Logan looked annoyed. "Patton, get back here." Janus snorted.

"No, no way, I'm not doing this. You're being all lovey-dovey with him, Virgil ran off with that… That red guy and I really don't feel like being a 3rd wheel!" He said, carefully crossing the street again and turning to look at the two. "It's just not happ-"

He grunted as he bumped into someone behind him, turning and frowning a little. "Sorry…"

The taller person in front of him blinked. "No, that's my bad. I'm trying to find my brother and wasn't paying attention-"

Patton rubbed his arm and sighed. "I-If you're sure…" He moved aside and walked off.

The guy watched Patton walk off, before looking at his phone. "There's no way," he muttered as Logan and Janus approached.

"Hm…" Janus moved closer. "Apologies, Remus, but you seem to be having issues believing." And with a swift movement, Janus pinched Remus' arm harshly, causing a wince from the tall green clad cop and the man who walked off. “Let me help you out.”

Remus looked at the small human, wide eyes. Shooting a look at Janus, he spoke. "A) Fuck you, Janus. B)—" Remus turned back to the guy walking away and ran up to him, being wary of where Janus pinched. "Excuse me, are you Patton Morgan?"

“Y—yeah,” Patton turned to the stranger, pulling his hood up. "Why…"

The stranger smiled. "I'm Remus Duke… Uh, your Soulmate…" He rubbed the back of his neck as if he was nervous.

Patton blinked at the taller guy. "A-Ah… A-And you can prove that…?"

Remus thought for a moment, before showing the most recent scar to their collection — the gash on his arm. "I have a few other scars too… One near my ankle, one on my stomach…"

Patton wasn’t too sure how to feel, besides a little worried and put off by Remus being so open with old wounds. After all, finding his Soulmate was good! He had a chance to get rid of this connection! And yet…

Remus was definitely not what he expected. This Duke was sort of weird and he didn't really seem to mind talking about his wounds like they were a trophy or something. At least, he didn't seem to have an issue with them. He also gave Patton the vibe of someone not loyal at all. He wasn't quite sure why, but perhaps over-hearing him say "fuck you" to what he assumed was a friend was it. But overall, he just couldn't get a good read on Remus.

He watched as Logan and Janus walked up, smiling. At least they moved to just holding hands… "I get it," he exclaimed to Remus, hands moving up in a defensive motion! "We have the same scars and stuff…" Patton bit his lip. It wouldn't be right to not get to know Remus… Right? After all, wrong first impressions happened all the time! "We're, uh… We're having a movie night tonight at our place… If you wanted to come, we could make it, like… a Soulmate party?"

Janus smiled. "Does that invitation extend to moi?” He asked in a tone Patton could only call sultry, looking at Logan and humming as he waited on an answer.

Logan rolled his eyes, though he did seem to be smiling. "Yes, it does. I know Virgil will most likely have extended it to his Soulmate and we already had two others joining us if available." Logan smiled more confidently at Janus. "Besides, I would like to get to know you more."

Remus gave a smile. "Can my twin bro come too? He's kinda lame at first, but he grows on ya."

Patton gave a forced smile. "I don't see why not. Logan can give you the address, I'm going to go home and nap… Excuse me…" Logan opened his mouth to offer Patton a ride home, or maybe walk with him. He didn't really stick around to find out, just saying goodbye with an added "Just really tired!"

Once home, he took a few deep breaths and moved to his room. So much for sleep, he thought, groaning. He moved to his incense, a present from Virgil for his past birthday. Most of the scents were calming ones, though he did mention one of them had a healing idea or something. Either way, Patton set up his pure lavender ones, lighting 3 of them and groaning more.

The short man laid face first on his bed, sighing. He at least tried to sleep, failing for an hour and a half or so before rolling onto his back and pulling his phone out. Patton hopped on one of the discords he was on, seeing a call already going on. After asking if he could get advice and getting a sure from everyone, he hopped into the call.

"Heya, Patton," exclaimed a very energetic feminine voice. "You doing okay?"

Patton let out another groan, longer than the other two.

Another feminine voice, a calmer and more timid one, spoke up. "That… doesn't sound good…"

"Emu, Kohane… I think I'm not gonna survive tonight."

#Sanders Sides Big Bang 2022 #sanders sides #patton sanders #remus sanders #logan sanders #roman sanders #virgil sanders #janus sanders #intruality #prinxiety #loceit #remile #sanders sides au #sanders sides writing

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rosepetalgold · 3 years ago

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indigo skies above us (smile down upon us)

Summary: After the rest of the group bails on an evening out, Roman and Logan set off to find something to do and quickly find themselves in the middle of a night they won’t soon forget.

Relationships: Logince

Warnings: Brief sexual language courtesy of Remus

Word count: 5879

Notes: Day 4 of Logince Week 2022 for the free day slot. Takes place during spring semester of junior year (3rd year) of college. Remus uses xe/xem/xyr pronouns; Janus uses they/he/she pronouns; all other sides use he/him pronouns at this point.

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Masterpost

Shades of Blue and Red

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Roman had a good feeling about tonight. He couldn’t describe it other than that, really, just that there was something else fluttering in his chest beyond the usual excitement of an evening out with his friends. He might call it a sense of destiny, if he was feeling particularly fanciful and didn’t mind being immediately teased by everyone except Patton.

Nights out with the whole group had become much rarer now that they were all juniors and busy with higher-level courses, and this particular evening had been planned well in advance, the date painstakingly set around exams and work schedules and theater practices and everything else they had going on.

So of course, given Roman’s good mood and the scheduling gymnastics it had taken to arrange this outing, fate had seen fit to intervene.

Patton had dropped out first that afternoon with a text to the group chat, over-apologizing for not feeling well and insisting that everyone else go out without him. Virgil had done the same about an hour before they were supposed to meet, albeit with a much less emotional text, having been called in to cover a shift at his job since half the other student workers were out with the same cold Patton had.

It was down to four of them, then, and Roman had a sneaking suspicion – scratch that, a raging certainty – that he and Logan were going to feel like third wheels to Janus and Remus. But it felt like forever since he’d gotten to go out with his friends, even if they were down two members of the group, so Roman was still in good spirits.

He shifts his weight between his feet where he’s waiting at their regular meet-up spot just off campus, fiddling the zipper of his jacket up and down and up again just to have something to do with his hands. He’s actually gotten here early for once, thanks to a plethora of reminders on his phone, too excited about the night to risk losing track of time and being late like he normally was, and now he has nothing else to do while he waits for the others.

His phone chimes and he digs it out of his pocket to see a text from Remus:

trash rat man: sry bro cant come arson beckons

Roman huffs, typing out a quick reply.

Princey: you suck

Then, because he isn’t entirely sure if Remus is joking or not,

Princey: please don’t get arrested, I don’t have the money to bail you out

Remus just shoots back a string of grinning emojis that don’t do a single thing to assuage Roman’s apprehension.

trash rat man: yes i do suck and im excellent at it

trash rat man: just ask jan

trash rat man: u wish u could suck like me

Roman gags aloud at that mental image, sure to fuel his nightmares for weeks. He did not need to hear about his brother’s sex life. He’d been unfortunate to witness it plenty before he’d finally had enough and instituted a non-negotiable No Sex rule in their suite.

“Is everything okay?”

He glances up to find that Logan has appeared in front of him and is casting him a questionable look.

“Remus just bailed,” Roman informs him, shoving his phone back into his pocket. “And that means Janus is out too, since those two are practically joined at the hip.”

“So it’s just … you and me?”

There’s something off in Logan’s voice, an undertone to it that Roman can’t quite read, but he doubts it’s anything good, and his stomach twists. Of course Logan wouldn’t want to hang out with just him, of course he has better things to do with his time. He tries his best to keep the disappointment in his voice hidden under a veneer of breeziness.

“I guess so,” he says. “We can just call it off if you want; I know you probably have lots of studying to do–”

“No!” Logan cuts him off, then bites his lip like he wants to take the word back, dropping his gaze to his shoes as he toes at the ground. “I mean, I would enjoy having the evening off and spending it with you, if such a thing isn’t objectionable to you.”

Roman pauses, a bit taken aback at the vehemence of Logan’s answer. It’s just because he wants a night away from his books, Roman reminds himself. He’s living in his very own little fantasy world if he thinks it has anything to do with Logan wanting to spend time specifically with him; he’s sure Logan would be just as happy to share a free evening with Virgil or Remus or anyone else in their friend group.

And surely that hint of a flush rising on the tops of Logan’s cheekbones is from the wind or something. No other reason. Roman needs to snap back to reality and stop looking for desperate signs that Logan might return his feelings.

“Well, there is one benefit to everyone else bailing,” he admits. Logan raises a curious eyebrow and Roman grins. “We get to do whatever we want. No one else arguing about where to go or how long to stay or when the night is over. So tell me, Lo, what kind of metaphorical trouble do you want to get into tonight?”

Logan considers for a moment.

“I don’t know about getting into trouble, metaphorical or otherwise, but the science and natural history museum is offering discounted admission to students.”

Roman can’t help but wrinkle his nose at the thought of spending his precious free time being quiet and sedate, wandering through endless galleries of things that all started to look the same after about five minutes. Some days he could enjoy museums. Definitely not tonight.

“Veto.”

“Veto? You didn’t say anything about veto rules.”

“Just decided,” he declares. “I can veto your suggestions and you can veto mine until we find something we both want to do.”

Logan most definitely does not look enthusiastic about this development and Roman fondly resists the urge to roll his eyes.

“Come on, Lo. This is your first night out and away from your textbooks in, like, forever! Live a little! The whole city is at your fingertips!”

On impulse, he grabs Logan’s hand and pulls it up over his head, leading him into a spin like they’re dancing.

“Roman!” Logan exclaims as he stumbles in the unexpected movement, but he doesn’t pull his fingers free, blush deepening across his cheeks. “What on earth are you doing?”

Roman grins, entirely too pleased at his own antics.

“Trying to shake loose some good ideas. Come on, kick that big brain of yours into action. Every subpar idea earns you a spin until you come up with something fun for us to do.”

Logan stares at him like he’s declared he’s trying to grow a second head.

“I fail to see how that will further the production of ‘good ideas,’ as you put it, but, um, the library? They have a new-”

“Nope,” Roman sing-songs, giving him a twirl. “You spend like eighty percent of your life in libraries. Try again.”

“There’s a public lecture by–”

“You can do better than that.”

“I – just – what about – hey!” he protests as Roman turns him in yet another spin, but he’s smiling slightly and he still hasn’t pulled his fingers free, so Roman figures he can’t be too upset with his shenanigans. “I hadn’t even said anything!”

“Too slow. You gotta speed up those ideas.”

He gives Logan’s hand a little tug for emphasis and he shakes his head emphatically.

“Food!”

Roman pauses, definitely because of Logan’s exclamation and not because he’s just realized how Logan looks right now, face flushed and hair falling slightly into his eyes from all the impromptu dancing. Nope. Definitely not because of any of that.

“Food,” Logan repeats, seizing on Roman’s silence, cautiously pulling their joined hands down like he’s waiting for Roman to reject this idea as well. “I haven’t eaten dinner yet. Let’s go get some food somewhere.”

“Do you want to spin me to make things even?” Roman blurts, suddenly afraid that he may have annoyed Logan with his hijinks, but his friend just shakes his head. “Are you sure?” he presses. “I’m an excellent dancer, you know.”

Logan casts him a sidelong look that says he very much doubts that, but it’s teasing rather than critical.

“No,” he decides after a moment of consideration. “I’ll make things even some other way.”

“Is that a threat or a promise?”

Logan just grins, and Roman’s breath catches because fuck, who gave him permission to look like that, all sharp smile and sparkling eyes, he’s so pretty it should be illegal, he wants to pull him close right then and there and kiss that smile right off his face–

“Who says it can’t be both?” Logan asks, thankfully interrupting Roman’s internal crisis before he can say or do something stupid like actually kiss him. He gives Roman’s hand a tug. “Come on, let’s go eat.”

They find a little hole-in-the-wall restaurant after a bit of searching and keep up a steady conversation as they eat, lingering until the waitstaff begins shooting Roman dirty looks for singing along to the radio. Logan waves off his offer to split the bill and pays the tab in full, and Roman’s heart leaps treacherously because that’s exactly the kind of thing that happens on a date.

But that’s ridiculous. This clearly isn’t a date. Logan hasn’t ever shown any indication that he likes him as more than a friend. Surely they’ve paid for each other plenty of times before and Roman just can’t remember. He needs to get his head out of the clouds and stop reading into things before he ruins what is shaping up to be a perfectly pleasant evening.

Logan, who is clearly having no such dilemmas, is in a noticeably better mood now that he’s had some food and seems much more open to doing something more exciting than visiting museums and libraries. Logan and Roman’s Fantastically Grand Adventure Around The City, Roman coins it as they set off to find something to entertain themselves with, and Logan just sighs and tells him that when he’s done coming up with ridiculous names, it’s his turn to suggest an idea for what to do next.

It does turn out to be a grand adventure, if Roman does say so himself.

He takes Logan on a tour through one of the local neighborhoods known for its street art, the two of them keeping up a running commentary on the murals decorating the walls and buildings before visiting the space open for graffiti artists to tag and trying to find anything done by Remus.

(They pick their favorite pieces and engage in a light-hearted debate about which is the best until their arguments get so preposterous that neither of them can keep a straight face and they declare a draw.)

For his next turn, Logan chooses to wander until they find a food truck he deems suitable and they order dessert to satisfy his craving for something sweet.

(Roman sticks churros in his lip like tusks and pretends he’s a walrus and it’s ridiculous even to him, but it makes Logan laugh, so it’s worth every second of looking like an idiot.)

Roman drags Logan on a wild hunt around the city searching for a fountain that he knows exists somewhere but can’t find, and they make a game of seeing if they can locate it without using their phones.

(They do. They toss coins in and make wishes and for once Roman doesn’t even have anything to wish for, because what could be better than this?)

Logan detours them to take a walk down by the river and peoplewatch, Logan making characteristically blunt observations about others and Roman making up increasingly fantastical stories about any stranger who catches his eye.

(At some point, Logan grabs his hand, maybe to lead him across a crosswalk or pull him out of someone’s way, and the press of their palms against each other and the way their fingers loosely intertwine feels so natural that Roman doesn’t even realize they’re still holding hands until some time later.)

By the time they end up back at their meet-up spot, Roman feels giddy, almost drunk on the feeling of the night, on Logan’s smile and his laugh and the way his eyes light up when he has a particularly clever quip to something Roman has said as they banter back and forth, and he doesn’t want the evening to end.

“Let’s go one more place,” he blurts as they stop beside his car. He can sense Logan getting ready to ask where, or maybe to glance at his watch and say it’s late and that he should be going, so he doesn’t let him get the chance to do either.

“A surprise. And I know, I know you hate surprises, but you’ll like this one, I promise. No crowds or bright lights or noise or anything. Please? For your favorite Prince?”

He expects a protest, or even an outright refusal, but Logan just shrugs and nods, stepping up to the passenger side door.

“Alright.”

Roman fumbles to unlock the car, a little incredulous at his easy acquiescence and sure that at any moment Logan is going to change his mind and decide he needs to go back to his apartment and recharge away from people and the commotion of the city, but he just slips into the car and primly buckles his seatbelt, ready to go.

Well, if Logan doesn’t want the night to come to an end either, Roman isn’t about to question it.

He slides into the driver’s seat and starts the car, flipping the radio onto a low volume as he navigates out of the city, but he needn’t have worried; even after talking all night, the conversation flows easily between them, everything from the antics in Roman’s theater class to current events to the melanistic squirrel Logan had seen on campus the other day, and the drive passes quickly. About halfway through, Roman turns off the highway and onto progressively more rural side roads, and they’re only a few minutes from their destination when Logan seems to realize how far they’ve gone.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been out this way,” he comments, peering out the window, and Roman winces as he glances at the time on the dash. Good thing it isn’t a weeknight.

“I know, sorry, I should have asked if it was okay with you to go this far. I know you like to go to bed early.”

He sees Logan shrug out of the corner of his eye.

“I don’t mind. Being up late one night shouldn’t do too much harm to my circadian rhythm. And I was promised a surprise I would like by my favorite Prince, after all.”

My favorite Prince. Nerves are suddenly battering Roman’s insides and part of him wants to just pull a u-turn and head back to the city right now, because what if this is a stupid idea? What if Logan doesn’t like it? What if he’s just wasting both of their time and they’ll have to suffer through a painfully awkward drive back?

Those thoughts would just have to go fuck right off, he decides, steeling his resolve. He knows Logan. He knows he’ll like this, and even if he doesn’t, it’s not like they haven’t worked through approximately four thousand disagreements before. Everything will be fine.

A few minutes and one painfully potholey road later and they arrive at their destination.

“We’re here!” Roman announces, too loud in an attempt to squash any nerves that might creep into his voice. Logan stares out the window at the empty pasture at the end of the dead-end road where they’ve parked, the surroundings dark except for the moonlight.

“And where, exactly, is here?”

Roman doesn’t answer, just scrambles out of the car and around to Logan’s side, pulling him out of the car and out across the fallow field, lighting the way with his phone flashlight so they don’t trip too badly. Logan stops after a few dozen feet, tugging his hand out of Roman’s grip and refusing to go any farther, his expression souring for the first time all evening.

“Come on, Roman. Tell me why we’re here. If you wanted to play some kind of prank on me–”

“No!” Roman protests immediately, surging towards him in an attempt to reassure him, only to catch himself and pull back from touching Logan without a sign that it’s okay to do so at the moment. “This isn’t a prank; I wouldn’t do that to you. And I know it still isn’t perfect, not like it would be if we drove further, but at least there’s less light from the city here–”

Logan is shaking his head, clearly confused, and Roman cuts off his own rambling.

“Look up.”

Logan does, and a soft gasp falls from his lips as he gazes up at the myriad of stars glimmering above them. Roman briefly sends a thank you to any higher power listening that it’s a clear night, because he hadn’t even bothered to check if it was overcast before starting their drive and he has a sneaking suspicion that Logan would not be impressed if Roman had kidnapped him and driven him nearly an hour away just to look at some clouds while standing in a field in the middle of nowhere.

Just a guess.

“Look,” Logan says, pointing. “There’s Polaris, colloquially known as the North Star, although other stars have been known as the North Star throughout history due to the wobble in the earth’s axis of rotation. It’s part of Ursa Minor, or the Little Dipper, and of course there’s Ursa Major, or the Big Dipper, and over there is Orion…”

He’s still going, drawing various shapes in the air with his finger, but for all the world Roman can’t tear his eyes away from Logan, features cast in gentle moonlight, so excited as he spills an endless stream of knowledge, bouncing on the balls of his feet with unrestrained happiness.

He’s more captivating than any star could ever be.

Eventually he comes to a natural pause in his catalogue of constellations and Roman seizes the opportunity to coax him back to the car long enough for them to find a fleece blanket in the emergency breakdown kit Patton had gifted him last Christmas. Roman shakes it out and lays it on the ground so they don’t have to sit in the damp grass, and after assuring Logan that yes, he knew the person who owned this land and no, they wouldn’t get in trouble for being here, they settle onto the blanket.

The allure of stargazing must win out over any lingering trepidation about potentially trespassing, because Logan is already back to talking a mile a minute as he lays down, something about the lifecycle of stars, and for a moment Roman can just stare at him, utterly transfixed by the gleam of happiness in his eyes, until Logan complains he’s blocking the view and tugs his arm, telling him to lay down in a way that Roman would normally tease is bossy but right now is just hopelessly endearing.

He situates himself down on the blanket, careful to leave space between them as Logan continues to speak rapidly. Now that he’s looking up at the stars and not at Logan, he’s able to actually focus on what he’s saying, and he tries to understand it, he does, because this is clearly important to Logan and he wants him to feel listened to, but the science of all of it is going right over his head, so he settles for making the appropriate ahhs and mmm-hmms at regular intervals.

Logan pauses after some time, sitting up to dig something pokey out from underneath him.

“Roman,” he scolds lightly, and Roman starts, wracking his brain for what he could have possibly done, what breach of stargazing etiquette he has unwittingly committed. “You’re barely even on the blanket. You’re going to get wet from the dew on the grass. You should scoot over. I’m not Remus; I don’t bite.”

Roman obligingly shifts a little more onto the blanket, although it’s a bit of a moot point since dampness has already crept through the back of his jacket. There’s a moment of silence as Logan takes advantage of his upright position to stretch out his shoulders and neck, and there’s no pressure to fill the quiet, but Roman figures since Logan has shared so much of his knowledge the least Roman can do is return the favor a little.

Nervously clearing his throat, he points at one of the constellations he actually knows and begins recounting the Greek mythology associated with it. He’s sure Logan probably already knows most of it, if not all of it, but Logan just nods along enthusiastically, occasionally interjecting with an additional tidbit of information, so apparently he isn't too put out by Roman derailing his more scientific lecturing.

And then Logan lays down again and Roman stutters mid-tale, mind going absolutely blank for a moment, because Logan is pressed against him from shoulder to hip, the warmth of his body almost shocking compared to the cool night air even through several layers of clothing.

It doesn’t mean anything, Roman reminds himself as he fumbles to pick up his story again. Friends were physically close like this all the time – hell, he was physically close with his other friends like this on movie nights and whatnot all the time – and it didn’t imply any sort of more-than-platonic feelings. And even if Logan was typically more reserved, he had gotten more comfortable with physical displays of affection from everyone in their friend group in the last year or two. That’s all this was. It was a small blanket and Logan didn’t want to give up his spot so obviously when Roman moved over they were going to touch. Nothing more to it.

(Even if it really, really feels like there’s something more to it.)

He somehow manages to get through the rest of the mythology he’s narrating, even though his heart is racing so fast he’s surprised Logan can’t feel it where their arms are pressed together, the closeness of him an exquisite kind of torture, but Roman can’t even imagine shifting away.

“You talk more,” he croaks artfully when he finishes, because if he has to channel any more brain power into trying to tell a coherent story he might just implode. “I like hearing you talk about space.”

Logan is silent for a moment, clearly hesitant.

“Are you sure? I know that I often get carried away talking about such interests and that it can sometimes be boring or annoying.”

“I’m positive,” Roman assures him. “You never bore me, Lo. You could talk about whatever you want until the sun comes up and I wouldn’t care.”

“Alright,” Logan says after a long pause. “Just tell me if you change your mind.”

He starts in again, still a little timid at first, but it’s barely a minute before his enthusiasm is back in full force and he’s gesturing excitedly as he talks about some kind of new theoretical subatomic particle and its role in the universe.

It’s a long time that they just lay there, Logan talking and Roman occasionally interrupting with a comment or question while the stars slowly shift above them, but Roman doesn’t mind. He meant what he’d said; he could stay here listening to Logan discuss astronomy until dawn without a single complaint, even if it means slowly going insane trying not to overanalyze every time Logan moves and his arm presses against Roman’s a little more.

Some things were worth going crazy for, after all.

“Look!” Logan interrupts himself suddenly, pointing. “A meteor!”

It is, a brilliant white shooting star streaking across the sky, there and gone in an instant, and for the second time tonight Roman finds himself in a position to make a wish and yet he still can’t think of anything he could want that would make the night better.

“Most meteors are actually quite small, about the size of a pebble or even a grain of sand,” Logan informs him. “They are quite tiny and seemingly insignificant, and yet they leave such a remarkable impression. Isn’t that beautiful?”

“Yeah,” Roman says quietly, his eyes shifting away from the stars, and he can’t help the way he sounds almost reverent as he gazes at Logan’s profile in the moonlight. “It’s stunning.”

Logan turns his head to meet his gaze and there’s nothing but a breath between them as they stare at each other for a long moment, and then something shifts ever so slightly in Logan’s expression, eyes darkening, and his gaze shifts down to Roman’s mouth, his own lips parting slightly, and yes, this is everything Roman wants and he’s not ready and this is perfect and it’s too much and he wants it so badly and he can’t–

He turns back to look at the sky, heart racing so fast he almost feels sick.

He’s such a damn coward.

“Tell me more about the space in between the stars,” he says hoarsely, trying for some semblance of normal and failing miserably. All that acting training wasted, apparently. There’s a long pause before Logan starts in about the vastness of space, more subdued than he’s been all night, and guilt wrenches through Roman’s chest because no, Logan feeling bad or being anything less than radiantly excited about space is absolutely not permitted.

He shifts his hand, letting it brush against the back of Logan’s, and when that doesn’t elicit any negative response, he skims his thumb along the top of Logan’s, a silent apology. For a moment, there’s nothing, and Roman is about to draw away when Logan’s fingertips brush back against his, dancing against Roman’s for a moment before he turns his hand and fully laces their fingers together, giving a little squeeze.

All while never missing a beat in his explanation of dark matter. Roman feels like he’s about to have a heart attack and here Logan is delivering a full dissertation on the mysteries of the universe. It’s wildly unfair.

Eventually, after what could have been five minutes or five hours for all Roman can tell, Logan falls quiet and a comfortable silence settles between them, nothing but the hum of the night insects and the occasional hooting of an owl off in the distance.

“It’s getting late,” Logan finally says after another indeterminable amount of time. “We should head back.”

Roman murmurs an agreement and they pick themselves up off the ground, Roman trying to ignore the way the absence of Logan’s hand in his feels like a loss as he attempts to stretch some feeling back into his stiff body. Turns out laying on the ground for hours on end with only a thin blanket for cushioning was not as comfortable as it looked.

“So, this was a good surprise?” he asks, pretty sure he knows the answer but feeling the sudden urge to double-check that Logan hasn’t just gone along with it for Roman’s sake.

“Yes,” Logan replies distractedly, still craning his head back to gaze up at the sky as if he hasn’t just spent the whole night looking at it, and Roman’s heart squeezes with affection. Then he seems to actually register Roman’s question and drags his eyes away from the heavens.

“Yes. Yes! This was a good surprise,” he laughs, and before Roman can process what’s happening, he’s grabbing Roman’s hand and pulling him into a spin like Roman had done with him at the very beginning of the night.

A laugh of pure delight spills out of Roman’s mouth and he seizes Logan’s other hand, sweeping him into an impromptu dance, leading him through unchoreographed steps in the damp grass and vocalizing music in between laughs, and Logan is laughing right back, the sound bright and clear in the still night air. Roman has so rarely ever seen him like this, entirely open and carefree and happy, so blindingly happy as he spins away from Roman and then right back again, and that familiar warmth that Roman always associates with Logan has been blooming in his chest all night but now it’s spreading to his head, his stomach, his fingertips until it’s all he can feel.

They slow after a few minutes, movements getting smaller and smaller until Logan is only a breath away, one hand still held in Roman’s grip and the other resting lightly on his back as they sway gently back and forth. And then he blows out a contented sigh and closes the few inches between them, practically melting into Roman’s chest as he tucks his head onto his shoulder.

And maybe Roman shouldn’t, maybe he’s misreading the signals because he wants them to be something they’re not, maybe he should bite back his words and go on pining for Logan from afar, but there’s something about the evening that makes him feel bold and invincible, as if no bad can come to either of them while Logan is wrapped in his arms, warm and trusting and bathed in starlight.

“Logan,” he says, voice barely above a whisper in the still of the night. “You can say no, of course you can always say no, but – can I kiss you?”

Logan pulls back abruptly to stare at him, although he stops short of breaking free of Roman’s loose grip, and the surprise written across his face makes Roman’s stomach turn with butterflies and he almost backtracks right then and there, almost laughs it off as some kind of joke, but he steels himself, waiting with his breath caught in his throat for Logan’s reply because if he doesn’t hear the answer then he’ll spend the rest of his life wondering what it might have been.

Then Logan’s lips twitch up into a tiny smirk and jesus fucking christ, Roman can’t even breathe–

“I don’t know, Roman, can you?”

All of Roman’s breath huffs out in an incredulous laugh at the breathtaking, maddening, perfect man in front of him.

“You–”

He doesn’t get the chance to finish his sentence as Logan tips forward and presses his mouth to his.

Logan’s lips are cold and chapped and his glasses dig slightly into Roman’s face and the angle isn’t the greatest and it is by far, without a doubt, the singular best thing that has ever happened to Roman.

It’s nothing more than a press of their lips, really, and Roman has kissed others far less chastely than this, but none of them has ever made him feel this way, like all his thoughts have gone silent and all the breath has been stolen right out of his lungs and all the world has disappeared except for him and Logan and the stars above them.

They break apart after a moment and Roman can’t help but laugh as something occurs to him, tightening his grip slightly on Logan as he pulls back, hurt clear on his face.

“No, not you, Lo, that was amazing and wonderful and I would very much like to do it again,” he rushes to reassure him, and his face relaxes. “But I just realized that we have a whole observatory on campus and you’re an astrophysics major and you’ve seen the stars with a very expensive telescope, like, a billion times before, and I thought it was a great idea to take you to a field in the middle of nowhere to go stargazing.”

“Well,” Logan says quietly, smiling softly as he rests their foreheads together and gently squeezes Roman’s hand. “I would much rather watch the stars with you.”

And really, when he says things like that, what can Roman do but kiss him again?

Logan dozes off on the car ride back to campus, head leaned against the window and fingers loose where they’re laced with Roman’s on the center console, and given how late – or early? – it is, Roman doesn’t blame him.

Roman, on the other hand, has never felt more awake.

He’d kissed Logan. He’d kissed Logan. Or, actually, Logan had kissed him first, but still. He’d kissed Logan.

He can’t stop grinning the whole drive, and he’s glad that there’s hardly any other cars out because his mind is more than a bit preoccupied with reliving the memory of Logan’s lips on his and not focused on trivial little things like speed limits and stop signs.

But they make it back to Logan’s apartment building without any accidents, so Roman can’t feel too bad about not being the best driver in the world. He gently shakes Logan awake, which merits him an adorable look of sleepy confusion before Logan remembers where he is, and Roman walks him up to the door of the complex.

“I had a really good time tonight,” he says, which is the understatement of the century, but he doesn’t know quite what else to say, considering he never thought this was how the evening would end or that he’d even ever get this far with Logan. He’s half-convinced he’ll wake up at any moment and discover this has all been a dream.

Logan nods through a yawn, expression open and unguarded as he blinks sleepily.

“I also had a very enjoyable time.”

“Well, I’ll let you get some sleep,” Roman says a bit awkwardly. “I’ll text you tomorrow?” he asks, and Logan nods again. “Okay. Sweet dreams, Logan.”

He steps back to leave, but Logan’s hand catches his and he stills, casting him a questioning look. Logan plays with his fingers, not quite meeting his gaze.

“I believe a goodnight kiss is a traditional way to end such an evening?”

His voice trails up into an uncharacteristically unsure question and Roman can’t help the smile that spreads across his face even though Remus would call it disgustingly besotted and sappy.

“Alright, since you ask so nicely.”

Logan starts to backpedal, eyes widening, and Roman shushes him quietly.

“I’m just teasing, Lo,” he whispers. He raises one hand slowly, giving Logan plenty of time to pull away if he wants to, and gently cups his cheek, brushing his thumb featherlight across Logan’s cheekbone. Logan presses into the touch as his eyes flutter closed, chin tipping up expectantly, and Roman kisses him, soft and sweet and slow as if they have all the time in the world.

Tomorrow, he knows, they’ll have to talk about this new chapter of their relationship, work out what it means and how they’re going to define it and who, if anyone, they’re going to tell and a thousand other details.

But for now, as he kisses Logan, the stars above still continuing their slow wheel in the sky even underneath the light from the city, he doesn’t have words. All he has is the warm, sure feeling that this night is nothing if not a promise of good things to come.

#finally this fic sees the light of day #finally #loginceweek2022 #logince week #sanders sides #shades of blue and red #ts logan #logan sanders #ts roman #roman sanders #logince #my fic #rosepetal writes

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amunvulcan · 4 years ago

Text

Fortuna (Latin: Fortūna, equivalent to the Greek goddess Tyche) is the goddess of fortune and the personification of luck in Roman religion who, largely thanks to the Late Antique author Boethius, remained popular through the Middle Ages until at least the Renaissance. The blindfolded depiction of her is still an important figure in many aspects of today's Italian culture, where the dichotomy fortuna / sfortuna (luck / unluck) plays a prominent role in everyday social life, also represented by the very common refrain "La [dea] fortuna è cieca" (latin Fortuna caeca est; "Luck [goddess] is blind").

Fortuna is often depicted with a gubernaculum (ship's rudder), a ball or Rota Fortunae (wheel of fortune, first mentioned by Cicero) and a cornucopia (horn of plenty). She might bring good or bad luck: she could be represented as veiled and blind, as in modern depictions of Lady Justice, except that Fortuna does not hold a balance. Fortuna came to represent life's capriciousness. She was also a goddess of fate: as Atrox Fortuna, she claimed the young lives of the princeps Augustus' grandsons Gaius and Lucius, prospective heirs to the Empire.[1] (In antiquity she was also known as Automatia.)[2]

Fortuna's father was said to be Jupiter and like him, she could also be bountiful (Copia). As Annonaria she protected grain supplies. June 11 was consecrated to her: on June 24 she was given cult at the festival of Fors Fortuna.[4][5] Fortuna's name seems to derive from Vortumna (she who revolves the year).[citation needed]

Roman writers disagreed whether her cult was introduced to Rome by Servius Tullius[6] or Ancus Marcius.[7] The two earliest temples mentioned in Roman Calendars were outside the city, on the right bank of the Tiber (in Italian Trastevere). The first temple dedicated to Fortuna was attributed to the Etruscan Servius Tullius, while the second is known to have been built in 293 BC as the fulfilment of a Roman promise made during later Etruscan wars.[8] The date of dedication of her temples was 24 June, or Midsummer's Day, when celebrants from Rome annually floated to the temples downstream from the city. After undisclosed rituals they then rowed back, garlanded and inebriated.[9] Also Fortuna had a temple at the Forum Boarium. Here Fortuna was twinned with the cult of Mater Matuta (the goddesses shared a festival on 11 June), and the paired temples have been revealed in the excavation beside the church of Sant'Omobono: the cults are indeed archaic in date.[10] Fortuna Primigenia of Praeneste was adopted by Romans at the end of 3rd century BC in an important cult of Fortuna Publica Populi Romani (the Official Good Luck of the Roman People) on the Quirinalis outside the Porta Collina.[11] No temple at Rome, however, rivalled the magnificence of the Praenestine sanctuary.

Fortuna's identity as personification of chance events was closely tied to virtus (strength of character). Public officials who lacked virtues invited ill-fortune on themselves and Rome: Sallust uses the infamous Catiline as illustration – "Truly, when in the place of work, idleness, in place of the spirit of measure and equity, caprice and pride invade, fortune is changed just as with morality".[12]

An oracle at the Temple of Fortuna Primigena in Praeneste used a form of divination in which a small boy picked out one of various futures that were written on oak rods. Cults to Fortuna in her many forms are attested throughout the Roman world. Dedications have been found to Fortuna Dubia (doubtful fortune), Fortuna Brevis (fickle or wayward fortune) and Fortuna Mala (bad fortune).

Fortuna is found in a variety of domestic and personal contexts. During the early Empire, an amulet from the House of Menander in Pompeii links her to the Egyptian goddess Isis, as Isis-Fortuna.[13] She is functionally related to the god Bonus Eventus,[14] who is often represented as her counterpart: both appear on amulets and intaglio engraved gems across the Roman world. In the context of the early republican period account of Coriolanus, in around 488 BC the Roman senate dedicated a temple to Fortuna on account of the services of the matrons of Rome in saving the city from destruction.[15] Evidence of Fortuna worship has been found as far north as Castlecary, Scotland[16] and an altar and statue can now be viewed at the Hunterian Museum in Glasgow.[17]

The earliest reference to the Wheel of Fortune, emblematic of the endless changes in life between prosperity and disaster, is from 55 BC.[18] In Seneca's tragedy Agamemnon, a chorus addresses Fortuna in terms that would remain almost proverbial, and in a high heroic ranting mode that Renaissance writers would emulate:

O Fortune, who dost bestow the throne's high boon with mocking hand, in dangerous and doubtful state thou settest the too exalted. Never have sceptres obtained calm peace or certain tenure; care on care weighs them down, and ever do fresh storms vex their souls. ... great kingdoms sink of their own weight, and Fortune gives way ‘neath the burden of herself. Sails swollen with favouring breezes fear blasts too strongly theirs; the tower which rears its head to the very clouds is beaten by rainy Auster. ... Whatever Fortune has raised on high, she lifts but to bring low. Modest estate has longer life; then happy he whoe’er, content with the common lot, with safe breeze hugs the shore, and, fearing to trust his skiff to the wider sea, with unambitious oar keeps close to land.[19]

Ovid's description is typical of Roman representations: in a letter from exile[20] he reflects ruefully on the “goddess who admits by her unsteady wheel her own fickleness; she always has its apex beneath her swaying foot.”

Fortuna did not disappear from the popular imagination with the ascendancy of Christianity.[21] Saint Augustine took a stand against her continuing presence, in the City of God: "How, therefore, is she good, who without discernment comes to both the good and to the bad?...It profits one nothing to worship her if she is truly fortune... let the bad worship her...this supposed deity".[22] In the 6th century, the Consolation of Philosophy, by statesman and philosopher Boethius, written while he faced execution, reflected the Christian theology of casus, that the apparently random and often ruinous turns of Fortune's Wheel are in fact both inevitable and providential, that even the most coincidental events are part of God's hidden plan which one should not resist or try to change. Fortuna, then, was a servant of God,[23] and events, individual decisions, the influence of the stars were all merely vehicles of Divine Will. In succeeding generations Boethius' Consolation was required reading for scholars and students. Fortune crept back into popular acceptance, with a new iconographic trait, "two-faced Fortune", Fortuna bifrons; such depictions continue into the 15th century.[24]

The ubiquitous image of the Wheel of Fortune found throughout the Middle Ages and beyond was a direct legacy of the second book of Boethius's Consolation. The Wheel appears in many renditions from tiny miniatures in manuscripts to huge stained glass windows in cathedrals, such as at Amiens. Lady Fortune is usually represented as larger than life to underscore her importance. The wheel characteristically has four shelves, or stages of life, with four human figures, usually labeled on the left regnabo (I shall reign), on the top regno (I reign) and is usually crowned, descending on the right regnavi (I have reigned) and the lowly figure on the bottom is marked sum sine regno (I have no kingdom). Medieval representations of Fortune emphasize her duality and instability, such as two faces side by side like Janus; one face smiling the other frowning; half the face white the other black; she may be blindfolded but without scales, blind to justice. She was associated with the cornucopia, ship's rudder, the ball and the wheel. The cornucopia is where plenty flows from, the Helmsman's rudder steers fate, the globe symbolizes chance (who gets good or bad luck), and the wheel symbolizes that luck, good or bad, never lasts.

Fortuna lightly balances the

orb

of sovereignty between thumb and finger in a Dutch painting of

1530 (

Musée des Beaux-Arts de Strasbourg

)

Fortune would have many influences in cultural works throughout the Middle Ages. In Le Roman de la Rose, Fortune frustrates the hopes of a lover who has been helped by a personified character "Reason". In Dante's Inferno (vii.67-96), Virgil explains the nature of Fortune, both a devil and a ministering angel, subservient to God. Boccaccio's De Casibus Virorum Illustrium ("The Fortunes of Famous Men"), used by John Lydgate to compose his Fall of Princes, tells of many where the turn of Fortune's wheel brought those most high to disaster, and Boccaccio essay De remedii dell'una e dell'altra Fortuna, depends upon Boethius for the double nature of Fortuna. Fortune makes her appearance in Carmina Burana (see image). The Christianized Lady Fortune is not autonomous: illustrations for Boccaccio's Remedii show Fortuna enthroned in a triumphal car with reins that lead to heaven.[25]

Fortuna also appears in chapter 25 of Machiavelli's The Prince, in which he says Fortune only rules one half of men's fate, the other half being of their own will. Machiavelli reminds the reader that Fortune is a woman, that she favours a strong, ambitious hand, and that she favours the more aggressive and bold young man than a timid elder. Monteverdi's opera L'incoronazione di Poppea features Fortuna, contrasted with the goddess Virtue. Even Shakespeare was no stranger to Lady Fortune:

When in disgrace with Fortune and men's eyes I all alone beweep my outcast state...

Ignatius J Reilly, the protagonist in the famous John Kennedy Toole novel A Confederacy of Dunces, identifies Fortuna as the agent of change in his life. A verbose, preposterous medievalist, Ignatius is of the mindset that he does not belong in the world and that his numerous failings are the work of some higher power. He continually refers to Fortuna as having spun him downwards on her wheel of luck, as in “Oh, Fortuna, you degenerate wanton!”

In astrology the term Pars Fortuna represents a mathematical point in the zodiac derived by the longitudinal positions of the Sun, Moon and Ascendant (Rising sign) in the birth chart of an individual. It represents an especially beneficial point in the horoscopic chart. In Arabic astrology, this and similar points are called Arabian Parts.

Al-Biruni (973 – 1048), an 11th-century mathematician, astronomer, and scholar, who was the greatest proponent of this system of prediction, listed a total of 97 Arabic Parts, which were widely used for astrological consultations.

Aspects[edit]

Lady Fortune in a

Boccaccio

manuscript

Sculpture of Fortuna,

Vienna

La Fortune

Charles Samuel

(1894), Collection

King Baudouin Foundation

Fortuna Annonaria brought the luck of the harvest

Fortuna Belli the fortune of war

Fortuna Primigenia directed the fortune of a firstborn child at the moment of birth

Fortuna Virilis ("Luck in men"), a woman's luck in marriage[26]

Fortuna Redux brought one safely home

Fortuna Respiciens the fortune of the provider

Fortuna Muliebris the luck of a woman.

Fortuna Victrix brought victory in battle

Fortuna Augusta the fortune of the emperor[27]

Fortuna Balnearis the fortune of the baths.[27]

Fortuna Conservatrix the fortune of the Preserver[28]

Fortuna Equestris fortune of the Knights.[28]

Fortuna Huiusce Diei fortune of the present day.[28]

Fortuna Obsequens fortune of indulgence.[28]

Fortuna Privata fortune of the private individual.[28]

Fortuna Publica fortune of the people.[28]

Fortuna Romana fortune of Rome.[28]

Fortuna Virgo fortune of the virgin.[28]

Fortuna Faitrix the fortune of life

Pars Fortuna

Fortuna Barbata the fortune of adolescents becoming adults[29]

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tracybirds · 4 years ago

Text

Trial Without Error #2

Umm... Virgil wanted a turn? Guess this isn’t a one shot after all lol. Having a go at playing with perspectives I guess so covers the same events as Part 1, just with Virgil in the POV wheel this time.

Or; Virgil gets a call from John. Twenty minutes later, he gets another call.

You don’t need to read Part 1. In fact if you haven’t, I would be exceptionally curious to hear what you think is happening before you read Part 1. Have I said Part 1 enough times yet?

Part 1 (once more for good luck and a link :D)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Virgil was waiting for the call when it came. He closed his eyes, a final moment of fortitude propelling him before he plastered the gentle expression back on his face. He wanted to rage, to cry, to unlock all the righteous fury and lay it before the GDF. An offering of emotion that his brother would never allow. But John was not the GDF, and he carefully held in his mind the empty words he’d told Scott only the evening before.

“Let him handle it. If you act, if you force him before he’s ready, he’ll never let us in again.”

Advice so freely given was rarely easy to follow.

“Hey, John.”

John blinked, his eyes unfocused. The last time Virgil had seen him looking this rough had been over the monsoon season. He’d hardly slept then. He hoped he wasn't falling back on the same bad habits.

“Hello.”

“You look terrible.”

The words fell from his mouth before he could grab a hold of his tongue.

There was no sharp retort, no sarcastic defence in reply. Just a jerky motion backwards and an awful uncertainty that Virgil could read clear as day.

Hell, he should have let Scott pull him down last night. Big brother instincts were screaming at him, railing against the blank stare and the unnatural stillness his brother was projecting.

“Want to talk?” he asked softly. He’d sent his brothers away, threatened them with Grandma’s cooking and worse if they came close until he gave them the all clear. Now, he was wishing he had some back up. John wasn’t going to make this any easier.

“About…?”

Virgil swallowed.

“Yesterday.”

A moment of silence as John processed the question implied.

A sharp tremble, like a stranger inhabiting his body, but then there was his brother, smiling tiredly in front of him.

“You’re mother-henning.”

Virgil couldn’t help but roll his eyes at the proclamation, said with such certainty.

“Sue me for wanting to check in on you.”

“That makes no sense. We share all assets.”

“So I’ll take it out of my pocket money.”

John only looked more puzzled, his eyes fluttering back and forth like he was reading through a text at an exceptional pace.

“John?”

Startled turquoise eyes met his. They needed the debrief. The GDF was already clamouring for International Rescue’s assessment of the situation and Scott needed to know how they would spin the story. The truth was there was nothing they could have done; protocols had been ignored, safety margins blown by, and lives lost in the process. Collateral damage. Virgil had read the transcripts already, knew what John had said and done as things became increasingly more desperate.

“Sixteen.”

“That many?”

“No. The youngest was born on January 3rd, 2045.” John’s voice was sharp, the numbers bringing him back to life. “He posted a holovid, him and his older sister. The trip was a gift.”

A clenched jaw accompanied the silent film he pushed into Virgil’s feed, playing on loop.

“Sixteen.”

He looked up at his brother.

“Tell me what you saw.”

John spoke. Hard facts. Raw figures. Data points and diminishing probabilities. Disconnected from the reality he described, and hardly seeming to notice the look of growing concern on Virgil’s face. If he hadn’t known the way his brother held emotion so deeply within him, lest it rend him in two, Virgil might have called his response cold. Heartless. To retreat so deeply worried him even more than the frank way John spoke, no attempt to hold back or craft a gentler version of the truth.

His voice was dark with death and the depths of space.

There was more to it than that, however, and it clicked just as John finished speaking.

“What’s wrong with your voice? You sound sick.”

John blinked and at once the darkness lifted from him.

“I’m fine.”

Virgil had heard him say that more often than any other phrase. It never worked. It was a phrase that John only used comparatively. ‘I’m fine. Better than the poor bastards I couldn’t save.’

They’d all said it before. Maybe they were only trying to convince themselves but it fooled nobody.

“You’re not, John, and you don’t have to be.”

“Just something caught in my throat.”

The projection shimmered as John coughed half-heartedly. The image cut out as he turned to the side.

“John? You’re fading out, what’s going on up there?”

John returned quickly, nearly scrambling in his reply.

“No problem here, visual connection is stable. Could be a problem on your end?”

Virgil narrowed his eyes. He looked down, scrolling through the troubleshooting programme. It blinked innocuously, indicating a temporary and unexplained fault in the projection technology.

John wanted to get rid of him. He’d had enough. Fine.

“I’ll get Brains to check it out. But you should take it easy today. After yesterday–”

John swept his hand across the monitor with an impatient wave.

“I’ll talk to you soon, Scott.”

Virgil froze. Something was very wrong. Something John wouldn’t, or couldn’t, share. He hurriedly found his voice.

“Virgil.”

John looked back at him. There was a slight frown that dipped his eyebrows over his eyes. It was the same look his brother made in high school, mouthing the rules of linear algebra to himself at the dinner table. A puzzle he was determined to solve, but one that still eluded him – slipping just beyond his grasp.

A piercing gaze held his before John nodded.

“Virgil.”

And his brother was gone.

Virgil leaned forwards, staring deep into the space where his brother had been. He had all the details to pass onto Scott for his report. He couldn’t bring himself to send them through with the brutal austerity and emotionless attitude with which John had spoken. That was a sure-fire way to get Scott counting down to launch within minutes.

In all honesty, he wasn’t far from that himself. John was acting off in a way he couldn’t pinpoint, like yesterday had flung him back to a self that cloaked numbness with numbers and a fractured heart with facts and figures. It didn’t align with the man Virgil knew him to be.

With a sigh, Virgil opened the datapad, intent on softening his brother’s words. He could only hope he needed a little more brooding time, enough to process the events of the day before in his own way. He would come back to them eventually, or they would chase after him. It would do no good to worry his other brothers in the meantime.

Absorbed by the work, he hardly noticed the beeping of an incoming call at first and didn’t bother to look up when he answered it.

“Hey, Virgil.”

Virgil’s fingers froze. John.

His voice was quiet, still rough from sleep and something harsher. Rawer than the text in front of him, a wilder, more frantic tone accompanied those two words.

A stark difference to the withdrawn and controlled persona from mere minutes ago.

“John?”

A fragile laugh, the sound tinged with shining tears.

“Who else? You don’t know any other space station operators around, do you?”

“No, it’s just…”

Virgil didn’t know how to respond. It was hardly the first time a brother had come to him in need. A talk, a hug, a drink, Virgil could make time for them all. He was no stranger to sudden heights and lows in emotions either. His own for a start could bounce all over if he didn’t actively take care of his health. Gordon could dive deep on bad days, rising slowly but carefully over the days that followed. Alan, still a teenager, was prone to all the moods and sulks that came with it, but bouncing back with a sunny smile as soon as a distraction could be found. He suspected Scott was steadier than the rest of them, but it didn’t feel that way on the late nights when he found him in the dark, glassy eyed and alcohol on his breath.

John didn’t fall into such extremes. He held his emotions close to his chest and gave ample warning if he was about to crack with the weight of it. Rest, family, and time with his stars was his usual cure, and it was a familiar routine for them all.

This was not.

It didn’t matter. His brother needed him. He shook himself slightly and plastered a warm smile on his face.

“Did you need something?”

“Just some company. Think I could float around for a while?”

Rest. Family. Stars. That was his routine.

Virgil nodded and watched as John slumped in his seat, his eyes glazing over as he stared through him. His heart ached as a plethora of emotions ran across his brother’s face.

“They really did a number on you yesterday.”

“I’m choosing to forget yesterday.”

Virgil blinked. It had been bad, but surely not so bad as to completely block out the conversation they’d shared only minutes ago.

His next words were cautious.

“Scott told me. He wanted to haul you down.”

Eyes flickered briefly back towards him. No recognition in them.

“Thanks for stopping him.”

“Hold on, I haven’t decided yet.”

“I’m fine.”

Virgil snorted. Typical.

“Yeah, you said earlier.”

He watched his reaction carefully, analysing the micro-expressions that swum across his face, looking for any indication that John knew what he was referring to.

“Did I?”

His heart dropped, his face falling into a deepening frown.

“John, you signed off with me not twenty minute ago.”

“I was asleep not twenty minutes ago.”

Virgil shook his head.

“We spoke for half an hour, it was definitely you.”

“It can’t have been.”

The frustration was evident in his voice. He didn’t believe him. And honestly, Virgil was starting to doubt himself too. The differences between him and… it were so obvious, it was hard to believe the conversations had been with the same brother. But there was no other explanation.

“Well it was. Unless you’re hiding a clone up there to do all the heavy duty. And I haven’t received any panicked calls from Alan about finding you hiding in a cupboard while you were meant to be on the island.”

Virgil tried to keep his tone light, not wanting the worry to taint his voice.

“Maybe.”

John didn’t sound convinced. As Virgil watched, his eyes slid away from his, staring at some far off point. He looked lost with an innocent kind of horror at the way his memory had forsaken him.

Virgil hesitated. Maybe there was a simpler explanation to all this. His brother had seemed alert, if distraught, but there was history there too.

“You should come down if you’re sleepwalking again.”

“You don’t think it’s sleepwalking.”

John’s words fell like a pebble in a pond, sending cold, rippling fear through him. The early days of sleepless nights and confusion and their Dad coaxing him down from the heavens. The hours they’d spent peering in at his door as he struggled to wash the stains of witness from his hands and heart. How Grandma would sigh and tell them to just be there even though ‘there’ felt less and less like a place and more like a state of mind.

“You already know what I think.”

It was time.

“Come home, John.”

He shook his head, still unsure. Still solving a puzzle with no answer.

“Just for today?”

John closed his eyes and turned back towards him. Virgil braced himself, certain of the negative that would fall from his tongue.

“Okay.”

[Part 3]

#virgil tracy #john tracy #thunderbirds #thunderbirds are go #sometimes i fic

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darksideofthemamon · 5 years ago

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Why I feel like Bart and Ed might have a thing going on

I honestly have to say that in the months leading up to Young Justice: Outsiders, I re-watched the first 2 seasons and fell back in love with Bluepulse and was almost certain that with the amount of shippy scenes they got in season 2, Bart and Jaime would end up together (or at least, it would be implied).

That said, I gotta admit being a bit let down when I found out that Jamie was dating Traci.

This feeling didn’t last long though as I realized that hmmmm Bart and Ed seem kinda close, don’t they? And turns out a lot of other people noticed this too!

I’m p sure others have said this already, but whatever. Here’s why I feel like they might have something going on (specifically based on Ep 3x16 “Illusion of Control”):

1. The first thing to notice: At the start of the ep, the rest of the Team arrives at the Center and Bart gives each a quick hug-- but gives what looks like a quick peck on the cheek to Ed, and keeps his arm around him after (it’s a little blink-and -you’ll-miss-it, so here’s a slowed down version: https://theforgottendaydreamer.tumblr.com/post/186021709340/bart-clearly-kissed-ed-on-the-cheek-and-ed-just )

2. Bart and Ed seemed to stick together a lot. It doesn’t sound like much, but similar to the previously mentioned scene, there is just that element of “special treatment” with each other. I gotta say that it feels like they replaced Jaime with Ed. Like I was kinda when Jaime and Bart didn’t have any significant interactions like they used to, but then Ed and Bart ended up having p much the exact same dynamic Bluepulse had in season 2.

3. Virgil constantly complained that he was single and felt like a seventh wheel. Now we know the first 2 couples in the group are obviously Garfield and Perdita, and Jaime and Traci. The 3rd couple could easily refer to Tim and Cassie (who were stated to be away in Gotham), but here’s the thing:

- Bart and Ed were paired off just like the other couples. Case in point: the bumper cars scene. Virgil was the only one alone and miserable while Bart and Ed had fun in their car. There’s also a scene where Livewire gives Mist some cotton candy (and those two are also p shippy), and then Bart comes along to give Ed some cotton candy

- I just feel like if Ed and Bart really didn’t have anything going on, and that the 3rd couple referred to Tim and Cassie, Virgil wouldn’t have felt as out of place as he did. Heck, his catchphrase during the whole ep was “I’ve gotta get a girlfriend”. If Bart and Ed were really just friends, they could have been a “single and proud” trio with Virgil, but not once in the episode did they ever say something like “Hey man we don’t have girlfriends either. Join the club!” or “pshh who needs girls? We can make our own fun!” No, instead they had Virgil being lonely while Bart and Ed paired off and enjoyed.

I think #3 is the strongest point here. Virgil really just kept bringing up how he was the only single one while Bart and Ed were there the whole time.

Even outside of the mentioned scenes, Bart and Ed have significant interactions as a pair. They take down Holocaust and Icicle Jr. together, in a later ep Ed catches Bart during a BIF attack. There’s just a growing number of material to work with, you know?

All things considered, it really feels like they’re dropping a lot of Zetaflash/Bartuardo hints. This ship quickly became like the new Bluepulse, I feel. I have no idea if they’ll actually push through with it, but at least we know that with Kaldur and Wyynde, the creators aren’t afraid to show a queer ship.

Well anyway, I’m interested in seeing where this ship goes!

#young justice #young justice outsiders #zetaflash #bartuardo #bart allen #eduardo dorado jr #I might be late to this but whatever

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amethystdarkwolf · 6 years ago

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Will you?

AU: Human Ship: Remile Prompt: X Requested by: X Warnings: None! Summary: Remy has been a bit secretive about a certain event, and Emile wonders why, but when they attend, it is made incredibly clear. F/A/H-C: Fluff POV: 3rd ~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Side note: This is for my amazing friend, @side-for-sides love ya, Friendo!! <3 Have some fluff!! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Rem, c’mon get up, we both have to go to work…” Emile murmured to his boyfriend as he pretended to still be asleep. Remy made a small groan of annoyance and only clung onto Emile tighter, “Five more minuuutessss” Emile rolled his eyes, but couldn’t help the smile on his face, “You said that ten minutes ago.”

“Hmm, Ten more minutes then”

“Remy no.”

Emile sighed, “Okay, that’s it,” and despite the whines from his boyfriend, pryed Remy’s arms off of him. Remy luckily gave up and sat up, rubbing at his eyes, “You’re so mean to me, gemstone.” he playfully whined. Emile only shook his head, his boyfriend was ridiculous, but, of course, he loved him more than anything. They traded a few more murmurs of playful teasing, and smaller, quicker, and sweeter kisses before beginning to get ready for their day.

“Sugar, please.”

“Are you talking about me or the coffee?”

“I’m asking my sugar to pass me the sugar for my coffee so, yes.”

Remy snorted at Emile’s response, handing him the sugar before putting his bag over his shoulder, he grabbed his own coffee and placed a small quick kiss to Emile’s cheek, “I’m headin’ out, talk to you later, gemstone.” Emile smiled, “Goodbye, love.” Remy only looked at Emile with a look of adoration before putting on his sunglasses and leaving. Emile had a patient in an hour so he headed out not too long after Remy. Deciding to stop for some breakfast on the way there.

When Emile got home, Remy wasn’t there. This was a bit unusual for him, normally Remy is home a bit before him. He tried not to think anything of it, and just began working on dinner for the two of them, normally Remy does it, but again, normally Remy is home earlier. Remy hates his job, always going off about how miserable it is, which is fair, he isn’t given much off-time. Last year he didn’t have any. So he wouldn’t stay late…

Emile had dinner completely finished once Remy got home. It was about two hours since he would have normally gotten home. Emile asked, not accusingly of course since there was nothing to accuse him of. Remy blamed it on a wreck that had happened on the highway that caused a whole bunch of back up and such. No one was hurt luckily. Though Emile was slightly suspicious of how he knew that…

A little later that night, Remy was quiet for a moment, before asking, “Hey babe, wanna go out to eat on Saturday?” Today was Thursday. Emile thought for a second, and glanced at his phone to double check he didn’t have any patients that day before nodding, “Yeah, where?” Remy grinned, “I’ll let you know when we go.”

“Wait how am I gonna know if I can afford it if-”

“Don’t worry about it.”

And that was the end of the conversation, it was not brought up again until Saturday. Luckily, Remy somehow managed to get off of work that day. Remy explained that they were going somewhere kind of fancy so, he may wanna dress up a bit. Which Emile was surprised about, Remy was not the one to dress up or go places fancy, but his current outfit was much more sophisticated than his normal attire.

Emile had decided to just go along with it. Remy seemed to have something on his mind, as he was driving he kept drumming his fingers on the wheel. When Emile asked if he was upset or nervous, he got a very quick, “Nah, I’m good! You okay?” Deflecting and redirecting the question… Hmm. Emile said nothing about it but paid attention to his mannerisms. Mentally nothing a few nervous habits he seemed to be displaying.

When they got to the restaurant, Emile was awed, not only was it fancy it was an almost five-star level restaurant. People holding the doors open, tall ceilings lined with shimmering chandeliers. “Rem, I can’t affor-” He was cut off, “Gemstone, don’t worry about it…” Remy spoke softly, taking his hand as they walked in. Remy apparently had a reservation. Which Emile didn’t remember him making.

They were seated at one of the upper levels of restaurant, filled with proper looking families and older couples who gave them odd looks due to them both being males presumably. Or it could be the fact that Remy had a bit of a darker skin tone than Emile, or both, who knows? They had gotten their appetizers, and were waiting on their meals when Emile asked, “What is this all for Rem?”

Remy drummed his fingers against the table again and shook his head, “I’ll tell you once we finish eating, Em.” before switching the topic. They discussed other things as they ate, old stories they had not yet told, reliving memories from when they first got together a few years ago, and things not pertaining to memories. Though Emile’s question lingered, unanswered and barely acknowledged.

Once they had finished eating, Emile looked at Remy expectantly. Emile rarely forgets things, and Remy was well aware of this. So Remy took a deep breath, again drumming his fingers against the table for a second.

“I’ve been, lying a bit to you, Em…”

Emile paused a bit shocked about that considering the circumstances, “Okay…? What about, babe?”

“I can get a hell of a lot more time off than I have been. But I’ve just been saving up.”

Emile looked at him confused, “For this?” he asked, gesturing around. Remy shrugged, a small grin creeping on his face, “Well, yeah, but more specifically,” he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small black box, and handed it to Emile, “For this.” Emile felt his heart stop, he slowly opened the box and gasped, feeling tears invade his eyes.

The box contained a beautiful rose gold ring diamonds lining the band about halfway around, leading up to a large circular diamond in the center. Small circles of the rose gold intertwining some of the diamonds on the side and circling the one in the middle, which had a few smaller diamonds around it as well. “Emile Picani, will you marry me?” Remy asked.

And of course, with tears falling down his face and his hands shaking, Emile said yes.

Sanders Sides Taglist, ask to be added or removed: @starryfirefliesbloggo @weirdsthenewnormal @purpleshipper @darkle-elkrad @just-an-anxious-mess @emo-potato-virgil @kaymischief25 @pinkpandapancakes @blueeyedscorpion @rayndropsonrosez @ts-random-pictures@aurinkari @itsme98z @lunacatzuniverse @illogicaldeath @heretoreadmyfics @echomist13 @crownswriter123 @logan-smarter-than-you-sanders @never-saygood-bye @shattereddreamsamongotherthings @riley-castillo @anonymous-gay-rainbow164 @0beansprout0 @eveym@chimchar1009 @tis-i-bat-anon @that1theatregirl @iloveeverytjing123

#remile #remy sanders #Emile Picani #remy x emile #amethystdarkwrites

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myupostsheadcanons · 5 years ago

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Books “Read” in 2019

I am going to rank these by how much i enjoyed them vs. any actual literary quality. often well written books aren’t always the most entertaining books.

Note: i listen to many of these books at work, which is why i am able to go through so many of them in a year.

List from 2017 List from 2018

------- My Favs of the Year ----

Novels from The First Law:

Best Served Cold (#1), The Heroes(#3), Red Country(#4), Sharp Ends(#5).

A Little Hatred (#2) (Age of Madness, sequel to The First Law)

I read “The First Law Trilogy” about a year or two ago and finally got around to reading the rest of the books, just in time for a new series taking place in the same world to start up (Age of Madness) and now i am waiting like everybody else for the next two books to come out in 2020 and 2021. A Little Hatred shouldn’t be read as a stand alone, a lot of what goes on is dependent mainly on knowledge from the first trilogy and in The Heroes, then bits and pieces from Best Served Cold and Red Country. So much of your enjoyment of each book is based on what you’ve learned in other ones (character development or seemingly useless information being not so useless later).

Age of Legend (Book 4, Legend of the First Empire)

This is more-or-less an “aftermath” book where the main characters are still reeling about what happened in the previous book and are trying to make plans for what they are going to do next. I still like the characters and the world/setting it takes place in.

House of Assassins (Saga of the Forgotten Warrior, Book 2)

I’ve been waiting for the next book in this series to come out the second i finished the first book in the series. It is one of those Science fiction in the disguise of Fantasy settings and I am on the edge of my seat waiting to see how that plot/revelation comes out (I am certain that the location the story takes place is Earth, more specifically around Asia/India, but in a post-invasion apocalypse setting where nobody remembers anything prior to the invasion). I also really like how much of a badass Ashok is... i have a thing for emotionally stunted badass characters, especially when their flaws are held up to a mirror and have real consequences.

R. R. Haywood’s Worldship Humility & Extinct (Extracted, Book 3)

I love the way Haywood writes characters and dialog. I was at-first iffy about WSH, but was won over after i warmed up to the new characters.

Shades of Magic Trilogy (A Darker Shade of Magic, A Gathering of Shadows, A Conjuring of Shadows)

Solid multi-verse and magic system world. Well-written characters, some minor nitpicks on plot points, but can be easily ignored. LGBTQ rep, the gays don’t stay buried.

“Don’t you have enough [knives]?” “You can never have too many.” [me, every time: LOL]

One of the few times when a character deserves a redemption arc, doesn’t really get one, dies, and i am perfectly fine with it because it is done well.

Assassin’s Fate (Fitz and the Fool, Book 3)

I read this one in book-book form, but i already knew most of the emotionally painful parts of the book by spoiling it to myself when it first came out a couple years ago. The main appeal is the inner monologues of the two main characters, even if like 50% of this trilogy is basically spending weeks/months trying to go from Point A to Point B, when many other books would have glossed over the details of travel.. but you can really feel the stress as they dwell in their thoughts and struggles.

Madeline Miller’s The Song of Achilles & Circe

Re-Imagining of the Iliad and The Odyssey. Focusing not on the characters of Achilles or Odysseus, but on Petroclus (Achilles’ lover) and Circe the sea nymph witch that Odysseus had an affair and child with.

The Spear of the Stars (Cycle of Galand, Book 5)

Still love Dante and Bleys... This is where they really get into the meat of world building and solving the mysteries of the Arawn Cycle (the book/bible) and peel back the layers of their reality.

Dust (Silo Book 3)

A great ending to a good series, it answers whether or not humanity can or has survived what had caused them to be locked away in the silos.

Blackthorn and Grim (Dreamer’s Pool, Tower of Thorns, Den of Wolves)

I like the premise of the books, the two main characters first seeking out revenge, but end up wanting to become better people due to magic shenanigans.... One part Fantasy, One Part Mystery, One Part Lovestory.

The Dispatcher (Audible Free Book)

I want a whole series based off this novella. It is John Scalzi so he can write a good story. I had previously read Android’s Dream by him, which it didn’t make it into my top-10 that year, but was still decent, even if the subject matter was a bit gross... The Dispatcher world is a Sci-Fi Noir, not quite Cyberpunk, where people don’t die by anything other than natural causes. The Dispatcher’s job is to kill people before something goes does wrong and the person “resets” to when they where safe and sound.

---- this is the “Above Average” Zone ----

All the Pretty Horses & Blood Meridian: Or the Evening Redness in the West

The master of bleak and depressing fiction. if regular Dark Fiction isn’t enough for you.... there is Cormac McCarthy books. Get use to the “purple prose” that fills up pages with no dialog.

The Golem and the Jinni

Supernatural world of the far past dealing with Edwardian New York and Immigration. It not only is a “fish out of water” story of the two main characters trying to fit in with society but they are among communities that are also new to America and trying to find their own place in the world. There are love subplots but most of those kind of fizzle out.

The Axe and the Throne: Bounds of Redemption Vol. 1.

“Discount First Law” book... it is lacking the dark humor that made TFL series far more entertaining. This was also the book that was prefaced by warning people about how grim and dark the setting was... Hahahaha. I still found it entertaining none the less, and hope the rest would show up on audible soon.

Black Snow, White Crow (Audible Free Book)

Another one of those short stories that should have a larger saga to its name. Fantasy Industrial Punk. It has the whole equality role reversal thing going on, it isn’t done quite as well as Left Hand of Darkness (but that book leaned onto the boring side of things).

Stephen King’s IT, Pet Semetary, and Carrie

It’s Stephen King. Classic King. Not much else to say.

Watership Down

Depressing Rabbit Book. Though I did like all the stories and mythology the rabbits had.

Bloody Acquisitions (Fred the Vampire Accountant, Book 3)

A series that is always fun to listen to. I wish the audio books were cheaper because they are rather short.

Lethal White (Cormoran Strike, Book 4)

shuddup, i don’t care if it is Rowling... i have a low-key crush on Cormoran.... he just hits that big-burly tragic-backstory man-shaped soft-spot of mine. These stories are also her “for adults” writings so... expect more racism and garbage values.

The Eye of the World (Book 1, Wheel of Time)

Classic set up to a long running series, though i am reluctant to go further as the middling books in this series are said to drag out the story too much.... It’s not as self-centered as Wizard’s First Rule and the characters are more relatable and stick to their fantasy tropes. This is the “mold” that other modern fantasy try to subvert by going “darker and edgier.”

The Exorcist

If you like the movie, read the book. There is a lot of back story that the movie wasn’t able to adapt.

---- This is the “AVERAGE, but Still Good” Zone ---

The Iliad and The Odyssey

Classics. I am still on the hunt for an unabridged version of Jason and the Argonauts story. I also have Virgil’s Aeneid in my wishlist to get too soon.

Phillipa Gregory’s Plantagonate Novels (The Lady of the Rivers, The Red Queen, White Queen, The Kingmaker’s Daughter)

Sometimes it is like reading the same book 5x in a row. other times you end up not liking the previous protagonist in a book you just finished reading because of how the current protagonist sees them from their POV.

Return of the King (Lord of the Rings, Book 3)

Read the other books last year and didn’t get around to this one for a few months.

Something Wicked This Way Comes

Fuck... I’m a janitor... why can’t i afford a house? If you liked Stephen King’s ��IT” go back and read this book.

Alien Franchise Dramatizations: Alien: Sea of Sorrows, Alien: The Cold Forge (Audible Free Book) Alien III (Audible Free Book)

I don’t mind that they all are done with a full cast. Though often I end up wanting to find the actual book and listen to them with just one narrator and descriptions.

The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe (Narnia, Book 1)

I would like to get the rest of the books in this series, but for books that are only 5-7 hours long they want 20$ a book for them. It needs to go into an omnibus.

Stephen Fry’s Victorian Secrets (Audible Free Book)

It’s Stephen Fry... he’s funny and a good narrator.

Wizard’s First Rule (Book 1, Sword of Truth)

I don’t like Richard. He started off alright, but even before he got tortured 2/3rds into the book, i was starting to dislike his personality. Other than that, the side characters and world are solid, but it was like taking an R-rated movie and cutting it down for TV. There is somethings that are vaguely described when i am use to harder fiction like ASoIaF, The First Law, Dresden, and McCarthy books actually describing those things.

Halloween (2018, movie novel)

Like I said when i first read the book, it would’ve benefited by a second re-write before being published. But, i like the movie and so I liked the book.

Don Quixote

Another classic read. I did find it hilarious that the Author spent a good chunk of the second book complaining about Fanfiction of his own book... in the 1600′s.

The Princess Diarist

I listened this book instead of going to see TROS. worth it.

Smoke Gets in Your eyes: And other Lessons from the Crematorium

Non-Fiction, If you want to know the ins and outs of the funeral business and get told in an informative yet non-clinical way with lots of tidbits and history facts tossed in as well as a semi-autobiographical account of the Author’s life.

--- These Books are “Alright” ---

Frank L. Baum’s Wizard of Oz books

I ligit got into an argument with a 70yo man in a comic book shop about how Canon the other Oz books were post Baum’s death. He was looking for Oz comic books and I brought up reading the first 14 books, and he’s like “There’s over 100 of them” and i was all “but all those are written by somebody else.” and he got all “they are still canon...”

The Hunchback of Notre Dame

If you want to know about the In//cel ideology in a classic literary form, this fits the bill. So much man pain.

A Christmas Carol (Tim Curry) (Audible Free Book)

Tim Curry, guys.....

The Poetic Edda (Norse God Mythology)

I listened this book twice. I bought two Edda books thinking I’d get some extra content, but no... same book just different production teams and readers. Returned the one with the worst translation.

Treasure Island (Audible Free Book, dramatization)

I need to read the actual book sometime, but i did like the cast and thought they did a good job.

Wally Roux, Quantum Mechanic (Audible Free Book)

A YA coming of age story about diversity and acceptance... with wacky science fiction.

Carmilla (Audible Free Book, dramatization)

The vampire before Dracula. Victorian Lesbian love story.

Even Tree Nymphs get the Blues (Audible Free Book)

A novella from one of those “love on the Bayou” romance series with supernatural creatures. Could practically take place in the same world of either True Blood, Dresden, or Fred the Vampire Accountant.

Mystwick School of Musicraft (Audible Free Book)

Harry Potter lite. For 10yo girls.

A Grown-up’s Guide to Dinosaurs (Audible Free Book)

I like dinosaurs.

Rivals! Frenemies Who Changed the World (Audible Free Book, Dramatization)

Interesting way on telling us about the Fossil Wars and Puma vs. Adidas.

True-Crime from Audible: Body of Proof (Audible Free Book), Midnight Son (Audible Free Book), The Demon Next Door (Audible Free Book), Killer By Nature (Audible Free Book)

Why is True-Crime or YA fiction the only halfway-decent things Audible is giving us? But yeah, these are basically the type of reporting that the two journalists from Halloween were trying to do. Where they go around and gather up information about semi-famous cases and present it in a Podcast-like format.

---- Meh... ---

Camp Red Moon (Audible Free Book)

Would’ve been better if they were actually written by R. L. Stein.

More Bedtime Stories for Cynics (Audible Free Book)

No... half of these aren’t written very well.

The Darkwater Bride (Audible Free Book, Dramatization)

The setting is nice, but it is far too .... Soap Opera Dramatic.

Junk (Audible Free Book)

A cross between Alien Invasion and Zombie outbreak, read by John Waters and written as if it was a bad version of a Philip K. Dick Novel.

Rip Off!! (Audible Free Book)

Most of them are duds and boring. I don’t even remember half of them without having to look them up. The two that stood out the most for me where the “Other Darren/Bewitched” and the “Dark and Stormy Night” stories, the rest were rather garbled.

--- Garbage... ---

Dodge and Twist (Audible Free Book, Dramatization)

No, you are not being edgy or kool.

Unread:

Siege Tactics (Spells, Swords, & Stealth. Book 4)

Triumphant (Genesis Fleet, Book 3)

Earthsea (Tehanu and Tales from Earthsea, i am going to re-listen to the first three before i get to these)

Into the Wilds (Warriors, Book 1)

Pout Neuf (Audible Free Book)

House of Teeth (Audible Free Book)

Viva Durant and the Secret of the Silver Buttons (Audible Free Book)

The Other Boleyn Girl (Phillipa Gregory)

#the first law #legend of the first empire #saga of the forgotten warrior #realm of the elderlings #a darker shade of magic #the song of achilles #john scalzi #r. r. haywood #Cycle of Galand #blackthorn and grim #myu reads #long post

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mew-mew-mothertrucker · 7 years ago

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Cold Storms - Chapter 1

Hello everyone! So this is my first fanfiction I’m posting anywhere in a few years. I used to write a lot but then some stuff came up but now I want to do it again. So here is the first chapter of my first multi-chapter fic in like 3 years. I present to you chapter 1 of Cold Storms

Chapter - 1

Word count - 10793

TW - Mentions of child abuse

Summary - Virgil is the new kid at Summerville Elementary school in Mr. Sander’s 3rd-grade class.

Fun Facts about the chapter - Virgil’s last name is the short form of the Greek name Thanatos, meaning "death." Also, All facts about New Mexico are true

Virgil looked up at the building. Red brick, a flagpole in front of the school surrounded by a beautiful garden that was fenced off from the kids. A few park benches and two main entrances. It was the first day of school, and around him were mothers and fathers saying goodbye to their little ones.

Don’t think about mom he internally said to himself.

He walked up to the door and found his name on the slip of paper that assigned kids to the classrooms of the small elementary school

Virgil Than - Room 301 Teacher - Thomas Sanders

Virgil adjusted his usual black and purple hoodie he wore to cover the bruises from his father and walked into the cool building outside of the warm sun. He gripped his hands on the straps of his backpack as he walked past the office and into the hall that was labeled “3rd Grade” with a cheesy kid’s sign, bright yellow and covered in small people that were any shade of skin and dancing. He found room 301 and sat outside of the room. The bell rang and he stood up, waiting for other students. The first kid to come up and stand next to him was in a pair of jeans and a black polo shirt. He had on a pair of glasses and was holding a rather large book for an 8-year-old to be reading. The kid leaned on the wall next to Virgil and didn't say anything to him. The next kid to come up was wearing a bright blue t-shirt with a cat on it and a pair of glasses.

“Logan! You’re in Mr. Sander’s class too?”

“Yes, it would appear that was, Patton,” The kid with the large book said.

The kid in the blue shirt-Patton- looked at Virgil. “Oh, are you new here?”

Virgil nodded, feeling his heartbeat quicken. “I-I just moved here”

“Well, it’s nice to meet you! I’m Patton, and this is Logan!”

“M-My name is Virgil,” he said the last part quietly.

“Sorry, I didn’t catch that,” Patton said.

“V-Virgil,” he said a bit louder.

“Oh, like Publius Vergilius Maro?” Logan asked.

“Wh-who?”

“Nevermind,” he said, looking back into his book. Virgil looked at the cover, it was covered with Gladiators and the book was clearly about Roman history.

Another kid walked down the hallway, a shirt from The Lion King on. “Patton! Are you in Mr. Sander’s class?”

“Yeah, wow looks like all three of us have the same class this year!” Patton said to the new kid. “Oh Roman, this is Virgil, he’s new!”

Roman looked at Virgil, clearly unimpressed by his tattered hoodie and ripped jeans. “How...nice,” he said before getting in line behind Patton. Virgil sighed. A teacher walked up to the door and opened it, gesturing for the students to come in.

“Hello, you four seem to be the first ones in, I have organized you all into groups of four, so find your name tag and get out all the required materials out of your backpack and place them in the desks, you bags can go over there in some cubbies” The teacher said, pointing at some cubbies that had a large green sign with “Bags” on it, decorated with small cartoon backpacks. Virgil got out his items and went to look for his name, finding himself sat next to the three students he had just met.

“Wowie guys, look at this, we are all together!” Patton said.

“This seat is...suitable enough,” Logan said.

“Well at least I’m next to you two,” Roman said.

Virgil sat own, next to him Patton and across from him Logan. Roman sat in the fourth seat, and slowly more kids trickled in until the last bell rang. The teacher closed the door and walked to the front of the class.

“Hello students, I am Mr. Sanders, but you can call me Mr. S if you want to, and let me personally welcome you all to this 3rd-grade class! This year we will be going over how to become a better reader by looking at context clues how to read and write in cursive,, multiplication and division, food changes and state history! Now, how about we start off with a game of getting to know each other!”

Virgil felt his heart rate increase and his palms became sweaty. “We are all going to write 10 facts about ourselves on a piece of paper that I will read out loud to the class with the student next to me, even I will be answering this question! Now we will be answering a few questions that I will put on the board. While I write them out, could you all please get out a piece of paper and a pencil?”

Virgil lifted the top of his desk with the other students, getting a pencil and a piece of paper. While some students let the desk close in a crash, Virgil gently let his down and looked up at the neat handwriting on the board.

What is your name?

What is your birthday?

Do you have any pets? If so, describe them

Who do you live with?

What is your favorite movie?

What is your favorite holiday?

What is your favorite toy?

Do you have a favorite book? If so, what is it?

What is your favorite color?

Do you have a best friend? If so, who is it?

Virgil looked at the questions then back at the paper.

Virgil Than

April 24th

My dad

The Black Cauldron

Halloween

When Virgil got to number 7, he didn’t know what to say. His father had never gotten him any toys. The only toy he had was a stuffed animal that his mother had gotten him before the incident and he couldn’t stand to look at it. He just decided to go with the toys he saw on TV when his father was at work

Hot Wheels

Yes, Alice In Wonderland

Purple

When Virgil was done, he flipped the paper over glanced around at the rest of the class. Girls in dresses, boys in t-shirts and jeans, he was the only one in a jacket.

He felt a hand on his shoulder and jumped, looking up to see Mr. Sanders looking down at him. The teacher seemed to be concerned with Virgil jumping but brushed it off.

“Hey there, you done?” he asked. Virgil nodded and he took the piece of paper. Soon, everyone was finished and Mr. Sanders walked up to the board.

“Okay class, I will read out by answers now. My name is Mr. Sanders, my birthday is April 24th, I have no pets, unfortunately, I live with my husband, Terrence, my favorite movie is the Lion King, I love Christmas, I have this stuffed animal that one of my dearest friends gave me a few years back that I hold close to my heart, My favorite book is actually in the Harry Potter series, my favorite color is red and my best friend’s name is Joan.“

Roman Patton and Logan all looked at each other when Mr. Sanders said his name and something unspoken passed between the three. Virgil was curious, the 24th of April was also his birthday, why did they all look like that?

“Now, I will select a random piece of paper from the pile let’s see Uh can Virgil please come up here?”

Virgil got up and shuffled over to the front of the classroom, feeling all eyes on him. He stood nervously next to the teacher's side as he read out the answers and when the teacher was done, he shuffled back over to his seat.

Now the other three kids at his table were all looking at him weirdly. Mr. Sanders called on a girl named Amber to come up and read her answers. Next, to him, Patton wrote something on a paper and passed it to Roman. Roman read it and wrote something then passed it to Logan, who read it over and passed it back to Romac who passed it to Patton. Amber’s paper was done and a girl who looked exactly like Amber walked up after Mr. Sanders called out the name Rosanna.

Patton quickly wrote something back and passed it to Roman. The paper went through the three as Virgil tried to pay attention to the other students.

“Can Patton please come up?” Patton got up and walked over to the front of the room and stood next to Mr. Sanders, smiling at the class.

“Okay buddy let’s see, you were also born on April 24th wow that’s 3 of us now, aw you have a large husky dog, okay you live with your parents and a baby brother, your favorite movie is Winnie the Pooh, your favorite toy is a Winnie the pooh stuffed animal, you love the book Highway Cats, your favorite color is blue and your best friends are Logan and Roman, awe that’s so sweet.”

Slowly the pieces clicked together in Virgil’s head. It was confirmed after roman and Logan had been called up. All of them had the same birthday.

Mr. Sanders asked the class who was buying lunch what they wanted and sent the order to the cafeteria. Virgil did his work, writing out cursive A’s until lunchtime, where him and the rest of his class got in line and walked to the cafeteria. Virgil had a brown bag filled with a sandwich he made himself and some chips, along with a water bottle. He sat at a table, all alone. The only other students were all in the third grade as well, but he didn’t know anyone, so he sat and ate the ham and cheese sandwich slowly, watching what other students did. Soon, everyone who had ordered lunches were sitting at table and Patton walked over.

“Hey, Virgil! Mind if me, Roman and Logan si with you?”

Virgil shrugged and gestured to the seats, due to his mouth being full. Patton smiled and sat down, Logan with the same book next and Roman last, sitting as far away from Virgil as possible.

“So Virgil, where did you move from?” Patton asked.

“New Mexico”

“Ah yes, New Mexico, land of enchantment. Hatch green Chile is grown there and is very popular among locals. The state capital is Santa Fe and the largest cities are Albuquerque, Las Cruces, and Rio Rancho. It is the background of many movies and T.V shows and has oil in the southern parts of the state. Turquoise is found there a lot, as well, being one of the most common gems in jewelry there” Logan recited as if he had been waiting for that to be Virgil’s answer.

“Uh...yeah”

“Well, that’s interesting,” Patton said.

Roman had yet to say a word, just poked at his pizza that looked more like cardboard painted red and covered in paper.

“Anyhow, we were wondering if you would like to be our friend,” Patton said.

“Why?”

“Well, you have the same birthday as us silly! We’re all friends because of that!”

“So you want to be my friend because I happened to be born on April 24th?”

“Well of course!”

“No, thank you”

Patton frowned.

“Well, if you don’t want to…”

Roman was the first to leave and go sit at another empty table. Logan went after and Patton looked at Virgil sadly before getting up and joining the other two. Virgil almost regretted it but then the voice in the back of his mind came up. You shouldn’t get close to people when you do they get hurt. And besides, they would soon learn how messed up you are

Virgil finished his sandwich and threw away his trash before spending all of the recess after lunch sitting against the school, alone, watching as a pair of twins from his class played foursquare with three other kids who weren’t in his class, boys from other classes and a few from his class playing basketball, and finally his eyes landed on Patton Roman and Logan, all playing on some of the equipment, laughing and yelling at each other, Logan’s book neatly placed next to the steps leading up to some slides. Virgil got up and spent the rest of the recess in the classroom, alone.

#cold storms #thomas #thomas sanders #fanfic #fandom #fanfiction #virgil sanders #logan sanders #patton sanders #roman sanders #sandersides #sander sides #sander sides fanfiction

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alexthefly · 2 years ago

Text

Ooh, I love the idea of a storytime clip show!! Also seconding various suggestions of more of the boys' rooms, training with Kayo, more outfits, supermarionation cameos, and the flamingo shirt!

My additions:

Flashback episode to IR before Jeff went missing. Perhaps even day 1 of IR. Bonus points for wee!Tinies, newly-reformed and still-a-bit-rough Parker, and Jeff piloting TB3;

Someone else's birthday. Perhaps Brains or Grandma. *gasp* Or the Mechanic! ::squeals:: 🥰

Any Alan reference to motor-racing;

Pen&Ink date with Parker being a 3rd wheel;

Another virtual battle (like MAX vs The Hood), but this time with EOS because I want to see our little murder-child go to war!

Gordon's plushie collection, because he absolutely has one...

That Cliff Richard song! Just randomly on the radio or something like that.

A Halloween episode. (Bonus points if Virgil's costume involves a beret and giant flouncy bow...😉)

Do u wanna play a game?

We can totally get to 100 fun things we wish we’d got to see in Thunderbirds Are Go (fun things, not ur shitlist) Reblog til we get to 100 😄😄😄

1. Virgil exercising in the gym in the roundhouse. In the name of science and stuff, and for the good of all mankind, we deserved to see that boy’s exercise routine at least once. Preferably shirtless. For science.

2. Thunderbird One carrying Thunderbird Four like a lil baby duck

3. Virgil piloting Thunderbird One whilst Scott pilots Thunderbird Two. They’d hate it 😆

4. TRACY INDUSTRIES - like how did Papa Jeff get all that $$$$$$$ for IR?

5. Papa Jeff’s infamous flamingo shirt

6. Those cute lil beach huts below the villa on Tracy Island

7. That mysterious tunnel above TB4’s lil fishie tank. Where does it goooo?

8. Exactly how TB4 gets from her fish tank and into her module ready for launch

9. A bottle episode where such a bad storm hits the island, they’re all grounded idek. Give me Scott trapped with his lil brothers and give me those lil brothers with no escape from their big bro God help them

10. Scott’s walk in wardrobe. Give me beautifully tailored suits and shiny shoes or give me death

🙌 🙌 🙌 your turn 🙌 🙌 🙌 hit me 🙌 🙌 🙌

#thunderbirds are go #thunderfam

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kkatagas · 8 years ago

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Asclepius | Ασκληπιός

Asclepius (Greek: Ἀσκληπιός, Latin: Aesculapius) was a hero and god of medicine in ancient Greek religion and mythology. Asclepius represents the healing aspect of the medical arts; his daughters are Hygieia ("Hygiene", the goddess/personification of health, cleanliness, and sanitation), Iaso (the goddess of recuperation from illness), Aceso (the goddess of the healing process), Aglæa/Ægle (the goddess of beauty, splendor, glory, magnificence, and adornment), and Panacea (the goddess of universal remedy). He was associated with the Roman/Etruscan god Vediovis and the Egyptian Imhotep. He was one of Apollo's sons, sharing with Apollo the epithet Paean ("the Healer"). The rod of Asclepius, a snake-entwined staff, remains a symbol of medicine today.Asclepius was married to Epione, with whom he had five daughters: Hygieia, Panacea, Aceso, Iaso, and Aglaea. and three sons: Machaon, Podaleirios and Telesphoros. He also sired a son, Aratus, with Aristodama.[5][6][7][8][9][10][11] At some point, Asclepius was among those who took part in the Calydonian Boar hunt. He was the son of Apollo and, according to the earliest accounts, a mortal woman named Coronis.[5] His mother was killed for being unfaithful to Apollo and was laid out on a funeral pyre to be consumed, but the unborn child was rescued from her womb. It is said that in return for some kindness rendered by Asclepius, a snake licked Asclepius’ ears clean and taught him secret knowledge (to the Greeks snakes were sacred beings of wisdom, healing, and resurrection). Asclepius bore a rod wreathed with a snake, which became associated with healing. A species of non-venomous pan-Mediterranean serpent, the Aesculapian snake (Zamenis longissimus - Elaphe longissima) is named for the god.

In an ancient myth recorded by Hesiod's Theogony, Cronus envied the power of his father, the ruler of the universe, Uranus. Uranus drew the enmity of Cronus's mother, Gaia, when he hid the gigantic youngest children of Gaia, the hundred-handed Hecatonchires and one-eyed Cyclopes, in Tartarus, so that they would not see the light. Gaia created a great stone sickle and gathered together Cronus and his brothers to persuade them to castrate Uranus. Only Cronus was willing to do the deed, so Gaia gave him the sickle and placed him in ambush. When Uranus met with Gaia, Cronus attacked him with the sickle, castrating him and casting his testicles into the sea. From the blood that spilled out from Uranus and fell upon the earth, the Gigantes, Erinyes, and Meliae were produced. The testicles produced a white foam from which the goddess Aphrodite emerged. After dispatching Uranus, Cronus re-imprisoned the Hecatonchires, and the Cyclopes and set the dragon Campe to guard them. He and his sister Rhea took the throne of the world as king and queen. The period in which Cronus ruled was called the Golden Age, as the people of the time had no need for laws or rules; everyone did the right thing, and immorality was absent. (Hesiod, Theogony. 188ff.) Chiron was sired by the Titan Cronus when he had taken the form of a horse[6] and impregnated the nymph Philyra.[7] Chiron's lineage was different from other centaurs, who were born of sun and raincloud, rendered by Greeks of the Classic period as from the union of the king Ixion, consigned to a fiery wheel, and Nephele ("cloud"), which in the Olympian telling Zeus invented to look like Hera. Myths in the Olympian tradition attributed Chiron's uniquely peaceful character and intelligence to Apollo and Artemis teaching him in his younger days. (*1) Chiron lived predominantly on Mount Pelion; there he married the nymph Chariclo who bore him three daughters, Hippe (also known as Melanippe meaning the "Black Mare" or Euippe, "truly a mare"), Endeïs, and Ocyrhoe, and one son Carystus. A great healer, astrologer, and respected oracle, Chiron was said to be the first among centaurs and highly revered as a teacher and tutor. Among his pupils were many culture heroes: Asclepius, Aristaeus, Ajax, Aeneas, Actaeon, Caeneus, Theseus, Achilles, Jason, Peleus, Telamon, Perseus, sometimes Heracles, Oileus, Phoenix, and in one Byzantine tradition, even Dionysus: according to Ptolemaeus Chennus of Alexandria. "Dionysus was loved by Chiron, from whom he learned chants and dances, the bacchic rites and initiations."[8] There is also a persistent link with Peleus throughout Chiron's myth. Chiron saved the life of Peleus when Acastus tried to kill him by taking his sword and leaving him out in the woods to be slaughtered by the centaurs. Chiron retrieved the sword for Peleus. Chiron then explained to Peleus how to capture the nymph Thetis, leading to their marriage. (*2). Apollo carried the baby to the centaur Chiron who raised Asclepius and instructed him in the art of medicine. (*3) The baby was Asclepius. Cronus learned from Gaia and Uranus that he was destined to be overcome by his own sons, just as he had overthrown his father. As a result, although he sired the gods Demeter, Hestia, Hera, Hades and Poseidon by Rhea, he devoured them all as soon as they were born to prevent the prophecy. When the sixth child, Zeus, was born Rhea sought Gaia to devise a plan to save them and to eventually get retribution on Cronus for his acts against his father and children. (Cronus also fathered Chiron, by Philyra.) Rhea secretly gave birth to Zeus in Crete, and handed Cronus a stone wrapped in swaddling clothes, also known as the Omphalos Stone, which he promptly swallowed, thinking that it was his son. Rhea kept Zeus hidden in a cave on Mount Ida, Crete. According to some versions of the story, he was then raised by a goat named Amalthea, while a company of Kouretes, armored male dancers, shouted and clapped their hands to make enough noise to mask the baby's cries from Cronus. Other versions of the myth have Zeus raised by the nymph Adamanthea, who hid Zeus by dangling him by a rope from a tree so that he was suspended between the earth, the sea, and the sky, all of which were ruled by his father, Cronus. Still other versions of the tale say that Zeus was raised by his grandmother, Gaia. Once he had grown up, Zeus used an emetic given to him by Gaia to force Cronus to disgorge the contents of his stomach in reverse order: first the stone, which was set down at Pytho under the glens of Mount Parnassus to be a sign to mortal men, and then his two brothers and three sisters. In other versions of the tale, Metis gave Cronus an emetic to force him to disgorge the children, or Zeus cut Cronus's stomach open. After freeing his siblings, Zeus released the Hecatonchires, and the Cyclopes who forged for him his thunderbolts, Poseidon's trident and Hades' helmet of darkness. In a vast war called the Titanomachy, Zeus and his brothers and sisters, with the help of the Hecatonchires, and Cyclopes, overthrew Cronus and the other Titans. Afterwards, many of the Titans were confined in Tartarus, however, Atlas, Epimetheus, Helios, Menoetius, Oceanus and Prometheus were not imprisoned following the Titanomachy. Gaia bore the monster Typhon to claim revenge for the imprisoned Titans. Accounts of the fate of Cronus after the Titanomachy differ. In Homeric and other texts he is imprisoned with the other Titans in Tartarus. In Orphic poems, he is imprisoned for eternity in the cave of Nyx. Pindar describes his release from Tartarus, where he is made King of Elysium by Zeus. In another version[citation needed], the Titans released the Cyclopes from Tartarus, and Cronus was awarded the kingship among them, beginning a Golden Age. In Virgil's Aeneid[citation needed], it is Latium to which Saturn (Cronus) escapes and ascends as king and lawgiver, following his defeat by his son Jupiter (Zeus).

(Wikipedia) *1: A quote from the lost Titanomachia, provided as a scholium on Apollonius Rhodius' Argonautica I.554 (on-line quote); pseudo-Apollodorus Bibliotheke 1. 8 - 9, may have drawn upon the same source. *2: "Ὡς Διόνυσος ἐρώμενος Χείρωνος, ἐξ οὗ καὶ μάθοι τούς τε κώμους καὶ τὰς βακχείας καὶ τὰς τελετάς." (Ptolemaeus Chennus, New History, quoted in Photios of Constantinople, Library, 190. *3: (Pindar, Pythian Ode 3.5ff (trans. Conway) (Greek lyric 5th century BC). *4: Greek Lyric V Anonymous, Fragments 939 (Inscription from Erythrai) (trans. Campbell) (BC) *5 Suidas s.v. Epione (trans. Suda On Line) (Byzantine Greek lexicon 10th century AD) *6 Pausanias, Description of Greece 2.29.1 (trans. Jones) (Greek travelogue 2nd century AD) *7 Homer, Iliad 4.193 and 217ff (trans. Lattimore) (Greek epic 8th century BC) *8 Homer, Iliad 11.518ff (trans. Lattimore) (Greek epic 8th century BC) *9 Homer, Iliad 2.730ff (trans. Lattimore) (Greek epic 8th century BC) *10 Lycophron, Alexandra 1047ff (trans. Mair) (Greek poet 3rd century BC) *11 Diodorus Siculus, Library of History 4.71.3 (trans. Oldfather) (Greek historian 1st century BC)

Ασκληπιός. Ο Ασκληπιός είναι γιός του Απόλλωνα και της θνητής Κορωνίδας.

Ο Απόλλων δεν ήταν πιο αδιάφθορος από οποιονδήποτε άλλο θεό του ελληνικού πάνθεου. Οι πολυάριθμοι έρωτές του περιελάμβαναν την Κορωνίδα, τη Δάφνη, την Αρσινόη, την Κασσάνδρα, την Ψαμάθη, τη Φιλωνίδα, τη Χρυσόθεμι και πολλές άλλες, από τις οποίες σχεδόν πάντα ο Απόλλωνας παίρνει ένα γιο. Ένας από αυτούς τους γιους ήταν ο Ασκληπιός, αν και συζητείται εάν η μητέρα του ήταν η Κορωνίς ή η Αρσινόη. Ο Απόλλων ήταν ζηλότυπος θεός και δυσαρεστήθηκε ιδιαίτερα όταν ένας κόρακας του αποκάλυψε ότι η ερωμένη του επρόκειτο να παντρευτεί ένα θνητό. Πρώτα, λοιπόν τιμώρησε για τα κακά μαντάτα τον κόρακα, αλλάζοντας το λευκό του φτέρωμα στο γνωστό μας μαύρο. Κατόπιν τιμώρησε την ερωμένη του καίγοντάς τη, αν και σε άλλη εκδοχή του μύθου ήταν η Άρτεμις που εξέθεσε την «άπιστη» Κορωνίδα (ή Αρσινόη). Πριν να αποτεφρωθεί εντελώς η Κορωνίς, ο Απόλλωνας διέσωσε το έμβρυο που έφερε στη μήτρα της από τις φλόγες. Ο νεογέννητος Ασκληπιός χρειαζόταν κάποιον για να τον μεγαλώσει. Έτσι ο Απόλλωνας σκέφθηκε το σοφό κένταυρο Χείρωνα, μια άλλη ενδιαφέρουσα θεραπευτική μορφή της ελληνικής μυθολογίας, πιθανώς προ-ολύμπια, αφού τον συναντάμε να διατρέχει τις πεδιάδες της Κρήτης, όταν γεννήθηκε ο Δίας. Ο Χείρων, λοιπόν, ο εκπαιδευτής τόσων ηρώων όπως ο Αχιλλέας, ο Ακταίων, ο Ιάσων, ο Πάτροκλος, ο Πηλέας κ.α. ανέλαβε την εκπαίδευση του Ασκληπιού. Θα παρατηρήσουμε εδώ ότι ο Χείρων είναι σύμβολο μιας προαιώνιας σοφίας, αυτής που υπάρχει πριν από το σχηματισμό των θεών. Η σοφία του κένταυρου είναι σε σημαντικό βαθμό παρούσα στη διάπλαση των ηρώων της ελληνικής μυθολογίας. Είναι ένα από τα ζητούμενα στο ταξίδι της ηρωικής αναζήτησης και της ολοκλήρωσης του εαυτού. Συνεπώς, αν και ο Απόλλωνας υπήρξε θεός της θεραπείας, ήταν ο Χείρων που δίδαξε τη θεραπευτική τέχνη στον Ασκληπιό. Στην ανατροφή ανακατεύεται και άλλο ένα αρχέτυπο της σοφίας –ολύμπιο αυτή τη φορά- η θεά Αθηνά, η οποία προσφέρει στον Ασκληπιό το πολύτιμο αίμα της Μέδουσας. Το αίμα της Μέδουσας, αυτό που δόθηκε στον Ασκληπιό από την Αθηνά, διαιρείτο σε δύο μέρη, με βάση τη φλέβα από την οποία είχε αναπηδήσει. Το αίμα από τη δεξιά φλέβα θα μπορούσε να θεραπεύσει την ανθρωπότητα, ακόμη και από το θάνατο, ενώ το αίμα από την αριστερή φλέβα μπορούσε να θανατώσει. Τούτο το θάνατο βίωσε ο Χείρων από τα δηλητηριασμένα βέλη. Στον αρχετυπικό θρησκευτικό δυϊσμό, στην πάλη του θεραπευτικού καλού και του σκοτεινού κακού υποκύπτει ακόμη και η προαιώνια σοφία στους κοσμολογικούς μύθους της ανθρωπότητας, ακόμη και αν ακολουθεί η ανάσταση και η ανανέωση. O Ασκληπιός ανατράφηκε για να γίνει ικανός θεραπευτής, αλλά όταν έφερε πίσω στη ζωή τον Καπανέα και τον Λυκούργο (σκοτώθηκαν στη ��ιάρκεια του πολέμου των Επτά επί των Θηβών) και τον Ιππόλυτο, το γιο του Θησέα, ανήσυχος ο Δίας για την εξουσία του πάνω στη ζωή και το θάνατο, σκότωσε τον Ασκληπιό με έναν κεραυνό. Μάνιασε ο Απόλλωνας, αλλά ο θυμός ενάντια στο βασιλέα των Θεών ήταν ανώφελος, κι έτσι έστρεψε το θυμό του ενάντια στους δημιουργούς των κεραυνών, τους Κύκλωπες. Εξοργισμένος ο Δίας ετοιμάστηκε να τον ξαποστείλει στον Τάρταρο, αλλά παρενέβη μια άλλη θεά, πιθανώς η μητέρα του Απόλλωνα, η Λητώ. Ο Δίας μετέτρεψε την τιμωρία του γιου του, στέλνοντάς τον υπηρέτη στον θνητό βασιλιά Άδμητο για ένα χρόνο. Κατά τη διάρκεια της θητείας του ως υπηρέτης, ο Απόλλωνας συμπάθησε τον Άδμητο, έναν άνθρωπο που ήταν καταδικασμένος να πεθάνει νέος. Καθώς δεν υπήρχε πια ο Ασκληπιός με το φίλτρο του για να αναστήσει τον βασιλιά, ο Άδμητος θα χανόταν για πάντα όταν πέθαινε. Ως χάρη, ο Απόλλωνας διαπραγματεύτηκε έναν τρόπο για να αποφύγει ο Άδμητος τον Χάροντα. Αν πέθαινε κάποιος άλλος στη θέση του, ο Χάροντας θα του επέτρεπε να ζησει. Το μόνο πρόσωπο που ήταν πρόθυμο να προχωρήσει σε αυτή τη θυσιαστική πράξη, ήταν αγαπημένη σύζυγος τους Άδμητου, η Άλκηστις.

Ο Ασκληπιός συμμετείχε στο ταξίδι των Αργοναυτών και το κυνήγι του Καλυδώνιου Κάπρου, γεγονός που τον οριοθετεί στους βίους των σημαντικότερων ηρώων της ελληνικής μυθολογίας. Ο Ασκληπιός ήταν επίσης σημαντική μορφή στο δράμα που εκτυλίχθηκε μεταξύ του Απόλλωνα, του Δία και των Κυκλώπων, γνωστό σε μας μέσω της τραγωδίας του Ευριπίδη Άλκηστις. Ο μύθος της Άλκηστης μας λέει ό,τι την ημέρα που δόθηκε η Άλκηστις στον Χάροντα, στη θέση του Άδμητου, κατέφθασε στο παλάτι ο Ηρακλής. Ακούγοντας τις οιμωγές του θρήνου παραξενεύτηκε κι όσο κι αν προσποιήθηκε ο Άδμητος πως τίποτα δε συνέβαινε, οι υπηρέτες που τους έλειπε η αφέντρα τους, αποκάλυψαν την αλήθεια. Έτσι ο Ηρακλής ξεκίνησε για τον Κάτω Κόσμο, να φροντίσει για την επιστροφή της Άλκηστης στη ζωή. Ο ήρωας γίνεται θεραπευτής και τανάπαλιν, ένα μυθικό μοτίβο που ανακυκλώνεται στην παγκόσμια ιστορία των θρησκειών.

#kkatagas syros #hermoupolis #asclepius #restart #art therapy #disable #drawing #art #greek mythology #kronos #titans

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