#Axe’s POV: first kiss scene | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

he-goes-down · 1 year ago

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Hiii I don’t know if you take requests if you don’t I’m so very sorry but could you maybe make one where axl caughts reader his gf masturbating when he comes home from tour and then smut ??❤️

OFC! AND I DO TAKE REQUESTS DONT FRET 🫶

YOURE THE SWEETEST DONT BE SORRY

Masterlist

Speedin’ Back To My Baby

Pairing: Axl Rose x Reader

Warnings: smut, masterbating unprotected p in v, dirty talk

Second Person POV:

Axl had been gone out this tour for longer than you could stand. You missed him deeply. Needing and wanting him every night before you go to be as your mind starts to drift off. The only other option to fix your needs was doing it yourself.

It was late night, your boyfriend had made it a point to come back a day earlier to surprise you. Flowers in hand, creeping into the house. Getting closer to your shared room. But as he got closer he heard you. Heard you moaning. Rage began to fill his veins. Were you cheating on him? If you were he was going to make this new guy have hell to pay. He lurked and peaked into your room, but only to find alone, with your fingers. He watched as you pleased yourself, mumbling and whining his name as your hips bucked up into your hand. “Shit…” he groaned silently, watching the pornographic scene in-front of him. Your heard the small grunt he made and looked in the direction only to find Axl’s piercing eyes staring at you. You screamed in surprise and your first instinct was to cover yourself up. “Ax- you’re back…?” You breathed out. “See you were having fun without me.” He smirked as he set the flowers down on the end table and came to sit next to your semi naked self. “I was just-…” “Mmm, save the excuses for later, I heard everything and I’m back for you.” He spoke lowly as he kissed your neck trailing up to your cheek and smirking against the skin as he spoke.

As much as he would have loved to see you please yourself as your thought of him, he needed you, he’s been needing you for the past few weeks, and you have been needing him.

Axl’s hand went up your bare thigh, getting closer and closer to your heat until he was spreading your folds and interesting his two fingers in you. “So wet… just for me. Fuck” he cursed before his mouth attached to yours and you began to kiss like it was your last one. You whined his name against him as he finger fucked your pussy. Needing to spread you out as you haven’t been filled in weeks. “Oh- Fuck-…” you moaned against his luscious lips, feeling your climax as you were nearly there before Axl came in. “Axl… fuck- I’m gonna…” as you were about to cum, Axl took out his fingers, removing any friction you needed to finish. “You can cum all over my dick as many times as you want honey, no use for fingers.” He told you as he crawled over you and kissed your cheek while you breathed hard at him denying your orgasm.

Axl took off his clothes and additionally taking off your pj shirt. “I missed this.” He said as his eyes wondered every nook and cranny of your body, like it’s his first time ever seeing you. “Axl just fuck me.” You whined, your body burned and your stomach felt empty, your body aching and pleading to cum. “Say no more baby.” He said cocking his head. Taking your lags and pushing them back slightly, positioning himself to your soaking wet entrance. He bent dien to kiss you before he pushed past your folds with a snap of your hips together and a slap echoing from it. You jolted as a shock sent through your body as he directly hit your good spot. You moaned and screamed loudly as he began to pound his dick into you. Your legs pushed further back even more, wanting to get a perfect angle. “Bet no fucking fingers made you scream this loud.” He grunted into your ear. “My little fucking slut.” You moaned again at his comment. “Hm? Thinking if me when you cum? Mmm so fucking dirty.” He thrusted more roughly with each pound to your pussy as he spoke his words. You gripped with one hand around the back if his beck and the other clutching the sheets. Shaking as you came all over his dick. And along with it, your tight clench milked Axl’s orgasm out harder. “Fuck baby!-“ he yelled as he came all inside you, walls coated in white and leaking out onto the sheets.

“Such a needy little slut.”

A/n: its 3am and my eyes keep closing i cant focus but here’s your content goodnight

Sorry if it’s kaka. 🙁🫶

SOOEDIDNG BACK TI MY BABY AND I DINT MEAN MAYBEER

#guns n roses #izzy stradlin #slash #axl rose #duff mckagan #steven adler #duff gnr #slash gnr #izzy gnr #axl gnr #steven gnr #axl rose x reader #axl rose smut

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battlemaiden13 · 1 year ago

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Can we get a scene update? You were at 24, have we broken past 20? In a non-judge mental, only curious and excited with no pressure way

Only 17 more to go!!

For anyone curious here's what I have left:

Charm individual chapter POV

Coffee individual chapter POV

Wine individual chapter POV

Mint Hangout (Standing up to Undyne)

Mango Hangout

Red waking up next to MC

Edge not seeing anything when MC changed clothes

Hobbs thoughts on his boss

Axe’s hearing that MC went to hospital for not eating

Orange reaction to MC’s new apartment

Coffee hearing about the engagement ring

Mutt having to explain to people that his first time talking to MC he swore them out and then found out they’re the sweetest most amazing person he knows and now he is terrified of putting his foot in his mouth again

Roulette and MC having a thing in Kings court

Sans Hugging MC on the balcony at her party

MC confronting Sans while stargazing.

Day accidentally kissing MC

syrup accidentally exposed himself when he ordered exactly what MC wanted even tho she never told him her regular coffee order

#hnd #house next door #housenextdoor

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airplanned · 4 years ago

Text

Ned Talks About Fight Scenes

I write a lot of fight scenes, and I consider it something I'm good at. There are a lot of things to consider when writing a fight scene and they all intersect with each other. I'm going to talk about three things: Clarity, Emotion, and Flow.

Clarity is important, because you don't want your reader to stop and say, "Wait, there's another guy?" "Since when did they have an axe?" "I thought they were on the ground?" "When did they get inside?" Anything that pulls the reader out of the story disrupts your flow and is bad. You need things to clip along, so be sure that your choreography makes sense and that you're clear about what's going on.

The biggest problem I see in fight scenes is when a transition is missed so a character is over here, and then all of a sudden they're over there or facing a different way. I'm not saying that there needs to be a whole big thing made about the transition, because that will affect your flow and slow you down with excess description, making it feel bloated. But saying, "He turned around," takes up minimal space and will sometimes save you a lot of grief.

I think the easiest example to show of this is actually a make-out scene I read ages ago. (Make-out scenes and fight scenes have a lot in common.) It went something like this: "He came up behind her, wrapped his arms around her waist, and kissed her shoulder. She hopped up and wrapped her legs around his waist." ... The picture I have in my head is that he’s still behind her, but her legs are folded backward like a ballerina. This would be easily preventable with a simple "She turned around and..."

Now, this example is a very close example. The characters are attentive to every little moment, so a jump into a different position is jarring. A fight scene example would be if you have a one-on-one duel, and it's emotional and calculating, and your character is very attuned to every movement that their opponent makes. It's a little different if you have a sweeping battle scene with a horde of hundreds of enemies, like if you're writing an Age of Calamity battle. Your main character isn't thinking in minute steps, but rather in sweeping moves, so your reader is fine not hearing that your character has turned around, but wouldn't be fine not knowing that your character is suddenly bleeding from dozens of fatal wounds or is half way through a battle with a big monster that actually matters. So be aware of the scope of your scene, and that will guide you in how detailed you need to be. (Also keep in mind that you can zoom in, like you fight a big Age of Calamity battle, but then things get more personal when you meet the boss and fight them.)

I know that just saying "don't so this" is not super helpful. First of all, sometimes something is so clear in your head that you don't even know that your reader isn't following you. The main solution to that is a beta reader. A second set of eyes can easily point out these moments. You can also draw stick figures (it's fun!). For each sentence, draw where they would be and make sure the change between them makes sense.

Sometimes, you might have something very complicated in mind. But if you cant describe it clearly, it's not worth it and it might be worth scaling back. Killing your darlings happens.

Sometimes, the fight will be a huge mess and our hero will be flailing around, not knowing what's going on or which way is up or when it's going to be over. But in that case, you can just say that. Be clear about it. And then tell us what your POV character does know. If they're overwhelmed, tell us what they feel. Adding in emotion can actually be clarifying in explaining to the reader why the character acts the way they do.

Which brings us to

Emotion. It's important for a lot of reasons. First of all, if you leave out the emotion completely and have it be straight action the whole time, then your hero looks as if it's no big thing. This battle is simple and they are a killing machine. Maybe that's what you want. But if there's no tension for your character, there won't be any tension in your reader. If you say that this scene is no sweat, I (the reader) will not be sweating. But if your character is struggling, if they're fearing, if they're exhausted or hurt, I'm going to worry for them and you automatically have tension.

Second of all, I tend to write more character driven things, and what's the point of the fight scene if it doesn't have some effect on the character or show something about them? What purpose does it serve in the story? Maybe it's just to be cool, and that's okay, but don't expect more from it if that's the case.

The other cool thing about including emotion is that if you have a paragraph in the middle of a fight scene where the character is thinking about how hard the fight is or worrying about protecting someone or excited to finally be using a sword again after a long hiatus, then your reader will assume that time is passing while they're thinking, and then when you pull out of that paragraph and back int the action, your character can be in a new place, fighting a new monster. It's one way to avoid that jarring lack of transition that we talked about earlier.

So returning regularly to your POV character in a fight scene is a good idea. I tend to do one pass where I just write the choreography (unless some big, climactic emotional moment is the whole point of the scene/story, in which case I'll write that first), then I'll do a second pass inserting some interiority.

Flow deals with how the scene reads. You want it to read fast (action packed!) because your character will be thinking fast and things will be moving fast and you want your reader's heart to be beating fast.

You can achieve a lot of this on a micro level with just word and punctuation choices. 1. Commas: a comma is a way to show a pause for breath, so in some cases, misusing commas and using a run-on sentences is your friend. Lists are also your friend, because you can have this happening and that happening and something else over there and they felt dizzy and tired and yet the list goes on.

2. Longer sentences tend to pul you forward through the sentence whereas short, choppy sentences have a lot of periods, which are hard pauses.

3. To Be Verbs slow you down. A "to be" verb is any conjugation of "to be": was, is, were, are, be, am. You might have heard this in high school English class and rolled your eyes, and I have strong feelings about how this is not a hard and fast rule that should be used in all situations. However, to be verbs DO slow you down, and that's not what you want here. So let's use a test sentence like, "He was running towards the moblin." The thing about this is that "run" isn't the verb. "Was" is the verb. What was he doing? He was existing. Which is more exciting: existing or running? Change this to "He ran towards the moblin," and already that reads faster.

4. Over-specificity will slow you down too. There are so many fight scenes out there where I think they're trying not to fall into the trap discussed earlier of being unclear, so they go hard in the other direction and over-specify. If you want to tell me at the very start that our hero has a sword in his left hand and a dagger in his right, go for it, but I don't want to hear about what anyone's left hand and right hand are doing during the actual fight. (Unless handedness is a theme or something in your story?) I don't need to know how many degrees they turned to block a blow. I don't need to know too many adjectives, because each of your adjectives should be hitting me in the face.

There's a lot more I could say about flow. I do a lot of work with numbers of syllables and length of syllables, which means that certain words won't fit in the sentence I'm working on. I do a lot with timing the big moments and arranging the white space around paragraphs so that the reader has a pause to go "oh shit!" when I want them to go "oh shit!" I do a lot of onomatopoeia (sound effects) as shorthand for movement. "ClashClashClash. Boom!" But I feel like getting into all that will be a bit too much and it's kind of more of a feeling than a science, so I'll stop here.

Good luck!

#follower day #craft essay

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wickedpact · 3 years ago

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A ranking of all the TTT stories in order of how much I liked them.

(Oh god this is so long)

1 My Mother's Axe

BABY ANDYYYYYYYYYYYY. Honestly this one had the trifecta of developing a character's motivations, developing a character's backstory, & developing their personality. The story starting out with Andy teaching Nile to use the axe was so charming and fun, and you could feel that chemistry they had in Opening Fire, the way they teased and bickered with each other so naturally. I loved the wedge between them on the subject of the axe, how Nile was perhaps a little too young to understand Andy's feelings about whether or not its the 'same' axe. I also love how the axe is obviously the symbol of the franchise and hugely important, but you never get a sense of exactly how important it is to Andy until you read the story.

I love the entire Ship of Theseus theme, and how it feels so natural that for Andy she has to get attached to the idea of things rather than the things themselves because she'll always outlive the things themselves-- the axe is symbolically her mom's axe, even if physically it isn't. And I love how she clearly clings to that concept so tightly. "This is the labrys she held in her hands...." IT GETS ME.

And the fact that this sense of BELONGING, of FAMILY, of CULTURE is so important to Andy that she clings to it (figuratively and literally) with both hands. And of course it's important to her, she spent so long alone that the woman doesn't even remember her birth name. That axe (or the idea of that axe) is all she has left of her mother and that family/culture she was born into.

PLUS on that note I love how Andy doesn't remember if her mom was her actual biological mother, but it doesn't matter to her. This woman was her mother in all the ways that counted. And how her mom BETRAYED AND KILLED Andy but Andy loved her so much that she avenged her and carried her axe for thousands of years. THOUSANDS OF YEARS!!!!!!

I also loved how the story transcends the timeline of the whole franchise and seeing Andy through the years. Loved seeing her with the varying squads and with varying axes. Also baby Andy was so cute. It was cool seeing her so young. like holy fuck. Andromache The Scythian, Immortal Warrior (but smol). Love that.

Also I think this one is one of the few ttt stories that doesn't suffer from length problems.

tldr: goddammit greg you've done it again.

2 Zanzibar and Other Harbors

Zanzibar my beloved. I've said before, but it's downright comedic how little regard there was for Joe and Nicky's character designs in this story. The same person who does the colors for the regular comic did the colors for this one too, and you can tell, every panel of this story was Beautiful.

Ik there was A Lot of criticism of this one (lmao @ how the fandom had no idea what was to come) but I thought a lot of The Discourse was a bit dramatic. I did think Nicky came off as a little oblivious to Joe's feelings in this story, but I've said before, I honestly think that was a 'tone not translating' thing. It felt like Nicky was nagging Joe for [checks notes] saving innocent people, but Joe was so amused by Nicky's complaints I really do think it was supposed to come off as teasing.

Plus I know the 'Joe running off into danger and Nicky reluctantly following' dynamic wasn't popular (I'm a pretty meh on it meself) but I did love how Joe's impulsiveness (if you want to call it that) was interpreted as heroism and not hot-hotheadedness. All of the examples Nicky and Joe talked about included Joe explicitly saving people. (and it also took A Lot for the nazi to actually provoke Joe).

I also feel like their characterization here was closest to the movie canon-- the bit where they hear the woman scream and Joe goes running in to save her while Nicky swoops in on Joe's heels to comfort her while Joe and the nazi were fighting reminds me of the train car scene. Joe had suggested First that they go find Nile because she needed to be protected, and Nicky later added that Nile probably also needed emotional support. Similar reactions.

But it was So Good, the themes of queer community and the enduring nature of queer culture are Not themes you see in media that often and it was such a delight how it was done. Also it's one of the few more modern TTT stories that has a completely valid excuse for taking place when it did. Chef's kiss.

3 Passchendaele

I love the Duality between seeing baby Andy and then seeing Mama Andy in the very next issue. This story doesn't have a ton of meat to it, but the entire concept of Andy adopting a war orphan straight off the battlefield PLUCKS MY TENDER LITTLE HEARTSTRINGS, and I think it's especially poignant for comic!Andy. I think most people wouldn't think twice about movie!Andy doing something like that but comic Andy is so hardened and almost cruel sometimes, and seeing that even for her the world hasn't beaten all of the compassion from her yet is SO!!!!!!! this woman contains MULTITUDES okay, she's violent and angry and tired and Done but she's also so kind and compassionate and THE STRENGTH OF HER!!!!! Also the idea of her and Yitzhak co-raising a kid together is so damn cute. It was #mysterious pre-Yitzhak-story but now it's cute. holy fuck. It's cute.

& the headbonk panel of her and Zeus lives in my heart. anyways.

4 Many Happy Returns

I Know people weren't thrilled about Booker being in this one, but I've developed a pet-peeve about that: this story was *not* booker-centric. Booker only exists in this story to the extent required to explain the importance of the gesture Nile makes towards him. If there was a story about Booker making some grand gesture of kindness to Nile no one would be saying it was Nile-centric. bc it wouldn't be! Booker exists in this story to explore Nile's kindness, its not about him. I saw that a couple times and it bothered me. anyways.

AAAAAAAAAA I loved this one, the art was beautiful, I loved how Andy Nile and Booker were drawn (like their comic selves but.. more looking like actual people). I loved Andy and Nile's Bants, how Andy wanted to jump right in and Do Violence but Nile was basically telling her to hold her horses.

I feel like I'm just repeating the post I made on this story a few days ago, but I LOVED how Nile's plan revolves not around violence or Cool Mercenary Skills but on Nile's own life skills (as she canonly did a lot of minimum wage job-hopping before the marines in comics canon). Her plan used her skills, not the skills of an immortal warrior, and HER SKILLS were in fact more useful for the situation! lov to see Nile's resourcefulness and planning skills.

AND HOW NILE WAS PROBABLY WATCHING BOOKER??? it's so Much bc 1.) nile knew booker A SINGLE DAY and yet he made such an impression on her emotionally that she had to keep an eye on him and 2.) she said in the movie she wanted Booker to get off free with an apology. Yes she's a member of the team but that doesn't mean she's necessarily going to follow orders like a good little soldier. I also love how she convinced Andy to go along with it. her HEART, her KINDNESS, her THOUGHTFULNESS, UGH.

5 The Bear

Honestly I have like no negative things to say about this one other than a.) character design issues which is less about the story itself and is more of a 'tog comic in general' criticism and b.) too short, but it was supposed to be a tease, so.

But I loved Yitzhak, I wasn't expecting to really like him at all but like I said in my other post, he tickled me. I love characters who are Kind™, especially if they have little reason to be so given their backgrounds. Chef's kiss. Lov him.

6 Bonsai Shokunin

I know this one was a little controversial bc of the outsider POV but whenever I see people upset about that they never point out that the Outsider Guy (the samurai) existed as a reflection on Noriko. His ideas are explained in the text to develop hers. The whole story follows how she gave mercy to a scared young man and in response he murdered Noriko, repeatedly! Who gave him the right to inflict such pain and suffering on the world? In his opinion, the lack of response from the gods was his permission. And for Noriko-- over and over again she dies and suffers because she gave mercy, which lines up with her ideas in FM about how it's their fate to rule mortals and if they don't align with that plan/fate/whatever then they suffer. It shows some background to those ideas and how they developed in her mind outside of Ocean Madness™. Additionally, his idea of 'the Gods have done nothing to strike me down so it's fine if I do these things' kind of explains how Noriko may justify her own morally corrupt actions-- she's died so many times and it's never stuck. Maybe if she did die any of those times, or while she was in the water, maybe that would've been a sign she was doing something right, or at least doing something normal. But she hasn't died. Fate isn't done with Noriko yet. And maybe there's a reason for that. In her mind, it's just not a very pleasant reason, is all.

There were things I was kind of meh about tho. I did kind of wish we saw something of Noriko and the team, or smth explaining the way she was before her dip in the pool-- personality, likes dislikes, etc. but it wasn't bad or anything. It was super vague tho, I had to read it a few times before I got what it was going for. Liked the art. Liked the bonsai metaphor. And of course I Respect the decision to use the 1300s (1200s? I don't remember off the top of my head) rather than using the last 200 years.

7 Strong Medicine

Honestly looking back, this one made me kind of sad because both this one and Bonsai Shokunin explored character's ideas on Fate and The Divine and how that intersects with immortality and I totally thought that theme would be continued, especially with Love Letters. But Then It Wasn't™.

Admittedly.... I had to re-read this one to remember most of it. I liked Booker's ideas on God, 'The conductor of the symphony just may not be very good at his trade' but the plot itself was kind of forgettable. Some fuckin cowboys try to kill a doctor (their second) because he couldn't save their sickly brother. Book tries to stop them, gets killed, and then comes back and kills them all before they get the doctor. Alright. I liked the artstyle because the characters were ugly in a similar way that leandro's are, but way more bearable.

I love the Irony of Booker concluding that there is no such thing as fate or destiny and nothing has meaning, AS HE UNKNOWINGLY SAVES MERRICK'S GRANDFATHER FROM BEING KILLED. Booker getting fucked over by life/god/destiny yet again. It also kind of explains about where the fuck hell Merrick's interest in immortal mercenaries even came from.

I originally had this one a lot higher and then I thought about it and moved it down like two spots.

8 Never Gets Old

I liked seeing Booker interact with his kid. And we got a name for the kid! Philippe was a little bitch though, he was a little obnoxious. I liked how Booker was so thrilled to experience a restaurant with his kid (and since we know he was there before, it can be assumed he went with all of his kids and yet he was so charmed each time). It fits with his line to Nicky in the moon landing story about how you don't appreciate beautiful things 'unless you have someone to share them with'. It was charming to see Booker interact with his kid, and to see him so happy. Also lmao @ Booker's big fat Ye Olde Crush on Andy.

However at the same time it was like.. of all the things to write about,,, I guess? Booker's Night Out...... alright. Especially since Book had so many stories.

I don't know, it was alright. The old man killing him really came out of nowhere, (but the 'Salut, asshole!' panel was funny tho).

9 How To Make a Ghost Town

I've hit a point where talking about these stories has gotten less fun. I liked this one but I felt like Achilles getting lynched was not really necessary for a story that was already tragic (a story that already involved Achilles doing a lot of suffering at the hand of bigots). When we first got the blurb for this story I thought it would be about Andy returning to the squad and making friends with Booker after losing Achilles and them butting heads on the idea of family and when to cut off ties. So a little bit of my underwhelmedness about this one might be just my expectations being different.

Honestly I was pretty interested in Andy and Achilles' relationship and I would've liked to see more of them-- like, what was their dynamic like? What did they love about each other?

But anyways Andy leaving and Achilles getting killed anyways feels so pointlessly tragic (which I suppose is the point..... I don't like tragedies) she left to save him and yet people killed him anyway. Meh.

I did love the bits about Andy wanting to have a domestic life (Andy and her multitudes again) and the little detail about how she buried her axe near the road but he buried his guns under his bed-- he was an escaped slave, he never had the luxury of assuredness like Andy did. It was a sad story.

10 Lacus Solitudinis

'You put this one above love letters crim??? how could you???' easy, lmao.

There was stuff in this one I liked. But to talk about stuff I didn't like: (I'll keep it brief, I know ragging on this story has been done time and time again)

UH, setting aside the 6 year cold shoulder between Joe and Nicky, I thought their chosen method of conflict resolution was... bad at best. Nicky's inability to talk about his feelings was also annoying, especially since the entire point of this story is a fight Joe and Nicky had, and yet we don't get both sides to the story, which is...... important? That fact is especially annoying bc in the absence of Nicky explaining his side of the story, it's absolutely a possible (and admittedly probably unintentional) interpretation of the text that we do get that Joe routinely resolves conflict between him and Nicky by simply cutting Nicky out of his life entirely until Nicky just. caves? Even if it takes years?

WHICH i could get into that interpretation and how fucked up i find it. but im not going to. out of restraint.

I don't know, I think there are a lot of interesting ways to go about this conflict but 'Nicky wants to kill a guy and Joe refuses to acknowledge his existence until he stops because he thinks Nicky is too much of a Good Boy to get his hands dirty like that' ('I wont watch as the world turns his (...) compassion into something ugly'. ) wasn't.. how I would've done it. (I mean you know Joe doesn't give a shit about what Nicky is doing in a moral way, because Joe doesn't even care or mention that Booker is killing those cops too. Joe only cares because he doesn't like the idea of Nicky changing in a way he finds undesirable.)

admittedly I've said before, I do like the emphasis Joe's reaction puts on Nicky's kindness. Joe has a complete inability to cope with Nicky simply Not Being Kind. It speaks to the steadiness of Nicky's compassion all those years. but still that fact doesn't make it the conflict feel worth it

hm. I said I would be brief and I wasn't.

oh well. basically I thought there was interesting conflict potential there but it wasn't done the way I would've liked, and the way it was done leaves a lot of disturbing (and again probably unintended) interpretations to lie.

What I did like? Andy and Joe having that pessimist/optimist dynamic. Joe nerding out about science. Andy not being impressed by The Achievements Of Man. I loved Booker needling at Nicky about his outdated slang and also trying to give him Older Brother advice practically in the same breath. I loved Booker giving The Worst relationship advice ever and Nicky being like 'I Will Not Do That, Ever, Thanks.' the family vibes were so good. The Joenicky vibes left a lot to be desired tho.

11 Love Letters

I talked about my problems with Nicky in this story (and Lacus Solitudinis). I don't know, the story isn't bad but I do hold a little bit of a grudge towards it because its very existence begs the existence of a solo Joe story and we didn't get one. If we never got this story, then we could happily count Lacus Solitudinis and Zanzibar as The Joenicky Stories™ and move on with our lives. sigh.

I remember when we first got the blurb for this story I was really curious about why Nicky specifically + the setting, and the answer kind of feels like 'the author had an idea for a story like this and saw ttt as a good enough place to utilize that idea'. Plus I was really underwhelmed by the Romantic Sentiment in the letter. If you look at it line-by-line, the majority of the letter is actually Nicky talking about how lonely and disturbed he is, rather than actual,, yknow,,, Romantic Sentiment. I mean, compare the van speech and this letter and this letter is just kind of meh in comparison. I liked nicky calling joe wise! and I liked the brief sun/moon metaphor! and otherwise it was eh. It didn't even have cute squad banter, which is why Lacus Solitudinis is above this one.

12 An Old Soul

Nun orgy. Nun orgy?????? Nun orgy.......

The whole story felt like a setup to have a nun orgy. Why did Booker have abs? Why did they do that to Andy's nose? ?????? the art was good at least.

nun orgy.

#tales through time spoilers #obviously #long post #seriously dont open that read more unless youre committed to scrolling past all these Words

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tfw-no-tennis · 3 years ago

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ani....morphs.....

ok so picking up after the david trilogy, which hit hard as FUCK, we have book 23, which basically was a semi truck that ran over my corpse, jesus christ, they really followed up the david trilogy w/all that....

23 was so so good and also painful. its the culmination of a lot of tobias’s characterization in the series thus far and also we finally get the reveal we’ve been waiting for about elfangor....ooooh man

and there was a lot of painful stuff in this book but the worst imo was tobias wondering if it were possible that somebody wanted him and would take care of him, only to have it all come crashing down in the worst way when it turned out aria was visser three in morph, ouch.

that was so brutal augh. and when he figured it out and just crash landed and kept thinking about how he wanted to die and how he was stupid to think he could have a home...bro get these kids some THERAPY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

so yeah that book was absolutely brutal but also so good...and it further fleshed out the animorphs working as a near-flawless team, w/the whole setup of tobias meeting w/the lawyer being so airtight and well-planned

also more free hork bajir!! its cool that there's stuff happening w/them offscreen, I like that

I literally had to take a break from reading the books bc the david triology + 23 was like so much, and also bc the olympics were on and all my time got dedicated to watching those, but then I opened 24, not sure what to expect, and BAM it was the helmacrons lmaoooo

I don't even remember the helmacrons but ig a lot of people hate them? lmao so that whole reputation preceded the book and I was like oh wow time for a change in tone

which wasn't wrong but also I liked that book?? I was never bored, even tho the whole thing was patently ridiculous and also had very little bearing on the overarching story

but I think it would be a standout if it were a TV episode w/a good budget - the visuals were amazing even in text, and I can imagine all the cool shrinking/growing/cellular stuff would be WICKED cool visually (ideally 2d animation but an ant man-esque live action adaptation wouldn't be terrible if they had the budget for it)

whatever let me dream. so yeah I didn't hate the helmacron book even tho the helmacrons themselves were...sure something. lmao I think they come back? that should be interesting

next book is the arctic one, we have yet another alien of the week style adventure - I liked this one too, it felt like more plot-y stuff happened since they destroyed the base, and marco’s POV is always fun

I do find it funny/interesting how sometimes when the animorphs do something - like in this book, destroying that base in the arctic - it doesn't really seem to impact the yeerks much/it doesn't get brought up much after that. and then other things like them destroying the ground-based kandrona get mentioned a lot (that example is understandable tho bc that WAS a big deal). its just hilarious to me how blowing up entire building complexes has become so routine that it isn’t even worth mentioning at this point

Also I adore when they meet other random people/kids and are chill w/them, like w/that kid they met in the rain forest earlier on w/the time travel

the descriptions of the brutally cold weather were great. I hate the cold so I was like oof this is a nightmare lmao

also ig that was the first ghostwritten book and I did kinda notice it was slightly different than usual? maybe? I could be imagining it tho

okay but book 26 tho...BOOK 26. bruh

that was SO good and I really didn’t know what to expect - but when we finally revisited Jake’s dream w/crayak I knew it was gonna be good (but I didn’t expect it to be a chess game war epic..!)

basically I loved it. SUCH a good Jake book - I really appreciate his character now as opposed to when I was 10 and often overlooked him (sorry jake).

similarly, when I was a kid and read these I sympathized a lot w/the chee and felt bad for them towards the end of the series when they had to get more involved in the war (genuinely don’t remember what they even do but ik I felt bad)

but now I've basically 180′d and I'm like damn those chee sure are hypocrites huh.

like they could solve So many of the animorphs problems but their stringent adherence to nonviolence leads to them actively getting in the animorphs way sometimes? and obviously pacifism is a complicated topic, but in this case it also intersect w/the whole ‘child soldier’ thing, and as beings who are insanely old and wise, the chee probably shouldn't just leave all the dirty work to a bunch of literal middle schoolers

aaaaanyways. there’s so much I love about this book. the iskoort! they were sure something. and the ‘plot twist’ that they are actually 2 beings, the Isk and the Yoort - and the Yoort are essentially Yeerks - that slapped. the symbiosis of it all!

I loved the part where they all realize what this means, that this is why Crayak wants the iskoort destoryed - because someday the yeerks might come across them and realize parasitism is not the only way. I love it!

alas I don’t recall the iskoort returning in the story (but also my memory is terrible so who knows?) but still that would be cool

basically I feel like this is the book where Jake Truly comes into his own as a leader, in every sense. he outmaneuvers Crayak, and even the ellimist, who’s yanking them around in his own way

the scene where jake shoves the howler off the cliff and jumps off and morphs and acquires the howler...that was fantastic and tense.

also the murder is definitely becoming more overt. I mean, it has been for a while, but it isn’t really pointed out as much anymore. oof

more on the chee - as Jake points out in this book, and other characters point out in other books - the chee could have saved the pemalites, but instead just stood by while their creators were slaughtered. on the other hand, jake says, what do the chee do AFTER they’ve killed the howlers - where to point them next? when is the end of their violence?

buuuuut also standing by while atrocities occur is pretty damning, as is frequently mentioned in this series - from the very beginning, when marco initially doesn’t want to get involved in the war at all, and the other animorphs basically tell him that turning his back on the war and acting like he doesn’t even know it’s happening would be immoral and cowardly (which imo this reaction helps to push marco in the direction he ends up going, but I digress) - this topic comes up again in 19 when cassie quits the team and rachel is upset bc she sees it as cassie elevating her own feelings above the greater good (as in, as long as cassie feels good about how she acts, it doesn’t matter how much preventable evil the yeerks are committing while she turns away). etc etc. but that’s essentially what’s happening w/the chee - even tho they help w/intel, the lack of any sort of Action on their part means that they’re essentially allowing awful things to happen when they could prevent them. this is rambly but basically...animorphs deals so much in grey areas, and the chee are noticeably black and white in their actions, despite falling, in a meta sense, in an extremely grey area. its such good, thought provoking writing!

anywayssss I keep talking about the chee lmao what else was there. oh YEAH jake and cassie kissed for the first time awww that was super cute

and ofc immediately marco teases them as asks jake if he’s gonna kiss him next, and all I can say is...marco is a bicon

also I love the background worldbuilding w/the iskoort, how they have all these groups and guilds and stuff - its not dwelled on much, which actually works really well to give the world/species a sense of lived-in realness

okay oh man and the reveal at the end that the howlers were just like...children who thought the whole thing was a game...AUGHH man that’s sooo fucked

like, when jake morphs the howler and has rachel ready to knock him down in grizzly morph if he gets out of control due to the howler’s murderous instincts, and he morphs to find that the howler is...playful, like a dolphin morph. SUCH a good fucked up sense of dawning horror there

and the fact that as far as I can tell the chee KNEW this, but wanted revenge anyways, so they let the animorphs assume that the howlers were Evil On Purpose

also I love smaller moments, like jake seeing that ax is ashamed for briefly running away during one battle w/the howlers, and then entrusts him w/an important task bc he knows that ax will see that as redemption - and when everyone thought jake was dead and were so happy when he wasn't (they all love each other so much im gonna cry about these child soldiers augh)

basically that book was so good

man one thing I absolutely love is that the longer the series goes on the more obvious it is that andalites, despite inventing morphing technology, barely use it themselves

like, most of the andalite characters we see barely morph. its kind of a last resort to them, as they’re already plenty dangerous in their regular forms

meanwhile for the animorphs, that’s all they have to fight with. that’s their only weapons against the yeerks, and its so fun to see them use the power in so many varied ways, and so creatively, while the andalites have barely scratched the surface of their own technology

its also interesting to contrast against the yeerks who start out w/absolutely no technology, and the andalites share some but not all of their technology w/them...its too bad that morphing technology was just starting out cause that would’ve been interesting

like imo a lot of the conflict w/the yeerks could’ve been avoided if they could just nothlit into better forms - of course, there’d still be plenty of yeerks who want to go start wars or w/e, just like pretty much any species in the series, but a lot of yeerks would probably be like ‘yeah I'm good’ and just chill out as nothlits

also people online love to talk about how humans are alienfuckers and would definitely have sex w/sentient aliens and whatnot, and while I'm not saying that's untrue, its just funny bc in animorphs the truest alienfuckers are definitely the andalites

as of the hork-bajir chronicles, we now have a second instance of an andalite morphing another species to be in an inter-species alien romance (and eventually have kids)

speaking of, I don’t think I’ve talked abt the hork bajir chronicles yet??? even tho I read it a while ago lmao

HBC was great...I honestly haven’t really run into an animorphs book I’ve actually disliked at this point, I’m sure it’ll come w/all the ghostwriting and whatnot, but I’ve liked at least some aspects of every book

anyways HBC was great, and it’s funny bc I remember that I read this book as a kid, and yet rereading it now I didn’t remember a single bit of it lmaooo

I really liked the framing device of the free hork bajir telling this story to tobias. I also liked how we know from the beginning that this story wont have a happy ending - we know all the hork bajir end up enslaved by the yeerks, but it’s still somehow hopeful at the end? I think this is largely due to the framing device tbh.

also I love toby, and I love that the First free hork bajir named their kid after tobias ;_;

and oooh mannn I LOVED the different POVs from this book. all the characters were so interesting! aldrea was fascinating - I really like the increasingly negative view of the andalites that the readers are getting, all while maintaining the sense that they aren’t like, actively evil, just that they have their issues - like aldrea’s arrogance, and the general andalite arrogance which lead to the loss of the hork bajir. also, who knew andalites had their own brand of sexism? Ls

I did like getting a female andalite tho, that was cool. and dak was really cool, he was such a good, compassionate character who was able to maintain his morals in an interesting way throughout the story

and VISSER THREE...or should I say esplin 9466, because he’s not visser 3 yet...getting his ‘origin story’ was excellent - I really like how we’re learning about visser 3 backwards - we start off the series w/him as the main villain, and he’s campy and menacing, and then we see him in the andalite chronicles as a power-hungry sub-visser trying to climb the ranks and eventually getting alloran as a host, and then back even further here, w/the start of his focus on the andalites and the beginning of his ambition. its been very cool and interesting to see

plus, the beginning of the yeerks as we know them! seerow! alloran! it’s a party and nobody is having a good time, except for some of the yeerks.

I like how it’s pretty obvious that the andalites are well-meaning with their interactions w/the yeerks, but go about it the wrong way - they give them enough technology that the yeerks realize there’s a whole world out there to experience, and then they blockade the yeerks on their planet and tell them they can’t leave. nnnnot the best approach imo

again, as I said above, I’m interested in how things could’ve gone if the andalites had given the yeerks morphing technology early on - could a lot of the conflict have been avoided, or would it have been worse? the yeerks seem pretty evil in this book, immediately jumping to enslave anyone they can. otoh we hear from esplin that not all yeerks like having host bodies, and find it overwhelming, preferring to swim around in the yeerk pool as a slug - I assume as host bodies became more available this type of thinking was probably stamped out in yeerk society or w/e, but there are a lot of interesting what-ifs in the situation

I loved the scene where esplin first experiences having a host, and immediately knows he can’t go back. there are a bunch of great sensory descriptions, and it’s a nice scene to pinpoint as a foundational moment for the visser three in the current story, who spent a lot of time and energy getting what he sees as the best possible host body, an andalite

I find it interesting how much visser three clearly respects the andalites, even while constantly deriding them. and you can see the origins of that here as he immediately focuses in on the andalites, working to become an expert on them in order to make himself useful enough to move thru the ranks

another thing I like is how esplin seems a lot more crafty and ambitious than the visser three from modern times - I would guess that reaching his goal (andalite host body) and being given all that power was detrimental, playing on his weaknesses instead of his strengths. basically, I don’t think it’s ooc or anything, I can see how HBC-esplin became animorphs-esplin, especially w/TAC in between

as for seerow...poor dude. you really do have to feel for him, because you get the sense he really did just want to be kind to the yeerks, but it was borne from a place of pity, and he (and the other andalites) consistently held too much power over the yeerks for the species relations to ever be truly equal and functional

AUGH I have so many thoughts about alien space politics. omg. I need to talk about the actual story lmao

so yeah I also feel for aldrea, she had a rough time, watching her entire family die and being thrown into a hopeless war

and then the andalite council or w/e not listening to her bc she's a girl AND seerow’s daughter...oof

also, I really really liked the running theme of the andalites - specifically aldrea - looking down on the hork bajir as ‘simple’ and constantly underestimating them, especially dak

and I like how this is portrayed as a bad attitude for aldrea to have, and she still remains and interesting and sympathetic character even while having obvious flaws. it’s about being 3-dimensional baby!

and oh man I love that dak realizes that aldrea looks down on him, and his entire species, but he can see that that’s how the andalites are, and it all connects back to the beginning of the story w/the yeerks, bc the andalites looked down on the yeerks and treated them with pity and kept them pinned under their proverbial thumb ‘for their own good’ and look how that turned out

but dak is wise and kind enough to not hate aldrea for this, even acknowledging when she’s using him, but not pushing her away because he recognizes good in her too - and she ends up changing, partially because of his faith in her

and I feel like it can all be compared to that scenario of like - a hypothetical creature that lives in a 2D world suddenly being thrust into a 3D world, and comprehending what its seeing, and understanding that there’s so much more out there outside of the flat lines of its world - and then its dropped back into 2D-land with the knowledge of all the stuff its missing out on, and no way to get back to it or explain it to anybody else

I loooove that ‘trope’ or w/e you wanna call it, and it’s done beautifully here w/the yeerks - whos the say they wouldn't have been fine in their pool swimming around; as esplin said, a lot of the yeerks were terrified of having a host, it was only from the andalites’ perspective that their lives were sad and pitiful, and the andalites showed them what the world could be like, and then said ‘no, you can’t travel the stars like we do, you have to stay here on your planet and do what we say.’

and then again, w/the hork bajir - dak talks about how, even though he drinks up the knowledge that aldrea gives him, in the end it might have been better to just have lived peacefully, not knowing what was in the sky or the Deep - as aldrea says: “It was too late for Dak: he knew that the stars were not flowers.”

plus the hork bajir having to go from a completely peaceful species who don’t even understand the concept of violence, to a bunch of soldiers fighting a war...oof

basically everyone in this story uses the hork bajir. the yeerks use them as hosts, the andalites use their planet as a convenient place to dump seerow and then take their sweet time coming to help, and the arn created them as means to stabilize the planet, but block them off from their society and refuse to help when the yeerks come

like, the arn modifying themselves to be un-infestable by the yeerks and then being enslaved for physical labor instead? oof guys. if they had teamed up w/the hork bajir resistance things might have gone better, but probably not

more on aldrea - throughout the story I was always thinking ‘how am I supposed to see her? as a good person, or as a bad person?’

as a POV character, especially a ‘good guy’ andalite, you just start off automatically thinking of her as a good person, but as the story goes on, she starts getting lost in revenge and begins using dak and the hork bajir, and you’re left wondering if this is a story about her slide into darkness, and then towards the end of the story her character development culminates in her making the decision to stay w/the hork bajir, and the be with dak, and that’s about when I went ‘ohhh right this is animorphs so every character is pretty much gonna be grey’

I feel like that moral grey-ness was on full display w/aldrea, and I really enjoyed that. I love so much when characters who are good do bad things, for good or bad reasons, especially in media like animorphs that’s aimed at kids. it’s so compelling.

oof, and the ending when aldrea convinces dak to mobilize the hork bajir and teach them violence...and dak asks her if she’s ever killed another andalite, and she’s horrified, and says of course she hasn’t, and he says that that’s what she’s asking him, and all the hork bajir, to do - to kill their own people, even if they are being controlled by the yeerks. biiiig oof. I love that dak can keep up w/aldrea and her andalite supremacy attitude - it seems that the non-andalite characters who get along best w/the andalites are the ones who wont take their bs

what else happened....oh my god how could I forget about alloran, and his quantum virus. oooof. I like how we find out about alloran in parallel to visser three, in the same backwards way - in animorphs he’s the tragic host of visser three, in TAC he’s the disgraced but still semi-respected war-prince who becomes the first ever andalite controller, and here he’s the guy who decides to commit some war crimes because, hey, we haven’t tried that yet

but yeah that was fucked up, I love it. I’ve said it before I think but I like that alloran isn’t some perfect martyr tragically taken by the yeerks - it’s a lot more compelling that he’s a very flawed person who was taken as a controller partially due to his own bloodthirstiness.

but yeah, the part where aldrea morphs alloran and ‘sneaks’ into that room was great. aldrea’s dedication to disposing of the virus is a great indicator of her character development - it really feels like the straw that broke the camels back w/re: to the andalites not being what she thought they were, w/their tardiness coming to help the hork bajir planet and the way her father was treated being the precursors to this realization. it all culminates nicely in aldrea saying ‘fuck this actually’ and nothlit-ing into a hork bajir.

and it’s really tragic but realistic that even though aldrea and dak end up seeing eye to eye at the end and getting together, the virus ends up being released anyways (and fails in its objective to stop the yeerks from using the hork bajir - the whole thing was p much a lose-lose situation oof), and aldrea and dak still die fighting a hopeless war

but then we have the free hork bajir on earth, including toby, who, like tobias, has andalite ancestry, but no DNA to show for it - I like that they have that connection as well as tobias being her namesake

so yeah I enjoyed that one and its many-layered themes

WOW this got long uuuuuhhh ok I think i’ll leave this one off here. at the time I’m actually finishing the writing and editing, I’m on book 35 lol so I have some backlogging to do. never fear, I have a lot to say....

#lj reads animorphs #animorphs

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poledancingsquid · 5 years ago

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Wicked Game Fanmix

Look I said I’d make this in 2018 and then life was A LOT but I finally finished it today and frankly it’s still my absolute favourite BFU fic.

If you haven’t read Wicked Game go read it ( and send your adoring praise to @mephsation ) If you’re swerving spoilers do NOT read the rest of this yet bc boy am I about the quote the shit out of my favourite fic and also I’ve written a brief summary of every chapter in case people have forgotten.

If you don’t want to read my reasoning and just want the songs here’s a Spotify playlist

So Chapter one: Shane’s just joined the precinct, when Ryan works out the scene they’re at was by a copycat rather than the Lover Shane responds by just saying “You’re Brilliant.”

We’re gonna be friends- The White Stripes, it’s the beginning of Ryan impressing Shane and they’re already conversing easily, honestly this is the chapter I struggled to find a song for the most.

Chapter two: This is where we meet Jess for the first time and find out about her and Shane’s relationship. It’s also when Ryan establishes that the copycat is shorter than the killer so the song I picked was

Looking up- Paramore, granted this is entirely down to the first lyrics being “Things are looking up oh finally” but it’s a banger anyway

Chapter three: This is when Ryan gets the first email. Ryan also nearly gets stabbed and Shane shoots a suspect, the copycat writes ‘he’s not good enough for you’ in blood.

Chic- Leadley primarily for “We could last forever she could last all week” Jess is so sure she’s better suited to Shane than Ryan is.

Chapter four: The second email arrives, explaining that the Lover has killed a man for the first time, the man looks like Ryan.

One More Murder- Better Than Ezra “One more murder in this town don’t mean a thing” which is what Ryan tries to convince himself after a lookalike is murdered.

Chapter five: This is where Ryan first realises he has a crush on Shane, it’s also the chapter with the press conference where the Lover’s sexuality is raised and when Shane admits he’s questioning is sexuality sending Ryan into a slight spiral based on his fear of being outed.

Would you be so Kind?- Dodie I’m not sure who’s POV I think this applies to more at this point.

Chapter six: This is the chapter where Ryan apologises to Shane for his reaction to him coming out, it is also the chapter where an LAPD officer who is the exact same race as Ryan and looks like him is killed, Ryan throws up.

Fear and Loathing- Marina and the Diamonds This is mostly in relation to Ryan’s fears about coming about though I suppose could also be applied to the whole serial killer killing people who are very similar to him thing.

Chapter seven: This is when Ryan and Shane go on their Not! Date that is definitely a date, it ends in their first kiss and Shane blowing him on the couch “Please don’t make me regret this”.

Brilliant Mind- Furniture throughout the fic Shane is constantly fascinated by how ‘brilliant’ Ryan is and this chapter epitomises that. “ You must be out of your brilliant mind”

Chapter eight: Ryan tells Shane about the homophobia he’s experienced in the past, Jess finds out they spent the night together “woke in an empty bed aching for a presence he has no business missing”. Shane is helping a friend clean their apartment so he goes to meet Jess at a bar and gets spiked.

Far too young to die- Panic! at the disco I went with this song because essentially it’s a recurring theme that Ryan almost dies also the obsessive nature of the verses fit in with Shane’s behaviour “ I've never so adored you, I'm twisting allegories now,I want to complicate you, Don't let me do this to myself”

Chapter nine: This is when Ryan wakes up in the hospital, Shane starts to behave oddly and just says he is working on a theory, he also invites himself over to take care of Ryan, Ryan discovers the cleaning supplies in a publi bin. The chapter ends with Shane revealing that Jess is the copycat and the bombshell of “Schmidtt thinks I’m the lover”

If I lose it- Charlie Simpson A little because of the medical stuff at the start of the Chapter a lot because Shane seems so scared for Ryan and ultimately the uncertaintly at the end of the chapter “ I can't tell you what will happen, To us as the days passed, Please just stay with me.”

Chapter ten: Shane plays the recording of Jess, Ryan plans to spend a night with Jess despite everyone telling him not to. Shane begs Ryan not to be scared of him “no more innocents” Jess texts him that she is going to kill someone if he doesn’t come to her immediately, he locked both their guns in the safe so goes unarmed.

Pressure- Paramore this is frankly one of the most stressful chapters to read because Ryan commits dumbassery after dumbassery and I think this embodies that intense STRESS feeling very well

Chapter eleven:Jess is arrested, Shane almost shoots her in full view of the bodycam, Ryan gets shot and Shane is going on trial to ensure Jess pleads guilty.

Coming Down- Halsey This is where Ryan starts to see a possible darker side to Shane “I found the Devil, I found him in a lover, And his lips like tangerine, In his color coded speak”

Chapter twelve: This is when it’s officially revealed that Shane’s a murderer, he stands by no innocents killing Leo Tayler with an axe after he caused the deaths of his children.

Monster- Paramore “ You were my conscience, so solid, now you're like water We started drowning, not like we'd sink any further” this is the point at which Ryan’s conscience is starting to slip (even if it’s giving Shane more of one)

Chapter thirteen: With no more murders they are eventually taken of the Lover case Jess’s trial is over quickly and she pleads guilty, Shane’s trial drags on, Ryan finds out he killed a criminal in one of his first weeks on duty, he’s found not guilty, Ryan sees Shane at the firing range and says that he wants Leo to be dead, he gets home from work to find Shane in his LAPD uniform. The head is delivered to Ryan

Crazy=Genius- Panic! at the Disco, this is a bit of a summary of Shane’s character throughout honestly but also this really feels like the turning point of no return, Shane would do anything for Ryan including murder, and it’s through his ‘genius’ he was found not guilty.

Chapter fourteen: As they investigate Leo Taylor’s murder Ryan begins to suspect Shane, this is where he quizzes Shane, discovers a knife in his home that isn’t his, later whilst investigating the deaths of sex wokers Ryan runs into a building without back up, Shane shoots Douglas and Ryan basically asks him to kill Murray

One Little Lie- Simple Creatures because at this point Ryan basically knows Shane is a murderer he just gets very good at lying to himself “I tell myself one little lie and the pain don’t phase me”

Chapter fifteen: So basically whilst fucking Shane Ryan thanks him for killing Douglas and then he bites him until it draws blood because Shane asked him to/ They manage to book a holiday eventualy, Ryan finds out Shane has a ssecond phone and saves the number. They go literally everywhere Ryan loves: Knotts Berry Farm, A Lakers Game, Disneyland there’s a car crash and Ryan stops to save the victims. Shane admits he wouldn’t have stopped. When they’re due to return to work Shane leaves early. When Ryan gets to work there’s a rung on his desk and email from Shane. He tries to call him on both phones “ I would’ve said yes”

Already Gone- Kelly Clarkson look when I started this playlist this was the only song I was certain was fitting for this particular part of the story because in his own way Shane is trying to protect Ryan by leaving. “ And I want you to know, You couldn't have loved me better, But I want you to move on, So I'm already gone”

Chapter sixteen: Shane watched him for ten years. Ryan remarries after moving to Chicago although he still wears Shane’s ring around his neck. Another killer goes after him. Shane finds out and it culminates in his shooting Weber. Ryan instantly knows it’s Shane and makes a come hither motion.

I felt younger when we met- Waterparks Ryan has had the guilt of hiding what he knows about Shane for a decade, he still cares about him but it kills him inside “ Do you see, You're the reason I can't sleep?, Lose it where your head should be”

Chapter seventeen:Ryan and Shane meet in a bar, Shane tells him the names of everybody he killed, they go home together after Ryan tries and fails ot arrest him, Shane chokes him until he’s either unconscious or dead and turns himself in the next day

Pompeii- Bastille This chapter is straight up just dark nostalgia (which frankly you can inject into my veins) “And if you close your eyes, Does it almost feel like nothing changed at all” In the dark between my sheets

#Wicked Game #buzzfeed unsolved #buzzfeed unclean #fic #fanmix #shyan #shanexryan #shane x ryan #skeptic believer

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tare-chan · 5 years ago

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Has anyone else read this book/novel?

I rarely read any book/novel, honestly. But since I'm still madly in love with Frozen 2, this "prequel" book really piqued my interest. And lucky for me, the hard copy of this book were already available in my local bookstore.

You think Frozen 2 was already “dark” and packed with action? Then this book will surprised you even more! I lost count of how many times I held my breath while reading scenes after scenes. Especially, since at the middle of the story, the author cleverly set Olaf and Sven aside, without ‘dumping’ their character. So we basically just have Anna, Elsa, and Kristoff adventuring throughout the Arendellian soils.

There’re lots of tidbits that foreshadow the story of Frozen 2, and I’ll write them down under the cut. Cause in case you want to read the novel (which I highly recommended), I don’t want to ruin/spoiler you :)

So the story tells from Anna’s POV. First thing I noticed: despite her cheerful behavior, deep down inside, Anna still felt insecure about her position, especially as a royal. These insecurities root from her being ‘spare’, and her ‘imperfectness’. She always looked up to Elsa, who she saw as the perfect royal should be. Second problem, Anna really has issues with her way of communication. So many times in the story, she assumes people’s act and people’s say in a negative tone, adding to her insecurities. While at the same time, she rarely brave enough to speak up what’s on her mind. This is actually a quite surprising side of her. In her mind, all of this insecurity of hers, might lead Elsa think her as useless, and leave her for good. And this is the root of her fear. Yes, the brave, feisty Anna, does have fear!!

Elsa, on the other hand, trapped in the role of a very hardworking family head. Like a formula often used in a family movies, where you’ll see the family head works extra hard to fulfill their family needs, that makes them forgot, that family also need loves and communication to share. Elsa, in her way of showing love to Anna, let her sleep until noon, never asked Anna’s help in royal duties, and to not worry Anna, Elsa always kept her fear inside of her, while using her regal and her ‘don’t worry, I’ve got everything under control’ facade mask. All of these ‘love’ from Elsa, made her never had time to spent with her sister, and many times make her forget the promises (like visiting Anna in her bedroom before sleep, reading a book that Anna gave her). Elsa didn’t have any idea that all of these, only add to Anna’s insecurities.

The problem solving of this miscommunication, lead to the ‘charade’ nights in Frozen 2, Elsa’s daily schedule shown in the art book (with ‘family time’ now listed at the schedule), and pushed Elsa to run and greet her family to play outside castle wall in the ‘something never change’ sequence. But Elsa being Elsa, it’s not easy for her to share her burden just like that. Anna understand this, but remind her by saying ‘we promised not to shout each other out’, after the charade scenes, and the ‘promise me we’ll do this together’ lines Anna often said throughout the movie.

Now, I just noticed that the usually adventure hungry Anna, always look at edge, during Frozen 2. Like how she frowned when seeing the rune crystals hanging in the night of Arendelle city (the very end of Into the Unknown scene), when she confronted Elsa that the magic can’t be good, when she stood in front of the mist, when she saw her surrounding changes before the Northuldra accept the sisters, etc. Anna also seems so clingy towards Elsa, always want to hold dear her sister. And seemed too sensitive towards the word ‘die’ (completely misunderstood Kristoff’s saying).

This seems out of character of her, but after reading this book, I finally understand. Anna’s latest encounter with something magical and mythical, wasn’t pretty. Nope. Not at all. In the book, at first, Anna still feel the thrill of facing new adventure. But throughout the progress of the story, all the things happened in this previous 2 months before the movie, would definitely give the poor girl nightmares (like shown at the very end of the book, which also actually a part of the movie itself).

At one point, Anna needs to make a hard decision to left Kristoff behind, to intercept the possessed character going after the two sisters, with such a heartbreaking ‘goodbye’ kiss. And while she was spared from witnessing how the fight between the axe armed enemy and unarmed Kristoff went on, she wasn’t so lucky when witnessing Elsa fighting the enormous Nightmare Wolf. Safely stood inside Elsa’s ice dome, after another heartbreaking ‘I love you’ goodbye from her sister, Anna witness how Elsa charged at the wolf, with legendary sword in one hand, and ice power in her other hand (Elsa is so badass in this scene, btw), wipe the floor with the wolf, but when her sister went in for the finishing blow, the legendary sword shattered, and Elsa was pummeled down instead. Anna managed to look at her sister eyes the last time, before the wolf took over Elsa’s body. Her sister’s scream when the wolf took over her body, will definitely gave Anna PTSD for sure. The poor girl :,( After all, Anna’s biggest fear actually wasn’t her insecurities, but loosing her big sis.

This is exactly why Anna become so tense, and clingy towards Elsa. Especially after Pabbie’s warn, that Elsa might loose to the magic she followed. Because unlike Elsa who can ‘sense’ that the voice and magic in the movie was actually different than what the sisters have faced in the past two months, Anna only has her memories, the horror memory of loosing those close to her, especially Elsa, from the past 2 months. And when her biggest fear came true, when Elsa’s lost to a place Anna couldn’t reach, that’s when she went down to her lowest. (I might cry even more at the ‘next right thing’ sequences T.T)

I guess, this crazy adventures were also what make Elsa sang “I’ve had my adventure, and I don’t need something new. I’m afraid of what I’m risking, if I followed you.....”. Because despite her regal and calm demeanor, Elsa must also feels terrified at their latest adventures. Especially since she nearly lost Anna twice, when her little sister was almost drown in the river, and almost fall into the abyss inside an abandoned mines. Loosing Anna is certainly Elsa’s biggest fear too.

This book also told us a bit more about Frozen world building. Like the secret room at the castle. We learn that Iduna had been studying magic, and translating runes and mythical stories. I guess, this what make Iduna and Agnarr travel to find Ahtohallan. Strengthen the theory that suggest magic and mythical creatures are not strange in Arendellian soils. This very secret room also held the secret of the Enchanted Forest and the dam making, aside from the castle blue prints, and a saga of Aren.

We also saw how Arendelle prospers. After the gate opened, new people start to came and live there. Judging from the name patterns, these new people might came from so many different places, like Asia (Soo Jun, is a quite common Korean name). Showing that Elsa was a good leader, but sometimes she was too hard on herself.

We also understand that the people of Arendelle did saw the Northuldrans as bad guys (including Anna herself), who eliminate their beloved king Runenard. Strengthen the theory, that the mist was there to actually protect the Northuldrans from the angry Arendellians.

Fun fact:

Elsa likes to tugged at her finger, when she felt nervous. A habit left behind from using gloves all the time.

Anna’s favorite flower is sunflower (bright and warm, just like her :D). Anna can run really fast. Faster than Kristoff and Elsa (no wonder she can outrun the cart with Olaf in it, in the ‘Something never change’ sequence)

Kristoff still awed at how beautiful Elsa’s ice (sculpture) is. Ice is his life after all :P

Despite her good governance, Elsa still at edge and have trouble when speaking to people, both dignitaries and her people. Her one flaw from being a perfect Queen, result of her isolation for years. Her perfectionist side also shown that make her often too hard on herself, and her reluctance to share her burden with Anna, manifest as Elsa’s other fear in this book, that was being a bad queen. Things that make Anna said ‘Oh Elsa, when will you see yourself the way I see you’.

This book also shown how Elsa’s ice power and her control for it has grown in the past three years. She can make lenses from ice, can create a very strong ice dome to protect the castle and the village, can pin point the thickness of her ice, can make permafrost for Olaf, and never grew tired when blasting her power (unless her muscle gave out first, hindering her from flicking her wrist).

Anna’s other side also being shown here. She’s actually very smart (smarter than she gave herself credit for), she can speak several foreign languages, love to learn from anybody (literally anybody), loves any arts and cultures, and as a princess she knows her people by names (amazing!!). At certain points, we also see how Anna took a very unpopular decisions. This is actually Anna’s queen quality. That she herself didn’t give enough credit for. But Elsa clearly see it, and highly respect Anna for it.

Overall.... This novel is really good read! I highly recommend it, if you’re a big frozen fan. I will definitely read it again. Now to slowly devour the details in it :D

#frozen #frozen 2 #frozen novel #anna #elsa #kristoff #sven #olaf #novel #review #thoughts #frozen review #frozen analysis

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technicallycleverdetective · 4 years ago

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Inspired by the outsider POV fic prompts by @mewbotz. On this occasion I have written a fic based on this one: -people at a market that the immortals frequent who gossip about the strange group of travellers and have betting pools on who’s together. people fight over their favorite ships. the blacksmith thinks andy and nicky are together. the baker is set on andy and quynh. homophobia does not exist.

It’s not exactly as the prompt says...but close enough :D I hope you enjoy.

Iliana glanced across the room, ducking her head upon noticing that the Greek man was looking around.

“I tell you, they came into the jewellery shop together,” she whispered to her companions. “He complimented her on every piece she tried. When I asked about the bracelet on her arm, she told me that it was a gift from her beloved.”

“Why do you assume that he is her beloved? Because they bought jewellery together?” Markos asked, irritably tossing a few coins into the centre of the table. “I saw her with the other girl in the weapon smith’s shop. Tell me why two women would be looking for axes and spears if they had men to do it for them.”

Iliana scoffed and rolled her eyes. “It is not so far-fetched. Between the two of us, I am the better at wielding a knife. Why shouldn’t the same be true of them?”

Markos glared at her from beneath his thick eyebrows as Katina put a hand over her mouth, concealing a smile.

“I must say,” Giannis piped up. “When they booked into the guest house, the two Greeks did take a room together. I thought the other woman was their maid.”

Markos blew air between his lips. “She must be a highly trusted maid, very close to her mistress, from what I saw. I doubt she is the sort who cleans and sews.”

“That has been established, Markos,” Iliana remarked, sarcasm dripping from her tongue. “They are all evidently warriors. The matter at hand is the exact nature of their relationships to each other.”

“And you think the two Greeks are a couple? How original, Iliana. Do you suppose the other two make a second pair?” “I’ve never seen them together so I’m not sure” she retorted with dignity.

“I actually think the Greek man and the…” Katina paused and looked over her shoulder, her head turning back swiftly and her cheeks pinking. “And the dark-haired woman may be a couple. They were in the wood-carver’s shop together and seemed to enjoy one another’s company greatly. They were like a pair of children exploring the wooden horses and the board games.”

“That speaks to friendship” Markos muttered.

“You’re only saying that because you don’t want to lose” Antonios accused. Markos gasped aloud at his insolence.

“My sister and I would play with toys. I would not embrace anyone but my wife” he declared, a little loudly considering the need to be clandestine.

“Did you see them embrace?” Antonios asked, leaning forward with interest. This was new information and he was glad that he had held off on placing his money into the pool.

“I did” Markos said proudly.

“What was the nature of it?” Christos asked, speaking up for the first time.

“Well,” Markos screwed his face up as he sought to recall. “They were looking at the axes. The Greek one was testing the weight of them and her companion said something…I don’t know, I was far away and I think she spoke in another language. Anyway the Greek one laughed and put an arm around her shoulders. I think she kissed her.” “Really?” Christos asked, alarmed. His money had been placed elsewhere.

“Where? Cheek, head, lips?” Antonios demanded.

Markos typically liked to be the centre of attention, and even more so to be right, but he was uncomfortable with this interrogation.

“They were turned away from me,” he protested. “It was on the face somewhere.”

“It could be sisterhood” Christos said. Markos fixed his dark eyes on him.

“That is nonsense. Why would you say such a thing?”

“Because,” Christos declared triumphantly. “I saw her embrace the other man, the one with curly hair.”

He smiled at the thrill that went around the table. The only news of the second man had come from Giannis, who saw him tending the horses in the stable by the guest house, and Antonios who sold him leather coats and shoes. He was alone on both occasions and so no-one else had yet factored him into their bets.

“Do you think…?” Katina began, her voice trailing off.

“I knew it,” Giannis interrupted. “Even when the Greek was speaking, I could tell she was the power behind the throne. He kept looking for her approval.”

“You think she has…All of them in her bed?” Markos spluttered.

“It would explain why they took the younger girl to the room with them. The man was taking care of the horses, but he could have joined them later” Giannis replied confidently.

Iliana allowed her eyes to wander across the room, running her gaze across the table of visitors. The older man had the dark skin of an outdoorsman, the kind she had always been attracted to, and a head of dark curls that she would love to run her fingers through. The younger one had the most impeccable manners she’d ever encountered in a man, endlessly generous to his companion and polite to her. The girl had a wicked smile and an air of mischief that Iliana was endeared to. And the tall, elegant woman held the attention of them all. What a woman, she thought, travelling the world with three lovers. It was the stuff of dreams.

“Don’t look so admiring” Markos remarked. She turned away from the scene and smiled at him. Her life might be boring in comparison to the mysterious strangers, but at least it was steady and comfortable. It was a good exchange.

“Does this mean you win the bet, dear?” she asked.

“There’s no proof,” Christos stepped in quickly. “It’s just a theory. Why would the Greeks pretend to be a couple when they arrived if they’re all together?”

“Travelling so much, I’m sure they must have encountered areas less welcoming to their lifestyle,” Iliana said. “I too would be cautious when entering a new place.”

Christos grumbled and took a swig from his mug, his frown growing at the discovery that it was empty.

“Giannis, be a good host” he requested, pushing it towards him. Giannis dutifully gathered the mugs and brought them to the bar, setting about the task of refilling them.

“We should ask Eva,” Iliana suggested. “The men were working with her today. She might have more information."

“I hope so, because with how much they bought today, I think they’re preparing to leave,” Antonios warned. “This is the last night that the bet can be won.”

Markos tapped his fingers on the table and then turned. “The nature of this embrace you saw, Christos, what was it?”

“He picked her up off the ground and spun her around.”

“That is not an embrace. That is a game I play with my children. None of you have seen anything more compelling than I have, and since this is the last night of our bet…”

Markos grinned and started to pull the money towards him.

“The men are kissing” Giannis reported, coming back with two mugs in each hand.

The group of six looked, careless of subtlety, and saw that Giannis had spoken true. The curly-haired man had moved around the table to sit beside the Greek, kissing him on the mouth. The two women were standing to leave, talking in their strange language and laughing as they said goodbye. The Greek woman slipped an arm around her companion’s shoulders as they walked past the table and disappeared upstairs.

“Does that count?” Markos asked hopefully.

“Oh, that is not proof,” Christos said, clearly enjoying having the sandal on the other foot. “Did anyone bet on the men?”

A guilty silence followed and Markos groaned, burying his face in his hands.

“I’ll take this to cover the drinks” Giannis said mischievously, pulling the pile of coins towards him.

Iliana reached over and petted her husband’s arm. “Never mind, dear, you were closer than I was” she said comfortingly.

They finished their drinks and the married couples bid their friends goodnight. Giannis rested his head against Antonios’ shoulder as he waited for his last guests to go to bed and let him do the same, his partner idly playing with his fingers.

Markos kindly held the door open for Katina and Christos, and Iliana followed them, joining them on the street for farewell embraces and turning to find that her husband hadn’t quite made it out after them. She was about to inquire about his whereabouts when he appeared, face flushed with pleasure as he embraced their friends.

“They told me that my bet was correct” he said as he and his wife took their leave.

“Who did?”

“The two men. They must have heard us. They said I was right and the women are a couple.”

He sounded so happy and Iliana smiled. Her husband always liked to be the most intelligent man in the room.

“I’m glad for you, my love,” she said, looping her arm through his. “But I’m afraid that glory will be your only prize on this occasion.”

“You told them?” Andromache asked incredulously, laughing as she passed the wine to Quynh.

“What harm does it do?” Yusuf asked. “We’re leaving tomorrow. And he was so invested in it. I don’t want him to lose his house over it.” “If he loses his house over a bet, he had it coming” Andromache replied, with her usual brand of tough love.

“Did you hear them? They took it so seriously,” Quynh said, pressing a hand to her chest. “My heart! It was adorable.”

“They’re good people,” Nicolo said sincerely. “They have been so kind to us, even if they do treat us like horses.”

That raised a laugh from his companions.

“Speaking of horses,” Andromache said, levering herself up from the semi-horizontal position she found herself in and fixing the boys with a slightly bleary warning look. “We have to set off early tomorrow so do not stay up late.”

“We won’t if you won’t” Yusuf said cheerfully.

“We haven’t been missing anything” Nicolo added, sticking the knife in further.

Andromache sighed and looked between the three people she loved most in the world. “You were all sent to torture me,” she declared. “Quynh, come on. Time to go.”

Her partner lifted herself off the floor in one elegant move that made Andromache’s stomach flip a little. Despite her steadily growing desire to get to bed and not sleep, Quynh saw fit to prolong the torture by kissing the boys’ heads and wishing them a good night before following Andromache. She practically pulled her beloved across the hall by her arm.

Quynh was laughing when the door of their room finally closed behind them.

“You are a terror” Andromache accused, pushing her against the wood and caging Quynh between her arms.

“I know” she said unapologetically.

“I cannot believe you forbid me to touch you for an entire week just to stop some peasants from winning a bet.”

“You went along with it, dear,” Quynh pointed out. “Besides, I’m all yours now.”

Andromache growled without meaning to, the last of her already thin restraint snapping.

“You’re damn right” she said, pulling Quynh over to the bed as her lover’s giggles filled the air.

Despite her stern warnings of the previous night, it was the girls who were subjected to the embarrassing knocks on the door and the calls of “Wake up, we have to go” come morning.

Andromache thought it was worth the price.

#the old guard #i wrote a thing #i was going to put this on AO3 #but it proved difficult to tag #so it is here instead :)#the old guard fic

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i-write-shakespeare-not-disney · 5 years ago

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Director’s Commentary- Lovesick Addiction, Keith joins Lance in church as he mourns

My commentary is in bold italics- I hope it’s okay I focused on the shoebox because the whole church scene was like... 6 pages and half of it was crying....

Keith chewed on his lower lip for a second before nodding. “I want to be here with you.” I’m gonna be honest. I know I’ve gotten feedback on the realism of Lance’s mourning, but I have no idea how realistic I made Keith as a partner who is also becoming part of it. I don’t actually know how hard it may have been for Keith to sit there and open the shoe box with Lance, but I like to think that although it is a bit uncomfortable, the jealousy is gone and it’s something Keith does want to actively be part of with Lance out of love for him. Which is why I made him stay even in the midst of Lance’s mourning period and after so long without hearing from Lance.

Lance turned toward him and put the box between them. He took a breath and stared at it for a minute. Keith kept his eyes on him while he prepared himself. Then Lance reached out and pulled the lid of the shoebox away.

There were several papers, photos, and even pieces of jewelry. Lance let out a shaky breath and he let his fingers skim over the photos. They had a grainy sort of appearance, like they were photos taken with phones then printed at a Walgreens. A couple were those new, small polaroids.

Lance looked at them and took a deep breath that left him in a shaky exhale. It kind of killed me not getting a chance to write this section in Lance’s POV because this is huge for him. He’s allowing and inviting both worlds to merge here in a place of faith which he had been lacking. He’s inviting this acknowledgement of both Allura and Keith as romantic partners and it’s HUGE, especially after so long keeping them separate and grieving her separately. “This was the first Christmas we spent as a couple. She gave me the cologne you saw in my bathroom that day.”

He looked at the photo in Lance’s hands. The two of them bundled up with scarves and beanies and thick jackets so all you could really see was her hair spilling around her shoulders and their faces as they laughed in the middle of a kiss.

It felt jarring to see Lance kissing someone else. The bitterness Keith used to have to stuff down wasn’t there, just… discomfort. I also really wanted this scene to show the growth and security Keith feels in the relationship. He would NOT have been ready for this if they’d opened the box all those chapter ago when Lance first mentioned the box. Lance put the photo back inside and looked at the others. There was a silly selfie of the two of them where Allura’s hair covered both their faces because the wind was blowing it. Keith could still see their laughing smiles between the strands, the scrunch of their eyes as they winced. There was one someone had taken of them while they sat, each with a book in their hands. Lance seemed to be looking up as if whoever was snapping the photo had called his name suddenly. Allura was leaning against him, focused on her book. They were both dressed up.

“Where’d you guys go?” I know it seems like Keith asking stuff is just a given, but.... Honestly he could’ve stayed quiet the whole time and just let Lance talk when he needed/wanted. But I had this question from Keith’s end because I wanted to show that Keith is welcoming this information, this conversation. It’s not one sided. It’s a conversation and Keith wants to be part of it. He wants Lance to trust him with this, wants him to feel safe and comfortable talking about it. So he asks and he’s curious and it’s him opening that space for Lance. Reassuring him that he means it when he says he wants to be there.

Lance smiled sadly. “That was after Ash Wednesday. See the smear on our foreheads?” He sighed. “We actually weren’t dating yet in that one. I also wanted to make sure people recognized that his relationship with Allura wasn’t always romantic. There was friendship there, a bond that went back to childhood. A closeness that grew before the romance. It’s mentioned either before or shortly after this excerpt but I needed to drive home the fact that Lance is not only mourning a lover, he’s mourning a friend. Even when he’s been with Keith for 30 years, he will still mourn Allura because she was still his friend of several years. But my dad kept telling me to buck up and be a man and ask her out already.” Keith hummed and nodded. He looked into the box and skimmed the other contents. “Are you sure this is okay?” Lance asked.

He met Lance’s eyes and smiled sheepishly. “It’s a little strange. But I’m okay.” He pointed inside the box. “What’s with the index card covered in algebra equations?” The index card, I just really wanted a mundane object that would show how easy and natural their relationship was but also didn’t want it to be a sticky note because of that Valentine’s day headcannon I have for them.

Lance set the photos down and lifted the index card. There were a bunch of sticky notes attached to the other side of it, stacked sloppily over each other.

“This is from one of the classes we shared for gen ed. She left me a note on it when I wasn’t looking, and I just found it between my study guides.” He peeled the sticky notes off and Keith saw some loopy, round handwriting scrawled across the other side in black marker.

I like the look on your face when you get confused. It’s cute. -Ax

Keith knew exactly what she was talking about. That scrunch of his eyebrows, the way he pressed his lips together in a slight pout, the way his eyes would squint suspiciously, all topped with a slight tilt of his head. It was fucking adorable. So. I really liked the idea of creating a sense of similarity between Keith and Allura through Lance. The two people who love(d) him in this romantic way both knew him well enough to know what his confused face was and to find it endearing. They’re similar in their love for Lance, and it also shows that there’s parts that are integral to Lance that didn’t disappear after Allura’s death. Even if it’s as small as a facial expression.

“The professor was trying to explain logarithms. I never understood those,” Lance said. He flipped the edges of the sticky notes. “She used to leave me notes in my stuff. In my backpack. Between the pages of my books. In my wallet. Telling me to listen for the birds that day. Things that reminded her of me. Or just to remind me that… she loved me.” I want to expand on this in the prequels, but the idea was that Allura liked to mention things Lance could make poetry out of. While also letting him experience the present. As someone who knew she was on limited time, Allura was often the one reigning Lance back to just be present and enjoy the moment (something else Keith and Allura have in common) when Lance wanted to rush forward and plan the future. So she mentioned little things that could help him be present like bird songs. He traced the loops of her writing and pressed his other hand to his eyes.

He took a moment to pull himself together, placing the stack of notes back inside the box. While Lance breathed, Keith noticed the glint of a chain and a bracelet. The cross on the chain and the little infinity sign on the bracelet were the same as the ones Allura had been wearing in the photos. He could see them clearly on a small polaroid of Allura laying out in the sun- the very same cross and bracelet. I wanted the jewelry to stand out because they didn’t go to Coran and they weren’t buried with her. They were given to Lance.

“She really loved you,” Keith said softly.

Lance looked over at him and managed a nearly imperceptible nod. “I miss her. And it just sucks that… this isn’t the kind of missing someone where you know you can drive a few hours to see them or just wait a few months to be with them. It’s permanent. There’s no possibility at all and I can’t do anything about it.” Depending on how long you’ve followed me, you may or may not know I’m thanatophobic. So I basically put the fears I have of death into this. It’s kind of surreal trying to get into your head when someone is gone in a permanent way that has no chance of changing and I tried to phrase it in a way that would carry that weight of pain and finality. As he spoke, his voice broke more and more between whispers, some words barely distinguishable. “And when that reality hits me I just feel… so powerless and small.”

Seeing Lance break down further, Keith got up and moved to the other side of Lance so he could wrap his arms around him. Lance pressed his hands to Keith’s chest.

At first, Keith thought Lance was trying to push him back. That he might need space. But when Keith started to let him go, Lance’s body curled further into him. His palm pressed against his chest, seeking something. Seeking Keith’s heartbeat. Lance’s face tucked into the curve of his neck. Lance’s way to be present. The last time he did this was after a nightmare of Keith dying, so for Lance, the heartbeat is a way of comforting himself with the knowledge that the person he loves is alive.

They stayed that way for a long time. Keith let his finger twirl an unruly lock of hair by his ear, his other arm wrapped around Lance and gently skimming his fingers over him back. Lance kept his hand at Keith’s chest, occasionally pressing harder, occasionally letting his hand slip before settling back in place.

Eventually, Lance lifted his head. “I’m gonna pray a little,” he said with a tired, raspy voice. “Then we can go back. If you’d rather wait in the car, you can.”

Keith hummed and looked around at whoever was left still praying. “Can you show me how? Teach me one of the prayers you like so I can do it with you?”

I’ve mentioned why this last bit matters so much to me. I mean for one, it’s a big step that Lance made the step on his own to voluntarily go to church and another that he’s sitting to have his conversation with God. But there’s also so much in the fact that Keith is also offering to join him in this because he knows what it means to Lance. Anyway this is one of my favorite parts especially with the part the follows this where Lance gives him a simple little kiss and Keith is very confused and wondering if it’s allowed. That part, I think shows another merging of worlds for Lance. A merge of his faith with his identity as someone who loves a boy.

#director's commentary

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bisexualbuck · 5 years ago

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⭐ for 'that which we carry' pretty please?

yes of course!! thank you cecila 💕

“She [Buck’s mother] said that she didn’t know why she couldn’t ever love me but, in moments like those, where we fight, she’s glad she never tried harder.”

(ao3 link)

fun fact!! i had that sentence pop into my head one day and i built the whole fic around it

what a cruel thing to say to their own kid.. i broke my own heart writing that i’ll be honest

so the first half of that fic is bobby’s pov and right after we get

Bobby has never been a violent man but if he had Buck’s parents in front of him, he is not sure he would be able to restrain himself. Two emotions battle in Bobby’s heart – anger, at Buck’s mom for being so cruel, and compassion for Buck who never deserved to be treated like that.

Compassion wins out.

i stand by this, bobby is a pretty chill man but go near his family and he will grab an axe and chop you off without a second thought

“It’s okay to not be okay.” He pauses but Bobby forces himself to continue, Buck needs to hear it even if it’s hard for him to say. “You’re not alone, you’ve got us. You’ve got me. Son.”

here we’ve got a big recurring theme in my fics: bobby is not good with words, bobby has issues telling buck especially what he means to him

we see it in the show, that scene where buck tells bobby that he is one of the most important people in his life? bobby is shook and says nothing

do you know how much pain that gives me? A Lot

last thing and i will shut the eff up

She brings him down to press a soft kiss against his forehead. He wonders if that’s what a mother is supposed to do but, for once, the thought does not bring him pain, only curiosity – as if, maybe, now, he will get a chance to find out too.

i have written athena giving buck a forehead kiss in at least two fics maybe more and i will do it again because it’s my one true weakness

that’s a mother’s thing to do because that’s his mother right there and i love it

ask me to do a “director’s commentary” on a particular story, section of a story, or set of lines? or send a ⭐ and i’ll ramble about something from a fic!

#gosh i'm so sorry #you probably weren't wanting something so long #ask game #long post #answered #sometimesthedragonwins

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maxilsmaster · 5 years ago

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writer ask meme

https://ciiardha-blog.tumblr.com/post/158543702841/writer-ask-meme

1. Tell us about your WIP! right now, i’m working on a fic with classicfresh, scifell, errink, dustberry, horrorlust, afterdeath and killercreammare. basically, dream invited everyone on a picnic but it went horribly wrong and everyone started arguing.

2. Where is your favorite place to write? i mostly write stuff out on google docs then post to ao3, but sometimes i just skip to ao3

3. What is your favorite/least favorite part about writing? favorite: i don’t necessarily have to share my work. least favorite: describing things.

4. Do you have any writing habits/rituals? lots of dialogue, start with a line of dialogue.

5. Top five formative books? haha what

6. Favorite character you’ve written? probably error or ink. maybe my own sans, illusion.

7. Favorite/most inspirational book? i like the sight (warriors arc 3 book 1) and curiosity killed the error (by the lovely @shandycandy278).

8. Do you have any writing buddies or critique partners? i recently gained a position beta-reading for @jasmynation‘s undermaze fic. also my friend CosmoCat07 on ao3

9. Favorite/least favorite tropes? i have no idea.

10. Pick an author (or writing friend) to co-write a book with CosmoCat07

11. What are you planning to work on next? dying inside slowly

12. Which story of yours do you like best? why? New Beginnings, the thing I’m writing with CosmoCat07.

13. Describe your writing process oh hey this would be funny *types ideas on notepad on chromebook* *writes it out on google docs*

14. What does it take for you to be ready to write a book? (i.e. do you research? outline? make a playlist or pinterest board? wing it?) type a vague idea, and wing it from there

15. How do you deal with self-doubt when writing? bottle it up internally :D

16. Cover love/dream covers? i don’t like covers.

17. What things (scenes/topics/character types) are you most comfortable writing? not sex.

18. Tell us about that one book you’ll never let anyone read my first warriors fanfic. 30 chapters of me not fully understanding warriors. (un)fortunately, it got deleted when my old laptop broke.

19. How do you cope with writer’s block? write more

20. Any advice for young writers/advice you wish someone would have given you early on? don’t doubt yourself.

21. What aspect of your writing are you most proud of? the grammar, definitely. i’m not giving a shit about it here, but i’m good at grammar. no grammarly stop giving me your ads, i can write just fine on my own.

22. Tell us about the books on your “to write” list 50 one-shots then 70+ more.

23. Most anticipated upcoming books? the next warriors books

24. Do you remember the moment you decided to become a writer/author? no

25. What’s your worldbuilding process like? what worldbuilding process?

26. What’s the most research you’ve ever put into a book? very. very. VERY. little.

27. Every writer’s least favorite question - where does your inspiration come from? Do you do certain things to make yourself more inspired? Is it easy for you to come up with story ideas? inspiration? fanfiction. it’s pretty easy.

28. How do you stay focused on your own work and how do you deal with comparison? i don’t compare and i don’t get comparison. i’m not that popular.

29. Is writing more of a hobby or do you write with the intention of getting published? hobby

30. Do you like to read books similar to your project while you’re drafting or do you stick to non-fiction/un-similar works? all i read is fanfiction all i read is undertale fanfiction all i write is basically undertale fanfiction

31. Top five favorite books in your genre? genre: fanfiction. ckte, um ckte, undermaze, our tangled web, and uh ckte. i like ckte.

32. On average how much do you write in a day? do you have trouble staying focused/getting the word count in? i have trouble writing over 1000 words at once, but i try. i also write a lot. it’s been occupying most of my time lately.

33. What’s your revision/rewriting process like? oh, i messed up this word. edit. oh, this sentence would fit here... add sentence. oh my god this whole story sucks burn it in hell.

34. Unpopular writing thoughts/opinions? idk.

35. Post the last sentence you wrote from prompt 49. dear god. at least i’m done prompt 5...

“S’ why m’ not gettin’ ya somethin’ greasy,” Red answered, pulling open the door to Grillby’s.

36. Post a snippet SPOILERS FOR PROMPT 33 OF MY THING

Cross stepped between the two. “Alright, who wants to play hide and seek?”

“OOH! ME!” Blue cheered, wiggling around in the strings.

Horror raised the hand his axe was in, and Killer raised a hand as he stood up to retrieve his knife from the wall it had been stuck in from when he threw it. Meanwhile, Dust and Error let out a groan.

“Alright, majority rules, we’re doing hide and seek!”

“Yay!” Horror, Blue and Killer said, all in different tones.

“And Error, no cheating this time,” Cross ordered. “You know what, you can seek.”

“Fuck you,” Error spat as he dropped Blue from the strings. Killer caught Blue dramatically. “That was gay.”

“Then it’s a good thing we’re already dating,” Killer refuted, dipping Blue and kissing him.

“EIGHT! NINE! TEN!” Error yelled, turning around and subsequently causing everyone to jump.

They then proceeded to run out of the room.

37. Do you ever write long handed or do you prefer to type everything? type. i can’t write with a pencil for shit.

38. How do you nail voice in your books? i don’t XD

39. Do you spend a lot of time analyzing and studying the work of authors you admire? idk, really

40. Do you look up to any of your writer buddies? shandy

41. Are there any books you feel have shaped you as a writer? what?

42. How many drafts do you usually write before you feel satisfied? one, then edit.

43. How do you deal with rejection? haven’t had to yet.

44. Why (and when) did you decide to become a writer? late grade 7, i guess. that was when i first started getting into warriors.

45. First or third person? third

46. Past or present tense? past, definitely

47. Single or dual/multi POV? i’m cool with either

48. Do you prefer to write skimpy drafts and flesh them out later, or write too much and cut it back? write everything in one go (spread out over multiple days, normally), then add/remove a few details

49. Favorite fictional world? right now utmv but i also like warriors

50. Do you share your rough drafts or do you wait until everything is all polished? i edit before i post, but i post individual chapters

51. Are you a secretive writer or do you talk with your friends about your books? mostly talk about it amongst the fandom

52. Who do you write for? myself, mostly.

53. What is the first line of your WIP? my current one, where i’m writing seven different ships in a one-shot?

This picnic was a terrible idea. Everyone was arguing over something so pointless and mundane that it may as well not even have started.

54. Favorite first line/opening you’ve written? not the one above

55. How do you manage your time/make time for writing? (do you set aside time to write every day or do you only write when you have a lot of free time?) i just write constantly

#spoilers for my one-shots #55 questions

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featherquillpen · 6 years ago

Note

3, 4, 11, 15 - Carry On Wayward Son?

3: What’s your favorite line of narration?

«Tobias,» I said, overwhelmed, because all of this meant so much, a net of emotion binding me motionless, but most of all I felt gratitude to the universe for this gift, because Tobias was my family, both in my hearts and in truth, and it was more than I could ever have asked for.

That’s from the scene in Chapter 6 when Tobias tells Ax that Elfangor is his father. Like everyone else in the fandom, I am beyond mad that we didn’t get this scene in canon, because it’s so goddamn meaningful and I think Ax would have been just... utterly overcome by it.

4: What’s your favorite line of dialogue?

In Chapter 10, Tobias, Ax, and Loren do the morning ritual together, and Tobias and Loren discover the differences between the military and civilian versions. Tobias and Ax end the military version with its final line, «I, _____, offer my life,» and put their blades to their own throats, as in canon. Then this exchange happens:

«What did Elfangor say?» Tobias asked.

“The same thing. Only he kissed his wedding ring when he said it.”

That put me in my feelings when I wrote it. There are so many ways to offer your life.

11: What do you like best about this fic?

I love using Loren’s POV as a stand-in for my point of view as an adult reading and enjoying the Animorphs series. My experience of reading it as an adult is so different from when I was a kid. I’m constantly horrified and heartbroken by everything these kids go through. When I wrote Loren’s POV, I could finally put in that perspective.

15: What did you learn from writing this fic?

A hell of a lot about blind people, their concerns, and how they live their lives. I did a lot of research to write Loren’s POV in this fic. I followed tumblrs and twitters of blind people, I read through a cooking site by a blind chef, I read articles on the website for the American Foundation for the Blind. I realized I’d been carrying around a lot of misinformation and stupid tropes from TV. The fic probably still has some misinformation and stupid tropes from TV, despite my best efforts.

Incidentally, I would love to record a full podfic of Dæmorphing so it could be more accessible to the blind (though as I understand it AO3 has a lot of good accessibility settings) but it would take ages and ages, so I’ve only recorded one of the first fic in the series.

#daemorphing meta is go #joysweeper

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tiffersthenerdyficrecs · 6 years ago

Text

Ereri AU Fics

(*) Indicates my most suggested reads.

Dumb Luck by Anime_or_scifi

Rating: General Audiences Relationship: Levi/Eren Yeager Characters: Levi Ackerman, Eren Yeager, Hange Zoë Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, donut shop! Au, Crushes, Eren is a lovable idiot, and Levi is here for it, Fluff and Crack, attempt at crack Summary: Levi fell in love with a fucking idiot.

It's Not a Sixth Sense, It's a Pain in the Ass by EJelly(Updating/Incomplete)

Rating: Mature Relationship: Levi/Eren Yeager Characters: Eren Yeager, Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), Armin Arlert, Jean Kirstein, Connie Springer, Sasha Blouse, Mikasa Ackerman, Erwin Smith, Hange Zoë Additional Tags: Detective AU, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, detective eren, Car Accidents, Dead People, some sixth sense shit, Ghosts, Sad, Angst, Funny, funny will hopefully make up for the sad, Grumpy Levi, but can you blame him, he's dead, Slow Burn, therapist Hange, Fluff, First person POV Eren, a lot of swearing, because thats the way I like it, more tags added as story goes on, ereri, non-binary Hange, First Kiss, I can finally add that shit Summary: Three months ago Eren was in a life altering car accident. Out of the precinct for three months left him a bit out of touch with the detective scene and the new undead additions to his line of sight have left him a little out of touch with life. He could have lost an arm, left paralyzed from the waist down or reduced to a vegetable in the hospital, but no.... he can just see Casper in his fucking kitchen. After a few weeks to adjust to his new 'sight' Eren starts to think he won't be able to handle this, the death, the sorrow, the loss. He doesn't think he can cope with it alone, that is, until he meets one ghost, a short, grumpy ghost with the kind of detective mind Eren would kill for and a hankering for some cigarettes. Apparently the dead can't smoke though, so, huh, who knew?

Marry Me Mister! by FictionalFiction(Updating/Incomplete)

Rating: Explicit Relationships: Levi/Eren Yeager, Zeke (Shingeki no Kyojin)/Annie Leonhart Characters: Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), Eren Yeager, Mikasa Ackerman, Armin Artlet, Jean Kirstein, Reiner Braun, Bertholdt Hoover, Ymir Fritz, Grisha Yeager, Carla Yeager, Connie Springer, Sasha Blouse Additional Tags: Pining, Forced Marriage, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Levi Wants That Yeager Booty, Eren's parents are little devils, Zeke is just here for the laughs, Eren learns to love, Levi wants a husband refund, Annie has a secret Summary: Eren Jaeger always knew that his parents liked messing with him so it's no surprise when he ignores their various calls, messages and meetings about his "wedding". Except he realizes that they weren't kidding when he finds himself on an altar saying his vows to a man who has the resting face of an axe murderer.

The Prince and The Soldier by toxzen

Rating: Explicit Relationship: Levi/Eren Yeager Characters: Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), Eren Yeager, Grisha Yeager Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Arranged Marriage, Arranged Marriage, Anal Sex, Anal Fingering, First Time, Prince!Eren, One Shot, Plot What Plot/Porn Without Plot, Alternate Universe - Fantasy Summary: “And may your lives be forever intertwined, until the last star goes out.” With those final words, I was wed to a man I had met only three hours before.

Kitty Litter by landofbutts*(Updating/Incomplete)

Rating: Explicit Relationship: Levi/Eren Yeager Characters: Eren Yeager, Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), Hange Zoë, Erwin Smith, Special Operations Squad | Squad Levi, 104th Training Corps Additional Tags: Slow Build, Eventual Smut, Eventual Relationships, Fluff, keep with it, Cats, Blow Jobs, Anal Sex, lots of fluff, Kittens Summary: "This may sound weird, but I um- I think your cat got my cat pregnant." He told him, giving a small and awkward laugh. "I'm your neighbour, by the way. I live next door." He quickly added, nodding in the direction of his house just so he knew that he wasn't a random stranger. Which it probably seemed like he was right now. Eren discovers his cat is pregnant with the next door neighbours cat so decides to go over and discuss details with him.

Ink of Love by rachel_exe*

Rating: Explicit Relationship: Levi/Eren Yeager Characters: Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), Eren Yeager, Hange Zoë Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Tattoo Parlor, Tattoo Artist Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), College Student Eren Yeager, Co-workers, Pining Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), Oblivious Eren Yeager, Top Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), Bottom Eren Yeager, Anal Sex, Hand Jobs, Kissing, Fluff and Smut, Ereriminibang2k19 Summary: Levi has been pining after Eren ever since the boy started working at his tattoo parlour as a part-timer, but it takes a game of spin the bottle for the brunet to get his flirting.

Woke Up Dead by PresquePommes

Rating: Explicit Relationship: Levi/Eren Yeager Characters: Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), Eren Yeager Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, Domestic Violence, Divorce, Babysitting, Homophobic Language, Horny Teenagers, Correction: One Horny Teenager Who Is Angry About It, Underage Drinking (Technically; Reincarnation Makes Everything Complicated), Sexual Content, Levi Is A Little Shit As Per Usual, Loss of Purpose, Consensual Choking Summary: He had never believed in heaven, and the premise of hell had always seemed like something that had been invented to scare kids into behaving.

No karma.

No fate.

(Not believing in anything doesn't make nothingness the truth.)

Or: That One Reincarnation Fic in which everyone is born to different parents, given different names, and existing birth order is thrown to the wind by an unforgiving god. Also That One Reincarnation Fic in which remembering means being born into a helpless, mush-brained infant body with the memories of an adult, which is fundamentally kind of horrifying and sometimes has catastrophic results. Secondary summary brought to you by the fact that the first one doesn't tell you jack shit about the content of this piece- which is now complete!

Awkward Encounters of the Bakery Kind by PresquePommes

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Relationship: Levi/Eren Yeager Characters: Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), Eren Yeager Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Bakery Summary: Treating himself with freshly baked goods on the odd and typically shitty day he finds himself walking home from the bank seems like a fair arrangement.

The Sweet Scent of Intoxication by chou_latte*(Updating/Incomplete)

Rating: Mature Archive Warning: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Categories: F/F, F/M, M/M Relationship: Levi/Eren Yeager Characters: Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), Eren Yeager, Armin Arlert, Mikasa Ackerman, Erwin Smith, Hange Zoë, Jean Kirstein, Grisha Yeager, Ymir (Shingeki no Kyojin), Krista Lenz | Historia Reiss, Mike Zacharias, Reiner Braun, Petra Ral Additional Tags: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), Omega Eren Yeager, Omega Armin Arlert, Alpha Erwin Smith, Alpha Mikasa Ackerman, Beta Hange Zoë, Omegaverse, a/b/o dynamics, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Bonding, Mating, Mating Bond, Eventual Smut, Scent Marking, Minor Violence, riren - Freeform, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, professor Levi, College Student Eren Yeager, Other Additional Tags to Be Added. Abusive Grisha Yeager, Pining Eren Yeager, Pining Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), Fluff and Smut, lots of fluff, Purring, Top Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), Bottom Eren Yeager, Slow Build, Jealous Eren Yeager, Alpha/Omega, Sassy Eren Yeager, crooning, Drunk Texting, Drunk Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), POV Alternating, Omega Petra Ral, Nurse Petra, fierce omega eren, Alpha Reiner Braun, Slow Burn, Badass Eren Yeager, Light Angst, Fluff and Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Rutting, mentions of mpreg, Dirty Talk, Anal Fingering, Teasing, Mutual Masturbation, Masturbation, Fingerfucking, Prostate Massage, Protective Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), Knotting, Mating Bites, Mates, Romance, Falling In Love Summary: Eren had finally started to get his life back together. He had gotten into his first choice university alongside his two best friends, had started looking for potential part-time jobs and had applied to the same dormitory Armin had, all to get away from the clutches of his abusive asshole of a father.

Things were finally looking up again.

But then, one morning an unexpected dizziness overcame the supposed beta on his way to classes; fever breaking out on his skin, heated flames licking at the insides of his all of a sudden weak and trembling body. Blazing in their touch; unrelenting in their vicious assault; all-consuming as they spread and burned their way through his body, leaving his legs wobbling and shaking pitifully underneath him... What was happening to him?!

#Ereri #fanfiction #fanfic #Eren Jaeger #Levi Ackerman #eren x levi #levi x eren #fic rec #ao3 #AoT #snk #AU

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goforwardgreenwriter-blog · 7 years ago

Text

The Worm Reads: Empire of Storms, Ch 34 - 37

Because Chapter 38 is a... doozy, today we’’ll be covering some extra chapters. My treat.

She was a liar, and a murderer, and a thief, and Aelin had a feeling she’d be called much worse by the end of this war.

Pfft, I’ve called her worse during these chapter reviews.

Securing this alliance was only part of it. The other part, the bigger part … was the message. Not to Morath. But to the world.

“I mean yeah innocent people might die but who cares I just want attention from the whole world because I’m so ~special~ lol!”

[Aelin] was not a rebel princess, shattering enemy castles and killing kings. She was a force of nature. She was a calamity and a commander of immortal warriors of legend.

No, you’re a selfish asshole who cares only about herself and throws tantrums whenever someone doesn’t immediately bow down to you. Also, love that final nail in the coffin to the original concept of t0g. May the first two books rest in peace.

Gavriel was still too busy staring after Aedion, who hadn’t so much as glanced at his father before fastening his shield and sword across his back, mounting a sorry-looking mare, and galloping for the watchtower.

I S2G SJM, leave Gav alone.

People were panicking in the streets as the dark force took shape on the horizon: massive ships with black sails, converging on the bay as if they were indeed carried on a preternatural wind.

See Alien you fuckin’ prick, innocent people live here!!! And you’re totally okay with them all dying if it means everyone knows what an uber powered snowflake you are you piece of shit!!!!!

Rowan’s hatchet gleaming while he hooked it at his side

Again, total nit pick, but.. why do both Lorcan and Rowboat use hatchets? I mean it’s totally okay, I love other kinds of weapons getting used other than swords, but they both have hatchets? Let’s get some battle axes, maces, and other cool weapons in here!

Aelin strode for them. “Anchor them to the mainmast and make sure there’s enough room for them to reach right … here.” She pointed to where she now stood in the heart of the deck. Enough space clear of everyone, enough space for her and Rowan to work.

I’d point out she doesn’t have authority here, Rolfe does because it’s on his ship, but I might as well talk to a wall. Alien is putting the iron there in order to steady herself while using her magic, FYI. She has so much snowflake power she literally needs restrains lmfao SJM you’re killing me.

[Aelin] flicked a glance toward either watchtower to see Dorian arrive—then Aedion’s golden hair racing up the outer spiral staircase to the enormous mounted harpoon at the top. Her heart strained for a moment as she flashed between now and a time when she’d seen Sam running up those same stairs— not to defend this town, but to wreck it.

I despise Alien but the callback here works pretty well. Whereas back then, Alien was wrecking this town, she is now defending it, even without Sam at her side which highlights how much has changed and how much she’s gone through since her previous visit here. I mean, she is also the reason this town is in danger, but regardless.

Lysandra jumps into the sea and transforms into a sea dragon. I’ve already complained about her OP shifting powers, but I’ll admit, this scene is pretty cool.

Lysandra dove, and she let them see the long, powerful body that broke the surface bit by bit as she plunged down, her jade scales gleaming like jewels in the blinding midday sun. See the legend straight from their prophecies: the Mycenians would only return when the sea dragons did. And so Aelin had ensured that one appeared right in their gods-damned harbor.

Like c’mon, that’s pretty bad ass. Lysandra is a cool character in spite of her shitty powers, and that’s really only the fault of SJM’s crappy magic system. We transition into Assdion’s POV.

Aedion chucked off the shield from his back and slammed into the seat before the giant iron harpoon, its length perhaps a hand taller than him, its head bigger than his own.

So like.... a harpoon cannon, essentially? Because those were invented in the late 19th century. Consistent world building who?

Well, at least [Aedion] now knew what secret form Lysandra had been working on. And why Aelin had insisted on getting inside Brannon’s temple. Not just to see the king, not just to reclaim the city for the Mycenians and Terrasen, but … for Lysandra to study the life-size, detailed carvings of those sea dragons. To become a living myth.

How does this make any sense?? So Lysandra can perfectly replicate the system, the anatomy, and the size and powers of a beast by looking at a drawing of it? The fuck??? She doesn’t even need to see it in real life?

Gonna pull from Animorphs again; the kids have to see the animal in real life and actually touch it to absorb its DNA. They can’t turn into animals they haven’t touched even if they know what they look like. This makes sense in a sci-fi fantasy setting. Lysandra’s shifting powers do not.

Lysandra had studied the carvings of the sea dragons at the temple, once Aelin had burned away the dirt on them. Her magic had filled in gaps the carvings didn’t show. Like the nostrils that picked apart each scent on the current, the ears that unraveled varying layers of sound.

HOW DOES MAGIC DO THAT??? We’ve received several hints magic is its own sentient being but it’s never explained or expanded upon?? Lysandra’s magic is only as old as her, how can it know all these details about a beast she’s never seen? SJM I’m not asking for an amazing magic system, I just want things to be consistent and make sense!

Next chapter!

Perched on the rail of the Sea Dragon, gripping the rope ladder flowing from the looming mast, Aelin savored the cooling spindrift that sprayed her face as the ship plowed through the waves.

Even though the sudden pirate and adventures on the seas element is... well, sudden, I’m all for it. Gimmie some awesome pirate battles!

Tightly grasping the rope, Aelin leaned out, the vibrant blue and white below passing in a swift blur. Not too fast, she’d told Rowan. Don’t waste your strength—you barely slept last night. He’d just leaned in to nip at her ear before sliding onto Gavriel’s bench to concentrate.

You’re in a battle. You’re sailing into almost certain death. Can you not be fucking horny for five seconds please I am b egging. Why couldn’t he have done something pure and sweet like a kiss on the cheek?? Why does everything have to be ~sexual~, SJM?

Aelin again looked ahead—toward those black sails blotting the horizon. The Wyrdkey at her chest murmured in response.

You know what? I’ll take this over “The Wyrdkey between her breasts” any day.

Alien puts on the iron chain to restrain her magic. Rowboat kisses her ass for a bit, then we get this.

“I’ve recovered, I’ll have you know. So this morning’s little display…” “A way to take off the power’s full edge,” [Aelin] said wryly. “And make Rolfe piss himself.”

I hate you.

[Aelin] lifted her head to study [Rowan’s] face, the harsh planes and the curving tattoo. He leaned in to brush a kiss to her mouth.

If Ratlin starts making out during this battle I am actually going to quit. No joke. I’m warning you, SJM.

All anyone on deck saw, she knew, was two lovers embracing. But Aelin tunneled down, down, down into her power, felt him doing the same with his, felt every ounce of ice and wind and lightning go slamming from him into her. And when it reached her, the core of his power yielded to her own, melted and became embers and wildfire.

The actual reason SJM didn’t make a magic system was so she could pull this and justify her OTP making out in the middle of a battlefield. You cannot convince me otherwise.

[Aelin’s] magic whispered to start digging through that ash and silt. But Rowan’s grip tightened on her waist. “Easy,” he murmured in her ear. “Easy.”

If this was a ship I actually liked I’d be living because I love the “loved one helps protag with their uncontrollable magic” thing, but I hate Rowboat and Alien. I can’t even win when SJM uses my favorite tropes.

Alien shits out a huge column of fire out after Rowboat lends her his magic.

Aelin was ripped from his arms with the force of it, and Rowan grabbed her hand in a crushing grip, refusing to let her break that line of contact. Men around them stumbled back, falling onto their asses as they gawked upward in terror and wonder.

Higher, that column of flame swirled, a maelstrom of death and life and rebirth.

Oh my god I get it, Alien is the most powerful snowflake ever

So apparently this fire shit isn’t even burning or attacking their enemies, it’s literally just a display to the world. So Alien is burning (no pun intended) all of her magic just for a pretty fire display for everyone to fear how ~special~ she is? Holy shit. People actually stan this shitstain.

The flames winked out at the same second [Aelin] reached into Rowan with burning hands and tore the last remnants of his power from him. Just as she ripped her hand from his. Just as her power and the Wyrdkey between her breasts merged.

JHNDSJKAHDSKAHDKAHDSAJ SJM STOP YOU FUCKING HORNY ASSHOLE I SWEAR TO FUCKING GOD YOU CANNOT WRITE AN EPIC MOMENT OF YOUR PROTAG DISPLAYING HER MOST POWERFUL MAGIC AND THEN STOP TO FOCUS ON HER BOOBIES FOR NO REASON KAHFKHSKFHDSJKFHKSD

So apparently Alien gets possessed because she was wearing the Wyrdkey. Idiot, why’d you go and do that, then? So who is possessing her?

“Deanna,” Rowan whispered. [Possessed Aelin] flicked her eyes to him in question and confirmation.

So for those who didn’t know, Deanna is a goddess mentioned in some of the other books. So the gods have gone from actual gods that were briefly mentioned to spirits who can possess people.... huh.

We switch into Alien’s POV again as she is unable to do anything while Deanna struts around in her body.

And those flames—her flames and her beloved’s magic … they belonged to the Other now. To a goddess who had walked through the temporary gate hanging between her breasts and seized her body as if it were a mask to wear.

Okay, guys, can we be completely honest with each other here? Tumblr user to Tumblr user? Does this bother anyone else?

Am I over reacting? Because I find it completely undercuts the tension of the moment when I’m suddenly forced to picture a Wyrdkey jammed in between Alien’s boobies. IDK maybe I’m just going crazy after being exposed to this book.

Alien busts a nut after hearing Rowboat’s voice and it’s enough for her to gain the willpower and strength to kick Deanna out. Not enough for her to not immediately fuck everything up though.

The ship beneath her, the center and left flank of the dark fleet beyond her, and the outer edge of the island behind it blew apart in a storm of fire and ice.

God job, Alien! If any innocent people died it’s all on you. Fuck you.

My god. We’re only on chapter 36. I... I’m going to break.....

Aelin drifted down, as she had drifted into her power, the weight of the Wyrdkey around her neck like a millstone— Deanna. She didn’t know how, didn’t know why— The Queen Who Was Promised.

Hm.. that sounds familiar.... lemmie just Google it to see if-

INCH RESTING...

Didn’t SJM once claim she hated Game of Thrones? Lmfao she’s so full of shit.

What had she done what had she done what had she done—

Later. Later, [Aelin]’d deal with that rutting goddess who had thought to use her like some temple priestess. Later, she’d contemplate how she’d shred through every world to find Deanna and make her pay.

Okay, but.. is this just Alien fuming or can she, like, actually do that? What are the gods in this world? Are they just spirits who can teleport between worlds I’m?? so confused???

Fenrys takes Alien, since she’s such an idiot who couldn’t save herself from drowning in a puddle, and jumps from the remainders of Rolfe’s ship. Good fucking job, Alien. Can’t wait to see how the narrative justifies this.

Think of that later. Aelin shoved through and ducked under larger bits of debris, past… Past men. Rolfe’s men. Dead in the water. Was the captain among them somewhere?

She doesn’t even give a shit she killed dozens, maybe even more, of innocent people on her side! But I have no doubt she’ll angst about it later but only so Rowboat can fuck her and convince her it’s not her fault even though it fucking is.

While Alien is busy wailing for someone to comfort her poor feefees, Lysandra actually makes an effort to save Rolfe and his first mate even though the sea wyverns are an issue.

Blood laced the current. And not the puffs that had been staining the water since the ship exploded. Great, roiling clouds of blood. As if massive jaws clamped around a body and squeezed.

Ain’t that edgy. We all know SJM is gonna forget all this gore and death took place once the porn kicks in.

[Lysandra] was so tired. Shifting afterward might not even be possible for a few hours.

So amassing the power to shift into a huge ass dragon doesn’t tire you out.... but destroying a few ships with your dragon form. Okay, SJM, okay.

tl;dr Lysandra kills the two sea wyverns and the chapter ends. One more to go for this review... one more....

Assdion’s POV opens up this chapter, where it’s revealed the two sea wyverns Lysandra killed were just juveniles, and there are three adults.

Faster and faster, those three bulls closed in. Lysandra remained at the mouth of the bay. Holding the line.

Even though her magic pisses me off, I think I’m about to stan Lysandra. Here she is, weakened with no magic left, and she’s willing to make a final stand and protect her friends.

The three wyverns spread out, so huge Aedion’s throat went dry. And for the first time, he hated his cousin. He hated Aelin for asking this of Lysandra, both to defend them and to secure the Mycenians to fight for Terrasen.

WHAT THE FUCK??? ASSDION NOT PRAISING ALIEN’S EVERY ACTION???? This can’t be right. This can’t be the Assdion who is only a plot device to kiss Alien’s ass...

Lysandra destroys the last warship and traps one of the wyverns into impaling himself on the remains. Then she leads the other two near Dorian’s tower, where he freezes one of them.

Dorian loosed a battle cry. And Aedion had to admit the king wasn’t that useless after all as the catapult behind Dorian sprang free, and a rock the size of a wagon jettisoned into the bay

Lmao bitch you thought! You've literally done nothing this battle while Dorian is out here killing a sea wyvern so you can climb off your high horse, Assdion. Also, Lysandra loses sight of the final wyvern.

Aedion scanned the bay, rotating in the gunner chair as he did, searching for any hint of that colossal dark shadow— “YOUR LEFT!” Gavriel roared across the bay, magic no doubt amplifying his voice.

Hate when dialogue is typed in all caps. Also magic can now be used as a megaphone? Lmfao aiight.

“SWIM,” Aedion roared, even if she couldn’t hear. “SWIM, LYSANDRA!”

Assdion doesn’t even have Gav’s megaphone magic powers, so you have no excuse for this shit, SJM.

Lysandra swims for the beach and Assdion rushes to her while everyone celebrates. This is a good concept, so like, can anyone write this but with a good ship? Might have to make a self indulgent AU for one of my ships just to scrub away the filth of this novel.

“Open your gods-damned eyes,” Aedion snarled. [Lysandra] snarled back but cracked open an eye. “You made it this far. Don’t die on the rutting beach.” The eye narrowed—with a hint of female temper.

Why the fuck is temper gendered now? SJM, you saying a woman’s temper is somehow different than a man’s? You implyin’ all women have bad tempers and they should be shamed for it? What the fuck is the point of this?

Aedion drawled, even as his relief began to crumble his mask of arrogant calmness, “The useless sentries in the watchtower are now all half in love with you,” he lied. “One said he wanted to marry you.”

Uh... why you lyin’ Assdion? I think he’s trying to compliment her, but this is kinda weird?

“But you know what I told them? I said that they didn’t stand a chance in hell.” Aedion lowered his voice, holding her pained, exhausted stare. “Because I am going to marry you,” he promised her. “One day. I am going to marry you. I’ll be generous and let you pick when, even if it’s ten years from now. Or twenty. But one day, you are going to be my wife.”

FUCK I would like (some of) this scene if it wasn’t for Assdion..... Someone rewrite this but with a good ship please.

Those eyes narrowed—in what he could only call female outrage and exasperation.

... I’m done. We’re packing this chapter up.

Alien and the others show up and Assdion realizes that Alien used the Wyrdkey and nearly killed all of them. He’s understandably mad but criticism against Alien? Rowboat’s Fae peen says no!

[Assdion] was shaking now, that rage indeed taking over. But Rowan snarled at him, low and vicious, “Save it for later.”

Oh fuck you, Rowboat. You know damn well you’ll never let anyone criticize Alien. This entire fucking narrative sucks up to Alien so much and I’m pissed. If your characters make stupid ass mistakes, punish them for it! Let them know! Don’t pretend they’re perfect uwuu unproblematic babies and let others criticize them without being portrayed as villains for it GOD I’M SO FUCKING DONE

As if SJM is trying to throw me a bone, there’s this.. actually decent scene afterwards. Gav watches Assdion as he watches over Lysandra until she has the energy to shift back. SJM refers to Assdion/Gav as the Wolf and the Lion though, gets kinda repetitive.

Sand crusted [Lysandra’s] naked body, and she tried and failed to rise. The Wolf moved then, slinging his cloak around her and sweeping her into his arms. The shifter didn’t object, and her eyes were again closed by the time the Wolf began striding up the beach to the trees, her head leaning against his chest.

In a better world where Assdion wasn’t an ass to Lysandra and he was a good character... I would ship this. Fuck. Just gonna go casually write this scene but with one of my OTPs so I can get this sweet gesture without Assdion’s shitty personality.

The Lion remained out of sight and held in the offer of help. Held in the words he needed to say to the Wolf, who had downed a sea-wyvern with one arrow. Twenty-four years old and already a myth whispered over campfires.

Fuck... the way Gav describes his son as an outsider, since Assdion hasn’t accepted him yet... it’s really good. I love this. Damnit why can’t the rest of the novel be like this?

If you guys thought these chapters were bad, buckle up. Because the next chapter is the long dreaded it.

Yup, next time we’re covering the Ratlin sex scene.

#the worm talks #the worm reads: eos #anti sjm #anti eos #anti tog

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