#Cassiopeia Rose

[persolaise]

Louis Vuitton Lovers, Les Indemodables Oranger Sirocco, Arquiste A Grove By The Sea and other reviews - 2024

Fly me to the stars and back -- New releases from Vuitton, Arquiste, Les Indemodables, Gucci and Memo

We travelled all the way from North Africa to Croatia and a couple of distant constellations in a recent episode of Love At First Scent – via a stop-off at the idiosyncratic universe of Pharrell Williams – with reviews of new releases from Louis Vuitton, Arquiste and Les Indemodables, amongst others. Here’s a link to the video, followed by further thoughts on some of the scents: Louis Vuitton…

[frontlinebicepsoftheninth]

i so badly want to do a group cosplay of pre-resurrection dios apate like right after john got the powers. just running around a con in character frantically arguing over geopolitics in negotiation strategy and which streaming platform will garner the widest audience for a God Reveal™ without getting us shadowbanned

[quiltofstars]

Caroline's Rose, NGC 7789 // tlindema

[soggyskinflaps]

My piece for Nickyboi's Cassiopeia art contest

A truly toxic love

Overall i think it came out well! I love this design for her and it helped me practice my shading a bit so hooray!

[froppy-butterflyfan2000]

Stella Driscoll meeting Cassiopeia Butterfly, whose arrive at the Mewni Academy Dimension as a guest from Rose Butterfly-Lucitor, a Tomstar kid that Cassiopeia taught how to manipulate mana and other mana related abilities, such as (Mana Projection and Mana Constructs).

Juliet Butterfly Diaz, Stella Driscoll, and Mewni Academy belong to @svtfoe4ever

Cassiopeia Butterfly belongs to @storygirl000

Rose Butterfly-Lucitor belongs to @froppy-butterflyfan2000 (me)

[b4ssbr3aker]

This was kinda interesting, what are you guys’ thoughts on this

[sussoro]

oc tag game

i got tagged by @leondaltons — thank you so much, sweetie! 💝

[disclaimer: i generally tend to shuffle/change both names & face claims quite a lot so i should probably update my characters page, lol]

FAVOURITE OC: indigo crowe [infamous] — i have to admit that it is quite rare for me to fall in love so hard and fast with a character. indigo is one of my chaotic children and wherever she goes drama will follow. deep talking/singing voice, a huge thirst-trap believer, questionable coping mechanisms, sarcasm connoisseur & abandonment issues;

NEWEST OC: lucrezia romanus [the golden rose] — i still need to develop her a little bit better, but i love her nonetheless;

OLDEST OC: clementine han [the wayhaven chronicles] — as the character that let my interactive fiction obsession start, even though she changed quite a lot during the years, clementine is still the apple of my eye and the owner of my heart. i do believe that i have transferred a lot of my qualities and flaws onto her, so that's probably why she holds such a special place;

MEANEST OC: cassiopeia argent [attollo] — i genuinely believe that if you want to be the partner of both a criminal lord & an eldritch horror, you must be a little unhinged, no?

SOFTEST OC: isabelle mayfield [the wayhaven chronicles] — she is the epitome of sunshine, rainbows & unicorns. isabelle always sees the good in others, she is a hopeless romantic, highly supportive and an optimist;

MOST ALOOF/STANDOFFISH OC: aeryn valendil [the exile] — indifferent and detached, aeryn is rarely bothered by anything (growing up in the military and being exiled can do numbers on a person). he is pretty blunt and doesn't really care about hurting somebody else's feelings;

DUMBEST (AFFECTIONATE) OC: cyrene [project hadea] — she has a big brain but, seeing how her journey is going, it is pretty obvious that she doesn't use it frequently, lol.

SMARTEST OC: rue parker [the wayhaven chronicles] — rue is extremely smart, often prone to boredom if something is not mentally challenging/stimulating enough. she is one of those people who, no matter what they are doing or how many times they have done it, does things exceptionally well. lisa sinclair [the fernweh saga] — lisa has more of a 'book smart' type of intelligence. she is always been overly curious about every little inexplicable thing and, even with fernweh being plagued by freaking accidents, her only purpose is to uncover and solve the mysteries;

OC I'D BE FRIENDS WITH: zoë bhatra [the wayhaven chronicles] — zoë is stubborn, quiet and a little bit intimidating but once you gain her trust and she lets you in, she's in so much need of love and affection that becoming friends is not that far of a possibility.

tagging: @lusavors, @kdelarenta, @pearlcscent, @griffin-wood, @sagedumortain, @sohmiya — please, feel free to ignore this 😌

[aubstacle-of-course]

Light pollution

[qweaenr]

LEAGUE OF LEGENDS - Female Champions 3/3

[froppy-butterflyfan2000]

Sequel of these two prompts/fanfics.

The Princess of Life sigh, looking at the cranes she painted on the wall, inside her room. She can make the cranes come back to life and fly away, escaping their cage, leaving her alone in this bird cage. While she isn’t alone as she have her subjects and her spells to keep her company, Lost Princess feels lonely. Her prince keep her accompany, easing her loneliness. It feels like they are two peas in the pods, just two peas in separate pods. The poor princess does not know that the preferring talking to her avatar over the real her.

All she desire is more companionship and performing activities together, such as hanging out at the beach, watching movies late at night, and not being calls The Princess of Life or Lost Princess. She wants to be calls by her actual name. The princess sulking soon got interrupted by a sensational feeling….

FWOOSH

FWOOSH

FWOOSH

She felt the doors to her world is being breached. The princess rush out of her room, and to the balcony as she watch from above, witnessing a shooting star. The shooting star explode, making three shooting stars, shocking the princess. They aren’t like any ordinary shooting stars she seen before. They’re not pass through the orbit. The three beautiful bright stars are actually falling. The first star is a purple light glowing from the moon. The second star is a flaming green phoenix. The third star is an orange, flickering with rune symbols for sparks.

“This is getting interesting, I never seen quite anything likes it. Perhaps, this is a phenomenon. If I discovers the three fallen stars, I be making history in the astronomy field!”

Excitement taken over her at last, she found something to do for the first time since forever! The princess goes back inside, preparing to find out what is going on by sending in a group of knights to be an expendition.

~~

Three groans of pain are heard coming from the crater from nowhere.

“Please tell me we are not in Oz?” Said Lamia, the first voice coming from the crater. The warrior rubbing her head. Crash landing isn’t suppose to be a part of the mission. She get up, and help her comrade and sister from another dimension, Rose get up by lending her a hand.

“This is suppose to take us to this dimension’s Mewni…..” said Umbros-Quinn, dusting her orange dress, then grimaced that it is ruined in the impact. “My dress…..”

To be honest, their clothes are ruined thanks to their crash landing. Luckily, there is a fashion designer among the group. Rose cast a dress repair spell, repairing Umbros-Quinn’s dress and Lamia’s outfits with a few modifications. Umbros-Quinn’s long shoulderless orange dress is now a puffy orange dress with two bows arranged at either side of her skirt, as well as an orange ribbon around her neck, which is tied in a bow in the back with two ceramic phoenix wings decor at the center of the bow. The front of her torso has a pale yellow segment surrounded by white frills with a white placket running down the center, decorated by five red orange buttons. She has two small straps that connect from the front to the back of the dress over her shoulders, and short, puffy sleeves with frilly ends. In between her shoulder blades and just below her neck, there is a heart-shaped hole in the back of her dress. She is still wearing a pair of long orange gloves, however it is now with pink trims around the wrists, white, thigh-high stockings with frills just below the knee, and red orange, heeled boots with ribbons tied behind them. Lamia looks at the clothes Rose modified. Lamia snaps her finger and have her symbiote alter it. There are two white markings with a pink hue, that are in a form of Phoenix wings, that are the “eyes” of her symbiote with a mandarin collar attached to it. The borders of her dress are covered with magenta frill that cover the opening of her red violet dress and the back. She wears white bicep length torned sleeves with black buttoned cuffs. Underneath, she wears a pleated red violet skirt with a phoenix insignia and a black corset with white detailing. She wears tall red violet boots with white triple moon symbols just underneath which match the black thigh-high socks. Rose finally repair her green dress, altering it to a yellow dotted mesh striped frilled neck bubble sleeve green dress. There is a phoenix design embroidered on her dress.

“Rose thanks you for fixing my dress. But… you do not have to do alternations,” Umbros-Quinn asked. Rose twirl her hair shyly, twisting her body back and forth. “Oh well, I was watching Madoka Magica for my research, and I thought I taken that as my advantage to put in my practice in designing clothes in a new perspective, that is not making cosplay. Plus, they can help you two move freely while wielding weapons in case we come across danger. If you don’t like the magical girl get-up, I can changes it back.”

Rose, focusing on the latest fashion line project as a part of the grand opening of Cloudy Design in Townsville from their other interdimensional sister, Hiraya and Janaya’s universe, to showcase as a part of Skylar and Diana’s expansion plan. The theme is magical girls because Townsville have superheroes and superheroines. Hiraya will be collaborating too for superheroines who wants to buy the products suitable for their line of work. Umbros-Quinn shook her head, after hearing her explanation, the reasonings is good as well. That way, she won’t have to change outfits whenever she change her wand into a weapon (melee, long-range, and short-range).

The three got out of the crater to looks at their surroundings. This is definitely in fact Mewni. But something feels off. Umbros-Quinn faces Rose.

“Rose, could you please scan the perimeter?” Umbros-Quinn requested.

“With pleasure,” said Rose, closing her eyes and nod. She inhaled a sharp breath and exhale, calming her mind, manifesting two yellow colored mana scanning grids. The two mana grids scan the perimeter, adventuring out in the new world. Her study and practice in mana manipulation is really paying off. Cassiopeia Butterfly really broaden her horizon in magic and this skill, mana manipulation. The yellow mana grids come back to her, completing the scan. It disappear, sending informations the grids gathered to her head for her and her interdimensional sisters. Rose open her eyes in astonishment, at the same time shock and in disbelief.

“What is it Rose?” Lamia asked.

Rose staring at her sisters. “Well, the area that we are in now, confirm to have magic. Since there is magic and the look exactly where we are in now. An images of Mewni to be exact,”

The two girls looks at Rose, thinking the impact must have mess with her head since the expression in her eyes is showing no lies.

“This may sound crazy. You would believe me. Mewni, the ones we are seeing now are images. The images are able to move because of the certain magic here. PhBe….. PhBe is projecting Mewni in a different form… As if-,”

Umbros-Quinn’s mind clicks, realizing what exactly is Rose is saying.

“We didn’t went to Mewni, we went inside a dream!!!! That came to life on it own!” Said Umbros-Quinn.

“This universe’s PhBe is dream energy magical element!!!” Said Lamia, blowing her own mind by this conclusion and both Rose and Umbros-Quinn’s conclusion. The three princesses decide to look around for clues to lead them to their next objective for their mission - They need to find the person responsible for the dream.

Cassiopeia Butterfly (mentioned) belongs to @storygirl000

Lamia Butterfly Lucitor, Diana Butterfly Wong (mentioned), and Skylar Butterfly Thomas (mentioned) belongs to dreamy_artz (Instagram)

Umbros-Quinn Diana Lucitor and The Princess of Life/Lost Princess belong to @princekaiofstars

Rose Butterfly Lucitor, Janaya A. Bloodworth-Thomason of the Cappyverse, and Hiraya B.C. Bloodworth-Thomason of the Cappyverse belong to me

“Sometimes, I wonder if this is real.” She stroked the beaded crane woven into her shawl. 

Her assistant perked up beside her. “Real, ma’am?”

“I wasn’t born into power.” She sighed. “I wasn’t even raised in this place at all. At times this feels like a dream, like I am going to wake one day to the life I had known before.”

[pokemonbattletournament]

My personal take on if the villainous team leaders are homophobic:

Giovanni: yes, but also he doesn't care much. He'll break your kneecaps for totally unrelated reasons.

Archie and Maxie: kinda yes, but just because they're extremely deeply closeted. EDIT: Important addendum that ORAS Archie and only his ORAS incarnation is proudly gay and not homophobic.

Cyrus: yes, because I just know he's on 4chan. Has extremely esoteric opinions on whether being attracted to femboys is gay.

Ghetsis: absolutely.

Lysandre: no, but he has "no fats no uglies" and a hard age limit on his grindr profile.

Guzma: absolutely not, but nobody is entirely sure about his orientation, least of all Guzma himself. Is obnoxiously supportive, but also will say no homo after fully making out.

Lusamine: yes but will be extremely passive aggressive about it.

Rose: yes but will give a speech at the Macro Cosmos corporate pride event.

Cassiopeia: Heterophobic. You have to be some flavor of LGBT to be allowed into team star.

[sgt-tombstone]

Polaris

This is my secret santa gift for @gorsime/@farahfriday! I hope you like it!!

----

When Simon was a kid, he stole a book about space from his local library. Not his finest moment, to be sure, but the guilt of it was vastly outweighed by the comfort of scrambling up onto the roof of his house—the only place where his dad couldn't reach him—with nothing but a flashlight and his pilfered book. He'd sit up there for hours, naming the stars and tracing the constellations, until the sun rose and hid the tiny pinpricks of light once more.

The hazy glow of Manchester hid all but the brightest of stars, so many of his favorites remained little more than pictures on a page, but he glutted himself on Arcturus and Gaia, Cassiopeia and Andromeda. On good days, he challenged himself to find as many of the zodiac constellations as possible. On bad days, he stared at the North Star for so long that his eyes blurred and his chest ached. He didn't know why it called to him so strongly—its brightness, maybe, or its stubborn persistence—but he knew, with an inexplicable yet unshakable confidence, that home for him wasn't the building beneath him. Home was due north, somewhere along the longitude pointing true north.

When he joined the military, he assumed that his true north was a long-lost dream. Officer training had briefly reawakened the dormant sparks when he'd had to sit through a seminar on astronavigation, but the embers were snuffed just as quickly. Dead men had graves, not homes, and he didn't feel the pull of Polaris deep in his chest for a long time. Not until recently. Not until Johnny.

----

Ghost didn't give the universe credit for much—it had screwed him over more times and in more ways than he could count—but he had to admit that, at present, things weren't as bad as they could be.

He'd long since stopped expecting missions to go smoothly, because life didn't work that way and apparently neither did the 141. Being an optimist in the military was a recipe for disaster, so most soldiers maintained a healthy dose of realism, but Ghost had fully swan-dived into pure pessimism years ago and hadn't ever really breached the surface, despite Soap's consistent and concerted efforts to sway him towards some sort of sustained positivity.

At the current moment, though, the tables had turned. For once, he wasn't being the pessimistic one.

“Just our fuckin' luck," Soap spat, kicking at his gear bag before continuing his rampage around the small cabin. "Stuck all the way out here in this god forsaken forest, fuckin' middle of nowhere, piece of shite safe house-"

The mission had been easy, almost suspiciously easy, but Ghost wasn't in the habit of looking a gift horse in the mouth; he'd turned himself into a well-rounded veterinarian, capable of handling whatever inevitably, predictably went wrong. And in the grand scheme of things, this particular gift horse was barely limping. Sure, he and Soap had been separated from the rest of the 141, forced to retreat to the only safe house in four hundred square miles, all communication cut, but it could have been worse.

"How the fuck are we supposed tae get out o' here?" Soap growled, ripping his earpiece out and hurling it to the floor with a wordless scream of frustration. "Comms doon, no radio, fuckin' smoke signals or catch the nearest fucking pigeon-“

Ghost was leaned against the wall next to the only door, his arms crossed over his chest, enjoying the show with a single raised eyebrow. He knew that most of Soap's anger wasn't really anger; their separation from the rest of the 141 had come in the form of several very close calls with stray bullets, followed by over an hour of climbing up a forest-blanketed mountain to their one-room hideout. Adrenaline, fear, and exhaustion warred in Soap's blood, erupting as righteous, turbulent rage. Ghost's eyes tracked Soap's movement around the room, letting the artificial anger flow around him like water in a stream.

"Dinnae ken how long it'll be before they find us," Soap ranted, pulling his tac vest over his head, sending a mag pouch skittering across the floor. "Fuckin' sitting ducks out here, we are, waitin' for some bampot to pull their heid out o' their-"

“Thought you'd be happier to be stuck in a safe house with me, sergeant. Weren’t you the one who mentioned cohabitation recently?” Ghost asked, cutting his sergeant off, and he regretted the words as soon as he said them, his joking tone doing nothing to soften the way they landed like a mortar shell in the middle of the room.

Soap had brought up the topic of moving in together just before loading out three days ago, a half-finished conversation, and Ghost hadn't had the chance to answer one way or the other before they'd had to board the transport for infil. He could tell that the lack of response had weighed on his partner in the days since. Joking about it now was probably a bit too much, too soon. Soap spun in place and fixed Ghost with a withering glare, every muscle held taut with barely-contained rage.

“Tha's no' what I meant and you fuckin' know it, Simon.”

“I know, Johnny, I'm sorry," Simon said gently, his entire body softening on an exhale. He took his mask off and opened his arms slightly, an invitation. "Come here, love."

Johnny needed his boyfriend right now, not his CO, and despite Price’s grumbling on the subject, the two of them did a bang up job of keeping the two facets of their lives, the two aspects of their relationship, separate. He watched as Johnny sloughed off the tension in his shoulders and trudged the short distance between them to press his forehead to the ridge of Simon's collarbone. Simon wrapped his arms around his boyfriend, glad that he'd had the foresight to doff his own plate carrier when they'd entered the safe house half an hour earlier; the only thing separating the two men were their shirts and several layers of dried sweat, and he could feel Johnny's heartbeat against his ribs.

“We’re going to be okay, sweet'eart,” Simon murmured, pressing a kiss to Johnny’s temple and burrowing his nose in the dent that Johnny's headphones left in his mohawk. He swept a hand down Johnny's spine, coaxing him to relax against him. “We always are when we’re together."

He felt Johnny heave a deep breath and nod before his arms came up to wrap around Simon's back, gripping the fabric of his shirt in his fists.

"Don't terrorists know tomorrow's Christmas?" Johnny muttered, and now they were getting to the crux of the issue. "Don't they know I'm supposed tae be in Glasgow with my boyfriend right now?"

"I don't think they care, love," Simon rumbled with a smile. He was helpless against it, his chest constricting with awe and affection every time Johnny called him his boyfriend; such a simple thing, but it meant everything. His free hand wrapped around the back of Johnny's neck, gently massaging out some of the tightness in the muscles at his nape. They stood like that for several moments, swaying slightly in place as the adrenaline of the mission eased and their heartbeats softened to a synchronized thrum.

"We’re safe," Simon continued lowly, dropping his head to speak in Johnny's ear, his lips moving against the shaved portion of his head. "No one’s shooting at us, neither of us are injured. We have a well-stocked safe house in a very defensible position. It's the only safe house in the area, so Price'll get Nik out here by tomorrow, comms or not, no messenger pigeon required. We're gonna be okay."

"I know," Johnny said. His voice was muffled by Simon's chest and he drew back just enough to look him in the eyes, blinking slowly like a cat.

"We can spend New Years in Scotland instead," Simon said, his lips brushing against Johnny's forehead. It wouldn't be the same, he knew—Johnny loved Christmas, had been so excited to bring Simon home for the holidays for the first time—but it was something.

"Lookin' tae get a New Years kiss outta me, Simon Riley?" Johnny grinned, wiggling his eyebrows salaciously, like Simon needed a special occasion to kiss him. He rolled his eyes and pressed his lips against Johnny's in a chaste peck, just to prove the point.

"Every year, for the rest of my life, Johnny," he said, then took a step backwards and caught one of Johnny's hands in his, tugging him towards the door before he could fully process what Simon had said. "Now, come on, come outside with me.”

“Why?”

“It’s a beautiful night," he smiled. "We’re going stargazing.”

And it was; this close to the equator, December temperatures rarely dropped below 20 degrees Celsius, and the sun had set a few hours ago, leaving the mid-winter air just shy of too cold. The trees had already lost most of their leaves, granting them a good view of the night sky, undisturbed by light pollution.

Simon led them to the roof of the safe house, tucking themselves and their guns between two dormers; they were several dozen miles from the warehouse they'd raided hours before, but Simon didn't want to take any further unnecessary risks. He braced his feet on the gentle slope of the roof, his arse already protesting the rough shingles, and tugged Johnny to sit between his bent knees, back to his chest. The warmth of Johnny in his arms chased away the slight chill and any remaining tension that clung to their bones.

"Tha's gotta be a planet," Johnny murmured as they settled, pointing to a point in the distant sky. "Look how bright it is."

"Hm," Simon hummed in agreement, glancing up to get his bearings among the stars. "'S Mars." He laid his palm over the back of Johnny's hand, entwining their fingers. "There's Cancer, just behind it." He swept their joined hands to the left in a slow arc, sweeping above their heads. "There's Gemini, Taurus, Aries, Pisces, and Aquarius, just above the horizon. But look, see Capella, right there? 'S the brightest star in its constellation, Auriga, but it's actually four stars all bunched together. I don't remember their names, but it's two pairs of stars orbiting each other."

"How do ye ken all this?"

"Looked at the stars a lot as a kid," Simon shrugged, knowing that Johnny would understand what went unspoken in the mundane statement. "You should always be able to find the North Star, Johnny. Find the North Star and you can find your way home."

"Awright," Johnny said, leaning his head against Simon's. "How do ye find the North Star?"

"You see Ursa Major, there?" Simon asked, bringing their extended arms back to the right. "'S one of the most recognizable constellations. The two stars on top, Merak and Dubhe, form a line, and if you follow it up," he traced the invisible line with Johnny's fingertip until it hit, "Polaris. The North Star. As long as you're in the Northern hemisphere, that's true north."

"What if I'm in the Southern hemisphere?"

"Then you're fucked," Simon said, deadpan, and Johnny snorted a laugh.

"No, I'm serious," Simon protested, prodding Johnny lightly in the side in chastisement, but he was chuckling too. "Polaris is a pole star, it's aligned with the Earth's axis of rotation in the Northern hemisphere, but the Southern pole star—Sigma Octantis, I think—is barely visible, even on a clear night. You have to use two other constellations , the Southern Cross and two stars of Centaurus, to find approximate true south. It's a pain in the arse. Stick to the Northern hemisphere."

"What aboot that star?" Johnny asked, pointing to another bright spot, and Simon easily obliged.

They spent the next hour or so curled around each other on the roof, Simon pointing out every constellation he knew, along with fun facts about the stars in them. Anyone else would've thought Johnny to be uncharacteristically quiet, but Simon knew the man was a sponge; the fastest way to get him to shut up was to teach him something new. Finally, Simon exhausted his knowledge of the visible stars, and they fell into a comfortable silence.

This, he thought, was the closest to heaven he'd ever get. Johnny, safe and warm in his arms, spread out beneath the stars, the only two human beings for miles. He'd never given thought to his retirement, never thought he'd get that far, but if he did, he wanted it to look something like this. Johnny would hate it, he knew; the man was too social to live the rest of his life in the middle of nowhere, but maybe they could find a happy medium. If anyone could, it was the two of them. Their entire relationship was a game of balance; sunlight and shadow, passion and duty, pleasure and pain.

"We could do it, you know," Simon murmured after a few minutes, his voice nearly lost among the sounds of unfamiliar birds and bugs settling down or revving up for the night.

Johnny hummed in question, and Simon realized he had continued a conversation that had happened only in his head.

"This," he elaborated. "Us. We could retire, spend our days just like this."

"Ye dinnae have to retire, Simon, I ken how much ye love yer job," Johnny said, tilting his head to knock gently against Simon's temple. "When I was talkin' aboot movin' in together, I only meant off base." He caught one of Simon's hands in both of his own, kneading idly—almost nervously—at his palm with his thumbs.

"I'd love to move off base with you, Johnny," Simon said earnestly, forfeiting his hand easily to his boyfriend's ministrations. "But… We've been in the game for a long time, love. Reckon we've earned ourselves a nice retirement. Get away somewhere, just us and whatever slice of nature we land in."

"Are ye sayin' ye want tae retire?" There was no judgment in Johnny's voice, just curiosity, and Simon didn't blame him. The military was all either of them had ever known; retirement had never been in the cards for them. They lived 141, and they'd always expected to die 141, too.

"I'm saying that I'd follow you wherever you wanted to go, Johnny."

"It's a hell of an idea," Johnny said with a chuckle, nestling even further back against Simon's chest and laying his head back to rest on his shoulder. He finally released Simon's hand and Simon immediately laid it on Johnny's chest, right over his heart. "The Ghost playin' domestic."

"Here's an even better idea," Simon rumbled in his ear. "Simon MacTavish waking up every morning next to his husband."

"Oh," Johnny breathed, all amusement gone in an instant, and Simon could feel the trembling of his chest as he stuttered an exhale. "Oh, aye, I like that idea."

"Thought you might," Simon murmured. At that moment, his watch, set to local time, beeped softly. "Happy Christmas, Johnny."

Johnny sat up slightly, turning in Simon's arms to catch his gaze, and Simon brought a hand up to give him a place to rest his head, cradling the side of his face in his palm. He ran his thumb in a sweeping arc, pressing into the divot of Johnny's temple, feeling the smooth scar tissue against his calloused fingertip.

He'd almost lost him, that day in the tunnel; if Makarov's aim had been any better, Simon would've been spreading Johnny's ashes instead of making a bedside confession in the hospital. Every time he caught a glimpse of the starburst scar, he thought of Polaris and thanked whatever higher power that bothered to listen for giving them a second chance. He didn't intend to waste it.

"Happy Christmas, Simon," Johnny said with a sad smile that Simon hated; he'd pluck all of the stars out of the sky to keep Johnny from ever looking like that. "I'm sorry we couldn't spend it at my family's."

"Johnny," Simon breathed, hand still cupping Johnny's face. "I don't care about one holiday when I know we'll spend a hundred more together. When I know that we'll be able to invite your family over to ours one day to celebrate. You're it for me, love. I'm not sayin' we have to retire tomorrow, but… If it came down to you or the job, The Ghost would disappear in a heartbeat. You brought Simon Riley back to life, sweet'eart, and I'll spend the rest of it loving you."

For a long moment, Johnny gaped at him, his mouth opening and closing noiselessly as he struggled to form a response. Simon let him process, using the time to get lost in his eyes; the endless, glacial blue that had become the brightest star in his sky, his North Star, his guiding light. They were filled with unshed tears and unwavering love, and he would never understand what he'd done in his life to deserve such devotion, but he'd spend every day of his life trying to prove himself worthy of it.

"Yer no' proposin' to me right now, are ye?" Johnny finally asked, and it was obvious that he was trying to keep his voice light, joking to ease the suffocating sincerity, but his accent was thick with emotion.

"Hm," Simon hummed with a smile, chewing on the inside of his cheek as he pretended to think it over before tilting his head decisively. "Not yet. Trust me, John MacTavish, when I propose to you, you'll know it."

"I dinnae ken how you'll top tha' little speech," Johnny chuckled wetly, still sounding breathless, and Simon was helpless to do anything but kiss him.

It was innocent, relatively speaking, their lips staying closed even as Simon leaned back against the angled roof, tugging Johnny to follow him down. He let himself be consumed by the feeling of Johnny's lips on his, soft and plush and slightly chapped. He'd never get used to his partner's easy adoration, the way one of his hands found its way to Simon's cheek, then up into his hair, not tugging, just… Holding. Holding them close. His other hand was braced against the rough shingles, holding him up so he didn't smash their skulls together.

It would be so easy to turn it into something more, just a brush of Simon's free hand down Johnny's flank, a peek of tongue against his lips, a thigh raised to wrap around Johnny's hips. But neither of them pushed, content to bask in the moment, the easy intimacy of being together, being alive.

They did, however, need to breathe, so Johnny pulled away an indeterminate amount of time later, but he didn't go far. He hovered above Simon as they caught their breath, panting each other's air.

"I'll find a way," Simon rasped, not missing the way Johnny shivered at the husk in his voice just from kissing.

"What?" Johnny asked, and god, he didn't sound much better. Simon at least suppressed the chills that ran down his spine better than Johnny had.

"I'll find a way to top that speech," he whispered, reminding his boyfriend what they'd been talking about before making out like teenagers hiding from their parents. As close as they were, he saw the joke light in Johnny's eyes, taking a breath between smirking lips—

"Don't," Simon said, eliciting a yelp of outrage.

"Ye dinnae even ken what I was gonnae say!"

"Yes, I do," Simon said, but he couldn't hide his grin, especially when Johnny collapsed against him in a fit of giggles, forcing the breath from his lungs with a whoosh. "You're too predictable, Johnny. Saw it comin' a mile away- Don't!"

Simon didn't know how long they laughed, each lull sparking another bout of giggles. They clutched each other to keep from falling off the roof as much as they did for warmth, and he couldn't remember ever feeling happier. It was a strange thought to have in the middle of the woods, stuck until Price could find a clearing big enough for Nik to land, clinging to the roof of a safe house on the side of a random mountain halfway around the world from home, but…

Home, for Simon, wasn't a building. It wasn't Manchester or Credenhill. It wasn't his bunk on base or his shitty, off-base flat that only saw his presence when Price forced him on leave. Home wasn't a place.

Home was in his arms, huffing laughter against the side of his neck, stupid mohawk tickling his jaw, a bundle of blazing heat across his chest. His North Star, his true north, his guiding light. Home was wherever Johnny was; a fixed point in Simon's life, the center of his sky. He'd follow Johnny anywhere, called to his brightness, his stubborn persistence, and he knew that he'd never get lost as long as he could find Polaris; it would lead him home.

----

Read it here on AO3!

[apod]

2024 July 6

NGC 7789: Caroline's Rose Image Credit & Copyright: Massimo Di Fusco

Explanation: Found among the rich starfields of the Milky Way, star cluster NGC 7789 lies about 8,000 light-years away toward the constellation Cassiopeia. A late 18th century deep sky discovery of astronomer Caroline Lucretia Herschel, the cluster is also known as Caroline's Rose. Its visual appearance in small telescopes, created by the cluster's complex of stars and voids, is suggestive of nested rose petals. Now estimated to be 1.6 billion years young, the galactic or open cluster of stars also shows its age. All the stars in the cluster were likely born at the same time, but the brighter and more massive ones have more rapidly exhausted the hydrogen fuel in their cores. These have evolved from main sequence stars like the Sun into the many red giant stars shown with a yellowish cast in this color composite. Using measured color and brightness, astronomers can model the mass and hence the age of the cluster stars just starting to "turn off" the main sequence and become red giants. Over 50 light-years across, Caroline's Rose spans about half a degree (the angular size of the Moon) near the center of the sharp telescopic image.

∞ Source: apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240706.html

[quiltofstars]

Caroline's Rose, NGC 7789 // Christian Vulpescu

[pupsmailbox]

NATURE ID PACK

NAMES ⌇ abelia. acacius. aciano. aini. alder. alfie. almus. amaryllis. ame. antonio. archer. arthur. ashe. ashley. aspen. asper. aster. aveline. aviv. azalea. basil. belle. benedict. berry. bloom. blossom. bluebell. brook. calix. calla. carli. carline. carly. carolina. carrillo. cassia. cassiopeia. cedar. cherie. chun. cider. cira. cirrus. clover. coral. cordelia. crescent. cynthia. cypress. cyrus. dahlia. daisy. daphne. douglas. dune. echo. eilir. elara. elm. elowen. elyana. enon. erica. ester. everest. everett. evergreen. ewan. fauna. fern. finn. finnley. fleur. floor. flora. florian. florise. flower. flynn. forest. forrest. glen. gracie. gunner. haru. haruhime. haruki. hawthorne. heather. hemlock. honey. hyacinth. ianthe. indigo. ione. ipomea. iris. ivy. jaskier. jasmine. jasper. juniper. kalina. kallie. karolina. karoun. kath. kelda. ken. kingsley. lake. lavae. lavender. leilani. lennox. lente. lief. lilac. lily. linnea. lotus. lucinda. lucky. lucy. maayan. madeline. maggie. magnolia. maple. maren. mari. marian. marigold. mars. mary. maud. mauve. meadow. miles. momo. moss. mossie. mossy. moxie. muna. narcisow. nimbus. noi. oak. oasis. oleander. oybahor. pandora. pearl. pebble. pege. petal. plum. poppy. pınar. quanlian. quill. river. rosa. rosalie. rosalind. rose. roswell. rue. rune. saem. sage. sakura. san. sky. sol. star. story. strider. striker. summit. sunny. sylvia. sylvie. tasnim. terra. thistle. thorn. thorne. tree. udaberri. vasanta. verna. violet. waipuna. wells. westley. willow. wisteria. wisty. wren. yuki. zephyr. ziedonis. zinnia.

PRONOUNS ⌇ amaranth/amaranth. aster/aster. bee/bee. bee/bees. bless/blessed. bloom/bloom. bloss/bloss. bloss/blossomself. bud/bud. camell/camell. camellia/camellia. carnati/carnation. chirp/chirp. ci/cir. cloud/cloud. colum/columbine. columbine/columbine. comfort/comfort. dais/daisy. dawn/dusk. dew/dew. dog/dogwood. dog/wood. ey/em. fe/fer. fer/fern. fern/fern. field/field. fir/fir. fleur/fleur. flor/flor. flor/flora. floral/floral. flori/florid. flow/flower. flower/flower. freesi/freesia. fruit/fruit. fuch/fuchsia. garden/garden. grass/grass. green/green. grow/growth. hawth/hawthorn. hawth/thorn. hi/hits. hib/hibiscus. honey/honey. hy/hys. hya/hyacinth. hyacin/hyacinth. h✦/h✦m. ir/iris. jas/jasmine. jessa/jessamine. jour/ney. laven/lavender. le/leaf. leaf/leaf. leaf/leave. lil/lily. lotu/lotus. lu/luna. mag/magnolia. mar/mar. matcha/matcha. misel/mistletoe. mo/moth. morning/morning. moss/moss. mossy/mossy. narc/narcir. narcissus/narcissus. nature/nature. orch/orchid. pe/peony. peace/peace. peak/peak. per/peri. peri/periwinkle. petal/petal. pi/pix. picnic/picnic. plum/plum. pollen/pollen. pop/poppy. prick/prick. pur/purple. qu/quest. rain/rain. rhod/rhode. ros/rose. rose/rose. sa/sap. sage/sage. sakura/sakura. scent/scent. se/ser. shine/shine. shroom/shroom. sh✦/h✦r. si/strike. smile/smile. soft/soft. sol/solar. spikes/spike. spring/spring. sprout/sprout. star/star. stem/stem. sun/sun. sun/sunrise. sun/sunset. syr/syringa. tea/party. tea/tea. thist/thistle. thorn/thorn. th✦y/th✦m. tul/tulip. vi/vier. vi/viol. wi/wild. win/winkle. wind/wind. wister/wisteria. yucca/yucca. zinni/zinnia. ☀️ . 🌱 . 🌳 . 🌷 . 🌿 . 🍎 . 🍏 . 🍵 . 🐝 . 🐞 . 💐 . 💐.🌷 . 🕷️ . 🦋 . 🦟 .

[folfar]

all i do rn is think about the locked tomb! thinking about john and the scope of his powers:

pre-apocalypse, john marries nigella and cassiopeia, and he makes roses grow for them. and yes! some of the roses have teeth, but it does seem in the narrative that this is the first time he'd tried it. but only some. some of the roses therefore are normal roses.

john can use his powers to grow things, and he didn't even try before literally his last day on earth! or everyone else's last day on earth, more correctly.

at the beginning of the dream narration in ntn, he raises the mountain from the waters and says the only hard thing about it is remembering he can do it in the first place. so there's all this evidence in ntn that his powers aren't limited to necromancy - that's just seems to be what he stumbled across first. he was working with dead people, so dead people are what he noticed.

when alecto gave john his power, i think she never intended* for them to be 'death' powers. i think they presented that way because the source of the power was dying - think about the seventh and their theory that they can harness the thanergy being shed by a dying person. the power looked like death-power because it came from a dying source. but it's just power, in the end, it's just soul.

but john assumed. he was so caught up in his own grief, so overwhelmed, that he doesn't even consider being 'a good wizard,' as pyrrha puts it (pre-apocalypse). his friends ask him to try to stabilise the north american glacier, reference other ecological disasters - and he doesn't try! he's assumed he's there for vengeance and stuck with it. and then we see in the book that he could have. like, it's entirely possible that john could have let the trillionaires go - and then saved the planet. practiced until the roses grew normally. raised the soil above the waters, calmed the seas.

but he can't let go of his wants, his desires! and yes, he's not as powerful before he consumes part of a's soul, but his necromancy got stronger and stronger anyway - maybe his power over the roses could have too.

anyway just imagine alecto, giving someone that loves her this unimaginable power, and hoping for a nurse, a gardener - and getting a taxidermist instead. a puppeteer.

*intended is a weird word to use for alecto pre-barbification, but i couldn't think of another way to put it