#Cursed Sands Book 1

[jolenes-book-journey]

Mistress of the Second Circle by BC James

Sirens and Succubi and Cops…oh my. Title: Mistress of the Second Circle Series: Cursed Sands Book 1 Author: B.C. James Genre: Urban Fantasy, Supernatural Thriller A Tinder date goes disastrously wrong, ending with a middle-aged man gruesomely murdered and mysteriously mummified in a seedy motel. This baffling case lands in the lap of Detective Kace McCrae, unaware that this crime is just the…

[scvderianat]

𓂃𖤐 SIREN SONG

pairing . . . charles leclerc x demigod!ofc

read all . . . part two

summary . . . “she was absolutely perfect, voice echoing and turning every word into a siren song. He would see her again, he could feel it in his bones.”

wc . . . 1353

scvderianat’s radio . . . My very first fic! I am so excited for this one, specially as I am merging two of my favorite things: pjo and Charles Leclerc. Be warned of the canon divergence: Poseidon stayed with the Jacksons! If you like this one, you might get a part two.

EVEN AFTER ALL THESE YEARS, Charles still vividly remembers the first time he saw her. He was young then, still trying to dodge school to focus on racing, when he found something else to live for.

He rushed through the streets of his hometown, eager to get home after another day inside a stuffy classroom learning things he would never need to know — all he needed was his helmet, good ears, and good reflexes. Charles fumbled with the straps of his backpack, trying to put his left arm back in the gap when his right shoulder ached from the weight of his books. He sighed once the weight was evenly matched and grumbled a bit about the pain when melodic laughter echoed in the marina.

His head shot up, eyes wandering around the numerous boats stationed on the Monegasque coast. He heard it once more before being able to pinpoint the source.

There, in the distance, stood the most beautiful girl he’d ever seen. Her hazelnut hair glowed and her tanned skin seemed covered in golden glitter in the sunlight. She was giggling next to a boy who looked like her, while an older man, maybe a father or an uncle, chased a woman through the deck. They were all laughing, but it was like her giggles were carried by the winds directly into his ears.

Charles breathed, watching her just as attentively as she watched the adults with her, his own lips stretching into a smile to mirror her own.

As if sensing the sudden attention her head turned, hair flying in the wind, and stared directly into his eyes. Charles could feel the heat on his neck, the red creeping up onto his cheeks as he realized he was standing still but the world was still going on. He gave a small wave, shyly, and kept on walking, cursing himself for his foolishness.

He sees a gorgeous girl and embarrasses himself immediately without saying a thing. Would she think him a creep? Or even worse, stupid?

In his rush, he missed the way she grinned and waved back, and the way her eyes, filled with curiosity, tracked him until he turned into a narrow street.

“What is it?” Percy questioned worriedly, looking around to see if a monster had caught her attention what had caught her attention.

“Nothing.” She smiled at her brother before turning back to where her parents were now dancing with no music.

She wanted to live a love like theirs someday.

YEARS PASS BEFORE THEY MEET AGAIN. Charles had won the Formula 2 championship and was signed into Formula 1 for the following year. He floated through the celebrations and interviews, high on happiness and success.

The sand felt hot beneath him, coarse and promising a great amount of itching if he didn’t wash it in 10 minutes after standing up. He could see Arthur in the water, and he knew his Maman and Lorenzo were not too far either, sitting under the shade a few dozen meters to his left.

Charles’ gaze was locked on the waves breaking on the shore. The Persian Gulf stretched for miles ahead of him, an infinity made of the prettiest shades of blue.

The young man felt accomplished but suffocated. He had done it; he reached one of his biggest dreams, and he still felt… empty. Jules wasn’t there to see it, his father wasn’t there to see it.

He could feel the fear settling low in his gut. What if he wasn’t good enough? What if Sauber decided it was a mistake to sing him and he was canned at the end of the next season with no contracts in sight? What if everything he worked so hard had been for nothing? What if—

A familiar bell-like giggle sounded right behind him as he felt a nudge. Charles froze for a millisecond before turning his head, and he could not believe his eyes.

There, standing up was a girl— well, a woman really, but that doesn’t matter! What does matter is that he recognized her.

The chestnut hair was the same: long and wavy, with some tiny braids hidden among the locks, only identified by little charms that decorated them; her skin still glowed, but now, up close, he could see faint lighter lines — scars — spread over her legs, arms, and torso. Had those been there when he had seen her for the first time? He was too far to see it then but some of those looked old — years old.

Time stilled as he met her eyes. They were as blue as the ocean ahead of them, and her button nose had a light layer of freckles. Charles snapped out of it as he saw her open her mouth.

“I’m sorry to bother you,” She had an accent, Charles noticed absentmindedly. It was small, from somewhere in the States maybe? “But your mom, I think, asked me to call you when she saw me coming this way..”

“Oh…” Very eloquent, Charles, Congratulations! “Thank you, uh… sorry what’s your name?”

Smooth.

She smiled, head still a bit tilted as she looked down at him, “I’m Vivienne…” Her eyes followed Charles as he stood, turning to face her fully.

Now he was the one staring down at her, “Thank you, Vivienne.” He savored the name, testing it. The French rolled easily off his tongue, and he smiled, “I’m Charles.”

“Nice to meet you, Charles.” Vivienne’s eyes trailed to her right side. He followed her line of sight and found a man laid back in a lounge chair, the same one from the boat all those years ago, staring at them. He looked a lot like Vivienne and tilted his head to the side, eyebrows raising a bit.

Vivienne scoffed, pulling Charles’ attention from the man who was most likely her father and turned back to him.

“Sorry, my dad is getting impatient.” She smirked and Charles could see movement in his peripheral vision, as though her father had heard what she said and turned fully to them. “I got to go…”

She turned halfway before Charles called out, asking if she had Instagram. Vivienne grinned softly and swiftly told him her username before walking away. Charles watched for a while, still enraptured by her simple presence, before making his way to his mother.

On the way back to Monaco, he got lost in his thoughts again. Only this time they were much more pleasant as they laid solely on Vivienne Jackson.

Her Instagram feed was filled with pictures of her family and friends, and many more pictures of the beach and marine life. She had a twin brother named Percy and they both went to University — but which one wasn’t clear.

The most curious part of it was the exclusively pink sequence of posts at the top of her feed. She was an actress! She had just starred, a few months back, as Mean Girl’s Regina George on the new musical and had just finished the last of the showings. Charles had looked up clips of her performance and she was absolutely perfect, voice echoing and turning every word into a siren song.

He would see her again, he could feel it in his bones.

VIVIENNE WAS SCROLLING through her notifications when she saw it.

charlesleclerc requested to follow you.

Her stomach did a funny thing when she opened his profile, his feed filled with red and cars and champagne showers. She noticed the way his eyes glowed when he held a trophy and the dimples on his face when he smiled.

Public figure, she mused as she saw the little blue symbol next to his name. What a coincidence, Vivienne thought, that two people who met years ago were rising in fame at the same time had met again.

She clicked on the follow button and turned off her phone.

What a coincidence indeed.

UP IN OLYMPUS, Aphrodite giggled. Oh, yes! Her greatest work since Perseus and Annabeth was starting to bloom, and she could not wait to write their romance.

[nvirskies]

sand - c. la rue

idea taken from one of @star-girl69 's asks about married clarisse and immediately went to think about how the vast majority of greek demigods didn't get to live past their 20's or even teen years... and the survivor's guilt that would come with being one of the few lucky enough to live longer.

warnings: angst, hurt/comfort, traumatic nightmare flashbacks, descriptions of violence, descriptions of blood + war, spoilers for TLO, set after both reader and clarisse leave CHB about 6-8 years into the future, google translated Greek term of endearment, crying, survivor's guilt, platonic RueGard, ooc Clarisse, she's matured more over time and more articulate with her feelings and words

summary: clarisse wakes up from a particularly bad nightmare in the middle of the night, reader comforts her through a breakdown

wife!fem!demigod!reader x wife!clarisse la rue

word count: 2.2k

καρδιά μου (kardiá mou) - my heart

Η καρδιά μου είναι η καρδιά σου (I kardiá mou eínai i kardiá sou) - my heart is your heart

"but you have more pieces of me than than desert has sand, and I have less pieces of you than I can hold in my hand" sand, alchemical: vol. 1, dove cameron

taglist: @lvrue @star-girl69 @azrielsdiary @petitegavotte @b0ok-lover

men, nsfw, non-sapphic, 16-/19+ dni

Greek demigods fell in love hard and fast with an unmatched intensity. They normally didn’t live long enough to even envision themselves in their adult lives, and why would they? Every day was a struggle to stay alive with monsters coming in from all angles and quests most didn’t come back from.

And that was why, as soon as the two of you graduated high school, Clarisse got down on a knee and proposed with the knowledge that you were the one she would want to spend the rest of her life, however long or short, with.

When you two had graduated college, the next thing in the books was to make it official in the courthouse, and that was what you had done. No extravagant party or ceremony, just a quiet day in the courthouse and a night in to celebrate.

But no matter how far the two of you ran from Camp Half-Blood, the nightmares never went away, never got better. As the years passed, more of the people you had considered friends died. One after the other, falling like cursed dominos, helplessly standing by as they all tumbled down.

Soon, the nightmares became more about the people that were lost than the monsters themselves. Nightly plagues of searingly painful memories from watching the life drain from so many demigods’ eyes burned themselves in both of your psyches.

All you could do was hope Charon would be kind enough to ferry them across the Styx without his payment of a silver coin.

And tonight certainly hadn’t been anything out of the ordinary with the two of you and your limbs interlaced in a protective embrace while sleep claimed your minds, as if the both of you could protect each other from the monsters both in and outside.

Your head, nestled into her chest. Her deep, rhythmic breathing made your hair flutter ever so slightly as she exhaled. Her arms, wrapped loosely around your waist, hands not-so-sneakily under the baggy shirt of hers you had stolen to wear as pajamas for the night. It was all perfect. Too perfect.

You would be damned fools to think that peace would last for so long. Demigods didn’t get peace, they didn’t get tranquility, and they especially didn’t get uninterrupted domestic bliss.

Unbeknownst to you, Clarisse’s face contorted into one of distress. Her arms pulled you in closer subconsciously as the all too familiar face of Morpheus greeted her with a sly smirk on his face in her dreams.

In moments, she was transported back to the Battle of Manhattan.

She was seventeen again.

Blood was everywhere. Abandoned weapons lay on the floor, the hands that once gripped them tightly, now loose and limp. Shrill screams echoed throughout the air, all cut short by gut-wrenching sounds of fatal injury. Metal cut through flesh. Acid burnt through metal. Flames licked and greedily consumed anything and everything as fuel.

Her feet felt heavy, her hands numb. She could do nothing but stand and watch it all unfold before her own eyes, forced to relive the carnage and devastation that had ripped through Manhattan on that fateful day.

Morpheus’ voice whispered in her right ear, the sound of it sending an uneasy chill down her spine. “Daughter of Ares. A fitting dream, no? Your father must have been proud of you for the way you fought after… well, I’ll let you relive that, too.” Before she could blink, she was transported to the moment right after Silena had been sprayed by the Lydian Drakon.

Clarisse was too late. She had always been too late.

She was back on her knees, choking and weeping bitterly as Silena lay in her arms, watching as life slowly left her once-lively eyes.

What kind of a warrior even was she? So weak that she couldn’t even protect her friend? Too weak to protect the girl who had adorned her armor and led her siblings into battle?

Just as Clarisse reached out to touch Silena’s face to wipe away the one mark of smudged eyeliner that the Aphrodite girl normally would never have even allowed to happen in the past, she was jerked back to consciousness, eyes flying open and arms almost crushing your sleeping form momentarily as she came to.

No longer was she in Manhattan, instead sheltered in the familiarly adorned walls of your shared bedroom. Upon the walls hung framed pictures of joyous times past and her sword collection, among other things.

Familiar faces stared back at her, some faces that would never age again. Immortalized memories of times that would never happen again. Everyone was dead or scattered across the globe.

A particular picture caught Clarisse’s eye. It was a portrait of Silena that she had commissioned one of the Apollo kids to draw for the daughter of Aphrodite’s seventeenth birthday.

She never lived to see that day.

Her eyes locked with Silena’s in the drawing for a moment, and that moment was one too much as hot tears began to prick in the corners of her eyes.

She had inadvertently woken you up with the way her arms tightened around your waist in a near vice grip, slowly coming to your senses. No longer were her breaths slow and rhythmic, their steadfast pattern replaced by one that was erratic and shallow. The once-steady thumping cadence of her heart as it beat in her chest was now quickened, all of which you could hear with your head having been nestled into her chest.

Craning your head to look up at her, you were greeted with the sight of Clarisse desperately trying to silently blink back tears and control her own breathing.

Hurriedly, you pushed yourself up off her chest and tugged the blankets off the two of you before sitting down on her lap. You took note of the way her hands had never left your waist, holding onto you as if she were drowning and you were the last life ring thrown out.

It wasn’t anything you and Clarisse hadn’t dealt with before. The nightmares had been a part of your lives as far back as you could remember, it just came with the territory of being a demigod. But they never got any easier as time went on.

She watched silently with eyes brimming with unshed tears, pleading wordlessly with you to do something, anything to make it all go away.

“Let’s switch, yeah? You can lay on me and completely cover me if you want, love,” you offered up, a melancholy smile tugging at the corners of your mouth. Wordlessly, she nodded and you slipped off her lap, laying back where she had just been moments ago.

Gently patting your chest, you motioned for her to rest her head on it, knowing that the rest of her body would soon follow, completely engulfing your form with hers. After she had positioned herself, her arms snaked around your waist again as she simply held you for a few moments, her face pressed into your chest as tears slowly soaked into your shirt.

One hand reached out to gently run along the length of her back, the motion meant to soothe. A few beats passed in silence before you spoke in a hushed whisper, the bedroom devoid of sound beyond the two of you breathing in tandem with each other.

“You hear that, love? That’s my heart,” you murmured softly, craning your neck to press a gentle kiss to the top of her head. “It’s beating, beating for you. Η καρδιά μου είναι η καρδιά σου.”

She didn’t respond beyond releasing another shaky sob into your chest and tightening her grip around your body, but you didn’t mind. You didn’t need her to talk just yet.

“You’re also η καρδιά μου, you know that, right? My heart, my wife, my love, my everything. And I’m yours. Entirely yours, and I”m not going anywhere.” You craned your neck again to press another kiss against the crown of her head, hand never stopping its path of running gently along the length of her back.

“I would go down to the depths of Tartarus for you. I would challenge Hades himself to a fight if it meant I had even a glimmer of a chance in getting you back.”

Never once did you try to rush her into talking or shushing her tears. You knew her better than you knew yourself, and giving her time to let everything out was the best thing you could do for her at the moment.

You were her safe space, the one woman that she could let her walls down around. She wasn’t Ares’ star daughter in your arms, she was just Clarisse. No expectations dangling over her head, just open arms and understanding.

After another few quiet moments, she finally spoke up in between half-choked sobs, whispering so quietly that her voice was nearly inaudible, “Silena… Manhattan… should have been able to save her,” before letting her face fall back down onto your chest, releasing another pained cry.

“She’s gone- a-and everyone else too- why me?”

Her question left you speechless, mouth partly opened in an attempt to come up with a reassuring response, but nothing seemed to come to mind immediately. It was rare for this to happen, as you normally had just the right words at the top of your tongue, weaving them as Arachne once wove tapestries on her loom.

“They’re all gone and- and- ”

“Shh, love…” you cut her off, gently pulling her head up to look her in the eyes, your other hand leaving her back to wipe the tears that were still streaming down her cheeks with the pad of your thumb. “Please, don’t go back into that self-sacrificial spiral. Talk to me, tell me what the dream was about?”

She only shook her head in response, unwilling to divulge details of the memory that had shattered your night of otherwise perfect proportions.

Deflating back on top of you, she whispered, “They’re all gone, and we’re one of the only ones remaining. It was like every time another one of them died, that small part of myself that I gave to them died as well.”

Her arms that were wrapped around your waist tightened for a moment before going limp along with the rest of her body as she lay atop you, her head pressed against your chest.

“Love…” you began softly as one of your hands found its way to her head and carded gently through her curls. “You can’t blame yourself for what happened. None of it was your fault. We didn’t ask to be born, to be thrown into this mess of a world and tossed around like pawns in the gods’ game of chess with our lives.”

“We didn’t ask for this life, and we were so young at the time. For fuck’s sake, we were only seventeen- we hadn’t even made out yet. We hadn’t graduated high school yet, there were so many things we couldn’t control.

“None of it was your fault, I promise you. You were so brave, and you did everything you could.” She stayed silent as you spoke, the only sounds coming from her were the soft, shaky breaths as she sniffled and burrowed her face further into your shirt.

“I can’t explain to you why so many things had to happen, that’s up to the Fates. I can’t give you the pieces of yourself back that you lost when we kept losing everyone,” you murmured whilst your hands kept on with their idle motions.

It shattered your heart to give her such an incomplete answer when you knew it was tearing her apart inside to live with it all, but there was nothing you could do beyond offer solace and comfort. “And for that, I am so, so sorry. But the one thing I can do is keep the piece you’ve granted me to keep, safe and sound.”

She only nodded in response, not trusting herself to speak in fear of her own vulnerability. Her tears soaked into your shirt, but you didn’t care. All that was important was that Clarisse was here, in your arms, and slowly calming down.

Clarisse knew just as well as you did that everyone had done the best they could with the circumstances given, and that the loss affected you just as deeply. But she didn’t dig into that, it would be a can of worms to open for another time, another sleepless night where your own troubles caught up with you after running from them for so long.

And so, the rest of the night stretched on into early morning, the two of you half-awake, seeking silent solace in each other until sunlight crept into the bedroom through the cracks of the curtains the next day.

The two of you might have been running from your trauma like runners to a marathon, but at least you were running hand-in-hand with matching strides.

[ratman517]

CrossGuild Headcanons!!!

Buggy

Can’t cook for shit, good at baking though

Makes REALLY good brownies (makes cosmic brownies the most)

Constantly wearing boxers with hearts

Often looses his limbs

Has been hit in the face with cakes/pies more times than he can count

Deathly scared of ALL bugs, moths specifically

Cannot stand blood in video games, doesn’t mind it irl

Had a pet hamster at one point, if you mention it he will break down crying

Really good at magic tricks but could not explain how he does certain things (he’s not gatekeeping he genuinely just doesn’t know)

Mihawk

Never cold somehow

You will never catch this man sitting normally

His bed has 0 room to move around

Yoru has her own bed, bigger than mihawks

Looses his snail often since he never uses it

Has an extremely large bookcase, only reads 1 section of it

It’s the section full of gardening books

Really good at origami

His room looks like a gothic IKEA showcase room (devoid of personal trinkets)

Has pierced ears yet never swaps out the earring (he forgets he has them)

Vampire teeth and pointed ears

Goes to sleep extremely early (like 5-6ish sometimes earlier if he’s bored)

Crocodile

Has a 10ft banana wani plushy in his bed

Makes a really good omelette

Can cook but doesn’t know how to use spices

Knows cardistry!

His bottom canines are bigger than average

Cold blooded, can be found sunbathing on rare occasions

Really good at drawing animals & nature scenery, can’t draw anything humanoid for the life of him

Has many books about different animal species, mushrooms, and foraging

Used to be super energetic when he was young

Shitty ass sleep schedule

Doesn’t see anything wrong with it

Turns to sand when exhausted or overstimulated

Probably has an undiagnosed behavioral disorder but god forbid you mention it (Buggy tried and got crucified instantly)

Red and Green colorblind

And yknow just for shits and giggles I’ll do Crochawk cause I love the ship so much it hurts please free me from this curse…

Crochawk

Using emojis since lazy, probably horribly ooc ;-;

🦅 loves to cuddle and at first it freaked 🐊 out since he’s probably touch starved asf

🦅Will prepare 🐊 food no matter what time 🐊 wakes up

They both fix each others horrible sleep schedules

There trust issues changed from “I must stay away, he’s going to betray me” to “I must stay away, I might hurt him”

🦅 will use 🐊 as a coat rack for his hat whenever he’s farming

🐊 has a little table & chair by 🦅 farm to watch him farm

🐊 uses 🦅 like a heat rock

🦅 often buries himself into 🐊 coat

Everyone on Karai Bari island knew 🐊🦅 were in love before they did, but nobody knew when they got together

[mediocrecowboyhat]

Set in sand - Chapter 1

We mark the year 1934 and a peculiar journal falls into your hands. It's telling the tale of an outlaw and the downfall of a gang. Some pages are torn and others are downright unreadable, but nevertheless, you are still able to make out some parts of the tragic story.

With the help of a certain time traveler friend of yours, will you be able to safe the author of the journal or will you be the cause for his demise?

Next chapter

Word count: 3543

Disclaimer: This is based on the side quest "Geology for Beginners" so the reader is from the future and aware of some things that happen, but not everything. The reader will also have she/her pronouns and this fanfiction follows the story of RDR2. Also English is not my first language so pls forgive me for any grammatical mistakes!

TW: end-game spoilers will be mentioned very early on in the story, 18+ MDNI, sexual themes, violence, gore, death, misogynistic themes (anything that happens in the game as well)

With the help of a certain time traveler friend of yours, will you be able to safe the author of the journal or will you be the cause for his demise?

The harsh cold cuts through your many thick layers of clothing and your limbs gradually grow number by the minute. Pain shoots through your fingers everytime you move them just to make sure they're still working. The last thing you want is to loose any body parts to hypothermia this early on in your journey.

One foot at the time. Come on.

As you stumble through the knee-high snow and fight your way through the merciless storm, you silently curse yourself out. Maybe your friend was right. Maybe you shouldn't have gotten yourself involved in this.

-

"Arthur Morgan? That name rings a bell, actually.", Francis mumbles under his breath as his eyes trail over the words of the journal you had handed to him earlier.

The book is in poor condition with most of the pages missing and the ones that are still attached, are barely readable. Only a few passages are intact, but it's enough to let you roughly know what happened to the author.

"I thought you might have maybe heard of him during your travels.", you answer with a hopeful tone. Your eyes stare expectantly at the red head as you wait for him to finish reading.

The author wrote the journal around the end of the 1800s which is the same time Francis likes to visit every now and then.

"I think I remember now!", he exclaims with raised eyebrows and you jump up from the chair you're sitting on.

"You do? Can you...help me out then?"

-

You have no idea why the story of Arthur Morgan had moved you so much. His life and the way he put it into words had shaken you to your core.

A shuddering sigh escapes your lips and even through the scarf that covers half of your face, you're able to see the cloud of air.

-

"You want to safe him? Why?", Francis asks and his tone is laced with utter disbelief. Yes, he met the man during one of his travels and even though Arthur didn't know him at all, he still had helped find all the rock carvings.

"The way things went and the way they ended for him...it doesn't feel right.", you explain with furrowed brows.

"It's dangerous. Yes, the country started to enforce the law more seriously during that time, but there were still so many gangs, robberies and shootings. I can't even begin to count all the things that could go wrong on your journey."

Francis' gaze is serious and stern. He's making his disapproval of your idea more than clear, but you're not willing to give up on your plan. Not yet.

"Nothing will go wrong if you help me prepare.", you answer and take both of his hands in yours to give them a reassuring squeeze.

His expression is unmoving, but his eyes betray the crumbling resistance within him. He's only a couple more arguments away of giving in.

-

The memory makes you chuckle. It's a low and bitter sound. Indeed, he had helped you get prepared for your adventure. Your leather bag is stuffed with canned food, some clothes and other equipment that might come in handy.

All the shirts, skirts and pants fit the style of the 1890s to make it easier for you to blend in. Francis had even been so kind to give you a quick history lesson that covered all the basics.

-

The cattleman revolver feels unfamiliar and heavy in your hands as you study the weapon more closely.

"Do you know how to shoot?", Francis asks and crosses his arms infront of his chest as he leans against the edge of the table.

The closest you have ever come to working a gun was reading about it in Arthur's journal, but admitting that might make Francis change his mind about the whole thing.

"Of course.", you lie with full confidence and slide the revolver back into the holster.

-

In the beginning you were a bit disturbed by the sight of the weapon attached to your belt. Feeling the weight of it now and the way it sometimes brushes over your thigh...it brings you some comfort. Comfort, knowing that you have the means to protect and defend yourself.

If only you have been aware over how soon you'd have to use that thing.

-

"There is an abandoned settlement called Colter nearby.", Francis explains and points at a spot on the map that is spread out over the table. "They will be hiding there after that whole ordeal in Blackwater."

This would be your chance to join the gang and get close to everyone. The mere thought of actually meeting these people fills you with both excitement and anxiety. You don't know any of them and it makes you wonder how they'll react to you.

"The winter was particularly bad that year so make sure to move quick and don't get lost.", he says, ripping you out of your thoughts.

"Don't worry."

-

Yes. Don't worry, I said. It will be fine, I said.

Nothing could have prepared you for the pack of wolves that had shown up right after you traveled back in time. Not a single bullet had hit its mark, but the ear piercing noise from the shots had driven them away.

Everytime you recall that encounter in your mind, the beat of your heart picks up frantically and you hear your blood rushing in your ears. The experience had scarred you for sure.

Finally, the snowstorm seems to calm down and your vision clears up again. As you blink the remaining snowflakes away, you spot smoke in the distance. Could that be the settlement?

Without a second thought you pick up your pace and quickly make your way towards the dark pillar of smoke. It's further away than you had anticipated, but after a while you arrive at the place just to be met with...well, no one.

The fire has died down and there is not a single soul to be seen in the area. You notice that the wood is still slightly warm though so whoever had camped here left only recently.

Your eyes wander around, trying to find a sign, anything that could indicate where that person might have gone to. There is only one set of footprints in the snow, accompanied with prints that look like hooves.

It could be someone from the gang who is out hunting at the moment. It's also possible that they went back to the others so maybe these tracks could lead you right to their hideout.

With a new found hope you quickly follow the tracks. Even if it isn't anyone from the gang, that person you're searching for could still give you shelter or food. Any type of help is welcome, really. You're in no position to be picky at the moment.

The tracks lead up a mountain and you see something dark laying on the ground. A pit forms in your stomach as you approach it and recognize what it is.

The sight infront of you is revolting and you fight back a gag. A horse is laying spread out in the snow with its stomach shredded to pieces and the insides hanging out. A foul stench penetrates your nose and you abruptly turn away.

Whatever happened here, it hadn't ended well. Weirdly enough, the horse is the only dead body here though. There is no sign of the owner and you stumble upon more footprints.

It must be the same person from the makeshift camp, by the looks of it. At least the size and shape of the boots are similar. You keep following them and swallow a lump in your throat when your eyes fall on blood. It seems like the person got hurt as well by whatever attacked the horse.

Could it have been wolves? Perhaps even the same ones that wanted to make a meal out of you? You banish the thought before it could make you panic. Now is not the time to contemplate about your near-death encounter.

Someone obviously needs help and that is the whole reason why you're here in the first place. Just because the person in need of help isn't the one who you're actually here for, doesn't mean you should abandon them.

The footprints lead around the mountain and with lots of huffing and panting, you climb over rocks and duck under them. It's exhausting your body more than anything you had ever done before and your muscles grow heavy.

"Hello?", you yell out into the vast nothingness and calm your breathing to be able to focus on listening for a response. Nothing.

You give it another try, but again nothing happens. Frustration boils up inside your chest and you mutter a few curses to yourself.

Fan-fucking-tastic.

Now you're not only extremely tired and worn out from this unnecessary hike, you're also way off the trail that leads towards Colter and who knows if you will even be able to find your way back.

Sure, you could easily follow your own footprints, but by the way your luck has been the past few days, another snowstorm will most likely ruin that plan. Unless the thing that killed the horse earlier comes back to put you out of your misery as well.

Perhaps Francis was right. Perhaps you were being stupid and naive to think that you could possibly travel back in time to-

"Help!"

There it is. A voice. A person! You bite back a relieved sob and take a deep breath to answer the call.

"I'm over here!", the other person answers and you jog towards the source of the voice.

As you peek over the edge of a wall, you're being met with a pair of glassy, grey eyes. A man with long black hair and messy clothes, is sitting in the snow and looks up to you.

"I didn't think I'd meet anyone out here.", he jokes with a raspy voice and you climb down the wall to kneel next to him.

His face is covered in blood and there are deep wounds on his right cheek. It looks like claw marks.

"What happened?", you ask breathlessly as you hurry to open your bag.

"Wolves. A whole pack of 'em." His answer comes out more as a grunt than anything and it's obvious that talking alone brings him too much pain.

You fish out an alcohol bottle and pour some of the content onto your handkerchief. Gently, you dab the cloth on his wounds to disinfect them and he let's out a harsh hiss.

"I'm sorry.", you mumble apologetically, but he simply waves it off. He knows you're only trying to help.

None of you are saying anything while you tend to his wounds and your mind is racing with thoughts and questions. What will you do now? The man doesn't look like he can stand up and you don't have the means to carry him down this mountain.

But even just considering the option of leaving him here to the elements makes you feel a tang of guilt in your chest. Leaving him alone means leaving him to die and you don't know if you can live with that.

"Do you think you can get up? I can't carry you, but if you lean on me we could make it down this mountain.", you suggest and the man opens his mouth to answer you.

Before he can even bring out a word, a gunshot cuts through the air and you let out a startled noise. Another person? This is starting to become quite a party.

Yelling can be heard from a distance. A man. No, it's two.

"Marston!", one of them screams from the top of his lungs and the bleeding stranger infront of you responds almost immediately.

It doesn't take long for the others to find you and you stand up from your spot. The two men are standing on the edge of the wall and one of them jumps down. The next moment you find yourself at the end of a gun.

You lift your hands and take a careful step back while your eyes are fixed on the weapon pointed right at your face.

"Who are you?", asks the man. He's wearing a thick blue coat and a worn cowboy hat with a few bullet holes in it.

"Put the gun down. She found me here and helped.", answered the injured guy and for what feels like eternity the man finally lowers the gun.

You allow yourself to let out a relieved breath as he turns away to face the one still sitting on the ground.

"You look even uglier than before, Marston.", he says to the injured stranger and something clicks inside your brain.

Marston? John Marston?

While your mind pieces all the clues together, the man who is still on the wall reaches out his hand towards you. A friendly smile graces his lips and you return it before taking his hand and letting him help you climb back up.

"You guys are lucky that we found you.", he says and you nod. He's right. Even with your plan to have John lean on you while you walk back, there is no guarantee that it would have actually worked.

You're pretty sure that you would have probably slipped and fallen to your certain death. A few moments later John and the other guy are on top as well.

"Arthur, carry him on your shoulder while we go back to our horses.", the man who helped you up the wall said and your eyes fall on one with the blue coat.

Is this Arthur Morgan?

You lock eyes with him after he throws John over his shoulder and he gives you a confused look.

"What are you starin' at?", he grunts.

Embarrassed, you cough into your fist and let out a flustered chuckle.

"I'm so sorry, sir. It's just that you remind me of someone, is all.", you hastily explain and turn away to prevent any more awkwardness.

What a great first impression you're leaving. As you all make your way back to the horses, the three men introduce themselves to you and you give them your name as well.

"What are you doing out here by yourself?", Javier asks and throws you a curious look over his shoulder.

"I had to leave my home. We...we got robbed and lost the house.", you answer. It's a lie that you and Francis have come up with.

If anyone asks you'd tell them that a gang robbed your home and burned down the house. No one can check your background if you tell them there is nothing left to check. At least that's what you're hoping for.

"You said 'we'. Is anyone else out here?", Arthur asks and shoots you a quick look.

"No. I'm alone now.", you answer which is not really a lie. You are alone indeed.

"Well, I'm sorry to hear that."

Before you're able to thank him, Javier points at something in the distance.

"Guys, I think we got company."

A small group of wolves appear on the hill a few meters away from you guys and your heart sinks. The gunshot and all the yelling must have caught their attention or maybe it's the smell of John's blood.

Arthur hands him over to Javier and pulls out a shotgun as he walks towards the wild animals.

"I'll distract 'em. You guys go to the horses.", he yells over his shoulder and you and Javier start running.

A few shots are being fired behind you, but you don't dare to look back. Your heart is beating a thousand miles an hour and adrenaline rushes through your veins. It's the only reason why you're able to move this fast.

Javier mounts his horse together with John and you climb onto the back of the one you assume must be Arthur's. Just as you turn your head to see where the said man is, he's already by your side and jumps into the saddle.

Without another word, the two horses start sprinting. The sudden acceleration startles you and instinctively your arms shoot forward to wrap around Arthur's torso. Then you notice something in the corner of your eye.

"We got more coming from the right!", you let the others know and grab the cattleman from your holster.

Thankfully, Arthur proves himself to be more than competent with his own gun and takes out the entire pack in a matter of seconds without you having to help out. At least that's what it looked like at first.

Another wolf jumps out from between trees right at the both of you and you extend your arm to fire a shot. It hits. For the first time you have actually hit something.

The rest of the ride goes by quietly with no deadly surprises. So far it's all going to plan (besides the fact that you almost got your face bitten off that is) and with a little luck and persuasion on your part they might even let you stay with them.

Once you reach the settlement, you slide off the back of Arthur's Tennessee Walker and take a step to the side when a large group of people start pouring out from the run down houses.

But the person who catches your attention the most is a man wearing a black coat and a red scarf. It's not his outfit that draws your gaze towards his direction, but more the energy he gives off. There is something about him that makes you feel like you have to be on your toes.

Maybe it's the authority that radiates off of him like the heat of a house on fire or maybe it's something else. Obviously, he's the leader of this group with the way he's barking orders. They don't seem to fear him though.

Then his eyes fall on you and he takes your whole appearance in. You recall a name from the journal as he approaches you with an extended hand and you shake it firmly.

"Dutch Van Der Linde. Arthur told me that you helped them with John."

You only manage a nod.

"Thank you, miss. I appreciate that you went out of your way to help one of my men. Come on, let's head inside so we can talk.", he adds and leads you towards one of the cabins

There is a fire burning inside, but with all the holes in the roof and walls it does barely anything to keep the cold away. Dutch motions towards one of the chairs next to the fireplace and takes a seat infront of you.

Arthur's blue coat appears in the corner of your eye as he closes the creaking door and leans against it with his arms closed. Yes, Dutch said it would be a casual talk, but now it feels more like an interrogation.

Quietly you fold your gloved hands on your lap and wait for Dutch to say the first word. You plan on telling him only the most necessary stuff and would rather avoid getting tangled up in your web of lies.

"So, Arthur tells me you lost your home?"

You avoid his piercing gaze and look down at your lap.

"I did, sir."

On the side of your vision, you see him nod to himself.

"I'm so sorry to hear that. Now, miss..."

Your head snaps up to look at him as he bends forward to get a better look at your face.

"This is a harsh winter and I'd feel bad sending you out in this cold all by yourself, so if you want, you can stay with us."

His offer makes you nod hastily and you try to mask your excitement. There is no need to make them suspicious with your eagerness. No person with a clear mind would be this happy to stay with a bunch of outlaws and you have to play the part.

"We may not be good people, but we care for one another. As long as you pull your weight, we will happily welcome you."

With these words you place your bag on the floor and open it up to reveal the canned food you have been traveling with.

"I got some food on me. Agreed, it's not a lot, but it's all I have."

A pleased look spreads over Dutch's face and he nod.

"It's greatly appreciated. Go find Mr. Pearson and give these to him.", he says and you throw your bag back over your shoulder after getting back on your feet.

Once you close the door behind you, you overhear Arthur say something.

"Are you sure about this, Dutch? It's another mouth to feed."

You hold your breath so you have an easier time listening in on them. Of course, he's right to be concerned about you becoming a member. By the sound and look of it, they're struggling to keep everyone fed.

"We have been through worse.", Dutch answers and a wave of relief washes over you. It's good to know that you won't get kicked out on the first day.

So where is this Mr. Pearson?

[singto-prachaya]

Okay a whole bunch of BL/GL novels are on sale and that also includes eng translations. I complied a list of a bunch of BL and GL novels that are off for more then 10% (Except for The Sign and vol 2 of a novel). A lot of these are series adaptions but some I think are not. Some of these books only have a limited amount on sale!

BL novels

7 Wishes

A Secretly Love

A Tale Of A Thousand Stars

Bad Guy My Boss

Be My Favorite

Bed Friend

Behind The Scenes

Call My Name

City Of Stars

Cutie Pie

Dark Blue Kiss

Fish Upon A Sky Vol 1 / Fish Upon A Sky Vol 2

Foe To Fame

Friend To Fan

Future From Me Vol 1 / Future From Me Vol 2

I Feel You Linger In The Air

Just Friend Zone

Khemjira / Special

Let Me Into Your Heart

Love Mechanics + Future

Love Sand

Love Sea

Love Storm

Love Upon A Time

Middleman's Love

Naughty Babe

Only Boo

Sotus

Star Scope

The Boy Next World

The Forest Of Love

The Hidden Moon

The Lion Heart

The Next Prince

The Sign

Theory Of Love

True Moon Vol 1 / True Moon Vol 2

Vice Verse Vol 1 / Vice Verse Vol 2

Wandee Wittaya

GL novels

A Shadow Underneath The Moon

About Galaxy

Adore Khun Jae Like Crazy

Apple

Arpo In Love

Back To You

Be My Baby

Be My Boo

Be My Sugar!

Bitter Sweet Toxic

Build In Love

Buy My Boss

Chain

Crush

Dream

Enemies With Benefits

Formidable eyes

FWB with My Boss

GAP

In's Love

Irresistible

Kassatithan

Lies Between Us

Love and Persuasion

Lyric

Mate Vol 1 / Mate Vol 2

More & More

My Only Sunshine

My Pink Love

No 5

Poisonous Love / Special Chapters

Professor With Benefits

Queendom

Smile My Tutor

Reverse 4 You

Reverse With Me

Rolling In love

Rhythm Vol 1 / Rhythm Vol 2

The Curse Of The Oath

The Dragon

The Secret Of Us / Special Chapters

Uncertainty

US

When Love Conquers

[cosmerelists]

Cosmere Characters Imitate Hoid

As requested by anon :)

I recently fulfilled another anon's request about Hoid imitating various Cosmere characters. This, I suppose, is a sort of sequel: now other characters must imitate Hoid. But don't worry! Hoid himself (or sometimes Design) is here to help.

[It's Hoid. There's SPOILERS for like every book in here but I'll mark which book is involved in case that helps]

1. [From Mistborn Era 1] Vin imitates "informant Hoid"

Hoid: Okay! There are three important rules for being a beggar informant! Hoid: One: look kinda gross. That way, people won't pay too much attention to you. Hoid: Two: pretend to have bad eyesight, so that they won't worry that you're paying too much attention to them. But don't pretend TOO hard, so that if they catch on to the fact that you're just acting, they'll feel superior and lower their guard. Hoid: Three: have actually good information so that you can push the pieces exaaactly where they need to go. Hoid: Any questions? Vin: Do you realize that I literally lived on the street for years? Hoid: Yes, yes, so you actually know how to BE a beggar, but do you know how to pretend to be a beggar? That's a much different thing! Vin: I understand why Kelsier steered me away from you.

2. [From Mistborn Era 2] Wax imitates "beggar Hoid"

Wax: I'm sorry; I have to drink WHAT? Hoid: Oh, so you'll drink metal-infused-whiskey all the time but you draw the line at drinking a little perfume? Wax: ... Wax: Yes?????

3. [From Stormlight] Kaladin imitates "storyteller Hoid"

Kaladin (in his best "Wit" voice): Do not fret young man--you may be hopeless and depressed, but I will tell you a story and that will fix everything! Kaladin: And by "tell you a story" I mean that you'll tell ME a story because you'll have to fill in my blanks like every three seconds! Kaladin: Oh and also! Here's an instrument you don't play. Don't lose it or else I'll guilt you about it later! Hoid: Hmmm...not a bad start, but it lacks...subtlety. Hoid: ...Also that was a really nice flute, you know.

4. [From Warbreaker] Siri imitates "storyteller Hoid"

Siri (throwing an enormous amount of colored sand into the air]: Whooosh! COLOR SAND Siri: [grins] How'd I do? Hoid [very serious, with colored sand plinking down onto his head]: So...that was the main takeaway, Princess? Susebron [clapping delightedly]: You're an amazing storyteller!!

5. [From Yumi and the Nightmare Painter] Painter imitates "coatrack Hoid"

Painter: So I just...lurk in the darkness over here? Perfectly still and brooding? I can do that. Design: Weeellll....it's not really "lurking" so much as "standing still while people put coats on you" and it's not "darkness" so much as it's "well lit so that people can find their coats." Painter: Can I at least strike an intimidating pose? Design: No, that's not really in the spirit of things. Hoid looked more "vaguely surprised." Painter: So I just stand there while people treat me as an inanimate object? Design: Yes! Exactly! Now just imagine that you're TRAPPED like that and try exude a sort of "sad but philosophic resignation." While also holding these coats. Yes! You're doing GREAT! Hoid: ...I thought this would help me see the humor in things but honestly I'm getting even more depressed.

6. [From Tress of the Emerald Sea] Tress imitates "cursed Hoid"

Tress (wearing the most ridiculous outfit she could find): It's me! Cabin boy Hoid! Tress: I may be wearing shoes on my hands, but I am actually trying really hard in my own way to achieve my own goals and help you achieve yours! Tress: No curse can steal from me my ability to make it through with the help of my new friends! Tress (in her regular voice): How'd I do?? Hoid (slightly choked up): F-Fine...

7. [From Elantris] Sarene imitates "beggar Hoid"

Hoid: Okay! There are three important rules for being a beggar! Sarene: You don't need to continue. It's obvious. Sarene: One: look gross so that people don't dare look at you too carefully. Sarene: Two: affect a harmless air--perhaps seem slightly mad or slightly blind--so that people will not worry that you might turn them in or otherwise betray them. Sarene: Three: position yourself so that you can achieve whatever aims you have in pretending to be a beggar in the first place. Sarene: How did I do? Hoid: I KNEW I liked you!

8. [From Secret History] Kelsier imitates "corpse-rafting Hoid"

Kelsier (singing in a mockingly off-tune way): Oh I'm float-float-floating on a coooorpse! Kelsier: Off to bully a ghooooost! Kelsier (in a normal voice): Wow! That ghost guy over there looks like he's having the absolute worst day of his life! Kelsier: I think I'll make it worse! Hoid: I'm not sure corpse/ghost could even be called a slant rhyme. Hoid: And in point of fact, I wasn't coming TO bully you; that was just a little side bonus that occurred by chance. Hoid: So I think your song is slightly misleading, and also bad. Kelsier: ...I can't wait until I have a body again so that I can punch you.

[maythedreadwolftakeyou]

Following you was the best decision I've ever made. Where else am I going to learn things like the types of cacti shown in the Anderfels in game are not ecologically accurate? I am being 100% genuine here I love it when you contribute random knowledge in lore discussions, best parts of my day when it happens

LMAO thank you anon this is very kind. the truth is I am simply an ecologist who cannot turn that part of my brain off even when i know better. like i KNOW the reason why there's cacti there is because someone just picked them from a list of vegetation assets to populate the region with but also 😭 😭 😭 ITS TOO WET THEY WOULD DIE

but yeah specifically i double majored in biology and geology in undergrad, then worked in a plant genetics lab during undergrad & the first year after I graduated, then I moved out west to do desert based fieldwork and started adding in a lot of soil science. now i have a masters in soil microbiology and am currently weeping my way through a PhD (dont ask about that one grad school is Hell).

but YEAH MAN specifically i've been living in and researching deserts for the last decade of my life so i'm always extra excited about those in games lmao. I'm the Hissing Waste's number 1 stan they RULE everyone else is just a COWARD who HATES RUNNING ACROSS HUGE MAPS FOR HOURS. have you instead considered taking a job in Death Valley so when you run through the dunes for 10 hours a day in 110º weather you can console yourself with the thought "at least there isn't a phoenix attacking me right now. the worst thing that's happened to me today is falling into a rodent burrow"????? o those were the days. i used to write all my fanfic by headlamp in my sleeping bag while listening to coyotes get alarmingly close, and cursing the moon for how bright everything gets with light colored sand. If there were two moons in real life i WOULD be mad enough to condemn one to the otherside of the earth for 100 years so i could get some sleep too actually.

here have some drylands ive worked in while i'm being nostalgic

worldbuilding is my favorite favorite favorite part of fantasy/sci fi and i know not everyone has my background in how the actual "world" part works. so i don't condemn people who have gone into writing and arts fields for not understanding these things when they build maps but i really cannot turn off the part of my brain that opens a book or game map and instantly sees they have made the rivers 1. go uphill 2. diverge midway through (not a thing) and 3. in places that would make no sense given topography, mountains, etc that would impact weather & rainfall. only my TRUEST AND MOST WIZENED OG FOLLOWERS will remember how much i wept trying to map out the plate tectonics of Thedas in order to explain what the fuck the mountain ranges are doing what they are.

anyway lots of people have followed me in the last couple months so thanks for this excuse to make an intro post with a lil more about me :)

[startrekfangirl2233-writes]

Nothing Comes Close to the Golden Coast

Description: You're on the beach because it's what your little sister wanted for her bachelorette party. One day, you can manage, right? You're not expecting to stumble right into the woman who could can change your outlook on beaches that day. But with Natasha Trace, maybe you're starting to see nothing comes close to the golden coast.

Warnings: Female! Reader, Flirting, Beaches, Mild Cursing, Natasha is too flirty for words and possibly a little dangerous

A/N: Hiya lovelies! This is a fic I wrote for @bellaireland1981 's 1K Pool Party celebration. Congratulations on 1K followers Bella! It's my first time writing a long form Phoenix x Reader fic and I hope I did Nix justice. All my love to @horseshoegirl for beta-ing this fic for me and making sure I wasn't 1) using too many commas (yes I have a problem) and 2) that this fic was flirty and fun and summery enough!

Word Count: 3617

Cross-posted to AO3 here!

Cross-posted to Wattpad here!

You like going to the beach as much as any other girl. But unlike other girls, you tend to prefer quiet, calm, clear beaches to lie on. The kind of beach where you can hear the tide coming in and the seagulls wheeling in the clear summer sky. The kind of beach where the sand is clear, and you never have to fight to find a spot to lay down your towel and where you can read without a beach ball smashing into your face. Of course, finding the clear beaches you love is far from easy. It seems like the minute the calendar hits Memorial Day, everyone in the Greater San Diego area books it to the beach for the summer. You’ve even seen people taking meetings out on the beach. But to put it bluntly, you're not one of those people.

So why are you out on this congested, loud beach today? There's only one reason: your baby sister's Bachelorette party. It was an obligation you couldn’t get out of. You love your sister, but you’re less than happy to be spending time with her and her friends. When it’s just the two of you, it feels like you’re the closest pair of siblings on the planet. But when she’s with her friends, it feels like there is a colossal, ever-widening, yawning gulf between you. Everyone calls her the pretty one while you're the practical one. In the eyes of your entire extended family, it is one of the many reasons why she's getting married at 22 when you're still single at 28. To keep the peace, you’ve been pasting a smile on your face and literally grinning and bearing it for everything she’s asked of you. Because you love her and in only a week’s time you can get a bit of a break from her (or really, from her best friend).

To make matters worse, you’re the only girl in the group wearing a one-piece suit, something flattering yet mostly covered, without showing off your cleavage or too much of your ass.

“God, do you have to wear that old lady suit?” She'd scoffed when you walked out of your house that morning, a sunhat on your head and a sarong tied around your waist to complement the deep maroon one-piece you’d pulled out to wear. “Please tell me you have a bikini you can go wear instead. If you'd told me, I would have brought you one of mine!”

As if you'd have ever worn a bikini of hers. Your younger sister is thin, model thin, with a narrow waist and perfectly perky A-cups, which look fantastic in the hot pink bikini she's wearing today. She's got the physique that makes men look a little stupid. Already, there is a pack of unfairly pretty men who have gone a little cross-eyed when your sister and her friends walked by. In contrast, you're shorter and curvier, your hair dark where hers is blonde, and the ultimate introvert to her bubbly extrovert.

You aren't even her maid of honor at her wedding - that particular honor belongs to her best friend - yes, the aforementioned obnoxious Sally herself. It's not as if anyone has even noticed you're not having the time of your life in the water. After all, why would they? Who wants the babysitter hanging around you when you're trying to have fun? It's the role you've been playing since your sister was born, and you're sure you'll play it again once your sister has kids. For now, all you can do is stay secluded under your umbrella and try to read a little despite the noise. At least it is a little emptier on the beach now as the sun sinks slowly across the sky.

“Well, well, well, what do we have here?”

The voice is male, filled with all the surety of a man who knows what he wants and has never failed to get it. Your eyes are rolling before your head rises from your book. Your sister and Sally are under the umbrella next to you, and unsurprisingly, that comment was targeted at the two of them. You're pretty sure they are two of the group who were tossing around not one but two footballs on the beach.

“Two pretty things like you look like you could use a drink.”

It's the blonde, tall with green eyes, and a shit-eating grin, who makes the offer. And to your disbelief, it looks like your sister is going to take these guys up on their offer.

“We'd love to!”

Is she thinking at all? Before you can stop yourself, you're speaking.

“Can I talk to you, Vicky?”

“The fuck do you need to talk to her for?”

Sally's growling at you, her arms crossed under her chest in a way that accentuates the cleavage already threatening to break free of her string bikini. Your cheeks flush as the two men glance between you and her, discerning gazes flip-flopping between you and her at heated words.

“You're her sister, not the fucking morality police. We're having drinks with them. Either you can join us, or you can glare disapprovingly. But don't you dare tell us what we can and cannot do.”

“You're such a fucking stick in the mud. I don’t get why the hell you came with us. Why are you always coming out with us, anyway? I mean, I’d have had a life by the time I was your age, but well, I guess you're even too boring for that.”

You're left gaping at Sally and your sister as they walk away. The words don't hurt, not really. You've been hearing a version of them for years, ever since Sally and Vicky decided they didn't like having you shadow them. Of course, they don't believe you when you say you'd rather do anything other than join them while they get up to all the bullshit they do. Once upon a time, Vicky used to defend you. Obviously, those days are long gone.

It doesn't mean you won't still watch out for your sister, though. Call it some sort of sickening nostalgia for the days when you and her were close once, chasing each other around playing unicorns in your backyard. Call it affection for the little girl who used to follow along behind you, repeating everything you said with a lisp. Call it love for your sister who you would once do anything for - would still do anything for.

Of course, you immediately realize the situation is far different than you thought it would be. Because there aren't just two incredibly hot men, but ten. Before you can blink, they're all over Vicky, Sally and their other friends. Somebody has sparked up a bonfire, and you gravitate to the hot flames despite yourself. You're a little chilled after being out in the hot sun all day. As the sun sets over the sea, one of them nestles a Bluetooth speaker into the sand and turns the music up. 

California Gurls, we're unforgettable,

Daisy Dukes, bikinis on top

Whoever made this playlist needs better taste in music. Or at least they need to pick something which you haven't heard on the radio every day of the summer in 2010. As it is, it will be stuck in your head for days.

“This song sucks, huh?”

You jump at the voice near your ear, stumbling and nearly face-planting in the sand. You have the kind of face which shows your emotions plainly, you've always been told so. Now someone has noticed, and you hope this person won’t throw you under the bus like all of Vicky’s friends. You pretend it’s just the song as you turn around with a smile pasted across your face.

“It's the worst!”

You're sure you have other things to say, but they disappear from your head like smoke when you see the woman who is talking to you. She's gorgeous, whiskey eyes flickering gold with the bonfire's flames. She's absolutely beautiful, and it feels a little like you're in an alternate universe. There's a cool breeze coming off the water, and in addition to the salt from the sea, you can smell hibiscus in the air. It has to be from her perfume, you note vacantly.

There's humor in her eyes as she stands beside you, surveying the others around the bonfire just like you are. You can see your sister in the distance, dancing with the blonde who asked if she wanted a drink. She looks like she’s well on her way to becoming completely drunk, but you don’t care. Vicky’s an adult. She made her own decisions, and she can stand by them. All of your attention is on the brunette in front of you. She holds out a bottle to you, condensation dripping over her fingers.

“I thought you could use a drink.”

“Thanks.”

The drink in question is a bottle of soda, ice cold.

“I, uhh…” She looks a little sheepish, some of her confidence draining away as you look inquiringly at her. “I wasn’t sure how else to get you to talk to me.”

“W-why wouldn’t I talk to you?” 

She grins ruefully, “Because you've been glaring at Bagman and your friends since you walked over here?”

“And, you don't look like you're having much fun.”

“Fun…” You sigh, "is a word for it. And we're not friends.”

“Younger sister?”

You laugh, “Is it that obvious?”

“You're a good sister, coming out with her and her friends like this.” 

Her innocent words touch your heart a little bit.

“I've got two just like her. They're so sure they're grown up, but they could still need somebody to watch out for them.”

You turn excitedly, “Yes! Yes. That’s it! She's getting married next week, but there's still so much she doesn’t know yet! And she and her best friend hate that I'm here. Call it her need to be seen and treated like an adult. I'm in her bridal party and she doesn’t even want to celebrate with me. Guess everybody would pick Bagman over there over me.”

“I don't hate that you're here, you know?”

You startle a little at the frank openness of this beautiful stranger's voice.

“Why not? You don't know a single thing about me.”

“I know you’re a big sister. I know you hate Katy Perry’s California Gurls, not because the song itself is horrible, but because you’ve probably heard it a million times.”

She tugs at your hand, and you follow her as she leads you away from the bonfire, the song still blaring away. You shouldn’t follow her, you know you shouldn’t. But despite yourself,you’re curious. There’s something about her you need to know more of. Away from the bonfire, the air is cool, and crisp. The beach feels swept clean the further you walk.

“If I didn’t know better, I’d think you planned this.” 

You crack open the soda and take a sip, pretending not to feel dark eyes on the side of your face.

“I didn’t plan it.” She chuckles a little, playing with your fingers. “All I wanted was to keep talking. I think I owe you a few more things I know about you, anyways.”

Your heart warms as she shrugs out of the hoodie and lays it over the sand. She sprawls down with a grace you couldn't emulate if you tried, all long, lean muscles exuding strength and power. You feel awkward in contrast, self-conscious as you try to sit on as much of the hoodie as you can without sprawling in her lap in a way that would have you mortified and her uncomfortable. But you can still feel her, warm and solid, as she retakes your hand. It’s comforting, the light touch, the calluses at her fingertips making goosebumps rise over your arms. Her perfume smells different this close, the light scent of summer hibiscus melting into roses and morning dew. It’s addicting.

“Y-you mentioned there were a couple more things you knew about me?” 

The words leave you in a whisper, tripping over each other as they drop off your tongue.

Her laugh is husky and warm, and for one moment, all you want is for her to make that wondrous sound again. But you quell that particular impulse. After all, no matter how weak you are for this woman, you barely know her. You won't be making a fool of yourself tonight.

“I think you're smart, smarter than anyone gives you credit for being. You're strong and single-minded.” She leans in conspiratorially, a smirk on her lips. “Some people would call you stubborn, but I think they're just afraid you'll leave them behind in your quest for world domination.”

“How do you know I'm gunning for world domination?” You're smiling from ear-to-ear as you ask the question.

“All the prettiest girls are. Especially the girls who bring a book to the beach for family when they'd probably rather be curled up on a window seat with a cup of tea handy.”

Your cheeks have to be crimson by now. Of all the days for an unfairly pretty woman to come up to you and flirt, she has to pick today. She’s so confident, so pretty and vivacious and all the things you never could be. In comparison, you just feel dull, like a piece of fabric bleached by the sun, until there are only the faintest hints of color left. It’s also been a really long time since anyone’s even looked twice at you.

“I-I do like reading at a window seat while it rains.” Your smile is halfway genuine now, you think. You can’t keep volunteering bits of information about yourself without getting some info from her in turn.

“What do you like doing in your spare time?”

Maybe you picked the wrong question to ask because her easy smile drops faster than you can blink. The small wrinkles at the corners of her eyes flatten out, and the dimples are so deep you’ve been wanting to kiss them since you saw them disappear as her smile does. The silence between you isn’t comfortable anymore. It’s awkward, a discordantly awkward tone spoiling the harmony of the moments before.

“I don’t have much spare time. Or hobbies.”

“I’m sorry.”

You’re babbling before the apology has left your lips, mind speeding at a hundred miles per hour at the thought you’ve somehow managed to insult the one person who’s wanted to talk to you all night. You’re standing and turning to head back to the bonfire before she hops up next to you.

“Whoa, whoa.” Her hands are hot as they make contact with your upper arms. “I’m not angry at you. I dunno if you heard what those meatheads were saying when they were posturing to your sister and her friends earlier, but I’m a Naval Aviator.”

“It doesn’t leave a lot of time for hobbies.”

“So, what do you do with your free time?” 

She’s so close you can feel the heat of her skin.

“Most of my free time is spent at the gym. It takes hard work to look this good.” 

You giggle a little as she tugs your hands until they’re flat against her toned stomach. The muscles twitch under your fingers a little, and you feel light-headed. Is she really flirting with you? You? 

“Not everyone can read books and look as good as you do.”

“What else do you do?” Your voice is weak, barely audible over the rushing waves, but she hears you anyway.

“Sleep. Try to read. Though it’s harder to concentrate when you’re surrounded by hundreds of lonely, horny men than when you’re sitting in a window seat.”

She smirks a little, leaning closer then. 

“And I definitely spend a lot of time daydreaming about a pretty bookworm in my bed to keep me warm at night.”

“O-oh.”

Your face has to be crimson by now. It feels so hot. The dark ocean seems way too alluring, if only for a cold reality check. There’s no way this gorgeous, smart, sexy woman is hitting on you. There’s no way. Maybe if you keep saying it over and over, it will be a reality instead of what your delusional mind is coming up with.

“Sadly, there hasn’t been a pretty bookworm in my bed in a while.” 

The smile on her face falls, the motes of color swirling in her hypnotic eyes, fracturing into crystals at the words. 

“None of them can take the long days away, no dates, little contact. Maybe one day I’ll find the right bookworm for me. Unless…”

Her arm has found its way around your shoulders, the warm lines of her body searing into you.

“Well, this is a silly question, but would you maybe like to grab a coffee sometime? Get to know each other better?”

You want to say yes. More than anything you want to. But you can’t bring yourself to accept her invitation, not when you have more questions than answers.

“W-why me?”

Her lips are warm even through the material of your half-damp swimsuit as she presses a kiss to your shoulder.

“You’re different from the other girls I talk to.” 

You’re unsure how to respond, half afraid she will go on and on about how boring and dull you are. All of the others you’ve dated certainly have. They expect one of the standard sexy-librarian types when they meet you and find out you like to read. They’re always disappointed when the truth they come to see couldn’t be any further from what they imagine. 

“You’re so beautiful,” she sighs. “I swear I nearly got hit on the head with one of the footballs when I saw you walk out onto the beach and sit under your umbrella.”

“You missed it, I'm sure, but those goofballs in my squadron were laughing at me for hours.” 

There's a slight pink tinge to her cheeks as she leans back. You miss her the minute you lose her warmth.

“I um…” She runs a hand, long-fingered and pretty (why the hell are even her hands so pretty), through her hair. “I'm pretty sure that's why those two walked up to your sister and her friend.”

“They wanted me to come to the bonfire tonight?”

You're pretty sure your mouth is wide open at this point. 

“Yeah. Though I should say, I wanted an excuse to talk to the prettiest woman I've ever seen. And maybe flirt with her a little. And maybe get her to agree to go out with me.”

“How is this clever plan of yours working for you?” 

Your voice is a whisper again as you peer over your shoulder at her. 

“You don’t know my name. You don't even know if you're my type.” 

It takes every bit of courage to banter lightly with her.

“I think it's going pretty well. After all, I've got you sitting here with me instead of out there with those idiots. And I'd very much like your name.”

You smile despite yourself as you tell her your name, getting hers in turn: Natasha Trace, callsign Phoenix. Her callsign fits her fierce and confident personality.

“So what do you say about getting coffee with me sometime?”

Just before you're about to respond, you hear your name called from the bonfire. It's one of Vicky's friends calling for you and pointing at your sister. She's drunk, and you can tell she's minutes away from courting an indecent exposure charge. She's sitting on Bagman's lap and doing her best to eat his face right off. He seems like a more than willing participant. Your concerns have more to do with how her bikini is moving, how she’s only moments away from an indecent exposure charge.

“Fuck.” 

You turn to Natasha and smile. “I'm really sorry, but I have to…”

You make a vague gesture in your sister's direction.

“I understand. She needs you right now.”

You nod and begin to walk away, pulling your coverup out of your bag. But your feet don't let you move very far. What kind of person would you be if you let the best thing that's ever happened to you slip through your fingers so easily? You can't let her slip away. So you rummage in your bag for one of the notebooks you always carry with you and scrawl your phone number down on it, ripping the page away.

She looks surprised to see you again when you catapult yourself into her arms and kiss her soft lips. She tastes like the beer she was drinking earlier, and as her arms wrap around your waist, you sink into the kiss a little bit more. You feel like you never want to leave. Yet you know the longer you stay here kissing Natasha, the more time your sister has to make situations worse. Her friends may be cheering her on, but her fiancé won't be quite so magnanimous.

When you pull away, her cheeks are the same pink as earlier. Her lips are kiss-swollen, and her eyes are bright. You're sure yours are the same.

“Let's get that coffee, Natasha.”

You press the paper into her hands and hurry back up to the beach to take care of your sister. In the hilarity of pulling her away from Bagman and wrestling her into your coverup, you can feel eyes on you. They track you until you drive away.

There's a text on your phone when you get home.

Let's get that coffee tomorrow morning. Do you know Madison's Cafe? I'd very much like to kiss you again.

I DO NOT CONSENT TO HAVE MY WORK POSTED, TRANSLATED, OR PUBLISHED ON ANY SITES OTHER THAN ON AO3, ON WATTPAD, OR ON TUMBLR BY ME. IF YOU SEE MY WORKS ANYWHERE OTHER THAN AO3, ON WATTPAD, OR TUMBLR, THEN THEY HAVE BEEN POSTED WITHOUT MY PERMISSION AND I WILL BE WORKING TO TAKE THEM DOWN.

Taglist:

@desert-fern @horseshoegirl @dakotakazansky @sarahsmi13s @teacupsandtopgun

@roosterforme @cherrycola27 @thedroneranger @chaoticassidy

@kmc1989

[fleurbleedinghearts]

what is your favorite most OBSCURE myth? 🤔 can be relationship, tragedy, ect ect anything, just one you never/rarely hear anything about and there’s very little material on :D

I love listening to your opinions and interpretations of Greek mythology :)

(1.) CEPHALUS AND PROCRIS CEPHALUS AND PROCRIS CEPHALUS AND PROCRIS CEPHALUS AND PROCRIS!!!

my sad mortal blorbos 💔😭

(This myth that makes me want to strangle Eos but I blame Aphrodite most of all because none of that horrible shit would've happened to them or Cephalus's descendants leading up to Adonis if she didn't curse Eos.)

Anyways, I like to think they're both Odysseus's ancestors through Laertes.

(2.) Psamathe

She was a Nereid just minding her own business on a beach because she's the goddess of sand and then this bastard shitbag son of Zeus takes a page out of his daddy's book and assaults her. Even transforming into a seal didn't turn off Achilles's loser grandfather Aeacus (I bet he had some interesting conversations with Minos who's wife banged a bull), and either out of her reclaiming autonomy after her rape or Aeacus being a fucking weirdo who wants to remember that time he screwed a seal, their son is named "the seal" in Greek.

At least they both love their son Phocus I guess but Psamathe's bitchass stepsons kill him out of jealousy but then the gods SET UP her sister Thetis with one of those asshole stepsons of hers and Thetis turns the wolf she sent after Peleus to stone and through her sister's marriage she has to be tied to her son's murderer until Peleus's sorry ass finally dies or for eternity (if Thetis made him immortal).

She's gets a happy ending according to Euripides though by marrying a King of Egypt (a major upgrade from Aegina if you ask me) and has two more kids (with her daughter Eido even being noted to be the apple of her mother's eye 🥹) so a win is a win I guess but the trauma this poor woman must have!

(3.) Poseidon has a baby with a man

Nerites isn't that obscure of a figure anymore, but ultimately, he and Poseidon are the Bi4Bi couple of all time and don't get enough love.

I love the Anteros origin story where he poofs into existence from Neridon's great requited love IT'S SUPERIOR TO AND FUNNIER THAN HIM JUST BEING APHRODITE & ARES'S SON FIGHT ME!!!

(4.) Erichthonius being the son of Hephaestus & Atthis

This isn't because I want erase Hephaestus's wrongdoings (I do like him though and think he deserves another partner who loves him back. And since every younger male Olympian has their tragic doomed love with a mortal let him have one too!)

it's just a plus that he doesn't do anything shitty to Athena in this version.

(5.) Astraea

Her, her prophesied "return", everything!

Non-Hestia/Athena/Artemis virgin goddesses are so underrated. She does sound pure and true to her titles as the Goddess of Innocence, Justice, and Purity despite her being pro-Cronus and a Titan Golden Age believer.

There's also a sweet moment in the Dionysiaca (which I mostly hate but this moment was sweet) where she nurses Aphrodite & Adonis's daughter Beroe.

I'm so interested in her dynamics with her family since her insanely horny mom Eos was cursed by Aphrodite and is sleeping around with everyone but her dad (sorry Astraeus) and her brothers the Anemoi work directly under Zeus and pull his chariot despite her favoring Cronus's rule.

(6.) Zephyrus's son is a more successful gay than him

Zephyrus, famous for pining after and killing the sexy spartan prince Hyacinthus, never actually managed to pull a man.

He tried his luck a second time with Cyparissus, another one of dear ol' Apollo's boyfriends, but the guy died of grief after accidentally killing his pet deer.

He must have better luck with women though since he managed to reproduce with three different ladies. One of these gals was the nymph Chloris, who he did kidnap, but she forgave him once he made her a more powerful goddess by giving her the domain of flowers.

Anyways, they had a son named Carpus/Karpos. Carpus had a swimming contest with his lover Calamus/Kalamos, the son of a river god. Carpus ended up drowning because the Greeks preferred their gays doomed, and Calamus loved his boyfriend so dearly that he downed himself as well out of grief.

(7.) Cronus helps Hera create Typhon

Gaia crashes out about Zeus to Hera of all people, and since Hera is probably pissed at Zeus too, she goes to rant to her crazy daddy.

Daddy Cannibal gives Hera two eggs smeared with semen and tells her to bury it. She does, and out pops Typhon.

...

Thanks for the ask! I had a lot of fun with this one.

[thelaithlyworm]

Daomu Biji Watcher’s Guide, May 2024

A few new entries have been popping up lately, and I’m always hopeful new fans will stumble into the pits and never leave so I thought I’d paste up a rough map.

(Obviously the best watching order, like the best reading order of Discworld or the Aubrey-Maturin books, is ‘whatever first comes to your hand’ but for the people who don’t like that…)

tl;dr:

Daomu Biji is a series about tomb raiding. Think Indiana Jones or Lara Croft but much, much longer. The protagonist Wu Xie is deeply in love with BFF1 Zhang Qiling, a hundred-year-old cryptid, and BFF2 Wang Pangzi, who was stolen in a raid from another book series. It’s comic, tragic, horrific, zany, prone to musings on life, love, desire, attachment, and has many, many piss jokes. (‘Journey to the West but modern’ is maybe the other comparison I’d make.)

Notes:

– This guide is not talking about “quality”. All of the adaptations have their own strengths and weaknesses and tone can vary a great deal, which is to say, if one of them doesn’t suit you it’s likely something else will.

– Wacky endings, and plot threads that disappear unfinished and get picked up a long time later, are as inherent to the franchise as the piss jokes.

– It’s common for the dramas to introduce characters and subplots a lot earlier than the books do. Sometimes we’ll see a character introduced ‘for the first time’ on multiple occasions and strangely familiar scenes. I’ll try to point out the biggest continuity clashes as I go.

The Soft Entry:

There are a few movies that are entertaining as standalones but will introduce various characters and background. I would recommend:

Escape from the Monstrous Snake + Mystery/Grave of the Abyss – two monster movies featuring Hei Xiazi, a supporting character. He’s a pragmatical mercenary who’s going blind in kind of a weird way, and goofy as hell when he isn’t tiptoeing over a vast abyss of existential dread. So many fun action scenes.

Time Raiders (2015) – so there are some textual clues that late in his career Wu Xie wrote this story as a memory-jogger for an amnesiac friend. The plot is a freewheeling wild ride which doesn’t directly match any book plot but introduces some major characters and how they relate to each other. It’s colourful and fast-moving. Enjoy, enjoy.

Conjuring Curse and Misty Creed are… theoretically set late in the series even if the actors look about twelve. Both work as stand-alone adventures, though Misty Creed is maybe a little deep in the lore. Again, colourful and fast-moving.

The Chronological Order

You could honestly start with most of these – they tend to come with a ‘what has gone before’ at the start or a newbie character that things get explained to. The only one I wouldn’t start with is Heavenly Palace in the Clouds, which is lovely but also the second half of a set and things won’t make sense if you haven’t seen Lost Tomb 2 first.

Lost Tomb 1 – a highly digestible 10-12 episode version of the Seven Star Lu Palace arc, ie. Baby’s First Adventure. Introduces A-Ning, Xie Yuchen, and Huo Xiuxiu early and a couple of og characters for Wu Xie to talk to instead of monologuing to himself. The restaurant scene at the end was raided from a later arc and you’ll see it again in Ultimate Note. A book character, Da Kui, was cut which is a small problem because how he died is a minor plot point discussed in Lost Tomb 2. 

Lost Tomb 2 – covers Raging Sea, Hidden Sands (underwater tomb) and Qinling God-Tree (weird bronze tree in the mountains) plus a whole lotta side stories and original content exploring the world and foreshadowing later plots. Mooostly in continuity with Lost Tomb 1 (see Da Kui above) and made as a set with Heavenly Palace in the Clouds – they share resources and a lot of actors, and some threads begun here are finished in Heavenly Palace.

Heavenly Palace in the Clouds – covers the Mt Changbai arc, a journey up a mountain to find a very old, very grand tomb. This was made so close to Lost Tomb 2 that LT2 borrows shots from Heavenly Palace and not the other way around, which is fascinating because it pointedly contradicts the last five episodes of LT2. It also brings forward some plotlines originally from the Tamutuo and Zhang Family Old Pavilion arcs (San-shu’s past in the underwater tomb, and the Huo Family videotapes) dragging some characters on-screen and forcing them to talk about their feelings, which they would clearly rather die than do. Given those plot-tweaks and the early, deliberate continuity clash, I’m tempted to call this a Canon Parallel Universe. Got some interestingly chewy character dynamics and luverly, luverly set design.

Mystic Nine – This is a prequel about Zhang Qishan – Fo-ye – and his peers, but later dramas expect us to know who Fo-ye was so I’m sticking it here. Kinda… picaresque? Lots of action scenes and Republican-era flavour and various factions jostling for power – kinda feels like an old-school wuxia story, only set in the 1930s with all that glorious Republican-era styling. Has some unfortunate cut scenes – the details of how Fo-ye recovered at his family’s house don’t make a lot of sense in the aired version, and there are a couple of missing fights in the penultimate episode. Shrug. Still a lot of fun. Comes with four side movies about supporting characters.

Ultimate Note – Covers the Tamutuo arc (a trip through the jungle) and two-thirds of the Zhang Family Old Pavilion arc (investigating Zhang Qiling’s past is like kicking a hornet’s nest). Very, very flirty and has some zippy-zip action choreography. Politely ignores Lost Tomb 1–Heavenly Palace continuity (Xie Yuchen is, once more, introduced for the first time, now with a romantically coded friendship arc) and brings in a lot of cameos from Mystic Nine and Sand Sea, which it was filmed after. Kinda tiptoes around parts of the book plot, which I suspect would be hard for anyone to film, re: Fo-ye’s actions in the 1960s. Fair warning, this ends on a cliffhanger. This is also where the Xinyue Restaurant scene appears again – two cakes!

Tibetan Sea Flower – If Tibetan Sea Flower ever airs, it will go here.

Sand Sea – Based on the Sand Sea novel. After Tibetan Sea Flower, Wu Xie goes into a bit of a decline and makes that the world’s problem. We the audience, plus Li Cu and Liang Wan, EDIT: a lovely doctor, are pretty much dropped in media res into a number of ancient conspiracies and complicated plots coming to a head in the manner of a boil. It’s weird; it’s messy; it’s mad fun. Like Mystic Nine, has a lot of factions jostling for power and colourful jianghu characters. We will, once more, see the Xinyue Restaurant scene. Also has some side movies.

Time Raiders – The textual hints that suggest Wu Xie wrote this, suggest he wrote it around Sand Sea-era, when his life was a bit complicated. I’m putting it after Sand Sea because I believe it caps a conversation that, ah, doesn’t quite make it into the drama. But notionally this is where it should go. Ah…. at one point, someone tells a story about an ancient ruler, King Mu of Zhou, who sought immortality from the Queen of the West in Tamutuo. The longer book conversation suggests that a) King Mu of Zhou engineered a “trap” for someone like Wu Xie to fall into in the future, and b) that Iron Mask Scholar, a villain from Lost Tomb 1, was an alias that King Mu of Zhou used in the Warring States Era. Which makes some of Iron Mask Scholar’s appearances in Time Raiders… interesting.

Reunion: Sound of Providence – sometimes known as Reboot. Having peaked in badassery in Sand Sea, Wu Xie has to consider what his life is going to be now, and also, he would like to track down a missing family member. So this was tweaked to make it more accessible to new viewers (so some parts of the back-story are not mentioned or conflated for simplicity) and that mostly works but I did find watching this first and then picking up the earlier dramas a bit of a mindscrew. Zhu Yilong is, however, a powerful draw and the rest of the cast sparkles. Probably best to think of Season 1 as two short seasons jammed together, which is to say, once the Warehouse 11 arc starts there are a number of characters who won’t reappear until Season 2. It’s a fun arc even so. Season 2 ends with a badass action scene and then a big party, which I think is a great way to end a story.

Escape from the Monstrous Snake, Mystery/Grave of the Abyss, Conjuring Curse, Misty Creed – these are all theoretically set around or after Reboot-era, though they can certainly be watched as stand-alones.

[yuurei20]

Strange question but!! Yk how the villains are treated as heroes? How on earth did the heroes stories work if they, uh, yk, dont have the villains? Like i briefly remember TWST!Jafar hijacking Aladdin’s plan to fake being a prince, so theres not rlly any more “aladdin” story, but im curious how other stories went if u know! Are the OG heroes still treated as heroes, etc etc, that fun stuff

Hello hello! Thank you so much for this question!!

The different interpretations of history that seem exist in Twst are fascinating, and one of my favorite things is the part in Book 6 where Lilia seems to insinuate that the Disney stories that we know might not actually be what really happened, because history is written by the victors:

These "classic" stories--were they, too, twisted to suit an agenda? Is the truth closer to what is taught as history in Twst, or is it somewhere in the middle? It is so interesting to think about!

For the most part it seems that the heroes from the stories we know are not turned into villains in Twst, and the deeds that are attributed to them were actually done by multiple characters from different folklore:

For example, Harveston has stories about miners and customs based on "a young lady who made a wish at a well," a "traveler" who cleaned a stranger's home and then a tale about "some princess who wished to fall in love right away," as if the young lady, princess and traveler are three separate people.

While basing their traditions on the miners, the lady and traveler, they also deify the Fairest Queen, as if they are all independent individuals with no overlap.

One of the more interesting parts of the Fairest Queen's history, in particular, is that there is actually a "dastardly villain" in Harveston folklore that stalks a woman who is then saved by forest creatures.

The huntsman is--just like the queen--not a villain in the Twst universe. Who was who, and what really happened? 👀

For the Scalding Sands, it seems that the unnamed princess and the sultan from local stories are just as revered as the Sorcerer of the Sands himself, with the sultan known to be the person who named the Sorcerer as his vizier and retaining their connection from the story we know.

Much like in Harveston, the history of the Scalding Sands seems to attribute what we believe to be the history of just one character to multiple individuals: Kalim talks about the Sorcerer saving his country from a street rat, who was a swindler/charlatan/usurper who tried to trick the sultan and princess, in a rare case of a "hero" being vilified.

But they also have folklore about "a poor but kind-hearted young man" who shared his food with children, and whose marriage to the beautiful princess they celebrate every year with a festival.

Whereas the Disney movies make the charlatan and the kind man into one person, in Twst's history it seems they were two different people.

Diasomnia is very big on the Thorn Fairy, and they also talk about the human king who feared her, the princess whose birthday she was not invited to (Silver: "Was their king raised in a barn?") and the three presents that the princess received.

Lilia talks about a trio of fairies that were not able to break the Thorn Fairy's curses and also put an entire kingdom to sleep, while Silver comments on how Lilia is consciously, intentionally emulating the three fairies from that tale with his cooking.

Silver and Malleus discuss "some faeries" raising a child for 16 years without magic, but they do not seem to know why they did so, and it is unclear if they believe that those faeries and the three faeries that put the kingdom to sleep are the same or different people.

Heartslabyul seems to separate Alice into two different characters as well, referring to a 1-km-tall giant that the Queen of Hearts tried in court and a child that got lost in the castle as if they were two people.

The only reference we get of the "heroes" of the Lion King tale are Jack referring to the King of Beast's "rascal of a nephew" and Leona mentioning that he deposed his brother "to build a better, wiser kingdom."

While the characters seem similar to the stories we know it's possible that the timelines are slightly different, with the rebirth of the pridelands being attributed to the King of Beasts himself rather than his nephew.

The history of the Sea Witch in Twst might be the most fascinating: the characters reference the Sea Witch taking someone's voice for a contract and making a shapeshifting potion to facilitate love between a mermaid and a human, but also turning herself into a human and being proposed to by a prince the next day, with no acknowledgement that the human from the first tale and the prince from the second might have been the same person.

They also talk about the eels flipping over a boat and a mermaid princess who had trouble walking on land, but there is no mention of the princess being in the boat in the eel story.

Octavinelle even acknowledges that the Sea Witch once made herself huge and sunk a ship with a whirlpool and "some even labeled her a monster," saying that she was later lauded as a compassionate figure after turning over a new leaf. (While the less-than-pleasant deeds done by the Sorcerer, the Fairest Queen and the King of Beasts in the stories that we know are never mentioned.)

Silver's tale from Halloween seems to be an exception to this rule. Everything done by the "hero" in the tale we know is still attributed to the hero in the story that Silver knows, and the enemy army is still the enemy army.

To the initial question: it seems that the heroes from the histories that we know are still being regarded as heroes in Twst (though they tend to get separated into multiple people), while the characters that we know as villains are also highly regarded. This sometimes includes their pasts (in the case of the Sea Witch and the Queen of Hearts), being separated from their pasts (in the case of the Hunter) or with no mention of their pasts (the King of Beasts, the Sorcerer of the Sands, the Fairest Queen, the Thorn Fairy).

(Not a lot of information about the King of the Underworld when compared to the others! Idia mostly just talks about how charismatic he was. Ortho suggests something about "the truth" about him being closer to Idia's own situation than they have been taught, but Idia is not convinced.)

Also: there is a reference to a hero rescuing his ladylove from the Underworld in Book 6, so it seems the hero in that tale remains a hero in Twst as well!

[m4ttsturn]

my brother's best friend (part 3)

pt 1 pt 2 pt 4

pairing: Matt Sturniolo x y/n

summary: you find yourself falling for your brother's best friend

warnings: none

(not proofread)

· · ─── ·𖥸· ─── · ·

I watch as the sun sets over the water, painting the sky with different shades of reds, oranges, and yellows. the air has now grown frigid, goosebumps beginning to set along my skin. I curse at myself for not bringing warmer clothing as I wrap myself in my towel. even with the brittle air the boys are still in the water, pushing each other around and launching their bodies over each wave that comes.

with nothing else to do, considering it's now grown too dark to read my book, I watch them. well, mostly Matt. He shoves Chris into the next wave, laughing as the water crashes over his face. seeming to feel my eyes on him, Matt faces in my direction. he smiles at me and begins to wave, but since he's distracted Chris takes this as his chance to get him back. I can't help but laugh to myself as he gets knocked down.

when he gets up he mutters something quickly to Nick, Nate, and Chris before walking over in my direction. "hey" he greets me, "hi" I smile at him. "you cold?" he questions, "mhm, it's freezing out here". he reaches down and picks up his hoodie, dusting the sand off of it and hands it to me. "thanks" he just smiles and nods in response as I put on the sweatshirt.

"you think they'll be ready to go soon?" I ask Matt. "uh probably, Nick said he was starting to get all wrinkly from the water and wanted to get out soon before he starts to look like a raisin" "of course he did" I giggle. our conversation dwindled away quickly since we were both tired. we sat in comfortable silence as we waited for the others to get out of the water.

I laid back in the sand, staring up at the stars that have now formed in the sky. I sigh contently, picking up a handful of sand and admire how each grain feels as it falls back to the ground. I turn to face Matt, only to find him already looking at me. I find myself appreciative of the darkness that surrounds us which hides my blush.

Matt looks like he wants to say something, but as soon as he opens his mouth Nate pushes him on the shoulder. "you guys ready?" Nate asks. "uhm" Matt pauses and looks at me "yeah we're ready" he answers. Matt stands up, offering me a hand. I take it gratefully, using it to pull myself off the ground. I notice that his touch lingers on my hand as he looks me in the eyes ones again. After a moment he pulls his and away and clears his throat.

everyone grabs their stuff off the ground and begins to walk towards the cars. each of us rinsing off at the showers to help get rid of the sand that has accumulated on our skin. we decide to meet up at mine and Nate's place before we get into the vehicles and start driving.

· · ─── ·𖥸· ─── · ·

a/n: sorry this ones a little short but I wanted to get the next part out

[hazel-of-sodor]

Sodor in the age of social media

1. Edward

Edward is perhaps not the type of engine you would expect to have an online presence, much less an active one, with a large following. However whilst he has never been a loud presence online, he has been consistent and beloved since nearly the beginning.

It began with a story.

In the early 2000s Edward's driver was at her whits end. Her toddler refused to fall asleep, instead crying throughout the night. The doctors all said she was healthy, that this was a phase, but the driver and her husband were exhausted. One august night, it was her turn to stay up with the toddler, she tried driving around, hoping the motion of the car would lull the child to sleep, but there was no luck. When she went to pass by the engine sheds, she turned in out of desperation. Edward was over 100 years old, maybe he knew what to do.

She entered the engine shed, finding all the engines awake. It is well known among railway men that any engine can pick out the cry of a child above any other sound, a fact that has proved both a blessing and a curse to their crews.

The exhausted woman climbed onto the bufferbeam gently shushing the child to no avail.

'Well hello little one."

The baby quieted, staring up in awe at the engine before her.

"Would you like a story little one?"

The toddler cooed and stretched a hand towards the giant face of the engine.

"Thomas was a little engine..."

The child was soothed by the elder engine's voice, and try as she might to fight it, she was soon asleep. The driver thanked the engine profusely, but he just chuckled and asked her to bring the child if it happened again.

Victoria Sand grew up on the buffer beam of her mother's engine, listening to stories of the railway, and her grandfather's time as driver.

In order to allow the engine sleep the mother recorded many of the stories, so they wouldn't have to disturb him to get the child to sleep, despite the engine's protests that he enjoyed their visits.

The years went on, and young Victoria began sleeping through the night (although there was more than one instance of her sneaking out to see her honorary grandfather.) The mother wished to help other mothers and fathers like herself so, with Edward's permission, she uploaded the stories to a video site.

"Storytime with Grandpa Edward" grew slowly but surely, as parents found them and played them for their children. As the videos popularity grew, many asked for Edward to read their children's favorite books.

It should be noted at this time, almost no one outside of the Island realized 'Grandpa Edward' was in fact a locomotive, much less Northwestern No.2. Victoria's father was an artist, and the videos consisted of Edward's voice over his paintings. Most of the audience had assumed Grandpa Edward was human. Upon the realization, Edward chuckled and asked it be kept that way, as he was touched so many people liked his stories on their own.

A young generation of children grew up listening to "Grandpa Edward" alongside Victoria Sand, some of whom would later visit Sodor. Whilst their parents would almost never recognize the engines voice over the sound of steam and metal, the children would. Edward would just laugh and ask for it to remain their secret.

The years passed, and the 2020s arrived. By this time "Grandpa Edward" was a household name for much of Britain, with thousands of stories recorded and released. Edward had declined in person interviews over the years, he was much too busy on his branchline after all. Despite helping to raise an entire generation, Grandpa Edward had remained a mysterious figure, known only by his stories, even as little Victoria grew up and became a mother herself.

The revelation of his identity involved certain blue tank engine, because of course it was. The sickness that must not be named had swept the globe. Sodor was weathering the storm well, as it had closed its borders promptly and thoroughly. Despite this, the children of the island grew stifled in their houses, missing school, their friends, and the freedom of the outside world.

The NWR came together to help in what ways they could. Thomas was ran from one side of the island to the other, making videos for children to watch, to show them that the world and their friends would still be there waiting for them when they came out. As expected, the 'Thomas touch' happened, and the videos seemed to explode overnight, with children around the world eagerly watching Thomas on his adventures around the Island. But Thomas was growing tired. He was older now, 106 thank you very much, and the constant longer runs were more than he was used to on his branchline.

Edward took one look at him one evening at Wellsworth as he waited for a clear signal to Ffarquhar, and promptly dragged Thomas and his coaches. Thomas protested, the kids needed the joy the videos brought.

"Leave it to me," Edward said.

The first video was simply titled 'Grandpa Edward reads Thomas a story.' The video opened to show Thomas and his coaches parked inside the Wellsworth Sheds, a fully grown Victoria holding the 'The Three Railway Engines' up for Grandpa Edward to read.

[simplegeneral]

Feudalism of Fire AU: Blaze

So, I might as well define that most of those posts with lengthy stories are part of my au, Feudalism of Fire, which proposes a rewritting of wof, while trying to keep the most faithful I like to the original story, to twist and add a bit more flavour for the characters.

I did Burn, Qibli , the Post-War Pyrrhia, a roughe timeline of the war, and there will come many more.

But this time our guest is Blaze, which well, was a challenge, because what is there for her? She is a big dum dumb.

The question of Blaze's character goes much deeper than herself, it makes me wonder if Oasis would actually let someone as Blaze go this far in the road to stupidity. Of course, the answer is... It was the stereotype set in the first book, so it is not challenged in any way whatsoever, just like her sisters, an overall sad thing that keeps happening, especially in arc 1.

So, who is this new Blaze?

From the beginning, Blaze was destined to be vain. Hatched in times of great hope in the Sand Queendom, times where Burn and Blister had yet to become anything like they would be during the war, she grew with an overall stable and loving family, but at the same time, it was when the cracks start to show.

Blister, forever cursed by her own mother to be an outcast of the family, since her very hatching, for reasons she had yet to discover or comprehend, expected Blaze to be treated no better than she was, and did kept a close relationship with her sister, that is, until Oasis begun to spoil her in every way imaginable.

Blaze was pampered, while Blister was yelled at, Blaze had an excellent education, while Blister had to learn everything by herself, Blaze had priority by the chefs' excellent meals, while Blister had to hunt for herself. That was the moment Blister had realized that this was personal, Oasis wasn't simply harsh and stern to her dragonets, more especifically, Smolder, it was targeted.

It was when all changed, Blister grew increasingly apart from her sisters and brothers, only keeping a somewhat close relationship with Smolder, as both of them would complain and comfort each other.

While Blaze wasn't particularly smart and grow up increasingly lazy, she wasn't terribly stupid either, not falling for Blister's tricks, which would later become almost assassination attempts under Oasis' snout, a remarkable moment was when the sisters were playing together and a sandstorm was approaching, while Burn had them return inside, Blister simply didn't warn Blaze, who kept playing with herself until the winds became overwhelming and she was rescued by two SandWings, Six-Claws and Dune.

Blister was furious with plot after plot failing, but at that moment, the cracks had become full abysms, Blister was not hiding her disdain for her sisters anymore, who retributed in equal kindness against her.

Around this time, Blaze and Burn had grew closer together. Burn considered her too soft, barely able to wear an armor without falling into the ground due to its weight, while Blaze thought Burn had gathered more scars at her face than she had jewelry in her talons, but the main part is that it was light hearted, and both had fun with each other, Blaze was also a smooth talker and quite enjoyable to listen her ramblings.

Of course, things would eventually collapse beyond the point of no return, and year after year, such day seems to come ever closer, to the death of their father Char, a kind and noble figure who had kept their family together, to Smolder's affair with Palm, eventually, at a fateful night, after hearing mysterious sounds, Oasis had left the palace in search of any intruders, while Burn and Blaze and their brothers were sleeping, Blister was the only awakened, it was all part of her plot, with help of a secret contact, Blister had Oasis murdered just outside of the palace, nobody thought such a big and burly SandWing would die such a pointless death.

Everyone was awaken in the palace in the aftermath of Oasis' death, and chaos followed. The death was a mysterious one, which no witnesses or guilty found, no one had seem it happen, no one... except Blister, who kept awfully silent through the whole period. Burn, the presumed heir of Oasis, had ordered numerous search parties through the entire desert to find any clue of who or what had killed Oasis.

Blaze kept silent and cried for her mother in her bedroom, while rarely talking with her siblings for weeks to come. She watched as everything in her life was falling apart, but more clearly, Burn and Blister were getting fed up with each other each day that passed.

Blister's uncanny silence openly clashed with Burn's grief and rage...

Until Burn accused Blister of being behind Oasis' death, while it was her plot indeed, Burn had no proof, and her claim clashed against Blister's, nobody knew who was right, and for most everyone, both had reasons to kill her. It was decided then that a trial by combat would happen, both would fight not only for the throne, but for who was right.

Blister however, politically manipulated the judgers to keep delaying the trial, with lavish bribes and political power in case of her victory, but Burn have had enough, she ordered her guards to arrest all her supporters and bring Blister for her to kill.

Blaze was caught in the confusion between the two, clearly she wasn't ready to challenge either of them, but Burn would leave no potential candidates left for the throne, she gave Blaze an ultimatum, challenge her in a fair fight, or flee.

Blaze fled, and Burn let her go, she thought Blaze wouldn't amount to anything and probably die in the desert out of starvation, not even learning how to hunt, being fed by the chefs her whole life.

What Burn had not thought about it is that Blaze, in the prior weeks, had a big change of heart, she grew more determined, where her sisters hissed at each other, she listened to the councils, where they challenged each other, Blaze watched the helplessness of her subjects' plight.

Blaze's charisma was a match to none of her sisters, she flew north and requested an audience with Queen Glacier, she made her case, between Burn's warmongery and Blister's shadowy schemes, she, Blaze, had the SandWings' hearts with her, for the young princess would fight back.

Where her speech caught the hearts of her small group of followers and many IceWings, Glacier wanted more than idealism, she wanted guarantees, the Sand Queendom would disarm and be imposed unfair treaties, especially over its foodstuffs to the IceWings in case of her victory, and without much of a choice, Blaze had accepted.

When the first IceWing forces came down south skirmishing with Burn's garrisons, the news had her jaw dropped. Not only Blaze had survived, but she was now a second front Burn was not expecting, hoping the IceWings would simply stay neutral. Having to split her forces now, she was in a very precarious situation.

Maybe Burn had it coming the moment she exiled Blaze, that sad young SandWing leaving the palace, never to return, had showed her sister that while her bite might not hurt, her words were very powerful, and she had actually made the IceWings fight for her, even building a large fortress for her near the border to safekeep her.

Time would pass as the war raged on, despite being the weakest side and having the least amount of dragons on her side, Blaze showed her determination and resourcefulness, actually planning a few skirmishes and infiltration operations, which would most of the time be discarded by Glacier until some of her plans actually had some merit to it.

She had plenty of free time, and chose to improve herself. She begun a daily exercise routine, she left her fortress for hunting, even if guarded by the IceWings and actually weared an armor for the first time while having a few combat trials with her followers.

Blaze's war cry was roared by a few, but had the strength both Blister and Burn's charismas didn't gave them, "Today exiled, Tomorrow at the Palace!"

Blaze's opportunity to shine had came, in 5002 AS, Blister had begun a massive offensive with the SeaWings and MudWings, battle after battle, the hit-and-fly tactics of commander Tempest had worked against Burn's "always charge" mentality, and she and the SkyWings were actually on the retreat to defend both of their capitals.

Blaze had pressured Glacier to charge too, she would return home NOW, but Glacier hesitated. She couldn't understand her ally, but Glacier knew something she didn't, actually, Glacier was afraid of charging and Blister be victorious, half of the continent would be at her mercy, and Scarlet had very fragile loyalties, she would not hesitate in allying with Blister, given whatever she wanted, especially against the SkyWings' historical enemies, the IceWings.

Burn's defeat at that moment would mean Blister would strike the Ice Queendom with overwhelming strength until there was no one left. Queen Glacier have had many sleepless nights through 5002 and 5003 AS, but eventually, Tempest was assassinated and her alliance broke up, the MudWings allying with Burn, Glacier had the confidence to again strike at her.

The war would continue.

At 5005 AS, the day most of Pyrrhia had waited had come. The Dragonets of Destiny had hatched and in due time, when the war was reaching its 20th year, they would stop it. Blaze had looked forward to that and was interested in meeting them, but Glacier grew ever more controlling of her, as each time she had her personal growth, Glacier saw Blaze more as a threat than before.

In 5011 AS, the DoD had escaped their captivity and were captured by the SkyWings and SeaWings and then moved to the Rainforest for safety while Tsunami became Queen of the SeaWings, offically leaving the war, from there, they discovered the NightWing tunnels, where they travelled north to the Sand Queendom and from there, to Blaze's fortress.

The DoD were eventually discovered and captured by the IceWings, as Glory and Jambu's disguises failed the moment a soldier thought they smelled like fruit, something an IceWing DEFINITELY should not smell like.

They were brought before Blaze and Glacier, while Blaze was happy to meet them, Glacier wasn't, and after Clay accidentally mentioning they had (successfully been manipulated) to chose Blister had tensions escalate within Blaze's room.

Glory refused to be arrested and threw at a dungeon once again, and she refused to stand down under any circumstance but they leaving there unharmed. She held Blaze as a hostage to Glacier's defiance and tried to spit acid on Blaze to make her point clear, but Sunny had jumped before Blaze, recieving the brunt of her acid, falling in the floor roaring and crying in pain, while Blaze watched in horror and tried to take the acid out of her without success.

While Clay and the DoD were allowed to storm out of the fortress with Sunny, Glory stayed there for a moment, in disbelief of her actions and Glacier mercifully allowed her to leave as a punishment of seeing Sunny die. Blaze had approached Glory for a moment:

" I am sorry this had happened to poor Sunny, Glory. If you allow me to speak, dragonet. "

Glory nodded, and turned to her as her eyes filled with tears, Blaze continued:

" I know very well all of this. My sisters constantly barked, roared, hissed and snarled at each other back in a day, while I watched it all happen... I learned that, its good to stand up for yourself, always, but at some moment, you need to compromise... Unless we all defy each other forever until everyone's dead... "

Glory was surprised at Blaze's words, but she refused such idea:

" What are you saying? That I should have let them arrest us again? As EVERYONE has done so far? You royals are desperate to control us, to make we bow and chose each one of you... "

Blaze said:

" Had you done that, I would wait Glacier and her IceWings to leave and would have freed you all. "

" Y-You would? "

" Of course! Hearing you chose Blister is disappointing, dare I say, she had you all manipulated, as she always do. She spread lies about me, saying I am lazy and stupid, even lies about Burn. She is to blame for all of this, had she fought Burn fairly... There would be no war. Anyways, I only hope you dragonets grow wise yourselves. "

Glory had left Blaze's fortress after a moment, but she had much to think about, could Blaze be the best candidate, the stupid braindead goose? That can't be. But then again, she also might as well be right, Blister only tells whatever you would love to hear from her, that is, she is not evil, nor manipulative, only a fair and honest princess, capable of solving problems competently.

Blaze awaited, and the DoD would soon have a dream visit with her to call her for the conference they would make to settle the succession dispute once for all. At that moment, Blaze and Sunny had a conversation face to face, Sunny had realized that neither Burn nor Blaze were really that evil or stupid... But there was one dragoness she actually started to doubt about, Blister, the one who influenced all her thoughts to begin with.

The conference would play out normally, Blister had a gift sent to Blaze and Burn, Blaze wanted the open the box, believing Blister's honesty for the simple fact she was excited to be at home again, but Glacier had forbidden her, while Burn threw the box away and challenged Blister.

Blaze watched in horror as Blister pulled a blowgun and shoot Burn with a few poisonous darts, in order to weaken her and actually win the challenge once for all, but her attempt failed as the DoD and the SandWings yelled at Blister, who hissed back at then, monologuing her evil plans she held all alone to assume the throne.

Given enough time, Burn stood back up and charged at Blister, who ordered her loyalists to throw the drabonbite vipers at the crowd, to cause as much chaos as possible.

Blaze was one of the first dragons to fly away, following by everyone else while Burn ordered her soldiers to remove all the vipers. Within a hour, the palace had been cleared and the conference was resumed.

For the first time in nearly 20 years, both sisters had talked with each other, Burn was still shocked Blaze had survived at all while her younger sister still cowered in fear at her size.

" Blaze... It has been twenty years since we last spoke, it was the night I had exiled you from the palace and stripped all your titles as princess of the SandWings. I had no idea you would last more than a week, certainly not all this time, yet from what I heard from my spies, you had done everything you could to prepare yourself for this day, call me impressed, but I do have to ask, do you challenge me for the throne? "

Blaze stood in front of her sister and she spoke:

" Burn... The answer is a resounding no... Even after I have trained, all the time I have spent working on myself, I still can not face you, and after meeting the Dragonets of Destiny, I realized I did not wanted that anyways, I wanted my home, my family, I wanted things how they were before, and while I may never have... At least I am glad you preserved our family still... "

Burn stood still for a moment, reflexive:

" Hmm. I have cursed your name for a long time, Blaze, from stupid, lazy, worthless, yet one word stood out for me, daring, oh were you so daring to challenge me in the war, I would have killed you just like I would have killed Blister... But, those dragonets... Especially the odd yellow one... Sunny. They also taught me something... Something I was always aware, but I couldn't afford to care... Nor open my heart to it, this was war, after all, but, all the families destroyed in this struggle were my responsability... Not one dragon more but Blister will die in this struggle........... Welcome back home, Blaze. "

Blaze's eyes grew wide and teary as she jumped into Burn, who reacted almost as if Blaze was going for her neck, but instead just hugged her and she incredibly awkwardly tried to retribute the hug.

The Dragonets of Destiny saw Burn sparing Blaze as her final act of growth, kindness and tolerance, they declared Burn was their chosen queen, and Burn in turn restored Blaze as a princess of the SandWings and declared the DoD as heroes of the SandWings and of all Pyrrhia.

" So sister... I actually had forgot how hot the palace was, after being away in the frozen north for like 20 years, so... I was planning to open a big bathing pool where we ALL could enjoy some nice and refreshing water! What do you think? "

Burn sighed loudly, then smiled:

" Oh... So this is where our treasure would go for if you had been queen? Not now, Blaze, we have an entire queendom to rebuild, and I need you to coordinate our effort to rebuild the queendom's treasure, since Blister had unfortunately took a large part of it for her own nefarious purposes... "

Blaze jumped:

" OOOH! I am in charge of the shinies now?! Fear not sister, I am going to introduce numerous new taxes to the poor to swiftly recover the economy! I had been thinking of that plan for a long while! "

Burn sighed and looked at the DoD with a face of "what had you little lizards made me do", but then light heartedly yelled at Blaze, remembering their old sisterly bickering:

" NO! Blaze. Our subjects are exhausted from the wartime taxes, we can not demand any further from them! I need you to... Uh... Go around the queendoms and establish new trade deals that benefit us, right? "

Blaze laughed and held the talons of her sister:

" OH! OH! Diplomacy! Deals! Now you find the right dragon for the job! I gonna convince them all to buy our stock of... Whatever were you producing all this time! "

Burn sighed one final time before heading towards the council and general staff to prepare for her coronation:

" Well... Step by step, we are getting there... "

Burn and Blaze still had much bickering to do, but they were talking like they missed 20 years of subjects and updates to tell each other, it was almost peculiar and weird see Burn, quite often such reserved and quiet dragon, act so joyful around Blaze, but that's simple her special little power, her energy and charisma awakes the best to those around her, gives them life back, in many ways, she was not really different from Sunny, just several years older.

[alittlebitofwonk]

The most ridiculous things I’ve noticed on Hermitcraft season10 (so far):

The Impulse Horn (you know the one (I hate it))

The “breeding” bit (they were talking about horses)

“Why are you so obsessed with me?” (SmallEtho)

Skizz’s giant pyramid

The mending book saga

“Please Hold” by Jono

Iskall’s starter base

The Warden Orchestra

Mumbo building a starter base that he cannot get into

The snails

Xisuma nearly dying less than a minute into Episode 1

The sand curse lives on in Gem

Keralis’s kinda depressing Episode 1 intro (he was late ☹️)