#The Trunk You Kept Your Life In|Mage The Ascension modern AU

[brooklynislandgirl]

💖 for a stabby girl with plants.

A Less Spicy Shipping Meme

How likely they are to enter a relationship with them:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10

Would they…

Make the first move? Yes | No Say “I love you” first? Yes | No Cheat on them? Yes | No Be the jealous type? Yes | No Plan the dates? Yes | No Initiate the first kiss? Yes | No Remember anniversaries? Yes | No If by First Move would Beth explain that she has feelings for Anakin, then yes. Desires that have no solid shape and morph from one to another, yes. Demand in her soft way that he dance with her in the rain and point out someone who is, according to the definitions of his Tradition, stuck on the Wheel of their Karmic destiny and need his help to move on to their next life? Absolutely. But she might actually be one of the least forward people to ever draw breath. Beth absolutely positively does not use the L word. Being demisexual takes a lot of build up to even acknowledge having feelings and she thinks that cheating is maybe one of the stupidest activities on the planet. She might be inclined to spend more time with her World Tree or fighting against the Technocratic Union, or feed rougarou off her own flesh so as to spare any future victims, but mostly Anakin will always know where he he can find his Verbena. And it isn't with someone else.

Beth is also not the jealous type. She is far more inclined to envy the things she wants, or to wish for him to see her the way he sees others, but it doesn't translate well across as jealousy. Dates can be a nebulous thing when you are mentoring someone. There are things that must be shown through outside eyes. There are liminal spaces between mundane and magick that are romantic alone with experience and connotation, and when two people are so closely bonded, anything can be a date. But in this arena, Anakin excels. The city is his home, he knows hidden histories and secrets she's never gleaned, and he has an almost preternatural sense of exactly what she needs, and when. Except that she might like him to kiss her. Beth is a bundle of neurosis when it comes to Anakin. He's nearly a decade younger than her. He's been taken advantage of by nearly everyone he's know except his mother. She is supposed to be teaching him the ways of their kind. And yet. There's something about his warmth. The bright intelligence in his eyes. The way he says that one particular F word like it's a promise or a dare. They speak the same language even if the accents compliment if not aligned to one another seamlessly. But for as often as she leaves hints laying around, he doesn't seem to notice. And that's okay.

BOLD WHAT APPLIES: Their Relationship Is:

friends to lovers | rivals to lovers | enemies to lovers | still just enemies | mutual pining | star crossed lovers | old married couple | perpetual honeymoon phase | stable and boring | stable but not boring | secret lovers | best friends hiding their feelings | and they were roommates | friends with benefits | coworkers avoiding HR | one-sided affection | weird sexual tension | it’s complicated | toxic relationship | a secret affair | an actual dumpster fire | master and apprentice | cabal mates Belle Santé is Beth's three story house in the lower Garden District that also serves as a community clinic, where fees are based on ability to pay {or not pay, as the case may be}. All of her works within the dwelling, the grounds, and in its umbral reflection have been dedicated to the health and restoration of those who need it. It was no surprise then that Anakin was drawn to it by his Destiny. She considers it as much his place as it is hers, and she appreciates the fact that Anakin is keen on helping her in the clinic, in the garden. She can see him healing bit by bit, growing. The unfortunate downside is that there are feelings that ought not be spoken. Boundaries that ought not be crossed. They become blurrier every day.

PUBLIC Displays of Affection: hand holding | kiss on the hand | kiss on the cheek | kiss on the forehead | kiss on the lips |  cuddling | hugging | affectionate messages or comments | pet names | pictures together | no displays of affection

Anyone spying the pair of them on the street could assume that they are, in fact, a long-standing couple. Anakin and Beth don't seem to really care what the public thinks. They are enshrouded in their own little bubble most of the time anyway. Of course those foolish or brave enough to make a pass at her will find a: that she's oblivious to them, and b: just how menacing Anakin can become with a particularly foreboding glance, or standing to his full height.

PRIVATE Displays of Affection:

hand holding | kiss on the hand | kiss on the cheek | kiss on the forehead | kiss on the lips |  cuddling | hugging | affectionate messages or comments | pet names | pictures together | no displays of affection Behind closed doors the only thing that changes is perhaps the nature of conversations. They tend to become a lot more intimate regardless of the subject matter, and Beth has told Anakin that nothing is off table to be talked about. Most of their evenings end up with drinks on either the atrocious sofa in the sitting room, or on the furniture on the lanai. A tangle of limbs and often throw blankets, and sometimes even Bug. At some point, she's accepted both of them to the point that there's nothing odd with him coming to bed in what he still insists on calling her room. The bed is big enough that one could put three more Anakin's in it and still have room to spare. They've never talked about why that is when Beth herself is so small. The attic belongs to him now, and he still has his own room.

Do they stay together?

yes, this is endgame | yes but someone is gonna die tragically {but this time, it’s not one of them} | something is keeping them apart | they part ways as friends | they part ways as enemies | they’re on-again-off-again | they have a super messy breakup | it was just a fling | other

BONUS:

What terrible pet names would they give each other? Oddly enough, neither really calls the other by terrible pet names. She's very careful to pronounce Anakin with all three syllables, though sometimes she might call him keiki, as in kid. Anakin enunciates the th in Beth. And he doesn't ever call her Elizabeth.

[brooklynislandgirl]

MEET THE MUSE Rules: Don’t reblog, repost.

Tagging: Heave away, haul away! Tagged by: Vaguely proffered in my general direction by the lovely @mynameisanakin​

( reply as muse talking )  

► NAME ➭ Trus’ me...is easiest jus’ t’ call me “Beth” Riley.  ► ARE YOU SINGLE? ➭ I mean is it like dat obvious? ► ARE YOU HAPPY? ➭  Sometimes ► ARE YOU ANGRY?  ➭  Sometimes ► ARE YOUR PARENTS STILL MARRIED? ➭  Dey been divorce since way back in lil kid time. ⚡️ NINE FACTS!

► ‘BIRTH’ PLACE ➭ Pearl City, Honolulu, O’ahu, Hawai’i. ► HAIR COLOR ➭   Dark brown ► EYE COLOR ➭  mostly green but sometimes brown. Hazel? Technically is called heterochromia iridium and is a genetic abnormality, but mahalo for askin’. ► BIRTHDAY ➭  Ya nevah aks a lady how old she is. It’s rude. ► MOOD ➭  Is dat like one new horoscope kine? If so...I dunno what is dat. ► GENDER ➭   was born a girl, still feel like a girl. ► SUMMER OR WINTER ➭  Winter, duh! Best surf. ► MORNING OR AFTERNOON ➭  For...what? Specific contextual parameters of a question will getcha mo’beddah, more scientific result.

⚡️ EIGHT THINGS ABOUT YOUR LOVE LIFE!

► ARE YOU IN LOVE? ➭  How could I not be? ► DO YOU BELIEVE IN LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT? ➭  No. And I t’ink da idea dat dis is a t’ing is harmful to people in immediate way wi’ long lastin’ ramifications. ► WHO ENDED YOUR LAST RELATIONSHIP? ➭  ...  ► HAVE YOU EVER BROKEN SOMEONE’S HEART? ➭  No f’ try to. No dat I know of. ► ARE YOU AFRAID OF COMMITMENTS? ➭  ...yes. ► HAVE YOU HUGGED SOMEONE WITHIN THE LAST WEEK? ➭ I love hugs! And Yeah! ► HAVE YOU EVER HAD A SECRET ADMIRER? ➭  I mean dere is dat one possum dat keep hangin’ out near da compostin’ bins. ► HAVE YOU EVER BROKEN YOUR OWN HEART? ➭ ...yes.

⚡️SIX CHOICES!

► LOVE OR LUST ➭ love ► LEMONADE OR ICED TEA ➭ coffee ► CATS OR DOGS ➭  both. An’ possum friends. But especially Bug Eatah. ► A FEW BEST FRIENDS OR MANY REGULAR FRIENDS ➭  only have a few close bes’ good friends. ► WILD NIGHT OUT OR ROMANTIC NIGHT IN ➭ I don’ really do eiddah much...so...I dunno. ► DAY OR NIGHT  ➭ Day.

⚡️ FIVE HAVE YOU EVERS!

► BEEN CAUGHT SNEAKING OUT ➭  no ► FALLEN DOWN/UP THE STAIRS ➭  no ► WANTED SOMETHING/SOMEONE SO BADLY IT HURT? ➭  ...yes ► WANTED TO DISAPPEAR ➭   So much so. ⚡️FIVE PREFERENCES!

► SMILE OR EYES ➭ Both. Can find a lot in a smile but always trut’ in da eye. Plus eye fit in jar mo’beddah. ► SHORTER OR TALLER ➭  li’dat...I’m 5 foot. Every kine taller, practically. ► INTELLIGENCE OR ATTRACTION ➭ I don’ undahstan’ da question. ► HOOK-UP OR RELATIONSHIP ➭  I could nevah do a ‘hook up’.

⚡️ FAMILY!

► DO YOU AND YOUR FAMILY GET ALONG ➭  Is...complicated. ► WOULD YOU SAY YOU HAVE A “MESSED UP LIFE” ➭  Dis is part of da ‘complicated’ part. ► HAVE YOU EVER RAN AWAY FROM HOME ➭  ...Mebbe. ► HAVE YOU EVER GOTTEN KICKED OUT ➭  ...mebbe. ⚡️ FRIENDS!

► DO YOU SECRETLY HATE ONE OF YOUR FRIENDS ➭  If I hate dem, dey no my friend, yeah? ► DO YOU CONSIDER ALL OF YOUR FRIENDS GOOD FRIENDS ➭  I say I only have a couple of dem, so...yes. Like Call at t’ree in da morning, help hide da body kind of good friend. ► WHO IS YOUR BEST FRIEND  ➭  Probably say Jay an’ Anakin. ► WHO KNOWS EVERYTHING ABOUT YOU ➭ Billy. Not dat he count as a friend, I don’ t’ink. Like I say...is reeeeeally complicated.

[brooklynislandgirl]

36. Dirty Jokes {Beth with the pet Anakin}

In Your Head || -

It’s become somewhat of a game with them, though she’s absolutely certain that he doesn’t realise that she knows. It all started over a very particular word in his vocabulary, a common vulgarity that ~for whatever reason~ makes her feel very particular ways every time it comes slurring out from between his lips. She’s heard it more times than she can possibly imagine. It’s a favourite of sailors and Marines and almost everyone else she’s ever met. It’s said in movies and on television, written in books and sometimes sung in the best of songs. Beth herself doesn’t say it. Doesn’t even think about it unless its brought up by someone else. Most of the time her brain filters it out, she doesn’t really let it register.

But when Anakin says it? It shivers down her spine and pools molten in her belly. It evokes something carnal she can’t quite put her finger on though on occasion it does make her nails bite into some of the softer surfaces of her home and livelihood. He sometimes says it low and whispery. Sometimes he’s looking her right in the eye when he says it. Just to watch her react, of that she’s sure. And they laugh about it sometimes. Sometimes, he pretends not to notice at all, like it just slipped out. The game takes a turn when she they finally begin discussing the existence of real vampires, and werewolves. He teasingly gives them new names, and earns a peal of laughter that is loud and pure, unrestrained as much as it is scandalised. That in turn makes Anakin’s smile very real. In a few weeks, he almost...almost hears her say it the same way, but she catches it in time. She tells him about the fact that she doesn’t use language like that, it’s never been her style and she doesn’t particularly find value in it. The story she tells him involves the ever lurking authoritative shadow of the Admiral, and the rules given to her while she was growing up. Anakin though can be astonishingly patient when he wants to be. He still brings the terms up but doesn’t try and trick her. Lulls Beth into a sense of security that isn’t so false as anyone else might see it. She trusts him more and more by the day, and seems to also relax more and more in his presence. And the game changes once again.  The rain is heavy and it is angry. It rattles the shutters and demands that the storm-windows be drawn into place. The news doesn’t issue a hurricane warning but it is definitely a tropical storm of some strength. And while she’s no storm-wife, there’s something thrilling about the ferocity of nature in its rawest form. It surges in her blood and sings through her veins even as the power flickers. That joy is quickly stolen though when she sees how pale Anakin’s gone, and can feel the anxiety in him skyrocket, threatening to snap him in half. There’s an uptick in the spasms and jerks of his hands, the absolute misery in his hollow gaze when he glances out the windows. And she realises maybe that the idea of flooding and the like effect him far more than he’d ever be likely to admit. 

Fortunately, she’s been in his place before, has that same primordial panic over the dark. Without hesitation, she lays in the supplies she needs. She risks the crossing of the yard into her sanctum where she fortifies the street they are on to drain quickly, so that she might literally stem the tide and hold off on flooding. It’s ritual that takes an hour and a lot of her quintessence to pull off, and the whole time he seems to become more and more miserable. She’s only so glad that Bug Eater also seems to be aware of his distress, and does his level cat best to comfort Anakin. Once she’s back in the house and changed into dry clothes, she gathers up the most luxurious of her spare bedding; the softest and warmest blankets. Enough of her pillows to fill a swimming pool with cotton batting, and she dumps them in the living room. She fills a couple different kettles with water, and brings them to the fire place, and lastly, loads in several armloads of wood. She’s broken into a fairly decent sweat by the time she’s done dragging in the cooler and dishes. Everything they need for when the power goes out to be comfortable. And it will go out. She knows it but isn’t capable of keeping it on coincidentally just for them.

It takes a grand total of two hours before she takes hold of his wrist, and drags him into the room. The fire sparks on occasion but takes the chill out of the air. She drags him into the nest she’s made for them, and shoves a cup of cocoa liberally laced with brandy into his hands. There’s even a basket for BE, and a tiny plate of Ahi for his evening meal. She sits beside him and wraps her arm around his waist. She strokes the fingers of one hand down his arm, trying to make him feel a little more secure even though it doesn’t seem to be working like it should. She doesn’t really want to use magick on him without permission and in her scrambling, she knows what she has to do. She steals a sip of his cocoa, grinning as she chases a hint of whipped cream from the corner of her lips.

She speaks quietly, using her best haole for him to get the joke just right. “Gorilla dies of old age at a zoo jus’ before it opens for the day. It’s the only gorilla at the zoo and they are not very profitable. However, the gorilla is their most popular attraction by far and they cannot afford to go a day without it. So the zoo owner asks one of his workers to wear a gorilla suit they have in storage. For an extra twenty bucks a day, he will go in the gorilla cage and pretend to be the gorilla until the zoo can afford a new one.” She watches his face, carefully. “Quickly, the new ‘gorilla’ becomes the most popular craze at the zoo. People from all over are coming to see the ‘human like great ape’. About a month in though, the novelty starts to wear off. So, to get the peoples’ attention back, he decides to climb over his enclosure and hang from the net ceiling above the lion’s den next to him. “A large crowd of people gather to watch the spectacle in awe and terror. Suddenly, the man loses his grip and falls to the floor of the lion’s den. The man starts screaming!  “HELP!!”  “HELP!!” Just then, a lion pounces him from behind, and whispers in his ear, “Shut the fuck up, Carl, or you’re going to get us BOTH fired!”

[brooklynislandgirl]

classic rom-com standards that define my ships: {Tropes}

Tagged By: the extraordinary K @kylo-wrecked Tagging: People who spend a lot of their time thinking about their muses and have not enough hours in the day. PART THE FIRST

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@kylo-wrecked:

Ben and Beth ~ Look Both Ways {Modern!Verse} Don’t Let The Stars Get In Your Eyes || k.d lang

Don't let the stars get in your eyes Don't let the moon break your heart Love blooms at night In daylight it dies…

Ben and Beth ~ Rusty Cage {ex-con!verse}

Don’t You Forget About Me || Simple Minds Tell me your troubles and doubts Giving everything inside and out 

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@multi-mused:

Zarek and Beth ~ A Little South of Heaven {main!verse} Storybook Love || Mark Knopfler This love was stronger than the powers so dark, A prince could have within his keeping

Garret and Beth ~ In another life {Unrequited AU} // A Little South of Heaven

In Your Eyes || Peter Gabriel

I don't like to see so much pain So much wasted and this moment keeps slipping away I get so tired working so hard for our survival I look to the time with you to keep me awake and alive

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@mynameisanakin:

Anakin and Melakeni ~ Across the Universe {Star Wars AU}

It Had to be You || Harry Connick Jr

It must have been that something lovers call fate Kept me saying I have to wait I saw them all, just couldn't fall, 'til we met

Anakin and Beth ~ The Trunk You Kept Your Life In {Mage the Ascension} Take My Breath Away || Berlin

On this endless ocean, finally lovers know no shame Turning and returning to some secret place inside Watchin' in slow motion as you turn around and say Take my breath away

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@pettydabblermysticboy

John and Beth ~ The Laughing Magician’s Apprentice {Constantine} Building a Mystery || Sarah McLachlan

You live in a church Where you sleep with voodoo dolls And you won't give up the search For the ghosts in the halls

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@goodlawman

Raylan and Beth ~ You’ll Never Leave Harlan Alive {Justified AU} Love at First Light || Newfound Road

I don’t know where I’ve been Or where I might end up but I know where I am right now Somewhere I really love.

Raylan and Beth ~ Outlaws and Angels {Justified AU}

Stronger Together || Johnny Lang

With trouble dancing all around me Couldn't find my rhythm You were the backbeat 'Steada driving from the back seat You were shotgun sitting right beside me And when I'm falling over my feet Lost in the dark you're the light

Seth and Rebecca ~ Dust and Bones {Deadwood AU} Then || Brad Paisley I remember, trying not to stare, the night that I first met you You had me mesmerized And three weeks later, in the front porch light Taking forty-five minutes to kiss goodnight I hadn't told you yet But I thought I loved you then

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@therealgamble

Brian and Beth ~ Thin Blue Lines {SWAT AU} Smile || Uncle Kracker

You're better than the best I'm lucky just to linger in your light Cooler then the flip side of my pillow, that's right Completely unaware Nothing can compare to where you send me Lets me know that it's okay, yeah, it's okay

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@ronmanmob

Ron and Beth ~ London Calling {A Modern Legend AU} Dream a Little Dream || Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong Give a little kiss sweet dreams 'til sunbeams find you Sweet dreams that leave all worries behind you But in your dreams whatever they be Dream a little dream of me Ron and Beth ~ The Prince in His Tower AU

Unchained Melody || The Righteous Brothers

A long, lonely time And time goes by so slowly And time can do so much Are you still mine?

Ron and Beth ~ High Cost of Living {Escort Verse} Show Me Your Soul || Red Hot Chili Peppers Into my life you were injected not something that I expected Now I smile from your affection we have made a soul connection Just for whom does your bell toll don't be cold show me your soul Sentimental gentlemen are not afraid to show you when I am you you're my best friend show me your soul