#aes || what belongs to the sea

[jimmysea]

All of Joe's belongings ae mine legally. And how are you gonna handle his ashes? I'll have them scattered into the sea. And all of his stuff, I'll burn them. So there will be no memories left. No Ming, those stuff is Joe's memories. Why not? Those belongings are mine. It's up to me what I wanna do with them. What right do you have?

MY STAND-IN (2024) - Episode 9

[o-hora-o]

oh goodness, we're on the same wavelength about einstein being an empty shell ! the vn brushed welt's death off so easily. also knowing that einstein only see her welt through joachim even in the present days (he inherited the name, but he is only the shadow of his predecessor to lieserl it seems) it tears me apart-

the 55 disater probably destroyed emma too. she lost carl, she lost erwin, nancy and welt, ein and tesla are in coma, and she now has to assume the responsability of parting from schiksal and create her own organization (powerful enough to survive the overseer himself since they are schiksal ennemies now). i recall that scene where ein vaguely mentioned that ae footstep in the wall was thanks to emma, so her loss impacted ae for the worst.

i'm curious, what do you think of einstein adopting coralie ? aside from the fact that joachim adopted a welt clone so that probably was a shock (it's fucked up tbh), but after all these years of her burying her feelings deep she adopted a child. that probably was a big surprise to everyone (also i find it hella funny that lieserl is still in denial considering her age and forbids coralie to call her mom, only big sis lmao)

Oh, I’m so glad that we’re on the same page! 

To this day, the relationship between Joachim and Ein remains something I cannot fully understand for it’s so twisted and complicated. Because, on the one hand, we have Lieserl who did not show much interest in Nokianvirtanen family? (I think the only time she did and talked to Elias was when she told him about Welt's arrival, that he needed a library card and to prank Welt with an "old geezer" test). It seems she treated Joachim as a brilliant neighbourhood boy she and Tesla had to take care of from time to time but she wasn’t that close to him, unlike Tesla. And then, with Welt’s death, it changed so that she did start to care about him  

But 

She cares about not him as a person but as some shadow of his predecessor, as you’ve precisely said. And to make the matters worse, Joachim doesn’t care about himself either, as if that little Joachim boy is long gone and now there’s only Welt Yang, the carrier of His will. So, we’re left with Tesla, the only person who sees Joachim as Joachim and who has always cared about him and always will no matter how hard he tries to kill his true self. 

On the other hand, we have Joachim who did show signs of care about Ein  

But 

He cares about every single human being and is ready to sacrifice himself for every single soul. Therefore, the question is, is his care genuine, or is it simply part of his “this is my duty, he died so that we could live, and I need to keep them safe no matter what” mindset? 

See? These two seem to be in the same depression boat but so distant and indifferent to each other at the same time.  

(Imagine how the tables would turn if Lieserl’s body wasn’t so weak, and she could inherit the core) 

But back to Ein’s situation. Not only does she care about Welt’s legacy and only about that, but she cares about every little thing that is associated with him. She kept the shattered core, the Star of Eden while Joachim was lost in the Sea of Quanta, and the book of poems. The last one is an especially interesting case as it’s stated that it’s hard to encounter someone on the base which means Ein must have been carrying that book with her for who knows how long before giving it to Fu Hua. And not only that, but she translated and read it as well. 

(She was so caring about his belongings and then Bronya single-handedly erased 300,000 souls and all their memories. Yes, I’m still very much pissed off by it and always will be, sorry)  

Btw in the same dialogue with Fu Hua she mentioned that she didn’t feel great if she didn’t work out. And that’s another interesting topic to talk about – the way she kinda contradicts her younger self. Take for example this scene and that it is stated many times across vn or events or comics or the main story that she’s an awfully lazy person, her ideal life would be lying on a sofa and tease everyone around. (The part where she used to work 3-4 hours per day and now she works 24/7 can be explained by the fact that she had to fight honkai but that is no longer the case?). Or another example, I remember she used to go to sleep quite early and in the main story she goes: 

And this one still pains me:

Yeah, you're right about Emma. Additionally, I picture that little Lieserl and Erwin were like her Pride and Joy (and then she adopted a stray cat called Tesla). Then she lost one, partially lost another and I'm afraid Emma passed away before Joachim returned (But hey, she still had Tesla-)

Oh, I forgot to mention another thing. I suppose Erwin had already received her doctorate during vn timeline, but Lieserl and Nicola were still in the process of studying? And then they...well...had no time and opportunity to finish it. What if their doctorate is as fake as is Tesla's driver's license and Welt's passport (Ada being able to print fake documents is a nice headcanon ig because how else can you explain Ein getting Welt's passport within an hour or two)

Oh, Coralie... At first, I was very negative towards her when I watched that BiliBili Part 2 stream. She seemed like a replacement for the AE or Bronya role in the story. Moreover, by that time writers totally forgot about AE characters, and I was very disappointed by the moon arc, not only by the destroying memories in the core and the soul-erasing part but by the fact that AE dedicated decades to making a plan (Planck and Edison were the origins of the plan) and successfully carrying it out (they even spoiled like half of the story in the very first chapter with the letter on Selene), and we’ve never got a scene where they realised they had won and celebrated it (I bet Ein/Tesla/Joachim thought “I wish Emma/Nancy/Welt could see this day”). But. The “The Star Which the Moon Gazes Upon” chapter completely changed my perspective on Coralie and Helia. They’re adorable and are my most favourite (and only) thing of Part 2 (ironically, writers don’t really care about them either). I remember how confused I was trying to figure out how Ein decided to adopt a child, but this explains a lot: 

Though I'm still confused how they ended up playing a guess game and the whole "let's adopt another one" idea.

But let's look at this from another perspective.

What if the original reason behind Lieserl’s obsession over Welt starts in 1952 when she wanted to find out how Carl died, then she discovered that there was only one mysterious survivor and she unconsciously took it as a sign of fate and that she could become a Сarl figure for Welt and save him as Сarl had once saved her and maybe it would help her cope with the loss of Carl.... And then the 1955 came and Lieserl...well...failed.

BUT 

 60+ years later she spontaneously won a guess game (it would be funnier if it was a card game) and adopted a girl and ended up with the same thought of “now I want to try and play Emma’s role” and she tried to do everything for Coralie that Emma once did for her? 

What I'm trying to say is that in the first case, Lieserl was initially trying to help a stranger, as if she was helping Carl. And in the second case, she enclosed the image of Emma in Coralie so that now she takes care of "Emma". Does it make sense?

Btw Coralie's black shirt kinda looks like the one Emma had...oh, right, have you ever thought that it is for certain that there should be Emma's room somewhere in the AE base...?

Wait, have Coralie ever called her "a big sis?" :0 Genuine question because I've noticed that she calls everyone senpai/uncle/teacher but Lieserl is just "Einstein". Also it's funny how Ein is considered to be her mother and Coralie does indeed have Lieserl's devilish traits but she's mostly as unhinged and chaotic as Tesla.

[d3sp4ir-c0d3]

ZEROS [[A BASIC GUIDE]]

(Alien species belongs to @tiredsn0w )

Hello hello. Welcome to the basic guide to zeroes. Warning: this guide is not fully polished and some things might be outdated in the future.

What are zeroes? They're archaic keplers. Think of them as like Neanderthals or denisovans but for the kepler aliens. The zeros are divided into two: BE (before eruption) and AE (after eruption). To make it short, BE zeroes are those who exist before the mass extinction, and AE zeroes are those who survive after it. I'll make a post on how BE zeroes went extinct in another post.

General anatomy

Zeroes are a lot less humanoid and more beast-like. As you can see from the reference sheet above, they are wildly different from modern keplers. There are currently 6 subspecies of zeroes I've thought of, but only 1 I've made a reference sheet for it (see below).

This is only the basic anatomy guide common land dwelling zeroes. Their anatomy vary depending on where they live. Example: a reef zero would have more aquatic like anatomy. Ranking from least to most humanoid, it'll be: deep sea, reef mangroves, swamp, river, and beach.

They have very fine and thin fur, kind of like a seal. Except deep sea, reef, and mangrove zeroes where they are instead (mostly) hairless. They can stand up straight, but they prefer to lean forward as it's their natural stature. If there are any questions regarding zero anatomy, feel free to hit me up on Discord (S4NDSTONE#0278) and on tumblr or ask the man himself @tiredsn0w

Here is an old concept art for a swamp zero. This design might be a bit outdated and will be remade sometime in the future, but for now use this one. Swamp zeroes are the largest of the subspecies. Because of that, they don't move much to maintain energy. They hunt similarly to alligators and crocodiles. They can swim well in water but clumsy and slow on land

[6peaches]

Ae Hee Lee - Green Card :: Evidence of Adequate Means of Financial Support

I needed money. There’s no poetic way to say this. Even so, when you touched my face, brought my cheeks to the nook of your neck, I burrowed into it— a firefly seeking shelter from winter, far underground. Then,

         you told me there’s no application form that can hold          the entirety of a life, because our days constantly spill like wine.          Imagine that, you said, apricot tones all over the page!

         you told me about your ferns, bejeweled with jade dew,          their coiled fiddleheads full of unfulfilled,          twirling futures, and I forgot about my fixation with earning          people’s respect, among other things for which          I’d been told it was proper to plead          until granted.

         you told me, if immigrants could enrich a country,          you didn’t want to know          our melting point and whether we would shine          brighter than gold.

         you told me how I could stop confusing belonging          with belongings,  good with  goods, by sharing          the way our hearts continue to beat          resilient, even without an assurance of worth.

         you told me there can be solace in a dead end, in knowing the sea          still collapses, still runs and soars carrying its broken          shells, somewhere out there. And then,

                     you buried a kiss in the dark                      earth of my hair. I believed it all.                      What else could I do?

- Green Card :: Evidence of Adequate Means of Financial Support by Ae Hee Lee

[pronoun-checks]

Era with any pronouns (neo and normative)?

Sure thing!

Is that Era? I think I see Era over there! Do you see him? He’s the one sitting by herself over there with her headphones on. I wonder what they’re listening to? You’ve met Era before, right? No? Well, you’ll have to meet them sometime; I think you’d get along nicely with it. I’ve only spoken with xem once or twice, but xe seems pretty neat! Ve didn’t say much about virself, though. Oh, you don’t see star? Star’s the one sitting in the brown chair over there. Yup, that’s Era! I’m not sure if the bag under seas chair is seas or not, though. It could belong to the table next to void. Oh, I sure hope that’s not voids bag, because ae’s leaving without it! We should go let Era know there’s a bag under the table ae was at, in case the bag is eirs. Looks like you’ll get to meet em now! Hey! Era!

[poisonheart]

Listen, you and I are passengers on this cruise named StalkYoo. We have been sailing forever, braved some rough seas, but only recently found each other when we were howling at the moon and crawling all over the deck and burning the life boats because nobody is getting off now. We either make it to dock or we sink—there is no escape.

The naysayers will say what they want to say, will try to downplay the events that Quimchee has so carefully, so masterfully crafted, yet we KNOW BECAUSE WE HAVE BEEN FEEDING ON THOSE CRUMBS OF CATNIP FOR YEARS AND TONIGHT SHE LEFT THE BAG OPEN AND WE'RE ROLLING IN THE GOOD SHIT!!!!!

Ahem.

NO SCREW THAT I WILL NEVER BE NORMAL ABOUT THEM. EVER. I have not been able to process anything since last night. I was just at the kitchen, cooking my pasta in garlic butter sauce when they came into my brain again and I was just like...

I LOVE THEM. THEY ARE SO STUPID!!!! /affectionately

Nana having a moment to talk to Nol before she meets Shin Ae was so important and I think a lot of people miss why.

She got to see him reacting to what had just happened with Shin Ae. Was seeing him mope, fiddle with his emotional support bandana. It's probably a side of him that she doesn't often see because Nol doesn't let many perceive his distress. Or so he thinks. He thinks he's so good at hiding, especially his emotions.

Nol tells Nana that the bandana belongs to his friend.

Nana knew that it wasn't a gift.

But she uses the bandana to unsettle Nol in an effort to get him to talk because she recognizes that he's retreating and she doesn't want him to. She knows that he will find a way to get her to leave to stop embarrassing him and that they'll have a chance to talk. She just has to play the part. And she does. Beautifully. Comically.

As expected of Nana.

But there is more to this, too.

Not only does Nana notice what's happening between them, but she also connects the dots that this is the "new friend" he's often talked about. I need you to understand how HARD I AM CHEWING MY WALLS.

Do you remember that episode where Nana calls him out to eat at night and tells him to eat more because he's tiny? How can he fight evil witches with that small frame?

And Nol responds that he's at least 6 feet tall and that if Nana wants to see tiny, she should see how small his friend is.

That's just one instance that we see, but we're not privy to those small moments often given the format of Webtoons.

Just like Nol and Shin Ae texting a lot, by the glimpses of their message history, but it's not something explicitly stated...

This is another one of those moments.

I know in my soul that Nol has mentioned this friend to Nana before and now Nana knows this is Shin Ae. It's a girl... and whatever sort of platonic enthusiasm he displayed before is entirely gone now.

This isn't the avoidant gaze of a guy who had a little disagreement with a pal. And Nana sees it. Recognizes it.

She's 72 and sharp.

She's been around long enough to see two idiots clearly.

I want to scream.

Ah, so this is that friend you were always yapping about?

She sees the effect Shin Ae has on him—when she's not there and now when she is right in front of him.

Everything about them drives me insane.

I just want to rattle them like Shake n Bake chicken.

So many people in the comments like:

"This miscommunication is getting on my nerves" or "When are they finally going to admit everything?"

They get served a banquet of catnip and spurn it.

They must not be cats.

We can't relate.

I need to pause and simply comment Quimchee's art. It's so simple. We know she's been struggling with missing assistants, etc. But she is able to always, always draw the emotions perfectly.

I don't know how she does it.

This is one of the things I have always admired about her work.

When Nana leaves them alone you see that Nol has the intention of saying something—maybe apologize, but he doesn't. Because the two of them are struggling with emotions and pick at each other.

"So all those things she said... about you moping about... was she just making all that up to get you riled up? Or was there truth to it?"

That pokes him. Pokes at the thing he was trying to convince himself he had no time for—he has too much shit going on.

Instead of letting him speak, she prods... and he often whips back. They do this a lot—they go back and forth—because he has the same power to get under her skin, get her riled up.

Nol has been pushing them away for so long that she asks what's been on her mind since running into Dieter.

"Did you hurt him too?" <- that is the underlying question.

And so he remembers the guilt which was already bubbling because when Dieter came back to his room before, Nol hid the bandana from him because it was part of a secret moment he thought nobody but them were privy to.

Dieter is good at hiding.

Like Shin Ae, he could think anything off about him was exhaustion. It's easier than even thinking Dieter saw any of that, but now he can't avoid the reality that Dieter saw everything.

Only that would explain the behavior Shin Ae is explaining right now.

He has failed his friend in his mind.

He has feelings for the same girl.

So Nol pushes her out and he knows where to hurt her. He tells her that she has no business being there. And he probably would have let her storm off had she not made a comparison with Rand, the person he most despises being like.

After all, Kousuke has partially despised him for being Mini Rand. For being "like father." To have someone else, someone Nol cares about, remark that he's just like Rand—that's what gets him to express that the reason he's asking her to leave (or so he wants her to believe) is because Dieter saw them. Saw them having the most non-platonic sappy moment ever.

I feel like Shin Ae isn't aware that saying he's like Rand gets under his skin—it was a natural thing for her to say, where Nol is often aware of what can hurt others and sometimes weaponizes that knowledge.

It takes a lot for him to reach that extreme, but he does it.

"He heard it all. Saw it all."

And this is such an interesting line because Nol didn't see the entire part of their little exchange. He blindfolded himself for that dance. Both to hide the tears and I also believe to shield himself from seeing the person he wanted for himself. Had he seen her smiling that way, seen her so happy with him, I don't think he could have taken it.

Nol didn't see her shining, but Dieter did.

Dieter saw the things Nol wanted to blind himself to.

And like you say... it's how Nol says things.

It's the way he emphasizes, as you said, "when we thought we were the only ones up" because both of them gave into a stolen moment that Nol feels he probably didn't deserve nor should have taken.

But he did take it.

He went all in for it.

He was so insane for what he did and it finally hits him.

Especially because Dieter witnessed everything.

Shin Ae still doesn't add it up because she hasn't processed how her feelings for Nol are vastly different, much less how someone looking at them would interpret things.

She wants to normalize what she feels for Nol so badly.

"I don't feel the same way about Dieter as I do Min Hyuk, so obviously that explain why Nol is different too."

She hasn't processed that he's the only one to truly rile her up, get under her skin, fluster her, frustrate her, and drive her over the edge.

She hasn't had time or space to compare and realize why Nol is so different. She never dug into why Nol disappearing from her life hurt so badly, so much worse than any other betrayal or disappearance.

Shin Ae has been confessing to Nol the entire night, without realizing the impact of what it means yet. She has told him, without saying she loves him, that she loves him. Always remarking how well they get along, how effortless it is to be with him, how badly she wants to see the real him, how much she needs him to stop pushing her away. And he has heard every single word. Believed it.

He doesn't doubt her.

Shin Ae feels Nol's urgency and maybe even a sense of finality which only makes her more desperate to fix the situation.

She can't lose him.

"There's nothing going on here."

But there is. There is so much going on.

"You're acting like you did something despicable."

He did. He feels he did. Because he likes her. It's not platonic.

"We're all friends here."

She is trying to salvage this situation that is spinning out of control. Trying to convince him that she can fix it. That she can undo the big mess. Yet it won't work because the truth is they're not friends.

What's happening between them is anything but friendship.

AND IT IS SO FUCKING WELL DONE.

Shin Ae is Rose trying to pull up Jack on that fucking door and Nol is just like "No."

Quimchee is so good at the way she draws thing.

I know I mentioned this on Discord but having her set the foot down was such a nice touch because she's been "tolerating his bullshit" in respect to his boundaries but she can tell this is different.

This isn't really a boundary but cowardice.

Why won't he tell her what it's really about?

Why is he really trying to get rid of her?

She doesn't get it.

I love her so much. She represents that some people really need it to be spelled out for them. It may be part consequence of her brain injury, but it's also trauma.

Shin Ae often thinks worse case scenario.

We've seen her assaulted by memories of all the bad things people have said about her. She's asking him to not leave her to her own imagination, to be clear—direct, but he won't do it.

He wants her to figure it out herself.

He doesn't want to influence her.

A lot of people shit on Nol for being a bad friend to Dieter because he developed feelings for Shin Ae (as if you can control that lol) but I love the way he stood up for Dieter this episode.

"It's either you are or you aren't."

In many ways, he is trying to get her to understand she needs to apply this to him too.

Why is he different? Why does she care so much about him?

"He doesn't have that. Not even as your friend."

But she still doesn't get it because she doesn't have the same feelings for all her friends.

From the start, she has tried to make sense of things, but it doesn't quite dawn on her why Nol is different.

She has been too busy trying to salvage the friendship he was throwing away to even ponder on how her feelings for Nol are different.

She's been trying to get him to "stay put" and be honest, and "stay."

And she keeps losing him.

He keeps slipping.

Now he's pushing her and she's trying to counter his logic by saying "all friendships are different" because this is all she knows.

This is what she had been fighting for.

Except it wasn't.

What she's been fighting for wasn't friendship, it was Nol.

She was fighting to keep Nol.

She was fighting to keep him in her life.

She thinks what she's been fighting for is solely the friendship, but what she wants is him, the person. To see him, to know him, to be by his side.

I HATE THEM SO MUCH FOR DOING THIS TO ME.

That's why he asks why she cares.

She keeps saying it's because they're friends, because she cares about him, so he asks why again.

Why do you care about me?

Why him? Why is he different?

Shin Ae has been telling him all night why. What he means to her. How he makes her feel. The impact he's had on her life. How much he matters. How special he is to her.

But Shin Ae has never gotten down to why she feels all those things.

She can't come up with an answer...

She doesn't understand why "I care about you" isn't enough.

Why she needs some better reason to "convince him."

In many ways she's like "Are you dumb?"

While he's like, "Are you dense?"

Like you say—they're speaking in different languages.

Why he's pushing her away is the same reason why she cares about him. It's the same. They're on the same page, but holding different translations of the book, lol.

AND I JUST LOVE THEM SO MUCH.

As you know, Quimchee said on Patreon that she wanted Nol to resemble Rand while still looking like himself in that panel where he asks her to convince him.

I want to believe it will mean something.

That she will think back and have one of those "my life flashed before me" moments and realize exactly why he's different and why Dieter is understandably hurting.

Because everyone can see it except her right now.

This is so good. This is everything I wanted.

This is angst that isn't there as filler but as natural progression of two idiots who are coming to terms with each other.

It's as you said: Nol can't deny Shin Ae.

He's so insane.

How he blocks her number but checks his spam folder. He can't let go. He just can't. All he can do is push, but they always find a way back to each other. IT'S UNREAL IT'S FJAHBUFBAKJ.

THEY MAKE ME SO SICK.

This is a story that loses all meaning if people take everything at face value... which happens a lot when you read the comment section. I'm so happy to have found someone WHO UNDERSTANDS and LOVES the catnip Quimchee leaves for us.

ILY FP 231

ALRIGHTY KIDS WHO’S READY FOR STALKYOO WEEKEND WHO’S READY FOR ME TO TALK NONSTOP ABOUT ILY AND TENSION AND FEELINGS AND EXECUTION AND SUBTEXT I’M RARING TO GO picture me frothing at the mouth rattling the bars of my cage because that’s been me and that WILL remain me! 

Keep reading

[poetryfoundation-potd]

Green Card :: Evidence of Adequate Means of Financial Support

By Ae Hee Lee

I needed money. There’s no poetic way to say this.

Even so, when you touched my face, brought my

cheeks to the nook of your neck, I burrowed into it—

a firefly seeking shelter from winter, far

underground. Then,

you told me there’s no application form that can hold

the entirety of a life, because our days constantly spill like wine.

Imagine that, you said, apricot tones all over the page!

you told me about your ferns, bejeweled with jade dew,

their coiled fiddleheads full of unfulfilled,

twirling futures, and I forgot about my fixation with earning

people’s respect, among other things for which

I’d been told it was proper to plead

until granted.

you told me, if immigrants could enrich a country,

you didn’t want to know

our melting point and whether we would shine

brighter than gold.

you told me how I could stop confusing belonging

with belongings,  good with  goods, by sharing

the way our hearts continue to beat

resilient, even without an assurance of worth.

you told me there can be solace in a dead end, in knowing the sea

still collapses, still runs and soars carrying its broken

shells, somewhere out there. And then,

you buried a kiss in the dark

earth of my hair. I believed it all.

What else could I do?

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poems/159225/green-card-evidence-of-adequate-means-of-financial-support

Audio Included

[snarkpick]

i haven’t finished my pages, but i’m gonna make tags so i can send this blog to Seeker lmao 

❧ ❝ ❞ // ooc

[laughingmaiden-a]

tag drop !!

[sparklyeevee]

Okay so yeah it's worth noting that there are an absolute minimum of four widely recognized genders in Wheel of Time, at least in the Westlands, by any useful definition of gender: Woman, Aes Sedai, Man, and Man Who Can Channel. There's a reason there's no broadly accepted positive term for a woman who can channel that doesn't denote initiation into some specific tradition and isn't so deeply unwieldy that one of the two authors of the series just didn't fucking bother (Sanderson never understood what was going on there but that's a different post), and that most people think "Aes Sedai" and "person who can channel" are synonymous. "Woman who can channel" is meant to be unwieldy, because it's meant to be almost incoherent. This very directly parallels the way that in the here and now, identifying or behaving in ways that don't match your assigned gender is disapproved of, but degendering can also be imposed punitively for doing those things. Wilder, failed Aes Sedai, it's punitive degendering. If you tilt your head and squint there's some evidence for the existence of transfeminine Aes Sedai - that the process for raising an Amyrlin used to be done clad in the Light, but now only requires that participants show their breasts could plausibly be taken to indicate that not all women are expected to have the same genitals; some kinda Saidar powered hrt exists, but no equivalent of bottom surgery. (Note this ritual is introduced in the same book that Aran'gar is). If you tilt your head and squint even further, there's some evidence that Asunawa is not only a transgender man but a former Aes Sedai, and likely still able to channel, although we never see him do so. Aran'gar's plot is deeply transmisogynistic but her actual character arc largely suggests a transgender woman who had no concept of being trans until she got forcibly body swapped and experienced gender euphoria about it. (To be clear, I don't think all trans people channel according to their ASAB - I think gender is a social construct, and that, for example, a trans girl Novice who has never touched the True Source before can be taught to embrace Saidar as easily as any other girl with the ability to learn to channel, but if she has the spark inborn and touches the True Source for the first time before realizing she's a girl, it will likely be Saidin that she grasps, and learning to do both is impossible or as close to impossible as makes no difference). If the AoL had been less homophobic and (presumably) transphobic, if Eval Ramman had known transgender was a thing you could be, and had been able to transition, I don't think there ever would have been a Balthamel.

And then yeah there's Min who is for definite nonbinary. Note that gender norms vary a fair bit from culture to culture, even within the Westlands. About the only thing that really holds consistent, and it is consistent among at least Westlanders and the Aiel, if not necessarily the Sea Folk, Seanchan, or Sharans (insufficient data), is that people are consistently baffled by the gender to which they don't belong, and profess that they don't understand them or why they do the things they do. Min expresses this, if only in her own narration, about both men and women, therefore she is nonbinary.

I also suspect that Teryl Wynter, one of Seonid's Warders, is a trans man because I mean c'mon he's got two ys in his name. No one's government name is Teryl Wynter. He chose that. For that matter it's pretty easy to view Seonid herself as potentially nonbinary (and her having a transmasc Warder is not the only evidence), but she may just be a lesbian who's moderately GNC in her manner and attitude but not her choice of clothing.

And absolutely none of that really addresses the issue of nonbinary people who can channel, I'm realizing.

WoT and nonbinary channelers

There’s something dumb that I’ve been wondering about since I’ve come out as nonbinary: so, there are weird adages about the differences between men and women in The Wheel of Time, like the magic system, where only the men could channel Saidin and the women only Saidar.

So, I’ve wondered if there was a nonbinary person who could channel in WoT, would they channel both Saidin and Saidar? A mix of the two, in some way? Or something else?

I’m currently only on the seventh book still (A Crown of Sword, nothing goddamn plot-wise has happened in this one, and I’m almost done); I know that I shouldn’t expect an author writing in the ’90s/early 2000s to have thought about that stuff tbh, but the brain-rot is getting to me.

[anony-mouse-writer]

okay so i havent been able to stop thinking about @sundewa 's empires extensions au, so here's a list of the hermits and their empires thats mostly sundewa's canon, but also my ideas for the hermits ae haven't gotten to yet

blue names are canon to either the au or empires lore, the rest are just my personal assignements

Rivendell

ethoslab: ice ninja who does theft legal business.

Grimlands

mumbo jumbo: i mean. have you seen him?? in charge of the count's deepslate redstone ore vaults

tangotek: have you seen him x2. would set up incredibly elaborate and dangerous games for the enemies of the grimlands and cackle maniaclly in the background as they played them

Crystal Cliffs

geminitay: lol

gtws: magic crystals go brrrr. also does crime totally legitimate business.

xisuma: this is one of two empires i can really see him fitting in. how else do you explain the constantly shifting species except magic

Lost Empire

docm77: ominous theatre villain vibes (also no shirt). also The Jungle

House Blossom

hypnotizd: bees and chill vibes

stress: flowers! collecting heads! what more do you want?

zedaph: chaotic sheep that definitely isnt responsible for the soot stains lol

Ocean Empire

ijevin: ngl part of this is just cuz i think it would be hilarious if he was part of the ocean empire's entourage and spends the entire time he's there getting on cleo's last nerve but theyre allies so they cant kill each other. also a slime in the water is funny to me. would he be a jellyfish or just a slime who Suffers?

impulse: s5 atlantis base, s7 water pyramid + guardian farm. also has the kind of playful 'mindin my business' energy i see in a lot friendly of sea creatures

xB: guardian farms, octodrop, assigned guardian hybrid by fandom

Mythland

rendog: has the correct amount of drama to belong in mythland. can play the hero or the villain

beef: something blood sheep something. also i feel like if anyone was going to have elaborate map art decorations, it would be mythland

welsknight: this is literally a kingdom of knights, its perfect. probably in charge of the two armor stands guarding the docks.

Gilded Helenthia

false: nice and chill and will stab u real good

joehills: moved from pixandria, happy to work the fields and read poetry, would probably fight a dangerous threat for funsies

keralis: there's a post somewhere about how helenthia is the bread basket of the empires and therefore would probably be one of the richest and i think keralis would be in charge of a lot of that infrastructure. also would make tractors for the fields.

pearlescentmoon: lol

Pixandria

cubfan: moved from crystal cliffs where he learned a bit of vex magic. now he dresses as a wandering trader and causes problems on purpose. also does a lot of overseeing in the dripstone caves

Undergrove

bdubs: funny moss man go brrr

Kingdom of Mezalea

tfc: this man just wants to mine blocks and be left in peace

zombiecleo: moved from pixandria, goes on 'diplomatic visits' to the ocean empires and gets on jevin's last nerve. manages the joel clones

Cod Empire

grian: lol. also: cod face.

iskall: iskall took one look at the empire full of iskallium and never went back. the cod empire's redstone has never been better

xisuma: this is the other empire i can see xisuma fitting in. wet cat genuinely trying his best vibes. would be codsuma.

[bonesandthebees]

I am in shambles but I am taking a W since I was right about Ranboo's general involvement in the escape plot. Was not expecting Aimsey to come in with a metal chair and absolutely lose their shit but it was satisfying as hell.

The reveal that Ranboo had even given information from Aimsey to Techno about the flora was rough. Aimsey is a good person though so I'm not expecting them to punch him in the face but I really hope that they rip him a new one when they get the chance.

Also I love the use of oil as a metaphor for Wilbur's guilt in place of the waves and drowning when he's overwhelmed and suffering. I love how it ties to the waves being used for his mental state and I just ugh. I LOVE COOL LITERARY DEVICES‼️‼️‼️

Speaking of Phil though, holy shit. Their entire confrontation was insane /pos. I'm really curious as to what Phil and Techno were going to say before the boys cut them off. It makes you wonder if they could have convinced at least Wilbur to stay, given that he was having doubts about it. We will never know though but it gave us Wilbur using his Voice on Phil and holy shittt. Phil's pride from this reveal is so <33. Everything that Wilbur has said about the Voice makes sense to them; Techno and Phil have seen firsthand how little the sirens care about Tommy and Wilbur, that they're men and half sirens, they don't belong. The reveal that Wilbur can use his Voice (assuming that Ranboo hadn't woken up yet therefore hasn't told them that Tommy can also use his) is shattering. Despite all the trust that Wilbur and Phil have and the reports Ranboo has been giving, Wilbur still kept one final card to himself. Ofc he's proud.

Also Wilbur's tear before the shuttle door close eueueueu. Stars!sandduo my beloved. You are so </33

But fuck Essempi just waiting for them. Heartbreaking but also I am going to try make this more lighthearted by imagining Sapnap just waiting in that huge fucking ship for months on the off chance that if Wilbur and Tommy leave, they'll use their own shuttle. Probably not what happened but this is how I'm choosing to cope.

I wonder how the AE is going to react when they find out that Tommy and Wilbur were caught immediately after leaving orbit.

Great chapter, I am distraught

🦈

LMAO YOU WERE DEAD ON ABOUT RANBOO'S INVOLVEMENT I READ YOUR ASK AND WAS LIKE OH THEY GOT IT

yeah, uh, aimsey is PISSED. they're not a major character in this, but i still wanted them to have their due part with this as well. they're ranboo's closest friend in the palace. they've been friends for a WHILE now. they trusted ranboo with so much, only to find out he's spying on their friends (and then finds out he shared private information they gave him with his mentor). ranboo lied to them, and they're very, very hurt by it.

aaa thank you!! I was very proud of the connection to oil. I wanted the guilt to be described as something gross and heavy in your gut, something you can't ignore. along with that, oil on troubled waters is an actual turn of phrase since sailors used to drop oil into the sea to calm the waves, so I thought it was a clever way to tie that in as well.

god i've had that confrontation with aeduo in my head for SO long. phil's proud smile after wilbur used his Voice on him was something I thought of over a year ago now when I was first brainrotting this au. it was so so fun to finally write out. phil is so proud of wilbur for holding that card to his chest for so long. he's so proud to see just how cunning his boy can be.

(ranboo hadn't woken up by that point so yeah, that was a shock for both him and techno to find out)

LMAO ngl essempi kind of has just been waiting for months to see if they leave the planet. sapnap wasn't necessarily there the whole time, but they've had eyes on the planet for a while. like, they knew the brothers were on zephys iv. they knew eventually they'd have to leave, and there was mostly just some surveillance on the planet to see if the brothers ended up leaving with a full military in tow so they'd know if they needed to prepare for an invasion. but then the brothers just left on their own! all alone! perfect opportunity to scoop them up :)

oh aeduo are not gonna be happy with this development

[jiubilant]

22 from the writing prompts? ❤️

22. wildflowers

After arithmetic, history, and an unscheduled stop at a sweet-seller’s cart, the wizard Farengar takes two pupils on a field trip. Through a field.

“The dandelion,” he says, wading through an ankle-deep sea of the buttery blooms, “is a flowering plant of the family Asteraceae, genus Taraxacum. Repeat after me. The family As-ter-a-ce-ae.”

Two voices, high and small, drone the answer in dutiful unison. “Asteraceae.”

“Good. And the genus Tar-ax-a-cum.”

“Taraxacum.”

With an approving nod, the wizard takes his nose out of his field guide and turns to survey his students: the steward’s daughter Adrianne and the Jarl’s fosterling Lydia, stumping along behind him like ducklings behind the duck. They’re perspicacious, Farengar thinks, for eight-year-olds. They’d rather be beating each other with sticks than memorizing the Cyrod names of wildflowers, of course, but they haven’t run off to play shield-maids just yet—and Lydia, the little ankle-biter, is following his lecture with a fiercely furrowed brow.

“Very good, girls,” he says, flattered by the attention; it speaks, he supposes, to his prowess as a teacher. He claps the field guide shut. “And the word Asteraceae—well, let’s see who’s been studying their noun charts, shall we? The Cyrod word aster, from which we derive the family name of the dandelion, is in which declension?”

Lydia, sensing a trick, eyes him with wolfish suspicion. “What’s the genitive?”

Farengar smiles. “Asteris—”

“Third!”

Adrianne, not to be outdone, tugs the wizard’s cloak. “It means star.”

“So it does,” Farengar agrees, subtly twitching his cloak away from the little hand. On the way through the market, as a treat for surviving arithmetic, he’d bought both girls a bag of sticky-sweet comfits—and watched with polite horror as they crunched through the lot, chewing with open mouths, then licked their fingers clean like cats. He tries not to think about it. “Now, why might we compare a flower to a star?”

“Dandelions aren’t flowers,” says Adrianne, scrunching her sticky nose. “My fa says they’re weeds.”

“Far be it from me to argue with your fa,” says Farengar, who’d argued with the eminent Proventus Avenicci not fifteen minutes before buying the comfits. “But let’s interrogate—none of that eye-rolling, now—let’s interrogate that assumption, shall we?” He smiles and tucks his book under one arm. “What’s a weed?”

The girls look at him as though he’s the stupidest creature alive.

“A weed,” says Adrianne patiently, “grows where it shouldn’t. Like in Gerda’s onion patch.”

Lydia nods along, eyes wide. “So Gerda makes you pull them out.”

“And why,” says Farengar, raising his eyebrows, “does Gerda make you pull them out?”

“‘Cause she’s got creaky knees,” says Adrianne.

Lydia, more quietly, says, “‘Cause they’re bad.”

“Just so. Er, Gerda’s knees aside,” says Farengar, his eyebrows climbing higher, “we agree that we pull weeds because—because they have no useful properties, let’s say?”

His pupils nod.

“And because they have no useful properties, they don’t belong in our gardens, where they might harm the plants we grow to eat.”

More nodding.  

“Ah, but the dandelion,” says Farengar, his smile scholarly and smug, “is entirely edible. To say nothing of its medicinal capacity”—he kneels to pick one of the plants, grinning as the girls lean over his shoulders—“and, of course, the fact that it’s an essential ingredient of dandelion wine. A very useful flower indeed.” He twirls the dandelion between finger and thumb, then glances from little face to little face. “And—see? The blossom looks a bit like a star, doesn’t it?”

The girls look at the dandelion. Then each other.

“No,” they chorus.

Farengar sighs.

“Go and gather some,” he says with martyred patience. “We’ll bring them to Arcadia. She’ll tell you all about their uses in alchemy.”

Adrianne, recognizing the recess for what it is, brightens and takes off. She’s halfway across the field, her black curls bouncing, before Lydia takes a single hesitant step. Then stops. Then stares at nothing, pale and still, ankle-deep in dandelions and drifting bumblebees.

“Lydia,” says Farengar, affecting a stern frown, “didn’t I give you a task—”

He falters, aghast. The child is knuckling her eyes.

“I’m a weed,” she says, her voice terrible and small.

Farengar is perspicacious for a twenty-eight-year-old.

“Let’s—let’s interrogate that assumption,” he says, very gently. “Look at me. Who braided your hair this morning, Lydia?”

The Jarl’s fosterling sniffs. She takes her braid tenderly in two hands, holding it as another child might hold a favorite toy. “Irileth.”

“And do you suppose Irileth would have bothered to braid your hair,” says Farengar, “if she didn’t love you very much?”

Lydia stares at him. Then she blinks a few times, hard, and toes a dandelion with her shoe. “No.”

“Do you suppose the Jarl would let you swing from his balconies, and bite his thanes, and wrestle hounds under his table—and climb trellises, and loose cats in the kitchens, and otherwise disturb the peace—if he wasn’t very proud of you?”

“No.”

“And do you suppose Adrianne would let you drag her into mischief,” says Farengar, glancing briefly over his shoulder to check on her, “if you weren’t her dearest friend?”

“No,” mumbles Lydia, staring at her shoes. Then she looks up, her face flushed and furious and horribly, horribly ashamed. “But her fa says—”

The smile drops from Farengar’s face.

“Never mind,” he says, his voice soft and sharp as spellfire, “what Avenicci says. He’s decorative.”

Lydia laughs, startled, then smiles a little tearily. Farengar, still solemn, beckons her over.

“You are very welcome in our garden,” he says, and tucks the dandelion behind her ear.

[elder scrolls writing prompts]

[candyheartedchy]

Watercolors (Second Meeting)

Summary: The artist meets the red-hatted duck again.

Rating: G

Word Count: 997

The studio was quiet. Enjoying the solitude, the painter dabbed paint upon a canvas before her. A few times the pig paused, studying her work before adding more color to the painting.

“Cursed me kilts, yer still here?”

The artist turned at the voice, spotting her employer, Scrooge McDuck, standing in the doorway.

“Don’t ye ever take a break?” the older duck continued, entering the room.

“I took one the other day. Besides, I’m almost finished.”

Scrooge stepped over, looking over the pig’s shoulder.

“Looks finished to me.”

“I don’t know, something’s off...” the pig pondered, almost glaring at the painting.

“Ye do this with every painting. It’s fine.”

“But-”

“Cheyenne, ae wouldn’t had hired ye to work for me if yer work wasn’t good.”

The artist sighed.

Scrooge sighed as well. He knew this pig was a perfectionist. So much so that the artist would lose sleep just to work on a painting for him. Sure Scrooge admired how hard working the pig was, but seeing those dark circles under her eyes, it concerned him.

Scrooge spoke again, “Ae know ye mean well, but maybe yer working a bit too hard? What do ae always say?”

“Work smarter, not harder. But I’m getting the work done!”

“By losing sleep?”

“I take naps.”

Scrooge crosses his arms in disappointment, before spotting a jar off to the side, “What’s that?”

“Hmm?” the pig turned, realizing the duck was looking over at her jar of seashells, “Oh, someone gave those to me.”

“As a gift?”

“A apology really. I put them in a jar to make it easier to carry.”

Scrooge made a face, “And ye take them to work with ye?”

“It’s a reminder.”

“For what?”

“To see someone again.”

The duck blinked hearing this. Why are all his employees so weird?

“Who gives seashells as an apology anyway?”

“I though it was sweet. I’m hoping we meet again.”

“Ye won’t if ye keep staying cooped up in here.”

The artist paused at this before standing up from the painting, “You know, maybe your right... I’m going to the beach right now!”

“At this hour? What makes you think they’ll be there?”

“Then I’ll try tomorrow. And the day after that!” Cheyenne grabbed her belongings, rushing pass Scrooge to leave, “See you tomorrow!”

The duck just stood there, dumbfounded.

For a week she anticipated seeing that duck again ever since their first meeting. And yet there she was, standing in the sand, waiting for someone who was still technically a stranger to her. She didn’t know why but something about that duck intrigued her. Never had she met someone so eccentric before, then again, she really didn’t go out of her way to talk to people. Being cooped up in that studio all the time, she never really had the time to make friends. She hated to admit it, but she was lonely.

The artist watched a few people walked by the setting sun, but none were the red-hatted duck.

Maybe I’ll see you again? I come here everyday!

The pig couldn’t help remembering those words. She was so hopeful. Maybe too hopeful.

Turning her back toward the ocean, the pig sighs. Maybe the duck already came by for the day and she missed him. It was getting late after all. Or what if something happened? The artist shook away the thoughts. Maybe is was just a coincidence they met? She frowned.

Turning to walk away, darkness engulfed her as a large shadow towered over the beach. The artist turned slowly as a huge wave of water was pushed upward. Breaking through the ocean revealed a gigantic sea creature. The artist froze. As the creature made it’s way upon shore, the artist slipped in panic, falling into the sand. Trembling, the pig watched in terror as she recoiled, waiting for the impact, until she heard a familiar voice.

“Hey! You’re back!”

Her eyes shot open, snapping her head up toward the voice, confused.

“Up here!”

Squinting upward, the artist spotted a red-hatted duck waving at her. The sea creature lowered itself, allowing Fethry to slide down to land into the sand before the pig.

“I was hoping to see you again!” the duck smiled.

The pig was speechless.

“You forgot this.” Fethry began to dig in his pocket before pulling out the paint-stained cloth, gently placing it into the artist’s hand.

“You kept this?” the pig looked up at him, shocked.

“Of course!” Fethry scratched at his cheek, shy, “Didn’t want to throw it away just in case you needed it back.”

The pig smiled softly before the sea monster made a grunt, alerting both her and Fethry.

“Oh, I forgot! This is Mitzy! She’s a krill! Well, a mutated krill.”

The pig swallowed, “Hello, um, Mitzy.” she smiled, a bit strained.

“That reminds me, I never got your name the other day.”

“It’s Cheyenne. Cheyenne Hoglet.”

“Fethry. Fethry Duck.” the pair shook hands, “So, what brings you here, Cheyenne?“

Tucking her hair back, the pig felt her cheeks burn up, avoiding eye contact with the duck.

“I... I got off work early today and I...” the artist gulps.

“Are you going to try to paint the ocean again?” Fethry asked, a bit excited.

Cheyenne shook her head, “Not today.”

“Oh.”

“Do you always travel by, um, krill?”

“What?” Fethry blinked before he chuckles, “No. But when I want to explore the ocean, Mitzy here is a great travel companion!”

Cheyenne was still baffled by the whole situation, but seeing that duck’s smile felt comforting. She was glad to see it again.

“Would you like to join me and Mitzy for some ice cream?“

The artist was taken aback by the offer, causing Fethry to panic at the pig’s stun reaction.

“You don’t have too! I just thought that-“

“No! It’s okay!” Cheyenne almost shouted, pulling back shyly, “I would love too.”

Fethry beamed before walking off with the artist, “I think I saw a stand this way!”

[only-martha-knows]

The Path of Daggers Chapters 1-2 Notes

Warning - SPOILERS both for PoD and for future books will be in these notes! I have some knowledge of major events happening later in the series and I may reference them to have an honest reaction. But I do ask that nobody tells me anything extra in the notes.

The One Where The Tension In the Stableyard is Thick and Nynaeve Spiritually Hits People With Sticks

and

The One Where Aviendha Does Something She's (Debatably) Not Supposed To, and Moridin Feels Cheated

Chapter One: To Keep the Bargain

Ooh we get a glimpse of the island of Tremalking - I love that! So the people there, the Amayar, believe that this life is an illusion. I wonder if that will come up again??? (she said sarcastically)

“...flying fish soared on outstretched fins two paces and more across...” Okay. Actually flying fish??? That’s so COOL! I love fantasy seas, there’s so much potential for cool creatures there.

And then clearly these are the Seanchan ships approaching Ebou Dar on their attack, but they haven’t gotten there yet so this is a flash backwards.

AVIENDHAAAAAAAAAAA omg I love getting inside her head I’m so ready okay -

I think everybody has that weird thing where you can feel someone’s eyes on you but the fact that she has like a danger sense is really neat and interesting. Is it trained?

“Only the most beautiful truly caught her gaze; whatever wetlanders thought, beauty held more worth than gold.” True.

Aviendha being like why do I care about this child? Why do I keep thinking about him? Why do I want to hug him forever and ever??? This is bad!

Her perspective on Nynaeve is so fun and also hilarious to compare to the absolute perfection in her head that is Elayne.

“Aviendha had grown up around dangerous men, but never one too match Aan’allein. Had death been a man, she would have been him.” DAMN! What a line.

Honor is absolutely permeating every aspect of Aviendha’s POV. I love it. Culture clash when it doesn’t lead to like... terrible misunderstandings... is something I like to read, and I love the Aiel culture especially.

AHAHAHAHAHAHA Elayne is practicing her swearing!!!! That she’s been picking up from Mat!!! “Summer ham” omg that’s hilarious

Awww Nynaeve gets some character development when she pushes down her anger and tries to warn Teslyn about all the dangers in the city. I wonder now that anger is not her only route to holding saidar, if she will be able to let go of that being such a huge part of her character? And being married to Lan now and being around him a lot more (I assume), how that will affect her as well. I saw some really good discourse the other day about how Lan is one of the first people to validate her and admire her work rather than telling her she’s not enough to be the Wisdom, etc. I’m so ready for her development.

“Aan’allein’s bond might belong to another, but his heart hung alongside his ring on that chain around her neck.” Awwww! Lan/Nynaeve is one of the ships I actually love in WoT, so this quote just warms my heart.

Poor Aviendha! You can be a badass woman and still feminine! You can be deadly with the spears and still love talking about lace and dresses! It’s okay!

Loving the complex relationships with this group of the Kin, the Aes Sedai, and the Sea Folk. The Kin really just don’t know What to think when the Aes Sedai are not the goddesses they’ve made them out to be over the years.

References to Egwene as Amyrlin still spark joy in me. I’m so happy.

Nynaeve being the Wisdom and shutting everyone up!! Yes!!! Where’s her stick, she needs it???

Aviendha seems actually to be pretty insecure, which you would not really see from the outside, I think, since she’s a badass. But she’s still feeling guilt over sleeping with Rand and betraying Elayne, and she thinks that she’s soft since she likes dresses and lets Elayne sneak up on her, and she can’t hold as much of the Power as Elayne - now that I think of it a lot of this unintentionally comes from Elayne. Do they need to have a little talk about their feelings?

And great I was really hoping they would all get out of Ebou Dar, use the Bowl, and then go to Caemlyn but with the appearance of the gholam I’m starting to doubt it will be that simple. When will Elayne get to Caemlyn? She has to eventually, right??

Chapter Two: Unweaving

What does this chapter title mean? I’m intrigued...

“Nyneave was as skilled at woodscraft as she was at herbs.” Yes! I love references to Nynaeve’s tracking abilities. It’s been too long since I read EoTW to remember who taught her (her father maybe???) but I love that this character trait hasn’t just disappeared.

So they’re going to need a circle of thirteen women to control the Bowl, right? Well they do have at least thirteen channellers so that won’t be a problem. I think I’m used to Aes Sedai being the only women who can channel in a place, and their scarcity - like in LoC when thirteen took forever to reach.

Okay so we’ve got three Sea Folk apprentices who all are as powerful as Elayne. I guess that makes sense for there to be powerful Sea Folk, but the fact that it’s the apprentices and none of the Windfinders makes this interesting. What does it mean?

For some reason it surprised me when Elayne remembered Rand would have to die. I was like she knows about that??? But yes, she probably studied the prophecies as a child, since she is a royal. (Also is Elayne queen right this second since Morgase abdicated? There’s probably some other thing she has to do to get the authority.)

Elayne’s proficiency with the angreal is so great. I love that we have a resident expert here.

I predict that this rod associated with pain is going to be important. And it also makes me think about Semirhage. How is she? What’s she up to? She better not come near my son Mat.

Okay so my main frustration with Elayne is her... arrogance is not the right word. She is the Daughter-Heir of Andor, which means she has a right to expect respect and obedience to some degree. But I like king/queen figures who have humility and want as little genuflecting and servility as possible, and Elayne leans more to the side of enjoying it, which annoys me a bit. But tightrope-walking Elayne is still iconic.

Ok so Aviendha literally unweaves her weave. (For some reason I keep forgetting that magic users use weaving. RJ doesn’t seem to describe the weaving bit of it as much with saidin users. Why?) That is incredible, but I didn’t get why it was so terrible until this:

“One slip - one! - and there’s no saying what the weave will snap into, or what it will do!”

That makes so much sense, different weaves do different things, a changed weave is unstable, etc. And of course it’s not that big a deal to the Aiel. The Aes Sedai NEED to realize that there are untapped stores of knowledge in the Wise Ones, stores that they know nothing about. Aes Sedai arrogance is starting to frustrate me more and more.

Maybe I’ve already forgotten a Lan and Nynaeve scene from the last book or a specific line of dialogue but Nynaeve is definitely trying to hold back on her anger when in front of/with Lan. She seems to be trying to make him proud of her? (If there’s a line from the last book I missed where she talks about this let me know.)

Honestly Aviendha and Elayne’s friendship is so great. There’s a trust level there, as you can see from Aviendha makes “an admission she likely would have made to no one else in the world.” But there’s also a bit of miscommunication and insecurity that we see from Aviendha’s angst in the last chapter.

So the watcher was Moridin, and he just lets them go. That’s how you know we have a calculating villain - he doesn’t take the opportunity to smite down anyone who is a threat to him, but lets them go for his own plans. Interesting.

Now here’s something I didn’t realize - things being discovered now are things that didn’t exist in the AoL. Healing stilling. Unweaving weaves. It does make sense, but I hadn’t thought of it before. And Moridin, of course, is angry that there’s some knowledge that he doesn’t know.

He’s got this calm and calculated, clever and smart exterior, but this boiling, roiling, mess of madness internally, I think. And that is fun to read, to see the internal peeking out through the external.

Great, the gholam is going to be after Mat now. Poor Mat needs a break after everything that happened to him in the last book. He’s hanging on by a few threads.

Oh so the gholam was the watcher??? Yikes that means Aviendha didn’t even see Moridin.

Nice. We end with horrific blood-drinking and the title of the next chapter is A Pleasant Ride.

[saylors-universe]

All Hands on Deck, two

Rowaelin cruise ship vacation AU

Masterlist here

word count: 5193

[ Warnings: Explicatory language, references to drugs/alcohol, etc.]

[This is an interactive story! I will include certain Authorʻs Notes throughout the chapters to inform you when to start a particular song that you can find here in the All Hands on Deck playlist (Also can be found on the masterlist). For the best experience, listen with headphones, AND FOLLOW ALONG WITH THE STORY. Please try to use your imagination when listening and reading - live through the words. Have fun :) - Saylor]

[A.N.]- Heads up, this is a pretty long one. I had a lot of fun writing it and hopefully you guys enjoy it.

...

DAY 1 - WENDLYN PORT - “Welcome all! Embarkment at 2:00 pm”

   Lysandra is going to kill her. That is if they don't die in a fatal crash on their way to the docks. Aelin yanks down the passenger seat visor, flipping open the mirror compartment to find her puffy eyes matched with fresh, dark bags resting underneath. She unbuckles her seatbelt quickly to twist around, reaching behind in the backseat to grab her purse, stacked high up on her tower of suitcases. Digging through her purse, she fishes out a pair of dark, round sunglasses and covers the evidence of her late-night crying session. 

   “Ae- are you sure youʻre fine?” Aedion interrogates, taking his eyes off the road for a split second to scan her face, now hidden behind the obnoxiously large sunglasses. When he makes out her unusual, quiet demeanor, he drops his comforting presence, revealing a more terrifying and territorial anger. “I swear to God Iʻll kill him. The next time I see him, Iʻm bashing his face in.”

   “Please donʻt Aedion,” she murmurs, “I just need to get distracted for a little while. This trip will be good for me,” she prays, “I just need to forget.”

   Forget. Forget his chestnut locks, his deep brown eyes. Forget their morning runs and late night conversations. Forget the man who had been the first to pleasure her, to claim her innocence. Forget Chaol Westfall. Forget the cheating bastard who had broken her heart just two days prior. Forget the medical resident who had been having an affair with his attending, he had called her Yrene. She couldn't believe she was living an episode of Greys Anatomy, replaying Meredith Greys “pick me, choose me, love me” speech. He didnʻt. She knew they werenʻt right for each other, but still, she had hopes they would eventually work it out. Forget him. Eventually you will forget this pain. You will replace these memories with better, happier ones. It WILL get better. 

   Before Aedion could retort, Aelin answers a ringing call from a furious Lysandra. “WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU ASHRYVERS”

“Good morning to you too”

“Oh Iʻm sorry, please do forgive my harsh tone. WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU.”

“Weʻre nearly there babe,” Aedion butts in, “we had a ... late morning.” He looks over to his cousin, she catches a glimpse of the dashboard clock. 11:58 

“Are you guys okay? What happened?”

“Oh would you look at that, we just pulled in, be up there in a sec.” Aelin rushes out and hangs up abruptly. Exiting the car before Aedion fully parks in the stall. She takes in the vast, intimidating vessel - their home for the next three weeks. Fun.

   The two make a swift race of gathering together all their belongings, Aedion insisting on taking the more heavier bags - leaving Aelin to her bass guitar bag, a suitcase, and backpack. They proceeded to check in at the port center, showing their credentials and receiving their key cards. Then briskly went through security and began traveling up the ramp to the shipsʻ passenger entrance, closing right behind them. 

   As they enter the main lobby floor of the ship, Aelinʻs jaw drops to the floor in astonishment. To say the interior of the massive craft was “elegant” would be an understatement and a disservice. In the heart of the ship was a geniusly architectured ballroom, fit for the grandest of parties. A beautiful grand piano sat beneath the most gorgeous chandelier Aelin has ever seen, drowning the entire hall with warm light. She made sure to take mental notes and pictures to refer to the room for future dreams, or plans - this would be the perfect venue for a wedding ceremony.

“You coming Ace?” Aedion summons.

   Snapping back to reality, Aelin follows the blonde, muscular man carrying majority of their luggage to the lobbyʻs elevators. He examines their key cards - showing their rooms: 825 , 823 . Assuming their rooms would be on level 8, he invites Aelin to press the button for the eighth floor with one of her free hands. They trek the rest of journey in silence, until they reached their respective rooms, right across from each other. It seems someone had sticked colorful magnets of the alphabet, numbers, and symbols on their door, like the ones found on a familyʻs refrigerator. It was very clever, none of their phones would have service while out at sea, this provides a smart solution to know peopleʻs whereabouts when theyʻre out and where to locate them. It had to be the work of Elide Lochan. On one door, someone spelt out LYS + AEDION in vibrant magnets, the other ACE + MANON. Aelin peers around at neighboring rooms, but fails to find a similar door with the name ʻElideʻ spelt out in magnets. Weird. Surely Elide would have decorated her own door, if not only to personalize it, but also claim her territory. 

“Come get me once youʻre settled in? Weʻll go look for the others together.” her companion offers. 

   She nods in response before swiping her key card and entering room 823. It was a generously large cabin room with two queen sized beds, one fairly sized bathroom, and patio balcony. Seeing as the bed closest to the door was already occupied with bags, Manonʻs she assumed, she unloads her luggage on the bed nearest the sliding door balcony. In the bathroom stocked with all the necessary amenities, Aelin takes a quick look at herself in the vanity mirror. She lifts her large sunglasses atop her head, finally assessing the damage of her late night spent grieving her relationship. She was a mess, still beautiful, just drained. In hopes of reviving herself she splashes her face with some cold water, definitely waking her up. After taking a look around and getting situated she grabs her key card and leaves her cabin, takes the short trip across the narrow hallway and knocks on Aedionʻs door. There was some rustling behind the door, then Aedion opened up, revealing an identical room to her own. 

“All good?”

“Yep, you?”

“Yeah, letʻs go. Lys texted, said theyʻre scoping out the pool on the Lido deck.”

   They make their way to the Lido deck, finding it surprisingly crowded. The pool was massive and already occupied by a few passengers. The food bar near the pool, already had a line of hungry patrons patiently waiting for their burgers and fries. The elderly, kind looking chef at the grill and young, tawny curly haired chefʻs assistant both lock eyes with Aelin and offer a warm smile and welcoming wave as she and Aedion pass by. By some luck, they are reunited with their friends who were lounging on suntanning chairs on the deck.

“Hi baby!” Lysandra squeals as she runs into her boyfriends arms, who returns the passion just as fervently. “Hi, my love.”

“I missed you so much” “I missed you more”

   The interaction earned a not-so-subtle eye roll from the petulant Manon Blackbeak. “Spare us the lovey-dovey bullshit.” Which Lys returned by flipping the white-haired drummer off while pushing her tongue down Aedionʻs throat. Manon scoffs and then raises a hand to block her eyes from the blaring sun. Her very pale complexion already seemed tanned from the short time in the sun.

“Aelin!” Elide shouts, moving out of Lorcanʻs arms to embrace her friend, “you guys made it.”

Aelin returns Elideʻs hug as she meets her tan, dark-haired fianceʻs dour gaze. “Galanthynius”

Unlocking from her tender friendʻs clutch. “Salvaterre,” she returns, nodding her head once in recognition. 

“Did you guys find your rooms okay?” the brown eyed beauty continued.

“Yeah, we just dropped our stuff off.”

“Oh good. Okay, I talked with Dorian, the cruise director, and he showed me the music room we can use for practices. He said the performance stage is up there on the sky deck,” she points to a level right above the food bar, in perfect view of the pool, “itʻs across from the sport courts and thereʻs an open bar right over there”, pointing near the direction of the stage,”- so the plan right now is we only perform nights at sea. But we also switch off with the boys, so we wonʻt even need to worry about some nights,”

“The boys?”

“My guys,” Lorcan sneers.

“Lorcan Salvaterre? In a band?” Aelin mocks, and snickers.

“Iʻm full of surprises,” a response that manages to shut Aelin up pretty quickly. 

“Weʻve got tonight so you guys donʻt have to stress, but weʻll be out at sea tomorrow night as well so thatʻs all you guys,” Lorcan informs the women. He pulls Elide back and notifies her that he has to head off to his bandʻs practice for tonights show and that heʻll find her afterwards. They share a quick kiss that Aelin deeply regrets witnessing, and the broody giant saunters off to wherever the music room Elide mentioned was located, leaving the ladies and Aedion to investigate the gigantic portable hotel.

_______________________________________________

“Come on Whitethorn, you really need to live a little,” the white wolf incarnate, Fenrys Moonbeam, teases the bass player in tempts of sharing some embarkment/welcome drinks before their practice. 

“You know I donʻt do that stuff anymore,” itʻs true. Rowan had made sure to never touch or consume anything that would dampen his senses or thought process, not since Lyria. He would never be that stupid again, never recklessly waste away at the bottom of a bottle only to have his loving girlfriend take him home. Except she wouldnʻt make it home. And it was his fault, he has to live with the guilt of being alive, without her instead of her.

“Besides, I prefer being at my best for our shows,” he adds.

“And whoʻs to say Iʻm not”

“Fen, you can barely remember half our shows,”

“Damn, they must have been good.” 

   His twin and night to his day, Connal, finally joins the two in the music room set aside in the ships corner, to provide some semblance of privacy during their practice. “Lor here yet?”

“I havenʻt seen him since we checked in our rooms,” Rowan had really lucked out. Lorcan would be in a romantic suite with his fiance, the twins decided to share a room, so that left Rowan with his own private room, room 835 a nicely sized cabin in the corner of the hall, far enough away from everyone else but close enough to the elevators. 

Lorcan slips in the room shortly after Connal had, “speak of the fucking devil,” the mischievous blonde wolf pokes.

“Okay boys, night one, we have to impress,” Lorcan chips in.

“Iʻm thinking we do the set we did in Ardalan,” Connal pitched. The rest agree, preparing their instruments, Lorcan taking his seat at the drum set and the rest tuning their guitars for their respective roles, Rowan-bassist, Connal-lead guitarist, and Fenrys - rhythm guitarist & lead singer.

   After a couple clean run throughs, the boys departed to their rooms to prepare for the night. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

NIGHT 1 - AT SEA - “Live music from ʻThe Cadreʻ tonight at 7 pm on the Sky Deck”

   After the mandatory safety lecture and demonstrations on how to use the life vests provided in the cabinʻs closets and assigning the zones theyʻd report to in the case of an emergency, the Queenʻs Court + Aedion went around the whole ship, looking for a homebase to call their own and to meet everyday. They had decided on the food bar by the pool where the head chef, Emrys, and his assistant, Luca, merrily accepted them. Through getting acquainted, Aelin had learned that Luca was Emrys and his partner, Malakaiʻs, adopted son. She had also learned that they were from Terrasen like her. They quickly bonded over their shared experiences of growing up and life in Terrasen, the two culinary experts warmly welcomed her to their fold. 

“We better go get ready,” Elide had warned the group after finishing their amazing burger and fries made with love from their new friends. The squad quickly found their way to the elevators, Elide hopping off on the ninth floor, to Aelinʻs surprise. It must have shown on her face because Lys swiftly answered her minds wondering, “Lorcan and El got the better cabin suite, complimentary engagement gift from the cruise line.” To which she nodded in understanding.

   Upon returning to their cabin, Aelin collapses on her bed, still covered with her luggage. Manon notes the desperate fall and snickers, “You good Ace?” 

“No,” do I really want to unpack this all right now? - not referring to her clothes, “Chaol and I broke up. Well actually I found out he was cheating on me, and then we broke up.”

“Shit. Do you want to talk about it?”

“No.”

“Good cuz I donʻt either.”

The insensitive banter coincidentally brought a smile to Aelinʻs face, “You asshole,” she calls and throws one of her bedʻs pillows at her now roommate. 

   Manonʻs lightning fast reflexes allowed her to catch the flying pillow without a second thought. “Look at where you are right now, weʻre on a fucking cruise ship with our best friends and weʻre being paid to do our favorite thing. Now if you donʻt lighten up, forget about that loser, and get your ass in a tiny, skimpy outfit then Iʻll fuck your brains out, make you fall in love with me and break your heart too. Any breakup heartbreak can be cured by a good oleʻ one night stand, and I normally donʻt do those kind of favors for bandmates so it looks like we are just going to have to find you some dick tonight ”

   Aelin knew she wasnʻt joking. When it really counts, Manon is always able to talk some sense and logic into Aelin, and tonight she would be grateful for it. So she did as the terrifyingly pretty, golden-eyed bisexual had commanded. Struggling as she slipped into a classic red, off the shoulder dress that hugged every curve of her sculpted body, barely passing her high-mid thigh. She curled loose waves in her long blonde hair, and applied a natural eye makeup look with a bold red lip. After studying this new woman in the mirror, she was reminded of how fucking hot she was, she felt stunning and daring, perhaps even more bold than her personality already permits. 

   Her roomie gave her a catcall whistle as she left the bathroom. Manon had prepared for the show with a sleek black halter top that exposed her defined midriff, and a criminally damning amount of cleavage, along with a tight black pencil skirt that also showed off her many curves. They were two dangerously attractive women, and they both knew it, which in a sense is even more deadly.

“Shall we?” Manon asks holding out an arm. Aelin takes it earnestly as the two strut their way to the Sky deck. 

   They manage to find Elide, Lysandra, and Aedion in the already massive crowd on the deck. Their group had really shown up tonight, they looked like they could be in a magazine catalogue, just a bunch of wildly attractive, and talented individuals. 

“You two made it just in time,” Elide greeted, taking them into their circle. 

   A disgustingly handsome, dark haired, tanned man with the most mesmerizing, sapphire eyes, took the stage. Aelin made sure to note Manon becoming suddenly stiff besides her as she took in the stranger on stage. “Howʻs everybody doing tonight,” he welcomes with an energetic, soothing voice. The crowd roars in anticipation. When the audience settles enough for him to be heard again he continues, “well Iʻm so very glad to hear that. We are so happy to have you guys here with us on the Ellywe Voyager, my name is Dorian, I am your cruise activities director, so you guys will be seeing lots of me,” he flashes an award-winning smile that causes at least twenty gasps from women in the audience. “Seeing as Ellywe will be all of our home for the next couple weeks, we ask that you be mindful of your living quarters and keep the noise down in consideration of your neighbors. In agreement, we have worked hard to organize not only one but two, awesome bands for you guys to jam out to in these live concerts throughout the weeks, how does that sound?” The crowd goes absolutely ballistic. This is the type of energy Aelin lives for, she could get used to this for the next few weeks. “I love to hear the sound of that, so without further ado, everyone please help me welcome The Cadre!”

[A.N.] - Start “What I Like About You (Live)” - 5SOS now, follow along, and let your imagination take you there. Find the playlist here.

The crowd screams in welcoming.

Crowd: “Whitethorn, Whitethorn, Whitethorn, Whitethorn, Whitethorn.”

Aelin: Whitethorn? What-

The music starts building and Lys scoots over to her bandmates, “Our competitions got quite the fanbase.”

“Yeah, letʻs see if theyʻre any good,” Manon scoffs.

The audience continues to scream, welcoming their entertainment.

Lorcan: Woo

Cadre + Crowd : HEY!    HEY!

Fenrys:    THATʻS WHAT I LIKE ABOUT YOU

                   YOU HOLD ME TIGHT

 AND TELL ME IʻM THE ONLY ONE WANNA COME OVER  TONIGHT, YEAH

Cadre:   KEEP ON WHISPERING IN MY EAR

     TELL ME ALL THE THINGS THAT I WANNA HEAR

        ʻCAUSE ITʻS TRUE

Connal:         THATʻS RIGHT

          THATʻS WHAT I LIKE ABOUT YOU

Fenrys:          YEAH WHAT I LIKE ABOUT YOU

                        YOU REALLY KNOW HOW TO DANCE

         OH-   WHEN YOU GO UP, DOWN, JUMP AROUND

        THINKING ʻBOUT TRUE ROMANCE, YEAH

Cadre:          KEEP ON WHISPERING IN MY EAR

           TELL ME ALL THE THINGS THAT I WANNA HEAR

          ʻCAUSE ITʻS TRUE,  THATʻS WHAT I LIKE ABOUT YOU

Fenrys:     THATʻS WHAT I LIKE ABOUT YOU

Cadre:         [WHAT I LIKE ABOUT YOU]

Fenrys:          THATʻS WHAT I LIKE ABOUT YOU

Cadre:         [WHAT I LIKE ABOUT YOU]

Fenrys:     THATʻS WHAT I LIKE ABOUT YOU

Cadre:         [WHAT I LIKE ABOUT YOU]

Fenrys:          THATʻS WHAT I LIKE ABOUT --- YOU

Cadre:         [WHAT I LIKE ABOUT YOU]

Everyone:      HEY!

 Aelin watches, eyes wide, mouth agape, as a certain silver haired ghost from her past shreds a guitar solo. He catches her presence, and suddenly loses touch with reality - the sounds start to deafen around him of realization of who is in the crowd.

Fenrys:       “LISTEN UP *ELLYWE*”

Rowan:         WHAT I LIKE ABOUT YOU

Fenrys:         YOU HOLD ME REAL TIGHT.              heha.

                  NEVER WANNA LET YOU GO

            KNOW YOU MAKE ME FEEL ALRIGHT

Cadre:        KEEP ON WHISPERING IN MY EAR

                TELL ME ALL THE THINGS THAT I WANNA HEAR

           ʻCAUSE ITʻS TRUE, THATʻS WHAT I LIKE ABOUT YOU

Connal:       [HERE WE GO]

Fenrys:     THATʻS WHAT I LIKE ABOUT YOU

Cadre:         [WHAT I LIKE ABOUT YOU]

Fenrys:          THATʻS WHAT I LIKE ABOUT YOU

Cadre:         [WHAT I LIKE ABOUT YOU]

Fenrys:     THATʻS WHAT I LIKE ABOUT YOU

Cadre:         [WHAT I LIKE ABOUT YOU]

Fenrys:          THATʻS WHAT I LIKE ABOUT --- Y- Y-

                   THATʻS WHAT I LIKE ABOUT YOOOOOOOOOOOU

- The crowd goes absolutely nuts, yet his gaze never leaves hers. That canʻt be, he thinks to himself, what is she doing here? 

   The only blonde in the group grabs his mic, Aelin deduced this is the one called Fenrys from the squealing girls in the audience yelling his name. “How are we doing tonight Ellywe?”,walls of screams respond. “We are so glad to be here with you guys, so glad in fact that weʻve prepared a little treat for you guys,” continues shrieking, “take it away Whitethorn.”

[A.N] Start “House of Memories” by Panic! At the Disco now, follow along, and use your imagination. Find the playlist here.

Cadre:     OH-WA-A-A-A-OH-WOOAAH-OH-WA-A-A-A-OH-WOOAAH-OH

Rowan:    IF YOUʻRE A LOVER, YOU SHOULD KNOW

        THE LONELY MOMENTS JUST GET LONELIER

                 THE LONGER YOUʻRE IN LOVE

                 THAN IF YOU WERE ALONE

                MEMORIES TURN INTO DAYDREAMS

                   BECOME A TABOO

-  Eyes still locked with hers as if in a silent conversation  -

          I DONʻT WANT TO BE AFRAID

             THE DEEPER THAT I GO

               IT TAKES MY BREATH AWAY

             SOFT HEARTS, ELECTRIC SOULS

             HEART TO HEART AND EYES TO EYES

                       IS THIS TABOO?

      BABY, WE BUILT THIS HOUSE ON MEMORIES

TAKE MY PICTURE NOW, SHAKE IT TILL YOU SEE IT

 -  He winks at the woman in the red dress who has captured his slightly divided attention.   -

             AND WHEN YOUR FANTASIES BECOME YOUR LEGACY

          PROMISE ME A PLACE IN YOUR HOUSE OF MEMORIES

Cadre:     OH-WA-A-A-A-OH-WOOAAH-OH-WA-A-A-A-OH-WOOAAH-OH

Rowan:      I THINK OF YOU FROM TIME TO TIME

                     MORE THAN I THOUGHT I WOULD

                    YOU WERE JUST TOO KIND

                  AND I WAS TOO YOUNG TO KNOW

                 THATʻS ALL THAT REALLY MATTERS

                             I WAS A FOOL

      BABY, WE BUILT THIS HOUSE ON MEMORIES

TAKE MY PICTURE NOW, SHAKE IT TILL YOU SEE IT

    AND WHEN YOUR FANTASIES BECOME YOUR LEGACIES

 PROMISE ME A PLACE IN YOUR HOUSE OF MEMORIES

Cadre:     OH-WA-A-A-A-OH-WOOAAH-OH-WA-A-A-A-OH-WOOAAH-OH

Rowan:  THOSE THOUGHTS OF PAST LOVERS, THEYʻLL ALWAYS HAUNT ME

    I WISH I COULD BELIEVE YOUʻD NEVER WRONG ME

   THEN WILL YOU REMEMBER ME IN THE SAME WAY

                   AS I REMEMBER YOU?

   BABY, WE BUILT THIS HOUSE ON MEMORIES

   TAKE MY PICTURE NOW, SHAKE IT TILL YOU SEE IT

     AND WHEN YOUR FANTASIES BECOME YOUR LEGACY

               PROMISE ME A PLACE 

   BABY, WE BUILT THIS HOUSE ON MEMORIES

  TAKE MY PICTURE NOW, SHAKE IT TILL YOU SEE IT

   AND WHEN YOUR FANTASIES BECOME YOUR LEGACY

    PROMISE ME A PLACE IN YOUR HOUSE OF MEMORIES

Cadre:     OH-WA-A-A-A-OH-WOOAAH-OH-WA-A-A-A-OH-WOOAAH-OH

Rowan:                   IN YOUR HOUSE OF MEMORIES

Cadre:     OH-WA-A-A-A-OH-WOOAAH-OH-WA-A-A-A-OH-WOOAAH-OH

Rowan:                          PROMISE ME A PLACE

-  Once again, the crowd goes absolutely berserk, and rightfully so, The Cadre had really came out to impress tonight. Still in a state of shock, Aelin grabs Manonʻs wrists and pulls her to the open bar near the back of the stage deck, “I need a drink.”

“Damn. I have to give it to them, they are REALLY good.”

The band continues in the background, while Aelin completely loses herself to her racing mind.  -

[A.N] Start “American Idiot (Live)” by 5SOS now, follow along and let your imagination flow. Find playlist here.

Connal:      “Does anybody know the band ʻGreen Dayʻ?”

Fenrys:        “Iʻm not familiar”

Connal:        “The next song weʻr --”

Fenrys:         “Whoʻs that?”

Connal:        “Heh, the next song weʻre going to play is a very, very, very fast cover of them”

Fenrys:         “Iʻm sorry --”

Lorcan:          “Donʻt judge my drumming, I suck at this song, letʻs go,”

-    Aelin and Manon return to their group of friends, drinks in hand, completely enthralled by the performers.  - 

Connal:          DONʻT WANT TO BE AN AMERICAN IDIOT

                        ONE NATION CONTROLLED BY THE MEDIA

                    AND CAN YOU HEAR THE SOUND OF HYSTERIA?

                AND SING ALONG TO THE AGE OF PARANOIA

Fenrys:       WELCOME TO A NEW KIND OF TENSION

                    ALL ACROSS THE ALIEN NATION

                 WHERE EVERYTHING ISNʻT MEANT TO BE OKAY

                   TELEVISION DREAMS OF TOMORROW

            WEʻRE NOT THE ONES WHOʻRE MEANT TO FOLLOW

              FOR THATʻS ENOUGH TO ARGUE

Connal:             DONʻT WANT TO BE AN AMERICAN IDIOT

                     IʻM NOT APART OF THE REDNECK AGENDA

                 NOW EVERYBODY DO THE PROPAGANDA

            AND SING ALONG TO THE AGE OF PARANOIA

Fenrys:         WELCOME TO A NEW KIND OF TENSION

                  ALL ACROSS THE ALIEN NATION

               WHERE EVERYTHING ISNʻT MEANT TO BE OKAY

                TELEVISION DREAMS OF TOMORROW

              WEʻRE NOT THE ONES WHOʻRE MEANT TO FOLLOW

                 FOR THATʻS ENOUGH TO ARGUE

-   Rowan has a bass solo, to which Aelin has a difficult time not being captivated by, her eyes never leave the silver-haired, green eyed, bassist, as if they are in their own little world.    -

-   Lorcan has a drumming solo to which Elide screeches, “THATʻS MY MOTHERFUCKING HUSBAND,” he couldnʻt have possibly heard her over the drowning music but he notes her excitement and gives her a wide grin, only meant for her eyes.   -

Connal:        DONʻT WANT TO BE AN AMERICAN IDIOT

                    ONE NATION CONTROLLED BY THE MEDIA

Fenrys:                INFORMATION AGE OF HYSTERIA

Connal:             ITʻS CALLING OUT TO IDIOT AMERICA

Fenrys:         WELCOME TO A NEW KIND OF TENSION

                 ALL ACROSS THE ALIEN NATION

              WHERE EVERYTHING ISNʻT MEANT TO BE OKAY

               TELEVISION DREAMS OF TOMORROW

             WEʻRE NOT THE ONES WHOʻRE MEANT TO FOLLOW

                FOR THATʻS ENOUGH TO ARGUE

- More headache causing, loud screaming from their devoted audience -

[A.N.] Start “Teenage Dream (Live)” by 5SOS now, follow along and let your imagination work. Find playlist here.

Fenrys:         “Whatʻs the next song *Connal Moonbeam*”

Connal:           “The next song weʻre going to play is a cover, so [crowd screams] itʻs not one of our songs actually.”

Fenrys:  “Itʻs usually for the people in the audience who donʻt know our song, so if you have a mum, or a dad, or someone here, aunty, uncle,

Lorcan:       “-significant other-”

Fenrys:         “-puppy, this songʻs for you, it goes like this.”

Connal:       “uno , dos, tres, cuatro-”

-   The song starts to build and the men on stage look completely in their element.    -

Rowan:      I THINK YOUʻRE PRETTY WITHOUT ANY MAKEUP ON

       I THINK YOUʻRE FUNNY WHEN YOU TELL THE PUNCHLINE WRONG

     I KNOW YOU GOT ME, SO I LET MY WALLS COME DOWN, DOWN

Fenrys:         BEFORE YOU MET ME, I WAS ALRIGHT

                   BUT THINGS WERE KINDA HEAVY

                      YOU BROUGHT ME TO LIFE

       NOW EVERY FEBRUARY, YOUʻLL BE MY VALENTINE, VALENTINE

Connal:            SO LETʻS GO ALL THE WAY TONIGHT

                      NO REGRETS, JUST LOVE

                 WE CAN DANCE UNTIL WE DIE

                  YOU AND I, WEʻLL BE YOUNG FOREVER

              YOU MAKE ME FEEL LIKE IM LIVING A TEENAGE DREAM

               THE WAY YOU TURN ME ON, I CANʻT SLEEP

             LETʻS RUN AWAY AND DONʻT EVER LOOK BACK

               DONʻT EVER LOOK BACK

               MY HEART STOPS WHEN YOU LOOK AT ME

               JUST ONE TOUCH, NOW BABY I BELIEVE, THIS IS REAL

              LETʻS TAKE A CHANCE AND DONʻT EVER LOOK BACK

                     DONʻT EVER LOOK BACK

Fenrys:         WE DROVE TO LA, GOT DOWN ON THE BEACH

                    GOT A MOTEL AND BUILT HOUSE OUT OF SHEETS

      I FINALLY GOT YOU, MY MISSING PUZZLE PIECE, IʻM COMPLETE

Connal:        SO LETʻS GO ALL THE WAY TONIGHT

                         NO REGRETS, JUST LOVE

                       WE CAN DANCE, UNTIL WE DIE

                 YOU AND I [here we go], WEʻLL BE YOUNG FOREVER

     YOU MAKE ME FEEL LIKE IM LIVING A TEENAGE DREAM

              THE WAY YOU TURN ME ON, I CANʻT SLEEP

            LETʻS RUN AWAY AND DONʻT EVER LOOK BACK

              DONʻT EVER LOOK BACK

              ʻCAUSE MY HEART STOPS WHEN YOU LOOK AT ME

              JUST ONE TOUCH, NOW BABY I BELIEVE, THIS IS REAL

             LETʻS TAKE A CHANCE AND DONʻT EVER LOOK BACK

                    DONʻT EVER LOOK BACK

Lorcan:         ʻCAUSE I CAN FEEL YOUR HEART RACING 

                                IN MY SKIN-TIGHT JEANS

                     BE YOUR TEENAGE DREAM TONIGHT

                  LET YOU REST YOUR HANDS ON ME

                          IN MY SKIN-TIGHT JEANS

                      BE YOUR TEENAGE DREAM TONIGHT [wooooooo]

Fenrys:      “*Ellywe*, if you know the words, please sing them”

Lorcan:      [ one, two, three, hey.  ]

Connal + CROWD:   ʻCAUSE YOU MAKE ME FEEL LIKE IʻM LIVING A TEENAGE DREAM

                                    THE WAY YOU TURN ME ON, I CANʻT SLEEP

                                LETʻS RUN AWAY AND DONʻT EVER LOOK BACK

                                     DONʻT EVER LOOK BACK

                  ʻCAUSE MY HEART STOPS WHEN YOU LOOK AT ME

                 JUST ONE TOUCH, NOW BABY I BELIEVE, THIS IS REAL

                 LETʻS TAKE A CHANCE AND DONʻT EVER LOOK BACK

                                DONʻT EVER LOOK BACK

Connal:   “The next song weʻre going to play, is about girls, and girls like this”

Fenrys:         “Cooties!”

-     There is a mixture of laughter and screams from the audience.   -

[A.N.] Start “Valentine (Live)” by 5SOS now, follow along, and - yea you know the drill. Find playlist here.

Rowan:     “This oneʻs a new one. Youngblood itʻs called Valentine, it goes like                      this”

Lorcan:      “*Ellywe* letʻs fucking dance.”

Rowan:  I LOVE THE LIGHT IN YOUR EYES AND THE DARK IN YOUR HEART

           YOU LOVE A PERMANENT CHASE AND THE BITE OF OUR MARK

       WE KNOW WEʻRE CLASSIC TOGETHER LIKE EGYPTIAN GOLD

                   WE WILL LOVE US

    IT DONʻT MATTER, BE COMBATIVE OR BE SWEET CHERRY PIE

       IT DONʻT MATTER, JUST AS LONG AS I GET ALL YOU TONIGHT

       [ here we go ]

Cadre:       I CAN TAKE YOU OUT, OH - OH

                  WE CAN KILL SOME TIME STAY HOME

 THROW BALLOONS, TEDDY BEARS, AND THE CHOCOLATE ECLAIRS AWAY

    I GOT NOTHINʻ BUT LOVE FOR YOU, FALL MORE IN LOVE EVERYDAY

                     VALENTINE,      VALENTINE

Lorcan:       SO FUCKINʻ DEEP THAT YOUR DNAʻS BEINʻ MESSED WITH MY                          TOUCH,      CANʻT BEAT US

Connal:     SO REAL, FUELING THE FIRE UNTIL WE COMBUST

                      CANʻT TOUCH US.   [give it to me]

Fenrys:        IT DONʻT MATTER BE COMBATIVE OR BE SWEET CHERRY PIE

                IT DONʻT MATTER JUST AS LONG AS I GET ALL YOU TONIGHT

Cadre:       I CAN TAKE YOU OUT, OH - OH

                 WE CAN KILL SOME TIME STAY HOME

THROW BALLOONS, TEDDY BEARS, AND THE CHOCOLATE ECLAIRS AWAY

   I GOT NOTHINʻ BUT LOVE FOR YOU, FALL MORE IN LOVE EVERYDAY

                    VALENTINE,      VALENTINE

Rowan:    FULL PLATE, DONʻT WAIT, HAVE YOUR CAKE AND EAT IT TOO

                   [ SING ]

Crowd: FULL PLATE, DONʻT WAIT, [+ ROWAN] HAVE YOUR CAKE AND EAT IT

Cadre:       I CAN TAKE YOU OUT, OH - OH

                WE CAN KILL SOME TIME STAY HOME

THROW BALLOONS, TEDDY BEARS, AND THE CHOCOLATE ECLAIRS AWAY

  I GOT NOTHINʻ BUT LOVE FOR YOU, FALL MORE IN LOVE EVERYDAY

                   VALENTINE,      VALENTINE,       

Fenrys:         VALENTINE,      VALENTINE

Rowan:    WOAH - HEY - WOAH - HEY.  “you sing”

Crowd:       WOAH - HEY - WOAH - HEY   [ “JUST YOU”]

                     WOAH - HEY - WOAH - HEY - WOAH - HEY

                     [”ONE MORE TIME”]

                          WOAH - HEY

-  The crowd cheers. - 

Fenrys:      “Goodnight Ellywe, we will see you later!”

-  The men leave the stage, leaving their fans in utter bliss, and one certain blonde bad bitch in a stunning red dress is left alone to her thoughts, processing what the hell had just happened.  -

[ Hi, if youʻve made it this far good for you! I hope you like the story this far. I apologize for mainly including 5sos in this chapter, I just felt it fit the vibe of opening night best. Going forward I will include more diverse artists and bands that I feel sound like the characters. -- My inbox is always open for messages, Iʻm accepting prompts, I want you guys to write this story with me, so if you have any ideas or even songs you want to see in this story, let me know! -- If you would like to be on the tag list send me a message, thank you so much for your support - saylor loves you ! :) ]

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