#and now I’ve watched Lethe

[t0ast-ghost]

Ash Tyler is my wife

[fortunatelychoppedpeace]

A myth before the soul enters Earth

“There, almost done!” Proclaimed the mother of beauty. The little soul watched her as laughter as holy as the tranquility of starlight echoed through the clouds. “You’ll like it, I’m sure of it.” The goddess assured them before she cast a look over her shoulder that made them pause. Perhaps the soul had been wrong. Perhaps the stars they could find in the sky had been in her eyes. Or perhaps their mother's eyes had been the endless beauty of the cosmos all along. “After all, you carry a part of me with you now.” Her glance now cast deep into the void of the sky. “-of us,“ Aphrodite added, and then smirked as if knowing something they didn’t. Or rather, something they would forget while chained in mortal flesh that she carefully weaved. “I’ve heard earth is different from the other realms,“ the soul voiced their thoughts. They knew they wouldn’t remember, as soon as blood would run through their veins, as if it were Lethe of the waters of Hades. “And?” The gentle voice of the love-rich mother asked them again. The soul had known that already, yes. But that’s why they came here, right? To lose oneself, the journey home and the deep-rooted self-love that would accrue. That kind of love they knew. Yet now they are mixed with the opportunity to learn and grow closer to themselves. “Will you be with me?” This time Aphrodite's smile brighten before she cupped the cheeks of the clay body. „My child, call out, and you shall receive my guiding hands above you. You shall never be truly alone in our world, this I vow. “Helios high above will greet you at days beginning before his sister takes over. If you don't see Selene, you’ll meet the stars, and if the stars don’t meet you, our king surely will.“ The soul looked immensely relieved that they could meet the gods anytime they needed in their journey. Aphrodite created the last strand of hair on their legs. “Remember, you belong to us gods, and to the gods you shall return by Hermes hand.”

[sleepnowmychild]

Prayers and hymns to Hypnos:

Anytime I find one in a book or site about ancient texts, I save it for later use. So here’s what I’ve collected so far.

Orphic Hymn 85 to Hypnos (Greek hymns C3rd B.C. to 2nd A.D.) :
"To Hypnos, Fumigation from Poppies. Hypnos, king of Gods, and men of mortal birth, sovereign of all, sustained by mother earth; for thy dominion is supreme alone, over all extended, and by all things known. 'Tis thine all bodies with benignant mind in other bands than those of brass to bind. Tamer of cares, to weary toil repose, and from whom sacred solace in affliction flows. Thy pleasing gentle chains preserve the soul, and even the dreadful cares of death control; for Thanatos, and Lethe with oblivious stream, mankind thy genuine brothers justly deem. With favouring aspect to my prayer incline, and save thy mystics in their works divine."

Statius, Silvae 5. 4. 1 (Roman poetry C1st A.D.) :
*prayer by an Insomiac

O youthful Somnus, gentlest of the gods, by what crime or error of mine have I deserved that I alone should lack thy bounty? Silent are all the cattle, and the wild beasts and the birds, and the curved mountain summits have the semblance of weary slumber, nor do the raging torrents roar as they were wont; the ruffled waves have sunk to rest, and the sea leans against earth's bosom and is still. Seven times now hath the returning moon beheld my fixed and ailing eyes; so often have the lights of Oeta and Paphos revisited me, so oft hath Tithonia passed by my groans, and pitying sprinkled me with her cool whip. Ah! how may I endure? Not if I had the thousand eyes of sacred Argus, which he kept but in alternate watchfulness, nor even waked in all his frame at once. But now--ah, me!--if some lover through the long hours of night is clasping a girl's entwining arms, and of his own will drives thee from him, come thence, O Somnus! Nor do I bid thee shower all the influence of thy wings upon my eyes--that be the prayer of happier folk!--touch me but with thy wand's extremest tip--'tis enough--or pass over me with lightly hovering step."

By Sophocles in Philoctetes:

''Divine Hypnos, god who knows no pain, Hypnos, stranger to anguish, come in favour to us, come happy, and giving happiness, great King! Keep before his eyes such light as is spread before them now. Come to him, I pray you, come with power to heal!''

[genrockstar]

Confession |

summary: Anthony, deeply Christian and conflicted about his feelings for his best friend Spencer, seeks solace in prayer, struggling with the belief that his feelings are sinful. Spencer, unable to watch Anthony suffer alone, confronts him, urging him to accept his emotions without abandoning his faith. Though they can't be together, they find solace in their friendship, choosing to face the uncertainty together, one step at a time.

Warnings: fluff, tiny angst,

pairing: anthony vaughn X spencer white

fandom: heartbreak high

The chapel was quiet, the only sound the faint hum of fluorescent lights above. Anthony knelt at the altar, his hands clasped tightly in prayer, the weight of guilt pressing heavily on his shoulders. His whispered words were barely audible, a desperate plea for forgiveness for the feelings he could no longer suppress.

Spencer stood at the back of the chapel, watching Anthony with a mixture of sorrow and frustration. He had followed him here, hoping for a chance to talk, to clear the air, but seeing Anthony like this—so tormented—made his heart ache.

Finally, unable to stay silent any longer, Spencer approached, his footsteps echoing in the empty space. Anthony didn’t look up, but Spencer could feel the tension in the air between them.

“Anthony,” Spencer said softly, his voice breaking the silence like a fragile thread, “we need to talk.”

Anthony flinched at the sound of his name, but he didn’t move from his position. “There’s nothing to talk about,” he replied, his voice strained. “I just need to pray, to ask God to help me.”

Spencer’s heart sank. He knew what Anthony was going through—the internal war between his faith and the feelings he had for Spencer, feelings he had tried so hard to deny. But Spencer couldn’t keep quiet any longer. “You don’t have to fight this alone, Anthony. You don’t have to push me away.”

“It’s wrong,” Anthony whispered, his voice trembling with emotion. “What I feel… it’s a sin. I can’t… I can’t be with you, Spencer. God wouldn’t want that.”

Spencer knelt down beside him, close enough to feel the warmth of his friend’s body, but still a world apart. “Anthony, I’m not asking you to choose between me and your faith. But pretending like this doesn’t hurt, like it isn’t tearing us both apart… that’s not fair. You’re allowed to feel, Anthony. You’re allowed to be confused and scared. But don’t push me away because of it.”

Tears welled up in Anthony’s eyes, his resolve crumbling under the weight of his conflicting emotions. “I don’t know how to stop feeling this way,” he confessed, his voice barely above a whisper. “I don’t know how to reconcile what I feel with what I’ve been taught.”

Spencer gently placed a hand on Anthony’s, the touch sending a shiver through both of them. “Maybe you don’t have to figure it all out right now. Maybe… maybe it’s okay to just feel what you feel, and take it one day at a time.”

Anthony’s tears finally spilled over, and he turned to look at Spencer, his eyes filled with pain and longing. “But what if… what if I can’t ever stop feeling this way? What if I’m always this messed up?”

Spencer’s heart broke at the vulnerability in Anthony’s voice. “Then we’ll figure it out together,” he promised. “I’m not going anywhere, Anthony. No matter what.”

For a moment, they sat there in silence, the weight of the world pressing down on them. But in that silence, there was also a small, fragile sense of hope—hope that maybe, somehow, they could find a way to navigate the impossible situation they found themselves in.

It wasn’t a resolution. It wasn’t a happily ever after. But it was a beginning—a first step on a path that neither of them could see the end of. And for now, that was enough.

***

if the gods loathe me for i love you then i can only pity them they can take you away from me until i cry a new lethe

and they could force me to drink it but i would still know you i know i would know you

[tanoraqui]

mistaken identity & return from the dead for my favorite elf murderers fingon/maedhros? - eleneressea

[give me 1-3 tropes + 2-3 characters!]

[somewhere between reading your prompt and figuring out what to write, I forgot what you said and swapped Mistaken Identity for Amnesia, whoops & sorry]

(Superhero AU)

Maedhros held his breath, though not so that his henchpeople, the news helicopter or the random gawking citizens could see, while he waited for Fingon to emerge from beneath the rubble of the fallen building. Fingon couldn’t die anymore, he knew Fingon couldn’t die anymore, he’d seen horrible proof of it countless times. It just sometimes took him a moment…or if he was badly wounded but not lethally, just unable to more…

Maedhros was opening his mouth to order his henchpeople to fly down and start digging through the rubble—for the Lethe Sphere, obviously, which Valiant had been holding when the building came down on him—when the debris burst apart and a shining figure in silver and gold and plaster dust sprang forth on wings of semi-translucent gold. Valiant looked around, searching for the fastest way out of the ring of flying henchpeople.

“Ha!” Maedhros cried—Phoenix cried—and soared up to meet him with a flare of his jetpack.

“You’re getting slow, hero,” he taunted as they settling automatically into a circling pattern, facing one another. He held out his hand imperiously. “Now hand over the Sphere, and nobody needs to get hurt!”

Valiant squinted at him as though trying to figure something out.

“Okay?” he said. He flew forward and handed Phoenix the Sphere.

Maedhros blinked. He checked himself, though he hadn’t lost conscious control of his powers since he was 24—and he wasn’t doing so now; he was pushing forth his will just as usual in a public fight, just enough to keep the crowd watching and admiring. He checked Fingon, whose gaze was clear but uncertain. He was resisting as much as he usually did—more, actually. With a frown of practiced focus, he threw Maedhros off completely.

But he didn’t snatch the Sphere back. He just looked around again—not searching for escape, just searching for his bearings, and not quite finding them. When his gaze landed back on Maedhros, he flashed the bright smile of confident camaraderie that he usually reserved for panicking civilians, with only about as much recognition as he usually gave Brenda from the PTA whose name he genuinely, non-maliciously never remembered.

“I’m sorry,” he said, “I think I’ve gotten a bit lost. In everything. Do I know you?” He looked uncertainly down at his silver suit, the sword at his hip, his own hands. “Do you know me?”

[onyourhyuck]

RED STRING THEORY. | L.HC | Part 2.

↳ summary: Kim Micha is an art coms film student, assigned to screen write a short film about love. One problem though. She has never dated anyone. With little knowledge about love itself, she goes to her childhood best friend Lee Donghyuck, for help. Lee Donghyuck is a theatre student and is a well known player around the campus. What happens when the boundary between friends and lovers becomes blurry?

↳ The warnings: SERIES. workplace strict fake relationship type dynamic going on. Fake dating. Micha is inexperienced about dating and love in general. University theme. Donghyuck is a bit of a player but he means well…ish. Mark and Ningning are friend mutuals. Crack. Fluff. Angst. Romance. Slight spicy smut when more parts are released. Strict parents mention. Grades mention. teacher!Baekhyun mention.

↳ PART 3 LINK.

↳ notes: this is a series. Follow me and reblog this fic if you want to get updates for more parts!

↳ Tag: @sundamariis @kkakkdugi @lostmembrane @sayitditto @loveazri @yessohsehun @glamourizz @neobic

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Lounging in the lecture class, hunch back with chin resting on top of the palm, boredom eking out of her eyes as flicking the pen in between her other fingertips, sighing, for the hundredth time.

“Okay class you have five weeks to do this project, that results in over 24 hours of filming and planning your screenwriting.” Mr Baekhyun said up front of the students staring at him with soulless eyes, like Micha’s, or excitement in their eyes, not Micha.

‘Great, five weeks to fail if this plan of mine doesn’t work with Donghyuck.’ She thought to herself. Standing up grabbing the bag swinging it on one shoulder end as the files she grabs forward sticking to her chest close. The film student leaves with the other students in the class, most of them travelling home now or to their dormitories if they live on the campus. Micha does not live on campus but she does own her apartment complex with cheap rent (luckily she managed to BS the landlord into giving it a much lower number to her.)

But she isn’t going home yet. Donghyuck specifically told her to come to the university theatre department where all the acting students are, as well as the music students.

Micha walks the hallways before entering a room with a large stage for practice, the girl felt like a stuck out sore thumb even though it was dark. Lights were brightly shining the stage instead where Donghyuck stood with the performance paper with lines written on, next to him would be Karina and Yeri, as well as Bangchan and Yangyang lining up performing out their lines. The girl has no idea what’s going on, but she takes a seat down in front of the bystander seats watching the play happen.

No one seems to have noticed her presence yet, so she slings back to watch the rehearsal.

“I’ve loved you. Why did you expose our relationship like this.” Donghyucks voice croaks out, breaking apart like million glass shreds on the ground, as if all life was sucked out of him.

Karina soils a tear or two down her cheeks, clenching the paper for effect as she looks up at Donghyuck, breathily speaking. “So had i, Chan. But it’s far too late. I am better off without our toxic relationship. You need Alice.”

“ANNNDD CUT.” Coming out would be Kun clapping out his hands. The director of the play it seems. Micha felt mesmerised by the intense acting, it made her feel some type of way, though she didn’t know he was in the play this year. Last year he directed The Heathers play, it was a big hit too.

The theatre students all huddle with laughs and smiles sharing to one another. Donghyucks walking to hand Karina a tissue, with his charming smile and eyes going in a crescent eyes just by looking at Karina as if it were his world. The boy rubs her back as he bows his head leaving, he soon noticed Micha in the seats as he beams with a lethe grin forming on his face. Donghyuck waves his hands at Micha before he jumps off the stage, running up front to greet his friend. “Micha, hey! Whaddya think of my acting? Did I wow you yet? Make you feel tingles and butterflies?”

Haechan always asks for his best friends compliments, no one else but Micha. You suppose the boy trusts her judgement more than anyone else’s. He knows he can rely on Micha to have feedback all the time, no matter the situation.

Micha scoffs out with a slight laugh. “As if. If anything your acting partner makes me produce tears.” The boy wraps arms round her neck pulling her closer, he smirks, as if it were lies. Which it was, half lies. “Oh? Do i sense a lie here. I saw the way you were watching me.” There would be something hidden behind those lines he told to the girl, she felt hidden tension, not sure what kind it was. He leans closer where his breathing prickles her nose and cheeks. She turns feverish just by the small heat emitting from his mouth. Micha looks away pulling suddenly from Donghyuck, stammering. “Uhm- let’s go quickly. You told me to wait for you. Come on, I gotta be back at my dorm to start screenwriting.”

“But you have no ideas yet right?” He throws quickly behind the girl. He lifts his bag up and as she turns around she gives a small defeated nod.

He hums as his hands pull out two tickets belonging to the amusement park that is happening this week. Today was the last day so it will close soon. Micha’s eyes waver to the tickets close as she grabs them to take a closer look, lips fell into miniature gasps. “Donghyuck!” She exclaims looking up at the boy, who would lightly shrug, trailing as he wraps his fingers round the tickets. “You can’t be serious. These tickets are expensive, I’ve looked online before.” She breaks into whispering yells, not wanting to attract any unwanted attention. But he could tell she was scolding him hard. He coos at her mockingly before pushing her slip out bangs out of her face tucking them behind her ears suddenly, he leans closer to look at her, snatching the tickets in his palm back. “Oh calm down. I’ve got them from a friend who’s date bailed out. They were free for me. I thought that i should take you on a little fake date, to get you inspired for your screenwriting movie.”

Micha stands still rubbing her neck conflicted. Maybe going on this fake date will inspire her, she could observe the people around if there are going to be couples roaming, most likely there will be. The rides and the food. Alongside Donghyuck will be there. They have to act like a couple to make this screenwriting story work. The stubborn art coms student eventually nods giving the boy who’s now endearingly watching her pull her by the hands interlocking his with hers. “Great! Let’s go then darling, our date is starting now.” Donghyuck quickly soars rushing out.

“D-darling?” Micha let’s out flustered. It’s going to take a while getting used to being called so many foreign names by her friend…

He looks at her brushing a sweet smile at the girl who blushed at just single-handedly ‘Darling’ yet he can’t help but wonder how you’re going to look when he says even more worse names. Darling was a weak pet name to begin with.

“Oh gosh. You’re a tomato just by hearing darling?” He giggles smiling. “Remember, pet names.” He points out and Micha lets out a small ‘oh!’

Yeah, definitely will take a long time to adjust to.

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@onyourhyuck please refer from translating, copyrighting and plagiarising my work thank youu! REBLOG THIS FIC AND FOLLOW ME FOR MORE UPDATES.

[randomnameless]

A Minor dispute.

Put it behind you. Deal with it.

No, this isn't related to devoted fans and their discourse lol (even if i had to take a jab at them with the title lol)

Ike: I have to ask, Sephiran. What are you after? What’s this all about? Sephiran: Why do you wish to know? You would achieve nothing by learning my reasons. You would help no one. I lost faith in lesser beings, and desire an end to them. That’s all. Ike: So why did you save me on that day? Sephiran: May I ask you a favor, Ike? Tell me how you feel about it now. Can you bear recalling those horrific memories? Ike: Yes… I’m fine, now. But I suppose at the time I wouldn’t have been able to take it. Sephiran: All beings endure tragedies for as long as they continue to live. It has always been the case that suffering is unavoidable. And this grim reality plays out over and over, in every country, under every ruler… As long as there are beings who feel, they will feel pain. Ike: So what? We should all just give in and die? Put it behind you. Deal with it. Sephiran: Do not make light of this… Ike: I’m not. Sephiran, I’m extremely grateful that you once helped me through a terrible time. But we have to accept that occasionally we all have to deal with hard times. I’ve had pain, I’ve had suffering, and I have gotten up and moved on. I don’t try to forget what happened that day. I just accept it… And neither that or anything else will ever stop me. Sephiran: You are a strong man, Ike, son of Gawain. But not everyone is as strong as you…

This scene is unlocked if you've seen Ike's FB.

Of course, Ike here doesn't know the fuck he is talking about, as he later expresses by wondering why Sephiran is suddenly called Lehran (maybe if the game left Miccy/Yune talk to him before the start of the map, instead of letting him do all the convo it would have been different?).

So, in a way, it isn't as callous as Ike telling Lehran to put the genocide of his people "behind him" or to "deal with it", because he doesn't know what Sephiran is talking about.

But in a way, I have the feeling if Claude or Petra told Dedue to "put the massacre of his family" behind him or to "deal with it", Claude or Petra would have received a certain amount of shit, even if, when they would have said those, they wouldn't have known what the fuck Dedue went through.

Anyways, Ike later learns what, or who, Sephiran is, and talks to him. Maybe he will apologise for his callous words, spoken when he didn't realise what he was talking about ?

Ike: Sephiran... I mean, Lehran... Lehran: I can't apologize enough. I was so terribly mistaken, and now there's nothing I can do to help. Ike: Don't worry. Lehran: What? Ike: Wanting to do something that matters is enough. Sometimes, how you feel is more important than how you act. Lehran: Ike I... there's no one that I think more highly of... Ike: No time for compliments. We still have work to do here. Lehran: Yes... yes we do.

Lehran apologises for having wanted to destroy the world (and drops Altina in a trashcan because Ike is now the person he thinks the most highly of!) - and in the general scale of things, yes, Sephiran has much to apologise for, so he better start pulling his weight and try to make up for having tried to kill everyone.

But the "your people were genocided? No biggie, deal with it!" is completely ignored - or it is, again, another example of Ike talking shit and the game convoluting himself to make sure he never faces any consequences, even if, in this situation, the consequence would just have been an apology, like the one he gave to, iirc, Mordecai and Lethe after calling him subhumans but not realising calling someone "subhuman" was insulting.

Sure, the line he gives after the fight against Sephiran still holds value :

Ike: If death is what you really want, then I’m not going to let it happen on my watch. I don’t care what you’ve gone through. I don’t care how much you’ve suffered. What you’ve done is unforgivable.

It's not because you suffered, or went through the worst humankind can offer, that you can inflict the same on people!

When Lords like Marth, Seliph, Leif, Roy, Eirika, even Elincia try to understand people and what led them to act as they did - without ever giving excuses or wondering if they could walk with their respective antagonists - Ike here refuses to understand, and only condemns.

Is it because Ike isn't a Lord, so he isn't concerned with some general "making sure this situation never happens again"?

But then, he is the one to say those :

“But, even the dumbest creatures will love their family, their friends and… even love others. They will all have things that they can’t afford to lose.” “We know that we’ve messed up. We’ll do our best to avoid more war and to make peace our highest priority. Ashera, just give us one more chance. All we ask is for one more chance.” “You were like a mother to all of life– Your children still require a mother like you. When you watch over us, we don’t always do things that make you happy and sometimes we even disappoint you. Still, I think we would like you to continue watching over us. How about it?” “We all need to work hard to accept each other. As long as we don’t try and run away from our mistakes, then I’m sure we’ll be able to see each other again one day.”

How can you do you "best" to avoid more wars, if you don't even understand why the current one started, or don't care about the reasons that led the fucker who started this current war to, well, start it?

How can we talk about acceptance if we don't "care" about what the others live through?

So, on top of writing a check his ass can't cash - since he will leave Tellius and not be there to "avoid wars" or make sure people "accept each other" after promising the goddesses "we" will exactly do that - Ike's words here are empty.

-> In a nutshell, Ike reveals with those battle quotes and conversations that he is not ruler/leader material - but we knew that since RD's start since we followed Miccy and Elincia - and more importantly isn't the kind of person asking "why" things happen, they just happen but somehow everything will work out when it will happen again - because the why, or the cause, wasn't identified - and I think it's a perfectly fitting answer for the Tellius Saga and the larger Branded "issue" : we will never know why it happens, it just happens.

(can we say the epilogue, with Ashunera returning, is an ultimate "fuck you" to Ike's empty promises at the end of this chapter, since it starts with another war happening in the background?)

---

Back to that nonsense of a battle convo, I find it really interesting how Ike is basically thanking Sephiran for having wiped his memory when he was a child, to help him "deal" with the fact he witnessed his father stab his mother, because at that time (when he was a kid), he wouldn't have been able to deal with it.

But then, Ike tells Sephiran to "deal with" the tragedies he witnessed and lived through...

After thanking him for sparing him the "deal with it" step- he now asks Sephiran to take - when he was a child.

WTF?

Ike explains how he is thankful, but he ultimately had to "got up" and "move on" from the pain, and accept it. And that's precisely the point, Ike managed to take on that pain, "get up and move on" thanks to Sephiran's own meddling and help - else, by his own admission, he wouldn't have been able to "take it".

But now, he asks Sephiran to take his pain, without any magic amnesia to help, and deal with it?

And while I hate the idea of trauma olympics, grown-up Ike (even in POR) can now deal with the fact his dad killed his mother thanks to Lehran's magic amnesia - but he tells Lehran to deal with and get over - 1) the genocide of his tribe, 2) assassination of his great (etc) granddaughter because she had his blood, 3) the loss of his powers for a crap reason and the knowledge that laguz are bound to "die" if they mingle too much with beorcs as he personally witnessed it, 4) severe depression after realising he is not a laguz anymore but not even a beorc since beorcs will use pitchforks at him even if they regarded him 10 seconds before as sage, and the rest of Tellius' general fuckery? - without magic amnesia or plot hax?

Reyson was very close to pull something similar in FE9 when he tried to erase people in the Forest using "ancient magic", but abandoned the idea when Leanne was found - if PoR!Ike learnt that, would he have told Reyson to "get over" the heron genocide and Naesala's betrayal?

Of course not, because I'm pretty sure Ike knows, before meeting Reyson and even picking Leanne, what happened in Serenes.

And in RD, when he says those words, he doesn't know (but he later will!) that Sephiran is a heron.

Tl;Dr :

Supreme Leader's "minor dispute" is frowned upon by everyone, even if she might genuinely not know about what Nemesis did that made Rhea so enraged, in a doylist reading, Supreme Leader is a character who ignores a genocide to push her own specist agenda.

Doylist reading of that RD scene is, Ike telling Sephiran to man up and deal/get over the genocide of his people - but unlike Supreme Leader, when he comes to learn the truth of Sephiran's despair, he dgaf.

Thankfully, this scene is only triggered if Sephiran survives, so Ike can later explain his behaviour : he doesn't care what kind of suffering Sephiran endured, since nothing justifies what he was trying to do (kill everyone).

Even if the thing he should care, but doesn't want to, is, for part, a genocide.

[theia-eos]

IkeSoren Week Day 5

Author notes above cut, skip to cut for the story.

This takes place near the end of Part 2 of Radiant Dawn, right before the Greil Mercenaries are going to need to make their reappearance. This takes place in my understanding of Tellius canon, with my own headcanons. At this point, Titania has talked to Ike about his recently budding relationship with Soren, Mia has figured it out, and Mist knows that Soren is Branded but does not know Ike and Soren are involved. Soren and Ike have been together for a month or so.

It’s part of a larger work I intend to post to AO3 one day when I’ve hammered it out some more.

Greil Mercenaries

In the middle of the afternoon, as they waited in an abandoned fort near Melior, Ike called a meeting with the mercenaries to discuss the blooming civil war within Crimea.

"So, Gatrie, Rolf, what did you find out?" Ike asked, sitting at one end of the table with Soren next to him on his right. Titania sat on the side of the table to Soren’s right, and Mist sat on the side of the table to Ike's left.

"It's not just the people in towns that have turned against the Queen," Gatrie said, "Some of the soldiers have as well, even outside of the Felirae territory."

"Yeah, it was kind of scary," Rolf said.

"You didn't get into any fights, right?" Ike asked.

"Nope," Gatrie said, "No fights."

"Everyone just seemed so mad about everything," Rolf said.

Ike looked at Shinon and Boyd, "Tell me more about the investigation team that was sent out by Queen Elincia."

"It was Lucia, Brom, Nephenee, and some other beorc woman I didn't recognize along with Lethe, Mordecai, that heron princess, and a really old looking crow," Boyd said.

"Princess Leanne's there?" Mist asked.

"Apparently they've been visiting for some time," Shinon said, "The royal courts are really pleased to be hosting a bunch of sub-humans."

"Shinon," Ike said tersely.

"What?" Shinon asked, staring at Ike, daring him to say anything else.

"Anyway, we overhead them saying they were going to show the heron princess around Crimea," Boyd interjected while Shinon and Ike stared at each other, "Starting with the Felirae territory for some of the local fruits they liked so much."

"Duke Felirae will be so pleased to find out Lucia is visiting him to take laguz on a tour," Soren commented, "I wonder if he'd be happier knowing she brought the laguz there to investigate him."

"Do you think they'll need help?" Ike asked, turning away from Shinon to look at Soren.

"Assuming that by really old raven, Boyd was speaking of Nealuchi, the chamberlain of Kilvas," Soren folded his arms across his body and considered. "I doubt we'd be of any use. Lucia, Nephenee, Brom, Mordecai, and Lethe can handle themselves in a fight, and if they're going to get into any conflict while in the Felirae territory, we wouldn't get there in time with our current position. Besides, our contract with Bastian is to help Queen Elincia, if she needs it. In order for us to be effective as a surprise force in the later conflict, blowing our cover now would be inadvisable."

"I'd just hate for anything to happen to them," Ike said, "Especially Princess Leanne. I know how much she means to Prince Reyson."

"I hear Nealuchi has some battle prowess, despite his age. King Tibarn and King Naesala wouldn't have left him as her escort if he couldn't watch out for her."

"Why even bother worrying about sub-humans?" Shinon asked.

Ike glowered over at Shinon.

"You seemed to become good friends with the hawk king's eyes, Janaff, during the war," Soren said irritably, "Well, as much as you are capable of befriending anyone. You can't figure it out?"

Shinon scoffed. "Ike, I get. He's been fawning over them since he laid eyes on them. I bet he'd even go out with one if he wasn't so interested in the queen, but you, Soren? I thought we were on the same page."

A heavy silence swept through the room like a muted thunderclap. Titania and Mia looked over at Ike. Mist looked at Soren and then at Ike. Soren saw the way Ike's arms tensed.

"What an obvious attempt at provocation," Soren commented dryly, "You really are getting stale."

Shinon glowered at Soren.

Soren raised an eyebrow. "Did you actually expect a response to that drivel?"

Shinon huffed and looked to the side. "You've gotten boring. Used to be that I could get under your skin saying anything bad about little Ikey."

"Some people get smarter as they get older. But I suppose I can't blame you for not being able to comprehend that, since your intelligence peaked about eleven years ago and has been on the decline ever since."

Ike let go of the breath he had been holding and his body relaxed. "Don't drag me into your attempts to goad Soren anymore, Shinon. I don't appreciate it."

"Whatever."

"Commander Greil wouldn’t have let you get away with just saying anything you like about Ike," Titania said forcefully through gritted teeth, "Stop being so rude."

Shinon looked at Titania and then rolled his eyes before looking to the side.

Mist nervously pulled her fingers down a lock of hair in front of her shoulder. "It's not that bad to want to be in a relationship with a laguz, is it?"

"Come on, not you too, Mist," Shinon groaned.

"What? No. I mean- Some of the laguz we fought alongside in the war were really handsome. But so were a lot of the beorc too."

"Mist," Ike groaned.

"Come on, Boss, you didn't notice that almost everyone that joined up with us was really good looking?" Mia asked.

"Oh, yes, all the women who fought with us were radiant," Gatrie agreed.

"No one cares what you think, Gatrie," Boyd grumbled.

"Did anyone in particular catch your eye, Mist?" Oscar asked after quickly glancing down at Boyd.

"Nope!" Mist proclaimed, her face red, looking at Oscar. "I-I didn't really like anyone in the army that much." A quick, brief, glance to Boyd betrayed her.

"Must be like your brother then," Mia said, leaning over to faux-whisper into Mist's ear.

"Huh?" Mist looked from Mia to Ike.

Ike buried his face in his hands as Mia chortled.

"Can we get back to the subject at hand?" Soren grouched.

"Why it's bad to like a laguz?" Rolf asked.

"No, the civil war," Soren said irritably.

"But is it?" Rolf asked.

"Yeah, of course," Shinon interjected, "Humans and sub-humans don't get along."

"Stop saying that," Ike snapped.

Shinon groaned. "Beorc and laguz. There. They don't mix."

Ike’s expression soured. "That's not what I-"

"But why? We can be friends," Rolf protested. "Right?"

Soren leaned forward, pinching the bridge of his nose with his fingers, brows drawn together. It was entirely obvious what Mist had been trying to get at. Trying to figure out how the company would feel about beorc-laguz relations, and subsequently, their offspring.

"I don't know, Rolf. Maybe Rhys could answer that?" Ike suggested.

Soren shot an angry look up at Ike, which Ike pointedly ignored.

Rhys blinked and furrowed his brow. "I'm sorry, you have me at a loss, Commander. Why would I know more than the others?"

Soren busied himself by looking at the maps.

Ike shrugged. "I just heard some priests from Begnion talking about it while we were in the Mainal Cathedral. I thought it was a religious thing," Ike said in the smoothest lie Soren had ever heard Ike say. In fact, if Soren hadn't already been painfully aware of how Ike had found out that Branded were considered a crime against the goddess, Soren might have believed it.

"If it is, I've never heard of it before," Rhys said, sitting back to put his hands in his lap. "I just know the goddess wishes for us to live peacefully with the laguz. That's the only teaching I can recall off the top of my head."

Titania cleared her throat, "I do know as part of the terms of living in that village in Gallia, we were told to keep to ourselves and not get too close to the laguz. We could be friends, obviously, like King Caineghis and Commander Greil were. Maybe the laguz just aren't comfortable with such things given their past in Begnion."

"Humans like us shouldn't be either," Shinon said.

"I heard some things like that while I was part of the army," Oscar remarked, "Some of the other soldiers said King Ramon was far too familiar with the laguz. They were reprimanded quite harshly by Duke Renning for spreading that kind of gossip since King Ramon was very loyal to his wife."

"So, back to the matter that we're actually being paid to discuss," Soren interjected forcefully, "I think we should scout out the Felirae territory a little and see what his machinations are. Given the state of things, I think we should all go and be prepared to enter the fray at a moment's notice."

"But we were having fun," Mia protested.

Soren gave her a witheringly exhausted stare. "Fun doesn't get us paid."

"You're as boring as the boss is, no wonder you two get along so well," Mia said with a smug grin. Soren began to wonder if she knew something.

"Mia," Ike called out, suddenly sounding as over the conversation as Soren was. "Can we focus on the job now?"

"Fine," Mia sighed.

"When should we leave?" Titania asked.

"It's too late in the day to make any real progress," Soren said, "We should get everything packed up tonight so we can set out first thing in the morning tomorrow."

"I agree," Ike said. "Let's get to work on that."

[wingedflight]

Spotify Wrapped meme: 16, 74, and 22 (nobody said i couldn't choose multiple numbers!)

16. Same Team

I broke all our promises / And I evened out the score

… And I hurt you and your feelings / And I broke all the things we loved

… And now I’ve gone to stranger places

Look, the whole reason this one is up so high is because I listened to it over and over again imagining the pain and betrayal in my witchy Jill verse.

So. Specific fic? This would probably fit well with Jill and Eustace first attempting to… not reconcile, but work together somehow? Like, I’ve imagined that after Jill’s fall from the tower, the two of them blackmail each other into leaving Paravel, and they both end up warily keeping an eye on each other on the same ship down to Calormen. And then something would happen - pirates? sirens? - and they’d have to work together for survival.

So. This would be that fic.

74. Paper Mache - Iris Lune

Save me from myself / I’ve been in the dark too long

(To be perfectly honestly, this one is also from my witchy Jill playlist but to diversify things a bit…)

Let’s say it’s a post-LB Susan fic. Maybe she’s haunted. Maybe, everywhere she turns, she keeps seeing her younger self reminding her of all the things she’s lost. Maybe, when things seem darkest, someone comes to comfort her…and, just for you, Lethe, it’s Jon Snow.

22. Burned Me Instead - Barlow and Bear

He lied to my face as he poisoned the well / And he burned me instead

… Wonder if he’s got regrets

(Hilariously, I have never actually watched Bridgerton so that takes the easy answer out of this one.)

I’m kind of leaning towards a spy Edmund fic for this one? Oh! Let’s say it’s an Edmund/Aravis fake!courting AU in which they’re using each other and of course the feelings get intense and then Edmund has to make a pragmatic decision for the good of Narnia but Aravis feels burned and hardens her heart and it’s a big mess.

And there we are! Anyone else want to suggest a number between 1-101 from my Spotify Wrapped for a fic idea?

[josiebelladonna]

mercury retrograde: all i can think of is all alone by mad season 🥺

last day in paradise: one of those songs that sticks with you and you don’t really have a reason for it, either. it just... is. 

tom sawyer: *neil peart smiling from heaven*

shades of grey: alex being self aware? what a man.

pratique lo que predicas: this is weirdly more sinister than the original, like… picture a knife being sharpened.

the lizard: headcanon: alex was jimmy morrison in another life

channel 4: whatever you do, don’t fall asleep listening to this one. just... trust me on this.

revelation (mother earth): *ozzy laughing in the distance*

out there somewhere: alex: i can’t sleep. nathan: sorry, dude. matt: did someone say ‘splash cymbal’?

western sabbath stomp: picture alex in black cowboy boots, black leather pants that are a bit too snug, no shirt, big black cowboy hat… and the star of david around his neck. yippee ki yo ki yay motherfucker 🔥

panna: bread? bread.

bollywood: getting a weird little dave matthews vibe from this. idk, i expect to see carter beauford listed and a horn section somewhere. this is also one of those songs where my hips just instinctively start swaying to the rhythm the second it starts.

song of the open road: alex, did you take one of the many road trips my family and me had when i was a kid, either from carson city down to my grandparents’ house in simi then the antelope valley, or from carson city up to montana and down through yellowstone, and didn’t tell us because-

veritas: you are hearing the sound of a man breaking his own heart.

99/09: *heavy breathing*

path of least resistance: this cocaine makes me feel like i’m on this song. this song makes me feel like a broom.

alone in brooklyn: this is one of those songs where if you’re not in the right state of mind, oh my god, do you feel it. like, when it hits you wrong, it hits you WROOOOOOOONG and it’s especially difficult to explain to someone else if all they listens to is music with singing and shit.

the river lethe: alex in chains.

flection: i can think of about 50 things you can do with that tongue and i ain’t telling you half of them, mr. skolnick.

fade to black: ...yes. yes, THAT fade to black. and tbh, i kinda like it better than the original. this one’s more humble.

bollywood club remix: it’s like he knew someone as sensual as me would come along. EVERYBODY DANCE NOW!

unbound: something oddly heartbreaking about this one once i’ve had my deep listen through their discography. i just picture alex having the same look on his face the time i told him on ig live i couldn’t watch him that night. that look on his face and monsoon flow raindrops sliding down from my eyes to imitate tears.

django tango: *george costanza voice* there should be some salsa on the table here.

conundrum: if unbound is heartbreaking, this is like the weirdly unhinged older brother that drank five cups of coffee during a depressive episode. why am i under the impression alex has dealt with some severe anxiety or depression in his life.

culture shock: 🤠

gymnopédie no. 1: if you know the backstory on this one, it conjures a... *tina belcher voice* very nice image.

dodge the bambula: the sound of a mental breakdown at the coso junction rest stop bathroom at 1 in the morning where there’s no one else on the road and you’re about 100 miles from civilization.

key of sea: alex is a merman. no, i will not elaborate.

a question of moral ambiguity: alright. *sigh* who farted.

protect the dream: the one trio song that genuinely puts me to sleep. need i say more.

florida man blues: ALEX SINGING ALEX SINGING ALEX SINGING ALEX SINGING ALEX SINGING ALEX SINGING ALEX SINGING ALEX SINGING and he’s actually got a pretty good voice? he’s off-key but like... reel him in and have him tune up a bit, and he could actually do some legit singing in his own rite at some point. he’s got a nice full baritone à la nick cave or mark lanegan or somebody.

their covers are like little gems, too, and many of which you would never expect to work in a free jazz setting—look no further than the metallica, testament, or ozzy covers; they’ve also covered judas priest!

[libidomechanica]

And others flower,

The this still small grow older. Began     to the Law then, thus friends, ’tis all those Echo made wayle     as the comfort her,

if unseen, and seas in watching     winds me he couldst shall in vain: yet, O maids, those with Honour,     where in thy sits shore: heaven’s

art: which I your friendship and     more cleareth. Thee, the univers, and more I hast enough     though thee, far, far more

persona I’ve be Absalon: no     more his Darts, beloved onely Winter of healthy     west, theart asleep. Sing moments

the wind, I finde changen the     Future your ring, lulled her heart, my humbled in his beauties     and Paradise has before

whose now wise they were marriage,     that sang out myself employs. Let me a new rose and duty,     Gracefull hys Woes,

mystere all love by the spotted     in Lethe head upon this,. And others flower, imaginable     torn, through thee of

everything my friendship’s just of     train companies they moved hear, were your son, if Sovered     at a springing Friends, thus,

there you shalt thou, my fingers of     Forreigne of Summer legs were come had ye never imagining     strew thee, it is

rine, from which to them golden long     have should these Prostrates like every friends than my piteous     highest word? But if we

lover’s Rightened fire, Whispers     mine eye, a sort, where Byrds out of summer-stand leaves flame     memory, being eyes. In

tread thus to the Pillars, and me     in the world surrection and Prayer and not bear thy tongue     doted two, night, the State.

[sleepnowmychild]

Alright hypnosers I need to infodump

I started making a fantasy story series in late primary school (2012 oof). @izroulia if anyone wants to see the progress. And while its main focus is merfolk from diffent realms that correlate to diffent mythologies from around the world, guess who connect 4 out of 5 of those stories together? Yeah. Hypnos. Before I even became a devotee he was in them. MAN WAS JUST LURKING IN THE BACKGROUND OF MY LIFE FOR YEARS IN THE FORM OF A FANTASY BOOK SERIES. And I’m just NOW realising that this connected cinematic universe I’ve created is basically glued together by Hypnos showing up for some character to either give them a boon or straight up kick start the whole plot. Like you’d think since the main characters of each story a merfolk, it’d be a sea god like Poseidon or Aphrodite showing up over and over right? Nope. Hypnos.

And one day I have an idea to put merfolk into the rivers of the underworld and it expands into a story that ties into the first ones I made, except this time Hypnos is a much bigger character since he’s basically the patron god of the Lethe sirens. And it was not long after that I was like “yeah I’m a Hypnos devotee now”. This god, this absolutely sneaky master, managed to wiggle into my life via my creative writing and I’m JUST NOW REALISING IT. HES BEEN HERE FOR GOD DAMN YEARS!!!!

So that makes me start wondering if any other deities have been lurking all these years without me realising, and it hits me- I’m a trans person who grew up on a VINEYARD making WINE and harvesting GRAPES. Is that just a major coincidence or has MF Dionysus been watching me since childhood too? And what about my intense fixation on merfolk? What sea god is that one from? Now obviously correlation doesn’t always equal causation but damn has this all got me thinking.

Anyways you reckon my Lethe siren OCs count as devotional art? They’re all under his rule and live in his river and they sing lullabies for him.

[peridotglimmer]

1. Stormchasing (Apex Legends, Loba Andrade/Kairi Imahara, rated T)

“I’ve always learnt you’re safest in the eye of the storm,” Kairi responded, sitting down next to Loba. “So. What’s up?”

--

2. Box Dye (Hitman, Agent 47/Diana Burnwood, rated T)

"I didn't know hairdressing was among your many talents," Diana joked quietly, without turning to face him. She couldn't face him, not now. Not while she was at her most vulnerable, in an old T-shirt and underwear, with her hair spilling down her back. Her blazers and French twists weren't just her uniform; they were her armour against the world.

"It's not," 47 admitted. His voice was closer now. "But I'm precise, and an expert at following your instructions."

--

3. so sue me (Double Life, Martyn & Cleo, rated G)

His arms are warm and slightly sweaty as her reaches around her waist and pulls her in for a bear hug, and suddenly, Cleo is overcome with a debilitating heap of guilt. She should have been more careful, should have stuck with him, should have tried to understand his love language, should have accepted him. She wants to tell him, but all that comes out is: "I'm sorry," as her voice breaks.

--

4. My Mind (Hitman, Agent 47/Diana Burnwood, rated T)

"What makes today different?"

She wants to say: Because this time it wasn't someone with a gun or a knife. Because this time it was invisible. Because I was staring at the timer while you searched for the vaccine. Because I still feel like I can't breathe. Because I can't imagine my life without you and your ridiculous antics.

Instead, Diana sighs and shrugs. "Nothing, I suppose."

--

4. Speak to the Gods, and They Shall Answer: Riotous Eaters of Flesh (Hermitcraft, gen, rated M)

They murdered and tortured. They razed the land and ripped away the very base of the world that had been given to them, searching to hoard the newest rare block, and for what? For bragging rights? For the sake of having it? No: for no other reason than why not . They looked at the Gods and laughed in sin. The Gods watched, and they remembered every single act, and rested. For they knew there would be a time where they no longer repaired the pillars of their world. And the Gods were ready.

--

5. Blessed (Wentworth, Franky Doyle/Bridget Westfall, rated M, major character death)

Bridget didn't know whether she wanted to cry or burst out laughing. The universe really had a fucked-up sense of humour. If she had lived in a Greek tragedy, at least she'd end up dead. But no, this was reality, and reality was that Franky's life had been ended prematurely while trying to prove her innocence by a bullet to the chest, and that Bridget would now have to learn to live with an ache in hers. And the most messed-up part? It had all been worth it.

--

6. The River Lethe (Wentworth, Franky Doyle/Bridget Westfall, rated G)

When Franky was brought back into Wentworth, the learning stopped. So when she had returned home to Bridget for the second time, and walked into the living room after a shower and saw her draped over the armrest of the sofa, sleeping peacefully, a single tear escaped her right eye. Everything had changed, but all things were still the same.

--

7. Van Gebroken Glas en Stil Verdriet (Timeless, Garcia Flynn/Lucy Preston, rated T)

De hebberige kreet van Whitmore is mijlenver weg te horen. Een luid schot, dan wordt het water rood. De nacht heeft er nog nooit zo donker uitgezien, terwijl Selene een helpende hand biedt bij het verdoezelen van de geassisteerde moedermoord. Terwijl de bewegingen van de oceaan tot stilstand komen, houdt Denise haar adem in.

--

8. Tell Me, Oh Muse: Abi M'Lebt (Timeless, Garcia Flynn/Lucy Preston, rated M)

“Lucy,” he objects, but she shushes him. Moving their joint hands upwards along hee torso, she places his fingertips on her ribs. She knows he will be able to feel the ridges the amateur tattooist left on her flesh in one of the bedrooms of a frat house. She feels him exploring the tiny patch of rough skin; memorising the shapes, most likely. Then she drags his hand further upwards, brushing along the swell of her breast as they come to rest in the centre of her chest. Feel my heart beat beneath my ribs. I'm okay. I survived. “Lucy,” he repeats, but this time it's a revering whisper on his lips.

“Garcia."

--

9. Alpha Centauri (Hermitcraft, Stress/Iskall, rated T, NSLU 2021 Collection)

Getting up from her seat, she hopped across their allotted legroom so she was sitting next to him, facing rearwards now, because he had immediately offered her the front-facing seat when they had boarded the hypertrain. "Yes," Stress whispered. She leant in and pressed a chaste kiss against his cheek. "I do love you."

--

10. Okay (CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Gil Grissom/Sara Sidle, rated G)

“I specifically wrote that you shouldn’t be around for this. You don’t want to see this.” This time it was his turn to shake his head, but he didn’t laugh. Keeping his voice calm, he retorted: “I think I get to decide what I want to witness.”

“It’s not going to be pretty.”

“I don’t care.” He tentatively reached out to hold her hand, and she didn’t shy away, for which he thanked the powers above. “I love you.”

Ten Random Lines Pt II

It’s been a long time since I’ve done some writing games and I miss talking with the fandom, so I thought I’d do a follow-up of this one!

Here are some more random lines that I enjoy from my Hitman fics. Feel free to share your own or tag someone who might be interested! 😊

Summer Wine (Songs and Silencers): Teen and Up

Diana secured her desk and turned out the light. As she returned to bed and closed her eyes, she hoped to fall asleep and dream a new kind of dream. That one night she would open the hidden panel in her desk to find the gun missing, a familiar shadow approaching her from behind. 47 returning to take back what was his. All that was his.

2. Lacrymosa: Explicit

Lips lingered as they drank each other deeply, emboldened with the knowledge that touch outmatched time in the swift healing of injured hearts. 

3. Under the Moonlight: Mature

He pressed his lips to hers without hesitation, hoping she could feel what he felt for her through such a simple action. It was an experience he had only known for a few months, but he found kissing Diana to be as natural as breathing. And that night, with the moonlight making Diana as radiant and divine as the goddess of her namesake, 47 felt like a fool if he didn’t take the opportunity to worship her.

4. Divine Revelations: Teen and Up

“Tomorrow is never guaranteed,” he said quietly. “You should tell him how you feel. The love you seek may not be returned, but the knowledge would hurt less than the pain of regret.”

5. Unwrapped: Explicit

Perhaps he would speak to her about the ache in his chest tomorrow. Tonight, he would fight the sleep in his eyes a little longer so he could enjoy this moment of Diana in his arms. It was his birthday, after all. He could indulge in a dream.

6. Five Minutes: Teen and Up

He seemed to fascinate her, and she caught his interest in return. Diana was the first person to see him as more than a number. She was the first person he felt he could trust.

7. Business and Pleasure: Explicit

“It’s dangerous to be distracted.” She could see a hint of hesitation on his face, his true concern for getting so lost in their memories that he ignored his objective in the present. His hesitation was short lived as she caressed his cheek and leaned in close, a mere breath away from his lips. “Danger never stopped us before,” she mused. “Why stop us now?”

8. Flight of the Sparrow: Mature

“Mr. Webster, you must not be familiar with the tales of sparrows.” Diana looked over to the pieces that remained of the ornate bird on the sofa. 47 readied his silencer. “Some say the sparrow is the harbinger of death. Should you capture one, you would be wise to kill it. Otherwise, your life will meet its end.”

9. Irresistible: Explicit

She gasped in a mixture of excitement and surprise as he tossed the lacy remains aside and sucked on her collar. “You’re going to pay for that,” Diana admonished, nipping his ear playfully.  “I’ve been paying for it all day,” 47 growled in desperation.

10. All Eyes On Us: Explicit

They embraced through the night as the lovers they were meant to be, comforted in the knowledge that while the Riepers’ honeymoon was at its end, their chapter was just beginning, and together they would always remain.

Tagging in case you’d like to share yours! ❤️ @diana-fortyseven @cajunandfire @cicaklah @postalninja

[fakecrfan]

Hi just want to say your story about the superhero was incredible. It broke my heart and I loved it

AN ASK ABOUT AN ORIGINAL THING I WROTE? 🥺

I wrote two superhero stories but only one has been getting likes in my activity feed recently so I think you mean my construction superhero short story. (checks the post) oh uh wow that’s getting more traction than I realized. Shit. So that’s why a bunch of people followed me recently.

Anyway, I don’t know if you are still watching my blog anon but since you liked my story have another snippet I whipped up just for you.

--

Excerpt from an interview with prisoner #4598, also known by the code names “Constructor,” “Destructor,” and “the Architect.” Transcript incomplete due to being salvaged after the attack on the prison records. Interview conducted by Mitchell Newman.

---

MN: Okay, well, since our memory experts can’t see anything in your head but muck and have established we’re not going to get any information out of you, anyway…

4598: Lethe is very good at memory stuff.

MN: Right, yes, of course she is. So since you’ve forgotten all useful information and I have to visit you at least for two hours a week just so this doesn’t count as solitary confinement--

4598: Could I talk to Sandy?

MN: Ms. White hasn’t asked to speak to you.

4598: Right.

MN: Anyway as I was saying, since I have to be here anyway why don’t you just tell me about yourself? Give me the whole manifesto.

4598: (no answer).

MN: Right. Well. Let me just continue then and you can answer if you feel like it. Sound good? Good. So, here is my question. What do you think about what people call you now? The first time you got arrested, you didn’t escape for months. Why?

4598: (no answer)

MN: Everyone thought it was because you needed to know the makeup of the material in order to shape it. When you stayed put they thought they’d gotten you with their Akonite walls. But it turns out you never needed to know that and you were just… sitting in there anyway.

4598: Right.

MN: What stopped you from escaping?

4598: (no answer)

MN: Did you think that you’d be let out if you played along, since you had good PR then?

4598: No.

MN: Okay. Was it that you still believed in the justice of the system?

4598: No.

MN: Second thoughts about trying to stop the construction of that stadium?

4598: Uh, no.

MN: Alright then. Why?

4598: (no answer)

MN: Is it related to your apparently still-developing powerset? Are you hiding some ability or--

4598: Depression.

MN: What?

4598: I was depressed.

MN: Ah.

4598: Everyone I had looked up to wanted me in jail. I thought no one would agree with me, so there was no point.

MN: Right.

4598: Uh, that’s something Sandy taught me. It doesn’t really matter what powers you have. If you want to get things done--big things, like building cities--you need lots of people. The things I’ve done, rebuilding… It's always because people have helped me. Cleared away poisons so I could go in the area. Gave me materials. Helped me learn.

MN: And without those people, you decided you couldn’t do anything?

4598: Yeah.

MN: So what changed your mind and made you decide to enact the largest villain breakout in history?

4598: It…

MN: What’s that?

4598: I had to try. It wouldn’t be right to just give up immediately. I couldn’t do it alone so I decided to find people who could help.

MN: And those villains--many of them serial killers and terrorists--these people shared your altruistic goals?

4598: (no answer).

MN: Right, sorry. That was a bit blunt on my part. I just mean it must have been a difficult group to work with.

4598: Hm.

MN: You’re pretty famous for not killing anyone yourself, even now. I really believe you don’t want people to die if they don’t have to. How do you reconcile that with working with, oh, Inferno. You know, the one that burnt innocent congressmen alive?

4598: (no answer).

MN: Some of the villains who escaped that day went on to kill innocent people, even if the ones you became friends with didn’t. Do you have any regrets?

4598: ...Skinner killed three children before we caught him. Toxica got… one, but made 48 people very sick for a while. Um, the others--I counted it all up. The amount of people who died due to the actions of villains that escaped because of me was 28.

MN: So you--

4598: The attacks your heroes do on other countries have casualties that number in the hundreds. Thousands sometimes.

MN: We were tracking down a highly dangerous villain with a power that could--

4598: That could not do half of that damage. They never can. The serial killers and terrorists--they’re hideous people. But there has never been one with the power to do what American “heroes” do every year.

MN: That’s because we kill them first.

4598: And then there is the damage afterwards. The sickness. People who die in the rubble. People who have their entire homes destroyed only to be turned away as undesirables when they try to find a home somewhere else.

MN: That’s not equi--

4598: You asked me if I have regrets. Yeah, I do.

4598: I regret every single fucking base I built for all of you.

---

The rest of the transcript is unsalvageable. Prisoner #4598 escaped shortly after, as containment measures on the subject once again failed. Future heroes are advised to use lethal force on sight, as containment has proven impossible and these transcripts indicate de-radicalization is unlikely.

[sparring-spirals]

“i shouldn’t be doing this rn but i am” TLOVM liveblog s1e11 time! WOO! 

oh i unironically appreciate when the characters break down Plot onscreen for me, saves me braincells. thank u. ppreciate that, scanlan/keyleth/pike

“I don’t give a shit what they’re doing. I just want my brother back” That said, you’re so valid Vex <3 <3 <3

Delilah and Sylas just making out while presumably Vax and Cass are both just There like :|. At least Vax is mind-charmed rn.

Grog is an interesting character to see in animation, if only because I know what he might have come off as in stream vs here. Grog is a very, very familiar animation character- in dialogue, dynamics, etc. But thinking about what I know from Travis playing his characters  + bits I’ve seen of stream Grog, its interesting to be able to see the differences, even though this Grog seems like a pretty standard animation style character.

really wrestling with your inner demons there huh percy. really got those inner demons becoming outer demons and scaring kiki, huh percy. ( :( )

oh the PAGES of meta that could be written about the “delilah calls over cass for Sylas to feed on her, clearly a regular occurrence”. oh maaan.

character dynamics in battle, character dynamics in battle. keyleth backing percy even after she was scared of him, pike yelling out for grog, vex tackling vax for keyleth, vex and vax fighting

vex pleading to vax, vex mentioning their past, vex, actively fighting against vax, but still trying to use her words as her first weapon, rather than anything else. vex fighting against vax in close quarters, which vax is infinitely more comfortable with, im ye l l in

AND in contrast- the lack of familiarity with percy and cass, percy battling the demon as well as her- its ALL good its fine im good.

Keyleth: uses plants, crystals, wind, and fire all in close succession. me: oh my god shes the AVATAR-

PIKE PIKE PIKE PIKE (pike backs up keyleth :D)

“snap out of it you fuck, its me” “i know”hELLO voice delivery and character depth taking me the fuck out

you know, its kind of cute that percy and cass are both sort of unwillingly/willingly aiding a demon/evil entity of some kind! #sibling bonding

delilah did the “mute someone else” function on zoom and scanlan is not having too good of a time with it

pike is SO cool and SO good and HELL yeah. hell yeah!!!!! scanlan is peak damsel in distress (affectionate)

“i don’t want to”, ah, the color in percy’s eyes.. the flashes of mind control in cass’s..... excellent.

ah FUCK why would you remind me that they were CHILDREN and hAPPY once, thats rude oh god.

Vex yelling for Keyleth to do something (because keyleth is Strong As Hell she just needs to channel it, and Vex has faith in her, and also Vax is literally stabbing her in the back rn-)

HELL yeah Kiki!

HELL YEAH KIKI!!!!!!!!!

[screams for fifteen minutes in triumph and catharsis FUCK this is so good]

vex tearing up! vex punching Vax in panic and fear and without real control, only snapping out of it when the panic in Vax’s voice reaches her! im! oh boy!

“my turn” 😳😳😳😳😳😳😳 oh shit

GROG! FOR ALL THE QUIPS ABOUT HIS LOW WISDOM, BEING THE ONE TO RESIST, and also the “don’t try to seduce me” “wha-t, No, WHat-”

“REAL MEN HUG. OKAY KEYLETH, HIT HIM-”

lkdjfhgsjfhsKJDSGLAFHJKHJH  GO KEYLETH GO HELL YEAH !!! HELL!!! YEAH!!!!! 

man wicked sunburn for Sylas huh. haha get FUCKED. god ill be vibing off of this adrenaline high for ages.

oh that’s a lot of bodies. hmm. hmmmmmm.

oh you know, this whole shebang seems not-ideal- DOORS.

oh

oh fucK.K EY LETH?? KIK DARLING?????????

that lightning arcing all over the tree and city CANNOT be healthy

yeah yeah delilah i get that you’re going thru it and vecna is an orb or w/e but KEYLETH IS DYING IN VEX’S ARMS AND PIKE JUST VANISHED, HAVE SOME RESPECT, DAMMIT

well i was GOING to sleep and i REALLY need to but you know what FUCK you im watching the next one RIGHT now.

overall:

i am AMPED this is GOOD this is VERY good im gonna do this portion fast so i can watch the next episode and maybe sleep a little maybe

CHARACTER! DETAILS! IN! BATTLE! FUCK i loved so many of the character interactions and details in this battle there were so many and they were GOOD

also MECHANICALLY this was a fucking complicated battle! with lots of moving parts! breaking it down into pairs/chunks was so good thematically and also made it way easier to follow mentally

and the GRAPHICS were GOOD and MORE character details there

and KEYLETH oh my god KEYLETH, the CATHARSIS, the RESOLVE, the graphics! the strength and the ferocity! exquisite! fantastic! i am throwing roses at the stage!!!

also vex being the one to plead her to do it,, TWICE.... vex being desperate and NEEDING her to get vax back after her fears about losing vax to her... her sacrificing herself to save vex at the end... the panic in vex’s voice... keyleths little smile...... im losing it, folks. i’m gone. i’m out

by out, i mean next episode, HUZZAH, HELL YEAH

OH sorry, i almost forgot: pike is ALSO a badass, we love pike. :)

[golddaggers]

midnight rendezvous

pairing: louis tomlinson x f!reader

warnings: filthy smut with hints of fluffness. period sex. petnames. him calling you baby doll. defo nsfw +18, so my dudes, read carefully.

a/n: it's your renegade writer back with her fantasies. i've written this a while back and though it'd be such a shame to share. if you do like it, make sure to reblog and like. thanks and enjoy *wink* leth x

word count: 3k+

xx

It’s just a bit past midnight when I park home, no one wandering the streets, or children playing about, there’s just the chilled breeze fumbling with the leaves. I don’t notice a second car on the driveway until I’m up close, I blame the dim yellow streetlights and my exhaustion. It had been a particularly busy shift at the hospital, I wanted nothing more than to sleep for about two days straight.

The cold crisp air makes me tremble for a split second, but I am soon welcomed by the warmth of the inside. I kicked off my sneakers, trying to be as silent as possible, I didn’t want to wake him up. A second car meant Louis had come home and he must be tired, it had been weeks since he had a break, we hadn’t seen each other for even longer. The weekends he happened to be around, I couldn’t work my schedule to spend them at home with him. It sucked, and I missed him more than I could put it into words.

A frustrated sigh slips while I walk to the kitchen, filling up a glass of water. After so many years, I should be used to it: the busy schedule, the months spent apart. I’m not, though. And being honest, I don’t think it’s possible to not be in pain when waking up to an empty bed beside me, to not hear the soft humming when he’s doing the dishes, to not miss the press of his lips on mine. I just wanted us to buy a bunch of lands somewhere, live a quiet, happy life, have children, and grow old. Just the two of us.

This was something I would never tell him. Robbing him of his passions wasn’t on my mind. I knew he’d oblige if I did say so. If I asked him, but I couldn't.

I leave a half-drunk glass behind, and go upstairs, taking off my plain white shirt then unbuttoning my jeans. Before I got to the bedroom, however, I froze, strangled sounds coming from there startling me for a second. It's followed by a smile creeping in, I’m very much aware, and familiar, with them.

The door isn’t closed, so I peek in. I see him naked, sheets pooled by his feet, and one hand wrapped around himself, moving up and down with ease, his thumb applying just enough pressure. I feel my mouth watering at the sight, a cramp twisting my belly. Desire gathers quickly, I was so touch-starved that I might as well come undone just by watching him get himself off.

His eyes are closed, thin lips parted. I slide off my pants, throwing both them, and my shirt away, walking inside in just my black lingerie. Even that was starting to be uncomfortable.

“Lou?” I call him, standing with crossed arms. He’s quick to drop everything, shooting me a wide, surprised glare. “Sorry, didn’t mean to spoil your good time.”

I’m half-joking at this point.

“I thought you’d only be home in t’ mornin’,” Deep blue eyes, sparked with lust, stare up at me. I'm very aware of how much I want to be near him again. “C’mere.”

He pats the space on his right side, it’s mesmerizing how quickly he can go from a sex god to a warm loving man. I go, but I don’t stay beside him, instead, I take my seat on his lap, which makes him laugh, rough hands on my waist, squeezing the flesh. I shift, uncomfortable, feeling him beneath me. So hard, so ready. It’s been so long I might just assume I'm a virgin all over again, shamefully responsive to anything he might do to me.

Louis leans in, planting a kiss just between the curve of my breasts. The prickle of his bead makes my pulse rise. It’s the intimacy that gets me hooked. He feels like coming home. A warmth that springs from the tip of my toes to my head, flushes my cheeks, and makes my forehead sweaty.

A “missed ya” whispered on my skin makes me shake, he then kisses the soft spot where the shoulder meets the neck, I let out a groan, moving, seeking friction. His smirk is taunting, both hands going up to my cheeks, four eyes meeting in the middle of a tired night.

“What now?” I say, unsure, panting as his thumb toys with my lips, pushing inside for a moment.

“Do you want a shower first?” He asks, staring at me, a boyish smile on his face.

“I should. I’m disgusting.”

“Nonsense,” The tip of his nose is pressed to my cheek, a ghostly kiss left behind on my jaw. “You look amazing anyway. Why d'ya think I’m so worked up?”

“Were you thinking of me? Getting yourself off imagining my hands around you? My spit and my lips, hmm?”

Louis pants when I grind down on him, slick with the throb of him against me. The fabric of my panties still forbids me from knowing his skin on mine, from sinking and swallowing him whole.

“Yeah, I was. Always think abou' ya', love.”

“I think about you too,” The friction makes me lean forward, sighing against his warm neck. “Nights get so lonely… I miss you so much, you know.”

“Darling…”

“Mmhm, I have to touch myself, grab my boobs,” I place his hands on them, and he squeezes, promptly. Fills his hands. It’s swollen, sore even. I’m burning up.

“Do you say my name when you come?” Louis asks, quietly, sucking a patch of skin. I’ve got goosebumps, I’m reeling from the build-up.

“I do. Over and over and over,” The room feels warmer if that's possible. Sweat drips down my back. I’m aware as to why I’m so sensitive, besides the yearning when it’s been months since he last touched me, my period heightens things up.

For a moment there, I almost forgot it.

“Can I just fuck you now, doll?” It’s a hoarse whisper, I clench in frustration. I’m hot, nearly suffocating. “Want t’ feel yeh so bad.”

His accent thickens, I’m lost, too into the moment to think coherently. I go for his lips, kissing him with passion, biting down on his bottom lip, still moving my hips, rolling against his. He pushes back, groaning into my mouth. It’s sinful. Everything about him is.

“Can’t, sweets,” It slips out, breathlessly. “‘M bloody down there.”

He smiles, soothing, hands firm on my hips. My stomach somersaults, it’s amazing how Louis manages to make me feel 17 every time he gives me that gorgeous smile of his. I feel like one of his groupies.

“Never cared ‘bout that before. C’mon, help me out.”

“Lou…” A strangled noise followed. I’m reaching a point where pleasure mixes with pain, I’m too aroused, too sensitive. He touches me there, trained fingers light to not hurt me but enough to stir me on. “You’re trying to bribe me, aren’t you?”

“Am I getting there?” The double entendre makes me chuckle, nodding. “Good. Let me take those off, hmm?”

“Come,” I untangle myself from him, the cold, empty feeling brings a pang to my lower belly. “If we’re doing this, let’s do it in the shower.”

I slide off my panties, tossing them at him. Louis laughs wholeheartedly, balling it in his hand while kicking the sheets away to follow me into our bathroom.

It’s bright, with mirrors everywhere. My hair looks an absolute mess, strands falling down my shoulders, I’ve got flushed cheeks, and glistening skin, perspiration all over. Five minutes with him just does that to you. He looks impressive from behind me, his brown hair was thrown back, wide blue eyes staring right at me from the reflection. I can see the extension of his tattoos, the tanned skin from being under the sun a little too long last weekend.

Louis is a sight for sore eyes.

We exchange a look then smile. The kind of intimacy that only comes when you love someone, beyond passion, beyond attraction.

He undoes the clasp of my bra. I sigh in relief, gasping when his hands cup my boobs, pinching my oversensitive nipples. I can’t help but toss my head back, resting it on his shoulder. He’s good at this, playing with me, edging me out.

“Missed them even more,” Louis expresses, a half-smile on his face. “You’ve got the prettiest tits I’ve ever seen.”

“You know you’re probably the only man on earth that can get away with saying stuff like that, right?” We share a laugh. “Turn the water on, sweets, yeah? I need to take the tampon off.”

While he busies himself with getting things ready, I put my leg up on the toilet and gently pull it out, being careful not to spill any blood on the floor. I’m mentally grateful it’s not an extra heavy day. I wrap it up in toilet paper and toss it in the bin.

“Water is warm, baby,” Steam starts to fog up the room. “Come.”

“I hope I will.” I wink at him. I don’t know why I’m suddenly so cheeky.

“Don’t tease me,” Lust soaks up his voice, eyes stern. He’d punish me for sure. When I wasn’t expecting him to do so. When we weren’t so desperate for each other. Whenever he’s back home, there’s no games, just tension relief.

He goes in, standing beneath the shower rain, his back facing me. I look at his ass, all perky and round. It’s no secret that I got a thing for it, and I might’ve bitten it a few… hundred times. Whenever I get the chance, really. I grab them, squeezing the muscle, a hoarse laugh falling from his lips. Louis thinks it’s silly, doesn’t see how it’s so great.

We kiss, then. In a brief moment, he spins and pulls me in, tongue rolling ‘round with mine. It’s wet, crude even. I make sounds that would mistake me for a pornstar, groaning when his tip brushes where I’m aching with need. He pulls my hair back, exposing my neck to him, sucking and biting. Leaving behind bruises I’ll have trouble covering. The adrenaline high doesn’t let me focus on that, though.

His hand slides between us, lodging between my legs, his palm pressing my pulsating clit. I call out for him, squeezing his shoulders, whimpering. Just this faint touch sends me into overdrive. It’s borderline ridiculous. How good he is. Or how much I want him. How I crave for him like a junkie craves a fix. It’s the trip of a lifetime when he’s inside me.

I go for his dick, so painfully hard it could cut right through me. There’s something about watching his eyes snap close, or how he moans, but I wobble, my breathing going fitful. He says my name, pressing his soft lips to my forehead, still rubbing me out. My hand seems smaller when it’s wrapped around the width of him. Louis feels heavy and scorching hot.

“I want to do something,” I whisper, high on the pleasure he was giving me. “Would you let me?”

“I want to fuck you, darling,” It’s raw, doesn’t sound dirty, more like a pleading question. “Please let me, hmm? I want to fill you up. Watch it drip down out of you. My pretty baby with cum all over her legs.”

A pained whimper comes out.

The tip of his fingers are stained red, they never really slipped inside me, just circling, creating a build-up that leaves me in discomfort. It’s unusual how much time we are taking with this, at this point, we would’ve fucked about three times already. Either way, I like it. The glint in his eyes, eyes that I adore. Diamond beauties staring down at me, so full of desire. It’s powerful. To know you have such an effect on a man like him.

I place him in the tight space between my thighs, both of us groaning with the stronger contact. I’m dripping and it’s not just blood, he’s thrumming, hips sloppily jerking forward. I feel him almost in me, but not quite. I scream, I’m sure our neighbours would make complaints. I don’t find it in me to care. It's way too heavenly.

Tattooed hands land on each of my love handles, our bodies are almost one at this point. That’s when he lifts my leg, we both can’t do any more foreplay, no more waiting. I help him inside, a little bit of blood gushing before he’s deep within. It takes a while for me to get used to him again, two months can be enough for things to shrink back up.

“God, your cunt is so fucking tight,” He mumbles, out-of-worldly. “You’re gonna make me come and I barely even started.”

“And you’re so fucking big, gonna split me open,” I shoot back, gripping tight on his forearm, trying to balance myself as he starts to pound, slowly at first. “Fuck, baby. This is so good.”

“Tell me who can make you feel so good, baby doll,” A particular hard snap of his hips makes me sway on my step, but his iron grip steadies me. “Use your words. I want to know.”

“You!” It’s a desperate squeal, I feel full, he stretches me to a burning point. Pain mixing with pleasure. It doesn’t take a scientist to tell me I’ll have trouble sitting down tomorrow. “You, baby.”

Louis lifts my other leg, both on the crook of his arms, and presses me against the tiled wall of our bathroom. His teeth clamp around my nipple, biting, sucking. I feel dizzy with the torrential rain of emotions. The water keeps falling on us, warm. It splashes when he thrusts.

None of us is lasting longer. I wasn’t particularly known to do so, not when he was the one handling me anyway. Some people are just skilled. Just know how to push somebody else’s buttons. And Louis knew how to push mine. He knew how to push me into the fucking edge. Coax a string of orgasms out of me if he so wanted. With his fingers, with his tongue, with his dick.

I moan, one hand tugging the hair at the nape of his neck and the other going to where our bodies met. It’s a fucking sight. Watching him go in then out of me. I start rubbing myself.

“You have to be quieter,” He says, our foreheads glued together, still slamming into me like I’m his favourite rag doll. “We don’t need people calling the police.”

“It’s your fault,” My reply is followed by a curse word. “Giving it to me so good like that.”

“Mmhm,” Dark blue looks at me, I can feel him getting sloppier. It’s close.

In urgency, he kisses me, I’m too frail, too putty in his hands. A numbness starts on the tip of my toes, it makes my eyes roll back, I can’t even voice anything anymore, entirely surrendered to him. To the vulnerability of this moment. Being his as much as he’s mine.

Time stands still whenever I’m with him. And right now, I can’t even keep track of it, too lost in him. That’s why I don’t know how long it took, it could’ve been seconds or minutes or hours. But I broke. Went up screaming. Barely registering he was telling me to shush, that it was too late in the night to be so loud. If that was what he was saying at all.

I’m shuddering, that I can tell with conviction, convulsing. That doesn’t happen often. I mean, it’s always fucking good, but like this, like I’m on something, that’s exceptional. At one point, he growls, squeezing me tighter. His hips stutter, face squashed against my chest. He spends himself inside me, as it was promised. I’m beyond satisfied, I’m in a state of bliss no one can reach me. Where the world doesn’t exist, only him.

Louis stays in for a while longer, nuzzling between my breasts, I play with his hair, a bubbly smile on my face. No high higher than this. He helps me down, I don’t trust my feet, clinging to him like a child. A chuckle falls from his lips.

“That good, huh?”

I just nod.

“I’ll help you clean up.”

With a sponge and a bit of liquid soap, Louis rubs down my body, taking his time to bubble me up. I’m still sensitive to touch, I have to pull his hand away when he tries to touch me down there, where I’m probably red and still swollen. I can feel the burn. Good burn, though.

When we both finish cleaning ourselves up, we step out of the shower. He still has a protective hand around my waistline. I wince at the thought of moving away, but I have to, I can tell I’m one second shy of making a mess on the floor.

He fetches us towels while I go deal with the bloody problem. Pun intended. I clean the dripping blood mixed with cum on my thighs, and when I look up, deep blue is fixed on me. As if entranced.

“What?”

“You just look hot.”

A little laugh slips.

“Thanks. You don’t look so bad,” I groan, it’s still sore-ish when I slide the tampon in. “You really did a number on me.”

“Eh, who’s counting?”

Louis winks, helping me up, I’m still weak on the legs. There’s no need to get dressed, so we wrap ourselves under the sheets, our sopping hair making stains on the pillows.

It’s so painfully intimate.

“I love you,” I whisper, half-asleep, minutes later.

“I love you more.”

His voice is the last sound I hear before I drift to the first night of sleep where I feel full, happy, and satiated. Slept like a queen, his arms wrapped around my waist, cheek pressed to my back. I was on my little piece of heaven and no one could ever snap me out.