#but it also helps that i focus on my face. not that i'm particularly beautiful or handsome but. it's my face! with emotions passing by!

[lolacouldnotcareless]

Rules: bold the ones that are true and tag some friends

tagged by @zeesqueere, tagging @ivy-lavender, @tootiredtoosadtooangry, @hyperbolicgrinch, @myriad-of-colors, @papangphromphiriya, @ambivartence, @avizou and whoever else wants to. tis not an obligation either

Appearance

i’m over 5’5” // i wear glasses/contacts // i have blonde hair // i prefer loose clothing to tight clothing // i have one or more piercings // i have at least one tattoo // i have blue eyes // i have dyed or highlighted my hair // i have gotten plastic surgery // i have or had braces // i sunburn easily // i have freckles // i paint my nails // i typically wear make-up // i don’t often smile // i am [most of the time] pleased with how i look // i prefer nike to adidas // i wear baseball hats backwards

Hobbies and talents

i play a sport // i can play an instrument // i am artistic // i know more than one language // i have won a trophy in some sort of competition // i can cook or bake without a recipe // i know how to swim // i enjoy writing // i can do origami // i prefer movies to tv shows // i can execute a perfect somersault // i enjoy singing // i could survive in the wild on my own // i have read a new book series this year // i enjoy spending time with friends // i [usually] travel during school or work breaks // i can do a handstand

Relationships

i am in a romantic relationship // i have been single for over a year // i have a crush // i have a best friend i have known for ten years // my parents are together // i have dated my best friend // i am adopted // my crush has confessed to me // i have a long distance relationship // i am an only child // i give advice to my friends // i have made an online friend // i met up with someone i have met online

Aesthetic

i have heard the ocean in a conch shell // i have watched the sun rise // i enjoy rainy days // i have slept under the stars // i meditate outside // the sound of chirping calms me // i enjoy the smell of the beach // i know what snow tastes like // i listen to music to fall asleep // i enjoy thunderstorms // i enjoy cloud watching // i have attended a bonfire // i pay close attention to colours // i find mystery in the ocean // i enjoy hiking on nature paths // autumn is my favourite season

Miscellaneous

i can fall asleep in a moving vehicle // i am the [designated by my own friend's parents] mom friend // i live by a certain quote // i like the smell of sharpies // i am involved in extracurricular activities // i enjoy Mexican food // i can drive a stick-shift // i believe in true love // i make up scenarios to fall asleep // i sing in the shower // i wish i lived in a video game // i have a canopy above my bed // i am multiracial // i am a redhead // i own at least three dogs

[rainerioun]

𝖶𝖧𝖠𝖳 𝖣𝖮𝖤𝖲 𝖸𝖮𝖴𝖱 𝖥𝖴𝖳𝖴𝖱𝖤 𝖲𝖯𝖮𝖴𝖲𝖤 𝖫𝖮𝖮𝖪 𝖫𝖨𝖪𝖤? | 𝗉𝗂𝖼𝗄 𝖺 𝖼𝖺𝗋𝖽.

— Hi! Apologies for being a bit inactive lately. Been tied up with stuff, but I'm back with a reading for you all! Today, we'll delve into what your future partner could look like. Remember, just take whatever resonates with you. This reading is more so about what sticks out to you when reading.

ORIGINAL DATE POSTED : APRIL 26TH, 2024.

HOW TO CHOOSE A PILE : The outcome may vary based on whether you receive clear messages visually or intuitively. If you resonate more with selecting a pile visually, trust that inclination. Personally, I believe the notion that 'looks can deceive,' so I prefer to take a deep breath and close my eyes, allowing the pile I'm meant to connect with to come to me. You might see the color of the pile, sense or hear a number, or simply feel its overall vibe.

Please don’t redistribute or edit my content.

MUST READ + MASTERLIST | KO-FI

PILE ONE

Zodiac Dice Roll. — Virgo.

Your future partner likely has an oval face shape with a more narrow jawline and chin, contrasted by prominent cheekbones. They're likely to have a slender physique, though proportionate in any case.

Tarot. — Six of Swords.

They give off a moody or unassuming vibe, seeming as though they don't express much. Yet, they're quite proactive in changing their appearance, whether it's their style, hair, or even their athleticism. However, they'll always maintain that aloof, 'leave me out of it' demeanor.

Additional. Hermit — Light : Seeks solitude to focus intently on inner life. Serves personal creativity. Shadow : Withdraws from society out of fear or negative judgements of others. Refusing to help those in need.  Pioneer — Light : Passion for doing and creating what has not been done before. Shadow : Compulsive need to keep moving on.

As I mentioned earlier, they are constantly undergoing physical changes in some way. They have an introverted and withdrawn aura. They could let their hair grow out and become a bit scruffy before impulsively cutting it off. They maintain a rather deadpan expression when simply existing in their own world. The image of Edward Cullen specifically came to mind when pulling the cards.

Specifics. — Take What Feels Right. High Cheekbones, Heart Shaped Face, Pale Skin, Brown Eyes, Curly Hair, Cat Beauty, Honey Eyes, Thin Eyebrows.

Yes, very vampire allure-esque indeed. Their eyes could appear normally brown but take on a honey-like glow under certain lighting. Their eyes are quite striking, considering they have feline type features. Although hair color didn't come up during the reading, I pictured them with dark hair that complements their skin tone.

Apocalypse : Cigarettes After Sex.

PILE TWO

Zodiac Dice Roll. — Leo.

Of course, they possesses striking hair like a lion's mane—thick, unruly, perhaps even a bit frizzy, something that immediately catches one's eye, possibly long in length. Their eyes are equally intense, matching their strong jawline. They exude a fierce appearance that naturally draws attention, whether they seek it or not.

Tarot. — Four of Wands [Reversed].

Your future spouse might have a more mature-looking face compared to yours or for their age. They appear quite stressed, with heavy eyes and noticeable wrinkles, particularly around their eyes, such as crow's feet and frown lines.

This aspect also reflects in their demeanor. They might carry an air of disappointment, even if they don't necessarily feel that way—it's just a testament to what they've been through. They tend to go for neutrals in their clothing choices, not leaning towards vibrant styles. Despite appearing restless, they naturally possess an attractive charm.

Additional. Mystic — Light : Revels in intimate union with the Divine. Shadow : Delusional rapport with the Divine. 

They have a divine look to their appearance, regardless of their modest and simple attire or styling. There's a hint of mystique about them, but I feel it leans more towards a deity-like appearance rather than a witchy vibe. I imagine your future partner resembling a god/goddess, genuinely embodying timeless beauty.

Specifics. — Take What Feels Right. Below Average Height, Legs, Medium-Length Hair, Prominent Mouth, Broad Nose, Copper hair, Medium Skin.

Your future spouse has a complexion you'd deem as medium-toned. When it comes to their hair, I envision it falling somewhere between medium to long length. Though a single color came out, you could interpret it as having hints of orange or red tones instead. Their mouth is defined by sharp, pointed features, while their nose possesses a broad, perhaps even slightly downturned shape.

Bernadette : IAMX. | Lucky Drive : Sarah Kinsley. | Who Is She? : I Monster. [ I think these songs perfectly describe their vibe. ]

PILE THREE

Zodiac Dice Roll. — Aries.

Your future spouse has distinct/sharp, broad features with thick eyebrows framing their face. Freckles, beauty marks, or subtle scars might adorn their face, too. Their shoulders are broad and sturdy. They could be tinged with red in some way. It could be in their complexion with rosy cheeks, hair, eyes, or they just wear a lot of red. Despite a muscular build, they still have curves, whether it's slim hips and wider thighs or a smaller waist and broader hips.

Tarot. — Three of Wands [Reversed].

It seems they may have a serious RBF, often appearing quite frustrated or impatient. There's a strong and confident demeanor about them. When envisioning their build or expression, I see Rhea Ripley 100%.

Additional. Hero/Heroine — Light : Passion for a journey of personal empowerment. Shadow : Escapism and a false sense of heroism. 

When we typically imagine heroes, we picture them as polished and composed. However, behind the curtain, they bear the marks of their struggles, with visible signs of stress etched into their body. Your future partner will be this way. Peel back their layers, and you'll uncover scars, calluses, and an overall roughness.

Specifics. — Take What Feels Right. Gray Eyes, Hawk Nose, Thick Nose, Scars, Thighs, Neutral Tone, Square Shaped Face, Hands.

What did I say about scars? It popped up three times at this point. Their skin tone has a neutral undertone, not warm or cool. Their nose is large and hooked. And those gray eyes? Unwavering. You could simply like their thighs and hands specifically, or there's something significant about them.

Hey Sexy Lady : Shaggy. | Blood Sweat & Tears : BTS.

PILE FOUR

Zodiac Dice Roll. — Pisces.

Your future spouse has round, soft lips, with dewy skin and eyes shining with tenderness. They have a dreamy aura, perhaps lost in thought at times. Their hair may tend towards the finer side. I envision them as 'dainty' and clumsy.

Tarot. — Four of Wands [Reversed]. | The Star.

The Star card suits them perfectly. They radiate both warmth and serenity, their presence quite calming. This reflects in their appearance, with a lively step and a clear sense of purpose in all they do. They have a whimsical charm, very cute!

Additional. Child : Orphan — Light : Independence based on learning to go at it alone. Conquering fear of surviving. Shadow : Feelings of abandonment that stifle maturation. Seeking inappropriate surrogate families.

In terms of aesthetic, your future spouse has a more colorful style. They appear youthful without seeming childish, dressing without fear and staying true to themselves, free from judgment.

Specifics. — Take What Feels Right. Alternative, Sparse Eyebrows, Long Eyelashes, Waist, Slim, Small Eyes, Green Eyes, Bald, Masculine.

This aligns with what I was getting at. They definitely have an alternative style. Although the energy initially felt 'feminine,' masculine came out. So, I believe this person is deeply connected to both aspects. They might also identify as queer. And while they could actually be bald, I heard in it a joking tone, given their naturally thin hair.

The Shining : The Neighbourhood. | Confidence : Ocean Alley.

PILE FIVE

Zodiac Dice Roll. — Capricorn.

Your future spouse is somewhat lanky but has hidden strength, almost described as lithe. They carry an almost stern and steady gaze, radiating seriousness and maturity. Their bone structure is striking, too. Unlike typical Capricorns, they move with a deliberate slowness, calculated in their actions. They are an alluring person. — I forgot to add that they have nice teeth!

Tarot. — Knight of Pentacles [Reversed].

I picture your future spouse as having a disheveled and unkempt appearance, but in a somehow intentional and controllable manner—it's a bit hard to put into words. Think of someone like Hozier in terms of what I mean. They might give off a slightly lazy energy, dressing in loose-fitting clothes. I don't think they enjoy changing their appearance much and prefer to stick to the same style. I imagine they lean towards neutral or dark colors, something easy on the eyes.

Additional. Messiah — Light : Serving humanity with humility. Shadow : Exaggerated belief that you are the only means through which a cause can succeed. 

This person is confident, fully aware of their own charm. I envision them with darker skin and dark hair. If you're attracted to men, I imagine them having some form of facial hair, perhaps a beard.

Specifics. — Take What Feels Right. Eye Bags, Light Freckles, Prominent Nose, Full Lips, Short Hair, Dark Skin, Olive Skin, Monotone Voice, Puppy-Dog Eyes, Brown Hair.

I think your future spouse aims for that bad boy vibe but doesn't quite nail it. They naturally give off that vibe, but they try a bit too hard to make it obvious. Perhaps they have freckles that become more visible in the summer or are barely noticeable. They aren't very expressive with their voice, but their eyes more than compensate for it, being a bit pouty, too. As for their hair, while I initially pictured it as long, it likely varies based on personal preference since short hair came out. Generally, they have a darker appearance overall.

Beautiful Is Boring : BONES UK. | Judas : Lady Gaga. | Too Sweet : Hozier.

PILE SIX

Zodiac Dice Roll. — Sagittarius.

Your future spouse has a wider face and a welcoming, cheerful demeanor. I see them with a cute button nose, sparkling eyes, and a pretty smile. They are bubbly and curious, with chubby cheeks and a curvier frame. Their expression reminds me of Armin Arlert. AHHH, I LOVE ARMIN! I HAD TO BRING HIM UP. T-T

Tarot. — Ace of swords [Reversed].

This person tends to get easily distracted, often appearing spaced out. Their appearance mirrors their emotions, reflecting whatever they're feeling that day. They're not one to settle on a particular style, constantly changing their look.

Additional. Shape-Shifter — Light : Skill at navigating through different levels of consciousness. Ability to see the potential in everything. Shadow : Projecting any image that serves your personal agenda in the moment. 

Yeah, they seem like a real shape-shifter. Always evolving, whether it's their physical appearance or their mindset. One day they might be all about frills and pastels, and the next they're wearing dark, sleek attire.

Specifics. — Take What Feels Right. Hazel Eyes, Button Nose, Tattoos, Neutral Tone, Fingers, Freckles, Hips, Round Shaped Face, Slim Nose.

It's kind of spooky how tarot readings can be so consistently on point with their messages. Hazel eyes were mentioned, but even if not, they have lighter eyes. They might have tattoos, but I'm not sure of what. You might find yourself drawn to their fingers or hips. I envision them as more heavy-set.

Primadonna : MARINA. | Paris, Texas : Lana Del Rey. | Black Friday : Tom Odell.

[missadangel]

The Heart of Rome (Marcus Acacius x Princess Reader)

All Chapters List

VII. The Wedding (+18, Smut, MDNI)

 Ubi tu Gaius, ego Gaia… 

Where you are Gaius, I am Gaia…

Domus Severiana…

The night before the wedding.

It had been five days since the fight, during which time General Acacius had paid Domus Severiana a visit on two occasions. The exact date of the wedding had also been agreed upon. Your dowry had been arranged by your half-brothers and was in alignment with the General's – your future husband – expectations. Tomorrow promises to be an eventful day in the Domus Severiana, as weddings are usually held in the home of the bride's family according to Roman tradition. After the wedding ceremony, you and your husband would be conveyed to your new home, the General's villa, in a carriage. Fortunately, you were not a stranger to there. You had already spent some time there, although not as his slave this time, but as his wife. You were pleased to be leaving this fascinating place, particularly as you did not intend to spend any time in the same place as Caracalla and Julia. However, with Geta, was a different story. Perhaps he was the only one you would miss, as you felt a certain bond with him. He seemed to feel similarly towards you, but it was challenging to discern his feelings. It seemed like a puzzle that could never be solved. 

On that night, in your room in the imperial chamber, on your big bed, you were sitting with Decima, chatting, perhaps for the last time. The slave girl, Geta's favourite, had brought you a bucket of verbena for your bridal wreath-like crown. She had offered to make you the crown you wanted, but you were having trouble deciding on the colour and were seeking their input. 

"Perhaps pink would be a good choice?" Decima picked up the pink verbena.

"I'm not sure," you replied, shaking your head doubtfully. "It might not match the colour of the veil.”

"Since your dress will be white, maybe it should be a lighter colour," the other girl suggested, taking a lighter pink from the bucket.

You picked up a white one from the bucket and placed it on your saffron-coloured veil, which was laid at the end of the bed. "I think white is a simple and pure choice. So, the green leaves will complete it."

"Ah, just like a bride, a wonderful choice, my lady."

"Yes, it's beautiful." Decima agreed.

Before you could say anything, Geta burst into the room with a big smile on his face. The girls stood up and greeted him.

"You seem really focused on those flowers, like it's a matter of life and death. Would you also help me with some strategic documents? It's so hard to focus on them," he said sarcastically.

"Isn't that your responsibility? After all, you're the emperor," you teased him.

"Oh, but it's so boring," he replied with a frown.

When he jumped on the bed, next to you, you were startled but not by the shaking he caused.  "Hmm, white, nice." He was lying on his side, propped up on his elbow, supporting his head, picked up a white verbena with his other hand.

"What are you doing? I have a wedding tomorrow and I need to get some sleep."

"Oh, right, that's why I came here." He said, pointing at you.

"What do you mean?”

Geta turned his head towards the door an yelled. “Come on in!” 

A young man, who appeared to be a slave, entered the room and approached you, his movements slightly hesitant.

You looked at Geta in shock. "What is he doing here?"

But you were not alone, Decima and the other girl were also quite surprised.

“There won't be time before the wedding.” He said arrogantly.

“What are you talking about?”

“Undress.” Geta ordered him.

“What! No, don't!” You shouted at the slave. He grabbed the end of his tunic, unsure of what to do.

"I'm doing you a favour. Do you really want to ruin everything on your wedding night?"

"A favour?" Is that what you consider to be a favour?” You spoke a little louder than you intended to.

However, Geta didn't seem to care. "I'm not suggesting you sleep with him, but it might be helpful to study the man's body, especially the important parts." He pointed to the young man's pelvis.

You jumped up from the bed, feeling embarrassed, your cheeks burning.

"Thanks, but I don't think that's necessary."

Geta sat up in bed, his eyes twinkling with mischief. "Are you sure? Look at you, your cheeks are all red. You'll certainly faint when you see the General Acacius naked." 

His loud, ringing laugh was the final straw that broke your patience.

"I'm not a virgin!" you exclaimed.

Everyone in the room looked at you in surprise. You felt extremely embarrassed. You turned your back towards them, feeling ashamed to look at their faces.

Geta clapped his hands. "Well, well, well, my sister is not so innocent after all." He approached you. ”Caracalla will be disappointed though. He was thinking of giving you to the Temple of Vesta to become a virgin priestess." He laughed.

You turned towards him. “What?"

"To piss off the General, that's for sure. Anyway, you're not a virgin, so it's not an issue.”

"I don't think that's funny at all,” you said angrily.

"It seems there's more between you and the General than I thought.” Suddenly his face was serious. “Since you trusted him enough to dare to give yourself to him before marriage.”

You averted your gaze from him, not because you felt guilty, but because you didn't want to discuss such intimate matter with him.

He really didn't like your serious face, especially when you looked away from him. He leaned towards you with a playful smile. "But if you'd like to observe anyway, I mean, before the wedding, my body is in great shape. Not as muscular as his, but still."

'Can you please leave my room?' You pointed at the door.

'I understand your pre-wedding nerves and I forgive you, otherwise you can’t treat me like this,' he said smugly. 

“You started it," you murmured.

He seemed relieved. “Have a good night, sister," he giggled, and walked out of the room, his slave following behind him.

Once they were gone, you threw yourself on your bed and sighed deeply. “I hate him.”

Decima and the slave girl were giggling. 

Decima sat on the bed next to you. “I was thinking of talking to you about the wedding night, but I don't think I need to. I mean, since you're not,” she said, her voice trembling. She must be remembering painful memories from that house.

“Decima, I'm so sorry,” you voice cracked.

“No, you don't have to feel sorry for me, please. But can you tell me exactly how far you and the General have gone?" She gave you a suggestive look.

“Well, it happened once, you know.” Your cheeks were starting to flush again.

“So you're still inexperienced, my lady.”

The slave girl opened her eyes wide as you both turned your heads towards her. “I apologise, I was out of line, my lady.”

“How do you mean?”

“She's right,” Decima said. “There is so much for you to learn.”

So it turns out they were right – everything had happened so quickly that night. And you still dreaded the wedding night like a virgin. The last time you remember, he was stopping himself from going any further and was really patient and gentle with you. But you were still feeling like a virgin, not physically for sure, yet emotionally, novice to all the pleasures that the male and female body can experience. Thinking all of these, a new concern arose inside you, the inability to satisfy your husband's expectations as his wife. Like that's all you need, really.

For the rest of your last night in the palace, you were relaxing in the marble tub, breathing in the steamy air mixed with the floral aroma, while Decima's gentle fingers rub your legs. After a few embarrassing conversations, you savoured your last night as unmarried woman, since, from tomorrow you will be a married one. 

As the memories of your time with Marcus came to mind, you wondered when you first fell in love with him. When did it happen? Was it when you first saw him and felt a peculiar attraction? Or was it the first time he touched you? Each time he was kind to you? Perhaps it was when he smiled warmly at you? Or the first time he kissed you? You smiled to yourself. It seemed a little silly to choose between your beautiful memories as if you were entering them in a competition.

You were certain from the first moment you saw Marcus, you loved him. And it grew more and more every day. You suddenly realised how much you had missed him. The last time you saw him, he was talking to Geta and Caracalla about marriage as if it were a strategic issue, and you just watched them. You hadn't even had a chance to talk properly or touch him. 

Once you had finished your bath, you lay down on your bed. Your eyes lingering on your veil, which lay over the armchair next to the small table. As the sweet breeze from the window caressed your hair, you closed your eyes and dreamed of tomorrow.

Wedding day…

In the early hours of the morning, the streets of Rome were filled with a festive atmosphere. A group of people gathered around the Palatine Hill for the wedding of General Acacius and Princess Aurelia, eager to witness the momentous occasion. They patiently awaited the arrival of the carriage carrying the General to the wedding venue, hoping to catch a glimpse of him or the imperial family. 

You opened your eyes slowly and became aware of a number of voices. The first thing you heard was a sound that could be described as shouting. This was followed by a hum, which seemed to be the sound of a crowd, the swallows flying past the window, and then a knock on the door. As you gradually sat up in bed and yawned, Decima entered the room, accompanied by three slave girls carrying your wedding dress. 

“What's all that noise?” you asked Decima as you got out of bed. “Emperor Geta and Caracalla have had an argument I guess.” The slave girls put your dress on the bed.

You looked at her, surprised. “What's the argument about?”

“I'm not sure, but it's nothing to do with you or the wedding. Don't worry.”

“Then you must know why.” You said, eyeing the other girls, noticed that Geta's slave wasn't with them.

“I wasn't going to tell you not to worry about it on your wedding day, but I think Emperor Caracalla took an interest in Emperor Geta's favorite slave and it didn't go down well, so there was tension.” She was helping you undress.

“Is that why she didn't come with you?”

“Would you like me to ask her to come over?” she asked as she helped you into your long white silk tunic.

“No, I don't need to, but I hope she's all right.”

Decima rolled her eyes. “Perhaps you should stop worrying about someone else. Today is an important day for you.” She smiled softly. "You're the bride, remember?"

You giggled and nodded. She was right, but you couldn't help thinking that something might happen to the slave girl because of those two. 

With the assistance of the slave girls, you were nearing the end of your dressing process when Geta arrived a short while later.

He clapped his hands. “Sister, you look gorgeous.” Then he crossed his arms and inhaled deeply. “General Acacius. That lucky bast-.”

“Brother." You silenced him and frowned.

He pursed his lips, suppressing his laughter.

“Why didn't your slave girl come to help me?”

“Because she was busy dressing me,” he pointed to the white toga with gold embroidery he was wearing. 

She arrived at the door a moment later, holding your floral wedding crown. 

“Look, here she is. Come, girl quick!” Geta beckoned her over. “General is about to arrive and it's time to put the veil on.”

“Your highness, first we must put on the belt,” said the slave girl. 

Two of the other girls placed a thin belt around your waist, where the Heracles knot would be tied, and tied it one time. Geta's slave was combing your hair at the same while pinning a few to the sides with hairpins.

“Tie plenty of knots.” Geta grinned. 

You rolled your eyes. “Don't be childish.”

“Your Majesty, if the groom can't untie the knot-“

“I know, it's bad luck,” he grinned again. He was giggling like a child as he tied a few knots in the belt around your waist.

“That's enough!” You pushed his hand away. 

“Looks like the Glorious General Acacius will be trying to undo the knots until morning.” His laughter echoed around the room, and everyone could hardly keep themselves from laughing. You were almost one of them, biting your lip hard not to. 

Before long, you heard footsteps and one of the slaves came into the room, out of breath. “Your Majesty, my lady, General Acacius’ carriage has arrived.”

You felt a sudden rush of butterflies in your stomach when you heard his name. 

“Time for the veil,” Geta ordered the slaves. They draped the long saffron-coloured veil over your head. Decima wrapped the end of the long veil around your arm to keep it from getting tangled around your feet. You grabbed the part hanging from your arm with your hand. The yellowish colour of the veil made it a little difficult for you to see clearly. It was like looking at the sun at sunset, with everything bathed in a yellow glow. You bowed your head a little as Geta's slave placed the flower crown on your head. 

“Wonderful!” Geta smiled and held out his arm to you. “Shall we?” You took a last glance at your room, hesitating for a moment before taking his arm. Decima looked a little sad, so you gestured for her to embrace you, the veil preventing you from moving freely. She came and hugged you, and you felt a little uneasy about leaving her there.

“You know, it's not too late. If you're unsure about... I’ll tell him.”

You gave Geta an aggressive look, despite the veil, you were sure he saw it.

Then you took his arm in a hurry. “We can go now.”

“Impatient, sister?”

You rolled your eyes and felt your long eyelashes brush against the fabric of the veil.

“After all, you’re old. Around twenty-six? I think you're fortunate to have found someone to marry.” He smirked.

"Ha-ha. How funny.”

As you left your chambers, you heard the murmurs of guests coming from the main courtyard. You walked out with short, confident steps. As you descended the stairs, you saw Caracalla standing there. Geta turned his head away from him. Were they sulking at each other?

Caracalla eyed you up and down. “I liked the tempting idea of keeping the General waiting, but the guests will gossip about us,” he chastised you with a laugh. When he held out his arm to you, you looked at him in surprise. “How dare you keep my arm waiting?”

Geta could joke, but Caracalla could do more than that. He could joke and at the same time manage to chastise and sarcasm. You took his arm, despite your initial hesitation. As you walked between the two of them, you looked at their faces out of the corner of your eye. It was a strange but nice feeling.

Soon you found yourself in the main courtyard where you were greeted with applause. It seemed that the guests recognized you from a distance thanks to your yellowish veil. Your eyes searched the crowd for Marcus and were momentarily distracted by the flowers hanging from the upper balcony. But you continued your search with determination.

“Where is mother?” Geta asked.

“I sent her away,” Caracalla snapped.

Geta looked at him angrily. “Are you mad?”

“Stay out of my business.”

“Stop it,” you hissed. “Don't ruin my wedding.”

Geta leaned towards him, whispering behind your back. “This isn't over, brother.”

Whatever had happened between them and wherever Julia had gone, you really didn't care right now. You were too focused on Marcus, who was waiting for you at the altar. He looked magnificent in his white toga virilis, (special toga worn by the groom). Your consciousness was clouded by the exhilaration you felt, and the voices of Geta and Caracalla sounded like grunts to you.

The only thing you really saw was Marcus' face, it filled your vision, for a moment you could think of nothing else. His eyes were a buttery, burning dark brown color, his stunning face was almost severe with the depth of his emotions.  And then, when he meets your gaze, a breathtaking smile appears on his handsome face. 

You felt like you might have fallen from the exhilaration and excitement if it hadn't been for your half-brothers holding your arms. Fortunately, the seemingly endless march was over and there you were, right next to Marcus, your General. 

Flamen Dialis (the high priest of Jupiter) began his speech to preside over the wedding. 

“My emperors, and honored guests, welcome to the wedding of General Marcus Justus Acacius and our Princess Septimia Aurelia Marciana.”

With soft applause from the guests, the slaves brought in a lamb adorned with flowers, its bleating echoing throughout the courtyard.

"Great Juno, Goddess of marriage and fertility, accept this gift of life from the great house of Emperor Publius Septimius Geta and Emperor Lucius Septimius Bassianus Caracalla.”

You chose not to look as the lamb was sacrificed, glad that the veil blocked your view. With a gesture from the high priest, Marcus held out his hand and asked Geta and Caracalla the usual question. 

“My Emperors, do you promise to give me this woman, your sister, as a wife?”

Geta and Caracalla glanced at each other, and then back at Marcus. 

“I promise.”

“Promise.”

They vowed.

You didn't realize you were crying until your tears soaked the fabric of your veil. You blinked, trying to see Marcus' face more clearly. Geta and Caracalla placed your thin hand in Marcus' large, warm palm. As soon as you touched his skin, that familiar feeling blessed you. He stroked all your fingers with his thumb, as if to calm you. The High Priest seemed satisfied and turned to Marcus. "General Marcus Acacius, she is yours.” He announced.

Geta and Caracalla took a few steps back, you took a few steps towards Marcus. He gently lifted the veil from your face and placed it over your head. You smiled with joy as you could see his gorgeous face more clearly. It seemed unbelievable, but this amazing man was now yours and you were his. Marcus took your hand gently and placed the golden wedding band on your fourth finger. You playfully caressed the ring -with the symbol of clasped hands on it- with your pinky finger. Here's one more thing to get used to.

“Seal it with a kiss.” The high priest gave consent.

Marcus gently grasped your shoulders, bent his head towards you and kissed you tenderly, adoringly. In that moment, you forgot everything else: the time, the place, the guests, and the reason you were there. All you remembered was that he loved you, that he wanted you, and that you were his.

“Let's witness the contract!” The high priest raised his arms and the guests applauded.

Marcus and you both broke the kiss with great effort, you even heard someone clearing their throat. You were almost sure it was Geta. Marcus pulled himself back to look at you, seemed amused, a smirk appeared on his face. There were giggles and murmurs coming from the audience, but you refused to look away from his face to see them.

The sweet evening breeze wafted gently around the Domus Severiana, carrying with it the sounds of a small crowd enjoying a wedding banquet under the soft lights. Marcus was conversing with Octavius in the vicinity of the fountain, while you were sitting in the fancy seat that had been reserved for you and Marcus, next to the imperial seats of Geta and Caracalla. Your half-brothers barely spoke to each other during the banquet, their mother Julia was nowhere to be seen, but nobody seemed to care. Macrinus, however, was looking at you out of the corner of his eye when he was talking to Geta. When he finished talking to him, he came over and smiled at you.

"My lady, I would like to congratulate you."

"Thank you, sir."

"I wish you and General Acacius every happiness."

You looked away. "I see Sir Gaius was not able to attend." 

A thoughtful expression crossed Macrinus' face as he realized the implication in your voice. 

"He asked me to convey his sincerest congratulations to you.”

"I'm not sure, I don't think he's sincere.”

"I beg your pardon, my lady?" He leaned a little closer

"I wonder if you were aware of his plans?" You shook the glass in your hand, your eyes fixated on the movement of the wine in it.

Macrinus cast a quick glance at his fellow emperors and leaned towards you.

“Can you please explain how you mean?”

“He told me a little about the plan for the throne, almost in a threatening tone,” you replied. Then you looked at him in the eye. ‘You didn't know?’

Marcus saw you two looking at each other with serious faces, so he frowned and ended his conversation with Octavius. Macrinus' face was hard to read. Whatever he was feeling, he was hiding it well. You were determined to solve him though.

"Whatever Sir Gaius has said, my lady, I can have no such thoughts,  I am at the service of your brothers, and of you too, surely.”

“There is no need for that, Sir Macrinus.” You were startled by Marcus's harsh voice. He stepped between the two of you, protectively, right in front of you, his shadow falling across your face.

“As her husband, I am the one who must look after my wife, Lady Aurelia, and I am grateful for your services thus far.” Marcus spoke with a tone that brooked no argument.

Macrinus smiled. “Of course, General Acacius, congratulations again, now, if you excuse me.” He turned and strode to the other side of the hall.

When Marcus turned back to you, he looked concerned. He sat down beside you and leaned in. “Did he say something to bother you?”

You shook your head. “No, he just congratulated me.”

Marcus raised an eyebrow.

“It's nothing to worry about, really,” you smiled at him.

He put his arm around you, "We'll talk about this later." His free hand went straight for the food on the table. “Did you eat enough?” He stuffed a grape into your mouth. “You'll need your strength for tonight.” 

You almost choked on the grape as he smiled crookedly. 

Geta's loud laughter startled you. When you looked at him, his favourite slave was feeding him some food too. Caracalla was also very busy romantically with his own slave. When you turned to Marcus, he was staring at you under his eyebrows. There was desire in those brown eyes that melted like butter and made your throat go dry. 

Then Marcus's face turned serious as their laughter continued. He turned his head and looked at your emperor half-brothers. “I think that's enough of the banquet.” He looked back at you with a soft expression this time. “Is my beautiful bride ready to go to her husband's house?” He gripped your hand tightly.

'Husband' word made you giggle. “I am very ready, General.”

He smiled and kissed the top of your hand then stood up, pulling you with him.

“It seems our happy couple have decided to take their leave,” Geta noticed you two. 

“With your permission, your highness,” Marcus nodded.

The slow music picked up to match the pace of the ceremony, which marked the bride's departure to her new home. In keeping with tradition, Marcus grabbed you by the legs, threw you over his shoulder, and ran across the courtyard towards the gate, carrying you outside. The guests watched this cheerful moment with laughter and applause.

While Marcus was carrying you over his shoulder, you tried to look around, but all you could see was your veil sweeping the floor. As he stepped out of the main gate, you were met with a surprise: applause and the sound of your own name being called. Marcus set you down. The crowd chanted both your names. They threw you rose petals, and you smiled and greeted them. The guests inside, Geta and Caracalla, had followed you, also greeted them. One of the slaves handed Geta a bowl full of red rose petals, which he proceeded to shower over your head. His earlier mood had been far more cheerful, but now he was serious. It was as if he was sad, but it was hard to be sure. Caracalla folded his arms, not bothering to touch the rose petals. You were taken off guard when Geta suddenly hugged you. You felt Marcus tense next to you. Geta looked at Marcus with an air of command. “Take good care of my sister, Acacius. Or there will be consequences.”

It was common knowledge that he was an emperor who liked to issue threats and give orders, and Marcus was aware of this, but no one was used to seeing him do it to protect someone else. It was clear that there had always been tension between them, but there was something different in the way they looked at each other, something you could hardly make sense of. 

Marcus grabbed your hand and looked at Geta with a sharp gaze. “Lady Aurelia is now my wife and under my care, she will be well looked after, you can be sure of that, your highness.”

Geta pursed his lips as if thinking about something. “Well then, you can go,’ he said then, pointing to the carriage.

“Be gentle with her, won't you?” Caracalla laughed hard.

Of course, shameless jokes were part of the tradition and your brothers were the experts at it.

Geta smirked. “Good luck,” he said, gesturing with his hands to his own waist, alluding to the belt around yours. 

You rolled your eyes at him and got into the carriage with Marcus's help. He lifted your veil as you got in and helped you to sit down. He called over Octavius and had a quick word with him. You were curious about what they were talking about, but you couldn't hear it clearly over the music and the crowd. When Octavius left, he came into the carriage and sat down beside you. He ordered the coachman to get the horses moving.

As the carriage moved, he held your hand and placed it in his. He traced the outline of the ring on your finger with his thumb. Then he lifted your hand and kissed each finger. You heard another carriage moving just behind yours. You turned your head and lifted the curtain with your free hand to look out.

“Another carriage?”

“I believe it's an imperial dowry,” he said sarcastically.

You looked at him, confused.

“Your brothers are sending you lots of clothes and jewellery,” he explained.

“Must be Geta.” You thought so.

“They have no boundaries when it comes to spending coins.”

You chose to remain silent because he was right.

“Still,” he grasped your chin gently and turned your face towards him. “My beautiful wife deserves it all.”

Before you could react, he kissed you passionately. His arms wrapped around your waist, and you felt his impatience. You inhaled his masculine scent and felt a moistness between your legs. Gods, why does this road never seem to end? You thought.

Villa…

By the time the two carriages drew close to the General's villa, the sun had finished its work for the day and was beginning to set. As he left, the sky darkened, and the moon rose soon after. The moon was bright and illuminated the night, almost as bright as the sun, especially tonight.

When the carriage finally arrived, Marcus stepped down and offered you his hand. You took his hand with a smile, but you had forgotten the veil you had wrapped around your arm and you stumbled on the steps. Marcus wrapped his arms around you and put you down effortlessly. Like you were a little girl. 

Octavius had already got out of the other carriage and came over to greet you. You turned your head to look at the other carriage. You were astounded to see Decima standing there, smiling. 

“But how?” You looked at her in surprise.

"Your wedding present, part of your dowry." Marcus explained. “I asked Emperor Geta to give her to your service, and he agreed.”

“Marcus, I don't know what to say. I'm so grateful.” 

He smiled in response, then took your hand and led you to the courtyard entrance of the villa. “Now we have to complete the ceremony. Are you ready?”

The ritual of entering your new home was a Roman custom that was not very common in Egypt. As a result, you were not familiar with this part of the ceremony, yet Geta's slave had informed you of a few details.

“Please guide me.”

He gave a nod. When you got to the door, all the General's slaves were waiting for you there. Two slaves were holding torches at the front. As you passed through, you noticed Norell and Tullia and wanted to give them a hug, but they were looking at you a little solemnly. Right, the ritual wasn't over yet. They both lifted you up and carried you over the threshold. You walked to the centre of the courtyard and realised how much you missed this place. It looked a little different than usual with the lighting and decorations, but you were home.

Marcus stood right in front of you. Norell handed him lucerna (an oil lamp), Tullia a jug with water in it, the symbol of life.  You took them from his hands carefully and, with his gesture, you raised them up for all to see. The slaves applauded softly, and you smiled. Then Norell and Tullia took them back from you. Marcus approached you and whispered, 'You know what to say here, don't you?’

You gave a little nod. It was a sentence you'd run through in your mind a few times already.

“Ubi tu Marcus ego Marca, where you are Marcus, I am Marca.”

He responded “Ubi tu Marca, ego Marcus, where you are Marca, I am Marcus.”

And the contract was fully signed, you were officially his wife. 

“Welcome home, my wife Aurelia,” he said with a warm smile.

It was like music to your ears to hear your own name come out of his mouth with the word ‘wife’.

"Welcome, Domina,” the slaves greeted you.

You smiled at them, and as Norell smiled back at you, you wanted to go over to talk to her, but Marcus' expression almost changed with the emotions he was feeling. He grabbed your hand and pulled you to the stairs leading to his room, or rather your room now. You could feel his impatience in the way he touched you. Your heart thudded audibly against your ribs, and your breath seemed to get stuck in your throat. 

He closed the door firmly behind you two. You could feel his eyes on you, but you refused to look at him. What was this sudden nervousness all about? You looked at his bed and saw the rose petals that had been sprinkled on it. Then, he rushed forward to snatch you into his arms, taking your breath away. You giggled, “Did you miss me?”

What a silly question, Marcus thought.

"Yes," he growled, and pulled you hard against him. "I can't think of nothing but you. Dreaming this moment was the only thing that kept me patient." Marcus's strong arms were wrapped around your waist, pressing himself against you. When he felt you tense under your dress, he reacted with a slight frown. 

“Why are you so tense? You made it through the first time well.” He brushed his lips against yours. “If I remember correctly, you liked my kiss?” His kiss was forceful, deep, overwhelming. He had got that wrong, he realized dazedly. He was the one who liked your kiss.  More than liked.  He loved it. He was radiating a strange intensity today. You could feel it under his lips; he was screaming his longing to you through them.

He slid his hand to your thigh. “I remember you liked my touch too,” now he was touching you where you wanted him most. You bit your lip. He grinned as he felt the moisture forming beneath the fabric. “I see you want me, but I want to know what makes you nervous.”

You swallowed hard, unsure of how to tell him how you felt. 

“Are you afraid of me?” His voice was so soft.

You met his eyes. “No Marcus, I'm - I'm afraid what if I cannot satisfy you or please you as your wife.”

Marcus's smile was broad, cheerful. You blinked your eyes as you looked at him in confusion 

“You will learn, my love.”

He ran his fingers up your arms, caressing your shoulders, your collarbone, your chin, “We’ll both be learning each other’s likes,” then took your face in his hands, "Each time,” he smirked, his gaze dropping to your lips. He kissed your lips softly. His mouth was hot and sweet on your own.

Marcus broke the kiss to remove the veil from your head. It was getting in the way of his arms around you and feeling your skin. He placed it on the edge of the bed, a little hastily. When he came back, he took your hands and put them on his shoulders, just above the shawl on his white toga.“Will you do as my wife?”

“Sure.” You took hold of Marcus's plain white shawl and slowly removed it from his shoulder, then waist. He now wears only his plain white tunic. You placed it on the bed neatly. You gasped as his hands wrapped around you from behind. He kissed the nape of your neck gently but needily.

“Turn around to look at me.”

You did as he said. His hands went to your belt, his smile fading as he realised the knots. It was exactly the reaction you thought he'd have.

“Why did you tie so many knots?”

“Apologies.” You bit your lower lip.

"He did this, didn't he?" He narrowed his eyes. He grunted when he saw the answer in your expression. "He always manages to annoy me.”

Marcus untied one of the knots patiently, but there seemed to be more. While he was untying it, your eyes drifted across the room to Marcus' leather armour. Next to it was his sword and then you noticed the item that you thought might be useful. Marcus' pugio (a dagger used by Roman soldiers as a sidearm).

“This belt represents virginity, right?”

Marcus answered without looking at you, determined to untie the knots. “Yes?” Suddenly, he stopped and looked up. He met your gaze, following the path of your eyes. He turned his head in that direction.

“So I'm not a virgin after all. I mean…"

He laughed when he realised the implication in your voice. “I'm all ears.”

“Can't you just cut it off?”

“Gods must have blessed me with an intelligent wife.”

He took his pugio, unsheathed it and came over to you. “Stay still.”

You nodded and swallowed, wondering why this turned you on so much. Marcus grabbed your endlessly knotted belt with one hand and pulled, almost staggering you. With the other hand, holding his pugio, he cut your belt in one swift motion. You were startled when you felt the sharp surface of the dagger just slightly under the fabric. But it was over in a flash.

Marcus threw the belt on the floor. "There's nothing holding us back now.” He hurriedly put the pugio back in its sheath. And in the blink of an eye, you were in his arms again. You trembled with ecstasy in the dress which freed from the tightness provided by the belt. Marcus's impatient hands grasped the fabric of the dress at your shoulders, perhaps a little roughly, and skilfully undressed you. The dress fell to the floor, pooling around your feet.

“Undress me,” he demanded. Unlike his impatient hands, yours were slow, yet eager. You grasped the hem of Marcus' tunic in your clumsy hands, lifted it up and pulled it over his head, allowing it to fall to the floor.

As you looked at his bare chest, your eyes drifted to where he was last injured, and you looked at him as you stroked it with your hand. "It's not healed yet. I'll have to make some ointment.”

He grabbed you around the waist and pulled you hard against him.

“Do that later, now focus on the other thing I need you to heal.”

You looked away, and before you could turn your chin, he grabbed it in his hand.

“Wrap your arms around me,” he commanded.

You obey, feeling him between your thighs, growing, making you swallow loudly.

“Run your fingers through my hair,” he said, looking into your eyes. You already liked touching his hair so much, was he reading your mind? Marcus's breathing grew heavier as you ran your fingers through his curly, dark, partly gray hair. He grabbed your hips, lifting you slightly onto his lap. His strength was a huge turn on for you, feeling the way he was easily able to pick you up. Walking with your legs wrapped around his waist he carries you there and lifting you off of him. He laid you down on the bed carefully and then watched you. You felt the soft touch of rose petals against your skin yet didn’t care. You literally felt his eyes roaming over, from you hips up to your waist up to your breasts, and your cheeks surely turned red than they already were. But you didn't feel exposed. In a way it felt liberating to let him see you because you didn't have the urge to hide yourself from him anymore. The eager expression on his face made you feel beautiful and wanted. And then he kissed your neck, which felt even better, and you turned your head to the side to offer him more skin to kiss. He swirled his tongue on the skin behind your ear, causing you to moan. He continued working across your neck with his tongue, then pecked your earlobe and then moved to your mouth. He crushed his lips to yours. He felt your hands as you press against his back, clasping him to yourself. You ran your hands over his broad shoulders as he kissing you with unbridled passion, his lips moving over yours with a hunger you had never experienced before. Marcus was already healed when he felt your fingers caressing his wounds. The feel of your bare skin against his is beyond compare. It is absolutely glorious.

The moment he forcefully parts both of your legs with his knee, you look up at him wide-eyed. His face is intense, and you know soon he’ll take you. You don’t want him to stop, but can’t help to tense. You fight against his hold but it is as though you're fighting a marble statue.

Marcus looks down at you sternly. His voice becomes commanding. 

“Aurelia, if you could just relax, we've done it before, this time it won't hurt,” He whispers into your ear. You did what he said and let him take you. Your immobile under his control, extremely turned on. 

“I wish to please you,” he says, his hot breath caresses you belly. He slowly runs his hand downwards, reaching that intimate, soaked place between your legs that he has touched before. A satisfied groan builds in his throat. “Hmm. So responsive.”

A deft finger circles a sensitive spot gently and you bit your lip hard, feels good. You feel the need to writhe in response, but his weight is holding you down, unyielding.

He enters you with two fingers and his hand is so big that each time his finger is in, his palm presses your most sensitive spot. He curls his finger, massaging another extremely sensitive spot inside you. And finally, he puts his mouth close to that area and touches it with his tongue, while he caresses your breasts with both hands then pushing his tongue back in against your clit, then sucks, consuming you, relentlessly. You can’t suppress your whimper. And groaning loudly. He looks up at you. He was determined to watch you come and the closer you got to climax the heavier your breathing became. 

"Marcus," you moaned again. “P-please.”

He smirked watched your face contort and kept at it, licking and sucking, devouring you while your legs started to shake beneath you. Soon you reached the climax and felt as if you had ascended to the sky. Marcus kissed you repeatedly around your belly, proud of the feeling he had caused. He had a smile of triumph on his face, but now his body had become more impatient. 

“Now wrap your legs around me,” he was stroking your legs. You did as he said, already craving him more than you ever wanted him, your body squirming to be his. In a swift movement he grabs your hips and pulls you down and his full length is inside you. You moan and your breath hits against his chest. Your nails dig into the back of his neck, breathing harshly. You didn't expect it to happen so quickly, but this time it didn't hurt at all, maybe because it was too wet, dripping wet.

You weren’t with him for this part, but he was acutely aware of you every shaky breath. Somehow, despite his pleasure, he found himself moderating his thrusts without too much effort. True, he had to squeeze his eyes shut to concentrate.  The feel of you around him was like nothing else.  It was strange how aware he felt of the clench of your fingers at his back as he luxuriated in the tight, silky clasp of you. How often he felt compelled to press his lips to yours. 

When he felt his brow begin to bead with sweat, he groaned and told himself his exertions had gone on long enough. He needed to withdraw.  You don’t need to, a voice whispered in his head that sounded very like his own. She’s your wife, yours. He looked at your face to confirm, determined not to lose his self-control and cause you pain. Fortunately, he saw that you were far from suffering. He smiled confidently, thinking how beautiful you looked right now. He could see it in your face, so when he hardened his movements a little, he realized that you were moaning with pleasure. A smile of triumph spread across Marcus' face as you screamed his name over and over. His thrusts are becoming quicker now, but still not too quickly, and you know you will climax simultaneously.

You close your eyes and moan as you feel yourself begin the ascent to your orgasm. He is moaning as well, then he pushes himself as deeply into you as he can, triggering his climax. As you feel him throb inside you, filling you completely with his seed, you come hard, your moan becomes a howl, and Marcus presses his mouth to yours, causing your body to twist into lovely shivers.

He slides his tongue into your mouth and strokes yours with his, extending both your climaxes. Moaning into each other's mouths, you don't want this feeling to end, and you're certain he feels the same. As you ease down from your respective highs, Marcus breaks your kiss and looks admiringly into your half-closed eyes and smiles through heavy breathing.

"I can't believe how stunning, amazing you are," he whispered, running his fingers through your hair. “I love you Aurelia, my beautiful wife.” 

You smiled at his kind words.

“I love you too, Marcus.”

Both of you naked in our post-coital bliss, a military man buried inside you, the General, now your husband. You think it was the most romantic wedding night you could imagine. Not because he's so handsome and charming despite his age. But because he's your Marcus, he's perfect.

When he finally pulls out, it hurts, but only emotionally. You already miss the fiery connection between your bodies. He kisses you again and pulls you against his chest, wrapping his arm around you, as if he's trying to stop you from running away. You smile, he must have remembered what you did last time. He places his chin on the top of your head, your nose close enough to touch his neck, your nose caressing his jugular vein. 

The warm breeze whispers through the window, blowing out the oil lamp and allowing the bright moonlight to bathe your naked bodies in its glow. Once the sounds of love have ceased, you find yourself surrounded by the gentle chirping of crickets, the soft howl of an owl, and the calming rhythm of Marcus' breathing. After a while, your eyelids gently close, and you drift off to sleep, caged and imprisoned by his arms.

The Dream...

The moonlight was all you could see, blocking out everything else. The soft wind caresses your skin, causing you to shiver, but you are not cold. You ask yourself why you are shivering. Your feet, your hands – where were they? Everything was blurred. You opened and closed your eyes, your heart racing in your chest. But why? You open and close your eyes once more. Your hands are there, but your feet are off the ground.  You open and close your eyes once more. This time, the light dims, and you can see around you. You are relieved. You thought you were blind a moment ago.

But the relief doesn't last long because you remember where you are. You were here before. This meadow, this wind, this sky. "Save him." And that chilling whisper. You flinch and gasp as the owner of the voice suddenly appears. The goddess appears in front of you, her white skin glimmering like diamonds. This time, she doesn't resemble you. She draws closer, and when you recognize her face, you fall to your knees. This time, she allows you to feel the grass and flowers. Is it because she pity you?

'Mother?' your voice trembles. You've never seen her before, only her statue, in the tomb in the Domus Severiana. She is beautiful, in a way that is difficult to describe.

'Save him,' the same tone, with a hint of urgency and a touch of pleading.

You get up on your knees and look at her, ‘I did it, Mother, I saved him.’ 

Unsatisfied with your answer, she turns away, strolling in a circle among the grass. You're certain she'll pick another herb to give to you like she did last time. But no, she grabbed something from the grass, and when she lifted it up you jumped backwards for your dear life. 

‘Don't be afraid, child,’ she whispered. 

The viper she held in her hand was torn into many pieces and spread out through the grass, then into the soil. What? Why? How? You felt like you were losing your mind. 'He will need you, Rome will need you,’ she whispered again, ringing, echoing in your ears. Rome? Him? This overwhelming, all-consuming dream didn't allow you to speak or think clearly. He was your sole focus, and you made the conscious decision to ask questions for him, even if it meant losing your mind.

'Save him from what, mother? Please…” your voice cracked, you were panting, heavily breathing.

Without batting an eyelash, she grabbed your hands and lifted you up on your feet. Her eyes were fixed on yours, as if she could read your mind.

"You already know.” Her voice sharp. 

This time, she turned around, and her hair danced in the warm wind. You shook your head in defiance, demanding to know more. She reads your mind again. "Think, Aurelia."

In a gust of wind, the grass and flowers on the ground were uprooted, plucked, and gathered around your mother's silhouette. It was incredible, overwhelming, and it consumed all of your senses. You rushed towards her, but she had already disappeared among them as if caught in a whirlwind. Your feet were no longer on the meadow with green grass and flowers. Instead, you were on a dirt field, and you felt abandoned. No more moonlight, no more wind, only dirt ground. No more her. With her voice echoing in your ears for the last time, crushing your soul, blowing your mind last time, your dream was about to end.

'Think.'

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[hellsslibrary]

⁺˚*･༓☾When you open a book, you start to see interesting events, but I would prefer to open you.☽༓･*˚⁺

#a/n!! : sorry, lol...

DNI: Minors(You will be blocked, kittens).

!! Warnings: play with breasts, sex without preparation, pet names, riding, praise, teasing, the reader talks on... very interesting topics, yeah.

A sigh leaves your mouth when you put down the next book you read on the table in front of you. Your back is reclining on the soft back of the huge chair of your boyfriend, who holds the post of temporary Grand Sage of the University of Sumeru. You sigh softly once more, shifting your gaze to the right, watching his figure choosing some book.

"Haitham, honey, I'm bored... " he takes a quick look at you and just shakes his head.

"You agreed to help me with my work today," he replies, to which you just snort.

"That's right, that I came to help YOU with WORK, and not to read the 7th book in a few hours. Is this the work of the Grand Sage? Judging by your judgments, it was more difficult," you reflect, and he comes to a chair with a book.

"I just don't have much work today, today is the first day of the month," he replies. - "Now stop being a child and get off the chair."

You just smile at him and tap your laps. He sighs in despair, but sits down. Then he fidgets for a few seconds, trying to get comfortable, and then leans back on your chest, opening the book and starting to read it.

Your hands, in a completely non-sexual sense, slide over his knees, rising higher, outlining every inch of his thigh muscles. He fleetingly looks down at your hands, but immediately returns to reading, although he was well aware that in a few minutes he would obviously not be doing it.

You start kissing and slightly biting his bare neck, now without the wire from the headphones, because he takes them off with you. He sighs fitfully and a barely noticeable blush appears on his cheeks when you touch a particularly sensitive part of his neck.

"[Your name], what are you, uh, doing?" - he asks quietly, trying to focus on the text that is blurring in front of him.

"Well, Haitham, I've read most of the books that are here," you finally get to his cherished place and grab him there, feeling that he is already a little harder.

"Is there really not a single interesting book that can interest you?" - he asks defiantly, looking back at you a little.

"Mmm, no. I'd rather open you than a book... Now," you grin, and he just grunts.

He puts the book down and then turns over to sit facing yours. His hands rest on your shoulders, wrapping around them and around your neck, pulling you closer. You can feel his warm breath when he looks into your eyes.

They scan you until his breathing becomes ragged, when you begin fleeting movements of your hips against his. He slightly digs into the fabric of your jacket, squeezing it between his fingers, burying himself in your shoulder. He moans when he feels your semi-hard cock rubbing against his.

Goosebumps run down your back when he exhales into your neck, blowing hot air over it.

"Stop teasing, damn it..." - he whispers, already pulling off his upper part of his clothes.

You just laugh, but slightly push his figure away from you and also begin to undress. He jumps off your lap when he takes off his clothes from above completely and starts taking off his boots and trousers with underwear.

Your gaze slowly glides over his toned figure while you fumble with the belt of your trousers. Over his beautiful chest tits, his arms, a relief torso, a v-shaped line, going down to his hard cock and legs slightly shaking with anticipation.

You pull down your trousers and immediately pull the elastic band of your underwear down, pulling off both items, and throwing them somewhere behind your back. He immediately sits back down with impatience, wrapping his arms around your neck and pulling your head into a dirty kiss full of only teeth, saliva and tongues.

He lifts himself up on your knees, your dick is slides between his buttocks, which makes you slightly move away with a slight groan of incomprehension.

"Wait, Haitham, without preparation?" - you ask, although you understand him, you would also like to fuck him right like that, but his comfort is the first thing.

"Yes, it's just... Just please, come on already, put it in," he whispers, pulling you to him one more time.

You take him by the hips and guide him to your cock, and then slowly insert your dick into him while he puts his head on your shoulder and hisses with pain and stretching. You slowly start rubbing his back when he takes you completely, and with the other you stroke his nipple, making him whine very softly.

His fingers press harder into your flesh, leaving red marks there that will later become scratches. You can feel his eyelashes fluttering on your skin, feeling how this place is getting slightly wet from impending tears.

"Move," he says, swinging his hips very easily from left to right.

You take his hips with one hand, and you still hold the other on his chest. You start guiding him along your dick and his body starts jumping up and down.

A slapping sound fills the room after a few minutes when the ash-haired man himself starts jumping on you while your hands just lie on his chest, stroking it, making him moan. Your hands gently slide over his body, briefly squeezing his chest or waist.

And then they go lower.

"Alhaitham, have I ever told you what a juicy figure you have?" - you ask, squeezing his ass, pulling the moo out of him.

"You tell me that, oh shit, every time we have sex, you know? Mghm..." - he throws his head back when he feels a quick climax.

"Do you want to cum, handsome?" - he actively nodded his head when his jumps became inaccurate and not smooth. - "Then cum like a good boy, huh? "

Well, well, he doesn't need to be told twice. The moan of your name escapes from his chest when he comes, covering your and his breasts with white threads. He takes a few more jumps, experiencing his high, and then settles down, putting his head on your shoulder.

"Wait a second..." - you nod, squeezing his ass and humming thoughtfully.

"But this time I really thought seriously. Which is better your ass or tits? That is, what I can say and that is just excellent to the touch, I can squeeze and push them apart, and also fuck ..." - you sigh in disappointment.

"What an idiot you are sometimes... Even worse than Kaveh."

"Did he ever ask the same questions?" - you ask as your hands slide over his body. - "But okay, now I guess we'll figure out which is better."

"How?" - he asks, no longer foreshadowing anything good, hearing your playful tone.

He gasps in surprise when you put him on the table and hover over him.

"I'll see what makes you more sensitive. When I fuck you or play with your breasts, that's what we'll find out, " - you start your movements again, this time lowering your head on his chest, and he just whines in resignation, foreshadowing a long sex session.

[meruz]

sorry if this has been asked before, but i wanted to ask about your lineart! the weight and line economy are just so nice, i get stars in my eyes looking at your lineart and doodles. could i ask what your approach to lineart is and what tips you might offer?

Wow I love these questions - Line is so interesting!!! It's a really big topic so I feel like any tips I give will be just barely scratching the surface. It's like deceptively simple...any given line drawing is essentially taking all the information we glean from seeing something irl ie light, shadow, dimension, texture, perspective, etc and boiling it down to the simplest possible visual information.

I think most commonly my line is informed by light source so like. thicker more continuous lines face away from the light and thinner more broken lines towards. and a lot of my spot blacks r simply cast shadows.

here's a more extreme example

BUT like everything to do with art there's no hard and fast rules. I use blacks when I think it'll be effective or interesting and I leave them out when I don't need em. umm couple things I find myself doing a lot... using spot blacks to make the separation between characters clearer. I like casting shadow in between characters so its easy to separate and read their silhouettes even when they're mashed together.

u can go even further to purposely create a silhouette like

to draw attention to a finger or tongue LOL. There's some comic book artists who are absolute masters at this type of stylization. Alex toth and his spiritual successor Chris samnee come to mind for me right away.

(toth)

(samnee)

I feel like I'm also often using line weight to separate planes receding in space

im naturally a really heavy handed and scribbly drawer(...?) draftsman. and im nearsighted so when i see things i percieve and break it down into big shapes over thin contours. so stuff like spot blacks and shadows came easy to me, the tricky part was making the rest of the lines lighter when they needed to be so the blacks could actually have impact LOLL. a lot of effective visual communication is about balancing contrasts. like I had to really train myself to press less hard on the pen. I think this is actually really evident if u go back in my archive to older sketches LOL

I actually feel like a lot of how I trained my hand to tackle line weights was thru stuff like hand lettering where you rly have to focus on being sensitive to that kind of thing.. contrasting strokes etc.

also exercises like figure drawing will have you flexing those muscles constantly

I'm starting to just regurgitate lessons from freshman year of art school so I'll stop here with the demos but yeah...I hope this was helpful!? I love line!!! I want to get even better at line work so I can feel confident posting work that's only line no color or value... I'll leave you with a bunch of artists who I think have particularly expressive and beautiful linework (not including toth and samnee who I already mentioned and who's work I love so much). You can probably learn much more from them than you can from me...!

Charles dana gibson LOL

Matias bergara

tonci zonjic

naoki urasawa

Daniel warren johnson

shiyoon kim

michel breton

also yoji shinkawa, tomer hanuka, leo romero, I feel like I'm gonna post this and think of so many more. there's so many good artists...!

[cripplecharacters]

hi! I have a character with a facial difference (burn scars over a large chunk of their lower face from an incident as a very small child, it's not particularly important and therefore I haven't really shaped it out other than they've had the burns since as early as they can remember) and I'm a little worried about them and my general casts' disability rep. They're the only character with a physical difference so far (recently realized that and I'm disappointed with myself so I'll fix that), and the WIP they're in is urban fantasy, so they're a siren (they have gills and they're like. Everyone's bi awakening, plus they just have a fucking rad voice). They're not a main character, but they're the partner of one of the main supporting cast and although I'm not sure whether or not they actually appear in the story (they probably will) their boyfriend shows them off like dog owners show off pet pictures (based on how I am irl with my best friend) and the POV character(s) mention that they're really, really pretty. I'm trying to not focus on the scarring much as to not fetishize it, but I also want to make it clear that their scarring only enhances their beauty and its not a 'oh they'd be so pretty if not for the scars' thing- they're gorgeous, and so are their scars. Is it an issue to have my only character so far with facial differences have their looks focused on like that?

Hi!

Personally, I like it! I'm a fan of describing facial differences and the people who have them as gorgeous, handsome, beautiful, cute, what have you. It's a nice change of pace from the usual adjectives :-)

Fetishizing it would be if they had a not-so-realistic scar (e.g. just a color change to red or something) and no physical symptoms at all - but if you avoid that, you should be good. I would recommend simply looking at how real life scars look like (they vary a lot - maybe it's just the texture, maybe she's missing a part of her jaw), and checking out this post on burn scar care.

I think that the concept of her partner showing her off is very cute, it's certainly not something I see happen with characters with FD often (or at all, TBH). I also appreciate a character who had the trauma happen a long time ago - this definitely helps with not fetishizing it, I feel like it's a greatly underrepresented thing.

I agree that adding more physically/visibly disabled characters would be a good idea (it always is!) - if you have any questions regarding that, feel free to send another ask!

I hope this helps :-)

mod Sasza

[irisintheafterglow]

Hello!! Hope you’re well :) I absolutely love the way you write zoro ..!!! 🫶 you write him perfectly 💞 it brings a lot of comfort !

If your requests are open, is it okay to ask for a short fic or a headcannon list (however you wanna write it!) of zoro and a sad drunk reader? Like, they don’t drink a whole lot, only cuz they don’t trust them selves with it.. but they’re so comfortable with him they give it a try- to both of their surprises, there’s lots of… drunk crying and blabbles… how would zoro react to that?

Hope it’s not to much - thank you and stay awesome, don’t forget to take care of you and thanks for all the great fics you write 🫶💚

...but you can make me a drink

cw: swearing, alcohol, angst and feelings but mostly fluff

note: thank you so much for the love aww <33 this is so cute and i had so much fun writing this. i'm so glad you like my zoro stuff, i hope you like this too!

likes, reblogs, and replies are always appreciated <3 thank you for your support!

"i really don't remember the last time i was this wasted."

"you're wasted already? that didn't take very long," you giggle deliriously, stretching out on the ledge of zoro's window with a dangerously sweet bottle of bad ideas in your hand. "here i thought the great pirate hunter was a heavyweight."

"i am," he protests from across from you, eyelids heavy and struggling to stay awake. "i just got outclassed." his admission sends another wave of tired chuckles through your body and you take another sip of your drink. "you doing okay?"

"i'm good. thank you for helping me with this." your eyes meet his over the rim of your bottle and you swear his ears turn the slightest shade of pink. "i really appreciate it, more than you'll ever know."

"it's whatever. you know i like any excuse to drink my problems away," he drawls absentmindedly. "plus, if it means you finally stop working your ass off, that's a bonus." it was his idea to have a drink together after a particularly taxing mission, one where alcohol was calling your name but you didn't have the courage to drink in front of your friends just yet. the last time you drank until you blacked out like your crewmates wanted to do, you ended up in some very sticky situations that you never wanted to risk getting into again. so, when zoro suggested that you have a drink with only him where he could keep an eye on you, it seemed like a good idea.

it was a good idea, until the tears started flowing.

"you know, i haven't felt this comfortable with anyone since i left my old crew," you admit, already feeling the long-repressed emotions starting to bubble to the surface.

"why not?"

"it's what i've learned. no one, no matter how many promises they make, is ever permanent. i've learned to live with that, but it doesn't mean it hurts less when you do end up losing them." you don't register your face becoming wet until he reaches out and wipes a stray tear from your cheek, forcing you to look up at him. he'd never looked so beautiful. "i hope i never lose you," you whisper and his eyes can't seem to find a place to focus on your face.

"i hope i never lose you, either," he says just as softly. his eyebrows furrow slightly as you continue to cry in his room, against his hand, while wearing his clothes. neither of you anticipated a night of drinking to end in so many emotions; yet, he couldn't think of any other place he'd rather be than with you so close. "it's fucking exhausting, isn't it?"

"mhmm," you agree, dabbing the corner of his eye with your sleeve to catch some more unexpected tears. "we can't make any promises, can we?"

"nope, but i can make you another drink."

"sounds amazing. help me forget this ever happened, zoro?"

"i'll do anything you require of me, sweetheart."

if you enjoy my writing and would like to support me, you can buy me a coffee on my ko-fi! you can also check out my full masterlist here :)

[follows-the-bees]

Camera angles and framing foreshadow the end of Sacrifice

Having just watched Sacrifice again (my favorite of the finales) I need to break down how the camera is used as foreshadowing of what's gonna happen as well as shows the inner emotions of the characters — particularly their humanity.

Crowley

At first, the shots with Crowley and the brothers are equal, the camera is level with them as they talk about the contract in the scrap yard. But as soon as the brothers get the upper hand, the angle changes, showing Dean has the power with a tilt up. Crowley is shot from above, over Dean's shoulder.

The camera is used differently on Crowley as he becomes more human during the last trial. We first see establishing shots — Crowley, a demon, is in a church! But as Crowley becomes more human, the camera gets closer to him, a demon in a church no longer the focus. Rather, it zones in on Crowley's face, his — human — emotions. During the scene where Crowley talks about his feelings, the frame holds onto all of those emotions on his face.

Sam

Just like how the camera changes with Crowley during the trial, the same happens with Sam. The camera starts out in medium shots, even and Sam is standing next to Dean.

But as the trial continues and Sam gets closer to death, the camera moves in and upward. We see more of the roof of the church, towards the heavens, cause in Sam's mind, he is purifying himself, he can be accepted into heaven instead of the hell he spent years in.

The closer and the more the camera tilts up during the trial, the more we see into Sam's headspace, until ultimately Sam tells Dean exactly why he wants to complete the trial — this deep down mindset that he was never pure, never worthy.

Cas

Throughout the episode, the camera often tips down on Castiel and the other angels, foreshadowing their fall from heaven.

I'm at the gif limit but when Cas is shown in the "surgery" table, the camera shoots down, making Cas looks small, while Metatron is shot from Cas' angle, showing the power dynamic and betrayal.

The theme of being human runs throughout this episode. Crowley and Cas, the two main celestial beings closest to the Winchesters, are human by the end of the episode, their power stripped from them involuntarily. Another angel who tries to help them, is killed and the main antagonist gets revenge by taking away EVERYONE'S angelic powers. The theme of humanity, whether chosen or forced, is loud.

Dean and Cas

Dean's story this episode very much revolves around the people around him. He hears Sam's side of things, his mindset, in the intimacy of the church. And he gets to tell him his truth "there is nothing past or present in this world that I would put in front of you."

But he also gets to have a heart-to-heart with Cas. The intimate way the bar scene is shot between the two of them is also unique.

They are shot so they are closer to each other in the frame, on the 2/3rds line. This makes it so they are the only two people in existence even in the busy bar. They are best friends and we see their profound bond here at what they think might be their last chance to see each other.

End Shot

In one of the most beautiful shots of the whole show, we see everyone reacting to the angels falling.

The brothers — Dean carrying Sam on his shoulder, just like he's done his entire life, coming out of a church! — Is shot from overhead. Showing how small the humans are in this game of supernatural forces, once again at the mercy of others.

Cas, stripped of his powers, is helpless as he watches his breathern fall. He too is like the brothers.

Overall Aesthetic

This episode in particular gives a nod to the early seasons of the show. Part of that is the intimate camera angles and frames, the lighting due to most of it being shot overnight — which gives it depth and shadows that later season can leave behind — and themes of what it means to be human.

It truly is one of the best (both in filmmaking and storytelling) finales of the whole show.

[normal-thoughts-official]

Why Joe and Nicky deserve to win the sun and moon showdown, and if they don't I'll end up in the INTERPOL Most Wanted list

A not at all dramatic essay

(Plain text version here)

1. Not only do they canonically use moon imagery to refer to each other, but their context adds new symbolism to that metaphor that other duos don't have

If you haven't seen TOG and aren't familiar with the van speech, well, I recommend that you do, but I'll transcribe it for your convenience:

"He's not my 'boyfriend'. This man is more to me than you can dream. He's the moon when I'm lost in darkness and warmth when I shiver in cold. And his kiss still thrills me even after a millennium. His heart overflows with the kindness of which this world is not worthy of. I love this man beyond measure and reason, he's not my 'boyfriend'. He's all and he's more"

Yeah, pretty long way of saying "actually we're husbands", but let's focus on the "he's the moon when I'm lost in darkness" bit. That bit alone is already insanely romantic and enough to make us fans go rabid with this tournament, but there is an extra layer of romanticism to it, because Mr Yusuf al-Kaysani (aka Joe) is Muslim, and in Islam, the moon represents the guidance of Allah through life, the calendar is based on the moon cycles, and the brightness of the moon is compared to both the face of the Prophet Muhammad and the first batch of souls to enter Paradise. Therefore, the moon, in Joe's culture, is intrinsecally linked with the divine, guidance, holiness, and time

So, when Joe compares Nicky to the moon, he's not only saying that he brings light into a dark world; he is saying that he is the very guiding light that leads him to a blessed life, that he is the foundation through which the world and time can be understood, and that his beauty and holiness is comparable to that of the souls of Heaven themselves

Which is all already enough for me to bite through wood, but the specific relationship between the moon and the understanding of time in Joe's culture is also particularly meaningful for Joe and Nicky, because Joe and Nicky are two of the 5 people who are immortal in the entire world. And one of the core themes of the movie is how that sense of timelessness leads them to isolation, and a constant state of loss. There is a deep melancholy that permeates their entire existence due to the fact that time as we know it no longer makes sense to them, and they live outside of it, skirting around eras and history. So, by comparing Nicky to the very body that marked the passage of time for Joe, he is saying that Nicky is what helps him make sense of the impossible, that he is the constant in Joe's eternity, that he brings meaning to their confusing and sometimes alienating existence

But wait! There's more!

Because Joe and Nicky met in al-Quds (also known as Jerusalem) in the year 493 AH (also known as 1099 CE in the Gregorian Calendar) and had to travel together across the desert for a long time, which means that, for the first few years of their life together, they were in fact relying on the moon to guide them in their path. So they both have a deep intrinsic understanding of how the moon is a compass, the most reliable thing in uncertainty. And the moon has been guiding their steps, their relationship, since their paths were first joined. And they weren't separated since

Like. Listen, I'm sure Star Trek is great and its fans are lovely, and I salute the Star Trek fandom for everything it did for fandom history in general, but you cannot tell me that Spirk has this much baggage associated with the sunmoon symbolism. It just doesn't. If this were a hand touching tournament, no one would have as much symbolism linked to it than y'all, but when it comes to being the sun and moon, no one is doing it like Joe and Nicky

2. The most appealing aspect of the SunMoon dynamic is how they need to defeat all odds to be with each other, and Joe and Nicky have that in spades

"Oh I don't think that's the most ap-" IRRELEVANT. I'll talk about the other ones too. Just keep reading, okay? /joking

As you might know, Joe and Nicky met on opposite sides of a battlefield. They killed each other. (Many times). And what happened then?

They ressurrected and became immortal. That alone is already impossible, but it gets better - even for the rules of immortality in their universe, Joe and Nicky are still an impossibility that has never happened before or since

Because in The Old Guard, immortality is extremely rare. There have only ever been 7 immortals in the entire history of humanity. There are usually several millennia between the appearance of one immortal and the next one. Other than them, the shortest time gap between one immortal appearing and the next was 800 years. But Joe and Nicky became immortal at the same time, on the same day. Their very existence bends the rules of an universe that already bends the rules of the universe they lived in beforehand anyway. Joe and Nicky being together defies the very fabric of time, and if that isn't some sun and moon shit, I don't know what is

But it's not just some destiny shit either. Joe and Nicky were also not supposed to be together by other standards. For starters, they were on opposite sides of a war. Nicky was a fucking priest, and he joined the goddamn actual honest to god crusades. He was hateful and ignorant and awful, and when he chose Joe, he left behind everything he knew before him. All his certainties, his beliefs, his faith, his family, everything he had ever been taught. I'm also gonna go ahead and say that that ties into the whole "the sun is what makes the moon shine" metaphor - because everything that defines Nicky as he is now is the direct result of how meeting Joe changed him

And listen, listen to me. I'm not saying that he stopped being a bigot for Joe, because if he did, I doubt Joe would want him. He did it because it was the right thing to do, and he was wrong and ignorant and indoctrinated by the church. But he still had to make the choice to turn his back to all that, and that plain and simply would not have happened if he hadn't met Joe. It was Nicky's own effort, but meeting Joe was the catalyst

Joe, similarly, had to overcome a lifetime's worth of (well earned) resentment and hatred for what Nicky did. Joe forgiving Nicky at all is already nearly an impossibility (and he would be well within his right to never do that), but he didn't just forgive Nicky, he fell in love with him. And he chose him, well aware of how bloody and terrible his past was, and despite the fact that there is no way he wasn't deeply conflicted about what he felt for Nicky after everything the Christians put him through. I cannot even begin to imagine how hard this process must have been for Joe, and it was one he didn't have to go through at all - which means that he chose to

And that's not even taking into account the very personal resentments between the two of them, because they weren't just on opposing armies, they literally and personally killed each other. Several times over. And yet, impossibly, against all logic, against everything they had ever felt and believed in prior to each other, against possibly their own desires, they fell in love. They fell in love and have been hopelessly devoted to each other every since

And THEN, on top of all that at the beginning of their relationship, they lived as an interracial, interfaith*, gay couple, through what were undoubtedly the worst times in humanity's history to be either of those things. For 900 years, they had to love each other in secret and with varying degrees of risk associated with ever being found out as a couple, or even with being associated with each other at all to begin with

(*It is debatable what their current relationship with their respective original faiths is, since it isn't mentioned in the movie. But even if both of them had turned their back on their religions, they are still culturally Christian and culturally Muslim, and that makes a difference. Personally, though, I don't think either of them turned their backs on their religions, although I do believe Nicky turned his back to the Catholic Church as an institution for obvious reasons)

That's not even counting all the incredibly traumatic shit that they went through ever since (which I won't mention in detail because it's spoilers and also this is long enough already) and that would definitely break a couple with a less unbreakable bond. Through centuries and centuries of pain and regret, they have chosen nothing and no one but each other, first and foremost, no matter what that meant.

Nicky even brings it up in the comics:

[ID: Joe and Nicky touching foreheads with their eyes closed. Nicky is holding Joe's chin and he says, "why is it so difficult, Joe? We've been afforded more time than any lovers I can name. And still, every moment we scrape together feels precious. Something always happens-" End ID]

(From the Tales Through Time one-shot series. I generally think the comics are meh and the movie is where it's at, but I do recommend reading this one. It is set before the movie happens so there are no spoilers)

There has never been a time where being together was easy, and yet, Joe and Nicky chose each other no matter what. They chose each other even when it meant being separated and getting only scraps of time together in secret. If that isn't some sun and moon shit, I don't know what is

3. They complement each other

And not in the dumb stereotypical "the sunshine one and the grumpy one" way either. For starters, Joe isn't bubbly, and Nicky isn't grumpy. No, they have two characteristics that I think represent the sun and moon way better than that anyway - Joe is an extremely intense person, and Nicky, an extremely cool headed one

Joe doesn't feel anything by halves, and despite the fact that he has lived through several lifetimes, it still seems as if everything he goes through is happening for the first time. Every time Nicky or another one of the family dies, Joe looks just as desperate as he would a millennium ago, despite the fact that he's had centuries to get used to the fact that they die and then come back to life. He's the only one who's that affected by it (obviously none of them enjoy seeing each other die, but the rest seem to have accepted to some degree that it's a part of their lives, or at least gotten used to it). He has experienced so many horrible things, yet he is still as affected and disgusted by it every time, going as far as lashing out sometimes. When he's angry, no one is able to hold him back from yelling at the person he's angry at (not even Nicky). Similarly, not even an actual van full of armed homophobic guards is able to stop him from simply dropping a passionate speech about how important Nicky is to him, complete with getting misty-eyed and kissing him at the end (and I'm not even bringing up the fact that both of them have their hands and their feet tied)

To me, that is the most sun-coded possible trait, because the sun is intense, hard to ignore, and quite literally burning. The intensity with which Joe feels also feels like it could burn, but it's also what makes him so warm and loving

Nicky is also a pretty intense person, but, unlike Joe, he is super cool headed about it. For starters, Nicky is a sniper; he is capable of staying still for hours at a time, observing, figuring out the best time to strike. That demands an amount of control over himself, his feelings, even his instincts, that is admirable. But he's not just like that on a mission; Nicky is very careful with what he says, when he speaks, what he lets other people see of him. His expressions are all subtle, contained, and even when he is in a state of murderous rage, he doesn't lash out. He doesn't lose control. The same way that the moon and the sun share their brightness, Joe and Nicky share their intensity, but Nicky is able to subdue it while Joe burns with it and lets that be his strength

Where Joe is expansive and wears his heart on his sleeve, Nicky is cautious and guarded. Where Joe gets lost in his own feelings and loses sight of what they need to do, Nicky keeps their heads straight and reminds him of what they need to do. Like the moon that guides one through the desert

They're different and complementary, but also intrinsecally tied to each other. They have the same spark where it matters, but present it in different, complementary ways. They are a part of each other, but they're also themselves first and foremost. That's what the sun and moon are all about

Sun and moon imagery has been the staple of the Joenicky fandom since day fucking 1, and for good reasons

VOTE JOE AND NICKY IN THE SUN AND MOON DUO SHOWDOWN

[barenecessiteas]

More Random Sinclair Headcanons Cuz I Can't Get Them Out of My Head

Hello my lovelies, I'm back with more House of Wax Headcanons that absolutely nobody wanted or asked for lol. Since we got Victor and Trudy out of the way, we can now move on to the boys. I'm starting off with beautiful sweet summer child Lester because he doesn't get enough love. Hope you enjoy 😊

Lester Sinclair

Lester was definitely an unplanned baby. His parents already felt like they had their hands full with the twins, so they kinda freaked out when Trudy got pregnant again

Trudy was particularly freaked because she was worried something would be physically wrong with him, like how the twins were conjoined. That and her post partum was already terrible from the twins she wasn't looking forward to that

Thankfully, Lester was born perfectly healthy. Both Trudy and Victor were SO relieved

He was also a very calm and happy baby overall. He didn't really cry that much, and when he did it was easy to soothe him once they figured out what he needed (like feeding, a nap, etc.)

The twins were 6 when Lester was born. A few days after Trudy gave birth to him, Bo asked if they could take him back to the hospital because he "didn't like him because he was weird looking" 😭

He warmed up to Lester more as he got older because Lester always seemed to smile and laugh at everything Bo did. To this day he still has no idea why baby Lester found him so entertaining but he just kinda accepted it

Vincent was definitely more receptive to having a new baby in the house. For the first year or so, he just kinda liked to hang around and watch Lester. Though because of the mask Lester would just kinda stare back at him most of the time

That was until he accidentally knocked Vincent's mask off. He was a little over a year old, Vincent was picking him up, and he went to touch Vincent's face

Vincent was horrified at first because he was SURE Lester would cry at the sight of his face

Lester, however, just started smiling, giggling, and gently grabbing at Vincent's face. This was the first time he ever smiled at Vincent

This did help Vincent's self esteem a little, and he would take his mask off if it was just him and Lester around

As he got older, Lester was just naturally a happier and more easy going child. He always found ways to entertain himself or keep himself occupied

Part of this is because, even as a baby, he picked up on the fact that his parents seemed to argue less if he was all cute and smiley and laughing. Babies are very perceptive, and it seemed like this helped to keep his family from arguing as much because they'd be cooing and fawning over him on how cute this baby was

This is the main reason why he got much less attention from his parents. It wasn't necessarily on purpose, Trudy and Victor had the mentality of "Well he's so self-sufficient and easy to manage that it's okay if we focus on our other two kids a little more"

He was closer to his father than he was with his mother. Even though Victor wasn't around as much, Lester loved having him talk about anatomy and bones. He thought it was so cool as a kid!

Vincent was more interested in that stuff too, but more from an artistic standpoint. Still, this helped them bond a little as they grew up

He and Bo bonded over a shared love of shooting and hunting. Their dad would take them out on occasion and they loved it. Vincent wasn't really interested in that stuff as much, so it was often just Bo, Lester, and Victor

Both he and Bo have excellent marksmanship because of this

He was also one of those kids that came home completely covered and dirt and mud or whatever when he played outside. He never cared about getting dirty and he just loved playing outside

Whenever he had nightmares as a kid, he would go crawl into either Bo or Vincent's bed with them instead of going to his parents. He just spent more time with his brothers, so it never really crossed his mind to seek his parents out

Bo would act all bothered by the fact that his baby brother was snuggling up to him in bed, but he never actually minded

Vincent never once complained when Lester snuck into his bed after a nightmare. He'd even tuck Lester in before climbing back in to sleep

He loves animals so much, always has since he was little

This is kinda where the roadkill fascination came in? At first he'd always be sad whenever he'd see a dead squirrel or deer in the road. It still makes him a little sad, but Trudy would always try to soothe him by saying it was just the circle of life or whatever. He just kinda sees it as a natural part of life now

Lester hated seeing cars keep running over animals, even though they were already dead and couldn't feel it. That's when he'd start picking up roadkill as a kid and bringing them into the woods around the town

Victor had told him that dead animals help the trees and plants grow, so he figured it was better than having them flattened in the road

Trudy was less than thrilled whenever Lester would come back home smelling like roadkill with blood and dirt on his hands. Bo and Vincent thought it was hysterical

It became routine that Lester always needed a thorough bath before supper. The frequent washing actually made him prone to really annoying eczema. He liked being clean but he couldn't stand the itching

Trudy was the one who would help him put on lotion and ointment to make him feel better. She was also the one to always patch him up when he got hurt playing outside. It was probably some of her most motherly moments just doing those simple things alone

After Trudy and Victor both passed, it was Lester's idea to move out of the house. He moved into the cabin their family had in the woods where Victor would take him and Bo when they went hunting

He figured it would be easier for Bo and Vincent to not have to deal with the roadkill smell and his constant long showers (because Bo always loved to complain about this stuff to him)

He was already pretty self sufficient and independent anyway, and he'd be close to home. He still got to frequently see his brothers

Bo acted relieved when Lester moved out, but he secretly missed having his baby brother in the house with him. But don't tell him I told you that. He'll deny it until the day he dies

Lester is very much aware of the killings and wax project, as I'm sure most of us believe. He was absolutely pissed when he found out about it though

He doesn't really enjoy it that much, but his loyalty to his family outweighs any reservations he has about leading people to their death

Not everyone they send to Ambrose dies. Lester will usually vouches for the people who are nice to him, and Bo and Vincent will go along with it

It's when people would treat him like shit that he started not minding about them dying so much lol

He is Jonesy's second favorite person in the whole wide world (after Vincent). Whenever he comes over he lets Jonesy tackle him to the floor with kisses

He visits his brothers at least a few times a week. He comes over for dinner most days and tends to spend the day with them over the weekends

Bo again acts annoyed but he's secretly thrilled whenever Lester comes home to spend time with them. They'll drink beer and watch TV together whenever he's over

Lester encourages Vincent to join them in playing pool. Sometimes it'll even just be him and Vincent playing together

These are his happiest moments, when it's just him, his brothers, and Jonesy

Alright I'll stop here before you all get annoyed with me lol. Hope you all enjoyed these 💕

[stormflypirateskin]

Summary: GE Saeran can't focus on you talking about your day because you are too cute.

Saeran always really loved to hear about what you did in your days, even if nothing particularly happened exactly. He enjoyed hearing about what you did, anything interesting that happened, anything.

Since he didn't have a regular life like you, he tends to listen to every single detail like a little kid being told an amazing fairytale before sleeping to have the wildest dreams.

But there was one little problem.. today he couldn't focus but it wasn't because anything bad had happened or he was drained. It was because of you. Specifically your adorable face.

Now, he always thought you had a cute face but it seemed that today his eyes and thoughts lingered there. How is it that you were just.. so adorable today? It got him all warm and fuzzy on the inside, he couldn't help it!

Saeran always paid attention to every single word that you said but he didn't even realize how much he was observing you until you giggled and asked him if anything was wrong.

"Ah.. it's nothing, haha.." His eyes widened as he sat up better, fully flustered as it showed on his cheeks. It was funny in a way that he didn't even see it himself how much you had an affect on him. The world could be burning and he would focus on you like you were the most beautiful thing in the whole world.

"I guess.. your cuteness got to me well today, my love." He let out a small laugh as he saw you being flustered instead. Moments like these he wanted to cherish forever. Just you and him doing anything together. It didn't matter what, just that you were besides each other.

When the laughing stopped, it was only you two gazing in each other's eyes. Saeran's eyes always held this love for you and his expression was always the softest. And don't forget the warm smile he wore whenever he saw you. All the things on his face were full of love only for you.

"I adore moments like these.. just being with you.. it makes me really happy." And it was always true. Anytime you were near him, he felt like he could do anything. These warm and good feelings you were making him feel will always make him feel weak in the knees for you.

His heart always racing and beating only for you, his one and only love. On cloud nine he would often feel and this amount of great peace and joy was often what he felt like. Just you two being free and being able to do anything.

You got lost in his eyes as well because you didn't even see his hand going under your chin and very gently lifting it up as he got closer to capture your lips on his. It made your heart beating really fast when you realized and it wasn't long before you relaxed and melted.

And how good it felt whenever he wrapped his arms around you only to hold you closer to him. Enough grip to hold you tight but careful enough to also not hurt you. Saeran will always make sure to treat you with respect and love and it always made you melt even more in his arms.

"Wow.. it's impossible, you're more adorable now when I see you like this..." Was all he said and laughed while you were a blushing mess. He reached out to press a kiss on your forehead as he snuggled more into you.

"Now.. could you tell me about your day from the beginning, my love? I'm afraid I was distracted by your beauty." He chuckled a bit as you blushed once again. And this time, he did listen.

But it didn't change something he did occasionally. Leave kisses all over you. How could he not..?

[reisolate]

100Kano autism headcanons

I initially wrote this post on Reddit a few months back, but I thought it we could fit better on Tumblr instead, so that's what I will do.

Introduction

We all know that Rentaro's girlfriends are all pretty eccentric in some manner, with all sorts of unique traits, so naturally (heh) some of them might exhibit characteristics associated with autism. So I thought I'd make one post discussing them. Full disclaimer, these are observations I make based on personal experience (I'm autistic and know a bunch of autistic people), and you may have differing opinions.

I'm going to go through the girlfriends that I think demonstrate autistic traits. I'll give my first impression, discuss traits that I've observed, and state whether I think they're autistic. So, let's begin!

Shizuka

Our cute book-loving cinnamon roll. Not sure about her without thinking about it, because her cuteness is so distracting.

Autistic traits

Special interest in books and literature, to the point she's memorized the locations and pages of particular phrases in her favourite books

Selective mutism, as she doesn't speak unless it's absolutely necessary or if she's singing karaoke

Is she autistic?

Maybe. While she does show some traits of autism, I find it hard to make a judgement. You could see her as autistic if you wanted to, but you could also see her as someone who only has social anxiety (though being able to memorize locations of certain phrases in books tilts things towards the former too).

Nano

The intelligent and efficient paragon of beauty. She seems pretty obvious because of everything about her.

Autistic traits

High level of intelligence

High degree of skill in various tasks

Memorization of various pieces of knowledge

Monotone speaking voice

Stimming (reciting the digits of pi whenever faced with uncertainty)

Focus on efficiency can be seen as rigidity

Social difficulties, partially due to her limited regard of social conventions and initially not seeing the purpose of friendship

Compared to an alien, which is a thing that happens with some autistic people

Is she autistic?

Definitely. Her traits definitely fit the classic image of being the straightforward autistic genius that we often see in media. I'd be more surprised if she wasn't.

Kusuri

Our age-shifting drug addict. A bit hard to tell at first glance because of how chaotic she is. Then again...

Autistic traits

Intense special interest in chemistry and making drugs

A prodigy in chemistry, to the point where she has been courted by at least 2 drug labs over the course of the story

Verbal tic of saying "nanoda" could count as a stim, potentially

Intense focus when developing drugs or doing anything related to them.

Infodumping about various drugs during the shopping trip chapter

Is she autistic?

Definitely. Her infodumping was what solidified it for me. In fact, I'd go farther and say she has ADHD too, given how she focuses on developing drugs so much she doesn't even go to the bathroom, as well as seeing how energetic she gets. Probably doesn't help that she has to switch between a child and teenager form too.

Meme

Our shy beauty. She just seems socially anxious, but...

Autistic traits

Shown to be very skilled at knitting, could be a special interest

Incredibly shy (this needs no explanation)

Is she autistic?

Maybe. She definitely has severe social anxiety, which I personally lean towards, but she also can be interpreted as autistic, particularly with her knitting skills, which is why I mention her. I will make no comment on her disappearing abilities as they are far beyond the bounds of neuroscience (or physical science, for that matter).

Chiyo

The order-obsessed younger cousin. She seems like she could be.

Autistic traits

An extremely strong desire for things to be orderly

Has that "rrrgh" grumble when she sees something out of order, which could be a stim

Has rigid moral principles

Melts down when she doesn't have her glasses

Is she autistic?

Likely. Given how much she focuses on things being orderly, as well as her personal sense of justice, it does seem like it. However, there's also the argument that her personality is partially like this due to losing her mother so young. However, given her other personal quirks, my judgement leads me to believe she's on the spectrum. OCD is also likely for her, though to what extent I'm not sure.

Momiji

Our masseuse and soft things enthusiast. I didn't think of her at first, honestly.

Autistic traits

Special interest in massaging and soft things

Able to assess the body muscles of a person on sight

Near-perpetual flat expression on her face, with her lips curled up

Has a more subdued style of talking, and the way she starts her phrases with a mumble makes it seem like it's a stim

Enjoys the sensation of soft things in general, women's bodies in particular, which is an attraction to certain textures

Has a certain disregard for normal social expectations as she regularly gropes others with no concept of boundaries, and doesn't realize how others feel about it

Is she autistic?

Definitely. Now that I think about it, that would explain a lot of Momiji's eccentricity, particularly her enjoyment of soft things and her disregard for personal boundaries. It just makes sense. I really wish she would get more development and story focus.

Suu

The foremost fan of numbers. The fan reaction when she was introduced speaks for itself.

Autistic traits

Has a highly intense special interest in numbers, to the point where her personality dramatically changes when they come up

Socially isolated because no one understands her love for numbers, and she finds it hard to communicate

Usually has a flat expression until numbers come up, at which point her face can be the most adorable thing ever

Is she autistic?

Obviously. Given that she was called "the autism GF" by many when she was introduced, it's quite a no-brainer. She really emphasizes the social struggles autistic people have when others can't comprehend their interests the way they do. In fact, I’m gonna go out on a limb and say that if you disagree with this, you’re just plain wrong.

A concluding note on Rentaro

Doing this list and noting these things down just further made me appreciate how devoted, caring, and understanding of a character Rentaro really is. Finding a partner who gets you is hard enough, and it's even harder if you're autistic. The way Rentaro is in tune with the emotions of all his girlfriends, even those harder to understand, just goes to show what an absolutely overpowered character he is.

And that's all. I spent way too much time on this.

[pocketramblr]

If the ask game is still open, Izuku is Death (and I don't mean that metaphorically, or rhetorically, or poetically or theoretically or in any other fancy way. He's Death. STRAIGHT. UP.) and he is after AFO, who is very human. (Also, unrelated, but All Might survived way more near death experiences than in canon. He must have a guardian angel or something.)

gonna just combine those, for my own sake...

1- something Changed in the world the moment the first quirk came into being. Izuku doesn't know what it was, only that before, Death was Something Else, and that after, he Existed, and Was Death. It's a turbulent time to be Death, but maybe it had to be. Izuku watches with wonder life and how people use it, quirks in all their beautiful colored varieties. He has a very somber job, and it hurts, and he can't stop being Death, but he can keep himself well enough by deliberately appreciating life, and the world, and the quirks he's somehow tied to. It doesn't stop from hurting, but it helps his pain tolerance and lets him smile sometimes.

2- If Izuku has ever hated a human, he hates All For One. everyone else, he mourns. he gently takes children when its their time. he offers an ear to people's stories. He'll even tut over a killer, but give them space- usually they don't need judgement, their own's enough. And when it's not, they're scared of him as is.

All For One is different. he doesn't value life, or quirks, or the world, or even Death. just himself, as if he's apart of all of it. Just himself, and his brother, who he treats as proof of his control.

Izuku sits quietly with Yoichi in the vault, and promises AfO won't stop either of them, won't own Yoichi forever. At the very worst, Izuku will make sure he escapes eventually.

Izuku weeps when the vault is opened, and continues to go do his job, leading on from the bodies strewn behind Second and Third's bloody footsteps.

3- And then AfO kills Yoichi, and Izuku finally makes himself known. He snaps, because AfO's beyond any redemption, to him. He'll kill AfO himself, now.

But instead, it's the first time AfO's smiled in months- he's done it, become so strong, made himself such a legend, that no one but Death Itself could face him, beyond all mortals. Izuku doesn't particularly care about AfO's ego boost, since he's been annoyed by it so long anyway, and he figured AfO's cult would make up something like that anyway. not important, when he'll make sure they die out too.

But AfO kills everywhere he goes, and Izuku is Izuku, but he is also Death, and he must tend to those he leads away.

He won't let AfO think he's more important to Izuku than the many people he tramples.

4- When AfO start with Nomu, Izuku feels pain for the first time- he's felt agony, sure, emotionally. but not physically. It doesn't hurt any other after that, but he remembers. and he's even angrier, because Nomu spit in the face of Death, puppeted corpses on a cruel fragment of a memory of being alive.

And Izuku decides if AfO's going to break the rules, so will he.

Banjo should have died the first time he refused to give One For All up to AfO. but somehow, he didn't. En was the same.

Izuku had to focus on protecting Toshinori from the powerful blast AfO had to use to keep Nana dead this time, but then spent the next three decades keeping all sorts of things from killing Toshi that absolutely should have. So, when Izuku keeps him up and finally, finally sees AfO drop, he's thrilled. He makes sure Toshinori will survive, then goes to take AfO.

But a mere hour later, AfO slips away, grinning widely at Izuku's frustrated shriek.

5- not one minute later, Toshinori has a dream in his comatose state- he can see all the vestiges again, but there's an extra figure, who speaks to him.

"I'm Death- no, stop, you're not dying any time soon. But All For One returned to life when he should not have been able to. I don't care what he or his followers will think of it- I can take a physical form. If i do, and have One For All, I know he'll never come back. I swear it."

[laufire]

july reading meme!

BOOKS

Fireworks: Nine Profane Pieces by Angela Carter. TBC is more ~My Thing~, but I nonetheless enjoyed this other anthology. It felt more experimental, in terms of language and structure. The stories I found most memorable were "The Executioner's Beautiful Daughter" and, especially, "The Loves of Lady Purple."

The Bloody Chamber and other adult tales by Angela Carter. I skipped the ones I'd already read ("The Bloody Chamber," "The Courtship of Mr Lyon" and "The Tiger's Bride"). The titular story will always be my favourite, but I found "The Lady of the House of Love" particularly inspiring. "The Snow Child" and "The Erl-King" caught my eye to, for the way the played around with tenses and pov.

COMICS

Batman Annual #14 "The Eye of the Beholder." One of those tragic Harvey Dent tales, and probably the most emblematic one about them (I'm pretty sure this one inspired The Long Halloween). As I've recently watched the new animated show, Caped Crusader, it offers an interesting point of comparison with that new Harvey. The original version, who wanted to do his job and do it well, and fixated on it as a copying mechanism, and who wasn't interesting in climbing the ladder beyond his chosen profession, is a more interesting character, though there are parts of the new one's narrative I enjoyed.

The Invincible Iron Man (2022). A GOOD RUN??? IN MY IRON MAN COMICS??? I'm going to miss it :))). Fail marriage of convenience with Emma Frost! Tony writing a book and its launch going terribly wrong! Lots of Tony fighting to keep his head above water! And maaaaaybe a new West Coast Avengers team with him and Rhodey in the future? We'll see.

Birth of the Demon trilogy. Calling it a trilogy is a stretch; the first and second one are easily connected (Bride of the Demon obliquely references Talia's "miscarriage), but the third one is on its own. For example, in Son of the Demon, Talia witnesses her mother's murder, like Bruce did, but in Birth of the Demon, we're told she died of an overdose (and that Ra's didn't choose to use the pit on her). Sidenote, as a Jason-centric person, I side-eyed when Bruce, faced with a grieving father who wanted Ra's help to resurrect his son, thinks of his parents instead of thinking of Jason, so shortly after his death xD (Tim was around but not yet Robin, officially). It is quite an interesting saga for the al Ghuls, Talia above all (though, Ra's origin story is fucking horrifying!! Love it). Son of the Demon remains my favourite, but each of them are going to be good sources of inspiration in future stories.

Titans: Titans Forever. Four wacky adventures of a Titans team that includes Jason for some reason LOL. Mixed characterisation on him, but it was fun. Nothing much to say, other than that. Other than Donna having some pseudo-twincest kink xDD (said Jason and Dick looked identical and wanted them to kiss and make up xD).

Batman: Family. I love it when Martha Wayne gets even a little bit of focus, and other than The Ultimate Evil, this run (only 8 issues long) remains the one story I've read that's actually interested in saying anything about her. It was really good; I liked the narration style, with each issue told from the POV of one of the bad guys, and it really showed off a lot of the bat characters at the time (Helena my beloved), and the villain, as well as her connection with Bruce, was quite interesting. It's a pity this story is basically Athena's only appearance, but I'm definitely keeping her character in my back pocket.

Wonder Woman (various comics from John Byrne). I wanted to read Cassie's appearances as I go through YJ98. A+ choice, I really enjoyed a lot of what this quite chaotic run had to offer LOL. Everything regarding Hyppolita, Diana, Cassie, Artemis... but most of all, Donna. Her origin here is the one I already knew from reading Titans99, which starts shortly after this, and it's absolutely mind-blowing. I also liked Hyppolita's time travelling shenanigans being used to explain away continuity issues lol.

Suicide Squad: Get Joker! Eh. I definitely know how I interpret the ending. Sns, but I just don't buy such a lame form of manipulation working on Jason. All that aside, the only part of this comic worth noting is Harley and Jason's dynamic. It caught my eye.

Batman: Three Jokers. There's a scene early on where Barbara runs sooooo hard on a treadmill, she breaks it. It's not the first time she's done it, as proven by this one very impressed guy in the gym. The moment I read that, I knew this comic was going to be absolutely worthless. And I was right! Jason looks quite good in it, though. I'm going to start mentally replacing his modern suits with this one (no bat!!).

Red Hood: The Hill. Things happened. I didn't care for them. The art wasn't even cute. And somehow, not only is this a Red Hood story with next to no Red Hood; not only did it end up being more about Batman than about Jason; but it's, quite literally, not going to amount to anything, story-wise, continuity-wise, you name it. I agree with people that say it's not so bad, that it's not hateful or meanspirited the way other modern Jason stories have been... but that's just not enough for me. And whatever else those other stories do with Jason, at least there's something about them worth discussing.

Batman Chronicles #8 "The Prison". There were other two stories with this one (one about the origin of the cave's dinosaur, another about Gordon and Two-Face), but they're unimportant lol. A story about Ra's ordering Talia to kill Bruce!!! About the struggle between duty and a yearning for freedom (the source of her love for Bruce) in Talia!! If you like it, and you like Brutalia, do yourself a favour and pick it up.

[typewriteringalaxy]

fanwork creators self rec, or your five favourite fics/art/podcast etc

thank you for the tag @letters-to-rosie 💕 your answer reminded me that The Fire Next Time has been on my tbr for too long and I need to rectify that lol. anyway here we go in chronological order

everything's better with a friend (Ekko/Jinx, E, 7/7)

my magnum opus so far! more than 85,000 words of an AU where Powder doesn't joins Silco but faces many of the struggles Jinx does. This fic just flowed right after watching Arcane, it was a joy both in creation and readers' reception. I'm particularly happy with Powder's pov and the relationship's progression. Healing isn't linear, and love alone isn't enough to heal, though it does help. That ended up being the theme, and I managed it fairly well in the story, as well as a happy, domestic timebomb ending💕

(I did hint at a sequel of sorts, and the idea still spins in my head. Maybe by the end of summer?)

With Less Inhibition (Astoria Greengrass/Blaise Zabini, E, 5/7)

This one can be read on its own despite being an AU of another fic, The Platinum Collar. Honestly I prefer it from TPC: Blaise's pov and the focus on their friendship's development made the story better. Astoria's letters were also very fun to write. With both of them minor characters in canon (and in a not respectable canon to boot), I had a lot of creative freedom in their characterisation, so this ship is very dear to me. Also this fic was written with @hypernovaesx 's love, enthusiasm and moodboards (Blastoria being our gondola💕) and I love it all the more for it. I haven't left it at a cliffhanger, rather the complete opposite. (And someday I will finish it.)

touch as a form of comfort (Tandy Bowen/Tyrone Johnson, E, oneshot)

I wrote this one after watching Cloak & Dagger Season 2, whose ending made me so happy and thus the fic is a happy memory too. It's short and sweet, going along with the finale's wholesome vibe. I hope to share longer fics for this ship too.

howling hearts (Rey/Ben Solo, T, 7/7)

I returned to my roots with this one lol. First time taking part in the RFFA Valentine's Exchange, I'm happy to have completed the fic within the deadline, and the Beauty and the Beast prompt with Rey as the Beast was really inspiring. Thus I wrote a feral, angry Beast Rey, a nerdy smuggler Ben Solo, a pack of Sith Wolves as the Knights of Ren, and had the opportunity to toy a bit with the reasoning behind the Beast's transformations. It was fun.

party girl (multiship, E, oneshot)

An exploration of Jinx that I'm proud of particularly since in all my other fics of her I either wrote her as Powder or somewhat downplayed her canon viciousness and sheer chaos. And she's a damn difficult character to pin down. Parings include: Jinx/Thieram, Caitlyn/Jinx, Ekko/Jinx.

tagging, if you'd like to play:

@hypernovaesx (if you're still on tumblr; you know I loved your stories before I started writing mine and I love you💕)

@blueinsomnia (curious about your favourite Firelight Stories)

@linearao3 (I've admired your writing from Kohelet to Child Ballad, curious about your favourites)

[elliewiltarwyn]

FFXIV Write 2023 | Prompt #18: A Fish Out of Water

another one i'm really struggling with, posting it just to post something by this point :V

-926 words

---

The city is gorgeous, really, shining bright and surrounded by cool blue sea with beautiful marble architecture stretching all the way up the island to the foot of the mountain. It gives Ellie the creeps. 

She sits upon a bench on the edge of the aetheryte plaza, watching the citizenry pass her by, scholars and merchants and even the occasional adventurer—how they had managed to get past the customs officer with a stern eye, Ellie had no idea. She holds the sandwich she took out from the Last Stand in a loose grip; it’s cold by now, working through it as slowly as she had been, but it’s still far tastier than that bite of Archon loaf Krile had offered her a few moons ago. She just can’t bring herself to focus on it; her mind is a whirlwind of uncertain emotion.

It boggles her mind, truly, to be sitting here, the city she had dreamed of since she was a kid… in this capacity. As one of Eorzea’s vaunted Warriors of Light, a Scion of the Seventh Dawn with several acts of political diplomacy under her belt, and not just another one of those students laughing gaily as they stride past her seat to take their leisure in the markets. Try as she might, she can no longer imagine that alternate universe wherein she achieved her childhood dreams and studied at the most prestigious academy on Hydaelyn. She grimaces down at the half-eaten sandwich in her hand.

“What kind of sandwich is that?”

Ellie jumps as Lily slides into view from behind the bench, beaming down at her. “Last Stand, at the very least—that bread doesn’t look like Archon loaf.”

“Gods, no.” Ellie blanches, and Lily giggles in amusement. “No, this is uh, hamsa, I think it was? Struck me as interesting—that they’re importing it all the way from Thavnair.”

“You came to Sharlayan to get a taste of Thavnair? Seems a little circuitous.”

Ellie rolls her eyes, but can’t help but chuckle; Lily continues to beam as she plops herself on the bench next to her. “I don’t know if I can count on Mia or Thancred or any of them to bring us back some good eats. They sounded like they’re going to be busy.”

“That’d be a real disappointment. I’ve heard really good things about Thavnairian cuisine.”

Ellie nods and takes another chomp; she wipes her mouth, smacking her lips as her mouth reels from the spicy sauce. “How’re you finding Sharlayan?”

The grin fades from Lily’s face, and Ellie blinks in shock. “It… I don’t know. It’s nice, sure. Very pretty. Picturesque, even.” She inhales through her teeth and looks nervously around, as if she’s afraid someone’s going to leap out at her. “But…”

“...You know you don’t have to hold back on my account. Or anyone else’s.” Ellie leans back against the bench and gives Lily a pat, which she sighs and leans into for a moment. “None of the Archons are particularly fond of matters as they stand.”

“Raha does,” Lily mumbles. “He’s loving being back.”

“It’s also been over a hundred years for him. His glasses are particularly rose-tinted.”

She giggles and lies her ears flat against her head. “Okay, fair.” Her good humor vanishes quickly, though, and her tail flicks back and forth anxiously. “It’s just… as beautiful as it is, it also feels sterile, you know? Sanitized, even.” Her gaze tracks up to the Rostra, looming over the city more ominously, somehow, than the Crystal Tower had for the Crystarium. “Like the pristine imagery comes at a price that they’re sweeping under the rug.”

“...I don’t know how much they’re trying to hide it.” The look on Fourchenault’s face as he, before Alliance leadership, disowned his children still ignites rage within Ellie’s stomach. “But I completely get what you mean.” She sweeps her gaze across the aetheryte plaza, taking into consideration more than just the appearances of the people walking by, but their attitudes; even among the adventurers who presumably aren’t native to the city of scholars, there’s an air of distrust and reticence hanging over everyone that makes her wonder if there’s any sort of unity or solidarity here… or if everyone is just looking out for themselves. “It feels really uncomfortably sanitized, to a level of refusing to face the crises that will come home to roost sooner or later. After everything we’ve been through… we’re real fish out of water here.”

Lily gives her a funny look. “That’s kind of sad, given your childhood dream.”

Ellie chuckles. “Maybe.” She musses Lily’s hair again, and Lily emanates a short purr as her ears twitch happily; she closes her eyes and leans into the motion, letting herself regain the beam she had initially greeted Ellie with. “But it’s probably for the better that I didn’t immerse myself in an isolationist, conservative society when I was at a young, impressionable age.”

“You think so?” Lily smirks mischievously. “The Scions provide plenty of counterexamples, I should think.”

“True. Guess I can’t really account for how I would have turned out.” She sighs, stuffs the rest of her sandwich in her mouth, and continues to itch at a spot behind Lily’s ear, smiling when she gets the purr going once more. “But I’m pretty good with how I am today.”

“Yeah.” And without much warning or preamble, Lily leans into Ellie’s side; the roegadyn woman blinks in mild shock, but lets her arm fall around her best friend’s shoulders as her ears twitch in contentment. “I am too.”