#but she got away (barely)

[hinamie]

newest issue of first years fashion just dropped

[trauma-bot]

patron saint of never growing old

[kingsillysmilez]

Its called Starview Peak because its PEAK

[minamill]

🔧 Xiu Peng (they/she)

✏️ Devi Kaing (she/her)

[serpentface]

reading all about the white calf, love your work, can i just say. gonna put some hibrides appreciation out there because damn. nobody in this story is lucky but she in particular seems to be having a Bad Time

Yeah a lot of things suck pretty bad for her. Unwittingly in a lavender marriage, mutual dislike between her and her dogshit husband, extremely strained relationship to her former best friend/gay quasi-boyfriend/father of her children who alternates between avoiding her and desperate attempts to make her love him again, having to constantly maintain multiple levels of facade to socially protect their throuple and therefore herself, shy and socially isolated, dealing with trauma that she doesn't even begin to recognize as such because 'nothing bad actually happened', pretty sure something is deeply wrong with her, living under a damocles sword of catastrophic social consequences should her children be exposed as bastards, has discovered an unexpected and mostly unwanted pregnancy while on a months long cross-country trek, etc.

She's also someone who prides herself in being rational, put together, stoic against adversity, and not overly emotional and weak, which basically means all of this is getting suppressed and compartmentalized away like crazy.

She HAS managed to fall into a rhythm with it all and her life IS NOT constant misery and agony. But the situation she's in for the duration of the story completely tears her out of this rhythm and makes all these factors very acute (though also opens her up to new opportunities, new and more positive/differently complex relationships, and much bigger things to worry about than her domestic life).

Unrelated drawing of her struggling not to lose her shit in public (in this case trying not to laugh)

[sukibenders]

"Rhaenyra isn't the stepmother, she's the mother who stepped up!"

The HOTD writers themselves are hardly doing anything to support that narrative, so I take this rhetoric with a grain of salt. While I think, in some way, Rhaenyra does care for Baela and Rhaena....if I had to point out a motherly figure for them that could pose as someone stepping in Laena's place, Rhaenyra would not be it.

[rustedleopard]

Still thinking about how Clover on the No Mercy Route likely would've given up their quest for vengeance and lived with Martlet had Axis not told them that he killed Integrity. The only real difference between Aborted No Mercy Run Clover and No Mercy Run Clover are a few more destroyed robots and the knowledge of what Axis did, which sent their LOVE skyrocketing to LV 19.

Look at them. They can't even look Ceroba in the eye after they inflict the final blow.

[miniagula]

movie sonadow would be so l umity-coded…and i say this bc their dynamic is similar to the games but with a different and tender perspective: they both empathize deeply with each other now, and this shadow is not as reticent or closed off bc of that. that being said: movie!sonic would ABSOLUTELY 'YOU'RE the sweet potato!' the hell out of shadow

[bunkernine]

ok question before i drop these chapters this week, cuz i realize im not confident but, since the demigods can be conceived without actual copulation, do you think beryl/jupiter, ezperanza/hephaestus, or aphrodite/tristan fucked crazy or did the lost trio just appear

3 days, only true bunker9 stans will see this

im trying to think what the "else wise" would be. jason's a literal stork. leo appears in the fire. piper rises from the seafoam. lol. zeus is pretty fond of doing weird things to women, and i doubt tristan waited 9 months for piper. leo is questionable tbh. more in tags about my specific thoughts, but i wanna know what u guys are thinking

[tsatsked]

my Cool Hat tierlist fueled by my irritation about Yenisei's hat (playaple characters up to ver2.5 i1 uncluded)

[jeyneofpoole]

trying to explain to my class that disdain for the appalachian accent is classism (we are in kentucky and half of these people were born here) and they look at me like i’m an idiot (i have an accent) ok. ok.

[strawbeb]

i think one of the most evident issues with tv series is that a lot of them don’t have a clear ending when they begin. they don’t know how many seasons they’re going to get, or their show could be cancelled out of the blue which means they have to cram whatever ending they may have had in the back of their mind into a shorter season. it’s so obvious that the writers are running out of ideas because they’re forced to shoehorn in random nonsensical plotlines and manufacture drama which may or may not completely undermine previous character development. when you watch a show like the good place or atla, it’s so obvious how much better the writing is when they have complete clarity on how many seasons there will be. they knew the number of seasons and episodes needed to tell their stories, they didn’t waste time with stupid plotlines. every episode, every second of every episode had a purpose. then you look at a show like the vampire diaries which after season 2 reads like they put a bunch of keywords on the wall and played pin the tail on the donkey to choose what the plotlines would be going forward. or perhaps brooklyn nine-nine, with its rushed eighth season, and even before that with episodes absolutely destroying the characters’ growth just because you needed an idea for an episode. you don’t have to stretch out a story simply because you’re given more episodes than you need to tell it. i think the writers know that, but the studio executives don’t. more episodes and more seasons means more money so who cares about the art of storytelling? make your writers look bad for the sake of your own greed, and on top of that, don’t pay them a living wage!! what an amazinf strategy guys. you’re nailing it

[trekkele]

Fucking Wild that 'children can wrong their parents' is a hot-take.

Like… damn. Parents don’t control their kid‘s every action. Even great parents.

Have these people ever MET a teenager??? They‘re usually at least a little mean and overly sensitive, and sometimes even for no reason.

Idk. Weird that some think of children only as a product of their parents rather than their own person.

Nooooo don’t you know that baby is forever and ever and baby can never hurt anyone???

But honestly i do understand why its a hot button issue and why someone would knee-jerk react like that, its just. Such a basic part of growing up. I wasn’t even referring to teenagers!! Everyone knows teenagers are Like That they grow out of it, its fine (<- doesnt have teenagers, cried in the bathroom the first time her kid called her mean). I was fully referring to grown ass adults with taxes and jobs and college classes.

[awesomebutunpractical]

I'm genuinely happy that my mom and her boyfriend are doing so well. She's so smitten, he seems lovely, and I'm also very jealous. Because I want my mom. Me. My mom.

I've been very grown up about it up till now.

[feroluce]

I've long since lost track of it, but I remember reading a case fic with Gepard and Sampo undercover at a masquerade (a classic for the ship by now skxjskdk) and they hide in a closet to avoid getting caught. While they're in there (definitely not making out), bronseele of all people open the door, which is already hilarious- like I can just imagine Bronya looking at her captain like I know what you are and Seele being pissed at Sampo because hey, SHE was gonna make out in this closet! Quit ruining the mood!!

But anyway I think the only other equally hilarious possibility would have been Pela walking in on them.

Like Gepard has Sampo up against a wall, hands on his waist, probably Sampo's lipstick on his mouth and suddenly there's the click of a door opening and light streaming in and he turns to look and. The three of them just kinda. Freeze for a moment, with Gepard's face slowly turning brighter and brighter red.

And then Pela slowly, shakily holds up her phone.

Gepard: OFFICER PELA, NO-

Sampo, at the same time: PICTURES ARE 50 CREDITS EACH!!

Pela throws a bunch of credits at them, Sampo grabs Gepard and dips him into a kiss, Gepard hears several clicks of a camera shutter, Sampo drops him, and by the time Gepard sits up and regains his bearings Pela is already running down the hall ("SORRY, CAPTAIN...!!") and Sampo has snatched up the credits (and also Gepard's wallet) and run off in the opposite direction.

Gepard finds Pela later (they literally work together she can't avoid him forever) and shakes her around until Pela yells at him that she'll get rid of it, fine, there, it's done, she deleted it!! (she did not) (Sampo made back ups for her) (his payment was copies of the photos)

[softquietsteadylove]

Miss your Maleficent AU. Could you maybe write some more of that ? Maybe jealous and protective Gil/Thena

(also I just want to say. I got into Eternals because of your. 👉👈 I love Don Lee, and I came across your post. I didn't know that he played in this movie. Thank you 💕)

Misery. Mating season was pure misery. As far as Thena was concerned, it always had been. Even back in the isles, all mating season meant was morons crooning at her from treetops like seagulls.

She had seen humans aflush with mating hormones. Usually in the spring, they began courting each other. They would trade soft, quiet words, perhaps sing sweet songs and trade trinkets. Humans had such cute mating rituals. Nothing like a bull flying too close and flapping his wings at her.

Thena curled around herself tighter as a couple flew past, way too close to her, and way too close to each other. Their wings were hitting each other on occasion. Some of their feathers floated down into Thena's space.

She stood with a huff, sending the errant feathers away. This was a poor place to choose as her waiting spot. But she had a view of the side entrance to the nest this way.

The patrol would be back any time now.

As the nights grew shorter, the patrols too grew longer. She could see from her higher vantage point the way Druig was one of the most eager to crowd the entrance. He was waiting for his own mate.

She was waiting for hers...in a sense.

Not that she and Gilgamesh were declared to each other. They weren't really mates, in the way most would consider the term. But she had his feather! And he had hers, even if not displayed publicly.

"They're almost here!" she heard one eager, young fae bubble gleefully to her friend waiting next to her. They were bouncing in their excitement. "Do you think he'll land first?"

Thena rolled her eyes. Young spring fledglings yet to face the harsh winds of the world.

"The captain always lands last!"

Thena bristled, as did her wings. She fluffed them, attempting to smooth them down of their own accord. She couldn't let her hackles raise to every young chick who was aflutter over Gilgamesh. She would never know peace if she did.

Gilgamesh was a very desirable specimen. He was the captain of the nest's border patrol, as well as a personal guard when occasions called for it within the nest. He was a good hunter, a provider, strong, a skilled flier, and he was handsome-

Thena walked away from her waiting spot, refusing to watch Gilgamesh be ogled as soon as he arrived with the rest of the border patrol shift. He could come and find her if he wanted to share some food, or her company.

She wasn't his mate, so what was she waiting on him for?

If she had to watch him be given mating trinkets she might not be responsible for her actions. She trudged through the tunnels instead, determined to take the caves back to the inner cliffs. Perhaps she would just drag herself back to her nest and lie around like a pitiful runt with a broken wing. At least she would be the only one to witness her own misery.

"Are you lost?"

She looked up, shocked to be spoken to in the middle of her brooding. She hadn't even realised she had passed another fae. He was an arctic fae, she gathered from his light coloured robes and the silvery shine in his hair and even his eyelashes. "What?"

"The gathering fire has been lit, they will be handing out food," he repeated, even pointing in the direction from which she had just come. "I wouldn't want you to miss out."

She frowned. What business was it of his if she missed the first servings of meal time? "Perhaps that is my choice to make."

"Yes, of course." But he smiled, showing off pearly white fangs. He was a pretty thing; she was certain he would also be giggled and flapped over by the eligible and awaiting fae out there.

Just like Gilgamesh.

Her mood still soured, Thena turned, determined to continue on her way.

"There will be fruit."

It was impossible for her to hide that her ears perked at that. They were practically fluttering like her wings at the thought. Winter had made it hard to find the sweet, delicate morsels she so loved. Her eyes must have looked bloodthirsty when she looked at him again.

He smiled warmly, hands folded into the sleeves of his robes. "I heard that once mating season begins, the last of the dried fruit rations are distributed, as a celebration that fresh fruit will begin growing once more."

She regarded him cautiously. He was promising a great treasure--almost too good to be true. "Heard?"

"Ah, I have travelled much in my life, I too am not native to this area," he excused with a laugh. "Although I come from the north, I had the pleasure of experiencing the southern Isles many years ago. I remember how lush the fruit was, no matter the season."

Indeed, it was the only thing she missed of the Isles. She approached him again. "You lived on the Isles?"

"For a time, yes," he sighed, opening his eyes again. They were a pretty colour, she had to admit--much like the waters of her island home. "I was quite happy during the time I spent there."

A smile came to her face, perhaps from sheer nostalgia. The thought of warm winds and soft sands and the sounds of her brothers' laughter (when they were still small and cute) came to mind. "They are pleasant."

"Pleasant, yes," he agreed. His smile changed slightly and he stepped closer to her, "and beautiful."

She blinked; had she misread his intentions. Her feathers weren't standing on end, but she couldn't help but tilt her head at him. "Hm?"

"I do miss the beauty of the Isles," he repeated. He was no coward. "The soft gold of the sands, the sparkling green of the seas. Truly the most beautiful sights one can behold."

She clasped her hands behind her back. She couldn't very well tell him he was speaking to a mated fae--he wasn't. Her tongue turned sour again and her frown returned without any need to force it. "I don't-"

"Ah, forgive me," he offered with genuine sounding contrition. He even stepped away again, back to a more respectful distance. "I do not wish to cause you discomfort."

She eyed him. He had taken no for an answer, which frankly put him ranks above plenty of the hormone driven bulls out there. She straightened her back, stating firmly, "I'm not looking for a mate."

"Then let it be so," he agreed easily. His voice was like silk. "I will not ask anything of you."

Thena maintained the distance he himself had offered. But if he truly was ready to accept her answer, then perhaps something of a friend would not be the worst to have in this mothernest. She was starting to realise that with exception to Gilgamesh, she had made little effort to find more, now that this was their home.

"I confess I knew you were from the Isles the second I saw you," he offered, again his own defense, but not disavowing his declaration of her beauty. "I have longed to return to the Isles for many years now. I was eager to speak with someone else who knew them."

"Hm," she contemplated her options aloud. She could surely talk with him about her past home. There weren't many other options, after all. And so long as he kept it to himself if he found her beautiful or not, she could concede having some company besides Ikaris might be nice.

"Your brothers flew here with you, yes?"

She relaxed some at the mention of her brothers. She was not the only one he had learned about. "Yes, we all made the journey together."

"Druig, the younger one," he began carefully. "I was not able to connect that he was from the Isles and your kin until recently, I confess."

She had to smile. Druig did look quite her opposite, in many ways. He had short horns, dark and coiled tightly to his head. Dark hair, sharp features, and his wings were like the darkest part of the ocean.

"He is mated with Makkari, the lightning guard."

That was a fitting name for her, Thena had to admit. "I am quite happy with the match."

"What of your other brother?" her new acquaintance asked, his hands back in his sleeves again.

Ikaris was like a medium between her and Druig. He had some grey in his hair, peppery toned wings like a great owl. Thena sighed. "I fear no one would be able to stomach him as a mate."

Her companion laughed. He had a nice laugh, his voice light but also somewhat husky. "Surely he can't be so bad."

"I fear he is worse," she rebutted, making him laugh more. It wasn't as nice as Gilgamesh's laugh, but it was nice to hear any laughter, now that she thought about it. Perhaps mating season was getting to her after all.

"I have seen him with Ajak's assistant," he offered.

She too had seen him hovering whenever Sersi was in the open. But Ikaris was too ungraced to approach her directly. Thena feared that he had picked that up from her directly. "She will need to court him herself if she has hopes of making it through his agate of a skull."

"An agate for a skull?" he questioned, humored by her term for it.

"Large, some might find it pretty, but it's technically hollow inside."

Her friend threw his head back in laughter, truly enjoying himself now. She had to smile, too. It was nice to make someone laugh.

"I have heard much worse about siblings from others, if anything he should be grateful you compare him to something so desired," he chuckled, wiping a tear from his silvery eyelash in laughter.

"Indeed, he has had females pursue him in the past," Thena lamented, back to ruminating upon mating season. "But he is too dense to realise. I end up having to break the news to them that he is...not the courting type."

"Ah," he made a face of feigning understanding.

She frowned again, looking at him. He was a pretty fae, she could see that. But something made her bristle again. "Why aren't you out there?"

"Hm?"

"I know why I am here," she continued, feeling as if the air were shifting around her. Her feathers started rising. "No one uses the tunnels."

He tilted his head at her, utterly innocent looking. "I thought a quiet walk might be nice. All the mating season chirping-"

"Your wings drag," she pointed out, looking down at their feet, her sandals and his slippers. Indeed, his silvery wings were dragging on the ground behind him, they were so long. He wouldn't be taking the cave tunnels unless he had to.

He sighed, and harshly at that.

Her brows furrowed. "Did you expect to find me?"

"I followed you in here," he grumbled, some of the smoothness of his voice leaving him. "I've been trying to speak with you for some time now, but you're always slipping away like a wriggly little eel."

She shivered; she hated eels.

"When I saw you come down here I thought," he shrugged, making quite light of the confession to having tailed her like a predator. "This was my chance to talk with you."

Whether he meant that literally or was alluding to more than speaking, she bristled. She was no one's prey. "Was any of what you said true?"

He gave her a look, thoroughly irritated with her now. It was a sharp contrast to how gentle and soft he had seemed mere moments ago. "I didn't falsify anything. I did just want to talk with you."

He did seem genuinely discouraged. Perhaps it was the privilege of being a bull that he had no idea how threatening it felt to find herself entrapped with him like this.

"But you're always hanging around with that meathead."

Her wings bristled for an entirely new reason. "Who?"

"The captain," he sighed--scoffed, rather. "Gilgamesh?--throws his weight around, doesn't talk much. I have only seen him a few times during his duties and he seems...staunch."

He couldn't have been further from the truth. "He is not."

"You fly with him often," he pointed out, and she tried not to let it ruffle her. "He was your escort when you arrived from the isles."

She stood her ground.

"I always thought it should have been me," he muttered, letting some bitterness come through in it. "I volunteered, actually. I told Ajak about living in the Isles in years past--it made the most sense for me to be your escort!"

He sounded quite certain about that.

"But she chose him," he rolled his eyes, even pulling his hands out of his sleeves to run a hand over his horns. They were long, but they were downturned. Thena liked how Gil's flowed back from his head, like the depictions of old dragons in some cultures.

"You are envious of him."

He made a face, and Thena realised that perhaps this was one of those times when she was no more graceful with their own kind than Ikaris. It was an uncouth thing to say aloud. He looked at her with wild eyes and approached her with his shoulders forward. His wings raised and even confined within the space they were, they were huge. "Me?!--jealous of him?!"

Thena took a step back, but he continued to push his way into her space. She shouldn't have said that (even if she was right). And now she was trapped in a tunnel where she wouldn't be able to fly, at least not at any decent speed.

He slapped the cave wall between them, his temper now in full control. "What could that urchin brained, thick skulled, sea salt coated idiot have that I don't-?!"

Thena blinked as he was yanked backwards so far that he fell straight onto his wings. He yowled and grumbled as he was stepped over, his pretty wings being bent and rumpled as he attempted to pick himself up with the weight of them working against him.

"Careful you don't hurt your thick skull."

Gilgamesh stepped over the other male, completely unbothered by his agonised groans radiating through the tunnel around them. He walked over to her, leaning down to her ear, "are you unharmed?"

She nodded, happy she was still clasping her hands behind her and around her wings, which were absolutely vibrating at the sight of him. Her heart hammered in her ears. "Yes."

"Good." Gilgamesh's voice was deep, and smooth, and pleasant to the ear. He turned back to the other fae present. "You!"

"Ugh," the male grunted, finally able to pick himself up. He huffed and puffed, hair ruffled and wings positively bedraggled. "What the hell was that for?! I was-"

Gilgamesh was in front of him in a second, nose to nose, eye to eye. His fists clenched audibly. "If I ever hear of you following anyone around, let alone trapping them in a tunnel?"

He rolled his eyes. "I didn't trap her-"

Gilgamesh grasped the front of the opposition's robes. He brought his face close, growling right in it, fangs bared, breath heavy. "If I ever see you say even a word to her again-"

"Won't happen," he was quick to try and slither his way out of trouble. Like a wriggly little eel, Thena thought.

"Ever!" Gilgamesh roared right in his face, shaking him. "You come near her again, and I'll shatter your wings so badly you'll never even feel the wind in them again."

The fae paled; it was about a serious a threat as there ever could be. He wrestled himself from Gilgamesh's grip and began backing his way out of the tunnel, head down, wings pressed flat. "Never again. Consider me gone."

They could hear his steps scurrying out of the tunnel almost the entire way back to the opening. Gil turned back to her. "Are you sure you're okay?"

She looked down at her toes. She felt foolish for having thought he had innocent intentions, even for a second. And perhaps he did, but she didn't feel any better about it.

"What are you doing in here?" he asked her gently, coming to her and reaching out for her hand. "I landed and went looking for you."

She kept her eyes down, not wanting to admit that she hadn't wanted to see him fawned over by other faeries. "I didn't feel I had the stomach for it."

She wasn't exactly explaining herself. But Gilgamesh accepted that, moving closer until he could pull her into his arms. She sighed as his hand drifted between her wings, massaging the knot that had formed there.

"I'm sorry," he whispered to her, burying his nose in her hair. "I should have been here to fend him off."

She inhaled the scent of him from his robes. She did want that. She wanted him to be around to fend off others in the name of keeping them away from his mate. She wanted to be able to tell the young fledglings that openly lusting after another's mate was unseemly. She wanted him to be hers as much as she felt he already was.

Gil pulled away first, holding her cheeks to kiss her properly. Their lips parted but he stayed close, his forehead to hers. "I know I'm not...we're not...I know. But I'm your mate, Thena--I am. And I'm not gonna let anyone think otherwise."

She pulled her head back enough to look at him, her lashes fluttering. He stared into them, his eyes such deep brown pools that made her want to sink into them. And they were so honest--she could believe everything she saw in them. She blushed.

Gilgamesh accepted as she kissed him again, slipping her hands under his wings and up his back. "I'm sorry, sweetheart. I'm here now."

"Hm," she purred, happy just to enjoy a moment with him away from prying eyes. She rose onto her toes to nestle her nose right into the folds of his robes. And there, she found her feather, tucked away against his heart. She was in her rightful place, as far as he was concerned.

"Hey, you didn't eat, right?" he asked, eager to move past this unfortunate episode. "I found you something."

Her ears perked again--wings fluffed again.

Gilgamesh pulled out a pouch. Before it was even open her eyes went wide at the scent. He grinned, "we flew out pretty far today. But I found a few of these."

Her eyes sparkled as he handed over the treasure; an agate in its own right, filled with its own kind of jewels. She loved pomegranate.

"How 'bout we get away from all the noise," he chuckled, handing over the treasure so he could wrap his arm around her waist. "And I'll feed you those little seeds."

"Arils," she corrected, but with a wide smile, entirely too thrilled to have one of her favourite - rare - fruits within her hands again.

Gilgamesh just chuckled, pressing a kiss to her temple. "Anything my mate desires."