#first the York heirs being killed and now this

[daughter-of-winterfell]

I know discussing House of the Dragon and inheritence rights is old rope by now, but there is definelty a strong comparison to be made between what Viserys did for Rhaenyra when naming her heir, and what Charles VI did with the Pragmatic Sanction of 1713, which was an edict (I only just learned about) that was issued to ensure “that the Habsburg hereditary possessions... could be inherited by a daughter.”

The wikipedia page says that “Charles VI needed to take extraordinary measures to avoid a protracted succession dispute, as other claimants would have surely contested a female inheritance... despite the promulgation of the Pragmatic Sanction, her accession in 1740 resulted in the outbreak of the War of the Austrian Succession.” Sound familiar...

Viserys named Rhaenyra his heir, but then did not change the wider succession laws of Westeros, and he didn’t seem to have done much to secure her succession after the great houses swore their oaths to her that one time, when there were no living sons in the picture.

Charles VI, on the other hand - as he was changing a previous pact he made with his elder brother so he could place his own future daughters ahead of his deceased elder brother’s daughters (it’s a whole thing) - dedicated much time and effort to securing the future Maria Theresa’s rights. Indeed, “securing the right to succeed for his own daughters, who were not even born yet, became Charles's obsession.”

The wiki says: “For 10 years, Charles VI laboured, with the support of his closest advisor, Johann Christoph von Bartenstein, to have his sanction accepted by the courts of Europe. Only the Electorate of Saxony and the Electorate of Bavaria did not accept it because it was detrimental to their inheritance rights."

It then goes on to describe the deals and promises made by Charles to gain support for the edict and STILL, Maria Theresea’s rights were contested and resulted in war. And Viserys did nothing even close to that!!

The situations are - obviously - very different, as Westeros isn’t the Habsburg Empire, but it kinda shows that Viserys’ inaction really did lead to the Dance...

[neechees]

Historical Indigenous Women & Figures [6]:

Queen Nanny: the leader of the 18th century Maroon community in Jamaica, she led multiple battles in guerrilla war against the British, which included freeing slaves, and raiding plantations, and then later founding the community Nanny Town. There are multiple accounts of Queen Nanny's origins, one claiming that she was of the Akan people from Ghana and escaped slavery before starting rebellions, and others that she was a free person and moved to the Blue Mountains with a community of Taino. Regardless, Queen Nanny solidified her influence among the Indigenous People of Jamaica, and is featured on a Jamaican bank note. Karimeh Abboud: Born in Bethlehem, Palestine, Karimeh Abboud became interested in photography in 1913 after recieving a camera for her 17th birthday from her Father. Her prestige in professional photography rapidly grew and became high demand, being described as one of the "first female photographers of the Arab World", and in 1924 she described herself as "the only National Photographer". Georgia Harris: Born to a family of traditional Catawba potters, Harris took up pottery herself, and is credited with preserving traditional Catawba pottery methods due to refusing to use more tourist friendly forms in her work, despite the traditional method being much more labour intensive. Harris spent the rest of her life preserving and passing on the traditional ways of pottery, and was a recipient of a 1997 National Heritage Fellowship awarded by the National Endowment for the Arts, which is the highest honor in the folk and traditional arts in the United States. Nozugum: known as a folk hero of the Uyghur people, Nozugum was a historical figure in 19th century Kashgar, who joined an uprising and killed her captor before running away. While she was eventually killed after escaping, her story remains a treasured one amongst the Uyghur. Pampenum: a Sachem of the Wangunk people in what is now called Pennsylvania, Pampenum gained ownership of her mother's land, who had previously intended to sell it to settlers. Not sharing the same plans as her mother, Pampenum attempted to keep these lands in Native control by using the colonial court system to her advantage, including forbidding her descendants from selling the land, and naming the wife of the Mohegan sachem Mahomet I as her heir. Despite that these lands were later sold, Pampenum's efforts did not go unnoticed. Christine Quintasket: also known as "Humishima", "Mourning Dove", Quintasket was a Sylix author who is credited as being one of the first female Native American authors to write a novel featuring a female protagonist. She used her Sylix name, Humishima, as a pen name, and was inspired to become an author after reading a racist portrayal of Native Americans, & wished to refute this derogatory portrayal. Later in life, she also became active in politics, and helped her tribe to gain money that was owed them. Rita Pitka Blumenstein: an Alaskan Yup'ik woman who's healing career started at four years old, as she was trained in traditional healing by her grandmother, and then later she became the first certified traditional doctor in Alaska and worked for the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium. She later passed on her knowledge to her own daughters. February 17th is known as Rita Pitka Blumenstein day in Alaska, and in 2009 she was one of 50 women inducted into the inaugural class of the Alaska Women's Hall of Fame Olivia Ward Bush-Banks: a mixed race woman of African American and Montaukett heritage, Banks was a well known author who was a regular contributor to the the first magazine that covered Black American culture, and wrote a column for a New York publication. She wrote of both Native American, and Black American topics and issues, and helped sculptor Richmond Barthé and writer Langston Hughes get their starts during the Harlem Renaissance. She is also credited with preserving Montaukett language and folklore due to her writing in her early career.

part [1], [2], [3], [4], [5] Transphobes & any other bigots need not reblog and are not welcome on my posts.

[rosazoldyckk]

-Yandere! Killua Zoldyck X Reader Headcanons-

⚠️warning⚠️ mentions of obsessive/yandere tendencies, kidnapping, stalking and assassination.

Fandom: Hunter X Hunter. Character(s): Killua Zoldyck, Silva Zoldyck, Kikyo Zoldyck, Gon freecs.

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Killua's love for you is intense. This new and rather unique feeling confuses him, and as much as he doesn't want to, he asks his mother and father about it.

Well, safe to say that Kikyo is absolutely FURIOUS that Killua is even thinking about something so foolish. She dedicated her whole being to raising her sons so that they could be the best assassins the zoldyck's could raise, and the heir to the family is thinking about love?? OUTRAGEOUS!!

Silva however, Is much more relaxed than his wife is and even encourages Killua to explore deeper into how he feels about you. To Killua, his father just wants him to be happy and free however in reality Silva wants a secured future for the Zoldyck family. So long as his son remains 'obedient' then all is well. (And maybe Silva can use you as a way to blackmail Killua if he ever becomes a hassle for the family)

Anyways. Now that Silva is on board, Killua is free to do whatever he wants with you!

No doubt that Killua politely asked Milluki to retrieve some information about you. (And by politely asked I mean threatened to destroy Milluki's dolls) And after Milluki being the ‘wonderful’ big brother that he is, Killua now knows all of your family's dark secrets that even you don't know.

Gon is the first to know about Killua's crush on you and in short he's super happy for his best friend! Gon is also just as encouraging as Silva is, even trying to spend some more time with Leorio and Kurapika so that you and you and Killua can have some 'alone time' (Gon doesn't know how crazy Killua is for you.)

Spontaneously walked up behind you one day in York new city and cut off some of your hair. Everyone around to witness it, including you, thought that he was some sort of psychopathic stalker when he was actually trying to be sweet. Even after all this time he still has it in a small ziplock bag underneath his pillow.

He really likes sleeping in the same room as you. Even when you don't know that he's there. You look so impossibly adorable, what with your tranquil expression and your gorgeous body. Killua couldn't help but wonder how it might feel to have you so at peace in his arms, with your steady and gentle breaths pushing against him. He wondered how it might feel to have your hands so securely wrapped in his own, with the softness of your skin soothing his.

Goes without saying that he'd 100% kill for you or torture someone in your name. What else could he do to prove his love? Must he rip out his heart and lay it on a bed of roses for you to acknowledge his undying emotions for you? If he needed help, than surely Gon, Kurapika and Leorio wouldn't hesitate.

Let's face it. Killua wasn't asking you out. He was telling you, you're now dating. He’s got a forceful side to him when it comes to starting the relationship.

If you didn't want to date him, that's just too damn bad because how are you in a position to refuse him when he’s the heir to the worlds strongest assassin family?

"We're not a couple, Killua! Stay away from me!" You screamed. Killua giggled as he looks up at you, a wicked smirk plastered on his face. "Yes... We are, Y/N. I've chosen you." He steps closer, making you gulp. "You're mine now~"

Killua wears the pants in your relationship. Well, he made the pants. He's the dominant one out of you two and he won't have it another way.

He's not delusional, just a boy who’s in love.

Killua may be a little immature, but boy is he smart. Growing up the way he did really gifted him with the art of manipulation and gaslighting to get his way.

Sometimes, he likes to make you feel foolish and pathetic. As a powerplay move.

He informs everyone including his family that both of you are dating. Even if it is not technically true. If Killua says your his. Then sorry, but there’s not much that anyone can do to help you.

Killua also forces his affection on you. (If you can even call it that). His favorite form of physical affection is hand-holding.

His favorite kisses to give are kisses on your knuckles. It's a gentleman's habit he learned here and there.

Call Killua a gentleman, and he’ll hold the title with pride

He'd give you the most bizarre but most expensive gifts (mostly from rich and fancy people that he’s had to assassinate). A whole bar of gold, a diamond necklace, rare animals, flower stems, the fingers of the people he’s had to kill, etc.

Killua isn’t overly expressive when it comes to telling you how much he loves you, Y’know since he didn’t really grow up hearing the words ‘I love you’ on a regular basis. So I think the farthest he expresses his love to you is through his drawings, and the occasional makeout session.

Killua would come to your home in the middle of the night with his skateboard and wake you up just so that he can tell you about the assassin life and how difficult it is. (As much as it’s fun to talk to you, Killua’s purely telling you so that you think twice about ever leaving him)

Now let's talk kidnapping...

If you got to a point where you couldn't take Killua forcing himself on you anymore and trying to flee, he would surely track you down in a short amount of time and then have you tied up tightly somewhere.

It saddens Killua deeply, to think that his love for you simply wasn’t enough to satisfy you, but he makes a silent oath to himself that he will try and be better, the second that he finds somewhere that will make sure that you never leave his side ever again.

His next step would be to inform his parents that a "guest" will be living with them for a while. And as skeptical the family is (an no matter how enraged Kikyo is upon hearing your arrival) they welcome you into their home. (On Killua’s demand) They don't even blink twice at the ropes wrapped around you or the collar tightened around your neck.

[hugheswritetr]

Fresh Start

MASTERLIST

Heartbeat | Jack Hughes

- prologue part 1

author’s note: so this is the first chapter, let me know if you like it

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JUNE 2015

The long drive from New York to Michigan made Thalia anxious, looking through the window watching towns pass was not pleasant when the each town passed reminded her of the growing distance from her childhood, her father. Her mind was filled with questions, would she find friends? Could she make it in a new state by herself? The mind of the 12 year old never quieted. The biggest question was if her father, would stay with her even if every reminder of him was left in the soon to be sold penthouse in New York.

William Mariott, the greatest man Thalia ever known. Loving father, devoted husband, taken too soon from their lives. She often thought of herself as the luckiest girl alive, exotic vacations, hotels all around the globe, and all the benefits of leading a privileged life on the Upper East Side, living her own Gossip Girl dream. Her perfect life was crushed by the sudden diagnosis of her father, lung cancer they said. Thalia’s young mind couldn’t comprehend the severity of the diagnosis until her beloved father suddenly died, leaving behind his wife and two children who would spent forever digging themselves out of the hole their father’s death buried them in.

Although her mother tried to put on facade, Thalia knew better. The countless nights spent against the door of her mother’s bedroom listening to the gut wrenching sobs of a shell of a woman her mother once was would scar the young girl forever, hearing her mother’s sobs even on her own deathbed. That is why she made no fuss about the move even though it was killing her inside. Maybe the change of scenery would erase her mother’s memories of the death and she would find some inner peace, that was all Thalia wanted for her beloved mother.

Her brother, Theo, 15 year old boy already called the head of the family. The former heir was left with regrets of not spending time together with his father, the memory of countless nights he was asked to work by his side in the future made the teenager want to turn back time, but it was impossible. All he could do now was complete the dream his father supported him in, paying multiple training camps, private trainers and the best equipment there was. Theo would make it, he had to. The brave face he put on was all he could do for his father now, being there for Aurelia and Thalia, they were the ones who needed him the most.

Aurelia, Thalia’s mom was excited for the reunion with her childhood best friend Ellen, but the overwhelming sadness and pain was still looming over her head. She was sure the time would heal the wounds, but for own selfish reasons, she had to leave the city. The dying face of her husband imprinted in her mind. She swore she would protect the kids and their inheritance, she took the role of taking care of the hotel empire until Thalia turns 21.

As they passed the exit to the new town, Thalia for the first time since her fathers death felt at least a bit of excitement, because maybe this could be her fresh start, the beginning of much needed healing for her and her family.

When the car parked in the driveway, Aurelia let out an exciting shriek, before the house stood the Hughes family. Thalia didn’t know then that the family would change her life.

As soon as they left the car, the mothers embraced themselves with such love only a lifelong friends could radiate. The reunion made Thalia feel warm. For the first time since the tragedy, her mother’s slim frame radiated something other than despair and sadness.

,,Thalia, Mattheo, come here” her mother’s warm voice invited them to step forward. That’s when she saw him. When her chocolate eyes met the most beautiful sea blue eyes, she knew he would be the doom for her. That’s when the infatuation for the boy began. He was sporting the cheeky grin that would be associated with him for the next following years. Jack Hughes, the boy who will steal her heart and never fully return it. Even young, she was sure of it.

,, Hi, I’m Mattheo, this is my younger sister Thalia” the older brother taking the initiative to introduce them. Thalia stepped forward, being pulled from her admiring gaze trained on the middle child of the Hughes family. Thalia greeted the family with practiced elegance only a heiress of multimillion dollar company could carry, Thalia carried elegance from such a young age, given she was born to live this life. Even when she was in the womb, her parents knew she was going to be a lifelong member of the high society.

,, I love your skirt, It’s my favourite colour” spoke the youngest, Luke. Thalia immediately began the conversation with him about the shade and how it reminded her of her vacation to Caribbean, the memory of her family spending time together surrounded by the endless waves and eternity long sunsets made her smile. Thalia shared the details of their getaway , the young boy enchanted by the story. Ellen and Aurelia immediately smiled at their youngest children, seeing a new beautiful connection forming right in front of their eyes.

Their weren’t the only ones forming a now connection as Quinn immediately recognised his future teammate from the multiple images his mother had shown him. The eldest duo starting their own talk about the program and how they were excited for it. Both Mariott children smiled at the thought of their father proudly looking down on them. Maybe the move wasn’t so bad after all.

And that left Jack, but the young boy, always the star of the show was not left alone for long as he quickly inserted himself into the conversation with the adults, his charming personality making Aurelia swoon.

,,Come on, let’s talk in the kitchen” Ellen chuckled , inviting the family into the house for much needed reunion. The house had walls adorned with countless memories, providing warm feeling not only to the Hughes family, but to the Mariott as well.

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Luke led Thalia upstairs, wanting to show her his pictures from his own vacation, the young pair’s conversation never faltered. Thalia felt sense of relief, because for the first time since the tragic incident, the light at the end of the tunnel shined a little brighter. Lukes constant rambling made her feel secure and welcome, which was a pleasant feeling after a life of private school kids who were not so nice.

,, He didn’t bore you yet?” Spoke a voice from the doorway. Both of the kids turned around and saw Luke’s older brother, the boy with the most beautiful eyes, Jack. The blush that adorned Thalia’s chubby cheeks would be embarrassing if it hadn’t matched the one on the older boys own cheeks. Jack joined them on the floor and began sharing his own stories about the perfect holiday by the sea.

Mattheo and Quinn soon joined them, all of the kids forming a connection that will last through all of their adult lives, soon sharing their experiences together, laughing together, crying together a and some of them starting life together, but who will it be?

[dreamwritesimagines]

Why would you do that, Dee?!?!!?!

Now I am plagued by HCs and imagines of Bucky's son and Rhett's firstborn (a girl he adores) being betrothed since they were like 14.

Now you're gonna have to put up with me.

• I think Alice was definitely unhappy and dissapointed when she saw she had a girl. She basically threw a fit, wouldn't hold her, wouldn't feed her, wouldn't even name her. She's a Chicago Wife, all her plans involved a boy, her whole life basically revolved around having an Heir. A girl is only a bargaining chip; now she'll have to wait even more to try again. Rhett was the complete opposite. He was sorta excited about the baby in general? He too expected a boy, its the way his whole life has been arranged- a daughter completely demolishes the plan. A daughter he can spoil. A daughter he can love without having to train. A daughter can be only his, at least for now, not the business'. He calls her Mina because he'd watched Dracula the other night and he'd only ever thought of male names so... it works.

• He eventually does have a boy. He loves his son of course. But things are not the same- everyone loves his son. His parents, his wife, his men. Mina is loved too, but it's always tinged with the slightest bitterness... no one can forget she was born first. Alice never fully warms up to her, he knows, only pays attention to her education, manners and makes passing comments about how she'll make a good match if she grows up pretty. It makes Rhett twitch.

• But of course Mina grows up gorgeous- it doesn't take long for people - boys - to notice. And Rhett isn't dumb, Mina would be a catch even if she were hideous, but he's never been unaware of just how ruthless his city can be to the women in his world, how uncaring. A man older than Rhett, one of his father's men that stuck around enough to make himself a fortune moving drugs, makes a passing joke about how Mina is his best investment yet, leering eyes focused on his eleven year old quietly eating at the table, and Alice agrees with a giggle. Rhett kills him himself that same night.

• But he had a point, and now Rhett can't stop seeing it. Boys in high school, in college, men his own age and older looking at his baby like they're...waiting. Like the second she 'becomes a woman' she'll be up for sale and they're all thinking up the different ways they can purchase her. Women in the Chicago Outfit are little more than accessories and maybe Rhett is an asshole for not seeing it until it affected his daughter but sue him, he doesn't want that for her.

• One day everything goes wrong. One day he wasn't looking and one of his men betrayed him, his right hand died and now he's got a war on his hands and he has to make a decision. Gather up his allies and think of something. He keeps his son close, Alice refuses to leave her precious boy and talk around fourteen year old Mina is bad enough he has to make a decision.

• Charm honestly thought he was kidding all those years ago. Yeah, betrothal still happen in their world but outright arranging one is kinda... old fashioned? These days you just gently nudge your kids in the right direction and they get the idea. But no, Rhett hasn't been subtle about anything in his life. So of course she's on a phone call with him talking about debts and loyalty and his daughter and her son at three am. "You're the only person I can trust with this, with her" he says. And okay, sure. His daughter can come stay with them until things settle down in Chicago. Yes, per their contract years ago, New York will back him up.

• Mina's stay in New York lasts about a year. Her father is the only one that calls her- her mother is happily living out the fantasy where she doesn't exist. Her brother mostly texts her memes when she asks him if he's okay so she knows he's not and she's just... isolated. She isn't from New York, but she can't be from Chicago either... and apparently one day she'll marry the boy who also lives in the penthouse? Honestly she doesn't even see him most of the time (which is a shame because he's two years older than her and just as hot as his dad but whatever) Mina is pretty sure he's knee deep into his training and too busy to deal with the weird girl that just showed up one day in the middle of the night. Mr Barnes is never there either, training his son or helping her father with his war, nor is his wife, the only woman her dad has ever spoken with true respect in his voice. They're both super nice to her, though. Overwhelmingly so- she isn't this used to someone other than her dad caring so much about how she's feeling or if she needs anything. They insist she never eat dinner alone, ask her about the online classes she's attending and they LISTEN when she answers.

• So her temporary guardians are great, her fiancee is far from one of the creepy boys from back home and the city is new and exciting... but her favorite part is the Barnes' daughter. Mina isn't used to being friends with girls her age, she's grown accustomed to being a friendly acquaintance and to keep any other girl at arm's length because they could turn into an enemy the second they feel like it; the friends her brother makes are the ones that matter, they'll be the powerful ones one day, at least that's what her mother says, so Mina isn't that well versed in the whole friendship thing.

• But the Barnes' daughter could give a shit about that, apparently. She's beautiful, confident and she'll inherit her mother's territory one day, so of course she felt no issue bursting into her room one day and introducing herself before announcing they would be best friends and did she want to get milkshakes?

"What?" Mina says, still shocked and in her pajamas.

"Milkshakes. Shit, do you not have those in Chicago? Mom said it was old fashioned but-"

"Of course we have them but... it's one am."

"Okay? Is that a yes or-"

They're best friends because ofc she's never wrong. They literally spend all their time together, Mina kind of expects her to drift away once she goes back to school but no, they remain steadfast. And Bucky's daughter kind of really likes how her brother turns red and stammering whenever Mina is around.

"I don't think your brother likes me very much," Mina whispers to her after her fiancee tried to talk to her for the third time that week but failed yet again because his stupid sister is just there, hogging her and making her laugh, so he just got moody and stomped out of there.

"No, like seriously," Mina complains in the middle of a party they snuck into. "I think he hates me." She sips her drink and ignores the way the boy she's supposed to marry glares at her. (He's actually glaring at all the other guys trying to get her attention.)

"I'm not that thrilled about basically being sold either, but you don't see me being a bitch about it," she informs her friend when she watches him get knocked down in a fight because ofc the first time he gets the nerve to talk to her is just before the definitive cage match of his life and of course the prospect of talking to the beautiful girl that lives in his house, that his parents adore and his sister can't stop talking about is actually more terrifying than losing the fight so of course his dumbass jumps in the ring before time and nearly loses. (He wins the fight anyways, but Mina thinks he literally would rather get beat up than have to put up with her so yeah).

MY DARLING OMG I JUST-

YOU ARE AMAZING?! 😍 I am literally smiling at the screen, and I'm gonna fangirl over you, this is so so so good! ❤️😍

I think Alice was definitely unhappy and dissapointed when she saw she had a girl. She basically threw a fit, wouldn't hold her, wouldn't feed her, wouldn't even name her. Oooh I think so too! Like you said, having an Heir is the most important thing for her, and everyone probably kept telling her! Like Charm said, Chicago's underworld is basically medieval, and Alice is a part of that 😱

A daughter he can spoil. A daughter he can love without having to train. A daughter can be only his, at least for now, not the business'. This is so cuuuute! ❤️ I totally agree, I think Rhett was even relieved when he saw that they had a daughter, and he was surprised at himself ❤️ But like, he needs to be incredibly "stern" with his heir, just like his father, but having his daughter...she would be his princess! ❤️

He named her Mina after watching Dracula I LOVE THIS! ❤️

Alice never fully warms up to her, he knows, only pays attention to her education, manners and makes passing comments about how she'll make a good match if she grows up pretty. It makes Rhett twitch. I think Mina is going to be such a sore topic between them for completely different reasons❤️ Rhett is incredibly protective of her, and he wants to shelter her from all the business, and everything that comes with it, and to hear Alice being so harsh with her?

They would have such huge fights!

OH RHETT WOULD KILL THAT PERVERT CREEP AND HE WOULD ALSO MAKE HIM SUFFER!

Like, that night, I think Rhett legit tortured him the whole night to the point of him begging for death, only then he killed him😏 There wasn't a bone that wasn't broken in his whole body, and his face was messed up beyond recognizable 😏

maybe Rhett is an asshole for not seeing it until it affected his daughter but sue him, he doesn't want that for her. Rhett as a protective dad🥺 I love him❤️

I think it's around that time that he realized what Charm meant during their break up, how she would never stay in Chicago even if New York wasn't an option 😏

Yeah, betrothal still happen in their world but outright arranging one is kinda... old fashioned? These days you just gently nudge your kids in the right direction and they get the idea. But no, Rhett hasn't been subtle about anything in his life. I can almost see Charm's confused expression AT THREE IN THE MORNING 😂

Charm still being the only person Rhett trusts after all these years asdfghjkl 🥰

Charm totally gave a talk to their son before Mina showed up😂 She would be like,

"The fact that I'm telling you this does not mean you can be mean to her in any way."

"I won't be mean to her. I don't even know her."

"Yeah well, keep that in mind. Because when the same thing happened, your father was the rudest person-"

"Charm we're married with kids, when will you let that go?"

"We're married with kids because I'm such a forgiving person."

Rhett being the only one to call Mina❤️

Mina instantly having sort of a crush on him 🥰

the only woman her dad has ever spoken with true respect in his voice. Have I mentioned I love Rhett? I LOVE RHETT❤️

They insist she never eat dinner alone, ask her about the online classes she's attending and they LISTEN when she answers. CHARM AND BUCKY BECOMING GREAT PARENTS, I-

But the Barnes' daughter could give a shit about that, apparently. She's beautiful, confident and she'll inherit her mother's territory one day, so of course she felt no issue bursting into her room one day and introducing herself before announcing they would be best friends and did she want to get milkshakes? She's gonna be such a great combination of like, Charm and Becca when they were younger!

"Milkshakes. Shit, do you not have those in Chicago? Mom said it was old fashioned but-"

"Of course we have them but... it's one am."

"Okay? Is that a yes or-" SHE IS SO MINI CHARM HELP-

And Bucky's daughter kind of really likes how her brother turns red and stammering whenever Mina is around. She would be having the time of her lifeeeee😂

"I don't think your brother likes me very much," Mina whispers to her after her fiancee tried to talk to her for the third time that week but failed yet again because his stupid sister is just there, hogging her and making her laugh, so he just got moody and stomped out of there. ASDFGHJKL HE PROBABLY WENT LIKE,

"Hey you're...you're here."

"Hi-"

"Of course she's here dipshit?"

"...Do you have to be here?"

"Yes my dearest brother. I kind of have to be here because she's my best friend."

"No, like seriously," Mina complains in the middle of a party they snuck into. "I think he hates me." She sips her drink and ignores the way the boy she's supposed to marry glares at her. (He's actually glaring at all the other guys trying to get her attention.) Lolll and Mina so thinking he hates her guts while he's over there like,

"Who's that guy trying to buy her drinks? What the fuck?"

"Uh..."

"This bar is in my father's territory. She doesn't need anyone to buy her drinks."

"Okay, but-"

"I'll go beat him up-"

"Your mom would be very pissed off."

"...Great."

"I'm not that thrilled about basically being sold either, but you don't see me being a bitch about it," she informs her friend when she watches him get knocked down in a fight because ofc the first time he gets the nerve to talk to her is just before the definitive cage match of his life and of course the prospect of talking to the beautiful girl that lives in his house, that his parents adore and his sister can't stop talking about is actually more terrifying than losing the fight so of course his dumbass jumps in the ring before time and nearly loses. HE IS HIS FATHER'S SON, HELP, THAT IS BUCKY'S SON RIGHT THERE 😂

Lolll and after the cage fight, Mina would go and find him and she'd be like,

"Um, hi."

"Mina! Hi! Did you...did you watch the match?"

"Yeah I did. Are you okay?"

"Yeah! Sure I mean, it's nothing."

"Your nose looks broken?"

"Yeah but it's nothing, who hasn't broken their nose at some point- so how are you?"

Aaaaaaand I ship them now thanks to you😂❤️

Honeeeey this is so amazing, you're a genius! ❤️ Thank you so so much for this, ILY! ❤️

[crazyunsexycool]

Is it a crime?

Chapter 9

Pairing : mob boss!bucky barnes x mob boss!reader

Word count: 3.3k

Warnings: mentions of domestic abuse, mentions of smut, violence, knife use, loss of limb, drug use, alcohol consumption

A/N: the long awaited chapter for this series… honestly I don’t know how to feel about this chapter but here it is I do have some interesting things planned for this series though!!

Series masterlist

9 years ago

James Buchanan Barnes was a ghost.

He was the shell of who he used to be. A whisper in the shadows of the already dark and seedy underbelly of the city. Since the night of the infamous Y/L/N murder it was clear that Bucky Barnes had changed. The switch that flipped inside of him was losing you.

Even being the heir to the Barnes family empire Bucky had always been known as charming and even kind. Not to be considered weak, he was a beast in his own right. Some would even go as far as to say he could instill more fear in someone than his father. Yet he had earned more respect from others in the business. It wasn’t fear disguised as respect no, the now twenty one year old had gained genuine respect from the others in this business. It was the worst kept secret that eventually the Y/L/Ns and the Barnes would become one when you and Bucky inevitably married. Everyone fought to be on Bucky’s good side lest they be the target of his wrath.

Now though, that person had died. His heart had been ripped away and sent out of New York. What was left was a ruthless man who thirst for blood. Specifically the blood of hydra. It was enough to send hydra’s associates running for the hills. There were some that didn’t care. They didn’t believe the whispered warnings. They saw Bucky as nothing more than an inconvenience until they were face to face with him.

Like right at this moment.

Bucky stood in the dark alleyway. A cigarette between his lips and a knife in his hands. Hydra had been pushing their business closer to his territory. It’s not like he needed a reason to kill hydra men but that could lead to a war and George Barnes didn’t want that. If it were up to him he’d call a truce with Pierce just for getting rid of you but Bucky had done too much damage in the span of just three months for that to happen now.

Bucky tosses his cigarette on the ground and steps on it before heading out of the alley. Pierce’s men had stolen from him and he was determined to make them pay. Before he even rounds the corner completely Bucky has already stabbed one of the guards. The knife slicing right into his lung, the man wheezes and falls to the floor. Bucky makes sure he won't get up again. On the other side of the street Steve handles some other of Pierce’s people, while Bucky makes his way into the warehouse.

By the time he was done the warehouse was on fire and all of the hydra scum that was supposed to protect Pierce’s assets were inside.

7 years ago

The music was deafening. Bucky’s first club was up and running successfully despite his father’s insistence that it would fail. Bucky sat up straight after trying the new drug the infamous Bruce Banner had cooked up. There’s some leggy redhead that had attached herself to his side the moment he walked in and he was already wasted so he didn’t care.

“Why don’t you try that and tell me what you think?” Bucky whispered in her ear as he held out what looked like a tiny piece of paper. She stuck her tongue out and when he placed his finger on the tip she wrapped her lips around it. Her tongue swirling around his finger until he pulled his hand away harshly.

It didn’t take long for the effect to take place and Bucky found himself shaking hands with Bruce after closing a deal to sell his new concoction only through Bucky and only at his clubs.

“Bucky, we have to go. You have a meeting.” Steve said as soon as Bruce walked out of the vip area.

He was beyond annoyed with Bucky’s behavior. Steve had even parted ways with him for a few weeks because Bucky was being so reckless he was sure to get one or both of them killed. He understood the pain Bucky had been hiding under the recklessness. He hadn’t been the only one to lose you. Frankly Steve had been just as upset when he heard the news and he was ready to go out and bring hydra down. Both men had thrown themselves into work but in very different ways. Steve became more calculating, double and triple checking his plans to make sure everything fell into place. He couldn’t lose anyone else.

“If my father thinks I’m not smart enough or for old enough to take over already he can fucking go to the meeting.”

���Buck…”

“Get out. I don’t give a fuck about the damn meeting.” Bucky was up and in Steve’s face.

“The only reason you’re this upset is because Y/N’s birthday is coming up.”

There was an instant and drastic change in the room. The tension builds so quickly it’s suffocating. Bucky reacts without thinking, his fist already flying toward Steve’s face. Fortunately he was high and a bit drunk so Steve was able to move out of the way just in time.

“What did I fucking say about mentioning her?”

“You,” Steve points at the redhead. “Get out.”

She scowled in his direction but left anyway.

“You need to get your shit together. At some point the way you’ve been acting because of Y/N is going to get you killed. What if she comes back and finds out you’re gone huh? At least you have your mom and Becca and your friends. Y/N is out there with nothing and I can’t fucking find her to make sure she’s ok. All you do is get high or drunk and act like a child that had their toy taken away.” Steve yelled. “You’re not the only one who lost her so man the fuck up already.”

“Get the fuck out Steve. I’m not gonna deal with your bullshit.”

Bucky moved to the bar and grabbed a bottle of whiskey. He returned to the couch and sat down before taking a drink directly from the bottle.

Steve just stared at him for a moment before he started walking out. “She’d be so disappointed if she saw you like this.” He said over his shoulder.

The bottle Bucky had in his hand flew into a wall and shattered on impact. A blood curdling scream turned into a sob in his throat. He knew Steve was right. If you saw him right now you’d probably hate him. Still he couldn’t bring himself to be better. What was the point?

Underneath everything he had become, Bucky was still that 20 year old that had to watch while you ran for your life. At the time he didn’t have enough influence within the Barnes crime family or in New York. His hands were tied behind his back and he blamed himself for failing to protect you. That would always be his biggest regret. All he had left was hope that you were still alive and that you could somehow reach out to let him know you were ok.

But everyday that hope dwindled a little more. Until he was left with nothing.

6 years ago

A trap had been set by hydra. George had willingly given Becca to Pierce as a bargaining chip. Hoping that she would be enough to stop the war before it began.

Bucky was furious when his mother told him what had happened. And even though his relationship with most of his friends was rocky he called on Steve and Sam to help get Becca back. He should have known that Pierce and Rumlow would use his sister to lure him out.

Bucky doesn’t remember much of what happened once he stepped into the abandoned building. All he knows now is that he’s in a hospital. He goes in and out of consciousness. The doctors go on and on about something but whatever they have him on has thrown him for a loop.

Arm.

Amputate.

Pain.

Miracle.

Lucky.

Those are the only things he was able to capture. Everything is hazy and far away. Whatever pain medication they're giving him is the best thing he’d ever had. Bucky swears he can hear your voice, see your face and feel your hand on his face before he’s unconscious again.

When he fully wakes up the first thing he does is ask for you. Winnie and Becca are at his side reminding Bucky that you aren’t there. Bucky cries over the fact that he imagined you but not so much at the news that he lost his left arm. He looks at Becca who is beaten and bruised and all he wants to do is get back out there and destroy Pierce. Then find a way to destroy his father.

The pain is unbearable, nightmares interrupt his sleep. Adjusting to not having a limb is so difficult Bucky thinks it won’t get easier. He’d prefer to just crawl into bed and never get out. Winnie, Becca, Sam and Steve don’t allow that to happen.

5 years ago

It took a year of doctor visits and appointments before he could be fitted for a prosthetic. Of course he did intensive research with the help of Becca to find the best money could buy.

Now with a metal arm more people seem to be afraid of Bucky. A feeling he relished and used to his advantage. Something in him changed too. He felt the old him die. There was no use in emotions; he would only hurt himself. Bucky closed that part of himself off. The part of himself that thought he could have a happy life and love. Instead he focused on his job, on hitting hydra back for touching Becca. Of course George is furious at this but he isn’t as vocal about it afraid of Bucky, considering the rampage Bucky is going on.

****

He’s relentless in his pursuit. Bucky had managed to pull together a group of men he trusted. None of them had any connections to his father. They were just trying to make a name for themselves. Luckily enough for Bucky. Hydra had also screwed them over so it was easy to get them on board with the promise of their own money tacked on. They called themselves the Howlies because of how they made their enemies cry out in pain.

When Bucky isn’t destroying hydra or their associates he’s either high or drunk and fucking some girl he met at his club. When he’s done he feels disgusted, like he’s cheated on you. The most recent girl gets kicked out of his office before she’s even dressed. He can hear her cursing up a storm but he couldn’t care less. Bucky sits in his office alone, looking down at the dance floor through the large window. Every time he did he wished for you to magically show up.

That would never be the case and for the first time since that night he began reluctantly accepting that he’d never see you again.

3 years ago

It was a rumor. Not really a rumor but a whisper in the wind. Just something said in passing but it was enough to give Steve hope. A group of mercenaries or something was traveling around taking jobs others wouldn’t. Starting connections and dealing with groups no one else could. All of them led by the so-called mob princess of New York.

Steve walked into the Barnes residence knowing Bucky would be finishing up a meeting with George. He had possible good news and he was going to tell Bucky before leaving in search of you again.

“Steve.” Winnie intercepted him before he could make it to Bucky.

“Mrs. Barnes, you aren’t going to believe it. I think I can find Y/N.”

“I’ve heard, how sure of this are you?”

“I’m pretty sure.”

“Steve if you aren’t even 75% sure that it could be her— you can’t tell him. If it isn’t or you don’t actually find her it will break him. He’s already on edge because of his father. And I can’t see him like that again.”

“Please don’t cry.” Steve moved to comfort the older woman. “I won’t say anything. Just tell him I had to go away on business and I’ll see him in a few days.”

“Thank you, please be safe.”

*****

“Where have you been?” Bucky asks Steve without even looking up from the documents he had in his hand.

“I had some business to take care of.”

“That’s what my mother said. What business?” His head snaps up to look at Steve.

“Nothing important. The plans fell through anyways.”

“So nothing to do with Y/N then?”

“I’m sorry what?” Steve did his best to look confused.

“You heard the rumor about some team being led by the so-called princess of New York and you tried to go find her. Am Icorrect?”

“Yes, listen I didn’t tell you because-“

“It doesn’t matter why you didn’t say anything. She’s not here so it obviously wasn’t her or you missed her. Anyways it doesn’t matter.” Bucky shrugged his shoulders.

“Why doesn’t it matter?”

“There’s no reason to keep-“ Bucky clears his throat. “To keep looking for her.” He said quietly. “She’s been gone this long with no type of communication. It's obvious she isn’t interested in coming back.”

“You don’t mean that.”

“I have a business to run and that’s what I’m going to focus on.”

Steve looked at him with concern. “Did something happen while I was out?” He asks.

“Nothing to worry about. Why don’t you rest today and I’ll catch you up on what you’ve missed tomorrow morning?”

“Buck-“

“Don’t. I’ve made my choice. I can't continue to live hoping that she’ll show up here one day when I know she won’t.”

Steve just nodded and decided to leave and talk to Sam. It’s obvious his father got to him and he was going to need back up.

1 year ago

“It’s time you stop fooling around. I thought that by giving you time you’d straighten yourself out but you’ve been insufferable.” George Barnes told his son from behind his desk.

“I’m doing my job. I’m making this family money, I’ve strengthened our relationship with the rest of the families and I’ve kept hydra in line. So please enlighten me on how I’m fooling around?”

“No one is going to take you seriously if you keep fucking around with those whores. You need to settle down.”

“I would have settled down if you had kept your promise when Pierce killed Y/L/N. Y/N and I would be unstoppable-“

“Enough.” George slammed his fist on his desk. It was a move that used to instill fear in Bucky as a child, but not so much now. “It’s been almost ten years, get over it. You sound like a pussy every time you whine about her.”

“Fuck you. I’m never going to get over it. She was everything to me and you knew that. But you only care about yourself and your money. If you hated having a family and children why did you get married in the first place?”

“Because it was my obligation. To keep the family name and business going. And just like I had to do it, so will you.” George pulled some documents out of a drawer and dropped them in front of Bucky. “I’ve already found someone for you. All you have to do is sign the contract and we can proceed with the wedding.”

“I’m not signing shit without my lawyer reviewing and adding my own stipulations.”

“The family lawyer was the one to put it together.”

“I have my own lawyer.” Bucky said as he glanced down at the document. “See, the family lawyer works for you so I don’t trust him, or you for that matter. My amended contract will be the final say if not, this arrangement isn’t happening.” Bucky got up and walked out.

******

It took almost a week but Bucky finally returned to the family home with the revised contract and set it on his father’s desk. His personal lawyer found too many requests that would screw Bucky over permanently.

“It’s this or nothing.” He states calmly and then proceeds to sit and watch George Barnes lose his shit over every stipulation he’s added.

“You’ve got to be out of your damn mind if you think I’ll agree to any of this.”

“You either sign and walk away with a nice retirement plan or I move on you and your men. Either way I’ll end up in full control of our territory and you’ll be gone.” Bucky states calmly.

Bucky’s requests were simple. He would be allowed to divorce after 2 years of marriage at which time the bride’s family would sign their businesses over to Bucky for a large sum of money. The day of the wedding George Barnes would officially step down as the head of the family and Bucky would take total control of everything. But the most important and the one request he wouldn’t change was that George would have to grant his mother a divorce and move away from the city.

“This is my city boy. I’m not moving and I’m not letting your mother go either.”

“You will sign the divorce papers, that’s non negotiable. If you don’t I will personally do to you every single thing you ever did to her. Everything.” Bucky’s eyes were ablaze with rage.

“You wouldn’t dare-“

Before George could finish the sentence Bucky had reached over the desk, grabbed his hand and held it there before stabbing him with the knife he had been wielding in his left hand. George cried out in pain as Bucky pulled the blade out.

“You ungrateful brat.” George spat.

“I was six years old when you did that to my mother at the dinner table because she didn’t make the meal you wanted. Then you refused to let her see a doctor until dinner was over. I suggest you sign the contract because if you don’t you’ll be in a lot more pain.”

****

A blonde that looked like she had been plucked out of a 1940’s housewife guide comes walking in. Curls bouncing, hips swaying, heels clicking, smile blinding. Bucky hated her immediately.

“Hi, I’m Dorothy but you can call me Dot.” She stretched her hand out in order for Bucky to shake it although it seemed she expected a kiss to the back of her hand.

“James.”

“I know,” she giggled, it was infuriating. “Your dad has told me so much about you.”

“It’s a shame I can’t say the same about you.”

“It’s ok, we’ll have plenty of time to get to know each other.”

Bucky rolled his eyes. “Unfortunately.” He mumbled.

Present

The bar was a little hole in the wall. You’d miss it if you didn’t know it was there. Bucky and Steve walked in with purpose, the other patrons stopping their conversation except for a table at the back. They were a rambunctious bunch.

“Well look at what the cat dragged in.” Tim Dugan called out from behind the bar. “Hey guys! Look who's here.”

The rest of the Howlies turned their attention to the bar. All of them immediately get up and welcome Steve and Bucky with open arms. They spend some time catching up before the question is asked.

“So what are you doing here after not seeing each other for some two years?” Falsworth asked.

“I need your help again. I know I said I wouldn’t drag you back in but there are very few people that I trust with my life. Most of them are sitting at this table.”

“What do you need help with?”

“Hydra.”

The men looked at each other before deferring to Dugan.

“When do we start?” He said with a sly grin.

Ch 10

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[alexanderlightweight]

Okie dokie, I adore the sentient shadow thing with Alec as the True blood heir. How does the downworld feel about him? Or in Elysiums Tears goe does Magnus' friends and family react to Alec?

this did not go the way i meant to, also I do have a fill that i posted about Cat meeting Alec in Elysium's tears

so i wrote Ragnor meeting bby!Alec in the sentient shadow Trueblood heir verse.

i hope you enjoy and thank you for the compliment and prompt!

-

“Commander Lightwood.” Ragnor says, voice dripping with disdain and displeasure at the official request — order — from the clave summoning him to New York.

He hasn’t even told Magnus or Catarina that he’s on the same continent as them yet, knowing that they’ll try to insert themselves as backup.

Which he may still need, but he won’t risk bringing them in until he knows what’s going on.

“Trueblood.” Maryse Lightwood tells him, the corners of her eyes tight and her lips pursed, as if to hold back a grimace.

Which, for her, is almost polite.

“Excuse me?” Ragnor asks, confused, and he watches as she closes her eyes for a fraction of a second and takes a barely visible breath.

“It’s Commander Trueblood, I am no longer associated with the Lightwoods.”

Which is lovely and all, but it’s never been her last name that’s defined her to the downworld, it’s been her actions. Divorce is rare, however, among shadowhunters, even ones married for politics reasons and Ragnor wonders just what he’s being dragged into.

“Commander Trueblood then,” Ragnor says, and she nods in acceptance and hesitates, before she turns her back on him and motions for him to follow.

“I need wards apart from the Institute’s for my heir’s rooms.” She tells him and there is something tight and dangerous in her voice. Ragnor wonders at just what has happened, for the her child to be her heir now instead of Lightwood’s.

“Is there something wrong with the Institute wards?” He asks, voice frosty because while their connection isn’t known, Magnus is the one who did these wards and Ragnor can tell that they are impeccable.

“No, it’s not that.” She pauses at a door and then with a glower at him — as if he’d try anything in an Institute filled with hunters — unbuckles her weapons and lets them drop to the floor, and then she takes off her shoes. “Alec is…” and she trails off, something almost vulnerable in her gaze and if it wouldn’t possibly get him stabbed, Ragnor would push.

Because what on earth makes a woman like Maryse Trueblood so hesitant that she’ll disarm herself in front of a warlock and even turn her back to one.

“My son didn’t inherit the Lightwood gifts.” Maryse says and Ragnor knows immediately why he’s been called. Ragnor is one of the only warlocks still alive who knows as much about nephilim as he does and he’s the only one the clave can’t risk killing for that very reason. When they need the services of a warlock for something this important, they rely on him and only him.

“Then your own family powers, are they stronger or weaker than yours? Or mutated from the joining of bloodlines?”

Maryse shudders and stops at another door and then turns and her eyes are dark and serious and grave.

“There have been no Trueblood’s who have awakened our gift for over three generations. Alec is the first to be so blessed.” There’s pain in her voice and a twist to her lips, as if she’s trying to convince herself that it’s a blessing, rather than Ragnor.

“Baby,” she calls as she carefully opens the door and the pet’s name surprises Ragnor almost more than the gentle, coaxing tone of her voice. “I asked Potions Master Fell to come.”

Which is a fancy way of saying, she got the clave to do her dirty work for her and they demanded his presence, but then Ragnor steps in after her and understands why he was needed.

The boy is young and he’s floating above his bed, lying on a puddle of shadows that writhe the moment they sense intruders. A blank gaze greets them and instead of focusing on Ragnor, he focus’s on his mother.

Between an unknown and powerful warlock and his mother, Alec Trueblood is more wary of his mother.

He considers her the bigger threat.

“Mother.” The boy says, voice still in the soft, high stage of a truly young child but his tone is cold and hard, there is no feeling in his words.

“I—” and Maryse takes a shuddering breathe, “he’s going to help you, okay Alec? Whatever you need you ask him, I’ll pay for it, okay? You don’t need to clear it with me first, or even tell me everything, okay baby?”

Ragnor is shocked when she then leaves, backing out of the room and he realizes that taking off her weapons, her shoes, not turning her back… she’s trying not to engage her son.

Maryse is terrified and Ragnor isn’t sure if it’s because she thinks her own heir will kill her, or if it’s something else.

She leaves and her son watches her and as the door clicks shut behind her, he moves.

The shadows take him to the door and Ragnor watches as small hands press against the door and the shadows seal it shut, making sure that it can’t be opened physically though Ragnor could always use magic.

Then he turns to Ragnor and with a small, solemn voice says, “we don’t trust her yet. So, she can’t stay but we don’t mind you.” He steps closer and, as if it’s a secret says, “if you don’t hit us, you can stay.”

Ragnor feels his heart crack, a little piece of it breaking for this tiny child who looks as battle worn as a veteran hunter.

“I won’t hit you, laddie.” Ragnor promises and then he squats, trying to get on eye level. “But I’m afraid my old age is a bit much for these bones of mine. May I sit?”

A chair is dragged over, scraping across the floor as shadows bring it to Ragnor and then Alec nods, hesitant and almost shy.

Ragnor sits, pretending he’s out of breath as he collapses into the chair with a gusty sigh.

“Ah, laddie. Portals are the works of geniuses but can be a bit draining. Now then, why don’t you tell me what it is I’m supposed to be helping you with?”

Alec walks closer and then plops down. For a second, Ragnor expects him to break a bone with the force that he lets himself drop with, except the shadows catch him, holding him up and steady and the lad just smiles, a tiny quirk of his lips.

“I don’t like it when it goes all dark, it’s not as… nice.” He tells Ragnor, his manner of speaking careful and wary, like he doesn’t think he’s allowed to make mistakes. “We want light, so we can travel and not a witchlight.” The lad scowls, “they’re stupid. They turn off when no one touches them and then the shadows get hungry.”

Ragnor swallows, understanding better than the lad himself what it means that his shadows seek light to eat.

“I can certainly figure something out. What else?”

“I don’t want mother coming in my room without permission, even when I’m not there. Or anyone.” Alec is gripping his small, no doubt custom made breeches, already being dressed in hunting gear. “This needs to be our space. Where we’re safe, where other people can’t hurt us.”

It pants a sad, hateful image of just what happened for Maryse to change so much and Ragnor has to ask despite the danger it might put him in, “laddie, are you with the parents you want to be with?”

Dark eyes meet his gaze and there’s something vicious that flashes through, like a glint of green when the sunlight breaks through the branches of a thick forest.

“Mother was the least unworthy.” Alec tells him quietly and then, ducking his head, he shrugs, and his voice is pleased as he whispers. “She’s trying, more than she did before and she tells me she loves me now.” Ragnor feels like another part of his carefully protected heart will crack and then the lad grins, a vicious slip of a smile. “And mother knows best, what will happen if she hurts me again.”

Ragnor swallows down his sympathy and his concern and he smiles, because that’s all he can do, that and help the boy ward his room from high heaven, down to the lowest level of hell.

“Well, since I’m here—” Ragnor sends a playful wink that turns the little lad’s face into one of surprise, “since no one can enter without permission, do you want to redecorate?”

There’s awe on the lad’s face and the shadows drop him to his feet and he lands, like a graceful and nimble kitten before he stalks over to Ragnor. His fluffy curls are extremely tempting and Ragnor risks his fingers, reaching out to pat the lad’s head.

The gift he’s given — a delighted, grateful little grin and shadows parting for his touch — is perhaps the most valuable thing he’s ever been gifted by a nephilim.

“Really?” He’s asked and for the first time, Alec sounds nearly his age and Ragnor lets out a deep chuckle and lets his magic swirl around the room. The shadows wriggle as if delighted but they don’t attack his magic, only the light that comes from its glow and Ragnor settles, more confident in his welcome than ever before.

“Really, laddie. Now, I think you need something far softer than wood. Have you ever felt a carpet made from the fur of a fire-elk?”

[ash-and-books]

Rating: 1/5

Book Blurb:

A BEST SUMMER READ: The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Time, Vulture, Esquire, Boston Globe, Elle, Town & Country, Seattle Times, New York Post, Lit Hub, Cosmopolitan, Minneapolis Star Tribune, Paste, BiblioLifestyle, E! Online, AARP, BookBub, BookRiot “For anyone who’s ever craved a seat at the Round Table. Utterly enchanting.” —Rebecca Yarros, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Fourth Wing and Iron Flame “If you love King Arthur as much as I do, you’ll love Lev Grossman’s The Bright Sword, a fresh and engrossing take on the Matter of Britain featuring a colorful cast of Round Table knights who don’t often get as much story time as they deserve. The creator of The Magicians has woven another spell.” —George R. R. Martin, #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Game of Thrones The #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Magicians trilogy returns with a triumphant reimagining of the King Arthur legend for the new millennium

A gifted young knight named Collum arrives at Camelot to compete for a spot on the Round Table, only to find that he’s too late. The king died two weeks ago at the Battle of Camlann, leaving no heir, and only a handful of the knights of the Round Table survive.

They aren’t the heroes of legend, like Lancelot or Gawain. They’re the oddballs of the Round Table, from the edges of the stories, like Sir Palomides, the Saracen Knight, and Sir Dagonet, Arthur’s fool, who was knighted as a joke. They’re joined by Nimue, who was Merlin’s apprentice until she turned on him and buried him under a hill. Together this ragtag fellowship will set out to rebuild Camelot in a world that has lost its balance.

But Arthur’s death has revealed Britain’s fault lines. God has abandoned it, and the fairies and monsters and old gods are returning, led by Arthur’s half-sister Morgan le Fay. Kingdoms are turning on each other, warlords lay siege to Camelot and rival factions are forming around the disgraced Lancelot and the fallen Queen Guinevere. It is up to Collum and his companions to reclaim Excalibur, solve the mysteries of this ruined world and make it whole again. But before they can restore Camelot they’ll have to learn the truth of why the lonely, brilliant King Arthur fell, and lay to rest the ghosts of his troubled family and of Britain’s dark past.

The first major Arthurian epic of the new millennium, The Bright Sword is steeped in tradition, full of duels and quests, battles and tournaments, magic swords and Fisher Kings. It also sheds a fresh light on Arthur’s Britain, a diverse, complex nation struggling to come to terms with its bloody history. The Bright Sword is a story about imperfect men and women, full of strength and pain, who are looking for a way to reforge a broken land in spite of being broken themselves.

Review:

A new take on the Arthurian round table but with a bunch of misfits and underdogs. King Arthur has died and now the round table is in shambles. A young knight named Collum is desperate to get a seat at the round table... and he's lied and killed his way into Camelot... but what is he to do now that Arthur is gone. With only the oddballs of the Round table left such as Sir Palomides, the Saracen Knight, and Sir Dagonet, Arthur’s fool, who was knighted as a joke and Nimue, Merlin's apprentice who turned on him..... things are about to get a little hectic. Collum and his companions are determined to reclaim Excalibur and solve the mysteries while also facing off against all the faeries, monsters, and old gods returning with Morgan le Fay as their leader. This is the start in a new series and a new take on the Arthurian story. This new take on the classic story is definitely an interesting one but I just don't think it was for me. I was really hoping I would like it more but I just found it kind of boring overall and just a slog to get through. I would however recommend it for fans of Arthurian stories just to read it and see if they do like it. I love Arthurian stories but this particular one was a bit of a miss for me.

Release Date: July 16,2024

Publication/Blog: Ash and Books (ash-and-books.tumblr.com)

*Thanks Netgalley and PENGUIN GROUP Viking | Viking for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

[msjr0119]

This life

PART ONE

The majority of characters belong to Pixelberry from The Royal Romance/Heir. This is an A/U - with only parts being linked to canon.

Series warnings ⚠️: Adult language, sexual, adultery, loss of a baby.

Based on the Netflix series- Sex/life. A few parts of dialogue are from the tv series.

Please do not read unless you are over 18 🔞

Tags: Because I’ve been gone MIA in like forever I don’t know who’s here anymore 🙈… so only tagging people who have asked previously.

@ao719 @kingliam2019 @txemrn

Previously: Introduction

****

School psychologists aren't supposed to write books or diaries about sex. Doing so would be considered 'unethical' and 'a fireable offense'. Lucky for you, ethics was never my strong suit.

****

“It’s good to see you, Brooks.”

“It’s Cooper-“ Due to the shock, this was the only thing that Riley could mutter. Finally making eye contact, he gave her the refined look of innocence. “My surname is now, Cooper.”

They say that New York City is one of the worlds best places to take a run. Running was never my forte- I impersonated Phoebe in that one episode of Friends. The emotional pain that I felt in this moment, I’m not sure how many miles my body could suffer before shutting down…

“Riley! Wait!”

****

Olivia Nevrakis was never one to leave the house without looking presentable. Her attire generally consisted of stiletto’s which matched anything that contained sequins. She always used to say that she wore these type of shoes for self defence. In the frantic attempt to catch up with Riley, this one time she accepted that sneakers would have to do.

“Where’s, Riley?” Liam questioned as he scrutinised the unusual appearance from their friend.

“I’m glad I’ve found you- I don’t know. I assumed that she came back here, to you both?”

“What do you mean, Olivia?” There was no need for an explanation- the figure that ambled towards them confirmed the reason behind Riley’s disappearance.

“What the fuck is he doing here?”

“It’s a free country, Linz…. Liam, looking good bro!”

“Listen to what I’m about to say, Drake.. I am not your ‘bro’…” Exaggerating the word ‘bro’, Drake took a big gulp as Liam squared up towards him. “If anything happens to Riley- I will kill you this time!”

“You haven’t got it in you, Li-“ The tension between the two old friends, could have exploded due to the overload of built up anger that had been formed over the years. Olivia ‘sacrificed’ herself, separating them both- as they continued providing death stares. Neither wanted to throw the first fist or insult any further- in that moment there was the realisation that they both wanted the same thing. For Riley to be found- safe. Drake stepped back, and to everybody’s surprise expressed a slight bit of remorse.

“I fucked up, Li. I know that. I regret it each and every day. At least she has Preston to look after her, he’s a lucky guy.”

“Preston is an intelligent and caring….” This slight description stabbed Drake in the heart- if given an opportunity Lindsey would continue to dig the ‘knife’ as revenge for the pain that he had caused her sister. “Preston… he’s… The most an amazing three year old.”

“Excuse me?”

“Preston is my nephew- Riley’s son.” Awareness had finally hit, Drake- he had his wires crossed. Wishing that he hadn’t mentioned Preston, the confirmation of his identity now pulled on his heartstrings. Concealing his true feelings, he nodded to the trio- before leaving without another word.

“Lindsey, Liam- myself and Drake… it’s not what you are both assuming. I would never do that to, Ri. I can explain. It was just bad timing.” Olivia pleaded her innocence- she now knew that the jetlag would have to be put on hold whilst she explained the unexpected return of Drake Walker.

****

January 3rd

Let’s try this again. Drama. Life is always full of it in my case. The life of Riley Brooks. It probably would make more entertainment than the Kardashian’s.

Alcohol acts in crazy ways. It affects people differently. It can make you feel invisible- or at least it did for me tonight. I still can’t remember how I had the energy or knowledge on how to get home safely. Walking up the drive, I noticed my snobby and nosey neighbours- Hannah and Neville peering out the window. My brain was informing me to provide them with the middle finger gesture. Instead I gave a friendly neighbour wave along with the biggest fake smile that I could provide. The curtain soon shut as the pair probably scurried away like the rats that they are. What dickheads. If I know Hannah well, I can predict that she will visit tomorrow with a basket full of freshly baked muffins waiting for the tea to be spilled. The women here believe that they are the real life ‘Desperate Housewives’. Riverside may appear to be a seemingly perfect neighbourhood but like Wisteria Lane - here it more than likely also hides; many secrets, crimes, forbidden romances and domestic struggles.

Betrayal. It can occur in different ways. But you never expect it to happen with people whom you loved. The same two people who you trusted with all your heart once upon a time.

My husband is as gorgeous inside as out. I’ve never once caught him looking at another woman. To be honest, I’ve never caught him in a lie- or had proof to prove any potential deceit. So what’s the problem?

“Honey, where are you?”

“I’m upstairs, Nate.”

“Ri, things have been super crazy at work. You have no idea.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. We’re talking post-merger madness. Everyone is just angling for a position. They are all trying to show off for the new boss, you know.” Katrina- fantastic, little miss perfect Katrina. You can say her name, Nate. “She’s great, she wants to do all the things that I want to do- but on a much larger scale.”

“Wow.” Attempting to show a slight bit of interest, Riley didn’t realise how sarcastic that she may have sounded.

“Yeah, people are swarming- but she sees me. She loves me.” Nate noticed that Riley was in a daze, as she didn’t respond to him immediately. Laying next to her, he planted an attentive kiss on her forehead. “What’s up?”

“Nothing. I just miss you.”

“Excuse me. It’s her.” Acting dumb, Riley knew exactly who was on the other line. It’s a bit late for a work business call. “It’s her, my boss…. I won’t be long, Ri…’Katrina, hey! How are you?’” Laughing during his conversation, Riley couldn’t remember the last time he had laughed like that towards her.

The problem for Katrina, Nate Cooper is married to me. Before I met him, I had been contorted into a high percentage of the positions in the Kama sutra. Shouldn’t we all? There was rich guys, poor guys, tattooed guys, the one night stand guys. Any kind of man. Do I sound like a whore?

“We’ll sit down tomorrow just you and I, to discuss it Kat. See you then, bye.” Kat? Pet names now. The old boss was known as Mr Wilson- not by first name terms.

“Told ya, Ri. She loves me.”

“Who doesn’t?” Riley replied again in a sarcastic type of way.

I bet people often wonder why I married some man who was so straight-laced as to say. Honestly, it’s because of all the past encounters- especially, Walker. My nerves were so shot by the time that I had met Nate. As I’ve said previously I was vulnerable. My heart was riding on fumes- the stability that he offered was a soothing balm. At the time, I wanted us to live for a hundred years and die at the exact same moment to avoid any pain. I hoped that our souls would find each other on the other side- if that truly exists. We could fall in love all over again….I just also want to fuck Nate’s brains out, mainly as a distraction from the impromptu night that I have just had. Is that too much to ask?

****

January 4th

Last night or rather this morning was a complete disaster… When you have the urge to fuck your partner- you need to do it there and then, right? Why is it so hard to both be in the mood at the same time once you are married with kids? The way things are at the moment, I feel I’m like a reborn virgin.

“I’m sorry, I forgot to ask. Ioana mentioned that Liam and Lindsey came over. You should have gone out.”

That supportive look that he provided, was the complete opposite of what he would have really expressed. If he knew the truth, the calmness of his voice would be a different matter. Is he a controlling husband? Maybe. Protective- yes. What he doesn’t understand, is that I need to let my hair down once in a blue moon.

“I wasn’t up to it.”

To prevent my lie from being exposed I turned my phone into ‘Do not disturb’ mode.

“Besides, you’re back now….”

I reach down, making the first move. Faking orgasms- does anyone else do this?

“It’s so good.”

“Sorry, Ri- I can’t…. I’m too tired.”

Drake would never do that. He would see to all my needs. Why am I comparing them?

“Pass me the vibrator.”

It’s been nearly two years since Nate went down on me for example. I grew an entire human being in my body in half of that time.

“For fuck sake!”

I feel like screaming, due to the frustration of not only Nate ‘dying’ on me but now B.O.B does it too.

“Fuck it.”

After a slight yawn followed by a stretch, Nate snuggled into Riley-completely oblivious to his wife’s dissatisfaction. “Night baby.”

It wasn’t always like this. As much as children are a blessing- is this the reason that explains the loss of Nate’s libido or is it truly down to his work load? The passion we had has now declined, faded into something that is now virtually non existent. This must be the definition of growing up; getting married and living the family routine with a waning passion. Now I’m starving. Internally screaming at him from inside my mind trying to make us feel - something. Love is a drug, that’s what they say- right? Adrenaline. I can get that feeling again, every time I close my eyes - going back to any one of those nights in the past- I feel it. It’s not some allusive high that I’m chasing- it is - or was, real. That was the other Riley Brooks- the true, me. A wild-child. How can a girl fuck up with every relationship? I don’t know how I manage to do it? Maybe I should have worked on my brief relationship with Liam- my now brother in law. But, that’s a different story which included a poor teenage waitress in a dive bar and Lady Liberty.

****

January 5th

For this entry, I cannot allow for it to be discovered by Nate.

Deceit- the act or practice of deceiving; concealment or distortion of the truth for the purpose of misleading; duplicity; fraud; cheating. For me, today is just not informing my husband about the full truth. It’s in my past and something that I don’t like to ponder about. I’m still living through this nightmare behind closed doors. If he was ever to ask the reasoning behind this date- I have Lindsey as ‘my excuse’. We have previously had a discussion - to get our stories straight if Nate was ever to discover the true events about this day. The fifth of January always creeps up, then it’s gone in an instant- until it reappears each year.

****

Slowly walking up the path, there was the sense of tranquility. Silent neighbours. The slight wind enabled the tree branches to sway in sync.

“Hey, Linz”

“About fucking time, Riley! I’ve been worried sick about you! Are you okay? I’ve tried ringing you-“

“I’ve had no missed-“ Riley soon remembered that she hadn’t deactivated the ‘Do Not Disurb’ mode on her phone.

“I’m fine- I just… every year, we always meet here at the same time. Where are you? Why have you put flowers down without me?”

“That’s what I’m trying to explain, I’m stuck in traffic. I’ve rang you a few times mainly about the delay but also to discuss about you leaving the other night without telling us.”

“Linz, if you didn’t put these flowers here- who did?”

“Riley-“

“Linz, I’ll ring you back.” Sensing company, Riley focused on the shadow hovering over her.

“There’s a bunch of New York’s finest flowers from, Olivia. She wasn’t sure if you wanted to see her or not as you haven’t returned any of her calls. So I offered to bring them…. It’s been too long since I’ve been here, myself.”

The callused hand gently removed the crinkly yet rusty coloured leaves that floated effortlessly in-front of them.

“The teddy is a gift from me. I hope that you don’t mind?”

Reaching out to the bear, Riley pulled it close to her chest- holding it tightly, it felt to her as if the world had just crashed. Again. The defence mechanisms that she would usually excel in, were now paper thin. Before she could have reacted, his hands gently drew her closer towards him as he knelt down to her level.

“Please…. Don’t touch me. I’m fine.”

The heat from this touch rapidly creeps into my consciousness - needing to pull away, I couldn’t. It’s like a magnet, drawing us closer- unable to separate this unexpected bond. Pulling his head back, he ran his hand through my hair before gently wiping away the tears that were now everlasting.

“You clearly aren’t fine, which is understandable. If you want me to go, I will.”

As I sink further into his torso attempting to hide my emotions, I inhale his aftershave- which has now sent me into a coma. My heart and brain have different scenarios imaged in my mind. What am I doing?

“You have a right to be here as much anyone- Drake.”

- - -

Jackson

Our sleeping angel

01/05/2014

Sweet little flower

Of heavenly birth

You were too precious

To bloom on earth

Love you always, Mommy and Daddy xxx

[period-dramallama]

The Lost King: movie review

TLDR: not as Ricardian as I was expecting, but definitely a Ricardian movie. Enjoyable, but the historical arguments were weak.

I want to grab the makers of this movie and shake them and shout RICHARD  III IS AN IMPORTANT HISTORICAL FIGURE AND THEREFORE WORTHY OF FINDING HE DOES NOT HAVE TO BE “THE RIGHTFUL KING” NOR DOES HE HAVE TO BE GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD

My favourite part of the film was Harry Lloyd as the ghost of Richard III. He was just great. 

One moment that i loved, being a nerd, was when Philippa goes to a bookshop and asks about books on King Richard III and the woman says “we have 8 titles” “I’ll take them” “which ones?” “all of them.” MOOD.

Given that Philippa Langley was a producer on this movie I was worried they’d portray her as flawless but she felt like a real person rather than a saint. Even Richard’s ghost is like “your interest in me is getting obsessive.”

 I also liked the portrayal of ME. It felt like the moviemakers did their homework. The score at times was pretty overpowering and maybe a bit too whimsical.

“Tudor propaganda” this and “Tudor historians” that. This movie never acknowledges that anti-Richard Yorkists existed. Richard wasn’t just brought down by Henry Tudor, he was brought down by a Yorkist-Tudor coalition. Let’s not erase the teamwork of Elizabeth Woodville and Margaret Beaufort!

There is one passing mention of Anne Neville, yaaaaaaay.

I dislike this movie’s implication that anti-Ricardians are ableist or they can’t see past Shakespeare. Ricardians aren’t the only ones reading sources!

Now on to the feeble historical arguments this movie allows to go unchallenged:

“Shakespeare made up the hunchback”. 

No. Shakespeare took the idea of Richard’s back and the idea of him having an abnormal birth from Thomas More’s history. 

“Richard III wasn’t a usurper but the rightful king! Edward was married to Eleanor Butler! His marriage to Elizabeth Woodville was invalid!”

Even if Eleanor was the ‘true wife’ of Edward IV (and isn’t it convenient that both were dead when Richard argued this?) Edward V was his father’s chosen heir. Edward IV specifically said he wanted Richard to be Protector, not king. If Edward IV wanted Richard to be king or considered him the rightful heir...he could have named Richard. He was the king!

“Richard didn’t kill Edward of Warwick or his nieces or his sister’s seven sons!”

Duh he didn’t. They were behind him in the line of succession! And if Edward of Warwick was technically ahead of Richard in the line of succession.... that means Richard wasn’t actually the rightful king Philippa. 

“In Henry VII’s first speech he doesn’t mention the princes’ murder, why? They were still alive!”

That’s a huge leap of logic oml. These two things...just don’t connect. 

“Richard III established innocent until proven guilty!” “Richard wanted a more just society”.

We’re really not going to mention the time he had people disembowelled for talking shit about him?

“Richard was an advocate for the printing press when people thought it was the work of the devil”

OK, first of all, Edward IV was Caxton’s patron and early printed works were dedicated to Elizabeth of York so jot that down. Stop acting like Richard was THE innovator here. Also, work of the devil?? What’s the source for that??

“Richard provided the safe strong leadership the country needed”

His coup killed Richard Grey, William Hastings, and Anthony Woodville. With no trial. Then he was on the throne for 2 years, and there were 2 attempts to remove him and the second succeeded. How low are your standards?? 

Nevertheless, the movie wasn’t as Ricardian as I thought it would be. Philippa asks Richard’s ghost “did you have them killed?” and he doesn’t say no. He simply asks her what she thinks. Also one character says we mustn’t sanctify OR demonise people.

This movie has caused controversy because there’s a character we’re clearly meant to hate called Richard Taylor. He’s patronising, dismissive, and pretty ableist too, so ableist that Philippa calls him out publicly and educates him that “having a disability doesn’t make you evil.” 

Unfortunately there’s a real guy called Richard Taylor, and I can see why he’s planning on suing for defamation. This was an easily avoidable problem! Just change the goddamn names, or have some proof that the real Taylor was a dick!

[thiswaycomessomethingwicked]

Here's an interesting fucked up 'what if' LotR scenario my brain came up with while I was trying to sleep last night. Something I figured you might find thought provoking as well.

Apologies for the long post, and I'll preface it all by saying I based this on the movies only - I've never read the actual books.

What if Grima Wormtongue wasn't just Theoden's counsellor, but also his illegitimate child?

It happened when Theoden was young - before he married Elfhild, and before Theodred was born. Grima was Theoden's firstborn.

He wanted to acknowledge Grima as his son, but couldn't, because this could have given Grima a claim to the throne, and his parents wanted his heir to be the child of his upcoming marriage to Elfhild, which was then being arranged. Queen Morwen made it clear that by-blow sons from lowborn country girls do not future kings make. Or, maybe Grima's mother was foreign-born (hence the dark hair) and the Rohirrim were a bit xenophobic and wanted a nice, blonde boy as their heir instead.

Theoden took care of Grima. He arranged for him to be educated, then brought him to court and gave him a good job with influence and authority - something appropriate for a King's son.

He never publicly acknowledged Grima, even in his later years, but everyone in Theoden's inner circle knew the truth.

This is why Grima became Theoden's right-hand man, and gained 'undue' influence over him. Everyone just looked at the setup and said 'well, that's the King's secret son, he's just helping his old man out, it's totally fine'.

Not helped by the fact that Theodred wasn't much interested in the business of running the kingdom, and preferred to spend his time hunting or chasing pretty girls (my headcanon), so Grima stepped into the gap that Theodred should have filled.

Saruman knew as well. He sought Grima out, whispered in his ear, persuaded him to act on feelings he'd previously kept to himself.

Grima sold out to Saruman because he resented his position, and his lack of recognition. As the eldest son, he thought he should be Theoden's heir. His parentage and birth status shouldn't matter.

This is why Grima 'assisted' Theodred's death in The Two Towers. Not just to weaken Rohan and further Saruman's plans - to get rid of the competition - the half brother who had everything he didn't.

It's also why Grima had his eye on Eowyn. Not just because she was young and beautiful - also because she was highborn and of the royal line, so a marriage to her would strengthen his claim to the throne. Think Henry VII of England marrying Elizabeth of York.

It's why Grima cried when he saw Saruman's army at Isengard - he realized he was about to be party to his own people's destruction. He's angry at being excluded, but not THAT angry.

Aragorn knew, because he was around when Theoden's thing with Grima's mother happened. It's why Aragorn stopped Theoden from killing Grima on the steps of Meduseld - fathers should never have to kill their sons, even when many would say doing so was justified.

Saruman's comment to Theoden at Isengard has two meanings now. Theoden's not the only man there who's the 'lesser son of a greater sire' - he means Grima as well.

It's why Theoden offered Grima mercy at Isengard, reminded him he was a man of Rohan, asked him to come back, instead of just writing him off. One last appeal from father to son.

It's why Grima attacked Saruman - one last moment of loyalty to his father and his King.

I freely admit this is all totally whack, but if it's okay to write a story where Aragorn meets Harry Potter, why not an AU like this?

I might actually try to write this one day, just for shits and giggles :)

So first, I love all of this and I am here for Bastard Son!Grima. He's out here to have conflicted emotions, a desire for a Family and Acceptance, hurt everyone around him, and to make some of the world's worst decisions.

Also, I feel like there's no need for things to be, idk, "believable" in fanfic re: premise. The whackier the premise the better - because then the characters have to react and it's a fun challenge to be like "so how would Theoden, as we know him, react in this situation wherein he's been betrayed by his son who he loves but also never really was able to demonstrate that to" etc.

and tbf we know literally nothing about Grima's background aside from his father's name - but that can be smudged/a reference to a grandfather/whatever (also Galmod means lust/desire so Grima being a by-blow resulting from Theoden's desire...) - so this is no more crazy than literally anyone else's theory on the matter.

Naturally I think you should write it! I would read the heck out of it.

<3 <3 <3

[byneddiedingo]

Kinuyo Tanaka in The Life of Oharu (Kenji Mizoguchi, 1952)

Cast: Kinuyo Tanaka, Tsukie Matsuura, Ichiro Sugai, Toshiro Mifune, Toshiaki Konoe, Kiyoko Tsuji, Hisako Yamane, Jukichi Uno, Eitaro Shindo, Akira Oizumi, Kyoko Kusajima, Masao Shimizu, Daisuke Kato. Screenplay: Kenji Mizoguchi, Yoshikata Yoda, based on a novel by Saikaku Ihara. Cinematography: Yoshimi Hirano. Production design: Hiroshi Mizutani. Film editing: Toshio Goto. Music: Ichiro Saito. 

Oharu (Kinuyo Tanaka) is by turns a lover, a concubine, a courtesan, a servant, a wife, a prostitute, and a nun, which in the 17th-century Japan of Kenji Mizoguchi's film is almost everything a woman could possibly be. But Tanaka's great performance individualizes Ohara, keeping her from just being a representative figure, a stand-in for Woman. Over the course of the film, Oharu suffers almost every indignity that could be inflicted on her: At the court in Kyoto where she is a lady in waiting, she falls in love with a page, Katsunosuke (Toshiro Mifune), but when their affair is discovered, she and her parents are expelled and he is beheaded. One day a courtier for a powerful feudal lord comes to the village where they are exiled: The lord is in need of an heir, and his wife is barren. Oharu fits his rather exacting specifications to the letter, so she is brought to his palace where she bears him a son, but she's not allowed to nurse the child and is expelled from the household by his jealous wife. She goes to work as a courtesan to pay off the debts incurred by her greedy father (Ichiro Sugai), takes a job as maid to a woman who suspects her of sleeping with her husband, marries a man who is killed by robbers, and becomes a Buddhist nun but is expelled from the temple for supposedly seducing a man who was actually trying to rape her. Years pass and she loses her beauty and now walks the streets to earn money to survive, but she is subjected to scorn and mockery as a "goblin cat" by a man leading a group of young pilgrims. Hope dawns when she is summoned to meet her son, who has succeeded his father as lord, but it turns out that the officials in the court really want to cover up the fact that their lord's mother has been a prostitute, so she runs away after only a brief and distant glimpse of him. At the end she wanders the streets as an itinerant nun receiving alms in exchange for prayers -- her prostitution is now spiritual rather than physical. It's easy to take a synopsis like this and dismiss the story as "lachrymose as a soap opera," and "a reverse Horatio Alger adventure," as a particularly obtuse New York Times review did when The Life of Oharu was first released in the United States in 1964. It is neither of those things, of course. Even the Times reviewer was struck by Tanaka's performance, Mizoguchi's direction, and Yoshimi Hirano's cinematography, without understanding how or why these elevate the story into art. The story comes from a 17th-century novel by Saikaku Ihara, The Life of an Amorous Woman, a work far more erotic and picaresque than the melancholy screenplay Mizoguchi and co-screenwriter Yoshikata Yoda derived from it. The Life of Oharu is unremittingly grim -- it put me in mind of the novels of Thomas Hardy, whose characters suffer more than seems absolutely necessary for the author to make his point about the workings of fate. But the film is not about suffering; it's about strength, and women's strength in particular.  

[little-orphan-ant]

!! !! !! <3

HI ILYSM <3 <3

this got Long so uh

you are being gifted my son, Henry Peter Alexander Wiley IV

he was born on March 13, 1843, to a prominent lawyer and his wife

the Wileys are RICH - they have a New York City house where they usually stayed called Wiley Manor, as well as homes in London, Virginia, and a small "cabin" (mansion) in southern France

before meeting the other character in my story, Jamie, he goes by Four (because he's the fourth of his name) or Harry

Four has 3 older sisters and is the first son and heir to his father's sizable fortune

he meets Jamie (Edward James Gray) when they're both 7 and they immediately become friends

Jamie gives him the nickname of Hal!! and theyre best friends!! and oh my god i love them so fucking much!!

(J wasnt born rich, his father struck gold in the Gold Rush and only now are the Grays being introduced to high society)

at 11, Hal begins attending a boarding school in Massachusetts, but he only lasts about a year before having a nervous breakdown. he's autistic and has social anxiety (wow ant whered you get that from huh) and was bullied a bunch and it got to be too much for our poor boy

for the next few years he has several private tutors and does a Lot of reading (boy loves to read)

his father pressures him to Go to School and Be Normal and Stop Letting Down the Family which only makes Hal's anxiety worse fuck his dad >:(

at 16 he realizes OH SHIT IM IN LOVE WITH JAMIE

it takes him a few months to tell him but once he does they start courting and it's v cute <3 <3 <3

then of course Hal's dad decides to send him to a school in South Carolina where his cousin Josiah goes and this time Hal can't come up with good enough arguments and has to go

he's at boarding school until age 18, and while there he and Jamie write a bunch of really romantic sappy letters

Hal's home for christmas break in 1861 when the Civil War breaks out, but it doesn't really impact him all too much, except that his father decides it's too risky for him to go back to school because SC is now part of the confederacy

while at school Hal started getting symptoms of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and now it's getting worse, so he spends a lot of the next couple months in bed recovering

by fall he's feeling better and he and Jamie can go be their gay selves

BUT THEN in October Hal is engaged (without his permission to the daughter of his father's friend, Miss Hattie Parker

Hal doesnt tell Jamie immediately but J finds out about it anyways and gets angry bc his boyfriend didnt. tell him abt being engaged

around that same time J's father discovers a letter between him and Hal (it has J's name on it but not Hal's, so Mr Asshole doesnt know it's him) and threatens to kill and/or disinherit him

for some unknown reason J decides that the only way to prevent this is to enlist in the war so he goes in down that

fuck this is getting long im gonna finish the rest in @mattwife-mattnipulate-mattsplain's ask

but thank you so much pol ily /p

[teddyniffler]

Mercy in Defeat

Chapter 12

Part 2

Years had passed since Alfred, the greatest king Wessex ever knew had passed, Edward had also died, killed in a battle in York with Vikings a few years ago. His grandson Athelstan had returned to Wessex now as a young man. He now sat on the throne against all odds. The young king was already showing signs of being the exact king that would have made his grandfather proud. He was translating holy books from Latin into English, continuing Alfred’s work to bring less power to the church over common people. His nobles said he was ill fitted for the throne, they wanted his younger brother, Alfweard who they claimed to be King Edward’s true heir, but he had died. They had no choice but to crown Athelstan when no other option arisen.

Hvitserk kept tabs on the young king of Wessex, he reminded him so much of Alfred, they even looked so alike, where Edward had light hair, Athelstan had his grandfather’s darker wavy hair. Hvitserk had seen him many times, back before he was crowned as king, he believed the boy would be a great man one day. Alfred’s dream of a united England still lived on, all kingdoms were now under Athelstan’s rule, having cleared out the Viking invasions up in York that had killed King Edward.

All except for East Anglia.

It had been decided that upon Hvitserk’s death, his children would renounce their titles as princess and princes, they would be the Lords and Lady of East Anglia rather than King or Queen. The Kingdom of East Anglia would merge into England as a whole. When that happened, Alfred’s true vision would be realised, it was just sad not Hvitserk or Alfred would ever see it, but their decedents would. Not that Hvitserk was up for too much these days. He had a much quieter life in his senior age, today he sat on his favourite bench outside of his court, enjoying the feel of the sun on his face.

His youngest grandson was fast approaching the age Hvitserk had been himself when he went to Paris on his first ever raid. He had dark hair and ice blue eyes, he looked so much like Ivar, as much as Hvitserk could remember Ivar looking. Naturally he would be the child of his youngest son, the one who hated everything about Christianity. Hvitserk often laughed at the irony, although only he understood. His other grandchildren had a more traditional Saxon look, although it was hard to tell as most children born today were a mix of Nordic and Saxon parentage. Some of the young people in Hvitserk’s kingdom didn’t even know they were of Vikings origin, but Hvitserk could point out a few young people right here now in the green who were the children and grandchildren of Northmen, but who believed their parents and grandparents were Saxons. He giggled to himself, just little things like that amused him to no end.

“Something funny Lord King?” Asked a young woman who had joined him on his bench. She placed a basket of food she had been gathering from the fields in her lap.

“Oh nothing, just little things” Hvitserk said softly.

The woman smiled “Your grandson is getting taller by the day, is his father still refusing to officially welcome him to the Christian faith?”

“Naturally” Hvitserk answered her, he lowered his voice. “Although my dear wife used to tell him to put his personal feelings aside and do it for his son.” He lowered his voice “Did you know my wife confirmed to the church that he had been christened in a private family service, but he wasn’t. It’s been eight years; I’m not going to force my son’s hand if he doesn’t want his son in the church. It shouldn’t be forced upon someone, it just causes resentment later on, I had this half-brother, well he claimed to be my father’s son, he hated how this faith been forced upon him. He viewed himself as Viking”

“You raised a terrible Heathen and now he himself raises a Heathen” The woman said.

Hvitserk laughed again.

“That’s not fair!” He protested, still laughing “I did the best I could. Just some people are of extra strong will. It’s not on me, I did everything that was asked of me.”

Two people walking by noticed King Athelstan sitting there on the bench again. They smiled at him politely and nodded their heads in respect, then they glanced at each other in concern for their elderly king’s state of mind, as he was talking and laughing to himself again. This wasn’t the first time he had done it, but it seemed more often now. The king was slowly loosing his mind to old age.

Or so it looked to them.

“Tell me Idunn, is my brother still alive?” Hvitserk asked, looking at her. It had been a while since he had asked about Ubbe, he always dreaded the answer.

The goddess lowered her vegetable basket.

“You brother has reunited with your family” She said simply.

“Oh” Hvitserk said. He closed his eyes for a moment. He knew this would happen eventually, but in the years since he learned Ubbe was still alive from the goddess he had felt comfort knowing his older brother was still out there somewhere. He wasn’t alone if Ubbe was out there.

“I had wished maybe, just maybe, he would have come back” He said regretfully. “I would have loved to show him my family, and seen his”

“Are you sure you don’t want an apple?” She asked “You know they will make you young and reenergised”

“Idunn, I’ve lived so many lives, I’ve lived longer as a Saxon than I did a Viking, I have seen five kings from the same family, from Ecbert to Athelstan. I have lost people I loved and I don’t recall their faces easy anymore. My children have children and one of those is mere days from becoming a woman, she wishes to marry a boy from an Northumbrian Lord. If I were to eat one of your apples, I would see my grandchildren’s children. I know you don’t want me too, but I am human and we die. You need to let me go, you have watched me all my life, but it needs to end, just rejoice in that, just let me live out the last of my days as my friend”

“As it pleases you” She started cutting carrots and letting them fall into her basket, just as Hvitserk’s daughter came over. The princess of East Anglia was bare a remarkable resemblance to Hvitserk’s own mother, but he could never tell his daughter that.

“Father, I think we should get you back to your study” Her face said everything, she had been alerted by the couple to the fact her father had been talking to himself again.

“Why don’t you leave him be?” Came a male voice, his youngest son had arrived. They had been a slight gap in years between both their births, meaning Hvitserk’s daughter always looked down at his youngest son.

His blue eyes flickered over to the spot where Idunn was sitting. “If our father wanted to go inside, he would, he’s not senile you know”

The two glared at each other, they had never gotten along. They were too different, his daughter an example of a Christian lady, his son the exact opposite, Hvitserk had often caught his son in his archives, looking at Pagan Saxon documents and other things Alfred had once sent Hvitserk to keep safe. The older son was currently broking a marriage deal for his oldest daughter in Northumbria.

“I was just about finished out here anyway, my son I want to see you in my study. Daughter, could you inform me what is said in the Witan later today?” Hvitserk told them. The tense exchange between his children was broken, as his son nodded and walked into the court.

“He can see you, can’t he?” Hvitserk asked Idunn. “How many times have you actually spoke to him?”

“Not many, I just normally watch him. He did ask me who I was before but I didn’t tell him. He thinks I’m a ghost”

Hvitserk sat quietly.

“When I’m gone, will you watch over him if he chooses to leave here?”

“I shall”

The sun was at the midday spot now, it would only get hotter from here. He had stopped being angry with Idunn many years ago, she had turned up to warn him of a Viking raid near his home, then she had returned with news that confirmed Ubbe was still alive. She would inform him of any threat to him or his family, allowing him to always stay ahead of any plot that should rise up, including an unexpected inspection of his archives by a suspicious and furious King Edward who had suspected Hvitserk had inherited his father’s own secretive personal archives. It had never been an issue before, not really, until Hvitserk had fallen foul of Edward for giving his son Athelstan shelter when the King was demanding his return to Mercia. Hvitserk was able to hide everything incriminating well before Edward turned up ‘unannounced and unexpectedly’ for an inspection, as king of the larger kingdom – as he had reminded Hvitserk – King Athelstan should agree. All Edward found was a few holy relics, religious texts and an over friendly dog greeting him. After that Hvitserk had viewed Idunn as his friend. He allowed her back into his life as his personal guardian. Time after time, she would visit him over the years, cooking food for him. Feeding him her apples in the dead of night on the eve of battles when his men were all sleeping.

After his wife has passed, she had brought flowers in her basket. He had felt guilty, sitting in church praying to his God while he knew a goddess from his past life waited outside for him. During confession, he knew he could never tell the priest who he had been talking too, so he explained himself to his God once alone. He was truly living up to the name Athelstan by being torn between Idunn and Christ, he didn’t know who his savour was anymore. As nobody could see her as she chose not to show herself, as he got older, people started to believe he was talking to himself.

She appeared more often to him now, telling him what he had already knew. The end was very near, but she could extend his life and return his youth to him if only he ate her apples once more, but he couldn’t. He had to die one day and didn’t want to go to hell, Alfred had already saved him once, he didn’t want to undo everything, as he had explained to God, he had only ate the apples to fight against the Pagans.

It had been a long time since he had eaten any apples, but the effects of them were still working on him now, he still had a sharp mind when younger men than he had already passed. He wanted to see Alfred again, he wanted to enter the twilight of his days without another Viking raids or plots, the younger generation could take over for him, he had done enough. He was now older than his father had ever been, older than Ubbe. Older than Bjorn.

He opened the door to his study, his son was waiting for him. His youngest son was in his mid-twenties. The woman he had loved had died in child birth, leaving him to raise their son alone. The final straw against Christianity for him had come when he had asked God to save his love, and then she proceeded to bleed out in front of him. Since that day, he had vowed never to follow the faith and he had taken his son and refused to let any priest near him.

In those years since being born, he had fought against everything the Christians stood for. He took too much interest in Saxon Pagans of the past, he knew so much about Woden he didn’t need to read any scrolls no more, he knew every single Roman god. Hvitserk looked at him, if Hvitserk had darker hair and his father’s blue eyes, with none of his mother’s features, then he would have looked like this. If he had looked like this, then maybe his own family would have taken him seriously.

Looking at his youngest son, he only seen a Pagan, not a Christian.

“All your life you haven’t fit well into this place, you hated going to church as a boy, refused as soon as you turned an adult, you had a child and you’re currently raising him similar to how a heathen would, I’m not saying this because I’m angry at you, I want to tell you something I can’t tell your brother and sister.”

His son looked at him, with a slight head title that caused Hvitserk’s heart to ache, he reminded him so much of himself, it was like looking at a mirror. The same image, only flipped. A Christian born young man who was seriously unhappy and unfulfilled in his life, always fighting with his siblings for being so different, looking for something he knew wasn’t quite right, he was lost.

“My name at my birth was not Athelstan, the name Athelstan was giving to me at a later date, a much later date. You once asked what were the marks upon my back and chest when we played in the river when you were younger and I told you they were old sword wounds, but I knew you were asking about the other marks, the faded ink in my skin. Those are tattoos, I got them when I was a young man. They did have a meaning once, but that message has been lost. The sword wounds I told you I got from fighting, from a battle. You believed I sustained them fighting the Pagans who came to these shores, the truth is I did get them in a battle, but the Pagans were not whom I was fighting with.”

He paused; he had never thought he would ever reveal who he really was, He had hoped he could take his greatest secret to the grave with him, but he owed his son this, if he could free his son from this life it would be worth it, this life was the one Hvitserk couldn’t have freed even himself from. He loved the family and life he had here, he had found peace and comfort from what Alfred had given him, he even liked God for that peace and love, but it wasn’t the life he was born into. His blood was the blood of a Norse God, he had Odin’s blood within his veins. He would have faced death if he had refused to join this faith, but his son could be freed. Alfred had told him all those years ago to set his son free if he didn’t find peace himself.

“I was fighting against the Christians”

His son’s mouth dropped in shock.

“But father, why? Was there a civil war or -”

Hvitserk smiled.

“No” He said before he could continue “The Christians were fighting the Pagans and I was with those Pagans, not the Christians.”

His son sat down on the sofa. He rubbed his head. Total shock on his face. Hvitserk could see it was the type of shock that confirmed something you already knew deep in your heart.

“I’m the son of the once king and queen of a place in Norway called Kattegat. I had an older sister I never met for she died in a plague before I was born. I had two older brothers and two younger. They are all dead now, I’m the last one that is left. My family all died because of our culture, either fighting each other or killed in battle. I came to England in my early twenties, just a few years younger than you are now, as part of a raiding party, my younger brother died in the battle and I was severely wounded. King Alfred spared my life. That is where the marks came from, they are from Alfred’s men, soldiers of Wessex trying to kill me. I wasn’t born into the Christian faith; I wasn’t born in this country. My family were Pagan, we were Vikings. My real name, the one my mother give me, was Hvitserk”

Now his son looked up, his hand over his mouth.

“Hvitserk, as in Hvitserk Ragnarsson?” He asked surprised, realisation slowly drawing on his face as he looked at his father. “He was mentioned in those accounts King Alfred written, then that means…?”

“My brothers were Bjorn Ironside, Ubbe, Sigurd, and my youngest brother was-“

“- Ivar the Boneless” His son finished, awe on his face mixed with shock and horror. “Are the stories true about him father?”

Hvitserk nodded. “As well as the ones unknown about him, the stories are all about his cruelty, but none about his kindness. Those ones never got out. I suppose universal hatred is easier if everybody thinks he was a monster. The brother I knew wasn’t a monster, he saved my life so many times, he died trying to save me. He did do bad things, but he changed. He loved a young Christian boy, he was a father who loved his child enough to leave it and its mother be. None of that is ever told”

His son leaned in closer.

“Ragnar Lothbrok? The famous Viking from all those stories?”

Hvitserk nodded. “He was my father”

Hvitserk sat down next to his son

“I’m telling you this now because I want you to have a choice. I never really had a choice you see. You can leave here if you want and go find out who you truly are. If you go to Kattegat in Norway and tell them you are the grandson of Ragnar Lothbrok, they will welcome you, my father’s name still holds meaning among them. If not, go to Gotland, your grandmother was a princess there. Idunn will watch over you, she’s the woman you’ve been seeing, she’s not a ghost, she’s a goddess, the goddess of youth. She has watched over me all my life and she said she will guide you and watch over you.”

His son twitched his fingers.

“There’s a man often in my dreams, he started showing up when I was really young, he’s surrounded by birds and he keeps saying my name, he has an eye patch, he’s Woden isn’t he?”

“Odin” Hvitserk corrected “Yes, you’re a descendent of Odin, so am I, so was my father”

Hvitserk touched his son’s hand.

“I won’t be here much longer, my time on this earth grows shorter. I have a matter of maybe days, maybe less. I’ve known for a while, I ate Idunn’s apples, it has been keeping me younger than what I should be for all these years, I should have died maybe ten years ago, but my life was extended maybe, I refused another apple from Idunn because it know it’s not right. If you want to go, it needs to be soon, in a matter of days because otherwise King Athelstan will come, he will make you a Lord of East Anglia and you won’t ever get away, if you want to be free, you need to go now and take your boy. If you go and it doesn’t work out for you, return here and tell them you’ve been on a holy pilgrim to Rome to find yourself in God, they will believe you, but you must go soon or you will be trapped here and in this life”

His son looked at him, there were tears in his eyes.

“I understand. I’m going to go father, thank you, I can’t stand another day living this life, it’s suffocating for me, it always has been. Thank you for telling me”

His son put his arms arounds Hvitserk and they embraced.

To everybody’s surprise the younger son announced he was going to travel to the holy lands with his boy at dinner that night, they would both find themselves on the journey as they had been lost for so long. Hvitserk’s daughter was pleasantly surprised, she guessed all her years of praying for her brother’s soul had finally worked. After dinner, Hvitserk took one last look at his youngest son as they both disappeared into the night on horseback, they were traveling down to Suffolk where a boat was waiting, it was a trading boat that was going to Denmark, however this one was also making a detour to Norway. The Danish crew had been paid for their silence. Hvitserk had hugged his son and grandson one last time, and as he did he noticed a beautiful woman waiting for them. She smiled one last time at Hvitserk, this would be their final time seeing each other for evermore. He nodded goodbye to the goddess.

Hvitserk turned away from them, he was beyond sad to see his son leaving forever, but most of him was filled with joy that overpowered him.

One of them could return home, to their people.

He pushed open the door to his chambers, his dog was already laying at the foot of his bed. She lifted her head as he came in, she rolled over with a loud sigh. He stroked her head before getting into bed. He lay there in the sheets and smiled, his son was free to live the life he wanted, he knew Idunn would look after them. He rolled over and closed his eyes. It had been a very long day.

The next morning, he woke to the sounds of the bells which confused him for it was not Sunday. They didn’t ring the bell often, normally for Viking invasions but nobody had come to alert him to such an attack. He had half a mind to go out there and tell whoever was ringing that bell to stop, but he wanted to stay in bed a little longer and admire the glorious sunlight that was filling his room, it was promising a beautiful day.

Then it came to him, he had somewhere to be.

He couldn’t believe he had forgotten, he had to go meet somebody on the hill outside of town. He couldn’t stay in bed, they would be waiting for him. As he sat up, he noticed his dog was no longer there, she was free to come and go as she pleased, but she was a loyal dog and never left him, he wondered for a few moments where she could have gotten too.

He didn’t dress, his night clothing was comfortable enough and nobody would really mind if the king had stepped out before dressing to find out what all this noise was so early. He left his room, it was time to go met somebody.

Out of his personal rooms, through corridors bright and warm with sunlight, he looked for his dog, he walked into the main throne room, which also doubled as a sitting place for his family and friends to gather, a few people were here but they didn’t pay the king any mind, he looked at the furs near his throne, she wasn’t there either.

He found her when he stepped out of the court, she was sitting outside the church, her golden fur shinning in the sun.

‘Odd place for her to be’ Hvitserk thought.

Even odder was the fact King Athelstan was standing in the green, talking to Hvitserk’s daughter and to his oldest son who had returned from Northumbria, his daughter had clearly been crying. Hvitserk paused as he watched them, he was making his way towards them to ask them what was going on, when it came to him again.

He had somewhere to be.

He was meeting somebody on the hill.

He glanced once more at his dog, her ears lifted and she sniffed the air, looking in his direction, but not moving.

They were waiting for him. He turned away from his children and made his way to the hill, it seemed to grow closer to him, far too fast than what it should have done. His feet barely noticed the gentle climb as he rose, there was a tree up there, he had somebody to meet at that tree.

He reached the tree and sat down in the shade, leaning back on the trunk, he looked out over the sea.

Home.

Home was far out there, where his father once lived in the Halls of Kattegat. He had been happy there as a young boy, playing with his brothers and being tucked into bed by his mother. He looked out at the water, his father had sailed this sea to find England, his horns blowing as his boat cut through the waves. If Hvitserk listened, he could hear his father’s horns blowing again, or so he thought. The wind blew his hair, the smell of the sea in his nose.

The horns were calling out across the water.

Calling out for him.

Calling him home.

“You look like shit” Came a voice to his left.

Hvitserk closed his eyes, half laughing.

“I feel like it” He replied.

He turned his head. There he was, the person Hvitserk had come to meet.

“Hello Ivar” He said. He broke into a smile. He had wanted for so long to see Ivar again, he looked at his brother’s face, taking it all in. He had forgotten the little details, the way his eyebrows slopped up, the bright blue among the dark hair.

Ivar looked back at him, a smile already on his face, then they both had tears in their eyes. They reached out to the other at the same time and held the other tightly, they didn’t let go.

“You got so old brother. What ever happened to not dying as old men in our beds, eh?”

Hvitserk rested his head against Ivar’s shoulder, his brother was warm, his arms around him held firm, as if Ivar had been waiting years, decade to hold him once more. Hvitserk held on just as tight.

“I didn’t leave you” Ivar said, his voice was shaking, in a way that Hvitserk had only ever heard once, when they had said goodbye all those years ago. “Mother, father, they all told me to come away, to leave you be. They said watching you will only break my heart, I’ve stayed with you this whole time. When you were crying for me, when you tried talking to me, I was right there with you, you were never alone Hvitserk, I could never leave you, I just couldn’t reach you. Father came to see you a few times, so did our brothers, they told me to come back with them, I refused each time. I didn’t want to leave you; we were always meant to be together”

Finally, reluctantly, they let go of each other. Ivar touched Hvitserk’s face

“You’re so old” He said, he reached into his pocket and took out something, he dangled it in front of Hvitserk. Hvitserk looked at it.

It was his pendent.

In a moment Hvitserk blinked. He reached out a hand for the pendent and noticed smooth skin, his arms had been bruising easier as he got older, but now they were clear, his skin looked soft and hydrated and as he looked down, he felt the feel of braids once more in his hair, the slightly blurry vision he had grown used to vanished as he felt his energy levels rise, he felt he could leap around once more. There was a tingle on his face and elsewhere across his body as the scars also vanished, leaving clear skin in their place, as if they had never been there. His clothing also changed, he was wearing very familiar clothing, although he hadn’t seen them in a very long time. His favourite clothes from his youth.

“That’s better” Ivar beamed “You look like yourself again. I’ve missed you brother”

Ivar’s face was shining with tears.

“I missed you too” Hvitserk echoed, his tears running down his neck.

Ivar pulled the pendent over Hvitserk’s head, finally Hvitserk recognised himself again, he felt whole.

“I kept it safe for you”

“Thank you Ivar”

In the distance, the bells still rang from Norwich, but it felt like it was happening in a different life, a different place.

“Ivar, is this Valhalla or is it Heaven?” Hvitserk asked, he was unsure. If it was Heaven then why was Ivar here, if it was Valhalla, how come nobody was fighting, there were also no gods here.

Ivar shrugged “It’s neither. It’s not Valhalla nor is it the Christian heaven either. I was asked to collect you, to bring you home. Father was going to come for you, but he felt I was the right person to bring you back. He was concerned you would refuse if it were him. They are waiting for us, just over there, beyond the horizon. I mean everybody. Everyone is there. Father and mother, our brothers. Even the Christians are there, Igor and Dir are there if you want to see them, and -” Here Ivar give Hvitserk a look “- Alfred is there too” He pulled a face, then laughed “Athelstan is there, never away from our father, he and Floki are now friends. Mother and Lagatha put aside their grudges; they often weave together now. They are all waiting to welcome you home”

“Even our brothers accepted me back the second I came. I spoke to Sigurd and he forgive me for killing him, even Bjorn! They want to see you too, Ubbe and Bjorn. Father is holding a gathering to celebrate you coming home at last, but I wish to ask you something” Ivar spoke. He looked at Hvitserk, he knew this was a big thing he was asking.

“Before we met again, back when I was staying with the Rus, Prince Oleg asked what wishes everybody wanted for Christmas, they asked me even though I was Pagan. I asked to walk again”

Then he did something Hvitserk never expected, he stood up.

Hvitserk looked at his legs, noticing now for the first time something that should have been obvious all along.

There were no leg braces on Ivar, nor were his eyes blue anymore.

“Ivar, you’re standing” Hvitserk gasped in shock.

“Nothing gets passed you” Ivar rolled his eyes, he held his hand down to pick Hvitserk up from the ground. “So, mother, father, our brothers, everybody else, they are all waiting for you, even Thora is there, she has waited for you even longer than I, she still loves you even after all this time, but I want to ask you something first”

He hesitated, he wanted to ask, it was always his dream to walk, to run with his brothers. He wanted to swim in rivers, he wanted to run across sand, he wanted to climb a tree, to jump and leap just like his older brothers, little simple wants that had been denied to him while he had been alive.

“How about we don’t go straight there, what if you and I were to disappoint our family one last time? We can go out there and see the world, go anywhere we want, just me and you. The entire world is out there for us to see, if you want to? Mother and father won’t be impressed, but they’ve waited a long time to see you again, what’s making them wait a little longer? But if you want to go see them all, I understand.”

Hvitserk thought for a moment, he wanted to see everybody again, knowing he could see them again so soon, speak to them, hold them again was making him dizzy with glee. He wanted to hug his mother, hug his father. Then he looked at Ivar, his little brother. His little brother who had always loved him, no matter how much they had fought. Ivar who had always protected him, nursed him when he was sick.

His little brother who had died for him, to save him.

Now Ivar was asking Hvitserk for this one little request and the look on his face said he didn’t believe Hvitserk would grant it.

The answer was simple for Hvitserk.

“Where are we going?” He grinned at Ivar.

Ivar grinned back at Hvitserk.

“Family disappointments” Ivar laughed.

Hvitserk nodded.

“Sorry excuses for sons of Ragnar” He laughed back. Then they both laughed, imagining everybody’s faces when they didn’t show up.

“Mother will be sitting there looking furious” Ivar remarked, pulling a crude face that mimicked their mother.

Arm in arm across their backs, for the first time they walked together without Ivar using any aids, the sun bared down on them, blue skies above them, an endless world all around them just waiting to be explored. Hvitserk and Ivar set off as they had so often in life, they set off as brothers across the land.

For their family waiting, it didn’t take too long for them to realise Ivar and Hvitserk weren’t coming.

Ragnar Lothbrok stood up at the table in the Halls of Kattegat which somehow also looked like the Villa of Wessex at the same time, in the warm glow of the fire he looked around all his family and friends, Pagan and Christian alike, gathered around.

“Well, we were gathered here to welcome my son back among us where he belongs, but it appears both my sons had other ideas.” He looked at Aslaug who sat there with a stern expression on her face and everybody gathered there, waiting for the no-shows. He pulled a face and mouthed ‘oops’ to loads of laughing and he raising his cup.

“To Hvitserk in his absence, Skol!”

“Skol” The people around the table echoed.

Bjorn shock his head and looked at Ubbe.

“I worked so hard deciding what I would say to him” Bjorn said to his younger brother.

“Same” Ubbe said “I guess now we’ve got more time”

Athelstan touched Ragnar’s back as he sat down, as Alfred from his other side reached over for some meat, he loved eating a range of foods now his stomach could handle it. Ragnar beamed at the both of them, as Floki ducked his head between Alfred and Ragnar.

“Hello Priest”

“Floki, how are you?”

They were all good natured with each other now, they all drank and ate together, wondering where Ivar and Hvitserk were now.

Time had passed, a long time that also felt short. the brothers were together in the cabin up in the hills. Bjorn, Ubbe and Sigurd had arrived first, then they were joined by their sister, Gyda, who had caught them fish to go with their meat.

It was a normal day, they had been hunting with their father, they had swum in the lake. They were sitting at the table and laughing together. Gyda was braiding Sigurd’s hair by the fire as Bjorn told them of how he had finally lured Rollo from his castle and convinced him to join Bjorn for a walk, how he had ‘accidently’ trapped dear Uncle Rollo in the makeshift log ‘Christian jail’ they had all made earlier in the woods, before their father set him free.

For a while they couldn’t stop laughing, then the door creaked slowly open. They all glanced around, still laughing, expecting their father to come in, but instead it was Ivar.

The room went silent, Ubbe leaned forward in his seat and raised his arm up to his chin, they had not seen Ivar in some time. Bjorn stood up as Gyda looked between her brothers, she had only met this brother once before, he had never wanted to stay, always wanted to watch over their living brother.

“Hello Ivar” Bjorn said carefully, trying to see if anybody else was with him. Ivar looked behind him as he stepped through the doorway.

“It’s ok, come” Ivar said gently to somebody standing outside. “Come”

Bjorn a deep breath slowly. He knew exactly who was with Ivar, he suddenly thought of everything he had wished to say to his younger brother when they met again. He had talked to his mother when he had arrived here and got the fully story of what happened that night. He understood now how her death wasn’t Hvitserk’s fault, he was as much a victim as his mother had been. He had been grieving, hurting, everything had gone wrong for him and he had taken it all out on his baby brother, the one he used to hold in his arms. He hadn’t even went to speak to Hvitserk, get his side of the story, he had just thought him guilty and dragged him from his sickbed, determined to beat the truth out of him. Bjorn had sat by Hvitserk’s side up on the hill when his little brother spoke to his tomb. He sounded so miserable, he had looked much better in appearance, but Bjorn could see the damage he had inflicted upon his wellbeing. His little brother had ran off with the Christians in order to heal his broken spirit and that was on Bjorn.

If he could take it all back, he would never have put Hvitserk through that execution. What sort of monster does that to his own brother? If he knew what he did now, he would have gone outside into the woods to find his brother and bring him home.

All this he wanted to say, but Bjorn found his voice failed him as Ivar beckoned again to the person outside to come in. All he could do was stare as Hvitserk slowly walked through the door.

His green eyes took in Bjorn with nervousness, uncertainty, he looked afraid of him. Bjorn knew Hvitserk would be apprehensive at seeing him again, he had been anxious himself about this moment, but to see fear in his baby brother’s eyes made him feel even more ashamed of himself. He had never wanted his brothers too look at him like that. It was clear Hvitserk still expected Bjorn to be beyond furious, same as with Ubbe. Hvitserk’s eyes flickered over to Ubbe, wondering if he would speak to him or if he would pretend Hvitserk wasn’t there. He didn’t want to be cast out from his brothers all over again. As he was looking, Ubbe lowered his arm and also stood up from his chair. Nobody said anything as they were taken back by the sudden and unexpected arrival of their runaway brothers. For Hvitserk, all he heard was laughter that stopped the moment he and Ivar arrived and now his brothers were just looking at him. He didn’t even notice the giant smile on Sigurd’s face, or the unknown girl, he was just focusing on Bjorn’s hand, sure he was going to be hit. Ivar had talked him into coming here, he didn’t want too, it was far too soon, they would still be angry. They should have waited like he wanted too.

To Ubbe, Hvitserk looked just like he had that day, so long ago, when he had returned from the trip to the Mediterranean. His checks were full, his hair clean and braided, his clothing tidy and not full of vomit and mud, he looked healthy, as if he had never touched drugs or alcohol in his life. He looked like the Hvitserk he knew and loved. Leaving Hvitserk to his fate had been one of the hardest things Ubbe had to do, he had loved him so much, but he knew he couldn’t help Hvitserk, seeing him so unwell was killing him just as much as the mushrooms and ale were killing Hvitserk. Ubbe knew the brother he had once cherished was no more, a violent drunk had taken his place, however looking at the young man who was standing in the doorway, looking like he wanted to flee from them all, all Ubbe could see was his treasured little brother.

The silence in the cabin was deafening.

“Hello” Hvitserk said hardly louder than a whisper, just to break the silence.

Bjorn wet his lips, he needed to make things right. As the oldest brother, it was on him to make sure his siblings were okay, but his mind was still blank.

He moved slowly to Hvitserk, who tried to stand his ground. He didn’t want Bjorn to come any closer, sure he was going to grab him by the hair, pull him close and break his heart one more time by telling him he wasn’t forgiven. Bjorn’s hand reached for him, Hvitserk tensed, waiting for the blow and then-

The tightest hug of his life.

Bjorn’s arms were fully around him, over his back, over his shoulders and neck. Hvitserk’s arms were pinned into place as Bjorn scooped him up as if he were a boy again.

“Hvitserk!” Ubbe roared in happiness, elated to see his brother again, as Bjorn’s fingers held Hvitserk’s head next to his own.

“I made a mistake and I’m so sorry. I love you and always have, you’re my little brother, we’re family. I shouldn’t have done what I did and I’m so sorry” Bjorn spoke quietly while holding him close.

Hvitserk nodded, he was numb which had nothing to do with the crushing hug. These were the words he needed to hear without knowing it. He tried to wiggle his arms free from Bjorn’s grip. Bjorn let go slightly hurt, thinking Hvitserk had rejected his embrace, but Hvitserk leaped up, throwing his own arms around his brother, his feet almost leaving the floor as they both cried out in joy. Part of him, the part that had been hurting ever since Bjorn and Ubbe casted him out, healed. He had never known the feeling of relief this strong; His eyes were watering and it had nothing to do with sadness or pain, he was happy, the happiest he had ever been in so long.

He had his brother’s back. They didn’t hate him.

He buried his face into his brother’s neck and closed his eyes tightly to dry them up, he didn’t want them to see him crying as Bjorn still hugged him, this was how it had always been, he felt like a boy again, being held by his big brother, his protector and his friend all in one.

He felt Ubbe’s hands clapping on his shoulders. They would be time to hug Ubbe too, but for now he let himself be freed from Bjorn’s embrace as he smiled over at Sigurd.

“Welcome back” Sigurd smiled to him, then he noticed there was a small girl in the room with them. He didn’t know who she was, maybe a daughter of Ubbe?

Gyda smiled at Hvitserk. It was a very happy smile, the type you give somebody who you were happy to see. He didn’t know this girl, so he was a little confused, something the rest of his brothers all noticed

He smiled back to be polite.

Ivar opened his mouth to explain to Hvitserk just who Gyda was.

“No Ivar! Don’t tell him, let’s see how long it takes until he realises who she is” Sigurd said with a large grin.

“You’re mean Sigurd” Gyda said, she came closer to him and he noticed something, they had the same green eyes. The same green eyes Hvitserk never knew how he got, as both of his parents had blue.

“Hello sweet Hvitserk, I have waited so long to finally met you. You were such a cute baby” She told him. Hvitserk confusion only deepened, not a child of Ubbe then. Who was this girl? He had never seen her before in his life so how did she know him? Then it clicked into place. The eyes. The way she looked at him, as if he were somebody special to her and not a stranger. He knew now who this was, even thought he had never seen her before in his life, she had died even before Ubbe was born.

She gently reached up on her tiptoes and hugged him.

“Wait, you’re Gyda aren’t you?” He asked her “Our sister?”

Her smile confirmed it as his Sigurd moaned, disappointed Hvitserk had realised so soon. She only looked twelve at the most, but he knew she would have been a similar age to Bjorn had she lived.

“I always wanted a sister” He told her. His brothers all made noises of protest.

“You don’t want a sister” Ubbe cautioned with a small smile.

They all sat around the fire and brought furs to sit on as they exchanged stories of their lives. They asked Hvitserk about his life as a Christian or Ubbe to explain how the new word worked.

“-A woman turned into salt! Good if you have fish to keep fresh I guess –“

“ – It is called a Moose and it stands taller than a man. And just as long! – “

“-No, Floki got that wrong, they don’t actually eat people, it’s just bread –“

“ – This waterfall was so big, Jormungandr could have fitted his whole body within it!” -

“-Ubbe, don’t mention Jormungandr to Asa, she still is afraid of him-”

Hvitserk smiled as his brothers all talked to him, to each other, it had been so long since he had been around these people, the ones he loved.

“I must say Hvitserk, our mother is not impressed that you and Ivar did not show up as expected, tread carefully” Ubbe advised.

“We already seen her” Ivar winched.

“She told us both off, then hugged us” Hvitserk giggled nervously. “Although father seems to find it very amusing. He asked what we had both seen and discovered out there, what lands we visited”

The night stretched on, Hvitserk watched the flames. He would go see Alfred tomorrow, they had reunited briefly when he had arrived, Hvitserk smiled remembering the way Alfred had suddenly ran to him, shouting his name, his real name, to embrace him, however he had been with his brother, and King Aella. It was awkward for both of them as the last time Hvitserk had seen Aella, they had tortured him to death. Alfred had asked him to come to the Villa, so he could introduce Hvitserk to his family, they had heard a lot about this son of Ragnar from Alfred.

Hvitserk caught Ivar’s eye as his youngest brother lay down in his ‘bedroom’ at the corner of the cabin, he seemed exhausted and Hvitserk suddenly wondered if Ivar had ever slept while he watched over him for all those years. They exchanged a smile before Ivar closed his eyes, only now could Ivar finally settle and rest with his family, now his brother was there with him. Bjorn and Gyda were pranking Sigurd, who had already fallen asleep, it seemed like a normal thing and Hvitserk suddenly wondered if having a sister really was a good thing.

He was feeling tired himself, he had not slept in a while and the fire felt warm. Ubbe came and sat down next to him on the furs. Ubbe hesitated for a moment as he tried to pick up on Hvitserk’s body language. He had a blanket under his arm, he offered half of it to Hvitserk, before putting his arm around his brother and Hvitserk leaned into him. When they were kids, they would sit like this before sleeping, it was their way to wind down for sleep once their father had left and their mother had long stopped telling them stories. Ubbe would stroke his hair as Hvitserk slowly dosed off to sleep, then Ubbe himself would sleep. They had once been so close, Ubbe had been everything to Hvitserk, the brother he loved most, the one he always went to for support. Things had changed a lot in the years, Hvitserk had moved closer to Ivar. Ubbe to Bjorn. They had damaged their relationship to the point they both only brought pain to the other, but now this blanket, his warm hold once more on Hvitserk, it all told Hvitserk he was loved, he was accepted once more by Ubbe.

Hvitserk lifted up. He had almost fallen asleep before saying goodnight to Ubbe. He leaned his head forward automatically without thinking and Ubbe did the same a second later. They held their foreheads together. Hvitserk had his eyes closed.

There was no need for words. That embrace said everything they needed too.

‘I’ve missed you’.

[maguro13-2]

The Dark Beginnings - Origins of the Ink Demon Chapter 0 Pt.2

"Brooklyn, New York..."

[Inside Joey Drew Studios]

Boris : Umm, are you sure boss? Are you sure this is the right place? It looks like that we hit a dead end, there's no way that is the place that we're looking for the demon queen's imprisonment.

Sammy Lawrence : Of course, wolf. That's exactly what we planned for. I was given a simple order to find the lord's spouse, the demon queen of the 1930s world after that tremendous fate that a pair of toons have defeated her and sealed away in the depths of New York!

[Trespasser (Lost Colony) - Jun Senoue]

Alice Angel : Well, you heard him. Let's go find the queen.

Boris : Man, it's been around like 70 years since Joey Drew Studios was shutdown thanks to your project. Ever since Bendy was defeated, the queen is still inside the building!

Alice Angel : Honestly, we haven't seen Bendy's face since he was defeated by Henry Stein, the man who came to the studio that discovers the power of the Ink Machine back in the 20th century. all the studio's employees and staff have disappeared since the 1930s au vanished when the colors have arrived from the Great Rainbow.

Sammy Lawrence : Correct, which is why we must be careful with our moves if we follow our directions incorrectly. A long time ago, there is one demon that ruled the world a long time ago. This demon had the courage and have the wealth, the fame, and the power itself. One demon that started it all.

(Film starts rolling)

"REAL WORLD AU, 20th Century"

[The Doctor's Conviction - Yutaka Minobe]

"In the 20th Century, Real World AU was a place where humans and fictional characters coexist, however the world itself was all black and white and was known as 1930s style we call it, the monochrome world. the world that we called these fictional beings into one thing we call it Cartoons. Toons where made by Ink, a substance used your paintings, art, and for writing such feathered pens and paintbrushes."

"1930s was always silent and it was the age of toons that ruled the world, but not of all them. Toons is what we needed to bring the world some colors from the mysterious force that ever existed, the great Rainbow."

"But when Wealth, fame, power, has finally meet, there one demon who the first being that has ever ruled the world of toons, a creature named King Inky, who was titled as King of the Ink Demons and he had his glory to serve the people and toons to greatness and to Make New York and the rest of the world as his domain as the world of his own son, Bendy. His thirst for power and achievement for passion would demand his son to become the King of all Ink Demons. Bendy was the studio's mascot that was a rival to the King of toons, Mickey mouse. But one day, when he decided to accept to his dream of becoming, he married a human that holds the power of Ink in her blood, his only sweetheart, Inky Albarn. This led Bendy to start a family of his own, and advances himself to have a heir to the royal Bloodline."

"And once the heir is born, the bloodline will be complete."

Boris : So then what happened after that?

(scenario ends as film stops rolling)

Sammy Lawrence : after Bendy's child was conceived from Inky until his Father went beserk as the traitor tricked both him and Inky into covering the world in Inky Darkness. Now then. Onto killing those pesky beings, called heartlesses.

[Remember Me? M.F.M - Jun Senoue]

Brute Boris : ...With pleasure!

Alice Angel : Let's cleanup the trash!

Sammy Lawrence : Failure is not an option!

(the gang battle their way through the Heartless horde)

Sammy Lawrence : Yes! Yes! Once we get to the top secret weapon that Drawcia researching on. The Majo Detective had to make Medusa cease her unauthorized research and shut everything down because they feared it! So once we find the gate we must crack the gate wide open and break the seal.

Brute Boris : How long this will take?

"One battle through a Heartless horde later..."

Brute Boris : Man those guys were tough back there! But we finally made it, the seal to the queen's imprisonment shall be finally opened.

[3 Black Noises : Revival - Kenichi Tokoi]

Sammy Lawrence : This is it? This is what the Drawcia Family's dangerous threat to Mankind that would really be, Medusa's top secret weapon. It's a lot of bigger than I expected.

Brute Boris : Look at all this technology. Sure this what the 21st Century had to offer.

Sammy Lawrence : User Data and Password. Password is "A-U-Q-A". "Aqua". Now all we have to do is for the final step. It's time for me to put this Keyblade into this console. (Inserts Keyblade into the console to unlock the gate)

(GATE MOVING)

Brute Boris : Hey, look! It's moving!

Alice Angel : Looks like we made it to the throne room. They sealed the room securely so that the heartlesses would keep an eye on it.

Sammy Lawrence : We are here for you my queen.

Inky Albarn : (playing a Gameboy) Oh, Hello, Lawrence. You would be thanking me for releasing me. I've been in my beloved's throne room for 70 years. You appreciate my kind for unlocking my seal, I would accept my gratitude for you.

*SA2 SFX : Alarm Blaring*

Computer Voice : WARNING! WARNING! SUSPECTS HAS BEEN FOUND TRESPASSING IN THE INFESTED AREAS OF SECTORS A-Z AND HAS OPENED THE GATE TO THE THRONE ROOM. ALL PERSONNEL OF DRAWCIA FAMILY HEADQUARTERS TO PREPARE AND ENGAGE IN BATTLE FORMATION!

Brute Boris : Boss! This is bad! They found out that we opened the gate to the throne room! This is bad man! If we don't stop this now, we're done for! We'll be dead, man! Dead and it's "GAME OVER" for us!

Inky Albarn : Silence, wolf! I've got this under my skin. This is the power that I possessed (uses magic to create Piano Scythe) This is the power of the Ink Demon's royal bloodline! (Does some athletic scythe skills)

Sammy Lawrence : Incredible! Your skills amazed me! You feel like a cheerleader already.

Inky Albarn : I do feel like a cheerleader, and that's exactly why is that the scythe wielding skills is learned from that monkey boy, Goku! Time to give the power pole to those insolent fools!

"Always being the tough girl, Bendy Dear."

"Don't fret and fear, I'll avenge you to destroy them now!"

"So you'll never have to deal with anyone or anybody in your life."

~ Prologue 2 : Queen of the Monochrome World ~

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 11.23

534 BC – Thespis of Icaria becomes the first recorded actor to portray a character on stage. 1248 – Conquest of Seville by Christian troops under King Ferdinand III of Castile. 1499 – Pretender to the throne Perkin Warbeck is hanged for reportedly attempting to escape from the Tower of London. He had invaded England in 1497, claiming to be the lost son of King Edward IV of England. 1531 – The Second War of Kappel results in the dissolution of the Protestant alliance in Switzerland. 1644 – John Milton publishes Areopagitica, a pamphlet decrying censorship. 1733 – The start of the 1733 slave insurrection on St. John in what was then the Danish West Indies. 1808 – French and Poles defeat the Spanish at Battle of Tudela. 1863 – American Civil War: Battle of Chattanooga begins: Union forces led by General Ulysses S. Grant reinforce troops at Chattanooga, Tennessee, and counter-attack Confederate troops. 1867 – The Manchester Martyrs are hanged in Manchester, England, for killing a police officer while freeing two Irish Republican Brotherhood members from custody. 1876 – Corrupt Tammany Hall leader William Magear Tweed (better known as Boss Tweed) is delivered to authorities in New York City after being captured in Spain. 1890 – King William III of the Netherlands dies without a male heir and a special law is passed to allow his daughter Princess Wilhelmina to succeed him. 1910 – Johan Alfred Ander becomes the last person to be executed in Sweden. 1914 – Mexican Revolution: The last of U.S. forces withdraw from Veracruz, occupied seven months earlier in response to the Tampico Affair. 1924 – Edwin Hubble's discovery, that the Andromeda "nebula" is actually another island galaxy far outside our own Milky Way, is first published in The New York Times. 1934 – An Anglo-Ethiopian boundary commission in the Ogaden discovers an Italian garrison at Walwal, well within Ethiopian territory. This leads to the Abyssinia Crisis. 1939 – World War II: HMS Rawalpindi is sunk by the German battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau. 1940 – World War II: Romania becomes a signatory of the Tripartite Pact, officially joining the Axis powers. 1943 – World War II: The Deutsche Opernhaus on Bismarckstraße in the Berlin neighborhood of Charlottenburg is destroyed. It will eventually be rebuilt in 1961 and be called the Deutsche Oper Berlin. 1943 – World War II: Tarawa and Makin atolls fall to American forces. 1944 – World War II: The Lotta Svärd Movement is disbanded under the terms of the armistice treaty in Finland after the Continuation War. 1946 – French naval bombardment of Hai Phong, Vietnam, kills thousands of civilians. 1955 – The Cocos Islands are transferred from the control of the United Kingdom to that of Australia. 1959 – French President Charles de Gaulle declares in a speech in Strasbourg his vision for "Europe, from the Atlantic to the Urals". 1963 – The BBC broadcasts An Unearthly Child (starring William Hartnell), the first episode of the first story from the first series of Doctor Who, which is now the world's longest running science fiction drama. 1971 – Representatives of the People's Republic of China attend the United Nations, including the United Nations Security Council, for the first time. 1972 – The Soviet Union makes its final attempt at launching the N1 rocket. 1974 – Sixty Ethiopian politicians, aristocrats, military officers, and other persons are executed by the provisional military government. 1976 – Jacques Mayol is the first man to reach a depth of 100 m undersea without breathing equipment. 1978 – Cyclone kills about 1,000 people in eastern Sri Lanka. 1978 – The Geneva Frequency Plan of 1975 goes into effect, realigning many of Europe's longwave and mediumwave broadcasting frequencies. 1980 – The 6.9 Mw  Irpinia earthquake shakes southern Italy with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme), killing 2,483–4,900, and injuring 7,700–8,934. 1981 – Iran–Contra affair: Ronald Reagan signs the top secret National Security Decision Directive 17 (NSDD-17), giving the Central Intelligence Agency the authority to recruit and support Contra rebels in Nicaragua. 1985 – Gunmen hijack EgyptAir Flight 648 en route from Athens to Cairo. When the plane lands in Malta, Egyptian commandos storm the aircraft, but 60 people die in the raid. 1991 – Queen lead singer Freddie Mercury announces in a statement that he is HIV-positive. He dies the following day. 1992 – The first smartphone, the IBM Simon, is introduced at COMDEX in Las Vegas, Nevada. 1996 – Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961 is hijacked, then crashes into the Indian Ocean off the coast of Comoros after running out of fuel, killing 125. 2001 – The Convention on Cybercrime is signed in Budapest, Hungary. 2003 – Rose Revolution: Georgian president Eduard Shevardnadze resigns following weeks of mass protests over flawed elections. 2004 – The Holy Trinity Cathedral of Tbilisi, the largest religious building in Georgia, is consecrated. 2005 – Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is elected president of Liberia and becomes the first woman to lead an African country. 2006 – A series of bombings kills at least 215 people and injures 257 others in Sadr City, making it the second deadliest sectarian attack since the beginning of the Iraq War in 2003. 2007 – MS Explorer, a cruise liner carrying 154 people, sinks in the Antarctic Ocean south of Argentina after hitting an iceberg near the South Shetland Islands. There are no fatalities. 2009 – The Maguindanao massacre occurs in Ampatuan, Maguindanao, Philippines; 58 opponents of Andal Ampatuan Jr. are kidnapped and killed. 2010 – Bombardment of Yeonpyeong: North Korean artillery attack kills two civilians and two marines on Yeonpyeong Island, South Korea. 2011 – Arab Spring: After 11 months of protests in Yemen, Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh signs a deal to transfer power to the vice president, in exchange for legal immunity. 2015 – Blue Origin's New Shepard space vehicle became the first rocket to successfully fly to space and then return to Earth for a controlled, vertical landing. 2018 – Founders of Italian fashion brand Dolce & Gabbana issue an apology following a series of offensive advertisements on social media promoting a fashion show in Shanghai, China, which was canceled. 2019 – The last Sumatran rhinoceros in Malaysia, Imam, dies, making the species officially extinct in the country.