#just trouble

[dragonologist-writings]

Title: Just Trouble Fandom: Pillars of Eternity Rating: G Status: One-Shot Characters: Original Character (Makali), Captain Aeldys Ships: F!OC/Captain Aeldys Additional Notes: TTRPG Character, OC Backstory, Flirting with Pirates Word Count: 1300 Summary: While at Fort Deadlight, Makali runs into an old flame. Between the rum on her lips and those taunting eyes, she just might give in to the temptation she brings.

read below or here on AO3

It’s already a rowdy night at the Deadlight Court by the time Makali swaggers in through the doors.

Yes, it's true that most nights on Fort Deadlight could easily be called rowdy- the combination of booze and bawdy music and bands of pirates will do that- but tonight, there’s something extra to the revelry in the air, and Makali senses it instantly. Cheerful shouts greet her as she steps inside, and she grins back at the familiar faces in the room as she makes her way to the bar. The music filling the room is familiar as well, and she hums along, her smile growing as she finally recognizes the reason for the raucous atmosphere. She glances to the corner of the tavern and sure enough, Benweth is seated at the harpsichord, belting out a drinking song with his crewmates, all of them already deep in their cups.

How’s that for a stroke of good fortune?

Makali orders herself a rum, then turns to scan the room. Benweth’s presence is a welcome surprise, though not really for his own sake. He does play a good tune, but Makali is far more interested in the company he likely arrived with.

And…ah, there she is, leaning against the wall on the opposite side of the room, her mismatched eyes already fixed on Makali and a coy smile on her lips. Makali returns the smile with one of her own, tosses her long braid over her shoulder, and ambles over to the pirate lass she knows so well.

“Been a while, Sea Wolf.”

Aeldys laughs at the address, loud and brash as always. “You’re one to talk. Can’t even remember the last time you graced Deadlight with your presence.” She raises her own mug of rum and jauntily taps it against Makali’s in greeting. “Where the blazes have you been?”

Makali shrugs and leans against the wall next to Aeldys, smiling down at her as she knocks back her rum. “Where else? You know I can’t stay landlocked for long. Not as if you’re much different.”

“Aye,” Aeldys allows, tipping her head in acknowledgement. Her eyes- one icy blue, the other pitch black, both rich with mischief- flicker up to Makali. “But I still find time to check in at Deadlight every now and again. It’s just decent manners, lovesome.”

Makali barks a laugh and edges closer to nudge Aeldys’s shoulder with her own. “When have either of us ever been decent?”

“Ha! I did miss having you around.” Aeldys chuckles into her drink, her gaze roving over Makali in thoughtful appraisal. “You ever think of joining up with my crew again?”

“Sorry, Sea Wolf, but I’m on the Lady Luck now.”

“Any chance of jumping ship?”

“Aw, you know I can’t just up and leave a girl out in the cold like that,” Makali answers with determined casualty. Maybe she should have expected this question; she and Aeldys do make quite the team whenever their courses cross. They’re both bold, fierce, unpredictable- it’s what makes them both such damn good pirates, after all. It’s also the same thing that leads most of their affairs, fun as they are, to go up in flames. “Besides, the last time we worked together, I don’t remember it ending all that great.”

“Ah, you’re not still salty about that, are you, lovesome?” Aeldys waves a hand in the air with a shrug. “That was nothing. And besides, the things I could promise you this time around are well worth the trouble.”

“Sounds promising,” Makali admits. “Also sounds familiar. Last time, your trouble cost me half a ship and wasn’t worth a handful of gold.”

“But wasn’t it fun?” Aeldys prompts, taking a step closer. For a moment, everything else in the tavern- the shouting pirates, the bellowing music, the smell of rum- is drowned out by the look she gives Makali, a look that sends a thrilling jolt all the way down Makali's spine.

Gods help her, Makali did always love those eyes of hers.

“Yeah,” she says, brushing a hand through Aeldys’s dark hair and letting her fingers linger on the edge of her jaw. “I do remember the fun.”

“And don’t you trust me?”

Not in the slightest, Makali thinks, and she knows Aeldys knows that. But Aeldys’s smirk promises excitement, and Makali is horribly tempted by that prospect. She knows Aeldys knows that, too.

“I got plans, lovesome,” Aeldys says, her voice going low, barely audible over their surroundings. “Can’t spill ‘em all yet, but big things are coming my way. I need people on my side, capable people. I know we’ve had our ups and downs, but you’re capable. It’s a rare fleet that can boast their very own renegade watershaper.”

And there goes the mood. Makali frowns and pulls away slightly. “I’m not a watershaper. You know that.”

“Point is, I could use you. You’d get your own rewards, and it’d be a good time to boot.” Aeldys doesn’t even seem to notice she’s poked a wound; or, more likely, she just doesn’t care. It’s one of the things which makes her so hard to be around, that callousness. But it’s also one of the things that makes her easy- there’s no fussing, no overthinking, just the next thing on the horizon.

It’s the only thing that makes Makali relax just a little more and ask, “Just what would this good time involve?”

Aeldys grins wickedly. “I’m sure you could come up with some ideas, lovesome. And in addition to whatever you’re thinking of in that pretty head of yours, I’d be making some real moves in the Council. You could be my right hand, and you’d be raking in some real loot.”

Ah. The Council. Whatever Aeldys promises, there’s no smirk charming enough and no promise enticing enough for Makali to get involved in that mess. “Flattering offer, but you know I didn’t come all the way out here just to get involved in politics.”

Aeldys huffs. “You sure? If you say no, I’ll be stuck with this clown.” She nods her head towards Benweth, still showboating on his harpsichord.

Makali watches him for a short while, humming along to his tune. There’s a part of her that does want to jump in and take his place, though she can’t say whether it’s because she wants the rewards or the challenge or just Aeldys. But Makali has very, very few rules in life, and this is one of them.

“I’m here for adventure and gold,” she says, and takes another swig of rum. “Not a knife in my back in some council room.”

Makali is half-convinced Aeldys will do nothing but pester her about this for the rest of the night, but the other woman seems to accept her answer. She still pouts of course, huffing and reaching out to flick Makali’s braid in a petulant manner. “Pity. We could have really had some fun together.”

Makali raises an eyebrow, and she moves to face Aeldys fully. Aeldys grins and digs her fingers into the front of Makali's vest to tug her closer, leaning herself back against the wall as her eyes roam up Makali’s body. Makali has never regretted that fact that she easily towers over Aeldys’s elven frame, but she always feels especially grateful for her stature when under the pirate’s appreciative gaze.

“Well,” Makali says slowly, “just because I’m not sticking around for long, doesn’t mean we can’t have a bit of fun tonight.”

Aeldys’s smirk grows, and her free hand curls around the back of Makali's neck, pulling her lower until their faces are level. “And here I thought you didn’t trust me.”

Makali tilts her head, an eyebrow raised as she hovers just beyond Aeldys’s lips. “Do I need to?”

“Maybe it’s more fun if you don’t.” Aeldys leans forward and closes the distance between them. Her mouth is rough and warm, and the taste of rum lingers on Makali’s lips after she pulls away. “Gotta keep you on your toes, lovesome.”

[lazylittledragon]

can't believe we're all adults being forced into the club penguin level of censorship in 2024

[inkpotsprite]

This was after he blew up all of the Leagues tech.

[crowkip]

yeehaw, baby!

[uncanny-tranny]

I think so many people are so deeply alienated from themselves that they have no clue how to exercise their free will and autonomy. For some, this alienation runs so deep that they are afraid of their own autonomy and humanity. It is completely understandable why one would have those feelings, but it can be worrisome.

I want to help others who feel this way, so here are small things I have done to exercise my free will:

Add "guilty pleasure" songs to playlists and actually listen to them (I have a ton of late 1990s-early 2000s music I listen to now proudly that I never listened to in the past out of shame)

Getting the décor item, bath set, bed spread, ect. in the patterns you like, even if it's "childish" (I got a dinosaur-themed wastebasket from the kids' décor section and I adore it)

Taking a new route to get to a place you go to often

Eat dessert first

Celebrate well, and often

Collect things that are "odd" or don't seem like an "acceptable" thing to collect (somebody on my "for you" page collects dandelion crayola crayons and it was so cool!!!!!!)

Incorporate one new piece in an outfit you wear frequently (e.g., a new chain, a necklace, ribbons, bracelets, ect.). Challenge yourself to add onto the outfits if you feel up for it.

Sing along to songs without worrying that you sound "good" or your intonation is completely accurate

Read a book from a genre you weren't allowed to read as a kid (comics, thrillers, mysteries, anything!)

Walk without having a specific destination or goal

Pick up a new craft without expecting yourself to master it or to ever be "good" enough. Get your hands messy.

I don't want to shame anybody for not feeling as though they have free will or that they are exempt from exercising it. However, I wanted to give ideas so that you might read this list and find your own ways to express your intrinsic autonomy and will. You deserve to be a person, to feel alive, not just living. That is what our lives are for.

[inkskinned]

because sometimes there are invisible tests and invisible rules and you're just supposed to ... know the rule. someone you thought of as a friend asks you for book recommendations, so you give her a list of like 30 books, each with a brief blurb and why you like it. later, you find out she screenshotted the list and send it out to a group chat with the note: what an absolute freak can you believe this. you saw the responses: emojis where people are rolling over laughing. too much and obsessive and actually kind of creepy in the comments. you thought you'd been doing the right thing. she'd asked, right? an invisible rule: this is what happens when you get too excited.

you aren't supposed to laugh at your own jokes, so you don't, but then you're too serious. you're not supposed to be too loud, but then people say you're too quiet. you aren't supposed to get passionate about things, but then you're shy, boring. you aren't supposed to talk too much, but then people are mad when you're not good at replying.

you fold yourself into a prettier paper crane. since you never know what is "selfish" and what is "charity," you give yourself over, fully. you'd rather be empty and over-generous - you'd rather eat your own boundaries than have even one person believe that you're mean. since you don't know what the thing is that will make them hate you, you simply scrub yourself clean of any form of roughness. if you are perfect and smiling and funny, they can love you. if you are always there for them and never admit what's happening and never mention your past and never make them uncomfortable - you can make up for it. you can earn it.

don't fuck up. they're all testing you, always. they're tolerating you. whatever secret club happened, over a summer somewhere - during some activity you didn't get to attend - everyone else just... figured it out. like they got some kind of award or examination that allowed them to know how-to-be-normal. how to fit. and for the rest of your life, you've been playing catch-up. you've been trying to prove that - haha! you get it! that the joke they're telling, the people they are, the manual they got- yeah, you've totally read it.

if you can just divide yourself in two - the lovable one, and the one that is you - you can do this. you can walk the line. they can laugh and accept you. if you are always-balanced, never burdensome, a delight to have in class, champagne and glittering and never gawky or florescent or god-forbid cringe: you can get away with it.

you stare at your therapist, whom you can make jokes with, and who laughs at your jokes, because you are so fucking good at people-pleasing. you smile at her, and she asks you how you're doing, and you automatically say i'm good, thanks, how are you? while the answer swims somewhere in your little lizard brain:

how long have you been doing this now? mastering the art of your body and mind like you're piloting a puppet. has it worked? what do you mean that all you feel is... just exhausted. pick yourself up, the tightrope has no net. after all, you're cheating, somehow, but nobody seems to know you actually flunked the test. it's working!

aren't you happy yet?

[cowardlycowboys]

girl who constantly feels like they're in trouble and did something wrong

[rubydubydoo122]

I saw someone say a while ago that Jason attacking Tim at Titans Tower was just Tim hallucinating bc he was feeling guilty about being Robin even though Jason's not dead. Which is great, amazing, I think the whole Titans Tower thing is Bonkers, but I think it would be so much funnier if Jason tried to Gaslight Tim into believing the Titans Tower incident never happened, not because he's like evil, he's just super embarassed about it. like Or Tim did actually hallucinate Jason at TT but thinks it was real, so when he tells Jason about it, Jason's so fucking confused, and Tim thinks Jason's Gaslighting him

Tim: Remember that time when you broke into Titans Tower and beat me half to death while wearing a Robin costume from party city

Jason: What? Tim, I know i'm crazy, but I'm not...Insane.

Tim, pulling down his collar: I literally have the scar to prove it

Jason: Bruce told me that was from Clayface pretending to be me, which, might I just say rude. Tim... are you ok? Did you hallucinate me attacking you? like, I know I've done that before, but...

Tim, frowning: I don't think I hallucinating. I was benched for a while after because I had to recover-

Jason: well, you were benched around the time I was dropping hints that I knew who Bruce was outside of Batman, he probably just benched you to keep you safe. You probably were working too many cases with too little sleep and your imagination started to run wild.

Tim: Are you gaslighting me?

Jason: Are you gaslighting me?

[majunju]

scarabia aftermath

[ruporas]

need to exist in your warmth (id in alt)

[densewentz]

a quick silly sketch based off my earlier post about the Cat King having a mistaken identity crisis when Edwin and Co. don't recognize him in his new cat form post-esther

[gingermintpepper]

I think, perhaps one of the funniest things to come from EPIC popularising the Odyssey is that now a ton of people think Poseidon wanted to kill Odysseus.

In the Odyssey, Poseidon has no intention of killing Odysseus. In fact, part of the whole reason Zeus lets Poseidon do whatever he wants even though he thinks Odysseus is rad and should get to kiss his wife is explicitly because Poseidon had no intentions of killing Odysseus. Poseidon wanted to pay back the suffering/inconvenience blinding Polyphemus would have caused. It's a really abstract thing tbh. How do you pay back someone permanently disabling your son? Poseidon's solution was just to amputate Odysseus from his other half; i.e. Penelope. The end game was never murder, it was always an endurance race.

(Od. Book 1: Zeus reassuring Athena that he is not, in fact, a part of Odysseus Hater-Nation. Trans. Robert Fagles)

Also, for those wondering if there's any sort of in text reason for why Poseidon wasn't around in God Games - at the time in the Odyssey when Athena petitions Zeus to let Odysseus leave Calypso's island, Poseidon was -checks notes- on vacation in Ethiopia. Yep. He left to Ethiopia for a festival and thusly was very much absent for Athena's whole "please let Ody go? Please? 🥺" request.

(Od. Book 1: While Odysseus was suffering, Poseidon went to party in the east)

I am begging y'all to read the Odyssey. It's a comedy for everyone except Odysseus and Penelope who are, in fact, suffering 24/7 365.

[8pxl]

PSA 🗣️ another scammer using genAI without disclosing it

pixlgirl has been posting generated AI (targeting fandoms) without disclosing it, passing it off as their genuine art and has apparently scammed at least one person into ‘commissioning’ them. this is a public PSA so yall can block them, and not interact. please do not harass them!

it’s incredibly shitty to be disingenuous while posting AI but even shittier to scam people with it 🤢 stay diligent yall

[chloesimaginationthings]

Michael is the cool FNAF older brother to Gregory

[minryll]

800 years to be held by him again

[dapper-lil-arts]

Happy pride from the changeling kingdom