#maury Gold

[glimeres]

Christmas at 54 Below - James Monroe Iglehart and Javier Muñoz perform The Snow Miser Song / The Heat Miser Song from the animated movie The Year Without a Santa Claus

[teyums]

Twin Flames

pairing: Ao’nung x fem!metkayina na’vi reader

contains: angst with underlying bittersweet fluff, slight infidelity, no smut but a very brief, vague rehashing of events. Ao’nung and reader are both 19. wc: 3,124

“Honestly I’m better as your boy, I’d be kinda shitty as ya man, let’s go back to only being friends. I’m sorry girl I hope you understand it’s just, I don’t wanna fall in love.” - KYLE

You and Ao’nung were written in the stars. Twin flames. A love so fierce among two souls that it’d be impractical to think you could come out unscathed. Like night and day, never one without the other, but never meant to be together.

He never intended to hurt you, really, he didn’t. But somewhere in all the gold that glittered and the feeling of something fresh and exciting, he simply lost sight and forgot what he really wanted.

Love and Ao’nung were two words that never should have been in the same sentence. You wished you had listened to those around you, to those who noticed the two of you growing far too close for the relationship to remain platonic.

You wished you had listened to those who recognized the familiar gleam he’d get in his eyes when he wanted something he knew he wasn’t supposed to have; to those who warned that he would break you into a million pieces like he did with the others. But what you felt in your heart and saw with your own two eyes, you couldn’t deny. He was different with you, you swear he was.

A friend was what you called each other. Bestfriends. Growing up in Awa’atlu, you were stuck to his side like glue as a child, always begging to go hunting with him and his friends. You wanted to go everywhere he went, do everything he did. Disgruntled and annoyed at first, a little Ao’nung had eventually taken a liking to you, much to his own surprise. And from then on, your presence in each other’s lives was as normal as breathing.

And somewhere along the line, Ao’nung had become gentle with you, contrary to his usual irreverent personality. He stopped treating you like you were just another one of his knuckle-headed friends, but instead something more than that. He found himself staring at you longer than he used to; captivated by the details about your features or personality that he never cared to relish on in the past.

The way your face would light up every time you heard his voice call for you. How you’d beam when you sat with him on the beach and raved about your day. He’d simply watch you, humming in response every now and then to let you know he was listening, on his face a smile so love-sickeningly drenched in admiration while you gesticulated animatedly.

He would have puked had someone held a mirror up to him to see his own besotted expression, but he loved how excited you were to talk to him about the smallest of things. How even while he’s studied the distinct map your starred freckles project along your body over and over again, for some reason, he still finds himself getting lost in them.

He doesn’t want to fall in love.

It’s what he tells himself every time a mention of your name has his ears perking attentively, listening in on the conversation regarding his newfound fascination. Every time a waft of your scent in the salt-laced breeze sends his mind reeling with thoughts he can’t seem to mute. But it’s too late.

Hell, how couldn’t he have fallen for you? You’re always perched on the dock outside his mauri before eclipse, swinging your legs as you patiently await his return from training so the two of you can spend some time alone before dinner.

Genuinely happy to see him regardless of how grumpy he can be, because you like him for him. And you’re completely unaware of how his mind battles with his heart as he admires you from afar, wondering how he’d let himself tumble face first into an irreversible fondness for you.

He doesn’t want to fall in love, but one can’t stop the inevitable.

Snarky teasing turned into transient observations that scarily resembled compliments. Chummy roughhousing morphed to playful touches to the most ticklish parts of you, just so he could hear your pretty laugh cascade through his ears like his own songcord. He had half the mind to add a bead, just for you.

And for a while, he felt it too, honestly he did. But Ao’nung wasn’t familiar with love, had pushed the thought of it away for so long that now he had no idea how it was supposed to happen. The things you were and weren’t supposed to do. He never knew that the fluttering feeling of butterflies swarming in his stomach were good, that he shouldn’t run from them, but embrace them.

Sure he’d grown up watching his parents display their affection to one another; grown up hearing the stories of an adamant, smitten Tonowari pining after a hard-to-get Ronal, despite her apparent aloofness. How he fell first and she fell even harder. But he never actually thought he would end up head over heels for a girl. It was usually the other way around, girls pining over him while he let the attention boost his ego.

He was a no strings kind of guy— utterly terrified by the thought of being responsible for breaking a girl’s heart. Breaking your heart, like he knew he would because he fucks everything up and he wanted no parts of it.

But he’s conflicted. Deep down he does want what his parents have. Someone to call his own, someone to come home to. Someone who means more than a stupid hookup that would leave him regretting his decision afterwards and wondering why the hell he went through with it. But like always with the metkayina boy, pride trumps what his heart already knows.

He’s well aware that it’s too good to be true. The thought that he could ever experience what it truly means to be happy, by letting himself be loved by you, is all that it will ever be. A thought. An unattainable aspiration. He knows you’re too good for him. Compassionate, thoughtful, kind. Everything he’ll never be, coupled with a heart much too pure to be polluted by his indecision.

But maybe, just maybe he could enjoy the reverie while it lingered, and pretend like he could really have you all to himself. Just for one night. Selfishly disregarding his issues with commitment, all he could think about while he laid in bed was how badly he wanted to see you, how badly he wanted to be with you.

Leading you on was the last thing on his mind that late night he’d snuck out from his Mauri and to yours, determinedly pitching small shells he’d collected on the way there between the flowing tulle curtains of your open window to get your attention.

And for some reason you couldn’t sleep, as if that was fate’s way of setting the two of you up for failure from the beginning. You’d already spent an hour staring up at the intricate weaving of your Mauri’s roof, wishing your eyelids would hurry up and become weighted, when the small disruption of something clattering against the floorboards had you sitting up almost instantly.

You smiled keenly, already having an idea of who it was. He told you he’d come for you later, sometime after eclipse, and he always kept his promises. At least, you thought he did.

The both of you waded by the shore beneath the light of the moon, legs brushing against the other from the effort of treading once you swam further out. Childishly splashing the other with small waves of cool, salty water and trying your best to keep your laughter quiet; the village long asleep but your hearts awake.

It was when he bundled you closer, when strong arms lagged through the calm waters to wind around your waist and pull you into him. That, was when you knew nothing would be the same.

You should have pulled away, should have called it a night before things could progress, like the voice in the back of your head was telling you to do. But just like always, those ocean eyes held you in a trance, a smug grin on his face in response to how deeply you blushed and it only made matters worse.

You wonder now if he knew what he was doing when he brought a hand up to caress your dampened cheek, his gaze undeniably tender when he told you he’d always thought you were the most beautiful girl he’d ever seen.

You see now that you were stupid to fall for it. But in that fleeting moment, with your arms around his neck and your hearts beating as one, his lips moving against yours felt so right. It felt like that was where you were always meant to be, in his arms, pressed against the warmth of his skin as he set your soul ablaze.

You’d spent the rest of the night on the sand, the comfort of your bed long forgotten. He was all you needed. Entangled underneath the moonlight as you let him see so much farther into you than you had with anyone. He kissed broken promises upon your skin, lust-drunken words slurred from his mouth swaddled in the crook of your neck and you can’t believe you trusted him.

Your ability to see the good in everyone ultimately played the role in your downfall. You took pride in being someone who went off actions, and not words. Because it had never failed you before, but since then you’ve learned to never say never.

Curse your aching heart. You really should have listened when everyone told you to run, that behind all the kind gestures and longing glances and saccharine kisses to the forehead— it was all a game to him.

Things weren’t official with the two of you but you had planned to change that. Flung so deep into the intensity of your own feelings, everything about the way he treated you let you know that he must have felt the same.

Surely it’d be impossible to do all that the two of you had done with someone and not catch feelings. It’d be unimaginable to let someone peer so extensively into what makes you you, and somehow not fall in love with them.

“Meet me by the mangroves at noon, our spot.” You’d murmured between a parting kiss, just the day before, and he can’t believe he forgot.

He was enjoying his time with you too much to notice that he let things go on for too long, too busy reveling in the feeling of what it felt like to truly be loved. To be cared for.

He never intended for it to go this far, constantly having to remind himself to break the news to you that he wanted to remain friends, so he wouldn’t lose you all together. To let you go before he could do something to hurt you.

Ao’nung knew he was in too deep the moment he realized you were the last image playing behind his eyelids when he fell asleep, and the first thing he thought about when he woke up.

The idea of him loving someone so profoundly shocked him to his core, scared him into submitting back into his old habits. He needed to be with someone who couldn’t see him, someone who if he were to mess things up, the sight of them in fragments due to his actions wouldn’t cause him to endure that same agony. So subconsciously, he did what he always does when he has a good thing going for him. Fuck it up.

The sound of his laughter in the distance carried your feet along the buoyant netting that served as walkway between the homes of your village. A hopeful grin plastered on your face and a freshly woven armband clutched between your hands. A gift from him to you, and though not very traditional for you to give the first courting gift, nothing about your situation was, so you found it more than fitting.

The sight in front of you halted your movements, leaving your mind to try and make sense of the scene before your eyes could confirm what you feared to be true. What everyone had tried to warn you of.

The man who succeeded in making you feel a way no other had, stood a little ways in front of you, with a girl. Her back leaned against the rocks while she batted her lashes and gazed at him as if he’d hung the stars in the sky himself. The same way you’d found yourself doing every time he so much as looked in your direction.

A mere conversation between the two of them would never have been enough to upset you, you liked to think you were more secure than that. But you’d be lying to yourself if you claimed you didn’t see the way his hand cradled her cheek, and how his eyes flitted over her features, as if she were the most beautiful girl he’d ever seen.

Your insecurities didn’t have much work to do, as it was the words that left his own mouth that confirmed your fears. The same thing he had confessed to you— all those nights ago when you laid intwined under the stars— he swore to her. With that same glint in his eye, that same longing look that you were foolish to ever believe would be reserved for you.

A fire surged up the column of your throat and a dreadful weight settled in the pit of your stomach that almost had your knees buckling. Your lips parted to speak, to ask him what the hell he was doing with her when he was supposed to have met you here.

But the words never came, they remained lodged between the confines of your heart-wrenched vocal cords. Your fist tightened around what would’ve been a lovely moment between the two of you, and the sound of it thumping against the ground, paired with the cloud of sand it brought up in its wake was enough to peel his attention from your giggling contender.

His startled, turned guilt-ridden expression would’ve rendered comical to you, but the rush of hot tears that bubbled over your waterline and stained your seafoam cheeks were far too impatient to wait for you to get a laugh in.

You staggered back with a denying shake of your head, a string of curses inaudible as you threw your hands up once he made a move to get to you. The girl he had been so enamored with just moments ago conveniently forgotten the second he witnessed your heart fall through your chest.

He called out for you in a panic, hurriedly sifted his hands through pale golden and swiftly scooped the disheveled accessory from the sand before his feet took off.

Ao’nung chased you through the village until he was nearly winded. Ignoring your hisses for him to leave you alone and brushing off the harsh shoves you sent to his chest as if they weren’t actually starting to hurt.

“Please, wait!” Another plea for you that went ignored, your ears only filled with the painful ringing of betrayal.

Blinded by the moisture in your eyes, you realized he’d cornered you. Chased you all the way to a secluded clearing behind the palm trees so you would stop running and just talk to him.

A strong hand gripped your forearm, turning you around rougher than intended to meet the frantic look in his eyes. “Please,” He implored breathlessly and his chest heaved from his efforts just moments earlier. “I never meant for it to go like this.”

You twirled from his grasp and swatted his hand away in the process, your face screwed up with hurt and he watched every conflicted emotion pass through your eyes at once. You didn’t even know how you were still standing.

“I gave myself to you!” Your voice wavered as you thrusted an accusatory finger to his chest. His lips moved, but no words left them as he clutched the forgotten gift in his hands. “I can’t believe I was so stupid.” You whisked your head away, shielding your face as another round of tears threatened to make themselves known, as if you weren’t embarrassed enough.

“I’m- I’m sorry, I don’t know what I was thinking. I-“ His head dipped to the side to match his drooping shoulders, and you felt the rough pad of his thumb graze your cheekbone in an attempt to fix what was already broken. “Tahni, please, I was going to tell you. I swear-“

“You did this on purpose, didn’t you? Was this all some kind of sick game to you?” You choked out and backed away from his touch with your arms crossed over your chest, suddenly feeling exposed in front of the man who had already seen you so much barer than you stood now.

But with your feelings worn on your sleeves and so obviously unreciprocated, you felt more naked than you’d ever been regardless of the coverings you were wearing. Completely vulnerable in front of him, so naively gullible to think he’d ever put aside his immature desires and feel the same way you did.

“What- No! I’d- I’d never-“ He sputtered an answer vehemently, his expression almost wounded as he immediately denied your claim. “I just, I can’t give you what you need. You deserve better than me.” His hands found yours despite your efforts to avoid them, and he quickly realized why you didn’t want to be touched.

A stark contrast from your pained stature, the affliction he had caused, your body relaxed the second he touched you and your composure crumbled before him.

Sobs racked through your body and you weakly tugged your hands from his grasp to no avail, your words shaky as you begged for him to let you go. And without another thought he pulled you into his embrace, firmly caging you between the arms that once comforted you.

But they failed to replicate that same feeling, the image of what once was completely tarnished by his own actions. The words that left your lips were enough to make his eyes well with a wetness foreign to him. A deep-seated feeling he’d never forget. Remorse.

“You’re cruel, Ao’nung.”

The sound of your heart shattering drowned out his incessant, anguished apologies and your body slumped in his arms. You let him hold you, allowed your forehead to fall into the dip of his chest as large hands caressed into the curve between your trembly shoulders.

You mindlessly permitted his attempts to console you as you knew you would never let him close to you again. The two of you stood like that for a few minutes, until your weeping reduced to jagged inhales while you struggled to catch your breath.

“Did it mean anything to you at all? Any of it?” You squeaked hopelessly, and the sound of your broken voice sent daggers to the heart you were almost certain he didn’t have.

With his chin rested atop your head, his eyes squeezed shut and he exhaled unsteadily before he spoke.

“More than you know.”

part two

Reblogs + Likes + Comments are much appreciated 💗

[makoodles]

I have some thoughts running around my noggin if you don’t mind me sharing…

As we know Tonowari and Ronal are generally very gentle with Human!Reader, you’re so much smaller and fragile than a Na’vi so they take great care to be gentle with you.

But as much mothering and hovering they both do, accidents happen, particularly during sex.

In the throes of pleasure Tonowari forgets himself and grabs you a little too roughly, resulting in a bruise so large Norm thought you’d been attacked. Ronal had been trying to guide your body causing you to sprain your shoulder. Some of these bruises, sprains, and cuts normally heal in a couple of days, but more often than not Norm tends to your injuries.

And boy is he getting sick of it.

It seems every few days you present with a new injury and Norm’s running through MediPacks faster than he can blink. After months of treating you and trying to create new ideas of preventing your injuries he’s struck gold: a breeding mount.

It takes a few weeks of trial and error, but he’s finally done building the damn thing and leaves it in your mauri as a gift, along with a note to have fun.

You were surely surprised to find a human breeding mount in your home, but after a thought you start to piece together the benefits.

Now Tonowari and Ronal can use you how they please without fear of hurting you, especially during their breeding seasons or when you’re having a particularly rough session.

Safe to say you put it to use.

[puddle-nerd]

Everything Was Golden

Summary: Your wedding night had traditions to follow, not that you were complaining… (Ao’nung/Na’vi Female Reader)

Prompt #4 (By the Fire) for Avatar12DaysofKinkmas2023.

Story Tags: No use of Y/N, By the Fire, Na’vi Female Reader, Aged Up Characters, Everyone is Legal, Yes they’re both eighteen+!, Na’vi Culture (Avatar – Cameron), Na’vi Language (Avatar – Cameron), Wedding Night, Semi-Public Sex, Beach Sex, Neteyam te Suli Tsyeyk'itan Lives

Na’vi Translation: Kuru — neural queue Muntxate — wife | female spouse Olo’eyktan — Clan Leader Ranteng Utralti — The Spirit Tree is a sacred place of the Metkayina clan, located underwater in the center of the Cove of the Ancestors Tawtute — human | Sky Person Tsahìk — Spiritual Leader of the clan Tsaheylu — neural bond made through the connection of two neural queues Uturu – Na’vi tradition stating that any refugee seeking sanctuary must be granted safe harbor Yawne – Beloved

AO3 Link

You had been waiting for this day since the moment your parents had sought uturu though it had been a rocky beginning when you two had first met. But now was the day you finally got to marry the one and only male you had ever loved, though it had been a long and rocky road to get to where you and Ao’nung were at now, what with the return of the tawtute and nearly losing your twin brother. The preparation for your binding ceremony had taken a couple of weeks (which you were utterly grateful to have your mother and your future mother, Ronal, helping you every step of the way to incorporate some of your Omatikayan heritage with your new Metkayinan ways) and all of the neighboring villages were coming to bear witness to the ceremonial portion of the union of the future Olo’eyktan and his bride, you.

As was Omatikayan tradition, your mother, Neytiri, had woven your chest covering from the prettiest threads of gold and green and decorated it with little shells and pearls, Ronal creating you a near matching loincloth, and as you were gaining two more sisters, Kiri, Tsireya, Tuk, and little Rue (Ao’nung and Tsireya’s now four-year-old sister) had each created a piece of your wedding jewelry out of similar pearls and pretty shells and stones. As was Metkayinan tradition, both your father, Jake, and future father, Tonowari, had guided you in how to find the best materials to create your husband-to-be a new spear and both of your brothers had assisted you in weaving a new ceremonial cloak for once Ao’nung took over as the Olo’eyktan.

Eventually.

But today… you wedding.

Dressed in your finery, you had crossed the beach to your handsome yawne and presented Ao’nung with his new cloak and weapon while he presented you with a little pot containing a budding Papa Mantis Tree as a symbol of your growing relationship that would one day become strong and everlasting as the massive trees that grew on beach of your island. And then the two of you had exchanged your vows before the whole of the Metkayinan people present and sealed your bindings with a kiss to thunderous applause. The following feasting and dancing had made your head spin as you were so gloriously happy, constantly touching and kissing your new husband.

Then the largest moon had reached the highest point in the sky, thus starting the final tradition.

You and Ao’nung had said your good nights to your friends and family and village and had swum out to a tiny island just beside Ranteng Utralti where a stocked mauri pod and a firepit waited for the two of you. You inspected the tiny hut that was only used for Olo’eyktan and/or Tsahìk mating’s and flushed to yourself in giddy anticipation for what was about to happen.

Turning back to Ao’nung, you quietly made your way back out to where he had gotten the bonfire lit and kneeled behind him on a blanket, hugging him gently and kissing his turquoise shoulder. “Hello there,” your yawne chuckled, turning in your grip and meeting your lips with his own.

“Hi,” you murmured back, biting your lower lip. “So… we’re married now.”

That familiar smirk of his crossed his lips as he spun upon the blanket further, putting his back to the roaring fire and drew you into his lap. “We are,” he greed, his blue eyes meeting your golden ones. “And now we bond, Ma’muntxate.” Twisting his head to bring his kuru over his shoulder, you copied his movements and brought the end of your dark braid up, the pink tendrils revealing themselves to your gaze, swallowing in nervous anticipation. “You ready?”

“Yes,” you whispered and brought your neural queue to his.

You had made Tsaheylu before with your parents when you’d been an infant, with the Tree of Souls, with your pa’li, your ikran, your ilu, and with the Spirit Tree, but those neural connections didn’t compare to making the bond with Ao’nung. You suddenly had a deeper understanding of him, all of his memories, all of his thoughts, all of it rushing into you in an almost overwhelming wave of heat and emotions causing you to tremble as you gasped quietly, reaching out to anchor yourself.

You could feel Ao’nung’s amusement and his awe as he felt you through Tsaheylu, but most importantly you could feel his love and his building arousal and felt yourself respond in kind, heat pooling low in your belly.

“Ah, ‘Nung,” you moaned quietly.

Ao’nung shifted and laid himself down onto the blanket, smirking up at you as you settled upon his pelvis, reaching up and cupping your sapphire blue cheek with his turquoise three-fingered hand. “So beautiful, Ma’muntxate,” he murmured, taking in the golden glow bathing your skin magnificently. His signature smirk spread his lips then, and you could feel his cocky triumph through your neural bond as he added, “So mine for life.” He pulled you down for a kiss. The two of you undressed each other slowly, reverently, trading kisses and caresses until you slid yourself down onto his cock with a whine. He gripped your hips, hissing, “You take me so well, yawne.” You glowed from his praise and finally began to move, moaning as you felt the pleasure build inside of your body and his. Your stomach began to twist in pleasure as the tip of his cock ground into a spot deep inside of your channel every time your backside met his strong thighs. Your weeping cunt clenched around his thick shaft when Ao’nung released a mewling whine from the back of his throat, his hands guiding your hips over top of him, tightening. “Feel so good, Ma’muntxate,” he groaned, watching your hickey covered breasts lit by the golden glow of the fire bounce teasingly above him. “Gonna make me cum.” You nod, breathing heavily as you began to chase your building orgasm, begging, “Do it, please, yawne. Fill me.” Ao’nung snarled and sat up, the angle of his cock changing and locking into place deeper inside of you. You released a squeal, your walls fluttering around him as the pleasure – his and yours echoing because of Tsaheylu – caused your orgasm to crash over you like a tidal wave. You came with a cry, pleasure overwhelming your senses. “Oh, Great Mother,” Ao’nung panted as you slumped onto his chest, “we have got to do that again. You look all pretty and golden like this.”

𖥸 · ─────── · 𖥸 · ─────── · 𖥸

Originally Posted: 17 December 2023 Word Count: 1,085

AO3 Link

[apoptoses]

i gotta know, what order do you rank the VCs

oh man I cannot number order them, to do that would be like picking a favorite cat and they change depending on my mood so like I gotta go with the tier system.

ALSO I never promised anyone here that I had taste, these are my own personal feelings etc etc Mostly I have ranked them based on how much I skim when (or if) I re-read lol

The Vampire Armand- Anne put her whole entire vampirussy into this one like this is the book that has everything!!! There's angst, there's smut, there's cults and kidnapping, there's the beauty and high drama of the Venetian renaissance, what more could you want!! And honestly I think her Armand voice is one of her strongest, right up there with Lestat. You could take an Armand quote out of context and know he's the one speaking. Even my least favorite parts of TVA are still more enjoyable than the best parts of the VC books I don't love.

The Devil's Minion Chapter of QotD specifically - absolute insanity, just banger after banger, not a single word wasted. I could have read an entire novel of this, and again, a unique voice and style! I think this part of the book slaps so hard because it's the first truly modern part of the VC, told from a modern perspective and like. It's so good because every VC reader has probably thought 'wow how exciting would it be to be a vampire's companion/lover' and then Anne actually went and wrote what that would be like. Incredible!

The Vampire Lestat - Getting the back story of the characters introduced in interview is incredible and I feel like Anne finally cut loose and let herself start to be a weirdo with all the world building and entangled relationships. Also just worth the re-read for Armand drop kicking Lestat out of Notre Dame and Marius's insane house of taxidermy and baboons.

Interview with the Vampire- a classic, no other details needed.

Tale of the Body Thief- a polarizing choice I know, but it's such a wild diversion from the typical VC books. Lestat described himself as the James Bond of Vampires and this is the one book that's truly like a tightly written action movie. And Lestat is just so monstrous in it, and in a really complex way- like he's partly reacting to the trauma he went through with Akasha, he's at a low point with self esteem, but then also some of this behavior begs the question of whether being a vampire made him the way he is or whether it's just inherent in him. An underrated VC book tbh.

Blood and Gold- I just love that Anne took on the challenge of writing the life story of a vampire that is thousands of years old. Reading it gives me the same feeling of growing up and realizing that the people you considered 'adults' are just as lost and mentally immature and messed up as you, and never really had any idea what they were doing when child-you thought they had it all together. Also I just love anything that gives me more of the events of Armand's life from another pov.

Queen of the Damned- a great story but I get bogged down by the number of characters and plot lines introduced every time I re-read it, and I end up skimming some of the POVs (or skipping them entirely like baby jenks) I know Anne finally put her foot down and told her editors to fuck off with this one but I wish she'd listened to them just a tiiiiny bit and cut some stuff/expanded other more interesting stuff.

Pandora - Such tight writing!! I wish Pandora hadn't been sidelined in the other books because Anne built such a strong character with her, she deserved better tbh!!

Prince Lestat - it's okay, I just like the sections with my favorite characters and seeing some secondary characters return like Bianca and Allessandra and Antoine. Getting some resolution on what happened with them and where they are closer to the modern day was nice. Also the stuff with Fareed giving Lestat hormones so he could fuck and then get Maury Povich'd eighteen years later was hilarious nonsense, 10/10 Anne insanity. This book just feels like fun trashy vampire stuff (affectionate) in the same way watching True Blood feels like fun trashy vampire stuff, so even if it's not Anne's best work it's still alright imo.

Memnoch the Devil - I simply do not care about God or the Devil or Dora or Rembrandt enough to care about this book, and it only gets ranked below Prince Lestat because I think it drags where PL has a faster pace that allows my brain to skim over the least tasty parts. Really it only makes it to D because of Armand in his dusty jean jacket and Lestat using Dora's uterus as his personal capri sun. Overall though just a slog to get through.

Blood Communion - I just personally do not care for the whole vampire court concept and wish Anne had dropped it after the replimoids. Like I tolerate it in Prince Lestat but ending the series on 'united vampire community' feels off to me when the whole concept of vampires is that they're outsiders struggling with immortality. Also, another kidnapping plot? Anne pls you're better than this.

Merrick - I have erased everything but the Louis bits of this book from my mind. We simply did not need Claudia's vengeful spirit or Louis getting force upgraded and the humanity of him erased by Lestat's ultra-powerful blood but we got it anyways I guess. Very atmospheric though, I do like the return to New Orleans as a setting.

Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis - Cruel of Anne to put Atlantis in the title and give us aliens instead of mermaids. The most cracked out VC book in existence, would only re-read if paid to. I have no words for how much I do not care for this book, especially after reading Anne's notes at Tulane and knowing what could have existed instead.

The Vampire Vittorio - such a flop of a vampire he never even gets mentioned in the other VC books. I do not know this man. This book does not exist to me.

[diamondcrownacademy]

DCA Info Part 30: Meet Rozeline Pierrette 📚

Rozeline Pierrette (ロゼライン・ピエレット, Rozerain Pieretto) is the dorm leader of Chateau Beastiale. She has gifts for inventing and alchemy as well as being renowned for her novels, playwrights and songs. But she appears to have a dark secret.

History

Rozeline is the daughter of Fabien Maury Pierrette. The whereabouts of where she was born are unknown. However, she and her father moved to the Land of Pyroxene when she was really young.

Little is known about Rozeline's upbringing but what is known is that an incident at her former school traumatized her greatly. So much so that her father pulled her out of the academy and having her be homeschooled instead by Baptiste Gallois instead.

At some point during her childhood, she met and was befriended by Ashton Vargas, who became a close family friend of her's. When Diamond Crown Academy's carriage arrived to have her enrolled, Vargas congratulated her by gifting her a book which was actually a case that contained a taser and pepper spray.

Personality

While Rozeline is wise and knowledgeable, she tends to keep to herself and dislikes it when men enter her personal space.

Rozeline despises her unique magic as she considers it more of a curse than a blessing and she thinks that it makes her intimidating and fears that people will call her a monster if they saw her use it.

Appearance

Rozeline is a young woman of average height in her late teens. She has short brown and white hair, with the latter portion taking the shape of a curl. She also possesses grayish brown eyes.

2020 School Uniform

Originally, Rozeline wore a gold colored dress with the top portion having pieces that bear resemblance to parts on the bodice of Belle's iconic gold ballgown. The bodice itself has long sleeves, red jewel buttons, a red ruffle bow with floral patterns on the right strap, and red ruffle fabric on the neckline with gold trim. The dress' skirt features an argyle pattern and has a gold strap near the bottom that features floral rose patterns as well as gold ruffle trimming. The skirt also features a red overskirt with three red roses and a gold pearl bead strand. Rozeline also wears brownish gray pantyhose. For footwear, Rozeline wears a pair of black and white ankle boots with gold trim and soles and red ribbons with black trim and maroon gem brooches.

Rozeline accessorizes with a hairpiece that consists of a pair of red roses, a gold crown attached to a pair of brown ram like horns, and an amber gem brooch attached to gold pearls. Other accessories include a necklace that features a gold bow with a red rose with Rozeline's brooch attached and a gold ring on her right middle finger.

2021 School Uniform

Now with a more preppy look, Rozeline wears a white lacy dress shirt with gold buttons and is worn underneath a pale yellow and blue blazer, with the blue portions having floral patterns that feature roses and thorns and the blazer features gold buttons, trim and chain attached to a pair of Rose shaped buttons. She also wears a tan tartan skirt with a lace petticoat and gray pantyhose. The footwear now consists of a pair of loafer black heels with red bows and white lace.

Rozeline's crown is now bronze in color and the pearl strands from her hairpiece and necklace have been romoved.

School Statistics

Rozeline is an 18 year old 3rd year student. She is classified as Student #8 and is in Class 3-E. She is a member of the Magical Artworks Club and her best subject is Ancient Rune Reading, it is also her favorite school subject because she's very interested in deciphering ancient runes. Her least favorite school subject is Martial Arts because she isn't the most athletic and she relies too much on magic.

For her idol performances, Rozeline has a voice fit for classical songs. She can't do very high pitches and if she attempts to do so she ends up cracking her voice.

For her choreography, Rozeline's dance is a mix of ballet and waltz. She is more of a elegant dancer that resembles a swan, although she isn't against doing a more energetic dance routine.

Relationships

Family

Rozeline has a very close relationship with her father. Fabien is a doting father, loves his daughter dearly and is very protective of her.

Confidants

Rozeline has a private tutor known as Baptiste Gallois. He’s a bit strict but he just wants a student to excel because he believes that knowledge is the way to assure a good future. Rozeline gave him a pocket watch when he announced that she was almost done with her studies, he takes good care of it.

Pet

Rozeline has a sun bear named Palmiers. She found her in her house one day eating the freshly made palmiers she baked for her father. Sun bears are known to be aggressive and territorial but for some reason, she has clung to Rozeline like a chick. Though the sun bear is known to be aggressive, she won't attack the other students unless they were trespassers. Those who go to the dorm need to bring palmiers, honey or berries to enter. She'll assume they're trespassing if they don't, Rozeline put out a sign needing to confirm what you need to bring for the safety of those visiting.

Fellow Students

Rozeline doesn't appear to interact with her fellow students but is known to write books about Allison's shenanigans.

Night Raven College Students

Rozeline often interacts with Jack and Rook flirts with her on occasion.

Night Raven College Staff

Ashton Vargas is a close family friend of Rozeline. Initially, Rozeline was intimidated by how large the man was but quickly changed her view on him after he was very friendly with her and her dad. The two families were often seen sharing stories and asking about how their days have been. Vargas is as protective of Rozeline as her father is and keeps him updated on her activities at school.

Romance

Rozeline desires to be with someone who understands and can help her not be afraid of her unique magic. She doesn't mind if they are average or not in the knowledge department, she wants someone who she trusts won't be afraid of her.

Powers and Abilities

• Magic: Much like her fellow students, Rozeline can use magic.

• Painting: Rozeline is skilled at painting, she even paints surreal horror in her free time.

• Memory Recollection: Rozeline is said to have excellent memory recollection, being able to recall books she's read and the details within them.

• Alchemy: Rozeline is said to be good at inventing her own chemistry sets as well as brewing potions.

• Tinkering: Rozeline is skilled at inventing and repairing machines and other items. She even repairs the talking furniture in Chateau Beastiale's dorm living quarters.

Unique Magic

Rozeline's unique magic is called "Thorn Beast" (とげのある獣の怒り/ソーン・ビースト, Sōn Bīsuto; lit. "Wrath of the Thorned Beast"). She can create a huge, hulking monster made of thorns to aid her in fight if there was one, she can also make smaller versions of it.

But she mostly manipulates a thorn vine so that everyone would assume she can manipulate vines instead. She despises using her unique magic and considers it as more of a curse rather than a blessing.

Voice

According to her bio, Rozeline would be voiced by Akira Sekine, known for her role as Miyabi Fujiwara from Aikatsu!.

Trivia

• Her birthday is on May 6th, making her a Gemini.

• She is 173 cm tall.

• Her favorite food is Cheese Souffle while her least favorite food is Foie Gras. She dislikes faulty invention projects.

• She enjoys painting surreal horror.

• Her preferred Styling Jewel Outfit Styles are Classical and Gothic.

• For her casual attire, Rozeline would mostly wear preppy clothes with plaid or checkered patterns.

• Her favorite colors are beige and faded gold.

• She is dubbed "Little Sea Turtle" (ウミガメちゃん, Umigame-chan) by Floyd due to sea turtles being lonesome much like her. She shares this nickname with Trey.

• In her spare time, Rozeline likes reading books and joining fandoms related to her favorite genres.

• In the case of Rozeline Overbloting, someone sees her Unique Magic that she tries so hard not to show and it makes her so fearful that she overblots.

• Due to her love of books, Rozeline would be a book conservator in the future.

• Rozeline’s dessert of choice are dark chocolate based desserts.

• Rozeline would smell of book paper and ink.

• Her signature scent would be the scent of ink and old books.

• Rozeline fears that people will find out about her powers and would start calling her a monster.

[milequaritchsslut]

Fools gold

Based on the song “Fools gold” by Fitz and the Tantrums

Warnings: Arguing

Walking into your mauri pod with your bf you couldn’t see straight. You’ve been arguing non stop all week and you didn’t know why you just never saw eye to eye on anything and you couldn’t take it anymore. As you stood in your mauri pod with him both of you crossing your arms.

“I can’t do this anymore Teyam!” Putting your hands up in the air trying to get to ur point across but it seemed you just couldn’t get through that thick skull of his.

“You do Not mean that y/n” looking up at you trying not to raise his voice at you.

“All we do is fight Teyam I have tried my best to keep us together but I just can’t do this it’s too much!” You could feel your face heat up in anger but you just couldn’t do it anymore your heart couldn’t take anymore stress.

“So what your just gonna give up then? JUST GIVE UP ON US Y/N HUH?” As he stepped closer into you scrunching his face in anger he almost wanted to cry but he couldn’t, not in front of you.

“I AM NOT GIVING UP NETEYAM!” You couldn’t hold back anymore you wanted it to work but you guys just didn’t click.

“YES YOU ARE Y/N I LOVE YOU SO MUCH I CANNOT JUST LET YOU GO!” He really couldn’t you were the only woman in the clan he actaully payed attention too. He tried with other woman before you but it never worked out.

As you opened your mouth you felt a tear roll down your cheek. Quickly wiping it away in embarrassment you didn’t want to seem weak in front of him.

“I-it does not matter teyam we aren’t mated so we can leave whenever” you didn’t want to but you didn’t know what else to do you’ve heard of almost mated couples breaking about in the clan a few times it was uncommon but it wasn’t wrong. “Do not say that y/n I know you love me i know you love me” reaching out for your hand and putting it to his face hoping you would come to some kind of clear sense. Pulling his hands away you collected yourself trying to be stern.

“neteyam sully do not make this harder then it already is please” you begged looking into his eyes hoping he would just let you go and move on. But he couldn’t he would go to the ends of the earth to be with you to just kiss you just to be with you he loved you so much. More than you could’ve ever imagined.

“Fine then leave y/n, but I swear to you I will kill any man who try’s to court you I swear by that” moving his gaze down and walking past you. As he walked past you could feel his anger brush off of you. You didn’t want to end things like this but it was done there was nothing else you could do. Once you heard the curtain close as he left you dropped down to your knees putting your hands to your face as tears ran down your face like a rushing river. You loved him so much you knew nothing could ever change that but it was for the best you would get over him right?

[laceybrees]

three years. salt lake city, utah. the first time since nineteen eighty would the winter olympics be held in the united states. and truthfully? she couldn't wait. there was nothing like being on the greatest stage, being amongst the greatest athletes in the world and going toe to toe with them. she loved everything about this sport. the glittery eyeshadow, the rinestones around her eyes, the spray glitter in her perfectly pulled back hair that had been hair sprayed to the brink, the gorgeous outfits, yes even all the early morning and late night practices. she got tired a lot, but never of it. there was just something so beautiful about figure skating, making people feel something with art. how lucky was she to do something she loved with the person she loved so much. yes, loved. maybe not so platonically. lacey should know better than to allow her feelings to bleed into romantic territory. the past year they had been dubbed america's sweethearts because they were just that. just so sweet. so cute. she had lost count of how many interviewers asked if they were a couple. always trying to bite back a laugh, a blush, just friends. paired together since they were just little babies. figure skater couples never worked out, in the end, it would just be a big mess and a whole lot of heartbreak. other people's experiences were not hers, but what if they were? theo valiente was her safe place. she trusted him more than anyone in the world. a safe place to land. never letting her fall. no matter where in the world their competitions took them, how anxious she got sometimes, she just focused on him and everything else faded into the background. he understood her, he could decode her in a way no one else could. when they were on that ice together, it was pure magic. how could she ruin that? she couldn't. she wouldn't. february 2002, they were coming for that gold.

but for now it was february 1999 in an alaskan town that could only be compared to whoville at christmas time, all the time. and the bree family was scattered. valerie and warren bree were over as of last summer and lacey and her nine year old sister were smack dab in the middle of it all. he had moved to california and by default wanted his daughters there too. her older sister already in college over there. no, she wasn't moving to california. how could he even ask that? her entire life was here. what? was she just supposed to find another dude to skate with over there? so on top of dealing with her parents' bullshit, repressing her feelings, she also rolled her ankle coming down the stairs. nothing too bad, thankfully, but she just had to stay off it for a few days. however, anyone could tell you, the girl was not very good at doing nothing. just a lot of TRL and maury, she loved other peoples' messes, what could she say? the sound of the door opening hardly diverted her attention. besides, she already knew who it was, her mom and sister would be gone for awhile and very few people knew where they hid their spare key. "theodore, don't you dare enter this house without an ice cream cake," the raven haired girl spoke up, her green eyes moving to meet him in the foyer. "or at least copious amounts of snacks. i'm losing my mind over here, man, and jc and maury can do only do so much, so please, humor me, valiente," who wants an ice cream cake in bone chilling alaska weather? apparently her.

[temuera-morrison-tournament]

Info and Masterlist

Right now I have ideas for 3 main tournaments. The first one will be movies (done!), then depending on how that goes I’ll do TV shows (happening now!) and characters (done!). I’m open to suggestions for more. I’m also only doing things that I’ve seen, so I’m excluding Rangi’s Catch, Other Halves, Mauri, The Rainbow Warrior Conspiracy, Shark In The Park, New Zealand at War, The Reluctant Hero, Te Ao Mahana, Missing Christmas, Mt. Zion, Dawn, Meke, Echo 3, The Woman in Blue, and Far North. (If anyone can point me in the direction of any of those I would love to watch them and add them to the polls. I’m in the US and don’t currently have a VPN.)

Each round of polls will last one week. I’ll add links to watch the movies/shows if it’s easily accessible and free. This is so if you haven’t seen one or both movies/shows in a poll, you can still make an educated guess as to which one(s) you would like more. If there’s a tie, I’ll count my vote as invalid and advance the one I didn’t vote for.

Masterlist of polls under the cut

Tournament 1: Movies

Finished! Results:

Tournament 2: Characters

Note: this bracket is too big to comfortably fit everything into a summary picture, so I’m putting the winners in bold and including the results percentages in red for the losers and green for the winners.

Round 1, part 1: (posted Friday, December 29)

Briggs (Couple’s Retreat) 60% vs. Juliano (Speed 2) 40%

Madden (Hard Target 2) 7% vs. Chief Tui (Moana) 93%

Jake Heke (Once Were Warriors and What Becomes of the Broken Hearted?) 75% vs. Detective Sergeant Harris (The Grasscutter) 25%

Damo (The Marine 2) 0% vs. Jager (Six Days Seven Nights) 100%

Snakehead (The Beautiful Country) 33% vs. Powell (Dora and the Lost City of Gold) 67%

Commander Cody (Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith) 65% vs. Jango Fett (Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones) 35%

Alf Winters (Never Say Die) 8% vs. Veteran Clone Trooper (Obi Wan Kenobi) 92%

Frankie Jones (My Life Is Murder) 16% vs. Boba Fett (The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett) 84%

Selwyn Broadhead (Seekers) 4% vs. Tom Curry (Aquaman, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, and The Flash) 96%

Peter Bartlett (Occupation and Occupation: Rainfall) 75% vs. Rua Kenana (Rain of the Children) 25%

Round 1, part 2: (posted Friday, January 5)

Major Rasul (Vertical Limit) 5% vs. Captain Rex (Ahsoka) 95%

Abin Sur (Green Lantern) 57% vs. Wiremu (Gold: The Dynamiters) 43%

Hemi Crane (Fresh Meat) 17% vs. Axel Hood (Barb Wire) 83%

Te Kai Po (River Queen) 33% vs. Frank (Sons of Summer) 67%

Tim (Little White Lies) 17% vs. Maru (Adventurer) 83%

Kereama (Tracker) 40% vs. Runi (Blueberry/Renegade) 60%

Sean (Gloss) 80% vs. Manu (Broken English) 20%

Doctore (Spartacus: Gods of the Arena) 33% vs. Rangi (Rangi’s Catch) 67%

Jack Te Pania (The Barefoot Bandits) 20% vs. Don Sandovate (The Immortal Voyage of Captain Drake) 80%

Hone Ropata (Shortland Street) 86% vs. Alamein (Mortimer’s Patch) 14%

Round 2, part 1: (posted Friday, January 12)

Azazello (The Island of Dr. Moreau) 44% vs. Briggs (Couples Retreat) 56%

Chief Tui (Moana) 89% vs. Jake Heke (Once Were Warriors and What Becomes Of The Broken Hearted?) 11%

Warfield (Mosley) 63% vs. Jager (Six Days Seven Nights) 38%

Te Rangi (Frontier) 86% vs. Powell (Dora and the Lost City of Gold) 14%

Warden Mourdain (The Osiris Child) 14% vs. Commander Cody (Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith) 86%

Veteran Clone Trooper (Obi Wan Kenobi) 15% vs. Boba Fett (The Empire Strikes Back, The Mandalorian, and The Book of Boba Fett) 85%

Jack Carrigan (Whipping Boy) 0% vs. Tom Curry (Aquaman, The Flash, and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom) 100%

King Ramusan (The Scorpion King 3: Battle for Redemption) 20% vs. Peter Bartlett (Occupation and Occupation: Rainfall) 80%

Round 2, part 2: (posted Friday, January 19)

Tamiahana Mahana (Mahana/The Patriarch) 18% vs. Rex (Ahsoka) 82%

Abin Sur (Green Lantern) 56% vs. Axel Hood (Barb Wire) 45%

Anaru Vaipiti (Tatau) 80% vs. Frank (Sons of Summer) 20%

Tito Ihaka (Ihaka: Blunt Instrument) 57% vs. Maru (Adventurer) 43%

Mauricio (From Dusk Till Dawn 3: The Hangman’s Daughter) 25% vs. Runi (Renegade/Blueberry) 75%

Sean (Gloss) 43% vs. Rangi (Rangi’s Catch) 57%

Will Bastion (Crooked Earth) 67% vs. Don Sandovate (The Immortal Voyage of Captain Drake) 33%

Eddie Jones (The Brighton Miracle) 14% vs. Hone Ropata (Shortland Street) 86%

Round 3: (posted Friday, January 26)

Briggs 7% vs. Chief Tui 93%

Warfield 29% vs. Te Rangi 71%

Commander Cody 48% vs. Boba Fett 52%

Tom Curry 92% vs. Peter Bartlett 8%

Rex 94% vs. Abin Sur 6%

Anaru Vaipiti 40% vs. Tito Ihaka 60%

Runi 0% vs. Rangi 100%

Will Bastion 20% vs. Hone Ropata 80%

Round 4: (posted Friday, February 2)

Chief Tui 89% vs. Te Rangi 11%

Boba Fett 78% vs. Tom Curry 22%

Rex 74% vs. Tito Ihaka 26%

Rangi 67% vs. Hone Ropata 33%

Semifinals: (posted Friday, February 9)

Rex 74% vs. Rangi 26%

Chief Tui 36% vs. Boba Fett 64%

Finals: (posted Friday, February 16)

Boba Fett 54% vs. Rex 46%

Tournament 3: TV Shows

Qualifiers: (posted Friday, March 29)

Shortland Street vs. Mortimer’s Patch

Mataku vs. The Barefoot Bandits

The Mandalorian vs. Bro’Town

Gloss vs. Happy Hour

Round 1: (posted Friday, April 5)

The Book of Boba Fett vs. Shortland Street

Ahsoka vs. Spartacus: Gods of the Arena

The Tem Show vs. The Barefoot Bandits

Tatau vs. Frontier

Seekers vs. The Mandalorian

The Life and Times of Temuera Morrison vs. Obi-Wan Kenobi

Star Wars: Visions vs. Happy Hour

My Life is Murder vs. Adventurer

Round 2: (posted Friday, April 12)

The Book of Boba Fett vs. Ahsoka

The Barefoot Bandits vs. Frontier

The Mandalorian vs. Obi-Wan Kenobi

Star Wars: Visions vs. Adventurer

[masonhawth0rne]

What I read in 2023!

Isn't it nice to have the whole year's worth of something in one handy list?

January

Medieval England: From Arthur to the Tudor Conquest, Jennifer Paxton ⭐️⭐️⭐️ NF

The Day of the Triffids, John Wyndham ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Hannibal, Livy ⭐️⭐️⭐️ NF

John Wayne Gacy: Defending a Monster, Sam L Amirante, Danny Brodrick ⭐️⭐️⭐️ NF

This Is How You Lose the Time War, Amal El-Mohtar, Max Gladstone ⭐️⭐️

Trouble With Lichen, John Wyndham ⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Reanimator's Heart, Kara Jorgensen 😠

The Miracle of Dunkirk, Walter Lord ⭐️⭐️⭐️ NF

Alone on the Ice, David Roberts ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ NF

The Midwich Cucoos, John Wyndham ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Hanging Tree, Ben Aaronovitch ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Polygamist's Daughter, Anna LeBaron, Leslie WIlson ⭐️⭐️⭐️ NF

Stowaway to Mars, John Wyndham ⭐️⭐️

Confession of a Serial Killer, Katherine Ramsland ⭐️⭐️⭐️ NF

Sparta's First Attic War, Paul A Rahe ⭐️⭐️ NF

FantasticLand, Mike Bockoven ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Instructions for American Servicemen in Australia 1942, Special Service Division Services of Supply US Army ⭐️⭐️⭐️NF

Columbus Day, Craig Alanson ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Blood in the Snow, Tom Henderson ⭐️⭐️NF

The Andromeda Strain, Michael Crichton ⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Last Days of Stalin, Joshua Rubenstein ⭐️⭐️⭐️NF

Sons of Cain, Peter Vronsky ⭐️⭐️NF

Taaqtumi: An Anthology of Arctic Horror ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Web, John Wyndham ⭐️⭐️

An Unnatural Vice, KJ Charles ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

An Unsuitable Heir, KJ Charles ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Alexander the Great, Norman F Cantor ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️NF

A Dark Night in Aurora, William H Reid ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️NF

The Gentle Art of Fortune Hunting, KJ Charles ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Snow Killings, Marney Rich Keenan ⭐️⭐️⭐️ NF

The Odyssey, Homer trans. Emily Wilson ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Martian, Andy Weir ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

How Great Science Fiction Works, Gary K Wolfe ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️NF

Lies Sleeping, Ben Aaronovitch ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

February

False Value, Ben Aaronovitch ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Amongst Our Weapons, Ben Aaronovitch ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Revelation Space, Alastair Reynolds ⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Lancashire Witches, William Harrison Ainsworth ⭐️

Queen of Teeth, Hailey Piper ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Hacienda, Isabel Cañas ⭐️⭐️

Age of Myth, Michael J Sullivan ⭐️⭐️

The Demolished Man, Alfred Bester ⭐️⭐️

All Quiet on the Western Front, Erich Maria Remarque ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Meddling Kids, Edgar Cantero ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Monsters We Defy, Leslye Penelope ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Red Mars, Kim Stanley Robinson ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Man and the Crow, Rebecca Crunden (ss)⭐️

A Better Fate, DN Bryn (ss) ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Artemis One-Zero-Five, CHristopher Henderson DNF

House of Suns, Alastair Reynolds ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

All Systems Red, Martha Wells ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Artificial Condition, Martha Wells ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Rogue Protocol, Martha Wells ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Exit Strategy, Martha Wells ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

New Earth, Ben Bova ⭐️⭐️

Death Wave, Ben Bova ⭐️

Mouth of Mirrors, Maxwell I Gold (ss) ⭐️⭐️⭐️

March

On the Beach, Nevil Shute ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Star Nomad, Lindsay Buroker ⭐️

Burning Roses, SL Huang ⭐️⭐️

Trick or Treat, Richie Tankersley Cusick ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Unfinished Tales, JRR Tolkien ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Pushing Ice, Alastair Reynolds ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The End of the World Anthology ⭐️⭐️

The Home of the Blizzard (nf), Sir Douglas Mawson ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Night Stalker (nf), Philip Carlo ⭐️⭐️⭐️

In the Court of the Nameless Queen, Natalie Ironside ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Green Mars, Kim Stanley Robinson ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Ultimate Evil (nf), Maury Terry ⭐️

The Hillside Stranglers (nf), Darcy O'Brien ⭐️⭐️

The Element of Fire, Martha Wells ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Chasm City, Alastair Reynolds ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

April

The Stolen Heir, Holly Black ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Kintu, Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Kidnapped, Diane Hoh ⭐️⭐️

Overlord, David Wood & Alan Baxter ⭐️⭐️

Child of God, Cormac McCarthy ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Walking to Aldebaran, Adrian Tchaikovsky ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Redemption’s Blade, Adrian Tchaikovsky ⭐️⭐️⭐️

At the Mountains of Madness, HP Lovecraft ⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Initiation, Diane Hoh ⭐️⭐️

The Book of Queer Saints Anthology ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Expert System’s Brother, Adrian Tchaikovsky ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Pluto’s Republic, David Roochnik (nf) ⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Twisted Ones, T Kingfisher ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Evil Roots, Killer Tales of Botanical Gothic Anthology ⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Shadow Over Innsmouth, HP Lovecraft ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Annihilation, Jeff VanderMeer ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Whisperer in Darkness, HP Lovecraft ⭐️⭐️

Alien: Convenant Origins, Alan Dean Foster ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Alien: Coveant, Alan Dean Foster ⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Wendigo, Algernon Blackwood ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Alien III, William Gibson ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Alien: The Cold Forge, Alex White ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Republic, Plato ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Alien: Prototype, Tim Waggoner ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Alien: Isolation, Keith RA DeCandido ⭐️⭐️

A Thief in the Night, KJ Charles ⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Dialogues, Plato ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Alien: Into Charybdis, Alex White ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Alien: Infiltrator, Weston Ochse ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Percent, Jon Elofson (ss) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Aliens: Bug Hunt Anthology ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Growing Things & Other Stories, Paul Tremblay ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Babel-17, Samuel R. Delany ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Lords of Uncreation, Adrian Tchaikovsky ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

May

The Day We Ate Grandad, CM Rosens ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Alien: Out of the Shadows, Tim Lebbon ⭐️⭐️

Jaws, Peter Benchley ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Room on the Sea, Andrē Aciman ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Alien: River of Pain, Christopher Golden ⭐️⭐️

Alien: Sea of Sorrows, James A Moore ⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Gentleman From Peru, Andrē Aciman ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Century Rain, Alastair Reynolds ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Hyperion, Dan Simmons ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Dust, Elizabeth Bear ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

100 Fathoms Below, Steven L Kent & Nicholas Kaufmann ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Saturn’s Monsters, Thomas K Carpenter ⭐️

Address Unknown, Kressmann Taylor ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Murder by Other Means, John Scalzi ⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Ethics of Aristotle, Joseph Koterski ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Neil Gaiman at the end of the Universe, Arvind Ethan David ⭐️⭐️

Bag of Bones, Stephen King ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Bewilderness, Part One: Threshold, Jonathan Maberry ⭐️

Ten Low, Stark Holborn ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Benny Rose, the Cannibal King, Hailey Piper ⭐️⭐️⭐️

My Dark Vanessa, Kate Elizabeth Russell ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Stars My Destination, Alfred Bester ⭐️

Three Hearts and Three Lions, Poul Anderson ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Almost Human(nf), Lee Berger & John Hawks ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Paladin’s Grace, T Kingfisher ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Killing the Bismarck(nf), Iain Ballantyne ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Ancient Mesopotamia(nf), Amanda H Podany ⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Art of War(nf), Andrew R Wilson ⭐️⭐️

The White People, Arthur Machen ⭐️

June

Witch King, Martha Wells ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Broken Sword, Poul Anderson ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Early Middle Ages (nf), Philip Daileader ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The History of Ancient Egypt (nf), Bob Brier ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Banewreaker, Jacqueline Carey ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Godslayer, Jacqueline Carey ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Chernobyl 01:23:40 (nf), Andrew Leatherbarrow ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Stress and Your Body (nf), Robert Sapolsky ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Ice Ghosts (nf), Paul Watson ⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Illiad, Homer, trans. Edward Earl of Derby ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Th Hunt & the Haunting, Victoria Audley ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Our Shadows Have Claws Anthology ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Writing Creative Nonfiction (nf), Tilar JJ Mazzeo ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Brain Wave, Poul Anderson ⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Forever War, Joe Haldeman ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

July

Travel by Bullet, John Scalzi ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Redemption Ark, Alastair Reynolds ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Labrys(ss), Victoria Audley ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Grown Gown(ss), Derek Des Anges ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Hellbound Heart, Clive Barker ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Orca, Arthur Herzog III ⭐️

The Gallows Pole, Benjamin Myers ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Rebecca, Daphne Du Maurier ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Chemist, Stephanie Meyer ⭐️

Icehenge, Kim Stanley Robinson ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Band Sinister, KJ Charles ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Now She Is Witch, Kirsty Logan ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Slow Bullets, Alastair Reynolds ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Inside the Mind of BTK(nf), Johnny Dodd & John Douglas ⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Woman in White, Wilkie Collins ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Antarctica, Kim Stanley Robinson ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

August

The Henchmen of Zenda, KJ Charles ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Morning Star, Peter Atkins ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Subsidence (ss), Steve Rasnic Tem ⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Man in the High Tower, Philip K Dick ⭐️⭐️⭐️

What the Dead Know (ss), Nghi Vo ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Maze Runner, James Dashner ⭐️

Unfit to Print, KJ Charles ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Chill, Elizabeth Bear ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Bryony and Roses, T Kingfisher ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Confessor (ss), Elizabeth Bear ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Grail, Elizabeth Bear ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Babylon (nf), Paul Kriwaczek ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Unquiet, E Saxey DNF

The Ritual of the Labyrinth (ss), Esmée de Heer ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Terminal World, ALastair Reynolds ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Essays of Flesh and Bone (ss), Victoria Audley ⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Book Eaters, Sunyi Dean ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Future of Work: Compulsory (ss), Martha Wells ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Lady or the Tiger (ss), Frank Stockton ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Too Like the Lightning, Ada Palmer ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Falling Free, Lois McMaster Bujold ⭐️⭐️

Dreamsnake, Vonda N McIntyre ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The First Fossil Hunters (nf), Adrienne Mayor ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Shards of Honor, Lois McMaster Bujold ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Red Land, Black Land (nf), Barbara Mertz ⭐️⭐️⭐️

On Planetary Palliative Care (ss), Thomas Ha ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Nova, Samuel R Delany ⭐️⭐️⭐️

September

Time to Orbit: Unknown, Derin Edala ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️*

The Invincible, Stanislaw Lem ⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Prefect, Alastair Reynolds ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Myrtha (ss), Victoria Audley ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Archaeology: An Introduction to the World’s Greatest Sites (nf), Eric H Cline ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Catching Teller Crow, Amberlin Kwaymullina & Ezekiel Kwaymullina ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Old Man’s War, John Scalzi ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Don’t Hang Up, Benjamin Stevenson ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Superluminal, Vonda N McIntyre ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

World War Z, Max Brooks ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Flight of the Fantail, Steph Matuku ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Cyteen, CJ Cherryh ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Regenesis, CJ Cherryh ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Mindfulness for Stress Management (nf), Dr Robert Schacter ⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Orange Eats Creeps, Grace Krilanovich ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Kushiel’s Dart, Jacqueline Carey ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Aye, and Gomorrah (ss), Samuel R. Delany ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Carnage (nf), Mark Dapin ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Blue Mars, Kim Stanley Robinson ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Unknown, Jordan L Hawk ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Chocky, John Wyndham ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Sword of Empire: Praetorian, Richard Foreman ❌

Revival, Stephen King ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Apollo Murders, Chris Hadfield ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

*Time to Orbit: Unknown is hosted online [HERE] and is currently still updating twice a week

October

Unfortunate Elements of My Anatomy, Hailey Piper ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Ghost Bird, Lisa Fuller ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Hound of the Baskervilles, Arthur Conan Doyle ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Forest of Stolen Girls, June Hur ⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Liar’s Dice, Jeannie Lin ⭐️

Straya, Anthony O'Connor ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Toxic, Dan Kaszeta (nf) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Illuminae, Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Penhallow, Georgette Heyer ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Myth of the Self Made Man, Ruben Reyes Jr (ss) ⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Call, Christian White & Summer De Roche ⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Death of the Necromancer, Martha Wells ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Cretins, Thomas Ha (ss) ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Kill Your Brother, Jack Heath ⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Doors of Perception, Aldous Huxley (nf) ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Valley of Terror, Zhou Haohui, tr. Bonnie Huie ⭐️⭐️

The Curse of the Burdens, John Wyndham ⭐️⭐️

Amazons, Adrienne Mayor (nf) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Kraken Wakes, John Wyndham ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Dead Mountain, Donnie Eichar (nf) ⭐️⭐️

Family Business, Jonathan Sims ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

In the House of Aryaman A Lonely Signal Burns, Elizabeth Bear ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A Blessing of Unicorns, Elizabeth Bear ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

METAtropolis Anthology ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Plan for Chaos, John Wyndham ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A Fatal Thing Happened On the Way to the Forum, Emma Southon (nf) ⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Outward Urge, John Wyndham ⭐️⭐️

King Solomon’s Mines, H. Rider Haggard DNF

The Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle tr. David Ross (nf) ⭐️⭐️⭐️

November

The Jewel of Seven Stars, Bram Stoker ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Terror, Dan Simmons ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Hannibal: The Military Genius who Almost Conquered Rome, Eve MacDonald ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ nf

Luna, Ian McDonald ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Hoka! Hoka! Hoka!, Poul Anderson & Gordon R Dickson ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Dracula, Bram Stoker ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Cicero: The Life & Times of Rome's Greatest Politician, Anthony Everitt ⭐️⭐️⭐️nf

The Worst Journey in the World, Apsley Cherry-Garrard ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️nf

METAtropolis: Cascadia Anthology ⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Haunting of Willow Creek, Sara Crocoll Smith ⭐️

Journey to the Center of the Earth, Jules Verne ⭐️⭐️

METAtropolis: Green Space Anthology ⭐️⭐️⭐️

December

Carrion Comfort, Dan Simmons ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Wanted, A Gentleman, KJ Charles ⭐️⭐️

Interview With the Vampire, Anne Rice ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Henry VIII: King & Court, Alison Weir ⭐️⭐️⭐️ NF

Alexander the Great & the Macedonian Empire, Kenneth W Harl⭐️⭐️⭐️ NF

The Isles of the Gods, Amie Kaufman ⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Sandman, Neil Gaiman & Dirk Maggs DNF

Phosphorescence, Julia Baird ⭐️⭐️⭐️NF

And so the grand total for 2023 is....

267!

Of course, there's a couple of DNFs in there which inflate this number somewhat, but I am absolutely not going to pick through and count them out. Plus, a DNF only gets included on the list if I've gotten through a significant portion of the book. If it's a page one no-no, it's not even worth mentioning.

I made the decision at the start of this year, to try out more books I'd never heard of before. I really like trawling through the library app, or through audible's free archives and finding stuff that I'd probably never normally have discovered. Also, revisiting books that I read a long time ago and seeing if they resemble my memories of them.

Overall, I think this was a very satisfying year of reading, and I hope that I enjoy 2024's reads just as much!

nf= non fiction ss= short story

Stars awarded at my whim.

[teyums]

Twin Flames pt. 2

pairing: Ao’nung -> Neteyam x fem!metkayina reader

contains: angst with underlying fluff, melancholy ending. ao’nung and reader are 19, neteyam is 20

a/n: here is the well awaited part 2! i pretty much wrapped it up with the ending. my apologies to the ao’nung girlies if i break your heart with this 😅 i hope y’all enjoy wc: 3,219

Twin Flames. A love so fierce among two souls it’d be impractical to think you could come out unscathed. And while you and Ao’nung were written in the stars— stars burn out and fate can be revised.

Love hurts, that’s the truth of it all. You sign away the rights to your heart when you blindly take that plunge into a realm of whirlwinded emotions, because the reward is always worth the risk.

Ao’nung could sit here and say moments blurred into days, days into weeks, and so on. But the statement would be a bold faced lie, a lie he would much rather have been living over what he was experiencing now, because absolutely nothing blurred together. It was all painfully, crystal clear.

Each day he endures your absence from his life stretches the full, dreaded twenty four hours. Every grueling hour, every painstaking minute, every enervating second leaves him mercilessly aware of just how badly he’s screwed things up with you.

And he stalks around the village like an idiot, misplaced and hopeless, looking in every nook and cranny you might have tucked yourself away in to no avail. It’s like you’ve completely disappeared into thin air. Either that, or you’re really good at avoiding him.

He’d seen you in glimpses, evanescent moments where he’s left thinking he must have imagined your face, because in the blink of an eye, you’re gone. Just as quickly as you come, you go, like the shells the sea leaves upon the shoreline, only to steal them back into the taunting waters that laugh at your failed attempt to rush and grab them before they’re lured back into the deep.

He recognizes now, just how extensive the consequences of his actions are. It’s when he stalks back to his Mauri, a slight stagger in his stride due to the longevity of the day’s training. His father took no interest in going easy on him, probably due to how distracted he seemed the entirety of the lesson.

The centers of targets went untouched by the point of his spear because it fell short every time he plunged it through the air. Hot sand enveloped the discarded tool in a blanket of gold when he chucked it down out of frustration and he’s so fucking tired of this.

In the midst of his exhaustion, his mind plays a cruel trick on him. Makes him think that he’s trudging all the way home to meet your bright smile and warm embrace, until reality hits him like a relentless, angered wave of accountability and almost has his knees buckling. Of course you’re not there, how foolish of him to think you’d forget about what he did and throw yourself right back into the crossfire of his confliction.

It’s pathetic. How he lays in his bed at night, alone, defeated, kept up with the never ceasing memory of how hard he made you cry that day. How he swore he could feel the shards of what once was the shell of your being scrape his skin as it slipped through his fingers and into nothingness before him. He desperately tried to hold onto them, tried to put your pieces back together, but you wouldn’t even let him do that. You scooped up the broken remnants of your heart and took them with you. Couldn’t you have let him keep just one?

He stares across his moonlit room at the shelf on his wall. Particularly at the disheveled accessory that sits atop it, mocking him in the way it’s gone unworn. Slightly misshapen from how tightly your hand had clenched around it, your indignation molded into the crumpled fabric. The gift haunts him, reminds him of the day he wishes he could take back but he can’t bring himself to get rid of it. It’s all he has left of you and your scent still lingers on the leather, though It’s fading, slowly.

He wonders how you’re doing, how you’re handling the whispers that float through the air of you being the latest victim of his immaturity. How he aches to comfort you, to tell you that you were so much more to him than another thoughtless mistake, more than a cheap rendezvous. It angers him, rocks his core with something fierce the way people talk about what happened like it’s their latest gossip. But who is he to blame but himself?

Any other time, or any other girl, rather, he would have been laughing right alongside the talebearers. Shrugging in a disgustingly nonchalant manner and blaming whatever poor soul he’d wronged for her own heartbreak because she knew what she was getting into when she got with him.

It’s why it hurts so bad. Because even while you managed to uproot a gentle side to him no one else had before, somehow he still found a way to hurt you, and even worse than the others at that.

How did he fuck up this badly?

_____

A month has passed and he wishes he would have lost count by now. Everyday without you is excruciating. He had no idea he could miss someone to this extent and it’s why he’s sat by himself on the shore, watching the waves crash against the waiting rocks, elbows resting upon his perched knees with his forearms hung limp between them. And like usual, his ears perk up at the sound of your name in a conversation that has nothing to do with him.

“So, Y/n, huh?” A voice chuckles.

He’s instantly on alert, all because your name rolls from a male’s tongue a little too freely. His spine straightens and his throat clears as he wills his body to remain calm at the simple mention of you.

“Yeah, man. I haven’t seen them together in a while, not sure what happened but I’m pretty sure it’s over. My rites are next week, and I’ll definitely pass. I’m thinking of asking her for her hand.”

Ao’nung nearly recoils and he’s up on his feet in seconds. The thought of you with someone else has his mind in a frenzy. Everything is a blur, the shouting of those around to witness is muted when his fist comes in contact with the poor na’vi’s nose and he’s hissing down at him in a fit of unrefined rage as if he even has the right.

“She’s spoken for.”

_____

Though his failed attempts proved to be fruitless— Ao’nung was somehow still confident enough, or maybe deep enough in denial to believe that eventually, you’d come around. That in due time, the memories of his mistake would trickle from your mind and you’d fall into him again.

But then, the tide changes.

Strange na’vi come swooping in on unfamiliar looking animals, drawing up a crowd of alarmed villagers with their arrival. Men shield their mates from the potential threat, and mothers scoop their children up off their feet and into protective arms while weapons are quickly gathered in preparation.

The screeches of the large birds split through the air and ring uncomfortably in Ao’nung’s ears, but still, he starts towards the direction of the disruption. The dark blue na’vi land on the wet sand of the shores, slender bodies lacking of weapons and hands outstretched to propose vulnerability, ensuring that they come in peace.

There’s six of them. The father, he assumes, the mother, a small girl who’s quickly gathered by her mother’s curt demand, a strange looking female who nervously cowers into her shawl behind them, and two boys.

Their tails are odd, lithe and silly in the way they swish back and forth with uncertainty. A tuft of hair decorates the ends and Ao’nung’s face crinkles in disapproval, but for some reason, you’re intrigued.

It’s the first time he’s really seen you in weeks. All of you, no longer hidden by your desire to avoid him. And somehow, you’re even more beautiful than when he’d last seen you, eyes beady, sparkling and round with interest and he prays you’ll look in his direction, but you don’t. You stand with the rest of the crowd, hands folded behind your back while you eye the strange looking newcomers and Eywa he just wants to hold you again. It’s hard to focus on the invasion of foreigners to his land, because all he can think about is you.

The younger one has already expressed interest and introduced himself to Tsireya with an upwards nod of his head, and she’s a giggling mess beside you, so Ao’nung assumes it must be the eldest brother you’re watching so intently. The armor he wears resembles his father’s, but there’s an obvious difference between their status as he quietly stands behind the man negotiating. Toruk Makto, he comes to find out, or what he calls himself—Jakesully.

Ao’nung isn’t even listening to the conversation his father is having right beside him, because you laugh and his ear turns in its direction, then his head follows. That sweet, sweet laugh. It should’ve melted his heart, like it always did, but instead it makes it freeze over and sends a chill prickling up his spine, because you’re not looking at him.

You couldn’t help your curiosity.

Contrary to Tsireya’s advice, you’d reached out and touched the fluff of the eldest brother’s tail, because everything about him was so different from you and you had a hard time believing he was real. His markings resembled stripes, yours waves. His hair neatly plaited, yours loose. He’s very, very composed, hands politely clasped together in front of him, head raised confidently but not arrogantly and you don’t know why, but you like that. His physique is lean, carved and sculpted to reveal tight muscles that of a warrior. He’s taller than Ao’nung, and much taller than you.

It made you giggle, how his tail seemed to be the most animated part of his dignified, soldier-like disposition, because it hurriedly curled around his small waist with a mind of its own and away from your gentle finger the moment you made contact. The Metkayina boy felt his stomach curdle and bubble with jealousy at your genuine infatuation with this stranger.

The eldest’s braids sway over his shoulders with the movement of his head whipping around, wooden beads clacking against each other while his intense, aureate eyes attempt to locate the culprit of the intrusion. They miss you completely and glance right over your head, but when his chin meets his chest to return his attention to the Olo’eyktans’ conversation, that’s when they find you, and take time to trail down your form. And they keep you, and don’t let you go for a long, spark-filled moment, your big blue eyes peering up into his amber ones that twinkle with newfound interest. You’re shorter than the girls he’s used to, your body plump and soft in the areas Omaticayan women are slender. The boy’s never seen someone quite like you before, that’s clear in the way his brow bone raises.

You looked apprehensive for a beat, smile faltering due to the searing, unintentionally intimidating gaze this man has on you while he examines your person, and Ao’nung’s foot moves to approach, ready to protect his long lost love from this bizarre na’vi— this intruder.

But then, the boy’s hardened mask crumbles, bioluminescent freckles emit a soft glow against dark blue, and he smiles at you, more than willing to look past your curiosity. Your cheeks flush amaranth when you return his grin, the same way they would when you used to look into his eyes.

It was in that moment, Ao’nung felt his heart split into four, as it’d already been severed in half long before this.

____

You make him feel welcome. Neteyam, that is. He occupies the early hours of your day, meets you at your Mauri every morning with a basket of your favorite fruits as a thank you for helping train him and his siblings, because he’s just not satisfied with being anything less than perfect. And it’s like you’ve completely forgotten about your past in the way you beam and pull him along the netted path by his hand, effervescent in the way you bounce along, insistent and thrilled to show him all the parts of your home— his new home.

And he trails behind you with the goofiest smile, because Neteyam would follow you anywhere. He made this known to you from the start and that was something you craved—the solidity of it all. Assurance. The security in something real.

He’s sweet to you, Ao’nung knows he is, because after just a month of these forest freaks living in the village, he notices unfamiliar trinkets begin to adorn your stature.

You now keep a few long braids in your hair, one on either side of your face, and two in the back, you’ve never done that before. You always claimed you liked your hair loose like the waves of the sea you loved so— untamed like the light of your spirit. But your undeniable pull to the man of the forest has you compromising.

There’s a stack of unfamiliar beads looped on the ends of each of them, and surely they’re not made with a material collected from the reef. They’re wooden and polished, embellished with painted markings he doesn’t recognize. You’ve never worn those before.

Ao’nung waits for this fling to pass. But then, the second month goes by, and then another, until he realizes that you’ve moved on. Of course you have. Why shouldn’t you? It’s not like you hadn’t found him cozied up with another girl, cooing the same promises he’d kissed onto your skin into the ear of another, as if he hadn’t been telling you for nights on end that he wanted to make you his mate. What a beautiful lie, and if only you’d known it was the truth.

You like Neteyam, because he’s gentle. He’s kind, and thoughtful, and cares for others more than he cares for himself. He makes you feel seen, and safe. Valued. You make him feel heard, and appreciated. Relaxed. Things the both of you have apparently lacked the majority of your young lives.

It’s easy with him, because you never have to worry about his eyes lingering elsewhere or his attention wandering. He’s so smitten with you and you’re so enamored with him, and it’s all so consuming that you don’t know what else to do other than rave about it from the cliff tops to prevent your heart from bursting with the premature promise of forever and scaring him off, little do you know he wants it more than you do.

Neteyam makes you feel whole, and gorgeous in all aspects of your being, not just beautiful because of what he sees on the outside. He’s in love with your soul, in a way you never thought a man could be, but only because you’d never been told.

You’re his only one, and in every breath he takes he makes sure this is known. He boasts about you to his parents and siblings and the friends he’s managed to make in the village whenever he gets the chance. And with slender fingers, he’s much more skilled at Ao’nung at this jewelry making thing, because damn near every week there’s a shiny new prospect of Neteyam’s love and appreciation strung around your neck in pretty beads and shells that have you squealing and jumping into his waiting arms as if he’s proposed.

It’s something you’d always told Ao’nung you wanted, a token of his appreciation in the form of something you could hold, something you could keep close to your heart for years to come. Something he never got around to doing because he insisted to himself that it’d push him off the deep end and into the tumultuous waters of loving you, unknown to the fact that he needed no one to help him do that but himself.

You feel like a princess everyday because Neteyam tells you that you are one. And he doesn’t just tell you, he treats you as such, too.

Sun kissed jewels from the high depths only a skilled climber can reach dress your wrist, like they were made for you. They match your eyes and you wear them like it’s your second skin because you almost cried when he gave them to you, paired with a confession of his love and Ao’nung wishes he’d thought of it first.

It makes him sick. All he hears around the grapevine is how you’ve never looked this happy. How you have an unmistakable glow to you, a pep in your step due to the golden boy who’s somehow won the hearts of the people in Awa’atlu in his short time here, just as he had done with his own people back home.

How a weightlessness clings to your answers when your friends ask how you and the forest boy are getting along, because it’s nothing less than a dream come true.

It’s a stupid question, the answer is so painfully obvious that it has Ao’nung wanting to rip his hair out.

Neteyam looks at you like you’ve hung the stars in his sky, like the sun rises in your irises though he knows the blazing star is much too hot to be the color blue. He holds onto you in public, proudly, without shame or fear that others might see, because he’s just so blessed to call you his.

He’d even passed his rites to cement that, the first out of his siblings to do so, and it’s no surprise that he chose one of the most extensive designs for his tattoo. You were right there, holding his hand as he sat through the entire session with no breaks, all to prove to you how strong of a warrior he was. Though the black ink etched along the side of his hip that stretches all the way down to his ankle is more than enough proof of that. And as if to rub seasalt into the wound, he’d even tamed Tsurak (Skimwing) on his first try, because he excels in everything he does, yet the man shows you off as if you’re his biggest accomplishment.

Because you are, and you should be. Ao’nung just hates that it isn’t him in his spot.

____

He shouldn’t have asked.

But you and Tsireya are close friends and he just wanted his mind to shut up with the endless scenarios it creates on loop when he’s trying to sleep at night. He just wanted to know if it was as serious as it looked, and his foolish heart really hoped it wasn’t. So every time Tsireya returned home from the daily training sessions with you and the other Sully’s, he was the first to meet her at the entrance, prying her for more information on you and the one who’d taken his place.

“Tell me,” He demands of his younger sister. It’s a look she’s never seen in his eyes before— desperation. “Does she love him?” He breathes, grasping on to the last bit of hope he has left.

She sighs, plucking her bicep from his soft hold with a gentle shake of her head. “Ask her yourself, Ao’nung. This is no longer my place, I will not get in the middle of your messes.”

“I can’t ask her, ‘Reya, you know that.” He pleads with her, “She won’t even look at me anymore. Please, just tell me.”

Her eyes meet his, looking between them and he can feel the disappointment radiating off her demeanor because she knows what he’s done. She knows you and Neteyam have plans to make your bond official, and she knows it’s far too late for her brother to fix things.

“Do you want her to be happy?”

Ao’nung hesitates at the question, but nods nonetheless. His answer is complicated, there’s layers to it. He wants you back, because he wants you to be happy, and you were always happy when you were with him. At least, you used to be, so maybe things could go back to the way they were if he tried hard enough.

But all hope dwindles like a candle snuffed with wet fingers when he hears the truth he’s been avoiding.

“Then let her go.”

part one

Likes + Reblogs + Comments are much appreciated! 💗

tag list based on the comments on part one ⬇️

@ako-gamboge @yaya6765 @yourusername1 @melllinaa @eitaababe

[raz-writes-the-thing]

aughhhh this is gonna make no sense but could you do a tenth doctor x gn reader fic based on the song ‘the stowaway’ by Maury Gold? (Not forcing you to!)

Hi beautiful,

I am so sorry this took me FOREVER

but here you go!

[game-dabloons]

Daily updates starting March 28th, 2023

🌾🧵🧺

🏠 Finished making the outside field of Travellers home, made and finished Maury's field and home and added directions on the direction signs.🪴

🌻Added Olivia's Brightness Plug-in, adding godrays, bloom and brightness effects to the game for a more realistic look, indoors are effected with no godrays and minimal brightness🍯

🌾Sliced Maury's beginning Dialog so the beginning scene isn't too fast, still needs some reworks (text speed and cat breed selection scene)🎍

🧵Adding text window names and text window icons and profile icons, icons found on Pinterest! Currently only working for Maurys dialog scene and the Tuxedo cat skin, as that's the only working instances as of now.📻

🧱Added various menu improvements, such as visual items in inventory, a gold icon for dabloons and changed the HP bar from default orange to green.🛶

Have a good day, fellow traveller!

[thestangossip]

he's got a gold ring on his finger... maybe it is a sign that he's committed to someone? mauri maybe?

You guys didn’t get fed tonight and you need to make shit up.

[hippography]

This is an original 1902 photo of La Camargo which came from the Estate of Walter S. Vosburgh. La Camargo was considered a Horse of the Century in France. She was by Childwick, a son of St. Simon, out of Belle et Bonne by Jolly Friar. La Camargo made 34 starts with 24 wins 6 seconds and 1 third earning $176,765. At two in 1900, she won the Prix de la Foret over stakes winners Wilhelmina and Butor. At three in 1901, La Camargo won: the Prix Vermeille over Indian Shore and Lena II; the Prix de Diane over Indian Shore and Dido; the Poule Dessai des Pouliches over Kaffa and Dido. She was second in the Prix Lupin to Saxon, the winner of the 1901 Prix du Jockey Club* and ahead of Cheri, the winner of the 1901 Grand Prix de Paris. La Camargo finished third in the Prix du Conseil Municipal behind Kilmarnock and Jacobite, the winner of the 1901 Prix de Conde. At four in 1902, she won: the Prix du Conseil Municipal over First Principal and Knickknack; the Prix Vicomtesse Vigier over Lady Killer, the winner of the 1901 Prix Foude, and Jean Bart, the winner of the 1901 Prix Dauphin; the Grossen Preis von Baden over Over Norton, the winner of the 1903 Lincolnshire Handicap, and Codoman, the winner of the 1900 Prix du Jockey Club;* the Prix du Pin; the Prix Jean Prat; the Prix du Cadran over Saxon and Passaro; and the Prix du Prince d’Orange over Retz, the winner of the 1902 Prix du Jockey Club, and Maximum, the winner of the 1903 Ascot Gold Cup and considered one of best stayers of all time. La Camargo finished second in the Prix des Sablons to Codoman and ahead of Vieux Marcheur. At five in 1903, she won: the Prix Paul de Moissan; the Prix Dhedouville; the Prix Fille de Lair over Lisette and La Chine; the Prix Boiard over Caius and Retz; the Prix Dispahan over Grandesse, the winner of the 1900 Prix de Saint-James, and Dalilia; the Prix du Conseil Municipal over Wavelet’s Pride, the winner of the 1903 Doncaster Cup, and Exema, the winner of the 1903 Prix Perth; the Prix des Sablons over Retz and Maximum. La Camargo finished second in the Grossen Preis Von Baden to Vinicius and ahead of Alencon. At six in 1904, she won the Prix Dispahan over Caius. At stud she had three foals with the best being: Mauri: was the dam of Champion Massine, the winner of the 1923 and the 1924 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe and the 1924 Ascot Gold Cup. She also produced Mousme who is the ancestress of Regent Street, a multiple stakes winner in France. Mauri was sent to be covered by leading sire Bruleur. While boarding at Notre-Dame-de-Livaye because there was no room at Bruleur’s farm, she suffered a broken leg when she reared up to pick fruit from a Norman apple tree and hung her leg in the fork of the tree, resulting in her death. *this is the French Derby.

Horse racing Legends