#much to think about with elysium in the odyssey though

[nobodyhorse]

many reports coming in if you die a warriors death you go to a different part of the underworld where you can just wrestle and race chariots for eternity . apparently it also sucks

[mrmcdonut]

I have a theory. A Book Nerd Theory.

So. In the Percy Jackson series and Greek myths, in the afterlife there are many possible ways to get past the River of Styx and into The Realm of Hades (or the Underworld in general, death by naturallity); Fields of Bliss, Asphodel, Tartarus, The Fields of Punishment, (unmentioned, but part of the actual Greek mythological accuracy) and the Field of Mourning. In Bliss, you can try to reincarnate five times to go to where the truly best of the best go to: The fields of Elysium, the best place to spend your Greek afterlife.

This is a cross section analysis of the Percy Jackson series and EPIC: The Musical; both of which were inspired by Greek myths and, more specifically, Homer's The Odyssey (AKA an EPIC adventure).

This contains spoilers for the new saga for EPIC: The Musical and Percy Jackson and The Olympians, by the way.

So, when we first meet Annabeth, one of the wisest demigod children of Athena at Camp Half-Blood, she is taking care and looking over Percy in the infirmary/Apollo cabin after he got into the fight with the Minotaur. One of the first and most memorable things she says to Percy is that he talks in his sleep.

In EPIC: The Musical, Odysseus (aka "Ody") has just sacrificed the remaining member of his crew to Zeus to appease Helios for killing Helios' best friends/prize cattle, and after Zeus launches a lightning bolt into the ship and Ody is incapacitated and drifts onto a lone, unfindable island named Ogygia. Ogygia is the unfindable island where the sorceress -and daughter of the titan, Atlas- Calypso is held prisoner, where any man that drifts onto her shores, she is permitted to marry until the gods decide that the man's punishment has been dealt with and is permitted to go onto a boat that goes to any part of the ocean at random and the Ogygia disappears into a new location.

After Calypso wakes Ody up, she comments that she thought he was dead until she managed to wake him up. She also commented that Ody talks in his sleep, saying (singing, whatever), "Did you know you talk in your sleep? Tell me though, who's Penelope?" as he starts to get his bearings and observes his surroundings. Annabeth And Percy meet in a similar fashion.

Instead of asking Percy "who's Penelope," she instead comments, rather bluntly, on how Percy drools in his sleep. I'm joking, though, not about how they first met... Well not Annabeth and Percy anyways.

When Calypso and Percy meet after getting spewed out of a volcano, also on the verge of death, a bit after Calypso wakes Percy up, saying, "‘You talk in your sleep... [Response from Percy]. Who is Annabeth?’

You see where I'm going with this? Probably lol.

But like, think about it, Ody started in Greece made it to Rome and succeeded in destroying Troy.

Percy started from a form of Greece, crossed the Mediterranean (Mare Nostrum), and slowed the progress of Gaia (while destroying most of Rome and getting sent to Tartarus, but that's not important right now).

Also, EPIC: The Musical Odysseus never (technically) cheats on Penelope, and Percy never (technically on purpose) cheats on Annabeth, despite many distractions for a very good looking teen of his age (I am around his age, shut up, I'm allowed to say that).

Also, Annabeth can be reincarnated Penelope, but there's not as much evidence to support that than Percy being Ody.

Also, think of Odysseus, the person Poseidon absolutely DESPISED with a watery passion, being his favorite son in a different life is absolutely hilarious to me lmao

@lemedstudent2021 I have a feeling you'd love this absolutely deranged rant of me connecting four pieces of three different puzzles.

[teddybeartoji]

i have a questionnnnn

do you like video games?

and do you know baldur's gate 3 and final fantasy 7?

i got into those during my last vacations and idk why it never occurred to me to ask you even tho i am obsessed with astarion and sephiroth (it's always the white haired guys my taste is so predictable) and cloud but that's another thing

the characterization in both of those games is soooo good especially if you watch almost everything ff7 related like i did (takes a while though)

anyways i felt you could do them justice if you were to write about them, especially astarion. ngl i was very disappointed when i went on socials, as usual, to consume content about the media i just watched and i was very shocked in a bad way

not by the quality, there's just tons of thirst edits for example and while i agree his character is pretty and everything, it kinda hurt cuz it just went against his WHOLE character arc ... i was very disappointed with the fandom haha

same with sephiroth, though i didnt resent as much cuz his story isn't about the fact of being sexualized against his will

UGH I LOVE BOTH OF THEM SO MUCH. SORRY FOR THE RAMBLING -

anyways yeah i love media in general, series/movies/games you name it as long as there's a story or just one character that i rlly like i'll love it

so i was wondering what games you liked... or media in general at this point, except the movies you posted about

also no pressure but is there a system with asks? are they removed from your inbox if you answer them? are they automatically deleted after some time? just to know cuz i haven't gotten an answer to mine and i'm scared i might've said something bad! esp since i read badly your rules and didn't see a negation and maybe said smth about looking forward to a next part :') smh

HELLOO NONNIEE:3333 I LOVE VIDEO GAMESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! but i have only heard abt baldur's gate and final fantasy sadly!!!! i have nothing against them they just don't necessarily seem my type of games.. BALDUR'S GATE CHARACTER CREATION SEEMS SO FUCKING FUN THOUGH OMFGGG

and i've definitely seen and heard a lot of astarion!!!!!!!!!! i've also seen some stuff abt him being really overly sexualized right????? his character seems so cool i would love to get to know him better wahh i really do wanna try baldur's gate one day!!!!!!! and unfortunately i only know sephiroth by name too:((( i'm sorry to disappoint u nonnie baby:(((

AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH VIDEO GAMES I LIKEEEE!!!!! my all time favourite is definitely the last of us part 2!!!!!!!!!!!! i am on my like... sixth playthrough on that lmao i'm doing it on grounded so yk wish me luck!!!!! anywayy i ofc like the first one too but man.. the second one hits harder for me tbh. then i really fucking love ghost of tsushima, i'm actually replaying it rn too hehe.

honorable mentions go to rdr2, until dawn, the newest dead space remake, god of war, disco elysium, the resident evil games, assassin's creed (i know a lot of ppl don't like these all that much but idk i think they're really fun!! esp black flag and odyssey)(ok i am biased bc these were like my first games ever lmao), days gone (this is another that most think is rather lame but again.. i think it's really fucking fun i have nothing against it) aaaand death stranding!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! aaahh so many games damn i might've forgotten some but these are some that i really love!!!!!!!!!!!! i have played almost all of them multiple times too lmao that's crazy

for overall media i'd just give a lil shoutout to the 'mindhunter' series on netflix!!!!!!!!!!!!! i absolutely fucking looove that show!!!!!!!! i've seen that multiple times too i love the characters and just the way it's done overall!!!!!!!!! also 'manic' i think that's a netflix one too.. that's a really short one but idk it changed me okay i think it's fucking great

OMGG AND WAAAHHH TRUST THAT I STILL HAVE YOUR ASK!!! I AM JUST REALLY SLOW WITH ANSWERING THEM SO I AM VERY SORRY ABT THAT!!!!!!! and you definitely haven't crossed any lines either, so it's one hundred percent on me!!!!!!!!! the thing is that i get a bit overwhelmed when i have to answer things which sounds ridiculous bc I LOOOOVEEEE TALKING TO YOU GUYSSS my brain just sucks okay i'm sorry

[majachee]

Hello is your trans Odysseus agenda still open and may I ask about it

Its ALWAYS open!

As I've mentioned before in... a post I don't think is properly tagged and/or just doesnt show up properly on my blog search, I was inspired to make Odysseus trans after stumbling upon an "Odyssey rewrite" that... wasn't even based on the Odyssey, it more so came off as a lesbian rewrite of Theseus and Ariadne. And it villainized my girl Penelope. And one of the main (mortal) characters literally had the same name as Apollo and Artemis' mother which bothered me unreasonably. Since a lesbian re-imagining of the Odyssey would've been so good I decided to make Odysseus a trans lesbian 💗

She realized she was a woman in her late teens, so before she met Penelope at Helen's marriage ceremony, and they adopted Telemachus via surrogate a few years after their marriage.

Odysseus' role in the Trojan War doesn't change much, as she's still a soldier highly favored by Athena and is very much a prideful smartass.

She and Diomedes share a similar role in the main story, being examples of how devotion to the gods and being favored by one can lead to the mortal being exploited. Both she and Diomedes have been immortalized by Athena to act as her guards and advisors — Their mortal bodies being modified with automatons and primordial magic.

While Odysseus mellowed out in her latter years, she's still a strategic genius and she knows it! And still does not shy away from insulting the gods to their faces, though her previous hubris developed into blunt sass and brutal honesty, still with ahealthy dose of ego though. Because of her intelligence and her attitude, she was sent to accompany Dionysus and Ares when they travelled southwest to discuss the anomalies with some other gods on behalf of Athena, and was even chosen to go along with the main group the story follows!

Luckily, most if not all of the gods in this investigative group find her blunt demeaner amusing to some degree. It's not often you see such a favored mortal be immortalized and still maintain their "problematic" attitude.

WuKong absolutely loves her and they fairly quickly develop an older sister-younger brother dynamic! Please send help on behalf of Tripitaka, he can't stand these two making fun of Apollo's haircut every time they pass a statue of him.

While she tries to find humor in her situation, being immortalized was not her choice, and she'd much rather be living out her afterlife in Asphodel or Elysium with her wife and son. Perhaps if she uses her strategic skills to reset the order of things Athena will let her reunite with them...

[radiation]

What was your inspiration/s for the game ?

This is kind of a tough question. The initial idea for the game that i came up with and vaguely entertained in my head in 2020 focused almost entirely on the "atmospheric horror" "RPGMaker game" aspect of it. Neal and jack didnt really exist i was just like ok i guess there are 2 guys. no idea what their personalities were and it wasnt really important bc th emain focus was atmosphere. So some things that inspired this early idea were 2001: A Space Odyssey (specifically the novels), like vaguely some vaporwave ass liminal space kinda shit, and my impression of RPGMaker horror games without having actually played any of them at the time (i played them later but i didnt really need to). Theres other stuff but theyre for such specific reasons theyd be spoilery

The idea for the game has definitely evolved very far from that. I completely forgot about the idea for a really long time and then suddenly re-remembered it in January 2022 immediately after finishing Disco Elysium, which is now my favorite game of all time. It really sparked a shit ton of motivation in me and realized how much more i could do with the basic idea I'd come up with before. So it was definitely a huge inspiration but I dont think u can expect to find a toooon of specific Disco Elysium DNA in Our Dirge beyond "Well both games are simultaneously funny and serious and it has a painterly art style". Although I will say the portrait art style was definitely super directly inspired by disco elysium even though it still looks quite a bit different

Beyond that i straight up dont know, a lot of the ideas kind of just sprang up out of nowhere which is often how it tends to be for me. Almost none of the music is inspired by anythign it just happened, the idea for jack and neal's personalities passively formed in my mind pretty quickly between late january/early feb 2022, dialogue is done by instinct, art style beyond portraits also just kind of appeared mostly formed in my brain. Im sure a bunch of stuff has influenced me but id be damned to be able to trace any of it

[rawrroarart]

Diakko!Odyssey AU

Most recent update: 8/28/2020 I added the comic of them meeting and also wrote a little snippet under the Diakko section

Welcome all. This post will officially be my master post of the Odyssey AU which will be updated as time moves forward so that I can link all of my related art to it. Yes I will not be posting multiple separate Updates in text posts how it’s traditionally done, but instead there will be information with each art and then a link back to this post. This is to avoid clutter since I hardly post on this blog anyway so it wouldn’t be fun having to scroll through all of my “OH ALSO THIS HAPPENS!” to get to art. Also I keep changing my mind on a lot of things in the AU so disregard information under the arts anyway as I will be posting here what is actually relevant.

Another key thing: I will be avoiding spoilers as much as possible until they are either shown in art or stated explicitly like I do in posts because I am the absolute worst at surprises. But anyway fear not for spoilers. Things said here are things that should be hinted at/known already. (and also I hardly know anything but maybe I will in due time)

Without further ado..

Introduction

What is the Odyssey AU?

The odyssey au is an alternative universe combining both Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey and Little Witch Academia into this (very random) adventuring story that takes place in ancient Greece. I guess I can’t say that it’s random since one of my favorite things about both ACO and LWA is the ties/references to mythology with the former obviously more rooted in the mythology and the latter just fun easter egg references. 

The general premise is that Diana is a misthios(mercenary) who travels with Akko, a shapeshifter, across Greece to find the answers pertaining to her origin.

The first art post: Diana and Akkoros

While living her life as a misthios, Diana searches for the answers pertaining to her origin and superhuman (described as “magical”) abilities along with Shapeshifter Atsuko, who commonly uses her powers for flight, but is not shy to switch to animals more suited for combat.

But I don’t know what Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey is?

That’s fair and understandable. Honestly my AU diverges a lot from the game so I don’t think knowledge of ACO is exactly necessary it’s just fun to understand the connections if you know them. Basically the key things you need to know from ACO as of now is: 

Kassandra (the protag) is known as the Eagle Bearer because she has an eagle that is known as the “eagle of Zeus” throughout the game. And they adventure together and Ikaros (the eagle) can hunt n kill things and See things and tbh he’s rly just a cool eagle but not a shapeshifter or anything lol

Kassandra is a Mercenary (misthios) which is basically a for Hire fighter/person who will p much do anything for money (if they want to do it) 

Kassandra is usually referred to a demi-god because of her powerful fighting abilities in which I mean yea she literally has powers and can blast people like a billion miles away (im jk but-)

Kassandra can tame animals (which ones depending on your skill level). You can tame uhh wolves, lynx, leopards, lions, bears. This is where my ‘shapeshifter’ idea began and it pretty much fit perfectly since Akko’s favorite spell is the shapeshifting one. 

Other than this, the most important things to know for this AU is just,, general mythology,, I guess? Or history? General history of mythology and how people worshipped/acted in accordance to the gods. And I’m not saying im going to be historically accurate obviously, nor even mythologically accurate (if that’s even a thing lol), I’m just here to have a good time and enjoy my gay mercenaries while talking about gods/goddesses as if I even know (thankfully I have my gf who is way more interested in mythology than me to help me)

I’ve only played like half of the Atlantis DLC after beating the game so whoopsie. I honestly really wanna replay everything now that I have this AU just so I can focus more on details and what I can yoink.

Characters

Diana

Art: 

Diana’s sketch-dump though she really needs a new one.

Diana in wheat field

Diana is the main protagonist of the story, but they pretty much both share the spotlight anyway. Her goal is to find out why she has certain powers (which I have officially decided, finally...) that aren’t exactly human. Since being a misthios was an easy way for her to travel and make drachmae, she chooses to do it while on their journey. Dammit I came up with her lore but as per the rules of this masterpost I can’t write about it until it’s out smh.. Ah I forgot that I already spilled that she is a goddess/demi-goddess (haven’t decided which yet) so yea that’s the Tea.

Described as very beautiful, there are rumors of her that state she is a pathway to Elysium (despite many people not deserving to go to Elysium). She is also known for her stoic face and a red bird that follows her around.

Diana is only found smiling with Akko and keeps buying Akko clothes despite her outer grievances each time Akko destroys something.

Diana was there with her mother at Chariot’s speech/performance.

Diana is skilled with any weapon.

Akko

Art:

Akko sketch-dump

Akko is a shapeshifter who travels with Diana across Greece in search for her idolized Chariot. Trusting both Diana’s skills and powers, Akko decides that Diana is the best choice to help achieve her goal as they adventure together.

Orphaned at a young age, Akko is, at first, very unfamiliar with how exactly to use her powers because there was no one around to teach her. She uses a bird most often because it is her first and most skilled transformation, but eventually learns to use stronger animals over time. Also eagle-vision is much more useful to Diana when they’re scoping the grounds anyway.

Like all shapeshifters, Akko has a symbol on her neck that signifies what she is. Due to the high prejudice against shapeshifters, Akko stays an animal to avoid being known, and also does not transform in front of others unless to kill them. If she has to be a human, Akko commonly wears a hood to hide her neck. 

Akko is one of the last shapeshifters to exist, and, despite Chariot being rumored to have finally been murdered, she still believes Chariot is alive. 

Akko was with her parents when they all attended Chariot’s final speech/show and here began her dream.

Akko can use a dagger if she needs to.

Side-characters

Akko’s Parents: Shapeshifters who were murdered when Akko was a young age.

Chariot: A shapeshifter who somehow had a voice and power that even normal people listened to. Akko idolizes Chariot because, despite the hate against shapeshifters, Chariot was well known and was an activist for shapeshifters despite the danger upon her head. Chariot mysteriously disappears one day for reasons unknown, and everyone but Akko assumes she was finally murdered.

Shapeshifters

Shapeshifters are defined as humans who possess the ability to transform to any animal at will. Unfortunately, because animals were seen as less than human, shapeshifters were defined as “punished by the gods” and so many decided shapeshifters needed to be removed from the world for sin. This causes a massacre of shapeshifters to the point that they are instead a rarity.

Shapeshifters do not transform with their clothes, and so either destroy them or lose them depending on their transformation.

All shapeshifters have a symbol on their neck which is what is used to find them. They can also be found by their human personalities/characteristics when they are an animal. 

If weakened, shapeshifters return to their human form and cannot transform until they are stronger.

Diakko

Art:

Meeting (Comes with a 500 word story!)

Misthios!Diana and Shapeshifter!Akko Sketch-dump

Diana and Bear!Akko

Fancy Diakko (the first continuity error lol)

Diana and Akko adventure together and do all of their quests together as a rag-tag chaotic duo. God I’m so excited for this section I wish I could make art FASTER but anyway:

They meet at about 17 years old but the main story takes place when they are 18+

The two get off to a wrong start when Diana saves Akko’s life. Because Akko is a shapeshifter, she’s high in value to kill probably by some cult idk but there is always a bounty on her head. When Diana saves her, Akko assumes Diana only did so to steal the drachmae from the original perpetrators, but Diana really just leaves her alone afterwards. Confused, Akko legit just starts tagging along LMAO she finds Diana interesting and so follows her and Diana’s just like what the fuck but eventually she gets over it. They become powerful assets to each other as Diana can now scope the skies with Akko and Akko is pretty much protected under Diana. Then when Akko gets much stronger Diana gets extra manpower and protection too. 

Akko enjoys staying in her human form to spend time with Diana.

Diana keeps buying Akko clothes just because it makes Akko happy (and also, despite Akko uncaring because her transformations are so frequent anyway, Diana doesn’t want her to be naked??)

Diana is easily persuaded by Akko and puts Akko’s interests first (feeds her first, considers what Akko would want, etc.)

[stormyblue90]

Remembrance

Decided to write a bit of a bittersweet Kassidas ficlet. I have another, happy idea to write later, but I wanted this one out of the way first. You can get a palate cleaner whenever I end up writing it!

Pairing: Kassandra/Brasidas Assasins Creed Odyssey

warnings: canon character death... and possible tears reading this...

Golden light from the evening sun glinted off the edge of a bronze shield, set beneath an old willow tree. Kassandra sat before the small memorial she had built in front of her childhood home. It was small, simple, and centered around an old, battle worn Spartan shield. A small engraved plaque lay before it, reading the name "Brasidas of Sparta, Son of Tellis and Argileonis of Sparta".

It was the anniversary of the Battle of Amphipolis and Kassandra spent much of the day mourning the loss of the great general, her love. She remembered their last night together before the Fates so cruelly snatched him away, sending him to Hades. Tears threatened to fall, as they always did when she thought of him on this day.

"And what of these?" Brasidas asked, tracing the prominent scars on Kassandra's right arm. She had nestled herself in his arms, head under his chin. Both in a state of undress due to their earlier lovemaking.

"A very nasty pack of wolves on Kephallonia." Kassandra replied, "They were terrorizing a small farm. I think I was only sixteen at the time. Before I really made a name for myself as a Misthios. Another, more experienced mercenary WAS going to hunt them down, but he was a braggart and I beat him to it."

Brasidas laughed lightly at the thought of a teenage Kassandra taking on a pack of wolves, no doubt determined to prove herself and show up an older prideful mercenary, and too stubborn to back down from such a challenge. "Why am I not surprised you started such a life so young?"

She shrugged. "Not much a choice really. When you've been trained to fight, and your...'caretaker' is a bumbling idiot, you learn quickly becoming a Misthios is your best option."

He gently nuzzled into her loose hair, kissing the top of her head. Both were silent for a moment, before Kassandra spoke up.

"But... I do sometimes wonder what a simpler life would be like." she admitted.

"Is that so? And what kind of life do you dream of?"

Kassandra thought about it for a moment. In truth she wasn't sure she'd ever have such a life. A lifetime of fighting, surviving, and since she left Kephallonia, on the run from all manner of enemies.

"I'm...not entirely sure." she answered, "I just know one things family, my family."

Brasidas smiled, "Well, you've already started on such a path. You have your mater, your old house."

Kassandra sobered, "Just...need to bring my brother back. I promised Mater after all."

They both knew that would be no simple task, if it could be accomplished. Alexios suffered a lifetime of torture and brainwashing at the hands of the Cult, to be twisted and warped into their weapon, Deimos. However if anyone could do it, it'd be the Eagle Bearer Kassandra. Brasidas was confident she'd fight the entire pantheon if she had to.

"You will. I know it. You're too strong and stubborn." he replied, causing a small chuckle to erupt from Kassandra, lightening her mood. "But... perhaps you could have more." he added, a sense of unsureness in his voice as he trailed off.

Kassandra lifted her head to look at him, "What do you mean?" she asked.

Brasidas momentarily averted her gaze, suddenly seeming nervous. Rather uncharacteristic of the brave and confident Spartan she knew.

"Well, perhaps in the future, when this is all over of course... and you've reunited your family, we- I mean you..."

"Yes?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

He swallowed the nervous lump in his throat. "You... would choose to be my wife?"  he finished, finally meeting her gaze again.

Kassandra's eyes widened and her eyebrows shot up at his proposal. His eyes looked so nervous and vulnerable, afraid she'd say no and break his heart.

"I-I would not stop you from taking contracts, and I understand if you don't want to-" he quickly stammered, feeling like she'd reject him, she was a misthios, always on the move after all. Settling down just didn't seem like something she'd WANT; dream of perhaps, but not actively pursue it.

Brasidas' fears were quickly expunged from his mind as Kassandra's lips slammed into his own, her hands cradling his face.

"Yes! By the gods YES!" She answered when she pulled away, a huge smile beaming on her face.

Brasidas returned with an equally bright smile of his own as she pressed her forehead against his. He kissed the tip of her nose as she laughed joyfully.

"I love you." He whispered.

"And I love you." Kassandra replied, kissing her lover once again.

A single tear fell down Kassandra's cheek at the memory. That had been their last night together. The Battle of Amphipolis tragically ripped him from her life.

While she had succeeded in bringing her brother home, she'd be lying if she said there wasn't a small part of her that wanted to kill him for taking Brasidas from her. However Kassandra pushed that thought out of her mind. It was the monster Deimos and the Cult that killed her lover, not her brother. Not Alexios.

She did promise Myrrine she'd do whatever it took to bring him back. Kassandra also had other reasons for sparing him, one BECAUSE of Brasidas. She learned from him that not every solution has to end in death when she spared Lagos and saved his family. However one she had yet to reveal to her mother at the time. A reason she only discovered shortly after finding out Aspasia was the Ghost of Kosmos, and killing her. After that, she refused to spill any more blood if she could avoid it.

"Mater!" a small voice called, pulling Kassandra out of her memory and back to the present.

A little girl of six came running out of the house, carrying wooden dolls in her hands. Kassandra turned towards her daughter. Every time she looked at her, she saw Brasidas, their daughter looked so much like him. She had his pale, hazel-brown eyes. However it wasn't just the color that was the same, but the compassionate nature he possessed in them as well; but like him could be filled determined ferocity.

"Yes Phoibe?" Kassandra answered as the little girl ran over and settled herself in her mother's lap.

"They're finished!" Phoibe exclaimed, holding up the little wooden dolls she carried.

"Oh did Grandmater help you with those?" Kassandra asked.

Phoibe nodded, "Uh-huh. And Grandpater too!"

Of course he did. Kassandra thought, it seemed Nikolaos was doing everything possible to be the father he couldn't long ago for his granddaughter. From the moment he first held little Phoibe, he vowed he wouldn't make the same mistakes again with his family. He'd make it up to the children and wife he failed a lifetime ago.

Phoibe showed off the dolls as she placed them on the memorial, in front of Brasidas' shield.

"Here's Pater!" she explained, placing a wooden doll depicting a man with a shield, spear, and red cloth for a cloak wrapped around it. "Aaaand you Mater..." she continued, this time a figure of a woman with a broken spear in hand. "Then ME!" she exclaimed as she placed a much smaller child figure in front.

Kassandra smiled warmly, Phoibe loved making little dolls and other toys with her grandparents. "Aren't you forgetting some?" She asked.

"Oh yeah!" Phoibe dug into her pocket and pulled out a tiny, bird shaped carving. "Ikaros!" She cried, as the the eagle himself cheeped happily from the tree branch he was perched on.

"I didn't have enough material to make everyone else though... But I will!" she admitted. "Uncle Alexios said he wanted to help this time when he comes back."

"Did he now?"

Phoibe nodded. Alexios always left Sparta on this day, likely the guilt and shame he felt was too much to stay around his sister and niece. He still blamed himself for Kassandra losing her lover, for his niece never knowing her father. Even if Kassandra eventually forgave him.

She still remembered the look of intense pain and guilt on his face when Phoibe asked why she didn't have a father like her friends. She was four at the time. There was no point in lying to her. They told her the truth, that her beloved uncle killed him before she was born. However Alexios said it was a monster called Deimos inside him that killed the girl's father. He wasn't wrong, but when he admitted it he was terrified the niece he came to love would hate him. She never did. When she asked if the monster was gone, he nodded, saying he and his family killed it a long time ago. It was then she hugged him tightly, saying he wasn't a monster, he was her uncle, and she still loved him. Alexios broke down in tears and hugged her back when she said it.

Phoibe spoke up again. "He said he wanted to help because he wanted to make sure I made him look really strong and powerful... and to make Uncle Stentor ugly enough."

Kassandra snorted as she laughed, hugging her daughter close as she giggled back. "I see then." she answered.

For a few minutes she just held Phoibe close, admiring her daughter's handiwork. She was getting better at making her little toys. Her daughter was a fast learner both in creating toys, and in fighting. Kassandra made sure to keep with the family tradition of training her daughter to fight as well as the Spartan boys, better she hoped.

"Do you think Pater would be proud of me? I pray to Hermes all the time that he gets my messages." Phoibe asked innocently.

Kassandra kissed the top her head. "He IS proud of you Phoibe. And he loves you so much." She answered.

"Really?" Phoibe replied, looking up.

"Yes. He lives in Elysium now, and Hermes brings him ALL of your messages." Kassandra answered. "And one day, a loooooooong time from now, after you've had thousands of adventures, you'll get to see him. You'll get to tell him everything yourself."

"And Great Grandpater too!" the little girl added.

"Oh yes, him too. In fact I bet your Pater and he are fishing together in Elysium."

"Catch a big one Pater!" Phoibe called out towards the sky, causing another laugh to erupt from her mother.

While Brasidas had been taken from her life, he was not truly gone. He still lived on in her memory, in their daughter. It was during these moments, as Kassandra held her daughter in front of his memorial, on this day every year, she felt his presence beside her. Enveloping her as if hugging her and their daughter. As if his spirit was granted a brief visit from Hades on this day, to spend a small moment with his family until the day they could be reunited in Elysium.

[legendarymasterwolf]

My Top 10 Favorite Video Games

Now that The Last of Us Part 2 and Ghost of Tsushima are out and I’ve finished both, I’ve decided to finally compile a list of my top ten favorite games I’ve played and have revisited over time. This is my own personal list, make no judgments based on what is here.

And awaaaaaaaaaay we go!

10: Ghost of Tsushima

I’ve never played a game that scratched that samurai itch before, and this one totally did it for me. Whether it was the standoffs straight out of a Kurosawa film, or the ability to scare the shit out of Mongols, or riding through a beautifully rendered world viewed through one of the most natural HUDs I’ve ever seen, I loved this game. Sure, it may be leaving this list once Cyberpunk 2077 comes out, but for now, it takes the tenth spot.

9: Star Wars: The Old Republic

Still one of my favorite Star Wars games. This was the first MMORPG I played where my character actually had a voice. I know, it’s a little thing, but I still like it. Whenever I have a spare moment on the road, a decent connection, and some time to chill, I fire up this game. Plus, it’s still operating even with Disney owning the franchise now, so there’s that.

8: Wolfenstein: The New Colossus

Still scarily relevant at the time of writing (hopefully not for much longer) and one of the best modern reinventions of a protagonist from a classic series. Also, shooting, hacking, and exploding Nazis and Klan members will never get old, no matter how many conservative man-children say otherwise. Plus, there’s one of best female characters in gaming, Grace Walker, who’s got some of the best lines in the game and some great commentary on masculinity.

7: “Assassin’s Creed” Series

I’m cheating here, but I can’t just choose one game from this series. One of the first games I played when I got a PC was Revelations. I played through the rest of them in the year that followed and I became hooked. So hooked, that I got both the Ezio Collection and AC3 Remastered for PS4 when the opportunity came (though the latter was just because it was on the Odyssey Season Pass). Odyssey was the first AC game I platinumed and, barring a few missteps here and there, I loved it. I can’t freaking wait for Valhalla.

6: “Persona” Series

I was just going to have Persona 5 Royal in this spot, despite still not finishing it (damn Okumura boss fight), but I’ve also got Persona 4 Golden and am loving it, so now I need to get Persona 3 whenever Sega decides to port the game to PC. Each game is set in a high school with an other world where your inner self is revealed. The social links system is great and you're basically playing an anime, complete with filler and everything. Some of them have surprisingly relevant themes, too(P5 fans know what I'm talking about). Now to finish them at some point.

5: Marvel’s Spider-Man

A game better than Spider-Man 2: The Game? No one thought it was possible until this came out. The web swinging has weight to it, the acting is great (props to Yuri Lowenthal), and the story, which Dan Slott contributed to, is a fantastic original Spider-Man story. Also, this happened to be the game that convinced me to buy a PS4. Can't wait for Miles Morales.

4: Disco Elysium

When I heard about this game, I knew I had to play it. It's not like any other isometric RPG I've played. In it, you play as an alcoholic detective waking up after a three day bender to find himself with amnesia and 24 distinct personalities that are always clashing, especially when you’re in conversation with an NPC. The story progresses as you try to piece together not only the case you were assigned to, but why you drank for three days straight to forget the case altogether. It’s batshit nuts and I love it. It also runs fairly well on my laptop, with a console port on the way. Also, still need to finish it. I know, my backlog is huge.

3: Red Dead Redemption 2

I never really got into the original RDR, mainly because I didn’t get a console until Christmas 2018. Thankfully, RDR2 is a prequel to the original game, set in the last years of the Old West, so it was easy to get into. While it did take a while for the game to get going and its storage size is massive (105 GB, WTF), when I finally powered on through and played the rest of the story, I was treated to some of the best characters I’ve seen in a game along with a story so heartbreaking, I was tearing up by the credits. Sure, the realism did become annoying to an extent, I could have done without the Guarma chapter, and the epilogue was four hours too long, but regardless, this is still one of my favorite depictions of the Wild West I’ve ever played.

2: “The Last of Us” Series

If the story for RDR2 was heartbreaking, then this series shattered my heart, pieced it back together, shattered it again, and then gave me hope to mend it in the future. I can’t choose between either Part 1 or Part 2, because I think both games are not only brilliant, but oversimplified when it comes to their themes. If we’re being simple about it, Part 1 is about Love and Part 2 is about Hate. In actuality, Part 1 is about the lengths we are willing to go for the ones we love and Part 2 is about the cycle of hate and how love can break it. Beyond the story (going to finally do that Part 2 breakdown in the future), the gameplay in both games is entertaining, the graphics look breathtaking (Part 2 has ruined all other games for me when it comes to graphics), the music is on point, and the performances are some of the best ones I’ve seen for a video game. This series set a new standard for how we see games and I can’t wait to see what the future holds for it. I don’t even mind waiting another seven years or so for the next one!

1: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

While the other games on this list are fantastic, they don’t hold a candle to the game that first inspired me to start thinking about making this list. This was the first game where, when I got to the credits, I felt not joy at completing another game, but sadness at the story finally being over. Geralt of Rivia’s final tale is still my favorite for its choices with no clear terms of morality, monster hunting missions that kept me enthralled even if some of the creatures scared the shit out of me (fucking Aracnomorphs), and the chance to have some fun with several members of the opposite sex (I regret nothing). Oh, and Gwent. Can’t forget Gwent. CD Projekt RED still remains one of my favorite developers to this day and I can’t wait for Cyberpunk 2077 to finally release in December (when it’s ready!!!).

And there you have it, my Top 10 Favorite Video Games I've played so far. This list is definitely going to change in the next couple months once I finish Watch Dogs: Legion and Cyberpunk 2077, but for now, this is how it is (AC already has an entry here, and Valhalla won't change that).

I may be putting my energy into that TLOU Part 2 Breakdown of my thoughts along with that Ellie/Dina fic I've been working on, so expect those at some point.

If you haven't already, go out and vote! Stay safe!

Lemme know what you think!

Until then!

[writings-of-a-hufflepuff]

I Don’t Care Where I Go When I Die

Pairing: Kassandra x Brasidas

Fandom: Assassin’s Creed; Odyssey

Summary: “Do you ever wonder where you will go…” Brasidas is contemplative, head leaned back, face turned towards the ceiling of his home, the one she has invaded each night since her return to Sparta despite her mother’s questioning, despite the looks from Alexios and the furrow of Nikoloas’ brow.

Rating: T

Archiveofourown

“Do you ever wonder where you will go…” Brasidas is contemplative, head leaned back, face turned towards the ceiling of his home, the one she has invaded each night since her return to Sparta despite her mother’s questioning, despite the looks from Alexios and the furrow of Nikoloas’ brow. Despite the whispers that Brasidas is of marrying age, that he should find himself a wife, the unspoken question as to whether she would be that wife. 

Kassandra is lying next to him, chin propped up against his chest, fingers twisting patterns across tanned scarred skin and dark chest hair. It is a common occurrence for them to lie there in placid stillness after making love as the sweat cools on their skin and ask questions, sometimes philosophical, sometimes silly or ridiculous, but always taken seriously by the other. It is part of what she loves so much about him that he can speak freely to her and vice versa, whether he wishes to curse the polis he loves so much, the home that raised him, but would gladly see him die, or whether she were asking what was possibly going through the mind of half the women who bedded Zeus in his many forms. 

“Where we go when we…?” She thinks she knows, thinks she can tell which melancholy, sad road his mind has turned down, but knows she must clarify, to fully answer him as is their way. She will take every question he poses to her seriously, she will take every feeling and thought he holds and respect it, treat it carefully, because there is trust there. Trust that she will, trust that they can bare their souls to the other without ridicule, something neither is used to. She holds that trust sacred. 

“When we meet our end, when the fates decide our time is done. Will we be remembered and rewarded in Elysium, tormented in Tartarus for wicked deeds, or forgotten by the living, left to wander aimlessly through Hades?” She watches the shake of his body, the swallow in his throat, the bobbing of his Adam's apple that reveals his feelings when he speaks of Tartarus. Kassandra knows that Brasidas wonders if he is wicked, if his deeds for Sparta are truly good or if the Gods will punish him. She thinks a wicked man would not worry about being wicked, a wicked man would know his wickedness and revel in it, enjoy it, take pride in it. His fear is what keeps her belief in his goodness so solid, a good man would not regret his actions, reflect and hurt at the thought of them. A wicked man would not strive to be so good.

She thinks on his question even though she knows her answer, because he would wish her to, because it is part of her dedication to seriousness with him. He tilts his chin down, beard brushing the top of his chest as brown eyes look for her own, taking in the furrow of her brow, the contemplative twist to her lips. Her fingers continue their aimless circles on his skin, a thoughtless action. His own are trailing up and down her back, every now and again they stop and focus on a raised scar. 

“I don’t really care where I go when I die.” She finally hums, seeing the surprised flicker across his face at the prospect that she cares little for her afterlife, her eternity. It is a general rule in Hellas that no matter whether devout or questioning, people believe in the possibility of an eternity, good or bad, that death leads to something more, that you should be concerned about your afterlife. Kassandra believes. She believes in the Gods, she believes in the myths, the legends, the stories, she believes in Hades, in Elysium and Tartarus, but she has found their hold on her weakening with time. 

She doesn’t care, Kassandra once might have. She once might have agonised over her eternity, over the torment or pleasures she would be given for her works in her mortal life. Brasidas had been the spark for the change, the person that made her fear dissipate, made her desire for an eternity of reward mellow. Whether Tartarus or Elysium, Kassandra cared little for she’d found her paradise amongst the living. She’d found her happiness with the family she’d put back together and the Spartan she’d fallen in love with. 

“How can you not care, phílos?” Brasidas worries over the legacy he will leave, worries over the things he will regret doing or failing to do, the things he will miss. He worries over his potential eternal punishment, a deep part of him scared of the possibility that he was a wicked man, that his deeds for his home, for his Sparta were unjust. He finds himself sitting himself up and pulling her with him, arms wrapping around her strong back, eyes searching her honeyed ones for an answer, for it to make sense. 

“Because I have found my Elysium here, with you, emós xíphos. If I go to Tartarus then I go. If I go to Elysium then you must be there for it to compare. If I wander Hades forgotten then so be it. I care little so long as you are beside me.”

“And if I am not? If we find ourselves parted by death?”

Kassandra lifts a hand to his cheek, thumb brushing over the scar that has been there for as long as she has known him. Eyes hard, brow furrowed at the thought of being separated from him after everything they both had done, after every year apart, every near death, every struggle. “Then I shall storm through Hades, Tartarus and Elysium until I find you and not Hades, Persephone, Charon nor Cerberus shall stop me.”  

She says it with such surety, such strength, the sort he has seen from her on the battlefield time after time. It is that strength behind her words that makes him believe it. Kassandra would tell him off for thinking of her as anything but a mortal, as anything but Kassandra, but in truth she was a Goddess of her own making. A force to be reckoned with and it eases his worry knowing that the Gods would have to go through her to separate them and that if he was to suffer in the afterlife she would be beside him, sharing in her strength. 

Brasidas lifts a hand to the loose waves of her hair, battle worn fingers parting the sea of strands and twisting them around his wrist, before cupping the back of her head and pressing his forehead to hers. It is something he does often she has noticed, a kiss of a different sort that feels more intimate to her than any pressing of lips that they have ever done.

His nose brushes against hers, his breath fans across her skin and she closes her eyes at the feeling of closeness, the ache of a good sort in her chest at having him here, like this. There were many moments in their journey where she thought her friend, as he had been simply her friend back then, would be sent to Hades. There were many moments where the thought that they both had any sort of future alone or together had seemed so impossibly distant. To know they had made it, that each day they woke beside each other to a sunrise and each night they fell asleep in each other's arms, that was the greatest gift the Gods had ever given her. 

“If you are to storm Hades, then I shall be by your side when you do it, misthios…”, Her eyes flutter open to catch the peak of teeth beneath his lips as they curl upwards in that infuriatingly self assured smirk of his, to catch his own eyes staring into her soul as they had done from the moment they met. 

“There is no one i’d rather dance beside, you know that, General.” Because it was always a dance between them, from that very first in a burning warehouse. Their bodies had always been intune, insync, they fought together as if they had trained side by side from childhood, as if he and her had fought together, stolen food together, shared a phoinikis together to ward off the cold. Everything had always come so naturally with Brasidas that she sometimes forgot how unnatural it was, it wasn’t until others, her brother, her mother, her father, would point out that their intuneness was unusual and then she would think again. 

Those comments were less now. They had fought together many times, travelled together, broken fast together, laid together. To others it seemed now that they had grown insync through years of companionship, through lust and love and blood and battle, but they both knew the truth. That they had always been like this, that they had always fought together with ease, that they understood each other in a way that seemed so natural and yet so bizarre at the same time. 

“We do dance rather well together, emós phyláttȯ.” It is punctuated with a twist as his calf wraps behind her knee, arms behind her back and he wrestles her to her back, resting over her, arms either side of her head. His shoulder is weaker these days, heavy scaring reminding her of what had nearly come to pass, but they are still strong and defined as she trails her fingers over them. 

“Do you...do you think of that warehouse in Korinth as much as I?” She finds herself wandering back so often. The heat of the flames on her back, the heat in her blood from battle, and the heat in her eyes as they watched him meet her movements with ease. He had seemed everything a Spartan should be. It had made her proud. He was compassionate but strong, skilled, a better soldier than any she had ever come across. She had wanted many people in her time, briefly and without much thought, but Brasidas had been the first to capture her body and soul without effort, without a word. She had wanted him from that first dance, she had wanted to impress him, listen to him, so she listened as he asked for the Monger to die quietly, she listened to every plan, every thought that crossed his beautiful capable mind. She was lucky he was as formidable as he was, or else she might have made poor decisions thanks to the meddling of Eros, Pothos or Anteros. She wondered if every God of love and passion had sat together and agreed to meddle, to place Brasidas in her path. Perhaps they had hoped for tragedy, more human pain to feed their entertainment or perhaps they had known that she would finally be content, perhaps he had been her reward. 

His eyes burn like they did back then and she knows without a word his answer, yes more than I’d care to admit, he would say. But, he doesn’t say a word, just lifts the corner of his mouth into a smirk before lowering his lips to hers. It is still there burning beneath their skin, still there as her hands claw at his back and his beard burns her skin, that unspoken fire that they have shared since their first meeting, that connects them. It is that fire that makes her certain that she will not be separated from him after they have left this mortal coil, it is that bond that gives her the strength to know she would fight the Gods themselves to stay by his side. It is that same bond that has her almost certain the Gods put them together for a reason, that they had no intention of separating them. He was a gift to her and she hopes she is a gift to him and not a curse. 

-----------

Translations: emós xíphos - My sword emós phyláttȯ - Literally my guard, roughly my shield phílos - Beloved, Darling Phoinikis - the red cape given to boys in the agoge

[spartan-officer-brasidas]

AC Odyssey Spoilers

I really thought about not posting this because I know a lot of people disagree on a few things I’m going to say, but I decided at the end of the day, it’s my opinion and I would hope they’d respect mine just as I respect theirs. Basically these are some of my hot takes from Odyssey, plus a few arguments for Legion as opposed to Vikings.

I’ll start with the base game (which is where my opinions are different from many peoples opinions), and then I’ll do the dlc stuff. The obvious one is Odyssey is a good game, which is a fairly popular opinion because, well, it’s a really good game. Where my opinions starts to deviate is that I like it as an Assassin’s Creed. I fully understand and respect the arguments for why people don’t like it as an AC (RPG elements, combat system, etc), but at the end of the day, I think that franchises change, and that’s what makes them good. Take Fire Emblem for example, I’ve played many of the games. Past FE installments are very different from the newest ones, but the new ones are no less Fire Emblem. In fact, Awakening saved the franchise in many ways, and I think Assassin’s Creed should be viewed in a similar way. The game needs to grow and adapt with its audience, and I think that’s what they’re doing. Basically, where many people said they wouldn’t be interested in Assassin’s Creed keeping with the style of Origins/Odyssey, I absolutely would—in fact, I hope they do. They don’t necessarily need to be as RPG oriented as Odyssey (though I did like that), but having that feel of RPG is a lot of fun for the story they’re telling.

Now I’ll move onto the dlc, and for now, I’m going to skip the Legacy dlc (it’ll come up later). The Atlantis dlc. I have a lot to say about it. Overall, it was very good—I really did like playing it and I thought the story was literally amazing. Unfortunately, this post isn’t going to be every little thing I liked because that wouldn’t be super interesting. First, I think they did the setting all wrong. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it for as long as I live, but they took a really REALLY weird take on the Underworld. The biggest being that they played out the Underworld to be almost equal to Tartaros in a way, and it’s not. I dare say it never has been (historically). Tartaros is for punishing the most evil, the Underworld is for everyone else. By no means is the Underworld desirable (see Achilles’ response), but it’s not that  bad per se. it’s just...nothing. It is what it is, but by making the landscape unbearable and Hades a chaotic and almost evil king, they made it seem more like a second Tartaros. Story wise, I get what they were doing and it makes sense. Chaos, order, etc, and I thought that was really neat. But I feel like it was rushed. I think the story could’ve been told a bit better if they had lumped Hades/Persephone/Underworld/Elysium into one chapter, used Olympus as another (since it’s tragically not in Greece in the game), and then Atlantis. I could continue on with my thoughts on how characterization was handled but that would make this post extremely long, so I’ll save it. I really want to talk next about the ending of the Atlantis dlc and then the implications of both dlcs/end of the game.

The very end of the Atlantis dlc was, at best, underwhelming, and at worst, a downright disappointment. I really truly do believe they had more planned for this story, but those plans got cut off and they had to just wrap it up really quickly. To be completely clear, I loved this dlc. I thought it was really interesting and fun to play, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that the ending was just not up to standard. To start, Layla and Otso Berg. What was that? There was very little build up for that, so when it happened, I didn’t really think much of it and I still don’t. But that’s the smallest of my worries. What happened with Aletheia? She just disappeared, and I know she had her issues with Layla (who didn’t), but that still doesn’t justify just dropping off the planet. We got no indication as to why she was doing this, and we didn’t get any explanation for the connection to Juno/Aita. It really feels like there was supposed to be more here. Which leads me to my next point.

There must be more to this story. We were ultimately left with more questions than answers imo. The next best thing they can do is either surprise us and give us another dlc (doubt this one will happen), or continue the story in the trilogy, which works for me because it kind of points to Ancient Rome. Here’s the logic (including Legacy dlc) (also featuring a cut because I know some people don’t care):

Ubisoft went out of their way, and in the process, managed to piss off and upset a Lot of people just to establish a connection to Origins, a game that is 100% done from what I know. They literally didn’t have to give a connection between Kassandra/Alexios and Aya, but they did. And at the expense of choice in the game. Why would they do that?

We have almost no insight on Aletheia—who she is and why she’s doing what she’s doing—and we have even less for Juno and Aita, which is...fishy. There must be more to this story (involving the Dikastes).

Kassandra has the staff! She can control its destructive power. Great! Now what? That’s it? Her story is far from over, and she just walks out of Atlantis like that? I’m not buying it, sorry.

Basically, Ancient Rome would help solve all of these (though to be fair, the 3rd point could feasibly be solved by ANY setting). By using Ancient Rome, Ubisoft can justify their destruction of choice to create a generational line between Kassandra and Aya because from there, they can connect the protagonist (or any other important character) to Aya, and use it as a story device (maybe drawing into the staff and Aletheia as well?) Sure, this could be done with a lot of settings, but not really in a way that makes a lot of sense. By keeping the third of the trilogy in the Mediterranean (and especially Rome), they can easily do this without stretching truths, simply because of how the societies of the Ancient Mediterranean interacted. The second point is the most telling of Ancient Rome because only a Mediterranean civilization would have knowledge of and truly care for the Greek/Roman/Etruscan deities. Our answers for Aletheia, Juno, and Aita could really only be answered by an Ancient Roman’s journey, unless they wanted to just throw it into a completely different setting, making the story sloppy and not really understandable, if that makes sense. Plus, it’s more like that those three and Kassandra stayed in the Mediterranean for a good while before expanding out. The three point ties into what I just said, but also, like I noted earlier, the third can we dealt with in 99% of settings, so I won’t go on about that. 

[sassysatsuma]

Follow You - 3/?

Fandom: Assassin’s Creed Odyssey

Rating: M

Characters: Kassandra, Brasidas,

Ships: Kassandra/Brasidas (slow burn, Spartans to friends to lovers)

Summary: “Against all of her better judgement, Kassandra already felt bonded with Brasidas, a friendship that she’d tried to fight for fear of what it might become. He was a man she admired, respected, trusted. A man who in another life may have even been someone who could have had her heart. He was everything she should avoid, everything that could make her vulnerable.A potential weakness that she couldn’t afford.“

An Assassin’s Creed Odyssey AU, where Brasidas joins Kassandra and the rest of the Adrestia’s crew.

Author’s Note: Takes place after ‘And the Streets Run Red’ main quest mission, so be wary of spoilers!!The developing love story of Kassandra and Brasidas in an AU where he joins the crew of Adrestia and becomes Kassandra’s trusted second in command and confidante. The slow burn, Spartans to friends to lovers romance that I wanted Ubisoft to give me. Feel free to like, reblog or signal boost!

Read it below the cut or here on AO3.

“But there will come a time, you'll see, with no more tears.  And love will not break your heart, but dismiss your fears.”

Mumford & Sons

The closer the Adrestia came to Naxos, the sicker Kassandra became.

It was an odd sensation, hurtling through the waves towards a woman who she hadn't see in 17 years, Myrrine the unattainable goal that she'd been searching for ever since she'd washed up on Kephallonia's shore. Her mater represented everything that Kassandra had been missing; the family she longed to be a part of. Seeing her again had been her true drive ever since the moment she’d lost sight of her on Taygetos, before the world slipped into darkness and she woke up, broken, bruised and alone.

Myrrine had always been so far away, even when Kassandra had her own ship and crew and the means to follow her. But now she was just so close.

Too close. Although Kassandra wanted nothing more than to see her, there was a growing part of her that felt raw, opposed towards the very idea. The seeds of doubt were already in her mind, the worry that she'd not be enough, that she'd be a disappointment. That someone simply being alive and able to find her mater after everything would not be enough. It was terrifying to feel so out of control and vulnerable, a sensation that grew and grew the closer they sailed to Naxos.

Kassandra didn't deal well with feeling weak, in truth she wasn't used to the emotion. And so, she did what she always did when faced with emotions she didn't want to feel. She hid away, retreating into herself for fear of letting the crew see her so exposed.

It almost worked too.

It was the early hours of the morning and Kassandra was below deck, hunkered down in what was considered her "quarters". In reality it was simply a portion of the ship's hull that was cordoned off and called hers, thin planks and curtains cutting it off from where the rest of the crew ate and slept. Inside, Kassandra kept only the sparsest of possessions; a chest for her armour and weapons and a smaller, ornate trinket box that held oil and a bone comb for her hair. The only other furniture was a place for Ikaros to call home, fashioned from an old, gnarled tree branch that protruded from the floor. A favoured resting place for her most trusted friend when he grew tired of circling the skies above the Adrestia and the waves.

Now Ikaros was sitting atop his perch, squawking content whilst Kassandra fed him another hunk of meat from the end of her knife. It was supposed to be hers, but with her appetite well and truly lost, she figured that at least one of them should benefit from the meal.

"Hungry tonight, aren't you?" She smiled softly, stroking the downy feathers at his throat affectionately. Ikaros squawked again, although this time the sound was quieter, as affectionate a sound as the bird could make. "Get some rest, friend. I'm going to need you in the morning."

"Shouldn't you be resting too?" A voice, most definitely not Ikaros' startled her and Kassandra jumped in her skin, cursing under her breath at the chuckle she earned from the intruder. She looked to her left, to where Brasidas held the curtain that covered the doorway to one side. He was grinning as per usual, his face softly lit by the low lamplight of the room.

"I could say the same to you."

"I'm not the one meeting my mater in the morning." He shrugged, surveying her with those eyes that read her so easily. "Should I stay or go?"

"You can stay." Kassandra nodded in response, trying to be as nonchalant as possible in her agreement despite the little voice in the back of her thoughts scolding her for giving them even more time to be alone. She turned her back on him, returning to her bedroll and sitting down with crossed legs. "But close the curtain, I'd rather at least maintain the pretence of privacy."

She watched him closely, his movements careful as he did as she asked, replacing the curtain as though it had never been disturbed. Bare footed, he stepped towards Ikaros, reaching out and rewarding the bird with a soft stroke to the head as he passed. Traitor. Ikaros had accepted Brasidas right from the start, something that the bird did very rarely.

It had been one of the reasons that he had earned Kassandra's trust so easily, her companion the best judge of character that she knew. Now, that trust merely pushed at her resolve.

"I didn't bring wine this time." Brasidas smiled, seating himself in front of her. "I thought you'd disapprove."

"It's probably best to meet my mater not smelling like a taverna." Kassandra laughed. "Thanks."

"There'll be plenty of time for her to learn the truth about her daughter..." He teased, dodging her attempt to swat at him with the back of her hand. "I'm joking of course. You tend to smell a lot better than most mercenaries."

"And you'd know that how, I wonder?" This time it was her turn to taunt him, a smirk pulling at the corners of her lips. "Sounds like someone has a sordid past?"

"Sordid?" Hardly. I've just fought a lot of mercenaries in my time."

"Sure... fought."

"I fear that you think I'm far more interesting than I actually am, Kassandra."  He raised an eyebrow curiously, still smiling although his eyes were there again, perpetually reading hers. "I'm not known for my gift of seducing every mistios in my path. Apologies."

Just this one then. The thought chased across Kassandra's mind before she could stop it, but she kept her face blank under his scrutiny. Already chiding herself for letting their conversation twist into almost flirting, Kassandra paused, already too aware of the need to shift to more innocent topics. It was then when she realised that for everything Brasidas knew about her, she knew so little about him. He was always so quick to speak about everything but himself, happy to laugh and joke and deflect whenever directly questioned.

She decided there and then that needed to change.

"Maybe it's because we always end up talking about me and never the other way around?"

"But you're so much more interesting than I am, mistios."

"I doubt that."

"Says The Great Eagle-Bearer!" Brasidas grinned. "How could a humble soldier compete with one blessed by Zeus himself?"

"You could tell me and maybe we'll find out?" Kassandra rolled her eyes, her overly inflated title feeling all the more alien when spoken by a man she considered a friend. "Tell me about yourself, Brasidas. Where's home?"

"Sparta."

"Obviously. But where?"

"You misunderstand..." He paused, all at once looking as on edge as she’d ever seen him. She watched as he all but considered lying to her, an anxious hand rubbing at the back of his head.

"… Home has always been an abstract idea to me. There was a place where I grew up, yes. A family too. But it isn't something I long for in the same way that maybe you do."

"And where is this family?"

"Dead, mostly.” His reply was blunt, but the sigh that left his lips betrayed his true emotions. “My mater went to Elysium not long after I was born. I’m told my pater was never the same after she died. He was Tellis, a man from a humble family but as loyal a Spartan as you could find. He was the man who taught me and my brother the importance of our shields, who pushed us to embrace our agoge training and to honour the Gods."

"You have a brother?"

"Had." A sad smile flickered across Brasidas' features. For a moment his eyes left hers and flicked around the room in a desperate attempt to buy himself time. When his gaze returned to hers, there was a sadness reflected in his eyes, although it was also tinged with pride. "Iasonas. He was my elder by a couple of years and the very image of my pater. We trained through the agoge together, then sailed together as soldiers. He was everything I ever wanted to be."

"How did he die?"

"In battle with the Athenians. We were separated, Iasonas chosen to lead a garrison of men whilst I was sent abroad to spy. His ship was surrounded by the Athenian fleet and overcome. I was told that he died honourably."

"Brasidas..." Kassandra found her mouth empty of words, guilt creeping into her thoughts at the realisation that she by being so wrapped up in her own grief she’d never stopped to think about what tragedies might have befallen her friend. "I'm so sorry."

"Don't be, his death isn't your burden to bear. It was painful, for a time... I held myself accountable for not being there with him when he needed me. But I know now that if I’d been there, pater would have lost two sons instead of one that day."

"Everything you said about Phoibe..."

"I’d known that loss.” Brasidas nodded in agreement, fixing her with a kind smile. “That night above Athens, I saw everything in you that had filled me when Iasonas died. Seeing a friend go through that was difficult. I wanted to help."

"You did." Kassandra stated bluntly, caught somewhere between sympathy and empathy for his loss. "Others tried, but only you managed it."

"The Gods have given me a great gift, to be able to get through that thick skull of yours." He laughed softly, at home on more familiar ground. Leaning back on his hands he surveyed her with curious eyes. "Or perhaps... it's because we are more alike than we think?"

"Which mountain did your pater throw you from?" Kassandra teased in return, her smirk breaking into a full-blown smile when he laughed heartily at her joke. There was always a pure kind of happiness that flooded her soul whenever she made him laugh, the sight as beautiful as it was endearing. "We could compare scars."

"I imagine pater wanted to throw me from a mountain many times growing up. He was always so frustrated with me. Iasonas was always the better fighter, but I had an interest in so much more. I lapped up every story about the Gods, thought myself a modern-day Prometheus for a time with all my schemes. As I grew older, my interest switched to history and politics. I cared more for how Sparta was ruled than for fighting purely for its honour."

"And pater didn't approve?"

"Pater didn't understand." Brasidas shrugged. "Politics, history... these were things he considered less important. My interest in them only seemed to anger him. He used to joke that I was the most Athenian of Spartans... but it was never something that he took pride in."

"He sounds as blind as Nikolaos." Kassandra shook her head, his words ringing all too familiar. "You fight better than most Spartans I've met, but a country needs more than just warriors. I don't pretend to understand the Athenians and their symposiums but their enthusiasm about philosophy and learning isn't always a sign of weakness."

"And that is why I like you, Kassandra. You've travelled, seen the world for what it really is. Seen both Sparta and Athens for what they truly are. People like us see the best and the worst in both. Our paters are from a different world. A different time."

"For all his faults, Nikolaos was always proud of me. He found no weakness in showing it. I can't imagine what it was like for you."

"It was a childhood, no worse of better than any other. My pater was a great man and I was fortunate to have my brother." Brasidas smiled fondly. "Just as you are fortunate to have Myrrine.”

"And what if I'm a disappointment?" Kassandra's voice faltered at that, her anxieties suddenly crashing back to the forefront of her thoughts. She looked up at him with worried eyes. "What if she expected more?”

"There isn't a mater in the world who wouldn't be proud of you. Believe me, you couldn't be anything more if you tried."

"And you are biased." Kassandra shook her head, her hands reaching up to comb her fingertips through her knotted hair. For once it was loose, hanging down past her left shoulder in unruly thick tendrils. It was only when the hair passed from between her fingers that she realised her hands were trembling. "We're getting close."

"Are you ready?"

"How can I be? I'm about to meet the woman I've feared dead for so long, a woman who thinks that I'm dead. How do you even begin to prepare for that?"

"I'm not sure you can." Without further word, Brasidas stood, a fluid movement that startled her with its suddenness. Half expecting him to leave, Kassandra watched closely as he stepped around her, lowering himself to his knees again behind her on the bedroll. In an act of by now characteristic kindness, his hands chased hers away from her hair and he took it between his own fingers, gently pulling the strands into a braid identical to the one that she normally wore. "The Fates have already decided your path, Kassandra. All that remains is for you to follow their lead."

It was the gentlest gesture she could remember. His fingers were soft, knowledgeable as they twisted her hair together diligently, a constant ghosting presence against her scalp that brought with it more comfort than it should have. Without realising, Kassandra relaxed into his touch, long held tension dissipating from her shoulders and neck. She couldn't remember the last time such a small action had brought her so much peace, her heart aching for the closeness that she worked so hard to deny it.

And then it hit her like a wave. Phoibe. Memories of all the nights on Kephallonia when she would let her braid her long hair, whilst her friend spoke wistfully of eagles and blessings from Zeus. On those nights they had talked for hours, Kassandra telling Phoibe what little she remembered of Sparta whilst she told her tales of when her parents had been alive. Those nights had been the start of them becoming like family, Kassandra living in the fantasy of the childhood Phoibe had shared with her loving parents.

A childhood they'd both been robbed of all too soon.

Suddenly the pain was back, reminding her that Phoibe would never beg to braid her hair again.

Vulnerability followed in an instant, playing on her anxiety and pushing her over the brink. As Brasidas tied off her braid, Kassandra felt a tear slip from her welling eyes, the salty liquid painting a long, slow line down across her skin. She turned her head away, praying to whichever God might be listening that he wouldn't see her weakness, but with Brasidas nothing went unnoticed.

"Kassandra?"

"It's nothing." She shook her head dismissively, pulling her newly formed braid gently from his hands in the process. She turned, looking to where Ikaros sat on his perch and blinked away her remaining tears. "You just reminded me of Phoibe."

"There's no shame in feeling."

"But there is shame in weakness." Kassandra sighed, returning her gaze to his. "There's more honour in strength."

"Now who sounds like a stubborn Spartan?" Brasidas' smile possessed a warmth that blinded her and she faltered, transfixed by the creases that framed the very corners of his lips. "Don't turn into your pater, Kassandra. You'll break my heart."

With a tenderness that she'd denied herself of for so long, Brasidas reached forward, his thumb and forefinger resting under her chin and slowly lifting it upwards so that she looked upwards. All at once, Kassandra's heart thundered in her chest; the sudden realisation of just how close he was dawning on her. Frozen in place by brown eyes that had fully ensnared her, she was helpless to do anything else but watch as he pressed closer, his lips grazing hers with a gentleness that felt like a question.

His question didn't go unanswered for long.

She kissed him back, leaning into his touch, completely lost to every inch of him. For a single, blissful moment, they stayed that way, locked in a soft embrace that threatened to end them both. Brasidas never pushed for anything more, although his hand moved to frame her face, his thumb rubbing away the damp trail her tears had left behind. When he finally broke the kiss, he didn't withdraw, instead keeping their faces close as he rested his forehead against hers.

"We shouldn't." Kassandra spoke first, her words betraying her emotions as she struggled to save face. She didn't pull away, she didn't have the heart to, but the beating of it in her chest had her scrambling to save herself from falling further despite it all.

"... We aren't." Brasidas smiled, still so close that his breath tickled against her lips. "You think too much."

"And you don't think enough."

"Perhaps that's what the Fates intended." He pulled back at that, broadening the gap between them. For a moment there was silence, his lips parted as though he had more to add. Instead, he lowered his gaze, smiling to himself before moving to stand. Kassandra started to stand too, but his outstretched hand stopped her, a shake of his head telling her that he didn't expect her to follow. "Sleep first. Focus on your mater. I... should have picked my timing better."

With that, Brasidas was gone, the room feeling so much colder without his presence within it.

Ikaros squawked indignantly in the background, but Kassandra barely heard him, her hand tracing her lips as she fought to process the kiss they'd shared. Her mind was split, halved by the fear of letting him get so close and by the relief of knowing that he cared for her just as much as she cared for him. It was a strange duality, one that comforted just as much as it scared her.

He was a weak point, a chink in her armour to be exploited. But he was also a place of strength and comfort when she was determined to give herself neither. Perhaps Brasidas was right. Perhaps the Fates had made them to be as two sides of the coin on purpose. Or perhaps that was simply Kassandra's traitorous heart talking.

With the night only promising more questions and precious few answers, Kassandra took her friend's advice, rolling over towards the oil lamp that lit the small room and extinguishing it, plunging both herself and Ikaros into total darkness. Fumbling for her blanket in the darkness, she pulled its comforting weight up and around her body, settling into her bedroll and the warmth that came with it.

Perhaps a rested mind would bring the clarity she so desperately needed. Even if it didn't, at least the peace of sleep would give her relief from the emotions flooding her system, if only for a little while.

[distant-rose]

1, 10, 16, 22 FOR SALTY ASKS, BITCH! xo

1. What OTPs in your fandom(s) do you just not get?

I’m going to say it and people are going to possibly fight me but Rumbelle. As someone who specializes in family and human rights law, it’s hard for me to watch because I feel like I’m watching one of my cases, particularly cases regarding Battered Women’s Syndrome where women are put through a cycle of abuse and affection that eventually leads to them snapping and killing their partners due to the constant fear that they feel. Granted, that didn’t happen on the show and I don’t think Adam & Eddy even have a clue what BWS is but it was the cycle that got me - the manipulation, the gaslighting and sometimes even trespass against the person via false imprisonment. (And yes, false imprisonment is categorized as trespass against the person in tort.) I constantly cringed while watching them mainly because it became clear many times that Rumple just doesn’t respect Belle’s autonomy and views her more as a coveted object than a partner.

Another is honestly…Kataang. I don’t find it abusive for the record or anything. And just a PSA out there for you, you CAN dislike a ship and not find it abusive, just saying. It’s more that I felt there wasn’t much chemistry for Aang and Katara. There was a serious maturity gap between them. I felt to me that Aang was always trying to hold on to his childhood and really not face issues unless they were pressing and he felt compelled too while Katara honestly acted more like an adult, which isn’t surprising considering the fact her mother died when she was young and she and Sokka were often left on their own because of the war. Katara really faced things head on and I feel like her actions towards Aang were more maternal than anything. @justanotherwannabeclassic and I have discussed this before but it feels like Katara was just a prize for Aang for saving the world and kinda lost her autonomy as person. She just became his girlfriend when she was a master fucking waterbender and I don’t think she would have been satisfied with just being a wife and mother, not that there is anything wrong with that but she’s very much into helping people and being a revolutionary - she was the fucking Painted Lady, c’mon now.

I could write an entire essay on these two and other ships but honestly this answer is long enough as is.

I’m gonna put my other answers under the cut because I have a lot of salt

10. Most disliked arc? Why?

Alana. Seriously. If I could, I would rewrite the entire Once Upon a Time show post-season three. There’s so many things I have an issue with in regard to OUAT but if I had to chose one and this is hard, but the entire Killian killed David’s Dad/Killian’s Realm Tour 2017. That story arc was bullshit, in fact most of season six was bullshit. Season five was also bullshit but I digress. Anyway, I think the whole issue of Killian killing Robert was fucking dumb and was just drama for drama’s sake because Adam and Eddy got lazy and apparently wrote the majority of their plots high, and not the good kind of high. Like the kinda high you get when you buy cheap ass marijuana from a sketchy street vender in Switzerland kinda high. That’s the minor beef I have with this arc, the main bit is the Emma moping and thinking Killian abandoned her nonsense. Girl, we just went through THREE SEASONS of crazy ass insanity where it was confirmed MANY times that Killian wasn’t ever going to leave her, loved her and would die like five hundred times for her. The fact that she immediately thought that he left instead of, maybe I don’t know, being kidnapped or hurt is just absurd to me. It’s fucking absurd. 

16. If you could change anything in the show, what would you change?

Oh god, where to do I fucking begin. Number one, I would have had a fucking real overarching plot for OUAT and I would have totally reworked seasons four through seven with more original spins. One of the things that attracted me to the show in the first place was how they took characters like Snow White and Little Red Riding Hood and they turned them on their heads and made them bad ass and unique. That didn’t seem to happen much post-season three. I would have changed Elsa and Anna up a bit instead of making them carbon copies of their movie selves. It would be something making Elsa morally grey and a boss ass political bitch who gives Regina a run for her money and make Anna an absolute tomboy who have no interest in being a princess but would rather be a flower child and walk around in the woods all day bare foot and incredibly strong because all she does is climb trees. I love the idea of playing Elsa off as winter and Anna as a spring. Work with that. That would have been an interesting thing. 

Also, I actually did not enjoy the author arc at all. I get the idea of playing around with the characters as inverse/opposites of their true natures but I just rolled my eyes a lot. I would have done an entirely different arc, maybe looked more at realm traveling or you know actually address whether people want to return to the Enchanted Forrest. Hell, I would have maybe even done something about the town line and whether the citizens of Storybrooke wanted to explore the outside world. 

Dark Swan was a wasted opportunity in my opinion and they really missed a chance to make Emma actually do some really crazy shit and you know confront some of the issues that had been buried under the rug in the past few seasons but that’s not biggest issue actually. I had more issues with the Underworld as a Greek mythology buff than I did with Dark Swan but how they did the Dark Ones thing could have been so much better. But Underworld deserves more of my beef. *sigh* That, personally to me, was a wasted arc creatively. Don’t get me wrong, I cried like a bit at the elevator scene but I feel like they should have gone more Greek myth than Disney Hades. I think I’ve said before to @katie-dub that it would have been more interesting if Hades wasn’t so much of an antagonist but more of someone who misleads them into thinking that Killian is in the worst part of the Underworld while he really isn’t, he’s either on the Asphodel Meadows and doesn’t remember her or in Elysium where he’s completely at peace and taking him back would pose more of a moral question for Emma on whether or not she should. 

We can all agree that seasons six is a train wreck right? I was a little annoyed at the timelines and the issues brought up in regard to Captain Swan. It seemed like they were issues that had been addressed or should have been addressed in previous seasons. I found the whole wedding thing super rushed. I would have been content if Captain Swan had more of background role drama-wise and maybe they actually used the wedding to really build on Emma and Snow’s relationship more because it had been strongly ignored. The Black Fairy was a wasted villain and Gideon wasn’t really necessary. Let’s be real, that final battle was a massive letdown and the last time I checked a TLK doesn’t save you from normal mortal wounding. I kinda wished they played around with the Untold Stories Thing a bit more in S6. I would have totally nixed the Wish Realm and the Musical Episode even though I liked the music. I just found a lot of their plots confusing, unnecessary and tired.

Okay, I didn’t watch a lot of season seven but I do have an issue with the recycling of plots and characters. I don’t mind Jacinda or Tilly/Alice but I found the whole recycle of Alice in Wonderland and Cinderella a sign that the creative well had run dry. I wish they had work with new material and stories such as the Labyrinth, Black Cauldron, Treasure Island, Atlantis or even fucking Enchanted. They could have also worked in on some of the legends from 1,001 Arabian Nights, worked more with Greek mythology particularly the Odyssey or the Argonauts. There’s a lot of creative things they could have done and just didn’t do. You’re welcome to like season seven and the characters it introduced but it just felt more like a money grab with incredibly lazy writing.

22. Popular character you hate?

I have a feeling a lot of people might unfollow me for this one but David Tennant’s Tenth Doctor. Like I’m sure not a lot of people have noticed this but I do not reblog anything with Ten in it. I know he’s everyone’s favorite and people love him and think he’s attractive but I actually hate his treatment of Rose, Martha and Donna as well as his weird space casanova act. I actually don’t really like Ten/Rose that much mainly because Ten doesn’t seem to have the same love and denotation for her that Nine did and was totally cool with leaving her and Mickey alone in a murder robot infested space in the 51st century to chase after Madame Pompadour. I don’t think the Ninth “I could save the world but lose you” Doctor would have done the whole “does it need saying?” and would have left Rose in Pete’s World with his clone without giving her a say. I was really irked by that. He whined about how much he missed Rose for TWO. WHOLE. FUCKING. SEASONS and when she came back, he’s like “here, have my clone and fuck off.” It bothered me so much and I think a lot of Rose hate is honestly based off Ten’s melodramatic ass and how he whined about missing Rose and made Martha feel inferior. Martha Jones was a fucking boss and didn’t deserve the shit he gave her. And then, we have Donna, poor Donna who didn’t get a choice at all in her fate. He chose it for her and that will never not bother me. Rose, Martha and Donna deserved more. End of story.

[redwhale]

re: Fic Rec Days, I was hoping to have this done by the 12th! Nope. This is an updated rec list for James/Thomas and James/Miranda/Thomas for Black Sails. 

I am still wanting to rec a lot of the newer stories on this list separately (plus some other wonderful stories), but I don’t think that will happen before mid-March, so that’s really frustrating. Curses! I haven’t even caught up on writing reviews for some of the newer stories, which I’m even more frustrated about. I sadly don’t have a lot of time to read fic, so this is by no means an extensive list. There is so much goddamn fantastic work out there! The following is just a very small taste. Positively, there are some underrated gems linked here that deserve some more love. 

(I always feel awful about rec lists, because I know I’ve inevitably lost track of some amazing stories, and there are also equally as many excellent stories from stupidly talented authors that I might have missed or haven’t gotten to read yet, so I want to emphasize again, this is by no means extensive.)  The following stories are just AO3 links, as I’ve lost track of so many Tumblr fics, and when a user changes their username, the links break. Double curses!

James/Thomas:

Idealism Sits In A Prison -  Sunnyrea

Thomas Hamilton's ten years without James.

Stimulus -  AstronautSquid

After ten years of separation and hardship, their hearts love each other the same.

It's their bodies that need longer to settle.

Thomas Hamilton: A Life -  AstronautSquid

Thomas Hamilton is born with two front teeth.

He dies with the morning sun in his eyes.

This is everything in between.

Les mille et une nuits -  andloawhatsit 

Abigail Ashe grows up, buys a printing press, and finds a man she thought she'd never see again.

On Kindly Beaches -  Theonenamedafterahat

Woodes Rogers tries to get Thomas Hamilton to help him persuade Captain Flint to accept the pardons. This does not go well for him.

A Break In The Clouds -  moonflowers

The end of his nose brushed the back of the man's hood; he smelt of oil and salt and wet canvas. For the first time that evening, Thomas was thankful he was cold and miserable - it provided a distraction from the firmness of the body pressed against his front, and how inconvenient it would be for Thomas to crave it.

In which Thomas is lost in the rain, and rather enamoured with his rescuer.

For whither thou goest, I will go -  OrangeLady

When Thomas is set free from Bedlam, he knows he has to see New Providence, the place that stole so much from him: his lovers, his family and his life.

wooden tides to run -  AstronautSquid

James was almost certain he had walked more miles on wooden planks than on solid ground in his life.

Fascination -  AstronautSquid

“Pirates,” was all James rasped above him.

“A general history thereof,” Thomas agreed. “Detailing the most fearsome scoundrels to ever plague the high seas. Though I have to say, this likeness doesn’t quite do you justice. Your moustache is not as ridiculously curly as that.”

Imitation -   AstronautSquid

In battle he was clear-headed and footsure.

Faced with Thomas' request for a taste of Flint, James felt anything but.

Reorienting -  Palebluedot

Thomas grabs ahold of his holy apparition with both hands and keeps him there, draws him nearer. Let them hold each other until they both bruise, he thinks fiercely, for tenderness needn't always step light. Love owes them kind wounds.

Eye of the Beholder -  Palebluedot 

“Open your eyes for me, love,” Thomas reminds him, voice husky, and when he does, the first thing he sees is Thomas's reflected grin, hungry as the gaze that caresses every inch of skin from James's parted, panting lips down to his flushed and leaking cock. “Just look at you,” he sighs in James's ear before he trails imprecise, open-mouthed kisses back down to James's throat. Author’s Note: ((alternatively, that time bean was like "so what if they fucked in front of a mirror" and I was like "shit what if they DID"))

Unaccommodated Man -  kvikindi 

It is at this point that, for the first time, Thomas Hamilton begins to consider that he has gone mad.

The Peaceable Kingdom -  kvikindi

William Manderly visits the plantation, some six years after the events of Unaccommodated Man.

Congress -  kvikindi

James and Thomas put the "fuck" in "fucked-up."

The Cup of Their Deserving (the wages of their virtue) -  DreamingPagan

Madi decides not to be sent away after her rescue. When she returns to Skeleton Island, she finds a betrayal in progress and takes steps to save her friend and put her people's choice regarding the war back in their hands. 

name one hero who was happy -  mapped

Lying in bed together, James and Thomas talk about the Iliad. (Thomas is practically ready to write Achilles/Patroclus fanfiction.)

Crescent Moon -  sebastianL (felix_atticus)

One shot of the months following the finale, with a focus on a certain tattoo.

Bent -  azarias

In a warm room in London, James tells Thomas about the events on the Exeter.

Thomas applies what he learns. (Established relationship, consensual kink.)

With Fire and With His Sword -  azarias

After the reunion, after the plantation, Captain Flint returns to the sea.

He takes James and Thomas with him.

katabasis -  csoru

Flint discovers Thomas is a passenger aboard the Maria Aleyne alongside his father, and events proceed from there. 

Lord Captain -  Apetslife

“Once a year, I send a letter to My Lord father, accounting for every penny of commerce I have cost the colony of the Bahamas, and every lover I have taken in that time. So far, he has failed to send a reply. An oversight, I’m sure.” (Pirate Captain Thomas Hamilton).

Sea Salt and Lavender -  moonflowers

James hadn't heard the song, nor spared it a thought, for years. He'd had no need of it. But her singing grounded him, reminded him that he'd had a home once, before everything, where his grandmother had sung those same words as she rolled out pastry, where he'd played as a boy, and dreamt of sailing away through those harbour walls and making something of himself. It came as a surprise to uncover something of James McGraw from so long ago, and to find it still intact.

With Sweet, Reluctant, Amorous Delay -  Magnetism_bind

For the Flinthamilton prompt: "There's no way you're getting me in /that/"

Thomas takes James to a costume party.

The Loaning of Books Between Friends -  Magnetism_bind

Thomas loans books to James in an attempt to get to know his new liaison better.

The Fields of Elysium -  Fyre

A man who has been through bitter experiences and travelled far enjoys even his sufferings after a time. - The Odyssey.

The Pirate -  x_art

(Modern AU)  What if Pickram got there first?

The Sundering Sea -  x_art

Stepping into the foamy surf, gasping at the force of it, the surprise of it—it had been breathtaking. Thomas had been that for him, his boundless sea, and he wasn’t ashamed.

Folly -  x_art

It wasn’t too late to nip this in the bud. He could do it because he’d done it before, because his heart was always subservient to his head. Always.

Thomas the Mariner -  shirogiku

Thomas' voyage home takes slightly less than ten years, but not for the lack of misadventures.

a word like tiger -  bellis

A few months after Charlestown, Flint finds out that Thomas is alive. This is, by all accounts, terrible timing. 

James/Miranda/Thomas:

Feed Among The Lilies -  willowbilly

James has been warned that they are duplicitous people, and by all rights he should remain on guard.

He does not care to.

Thomas actually chuckles when Astraea meets his eyes as fiercely and haughtily and lingeringly nonplussed as only a raptor can be, and it is such a disarmingly lovely sound that she immediately discards all the proud composure she'd just managed to gather and swivels away to preen busily beneath her wing, her hot yellow glare in its bandit stripe of brown ducked and hidden with telling alacrity within the downiest and snowiest of her feathers. (Daemon AU)

Firebird -  Wind_Ryder

There are two truths in the world.

One: Before Thomas and Miranda leave London to begin Governing Nassau, they receive a note that reads: "Lt. James McGraw died a resident of Bethlem Hospital on December 25, 1705." And they have nothing left to live for.

and Two: on December 25, 1705, Admiral Hennessey takes James from Bethlem and brings him to his new life far away from London society. He is told he will never see the Hamiltons again.

These two truths were never meant to be spoken at the same time.

Elisha made the oil pour forth -  azarias

Miranda is a widow. Miranda has a husband, but not the one she wants. Miranda may have gone mad a month ago, but no one's had the guts to tell her.

Start Anew - Neery

James and Miranda rescue Thomas from Bethlem. This was supposed to solve all their problems.

As it turns out, things are more complicated than that.

Late night walk date -  fandomfan

Having just returned from the West Indies, James tries—rather unsuccessfully—to take his leave from the Hamiltons' London house. 

Where The Winds Sigh -  Chainofprospit

The last levee of tradition belaying him gave way, and with it any sense of reticence. James could feel his furrowed brow falling, his chin lifting, without needing to will it so. I am going to be kissed by Thomas Hamilton, he thought, and in the next second he was.

--

We've seen the moment that James and Thomas finally kissed; this is what I imagine comes after.

To The Upper Air - DreamingPagan

James Flint goes to sleep expecting a battle the next day. What he's not expecting is to wake, eleven years in his own past, with a very different fight on his hands - to save the people he loves and his own soul.

Full of Grace -  DreamingPagan

Alfred orders both Thomas and James to be taken to Bedlam. Miranda is left to rescue them with the aid of Admiral Hennessey.

You Can’t Handle The Truth -  Wind_Ryder 

Now, all of England and beyond were discussing how an MP of Thomas' reputation was actually gay, that a Naval Officer with James' CV was a home wrecker, and how Miranda was either the victim of her husband's deviations, or a slut begging for more. Modern AU: In which Thomas, Miranda, and James are outed to the press.

Thereto I plight thee my troth -  azarias

Thomas consults Miranda on the subject of his military liaison. Sexily.

a more rational burning -  sea_changed (foxlives) 

She had understood this as her role from the beginning, the head to Thomas's heart and James's hands.

and into what it will be changed - sea_changed (foxlives) 

His own heart, so often obscure to him, has become clear. (Tag notes: Political philosophy, art, naval policy, mostly threesomes.)

to ithaca -  sea_changed (foxlives)

Miranda finds him first.

A Savor of the Heart -  drivingsideways

In some cultures, speaking the name of the dead is taboo.

Apprehension -  orienter (orientinme)

For a year, Miranda watches them with fear. Until the day she understands why they feel none.

The Art of Asymmetry -  AstronautSquid

Her sketches of people tended to veer into caricature with their lively emphasis of all things out of the ordinary - a large nose, a double chin, a foppish gesture -, and had thus quickly been ruled unfit for display among polite company.

Thomas encouraged her to keep a rotating selection framed on a dresser in the chamber connecting their rooms.

It was a week into their affair that Miranda first sketched James.

No Part Behind -  atrata

James thinks of Thomas.

A Knock Upon the Moonlit Door -  FeoplePeel

A werewolf, a fairy, a witch, and a vampire walk onto a magical island and--no wait. Once upon a time, there was a Knocker who betrayed his friend and spent over a century in a Sidhe prison until he met a handsome werewolf and--hang on a minute.

There are stories that reach even the Sidhe's side of the Veil, of Nassau and its healing shores. But what use could the ghosts of giants, and vampires, and all of those who will never meet death find for a fountain of life? The obvious answer is: keep it away from everyone else.

Or: The story of how John Silver joined Flint's very non-traditional pack.

Miranda/Thomas:

May it happen to me (all) - drivingsideways

In the summer of 1695, Miranda Barlow meets Lord Thomas Hamilton.

James/Miranda:

book of days - sea_changed (foxlives)

He looks at her, lost, like he is trying to understand the distance between them and cannot. A line of longitude, incalculable, mysterious and imprecise.

whalebone, rigged to stem the floods - AstronautSquid

James had learnt how to unlace a woman's stays, and how to help put them back on.

The fine material of the cords had snagged on his callouses, but they were after all just delicate ropes, and ropes he knew. The knots came together between his fingers under Miranda's direction and adjusting the tension of the laces running through the eyelets felt surprisingly familiar, the same way he could almost feel in his own body the tension of a ship's rigging.

It was the first time during their affair that James had felt truly in control of the situation at hand.

[newcatwords]

notes on "islands of the mind" by john gillis (Ch. 1)

5: "Any history of islomania must begin with The Odyssey. We know little about Homer or the world he inhabited, but we can be reasonably sure he was not a man of the sea or of the islands."

"Still today islands provide more scope to the Western imagination than any other land form. Half the entries in The Dictionary of Imaginary Places are islands. In addition to being our favorite fictions, islands are the master metaphors that permit us to navigate a world to which we apply another of our favorite tropes, the vast and unpredictable sea. From beginning, water has constituted Western culture's most formidable and telling boundary. For the Greeks the distinction between earth and water was elemental. They saw themselves as inhabiting an earth island completely surrounded by watery chaos. As mainlanders, they regarded land as familiar and comforting, the sea as strange and corrupting."

6: "The notion of an earth island surrounded entirely by water is common to many civilizations, but it has been foundational to the West's way of thinking about itself as being at the center of things. Classical Greeks of the fifth century B.C. held a concentric view of the world, which places order at the center and projected all that was strange, supernatural, and mysterious on the periphery. This geocentrism was passed on to the Romans and ultimately to medieval Europe, where it would prevail unti lthe Age of Discovery and beyond."

"Mythical geographies always exist beyond the edge of everyday existence. They are frequently located in remote and isolated places about which we have little practical information. In the Western world, the sea has been a favored location because Europeans were late in mastering it."

"In our own day, when the continents have been fully explored, mythical geographies have shifted again, this time to outer space. But wherever they may be located, mythical geographies serve us in the same ways they have always done, providing meaning and direction. Like the cardinal points of a compass, they tell us not only where we are but who we are--westerners or easterners, northerners or southerners, earthlings as opposed to space aliens."

9: "For the Greeks, the sea was a non-place, a void...For them, it was boundless space (aperion), representing everything they feared: "vast extent, impassability, atavism, and monstrous disorder." Earth, by contrast, represented order (cosmos). By constructing their mythical geography in this dichotomous way, the Greeks managed to project all they found disturbing beyond their shores, thus reinforcing their own unshakeable sense of earthly order. Greek city-states have been described as "islands on dry land," and Greece itself as a "pattern of islands." This preference for insularity would be one of Greece's legacies to Western civilization.

Water frightened the Greeks, rivers as much as the sea. They located their cities back from the shores and built few bridges out of fear of invasion. Unlike those seafaring peoples of the Pacific who learned to understand the sea as having its own topography, neither the Greeks nor the Romans were ever able to see it as anything but a mirror reflecting back their own land-based perceptions. It was this notion of the sea as a kind of blank slate, as a space to inscribe all kinds of landlubberly fantasies of monsters and mermaids, that was to be the inheritance of later European civilizations.

There are peoples, perhaps the Phoenicians but most notably the Polynesians, for whom the sea was very much a place with its own landscapes, complete with known features providing orientation as well as direction. But this was not the view that has been handed down to mainstream Western culture."

10: "The mythical geography of the West is a legacy not only of the Greeks and Romans. It also owes much to Jewish cosmologies, which were given universal significance by Christianity when it became the official religion of the Roman Empire in the fourth Century."

12: speaking about christianity: "Homeless mankind was doomed to be a traveler (homo viator) on a constantly changing earth until the end of time; to be in this world but not in possession of it. After the Fall, true home awaited either in heaven above or at the end of time, when both mankind and the earth itself would be redeemed by divine will."

ancient greeks & romans envisioned the whole world as an island (orbis terrarum) surrounded by a river (oceanus).

13: "The Greek and Romans held the view that somewhere to the west lay places of plenty and tranquility, reserved for dead heroes. They called these Elysium or the Garden of Hesperides, and they located them i nthe near Atlantic on what were known as the Isles of Blest or the Fortunate Isles."

14-15: "Europe's internal colonizers brought with them notions of shape and scale that no natural features, whether it be a dense forest or swamp, was allowed to interfere with. In a manner that was to be repeated in overseas colonization in later centuries, the first acts of the settlers was to mark out an island of space with clearly defined boundaries. Only then could the business of settling begin in earnest."

20: "Whereas the modern map plots everything on a prescribed (though invisible) Euclidian grid, careful to quantify distance maintain scale, medieval cartography assigned location and scale on the basis of religious significance."

"Projecting chaos beyond the edges of earth island, medieval people felt, as had the ancients, safe in their imagined insularity."

[christhehoff]

E3 2017: A Nintendo Fan's Perspective

As a Nintendo enthusiast, it was hard for me to not walk out of E3 2017 with a huge smile on my face. Which of the big three first-party publishers came out of the show the winner is largely a matter of preference, but there's no question that Nintendo stood out from the crowd and delivered its own brand of unique, colorful fun at a show where many triple-A games were cut from the same cloth. And I think a lot of players would agree, judging by the number of people I heard singing, humming, or whistling the ridiculous yet infectious "1-up Girl" song from Super Mario Odyssey as they left the hall on the final day of the show.

Unlike last year's E3, where Nintendo put all its virtual eggs in one basket with The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, this time Nintendo was firing on all cylinders with big franchises, expected sequels, and shocking surprises. Most third parties aren't yet embracing the Switch despite its success, but there should still be enough first-party games to keep players satisfied for the foreseeable future. For both Switch and 3DS, this is a clear case of quality over quantity. Still, between what was on the show floor, shown on video, or announced in conjunction with E3, there was a lot to get excited about, but to narrow the focus a bit, I present to you my personal top 10 favorite Nintendo-related things I encountered at this year's show.

10. Splatoon 2 (Switch)

Splatoon 2 doesn't stray too far from the formula established by the original, but that's not a bad thing. I'm not the biggest fan of competitive shooters, but the cooperative Salmon Run mode looks like just what I've asked for, and the single-player mode grabbed me as soon as soon as I saw the ability to zip around using ride rails.

9. Shantae: Half-Genie Hero - Pirate Queen's Quest (Switch)

I absolutely loved WayForward's Shantae: Half-Genie Hero on both Wii U and Switch, and it looks like I'm going to fall in love all over again with the upcoming Pirate Queen's Quest DLC that lets you play as the villainess, Risky Boots. It features the same type of gorgeous, fluid action, but with modified levels, new attacks and abilities (like a grappling hook), new enemies, and a new upgrade system. Though this mode is paid DLC, Kickstarter backers will get it for free, plus it will apparently be included in the upcoming physical Switch release from XSEED Games.

8. Radiant Historia: Perfect Chronology (3DS)

The original Radiant Historia on DS is a hidden gem of an RPG, and I'm thrilled to see that this enhanced version is making its way to North America. The time-defying story and gameplay - which sees you jumping between alternate timelines - separates this from other JRPGs, and new art and scenario elements make this edition even more enticing.

7. Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions (3DS)

The original Mario & Luigi game is arguably still the best in the series, and now it's back with a fresh coat of paint. The fantastic writing and excellent timing-based gameplay have made their way from the GBA version virtually unchanged, but the graphics are far more detailed this time (although whether that's a good or bad is a matter of opinion). Also included is a brand-new mode where you play as the bad guys - led by Captain Goomba - and try to track down your boss, Bowser.

6. Fire Emblem Warriors (Switch)

I've long thought that Fire Emblem was a perfect fit for a Warriors title, and after going hands-on with Fire Emblem Warriors, I'm further convinced it was a good idea. The gameplay is exactly what you'd expect - you slice through hundreds of enemy soldiers while controlling a variety of heroes from past Fire Emblem games - and like in the 3DS version of Hyrule Warriors, you can quickly jump from hero to hero for advantageous positioning on the battlefield.

5. Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (Switch)

Though not playable on the show floor, the videos and presentation shown on Xenoblade Chronicles 2 make it one of my most-anticipated Switch titles. The world is vast, the combat system is suitably deep, and the anime inspiration runs high. I'm very intrigued by protagonists Rex and Pyra and they're quest to reach the land of Elysium, as well as the strange, beautiful world set atop continent-sized loving creatures called Titans.

4. New Amiibo

Between Mario, Zelda, Metroid, and Fire Emblem, 13 of Nintendo's biggest characters are being beautifully rendered in new plastic figurine form. All of them look great in my opinion, but I'm probably most excited about the Metroid, the four champions from Breath of the Wild (Mipha, Revali, Daruk, and Urbosa) and Bowser in a tuxedo, because it's BOWSER IN A TUXEDO.

3. Metroid Prime 4 (Switch) & Metroid: Samus Returns (3DS)

There's not much I wanted more out of this year's E3 than a new Metroid announcement, and we got not one but two of 'em. Metroid Prime 4 was little more than a logo and a promise for sometime in the future, but Metroid: Samus Returns is an extensive stereoscopic 3D remake of Metroid II: Return of Samus, and it's only a few months away. As excited as I am, I remain cautious about both titles: Prime 4 is being handled by a new dev team rather than Retro Studios, and Samus Returns is being developed by Mercury Steam, the team known for disappointing many fans with its take on Castlevania. Still, things are looking quite promising so far.

2. Sonic Mania (Switch)

The more I play of Sonic Mania on Switch, the more I like it. The developer's love of the franchise is clearly evident, as the game highlights both platforming and all-out speed like the series was known for in its glory days. Visually, the game is neon-drenched sensory overload in the best way possible, and the ability to play as Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles lets you discover alternate routes with the characters' individual abilities. This doesn't simply play like classic Sonic; this is the realization of old-school Sonic that only exists in our rose-tinted memories.

1. Super Mario Odyssey (Switch)

This was the game I most wanted to experience at this year's E3, and it did not disappoint. Odyssey seems to have it all: dinosaurs with mustaches, the ability to wear a sombrero, evil bunny rabbits, seamless shifts between 2D and 3D action, and, yes, Bowser in a tux. And that's on top of the traditional Mario platforming and collecting, and his newfound ability to possess NPCs, enemies, and objects. There's so much to see and do in each level, the 10-minute demos at the show flew by like they were nothing, and I can't wait to play more. I only hope there's a non-motion-controlled option for Mario's spin attack!

[all-pacas]

NOW THAT I FINISHED IT LET’S SEE HOW I DID

teb was not in the game, nor was he mentioned. varl did say that the nora went back to the sacred lands, so presumably he did not fall into a hole and die without aloy to supervise him

WE GOT DEMETER. and we also got AETHER and POSEIDON. the blight was directly caused by DEMETER, though, which had been my guess! i was thinking more that it would be the “big bad”, which was not at all the case, though.

TED’S PYRAMID WAS EVERYTHING I EVER WANTED. TED THE BLOB MONSTER. TED THE IMMORTAL NUCLEAR LAVA BLOB. the moment ceo appeared in ted faro cosplay and made aloy dress up too i knew they were planning on playing this entire mission for dark comedy and it was the funniest damn thing in the game. i bet that aloy and alva got back to the base and were just like “it’s so convenient that ted’s bunker was just a single empty room with a button that said omega override here and nothing weird happened!” and varl was like “guys we literally saw you livestream--” “AND NOTHING WEIRD HAPPENED” it is exactly what ted deserved

we did not really learn more about the ALPHAs, but travis tate got a surprising amount of focus and a sort of “redemption” arc — he was always on the side of good, but this game really made it clear that he was 110% on elisabet’s side and on the side of good. it also made all the ALPHAs look a lot better, just because they theoretically also could have tried to flee for space or clone/freeze/save themselves and it never crossed any of their minds to be selfish in that way, so all in all, go ALPHAs.

GAIA did drop some very interesting elysium lore near the end of the game — namely, that it was meant to hold its inhabitants for 100 years (ie, the end of everyone’s natural life cycles) but mysteriously went silent long before then. we are definitely going to find out more about them next game, huh? i mean, that’s where most of the Zero Dawn staff ended up!

AND THE ODYSSEY SHIP OH BOY. i mean, the first game mentioned it a little too much for it not to be relevant in this one, i think most people realized that, but i was not expecting immortal space capitalists as the main conflict. 

CULTURE LORE we have vegans who are neutral the way the swiss are neutral (ie: everyone will fucking murder you if you try shit), we have a group of people who have based their entire culture on US military propaganda, we have a tribe from the Guangzhou Cradle who are so obviously based on just the worst of ancient Chinese bureaucracy and meritocracy mixed with worship of the Old Ones from unreliable sources and i love them. the quen are incredible and i could write entire essays about how much they and the carja will despise one another. they have civil service exams! i am cackling! we didn’t learn much about the oseram besides that they are SUPER into unions and legal documents and contracts which is really funny for some reason

the carja were oddly absent from the game considering how much of the world’s politics in the game were about them. however, the carja we got were amazing. mulan plot soldier??? fashav??? the fact that every single carja in the game all fought at the same battle of the cinnabar sands before deserting/getting captured/becoming a serial killer/did anyone in that battle just go home and live a normal life? no?

NO ROMANCE FOR ALOY. VARL WAS FIRMLY NOT AN OPTION but we got something even better which was varl as her best friend and second in command and the heart of team base and i will never ever get over it. i love their friendship so much. i’m so sad we didn’t get an optional 5 hour mission where they just fish and try to taxidermy a rabbit for zo despite everyone telling them that will End Poorly

i didn’t speculate at all about new companions but I LOVE THEM. i love kotallo’s accepting his disability and just being the one (1) personality type aloy actually gets, i love alva the little nerd, i love zo and how fucking PERFECT she is at everything but also how willing she is to Throw Down, i love BETA and her and aloy’s relationship and how much aloy haaaaates her all the way to THAT IS BETWEEN ME AND MY SISTER i just looooove. team base. so much. 

also shout out to talanah, who was let in to the base and saw the fancy computers and gadgets and cauldron and was like “literally do not care”, and then dumping her loser boyfriend on the spot; to erend for embracing his role of idiot muscle and re-discovering shitty punk music, and especially to varl for being the best friend to ever exist

YOU CAN SWITCH BETWEEN DAY AND NIGHT AT CAMPFIRES!!!! AND THERE IS COOKING!!! AND THEY WROTE UP DESCRIPTIONS FOR ALL THE FOOD!! THE CARJA EAT TAMALES AND THE OSERAM ARE DUTCH it’s everything i dreamed of and more

for aloy to not even pretend to be surprised when it turns out that sylens is behind all this shit AGAIN  -- the fact that it WASN’T sylens but she spent 95% of the game so convinced it was him that he actually went off and formed his own evil army to also stop the bad guys only for them to team up in the last five minutes and have a conversation where they respect one another’s agency and goals far more than the zeniths ever did for aloy and he is now part of team base I LOVE IT, god sylens is such an incredible character and i love how much he and aloy fucking despise one another despite nearly always having the same goals hahahahaha

okay tomorrow HORIZON FORBIDDEN WEST is out and i preordered it forever ago so that’s gonna be my life for a bit. i’ve stayed away from all the spoilers and trailers so all i know is:

california road-trip

vegas is there

talanah, varl, and erend are back

so is sylens which was obvious before they even announced it

turtle machine???

so, with the sum of that knowledge, here are my hopes/wild speculations for the game ahead:

teb is mentioned i don’t need to see him i just want to know he’s doing ok

instead of HADES/HEPHESTUS maybe this time we get DEMETER?

TED’S PYRAMID PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE let the luxor casino inexplicably be ted’s bunker. please let aloy have to visit his bunker in order to get some fucking omega override code or something. i don’t care if he’s frozen in there or what i just want TED’s. PYRAMID. VEGAS. ADVENTURE.

maybe can we learn more about some of the alphas we didn’t in the first game? like naoto. or like in the last alpha cutscene there was a random inexplicable blonde lady. maybe just to fill a seat but MORE ALPHAS.

elysium?????? and the odyssey ship. we know there’s more going on with the latter but i’m very curious to know if elysium went according to plan or not.

CULTURE LORE give me the new countries and politics to obsess over. tell me about oseram society i am fucking ready.

CONSPIRACY THEORY: one of the sun kings a few generations back went and vanished into the west. i would fucking love if we just found like. three tents huddled together somewhere with some descendants of that dude claiming to be the true sun kings. and avad’s migraine can be felt all the way in california.

NO ROMANCE FOR ALOY

BUT IF THERE IS ROMANCE: new girl around her age or varl. no other options. i love talanah but i love her as aloy’s mentor, ya know? i’m not against it per se. just.

the ability to switch between day and night at campfires or something. i love the times of day and the lighting but sometimes at night it’s hard to see :(

for aloy to not even pretend to be surprised when it turns out that sylens is behind all this shit AGAIN