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atomic--peach · 1 year

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Her Grace's Handmaiden Pt 22

(Sandor Clegane x Fem Reader x Cersei Lannister TW: Smut, Graphic Violence)

AO3 LINK: https://archiveofourown.org/works/48276340"

They did not stop riding for a day and a half.

You leaned against your husband, wavering in and out of sleep as you made your way up Blackwater Rush.

It was easiest to follow the river from the shore, and from there determine the next best course of action.

Your first instinct was to head west towards Clegane Keep. But the Westerlands belonged to the Lannisters, and since neither you nor Sandor had left Lannister employ on particularly good terms, it was best to steer clear for now.

"Besides." Sandor grumbled, "It'd be the first place they looked."

"Cersei said the Lannisters and Starks are spilling blood all over the Riverlands" you informed him.

"The Crownlands, then." Sandor breathed, "We'll want to steer clear of Harrenhall. Tywin Lannister stationed Gregor there. The bastard would turn us in for the fun of it."

"We've no bounty," you pointed out, "We're not criminals, technically. Just...not very well regarded."

"Men have hanged for less."

You thought for a moment, pressing the side of your face into his back as you watched trees go by in the darkness. The stars were out that night and the moon gave you enough light to ride by.

While autumn was creeping in, it was still warm enough in the south to be comfortable in a plain wool frock.

You brought your old dresses. They were common and dull and made sure you would blend in.

As much as a nearly 7ft tall knight in black armor and his lady love could blend in, that is.

"We could try for Driftmark." You suggested, "Catch a ship from Duskendale."

Sandor grunted in disagreement, "Not a lot of places to hide on an island, and too close to King's Landing."

After two days you finally stopped to make camp in a clearing away from the road.

You set to gathering firewood while your husband secured the area. When it was clear there was no one about to bother you, you could finally settle, though Sandor still intended to sleep in his armor.

Bent over to blow onto the kindling, you felt a large hand run over your spine and down, squeezing a handful of your ass through the skirt.

"Hello" you laughed, "can I help you ser?"

"Don't be coy" Sandor scoffed, hand creeping up your skirt and over your thigh. "Come away from that fire before you burn yourself."

It'd been weeks since you had even thought of sex, but Sandor's patience was dwindling with each stroke of his hand. His other hand found the back of your neck and pulled you to him as his fingers pushed past your small clothes and began stroking.

You pushed yourself against his hand and arched your back eagerly. Your hands made for his armor, removing the dull metal so you could embrace him properly.

Mouths met flesh and hands fumbled with clothes in a flurry of need until your mind began to wander.

You hadn't fucked anyone since Cersei.

You could remember clearly, how gentle the queen had been with your pregnancy. Sandor was too worried about hurting you or the baby to even try and you had been desperate with need.

Sandor pressing into your body came as a shock, you didn't even remember him crawling on top of you.

Focus.

Where was she now? You wondered

Does she care I'm gone?

Was she angry?

Hurt?

You hoped so.

Sandor's hands were gripping your hips hard and you could feel the bolts of pleasure you were accustomed to, small moans and gasps spilling out involuntarily, but found yourself unable to find the path you needed.

You'd never needed to try before.

Frowning, you closed your eyes and tried to find the rhythm with your hips.

Cersei probably didn't even care you were gone.

Why would she, she never loved you.

You don't do that to someone you even like, let alone love.

Frustration filled you as you huffed impatiently.

Why were you thinking of this, why now?

How pathetic were you that you couldn't fuck your husband without thinking of the queen?

"Hey"

Sandor had stopped, hovering over you. You blinked, having almost forgotten he was even there.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing"

"Liar."

You sighed in frustration, shoving him off gently so you could sit.

"I can't stop thinking. But it's fine, let's keep going so you can-"

"I did" Sandor pointed out, "you just....laid there."

You blinked in confusion before becoming acutely aware of the warm slickness between your legs.

"I'm sorry." You breathed, angry with yourself, "I just.....I'm going to go fill the canteens. There's a stream just a little past the trees."

Sandor watched as you rose and caught your hand before you could flee.

"I'm fine" you insisted, pulling away gently, "I just need to clear my head. I'll be right back."

You could hear the stream from the clearing and followed the sound. In the darkness, your steps were illuminated by the moonlight and you stopped on the marshy edge of the water.

Your feet sunk into the mud slightly as you moved to fill the canteens.

Why couldn't you just get your mind together?

You were free.

Cersei wouldn't waste manpower trying to find you.

You felt your face heat up and tears began to sting your eyes.

Stop it. You scolded yourself. Don't you dare cry.

Cry for your child.

Cry for your husband.

Cry for Lancel

Cry for Sansa.

Do NOT cry for that hateful bitch.

A branch cracked behind you and you sighed, "I said I'd be right back"

As you turnee, you froze.

The man peered at you from behind a dead tree, the moon making his eyes almost glow.

You stepped backward, ankle-deep in the water. It was freezing and sent a shiver up your body as the man approached.

He was ugly, but not old. His body was lean and his clothes were ragged from wear.

"Leave me alone" you tried to sound commanding. "I'll scream."

"Scream and I'll cut your throat" The man flashed a blade, long and thin. "This doesn't have to get ugly."

"Fuck you" you spat, moving to dart upstream but the man tackled you into the water.

Sharp rocks stung your back as you began kicking at him, battering him with feet and fists.

You didn't scream, too focused on keeping your attacker at bay as you pushed him off and rolled on top of him.

The dagger flashed like lightning, and you caught his wrist before he buried the blade between your breasts.

The struggle was backed by the splashing of the water around you. You pried at his fingers, trying to wrestle the blade away.

"Help!" You finally screamed, "Help!"

Slick with sweat and water, you were able to drag the dagger from your attacker and pressed your weight fully on his chest.

Sandor tore past thorn bushes and fallen trees until he hit the edge of the stream.

His heart was pounding in his ears as his eyes found red in the water.

"Y/N!"

You turned to him and his breath caught in his throat. Bodice and skirt soaked with blood and water, you were the vision of a vengeful spirit as you stumbled out of the stream towards him.

Just passed you he could see the form of a man splayed out on the rocky river bed.

"Where-"

"It's not mine" you confessed, eyes dazed for a moment as you stared at the dagger in your hand. Its blade gleamed red.

"Fuck, I never should have-!"

His next words died in his throat as you pulled him to your level and captured his lips with yours.

The kiss was greedy and famished as you pushed him back from the water's edge and against the trunk of a tree.

"I need you" you growled, tossing the dagger aside and letting your hands travel across his body desperately, "now."

When he paused you pressed your body against his, one hand fumbling with his trouser strings until he finally kissed back firmly.

"Come here." He snatched you by the waist and pressed you against the tree.

Bark bit into your back as your husband lifted and pinned you in between his body and the forest. Your heart was pounding, head spinning.

Panting, you tore at the neck of his shirt and ravaged his throat and shoulder with bites and kisses in equal measure until you felt the head of his cock press against your entrance.

"Fuck" you growled as he pushed into your aching cunt, stopping half away only to pull out and thrust deeper each time "More."

From this position, Sandor wasted no time bouncing you on his cock, letting the full length fill your body over and over as the flesh of your back and shoulders scrapped against the unforgiving bark of the tree.

It was as if your entire being was vibrating, fucking your hips against his trying to pull him tighter against you. A flurry of swears and moans fell from your lips as you catched your high.

"Don't stop" you begged, pulling your chest flush to his and feeling his length hit the deepest part of you. "Oh fuck, right there."

Cries filled the forest as you trembled around him, desperately bucking your hips with abandon.

"More" you begged him once your feet were back in the ground. "Please, please, I need you."

Dragging you back to the clearing, Sandor tore at your blood-soaked dress until it was in tatters on the ground and he had his wife pinned on hands and knees by the fire.

You were past words as you reveled in the feeling of your husband's hips nearly knocking you into the dirt with every thrust.

"Gods" Sandor's hand reached between your legs to rub at your clit. "So that's what you need then. Twisted little thing."

Your wails grew higher and more desperate as his fingers pressed rough circles on your clit.

Back arching deeper and letting your thighs spread lower, your face hit the grass as you found your focus.

So close, oh so close

Gripped the ground, tearing at blades of grass until your mouth hung open with a scream of pleasure, your mind went blank with pleasure as your legs began to shake weakly and a fire spread from your cunt to your whole body.

Sandor pinned your throat to the ground as your cunt spasmed around him, begging him to bury his cock as deep as he could and fuck you through your climax before spilling his seed with a final choked roar.

You froze like that, panting heavily as the final waves of your shared climax ebbed away.

Sandor slipped into the grass, curling himself around his wife who was still twitching around him.

The fire cracked and snapped soothingly, lulling you both into submissive sleep as Sandor covered you in a blanket and tucked a dagger into his waistband, should there be any more unwelcome visitors.

#cersei lannister x reader #sandor clegane x reader #sandor clegane smut #her grace's handmaiden #game of thrones fanfic

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christiansorrell · 11 months

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Play-By-Blog #4: The Isle by Luke Gearing

Welcome to my ongoing play-by-blog of The Isle by Luke Gearing! We are playing this adventure with its original system, The Vanilla Game (adjusted somewhat to fit the format). You can check out the Play-By-Blog Repository to get all caught up if you wish.

How Play-By-Blog works:

I write up the situation, NPCs, and more, just like a DM.

You vote in the poll to help decide the character's course of action.

I roll the dice, resolve actions, and write them up next week.

So on and so forth for the rest of the adventure!

Notation:

[Text in brackets is out-of-character/GM text!] "Non-italicized quotes denote text from the original adventure!" "Italicized quotations denotes NPC dialogue."

Our character: Medon Girou - Magic Cutpurse

Our map: The Isle

[You can use the link's above to find Medon's Character Sheet and map of the Isle. On the map, you are currently at 4.]

Now, back to the adventure!

The monk is the first person you've seen on the actual isle, other than that corpse back in the mossy cove. Best to follow him from afar, you think. They may only be monks, but Cioran made it pretty clear that can be wary of outsiders, especially uninvited ones. You lay down amongst the rubble you searched through earlier in the day and watch the monk on his stroll.

He heads north, generally in your direction and away from the monastery for some time, before turning west and heading down a well worn path heading towards the sea. At a point, he falls out of your view as the path descends. It's time to approach and quietly tail him, if you can.

You cautiously step down the raised rocky region and into the area of the lower path, steps carefully as you go [Dexterity Check: 8 - Success!]. You keep a good distance and the short cliffs at either side are full of pockets to hide yourself away in. The monk continues on his path.

Closer now, you are able to see the man is younger, younger that you expected any of the monks to be on a forgotten monastery like this. He's carrying a long, fairly fine fishing pole, using it as a walking stick as he travels towards the cove [B] along the western coast. He's singing a shanty to himself:

"Oh, poor old man your horse will die And we say so, and we know so Oh, poor old man your horse will die Oh, poor old man "We'll hoist him up to the main yardarm We'll hoist him up to the main yardarm "Say, I old man your horse will die Say, I old man your horse will die "We'll drop him down to the depths of the sea We'll drop him down to the bottom of the sea "We'll sing him down with a long, long roll Where the sharks'll have his body and the devil have have his soul!"

A surprising song to hear from a godly man such as this.

You continue to trail him for a time until he enters the built-out and well-kept cove. He walks past a stockpile of stones and down a set of carves stairs towards the water below.

"This shallow cove shows extensive signs of recent improvement—some stone removed and a wooden jetty installed. The stairs are worn, but notably clean."

The monks moves some crates near the end of the jetty, creating a makeshift chair and table. From out of his pocket, he pulls a small leather pouch filled with dirt.... no wait, there are worms among the dirt. He settles in for a long afternoon of fishing, humming a song.

There's little of note in the cove, other than its well-maintained state. You imagine this is where Ciaron pulled the boat in after dropping you off early this morning. Supplies for the monastery come to the island here, but they do not stay here.

[The next entry will be in 1 full week since I've done a few now in a shorter time frame than that, just to get things moving. Thanks for following along and taking part in the adventure so far! - Christian]

PBB #5 is up now HERE!

#meatcastle pbb #ttrpg #indie ttrpg #writing #fantasy #rpg #ttrpgs #luke gearing #osr #the isle #vanilla game #play by post #play by blog

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cain-e-brookman · 12 days

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So for le WIP QnA:

Tell me more about the geography and culture of your story!

How many regions are there? What’s their climate like?

Any different languages? How many, what are they called, where are they spoken, and by which races? Does race matter when it comes to languages? (As in like. Do efts speak Eftish (bear with me here I’ll admit I don’t know too much of your lore) or do they speak a common language shared by every other race?)

Speaking of races, where do each of them come from? Are there specific areas where specific races hold dear? (Like does Race A cherish the Mountains of Mountainland idk I hope that made sense?)

AND FINALLY what’s with the Barren Lands why are they called that? (Bc they’re barren I guess I got that bit but. Why are they barren?)

I hope this made sense lols ✨✨✨

hello and thank you for the ask! this is a big one, so buckle up, kids!

so first, the combined lands of Tangera is essentially a semi-large continent. Uslaria, on the west coast, it modeled in terms of climate after my home state, Oregon. And so because it's mountainous, to the east is a rain shadow, going into the high deserts, becoming more arid and flat, until hitting the east and becoming more lush from that coast. (I'm sure my geography and knowledge of climate is only adjacent to accurate, but it is what it is.)

This is a very, very rough map of Tangera. Ignore the southeast, I'm working on that

Country names not final because I haven't done the "Fantasy Author Google Check" to make sure they're not already things. But there's 18 countries in Tangera not counting the island nation of Bhréchin.

Individual climate on each country would take a century, so read the green chart to get an idea lol

Languages are regional, yes! Not necessarily stuck to one race, though.For instance, Alilux is the kingdom of Light Mages, and the language of Alilux would be Lucian, but it wouldn't be just the Mages speaking Lucian, because there are other races (mostly humans, but definitely others,) living there too.

Most human kingdoms speak Tangeran Common, because a universal common tongue is a fantasy writer's best friend. Most Mage kingdoms learn common alongside their mother tongue for easy travel.

Though you bring up Efts, which are admittedly, a new race in this canon! They're amphibious people who mostly live in the Bkaan Forest and the Marshes. They mostly don't mingle with the outside world and live in close communities deep in wet forested areas. One of my new characters, soon to make their debut once I get my patreon up, is Inès who ran away from home after some dispute with their family and is now working as a mercenary of sorts. They struggle with Common, since it's so very removed from their mother tongue, because the language of the Eft's is on a completely different language tree!

So this one's a very big answer so I'm going to embrace brevity for the first time in my life and say, pretty much all races were either Mundanes Made By the Lifebringer, (humans,) Mundanes Changed Into Not Mundanes by Lifebringer Priests Fucking With Their Lifeforce, (Vampires, Angels, Spectres,) Those Who Were Chosen By Not the Lifebringer to Knock Her Off Her Throne, (Mages,) and Fuck If We Know (Efts, shoreas, sea nymphs which are neither true nymphs, nor exclusive to the sea, who named them anyway?) Geographically, anyone but Mages are just kinda spread out and any society near a specific geographical trait is going to find importance in that. Mages in particular find importance in their landscape where it's connected to their patron god, (Fire Mages in the desert where they best see their Goddess the sun, Water Mages near the sea, Sky Mages in the tall mountains where they're close to the Sky, etc.)

And the Barren Lands are called such because when Aeriessa, (the Lifebringer,) first took hold of the pieces of the world her father had brought together in the beginning with the light of his lantern, she banished the lingering spirits of the cardinal elements to the farthest corner of the world. The spirits, in their rage at being cast out, formed together into the spirits of four gods, (Japhine of the Great Fire, Oiena of the Encompassing Sea, Ynorr of the Unmovable Stone, and Ysydia Lord of the Skies and All Knowledge Under His Gaze.) From that land, the four gods fled into their respective domains, leaving the land bereft of any lingering life or spirit. When the Fae Empires fell, this is where the surviving Fae were banished to for eternal suffering after the pain they caused in their rule. (This is where the Death God gets his meanies out, as mentioned in an earlier ask.)

you made perfect sense, and I hope I did too! There's a Lot of Lore, and there's no quick way to get it all down lmao

#in my own words #writeblr #writers on tumblr #writerscommunity #queer fantasy author #tag game #wip: the name. witch #lore #also i should proofread this for clarity because it's 9 am and i havent yet had enough coffee #but i dont know how much its going to help because its 9am and i havent yet had enough coffee

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wakandaiscoming · 2 years

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Differences from the screenplay and final movie part 1

I'm getting into this so I will have to make a couple posts. This is up to the beginning of the Wakandan council scene.

Shuri's opening prayer to Bast was added later. Screenplay opens with her in the lab itself.

T'Challa's family tree. I only remember T'Chaka and Bashenga, but maybe I just missed it.

We give thanks for the gift of King T’Challa, the Black Panther, son of King T’Chaka. Grandson of King Azzuri, great grandson of Kabba, great great grandson of Yima, great great great grandson of Bazwale, great great great great grandson of Andile, descendent of the most revered King Bashenga, the first Black Panther

3. Richard Schiff of The West Wing appears as a representative of the US in the film. The screenplay lists him as the "Secretary of State" for the United States. This means it is no longer Hulk-villain Thunderbolt Ross's job (as it was in Civil War.) All keeps with rumors that Ross (recently recast) will be President of the United States in upcoming movies. The stage directions also say the US Secretary of State is not to "deflate" at the end of Queen Ramonda's speech like the French woman. I don't remember this being the case in the film.

4. There was an alternate introduction to Namor, when he is on the US Ship. On page 39 of the script, it says that the sirens call a different song (presumably for Namor) and the camera was first to show winged ankles, then just the back of his head as all the Talocanil bow before him. That would have been a cool shot. But it does change the pace of the film, if we are supposed to be invested in what is happening to the American scientists--you never would have thought they might get away with this shot here.

5. There's a bit more dialogue between Ramonda and Shuri when they go to burn their mourning clothes. Shuri mentions she "hates" Nakia (who Ramonda says was with her and T'Challa when they did this ritual a year after T'Chaka's death) and that she only even went to the funeral because T'Challa believed in that sort of thing. Then Ramonda slyly asks why it matters that Nakia was not at his funeral if rituals don't matter. She's got that mom verbal kung-fu. I would've liked this kept. Maybe they thought it was clear Ramonda was close to Nakia still in other ways and they didn't want to make Shuri quite so petulant and teenager-y. (Maybe they worried audiences wouldn't take her seriously as the Black Panther. She is already so small in the suit. Like she's a tiny person. They don't need to be reminded she would be just able to drink the United States if she lived here.)

6. There is a scene, even deleted from the script (it's crossed out so probably never even filmed) where Shuri does not want to burn her mourning clothes because they were what she was wearing the last time she hugged T'Challa. (Maybe removed because she didn't hug his body she hugged his coffin?)

7. Shuri wished T'Challa died in combat because then she could take revenge on someone.

8. Namor says his mother named him "Ch’ah Toh Almehen." (I tried a couple of Google Translate type bots to translate this into Yucatec Maya but all I got is the "Ch'ah" is a word similar to "Ah" and I'm not sure that's the right usage. Any Yucatec Maya speakers?)

9. The Malagasy island Namor and Ramonda meet is supposed to be Nosy Nato.

10. There are a group of Jabari warriors called the "Hell Screamers." Spin-off needed. But the whole entrance of M'Baku seems to be inprovised by Wiston Duke (up until the "Fuzzy adornments line.")

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xxkitty13 · 4 months

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Circus Freaks

LA Buggy x Fem Reader

Previous Chapters: Part 1, Part 11

Previously: As Buggy is taken into custody, Y/n and Yasi are also in their own predicament. Kija traps them in the mansion as he declares a marriage. They managed to escape and head to bail Buggy out. Little do know about the lengths Kija will go to achieve his goal.

Part 12: The Rescue

The night approaches as the sun begins to set. Warehouse no.5 is across the island in a remote location. Minutes feel like hours as the duo venture into the dark woodlands.

"Do you know where we are going?"

"I honestly don't know," Yasi huffed.

Beyond the woody terrain, lied the warehouse. A good number of armed men surround the premises. To their surprise, Mr. Dun is at the scene. They take cover behind large fern bushes as they brainstormed a plan.

"Ha, I should have known my father would take precautions."

"Why are you laughing? What do we do now?"

The raven hair scans the scene, security is tight, finding an opening will be difficult. However, knowing his father, there must be hidden entrances.

"You see that large tree on the right?"

Y/n nods.

"I have a feeling that's our way in."

"How do you know that?"

"Just trust me. We just have to sneak around without being caught."

"Easier said than done," she muttered, peaking through the leaves.

They move like spies on a mission, rookies at most, avoiding alerting the guards on patrol. The almost full moon gives them enough light to navigate through the woody terrain, but it can also be an advantage to the enemy. In short time, they make it near the large tree. Yasi finds a large rock and throws it as far as he could at the opposite direction. The guards immediately check the cause of the sound.

“Quick, this is our chance.”

The pair run to the tree and start checking for an entrance around the trunk. Y/n almost trips by scrambling around the large roots of the tree and noticed a hallow sound coming from the ground. She clears the brown leaves and reveals a hidden underground door.

“Yasi, I found it!”

“Good,”— he opens the hatch— “now hop in.”

The guards were about to return to their posts, but the duo closed the hatch before they could be seen.

“Great. . . another tunnel,” Y/n said in an annoyed manner.

They kept their pace as they ran down the worn-down passageway. The condition is worse than the mansion, broken tiles and rubbish makes it hard to navigate. Y/n couldn't help but gag at the accumulation of dust and spiderwebs. She clears out the sticky webs and freaks out when she sees a spider on her arm. This caused her to frantically squirm around as she tried to remove the spider off her arm; by doing so, she does not pay attention and runs into the end of the tunnel.

Yasi hurries to check on her. "Are you okay?" he says, helping her stand up.

"Yeah, what did I hit?" she says, rubbing her arm.

They take a look to what it could be, it's a metal door. It does not have a knob nor handle. Yasi goes to push the door open, but it does not budge. "Something must be blocking the other side, help me push it," he grunts, putting all his body weight against the door. Y/n positions herself against it and pushes with all her might. The door began to budge. "Keep going," he shouts, using his back and leg to access his full strength.

Suddenly the door swings open and they fall to the ground, along with empty wooden creates that barricaded the door.

"Ouch, that fucking hurt," Yasi whined. He throws the crate that fell on his head to the side.

Y/n managed to lift herself up the ground and takes a look around the underground place. "There's multiple hallways. . ."

"Huh? Damn, you're right. . ."

What they see is a three-way route, one hallway going north and the other two going east to west. The raven hair walks to the middle of the intersection and analyses each hallway, the electric systems barely work, it is too dark to differentiate where they head.

"Eenie, meenie, miney, mo. That way." Yasi points the hallway going north.

"Are we really trusting that?"

"We don't have that much to go by, let's go." He shrugs.

He then nudges her to go along, and she sighs at his method. What choice does she has. It won't be long before the guards are sent inside.

They continue their run and watch out for broken objects on the ground. The flickering lights above them give an ominous vibe to the atmosphere. At one point, all that builds the walls of the hallway are metal bars, indicating cells.

Y/n observes carefully and her eyes glimmer in joy once she sees a shiny red nose from afar.

"Buggy!"

The restrained pirate awakes from his slumber and lifts his head up to face the voice. His eyes widen in surprise, a wonderful surprise indeed.

"Y/n?"

Y/n runs the jail cell and holds onto the rusty bars. "Buggy! You're alive!" she shouts in joy.

"Of course I'm alive you idiot! Do you really think the great and powerful Buggy would die so easily," he boasts. As he cackles, his eyes gaze upon the taller male. "What are you doing here?"

"Hey, no fighting. He's helping us." Y/n quickly blocks his view.

"What do you mean he's helping? He set me up!"

"No, he didn't. His father is the one behind all of this."

"I know the whole situation seems that way, but I had no involvement with the arrest," Yasi says.

"Is that so?" Buggy questions, facing Y/n. She nods. "It was a coincidence that Kija showed up."

"Well, if you really want to help. . . Get me out of this hell hole!" he screams, thrashing around in his chains.

Yasi and Y/n scanned the area to locate a possible tool to break the lock of the cell and chains. Their search was cut short when they heard a sound of footsteps heading their way.

"Crap." Yasi frantically tries to find a spot to hide, but all the cells have no covering. Despite that, he yanks Y/n into one of the cells and pins her against the metal wall. "Shhh, try your best to stay still," he whispers. Buggy did not like how close his woman was to the younger man, but he let it slide for now.

"Make sure no one is lurking around this area," a man spoke.

That voice belongs to no other than, Mr. Dun. He is accompanied by two of the guards. One of them carried a flashlight and illuminated their view of the cells. To their luck, they are located to the cell in front of Buggy's and the men's backs a turned at them.

"I see you're still here clown," Mr. Dun laughed. The pirate growled at him. "Ha, like the animal you are."

Yasi noticed a single metal bar is situated across the cell. He begins to think, the mayor most likely has a key to the locks. He looks at the bar and back at the men, it was now or never. Yasi leaps to grab the bar and jumps out of the cell, whacking the unsuspected men over their heads.

"Wow, since when did you learn that?" Buggy snickers at the knocked-out mayor.

Panting, Yasi grins, "A little while ago."

"Okay, great. Now, Mr. Hero boy, let me out!" The pirate trashes around once again.

"O-oh right." He scrambles to Mr. Dun's body and searches his pockets. He pulls out the large key and goes to unlock the cell. Carefully, he makes his way to the pirate.

"Come on, I don't bite," Buggy insists, flashing his cunning smile.

Yasi rolls his eyes and goes to unlock the cuffs around the pirate's wrists.

"Ah, yes!"— his hands pop off his wrists and float— "this feels so much better."

Both Yasi and Y/n freak out at the unexpected removal of his hands.

"What the actual fuck!" Yasi screams.

"What?" Oblivious, Buggy continues to move his floating hands.

"How can you do that?" Y/n asked, unsure if she should feel disgusted or amazed.

"Oh yeah. . . I haven't told you. . .” He scratches the back of his head. "Well, the cat's out of the bag. I was going to tell you eventually, but I could never find the right time." Every limb begins to detach from his torso. Little by little, all of his body parts were floating around her. "I ate the Chop-Chop fruit, against my will," he grits at his last words.

"A devil fruit? I thought those were just myths."

"Oh, they're real alright. Damn, does anybody on this island go out to sea?" Each body part return to their original position and pop back in place.

"I really want to ask you more questions, but I'm glad you're in one piece." Y/n runs to his arms, feeling his strong arms embrace her. He holds her tight for a second before smashing his chapped lips against her own. The kiss deepens as Yasi awkwardly looks away. Buggy pulls away and places his hand on the back of her head, letting her lean against his chest.

Yasi clears his throat. "Um, I think we should get going."

"Don't ruin the moment," the pirate groans.

Y/n let's go of the embrace. "No, he's right. Someone is going to notice that Mr. Dun is taking too long, we have to leave."

"Okay, we should take the way we came from. I doubt anybody saw us go through that secrete tunnel."

As they were about to pivot, Buggy stops them. "Hey, what about my freaks? Are they around here?" But before they could answer him, multiple lights were flashed upon them.

Three more guards appeared. "They got the mayor, and the clown is out, cease them!"

"Oh shit, what do we do?" Y/n said, hiding behind Buggy.

Buggy detached his arms and aimed for the guards. "You two go on ahead, I'll take care of them first."

"You don't have to tell me twice," Yasi eagerly replied and grabbed Y/n. They run past the men as Buggy distracts them.

The pirate upper cuts one man and looked at the two. "You better not let a scratch on her or I'll kill you!" he screamed as he continued to fend off the guards. Yasi flinched at this threat and hurried down the long hallway.

"You're lucky that I don't have my knives, otherwise I would have painted the walls with red." He finished with the last guard and reattached his arms. It did not take long for him to catch up the younger pair. "Where's the exit?"

"Once we reach the steel door, we just have to continue down a tunnel. There, we will climb back up to ground level."

"So, where do we go from there?" Buggy asks.

Yasi and Y/n looked at each other. They did not plan this far ahead.

"We run."

.°˖✧.°˖✧

Back at the cells, Mr. Dun groans from his awakening. His head throbs from the hard swing he received from Yasi, it is a pulsating pain. Dazed, he looks around, all he sees are the knocked-out guards and the missing prisoner.

"I see the trash has taken itself out."

The mayor froze. "You. What are you doing here?" He sits up and stares at the man hiding in the shadows. The man takes a couple of steps forward into the light. He is completely covered, he wears a black suit and mask that covers his entire face, resembling a cyber agent with the built in goggles.

"I could ask you the same question, Mr. Dun," he says slowly. The man nears the mayor and stoops to his level. He pulls out a gun and waves it across his face. "I'm here to finish the job that you couldn't do. I hear the pirate has some accomplices. . . where did they go?"

"Y-you wouldn't harm the kids. H-He wouldn't give that order."

The man chuckles.

"B-but that's his son we're talking about," Mr. Dun retorted.

"Well, I guess he is no longer needed."

The man stands up and observes the scene. It is quite obvious of the direction the criminals took. It is time for the hunt to begin. He steps over the bodies of the guards and walks towards the direction of the tunnel.

"Wait! 15, you can't kill them! They're just kids!" Mr. Dun yelled out.

15 stopped for the brief moment and slowly turned his gaze to the mayor. "Tsk, tsk, tsk. I am only doing my job. Kids or not, I will put a bullet through their heads." With that, he pivots and leaves the mayor in the dark.

"Shit, I can't let him kill them. I must warn them." The mayor forced himself to standup and hastily moves across the hallway with the help of the wall.

Meanwhile, the trio were lucky enough to escape from the warehouse grounds.

"So, let me get this straight. You are a descendant of the island's founder and somehow inherited this necklace that is the key to find this magical trinket that could control the island. To make matters worse, your blood is needed to activate its powers?"

Y/n nods.

"Great, so the treasure isn't gold, useless," Buggy moans.

"I wouldn't say it's useless. One is able to control the elements," Yasi added.

"Control the elements you say." Intrigued Buggy pays close attention to the raven hair. This is definitely better than gold. "I'm listening."

"He practically wants to enslave the people and I'm pretty sure he won't stop there."

Buggy digs behind his neck scarf and pulls out the cross necklace. "So this thing is the key to everything?" An evil smirk is plastered on his face. "Huh. . ."

Y/n noticed the change in his demeanor but decided to ignore it. "I think I should leave it with you. It is the last place Kija will think of."

All of sudden, a shot was fired. The bullet slightly grazed Buggy's nose. "That was too fucking close."

They all stop their tracks and turn to face the direction of where the bullet came from. Above a tree branch, stood a masked man, he points gun at the trio, the barrel still steaming from the released round. Yasi immediately recognized the masked man; he is in absolute fear. His hands visibly tremble as he struggles to take a step back. "N-no, t-this isn't good."

Y/n noticed the look of fear in his eyes, she has never seen him this spook before. "Yasi, who is that?"

Barely managing to speak, he mumbles, "T-that's my dad's personal assassin."

"Assassin?!"

Without any warning, 15 comes flying down from the top of the tree and sends multiple bullets towards their way. The three quickly make a run for it as the bullets miss them by centimeters.

To make matters worse, they head down hill, making it hard to for their legs to maintain stability. More bullets are fired as they rain upon them. Buggy detaches his body parts to avoid getting shot; however, the other two are not so lucky.

Yasi is hit, no telling where, as his body goes plummeting down the side of the steep hill.

"Yasi!" Y/n calls out as she watches his limp body disappear down below. Tears of fear roll down her cheeks, there is nothing she can do. She must keep going before she is next.

Buggy gets hit by one of the bullets, her grabs his shoulder in pain and is immediately sent down to his knees. The particular bullet he was hit with, is made of sea stone. 15 stands before them, but before he could pull the trigger, someone hurls in and tackles the assassin to the ground. With the motion, Y/n and Buggy tumble back and find themselves at the end of the hill. She places her hand back, but it slips. Behind her is the edge of a cliff and below is a large body of water, they almost fell in.

As Y/n recollects herself, she notices that she is alone. Oh no. Her heart sinks, Buggy is not here and that could only mean one thing. . . Buggy fell into the lagoon. She quickly scrambles to the edge of the cliff and tries to find signs of her lover, but there is nothing on the surface of the water.

"Buggy!" she screams, hoping to find him. This is not good, during her reading in the library, she learned about the devil fruits. A consequence of consuming one is the inability to swim in salt water. He will die. The height of the fall is not large, but one wrong jump and see falls to the hard boulders on the shore. Her body tenses at the grave situation, there is no time to freeze. It is a matter of life or death. She makes her decision and jumps in.

It only took a couple of seconds to reach the lagoon, and she is now submerged. The water is freezing cold, almost enough to make one go into shock, but the adrenaline keeps her body moving. The light of the moon barely illuminates the dark waters, her eyes sting from the salt, she struggles to keep them open. With the given urgency, finding Buggy's body proves to be difficult. She can only hold her breath for so long.

Y/n trashes around, whipping her head left and right, no sight of Buggy. Damn, there is no time. She swims deeper into the lagoon, risking drowning as well. The deeper she swims, the visibility decreases. As she reaches the rocky bottom of the lagoon, she spots him. He seems peaceful, floating in the icy waters, his hair gracefully swims around him. She quickly makes her way over and grounds her feet on the rocks. This will be difficult; she puts her shoulder under his right arm and positions herself to support his body over her back. Then, pushing with her legs, she launches herself upward.

She didn’t realize how deep they were, as her lungs urged for oxygen. Despite the given buoyancy, Buggy’s weight is draining her energy. In her desperation, she finds the way to keep her breath in and pushes her body out of the water. She exhales for her life and coughs her lungs out. In maintaining her respiration, she quickly swims to shore and throws Buggy's heavy body onto the rocky land.

She turns him on his back and sees that he’s not breathing. The adrenaline rush is not over, there is no time to waste. Y/n has never performed CPR in her life, but there is always a first time. She feels under his jugular to feel a pulse, nothing. Her hands intertwine with one another and overlap above his sternum. The compressions begin, up and down, hearing the ribs almost crack. It is frightening, CPR is brutal. Her arms are tired, and she can barely breathe. As soon as her body was about to give out, Buggy violently coughed out the water. She stops and turns him to his side, patting his back to help him expunge the water.

Buggy finally exhales oxygen and gargles the water out of his lungs. He is lucky to alive.

Not given a minute to relax, the nearby bushes rattle. Out comes a stumbling man. Y/n uses all of her strength to drag Buggy behind a boulder, but it did not give her enough time to hide. She remains calm as she keeps her back to the side of the large rock. To her surprise, it is the mayor who appears.

"I'm so glad you're okay. I really did not mean for you or Yasi to get hurt. I-I don't kill kids," he cried. The man frantically looks around and tries his best to walk forward.

Y/n found the courage to leave the boulder and approached Mr. Dun. He falls to the rocky beach and pathetically drags himself to the girl. "I'm so sorry, for everything. I'm such a loser," he weeps. He lifts his head up to face the woman. "There is not much time left-"

A barrage of shots interrupted his sentence.

Mr. Dun called out, “Y/n! There is something you must know. The man who killed-”

Bam.

A bullet hole is placed in between his eyes, killing him instantly. The blood splattered across Y/n’s face.

“There is no use for you anymore.”

Y/n had no reaction for what just happened, the smell of iron is pungent and fresh. She trembles from shock at the sight of Mr. Dun's dead body. This is the first time she has witnessed a death. It feels so surreal.

The masked man walked closer as he points his gun at the younger woman. Y/n is frozen like a deer in headlights. Right before he is able to the pull the trigger, he stops. His earpiece began to buzz. "Remember 15, I need the girl alive." 15 sighs in boredom, "Roger that sir."

The assassin lowers the gun and immediately apprehends Y/n. Broken out of her trance, she tries to fight back, but the man is strong. The fight ends shortly as he ties her wrist and throws her over his shoulders. Buggy, still weak, watched as she was taken away.

“Shit!”

.°˖✧.°˖✧

Y/n is harshly thrown on the hard floor, her face rubbing against the dirty tile. She grabs on her redden cheek and winced at the impact.

“My, look who we have here,” Kija menacingly grinned.

Right beside him is the assassin. She goes to wipe the dirt off her cheek and takes notice of the dry blood on her hand. It’s Mr. Dun’s, all she remembers is the lifeless look he gave her at his final moments. He was going to tell her something, but that was cut short. There is nothing she can do, but glare at the men.

“Where is the necklace?”

“Necklace?”

“Don’t act dumb little girl. I know you have it.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she lies.

Irritated, he grabs a fistful of her hair, yanking her head up. “The cross, I need it,” he grits, splashing his salvia all over her face.

As gross as it was, all she wanted to do is laugh. Buggy has it, and she had no intention of telling him.

He releases his hold. “You’re lucky that I need you alive.” He crotches next to her and rips a portion of her shirt.

"Get your filthy hands off of me!" she yells, covering her chest.

As she said before, the necklace is not on her. Kija thinks for a moment, there must be a way for her to confess the necklace whereabouts. Using her as a hostage is the only way.

"15, send a message to the men near the warehouse. I'm sure that clown is still alive. Meantime, we'll be taking our lovely guest on a little field trip," he smiles in delight. "Come on, it's time we get to know each other." Once again, he wraps his hand around her hair and drags her body across the floor, not caring for the pathetic cries that fill the room.

#one piece #buggy one piece #buggy the clown #buggy x reader #buggy x fem reader #buggy x y/n #captain buggy #buggy x you #op buggy #opla buggy

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bookofjin · 6 months

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Account of Central Tianzhu (LS54)

天竺, Middle Chinese *Then-trjuwk, Standard Chinese Tiānzhú, and 身毒, Middle Chinese *'Jwien-dowk, Standard Chinese Yuāndú, both derive from Iranian Hinduka and ultimately from Sanskrit Sindhu. As such these names have the same etymological origin as India.

師子, Middle Chinsee *Srij-tsi, Standard Chinese Shīzǐ, is the Sinhala kindom on Sri Lanka.

…

The state of Panpan, during Emperor Wen of Song's Yuanjia era [424 – 453] and Xiaowu's Xiaojian [454 – 456] and Daming [457 – 464] eras dispatched envoys with tribute to present.

…

The state of Gantuoli is located on an island in the Southern Sea. Their customs are roughly similar to Linyi and Funan. They produce ban班 cloth, jibei [tree cotton], and betel nut. The betel nuts are especially excellent, the pinnacle among the various states. During Xiaowu of Song's reign [454 – 464 AD], King Shipoluo Ranfuliantuo dispatched Senior Clerk Zhuliutuo to present gold, silver, and precious vessels.

…

The state of Central Tianzhu is located several thousand li south-east of Greater Yuezhi. The land is 30 000 li square. It is also named Yuandu. In the Han period Zhang Qian was sent to Daxia where he saw Qiong bamboo canes and Shu cloth. People of the state said they bought it in Yuandu. Yuandu is precisely Tianzhu. Probably the transmitted transcription of the sound and character are not similar, they really are the same. In the times of Han, they were controlled by and belonged to Yuezhi. Their customs and native characteristics are similar to the Yuezhi, but they are low-lying and humid, and feverishly hot. The people are weak and fearful in battle, and are weaker than the Yuezhi. The state is near a great river named Xintao which springs forth from Kulun and divided to become five rivers. Collectively they are called the Geng River [I.e. the Ganges]. Its water is sweet and pleasing. In it is true salt, coloured exactly white like water essence.

Native customs produce rhinoceros, elephant, marten, gerbil, hawksbill turtle, “fire blend” [huoqi火齊], gold, silver, iron, gold threads woven into complete gold felt, finely rubbed white folded [fabric?], excellent furs, and wool rugs. “Fire blend” is shaped like mica and is coloured like purple gold. It has a glowing sparkle. If divided up, it is thin like cicada wings. If piled up, it is like the layers of gauze or crepe. To their west they exchange and trade with Daqin and Anxi within the seas. There is much of Daqin's precious things – coral, amber, golden blue-green gems, pearls, gemstone-jade, tumeric, and storax. Storax is made by combining various fragrant saps and boiling them, it is not naturally from a single thing. It is also said that the people of Daqin gather storax, first press it for the sap to use as a fragrant ointment, and then sell its dregs to merchants from various states. Thus when it in turns come to the Central States, it is not very fragrant. Tumeric is only produced in the state of Jibin. The flowers are coloured exactly white and are delicate. It and those lotus flowers that are enclosed in the lotus leaves resemble each other. The people of the state first take it and send it up to the Buddhist temples, and for a number of days the fragrance wither, and then they clear away and remove it. Merchants seek out hirelings from within the temples, and so move it to sell to other states.

Emperor Huan of Han's 9th Year of Yanxi [166 AD], the King of Daqin, Antun, dispatched envoys to come and present from outside the frontiers of Rinan, during the Han period it was the only communication with them. The people of that state travel as merchants, from time to time arriving in Funan, Rinan, and Jiaozhi. Among the people from the various states on their southern frontiers there are few that have reached Daqin.

Sun Quan's 5th Year of Huanwu [226 AD], there was a merchant from Daqin, Ziqinlun, who came to Jiaozhi. The Grand Warden of Jiaozhi, Wu Miao sent him off to Quan. Quan asked about the region's native songs and customs. Lun provided detailed answers to the matters. At the time Zhuge Ke chastised Danyang, and captured short people from Yi and She [counties]. Lun saw them and said:

In Daqin [we] rarely see this [kind of] people.

Quan had men and women, ten each, and the selected envoy Liu Xian of Kuaiji sent off with Lun. Xian suffered a mishap on the road, and Lun then went straight back to his home state.

In the time of Emperor He of Han [r. 88 – 105 AD], Tianzhu several times dispatched envoys with tribute to present. Later the Western Region turned to rebellion and consequently they were cut off. Arriving at Emperor Huan's 2nd Year [159 AD] and 4th Year of Yanxi [161 AD], they frequently came from outside the frontiers of Rinan to present.

In the Wei and Jin periods, they were cut off and did not again communicate. However in the time of Wu, the King of Funan, Fan Zhan, dispatched a relative, Suwu, as envoy to their state. From Funan he issued forth from the mouth of the Juli, circled around a great bay in the sea, and straight north-west entered successive bays bordering several states. It could have been more than a year when he arrived at the mouth the Tianzhu river. He travelled against the water for 7 000 li and then arrived there. The King of Tianzhu was startled and said:

At the sea coast furthest away they still have this person.

He promptly shouted out orders to observe and take a look inside the state, and carried on selecting Chen and Song, two persons, with four Yuezhi horses as repayment to Zhan, and dispatched them to go back with Wu and others. After a total of four years exactly they arrived. At that time Wu dispatched Central Gentleman Kang Tai as envoy to Funan. When he saw Chen, Song, and others, he comprehensively asked about Tianzhu's native customs, as follows:

The Way of the Buddha is what fosters the state. The people are sincere and varied, and the land is fertile and well-watered. Their king is titled Maolun. The capital is a walled city. Water springs forth in a split flow, entwines it in a knot of channels [?], and flows down into the great river. Their palace halls all are engraved and patterned with inlays and carvings. There are bending streets, markets and residential compounds, buildings, storied houses and towers, bells, drums, tones and music, clothes, decorations and fragrant flowers. Communication flows by water and land, a hundred merchants exchange and gather, and there are strange playthings and precious jewels to indulge the heart's desires. To their left and right are Jiawei, Shewei, Yebo, and others, sixteen great states, their distance to Tianzhu is perhaps two or three thousand li. They all together respect and serve them, and consider them to be at the centre of Heaven and Earth.

…

The state of Shizi is a state nearby Tianzhu. Its land is harmonious and comfortable, there are no differences between winter and summer. The Five Grains follows from when people plant them, it is not necessary to follow the seasons. Their state in the past was without people, there was only ghosts, spirits and dragons who lived there. Merchant from various states came to trade and hold market together. The ghosts and spirits did not make visible their bodies, but only produced precious treasure and put forth what value they would be worth. The merchants who agreed to the price took them. People from various states heard about the pleasures of their lands. Following that, they contended to arrive there, and sometimes there were those who stopped to live there. Consequently they achieved a great state.

Beginning of Jin's Yixi era [405 – 418], they first dispatched to present a jade image, passing through ten years before arriving. The image was 4 chi, 2 cun tall [c. 97 cm], the jade's colour was pure and lustrous, and the shape and construction was unusual and unique. This image during the successive Jin and Song periods was located at Waguan Temple. The temple first had from before five images of the Buddha made by the hand of the summoned scholar Dai Andao [Dai Kui] and Gu Changkang's painted chart of the vimāna. People of the period spoke of them as the Three Unmatched. Reaching the reign of Donglun of Qi [r. 498 – 501], he consequently destroyed the jade image. First he cut off the arms, then he took the body and made hair-ornaments and bracelets for his favourite concubine, the Honoured Consort Pan.

Song's 6th Year [429 AD] and 12th Year of Yuanjia [435 AD], their King Chalimohe dispatched envoys with tribute to present.

…

#ls54

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thisisnalkan · 10 months

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Fuck, I need to rant about BTIW again, this time specifically how Medieval Thoth would be perfect for Crusader Kings. There's so much potential right there that I need to start learning how to mod total conversions (this will also be an explanation on Thoth pre colonization I guess)

First, I'm using the 1522 map of Thoth for this idea, I do not care that they'd very quickly meet the Portuguese and Spanish, I don't have any maps of Thoth before than.

Now, before I continue I just want to explain the human populations we're working with. There are three distict groups of humans we're working with.

The Bae Noongeor, descended from the Yaghan people of South America, who are the only ones who naturally traveled to Thoth. They inhabited the many islands to the west of Thoth, however, by the time Western Thoth proper was being settled the Foshayti showed up.

The Foshayti are Carthaginian sailors blown by a freak storm through the Sentinal's Gate and straight onto Continental Thoth, founding the Makamazuh Empire, the largest Empire on Thoth, and the closest equivalent I can think of is China in that's is a large, bureaucratic empire, although they have a much more religious angle to their Empire. They are very dedicated to spreading the temples of Baal Braħaas all over Thoth.

Our final inhabitant to Thoth arrived around in the 11th century CE, that being the Nogri People, descendent from recently converted Vikings who went to settle Vinland, they arrived in Thoth via vile vortex(a method where one is transported through space by a wormhole, ending up in another part of the world(the Bermuda Triangle is one of these)). They basically took over most of the middle islands during the first Andolont Empire although eventually collapsed into multiple smaller kingdoms. And their recent paganism has translated into a heavily syncretic version of Christianity.

Now can you all se why it'd make such a banger Crusader Kings mod? You have Vikings following a heavily pagan version of Christianity, a China like empire of Carthaginians worshipping Baal(who might I add, has a tradition of child sacrifice), and a bunch of Yaghan to fill everything else with unique varieties of worship 7500 years removed from their relatives back on Earth. The ideas just keep swirling around in my head.

That's not even to mention the alien landscape of Thoth. Having once been apart of Antarctica it broke off during the last Green Period, meaning it's home to a bunch of Marsupials and other Fauna from the period, along with things like the Isle of Ib(where trees slowly move from one end of the island to the other) or even just the high volcanism Thoth has due to it's accelerate tectonic plates (did I mention Thoth circles the world every 1500-2000 years?)

I should really learn how to mod CK3 because I'd love to play this mod. it'd be the perfect way to get someone into BTIW because this is just a fraction of the world. The Avalons with Holy Hy-Brasil/the Kingdom of Avalon, and the Bowubo(neanderthals), Shangri-la with the bountiful gardens of the vogolvolk, and Aten with the the various Duendes, would all make settings that are just as interesting as Thoth in their own right, although I feel like Thoth's collection of cultures is perfect to pull someone into BTIW's world.

#beyond the ice wall #btiw #worldbuilding #crusader kings 3 #Thoth: the nomad continent #the nomad continent #if someone wants to mods this please let me know and I can get you in contact with the BTIW team #please it'd be so cool

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paysagesvision · 7 days

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Tree Cutting Services West Island

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theshippirate22 · 1 year

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listen i finished chapter 5 of ROARING and I’m just waiting for ao3 to come back up but i think i’ll post it here in the meantime to help with the drought. stay strong in these trying times y’all 😂

quick note: you don’t really need any background information for this chapter; it’s just a bunch of steddie fluff so even if you haven’t read the first couple chapters give this a shot anyway!! if you do happen to have questions, feel free to message me or comment and i’m happy to explain. i’d you’ve been with me this whole time, congrats you guys! we finally made it to the steddie part. i love you all <33 tw: implied abusive spouse (not between steve and eddie)

taglist: @chaosdawg15 @alideities @stairsthe33rd

ROARING: Chapter 5- We Were In Screaming Color (are we out of the woods yet?)

When Robin returned to West Eggo, she felt giddy with excitement, practically skipping in from the taxi. She could still taste Miss Wheeler’s lip gloss, and it felt like her hands were still pressing firmly to her hips and the small of her back impassionedly.

As she passed under a section of particularly dense trees and found herself momentarily blinded by the darkness; the ever-glowing flame of Eddie’s house completely extinguished and plunging her entire yard into shadow. It was strange to see it that way, like the place was entirely unreal and removed.

She stumbled along toward the path, and it was then that she saw the figure coming across the garden towards her. She was frightened only a moment until her sight adjusted, and she picked out the unruly curls of her neighbor.

“Hey, sweetheart,” he murmured softly. “I wanted to apologize for darting off at lunch without saying goodbye.”

She couldn’t see his face, but she could hear the anxious apprehension in his voice, the feigned nonchalance to mask unease.

Ignoring his comment, eager to restore his assured aura, she blurted, “I’m going to call Steve tomorrow. Invite him to tea.”

Eddie let out a tense breath. “Oh. Alright.” He swallowed thickly. “I... I don’t mean to put you to any trouble.”

“I’m sure I’d see him regardless; the location is the only difference. What day would suit you?”

“Any time that would suit you,” he corrected quickly, breathlessly. “As little trouble as it’ll be for you, you see.”

“Mm, how about the day after tomorrow?”

“Yes!” He cried, then composed himself and added softer, “Yes, perfect.” He glanced around a moment; however, he undoubtedly couldn’t see more than a few vague silhouettes, slowly reinflating to his normal confidence and stepping into the only slice of moonlight in the garden. “Did you have a gay time with Nancy?”

Robin rolled her eyes. “Good Lord. Yes, actually, I did.”

“I’m glad,” he chuckled. “She called me a bit ago. She likes you.”

“I should hope so.” Robin positively swelled at the confirmation that her feelings were requited.

“Oh yes, I’m sure she’ll phone you tomorrow, twirling the chord around her finger and giggling. Never seen her so fond of someone.”

Robin grinned. She didn’t know what to say, for once in her life rendered absolutely speechless.

“Goodnight, sweetheart. Call me up about the plans or just come over and we’ll go out to Coney Island.” He kissed her forehead in parting, before trotting off into the darkness. She watched after him a moment, the way his feet picked up into a gleeful dance to his yard not escaping her and giving her no choice but to smirk after him before returning to her own house.

She felt light-headed and exuberant as she disappeared within the confines of her own walls until she had to open the window to let out a bit of her joy, so it didn’t burst the frame. There was a single light on in Eddie’s house- his, she supposed- and she leaned against the window frame, humming to herself, and watched it like the moon, which she couldn’t see through the foliage.

In the morning, she called up Steve from the office and invited him to tea the next day. He agreed most adamantly, already going on about a sweater he’d seen that was so horrendous he had to buy it just to laugh at it, and that she would love it.

At the end of their discussion, Robin warned softly, “When you come tomorrow… don’t bring Billy.”

He paused a moment. “What?”

“Don’t bring Billy with you tomorrow.”

He clicked his tongue and murmured out a playfully innocent “Who?”

The arranged day came, and Robin opened the curtains to steaming rain sizzling along the hot sidewalks, giving the air a sort of strange, condensed fog. She went out in the haze to fetch things for the appointment- teabags, cakes, strawberries- and when she returned, Eddie was pacing across her yard in a black silk suit. He looked frantic and restless, evident darkness of sleeplessness on his face.

“Oh thank God!” he cried at the sight of her. “Listen, I bought flowers. I need to know if there’s enough or if I need to send them back to get more.”

It was then that she caught the greenhouse lorry in her drive. The pair walked over to it, and Robin peered curiously into the bed. It was entirely full, to the point that another single rose might break the axles of the poor vehicle and she cried out laughing. “My God, Eddie, I think it’s alright. You’ve more flowers here than I’ve got house.”

He alternated between gnawing at his fingernails and pulling at his hair as she pushed him towards her porch and out of the rain. “Listen to me, you’re fretting over nothing at all, but if we empty the truck, it’ll look like we robbed a funeral home. Go pick four arrangements- one for either side of the mantel, the end table, and the dining table. Go on now.”

Eddie seemed in dire need of clear instruction, and the next moment, a pair of gardeners came sweeping in the door after Robin with the chosen bouquets. They were placed accordingly, and Eddie kicked off his muddy shoes on the mat- swept delicately to the side, however hasty and absentminded the action was- and threw himself despairingly on the couch.

Robin put the kettle on.

The rain continued steadily for a good while- at least an hour and a half- as Eddie tossed and turned on Robin’s couch like he’d been struck suddenly with Scarlett Fever, before leaping to his feet and pacing back and forth between the dining room and the sitting room.

Robin said patiently in her favorite armchair and babbled on and on softly about nothing imparticular (mostly Steve) as white noise to his wild nerves. The clock banged out the start of the 4 o’clock hour and Eddie properly flung himself off the ground in surprise, and stared at it unnaturally for much too long, as if it was actively tearing him apart from within.

Finally, he tore his sight away, interrupting Robin entirely, however little she minded, to loudly report, “I’m going home.”

“What?!” She cried. “Why?!”

“Nobody’s coming to tea. It’s too late,” he shook his head exasperatedly. “He’s not coming.”

“Don’t be irrational, Eddie. It’s hardly five past four.”

He threw himself down on the couch again miserably, pulling a particular curl of his hair across his face for no reason other than to hide behind it.

It was barely another minute until the sound of a motor rumbled up from the end of the drive and both of them jumped up in apprehension. Eddie murmured something reminiscent of a prayer before letting out a relieved, somewhat hysterical laugh, and lightly pushing Robin towards the door.

She went willingly; however, she paused a moment to adjust herself in the mirror in the entryway and wipe away a smudge in her makeup, before stepping out onto the porch.

The rain, which up until this point had been a steady downpour, let up until it was nothing more than a few haphazard drops as if had been waiting for the arrival of this guest, and Steve stepped out of the car without so much as a splash to impact him. He ran up the soaked pathway nonetheless, however, this was to fling himself into Robin’s arms and kiss the side of her face affectionately.

“Robbie,” he murmured, voice low and rippling with mirth. “Are you in love with me? Is that why I had to come alone?”

She laughed around the armful of him, playing along (What was it Max had said? They’re both swinging the wrong way to be hitting each other?) and whispering back conspiratorially, “Absolutely. That’s the secret, darling.”

He waved off his driver and accompanied her inside. Robin swore the moment the door was closed behind them, the rain picked right back up again.

Delighted was the wrong word to describe the way Steve looked over her home. He was positively thrilled, soaking in every inch of it like it might disappear from in front of his very eyes like a particularly magnificent but fickle dream.

“I feel as if I’ve stepped inside your ribs, Robbie,” he cried. “Show me the heart, will you?”

She laughed, pushing him lightly toward the sitting room as she remembered this visit was not for them. However, as they passed over the threshold, they found the room empty.

“What?” Robin said stupidly.

“I didn’t say anything,” Steve murmured, attention already directed toward whatever trinkets or décor he could lay his hands on.

Then there was a knock at the door, controlled and light. Robin opened it. There was Eddie, practically soaked through his coat, smiling at her as if he hadn’t done the strangest thing she’d ever witnessed.

He paused only a moment, to remove the sopping jacket and hang it on the newel post, before letting her lead him right back into the room where she’d left him.

Robin’s palms were hot and sweaty with anxiety, her heart beating faster with every step toward Steve that she took. It was at this moment that they would know whether or not their efforts had succeeded.

Steve was examining one of the flower arrangements- had plucked out a single carnation and was twirling it between two fingers. “Robbie, I think we ought to-” He looked over to her, but it was Eddie his eyes landed on. “Oh!” He properly startled, the carnation falling from his hands and onto the couch. He took a step back.

“This is my neighbor,” Robin cleared her throat. “He’s just stopping by for tea as well.”

Eddie crossed over to him slowly, like he might startle again and dart away into the kitchen without a word, until they were standing no more than a foot apart.

“Hi.”

Steve stared fixedly at the fallen flower, cheeks flushing almost the same shade of pink.

“Hi.”

Eddie picked up the flower and pressed it softly into his hands, so Steve had no choice but not to look at it any longer.

Robin started, however vain she knew it was, “This is Eddie-”

“We’ve met,” Steve interrupted quickly, lifting his head to look at her a moment before glancing finally to Eddie. He twisted the stem anxiously between his palms, watching Eddie imploringly, like he had something that Steve would surely suffocate without, adding, “Six years ago.”

“Feels longer,” Eddie mumbled.

Steve nodded haphazardly, as if the sentiment was empty but entirely too true and the only response was to bob about as a necessary accolade.

“I’ll get the tea,” Robin said.

They hadn’t moved an inch when she returned, still standing uncomfortably close and not saying anything because of the weight of all the unspoken tangles around them. The tea tray clattered against the coffee table, and they sprung apart in surprise at the sound.

Steve sat tensely on the edge of the couch, Eddie took Robin’s favorite armchair, so she settled in on the other side of the couch, trying to acquaint some sort of normalcy to the pair. She started talking dutifully, although her mind was far from anything escaping her. Steve interjected occasionally, however, abnormally infrequently, and Eddie didn’t say a thing, staring ahead as if deep in thought.

Eventually, Robin decided the problem was her presence, that if she was absent, they might be able to speak to each other like functioning members of society, so she got to her feet and offered up some excuse about needing to check her flowerbeds hadn’t flooded with the rain.

Eddie sat up quickly. “I’ve got to speak to you before you go out.”

Steve cast his gaze down, almost shamefully, as Eddie shuffled into the foyer beside Robin.

“What’s the matter?”

“This was a terrible mistake. Is a terrible mistake. I’m afraid I’ve outdone any of my previous stupidity with this one...”

“It’s not!” Robin cried exasperatedly. “If you both weren’t acting so horribly queer...”

“You think we’re acting queer, sweetheart?” he asked, laughing tensely. “Because I don’t think we’re acting nearly queer enough!”

“My God,” she murmured. “Peculiar. You’re both acting so outrageously peculiar! You’re embarrassed, he’s embarrassed, and you’ve both got to get over yourselves.”

“He’s embarrassed?” Eddie echoed hopefully.

“Yes, just as much, if not more, as you.”

“Hush! Lower your voice. What am I to do, then?”

“Stop acting like an adolescent,” she pushed him impatiently in Steve’s direction. “You’re being rude! He’s in there all alone and he knows we’re talking about him.”

Eddie looked panicked at that, perhaps even had some decency to appear guilty, before quickly steeling himself with a sharp breath and starting back into the other room.

Robin, rolling her eyes as she went, stepped out the back door and went across the lawn to hide from the rain under the massive tree that poured over from Eddie’s side of the fence and accounted for a good portion of the shade on the northwest side of the yard.

The rain carried on for a little more than a half hour, at which point Robin’s shoes were wet and muddy and her hair had gone damp and flat against her neck from the spray of the wind, and then she returned to the house. She came in through the back door, rattling about in the kitchen that she might make her presence known and not walk in on anything she’d rather not see (presumptuous of her, she knew well enough, but rather safe than sorry) but it was as if no sound could reach the pair at all, despite her incessant clamoring.

They were perched on opposite sides of the sofa, knees turned in toward each other, so they found themselves rather far into the other’s space, breathing close and murmuring delicately to each other like the words were too pure to be uttered aloud and couldn’t risk falling upon a porcine audience. Steve was crying silently, twisting the poor carnation between his fingers again, and Eddie reached up softly to wipe his face with the sleeve of his sweater. He muttered something sweet, and a smile Robin had never received overtook Steve instantaneously, disappearing almost as quickly.

Robin properly kicked the stove now, which bellowed out an irritated metallic moan, and the pair startled at once, leaping away from each other as if they’d been caught in a significantly more compromising position.

“Oh, hello, sweetheart,” Eddie said. It was as if he had been completely revitalized in their short time apart, as if it had been years since he had laid eyes on her. He glanced back at Steve for a moment, with the fondness of a moon that had spent too long in eclipse, waxing full in the glow of the sun like it never had before.

“It’s stopped raining,” Robin said.

“Has it?” Steve’s voice was thick with some sort of emotion, wet with tears but high with delight in a way that felt contagious, and Robin promptly grinned at the sound of it.

“Now, my dear, we were just saying I ought to take you both over to my house,” Eddie explained, echoing the very same tone. “I want to show Steve around.”

“You’re sure you want me to come?” It felt peculiar to be included in such an obviously intimate invitation.

“Yeah, of course, sweetheart.” He stared at her with the strangest expression, as if the thought of her staying behind had never occurred to him.

So out Robin went with the pair. Eddie led the charge, three fingers grasping softly at Steve’s wrist- resting there against his pulse like if he couldn’t feel the life in him, he might disappear from the very place he stood- as he directed them toward his wrought iron gates overgrown with ivy.

There was help here, too. Three great, booming men in idyllically pressed suits with perfect, innocent white gloves, who swept open the gates at Eddie’s call and revealed the cobblestone up the private drive to his garage.

Eddie’s loose grip on him was lost, and Steve rushed up ahead of them to peer through the cover of the trees and get a glimpse of the house.

“Can you see it?” Eddie asked, however, looking at Robin with the sort of glee of a child stumbling upon a stash of sweets.

Steve gasped softly, hands flying to cover his mouth as he stepped through the trees and onto the front lawn. “It’s... massive. You... you live there?”

Eddie nodded adamantly. “I do. Do you like it?”

He stared at it for a bit longer, contemplating, before his grin began slipping and he decided faintly, “It looks lonely.”

Robin watched some of the darkness edge back into him in a moment, watched the way the sunlight streaming out of him faltered for an instant. He’d mentioned- once, is all- that he’d spent more of his childhood alone in his parent’s estate than not, and the dreaded prep school he’d been shipped off to was a welcome reprieve from the silence.

“It isn’t,” Eddie said quickly. “I keep it full of interesting, celebrated people. There’s never a moment I spend alone that I don’t desire it.”

On and on they waltzed in and out through the ornate, opulent rooms of the castle. Sitting rooms, offices, guest bedrooms, kitchens, bathing rooms, ballrooms. The glittering, golden art deco pressed down against them lightly, the crystal glasses, the alabaster chandeliers glowing all around them.

Steve’s footsteps echoed out as he dashed across the wide expanse of the main ballroom, bouncing around in the air with his laughter and Eddie’s. “My God, it’s splendid! It’s simply splendid. Do you see it, Robbie?”

Eddie murmured to her, “Do you know how long I’ve dreamed of this? See how he glows?”

And he was right. The sun inside Steve- no matter how much his husband had managed to extinguish it- was once again lit up enough to provide warm, hazy light to every inch of the galaxy.

Eddie showed off his built-in organ and its eccentric player, the inventions in his kitchens, the records in his personal sitting room. They tripped out to his beach and swam out the few yards to the floating dock tethered off the shore, laughing and gleaming the whole while.

The affair was no expense spared- one of the butlers adjusted a massive sail over the top of the posts to build a shade, and just off the edge of the dock sat another of the butlers in a little rowboat full of anything anyone could dream of eating. There were baguettes smeared with butter and strawberry preserves, trays of Prosciutto, Gouda, Havarti, and Salami, cold grapes, apricots, raspberries the color of roses. Champagne passed around while Steve tried to drive an unblemished golf ball into the bay and instead knocked the head off the club, which sent both he and Eddie into hysterics. Robin was at one instant handed a camera and surely used up a few rolls of film as she documented the occasion.

It seemed, floating there against the sapphire ocean, that time had abruptly forgotten to attend its profession, and the three would remain young as they were that very morning for the rest of eternity.

It came to a soft end as Steve remarked that Eddie was hot to the touch and starting to spike red in complexion, and promptly decided they must return to the shelter of the house, lest he get a nasty sunburn. Steve himself looked golden; the sun had kissed gently along his brow, the way a mother favors a child, water drops beading along his skin as he pulled himself from the water and onto the sand.

It was quickly realized between them that Eddie had not revealed his own bedroom, and Steve asked politely if they might see it. Robin watched the exchange cheerily, for she was sure Eddie would send his right hand through an orange juicer if Steve so much as sighed the right way.

In they danced through the billowing curtains and cool air. Robin asked impertinently how Eddie found the time to purchase the furnishes of his castle, and Eddie properly laughed.

“I don’t buy them myself. I’ve got people hired out to do it, and I send out my signature where it’s needed. Anything I desire is less than a phone call away at any moment.” He swept open the doors to his own suite. The room was massive- rather expected at this point- with at least three-story ceilings stretching up forever and ever to reach an incredible chandelier. At about where the second floor should be, there was a great closet, built into the wall with seventy or more shelves from the lip of the balcony overhanging where they stood to as high as a man could reach, all full of fabrics and clothing of every color.

“Why,” Eddie cried, dashing toward the black spiral staircase leading to this second half-level. “I’ve got a man in England who buys my clothes for me.”

He reached for a shelf, grasping at a handful of colored handkerchiefs, and flung one down over the balcony so that it tumbled down like a dejected leaf in late October. Steve reached to grab it before it hit the floor, and when he looked up again, there was another twirling down toward him, and another and another, and he cried out in laughter, trying frantically to retrieve them all.

Eddie, however, had tired of the handkerchiefs and turned his attention to the neatly folded shirts all in a row. He flung them out next, one after the other, and Steve laughed and laughed over the sound of his explanations. “These are satin... flannel!... Indian cotton...”

As the shelves began to grow empty, and the armful of cloth Steve had acquired grew too heavy, Eddie paused and watched as he threw himself down on his bed, tumbling in around the clothes, shoulders shaking. Robin watched the way one watches a ticker tape parade, and she called something nonsensical to Steve’s trembling figure, the deepness of his laughter muffled by the surrounding mess of shirts.

Eddie held tightly to the railing of the balcony for only a moment longer, before turning suddenly and racing down the stairs two at a time to meet him.

“What is it?” He cried miserably, sinking to his knees next to him.

Steve lifted himself, hands fisted around a particular light pink button-up, hot tears pouring from the wells in his eyes.

“What is it?” Eddie murmured again, patiently and softly this time. He smoothed gently at his hair, wiping vainly the individual tears that trailed down his cheeks. “Tell me, sweet boy. I’ll fix it this instant.”

This only served to make Steve cry harder, until Robin was nearly sick with concern, before he mumbled out, “It makes me sad... it makes me so sad...”

Eddie looked at Robin a moment in confusion before refocusing his attention. “What does, darling?”

Steve shuddered, letting him pry the shirt from his hands and replace it with his own hands. He seemed to want to say something, to spill out some great secret upon them, and Robin watched the sudden change when Eddie’s tracing finger stumbled over the lip of Steve’s wedding ring, and whatever words found themselves on the edge of his lips died there.

Instead, he whispered wetly, “They’re just such beautiful shirts.”

Robin went to fetch someone to bring back water for the lot of them, mostly Steve, and when she returned, Eddie had crossed to the other side of the bed and relaxed against the headboard so that Steve might rest his head on his stomach. Eddie held him there with the utmost delicacy, hands running gently through Steve’s hair, to quell whatever torment Steve had chained inside himself.

When a butler arrived with the water, he drank obediently and returned to his place against Eddie. He reached out for Robin, now perched at the foot of the bed, and took her hand weakly into his.

She looked up to Eddie, who nodded despite the silence, and in that moment, it was decided between them that everything that afflicted Steve would be done away with at the soonest possible opportunity.

Finally, after nearly an hour in silence, as the sun sunk slowly back into the horizon until it started to disappear entirely, and Steve’s glow leveled out into a soft haze, he murmured, “What time is it, Robbie?”

“Just after 9...” She consulted her watch.

“I’ve got to go home.” He pressed it into the air lethargically, making no effort to remove himself from Eddie’s arms.

“Stay here tonight,” Eddie murmured into the top of his head. “Call up Nancy, tell her you’re staying.”

Steve hummed contentedly, rubbing softly up Eddie’s forearms as he entertained the thought, but ultimately decided, “I mustn’t. Billy will be so dreadfully angry with me. It was hard enough to get him to agree to this appointment with Robin.”

“Why’s that, sweet boy?” Eddie returned the significant look Robin shot him instantly, keeping perfect nonchalance in his voice.

“Hmm...” Steve mumbled, eyes blinking in and out of sleep slowly. “I suppose he prefers to have me nearby. Perhaps he misses me.”

It was said in the way one expresses a dream, a sort of vague fantasy. A half-truth. Eddie’s eyes turned dark in the confirmation, and the look between him and Robin grew hard and determined.

Eddie kissed the top of his head gently, then his forehead, then each temple before he began to extract them.

He walked them all the way back to Robin’s house, folding out in the dusk- returning to his own domain- with a hand on Steve’s wrist again. It was softer this time, less to lead him and more to tie them securely together and ensure that Steve would understand they would not be separated again.

Once Steve and Robin had been deposited on the back porch of Robin’s house, he pulled their connected hands to his lips and pressed a kiss to Steve’s hand in parting. Telling Robin he’d call her up later- once again forcing a sort of calmness that was not enforced by the look in his eyes- he started back off down the lawn.

Steve’s driver arrived within a few minutes, and he started off towards it without a word but stopped suddenly to turn back and look at Robin on the stoop.

“If... if he asks about today... you’ll tell him it was just us?”

Robin knew exactly which “he” he meant- not Eddie- and she nodded solemnly.

He sighed exhaustedly and added, “It’s all so... conflicting. Difficult.” He laughed absurdly. “I needn’t explain it to you; you know just what I mean, don’t you?”

“Of course, darling,” Robin said.

He nodded with finality and disappeared within the darkness of the car.

#steddie #steve harrington #eddie munson #robin buckley #nancy wheeler #billy hargrove #steddie fic #steddie au #ronance #stranger things #ronance au #harringrove #abusive harringrove #steddie hurt/comfort #great gatsby au #the great gatsby #ROARING

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seabreeze2022 · 1 year

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2023 Bahama Cruise, Part 26, May 11 Rock Sound, Eleuthera.

Nancy is trimming sails on our way up the west side of Eleuthera. The Puritans named the island Eleuthera in the 1700’s. Which is a derivative of the Greek word, “Eleutheros”, meaning Free or Freedom.

Saturday, filet mignon night. Thanks Dush and Kelly!

To bring you you up to date. We had arrived outside the Rock Sound Harbor, Eleuthera on Saturday and decided to anchor off of a long beach. Instead of going the last couple of miles to Rock Sound Harbor. Because there was a huge rain storm over the harbor. We had to anchor a ways off shore to find good sand to anchor in. We had good protection from the waves and a cool night with the winds.

Anchoring further away from land usually assures mosquito free nights. Rigged the boat for quick closing with multiple rain showers expected. Since the threat was rain and not mosquitoes, we remove the screens and added a draw string to the hatch handle. No need to go on deck half asleep, to lower the open hatches. Just pull down on the draw string hanging down into the cabin to close the hatch.

But the first day it was too windy for Nancy to paddleboard. I spent 3 hours making water, reading etc.

Sunday Nancy paddled to shore and I met her using the dinghy. We both walked the beach looking for shells. We found several Murex shells. Then snorkeled back to the boat. Very few corals of fans. So we made the decision to go anchor off of the settlement.

As we started walking up Fish Road, we came across some cute art work. There are so many abandoned houses in the Bahamas. Some over a hundred years old. Some only a couple years old, just never finished. This art work really brightened up the city. Using the abandoned house elevated it from being a blight to a beautiful object.

Just up the block, we ran into Warren who is the artist. He is recently retired from being a nurse in Nassau for 42 years. He has a passion for cleaning up his hometown. “Grand Ma’s” was his grandmothers ice cream store, but she has passed on. Now it is his art store. Warren dropped the wet paint brush he was painting with, to talk to us. Giving us a tour of his works. Super nice guy full of energy.

The dark round hole at the bottom of the photo is “Ocean Hole”. Number one tourist destination at Rock Sound. It is confirmed to be over 110 ft. deep. But rumored to be around 700 feet. Warren told us to take bread for the Snapper.

Apparently the Mangrove Snapper and Grouper were stocked in there by local fishermen as well as Parrotfish. The parrot fish died when the trees around the hole were cut down and fell in the water.

Dye was put in the hole at some point and it showed up in the ocean nearby. Proving that it is connected underground to the ocean and a new source of water. We walked around town for an hour and saw most of it, so back to the boat for dinner.

The next morning we walked to “The Boiling Hole” and “Cathedral Cave”. Passing by the beautiful St Luke’s Anglican Church built 1863. For most of the settlements we have seen on Eleuthera the old churches are built at the waters edge and not on top of the hills overlooking the town. Usually they are very prominent and the first thing you see approaching from the sea.

The next biggest tourist attraction is a ten minute walk out of town to the cave and Boiling hole (photo above). The caves are not the ones on the far shore. They are another 5 minute walk through the bush.

Luckily the old wooden ladder was not too rotten. Only a couple of steps had broken. Interestingly many mosquitoes hang just outside the cave. I was thinking the bats were not doing their job. But several species here are actually fruit bats that migrate, and have not acquired a taste for mosquitoes.

We were lucky the bats had apparently migrated back and were flying around in the cave. This cave has many large openings in the ceiling, so plenty of light. Actually no need for carrying flashlights.

On the way back we realized that there was an old cemetery that was completely abandoned and overgrown next to the road and beach. Such a shame. Again the graves are pointed east. Above is the only one with a head stone. Most were just mounds of rock. This one was 1905?

From the caves we walked 30 minutes across the island to the supposedly “pink beach”. Pretty, but no sea shells. Nancy took a quick dip.

Half way back, we stop and talk with Rose. She is feeding stay dogs called “Pot lickers”. She shared some hog plums with us. Nancy had already gone out into the bush and picked half a dozen mangoes.

The fisherman had come in with their gill net full of grunts. Each settlement has a dock with a covered stand for the fisherman to use while cleaning fish. We made multiple trips to the gas station filling jerry jugs with either diesel or gas. Our tanks are full and are carrying 12 gallons of diesel and 12 gallons of gasoline on deck. This may be our last place to fuel up before we make it home.

Cruisers rate the settlements by there grocery stores. Rock Sound has the cheapest grocery store that is fairly large. This was much more industrious then the settlements on Cat Island. Again most of the younger folks have moved away for jobs. When they retire they move back. This leaves a void of workers. That is where we see the Haitians getting a foot hold.

Honestly I must say, if you have never been to Rock Sound you need to go. If you have ever been to Rock Sound, you don’t need to go again.

Now that procuring fuel is going to be tough we are making a point of sailing more and motoring less. So we sail ten miles to the next settlement of Tarpum Bay.

S/V Sea Breeze.

#seabreeze2022 #seabreeze2023

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anxiousanteaterr · 1 year

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through the power of digging through old folders and screenshots, i managed to scrape together some map bits from my island during the past 3 years.

Apr. 22, 2020

This is the earliest one I could find, and clearly was taken after I had already obtained terraforming and building pathways. The idea for Syzygy had already had its foundations that would remains mostly unchanged.

Jul. 30, 2020

Added more paths. Adjusted the eastern river around the houses. Added a pond west of Resident Services?? Moved the campsite to its permanent location. Able Sisters moves to the commercial area of the island. Made the “maze” in the western side of the island more detailed/natural. The museum gets more detail outside. Priest gets his “house” built near the museum and some lore stuff is put up between the chapel and the museum. Finally, the WRESTLING RING is installed just south of Resident Services.

Jan. 1, 2021 (this was grabbed from a vid of the new years event lmao)

Molded the river to run down out of the northwestern pond and through the “maze” on the western side of the island for more realism. Added a slope to the largest maze island. Banished some villagers to the beach as I try to figure out how much yard space they should all get + make it look like the town was built around the river (for more realism). Added slopes for ease of access on the northeast side of the island. [REDACTED] gets his house built in the forest in the northwest corner of the island. Removed the pond west of Resident Services??

Jun. 19, 2021

Added more details to the western river, removed the slope to keep the preserved/untouched feel of the “maze”. The Orchard is moved to the space west of Resident Services. Guy moves in with his surf/summer shop just below the “maze” where the orchard originally was. Added slopes to reach the northern island because I grew tired of using ladders to visit Redd. Villagers are allowed to live on the mainland again. Opted to have the eastern river ‘end’ at one point, and ‘begin’ below, implying it goes underground. Finally, the cemetery is built in the northeast side of the island.

Jan, 1, 2022 (another horrid new years eve vid screenshot) FARMING UPDATE!!!

Added much needed details to the eastern river. The orchard is moved as far up as I can possibly move it without disturbing the natural look too much. In its place: the farming field. The six rocks are finally given their own dedicated spot just below the cemetery.

Mar. 22, 2022

Added a pathway from Guy’s Summer Daze shop to the southern beach, with palm trees dotted all around. Expanded the pond that the eastern river dumps out into for detail, realism, and to just fill in the empty space. Added some decor to the empty gap just south of Able Sisters. Added palm trees all around the eastern edge of the island for detail and to keep things looking natural.

Dec. 31, 2022

Professor moves into the ancient ruins inside the maze that were 100% totally there this whole time! Added dirt pathways across the island for detail. Adjusted the northwestern and the mid-eastern pond for even more detail. Made the southern parts of both rivers little more irregular.

Jun. 4, 2023

Hope establishes her café next door to Able Sisters. Guy’s brother moves in next to Nook’s Cranny. Still haven’t decided what I’m going to do with that house. Hotel? Community center? IDK.

It’s really neat to see how much and yet so little my island has changed. I had kinda forgotten how much of it I already had planned out since the beginning. But I definitely remember the pain that was moving the orchard, and literally all of the terraforming.

It’s also fascinating to see that I really did not touch the little corner where my house is AT ALL. There’s a pear tree next to my house, near the western river, that literally was there day one. Default tree. It is most likely the only original tree left in its original spot on the entire island.

#long post #acnh #i just love my island so much #its been a 3+ year art project at this point

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mareislandfoundation · 1 month

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The Man Behind the Park

Mare Island’s Alden Park is famous for the many trees from around the world that are planted there because of the happy coincidence of Rear Admiral James Alden’s botanical interests and his service as the Commandant of Mare Island Naval Shipyard from 1868 to 1869. It was because of this interest that Alden requested ship captains to bring him trees from around the Pacific for planting on the once barren island. RADM Alden had a distinguished naval career, and he was no stranger to the West Coast and the North Bay. He served in the Mexican American War in the 1840’s and he led a hydrographic survey party of Mare Island and the North Bay in the 1850’s. With the outbreak of the Civil War was involved in a couple of watershed events prior to continuing his navy service which included his tour of duty as Mare Island’s commandant before ultimately retiring as the Commander of the United States European Fleet in 1873. Alden’s Civil War service involved him in a couple of ignominious Civil War events.

As the Nation sat on the precipice of our bloodiest war, concern grew in the Capital over the fate of warships in the Gosport Navy Yard (today known as the Norfolk Naval Shipyard) in Virginia. Virginia was a slave state and was clearly about to join the Confederacy. Our soon to be Union Navy consisted of 90 ships, only half of which were in commission, and those were scattered around the world. Several of these vital warships were stuck in the Gosport Navy Yard and it was clear that work was being delayed by southern sympathizers to keep those ships in the yard and out of Union hands if war broke out. President Lincoln and Secretary of the Navy, Gideon Wells, were intimately involved in the crisis and decided to act when, in response to a request to rapidly complete work on the 40-gun steam sloop, Merrimac, so that she could sortie (basically to get her out of rebel hands). The yard responded that she was so torn apart it would require at least a month for her to be put in condition to leave the shipyard. Alarmed by what was felt to be obvious intent to delay the ship based on the response, they sent the navy engineer, Benjamin Isherwood, and a line officer, James Alden, to Gosport to remove the Merrimac to safety. Isherwood was successful in hiring local workers to have the Merrimac’s boilers reinstalled and the ship was ready to leave within 4 days. All that remained was for the line officer, Alden, to captain the ship to safety, but there was a problem.

Despite the orders of the Secretary of the Navy, the Commandant of the Gosport Navy Yard, Commodore Charles Stewart McCauley, equivocated refusing to allow the Merrimac to leave. Worried over the lack of a proper Navy crew (Isherwood had hired local personnel to man the ship), and her ability to get by barricades erected downstream on the Elizabeth River, he believed the Merrimac (and another ship she planned to tow out of the yard) would be destroyed by the rebels. Isherwood was furious and appealed unsuccessfully several times to the Commandant of the Yard to allow the ships to get underway. Unable to get the Commandant's approval to sail, Isherwood then appealed directly to James Alden to sail the Merrimac away under the authority of the Secretary of the Navy, but Alden would not agree to disobey the Commandant. Unable to sail, and as passions escalated, it became evident they had no choice, but to get out of Virginia. Both Isherwood and Alden were lucky to escape Southern sympathizers’ intent on capturing them, while the Commandant of the Yard ordered the facilities and ships burned to keep them out of the hands of the rebels. Both James Alden and Charles Stewart McCauley suffered public outrage over their conduct for not removing Merrimac from the shipyard before it was too late. Merrimac was sunk at the dock and her topsides burned, but her war was not over.

The rebels raised Merrimac and rebuilt her as an ironclad ram rechristened the CSS Virginia. She then set about destroying the Union blockade in Hampton Roads that was seriously impeding their war effort. Virginia was easily able to sink two of the wooden Union ships and ran one aground before the Union responded by building the ironclad, MONITOR. The two iron clads then famously clashed on March 9, 1862, where they fought each other to a draw and forever changed naval warfare.

Then two years later RADM Alden once again distinguished himself in a somewhat unfavorable way. By that point in the war the Union Plan to strangle the South with a naval blockade was in full swing. Then the Union Fleet moved to capture the South’s last major port at Mobile Bay, Alabama. It was ADM Farragut’s plan as the fleet commander to run his fleet under the guns of Fort Morgan rather than attempting to reduce the fort first. To do so the fleet must transit the narrow channel in front of the fort as quickly as possible or risk being destroyed by the fort’s guns. As the Union Fleet attempted to run that gauntlet a Union monitor struck a mine (called a torpedo back then) and sank in seconds. In response to that sinking RADM Alden, whose warship USS Brooklyn was behind the monitor, reversed engines slowing and turning trapping the rest of the fleet in column under the rebel guns. It was to him that ADM Farragut exclaimed one of the most famous phrases in naval history “Damn the torpedoes full speed ahead.” Alden ordered his ship forward and the US fleet entered the bay defeating the confederate ships located within.

As for Isherwood, he escaped the controversy over the attempt to remove Merrimac from the Gosport Shipyard and he became the Chief Engineer of the Navy. Isherwood went on to oversee tremendous technological innovation and a huge naval buildup, but he would face a turn of fortune following the end of the war. After the Civil War the Navy was evolving, but it was still dominated by line officers bred under the increasingly obsolete culture of sail even though naval ships were increasingly powered by machinery that those line officers knew little about. In the rank conscious navy low ranking engineering personnel carried little authority despite their critical role. Isherwood sought to correct that imbalance by increasing the rank and status of engineering officers but soon ran afoul of the entrenched naval bureaucracy. Isherwood eventually was essentially banished by those traditionalists to Mare Island for his enthusiastic promotion of increased status of the engineer. True to his nature, rather than brood about the rough hand he had been dealt, Isherwood used his time at Mare Island to develop, test and establish a new standard for propellers for our navy, but that is another story for another time.

Dennis Kelly

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