#and they even left athens together at the end of their lives

[kebriones]

A clarification on Athenian Laws concerning male homosexuality.

(because this particular small thing is often misunderstood, due to inability to accurately translate specific ancient greek terms into english, or lack of comprehension of context.)

In classical athens, there was a very specific set of laws, concerning ONLY male athenian citizens (so slaves, women and metics were not subject to it). These laws said that a male athenian citizen who engages in intercourse with another man IN EXCHANGE FOR PAYMENT, was not allowed to do certain things, such as hold positions of power or speak in the assembly. There were also potential penalties (not described in detail) for the person hiring an athenian citizen for this purpose. Again, this is often misunderstood, so I have to repeat, this was only when it was done in exchange for some sort of payment/recompense. The word used for these men is of the same root as εταιρα, which was the female counterpart. It is often mistranslated, there's a whole thing I could go on explaining about the different types of prostitution terms, but basically there was a distinction between prostitute and courtesan/escort/whatever you'd call them in english. Also, this law did not forbid this, and it was not a prosecutable offense by itself. The offense was if one such man disobeyed the limitations set by the law, and it's unclear to me what the deal was with the person who paid.

SO yeh. Next time someone says there were laws against homosexuality in classical athens, here's a helpful article of a guy explaining this much better than me, and goes into more detail about all the weird intricacies of the legal system, as well as the laws set in place to protect boys from grown men:

and here's our original source about these laws:

[siren-141]

shame on me ✤ final

sorry it took so long, I've been busy with vacation and school. I probably would not have made this into a four-part miniseries without all of the support and requests, so I thank each and every one of you 🥰 here's the final part/epilogue! I hope you all enjoy 🖤

It had been two years.

Paris, Athens, Morocco. You had gone everywhere. Hell, even New York City.

That was maybe the hardest location you had stayed since your disappearance from the Avengers Tower all those years ago – what had been your home for the past few years. Where all of your friends had been, where Bucky had been. Where the two of you had built a home together.

Walking the streets, memories flooding back in every corner you looked…it was rough. It was rough when you’d sit on your fire escape and watch Bucky down below, look in back alleys and knock on doors asking if anyone had seen you. It was rough when you’d look out the window of the coffee shop you were sitting in, sipping on hot tea in the middle of a cold February, and watch Bucky across the street sit in the bar the two of you would frequent when you wanted a night out. It was funny though, watching him look for you in all your frequent places.

He looked for a couple of months, apparently. You hadn’t stayed in NYC for long after you had left the Tower, only staying long enough for your connections to make you a new passport and secure you a house in some other country that was far, far away. But you had kept tabs for the first three months of your escape. Bucky looked and looked, going from state to state and country to country to check out all of the safe houses. Following your normal patterns. But he never came close to finding you.

After a while, he had given up. He had sat slumped in a conference chair with this dead look in his eyes, everything that had ever mattered to him completely gone. His friends tried to console, but it never helped. He blamed himself for your disappearance – and he was right to do so. He finally came to understand that his actions bore the consequence of you leaving not only him, but everyone you loved, probably forever.

He went on missions and acted erratically, got drunk on Asgardian Ale every night that he could. His hair had grown back out, he had become more violent on his missions. Turning into a shell of himself, any reason he had to exercise self-restraint and maintain his humanity now gone. He thought he had healed from the decades of torture, trauma, and brainwashing, and he had: there was no turning back into the Winter Soldier. But he didn’t like who had become without you. Nobody liked who he had become. He was still a damn good agent, but too hot-headed for his own good. Too willing to sacrifice himself. He was on a path of self-destruction, and it seemed like nothing would help except for groveling at your feet if you had ever come back.

You, on the other hand, had it better. You had your horrible nights, of course – nights where you cried and screamed and regretted that you had ever left your friends and only family behind. You just wanted to go home on those nights, but you realized that your home wasn’t in that apartment with Bucky laying next to you anymore: your home would be on that 16th floor of the Tower, waking up every morning and going down the elevator to fix a cup of coffee or tea, never really leaving work since you lived there again. Back to the beginning. You couldn’t do that to yourself – you owed it to yourself to have a fresh start.

But those horrible nights ended about six months into your disappearance. You let yourself grieve a life once lived, but you also realized that you could be anywhere, do anything you wanted now. A true fresh start. You still had all of your aliases with you, but you only went by one now – one that nobody knew of. You supposed that keeping connections outside of the Avengers was one of the smartest things you had done, in the event that you needed to run. In events like these.

So here you were, two years later, sitting outside at a table in Barcelona. You sipped on your coffee, watching over the crowds in the streets. Teenagers out from school during the summertime, walking arm in arm with their friends, laughing and smiling. Couples with their babies, walking down the cobblestone roads with strollers. There was a time that it would have triggered something in you: thoughts of that should have been me. Those thoughts were long gone, though. They had been for a while.

You had moved on. You had moved on from fighting the powers of the world and living life as a civilian. Of course you couldn’t help yourself if you were walking late at night and a thief tried to rob a group of young women – that had happened a year ago, and you had casually walked past and brought the thief down with a few swift moves, before casually walking off in the direction of your flat. But for the most part – you had moved on. You stopped looking for trouble. You stopped being self-destructive and allowed yourself to let the happiness and the joy in of traveling the world under better circumstances than normal. Sure, you had left your old life behind, but you had also begun a new one. You had left and said goodbye to everyone who mattered, effectively bringing everything to a close and not leaving anyone hanging with much more than speculations of how you had disappeared.

Basking in the soft sunlight, you sighed to yourself, content with life. You brought the mug up to your lips, taking a small sip. Setting the mug down, you spoke.

“I was waiting for you to speak, but I was about to ask for the check. Didn’t want you to miss your opportunity.”

Natasha smiled behind her newspaper, having missed the sound of your voice. Putting the paper down, she got up from her seat at the small table behind you and instead sat across from you.

You smiled, having missed your best friend.

“It’s been a while,” she said, small smile still playing on her lips.

“It has,” you smiled back. She hadn’t changed a bit. “I’ve missed you, Nat.”

“I missed you too. We all have,” she replied. “I know you told me not to come and find you, and trust me – I didn’t. I never came to look for you before these past three months. You deserved that kind of peace – you still do.”

“But..?”

She sighed, taking off her sunglasses and setting them gently down on the table.

“We need you. This isn’t a personal visit, unfortunately. Only Tony knows that I’ve come to find you…it was actually his idea.”

You looked at her, almost in shock. A million thoughts flooded your mind. You had made so much progress, lived such a nice life ever since leaving…did you really want to go back?

“You don’t have to. It’s optional – we can find a way to do this without you. I’ll tell Tony that I just ran into a dead-end. Never found you – and I can leave, and we can pretend that this never happened.”

“What’s the mission?”

Natasha paused, hesitating to continue. When you met her eyes, she knew you were serious. “Our files. Our aliases, our covers…everything is in the hands of a man who goes by Typhon. He’s selling it to the highest bidder, which is every single enemy we’ve ever had and everyone who plans to be one. It’s all compromised.”

You thought about it. You didn’t have much time to think about it, though. You had a nice life here – nice and peaceful. But a part of you would always miss the chaos.

Raising your hand, you grabbed the attention of the waiter. “Señor – la cuenta, por favor?”

“Thanks, everyone, for coming. I mean, it wasn’t optional, but you get the gist,” Tony spoke, voice tired and stressed. The room was dark – not the same Tower that they were used to meeting in. Since everything had been compromised, the new meeting point was an underground cave that was unknown to most – old railways that used to be for smuggling in alcohol during the Prohibition Era, now covered up with skyscrapers on top of them.

Everyone stood around, listening intently.

Natasha walked in, joining the rest of the group. “Sorry we’re late, the air was rough.”

There were murmurs, people sharing confused glances.

“Oh my god,” Bucky breathed out, the shakes coming back to his body. His breathing got heavier, his hands coming to the back of his head to alleviate the pressure. Some looked back at him, confused at his realization.

You stepped out from the shadowed corner, just a few seconds behind Natasha, fully suited and ready to get started.

“It’s about time,” Tony said, looking at you before focusing his attention back on the group. “You almost missed the most important part.”

[arielburrow]

So It Goes

part one here, part two here

“And you got the candles? You cant forget the candles Joe they are what make the whole cake!” you exclaim to your husband over the phone. “Babe,” he laughs, “relax, i promise you i got everything on the list and the cake looks perfect, i just picked it up a few minutes ago.” Joe reassures you for what seems like the fifth time today. You wanted today to go smoothly given you had been planning it for a long time, seemingly since the little one left your womb.

Little Blake Burrow was turning one today and the thought of your baby growing up along with the stress of the party was making you a little emotional. “Thanks Joe, i’m going to finish getting ready and then we’ll meet at your parents.” you hang up with your husband just as Blake half crawls half walks his way into the kitchen. “Hi baby,” you coo as you scoop him up in a million little kisses. His little shrieks seemed to get louder as he got older and grew into his little voice. Though he hasn’t actually started talking sentences yet, only a few words, he was a very vocal baby who knew how to get the point across without words.

“Are you so excited to see grandma and grandpa, and all you’re aunts and uncles!” you squeeze the little boy causing him to shriek in giggles. You run up stairs to get him dressed and put finishing touches on your makeup. You mentally ran through everything for a final time. Joes parents insisted on hosting the get together at their place which you did mind agreeing to. You went over yesterday to help put decorations up and all the food would be getting delivered, all that was left was to get the birthday boy to his party.

“Mama, hat!” You hear him command and you notice his line of vision to the top of your dresser where Joe had left that party hat Robin had him where for his first birthday. You thought it was the cutest thing that Robin kept it and wanted to make sure Blake wore it today, at least for a bit until he would end up chucking it on the floor somewhere. You picked up Blake and grabbed the hat on your way out the door.

Pulling up to the Burrow’s house was not something you were too familiar with yet. Joe had just recently surprised them with the brand new house a few months ago and they were over the moon about it. They still rented out their house in Athens, but their new place allowed them to be much closer to the games and family. You were a little worried when you didn’t see Joes car in the driveway, given he should have been here by now, but Blakes whines drew you out of your train of thought so you shot him a quick text before going inside.

“My babies!” Robin meets you at the door in a hug, followed by Jimmy. You make your way inside adoring the final look of everything. “Everything’s set y/n” Robin assures as she scoops Blake up out of your hands and you both make you way into the kitchen. “The food was just dropped off and people should be here soon,” jimmy adds. “Perfect, thank you guys so much, I hope Joe hurry’s up, I want him to get here before everyone else does,” you state as you watch a now crawling Blake head butt a balloon. Robin reassured you and took a seat next to you at the kitchen island. You took another look around smiling, the living room was covered in balloons and streamers with enough food tables to feed the entire Bengals roster, even though their were only about twenty people coming. The backyard was full of games set up, an obstacle course, and even a water slide which you insisted was unnecessary for a one year olds birthday but Joe bought anyway, claiming it was for the “older kids”.

“So we have all the cousins coming, your mom and aunt right? And then your friends and Joes friends, and oh my friends too! Oh maybe we don’t have enough food..” Robin rambles off but you cant help but smile to yourself at the little community you guys had made together. You would have considered yourself crazy three years ago for imagining you’d be celebrating your child first birthday. Better yet the child you had with your now husband Joe. But you wouldn’t change anything for the world, every time you look into Blake’s blue eyes you ponder where you would be today if your will had stood in the way of you meeting Joe at that coffee shop.

You are pulled out of your thoughts at the sound of the door. You hear Joe’s voice and watch Blake do the little wiggle he does when he’s excited. Implying someone better pick him up or he’s going to start squealing. “There he is! My boy!” joe quickly sets the cake down and picks up the baby in a tight hug. He walks over to you, pulling you into the hug and taking a look around. “Wow, this place is amazing you guys really pulled it together,” he says in astonishment. “It was all y/n!” Robin says making her way into the kitchen to meet her son.

Soon after, guests start arriving. You greet your mother and her friends in hugs. They immediately swoon over Blake given it has been a month or so since they last saw him. Joe joins you at the front door as his best friends arrive. “Thank you guys so much for coming!” you smile as you place gifts on the table. Blake begins to squirm in your arms and you realize who it is he’s antsy for. “My little man!” Jamarr yells entering the house with a dap up from Joe and a greeting towards all the parents. Blake squeals in excitement as he scoops him up and lifts him to the sky as if he was an airplane. You laugh at Blakes little “again’s!” and Jamarr’s airplane sound effects.

Blake hadn’t necessarily made any of his own friends yet, but there were a handful of littles that joined the party either from the neighborhood or they were Blakes cousins. Rachel arrived soon after and you pulled her into a tight squeeze. She had split with her husband a year ago and although it was for the best, you could tell it took a toll on her. Nonetheless she was still a bright spirit who was quick to steal Blake from Jamarr’s arms.

“Honey you did amazing on this party.” your mother smiles as she joins you in the kitchen to help put out appetizers. “thanks, i don’t know why i was so nervous, everyone’s having fun and the kids are getting a kick out of the water slide. Blake’s made Joe go down it with him about ten times.” you both laugh as you watch all the action through the window. Most of the women were inside chatting while the guys made their way outside with the kids. “I’m so happy for you y/n,” your moms voice becomes soft and you look to her with a smile. “Yeah, this is pretty great,” you laugh trying not to get sappy even though deep down your heart was fueled with emotion for the life you and Joe had built for yourselves. It felt like just yesterday he was down on one knee asking for your hand, and now you guys get to watch your baby grow up. You blink back a small tear.

A while later you join the party outside as most of the people had now done. Music was blasting and all of the kids had big smiles on their faces. You found Joe sitting with his dad and decided to join them. “There she is!” Jimmy smiles making room for you. “Hey guys, where the little one?” you question as Joe nods his head towards Rachel’s direction. Well, not only Rachel, but also Jamarr. The two were sitting together locked in on a conversation that left smiles on both of their faces. Little Blake letting a popsicle melt across his face and onto her lap. You give Joe a suspicious look but he just shrugs. “Did you have fun on the water slide,” you question causing Jimmy to laugh at his sons still soaking wet bathing suit bottoms. “Yes actually i did, i raced Cooper down it twice and won both times,” he says triumphantly. “Joe he’s five,” you playful roll your eyes at your husbands confidence. The three of you sat for a while over drinks and snacks. Tons of food was served and all of the kids were dancing on the grass.

Blake eventually made his way back onto your lap and you noticed a slight droop in his eyes. “Joe maybe we should do cake now, he’s getting sleepy we might have to wrap it up soon,” your husband nods and gets up to call everyone inside and get the cake ready. You join him inside as everyone either sits or stands around the table. You sit him at the end of the table and place his hat on his head once again. Blake looks up to you with a frown before smacking it off his head, causing everyone to laugh. His eyes widen as he picks up on the light gleaming from the top of the cake Joe was carrying in from the kitchen. He gurgles in excitement as the crowd sings happily for him, Joe placing the cake infront of him and pulling you into his side. After singing everyone cheers and Blake looks up to you, “please don’t cry,” you whisper only for Joe to hear.

Instead, the boy giggles at you causing immediate laughter from you and Joe. “Buddy you got to blow them out,” Joe insists but Blake only reaches out and takes a swipe of icing from the cake. You and joe smile at eachother before leaning down to take a few pictures and then blowing out the candles for him. You pick up your phone and press record to capture the adorable moment his hand sinks into his slice of cake and he misses his mouth completely. You can’t help but laugh at the absolute mess he’s creating. After cake, people begin say goodbyes and getting one last fist bump from the birthday boy. You were very proud of him for going this long without a nap, but you knew he needed one. Once majority of people had said goodbye, Joe walked eveyone out while you went upstairs to lie Blake down for a nap in the little crib Robin and Jimmy had set up in their room just for him.

Rachel and a few other friends stayed behind to help with the clean up and carrying everything to the car. You and Joe were in the kitchen with Rachel, while Robin and Jimmy were cleaning up outside. “So..” you press on, “I saw you and Jamarr were chatting a bunch.” you try to keep your tone light while also hinting you wanted details. “Yeah he’s a cool guy,” she shrugs but you notice a small blush on her cheeks. You give a glance to Joe who seems to be holding back a smirk. “Well…you know he’s single..and i know that you said you weren’t read for anything, but-”

“y/n,” she cuts you off laughing. “He asked me out before he left,” she looks up to you smiling. “What! Really?! Oh my gosh!” you were so happy for her knowing Jamarr was such a sweetheart but also praying he didn’t mess this up. “Joe can you believe this?” you question him as he finishes putting things away in the fridge. “yes actually i can, that night we went out for my birthday he texted me right after and asked if you were single,” he laughs at both of your shocked faces. “Huh,” rachel shrugs trying to play cool but you can tell she really has a thing for him. “Well i’m going to get going but i’ll see you both soon,” she hugs you and Joe before stepping outside to say goodbye to Joes parents. As soon as the sliding glass door shuts you feel Joe come up from behind you and press kisses all over your neck. You giggle at his touch and his strong arm that wraps around your waist, pulling you from the countertop. “Joe..” you try to get out between laughs, “cmon let’s go get Blake and head home,” you push him off of you, causing him to fake pout at the loss of touch.

After Rachel leaves, you wake up Blake from his nap, which he was not pleased about, and head down to say your goodbyes. The house had transformed back to its original homey feel once again. After lots of hugs and kisses, the three of you begin your depart back home.

You watch in the rear view mirror as your little boy drifts back to sleep in his car seat. Your mind drifts off once again feeling whatever the opposite of nostalgia is. This feeling was something so foreign to you, you couldn't even recognize it. Genuine happiness that felt untouchable and unbreakable. You were pulled out of your thoughts as Joe's hand made it’s way to yours, and eventually made its way to your thigh with a tight squeeze. You turn to look at him but his eyes remain locked on the road as his hand rubs up and down your thigh.

Arriving home, you carried Blake upstairs to finally get in a full nap. It was a bad time for him and would probably throw off his sleep schedule, meaning you’d be up all night with him, but you knew he needed uninterrupted sleep right now. You rocked him back to sleep for a while before finally making your way downstairs.

You noticed Joe had brought all the gifts and leftover food inside and was waiting for you on the couch. You sat down next to him and rested your head on his neck. “Oh, I almost forgot I have something for you,” he suddenly popped up and headed upstairs for something. Joe’s love language had always been gift giving but you made it clear no matter how much money he made, you didn’t want him wasting too much on you, especially after you had your son. Nonetheless, he still spoiled you and made sure you always had the nicest things which you were always so grateful for.

He came back downstairs with a box that he handed to you while joining you on the couch. Your mouth dropped as your recognized the name on the outside, “Joe-” you started but he cut you off. “I know todays about Blake but i don’t want you to think I ever forget about you and the hard work you put in everyday to make sure own son has everything he needs and is the happiest little boy. I mean, technically it’s officially been one year of you being a mom, so you deserve something special too,” he smiles before motioning for you to open it. You carefully unravel the box and reveal the beautiful fleurette pendant, it was white gold and definitely the most sparkly necklace you owned. You lifted it closer in adoration as Joe kissed your cheek. “You like it?” he questions looking down at it with you. “Yes honey I love it, this is so beautiful thank you.” you pull him in for a kiss. He carefully moves your hair aside to place the necklace on you. “I didn’t know if you would like it, but I heard you and your friends mention Van Cleef the other day, so I was looking online for a bit and set up an appointment this morning to pick it up for you.” he explains. “Ohh, that’s where you were this morning,” it all clicks in your head now. He smoothes your hair back down and turns you to face him. You smile and reach down to touch the necklace. “I love you Joe,” you say just above a whisper, “I love you too,” he says scooting closer to you.

“I also love this dress on you,” he leans in and begins kissing your neck. He’s always knew what to say to get you relaxed. That’s what you loved about rekindling your relationship years back, you both had matured and become more experienced. You knew exactly what you wanted and Joe knew just how to give it to you.

He pushed you back into the couch and hovered over you. His hand slipped under your dress while the other reached up to massage your breast. You moaned at his touch, earning a smirk from him. His hand moved farther and farther up until it was just below what he wanted most. “Are you wet for me baby,” he questions placing a kiss on your leg. “So wet Joey, please I need you.” Another thing about Joe is he had become much more dominant as he had grown older. He loved making love and always made sure you were comfortable, but that didn’t mean he stayed away from making it a memory, and you never wanted him to.

He lifted your dress up to around your hips, exposing your little thong that he immediately discarded of. He inserted one finger and watched your face intently. He quickly started moving his finger soon after inserting another one. You let out a quiet moan, not wanting to disturb the baby. You bit down on your lip as you felt him add his tongue to the mix, knowing it was your absolute weakness.

He fasted the pace he moved his fingers at and continued to eat you out as you ran your fingers through his hair and let out quiet little moans. “Joey, baby, that feels so good, don't stop," you whine. He recognizes the quiver in your voice and quickly removes his fingers and mouth earning a half moan half whine from you at the loss of build up. “Not yet baby, i’m not done with you,” he smirks as he pulls you up to straddle him. You quickly remove his swim shorts and reveal his hard cock clearly ready to be inside you. He lifts up your dress completely, throwing it to the side as you sink on to him. You both moan in sync as your eyes roll back from the feeling of him. “Just like that baby, you feel so good,” he whispers before pulling you towards him to kiss your breasts. You finally start to ride him, picking up the pace fast as a string of quiet moans leaves your mouth. One of his hands drops to your ass, foundling it quickly. Your head drops to his shoulder as he begins thrusting into you, hitting the perfect spot. “Joe im so close baby,” you whisper into his ear. “cum all over it baby, i need to fill you up,” he insists immediately pushing you over edge. At the same time, you feel him release inside of you. You remain on top of him for a moment, catching your breath before pulling off of him and crashing onto the couch next to him.

After a few moments you began to speak but are quickly cut off by a sharp cry coming from upstairs. You both look at each other, “I got it,” Joe insists pulling up his shorts and throwing you your dress. You watch as he walks to the stair case with his shorts on backwards, silently laughing to yourself.

Thank you all for following this story and encouraging me to write more than what i originally intended to. I hope you like how it turned out 🤞🧡

[thisapplepielife]

Written for the @steddiemas challenge.

Permanent 99

Prompt Day 30: Smut Themed Sentence Starters | Word Count: 2811 | Rating: E | CW: Sexual Content, 18+ Only | Tags: Sports AU, Swimming AU, Modern Setting, Eddie & Gareth are BFFs, Olympic Swimmers, Heat Wave, Outdoor Fooling Around, Blowjob, Eddie POV

This follows my Sports AU drabble from @steddieholidaydrabbles where they were Olympic Swimmers, but can be read standalone.

This one is also available right here on AO3.

we're hot and sticky as we can get, don't need to go swimming to be soakin' wet, you lean in and you bite my lip, it's hard to be cool in heat like this, sweat drop at the end of your nose, makes you lose your mind and lose your clothes Christian Kane, Permanent 99

Eddie rests his forearm over his eyes, attempting to block out the way too bright sun and wipe the sweat away from his forehead at the same time. 

The strips of cheap vinyl from the PVC lounger are sticking to his bare back and he can't seem to shift in any way to get comfortable with the feeling. Steve is worth millions, but he's dragged out some old as shit, tri-fold lounge chairs from last century. They had to have been stashed in his parents' pool house, left over from the eighties, faded from sun and years of disuse. If Eddie's going to be subjected to the summer sun, he's definitely gonna need a newer chair, because this is really not working for him. 

He's sticking to it in ways that feel really gross.

That has a lot to do with the fact that it's so humid it's almost insufferable. The glare off of the water isn't helping matters. It's blinding him, even through his sunglasses. They've spent a lifetime looking at pool water, so Eddie's not entirely sure why they're still doing it now, on their own time.

“It’s hot as shit,” Eddie finally announces, moving his arm just enough to catch a glimpse of Steve next to him.

Steve smiles, seemingly unconcerned by the unrelenting heat. 

He's tanned, and glistening in the sun, looking every bit of a Greek god. That bastard.

Eddie's actually seen Steve in Athens, at the fucking Olympiad itself, and he damn well didn't look anything like he does right now. Steve was only nineteen then, still just a kid chasing a dream. And, now he's a man. A gorgeous man.

Eddie is pretty sure he looks like an overheated, wet cat in comparison. A pitiful thing that probably just needs put down.

But Eddie grins, because retirement looks good on Steve Harrington. Damn good. Retired before thirty. That's quite the thing to wrap his head around. 

But that's not going to stop Eddie's complaining.

“From now on, summer months will be spent strictly indoors. It's too hot, and I’m too pale for this,” Eddie declares, as if that is the final decision on the subject matter.

It isn't. Not if his perpetually sun-kissed boyfriend has a say in the matter.

Steve just rolls his eyes, and doesn’t look away from his magazine, "You made the worst dressed list, again," Steve offers, flashing the glossy pages in his direction. "They put you on the fug list."

Well, Eddie doesn't give a flying fug what that rag thinks. He's gonna wear what he's gonna wear. 

"And let me guess, you're in the other column?" Eddie asks, but he already knows it. Ever since they went public with their relationship after retirement, they've been tabloid fodder. Everyone has been speculating on how long this has been going on (since Athens) and how long it will last (hopefully forever) and they've picked apart every last detail of their lives they can get their hands on. And their very different style choices have been a popular topic of conversation.

Steve retired, Eddie didn't. Until he did. And now, they're both out of the meat grinder, free at last to do whatever they want to with all this brand new free time. Eddie's had fun running swim clinics for kids, and Steve has been funneling his time and money into his charitable foundation.

The rest of the time, they spend lazing together, just like this. Finally getting to really build this relationship of theirs into something even deeper, and stronger, than ever before.

They can't leave swimming, not totally. It's in their blood. But it's nice to be away from the early practices and constant sacrifices you have to make to be an Olympian, not just once, but several Games in a row.

Their not-so-secret love went public at Eddie's last Games, when Steve showed up, but kept out of the announcer's booth, and refused to be interviewed. He wasn't there for his own promo. Everybody was pissy about it, wanting a piece of him, wanting the ratings boost his voice, his face, would bring in. But Steve was only there to see Eddie, Gareth and the rest of his friends on Team USA swim, that's it.

So, it didn't take long for rumors to reach a fever pitch, and instead of denying them. They just admitted they were together, and had been, for a very long time. And now, they were looking forward to retirement, together. 

And that was that. 

They've been holed up at Steve's house ever since, trying to keep away from prying eyes, to just be together. With no other commitments. No early practices. No strict diets.

They're just Eddie and Steve. No longer Harrington and Munson.

But, Eddie's getting a little stir crazy and a lot hot. He needs to be anywhere but beside a pool right now.

“I haven’t even set foot in the goddamn pool and I’m sweating through my trunks,” Eddie whines, just making sure his opinion on the subject has been heard by Steve, loud and clear.

“Shoulda rocked the banana hammock, bro,” Steve supplies with a shrug of his shoulders, laughing loudly, totally unbothered by Eddie’s constant bitching. 

Eddie smiles, "Don't call me bro, dude."

Steve giggles, and it's the best sound. So carefree. All that weight of expectation just…gone. It was amazing to see. Retired from professional swimming, Steve doesn’t sweat the small stuff, not anymore. And Eddie is one hundred percent down for that.

"Speedos aren’t exactly casual pool wear, regardless of what you might think, Harrington,” Eddie adds.

“Sure they are,” Steve answers, waving his hand over his lap.

Eddie looks over at Steve, and lowers his sunglasses down his nose. Steve's wearing a tiny, all-white Speedo that Eddie can't look away from. It was a purposeful choice, Eddie is well aware. 

Steve's baiting him. 

And the white makes it basically see through. It’s nearly obscene and Eddie knows damn good and well Steve wore it on purpose, knowing he’d either sweat through it, and make it see through, or end up in the pool…and make it see through. 

Eddie knows this game well and it sadly always, always works on him. He's an easy mark. Always has been when it comes to Steve Harrington.

Eddie pushes his glasses back up on his face.

“You're right, the Federation should have forgotten all about the tech suits and went back to those," Eddie says, licking his lips, wetting them. Two can play at this game.

There’s a sweat drop clinging to the end of Steve’s nose and Eddie reaches over to catch it with his thumb. Raking his eyes all over Steve.

"Is this seriously turning you on?" Steve asks, lifting an eyebrow. "I'm basically wearing an old work uniform."

Eddie just nods, looking at every inch of Steve's body. Still toned, but already going slightly softer in places. Not to mention all the body hair. Steve's hairy, when the fuck did that happen? After only knowing him as the shaved and waxed swimmer, this has been a fucking revelation of a magnitude Eddie can't even put into words. 

Steve's a man. No longer the kid he was when they met, a million years and a million miles away from here.

"You're staring," Steve says, teasing him, and Eddie just nods. He's definitely staring and he'll do it some more. 

Steve smiles and sets his magazine down and crawls over onto Eddie’s lounger, straddling Eddie’s thighs. It creaks and shifts under them, and Eddie holds his breath, and prepares for the little metal legs to collapse. It doesn't, miraculously, and Steve takes Eddie's stillness for an opportunity to lean in and bite at Eddie’s bottom lip before Eddie can, well, give him any more lip. Eddie groans a little at the feeling, hands settling on Steve’s hips. Steve deepens the kiss and runs his fingers through Eddie’s sweat-damp hair.

When they finally break apart, Steve is even slicker with sweat than he was before, but he just grins down at Eddie.

“Let’s go in,” Eddie urges, thumbs tracing lazy circles on Steve’s exposed hip bones. Running his thumb over Steve's Olympic rings tattoo that's just barely peeking over the top of the tiny Speedo. 

Steve took Eddie to get his own rings tattoo after his first Olympics, and Eddie took Gareth after his. It's a sacred tradition. 

Eddie presses his thumb into the slightly faded ink, then dips it lower, stroking until he feels coarse hair under his thumb. Then, he's sliding his other hand up and down Steve's hairy thigh. More hair. Hair for days.

In fact, Steve’s chest hair is damp and right in Eddie’s face. It’s driving him a little wild. Steve spent so many years shaved, that this has been a goddamn turn on. Eddie leans forward and buries his face in Steve's chest.

Steve just laughs, and pushes Eddie back down, nipping at Eddie’s neck playfully, “S’good out here.”

“Think of the air conditioning. And the big, big bed.”

“This is bed-like,” Steve insists, reaching over and hitting the lever sending the chaise flat. The unsteady metal legs wobble comically and Eddie laughs as Steve topples over on top of him ungracefully. It's a nice change of pace, since Eddie often feels like he's the ungraceful one nearly everywhere but in the water. Always one wrong move from a trip to the E.R., while Steve stands by, shaking his head. 

Eddie’s fairly certain this flimsy-ass chair can't hold their combined weight indefinitely, even without Steve trying to fuck him through it. But he still runs his fingers through Steve’s hair, pulling him closer, encouraging him. 

He'll ride this train into the ground, without question. 

Steve closes his eyes, and grinds down against him.

Eddie grips Steve’s hips, resting his fingers against Steve’s ass, cupping him through the Speedo. When he squeezes his fingers underneath the tight material, Steve opens his eyes to meet Eddie’s, and Eddie just raises an eyebrow, questioning.

“By all means,” Steve answers, lifting up enough for them to work together to get it shimmed off his ass.

It isn’t easy. Removing a wet Speedo never is, and Steve’s wallering him in the process. Eddie almost takes a knee to the nuts, but they finally get it peeled off Steve's hips and tossed onto the ground. 

Steve unties Eddie’s trunks and pulls the Velcro closure apart loudly. He snakes his hand inside and closes his fist around him, and Eddie can’t help but buck up into the tight grip. 

“Fuck, Steve,” Eddie pants, leaning back further, enjoying the feeling.

Steve smiles and leans forward, chasing him, licking a path of sweat off of Eddie’s chest. It makes Eddie shiver unexpectedly and he can’t stop himself from tangling his hand in Steve’s hair. Urging him lower. Steve takes the hint. He always does.

He pushes apart Eddie's trunks, getting himself better access, and Eddie lifts up, to let him tug them down a little further, but not all the way off. 

Eddie groans when Steve’s mouth makes contact with his dick.

He rests his hand on Steve's head, feeling every movement from above and below. Steve's a gold medal cocksucker, that's for goddamn sure. 

"That's good, sweetheart," Eddie says, and Steve hums in acknowledgement, head moving up and down, hand doing the rest of the work in tandem. 

Eddie slides his hand down to Steve's face, pressing his palm to his stubbly cheek, and Steve changes the angle, so the head of Eddie's dick now hits the inside of his cheek with every bob of his head, bumping against Eddie's palm.

Steve's teasing him, playing with him, but it's fucking hot. 

So hot, and it's all Eddie can take, honestly, and he arches his hips off the chair, coming. 

Steve pulls off, and makes eye contact as he swipes his tongue around his mouth, gathering up Eddie's come on his tongue, which he shows Eddie, before swallowing.

"You're gonna kill me," Eddie says, as he moves to wrap his hand around Steve's hard dick, but Steve holds up one finger, wagging it at him. 

And then he slides fully on top of Eddie, and ruts into his hip. Using Eddie to get himself off.

Jesus H. Christ. 

Retired Steve is his favorite version, so far. Even more than top of the podium Steve. Or secret locker room blowjob Steve.

This version? His to keep? This is the one. 

Steve's breathing heavy into Eddie's ear, hot puffs of air and soft moans that make Eddie wish he could get hard again right now. Eddie digs his fingers into Steve's slick back, just along for the ride. Getting to enjoy the sights and sounds of Steve working hard. Breath catching with exertion. 

It's so familiar, and yet, brand new.

Steve lets out a groan in Eddie's ear, and then comes inside Eddie's shorts, and that's a new feat, for sure. 

Steve clearly doesn't give a fuck if he glues himself to Eddie's pubic hair, as he lays down on Eddie fully. Naked, sated and happy. This is the kind of hot Eddie isn't going to complain about. 

He almost says so, when he feels the whoosh of air blow past his arm before there’s a splash in the pool. He freezes. He doesn’t dare open his eyes, even if he’s certain it’s only Gareth. Maybe Robin, if he's really unlucky.

Steve's house has a revolving door. You never know who's gonna show up, unannounced.

And Eddie can't help it, he flushes even further, cheeks red and hot, totally embarrassed. 

When Eddie finally cracks an eye open, he laughs when he sees Gareth standing in the pool, right at the edge. Arms folded, head resting on them. Staring right at Eddie. Gareth has no shame and doesn’t get embarrassed easily, if ever. 

Just like Steve, honestly.

How he's surrounded himself with these two, he's not exactly sure.

"Whatcha guys been doin'?" Gareth drawls out, like he can't see Steve's bare ass in his face and know exactly what they were doing. 

Gareth's caught them fucking in several countries at this point. This is nothing. It's not even in the top ten most compromising positions he's seen them in. But still. Eddie could do without it, for sure.

Gareth's dog, Bonzo, is prancing around poolside, barking and jumping, just as hyper as his owner.

Steve just shakes his head, leaning over and picking up his discarded Speedo and walks back towards the house, like it’s no big deal to be walking around the backyard, totally naked. It's nothing Gareth hasn't seen before, to be certain. They've all spent far too many years together, in far too many locker rooms. 

Still, Eddie lifts his hips, and gets his trunks back up and securely fastened. He’s not about to get caught naked if he can help it. Unlike Steve, he does have some shame, and doesn’t exactly desire his junk getting featured on TMZ.

Some days, Eddie thinks Steve's just daring them to run dick pics of him. Probably because he knows what he's packing, and nobody in their right mind is gonna give his dick bad press. 

Definitely not Eddie. No way.

Eddie is about to get up, when Bonzo seizes the opportunity for the freed up premium seating, and jumps up onto Eddie’s lap.

Eddie hears the chair give way before he feels it. Soon enough they’re both falling to the ground. It’s a short fall, but Eddie still scrapes his elbow on the concrete and Bonzo shoots him daggers as if this whole mess was Eddie's fault, as the dog darts away from the scene of the crime, and towards the house, trying to catch up with Steve.

Steve clearly saw it happen, and he’s doubled over laughing near the sliding glass doors, still naked, and Eddie really doesn’t find it all that funny. 

“Fuck you, asshole, that hurt!” Eddie yells across the yard as he awkwardly untangles himself from the wreckage. Steve just laughs harder, and as much as Eddie wants to, it’s hard for him to stay mad at Steve.

Eddie gets up and surveys the collapsed heap of vinyl and aluminum. It looks like it's a total loss, and that does make Eddie smile, fully thankful that the chair from hell finally met its overdue end.

He jogs to catch up with Steve, hoping to slide in the shower with him, where Steve will kiss his wounded pride all better, and maybe go for round two. 

Notes: Song is Permanent 99 by Christian Kane. It's not on Spotify, or I'd just embed it. Gareth's dog is Bonzo, after John Bonham. Because I still like to think he's a drummer in this world, and that still plays with Eddie here, too. They just took their focus elsewhere.

This is the kind of chair I'm talking about, which they're still making apparently?! I had no idea.

If you want to write your own, or see more entries for this challenge, pop on over to @steddiemas and follow along!

If you want to see more of my entries from this challenge, they are in my tag right here!

[xxaraaq]

𝙎𝙬𝙚𝙚𝙩, 𝙎𝙬𝙚𝙚𝙩 𝙈𝙚𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙨

I cried making this I'm ngl, but it don't even matter forreal.

Kirishima x Black! Reader

❛ ━━･❪ ❁ ❫ ･━━ ❜

Your heart beats violently against your chest, eyes widened in shock. This wasn't supposed to happen to you. You came in to get your recent shortness or breath and mean cough treated, but you walked out with a diagnosis of stage two lung cancer on your mind and a treatment pamphlet in your hands

When you told him, he thought it was some type of sick joke, but he soon realized that the downcasted look on your face would not tell a lie like this. Tears run down his face as he reaches for you, pulling you into the tightest hug you've experienced. You’re stiff like a rock, not responding to his affections. He apologized over and over again like it was his fault, but you just pulled back and said it was ok, that the two of you would get through this. And with red eyes and tight throat, he nods, believing you.

You didn't cry until the first clump of hair fell out. Long sobs fell from your body as you collapsed onto the bathroom floor. You called him, begging for him to come over with shaking hands. By the time you managed to calm down, he was already there, out of breath and a look of fear in his crimson eyes.

He went to all of your chemo appointments with you, saying, “Am I really your friend if I can’t come to keep you company in this depressing ass place?”

He ended up moving in with you to help you as you started to struggle more and more. He made you laugh in the morning as you sat on the cold floor, throwing up in the toilet. He was the one to shave your head when you decided that it was time, consoling you as you cried, mourning the person you once were. He was the one who surprised you when he showed up one day with a buzzed head – saying that it was time to get a new haircut anyways.

When the doctors told you that the chemo wasn’t responding, you smiled; not out of happiness, but out of readiness. You knew deep down that this would be the outcome. You were scared, but not for you.

For Eijirou

He came home to see you throwing out your pill bottles. He was speechless as he ran to stop you, a horrified look on his face.

“ It’s done, Eiji”

He says no, a blank look on his face. He won’t let you say that with such a calm expression painting your face. He can’t just let you go yet, he just can't. You've spent your whole lives together, you can’t leave now. The two of you still have your whole lives waiting.

“The doctor said I have six months left at most..” You say, hot tears running down your face. He shakes his head in some kind of juvenile defiance. He refuses to actually think that you’re going to die.

He gently wipes your face, saying that you're too pretty to be crying. You laugh, the action hurting your chest – but you can’t stop, you keep laughing at his small gesture to cheer you up. 

He really is the bestest best friend you could’ve gotten

You tell him that you want to live the rest of your days out being free. You want to go to all the countries you bank account will allow. He just says yes, a wide toothed grin on his face.

The two of you travel everywhere; from Athens to Rio de Janeiro, the two of you went everywhere. The time the two of you spent together was spent in pure bliss, a smiling never you face.

But then you had to come back home, your lives waiting for you. You unload your bags onto the floor, the room dark. You turn the light on, a surprise of balloons and confetti surrounding you. All of your friends were here, for your birthday. 

Shit, you forgot about that – to caught up in your travels to keep up with time. They all surround you, Kirishima smearing a piece of icing onto your cheek. You just smile, genuinely appreciating the effort all your friends put in to deliver this unexpected surprise.

After everything was cleaned up and everyone was gone, it was just you and Eiji. You give him a sudden but strong hug, as if you gathered up all your remaining strength to let him know that you loved and cared for him. “Thank you for tonight, for everything actually.” You say, a deep sigh following after

“Anytime man, afterall; what are best friends for if they're not here to be here along for the ride?”

He beams, a sharp toothed smile decorating his face

“I really love you Eiji, I just want you to know that.” You say, a cough following soon after

“I love you too y/n, you're my best friend for a reason.” He responds, giving you a warm hug. He lets go, giving you a chaste kiss on your cheek, a vibrate grin on his face

“Goodnight Eiji, thank you for being here with me through all of this. I don't know what I would do without you.” You say, walking to your bedroom

“I would do it all again, I’ll always be here for you, no matter what.”

A small smile graces your face as you close your door

You're really happy that God gave you a person like him

He wasn't surprised when you didn't wake the next morning, a mournful look on him as he studied your features, still and peaceful. He doesn't know what you did to deserve this, tears racing against his now stained cheeks. He sobs next to you, angry at the world for taking you from him before you were ready – before he was ready.

You were such a kind person, being the first one who was there for anybody. You were the flower to his sun, a perfect mix of two people. He loved you so much and now you were gone, taken too soon from what you could’ve been, what you were going to be.

But in spite of it all, if nothing else; the two of you had sweet, sweet memories together.

❛ ━━･❪ ❁ ❫ ･━━ ❜

-Nene

[jpdoingwords]

Master List

Welcome to my writing side-blog!

I'm Jenn, a published author living in Australia. This is where I stash all my fanfiction so that I - and you - can find it easily.

My writing tag is [predictably] #jpdoingwords. You can see my fic covers here.

My Odyssey fanart is also on AO3 here.

A complete list of my available work follows - all on AO3.

Assassin's Creed Odyssey Fanfiction

The Good Spartan

aka. the Alexidas The Good Spartan Summary: It's 431 BCE. Brasidas prepares to take up his first major posting, unaware of all that lays before him in the coming years of the Peloponnesian War. The story is told almost entirely from Brasidas' perspective and follows him from before his first major historical action at Methone to his last, at Amphipolis. This is a crossover between AC Odyssey and Thucydides' history, The Peloponnesian War, favouring Thucydides. I am being as historically accurate as I can, game canon is paid lip service at best. Historical notes are included at the end of each chapter.

Another Life: [Alternative Ending of The Good Spartan]. Summary: Brasidas survives the Battle of Amphipolis, thanks to Alexios' visit to the Underworld; but even before the battle, he knew he'd never go back to Sparta. He's no longer a good Spartan, nor willing to make the sacrifices required to go on pretending to be one. He just needs to persuade Alexios, and recover from his wounds… and together, find somewhere they might have a little peace.

Hunger, Desire, Anger, Roads [WIP] A collection of short pieces of writing and some art associated with characters (including OCs) and events around The Good Spartan, as it's currently published and alternative versions. These include threads taken from the original version of the fic and reworked; alternative points of view which develop characters who necessarily have no voice in the published fic; and a variety of other exploratory pieces set within this AU. They're all part of the framework around which The Good Spartan grew - and continues to grow.

Another Kind of Odyssey

aka. the Thalexios The Warmth of Home Summary: After the events of Odyssey, Alexios has been hiding from the world, loitering in the northern regions of Greece. When he decides to return to Athens for the winter, Demosthenes seeks him out for a job only he can do - whether he wants to or not. This leads him to cross paths with Thaletas again, discovering that this old flame burns the brightest of all.

Love Me in Storms Summary: Following on from the Warmth of Home, Alexios and Thaletas face the challenge of making their relationship clear to their families back in Sparta, with mixed results. This fic fills in some relatively large gaps left between the original Warmth of Home (now completely rewritten) and Unfinished Business (rewrite currently underway), as well as taking some of the plot points out of Unfinished Business entirely and putting them here, in this new context. This is necessary to smooth over some serious timeline problems

By His Hand [WIP] Summary: Alexios and Thaletas are back in Sparta in order for Alexios to attend a reunion of the Brasideioi - the army which marched north under Brasidas. Despite their having been together for years, this event triggers Thaletas' jealousy about one of the largest unknowns of Alexios' past - what happened during the Northern Campaign, and in particular, what the nature of the relationship between the Alexios and Brasidas had been. Also - Stentor gets married :)

Unfinished Business Summary: Stentor arrives at Stymphalos, where Thaletas and Alexios settled four years previously. He comes with a message: Alcibiades is in Sparta, and wants to see Alexios - urgently. Answering this request will sweep them into events they could not foresee.

[A fifth part will slot in here the future. Working title Argolis]

The Turning Tide Summary: Spring, 413BCE. The Peace of Nikias has ended. Sparta and Athens are at one another's throats again. Before the Peace, Sparta was having few successes; but they have a plan they hope will turn the tide against Athens... Against this backdrop of renewed hostilities, Alexios and Thaletas are called upon to complete a mission for King Agis, which will test them and their relationship in ways they haven’t been tested before...

In the Heart of Things Summary: 412BCE. Reunited after a difficult year, Alexios and Thaletas have been sent to Chios by King Agis to keep an eye on the situation there as the theatre of the Peloponnesian War shifts eastwards, into the islands. There, they will discover more than they could have bargained for about themselves and their people, and what it is that lies at the heart of things...

A Few Olives Summary: Alexios decided to buy a farm. Thaletas went along with it. But the plan was not what he had expected, but then nothing ever had been with Alexios. This is the story of a relationship that has grown up in difficult times, and peace is now the hardest thing to deal with. Thaletas struggles to know himself, and Alexios doesn’t understand. Sometimes things must break before they can be reformed.

The Fire and the Flood

aka. The Alexithenes This series is rated E. An Athenian Summer Summary: Early in the War, Alexios allows Socrates to lure him to Athens for the summer. During his stay in the city, his relationship with Demosthenes, not yet a general of Athens, will change significantly... But as the war rages on, will the pressures of the messy world beyond Athens' walls bring the pair together or drive them apart? This story takes liberties with canon; as much as possible, I try to keep characters true to their game-selves; original characters are mostly secondary characters, though of necessity I have provided Demosthenes with more character than he had in the game.

The Blue Cloak Alexios and Timotheos are flirting with the idea of being an item when, in order to help the brothers move past the events in canon, Alexios comes up with a plan to further Lykinos' dream of being a poet in Athens. Things take an unexpected turn when Alexios finds himself waking up aboard the Adrestia wearing a cloak he has never seen before.... aka. drunk Alexios gets himself into a situation. This is the edited version of a story previously published as So it is With Us. This version has an additional chapter added at the end and has been rewritten in parts, particularly the first half.

Short and Experimental Pieces

aka. The Deimos fic Shadow-Twin He felt like neither Deimos nor Alexios. They were two skins he’d shed - and what remained now? What new skin might he grow? Who might he become? They’d all demanded answers of him at one time or another. They’d all asked where he’d been when he went out, what he’d been doing. With concern or with curiosity or what they perhaps thought of as friendship. What they meant was: Let me in. Tell me who are you. He gave always the same reply: a grunt. How could he answer that when he didn’t know?

From the Darkness, Light: Brasidas & Deimos!Kassandra Having failed to keep his involvement in the assassination of the Monger in Korinth under wraps, Brasidas is sent by the Kings to Paros on a 'special mission' which he suspects is a punishment. His task is to find a missing lokhagos, but what he uncovers is far bigger and darker than the abduction of one man.

aka the Herodietas (Thaletas x Herodianos) Rising to the Surface: Rated E for the first two parts. After the events during the Mykonos arc of the story, Thaletas is left behind to face the consequences of Alexios' actions. Herodianos, who has been his loyal friend for a long time, does everything he can to comfort him - and so the hands of the Fates are set to work. This was an exercise in writing - Smut, Fluff and Angst, a chapter for each, in that order. Features the power of puppies to dispel the pain of existence.

It Was Just Red "Nothing ever ends poetically. It ends and we turn it into poetry. All that blood was never once beautiful. It was just red." Kait Rakowski This story was prompted by a post I saw recently on Tumblr. It showed Kass sitting at the empty table back in Sparta during the final dinner scene, against which the poster had written something along the lines of: this is the best possible ending – the least amount of Spartans left alive. The following work is an exercise in exploring what that outcome might look like, and seeks to detail some sense of the possible shifting feelings Alexios might have around losing his whole family, mostly at his own hands (a version of the game I’ve never played and frankly never will) and to explore the main question this post prompted in me: Is there a way in which I might believe this could be the best outcome? Fair warning: This work doesn’t honour the game timeline, and as always, I'm disinterested in strict compliance with canon. It’s canon divergent from the get-go simply because it’s Alexios, anyway.

Odyssey Shorts Summary: This is a collection of odds and ends I wrote alongside longer pieces, mainly in response to prompt lists. So far, these consist of: Four based on the tarot: Alexios as a teenager throwing himself into the sea to Anais' horror (an early version of a piece included in It Was Only Red); Brasidas finding himself in the Underworld (a tiny fix-it fic); a tentative beginning to a Daphnae fic I've always contemplated writing; a scene with Demosthenes and Alexios which fits nowhere else; two snippets of modern day AU with an Alexidas focus; and a random Brasidas x reader which I have never written before and quite likely won't again. I will be adding to this collection in time, as I continue working through existing beginning and maybe a few little new things.

Assassin's Creed Valhalla

Thread Upon Thread Series

Ubba x M!Eivor Snatched Moments A series of inserted scenes developing the relationship between Eivor (male) and Ubba Ragnarsson which is only hinted at in Valhalla. There will be unavoidable spoilers. Sorry! I am mostly canon compliant, but there are some things I have changed, and there will be an alternative ending to what was provided in the game (for Ubba.) The Gods Only Know Ubba survived the battle on the Afon River, and lives now in Ravensthorpe at the side of Eivor Wolfkissed, the man he loves. Their happiness is only marred by one thing that seems impossible - their desire to have sons.

The Ravensthorpe Hotel. Summary: The pub in Ravensthorpe, Western Australia, is under new management after the passing of Ragnar. When it re-opens, the townspeople go en-masse to check out the new owners, among them, Eivor (male) and his best friends Randvi and Sigurd.

Collected Loose Threads This is a collection of odds and ends related to my Ubba/Eivor series, Thread Upon Thread, mostly following on from The Gods Only Know. I had imagined I would work them up into something more complete, but that seems unlikely now, so thought I would share them as is. Now includes The Hunting Trip, which was originally posted as the third part of the series, and a discarded continuation of the Ravensthorpe Hotel modern AU.

Miscellaneous Fandoms

Stardew Valley

Aka. The Stardew fic [Shane x M!Farmer] Another Turn Around the Wheel Summary: "The stranger came into the Stardrop Saloon on a Friday night, smelling of the sea. His hair, deeply black, was in a state of chaos; as though he’d been outdoors from the day he was born, and had never looked in the mirror, even once. Yet, as he reached the bar, only a few paces from where Shane stood, he could see that the face beneath it wasn’t as rugged as he’d expected." The farmer has been on this journey more than once - but there's still only one husband for him.

[ainulindaelynn]

WIP Game: ACO 7, 8, and 9 please??

Ahhhh, the ones I wrote first and am dying to publish xD

Unfortunately, they rely on earlier details to some degree, so I'm holding back for now. There's 60k+ words sitting among those at present and more I'd love to do with every single one of them.

This'll be lengthy since it's three!

----------

ACO 7 - Underworld

This is a complete rewrite of that segment. It isn't Aletheia who sends her there though; it's Pythagoras (the shitty dad we all know him to be), who wants that artifact from Cerberos. This is the bit that started my ACO writing... It came together in my head WAY before I finished the game and knew the details, so originally it was a workaround for the First Blade DLC. I felt if Ubi really wanted to force the issue, was a more obvious answer to the lineage question and we were going subterranean anyway... 👀

I've since changed course on that completely (redeemed Deimos gets to do the Macedonia DLC later, bypassing the issue), but its still a very smutty, sentimental, angsty piece, where she and Brasidas finally come to terms (too late) with what's between them. They're both able to help a LOT with each other's healing journeys and he gives her a tool that readies her for her confrontation with Deimos. Phoibe is also central to this one <3

A snippet:

"You don't know what a shield means, so don't lecture me on it," he snapped, tone suddenly vicious. "You've never been in the phalanx, knowing in your bones what's staked on it holding - on the one beside you holding. 'Foot beside foot, resting shield against shield, crest beside crest, helm beside helm'," he quoted, every word rising from the bedrock of his being. Then his voice softened in a way she hated to hear and when she glanced up his eyes were sharp. "I'll never forget the day they first handed it to me. I was a boy; it was as tall as I was. My commander told me, 'To hold this up is to hold up Sparta. Drop it, and Sparta falls'."

She shook her head, furious.

More of the same propaganda that threw innocent children from Taygetos and raised their killer a hero.

His voice was stern. "How many of my men died at Amphipolis?"

"You were the last. The seventh. The Athenians lost six-hundred."

He nodded, dismissive.

"And how many have fallen since?"

Her eyes narrowed, sensing the trap.

"I can't make you understand the way it is in the lists," he growled, stalking toward and around her, "but those men were mine. And I was theirs. I had sworn myself to them. Six Spartans and six-hundred Athenians, you say? It was by my command that they lived at Amphipolis. That was my responsibility to them. I made the decisions that kept them alive. I've seen each of those cross the river Styx alone. And I'll see countless more before this war is done. And that is my failure. I let my shield fall and they are the ones who will pay for it with their lives.

She shook her head, trying to understand. "You can't blame yourself for dying, Brasidas."

"I can," he said, voice sharp, "because I didn't do it for them. And I would make that same choice again, even against my oath." The anger left his tone then. "That is why I'm here, Kassandra."

----------

ACO 8 - The End

This one ties together the game's Family and Cult endings. I always felt really weird about the fact that Deimos just sits at home while you finish the other storyline. It's a quick rewrite of the Taygetos scene, adding layers from my personal Athens captivity portion and my background mental health and trauma-recovery. Then there's a brief split while Kassandra finds her last cultist (and Alexios spends time with Myrinne), and then they come together, travel to Delphi, and take on Aspasia as a pair. This sets the stage for the relationship they build going forward.

A snippet:

She’d been keeping an eye on him all afternoon, watching the restless tension of his body like a rope frayed down to its last strand, hopelessly taut and precarious. For her, every mile away from Phokis brought her down by a notch, but for Alexios it seemed to have no effect. At times she even worried it was worsening, waiting for some excuse to snap. 

“He looks like a wild boar…,” Barnabas said quietly, uncharacteristically. 

It seemed she’d finally found the one thing that tempered the man’s boisterous nature - fearing being overhead by the god of terror himself. She smiled at the thought.

“…Like one snap of a twig and the first unlucky bastard in his path will be sent skyward with his entrails on the outside of his body.”

She raised her eyebrows, amusement overshadowed by a long, contemplative exhale.

----------

ACO 9 - Post-Game

This one is all about family. Kassandra comes home to find her footing, finally processing everything, and stays with Alexios as he struggles to find himself in the absence of his entire identity. They become very close, despite the rawness of their relationship.

There are also some obstacles here, for example, Sparta sees only Deimos, the child they rightly rejected. He is an enemy and a lone wolf in collectivist Sparta, a tension Kassandra feels as well. Nikolaos also makes his return to Sparta and comes under the kings' judgement to atone for his desertion nearly a decade earlier. It's all very messy.

A snippet:

"I aimed at him to strike at you," Alexios said slowly, enunciating each word as if he were sharpening a blade, stroke by stroke, and watching to see what he evoked. "I want you to hear that. I need you to know it was personal."

Time slowed between them, frozen in the silence. She could feel every muscle in her body coiled tight at the confession.

In that silence he continued, each word carefully considered. "And at Pylos, when you leaped to defend him, you were like the goddess herself, full of righteous wrath. I knew it was true after that. And I slaughtered him for it - slaughtered him to get to you."

His posture was soft despite the words.

"Why are you telling me this?" she hissed.

"I don't want secrets between us, sister. If this is to work, there can be no secrets. Or at least there can be no lies." His eyes were gentle, his shoulders hung low, arms crossed as he leaned back against the stones.

She looked away, scanning out across the view. Her eyes closed for a second, breathing deeply.

"Who was he to you?" he asked again, this time more gently.

—————

WIP List is here for anyone interested :)

[deathlessathanasia]

“Marriage served two main functions in ancient Greece: the creation of family alliances and the production of legitimate children. Although romances from as early as the Hellenistic period do narrate tales of young lovers who overcome any number of obstacles to marry and be together, love was not the usual basis for marriage. To date, scholars have no information regarding marriage or weddings in Bronze Age Greece. Some have interpreted the festive flotilla fresco from Thera as a wedding procession, but there is no clear evidence for this. We know that women were the primary caregivers for children as mentioned in the Linear B texts, but these texts deal mainly with palatial affairs, not the daily lives of “housewives,” so we know little about the workings of Mycenaean marriages. We learn more about marriage during the Dark Age and Archaic Age through Homer and Hesiod. Much can be gleaned from a short passage in Book 9 of the Iliad. Agamemnon, attempting to assuage Achilles’s wrath, makes the following offer: There are three daughters of mine in the well-built hall, Khrysothemis and Laodikê and Iphianassa, Of them let him lead her whom he wishes without bride-price to the house of Peleus. And I will give as dowry many things, as many as never before anyone gave with his daughter. What is first evident is that the father has the right to marry off the daughter, without either her or her mother’s consent. As in later Greek history, marriage arrangements were conducted between either the groom or his family and the bride’s kyrios, or legal guardian. Usually this was her father, although in his absence it could be a brother, or even a son.

Two financial transactions were involved in marriages: the bride price and the dowry. In contrast to later understandings of these, both transactions ultimately benefited the wife. The bride price consisted of goods offered by the groom or his family to the bride and her family. Such a tradition recognized the value of daughters to their families, especially their economic contributions vis-à-vis textiles and labor; the groom’s family had to “buy” her from her parents. The bride price might also include presents to the intended bride herself, especially if she were in high demand. In Book 18, 291–300, of the Odyssey, Penelope, one of Greek tradition’s most sought-after wives, reminded her suitors of their obligations and got some lovely jewelry. Somewhat the opposite of the bride price, the dowry was property given by the bride’s family into the keeping of the groom. In reality, the dowry was the bride’s inheritance from her natal family, usually around one-half or one-third of each of her brothers’ portions, although she received it upon marriage rather than the death of her father. Laws varied throughout the poleis concerning what property could be included in a dowry. For example, land was acceptable in Sparta, but categorically not so in Athens. In the story quoted above, Agamemnon includes copious tracts of land as dowry for whatever daughter Achilles would choose to marry, indicating that land was transferable as dowry in Homer’s world. Although technically the husband had use of the dowry while married to his wife, the dowry actually belonged to her and her natal family. If the marriage were ended for any reason other than the wife’s infidelity (and sometimes not even then), her entire dowry had to be restored to her or her family. This helped to prevent “frivolous” divorces. Furthermore, the wife continued to have use of her dowry after the death of her husband, providing her with a type of life insurance. Upon her death, she left her dowry to her children. In this way, some inheritance went through the female line as well as the male’s. . . .

Hesiod, more “working-class” in his concerns than Homer, strongly advises the listener against getting a bad wife while offering advice on how to get a good one in his Works & Days (ll. 695–705): Lead a wife to your home when you are of age, neither much less than 30 years nor much more, this being the appropriate age to wed. And let the woman be four years from youth; marry her in the fifth. Marry a virgin, so you might teach her good ways. Best of all to marry someone who lives near you, having looked all about, so your marriage is not a joke to the neighbors. For a man acquires nothing better than a wife of the good sort, but nothing’s worse than the bad kind, a parasite! As discussed below, many Greeks took Hesiod’s advice. Greek men generally married at around age thirty, when their own fathers might be near death, thus releasing the family land for inheritance. Women—girls, really—married for the first time while in their teens. In Sparta, this was seldom younger than age eighteen, when women were considered to be better able to bear children. In Athens, the more common age was fifteen, although in the fourth century b.c.e., girls could be married as young as thirteen. Men generally preferred virgins as their first wives, so as to ensure the paternity of their children. However, both divorced and widowed women could and did remarry, so female virginity was hardly a prerequisite for marriage.”

 - The Ancient Greeks: New Perspectives, by Stephanie Lynn Budin

[bright-side-of-the-moon]

juniper!

i had like 3 highlighters on hand go away XD anyway this is my girl juniper, shes severely underrated and therefore my new favorite character in existence <3 this was my only reference lol

juniper berries *insert theyre the same picture meme*

right so, shortly after moving to camp (early 2004) hilal is still overwhelmed by it all and seeks comfort by taking long walks around camp. the beauty and stillness of nature grounds her and she needs all she can get in that department. its been a rough few months.

on one of her early morning walks shes deep in thought and doesnt notice a small depression in her usual path. she slips and falls on a jagged rock. no serious harm done but she does hurt her wrist quite badly.

juniper, a nymph who lives around these parts, happens to see the whole ordeal and is quick to offer assistance. hilal is very surprised to see anyone here at this time, much less... a green skinned lady about her age? she watches in silence as she uses leaves and sticks to make a splint of sorts.

after she recovers from her initial shock, she stammers her thanks at the makeshift cast and makes her way back to camp. the pain starts to kick in almost immediately and shes sent to the infirmary at once

she has a hairline fractured wrist which in and of itself isnt serious, but her CTS complicates things a little; a couple months prior hilal was involved in a serious car accident. the closed wound from her surgery had partially opened from her fall.

L: trenchcoat, black trousers and turtleneck and boots, mulberry hijab (not shown). R: post CT surgery brace, also black lol, left hand.

a couple days later when shes in a better headspace, she recounts to chiron what, rather who, shed seen on her walk. he informs her that she must have met a dryad, or wood nymph, and that they inhabit certain trees. the nymph living closest to camp was juniper. hilal confirms that the kind stranger had given her a little blue thing. a juniper berry she learns, which she keeps on her desk next to a pinecone, some acorns, and a few rocks shed collected.

*le timeskip*

some time later hilal gets back to work (as long as she takes breaks and doesnt put pressure on her healing wrist) and decides to go pay juniper a visit. she bakes a few things she thinks she might like and goes searching for a tree with the pretty blue things.

juniper is quite surprised as she seldom gets any guests, except perhaps for the satyr that visits her when he can. this strange mortal has even brought food with her! has she mistaken her for someone above her in rank? a goddess maybe? this was all very new to her. but the mortal was kind, too kind, and very understanding. she insisted that they were for her, a gift. and who was she to deny?

hilal made scones lol because its the only english thing she could think of, and makes a really great treat with some butter and jam. and a glass of cold milk? heaven. as well as other picnic-y stuff

the two have a small feast and part ways. she eventually indirectly helps grover and juniper get together and is honestly their biggest fan lol. she attends their wedding and visits them in new athens.

happy ending :)

[shortstories4kids]

Icarus and Daedalus

Long ago in ancient Greece there lived a very clever man named Daedalus. He was a great inventor and a skillful engineer and architect. Daedalus planned magnificent buildings that even had running water in the bathrooms. He was very proud of his skill. Daedalus left Athens, the city of his birth, and went to the island of Crete in the blue Aegean Sea. He took with him his young son, Icarus. King Minos of Crete commanded Daedalus to build a labyrinth, or maze, to imprison a fearful monster called the Minotaur. The Minotaur is a monster that is half-man and half-bull. Daedalus built the huge labyrinth underneath the king's stone palace. The labyrinth had so many false turns and dead-ends that no one who entered it could ever find a way out.

When the labyrinth was finished, the angry Minotaur was sealed inside it. When the Minotaur roared, the palace shook. The king was satisfied that the monster was safely locked away. Daedalus had been on Crete for a long time. He wanted to return home. So he went to King Minos and said, "Great King, with your permission, I shall take my leave. My work is done, and I wish to return to Athens with my son." "You will do no such thing," said King Minos. "You know the secret of the labyrinth. How do I know you won't tell somebody how to find the way through the twisting passageways?" "I pledge that I will do no such thing!" protested Daedalus.

But the king ordered his guards to seize Daedalus and Icarus. The father and son were locked in a tall tower at the very edge of the palace grounds.Despite all of the good Daedalus had done for the king, Daedalus and Icarus were kept under close guard in the prison tower. It would have done them no good to escape the tower, because King Minos also ruled the surrounding seas. The king's soldiers inspected every ship that left the shores of Crete. And if they were caught escaping, they would be sent to the labyrinth. "Father, are we going to be locked in this tower forever?" asked Icarus.

"I am a great inventor, Icarus," replied Daedalus. "This certainly is a difficult problem, but I shall think of a solution." After days of being locked in the tower, Daedalus and Icarus needed fresh air. Daedalus climbed the stairway and led Icarus to the rooftop of the tower. Its great height made Daedalus fearful for Icarus' safety. From the rooftop, Daedalus and Icarus watched the gulls and eagles soaring and gliding through the air. The birds flew very close to the tower. Daedalus studied with fascination the birds' wings as they flew. "Icarus, my son, I have an idea," said Daedalus. "King Minos may rule the land and the sea, but he does not rule the air!" "What do you mean?" asked Icarus. "Only birds can fly through the air." "That is because they have wings!" said Daedalus. "I want you to help me catch some birds. We need many feathers of all sizes." Daedalus watched closely the way birds use their wings to take off and fly. He studied the way feathers fit together to cover the birds' wings. He noted the weight and the size of the wings in proportion to their bodies.

Icarus watched his father intently as he laid out a row of long feathers. Then his father laid a row of smaller feathers below that. He sewed them together with linen thread and a needle that he carried in his pouch. Daedalus laid down many more rows of feathers which Icarus held in place for him. Finally, Daedalus softened some beeswax and fastened the rows of feathers together with the wax. At last Daedalus was finished. He held up a beautiful pair of wings! Daedalus tied the wings to his arms and shoulders with thin strips of leather. Cautiously, he fluttered the wings. Daedalus then moved the wings up and down with strong beats. As the wings moved, he could feel himself lifting from the roof of the tower!"Stop, Father! Make my wings now!" Icarus begged.

Daedalus took his wings off and made a smaller set of wings for his son. Again he used wax to fasten many of the feathers. Then he tied the wings to Icarus. "Just watch me first," said Daedalus to his son. "I'll try out the wings. If they work well, we'll both practice flying together." Daedalus spread his wings, flapped them once, and caught the wind. Out he soared from the tower, lifting and falling on the air currents like a bird. Icarus thought his father looked like a god as he flew through the air. The boy couldn't wait any longer to fly himself. Icarus stood on tiptoe at the edge of the tower, flapped his wings, and took off. He swooped and soared, like his father. As he flew, he shouted for joy. "I'm a bird! I'm a god!" he cried.

"Icarus! Go back!" shouted Daedalus. "Go back to the tower!" Daedalus landed on the rooftop and called again to Icarus, "Come back!" The boy circled around the tower twice and did a somersault in the air, before he came back to where his father stood. "Son, we have much to learn about flying. And you have much to learn about obeying your father!" said Daedalus. "We will have to practice to become strong and skillful enough to fly all the way across the Aegean," Daedalus explained. Daedalus and Icarus practiced flying every day. Their muscles became strong. When Daedalus judged that he and Icarus were ready to make the long trip over the sea, he sat Icarus down. "Son, it is important that you heed my words. If you fly too low, too close to the waves," Daedalus explained, "your feathers will get wet. Then, your wings will be too heavy to fly." "And if you fly too high," Daedalus went on, "the heat of the sun will melt the wax that holds your wings together." "I understand, Father," said Icarus, but he was barely listening.

No sooner had his father finished telling Icarus not to fly too low or too high, than the boy ran to the very edge of the rooftop and leapt off. He flapped his outspread wings and headed for the sea with Daedalus close behind him. When the two reached the blue Aegean, Daedalus shouted a reminder to his son. The father and son rode the rising currents of air like birds. They made long, slow turns, first one way and then the other in the brilliant blue sky. After flying contentedly side by side, Daedalus took the lead. Icarus did a somersault in the air, then caught up to his father. Daedalus gestured for Icarus to stay at a safe middle level.

Icarus, however, wanted to fly higher, up to where the gods lived. While Daedalus flew on in front, unaware, Icarus beat his wings hard and rose up and up. The warmth of the sun felt good on his back, and Icarus rose still higher. The same warm sun melted the wax on Icarus' wings. First only a few feathers and then many slipped off of the wings as the wax turned to liquid. Suddenly, Icarus dropped straight down, down into the cold sea. When Daedalus looked back, he could no longer see his son. Alarmed, Daedalus flew about in circles looking for the boy. At last, Daedalus flew close enough to the water to see the feathers floating on the sea. He knew then that his son had drowned. Daedalus wept as he flew alone. If only his son had listened to him, then they would be flying to freedom together. Read the full article

[lindsaystravelblogs3]

Days 64-66 – Thursday-Saturday, 27-29 July Leaving Greece, on to Turkey.

Thursday

Another day, hiding inside out of the sun.  It was not quite as bad today, with temperatures in the mid- to high-thirties and promising only thirty tomorrow – we live in hope.

We went out in the afternoon, mainly to buy more water at the supermarket but we also wanted to have a walk through the Plaka.  A couple of our guides mentioned it as containing mainly upmarket and expensive stores, but it didn’t seem like that at all to me.  There were certainly a few name-brand stores that probably were expensive, but we never checked the prices.  But there were also plenty of smaller stores, selling all sorts of touristy things as well – cheaper clothing, souvenirs, fake jewellery, and so on.  We walked right to the end of the main street, to Hadrian’s Library, and along to a restaurant area at one end of the Flea Market, and back home via the street that passes our hotel. 

Both lunch and dinner were compiled from leftovers and other purchased food in our fridge, but we will probably have to eat at least one meal out tomorrow.

Friday

We went ‘shopping’ after breakfast today.  We needed one supermarket item and a just few things from the pharmacy – anti-inflammatories, Hydralite, Panadol, etc.  Nothing too complicated and we were home again in less than an hour.

I sorted and edited photos during the day as well as keeping an eye on the cricket scores.  We also had to pack ready to leave first thing in the morning.  We checked out of the hotel late in the afternoon, but retained the key so we could spend the night there.

We ate at the Korean restaurant just across the alley from our hotel – another excellent meal – but I left my hat there, on the floor against the wall beside the chair.  We realised it a few minutes later, but decided to try to recover it when we got back from our planned trip to watch the sunset.

We walked up to Syntagma Square to find a taxi to take us up to Lycabettus Hill – the highest point around Athens.  The first cab we approached said it would cost us twenty euros, which we thought a bit rich, so we tried the next guy who said it would be fifteen euros.  We agreed, still thinking it pretty expensive – and for comparison, it cost us six euros on the meter to come back down.  They really know how to rip the tourists off.

We were delivered to the bottom of the funicular that runs up the side of the Lycabettus mountain.  There were scores of people waiting to catch the funicular, with a long queue for tickets, and an even longer one waiting for the ride up.  We eventually arrived at the top with only another forty or fifty steps to climb to the viewing area.  It was packed with many hundreds of tourists (like us), all hogging the best spots to take photos as the sun went down.  We took a few photos and retired to a restaurant ready to buy a drink, but nobody came to take our order, so we just sat and took advantage of a short rest.  I went back up to take a few photos over people’s heads as the sun set and then we scurried down to catch the funicular down to where we waited for a cab, most of which were already booked.  We started getting into one as some other people got in from the other side, so we missed that one, but eventually found an empty one and returned to Syntagma Square in time for me to run down to the restaurant to reclaim my hat.  As soon as I walked in, the chef came running out, full of smiles, to present me very regally with my hat. We had a bit of a laugh together and then we went back across the road to our hotel and bed.

Saturday

I leapt out of bed with a cramp just as the alarm went off, so I was up and getting dressed within a minute.  We packed the last-minute things and took our bags down to Reception and had a quick breakfast – and by then, our cab was waiting at the door.  He was a great driver with very good English and he gave us quite a travel talk as we drove through the suburbs.  He also told us a lot about himself and his family ambitions and difficulties – a really pleasant guy and we enjoyed the almost an hour in the cab.

There were long queues in the airport – for check-in, Passport Control and Security but all went surprisingly quickly and we were seated (in the second back seat) before the official boarding time.  Alas, the flight was delayed for fifty minutes due to traffic issues, but at least it gave us time to do some reading.  I hadn’t read any of my e-books until a couple of days ago, but finished one yesterday and started a new one on the plane – and finished it (and started a third) two days later.

The Athens airport is a new one and is huge, so we had to walk a couple of kilometres before we reached the boarding gate – and the Turkish airport is a new one since we were here five years ago too.  It is also huge and we walked almost two kilometres there too.  I reckon the plane taxied for more than ten kilometres after landing and we then waited at least twenty minutes for an air-bridge.  Then it was more Passport Control, baggage collection and Security (most people didn’t go through Security, but we were ‘selected’) – at least it was a fairly and easy quick process.

We eventually cleared the airport and found the exit where we were to meet our driver.  That was also a process.  The driver’s company had a person at the exit who found us and told us to take a seat while he went out to get our driver.  He disappeared and after some time, another guy turned up and helped us convey our bags to a car in the parking lot a few hundred metres away - where our actual driver put our bags in the back and drove us to our hotel.  It took almost two hours because the weekend traffic in the city was horrendous – one or two cars got through each set of lights when we were lucky. Much of the time, the intersections were clogged and nobody moved at all.

We booked in at the And Hotel, one floor below the room we were in last time we were here.  It felt quite nostalgic.  We hadn’t had any lunch and it was about 4pm, so we strolled across to one of the places we ate at last time.  We ordered just enough to tide us over to dinnertime, but the serving was a lot more than we expected so we really weren’t so hungry when it was time to eat again.

We ate in the hotel restaurant and again, our meal was more than we could eat.  The restaurant is on the top floor with superb views across the city so I will post a few pics taken from there in due course.  I counted at least thirteen mosques visible from the restaurant – and I counted more than seventy on the way in from the airport.

[tallmantall]

#JamesDonaldson On #MentalHealth – The #Comedy Mask

By John Roy Only when we lose members of our #comedy community to #suicide do I think about the most recognizable symbol of our profession: the icon that means #comedy worldwide the way two snakes coiled around a staff means medicine and a striped pole means barber. This is the mask the Greeks called Thalia, with its arched eyebrows and Nixonian nose, mouth frozen in a manic and mirthless grin that surely must have inspired the artists Bill Finger, Bob Kane, and Jerry Robinson are credited with creating the character. when they created the archetypal disturbed clown, the Joker. Nowadays, Thalia’s role is symbolic. Paired with her frowning mirror image Melpomene, she hangs on a proscenium arch to mark it as a stage. In the Theater of Dionysus in ancient Athens, however, a mask like Thalia or Melpomene was an essential part of every actor’s costume. The theater sat 17,000, nearly as many as the Barclays Center, more than two millennia before the invention of the jumbotron. Oversize wooden masks made stadium shows possible. There were 44 in all, each representing a stock character instantly recognizable by their broad, emotive expression. No one had to hold their face in a grimace all night. Even from the cheapest seats, audiences in 215 B.C. knew one thing about the actor wearing Thalia: Their character was not sad. But tastes changed, masks eventually fell out of favor, and performers instead forced their faces to match their characters’ emotions. Perhaps this was where we went wrong. A comedian’s #suicide sets in motion a recognizable pattern of events. It’s a now-familiar timeline of horror we live through on an irregular loop, each tragic cycle playing to the end only for another to begin the moment our guard is down. Each iteration begins the same way: A comedian’s name trends on #socialmedia, but they have no new special, tour, or announcement. With a sharp pain growing in our stomachs, fellow #comedians scurry through the internet, willing it not to be true as the tweets pile up, no longer just from our friends but now from the AP and Los Angeles Times. They tell us that the name that flew through our phones from every direction just moments ago belonged to someone who is gone now. We are not going to hear their new jokes this weekend or ever. We are not going to have a beer with them in the green room and continue the conversation we have kept up in backstage hallways, airport bars, hotel lobbies, and festival-badge lines in strange cities where neither of us knew anyone but each other. Whatever the deceased #comedian meant to their closest friends and family, they were also a cherished member of a very small tribe who can fit all at once into the bar at the Montreal Hyatt, who come from all walks of life, but in one small but defining way have more in common with each other than anyone else on the planet. If this latest #comedian to leave our world too early left the world unsung and rewarded beneath their worth, we rage at the fickle whims of the industry and audience they spent their lives trying to please. If they left wealthy and beloved, we despair that the goal they accomplished against such colossal odds was not enough to heal them, even though we know the human heart has never worked that way. Then come the memorials and the gatherings and one-on-one conversations in coat-check lines and driveways: “Were there any signs?” “Were there any hints?” There are vows of vigilance, to get together more often, in other circumstances, in happier times, so that we might not lose any more. We mean it and we try. We DM people and text and reach out. Then there are shows and tours and auditions and flights and airport bars and badge lines and festivals, and their name comes up less, and the urgency fades. #James Donaldson notes:Welcome to the “next chapter” of my life… being a voice and an advocate for #mentalhealthawarenessandsuicideprevention, especially pertaining to our younger generation of students and student-athletes.Getting men to speak up and reach out for help and assistance is one of my passions. Us men need to not suffer in silence or drown our sorrows in alcohol, hang out at bars and strip joints, or get involved with drug use.Having gone through a recent bout of #depression and #suicidalthoughts myself, I realize now, that I can make a huge difference in the lives of so many by sharing my story, and by sharing various resources I come across as I work in this space.  #http://bit.ly/JamesMentalHealthArticleOrder your copy of James Donaldson's latest book,#CelebratingYourGiftofLife:From The Verge of Suicide to a Life of Purpose and Joy www.celebratingyourgiftoflife.com We are surprised, then, when it happens again — a flash of dread as another comedian’s name begins to unexpectedly trend. This is no different than what happens after a #suicide in any community, but a crucial difference hampers comedians’ efforts to identify our fellow performers in distress. Despite the seemingly immortal “sad clown” cliché, we are no more prone to #self-harm than any other group. Like those first actors to remove their masks at the Theater of Dionysus, however, we are masters of showing people only the emotions we wish them to see, whether they are an audience of 17,000, an intimate gathering of fellow #comedians, or one long-time friend. Thalia is a fitting icon of our profession, but it’s the audience’s faces, not ours, we work to force into a permanent smile. To get people comfortable enough to laugh in front of strangers, we must appear competent and in control. To keep their mouths locked in that same gaping grin for the whole show, we must change our own faces constantly. An average 45-minute stand-up act might require dozens of separate emotions, each as immediately recognizable as the masks of the ancient Greeks. While we may have lost a loved one, put down a pet, or missed a car payment that day, self-doubt and fear — the real kind, not the feigned version we may slap on our faces for a punch line or two — undermine the illusion we must maintain. If the audience senses for one instant we may not be in command of our feelings, they will no longer trust us with theirs. So we learn to hide these emotions away effortlessly and completely — first from our audience and eventually from anyone we don’t wish to let in. Our #comedian friends do their best to recognize when a face has turned into a mask, but knowing how to do the trick themselves doesn’t mean they are immune to its effects. They look and stare and scrutinize at parties, festivals, Friendsgivings, volunteer outings, and writers’ brunches. But too often, all we are willing to let them see are two pointy, angular eyebrows, a sloping, upturned nose, and a too-exuberant, plastered-on grin. Read the full article

[dailychapel]

Acts 18:1–28 NLT - 1 Then Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. 2 There he became acquainted with a Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, who had recently arrived from Italy with his wife, Priscilla. They had left Italy when Claudius Caesar deported all Jews from Rome. 3 Paul lived and worked with them, for they were tentmakers just as he was. 4 Each Sabbath found Paul at the synagogue, trying to convince the Jews and Greeks alike. 5 And after Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul spent all his time preaching the word. He testified to the Jews that Jesus was the Messiah. 6 But when they opposed and insulted him, Paul shook the dust from his clothes and said, "Your blood is upon your own heads--I am innocent. From now on I will go preach to the Gentiles." 7 Then he left and went to the home of Titius Justus, a Gentile who worshiped God and lived next door to the synagogue. 8 Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, and everyone in his household believed in the Lord. Many others in Corinth also heard Paul, became believers, and were baptized. 9 One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision and told him, "Don't be afraid! Speak out! Don't be silent! 10 For I am with you, and no one will attack and harm you, for many people in this city belong to me." 11 So Paul stayed there for the next year and a half, teaching the word of God. 12 But when Gallio became governor of Achaia, some Jews rose up together against Paul and brought him before the governor for judgment. 13 They accused Paul of "persuading people to worship God in ways that are contrary to our law." 14 But just as Paul started to make his defense, Gallio turned to Paul's accusers and said, "Listen, you Jews, if this were a case involving some wrongdoing or a serious crime, I would have a reason to accept your case. 15 But since it is merely a question of words and names and your Jewish law, take care of it yourselves. I refuse to judge such matters." 16 And he threw them out of the courtroom. 17 The crowd then grabbed Sosthenes, the leader of the synagogue, and beat him right there in the courtroom. But Gallio paid no attention. 18 Paul stayed in Corinth for some time after that, then said good-bye to the brothers and sisters and went to nearby Cenchrea. There he shaved his head according to Jewish custom, marking the end of a vow. Then he set sail for Syria, taking Priscilla and Aquila with him. 19 They stopped first at the port of Ephesus, where Paul left the others behind. While he was there, he went to the synagogue to reason with the Jews. 20 They asked him to stay longer, but he declined. 21 As he left, however, he said, "I will come back later, God willing." Then he set sail from Ephesus. 22 The next stop was at the port of Caesarea. From there he went up and visited the church at Jerusalem and then went back to Antioch. 23 After spending some time in Antioch, Paul went back through Galatia and Phrygia, visiting and strengthening all the believers. 24 Meanwhile, a Jew named Apollos, an eloquent speaker who knew the Scriptures well, had arrived in Ephesus from Alexandria in Egypt. 25 He had been taught the way of the Lord, and he taught others about Jesus with an enthusiastic spirit and with accuracy. However, he knew only about John's baptism. 26 When Priscilla and Aquila heard him preaching boldly in the synagogue, they took him aside and explained the way of God even more accurately. 27 Apollos had been thinking about going to Achaia, and the brothers and sisters in Ephesus encouraged him to go. They wrote to the believers in Achaia, asking them to welcome him. When he arrived there, he proved to be of great benefit to those who, by God's grace, had believed. 28 He refuted the Jews with powerful arguments in public debate. Using the Scriptures, he explained to them that Jesus was the Messiah.

Generous Father, you have told me to ask you for whatever I need. You said that if I ask, it will be given. If I seek, I will find. If I knock, the door will be opened to me. I ask you for guidance and direction now, Lord, and pray that you would answer my request. You are a perfectly good Father who only ever gives good gifts to his children. You love to give good gifts to those who ask. As your humble child, I ask for the gift of wisdom today. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord, Amen.

[selfparasbym]

“Slow down you crazy child You're so ambitious for a juvenile”

Sadie was never quite patient. She was born in the middle of a snow storm in Memphis while her mother was working on her masters degree, and her father was beginning his career in the field of banking and finances. 

”I like the name Sadie,” her mother, Jocelyn finally said as they stared at the pink bundle blankets in front of the them. 

”Maybe Beth for the middle name,” Richard suggested after his favorite song by Kiss. “Sadie Beth Morgan. I like it.”  “But then if you're so smart tell me Why are you still so afraid? (mmmmm)”

When she was ten her parents had told her they were moving to Seattle; her dad was originally from London, and her mom was originally from deep in the heart of Texas, they had met when they were both doing undergrad work in Chicago, moved to Memphis for her mother’s grad work, and then had lived the last five years in Santa Fe.

Her dad had gotten a job as marketing director of a Seattle bank, which was going to be a lot of money, while her mother got a job at Seattle children’s working in the NICU doing swallow therapy. The move was one they promised was going to be permeant, but Sadie was hopeful they’d move back to Santa Fe eventually.  “Where's the fire, what's the hurry about? You better cool it off before you burn it out”

But the longer they stayed in Seattle the more she realized they weren’t moving back home. By the time she was 14 she had come to find Seattle home. Her parents were very career focuses and had set up very high standards for both Sadie and her younger brother Jeremy, 

Jeremey thrived under pressure, he had straight a’ and was dedicated to playing baseball. While Sadie crumbled under any sort of pressure, and made it by with C’s. 

She and her mother clashed over everything, while she and her dad only seemed to bond over music.  “You got so much to do and only So many hours in a day (Ay) But you know that when the truth is told That you can get what you want Or you can just get old”

High school was a disaster she spent most of her time barley getting through school; half of the time she was high during class the other half she was skipping. 

Her afternoons were spent working at the local record store or shop lifting lip gloss and panties from the mall. 

Her parents begged her to find a hobby, and the only club that would take her that didn’t seem lame was photography which started her love for taking photos.  “You're gonna kick off before you even get halfway through (Oooh) When will you realize, Vienna waits for you?”

Of all the places post high school she ended up in Athens, Ohio at Ohio University studying photojournalism. Halloween of her freshmen year she was at a frat party when she got a call from her mother who was screaming and crying, she slowly left the party and ended up on a flight back to Seattle. 

Her younger brother’s life at 16 quickly ended due to a drunk driver, When she returned back to college she felt like she could ignore the grief, and in her mind her little brother was still alive.. A grief she never quite coped with.  “Slow down you're doing fine You can't be everything you want to be before your time”

The four years of college flew by, and her only two jobs offers she had gotten   were taking sports photos for a conservative university, or working for Seattle Met taking photos.. She hated sports, and living by her parents again didn’t seem appealing but in the end Seattle won.  “Although it's so romantic on the borderline tonight (tonight) Too bad, but it's the life you lead”

”Did you get your apartment?” her co-worker Bea asked her as they walked through the building together coffee in hand. 

”I’ll be able to sign my lease next week, which thank god because I don’t want to wake up every morning to my mother doing her working yoga and talking about egg whites, while my dad is working out on the treadmill telling her the secret to health is red wine,” Sadie explained with a sigh. 

”Ironic you mentioned red wine when I think you got picked to cover a local brewery,” 

”That’s perfect I shotgunned a beer last night,” in her parents basement hiding from them because they wanted to talk about her lack of drive in life. Something she didn’t quite understand? she had a job. How was that not drive? “You're so ahead of yourself that you forgot what you need Though you can see when you're wrong”

”So, how was the interview?” Bea asked as they both sat at their desk. Sadie picking the lettuce out of the wrap she had gotten for lunch. 

”I never quite understood why places insist on putting lettuce in wraps, nobody even likes lettuce,” she rambled on as she looked up at her co-worker. “The interview was good I got a lot of good photos.”  “You know you can't always see when you're right (you're right) You got your passion, you got your pride”

The interview ended up being more good, and the relationship formed between Daniel and Sadie ended up being something that was more than she could imagined. Every single thing seemed easy and fun.  “But don't you know that only fools are satisfied? Dream on, but don't imagine they'll all come true (Oooh) When will you realize, Vienna waits for you?”

The easy turned to fear when she got a positive pregnancy test, and her whole world was turned upside down. She didn’t quite know how to be a mother, and what if she was bad at it?

“You can no longer your beer tours with Sadie articles anymore,” Bea commented as they both stared at the pregnancy test on Sadie’s desk. Of course this series of articles was a new thing within the last year, so it wasn’t exactly a big deal in the magazine yet. “How are you going to tell Daniel?”

That was the moment her words finally started to sink in. “I don’t know. I’ve never told anyone i’m pregnant before,” nor had she ever been pregnant before. “Do I just tell him?”

“Slow down you crazy child”

All the ideas of how to tell Daniel didn’t quite seem to top the ironic baby onesie she found with a bottle of beer and a baby bottle on it that said “daddy’s drinking buddy” that, that was funny to her. 

Which was how she ended up telling Daniel leaving it for him on his desk while he was working.  “Take the phone off the hook and disappear for a while It's alright, you can afford to lose a day or two (oooh)”

When Ivy was born she swore she was going to be the best possible mom to her, but then post-partum depression set in and she wasn’t quite sure what to do with herself. And she felt like she was trapped in a cycle of never quite being enough, and she wasn’t quite herself.  “When will you realize, Vienna waits for you?”

After six months of it she left. She left to try to find herself, got a job working for a travel magazine to that allowed her to take photos of anything she wanted.

But every time she went somewhere all she could think about was Ivy and what she was doing and if she missed her. Which hurt even more when she thought about Daniel and what he might be up to. 

She often wondered if he missed her, or even thought about her.  “And you know that when the truth is told That you can get what you want or you can just get old”

The years flew by and she knew she couldn’t be away from him anymore which led him to stopping by his house knocking on the door in the middle of the night praying that it wasn’t a wife who would answer, and that he was willing to hear her out.  “When will you realize, Vienna waits for you?”

[burgundybmw]

Guitar String of Fate

MASTERLIST

Pairing: Eddie Munson x Fem!Reader

Word Count: 4,062

Warning: Drunken shenanigans, thirst tweets.

Summary: When the band Daughters of Lilith tour bus breaks down in the middle of Indiana, they are left stranded for a few hours waiting for help. Y/N (also known by Echo) sees a bar in the distance with a giant LIVE MUSIC sign in bright neon lights, she tells the girls they might as well find some entertainment while they wait. The local favorite Corroded Coffin is playing, and when she locks eyes with the guitar player for the first time, Y/N can’t help but feel the electricity in the air. Will this be a missed connection? Or will the strings of fate bring them together again?

Author’s Note: Who doesn't love rockstars? I certainly do.

Part II

Y/N knew she'd get an earful after dropping the album early. Murray ran a tight ship and as their manager, it was his job to keep everything in order. There was supposed to be promo parties, meetings with big wigs, a bunch of fancy dinners. That was the plan, but Y/N was so exhausted. The tour took a lot out of her, the rest of the girls too. Chrissy was half dead on her feet after every show. Y/N made the split second decision to release the drop to ease the transition after the Antiquity tour. She knew Murray would give her an earful, but she didn't really care. The fans loved it, the rest of the band agreed, and that's all she needed to know. She didn't regret her decision in the slightest, but Murray's nagging was really grating on her ears.

"I don't see what the big deal is. It hasn't even been a day and the album is already charting in the top 10. You should thank me honestly"

"Thank you?! I should thank you?! I swear when you guys get to L.A-"

"Sorry Murray, you're breaking up. Bad reception in Hawkins. Talk to you later!" Y/N hung up the phone and immediately turned it off.

"You're terrible" Barb chuckled at the head of the bus. They'd only been driving for a couple of hours, passing through Hawkins, Indiana before getting on the interstate. Y/N had begged the driver to at least pass through it since they couldn't make a formal stop. Alexei was always a bit over a pushover, so of course he caved to her whim.

"Please, Murray would have harped on me all the way to California and you know it" Barb nodded in agreement. Murray was like an overexcited chihuahua. Loud, in your face, and had a hysterical temper. Once you got him going it was difficult to stop him.

"I really wish we could have stayed in Hawkins for a bit. It would have been nice to see people" Chrissy sighed.

"Next time we can Chris, we'll make a whole weekend of it" Y/N loved the idea of Hawkins. Barb, Chrissy, and Vickie always talked about how much they loved growing up there. It was quaint, a town almost stuck in time. Old shops and arcades that have maintained their charm over the decades. It was starkly different than Y/N's childhood, she hated growing up in Athens, California. A neighborhood outside the glitz and glamor of Los Angeles. It was busy and loud, where Hawkins had an ease of peace to it.

"Sure I guess, wish we could do it now instead of later though"

It was as if Chrissy's words bled magic, her will to stay in her hometown manifesting into reality. All of the sudden a loud bang rang out on the back of the bus, the sound nearly deafening. The bus came to a slow stop, the wheezing and hissing of mechanics ringing their ears.

"What the hell was that?" Eden yelled through the curtain of her bus bed.

"I'm not sure, I'll ask Alexei" Vickie skittered out of her seat and raced to to the front of the bus. Y/N looked out the window to see a dense array of trees, the evening sun barely visible through them. It couldn't have been a worse place to stop.

"Oh no, is the bus broken?" Chrissy asked, taking a seat next to Y/N on the bench.

"You might get your wish after all Chris" Y/N could hear Eden groan from behind the curtain. They were all drained from the end of the tour, the follow up interviews, dealing with packing up the bus, everything. It wasn't the best time for a break down, a mechanical one or otherwise.

"Alexei thinks we blew a tire!" Vickie shouted from the head of the bus.

"Christ almighty!" Eden complained. Y/N tried dialing Murray's number, but it went straight to voicemail. The petty bastard silenced his phone. It was her own fault, Murray wasn't stupid. He knew she hung up on him on purpose. Normally that would be a small blessing, but now their tour bus was out of action in the outskirts of Hawkins. It was not the time to be spiteful.

Y/N stood up and walked towards the busses exit. If she didn't step foot off that god forsaken tour bus she knew she would lose her shit. The late summer air was thick with humidity, the smell of burnt rubber flooding her nostrils.

"What's the damage?" Alexei was bent over in front of the large bus tire, a large gaping hole in the front of it. Metal kissed pavement, it didn't take an engineer to know they were fucked.

"It looks like we will not make our destination tonight" Alexei replied. Eden, Chrissy, Barb, and Vickie all shuffled out of the bus to look at the damage, the same look of grief written on all of their faces.

"Great. Just great. What the hell are we supposed to do now?" Eden complained, banging her head on the metal frame of the bus.

"Can't we call Triple A or something? We can't be stuck here all night! What if there are bears or something out here!"

"There are no bears in Hawkins, Chrissy. It's all gonna be okay"

"There are coyotes though"

"Not helpful Vickie" Barb chastised. Chrissy was in a near panic, pacing up and down the road. She was always a gentle soul, soft and demure. When she played drums that persona flew right out the window, pounding away until the wood sticks snapped beneath her fingers. Y/N often teased her about her Dr. Jekyll and Mrs. Hyde personality shift, but she kept her mouth shut in the moment. It was clear Chrissy wasn't the only one who was nervous about the situation.

Y/N walked up to where Chrissy was pacing and wrapped her arms around her, comforting the anxious blonde before she spiraled. It was then she noticed a large rusted sign sticking out up the road. Half the letters were missing from it, but the Live Music notice below it was crystal clear.

"Do any of you guys recognize that up ahead?" Y/N asked, taking a step away from Chrissy.

"That's The Hideout. It's an old dive bar" Barb replied.

"Is it any good?" It didn't really matter either way. Dive bars meant booze and cheap food, the live music was just a bonus.

"Wouldn't know, I've never been" It was the perfect distraction. They could all pass the time listening to whatever local band played while they wait for help to arrive. Y/N knew if she step foot on that bus while it was shipwrecked it would totally ruin her night. After months of traveling the walls inside the metal machine felt more like a tomb than a mode of transportation. She was nearly claustrophobic.

"Perfect. Let's go" Y/N began to walk towards the bar before Eden reached out to stop her, the iron grip on her arm halting any chance of movement.

"What if someone recognizes us? Chrissy, Barb, and Vickie are locals. We were just in Indianapolis. It could be more of a headache than just staying here" She made an excellent point. The last thing any of the girls wanted was a media circus, especially with no way to escape it.

"We have those wigs in the car leftover from the shoot in Chicago, we could totally use those! It would be a whole Hannah Montana moment! But backwards!" Chrissy beamed, the panic from earlier replaced with giddy joy.

"Sounds good to me"

The Hideout was like any dive bar in the midwest. It was a little worn, a little dated, but comforting nonetheless. A large U shaped bar crowded with people cut the bar in half, and on the other side by the bathrooms was a small merch stand. There was a small stage set up, instruments on display for the live show. A clearly handmade banner hung above the stage, in spray painted letters it spelled out Corroded Coffin.

"Have you guys heard of this band?" Y/N asked above the noise of the bar. The shots she did in the tour bus making her feel warm and loose. The platinum blonde wig on her head was beginning to itch, she desperately wanted to rip it off. Exposure be damned.

"It sounds familiar but I can't put my finger on it!" Vickie shouted.

"Ugh it's driving me nuts! I definitely know them from somewhere! It's right at the tip of my tongue" Chrissy groaned, adjusting her hot pink wig.

The band hadn't entered the stage yet, the crowd at the front of it were all decked out in vintage metal gear. Battle jackets, spikes and pins of classic bands. It was reminded Y/N of when she was a kid, sneaking into concert venues to listen to the music her parents forbade her from. Nostalgia, oh lovely nostalgia.

"I'm gonna get a drink, see you guys in a bit" Y/N walked through the crowd to get to the bar, it had been so long since she had to. When she would go out with the girls, the people would part for them like the red sea, but no one here recognized her. She loved it. To just exist as a normal person, drinking and listening to live music, going back to her roots. When she finally got up to the bar there was a wall of people yelling to get their orders in, all of them towering over her.

'Great. Never gonna get blitzed at this rate' Y/N thought to herself. She felt a soft tap to her shoulder, the hand belonging to a guy she'd assumed would normally never set foot in a place like this.

"Here, take my spot. I'm just getting water anyway"

"Thanks, you're a life saver!" Y/N stepped into his place, the guy stepping away giving her enough personal space.

"No problem, I know how crazy it can get here. The name's Steve" He held his hand out to shake, something she gently returned.

"I'm Y/N. Ya know, if I'm being honest, you don't look like the kind of guy I'd expect to be here" Steve was wearing a polo shirt and a wind breaker, he looked like he shopped at J. Crew, went to private school. Probably drives an Audi or a BMW. That type.

"I get that a lot," Steve chuckled, "this is my friends band. I always come to his shows when I can. I'll be honest, metal isn't my favorite, but he's a cool guy and I like to show my support"

"That's cool. Are they any good?" Y/N said as she held a $20 bill in the air, fastest way to get a bartenders attention.

"Not the best judge of the music, but I think they're really talented. The only metal I've listened to is Daughters of Lilith, but that's only because my best friend Robin is obsessed with them"

Y/N placed her order, barely containing the smirk on her face. Rockstars relish in hearing about people loving their music, always adds a boost to their Jupiter sized egos. Those who don't are either liars or have the humility of Mother Theresa. Y/N was neither.

"Oh yea? Is Robin here tonight?" Get a couple of drinks in her, Y/N would have zero hesitation in exposing her disguise. Especially for a major fan, Murray and the other suits be damned.

"Nah, she couldn't make it. She's at a birthday party. Pretty sure she's listening to the new album now though, she hasn't shut up about since it dropped. Do you listen to them?" The bartender handed Y/N her drink, a captain and ginger. When she took a sip, Y/N quickly realized it was definitely more captain and not so much ginger. Dive bars and their heavy pours.

"Oh yea, I listen to D.O.L all the time. I've followed the band since the beginning" Not technically a lie, not a full truth either.

"Robin's gonna be so bummed out she missed this, she's followed them since the beginning too, I'm sure she'd talk your ear off about them. The only reason I've listened to them was because she wanted someone else to talk to about their music. She did the same thing to our friend Eddie, but he's more into that scene than I am"

"Spreading the metal gospel?" Y/N chuckled, sipping on her drink.

"Oh yea, for sure. She has this massive crush on the guitarist, Vickie too. Robin used to be in band with her back in high school, but she never had the courage to talk to her. Shit, probably shouldn't have said that"

"Trust me, if I had a dollar for every time I said something I shouldn't have I would be richer than King Midas" An idea popped in Y/N's head then. She nabbed the pen from behind the bar and grabbed one of the band's flyers, it was a little wet in the corners but it would get the job done. Steve's back was turned, ordering a glass of water from the bartender. Y/N quickly wrote out a note and signed the bottom, gently sticking into the pocket of his windbreaker. A little something for her band's biggest fan.

The lights in the bar began to dim, shrouding the room in darkness. Cheers erupted from the crowd in front of the stage, the show was about to begin.

"See ya around Steve" Y/N said as she walked away, navigating through the crowd once again. The buzz from cheap liquor flooded her veins, a sense of euphoria firing off the neurons in her brain. When was the last time she went to a show that wasn't her own? To be a face in the crowd instead of the lead on stage? It must have been years. She didn't realize how much she felt the absence of it until she stepped foot inside The Hideout, missed the rush of getting lost in the sea of people, all dancing to the beat of the same drum.

"Shit, there you are! Hurry up the show's about to start! Everyone else is at the front already!" Eden grabbed Y/N's arm and pulled her deep into the crowd, her legs stumbling along like a newborn gazelle. She followed Eden's lead as she steamrolled through the crowd. It was one of the things Y/N loved about her, how she could push her way through anything. Eden was the band's rock, Y/N would be lost without her.

"You made it just in time! The band's about to come out!" Vickie shouted. Eden practically shoved Y/N against the stage barrier, the hard metal digging into her ribs. It was a great spot, off center towards stage left. Y/N was squished in between Eden and Chrissy, a swarm of people behind them. They were all shouting, pushing and prodding to get to the front of the crowd, desperate to get close to the band. Electricity was in the air, a beautiful controlled chaos. Then the members of Corroded Coffin finally walked on stage, it felt like a bolt of lightning struck down through Y/N's spine.

Standing barely six feet in front of her was the most sublime creature Y/N had ever seen. Long limbs dressed in leather and denim, the hands that gripped the B.C. Rich Warlock decorated with thick metal rings. He had a smile that could outshine the beaming lights on the stage, and hair long enough to pull. This man checked every one of Y/N's boxes. She didn't stand a chance.

"I want to have his rockstar babies" Any filter that Y/N had previously possessed was gone with the wind. The booze, the music, the man in front of her, three strikes and she was out.

"What?" Eden yelled over the cheers.

"I said! I want, to have, his rockstar babies!" Y/N screamed in her face, oblivious to the fact that the man himself could hear her. When she turned around she saw him looking straight at her, a wolfish grin on his face. Y/N widened her eyes when he gave her wink, matching the endearing dimple on his flushed cheeks. Done for, she was absolutely done for.

"I'm embarrassed for you" Eden groaned.

"Be embarrassed then. Doesn't make it any less true" Y/N was sure Eden had another oh so clever quip to add, but was interrupted by the screeching sound of the mic reverb.

"Sorry about that, Gareth always fucks up the the mic set up" the man behind the mic teased.

"Fuck off, Jeff" the drummer, Gareth Y/N supposed, replied.

"Love you too man," Jeff began, "anyways, we're Corroded Coffin and we're gonna put on a bitchin' show for y'all tonight. We're gonna start with something all of you should know, if not, why the hell are you guys here? Hit it!"

Y/N instantly recognized the guitar rip, the opening chords to Master of Puppets blasting her ears. If she didn't know any better, she would have thought it was done by James Hetfield himself. The man had an insane amount of talent, too much to be wasted in some old dive bar. His fingers waltzed against the warlock's strings like he had it with him in utero. Y/N was entranced, fully underneath his spell. She had never felt this way before, never felt this moved watching another person play. Not even herself.

Eden watched Y/N gaze at the guitarist on stage with a knowing look in her eye. She knew that by the end of the night, one of three things would happen. One, Y/N would make a damn fool out of herself in front of mystery guy. Two, she'd chicken out and just stare at him while he played. Or three, a locked tour bus and a suspiciously loud speaker playing inside, leaving the rest of them stranded on the road. The last one was very unlikely, for as long as Eden knew her Y/N never hooked up with strangers. A serial monogamist at heart, poor thing. So it was either option one or two, if Eden was gonna bet money on it, she'd go with the first.

It made her miss Argyle all the more, he had left to go back to California halfway through the tour. He was the perfect partner, always attentive to her needs, constantly lending a hand to anyone who needed it, could lighten up a room the moment he entered. Eden wasn't a hopeless romantic, that was all Argyle, but she loved him with everything in her. A part of her wanted that for the rest of her friends too. Chrissy had a bad break up before she left for Los Angeles, some douchebag zealot she dated back in high school. Vickie always mentioned some girl she used to have a crush on back in the day, but never did anything about it. Barb was harder to read. She never mentioned anyone she was interested in, but Eden did notice the eyes she gave Fred Benson during the MTV interview. The same eyes Y/N was giving the guitarist as he played through the set, and if her eyes didn't deceive her, a similar look on Chrissy's face as she watched the drummer, Gary? Gareth. Definitely Gareth. Who knows, maybe Hawkins, Indiana had better luck than Eden previously thought.

"I'm gonna throw my bra on stage" Y/N slurred beside her.

"Don't you dare!" Eden's words fell on deaf ears, especially with Chrissy chanting do it, do it, do it, beside them. Corroded Coffin had just finished up some original work, it was pretty good. A little unpolished, but with the right set up and practice they could tune that right up.

"It's already in motion Lady Eden, can't stop me now. I shall give the fair warlock knight a favour, a token of my appreciation" Y/N replied as she stealthily unhooked her bra beneath her shirt.

"I'm banning you from Medieval Times for the next month"

"Oh, boo" Y/N slipped the black lace fabric off her skin the moment before the band began to play once more. She tossed into the air, the bra taking flight like a bat in the night. The guitarist caught it before he it landed on his face. He looked annoyed at first, as if he was used to people throwing things at him, before he realized what it was. A look of pure excitement consumed him, like a kid getting his favorite toy on Christmas morning.

"Dude, is that a bra?" Jeff voiced into the mic.

"Sure is"

"Can I see?" Eden rolled her eyes, men were so predictable.

"No way man, it's mine now. Probably wont look as good on me as it would on the lady who gave it though" The guitarist attempted to fit his arms through the straps, giggling like a school girl. He quickly gave up the endeavor, his shoulders were too broad for it to fit, deciding to tie it around the strap instead. Y/N looked like she was having a religious experience, Eden wanted to gag.

"Oh my god his voice, I can't, I just can't" Y/N whined, her knuckles gripping the metal barrier as if she would blow away at any moment.

"Y/N, you're like, one of my bestest friends ever, and I say this with all the love in my heart because you're like, the sister I never had, but you seriously need to get laid"

"Chrissy!"

"Am I wrong?"

"Nope" Eden, Vickie, and Barb all replied at the same time.

"Stop killin' my buzz. Let me fantasize in peace!" They all turned back towards the stage, ignoring Y/N's protest. Corroded Coffin started their final encore of the night, it was only a matter of time before Eden found out which of the three options would come into fruition.

As the song came to an end, Eden's phone buzzed in her pocket. She wanted to ignore it, content on enjoying the music, but it kept ringing. Over and over and over again. Whoever it was, was desperate to get ahold of her. With an annoyed groan she pulled out her phone, Murray's face popping up on her lock screen.

Eden:

Murray?

Murray:

Where the hell are you guys?!

Eden:

A bar.

Murray:

Is that what all the racket is? I can barely hear you!

Eden:

What is it Murray?

Murray:

The tire has been fixed. All of you need to get to the bus pronto, we're late on schedule as is!

Eden:

Oh come on, the set is almost over!

Murray:

Now, young lady!

Eden:

You're not my dad!

Murray:

UGH!!

Murray hung up the phone, leaving Eden alone to deal with the girls. She knew it would be an olympian size tasked getting them all to the bus, especially Y/N, but it needed to be done.

"Bus is fixed. Let's go" Eden grabbed onto Y/N's arm, pulling her away from the barrier.

"Noooo Edy! Come on we can't go yet!" Y/N was whiny when she was drunk, and stubborn as an ox. Something that always tested Eden's paitence.

"Now! Before Murray gets on our asses even more! Chris, give me a hand"

Both girls had to drag Y/N out of the Hideout. She was ranting and raving about wanting to talk to guitar player. About halfway down the road she started waxing poetic about his Bambi eyes and big hands. Eden couldn't wait to get her back on the bus, get back home to Los Angeles. She knew Y/N would be a dragon in the morning, she always was with a hangover. This would be the longest bus ride ever.

In retrospect, Eden should have taken Y/N's phone away when they finally managed to get her to bed. If it weren't for the pure exhaustion that riddled her bones, that's exactly what she would have done. But Eden didn't take Y/N's phone away from her. She left the girl to her own devices, and that mistake lead to one of the biggest social media headaches Daughters of Lilith had ever experienced. Worse than dropping the album early, worse than the time Barb called the former president a fascist, although none of the band members complained about that one.

It was the tweet read around the world, and all hell broke loose.

Tag list:

@onlyangel-444 , @kikis-writing-world , @sweetpeapod , @cevans-winchester , @hopingforromanoff , @nativity-in-black , @esoltis280 , @celestialsxturn , @magicalchocolatecheesecake , @penny4yourthoughts , @thatredlipped-classic , @panagiasikelia , @glitteringraccoon , @elleeeee21 , @bitchilli , @fangirling-4-ever , @cottagecori , @seasonsofstyles , @andromeda-andromeda , @porcelaindoll-exe , @shinydixon , @elleeeee21 , @thatredlipped-classic , @panagiasikelia , @pistachoz , @streamafterlaughter ,

[zintranslations]

Kaleidoscope of Death, Ch. 120

Kaleidoscope of Death by Xi Zixu Link to Chinese / Novel Updates

Chapter 120: The Thirteenth Door

Right after the new year, it came about time for Gu Longming to enter his door.

Ruan Nanzhu selected a sixth door hint slip, and on it was a name familiar to all—Minotaur. A monster from ancient Greek mythology with a bull's head and a human's body that guarded a maze.

In the myth, it was a creature of an extremely violent temperament born of a human and a white bull. Shut away in the Labyrinth on the island of Crete, it ate seven pairs of boys and girls each year. Then it was killed by a bastard son of Athens, Theseus. Point was, there wasn't much intel to gain about the door from a hint like this. Only once they went in and encountered the actual situation could they connect it to the hint on the paper slip.

Lin Qiushi also showed this hint to Gu Longming ahead of time. After Gu Longming received it, he expressed his thorough gratitude for Lin Qiushi, and Lin Qiushi too was forthright with a vaccination—he said that in this door, he could not be responsible for Gu Longming's life, and Gu Longming ought to prepare himself accordingly.

Gu Longming agreed to every stipulation, and said he had already prepared himself for never coming out.

Their time of entry was roughly the tenth of the lunar new year, when celebrations were trailing off, leisurely vacations were coming to an end, and everybody grew busy again.

Lin Qiushi readied everything and began to wait for the door.

The tenth quickly came. It was a bright, sunny afternoon, and few people were in the mansion. There was only Lin Qiushi sitting in the living room eating Lu Yanxue's freshly cooked pumpkin seeds. Lu Yanxue's culinary skills were, as usual, the best; the pumpkin seeds she fried up were flavored with the five spices and fragrant as all hell. Lin Qiushi could pass an entire afternoon with just a handful of the stuff.

Ruan Nanzhu had already gotten changed and was waiting upstairs. Lin Qiushi saw that it was about time, and so hoisted his hefty backpack and headed upstairs to go look for him.

Due to their last door, Lin Qiushi intentionally stuffed his bag with a great number of food items. Daily necessities from outside could be brought inside, but weapons that were more against the spirit of the doors were not. Guns and other firearms, for example, could not be brought inside.

Once you'd entered the doors, of course, there might exist some special limitations, like in the sanitarium door when the NPC told them the rule where they could not eat food brought in from the outside. The reality was that these kinds of limitations were rare, but all Lin Qiushi wanted to achieve was the principle of Better Safe Than Sorry. At any rate, the condition from the tenth door where they had to open a chest if they wanted to eat had left quite the shadow on his psyche.

Lin Qiushi entered Ruan Nanzhu's bedroom and sat with him on the bed for a while. Then he felt the atmosphere around him change. It took only the time of a blink for Ruan Nanzhu, who had been sitting right beside him, to disappear without a trace. Lin Qiushi pushed open the bedroom door in front of him and saw that what had originally been the hallway was now a series of twelve black metal doors. What a familiar sight.

He walked to the sixth door and gave it a tug. The next moment, Lin Qiushi was sucked in by an immense force. The scenery around him was also altering dramatically, and by the time he opened his eyes again, he could feel a faint rocking beneath his feet.

Lin Qiushi took a closer look, and discovered that he'd appeared on a large old ship. It was just about sunset, and there were black clouds frighteningly low in the sky, as if they were going to smother the horizon at any moment. Inky seawater tossed before him, blown into violent waves by the winds.

Lin Qiushi smelled the gamy salt of the ocean, and because of the excessive waves, the ancient deck beneath his feet was ceaseless in its swaying. He saw that on the floorboards, there were seaweed-clung creatures clutching at the wood, making for an immensely uncomfortable sight.

Lin Qiushi took a few steps forward and saw in the ship cabin a dim-glowing light. He followed the corridor to the interior, and heard miserable wailing coming from inside.

"Uwaaaa, why am I here? What the hell did you all do to me?!" It had been a while since he last heard these cries of a newbie—Lin Qiushi was actually a bit surprised. He spotted the crying person immediately. It was a young woman, wiping at her tears with her hands. "You goddamn perverts, you guys must have kidnapped me. I'm going to call the cops and have you all arrested!!"

Most people were listening to her sob in silence. Newbies, after all, only ever reacted in so many ways: most cried; some tried to run; and some, of the truly psychologically frail sort, came in and pretty much had an immediate meltdown.

Lin Qiushi stood where he was. He noticed that around this girl were a few people who didn't look so good, who also seemed in various degrees of panic. They clearly weren't prepared to enter a door, and were likely newbies like the girl. But at least they weren't wailing endlessly like the young woman, and were still calm in comparison.

Lin Qiushi's gaze searched through the crowd and very quickly found its target—a woman seated in a corner and smiling at him.

The woman wore a long dress—the same outfit Ruan Nanzhu wore before they came in.

Lin Qiushi had the script in his head, and he took his time approaching the woman and holding out his hand: "Yu Linlin."

"Zhu Meng." The woman took his hand and smiled. "The red thread of destiny found us inside this door, let's cherish this meeting."

Lin Qiushi couldn't help but laugh.

"Indeed. Let's cherish this meeting."

Really, this little drama queen of his—putting on a show even when there was no stage to be had.

Just as the two were talking, a young man came tumbling in through the door. Though his face was unfamiliar, his clothes told Lin Qiushi his identity—it was Gu Longming, who'd agreed to meet with Lin Qiushi over the internet.

Gu Longming was entirely soaked. Once he came in he began to curse under his breath: "fuckers, throwing me on a lifeboat—why don't you just throw me into the ocean huh? Goddamn jealous of my beauty or what—"

Though he kept his voice down, Lin Qiushi's hearing was superb, and so could easily hear all the crap he was spewing. For a moment, Lin Qiushi himself didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Of course, he didn't laugh. He only cleared his throat once and covered his mouth with his hand, swallowing down the urge to smile. Gu Longming's eyes lapped the gathered people and very quickly fell upon Lin Qiushi and Ruan Nanzhu. He came over with a bright grin, greeting the two as if they'd just met completely by coincidence.

As a matter of act, this little trick where they faked a chance encounter was only useful for the earlier doors. Once in the later doors, that old fox-spirit manifested in everyone, and not having a partner actually made you the odd one out.

As for whether or not somebody would identify them as part of the same crew, Lin Qiushi used to worry about that. Now though, not so much.

The cabin of the old ship wasn't big, nor was it bright. The only lighting equipment was a handful of tiny kerosene lamps overhead, flickering periodically with the sway of the ship.

The sky grew darker outside, and the number of people kept increasing. Finally, it stopped at the count of fourteen.

Everybody assessed their surroundings as they met up with their own teammates. The crowd seemed to be very quickly divided up into teams, with the handful of newbies left out. Without much choice, they had to make up their own team.

Just as the crowd grew noisy with discussion, a middle-aged man came in from the outside. His get-up looked a bit like a medieval pirate, and he carried a swaying kerosene lamp in his hand.

"Welcome to the Black Skerry," the man spoke. His voice sounded quite raspy, like the effects of long-term drinking or smoking had brought about irreversible damage to his throat. "I hope you all have a good time here."

After he finished saying this, he laughed like a maniac, and his high-pitched laughter, like fingernails scoring a chalkboard, sent goosebumps rising along the skin.

"In ten days, the Black Skerry will reach harbor," the man said. "Our voyage will end then, so please enjoy our wonderful time together."

Just as he finished speaking, somebody rushed out of the cabin. Lin Qiushi first thought that this person had gotten scared, but not long after, there came from outside the sound of violent vomiting—it seemed that some unlucky bastard was seasick.

"Where in the world are we?" The sobbing young girl had also been scared by the man before her, and she spoke: "are we filming a show? I'm really, really scared, can I please quit? I don't want to play anymore, I'm begging you…"

The man completely ignored her. He merely went on watching the crowd with a cool gaze.

The girl seemed to want to go up and take hold of him, but when she got to his side she suddenly stopped, face draining of all color. She then backed up a few steps, as if she'd seen something truly terrifying.

Lin Qiushi's eyesight wasn't as good as Ruan Nanzhu's, and due to the dim lights he didn't see a thing. It was Ruan Nanzhu who quietly explained the situation to him:

"That person's covered in some sort of black insect."

Gu Longming shivered.

"Is he dead or alive then?"

"I don't know," Ruan Nanzhu said. "Doesn't look too good either way."

Under typical circumstances, only the NPC who provided them with the key information was somewhat normal. If even that NPC wasn't normal, then there really weren't any normal people to speak of.

Lin Qiushi hadn't imagined that their door this time would be an ancient ship. And by the looks of things, the time limit was ten days.

"Come along, I'll take to to where you'll sleep," the man said. "It'll be dark soon…and it'll rain."

After this, he began that manic laugh again, and the group was even more disturbed.

The man brought them to the guest cabins and began divvying up the rooms.

Most of the rooms here were doubles, with a rare triple here and there. At first, Lin Qiushi was assigned a double, but Gu Longming brazenly went and found a man to switch room numbers with, strong-arming them into a triple.

"You'll bargain for even this sort of thing?" Lin Qiushi shot Gu Longming a look of admiration.

"Well I'm scared of dying, aren't I…" Gu Longming said. He didn't want to sleep alone, and though it wasn't quite right to be a third wheel, being a third wheel was much better than being dead.

Ruan Nanzhu’s smile was inscrutable.

"That's fair."

They'd planned to inspect the entire ship, but because the night was already so dark, moving about outside would be too dangerous. They would rest first, and wait until tomorrow to make plans.

And so the three got their key and went to their room, getting into bed after quickly washing up.

When Ruan Nanzhu went to change, Gu Longming took the opportunity to poke at Lin Qiushi, whispering, "yo, not cool man, how come you didn't tell me you had such a pretty girlfriend?"

Lin Qiushi answered a vague: "…mh."

"Oh she's stunning," Gu Longming said with a sigh. "If I had a girlfriend like that I'd want to stick around her every day too."

As he spoke, he looked to Lin Qiushi with an expression that was both envy and admiration.

Lin Qiushi watched him back and wondered how he would react if he knew Ruan Nanzhu was drag queen. Of course, it wasn't something he could tell Gu Longming now. Gu Longming was not yet part of Obsidian, and the fact that Ruan Nanzhu wore drag was Obsidian's biggest most vital secret…

After Ruan Nanzhu got changed, he came back inside.

"What are you two talking about?"

"Nothing," Lin Qiushi answered in brief. "He said you were pretty."

Ruan Nanzhu replied with a meaningful oh.

Gu Longming: "…" Why did a chill suddenly go down his back?

The beds on the ship all emanated a damp smell—very uncomfortable for the people lying on top. At this point, the waves and wind were getting bigger, and even the sleeping quarters were beginning to rock. Lin Qiushi remembered that ridiculously seasick, endlessly vomiting pal of theirs from earlier and thought that that guy was pretty much done for.

The sky outside gradually darkened in entirety, leaving only the bellowing winds and the sound of waves beating against each other. With his eyes shut, Lin Qiushi grew drowsy—but before he could fall asleep, he was woken by a sudden crack of thunder. It was like lightning had struck right above their heads. With the loud boom, all three of them awoke in an instant.

After that, it was the pattering pour of rain. The rushing rain and the howling wind—they seemed on the verge of destroying everything.

Their quarters rocked even harder. Lin Qiushi sat up in his bed.

Through the window, he looked to the black evening outside. He saw, however, two illuminated lights. It seemed like the only light sources on deck were kerosene lamps, but how did these lamps stay so bright in the middle of a thunderstorm…? Just as Lin Qiushi wondered this, he suddenly felt that there was something off about those two lights, and Ruan Nanzhu, sitting behind him, spoke up quietly:

"Don't look anymore."

Lin Qiushi, "hm?"

"Those aren't lights," Ruan Nanzhu said. "Those are eyes."

A pair of yellow, inhuman eyes. The owner of the eyes spied through the darkness with malicious intent, as if a beast looking for its prey.

Lin Qiushi instantly looked away, and asked, "what is that thing?"

"I don't know, I can't tell," Ruan Nanzhu said. "The shape is humanoid, but it doesn't seem to be human."

Lin Qiushi's brows lightly furrowed, but by the time he looked out the window once more, the eyes were gone.

Thunder rumbled on and on, and that stench of ocean salt grew thicker and more cloying.

Ruan Nanzhu climbed into Lin Qiushi's bed, and holding each other, the two very quickly returned to sleep. However, the only bachelor present Gu Longming didn't have such luck. Lying beside Lin Qiushi, he stared with plaintive eyes, thinking that in the following days, he'd be fed enough dog food to bloat.

The rainstorm lasted until dawn, and though the rain let up, the weather did not turn any sunnier. Black storm clouds still hovered over the ship, and when the alarm rang, Lin Qiushi actually thought it was not yet morning. He checked the time, however, and saw that it was 8AM. It was just still dark outside.

"Good morning," Ruan Nanzhu greeted Lin Qiushi.

"Good morning. It's so dark outside today."

"It's probably going to keep raining," Ruan Nanzhu said. He walked out onto deck with Lin Qiushi and watched the black waters roil underneath the ship.

Looking up, they couldn't see any land, only the endless swath of sea. Only the old ship beneath their feet felt like any sort of reality.

This sort of isolating environment was easily taxing on the psyche. Even for Lin Qiushi, the scene before them was discomforting.

"Come on, let's go get breakfast," Gu Longming called to the two.

"He's pretty thick-skinned," Ruan Nanzhu commented after hearing Gu Longming's call.

"Yeah," Lin Qiushi said. "His nerves are petty good."

Inside the doors, you didn't have to be too smart, but you definitely had to be brave enough. Before terrifying situations, fright could make a person abandon a large part of their cognitive abilities. The smartest person could lack a strong heart and still do worse inside the door than the obtuse, oblivious Cheng Qianli.

The three went to the dining area and found there an atmosphere that could very well be called lifeless.

Lin Qiushi didn't know why at first. After he saw the menu, however, he couldn't help but also feel a touch of depression.

All the ship offered was fish. And it wasn't even fresh fish—Gu Longming poked at a dead-eyed staring head with his chopsticks and said, "is this thing even edible?"

It was disgusting just to look at.

"It looks gross," Lin Qiushi said. "Try a bit?"

Gu Longming took a bit of meat from the gills and gave it a taste. His expression twisted.

"Fuck, did they deduct the food budget for this door or what? It's disgusting. It's like they’ve had it outside for three days. You try it?"

Lin Qiushi, "oh no, no thank you."

Gu Longming: "…"

The breakfast served in the dining room was, for the most part, stale fish. Aside from that there was only flavorless noddles and peas. The environment had already been vicious enough, but the food in front of them now was salt on top of the wound.

But Lin Qiushi and Ruan Nanzhu didn't care at all. After seeing the inedible breakfast they snuck back to their room and fetched from their bags the food they'd prepared.

Gu Longming watched as they pulled out a bottle of chili sauce, eyes bulging out.

"You guys even brought Lao Gan Ma? Did you come here to picnic?"

"Want some?" Lin Qiushi drizzled the Lao Gan Ma over some noodles they'd brought out of the dining hall.

"Yeah yeah yeah. More please." Gu Longming's expression was shameless.

With breakfast finally done, they got ready to search the ship.

There were a total of three decks in the ship, constructed a bit like the sailing vessels of the great nautical era of the Middle Ages. It was extremely old, was all, covered in the marks and traces of times past.

Beside that NPC, they didn't see any other crew members on deck; there was likely only the one NPC on the entire ship. Wait for the ship's return was the mission the NPC left for them this time, but Lin Qiushi had thorough reason to believe that if they couldn't find the door in ten day's time, this voyage of theirs would cycle back and repeat—and they'd experience the ten days all over again.

When Lin Qiushi climbed onto the second deck, he heard a sort of thumping sound, and was uncertain if Ruan Nanzhu and Gu Longming had heard it as well. So he asked, "did you guys hear that?"

"What?" Gu Longming didn't seem to have heard.

Ruan Nanzhu said, "I think I did, but not very clearly."

"I think it came from the corner…" Lin Qiushi followed the sound forward. "Let's go see."

But before they could get close, Lin Qiushi was hit with a thick, fishy stench. It was disgusting and nauseating to smell; fortunately Cheng Yixie wasn't here, or he might have passed out immediately upon smelling it.

The source of the sound and smell was the same room, and they were close enough now that both Gu Longming and Ruan Nanzhu could hear the thumping noise as well.

The three of them slowed their steps, and through the window, looked into the room.

It was a kitchen with knives and other tools hanging inside. The most eye-catching thing, however, was the dense masses of dead fish hung up on hooks all over the sides.

A person in an apron stood in the center of the room with their back towards them and head down. They were chopping something. After some observation, Gu Longming almost gagged, and said, "don't tell me he's making our breakfast—"

Ruan Nanzhu was very calm.

"It's possible."

Gu Longming did gag. He'd even had a bite of that fish that morning.

Lin Qiushi gave Gu Longming a sympathetic pat on the shoulder.

This person in the kitchen, however, was the second living NPC they'd found on the ship.

The three of them stood watching in the kitchen doorway for a while, and saw that besides chopping fish, this person didn't do much of anything else. And so they decided to go see elsewhere first.

Very soon, they discovered a more peculiar room. This room was locked, and curtains were drawn over the window. It was quiet inside, but they could still smell that thick waft of stale fish. Lin Qiushi initially thought the smell had clung to them from the kitchen, but after a careful sniff, found that it was coming from inside the room.

"Do we go in?" Gu Longming was pressed against the window trying to look in, but he could see nothing.

Ruan Nanzhu gave this some thought, before saying, "let's try," and getting out a hairpin to pick the lock.

Watching his adept motions, Gu Longming's eyes widened. Then Gu Longming glanced at Lin Qiushi.

"Is this…is this a basic skillset that y'all come with?"

Lin Qiushi grinned as he joked, "yeah. You have to learn to pick locks if you want to join us."

As he said this, there was a click. Ruan Nanzhu really got the lock open. But oddly enough, after he unlocked the door and gave it a push, he found that though the door lock was undone, there was another lock hanging on the inside. The chain on that lock held the door closed, and they could at most manage a crack—it couldn't be opened at all.

"Wait," Lin Qiushi suddenly said, stopping Ruan Nanzhu from going up and pushing the door. "Stop for a second. There's movement inside."

Ruan Nanzhu halted, and just as he stopped mid-step, a hand, sharp-nailed and covered in scales, reached out of the door. And through that crack in the door, a pair of yellow eyes looked out, peering at the world outside with malicious intent.

Translator’s Note:

The name of the ship could more simply be translated as “Black Reef,” but “Black Skerry” sounds more like a ship name? Let me know if you think otherwise (or know if it’s a specific reference to something).

Lao Gan Ma is a brand of **hot sauce (edited: 7/26), as you can probably tell from context. The original next never uses “hot sauce” though, and just call it Lao Gan Ma in both the prose and the dialogue.

[Ch. 119] | [Ch. 121]