#one true triumvirate

[mechaknight-98]

Bon Voyage (NSFW) FT Yoohyeon

Authors note: This better not awaken anything in me… oh no it did. My longest work by a county mile. Have fun.

Part II

There is a codex keeper on every expedition ship who holds the history of his people. Trained to be not only a warrior but also a healer and a scholar. The path of a codex keeper is wrought with strife and misery, but often they are venerated as heroes due to their aptitude in the myriad of professions they undertake.

The ship known as the Royal Marquis is no different For that’s crew codex keeper went by the name of Orion.

Orion was a soft-hearted and passionate Codex keeper whose humanity shone in even the darkest nights with light that could rival the stars. Born and raised on Nebula M78. Orion was taught above all to be kind and serve. For everyone knocked down by your actions you must use both hands to raise them back up. A message so engrained that even throughout all of his many runes and teachings of wisdom etched into his dark body this one hovered over him as a constant flowing and glowing halo a testament to his belief. His relentless pursuit of the ideal and peaceful was only matched by his equally fervent devotion to his faith in others and the Triumvirate. Although appreciated by many on the ship many feared the power and influence he held over the ship. His soft teal iris contrasted by pitch-black sclera held both Tranquility and Turmoil a testament to his unbreakable nature. Trained by his legendary and wizened Codex Master of acquiescence Lorgar; Orion is a truly formidable force in his own right.

Despite his jovial demeanor, Orion sticks to himself when not directly helping the crew or being consulted for his expertise. His understanding of the disdain that many of the ship’s crew had for him was palpable and understood.

This disdain went beyond and would include even those in his order, although in many ways he was an average codex keeper. Average height, average weight, etc. The only exception to his mediocrity was his academic, arbitration scores (which were exceptionally high and occasionally cause for concern) and his faith in the triumvirate as the codex preferred its applicant's faithful only to the cause. Which is exactly why Keeper Orion’s master chose him. This is why after his most recent excursion; Orion finds himself heading to His master's office. Before he could enter he saw the Codex Masters of Academics (Samuel) and Arbitration (Michael). Neither saw him as the two entered his Master's chambers.

The Codex Masters of Arbitration and Academics entered the personal chambers of the Codex Master or Acquiescence. They needed to discuss his refusal to admonish the Codex Keeper Orion, for failing to adhere to one of his core functions and losing a codex of his. they worried it would fall into the wrong hands and the lost history would be weaponized against their order. In truth, the Codex had been consumed by an accidental firing of Orion's rapidly developing and uncontrollable magic powers. The reason why the lie on the part of Orion was that in a miraculous turn of events he had developed the black lines of a mage. A feat that should have been impossible, but if there was one thing that many people knew Orion for it was impossible feats.

“Codex master of Acquiescence Logar we are here to discuss the lack of chastisement and admonishing done to your pupil codex keeper Orion, after failing to maintain his core function as Codex keeper.” Codex Master of Academics prattled.

Codex Master Lorgar looked up from his writings and looked to his other two Codex Masters

“Keeper Orion was serving his other core function when his codex was destroyed in protecting and serving the crew and citizens of the expedition ship The Royal Marquis while it was conducting the Pilgrimage when it attacked by Beyond Beasts”

“While that is true he still lost his codex and must go through the reassembly rite.” Codex Master of Academics: Samuel responded.

“He keeps an extra codex already assembled as per our written code. Plus he always prepares three when he needs a new Codex, for this exact reason.”

"Well, how will we what was lost in the data?" Codex Master of Arbitration Michael asked.

"Simple he records in both his normal Codex, His spare, and his personal Journal to again avoid the loss of information. This is why I didn't report the loss well destruction of his codex to either of you. he did all of the proper preparation before an expedition, and honestly I wouldn't have even known had it not been for him telling me, which is more than I can say for either of your apprentices who have both recently lost their codecies." Lorgar rebuked

the two Codex Masters looked at Lorgar in surprise. They thought they had successfully safeguarded the issue of their apprentice's data being breached.

This ended their conversation with Lorgar effectively and the two Codex Masters left. little did they know Orion heard the whole thing. He reduced himself as they walked out not wanting to further exaggerate their ire. After they left Orion entered his Master's office

As the weight of Lorgar's words settled over the room, Orion couldn't help but feel a sense of unease creeping over him. The implications of his growing powers and the potential consequences weighed heavily on his mind, casting a shadow over the otherwise tranquil atmosphere.

"Your ability to pass without a trace is impressive but concerning, Orion," Lorgar teased, his tone laced with a hint of amusement as he felt a familiar presence enter his room.

Orion smirked, though his expression betrayed a flicker of nervousness. "My apologies, my master. I just didn't want to expand the ire of the other Codex Masters."

"It's much too late for that. If you wanted that, you should have died when those pirates attacked and you saved both of their apprentices. By the way, your wound is finally healing," Lorgar joked lightly, though there was an underlying seriousness in his words that didn't escape Orion's notice.

"Don't remind me, had Leito listened to me I wouldn't have gotten it. Bleh I will never understand the politics of this order," Orion remarked, his tone tinged with frustration.

"For that, I appreciate it. Often we get caught up in the religion of politics and forget our Order's purpose," Lorgar lamented, his gaze thoughtful as he regarded his apprentice.

"What do you mean, Master?" Orion asked, his curiosity piqued.

"I appreciate your inquiry, but surely you have seen the devout faith and zeal that some of our order has displayed in the political arena?" Lorgar clarified his words carrying a weight of wisdom borne from years of experience. Orion nodded in understanding, recognizing the truth in his master's words.

"Now, what bothers you, Orion?" Lorgar inquired, his tone gentle yet probing.

In response, Orion slowly undid his bandages, revealing the growing black lines that covered his forearms. The sight caused Lorgar to loom over the revelation, his expression grave.

"Have you been practicing with Magik?" Lorgar questioned, his voice tinged with concern.

Orion shook his head, his gaze meeting his master's with a mixture of apprehension and confusion. Every use of his Magik powers had always been accidental, lacking intention or control. There was a silver lining, however, Orion’s Codex Keeper Glyphs were beginning to mature and become silver meaning he would be up for the mark of Mastery Exam. Something Lorgar knew he would ace guaranteed. It just pained Lorgar that as often with his apprentice every victory is hard fought and pyrrhic.

Taking note of his apprentice's response, Lorgar continued, "Does your Ward Witch companion know?"

"No, Master, but both Yoohyeon and Dami have expressed their suspicions," Orion admitted, his voice tinged with worry.

"Well, keep it that way if you can. You know the stakes if others were to discover that both Psionics and Magik powers exist in you," Lorgar cautioned, his words carrying a weight of urgency as he emphasized the potential consequences of such a revelation.

"I would become a weapon at best and at worst a political tool," Orion responded. Lorgar nodded he always appreciated Orion's ability to listen and trust. It was one of his best and worst qualities. Along with his compassion. The two things that made him an excellent leader could easily make him such a threat to the federation if he were so inclined. Planets would follow Orion to war if he raised a banner, the horrifying part is Lorgar would also join too, knowing his apprentice. So he chose to make sure his apprentice stayed low to the ground and humble because if not Orion's sincerity, Compassion, and true Zeal could bathe the starways in blood.

After he met with the codex master, Orion returned to his shared residence with the Ward Witch Yoohyeon. Before delving further into the story, let's elucidate the concept of a Ward Witch, which may be unfamiliar to some.

In the realm of the expedition ship, Ward Witches adhere to a code that intertwines service, seduction, arbitration, and attraction. They are formally trained magicians, drawing power from mana channeled through various mediums. Unlike Codex Keepers who wield psionics to directly manifest change, Ward Witches practice a more traditional form of magic, employing spell incantations and specific mediums to fuel their abilities.

These enigmatic practitioners, often found traveling in packs known as covens, blend raw emotion with guarded restraint, weaving spells that balance expression and control. Typically, a Ward Witch is paired with a Codex Keeper due to the complementary nature of their abilities.

Enter Yoohyeon Kim, an extraordinary Ward Witch hailing from Prime Terra. Versatile and adept, she excels in diplomacy, boasting proficiency in eight out of the twelve core and rim languages of the federation. Her prowess extends beyond linguistics; Yoohyeon's exceptional singing talent significantly enhances her magical abilities. Her other skills were equal in proficiency whether it be her dance, or her combat prowess if it was a skill to be master odds are Yoohyeon was a master of it.

Intriguingly, Yoohyeon's coven comprises mostly performers, each member's abilities amplifying their talents. Her excellence stands in stark contrast to Orion's averageness, yet their coupling was orchestrated by forces beyond their comprehension, guided by celestial powers and higher entities.

Yoohyeon smiled as she watched her chosen partner walk in. She lounged on their sofa as Orion walked in she waved seductively hoping to catch his eye

“Hello sweetheart,” she cooed. Orion smiled and then noticed her absence of clothing, and his body responded. He walked over to her and held her face close before kissing her intently. Yoohyeon smiled into the kiss before taking her opportunity and flipping their position. She smiled at Orion before going in for another passionate kiss. Her dainty but strong and nimble hand opens Orion’s pants for her desired piece of him at this moment. Orion could feel Yoohyeon drip onto his clothed legs as she meticulously stroked his rod in preparation for penetration. Yoohyeon reveled in the power she held over her chosen partner. When she felt his rod stiffen to its full potential she lowered herself onto him as they kissed. Orion fell victim to the rhythm of his body but before he could truly fall into it Yooyheon stopped and his hips and set his hands upon her perky petite breasts.

“Relax Sweetheart let me take the lead,” she said her voice low sultry, and stern. Orion wordlessly nods and Yoohyeon smiles before diving in. She begins by riding Orion at a tortuous and glacial pace. Orion's moans delighted Yoohyeon as she slightly increased her pace. She begins to kiss his exposed shoulder before she sucks on it with the intent of leaving a mark on "Her Codex Keeper". When she heard Orion moan again she broke the kiss to see her work accomplished she smiled. She then went back to kissing his lips as she increased her tempo slightly once more. she watched as Orion fell increasingly into submission with her. Her folds encased Orion in an almost suffocating tightness that left the keeper-headed. However, the Ward Witch also knew that she often kept the keeper breathless and speechless in bed. Something she fought to change since she loved the sound of his voice. A soothing anchor to her often hectic life, while the tone and inflection left things to be desired what he said was always a comfort to her. So to get the desired reaction, she slammed her bountiful bottom into his crotch eliciting a shared moan from the couple

“Do you like it, Sweetheart," Yooheyon asks seductively as she traces his Codex keeper glyphs that cover his body in a mirrored way to her Magik tattoos. Orion nods which causes Yoohyeon to tease him further, "Use your words, sweetheart. Do you like it?"

"Yes Dear you know my body so well," Orion says breathlessly. Yoohyeon smiles as she continues her ride she slows her lace slightly to drive Orion mad even further.

"I love the way you feel under me. I love the way you writhe and squirm but still do as I ask." Yoohyeon moaned as she neared her release.

"After all we've been through I wouldn't have it any other way," Orion replies. His words inadvertently send Yoohyeon over the edge as she cums on her partner. she continues to ride before her sensitivity gets the better of her and she hops off of his rod. Yooyhyeon lies next to Orion. She moves his hand to her ample posterior and has him firmly grip it as they remember the past. a favorite post-coitus time for the couple

"You remember when we first met Othello," Yoohyeon asked, Orion nodded

"How could I forget."

2 years earlier.

Codex Keeper Orion stood at his post getting ready for his first expedition. He was worried that he would be late so he arrived at the Royal Marquis 2.5 hours before he was supposed to. He eased his nerves by doing the glyphs of protection over the ship. He figured another once-over couldn't hurt. As he did his work he felt a presence watching him. He turned around to see a young woman with Dyed blonde and brown hair watching him. Embarrassed Orion quickly stopped his warding glyphs. the blonde smiled and said

"Well, Well, Well, Hi there," she said as she approached with a friendly tone. it put Orion at ease who smiled back at her and outstretched his hand to her. The young lady smiled and grabbed his hand but as she went to shake it she tripped causing both Orion and her to fall to the ground. The girl apologized profusely as the two of them got up.

"I am so sorry I am usually not this clumsy. My name is Yoohyeon, and I am the ward Witch for this ship." Yoohyeon finished.

Orion recognized the name and said, "Wait like the one of the Dreamcatcher Coven?" Yoohyeon's eyes went wide as not many knew her Coven throughout the federation.

"Wait you know us?" she asked surprised.

"Yes, I am a big fan!" Orion replied excitedly

"Oh, who's your favorite." Yoohyeon teased playfully

"No that's a setup because if I don't say you, you'll look at me funny but if I say you you won't believe me so I'll go with my typical answer of I don't have a favorite," Orion replied.

Yoohyeon smirked playfully, "Okay I'll accept that." she replied. Orion nods as the two of them walk together around the Ship.

"Wait I didn't get your name," Yoohyeon replied as they walked around the ship and Orion finished his Warding Glyphs

"Oh no worries Orion is my Keeper's name but my actual name is Othello."

"Oh Orion...I wouldn't peg you as a Mythology buff." Yoohyeon teased.

"I'm not I got Orion from a comic book." Orion replies

"Oh, that's way cooler than." Yoohyeon playfully affirmed. as she leaned into the Eldorian. when he caught her she smiled "Ooh sturdy body. I like it," Yoohyeon cooed.

Orion didn't lose the sense of being watched however he was put at ease by the Ward Witch.

"So this is your apprentice? He's underwhelming at first glance. Are you sure Yoohyeon won't be held back by his mediocrity?" Lady Sunshine, the Ward Witch and direct mentor of Yoohyeon, questioned Codex Master Lorgar as they observed Orion.

Lorgar's expression remained calm as he responded, "Appearances can be deceiving, Lady Sunshine. Keeper Orion may not strike you as exceptional, but I assure you, he possesses qualities that go beyond mere outward appearances."

Lady Sunshine arched an eyebrow skeptically. "Oh? And what qualities might those be?"

A knowing smile played on Lorgar's lips. "You'll see soon enough. I have arranged for a test that will showcase Orion's true capabilities."

Lady Sunshine's curiosity was piqued. "A test, you say? Color me intrigued. But forgive me if I remain skeptical until I witness this supposed potential firsthand."

Lorgar nodded, undeterred by her skepticism. "I wouldn't expect anything less, Lady Sunshine. Rest assured, Orion will not disappoint."

With a dismissive wave of her hand, Lady Sunshine replied, "Well, I suppose we shall see."

"If I may, Lady Sunshine," Lorgar interjected, "I have full confidence in Orion's abilities.

Their conversation concluded with a sense of anticipation lingering in the air, both mentors eager to see what the future held for their respective apprentices.

Over the next few hours the ship, supplies, and fuel were packed for the 8-month trip. While this was going on it was common practice for both Yoohyeon and Orion to help the crew loading. This is of significance because often Ward Witches and Codex Keepers do not do this. so a majority of the crew and passengers for the Grand Marquis were shocked. Obviously, with her impressive Magik skills, Yoohyeon was able to do a lot more than Orion but Yoohyeon while being extremely skilled was also prone to clumsiness. often her over-eagerness to be of service would cost her focus and mess her up. Thankfully for every single one of those mishaps, Orion was there to cover for her and help her. So what usually took over 25 hours to load up took five with Yoohyeon and Orion's help. After loading up the passengers and crew waited in their various quarters.

Othello was lying on his bed in his quarters, exhausted from the day's work of loading supplies onto the ship for the upcoming 8-month trip. As he started to drift off into a light doze, he heard a gentle knock on his door.

Pushing himself up, Othello stretched out his tired muscles before making his way to the door. Opening it, he was met with the sight of Yoohyeon standing there, she dyed blonde and brown hair tousled from the day's activities.

"Hey," she said softly, a small smile playing on her lips. "Mind if I come in?"

Othello's heart skipped a beat at the sight of her, his pulse quickening slightly. "Of course," he replied, stepping aside to let her enter.

Yoohyeon stepped into his quarters as she did her heightened magic senses felt the change in Othello's heartbeat as she moved closer to him. Yoohyeon smiled at that, her eyes scanning the room before settling on

Othello. "I just wanted to thank you for today," she said sincerely, her gaze meeting his. "I couldn't have done it without your help."

Othello felt a warmth spread through him at her words, his chest swelling with pride. "It was nothing," he replied modestly, though inwardly he was pleased to have been able to assist her.

As they stood there facing each other, a comfortable silence fell between them. Othello couldn't help but notice the way Yoohyeon's eyes sparkled in the dim light of his quarters, or the way her smile seemed to brighten the room.

Suddenly feeling self-conscious under her gaze, Othello cleared his throat. "Is there anything else you need?" he asked, trying to sound casual.

Yoohyeon shook her head, her smile widening. "No, I just wanted to say thank you," she said softly. "But if you ever need anything, you know where to find me."

"I don't" Othello responded bluntly

Yoohyeon laughed and said, "Oh right! room 307 just three doors down from you at 310." Yoohyeon said

With that, Yoohyeon turned to leave, but before she could take a step,

Othello found himself speaking up again. "Wait," he blurted out, his heart racing in his chest.

Yoohyeon turned back to him, her eyebrows raised in surprise. "Yes?" she asked, her voice tinged with curiosity. She could hear his heart racing and tried to hide her smile. She wondered why he was so flustered.

"I just... I wanted to say that I'm glad we could work together today," Othello said, his words coming out in a rush. "And I... I enjoyed spending time with you."

There was a moment of hesitation as Yoohyeon regarded him, her expression unreadable. Othello agonized over her pause, but then, to Othello's relief, she smiled, her eyes softening.

"Me too," she replied, her voice barely above a whisper. And with that, she turned and left, leaving Othello standing there, his heart pounding in his chest.

As he watched her go, Othello couldn't help but feel a sense of joy well within him. He hoped he would be seeing more of her. he also noticed as she walked out she gave a seductive little Sashay of the room drawing his eye to her hips and her stellar rump. Yoohyeon chuckled as she walked out. her little act of seduction having its desired effect as she heard Othello's heart race a little bit faster. She bit her lip excited "Playing with you will be fun Keeper." she said as she got into her room.

Over the next few weeks, the duo's schedules would align enough to where they would see each other quite often, but never more for moments at a time, and in those fleeting moments. Orion's nerves would slowly melt away as he would see her. usually clean up a mess she made in a rush, having messed up a spell or invocation just slightly in her hectic life, but always Orion would help her out. The female Captain took note of Orion's helpfulness and brought him on to help her in conflict resolution matters between crew members along with helping the mechanics.

Captain Marie was taken aback by all of his questions but quickly learned they were not from a place of Malice but an insatiable need to know everything. It was endearing to her and also a little inspiring as he made her better by challenging thought processes and perspectives. She was a new Captain of Expedition ships so someone who asked a lot of in-depth questions helped her grow and helped foster a more in-depth knowledge of her craft

As Orion enmeshed himself in the ship's workings and culture it drew time away from his meetings with Yoohyeon, who felt increasing pains in her heart seeing him having to consistently leave her. Not used to these feelings she often would sneak little moments with him where they would catch up and talk during the end of the day in his bed. staring out his window of the ship gazing at the stars and other exceptional creatures/ ships that traveled the stars. As more weeks passed, Yoohyeon and Othello found themselves crossing paths less frequently, and their encounters increasingly fleeting yet meaningful. Othello's nerves gradually melted away each time he saw her, his heart skipping a beat at her presence.

One evening, as Othello was tidying up his quarters after a long day, he heard a soft knock on his door. Opening it, he was delighted to find Yoohyeon standing there, a sheepish smile on her face.

"Hey," she greeted softly, her eyes sparkling with warmth. "Mind if I come in?"

Othello's heart raced at the sight of her, but he managed to nod eagerly, stepping aside to let her enter. Yoohyeon heard the beat of his heart playing and felt at ease. she loved the heavy percussion his heart had and how she always knew where he was because she knew his heartbeat so well. As she stepped into his quarters, he couldn't help but notice the faint blush that colored her cheeks.

"Is everything okay?" he asked, a hint of concern in his voice.

Yoohyeon nodded, her smile widening.

"Yeah, I just... missed talking to you," she admitted, her voice barely above a whisper.

A rush of warmth flooded through Othello at her words, his smile growing in response. "I missed talking to you too," he confessed, his gaze meeting hers.

Settling onto the edge of Othello's bed, Yoohyeon leaned against the wall, her eyes fixed on the stars visible through the window. Othello joined her, their shoulders brushing as they gazed out into the vast expanse of space.

For a while, they sat in comfortable silence, the only sound the soft hum of the ship's engines. Then, Yoohyeon spoke up, her voice quiet yet filled with emotion.

"Do you ever wonder what's out there?" she asked, her gaze still fixed on the stars.

Othello nodded, his own eyes tracing the constellations overhead. "All the time," he admitted. "But somehow, when I'm with you, it feels like the universe isn't quite as daunting."

Yoohyeon turned to him, her eyes searching his face. At that moment, with the stars as their backdrop, the tension between them crackled with an unspoken desire.

As they sat together, bathed in the soft glow of starlight, Othello couldn't help but feel a sense of longing stirring within him. And he couldn't shake the feeling that, perhaps, Yoohyeon felt it too. Othello yawned as the fatigue got to him. it was a signal for Yoohyeon to leave as Othello was probably going to go to sleep soon. Reluctantly Yoohyeon got up and began to ready herself to leave.

The fatigue of working with the crew today and maintaining his codex keeper duties left Othello exhausted, but he wanted to spend more time with Yoohyeon.

"Hey Yoon. If you want... you can stay with me...here...tonight." Othello said. Yoohyeon looked at Othello with surprise as she heard his heart race even further. she wondered if this was him being nice or if he reciprocated her budding feelings.

"Oh, I don't want to be a bother," Yoohyeon responded.

Othello felt crushed by her rejection but his heart told him to fight through it and just try again, "No please be one Yoon...Wait that came out wrong. I enjoy your time considerably." Yoohyeon noticed the little nickname he made for her. it brought her a confident sense of joy.

"Okay then sure," she said as the two lay together in the bed watching the stars. As the two got in the spooning cuddle position (Yoohyeon was a little spoon

"I read your file Othello and I have a question. How did you get the nickname Demon Dog?"

Othello laughed at the poor translation of his moniker from Eldoria Akanui which translated contextually to Hellhound, but the literal translation was "Demon Dog".

"So back when I was training under Codex Master Lorgar on Eldoria my home planet. he bestowed me the moniker Akanui "due to my ability to navigate Hellish situations with the ferocity of a raged hound. due to Eldoria having a very easy Literal translation structure. the literal translation of Akanui which is Demon Dog stuck of the contextually Hellhound." Othello explained. Yoohyeon chuckled at this adorable gaff. which inspired Othello to reach out

"Okay, so I also read your file and there is something I wanted to ask." Othello started. Yoohyeon looked at him terrified.

"What's your family like? I have a weird relationship with mine but often when I was going through yours I saw how much you cited them for giving you love and strength." Othello asked. Yoohyeon smiled as she turned around

"They are the ones who taught me to be kind to everyone. they're tough, but also gentle. They give me love every time I go back home and keep me grounded. they remind me that I am human and not some demigod of power. No matter how many fans and others try to deify me." She says happily. A homesick tear falls down her face which Othello quickly wipes away from her cheek. as they look into each other's eyes for a fleeting moment. their relationship changed. Not fully but in that moment of remembrance and sentimentality their hearts toward each other changed definitively. Yoohyeon feeling almost compelled asked Othello about his family, Othello sighed, as he tried to parse the hurt from the truth to not obfuscate who he was from Yoohyeon

"My relationship is complicated. I am what the Eldoric people called "Rigid of mind" while for the most part, I am normal appearing and biologically to others. I am from a mental capacity, not that. I was also raised in a very religious and spiritual household that held very traditional and fundamentalist views that many times I found myself disagreeing with. this served to consistently have me head with the members of my family. until I began to withdraw into myself more and more. In that I found peace outside but a war within. Anger and resentment fill my heart at a world that consistently seeks to hurt and belittle me and my accomplishments so much so that I don't know my worth most days, but at the same time despite this. they are some of the most morally sound, and soft-hearted people I know. While I would never trust them with my heart I trust them with my life, and I have learned to be okay with that. I love them as they are, and not as what I want them to be." Othello said, and Yoohyeon listened she sensed the vulnerability in his words, the anger and resentment ebb and flow as he spoke but ultimately she saw the peace he had about his family and the true love he held for him. It broke her heart that he didn't have the most glowing review of his family but despite that, he still chose to find their unified humanity and unite in that spoke to her louder than any other act of service he had presented to her. he just gave her his heart and was trusting her with it, Yoohyeon noticed this and immediately understood the responsibility she held. Othello trusted her and she wouldn't fail him, as she knew that he would never fail her. After that Yoohyeon anchored herself a little deeper into Othello's arms as the two fell asleep comfortably together.

The next day The Royal Marquis and all its inhabitants hit the halfway point of their journey. due to the previous night's intensity, Yoohyeon and Orion woke up later than usual. this caused them to miss breakfast but since they were spending a full day at the refilling station on the planet Melibone they had time to kill. Per their usual routine, the couple helped load up everything again, and this time Yoohyeon made noticeably fewer mistakes and the process went even faster. Orion was always close to her as well. everyone besides Orion and Yoohyeon noticed the almost gravitational pull the two had on each other. The Captain had barely been able to contain her smirk knowing that another Codex Keeper and Ward Witch had grown close, but in her time with both Orion and Yoohyeon she noticed they were especially well paired for each other. Yoohyeon's genuine joy and exuberance for things often mirrored Orion's unrelenting desire to know and experience things to the fullest. she knew that they had spent their "rest hours" Chatting to each other for numerous nights and often caught glances of the two giving puppy dog eyes to the other. So she was just waiting for one of them to make the first move. As the refilling finished in a record-breaking 2 hours and 30 minutes with their help she Saw Orion and Yoohyeon approach her.

"Hey, Captain everything is loaded are we good to depart?" Orion said plainly. The Captain eyed Yoohyeon's body language. she had her arms possessively wrapped around Orion's left arm. what made it even more adorable was the tracing of the codex glyphs on his skin. She also noticed that the little mantra that hung over his head changed as well. instead of Core Terran English, it was Core Terran Hangul. Her and Yoohyeon's mother tongue. She remembered him explaining how he thought it worked but she couldn't remember the actual specifics. Orion often got so excited to share his knowledge that his answers would quickly go to many layers deep in complexity. As they waited for her answer she noticed the anxiety in their touches. their bodies screamed with impatience, but their eyes and faces told a different story. The couple was fully locked in on doing their duties but their bodies had other desires. The captain wondered how long the couple would hold out before their bodies made choices that their minds weren't fully in line with.

"No we have to leave at our scheduled time frames otherwise the ports won't be ready for us and we mess scheduling for other ships yadda, yadda. Charters and Port control get mad at me so for now we will stay on Melibone and enjoy the time off. you two especially need it with all of the work you two have done over the last two hours." the captain said positively to the couple. "Go see Elric of the black blade. I heard the play is excellent."The Captain added leaving the two to explore Melibone. The first thing the couple did was get food. There was a cafe nearby the port where the two ate their first meal of the day. While eating a female voice rang out to Yoohyeon

“Yoohyeon?” Orion and Yoohyeon turned to look at the voice in the same direction of the voice. A pretty lady with dark hair ran over to the two eating. Yoohyeon smiled seeing the girl as she tightly gripped Orion’s hand.

“Jiu-unnie how are you?” Yoohyeon said happily to her coven leader. Jiu smiled as she approached and spoke to the duo.

“Oh, I'm fantastic my Codex Keeper Freyjar has been taking exceptional care of me.”

Yoohyeon heard Orion’s heart rate spike and his open fist clenched as Jiu said the name Freyjar. She looked at his face and watched his expression shift from comfort to an unreadable expression. As his heart rate mellowed it took on an unhurried pace that held an almost malevolent tone. Unaware of the silent conversation going on between Yoohyeon and Orion she sat with them. After she got comfortable she turned to her Codex Keeper who looking for her when she heard his heartbeat

“Ah Freyjar come over here,” Jiu said Jubilant. Freyjar turned to the familiar voice and walked over to see Jiu Freyjar turned to the familiar voice and walked over to see his favorite Ward Witch along with a familiar face

“Devil Dog?” Freyjar exclaimed surprised

Yoohyeon listened to Orion’s heart rate slow even further. Jiu noticed this as well but didn't want to cause a scene.

“Let's keep it professional Keeper Freyjar please call me Keeper Orion,” Orion said flatly. Jiu appreciated Orion’s attempt to diffuse the situation immensely and smiled at him. Freyjar noticed this and his heart grew jealous. Yoohyeon noticed though that Jiu and Freyjar had synchronized heartbeats whereas Orion and hers Alternated. Freyjar watched Orion with maintained an unreadable. He looked for any hint of emitting but Codex Master Lorgar taught Keeper Orion well and his face was a stoic mask. He did notice that he was latching on to The blonde lady who sat next to Jiu. That's it that's the pain point he thought.

“Okay, Keeper Orion. Who is this lady you seem keen on?” Orion tensed before Jiu came to his rescue.

“Oh this is the member of my Coven I was telling you about Yoohyeon,” Jiu explained.

Freyjar nodded still staring at Orion.

“Oh, the clumsy puppy you mentioned.”

Orion’s stoic mask slips for a moment as he turns to smile at Yoohyeon. Yoohyeon returned his smile she was happy to see it even if for a moment. The waitress arrived breaking the tension and the politics for a moment asking the group what they desired.

"Can I try one of your pastry pies one meat and one berry?" Orion asked. Melibone was known for its pastry pies and he figured such a simple meal would be hard to mess up and an excellent yet also a safe gauge for the quality of the cafe. Yoohyeon got the house special. Jiu got a simple salad and Freyjar got a steak. After that Jiu and Freyjar led the conversation as Orion barely spoke leaving Yoohyeon to speak. it was uncharacteristic of him the two often spoke and tumbled over and around each other in conversation so seeing him so guarded was concerning. She held him close and hoped he would open up.

"So Orion how is your first expedition? Is it exciting? Jiu and I have faced pirates and several webs of political intrigue," Freyjar said smugly.

"Not currently, but I appreciate the quiet. allows me to focus on my task and functions as a Codex Keeper," Orion replied measuredly. Freyjar's eyes narrowed.

"That suits you honestly. Your mediocrity has always been so baffling. I mean you barely passed trials with that mediocre Expedition you did." Freyjar teased. Jiu and Yoohyeon both froze. they sensed the growing tension between Freyjar and Orion. Freyjar was digging for a reaction and Orion wasn't giving it to him, so he kept digging deeper and deeper.

"We Graduated all the same Keeper Freyjar," Orion responded coldly.

"Yes but I mean who would want to work with someone so unimpressive? Your academic scores are average. your arbitration scores are solid I'll give you that but... that's it. you average nothing special." Freyjar said.

" Hey stop that. Keeper Orion is an excellent Codex keeper. He serves the ship and keeps everyone in high spirits.

"No Ward Witch he isn't you defend the worst of us, and all you have to say is oh he is kind. Kindness is a weakness. A codex Keeper is meant to be exemplar warrior scholars and Psion, and he's none of that." Freyjar interrupted. Jiu watched with an eagle eye as Orion's eyes twitched when Freyjar raised his voice to Yooheyon.

"Keeper Freyjar I am going to give you one chance to apologize to Ward Witch Yoohyeon," Orion said coldly

"What will you do?" Freyjar challenged Orion and didn't respond just glared silently at Freyjar, this intense psionic pressure hit him and he felt as if he was being crushed. He started to panic as breathing became labored. "Damned Pako. I am sorry Mrs. Kim" Freyjar said as he breath. Yoohyeon nodded, but hearing the name Pako sent chills down her spine. Pako was the name of the near-feral Codex keeper who went on the last major expedition with her Mentor. She had heard frightening tales about how he set a planet on fire and killed over 100 men in one day. Surely that couldn't be Orion, but she didn't know much about his past as a Codex Keeper though. The rest of the day they spent exploring Melibone the questions began to pile up and wear on her heavier with each cute moment. "What if he's a monster?" she kept asking herself.

After finishing up at the Cafe (Which Orion paid for) the group split up

When the duo arrive back at the port they are shocked to see everyone unloading The Royal Marquis. Yoohyeon and Orion quickly get back into service mode but are stopped by The Captain. "No, my two working dogs. You two rest for the rest of the day because we have new orders. In the second half of this expedition, we are going to be flying with the new mega-ship "The Dreadnaught." and taking The Royal Marquis back after we get back halfway. Also, I am under strict instructions from the new Captain to not be as fast as we were because he doesn't want to wait. so you two can rest in your new quarters tonight. Here are your room numbers and ID keys."

The duo chuckled seeing their rooms were the same numbers 307 and 310 again. After moving all of their belongings from their old quarters to their new quarters they met up in 310 (Yoohyeon’s room) this time around. As they sat together she decided to ask Othello about the Devil’s ruin

“Oh that it was a normal expedition. Just had an issue with a planet going through Civil war that was one of the port planets and to complete the mission. I brokered a peace long enough for us to get in and out of.” Othello explained

Yoohyeon knew of Devil’s run it was the ship her mentor Lady Sunshine ran, and where she had done her test. She also knew a few years back or so there was an expedition that was almost cursed. That almost took the life of Lady Sunshine, and her current apprentice Hanni, but she figured that the Codex Keeper and his apprentice who were on the ship couldn't have been related, Othello was too kind to be that merciless and seemed very hesitant to fight but today’s trip

“Hey Othello who was the ward witch on that expedition?” Yoohyeon asked cautiously.

“Oh um, I believe it was two Lady Sunshine and her at-the-time apprentice Hanni,” Othello replied calmly, and Yoohyeon’s heart sank.

“You're Pako (Hellhound), the scourge of Theros. You led a one-man campaign from Nykthos to Meletis. You're a war monster. ” Yoohyeon interjected. Othello’s heart sinks as Yoohyeon says his epithet. He gets up to leave understanding that her affection may have turned into hate. Yoohyeon watched relieved as he left but something stirred within Yoohyeon that made her supersede her mentor's warnings. She got up between him and the doors. “Tell me why you did it?” she asked.

Othello answered slowly, “To ensure everyone’s safety on Devil’s ruin I had to do some truly unpleasant things, and I didn't like the way people watched doing these things. The looks of disgust and disdain I got for playing the bad guy when I had to. I had to Kill Helios, and Hades to make sure everyone got home safe. I had to stack those bodies, on not only Theros but on Ixialan and Bant and all of those other planets we fought on that accursed expedition. The horror of it all though was while in it I had never felt more alive. I didn't have to worry about hiding behind masks. There were no discussions about offenses and hesitations or the mincing of words it was straightforward and all my choices mattered I thrived in that hell which is why I guess everyone looks at me as terrible because I thrived in it, but I'd rather be a warlord in a garden then a Gardner in a war.”

Yoohyeon was taken aback by Othello’s Alacrity himself but still very much reconciling with the revelation that he was a warlord…a reluctant warlord but a Warlord nonetheless. Despite learning about Othello's past, Yoohyeon couldn't shake the deep connection she felt with him. As they sat together in her room, his words about his past weighed heavily on her mind. Yet, when she looked into his eyes, she saw genuine remorse and vulnerability, which only deepened her empathy for him.

"Othello," she began softly, reaching out to touch his hand, "I understand that you've had to make difficult choices in the past. But that doesn't change how I feel about you." Her heart raced as she spoke, her hand trembling slightly against his.

Othello’s gaze met hers, his expression a mix of gratitude and disbelief. "You... you still feel the same way?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

Yoohyeon nodded, a small smile playing on her lips. "Yes, I do. Because despite everything, I see the person you are now—the kind, compassionate man who's always there for me. That's the Othello I've come to care about, and nothing can change that."

As they sat together, their hands intertwined, Yoohyeon felt a renewed sense of connection with Othello. Despite his past, she couldn't deny the chemistry between them or the hope she held for their future together. She did have one question remaining,

“Where was your support when this all happened? Why do all the stories paint you as doing this all on your own?” Orion considers Yoohyeon’s words and thought about the cleanest answer before he replied

“They say in War there is this fog war this uncertainty whenever one engages in large-scale combat engagements. To me, it's a spotlight I know what I need to do and when it needs to be done, so it's all a matter of performance and that's liberating at least for me. Take my battle with Helios. I had no idea he was going to set his city on fire to stop me all I knew was that if I defeated him I would be successful. So everything I did that night. Saving the children women and men as Pompeii burned Nykthos Freeing Kruphix teaming up with Xenagos to finish Helios were all part of taking hold of the spotlight and doing all I could with it.”

Yooyheon watched in wonder as Othello spoke with childlike innocence about his experience. She didn't realize that he never set Pompeii to blow. All the stories about it only mention it as a major event going on. They also never mentioned him saving people. Every record only mentions his fight with Helios and the total fatality count. It also never mentioned Kruphix (who is the current and beloved leader of a unified Theros Along with his lover Klothys) all of these critical facts drastically change the story of how she saw the story. Whenever Othello told stories his contained hope and this striving to be better for the sake of others made her realize something deeper about him. He wasn't some moral-lacking warlord. He was a boy trying to live up to his Heroes and the expectations placed upon him. this made everything click about Othello. Yoohyeon smiled overwhelmed by seeing him in a new light she grabbed his collar and kissed him their kiss lasting several minutes. When the two broke the kiss Othello was speechless. As he stared at Yoohyeon trying to catch his breath.

“Whoa.” was all Othello could manage.

“You want to be a hero. You want to do the right thing. Vanquish evil and save the princess.” Yoohyeon said. “Tell me the full story,” Yoohyeon said her eyes lit with Joy. Othello looked at her confused before acquiescing to her as he always did.

“When we arrived on Theros we were only supposed to be there for 25 hours to load and unload we had guaranteed safe passage for being with the federation as long as we stayed neutral which we did. We talked to no one housed no prisoners and no one even left the port. At the fourth hour, the Nykthos private militia came for Lorgar (larger originally hails from Theros and was a child soldier under Heliod before leaving the planet, which everyone knew but Heliod took offense to so we are all taken as prisoners to be executed via the fighting pits. My master doesn't rattle easily but the situation rattled him. We enter the fight pits and I go on an absolute tear of victories. 22 to be exact the crowd loves it they love me. So I decided to leverage this love to declare the fight for everyone who is enslaved currently’s freedom. This is the part where I kinda blackout and go 121-0 this ends with Helios having to free everyone in the prison. He only has one condition we leave with all the prisoners. We accept that beside us the only prisoners are a man named Kruphix and his son Xenagos. So we leave but I don't trust Helios so I go over our ship and find bombs planted on them. I tell Lorgar who tells the federation. The Federation declares an immediate act of intervention when the leaders of Thermos decide to let the planet burn. So Tiro removes him and his husband from power and leaves the planet. But Heliod sets off to Pompeii the planet-destroying Volcano central to Theros and says to everyone “I'll turn this planet into a burial ground” Lorgar is adamant we leave but I can't in good conscience let an entire planet die so I tell him

“If I lose my life today may I not see you tomorrow before I fight my way to Nykthos. Devil’s Ruin leaves me on Nykthos. I challenge Helios for the city and I beat him. As he reeling in his loss he decides to stab me. Xenagos covers me and kills Helios but he dies protecting me I stop the volcano and give the rule back to Kruphix and he reinstates their previous form of government. The federation arrives too and they get me back onto the Devil’s ruin to the surprise and chagrin of everyone on the ship.”

Yoohyeon sat enthralled as she listened as Othello finished his story. Yoohyeon moved closer to him, and a heavy silence hung in the air, both of them processing the weight of his words. Yoohyeon sat beside him, her gaze softening with a newfound understanding and admiration for the man beside her.

"Othello," she began, her voice gentle yet filled with sincerity, "I had no idea... what you went through, what you sacrificed. You're incredibly brave, you know that?"

Othello met her gaze, a hint of vulnerability flickering in his eyes. His heartbeat spiked causing Yoohyeon's smile to grow a little bit. She loved the feeling she gave that made his heart race, " I wouldn't consider it brave it was just the right thing to do…Thank you though, Yoohyeon. It means a lot to hear you say that."

Yoohyeon reached out, gently placing her hand on his arm. "You're not just a warlord or a hero, Othello. You're a person who faced impossible choices and did what you had to do to protect others. That takes incredible strength and courage."

A small smile tugged at the corners of Othello's lips, touched by Yoohyeon's words. "I never thought of it that way... but hearing you say it... it means everything."

Their eyes locked an unspoken understanding passing between them. In that moment, they shared a profound connection, a bond forged through honesty and vulnerability. Yoohyeon felt her admiration for Othello deepen into something more, a warmth blooming in her chest that she couldn't ignore.

"And you know," Yoohyeon continued, her voice softening, "I'm here for you, Othello. Whatever you need, whatever you're going through... you don't have to face it alone."

Othello's expression softened, gratitude shining in his eyes. "Thank you, Yoohyeon. That means the world to me."

As they sat together in the quiet of Yoohyeon's room, their hands intertwined, a sense of closeness enveloped them. At that moment, they both knew that their bond had deepened into something more than friendship. before anything else could happen the door opened to Yoohyeon's room to Siyeon, Jiu, Sua, Dami, Marcus, Elric, Freyjar, and Ayara. Orion instantly tenses seeing them which Yoohyeon notices she grabs his hand.

Throughout the second half of the trip, Yoohyeon and Orion fell into very different patterns. the new Captain Claw is very standoffish with the two new additions to his crew Orion and Yoohyeon, despite both efforts to make themselves helpful. This captain wasn't fond of Keepers nor Ward Witches so having multiples both on his ship sent him on edge. He believed they discarded their humanity for power. Sadly due to Orion's aversion to being around the other Keepers, he stayed with The captain more often. As the two watched over the port and the ship the captain softened slowly to the Keeper. Whereas most Keepers he had seen ashew their humanity he was surprised to see one cling so desperately to his. it was interesting, to say the least.

Yoohyeon spent a lot of time with Jiu and Siyeon though which meant a lot of time with Freyjar, and Ayara. She was surprised to see their perceptions of Orion. Freyjar harbored Jealousy towards the other Keeper, and Ayara lived in abject terror of him which was surprising since she only had positive things to say about him. so she did her best to avoid mentioning Orion in either's presence. This became difficult because Siyeon and Jiu wanted to know every detail about Orion. So in fielding these questions, she spent a lot of time away from Orion.

this led to him working with the crew a lot more and as their interactions became fleeting and Yoohyeon became more enmeshed with more traditional Keeper and Ward Witch relations she grew more irritable. there was this insincerity that everyone around her head kept her guard. She couldn't be who she was, nor could she say what she wanted as freely as when she was with Orion, and so her clumsiness started to plague her again, Jiu covered her and helped her but while it was familiar it wasn't what she wanted. she often found herself saying in her head "Orion would have told her she messed up here and given her his big dumb smile telling her it would be alright."

Eventually, the stress of being perfect got to her and she lashed at Sua. She messed up a basic spell that made Sua laugh and Yoohyeon just snapped.

"Unnie don't you have anything better to do? I mean come on I barely messed up, besides haven't you also messed up this spell as well." She snapped. Surprised Sua looked at Yoohyeon her magic lines were changing and growing.

In a calculated move Jiu told Yoohyeon to find Orion, She wanted to ask him about something. Yoohyeon groaned "Can't you do it yourself unnie?" Luckily Orion just happened to be in between chores as he became as indispensable to Claw as he had been with the previous captain. He saw Yoohyeon and waved. Yoohyeon saw him and for a moment her burden eased. her heart rate slowed to a reasonable pace and each other Ward Witch knew what to do.

"Oh Orion how are you?" Dami asked

"I am good Dami just enjoying the little free time I have. The Captain needed to have a crew meeting and gave me some time off."

"Why are you helping the crew so much?" Freyjar questioned annoyed.

"Because I don't like spending time with y'all honestly," Orion said bluntly.

Jiu, Dami, Elric, and Marcus laughed. Yoohyeon pouted. then got up

"Well since you're being such a dick I'll leave." She said.

"Yoon wait I wanted to ask you something."

"Oh, now you want to talk to me?" Yoohyeon said

"Yes I miss you and I want to spend time with you." Orion made sure to emphasize you with Yoohyeon. She didn't catch on to this as she was operating under the "I don't like spending time with y'all"

"Oh really just a couple of seconds ago you were eager to say how little you enjoyed time with us all."

"Yes, All emphasis on all. because minus Freyjar, Ayara, and (Orion looks over to Sua who licks her lips at him with a seductive look. Orion points at Sua). I enjoy spending time with you all individually." Yoohyeon knew that Sua was teasing the poor keeper, she liked boys who flustered easily and Orion flustered very easily. So she was constantly teasing him, but in that moment of the weight of being the crown jewel of Dreamcatcher's coven, it was just another annoyance.

"Gosh, I can't believe I ever liked you... you're such a dick. you know what Maybe Freyjar is right about you. you're mediocre at everything so you try to hide it by busying yourself."

The air shifted. Orion tensed. Every Ward Witch heard his heart rate spike and then go dangerously low, this was the lowest it's ever been. Orion tried very much to see Yoohyeon's perspective but he was seeing red. he chose his next actions extremely meticulously. He slowed his breathing and took 5 deep breaths before leaving. Yoohyeon swore she saw black lines of magic manifest on his body for a moment as a bizarre monster crawled around his left shoulder.

"Go ahead leave, and be forgotten because who wants a hero? Heroes are childish." Yoohyeon spat.

The air shifted again and the temperature dropped. Freyjar smirked as he made eye contact with Orion. his plan of feeding Yoohyeon all his drivel finally pays off. The stoic mask she wore cracked.

"You take that back," Orion said. his voice shifted into an active that was unfamiliar to all present. Red hot tears streamed down Orion's eyes, as he turned to face Yoohyeon. Yoohyeon's surprise was palpable. She took a step back and saw the emotions swirling within Orion, and her heart softened. She also realized she pushed him a bit too far.

"Orion I am so sorry.

Freyjar's laugh drowned out her apology

"No, No Yoohyeon. You almost had him. he was this close to breaking down like the sad man-child he is. Don't apologize for the real world is a vicious and vile place, with no place for heroes." Freyjar said. Orion's Stoic mask broke. he turned to him.

"Everyone looks down on me. Everyone always points to my naivety, saying it's a problem that I am too childish when I live in this hellscape of a Galaxy ruled over by people like you. I hate it. I hate it. I hate it. I hate it. I hate you. I hate you. I hate you." Orion repeated.

Before anyone could react He warped to Freyjar grabbed him by his collar and threw him and every one in another warp to the arena. He summons his War spade and makes a room closing around Him and Freyjar. Yoohyeon knew of his Claustrophobia and how it drove him mad which would make reaching out to Orion that much harder. Knowing this she began clawing at the barrier. When that didn't work she began chanting spells, but in her stress and panic she kept making tiny mistakes ruining the efficacy of her spells and strengthening the barrier that Orion had created

"you say I am not special. well, let's play a game. I am going to hit you until I get tired or you stop me. if you die eh, if not cool. Begin." as soon as he said that the room began closing triggering Orion's Claustrophobia. His rage compounded by the panic created a unique combination of desperation that pushed him to fight as hard as possible. Yoohyeon knew she had to stop this as this was all her fault. Orion closed in on Freyjar who summoned his sword (named Summer) and made an excellent lunge, that was easily dodged by Orion. Orion raised his weapon and with one mighty swing, he swung the flat side of his war spade.

a sickening crunch could be heard as Freyjar hit the floor after being hit by Orion's weapon. The Ward Witches understanding that Orion was so far gone broke through the barrier *barely with their combined power. Orion turned to face them as they encircled him. Their faces were filled with fear and terror but also pity. Pity that drove Orion to higher depths of rage. the faces replaced themselves with others who held similar looks in the past. their words rang out to him

"Violent tendencies, Rigid personality. An immature child." these were all phrases that their looks said to him, but Orion was done playing by the rules of a world he deemed beneath him at that moment. His mask of Stoicism shattered beyond repair. Now everyone saw who he was under all the calm, under all the kindness, all the amicability; A boy forced to grow into a world that hated him and what he valued, and that weighed heavily on everyone present. Especially Yoohyeon it broke her heart that she of all people was to push him this far.

"Don't you dare look at me like that? You all wanted the monster you tell tales of the Great Demon Dog of Eldora. You created this," Orion yelled

Then silence hung in the air as his proclamation rang true. He was a monster the systems that they all believed in created someone who needed to stop him, and Yoohyeon stepped up.

"Orion I am so sorry." She said with tears in her eyes Yoohyeon's apology hung in the air, heavy with regret as she watched Orion's tears fall. The weight of her words hit her with a force she hadn't anticipated, and for the first time, she saw the vulnerability beneath his stoic exterior.

Orion's response was immediate, his voice trembling with emotion as he struggled to regain his composure. "You... you hurt me, Yoohyeon," he managed to say, his words choked with pain. "I thought... I thought you understood me, but..." His voice trailed off, lost in the turmoil of his emotions.

Yoohyeon felt a pang of guilt pierced her heart as she witnessed the raw anguish in Orion's eyes. She had never seen him like this before, stripped of his usual calm demeanor, and it shook her to the core. With a shaky breath, she stepped closer to him, reaching out to gently touch his arm.

"Orion, I didn't mean... I didn't mean to hurt you," she whispered, her voice trembling with remorse. "I was... I was angry, and I lashed out without thinking. But that's no excuse for what I said. I know you're not... you're not mediocre. You're extraordinary, and I... I was wrong to doubt you." she grabbed Orion and pulled him into a hug. he collapsed in her arms.

"Why does everyone hate me?" he asked vulnerably. "Why do they push me to hurt them?" he asked. Yoohyeon held him as he cried The other Ward Witches gave them space to not interfere. Orion was bested, not by might but by emotion. "I try to help and be a Hero like Z, or Saber, or Val-Zod, or Orion and they all look at me like I am wrong and I should fall into their ways," Orion said through cold tears. Yoohyeon held him close as the others left. Eventually, they traversed back to Orion's room, and for the first time in weeks, Yoohyeon felt safe. she and Orion spent the rest of the day together holding each other close. their bodies making up for lost time and connection as their minds processed everything. Orion also never dismissed his war axe. Yoohyeon noticed this and decided to take her next step in understanding him.

"You cling to your war spade why?" Yoohyeon asked

"It makes me feel safe. Lorgar made it for me after I lost one of the many swords that Keepers usually wield. Often my strength is hard to withhold so the dainty long swords that other Keepers wield often chip and shatter under my grasp. He built this for me using Materials from across my solar system, and he named it Apokolips after keeping in line with my name." Othello explained

Yoohyeon nodded understanding which led to her next line of questions "You mentioned your name came from a comic character what was his story?" Yoohyeon asked eager to see more of Othello, and less of Orion for today. She also loved the way Orion told his stories. he was always so expressive.

"So in all of DC comics, there is one villain that stands above all. his name is Darkseid. He wields the omeaga effect a powerful bevy of abilities that make him the most dangerous villain in the universe, but he has a son who in a calculated move by both parties to gain intel on the other Darkseid gives his son Orion to the peace-loving and heroic High Father of New Genesis. the high father does the same with his son. This leads to a Villain being raised by a hero and a hero being raised by a villain. Orion despite his nature becomes one of the greatest heroes in the DC universe, and it is made all the more grandiose by his refusal to give in to his darker impulses." Othello explains

Yoohyeon smiled and, said, "Do you have darker impulses, Mr. Hero?"

"Yes, I do. Every day I see the weakness and folly in those around me, and I wonder to myself if it would be easier if I ruled. If I trampled over the old war and made a new one but better, but I am reminded that many people wouldn't benefit from that cruel a ruler and so I remain steadfast in heroism." Othello replied.

"So where does the name Apokolips come from in Orion's story? why is that significant." Yoohyeon asked.

"Oh, I forgot Apokolips is the planet Orion was born on," Othello replies. Yoohyeon laughs in comfort as she cuddles closer to Othello.

"I've missed you so much," she said.

"I have as well," Othello replied

"Why didn't you make time for me then?" Yoohyeon asked skeptical

"I didn't want to get in the way of you and those close to you," Othello answered, and Yoohyeon turned to him.

"You're cavity-inducingly sweet you know that right?" Yoohyeon replies

"that is a new phrase but I'll keep it in mind," Othello replies.

“I always forget you're not from Earth, I guess the bronze metallic skin and glowing runes should have been a dead giveaway.” Yoohyeon chuckled

“Wait really?” Othello questioned

“Yeah, your English is consistently clear easy to distinguish the words. How did you get so good?” Yoohyeon asked with genuine intrigue

“Honestly reading comics and watching Superhero videos from Earth. It gave a path of translation to a lot of ideas and concepts I had but didn't have the tools to express, all of the vibrant colors create a contrast from a majority of Earth’s content being almost monotone. Like so many of the stories told boil down to the same thing, and I have noticed at least in the hero genre of storytelling they go above and beyond in all facets so the stories pop more. I've read both George Orwell and Walter Simonson and I remember more of the latter’s work than the former.” Othello explained

“Oh really. Do you have any of the comics you read?” Yoohyeon asked. Othello nodded. “Can you read me one?” Yoohyeon asked. Othello nodded again as he got up and grabbed book one of Orion by Walter Simpson, and he began to read it to her.

Tales of Orion's Challenge spread quickly over the coming weeks. The Captain urges to avoid bringing any of it up but does chuckle as he was quite annoyed with Keeper Freyjar so having someone take him down a peg made him smile.

Eventually, reports reached outside of the ship, and a conflict resolution meeting was forced upon all of the Ward Witches and the Codex Keepers.

The 12 coven Mothers and three Codex Masters oversaw the meeting through Video call. Lady Sunshine was surprised to see Orion among those present. Orion pleasantly waved at her Lorgar and greeted her with a bit more enthusiasm. It was then that it all clicked for Lady Sunshine and who she had set her apprentice up with.

Lorgar knowing that his apprentice wasn't just fighting people wildly asked one question,

"Keeper Orion. What happened."

Orion explained it as he recorded ( he left out all of his emotions on the matter which was noted by everyone present), but as soon as they got to the part where Yoohyeon started attacking heroism. Everyone who knew Orion Knew that was what sent him over the edge.

"Yoohyeon how could you?" Lady Sunshine interjected when Orion explained Yoohyeon's part.

Uncomfortable with seeing Yoohyeon yell at Orion was quick to take the blame.

"No Lady Sunshine the fault is mine. I neglected my duties as a Keeper to stay in contact with my assigned Ward Witch leaving the air for tension despite external factors the fault of Keeper Freyjar's injuries are all mine."

Lady Sunshine was left speechless (a rare occurrence) and Lorgar swelled with pride and knowing. Orion's demeanor and presence were all there. Lorgar also noticed the way he looked at Yoohyeon and the closeness the two displayed at the beginning of the meeting. Orion was smitten and protecting his paramour. Lorgar laughed internally. What was concerning was the revelation that it took 5 Ward Witches to break his barrier. His powers were exponentially increasing again. A fact that was not lost on the other Codex Masters.

"What do you mean barely cracked the barrier?" Lady Moonlight asked

"My powers have been volatile often increasing their efficacies in moments of high stress. So it took the combined efforts of the 5 present Ward Witches to break the Simple barrier I made." Orion answered a look of terror went through the Ward Witches Council

“But why use your phobias as a means to secure a victory?” lady Moonlight asked curious

“Because I'd rather die than lose,” Orion explained

“Wait what is your name Keeper?” lady Twilight asked

“Orion Lady Twilight.” Orion acknowledged. A look of recognition crossed over the weathered and wrinkled face of the elder Ward Witch.

"Wait you're Pako the scourge of Theros? Aren't you boy?" Lady Twilight asked. Orion gritted his teeth and nodded.

"Well no wonder you nearly killed him. You know you're classified as a weapon of mass destruction by the federation." Lady Twilight reminded, and this changed the atmosphere of the meeting. "I don't know why the federation caters to you. You are a verified world-ending threat with the temperament of a child," Orion's response sends chills throughout the room.

"The same reason I let the Federation get away with all of its wrongs going through the process of addressing it would assure both of our destruction, but make no mistake. I am always aware of how you all see. I am a threat and I will always be as long as I stay true to who I am. My response let me be and I'll let you be." Lady Twilight didn't appreciate Orion's flippant tone but she respected that he stood for with spine unlike so many in the federation.

"Proudly displaying that Eldorian Backbone I have heard so much about. I may not like you but I respect it. Take care of Sua for me."

"Oh, you're Sua's mentor that explains a lot. You have my word to the best of my ability I will protect everyone you place under me." After that, the meeting was over with the leaders understanding that it was a simple misunderstanding and that at least one adult was handling it.

after the meeting, Yoohyeon and Othello sat alone in his room. He was reading Orion to her and she was cradled in his arms and body listening to his voice ease her but she just kept feeling this uncomfortable heat well inside her. She constantly was shifting trying to get comfortable but couldn't. Yoohyeon's and Othello's feelings for each other have reached a fever pitch, and their bodies are fed up with their minds

"Hey, Othello," Yoohyeon said.

Othello looks to Yoohyeon and she kisses him with an intense fervor. this kiss ignites a fire deep within the two. when it breaks Yoohyeon teases Othello when she feels his erection poke her.

"Well someone is excited." She comes in a sexy voice. Othello moans.

"Well yeah, have you seen how hot you are." Othello challenged

Yoohyeon smiles a rosy blush crossing her face. "Oh baby Flattery will get you everywhere." she goes in for another kiss this time with more passion. Othello's and Yoohyeon's tongues meet and dance while they kiss. Neither looks for dominance but dances with a willing partner.

Yoohyeon smiled as she gripped tightly onto Othello. Their kiss broke the built tension of the last 4 months 1 week and three days. They break this kiss, and the solid foundation of love and adoration they felt for each other quickly melts into liquid desire and lust. the two tear off the clothes of each other, and go back to kissing. Yoohyeon can barely contain her eagerness as she stares into Othello's eyes she can tell he feels the same. She goes back in for another kiss as the two lovers paw at the other's naked forms. Hands intermingle and dance with bodies as lovers begin to familiarize themselves with each other in this intimate moment. Yoohyeon breaks their kiss and looks into Othello's eyes. Yoohyeon nestles closer to Othello tentatively, her heart pounding with a mixture of nerves and longing. the stress of all this tension she felt being by him washed over her along with the overwhelming safety she felt. She reached out, gently cupping his face in her hands, drawing him closer until their lips were mere inches apart.

Their eyes met, a silent exchange of emotions passing between them. And then, unable to resist any longer, they closed the distance, their lips meeting in a tender kiss.

Time seemed to stand still as they lost themselves in the moment, the world around them fading into insignificance. For Yoohyeon, it was a moment of clarity, a realization of the depth of her feelings for Othello.

As they broke apart, breathless and flushed with emotion, Yoohyeon gazed into Othello's eyes, her voice trembling with vulnerability.

"Othello," she began, her voice barely above a whisper. "I... I love you."

The words hung in the air, the weight of them echoing in the silence that followed. Yoohyeon's heart raced as she waited for his response, her entire being consumed by the intensity of her confession.

Othello's eyes widened in surprise, his own emotions swirling beneath the surface. He reached out, taking Yoohyeon's hand in his, a gentle smile playing at the corners of his lips.

"Yoohyeon," he said softly, his voice filled with warmth and affection. "I love you too."

And at that moment, amidst the chaos and uncertainty of their world, they found solace in each other's arms, their love a beacon of hope in the darkness. As they began to kiss again Othello began tracing Yoohyeon’s tattoos. Yoohyeon giggled as she was tickled by Othello’s surprisingly soft hands. As his hands travel around her body Othello’s psionics begin to unravel around the two in a mirroring way to Yoohyeon’s magic (small aside: typically Psionics and mages aren't supposed to consummate relationships under the effects of their special abilities but for how ingrained Yoohyeon and Othello’s abilities are to their sense of self it's hard to separate their powers from themselves) passionate and fiery crimson energy and the physical manifestation of Othello’s psionics crashes into Yoohyeon’s cool sea foam green arcane weave. As their energies intermingle the two begin copulating. Yooyheon sinks onto Othello’s cock and moans. When she adjusts to him residing within her she opens her eyes to see him breathless under her. She smiles as she begins to ride him. In hopes of reciprocity, Othello meets her halfway with thrusts of his own into her sex. Yoohyeon moans as Othello fills her up. She watches as Othello watches carefully trying to ascertain her reactions and make her feel as pleased as possible. Yoohyeon smiles and puts his hands on her ample ass.

“Give it to me.” Yoohyeon encourages and so begins the slow and deep methodical thrusts of Othello. Eager to please he plunges in her pussy and slowly pulls out 75% of the way before plunging in again, and again. As he thrust into her he slightly changed angles to see what Yoohyeon liked. On the fifth repetition, he found it and Yoohyeon screamed. “They're right there,” she yelled as he hit her G-spot. Having a greenlight Othello picked up his pace while reaching down to her clit. Extending his finger he traced figure eights around the bud. This combination sent Yoohyeon reeling. Her eyes rolled back and she moaned.

“Keep going. I'm so close,” she screamed excitedly Othello obliged and picked up Yoohyeon and increased his pace. The change in angle allowed Othello to reach further into Yoohyeon who smiled as their faces became even as he lifted her up and down. Yoohyeon lost herself to pleasure as she was ravaged by Othello’s rod. Eventually, she couldn't take it, and her orgasm tore through her tight frame.

“Oh God.” She yelled before cumming all over Othello’s cock. Othello continued his work on Yoohyeon until her walls contracted in such a way that seemed to milk him almost, but what took him over the edge was Yoohyeon saying. “Please cum in me. I need it I need to feel you all of you.” her words sent metering to his orgasm, and he began to paint her walls white with his seed. Yoohyeon groaned as her sex only grew tighter. After what seemed like hours the couple’s bodies calmed down.

Yoohyeon spoke, ”So who's your favorite member of my coven now?” she teased.

“Aish.” Othello groaned but was quick to smile as he pulled her close.

In the coming weeks, Yoohyeon completely divested herself from her Coven friends and spent all of her time with Orion, and they fell into familiar patterns of helping the crew and Captain. The crew appreciated Yooyheon’s help immensely as being able to instantly fix numerous problems at one time was such a relief. She spent less time stressing about appearing perfect and poise and just living her clumsiness also faded. The others kept their distance especially Freyjar who was reeling over the fact that 5 Coven Bound Ward Witches had to save him from someone he deemed as lesser. Especially since Orion was given no consequence for his actions. He was scolded by his Codex Master for riling up the young man. The worst insult (minus the cracked jaw) was that Orion apologized. He considered his actions beneath himself the nerve, of him. Freyjar would mend his wounded pride and get his retribution. As tensions simmered aboard the ship, Freyjar seethed with resentment in the confines of his quarters. His bruised jaw throbbed with every pulse of anger, a constant reminder of his humiliation at the hands of Orion. But Freyjar was not one to suffer such indignity lightly.

Gazing into the reflection of his own anger-filled eyes in the mirror, Freyjar formulated his plan for revenge. He knew he couldn't confront Orion directly; the Codex Keeper's growing influence among the crew made him untouchable. No, Freyjar would have to be more cunning.

With a smirk curling his lips, Freyjar began to reach out to like-minded crew members, whispering words of dissent against Orion's leadership. He found willing ears among those who harbored their grievances, promising them power and prestige in exchange for their allegiance.

Meanwhile, Yoohyeon found herself caught in the middle of the growing tension. Her loyalty to Orion was unwavering, but she couldn't ignore the undercurrent of discord spreading throughout the crew. Sensing trouble brewing, she tried to mediate, but her efforts seemed futile against the rising tide of animosity.

One evening, as the crew gathered for their nightly meal, Freyjar made his move. With calculated precision, he subtly turned the conversation against Orion, planting seeds of doubt and discontent among the crew. Orion arrived at the meal late with Yoohyeon. The couple was surprised to see the multitude of glares presented to them.

Caught off guard by the sudden shift in the atmosphere, Yoohyeon watched helplessly as the situation escalated. She knew she had to act quickly to prevent further conflict, but the rift between her crew and her friends seemed to widen with each passing moment.

As tensions reached a breaking point, Yoohyeon made a split-second decision. Stepping forward, she confronted Freyjar, her voice filled with determination.

"Freyjar, this ends now. We're all on the same side here, and we need to work together if we're going to survive out here in the vastness of space."

Freyjar's gaze hardened, but Yoohyeon held her ground, refusing to back down. Behind her, Orion watched with a mixture of concern and gratitude, realizing just how much Yoohyeon meant to him. Orion smiled. Orion had been doing a lot of that lately with Yoohyeon he noticed. In hopes of de-escalating the tension, he made a silent gesture for himself and Yoohyeon to leave. So they did.

Watching Orion flee swelled Freyjar with pride as the two left the cafeteria with their tails between their legs.

As the expedition came to a close the tensions reduced as well. All was quiet that was until the last day.

As they were doing the paperwork and needed documentation, to wrap up their duties for the last 8 months A blip happened.

Arriving at the spaceport a little late due to an asteroid field’s interference the group was greeted not by federation members but by Pirates The Dreadbeard Pirates to be exact. They were the most dangerous and massive pirate organization in this region of the galaxy and expanding. They were ruthless and often left no survivors. So when their ship was boarded and Captain Claw was killed there was only one person to look to as a leader.

“So who's the Captain of this ship?” Dreadbeard said as his blade left Claw’s chest. Orion stood motionless as the remaining crew pointed to him.

“Aye, a codex Keeper and a Captain that's a rare sight.”

“Well, I just got promoted. You just killed the Captain.” Orion responded

Dreadbeard laughed “Fair Fair. Hopefully, you'll be more reasonable than he was.

“No I'm worse, but I am more sporting. So here is my play. I don't want to have to clean up and do paperwork to fix this mess so we’ll vacate, and we will forget this ever happened. I'll come up with a legitimate reason as to why Captain Claw was dead because otherwise, I'll kill you and anyone who stands by you.” Orion answered

Dreadbeard smiled as he raised his sword but before he could even mount an attack he noticed a cold feeling in his chest. He looked down to see a spade connected by a psionic chain thrown from Orion. He looked up

“I feel cold,” he said as he fell to the ground. Orion turned to the rest of the pirates. As the pirates watched their captain collapse to the ground, a hushed silence fell over the ship dock. Orion's eyes bore into each of them, his expression unreadable yet filled with an unmistakable intensity.

"Now, here's how it's going to be," Orion declared, his voice cutting through the tension like a blade. "You have two choices: you can leave this spaceport peacefully, or you can join your captain on the ground."

The pirates exchanged nervous glances, unsure of how to respond to this unexpected turn of events. They had expected a fight, a display of dominance from their captain, but they had not anticipated the swift and decisive action that Orion had just taken.

One by one, the pirates began to lower their weapons, their bravado crumbling in the face of Orion's unwavering resolve. They knew better than to challenge a Codex Keeper, especially one who had just dispatched their fearsome captain with such ease.

"Alright, we're leaving," one of the pirates muttered, his voice tinged with defeat as he gestured for his comrades to follow suit.

Orion watched as the pirates retreated to their ship, their tails between their legs. He knew that this encounter was far from over, that the Dreadbeard Pirates would undoubtedly seek retribution for their fallen captain. But for now, he had bought the crew precious time to regroup and strategize their next move.

As the last of the pirates disappeared into the darkness of the spaceport, Orion turned to his crew, his gaze unwavering.

"Prepare for departure," he commanded his voice firm yet tinged with a hint of urgency. "We need to get out of here before they come back with reinforcements."

With a sense of purpose, the crew sprang into action, their movements swift and coordinated as they prepared to leave the spaceport behind and face whatever challenges awaited them in the vast expanse of the galaxy. As they set course for their next destination, Orion couldn't help but feel a sense of annoyance building within him, knowing that they were close to being finished only to make things exponentially messier. He groaned as they changed course to Terra.

This led to The Dreadnaught arriving back to Terra 45 minutes later. Upon arrival, everyone dispersed except for Yoohyeon and Orion who due to being captain had to do closing paperwork. After that Yoohyeon followed Orion to his post-expedition debrief where he dropped off this expedition’s codex. After that, the couple was finally free.

Othello now off duty stood next to Yoohyeon and asked “So dear what do you want to do now?”

Yoohyeon smiled, “It doesn't matter as long as you're with me we can do whatever.”

“Yoon I meant in the short term.” Yoohyeon burst into an embarrassed smile. Oh well, let's get some food then.” Othello gave a thumbs-up and followed his paramour

As they walked through the bustling streets of Terra, Yoohyeon, and Othello were enveloped in the lively atmosphere of the planet's capital. Neon signs flickered overhead, casting colorful reflections on the pavement below, while the sound of chatter and laughter filled the air.

"Hey, how about that place?" Yoohyeon suggested, pointing to a cozy-looking café nestled between two towering skyscrapers.

Othello glanced at the café and nodded in agreement. "Looks good to me," he replied with a smile.

They entered the café and found a table by the window, where they could watch the hustle and bustle of the city while enjoying their meal. The aroma of freshly brewed coffee wafted through the air, mingling with the tantalizing scent of baked goods.

As they perused the menu, Yoohyeon couldn't help but feel a sense of contentment wash over her. Despite the chaos and danger they often faced in their line of work, moments like these were what made it all worthwhile – simple, everyday moments spent with the person she loved.

Their conversation flowed effortlessly as they waited for their food to arrive, touching on everything from their favorite memories to their hopes and dreams for the future. As they shared laughter and stories, Yoohyeon couldn't shake the feeling that she was exactly where she was meant to be – by Othello's side, exploring the vast and wondrous galaxy together.

Yoohyeon smiled, her heart full of love for the man sitting across from her. "And I wouldn't change a single moment of it," she replied, reaching across the table to gently squeeze his hand.

As they savored their meal and each other's company, Yoohyeon couldn't help but feel grateful for the journey that had brought them together – a journey filled with adventure, danger, and, most importantly, love. And as they lingered in the café, lost in their little world, Yoohyeon knew that their story was far from over – it was only just beginning.

As they sat together in the cozy warmth of their shared quarters, Yoohyeon leaned into Othello’s embrace, feeling a sense of contentment wash over her. She cherished these quiet moments they spent together, wrapped up in each other’s arms, sharing stories and memories.

“And that’s it, the story of how we first met,” Othello recounted, closing his journal with a satisfied smile. Yoohyeon couldn’t help but smile in return, her heart swelling with affection for the man beside her. She still hadn’t tired of the way he told stories, especially ones as significant as their own.

Sitting up beside Othello, Yoohyeon flashed him a toothy grin, which he mirrored with a happy smile of his own.

“Two years and still going strong. Impressive,” she remarked, her voice filled with warmth.

“Yeah, it’s been a crazy ride. We’ve outlasted Jiu and Frey, which was a surprise to me since we fight way more than those two ever did,” Othello corroborated, a hint of amusement in his tone.

Yoohyeon chuckled, her gaze softening as she looked at Othello. Despite the ups and downs they had faced, their relationship had only grown stronger over time. And as they sat together, basking in the glow of their shared love, Yoohyeon knew that there was nowhere else she’d rather be than by Othello’s side.

Yoohyeon laughed, “Well when fight we arrive at some resolutions instead of letting resentment build, and our makeup sex is better” she stated bluntly taking a page from Othello’s book

“Fair.” Othello acquiesced

Yoohyeon smiled as she began stroking him again. Othello smiled before getting up and lining himself with Yoohyeon. He plunges into her familiar and comforting cavern.

“Oh yes,” Yoohyeon mewls as he plunges into her. As Yoohyeon's playful touches grew more intense, Othello found himself lost in the moment, the warmth of her affection enveloping him like a comforting embrace. But as her hands grazed his skin, he felt a sudden tension in the air, a subtle shift that brought his senses back to the present.

With a gentle touch, Yoohyeon's fingers brushed against the bandages that concealed Othello's hidden secret. In an instant, the fabric gave way, revealing the intricate black lines of magic etched across his skin. The air crackled with energy as Yoohyeon's eyes widened in surprise, her gaze drawn to the mesmerizing patterns that danced across Othello's flesh.

"Othello, what... what is this?" Yoohyeon's voice trembled with a mixture of dwindling lust, awe, and apprehension, her fingers tracing the contours of the arcane markings with hesitant curiosity.

[artbyblastweave]

I've seen it said that Worm has two distinct takes on the Evil Superman archetype. One is, obviously, Scion. The other that I've heard is that the Triumvirate each represent aspects of Superman. Alexandria is the flying brick archetype, Legend is the charismatic aspect, and Eidolon is the "World's Strongest Hero" part. Any thoughts?

Yeah, essentially right, with a few extra elements- Legend is also the one who gets to have a functional civilian life, Alexandria gets the double identity element, and Eidolon gets not just the status of the world's strongest hero, but also the editorial baggage of the world's strongest hero running out of things to fight. Legend's also the one who gets to act as a critique of Superman’s squeaky-clean boyscout morality; he gets to have comparatively clean hands because he’s out of the loop on all the morally fraught decisions, and he’s out of the loop on the morally fraught decisions because he didn’t really look all too hard at what was obviously a shady setup. And this feels reminiscent of the persistent meta-level criticism of superheroes in general and Superman in particular (which for the record I only loosely endorse at this point, but which was absolutely true at one point) that their classic "good guy" behavior is only really possible if they're forcibly kept out of contact, on an editorial level, with all the real-world systemic problems that actually cause crime and war and so on, kept out of contact with anything morally thorny, kept away from the question of why something is a crime when a burglar does it but not when a Senator does it. Certain evils you're allowed to target, certain assumptions about the system you're part of that have to go unchallenged- assumptions that raise serious questions about the heroes' ethics, savviness, and personal politics unless you're portraying a world in which all of that under-the-hood societal stuff magically isn't there to be noticed at all. Which Worm, you know, isn't.

[pumpkinspice-prouvaire]

pumpkinspice-prouvaire's required les mis fic reading list

enough of u supported me in my half asleep post asking about fic recs the other day so I am providing. If you want a deep look into my inner psyche this is also the list for that hehe. I tried to be strict about only including my absolute MUST READ fics that I adore and have read and reread and reread again multiple times. Also these will be mostly ExR, to no one's surprise. But there might be a few other ships and gen fics in there too. It's under the read more because this bitch is gonna get long

Auto-read authors:

I didn't wanna rec the same authors too many times in my list proper so these are the authors whose works I have read all (or nearly all) of multiple times. The authors whose tax returns I would read if they posted them on ao3. I will be featuring my favourite fics by them in the list

Fiver

dannyPURO

TheLibrarina

quillsand

Petr1chor

defractum

ShameDumpster

vamillepudding

revolutionbarbie

loverism (all of their fics are currently in a privated bookmark but I have faith that they will someday return. loverism if u see this I miss u)

Need_To_Comment_Rising

Multi-Chapter fics/Series/WIPs:

Under My Wings You Will Find Refuge- Fiver: (WIP) This is the most required reading of my required reading list. I can quote passages of this fic by heart. It's my roman empire. PLEASE check this one out if you haven't it is the best ExR fic in existence, it will change ur life I promise

Beneath a Dragon Moon- The Librarina: GOT AU, no GOT knowledge required. Lots of dramatic moments interspaced with some lovely tender ExR

Guided by a Beating Heart -torakowalski: my absolute FAVOURITE Enjolras centric angst fic. Lots of emotion, lots of friendship, will make you ugly sob

you and i walk a fragile line (is this the time it finally breaks)?- UnforgettableJoMarch: (WIP) I am so enjoying following along with this one. Heartbreaking plot with sublime execution and some brilliant lines, so looking forward to seeing this one develop

The Future's Owned By You and Me- quillsand: ENJOLRAS/FEUILLY ENJOLRAS/FEUILLY ENJOLRAS/FEUILLY WHAT MORE CAN I SAY. Absolutely fantastic rarer pair fic with as much (and maybe more) importance devoted to the activism as to the ship

Getting Fucked in Lingerie- downtheroadandupthehill: PWP. ahem. anyways.

(With a Jubilant Shout) They Will Come One and All- zade: PWP. AHEM. ANYWAYS.

True Blood AU-kjack89: Exactly what it sounds like. Vampire Grantaire and Human Enjolras shenanigans

words can be unwritten- defractum: my favourite soulmate au which makes me melt every time <3

Armillaria- RevocablePeril: THE MOST COURFIUS FIC OF ALL TIME. Lots of excellent Les Amis content in general. SUCH a good, massively underrated fic. 121 kudos??????????? You're all insane.

In An Age Without Heroes- ShitpostingfromtheBarricade: Gloryhole soulmates, the prison industrial complex, Oprah.

walls come tumbling down-reptilianraven: They're cute your honor. One of the only high school AUs I will abide by tbqh hehe

Oneshots:

What's a Bed Between Friends?- dannyPURO: if there's one thing you should know about me it's that I ADORE the there was only one bed trope

epiphany- Abidatchery: screaming crying throwing up that this isn't the fandom's most kudos'ed fic. Every word is expertly crafted and absolutely stunning

Vienna Roast- revolutionbarbie: cosy coffee shop au with a version of Enjolras we don't get to see but that I really enjoy

Out of Touch- ShameDumpster: LET ENJOLRAS GET LOVED YOU COWARDS

A Little More Lois Lane- stellatundra: Just a really funny and silly AU in which Grantaire is Superman

Love in a Coffee Shop-tellthemstories: an absolute fandom classic and rightly so. I've read this one so many times and every time there'll still be something that makes me laugh out loud

My anaconda don't want none (at all)-vamillepudding: v funny and sweet ace enj fic with hilarious triumvirate and exr dynamics

The Waiting is the Hardest Part-samyazaz: In this house, we absolutely love a sexy bet

Between Meetings and Midnight- PieceofCait: Enjolras cries after sex send tweet

A Bad Penny- PBJellie: Gay cowboys and sickfics are the ultimate combo for SURE

Leaves in the Void- myrmidryad: lots of emotion lots of friendship this one is so heavy but SO good you guys. It's also a Space AU I know we all love that <3

my heart's been borrowed (yours has been blue)-Petr1chor: P-tri is so good at writing fics where Enjolras is a complete dumbass and he wrote this one especially for me <3 <3 <3

fire in my hands- geode: This is my go to fic if I want a laugh. "Do you like parsnips?" "Yes they're my second favourite vegetable" iconic exchange god bless

I Would Do Anything For Love- Need_to_Comment_Rising: one of my fave ace Enjolras fics with lovely tender ExR. No I'm not biased because I worked on this series, don't be silly

Like Comfort, Like Solace, Like Relief- areyoumiserableyet: The sensation of coming home to the people you love after a long day <3

Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood- sonhoedesrazao: There should be more fics with oblivious to his own emotions Grantaire that's all I'm saying

Trying to Leave the Ground-barricadeur: rly comfy cosy smut fic

YAY ENJOY I'm gonna go lie down now god I hope I haven't forgotten anything lmfao

[calliecat93]

The Enemy Within is a really good episode when it comes to Kirk and the Triumvirate's dynamic.

In it, we have Kirk split in half. The good half, which has all of Kirk's positive traits but is also indecisive, uncertain, and even a little meek in comparison to normal. The bad Kirk is... well, an unpleasant maniac. Aggressive, impulsive, lack of empathy, all traits that most of us fear. And yet without it, without these negative aspects, Kirk isn't Kirk. A Kirk without any of his bad traits is just as incomplete as a Kirk without the good ones. He needs that decisiveness and aggression to push himself as a captain. To act. To command. We saw it in The Corbomite Manuver and this only helps reinforce it.

On the one hand, Kirk's struggling to function. On the other hand, he's still the captain. He can't allow himself to slip. He can't allow himself to show any weakness. Spock outright reinforces that to him, which in this case imo was the absolute worst move but it's absolutely in character for Spock and for this analysis as we'll see in a moment. Kirk is unwilling to relinquish command, so he tries to force himself to continue. But as time goes, his will continues to falter.

Things really get interesting, however, once they've finally captured the bad Kirk. If you go by production order, this is probably the first time we've had Kirk, Spock, and McCoy in a scene that lasts longer than a few seconds. On the one hand, we have Spock. He delves into how Kirk, without the bad half, is losing his ability to command. He's utterly blunt about it too, which isn't a surprise since this is Spock. The same guy who outright told Kirk not to divulge to the crew the exact details of the situation because it would damage Kirk's captain image and thus provoke a loss of faith by the crew. McCoy practically acts like he's offended on Kirk's behalf. The fact that to him, it sounds like Spock would dare even question Jim and his command ability speaks a LOT. Of course it's Spock's job and Kirk outright told him to do so if he saw him slipping, but McCoy doesn't know that nor would he really care in this instance. He tries to tell Jim that he can still command like he is, but it's clear that they all know that that's not true.

So we have Spock pointing out the facts as they are and telling Kirk that he won't be able to captain soon, his logic utterly sound. Then we have McCoy getitng mad and denying it at first but ultimately admitting to Jim that Spock was right while also assuring him that having these negative traits is not bad. Kirk has his mind telling him one thing, but can't get over his feelings about it after what he's seen. He can't ignore the reality as much as he wants to. He has to accept that as repulsed as he is by seeing his raw darkness, he needs it. He has to accept it to be whole. To be Captain James T. Kirk. Otherwise, he is only half of what he is, and he can't live like that.

But what happens when you have the mind and the heart talking, but the soul is unable to balance it?

After we find out that the merging may kill Kirk from the shock, we have Spock and McCoy arguing again over what to do. All while Kirk sits there, listening to both sides and considering every option, but being unable to decide. The screencap above outright has Kirk in the middle, Spock and McCoy to the side like they were his shoulder angel and devil. They couldn't have symbolized it better if they tried.

On the one hand, we have Spock. It's clear to him that it was shock that killed the unicorn dog, unable to comprehend what all had happened to it when split and forcibly merged back. But Kirk IS able to comprehend it and thus will be able to avoid the same fate. Spock himself struggles with his two sides regularly and is able to manage it... well, he thinks he can anyways, but that's not the point. From his experience, he believes that Kirk can survive and regardless, the landing party will die unless they take the risk of merging Kirk and thus confirming that the transporters are safe once more. As is the duty of the captain.

On the other hand, we have McCoy. With no autopsy completed, he can't be for sure what caused the death and as a doctor he's not going to make a conclusion without it. He's utterly against using the teleporters until the autopsy is complete, at least. He's unwilling to risk Kirk's life without the proof. Plus, if they do it and Kirk dies, then they won't be able to beam up the landing party, and thus they'd die from the cold anyway. He needs absolute certainty before he's willing to allow anything. He's a doctor, so of course he's not going to recklessley allow anyone to risk themselves unless it's himself but shush, but he's especially not risking Jim.

That leaves us with Kirk. He can listen to the two sides. He can weigh the options of the two sides. If he doesn't go through the transporter, his stays split and his men die. But if he does, he has no way of being certain that he'll live. But the key to the Triumvirate is that Spock has his side, McCoy has his side, and Kirk either concedes to one or finds a third option. But he can't. Not at this moment. He has no ability to decide. That essential element is gone. He's still unwilling to relinquish command, and thus neither Spock nor McCoy can make the decision. It has to be Kirk.

Ultimately, the good Kirk chooses to go through the transporter, his men's lives coming before his own. The bad Kirk refuses, trying to abandon his men to save himself. The good Kirk isn't afraid of the risk while the bad Kirk fears for his life. The logical half and the emotional half at odds. In the end, the good Kirk convinces his terrified dark side that it has to be done. Thus, they are brought back together and become whole once more. James T Kirk becomes whole once more.

I have no idea where I'm going with this, and I'm probably reading into this WAAAAY too hard. But in short, just as Kirk needs his two own halves to function, Kirk needs Spock and McCoy as well. He needs Spock to be able to rationalize him and keep him and his head in check. He needs McCoy to be able to process his emotions and to embrace what he otherwise would be unwilling to. He needs both to be able to find that middle ground and make the decision, whether it be right or wrong but a decision nonetheless. Without him as a balance, the two halves are separate. Nothing to balance them out and at war with each other, unable to reconcile. Unable to be function. Unable to be whole.

[shsl-heck]

Thinking about the Chevalier interlude, specifically the inaugural team of Wards. Like in universe, they sell it to this first group of kids (and presumably the rest of the world) as a place for second chances, to find friends and mentors who understand what youre going through, where you can learn to use your powers safely while making good memories. The kids broadly seem to believe in these noble intentions of course, but what really gets me is that I've seen readers buy into it!

"Oh, it's such a tragedy that the Wards program became this awful thing that traumatizes kids even more, and expects them to die for the sake of civilians! It's fallen so short of what it was originally supposed to be!"

No it has not??? The fact that the triumvirate and Hero are saying it has this noble goal doesn't make it true. The Wards was pretty clearly always a way to increase the amount of bodies the prt could throw at threats, and we know this because it was started by the fucking Triumvirate as a part of the Protectorate! Alexandria literally came up with the idea of the Protectorate to legitimize the power of capes, and have a consistent source of heroes Cauldron could throw at problems. That is the whole reason for the PRT/Protectorate existing. So when we have this group of children brought in a subsidiary, there are 2 real options.

1). Cauldron and Alexandria decided they would be really niceys and created this program with no intentions other than helping these kids out.

Or 2). As things got worse, they realized the Protectorate didn't have enough manpower to do what they needed, and so they expanded it to include children (the demographic most prone to triggering). That way, they greatly increase the number of capes who they can send to fight and die as needed, and the ones who do survive their tenure in the Wards will be better trained when it comes time to join the actual Protectorate.

At the risk of sounding conceited, I think the second one is far more likely based on everything we know about Cauldron. Maybe it was originally a little nobler, and the goal was just to create more well trained heroes and cut back on young villains, but there's no way Alexandria, Doc Mom, and Contessa didn't factor in the ability to sacrifice the kid heroes if it improved their chances of success. That was absolutely a perk at minimum.

That's the real tragedy of the inaugural Wards. The kids were lured in with promises of safety, comraderie, and second chances like lambs to the slaughter. All the while, Alexandria and Cauldron knew that many (if not most) of these children would suffer abuse by the prt (like in the case of Reed), die, or face a fate worse than death like poor Mouse Protector. It's horrifying! The idea that they didn't know the danger these kids would be in is literally inconceivable. Especially when one of you is also the head of the prt! They knew, and they didn't care. It improved their chances at the end of the world, and so they did it no matter the cost.

[probablyasocialecologist]

Israeli president Isaac Herzog insisted that “an entire nation” was to blame for Hamas’s actions, and that the idea of “civilians not being aware, not involved” was “absolutely not true”. While Rageh Omar reported on this for ITV News, it did not make the BBC or the New York Times or Sky News. Nor did it make most anglophone outlets. Ariel Kallner, in a now-deleted tweet, called for another Nakba on the Palestinians, repeating the crime of 1948 in which 700,000 Palestinians were ethnically cleansed. “Right now, one goal: Nakba!” He exhorted. “A Nakba that will overshadow the Nakba of 48.” This was picked up by Associated Press but missed by most anglophone broadcasters and press. When Tally Gotliv, a Knesset member for Likud, called for a nuclear strike on Gaza – “Jericho Missile! … Doomsday weapon!” ­– and for “crushing and flattening Gaza … Without mercy! Without mercy!”, this also went curiously unnoticed. Again, when an anonymous Israeli defence official briefed Israeli broadcasters that Gaza would become “a city of tents” where “there will be no buildings”, it was largely ignored. When Sara Netanyahu’s advisor, Tzipi Navon, said that it would not be enough to “flatten Gaza”, and that Palestinians suspected of involvement in the Hamas attack should have their nails pulled out, their genitals removed and their tongues and eyes saved for last “so we can enjoy his screams”, “so he can see us smiling”, that too was curiously overlooked. The studied obtuseness of Western media includes carefully ignoring the most severe warnings about what is about to be done by Israel to Gaza. On Friday 13th, Israel ordered residents in the north of Gaza to “evacuate” to the south within 24 hours on pain of being bombed. Former Israeli ambassador Danny Ayalon suggested with a cynical smirk that they could go to the Sinai desert and live in “tent cities”. The Biden administration appears determined to enable this to happen, lobbying Egypt to take the refugee population. The language of evacuation, widely used by newspapers, was euphemistic. Over a million Gazans had just been given a death threat. They were being told at gunpoint to flee in an unrealistic amount of time, on just two roads that they were assured were safe from bombardment, only for a convoy fleeing south to be bombed, killing seventy people. They had no reason to believe they could ever return to their homes or that their homes would even exist. Here was the second Nakba that Ariel Kallner shouted for. A UN press release warned of “mass ethnic cleansing”, that would repeat the Nakba of 1948 “yet on a larger scale”. Two days after that warning, only the Independent among British newspapers had covered it. One honourable exception to the general omerta on explaining what the “expulsion” order means is the BBC’s Victoria Derbyshire who, interviewing former Israeli ambassador Mark Regev, quoted former UN head of humanitarian affairs Jan Egeland, saying: “The Israeli order for civilians to move from north to south is impossible and illegal. It amounts to forcible transfers and a war crime.” No anglophone newspaper, of course, mentions the word “genocide” in this context, though that is the term used by both Palestinians and Jewish groups opposed to Israel’s war, and is clearly what is implied by Israeli statements and actions. As Mustafa Bhargouti told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour, Israel is inflicting the triumvirate of “siege and collective punishment”, “genocide” through bombardment, and “ethnic cleansing”. The Israeli historian of the Holocaust, Raz Segal, describes Israel’s indiscriminate war on Gazan civilians and its assault on the conditions for life for the whole community, as “a textbook case of genocide” unfolding in front of us. For the press and the majority of pundits, the problem cannot be named. At most, liberal dissent attains to the insight that vengeance is not justice, as though what Israel is now threatening is merely reactive rather than programmatic.

[snufk1nn]

The triumvirate as commedia dell'arte characters

@mcspirkevents bingo card prompt free space

My ideas behind each of them and why I chose that specific character is after the cutoff :))

Spock is Pierrot. The character of Pierrot is a symbol for putting on a mask to hide one's true feelings which felt fitting for Spock. He is done with charcoal to give him a soft and kind of even sad vibe to mach the character of Pierrot.

McCoy is Columbina. The character of Columbina is sassy and is a faithful confidante, constantly demonstrating her improvisational skills. McCoy is trusted by others and has to improvise constantly in each medical crisis that happens aboard the Enterprise. McCoys outfit was made with old doctors coats in mind. He was done with watercolours to have a bold yet risky feel, because watercolours can be unpredictable.

Kirk is Innamorati, with some influence of Il Capitano. With all the chaos that occurs in commedia dell'arte Innamorati, which translate to Lovers, are characters that always end up winning in the end. They are very selfish and self-centered and along with loving themselves, they are in love with the very idea of love. It's well known that Kirk is infact not selfish at all, but to the audience of the show and other characters his actions aren't always crystal clear. Sometimes his actions could be deemed selfish before we get to the part of the conclusion of the episode. Kirk was made with acrylic paint to give him a romantic and shiny feel. His outfits design has heavy influence from II Capitano.

[nightswatchdisbandmentera]

I have a few jumbled thoughts about the ending of the Long Night, especially as it would relate to the whole idea of “the dragon has three heads”. The Long Night represents a disruption in a larger, cyclical framework—a period where imbalance overtakes the natural order. And within this context, I see each ‘head’ of the three-headed dragon as uniquely responsible for restoring balance and bringing the world back into harmony. Each ‘head’ embodies a distinct facet of restoring balance to the world, yet they work together, either in tandem or sequentially, to set things right once more. So I’ve been trying to tie together some thoughts I have regarding what each being in this triumvirate is uniquely suited to do. Because I personally don’t think any one person will be responsible for being the hero, as that just seems so antithetical to this series; and I also think the Long Night is just way too multifaceted to be ended by a singular action or person. 

This is what we know about the Long Night:

“Oh, my sweet summer child,” Old Nan said quietly, “what do you know of fear? Fear is for the winter, my little lord, when the snows fall a hundred feet deep and the ice wind comes howling out of the north.Fear is for the long night, when the sun hides its face for years at a time, and little children are born and live and die all in darkness while the direwolves grow gaunt and hungry, and the white walkers move through the woods.” “You mean the Others,” Bran said querulously. “The Others,” Old Nan agreed. “Thousands and thousands of years ago, a winter fell that was cold and hard and endless beyond all memory of man. There came a night that lasted a generation, and kings shivered and died in their castles even as the swineherds in their hovels. Women smothered their children rather than see them starve, and cried, and felt their tears freeze on their cheeks.” Her voice and her needles fell silent, and she glanced up at Bran with pale, filmy eyes and asked, “So, child. This is the sort of story you like?” “Well,” Bran said reluctantly, “yes, only …��� Old Nan nodded. “In that darkness, the Others came for the first time,” she said as her needles went click click click. “They were cold things, dead things, that hated iron and fire and the touch of the sun, and every creature with hot blood in its veins. They swept over holdfasts and cities and kingdoms, felled heroes and armies by the score, riding their pale dead horses and leading hosts of the slain. All the swords of men could not stay their advance, and even maidens and suckling babes found no pity in them. They hunted the maids through frozen forests, and fed their dead servants on the flesh of human children.” (Bran IV, AGoT)

We focus so heavily on the Others—understandably so—that we often overlook some crucial details. The Others don’t exist in isolation. They arrive in the wake of an extreme winter, which enables their existence for they are “demons made of snow and ice and cold” (Samwell V, ASoS). And with the sun and its heat gone, they move within the darkness. So confronting the Others in battle, in and of itself, does not end the Long Night. The true struggle lies in addressing the elements that allow them to exist in the first place. To fully defeat the Others, our heroes must first restore light and the balance of the seasons.

No single character in this series has the ability to achieve this on their own. Even the key magical protagonists are only equipped to address certain aspects of the conflict. That’s why the dragon must have three heads, each embodying a crucial responsibility: one to restore the natural cycle and end the long winter, another uniquely positioned as the antithesis to the Others, and a third tasked with confronting darkness by bringing light back into the world.

By now, you can see where I’m heading with this, right? I believe the three heads are Bran, who represents summer and stands as the antithesis to winter; Daenerys, whose dragons are the direct counter to the Others; and Jon, who occupies a more complex role as both the one who harnesses light and embodies it. Beyond this, each of these characters has been positioned as a chosen one, with distinct yet mirrored magical destinies that set them apart from the other POV characters.

I’m reminded of a quote from Arya’s POV in Dance:

One time, the girl remembered, the Sailor’s Wife had walked her rounds with her and told her tales of the city’s stranger gods. “That is the house of the Great Shepherd. Three-headed Trios has that tower with three turrets. The first head devours the dying, and the reborn emerge from the third. I don’t know what the middle head’s supposed to do….”

While I have more detailed thoughts on this passage, for now, I believe Daenerys represents the first head, Bran the third, and Jon the middle. Each head is tasked with a unique responsibility—one that is specific to them, that the others cannot fulfill. To end the Long Night, the three heads work together, but each plays a distinct part. There is some overlap, particularly with the middle head, who might serve as the balance between the extremes, yet each figure is positioned to occupy a particular space within this framework.

So I want to lay my thoughts here and see if we can get some wider discussion 👀 

The first aspect of the Long Night - and perhaps the most important if we’re thinking of what makes it happen in the first place - is the long winter that precedes it.

Bran looked down. There was nothing below him now but snow and cold and death, a frozen wasteland…  (Bran III, AGoT)

This winter provides the very elements that sustain the Others: snow and ice. It’s this aspect that I believe extends humanity’s struggle during the Long Night. With an almost endless supply of ice and snow, can our heroes truly defeat the Others through direct combat alone? I really don’t think so. The abundance of snow, accompanied by a persistent cold, suggests that new Others can continuously be ‘created’. While this is largely speculative given how little we know about them, I find it compelling that the Others seem to materialize out of the darkness itself (see Prologue, AGoT). And when Sam kills the Other in Storm, it simply dissolves…

Sam rolled onto his side, eyes wide as the Other shrank and puddled, dissolving away. In twenty heartbeats its flesh was gone, swirling away in a fine white mist. Beneath were bones like milkglass, pale and shiny, and they were melting too.

And that might not mean much in and of itself, but I’m inclined to think of the ADWD prologue:

The white world turned and fell away. For a moment it was as if he were inside the weirwood, gazing out through carved red eyes as a dying man twitched feebly on the ground and a madwoman danced blind and bloody underneath the moon, weeping red tears and ripping at her clothes. Then both were gone and he was rising, melting, his spirit borne on some cold wind. He was in the snow and in the clouds, he was a sparrow, a squirrel, an oak. A horned owl flew silently between his trees, hunting a hare; Varamyr was inside the owl, inside the hare, inside the trees. Deep below the frozen ground, earthworms burrowed blindly in the dark, and he was them as well. I am the wood, and everything that’s in it, he thought, exulting. A hundred ravens took to the air, cawing as they felt him pass. A great elk trumpeted, unsettling the children clinging to his back. A sleeping direwolf raised his head to snarl at empty air.

The Other and the human skinchanger dissolving after “death” is so fascinating. And it raises many questions. Death wasn’t the end for Varamyr as his spirit went into his wolf. So is that the same with the Other who also dissolved into white air? As long as magic and suitable conditions (i.e., winter and all its elements) exist, then the Others can never truly die and thus could take on another form?

If that’s the case, then winter itself must be addressed to cut off the Others’ vital resources—along with the magic that sustains them, though we’ll get to that later. And who better to combat winter if not Bran Stark of “Winter-fell”?

Now you know, the crow whispered as it sat on his shoulder. Now you know why you must live. “Why?” Bran said, not understanding, falling, falling. Because winter is coming. […] Bran touched his forehead, between his eyes. The place where the crow had pecked him was still burning, but there was nothing there, no blood, no wound. He felt weak and dizzy. He tried to get out of bed, but nothing happened. And then there was movement beside the bed, and something landed lightly on his legs. He felt nothing. A pair of yellow eyes looked into his own, shining like the sun. The window was open and it was cold in the room, but the warmth that came off the wolf enfolded him like a hot bath. His pup, Bran realized … or was it? He was so big now. He reached out to pet him, his hand trembling like a leaf. When his brother Robb burst into the room, breathless from his dash up the tower steps, the direwolf was licking Bran’s face. Bran looked up calmly. “His name is Summer,” he said.

Bran’s wolf, a reflection of his own identity, only receives his name after Bran glimpses his magical destiny. With winter’s horrors looming, Bran must become the summer that rises to challenge it.

As the Prince of Winterfell, Bran’s title and inheritance—rooted in the Stark legacy from the first Long Night and Bran the Builder—signify a dominance over winter. He is the summer prince, heir to the place where “winter fell, defeated”.

“And who is Summer?” Jojen prompted. “My direwolf.” He smiled. “Prince of the green.”

Prince. The man-sound came into his head suddenly, yet he could feel the rightness of it. Prince of the green, prince of the wolfswood. He was strong and swift and fierce, and all that lived in the good green world went in fear of him. (Bran I, ASoS)

Because winter brings death to the land, summer is needed to restore warmth, vitality, and breathe life back into the world. And that’s why Bran’s identity not just as the “prince of the green”, but as the last of the greenseers (of course once Bloodraven kicks the bucket) puts him in a unique position during the Long Night. 

He will be the one to end the winter.

I’m still piecing together what this might ultimately look like, as we need more information about greenseeing and how Bran may fully harness it. However, from what we do know, it seems greenseeing is extends to earth magic—shaping and manipulating the natural world, as seen with events like the Hammer of the Waters. Additionally, greenseers can perceive past, present, and future, which essentially aligns with the passage of time. And isn’t that what the cyclical nature of the seasons embodies? Time flows, and with it come physical changes in the land: winter brings barrenness, spring rebirth, and summer growth. Humanity needs someone who understands this cycle and possesses the power to influence the earth itself.

Since Bran has already glimpsed the heart of winter, it’s possible he will find himself returning there, perhaps retracing the steps of the last hero. Additionally, the Isle of Faces and the God’s Eye, rich with weirwoods and sacred significance, seem like fitting locations for him to play a pivotal role in restoring balance; especially when we consider his role as a Fisher King/Grail figure who is linked with the renewal of once barren land. Whether Bran has to dig deep into the earth’s roots or manipulate the flow of time itself, the Long Night cannot end without his dominance over winter.

However, while restoring the balance of the seasons is crucial, neutralizing the immediate threat posed by the Others and their thralls is extremely important- and that’s where Dany comes in!

That night she dreamt that she was Rhaegar, riding to the Trident. But she was mounted on a dragon, not a horse. When she saw the Usurper’s rebel host across the river they were armored all in ice, but she bathed them in dragonfire and they melted away like dew and turned the Trident into a torrent. Some small part of her knew that she was dreaming, but another part exulted. This is how it was meant to be. (Dany III, ASoS)

I’ve argued before that, of our three chosen ones, Dany is the best suited to take on the role of military commander—and I don’t think that’s a far-fetched claim. She has one of the cleanest and most impressive military records in the main series, proving herself a formidable tactician. Not to mention, she commands the dragons—living embodiments of fire—who have been positioned as the direct counter to the Others, creatures of ice. While the Others bring cold and death, Dany and her dragons are fire made flesh, a force of life and renewal.

There are other narrative arguments for why Dany’s role is going to be so heavily militaristic. 

Until one day Prince Rhaegar found something in his scrolls that changed him. No one knows what it might have been, only that the boy suddenly appeared early one morning in the yard as the knights were donning their steel. He walked up to Ser Willem Darry, the master-at-arms, and said, ‘I will require sword and armor. It seems I must be a warrior.’” (Dany I, ASoS)

“No one ever looked for a girl,” he said. “It was a prince that was promised, not a princess. Rhaegar, I thought … the smoke was from the fire that devoured Summerhall on the day of his birth, the salt from the tears shed for those who died. He shared my belief when he was young, but later he became persuaded that it was his own son who fulfilled the prophecy, for a comet had been seen above King’s Landing on the night Aegon was conceived, and Rhaegar was certain the bleeding star had to be a comet. What fools we were, who thought ourselves so wise! The error crept in from the translation. Dragons are neither male nor female, Barth saw the truth of that, but now one and now the other, as changeable as flame. The language misled us all for a thousand years. Daenerys is the one, born amidst salt and smoke. The dragons prove it.” (Samwell IV, AFFC)

“Azor Ahai, beloved of R’hllor! The Warrior of Light, the Son of Fire! Come forth […]” (Davos I, ACoK)

Azor Ahai is said to be a warrior, and while Dany doesn’t fit the traditional image of what that means, she is still an active participant in warfare. Moreover, one of the central aspects of her character is her role as an agent of freedom:

“…this Mother of Dragons, this Breaker of Chains, is above all a rescuer.” (Tyrion VI, ADWD)

She has spent much of her arc directly combating slavery which might seem unrelated, but the Others come with their own type of bondage in their creations of undead. The slavery of the Others is not just physical, but spiritual, and Dany’s role in battling them aligns with her fight for freedom. She isn’t suited to combat winter itself, as Bran is, but her strength lies in physical battle, which Bran is not. To put it another way: if Bran is Frodo journeying into the depths of Mordor, Dany is Aragorn, turning Sauron’s eye with her dragons and leading the fight to defeat his armies.

But I don’t think her role ends there.��

The Others are not dead. They are strange, beautiful… think, oh… the Sidhe made of ice, something like that… a different sort of life… inhuman, elegant, dangerous. SSM

I’ve already mentioned that beyond the elements of winter—snow, ice, and cold—the Others are sustained by magic. Building on the idea of the Other dissolving into mist, it’s possible that magic is what binds these beings together: magic fuses a consciousness with snow and ice into a corporeal entity. So, in addition to battling them physically, our heroes—and Dany in particular—may have to confront this magic that gives the Others their form and power.

“Half a year gone, that man could scarcely wake fire from dragonglass. He had some small skill with powders and wildfire, sufficient to entrance a crowd while his cutpurses did their work. He could walk across hot coals and make burning roses bloom in the air, but he could no more aspire to climb the fiery ladder than a common fisherman could hope to catch a kraken in his nets.” Dany looked uneasily at where the ladder had stood. Even the smoke was gone now, and the crowd was breaking up, each man going about his business. In a moment more than a few would find their purses flat and empty. “And now?” “And now his powers grow, Khaleesi. And you are the cause of it.” “Me?” She laughed. “How could that be?” The woman stepped closer and lay two fingers on Dany’s wrist. “You are the Mother of Dragons, are you not?” (Dany III, ACoK)

The birth of Dany’s dragons seems to have strengthened fire magic, tying her deeply to the very fabric of magic itself. The AGoT bookend suggests that the Others’ ice magic and the dragons’ fire magic may be connected, part of a larger magical ecosystem, or perhaps opposing forces that coexist on opposite ends of the spectrum. Ice and fire, death and life—both seem bound by the same mystical forces. Given Dany’s connection to magic and the fact that the reemergence of her dragons parallels the resurgence of the Others, she seems best suited to combat the magic that enables the Others to take form—serving as an inverse to her bringing dragons to life. And this underscores her dual role as both a destroyer and creator of life

The specifics on Dany’s confrontation with the Others and the magic that creates them remains unclear. She could venture to the heart of winter/the Lands of Always Winter and face the source of their power, creating narrative symmetry between the dragons of the Lands of the Long Summer and the creatures from the Lands of Always Winter. Alternatively, she might find herself in the Isle of Faces if her dream of fighting the Others at the Trident is fulfilled literally. The Isle, with its rich magical ecosystem, would be a fitting place for such a climax.

Bran, too, seems destined to go to the Isle of Faces (I’m a firm ‘Bran, King at the Gods Eye’ truther). This could be where their paths cross and their roles intersect. Bran, with his deep connection to nature and time, might provide Dany with guidance on how to engage with magic and influence its effects on the world. With Bran’s knowledge and Dany’s firepower, she could then deliver the final blow. While much of this remains speculative, what is clear is that their roles complement each other.

And that leaves Jon, the “light bringer”.

They said the words together, as the last light faded in the west and grey day became black night. “Hear my words, and bear witness to my vow,” they recited, their voices filling the twilit grove. “Night gathers, and now my watch begins. It shall not end until my death. I shall take no wife, hold no lands, father no children. I shall wear no crowns and win no glory. I shall live and die at my post. I am the sword in the darkness. I am the watcher on the walls. I am the fire that burns against the cold, the light that brings the dawn, the horn that wakes the sleepers, the shield that guards the realms of men. I pledge my life and honor to the Night’s Watch, for this night and all the nights to come.” (Jon VI, AGoT)

It’s important to see Jon’s primary function as an extension of his current role. He is a man who watches for the night—a sentinel standing against the encroaching darkness. This role is deeply embedded in his identity, and it’s fascinating to see how it manifests in his prophetic dreams.

It’s black inside, and I can see the steps spiraling down. Somehow I know I have to go down there, but I don't want to. I'm afraid of what might be waiting for me. The old Kings of Winter are down there, sitting on their thrones with stone wolves at their feet and iron swords across their laps, but it's not them I'm afraid of. I scream that I'm not a Stark, that this isn't my place, but it's no good, I have to go anyway, so I start down, feeling the walls as I descend, with no torch to light the way. It gets darker and darker, until I want to scream." He stopped, frowning, embarrassed. "That's when I always wake." (Jon IV,AGoT)

Last night he had dreamed the Winterfell dream again. He was wandering the empty castle, searching for his father, descending into the crypts. Only this time the dream had gone further than before. In the dark he'd heard the scrape of stone on stone. When he turned he saw that the vaults were opening, one after the other. As the dead kings came stumbling from their cold black graves, Jon had woken in pitch-dark, his heart hammering. (Jon VII, AGoT)

The Winterfell crypt dreams contain many intriguing elements, but I’ll focus primarily on two key motifs: death and darkness.

Jon is the most natural fit for the middle head of the dragon because he exists at the intersection of extremes: light and darkness, destruction and renewal, death and life.

When the spirit stepped out of the open tomb, pale white and moaning for blood, Sansa ran shrieking for the stairs, and Bran wrapped himself around Robb’s leg, sobbing. Arya stood her ground and gave the spirit a punch. It was only Jon, covered with flour. “You stupid,” she told him, “you scared the baby,” but Jon and Robb just laughed and laughed, and pretty soon Bran and Arya were laughing too. (Arya IV, AGoT)

While Bran is connected to summer and warmth through his magical familiar, Jon possesses a unique sensitivity to death, embodied by his bond with Ghost.

He sniffed at the bark, smelled wolf and tree and boy, but behind that there were other scents, the rich brown smell of warm earth and the hard grey smell of stone and something else, something terrible. Death, he knew. He was smelling death. He cringed back, his hair bristling, and bared his fangs.  Don't be afraid, I like it in the dark. No one can see you, but you can see them. But first you have to open your eyes. See? Like this. And the tree reached down and touched him.  (Jon VII, ACoK)

Furthermore, Jon’s fate at the end of ADWD implies that through his death and eventual rebirth, he becomes a ghost in his own right—caught between life and death, existing yet not fully alive. This intertwines with his connection to darkness, as Jon straddles the boundary between light and darkness: a shadow.

All in black, he was a shadow among shadows, dark of hair, long of face, grey of eye. (Jon VII, ACoK)

“I can show you.” Melisandre draped one slender arm over Ghost, and the direwolf licked her face. “The Lord of Light in his wisdom made us male and female, two parts of a greater whole. In our joining there is power. Power to make life. Power to make light. Power to cast shadows.” “Shadows.” The world seemed darker when he said it. “Every man who walks the earth casts a shadow on the world. Some are thin and weak, others long and dark. You should look behind you, Lord Snow. The moon has kissed you and etched your shadow upon the ice twenty feet tall.” Jon glanced over his shoulder. The shadow was there, just as she had said, etched in moonlight against the Wall. (Jon VI, ADWD)

Shadows, like ghosts, are echoes of something once tangible. They arise from obstructed light, existing in a realm that is neither completely dark nor wholly bright, hovering between presence and absence. They highlight where light is absent. But shadows also exist only in the presence of light, revealing the delicate boundary between illumination and the lack thereof. 

So building on that idea, it’s significant that Jon’s frequent journeys into the Stark underworld, where death and darkness prevail, take a pivotal turn in ASoS when he becomes vividly aware of light fading in real time.

He dreamt he was back in Winterfell, limping past the stone kings on their thrones. Their grey granite eyes turned to follow him as he passed, and their grey granite fingers tightened on the hilts of the rusted swords upon their laps. You are no Stark, he could hear them mutter, in heavy granite voices. There is no place for you here. Go away. He walked deeper into the darkness. "Father?" he called. "Bran? Rickon?" No one answered. A chill wind was blowing on his neck. "Uncle?" he called. "Uncle Benjen? Father? Please, Father, help me." Up above he heard drums. They are feasting in the Great Hall, but I am not welcome there. I am no Stark, and this is not my place. His crutch slipped and he fell to his knees. The crypts were growing darker. A light has gone out somewhere. "Ygritte?" he whispered. "Forgive me. Please." But it was only a direwolf, grey and ghastly, spotted with blood, his golden eyes shining sadly through the dark…

This is particularly noteworthy because of a similar, parallel dreams:

That night he dreamed of the feast Ned Stark had thrown when King Robert came to Winterfell. The hall rang with music and laughter, though the cold winds were rising outside. At first it was all wine and roast meat, and Theon was making japes and eyeing the serving girls and having himself a fine time . . . until he noticed that the room was growing darker. The music did not seem so jolly then; he heard discords and strange silences, and notes that hung in the air bleeding. Suddenly the wine turned bitter in his mouth, and when he looked up from his cup he saw that he was dining with the dead. (Theon V, ACoK)

The fires that ran along the blade were guttering out, and Jaime remembered what Cersei had said. No. Terror closed a hand about his throat. Then his sword went dark, and only Brienne’s burned, as the ghosts came rushing in. (Jaime VI, ASoS)

The ASoS crypt dream runs parallel to Theon’s ACoK dream and Jaime’s ASoS dream, with a common element: the presence of death and growing darkness.

While the crypts are inherently dark, Jon perceives when other sources of light are extinguished—true to his role in the Night’s Watch, which is to keep vigil against encroaching darkness. This ability to sense the fading light underscores his ghostly nature, where he reflects light while simultaneously existing in a state of absence. It also highlights his role as a shadow, existing in the blending of light and darkness. As both a shadow and a ghost, he can navigate these dual states, acting within the world’s transitions between day and night.

Which brings us to what I consider a continuation of Jon VII; while that chapter is marked by a lack of light, this next chapter is characterized by an abundance of it:

Burning shafts hissed upward, trailing tongues of fire. Scarecrow brothers tumbled down, black cloaks ablaze. ‘Snow,’ an eagle cried, as foemen scuttled up the ice like spiders. Jon was armored in black ice, but his blade burned red in his fist. As the dead men reached the top of the Wall, he sent them down to die again. He slew a greybeard, a beardless boy, a giant, a gaunt man with filed teeth, and a girl with thick red hair. Too late he recognized Ygritte. She was gone as quick as she’d appeared. The world dissolved into a red mist. (Jon XII, ADWD)

At some point between these two dreams, Jon found (or even created) light and he wields it as a weapon. And it’s clear that Jon’s sword in this dream is the actual manifestation Azor Ahai’s Lightbringer:

“In ancient books of Asshai it is written that there will come a day after a long summer when the stars bleed and the cold breath of darkness falls heavy on the world. In this dread hour, a warrior shall draw from the fire a burning sword. And that sword shall be Lightbringer, the Red Sword of Heroes, and he who clasps it shall be Azor Ahai come again, and the darkness shall flee before him.” (Davos I, ACoK)

Lightbringer has two major requirements: to give off heat and to illuminate. Jon’s sword does both!

We’ve seen a number Lightbringer-esque weapons (e.g., Beric’s and Thoros’), but Stannis Baratheon’s sword is the most intriguing proxy.

Davos knelt, and Stannis drew his longsword. Lightbringer, Melisandre had named it; the red sword of heroes, drawn from the fires where the seven gods were consumed. The room seemed to grow brighter as the blade slid from its scabbard. The steel had a glow to it; now orange, now yellow, now red. The air shimmered around it, and no jewel had ever sparkled so brilliantly. But when Stannis touched it to Davos’s shoulder, it felt no different than any other longsword. “Ser Davos of House Seaworth,” the king said, “are you my true and honest liege man, now and forever?” (Davos IV, ASoS)

While Stannis’ sword is visually dazzling, it is, in essence, a well-made fake. Its bright glow meets one of the two requirements for “light-bringer”, yet its impressive variety of hues with no actual heat serve as a clue that it is not the true sword of heroes. When the world cloaked in darkness, a weapon that shines as brightly as the sun is undoubtedly a powerful symbol. And Stannis’ sword is bright….

….but it’s almost too bright. His sword emits the wrong kind of light—one that is all glamor with little substance. This great conflict is referred to as the “war for the dawn”. So what humanity needs is a reminder of the dawn itself:

As a red dawn broke in the east, Grey Wind began to howl again. (Catelyn X, AGoT)

A swollen red sun hung low against the western hills when the gates of the castle opened. (Catelyn IX, AGoT)

Dawn and the sun are often associated with red hues in the text, a color heavily tied to fire (e.g., House Targaryen and R’hllor). Stannis’ sword gives off light, but it lacks the essence of true warmth. In contrast, Jon’s sword is the real Lightbringer: it is hot enough to burn against the cold and it radiates the actual red hues of dawn, thus illuminating the world around it.

Jon’s role as the archetypal fantasy protagonist necessitates a magic sword—Lightbringer will be his Excalibur; his Anduril. But more than just being a weapon, his Lightbringer symbolizes the transition from darkness to light. Dawn, a moment of transformation, begins with deep red hues that retain the shadows of night before blooming into the full brightness of the sun. Like the early dawn, Jon straddles the line between night and day, existing between life and death, darkness and light. As the middle dragon head, he embodies balance.

I’m not really sure how that plays out in the endgame; hell, I still can’t figure out how Jon will “forge” Lightbringer in the first place. But he has to end up somewhere for his arc to reach its magical climax. I’ve speculated that Bran and Dany might find themselves at the Isle of Faces or the heart of winter. The latter is a strong possibility for Jon, especially if he too recreates the last hero’s journey; not to mention his connections to snow and winter. But he could also return to the Wall, a mighty structure that symbolizes the boundary between life and death. The Wall is also imbued with ancient magic that radiates outward (e.g., strengthening Mel’s magic and prolonging Maester Aemon’s life). Therefore, it could serve as the ideal location for Jon to reignite and wield the light that has long been hidden.

Though Bran, Jon, and Dany each have distinct roles in restoring balance, their actions are deeply intertwined, with shared themes across their arcs. Jon and Bran connect through their existence in darkness, as seen in their ACoK dreams. All three share connections to death: Bran inhabits the realm of the dead (Mel I, ADWD; Jon’s ACoK wolfdream), Jon embodies a ghost-like nature that straddles life and death, and Dany is called the “bride of fire, daughter of death”. Additionally, Jon and Bran are linked to winter, and both Jon and Dany share the legacy of Azor Ahai and Lightbringer, with dragon breath also echoing the red hues of dawn. Together, they are not just separate forces but three heads of the same dragon, working in concert to ensure that the Long Night ends and the cycle of life and death continues.

TL;DR:

The dragon has three heads, each with a unique role in maintaining the cycle of balance, despite their overlaps in common themes. Bran, the Prince of Winterfell, embodies summer and inherits the legacy of the kings of winter, making him the most suited to confront the Long Night’s origin: winter itself. The Long Night cannot end without Bran’s triumph, as winter represents death while summer signifies new life. Dany, linked to the ebb and flow of magic and the direct antithesis of the Others, is best positioned to engage them in battle and counteract the ice magic that enables their existence. As the perfect manifestation of fire magic, she serves as a powerful weapon, embodying the theme of destruction by being “breaker of chains”. Meanwhile, Jon straddles the boundaries of light and dark, life and death, destruction and creation. His unique position allows him to navigate these extremes, bringing forth the lost light while holding back the consuming darkness. As the embodiment of balance—dead yet alive, icy yet fiery—he ensures the proper equilibrium between these forces.

Dragons, symbols of life, fire, and summer, starkly contrast with the cold death represented by winter and its children. Daenerys, as the Mother of Dragons, embodies the nurturing aspect of life, actively bringing forth new existence by counteracting suspended states of life (e.g., awakening dragon eggs and freeing slaves). Bran, representing youthful vitality, symbolizes young life that is both born and maturing. Jon occupies a unique position in the middle; he is like spring, a new life emerging from darkness, akin to an awakened dragon—life once petrified but now revitalized. Together, these three form a multifaceted dragon that embodies various dimensions of life, each contributing uniquely to the fight against the Long Night.

[heliads]

req with nikolai lantsov x reader. they are married for convenience but are friends and support each other until they fall in love and everyone notices but them. reader and nikolai kiss a few times and sleep together but never talk about it. when zoya becomes queen nikolai asks reader if she will want to stay married to him and reader says she loves him, with or without a crown. angst with a lot of fluff at the end please!

anon i love the way you think (also all hail dragon queen zoya)

masterlist

Your husband may be joining you shortly.

It’s still strange to be saying that. Your husband, your king, your friend above all. Nikolai Lantsov has always been a great conspirator, a wonderfully clever thinker, so you trusted that he wasn’t merely making a drunken mistake when he asked for your hand in marriage over too many drinks one late night. Nikolai doesn’t do drunken mistakes. In fact, you think he gets drunk on purpose when making difficult choices to twist his enemies into thinking that they’ve got the upper hand, all so he can trick them when their eyes are closed in self-congratulation.

It might be a habit left over from his time burning the seas as Sturmhond, or it could just be Nikolai himself. Always the schemer, him; always the planner, the one with the ideas. His eyes glint like ice, his hair shines like metal. Both can cut if given the chance. No Lantsov would ever let themselves go into the unknown vastness without a weapon, even if the only one left is their own physical flesh and bone.

No, Nikolai wasn’t kidding when he asked you to marry him. By all accounts, it was a logical choice. The other nations had been clamoring for him to wed one of their daughters for quite some time now, and marrying you gave Nikolai an easy way out. You were a Ravkan noble, and well-connected to the independence cause while the Darkling was still in power. Having you as his bride would alienate no foreign powers just as it would connect him even further to his own people.

That’s the reason he gave you at least, his fingers tented in the shadow of a half-empty glass of champagne. The two of you were somewhere inside one of the Grand Palace’s mammoth rooms, far from the slippery wastes of the shadows outside. Nikolai always gambled best when his feet were on his own ground, when he didn’t have to fear anything or anyone interrupting his flow of thought. He could trick you into pledging your loyalty regardless of where he stood, of course, but it could never hurt to get the odds all in his favor.

You had said yes. Of course you had. You are Nikolai’s best friend, or so you like to claim. You think it could be true at one point. Maybe that will come after the veil descends over your eyes and a ring appears on your finger. Still, you think you’ll remember the way Nikolai’s gaze had sparked with triumph upon hearing your answers for years to come, as well as how he’d finally allowed a tipsy flush to descend upon his cheeks. Perhaps it wouldn’t be a terrible mistake after all.

The wedding served its political purpose. The biggest change the marriage gave your life was that it handed you a permanent spot in the Grand Palace. Before, you were always temporary, forever having your terms of service extended as your help was needed more and more in the war effort. Now, you’re a fixture for real, never having to worry about being gradually cut out again. It certainly allows you to make it to meetings on time with that much more certainty.

Also, you’re not alone anymore. You never were, not really; Ravka is a cramped sort of annex, the kind of place in which you can hardly go down the length of a street without bumping into at least half a dozen people. The palace is on a whole separate level, however. Here, there are guards stationed everywhere, First and Second Army alike, then all the Grisha there with the Triumvirate or having arrived to report from the Little Palace just around the corner. Factor in palace staff, random diplomats, and spies, and you’ve got an audience fit for any queen, no matter how recently crowned. 

No, hardly a dull moment indeed. Still, in the times when you need company most, those late nights when you’re certain that Ravka could never possibly come back from all the fights it has chosen to pick, you have someone there with you, someone who understands. When the moon has hung overhead for quite some time and the lights are off, Nikolai sits by your side, whispers that it’s going to be alright. Neither of you believe it, but it makes it better to hear someone you trust speak the foolish hopes aloud.

In all honesty, you think you’re growing to rely on him a little too much. At the beginning, you and Nikolai both agreed that this was strictly a marriage of convenience, that you had started this whole affair as friends and you would end it as such as well. Yet when Nikolai presents you to everyone in his path as his wife with that same giddy look on his face, it’s easy to pretend that his feelings could be elsewhere.

Elsewhere, just as yours are now. You had not intended to fall for him, but Nikolai does not make it a difficult task. He never has. There is another reason you agreed to his proposal, one you would not tell him in a thousand years:  you assumed that you would never get such a chance again. Nikolai is, after all, a royal, and you are not. If you had declined his offer, it would only be to watch him wed someone else. At least now you get to claim his heart. At least now it is halfway yours, even if he grows to love someone else. On paper, he is chained to you.

Some days, that is enough. Others, you won’t satisfy yourself until you know for sure. There are a few nights when both of you want to prove something, when you take kvas instead of water for too long and let yourselves pretend that your alliance is something more than mere politics. You have kissed him more than you thought you would, even when no one was watching and there was no audience in need of a ruse to be kept up. You did it because you wanted to, and he kissed you back because he needed it just as much as you.

You never offer up an explanation for those nights, and neither does he. In the morning, you both go about your business as if nothing had ever happened. In reality, it hasn’t. Small altercations involving both of you ignoring your duties have no place in the future. You are wed for Ravka and you’ll die for her too. Falling in love is only a distraction, and not one that will serve you well. You learn that soon enough.

Your husband may be leaving you shortly.

Nikolai is not a Lantsov, not really. The rumor mills have known it for some time, and you think Nikolai has as well. Of course it would all come to ruin at some point. Nikolai has had an incredible grip on his broken country for quite some time, but all those petty shards just sliced his hands to ribbon. It would all drop eventually, and no one could blame him for that.

The nobles wanted answers. They always do. What you did not expect, however, was to walk out of a conference in which Zoya Nazyalensky was named as ruler of Ravka instead of Nikolai. The general of the Second Army is a worthy queen, of course, and you easily hand your title over to her; the stress could gray your hair like a silver tiara, but it still leaves you wondering what comes next.

It also makes you think about Nikolai. Nikolai, who wed you to avoid political conflict. Nikolai, who is no longer in that same position. Nikolai, who has absolutely no reason to remain married to you at all.

Your thoughts race in a tumultuous rhythm all the way back to your quarters after that fateful meeting. It’s going to hurt. What will? And:  of course it will. What in this world doesn’t? You close the door behind you and walk halfway into the room before coming to a stop again. This has been your place for so long. It almost feels cruel to leave it.

The door opens behind you. You don’t have to turn around to know who has intruded on your shared space. You have long since been able to identify Nikolai by the turn of his step, the even rush of his breath, the quiet shuffle of his fingers in his gloves.

“Do you hate me for not giving you more advance notice?” He asks. Nikolai is careful to keep his voice neutral, but you hear the way his breathing hesitates as he waits for your response.

“No,” you say, although you do not turn around, “I knew you came up with it about thirty seconds before you said it. You didn’t have time.”

Nikolai exhales slowly. “We’ve had a lot of time.”

You close your eyes. This is the part you’ve been waiting for. This is when he ends it. Nikolai has no more use for you, not after he’s done his political maneuvering and finally managed to get himself out of the whole mess of kingship. You have always loved Nikolai for his mind, but Saints, if it doesn’t hurt sometimes to feel it used in the wrong direction.

“You could do it, you know,” you whisper, “No one would blame you.”

Nikolai had been starting to walk towards you, but his heels come to an abrupt click-stop on the floor. “What?”

You let out a bitter, quiet laugh. “End it. The marriage. People are already asking if you’re going to cut it off. We only made this agreement so you could fend off the other Ravkan nobles while you were king. You’re no longer king, why keep this around any longer? I won’t force you to stay with me if you love someone else.”

Nikolai is deathly silent for a moment, then two. You tense your shoulders, waiting for the blow to land, but it never does. Instead, he walks to your side and takes your hand.

“Do you always have to be such a martyr, sweetheart?”

Your lips part in a silent gasp. “What?”

Nikolai has the nerve to smile as if he hasn’t upset your entire world. “I know you didn’t just marry me for politics. I didn’t ask you just for politics, either. We wanted something. Maybe I still want it.”

He squeezes your hand; you squeeze it back, two beats of a heart. “You could marry Zoya, though. If you still wanted the crown.”

Nikolai laughs. “I don’t want the crown, and although I am certainly grateful to Zoya, I don’t want to marry her, either. No, Y/N, I want you. I want to wander through Ravka without having to worry about all the responsibilities of my office. I want to rent a rusted schooner and show you the sea. I want to get us in trouble and out of it again and again. I want to do a thousand things with you that we never could have done as king and queen. I want to die having loved you, and having loved you right.”

You smile, unable to stop for a second. “We can grow old without anyone needing us.”

Nikolai closes his eyes for a moment as if picturing it. “I think I’d like nothing more.”

You stand in a room that is no longer yours, in a palace that no longer calls your name. You think you have never been happier about it. You still have your husband. All else is a mere triviality.

grishaverse tag list: @rogueanschel, @deadreaderssociety, @cameronsails, @mxltifxnd0m, @story-scribbler, @retvenkos, @thatfangirl42, @amortensie, @gods-fools-heroes, @bl606dy, @auggiesolovey

[aphroditelovesu]

Yan!Julius Caesar Random Headcanons

❝ 📜— lady l: I love writing these random headcanons and if you guys want more historical characters feel free to send them! If you're curious about how he is yandere, I posted a general headcanon of him, which you can read by clicking here. Here are historical facts and some additional ones from my head. I hope you like it and good reading!! ❤️

❝tw: not entirely historically accurate and perhaps murder (?).

Julius Caesar was born in 100 BC and became an important Roman military and political leader. His conquest of Gaul (present-day France) and his successful campaigns contributed to his rise to power.

In 44 BC, Julius Caesar was appointed dictator for life by the Roman Senate. This move sparked concern among senators, leading to a plot that resulted in his assassination on March 15, 44 BC, known as the "Ides of March". The man did not last long as a dictator.

Julius Caesar played an important role in reforming the Roman calendar. The Julian calendar, introduced in 45 BC, was an adaptation of the lunar calendar to the solar year, forming the basis of the modern Gregorian calendar. So much so that the month of July is in his honor.

Julius Caesar formed a political alliance known as the First Triumvirate with Pompey and Crassus. They shared power and influence to advance their political and personal agendas. It didn't last long because soon they started fighting each other for power. A yandere obsessed with power, I dare say.

Julius Caesar is known for writing "Commentaries on the War in Gaul", also called as Commentarii de Bello Gallico, a series of accounts of his campaigns in the region. These writings offer valuable information about military tactics and life at that time. A great military commander and also a great fanfic writer.

There are reports that say that when he was 30 years old, he passed in front of a statue of Alexander the Great and wept because he had reached the same age and had not conquered as much as the Macedonian King. An inferiority complex, I would say.

The title "Caesar" became a dynastic name used by many Roman leaders after Julius Caesar. The first Roman Emperor, Augustus, was his nephew and adopted heir, and he adopted the title "Caesar" as part of his name. A curious fact is that many Brazilians have Caesar (César in portuguese) in their name.

In addition to his military achievements, Julius Caesar had a deep taste for literature and writing. He frequently exchanged letters and discussed poetry with various intellectuals of the day. A true cultured man and a renaissance ahead of time.

The death of Julius Caesar was one of the key events that contributed to the fall of the Roman Republic and the subsequent rise of the Roman Empire. His legacy has had a lasting impact on history and politics. Our man is credited as one of the greatest military commanders of all time.

Rumor has it that Julius Caesar had a secret superstition of avoiding black cats, believing them to bring bad luck. This contrasted with his image as a fearless leader. Poor kitty, so many powerful men were afraid of cats.

[purple-iris]

Reprising this post: After my viewing of The Wrath of Khan, The Search for Spock and my read of the novel The Pandora Principle, it has come to my attention that Saavik's characterization can in fact be interpreted as a mirror to different aspects of each of the members of the triumvirate, while still maintaining that she is her own unique, profound character.

Now, the essay. I said I'd do it if one person asked and four kind people did, so here it is! Its under the keep reading, because it's quite long!

To begin with the most obvious, Saavik and Spock. He is her mentor, teacher and father-figure in The Pandora Principle (TPP) and she spends the most time with him.

Firstly, the backstory we gain for Saavik in The Pandora Principle more clearly establishes her as half-Vulcan, which parallels Spock’s own half-vulcan heritage. She lives through the same struggle to fit in with her Vulcan peers, while also facing her with the impossibility of finding belonging elsewhere, because her other half is half-Romulan. She’s an outsider among her own people, and in TPP, we witness her quite overcompensating on her Vulcan emotional control while on the Enterprise and faced with returning feelings linked to her past.

Secondly, this also connects to her difficulty reconciling her feelings (and she feels a lot and deeply, much like Spock) and her logic (which she does embrace, but sometimes struggles with). To me, it parallels Spock’s journey through Kolinahr, the failure of which puzzles Saavik, since she perceives him as a perfect Vulcan, she has a hard time understanding how he could have failed. It's toward the climax of the story that they truly connect emotionally, and she realizes that combining feelings and logic is ultimately the way Spock chose, and is no less Vulcan for it.

Thirdly, we see Saavik, from a young age, as someone who is extremely curious, who loves to learn and discover as much as possible. She quickly takes a liking to Spock’s tricorder, which he traded with her knife on Hellguard to get her to leave the planet in the opening scenes of TPP. After the year on Dantria IV spent learning the Vulcan way and starting her education, it is implied that she lived on Vulcan and continued her education there, before joining Starfleet.

That brings me to the fourth point. Much like Spock, she has a hard time fitting in, and ultimately finds her place not on Vulcan, but with Starfleet. She might not have tried entering the VSA, but considering her abilities and mind, she most likely could have attended if she had wanted to. Within Starfleet, much like her mentor, Saavik has a tendency to quote regulations, which I also wanted to underline here.

Fifth point, and perhaps a less obvious one, but both Saavik and Spock have a deep capacity for understanding people, their motives and thoughts. While they both explain it/it's implied that they understand it as “well, logically, that’s how this person’s mind set worked.” It's mainly that they are both very empathic people, telepathy or not. In many instance in TOS Spock explains the behavior of a character, providing insight to Jim/the others and the audience with excellent insight, while Saavik, once she learns of Jim’s method of the Kobayashi Maru, reads him like an open book about his lack of experience with true, final loss in the line of duty (Because Jim has lost people, just not the way he lost Spock in TWOK)

To continue on that, while she can also be really insightful, she also shows a struggle to fully comprehend humans and their illogic, such as her confusion at Kirk’s joke in the turbolift in TWOK or at her fellow student’s proclivity for “fun” in TPP. This clearly parallels Spock’s own difficulties, which he empathizes with in their video calls in The Pandora Principle. Much like him, Saavik also desires to understand more, which stems from her natural curiosity, and is manifested by her enrolling in the Academy's baseball team.

Also, much like Spock with Sarek, Saavik is afraid of embarrassing or disappointing her mentor/father-figure once she goes to the Enterprise in TPP. She truly wants him to be proud of her, which is similar to Spock’s own behavior concerning his father’s expectations (except he is way less restrictive than Sarek and is so proud of Saavik anyway)

To finish, Saavik is also quite sassy, with special mention to her interactions with Bones in TPP, very stubborn (once again, read TPP you won't regret it (I have a PDF if anyone wants it)) and self-sacrificial. These last few traits I think can be explained by “being raised by Mr. S’chn T’gai Spock”.

Following up, Saavik and James T. Kirk. While we mostly see them interact in TWOK and briefly in TSFS, Saavik grew up hearing stories about this man (TOS fan in universe, ain't this crazy) and does resemble him more than I think even she knows.

To begin, both of them lived through absolutely traumatizing events in their childhood/youth, which deeply impacted their character. Saavik grew up on Hellguard, a Romulan colony in which she and the other children were abused, tortured and starved, in spite of the presence of replicators, then were abandoned on the desertic surface to fend for themselves, resulting in infighting, starvation, murders and deaths. This highly traumatic event, caused by authority figures and involving starvation is familiar to TOS fans, reflecting quite easily what Jim went through during his teenage years on Tarsus IV. Resulting from these events are many of Saavik’s and Jim’s survivalism techniques, trauma surrounding food (Ever noticed how Saavik is staring at Jim on Genesis planet when he mentions that food is first order of survival? I did.) as well as trauma, some mistrust and anger toward authoritarian figures and survivor’s guilt (or even just guilt regarding her actions in Saavik’s case, who implicitly had to kill and resort to violence to survive.)

After this massive paragraph, we can continue on happier comparisons. Saavik, just like Jim, is an exemplary Academy student. While she isn't called a “stack of books with legs”, it is implied that she is quite involved in her studies, while also taking some time to bonify her understanding of humanity on the side. Her insistence at understanding the test and what it was truly evaluating shows her devotion to her studies and even a perfectionism that Jim “youngest starfleet captain ever” must also have displayed at her age.

To continue, while much like Spock she chose Starfleet over the VSA, she doesn’t follow him in the science tract, but rather in the command tract, much like Jim. While in the Kobayashi Maru simulation, she shows a natural proclivity to it. She has a good command instinct, knows how to make decisions even in the face of highly stressful situations (even in simulation, we can see Spock's simulated-death shocked her), and yet she continues on, sends out orders, whips out strategy and asks for damage reports. Until the end, she keeps control and calm, even in the face of impossibility to win.

On that point, her questioning of the test, while it also could be read as her finding illogic that the test is unwinnable, also seem to me as a parallel to Jim, of not believing in No Win Scenarios. Even her presence on Genesis in TSFS, following her assignment to the USS Grissom, seems to me that in her grief, she still held some form of hope and desired to find a way. (And beside, she and Spock had promised that if one went lost, the other would find them in TPP)

To continue on, Saavik and Jim both have a sharp sense of right and wrong and justice, once more a consequence of their upbringing, but also a quality that serves them as commanding officers (and future commanding officers in Saavik’s case)

Also, both of them are exceptionally kind, and feel deeply, even if in Saavik’s case it’s not always as clear, her inner monologue in TPP truly shows that her emotions are strong. We see her anxious, happy, excited, afraid, apprehensive, angry, resentful, and many other emotions. She is also haunted by the events of her past and the emotions linked to it, in a way that mirror’s Jim in the episodes Obsession and The Conscience of the King.

To conclude, she too hate going to sickbay, as illustrated by her reluctance to be examined by McCoy even after her injuries upon the return to Hellguard in TPP, is also very stubborn (Thats a trend with the triumvirate) and I think I can liken her self-sacrificial tendency to Jim’s too.

(Little bonus similarity to AOS Jim, has what can be seen as a crush on Uhura the first time she sees her, she says: “But I have never seen anyone so aesthetically pleasing. I was unaware of that quality in humans. Oh.”)

Last but not least, Saavik and Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy. You might not expect it, but they do share similarity.

Firstly, I want to once again mention her emotions, and that Saavik, while Vulcan and mostly shown as aloof, can also have quite a temper, even more on Hellguard as a child and soon after leaving the planet. When she doesn't succeed at using a tricorder at first, she begins to yell at it, insults it and flings it around. That blatant show of anger and/or impulsivity can be likened to the grumpy doctor, who while he is an adult and much less exuberant in it, doesn't shy away from his anger. The way Saavik feels, and how we can truly see her mind in the narration of TPP truly likens her to the emotional McCoy, while she also attempts to balance it out by emulating Spock’s logic, and falls somewhere in between, much like Jim himself does in many episodes of TOS. (Oh wow, the premise of this essay is that she is like the three of them!)

Secondly, Saavik swears! If this isn’t parallel to McCoy I don’t know what is. In TWOK, we hear her say “Damn” on the bridge, but it doesn't end there. On Hellguard and afterwards, she quite often uses Sonabastard! as an expletive and as an insult. She also, once she has been told the story of Amok Time, calls T’Pring a bitch, quote here:

"She was a bitch!"

"That is, among other things, inaccurate. The term refers-"

"Oh, I know what it refers-and that's what she was! What she did was bad!" Saavik stopped in the lane and stamped her foot, temper brewing. "You say it is bad to hurt people, but she made people hurt each other! That is much badder! She was a bitch!" Spock didn't trust himself to comment; he came perilously close to agreeing with her.

That whole sequence illustrates a sense of justice she shares with both Jim and Bones, as well as an impulsive mouth and anger. But most importantly, it illustrates her kindness and empathy, a trait she also shares with McCoy, albeit once again often shrouded in grumpy care for the doctor and in righteous anger in Saavik.

To continue, she can also seem sassy, a trait I have also mentioned in relation to Spock, but can apply to Bones as well.

And to no one's surprise, I will once again mention stubbornness and self-sacrifice.

Well, this concludes my analysis, thank you for reading, don’t hesitate to add on or correct me in any case.

[keshetchai]

Thank you for your deconstruction of that post about Jewish ethnicity and your detailed explanation of why it was a terrible take! I saw that post earlier and it got my hackles up but I didn't even know where to start when they're starting from such a flawed understanding of Jewish identity and ethnicity in general.

Yeah idk the most generous conclusions I have were those last two points — the argument either starts from assuming ethnonationalists have always been the ones defining ethnicity/they are the main arbiters of defining it (which I just reject categorically), or they have misunderstood or don't actually know what ethnicity means (outside of understanding ethnonationalism is bad).

And I never want to come out the gate with like "I think you just don't know what that word means," because that feels extremely condescending and combative. At the same time we're clearly facing some kind of vast language gap if the concept of "Jews are an ethnic group" is considered absurd or laughable. So working backwards those are my guesses for how someone got themselves to that conclusion which bizarrely had a lot of reblogs and i didn't look at the notes but like.

Please tell me I wasn't the only one baffled by this?? Anti-/non-zionist Jewish movements have typically still explicitly emphasized ethnicity, like...sometimes even moreso because "shared cultural identity here-ness" HAS to care more about group belonging in culture rather than in place or nation.

Either way: We can just reject ethnonationalism without erasing the concept of people having ethnicities! That's totally an option. Israel and Palestine both have histories of nationalist movements AND both can and should reject ethnonationalism because the levant itself is a place full of a variety of ethnicities. No matter what the future of the levant and any states within it look, ethnonationalism should be rejected.

Like yeah I can fully climb on board the whole "the modern nation state itself is bad, borders are violence enacted upon people, nation-states foment nationalism, colonialism, and so on, let's move forwards towards stateless society." Ethnonationalism is bad.

But simultaneously I live in like...a reality where something has to float us all until we can get there and I don't believe in a leftist rapture of "bloody revolution will overthrow all of current society."

spoilers: ethnic self-determination and governance doesn't mean you can avoid ethnonationalism strains cropping up!

Also just because this has been getting to me recently, here's a big tangent not part of the OP but something else I've been seeing: Indigeneity to a place doesn't actually elevate you to this morally pure and uncorrupt self, and it doesn't mean you're going to be a better society than anyone else trying to govern there or avoid ethnonationalism or nationalism.

That's...I mean that's not how it fucking works. I keep seeing like "these Israelis are destroying olive trees, an indigenous people wouldn't do that!" And it's like...such a kindergarten way of treating the status of being "native" as morally and ethically untainted by bad ideologies. To me it absolutely reeks of "noble savage" fantasies wherein like: nobleness of character, innocent benevolence to foreigners, and perfect stewardship of land is somehow the hallmarks of "true" Indigeneity.

I regret to inform everyone but if you only ever get the highlights reel history of Spanish colonialism in Mexico: the Spaniards were able to conquer Mexico the way they did for a variety of reasons (smallpox devastating the native populace is one of them), but one of those big key ways is the fact that various native groups hated the aztec triumvirate (the Mexica) so much that they actively helped the Spanish overthrow them.

The Spanish didn't conquer the Aztecs by themselves. The Spanish had maybe an army of 3,100 or so. The Aztecs had a fighting force of 200,000+, not including other allied forces. The spanish were able to conquer the Aztec empire because a whole lot of other indigenous forces were assisting them.

Being indigenous to somewhere absolutely doesn't mean you won't burn or destroy farms, or murder your also indigenous neighbors, or commit terrible atrocities, or even become an imperial force who enslaves people or enforces a caste system or anything else. It's not a guarantee that your society won't be shitty somehow. The Aztecs were comprised of native people, and they still cracked open rib cages of other human beings to extract their hearts in ritual sacrifice so like. It's not a strong argument to say "they definitely aren't from here because they destroy tree groves or murder Innocents."

If you wanna talk about settlers being settlers there's other ways to do it.

[rebelumbrella46]

A Nostalgic Take on "House of the Dragon" and "Game of Thrones"

Reflecting on the rich narratives of "House of the Dragon" and "Game of Thrones," fans are often divided over the interpretation of Aegon’s prophecy and the identity of the "Prince That Was Promised." Was it Daenerys? Was it Jon? An intriguing alternative might have been to forego both in favor of their offspring. This approach could have offered a deeper, more compelling resolution to the prophecy.

Instead of leaving the union of Jon and Daenerys as a mere fan service—catering to those eager to see them together or a sensational twist to highlight Targaryen tendencies towards incest —imagine if their relationship culminated in a pregnancy. Daenerys, determined to claim the throne, finds herself carrying Jon’s child, adding layers to her paranoia and distrust of Westerosi men, given that she had lost a child and had been constantly threaten during those years. Jon, ever reluctant to embrace his Targaryen heritage, must now reconcile his love for Daenerys, his duty, and the realization that their child could be in danger as very well he/she could be the true savior of Westeros.

Despite Daenerys’s story telling us that she could never have children, the history of the Targaryens is fraught with complications around procreation. Many Targaryen women, like Aemma Arryn and Alyssa Targaryen, died in childbirth. Even Aegon the Conqueror was rumored to be sterile, suggesting the lineage continued through Rhaenys's descendants, making all future Targaryens potential bastards.

Besides, there's the whole prophecy about "The Dragon has Three Heads...". In the books, there’s speculation that Tyrion could be one of the heads, but for various reasons, the show didn't pursue that path. Given that there are no known bastard children of Rhaegar or Viserys left to claim the title, who then is the third head of the Dragon?

In my view, the answer lies in Daenerys and Jon’s potential offspring. Their child would symbolize the rebirth of House Targaryen, uniting their legacies. The meaning of the title “A song of Ice and Fire” often refers to the rise of Targaryens in order to fight the Long Night. But also refers to the “Prince That Was Promised” and how he belongs to Ice and Fire… meaning House Targaryen and House Stark, and by this it would obviously by Jon… But his child would also bear the Stark’s blood. And let’s be honest, Jon is more a Stark than Targaryen while Dany is the embodiment of Targaryen.

So Daenerys, with Drogon by her side, and Jon, astride Rhaegal, would complete the triumvirate with their child, who could eventually claim Viserion. This powerful imagery not only aligns with the prophecy but also rejuvenates the Targaryen dynasty, showing that their combined line truly has three heads.

The intense power struggle for the Iron Throne could unfold over several seasons, with Daenerys and Jon uniting the kingdoms to challenge Cersei or another more plausible ruler. Jon’s revelation as a Targaryen would add to the intrigue, forcing them to find common ground, much like Aegon the Conqueror did with his sister-wives. They could share power, ruling Westeros together, balancing their ambitions and responsibilities.

THE LAST BATTLE

The winter comes. And when it does, it's not a simple battle at Winterfell (that was just way too easy), but a cataclysm that spreads across Westeros as Aegon dreamt. The North falls, followed by the Vale, the Riverlands... perhaps even King's Landing. The Night King takes the Iron Throne, casting an icy shadow over the realm.

The final battle is fought in Dorne, the one place where ice has never been seen, and where Rhaenys, wife of Aegon, met her end. This kingdom, which fiercely resisted the Targaryens during their conquest and reign, now becomes the last bastion of resistance. It is here that the true need to unite Westeros all those centuries ago becomes painfully clear.

Years of unrelenting winter pass, and the child of Jon and Daenerys has grown into a young man. Now, as in the days of Aegon’s conquest, there are three dragons once more. They take to the skies to fight the Night King, in a battle that sees the potential deaths of Daenerys, Jon, or perhaps both.

When the war is over, it is the child who ascends to the throne. This prince, born of fire and ice, who saved Westeros, now sits the Iron Throne. And who would dare rise against the Prince that saved Westeros? No one.

[calliethetrekkie]

Triumvirate Prompts: Day 21

#21. Favorite McCoy moment?

The sacrifice in The Empath... but I already used that one. So here's five other fantastic McCoy moments. In no particular order.

1. The Final Frontier Flashback

Look, I like my angst, okay?! Honestly, to see McCoy this emotional and distressed... I think the only time we ever really saw it in the show was in The City on the Edge of Forever. And he was drugged at the time, so that wasn't exactly of his own volition. I don't think that anyone expected ending his own father's life to end his suffering to be a part of his history, but God the whole scene and especially DeForest Kelley's performance (especially after he REALLY got cheated out of strong material in the other films)... it's so good but so painful. Then the big reveal that had he just made him wait, the cure would have been found and this never would have had to happen. You see this, and it explains a LOOOT about his character in-show and puts episodes like Operaton: Annahilate in a whole new light. But seriously, it's such a painful moment but a very good one.

2. "Would you like to see how fast I can put you in a hospital?"

I joked that this was the scene that made McCoy my favorite character. That's not entirely true, but it's not really a lit either. McCoy under the spores effects was actually kind of cute, just because we NEVER get to see him that at ease and carefree most of the time. I mean, look at him with his mint julep~! But the thing that snaps him back to normal? Not Kirk and/or Spock provoking it. No, it's the colony leader telling him that he can't be a doctor anymore. That was all it took to piss McCoy off and punch the guy to the ground. I like the idea that McCoy sucks at combat most of the time, especially compared to everyone else. But he CAN throw his fists and HO BOY does this scene prove it. Never tell McCoy that he can't be a doctor. Ever.

3. Staring Down Khan

So what happens when Khan, a super strong war criminal, grabs McCoy by the neck and holds a scalpel at his throat? McCoy not giving a shit. Seriously, he doesn't so much as flinch. He remains insanely calm and composed, staring right back at Khan and even tells him the most effective way to kill him. It earns him Khan's respect and he pulls back. There are two things to say about this. One, McCoy is a stone-cold badass. Two, for a guy that us in the fandom often characterize as temperamental and volatile, this shows us that he knows how to handle intense situations with calmness that could rival Spock. Remember, he's a doctor, but he's also an expert in psychology and has probably had plenty of experience handling dangerous patients that could easily kill him and those around him. You want an example as to why he's the CMO? Look no further than to this scene.

And speaking of McCoy giving the middle finger to powerful beings that could easily kill him...

4. "I will not peddle flesh"

Return to Tomorrow is an episode that doesn't get talked about much. Which is a shame because the McCoy material in this is freakin' excellent. Whenever I get back to reviewing, this is one of the episodes that I'm most excited to get to go over. But here? We have the female God-being wanting to keep the Girl of the Week's body, asking McCoy to only keep quiet. If he does, she'll save Kirk's life, who at this point as far as anyone can tell, he's dead. I cannot stress how much Kirk means to McCoy. Even earlier in the episode when Kirk first got possessed, McCoy was ready to shoot and kill if Sargon didn't get out of him right then and there and Hell, the only two times that McCoy has killed were to protect Kirk. But his response to this offer?

MCCOY: Neither Jim nor I can trade a body we don't own. It happens to belong to a young woman. MULHALL: Who you hardly know. Almost a stranger to you. MCCOY: I will not peddle flesh. I'm a physician.

As much as he cares about Jim, as much as he doesn't want to lose him, he won't risk another's life to save him. Not when said person can't consent. He knows that Jim would never allow that. He would never allow it. It goes against his oath as a doctor. It doesn't matter that he barely knows her, he won't peddle flesh. He doesn't have to think about it and even if Mulhall didn't change her mind and kept trying to kill him, he still wouldn't have changed his stance. Seriously, it's such a good McCoy moment and is just another reason why I love him.

5. Testing The Vaccine on Himself in Miri

I thinkt hat this was the first McCoy scene that made me go '...holy shit'. McCoy and the others are infected with an illness that will soon drive them to insanity. As the eldest of the landing party, he's likely going to be first. He and Spock have developed a vaccine, but unable to get it tested. Spock refuses to let it be tested until they're able to reach the Enterprise... but McCoy knows that time is running out. So as soon as Spock walks out, he injects himself. If it works, he's cured, and they're all saved. If not and it kills him, then at least he won't be able to hurt anyone else. The only one who can get hurt with this act is himself, and he won't test a dangerous, untested substance on anyone else either. This is the only option he's got, and this is the only chance he's got to do it.

Is it extreme? Sure, very. McCoy's lucky that it paid off. But it is 100% something that McCoy would do. I think sometimes people forget because he looks rational compared to Kirk and Spock, but McCoy wouldn't be where he is if he wasn't willing to take dangerous risks. It's just that he won't do it when it comes to others, and it's his job to ensure others well-being. But there are plenty of examples where McCoy can and will do something dangerous, even insane, in the name of his profession (The Immunity Syndrome is a good example). He's a doctor. Just as Kirk lives and breathes the life and risks of being a Starfleet Captian, McCoy lives and breathes being a doctor. He saves lives, no matter the risk to himself, and this scene displays that perfectly.

[messinwitheddie]

Vortian Minstrel, when did you started working for tallest Pepperoncini? When did the irkens take you in and how are those three babies of yours doing? What did you do after Cini died? Did you reassign to another position? Carry on to work for tallest Lich? Or did you retire or something?

(I haven't had a good excuse to draw Sow-Urr or Vortian minstrels in general. Appreciate this :D Wish I had time to sketch more for this.)

Sow-Urr "Hagg-Huss, my spouse, and I were armada vessel mechanics assigned to the same pitcrew of a few dozen other Vortian mechanics. We both happened to share a love of traditional folk music and dedicated our minor studies on the subject. Truthfully, we were not bonified minstrels, just university enthusiasts.

We were originally hired for the Viral flagship fresh after graduation. Our pitcrew did inspections on the ship; performed maintenance, repairs, apply upgrades if need be and all the like... Rudimentary laborers; that's all we were. Low in rank, but we enjoyed the work and making music during downtime.

When we lived and trotted, Irk and Vort were allies. Late Cini went to great lengths to keep the peace between the Irken empire and the Vortian technocracy. Our planets and species prospered despite the aftermath of recently ended plague wars. The future looked so bright; so promising...

One day, after a successful, productive meeting with our triumvirate, Cini retreated to his personal chambers. Hagg-Huss and I were jamming out during a scheduled union break down a nearby hallway. Cini must of overheard us and I guess he REALLY enjoyed our music. Ever since, he regularly requested us to perform for him.

We couldn't refuse, even if we wanted to. Amateurs like us to be be requested to perform exclusively for an Irken tallest, especially one as jovial as Cini... that's an honor we never in cosmic infinity expected to be offered to us.

Once our bleaties were born, we had to give up being minstrels for a while in favor of steady, reliable tech work. Cini was very understanding. He wished us and our growing herd well.

When news reached Vort of Cini's passing, we were devastated. Our occupations were not compromised, but we feared for the futures of our bleaties. Cini's predecessor, Lich, made it clear his political policies concerning Vortian and Irken relations would become hostile and predacious. The Irken empire relies heavily on Vortian technology, but they outnumber us by the shmillions and their territories stretch across the greater galaxies. Against better judgment and morals, the technocracy succumbed to the Irken agenda. Our bleaties and their bleaties and there bleaties are paying for it now.

The future of Vort looked bleaker with every Irken-sponsored news stream...

By the time our bleaties were grown, fully educated and entering occupations in their chosen fields of study, Lich had died in the final battle for Hobo13 against the Planet Jackers. Tallest Miyuki had been measured in his place. She actively worked to reestablish the good, cooperative relations our species had built with Irkens in the past... or so we passed away believing this to be true.

We are both relieved we died shortly before witnessing the launch of oporation Impending Doom and Impending Doom II... it pains us to know our fellow Vortians are facing genocide by Irken talons all because we lied to ourselves for too many generations...

We never pressured our bleaties to devolope an interest in performing old Vortian folk music as we had. Proud to say. the three of them grew up to surpass our contributions to the technocracy; Architect, Engineer, Programmer they trotted on to become... and their bleaties surpassed them. Most of them grew up to be military research scientists. At the time, our musical passion-hobby seemed frivolous. ..but in retrospect, maybe we should have encouraged them to sing and play. The songs of our ancestors may never be sung again if the Irkens wipe us put completely...

Silence is so oppressive. Hagg-Huss and I will gladly play for you, if you have any requests.

(Sorry this is a downer)

[inexplicifics]

So in your most recent chapter of Found At Last In Meeting Eyes you make it rather clear that it’s not expected for the true nature of Geralt/Jask/Eskel’s relationship to become truly common knowledge

But something that’s entertained me for awhile as a both funny and interesting possibility is if it were, indeed, to become common knowledge throughout the Wolflands, and if it were to become the Royal and noble fashion then to have three way relationships because of them. People of course have been imitating the most personal and bizarre aspects of their kings or queens for centuries (see the Barcelona accent, or the popularity of anal fistulas after the Sun King’s own complications with one), but I think Geralt finding out about how it’s now considered a mark of a particularly prosperous king to have a triumvirate relationship would have him running up the mountain for QUITE some time lol.

I would also love to see how the rest of the Witchers react to the idea of Geralt (of all people!) being imitated and emulated down to his oddest habits and most personal details. Perhaps a love of horses also becomes a signifier of a good head of state?

Okay you are entirely correct, that would be hilarious. Geralt just being like, "Why...why does everyone have two spouses?" and poor Jaskier laughing too hard to answer.

Geralt would definitely approve of a love of horses becoming a common signifier of a decent king, though.