#sw snippets

[mer-acle]

Snippet: Silent Wars

~Home Sweet Home~

Pt. 1 | Pt.2 | Pt.3 | Pt.4

Aphrodite gets some more insight on Ares' family

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Ares was just as glad as his sister when they were done eating. They helped clean up, then he waved Aphrodite over.

"Come on, I'll show you the house."

She slipped her hand into his, feeling giddy and younger than she was, it never stopped being exciting to see someone's home, where they'd become the person they were today.

"Beep beep," Hephaestus called, overtaking them. Athena followed more slowly, her hands buried in her hoodie pocket. Aphrodite guessed that a part of her wanted to sleep more than anything else, but her brother had clearly waited eagerly for her, so games it was.

"He's so cute," she said to Ares when the boy had disappeared. "So much energy."

"Takes after me," he replied with a laugh. "Here's a bathroom by the way. And that's the laundry." He touched the back of his neck. "Not too interesting."

She puffed his arm.

"Aww, you're so nervous, baby. I want to see, you know? This is where you grew up, it's a part of who you are."

"I suppose." He moved to the next door, opening it. "That's the living room. I think it's changed the least out of everything over the years."

Aphrodite stepped into the room, light filtering through the curtains. The walls were painted a warm old rose, and like everything in the house so far, it looked like Hera had been responsible to furnish it, and then had let the kids take over. It was largely orderly, but Hephaestus clearly spent time here. Someone also had taken a crayon to the far-off wall near the floor. She guessed Ares, but imagining a small Athena doing so was also adorable.

She was naturally drawn to the photos on the wall, different ones than Ares and Athena had in the apartment, more so a timeline of the last 20 years.

"Is that you or Athena?" she asked, pointing at the photo of a sleeping infant.

"Ath, I think," Ares said, brow furrowed. "At least I don't remember this blanket, I had a different one, I think." He pointed at the picture below. "That's me... at least I believe it is. Gotta ask Mom."

"You look way too alike," she said with a chuckle, then looked at the photo beside the baby ones, showing Ares, this time recognizable by his dark eyes, playing in a sandpit, and next to that, with a slightly older Athena, brown hair in a stubby ponytail.

Aphrodite thought to herself that she would have taken Hera as someone who put an even number of pictures of both children, but she supposed she was being pedantic.

"So adorable," she said. "I demand seeing a baby album of you, babe."

"But then I get to see one of yours, too."

"You make hard demands."

She giggled when he hugged her from behind. 

The next pictures were about a year later, she guessed, showing little Athena peaking out from underneath a table fort like a small ghost, Ares covered in finger-paint - gaining another 'aww' from Aphrodite, then both kids being carried by their father, though Ares made a valiant attempt to use him as a tree substitute. Athena was holding on properly, calmly sitting on his hip.

Another time jump, this time jarringly obvious. Ares was no longer a toddler but maybe 5, and Athena - Athena was smiling, for the first time, not the mild camera smile her current pictures had, but genuinely. They were on a sandy beach, maybe the sea or a lake, building a very muddy sandcastle, hair frizzy from the salt and sand, Ares standing in the middle of it with a small shovel, and Athena half-turning to the camera, grinning.

Aphrodite bit back the comment that she had never seen her this openly happy. She supposed life happened to everyone but she still would have liked to see more of this Athena.

"Where's this from, what place I mean?"

"We went down to the coast, near Syracuse, Lousiana," he replied. "Was a cool trip, judging from the pics, I don't remember it that well, but I do remember the food was very good and being at the beach was great. This sandcastle became so epic, you could think Heph helped build it."

Aphrodite looked at him.  "Sorry if that's a stupid question, but could he? With the sand and all?"

"Not with the wheelchair. We haven't been at the beach in years anyway, Athena is not big on it anymore, but we would make it work, I'd say. Handcart would probably be fine, something with wider wheels." He nodded to himself thoughtfully. "Might bring that up to Mom and Dad actually, I think he'd like it."

He pointed at the next picture.

"That was my birthday, don't remember which one. We went to the carnival all day. Thena was there because it was a weekend day, and we had a lot of fun. Rode a rollercoaster for the first time."

"I can never ride one of those again," Aphrodite said with a laugh. "I watched Final Destination 3 and Ride the Cyclone and I'm too superstitious to test my luck."

"Put both of these on our movie list, I haven't seen either yet."

Aphrodite tried her hardest not to jump around with joy. She knew it was normal to have a boyfriend that was willing to watch what you cared about, but Ares was the first that she felt genuinely comfortable dropping musicals on. She had clearly dated too far in the star-quarterback-spectrum before, but ever since she had come into her kitchen in the morning to find Ares humming a song from Hamilton, she knew this was what she wanted. Not just concessions, genuine compatibility.

"Noted and moved along. Signing Thena up too."

"Doubt she'll complain."

They moved a little further ahead. There was Hera, clearly pregnant, with her arms around the older children, there was Athena with a Greek Language Translation Trophy, Ares upside down on some monkey bars. A picture from a party with some relatives.

"Those are my aunts," Ares said. "Hestia and Demeter, my Mom's sisters. Demeter is the mother of Persephone, the cousin Mom mentioned earlier."

"The one with the baby?"

"Yep. And there is baby Heph, look."

"Oh, he's adorable." Aphrodite meant it. The baby wore soft braces, gently nestled in Hera's arm, completely safe. The pictures beside it were of him with his father, and both of his siblings. Athena looked more serious again, holding her brother with quiet reverence. Ares beamed at the camera as if saying 'Look, that's my brother, isn't he perfect?'

"You look complete there," Aphrodite said softly. "I love this picture."

"Me, too." Ares smiled. "Even though I still remember Thena endlessly lecturing me to be careful with him. She read books on how to take care of babies in general and babies with physical disabilities in particular. At age 12. Thea in a nutshell, really."

"That's so sweet, and so her. But you're both so good with him, it's so clear he adores you."

She took another step, again seeing the children grow, one of the first professionally taken portraits among the snapshots, then Athena reading from a thick carton book to Hephaestus, Ares playing with blocks with him, the family at a historical archeology exhibit or something similar.

Ares slowly growing from a child to a lanky teenager, Athena gaining subtle curves, much less hidden than now, though Aphrodite supposed she mightn't cover up as much as right now if this summer wasn't so pitifully cold, Hephaestus now decidedly a toddler.

"This was one of Thea's birthdays," Ares said fondly. "We visited an owl sanctuary. It was a surprise and Mom was really giddy about it because she knew she'd love it. It was cool." He shrugged. "I'm not as obsessed with owls as Thena but they are goofy and badass which is my favorite combo."

She smirked.

"Mine, too."

The graduation photos from the kitchen weren't repeated, but the family photos from both were hung up, instead showing more from the summer two years ago, the siblings in carefree freedom. Then lastly, clearly recent, a picture from Athena in the apartment that Ares had clearly taken in secret as she was studying, one from Ares on the apartment rooftop and one of Hephaestus crafting in his room.

Aphrodite turned to her boyfriend with a smile.

"I love that all these pictures are there. Your Mom doing that?"

Ares snorted. "Yeah, it's not my father, that's for sure. There are photos all over the place."

He slipped his hand back into hers.

"Wanna continue?"

She nodded, letting him lead her out of the living room.

Ares opened the next door.

"This is like a playing space. It looks way different than when I was little, Thena and I had a playhouse and a rockclimbing wall, but obviously we remodeled for Heph."

Aphrodite nodded.

"You actually have your own playground," she commented.

"Would never complain about a lack of toys," Ares said, slightly embarrassed.

She puffed his shoulder. 

"I'm just mad I didn't get to play here when I was a kid."

He chuckled. "Fair."

He didn't take her to the elevator next to the play room, but back down the hall.

"We don't really use the elevator unless with Heph. Leave it on the floor he's at because it's his way to get around. It's not really a hard rule and we would have taken it up either way, but you know... small things that just are like that."

She nodded.  "Totally, noted."

"This is my parents' room," Ares said upstairs. "There's a study, and this is the proper bathroom. Nothing to see, really, you'll check it out later after all. This is Heph's room, or inventor's lair, really. Athena's room is that one at the end of the hall, and I'm square in the middle."

He opened the door to his room, shyly waving her inside.

Aphrodite grinned. It was red, of course, with accents in dark grey and black, a bed, couch, TV and wardrobe. She sat down on the foot of the bed like she did at the apartment. 

"I thought your childhood furniture was all in the apartment."

He sat down next to her.

"It is. I had very little to do with this furniture. After Thena and I moved out properly, with all our furniture, our rooms were completely bare. Mom wanted us to come home to something nice, so she refurnished them how we would like it. I think she did a stellar job honestly, my old room never looked this cool."

"That is so sweet," Aphrodite said, considering briefly if her parents would have repurposed her childhood room if her furniture hadn't stayed there. She decided she didn't care to have that question answered. "And it's so fun that you, as the middle child, have the middle room."

Ares dropped backward onto the bed, sprawled comfortably.

"I didn't always. I used to be in Heph's room, but it's bigger, and he can navigate it more easily. And obviously now I don't live here, it'd be silly for the big room to be empty anyway. So yeah, the natural order was achieved."

She chuckled.

"I like it," she said then. "the house I mean. It's homey."

"I'm glad." He wrapped his arm around her, and she rested her head on his chest.

"You want to take a walk around town, or is this enough exposition about my life?"

She giggled.

"Of course I want to see the town," she said, and kissed him.

----------------------

I have the house built in the Sims and a tour recorded, I only need to edit it... sighh I hope this makes some sense.

Also pictureess (Aph, you're SO close to clocking Athena, just a little bit more and you'll get she's depressed)

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Tagged for updates:

@firinnie , @pikachiee , @yourfavtexan , @witless-winion1 , @wickeddisney55 , @flyingonions , @aikya-kat-44 , @therapybard , @electricpirateduck , @greekmythologyjunkie

(ask if you want to be included :3)

[elizaisdunn]

anakin on clone wars deployment :

[dual-domination]

I present you Shen Wei X Tech things, Guardian Vol 3 Edition :v

A true disaster.

[varpusvaras]

fully inspired by this post by @rooksunday. Fox can never have a calm day, can he?

Cody is already in the process of ripping his hair out when Fox runs in.

Quite literally runs. It is for the mere laws of physics that he hadn't gone through the door, though Cody thinks that it had been really close to happening anyway with how fast Fox barges in.

"Cody!" Fox yells. Very loudly, even though he is already at Cody's desk, almost going through it too. He slams his hands on the edge of the desk to stop himself, and he almost careens over the desk with the sudden stop. He manages to stop before it, but is now bent halfway over the desk, and is right at Cody's face. "Cody!"

"I heard you the first time", Cody says, grimacing at the volume. "What is it?"

Perhaps he should be worried. Fox looks like he is going to explode at any second, with his eyes wide and his breathing erratic. His new, nice clothes are very ruffled, most likely from running, and his fancy new cape is only partially clasped. It is not a state Cody has ever seen Fox. His meticulous, top-of-his-class brother, who always had even the seams of clothes in place.

"How did this happen?" Fox asks. "How?"

Alright, he should be worried. Fox is never cryptid. Always blunt and to the point, sometimes even too much, the little prick.

"How did what happen?" Cody asks. He is up from his chair now, and making it to the other side of the desk. "Fox, breathe a little."

Fox does breathe. He takes in a deep gulp of air, and looks at Cody like Cody is the one asking stupid and cryptid questions.

"The marriage!" Fox yells. "How did it happen?"

Now Cody is even more confused and concerned. Is there something wrong? The new Chancellor had seemed so nice, and Fox had been friendly with him until now. Had it all been a ruse? Had Cody, while being overwhelmed with everything, managed to get his little brother married to some kind of monster, who had only now revealed his true colours?

No, that would not stand. Cody needs to know exactly what's going on, right now.

"Fox", Cody grabs him by the shoulders. "What is going on? Are you alright?"

Fox doesn't look hurt, thank the gods, but he is still out of breath and looking at Cody with his eyes blown huge. Then again, they had all been trained to be able to sustain various injuries, so Cody would have to make sure-

Fox blinks, and then laughs, borderline hysterically.

"Am I alright?" He asks. "Am I alright? No! No, I am not! And I need you to answer my question! How did this happen? How did this whole disaster even go through?"

Cody tries not to be frustrated at not getting any answers out of Fox. He breathes in deep himself. He needs to stay calm, since Fox, for the first time ever, is not.

"I'm sorry", he says. "For putting you through it. I never should've. I-"

Fox grabs him by the shoulders as well, almost knocking Cody's hands away.

"Shut the hell up", he is suddenly snarling. "I don't care, I just need to know who authorised it."

"I did." Cody is...more confused about what is going on, now. "I'm sorry."

"Stop apologising", Fox says. "Who else? Who else was approving with this?"

"The Chancellor and the Queen of Alderaan", Cody answers. The Chancellor, of course, Cody had done his negotiations with the man, but he had heard that the Queen had to authorise the whole marriage as well. It had sounded logical, as the Chancellor had been the former Senator of Alderaan, and thus still representing the whole system as well-

Fox starts laughing again. He lets go off Cody and puts his head in his hands, which makes the laughing sound more like he is crying.

"Fox", Cody shakes him a little. "Fox'ika. What's wrong?"

"The Queen of Alderaan authorised the marriage between me and the Chancellor", Fox mumbles against his hands.

"Yes?" Cody is seriously starting to feel like he has missed something big.

"The Queen of Alderaan", Fox repeats, "authorised my marriage with Chancellor Organa of Alderaan."

"Yes." Cody needs to go to his files and look through them again-

"Her Majesty", Fox says, "Queen Breha Organa of Alderaan, authorised me to marry her husband."

Cody stares.

Fox lifts his head from his hands a bit to look at Cody.

"I need a drink", he says.

Cody nods. He needs a drink too.

He lets Fox sit on the comfier chair and takes up the other one for himself, after he has fetched a nice bottle of some bright red liquour from his cabinet. A gift, for the new leader of the Vode.

The label tells him it's Alderaanian liquour.

Cody pours Fox a full glass, and then hides the bottle.

[aaeeart]

oh Bode

when you get comfortable with your friend and start opening up a little too much

bonus ⏬⏬

[honeyxxspice]

A Morning With Him

Soft morning light streamed into the bedroom. It was still early and you were lying on your side in a short, silken nightdress under the sheets. Anakin Skywalker rolled over in his sleep, molding his body to yours, his metal arm snaking its way around your waist. The touch of the cool metal through the thin nightdress stirred you from your sleep and you looked back at him through bleary eyes. A soft smile touched your lips at the relax, peaceful expression on his face. Laying your head back down on your arms, you started to doze off again until you felt something long and hard. Your face flushed, but you ignored his length pressing against you. He needs to sleep… You thought to yourself, he rarely ever gets a good night’s rest. You kept your eyes closed, trying to go back to sleep yourself but now Anakin was lightly grinding his hips into you while he slept causing heat to flush your face and body. The arm around your waist tightened slightly and the grinding became more insistent. A soft, sleepy moan escaped his lips causing heat to rush to your core. You were too conflicted on what to do, but the longer you held out the more aroused you became. Suddenly, the metal hand started to travel downward towards the heat between your legs.

“Were you really just going to lie there and ignore me?” A sleepy, husky voice asked in your ear.

“I didn’t want to wake you…” You said sheepishly, opening your eyes to look back at him. Anakin chuckled softly, kissing your shoulder, his metal fingers starting to massage your clit through your nightdress.

“What a sweet girl you are,” He said and as he continued to rub, breathy moans escaped your lips. “Mmm… That’s what I wanted to hear.” He said as he kissed up from the base of your neck. He removed his hand from your clit to pull down the black sweatpants he wore to bed, pressing his hot cock against you. “I was dreaming of you, Princess, how good you feel wrapped tight around me and how sweet your voice is when your moan for me…” He said, lifting up your thigh so he could slide his cock over your bare lips. “Ohhhh,” Anakin chuckled huskily, “No panties, Princess? Very mischievous.”

Flustered you said, “only because you always make a mess of them whenever you sleep over!”

“Blaming me, are we?” Anakin grinned, teasing you with his tip at your entrance. “I think we both know how much you looovvveee having me inside you.” He said in your ear as he slowly slipped the head inside you, “I know you love how good I make you feel.” His grin turning devious as he slipped out again. He continued like that for a while longer: in, out, in, out while kissing and nipping at your neck and shoulder. He was stirring you up into a frenzy, making you ache for more.

“Ani…” You said with a whine. “Please…”

“Please, what?” He said, continuing to tease you, “use your words, Princess, I know you can.”

You whimpered in frustration, “please stop teasing me!”

Anakin laughed low and devilishly, sliding his full length into you with a thrust causing you to arch your back and moan. He started to build up a steady rhythm, “fuck…” he said softly, “I never get tired of how good you feel…” He lifted your leg higher and buried his face into the back of your neck, sliding his free hand under you so he could wrap it around your chest and rub your breast. His words held the hint of a growl from his need of you, “Be a good girl and rub your clit for me. I want to feel you grip my cock even tighter.”

Whimpering and moaning, you obliged, licking your fingers to get them wet before reaching down to rub and swirl your clit.

“Fuck yes, baby, keep going. You feel so good…” His thrusting was becoming faster and more insistent. The waves of pleasure that washed over your body were making you light headed as you were reaching your peak. Anakin must have felt it coming on from how tightly you were gripping him because he growled into your ear, “come on, baby, cum for me. I need to feel you…”

Oh how you loved when he talked like that… You threw your head back onto his shoulder moaning loudly as you came long and hard; Anakin still pumping into you, driving your orgasm even further. With a few more thrusts, he too moaned into your ear as he filled you with his load. Panting slightly, he let himself slide out of you as he lower your leg back down. You shivered as his metal arm snaked its way around your waist again, hugging you closer to him.

Almost with a purr Anakin said, “mmm my favorite way to start the day,” As he nuzzled into the back of your neck.

A shaky giggle escaped your lips, “I can think of a couple more ways you like to start the day”

Anakin chuckled, pinching your nipple playfully, “oh I’m sure you can, Princess.”

[basiatlu]

✨️Sunday WIP Snip✨️

Thanks to @vukovich for the tag! Here I come strolling in with an hr-ish to spare (for my timezone at least)

Here are some out of context thumbnails, some unused sketches, and some preliminary drawings for stuff and things and bits:

[queenbasicallynotbasic]

post-Order 66 AU where Obi-Wan breaks into the Fortress Inquisitorius for some (very important) reason or the other and finds Cody in a cell.

He desperately holds Cody's face through the bars and both of them start tearing up.

Obi-Wan tries to break Cody out, only for Cody to tell him to run, it's a trap.

The door at the end of the hallway opens to reveal Darth Vader.

"The perfect Jedi, with his attachment," Vader steps forward. "Tell me, Obi-Wan, what would the Council say if they could see you now?"

Obi-Wan turns towards Vader.

"When his time comes, I will let Cody go to the Force, Anakin," he unclips his lightsaber from his belt, "something you could never do with Padme."

A menacing, heavily modulated growl. "DO NOT SPEAK OF HER!" Vader ignites his lightsaber, and red light illuminates him from below. He points an accusing finger at Kenobi. "YOU ARE THE REASON SHE IS DEAD!"

The hand around Obi-Wan's lightsaber twitches. "I am not," he calmly responds. "And neither are you, Anakin. Padme died of a weak heart. She died believing in you-"

"LIAR!!"

Vader lunges. Obi-Wan ignites and raises his lightsaber just in time to block a blow which would have taken his head off.

"Now, Obi-Wan," Vader pushes in. Kenobi pushes back. "Now you will feel the pain of losing the one you love."

[pencildragons]

Thinking forever about my au where padmé is very happily married to both anakin and sabé, and, possibly due to his subsequent critical proximity to sabé (who imo would take EXTREMELY limited amounts of his shit and anyway She Was There First) + the aggressively healthy polyamory negotiations that ensue after a LOT of couples therapy with the 3 of them, narrowly avoids but does avoid Falling during the events of RoTS. instead, in a Series Of Circumstances that involve obi-wan being kidnapped by the seperatists/dooku/grievous and cody being presumed dead a month or so prior, anakin: is argued off the mental ledge by sabé, kills palpatine with her, rescues his master from being tortured, gives up his vow as a member of the knight corps (but not necessarily the Jedi order), and promptly has a mental breakdown that has been thirteen years in the making.

Simultaneously and in the immediate aftermath of this, padmé is blowing shit the fuck up in the senate (only just metaphorically) as the republic threatens to crumble and collapse under the weight of its own corruption—everything is in absolute chaos, peace has been reached and the GAR has been dissolved, so the war is KIND of over mostly??? This however results in the two new bereaucratic nightmares of: a) the Confederacy of Independent Systems is still very very much a thing and b) of what the fuck do you do with two billion super soldiers who although being sentient very much still do not yet have full sentient rights, and where the fuck do you put them without collapsing planetary economic infrastructures???

this is all very very fine and a great distraction from the fact that her husband, her wife, and her friend-slash-brother-in-law are all to lesser and greater extents both physically and mentally fucked up beyond belief rn—except then she’s the target of an assassination attempt, maybe by one of former-chancellor-palpatine’s supporters (because let’s be real, anakin killed him on the basis that he was The Sith Lord who also happened to be an extremely corrupt galactic leader; however much he sucked hugely, he was above all playing a very very long game and remarkably good at hiding his tracks, so there are of course many who believe the Sith thing is somewhere between a hoax and a political conspiracy). Her spine is badly injured during this, and she ends up having an emergency c-section a month premature.

it is at this point that padmé naberrie thule amidala decides ‘fuck this actually’, retires early, and rounds up her wife, her husband, her friend-slash-brother-in-law, her two newborn children, her droid, her husband’s droid, and a nurse droid, and moves back to seceded Naboo to live on her family’s estate, and then to the mountainous belt that her mother is from, which is when my fic vaguely planned around this idea actually begins.

[sev-says-so]

MY ACRYLIC MARKERS HAVE ARRIVED WOOHOO!!!

Anyways I’m planing to decorate the shit outta my tech. Suggestions on what I should doodle welcome any time.

[mer-acle]

Snippet: Silent Wars

~Home Sweet Home~

Pt. 1 |... |Pt.3| Pt.4 | Pt.5

In case anyone wondered how EPIC came into this :D The family and Aph have a quiet evening.

---------------------

Evening dawned, and they came together in the living room. Zeus had excused himself on accounts of work, but Hera put down a tray with tea and hot cocoa and ruffled Hephaestus' hair.

The boy wheeled himself over to where Ares, Aphrodite and Athena were settled on the couches.

"'Res, can I sit on your lap?" he asked, half-oblivious, half establishing territory. Aphrodite untangled herself from under her boyfriend's arm without further prompting.

"Come here, bug," Ares said with a smile, scooting forward and helping his brother from his chair into his arms. Hephaestus leaned his head against his shoulder.

"Thena?" Hera had stepped inside, holding a folded piece of knit fabric. Athena looked up from a book she was definitely too tired to be reading.

"I found a cardigan for you the other day," Hera said, holding it out to her, black with a subtle white pattern. "I thought you might like it, and the fabric feels nice."

Athena ran her fingers over it.

"It does," she said quietly. "You didn't have to-"

"You said you were cold on the phone the other week," Hera said matter-of-factly. "clearly you don't have enough warm clothing."

She brushed a strand of hair behind Athena's ear. The young woman smiled faintly, putting the cardigan over her hoodie.

"Thanks, Mom."

"You're welcome, little owl."

Hephaestus demanded hot cocoa, then his green eyes lit up with an idea.

"I got a new puzzle! From the game that Mom won't let me play properly still." He pouted.

"You can play the later levels when you're old enough," Hera said evenly. "Be grateful we bought it even though it's 12 and up so you could try out the other mode."

"What game?" Aphrodite asked. 

"EPIC," Hephaestus said. "But I can only play Winion mode... you catch little creatures and collect stuff. Mom thinks I'm too young for the story mode because it has violence." His tone was quietly indignant.

"EPIC?" Aphrodite asked. "I haven't played it, but I love the soundtrack! It's like a musical pretty much."

"Of course you like it, then," Ares teased fondly. She stuck out her tongue to him.

"Anyway," Hephaestus said. "The puzzle is real big, but can we do it over the weekend? All of us?"

Ares shared a glance with Aphrodite.

"I'm down," she said. 

"Thena?"

Athena jumped slightly, looked up.

"What... I mean, yeah, of course. Should we get the table from the play room in here? It's warmer here."

"Mom, I fear you have to buy better cardigans, Thena's still freezing."

Hera looked up from her magazine.

"Do you want me to stack the fire, Thea?"

Athena shook her head.

"It's- I'm not cold now, but I would be in the other room, that's all." She put down her book and got up.

"Is the puzzle in your room, Heph?"

He nodded. "Yes, on the shelf at my bed."

"Okay, I'll get it," she said.

Ares nudged his brother.  "Let me move? I'll get the table."

Hephaestus hesitated for a second as if torn between wanting the puzzle and wanting the hug, then nodded. Ares helped him settle on the couch and got up.

"Be right back."

Aphrodite stayed seated, a mug of hot chocolate in her hands, her eyes flickering between the fireplace, Hephaestus and Hera. The drink was good. She still tasted the difference between fresh milk like she had grown up with and store-bought, but there was a touch of spice and definitely some heavy cream and it tasted like a winter afternoon.

Ares returned first, placing the table from the playing room in place of the couch table and moving back the couch set enough to make room to fold it open to its full size. He went to get the chairs as well, since the sofas would be too low.

Hephaestus pulled his wheelchair closer, climbing back on it with practised motions and wheeled himself over so he could reach the table top more comfortably.

Athena reentered the room, holding a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle box.

Aphrodite leaned forward to see what the picture was.

“It is from the God Games level,” Hephaestus said gravely. "That's when Minerva fights the king of the gods to help her friend.” He grinned. “Thea is Minerva, by the way. I decided.”

Aphrodite looked over to Athena who shrugged, then at the image on the puzzle, showing the goddess from the game surrounded by her adversaries. She remembered what happened in that level pretty well because the song was one of her favorites on the soundtrack.

"Are all of the gods people you know?" she asked.

Hepheastus nodded.

"Yes. Dad is Jupiter. I decided because his work is called Lightning Invest- Investment? And because I think Juno is like Mom. Jupiter is evil, of course," he said earnestly. "But he's also really powerful and cool so I think it's okay."

Aphrodite nodded, thinking to herself that that was the most innocent shade she'd ever seen thrown.  She could see Hera as Juno though. The queen stood to the side on the puzzle, peacock feathers around her, gentle yet fierce.

"And you?" she asked Ares. "Did you get a cool god, too?"

Ares grinned.

"Yeah, that's me," he said, pointing at the tall god in red and black, brandishing a sword.

"Mars? Yeah... yeah I can see that." She laughed. 

“Thanks?” He sounded a little unsure.

“No, I really like him! I mean, he is loyal, he has strong principles, And I think that him and Minerva have such an interesting relationship, just like you and Thena, so it fits.”

“Okay, I am totally taking this then," Ares said with a laugh.

Athena smiled a little.

"I'm Vulcan," Hephaestus said proudly. "He builds the coolest machines."

"That fits well, too," Aphrodite replied with a smile.

Hephaestus reached for the box.

“Can we start now?”

“Alright alright, Mr. Impatient,” Ares teased, and they opened the box.

“I wanna do the edge first,” Hephaestus proclaimed. “And then the people and the sky and lightning stuff.”

“Good plan,” Athena commented. “Oh, I forgot the sorting trays, let me get them. Heph, you guys take care of the edge pieces?”

“Yes, ma’am!” The boy saluted playfully.

By the time she returned, they had separated all the edge pieces, and all four started on one corner.

"If you get... 21 and 13... 34 pieces of the edge, you're better than Ares and me," Athena said lightly to Hephaestus. 

"Don't let me win though!"

"I would never dare to insult you like that."

"And I'm barely competition in the first place," Ares said. "I am here for the fun."

Hephaestus did manage 34 pieces, and if Athena had 35 because she had worked more on her shared edge with Aphrodite, she didn't point it out.

For a while, they worked in quiet solidarity, each of them mostly at their corner but handing over the others' pieces if they found some. most of the faces took shape because the eyes made it easier. Athena was quietly working on the upper corner, on a cluster of lightning and clouds. Hephaestus was gleefully working on Vulcan. Ares was slowly putting together Mars' massive sword. Aphrodite jumped between doing the marble steps and doing Juno's cape.

The sun fully disappeared behind the horizon, and Hera got up with a glance on her watch.

"Time for bed, Heph."

"Mooom!" He protested. "I'm almost done with Vulcan!" Hera didn't argue that he was still about a half hour away from being done.

"You can finish him tomorrow. We'll leave the puzzle setup like this, and you can continue in the morning."

He pouted, sneakily putting in another piece.

Hera rounded the table and pressed a soft kiss to Athena's head.

"You, too, sweetheart."

Athena looked up at her blearily.

"Hm?"

"You should go to bed, too."

Athena nodded slowly, looking like she was already half asleep. 

"Ares is allowed to stay up longer," Hephaestus complained.

Ares got up.

“We're headed up to bed too, buddy,” he said. “Been a long day.”

Hephaestus murmured something that sounded a lot like ‘traitor’. Aphrodite fought against a giggle.

“Heard that,” Ares said. “Very rude.”

“You’re rude,” Hephaestus shot back grumpily.

“Alright, that’s it,” Hera said. “Up you go.”

Athena rose quietly, wrapping the cardigan more closely around herself. Hera gently touched her back as she left.

"Should I help with the mugs?" Aphrodite asked, but Hera shook her head.

"No, thank you, I'll tidy up later all in one. Gotta get my little one into bed first." She smiled. "I won't disturb you two later. Aphrodite, if you need anything that Ares doesn't have, left bathroom cabinet might have it."

Aphrodite nodded. "Thank you, that's really sweet."

"Don't mention it." Hera turned to Ares, and they hugged.

"Sleep well, darling."

"You too, Mom."

----------------------

hehehehhe

MOM HERAAAA give your baby all the cardigans

Also I am genuinely so happy about incorporating EPIC like this, because it lets me have both a mythology version and the EPIC versions of the characters, thinking up how the game works in rough strokes was super fun AND i mean Jorge wants the epic video game so i made it happen hehe I debated a bit on the naming but I just decided for the Roman variants bc it's less hassle than making names up, and I think this AU is not goofy enough for Goddess of Wisdom Teagan lol

Also baby Heph is murdering me stop being SO GODDAMN CUTE

(also, am I the only one who doesn't see my posts under the #silent wars modern AU tag?? cos I just see @grape-jucie-dog 's for some reason with like a few of mine from march or something, even in the "Latest" category. I used to see my own as well. Any tumblr experts that can help me out?)

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Tagged for updates:

@firinnie , @pikachiee , @yourfavtexan , @witless-winion1 , @wickeddisney55 , @flyingonions , @aikya-kat-44 , @therapybard , @electricpirateduck , @greekmythologyjunkie

(ask if you want to be included :3)

[incorrectskywalkers]

random little snippet of an au i made a few months ago (basic summary for context: angst ensures and leia gets sent back in time to the clone wars where she becomes anakin's padawan so she can prevent his fall and secure a better future. she is absolutely NOT happy abt it)

[hopecomesbacktolife]

Star-Dust by Michael Giacchino from the Rogue One soundtrack 🤝 Mahler Symphony no. 5, Adagietto, sehr Langsam

doing absolutely transcendent and heavenly things with strings and harp while hanging out on a middle C

[varpusvaras]

Fox is in the middle of decoding a message when Breha runs into the room.

Fox doesn't need to look at her for more than a second to see that she is frightened.

"What is it?" He asks. He is already on his feet before he has gotten all the words out of his mouth. "What's going on?"

"They know", Breha says, and Fox's insides turn to ice.

He is not thinking about the message anymore. He is not thinking about anything he had been doing just a moment before.

The only thing he is thinking about right now is Leia.

Leia, who is sleeping just in the next room over. Breha runs in there, and Fox starts to grab anything that is around him.

Comlink. Weapons. The little clothes the nanny droid has just piled up from the laundry.

He doesn't have the time to pack much more, because Breha is already running back, with blearily blinking Leia in her arms, still wrapped inside her blanket. She gives Fox a look, and Fox leaves everything else and follows her out of the room.

The whole castle is in alarmed by the time they have made it to the main corridor. Sateen is there when they turn towards the hangar.

"Where's Bail?" Fox asks. They don't have any time to spare. They need every second in order to get as far away as possible.

In order to get away at all.

"He's packing up the ship", Sateen says. He joins them as they make their way downstairs. "He sent me to meet up with you. Your armor is already in the ship."

Fox had not even thought about his armor. He had not even touched the entire thing after leaving Coruscant. He had not needed it, not with going through all the treatments and physical therapy, and then focusing on tending to Leia and helping the Rebellion.

He had thought that his days of fighting inside an armor had been long gone.

Leia whines against Breha's shoulder. She is more awake now, and even if she doesn't understand a word any of them are saying, she looks like she understands fully that something is wrong. Her eyes are wide, and she looks scared as she looks at Fox.

Breha wraps her arms tighter around her and shushes her. It makes Leia quiet down, but doesn't make the look in her eyes go away.

For a second, there is an image that forces its way into Fox's mind, of Leia, with that same, scared look on her face, in the arms of someone entirely else, someone cold and dark.

He pushes it away. He would rather die again than let it happen.

Bail is waiting next to the ship when they make it to the bay. It is not one of the ships they usually use, nor is it any of their personal vessels. Fox is fully aware that they had aqcuired one, of an entirely different model and make than all the other ships they were known to use, and seeing it now makes the sitation settle in even further.

"Is everything ready?" Breha asks. Bail nods. He looks too grim, the seriousness casting a deep shadow on his features.

Breha nods as well, and then draws a deep breath. She pulls Leia off of her shoulder, and looks at her for a second, two, three, with a look of grief and finality on her face that Fox hates.

Then she kisses Leia on her forehead, on her cheeks, rapidly, like she is trying to kiss her as many times as possible with one, single breath, and then she turns to Fox.

Without word, she pushes Leia onto Fox's arms.

Somehow, Fox gets even more cold.

"Breha-" he tries to say, but Breha sushes him, and lets go of Leia, in order to reach for Fox now. Her fingers brush up on Fox's face, and she looks at him too, silently, for a couple brief seconds, before she reaches up and presses a hasty kiss on his lips, on his cheeks, everywhere she can reach in her hurry.

"I love you", she says, and then she lets go of Fox too, and turns around and runs back towards the Palace.

"Breha!" Fox calls after her, but then Bail's hand is on his shoulder, gripping it hard.

"Fox", Bail says. His other hand grabs at Fox's arm, and he turns Fox around.

Fox looks up at him.

Bail looks sad.

Fox hates it, too.

He hates it, especially when the understanding dawns on him.

"Bail", Fox says. He is not pleading or begging, no matter how much he wants to. "Do not do this."

Bail looks sad. He shakes his head.

"I'm sorry", he says, and he leans down, and kisses Leia on the forehead. He lets go of Fox's arm, and he cups Fox's face and traces his thumb over Fox's cheek, slowly and carefully, like he is doing it for the last time. "I love you."

"Bail." Fox is pleading, now.

"I'm sorry", Bail says, again, and then he leans to kiss Fox.

Then he steps away, and just like Breha, he turns his back on Fox and Leia, and runs after her.

Fox stands there, staring after them, his entire body freezing cold, his hands gripping onto the blanket around Leia.

"Fox", Sateen says. Fox cannot turn to look at him. "Fox, you need to go, now."

Leia's hand reached out from inside the blanket, and it curls around the collar of Fox's shirt.

Fox rips his eyes away from the receding forms of Breha and Bail, and turns towards the ship.

Without another word, he climbs in, with Leia in his arms.

The door closes after them.

Fox doesn't bother to put Leia down as he sits on the pilot's seat and starts the engine. Leia holds onto him, quietly, as he flies the ship out of the hangar.

She stays quiet as Fox flies the ship out of Alderaan's atmosphere.

Fox holds her closer as the ship jumps into hyperspace.

[crosshairs-dumb-pimp-gf]

“Maybe he'll just, gloss over us and leave,” “Maybe,” But he had slid his left hand between my legs to squeeze my thigh, making me jerk on the bench. “Hey! The varp are you doing? Are you looking for a fight?” “Maybe.”

Tahny, girl,, at some point you're gonna have to admit you have no idea who've you gotten into bed with.

Working on chapter 6 I promis.

[number1villainstan]

“Enough!” Snoke bellows, cutting through the noise of He did it! She did it! It’s their fault not mine! The three standing below his giant hologram shut up. “General Hux. Captain Phasma. Kylo Ren. Your failure to work as a proper team is what caused this disaster and delayed the construction of Starkiller. All three of you are at fault.” He pauses to let the implied ultimatum sink in. “I thought that your loyalty to the First Order would be enough, but it is clear now that the three of you need extra motivation.” That’s when the lightning starts. Snoke watches the trio fall to the ground, struggling to keep their screams of pain inside and soundless. “From now on, you three will be a set. You will be responsible for each other. Should one of you make a mistake, the others must correct it, for it will be answered upon all three of your heads.”

The captain-commander is the first to peel herself off the ground. Snoke can feel her indignation, but—wisely—when she opens her mouth all that comes out is “Understood, Supreme Leader.”

“Understood, my Master,” Kylo Ren echoes, pulling himself up into a kneeling position.

The general is the last. “Understood, Supreme Leader,” he hisses, one of the rare times when he has less control over his own anger than Kylo Ren.

“Good. You are dismissed,” Snoke says, and then ends the call.

He sits back, satisfied. Such a tactic is likely to breed resentment between the three, which is exactly the point—more specifically, it’s meant to breed further resentment between Kylo Ren and the other two, who have been working together for far longer. Kylo still has trouble holding onto his anger; perhaps this more direct and constant source will help. And the others—

Well. He has plans for the others.

Yes, he thinks, congratulating himself on his own cleverness. This will do wonderfully.

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This was going to be a first scene in my September MSP, but I ended up scrapping the idea in favor of a different one because lack of inspiration/motivation/time. It was a semi-canon-divergent AU where Snoke, using collective punishment to attempt to drive a wedge in between Kylo, Hux, and Phasma in order to drive Kylo further into the Dark Side, accidentally makes them instead bond with each other in an "I'd trust these people to break me out of jail even if they'd make fun of me the whole time" kind of way. I'm posting it here because I think I did a pretty banger job with Snoke's POV here and don't want to just lose it, even if I scrapped the idea it was supposed to belong to.