I actually finished something lol haven’t done anything for weeks but then The Chapter happened and this idea wouldn’t leave my head. @morningstarwrites, take this small animatic in all of its butchered quality. I love these two, and that chapter drove me up a wall!
I was tagged by @endwersed 💗 and @dear-massacre 💗 centuries ago but I swear I didn't have any wips at all though now I'm getting back into it
💜
Derek froze in place.
He felt cold and he felt hot. Breaths just wouldn’t come. He didn’t want to blink.
The omega looked stunning.
Ethereal and deific. How could someone be this beautiful? He looked like sex personified.
His slim toned body moved with natural grace, almost gliding on the floor. His fair skin was kissed with constellations of beauty marks that went down his cheeks and neck. He was dressed simply, yet even the grey sweatshirt hugged his narrow waist in such a sinful way that one couldn’t help but yearn to grab it; his long legs in black jeans would look so wonderful while spread.
His face, however, made all those works of art seem like child’s paintings. Oh, how they failed to capture the beauty. How dare they even attempt?
The omega’s chestnut hair was ruffled, his beautiful dark amber eyes red-rimmed but even more so beautiful. Upon seeing Derek, the omega opened his pretty mouth in a small gasp — and, fuck, his lips.
Fuck.
Fuck.
And then, as if Derek wasn’t stunned enough, a small grin bloomed across the omega’s mouth.
Quick as a fawn, he descended down the stairs and stopped a step or two above Derek, his eyes running all over his face.
“Hi,” he said.
“Hi,” Derek rasped.
For some reason, the omega blushed. He put the rucksack down on the floor, then lifted his right hand and daintily offered it to Derek with an almost shy smile.
No one moved.
“Stiles,” Deaton bit through his teeth.
The omega’s smile dwindled as he looked first at Deaton, then at the woman, and finally stopped his wide-eyed gaze at Derek who stood there like a fucking idiot.
“Isn’t this how they do in movies?” the omega asked, sounding genuinely confused.
“How do you know what they do in movies?” asked Deaton, and when the omega snapped his mouth shut, turned to the woman. “We shall search for the contraband tonight.”
The woman nodded.
With blush spreading down his face, the omega started to withdraw his hand.
It was then that Derek finally got his bearings.
Quickly, he caught the omega’s hand, causing him to jump, and pressed a light kiss to his knuckles.
Oh, what he would give to scent him.
“I don’t mind,” said Derek, then cleared his throat from the deepening lust.
"Kid, you're hilarious. Keep trying. You'll get it someday. Hey. I got a present for you. It's a non-orientable shape. Secret, though!"
25b3 woke up somehow knowing, without knowing how he knew, that the other triangle referred to the endless hallway he had been looping. A non-orientable shape.
Mother Gaia's intervention had been the last straw for the Goddess.
When the other deities had agreed to help her make this world for all their people, they agreed on one thing: minimal interference once their people had established themselves. The Goddess's people had adapted very fast; she'd been hands-off for centuries. So of course that's when the Fae War had started.
She had given her people this fresh, new world; away from the darkness that had claimed all their planets, away from the death and destruction, and it had followed them here.
With the darkness at risk of returning, encroaching upon them all again, and her dear Gaia a sobbing mess below the source of all the magic she had gifted to her people, The Goddess decides that enough is enough. For too long her people had lived and lived and lived. It was time they knew what that meant.
It was time they knew death.
Part I: Lost (read it on ao3 | tumblr)
After months of planning, Mother Gaia brings Tara to Roseterra to trigger The Call. Magibeans scramble to say their final goodbyes before being forcibly removed from this plane of existence. Life is about to take a startling, powerful turn for four very young sprites...
Preview and musings below the cut!
"Tara, come here dear. This is the place."
With a sigh, Tara picked herself up and made her way to what looked to be the centre of the valley. A pile of stones that looked remarkably plinth like for something that purported to be natural stood in front of Gaia. The space on the top of which was shaped exactly like the stone she had tucked away in the boughs of her skirt.
Gaia had refused to carry it; she didn’t want to tarnish it. Tara didn’t think she would. She hadn’t argued, though, and had grown a little alcove in her skirts to hold the stone. Gently, she lifted her hand; the branches around her legs creaked. One bough slowly poked out between the branches. In it, the stone sat.
“It’s glowing,” Tara realized.
“Then it is finally time. Place it on the plinth please, dear.”
The branch didn’t move. Deep in her chest, Tara felt a horrible warmth. Her hands seemed to drift up of their own accord to cover her mouth; her vision blurred.
“Tara?” Gaia turned away from the plinth. “Oh. Dearest."
She was trembling. Her cheeks were wet. She choked down a sob.
Gaia reached up to cradle her daughter’s face. She wiped the tears off of her dark, sparkling cheeks, rubbing her thumb against her warm skin gently. Tenderly. “It’s going to be okay. You’re going to be okay.”
“How do you know?” she managed to choke out, her voice heavy. “What if it doesn’t—what if I don’t—I’m not ready!”
“You’ve had my mantle for centuries now, Tara. You’re ready.”
“I’m not ready to lose you!” she yelled through her tears, inhaling heavily through her nose. “I know I’m ready to take over for you. Please. I’m gonna rock being Mother Gaia. I just. I don’t want to lose my mom. I don’t want to lose you,” she admitted, wrapping her arms around the frail woman who had been there from the moment the elements that made her began to stick together. The woman who had made sure everything was in tip top shape before she gifted her a life light, giving her humanoid form. Who had shown her the ropes; helped her master all of the elements, all of the parts of every season. Had slowly given her the reins, guiding her through her first few judgment calls before she became an expert at it herself, mastering balance alongside her as they tried their best to keep their home safe.
“I will always be with you, dear. I won’t be very far. I’ll be here,” she said, gesturing to the rocky, dead, expanse around them.
“What terrible curb appeal,” Tara choked out.
Gaia looked stunned for the briefest of seconds. Then she laughed. Then she snorted, which only made her laugh harder through the tears that had started to slip out. She snorted again; now Tara found herself laughing, too.
The two women stood at the end of the world and laughed their guts out.
The preview was longer, but for some odd reason, tumblr was very mad about saving the longer version? So we went with the first half after a VERY HARD decision!
You can check it out HERE on ao3 and HERE on our lovely HELLSITE (tm)
Some musings for you:
I tagged it as original work instead of The Santa Clause bc let's be real here. The only character from the franchise here is Mother Nature and even then, she is fairly far removed from movie events/how we see her in the series.
SHE IS. BUT A BABY. DURING THE CALL. (not actually a baby. metaphorically)
I posted it on hellsite as a private post because this settled my internal AI trawling distrust vs want to post on tumblr
I've opted out, obvi. But who says that corporations are actually going to listen and take that into consideration?
And sure, maybe a private post can still be read by an AI trawler. But given that only I can see it and share links for people to see it?
IT GIVES ME SOME MEASURE OF PEACE, OK!
Okay so PROPER musings now:
AGES!
While all four Season Sisters came to being around the same time, they were given different forms when they got leggies, as Summer says.
The only age I know for certain is Winter. She's about ~400ish when The Call happens. She's LITTLE. So we can assume all the seasons have existed for around the same time. That is, these personifications of them, lol.
Winter is toddler sized
Summer is pre-teen sized
Spring is child-sized
Autumn is awkward child-to-pre-teen sized
The Twin Princes are about ~700ish when The Call happens
So Blinter age difference, for those interested, is about 300 years (equating to about 3 years for ordibeings/magibeans who DON'T age at the exceptionally slow rate sprites do!)
PARENTAGE! I think it's fairly clear what magibeans helped create each season, but for what it's worth (and also reference):
Mother Gaia created Mother Nature/Tara; that's her MOMMY.
Winter's parents are the Snow Queen (Bianca) and the Winter Warlock (Winter sr.).
(He's actually based on a LOT of wintry beings I have seen, lol. Primarily the Winter Warlock from Rankin Bass's Santa Claus is Coming to Town. He also gives Merlin from Sword in the Stone vibes, generic wizard posting vibes, and sometimes ice king adventure time vibes, lol)
Summer's parent was Sol, the sprite in charge of the sun/sunshine/sunlight. THAT'S HER DAD!
Autumn's parents were Harvest, the personification of the harvest, and Hollow Eve.
Hollow's are charged with ferrying souls; they can traverse planes very easily and this is why the goddess enlists their help when she creates Rosehaven. "Hollow" is their title; they place it in front of their names always.
Hollow Eve is how Autumn named Halloween >:)
Spring doesn't have a parent or two parents. She has multiple sprites who helped to create her. She's collecting parents the way Steven Universe collects Moms, lol. Her parents include: Gaia, Tara, the sprites in charge of flowers, the sprites who did rain, and the winds.
All of these sprites, and probably more actually! Frequented the Garden and offered wisdom and advice to Spring, some of them without even knowing!
She ✨🌞 PHOTOSYNTHESIZED 🌞✨ to gather all the bits that made her spritely self, and sealed the deal when Mother Nature finds her and gives her the light life Gaia gave her at the end of part 1 :)
UPON REREADING BEFORE POSTING IT: Winter obvi freezes. We be knowing that for forever thanks to Meet the Frosts, I think.
But did you know that Summer also freezes? Well, her heart hardens, and for summer sprites that means it's stony. Or maybe ashy? and stony would be if a spring sprite's heart was hardened? I've yet to pick a term for spring sprites, lol.
I THINK that covers all my musings that AREN'T covered in Part 2. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this piece! It's not, per se, a DETOUR from my usual stuff? It's just. You know. Pretty much original work? It feels different--which I suppose checks out, given that it's a whole other era in CS History that is about 2 eras removed from where they are now :)
THREE CANON SHIPS: geralt x yennefer, corlys velaryon x rhaenys targaryen, and arianne martell x daemon sand!
THREE OC SHIPS: iovanna dayne x daemon targaryen, edelgard vanderweyden x reese verner, maekar targaryen x aeryal arvel (carolines dear!)
THREE MUTUALS SHIPS: mo @kingsroad's alyse x aegon (they mean the world to me!), ash @unholymilf's iconic varya x roman (forever the moment!), airika @chuckhansen's nina x adam (the loveliest! they're dear to me!)
FIRST SHIP: oo ok ok i want to say my first ship was I think? rajaion and ena from fire emblem path of radiance? that or? selina kyle/catwoman and bruce wayne!
CURRENTLY CONSUMING: an iced coffee ajanjnsk bc i am a responsible adult <3.
CURRENTLY WATCHING: my 3829838th rewatch of house of the dragon <3 am i surprised? nay nay! its not at all for oc lore! (leg says like a liar jnjanj <3)
LAST MOVIE: the batman! <3 and one i recently adored seeing was bullet train as well! (ty ty orion and ash for introducing me bc of ur ocs u dears u!)
LAST SONG: its been stuck in my head all week! the fruits by paris paloma <3
CURRENTLY READING: rereading fernweh saga by the dear aelsa! and fire and blood by george rr martin <3 (leg once again says its bc they want know more of what’s in store for the characters and not for oc lore at all like a liar <3)
CURRENTLY CRAVING: my mom is making sauce so i have pasta on the brain <3
I understand why the dog scene has flown under the radar, it's such a short and simple scene, especially compared to scenes like the fucking poker game(two minutes and thirty seconds versus nearly ten minutes, it's easy to tell which one will be remembered more). Maybe people think of it as the church scene instead, the same way I don't think of the apple scene as "the apple scene" but as "the bar scene". But that doesn't mean it wasn't a damn good scene and I think it deserves more appreciation. The lighting, the framing, the way that the dog leaves Goncharov in the doorway so all you see is his black silhouette and the cut to Audrey, bathed in the light of the stained glass windows, the heaviness and reverence in Audrey's face as he looks at Goncharov, all with the bell tower chiming ominously in the background being the only sound for a solid 45 seconds, it's all so subtle and yet so in your face you can't help but feel the weight of it. It's such an emotional and extremely gay moment.
i need to pick up xbc3 again soon to get back in the groove but my halloween ouroboros fic idea is "what if interlinking and being ouroboros made you share traits with your interlink partner outside of it and also Changed You" aka this is the fic where i catboyify noah
sits down to write fic and writes 3k of notes for it instead, spends two separate hrs in the middle of it dwelling on pointless things, there were 8k notes prev so i def added almost half that amnt, have not written a single thing even tho i set down at 8p to write a scene and made a conscious decision to do this instead of starting laundry between 8 and 9 (laundromat closes at ten), it is three am currently,,,,,,
First off, let me gush just a bit about how fucking STRONK this man is. Olympic weightlifters are dying of sheer envy and lust over this man. He is a FUCKING POWERHOUSE.
My favorite panels ever, and judging by the cropping of the second photo, Tumblr agrees.
AHEM, where was I?
Ah yes. He's not just strong and incredibly hot, my man is literally an invasive species in this dungeon. He knows every single weak spot of every monster Thistle tried to throw at him and when he finds it he just fucking RAMS HIMSELF AT THEM AND TAKES THEM DOWN.
And when he's a dwarf HE LITERALLY BENDS STEEL.
"Beat Namari at arm wrestling"? My boy, she wouldn't let you anywhere near because you'd FUCKING BREAK HER HER HAND ALONG WITH THE TABLE. (It's such a fucking shame we didn't see Senshi at least raising an (perfectly plucked except it just grows that way naturally) eyebrow in the background when he sees this. Alas, he was too distracted by his hair.)
But I mentioned responsibility, didn't I? Strength is power in the dungeon, and we all knows what comes with great power. And Laios is, in fact, very responsible with that power!
(Futther examples under the cut, wee bit spoilers for anime watchers)
This scene lives rent-free in my head forever, because of two things: Thistle suddenly realizing just what the hell he's up against,
And Laios breaking Thistle's arm.
Now, I think Laios didn't mean to actually break his arm here, he's just half-blind and dizzy and knows he has to restrain Thistle or it will all go to shit. So that's what he does. The move you see above is a restraining hold. The point is that the person pinned down can't struggle much because the position of the arm presses the suprascapular nerve, so it hurts a lot, but unless they're held that way for too long they'll be fine.
But Thistle is TINY and elves are generally fine-boned. I think Laios really did just underestimate his strength.
And the moment the dragons aren't an IMMEDIATE THREAT anymore?
Laios heals him. Thistle's a better mage than him by miles, he could have done it himself. But no. Laios does it. He was too rough, too careless with his strength, and he immediately backtracked, fixed what he broke, and continued with more mindfullness.
And these are just the examples that stuck in my mind the most. And it happens often enough that the team isn't even fucking surprised! Laios' strength would 100% scare people who only saw him in a barfight and didn't know anything else about him. Hell, the other adventurers they meet fucking quiver before this guy who just took down a monster they had nightmares about in one blow, up until he opens his mouth and they relax. You put more malevolent software in that sort of hardware and he'd be the next Shadow Governor.
But Laios is Laios. He's a gentle soul at heart (a Great Pyrenese, specifically, the gentlest souls ever unless you're out for their flock) and he is VERY CAREFUL with his strength, ESPECIALLY around his team. Chilchuck, who is literally half his size and underfed to boot, can smack Laios as much as he wants with ZERO fear because Laios is aware he can hurt Chilchuck by literally tripping over him, so he just stays still and lets Chilchuck smack at him. I'd be surprised if he ever managed to leave a bruise. Chilchuck has to aim at Laios' weak spot (back of the knee here) just to get Laios to notice him!
But because I have some experience with marital arts and close combat, I think the fight with Shuro exemplifies my point so fucking well! Laios is HURT here, he's living every autistic person's worst nightmare.
And he HOLDS BACK. His restraint is fucking IMMACULATE.
Shuro is fucking lucky Laios still liked him when he started talking shit, because he would have broken his spine otherwise. Laios doesn't even take the fight seriously! He starts with a fucking SLAP.
Shuro retaliates with an actual punch (that does nothing but piss him off)
Laios wobbles. Shuro HITS THE DIRT.
And this is the part where he realizes just how outside his weight category he is. Shuro definitely has technique on his side, but that means jackshit when you need ten blows to to even bruise your opponent, but one hit from them will leave you drinking through a straw for a week. For a second there, Shuro thought he was in ACTUAL DANGER.
But instead of finishing the job, Laios tries to talk him down, which just sets him off again. Man was at his fucking LIMIT, and it snapped. Self-preservation who?
And the best part is? Shuro is throwing all his strength behind his punches and Laios just takes them, but Laios? He mostly pushed Shuro around!
They're mostly grappling here, precisely because Laios is very conscious his friend is pretty fragile right now.
And when he does have enough?
Shuro is flat on the ground again, and Laios has a black eye and a bloody nose. He sits down and five minutes later he's ready to go! Like yes, Shuro was at a low point here, but he's been mowing through monsters at only a bit slower pace than Laios' party. He's no weakling regardless. And Laios had to HOLD BACK SO HE WOULDN'T HURT HIM. And it's so obvious that Maizuru takes one look at the two of them and leaves them to their toussling.
When I saw her reaction I had to scroll back and take another look, because I was sure she would intervene! But she doesn't! She is aware of Laios' strength, she has to be, and she doesn't lift a finger to help her precious charge. She knows the big dog he's wrestling with knows to watch his strength.
And that's my whole point: my boi is STRONK AF! And he is very aware of his strength, and how he could hurt the people around him is he wasn't careful, so he is ALWAYS CAREFUL. He has deeply internalized the fact that to have strength is to be careful with it, to use it in service of people rather than to hurt them (possibly from his dad). He is going to SUCH a good king! He's not going to like the job but by GOD he will do it really well.
And I will give my right arm to see a fic about the first corrupt lord/governor/courtier who attempts to misuse their authority for their own gain. Kabru's gonna have to talk Laios out of an execution.