#the writing of gods in the sand

[gunsatthaphan]

"what do you want?"

[covenofthearticulate]

sitting on the beach in my batwing swimsuit, hand-writing loustat cnc in my new leatherbound journal. nature is healing.

[ddarker-dreams]

god darling beats zhongli at sand castle making any day of the week

this is such a cute mental image omg ,,

imagining how this came about — little qiqi found the process interesting. she'll start to work on one, but unfortunately for her, she builds it too close to the shore and it's swept away. since her memory isn't the best, she doesn't think to correct this mistake the next time she tries.

god darling happens upon an iteration of this sad cycle. they're positively heartbroken by qiqi's sigh as the ocean claims her work again. whatever their business with zhongli in the moment is gets set aside. this is far more important, they'll reason. he can't bring himself to argue.

zhongli builds a simple yet effective structure. a rectangle-shaped tower, nothing fancy, but sturdy. in the time it takes him to craft this, god darling sets out to work as well, not allowing zhongli to participate in the building process. qiqi is tasked with finding seashells and other embellishments for decoration.

zhongli decides to check in on his spouse's efforts, prepared to give some pointers if need be, only to see something akin to this:

[1991river]

i’m seeing increasing amounts of takes on the fallout show that are just flat out incorrect and it’s 100% due to people not paying attention during their watch of it

[magnusbae]

In my mind I can imagine a 4 meme photoset of Dream in his black Dreaming robes floating around, titls out, legs bare, as he fast walks with this song playing after yet another bad bad breakup, but this time he’s better (tm)

I can buy myself flowers Write my name in the sand Talk to myself for hours Say things you don't understand I can take myself dancing And I can hold my own hand Yeah, I can love me better than you can

[miabrown007]

why does a fic have to have "plot", is it not enough to [insert blorbos]

[actualbird]

SKIPLOAF CHAPTER 53.......

[miodiodavinci]

in other news i am now on my hands and knees wearily crawling towards the finish line that now stands before me, beyond which is [seriously extensive project i am massively behind on] and [minecraft]

[multiple-eels]

I can't put together any really coherent words to describe how this game made me feel yet, but god I sure do feel about it. I feel a whole indescribable lot. In a good way! I'll be thinking about this story for a long time.

[chibi-scone]

It’s been said before and the fact that I’m an Izzy simp aside like having a character who survives the most certain death shit ever (shooting himself in the head at point blank) and literally being nicknamed by another character “indestructible” and then become a symbol of protection for a whole group of people die from a fucking bullet to the side that was established in universe to have no vital organs in order to “atone for his sins” or however you wanna spin it and have him say he wants to go after (see point one) literally trying to kill himself in the show that is literally about growth and betterment of the self in a cruel world that wants you dead and where the main (and mostly queer) characters survive the most batshit insane injuries is like COSMICALLY stupid writing like I don’t even understand how you get there and the fact that it’s supposed to be a kind/ happy/meaningful ending is beyond me

[deva-arts]

summer is hitting me something fierce and I want to do a beach episode because of it :( do you have any idea how much I love beach episodes :((((

[sunriseverse]

do you want to read a short ficlet about li cu and the thing they put in him? do you like the fine line that dmbj straddles between psychological horror and stupid as fuck? do you enjoy experimental writing styles? read daymare (3k, t, gen).

[blueeyeddarkknight]

Val's Juilliard angry dis poetry 😂

And then his Juilliard audition poem "sand" 🧠✨👑😍❤️📜🪶

Source : inside the actors studio interview

Part 1 : Sand ⏳

Look at that bby girl! 😭😍🥺👼🙈

Part 2 : the angry poem

[randomwriteronline]

It was so warm and tender that he thought he might have died.

It was a fleeting thought, bursting from his chest with the rustle of a small bird's wings as it left him only a heart beating fast and gentle, and a splendid unknown with curious eyes looking up as it laid beneath him.

Could he have described it? Oh, he didn't know; he wasn't enough of an artistic soul to do such a thing justice with his words. If he was forced to wrack his brain about it, he would have said it was incomplete: like a sketch left unfinished, the vague shape of an anatomical structure made of sand abandoned at the cruel mercy of the rising tide, some new flavor of sublime.

But he didn't want to think, and all he could describe it as was handsome.

He leaned down upon it, basking in the heat and light and barely completed physicality. His hand brushed the cheek, pressure causing its infinite pieces to crumble before they returned to their rightful place.

So handsome, he muttered as he settled between the ever shifting legs. So handsome.

The marvelous being looked at him with the gleaming eyes of a puzzled child beholding a strange rite for the first time.

"What is this?" it asked.

"Oh, we've got names for it," he replied: "Some crass or mean or downright silly."

He sunk into the body of multitudes like one sinks in a warm, dense liquid, with a pleasant mellow resistance enveloping him wholly; his gorgeous partner gasped without a mouth, and its arms melted briefly as it was taken by surprise. He kissed its forehead kindly, feeling its fluid chest lurch slowly forward for an overwhelmed second before deflating so sweetly.

"If you like it, we can call it making love," he said with a smile.

The body beneath him raised to surround him.

"I do," his wonderful lover replied breathlessly, wrapping him within itself slowly, limbs rising to consume him, swallow him, with such magnificent tenderness, and on its yet to be drawn face bloomed something akin to watercolor blush beneath its shining eyes: "I do like it - I do like it very much."

He moved forward, sliding without opposition deeper within the gentle mound covering him, embracing him slowly.

It felt sweet, and good, and just like he'd imagined it, or almost; the strange non-existence of the body he pierced at such a deliberate pace felt welcoming despite the peculiarity, the fleeting sensation as it barely clasped around him like a spectre's shadow upon a wall - but after all, he could not expect the taking of a formless minor god to feel too similar to that of a creature of flesh and blood.

A blissful sigh grazed his face through a cloud of mild golden embers.

"I like it so, my friend," the wondrous beast whispered, its voice propagating through him in long waves: "I do like it - I truly do like it so, my friend, truly, truly..."

He was slow, so slow, so gentle, as he kept going, going, going, sinking further and further down in that barely held together shape that kept enveloping him with relaxed coils as if trying to turn him into another part of itself - here he was, inching slowly along its stomach, digging in its faux entrails to fill it up completely, kind and warm and loving, moving into its chest where a quiet thrumming spasmed rhythmically through the sand-like form while it curled around him, covering every single inch of him, leaving a sensation so indescribably good across his skin.

He leaned down to kiss where its mouth should have been and felt a pair of lips kiss back.

"I love it - I love it, I do," it breathed through him, overwhelmed by something too delightful to explain: "I do, I do, I do."

In a moment, he was swallowed up completely.

The splendid creature exhaled through his lungs, long and quiet, as they both unwound.

"I do," they both repeated longingly, bodies and minds muddled together imperfectly like too much syrup in too little water, distinct but not for long: "I do. I do."

His hand reached out.

Something akin to another palm caught it.

He held onto his marvelous lover for a long while, feeling it pulse over him slowly.

"How wonderful," it sighed through him, smitten.

He laughed quietly, just as lovestruck.

"How wonderful indeed." he whispered through it.

The dream kept going - longer than it should have, really; the shapeless body enveloping him held him down, close to the unknowable core of the gorgeous chimera in his grasp, until their thoughts began clearing from the humid mist overtaking them again, until their forms began to divide enough to be pulled apart from each other again, until he could see those magnificent eyes clearly again (half-lid and heavy and gleaming with the soft sheen of velvet, taking all the time in the world to return from their bliss), until he could feel the hand gently resting on his nape as something outside himself again, until the invisible mouth that met him halfway to a kiss was one with his own in a manner different from the inexplicable unity that had bound them again.

He felt a quiet sigh curl upon his cheeks, just for a moment, warm and tired. Then his sublime partner closed its wonderful eyes, breathing deeply, fast asleep - and Ackar woke up still groggy, with his body half aching from moving in ways it hadn't enjoyed in a long while now, as Mata Nui slumbered deeper still in his own rest, exhausted from making love.

[glsneeg-enthusiast]

i will fool the shepherds. i will know their greatest fear. i will know your greatest fear. wake up joseph. wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up

[vivasity]

To Love Another - Kassidas

Chapter 1 | 2 | Ao3

Source: Assassin's Creed Odyssey

Pairing: Kassandra/Brasidas

Chapter Warnings/Tags: everyone lives/nobody dies, I'm using this to cope can you tell?, they make out in the sand, the smut stays in ch 2, it get's kinda emotional, there's a bit of hurt/comfort in there if you squint

Word Count: 1.9k

Chapter 1 - Reunions

The last thing Kassandra expected when leaving Kephalonia for the first time in years, was to get tangled in the fate of the Greek world itself. All she had wanted was to bring her family back together, saving the entire Greek empire in the process was an added side-benefit. 

With the Cult of Kosmos wiped out of existence, she had time to focus on her family. Over the months, Alexios had been less and less troubled by what the Cult did to him, unlearning the violent reactions that were ingrained into him. Kassandra had gently encouraged him to become a misthios alongside her, to put his skills to use more than anything else, and he took to it like Ikaros to the wind.

Pheobe had been immediately fawned over by her mother and father, prompting them to take the young girl in. Pheobe was, of course, delighted to have Kassandra as her sister, and while still a little scared of Alexios, she brought out a gentleness in him that Kassandra hadn't seen in a long time, if ever. 

Continuing her life as the most dangerous misthios in all of Greece, she maintained her title as captain of the Adrestia, occasionally leaving the ship to her brother as an escape when he needed it. The guilt he felt when he was surrounded by his family, so kind and forgiving, weighed on him in a way that Kassandra knew without him needing to say a word.

She was surprised when she found herself back in Sparta, spending months bouncing between different islands and on the open ocean. An unknown contact reaching out to her once she made port, a Spartan scout hurriedly pressing the letter into her surprised hands before running off just as quickly. It lead her to a familiar battleground in the dead of night, Phobos tied off nearby as she stepped through the trodden sand to meet whoever needed to see her so soon. This was one of the last battles she had against Alexios when he was still under the control of the Cult, and where she had killed Kleon for everything he had done. The salty breeze shifted through the light armour she wore, the shiver brought on by the cold or the memory she wasn't sure. 

Walking closer to the shoreline, she found comfort in being alone even if only for a moment and sat in the sand that had long since lost the sun's warmth. Removing the spear from her back, she gently set the tip into the soft sand, resting her hands on the hilt as she watched the small waves come and go. So lost in the moment she barely heard the footsteps behind her until a familiar voice spoke.

"My eyes must be deceiving me, there is no way that Kassandra of Sparta is having a moment of peace." On her feet in an instant, she whipped around and offered a wide smile and gentle laughter to Brasidas. He held out an arm to her in greeting and was surprised when she launched herself at him, strong arms wrapped around him in a hug.

"We take those moments when we can, Brasidas." She answered coyly, letting go to hold him at arm's length. "It's been months! How have you been? You have to tell me everything!" The younger woman exclaimed, and he gave a hearty laugh in response. Removing himself from her grip he set his sword into the sand before sitting next to where she had been before. She took the unspoken invitation and sat comfortably next to him. 

It was just before dawn when their conversation caught a lull like the waves before them, a still and comfortable silence. They watched each other, and Brasidas found himself gently tracing a scar etched into Kassandra's shoulder. "This one is new," he trailed off, hoping she could give him the story of how anyone could have possibly gotten close enough to hurt her. 

"Do you know the Daughters of Artemis?" She asked, and when he nodded she continued. "Their leader, Daphnae, had tasked me with gathering the pelts of legendary beasts from all across the Greek world and returning them to her. There was this particularly nasty wolf that managed to knock me on my ass a few times. It got a good bite in before I took it down." She smiled softly, almost reverent, and Brasidas couldn't help but encourage more out of her.

"And what happened? After you finished with the task?" He asked, and Kassandra grinned in a way that sent a shiver up his spine.

"In the interest of making a long story short, I became the leader of the Daughters of Artemis." She said so simply as if discussing a meal she had made. Brasidas paused, taken aback. Yet another title to add to her already impressive collection.

"Should you not be there? Leading them?"

"It was all for the sake of propriety, it's more that I'm their leader in title only, I appointed another to take my place in my absence. But, I am free to come and go from their territory as I please." 

"Ah." He said simply, kicking himself for the limited response. They lulled into another comfortable silence, Ikaros' calls sounding off in the distance as dawn broke over the waves. 

"The battle here, that almost ended very differently for you." Kassandra mumbled, her knees tucked to her chest. She looked incredibly vulnerable at that moment, and Brasidas knew she was confiding in him in a way few other saw. 

"It's because of you that I'm still alive. I owe you my life and so much more." He offered gently, and her shoulders shook in quiet laughter. "Although I hardly think you brought it up to be reminded of that." He pressed gently, and she sighed. When she looked up at him again her brow was furrowed tightly, a small line of worry in her otherwise unmarked face.

"And yet I could have lost you that day, all of Sparta could have lost you." She paused, taking a deep breath to calm the desperate notes in her voice. "I don't know what I would have done if my brother had been able to finish what he started, if I'd be able to forgive him." She offered quietly, and Brasidas felt his chest tighten with an emotion he refused to name. 

"Then don't think about it. I'm here, your brother is safe with your family, and nothing will change that," taking a chance, he gently placed his hand on her shoulder, hoping the gesture would bring her some comfort, "I promise you." He offered, voice full of determination as she lifted her gaze to his own. Her heart was pounding, her nerves wound so tight she feared they would snap. While Kassandra was no stranger to indulging in her desires, she didn’t know what to do when she was faced with wanting something more. The older man must have seen the hesitation in her face and he sighed quietly. “I was terrified whenever I saw you on the battlefield, especially when you went against your brother. It’s not every day you meet a Spartan like you, Kassandra. Walking in a world without you in it is the last thing I want.” 

Kassandra’s face grew hot, cheeks stained a dusky pink at his words. “You are very kind, Brasidas, but I’m sure there is more to your life than just me.” She teased gently, masking the longing in her voice. There was no denying her feelings for Brasidas, although she was certain that he did not feel the same. “You’ll have a wife soon enough, the gods only know how many women would want the Great and Honourable Brasidas of Sparta.” She teased, looking back out to the shore. The sun was just starting to peek out over the horizon, painting the sky in soft pinks and yellows. 

“That’s just it,” he began, “I’ve never wanted anyone. I was determined to live my life in service to Sparta, never settling down just continuing my life in the military.” His hand dropped down from her shoulder and Kassandra found herself missing his warmth. “At least, I thought that was the plan. Until I met you.”

Kassandra whipped her gaze back to him, to find him closer than he had been previously, their knees brushing against each other. 

“The day we met, that fight in the warehouse, I’ve never felt a connection like that with anyone in my life.” He continued, his eyes warm with affection. “You’ve become very important to me, Kassandra. I would be incredibly stupid to let you go now.” He said with a boyish grin, and Kassandra only gaped at him, her eyes wide with shock. It wasn’t a grand profession of love and adoration sung from the hills, but it was so overwhelmingly him that her heart ached all the same. He laughed nervously as the silence stretched on, breaking her gaze to run his hand anxiously along his braid. “Of course if you don’t feel the same, there is no pressure. The last thing I want is to make-“

Kassandra cut him off with a hand on his cheek, turning his gaze back to her. “Please, stop talking and kiss me.” She demanded gently, laughter filling her voice. He smiled in return, all boyish with glee. 

Their lips met once, a soft, almost exploratory gesture. Twice, and it was like they both remembered that the other isn’t fragile, filled with the passion and longing they had both pushed so far back it was remarkable that they had even made it this far. 

Brasidas lifted his hands, one curling along her neck under the braid Kassandra never seemed to be without, the other cradling her jawline so gently it made her heart ache. Their lips moved together like they were meant for it, an easy slide that didn’t feel uncomfortable, even as she shifted closer still. Her own hands began to wander, settling on the swell of his chest beneath the armour he still wore. 

He coaxed her lips open with a gentle nip against her lower lip, brushing his tongue against hers that eagerly awaited him. It was so gentle, so soothing in its own way and Kassandra was grateful to not have to rush something for once, to be able to take her time. Heat burned on her cheeks as warmth pooled in her belly, the little flames of desire building in a way that was unique to Brasidas, when they fought together, any time she laid eyes on the man she had the same reaction, she certainly wasn’t losing the opportunity now. 

She tried to muffle the yelp of surprise she gave when he lifted her off the ground just enough to settle her on his lap, her thighs bracketing his own, not even breaking the kiss. Now impossibly close, Kassandra draped her arms around his shoulders, letting herself melt against him. 

Slowly breaking the kiss, Brasidas buried his nose against the crook of her neck, inhaling deeply before pressing a gentle kiss against her skin, grinning at the shudder that ran through her. 

“I’ve wanted this for so long, wanted you.” He admitted quietly, his hands ghosting over her torso to settle on her hips again. “Since the moment we met, you stole my heart. I can't imagine being with anyone but you, if you'll have me." He murmured, lips ghosting against the side of her neck and she had to repress a shiver.

"Always, Brasidas." She answers breathlessly, pressing a kiss against his temple. They held onto each other, content in the moment of peace they found in each other.