#verse. ( where could i rest but in your hurricane? ( married verse. ) )

[dccontramundum]

“anyone touches you, says anything to you, so much as looks at you the wrong way- you come get me, and i’ll set them straight. understand?” ~@galacticforces ((Joan taking him out somewhere with her friends))

MORSE'S STOMACH DOES A FLIP. That makes him feel... something. It definitely shouldn't, but it does. Quickly, he tries to backtrack in his mind, reverse the sudden warm feeling before it takes hold properly.

FOR A START, THAT WON'T HAPPEN. Why would somebody touch him? Why would somebody say something to him? And if they did, he could definitely handle it himself. He doesn't need protecting. If something happens, he'll be fine, because he handles that sort of thing every day at work. Teasing, jokes made at his expense, being looked at in a particular way... he deals with that just fine. Doesn't he?

HE DOES. He knows he does. He ignores it all, from the rolling of eyes to the pointed jabs and cruel teasing about his interests and hobbies. But... hasn't he thought, every now and then, about what it might feel like if someone did say something? As soon as his mind goes there, instead of successfully finding its way back to a normal response, he's burning with shame. Not only does he like what she's just said, but he's thought about it before! To even acknowledge it is excruciating. Morse likes the thought of being defended, being protected. How completely humiliating. He's not supposed to indulge those thoughts when they happen as fleeting wishes or fantasies, never mind when he's supposed to be having a normal conversation with Joan.

THIS ISN'T GOING WELL. His eyes are wide and he's definitely blushing, and he really needs to say something or this silence is going to linger too long. "Well, I'm sure... nobody I know will be there. So..." he trails off. Really? That's the best he can come up with? All he's really done is suggest that if there were people he knows there, then something might happen. Great. "I'll be fine," he clarifies quickly, shaking his head. "But, um, thank you."

[ohsonowyouwantahazel]

welcome to the family madrigal!

"i think your gift is being in denial" DJDBDJFN shut up OMFG

2. if my power was shapeshifting i would literally do the same thing as camilo

3. mirabel miracle woah

4. "married in a hurricane" the songs are genuinely magnificent & i will give credit where it's due even if lin manuel miranda is stinky

5. bruno fixing the cracks from behind the literal walls the metaphors oh god because he's the burnt out prodigy but no one listens to him because his prophecy (pattern recognition) isn't the happy stuff

6. mirabel "causing" the cracks because she leads the family to be weak & let them be vulnerable oh

7. bro bruno is the funniest and CUTIEST PATOOTIEST hush

8. at the isabela solo, is it just me or is mirabel a little annoying? rhdhhff like i understand how much she finds isabela irritating and is so really um? hurt & insecure but something about her mannerisms is kinda off? it's more of an animation problem than mirabel herself (it's the disney quirky girl problem)

9. oh

10. tearing down the old house before you start afresh. oh you have to move on breakdown what was built w pain and pressure if you want to start again oh oh.

11. abuela being an ass but also having her reasons and growing out of it (after destruction ofc and after everything going to shit) is really respectfully done with more than needed humanity and that's just oh man. oh. abuela didn't have anyone to lean on and when she did she didn't remember she could. oh :(

12. oh it's about... settler colonialism survival. oh. how colonialism causes generational trauma by ruining lives and oh god what the fuck

13. disney trying to stop this film and then trying to capitalize on it is so fucking sick i swear

14. the climax is uh a little rushed but I think it's supposed to be symbolic of how if someone heard out abuela & abuela is given a chance to be vulnerable and honest, then the pain can be fixed a little TOGETHER.

15. ohana! ohana means family! it means no one should be left behind!

16. but...... hfhdhfhff..... the way idk abuela should have apologized more >:( but realistic family ig?

17. camilo: not if we don't have house 😑

18. bruno & camilo are comedy gold. luisa may i please serve YOU ma'am you have served ENOUGH! dolores is such a cutie patootie muah muah

19. yk what the whole their gift defines them thing reminds me of? white capitalist culture where you have to bank on your "skill" and it is very, very resident to the foundation of settler colonialism culture because yk capitalising on resources or skills. so when the family learns to not be so tight it literally means they are going back to their routes. woah.

20. BRO I AM GOING TO SOB. THE WHOLE VILLAGE COMES TO HELP THEM BECAUSE THEY HAVE BEEN HELPING THE VILLAGE FOR SO LONG? OH THIS IS SO OH. OH. WE LIVE TOGETHER WE ARE FAMILY WE ARE A CULTURE OH. OH MY GOD. I AM SOBBING?

21. they. they make the doorknob for her because mirabel madrigal the m is for her but the family but her bc she's family im fuck im crying they love her so much and they care about her and it's not just because they got her help but because they finally all broke down their own walls and they could see each other because mirabel saw them you know? oh they love her and my god luisa is so pretty but oh my god im crying

22. you know how she didn't get a door but then at the end she gets the whole house oh 😭😭😭😭

23. i literally love spanish songs omg

24. OMG THAT LIL DETAIL OF LUISA GETTING TO REST

25. THEIR FAMILY PORTRAIT IS SO REALISTIC DJBDHDHF ADORABLE

26. ALSO!!!! MADRIGAL IS A FORM OF SINGING IN WHICH PEOPLE JOIN AFTER EACH VERSE (note to self: learn what it actually means) IT IS SO CLEVER

[pbandcas]

Where the Love Light Gleams

So I took a small break from my Endverse Advent Calendar series to write some Christmas fluff! this is for @diminuel (for inspiring me on Twitter and also for being an absolute omega!Cas supporting treasure)

tags: omega verse, omega!Castiel, Alpha!Dean, mpreg, Jack and Claire are Dean and Castiel's kids, family fluff, proposals, and inappropriate humor, pregnant Castiel, Pregnant Eileen

pairing(s): Dean/Castiel, Sam/Eileen

characters: Dean Winchester, Castiel, Sam Wincheste, Eileen Leahy, Jack Kline, Claire Novak

Read on AO3

Where the Love Light Gleams

Christmas, Dean decided, wasn’t actually so bad anymore. He wasn’t sure if it was the fact that they weren’t constantly moving around and could settle in one place for the holiday. Or if it was because they weren’t constantly fighting for their lives anymore or trying to stop another apocalypse. Or if it was because the bright smell of cloves and honey and sunlight after a storm permeated the air around him. The smell of content, happy omega, the smell of his content, happy omega. Cas was once again rearranging the small pile of gifts under their tree. The rainbow lights reflected soft smears of color in his dark hair. The blues and yellows bringing out his eyes, the reds and greens stained his cheeks and nose. Dean couldn’t help the happy rumble in his chest at the sight. They had only been officially mated for a few months. Cas had just started his pre-heat mood swings and finally demanded Dean either bite him and claim his ass or he’ll go find an alpha who would. Who was Dean to turn down such a romantic request. Now they proudly wore each other's bite and Dean— well Dean had plans.

See being mated, they didn’t have to technically get married. They were already together, till death do them part and all the jazz because as Cas had mentioned many times before, Angels mated for life. Even little Graceless, earthbound Omegas, but Dean wasn’t an Angel. Though he did believe in mating for life, he just— had other customs he wanted as well. Which was why, hidden away in the branches of their Christmas tree was a little black box with a little silver ring inside. “I think if you move them around anymore, the paper will rip and you’ll ruin Christmas.” He said with a slowly widening smile. Cas blinked over his shoulder at him owlishly before he frowned down at the gift in his hands. With a tilt of his head Cas set the thin box down on the very top and sat back on his heels. “I am… nervous.” Cas admitted softly, sadness and anxiety saturated his scent causing Dean to frown. Before he could say anything else though Cas shook his head and pushed himself to stand. With one hand on his hip and the other on his chin, he murmured softly, “I want everything to be perfect.” Rolling his eyes Dean walked up behind him and circled his arms around his mates waist. Propping his chin on Castiel’s shoulder he pressed a soft kiss to his mating bite before peppering more kisses up the side of his neck and up to his temple. “Everything will be, Angel. You worry too much.” Content Omega was back and the Alpha in Dean preened at being the cause of it. “Now come on. Help me finish up cooking before Sam and Eileen get here.” “You are under the assumption they will arrive before Jack and Claire.” Cas shot back with raised brows, an amused smile playing across his lips. “At least your brother and his wife will help cook… your children will not.” True, Jack was always more than happy to help, however, they’d all agreed long ago that he was never allowed in the kitchen. And Claire, well, Claire just didn’t like to help. Dean barked out a laugh at that and he nudged Cas’s cheek with his nose affectionately. “They’re your kids too, honeycake.” He paused for a minute before his grin widened. “She’s not even related to me, but Claire is pretty much a spitting image of me at her age. I love it.” Cas rolled his eyes and wiggled out of Dean’s grasp. “Of course you would. Alphas. I swear.” ————— They managed to get the last pies in the oven as they heard the bunker door open. Instantly loud arguing was heard and Dean shot Cas an amused smirk. “There is no way anyone could go to every house in a single night to deliver presents. Magic reindeer or not.” Claire growled with an eye roll as she sauntered into the kitchen. Jack followed hot on her heels and a wide smile on his face. “But it’s magic, C. Anything can be done with magic.” He turned his happy grin to Dean and Cas where they’d moved from the ovens to come give them hugs. “Isn’t that right, father?” He let Cas wrap him in a tight hug as he waited for Dean to speak. The hunter snorted, gave his o wn hug, then stepped back to ruffle Claire’s hair. The younger alpha groaned and shooed his hand away.

“Well duh.” Dean said in exaggeration, rolling his eyes for extra effect. “How else would there be presents here for you otherwise?” Jack’s face lit up at that and he all but scrambled from the room leaving behind a trail of cinnamon and rain.

“Oh! Are there?” He called excitedly as the door swung shut.

Claire snorted but sent a grin Dean’s way before turning to Castiel. Her face visibly softened as she smiled. “How’ve you been, dad?” Cas let the pleased expression take over as he opened his arms in invitation. To no one's surprise, she took it instantly and wrapped her arms around the omega. Whether she’d admit it or not, both Dean and Cas knew she adored Castiel.

“Busy.” Cas laughed as he pressed a small kiss to her temple before letting her go. “It has been like wrestling a hurricane to keep this one from actively hunting.” He jabbed a thumb over his shoulder at Dean. At Claire’s snort Dean rolled his eyes. “He wouldn’t know what a vacation was if it bit him on the ass.” They both laughed as Dean sputtered in indignation.

“It was a mating leave, Cas. Not a vacation, and after the holidays we’ll be right back at it.” He pointed a warning finger at them both, Cas raised an eyebrow and Claire snickered behind on hand. “Now. I’m going to go make sure the other one hasn’t opened anything yet.” With that he swept from the room, grumbling about ‘cheeky omegas’ and ‘nosy brat alphas.’

The second the door shut Claire whirled on him. “Did you tell him yet?” She demanded practically vibrating in excitement. Cas shushed her with one hand as he peered at the door, making sure her voice hadn’t carried.

“Not yet.”

“Ugh, Daaad.” She whined and crossed her arms over her chest, “What are you waiting on? For him to smell it first?”

Truth be told that had been Castiel’s biggest fear thus far. That Dean would smell it before he had a chance to tell him. He’d managed smothering the change so far but he knew it was just a matter of time. “I’ll be telling him tonight.” He said with a soft smile and happiness rolled off him in waves. “When we do presents.”

“Cas! Claire! Sammy and Eileen are here!”

They shared one last look before Claire clapped a hand on his shoulder and nodded. “I know I’ve said it before, but I’m so happy for you, dad.”

——————

The second the two stepped into the main room Cas was swept up into a hug, his feet barely brushing the floor. Sam’s bright apple smell enveloped him in a content bubble and he couldn’t help the smile from blooming on his face. “Hello, Sam. I trust all has been well?” The tall alpha rumbled out his agreement as he spun them in a half circle. Cas could pick up the second Sam’s nose twitched and his scent grew curious as he scented the air around Cas. “Don’t say anything.” He whispered quickly, eyes glancing up at Dean who’d just released Eileen with a wide grin.

“Come on now man, that one’s mine.” Dean teased as he came over and pulled Sam into a bear hug. Sam rolled his eyes but pat him on the back anyway after letting Cas slip away to greet Eileen.

“So, how’s mated life treating you?” Sam’s shit eating grin grew when Dean’s ears flushed bright red and he mumbled ‘shut up’ under his breath. He was smiling fondly after his omega though. It was all so disgustingly domestic and Sam almost didn’t believe it was actually Dean. “That good then?”

The smell of satisfied alpha washed over them both as Dean turned his gaze back on his brother. “It’s been amazing, Sammy. Like. Seriously,” His eyes jumped to where Cas and Eileen were now excitedly talking to Jack. The young beta was showing them something on his phone and they couldn’t hear what exactly they were talking about but it was clearly entertaining. From the other side of the room Claire was poking around with a CD player, her tongue poking out of the side of her mouth in concentration. “I’m happy, man.”

There was a triumphant sound as Claire managed to get the music to turn on and instantly ‘It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas’ started filtering through the room. Beside him Sam smiled, “That’s good, Dean. That’s really good.” He patted him on the back once and then, “You deserve this. You deserve each other.”

“Enough about me.” Dean said in embarrassment, “How are you and Eileen doing? It’s been a while since we’ve gotten together.” He looked over the dark haired woman where she now sat beside Castiel in front of the tree, her hands resting lightly over her protruding stomach. “She’s looking quite… large.”

Sam scoffed with a smile. “She’s pregnant, Dean, you know that, of course she’s large.” The expression turned fond and the apple scent around them sweetened. “Things are going really well. Just hit six months and the little bugger is super active.” The almost longing look on Dean’s face made Sam’s heartache. His brother had always been the more pup oriented of the two. Always talking about wanting to settle down and raise a family. “Have you and Cas talked about… you know… having pups?”

Dean didn’t say anything for a long moment and then, “Sometimes.” His voice was distant as he watched the two omegas laugh quietly as Claire plopped down beside Cas, her feet instantly coming up to rest on his lap. “Though it’s usually when he’s in heat and begging me to--”

“Oh ew, Dean! No, don’t even. I don’t need to know that.” Dean gave him a wolfish grin and waggled his eyebrows but the effect was lost when his scent dampened. “Mating habits aside,” He groaned, face twisting in disgust, “Have you talked about it while both of you are lucid?” Dean only shrugged and Sam pursed his lips, one eyebrow raised, “Why not, Dean?”

“Because I don’t know if he’d actually want a pup with me.” He shot back, the air burning around him, causing Sam’s nose to wrinkle. The next second the strong soothing smell of honey overtook them. Both blinked dazedly as Castiel popped up to wrap himself around Dean, his face pinched in a frown as he scented at his mate.

Looking up Dean, Cas pressed a hand against his mating bite. “You are distressed. Why are you distressed?” Turning to the younger Winchester he frowned, “What did you do?” Sam put his hands up and shook his head with a laugh.

“Nothing, Cas. We were just having a conversation.”

“Well, time for conversation is done. It’s time for food.” With that he turned on his heel and stalked away toward the table currently being set with food by Jack and Claire. Dean shot his brother a long suffering look that was only mildly put off by soft pine. They’d talk about it again later. He knew that, but for now he followed his omega toward the rest of their family.

——————

“Oh my God.” Claire burst out with a laugh as she pulled out a pair of soft looking pajama pants from the box Jack had handed her. They were bright yellow and covered in little cheeseburgers and she grinned at Jack, “These a fuckin beautiful.”

From the couch Cas ‘tutted’, “Language.” Claire rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out at Cas before turning back to Jack and giving him a hug. The cheeseburger pants grasped tightly in her hands as she rubbed the back of his head affectionately.

“Thanks, J.”

Jack seemed to preen under the praise as he said brightly, “They match Dean’s hotdog pants!”

Dean nodded approvingly as he eyeballed the bright pants, “That they do.” He turned slightly toward Cas and nudged his side, “You and Jack need a pair now. I’m thinking fries for the kid,” Jack’s face lit up as Dean tossed him a box he had at his side. Not breaking eye contact with his mate he smiled, “Great minds think alike, ya?” Dropping his voice lower he muttered, “Soda’s for you, my little juice box.” Cheeks instantly burning Cas looked away from him, wide eyed and mouth gone dry.

As Jack pulled out the red pants covered in fries, Claire handed Castiel an almost identical box. Cas frowned, his face still burning at Dean’s comment, at the box in his hands then glanced between the two, “You planned this.” Dean shrugged, smirk firmly in place as Cas opened the box and pulled out dark blue pants covered in soda cups, the straws each a rainbow of colors. “Did you pick them out?” He asked Claire tentatively, alarm raising as the two alphas looked at each other with matching smirks.

The look was all he needed to know before he was wishing the floor would open up and swallow him whole. Sam and Eileen cackled on the love seat and Castiel shot them a glare. “You are all terrible people.” Sam shrugged one shoulder as he wheezed through his laughter, Eileen patting his back while stifling her own giggles.

Beside him Dean let out a soothing rumble and nuzzled against his cheek. “Oh come on, honeycake, it’s all in good fun.” Cas huffed, but let himself be soothed at the same time. The rest of the presents were handed out. New matching knit sweaters for Sam and Eileen from Jack and Claire. A new rifle for Claire, much to Castiel’s displeasure. A new laptop for Jack. A card from Cas to Eileen that neither alpha knew what it said but there were tears and hugs and happy smiles.

Then Dean was raising to his feet and grabbing something hidden away in the uppermost branches of their tree. He cleared his throat and all eyes around the room snapped up to him. First on the box in his hand, then to his content smile and crinkled eyes and the rainbow lights haloing his blonde hair. Jack’s head tilted in confusion as Claire choked on her cocoa, eyes widening.

Happy honey and cloves flooded the room instantly as Dean took another two steps forward before falling to one knee in front of where Castiel was still perched on the couch. “I know you know what this is and what’s going on… so do I still have to say it?” Cas nodded quickly, voice catching in his throat.

“Dean! Of course you do!”

“Shut your face before I take your shit back.” Dean wagged a threatening finger at Claire who snickered back. Turning back to his mate he huffed, but he smiled again anyway, “I love you, Cas. You know I do, and I’m happy to be your mate. Always.” Castiel bit his bottom lip as his eyes sparkled with flecks of brilliant gold amongst ocean blue. “But I’d be even happier if you’d be my husband.”

In lieu of answering Cas merely launched himself off the couch and tackled Dean to the ground. Both of them laughing as their mouths clashed together, none too gently and their family cheered around them. “So that a yes?” Dean murmured against Castiel’s lips after a moment of kissing him soundly.

Cas pulled back enough to give a small, soft lick to the mating bite on Dean’s neck before he nodded. “Yes. Of course yes.”

——————

The night was just starting to wind down when Claire gave Cas a pointed look in the kitchen as they were refilling their mugs that Dean didn’t miss. From his spot in the chair he raised an eyebrow at the silent standoff. Finally it seemed that Cas won when Claire threw her hands in the air, grabbed her, Jack and Eileen’s mugs and stormed out to rejoin the others.

Dean watched Cas shake his head in exasperation before he picked up Dean and Sam’s mugs. He passed Sam his on the way past, the younger Winchester took it with a soft thank you. Pausing briefly by the tree Castiel picked up a small thin box that everyone had noticed, but hadn’t mentioned. Stopping beside Dean’s chair he held out the cup in one hand and the box in the other. Dean furrowed his brows when Castiel’s scent turned apprehensive and he quickly turned away to go back to the kitchen.

As Cas picked up his cocoa and took a large sip, eyes nervously on Dean’s face, waiting for his reaction before quickly flitting away. There was a slight rustle as he slipped the wrapping paper off, then cardboard coming apart, then… silence. One beat. Two. Then the wobbly sound of photo paper moving against itself.

Taking a deep breath, Cas held his mug tightly between his hands and wandered back over to stand behind Dean’s chair. He hadn’t dared to look at his alpha’s face yet but he watched mesmerized as his fingers trailed over the black and white photo almost reverently. “This-- Cas?” Licking his lips, Cas leaned over the back of the chair to wrap his arms around Dean’s shoulders.

He was still staring at the sonogram when he whispered, “Cas... is this…” He broke off, hand starting to shake slightly. Cas let his scent soften enough that faint vanilla could come through the fresh rain and honey. He pressed a gentle kiss against his alpha’s temple and when he smiled he knew Dean could feel it too.

“That’s your pup, Dean.” The cocoa was dangerously close to tipping but neither of them noticed as the scent of joyous alpha saturated the air. “Merry Christmas.”

—————

Curled around his omega later that night the enormity of it sunk in all at once. With a feather light touch Dean pressed his hand against the Angel’s lower abdomen. The softly content answering purr told him Castiel was still awake, though he was completely pliant in Dean’s arms.

Stroking his fingers over the still flat plane of Castiel’s stomach Dean pressed his face into the hair at the nape of his neck. “That’s our pup.” Dean breathed in amazement, heart threatening to rip from his chest with how hard it was beating. “That’s our pup.”

Christmas, Dean decided, wasn’t actually so bad anymore. He has officially decided it was because of the bright smell of cloves and honey and vanilla wrapped in sunlight after a storm.

[officialleotolstoy]

Oh Dolokhov/Hélène Brainrot We’re Really In It Now, aka Dolokhov/Hélène playlist annotations!

I stole several songs from a playlist my friends have and I’m not gonna put those on this list, I won’t pretend I came up with those

The ship playlists (since they aren’t for canon couples) are very much based on my headcanons. We don’t get to see them interact literally ever so I’ve just extrapolated what I can. Several of these songs are at least alluding to sex, I don’t really think they actually slept together for various reasons I can enumerate if someone asks, but it’s more about the vibes of the song.

Casual Affair - Panic! At The Disco

It’s literally in the title. Bestie how much more explanation do you need? I don’t even like this song but it’s got the right energy

Those Nights - Bastille

“Aren’t we all just looking for a little bit of hope these days? Looking for somebody you can wake up with?”

Being drawn to each other because of mutual loneliness is a Thing in my interpretation of their relationship, and this hits the nail on the head.

But It’s Better If You Do - Panic! At The Disco

“Praying for love and paying in naïveté”

Again, mutual loneliness and desperation for anything resembling love. Also the “isn’t this exactly where you like me” bit fits because they won’t admit to liking each other outside of their weird intimate moments.

Hurricane - Panic! At The Disco

“Drop our anchors in a storm”

The circumstances of their lives arent super fun at the moment so they find refuge in each other but in a very weird kind of unhealthy way! “We are a hurricane” sort of alludes to knowing that you’re causing problems/your relationship isn’t great.

Almost (Sweet Music) - Hozier

“I’m almost me again, she’s almost you”

It’s about not really being In Love but kind of convincing yourself you are because it makes you feel better in the circumstances. I don’t think either of them were fully into their relationship for various reasons. Not as in they didn’t want the other, more that they were both too aware it would never work for long.

Hall & Oates - Satchmode

“I want to be in love again, with you”

This one’s about wanting the idea of love and companionship more than you actually like the other person, which I feel like kind of fits. This song is framed as one person in love with the other and one hesitating, but i think this works for both of them to hesitate.

Feel Something - Jaymes Young

“Touch me, someone, I’m too young to feel so numb”

The I have tried like six times and I can’t word why I think this song works. I don’t even like it, I skip it every time, but I think it’s got something to do with loneliness and desperation for love driving them to look for it in places they wouldn’t normally? Who knows. Send me an ask if u do.

Another Place - Bastille

“Don’t make promises to me that you’re gonna break”

They could never actually be together for SO many reasons and I think they’re both pretty aware of that. They have no desire to pretend that their relationship is anything other than what it is (“we only ever wanted one thing from this”).

When You Were Young - The Killers

“You sit there in your heartache, waiting on some beautiful boy to save you”

I do not think Hélène expected Dolokhkov to save her from anything except maybe monotony and loneliness, but this song slaps and if I can stretch the lyrics to work, I will

broken - lovelytheband

“I could be lonely with you”

Almost every song on here (including this one) is just. We’re messed up and I know we won’t really find love in each other but we might find solace for a while and be less lonely so uhhhhh wanna kiss me or what

Bleed Magic - I DONT KNOW HOW BUT THEY FOUND ME

“You stand up, stand up, before I drag you down”

They are NOT good for each other! Toxic relationships uwu

Sweater Weather - The Neighbourhood

I believe in bi4bi Hélène/Dolokhov

Enemy Fire - Bea Miller

“Sweet words from a serpent’s tongue”

This song is kinda complicated and parts of it don’t fit but the energy of “everything sucks including you but at least we can hide from the suckiness together” is sorta there. Originally I just added it for the soldier vibes because I was testing out songs but I realized i can fit some of the lyrics so on the playlist it goes

Angel of the Small Death and the Codeine Scene - Hozier

“Her sweetened breath and her tongue so mean”

They are horrible and cold to each other as a love language. This song is essentially just “Wow my evil scary gf is so hot” and you’re right Fyodor. She is.

Shut Up and Dance - WALK THE MOON

I won’t lie this one’s mostly a joke, I just think the vibes of telling someone to shut up as (maybe because) you’re falling in love with them is Dolokhov/Hélène energy. Ignore all the parts about wanting to be with her forever and her being his destiny that is not why I added it.

Lone Ranger - Rachel Platten

“I’m just gonna leave, ‘cause baby I’m a lone ranger”

I do not think Dolokhov was intending to stay with her forever at all. Very rude of him. However, she probably also knew it wouldn’t last forever, she’s not stupid.

House of Memories - Panic! At The Disco

“Promise me a place in your house of memories”

This is very much post-duel, their relationship has fizzled out but it was pretty important (do I mean emotionally or to the plot? I’ll never tell) and deserves to be remembered.

American Beauty/American Psycho - Fall Out Boy

“I’m the best worst thing that hasn’t happened to you yet”

SO MANY of these lyrics are so good for them like. Hélène’s beautiful Dolokhov’s a psycho... “you take the full truth and you pour some out” can you imagine them being open and honest with each other? Yeah, me neither. “We were pity sex” They were just sad and lonely! That was what allowed anything to happen at all in my head (not sex but bear with me it’s not my fault those are the lyrics). “All those dirty thoughts of me, they were never yours to keep” because Hélène is married to someone else, they really have no right to think of each other that way.

Sk8er Boi - Avril Lavigne

“He wasn’t good enough for her”

UNIRONICALLY THIS SONG. Hélène’s complaints about Dolokhov staying with them are just the quoted lyric. “They had a problem with his baggy clothes” yeah Dolokhov’s not as rich and bougie and the rest of them and he’s certainly rough around the edges. And then the skater boy ending with a successful music career vs Dolokhov ending with a successful military career and a great reputation and both the women in the songs having sad endings...I’m not wrong.

Headfirst Slide Into Cooperstown On A Bad Bet - Fall Out Boy

“Does your husband know the way that the sunshine gleams from your wedding band?”

The affair vibes. The AFFAIR VIBES. And the concept of “I will never end up like him [the husband]/ behind my back I already am” in reference to using Hélène and deciding he hates her right after deciding she’s hot...okay! I see you kinning Pierre, Dolokhov. You ARE being just like her husband :/

You Give Love A Bad Name - Bon Jovi

“Shot through the heart and you’re to blame”

This is just Dolokhov’s massive I Hate Women monologue condensed. Stop blaming beautiful women for YOUR attraction to them maybe 🔫

Death Valley - Fall Out Boy

“Don’t take love off the table yet”

This is not a table sex joke this is not a table sex joke this is not a table sex joke this is n-

I didnt add it for that reason it was about a vibe but then. I realized. Now the original reason doesn’t even matter.

Nobody Puts Baby In The Corner - Fall Out Boy

“I’ll be your best kept secret and your biggest mistake”

Tell me the quoted lyric does not SCREAM Hélène/Dolokhov. You can’t. Also “I’ll weigh you down I’ll watch you choke/You look so good in blue” really captures hatred as a love language.

This is Love - Air Traffic Controller

Ok I stole this from my friends’ playlist but I did want to explain it because it’s not JUST Dolokhov and Hélène in my mind. The whole jealous fool second verse gives me Pierre around the duel energy as well

Bad Boy - Cascada

“Be my weekend lover but don’t be my friend”

Bernie Sanders voice I am once again asking you to hear me out about the unironic meme songs on my War and Peace character playlists. It’s got the refusal to admit that she actually likes hanging out with him down. The line “after some time you just pushed me aside” referring to Dolokhov teasing Pierre about their affair because he got bored. “I dont need you in my life again”...YEAH I’m fairly sure they dont interact in canon again after that.

Hayloft - Mother Mother

“My daddy’s got a gun”

This song started playing on accident once when I was listening to this playlist and I was like huh. It fits though. The gun thing is twofold: 1) Though he is not her father, Pierre does have a gun in the duel and 2) I think Vassily would happily shoot Dolokhov for his relationships with Vassily’s kids. It’s also just the general forbidden love vibes mixed with the violence vibes.

affection - BETWEEN FRIENDS

“I’m looking for affection in all the wrong places and we’ll keep falling on each other to fill the empty spaces”

Have I been clear enough about my thesis that their relationship is based in mutual loneliness? Also, I like the acknowledgment that this is in fact the wrong place. I think they’re both very aware of that.

Walk Away - Franz Ferdinand

“Yes I’m cold but not as cold as you are”

This song is for them post-duel. Especially the “I cannot stand to see those eyes as apologies may rise/I must be strong, stay an unbeliever” because 1) I hear the word eyes, I think of Dolokhov and 2) I think she’s too smart to believe any apology he would give her, she knows he doesn’t really mean it. The song kinda reads as someone trying to convince themselves they’re happy that the relationship is over, which I think is definitely what happens for both of them.

Van Horn - Saint Motel

“Tell me do you hate me? Or do you wanna date me?”

Obsessed with the dynamic of “I like you but that’s embarrassing for both of us I’m gonna act like I hate you instead”

[theonyxpath]

Hi, folks. Eric and Robert have sent along a new preview from Dragon-Blooded: What Fire Has Wrought — House Tepet!

RY 765

I’ve a soft spot for fellow soldiers, and I suppose you did come all this way. Fine. I’ll tell you about killing Anathema. Not Jochim — I’ll wager that copy of the Thousand Correct Actions of the Upright Soldier in your pack is dog-eared on that section. Wipe that look off your face, Swift. I don’t need Mela’s wisdom to know your type.

Fear-Eater was a Deceiver. He didn’t have the talent Jochim or the Bull had, of training men to be fierce and fearless in weeks, so he took a more literal view of things. Fear-Eater was a shaman before he was Anathema, well-versed in the language of spirits. They taught him some of their tricks, including one he showed off to me during a parlay, where he reached into a man’s head and heart and actually drew out the fears in bunches of spiked purple fruits on twisted vines. Take a guess as to what he did then. When he smiled, his teeth were lacquered a dark purple.

The Anathema’s real skill as a general lay in building coalitions. Fear-Eater cut deals with forest gods, spirits of disease and murder, and the Mammoth Avatar. He was damn subtle about it — we didn’t know about the Bull’s alliances until a hundred-foot mammoth god charged our lines. We’d have days of hit-and-runs from hostile spirits before Dragon-Blooded could respond and fight them equally. Our quartermasters spouted wounds in their sleep and our supply trains fell to improbable sickness, rotting in the sun. I pulled the Tepet yamabushi together, told them to show the Deceiver we could play that game better.

The year after Fear-Eater loosed his allies on us, we knew the campaign was lost. We’d smashed the Bull’s van at Fallen Lapis, led him and that witch through that city (which we then burned to the ground), took her arm and broke the back of their supply lines. It was a bloody nose to save face, and we all knew it. After that the Bull relied on the spirit alliances to harass us while we withdrew. Fear-Eater pinned down our rear guard at Futile Blood. The moment I was on the scene, the Bull slammed our front and flanks with a fresh van.

I saw Fear-Eater, eclipse-mark flaring on his brow and body lit by a corona, fetishes orbiting him in a whirl, throwing his facial scar-tattoos into sharp relief. He relied on sheer power to fight, but he’d never faced the hurricane before. He saw me, ducked past the fire-wreathed blade of my Hearthmate, and smiled that sly purple smile of his. “Doesn’t matter what happens now,” he said. “Yurgen will snap your soldiers like dead branches.” He pinned Tepet Nezurin with subtle magics, punched through jade armor like water and consumed her heart with a fiery mandala of sunlight. “Maybe,” I answered through the sorrow of losing a Hearthmate, “Jochim said that before I took his head, and he was twice the fucking soldier you are. How will you fare?”

My other Hearthmate was on the scene then, whispering Essence and giving me back the strength of the Dragons I’d lost twisting Fear-Eater’s words to his army. He tried to catch the blade, but Jochim tried the same trick once, and it didn’t work then either — they both had spent too much killing my Hearthmates and I made them pay for it. Air finds a gap, and my grandfather’s daiklave found the one between tendon and bone. I buried the blade in his clavicle, wrenched it free easy as a summer’s breeze, then ruined the lovely view of his surprised face with my fist. Then I took his head, stopped to savor the look of fear in his eyes after his flaring anima guttered and winked out in death.

Then I heard the roar from the front, turned to see our lines shattering in the light of three suns, and truly I wish I’d had his damned fruit trick then.

House Tepet—Air Stained By the Blood of Legions

House Tepet is a house of heroes, born from the Scarlet Empress’ blood, but named for her consort Tepet. He was her enemy before he was her lover, a warrior-poet and heir to a fallen Shogunate kingdom that warred against her early in her reign. He sought to prove his claim as shogun through conquest of the Imperial City, and asked only that the Scarlet Empress spare his soldiers after he failed. Impressed by Tepet’s bravery, strategic insight, and unshakable honor, she took him as her consort instead, and adopted his kin into the Realm. In time, she elevated his family line into a Great House with him at its head.

The house’s martial triumphs stand testament to the Empress’ wisdom. Its Melaist traditions and spiritual practices were passed down from their founder, teaching that the warrior’s path is the road to enlightenment. The house’s scions strive not only for strength, but excellence, distinguishing themselves from Dynastic peers through military leadership. The Tepet legions were deemed mightiest in the Realm, rivaling even House Cathak’s and the Imperial legions themselves, and celebrated for defeating many of the Empress’ greatest foes. When they marched against the Anathema called the Bull of the North three years ago, they expected another shining victory. Instead they suffered a devastating defeat, losing many of their greatest heroes and a full quarter of their Dragon-Blooded scions.

Any respect owed House Tepet died with its legions. Now, the idiot Tepet Fokuf sits as regent, a cruel reminder of the house’s chances at the throne. Defeat has left them weak; that weakness hangs over the house like a curse. Many await the house’s fall — like Manosque or Akiyo before it — considering it little more than a ghost. Others sympathize with House Tepet, but sympathy begets no alliances. Taking a Tepet husband is akin to taking in a mangy stray; marrying into the house incites wild rumors of covered-up scandals or hidden depravities.

Raised from childhood expecting to attain positions of power and martial glory, House Tepet’s scions now belong to a house that might not exist tomorrow. They face this perpetual doomsday as their bloodline always has: as warriors.

Ancient Ways

House Tepet follows a martial tradition older than the Realm, preserving spiritual disciplines of the Shogunate lost in other histories. The two most prominent of these are the sublime armigers and the yamabushi. Its sublime armigers draw power from the history and legacy of House Tepet’s heirlooms, taking up a revered ancestor’s legendary artifact in emulation of her virtues. Yamabushi scout ahead of legions on the march, striking pacts with local gods to secure strategic advantages. Most armigers and yamabushi served within the Tepet legions, leaving few surviving practitioners.

House Economics

The Tepet legions were their house’s greatest source of wealth. The Empress rewarded House Tepet for imposing peace on unruly satrapies and securing the Realm’s Northern holdings with a sizable stipend, the dragon’s share of which was invested in the legions’ upkeep and expansion.

House Tepet never fielded its legions as mercenaries, but their prowess was famed across Creation. Tepet generals and strategists charged hinterland nations heavily to train, arm, and advise their armies. The ghost-faced warriors of Ithen marched with the Imperial legions against the Weeping Princes; the traitorous Five Thrones Hearth was brought down by Tepet-trained resistance fighters within their own capital; Mogg the Devourer and her crocodilefolk brood were turned back by the Devil Quag marsh tribes before they reached the Empress’ soil.

Now, House Tepet’s economy is in ruin. The Great Houses divided Tepet’s most valuable satrapies up amongst themselves in exchange for debts forgiven or under the pretense of compensating for Tepet’s military absence. While House Tepet still administers these satrapies on paper, their tributes are reaped by other houses, chiefly Sesus and Ragara. Of Tepet’s holdings, only Medo still pays their tribute of janissaries, largely because of satrap Tepet Niruz’s bloody-minded persistence. The rest have fallen to other houses, who mistakenly believe the mighty warriors subdued by the Tepet legions have lost their will to resist.

House Tepet made few investments in non-military ventures. When the cost of maintaining its legions rose higher than its stipend could support, it resorted to taking sizable loans and conceding lucrative enterprises to other houses. The few it still controls include metal-works, silk farms, and almost-exhausted mines of marble, gems, and jade. House Tepet clings desperately to these, knowing that if they’re lost, so is the house.

House Military

Tepet scions strive to emulate the mythical warrior-hero Mela in their earliest childhood sparring bouts. They’re trained in weaponry from an early age, often by mortal veterans who served under their mother or an aunt. A Tepet learns to read from the pages of the Thousand Correct Actions, and trains for command through conducting war games and riding alongside older relatives. A Tepet formally concludes her childhood study of war when she chooses a code of honor exemplifying her warrior’s path. Many aspire to the house’s valor and selflessness, but a warrior’s code is ultimately hers to choose.

Once a Tepet chooses her code, it’s not enough to simply fight — she must lead. She’s expected to epitomize her code through martial attainments, inspiring her soldiers with her virtue just as Mela illustrates the nature of the ideal warrior to the Dragon-Blooded. Tepet parents put considerable effort into securing their child an officer’s rank in the house legions or the Imperial legions when a position opens.

The Battle of Futile Blood left House Tepet only half a legion’s worth of rank and file soldiers, and fewer officers. When the Great Houses partitioned the legions, they salted the wound by burdening Tepet with the Vermilion (or “Red-Piss”) Legion, an army of bandits, criminals, and drunkards. Only House Cathak objected, respecting the prowess of Tepet’s leaders enough to recognize the threat posed by even a single legion.

Command of the Red-Piss Legion was given to Tepet Ejava, the Roseblack. Once an Imperial legion officer, she resigned that commission to serve her house. Under the Roseblack’s leadership and training, the Red-Piss Legion has hunted pirates, subdued rebellions in the few remaining Tepet satrapies, and fought the mindless puppets of Kejiza the Centipede Witch. Outmatched by the other houses’ sheer numbers, it may yet be House Tepet’s salvation.

Many Paths to Honor

Tepet children are raised as warriors, but aren’t forced into military service. A minority seek other vocations — bureaucrats, artisans, philosophers, sorcerers. There’s no shame in this, so long as they aspire to preeminence, but their kin will always hold them to a warrior’s standards. A poet earns acclaim if her words command the hearts of disciples, but even the most puissant sorcerer invites disdain if his triumphs come without honor or leadership. Since the fall of the Tepet legions, many of the house’s most prominent scions are those who turned their talents to vocations outside the military, whose efforts to secure the house’s future have won them acclaim approaching that of its fallen war heroes.

Enemies and Alliances

Each Great House played a part in the downfall of House Tepet, plotting its demise or profiting from its ruin. House Tepet knows it cannot survive if it opposes the entire Realm. Marriages have become scarce, save for the occasional outcaste and with House Nellens, whose matchmakers delight at procuring scions of refined pedigree without competition from other houses.

House Sesus profited most from House Tepet’s decline, gaining lucrative access to Tepet’s Northen satrapies. This is no coincidence. Sesus spymasters undermined the legions marching against the Bull. They’ve continued sabotaging potential alliances between Tepet and other houses to ensure Tepet remains powerless. The other houses tacitly approved of this, with the expectation that House Sesus would shoulder debts that House Tepet can no longer repay. Whatever backroom dealings secured thusly have fallen through, as House Sesus refuses to acknowledge the Tepet loans, flouting admonishments from House Ragara and other creditors.

House Cathak and House Tepet shared mutual respect based on military might, but this ended when the Cathak legions failed to march to House Tepet’s aid against the Bull once the true danger of the Anathema’s forces was revealed. House Sesus’ scheming was expected, but for Cathak to prove honorless was a much more profound betrayal. House Cathak has refused all overtures of alliance from the Tepets and has blocked all efforts to rebuild Tepet’s military forces. If a Tepet were to make a bid for the throne backed by house legions, Cathak would be the first to move against them.

House Tepet isn’t completely alone. House Nellens has made tempting overtures of a military coalition, providing the troops and financing that House Tepet so desperately lacks. More gravely, senior military officers, house matriarchs, and other influential Tepets have received entreaties from the fallen House Iselsi, presenting a straightforward offer: Join forces against the other houses and claim bloody revenge. Such an alliance would be abhorrent to all notions of honor, but there are grudges to settle and deaths to avenge. Some Tepets may not let the chance for a final reckoning slip from their hands.

Major Holdings

House Tepet’s family stronghold sits in the ancient Shogunate capital of Lord’s Crossing. House leadership is confused and unstable after the disastrous campaign against the Bull. Tepet Usala, then commander of the Tepet legions and house matriarch, fell at the Anathema’s hands. The Tepet family heads have formed a ruling council that meets in Usala’s manse, the owl-haunted Pagoda of Blood and Pearls. The council’s power is shared, but only because no one has risked a decisive grab for power. They play subtle games of influence through younger scions instead, maintaining their honor even as they plot each other’s betrayal.

The Vale of Reverie’s unspoiled wilderness, touched by primeval magic, is a place where the world of spirits draws closer to that of mortals. Small gods drift through the wild as luminous, ephemeral presences, while packs of elementals flourish. Dragon-Blooded are welcome in the Vale by ancient edict of the Worm-Eaten Woman, an ancient and enigmatic spirit who claims kinship with them. Tepet children are brought here for their first lessons on spirits, and return throughout their lives to meditate, pray, and pursue spiritual cultivation.

Most of House Tepet’s satrapial holdings have been lost to other houses. The fortified capital city Dezsofi still juts from the heart of Medo, its gates held by mixed regiments of Tepet soldiers and Medoans, but other satrapies offer meager tribute at best and outright rebellion at worst.

Faraway Ithen remains independent from the Realm, but agreed to treaties of non-aggression and commercial exchange after Tepet military advisors coordinated the overthrow the Weeping Princes and restored their hereditary tyrant to power. In the Empress’ absence, House Tepet hopes to secure Ithen’s loyalty and might for themselves.

Scions of Note

Tepet lies buried at Lord’s Crossing in a tomb of unmelting ice. His deeds are legend among his house — a warrior so noble he won the Empress’ heart even in defeat; the greatest general to test the Imperial City’s defenses; a pious devotee of Mela respected by god and devil alike.

Tepet Orino, a muscular, black-skinned Dynast, is the woman people go to in order to make things happen. Supreme quartermaster of the Tepet legions during their doomed campaign in the North, the devastation of the high command and the respect given her by the rank and file left her the de facto house matriarch and the best candidate to take control of the house legions’ finances. They’re the dregs of a fortune, but nevertheless represent one of the house’s greatest assets. Orino is hell-bent on rebuilding the house legions, but can’t force a majority in the council of house elders. She relies on traded favors, seeking out young Dynasts whose ambitions for glory align with her agenda.

Tepet Arada, the Wind Dancer, has gone from living legend to black sheep of the house. He rose through the Tepet legions to the rank of general, an exemplar of both ideal soldier and ideal warrior. Arada survived the Battle of Futile Blood and slew the Anathema Fear-Eater, but returned changed. Some thought he might take up leadership of the house. Instead he’s grown cynical, trading his daiklave for a gourd of rice wine, his belief in the Realm shattered. However, Arada’s withdrawal shouldn’t be mistaken for weakness. Should civil war break out, he’d tear the Realm apart to protect his family.

Satrap Tepet Niruz holds Medo with a cornered wolf’s ferocity. House Cathak’s offers to “reinforce” the satrapy and House Sesus’s subterfuge would long since have wrested it away from House Tepet were it not for this tenacity. A deadly archer, Niruz openly forswears gender, neither man nor woman, for their warrior code emphasizes truth to one’s self above conforming to the expectations of others. While scions of other houses find this strange or scandalous, Niruz’s Tepet kin would never question their adherence to their code.

Tepet Berel Gadurin is one of the Realm’s most celebrated playwrights. He won his reputation with passionate romances and cleverly crafted comedies, but since the Battle of Futile Blood, he’s turned his attention to creating works of propaganda, seeking to influence prominent figures in the Realm with a predilection for drama with heartbreaking tragedies of warriors sacrificing themselves in the name of love and honor.

[dccontramundum]

[ irresistable ] sender taunts receiver by easing closer, promising a kiss, and then backing away, making receiver chase their lips - @galacticforces

SHE'S SO PRETTY. He's feeling smitten tonight. Not that he isn't always, but tonight is the first night he's been home at a reasonable time in a week or so, and he's missed having time to just be with Joan terribly. He's been gazing at her from his end of the sofa all evening, hanging on her every word, and when she begins to ease closer, he smiles in anticipation of a kiss and leans in. And in. And further in. And still, he doesn't meet her lips. Morse makes an affronted noise, suddenly off-balance, opening his eyes wide to stare at her. Such betrayal! He gives chase quickly, moving into her space to try and steal the kiss, insistently affectionate.

[dccontramundum]

@galacticforces asked: ❛ so good for me. look how much you came. keep that up and this kid may just come out a redhead. ❜ ~galacticforces, Joan

HE MUST BE SO TRANSPARENT. She's learning him easily, it seems, to have gotten so good so quickly at knowing what turns him on. If his body was physically capable of it so soon, he'd be hard again right now. Morse doesn't look at how much he came. He's definitely made a mess, and he's revealed several things about himself this evening in doing so. The fact that being praised and being teased do something for him, for one. Although he's already finished, there is one more thing his body seems intent on revealing about him -- he doesn't like for things to come to any sort of sudden stop. He likes a lot of stimulation, and he doesn't like it going from everything to nothing all at once. Morse is still draped half-over her. He's feeling relaxed enough not to stop himself from gently rocking against her side, little movements that serve to rub his whole body against hers, his face buried in her neck, even though he knows she'll notice. "You wouldn't want that," he mumbles, choosing not to respond to the parts of what she's just said that are making him blush. It's one of many methods he has for trying to avoid her noticing when he likes something. "My genes. Not... not good."

[dccontramundum]

@galacticforces / for joan / married verse

IT COMES A LITTLE OUT OF NOWHERE. They've been talking about family, and how they might want to introduce the baby to them. And he's been thinking about saying it, this horrible thing he wants to say, for the last ten minutes. He's considered trying to imply it, say something like 'it would be best if we don't visit my family', or 'it would be easier to just focus on your family, for now, until they're older'. In the end, though, none of his ideas say it strongly enough. There's no other way he can say it without losing the meaning and the significance. He can't suggest it, can't slide it in like a side thought, tangential. He has to just say it. So, he does. "I don't want you or the baby to meet my stepmother. Ever. Even when they're older." 

THERE IT IS. Morse takes a breath, and carries on. "As... as their parent," which is a strong word, and one he hasn't felt confident enough to use until now, "I don't want Gwen anywhere near them. I can't tell you what to do, but... I can ask." He doesn't like asking anything of her so decisively. He prefers to suggest, or just deny himself without saying anything to her about it. But this... this, he has to ask. "Please don't ever arrange any sort of a meeting with her." He isn't looking at her. Can't look at her. "She was awful to me from the very beginning, when my only offence was having a dead mother and a father she was married to, and being too young to go and live on my own. She begrudged me every scrap of food I ate and every breath I took of the air in her house. I can't know for sure exactly what she would say to you, or to our child, but I do know that there would be constant criticism, and that she would try to make you feel small. Gwen isn't kind. Being young would not protect our child."