Tumgik
#which is a very clever grace note here
Text
Tumblr media
i have a special place in my heart for "show don't tell" storytelling, especially in comic books. comics are a visual medium!
#tim drake#jack drake#comic ref in description#this is the last panel of the comic#and something i really like about it is that i feel like... it has a certain amount of respect for the reader?#you might not notice/get the irony of the batsignal showing up behind them#and the way the batsignal foreshadows that actually this /isn't/ a resolved happy ending#because the conflict between bruce and jack - and more directly between tim's values/priorities vs. his dad's -#hasn't actually been resolved even though they're both sorry and hugging#which means the conflict will inevitably occur again and again and again#which is a very clever grace note here#but if you don't notice that's okay! the comic isn't panicking trying to spell it out for you#if you catch it it's fine and if you don't catch it that's also fine#it has something that i really like about a lot of older comics and sometimes find missing in new ones (at least the ones abt the blorbos)#which is that it assumes that the /readers/ can realize things abt the situation that the /characters/ don't#i read both tim and his dad as both perfectly sincere in this reconciliation - they're caught up in the moment#and physically neither of them can see the batsignal#but we-the-readers can see both the batsignal and the looming future conflicts it implies even though they don't#the narrative isn't telling you what to think! no character emerged to announce 'But In Fact Tim You Still Have A Problem!'#instead the artist has just left the batsignal there and let you make the obvious inferences ON YOUR OWN#similarly in nightwing 110 (another one of my favorites) there's a conversation between dick and tim where they're both lying#if you're only a nightwing reader you know dick is lying but you probably won't figure out that tim is lying (or at least not the extent)#but if you /do/ read tim's comics then you understand what's going on in a way that neither of the characters do#there's just a general understanding that the characters are not fully self-aware nor do they perfectly understand each other#plus the gradual / slow-build / layered conflict#tim's mixed loyalties between bruce and his dad are a constant background slow burn tension#dick's complicated feelings about loving tim but also feeling a little threatened by him are also a low-key thread in the nightwing comics#the writers don't need to have a surprise! sudden! fight! nor do they need all-fluff-all-the-time#instead these tensions are mostly dormant except when they get exacerbated by extreme situations#there are plenty of things that 90s comics do *not* handle well but the character voices and longform style always draw me back <3
358 notes · View notes
evilminji · 7 months
Text
You know what I never see explored?
"Not on MY watch!" Superfan Dash Baxter. The young, limnal, quarterback built like a tank and willing to hit like one.
Because let's be real here. Imagine that scenario: Dash, heading to practice with his Bros. His best friends. The team. When? Oh shit! It's PHANTOM! Best day EVER right?
Except it's NOT.
Somethings wrong. He's not as graceful as he usually is. There is no clever comebacks. He looks beat up, man. What HAPPENED? Everyone looks confused when Dash looks around. But before he can call up to him?
Phantom is Shot Out Of The SKY.
Hits the football field HARD. The entire team is already running. Full sprint. It's those fucking GIW. Already driving onto the field and tearing it up. Jumping out, weapons primed.
Phantom's not... oh god, he's not getting up.
He looks hurt. Really hurt. Those bastards are closing in.
Dash's team? Has his back. They're also fans. Friends of his. Not a single one hesitates. They put their BACKS into it and welcome these sick fucks to Tackle Practice. With a follow up of "Taste Your Own Teeth". Amity special, coach would be proud.
But Dash... fuck, he can't wail on these guys AND protect Phantom at the same time. Kwan tells him to go. Throws him his keys. His car is least shit. Dash owes him SO many pizzas for this. First pick on movies for LIFE, man.
It hurts to leave his team behind. His best friend. But Dash has to GO. He can already hear the Fentons closing in. He grabs Phantom, his HERO, and runs for his life.
Barely manages to peel out of there in time. Floors it. Calls Paulina, obviously. She and Star are doing a spa day thing. She picks up because she KNOWS he wouldn't bother her if it wasn't serious. And-!
Oh...
Oh fuck.
In the rear view mirror. The Fentons and GIW just screeched onto the road behind him. Closing distance FAST. What does he do? Paulina he can't... he WON'T hand Phantom over!
And of course she understands. For God's sake, she in LOVE with the guy. He's never heard her sound so scared and furious. They'll get phantom over her twice dead body. She and Star are making some sort of noises, chanting, and...?
Giant Amazons with swords? GHOST Amazons. Suddenly in the road, jumping over his car to attack the cars behind him. Paulina what the FUCK?? She been talking to her Abuela, APPARENTLY. Who's friends aunt's "roomate" was particularly good at communicating with the dead. So OBVIOUSLY Paulina got her to send notes and studied them in secret.
Gotta be able to speak to you future husband's family in their native language. You win brownie points. Gives her a step up. "Not the point"? It's kind of a point! Giant warrior women! Who-?
Paulina made friends while practicing.
Of course she did. Why is he even REMOTELY surprised she chose the giant terrifying Amazons to be beasties with? He's know her for years. He should know better by now.
.....he feels small asking. Hates that his voice shakes. But... but what do they DO, 'Lina?
What he hates even more is the little shake in his childhood friends voice, even though she's trying to sound certain and strong. What they Do? What they DO is Dash drives his ass the her house, gets in her BETTER car, which she is going to load up, and they leave Amity.
She has LOADS of money. All sorts of jewelry. They're very last season. Frankly, she.. she can't WAIT to pawn them if they have too. They just have to drive. Get Phantom as far away from those freaks as possible. Get help.
And? It could go so many ways from there? Paulina LOVES Phantom. How will she reconcile that with her views on Fenton? How will Dash? Seperated from their roles as "the popular ones" and "the crazy people's son". Knowing that... that Danny likes her TOO.
But she's been AWFUL to him. She said so much. DID so much.
Do the even? LIKE each other? Or just the IDEA of each other? The person they made up in their heads.
They're afraid, tired, on the run. But free from school, the expectations of others, the baked in histories of a small town. Who ARE they as people? Do they like each other? COULD they?
I want to believe that Paulina really means it. That no one is at their best in middle and high school. They say and do stupid, mean, shallow shit. Because the world presses and presses and tells them it's all they are worth. Because they don't know who they ARE yet. Because she is a child. Not yet eighteen.
And Danny isn't perfect either. He saw a pretty, pretty face and got distracted by it. Didn't see how HARD she works. How smart she is. How ambitious and brilliant at reading people.
Are they trying to get to an Embassy? To Paulina's extended Family to the south, who would most certainly take them in, and would gladly fight gods for them? Or is this a crossover? Are they going towards other Heros? Older ones?
Is Paulina planning to pull a Lois Lane and Cause Problems On Purpose? Is Dash HAUNTED by "oh fuck, Wes was right." And now knows he's gonna have just... just WALK UP TO THEM. Broad ass daylight. Like "hello, I clearly know your secret identity! Please don't kill me!"?
Whatever the plan? Danny is in the back row of Paulina's once nice, now beat to hell car, bleeding irresistibly damaging acidic ecto-blood all over the seats. Wrapped up like a mummy. Texting Tucker.
The live tweets from Amity are... An Event. A Spectacle for the ages. His parents KNOW now, have speed run their grief STRAIGHT to RAGE, directed that rage at the GIW, and gone to WAR. Once a Fenton, always a Fenton. Jazz was right. "Anti-ghost" sentience testing once a week DID pay off.
Was it a pain in the ass? Absolutely. But results don't lie. He clearly passed. Is clearly sentient, emotional, and their son. All in hard numbers they ran themselves. Will it stop them attack FULL ghosts? Jazz has no idea. But it sure did convince them to put the GIW in a hole and fill it with concrete.
Danny's getting reports of "you SHOT MY BABY!" Being shouted in public. Sam has decided to channel her frustration at being unable to help him into Full Goth Dramatic Shit Stirring. Non-waterproof mascara, disheveled hair. Clutching a picture of him. Dramatic howling and weeping in the arms of her parents.
Apparently now that he's presumed DEAD, the Mansons ALWAYS loved him. Like a SON to them. A sweet, innocent child. Their daughters friend! The GIW are monsters and child killers, they decry.
And the Red Huntress is... Oh, yikes. Yeah he should call her. Val is one more bad thing happening from her villian origin story. At least she... PROBABLY... has killed anyone yet. Note to self: when Danny can actually move torso again, buy Valerie soothing anti-stress...everything. All the things. She responds to stress by punching. Deliver from safe, non-punchable distance.
All in all? My Dash? Needs more Dash! Give the popular kids a chance to prove they aren't just cardboard cut outs! That they can grow beyond the roles high-school and society has pushed them into! Give them some trauma! Why only Danny? Spread the psychic damage!
@stealingyourbones @hdgnj @the-witchhunter @nerdpoe
2K notes · View notes
eyrieofsynapses · 3 months
Text
why Aurora's art is genius
It's break for me, and I've been meaning to sit down and read the Aurora webcomic (https://comicaurora.com/, @comicaurora on Tumblr) for quite a bit. So I did that over the last few days.
And… y'know. I can't actually say "I should've read this earlier," because otherwise I would've been up at 2:30-3am when I had responsibilities in the morning and I couldn't have properly enjoyed it, but. Holy shit guys THIS COMIC.
I intended to just do a generalized "hello this is all the things I love about this story," and I wrote a paragraph or two about art style. …and then another. And another. And I realized I needed to actually reference things so I would stop being too vague. I was reading the comic on my tablet or phone, because I wanted to stay curled up in my chair, but I type at a big monitor and so I saw more details… aaaaaand it turned into its own giant-ass post.
SO. Enjoy a few thousand words of me nerding out about this insanely cool art style and how fucking gorgeous this comic is? (There are screenshots, I promise it isn't just a wall of text.) In my defense, I just spent two semesters in graphic design classes focusing on the Adobe Suite, so… I get to be a nerd about pretty things…???
All positive feedback btw! No downers here. <3
---
I cannot emphasize enough how much I love the beautiful, simple stylistic method of drawing characters and figures. It is absolutely stunning and effortless and utterly graceful—it is so hard to capture the sheer beauty and fluidity of the human form in such a fashion. Even a simple outline of a character feels dynamic! It's gorgeous!
Though I do have a love-hate relationship with this, because my artistic side looks at that lovely simplicity, goes "I CAN DO THAT!" and then I sit down and go to the paper and realize that no, in fact, I cannot do that yet, because that simplicity is born of a hell of a lot of practice and understanding of bodies and actually is really hard to do. It's a very developed style that only looks simple because the artist knows what they're doing. The human body is hard to pull off, and this comic does so beautifully and makes it look effortless.
Also: line weight line weight line weight. It's especially important in simplified shapes and figures like this, and hoo boy is it used excellently. It's especially apparent the newer the pages get—I love watching that improvement over time—but with simpler figures and lines, you get nice light lines to emphasize both smaller details, like in the draping of clothing and the curls of hair—which, hello, yes—and thicker lines to emphasize bigger and more important details and silhouettes. It's the sort of thing that's essential to most illustrations, but I wanted to make a note of it because it's so vital to this art style.
THE USE OF LAYER BLENDING MODES OH MY GODS. (...uhhh, apologies to the people who don't know what that means, it's a digital art program thing? This article explains it for beginners.)
Bear with me, I just finished my second Photoshop course, I spent months and months working on projects with this shit so I see the genius use of Screen and/or its siblings (of which there are many—if I say "Screen" here, assume I mean the entire umbrella of Screen blending modes and possibly Overlay) and go nuts, but seriously it's so clever and also fucking gorgeous:
Firstly: the use of screened-on sound effect words over an action? A "CRACK" written over a branch and then put on Screen in glowy green so that it's subtle enough that it doesn't disrupt the visual flow, but still sticks out enough to make itself heard? Little "scritches" that are transparent where they're laid on without outlines to emphasize the sound without disrupting the underlying image? FUCK YES. I haven't seen this done literally anywhere else—granted, I haven't read a massive amount of comics, but I've read enough—and it is so clever and I adore it. Examples:
Tumblr media Tumblr media
Secondly: The beautiful lighting effects. The curling leaves, all the magic, the various glowing eyes, the fog, the way it's all so vividly colored but doesn't burn your eyeballs out—a balance that's way harder to achieve than you'd think—and the soft glows around them, eeeee it's so pretty so pretty SO PRETTY. Not sure if some of these are Outer/Inner Glow/Shadow layer effects or if it's entirely hand-drawn, but major kudos either way; I can see the beautiful use of blending modes and I SALUTE YOUR GENIUS.
I keep looking at some of this stuff and go "is that a layer effect or is it done by hand?" Because you can make some similar things with the Satin layer effect in Photoshop (I don't know if other programs have this? I'm gonna have to find out since I won't have access to PS for much longer ;-;) that resembles some of the swirly inner bits on some of the lit effects, but I'm not sure if it is that or not. Or you could mask over textures? There's... many ways to do it.
If done by hand: oh my gods the patience, how. If done with layer effects: really clever work that knows how to stop said effects from looking wonky, because ugh those things get temperamental. If done with a layer of texture that's been masked over: very, very good masking work. No matter the method, pretty shimmers and swirly bits inside the bigger pretty swirls!
Next: The way color contrast is used! I will never be over the glowy green-on-black Primordial Life vibes when Alinua gets dropped into that… unconscious space?? with Life, for example, and the sharp contrast of vines and crack and branches and leaves against pitch black is just visually stunning. The way the roots sink into the ground and the three-dimensional sensation of it is particularly badass here:
Tumblr media
Friggin. How does this imply depth like that. HOW. IT'S SO FREAKING COOL.
A huge point here is also color language and use! Everybody has their own particular shade, generally matching their eyes, magic, and personality, and I adore how this is used to make it clear who's talking or who's doing an action. That was especially apparent to me with Dainix and Falst in the caves—their colors are both fairly warm, but quite distinct, and I love how this clarifies who's doing what in panels with a lot of action from both of them. There is a particular bit that stuck out to me, so I dug up the panels (see this page and the following one https://comicaurora.com/aurora/1-20-30/):
Tumblr media
(Gods it looks even prettier now that I put it against a plain background. Also, appreciation to Falst for managing a bridal-carry midair, damn.)
The way that their colors MERGE here! And the immense attention to detail in doing so—Dainix is higher up than Falst is in the first panel, so Dainix's orange fades into Falst's orange at the base. The next panel has gold up top and orange on bottom; we can't really tell in that panel where each of them are, but that's carried over to the next panel—
Tumblr media
—where we now see that Falst's position is raised above Dainix's due to the way he's carrying him. (Points for continuity!) And, of course, we see the little "huffs" flowing from orange to yellow over their heads (where Dainix's head is higher than Falst's) to merge the sound of their breathing, which is absurdly clever because it emphasizes to the viewer how we hear two sets of huffing overlaying each other, not one. Absolutely brilliant.
(A few other notes of appreciation to that panel: beautiful glows around them, the sparks, the jagged silhouette of the spider legs, the lovely colors that have no right to make the area around a spider corpse that pretty, the excellent texturing on the cave walls plus perspective, the way Falst's movements imply Dainix's hefty weight, the natural posing of the characters, their on-point expressions that convey exactly how fuckin terrifying everything is right now, the slight glows to their eyes, and also they're just handsome boys <3)
Next up: Rain!!!! So well done! It's subtle enough that it never ever disrupts the impact of the focal point, but evident enough you can tell! And more importantly: THE MIST OFF THE CHARACTERS. Rain does this irl, it has that little vapor that comes off you and makes that little misty effect that plays with lighting, it's so cool-looking and here it's used to such pretty effect!
One of the panel captions says something about it blurring out all the injuries on the characters but like THAT AIN'T TOO BIG OF A PROBLEM when it gets across the environmental vibes, and also that'd be how it would look in real life too so like… outside viewer's angle is the same as the characters', mostly? my point is: that's the environment!!! that's the vibes, that's the feel! It gets it across and it does so in the most pretty way possible!
And another thing re: rain, the use of it to establish perspective, particularly in panels like this—
Tumblr media
—where we can tell we're looking down at Tynan due to the perspective on the rain and where it's pointing. Excellent. (Also, kudos for looking down and emphasizing how Tynan's losing his advantage—lovely use of visual storytelling.)
Additionally, the misting here:
Tumblr media
We see it most heavily in the leftmost panel, where it's quite foggy as you would expect in a rainstorm, especially in an environment with a lot of heat, but it's also lightly powdered on in the following two panels and tends to follow light sources, which makes complete sense given how light bounces off particles in the air.
A major point of strength in these too is a thorough understanding of lighting, like rim lighting, the various hues and shades, and an intricate understanding of how light bounces off surfaces even when they're in shadow (we'll see a faint glow in spots where characters are half in shadow, but that's how it would work in real life, because of how light bounces around).
Bringing some of these points together: the fluidity of the lines in magic, and the way simple glowing lines are used to emphasize motion and the magic itself, is deeply clever. I'm basically pulling at random from panels and there's definitely even better examples, but here's one (see this page https://comicaurora.com/aurora/1-16-33/):
Tumblr media
First panel, listed in numbers because these build on each other:
The tension of the lines in Tess's magic here. This works on a couple levels: first, the way she's holding her fists, as if she's pulling a rope taut.
The way there's one primary line, emphasizing the rope feeling, accompanied by smaller ones.
The additional lines starbursting around her hands, to indicate the energy crackling in her hands and how she's doing a good bit more than just holding it. (That combined with the fists suggests some tension to the magic, too.) Also the variations in brightness, a feature you'll find in actual lightning. :D Additional kudos for how the lightning sparks and breaks off the metal of the sword.
A handful of miscellaneous notes on the second panel:
The reflection of the flames in Erin's typically dark blue eyes (which bears a remarkable resemblance to Dainix, incidentally—almost a thematic sort of parallel given Erin's using the same magic Dainix specializes in?)
The flowing of fabric in the wind and associated variation in the lineart
The way Erin's tattoos interact with the fire he's pulling to his hand
The way the rain overlays some of the fainter areas of fire (attention! to! detail! hell yeah!)
I could go on. I won't because this is a lot of writing already.
Third panel gets paragraphs, not bullets:
Erin's giant-ass "FWOOM" of fire there, and the way the outline of the word is puffy-edged and gradated to feel almost three-dimensional, plus once again using Screen or a variation on it so that the stars show up in the background. All this against that stunning plume of fire, which ripples and sparks so gorgeously, and the ending "om" of the onomatopoeia is emphasized incredibly brightly against that, adding to the punch of it and making the plume feel even brighter.
Also, once again, rain helping establish perspective, especially in how it's very angular in the left side of the panel and then slowly becomes more like a point to the right to indicate it's falling directly down on the viewer. Add in the bright, beautiful glow effects, fainter but no less important black lines beneath them to emphasize the sky and smoke and the like, and the stunningly beautiful lighting and gradated glows surrounding Erin plus the lightning jagging up at him from below, and you get one hell of an impactful panel right there. (And there is definitely more in there I could break down, this is just a lot already.)
And in general: The colors in this? Incredible. The blues and purples and oranges and golds compliment so well, and it's all so rich.
Like, seriously, just throughout the whole comic, the use of gradients, blending modes, color balance and hues, all the things, all the things, it makes for the most beautiful effects and glows and such a rich environment. There's a very distinct style to this comic in its simplified backgrounds (which I recognize are done partly because it's way easier and also backgrounds are so time-consuming dear gods but lemme say this) and vivid, smoothly drawn characters; the simplicity lets them come to the front and gives room for those beautiful, richly saturated focal points, letting the stylized designs of the magic and characters shine. The use of distinct silhouettes is insanely good. Honestly, complex backgrounds might run the risk of making everything too visually busy in this case. It's just, augh, so GORGEOUS.
Another bit, take a look at this page (https://comicaurora.com/aurora/1-15-28/):
Tumblr media
It's not quite as evident here as it is in the next page, but this one does some other fun things so I'm grabbing it. Points:
Once again, using different colors to represent different character actions. The "WHAM" of Kendal hitting the ground is caused by Dainix's force, so it's orange (and kudos for doubling the word over to add a shake effect). But we see blue layered underneath, which could be an environmental choice, but might also be because it's Kendal, whose color is blue.
And speaking off, take a look at the right-most panel on top, where Kendal grabs the spear: his motion is, again, illustrated in bright blue, versus the atmospheric screened-on orange lines that point toward him around the whole panel (I'm sure these have a name, I think they might be more of a manga thing though and the only experience I have in manga is reading a bit of Fullmetal Alchemist). Those lines emphasize the weight of the spear being shoved at him, and their color tells us Dainix is responsible for it.
One of my all-time favorite effects in this comic is the way cracks manifest across Dainix's body to represent when he starts to lose control; it is utterly gorgeous and wonderfully thematic. These are more evident in the page before and after this one, but you get a decent idea here. I love the way they glow softly, the way the fire juuuust flickers through at the start and then becomes more evident over time, and the cracks feel so realistic, like his skin is made of pottery. Additional points for how fire begins to creep into his hair.
A small detail that's generally consistent across the comic, but which I want to make note of here because you can see it pretty well: Kendal's eyes glow about the same as the jewel in his sword, mirroring his connection to said sword and calling back to how the jewel became Vash's eye temporarily and thus was once Kendal's eye. You can always see this connection (though there might be some spots where this also changes in a symbolic manner; I went through it quickly on the first time around, so I'll pay more attention when I inevitably reread this), where Kendal's always got that little shine of blue in his eyes the same as the jewel. It's a beautiful visual parallel that encourages the reader to subconsciously link them together, especially since the lines used to illustrate character movements typically mirror their eye color. It's an extension of Kendal.
Did I mention how ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL the colors in this are?
Also, the mythological/legend-type scenes are illustrated in familiar style often used for that type of story, a simple and heavily symbolic two-dimensional cave-painting-like look. They are absolutely beautiful on many levels, employing simple, lovely gradients, slightly rougher and thicker lineart that is nonetheless smoothly beautiful, and working with clear silhouettes (a major strength of this art style, but also a strength in the comic overall). But in particular, I wanted to call attention to a particular thing (see this page https://comicaurora.com/aurora/1-12-4/):
Tumblr media
The flowing symbolic lineart surrounding each character. This is actually quite consistent across characters—see also Life's typical lines and how they curl:
Tumblr media
What's particularly interesting here is how these symbols are often similar, but not the same. Vash's lines are always smooth, clean curls, often playing off each other and echoing one another like ripples in a pond. You'd think they'd look too similar to Life's—but they don't. Life's curl like vines, and they remain connected; where one curve might echo another but exist entirely detached from each other in Vash's, Life's lines still remain wound together, because vines are continuous and don't float around. :P
Tahraim's are less continuous, often breaking up with significantly smaller bits and pieces floating around like—of course—sparks, and come to sharper points. These are also constants: we see the vines repeated over and over in Alinua's dreams of Life, and the echoing ripples of Vash are consistent wherever we encounter him. Kendal's dream of the ghost citizens of the city of Vash in the last few chapters is filled with these rippling, echoing patterns, to beautiful effect (https://comicaurora.com/aurora/1-20-14/):
Tumblr media
They ripple and spiral, often in long, sinuous curves, with smooth elegance. It reminds me a great deal of images of space and sine waves and the like. This establishes a definite feel to these different characters and their magic. And the thing is, that's not something that had to be done—the colors are good at emphasizing who's who. But it was done, and it adds a whole other dimension to the story. Whenever you're in a deity's domain, you know whose it is no matter the color.
Regarding that shape language, I wanted to make another note, too—Vash is sometimes described as chaotic and doing what he likes, which is interesting to me, because smooth, elegant curves and the color blue aren't generally associated with chaos. So while Vash might behave like that on the surface, I'm guessing he's got a lot more going on underneath; he's probably much more intentional in his actions than you'd think at a glance, and he is certainly quite caring with his city. The other thing is that this suits Kendal perfectly. He's a paragon character; he is kind, virtuous, and self-sacrificing, and often we see him aiming to calm others and keep them safe. Blue is such a good color for him. There is… probably more to this, but I'm not deep enough in yet to say.
And here's the thing: I'm only scratching the surface. There is so much more here I'm not covering (color palettes! outfits! character design! environment! the deities! so much more!) and a lot more I can't cover, because I don't have the experience; this is me as a hobbyist artist who happened to take a couple design classes because I wanted to. The art style to this comic is so clever and creative and beautiful, though, I just had to go off about it. <3
...brownie points for getting all the way down here? Have a cookie.
734 notes · View notes
ladykinrannoch · 17 days
Text
Reading - the photo is real, exposes the Harkles...The Tower is here.
I used the Luna Sol Tarot early this morning on my yoga mat. It is fast becoming a favorite for these early morning readings.
My topic was that photograph. I read from Catherine's energy since I seem to connect very easily with her.
Note it is New Moon in Pisces right now. Deeply connected to intuition and compassion. Also shedding old habits cutting ties (disposing toxic relationships and situatiins) and setting new intentions for being. This energy has been around for a few days pre the New Moon.
Situation: King of Swords
Powerful male energy, mastery and usually professionals. This has been a tricky situation for Catherine and KP. Damned if they do and damned if they don't. And I think they are well aware of how tricky its been to manage her privacy while C recovers. I get a strong feeling it is also a very very clever strategy. A well thought out one. That has been planned possibly as a trap. Are their lawyers and investigators involved? Will the House of Wales sue the House of Sussex for harassment, will the media be sued for feeding the Harkle conspiracies?
Is the photo real and unmanipulated?
Knight of Pentacles - yes the photograph is real and not photshopped. This knight is slow moving energy which means they gave a lot of thought to this. It is also the reliable knight. So I can reliably say the photo is real. I am not getting H energy here at all. Except for the fact that the intention may have been to trap him?
Tumblr media
Why did KP and William release the photograph for mothers day?
Ace of Disc's - another earth energy. Remember Catherine is Capricorn an earth sign. She planned this, she wanted to be reliable and respond to the tradition of releasing a picture for Mothering Sunday. This is fresh start too. I feel like Catherine took this decision on her own. This is her way of speaking for herself. I think she is making herself heard. She wants to approach things her way now. As I have said before Catherine has accepted and embraced her path to Queen. Aces are a new beginning. I think the Catherine we see after Easter will be more firm, more vocal and much much stronger. I don't think she will give in anymore to old fashioned rules. She intends to take control of things around her and build her image how she wants to be seen. This is no walkover. It is strong and yet the card suggests she will execute this with grace and dignity.
Did someone influence the Kill Notice with the agencies.
The Fool - I am interpreting this as a yes, but it is naive and foolish to think it won't come out. This cards warning is look before you leap. In fact it could have been a smart and deliberate trap to flush out the squad bots. And they were foolish enough to leap! I wonder where this road will lead?
Outcome for Catherine?
King of Disc's - She is in control. She has proved her point. Catherine is in her personal power at the moment. It is masculine energy, so this is not a side of Catherine we have seen before. I have an image of a chess board. Again I get the sense that Catherine is winning this game.
Underlying energy from Catherine's point of view
Four of Discs - I feel this is saying be reliable, stick to traditions. Fours are about stability. Catherine wanted to reassure the public about her health. Discs or pentacles can represent the physical body as well. But she also did not want to let people down. It has proved that even in her absence the people and the nation trust and love her.
I wanted to know more about the fool to know who started this nonsense about this photo. I was drawn to the next two cards at the bottom of the deck...
Unsurprisingly Five wands Pentacles (author correction) the poor poverty stricken duo in exile showed up. But this time one of them acted alone.
How does it turn out for the Fool who should looked before leaping? The Tower very very badly. If you thought every thing they do backfires, this wrong move out does every mean thing they've done. Notice the card. Its her and him. This is their tower moment. The evidence has been gathered. The proof is there. Something will be done. It is over for the Harkles this time. Expect that big bang this Spring!
112 notes · View notes
mgcldydrms · 1 year
Text
Fascination ( Tommy Shelby )
summary: a sweet confession after a small incident
word count: 923
warnings: mention of a disagreement, a bit of a make out I guess
pairing: tommy shelby x fem!reader
author's note: this is a repost from my old account & it was actually a request from @runnning-outof-time . I edited it one more time so I still hope you enjoy it.
navigation | main masterlist | peaky blinders masterlist | taglist
Tumblr media
“I’m not afraid of you.”
Tommy cocked his head to the side, a slight smirk gracing his lips while he took a few steps towards you. He took one last drag of his cigarette before he put it out and left it in an ashtray that he passed by while making his way over to where you were.
At the same time, you moved backwards, your back hitting one of Tommy’s office walls. You gasped lightly as you felt the coldness on your hands. 
Was it a lie that you were not afraid of Tommy Shelby? Maybe. You weren’t really sure. Yes, he was a very intimidating man, yet you also knew that he could be affectionate, which was a side of him that he didn’t show to anyone else, not even to his family sometimes. 
Just a few minutes ago, you had gotten to that point where Tommy was about to show you this sweeter side of him when all of a sudden, a strange man walked into the betting shop, shouting furiously at Tommy.
You looked at the strange-looking man with wide eyes, scared that he would do something he would regret, however when you looked at Tommy, his eyes staring deadly at the other man, you knew that what was about to happen wasn’t pleasant to look at, hence you left and hid in Tommy’s office.
Now here you were, pressed against the wall, your heart hammering against your ribcage. You stared into Tommy's blue eyes, the same eyes that had captivated you ever since you first met the second oldest Shelby.
“Are you sure? Wouldn’t you like to know what I’ve done to the man?” Tommy asked you, one of his eyebrows lightly raised while he looked at you intently. 
Your breath hitched lightly while you shook your head. You didn’t want to know because you already did, or assumed you knew. You didn't want him to tell you every single detail about what he had done to the man. It would change the way you looked at Tommy, and you didn't want that, not yet.
You knew Tommy Shelby was one of those guys your parents had warned you about when you first started getting into boys. The ones you shouldn’t talk to and never work for. Yet, you did all of these things. You worked for Tommy, and the two of you had conversations with one another, even about topics that didn’t regard the Shelby Company. 
The man in front of you took one more step towards you, his hand finding yours, pulling you away from the wall, which made you fall into his arms. You put your hands on his chest, creating space between the two of you while you looked into his eyes again, a curious expression gracing your face. 
“You fascinate me, y/n.”, he suddenly confessed in his deep voice. 
You could feel your cheeks heating up, your eyes wide as you tried to comprehend his words. Tommy Shelby, the Tommy Shelby found you … fascinating? 
“Why?” you suddenly blurted out while the butterflies in your stomach celebrated a party. You felt his fingers move up and down on your arm, goosebumps appearing all over your body. 
Tommy chuckled, seeing your cheeks turn red. He wouldn’t say it out loud, but he found it quite adorable. 
“You started working for me without even asking what you’d have to do.”, he started. “You stay longer than anyone else, even longer than me sometimes. You stare at me which yes, I have noticed. Your cheeks get as red as they are now whenever I catch you doing it.”
You felt embarrassed. You always thought you were clever and no one, especially Tommy, would catch you looking at your boss. Oh, how wrong you were. 
“You told me once that everyone had warned you to work for me, yet you do. You also never ask questions, you just do what I tell you to do. Why?”
“I don’t know.”, you said quietly, almost inaudible, your eyes still looking into his blue ones.
Tommy nodded his head, his fingers still caressing your arms until he stopped, and put one of his hands on your cheek, pulling you even closer to him.
You could feel yourself getting lost in the moment. You could feel yourself falling more and more for Tommy Shelby, something you knew you shouldn’t do yet you knew that if you weren’t mistaken, he had been sending you signals as well.
Your eyes widened when you saw Tommy move. He leaned in, his lips close to yours as you felt his breath on your face. You closed your eyes, waiting for the moment to finally feel his lips on yours, however, the moment never came. Instead, you felt his lips on your neck. 
Your eyes opened wide, and a shudder spread all over your body as you felt his lips press multiple kisses all over your neck. You lifted your hand up, putting it on the back of his head while you started to play with his hair. 
“Maybe, I find you fascinating too..”, you whispered before a moan escaped your lips. 
Tommy hit a sensitive spot on your neck and you could feel his smirk on your skin as he continued to leave kisses on that special spot. 
After a little while, he pulled away, yet his face stayed as close to yours as possible, his blue eyes looking deeply into your e/c ones, and you swore you could see a faint smile on his lips. 
“I’m glad we both find each other fascinating.”
202 notes · View notes
rom-e-o · 2 months
Text
✨He's Different✨(Ebenezer/Constance)
Even watching him from across the room, she noticed little things that set him apart.
Unlike her ex-husband, who only initiated conversation as a means to an end (and always a selfish end), Ebenezer Scrooge was different.
In fact, he was different from her ex-husband in almost every way possible.
At that moment, as Constance exited the power room, she spotted him easily even from across the crowded antechamber.
Psychically, she couldn’t argue that the two men were…somewhat similar. She was the first to admit that she was guilty of waving a type.
Orin and Ebenezer were both tall – 6’4”, specifically. Both were broad-shouldered with deep-set brows and darker hair (well, past tense for Ebenezer, though his silvery locks were absolutely gorgeous in her book).
They had similar, slender builds. While Orin was slightly bulkier with a more filled out chest and stomach, Ebenezer was blessed with a broader frame, his silhouette tall and shapely. Even the most informal clothes seemed to hang regally on him.
Both men were quite meticulous when it came to grooming. However, where Orin fancied himself hairless (and his women even more so), Ebenezer boasted hair-dusted chest that always created the most delightful friction upon her hands or chest (sometimes even on the backs of her thighs). Orin never grew facial hair either, whereas she couldn’t imagine Ebenezer without it.
Orin’s hands, while large, had felt soft until he’d balled them into fists. Ebenezer’s hands bore callouses from an early life of hard work and labor, but his touch was never anything other than tender when he caressed or held her.
The other differences –the ones that were deeper than skin – were the most profound and obvious. For example, in that moment in the ballroom, she watched as Ebenezer spoke sweetly with a visibly awkward teen boy. The young lad’s hair was over gelled to the point where it looked like a shellac cap. Judging from his distinct blazer and tie, he appeared to be a young scholar who likely knew about Ebenezer from his studies or class. Perhaps he was even an aspiring business student, looking for some tips before he departed for university.
After a few more words, Ebenezer brandished a cardholder from his pocket and slipped the lad a business card. Giddy as a child on Christmas morning, he accepted the token with an over-eager handshake. Constance watched at the boy practically bounded away, knowing full-well in her heart that her ex-husband would have never given that same lad even an ounce of interest or kindness.
Without said distraction, Ebenezer was free to resume gazing about the space. As he did so, Constance noted his expression. After the conversation had ended, his enthusiastic visage quieted into a smile that was more serene. Peaceful, even. As a maître-de passed and offered him champagne, he accepted two flutes.
Then, once those icy-blue eyes landed on her, his smile broadened further.
Whereas Orin would have beckoned her over to him, asking her to cross a crowded room of dancers and smatterings of people, Ebenezer began to cross the room to reach her instead.
His long-legged strides were effortless in their grace as he kindly weaved through crowds of people until he was at her side.
“There you are, dear,” he said, his tone soft with delight. Even though they were only apart a few minutes, he sounded as if he’d truly missed her.
He extended the other chalice to her, which she gratefully accepted.
“I was watching you,” Constance said, smiling over the rim of the crystal flute. “With that young lad.”
“Ah, were you?”
“He looked so enthralled to meet you.”
“Ah, yes. He’s a student of the Liverpool College. Brighton is his name. A very smart young man – he’s a holiday holdover, you see. Money is a tad tight for him to travel home. He’s keeping a stuff upper lip about it, though – the clever boy is using the break to study instead of going home. He’s here tonight with the school’s choir.”
She did recall students taking the stage throughout the large gala a few times to sing a few, angelic harmonies. They’d been quite a talented group from the little of what she’d heard.
“He approached me because, wouldn’t you know, our firm’s latest donation to the school was the reason his family was able to send him to such a pristine institution.”
“Ah, the donation to their financial aid program to students,” Constance recalled.
“Precisely. He doesn’t have the money to travel home, but his family received enough aid to pay for tuition and housing, and they can still pay necessary bills at home. He … wished to thank me.”
Constance’s heart ached from the sweetness of it all. “How wonderful for him to seek you out here and thank you personally.”
“I agree. I told him to seek me out if he was interested in an internship.”
“Oh, I hope he does! The more the merrier, after all.”
Scrooge gave her a little smirk after taking a swig of his champagne. “Really now? Some days it feels as though our little counting house is bursting at the seams.”
“Now, it only feels like that when all Cratchits are in,” she reminded him teasingly, “And even if it’s a tiny bit cramped, you have to admit, those are the most fun days.”
He let out a jovial ‘ha!’ and extended his glass to her. He clinked the rims in welcome acquiescence. “A sterling point. I do believe you’re right.”
No sneering. No eye-rolling. No whispered promises of making her regret challenging his opinions.
He was different.
Constance had only ever given her love to two men. While they were similar in some ways, they differed in many … and were identical in none. For that, she was grateful for every day of the year.
“ … Are you well, angel?” he asked tenderly, reaching out to interrupt her thoughts with the caress of a cheek. “You suddenly got quiet.”
I know that look in your eyes.
A laugh fluttered from her red lips. “I’m very well. Much better."
The word caused his brow to lift quizzically. "Better?"
"Every moment we’re together. You can be quite assured of that.”
With that admission alone, he knew exactly what was on her mind.
With his free hand, he reached down and took her hand. He wordlessly stared down at the engagement ring glittering on her finger, the light from the chandelier overhead making it gimmer.
Glancing over his shoulder briefly to make sure any potential onlookers were distracted. He used he free arm to reach out, winding it about her waist to draw her closer. As she followed his lead, he guided her into a tight embrace, his broad stature shielding her from curious onlookers.
He dropped his head and nudged her into a gentle kiss. Neither of them necessarily fancied PDA, so whenever one desired to initiate anything, there was a mutual understanding to start slowly. Then, upon acceptance, things could escalate accordingly.
In that moment, Constance sighed blissfully and slotted her lips against his. Puckering softly, kissed the corner of his mouth, only for both of them to reconnect moments later and share a full-frontal kiss. The muscles in his back shifted as his hand moved from hers and made its way up her silk-clad arm, over the top of her glove's edge, across the bare expanse of her shoulder, and back to rest upon the column of her neck. He cupped his hand at the base, offering a promise of support. She obliged and relaxed her posture, allowing Ebenezer to support her weight while he swept her into another, champagne-flavored kiss. She giggled at the sensation of his sideburns tickling her, and his nose pressing into her cheek. He gave her lips a playful bite at her chuckling, which made her mew in delight. It was hard to stay relatively silent, let alone stand.
To help, her free hand lofted and pressed upon the center of his back, keeping him snug to her while they kissed. Of course, Ebenezer hardly minded. In fact, he offered her a purr of enthusiasm.
“Mm, there you are,” Ebenezer whispered, giving her a soft wink as he pulled away. “Back on Earth with me, angel?”
With a cheeky tilt of the head, she clinked the rims of their champagne glasses together. A musical ring emanated as a result of the brief union.
“For the moment,” she said, “Until you kiss me again.”
“Is that so?”
His voice burred with intrigue, and she leaned in and placed a soft kiss upon the tip of his nose. “I could prove it, but I venture we’d likely get thrown out of this soiree—"
"Tempting."
"—Annnd cause quite a scandal.”
"For you, it would be worth it.”
Both laughed as she swatted him on the chest playfully.
The rest of the ballrooms guests and couples continued to move and bustle about, none the wiser to the lovers embracing in the corner.
They stayed on the barren edge of the party for a few more precious moments, sipping their champagne and stealing occasional kisses.
Unlike with Orin, there was no incessant pestering for her to be the center of attention. With Ebenezer, she could just … be with him, and that was perfect. More than perfect, actually.
Even when they finished their drinks and he handed them off to a passing staff member to take, he returned to her side promptly and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her so her back rested against his chest. His chin rested easily atop her head, and she felt his chest rumble as he hummed a soothing melody alongside the orchestra ministrations.
It was soft. Quiet. Romantic.
It was so different than what she was used to, and yet, it felt more right than anything she’d ever felt before.
He was different.
And for that, Constance would be forever grateful.
Tumblr media
@quill-pen @thedivinelights @crimson-phantom-designs
Just something soft and sweet for these two.
19 notes · View notes
frodo-with-glasses · 10 months
Text
More Reading Thoughts: The Epilogue, Version Two
Like all good writers, Tolkien couldn’t quite make up his mind how he wanted to write this part. Once again tagging @lady-merian and thanking her for her patience X-D
Jirt’s Text
“…with many pauses for thought he was writing in his slow round hand…” I chose to believe this refers not only to the printed script but to the actual hand that’s writing it X-P
*Smash Bros title screen* Primrose joins the battle!
It’s Elanor’s birthday :-D
Elanor has red-gold hair confirmed
SHE CALLS HIM SAM-DAAAAAAD TTuTT
AND WALKS UP AND HUGS HIM AS HE WRITES
Sam: Only you have heard the whole Book more than once. Elanor, being Very Precise: Three times.
Hello yes Elanor is adorbs and I love her
Mirkwood is called Greenwood now!
MERRY WENT TO VISIT EOWYN IN HER WHITE HOUSE
MERRY GOT TO HANG OUT WITH EOWYN AND BERGIL AGAIN I AM LIVING
MERRY SR. IS GONNA GIVE MERRY JR. A PONY FROM ROHAN
I WILL ACTUALLY CRY
Sam, sighing: “These questions and answers aren’t fit to go in a book like that. :-(” Meanwhile, Sam, literally in a book:
BOOKCEPTION
“Mr. Meriadoc might help me. He’s clever at writing, and he’s making a splendid book all about plants.” Confirmed: Merry is an herb nerd and I would die for him
Sam still says Elanor is just as pretty if not prettier than her flower, and she’s still like “okay Dad” LOL
“Though it’s over, as we say, things don’t really end sharp like that.” Way to elbow the readers for criticizing your 13,594 endings, Tolkien
“I think it was very sad for him. And for you, Sam-dad. For your treasure went too.” HI HELLO YES OKAY IT IS FRODO TIME
YOUR TREASURE holy honey-nut feelios i die
“It was sad, Elanorellë. It was, but isn’t now.” (Tolkien I see you but I’m still gonna write angst and you can’t stop me ‘cause you’re dead)
Sam takes comfort in the fact that Frodo got his reward, and he himself got abundant reward as well. “I am a very rich hobbit.” And one more thing:
“Before he went Mr. Frodo said that my time maybe would come. I can wait. I think maybe we haven’t said farewell for good. But I can wait.”
*SCREAMS INTO A PILLOW*
WAIT. ELANOR WANTS TO GO WITH HIM. “I shall not part with you, like Arwen did with Elrond.”
HOLY PRECISION SHOT TO THE DAD-FEELS, BATMAN
Okay okay okay if you don’t have this book, you’re not gonna believe me, but I swear this is a 100% verbatim quote:
Elanor: Good night, Sam-dad. But… Sam: I don’t want good night but.
I freakin’ love Lord of the Rings 🤣
Elanor “spied” and saw Sam receive the scroll from the King! Just like the Conspirators spied on Frodo and the Ring! And Sam goes “well that’s karma if I’ve ever seen it” LOL
Okay so he went with the Fullwise name here
Elanor: When should we get ready? What will we wear? HOW MANY CURTSIES SHOULD I DO??
Sam: You wanna see elves, kid? You’re gonna see elves. Elanor: 🤩
Sam thinks the fire burns lower when Elanor leaves ;u;
This is the second time Tolkien makes fun of the hobbits praising the predictable clear weather at the end of March as “something unusual for the season”, which tells me he was very fond of that joke
Yay! He went with the singing version! X-D
And still ends with the sounds of the Sea. ✨Foreshadowing✨
Christopher’s Notes
Okay Tolkien’s “resumé” of the end of the book here gives some fascinating insights
“But Frodo cannot be healed. For the preservation of the Shire he has sacrificed himself, even in health, and has no heart to enjoy it. Sam has to choose between love of master and of wife. In the end he goes with Frodo on a last journey.”
He sacrificed himself…but has no heart to enjoy it… :-C TT~TT
“To Bilbo and Frodo the special Grace is granted to go with the elves they loved – an Arthurian ending, in which it is, of course, not made explicit whether this is an ‘allegory’ of death, or a mode of healing and restoration leading to a return.”
No wonder the ending is so haunting. Is it death? Is it healing? It’s both, and it’s neither, and it’s incredibly mythical and storybook-ish. Holy cow.
Also thought this was funny:
“Hobbit-children were delightful, but I am afraid that the only glimpses of them in this book are found at the beginning of vol. I. An epilogue giving a further glimpse (though of a rather exceptional family) has been so universally condemned that I shall not insert it. One must stop somewhere.” Tolkien really be like #I’mNotBitter lol
36 notes · View notes
theladyelizabeth · 2 years
Text
EPISODE 5 DONE (thank god)
Let me start off by saying that this was a well-crafted episode, the actors gave it their all and the pacing was phenomenal
That being said some of the content was god awful. Elizabeth agreeing to marry Seymour? Then having sex on screen?? I was actually INCANDESCENT with rage when that happened. It’s such a fucking slap in the face to the real Elizabeth and what she went through. I know victims are victims no matter how enthusiastic they may seem at first and I understand that but that is not Elizabeth’s story. So now they’re going to have to show Elizabeth lying during her interrogation which, let’s be honest, is going to make the audience root against her. This is borderline character assassination and were it not for Robert, I would stop watching altogether.
I did notice something somewhat clever which is that they never actually show Seymour saying “I love you.” He insists to her that he has (he hasn’t) and that what he feels is love but he never actually says those three words. Even when Elizabeth says it to him. And during … THAT scene, I think she notices which is probably why she looks concerned. I wonder if they’re going to contrast that with Robert later on.
With that out of the way, the rest of the episode was fine, great even. Tom Cullen is phenomenal at portraying Seymour’s spiral, Somerset and Edward are note perfect, although I wish we saw more of Mary.
The dog scene was heart wrenching. Oliver is so fantastic at showing Edward coming into his own at first but then his dog is killed and you’re forcibly reminded that he’s just a little boy as he pets and cries over his dead body. Robert going after Seymour and snarling at him “You’re finished” was INCREDIBLY satisfying. I just wish he managed to throw a punch before Seymour beat him up. I could have killed Seymour then and there lol. I hope Elizabeth finds out what Seymour did to Robert especially since John Dudley is interrogating her - I hope that kills whatever love she had left for Seymour.
Speaking of, John Dudley interrogating her is … a choice. Don’t know why they’re going that besides the add tension between Robert and his father or Robert and Elizabeth. Also Elizabeth didn’t react NEARLY as strongly towards Kat Ashley being taken away from her as she should have done - in reality, Elizabeth broke down crying when Kat was taken away! Because she’s still just a teenager! She’s scared and confused! The show did Elizabeth a great disservice by pretending that she’s somehow more mature than she actually was.
The one saving grace is that at the very fucking least Elizabeth had no idea what Seymour was actually planning. I was terrified that they would make her alright with it.
Also the scene with Elizabeth and Robert in the corridor made my heart melt as I knew it would and you can see the contrast between Seymour and Robert so clearly here - with Robert she smiled instantly, you can see her body relax as she’s with someone she knows is safe. Then Seymour appears and her smile vanished and her body tenses up. That was well done.
Thank god Seymour is arrested now. Next stop Tower and then the block is his final destination. At fucking last.
71 notes · View notes
sweetshelluvaau · 10 months
Text
Idea Dump Session One - Stella's Motive of Hiring Striker
I wasn't sure to do this or not but being I'm always insecure about my writing but being I do want feedback, I thought I'd attept this:
I want to make some changes within my rewrite/AU (I mean this obvious) but unsure how to handle some things or unsure if they make sense so I thought, hey, why not post these thoughts on my blog and see what other's think. Constructive Feedback is welcome and encourage and feel free to share some of your own ideas.
Anyways, put this under Read More because it's a lot:
I want to change the whole assassin thing around where it was Andre who ordinally suggested kill Stolas to Stella and she's like 'Oh, what a clever idea'. Now, I'm not sure if this idea makes sense but that's why I'm asking:
So, why would Andre suggest the whole killing thing if she gains nothing in return. She hates him but they're getting a divorce right? I haven't decided if both of them are making that official or there was some talk about it due to the fact Stolas knowing both of them are unhappy and is very tempted to do so, not caring how it looks to the rest of the Ars Goetia which is the opposite of Stella. I plan on doing a rewrite bio for all the characters in the future including Stella so I won't go too in depth here but Stella is all about keeping appearances. She cares deeply about her and her families' image, which is something Stolas thinks too little about due later being how trapped he feels (again, elaborate more later).
So, why kill Stolas. Stella's reasoning:
A) Stolas slept with an imp and it made the family look bad and she's all about appearance
B) pettiness. A silly reason but ya know.
And C) Playing with the whole arranged marriage thing: While she may not necessary get anything if Stolas passes, Octavia does. She can easily live though her daughter. Idk how their relationship is gonna be in the show (likely being a one note bitch like she is now) but she does care and have a mostly healthy relationship with her daughter, even if she comes out more aloof compare to Stolas being openly affectionate with Via however my version of Stella is gonna play by the 'Gaslight, Gatekeep, Girlboss' playbook. Selfish, yes. Vile and cold, completely. But along she keeps the fact she was the one who hired Striker a and being in her daughter's good graces, what's the harm? I mean there is harm but sssh she's a rich bitch and horibble person.
Basically, she wants to play the whole 'poor widow' role and even though Stolas did cheat on her, she pretends that she still loves him because, appearances.
I also plan on making her relationship with Stolas less...dysfunctional? Is that the word? They never loved each other, let alone were happy in their marriage but they tolerated each other and tired to make things work in order to keep appearances (at least that's one of Stella's main reason) and for Via's sake. Yes, she's still a bitch at times to Stolas with backhanded insults being how he seems not care so much in how he looks suppose to her but otherwise attempted to act like a happy couple. It's only after he sept with Blitzo when she started to go off on him, which is completely valid btw BECAUSE STOLAS IT DOESN'T FUCKING MATTER IF YOU HATED EACHOTHER/WEREN'T IN LOVE YA STILL CHEATED YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE!! (I have it where Stolas does feel horrible about the whole thing later on and even apologizes her her post Ozzie's but I'll get into that another time).
Anyways...yeah, that's my idea...
15 notes · View notes
lesserjoke · 4 months
Text
Tumblr media
Movie #8 of 2023:
Doctor Who: Wild Blue Yonder (2023)
The second of three David Tennant / Catherine Tate specials we’re getting this year is even better than the first. It’s less busy, for starters, with a premise that’s mostly just the Doctor and Donna exploring a derelict spaceship at the very edge of existence. (You couldn’t rightfully call this a bottle episode, given the all-new sets and the opening and closing scenes that take place elsewhere, to say nothing of the clear Disney CGI effects budget. But that’s the general vibe: a plot-minimal two-hander that gives our main cast time to slow down and open up with one another, amid some delightfully creepy cosmic horror.)
I can already predict the prior Doctor Who adventures this will be compared to: Midnight or the Library two-parter in the original Russell T. Davies era of the program, or perhaps something like Flatline or Heaven Sent under Steven Moffat. All of which is to say, there are aliens here too, and they are properly strange in their outlook on humanity. Terrifying and wickedly funny, too, albeit in a different mode of Davies humor than the more crowd-pleasing romp he delivered last week with the Meep. I wouldn’t necessarily claim this as an all-time classic — it’s not quite clever or distinctive enough for that, and without spoilers, I have to say that the beat near the end where Donna thinks she’s about to die is neither set up nor resolved especially well — but it’s a great flex for how excellently weird this show can be when it paradoxically has less to prove.
Will it work as well for brand-new viewers, or for lapsed ones tuning back in? I’m not sure. There’s explicit talk of the Flux and the Doctor’s Timeless Child secret, which stands as a reassuring sign that the Chris Chibnall years aren’t being brushed aside but is probably a bit distracting and confusing for an audience without that context. And of course, it’s a story built on a foundation of trust that the Doctor and this companion forged back in 2008, layered with subtleties of how the Time Lord character has changed in the time since then. I don’t think newbies will be lost, but it doesn’t feel as purposefully friendly towards them as I imagine the Fifteenth Doctor’s upcoming tenure will be.
This is, after all, an installment that ends on a guest appearance from the late Bernard Cribbins as Donna’s grandfather (and fan-favorite quasi-companion) Wilfred Mott, filmed shortly before his death at age 93. It’s a lovely grace note that helps to bring her arc full circle, just in time for whatever Toymaker shenanigans are awaiting in the final chapter ahead. This TARDIS team is proving to be so much more than just the Series 4 redux we might have expected, so as usual, I can already tell the franchise is going to rip my heart out when we have to say goodbye to them all too soon.
[Content warning for body horror and suicide.]
★★★★☆
Like this review? –Throw me a quick one-time donation here! https://ko-fi.com/lesserjoke –Subscribe here to support my writing and weigh in on what I read next! https://patreon.com/lesserjoke –Follow along on Goodreads here! https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/6288479-joe-kessler –Or click here to browse through all my previous reviews! https://lesserjoke.home.blog
4 notes · View notes
weird-writes · 1 year
Text
Five Runs: Run 2 - The Throne Room (The Mandalorian, E)
Title: Five Runs: Run 2 - The Throne Room
Series: Part three of Creed, a non-linear series about Din Djarin and his favorite... distraction. 
Description: A series of drabbles all sharing one theme: you've decided to run away from your Mandalorian. On purpose. For his birthday. Listen, everyone's got their kinks, and his is bounty hunting (sort of. Mostly, it's you.)
Pairing: Din Djarin x Female Reader
You're under the steady lights of the hallway now as he steers you toward the exit, and his attention has clearly been caught by the obvious change since last time he saw you. "What are you wearing?"
Warnings: Explicit sexual content, canon-typical violence, object insertion but probably not in the way you think, oral sex, manual sex, implied penetrative sex, brief mention of somnophilia, canon what canon, no betas we die like men [warnings are for all drabbles.]
Tropes: established relationship, the helmet comes off, hurt/comfort, fluff, adventure
Author's note: Tumblr for some reason really hates this series - I don't mean y'all, I mean the website itself lmao. Let's see if this one actually shows up!
***
RUN 2: THE THRONE ROOM
The second time he’s exasperated: “When I said run, I didn’t mean run to my friends!”
“Why not? I knew they wouldn’t tell you. Fett thought it was hilarious.” He had. You'd explained yourself when you'd turned up at his door, looking like a starved lothcat after having crossed most of the Northern Dune Sea amidst the controlled chaos of a blurrg drive. The riders tending the herd had been happy to take you on when you'd told them you needed to see the daimyo of Mos Espa - and when you'd flashed both the credits and the revnog that you'd brought with you for exactly such an occasion. Boba had been half out of his throne with laughter by the time you finished your tale, delighted by the idea of you baiting your Mandalorian with what he did best.
Din is already moving on from the news that one of his closest colleagues is happy to be on your side. You're under the steady lights of the hallway now as he steers you toward the exit, and his attention has clearly been caught by the obvious change since last time he saw you. "What are you wearing?"
"Oh, do you like it? Fennec said I could have it, one of the cantina girls left it here when she got a job off-world." You've covered the timer on your wrist with the silvery bangles of the costume, hoping it might distract Din when he inevitably found you. Even with all the heavy jewelry the costume doesn't hide much - which you also hope will distract Din long enough to give you a fighting chance. You use the pause in his stride to draw closer, trying to shimmy your hips in emulation of the graceful dancers you've seen on Coruscant but succeeding instead in shaking your ass like a Canto Bight club kid.
Mercifully, Din doesn't laugh. He slides a finger under the silver chain that connects one side of the skirt to the other instead, lifting and tugging the links while watching the smooth silk ripple over your thigh. "It doesn't suit you," he observes, and your pride is just about to absorb that blow when he adds, "It's far too impractical. You look incredible. Did Fennec say you could keep it?"
You blink at him, off-balance for a moment from his trademark conversational whiplash. Then you preen a little. He does like it. "She did. Fett and his crew were very kind. I looked a lot worse when I first got here," you admit.
He chuckles. "Running blurrgs. Clever, mesh'la, but not clever enough."
"I guess not." You're willing to concede the point in this moment, but your plan is far from over. He might have found you, but this won't be like the last time, when he woke you in the dark and that was the end of it. First, though, you have to be absolutely sure that your bounty hunter's brain is occupied with something other than the victory conditions of your little game. You lean forward, crowding his space, making sure he's getting a good view of how little of you is covered by the flimsy outfit. "Boba also said we could borrow the throne room for an hour once you found me. If we were quiet. And promised to clean up afterward. Since it's your birthday."
The helmet dips, considering. Then Din pulls on the chain at your waist again, thoughtfully, as though judging how much weight it might hold. "The daimyo is an excellent friend. After you."
***
You're on top of Din, his breathing still uneven and his cock not even soft inside you yet, when the timer on your wrist under the bracelets goes off. His resigned groan sends you into fits of laughter so strong some of the evidence of your latest adventure slides out of you as you spasm, making a mess of his armor, the throne, and the folds of the skirt you're still wearing. You try to discard it as you leave Mos Espa, the light fabric showing every detail of the stain, but Din convinces you to keep it.
run 1 | series masterlist
8 notes · View notes
eolewyn1010 · 2 years
Text
Newspaper article for a change! Lucy is up and about, minus one (1) immortal soul, plus an urge to drink the blood of several little children. Charming. I bet Renfield is dying from envy. So far, she hasn't killed any, but she lures or takes them away from their way home and nips a bit before letting them go. Clever of her to take very young children who can't give much detail beyond "there was a bloofer lady" (which I've read elsewhere means "beautiful lady", and I'll run with it). I think it's funny that they suspect a dog of biting the children, what with Dracula's doggo days... Not so funny is that Lucy is not all that concerned with how weakened she leaves the kids. Can't be long before she takes it too far.
Mina is meeting van Helsing. Beforehand, she tells her journal and us that she wants to learn more about Lucy's last days in this life, but also can't get Jonathan's journal out of her head and hopes some light can be shed on his experiences. What a neat concidence. Stoker, your characters are not clairvoyant. Then Mina allows us the tiniest look into her actual emotions - stress over all the shit that's been going down, nervousness over having let her still-not-all-that-well Jonathan out of sight for the first time since they married, grief for all her losses, confusion about the journal, guilt for feeling she hasn't done enough for Lucy and Mrs. Westenra - and has a good cry. God, don't I sympathize.
And... it was all about Jonathan after all. Well, at least Mina has a ton more words to feel sorry for him rather than for Lucy once her meeting with van Helsing is over. Not to speak of dedicating an entire paragraph to the latter's goddamn looks. Mina, I do know that a head is typically to find on the neck (and if not, it's probably Dracula's fault). And with the phrenology again. Anyway. Van Helsing asks for a full report on Lucy's somnambulism adventures; Mina takes the opportunity to brag about her shorthand, but once he's appropriately impressed, she tells him all that happened and they have lunch together. Van Helsing insta-crushes on Mina, can't blame him, and drops this queer-dreamy bit: "I [...] who have studied all my life men and women", so Ace Abe is officially Bi Abe now. He inquires about Jonathan, Mina pours her heart out, and Stoker gets in the obligatory sexism about how there are "still good women left who make life happy" (go suck on a blood blister, Stoker; I'd make you miserable on purpose!) and that Mina must take care of herself solely to keep Jonathan happy. I'm not having a good day to be graceful about this bullshit.
However, I'm here for Mina admitting to van Helsing that what she's about to tell him of Jonathan's misadventures is "queer". Heh, it sure is. I refuse to let go of this joke. Van Helsing gets the type-written copy of Jonathan's travel account, having promised Mina not to wave off all the weird stuff as foolishness. He asks Mina to see Jonathan on a date with him the other day after he has read through everything she has given him, and that very same evening, he sends her a brief note, confirming everything Jonathan has lived through as true. FINALLY! I think that's the first factual statement van Helsing made regarding this! Can we stop talking in "I have to be sure"s and vague speculations yet? He's also majorly impressed by Jonathan's sheer brainless balls on having survived Castle Dracula, having escaped from there, and having whacked the sleeping Count with a shovel. That's the type of guy who's immune to long-term PTSD! Trust van Helsing on that matter; the man's a doctor. Mina is relieved for half a minute that Jonathan is not hallucinating hardcore, then realizes the implications of Dracula being a goddamn reality just over in London. She invites van Helsing to drop by for breakfast as soon as Jonathan has come back next morning. I assume she wants to tether the polycule back together, now that the Lucy glue is missing.
22 notes · View notes
twistedapple · 6 months
Text
So, I've decided to share a tiny bit of what I am working on for my BG3 OC content. So have some insight on what Raphael thinks about her at some point in the story. Also, more reveal about Nuria: a track from her playlist as well as her full name reveal in the tags!
NOTE: this sample may be subject to modifications in the final version.
---
In defiance of the sunset, the inner court of House el Asli was lit with countless lanterns and candles, increasing the shadows of the numerous plants decorating the place and giving an intimate mood to the soiree, which seemed to be respected by the guests - mostly the cream of Calimport, influencial persons with their fingers dipped in politics and finances. Raphael's own presence here was precisely for that reason, since he had some on-going deals to watch over and nudge in the right direction if necessary. But more importantly, he was waiting for a particular player to show up, the sort that would rarely miss such event, as it was the promise of many informations to be used and traded. She would be his main entertainment for the evening, he had no doubt.
His eyes wandered and there she was, a delightful sin dressed in a deep royal purple robe that covered everything, yet hid nothing with the way it draped her slender body. Her hair, usually covered with a long scarf, was fully visible for once, curls and waves set in an ornate updo that looked artistically messy to the ignorant - Raphael knew that on behalf of what she was, she would always look somewhat wind-swept, and even her usual scarf couldn't hide that - it could only keep it in reasonable order. It was a mess he didn't mind, attributing it as part of her general charm as well as a pleasant show of her taste for clever chaos, well worth of someone who could be both a jhasina* and a rafayar**.
The devil's short but insistent stare seemed to have attracted her attention, her head suddenly turning towards him as she interrupted her discussion. If her small frame could have suggested that she would be easy prey, the look she gave him for the second of alarm she likely felt at being observed said a very different story - a cool and sharp darkness that told him that in different circumstances, anybody studying her the way he did would have ended with a jambiya at the throat, or the unpleasant tingle of lightning at the neck. When their eyes met, however, her expression opened up and recomposed itself into a graceful smile. After having put an end to her conversation, Nuria closed the gap between them with a smooth gait and amusement in her dark eyes.
-Keep staring and people will start thinking you're famished early.
-Good evening to you, my dear. People may have that impression now, but fret not, just give them a couple of hours and they'll have forgotten how ripe they are for the taking.
-Hopefully we'll have a different menu, then. I do suspect it's the case.
As they traded quips, Raphael kept studying her. From up close, he realised she had gone all out for the night, golden jewellery in her ever-so-fluffy dark hair, at her ears, shapely neck and fine fingers. Even her dark storm-like eyes and cupid's bow were subtly lined with gold, while her nails had been gilded for the occasion. Her lips had a rich sheen, juicy cherries suspiciously begging to be bitten. Ah, there it was, her reason for being here.
Raphael closed the gap and leaned towards her, breathing her delicate perfume before whispering his reply in that low voice he knew left nobody indifferent.
-Even if we shared the menu, I am quite convinced both of us would get exactly what we want from it. Isn't it nice?
His lips curled into a smug smile as he noticed her sharp intake of breath - for all of her smooth deflection of his approaches, he always took pleasure in pushing one of her button, just to see her usual polite indifference break for a second. She was playing hard to get and enjoying it as much as he was enjoying the chase, no matter how much she wanted him to believe the contrary. And he enjoyed breaking her control as much as she liked imposing it on him - a delightful game of push and pull he had decided to indulge in with her, a small grace compared to everything she was promising him.
-Hm... Speaking of what we want, I'm afraid I'll have to leave you there for now...
She looked at the crowd with this dark, sharp look before leaning in turn, her delicate fingers a ghost touch on his arm while her own soft, breathy whisper caused a shiver to run down his spine.
-There is someone else I need to see. I trust we'll meet again later.
Meeting later wasn't even a question. Clever girl. Amused by her initiative, Raphael bowed graciously and let her go, eager to see what chaos she was about to unfold, basking in the balmy sillage of damp rose, rain and incense that stayed behind her.
---
Alzhedo vocabulary:
Jhasina: beautiful, female concubine
Rafayar: exalted madam
4 notes · View notes
hchollym · 1 year
Note
I’ve seen a few people headcannon Percy’s animagus form as: an owl (wisdom, intuition, independent thinking and observant listening), a fox (intelligent and strongly ambitious) or even a big cat of some sort, like a leopard (stubbornness, protectiveness, confidence and leadership), a panther (leader, focused and big-thinker), a tiger (ambition, independence and high-intellect) even a saber tooth tiger (are often associated with with unfathomable scenarios which will have a major influence in your life and solitary personalities)
What’s your opinion on those?
-🌻
I love talking about Percy's Animagus form, because there are so many options! I briefly discussed the possibility of Percy being a bear, owl, eagle, or hawk in this post, but I will go more in depth about the owl here.
I want to also note that it doesn't seem like a person's Animagus form can change throughout their life, but rather, it is chosen magically to represent a person based on their personality traits, even if it's something they haven't discovered yet themselves (case in point: Peter Pettigrew, but that's incredibly problematic, and I'm not even going to start on it).
My point is that Percy's Animagus could be based on traits he started to exhibit after the war instead of before, so it's hard to say which animals are the most accurate representations. That being said...
All of the animals you mentioned represent Percy in some way, but some seem more accurate than others to me: 
Owls generally represent wisdom, knowledge, intelligence, intuition, supernatural power, independent thinking, and observant listening. They can also represent transition, change, or death. Usually owls represent strong instincts and being able to see past deceit and illusions.
Percy is intelligent, independent, and listens well in order to learn, and he underwent a major transition/change throughout the war. The intuition, wisdom, and strong instincts don’t really fit with Percy’s personality before the war, but they likely do after, because he grew so much from his experiences. However, I’m still not sure I personally see this as Percy’s form, because those weren’t traits that were innate in him (rather, they were learned behaviors). 
Foxes generally represent quiet observation, listening, patience, cleverness, ambition, independence, playfulness, mischievousness, protection, and calculated risk-taking.
I feel like foxes represent Percy the least on your list (which is ironic, because so many people choose this as his Animagus form). Percy is ambitious, independent, clever, listens well, and is protective of the people he cares about. However, he is only patient about certain things (and not others), and I don’t really see him as fitting with the descriptions of playful or mischievous. Interestingly enough, I think foxes represent Fred and George better. 
Leopards generally represent strength, stubbornness, protectiveness, stealth, elusiveness, power, quiet confidence, dignity, leadership, restraint, good instincts, self-reliance, resourcefulness, and authenticity. Usually leopards represent people who don't confront problems directly (but rather approach them indirectly).
I’m conflicted about a leopard for Percy, because while he is stubborn, strong, dignified, a good leader, self-reliant, and resourceful, I wouldn’t say he has a quiet confidence (he’s generally pretty loud about his accomplishments, which is perfectly fine), and he usually confronts his problems head-on. He may have ignored the Weasleys for a few years, but he never approached the situation indirectly - his fight and apology were very direct. However, stealth and elusiveness could refer to his position as a spy, which does fit his personality. 
Panthers generally represent magic, fear, death, power, beauty, grace, solitude, leadership, strength, honor, aggression, instinct, focus, clear sight, calculated movement, and self-reliance. Panther eyes hold great secrets.
A panther is a pretty good choice for Percy, because he is a good leader, strong, a powerful wizard, honorable, self-reliant, focused on his goals, and he tends to be more solitary in canon. He likely struggled with fear (during his time working under the Death Eaters at the Ministry), as well as death (with Fred). He showed aggression in several instances (such as the argument & after Fred’s death), and the “great secrets” and calculated movements could easily refer to him being a spy. 
Tigers generally represent ambition, strength, power, curiosity, being sassy, bravery, steadiness, confidence, independence, high intelligence, seeking harmony/balance in your life, and standing for truth and justice.
I think a tiger fits really well with Percy too, because he embodies essentially all of those characteristics, including being sassy, because Percy can be cheeky too (just look at his joke to Pius during the Battle of Hogwarts). I also think harmony/balance is something that Percy struggles with (in regards to work, family, independence, etc.), but he will ultimately manage to accomplish it.
Saber-Tooth Tigers generally represent ancient wisdom, inner knowledge obtained through dreams and stillness, meditation, strength, introspection, courage, independence, finding your personal power, dispelling of self-created illusions and fears, reflection, acknowledgment or embracing of primal instincts, or something unfathomable affecting your life. They can also represent a need to reconnect with your "pack."
A Saber-Tooth Tiger represents Percy super well too! He is strong, courageous, and independent, and a major aspect of his character arc was growing though reflection/introspection and dispelling the illusions he previously believed. Something that seemed unfathomable did affect his life (Fred’s death), and he did need to reconnect with his pack (his family). I also believe Percy learned to embrace his primal instincts more, which we see in the Battle of Hogwarts with his natural dueling skills and sarcastic quip. 
To summarize, I think all of the animals represent Percy in some way, but I personally think the big cats represent Percy the best.
Thanks for the ask! Those were some great choices! 😊
14 notes · View notes
riwritingrn · 9 months
Text
Echo of Flight
I often think of the birds that roam the sky. The defiers of gravity’s stubborn demands. 
The clever crows. Tiny, tweeting sparrows. Quick and slender swifts. Careless pigeons trotting by. Keen and slender cranes by the water. Silly looking crab-plowers and terns. Seagulls that curse like a sailor. Mynas that fight for their fair share. Shimmering kingfishers. Sweet-sounding songbirds. Parrots with their lipstick-red beaks. Intimidating eagles and falcons,  graceful in flight. Vultures with their heads low, tending to the dead. I think of them all. 
But there are two, in particular, I can never forget: a pair of red-vented bulbuls. 
Outside the house I grew up in, there was a tree that was older than me, older than my parents’ marriage. Every morning, when the sun peeked to catch a glimpse of the moon, on the blank canvas of the world against the audible landscape, a burst of bright, vivid birdsong colored the universe, awakening every being. A lot many years later, however, we heard a subtle difference in the morning songs. An addition. 
Two new voices. Two new sounds. A harmonious duet. 
After a great many laborious days of trying to find the owners of that sound, one fine day, on the brink of early spring when the earth began to blossom, we finally did. To our delight, we found a pair of bulbuls making their nest in the bushiest part of the tree, in its very heart. They had black spiked heads and a very bright red, almost vermillion, patch on the bottom of their brown tail, towards the base of their greyish-white belly.
My mother told me that the female was about to lay eggs. And she was right. 
In a month, there were three new hungry sounds. A while later, the parents took their little birds on their first flight. We watched them as they fell down. We watched the parents offer them fat worms that wiggled in its beak when they got it right and how that influenced them to fly better. And they did. They soared and conquered the skies and we, along with their parents, watched with pride. I have never before been so invested in the lives of birds, not to this extent. 
The years ticked away, like hands on a clock. The vermillion under their tails dulled with each year. Every year, the pair laid eggs, fed their babies, taught them how to fly, and then let them go. Through all this, the pair always returned to the tree. It was their home. It was the nest of many. The tree from which generations branched out, their family tree. 
Though they would disappear seasonally, every morning, I was always greeted with the familiar two sounds. It was like a conversation. One of them would begin, the other would answer its call, and so it went on. One note after another; like learning to walk, one step in front of the other; like learning to soar. 
Like a word after another forming a sentence; a sentence without an end. 
A question and an affirmation: 
Are you here?
I am here. 
Where are you? 
With you. 
Always? 
Always. 
A song. A continuity till eternity. 
I don't know if bulbuls are monogamous or if they mate for life, but they surely seemed to be. And I don't know if birds can be in love, or feel love at all. I don't think they're supposed to. But I'm sure they did.
Every morning they would take flight together and finish each other's sentences. When their wings grew weary, their lungs gave out and their stomachs full, they would come and rest on our tree, on their tree. They seemed more in love with the world and with each other than anyone I knew. They seemed to know more about love than I do. 
They reappeared every year. Every now and then. Always together.  
Somewhere in between, they were gone for too long. Perhaps they had found a better place. Perhaps they had found a better tree to reside in. Maybe they had new kids, I don't know. But I thought of them, often. 
And then one day, on the cusp of late spring, just before the earth undressed, a familiar sound perched on my window sill in the luminous dark; in the short, secret space between night and morning. Right when the moon gazed longingly at the sun, and the sun greeted the moon with goodbye, that's when I was greeted with the first note: Are you here? 
A pause. 
The first note again for the second time. 
A pause. 
Desperately, the first note again for the third time. 
A pause. 
Nothing.
No reply.
A call into the void, there was no one to reply, no one to echo. Just a lone voice barely bouncing off of the too-far-away walls of the world. Maybe this is the price for loving, the price for a lifetime of companionship and intimacy. 
My heart sank. 
I wonder if it knew. I wonder if it knew it would never hear a call back. I wonder if it knew its sentence had been punctuated. Its call now sounded like the last strings plucked on the guitar, the last lone sustained notes of a song. The end of a song that tries to persist but fails to because all things, all good things, must come to an end. This is the way it is, the way everything was, is, and will be. So it lingers, like a ghost, like reminiscence. 
It came to the tree, revisited it every day. It called out for its other half every morning. It searched all morning until dusk when the sun professes its love for the moon in a spectacle of a display, its daily last ribbons of goodbye. 
The world doesn't wait for the sun to meet the moon, it doesn't wait for a lonely bird that does not mourn the loss of its mate because it is still searching, desperately, frantically.
Maybe it knows. Maybe it is aware it will never find what it is looking for, just like the sun and the moon. Though they can never exist together, their every movement is for each other. Though they exist worlds away from each other, their very existence is in hopes, is an attempt, to catch the slightest glimpse of each other. And they wait patiently in their solitude, waiting, hoping, for an eclipse, desperately, frantically, quietly.
Maybe hope is the price for a bond forged. So we search and wait, desperately, frantically, like the bird, like the sun and the moon. Maybe that is the testament for love, for intimacy, for companionship. To wait and be important enough to be waited for. To hope, despite and regardless, of the odds being stacked against.
In the evening when its wings turned heavy and its lungs had given out, it came back and perched upon the leafless tree, their family tree. And it called out: 
Are you here?
At some point, its call diminished, like a flame in the wind, until it was stifled out and only its embers remained, smoldering; the smoke being the only reminder that the fire once existed. 
What happened next, I do not know. I try to not think of it. But I hope when it did happen, it happened softly, tenderly, while it was asleep in its nest. I hope the ghost of the other greeted it in its eternal dream with the song only it would sing, to the song only it would respond to. 
I'd like to think they still fly around in invisible realms until their wings are heavy and then they come and rest in the heart of their tree, that they still sing in frequencies I can’t hear. 
Are you here?
I am here. 
Where are you? 
With you. 
Always? 
Always. 
A song. A continuity till eternity. 
2 notes · View notes
triviareads · 10 months
Note
Omg hi i read my dirty duke after you said you imagine max as richard armitrage. can you reccomend more age gap romences so i can also imagine them as richard 👹☠️
Bro that entire Duke I'd Like To F... anthology slaps so hard. Anyway here's my thing about Richard Armitage: I think he can do the stern older man thing well, but he can't take it too far (see: what happened in Obsession; basically, he can't inflict pain in a way I found convincing). Like, there's a sweet edge to him, you know? But yeah I'm gonna rec age-gap romances that fall within this Armitage range and others that don't.
Historical:
The Chasing of Eleanor Vane by Sierra Simone: The highest compliment I can give a book is that it made me cry and this short story (also a part of the Duke I'd Like To F... anthology) makes me cry every time. Ajax is Eleanor's fiancé's uncle, but he is also Daddy. This man literally hunts her down when she tries to make a run for it and they have lots of very emotional sex in some secluded cabin while they're stormed out.
Wicked Again by Kathleen Ayers: Haddon here is 40 and Marissa is 49 so there's your age gap, but really, Haddon is such an excellent older HR hero because he's a silver fox who knows what he wants, isn't afraid to go for it with a single-minded conviction, and he's actually a really good dad. Also, him and Marissa are HOT, like, you don't even understand... go read this.
His Beast by S.M. LaViolette: This is more erotic historical romance than purely historical romance; Malcolm's out for revenge against his ex-lover Brian (who killed his wife and disfigured Malcolm; yes, he wears a mask), and his solution is to kidnap Brian's daughter Julia. There's a lot of "IM A BIIIG SCARRED MONSTER"-related anguish but like, Julia is obviously very down for that.
What I Did for a Duke by Julie Anne Long: A classic; Genevieve is 20 and Alexander is "almost 40". He's an older, experienced, jaded man, but Gen is more than capable of keeping up on an intellectual level, even though she does internally go haywire every time Alex pulls out his excellent lines (see: "you have unconscionably soft hands" and "you have a very good mouth"). It's so so romantic and the dialogue is very clever.
Olivia and the Masked Duke by Grace Callaway: Hadleigh meets Olivia when she's a girl but nothing happens until she's 19 (which is when the book takes place). On Livvy's end, she's wanted him ever since he saw him railing (and spanking I think?) another woman in the stables, and on his end he's all "nooooooo I'm too old for youuuuuu" but Livvy's a tenacious gal and they figure it out. Olivia's friends also have age gap romances in Fiona and the Enigmatic Earl and Glory and the Master of Shadows (which also the student/teacher aspect) respectively that'd recommend as well.
Contemporary:
Both Your Dad Will Do and My Dad's Best Friend by Katee Robert do the stern older man thing well (they're the heroine's ex's dad and dad's business partner respectively). If you're looking for straight sex with minimal plot, these are great.
Also Katee's Desperate Measures has an age gap between Jasmine and Jafar (who was formerly working with her crime boss dad). And they play into it with the added daddy kink and the fact that Jasmine is quite the brat lol
If you want a lighter version of the ex's dad trope, then I'd rec Tempt by Melanie Harlow. Zach is more gruff than stern but he hits all the right notes you want in an age gap romance.
Father of the Bride by Chloe Maine: The title says it all, he's the father of the bride, and she's the maid of honor (she's turning 21 the weekend of the wedding). There's a daddy kink. There's a sizable breeding kink. What more could you want. If you like this, then I'm pretty sure every book in the Conception Ridge (I know) series has an age gap romance.
Sierra Simone does a lot of age gaps romances really well. Her New Camelot series has a fairly sizeable age gap between Greer and both Ash and Embry. Plus, Ash meets her when she's sixteen and he was twenty six so... yeah. Would recommend.
Sierra's Sinner also has a big age gap (Zenny is 21 I wanna say, and Sean is in his mid thirties) with the added taboo of his best friend's younger sister and she's training to be a nun. There are a some suuuper hot moments that kind of emphasize their age gap (there's this bit where he's looking at his Rolex-wristed hand on her thigh I think about a lot) and ultimately in the bonus content (spoiler alert), there's a natural culmination to all of this where Zenny's daddy kink is finally realized.
Some of Sierra's lesser known romance novellas with age gaps that I adore are Supplicant and Music Box Girl. Music Box Girl is a modern take on on the Twelve Dancing Princesses story and Cal is the much older, ex-military PI hired to find out where Tamsin (who is nineteen; her friends are all around that age) and her friends go every night. There's kind of a twist on the age gap thing because Tamsin reveals she has fantasies about being coerced into sex by an older man which Cal is happy to play into.
Also!!!! Sierra's upcoming Lyonesse Trilogy is going to have a relationship with a big age gap, namely Isolde and Mark. She's basically forced to marry him for family advancement, and a part of marrying Mark is that she'll have to pretend to be his sub at his DC sex club but she realizes she's actually very into it. You can read Salt in the Wound here in order to prep for Salt Kiss.
Mafia Mistress and Mafia Darling by Mila Finelli: Oh Fausto.... externally an elegant silver fox-type, internally a MESS, but also, if you're looking for the dirty older man vibes, he's a winner. Peak age gap moment was when he and Frankie decide to role-play "innocent virgin being taken in the fields"... on their wedding night. Mila's Mafia Madman also has a similar age gap, but Enzo is less stern and more unhinged (see: yacht cage).
Both Praise and Highest Bidder by Sara Cate have relationships with big age gaps. Praise has the ex's dad trope again (with a side of a D/s relationship and a huge heaping of a praise kink) and Highest Bidder has a I wanna say 25 year age gap (she's in her early twenties and he's in his mid-fifties).
The Original Sinners series by Tiffany Reisz: Okay so maybe you'll be imagining Søren as more Alexander Skarsgård than Richard Armitage. Nora meets Søren when she's sixteen and he's in his late twenties (I'd recommend anyone to read a more comprehensive review with trigger warnings before reading this series). Søren is basically Nora's lover/father figure/personal savior/priest which is wild if you think about it, or if Nora thinks about it which isn't super often apart from in Saint (well, apart from one age play scene in one book but that was less about the age gap and more about the humiliation aspect since that's one of only two ways Søren can get it up).
Both Locked Box and Act Your Age by Eve Dangerfield have age gap romances. Locked Box has a flashback scene where they hooked up without him knowing she was 18 at the time (he was 26) and he RAN when he found out. Act Your Age has an age gap relationship and Tyler is Kate's boss. Also, they do a lot of sleazy stepdad roleplay. I'd say Eve's heroes tend to be less... stern, per say, and more rough and mean, but like, consensually.
Claimed in the Italian’s Castle by Caitlin Crews: Angelina is 20 and Benedetto is old enough to have married six previous wives who have all..... disappeared. Anyway that doesn't matter because keeps fingering her at her piano and eating her out and I was enthralled.
Other authors who write age gap romances for your consideration include Brianna Hale (Control Freak and there are others), K. Webster (Skyscraper Cinderella series), and Giana Darling (The Affair is one of my favorite by her which doesn't have a super big age gap—she's 24 and he's 31, but the gap is there vibes-wise— and Giana veers into the taboo category in her MC series with a heroine being 17 and he's... much older).
3 notes · View notes