#which is. fun! gift of prophecy i guess!!

[mleemwyvern]

with tango's plans for his base.... anyone want a Winter King Tango?

[cyber-corp]

Part 2: Dave

Oh shit. The coolest guy alive. A briefing of what he does in Act 2;

This here is Dave Strider, and he doesn't have any time for funny names.

After briefly contemplating bleating like a goat ironically and pestering John about the sick ass juice he found, he makes some sick beats on his sampler (which is another really cool way that HS uses its medium).

He allocates his katana to his Strife Specibus, nearly takes a SWIG of the juice (but doesn't because of monster piss, curse you Egbert) and then captchalogues the sword, spilling the juice on his copies of the SBURB Beta in the process.

He decides to hang them out to dry, before they get stolen by a RAMBUNCTIOUS BIRD.

After accidentally throwing his word out the window and ridding his copy of the beta in the process, Dave decides to venture into his brother's room to get his copy instead. He chills with Lil Cal for a bit.

He guesses the password to his brother's computer, and goes on Plush Rump, his brother's successful and ironic website.

Cal has mysteriously appeared behind him, Dave gives a nervous fist bump, and he moves towards the "kitchen". By this point it's very clear to the viewer that someone is moving Cal around to screw with Dave. He captchalogues a variety of things during this time, including box of fireworks, shurikens, some nunchucks, a "wheeled ride", a battery pack, a jumble of unbelievably shitty swords, some red spherical salutes, and a whirling blade pitcher. Jesus.

However, Dave notices a note from his brother on the hatch to the crawlspace, a very obvious reference to a certain horror franchise. He makes a fort on the turntables, pulls the cord, and gets absolutely smothered in puppet ass.

Luckily, he bursts out of the pile like "The One" and reads a note from his brother, telling him to go to the roof and to bring Cal along. So he does just that, but really coolly and sickly.

(this goes fucking hard)

We don't really get much of Dave in Act 3, but the glimpses we do get are of him getting absolutely knackered by his bro.

"bro just kicked my ass" indeed. In the aftermath, Dave mourns the tragic loss of Cal, shoves the beta into his sylladex, and tells Rose he's going to install it, which he will.

We get a brief lil' flashback on Dave's famous shades, the ones worn by Ben Stiller in the 2004 retro-mania remake of Starsky and Hutch. They were gifted to him by John, as a way of getting out of his bro's shadow and being his own cool guy.

In present day, Dave gets a troll message on Pesterchum, from a guy who definitely types like a total tool (but I feel they'll definitely come back later).

And then, with the help of Rose, Dave successfully installs the beta. Shit is now taking place.

The last point in Act 3 we see (presumably) Dave install SBURB and help Rose in her own sticky situation, before he gets swarmed by more birds. How ironic.

Homestuck is becoming increasingly difficult to read because you can never pick a favourite character. But Dave is definitely up there. His overall chill vibes are admirable. His fight scenes, although his ass gets whooped every time, are insane. I really hope we get more of him in future.

On the topic of Rose (and John I guess)

She helps him out, John gets a prophecy and a sick new hammer, her house nearly burns down, she has a weird mutant cat thing named Vodka Mutini, her old cat becomes a Kernelsprite and gets saved by it, and then possibly blows up in the house's meteor explosion. I don't know. Maybe.

John does more RPG stuff, gets some new drip, and at the end of 1149 jumps through a portal, where Act 3 ends.

I feel like John and Rose are the best duo so far. Any time they interact, either through SBURB or Pesterchum they bounce off each other's conversations like nothing. It's very fun!

I'll talk about these three later.

[softesttangerines]

So i saw this beautiful fanart by @amikothegreat and it gave me some Goblin: The Lonely and Great God flashbacks so here's a Mishanks Goblin au!

At the tender age of thirteen, Mihawk is to become a king after being the last of his kin alive, with no other adult to take responsibility. The Dracules and the Akagamis were to be related by the union of the little king, Mihawk, and general Shanks' youngest sister. Army general Shanks made quite a name for himself as the ruthless, conquering and much feared general who protected his land fiercely and leads his army to victory in their current war. With the king’s advisor being from the clan opposing the Akagamis and the fear that the Akagamis would gain reign soon, he made sure to fill the little king’s head with propaganda. It's being said that the general is worshipped among the people, he's considered a god, more respected than the king, how blasphemous! As Shanks and his army march back to the capital, the news of a coup planned by the Akagamis is spread and instead of being celebrated for his victory, Shanks and his whole family, including his sister, the to be queen are being labeled as traitors and their death was demanded. The no longer future queen dies under the little king's order who’s pressured by his advisors. Shanks dies by his own sword, the one offered to him as a gift from the king before heading to the war, planted in his chest and is cursed to live eternally wandering the world as a punishment for all the lives he took in the war, while being granted powers to help people as his atonement with his only hope being the prophecy of a goblin’s bride appearing one day to take off the sword from his chest and finally send him to the afterlife.

· 

Shanks has been wandering the earth for 930 years now, relocating everytime his face starts raising questions about his lack of aging. Through almost a century, he has gathered quite a fortune to live comfortably. This time he’s back to the first mansion his fortune brought him. Thanks to Luffy's (The latest server from the Monkey D. family that has being serving him since the beginning of his immortal journey and the only humans to know of his nature) incompetence, he ended up sharing his house with a roommate, another paranormal as well. What a joy, he has to deal with another entity that can ogle at the sword hanging off of him. Except the grim-reaper he share the place with was very much antisocial, minds his own business and a bit gloomy (just like you’d imagine a grim-reaper). The only interactions are mostly snide remarks about Shanks' hazardous ways of living which are totally understandable when the grim-reaper is very tidy. Few nights a week, they sit together in front of tv and share drinks. They sometimes go grocery shopping together. Shanks makes fun of the reaper's dark closet and the way he sleeps with his arms over his chest like some Lord Dracula. The reaper often makes fun Shanks' predicament being stuck in the world to which the red head counters by reminding the reaper that himself is dead and stuck here too because he's most likely a criminal. Overall, having him as a roommate isn’t really that bad, it's fun to have company, he guesses.

.

The thing about becoming a grim-reaper means you have committed an atrocity in your past life that you wont be able to remember and your punishment is accompanying people to the afterlife until you remember your sin when you finish your years of duty (which could take centuries).

Mihawk doesnt even remember his name, but the rest of the reapers call him Hawkeyes, courtesy of crocodile, otherwise everyone would be called a "reaper" which would be confusing. He sometimes has nightmares in which he sees fragments of a past life, youthful faces, someone with his eyes but much, much younger, a babe really. He thinks it must be him from the life he fucked up. In his nightmares, he also sees frequently the unmovable sword that's stuck in his roommate's chest.

And since he moved here, new fragments started appearing and glimpses of red hair flying in the wind plague his dreams along the sword. Mihawk was never bothered by his dreams, but he hates that whatever fucked up shit he's done in the past is obviously related to his roommate and the sword that's keeping him stuck in this world.

.

A kiss from a grim-reaper would grant a regular human a flash of their past life that both the concerned person and the reaper could witness. He stopped hooking up with people for that reason mostly. It has always been a hassle to experience other people's memories and them taking a second to realize what just happened which always kills a boner, especially when the life aint very pleasant.

Now he knows he cant jump Shanks out of nowhere and start an impromptu make-out session, especially since he's 100% sure that what hey'd both discover would not be pleasant.

He wants more than anything to help Shanks but he's not ready for Shanks to start loathing him just yet.

.

A goblin's bride is what's supposed to stop the goblin’s suffering. A destined lover that would appear at one point, and who's love would be so strong, they'd be able to pull the sword from its place and release the goblin from his misery. Following the prophecy, Shanks and the rest of the paranormal world (he's quite the famous case) always thought it would be a human female. By the time he figures that the only one that could pull it out is the one that put it there in the first place, it's too late. He has already lashed out on Mihawk for ruining his life and his whole family's. The reaper made sure to disappear from his eyes, the least he can do is to not show his face when he cant even offer his death since he's already dead.

[muiltifandomnerd]

Adventures of Chika Hanabusa: The Restoration of Earth

Disclaimer: This book follows the events of Percy Jackson and Heros of Olympus fanfic, This fanfic will not include Trails of Apollo, The Kane Chronicles, and Magnus Chase.

Chapter 1: School Attack

Chika PoV

The alarm clock was going off and I quickly got out of bed. Today was Friday so I put on my green and white cheer uniform. The cheer uniform is a white pleated skirt with a green trim line, and the top is white with green spelling that says Oakwood Senior High School. I also pick up my scythe, which can transform into a pencil. I walked downstairs and saw my dad making scumble eggs and getting ready to work on the farm. My father is a buff Japanese guy who has scars around his arms, and he has a ponytail and a beard. He is wearing a farmer hat, flannel shirt, and jeans. His name is Isshin Hanabusa, and he use to be part of the Japanese military, but he decided to move to America to become a farmer. He met my godly mother, Demeter, at an agricultural convention and both fell in love with each other.

"How is your sleep, my precious princess? By the way, did you pack your scythe?" he asks as he hugged and kissed me on the cheeks. I’m very lucky to have a good dad, he taught me how to deal with the stresses of life and how to deal with the mythological world.

I hugged him back and kissed him on the forehead, "I did put my scythe in my pencil pouch in pencil form. Hey Dad, I’m happy that we get to have the farm and take care of animals. Once the game is over, I might make dinner later on.” I say as I winked at him.

He smile a calm smile and say in a soft voice, "Don't worry about dinner, I was thinking that we can have some food from Quickway Hibachi. Have fun at the game and maybe find a nice girl at your school.”

I blushed like crazy and say “Maybe, well anyway I must get going.”

“Don’t forget your pompoms and be a kickass cheerleader as always.” As he laughs while he hands me the pompoms.

“I will forever be a badass as always dad, maybe I could save a princess or a queen from danger. I can be like a superhero who can control plants or even the Earth.” I chuckle as I say that. I’m glad that my father accepted me as a lesbian demigod, I truly love him and I hope I can make him proud someday. I wonder if I can spend some time with my mother Demeter. I know that she's a goddess that must look after the Earth and feed all living things, someday I hope I can lighten her burden. I remember Demeter gifted me a scythe and told me the truth about what I am and hugs me very tightly and says she loves me and doesn't want me to be part of her world. She is still traumatized by how Hades just kidnaps her daughter and Zeus lets it happen. Mother doesn't love her brothers for what they did to her, and she will gladly sock all three of them in the face. Mother does get along with her sisters and always says nice things about Hera and Hestia to me and how all three of the girls are best friends. Mother also told me how she lived in Grandad Cronus's stomach and how she and her siblings defeated him in combat. Mother is very anxious for my safety, and she comes over from time to time and helps train me in case I have a huge prophecy. I'm the only one in the last thousand years to have a huge destiny for her kids, I guess she makes sure that none of her kids must deal with the mythological world or be pawns of other gods. I'm so glad that Mother is honest with me and lets me in her thoughts at times, hopefully, she is like this with my half-siblings. I wonder if I ever going to Camp Half-Blood or even Camp Jupiter.

I left my house, and I went to the bus stop. I get on my bus and it’s full of loud kids, I share a seat with an overweight kid who is growing a beard, his name is Dean Arlovski. Dean is not a bad kid and is always nice to me. He could have a crush on me because I do catch him staring at me a lot but I’m not sure, I may have to get a shirt that says I’m gay.

“I guess that today is a football game, you look nice in your cheer uniform. I hope you slept well. I’m curious, are you dating a football player.” Dean says in a shy, bumbling tone.

“Just because I’m a cheerleader doesn’t mean I date football players, I rather date volleyball players because they are just so awesome and cute. No offense Dean but you watched way too many high school movies, people are just way more than what activities they do. I do think that we should stop with the high school stereotypes, for example, I do karate on Mondays and Tuesdays, and I’m part of the environmental club. But those are just fun activities I do, my goal in life is to help improve the earth's ecosystem, travel the world, and analyze some wildlife." I say to him with an upbeat tone and I have to catch my breath.

“Those are very cool goals; I didn’t know that you have scientific goals.” He say in a surprised tone and had an excited smile and looking at me as if he made a scientific discovery that cheerleaders are more than just football players girlfriends.

The bus stops in front of my school which is a wide two-story building and the bricks were covered with white and green painting. I got into the school building and was greeted by a fellow cheerleader named Aisha, a curvy black girl who has a well-toned arm, I find pretty attractive.

"How was your sleep? I can't wait to pass the finals" Aisha yawned as she say that, she must have not slept well.

“Luckily finals are two months ahead, I got to go to my first period which is biology," I say in a high voice, which causes others to look at me weirdly. Curse my loud voice.

“I wish I had your enthusiastic nature. Btw I saw a scary regal-looking Latina who is trying to find you. She shares the first period with you, and I guess the counselor put you in charge of helping” Aisha says in a low, quiet voice.

"Oh, right I did volunteer, ok thanks I will find her," I say in an anxious tone, and my hands start shaking, I don’t want the new student to hate me, Relax Chika that’s just your anxiety talking, Chika take calm breaths I say to myself.

Just as I was about to run, The new student came behind me and say, “I guess you are my guide, I need to talk to you privately. My name is Reyna and I’m here to recruit you to Camp Jupiter.” Reyna says in a loud authoritative voice. Reyna is so pretty with her long braided dark hair, her nice, tanned complexation, and her dark eyes. She somehow makes a purple shirt and jeans look hot. I swear she looks like a queen who has been to wars with her toned arms and her legs have a lot of muscles hiding behind jeans. I notice she has a small facial scar as well; she could be a half-blood like me.

“Nice to meet you, my name is Chika Hanabusa and I will be your guide. You didn't tell me your last name but I'm pretty sure it's not important." I say while sweat is coming down my forehead while Reyna looks at me with the fiercest glare, I bet Reyna could literally stare at monsters and they start peeing their pants and ran from her. Chika, you must keep your cool in front of the attractive new student.

“It’s fine, I’m not comfortable with people learning my last name. I guess you are already aware of the fact that you are a half-blood. We must go before they appear." As Reyna finished her sentence, a group of huge burly men with big noise appear as the school rings, signaling first period. I know what these monsters are, they are the Laistrygonian Giants. One tried to punch me, but I ducked under the punch and give the undercut to the throat which caused him to hold his throat in pain. While he held his throat in agony, I took out my pencil and it transformed into a celestial bronze scythe. I sliced the giant head with my scythe, and I saw Reyna take out some gold sword and proceed to kill half the giants left and right. She cut these huge monsters like they were nothing, they were just lambs in a slaughter. Reyna must have killed monsters when she was kid, she makes like so easy.

As I was busy admiring her, the other giant front kicked me in the chest, and I was sent to the locker room. Oww, that hurts, luckily my backbones are fine and not broken. I moved out of the way while the giant charged toward the lockers, and I sliced him in the back with the scythe while his head is stuck in the lockers. I should have stayed focused on the enemies; I proceeded to dodge the blows of the two other giants and sliced both of their arms off. They screeched in pain and tried to tackle me to the ground, but I moved backward, and I jumped in the air and kicked both in the face and I used my scythe to slice across their necks and watch them down to golden dust. Reyna thrust her golden sword into the giant chest, and he shrieks in pain while he's turning to dust on Reyna's blade. The last giant managed to knock the scythe out of my hand and managed to bear hug me.

“You killed my brothers’ puny demigod, watch as I crush you with my holds. I am the strongest of my brothers, my name is Fraciso.” He says in a thick French accent while he’s laughing like one of those cartoony villains. Luckily, I managed to use my plant abilities to make the roots grow under him and tie around his body. The roots strangle his body and he cries in pain while I managed to free myself from his bear hug.

"I can't break out of these cursed roots, the roots are too strong. I can't believe I will be killed by plant roots." Fraciso says while he's trying to crawl against the constantly growing roots that become branches. I decided to just behead him with my scythe.

“There will be more monsters that will be coming. We will have to leave now; I will take you to camp. Don’t worry your father told me where you are, and he knows that you will come to Camp Jupiter” Reyna says as she takes her breath while she finishes off the last giant.

"Camp Jupiter is for Roam demigods, why am I going to Camp Jupiter," I asked in confusion.

"Because it's the closest to where we are at. Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupiter decide to work together to recruit more demigods and we are allowed to look for Greek demigods while Camp Half-Blood is allowed to find Roman demigods. Why you didn’t use your powers that much?” Reyna asked as she’s giving me a questioning look and analyzed what my response will be.

"I didn't want to use my powers that much because my powers are not suited for places like the school or the office. Had we been on the football field, I would have been spamming my plant powers to kill as many monsters as possible. Before we go to Camp Jupiter, I want to cheer in the football game and just finish up the school day." As I explained in a calm voice. My back still aches from the bear hug and the kick to the lockers.

“I’m afraid we can’t do that; you will put your mortal friends in danger. I got a Pegasus waiting outside for us. Your father already packed your clothes and other belongings” Reyna says in a regretful tone, her eyes look sympathetic at me, it’s like she’s saying that I’m sorry that your life is not normal anymore. I was preparing for the day to leave my regular life, but I wish I had more time, hurray now off to death quests. I didn’t bother to change out my cheer uniform and we just walked straight to the parking lot with a white stallion with wings and my dad just waiting on it.

@sakuraazharuno @miuyuki-snowfall @thecreatorandcreation

@xxsmexyprincess6969xx @0lympian-c0uncil

[esther-dot]

As pointed out Jon going to war with Ramsey for Arya has similarities with Brandon going to KL for Lyanna. Does that mean Ramsey is Rhaegar(and Aerys)? Starks fighting with Boltons for WF will have some similarities with Robert Rebellion against Aerys. Also Jon Arryn declared his support to Robert and Ned. Which means Robert Arryn could lend support to Sansa in this war. Ramsey threatening Jon has similar vibes with Aerys threatening Ned and Robert.

What do you think?

Oh, I guess the letter and being summoned to die does work as a parallel with Aerys. I’d think the Aerys vibes will mostly be around Dany, and at one point I thought the KotV would join in when the North was gonna defy her for a rebellion callback, but the way LF spoke about the Knights of the Vale paired with Sansa's belief that Royce wouldn't fight for her made me think we would have them involved in reclaiming Winterfell:

Last of all came the Royces, Lord Nestor and Bronze Yohn. The Lord of Runestone stood as tall as the Hound. Though his hair was grey and his face lined, Lord Yohn still looked as though he could break most younger men like twigs in those huge gnarled hands. His seamed and solemn face brought back all of Sansa's memories of his time at Winterfell. She remembered him at table, speaking quietly with her mother. She heard his voice booming off the walls when he rode back from a hunt with a buck behind his saddle. She could see him in the yard, a practice sword in hand, hammering her father to the ground and turning to defeat Ser Rodrik as well. He will know me. How could he not? She considered throwing herself at his feet to beg for his protection. He never fought for Robb, why should he fight for me? The war is finished and Winterfell is fallen. (AFFC, Alayne I)

Petyr arched an eyebrow. "When Robert dies. Our poor brave Sweetrobin is such a sickly boy, it is only a matter of time. When Robert dies, Harry the Heir becomes Lord Harrold, Defender of the Vale and Lord of the Eyrie. Jon Arryn's bannermen will never love me, nor our silly, shaking Robert, but they will love their Young Falcon . . . and when they come together for his wedding, and you come out with your long auburn hair, clad in a maiden's cloak of white and grey with a direwolf emblazoned on the back . . . why, every knight in the Vale will pledge his sword to win you back your birthright. So those are your gifts from me, my sweet Sansa . . . Harry, the Eyrie, and Winterfell. That's worth another kiss now, don't you think?" (AFFC, Alayne II)

I don't think she's marrying Harry, I do think she flees North (the girl in grey), and there's that the prophecy that indicates LF will die in Winterfell, so, I assume LF decides to follow her, and Bronze Yohn might too, but the weather has been emphasized so much it's really hard to see how all this traveling happens! Robyn is really attached to "Alayne," and it would be nice for him to see his mother's murderer receive justice, so maybe all of that does lead North.

It hadn't registered that works as a nod to precanon, but many bloggers have talked about Sansa’s parallels with Ned before, so her winning back Winterfell/being in the North works that way too. That's a fun read on it @please-dot!

[helianskies]

I WANT TO ASK ABOUT THEM ALL HOW DARE YOU

But please please please tell me more about these ones first:

Bitter Teeth - (RomeSpa, NedPort, EngSpa)

RomeSpa - Sicilia - (blame cake)

The Five Kingdoms - (Frain, EngPort, and more, but that's not really the focus for once!)

No es como parece - (Toni study)

ohohohoho, with pleasure! <3

Bitter Teeth

cake, do you remember that one romepsa vampire fic i wrote for hetaween last year? meet its child! this fic is currently set to be multi-chap fic, in which we get to the see the aftermarh of what happened in Rome and the highly unconventional relationship that develops between a vampire and a vampire hunter. meanwhile, we obviously can't ignore Henri, who's been abandoned in Amsterdam, brother missing with no hint to where he is! time's ticking, Hen! (and then of course, with Toni's disappearance, the Guild have sent another hunter to 'replace' him - Arthur. can't imagine how Hen might take that!)

RomeSpa - Sicilia

this one i really hope you remember haha, this is from one of your horror prompts you sent me so you may be familiar with the base plot. but. essentially, a beat-down Antonio needs money and needs to escape from his life after some misfortune. he comes across an advert online for a job as a housekeeper for a lone older gent in Sicily, who needs someone to support him through autumn and winter (with a view to extend the contract if required). feeling like he has nothing to lose, Antonio gets in touch, and soon finds himself and two big suitcases at the front door of a rural home on the island. the door opens. this will be a fun six months!

The Five Kingdoms

@rosesandalfazemas also wanted some info on this one haha. and this is a long one! but welcome to my attempt at a kingdoms/magic/adventure au, in which a prophecy threatens the Five Kingdoms (conveniently titled) and restore an evil their ancestors vanquished, etc etc. with a little inspo from Cardverse, each kingdom has five members to a royal household, and each kingdom has a certain elemental magic they use that is also tied to their Mage. Antonio is the Mage of Aerborea (it wimdy) who, amongst his other gifts, has the odd prophetic vision... but that's fine! in other news, royal EngPort give me life, so meet your rightful King and Queen of Rivedore! :D (you'll never guess their element) but yeah, we get some Frain and EngPort and their bonds will get put to the test. Port and Toni's, too. but there are a lot of other characters in here that i'm intending to juggle, which i'm looking forward to. i've got most chapters planned out so i know the route the story takes, i just... need a million hours to be able to write it all!

(p.s. if you ever see me reblogging random things as #aerborea, #rivedore etc well... this is why!)

OH WAIT I HAVE A MAP!

:)

No es como parece

i believe @kaimaciel also wanted a bit more on this one, so here you go! it's not too fleshed out, it's just that every few months my ideas change haha. but basically this is a series of scenes between Toni and other characters, and how he interacts with them. his optimism, his smile, his constant happiness - and how he is able to act that way when he is, in fact, lying to their faces about how he's feeling. it's about how justifies lying, how he deals with the guilt, how he handles probing questions, and how he has built this cocoon for himself to 'protect' him from anything negative in his life. because that sounds really healthy! good toni!

[compil]

predictions about "The Second Coming"

trying to cope with my post-s2 pain by keeping my eyes forward and looking to the future, as per usual :) here are my predictions for what the Second Coming's gonna be like

note: this is all in good fun! i know nothing but i love to overthink :D

the "second coming" alludes to both the Christian concept of Christ's return, and also W.B. Yeats's poem.

there are variations between different sects of Christianity regarding what is to happen in the second coming, and Good Omens will certainly have its own spin on it too. the bottom line for most (if not all) versions is that Christ / God will come to judge humanity, punishing the "wicked" and rewarding the "good" with eternal life in His kingdom. another common idea i saw was that the Coming won't literally be a physical apparition, just a spiritual one that sets off a series of events.

in Yeats's poem, he offers a bleak view where humanity is altogether damned, by evil or inaction. he points out that this is due to the moral weakness of humanity, despite their pretending otherwise. in Good Omens, this is a more suitable allegory for heaven rather than humanity, which commits acts of immorality under the guise of good.

Yeats further describes that a pitiless beast with the head of a man and the body of a lion will awaken, replacing the role of the savior in the Christian prophecy. i'm guessing that in Good Omens, this will be something heaven sends down to humanity for the final reckoning.

fun fact: the 3rd season is supposedly based on the sequel Pratchett and Gaiman conceptualized for the novel, and the working title for this unwritten sequel was "668: The Neighbour of the Beast"!

also, neil gaiman said there are clues in the opening sequence of s2. among the line of characters following aziraphale and crowley, one of them touts a sign with "The 2nd Coming" written on it, as they pass by elevators with angels riding them to the ground. after that, they pass by a cinema with a poster of "Arrival". idk if y'all know any other movies by that name but the 2016 one with Amy Adams (a personal fave <3) immediately came to mind — vaguely summarized, it's the one about aliens who come to earth to gift humans the skill to speak their language and perceive time the way they do (non-linearly). maybe in Good Omens, God will give humans some special technology / ability too? it could also just be emphasizing that whatever it is coming down from heaven, it'll be beast-like / monstrous, and it will try it's darndest to communicate with said humans for some reason or another, like the aliens in Arrival. or maybe they're gonna do something with non-linear time, seeing the distant past and future, the beginning and the end — this one has lots of minisode potential :}

do you guys have any other guesses about the next season's plot? spotted some clues? lmk!

[death-and-other-myths]

The Raven Boys Deadass Book Review

By Maggie Stiefvater

A girl whose kiss is going to kill her true love starts hanging out with 4 private school boys on a search for a magical Welsh king. You know! Just Kentucky stuff! I LOVE THIS BOOK SO MUCH!!

This is an unhinged book review/recap of The Raven Boys By Maggie Stiefvater

*SPOILERS AHEAD*

So far, we meet Blue, who is a girl who lives in a house filled with psychic women. It sounds fun and chaotic, but also a little annoying. All of the women have some sort of psychic business, with their people coming to the house for readings or phone calls. Blue’s Mom Moira (Maura?? Did I get that right?) is like the Matriarch. And one day cousin Neeve comes to visit and she’s nice but also a little weird. She does her readings at 5am on the TV. Blue isn’t like her relatives. She doesn’t have psychic gifts, but she is sorta supernatural. She’s like an amplifier. Having her nearby makes other psychics stronger. OH I should also mention that there is a prophecy that if Blue kisses her true love, they’ll die. Fun!

So Neeve takes Blue to the graveyard on St. Mark’s day, because this is the day that you can see dead people as they cross into the next life. 

ACTUALLY. You can see dead people a year before they die. And talk to them?? So Blue is there with a pad and pen and they’re asking all these spirits what their names are, so if any of them become clients, the psychics know to say “I’m so sorry, but you’re going to die some time next year.” — Blue can’t see them but apparently they’re everywhere. Even walking through her. 

But suddenly, she SEES ONE. And he’s a teenager about her age in a uniform from the local bougie boy’s private school, and he says his name is Gansey. “That’s all there is”. And he looks wet and really disoriented and then he disappears. 

The next day Neeve does a psychic reading about it into some cranberry juice (??) and she says she can’t see how this boy is going to die. There’s just nothing there. And apparently that’s very weird and concerning. Blue is like wow okay whatever I’m going to school and then work. Bye. 

MEANWHILE. A preppy boy named GANSEY is sitting by the highway because his Camero broke down. It broke down at the exact moment he was listening to a voice recording from the previous night where he heard his own voice saying his name. I thought he was going to be an amateur ghost enthusiast or something, but turns out he’s a super smart, super charismatic kid who is extremely interested in leylines. Specifically because of their ties to Welsh Kings that could… potentially grant wishes?? We still need to learn more about that lol

Gansey’s friends show up to help him out. Ronan, who seems like a brooding bad boy/dangerous type and Adam, who I immediately vibe with because he seems down to earth and resourceful and cool. He shows them the freaky recording of his voice talking to another voice (Blue) and explains that he wasn’t fucking saying anything at the time of the recording. And I guess they’re in some kind of ghost…supernatural… unofficial club led by Gansey. 

Later, we meet Declan, Ronan’s older brother, who is taking a new girlfriend to the boys’ hideout like it’s a tourist attraction. Gansey, Ronan, and a 4th friend, Noah live in an abandoned factory which they’ve decorated to be a cool bachelor pad and headquarters for whatever they’re up to with leylines and dead Welsh kings. I don’t know where Adam lives. Maybe the dorms like the normal kids who aren’t Gansey and aren’t insanely rich and can just buy and move into abandoned factories. 

We just met Noah who is ice cold and jokes with the girlfriend that he’s been dead for 4 years after she shakes his hand. The way this book is going, I wonder if that’s true. 

Ronin comes out and starts an argument with his brother Declan, so they leave. Then the boys decide to go get pizza at the local shitty diner and OH NO THIS IS THE SAME SHITTY DINER THAT BLUE WORKS AT. HOPE SHENNANIGANS DON’T ENSUE. 

So Blue’s first interaction with Gansey is him coming over to tell her that Adam thinks she’s cute and was wondering if they could talk. She doesn’t recognize him as the ghost she saw though… I think because when he was a ghost he looked so fucked up and wet and disoriented. So Blue just thinks he’s being a prep boy jackass, something Gansey exacerbates by saying “Oh are you worried it’ll take time away from your job? What do you make hourly? I can pay you!” and Blue is like “I’m not a PROSTITUTE!” – meanwhile Adam looks mortified and is blushing like crazy. 

So Blue blows them off. She gets a call from her Mom saying that some kid named GANSEY called and scheduled an appointment to get a reading tomorrow. So Blue is like “oh my god” having no idea she just yelled at Gansey in the restaurant lol. He leaves his journal on the table.

Declan shows up. Him and Ronin get into a fight in the parking lot, which Gansey and Adam have to break up. There’s some real bad blood in that family. Their Dad got murdered recently and Ronin was the one to find his body. Noah is there. Still can’t figure out if this kid is ACTUALLY DEAD or not, but he sure gets described as pale, weak, and willowy. After all the hullabaloo, Adam comes back to the diner on his bike and talks to Blue. Explains he didn’t ask Gansey to do that, and honestly just thought she looked interesting and wanted to talk. Blue is totally charmed and gives him her number. 

The next day, Blue asks one of the psychic ladies in her house about the journal and Persephone tells her whoever made this thing is more enchanted with the search than the destination. “You would have found it already” she says. HAH. Boys. 

I should also mention, in the background, there is this Latin Teacher at the boys’ school who is ALSO looking for the leylines. His name is Whelk and he’s a young teacher. He’s hella messed up because he and his friend were looking for the Welsh King years ago, and they performed some sort of ritual over the leyline, and the result left his friend DEAD and Whelk hears VOICES now. He’s kind of on to Gansey and the gang and is keeping a close eye on them. 

Gansey gets a phone call from some British dude in the middle of the night. He’s very vocal about his interest in Kings and history, even if he doesn’t tell everyone he’s out for a magic wish. This is a man he met while in boarding school overseas, and this dude IS in on the leyline thing. He tells Gansey about the need to perform a ritual, and that they leylines in Henrietta are underground, maybe in caves. 

Gansey goes to tell Ronin about the conversation and discovers he’s not in his room. Worried, because of the fight with his brother earlier, he rallies the troops to find him. And in like… 3 paragraphs the author throws a ton of heavy information at us. One is that Adam lives in an abusive household, and will probably get in trouble for sneaking out to look for Ronin. The other is that Gansey is so concerned because not long ago, Ronin tried to KILL HIMSELF and Noah found him. He ends up checking the church that all of the Lynch boys attend with their mother every Sunday, and Ronin is there, drunk, sleeping on a pew… with a baby Raven he has named Chainsaw??? That’s kind of adorable. 

They all go home, but the next morning, something is amiss because Adam doesn’t come to school. This immediately bothers Gansey and Ronin, so Gansey goes to visit Adam after school and he does, in fact, have a huge bruise on his face. They have a little argument with Gansey begging Adam to just get out of there and let him take care of him. Come move to the factory with Ronin and Noah. But Adam is really hard set on not accepting any help. In the end he hops in the car to go with Gansey to the psychic reading. They’re definitely bound in their desire to find the sleeping king and ask for a wish. POOR BABY I LOVE HIM. I love all these boys. Even creepy ass Noah who I’m 50% sure might be dead???

Earlier that day, a dark-haired man comes to the psychic house, demands a reading, and gets one… before promptly being thrown out. The psychic ladies determine he’s looking for something, and will stop at nothing to find it, and promptly ask him to leave because I think the cards showed he was willing to do terrible things to get it. I think this man was Whelk because I’m getting slimy vibes from him. 

The boys show up to the psychic house late (just Gansey, Adam, and Ronin) and there’s immediately an adorable finger-pointing panic with them being like “YOU!!” To Blue. Adam looks mortified. It’s all deliciously awkward. Ronan is being a dick as per usual, so Calla freaks him out. He’s like “You’re all fakes. Tell me something no one else would know.” And she’s like “Yeah. Cool. Your father died with a secret that only you know.” And Ronan is promptly like “FUCK THIS I’M OUT!!” — I love how protective Gansey is over his various insundry broken friends. He’s immediately like “That’s not cool, picking on a kid like that.” And Calla, the bitchiest of the psychics, is like “He asked me a question and I answered.”

Adam’s card reading is spot on. That he’s thoughtful and yearns for a brighter future far away from here. When Gansey goes to pull a card, he asks if Blue can pull it for him. She pulls the Page of Cups (her card, which has special meaning to her and her mother) and Maura is like “Nope. You have to draw it yourself Gansey. Pull again.” And they reshuffle. And he fucking pulls it AGAIN! And Maura is like “Okay just put that one aside. Fuck you cards.” And when he pulls ANOTHER card, it’s the death card. Oooooooooo. 

Gansey is like “Okay look we didn’t actually come here for readings. I want to know if you ladies know anything about leylines.” And they all play dumb and are like “We don’t know what that is. Money please. Kay thanks bye.” But he digs his heels in as they turn to leave. “Do you really not know or you just don’t want to help me.” And Maura is like “I just don’t want to help you.” And they go. And then Maura forbids Blue to ever see those boys again, which ticks her off because her mom has never forbid her from anything in her life. 

Later that night, Gansey and Noah are woken up by Ronan feeding his baby crow, Chainsaw lol. They have a brief talk. Then when Gansey goes to bed, there’s a wasp on the window. And he has this dramatic moment gearing up to hit it with a shoe. And now I remember that he has an EPIPEN IN HIS CAR GLOVE COMPARTMENT. Then Ronan comes out and is like “Jesus fucking Christ man!” And kills the wasp for him, all super protective like Gansey was just staring down a gun. We hear of a time in Gansey’s past when he was covered in hornets and almost died from his allergy, and he remembers being on the ground and looking up at worried people. AUGH. Fucking stinging bugs! I hate them too, Gansey. 

Blue finds Neeve out be a tree being weird one evening. She’s performing some sort of ritual and actually gets POSESSED by something that talks to Blue until she decides she’s had enough and kicks over Neeve’s bowls of stuff to snap her out of it. Neeve is like “don’t tell your mom” and Blue says “Fuck that I’m telling everyone”. And after that, a flower delivery truck pulls up and a woman gives Blue a tiny tiny bouquet of baby’s breath and a white carnation. It’s from ADAM!! And it’s sweet and adorable and she loves it. I LOVE IT TOO. 

Whelk goes through Gansey’s locker at school like a total douchebag and figures out that he’s looking for the leyline. I didn’t realize that Whelk doesn’t know about he king’s wish?? He was just doing something else with the leylines I guess. But once he figures out that’s what Gansey’s searching for, he photocopies his books. 

Adam pulls up to the factory headquarters one day to find Ronan and Noah dicking around building ramps to launch the BMW off of lol. BOYS. We hear a little bit of Adam’s backstory… how he was inspired to go to Aglionby after having his card declined at the grocery store, just trying to buy toothpaste and canned goods, and he saw some Aglionby boys in their expensive car and was like “I want to go there”. And he also sees Ronan as like.. the pinnacle of that lifestyle he so desperately wants. Carefree and wanting for nothing. Adam steals Ronan’s cell phone to call Blue and ask if she wants to come ride a helicopter and go exploring haha

And I’ll be damned, when Blue shows up, there most certainly IS a helicopter at the factory. Blue gives back the journal and a little map she made showing where the graveyard is. She tells Adam she wants in on the leyline search, because she’s lived her whole life not being magic, but surrounded by it, and she just wants to experience it for herself. Her and Adam flirt and he calls her pretty and when the copter is on, he has to lean in close to her and shout, and it’s SO CUTE!!! And Gansey is all cute and excited. And Adam holds Blue’s hand because he hates flying. And Gansey’s sister Helen is the pilot hahaha WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS FAMILY???

While they’re flying around looking for evidence of leylines, Blue and the boys hash some things out. For starters, Gansey recognizes Blue’s voice as the one on the recorder, so he asks her about it. Ronan has the same realization and asks her the same thing, only more rudely. Blue says she’s seen Gansey’s spirit, and they talked, but leaves out the part about her being in the graveyard and it being because Gansey is going to DIE. All the same, the guys seem satisfied with this answer.

“I need everyone to be straight with each other from here on out.” Gansey says.

“I’m always straight.” Says Ronan. 

“Man, that’s the biggest lie you’ve ever told.” Adam says.

On my kindle, this is underlined because “2,643 other people have highlighted this sentence” hahahaha. 

They spot a giant carving in the ground in the shape of a raven, so they land the helicopter to check it out.

Turns out there’s a magical fucking forest down there. Everyone’s watches stop working. The light and the weather are weird. There’s a pool where whatever Gansey thinks, something shows up in it. The fish turn colors depending on what he’s thinking. Then they find this hollowed out rotted tree, and when everyone stands in it, they see something horrible. Adam saw some kind of vision where he KILLED GANSEY. (?!?!) And when Blue steps in it, she sees this really sweet, but sad scene, that looks like it’s the same one she saw in the Graveyard. Gansey is all wet. And he’s holding the sides of her face and saying “It’s okay. It’s okay.” And leans in to kiss her!!! Then the vision stops. 

Ronan straight up refuses to go into the tree and Noah isn’t there. 

WOW THIS IS ALL TERRIBLY CONFUSING because Adam and Blue are really hitting it off and holding hands and being cute??? Blue the prophecy said that Blue’s true love would die after she kissed him?? AUGH this book is good. 

They celebrate with ice cream after like total teenagers lol. “We just stood in some kind of traumatic spirit tree - ice creams on the house!!” And after that, they hang out every day. Blue is officially part of the team and she eventually gets to meet Noah, who instantly loves her. There’s this funny line that is like “Noah is the only one allowed to pat the tufts of hair on Blue’s head and Adam wishes he could…” (lolol)

Gansey is adorable by the way. When he stood in the spooky spirit tree he said he saw Glendower. I don’t know if he’s being cryptic or what, but his energy in that whole scene was so fun. He was like… so excited and confident and such a leader for the gang. He’s also super protective of his friends, it’s really adorable. He’s just like the most charismatic, pioneering, confident in a borderline annoying way… good guy. And I just love Adam. He’s such a good ol boy. 

Eventually, after a few weeks of research and sneaking around, they return to the woods. This time with the full gang. And it looks different. It’s darker and the more they walk, the more the seasons change around them. They find a stone with Latin written on it in RONAN’S HANDWRITING. And it says the trees know Latin. 

Well turns out freaky future Ronan was right because the trees most certainly do know Latin. They find a pool of water where Noah and Gansey can hear voices, but no one else can. And because Gansey isn’t great at Latin, he has to tell Ronan what he’s hearing phonetically because Ronan is the only one in the gang that is really really good at Latin. Gansey asks the trees if they know where Glendower is and they say no. The trees know Blue and Ronan though (they say nice to see you again). And tell them to go down the path and take a left. When the kids do this, they find an old red mustang all overgrown and covered in leaves. There’s a Blink 182 sticker and a dowsing rod in the back, meaning someone else was here looking for the leyline. 

Noah runs off and pukes in the forest. I think he knows this car. Gansey says this is a huge discovery and they need to collect more info and come back. 

Okay so the jig is up with Blue and her Mom. And it’s kind of adorable watching them navigate the “you disobeyed my orders” conversation considering Blue has never had orders before and Maura has never had to discipline her child before. Maura and the aunties are drinking screwdrivers at 10am lol I wish I lived in their house. So at least Blue can go off and see the boys any time she wants, even though it pisses her mom off. Calla reminds Blue about their “Movie Night” aka the night they’re going to go through Neeve’s stuff and figure out why she’s so weird. 

So one day, Adam is at work. Ronan is… I forget. I’d say school, but he never goes to school. But maybe he’s at school. Noah is out. So Gansey calls Blue and asks if she wants to go exploring just the two of them. She’s a little nervous at this, but agrees. And they actually have a nice time even with the occasional witty banter. Blue is kind of determined not to like him and hates how condescending he is. But the more they talk, the more they enjoy each other’s company. She asks about the epipen in his glovebox and Gansey tells her about when he was 11 and at a fancy rich person party. And he stepped on a hornet hive. His allergy is so bad that even one sting could kill him, but as he laid there with a whole hive on his body, he heard a voice saying that he wasn’t going to die today. “Somewhere else on this leyline, someone is dying that shouldn’t have. So today, you will not die.” It says. And ever since then he’s been obsessed with the leyline and Welsh Kings. 

They’re walking along when they find a fucking SKELETON in the meadow. And its wearing an Aglionby sweater and has its cheek smashed in. When Gansey looks in the wallet, he sees…. DUN DUN DUN…. NOAH CZERNCY’S DRIVER’S LICENSE.

(Czerncy is the name of Whelk’s friend who died when they messed with the leyline years ago… I KNEW WHELK WAS UP TO NO GOOD!!)

The scene abruptly cuts to Gansey coming back to the factory and screaming for Noah. He calls Adam. Ronan comes out of his room. They have this realization all at once that NONE OF THEM HAVE CLASSES WITH NOAH. They can’t really remember how they became friends. He’s just always been there, quiet and shy and awkward. Gansey might come on a little strong here lol a little accusatory. He and Ronan are like “Have you ever seen him eat?!” I think he’s just blown away. Well it freaks out Noah because he totally disappears. And they don’t see him again for a while. He starts acting like a proper ghost. They think maybe because Gansey and Blue went to the police and his remains got moved away from the leyline. But he’s totally haunting the boys and being cold gusts and moving shit around the apartments and being a shadow. He can’t take form anymore. 

A few days later, Adam is at the factory studying at Gansey’s desk. Ronan is in his room feeding his baby raven. And Noah is doing ghost shit like knocking over Gansey’s mint plant. Declan shows up and shoves a letter in Adam’s face, saying he’s pissed at Gansey for “Letting Ronan fail out of Aglionby and get expelled” — Adam is like “Okay it’s not Gansey’s fault your brother won’t go to class, but I’ll pass the message along. You’re not coming in here like this.” — Gansey made a promise to Declan that he’d look after Ronan if he could come live at the factory and not in the Lynch home after Ronan tried to kill himself. 

Blue shows up at the factory (she’s never been there). And Gansey is away at his family’s house for his Mom’s birthday (side note, his family is so pretentious lol. His Mom is mad at her daughter for gifting her with a bronze plate intstead of a glass plate. GEEZ. Gansey is confident to the point of being annoying, but he’s not shallow.) Blue and Adam totally have crushes on each other, but she’s terrified of him kissing her. At one point, he even brushes her cheek with his hand and tells her she’s pretty, and she’s like “Um. I don’t want to move too fast.” — because she’s scared to tell him about the prophecy because throwing around words like “True love” are really heavy. 

AUGH I’M WORRIED THOUGH. Because Adam is starting to get little pangs of jealousy towards Gansey, because Gansey really did have a nice time hanging out with Blue (and there’s a cute line about him trying to think of more things to get a rise out of her). Oh no oh no I just keep thinking of what everyone saw in the spirit tree…

Anyhoo. Once blue is in the factory, she calls out to Noah and says “You can use my energy if you need to.” I think he really is having trouble manifesting now that his bones have been moved from the leyline. But Noah shows up. And he holds Blue’s hand, which makes her whole arm go numb because of her spirit battery powers. And he seems slightly disoriented, like sometimes he doesn’t know he’s dead, or just has trouble acknowledging it. They ask him who killed him and he says “He was my friend. I trusted him.” And he also says “I was more… when I was alive” and Blue thinks of the red mustang and Blink 182 CD. He probably wasn’t always this shy and skiddish. Noah also has a “smudge” on his cheek, which is where his bones were caved in. But it’s interesting that it manifests that way when he’s a ghost. 

Gansey calls the school and negotiates with the administrator to give Ronan until finals. He does this with Rich people tricks like promising to donate money to the library. He’s driving along super pissed at Ronan for making him “behave like a Gansey” (resulting to bribery) when his car dies. He’s messing around with it on the side of the road when fucking BARRINGTON WHELK pulls up and wastes no time in being a complete douche canoe. 

Dude doesn’t even TRY to masquerade as a teacher/good person and pulls a GUN on Gansey!! Tells him to hand over the journal and tell him everything he knows about the Leyline. Gansey hands it to him, and tells him a few things, but not everything, and then PUNCHES THE GUN out of Whelk’s hand and fucking bolts. (Ronan taught him how to fight. I love it). It’s dark so Gansey is able to hide in the shadows until Whelk gives up and leaves.

Meanwhile Blue and Calla (and Persephone) are rifling through Neeve’s freaky shit in the attic. She has mirrors and bowls and when Calla uses her psychic ability, she realizes that Neeve is not in Henrietta to help Maura find her long lost husband. She’s there because WHELK called her and hired her to investigate the leyline. They would have snooped more except Maura and Neeve unexpectedly came home early and are like “Hey, there’s a bunch of boys out here and one of them has a broken thumb.”

So now everyone is crowded in the kitchen and hashing everything out. Adam is helping Persephone make tea. It’s adorable. I love the psychics and the raven boys getting together to make a plan. Gansey is totally shaken. He’s been to the hospital and has a tag on his wrist and a splint on his thumb. And Blue notices his eyes look a little different. Anyone’s would after getting a gun pointed at their head. Blue and her Mom have a public fight about the Dad thing. Blue is pissed her Mom never told her anything about him and now she’s apparently looking for him with Neeve. It’s decided that they have to stop Whelk from waking up the leyline. But it’s late so everyone needs to go home first lol. 

(Chapter 36)

Ronan drops Adam off at his house. And they immediately sense that something is off by the way Adam’s father is looming on the porch. But Ronan leaves and Robert Parrish immediately starts shit. He’s mad because he found one of Adam’s paystubs… for the 3 JOBS THAT HE HAS just to support his family and his tuition. And this monster punches him into a pole. God this scene is so well-written and hard to read. It’s just heartbreaking. Seeing a kid trying to think through the pain, trying to guess what he needs to say to get his father to stop hitting him. Adam can’t hear anything out of his ear. He can see Ronan’s car stalling at the top of the driveway. A few minutes into the beating later, Ronan shows up and fucking PUNCHES ADAM’S DAD!! Yayyyyy Ronan I love you so much!!

Adam’s Mom calls the cops and when they arrive, Adam is so stunned and off-balance, they keep asking him if he’s drunk. Like no, you massive dipshits, this child has a CONCUSSION. His Mom is giving him a look like “Tell them you fell.” And Adam tells the cops that his father did this to him, and he’d like to press charges. If he didn’t press charges, Ronan would be charged with assault and then he really would be kicked out of school. 

Meanwhile Whelk is being a sad sack eating a burger by a pay phone that keeps ringing. He eventually picks it up and it’s NEEVE!! She says “You know that idea you proposed last time we spoke?” And he goes “Yeah you said you weren’t interested in helping me.” And Neeve goes “Well I changed my mind.” — WHAAAAAAT IS THIS BITCH UP TO. I have a weird feeling about her. 

AUGH so then Gansey picks up Adam from the hospital. And the doctors tell him that Adam will never hear out of his left ear again. And they also told Gansey that Adam didn’t have insurance, so he picked up the tab (knowing this should start a huge fight), but Adam is 100% defeated and is like “You win. Take me to go get my stuff.”

They do have a bit of an argument. I feel for Gansey because to him, it’s not pity. He doesn’t think Adam is any less of a person for needing help. But Adam struggles so much with Gansey because of who he is and what he represents. I love this exchange:

“God, I’m sick of your condescension, Gansey,” Adam said. “Don’t try to make me feel stupid. Who whips out repugnant? Don’t pretend you’re not trying to make me feel stupid.” 

“This is the way I talk. I’m sorry your father never taught you the meaning of repugnant. He was too busy smashing your head against the wall of your trailer while you apologized for being alive.” 

Both of them stopped breathing. 

Gansey knew he’d gone too far. It was too far, too late, too much. Adam shoved open the door. “Fuck you, Gansey. Fuck you,” he said, voice low and furious.

AUGHGHAUGHGH eventually Adam gets back in the car and lets Gansey take him to get his stuff, then take him back to the factory. But MAN I love these boys and this conflict. I totally get where Adam is coming from and I get Gansey’s too. 

Blue shows up at the factory and has a conversation with Noah, who fills her in on everything that’s happened with Adam. She is, of course, horrified. PS I love Blue and Noah’s friendship. He behaves like a proper spirit and when she’s not around for him to borrow energy from, he’s either invisible or looks HORRIFYING with no eyes and a crushed cheek. So everyone is in agreement that Blue being around is great. Even Ronan is warming up to her. Ronan, in fact, is at the LIBRARY which is adorable. Studying his ass off like a good boy so he can stay in school and keep an eye on Adam. I mean his friends.

The phone rings and Noah tells Blue that it’s important, so she runs to go get it and it’s Gansey’s British friend — calling with news that he and his colleague attempted a ritual at the leyline in the UK. AND HIS FRIEND’S SKIN FELL OFF. Wow. Maggie. Um. Okay. Apparently the dude made some joke or comment about “jumping out of his skin” and then it fucking happened because I guess leylines take everything literally. If you think of something, it happens. Like Gansey and the fish changing colors. So…. That’s horrifying. 

Gansey, Ronan, and Adam show up soon after and the air is a bit awkward. Adam is getting all moved in to Noah’s old room and Gansey dramatically falls face down on his bed. I love this kid and I love this scene. There’s a cute bit between Gansey and Blue while Ronan and Adam are setting up his room. Blue tells him what Malory said and he goes “Yee haw” into his mattress. She asks what he and Adam fought about and he mumbles into his mattress lol so she tells him to try again and he goes “My words are unerring tools of destruction, and I’ve come unequipped with the ability to disarm them.” 

Hahahaha I love this kid. Adam has a point. How many 16-17 year olds talk like this?? He’s adorable though, and I love dramatic, broken Gansey even more than confident, charismatic Gansey. Blue agrees. They have this whole conversation with him laying down and her standing upside down over him. 

So then Gansey is like “Alright guys, word on the street is that messing with the leyline turns your skin inside out, so we’re not doing that. Deals off. We’ll find some way to stop Whelk from waking the leyline, but we’re leaving that magic alone because I love you all and I don’t want anything to happen to you.” (He doesn’t say that last part. But we all know that’s why)

Meanwhile, Whelk has been kidnapped by Neeve lol. I guess that’s what she was up to. Now she’s driving him to Cabeswater so she can sacrifice him in order to wake the leyline. WOW Neeve. I knew you were creepy, but I misjudged the extent. 

Later that evening there is a SUPER CUTE SCENE where Blue is doing her homework under the tree by her house, and Adam comes over. He puts his head in her lap (eeee!!) and she strokes his hair and they have a super cute conversation. She comforts him and tells him he’s brave. Adam says he’d like to kiss her, but she dodges it and is like “I don’t want to hurt you.” — “I’m already hurt.” He says, quite literally deaf and bruised all to hell. They move on to other topics, like Adam’s tarot card reading and how he doesn’t know the right choice. Blue tells him to keep being brave. 

That night, Adam has a nightmare, but it’s just the vision from the spirit tree replaying in his head. Gansey bleeding on the ground. Ronan shouting at him “Are you happy now, Adam!?” - Adam has a long hard think when he wakes up about how fucked up his life is. And how Gansey doesn’t want to wake the leyline for fear of someone getting hurt. But he isn’t afraid of getting hurt. He just wants to make life better for himself and his friends and if it means sacrificing something of his, Adam is prepared to do that. He stuffs his father’s gun in his bag, steals Gansey’s car, and runs off to the leyline. 

ADAM NO. WHATEVER YOU DO, DON’T THINK ABOUT YOUR SKIN COMING OFF!!

Noah wakes up Gansey, who wakes up Noah and they rush off.

Meanwhile, Maura goes up to Blue’s room and has a talk with her on her bed. She tells her about her father, who showed up on the leyline. She thinks he might have come from it. His name was Artemis and he was kind of magic. Possibly from a different time. Persephone interrupts saying the Raven boys are out front with the car. Maura says “Go. We’ll take care of Neeve.”

So Adam is walking around Cabeswater and the second he’s thinking about how he wishes it wasn’t so dark and spooky, the sun comes out and it’s beautiful and golden and fall-like. So Adam keeps walking and happens upon Whelk sitting in the center of a Pentagram with a bunch of random bowls and shit around it. Thinking he’s doing the ritual, Adam knocks over one of the bowls. Then Neeve shows up. And Whelk gets out of his hand ties and tackles her. Adam pulls the gun on Whelk, but he puts a knife to Neeve’s throat and tells Adam to throw the gun away. So he does. 

Neeve explains that if Whelk kills her, it won’t wake the leyline. The only way for it to wake up is for someone to make a PERSONAL sacrifice. Whelk is like “But you don’t care about me? How is that a personal sacrifice?” And Neeve says “I’ve never murdered anyone before. My innocence is the sacrifice. But you’ve already murdered before, so you don’t have that option.”

Then Gansey and the gang show up. Neeve suddenly just disappears. Whelk scrambles for the gun and points it at Gansey. Adam throws himself on the pentagram, and time seems to slow down. The air is silent. He knows a thing or two about sacrifice (more than spoiled-ass Whelk whose only reason to wake the leyline is to get RICH again). So Adam tells the leyline “I will be your hands. I will be your eyes.” — he gives up his free will and promises himself to Cabeswater in order to wake the leyline and save his friends from this psycho. Gansey is freaking out and shouting “No!!” But immediately there’s an earthquake. I think this is the leyline waking up.

Everyone is kind of stumbling around in the chaos, and Ronan even shouts at Adam “Look what you’ve done you crazy bastard!” — but Adam, who is now some sort of supernatural being, is just standing in the pentagram looking like a badass. Whelk asks him, “What would YOU do with power? What a fucking waste.” And SHOOTS THE GUN AT ADAM. The earthquake stops. Blue is crying. Everyone is freaking out, thinking Adam has been shot (especially Gansey), but there’s no mark on him. Adam tells Whelk to give him the gun. 

Then.. out of nowhere… a herd of white horned beasts stampede through the forest. Their entrance is preceded by the trees hissing. So I’m not sure if this is Cabeswater doing this (summoning the white.. uhh beasts) or Adam? But Adam looks surprised, so I think it’s the forest. Everyone has to take cover so they’re not trampled, and Blue, Ronan, and Gansey stumble into the vision tree. 

Blue sees a vision of her and Gansey sitting in the car at night. He leans across the gearshift and touches her collarbone. His breath is on her neck. “I just want to pretend.. just pretend that I could.” He says. “Maybe it wouldn’t hurt if I kiss you. Maybe it’s only if you kiss me.”

Like oh my god I love this. Gansey and Blue don’t have that type of relationship now. They’re like firmly friends and like razzing each other. So it’s SO FUCKING FUN to see these visions where they have a crazy amount of sexual tension. But Blue and Adam are also so sweet??? WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING TO HAPPEN IN THESE NEXT 3 BOOKS?!!?

While they’re in the tree, Gansey sees a snippet of the vision that Blue saw earlier— where his hands are on her face. But that’s all he sees before they’re shoved out of the tree. The forest has been trampled by these beasts. Adam is fine lol protected by the pentagram. But Whelk is like… broken. And very dead. Gansey is NOT COOL with this. Adam is still eerily calm and has the gun. He says he didn’t shoot Whelk, just used it to keep him from coming into the pentagram for protection. So he let him get trampled. And Adam says they should just let Whelk rot on the leyline like Noah’s body had to.

The trees talk some Latin and everyone hears it this time. They say “Boy, we know what you’re looking for.”

The trees tell him there’s been rumors of a king buried on the spirit road, and they think he may be “yours”.

THEN IT JUST FUCKING CUTS THERE. And we get some kind of epilogue where Noah’s bones are buried at a funeral. And we see Noah’s family. Noah’s ghost appears to Blue and he asks her to say something to his family “He’s sorry for drinking your birthday schnapps.” And at first they’re offended but then thoroughly freaked out. Noah insisted, though!! 

We learn that Maura and the psychics took apart the mirrors in Neeve’s attic and that’s when she disappeared. Was she an illusion the entire time?? 

Anyway… LATER THE KIDS COME BACK WITH CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT AND DIG UP NOAH’S BONES. They rebury the casket… then take his bones to the church at St. Agnes and bury them there, so they’re on the leyline. The second they do this, our favorite ghost boy comes back (looking normal, not like a monster or invisible) and yay everyone is reunited. I can’t believe these teens fucking did that but alright hahaha Rich kids!!

Everyone is excited that the trees confirmed Glendower exists. 

And Noah is back. 

And Adam is moved out of his abusive home and tied somehow to the leyline’s magic, but we don’t know exactly how yet. 

And they kind of inadvertently murdered their Latin teacher, but it’s okay because he was trying to murder them. No one in this town ever questions where Whelk went lol.

And as everyone is leaving the church all happy and positive and reunited…. Ronan says offhandedly, “I guess now would be a good time to tell you. I took Chainsaw out of my dreams.”

And that is the last line of the book. 

I finished this book at like 3am and I literally had to flip the pages back and forth being like “WHAT?….. WHAT?????” I was so confused. I had to google some articles. 

But this is the 1st book in the series and I think it just teed up the events of the following books. Holy shit. This is fun!! I love these characters and the cadence and the writing style of this book. I love the layers to each of the boys that we as the reader get to see. The surface level stuff that makes them fight with each other. And the sweet underpinnings of their wants and needs and psychies. It’s just so cool!! I’m definitely going to keep reading, even though I was a little confused by that climax. 

There’s pentagrams and guns and Adam is some kind of god now and then there’s deer beasts maybe and I’m just like… WHAT IS HAPPENING?? Now we’re at a funeral???

Alright well here we go. On to the next one!!

Deadass Rating:7/10

Unofficial theme song: “Girl” by Jukebox the Ghost

[pseudoneiiric]

📜📜 for ji-yeong and 📜📜 for octavian :)

send in 📜 to get a random fun fact about my muse.

while ji-yeong doesn’t necessarily look intimidating, she’s gotten into fights when she was in jail, and she’s fairly good at winning them! her fighting style is pretty unconventional, but she’s good at what she does.

the next one is semi-related, but a lot of ji-yeong’s personality is a front meant to disarm people. either by throwing them off, or by charming them with her chatter. she very intentionally probes people and her uncaring attitude is another thing that she picked up in prison. not that she really remembers life outside of it.

i think i mentioned this on some blog or other but i’ll restate it here: octavian really admires his father, who was a roman soldier that died in battle. the books don’t really go into what happens to legacies as they age or anything besides that they retire, but i imagine that camp jupiter’s army used to actually have adults in it before the war. still, i don’t think octavian’s dad necessarily died recently. he probably did die heroically, though, which partially explains why octavian is so obsessed with that concept. he was probably also the one to tell octavian that romans need to die honourable deaths. so, fun!

another thing i’ve probably mentioned on the million blogs i’ve written octavian on is that people routinely doubt his gift of prophecy both because of his status as a legacy and because they just kind of don’t like him. it’s true that his gift is a little unpredictable and shaky, which is something he tries to joke about from time to time, but it never quite lands. it’s usually either ignored or used as more fuel for the octavian is actually faking his gift theory. still, he’s really proud of his prophetic ability and tries to use it as often as possible. one of his worst fears is losing it. (surprise, surprise, guess what happens in the books!)

[dailyaudiobiblechronological]

6/23/2022 DAB Chronological Transcription

1 Kings 12-14

Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible Chronological, I'm China. Today is the 23rd day of June, welcome. So great to be here with you today. We are just blazing through the month of June. And speaking of blazing, I don't know where you live, but holy smokes in middle Tennessee, it is roasting and toasten. I'm like, can we get a break? Can we get some rain? Can we get a giant fan? It is hot. I bought this dog pool, just something that wouldn't pop because I have two boxers that know no limits or boundaries. And so I had my daughter out on the back patio and just trying to be outside, get some sunshine, get some vitamin D. And my dogs were like, in the pool with us, and it's not that big. And I was like, okay, you ruined it. You ruined the fun. We're done. We're going inside now. But that was my one trick of trying to be outside and keep the heat manageable and no, the heat, it won. We went inside and took a nap because that's how hot it was. So I don't know. Welcome to the south. If you've never been here, that's basically how it's going to be until about November. So welcome to today's reading. We have some crazy stories that happen in today's reading. Today we are in the book of 1st Kings, in chapters 12 - 14. And we continue on with the New International Version for this week.

Commentary

We have some crazy stories that happen in today's reading. So there's a man, he has no name. His name literally, we are only introduced to him as "a man of God". So that's his name. You can call him MOG. Man of God Mog. So our friend MOG, he approaches an altar. He's crying out against this altar. There seems to be some sort of prophecy that is happening. And King Jeroboam, he hears of it. And when he goes to seize this man and obviously trying to get him to redact what he said because it's almost like this curse. Jeroboam's hand shrivels up. And I don't know if that's like his hand is like, disintegrated something interesting like that. Probably not. It just says shriveled. So probably like, he just couldn't grasp him or something. I'm not fully I have no idea. Those are just guesses. And then the king is like, okay, now my hand is messed up. Intercede with the Lord your God, pray that my hand will be restored. So MOG, he intercedes with the wood. The king's hand is restored. And it became as good as it was. And then the king is like, oh, thanks, dude. You want to come to my house and have a meal? I'm going to give you a gift. And MOG is like, no, even if you were to give me half your possessions, I would not go with you, nor would I eat bread or drink water here. I was commanded by the word of the Lord, you must not eat bread or drink water or return the way you came. He took another road and did not return by the way, he had come to Bethel. Okay, so he has an invitation to be derailed. He has an invitation right there. Like, he is tempted one time, and obviously he's kind of having some interesting interactions with the king. He is about to be seized, and then he is now being like, Oh, pray for my hand, and then say, Hey, actually, will you come with me? Like, that feels a little sketchy. Just me? Maybe not. And so he's like, no, this is what I was commanded by the Lord. I am honoring it. And so great. The next paragraph. There was a certain old prophet, again, like, no names, okay, whose sons came and told him that the man of God and all that he had done and seen that day and all that was happening. They also told their father what he had said to the king. Their father asked him, which way did he go? His son showed him where MOG went, and he said to his son, saddle the donkey for me. When they had saddled the donkey for him, he mounted it and rode after MOG. He found him sitting on an oak tree and asked, he's a man of God. It came from Judah. MOG says, I am. And so then he's like, Come on with me and eat. MOG is  again, another invitation. I'm like, Why was this so tempting? I'm so curious. Why was there two altercations for him to be tempted, for his plans to be derailed? Maybe it was just that important of a mission. But because the old prophet is introduced as the old prophet even said, I, too am a prophet. An angel said to me, by the word of the Lord, bring him back with you to your house so that he can eat bread and drink water. So not only is now an angel appearing, which the next scripture says he was lying, so MOG, he gets a word from God. He reiterates it twice. And now all of a sudden, there's this speaking of, oh, well, an angel told me, and this is where because this man was an old prophet, and there's probably trust that came with being one, that was how he was deceived. And it's also like, MOG, you were doing so well, you denied this twice, and now we're in this place of you gave in. You gave in to this temptation you have not followed up with what the Lord said to you, and he told you, like, this was not going to end well for you if he did this. There is a part of me that's like, man, why didn't anything happen to this prophet? Because he purposely deceived him and lied to him and manipulated him for, like, really no good reason. And I'm like, Okay, I'm like, your prophet power should be redacted at least. I don't think that's how that works. But I'm like something like this MOG gets eaten by, man of God, that's what we've named him. He gets eaten by a lion because he didn't follow through with what the Lord said and he was deceived. Now, I'm not saying we only hold the deceivers and the liars accountable and we don't take responsible for our actions who have fallen victim to that. Because the Lord was clear and I don't know if he needed to have said, hey, there's going to be someone who is going to derail you twice but still persist with what I have said. But I feel like that's kind of like, hey, unless the Lord comes and tells you and redirects you, don't take it from someone else. But then again, on the other hand, I'm like, but this was probably a trusted prophet anyways. So this story always brings up the questions in me because I'm like, what gives? But this is the things that were going on and we read about them and we're like, why is this in the Bible? And I was like, no, actually this is in the Bible because we get it twisted all the time. We can totally be in full confidence that the Lord said something to us and then someone like asks a question or puts it into question and we will be like, okay, yeah, I'll follow this instead, or Yeah, actually that's what the Lord is saying to you when in reality it's like the Lord has already spoken to us. It is up to us to be carriers and to follow through with it. And the Lord was clear when he said, don't eat, don't drink, don't come back the same way you went. That's pretty clear. And there were two different men that were a king and an old prophet. So two people in places of character that seem like you can trust. But that is not the point, like we are not to trust in man, we are to trust in God. And truly, this is a story that says even if it sounds good or it may look good, God has already given us his instruction. Also, I'm like, why didn't this man say, let me pray and ask God real quick, let me consult him? Because I denied this already once and it seemed to work well for me and I didn't hear the Lord saying, hey man, good job. You want something to eat? You want something to drink? Sure, or you want to go back a different way? Go for it. No, the Lord was faithful in what he said and this man of God, no name, we call him MOG, is not he's deceived. And so part of me is like, I feel for you, ma'am. Also, you got to take responsibility for the fact that the Lord told you. He wasn't joking. And we have to be responsible for our own faith, for our own hearings of the Lord. We cannot depend on other people to hear the voice of God for us. We have to be willing and able to hear it ourselves. And the good news is we don't have to depend on other people to hear God for us. We don't need to go and seek out other prophets. We don't have to go to a temple, we don't have to go to a pastor. We don't have to pray to specific people. We get to pray to the Lord and we get to ask Him. And when we seek Him, we find Him. And that is the good news of the story of where we are.

Prayer

Lord, I thank you for stories like today that remind us that we get to seek you out for ourselves. And I thank you would, even when you speak something to us and we are slow to respond to it, or we are wanting a sign or some guidance in it, I thank you Lord, that you meet us in that. And Lord, I pray that we would believe and that you would help our  unbelief and that we would be people who stay on track and on the right course and that we wouldn't get distracted. And I thank You, God, for Your Word that gently reminds us of all of that. And it's in Your name we pray, amen.

Announcements

Dailyaudiobible.com is our website. That is a place of connections where you can see what's happening here in the community, how to get connected and stay connected. So be sure to check that out. That is all for today. I love you and I'll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Community Prayer Line

Hey, this is Big (undecipherable). I'm calling with a praise report. I called in about a month and a half ago with a prayer request as regards to my marriage and also my son Jonathan, who had a lot of cramps that we just can't figure out. He used to wake up three to seven times a night, which was really hard for us to cope with, and we were just not very nice people, but now just Kingdom Seeker Daniel, you called in and prayed for us. And the next night he only woke up once, which had never happened before. And now through all this time, he has only woken up one to three times every night instead of three to seven times, which is a huge difference, and it also improves our marriage. It is so much better. So I just want to thank you all for praying and also the Kingdom Seeker Daniel, for calling in and blessing us with the prayer that we created here. So thank you so much, everyone. Bye.

Hello, DABC family. This is Cindy from Kansas again. And tonight I come to you with yet another prayer request. This is about a dear friend of ours that we have grown up with in the youth group at our church and he has struggled almost all of his life with diabetes. Lost a foot a few years back due to diabetes, but now he went into the hospital on Memorial Day with kidney failure and pneumonia and came back from that and then just this past Sunday morning, he went into cardiac arrest. He's on a ventilator and he's not showing much response to painful stimulus. So they did an MRI, not showing any brain damage as of yet, but they were going to do another MRI today and we don't know the results of that yet, but we're just praying for God to heal him. We pray for God's will in his life and we just pray for healing, pray for his family. Thank you. Bye bye.

Good morning, DABC family. This is Mia from Brooklyn. I am so overjoyed and so excited for just how great God is. It's such a beautiful thing to hear such the outpouring of love and prayers for Ashley from Texas. I tell you, Ashley, you are blessed beyond measures. I am so excited for you and your new baby, Genesis. I pray all to be well. I pray that your fiance will just come on over and just feel the love of God and know that God is amazing and can do things beyond our imagination. And I know that soon will come, Ashley, it will come. Just keep believing and keep praying in God. Thank you, DABC family for just pouring into so many and to hear the praise reports, it's just so it just brings joy to my heart. I'm paying for alia at this time, father God, only you know what's going on. And I'm praying that her little soul will be just blessed and healed from these fainting episodes. Please remove these things from her, heal her from the top of her head to the bottom of her feet, father God, only you can and we trust and believe that she will be well. So I want to thank you all and just continue to pray for me and my family. We're going through some little tough times with my youngest daughter in depression and bipolar and I just ask you all to pray for us at this time. I love you all and have a blessed and wonderful day. Bye.

[yuugami-tan]

slightly out of the blue but i've never talked abt the weirdly prophetic bts dreams i've had

[secondgenerationnerd]

Movie Night

Let’s be honest, we all wanna see this 😂😂😂

———————————

Bruce has come a long way since that fateful night in the alley. From a scared, lonely little boy to a proud father, loving husband, hero to his city, even a grandfather! His parents would be proud. He knows that.

“Hey there, handsome.” Selina greets her husband as she heads to the garage.

“Where are you going, Cat?” He can make a guess based on her plain, dark clothes. “Or I should say, which museum are you going to?”

“Oh, Bat,” The thief winks at him, “You should know by now. Telling spoils the fun. Oh! The kids are in the movie room.”

“….Is anyone dead?”

“Not yet.” She blows him a kiss before disappearing.

To call them kids isn’t exactly fair. Ranging from early thirties to barely 5 years old, many had joined their family. Like any family, they’ve had their issues, conflicts, and disagreements. But they’re still family.

That being said, the last time the kids watched a movie together, Damian almost stabbed them when a dog died.

Okay, other families don’t necessarily have to worry about weapons being drawn but….yeah, not really a good argument there.

Opening the door to the viewing room, Bruce barely has time to register the movie they’re watching —Enchanto, Helena must be in here—when Stephanie gets up. She swings Helena up, singing along with Pepa, “~We don’t talk about Bruno, no, no, no, we don’t talk about Bruno—But! It was my wedding day.~”

Cass pops up behind her girlfriend, “~It was our wedding day.~”

“~We were getting married and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky.~”

“~No clouds allowed in the sky.~” Cass tickles her little sister’s neck, making Helena giggle.

“~Bruno walks in with a mischievous grin—~“

“~Thunder!~”

Stephanie fake pouts, turning from her girlfriend, “~You telling this story or am I?~”

Cass pulls Steph back by her belt loops, kissing her, “~I’m sorry, mi vida, go on.~”

“~Bruno says it looks like rain~,” Steph swings Helena around.

“~Why did he tell her!!~” Cass takes her little sister, kissing the five year old’s face. Helena giggles and wraps her arms around her neck. The older girl rises to her tiptoes, pirouetting to earn another laugh.

“~In doing so he flood my brain~”

“~Abuela gets the umberllaaaaaaa~”

“~Married in a hurricane!!~”

Cass and Steph wag their fingers at Helena, singing together, “~We don’t talk about Bruno-no-no. We don’t talk about Brunoooooo~”

“~Hey!~” Dick jumps up, 14 -year-old Mar’i with him, “~Grew to live in fear of Bruno stuttering or stumbling, I can always hear him sort of muttering or mumbling, I associate him with the sound of falling sand—ch, ch, ch.~” The Graysons pretend to throw sand to each side. Mar’i bunches her skirt, the edge of her bike shorts showing, to copy the movie as her father sings, “~It’s a heavy gift so humbling, always left Abuela and the family fumbling, grappling with prophecies they couldn’t understand.~” The two jump onto the snack counter, spinning to face the others, “~Do you understand?~”

“~SEVEN FOOT FRAME!~” Jason appears seemingly from nowhere, snatching Helena from their sister. Helena shrieks with joy as he holds her upside down over his shoulder, “~ Rats along his back, when he calls your name it all fades to black. Yeah he sees your dreams and feasts on your screams.~”

“~Hey!~” All his kids laugh and dance around the room, “~We don’t talk about Bruno-no-no, (Oh noooooo) We don’t talk about Bruno!~”

Surprisingly, Damian steals Helena from Jason and half sings, “~He told me my fish would die the next day DEAD!~”

Mar’i flies over Damian, taking Helena and spins her around. Duke does something like a tango with Tim, “~He told me I’d grow a gut and just like he saaaaaaid~” 

“~He said that all my hair would disappear, now look at my he-eaaad~” Tim makes a indignant noise when Jason pulls the third Robin’s hood over his head.

All the kids move together, striking various poses, “~YOUR FATE IS SEALED WHEN YOUR PROPHECY IS READ~”

Helena hangs onto Mar’i’s hands, the Tamaranean lowering her aunt slowly, Damian below them for safety.

“~He told me the life of my dreams would be promised, and some day be mine.~”  The little girl manages to flip around, something she no doubt learned from her oldest brother. “~He told me my power would grow, like the grapes that thrive on the vine.~”

“~Oye, Mariano’s on his way~” 

As Mar’i lowers Helena into Damian’s arms, Dick dramtically falls back into Cass and Tim’s arms, “~He told me the man of my dreams would be just out of reach, betrothed to another! It’s like I hear him now!~”

“~Hey, Sis,~” Helena wags her finger at Cass, who blows a kiss to her, “~I want, not a sound outta you!~”

 “~I CAN HEAR HIM NOW!!!~”

“~Um, Bruno...~” Duke looks at his siblings, “~Yeah, about that Bruno...I need to know about Bruno! Gimme the truth and whole truth, Bruno!~” 

“~TIM-MY, YOUR BOYFRIEND’S HERE! (TIME FOR DINNER!)~” 

As they all dance around the viewing room, singing their various parts, oblivious to Bruce at the door, the seasoned hero feels a twinge of pride. Not all their stories have had happy beginnings, but they have these moments. Helena shrieking with joy as she’s tossed between various siblings. Dick spins his daughter around, Mar’i laughing as he does. Cass kissing Stephanie and smiling so wide she can’t anymore. 

Naturally, Bruce takes pictures. For future reminders, that’s all. Definitely won’t get brought up at future movie nights...weddings...a reminder when they’re fighting. 

“Daddy!” Helena runs to him, wrapping her arms around his leg, “Come watch with us.”

Shit. The others see the phone in his hand, pointed at them. Not a word passes between them. Barely a look at each other. But Jason says exactly what they’re thinking.

“Get the phone.”

“Hold on, Helena.” Bruce swings his young daughter onto his back, racing down the hall. A mix of voices shouting behind him--not all in English, definitely about their reputations-- and pounding footsteps on the wood floors. Helena laughs and wraps her arms around his neck. She’s never known anything different than this insanity. Her crazy, crazy family that loves each other, even when they say otherwise.

Jumping over the stair railing, one arm holding onto Helena, there’s one thing he’s certain of. Well, two.

One, he could never give up moments like this. Two, he’s incredibly thankful for automatic Cloud uploads.

[palimpsessed]

Author Self-Rec

Thanks for tagging me in for this @bazzybelle @facewithoutheart @bookish-bogwitch @nightimedreamersworld @tea-brigade and @sillyunicorn

post your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers

I have 10 fics so I guess I’m recommending half of them 😂 . Which means none of these will be surprising because I’m sure you’ve all heard me talk them to death by now.

1. Slings And Eros (M, 95k and counting)

I couldn’t make this list without this fic. It’s a beast, but it’s my baby. It’s my longest by a wide margin, which probably feels intimidating to potential readers, but I still hope people give it a chance because I just feel all kinds of ways about this one. It’s on the surface an Eros and Psyche Greek myth au but it’s also barely that at all and does not require knowledge of the original or of mythology. It follows star-crossed god Simon and human Baz as they work with Penelope to save Baz from the wrath of Simon’s father. In the midst of that, it explores prophecy, destiny, morality, accountability, identity, and all the ways we can love. And it also weaves in as many themes/characters from the books as possible ofc. I look forward to the day this one is complete and I can read it through and hopefully still love it.

2. A Man of Letters (T, 54k)

I’ve easily read this fic more than any other (mine or anyone else’s). It was so much fun using the unsent-letters-cum-diary format to construct the narrative and I think this ended up being a super successful way to write it. Baz gets to live that Beau Brummell life and Simon gets to play with swords. There is trauma, class anxiety, miscommunication, and oodles of romantic tension. Also! Lady Ruth! Who, I dare say I did a pretty bang up job of characterizing pre-awtwb. (You didn’t hear it from me, but Lady Ruth may do a bit of Plotting™️ of her own...🤫 )

3. Chamber by Chamber (E, 19k)

My most kudosed fic now apparently. Maybe I should just rec the series it’s in. There are three fics that do all build together, but they can stand on their own, depending how deep you want to go. This fic was my way of having Simon and Baz finally fully accept the monstrous in themselves by giving that to each other, using Simon’s WS quote as a kind of outline. I termed it therapeutic smut, which is accurate, while also being very kinky—but look at who we’re dealing with. It was also an excuse for me to write all the tail sex. Fully (and very explicitly 😅) illustrated with a banging playlist.

4. I Can’t Believe He’s Not Butter (T, 5k)

Yes it’s crack, but I still really love this fic. Also, most of my fics are chaptered and 10k+ so this could offer some nice entry level commitment. Do you yearn for sensual scenes of butter spreading? An oversaturation of saucy puns about sauces? Poetic musings from the syrup caddy at table six? Have a need to see the only appropriate use of the word “nubbin”? This is the fic for you! I truly had no idea how much worldbuilding I was going to do for this one. Did I need to explore the interpersonal relationships and social/power dynamics of diner condiments? Well actually yes, yes I did. I hope pancake syrup!Baz and margarine!Simon are very happy together in their blue plate special life.

5. To the Manor Borne (T, 43k)

My COC entry from 2020, using each day’s prompt to write another chapter; the plot is intentionally loose at best, so the chapters are pretty standalone if you wanted to do this one in shorter installments. The ws-era gang spends the Christmas holidays at Pitch manor doing dead spot research, arts and crafts, caroling, canoodling, and introspection. Shepard teaches Baz, Penny, and Agatha how to tie their shoelaces the Normal way. Simon is back in therapy and trying to convince Baz to go to, too. Penny is doing work on her dad’s team. Agatha doesn’t know why she’s there, but she’ll figure it out. Snowbaz exchange gifts, have touching moments in the rain, go flying, and are just generally nauseatingly adorable.

And that’s it! If you read to here, hi, thank you, and if you’ve not done this yourself, consider this your official tag. Also tagging in five people: @bloodiedpixie @starwarned @skeedelvee @prettylightsbigcity @otherpeoplesheartachept-2

[bookofmirth]

glad your asks are back because i love hearing your opinions on things!

so bryce mentions that ruhn and rhysand look alike so i’m guessing that rhysand is a descendant of the high king and queen of prythian and he’s the ‘rightful heir’ to the high king throne of prythian?

i’m not a fan of the high king idea because the court system is so fun and unique and i love the other high lords and honestly, rhys is probably not the best option considering he can barely control the night court.

anyway, what are your thoughts on ruhn and rhys looking alike?

Hello, thank you for the question! I'm still pretty behind so asks will stay off for another day or two. Maybe.

Sorry this response is mostly questions, I won't be much help at all 😂

In addition to Rhys and Ruhn looking very similar, there was the way that Bryce described Rhys. We haven't seen Rhys from a stranger's POV in a long time, but Bryce's POV leaned heavily into the beautiful High Lord of the Night Court thing, emphasizing Rhys's voice as being like night, his eyes having "actual stars".

(The annotation I made in the highlighted text says "Rhys, dusk, Ruhn" and I don't remember why lol)

To me, that imagery was very very heavy "this is what a Starborn fae looks like", but it could also just be because he's the HL of the Night Court. Sometimes the simplest answer is most accurate.

Also, Rhys and Ruhn both have daemati powers! That power is described as being one of the rarer, but we now have had third person close POV in both acotar and CC, which means that we should pretty much know who can use that power. Rhys, Ruhn, and Feyre (grâce à Rhys gifting her powers when she died in acotar).

Rhys can also use shadows, not in the same way that Az does, but then Ruhn doesn't seem to use shadows the same way either. Think of when Rhys has that nightmare in acomaf and Feyre goes to find him, and tendrils of night have invaded the space.

This makes me wonder if the Starsword will call out to Rhys, the way that it did to Bryce and Ruhn?

ALSO, since Az has had TT this whole time, and we know that the Starsword was calling out to Ruhn and Bryce, would Rhys have felt that call from TT? Or is that something that should have happened and won't actually come up? Has TT really been inert this whole time?

Going back to your questions, I do think that there are connections between them in ancestry. I am not sure what that means in terms of the High King stuff. It seems like the fae are from the isle of perpetual dusk, but that doesn't mean there will be a dusk court, and there never has been, and I doubt that the other High Lords would accept either 1) Rhys coming in and taking over, or 2) Ruhn doing the same. I wonder if Ruhn's prophecy thing about being the last of his line will play a role here. IDK!!!!

[kittydemon9000]

Okay so once again, 3 am thoughts have gifted me with yet another au. It is by no means original but screw it: SmithSwap

The only things I’m switching is their ages, so now Nya is the older one, but it. Gets. Fun.

For specifics, as of the Pilots/S1 Nya is 15 and Kai is 11, because I want bebe kai

Now, prior to Wu showing up, it’s pretty much the same as canon only with roles reversed. Nya mostly runs the shop while Kai is trying to everything he can to make things easier for his big sister, and I mean everything. The only one Nya doesn’t stop him from doing is cooking because Kai is the better chef, though neither can figure out why. Nya also likes to tell Kai stories of their parents since he can’t remember them too well, much to his disappointment.

ANYWAY, Wu shows up, Kai gets upset he’s insulting his sister’s work, then Skulkin show up. Kai does get snatched, much to Nya worry and canon continues.

Okay but also tiny spinoff, it also would’ve been hilarious if Nya still got kidnapped because then when the guys meet Kai they’d be like “who is this sassy lost child?”

So then while Nya’s training, I’m actually going to say what happened when Kai is captured.

You see, a side affect of being really freaking old is that your perception of time changes, specifically how long periods seem shorter. Garmadon decided that because of the prophecy it would be best to snatch the Master of Fire, who he thought would be Ray.

So you can imagine his surprise when his Skulkin bring in a kicking, screaming 11 year old child.

He is, understandably, not happy and very confused.

He sends the Skulkin away and tries his best talking with Kai. Like, as little malice as he can in a gentle voice, and he actually learns a few things. 1) both Ray and Maya went missing years ago, 2) these kids have no idea about anything regarding the Elemental Masters, 3) Kai’s sister has been raising him since their parents went missing, and she’s only four years older than him

Understandably, he is concerned, but also sees this as an opportunity. If he raises the Master of Fire to be loyal to him, then he’ll never want to fulfill his role in the prophecy, thus ensuring his victory. also he really misses lloyd and now when he returns he’ll have two kids!!! how amazing is that

So yeah Kai’s stay in the Underworld isn’t that bad. This Garmadon guy is pretty nice, tells him awesome stories about his parents, teaches him a bunch of things(mostly how to fight), and really just acts like the paternal figure he never had(Garmadad is canon, no matter what form you can fight me on this). The only part that sucks in Samukai, but he’s just a jerk and Garmadon makes sure he’ll never actually do anything to hurt him. He does miss Nya a lot though.

Anyway back with Nya and the guys.

They don’t actually know the exact reason why she was here at the beginning. All they know was that Wu originally left for the Master of Fire and came back with her instead. They know she has a brother, but aren’t quite sure how he falls into it.

They learn her full story the night they’re heading to the Temple of Fire, at which when they’re winding down Zane brings up how she never actually told them how she met Wu.

They are very concerned when they find out the whole story and swear they’ll help her get him back, which is nice.

Then she sees Kai But Actually Garmadon, follows, and bam Sword of Fire time. She isn’t able to fully use it, but she’s able to get a few sparks. However, things then start to take a turn for the worst.

Kai is actually here, very confused why Garmadon’s having him tied to the ceiling, but hey Nya’s here! But then oh no he then realizes that Garmadon is the bad guy, which gets him upset and more then a little betrayed.

Seeing him hurt his sister, the one of raised him, actually has Kai pick up the sword and use his powers. Under normal circumstances, it probably wouldn’t have been bigger than a few sparks, however Kai has his big sister in danger, dealing with the betrayal of an almost father figure, holding the Sword of Fire, and being surrounded by his element.

So yeah. Not that small of a fire.

The guys and Wu are actually able to to witness the truly incredible fire blast he lets out from the camp, put two and two together, and start heading over. Wu didn’t follow Nya…..because plot and was the able to help them fight off the Skulkin.

Anyway, it’s more than enough to dissipate the shadows, however it also wakes up the dragon. Garmadon, who is sort of panicking because That Was Not Supposed To Happen, ends up scooping up an unconscious Kai and the Sword and retreating to the underworld, leaving behind a very pissed Nya and an equally pissed Fire Dragon.

But yeah, Nya deals with the dragon, they get the other ones and head to the Underworld with Wu this time, and he’s actually the reason they’re able to get past all the Skulkin. 

But yeah, Samukai gets vaporized and Garmadon about to leave when a feverish Kai makes his way in and begs Garmadon to not do it and that they can fix things.

And Garmadon….actually pauses for a second and you can see the conflict in his eyes before he shakes his head and says “there’s no going back for me” and walks through. Kai then collapses and the end up heading back home.

As for what’s up with Kai, who would’ve guessed tapping into a kind of power you aren’t supposed to have access to yet in a high stress situation would be bad for the body. He has a really bad fever but he’s fine after a few days.

The few month timeskip in between the Pilots and S1 is mostly spent training Kai, so they have quite a bit less free time. However when S1 starts and Kai hears about Lord Garmadon, he actually wants to check it out himself first.

So yeah, he meets Lloyd by himself and it actually doesn’t go that badly. Kai actually buys some candy for them to share and they leave the town, and Kai actually starts talking with him. Eventually the topic comes up about Garmadon and Kai gives a rough basis about how he sort of got kidnapped, and then his work in progress plan of making him good again. Lloyd is completely down with seeing his dad again and says how they could probably get his dads attention if their got their own evil army.

And because they’re both stupid kids, neither of which have had parents before, Kai thinks it’s a great idea.

So yeah. That’s why they find the Serpentine here.

Ofc, it isn’t a right away type thing. It takes them about a month before they find the Hypnobrai Tomb, and Kai just plays off all his time spent out as him having made a friend, which they can’t exactly argue with.

Ofc, canon still happens and when Kai was busy training Lloyd ended up finding the tomb and releasing the Serpentine, and they do their regular Canon Nonsense. 

However, Kai is not too happy about the whole Attack Villages things and after a bit comes clean to the ninja about their original plan. They very much aren’t happy, but admit his heart was in the right place and they doubt he’d pull something like this again.

Fast-forward a bit more, Kai is mostly chill with Zane’s “weirdness” and unfortunately stays home when the Hypnobrai burn down the Monestary. It’s only because the dragons were able to get out and protect him that he was still alive. Nya’s actually the one who yells at Zane this time around because again. Kai almost died, but it’s all cool later and they find the Bounty :D

Anyway, Canon again continues. Kai is still really good with the dragons and is a little upset they need to leave. He also gets along really well with Ed and Edna. Then when Lloyd joins Kai is a little….well he doesn’t hate him but he does spend a while avoiding him.

Eventually Nya has enough of their dancing around each other and locks them both in the same room so they can talk it out. Turns out the reason Kai was avoiding him was because Lloyd’s betrayal really hurt since they were supposed to do it to find Garmadon, not hurt people. They have a tearful apology, then Kai learns how much of a jerk the Serpentine were and is like “the next time I see any I’ll protect you, since you’re like my little brother and as a big brother it’s my job to keep you safe”

Now it’s Samurai Time :)

You see, this time around Kai has double reasons for being the Samurai. 1) Yeah, he hates being left behind and wants to be involved but also 2) he wants to keep his big sister and big brothers safe

So yeah, that happens. He does think it’s pretty funny when they keep trying and failing to one up him though.

But then :) He gets captured with Lloyd :)))

So yeah, that sucks but it only gets worse because while Kai was able to “summon” his Samurai Mech, he had to send it off to get the ninja away. So that sucks.

Garmadon eventually shows up to help since the Serpentine stole both his kids, much to Nya’s chagrin.

Then comes the freaking Volcano Scene and this one is from Nya when she rescues Kai, then has to choose between Lloyd or the Fangblade. She ends up unlocking her True Potential by essentially leaving behind all negative feels she had for Lloyd and accepting him under her protection just like she did Kai.

The sheer torrent of water easily cools all the lava and thoroughly soaks them. But hey, even Kai has to admit being wet is better than being burnt alive. Also when the ninja start wondering aloud why the Samurai didn’t help Kai bashfully admits he was the Samurai, and this thoroughly impresses the ninja since Kai is like, 12 at this point.

Uhhhh, S2 isn’t too different. Kai is super happy that the dragons are back and is easily Ultra’s favorite. He isn’t hit with either Garms spell nor the Tomorrows Tea, but is there to comfort Lloyd and says that even though he got hit with some magic stuff Kai is still going to protect him since he’s still his older brother. On the Dark Island Kai is heartbroken Nya got corrupted and swears he’ll help fix her. When Garmadon gets purified Kai looses his shit and gets so excited since let’s goooooo not only is his dad not evil anymore they can go out in public together :DDDD

S3, also not too different. During the whole Love Triangle nonsense Kai’s just sitting there so confused. Also Pixal joins team Kai’s Older Siblings. Him getting captured was just him being at the wrong place wrong time. He has a really fun time time in space though, which was nice.

But uh. Then Zane hecking dies, which hits everyone really hard, especially Kai. Only this time, Nya ends up taking Kai back to Ignacia and opens up the forge again, pretty much cutting all contact with the other ninja, Wu and Garmadon. While it might’ve been boring and lonely, at least in Ignacia they were safe. 

Kai is…honestly really miserable, but hides it well. He can barely get up some mornings, but does so anyway since he’s desperately trying to act like things are normal, despite how Nya doesn’t talk very much. He misses the other ninja a lot, even Pixal despite not knowing her for very long, but doesn’t want to tell Nya since again, trying to make things normal again. Nya also doesn’t let him out of the house too often, only really if she’s there to watch him.

This routine goes on for about two months, until Lloyd shows up to try and get everyone back together. And Nya.....Nya doesn’t like that.

She and Lloyd end up having a bit of a passive aggressive argument that is progressively getting louder until Kai just. Snaps.

He yells at them to stop fighting, how they’re acting so horribly and that he wished things could go back to normal, how Zane wouldn’t want this and that he’d be disappointed in them.

The two visibly flinch.

Then Kai realizes exactly what he just said and who he said it to. And he runs.

Nya and Lloyd both spend some time in silence, mulling over what Kai just said because he was right. Zane would hate what’s become of the team and how they separated.

Nya ends up being the one to break the silence, asking Lloyd where and when to meet.

When Kai doesn’t return from the woods, she ends up leaving a note before she leaves, explaining where she’s going and how she’s sorry.

Meanwhile, Kai is having a slight breakdown in a Tree Base he made years ago.

But yeah, fast forward a bit and Kai’s getting ready to sneak onto Chen’s Island, but in a slightly different way than canon. Instead he takes a slightly experimental ship that’s basically a smaller Bounty which he calls the Destiny’s Wish. Think of the comparison like a Car vs a Go Cart. Comfortably, it can fit 2 people long term, but for quick trips can carry as many as 10, but it’ll be a tight fit and the Wish might have some trouble flying.

So yeah, he’s on his own and he doesn’t arrive until a few hours before the EMs all get dropped from the plane. Shade is actually the one to find him first, but has a moment of pause since Literal Child and gives Kai enough time to kick him into a tree and run. The whole chase actually lasts about two hours but unfortunately Kai isn’t able to get back to the Wish and gets caught.

Now for the fun part :)

So all the EMs(and I do mean all because he wanted to “thank them for their contribution”) are in the throne room, their powers snatched, when Chen said aloud “But it is such a shame that we don’t have the Master of Fire, the we’d be able to complete the spell.” and for the briefest second the Ninja Fam are relieved but then Chen does a whole “SIKE, WE GOT HIM” and has some of the guards bring Kai out.

The Ninja are, understandably, freaking out. The EMs kinda are too since Child but only a little bit and it’s not personal

But then just as Chen’s about to snatch his fire, Kai starts saying how Chen cheated since Kai never got to play in a match. Chen refutes it since His Game His Rules but then Kai says that age old statement to get siblings to do Stupid Shit: “What are you, scared?”

Chen is not scared, thank you very much. And you know what, since you’re so confident fine, you now get your own challenge!

So yeah, now Kai has his own challenge.

What is it you might ask?

A vertical obstacle course with a time limit. If Kai doesn’t grab the Jade Blade, the exit closes.

Not that bad you might think. After all, Kai’s been training with the ninja for the past year, he’s probably got this in the bag.

Yeah welllllllll, a little bird told might have told Chen that a certain Master of Fire couldn’t swim.....so he uses Nya’s power to gradually fill up the room and forcing him up.

Surprise surprise, it was rigged against him. I’m talking platforms having false bottoms, ladders being oiled, high pressure water jets to knock him off, the works.

Kai is so close to making it. So close..... but Chen can’t have that happen now can he :)

So yeah, Kai ends up falling in and Nya almost drags all the EMs into the water trying to get him.

Luckily it’s at that moment Lloyd bursts in with Garmadon, frees the EMs and gets Chen’s staff. The EMs bust out and just as Nya’s about to dive in the whole thing starts draining, like an enormous whirlpool.

You see Chen actually thought ahead and realized that “hey, if the kid dies he’ll loose his power” so he made a plan that when Kai was going to fall in, he would use one of the tubes that shot water but in verse and suck him in. Luckily he was able to pull it off before the gem was smashed because if not MMM.

So yeh, Kai is now captured, but still on the island. Skylor reluctantly copies his powers(she got sort of close with Nya and this is the little brother she was gushing about), and Anacondrai happens. However, the two are able to escape, Skylor’s actually able to figure out the Summon Dragon thing, and then they head back to the main group.

Then comes the inevitable question of “how did you get here anyway?” and then Kai shows them The Wish. He actually ends up flying back with Garmadon before all the EMs learn how to Summon Dragon so they can warn people about the ensuing danger.

So yeah, they head out, the Pythor thing happens, canon then Sad because Garm still needs to do the whole sacrifice thing D:

That one hits Lloyd and Kai really hard, but they both use each other for comfort so it isn’t as bad as it could’ve been.

But yeah, this is getting long so tbc for a part 2 :DDD

[ashilrak]

“I won’t be ignore” with percy and apollo

Percy's sitting alone at the side of a mountain path. He knows Annabeth will be looking for him, but he just has more pressing things to worry about right now.

Things like the god standing in front of him.

"I won't be ignored," Apollo says, staring down at Percy. He's in his Roman aspect now, from what Percy can tell. He's broader, a couple years older, with short hair and hints of stubble. Percy honestly didn't know Apollo could get more attractive, but here they are. "Especially over this."

"Over what?" Percy asks. "There's no reason for you to be here right now."

Apollo laughs. It's not a kind sound.

"I have every reason to be here right now, Perseus," Apollo says, taking a step closer to Percy. Apollo may be fully clothed, but he's showing entirely too much skin and it's a struggle for Percy to keep his eyes from wandering. "The least of which is the title you refuse to accept."

"The least of which?" Percy asks, incredulous. If he was standing, that might have had him on the ground. "You're telling me that the Romans trying to greet me as Imperator is the least of my problems?!"

"I am," Apollo confirms. "Because I'm the rest of them."

Percy wants to scream. He doesn't even care to fight. He just wants to scream because literally what the fuck is going on.

He doesn't have to wait long for an answer.

Apollo kneels before him, and that'd be its own power trip if Percy's ass wasn't on the ground.

"I have a thing for emperors, you see," Apollo says. "Artemis likes to make fun of me for it." Apollo grabs Percy's thighs, touch burning through the fabric of his jeans, and drags him closer. "So I guess I should have known what was ahead of you. Some god of prophecy I am, huh?"

Percy nods dumbly, because Apollo is leaning over him and this is too much for his little gay brain to handle.

Luckily for him, kissing doesn't require much thought.

// Possessive and Lusty Starters

// percy jackson v-day gift exchange