#Vasily Raev

[random-brushstrokes]

Vasily Raev - Alexander Column during a thunderstorm (1834)

#Vasily Raev #russian art #cityscape #saint petersburg #1830s

[raevenlywrites]

Raev's Fic Masterlist

Since tumblr can be a little allergic to links, I thought I'd take a second to ramble about all the various little (and not so little) fics I have up on Ao3

Den of Shadows

Jaguar's Midnight: Currently a single chapter of me exploring ideas of a Midnight that is more blatantly BDSM and less human trafficking. Maybe more to come? Who knows

Unpublished Turquoise thing about her time with Daryl (pester me about if it you're interested)

Hawksong/Kiesha'ra

Ties that Bind (ongoing, 30 chps) A queer, polyamorous, Romeo and Juliet with shapeshifters set on a backdrop of the first tentative peace in a thousand year war. Canon's hotter cousin. Not currently explicit but plans to potentially get there

Frayed Knots (ongoing, 20 chps) The place where all the scenes I thought would go in TTB but didn't wind up. Some one offs, some deleted scenes. A mixed bag of spicy adult stuff and just fun character exploration. Iirc spicy chapters are marked as such

Dasi High (abandoned, 4 chps) Highschool AU of Maeve and Kiesha and Co, if their story was on the CW

Forbidden Skies (hiatus, 2 chps) Crossover with Forbidden Game. Julian is a falcon and Jenny and co are avians and serpiente. Basically FB's chars and plot cosplaying as K'r

Forbidden Game

Forbidden Skies, see above

Holy Fire (one off) A sort of song fic where Zach thinks way too hard about Jenny and tries to become a magician

Hearts Desires (ongoing, 2 chps) Still playing with Zach the magician, this one is meant to be a fairly short exploration of magic/runes, Zach's obsession with Jenny, his inability to readjust after the game, and coming out to himself. And tree sex. It's a weird one.

Unpublished pre-canon Jenny thing where she's kind of aware of something (Julian) watching her at night (spicy, pester me about it if you're interested)

Longer descriptions under the cut

Ties that Bind: A queer, polyamorous, Romeo and Juliet with shapeshifters set on a backdrop of the first tentative peace in a thousand year war. Anticipated f/f, m/m, and many other shapes of m/f/m and/or f/m/f, potentially kinky if I ever get it there. Also potentially ace/qpr stuff if I can ever figure out my MC and what is true in this fic vs what belongs in side projects. Canon's hotter cousin with more magic, more setting development, A LOT more romance, and a distant relation to the original in the way that Vaporeon resembles Eevee. It wants to still fit in canon's clothes but really needs to admit its grown too big for that.

This is the big one. I realized revisiting my favorite childhood series that the big epic romance I always remembered was mostly in my head. So I decided to get it out of my head and onto paper. That is... not what happened XD It follows the basic Romeo/Julietness of Hawksong, but I decided to really explore the world and characters and so made a lot of executive decisions bc there actually isn't that much about the world/characters in the original. It's diverged wildly, spiraled out of control into a 30+ chapters novel (lets be honest) and isn't ending any time soon. It's the one I most want to work on so send me asks and encouragement about it so I can get working on it again :P

Basically, Zane and Danica are still deeply dedicated to peace. They think the idea of getting married to achieve it is ridiculous, but they're desperate enough to keep it on the back burner. Dani gets to know Zane (and Adelina) as friends. She explores her relationship with Rei. She struggles with bureaucracy and a well-meaning mother that doesn't always support her in the way she needs. Also there's a bit more magic, a lot more setting, and a bunch of characters I kinda made up to help flesh things out (hello Vasili's made up cousin). Current plans include finishing it with some sort of marriage, but I haven't decided if Zanica is endgame or not (the dynamic currently in the lead in my head is Dani takes Adelina as her Alistair, Zane takes Rei as his Nag, and the four of them all kinda co-rule. We'll see. Everyone is going to kiss everyone else before its done that's for sure)

Frayed Knots (ongoing, 20 chps) The place where all the scenes I thought would go in TTB but didn't wind up. Some one offs, some deleted scenes. A mixed bag of spicy adult stuff and just fun character exploration. Iirc spicy chapters are marked as such Current offerings include: abandoned TTB starts, some BDSM scenes with Z/D/R/A, Dani getting herself off and thinking too hard, an alternative Snakecharm opening from Kel's POV, some Oliza stuff, some Marus/Urban stuff, and some Dasi High stuff. Really, Frayed Knots is a great place to start if you wanna read TTB but are kind of intimidated by its scope. Most FK entries are 1-3 chapters. A sampler platter of my nonsense basically :P

Dasi High (abandoned, 4 chps) Kiesha and Co Highschool AU, basically what if the Dasi was a show on the CW. A fun idea, but not actually my cup of tea. Would probably be more fun to ramble about in discord than actually write

Forbidden Skies (hiatus, 2 chps) Crossover with Forbidden Game. Julian is a falcon and Jenny and co are avians and serpiente. Basically FB's chars and plot cosplaying as K'r. I really loved the idea, but I don't know if it grabbed me enough to make want to wrestle it into submission like I do TTB. With TTB, I don't know the story yet, so I can trick myself into working on it bc I wanna know what happens. With FS, I know what my intended plot will be, so this one would need a lot of outside hype to get me working on it again. But I think it could be really really cool if I did. If this crossover sounds like your cup of tea, pester me for more

Forbidden Game

Forbidden Skies, see above

Holy Fire (one off, post canon what if) A sort of song fic where Zach thinks way too hard about Jenny and tries to become a magician. I have these ideas about Jenny half light faerie, hence Julians obsession with her. In this fic, Zach is trying to learn magic to protect Julian so FB doesn't happen again. He winds up getting the attention of a light faerie, who tasks him with being Jenny's knight until they're ready to come bring her home. Basically, the song Holy Fire by Seeming wouldn't leave me alone one day and this fell out.

Hearts Desires (ongoing, 2 chps, post canon what if) Still playing with Zach the magician, this one is meant to be a fairly short exploration of magic/runes, Zach's obsession with Jenny, his inability to readjust after the game, and coming out to himself. And tree sex. It's a weird one. Basically, I woke up one morning with the ending of it circling around in my head, wrote that, and am now trying to build up the beginning so the ending has anything to jump off of for impact.

Unpublished pre-canon Jenny thing where she's kind of aware of something (Julian) watching her at night (spicy, pester me about it if you're interested) This one I do have plans to publish, I just need to get it (and myself) ready to show to the world. It asks the question "What if Jenny kinda like the idea of feeling watched all the time and deliberately got off for her imagined (or so she thinks) Shadowman?"

#raev does fic #fanfic #hawksong fanfic #nyeusigrube fanfic #the forbidden game fanfic #hawksong #the forbidden game #nyeusigrube #lj smith #amelia atwater rhodes #raev writes

[my-russia]

Self portrait by Vasily Raev, 1830

#Vasily Raev #art #painting #russianart #russian art #Василий Раев

[purgatorialsociety]

Vasily Egorovich Raev, Un angelo dipinge per il beato Alipio iconografo delle Cave l'icona della Dormizione, 1848

#dormition of mary #Our Lady #Assumption of Mary

[myfairynuffstuff]

Vasily Raev (1808-1871) - Gardens in Rome. 1854. Oil on canvas.

#Vasily Raev #Russian #Rome #Gardens

[raevenlywrites]

The Ties That Bind 16 of ???

By the time Rei and the serpiente returned, I was more than ready to surrender myself to the simplicity of my hawk’s form. Zane had the comfort of his actual people now; he didn’t need me. He had Adelina, his actual mate, and whatever friends and lovers he had among his other people. They could help him grieve his younger brother. I had done my part.

On wing, we reached the Keep much faster than the company on foot. I trusted Karashan to keep my people that had remained behind safe and in line. I did not trust those posted at the Keep not to attack first and ask questions later when a group of armed serpents showed up at their door.

But I also didn’t trust myself to deal with them all, not just yet. Between my mother and the generals, and the kiss with Rei, and the heart wrenching memory sharing with Zane and Adelina-- no. I needed a break. And I deserved one.

I alighted far enough from the Keep to hopefully not draw the noticed of any watch, trusting Rei and Raymond to follow. A Shardae never flew anywhere alone, but these two were surprisingly not as stifling as I usually felt with an escort. Raymond kept a discrete distance, resting in a tree in his raven form, while the smaller crow that was Andreios made for the clearing my hawk alighted in. Almost before he’d completely transformed, I had my arms around him.

Rei stiffened, but it was only a moment of surprise, I thought. His arms went around me easily enough, and it was familiar enough to be the source of comfort I’d hoped it would be.

For a brief moment, I wished I could simply share emotion with him as Zane and I had. How much easier would it be to simply let him in, to allow my exhaustion and pain and confusion and doubts wash over him, to have him simply know. But at the same time, I was grateful for the avian reserve that kept us both apart. I didn’t have the strength right now to deal with whatever emotions he might unload on me.

“Dani--“

“Just give me a moment, Rei. Please.”

It didn’t take a serpent’s sense to hear the desperation in my voice. He held me tighter, and I swallowed down a sob. I normally didn’t struggle this much to compose myself. But Zane had asked me not to hide, and it left me slow with my defenses now. I burrowed into Rei’s chest, feeling the strong, familiar heartbeat under my cheek, as steady and constant as the beat of my own hawk’s wings.

Gradually, peace returned, or as much of it as I ever felt. I was steadier, at least, and could stand to pull enough away to look up at him.

“Thank you.”

His look was equally parts amazement and pity. “Dani, of course. You know I’m always here for you. However you need me.”

The words turned me to jelly, and I longed to be able to give into them. Maybe, if I’d ever felt safe enough to feel the full extent of my feelings, his kiss wouldn’t have overwhelmed me. My heart steeled with determination to see the day where I could let myself love, fully, without reservation or fear of loss. I would see myself love this man, and whatever children--

The sharp rasp of Raymond’s raven bark cut through my thoughts. He alighted a moment later, melting into human form. For once, the sight of him did not stir the old pain of mourning Vasili. No, my only thought was dread for the news he delivered.

“Patrols, my lady. The serpiente should still be far enough out, but they won’t be for long.”

Rei’s face hardened, the grim lines of a soldier turning him from grounding rock into shielding fortress once more.

“Shardae, we must go. Whatever plans you have with the Arami, they will all be for not if the last prince of the Cobriana is slain on our doorstep.”

“Generals.” For once, I sounded as cool and commanding as she, “Kindly help me clean this room up. I am expecting company shortly, and it would not do for Zane Cobriana to see his people reduced to figures and arrows.”

I nodded and took to the air without another word. I wasn’t quite the full respite my heart ached for, but it had been a moment to catch my breath, and to know that Rei still had my back. We would address the kiss another time. For now, he was still my Rei, even under the hardness of Flight Commander Andreios. I would need both in the coming days, and I was beyond grateful to know I hadn’t lost them.

-

The Generals were already assembled when we landed, and in fact, had been in council more or less since I’d left. Even when my mother had flown the fields in search of me, they had been amassing information about the serpiente movements, or lack thereof. The charts and maps all over the war room steeled my resolve. I walked right up to one, which I recognized at the section of lands surrounding the Lyssia farmhouse, and pulled it straight down, ignoring the various cries from behind me. My mother, I noted, was absent from the council room.

“My lady?” General Viridian asked. As the youngest of my generals, he was most likely to have seen Zane fight personally. I didn’t begrudge him his sudden paleness.

“I can only assume my mother’s absence means she has not informed you of our impending guest, or else the scouting parties would have already been recalled. Speaking of, Rinnman, would you see to that?”

The old goshawk coughed, spluttered, but finally simply stood to do just that. Perhaps it was Rei’s glare from over my shoulder. Or perhaps it was the meticulous way I was shredding the map in my hands. A waste of a good map, yes, but if it got my point across, I would tear down each chart and map and ledger book and record piece by fragile little peace. I was going to be listened to, and I was going to be obeyed.

“You truly intended to entertain him here, my lady?” Viridian asked again. He still had yet to regain his color.

He raised a valid question, and one had I had given my thoughts over to as we flew.

“He will be presented to the court as any visiting dignitary would, yes, but I prefer for a more secure location for our actual peace talks. I would rather keep our guest and his guards in a less central location to the daily activities of the Keep.”

There was the expected murmur at “his guards”, but I didn’t give them the chance to argue. I simply continued issuing orders.

“The Arami and his people will be given the option to stay on the fourth floor as any other dignitary would be granted, or we will commandeer any ground lodgings required. Any family put out of their homes will be given the suites the Arami would have used. I want an honest assessment of who is best suited to working alongside the serpiente guard to keep the peace. Anyone who feels unable to perform these duties is to be given a two week paid leave if they do so now. Anyone who causes trouble after the fact will be exiled, no exceptions. I will not have this go badly because of failings on our end.”

I was met with stunned silence, which wasn’t really that unexpected. What did surprise me was Raymond’s voice, breaking the silence with a shockingly wise suggestion.

“I would have those selected vetted with the serpiente themselves, my lady. They will be able to feel any negative reaction to their presence. Give them a chance to decline the position and take the leave then as well, once they truly know their own hearts.”

I gave what I hoped was a magnanimous nod, giving myself a moment to gather my composure again before answering.

“An excellent suggestion. Captain Andreios and [rank?] Raymond will escort a small band to meet with the serpiente as they approach the Keep. Gather your best people, generals, and assemble them in receiving arounds at the top of the hour. Dismissed.”

I turned and left on knees that did not shake, much to my surprise. I made it all the way to the fourth floor before my insides turned to jelly.

The Ties That Bind Tag list: @thehellinsideyourhead @therecouldbecolorsandlove @adventuresofacreesty @writing-with-melon @rainydaydarling @faithfire

Raev’s Gen Tag List (should I tag you guys in this? It IS a thing I wrote. I’m gonna say yes unless you guys are like “no of course not we’re sick of hearing about your stupid fic for a twenty year old book XD)

No one has complained yet so yall gonna keep getting tagged :P

List is currently: @lordkingsmith @writinglyra @drbibliophile @mperialscribe @adie-dee @adie-dee @lexiklecksi @writinginslowmotion @raenawrites @apollon-arium @anika-writes @faithfire

#raev does fic #the ties that bind fic #hawksong fic #kiesh'ra fic #the kiesha'ra #hawksong #danica shardae #zane cobriana #andreios #my writing

[raevenlywrites]

Raev's Find the Word

@catharticallysarcastic tagged me to find the words: Dream, Tonight, Girl, and Abandon

Dream

I took his hand, offering a smile that held all my fear, all my exhaustion, and all my fondness. This mad cobra’s dreams were infectious, and already, I found myself believing in him. I could easily see why his people would follow him into the heart of my kingdom. If I were allowed to, I think I would follow him, too.

I could at least follow him now, out into the ring of dancers.

“I don’t know how to do this,” I whispered. My mouth felt like a rictus grin rather than a smile. I felt my teeth threatening to crack under the pressure of my grit jaw.

“I do.”

Tonight

The courtyard seemed enormous in the evening, the dusky shadows erasing the edges of the crowd as night ate away at the remaining daylight. And the remaining time before the serpiente arrived.

I’d flown out and consulted with Zane, bringing with me the soldiers Raymond and Anderios had deemed fit to join the serpiente. We’d all agreed it would be best for their number to camp for the night and approach the keep in full daylight. It would give the two solider groups a chance to acclimate to one another, and it would give me time to assemble and address my people.

My people. I kept thinking of them as if I were already their monarch, already the final voice of authority in our kingdom. In truth, I had no illusions about that; the council of generals had only listened to my mother when it seemed to suit them. But still. The Tuuli Thea swore certain oaths when she took the crown, and those oaths currently bound my mother, not me. We’d let our grief for Xavier get in the way of the transition, putting off the ceremony until our brief mourning period had passed. Tonight, I was forcibly reminded of why my kind did not overly give themselves to grief. There was no energy left for living, if tears were wept for every shed feather. Had I simply gone on with the ceremony after the funeral, this would be my kingdom now, and I would not be waiting stoically while my mother addressed our people.

Girl

“Vasili was my cousin, Shadae.”

I could absolutely see the familial lines in his face. The squareness of jaw, pressed with a faint dimple at the cleft, the hard set of his eyes under too stark a brow. I had always thought him to be scowling as a girl. Now, on his cousin’s face, I saw it was just their bone structure at work, making a neutral face seem too severe. Pain creased lines at the corners of those familiar brown eyes, and I had a flash to see the man my alastair might have become, the way pain and joy and time might have painted lines on the face I only remembered as an unfinished boy’s.

I felt tears press at the back of my throat.

Vasili’s eyes from his cousin’s face shone too bright, too wet, too wide.

Abandon

Danica began to pace, abandoning the crumbling wall of calm she’d attempted to build. Her body moved like flames, a sort of lyrical, fluid motion, strangely elegant for something so agitated. Her aura preceded her, snapping and crackling like invisible lightning. I wouldn’t have expected an avian to move like that, in body or in aura. I’d seen them fight, I’d seen them fall. But I’d never, never seen them move in any way I’d ever describe as “lyrical”.

Her aura flared as she picked up momentum, like a flame under the blow of a bellows. It lashed out, little stinging tendrils that carried the bitter edge of frustration, and the chilling bile of fear. If she’d been one of my people, I’d have reached out, wrapped her in my arms, held her close until her heartbeat found its steady rhythm against mine. I still wanted to do that, almost. If I thought it would end any way but badly, I would. Even so, I still found myself pushing off the wall. It took a ridiculous amount of effort to hold myself in check. She was hurting, badly enough that I couldn’t keep from reacting.

Tagging back: @frayed-neurons @kosmosian-quills @nikkywrites and you! Your words are: mess, clear, amazing, and wild

#find the word #writeblr tag games #tag games #open tag #tag you're it

[raevenlywrites]

That Ties That Bind 4 of ???

I flew out with Elanor under cover of twilight. I noticed the guards that peeled off to trail us, just as I knew there was no help for them. We would land a discrete distance from Elanor’s aunts’ home, and I would explain to my guards as she went on ahead to prep the house.

To prep Zane.

Zane Cobriana was sitting in an avian farmhouse, with two women my family had not deemed important enough to save. Were Elanor’s aunts any more or less deserving of safety and security than Elanor’s parents, or younger sister? I couldn’t help but think of the younger brother I’d just lost, and the one Zane had as well. Bitterness rose up in my throat, a cold jealousy that Elanor’s family was mostly intact, while mine was not. I thought again of Vasili, brave and noble, but those fine traits not enough to spare him. But Elanor’s clever hands, her eye for color and detail-- Why had my parents not chosen me a tailor, or poet, or painter or jeweler. Why had my heart been given to a man almost guaranteed to die? Why couldn’t they have given me an alastair that would live?

But if they had, would I still be flying out to meet Zane Cobriana now?

Perhaps not. But perhaps, we might have stayed in the Mistari lands, and had found peace another way. Or perhaps, if my father had not been taken by this war, my mother’s heart would not have gone out of the fight, and they might both be leading us into further bloodshed yet. There were too many threads to this cloth, too many stars to this pattern. A shift in one could lead to countless futures, and no one but the mythical seers of my ancestry could say which ones could be shifted safely. And even that was probably a pretty lie, dreamed up by people who longed for a hero-queen to save them, some legendary figure who could do impossible things, like charm the secret of flight from the hawks, or sing her dreams into being. Our line still held some little of her gifts, but they were greatly diminished from the myths of what Alasdair and her brothers could theoretically do. I didn’t put much stock in myths; they were about as useful to me as my too-perfect recall in dreams. Maybe someday, a hawk would be born again than could sing a real peace into being. My day had to make do with a queen that sang peace to a dying prince, and flew out under cover of night to consult with another. -- The guards who’d come with me were relatively new Ravens; many had had to be promoted quickly to replace all those lost in the battle that had cost me my brother. So while I knew their faces, I had yet to commit to memory their names. I had to admit, I’d not made as much effort as I could have. I’d allowed myself that one small bit of fatalistic wallowing in the wake of my brother’s death. What was the point of learning any of their names, if they were only going to fall?

But it meant that now I didn’t quite now how to deal with me. On the one hand, they didn’t have quite the familiar air with me that those who had known me in my youth did. On the other, they probably felt they had something to prove. I drew myself up as regally as I could, and prepared to issue my first command as queen. Strike that, second command, and I had yet to officially take the mantle from my mother. But no one had fought me when I’d reissued the order to stand down, and this most certainly counted as an act of my reign rather than my mother’s.

“I trust you’re aware that I issued an order of non-aggression to all the Flights?”

They both nodded, and remained mute. Was that a good sign, or a bad one?

I didn’t have enough experience commanding soldiers to know. I’d just have to assume it meant respect, and act as if it was a given. The Generals’ Council discounting me was to be expected, I was new, fresh, and a child in most of their eyes. But these soldiers didn’t appear to be much older than me, and they had passed the tests of skill and loyalty that Rei personally oversaw as the captain of the Royal Flight. I took a breath, and pressed on.

“I ask you both to keep that in the forefront of your mind, and your vows as members of the Royal Flight. I...” I had to be better than this. My hands were trembling like winter aspens, and I needed every ounce of control I could muster. I was honestly more terrified now than I had ever been in the fields.

“I am about to meet with Zane Cobriana, Arami of the serpiente, in an attempt to continue the talks that were halted so abruptly. I ask that you keep me safe, but refrain from any lethal action. Is this a promise you can make me?”

I don’t know where the words came from, but it felt right that I should ask them in this way. To ask them to honestly assess their abilities, and their commitment to peace. I couldn’t command the hearts of my people to change; I could only ask, and lead by example. I was willing to treat civilly with the man that would be my former enemy. If they could not do the same, then I would simply not ask them to.

I also wouldn’t allow them to accompany me.

I didn’t think it prudent to mention that just yet.

The taller of the pair stepped forward, and some trick of the light and shadows made him look hauntingly familiar. It had to be a trick of my heart, but no, his words confirmed my perceived resemblance.

“Vasili was my cousin, Shadae.”

I could absolutely see the familial lines in his face. The squareness of jaw, pressed with a faint dimple at the cleft, the hard set of his eyes under too stark a brow. I had always thought him to be scowling as a girl. Now, on his cousin’s face, I saw it was just their bone structure at work, making a neutral face seem too severe. Pain creased lines at the corners of those familiar brown eyes, and I had a flash to see the man my alastair might have become, the way pain and joy and time might have painted lines on the face I only remembered as an unfinished boy’s.

I felt tears press at the back of my throat.

Vasili’s eyes from his cousin’s face shone too bright, too wet, too wide.

The other Raven shuffled slightly, sighting on something behind us.

I turned, loss spinning quickly to fear as I remembered what awaited us, but it was only Elanor, hurrying towards us with a shuttered lantern.

I turned back to my men with a fierce hiss. “Can you swear it?”

Vasili’s cousin nodded. “I swear, my lady Shardae. The paths we’ve walked before have only led to one thing. I am willing to follow where you lead.”

“And you?”

The other Raven looked even younger, and I couldn’t help but see the echoes of the brother I’d just lost. He must be an exceptional fighter to have made it to the Royal Flight so young. Either that, or we were desperate for options.

Or perhaps he simply had a youngish face. Either way he nodded, but that wasn’t good enough. I would not let anyone in the presence of the last remaining serpiente prince without their word of oath. Words held power in avian society, real, binding power. An oath sworn to their queen would be binding, and while we normally didn’t make such demands outside of formal ceremonies, I pulled on that power now.

“Swear to me, on all the lives you’ve lost, that no more lives will be taken this night. That if you feel I am in danger, you will cover my retreat, and nothing more. No more deaths.”

The Raven swallowed, visibly paling, but nodded again.

“I swear that unless my monarch commands it, I will take no lives this night.”

I felt the power prickle, raising the feathers at the back of my neck. We spoke little of our ancestral language, the old tongue shared by avians, serpiente, and falcons alike. But remnants of it remained, in our most formal of speech, and it was with those words that I swore,

“Then I will strive to be a worthy queen, and once I have taken my vows, we will have peace.” Again, I didn’t know what had so moved me, but as I spoke the words, I felt the night echo with them, and the land accept them, as readily as it accepted my people’s blood.

The Ties That Bind Tag list: @thehellinsideyourhead @therecouldbecolorsandlove

Raev’s Gen Tag List (should I tag you guys in this? It IS a thing I wrote. I’m gonna say yes unless you guys are like “no of course not we’re sick of hearing about your stupid fic for a twenty year old book XD)

List is currently: @lordkingsmith @writinglyra @drbibliophile @mperialscribe @adie-dee @lexiklecksi @writinginslowmotion @apollon-arium​

#raev does fic #the ties that bind #hawksong #hawksong fic #the kiesha'ra #kiesha'ra fanfic #fanfic #danica shardae #zane cobriana #andreios