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skaikruswan · 2 years

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Morpehus x reader who makes really cheesy pickup lines and one day they say "I'm running out of pick up lines. So instead of picking you up, I'll pin you down", and Morpheus just stares at them in shock (and kinda wants them too)

(That wet cat looking mf is a switch, I don't care what anyone says)

Can I follow you? Because I was told to follow my dreams

WC: 1,9 k Ao3

Relationship: Morpheus x reader

Notes: flirting, puns and pick-up lines, some real spice at the end, open sexy ending.

Dear anon, this prompt was very fun to write! I enjoyed it, although i usually keep back from writing true spicy stuff. I hope you enjoy!

If you liked this story, i have written others.

You like your humor; it may be cheesy and make some people around you groan, but you enjoy it. Puns make your day and the dorkier the pick-up lines, the better.

You firmly believe that people need to laugh, that everyone should have one smile or giggle at least per day. As a child, you loved to tell jokes to your friends, and even now, your friends appreciate you for always trying to lift the mood.

This attitude is even reflected in your sleep. Your dreams are filled with laughter, with known and unknown faces making you laugh so much that when you wake up, you have a smile tugging at your lips.

Unfortunately, today hasn’t given you much to laugh about, so you hope that your dream will be cheerier. You’re ready for some rest. You’re basically sleepwalking towards your bed and are gone as soon as your head hits the pillow.

Happiness, jokes, and puns are part of your dreams, which is why the somber, dark-haired man dressed in black sticks out like a sore thumb.

You’re standing on stage, and while our audience is laughing and groaning, he only observes you, standing offside under a tree.

You hop down and decide to approach him. As you get closer, you realize how good-looking he is, except for the frown on his face.

“Why don’t we turn that frown upside down?” you start, giving him your most charming smile. For an instant, his left brow twitches, but other than that, he may as well be a statue. Tough audience.

“Your dreams are always filled with happiness and laughter,” the man states, his voice a deep, soothing baritone, and you want to hear more. Who is he?

“That’s me, I love puns and jokes,” you reply, suddenly feeling self-conscious. You want to know more about this mysterious man. Is he a figment of your imagination? If so, then your brain is truly going places.

“If I may, I would like to return,” he says, and as he peers at you, you realize that he’s asking you.

“Sure, the more the merrier,” you reply, a little too hasty, gesturing with your hands at the audience. You somehow lost all your game. Great.

The mysterious man only nods, and you feel as if this conversation is about to be over, but you don’t want it to.

“What’s your name?” you ask, before mentally face-palming. This is your dream, your subconsciousness working while you’re asleep. Your brain will use some name you knew, heard, or read about.

“You may call me Morpheus.”

When you wake up you smile, and not only because of the jokes.

-------------------------------------------

True to his word, Morpheus visited your next dream, and the ones after. At first it confused you, until he had become a fixture in your dreams. He wasn’t chatty, but something about him made hope for his return and truly enjoy his silent company.

You started to question your sanity when Morpheus suddenly appeared in the waking world, sitting on a bench in your favorite park, seemingly awaiting you.

After asking you if you would like to know him better, he explained to you that he was Morpheus, King of Dreams and ruler of Nightmares, Dream of the Endless.

“These are a lot of fancy titles,” you deadpanned, your mind going blank for a moment.

An immortal being with many titles would be hard to woo, but you have a plan.

------------------------------------------

Morpheus is giving you the tour of the Dreaming, starting with the heart of his palace, the library. Rows upon rows of bookshelves, filled with every story, imagined or written down, are waiting for you. You listen to Morpheus’ explanations with genuine wonder.

Lucienne, the prim librarian in a fancy suit, is giving you a polite smile as you pull out a book at random. It is your favorite book from your childhood, and you press it against your heart.

As Lucienne sees that you’re immersing yourself in the books, she walks away, leaving you and Morpheus alone. You let your fingertips glide over the books as you walk through this aisle.

The King of Dreams is watching you, as he always does. Time to repay the favor. Blue eyes seem to study every movement, and his hair is perfectly messy. His black clothing only highlights his pale, smooth skin. He really is dreamy.

“It’s a good thing that I have my library card, because I am totally checking you out.” You can’t help yourself, and this pick-up line really fits the setting. Fluttering your eyelashes at Morpheus, your heart thundering inside your chest, you hope to get a reaction.

“You can do better,” Morpheus simply replies, and you let out an indignant gasp, while embarrassment warms your cheeks. Fine. Challenge accepted.

---------------------------------------------

In your next dream, you wait close to the place called Fiddler’s Green. A lush meadow is the perfect spot for a date.

Your fingers tighten against the basket you’re holding, filled with your favorite food and drinks. You’ve never wondered if Morpheus requires food or drink until now.

Speaking of the devil, Morpheus approaches, seemingly in a good mood, his expression almost content. You hope that everything is fine in the Dreaming.

As he almost reaches you, you pull out the history book you used during high school and open it. Morpheus stands next to you, looking over your shoulder, his breath almost tickling your skin.

“I’m studying to become a historian. I’m especially interested in finding a date.” You try to keep your facial expressions under control, but he’s standing awfully close.

You chicken out and side-step, pointing at the meadow and the basket. This is a supreme pick-up line and a nice setting. You’ve put some effort.

“You should continue to study the art of courtship,” Morpheus says, his lips curling into a small smile, and you sigh.

Damnit.

----------------------------------------

While you’ve spent your dream as a mermaid, swimming through the sea, exploring kelp forests and coral reefs, Morpheus seemed to be busy, not appearing next to you.

You know that Dream of the Endless has tremendous duties, and you wouldn’t even dare to demand his constant attention. You’re really happy if he’s here and fine if he’s not.

Reluctantly, you get ready to leave the ocean, your fingers trailing one last time over your smooth fishtail. You really need to repeat this.

You dream yourself to the palace and find Morpheus sitting on his throne, seemingly absorbed in thought.

Looking up, you see light shining through the wonderful mosaic of the windows, bathing Morpheus in manifold hues. It is a powerful image, and you almost want to kneel.

Morpheus acknowledges your presence with a small incline of his head, and you go all in and curtsy. He gives you a wry look.

“Do you know what the little mermaid and I have in common? We both want to be part of your world.” This one is trickier, since it depends on Morpheus knowing about the movie and the story, but your dream has inspired you. You’re one moment away from breaking into song.

“You’re always welcome in this realm,” Morpheus says, his voice particularly soft, and your heart skips a beat. This feels like a victory. Almost.

---------------------------------------------------

This dream, wind whips at your hair, and you focus on having fun, going for the “I am not interested in wooing you,” route, hoping that Morpheus seeks you out. Either way, you’re enjoying the dream.

You’re jumping on a giant trampoline, but gravity is distorted, making you jump higher and fall slower than in real life. You whoop and giggle with every jump, almost missing the moment Morpheus decides to show up.

You continue to jump, leaving him to his beloved brooding and observing as he stands close to the trampoline.

Once you’re ready, you jump off the trampoline, more or less gracefully landing in front of Morpheus. You could have sworn that there was a glint of anticipation in his endless blue eyes.

“Even in zero gravity, I would still fall for you.” This time you hold his gaze, your voice lacking the usual edge of humor as you wait for his reaction.

“If you were to fall, I would catch you,” Morpheus replies, his low voice making goosebumps explode all over your skin. This is progress!

He reaches for your hand, pressing a soft kiss on the back of your hand, and butterflies flutter through your stomach.

--------------------------------------------

You’re needy and frustrated. Despite your efforts and your best pick-up lines, Morpheus and you are still dancing around each other.

Time to change tactics. You truly hope that you will succeed, and that Morpheus will respond favorably, or else you must stop dreaming or will even be hunted by nightmares.

You’re lying on a bed, reading a book you’ve borrowed from the library. After Morpheus stated that you were always welcome in his realm, you noticed a chamber appearing close to the throne room, and you are now the proud owner of your room.

You can’t really focus on the story, waiting for the telltale footsteps of the King of Dreams.

Finally, the door is opened, and Morpheus enters. As far as immortals go, he seems a little exhausted, dragging a hand through his disheveled hair. Listening to the reports of dreams and nightmare must take its toll even on him.

You stand up from the bed just as Morpheus stands still in front of it. You give yourself one last mental push as you position yourself in front of Morpheus, his back turned towards your bed.

He’s giving you a curious look, his brows furrowed, surely expecting another pick-up line. Not today.

"I'm running out of pick-up lines. So instead of picking you up, I'll pin you down," you declare bravely, putting your hands on Morpheus’ shoulders and shoulders and pushing. Allowing gravity to work with you, you and Morpheus fall on the bed, with you remaining on top of him.

Quickly finding the right position, you sit on top of his stomach, your legs straddling him and your hands pining down your wrists.

Morpheus hasn’t reacted so far, and your heart feels like a hummingbird.

“Now what, little jester? I am at your mercy,” Morpheus almost purrs, his gaze burning you, and despite declaring that he’s at your mercy, he’s anything but. He may have let you take the reins, but he’s still in control.

“I think you need medical attention. You’re too hot,” you tease, remaining true to yourself, and Morpheus chuckles, a delicious sound that makes you want to melt against him.

You lift one hand from his wrist and gently trace the hem of his t-shirt, before pushing further and letting your hand slip under the fabric, exploring the planes of his chest.

Morpheus lets out a groan, and you feel heat pool inside your belly. Your brain decides to take over the wheel, reminding yourself that you’re currently seducing the immortal King of Dreams.

You feel his eyes roam over you, and you let out a small exhale as your hand returns from its journey. You’re burning up with joy and anticipation.

“Oh mighty King of Dreams, are you undressing me with your eyes?” you ask cheekily, and the dark look in Morpheus’ eyes is your only warning.

You let out a yelp as Morpheus twists his hips, throwing yourself off him so you lie on the bed. Quickly taking a similar position, he’s also straddling you, his forearms bracketed close to your face as he slowly lowers his upper body towards you.

“I may not be a nightmare, but I will make you scream.”

#the sandman #morpheus x reader #dream x reader #sandman x reader #dream of the endless x reader #dream of the endless #my writing #my sandman fics #please be in the tags

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mask131 · 1 month

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So…I followed your advice in researching Greek Myths and learning them via the Authors. And uhm…I was curious because something bugged me.

Now I’m bad at history, but as far as I knew, Laurel Wreaths were mostly common in Rome, rather than Greece? (I could be wrong) so I had like a nagging feeling. And found out that the Daphne and Apollo myth (And probably also Hyacinthus I’m looking into that) was told in Ovid’s Metamorphosis? I could be wrong, so far I’ve only seen Ovid as the original author.

Sorry- I saw your post about Arachne and thought about what other myths were originally purely Roman then were mistaken for Greek Myths and wanted to add this into a possibility-

A LOT of stuff were invented by Ovid! Myself I learned only a month ago that Morpheus was "invented" by Ovid and I was like... wow. (There were dream-gods in Greek mythology, but they were not singularized, and the persona of Morpheus as the individual god of dreams was invented by Ovid)

Now, I don't know much about the specific use of laurel in Ancient Greece vs the Roman empire, but if you ask about the origin of the story of Daphne and Apollo, they are definitively Greek and Ovid did not invent her (though he told the story in a very, very different way).

The story of Daphne's numerous misadventures was recorded by Greek authors - and while it was quite late records, which would make us wonder if it isn't a late development or invention, they all rely on older sources attesting a presence of Daphne's legend for quite a long time. The two major records of Daphne's legend by Greeks are Pausanias' Description of Greece (2nd century CE), and Parthenius of Nicea's "Erotica Pathemata" (1st century BCE). BUT Pausanias explains that the legend he collects has been known for a very long time in the area around the Ladon river, to the point of implementing itself within the worship of Apollo, while Parthenius begins his story by pointing out he is merely retranscribing the text of older sources - a book from a 3rd century BCE historian named Phylarkhos, and an elegiac poem by Diodoros of Elaia. But given these two older texts were lost, we only have the latest record, hence this feeling of "novelty" when the story is actually at least around since the 3rd century BCE...

In fact, the existence of Daphne in Greek mythology long before Ovid's Metamorphoses is also proven by how massively different the Greek records of Daphne's life are from Ovid's tale. Everybody knows the story of Daphne through Ovid, since it was the most popular and widespread one... But both Pausanias and Parthenius report the same legend, which is very different from Ovid's rewrite.

In Ovid's tale, Daphne is said to have been Apollo's first love, and that the god's feelings were caused by Cupid as a way to take revenge after being mocked (Apollo, as a talented archer-god, mocked Cupid's own archery talents). Cupid shot a love-killing arrow in Daphne's heart so that the nymph would reject all forms of love, and she became "like Diana" - by refusing any form of marriage or romance, and fleeing the company of men and rejecting all her suitors, preferring the loneliness of the woods and the pleasure of the hunt - her father, the river-god, insisted on her giving him a son-in-law and grandchildren but she insisted she wanted to remain endlessly virgin like Diana. Meanwhile Apollo had received a love-inflamming arrow, one that not only caused a deep desire and mad love within the god for Daphne, but also made this attraction stronger and more obsessive each time the god saw the nymph. As such, Apollo tried all he could to please her and woo her and seduce her, but each time he tried the love-repelling spell on Daphne caused her to flee in fear and disgust and terror ; and the more she fled, the more Apollo found her beautiful and desirable, thanks to Cupid's curse ; and thus he followed her, but the more he pursued and insisted the more she fled. Their respective love and hate kept growing and growing until Daphne, exhausted and not wanting to flee anymore, stopped by the shore of her father the river-god and begged him to transform her so that her beauty would be gone, and she would not be loved anymore. Her father turned her into a laurel-tree, but it was no use, as Cupid's power as too strong: Apollo was still in love with the beauty and radiance of the tree, and he could feel Daphne's heart beating in the plant; and similarly Daphne's hate still lived on, as when Apollo embraced the tree and kissed its branches, the tree shivered and was repelled away from the god's body. But Apollo ultimately decided that if she could not be his bride, he would make Daphne his official tree and symbol - and to this, Daphne actually agreed as she offered her "leafy branches" to the god.

That's the Roman story of Daphne invented by Ovid. What is the difference with the Greek story he took inspiration from? (Because it is very clear that Ovid's source was the story twice told by Pausanias and Parthenius ; and told by others before whose name were lost...

1: In Ovid's story, Daphne simply admires and imitates Diana's behavior. In the Greek legend Daphne was ACTUALLY one of the huntresses of Artemis. Or to be more precise Parthenius explains that Artemis found Daphne "dear" to her because she shared the goddess' life-choices, refusing to live in cities, not hanging out with other girls, hunting in the mountains with a large pack of hounds... And Artemis loved Daphne so much she offered her a gift: she would always shoot straight at her target and never miss.

2: There's no Cupid/Eros in the Greek legend. Daphne is not Apollo's first love, she is not cursed with rejecting all love, he was not cursed to love her to insanity - this whole episode was invented by Ovid. Apollo is still in love with Daphne in the Greek legend, but it is just a regular love.

3: The Greek legend has a character that Ovid completely erased. Leucippus. Leucippus was another man who was in love with Daphne but knew that she was a lonely huntress closely linked to Artemis... Understanding he could not seduce her in a conventional way, Leucippus put up a convoluted plan to win the girl's heart. He dressed himself as a woman and created for himself a female persona. He approached Daphne and pretended to be a fellow huntress ; Daphne agreed to let her join her hunting party, and she soon grew to admire this bold, strong woman so unlike the other girls of Greece and whose strength and hunting talents far surpassed those of a common maiden... In fact she grew such affection and admiration for the fake-huntress that Daphne developed a dear and solid friendship with her: it was said she was always by Leucippus' side, refused to let Leucippus away from her, and kept embracing him/her and clinging to his/her body. However, since Apollo was also in love with Daphne he grew both jealous and angry (since, as the god of truth, he knew of Leucippus' deceit), and decided to reveal the truth. He implanted in Daphne's mind the idea that she had to bathe in a given stream: she went there with her "attendant maidens" and female servants/fellow huntresses (Daphne is never said explicitely to be part of the huntresses of Artemis, but she herself lives in a group of "wild women" very similar to Artemis' huntresses so... it is strongly implied she is one of them, especially since she literaly lives like the goddess and has been gifted by her). Leucippus of course refused to bathe, despite the other girls' insistence, and since he refused still, they tore his clothes away from him... discovering he was a man all along. And since this group of women act on a Artemis' huntress logic, they did what seemed the most reasonable thing to do... kill Leucippus by plunging in his body all of their spears.

4: The Greek legend does agree that Daphne begged a third-party god to turn her into the laurel tree to escape Apollo's love-hunt, but the details are different from Ovid's tale and the story is more lacking in explanations... All we know, from Parthenius' record is that Apollo appeared to Daphne right after Leucippus was killed. Why? We don't know, but he clearly came to profit off the fact his romantic rival had been killed in shame/crime, and that he had a part to play in the "reveal" of Leucippus' deceit... But all we know is that Daphne fled Apollo, and he pursued her, and to avoid being caught by him she begged to be hidden from his sight, and thus she was turned into a laurel tree. But in the Greek legend she doesn't beg her father the river-god... she begs Zeus, and he is the one who grants her request and protects her from his own son.

Things are even worse in Pausanias' record, since he stops after Leucippus death and there is no story of Apollo hunting down Daphne in any way... He doesn't even speak of any metamorphosis ; and yet he does mention that Daphne was associated with the laurel, and that the heavy use of laurel in Apollonian rituals and games was because of the god's love for Daphne. (But from yet other sources contemporary to Pausanias' writings, such as the "Life of Apollonius of Tyana", we know that the story of Daphne being somehow "replaced" by a laurel-tree was well-known, though it wasn't always said why such a thing happened)

In conclusion, as usual with how Ovid tweaks the Greek legends, it is interesting to see how he shift the character and what the character is supposed to be about. Thanks to Ovid the image we keep of Daphne is the one of a victim fleeing in fright and fear, and her relationship with Apollo is depicted as a frightening and cruel tragedy orchestrated by Cupid... And yet, we do know that Daphne started out as a badass huntress of Artemis, and that her original story was about a man changing his gender in hope of winning her heart - to the point the involvment of Apollo was seen as a side-detail that could be omitted (Pausanias even claims that Apollo's involvment in the legend was an addition by the priests of the god, and not present in the main folktale)

Mind you I am not at all an expert on Daphne's character or story - and I am sure others are more informed than me... But that's the few things I know

#greek mythology #daphne #apollo #ovid #ovid's metamorphoses #greek legends #artemis

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cruelsummer-thesingle · 2 years

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Started watching The Sandman series this morning and these are my thoughts:

LOVE HOW EVERYONE/THING IS QUEER. Exorcist- bisexual( no because Jenna Coleman is responsible for my bisexual awakening and this just feel full circle), the nightmare with mouth eyes is queer, all the side characters are queer (except for the token str8s) .

THAT A CHARACTER'S QUEERNESS ISNT THEIR STORYLINE:

Alex being gay but his story arc is more about his daddy issues and his own folly for not being able to TRUST Morpheus

Johanna is bisexual but her story arc is she's a exorcist with commitment issues and leading a life led with regrets and the feeling she's never enough

Death and Dream using they/them pronouns for Desire casually and NOT ONCE is it ever like "omg so proud of them for coming out" . Yes they're being beyond gender and all that sure, whatever but BRO

The fact that the Endless don't have a "supernatural family's theme for fashion and behaviour" so you have Death being all 🥰😺💛☀️🌸 but Dream being all 🖤💀😠👿🔪 when you would think they'd be the opposite

Death being so beautiful. Death woos us all despite our wishes and our lives so it seems like a metaphor??? (idk how to put it) that we're convinced to go do strange things just by a friendly and pretty face

Hob Gadling's absolute zest for life. I keep thinking about all the times I have fully hated my existence and just existing and wishing to go back to romanticising life and the mundane. I think about how it feels like these days the world's going to go up in flames and it's all my fault and just being cynical about everything. I hate that cynicism is imposed upon us so often. So seeing Hob and his enjoyment of life LAUGHING in the face of Cynicism('s Lord) and then Morpheus Ruler of Never Smiling ,Goth Lord 🔪👿 LITERALLY SMILING when he meets him

Me being unable to decipher which posts are about the sandman and which are about mcyt

Anyway, I'm only in ep6 can't wait to binge the series and binge the books

#the sandman #tom sturridge #jenna coleman #neil gaiman #morpheus

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noforkingclue · 1 year

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Hello! Can you write a Dark!Morpheus x reader where they tell the story of the most popular myth of how to sandman courted the primordial being of love (the reader) by inspiring artists to write songs,books and ballads in attempts to woo her in a sort of Persephone and hades sort of way if that makes sense .it work and they are seen as like THE couple and Morpheus is just head over heals worshipping the ground she walks on both then and now and reader obviously adore him as well.maybe they have a few kids?

So I focused more on the darker side of this request and I didn't include the bit about children. Hope you don't mind and enjoy the fic!

Title: A Story

Warnings: dark fic

Everything tag list: @greenrevolutionary, @byebyebreezywrites, @spngingerbread21, @layazul, @lov3vivian, @simonsbluee

Are you sitting comfortably?

Good.

Then let me begin my tale of the Lord of Dreams and the Goddess of Love.

A burning, passionate love story that has lasted longer than this world has been around. It wasn’t often that another being captured the Dream Lord’s attention and yet this Goddess had done just that. Her siblings and fellows Gods and Goddess had warned her about the power and danger of the Endless but she paid them no heed.

And that, my listeners, was to be her undoing.

So, I hear you ask, how did he manage to court the reclusive Goddess?

You see, the answer is quite simple- by inspiring the humans that she cared so much about.

Dreams of inspiration is what he gave to the humans. Poetry, books, paintings, plays, all of this he provided for the humans. To shower each other in declarations of love that they otherwise would not have said. They had the ideas but he provided them with the ways of putting them into words.

That’s how he got the attention of the Goddess.

How happy she was that her humans and how charmed by the Dream Lord despite the continuous warnings from those around her. Of course this didn’t go unnoticed by the humans. Myths and legends sprung up about the two of you. How the God of Dreams gifted human s with divine inspiration to court the one he loves the most. These were the myths that humans needed the most. In hard times these were the myths the humans turned to the most. All other relationships paled in comparison to theirs. You see, there was no drama or fighting between them. Just love.

Ah, I see your cynical smile and perhaps you’re right.

In fact, there is no ‘perhaps’ about it.

You see, these were stories created by human and-

Oh. I see you’ve already clocked it.

The Dream Lord inspired the humans who created the stories…

Yes, you’re correct, how do we know these stories are fact or fiction? But that’s the same with any myth isn’t it? The lines between what happened and what is made up is often blurred and that is the case with this. Humans are romantics are heart.

The truth is, yes the Dream Lord did inspire humans and that did captivate the Love Goddess. However, the Dream Lord asked too much of the little Goddess. He wanted her to reside in the Dreaming with him. To leave her family and become completely his. To never walk among the humans again. To have his heirs and to never mention her old life outside the Dreaming.

And she didn’t bend to his commands.

You ok? Oh, you don’t like how this story is turning out? I’m afraid things rarely turn out how people want them to.

Now, there’s something else you should know about the Dream Lord. It isn’t just dreams that he controls.

It’s also nightmares.

At her refusal the human were plagued with horrific nightmares. The Endless are older and more powerful than the Gods, even the ancient ones. The more the Goddess refused his affections the worse the nightmares became. Until she agreed to meet, to relieve the humans pain and suffering at the hands of the one she thought she could trust.

But when it came time to meet she couldn’t face him. The trust that had been built up had long since gone. So she did the only thing she thought she could do.

She ran.

She disappeared from existence. None of the other Gods or the Endless knew where she had gone or if they did they didn’t let the Dream Lord know. The Dream Lord searched endlessly for his little Goddess but he couldn’t find her. He even couldn’t find her dreams, the mind he used to enjoy spending so much time in.

Which brings us up to now.

The Dream Lord has escape the prison where he was held for one hundred years. With all that time he’s done quite a bit of think and from what I hear he’s determined to find his Goddess. This time, nothing is going to stand in his way.

Hmm?

What’s that?

What does this Goddess look like?

Heh.

My dear, just look in a mirror and you shall see. Surely you don’t think of me as stupid?

Pleasant dreams and good luck.

#fanfiction #the sandman #sandman #reader insert #request #sandman x reader #dream of the endless #dream of the endless x reader #morpheus #morpheus x reader

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lizajane2 · 1 year

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You know I noticed in the comics that every single one of Dream’s lover’s (except Nada, she knew who he was and how he behaved yet she knew her worth) thought they could change him. And loved the idea of him rather than who he was specifically. And that they’d be the number one priority in his life but he’s not able to give them that, so they end up broken-hearted.

Cause then you have Calliope who goes on to explain how gentle he is, how delighted he is to share his knowledge and then say how she wanted her own life and didn't want to live with him, which is fine, but she also married and had a child with him, their lives are meant to be shared together at that point. The man took that as rejection of course he's going to be distant.

And then Thessaly, describes him as this self-absorbed brooding young man (which he is) but adds that she was angry with him for putting his duties before her. He wooed her, accepted her and thought he'd receive the same in return once he returned to being King of Dreams. That's who Morpheus is and that was never gonna change for him.

He even says to William Shakespear, "I am not a man. And I do not change. I asked you earlier if you saw yourself reflected in your tale. I do not. I MAY not. I am Prince of Stories, Will; but I have no story of my own. Nor shall I ever."

#the sandman #sandman #lord morpheus #dream of the endless

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canmom · 2 years

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‘Toku’ Tuesday 30 - you know what? let’s do the Matrix!

it’It’s Tuesday! And I hear there’s a new Matrix film out dir. Lana ‘please be less racist I’m begging you’ Wachowski - which seems a rather unnecessary affair all round and is apparently not especially novel or interesting. But whatever - it seems to be something of a 2000score week so let’s go down this particular memory lane to the land of green-tinted, half-cg wire fu.

The Matrix probably doesn’t need a lot of introductions in these circles - alongside LotR and Shrek, it was one of the first movies to ride the wave of the nascent internet meme ecosystem - but I think it would be interesting to approach it with 30-year-old eyes rather than primary school ones and dig up a few production anecdotes. (Here is a Bryn anecdote: I once printed out various stills from the movie on printer paper and taped them to the inside of my locker at school.)

The Matrix is essentially a big tribute to the tradition of Hong Kong martial arts movies, by way of a scifi spin on Baudrillard. Such martial arts movies are something I definitely treat in depth at some point, but definitely too big a subject to tackle tonight; suffice to say that the movie industry in Hong Kong built a highly refined cinematographic language to tell stories about people beating each other up, performed by many charismatic martial artist stars like Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Sammo Hung, Yuen Biao and Donnie Yen. . And indeed, The Matrix features the work of Yuen Woo-Ping as a choreographer - but more on that in a little bit.

At the outset of their careers, the Wachowskis - already doing basically everything together - were comics writers who decided to try their hand at selling a script to the movies. Their first script featured cannibals eating rich people, but this was, while good, apparently a little too on the nose for studio executives; instead, they managed to sell the script to a movie called Assassins (1994) to Warner Bros, only to see it almost completely rewritten, an experience that led them to decide to become directors (apparently you can just do that) working on the scripts they sold in the Assassins deal.

Their first project as directors was an explicit, noir-y heist movie called Bound (1996) about a lesbian couple conspiring to steal money from the mafia. This was fairly successful, so The Matrix was greenlit, although the high budget (for the time) and ‘philosophical themes’ gave the studio pause. This changed after the Wachowskis pulled in some comicfriends for a detailed storyboard:

The Wachowskis therefore hired underground comic book artists Geof Darrow and Steve Skroce to draw a 600-page, shot-by-shot storyboard for the entire film.[35] The storyboard eventually earned the studio's approval, and it was decided to film in Australia to make the most of the budget.[33]

And at the same time, they approached Will Smith to play the main character Neo; he elected to instead go for Wild Wild West. Instead, they recruited the now familiar group of...

Keanu Reeves took Smith’s place as hacker turned anti-robot revolutionary [and also trans allegory] Neo. Very well known guy now; at the time he was best known at the time for being one of the time-travelling stoners Bill and Ted, but also had recently started appearing in sci-fi action movies like Johnny Mnemonic (1995) and Chain Reaction (1996)

Laurence Fishburne became the mentor-figure and spaceship pilot Morpheus. At this point he’d recently come off of sci-fi horror film Event Horizon (1997), and was in the 90s starring in a pretty wide range of films - dramas like Boyz n the Hood (1991) and Higher Learning (1995), noir movies like King of New York (1990), biopics like What’s Love Got to Do With It (1993) and indeed doing a shakespeare with Othello (1995)

Carrie-Anne Moss got to be Trinity, one of Morpheus’s main operatives and Neo’s love interest; at the time she was pretty much only appearing in B-movies, of which The Secret Life of Algernon (1997) is one of the only to merit a wiki article.

Hugo Weaving had not yet been Elrond, and at the time would have been perhaps known for playing one of the two main characters in Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994) about two drag queens, one of them a trans woman, going on a road trip across Australia. His most recent role was then The Interview (1998) in which he played a suspected serial killer in police custody. He got to take his very severe persona to be ‘Agent Smith’, an AI program tasked with maintaining the Matrix who manifests as a suited human.

The Wachowskis at this point were still reasonably crazy in an interesting way rather than a rich person way, so they put these actors through an intense training regime to try and both school them on the philosophical themes allegedly underlying the films, and also train them for Hong Kong style wire-fu stunts at Yuen’s standard...

The cast were required to be able to understand and explain The Matrix.[33] French philosopher Jean Baudrillard's Simulacra and Simulation was required reading for most of the principal cast and crew.[38] In early 1997, the Wachowskis had Reeves read Simulacra and Simulation, Kevin Kelly's Out of Control: The New Biology of Machines, Social Systems, and the Economic World, and [former Lacanian psychoanalyst] Dylan Evans's ideas on evolutionary psychology even before they opened up the script,[16] and eventually he was able to explain all the philosophical nuances involved.[33] Moss commented that she had difficulty with this process.[16]

The directors had long been admirers of Hong Kong action cinema, so they decided to hire the Chinese martial arts choreographer and film director Yuen Woo-ping to work on fight scenes. To prepare for the wire fu, the actors had to train hard for several months.[33] The Wachowskis first scheduled four months for training, beginning in October 1997.[39] Yuen was optimistic but then began to worry when he realized how unfit the actors were.[25]

Baudrillard, for his part, was not impressed by the film’s interpretation of his body of theory.

Which other figure to mention? Of course it would be John Gaeta, who did the visual effects (c.f. when we watched Speed Racer). He’s the one who figured out how to achieve the vague description of a slow motion scene with a moving camera:

When John Gaeta read the script, he pleaded with an effects producer at Mass.Illusion to let him work on the project, and created a prototype that led to him becoming the film's visual effects supervisor.[73]

This became known as ‘bullet time’, created at the time by firing precisely timed still cameras to create the appearance of fast camera motion in slow motion. (Nowadays, high speed cameras are more common, so such elaborate rigs are less likely to be necessary).

Gaeta’s success here would propel him to even more elaborate production techniques like we discussed on Speed Racer, ambitiously reinventing the whole visual language of film to draw on ‘animetism’... which mostly just led the path to the Marvel movie. Road to hell etc. etc. [The Matrix, also, took heavy inspiration from anime, especially Oshii’s Ghost in the Shell (Animation Night 39).]

The enormous success of the Matrix - a pretty tight action film, for all that some of its fundamental premise (humans as batteries) is kind of ridiculous - led to two the immediate filming of more sequels in The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Resurrections, and no doubt inspired a whole generation’s obsession with leather trenchcoats. These movies were a lot more convulted narratively and more CGI driven, and generally regarded much less well, but they have some striking images. Juno Reactor were brought on to provide the music, and there’s a whole extended rave scene, which is probably suggestive of what the Wachowskis might have been getting up to.

Meanwhile, they were flush with money to send over to Japan, recruiting a large group of anime directors and studios to create a group of side stories for The Matrix in the form of The Animatrix. This features some of my absolute favourite short animated films, such as Shinya Ohira’s astonishing work in Kid’s Story. It also includes the second and last outing of Square Pictures, whose Final Fantasy: Spirits Within we watched last week (Animation Night 85), who created a striptease sword fight in Final Flight of the Osiris; the legendary Takeshi Koike, later to create Redline, rose to a high profile with the short film World Record; Mahiro Maeda fleshed out the backstory with the beautifully ridiculous Second Renaissance pair; Koji Morimoto deployed his usual stylistic flair on a story about kids encountering an anomaly in a ruined house; they even managed to track down Peter Chung to basically do a Matrixed-up episode of Aeon Flux (see Animation Night 52). To me, the Animatrix is definitely the highlight of the whole franchise and I’m looking forward to seeing that again!

Alongside this came a variety of other side projects, including an MMO which is apparently still considered part of the main story because the Wachowskis are the Wachowskis. Morpheus dies in it? Fucked up, I don’t know much about it.

Anyway, OK, that’s the rundown of anecdotes, and we’re running of time. What to say about the Wachowskis? They’re... tricky figures; subculturally a lot closer to Us Lot than most people in the movies (they’re trans, they go to bdsm clubs, they read scifi comics and they’re huge weebs) but also heavily insulated by their wealth and severely afflicted by rich-personitis. They like a lot of the things that I like, but they tend to fumble it when they follow that inspiration. So... I guess we tend to be obliged to pay attention to what they do, and yet it’s hard not to be a little ‘oh, not again’ when they put their foot in it once more, usually with racism (it’s just vital, and not utterly deranged, to film Cloud Atlas with yellowface. No other way they could adapt that book.) I tend to receive a lot of what they do as fascinatingly misguided, sometimes endearingly chuunibyou, but I would understand if your feeling is instead mostly frustration that such people get to be the trans girls who make it, or with the lack of inspiration in some of their later works.

And now, years later, after a variety of distinctive - usually terribly flawed, often still interesting - projects, we have The Matrix Resurrections, which brings Neo and Trinity back, now much older. I’ve avoided learning too much about this film, though from my friends I’ve heard it’s dropped the ball on being novel and interesting and weird, which seems the worst betrayal of what made The Matrix worthwhile - far better to make a janky bad film that does something fucked up and new than make it just another franchise, but I guess the nostalgia window has stepped into the 2000s. Instead, the biggest tech flex seems to be the real-time photorealistic VR tech demo The Matrix Awakens, which - for all that it really does look pretty convincingly photoreal - could be called a desperate attempt to justify the ongoing production of new games consoles and graphics cards. (Like pay attention to the actual gameplay. It’s QTEs and shooting.)

youtube

Well, whatever, the demon fascination of movie-making lives yet in my head - and it has been a very, very long time since I saw any of The Matrix. So tonight we’re staying up late to watch all five filmic parts of the series back to back (I will try to mix in the Animatrix between movies as appropriate). Will it hold up? Will I appreciate whatever the hell the sequels were doing a bit more this time around? Will it just feel painfully orientalist? Will the action sequences still feel impressive after so many more years of CGI dev? Let’s find out; They-Wish-It-Was-Toku Tuesday 30 will be starting shortly at https://twitch.tv/canmom

#toku tuesday #the matrix #this will definitely get me a copyright strike lmao

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subdee · 3 years

Note

1, 3, 9, 17, 19!

What OTPs in your fandom(s) do you just not get?*

I want to just steal @fury-brand‘s answer here because it is perfect, I am enlightened and understand the appeal of all ships even if I don’t personally like them. XD.

Have you ever unfollowed someone over a fandom opinion?

Not over fandom opinions per se, but I’ve unfollowed people over opinions in the discourse, yeah. Life’s too short to get outraged over things that you wouldn’t even have known were things if they hadn’t been brought to your attention so you could get outraged about them. I especially dislike it when the outrage is misleadingly flamed with like the most emotionally charged buzzwords, I like rubbernecking a trainwreck as much as anyone but it’s really a mistake to escalate everything to the level of a huge political crisis.

(I’m guilty of this too, this is why we need self-awareness. XD)

Most disliked character(s)? Why?

Maybe stalker Sephiorth? The fandom version of Sephiroth? And also Cid, man I’m really just stealing ALL Bel’s answers right now.

Instead of XYZ happening, I would have made ABC happen…

Yesssss okay finally something I can answer in an original way. Replace the huge materia subplot, just throw it out. Let the team be directionless during this interlude, and just wandering around looking for things to do next. Barret needs to be the leader, because Barret, like Morpheus (the Matrix), has faith in the cause and wouldn’t give up just because it looks hopeless. Everyone else needs to lose faith, he needs to lead them with the idea that something needs to be done, and there’s no one better than them to do it.

While Shinra is distracted they can try to carry out their original plan, to bomb the reactors, on the grounds that they have no idea what to do about Meteor, but if someone else figures out how to handle this crisis, they will still need to deal with Shinra afterward. And while Shinra is in disarray / focused on the Meteor is the best time to strike. I realize this would be a hugely unpopular and controversial writing decision by the way, it makes Avalanche look like they don’t care about the planet but they do, they are just being strategic.

In the course of sneaking into various Shinra bases, they could find out about the Armageddon-inspired plan to blow up the meteor using the huge materia. At this point they still need to get onto the rocket somehow, not to disrupt the plan but to make sure the Huge Materia makes it back to Earth after use, because Shinra does not care about the Planet and they don’t care about using up natural resources, or making something just to throw it away.

Add a space scene, it doesn’t need to be zero-G which wasn’t possible due to technical limitations at the time, they can be under thrust gravity. You can make the no-gravity scene a cutscene or something. Jenova is from outer space, maybe factor this into the plan somehow? They try to commune with Jenova by going to where it came from? I don’t know, the further down this road you go the more woo it gets. But woo is good sometimes, it’s the counter to materialism which equals environmental destruction.

Anyway it’s mostly the same, it just replaces the collect em all quest by recentering the story on the fight against Shinra. Even though I kind of like that the game complicates the story by putting Avalanche, ultimately, on the side of humans and human society and directly against the Planet (the Weapons) because they are, after all, people first. Hmm Hmmm Hmmmmm.

What is the one thing you hate most about your fandom?

The LTD. Duh. Writing meta or fic in support of one ship shouldn’t be seen as an attack on the other one. The correct way to “counter” a post about a Cloud/Aerith moment from canon shouldn’t be to object that actually, Cloud loves Tifa because of this other unrelated scene. (Or vice versa.) People bring their regressive ideas about relationships into fandom and it shows.

I remember reading an article once about Starship Troopers (1997 film), and Paul Verhoeven mentions that originally Carmen Ibáñez was going to have a romantic scene with Carl, but test audiences hated it and her because in the beginning of the movie she’s with Zander, and so she’s an an evil bitch for moving on from her high school boyfriend.

It’s like the related rule in shoujo manga, the first character you see the main character with is (almost) always the one she’ll end up with, because people can tolerate other characters in a love triangle for spice but they can’t tolerate women (especially) having the freedom to choose between partners or eventually growing beyond the tastes they had as teenagers and finding someone else that better suits who they are as adults.

(This isn’t about LTD anymore directly, I like pretty much all the main FF7 ships and Cloti is the ship that speaks to me most, actually :P because I like the codependence.)

Anyway, allow your heart to be open to the idea of more than one relationship for the same character even if they contradict each other, there’s not a limited amount of fandom so that anything written for the rival ship is directly stealing from your ship. More people will come in and write more stuff.

#ask meme #thanks for the ask <3

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wevegottogetaway · 3 years

Text

Whirlwind Part I - Mistral

DAY 0

Time seems to slow down but the speedometer on Aella's Triumph says otherwise. As the needle flirts with the 124mph mark, it's hard to tell wether she's the one chasing after the wind or the other way around. Miles after miles, her beloved motorbike swallows up the empty road offering itself before her, almost begging her to throw speed limits cautions to the wind. Speed has no secret for Aella though. Brown eyes steady on the asphalt, her focus is unswerving. Yet, she's never felt more free and insouciant.

Except maybe when she's flying.

In the tight confine of her Tomcat, as she defies other kinds of laws, Aella seeps in a whole new world. One where she makes her own physics, her own rules. One where the sky in no longer a limit and neither is her gender. Because when she occupies the cockpit of the F-14 - a baby only a handful of aviators are lucky to even sit in - she's just that: an aviator. A squadron unit who receives missions and completes them. Once her feet tread the tarmac though, the reality is quickly sobering. That's why Aella has learnt to savor each one of the limited hours she spends in the in-between realm of the stratosphere.

Tilting her head briefly to look at the clear sky above her, Aella lets a smile grace her lips as she realizes she'll be back up there very soon. And in high amounts at that. A few years ago, she could have only dreamt to be recruited as part of the most elitist of naval aviation programs in the world. But after years of working twice as hard as her fellow Navy fighter pilots and putting up with their never-ending bullying, her resilience has finally paid off. The memory of their crest-fallen faces when their Commander announced her promotion in front of them all is still one of her favorite. And on that note, they can respectfully kiss her ass.

Maybe it was fate, or maybe it was just life. But no matter how serendipitous the death of Navy fighter Jonathan Evans, she'll be the one taking his place in the US Navy's Fighter Weapons School's Top Gun program. It was a regrettable news but one that changed Aella's destiny forever.

San Diego's sun is just as blazing as LA's, but the nice breeze the city benefits from neighboring the ocean makes it easier to breath. The streets are void of the usual hustle and bustle that inhabits the city of angels, but the palm-trees-lined streets seem to remain a consistent feature of the Californian landscape.

After driving in two hours what should have been a three hours ride, Aella finally pulls up in front of a single-story condominium situated on the street that runs alongside the shore. Taking in the magical scenery that surrounds her new place, she finds herself standing front row for the sun's crepuscular show.

Aella has always loved sunsets. She fell in love with their ephemeral hues when she was 7 and already wanted to make the sky hers. At 25 years of age, they now serve as a reminder that regardless of the fact she knows it like the back of her hand, the blue immensity still withholds secrets that are meant to remain forever's mysteries.

Aella finally makes her way to her new home and her eyes immediately fall on the three large boxes that she had sent from LA the week prior, as per US Navy's request. Waiting for her on the floor, they seem quite a bit lonely in the otherwise empty room. The place is small but designed well enough to be comfortable. The L-shape kitchen directly on the right upon entrance shares one main open space with the living room and dining room, though the term "room" is to be taken loosely. Mostly, they consist of a dining table placed in the center, and a sofa facing a TV set at the back. Between the two, french doors lead the way to a small garden; just enough space for a sun lounger and a small outdoor table.

Aella doesn't expect to be around much as most of her days will be spent at the training center, but as she starts unpacking, she can already picture herself living there anyway. Early runs on the beach, morning coffees out with the birds chirping the news of the day and some lazy reading on the lounger when she's lucky to have a day off. That night, as she lays on her bed waiting to be taken in Morpheus' arms, Aella relishes in the jitters of happiness that course through her veins.

She can't remember the last time she was so impatient for tomorrows.

DAY 1

To say the San Diego Fighter Weapons School's campus is huge would be an understatement. Aella has been on plenty bases during her short naval aviator career, but they all pale in comparison with the three massive hangars standing ahead of her. Deeply rooted on these holy grounds, they serve as home for no less than 30 of the most powerful aircrafts ever designed in the world. Perched on her Triumph, Aella can't help but slow to a more moderate speed as she drives past them. She can feel her heart bouncing in joy at the sight of the F-14 Tomcats, F/A-18 Hornets and F-16 Fighting Falcons neatly aligned like pawns on a chessboard ready to be pressed into service.

Finally, the main buildings come into view. They house all the administration offices as well as lecture and conference rooms. Indeed, part of the Top Gun program takes place indoors (that is, not in a cockpit) as trainees are taught advanced combat strategy, theories of air-to-air and air-to-ground missions, and most painful of all, the riveting matters of astrophysics. In addition to their scientific knowledge and flying skills, the recruits will also be tested on their physical fitness.

That's what Aella dreads the most. While she could probably recite all of Newton's laws in her sleep and fly a supersonic twin-engine, variable-sweep wing fighter aircraft with an arm in a cast, she's positive the physical examination is what might give her the most trouble. Not that she's in bad shape. Obviously one has to be quite fit to be able to handle 25 tons of titanium rocketed at more than 1500mph. But alas, the minimum requirements generated by the State for the final physical examination have yet to be adapted to female dispositions.

The military field has definitely still plenty of room left for improvement when it comes to women's interests...

Two men in their service uniforms are casually conversing in the parking lot when Aella pulls up with her Triumph. One seems to be in the middle of a thrilling story judging by his gesticulating limbs, while the other listens to him, cigarette pinched between his lips. As soon as the latter's eyes fall on Aella though, he interrupts his friend with two taps on his torso. The shock on his face quickly turns into a condescending smirk as his eyes shamefully scan Aella from head to toe. His friend turns around intrigued and it's not long before his features mirror the same irksome smug.

For a few seconds too many, Aella doesn't react. She simply stares at the jerks standing a few feet from her like they might be two very realistic-looking hallucinations. A sick jock her brain is playing on her by materializing ghosts from her past when she's least expecting them. Aella doesn't know who she's the most angry at: Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum for looking at her like she's a hot commodity or herself because she'd actually thought it wouldn't happen here.

It takes all of her self-control and then some to keep her from rushing over and giving them a piece of her mind. Instead she just swallows back the crude remarks she's dying to throw at them and puts her uniform cap on. Maybe there weren't checking her out but the Triumph behind her instead. Maybe she just bumped into the two assholes of the program. Maybe the 13 other recruits will turn out to be actual decent human beings who acknowledge women's worth in the Navy and will treat her as an equal. Aella tries to keep the positive thoughts coming as she heads towards the main building for the induction speech.

Still, she can't help the sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.

The effervescence of the conference room is almost palpable as loud chatter and boisterous laughters bounce off its walls. Taking in the glorious sight of her fellow trainees, Aella already feels like an outsider. Easily distinguished by their uniform, they're all bantering like they've all known each other their entire life, even though the program hasn't officially started.

From afar she recognizes the two morons from the parking lot, sitting on tables as they're gathered around a balky blond man completely sprawled out on a chair with aviator sunglasses tucked in the front of his kaki shirt. Because of his lazy posture, he has to look up at his disciples but it is clear that he's the last person to be looked down on.

Aella already despises the narcissistic vibe he exudes. That disdainful and self-assured attitude which makes her want to rip his stupid head off. It's certainly not the first of his kind she's had to partially work with and sadly, it will definitely not be the last.

"Oi, Rex! How's it goin' man?" Another block yaps.

"Snyder," Rex chuckled. "'Was doin' good till ya ugly face showed up"

"Ah, 's not what the ladies say..." Snyder replies, completely unfazed by the playful dig made at him.

"That's cause you woo them drunk, you bastard." The whole group of them burst in laughters as Snyder rolls his eyes.

"Speaking of lass, I heard there was a bird joining the ranks with us? 'S up with that?"

Aella immediately stiffens as she hears the dreaded words. Ones that make it crystal clear she's gonna be the odd one out right from the start. Not to be mistaken, Aella takes great pride in being one of the very few female fighter pilots of the US Navy but all the self-confidence in the world couldn't amount to the loneliness she always feels on base. Amongst the 'mates', she's never more than a fellow recruit, watching from afar her colleagues' relationships blossoming from mere work affiliations to ones of brotherhood.

Finally making her way to the last seat available in the audience, Aella feels the energies in the room drastically shift. Voices are no longer clashing in rowdiness; instead, the air is charged by the intensity of the quiet stares following her silhouette. However, the silence is interrupted by the sound of a flirtatious whistle that does no wonder for her already-tested nerves. God does she hate men sometimes.

"Well, well, well...look at that guys. I think the eagle has landed its cute ass down."

Aella is about to pop a knuckle from how hard she's clenching her fists. How foolishly naive she was to believe that things would be different. That joining Top Gun with the 'best of the best' would give her solace from the incessant chauvinistic behaviors she'd been so used to. If anything, the prestige of their accomplishments has exacerbated the arrogant disposition of their ego-inflated character.

Aella knows better than to respond though. No matter how quick-witted the comeback, it never works in her favor. So once again, she just takes a deeper breath and settles in her seat facing forwards. She is saved from hearing more about her eagle ass by two impressive figures marching in the room towards the front. Postures straighten, smirks vanish and a de facto silence ensues at the officers' arrival. Respect is almost tangible in the air, and it has little to nothing to do with the plethora of decorations adorning their white uniforms, and everything to do with the aura of invincibility transpiring in their intimidating gaze.

"Gentlemen," one of them starts before tilting his head towards Aella and adding a soft "ladies." He then proceeds with a quick scan of the room. Years of experience standing on that very same stage have forged the unyielding yet somewhat benevolent eyes landed on the students' expecting faces.

"You were probably told that you were here because you are the best of the best. Well, let me set things straight: you're not. Not yet anyway. You might be lieutenants out there, but on these grounds, you are nothing but students. My job, is to make you unbeatable up there. Your job, is to trust me in doing so. That means no challenging orders and no cocky attitude or any funny business. If you respect that, you might have your name on one of these plaques in 5 weeks. Until then, work your hardest. My name is Aaron Berks and I will be your Commander. Everyone, welcome to Top Gun."

Commander Berks offers a light smile to his audience, and Aella has a feeling it's not a sight she will be privy to very often. She likes him though. He seems intransigeant but wise, proud but not arrogant and no matter how cold his exterior, he has the warmth of a master who looks after his apprentice. A caring facet that resembles that of fatherhood, and Aella knows she'll be able to trust Berks just like he asked in his introduction speech.

After a brief silence, the class' attention is once again captured by one of the officer. Taller and bulkier, this one is definitely missing that fatherly vibe Aella is so found of. "Gentlemen, I am Lieutenant Commander Wayne Rogers, I will teach you the art of naval strategy in flight combat alongside Commander Berks. You will also have the pleasure to have me whip your asses in physical testing. As you know, Top Gun is structured around 3 ranges of expertise, namely: naval strategy both in theory and practice, advanced astrophysics knowledge and physical training. Needless to say, you will be tested in more ways than one. And just a heads-up, I don't do no favor. To anyone."

Aella cringes for a second as she wonders if there is any implicit lines to read behind Lieutenant Rogers' clipped tone. She already dreads the time she will have to spend under his teaching. She doesn't have the time to dwell on it though, before Rogers resumes his speech. "Anyway, enough with the pretty words, let's go over the program. As you know, the 16 of you will form 8 crews who will be confronting each other and us instructors to master advanced dogfighting tactics. Each of the 25 missions you will be assigned during the program will earn you points. Your aptitudes in physical training will also earn you point, as well as your results in astrophysics evaluations. I'm sure you can guess who wins the Top Gun trophy at the end of the program. Bear in mind, that all instructors have the right to deduct points from your score should they deem your actions or behavior disrespectful, underserving or quite simply unacceptable. On that note, welcome to Top Gun, class dismissed."

As soon as Lieutenant Rogers voices the discharging words, the room is once again caught in a rambunctious nebula of clacks and clatters. Everyone is making their way out when the commander's voice transcends the ongoing commotion; steady and resonant.

"Officers Styles and Lonethorne."

Aella's brows immediately wrinkle as she recognizes her last name. Turning around, she sees Commander Berks intently looking at her as if beckoning her over. Obediently she makes her way up to the front of the room where Berks hasn't moved an inch since the beginning of the induction. Soon she realizes she's being followed by a tall lanky man. His face, objectively handsome, doesn't seem to show any emotion but Aella doesn't have much time to further study his features as she finally reaches her commander.

"I wanted to welcome you both personally given the circumstances. Styles, you have my support and condolences. Lieutenant Evans was a very fine man and gifted flyer." Aella is a bit thrown off by the declaration. It takes her an extra second to figure out the reason of her presence for this discussion. Once she does, her attention is immediately drawn to the silent man standing next to her, his face still not displaying any feelings, as though his skin was made of cold marble.

"Harry, this is Aella Lonethorne. Her former chief has nothing but praises to say about her flying skills. She will be your partner for the next 5 weeks." A nod and the brief connection of his emeralds to Aella's sapphires seems to be all the assertion elicited from Harry. No handshake, no hello, not even the pucker of a brow. Commander Berks might as well have announced the refectory's lunch menu, the lad's reaction would have been the same.

"Miss Lonethorne, it's a pleasure to have you on base, I have no doubts you two will achieve great things together." It is such a relief for Aella to realize her first impression of Berks was spot on. He is the kind of manager that leads with strength in his fists but encouraging lyrics on the edge of his lips. There is no hint of condescension fueled by the power high of his status, coloring the tone of his voice. It's something Aella has seen a few times. Pleasant comrades turned into aloof leaders full of bitterness from their years of submission and laden by the hierarchy's expectations. Commander Berks never yielded to that pressure though, it was clear in his wholesome nature.

"Thank you Commander, it's a real honor." Aella responds in genuineness.

"Alright, I'll leave you to it. See you both on the tarmac" he exclaims with a smile before making his way out. Berks departure leaves enough room for tension to settle between the newfound partners like a third interlocutor taking the warmed place of their superior.

Harry is still keeping mum, unfocused eyes staring somewhere far off on the floor while his mind appeared to be wandering the secret passages of never-never land. It freaks the hell out of Aella though she doesn't show it. They are a team now. They're supposed to trust, rely on each other and have the other's back no matter what. Yet, she doesn't even know the sound of his voice and it doesn't seem like he's gonna give her the time of day anytime soon.

Aella is about to speak up when Harry suddenly shakes his head out of its hypnotic trance. For a second she thinks he's gonna initiate conversation himself but instead he just tilts his head in her general direction and rasps a weak 'see you' before storming off the room. Aella is left in total disarray, she doesn't comprehend why he's acting like a 3 year-old running off because he's scared to say hi to the postman. Is it because she's not what he expected in a partner? God she hopes not. He doesn't strike her as a misogynistic prick, didn't really show any sign of disgust or clear animosity. But then again he was impossible to read.

After exiting the teaching building and mounting her precious Triumph, Aella feels the dread resurfacing. It is such a big contrast to how she felt when she left this morning. All the thrill and elation that had bubbled in the pits of her stomach just evaporated into disillusion, leaving a fog of uncertainty in Aella's frenzied mind. This was supposed to be a drama-free experience; a chance to be recognized and treated with respect.

Instead she got barely acknowledged.

The music coming out of Godspeed's is so resoundingly loud Aella can feel the bass line thumping through her whole body. Standing across the street from the entrance, she's still hesitating joining in the merrymaking even though she can hear the spirits calling out her name. Despite the crispiness of the air, a few rowdy souls are camping out front, obviously warmed over by the substance in their glass and the nicotine stick between their lips.

The dodgy pub never lacks in visitors no matter how threadbare the furniture, tacky the decoration and questionable the sanitation prove to be. Truth be told, the popularity of the place can be explain by one and sole reason: it is, lo and behold, the only bar on base. A fact that implies 99% of its customer base works in the US Navy, and thus explains why one could usually count on one hand the number of people dressed in day-to-day clothes.

Bracing herself, Aella finally makes her way inside the bar. The smell of booze and fries immediately invades her nostrils but she pays it no mind. Instead she takes in her surroundings from the swaying of hips on the torrid dance floor to tokens passionately thrown at a table with a pair of aces following. The sound of glasses clinking blends with that of drunken laughters and even drunker squawks. It's nothing but good times and pent-up stress release, and for a moment Aella is really glad she decided to show up. She was told Induction's Rave was not to be skipped.

Unfortunately, as she heads for the bar, Aella's eyes fall upon a few familiar yet loathsome faces. It appears the infamous Rex and his phony clique didn't want to miss out on the festivities either. Much to Aella's dismay, they are all huddled around the counter monopolizing the bartender's attention and just like that, she knows a relaxing time is not in her cards for tonight. There is no way she can walk out of this with both a drink in her hand and her composure intact. It would be too easy.

Strategically, she waits till the barman is done with them before voicing her request as inconspicuously as she can. "May I have a Vodka Martini, please?" she asks just as the bartender lifts his eyes from the counter he was wiping. She originally went for a pint but somehow she had an inkling it wouldn't quite suffice. The guy nods and leaves to mix her precious elixir but just as she thinks she might make it through unscathed, the obnoxious voice she has come to strongly despise cuts through the pub's damp air.

"Gotta stop trying to play James Bond, darling. S'just not for you." Snickers. "Now, James Bond girl on the other hand, you definitely have the proper assets for that." Once again, every guy within Rex's arm radius bursts into insipid laughter as the mockery tumbled out of his mouth. She doesn't have to look his way to picture the disgusting smirk he must be sporting. Jerk.

From the corner of her eye, Aella recognizes the lonesome lad sat at the far end of the bar, nursing a Bourbon with tinted cheeks and glossy irises. There is no doubt he's in a slightly inebriated state but his participative chuckle still stings. Maybe even more so than Rex's offensive words for Harry is supposed to be her closest ally. She doesn't expect him to jump to her defense, wouldn't want him to anyway, but she's profoundly disappointed he would find such humor in someone degrading her that way. The thought angers her so much, she doesn't realize Harry is actually showing some kind of emotion at last. It's not the one she wanted anyhow; not when it's at her expense.

She's handed her drink before Rex speaks up again. "You think you can just sweep in and fight the bad guys with your pretty hair and 5 pounds muscles? I mean, come on darling, you're not meant for the job." She'd started to walk away at first but Rex's lousy rant makes her halt in a sudden. "Just sit and look pretty like the others. Or fucking teach. You know what they say, right? Those who can't, teach... Anything but the fucking Navy, yeah? We have enough wannabes as it is."

Deep breath. Tight fist. Down the Vodka. Then she turns around and marches up to him, armed with daggers in her eyes and a punch away from feeling better. She doesn't hit him though. Has more dignity and self-control than that. "You should really consider shutting your goddamn mouth before I show you just what I can or can't do." Aella's tone is cold; colder than the marble of Harry's face from earlier that day.

As she expects, they don't take her seriously and giggles erupt all around her. "Darling, I really wouldn't mind," is what he replies with a suggestive lip bite and a smug that rivals her scowl in intensity. He's dangerously toying with her last nerve and he knows it. Deliberately exploits it in the hopes of seeing her explode and then crumble into pieces. That's how Aella knows she has the upper hand. She knows how guys like him work, what gets them going and their tactics to achieve that, but Rex has no clue what she's like. He's deluding himself into thinking he's pushing her break-down button when in reality he's in for something else.

Nobody knows that yet, except maybe Harry.

As a quiet and incredibly guarded individual, Harry proves to be a tremendous observer. It might come off as standoffish though he doesn't mean to, but those who matter know and have accepted just how introverted his nature is. He knows he probably should have made an effort and better impression on his new copilot but the wound from his best friend's loss is still too fresh to be bothered. They'll get to talk soon enough anyway, is what he thought. Plus she didn't really go out of her way to make an impression herself, did she?

Now though, observing the sour interaction from afar, Harry's starting to think differently. He shrugged at Rex's crude remarks, already used to the block's insolence and admittedly amused at the childish antics. But as he becomes more attentive to Aella's shifting stance, it is obvious to him that she's not a person to ever take shit from anybody.

His suspicions are proved right when Aella slowly closes the few steps between her and Rex until her eyes level with his. "Oh Rex. The thing with guys like you, is you feel powerful because power was handed to you on a silver fucking platter." All the while talking, she moves to remove his hold from his glass. "I could have pity for you, really. You think you're good; you must even think you're the best but you're nothing more than a selfish privileged opportunistic prick who feels entitled to walk over anyone who won't fucking bow down before you." Then she chucks the rest of his Whiskey in one swallow and places the empty glass back on top of the counter next to them.

"Oh yeah?" Rex smirks as he watches her face closely, casually leaning on the bar. It works in her favor as he fails to notice her hand creeping around his own. Then the next thing he knows is a tremendous throb shooting from the joint between his thumb and index, all the way through his arm and up to his neck. The pain is seizing and has him doubled up like it is suddenly to painful to even stand straight.

Aella has never been more glad to learn a thing or two about pressure points.

"Yeah. And I might be smaller than you or less of a weightlifter than you are, but I can still bring you down wherever and whenever I want to. Don't you forget that." He's almost kneeling by now, arm twisted in a weird angle from where she's still applying pressure on his hand. Rex's acolytes seem to have lost their voice and giggles as they're all taking in the sudden reversal of the situation. They have probably never seen Rex in such a submissive position, hence the dazed expression of stupor plastered on their faces.

Aella finally releases the whimpering man at her feet. She's about to make her way out but she stops herself. "Oh and one more thing. You're cocky, and vile, and despicable. And one day, probably too late, you'll realize your arrogance is what will fail you."

Satisfied with her last words, Aella looks up at the scene around her. Most people are still engrossed in what they were doing when she first came in, oblivious to the whole confrontation. Then just as she turns around, her eyes catch Harry's broad frame, as though some magnetic field was coaxing them to his radiating force. She doesn't delay her departure though. Her steps barely falter on the way out but her mind is left in a whirlwind of thoughts.

He was smiling. Shy and in the corner of his lips. But genuine and almost knowing, like he'd been rooting for her the whole time. And really, for Harry to be on her side is everything Aella hopes for.

#harry styles writing #Harry Styles #harry styles fic #harry styles series #TopGun!Harry #ofc #Whirlwind #part1 #creative writing #fanfic #pilot!harry #enemies to lovers

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dreams-in-a-sandbox · 4 years

Text

Late Night Muses

A little fic I wrote while listening to Hadestown and thinking about The Sandman.

The Dreaming was still. The lights from the bubbles and tendrils of sand throughout the realm were dimmed as the sun set. The night shift was called to tend to the dreams of the world for the next 8 hours or so to give day shift a break. It was a tiring day and the denizens were grateful for the rest. Even the Lord Shaper was attempting what one could call sleep next to his wife Calliope, in their shared chambers.

Her steady breathing was lulling Morpheus into a much needed rest when the growing crescendo of crying filled his ears.

“My love, your son is awake.”

“Before morning he is your son, Oneiros.” she said drowsily.

With a weary sigh, he got up from his place on the bed and materialized a shirt on to match his pants. The nursery wasn’t very far and as the light from the hall dimly filled the large playroom, a small boy no older than two could be seen standing in his crib. Tears ran down his squishy cheeks and his cries made Morpheus’ heart ache.

“I’m here Orpheus, Father’s here.” he said softly. Large hands grasped the child’s crib and slowly rocked it back and forth in an attempt to get the boy to sleep again. The motion only seemed to make Orpheus more upset though as the cries turned into shrieks loud enough to wake the dead.

“Alright, alright, up you go then.” The boy reached his arms up to Morpheus and his father took him into his arms, gently rubbing circles on his small back.

“Shhh, shh. You’re alright.” The boy seemed to calm down, save for the stray hiccup every now and then. A rocking chair grabbed Dream’s attention and he sat down with a sigh. Orpheus snuggled into his father’s neck and said in a sleepy voice,

“Stowee.”

“A story?” Dream sounded almost surprised, but then again, his son was the product of a writing muse and a storyteller.

“Is that all you wanted?” The two year old nodded into the shoulder his head currently lay on.

“Very well. A story. What shall I tell a tale of?” Thoughts of a certain blonde muse came into his mind and the Dream Weaver began to tell a story.

‘Once long ago, but not too long, there was a King. This king was lord of sleep, of tales, ideas, and imagination.’

“Papa!”

“Ha, that’s right, little one.”

‘One day the King was overseeing the creation of dreams when something caught his eye. There was a rather large surge of books materializing in the monarch’s library. Scrolls, letters, novels, and speeches were being written in dreams. The King was curious to know what was being used to inspire the mortals into creating these beautiful words, so he set off on a journey to the waking world. Traveling through the world, he saw many things. Some true, some false, and some in between the two. Finally, after quite some time, he arrived in Greece. While there, he met a man named Homer. Homer was a great writer and he had just finished a work called The Odyssey. It was a wondrous tale full of adventure, romance and tragedy. The King asked Homer this,

“Tell me, great poet, how have you come to write such beautiful words upon your papyrus?”

Homer replied,

“A muse sir, one of the nine came to me after a night of wooing and wine.”

“And where would one find this muse?” The king inquired.

“Upon the high Mount Helicon. It is there that the muse shall present themself to you.”

‘So the Dream lord set off to find this mysterious muse. Steadily he went up the mountain, climbing higher and higher until he could climb no more. As he reached the summit, a woman appeared to him. The lady took his breath away with a single look and he knew then that he had fallen in love.The stars in the sky could do no justice to the beauty in hers, her corn colored hair seeming to act like a sea, with curls waving this way and that. And when she spoke it was as if the world quieted to hear the faintest whisper of what she had to say.’

“Mama!” little Orpheus exclaimed.

“Yes, mama.”

“Who are you that comes to my place of worship?” she demanded.

“I am known by many names, King of Dreams, Morpheus, Dream of the Endless, but you, lovely muse, may call me Oneiros. What shall I call you?”

“I am the muse Calliope,” she said. “One of the nine, Oneiros, King of Dreams. Tell me, why have you come to me?”

“I have come to sate my curiosity of the inspiration of mortals. I see now that it is you who gives them beautiful ideas in waking as well as in sleep.”

“I give them not freely, but to you I may make an exception.” It was then that he knew she too was enamored.

“I have no need for a muse, but a night with you would be my honor, lady Calliope.”

“She held out her hand and he took it. The next day they were wed and some time later, you were born my son.”

By now, the toddler was fighting with all his might to stay awake. Morpheus smiled at this and shifted so Orpheus was laying on his chest. Rocking back and forth in the chair, he began to hymn a tune. It wasn’t any tune that was ever heard in the waking world, as Morpheus had heard it in a dream some thousands of years before. It was a soft melody and soon Orpheus was sound asleep.

“Sleep well, Orpheus.” said Dream.

Dream continued to hum and before he even knew what was happening, he drifted into not quite sleep, but a sort of rest, as he closed his starry eyes.

That was how Calliope found her two loves the next morning, father and son sleeping in the rocking chair with little Orpheus drooling on her husband’s shirt. She smiled softly at the sight and decided to leave them for the time being. Soon the Dreaming would be woken by the ever slow rise of the sun and another day of work would begin for her lover. For now though, she was content to simply watch them dream.

#the sandman #sandman #fic #fanfiction #orpheus #dream of the endless #morpheus #calliope #i hope you like it!#neil gaiman #dc #dc comics #vertigo #comics #greek mythology

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taptroupe · 3 years

Text

epic shadow tower finale broke alayna’s heart

“S... Sharline...!”

i guess he’s running over to her BUT

“Don’t get any closer! Are you going to make me disappear again?!”

“...?”

“You’ve done it once before. You could very well do it again.”

“...No, I... I didn’t mean to...”

“Are you saying it was an accident? You ACCIDENTALLY tried to kill me?”

An arrow flies past Darius’ head, grazing his hair.

“What’re you dodging for? I don’t have all day, you know.”

Like spitting words of hate, Sharline readied her bow once more.

"...Right, back then you thought you could use that innocent cute kid act, getting away with anything you wanted?”

(NOTE this line was incredibly workshopped by me and my friend who speaks japanese. we went from thinking sharline is calling herself cute, to sharline sarcastically saying darius thought he was so cute. it’s a hard nuance. thank you saria.)

Darius couldn’t find the words to speak. Another arrow shot into his shoulder, and he clenched his teeth.

“Well? Do you want to send me away again?”

With an unchanged face, she prepared another arrow.

“S... Sharline... I never meant to do it... I was just so scared, and I...”

“Oh, you were scared to die? Me too.”

ARROW TO THE FLANK. PAINFUL BREATHS. SHARLINE WHAT ARE YOU DOING

“You, because YOU didn’t want to die, you thought I should go instead? Just handing me off to Death like that?”

“Sharline, forgive me...”

he staggered a bit and had to use a hand to on the ground to keep from falling. but the cold voice kept on going.

“How will you make up for it?”

“...I...”

here we go sharline banger tweet

I’d like to kill you. Just like that day.

So, can I? Can I kill you, Darius?

........

Darius raised his head and got up staggeredly. His chest tightened as his quiet eyes focused on Sharline.

“I owe my life to you, Sharline.

...You can do whatever you want.”

He took one last look at the hate in Sharline’s face and closed his eyes.

I'm okay with being killed. As long as it's by Sharline.

That’s all I ever did to her, anyways.

Heh, when I put it like that, it makes me feel oddly better...

Something hot’s running down my face.

...Tears?

I haven’t cried once since the day Sharline disappeared from the village.

It’s okay.

This is okay.

These were Darius’ last thoughts.

But someone’s voice reverberated.

—”That girl” in front of you, is that really “the girl” YOU know? Would she ever say those kinda things?

Hey, Darius.

In that old fairy tale I told you, the Crest was a gift from God to protect her children, right? It was like, a good luck charm.

But I don’t believe in such a story.

You know, Darius, if that Crest ever gives you trouble, I’ll be there to save you.

...

Hey now, don’t make such a face!

No matter what anyone else thinks, you’re the one who’s suffered the most from the Crest. No matter what misfortune happens, it’s never your fault. People who blame it on your Crest aren’t all that good themselves, you know?

No matter what happens, I’ll always believe in you, Darius. So that’s why you don’t have to worry.

Believe in me.

A nostalgic voice.

A gentle voice.

Sharline’s voice.

But, your eyes were so full of anger, and what I did to you... I thought you’d hate me.

—Please, believe in my heart, the heart that believes in you.

—Now open your eyes, and face the truth! Hurry!

https://youtu.be/PKRUKalbx3s

what? it’s fitting isn’t it? www. gains owes royalties to fromsoft bro. i almost choked up here reading this part, it really got my heart bad but i could feel the tension melt away hearing sharline’s voice in my head, with her story and her kind words saving me. it was an excellent part.

reposting emotional grip that i literally had during this part

BUT WAIT THEN WHO IS THIS SHADOW SHARLINE?!

When Darius opened his eyes, Sharline was still there arrow at the ready. But, just beyond her figure was a strange shadow.

Darius hastily ran from the hill. An arrow followed soon after him. (also he pulls out the arrow from his flank idk where that is. midriff maybe)

“Why are you running away?!”

darius pulls out the arrow from his shoulder OUCH man that hurts. he continues to get away from the FALSE sharline. yea she’s probably like a palmira doll but she can sure shoot well she just shot four more arrows. but it’s fine!

sharline disappears and so does the scenery. now we hear morpheus laughing like a old man!

blah blah blah “the cycle will be the key to opening this world again! kk see ya laters at the real tower”

darius hops over shit and sees a bright light. again he hears that voice once more

—Everything that is good in life will always be preceded by hardships.

oh the bright light is more like a cool glowing tree with endless branches that reach the heavens. the fruit is golden like the eyes of a dragon. but anyways CHECK OUT THE COOL SWORD AT THE TRUNK

Golden handle and sparkling crimson and emerald stones. A milky white sword with a gentle blue glow.

YEAH BITCH

MOONLIGHT FUCKING SWORD BABY

it wasn’t too hard to lift. and when he did whoa a grey fruit of light appeared and then whoa he saw a room in that fruit and then darius passed out. WOO BABY SHADOW FUCKING TOWER!!!!!!!!!

i’d like to thank saria, winterbro, and himeko for helping me figure out dialogue in this scene. this was a hard hitting chapter and also got delayed cuz of school but here you go SHARLINE I LOVE YOU ❤️❤️❤️❤️

#evergrace novel funtime #hope you enjoyed the art too :)#long post

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dukereviewsmovies · 4 years

Text

Duke Reviews: Ant-Man And The Wasp

Hello, I'm Andrew Leduc And Welcome To Duke Reviews Where Today We Are Continuing Our Look At The Marvel Cinematic Universe...

youtube

Where Today We Answer The One Question Everyone Had On Their Minds When Watching Avengers: Infinity War...Where Was Ant-Man?... By Watching Ant-Man And The Wasp...

In The Aftermath Of Civil War, Scott Grapples With The Consequences Of His Choices As Both A Superhero And A Father As He Struggles To Rebalance His Home Life With His Responsibilities As Ant-Man When He's Confronted By Hope Van Dyne (Who Has Taken On Her Mother's Identity As The Wasp) And Hank Pym Who Come To Him With A New Mission...

Will They Succeed?

Let's Find Out As We Watch Ant-Man And The Wasp...

Starting In 1987, We See Janet Van Dyne (Played By A Digitally Aged Michelle Pfeiffer) And Hank Pym (Played By A Digitally Aged Michael Douglas) Tell Their Daughter They're Going To A Conference When Really They're Going Another Mission...

And Unfortunately, It's The Mission That Cost Janet Her Life When She Shrank Between The Molecules Of A Soviet Missile So She Could Disable It Shrinking Smaller And Smaller Until She Entered The Quantum Realm...

With The Hardest Thing He Did Being To Tell Hope That Janet Was Dead, We Cut To Now Where Hank Recalls How Scott Went Subatomic And Came Back Which Give Him The Idea To Dust Off Some Old Plans Of A Quantum Tunnel Which Will Shrink Them Small Enough To Enter The Quantum Realm To Get Janet Back...

Meanwhile At Scott's House, We Him Spending Time With His Daughter, Cassie In A Homemade Playhouse That He Made And Is Running With The Help Of Luis, As Scott's Been Under House Arrest After Helping Captain America In Civil War Which Was A Violation Of The Sokovia Accords...

But After Taking A Plea Deal, Scott Was Allowed To Return To The US And Was Sentenced To 2 Years Under House Arrest And A 20 Year Prison Sentence Waiting For Him If He Leaves His House Or Defies The Accords Again

And As Pym And Hope Had Provided Lang With The Technology He Used Against Iron Man, They Have Also Been Ruled In Breach Of The Accords And They Have A Warrant Out For Their Arrest Which Forced Them To Go On The Run And Sever All Contact With Scott...

Spending The Next Two Years Trying To Find Ways To Keep Himself Busy Including Learning Close-Up Magic And Setting Up A Security Company With Luis And His Partners, He Unfortunately Has A Dream Where He Relives Of Janet's Memories Of When Hope Was A Child 3 Days Until His Release From House Arrest...

Contacting Pym On A Burner Phone He Put Away, Scott Briefly Tells Him What Happened Before Realizing He Sounds Like An Idiot, He Apologizes For The Trouble He Caused Before Smashing The Phone...

Later That Night, Scott Hears A Buzzing Noise Before He's Knocked Out By A Small Tranq Dart...

Waking Up The Next Morning, Scott Finds He's Been Kidnapped By Hope, Who Left A Decoy In His Place To Not Arouse Suspicion From The FBI. Angry At Scott For Helping Cap And Forcing Her And Hank Into Hiding, Hope Tells Scott That His Dream Coincided With Hank Briefly Opening A Quantum Tunnel...

Seeing Scott's Message As A Sign That Janet Is Alive, Hank And Hope Work In Their New Lab To Create A Stable Tunnel So Hope Can Take A Vehicle Into The Quantum Realm To Retrieve Janet...

Reuniting With Pym Who's Bitter For Scott's Actions But Puts His Anger Aside As He's Their Only Hope Of Locating Janet Inside The Quantum Realm...

Hope Arranges To Get A Part From A Black Market Dealer Named Sonny Burch (Played By The Unicorn) But Realizing The Potential Profit From Pym And Hope's Research, Burch Double Crosses Her Which Leads Her To Suit Up...

youtube

(Start At 0:06)

But Despite Getting The Component, Hope Soon Faces A New Opponent In The Form Of The Ghost, Scott Goes In To Help Hope With The Ghost But Unfortunately The Ghost Escapes With The Part And Pym's Mobile Lab...

Hiding Out At Scott And Luis' Security Firm, They Tell Hank That They've Heard Tales Of This Ghost Of Theirs While Also Wondering If He Had A Tracker On The Lab Which He Did But It Was Deactivated At The Time The Lab Was Stolen And That Not Only Did The Person Who Stole It Knew What They Were Doing But They Were Phasing...

With The Lab Emitting Radiation, Hope Suggests Modifying A Quantum Spectrometer To Track It But To Do That It Means Going Into The Matrix...

I'm Just Kidding...Or Am I?

Meeting Hank's Former Partner, Bill Foster (Played By Morpheus) At The College Where He Works, He Helps Them Locate The Lab Just As The FBI Shows Up On The Campus...

Wondering If Foster's Idea Of Tracking The Suit Through The Regulators Could Work Hank Says It Could But They'd Need An Old Suit As The New Ones Don't Have Diffractors Which They Need To Track It...

Luckily, Scott Saved His Old Suit After Using It To Fight With Cap But The Bad News Is It's Inside Of A Trophy That's At Cassie's School For Show And Tell...

youtube

(Start At 1:01, End At 4:02)

Getting The Diffractor Out Of The Old Ant-Man Suit They Use It To Track Down The Lab To A House In The Middle Of The Woods Where They're Immediately Captured By The Ghost...

Wow, You Guys Think You Can Go 5 Minutes Without Being Captured By The Bad Guy...

Capturing Hank Too, Ghost Reveals Herself As Ava Starr...

Any Relation To Ringo?

Surprisingly No, But She Is Related To Another Former Partner Of Hank's Named Elihas Starr Who Hank Not Only Fired But Discredited And In An Attempt To Get His Good Name Back He Continued His Research Only For It To End In The Death Of Him And His Wife During A Quantum Experiment That Caused Ava's Affliction...

Though She Was Found By Bill Foster, Who Has Tried His Best To Keep Her Safe Since The Accident, He Couldn't Protect Her From S.H.I.E.L.D. Who Built Her Containment Suit And Used Her As A Stealth Operative In Exchange For A Cure..,

But Discovering That They Were Full Of Bullshit, Ava Left With Foster Who Created A Containment Chamber To Slow Her Decay But It's Too Progressive For Him To Stop...

Despite Ava Wanting To Kill Hank For What He Did, She Instead Watched Him Where She Discovered That Hank Was Building The Quantum Tunnel Also About Lang And His Vision Of Janet..

Revealing That They Want To Use The Quantum Tunnel So They Can Extract The Quantum Energy From Janet So They Can Repair Ava's Molecular Structure But Knowing That It Would Kill Janet, Hank Says No...

But Threatening To Turn Scott Over To The FBI, If He Doesn't Help, This Leads Hank To Fake A Heart Attack So Bill Can Open An Altoid Box With Ants That Will Grow Large When Opened So They Can Escape...

Getting The Lab Back Before They Leave, Hank Grows It Back To Large Size So They Can Get To Work Where Hank Reveals That Elihas Starr Was A Traitor Who Stole His Plans For The Quantum Tunnel As They Work...

But As They Do That Burch Captures Luis And His Partners So He Can Question Them About Scott As Ava, Desperate To Be Cured Decides To Kidnap Cassie But Before She Does Bill Tells Her That If She Does She's On Her Own Which Leads Her To Go After Other Options...

Injecting Truth Serum Into Luis, We Get Another One Of Luis' Stories As He Tells Burch Where Scott Is...

youtube

(Start At 1:14, End At 3:21)

Knowing That If Ghost Gets The Technology, He'll Be Ruined, Burch Decides To Call The FBI Believing It'll Be Easier To Steal It From Them As He Has A Contact There..

And While That's Understandable I Still Kinda Have To Say Where's The Logic In That?

Despite Having One Contact It's The FBI, There Are Agents That Are Likely To Recognize You And Are Likely To Get You...

Opening A Stable Tunnel, Pym And Hope Are Able To Contact Janet Who Gives Them A Precise Location But Warns Them That They Have 2 Hours To Do So Due To The Quantum Realm's Unstable Nature...

With Scott Back To Normal, He Gets A Call From Luis Who Tells Him Everything That Happened With Burch, Telling Hank And Hope Everything They're Rightfully Pissed And Sever Ties With Scott Once Again As He Takes The Suit To Rush Home Before Woo Can See Him Breaking House Arrest...

That Which He Doesn't But That's Just The Good News...

The Bad News However Is That Hank And Hope Are Arrested And The Ghost Kills Burch's Man On The Inside And Takes Back The Lab...

Convinced By Cassie To Rescue Hank And Hope From The FBI Despite The Risks, He Decides To Help Them Escape The FBI And Use A New Tracker To Track Down The Lab, While Scott And Hope Distract Ghost While Hank Deals With Bill Before Quantum Realm To Retrieve Janet...

Shrinking The Lab, Ghost Is Rightfully Pissed As Luis And Hope Drive Away With It Only To Be Confronted By Burch And His Men Which Leads To A Car Chase And Our Stan Lee Cameo...

Stan Lee Cameo!

With The Lab Going Back And Forth Like A Football On A Football Field Between Ghost, Burch And Team Ant-Man, It's Team Ant-Man That Gets The Lab Back However At The Last Second, Ghost Steals It And Enlarges It In The Middle Of Pier 39 In San Francisco...

But As All That Was Going On, Hank Finds Janet In The Quantum Realm, But With The Lab In Ava's Hands She Attempts Sabatoge Their Return So She Can Start Stealing Janet's Energy But Luckily Scott And Hope Stop Her And Hank And Janet Return From The Quantum Realm...

Using Some Of Her Quantum Energy, Janet Stabalizes The Ghost So Her And Bill Can Go On The Run While Burch And His Guys Are Arrested And Scott Manages To Get Home In Time For The FBI To End His House Arrest Despite Being Suspicious Of Him...

While Scott Reunites With Cassie And Gets His Buisness Up And Running, Hank, Hope And Janet Restore The Family Home On A Beach So They Can Live Happily Ever After For A While...

Or Until The Mid Credits Scene, Where Scott Ventures Into The Quantum Realm To Collect Particles In An Attempt To Heal Ava While Being Monitored By Hank, Janet And Hope, But Despite Being Successful He's Unable To Return As The Pyms Have Been Snapped Out Of Existence By Thanos...

There's Also A After Credit Scene But It's Not Important To Go Over So I'm Skipping It...

And That's Ant-Man And The Wasp And I Will Say It's Better Than The Original Ant-Man...

The Story Was Interesting, The Characters Were Better Written Than They Were In The First Movie, The Villain Was So-So But She Was Interesting I Will Say That Either Way I Say See It...

Now, Before I Sign Off I'd Like To Say A Few Words And Tell You About The Future Of Duke Reviews After We Finish The MCU...

First, I'd Like To Apologize For The Lack Of Clips In This Review But That's Because I Could Barely Find Any Good Ones On YouTube And Unfortunately It's Going To Be The Same Story With Next Week's Review Of Captain Marvel, I'll Post What I Can But For The Next 2 Weeks Be Patient With Me...

And Second As I Said I Want To Go Over The Future Of Duke Reviews After I'm Done With The MCU, Good News Is We Are Not Going Into The DCEU Or Any Other Superhero Properties For A While (And I Do Mean A While) As We're Going To Be Covering The Movies Of A Company That's Been With Us For Generations...

In Fact We're Going To Be Covering It For So Long That I'll Have To Pause In October, November And December So I Can Continue Our Traditions Of Duke's Monsterween And Duke's Yultide Reviews But Know That In January Of Next Year We'll Probably Be Back Working On That...

Now As To Which Studio I'm Not Going To Reveal Which Until My Spider-Man Far From Home Review Which Will Be In 3 Weeks But Next Week As I Said We'll Be Looking At Captain Marvel, So Until Then, This Is Duke, Signing Off...

#ant man and the wasp #paul rudd #evangeline lilly #michael douglas #lawrence fishburne #randall park #judy greer #bobby cannavale #Marvel #marvel cinematic universe #Ant Man #The Wasp

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skaikruswan · 2 years

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Hi there! 👋 May I request our lord and savior Meowpheus with orange cat behavior s/o? (Example of orange cat behavior https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTR5h86KK/ ) I'm just picturing picturing glorious and regal Lord Meowpheus just existing and pan to the left there's his s/o with their head stuck in a hole. They're an idiot but that's HIS idiot.

I'm cool with them being in cat form or if you wanna do just regular Morpheus and his disaster s/o that would be great!

Either way or even if this does tickle your fancy, I hope you have a great day!!

WC: 1,7 k AO3

Relationship: Morpheus x reader

Notes: slightly chaotic reader, smitten Morpheus, weird dreams.

Hey, I am sorry for the long wait. This was an unusual request and quite a challenge, and I hope i caught the tone of the ask. Enjoy :)

If you liked this story, i have written others.

Live and dream boldly

You’re an acquired taste, like peanut butter on a Dorito chip. Your friends cherish your weirdness, and you yourself don’t mind being called quirky or even chaotic. Your motto for life has always been “YOLO”.

While you want to make every day count, you do have a certain regard for your survival. You can’t have fun if you’re dead and staying at a hospital isn’t pleasant at all.

Therefore, you reserve some of your craziest and most brilliant ideas for your dreams. Unfortunately, you can’t find out in real life if one would survive a free fall in strawberry jello, but that won’t stop you from trying in your dreams.

“Ladies and gentlemen are you ready?” you shout as you stand on a springboard, looking down at the massive bowl of jello. The applause of your imaginary crowd makes you smile. You do like an audience.

You put your diving goggles over your eyes, jump up and down, and then get ready for the jump. This is what you live for.

“Woo –“ Your cheer gets cut off as you plumet down, screaming in fear and joy.

It is hard to describe landing in jello, and you suddenly feel like a fly stuck in honey, or a dragonfly in amber. Your movements are sluggish, and you hate the panic burning through your stomach as you realize how deep down you are.

You won’t be bested by a dessert and slowly fight your way to the surface, gasping for air. You have a feeling that you’ll stay away from strawberries in real life.

“7,4 out of 10,” you say, rating your adventures, real or not, as you always do.

----------------------------------------

This dream, you think that you’ve surpassed yourself. You managed to summon a flock of birds and owls to chirp and hoot an epic orchestral song while you channeled your inner fighter and dueled against monsters, all set in a crumbling castle. You dodged fireballs and falling debris while you swung your blade and felt like a video game character.

You feel epic afterwards, but you can’t shake the feeling that something is missing.

Your imaginary crowd cheers as usual, but then something unusual happens. A humanoid figure with deep green skin, curly purple hair and the wings of a dragonfly approaches. You can’t help but grip your weapon a little harder. Maybe some surprise boss? Usually, the people in your dreams are just faces your subconsciousness must have picked up, and they most certainly don’t engage you.

“Your dreams are so refreshingly special, it is a delight to be here,” the weird person says, and you tilt your head in confusion after they reach to shake your free hand.

“Glad I could help,” you deadpan.

You blink and they’re gone.

“8,1 out of 10.” This was odd, even by your standards.

------------------------------------------

Either your subconsciousness is going all in, or you’re losing your marbles. Among the regular crowd, you keep on spotting special guests, similar to the mysterious green figure. The crazier your dreams, the more excited they seem. They don’t stay long, and you’ve noticed that they seem to look over their shoulder a lot, as if they’re expecting something bad to happen.

A blue fairy with cotton-candy-wings is approaching after you’ve defeated a dragon with nothing but an army of stuffed toys, a golden dagger, and a boombox. Good times.

She beams at you, and her excitement feels like a warm cocoa in winter.

A sudden gust of cold hits you, and the fairy visibly pales when she sees a man dressed in black approach. This man is the most goth you’ve seen in a while, with his pale skin, messy dark hair, and angry frown. What the hell, imagination?

“You do not belong here,” he says to the quivering fairy, his voice deep and ominous.

“Hey, you don’t get to threaten her,” you protest, raising your golden dagger. They may be a weird audience, but they are your weird audience, and you will protect them.

“This does not concern you,” the stranger says, dismissing you with his words and a sharp glare, and you gasp in indignation. The poor fairy has started crying, silver tears running down her cheeks. This dude is definitely a secret boss.

“Fight me, Mister dark, broody and mean!” you hiss, stepping in front of the poor fairy. You’ve fought worse, and you are the plucky protagonist of this dream. You got this.

“I see your appeal.” With these mysterious words, the fairy and the stranger disappear. Did a figment of your imagination just judge you?

“8,6 out of 10.”

---------------------------------------------

It doesn’t surprise you that the dark stranger starts to appear in your dreams. He mostly observes your shenanigans, and in some rare moments, you’ve seen him smile, especially if you’ve done something extraordinary. Somehow, his approval makes you feel great and pushes your insane creativity to new limits.

However, your sanity is almost shattered when he appears in the real world. You rub your eyes and pinch your arm, making sure that you’re seeing clear and that you’re not dreaming. Guess that having crazy dreams does turn one crazy.

“You are not mad. Allow me to explain this,” your mysterious stranger says, and he truly looks and sounds just like he does in the dreams.

Dumbfounded, you simply nod and follow him to an empty bench in the park, away from the crowd.

“Allow me to introduce myself. I am Morpheus, Dream of the Endless, king of dreams and ruler of the nightmare realm,” he says, and you blink owlishly.

“Proof it.” Very on brand of you, to taunt the person who’s either a figment of your imagination or something else entirely.

He just smiles and a storm of sand engulfs you, and your eyelids grow terribly heavy.

You open your eyes and find yourself inside a grand palace room, the polished marble shining like fresh snow. Oh, you really need a winter-themed dream!

“Remember warm clothing. Your dreams tend to be very realistic when it comes to temperature,” the stranger – Morpheus – says with a slight smirk, and your eyes widen. Can he read your mind?

“I know about each dream of the dreamers,” he continues, and you start to grasp that the stranger you called Mister dark, broody and mean may in fact be the boss of the dreams. This must be his palace. Oops.

“Well, I guess I see you around, your dreamy grace,” you reply, giving him a charming smile and a clumsy curtsy, acting braver than you feel.

“I am looking forward to.”

You startle awake, lying on soft grass and wiping away some drool.

“9,1 out of 10.”

---------------------------------------------

Your dreamy audience has increased since you’ve started dating Morpheus. Either they know that he won’t punish them for visiting your amazing dreams, or your craziness is rubbing off on them.

“You should have joined my musical with the little mermaid and the cast of Finding Nemo,” you pout dramatically as you fall on Morpheus’s huge bed, rolling over his black, silky sheets.

“I am sure that my dreams will tell me about it,” he replies with a raised eyebrow, sitting down next to you and dragging a hand through your hair, making you almost purr like a cat.

“Don’t you worry,” you promise as you jump up, “for tonight and tonight only, you shall have my rare talent only for yourself as I will perform solo.” You bow deeply, and as you rise up, you see Morpheus give you a fond look.

He listens to every song and applauds, his wonderful blue eyes sparkling with mirth as you belt out another ballad. He holds you when you crawl under the blanket, exhausted from the performance and eager to have some of that supreme dream sleep.

You feel satisfied, well-rested and happy when you wake up in the real world.

“9,4 out of 10.”

------------------------------------------

Morpheus is the king of dreams and nightmares, and the king of black. This doesn’t stop you from giving him a scarf in all the hues of a rainbow.

“There’s no need to be so gloomy, so have some color in your life,” you beam at him as you drape the colorful fabric over around his neck and over his shoulders. Morpheus lets you.

You take a few steps back and take in this new version of Morpheus. Next dream, fashion designer!

“I see we’re exchanging gifts. Allow me.” Morpheus drops a beautiful golden necklace with a ruby pendant in your hands, and you gasp with glee at this beautiful present.

With Morpheus’ help, you put it on, his slender fingers brushing against the skin of your neck. You squeak when you feel him press a featherlight kiss on the edge of your spine.

To your surprise and relief, the necklace stays with you in the real world.

“9,8 out of 10.”

The dreams secretly tell you that their lord is still wearing your scarf, and you do a little victory dance.

----------------------------------

“How are you faring, your dark lordship,” you greet Morpheus as you spot him standing next to a sleigh. True to your word, you’ve dreamed up a winter wonderland, and you’re currently sliding down a slide that ends up in a sea of cocoa. You’re covered in snow and chocolate, and you couldn’t be happier.

“Enjoying you enjoy your antics,” Morpheus replies with an amused headshake, and you press your hand against your sternum, pretending to be deeply wounded.

“This attack on me won’t be tolerated and screams for revenge,” you state in an overly posh voice, and then throw a snowball at him. The snow leaves a white spot on his pristine black coat, while the colorful scarf remains snow-free.

“My love, do not start a fight you cannot win,” Morpheus warns, and you yelp as you start to flee, whirling around to find a place to hide. A snowball flies past you, and you pick up a pace.

In the end, you end up lying in the snow, Morpheus pinning you down, his dark form looming over you.

“I surrender, your victorious grace,” you say between giggles, enjoying the warmth of his body. You really do create realistic dreams.

Morpheus leans down to kiss you, his lips scorching yours as heat shoots through your body. 10 out of 10.

#the sandman #the sandman x reader #morpheus x reader #dream x reader #dream of the endless x reader #my writing #my sandman fics #please be in the tags #oh mighty internet gods hear me

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khadij-al-kubra · 6 years

Text

Persephone & Hades AU...

For your consideration, and bearing in mind that the original myth is not really all that toxic at all and is not a show of Stockholm syndrome...

The “””Kidnapping””” of Persephone:

Logan as Hades-

Bespectacled Ruler of the Underworld

Takes his job very seriously (wears a black and blue necktie with his long silky black robes)

Cold pale skin and intelligent grey eyes with slicked back black hair. Looks scarier and meaner than he actually is. (although he can have a bit of a temper if pushed and will have loud sharp outbursts of “FALSEHOOD!”)

Very logical and methodical in how he rules the underworld and keeps the souls passing through organized. Like he’s got the judgement thing down to a T! But despite his cold demeanor he’s actually very generous and kind at heart. He just recognizes the importance of his work and in remaining just yet impartial

Sucker for dogs, hence why he has a three headed one. He just wishes he had more time to play with Cerberus, but alas ruling the dead alone takes up a lot of ones time.

Has a sweet tooth and often indulges in jams made from the pomegranates that grow in his realm.

Is on decent enough relations with his brothers (Emile as Poseidon and Deceit as Zeus), although he STILL thinks that Deceit cheated in their straw draws, but let it go because he’s actually best suited as the more organized brother for ruling the dead.

Is secretly very lonely. Once in a blue moon he’ll sneak up to the surface for fresh air and sunlight. One day he spots a certain someone in a flower field who takes his breath away. (can you blame him, i mean that smile! )

Patton as Persephone-

Supreme flower child! (flowy sky blue clothes, grass green eyes, sun-kissed freckly skin and wheat colored curls, barefoot, flower crown)

Loves gardening, animals, and helping his father Demeter (Roman) with the changing seasons. Loves Roman to bits....He just wishes he wasn’t so overprotective. Like come ON dad, i’m a grown god, i can look after myself. I don’t run off on my own THAT much!

Is protective and loving towards most all forms of life and tries to see the good in each and every soul, both mortal and god/goddess #momfriendtothemax

Unless given reason to feel otherwise. Then...weeeell at the least he’ll give you a stern talking to but at worst...lets just say you DONT want to get on the bad side of someone who can grow massive and sharp thorn bushes and effect earthquakes when pushed too far. XO

Sometimes gets bored with the same old routine with Roman and wishes to get away and see something new from time to time. Maybe have some quiet time to make his own floral crafts and garden peacefully for fun and not work.

Often sneaks off when Roman is busy and goes wandering along dirt paths, sit under or climb a tree, or frolic in the flowers.

Roman as Demeter -

God of the Harvest, but like, EXTRA in all ways shape or form. (”we can top last years crop no problem, MORE WHEAT STALKS!” “No dad, we can’t, then there’ll be too much in this region and not enough for the next.” “LONGER SUMMER!!” “No! Bad idea dad! That’ll throw the seasons off”)

Often dresses in flowing gold threaded and sunset colored robes, but will change ensemble to match the seasons.

Enjoys watching the goings ons of the mortals, they’re just so entertaining! Especially is fond of traveling thespians and will bless the harvest of wherever they perform in.

Loves his son more than anything and has him help in godly duties because it keeps him close so he can keep an eye on Patton MUST KEEP PRECIOUS BAB SAFE!!!

Stubborn (but will never own up to it)

Virgil as Charon-

In charge of Ferrying souls across the River Styx

Doesn’t mind his job all that much but is #done with soooo many of these complaining, noisy and often rude or entitled souls. (like, NO dude, i don’t care who you were ruler of in the living world. Its two coins for passage like everyone else buddy!)

Really just wants a nap (often tries to hit up Remy a.k.a. Morpheus but he shows up late ALL the time)

Is actually very compassionate and gentle. He tries to ease the fears of souls who he sees are younger or were genuinely good in life or died in unfair ways.

Lives for the dark skull & bones aesthetic

Master of snark

Plays chess with Logan when either of them have some rare down time

Click the cut for full story

One day Roman and Patton are off doing their nature godly duties, and Roman is nagging his son about the proper way to harvest corn. (”Yes father, i know how to do it. you’ve only told me like a hundred times” “well i just want to make sure to remind you and that you don’t cut yourself on the sickle”)

Patton sneaks off one day to pick flowers since it’ll probably be the last bloom before autumn sets. Suddenly he sees a curious crack in the ground and ambles over to it to take a look. (”what sort of creature could’ve made this deep thing?”) He leans in too far however and pulls an Alice in Wonderland.

Turns out that crack was made by Logan. Apparently he’d become so deeply smitten by Patton that he went to his older brother Deceit/Zeus for advice. (Yes he was a dick and a little shit at times-although took his duties seriously when need be-and tricked many of his lovers into bed, but Emile didn’t have nearly as much love experience as their elder brother & Logan was desperate)

Deceit had actually been pleased when his too serious brother told him that he’d fallen for the spring god. His advice to Logan had been to simply kidnap Patton and either bed him then woo him or woo him and then bed him. Logan, of course, didn’t listen because that was the stupidest idea ever! (”what under earth was i thinking? This is the guy who turned himself into a cygnini in order to copulate with a woman behind his wife’s back.”) Besides, he was too painfully shy and socially awkward to try wooing. (He worked with the dead for crying out loud, not the best circumstances for practicing social skills)

He did however create a crack in the ground so he could sneak peeks at Patton from below the earth and admire him from afar. However, he’d been called back on an emergency and forgot to close one particular crack up before leaving again.

So sufficed to say, he was fairly shocked when he suddenly heard screaming above him one day. He looked up to find one Patton falling towards him and just caught him in his arms in time. (BLUSH CITY ON BOTH PARTS)

Patton thanks Logan but is admittedly miffed at him when he learns Logan was the one who’d made that crack in the ground. “What were you thinking leaving a big hole in the earth like that? Some poor oblivious mortal or animal could’ve fallen into it and gotten hurt!” “Apologies I-it was a foolish oversight on my part. i-I certainly hope you are uninjured?”

After a while Patton forgives him when he sees how truly sorry this (admittedly) scary and stern looking god is. (lest we forget he’s one of the big three) And Logan is honestly just trying not to show how flustered he is. i mean Patton is there in his realm! They both realize the crack is far too high up for Patton to get back out through right away. So Logan offers to have Patton stay in his palace until he can fetch his assistant Virgil/Charon to help Patton back up the next day. IN HIS OWN QUARTERS, OF COURSE! Logan says blushing, trying to be a gentleman. Patton agrees, promising upon Logan’s request to only follow one rule: “You must NOT eat anything”. Strange, but okay. Besides, it’ll be nice getting a break from his father. And it’s just for one night, right? (WRONG!)

Patton ends up having to wait longer than he realized because both Logan and Virgil are super busy with ferrying and judging souls. So he wanders around the Underworld. (of course he is marked with untouchable safety from almost everything as a guest of Logan)

One night however Patton finds himself stumbling upon a sparse garden. He’s surprised that anything is capable of growing down there in the realm of the dead, but even more shocked by the poor state of it. “Really, just look at the se rose bushes. They’re so brittle!” (it’s not Logan’s fault. He’s a busy boi. plus the god of the dead doesn’t exactly have a green thumb) Really the only thing flourishing down there is a single Pomegranate tree. The fruits on it look so red and shiny and juicy and...well...whats the worst that could happen if he eats just a few seeds?

Of course if you know the myth, it means now Patton cant leave. Because, well, greek god realm rules. Sufficed to say, Patton is pretty miffed that Logan hadn’t thought to tell him why he shouldn’t eat the darn fruit in the first place. Logan is greatly frustrated at Patton because a) he didn’t listen, and b) he actually has a point there and he does NOT like being wrong. Still, nothing to be done about it now.

Over time they cool off and apologize to each other. Patton’s still kind of mad though because now he can’t go home at all if he wanted too, but he recognizes that Logan wasn’t forcing him to stay on purpose. So he get’s over it and tries to make the best out of the situation. At least he can finally get away from Roman’s nagging for a while.

* Meanwhile in the living world, a frantic and angry Roman raises hell. “WHERE IS MY BOOOOYYYYY?!?!?!?!?!?!?” (Thebes did not have a good crop that year)

While in the Underworld Patton starts talking to some souls, listening to their stories and offering kind and comforting words. Which as it turns out makes them more at ease and willing to go for judgement as they pass on. Logan’s fondness for Patton grows as he witnesses these acts of compassion and kindness. He also comes to respect Patton when he sees just how fierce he can be in the face of those who’d been cruel or unjust in life. ”I’m sorry, you did what to how many people!? and NOW you’ve got the nerve to demand entrance into Elysium young man!? Logan, hold my flower.” “Fret not Patton. I have your bougainvillea.” (art link for this scene)

Meanwhile Patton cant help but notice that, although he’s stern and serious on the outside, Logan is actually a very gentle god deep down. (he picks up on this from the soft tone of Logan’s voice as he speaks to souls being judged who’d suffered in life, or the way he reassures the more anxious ones with facts and logic about the afterlife that set them at eases “it’s not all punishment and Tartarus you know. Statistically few souls on the grand scale are malign enough to enter there. The Asphodel Meadows are quite pleasant, I assure you.”)

Logan works so hard and tirelessly at his often depressing job, but never acts mean or harsh unless a soul is nasty or rude or was truly evil, and Patton gains an admiration of him for that. (besides, he is actually quite handsome and beautiful in a cold distant way, like the stars and moonlight on a midsummers night) Patton also sees what a softie Logan can be when he’s playing with Cerberus. (”Who’s my excellent tri-headed canine? Who is a good demon dog?”) Patton gushes and of course Cerberus and Patton LOVE each other. Watching Patton play with the big dog becomes Logan’s newest favorite thing. (”By the gods Virgil, it is too precious to process!”)

Sometimes Patton will keep Logan company when there’s a lull in souls. He’ll tell Logan about all the different places he’s seen and what mortals are like when still alive. Logan meanwhile will often go into rants about the fascinating bits of knowledge he’s accumulated over the years from souls who’ve lived full lives. Logan enjoys having someone who enjoys listening to him (not that Virgil isn’t a respectful listener, but Logan sometimes wonders if he only does is because he’s his boss) And Patton really likes being able to share his own opinions and ideas without condescendingly albeit gently being told, (“no, no, my silly sweet boy. This is the right way to do it. Now eat your cereal, you need the fiber sweet pea”) Having picked up some of the mortal’s sense of humor, Patton is very much a fan of word play and LOVES making puns. Logan is...less than amused by them. However, the first time he makes Patton laugh with a clever quip (about Virgil or one of the more disgruntled souls) he swore the whole Underworld actually lit up. He treasures every time he can make that precious god laugh and smile.

Heck, even Virgil warms up to Patton and actually becomes VERY protective of the spring god. Patton sees through to his anxious softie center and enjoys talking to Virgil who is a very good listener. Meanwhile Virgil finds Patton’s sunny disposition refreshing and his warm presence calming. Patton will often keep Virgil company, but can’t always bring himself to follow when he has to ride across the River Styx. The memories and voices coming off the water just make him too sad.

Virgil ends up playing wingman for Logan. He tells Logan how Patton’s been a bit down in the dumps and recommends Logan cheer him up with a present. “That is an excellent idea Virgil, but what? What could possibly be good enough for that sweet honeysuckle?” “Well you’ve spied on him enough times- and don’t try to deny it boss- what does he like?”

Sufficed to say, Patton LOVES his surprise underworld garden that Logan had worker rigorously on creating for him. He knows it couldn’t have been easy. Of course, being the god of the dead, Logan cannot maintain the garden and Patton is more than happy to have free creative reign over it. He giddily catches Logan in a big hug, and is pleased when a blushing Logan returns the heartfelt embrace, pressing a tender kiss to Patton’s forehead. Then he takes a blushing Patton’s hands in his.

”Patton, my honeysuckle, sunshine of my heart...I cannot contain it any longer. For so long you’ve been the object of my affection, but over the course of our time together down here, although the circumstances had been less than idea, my love for you has only deepened. Would you perhaps...although I am not worthy of you...would you consider marrying me, and ruling the Underworld by my side?” By now Patton is blushing like crazy and in tears because, although he’d been mad at Logan for getting him stuck down there at first, he realizes that he’s come to deeply love the dark god too. Logan worries that he’s crossed a line but then Patton beams and looks up at him with tears in his eyes. “Oh Lo-lo, my brilliant beautiful lobelia blossom, I-” BAM!

Cue a properly pissed off Roman crashing down to the Underworld. He’s also got Deceit/Zeus with him by the ear. “AHA! So THIS is where you’ve been keeping my precious boy!” “Deceit, you told him!?” “He got it out of me. Sorry, not Sorry. I may be the ruler of the gods, but Roman is quite -ow- convincing when angry.”

Roman rushes over to Patton and they embrace, because although it was nice having time to himself Patton did miss his beloved father. After Roman fusses over Patton-“Are you alright? Are you hurt? have you been eating properly?” “yes, yes, i’m fine father. I promise!”- Roman unleashes verbal hell on, well, the god of hell. He reprimands Logan for kidnapping his son, but Patton quickly comes to Logan’s defense saying that it wasn’t his fault and the whole thing had been an accident, not a kidnapping. When he hears the whole story Roman does calm down a bit, and is admittedly happy to see Patton so happily in love as well. (he may be a helicopter parent, but the god of the harvest is quite the romantic at heart and loves seeing Patton so happy. Even if he doesn’t think the doom and gloom Logan is good enough for his precious little sunflower)

But upon finding out about the pomegranate sees he practically begs Logan to release him so that Patton can come back to the land of the living with him. (besides, he does still need him to help with the seasons and crops) Logan apologizes, saying it’s impossible and there’s nothing he can do. He just doesn’t have that kind of power. Then all three hear Deceit clear his throat.

“Ahem. God of gods speaking, and if you’re all done blubbering, i may have a solution.” So he tells them that there may be a loophole he can work around. He’ll give Logan his blessing to marry Patton, who will also be allowed to go back upworld with Roman, but on the condition that Patton spends part of the year co-ruling the Underworld. He tells them that for the number of pomegranate seeds that Patton ate, he’ll be obligated to spend a month with Logan. “Well darling, how many seeds did you eat?” They all look at Patton expectantly. Technically Patton only at 3 seeds, but heckitty heck, he really wants more time with Logan than three months. And frankly, he enjoyed the idea of getting some time away from Roman too, bless him but he cannot face so much nagging again!

He lies and says six. Only six seeds. Because it’s not like anyone was there to see him or could know. Weeeell maybe the all seeing god of gods, but Deceit just winks and smirks at Patton, pressing a finger in secrecy to his lips behind Logan and Roman’s backs. So it’s agreed that Patton will spend the summer and spring half of the year in the Living world with Roman and the fall and winter half ruling the Underworld with Logan.

Before he goes back up with Roman though, Patton and Logan are wed. It’s Logan’s first and only time back to Olympus (he forgot how bright and noisy it was up there!) and all the greek gods and goddesses bear witness to their union. Even Virgil is granted a short vacation to be the witness of honor for his two favorite immortals. As it turns out the months apart end up being good for Roman as well as Patton. He gets a lot more work done now that he isn’t constantly fretting (actively anyways) over Patton or keeping him out of trouble or from wandering.

When they consummate their marriage for the first time, hoooboi! Logan’s so bashful but respectful (never having been with any other being before, mortal or immortal) and Patton thinks its adorably sweet. Having been topside, well, lets just say Patton snuck off every now and then when he could to “frolic” with a few naiads and mortals he found sweet or lovely. So he ends up being a thorough teacher to Logan. Turns out they’re quite compatible in more ways than one ;)

Patton ends up being a fantastic co-king of the underworld. Heck, he’s even incorporated the new job into his aesthetic (he always wears a crown of flowers and bird skulls in the Underworld) and, as it turns out, can be even scarier than Logan! Only when some foolish soul makes him mad or gets on his bad side. So none do. And with the souls being more behaved it takes the pressure off of Virgil and Logan a LOT. But for the most part Patton remains a sweet, kind and benevolent co-ruler to the dead souls, and balances out Logan’s stricter judgements quite well. Logan now has a bit more breather time to read and play with Cerberus since he’s not the only one in charge of the whole Underworld anymore. And he and Patton LOVE spending time together in Patton’s dark yet flourishing underworld garden!

Patton is always so happy to go back to the Living world with Roman when winter’s over. Of course he hates leaving Logan and misses him. Logan doesn’t do a very good job of hiding his sadness and tears, but understands. He does get a bit clingy their last nights though. (he becomes a kissy snuggly fiend) Virgil always promises Patton that he’ll take care of Logan while he’s gone. But Patton is a child of the earth and he does tend to miss the sunshine and his father. So he get’s back to work with a newfound exuberance, making the flowers grow, spending time with Roman and frolicking about the world. He always does his best to bring back a new scroll or star map for Logan, who treasures every gift and is slowly building a library for himself.

Sufficed to say, the decades pass by, Logan and Patton attentively fulfill their godly duties, and remain happily and devotedly in love with one another.

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