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turtlethon · 1 year

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“Tower of Power”

Season 7, Episode 1 First US Airdate: September 18, 1993

Shredder and Krang plot to use the Eiffel Tower as a magnet to bring the Technodrome back to Earth.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles season seven opens with “Tower of Power”. This episode aired in the US on CBS in a double-bill with “Rust Never Sleeps”. Michael Edens is credited as the writer of this adventure.

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We kick off today with the return of the original TMNT title sequence, last seen on the two season five episodes that aired in syndication (“The Turtles and the Hare” and “Once Upon a Time Machine”). Its revival here signifies not a re-run, but the first in a series of what are sometimes referred to as the “lost” episodes of the show, the Vacation in Europe side-season. Also back are the classic title cards, which were abandoned when the show made the jump to Saturday mornings.

Let’s hop back to September 1990 and “Plan Six from Outer Space”, the opener for the syndicated portion of season four. That story contained a sub-plot about Raphael proposing to Splinter that the team take a vacation and go sight-seeing across Europe. At the conclusion of the adventure, Michaelangelo announced that he had received a letter from Vacations R Us, informing him that the team had won an all-expenses-paid vacation to Europe, courtesy of Greasy Eddie’s European Pizza. At the time, nothing would come of this, the Turtles continuing with their normal self-contained adventures in New York “The City”.

Years later – in 1992 for viewers actually in Europe, and 1993 in the US – we now kick off a series of episodes that pick up on what actually happened to the Turtles during their time overseas, jumping back into the timeline in the moments immediately following the conclusion of “Plan Six”. That wasn’t a stellar-looking episode in its own right, but right from the opening frame of this one it’s clear that it’s going to be its own special brand of weird, opening with Raphael staring at the “STOP” sign on the wall of the Lair for some reason; perhaps he’s trying to warn us of what’s to come. For reasons we’ll circle back to, no-one's dialogue lines up with their mouth movements, and the quality of the animation here could be considered rudimentary at best. It’s particularly glaring immediately after watching the more polished season six.

For the most part the story details line up with those at the conclusion of “Plan Six”, with one notable exception: there, Splinter was present when the Turtles learned of winning the vacation prize. Here, the team break the news to him after the event. The group’s sensei opens and closes his mouth crudely as he slowly comes around to the idea of accompanying them on the proposed journey, culminating in one of the most disturbing sights I’ve ever seen in the series as he briefly looks as if he’s having a stroke for no apparent reason. During this scene, we’re also introduced to one of the other hallmarks of this strange arc: missing voice actors. Rob Paulsen won’t be appearing as Raphael for the duration of this side-season, with Hal Rayle taking on the role instead.

The Turtles and Splinter arrive at the harbour and are excited at the prospect of travelling aboard “Paradiso”, a luxury cruise liner. The bad news is that there’s the ship the Turtles want to go by, and then there’s “Maude”, the dinky, run-down boat actually assigned to them as part of the contest. Despite their objections, the team have no choice but to get right on Maude. Disguised as sailors, the Turtles raise the eyebrows of the crew, as does the appearance of Splinter, who wears a hooded beige robe over his normal attire. The journey is a rough one for the Turtles, who find themselves seasick and ready to heave over the side of the ship, an issue exacerbated by Splinter as he cycles through the unusual European dishes that await them.

We hop over to the Technodrome next, which in keeping with its status during season four is currently stuck on an asteroid in Dimension X. From there, Krang lays into Shredder (voiced during this episode by Jim Cummings), who along with Rocksteady and Bebop just happens to be stationed today in Paris. A Neutronic Generator has been sent to Shreds to use as a magnet that will pull the Technodrome through a portal to Earth, but it’ll need to be connected to a large metal structure, namely the Eiffel Tower.

The Turtles and Splinter establish a home away from home in the sewers of Paris, with the Turtle Van apparently having been transported over off-screen. Splinter stresses to his students the importance of maintaining their ninja skills while on vacation, easily defeating them in a training exercise.

Shredder surveys the situation from his perch on the Eiffel Tower, noting that Channel 6 are also on the scene, preparing an outside broadcast. Improbably, the usual crew of April, Vernon and Irma just happen to have been shipped overseas to the very same location as both Shredder and the Turtles. Burne appears via transmission on a monitor in the news van to inform April that she won’t be anchoring the station’s Bastille Day coverage: that duty will instead fall to Vernon, who today is sporting a brown suit jacket over his usual clothes. After April complains that she’s left with nothing to do except stuff her face, Irma consoles her friend by pointing out “you may have lost the assignment, but you’ll probably gain lots of weight!” (I’m not sure what that was about, way to put the boot in, Irma.)

Vernon sweats and babbles profusely as the station’s coverage of the Bastille Day ceremony begins, with Irma working the camera. In the tower, Shredder activates Krang’s device, causing a group of men playing horns to lose their instruments followed by the buttons on their uniforms: subsequently they endure the greatest humiliation that can befall any man in the TMNT universe as their trousers fall down, revealing their boxer shorts to the world. Further metal items begin floating up into the air, including Irma’s camera and the news van, as the panicked crowd flees the scene. Vernon’s microphone is also pulled upwards, wedging itself onto the side of the Eiffel Tower, with both the cowardly journalist and Irma precariously dangling from the attached cable.

The Turtles are still carrying out their training exercise when their weapons – aside from Donnie’s wooden bo - float away from them. (These include Michaelangelo’s nunchucks, which at the time these episodes were produced hadn’t been phased out yet.) Heading up to the surface, our heroes watch as assorted metal objects such as street lights and cars float through the sky, all heading in the direction of the Eiffel Tower. The team hear April’s cries for help from a nearby restaurant and, without ever stopping the question the likelihood of their human friend who lives halfway around the world actually being in Paris somehow, barge in to provide assistance. After the green teens rescue April from waves of flying utensils and avoid a runaway fridge, the group rush to the tower to check on Vernon and Irma.

As the Turtles arrive on the scene, Shredder encounters an additional complication: his metallic armour is also prone to being attracted by the magnet, causing him to wind up stuck to the tower. Bebop finds himself in the same position, presumably due to the chains on his wrist and belt. Krang explains that Shredder needs to redirect his device’s ion flow if it’s to actually pull the Technodrome through the portal instead of random metal objects present in the city. Rocksteady is ordered to shut down the machine, which has the side effect of causing Vernon and Irma to begin plummeting. Fortunately, the Turtles are on the scene, with Michaelangelo commandeering a truck containing a giant Bastille Day cake created as part of the celebrations, the squishy topping breaking their fall.

After Donatello dismisses this as a freak incident, the Turtles return to the sewers, intent on enjoying their vacation time. April remains convinced there’s to this story, and heads off on her own to investigate. Later, the team visit the Cathedral of Notre Dame, where a shocked guard mistakes them for gargoyles that have come to life. Meanwhile, April’s investigations lead to her discovering Shredder’s activities, but ultimately getting found out. Like everyone else, Shreds seems entirely unfazed by the fact that he went all the way to Paris and April O’Neil of all people just happens to be there. He concludes the second act by informing Rocksteady and Bebop that this will be “her final story”.

Act three opens with April engaging in some bizarre shimmying after being restrained by Rocksteady and Bebop. Again, the animation in this episode leaves much to be desired. Elsewhere, the Turtles visit an art museum – ostensibly the Louvre, though it’s never explicitly referred to as such. Quick-fire gags follow of the team engaging with various works of art, including Raphael and Michaelangelo joking about the Mona Lisa being painted by “a dude named Leonardo”. This feels like a weird implementation of the joke, you’d think we’d actually get to see Leo interact with his namesake’s work, but alas. (UPDATE: This will be revisited in the next episode.)

Michaelangelo powers on a TV that’s part of an art exhibit, and I guess it just happens to be hooked up to a power outlet and ready to receive a transmission. A tied-up April is able to activate her camera and the footage goes out live on-air, viewed on-screen by the Turtles. Am I being needlessly picky by pointing out that the inference here is that Channel 6 goes out over the air in Paris? Anyway, Shredder picks up on this and makes a point of destroying the camera. He locks the reporter in an elevator, informing her that she’ll be placed directly in the path of the Technodrome as it returns from Dimension X.

At ground level, Michaelangelo and Donatello quickly defeat Rocksteady and Bebop by washing them away with a fire hydrant. Higher up the tower, Raphael and Leonardo battle Shredder, who despite the interruption is able to activate the magnet. After being knocked back to the ground, the Turtles watch as the tower begins floating into the air. Shreds slides down the side onto the roof of a nearby building, making his escape; with April still trapped higher up, the Turtles are forced to give up on pursuing their enemy in order to rescue her. Donatello works to override the elevator’s controls, placing Krang’s magnetic device underneath and crushing it as April is lowered to the ground. The Eiffel Tower is seen dropping back down into its original position.

Later, the Turtles and Splinter watch a firework display held as part of the Bastille Day celebrations. The team admit to their teacher that while they’ve been enjoying their time away from home, they’re keen to return to the sewers: as Raphael puts it, “there’s nothing more exhausting than a vacation”.

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The history behind this stretch of the show’s run is interesting, even if it we have to do a lot of filling-in-the-blanks. The name Bruno-René Huchez appears prominently on the unique end credit sequence for this side season, with few other clues as to who was actually responsible for animating it. His company, IDDH (International Droits et Drivers Holding) was established in 1981 and specialised in the localisation of television series, in particular anime, for the French market. Their involvement with Turtles extends far beyond this set of thirteen episodes as they were responsible for the French dub of the series, Tortues Ninja, with Huchez’s name and the company logo appearing prominently in the localised title sequence. Beyond that, IDDH appeared alongside Murakami Wolf Swenson and Group W in the copyright information for the early Turtles toys sold by Bandai even outside of France, suggesting they had a hand in the financing and distribution involved in bringing TMNT to Europe.

Part of this arrangement seems to have involved the production of this arc, with “Plan Six from Outer Space” serving as a dropping-off point; presumably this agreement would have been signed off on in early 1990, around the time that episode would have been in production and during the period in which the rollout of TMNT as a property began in Europe. The resulting episodes differ from the rest of the series in that the animation side of things seems to have been handled entirely by a French team with that market primarily in-mind, likely to meet with certain regulations so that it qualifies as a bona-fide local production. The end result is something that kinda looks like Turtles, but with the US voice actors doing anime-style dubbing instead. Jim Cummings is something of a TMNT veteran in his own right, having appeared throughout the show’s run as guest characters such as Leatherhead, and can pull off a decent substitute Shredder; Hal Rayle’s Raphael, on the other hand, takes some getting used to. Surprisingly, James Avery will actually be back as Shreds for the next episode.

Outside of the visuals – and the contrivances of having the entire main cast all show up in Paris at the same time as if it’s no big thing – the first episode of this arc isn’t nearly as bad as I feared. There’s some novelty here in rewinding the clock back to just after the classic era of the show had reached its apex, with elements like the original opening, Michaelangelo’s nunchucks and even the early pieces of background music returning for an encore performance, things that had all to some degree faded away by season six. We’ll re-join the Turtles in Paris next time as their holiday adventures continue in “Rust Never Sleeps”.

#Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #TMNT #TMNT 1987 #Vacation in Europe #1992 #1993 #Ninja Turtles #Turtlethon #Tower of Power

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tuggerahaustralia · 1 year

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Beautifully renovated family home!

#realty realestate property houseforsale

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erinaaustralia · 2 years

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Great First Home - Lush Surrounds!

#realty realestate property forsale propertyforsale

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jordanstrophe · 3 years

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War of Royalty

Yay! It's done!

CW: Slavery, medieval whump, whipping and branding referenced, noncon stripping (again, nonsexual) taken in by royalty, whumpee thinking fluff is punishment, intimate caretaker, forcefully carried, begging

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The king held a golden goblet in the palm of his hand, occasionally glancing from the ambassador to the boy at his right hand. He was visibly trembling as all eyes at the banquet were glued on him, tracing his scars, staring at the healing whip marks curling over his shoulders. The king however, just kept looking longingly into his face.

“Are you not hungry, Eden?” He asked, nodding towards his overfilled untouched plate. “No! It’s n-not that, your majesty, It’s just... sh-should I not be serving you? I should be refilling your wine, or washing plates.” Eden tucked his head waiting for the hand to dig in his hair or a strike to the back of the head... But alas, he just laughed.

“Nonsense! I want you here.” He raised his goblet before bringing it to his lips. Eden hoped his red cheeks weren’t as visible as they felt. “Then tell me, what's something about you? What hobbies have you dabbled in?” He asked. “I... used to set up picnics in the field for my master when he was tired.” Eden let a smile creep across his face at the once happy memory.

“A picnic mm? That sounds delightful.” He painted a grin on his face before waving the guard over. “What on earth is a picnic?” He whispered. “Ahh, it’s like a feast.. but outside and on the ground, my lord. It’s quite dreadful.” The guard whispered back. “A feast... In the ground, eh?...” The king muttered to himself, stroking a hand through his beard.

He then noticed half the table was more indulged in the boy than their own plate as Eden had sunk further into his seat. The king took a breath, before leaning towards the guard. “Then set up this picnic for the boy and I.” He spoked. “Wh-what? My lord, that’s far too dangerous! We would have to set up a wall of guards protecting you!” He protested. The king slowly cranked his head till they made eye contact.

“Then do it.” He hissed.

Eden’s legs trembled as he was walked down the corridor on the king's arm. “Your majesty, why are we leaving early?” Eden asked. "That’s a surprise.” He smiled, unaware that his words only pierced more fear into the boy's heart.

The gates leading the courtyard swung open, revealing a sea of guards fully armored in a perfect circle around the hill. Their backs were to the center as they faced outwards, their swords centered with their body at their feet. Eden instantly tensed in horror, knowing this process all too well; the stake in the ground, the crowd gathering to watch the whipping, the cheering and laughter at his every cry.

“Y-your majesty wait!" Eden begged, crumbling to his knees while pressing his forehead to his feet, mumbling pleas and apologies. “Calm yourself, boy. You’ve done nothing wrong.” He soothed, but it was like his lips were running without him. “Eden! Look at me.” The king finally commanded, his voice raising to a level he had never heard before. He then snapped his fingers as two guards stepped aside, revealing an embroidered blanket with full plates in the center.

“wha-?” Eden shyly looked up at the king. “You’re not taking me to get whipped?” He blinked. “Ah-of course not! Why would you think that?” The king couldn’t hold back a laugh as he grabbed Eden’s elbow. “I thought you might like some privacy. I could use some as well after all these war meetings over sea. I just got home! I want to relax for a night.” His arm tightly wound around the boy's arms, practically pinning them to his sides.

He plopped him down on the blanket across from him, struggling to get comfortable, although it wasn't half as miserable as the king was expecting. Eden's eyes kept nervously glancing at the wall of guards, but his chin was tilted back. "Don't look at them, look at me." The king smiled, handing him sliced fruit from the plate. Eden accepted it as he huffed a sweet, real smile.

“My lord, did you enjoy the banquet?” Madeline asked, bowing before refilling his glass once more. “A bouquet is business for a king my dear, but the picnic with the boy was quite nice. I just wish he wasn’t so frightened, he expects a slap across the face every time I look at him.” He puzzled.

“He’s quite well behaved, is he not? I think we were all expecting a handful with all those scars, especially that burn on his chest.” She said as she fixed the last winkle on his bed.

“... What burn on his chest?”

There was deafening silence in the room as the servant's face drained from all color.

The gates slammed open as two guards held each of the boy's arms, dragging him into the throne room. “Please wait! What's going on?!” Eden cried, his feet could hardly touch the ground as his toes grazed the carpet. His tearful eyes found the king sitting on his throne, his face painted with dread as he rested his chin on his hand. He didn’t look up when the guards held the slave before him.

“Wh-what’s happening?” Eden panicked, seeing the woman from earlier, her face staring at the floor red with guilt.

“Strip him.” The king muttered, his eyes averting Eden's horrified gaze.

“-what?” He gasped, his pupils dilated before two hands ripped the clothes off his back, it’s tattered white pieces falling around his feet. He let out a choking cry, turning his head from the countless eyes that widened. The room instantly erupted with anger when the brand became visible; the brand of an illegal trade set up by his previous master.

“This is treason!”

“An insult to our kingdom!”

“Who did this to the boy? I’ll have their head!”

“SILENCE!” The king ordered. The room fell silent aside from Eden’s crying.

He rose from his throne, approaching until his hand reached the boy's cheek. “Look at me.” He spoke, feeling him tremble in the palm of his hand.

“I can’t.” Eden rasped, hiding his face within the king's hand. He choked on a sob when he was suddenly pulled into the king's chest, the guard's grasp disappearing as he was held by nothing but the king's gentle embrace.

“Who did this to you?” He gently whispered in his ear, curling a hand in Eden’s hair.

“I-... I can’t!” He sobbed, burying his face into the fur of the king’s robes. He felt him sigh a long, disappointed sigh. Then, the comfort was taken away, falling back into the harsh grasp of the guard's cold metal hands.

“Return Eden to his chambers, let him rest for the night.” His hand lingered on his cheek for a moment as he blindly leaned into it, before it slipped away. "Send the four horsemen! I want whoever owned this slave to be found immediately! Turn every stone on its back! Tear the city apart if you have to!” He hissed, swinging his cloak around before collapsing back in his throne.

“I want their head for what they've done to this boy...”

ʕっ• ᴥ • ʔっ Thank you for reading!~ @tears-and-lilies @just-a-whumping-racoon-with-wifi @starnight-whump @bumpthumpwhump @whumpcreations @myst-in-the-mirror @heathenville (ahhh, If I forgot a tag, I am so very sorry, give me a poke and I’ll fix it right away)

#medieval whump #royal whump #tw slavery #slavery whump #tw branding #tw whipping #noncon stripping #branded whumpee #whipped whump #protective caretaker #intimate caretaker #whump #whumpee #whumpee thinking caretaker is new whumper #enslaved whumpee

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alexthegamingboy · 3 years

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Toonami Weekly Recap 9/11/2021

Fena: Pirate Princess EP#05 - Mutiny on the Blue Giant: The Goblin Knights find some unexploded gunpowder and use it to blast their way out. Meanwhile, O'Malley delivers Fena to Abel on his ship, the Blue Giant, but Abel refuses to pay her after noticing the cut on Fena's neck. After O'Malley leaves, Abel tells Fena that he knew her mother and that the Goblin Knights were just using her. On the Bonito II, Shitan tells the others that the only reason Sanada has been serving the Houtman family was to find the location of Eden where the Kusanagi sword, one of the legendary Three Sacred Treasures of Japan, is supposedly kept. Furthermore, Shitan tells the crew that Kei is coming personally to recover Fena, and they must return to Goblin Island or risk being branded as traitors. Despite this warning, Yukimaru decides to rescue Fena on his own. Back on the Blue Giant, after Fena and Cody have a conversation, a furious O'Malley confronts Fena. Abel stops O'Malley before she can take Fena off the ship. O'Malley reluctantly returns to her own ship, but decides to attack the Blue Giant in revenge. Abel reveals to Fena the portrait of a woman that turns out the be Fena's mother.

Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon EP#11 - Curse of the Man-Eating Pond: While Setsuna plays her violin in a clearing and Moroha overcooks pancakes in a portable cooking pot, she suddenly notices a bird being swallowed up by a pond of murky green water but Towa and Setsuna do not believe her and leave. They talk to Hisui and Kohaku, who concur that the pond is indeed inhabited by something that devours any who come near it. Seeing that Moroha was indeed correct, the half-demon twins leave to investigate the pond. Towa and Setsuna arrive, and Setsuna runs to stop young Hikoumaru from arguing with his younger sister Chiyo who wants to stop him from approaching the pond to avenge their parents, as she does not want to lose him, too. Towa scolds the boy for hurting his sister and states that he would regret letting go of her hand later. Back at the Corpse-Dealer's home, a disgusted Moroha is cleaning while complaining that she is suited to much better jobs. Takechiyo scolds her that it is the least she can do to pay of the debt she owes Juybei. Hikomaru and Chiyo take Towa and Setsuna to their home where they are raised by their grandmother. She explains that pond had been murky ever since she was a child but was once as clear as a mirror. Hikoumaru and Chiyo reveal that the "something" that has inhabited the pond is called Venom Serpent. The two siblings then notice the violin case, remembering that their father had played the Biwa near the pond when he was devoured. Setsuna plays the violin to comfort them but causes them to cry for their departed father. After a delicious meal, Towa and Setsuna are invited to stay the night. Towa later awakes and joins Setsuna outside the hut. She apologizes for accidentally falling asleep. Setsuna brushes her apology off. Towa firmly assures Setsuna that she definitely will find the Dream Butterfly. Setsuna simply says that her inability to sleep has been happening since she can remember and that it has not been a hardship for her. She then tells Towa to sleep, as they have a job slaying the Venom Serpent that has been inhabiting the pond for decades.

My Hero Academia Season 5 (My Villain Academia: Paranormal Liberation War Arc) EP#107 (19): More of a Hero Than Anyone: While Class 1A celebrates the start of the third semester, Aizawa and Present Mic are summoned to Tartarus Prison by Detective Tsukauchi and Gran Torino. There, the two learn that Kurogiri is a Nomu created using the corpse of their school friend Oboro Shirakumo. Since the Nomu retain some of their former personalities, Aizawa and Mic are asked to talk to Kurogiri in the hopes of getting information about the League of Villains. Once awake, Kurogiri grows concerned about Shigaraki's whereabouts, disturbing Aizawa since Shirakumo was always concerned for others. Aizawa and Mic bring up tales from their school days and have an emotional breakdown as they reveal just how much Shirakumo's friendship and death affected them. Kurogiri's programming fails, allowing Shirakumo's conscious to take over. Seeing his friends again, Shirakumo is only able to choke out "Hospital" before succumbing to Kurogiri again. This new clue is sent to Hawks. Elsewhere, All For One's doctor laughs manically as Shigaraki’s process of becoming his ultimate masterpiece is progressing better than expected.

Food Wars: The Fourth Plate (Promotion Exams Arc) EP#65 (04) - Aim for Victory!: Megumi remembers the training Shinomiya gave her during the train ride to improve her cooking with vegetables. Once cooking begins, Soma, Takumi, and Megumi begin working together to assist each other with their dishes, improving their efficiency. Momo finishes her Queen's Apple Tart, which is a special apple tart with the apples soaked in Damask rose syrup. Megumi responds with a dorayaki filled with diced apples. While it looks plain, the judges notice that the flavors are brought out thanks to Megumi's use of apple butter. Megumi reveals she used the Monte au Beurre technique, a skill she learned from Shinomiya, to make the apple butter. While impressed, the judges aren't convinced that Megumi's dorayaki is superior to Momo's apple tart until they discover something inside the dorayaki that shocks them.

Black Clover: The Spade Kingdom and the Dark Triad Arc EP#165 - Water Crusade: In the Spade Kingdom a spy from the Clover Kingdom is discovered in Dante’s office, revealed to be wearing a Black Bull robe under their cape. Vanica, the one who cursed Loropechika, demands Loropechika duel her while her masochistic subordinate, Disciple Robero, keeps Noelle and Mimosa busy. Vanica also reveals that she cursed each of the Disciples with immortality, meaning none of the Disciples have actually been defeated. The Disciples all recover from their injuries and continue attacking the kingdom, with Vanica revealing they will only die if they kill her first. As they duel Vanica hints at the impending capture of Vangeance and Yami. Loropechika, who has inherited the knowledge and experiences of all previous Heart Queens in a library in her mind, realises they are trying to grow the Tree of Qliphoth and destroy the human world. Combining Mana Zone with Mana Words Loropechika succeeds in halving Vanica’s magic power while increasing Noelle’s, which unlocks her Valkyrie Dress' Mermaid Form, but she is still almost overwhelmed. Loropechika, who had previously admitted she felt afraid and thus unfit to be queen, decides not to be afraid and begins her plan to defeat Vanica. By forcing Vanica to draw all the blood from her body using her own Blood Magic, she begins using Megicula’s magic instead of her own. At that moment, Secre appears and seals Megicula’s magic in an eternal prison.

#Toonami #Toonami Weekly Recap #Fena: Pirate Princess #Yashahime: Princess Half Demon #InuYasha #My Hero Academia #My Hero Academia 5 #My Villain Academia: Paranormal Liberation War Arc #Food Wars: Shokugeki no Soma #Food Wars: The Fourth Plate #Promotion Exams Arc #Black Clover #The Spade Kingdom and the Dark Triad Arc

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kitcat-italica · 5 years

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Of all the angels and demons we see in Good Omens, Aziraphale and Crowley are the only two we ever see with their wings visible. In the book, it's said that demons' wings are a lot like those of angels, but they're "much better groomed." So we have to assume they all have wings? But we never see Gabriel with super buffed-up wings, or Beelzebub with nasty maggoty wings, or Michael with elegant, blinding-white wings, or Hastur with dark wings dripping with frog spawn. But what's the reason for all this?

We only see their wings twice. The first is also the first time we meet both characters, on the wall of the Garden. Crawly's first seen in snake form, so Aziraphale is the one who we first see properly, along with his wings. From a cinematic perspective, this is the best shorthand they could use to tell you what you need to know: since this is Eden, a guy in white robes and a pair of white wings is obviously an angel. Then the snake transforms into another guy, which could at first be confusing to the viewer...but then his black wings manifest behind him, showing the audience that this is a being similar to an angel, but evil (since we just saw him as the tempting serpent, plus the shorthand of black wings). Their dialogue later confirms that yes, Crawly is a demon, the other guy is an angel. But the visual of the pair of wings tips us off to that first.

Not only that, the fact that they both have wings shows their similarities, while the contrasting colors signifies their differences. But since we see the guy with black wings and the guy with white wings just standing on the wall and casually talking, we can see that despite their differences, they're not really bitter enemies. More like two opposing attorneys making small talk while they wait for the trial to start. They have their opposing jobs to do, but at the end of the day, they can put down their briefcases and have a drink together. And all that just from the visual of their wings!

But what's also key here is the time period in which we first see their wings: it's at the Garden of Eden, the very beginning of Creation. A time so long ago, in a world fresh off the assembly line. Adam and Eve are still seeing everything for the first time. For the first two humans, magic, divinity, and the supernatural aren't just fairy tales or philosophical discussion points; they're real, and they're taken seriously. So Aziraphale and Crowley's wings—the biggest signifiers of their supernatural natures, which seem to take on an almost spiritual connotation for them—make perfect sense being seen in this brand-new world. The next time we see these two (chronologically) is at Noah's Ark, 1000 years later. They've been living among the humans that whole time, and the humans (at least in Mesopotamia) are becoming wicked and irreverent in God's eyes. They may not take the supernatural all that seriously anymore, which would explain why these two would be hiding their wings at this point, and will continue to do for the rest of the story—with one exception.

That exception is the second time we see their wings: when Crowley stops time so he and Aziraphale can talk to Adam. But this isn't really in a physical space. It's only the three of them; time has stopped; they're standing in a separate plane of reality. A sort of spiritual dimension. And it looks kinda like the desert that surrounded the Garden of Eden, doesn't it? Coincidence? I think not!

This is an echo from the cradle of the world, returning to the potential end of it all. A past Adam made a choice and had to face an uncertain future; now a new Adam must do the same. And once again, Aziraphale and Crowley are there to help make it happen. Crowley gives Adam the right words to start the gears turning in his mind, just like Crowley did as the serpent tempting Eve. Aziraphale gives Adam his encouragement, a flaming sword at the ready, just as he did while helping Adam and Eve out of Eden. And just as they're fulfilling those same roles in the same almost-mythical desert, their true essences as supernatural immortal forces are once again on full display, in the form of their wings manifesting once again.

And what are those true essences? Aziraphale is the kind and righteous Holy Warrior, erring toward doing the right thing even if he has to bend some rules to do it. Crowley is the crafty pot-stirrer, the troublemaker, erring toward inciting some creative chaos in the world rather than just pure destruction. In the end, Aziraphale won't blindly follow orders for the sake of some vague monolithic notion of "the greater good", and in the end, Crowley won't destroy people's lives if he can just ruin their after-work commute instead. While other angels are self-righteous, Aziraphale is righteous. While other demons are evil, Crowley is mischievous. One protects and sustains life; the other makes life that much more interesting.

And in the end, isn't that what an angel and demon should be?

We see the Ineffable Plan unfolding throughout the story. The story of the Earth starts with the Garden, and with the first conversation between the angel and demon each assigned there to represent their opposing sides' interests. Therefore, it stands to reason that the Ineffable Plan included Aziraphale and Crowley being sent to Earth.

Perhaps the Almighty wanted that specific angel and specific demon on Earth, because they were the angel and demon the Earth needed the most. That could be why, out of all the angels and demons in the show, we only ever see Aziraphale and Crowley's wings. They're the angel and demon God intended, cast out of both Heaven and Hell, because they're the only ones worthy of living among Her children shaped in Her image.

...Or it could just be because their wings looked pretty. That's always a valid cinematic choice, too.

#good omens #aziraphale #crowley #ineffable husbands #headcanon #wings #wings headcanon #lookout kids #kitcat's dissecting #pull out your forceps and scalpels #crowley is just a little bit of a good person #aziraphale is just enough of a bastard to be worth knowing #and God ships it #my fandom thoughts

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themanicmagician · 4 years

Text

Future GO Fic Snippet

Hey Folks~

Since this oneshot is taking a bit longer then I thought, here’s a sneak peak of a pair of scenes (subject to further revisions) to tide you over until its completion. We start out on an angsty note, but I tucked some smut below the cut 😘

~*~

Aziraphale is falling.

That must be what this is. It makes sense. He gave away his divine sword. He fraternized with the enemy instead of smiting him on sight. And, perhaps, his worst transgression of all: he lied to Her.

The humans are long gone, far from the gates of Eden. The serpent slithered after them. Aziraphale had watched him leave, a ribbon of black twisting along the dunes of sand. The angel had intended to follow—just to make sure the snake wasn’t going to stir up any further mischief, that’s all—when he was suddenly struck to the ground by an unimaginable pain.

He fought in the Rebellion, led a platoon of his own. He’s not new to physical pain. He all too clearly recalls when an unholy sword dug into the meat of his thigh, the excruciating torture that was battlefield surgery.

This is so much worse. His chest is searing, burning, like he’s being carved open. Is that what’s happening? Is God ripping her Grace out of his soul, wresting it back by force? He wants to apologize. To beg for mercy. Anything. But agony clogs his throat, and he writhes in the sand, clawing at his chest, trying to keep himself whole. The pain crests, and he loses all sense of time and space, dumb to anything outside of the hot lashes against his skin.

The sun vanishes and rises four times before the pain finally slopes off, and his mind is his own again. Aziraphale drags himself upright, and hobbles through the eastern gate, into Eden.

God’s despair has soured paradise. The flowers are wilting, foul-smelling clumps. The trees have all shed their leaves, and insects ravage their insides. Aziraphale stumbles to a stop before the nearest pool of water. It hasn’t yet dried up into crusted mud, but it won’t be long, surely.

Aziraphale reluctantly looks down at his reflection.

He staggers back. “Oh, God.” He chokes. His wings are white, pure white, as they’ve always been. He twists every which way, to be sure, and there’s not so much as a lone black feather, no clinging ash or sulfur. He hasn’t Fallen, after all. So then, what—?

With fumbling hands he unknots his robe and steps out of it. The pale flesh of his chest has been carved open with a molten gold, a single word branded across his skin in flowing Enochian:

Liar.

Aziraphale’s heart thumps with fear. She knows. Of course She does. Did he actually think he could get away with it? She’s omnipotent and omnipresent. She gave him the opportunity to redeem himself, to confess that he’d given away Her sword, and he’d lied about it.

Aziraphale traces a hand around the lettering, and winces at the residual sting. He should be grateful. He could’ve Fallen for his many transgressions. How many had been cast from Heaven by his blade, or on his orders? As demons, would they remember him still? Would they torture him for the eternal damnation he’d sentenced them to? Better to never be among them, to never find out the answer to that question. Things are better like this, certainly. Better to branded (like a beast), than Fall. He is grateful for Her mercy, he thinks, and almost manages to convince himself he believes it.

~*~

After the Ritz, they go back to Crowley’s. It’s Aziraphale’s choice. Once they’re in the Bentley, Crowley begins driving in the direction of the bookshop until Aziraphale, emboldened by his escape from Hell and perhaps three glasses of celebratory champagne too many, places a plump, manicured hand on Crowley’s knee and asks to be taken to Mayfair instead.

Crowley sobers for the lightning-fast drive, and Aziraphale follows suit before long. As lovely as the pleasant fuzz of mild intoxication is, he wants to remember every second of tonight.

The front door of Crowley’s flat is barely shut before the demon presses him up against it. He peppers kisses up Aziraphale’s neck, his jaw, before crashing their mouths together. It’s sloppy and frantic—they can’t get enough of each other. Crowley’s glasses go askew, and he irritatedly rips them off his face. They clatter off to the floor. Aziraphale groans into Crowley’s mouth, and drags his demon closer still.

He can feel Crowley’s need pressing hot and insistent against his thigh.

“Take me to bed, Crowley.”

Those wonderful amber eyes darken further with lust.

“Yesssss.”

Crowley scoops him up like he’s a damsel on the front cover of a bodice ripper. The romantic gesture steals Aziraphale’s breath, and he huffs incredulous, happy laughs into Crowley’s neck as he’s carried into the bedroom.

After placing Aziraphale reverently upon the bedspread, Crowley attempts to extricate himself from his stylish, too-tight pants.

“Nhrght—stupid—blasted, shitty, nrgah—”

Aziraphale watches him flounder and hop about for a moment, a fond, amused smile on his lips, before he scoots over to the edge of the bed, in front of Crowley.

“Let me help, darling.”

He finishes unzipping Crowley’s trousers. He hooks his fingers in the belt loops and eases the fabric down, slowly, inch by careful inch.

“Angel,” Crowley whines with barely-leashed impatience.

He’s wearing black briefs beneath. There’s a visible damp spot in the fabric. Aziraphale leans forward and mouths around the obvious bulge, his breath hot and wet. His tongue presses fleetingly against the fabric, tasting.

Crowley bucks, pressing himself against Aziraphale’s open mouth. “Fuck, angel. What you do to me.”

Then he’s kicking off his pants the rest of the way before tackling Aziraphale onto the bed. Aziraphale rolls his hips, and they both groan as their clothed erections brush together.

“Let me—I want to—”

Crowley’s hands dive beneath Aziraphale’s shirt, stroking his skin, squeezing the rolls of his stomach. They creep upward, closer to the brand.

Aziraphale goes rigid.

“Why do you wear so many blessed layers?” Crowley complains.

His hands retreat from Aziraphale’s stomach, but his relief is short-lived, as Crowley’s nimble fingers dart up to unbutton the front of Aziraphale’s dress shirt.

“No!”

Aziraphale clamps his hands around Crowley’s wrists. Crowley stills, one button undone around Aziraphale’s collar. Aziraphale’s heart pounds so loud he’s sure Crowley can hear it.

“Angel?”

“I just—not that. I’m not ready. Yet.”

He never will be, but Crowley doesn’t need to know.

“Alright,” Crowley says, withdrawing.

Aziraphale has fooled around with humans before (rather difficult to go 6,000+ years without being a little curious what all the fuss was about) but that’s all it ever was—fooling around. They were always furtive, illicit fumblings, where both men remained fully clothed, ready to straighten their ties and button their collars at the first sound of an unexpected interruption. He wasn’t thinking—love and lust had clouded his mind—and he’d nearly given away his darkest secret, just like that.

Once he’s calmed, he realizes his panic poisoned his arousal. Moments ago he’d been eager as anything, prepared to hilt himself on Crowley’s cock and ride him with abandon. Now, he just wants to bundle himself up again, and soothe his frayed nerves with a good book. Crowley sits cross-legged on the bed, more than an arm’s-length apart. He’s watching Aziraphale with unveiled concern.

Aziraphale fidgets with the balding velvet of his waistcoat, and bites his lip. “Oh, I’ve gone and ruined it, haven’t I?”

Everything had been going so well.

“No!” Crowley denies, sharply. Quieter, he repeats, “No.”

He extends his arm towards Aziraphale’s, reaching slowly for his hand. Giving him ample time to pull back if he wants. Aziraphale instead meets him halfway, and their fingers thread together.

“Whatever you want, angel.” Crowley says, his thumb stroking the side of Aziraphale’s hand. “Whatever you need.”

Aziraphale is awash with gratitude—and shame.

“I’m sorry. You’ve waited so long for me to...catch up, so to speak.”

Crowley let slip a low, wounded noise. “Aziraphale, you don’t owe me anything. You’re not obligated to do this—” He gestures to their current half-dressed states. “—if you don’t actually want to.”

Aziraphale clasps Crowley’s hand between both of his, and draws him closer. “No, I swear to you, that’s not it. That’s not what this is about at all.” He pinkens. “I very much want to be with you in the....biblical sense. It’s just…”

Oh, what to say? Not the truth. What good would that do?

“It’s just…?” Crowley prompts him, softly.

Dear, kind, wonderful Crowley. How will he look upon him if he knows what Aziraphale really is? What he’s kept from him for so long, too long?

He casts about for a believable excuse. His hands land upon the slight swell of his belly, and it comes to him.

“I am aware, and there have been comments acknowledging the fact that I am not, erm. In perfect physical condition. That I could stand to, you know.” Aziraphale pats his stomach. Crowley’s expression darkens. “Slim down a tick.”

“Who said?” Crowley growls.

Aziraphale glances away. “No one important.” He lies.

It’s all a load of tosh, for the most part. Yes, Gabriel’s comment about him needing to “lose the gut” had stung. But the Archangels have always found something to nitpick about him and his choices—be it his weight, his hobbies, his miracles. The hurt he felt was more in that he constantly sought their approval, and never managed to earn it. He received acknowledgement and recognition only for those moments he despised; he got an accolade for helping Noah construct the ark, and then slam its doors to a sea of faces.

Aziraphale likes himself, his body. He can change it easily enough, if he really wants to spend the miracle, but he is happy with the image humans have of him, of a silly little bookseller who gives warm hugs. Someone harmless and squishy that you can come to with any problems, and expect a plateful of biscuits, warm tea, and earnest compassion from.

Aziraphale twists the ring on his pinky round and round, praying for Crowley to believe him.

“I still want to do everything—anything—with you. I just need this,” He tugs down his shirt. “To stay on, during. If that’s alright.”

“Of course. If that’s what you need, angel.”

Aziraphale flashes him a grateful smile, and tugs Crowley over to him for a kiss. It’s softer than the kisses they’d exchanged moments ago. There’s nothing sexually charged behind it; rather, it’s just meant as a reassurance, a comfort.

The brand itches. Guilt pools hot and heavy in Aziraphale’s gut.

#my fic #bottom aziraphale #top crowley #aziraphale whump #crowley #aziraphale #chubby aziraphale #these scenes aren't actually next to each other in the fic but theyre the most complete #this fic shouldve been finished already but crowley and aziraphale just keep talking lmao #good omens #aziracrow #ineffable husbands

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atinytokki · 4 years

Text

𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐀𝐥𝐥

Chapter 11: Crossroads Pt. 2

(Warnings: Violence and blood)

As Seonghwa leapt out the window and started running, he was surprised to hear footfalls following behind him.

He thought he had would have left his brother in the dust, but it seemed the prince was keeping up as the two of them sprinted down the hill and back through the town, guided by the flashes of light and jarring sound of bullets ringing out.

Seonghwa didn’t even dare hope, but the logical side of him clawed at anything he could think of. The shots are still going, his mind whispered. They’re fighting back, they haven’t been killed in their sleep.

How he could have been so stupid to leave them like that, when enemies lurked around every corner?

Junhee called his name but Seonghwa ignored it, hurtling around the corner and slowing to a stop. He and Junhee came face to face with a small group of uniformed men. Royal Navy.

“What’s going on?” Junhee finally burst, leaning over to catch his breath. “Why would you run towards gunfire?”

The eyes of the officers before them widened and they immediately prostrated themselves, not expecting to be in the Crown Prince’s presence at such an hour.

Seonghwa went from gasping at the decimated state of the upstairs window to watching in horror as one by one his friends were led out of the inn. Wooyoung, Yeosang, and Hongjoong— all restrained and disarmed.

From behind them, a familiar figure strutted out with pride. It was Admiral Kim, and half the commanding officers of the ATEEZ, scourge of the Royal Navy, were in his custody.

Actually... only three.

San wasn’t with them, hopefully he had escaped, and as for Seonghwa...

Seonghwa choked on a breath as he realised that somehow, in a stroke of fate, he stood with the favour of the crown prince, and no evidence to connect him to the pirates who were all being forced onto their knees now and displayed for the royalty to see.

“What is the meaning of this?” Junhee asked tiredly, expression nonplussed even as Kim went on to explain.

“Pirates hiding amongst us, skulking about in our towns, probably meaning to kill you, Your Highness.”

Hongjoong was staring at Seonghwa with a face that clearly warned him to bide his time. Speak up for their innocence now, and he could easily be thrown in with them. Wait until he had Junhee’s ear to himself, and perhaps they would be set free.

Seonghwa didn’t like it but he swallowed his doubts and hung behind his brother as the Admiral went on.

“Not just any pirates, either. This is Kim Hongjoong—”

Roughly, he grabbed Hongjoong’s strawberry hair and tugged his face up into the lantern light for all to see.

“—Captain of the pirate band ATEEZ, a frequent thorn in our sides. We’ve run into each other before, haven’t we?”

His cheshire grin spread from cheek to cheek and the pure malice he emanated made Seonghwa’s stomach boil.

They were in serious trouble.

“These are surely fellow pirates of status for him to have been travelling with them,” the Admiral remarked with a gesture towards Wooyoung and Yeosang, who knelt still as statues and ignored the sneers and saliva spray from the officers around them. The Admiral squinted at Yeosang for a moment before adding, “I recognise this one too, but I can’t place where from.”

“Can you prove it?” Seonghwa called when he couldn’t keep it in anymore. These soldiers didn’t look above killing the three of them on the spot.

A cloud passed over the Admiral’s face. “Pardon me, but who is this?”

Finally, Junhee’s tongue came unstuck from the roof of his mouth and he pulled Seonghwa forward. “This is my younger brother, Seonghwa. He’s been missing for some time but I’ve been blessed to be reunited with him tonight. Treat him as you would me.”

That last addendum was air in Seonghwa’s lungs. His voice was being given authority.

“Can you prove that they’re pirates?” He repeated, more confidently this time before gesturing to the houses and shops around them. “Because if not, you’ve just interrupted the sleep of half the island and accused innocent men of... what exactly? Plots to assassinate my brother, the Crown Prince? Seems like quite a leap to conclusions.”

“This one I can prove,” Admiral Kim growled, dragging Hongjoong up and in one precise movement, ripping at the neckline of his shirt and pulling it past his shoulder. Burned into his skin was a pirate brand, a couple years old, situated next to the newer scar from Seunghyun’s bullet months ago. The Admiral gazed at it with satisfaction. “A souvenir from the last time we met.”

A letter seared into a pirate screamed guilt, and could never be removed. There was no way Seonghwa could argue him out of this.

But he did get some gratification out of watching the Admiral’s face fall at the unmarked skin of Wooyoung and Yeosang.

“A lucky coincidence for them,” he mumbled. “That they evaded naval encounters thus far.” With that, he shoved their heads back down and didn’t blink when the momentum pushed Yeosang onto his stomach.

“Wh-Which makes them innocent until proven guilty,” Seonghwa stuttered, cringing at Yeosang’s attempts to sit up, struggling against the officers who pushed him back down.

“Piracy isn’t some quaint, mischievous fringe lifestyle,” the Admiral spat, words laced with poison. “We can’t pardon them just like that when they’ve already been arrested for rooming with a known pirate. They must be investigated, that is the law.”

“Admiral,” Junhee snapped, surprising Seonghwa almost into flinching. “Do not speak down to Prince Seonghwa. He may not be learned in all our laws and their applications, but he is still royalty by blood. And he has a point.”

Admiral Kim bowed his head respectfully but practically hissed back at Seonghwa, more wraith than man, “We’ll keep them in custody here on suspicion of criminal activity by association with Hongjoong.”

Here he turned back to the Captain in question and eagerly clapped him in irons.

“Kim Hongjoong, I charge you with all of your crimes against the Crown and Empire, namely piracy, for which the penalty is death.”

The protesting ruckus of Wooyoung and Yeosang was ceased by a single look from the Admiral. “Don’t worry your colourful little heads. He won’t die until he watches both of you be killed first. Even if I have to drag the evidence up from fishermen and brigands.”

After a brief moment of hesitation, Junhee nodded and Seonghwa stood there and watched his friends be dragged away.

“Your chariot awaits you, pirate kings,” the officers jeered, none too careful with their handling as Yeosang and Wooyoung each received a pair of handcuffs.

“We’ve invented an entirely new class of tortures,” the Admiral crooned into Hongjoong’s ear as he packed him into the carriage waiting to drive the three to the jailhouse. “Just for you and your crew.”

Patience, Seonghwa screamed at himself internally, glued to the spot against his will.

This was Admiral Kim, before whom men trembled in abject fear. He was clever and committed and the moment Seonghwa was out of the man’s sight, he was on the clock.

Kim bowed low before the princes, climbed in with the prisoners, and shut the carriage door tightly.

The hourglass had tipped and sand was sinking quickly.

...

Mingi heard the dawn before he saw it. The mystic’s ménagerie of birds chorused outside his window and heralded in a sunrise that dipped treetops in golden light.

A lazy morning melted into a lazy afternoon and Mingi found that his ever-present itch for action had died. It was like the sweet breeze that tickled the wind chimes was a perfume that relaxed him almost to the point of lethargy.

He sat contentedly on the balcony with Yunho, sipping from a honeyed beverage of some kind that he didn’t care to put a name to, while Jongho kept Eden company inside.

The older pirate still wasn’t on his feet yet, and the pocket watch Mingi pulled out every once in awhile warned him that they’d have to make a decision about what to do soon.

Just as he went to open his mouth and make a suggestion, a particularly strong gust of wind sent autumn leaves wafting past them and up to the twin doors of the mystic’s watchtower.

Mingi watched with fascination as she emerged from behind the shades and caught a leaf as it drifted towards her. Her expression darkened as she gazed at it like it was some kind of messenger.

Suddenly her attention turned to the two of them. “Join me,” she called before turning back inside, silk robes fluttering behind her. There was no need to discuss it, so Yunho and Mingi simultaneously rose from their seats and climbed up to the watchtower, beckoning Jongho along with them.

“I received a prophecy,” the mystic informed them, not even turning from where she stared into her crystal ball.

“Concerning...us?” Mingi was hesitant in making assumptions, but she had called them up there after all.

“In a way, yes,” the woman answered, stepping back so they could see. The inside of the globe looked like a mess, flame and crushed plants mingling, a dark substance that looked like water, and a hazy fog swirling around. It was not a clear depiction of the future, but whatever it was, Mingi could tell it was bad.

“Enemies are plotting to strike,” she said gravely, and from the way Jongho fidgeted, Mingi could tell he wasn’t satisfied.

“Which enemies?” The youngest asked. “And plotting to strike when? How?” There was a tinge of jealousy to his voice. Foretelling hidden dangers was once his job.

“That much is clouded still,” the woman sighed, covering the ball with its velvet cloak and settling into a chair. “But this is not like the mischief of demons or the ambition of the Navy. There is unrest in the very fabric of reality. It feels almost like...”

She rubbed her temples until the sensation came back to her and she could put a name to it. “Almost like preparation for war.”

War with the universe.

That notion was like a fuse that flickered on in front of Mingi’s face and tensed his muscles in anticipation of an explosion. His drive had returned to him.

They’d waited around on their backsides long enough. This was as clear a signal as any that their stay in this small paradise was up.

“If you’ll excuse us,” Mingi commanded the room with a quiet cough. “We have some things to discuss.”

...

The cobblestone streets were home to San, and he could navigate them blind. So he ran to the eastern marina in the dark, thinking on his toes.

The Crown Prince’s escort fleet and all the Navy ships were at the western docks, but still San stuck to the shadows and scanned the boats for one special ship.

The ATEEZ was gone.

San triple checked and then clamped his hands to stop himself from tearing his hair out.

Where could they possibly have gone? And why would they leave?

The crew of the ATEEZ had been loyal through every tribulation thusly so why now did they choose to betray their officers, at the worst possible moment?

“Pirates!” He hissed in frustration, sitting himself down on the edge of the dock. “Backstabbing, good for nothing, traitorous pirates.”

And now he had to steal a boat.

“But first...” he mumbled, pulling the pages out of his pocket again and staring at the sad, wrinkled parchment.

Had Hongjoong not been resolute in his order to call for help, San wouldn’t have spared the spellbook pages another glance. They’d destroyed his life already, he found it hard to believe they could do any good.

But there, scrawled in a corner on the fourth page, was a spell for silent communication. So he took a deep breath and read it before selecting the person he would call.

He thought back to the voice that had spoken to him in his fight with the demon. Part of him recalled who she was, but all he needed was to remember her voice and try to speak back to it.

“Please help us,” he whispered, reaching out with his mind. “We’re in trouble, the Navy’s come to capture us. Send help.”

He whispered incantations until he felt a jolt of energy and a ringing in his ears.

His voice had been heard.

...

The more Seonghwa looked, the more he came to believe that San had escaped the battle unharmed.

As soon as the Navy officers had left, he assured Junhee that he would join him in his royal residence soon and entered the inn to comb through the crime scene.

The cowering innkeeper and his family were of no help, so he hurried upstairs to their decimated room and picked through broken glass and curtain for anything incriminating.

It created a pool of regret in him to be rifling through their bags while all of them were probably being beaten senseless elsewhere, but if he was careless, they would experience much worse. The Admiral would probably return soon on a hunt of his own.

Seonghwa sighed in relief at the fact that Yeosang had left Eden’s compass on the ship and the treasure was safe there as well.

He had to leave some of their belongings or it would be obvious he had come to cover their tracks, but he collected his own bag and all of San’s things. Now it was like the two of them were never there.

As long as the Admiral didn’t know about San, the surgeon had a chance to get off the island and get help.

Seonghwa returned his room key at the front desk before leaving the inn behind. All the keys were accounted for now. One less shred of evidence for the Admiral to uncover on his return.

Seonghwa headed to San’s old house, and thankfully the woman who lived there now was awake and compliant when he asked her not to tell any soldiers of their visit there earlier and paid her in advance for her cooperation.

By the time he returned to the temporary palace, the sky was grey and promised morning soon.

“You know them, don’t you?” Junhee asked the moment Seonghwa collapsed in the bed his brother had ordered prepared for him.

His mind took a minute to catch up, but Seonghwa hummed quietly when he realised he couldn’t very well deny the statement.

“You know, the merchant told me you were captured by pirates,” Junhee whispered, settling into his own bed once the lights had been extinguished. “It shocks me that you’d defend one of their kind after all they must have done to you.”

There was a moment of silence in which Seonghwa felt he could say nothing other than the truth. When the soldiers questioned them, it would be as if they never knew each other, but to Seonghwa there was no way to minimise what they had done for him.

“They saved me,” he finally croaked out. “These pirates saved me. I’m just returning the favour.”

“You were travelling with them, then?” Junhee pressed, and he sounded more intrigued than anything as he turned on his side to face Seonghwa.

“We didn’t come to kill anyone or steal anything,” Seonghwa said softly, emotions he had bottled up in front of the Admiral slowly working themselves out and down his cheeks as he spoke. “I don’t know if it’s within your power but, please, hyung. Please pardon them.”

Junhee stared at him for some time and Seonghwa waited for him to laugh and call him ridiculous. Maybe even turn him over to the Admiral and have him hung with the others.

“Everyone makes mistakes. I’ll speak for the unbranded ones,” Junhee finally said. “But if they are proven guilty...”

He flopped onto his back and broke eye contact, and Seonghwa knew he had made up his mind. “They’ll have to pay for their crimes.”

Seonghwa wanted to fight back, he wanted to explain that none of them deserved death after all the good they had done, but he swallowed his arguments and thanked Junhee humbly.

It was something. More than he could have asked for without his new status, and more than Junhee owed him.

Their quiet mid-morning breakfast was intruded upon by a visit from the Admiral.

Junhee let him in but scowled at the interruption of his explanation of royal eating customs to Seonghwa.

“You’ll have to excuse me,” Admiral Kim apologised with a low bow. “I just wanted to ensure Prince Seonghwa was settling in well.”

Seonghwa raised an eyebrow. He wasn’t here to gloat, which meant Yeosang and Wooyoung weren’t talking for him. As expected, they wouldn’t condemn themselves.

Seonghwa forced a smile and assured the man that he was doing fine, to which the Admiral hardly reacted. What was he here for?

“Is there an end in sight to the investigations?” Junhee asked conversationally. “I’d like to get home to begin wedding preparations soon.”

“Well,” Kim flashed a charming smile. “I may have a lead to follow up. The pirates’ ship is absent from the harbour.”

“So, perhaps they aren’t pirates after all then?” Seonghwa was quick to ask, trying not to sound too triumphant already.

“What do insects do when it rains?”

Seonghwa was completely blindsided. “Pardon?”

“Critters— insects, spiders and the like. They could be killed by a single drop of rain if it falls on them, so how do they survive?”

Seonghwa froze. The Admiral knew something. He answered his own question and Seonghwa’s thoughts flew to San.

“They scatter.”

...

San watched flames consume the wrinkled parchment, his soul finally at peace as the fire licked away at what remained of the spellbook.

He let the charred scraps fall to the bottom of the harbour and told himself it was the right thing to do. He had used the spells just as he was told and all that remained in that book was death and dark memory.

With the destruction of the spellbook pages, the demon’s plans were officially ended.

Now, San had to run for his life.

The town was on high alert and he would be caught most certainly if he attempted to return to it.

The only option was to leave the island entirely and wait for help to break him back in.

A small sailboat was anchored just a few spots down from where the ATEEZ had been, and after purloining some food and supplies from the guardhouse kitchen, San snuck aboard to commandeer her.

The wind was insistently pulling him out to sea, so he obeyed it, working tirelessly to man the thing himself and slip out of the marina unnoticed by soldiers.

From what he could make of the stars, he was headed south. He sent up a prayer, out of spontaneity and not magic, and drifted with the sea.

Mostly he just hoped his supplies would last, and that the others would get here before he had to worry about them.

Time was slipping away as the sun peeked over the horizon and San felt like he was slipping with it.

...

“Why were you with a known pirate?”

Wooyoung shook his head at the officer yelling at him (a Lieutenant Byun if he had heard correctly) and tried not to tremble where he sat, restrained, in this dungeon they called an interrogation room.

There was no time to collaborate on a story or make a plan of escape. It was just him, this lieutenant, and the bucket of water he kept dunking his head into until this torture ended.

“Answer me, why?”

The world was plunged into freezing watery depths again and Wooyoung fought until his lungs burned like they were about to explode and suddenly he was up again, coughing and making a mess of himself.

He didn’t think he could do this much longer.

The lieutenant grabbed him by the neck to dunk him again and he broke.

“He captured me,” Wooyoung wheezed. And he wasn’t even lying. “It’s the truth. I was working for Bang Si-Hyuk, privateer, and he-he attacked our ship and kidnapped me. That’s how I ended up with him.”

It was a lead that would hopefully send the Admiral after Si-Hyuk for confirmation, buying time if nothing else.

“You expect us to believe you?” The lieutenant laughed.

“Ask Bang himself if you don’t,” Wooyoung’s voice shook but he didn’t care anymore. He just wanted to get out of this room and away from that water bucket. “I don’t have any more information.”

Byun stared at him for a moment before signalling the guards to unbind him and take him back to his cell.

“Well done,” he goaded Wooyoung on the way out. “You’ve just volunteered your brown-haired friend for the next round of questioning.”

Yeosang.

Wooyoung’s eyes fell shut with disappointment in himself and he almost begged them to leave Yeosang alone but he was already being returned to his cell.

Yeosang’s was next to his, and he only had enough time to reach a hand through the bars that separated them apologetically before the guards took him away.

Wooyoung sunk to the floor and tried to collect himself. It was like a metal weight sat on his heart and he could barely move.

Hongjoong’s cell, the one across from him, was empty. Wooyoung didn’t know where they’d taken him and he didn’t want to think about it.

The sooner they got out, the better. He just had to keep believing Seonghwa would help them. If not for him, their entire company would already be dead.

Wooyoung focused on his breathing and memories of the rest of the crew while he tried to recover. He missed them more than he could say.

They had been successful in exorcising San, and San had been successful in escaping, so all things considered, the odds were still favourable.

Wooyoung just had to keep that in the forefront of his mind and the beatings would be manageable.

After some time of being alone with his thoughts, Yeosang was dragged back into his cell.

Lieutenant Byun brought him back personally with cruel eyes and it was clear that he hadn’t cooperated.

“If he doesn’t want to speak, then he won’t be eating either,” the officer said, sliding food under the bars of Wooyoung’s cell and pointedly avoiding Yeosang’s. “Try to share with him and your fingers will be broken.”

Wooyoung waited until the footsteps retreated to scoot over to the bars that separated the two cells and slip his hand through.

His fingers found Yeosang’s shoulder and after a moment, the other melted under his touch. He turned him around to face him and regretted that they couldn’t embrace through the bars but was glad to be able to see his face.

It was badly bruised and blood was drying where it flowed from his head, but it was the way Yeosang’s eyes struggled to focus that worried him.

“I tried fighting back,” he admitted quietly, eyes lingering on Wooyoung’s untouched meal. “They didn’t take kindly to that.”

Wooyoung rested his forehead against the bars and Yeosang mirrored him. “We just have to hang on and we’ll be out soon,” he finally said, not nearly as confidently as he’d hoped it would come out. “They can’t find anything on us.”

A growl from Yeosang’s stomach reminded Wooyoung of the food waiting for him. After a quick glance around the area, he smuggled a chunk of bread through the bars and immediately paid for it.

A guard shot out of the shadows and entered his cell, yanking the rest of the food away from him and grabbing one of his fingers to deal punishment.

“No, no, please—“

Wooyoung barely had time to muffle his own scream with a fist in his mouth as the finger was snapped, a fracture cracking the bone and a sharp pain shooting from it.

The guard said no more and left the cell.

Wooyoung didn’t respond to Yeosang’s concerned cries and curled into a ball while the other sighed and petted his hair until the pain and tears had subsided.

Eventually they sat back to back, singing softly to busy their minds. Hongjoong had still not returned, but Wooyoung waited instead for sleep to find them.

In sleep there was at least some respite.

...

Jongho watched the diamond spray of the waterfall cast a rainbow over the valley and listened to Yunho and Mingi argue about what to do.

Mingi was in favour of setting out immediately and asking Eden to pull his weight, and Yunho insisted that the older pirate heal and be able to walk first.

Jongho didn’t know why they hadn’t considered the most obvious option.

“Let’s just leave him here,” he broke in, sighing when they stared at him in surprise.

“He would never allow that!” Mingi scoffed.

“We could always just ask him!” Jongho argued back. “Ever think of that?”

“How do you think we’ll even get off this island without his help?” Yunho pointed out, and Jongho was about to make a suggestion when another voice cut him off.

“Just ask me,” the mystic smiled, reaching into her sleeves to hand them something while they scratched their heads wondering where she had come from.

“This, I believe, is yours.”

In her palm lay a knife. The one Hongjoong had given to Mingi, that the beast had run away with stabbed into its skin.

“How did you get it back?” Mingi breathed, taking the knife reverently and turning it over.

“I have my ways,” the woman waved off the question before sobering. “I agree with the youngest, it would be wise to set sail now, without Eden to slow you down. I have just received a message, word from San. He flees from Namhae alone and calls for aid. They’re all in grave danger.”

“Is this connected to the war you mentioned?” Mingi asked nervously, sheathing the knife as they made their way inside. It sounded like he’d be needing it.

“Only time will tell,” the mystic said simply, stopping them outside the door to their room. “He’s awake, but I’ll give you some privacy.”

Eden certainly was awake and reading at that, Jongho noticed as they settled into plush cushions and danced around the point of the conversation.

“I know what you’re going to say,” Eden said coolly, shutting the book gently and laying it on the arm of his sofa. “Your crewmates are in trouble and you need to go to them, I understand.”

Mingi frowned at Yunho’s poke in the ribs but opened his mouth to reassure Eden they would only leave if he was in agreement. “It’s just that you still need time to heal, and we can’t wait any longer.”

The sail to Namhae was relatively short but every day they spent was costing their friends.

“I’m in good hands here,” Eden agreed. “Hongjoong will understand when you reunite with him.”

There was a pause where his eyebrows drew together and eventually he sighed.

“Tell him I was wrong. About you, about him... about everything.” The words came out all jumbled together, but he spoke from the bottom of his heart. He believed in them now.

“You children have been nothing short of miraculous.”

Course decided, the three got to packing and said their goodbyes. Jongho knew the first place he was coming back to when he had the chance, and it was this island. It was a wonderful and awe-inspiring place, and he had a friend to return to now as well.

Eden called his name as he was about to cross the threshold, so he turned back to hear his parting words.

“If we ever meet again, I hope it is under much better circumstances.”

...

In the dim hole that was their prison, it was impossible to tell how much time had passed.

Meals came infrequently, and Wooyoung was much more careful about being caught sharing after his earlier stunt.

To ease the guards’ suspicions, it took a few days of eating his meals himself before he could slip something to Yeosang through their clasped hands, sitting back to back against the bars like they had done before.

Hongjoong came and went, always with very little sleep, and Yeosang couldn’t help but notice how the guards stopped marching him out for “questioning” and started dragging him.

If he put up a fight, it wasn’t in front of them. He never had much to say when he was around, either, apart from asking if they had eaten and begging them to trust him.

He said he knew what he was doing. He said he had a secret plan. He said he needed them to be patient. So they were.

Conversation was strictly discouraged by the guards, but they got by with being able to look at each other, and in Yeosang and Wooyoung’s case, cling to each other through the bars.

It seemed the Admiral had forgotten about them, or was no longer interested.

No one interrogated them for days, and it seemed they couldn’t lawfully be beaten outside of interrogation tactics as suspects and not proven pirates.

They waited endlessly in the damp mustiness of the prison, a stone floor for their beds and stale food for their bellies.

Morale had sunk low enough that they didn’t bother to whisper about escape anymore, but the stray thought about Seonghwa was an ever-present hope. He was working on getting them out. They were sure of it.

Until one morning when both were escorted to the interrogation room together and Yeosang was sat down for the Admiral himself to question.

“I found something peculiar when looking through the evidence,” Admiral Kim told them theatrically, waving a couple of scrolls in the air before unrolling one and showing it to Yeosang.

“A map,” Yeosang deadpanned. He had resisted all of Byun’s interrogation techniques, and he wasn’t about to cave in front of the Admiral.

Wooyoung watched anxiously from the side.

“Not just any map,” the Admiral lilted, tapping the right corner. “This one has portions of the East charted on it. Places no one outside of my fleet has ever been.”

“What are you insinuating?” Yeosang gritted out. “I’m tired of playing games.”

The Admiral’s smile wilted and he tossed the maps to the ground. He was angry now.

Yeosang flinched as the Admiral reared his hand back for a slap, but suddenly the man froze and everything went quiet for a moment.

Kim’s hand came up alongside Yeosang’s face, and he rubbed some of the blood off his eyelid. He was gentle, tender even, and as much as it sickened Yeosang, it allowed him to breathe for a minute.

“I thought I recognised you,” the Admiral said quietly, thumb lingering on the birthmark next to Yeosang’s eye. “Now I know where from.”

Yeosang didn’t move a muscle, willing the man to stop putting the pieces together, but it didn’t work.

“Kang Yeosang.”

Byun and the other guards gasped at this revelation. They had the son of their own Head Navigator imprisoned and tortured.

“Let them free,” the Admiral sighed, finally stepping back and crossing his arms. He ignored the look Lieutenant Byun gave him and opened the door to let the two shocked prisoners walk free.

“Unfortunately, I made a promise to your father once, that I would make sure no harm ever came to you,” he said by way of explanation, walking behind the pair as they helped each other towards the exit. “He wouldn’t be very happy with me if I had you executed.”

And as for Wooyoung, it seemed he was imprisoned by association and pardoned by association as well. It was the first thing Yeosang insisted upon and surprisingly, the Admiral allowed it.

“I’m after another member of Hongjoong’s company now,” he informed them vaguely, a knowing smile teasing his lips. “One who seems to have escaped me. But I won’t presume to glean information from you— off you go!”

The door was open. They could leave.

Wooyoung turned back as they limped towards the light, just in time to see the Admiral enter Hongjoong’s cell.

“There’s going to be an execution next week in the square,” the man snarled. “Yours.”

Yeosang and Wooyoung shared a knowing look. They were on the other side of the bars, which meant they were responsible for springing their Captain out next.

Knuckles white around the bars of his cell, Hongjoong’s hoarse voice rang out and followed the Admiral as he left.

“I may have to go down. But I’m taking you with me.”

...

Taglist: @nightynightnyx @atzjjongbby @celestial-yunho

A/N: ONE CHAPTER TO GO!! And then I start the next book in the series ;) Things are getting really intense, what do you think will happen? Comment or send an ask <3

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queerdraws · 5 years

Text

Ineffable Husbands playlist

For anyone looking for an ungodly long playlist that is probably going to be under construction forever: Here You Go

I also want to plug this playlist while im at it because I absorbed a lot of songs from it & it’s very good. much more concise FULL CURRENT TRACKLIST, 41 songs (as of 7.6.19) UNDER THE CUT Including: tally hall (an absurd amount), hozier (of course), frank sinatra, the mountain goats, sufjan stevens, queen, elbow, velvet underground, mitski...etc.

Frank Sinatra - The Best is Yet to Come

Out of the tree of life I just picked me a plum You came along and everything started in to hum Still it's a real good bet The best is yet to come

Best is yet to come and babe won't that be fine You think you've seen the sun But you ain't seen it shine

A wait til the warm up's under way Wait til our lips have met And wait til you see that sunshine day You ain't seen nothing yet ... Wait til your charms are right for these arms, to surround You think you've flown before But baby you ain't left the ground

Hozier - From Eden (obligatory)

Babe, there's something wretched about this Something so precious about this Oh what a sin

To the strand a picnic plan for you and me A rope in hand for your other man to hang from a tree Honey you're familiar like my mirror years ago

Idealism sits in prison, chivalry fell on it's sword Innocents died screaming, honey ask me I should know I slithered here from Eden just to sit outside your door

Tally Hall - You & Me

Off again we go Another seed to sow Another part to keep in proper order

What have I begun? Get away undone I have seen the signs and I ignored them

Now it's you And me Divine A circular design (do do-do do-doo) Time, and place, and mind Points along the line (do do-do do-doo)

Sitting in the park Carefully remark Everything is better when you're learning

You were in the dark And I was in the dark Everything is made to keep on turning

Barenaked Ladies - It’s All Been Done

I met you before the fall of Rome And I begged you to let me take you home You were wrong, I was right You said goodbye, I said goodnight

It's all been done It's all been done It's all been done before

I knew you before the west was won And I heard you say the past Was much more fun You go your way, I go mine But I'll see you next time

It's all been done It's all been done It's all been done before

The Strokes - Under Cover of Darkness (the times between meetings)

We got the right to live, fight to use it Got everything but you can just choose it I won't just be a puppet on a string

Don't go that way I'll wait for you

And I'm tired of all your friends Listening at your door I want what's better for you

So long, my friend and adversary But I'll wait for you

Conor Oberst - To All the Lights in the Windows (Crowley POV, Aziraphale not quite meeting him half way wrt The Arrangement. Talks about various biblical events throughout time, like they’re meeting up there)

Jesus off in the water, standing on His feet Yeah, that's the thing about charisma it makes everyone believe But there is nothing impossible When I'm with you and when you're with me I got a sad sinking feeling that, that can never be

But I'm going to do what I can for you, I will make a plea To all the lights in the windows, the puddles in the streets And all the lovers that you've been teasing from your balcony May they carry you far from my memory

Light a Roman Candle with Me (Crowley POV)

Light a roman candle with me Just a roman candle, you can wear your sandals And I'll pour you just one cup of tea. Then you can go and rest You haven't seen my best, so

Just spend an evening with me Just a lazy evening, then you could be leaving Or we could stay and talk until three. I will think it's magic and I'll hope you'll agree, so

Light a roman candle with me. Just a roman candle. Just a perfect apple.

If we were honest and both wrote a sonnet together A sandwich with everything on it, At least we would know that the sparks didn't glow But we owe it to ourselves to try, So we aim and ignite! So often I call and I plead with you: "Give me a chance!" It's not often that I understand The ins and the outs of what's wrong and what's right So don't think of tomorrow tonight.

Oh, I know, it goes on, it gets old But for now we're young, we smell good, we're alone

You look for a legend, I'm looking for common ground. Your heart isn't breaking, And mine isn't making a sound.

Oh I know, it goes on, it gets old Oh I know, it goes on, it gets old

Light a roman candle with me. Just a roman candle. Just a perfect apple.

Tears for Fears - Head Over Heels (mmm pining)

You keep your distance with a system of touch And gentle persuasion I'm lost in admiration, could I need you this much? Oh, you're wasting my time You're just, just, just wasting time

Something happens and I'm head over heels I never find out till I'm head over heels Something happens and I'm head over heels Ah, don't take my heart, don't break my heart Don't, don't, don't throw it away

Throw it away Throw it away

Mother Mother - Problems

You and me, we're not the same I am a sinner, you are a saint When we get to the pearly gates You'll get the green light I'll get the old door in the face

Doo, doo, doo I'm a loser, a disgrace, yeah

I've found love in the strangest place Tied up and branded, locked in a cage I say I'm gonna stage a great escape Let loose and love all But baby we're out of place

Doo, doo, doo I'm a loser, a disgrace You're a beauty A luminary, in my face

I got it all, and not a lot, I got a lot less than a lot I've got problems, not just the ones that are little It's those people problems, it's something to consider When you come for dinner at my place

The Mountain Goats - New Zion (sort of a flashback to the garden, i don’t like to put really mellow songs at the very beginning of playlists so this was the best place i could fit this one in)

There were signs up in the sky When we gathered by the garden wall Everybody on his best behavior Listening for the altar call

High priest of Salem in his robes Ranting of the coming of the day Ravens at the gates Frightening all the visitors away

I lay down by the water Dreamed a dream of where I come from Old things made new Waiting for you

There were wooden wind chimes rustling In the trees above the anthills on the dunes On the high winds, we could hear them Old familiar tunes

The little bit of faith we had once Like the memory of a movie They got burned up in the great fire Reassembling itself slowly by surely

I lay down by the water Dreamed a dream of where I come from Old things made new Waiting for you

Tally Hall - Who You Are (Aziraphale POV)

Maybe there's something to being the one who you are Holding the thoughts in as you pull away in your car I get to thinking a little too often & All that I want is a little aloft & Maybe it's all too much thinking and not enough heart

How is it all of the people can know who you are? Off in the distance emitting a glow in the dark All of it subtle and all of it very bizarre How is it all of the people can know who you are? I see you Not too far

Armed to the teeth You will sit at the fireside We are the ones who have chosen the other side It was easy to see You were ready to be And it all falls down

You rose up and rode away underground Alone us finding our way to found

Catfish and the Bottlemen - Longshot

Go, ahead and tell me you got all you want Fiver says you're wrong And I suppose you've come down to help me Move things along ... Listen, the distance between us, could've took a while Once we closed that difference, you turned up like a friend of mine Every once in a while, the little things make me smile As if one of our longshots paid off One of our longshots paid off

So yeah, go, ahead and tell me something real Come on, how'd you feel? And I suppose you've come down to help me Answer to the riddle To the riddle

Why we laughed it off and we're wise enough, who knows?

Queen - You’re My Best Friend (obligatory)

Oh, you're the best friend that I ever had I've been with you such a long time You're my sunshine and I want you to know That my feelings are true I really love you Oh, you're my best friend

Ooh, you make me live

Ooh, I've been wandering 'round But I still come back to you In rain or shine

Apples in Stereo - Baroque

In the moonlight I see my memories In a new light, they seem so real to me I remember You know I remember And the starlight tripping in the sky Come on, we can still go there tonight I remember You know I remember We haven't changed We just feel a little strange We haven't changed We're just a little bit deranged

Umphrey’s McGee - Made to Measure (Crowley POV, “’you go too fast for me???’ what’s that supposed to mean??”)

Please excuse this I know it's rude But I was just trying to satisfy someone who requested mine You're hard to please And no one knows just what you need If you won't ever ask for help then how am I to tell? Uncomfortable You wear it well The sooner that you come around, the offer's waited to be found Anytime you need it I am already there and waiting What's yours is mine but you’re inclined to hesitate to try Don't get me wrong here I just want to make my intentions clear There's no room for reading into deep, if things aren't written down As soon as I've been told That you will not be sold Then we could all move forward here, and find our endings well You need a break It's hard to take the time When things will just move faster and we're never ever slowing down Anytime you need it I'm already there and waiting What's yours is mine but you’re inclined to hesitate to try And after all the bullshit shuffled, piles up inside There's only room for you and me And what we've left to try

Hayley Kiyoko - What I Need (”I’m going to alpha centauri and I won’t even THINK about you!”)

All the back and forth getting complicated Running me around got me frustrated No, that's why I been laying low If you wanna make it work, baby, gotta say it Need a little more than participation Oh, I could go be on my own ... What I need, what I need, what I need Is for you to be sure

The Mountain Goats - San Bernardino (Az POV, unsure of timeline placement on this one but it’s very tender)

We got in your car and we hit the highway Eastern sun was rising over the mountains Yellow and blood-red bits Like a kaleidoscope

And flaming swords may guard the garden of Eden But we consulted maps from earlier days Dead languages on our tongues Holding onto our last hope

And the day was bright and fine And the highway sign Said "San Bernardino Welcomes you!"

I checked us into our motel and filled the bathtub And you got in the warm, warm water I pulled petals from my pocket I loved you so much just then

Sufjan Stevens - To Be Alone with You (another tender, possibly Az POV song)

I'd swim across Lake Michigan I'd sell my shoes I'd give my body to be back again In the rest of the room

To be alone with you To be alone with you To be alone with you To be alone with you

You gave your body to the lonely They took your clothes You gave up a wife and a family You gave your goals

To be alone with me To be alone with me To be alone with me You went up on a tree

To be alone with me you went up on the tree

I've never known a man who loved me

Elbow - Starlings (Crowley POV)

How dare the premier ignore my invitations? He'll have to go So too the bunch he luncheons with It's second on my list of things to do

At the top I'm stopping by Your place of work and acting like I haven't dreamed of you and I And marriage in an orange grove

You are the only thing In any room you're ever in I'm stubborn, selfish and too old

I sat you down and told you how The truest love that's ever found is for oneself You pulled apart my theory With a weary and disinterested sigh

So yes, I guess I'm asking you To back a horse that's good for glue and nothing else But find a man that's truer than Find a man that needs you more than I

Sit with me a while And let me listen to you talk about Your dreams and your obsessions I'll be quiet and confessional

The violets explode inside me When I meet your eyes Then I'm spinning and I'm diving Like a cloud of starlings Darling, is this love?

The Cure - Why Can’t I Be You?

You're so gorgeous I'll do anything I'll kiss you from your feet to where your head begins You're so perfect you're so right as rain You make me Make me, make me, make me hungry again

Everything you do is irresistible Everything you do is simply kissable Why can't I be you? ... Everything you do is simply delicate Everything you do is quite angelicate Why can't I be you? Why can't I be you?

Hozier - It Will Come Back (Crowley POV, don’t be kind to me i’ll get attached oh shit oh shit it already happened aughh)

I know who I am when I'm alone Something else when I see you You don't understand, you should never know How easy you are to need

Don't let me in with with no intention to keep me Jesus Christ, don't be kind to me Honey don't feed me I will come back

Can't be unlearned I've known the warmth of your doorways Through the cold, I'll find my way back to you Oh please, give me mercy no more That's a kindness you can't avoid! I want you baby tonight, as sure as you're born

You'll hear me howling outside your door Don't you hear me howling babe?

The Mountain Goats - So Desperate (Az POV)

We were parked in your car In our neutral meeting place, the Episcopalian churchyard I had things I'd been meaning to say But in the dazzling winter sun that late, I could feel them melt away

And through the warm radio static I couldn't hear my stage directions And the fog on the windshield Obscured our sad reflections

I felt so desperate In your arms I felt so desperate In your arms

We were parked near some trees And the moonlight soaked the branches in ever deepening degrees Had my hand in your hair Trying to keep my cool until it became too much to bear

When we cracked the windows open Well, the air was just so sweet We could hear the cars ten feet away Out there in the street

I felt so desperate In your arms I felt so desperate In your arms

Velvet Underground - I’ll Be Your Mirror

When you think the night has seen your mind That inside you're twisted and unkind Let me stand to show that you are blind Please put down your hands 'Cause I see you

Mitski - Strawberry Blonde (pining)

I love everybody Because I love you I don't need the city, and I Don't need proof All I need, darling Is a life in your shape I picture it, soft And I ache

Ok Go - Last Leaf (Crowley POV, i will go as slow as you need me to)

If you should be the last Autumn leaf hanging from the tree I'll still be here waiting on the breeze to bring you down to me

And if it takes forever Forever it'll be And if it takes forever Forever it'll be

And if you should be the last seed in Spring to venture forth a leaf I'll still be here waiting on the rain to warm your heart for me

And if it takes forever Forever it'll be And if it takes forever Forever it'll be

Coldplay - Til Kingdom Come

Hold my head inside your hands I need someone who understands I need someone, someone who hears For you, I've waited all these years

For you I'd wait 'til kingdom come Until my day, my day is done And say you'll come and set me free Just say you'll wait, you'll wait for me

In your tears and in your blood In your fire and in your flood I hear you laugh, I heard you sing I wouldn't change a single thing

And the wheels just keep on turning The drummers begin to drum I don't know which way I'm going I don't know what I'll become

White Lies - A Place to Hide (mixed POV, apocalypse starts)

I've been searching through my books to try and find some truth Perhaps disguised as a mysterious way And if I made a promise Could I stay by your side? Would you guarantee my safety And say that I'd be all right?

But if Judgment Day started tonight at least I'd know I was right And I'd be laughing at the end of the world Take my hand tonight I'll think we'll be alright, girl

And I can see it on the TV, there's an air attack People of the mountains screaming I'll be back And I'm banging on your door so come on and let me in Need a place to hide, I need a place to hide before the storm begins

If I told you all the times when I'd done wrong Could you bathe my soul and wash it all away? I can't forgive the things that I can still remember So I think my friendly sins are here to stay

New Pornographers - Adventures in Solitude (Somebody killed my best friend)

Balancing on one wounded wing Circling the edge of the never ending The best of the vanished marvels Have gathered inside your door

More than begin but less than forget But spirits born from the not happened yet Gathering there to pay off a debt Brought back from the wars

We thought, we lost you We thought, we lost you We thought, we lost you Welcome back ... I know you want to run far away From one more and that it's comin' at a bad time Some cold place heartless ways for all we know

I know you need to breathe through Come back, come too but it's comin' at a bad time Tangled day, for all we know

I know you want to run far away from one more And that's comin' at a bad time Some cold race heartless ways for all we know

I know you want to breathe through Come back, come too but it's comin' at a bad time Old scarred face survivor's guilt, for all we know

Snow Patrol - The Lightning Strike (What if This Storm Ends?) (Crowley POV, you’re back! oh god i could’ve lost you forever.)

What if this storm ends? And I don't see you As you are now Ever again

The perfect halo Of gold hair and lightning Sets you off against The planet's last dance

Just for a minute The silver forked sky Lit you up like a star That I will follow

Now it's found us Like I have found you I don't want to run Just overwhelm me

What if this storm ends? And leaves us nothing Except a memory A distant echo

I want pinned down I want unsettled Rattle cage after cage Until my blood boils

I want to see you As you are now Every single day That I am living

Painted in flames All peeling thunder Be the lightning in me That strikes relentless

Grandaddy - A.M. 180 (the apocalypse is over. please still hang out with me? we can do anything, no need for serious plans. whatever together.)

Don't change your name Keep it the same For fear I may lose you again I know you won't It's just that I am unorganized And I want to find you when Something good happens

If you come down We'll go to town I haven't been there for years But I'd be fine Wasting our time Not doing anything here Just doing nothing

We'll sit for days And talk about things Important to us like whatever We'll defuse bombs Walk marathons And take home whatever together

Whatever together

My Chemical Romance - The Only Hope for Me is You (okay maybe we have a little trauma abt the apocalypse, anyway i love you?)

Where were you when All of the embers fell I still remember there Covered in ash Covered in glass Covered in all my friends I still Think of the bombs they built

If that's the best that I could be? Than I'd be another memory Can I be the only hope for you? Because you're the only hope for me And if we can't find where we belong, We'll have to make it on our own Face all the pain and take it on Because the only hope for me is you alone

How it should you be Many years after the disasters that we've seen What we have learned Other than people burn in purifying flame

I say it's okay I know you can tell And though you can see me smile I still Think of the guns they sell

Delta Spirit - Yamaha (Az POV, I’m sorry about the wait, I love you too)

I've been alone too many nights Too proud to tell you when you're right A little patience would have helped me then A lot like the break has been the common standard All the angels above the earth I prayed Said this message right into her head There's certain things in life I cannot take And I will wait

I hope you know I care I hope you know I care

So cold, I know you can't believe it Sometimes you gotta face the feelin' You don't care if you don't get up again There's a thousand things I will not understand (I hope you know I care) Now you're dealin' with the hell I put you through If I had my way I would be right there next to you There's certain things in life you cannot change There's certain things

I hope you know I care

Tally Hall - The Whole World and You (Crowley POV?)

There's lots of pretty people here Sharing soltries and passing letters and

There's lots of questions answered and Metaphysical astronomical songs

Words printed all on papers That seemed too mystical It's so magical

People that dance and compute that No one's better then you ... I hope you're happy now I've revealed the truth I've even written this whole song about you And not about me And not about me

Please don't just laugh and clap right now This is serious I'm not delirious

I've waited very patiently Just to let you know Who should run the show

Cause we all know these are the facts Nothing to retract Nothing too abstract

Concluding in the song I'll say No one's better than you

Ashley Eriksson - Island Song (South Downs cottage)

Come along with me To a town beside the sea We can wander through the forest And do so as we please Come along with me To a cliff under a tree Where we'll gaze upon the water As an everlasting dream All of my affections I give them all to you Maybe by next summer We won't have changed our tune I still want to be In this town beside the sea Making up new numbers And living so merrily All of my affections I give them all to you I'll be here for you always And always be for you Come along with me To a town beside the sea We can wander through the forest And do so as we please Living so merrily

The Mountain Goats - Genesis 30:3

I remember seeing you, my tongue struck dumb When you first came here from wherever it was you came from The power in your voice, your rough touch You keeping care of me, keeping watch ... For several hours we lay there, last ones of our kind Harder days coming, maybe I don't mind Sounds kind of dumb when I say it, but it's true I would do anything for you

Open up the promise of the day Drive the dark things away I will do what you ask me to do Because of how I feel about you

The Civil Wars - C’est La Mort (stay with me forever?)

Swan dive down eleven stories high Hold your breath until you see the light You can sink to the bottom of the sea Just don't go without me

Go get lost where no one can be found Drink so long and deep until you drown Say your goodbyes but darling if you please Don't go without me

C'est la vie C'est la mort You and me Forevermore

Let's walk down the road that has no end Steal away where only angels tread Heaven or hell or somewhere in between Cross your heart to take me when you leave Don't go, please don't go Don't go without me

The Magnetic Fields - When my Boy Walks Down the Street

Grand pianos crash together when my boy walks down the street There are whole new kinds of weather when he walks with his new beat Everyone sings hallelujah when my boy walks down the street Life just kind of dances through ya from your smile down to your feet

Amazing he's a whole new form of life Blue eyes blazing and he's going to be my wife

Sufjan Stevens - With My Whole Heart

And you're all I want (I fell in love, I fell in love the moment that I met you) And you're all I need (I give my life, I give my love, promise I will protect you) And you're all I've got (I will not rest until I know the best is always with you) And I still believe (I confess the world's a mess but I will always love you)

Tally Hall (edu) - Nowhere Else

There’s nowhere else I’d rather be Than in this moment you and me No place else I’d rather go No one else I’d rather know ... When the daylight turns to dusk Our energy a cosmic dust Trust with that in which you feel Love til the end ... love the lost and love the loved live below and love above love the earth and love the trees love those who give their lives for peace love all you call your family love you found a place to be love the ones with whom you fight love the ones who spend the night love the rich and love the poor love for want and want for more love the smile and simple things like those who want to live to sing love the ghost of what has passed love the trying till the last love the sick and love the strong love all who'll learn to get along

Frank Sinatra - I’ve Got a Crush on You

I'm your big and brave and handsome Romeo How I won you I shall never never know It's not that you're attractive But, oh, my heart grew active When you came into view I've got a crush on you, sweetie pie All the day and night-time hear me sigh I never had the least notion that I could fall with so much emotion

Could you coo, could you care For a cunning cottage we could share The world will pardon my mush 'Cause I have got a crush on you

Miracle Musical - Dream Sweet in Sea Major

Children born of one emotion Our devotion's deepest ocean No division reasoned we'll be Free

To know We are beyond a bow And lo, the hues arrange to show It's perfectly clear

You look quite divine tonight Here among these vibrant lights Pure delights surround us as we sail Signed, yours truly, the whale

Joy mirage's kingdom come No one left at stake Now that existence is on the wake Let's see what we can make

Apart is wholly ending A line in any final song So long so far

We will be atoning At last eternal through the past Above a blinding star

#playlist #ineffable husbands #good omens #aziraphale #crowley #i listen to it while drawing and reading fic so the goal is for it to be as long as possible #ive already added more songs to this as of 7.17.2019 #don't expect this to be a stable playlist lol

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shipaholic · 4 years

Text

Good Omens/SU crossover - The Prologue!

Day 19, 2020: already behind on my writing schedule, lol.

It’s angels and demons with gem powers y’all! I’ve decided to post scenes from the fic on tumblr as I go, and then do a big edit at the end before putting it on AO3.

Prologue: three days after Adam and Eve leave the garden, Crowley reforms for the first time.

Link to next part at the end.

---

Prologue

4004 BC

There was an angel in the garden of Eden.

The others had left already after the business with the apple, muttering about cock-ups (but more politely, being angels). Strictly speaking, there was no reason for any angel to still be skulking around the garden. A cloud of embarrassment hung over the place. In a few hours management was due to turn up and sweep it, before returning to head office and drafting an official statement. The garden couldn’t remain on Earth, obviously. There had been talk of archiving it.

A twisted black sigil, the size of a rook’s feather, lay on a flat rock. It looked as though it should have only had two dimensions, but had been press-ganged by physics into manifesting an extra one. It was wrapped in a little nest of white cloth and placed in a sunbeam. The angel hovered nearby, trying not to break into out-and-out looming.

The black object on the rock finally did something. It glowed pure white and rose out of its nest to float in the air two feet above eye level. It made a noise that would be identifiable, many, many years from now, as a laser beam charging up [1].

The light became blinding, and a shape grew out of it - more shapeless than shape, its borders wobbling like a giant soap bubble. Then it compressed and became human-shaped. Limbs sprouted in every direction. The blob at the top decided to be a head. It was like watching dough being rolled out and reformed into an unsettlingly realistic gingerbread man.

Long curls unspooled from the head. Swathes of cloth burst into existence and draped around the figure, similar to that worn by the angel. It then changed its mind, and the loose toga pinned over one shoulder morphed into a cowl and hood, wrapping around the head and leaving only a few loose strands of hair.

Features popped out of the smooth face. Colour suffused it down to the fingertips. There was a final burst of wind and light, like a celestial flourish, and a pair of gleaming white wings unfolded from its back. Immediately, they turned black, like a forest scorched to ash. They fluttered once, and the figure gently touched down on the grass of Eden.

It opened its eyes. They were still golden.

Then it squawked and fell over.

“Ack,” it said.

It kicked a few times at its robe, which was not especially tangled around its feet, but that seemed less embarrassing than acting as though it had fallen over because it still hadn’t got the hang of having legs.

Then it caught sight of the angel hiding behind a rock.

“Gnn!” it said, and grabbed for something to throw at him. [2]

“Um!” The angel held up his hands. He tried to stand up without looking intimidating, and ended up in a kind of hunch. “I come in peace. Erm.”

The figure pulled a face, as if remembering the distant present. “Peace? You killed me!”

The angel grimaced. “Well. I suppose I did, technically. Sorry about that.”

“You whacked me over the head!”

“I know how that must look -”

“I thought we were having a nice moment up there, with the sheltering from the rain and so on, and two seconds later you karate-chop me with your blessed wing!”

The angel’s face was two notches guiltier than his gave-away-my-flaming-sword face. “It really was an ac -” He paused. “Well. Not quite an accident, to be quite honest. Not in the sense of not meaning to do it. But I really didn’t mean to k- discorporate you. I feel terrible about the whole thing.”

“Oh, you feel terrible! I’ve got a ding in my skull. Brand new skull and everything.” The demon tapped its own head, but found it undamaged. It frowned. “Huh. That’s useful.”

“You seem fine now,” said the angel. He already sounded far less sympathetic.

“Yeah, ssssuperb.”

“You’ve even redecorated yourself a bit. I like the, erm.” The angel gestured vaguely. “Belt.”

“Yeah. Well. Why not.” The demon preened a little. It was quite a nifty trick. The angel was a fan of his new, cinched-in waist look, but thought it a bit of a shame the demon had covered his long red hair. His gem - the winding black sigil just under his ear - was also half-hidden under his hood. The angel had a few further thoughts, but it seemed impolite to comment.

“What are you hanging around for, anyway?” said the demon. He was still sprawled on the ground with a clump of grass in his hand. “Planning to stand over me and just… finish me off whenever I reform?” He blanched. He’d just said it off the top of his head, but it was actually a disturbing thought. “Because that sounds, uh. Boring.”

“Of course not!” said the angel. It did sound boring. Also, horrible. He’d got through the entire War in Heaven without engaging in what might technically be called combat. Given the option, he’d prefer to keep his kill-count at zero. Who knew their human forms would… explode into smoke clouds from one tiddly knock on the head? Someone upstairs might have told him. “I wanted to see you were all right, that was all. You gave me quite a shock, you know.” He gave an embarrassed cough. “Look, I really wasn’t trying to trick you - back on the wall.”

“Oh, ‘course not. You were just doing me a favour, keeping me dry, nice and neighbourly, only by sheer misfortune an overwhelming blood-lust came over you, and there was nothing for it but to smite me off a sixty-foot wall. That’s a comfort. I feel much safer now.”

The angel, unlike most of the others, understood sarcasm. [3] He kept what had really happened up on the wall to himself. It had been a loud clap of thunder - the first ever produced on Earth - and it had been startling and unpleasant. Usually a sound like that heralded the appearance of Upper Management, who would have had Questions about him chatting to a demon, of the kind that ended in Meetings with Clipboards. Getting the demon out of sight chop-chop had been the word of the day, and - well. Turned out these new, corporeal bodies were less resilient than one might hope. Bit of a rush-job, the angel regrettably suspected.

“How long was I out, anyway?” The demon peered around the sun-drenched garden. “I see this place has had time to dry out.”

“It’s been three days. I’m not really supposed to be here anymore. I’m going to be terribly late to the staff meeting.” The angel looked at him sidelong. Politeness lost a skirmish with curiosity. “What… exactly was it like?”

“What, getting my head stoved in? Or just the general feeling of betrayal?”

The angel was a being of heavenly love and he did not roll his eyes. “What were you doing in there? While you were, er, recharging?”

The demon’s yellow eyes went blank. “Hnn.” He scratched his cheek. “Just. Hanging about, you know. Think I was in contact with one of my people. Sort of felt like someone was talking to me. And like I was filling in forms. And having a nap.”

The angel frowned. “A nap? Never heard of it.”

“Oh, it’s going to be big.” The demon smiled. He had high hopes for sloth. At the very least, he suspected he was going to like it.

The angel gave a tentative smile. “So it wasn’t too unpleasant?”

The demon huffed. “Fine, no, it wasn’t torture. It was just weird. No harm done, and I got a new look out of it, so don’t be too hard on yourself. Not that you were being all that hard on yourself. Scratch that, be harder on yourself, softer on me.” He clambered to his feet. He definitely hadn’t got the legs down yet. Rebooting his body had set him back, he was sure of it. “I’ve got turned around. Where’s the exit?”

The angel pointed. There hadn’t used to be an exit [4], but now that Adam and Eve had departed, there was. “I’d move quickly if I were you. Head office is sending some of my lot down to check the place over. Could be any minute now.”

“Thanks for the warning,” the demon said gloomily. He spread his wings for balance and started to wobble away on newborn legs.

“Sorry again!” the angel called out.

“Not like anyone died. See you, angel.”

The angel waved, then felt foolish since the demon was facing away. “Aziraphale. Don’t think I said.”

“Goodbye, Aziraphale.”

“Goodbye, Crawly.”

The angel watched him stumble towards the exit of the garden, until he started to feel peculiar and unsafe and guilty about something he couldn’t put his finger on. Time to leave and avoid running into management.

Aziraphale the angel turned and strode eastwards, and Crawly the demon continued west, and they wouldn’t meet again for six hundred years.

---

[1] But only in certain B-movies.

[2] There were no deadly weapons in Eden, even if you improvise. The figure grabbed a handful of grass. He inconvenienced himself more pulling it out of the ground than he would have done to the angel by throwing it.

[3] After a fashion. At least, when it came draped in a neon flag with ‘I am being facetious and mean to you’ scrawled across it.

[4] An exit for humans, that was. The four Gates at the North, South, East and West were guarded by angels and they led to less Earthly destinations.

---

(Chapter 1, Part 1)

#omens universe fic #omens universe #good omens #steven universe #good omens fic #I sniggered for a long time when I decided how Crowley got poofed #pouring cold water over that fan-favourite moment for the lols

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brightwanderer · 5 years

Text

AU snippet (Good Omens)

FFS, brain, stop it with the angsty AUs. This has been tormenting me for nearly a week but I can’t really figure out where to go with it so I’m putting it out here in the hopes this might exorcise it or something. Or maybe I’ll write more later idk.

---

The storm that started east of Eden has eaten up the sky above them. The rain is falling heavier now; the angel's wing isn't enough to keep Crawly dry. He's about to suggest that they shuffle down off this wall and take shelter under the trees. He's just realised he doesn't know the angel's name. He quite wants to find it out. He quite wants the chance to talk to him some more. And there's something building in the air, something that sets Crawly's newly human teeth on edge: a hum, a pressure, a threat.

"Perhaps we should--"

The sky splits open above them with a sound like the breaking of the world.

It shouldn't be possible to dodge a lightning strike. The angel doesn't even have time to try. It should hit him and split him like a tree trunk. But Crawly has the senses of a demon and the reflexes of a snake and he grabs a handful of white fabric and throws them both sideways in the half-of-a-half-of-a-second before the bolt hits home.

He's almost, almost fast enough. But not quite. And he hears the angel scream, and then they're both flung back by an explosion of masonry, tossed from the top of the wall like discarded dolls.

Crawly's been a snake for long enough that remembering how to walk is a bit of a challenge, let alone fly, but it's that or hit the ground hard enough to break all his brand new bones, and so he twists in the air and desperately beats his wings, and just to make things even trickier, he's still got his death grip on the angel's robe, and he can't bring himself to let go.

They hit the ground too hard to be considered a landing, exactly, but not half so hard as they would have done if they'd fallen unimpeded from the top of the wall. Crawly lies stunned, staring up at the furious sky, rain hammering on his face until he has to turn his head and sputter to avoid drowning.

The angel lies face-down next to him, unmoving. Crawly pushes himself unsteadily up on one elbow, finally relinquishing his hold on the mud-spattered robe and flexing his cramped fingers.

"Oi," he says. "Er-- angel? You okay?"

There's no response. Crawly wonders if he's dead. Or, well, what passes for dead, for an angel. Perhaps this body is no more now than an empty shell, the spirit within already back up in Heaven trying sheepishly to explain his premature return. The thought makes Crawly unaccountably sad. He liked the angel's smile, his worried face, his kindness.

Crawly wriggles into a sitting position. The rich earth of Eden is already turning to a deep, dark mud all around him. It would be hard going if he weren't used to moving around without limbs anyway. With a distinct lack of grace, he manages to heave the angel over onto his back without crushing his wings, leans down over the angel's chest, listens.

He's still breathing. The mortal heart is still beating. Crawly relaxes very slightly, then becomes aware of the fact that he is, for the first time in his existence, rapidly becoming very cold and wet. The long hair seemed like a fabulous idea when he first manifested, all those snakey ringlets, pure rebellion in curl form. Now it's plastered across his neck and face like wet bracken. He wonders who invented rain. One of those smirking seraphim, probably.

"Angel?"

He taps meaningfully on the angel's forehead, gets no response, not even the flutter of eyelashes. Are those tear tracks on his pallid face? Hard to say with the rain and the mud. Crawly's starting to get a bad feeling about this, but he can't put it into words until he wraps the sleeve of his robe around one hand and tries to wipe the angel's face clean.

It's not mud, at least, not all of it. All down the right side of the angel's face, lines of black ink are slowly darkening, coming into focus. They are so thick and tightly packed that once they reach their full strength, there'll be barely a trace of pale skin visible. Crawly looks at the angel's right hand, lying limp on the ground, and sees the same tracery winding around his wrist, darkening his fingers as if stained with coal. His bare right foot is the same. The whole right side of his body is being overwritten like a blank page. As Crawly watches, the tips of his white wing feathers on that side darken as if dipped in ink. So do the ends of his impossibly white curls.

Crawly doubles over as if someone has punched him in the stomach. That's certainly what it feels like, the rain and the rising wind whirling around him, his wings shuddering, hands shaking as the memory of his Fall hits him like a hurricane. The sick, twisting, agonising, awful loss, the fear, the feeling of betrayal...

He can feel it now. The sense of divinity that warmed him when they stood on the wall is slowly ebbing away. He can't sense Hell's taint in its place, at least not yet, but he knows, all at once and with a grief that astounds him, that he's no longer looking at an angel.

Legs protesting, arms aching, Crawly drags his fellow demon under the trees, and waits for the storm to pass.

#good omens #fic #my fic #aziraphale/crowley #au #snippet #get thee behind me plotbunny #ineffable husbands #in the beginning

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gayestnerdsinfiction · 5 years

Note

Sensory Prompts: Good Omens, Ineffable Husbands, Number 19

“You fell to me like snow.” (i’ve tweaked the line a bit just to make it fit better)

Aziraphale stands trembling outsideof the Eastern Gate, weaponless and alone. The sky is dark and the clouds aboverumble with thunder, punctuated by bolts of lightning and flame. He can hearthe cries of his comrades, can feel the faint drizzle of rain as God weeps for theirslain creations. He stands trembling outside the Eastern Gate and he is afraid.Heaven is at war and there is nothing he can do.

He had already been on Earth whenthe battle began. He and the other angels protecting the borders of Eden allfelt the sting of loss and the ache for vengeance before they even knew whatwas going on. And then the sky went black. Not the glittering black of thenight sky, or the smooth black expanse of nothingness. It was a sickly sort ofblack, as if the clouds were weighed down with ash and smoke. With the cloudscame a foul stench unlike anything Aziraphale had ever experienced.

Aziraphale had expected to besummoned the instant the war broke out. He had expected Heaven to need everyangel it could get to stave off the forces of darkness threatening to upset hishome, his life, everything he had ever known. He had been wrong. Apparently, atleast according to Metatron, he was to remain outside the garden. It was acrucial job, he had said, one that Aziraphale was uniquely suited to do.

“The rebels could make an attempton the inhabitants of the garden,” Metatron had said. “Adam, Eve, all thebeautiful things God created for them. We need someone at the gates, just incase.”

“But what about the other threegates?” Aziraphale had asked cautiously, not wanting his question to beinterpreted as the seeds of dissent. “Shouldn’t the others keep their posts aswell?”

“If keeping watch over the fourgates is too much for an angel of your status, I suppose we can find someonemore capable.”

“No, no, no!” he said quickly. “I’vegot it all under control. Just… give a shout if you find you do need meup there.”

“I’m sure we’ll be able to handleit ourselves.” And with that, Metatron’s image vanished, leaving Aziraphalewith a very unpleasant feeling in the pit of his stomach.

Now, as he looks up at the sky andthe Heavens beyond, Aziraphale wonders if he should’ve just gone to fightanyway, regardless of what anyone had to say about it. Wouldn’t that have beenthe right thing to do?

But Metatron wouldn’t have told himto stay if that hadn’t, in some small way, been the right thing to do as well.Would he?

A shudder runs through the groundbeneath his feet and Aziraphale whirls around, looking for what might havecaused it. But he doesn’t see anything besides lush green trees and dark soilspreading out for miles in every direction. His gaze shifts back to the sky intime to see a body plummeting through the thick clouds with a bloodcurdlingwail. Aziraphale loses sight of it before it lands, but a few moments later theearth shudders again as if to announce the conclusion of his fall.

Suddenly, as if taking the place ofthe rain, hundreds of bodies begin to plunge down towards Earth as the firsthad. He can hear some of them screaming, can see the tears falling away fromtheir faces in droplets carried off on the wind. Aziraphale tries to look awayfrom the horrifying sight of it all, but he can’t tear his eyes away from theshower of fallen angels all around him.

Aziraphale had never felt so angryand so heartbroken before in his entire existence.

Not too far from where Aziraphalewas currently standing, a patch of clouds dissolves into dark, smoky wisps as afigure falls through it. But this one is different. This one does not plummetor hurtle or plunge like those before him. He does not scream or howl. He doesnot weep. Rather, he drifts almost serenely down from the Heavens, blazing redcurls swept this way and that by the wind. He falls to Aziraphale like snow,pale and gentle amidst the chaos around them.

The fallen angel lands softly onthe ground at the outskirts of the forest meant to shield the garden fromprying eyes. His feet touch the ground not with a quake, but with a soft gustof air. He stumbles, legs wobbling as if from lack of use. “Right, then,” hemutters to himself, sauntering clumsily in the direction of the Northern Gate. “Thatcould’ve gone a lot worse, actually.”

“Excuse me,” Aziraphale calls afterhim, his voice not sounding as authoritative as he wants it to, “but what doyou think you’re doing here.”

The fallen angel pauses, his headturning ever so slightly to look at Aziraphale. “What are you doinghere?” he retorts. “Aren’t you needed in the thick of things?” He gesturesvaguely upwards.

“I’m guarding the gate. Like I’msupposed to.” He peers curiously at the other being. There’s something… familiarabout him. Perhaps it’s his hair. Or the way he holds himself. Or perhaps it’sthose yellow eyes, their slitted pupils giving him a positively reptilian look.It must be something. “Have we… met?”

The fallen angel shrugs. “We’ve metnow.”

“Before, I mean. I have thestrangest feeling that I… know you.”

He doesn’t respond. His gaze shiftsaway from Aziraphale and he looks almost wistfully toward the garden. “Have youever been inside?” he asks softly, with a nod in the same direction.

“I just guard the gate.”

“So?”

“So,” Aziraphale begins, feeling atwinge of annoyance at the question, “I can’t guard the gate from the inside,now can I?”

“But when you’re not guardingthe gate,” he presses, “don’t you ever wonder what it’s like? I mean,all those brand new animals. Lovely foliage. And people—humans.” Hiseyes gleam as he says this. “Haven’t you ever wondered about humans?”

“What I’m wondering,” hesays pointedly, “is what exactly you’re doing here?”

“You know, I’m not entirely sureyet,” he replies. “I’m not sure anyone’s figured out what demons do quiteyet. Wicked things, I imagine.” He taps his chin thoughtfully. “Maybe I’m hereto do something wicked.”

“Well, if you’re here to do somethingwicked then I’ll have to stop you.”

“Have to?” The demon grins atAziraphale, tossing a lock of hair off his shoulder with a flourish. “You know,”he says slyly, “I was just thinking I might like to take a peek inside thegarden.”

“You’re not supposed to.”

“I know.” And, just like that, thedemon vanishes. Aziraphale’s head whips back and forth in search of thecreature, until he spots him standing on the other side of the gate.

“Y-you can’t—that’s not fair!”Aziraphale stammers. “You’re not allowed in the garden.”

“No, you’re not allowed inthe garden,” he retorts. “I’m a demon. I can do whatever I like now.”

“You must get out of there this instance!”Aziraphalewhispers aggressively, taking a few steps toward the demon.

The demon leans against the gate,wiggling his fingers at Aziraphale through the bars. “Then you’d better come onin and stop me. Before I do something wicked.” And with that, he turns andstruts off into the depths of the garden, disappearing among the trees andbushes.

Aziraphale wrings his handsnervously, looking first up at the sky and then back the way the demon had gone.He knows Michael and the others won’t be happy if he abandons his post, butdoesn’t thwarting evil matter more than simply following orders? Isn’t thatwhat angels were made to do in the first place?

“Coming, angel?” the demon drawls,his voice sounding quite distant by now.

Aziraphale looks through the gateinto the garden. It does look rather inviting, now that he thinks aboutit. All of God’s most perfect, most lovely creations all in one place. Perhapsit wouldn’t hurt to just… take a little peek.

While he looks around for thedemon, of course.

With a sigh and a final glance atthe sky, Aziraphale gives a little wave to the gate. It swings open with aclang and a creak. He hesitates for a moment, briefly considering thepossibility that something awful may happen to him if he goes inside. But thenhe decides that if a demon can get into the garden without so much as a chippednail, he shouldn’t have any problems himself. He smoothes his hands down hisrobe, straightens his posture, and steps into Eden.

#send me these prompts pls #Anonymous #ask #good omens #aziraphale #crowley #good omens tv #gotv #go #good omens book #fic #my fic #writing #my writing #watch me do a full 180 and become a good omens blog overnight lol #also remember when everything i wrote was under 1000 words? lol

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teenvogue · 6 years

Photo

Savage X Fenty Was Everything the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show Should Be

In this op-ed, Teen Vogue fashion features editor Jessica Andrews explores the impact of Rihanna's Savage X Fenty lingerie show and its celebration of womanhood.

I walked into the venue for my last show at New York Fashion Week to find a man serving me beverages on a platter. Another handed me the program and kindly asked that I busy myself with mingling before it was time to move to another room, presumably where the show would take place. It was a welcomed departure from the previous shows; one where I had been yelled at by a man for accidentally stepping foot on the desert-inspired set, and another where I was shoved by a male security guard as I stood in line to make way for a celebrity entering the theater. Here, at the Brooklyn Navy Yard for Rihanna's first lingerie presentation at fashion week, males were kind, attentive, and helpful, and women and femmes were esteemed guests. I had entered into the world of Savage X Fenty.

There were no seating assignments or VIP sections, no arrangement tied to a ranking of which guests were considered more important or valuable. Celebrities like Selah Marley were standing around the event space like the rest of us. The only ask? We were told that Rihanna would like us to walk around the room to take in the whole experience — and an experience it was. The fall 2018 presentation of Savage X Fenty centered around an array of exotic installations designed to resemble the Garden of Eden. There was a botanical dome, a laboratory surrounded by plants and flowers, even a pool constructed to look like a natural hot spring.

The models, referred to in the notes as the "Savages," explored their idyllic surroundings in a stirring piece of performance art. They wandered through the maze of lush flora with dazed facial expressions and they laughed uncontrollably. Then, suddenly, an army of dancers would emerge, with moves so powerful and sharp that a fuccboi might run for cover. For the finale, the models held hands in solidarity as Rihanna walked out to Elvis Presley's "Love Me Tender" from the Wild at Heart soundtrack.

The experience was moving, empowering — spiritual even. It was conceived by Rihanna in collaboration with PRODJECT, a creative agency which also helped conceptualize last season's Fenty X Puma presentation, where Rihanna appeared on a set of pink mountains while perched on the backseat of a motorcycle.

This season of NYFW, I've sat at runway shows and watched brands incorporate less than a handful of black, Latinx, or Asian models or send a single plus-size model down the catwalk in a boxy dress, as if their curves are too offensive to be clearly defined by a specific type of garment. Chromat and Gypsy Sport were among the few brands that disrupted the status quo by dressing models to show off their bodies in a diverse selection of bold looks, not just demure ones.

But it wasn't until I went to Savage X Fenty and saw two models dancing, their hair in afro puffs, thighs rumpled and bellies on full display, that I truly felt seen. It was an admonishment of the narrow standard of beauty often imposed in the lingerie space by other mainstream brands. For so long, a single archetype for the lingerie model was shoved down our throats: white, thin, tall, long hair, hourglass figure, full breasts, flat stomach. My hair doesn't hang low in messy beach waves; it coils tight into a circle, framing my face like a halo. My thighs stick together, my butt sticks out, and they both have stretch marks. Don't I deserve to wear lingerie as well? To feel attractive and alluring? I think of all the times I've been told — through ads and runway shows — that my skin, my body, my hair texture is wrong. And then here's Rihanna, affirming that this is a lingerie body, too.

Styled by Tom Van Dorpe of Management + Artists, Savage X Fenty models presented a show-stopping collection of lingerie that ranged from casual to romantic to racy. There were glow-in-the-dark garters, green leopard-print robes, fishnet bodysuits layered over black bras, criss-cross cage lingerie sets adorned with flowers, a bright blue bra set styled with a do-rag. The collection — ranging from $12.50 to $115 in price — was available for purchase immediately following the show.

With sizes spanning from 32A to 40DDD in bras and XS to 3X in undies and sleepwear, Savage X Fenty is one of the most inclusive lingerie brands on the market. But this isn't diversity the way many brands imagine it: the ticking of boxes with one tokenized model. Rihanna is celebrating the very things society has taught us to be ashamed of: our curves, our skin tones, and our bodies as they change and grow — especially during pregnancy.

📸: Getty Images

#Savage #Savage x Fenty #Fenty #Rihanna #Fashion Show #NYFW #Victoria's Secret #Victoria's Secret Fashion Show #Teen Vogue #inclusivity in fashion #Body Positivity

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suchmuchpk-blog · 7 years

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Eden Robe Festive Eid Collection For Women 2017

Eden Robe Festive Eid Collection For Women 2017. Eden Robe is one of the most eminent and popular manufacturers for Ready made Garments for kids, men and women. Now they are producing latest Eid Festive collection 2017. The main products of Eden Robe includes Casual wear, formal wear and accessories. As u know Eid is coming and everyone wants to look beautiful and charming on this special…

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jordanstrophe · 3 years

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War of Royalty

CW: Medieval whump, slavery, detailed branding, mild stabbing/cauterization, noncon stripping (nonsexual) gagged, heavily tied down and manhandled, backhanded slap, intimate whumper, revisiting an imprisoned whumper, Whumpee adopted by royalty, protective caretaker

Masterlist

Something was... wrong.

Master paced around the forge, ignoring the sword in the furnace that looked like it would melt soon. The slave had tucked himself away in hopes whatever was riling his master, wouldn’t involve him.

“Ray, come here.” Master snapped his fingers. The boy's heart sank as he shakily knelt at his master's feet, bowing his head and bracing himself from whatever pain may follow. He could see master’s hand in the shadow of the flame, his fingers hesitating just inches above his head. He must have been too slow to obey...

But instead, the hand just settled in his hair as the boy violently flinched to the point his head hit the floor. He shuddered as chills ran up his spine at the new sensation. It was... nice?

"Ray, I need you to listen very carefully and do as I say.” His master’s voice lulled.

His eyes blink open as he felt Master’s arms wrap around his waist and hoists him onto the table. Master pinned his arms over his head, winding a long rope around his wrists over and over again with the access tied to an anvil.

“Master! Please wait, what are you doing!?” Ray cried, pulling against the restraints as the same was done to each ankle. Master brushed the boy’s hair back, his hand remained on his forehead as he pinned his head against the table. He forced his jaw apart, wedging a wooden bit between his teeth as he then leaned back with a grin, watching his slave struggle and muffle pleads of mercy.

“Be. Very. Still.” He ordered, taking the heated sword from the furnace. Ray practically became paralyzed under the tip of the blade, forced to watch it trace down his shirt frying it to cinders. Master ripped the remaining cloth until his shirt was open, cleaning a spot of dirt from his chest with his thumb. Ray choked behind the wooden rod, feeling his teeth indent as the wood creaked.

Master cringed at the piercing scream that shot through his ears when he brought the tip down. Ray violently thrashed as his back arched to the point the blade stabbed into his chest as Master gasped, quickly pulling the sword out to find the wound instantly cauterized. Ray spit the gag out as he screamed-

“STOP! STOP IT! STOP!”

But his master only sighed as his slave belted loose another blood-curdling cry. He tossed the blade into the forge, pinning his arched back down against the table so he could see his work. He glanced at a parchment to confirm he had drawn it correctly, Ravenhill’s logo was no simple design after all…

“Good enough...” He hissed. Ray’s head fell slack as he gasped for air, not seemingly able to get enough of it. His hands balled into fists as he groaned, his every twitch making the wound burn.

“You’re pouring with sweat. You wanna cold bucket of water dunked on you?” His master laughed. “D-don’t t- Gaah!... T-t-touch m-.. ngh-!”

*SLAP*

His head snapped to the side as he hiccupped a sob. “Master pl-eas...why? what did I d-do?” Ray whimpered as felt his body fall into shock.

Master laughed as he sat at the table with his bound slave tied to it. “Don’t worry your pretty little head about it too much.” He cooed, thumbing the dirt and sweat from his face as he cried within his master’s palm. -

....

Eden snapped out of the burning memory, feeling a trickle of sweat dripping from his brow. He looked down at the man at his feet, his master-... Former master, who begged for his life.

“Ray, please! You can save me, darling! Think of everything I did for you, the food I brought, the water I provided, you owe me for that, don’t you!?”

“Have you already forgotten what you did?” Eden whispered, his eyes burning at the man. “Well I haven’t. You made sure of that, didn't you?!” Eden cried, pulling his blouse down to the brand marking his chest.

“Ray... Please! You don’t understand!” Merek pleaded.

“Stop it! My name isn’t Ray, not anymore... I belong to the King, not you.” Eden shuttered.

Merak reached his hand through the bars as he tried to clutch his ankle, his fingers sprawled just inches away. “Eden… I didn’t want to hurt you, it was business, you have to understand!” He rasped.

“I didn’t understand when you took a burning sword to my chest... But you just don’t understand anything at all!” Eden cried, covering his face as a burst of tears flooded his eyes.

Merek’s hand finally found his ankle, gently wrapping his fingers around him. “Eden, I’m sorry! I’m sorry for everything! But please, you’re close enough to the King you can change his mind, you can save my life! Please! Spare me...”

Eden pulled his foot from his grasp, forcing himself to breath past the tears.

“You have c-committed tr-treason against the kingdom of Everthil. The King has been n-nothing but kind and patient to me… I won’t betray him. Not like you betrayed your very city.” He turned his back, biting his lip as he prepared for the mans insults.

“Ray! Ray you can’t do this!! I own you! Don’t you walk away from me!” Merek yells, hammerings his fists against the prison bars. Eden slams the door behind him, muffling the curses from his former master. He bolts through the palace halls, searching for the King’s throne as he struggles for air.

This time, he doesn’t hesitate. He throws the doors open before the guards can stop him, the entire courtroom falls silent at the sudden intrusion. “Eden?” The King perks up, seeing tears streaking down the boy’s cheeks. He breaks into sobs as the King gestures for him, pulling him against his chest and bundles him within his robes.

“Shhh, sh shh, it’s okay… Don’t cry.” The King whispers, sitting in his throne as he lifts the boy into his lap. “You were very brave, I’m so proud of you.” He smiles, thumbing his tears away.

All eyes of the court watch the scene in shock as the boy curls up within the King’s lap.

“I uh- *ehem* your majesty shall I continue reviewing the letter from the Kingdom of Ravenhill?” The servant whispered with a blushing face.

“Shh! Don’t you dare, I want complete silence.” The king hisses. The room instantly falls back into silence to the extent you could hear a needle drop.

ʕっ• ᴥ • ʔっ Thank you for reading!~ @tears-and-lilies @just-a-whumping-racoon-with-wifi @starnight-whump @bumpthumpwhump @whumpcreations @myst-in-the-mirror @heathenville @grizzlie70 @castielamigos-whump-side-blog @thegreathowdini @kim-poce @digitalart-dwa @princessofonward @andwhump @sunflower1000 @kim-poce @lonesome--hunter

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