#we all know she’s a lesbian and married to the raven queen

[lucretiaadventurezone]

im glad we’re all on the same page over on istus’ fandom wiki page

#we all know she’s a lesbian and married to the raven queen #taz balance #the adventure zone #istus #raven queen #a sydney original

[rwbyvein]

Firen Lhain: Chapter 701: In the Air:  Part I / III

Yang walked into the small room. "You wanted to talk to me, dad?" she asked, when she saw something out of the corner of her eyes. She quickly turned her head to glare at Raven.

"Look," Taiyang said, "All I'm asking for is you two to talk. Is that too much to ask?"

"Uh-huh?" Yang dismissively asked Raven, before looking back at her father, "Did she tell me that the only reason she helped was because Weiss was going to smash up the camp with her giant... thingie..."

"It's an Arma-Gigas." Taiyang stated.

"How the hell do you know?" Yang asked.

"Language." Taiyang mildly chided.

"I am an adult, now." Yang stated.

"It's still..." Taiyang tried to say.

"It's true." Raven replied, and both heads snapped to her. "It never occured to you that there might be a reason I didn't want to help you?"

"Uh-uh?" Yang asked, "That you're a terrible mother? I think I've already figured that one out."

"I didn't want you to get involved in Ozpin." Raven sharply stated.

"Why the hell not?" Yang asked, causing Taiyang to visibly wince.

"Oh, I don't know?," Raven asked, "so you don't end up like Leo, or Ozpin himself. Or Summer."

"How can you?!.." Yang asked.

"Appearances aside, I did love her." Raven stated. "But she decided to side with Ozpin, and you two lost out, again. Her foolish vainglory was always beautiful, but it was also her undoing."

"So, what?" Yang asked, "Now you are all onboard the Oz train?"

"It's not like I have much of a choice." Raven stated. "Everything I care about in the world is on the line or dead. Do you know how many dead friends I have? At least Tai was enough of a coward to stay out of it."

"Fearing for your life is not cowardice." Taiyang stated, "Which I've tried for years to teach the both of you."

"You can't mean?.." both Yang and Raven stated, and Taiyang smiled.

"If you went in different directions." Taiyang said, "Yang has a tendancy to lose her head in combat."

Yang looked about nervously, "But, I mean..."

"You've found friends to keep you safe." Taiyang said with a smile. "Raven, on the other hand was too calculating, always afraid to make a move."

"Afraid?" an incensed Raven asked, and Taiyang just smiled at her.

"If we left it up to you," Taiyang smiled and walked up to her, "you'd never act."

"I did lead the most successful bandit tribe on Remnant." Raven said augustly.

"You did keep them alive when most of the rest of them have disappeared." Taiyang said, and Raven's eyes grew wide. "What," Taiyang asked, "You think you could leave, and I'd just stop caring about you? You are hard to keep track of, which is why I looked for any news about bandits I could. And more and more they started to disappear."

"That little bit the Schnee girl brought was right?" Raven asked.

"Her name is Aurora, and the Schnee girl's name is Weiss!" Yang said to her.

"They are kind of married," Taiyang stated, "You should learn their names."

"I wasn't exactly expecting this." Raven voiced, and Taiyang just looked at her expectantly. She quickly looked away. "That look is too powerful." she voiced. She looked back and started to smile. Raven then looked back to Yang, "I suppose... if I'm going to try and be your mother, I should meet your... wives?.."

"Apparently," Yang stated, "I'm a chip off the old block head."

"I'm not that old." Taiyang stated.

"You did tame a bandit queen." Yang said to her dad, "so you can't be that old."

"One thing you children have to learn," Raven strongly said to her, "is that men age like fine wine."

"Jaune acting all majestic does really get my juices going."

"Wait?," Raven asked, "Is Aurora part of your little?.." she said and made a circular motion with her hand.

"Nah." Yang said, but then looked worried, "Although she and Jaune have been getting along, like really well. Okay, thanks mom. Now I'm worried. And why's dad smiling?"

"No reason." Taiyang said.

"I've got to go... talk to..." Yang said, and turned to walk away.

Taiyang watched the sliding, metal doors close on their own before turning to Raven. "What exactly are you smiling about?" Raven asked him.

"Oh, nothing." Tai said with glee, and Raven just glared at him, "Just," Tai continued, "that she called you mom." Raven looked incredibly shocked.

* * *

"Hey, Aurora?" Yang said.

"Yes, Miss Xiao Long."

"Miss what?" Yang asked.

"You are my mistress'," Aurora said, and paused, looking pensive, "co-wife?" she asked.

"You... can just call me, Yang."

"Yes, Miss Yang." she said with glee.

"You're enjoying this, aren't you?" Yang asked.

"Indubidably." Aurora said with a smile, "I have spent my entire life cultivating these skills, and they are finally of use. I can do more by helping Miss Weiss, and her... erm... compatriotes, than I could have else-wise."

"You've also been getting really close to Jaune." Yang said accusingly.

"AAAAhhh." Aurora stated.

"AAAAhhh, what?" Yang asked.

"To put it bluntly, I'm a lesbian."

"So?," Yang asked, "Jaune's not the one you are after?"

"I appreciate his appreciation of women." Aurora stated. "And even if I were, I somehow doubt I could compete with the team of gracious and amazonian Huntresses he has promised with."

"You... make a good point..." Yang said contemplatively, "But still, you're sure Jaune doesn't get your juices flowing?"

Aurora stepped towards Yang, gazing lovingly up into her eyes. This caused Yang to step back, flushing orange.

"Whoa, girl. I'm married. Kind of..."

"Do you believe me now?" Aurora asked.

"Considering how the rest of us are, that doesn't really prove anything." Yang said to her.

"I'm not really sure what else I could do." Aurora said to her. "Though?," she asked, "I suppose seducing my boss' husband would likely get me fired."

"Good point." Yang said.

"And if you are finished speaking with your parents, perhaps now is the time for the specialty equipment Jaune commissioned."

"Uh, yeah..." Yang voiced, and Aurora turned to walk away. "Wait." Yang said, and Aurora paused, turning to face her, "Didn't you say you had like a ridiculouly good contract?"

"And what part are you referring to?" Aurora said with glee.

"The part," Yang replied, "where you get paid ridiculously well if you get fired."

"Golden Parachute." Aurora said with glee. "Should I be dismissed, I will never have to worry about my feet touching the ground."

"That's pretty baller." Yang said.

"Indeed." Aurora affirmed.

"But that also means," Yang accusingly said to her, "that you don't have to worry about getting fired."

Aurora just smiled even brighter. "But, should I be dimissed, I would not longer get to spend time with my love."

"Love?" Yang asked.

Aurora breathed in deep and sighed. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" Yang asked.

"For drawing the joke out too far." Aurora said, and curtsied.

"uh... huh?.." Yang asked, "Exactly what part was the joke?"

Aurora thought for a moment. "To be fair, everything I said was true."

"But?.." Yang asked.

"Including," Aurora said to her, "that I have no intention of seducing Jaune."

Yang slowly nodded her head, "Wait a minute? What specialty equipment?"

* * *

Weiss walked into the room, and looked around, seeing R_BY, Jaune, and Aurora there. "Aurora?" she asked.

"Thank you for coming, Miss." Aurora said to her.

"Wait?" Jaune asked, "Why is she a Miss, but I'm a Sir?"

"Because men age like fine wine." Aurora replied as Weiss stepped into the room.

"Wait?!" Yang asked.

"Yes?" Aurora said to her, and Yang looked at her nervously. Her scales were blushing between orange and red, as if she couldn't decide.

"My mo... I mean, Raven, said something similar to that." Yang replied.

"And?" Weiss curiously asked.

"And," Yang said accusingly, pointing at Aurora, "she is most defintiely into men, especially the tall, blond, daddy types..."

"Daddy types?" Jaune asked.

"Oh, shit?!" Yang asked, "Did I seriously get that from my mom?!"

"Ah." Aurora said, "You mistake my meaning."

"And exactly what was your meaning?!" Yang accusingly asked her.

"Men tend to prefer feeling masculine." Aurora said.

"Uh-huh?" Yang asked, as if her patience were being tried.

"They prefer appelations of strength, maturity, capability." Aurora continued.

"Uh... huh?.." Yang asked.

"All things that grow with age." Aurora said, "Women tend to prefer youth, beauty, fertility."

"Daddy types?" Jaune repeated, and Yang looked at him, flushing a deep red-orange.

"Oh, shit." Yang voiced.

"No." Blake said to her, "You don't get to back away from that one."

"It's just..." Yang voiced, "You know how caring Jaune is?"

"Of course." Weiss quickly affirmed.

"I don't mean he cares," Yang said, "but, like, how he literally picked me up, sat me at the table, and told me to fucking eat. Like, he LITERALLY takes care of us."

"It was weird seeing Yang doing what she's told." Ruby voiced.

"Like you're one to talk, sis." Yang said to her.

"Jaune," Blake said, "will literally just pick up Ruby when she's being..."

"Ruby." Weiss added.

"Hey!" Ruby shouted.

Weiss turned towards Ruby and held her hands together in front of her, "As someone who is Weissy, I feel turnabout is fair play."

#rwby #firen lhain #faunus au #pollinated knight

[dangerouseggwolfangel]

Truth be told, Sonia was one of the units I was really waiting for in my Askr. Mainly because her connections with many characters are interesting to me, Ursula above all. Want a taste of what I mean?

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

It's been over 4 years, and Ursula was here since the beginning. She has really made a name for herself, helping in all of the wars, partecipating in voting gauntlets and beach trips.

Her aloof personality and perfectionist attitude, along with her peerless skill in magic helped her get a legion of secret admirers among the less experienced spies/assassins/criminals of Askr.

"Ursula is so cool. She is hard to approach but she is so strong and fearless. Whenever I'm on a mission with her, I'm relieved. She is PERFECT. She is so confident and it seems nothing can even hope to bother her."

And then Sonia gets summoned and Ursula's brain turns into mush. Nobody has ever seen her act this way. She constantly comes up with excuses to spend time with Sonia, does everything for her, sometimes managing to bring her what she wants before she even speaks, almost as if she could read her mind, she BEGS the summoner and Commander Anna to get paired with Sonia, with promises of incredible feats of magic that can only be accomplished when two PERFECT mages are completely in sync, something she insists is not possible for anyone except the two of them.

Even worse, when asked about her strange behavior and about her exact relationship with the alluring woman she becomes flustered and angry and nervous, everything she normally isn't.

Nobody can make sense of the situation, until Dorothea connects the dots and compares Ursula with some friends of hers that acted similarly in the past:

"I know what's going on. There is only one explanation for her sudden change. Ursula is... a useless lesbian. Probably the kind that denies the truth even to herself, poor dear. There is one person we can ask to confirm it without a doubt."

And when asked about it, Plumeria confirms: "yeah, she's really got it bad. That ugly woman is the protagonist in all of Ursula's dream. In some dreams they walk together holding hands the entire time. In others Sonia praises her in public, proclaming that Ursula is the only person worthy of her time. They even go on romantic dates. How indecent, to think she would have such lust for a married woman. You humans are disgusting."

This discovery caused a minor scandal. Some of Ursula's admirers were heartbroken by the revelation that the invincible woman they adored like an idol never existed. Others were happy to know that she was just a normal person after all, with emotions and flaws. It humanized her and they found that, if anything, this made her even more amazing.

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

So, at this point maybe I should really start making fanfictions, analysys, headcanons and all that good stuff. I can't always count on others to make the content I want to see, I have to contribute. Anyway, just so we are clear Ursula having the big gay is an headcanon. Sure she ADORES Sonia, she lives and dies for her, her summer alt thinks about how Sonia would look in a swimsuit and start giggling (this is true, look it up) but we live in a world that still denies that there's something going on between Raven and Lucius, so nothing short of an actual declaration of love will make it canon, despite all the evidence.

Anyway, despite my deep fascination for their dynamic, I don't really ship Ursula and Sonia. For me (like 99% of villains) they can both be redeemed, but they just aren't... good for each other, you know? Sonia is interesting. All morphs are perfectly aware of what they are and there's no reason for Nergal to lie to her, since she would have been obedient either way. The only explenation is that she knows, but lives in denial which is what makes her interesting. Ursula is interesting too. She seems to need the validation of a person who is her superior, a perfect being, and she is completely fine with being used like a tool by her mistress, knowing full well that if she ever disappointed her it would be all over. YIKES! Honey, you need to stop objectifying yourself and change this toxic way of thinking. You deserve better than this.

They are horrible for each other. Ursula keeps feeding Sonia's massive ego and makes it way easier to live a lie instead of facing the truth. Sonia needs a partner who is capable and charismatic (she only interacts with PERFECT humans, remember?), but also not a simp. Someone who won't fall for her tricks and will actually confront her. And Ursula simply needs someone who would love her as an equal.

Clarisse would be a good girlfriend for Ursula, they are similar in many ways, and could bond over their traumatic past (ok, we know nothing about Ursula's past, but come on. You don't end up being an assassin without some trauma). Another option would be someone who appears inherently superior, like a queen, which would make Ursula want to serve them, and then be surprised when she gets treated well. Elincia? Eirika would be an option too. But definitely not Edelgard. Edelgard x Ursula would be cursed for many reasons.

Sonia is a bit trickier. The best candidate would be someone with a lot of life experience and a sharp tongue. She doesn't need kindness, she needs a big, fat "reason you suck speech" to destroy her before she can build herself back as an healthier person and only after she is at peace with herself the relationship could start. Maybe Michalis? As someone who also had both his pride and body destroyed and managed to come back as a better person he could do the trick. I'm sure there are many other options I'm not thinking of.

So in conclusion, Sonia is cool. If people won't start making more content for her now (other than the horny content which is 100% coming. Plumeria is disappointed but not surprised) I might have to take things into my hands.

#fire emblem heroes #fire emblem #feh #fe heroes #fire emblem blazing sword #sonia fire emblem #fe sonia #ursula fire emblem #fe ursula #fe7 #character analysis #i guess the second half of the post turned into one #shipping discussion #fans of Sonia x Ursula I am very sorry #Ursula is gay like half the cast of fe7 and it's time we stop acting like that's not the case

[bluboothalassophile]

Welcome to Chaos

@chromium7sky, again a HUGE thanks to her for allowing me to use the Batlings for this story!

Spoilers for Hopes for a Bastard!

Disney and Disasters!

Raven walked in holding a bowl of popcorn with Helena on her hip.

“And you’re sure you can handle the four hellions?” Jason asked again.

“No, no I’m not sure that I, the Queen of Hell, can handle for kids under the age of three.” She sighed as she gave her best friend a baleful stare.

“Hey, I’m being responsible and asking!”

“Go, you and Dami will be back by three, we’ll be sleeping, if you’re running late, text me, and we’re having a Disney and Pixar marathon,” Raven stated as she set the popcorn down. Ace thumped his tail as he cuddled Lian on the couch. Alfred the cat was stretched out on the back of the couch and Titus sat in front of the Batcave entrance faithfully because Damian was going to go there, the dog would try to deter that. Terry giggled and held onto a floating Mar'i who was sucking her pacifier innocently as her solid green eyes stared down at them.

“Rae…”

“Go Jason, I babysit your hellion all the time.” she shoved at Jason’s shoulder towards the clock.

“Lian’s not mine,” Jason grumbled.

“And I’m your lover, get going Jason, Damian will be down soon,” she shoved him at the door.

“Seriously Rae, if anything happens…” Jason started.

“Jason Peter Todd If You Do Not Go Down That Clock I Will Send You To Hell! Go!” she snapped and pointed at the clock.

“Fine, if you need me call!” he called over his shoulder.

“Helena, your big brother is an idiot,” Raven smiled at the baby girl. Helena smiled.

“I’m not her brother!”

“Technically you are! Cat adopted you! Now Go Jay!” she shouted after him before shutting the clock behind him and flopping onto the couch. She used her powers to catch Terry who squealed in delight as at being caught by telekinesis then she set him on the couch. Mar'i flew onto Raven’s shoulder.

“Hello darling,” Raven smiled at her goddaughter. The baby sucked her pacifier as her riot of flaming black curls pinkened at the tips.

“Raven,” Damian's commanding tone had her looking up at the kid. He was about twelve.

“If you ask if I can handle this I would like to point out I am legal to drink on the solstice and can vote, have magic, telekinesis, shadows, and many other powers, which is more than you, so get your ass down to that cave and go!” she snapped. The tween huffed as he stalked to the cave then and Raven smiled.

“Incredibles 2!” she said, Lian and Terry squealed for joy at her words, Helena laughed, Mar'i tugged on her hair. Raven used the shadows to set it up, having the babies fascination as it started the movie then.

Raven summoned her math book for studying as she had that atrocious math final on Monday, then a wedding to attend on Saturday. Plus the week of prepping this was going to take, and the three day celebration for Dick and Kori’s wedding… it was going to be a long week.

~~~*~*~*~~~

Damian roused when he heard voice then bolted upright noticing the weight on his chest was missing, he was up and silently making his way through the house and came to the family entertainment room.

He stopped in shock as he stared at Ingo sitting there, holding the remote, sucking on a book; Huckleberry Finn, staring with wide eyes at the television. Damian just blinked several times to make sure he was seeing this right, when the lavender head turned on him and brilliant emerald eyes stared at him as Ingo sucked harder on the book. For being a year and about a half old, Ingo was a quiet baby who didn’t talk all that much.

“Mama,” Ingo suddenly blurted out, the book clattered onto the floor and his son looked bewildered and disappointed.

“Mama is resting,” he assured his child sitting down on the couch with Ingo and picking the kid up.

“Mama!” the boy pointed at the television and Damian stared at the video of his and Raven’s wedding. Raven was smiling, her lavender hair was pulled up and twisted into an intricate bun, her wine colored eyes were shining brightly and beautifully as a pink blush dusted her pale cheeks. She stood there before him in a beautiful feathery like dress, it looked like something of a dream. He hugged Ingo and stared at his wedding.

Jon had been his best man. Dick was with Kori and holding baby Mar'i, Tim and Stephanie were there, Jason was ginning mischievously, Maya, Mother, Selina, Father, they were all there, and he could only remember having eyes for Raven. It was something magical.

“Mama,” Ingo whined and reached for her.

“Mama is not here, she is resting.”

Tears formed in Ingo’s eyes and Damian stroked his son’s head.

“It is alright son, she will be back.”

“Mama,” Ingo whined.

Damian wanted his wife too, and he kind of wished he was there with her now. But that was not possible right now, she was at a spa resort in Vermont, and she’d be resting, pampered, cared for, everything he needed.

“Mama NOW!” Ingo screamed.

“No!” Damian snapped as he stood.

The room trembled, books rattled on their shelves and things started flying and Ingo screamed at the top of his lungs then.

“MAMA NOW!” Ingo screamed.

“No!” Damian repeated wincing at the pitch. There was a scream then there was darkness and Damian yelped as he was sucked into a void like one of Raven’s portals before he came stumbling out the other side in his family entertainment room and fell over the back of the couch, curling around Ingo to protect the baby.

“OW!” He landed on someone, there was a startled yelp before shadows warped and everything went flying. With a thud he slammed into a table, there were barks and low growls and screams, but pain burst forward when he smashed his elbow.

“Mama!” Ingo shouted then.

“What the Hell!?” a feminine voice gasped.

~~~*~*~*~~~

Jason was in his armor, on his bike when the demon spawn joined him.

“Raven is pushy.”

“She doesn’t like hovering,” Jason shrugged. He got it, he was hovering, but seriously, the four kids, under the age of four, together, they were trouble, and a handful, and he’d been duped into watching the four of them together often enough to hesitate. He also knew if Raven was in over her head she’d call her moms, right? Harley and Ivy were surprisingly good with Helena and Lian, he’d bet they could handle Terry and Mar'i. Oh, he needed to stop thinking and go get into trouble now. Something had to be happening tonight on patrol. Anything! It was Gotham!

“You are still insisting with Artemis as your date?” Damian sneered at the thought.

“And what’s wrong with Arty?” Jason demanded as he revved his engine, and kicked the stand up before they blasted out.

“She’s not right for you.”

“Jesus kid, it’s a date for a wedding, not an engagement for life!” Jason snapped. He had asked Artemis because Dick had gotten on his nerves, and apparently, Jason couldn’t go with Roy or Raven as Raven was the Maid of Honor and paired with the Bestman, Wally, and Roy was with Donna as they were both bridesmaid and groomsmen. Honestly, not his wedding, not his set up, not his worry, but he was going to the damn wedding as a peace offering for Dick. Dick had insisted he have a date, so Jason had asked the biggest lesbian on the planet to go with him; Artemis of Bana-Mighdall.

“It better not be,” Damian sneered.

“You do realize Arty is a lesbian, right?” Jason asked blandly.

Damian gave him a dumb look and Jason snickered then as he leapt onto the highway, they merged into traffic before speeding then, as they raced into Gotham.

Bat Brat was going to drive him nuts! Nearly two years later and the demon brat hadn’t stopped this ridiculous idea that Jason should be dating Raven, and that simply was not going to happen because she was his best friend with Roy. And Jason was not fucking up his best relationship to appease the bat brat.

There was an alert going off at WE labs, which had him and Damian turning hard down the exit as the Bat signal flickered to light then was solid as it loomed over Gotham.

Just another night in paradise!

For a mad minute everything was going to be hell and a handbasket and he was kind of looking forward to it as he raced Damian towards the precinct then for the WE problem.

-Be Safe

The text illuminated on his bike.

“How much you bet Cat forced B to text that rather than leaving to come here for the night?” Jason asked Robin.

“Father does as he pleases and does not submit to a woman’s whims!” Damian snapped.

Jason barked a laugh as they raced to the meet.

~~~*~*~*~~~

Raven had been dozing on the couch, with Mar'i, Helena, Lian and Terry, Ace on her feet, and Titus right below her, with Alfred the Cat on her shoulder. She didn’t remember falling asleep but she had woken to the glowing black screen, something had been tickling her empathy, and it was bothering her, then there’d been a burst of blackness, a body landing on her, which she had tossed off as she threw herself and the babies into the air, and floated ready to strike whoever it was down.

Then there’d been a scream for mama and now there was a baby with bright green eyes and purple hair flying at her.

“What the Hell!?” she gasped. Mar'i cried loudly now and there was a burst of star bolts at the baby, Raven wrapped all shadows around everyone and slammed them into a dining room as she sealed the babies in high chairs, and the stranger in a chair. The man was familiar and every flavor of his emotions a nuance she knew which had her forming a shadow blade as she approached him slowly.

“Ow,” he groaned out, then brilliant green eyes opened to stare at her. They weren’t the right eyes, but the face was right.

“Raven!?” he sputtered. “What are you doing here!? I gave you the weekend off!” he sputtered.

“Funny, no one can make me do anything, who are you?” she demanded as she lifted her shadow blade beneath his chin, tilting his head back a bit.

“Don’t be ridiculous Raven, you know exactly who I am,” the man snapped irritably.

“I don’t think so.”

“I’m your husband, Damian,” he growled.

“Okay, now I just think your nuts!” She decided. “What insane version of me, would ever marry a version of Damian Wayne, other than one that clearly fell for jailbait.”

“Jailbait!? Don’t be so crass, you sound like that imbecile Todd.”

“I see, so you are from a different dimension, the Damian from here would kill for me to end up with his idiot brother.” Raven sighed and released the shadows before she grabbed the man’s head to inspect where he had hit it. It was a habit, one she wasn’t out of as she dragged her fingers through his hair and found the knot before healing that little goose egg.

“Different dimension?” Damian sputtered.

“Yes, I had thought you were from demented future, but you are most certainly from a different dimension, which means, I’m Raven, but I’m not your wife,” Raven stated releasing him.

“Ingo,” he growled as he stood for the baby. The baby squealed and Raven gasped as she was tackled on her waist by a baby who smiled brightly up at her.

“Mama!”

“Oh dear Azar,” she sighed.

“Can you get us back?”

“I don’t even know where you’re from!” Raven snapped trying to pry the clingy baby off her to hand it back to it’s father.

#bluboothalassophile #chromium7sky #fanfic #hopes for a bastard #hopes for a bastard universe #batlinks universe #batlings universe #batlings #damian wayne #jason todd #raven #damirae #demonbirds #damian x raven children #terry mcginnis #lian harper #mar'i grayson #helena wayne #ace the bathound #titus the dog #alfred the cat #ingram wayne #ingo wayne #chapter 2

[chasholidays]

'All the stories you read as kids are true' Bellarke once upon a time.

The problem is this: Bellamy Blake does not belong in this story.

Of course, he must belong in some story. There is no being which does not have a story. But he does not belong in Alie’s story, and he’s going to make everything complicated. She had such a neat narrative, every story ending in a tidy bow, every major character accounted for. It was perfect.

And now, it’s going to be difficult.

*

She started as so many storytellers do, the first time she tried it: once upon a time, there was a peaceful kingdom, ruled by a just king and a beautiful queen.

These days, of course, the narratives are more complicated. The simple stories aren’t as popular anymore. The queen can’t be notable primarily for her beauty, and the king needs ambiguity, moral complexity. Diversity is important. The story can start off slow, but there must be twists and turns. There must be suffering. Happy endings are to be earned, not given by virtue of birth and status.

Good writers evolve.

So the queen dies, and the king is plunged into grief, and when his son dies, the line of succession is broken, and one of his advisers steps up to take his place. She spars with another adviser until the arguments become too heated and disagreement turns to passion, as sometimes happens. Love blooms where things were once barren, happiness grows out of sadness.

This is not, of course, exactly how it goes every time. But the broad strokes remain the same, no matter where the characters are, whether the princess is locked in a tower of stone or grief. The story should still work.

The story is going to work.

*

Bellamy Blake is an unfortunate side effect of an impulsive experiment.

The experiment was with the woodcutter, whose narrative value has decreased as technology progresses. It’s not a career anymore, woodcutting, and Alie has had to struggle to make him fit in. He works as an artisan now, a craftsman, and selling his creations online, he met Aurora Blake, a woman named after one of Alie’s first stories. That had pleased her, which was why she allowed it to happen at all. The woodcutter had no romantic entanglements, a quiet man who kept to himself, and a dalliance with the outside world seemed safe, for him. A good way to find out how expanding the parameters of the story might affect it.

She didn’t know about Aurora Blake’s son, and she didn’t know that the single night would result in a second child, a daughter. When the woodcutter found out, he did all the proper things, offering to marry Aurora and paying child support when she declined his suit. Alie was aware of Octavia Blake as someone of the story and not, a strange, dangling thread.

If all Bellamy Blake did was bring his sister back to her, Alie wouldn’t mind him. That’s a public service. But he stays, and that’s a problem. He’s not supposed to live here.

He’s not supposed to get involved.

*

She’s there, the first time Bellamy Blake meets Clarke Griffin. She doesn’t always witness things; sometimes, she has to read them in the book later, but it’s the weekly farmer’s market, and everyone in town comes to those. She wouldn’t miss it for the world.

In her previous stories, she’d put the princess with the prince, the natural pairing, and it had been fine, but lacked some punch, so she’s trying something new. Next time, she thinks she’d like to not kill the prince–it was a little too much death, this time around–but she doesn’t think they’ll be together again. The prince and the princess is just such a cliche.

So is killing off a character of color, come to that. She’ll do better by Wells next time.

But Clarke’s storyline has been going well. She’s been exploring her sexuality, finding her preference is for women and not men, and it’s progressing exactly as planned. She’s completed her relationship with Niylah and is well on her way to updating her label to lesbian. This market is supposed to be the next step, the beginning of her happily ever after. She and Lexa will meet and commence a long, complicated flirtation,ending with love. It’s going to be good.

Instead, Clarke bumps into Bellamy Blake.

Alie saw Bellamy come in with his sister and didn’t think anything of it. But Octavia went off with some of the other teenagers, and Bellamy was left to his own devices, wandering without much focus,

Until he bumps into Clarke.

It shouldn’t be anything. It should be a minor hiccup, but Bellamy catches her arm and Clarke looks up to see him, and Alie feels the shudder as the story begins to rewrite itself.

“Sorry,” says Bellamy. “I’m kind of lost.”

Clarke’s mouth twitches. “Lost?”

“Maybe not lost, just overwhelmed. The town’s so small, I thought the farmer’s market was going to be a block or two at most, probably just a parking lot. But this is–wow.”

“Good wow?”

“I’m impressed, yeah. You’ve got some amazing stuff here. I knew O’s dad was a craftsman, but I didn’t know he came from a whole town of artists.”

“I guess it’s one of those things, yeah,” says Clarke. “We’ve always been a kind of traditional place.”

“I noticed. It was like walking back in time. I wasn’t even sure you guys would have wifi.”

“We’re old-fashioned, not stupid.” She offers her hand. “I’m Clarke Griffin.”

He shakes. “Bellamy Blake.”

“Trust me, I know. We don’t get a lot of new blood around here.”

“Wow, that was a creepy way to say that. Definitely not worrying you guys are a weird cult who want my organs now.”

“Like you weren’t already worried about that.”

“Not that specifically. I was still coming up with possibilities. You have to admit the place is creepy,” he says, giving her a look. “Just a little.”

“Creepy? Seriously?”

“Nowhere is this nice and friendly. I walked into the diner and had a job by the end of my first day, and it’s actually enough to pay for me and O’s place.”

“O is your sister? Mr. Harris’s daughter? She’s staying with you.”

“Yeah. Our mom died a few months ago and she’s not eighteen yet, so–” He shrugs one shoulder. “I couldn’t get custody without her dad’s approval and I couldn’t afford our place in the city, so I figured–fresh start, right?”

“And now it’s going too well and you’re suspicious.”

“Trust no one.”

They’ve walked past Lexa’s booth by now, and she’s engrossed in a conversation with Gaia. She and Clarke didn’t even look at each other, which is not how the story is supposed to go.

Clarke laughs, and Bellamy smiles at her, and Alie narrows her eyes, jaw tightening.

She hasn’t had a challenge in a while. Maybe it will be novel.

*

The best stories tell themselves. The author creates situations, but she allows her characters to react on their own as much as they can. Alie has her setting, Lucis, and her cast of archetypal characters, and her magic, but every story she tells is different. Every story is shaped by the individual characters, by their choices and interests, and every author, Alie is sure, has experienced the frustration of a character not reacting how they were supposed to, how they were expected to.

This is on a level she’s never experienced, though.

She knows things about Bellamy. He’s twenty-five, eight years older than his sister, and he’s felt as if it was his responsibility to care for her almost since she was born. There’s nothing wrong with him, exactly, but he is not hers, she does not control him, he does not belong in her story. He’s not the one the princess is supposed to want to be with.

But she does. Every time Alie turns her attention away from Clarke’s story, checking on the romance between Nathan, the miller-turned-programmer, and Monty, one of the farmers, or the progression of the political and personal conflicts between Clarke’s mother and her new husband, Clarke will have gone into the diner to flirt with Bellamy.

And Bellamy, outside of her control, keeps barging in on scenes that Alie never even thought he’d be in, and as soon as he’s there, he takes all of Clarke’s attention.

And despite her best efforts, she can’t get rid of him. Charles Pike won’t fire him, because he’s a good worker. Indra Birch won’t evict him, because he’s a good tenant. Calvin Harris likes having him and his sister around. Everyone seems to think he’s a good addition to the community, to the story, and that means Alie’s hands are tied.

She does what she can, of course. Gina Martin is a nice girl, unattached, slated for a tragic premature death. Alie gives her reasons to cross Bellamy’s path, trying to distract him. After all, just because Clarke is interested in him doesn’t mean he’s interested in Clarke, and Alie isn’t privy to his thoughts.

In the end, all she accomplishes is getting Gina and Raven Reyes in the same place, and instead of Raven falling for Kyle Wick, as she was meant to, she and Gina begin a courtship.

Things are unraveling at a truly unprecedented rate. One foreign element and suddenly nothing is going according to plan.

“I didn’t think Raven and Gina liked women,” Clarke tells Bellamy, after the two of them discover Raven and Gina on a date. “I thought I did,” she adds, under her breath.

“Who says you don’t?” Bellamy asks.

Clarke bites her lip. Alie’s been watching her more and more, being where she’ll be more than usual, and it’s been odd, witnessing her changing. None of her creations have ever evolved so independently of her. Not really.

“I thought I did, but–I like men too.”

“Me too,” says Bellamy, with a shrug. “I like men and women. Plenty of people do.”

“They do?” Clarke asks, and Alie mouths the words along with her. That’s something to think about; it hadn’t occurred to her. She’d thought everyone was just one way or the other. Binaries tend to appeal to her.

But the narrative would be better served by more choices.

“Jesus, I know bi-erasure is bad, but I can’t believe you guys didn’t even know it was a thing.” He nudges his shoulder against hers, doesn’t move away after. “Get your phone out, google bisexuality.”

They lean over Clarke’s phone together, heads bent close, and Alie finishes her drink.

At least she learned something.

*

She thinks about killing him, of course. It would be easiest. Another tragedy for Clarke to face and overcome, and it would sever Octavia’s ties to the outside world, letting her integrate fully into the narrative. It would be so much easier, and it would get the story back on track. An elegant solution.

Her mind is most of the way made up when she’s reading the book one night and finds that Clarke confessed to Raven–I think I’m in love with him–and the words are there, in black and white, somehow unexpected, in spite of everything.

Love. Clarke thinks she loves him.

It is possible to recover from a lost love. Alie has seen it; second chances can be a beautiful thing. But Clarke’s already lost plenty of people in her life, her father and her closest friend, and she’s overcome it. She’s bright and thriving and happy, and she’s in love with a boy who–

Well, that’s the other thing. Alie doesn’t know. For the first time, she can’t be sure how this story will go. She thinks Bellamy loves Clarke too, that they’ll be together, but she doesn’t know.

How wonderful, to not know what’s going to happen.

She can’t wait to find out.

#la-la-lara

[mythicalmythos]

Princess stories I wish I’d had as a child.

(So this wound up being about twice as long as planned but it feels good to finally get it all out there)

Okay so, this has kind of been bouncing around in my head since I saw Wonder Woman over the summer. 

I grew up watching Disney movies and I am a huge Disney nerd to this day but the older  I get the more I come to realize that as much as I love the Disney princess movies, I can’t really support some of their messages, intentional or not, as a woman in her 20s out of college, as  I could in the past, even in high school. 

Don’t get me wrong, I understand that the movies are a product of their time, and for a long time in our society the main path a girl’s life took was grow up, meet a boy, get married, have lots of babies. There was a huge amount of focus on maintaining the white picket fence life in America. Though we as women have made huge strides since the first Disney movie was produced, I feel like entertainment media takes a while to catch up to the changes society makes, especially media who’s target audience is made up of mostly kids.

In spite of all of this I think that Walt Disney himself was in favor of gender equality, even if it might not have been in the same manor and degree that we have today. He and his company made their mark on the world by making movies about female protagonists. Yes, you can argue that the women portrayed in the movies aren’t great role models and I agree with you. However, even in “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” the main conflict is between two women. (Messed up and vain though that conflict may be.) Then in 1946, Disney produced a short film called “The Story of Menstruation. That’s right. Disney made a short film that gives accurate health information about periods in FUCKING 1946. While it is not perfect (come on it’s post-War, women are still expected to marry and have babies), it explains periods in accurate and scientific language and most importantly, emphasizes that periods are a normal and healthy (if annoying) part of every uterus-possessing human’s life. In 1946! I didn’t even realize that this existed until I was in college and I didn’t believe the friend who told me about it until they pulled it up and made me watch it. Why wasn’t this used or even mentioned in sex ed growing up? Though it is old and doesn’t really explain sex past mentioning that it is necessary for pregnancy to occur, it still is just a good jumping off point as anything I was shown/told as a pre-teen. Come on, this is a great resource to show a child who is asking the early questions about puberty (which happens way earlier than any parent is ready for. I myself was a very curious child and asked a lot of embarrassing questions WAY before my parents thought they would have to answer any of them.)

Okay, that was more than I thought I had to say on that but anyways, back to the Princess movies themselves. The one that I have the biggest problem with is “The Little Mermaid.” I know “Sleeping Beauty” is pretty bad too with the whole ‘unconscious therefor unable to give consent thing’ but honestly that for whatever reason doesn’t get to me like Ariel’s story does.

Before I totally start ragging on this movie let me just say I really loved this movie for a long time. I’m very musical and the music is amazing. I grew up singing them and “Poor Unfortunate Souls” is in my top 10 villain songs. (Also Ursula is based on a famous drag queen named Divine, which is awesome.) I love all of the songs in this movie, even the forgettable one at the beginning. But once you string them together with the rest of the story, I just can’t get behind the final product anymore. A few years ago, my mom showed me a video that  Mayim Bialik posted on her YouTube channel where she talks about how she reacted to the movie (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-9pm8Zy7SY). At first I thought ‘okay she has a point but it’s still a classic story’ then I started to think about it off and on in the back of my mind, along with reading and looking into the original story by H. C. Anderson (which, not exactly a kids story, be prepared for a lot of questions and blood). And I slowly came to realize that I can’t support showing this movie to my own kids someday without first having a serious talk about self-respect. No one should be told that they have to change a fundamental part of who they are or their body to find “love”. REAL “True Love” is accepting and unconditional, fish tail and all.

So where exactly does Wonder Woman come into all of this? Well back when I saw it in June, I was a bit hesitant because I’ve always kind of written WW off because of her outfit. Not my finest choice I’ll admit, but, nerd though I am, I never have been big into comic books or the Justice League cartoons (though Teen Titans with Raven and Starfire was one of my favorites. It hasn’t been until more recently that I have really come to appreciate the superhero genre.) But when I heard that WW was getting her own big screen story, I was intrigued. I didn’t know much going in, though I had high hopes. I’m a bit embarrassed to say I went partially because of Chris Pine because I tend to enjoy the projects he picks. But when I saw the movie, I was blown away. Not that the movie doesn’t have its weak spots for me (Ares took quite a bit of convincing). But as I came out of the theater I finally understood why my brothers love superhero movies. Seeing a woman (or in this case, a lot of women) on screen kicking butt, making their own stories, and being general badasses gave me this surge of confidence that I could do anything I set my mind to. This is a movie I didn’t know I was missing until I saw it. The more I read about how Patty Jenkins went about creating the world of  Themyscira, like hiring a range of women of color, female body builders, weightlifters and wrestlers, it didn’t even occur to me that muscles on women are often considered ugly by our society. These women had bodies that reflected the work that they put in everyday and the power and strength that they possess. They are beautiful and send a beautiful message to young girls that they can be anything damn social standards of gender roles and beauty.

So I saw WW months ago and had talked to my friends about it but my thoughts and the powerful message stayed mostly in my head until now. Why? Well, I was several videos deep in a YouTube binge about a week and a half ago when I came across one from ScreenRant called “10 Rejected Princesses that Actually Exist” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3PUQtHXbiE). Now seeing as I am a total sucker for a title like that, naturally I open the video. Expecting stories from different mythos and legends from around the world (like the original Little Mermaid) I was very surprised to learn that this list was mostly made up of real women from different cultures around the world. Yes, there are a few legends and myths thrown in but mostly these women actually existed.

So turns out that this video is in fact based on a book written by a guy named  Jason Porath, an ex-Dreamworks animator, who, following a bet at work, decided that these women needed to have their stories told. Some time and a book deal later “Rejected Princesses” was born. A collection of 100 stories about badass women who changed their worlds. (http://www.rejectedprincesses.com/) 

I’m only about half way through but the more of the book I read the more I wish someone had given me this book as a kid. Mind you, not all of these stories are 100% appropriate (some of the ones at the end of the book are 5 on a 1-5 scale for maturity.) for every little kid but the fact that this book exists and tells real stories without shying away from the real situations that these women lived through is an amazing thing. There are women of color, lesbian and bi- women and probably many more as I haven’t finished the book yet. Haha (Trying to read three books at once is not my smartest life decision.) 

The older I get, the more I see things in my childhood that reinforced the more traditional male/female gender roles on me. My parents never told me I couldn’t do something just because I was a girl and they have always encouraged me to learn and do well in school, especially they encouraged my interest in science. But as things like WW and “Rejected Princesses” come to my attention I realize that just because I didn’t realize their influence was missing doesn’t mean I didn’t feel it. I remember having few role models in media and always being told to let the boys do the physical stuff instead of me.

It is not enough to simply tell girls and women they can do anything and be anything they want. We have to give them examples and role models to show that they come from a long line of capable, independent, smart, strong, badass women and the keys to the kingdom are theirs to take and explode into the world with.

#wonder woman #badass women #rejected princesses #disney

[thenugking]

The Adventures of Mary Suesland Chapter 1

Here it is start of the worst thing i have ever written

Warnings for abuse from parents (of the “evil for no reason” kind) and cheating, homophobia (gay men are hot, lesbians are gross), unrealistic sex, and just the fact that this fic is really bad.

(Disclaimer: Make all the mary sues and self inserts u want, do not take this as me saying it’s bad. i just wrote this fic bc it was fun.)

CHAPTER 1

“You’re ten minutes late home, Emelerana!” my mum said accusingly.

“I’m sorry,” I told her. “Something really upsetting happened.” I didn’t want to tell my parents, because I knew they’d just make fun of me for it, but I’d discovered that my boyfriend, Chad was cheating on me with my best friend, Kylee. The two people I thought cared about me most in the world had betrayed me! Kylee had always teased me meanly, but we’d been friends since nursery, I never thought she’d do something like this! And I’d thought what I had with Chad was special. He’d seemed such a sweet guy and had told me he loved me. I’d even given him my virginity! It felt like such a waste now!

“That’s no excuse!” my dad said. “You’re grounded for a week!”

I tried to object that most 18 year olds don’t have such strict curfews, but they just glared at me and locked me in my bedroom in the basement. I felt my eyes well with all the tears I’d kept in after seeing Kylee and Chad together, I hadn’t wanted to look weak in front of them, but now I began to sob.

I gazed into my mirror sadly. My violet orbs were filled with tears and they were running down my porcelain skin. I was so plain-looking and ugly compared to Kylee! My cascade of raven locks just couldn’t compare with the golden curls of her hair, nor her big blue eyes. And while I was curvy, my body was petite. She was almost a foot taller than me and had slightly larger boobs. I sighed, knowing I could never be as beautiful as she was.

I raised a hand to wipe the tears from my eyes and took a deep breath. I had to be strong, and get through this! I just needed to take my mind off the pain of the betrayal. My parents had cut off my access to the internet the other week, as punishment for doing badly in english literature. I’d told them it was just because my teacher hated me - for some reason she’d always picked on me, ever since I started the class, maybe because I seemed to understand the reading better than she did - and gathered proof that she was marking me badly for no reason, but they’d just laughed cruelly at me. Not that I could have used my computer to contact anyone, without Kylee or Chad I didn’t have any friends.

I decided that instead, I would play Dragon Age Origins. I’d always loved the Dragon Age games, even though I got bullied a lot for being a nerd for liking them. But when I was playing them, it was like I was transported out of my nightmarish life and into the magical world of Thedas, and surrounded by real friends. I decided I’d start a new game, as a human noble. That was always my favourite Origin story.

I was torn between playing a male or female character. I usually played female, and female human nobles were the best because they could marry Alistair and become Queen, which was the most amazing and romantic ending. But on the other hand, maybe I should play a male character for a change. Then I could romance Zevran, because he liked other men, and that would be really hot. I’d never romanced him before, I tried sometimes but then I’d meet Alistair and just fall in love all over again. But before I could make my mind up, but computer suddenly broke down! I gave a cry of despair, today was truly the worst day of my life.

I threw myself down on my bed and fell asleep, sobbing.

When I woke up, something felt different. My bed was really hard and uncomfortable, but not this much, it felt as though I was lying on the floor. And it felt like I was in a much bigger space than my tiny cramped basement bedroom. I opened my eyes and gasped, I really was somewhere else!

I sat up and looked around and realised I was in Castle Cousland! Bryce, Eleanor and Duncan were standing in the Great Hall looking at me. I gasped.

“Who are you? Where did you come from?” Bryce asked.

“I’m Emelerana,” I said. “I come from another world. But I know all about you! You’re Bryce and Eleanor Cousland, and Warden Commander Duncan! And...” I looked around. “Wait a minute!” I gasped. “If Duncan’s here, this must be the night that Howe betrays you!” And maybe that was how I’d ended up here! The betrayal I felt at Chad and Kaylee was so uniquely strong, it had connected me across worlds to the Couslands, who were also about to be devastatingly betrayed!

“Howe wouldn't betray us!” exclaimed Bryce. “I’ve known him too long. He’s my best friend!” I shook my head. “No, his men will attack the castle tonight and kill everyone. Only your child survives.”

Bryce and Eleanor looked at each other. “We can’t possibly believe her,” they said. “But she seems so nice. We must look after her.” They called Ser Gilmore to take me to a guest room. I gasped. He was even more handsome than he was in the game.

“I’m Ser Gilmore,” he said.

“I’m Emelerana,” I said.

“It’s lovely to meet you, Emelerana. If you don’t mind me saying, you’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”

I blushed and kissed him. Then, he took me to my room where we got undressed and fell upon each other in a passion. I gasped when he pulled out his throbbing manhood and moaned as he slid it into my channel of love. Then, I felt it bump against something. I gasped again, in surprise, rather than lust this time. My hymen had grown back while traveling between Earth and Thedas! I would be able to give Gilmore my virginity! He thrust in and out of me passionately and I moaned in pleasure, my breasts heaving. This was my first time having sex and I would always remember this moment, not least because Gilmore was incredibly talented. We cried out each other’s names as his manliness exploded into fireworks inside me, making my heart flutter in my own passion. Afterwards we lay in each other’s arms happily.

Suddenly, I remembered that Ser Gilmore died in Howe’s attack and burst into tears.

“What’s wrong?” he asked me.

“I don’t want you to die!” I said. “I don’t want anyone here to die! Howe’s going to kill everyone but no one will believe me!”

“I believe you,” Gilmore said. “I’ll help you tell everyone.”

I kissed him again happily. Then, we went to tell all the castle’s guards that there would be an attack tonight, and to make sure they were ready for it. While Gilmore was talking to some guards, I looked around and realised Lady Landra and her son and lady in waiting were standing nearby. I remembered that you could have sex with her son. (And with her lady in waiting, but I didn’t do that because I’m not a lesbian.)

“Hello,” I said to Dairren. He said hello back.

“Would you like to join me in my room tonight?” I asked.

“Of course!” he said.

We smiled at each other. Then, Elissa arrived. She was so beautiful, I was sure Dairren would choose to sleep with her instead. I turned away sadly.

But then, Dairren yelled, “No!” and glared at her. He put his arm around me. “I can’t believe she tried to get me to sleep with her!” he said to me. “What a bitch!” 

Elissa glared at me and instead asked Iona to join her in her room. I grinned smugly back at her. She reminded me of Kylee, and I was really pleased she had to have sex with Iona instead of Dairren. 

I was on my way back to my room to wait for Dairren when someone else turned the corner towards me. Oh no! I thought. It was Howe.  He pointed a dagger at me.

“How dare you tell everyone of my secret plans!” he yelled. “Nevermind, no one will believe you, and I will kill everyone here!” He laughed cruelly.

“No!” I yelled back, tears streaming down my face. “I can’t let you do that!” I ran away, hearing him cursing after me.

I ran into my room and collapsed on the bed crying. I couldn’t let him kill all these people! I had to do something! Then, I heard a knock on my door and Dairren came in to have sex with me. I was so happy to see him, and excited about losing my virginity to him, before I remembered that in the game, Howe’s soldiers killed him if you had sex with them.

I put my hand on his face. “I’m sorry,” I told him softly. “We can’t do this. You’ll die.”

He gazed at me sadly. “But I love you,” he said.

“I love you too,” I told him. “But that's why we can never be together.”

I kissed him sadly, knowing it would be the last time I could, before running out into the hall to go and stop Howe.

It was night now, and I could hear screams and fighting everywhere. Howe’s attack must have already started! I ran along corridors, throwing open doors, trying to find the Couslands so I could help them. Then, I found Elissa’s room. I cried out in horror as I looked inside, Elissa and Iona were dead! Howe had already killed them. I clenched my fists. Elissa had been horrible to me, but I had to be compassionate to look past that. I would avenge her death!

I ran on, returning to the Great Hall. Ser Gilmore was in there, lying on the ground, with blood running down his chest.

“No!” I yelled, falling on my knees next to him, remembering our stolen evening of pleasure earlier. “Please don’t die!”

He looked at me. “Emelerana...” he said. “I didn’t think I could go on, but you’ve given me the strength to keep fighting!” He stood up and stabbed another of Howe’s guards. I cheered him on.

“I have to find Bryce and Eleanor,” I told him.

“That will be dangerous,” he told me, “But you’re strong and brave enough that I’m sure you can do it!”

I found Bryce and Eleanor huddled together next to the escape route in the kitchen, but they weren’t alone… Howe was with them too!

He was pointing a sword at them and laughing evilly. “Now I will kill you both! And Castle Cousland will be mine!”

“No!” I yelled, running towards them, feeling so angry and sad.

He turned to sneer at me, but as he did so, something happened. Fire shot out of my outstretched hands, shooting towards him. Now that I was in Thedas, I must be a mage! Howe screamed as it wrapped around him and fell down, dead.

“Thank you Emelerana!” said Bryce, running towards me and hugging me. “You saved our lives!” “We’re so sorry we didn’t believe you earlier,” said Eleanor, also hugging me. “We were so stupid and wrong!”

I hugged them back. “I forgive you,” I told them kindly. “But something terrible has happened… Howe killed Elissa.”

“Oh no!” Eleanor said, crying.

Bryce looked at me sadly. “It’s our fault Elissa died,” he said. “If we had believed you in the first place, this wouldn’t have happened. But… we’ve lost our daughter and you are alone in this world. Perhaps we could adopt you?”

Eleanor gasped. “That would be wonderful!”

“Yes please!” I told them. “My real parents on earth were really horrible to me, I’d much rather you were my parents instead!”

They beamed at me. “Good!” said Bryce. “Then we should go and celebrate you saving our lives, and our castle!”

We went to celebrate in the Great Hall with everyone else, hardly anyone had died in the attack because Ser Gilmore and I had warned everyone in time! I was kissing Gilmore happily when Duncan approached me.

“I saw you kill Howe,” he told me. “I’ve never seen such powerful magic. And I was very impressed with how brave and resourceful you were, saving everyone. I came here looking for a new Grey Warden recruit. And I would like to recruit you.”

I gasped in surprise. “Oh yes,” Gilmore told me. “You’d make an amazing Grey Warden, you should definitely do it! Although it would hurt so much to lose you.” “It would hurt me too,” I told him. “But Duncan is right. Being a Grey Warden is my destiny.”

I sadly hugged my new parents goodbye, but I promised to come back soon. I remember that in the game, Grey Wardens don’t usually go back to their family after getting recruited, but Duncan promised that I could, since he couldn’t bare to take me away from the Couslands forever. Before I left, they gave me Elissa’s mabari as a gift. He was the most beautiful dog I’d ever seen and when he jumped up and licked me, I knew he’d imprinted on me as his new owner!

“He never actually imprinted on Elissa,” Bryce confided to me. “I think he was just waiting for you to come along.”

I smiled and hugged him and Eleanor again, and kissed Ser Gilmore goodbye. Then, I set off with Duncan to be a Grey Warden.

#dragon age #i wrote some fic #(badly) #cousland origin #parental abuse cw #cheating cw #homophobia cw #modern girl in thedas

[popolitiko]

An essential oral history of the NYC Pride March

Locals share tales of outrageousness, anger, inspiration and joy from the past 49 years of the NYC Pride March

By Raven Snook - Tuesday June 4 2019

Pride in NYC wasn't always a big month-long bash. In fact, when it started 49 years ago as the Christopher Street Liberation Day March, it was meant to be a one-time commemoration of the Stonewall Riots. (This June, WorldPride marks the 50th anniversary of that watershed moment right here in NYC.) During those first few years (hell, make that decades), being out, loud and proud was more of a political statement than a license to party. Veterans of the past four-plus decades of NYC Pride share the memorable moments that helped shape them and the LGBT-rights movement.

1970 “Craig Rodwell, who owned the Oscar Wilde Bookshop, went around to all the groups that had popped up after Stonewall saying we should organize a first-anniversary march. We had gotten death threats, so we went up Sixth Avenue really fast—it took maybe an hour to get from Christopher Street to Sheep Meadow. When we started, there were maybe a couple hundred people. But as we kept going, the crowd grew and grew and grew. No one who was there can talk about it without getting goose bumps. I always say that gay liberation was conceived at Stonewall in 1969 and was born at that first march.”—Jerry Hoose, gay activist

An essential oral history of the NYC Pride March Locals share tales of outrageousness, anger, inspiration and joy from the past 49 years of the NYC Pride March By Raven Snook - Tuesday June 4 2019 1977 -  “Some years, the police only gave us a few lanes, alongside traffic. So we resolved to take Fifth Avenue without a permit. Because of homophobic orange-juice queen Anita Bryant, people were in an angry, political mood. It was a year that the political side of the movement really revived and the Coalition for Lesbian and Gay Rights was formed.”—Andy Humm, journalist 1984 - “I was turned off by the frivolity of the march in the face of AIDS. I had lost a boyfriend of 19 years and virtually all of my friends. So I had a shirt printed up that said HAPPY PARADES DON'T CURE AIDS and wore it.”—Jerry Hoose 1986 -  “I organized the East Village Drag Queen Float. Lady Bunny, Dean Johnson and Michael Musto were all in drag on it, and we had a megaphone and a drum set. The march was pretty square back then, so we were about as colorful and different as you could get.”—Linda Simpson, drag entertainer 1987  -  “As a teen, I used to go with my parents and grandparents. The route started further uptown then. I would march and they would watch from in front of Saks Fifth Avenue, go inside and shop a little bit, come out and watch again and then go inside and lunch upstairs. That was the way to do it, outside a place with air conditioning you could retreat to.”—Darren Rosenblum, law professor 1988 -  “I was still a teen and told all my gay friends that it was our moral imperative to come out and march. ‘Don’t worry,’ I said. ‘There are a million people—you’re not going to end up on the news.’ Well, a photo of me wound up on the cover of The New York Times. After that, my family got all these harassing phone calls and threats from people at my high school.”—Christian Freedom, stylist 1992 “My now-ex and I had just had a wedding ceremony on Fire Island, so we wore tuxedos made out of lace and satin. At the end, we tied ropes with cans and a sign that said JUST MARRIED. Everyone was applauding as we walked by in big diamond platform shoes.”—Fabian Garcia, hair designer 1993 “RuPaul had just broken through as a star, so she was on her own float. I remember this pier queen in the crowd saying, ‘Ooh, she thinks she’s Ross,’ meaning Diana Ross. Usually, the parade is all excitement and positivity, so it was funny to hear her throwing shade.”—Michael Musto, writer 1994 “It was my first Pride, and I was working for then–City Councilman Tom Duane. I was identifying as bisexual at that point. We were part of the rogue march [a second Pride procession], and there I was, topless with TOM DUANE FOR CONGRESS stickers on my nipples, with my boyfriend in tow. Needless to say, that was the last Pride that I had a boyfriend.”—Beth Greenfield, writer “There were two marches for Stonewall 25. The authorized one went up First Avenue because there was some tie-in with the UN. But Act Up and others led a protest march up Fifth Avenue to draw attention to AIDS. We were sure we were going to get arrested but everybody kept walking and soon we were in Central Park meeting the other parade. My favorite part is that a picture with me behind an Act Up banner made the wire services and ended up running in my hometown newspaper in Virginia. My mother cut it out and laminated it and kept it in her wallet until the day she died. She’d show it to people and say, ‘This is my son, he’s a gay activist.’”—Bob Speck, theater professional 1998 “I remember my artist friend, Larry Shea, created this “discretion booth” at PrideFest where he hoped people would go in and fool around or have sex. Instead, after a long day of marching and doing drugs, I just passed out in it.”—Mike Albo, writer and performer 2000 “There’ve been those Fred Phelps freaks and other protesters, but they’re such a joke that they’re kind of amusing. They’re so out of place and inappropriate, it only adds to the festivities—it becomes part of the freak show!” —Michael Musto 2001 “I was the editor of Next Magazine and on a float with Cyndi Lauper. It was this antique fire truck, and she was on top with a huge headdress. It took hours to get through the parade. I stayed in the back with her mom, and we just complained about everything: It’s too hot/loud/crowded/slow. We were kvetching so much, people moved away from us.”—Tony Phillips, writer 2005 “I was the first openly transgender grand marshal and I was being driven in a classic Rolls Royce. It was a wonderful experience and everyone was screaming my name. But it was hot hell and cars apparently aren’t meant to be driven at one mile an hour. So it conked out just as we hit 8th Street. They transferred me to another car but suddenly no one was calling my name. I realized it wasn’t that people had known who I was—there had been signs with my name on the Rolls Royce. So I went from celebrity to anonymity within minutes.”—Pauline Park, transgender activist 2008 “I had my daughter that year, so I was nursing her while in the Dyke March. The last time I had been topless was when I was this young rebellious kid. Now here I was, a mom, with my baby, my wife and our new mommy friends. It was an amazing evolution; I grew up at Gay Pride.”—Beth Greenfield 2011 “My now-wife and I had been planning to have some kind of wedding ceremony that fall. So when gay marriage became legal in New York State just a few days before Pride, it felt extra special. We watched the march on 8th Street, and when Governor Cuomo came down the block, everyone was yelling, ‘Thank you! Thank you!’ It was such an exciting time.”—Sharyn Jackson, journalist Will Gleason Photograph: Courtesy Will Gleason 2013 “This was the first year I ever marched in Pride, and it was extra special because the Defense of Marriage Act had literally just been overturned the week before. There was this amazing celebratory atmosphere and sense of nationwide progress that I don't think I'll ever forget. I'd watched from the sidelines for years, but had no idea how different the experience would be actually walking along the route.”—Will Gleason Jonathan van Ness Photograph: Taylor Miller 2018 “I have a fond memory from last year. For me, Pride used to be a fun time where I’d be like 'Oh my god, am I going to meet my husband this year?' But as I got into my thirties and the age of the Trump administration, Pride has become a reminder to connect and check in with my friends and my community and make sure that everyone has what they need, and that they are feeling capable. It’s still about having fun, but it's also about being with your people.”—Jonathan Van Ness Gay Pride in NYC Photograph: Shutterstock 2019 Heading to this year's march? Discover everything you need to know about the NYC Pride Parade.

https://www.timeout.com/newyork/lgbt/nyc-pride-an-essential-oral-history-of-the-gay-rights-movement

RECOMMENDED: Full guide to the NYC Pride Parade

[beyondforks]

Release Day Review! Nights at Seaside by Addison Cole

Nights at Seaside (Sweet with Heat: Seaside Summers #6) by Addison Cole Genre: Adult (Contemporary Romance) Date Published: December 13, 2017 Publisher: World Literary Press

Sweet with Heat: Seaside Summers features a group of fun, flirty, and emotional friends who gather each summer at their Cape Cod cottages. They're sassy, flawed, and so easy to relate to, you'll be begging to enter their circle of friends!

Nights at Seaside by Addison Cole is the sweet edition of New York Times bestselling author Melissa Foster's steamy romance novel Seaside Nights. The stories and characters remain the same and convey all of the passion you expect between two people in love, without any explicit scenes or harsh language.

In NIGHTS at SEASIDE...

Sky Lacroux has finally realized her dream and opened her own tattoo shop in Provincetown, Massachusetts. She’s happy as can be, preparing the shop for its grand opening and renting a cottage in the Seaside community while renovations to her new apartment are being completed. The only thing missing is the one thing she longs for, and has no control over—love.

Sawyer Bass, a professional boxer, plays his guitar at a local bar to escape the painful reality of his father’s deteriorating health and a recent health warning of his own. But when he spots a stunning brunette across the room, escaping reality goes out the window, and the beautiful woman becomes the focus of his next song—and maybe even the rest of his life.

When Sawyer walks into Sky’s tattoo shop and sees the woman from the bar—Sky—the chemistry between them is instant. Sawyer is everything Sky could ever hope for in a man. He’s honest, loving, sensitive, and potently virile—but boxing goes against everything Sky believes in. The closer they become, the more she realizes that her alpha boxer is waging his own emotional battle—only the battle she thinks he’s waging isn’t the one that threatens to tear them apart.

Nights at Seaside is the sixth book in the Sweet with Heat: Seaside Summers series by Addison Cole. This is Sky and Sawyer's story. We've met Sky before. Now, we get to know her better and met Sawyer too. These two had some crazy palpable chemistry going on. Definite Sweet with Heat! They had a major cuteness factor going on too. They had an insta-love thing, but it worked for them. I could feel their heat even before they officially met. I just liked these two a lot. There were so many clever little details added into this story. From the meaning behind the name of Sky's tattoo parlor to the poetry link they have. Sky and Sawyer have so much heart. They are so different, yet they are the same. 

ARCs of Secrets at Seaside by Addison Cole were kindly provided to me by the author for review. The opinions are my own.

“I CAN’T BELIEVE in a few short weeks the apartment and the tattoo shop will be completely renovated. Blue, you’re amazing!” Sky Lacroux shoved her favorite poetry book into her patchwork purse and locked the front doors of her shop. She waited for a few people to pass before stepping back on the busy sidewalk to admire it. She still had to paint the exterior and the sign above the doors and wait for the interior renovations to be done, but as she took in the narrow building she now owned, pride swelled inside her chest. Inky Skies was located on Commercial Street, the busiest street in the artsy community of Provincetown, Massachusetts. It was sandwiched between her friend Lizzie Barber’s flower shop, P-town Petals, which was painted light blue with flowers and greenery climbing up the columns out front, and the bright purple game store, Puzzle Me This. Sky planned on painting Inky Skies bright yellow, and as Blue Ryder, one of her best friends, threw his arm around her and dragged her away from the shop, she felt like she was walking on a cloud. Now, if only the universe would magically step in and find her the perfect man to share her joy with. Yeah, right. Like that was going to happen in a primarily gay and lesbian community, especially with the way she worked all the time. Not likely. Her brother Hunter fell into step on her other side. Definitely not likely with these two guarding me closer than Fort Knox. “Are you still planning a big grand opening, even though the shop has been open since you bought it?” Blue asked. He’d been one of Sky’s best friends since she’d moved back to the Cape from New York three summers ago, to run her father’s hardware store while he went into rehab to deal with an alcohol addiction. Thankfully, her father had remained sober after rehab and was back to running his store, which had enabled Sky to move out and fulfill her dream of opening her own tattoo shop. Two months earlier she’d purchased the tattoo shop where she’d been working part-time, and Blue, a specialty builder, was renovating both the shop and the apartment above it for her. “Heck, yes, I am. It doesn’t matter that it’s been open during renovations. I still need to celebrate Inky Skies—my dream, my passion, my…” Blue groaned, and Sky laughed and poked him in the side as they crossed at the corner on their way to meet their friends. “And you’re both coming,” she said. “Like it or not.” “I wouldn’t miss it for the world. I’m proud of you, sis.” Hunter put a hand on Sky’s forearm as they came to a curb and a bike whipped past. “Hunter, I know how to stop at a curb, thank you very much.” She rolled her eyes at her protective older brother. She was used to being watched over, considering her four older brothers—and her slightly overprotective friend, Blue—had been doing it for years, but at twenty-six, with a new business and a new apartment, she was ready to spread her wings. “Hey, just keepin’ you safe.” Hunter kept his dark hair shaved close to his head, and with his dark eyes and bulky muscles, he had an edge to him, but the playful grin he flashed softened all of that edginess, revealing the bighearted brother Sky adored. “Hey, sugar!” A friendly drag queen, who went by Marcus during the day and Maxine when he performed, waved from across the street. He’d lost his lover, Howie, to cancer a couple of years ago, and as much as Sky wished he’d fall in love again, she knew from the look in Marcus’s eyes when he spoke of Howie that what they’d shared was a once-in-a-lifetime type of love. Ever since four of her friends had gotten married last summer, she longed to experience that kind of love, too. “Hi, Marcus,” Sky called. “No show tonight?” During the day, families came to shop, sightsee, and enjoy street performers, but at night, P-town turned into a colorful world of drag queens, dance clubs, and comedians. “My night off.” Marcus said something that made the man he was with laugh. Then he hollered, “I see you have your bodyguards with you again. Hey, Blue. Hi, Hunter. When you get tired of watching over Sky, come watch over me.” Blue laughed. “You couldn’t handle me, bro.” “Doesn’t mean I wouldn’t want to try,” Marcus teased. Blue was straight as an arrow, but Marcus loved to tease him. Sky had quickly fallen in love with the whole community when she’d begun working at the tattoo shop. It might not be conducive to meeting a guy she’d want to actually spend time getting to know in a romantic sense—it had been forever since she’d met a guy like that—but she loved the diversity of the area and the warmth of the people. Provincetown felt like home. They weaved through throngs of people toward a crowd gathered outside of the Governor Bradford Restaurant, where Blue had handled renovations last year. At six two and six three, with linebacker shoulders and movie-star good looks, it was easy for Hunter and Blue to part the crowd as they guided Sky inside. Governor Bradford’s was dimly lit, with a bar to the left, a small stage and dance floor across from the entrance, and a restaurant area to the right of the stage. The scent of fried foods and sage hung in the air. She followed Blue around the dance floor, stopping at a table of bearded guys who had come into the shop earlier in the day for tattoos and leaned in to hug one of them. Sky got to know most of her customers while she tatted them up. “Hey, guys. I hope you’re going to sing for open mic night.” “Trust me, you don’t wanna hear us sing,” the burliest of them said with a laugh. “Chicken,” Sky teased as Blue took her hand and dragged her to the far side of the dance floor, where her sister-in-law, Jenna, and their friends Bella Grant and Amy Black were waiting for them. “Finally.” Jenna stood up to hug Sky. She was four foot eleven, with curves that rivaled Marilyn Monroe’s, and at five months pregnant she looked even more voluptuous. “I see your bodyguards got you here safely.” Sky laughed. “I love your haircut!” Jenna had cut a few inches off of her long brown hair. It now hung just past her shoulders. “Thanks. It’s my summer cut,” Jenna said, patting her hair. Sky reached around Bella’s burgeoning belly to hug her, then did the same with Amy. “You guys are like the beach-ball-belly twins. I can’t believe you’re both eight months pregnant—and that your hubbies are still letting you go to open mic night.” “They know we need our P-town nights. Besides, they’re all out on Pete’s boat with your dad.” Bella looked at Hunter and Blue. “Why didn’t you guys go?” Hunter was busy ordering drinks from a raven-haired waitress. “I worked late on Sky’s renovations.” Blue pulled out a chair for Sky. “I’m sorry,” Sky said, patting his back as she sat beside him. “But I do appreciate your hard work, and I even tried to get Lizzie to meet us tonight.” She wiggled her brows. “I tried to hook you up. The way you and Duke were lusting after Lizzie at the wedding, I thought for sure you’d ask her out by now.” “She is hot,” Hunter said, eyes locked on a group of blond women across the bar. Blue ran a hand through his thick dark hair and shrugged. “I’ve been busy.” “For a year?” Bella asked. “She’s come out with us several times over the past year,” he said as he draped an arm across the back of Sky’s chair. “Yes. Us. I said you should ask her out.” Sky shook her head, and a disconcerting thought hit her as the waitress brought their drinks. “Oh, gosh, Blue. Do you think we spend too much time together? Am I monopolizing you? Have I blocked you?” “No, you didn’t block me,” Blue said with a laugh. “Have I…blocked you?” Relieved, she said, “No. I’ve just decided that the next guy I date has to be someone who’s really soulful and gets me, and around here, that’s slim pickin’s.” Blue raised his beer with a smirk. “Guys are not exactly soulful.” “No kidding,” Hunter said. “Oh, come on. There are soulful people all around. It just takes some looking,” Jenna began scanning the bar. “I’m on a manhunt for Sky.” “Okay, enough find-my-sister-a-man talk,” Hunter said. “I looked at the sign-up sheet. They have a great lineup tonight. Comedians, karaoke, and see that guy over there?” He pointed to a guy sitting by himself at the bar with a guitar leaning against his leg. His dark T-shirt revealed sculpted biceps and strong forearms, and the fabric clung to the contours of his muscular chest. One arm rested casually on the arm of his chair, the other across his lap, his finger wrapped around the neck of a guitar. He had hair the color of night and thick scruff covering a strong jawline. His eyes were narrowed and locked on a group of people across the room, like he was studying them or deep in thought. Sky couldn’t tell which. “He played about two months ago, and he’s amazing.” Hunter glanced at his sister. “You’ll love him, Sky.” “Holy mother of hotness.” Jenna grabbed Bella’s arm. “Where did that guy come from?” “You’re married,” Amy reminded her. “And preggers.” Bella patted Jenna’s belly. “Pete would kick his butt if he even looked at you.” Sky’s brother was a little protective of his wife. “My interest is already piqued by that handsome creature,” Sky said more to herself than the others. “I don’t want to hear that. I just thought you’d like his music.” Hunter eyed the man across the room. “He looks a little rough, Sky. Not your hippie, earthy type.” Sky ignored her brother’s evaluation. Yes, she had an earthy style and believed in fate and destiny and all things a little bit magical, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t ogle a hot guy who might not be her typical type. While Bella, Amy, and Jenna talked about their plans for their babies and Blue and Hunter talked about work and women, Sky went back to checking out the dark-eyed man who hadn’t so much as shifted his position. The host announced the next karaoke singer, and they listened to a squeaky rendition of Madonna’s “Like a Virgin.” People danced and sang as they moved through several other moderately talented singers. Sky was about to pull out her poetry book, which was far more interesting than the singers, when the host called out, “Sawyer Bass,” and the guy with the guitar rose and stretched, giving Sky an eyeful of just how hot he really was. Black biker boots carried him across the floor. His guitar strap was slung casually over one shoulder, as if he were carrying an old piece of lumber. Blue bumped her with his elbow and handed her a napkin. “What’s that for?” she asked, eyes still on Sawyer Bass. He even has a hot name. “Drool.” She snapped the napkin from his hands, unable to tear her eyes from Sawyer as he sank onto a stool in the middle of the stage—which looked way too small for a man of his size. He was completely relaxed, shoulders and jaw soft, eyes downcast, as if sitting in front of a roomful of people was something he did every night. He rolled his thick shoulders back and cracked his neck to either side, which for some reason amped up his sexiness. Sawyer lifted dark eyes to the crowd, scanning everything and somehow looking as though he were seeing nothing at all. His eyes skimmed over Sky, and for a beat she held her breath, but he quickly moved on, and she couldn’t help but feel disappointed. “This guy’s got serious mojo.” Bella’s eyes moved around the room. “Half the women’s eyes are on him. Heck, most of the guys are staring at him, too.” Sky sipped her drink and looked away from the guy who held everyone’s attention. She reached into her purse and pulled out her C. J. Moon poetry book. Better to concentrate on something she enjoyed than to gawk at a guy everyone wanted. He probably wasn’t laid-back anyway. He was probably playing it cool, the way guys did when they knew they were hot stuff. “You’re not really going to read, are you?” Blue put his arm across the back of her chair again and pulled her in closer. “She’s mooning again,” Jenna teased. “Blue, take that away from her. She’ll never meet a guy if she’s mooning.” Jenna always teased her about mooning over C. J. Moon’s poems. Blue leaned closer to Sky. “You seem a little out of sorts. Is it the renovations? They shouldn’t take much longer.” Sky was renting a cottage from Amy down at the Seaside community, where Bella, Jenna, and Amy all lived. Blue had found a leak in the apartment pipes a few weeks ago, and it seemed easier for her to rent there rather than be in his way on a daily basis. She loved staying at Seaside, and she loved Blue for caring enough to ask. “You really are a great friend, Blue. It’s not that. You’re doing a great job. I don’t know what it is.” Sky dropped her eyes to the book and began to read her favorite poem. A moment later, a deep, impassioned voice filled the room, bringing Sky’s eyes up to the man it had come from. Sawyer sat on the stool, eyes closed, strumming his guitar and singing with an intensity that sent a shiver of seduction rippling through the room. Sky watched his fingers move confidently over the strings. His brows knitted together on the longer notes, he bowed his head as the words turned sad, and the muscles in his neck grew thicker. Passion poured out of him with every verse. “What song is this?” Sky asked, the lyrics settling into her bones like a lonely ache. Darkness isn’t enough. Miles are too close. Nothing can erase you, wipe you clean, take away the pain you’re leaving behind. “No idea,” Blue answered. “Never heard it before.” Hunter’s eyes were locked on a blonde across the room. Sky shifted her gaze back to Sawyer. His voice was getting softer as he came to the end of the song, and it drew her in deeper with every second he held that note. ** SAWYER ** THE LAST NOTE lingered in Sawyer’s lungs, weighing heavily on his heart and in his mind. He didn’t want to stop strumming his guitar or open his eyes. He needed this release—to live in the center of this dusky bar, surrounded by people who didn’t know him and who didn’t know what had led him there. But when he’d sung his last note, he had no choice but to end the song and open his eyes to a loud round of applause. Still thinking of the meaning behind the words, he looked past the tables to the window across the front of the restaurant, which looked out over Commercial Street. People walked by outside, oblivious to the storm brewing inside him, like everyone else in this place. He’d found himself looking for answers—more so in recent months as his father’s illness progressed. And in that moment, as the crowd clapped, he conjured up the image of his father’s face from his childhood, before the remnants of the war had claimed him. His lips curved up at the memory of his father’s bright eyes smiling upon him—that was the part he still couldn’t accept. He’d never again see his father smile. Parkinson’s had stolen so much of his father’s abilities to be the man he once was, it seemed unreal to Sawyer. Even though the illness had taken root several years earlier, the loss of those pieces of his father that he’d taken for granted for so long still haunted Sawyer on a daily basis. And now, looking at his father was like looking into a mirror of what his future might hold. Sawyer was running from that truth, trying to dodge it like a bullet, because it wasn’t Agent Orange that might steal Sawyer’s cognition like a thief in the night. Sawyer’s fate wasn’t being driven by the country he served. Sawyer’s nemesis was the one thing that he’d lived and breathed since he was thirteen years old. It was his chosen career. Sawyer had boxed competitively since he was eighteen. He was a formidable competitor, a monster in the ring, and boxing was the perfect outlet for his anger toward the disease that was stealing more of the man he loved each and every day. Boxing had not only been his emotional savior on too many occasions to count, but now it was going to be his parents’ financial savior as well. Sawyer was challenging the current Northeast Boxing Association champion for the title, and the match carried a seven-hundred-thousand-dollar purse—enough money to pay for in-home health care for his father for the next thirty years. That goal kept Sawyer training harder than ever before and had him even more fiercely determined to win. After a grueling training session for his upcoming title fight, he’d gone to see Dr. Malen, his physician, for his quarterly checkup. Stupid doctors. They were always covering their butts, warning about worst-case scenarios. Brains weren’t meant to take beatings, the doc had told him. He’d painted the grimmest picture—one or two more blows and Sawyer could sustain permanent brain damage. Sure, he’d had a few concussions, but didn’t every fighter? They’d been giving him the same warning since he was a teenager, and he knew from his boxing buddies that they’d all received similar warnings, too. But this time the doc told him something that he’d never said before—Think about it. This is your future. You’ve only got one. How could one sentence pack more power than an uppercut to the jaw? Even if the doc was right, how was he supposed to decide between ensuring his father’s financial future and well-being and his own? As the applause died down, Sawyer pushed those agonizing thoughts aside. He was invincible. Too good of a fighter to end up with a head injury. He looked out at the crowd and held up a hand in gratitude as he rose to his feet. His eyes shifted to the dark-haired beauty sitting off to his left. He’d seen her looking at him from across the room earlier, and now her eyes were on him again even though the guy beside her had his arm around her. Sawyer disliked people who disrespected those who cared for them and to do it in plain sight rubbed him the wrong way. But something in the way she was looking at him made it impossible for him to look away. The exotic-looking woman with olive skin and long, windblown dark hair intrigued him. So much so that words sailed through his mind—languid, peaceful, wounded. Words were as much an outlet for Sawyer as boxing was. He poured his emotions into songs, scribbling them on whatever he could get his hands on when the feeling hit. And now, as he drank in her mismatched necklaces, the word enchanting sounded in his mind. She had the look and presence of someone who was comfortable in her own skin, and that was something Sawyer had always been attracted to. In the space of a breath, he took in her almond-shaped eyes, the slight uptilt to her nose, and the sweet bow of her lips. He’d been watching her for only a few seconds, though it felt like several minutes had passed, and her eyes were now focused on a book, making him even more curious. Who read a book at open mic night? Sawyer felt his muse pulling, taunting, vying for his attention, and the songwriter in him began putting a song about the woman together in his mind. He’d come to the bar tonight because life was pressing in on him and he’d desperately needed to get out of his own head. The song he’d just played had practically exploded from his fingertips earlier in the evening, and the longer he’d played it in his house on the dunes, the worse the ache that had accompanied it had become. He’d moved outside, but even the sounds of the bay, which usually soothed the chaos in his mind, were no match for the doctor’s warning and the other pressures whirling around inside him. Being out tonight should have calmed his thoughts, but now his mind was racing again. Only this time, bits and pieces of the beautiful woman’s fictional life were tumbling into verses he had to write. He picked up his guitar and headed to the bar as the host announced the next act. Sawyer pulled a pen from his shirt pocket, grabbed a stack of napkins, and climbed atop a barstool to let the words flow.

Check out my reviews of the other books in this series!

Addison Cole is the sweet alter ego of New York Times and USA Today bestselling and award-winning author Melissa Foster. She writes humorous and emotional sweet contemporary romance. Her books do not include explicit sex scenes or harsh language. Addison spends her summers on Cape Cod, where she dreams up wonderful love stories in her house overlooking Cape Cod Bay.

Addison enjoys discussing her books with book clubs and reader groups and welcomes an invitation to your event. Addison’s books are available in paperback, digital, and audio formats.

To learn more about Addison Cole and her books, visit her website.You can also find her on Goodreads, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter.

#Addison Cole #Nights at Seaside #release day review #book review #sweet with heat: seaside summers #contemporary romance #adult fiction #excerpt #Teaser

[theowlsarenotwhattheyremembers]

Episode Seven: The Dragon and the Wolf

Cocks and Blood.

I don’t know how many levels of irony Scene One was on. The Unsullied, last heard of / forgotten after having pointlessly won Casterly Rock pre-stripped of food and besieged, are now lined up in well-fed ranks, because of plot nihilism. Jaime and Bronn discuss blood (family) and cocks and how they have them but the Unsullied don’t but then the barbarously virile Dothraki turn up with clearly more and bigger cocks apiece than any Lannister or lannlackey. What does all this mean? Is there an answer? Maybe, in the end, it is just cocks.

Look I know this recap is about a fortnight overdue. I have had to hand in a dissertation and then I was tired. We are all tired. This shit is tiring. Settle down. Rest. We have an hour and twenty minutes to get through and darn it we are going to escape from everything that’s tiring us out through lushly cinematographised fanfic cocks and all. Who doesn’t like cocks? Cocks cocks cocks.

Let’s carry on.

Scene Two: Tyrion lets Jon know that the leaping loins of Fleabottom have populated the city with a million warm sweaty bodies. King’s Landing, when compared to other cities of the early modern period, is bigger than any European city was ever, after Rome fell, until the Industrial Revolution. It’s more like the equivalent of Beijing or Edo-period Tokyo. Cool! This is, Jon observes, bigger than the entire North, and they’re all going to be ice wights unless our heroes prevail. Why would anyone want to live with all those other people?? The fucking’s better, Tyrion explains.

Scene Three: The bagged ice wight has retained its horrid vigour!!! Does this mean that the White Walkers can’t take unlife away once they’ve given it? (Does anything mean anything any more)

Scene Four: Cersei tells her undead henchlump to kill everyone.

Scene Five: Dragons understand that property is theft and children can be delicious if you are a large fanged lizard, so they had to be put in prison, which destroyed them and the vigour they animated the Targaryen blood with, Tyrion lets Missandei know. Then we have a massive reunion pile-on! The feels get mushy as Pod+Tyrion “you can suck his magic cock later”, the Hound+Brienne (Arya’s ultraviolent fosterfam are so proud of her!)

, and Bronn+Tyrion “I’ll pay you double”. That everyone is about to die is vigorously foreshadowed making me extremely anxious, but the pre-tension is pissed up the wall and everyone settles down for a civil conversation, because nothing matters any more. Tyrion+Cersei. The Hound+The Mountain, brothers, death and unlife can’t change blood, blood runs strong and hot, it’s the end of the world but #cleganebowl has been written in ruddier ink than this multideaths-are-coming tensionmusic can inscribe. Then the Queen herself arrives, atop her non-cock Drogon, who envelops with flame but does not penetrate (but wait till the final scene when Ice Viserion fucks the wall). Everyone is v impressed with Daenerys’ lady-D and how unambiguously it testifies to the rights her blood demands. Prophecy music plays. Cersei is upstaged. Did you know that the Lannisters are basically just nouveau-riche - their Age of Heroes ancestor Lann the Clever wasn’t even a king or a god like the other aristocrats? At best he was only the bastard son of one. Uncle Euron taunts Theon about his sister; but Tyrion/Cersei shut him up. These guys, the Greyjoys, trace their line back to the Grey King, who won a war against the Storm God, married a mermaid, and lived for a thousand years (i.e. was basically some form of deity himself). Seems likely Theon’ll bounce back eventually. They do the show and tell with the wight and then Euron storms off pretending to go home but actually going to pick up the legendary mercenary army Cersei just hired. Qyburn is definitely not on the side of the living. These guys are evil!! Cersei makes a pretend offer to help but Jon Snow is full truth, in love, with fire in his blood and his britches, so he messes up the fake negotiations.

Scene Six: Tyrion+Cersei chat over wine, and Cersei wins by letting Tyrion think he’s found her out for being pregnant. Tyrion points out that Daenerys isn’t a foreign whore who can be abducted, beaten up or intimidated, because of her blood and non-D.

But as @lasophus points out this (not this actually, violent death, usually via crossbow / arrow penetration) has happened to literally every other lowblood foreign whore (Ros Shae Ygritte Osha), plus all the lesbians. But not Daenerys! But Cersei Plannister has a plan. She doesn’t kill Tyrion because of blood / because otherwise the dragons and the dothraki and the unsullied would torch the city. She plays him instead.

Scene Seven:

Daenerys: I can’t have children

Jon: *hip thrust* oh really, let me introduce you to this gentleman here, I call him The Dragon

Daenerys: *swoons*

Scene Eight: I think Sansa was always playing LF but also kind of also knew he was her only friend and the only person who approached understanding her, but then her brother explained to her that LF was super betraying her so she had to kill him whoops getting ahead of myself

Scene Nine: Since diarising a meeting between Daenerys and The Dragon Jon in this war strategy meeting is looking at her with the disrespectful pout/halfsmile of the total lad who knows he’s about to get laid, and they arrange to take a ship up to the north together despite the danger because they have a very BUSY schedule.

Scene Ten: Jon lifts a finger to be on Theon’s recovery team, by telling him that it’s ok to follow his blood and save his sister.

Scene Eleven: Theon wins a fight and assumes his bloodright as sea prince by virtue of not having a penis. He staggers out into the surf and is rebaptised in the cold salty water as destiny music plays. I guess actually some cephalopods don’t have penises.

Scene Twelve: Sansa stands in a snowstorm making a difficult decision: yes she is going to go ahead with it. She gets flunkies to bring her sister to the Great Hall, and there, in front of all the ballachingly obstreperous northern lords, explains how LF has been the villain all along (via Bran’s magical insights). “How do you answer these charges ....... Lord Baelish???”, she reveals, as our prayers for Arya turn into a globe-spanning cry of BAZINGA!! It was us who underestimated the girls all along, and believed in their fights when actually they were just putting it on for the benefit of the spy at the keyhole and the viewer at home!!

“I deny it! None of you were there to see what happened,” LF says, no longer himself but just a plot toy setting himself up for Bran to coolly recollect that actually he was there to see it and all other things; an accusation based on magic which the northern lords don’t have any reason to believe in but which still floors our arch-manipulator to his knees, begging for his life. “Thank you for all your many lessons, Lord Baelish,” Sansa says to her friend and teacher, weeping, then delivers the nod to Arya, who slits his throat. As his blood spills we may reflect on how LF has been dead since the beginning of the season.

LF is of low blood and uses his tongue not his dick, so we do not have room for him any more. LF makes the plot diverge off in weird complicated directions, so we do not have room for him any more.

He killed Ros though

BAZINGA

Scene Thirteen: Another one of those tricksy bitches and Sansa’s other teacherenemy Cersei Lannister reveals the Plannister to Dummbister Jaime: just wait in the south until all the enemies have marched north to turn into an army of wights (which then maybe Qyburn could do something about or maybe I don’t care because “I’ll do anything to protect my family” is just madbitch speak for “I am now aligned with the forces of death”). Jaime is not with the programme because He Made a Promise and is aligned with the forces of the living after Brienne+Jaime met up and she worked her customary powers on his moral fibre. Despite basically giving the order to kill him Cersei flubs it at the last minute and Jaime walks away from her, finally choozing the right floozy, as Cersei makes an impotent I’m-not-evil-enough-yet fist.

Then we have a really nice and eerie snow scene where a christmas-y version of the title song plays and King’s Landing gets dusted with white. Winter coming maybe can be nice or cause people to do good things because of christmas?? I fucking love christmas!

Scene Fourteen: Sam’s initial reaction to Bran telling him he became the three-eyed raven is the kind of “Oh!” you’d give your kid if it told you it made friends with a stegosaur in school that day, but then has the wits to ask the follow-up question which has thusfar eluded other characters: “I don’t know what that means?”, and Bran delivers a semi-coherent explanation, representing, together with his material use to the case against LF, marked progress from the days when he was just scaring and upsetting people. Why is Bran so intent on telling Jon that he’s actually Aegon Targaryen, the true heir to the Iron Throne and D’s nephew, when he is, just this precise moment, eagerly performing eagerly-anticipated activities with D on a ship?? In these circs it seems like it would just be upsetting news which could threaten an alliance pleasant to both parties and vital to humanity. Whose side is Bran on?

Scene Fifteen: This conversation, “does it bother you that I’m the Lady of Winterfell”, “no obviously not let me introduce myself”, “I never could have survived what you survived, not like what I said in front of LF that one time”, feels like their first make-up-and-closure chat, which makes it seem like they weren’t pretending the whole time. Unbazinga.

(Direwolf thoughts: Sansa’s direwolf is dead and she’s totally different to how she was before and also not so much of a Stark (she didn’t swing the sword though she passed the sentence; she rules LF/Cersei-wise not starkly); Bran’s wolf died (at the moment his three-eyed-raven skills got transferred into him) and now being Bran is just one memory amongst millions of others; Arya’s is alive and thriving and she is the same as always and thriving; Jon’s is for all we know still alive and ditto (D got his chilly post-dead juices heated up again); Rickon’s wolf died and then he did.)

Scene Sixteen: Oh yeah, the ice dragon. Seems everyone this episode, including this recapper, just had too much darn stuff on their plates to mention to each other about you know how the White Walkers can reanimate corpses - people, bears, horses, giants, so on, he has a fucking ice dragon now obviously, climate change has nuclear weapons now obviously, everything is fucked, obviously.

[jessestoddard]

One day I was stretching in the little space the tiny University Fitness gym allotted for such activity, and Mae happened to be there doing her Yoga. We were friends and had gone to the Puyallup fair with some mutual pals, like Lisa Yu and another personal trainer from the gym, John Tailor.

By the way, John ended up in a reality TV show called “Too Fat For Fifteen,” and ended up getting his Ph.D. and being teacher of the year in New Jersey. At the time, he liked Mae and was always hitting on her. Sorry, bud.

John Taylor in “Too Fat For 15” Reality TV

I was usually very private, but for some reason, I decided to come clean and needed to confess to someone—so I told Mae I was a homeless derelict. She took pity on me and decided to help. It just so happened that she was house-sitting for some rich doctor friends in Seattle, taking care of their dogs in their frequent absences.

She let me stay at her apartment while she was gone! Can you believe the faith of this woman? To this day, she admits she has never even thought of doing something like that before. I now get to tell people that I lived with her before we even dated. Talk about a crazy conversation starter!

I moved in and even slept in her bed (without her being there of course), while she was gone and my brand new apartment was finishing inspection. Later, when she came back, I moved to the couch as the project continued to be delayed. We had many conversations late into the night and actually got to know each other a little.

When I moved out, I asked my dad to help me build something for her as a gift. She didn’t have a good towel rack in her apartment, so we fashioned one out of wood and added some elaborate scroll saw work on the side of a tropical scene for decoration. We stayed in touch and eventually started dating.

It was near the end of my college years that decided to get back to the theater and I began auditioning for local theater on the professional level. I wanted to see where the dance training, combined with my music minor and acting training combined would take me.

It was then that the 5th Avenue Theater in Seattle took note of me and made me one of their premier chorus boys off and on seasonally from about 2000 to 2005. I worked through the ranks as an Equity actor and had a few good roles as well.

My first show was Gypsy, the life of Gypsy Rose Lee, one of my favorite musicals, where I danced with a few other great performers like Louis Hobson (who has some notoriety in Seattle with his own theater and a few IMBD credits), along with Greg Allen, one of the funniest men I have ever met and the greatest tap dancer. 

Gypsy at the 5th Avenue Theatre

  Greg has made a life of working professionally in the northwest and rarely needs to find other jobs, other than working at a coffee shop here and there between gigs. He made that choice long ago, stuck with it, and I commend him for it. The lead in Gypsy was played by Judy Kay, a fantastic and powerful singer with a long career on Broadway, who we used to see singing in New York at the Macy’s Day Parade. Every night I used to marvel as she closed the show with high notes and a ringing vibrato that filled the halls: “Everything’s coming up roses for me and for you!” I was a regular Joe among true battle-tested professionals.

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Over the years I would perform in shows like Most Happy Fella, the 5th’s 75th Anniversary Gala fundraising events, Hair (twice, where I was the psychedelic modern dancer and acrobat with a giant glow in the dark phallus that everyone obviously assumed was real), A Chorus Line, playing the role of Don, The Wizard of Oz (the hardest show to be ensemble in, with all the crazy set changes and the green unitards), Yankee Doodle Dandy, a Hairspray Promo, Singin’ in the Rain, and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, where I got to back up a special show with Lucy Lawless, popular at the time for her role as Xena the Warrior Princess on TV.

Lucy was amazing, tall, beautiful and extremely gracious to us chorus boys and girls. We got to pick her up and twirl her and I was the one with the knee to the ground so she could sit on my lap as she flirted with the audience and sang.

After the show, as we left the stage door in the alley, I had never seen so many ravenous fans awaiting any performer. Even on Broadway, when I later waited for friends to get out of their shows, even the big stars did not draw these kinds of crowds. It also happened that this crowd filled the entire alley and circled out into the street and around the city block, all awaiting with bated breath the appearance of Lucy Lawless.

It was the largest number of Lesbians to ever congregate in one area at one time. We should have called the Guinness Book Of World Records, as it surely would have made the cover.

As with everyone else, Lucy was patient and gracious and took plenty of time to greet her fans and sign autographs. Poor clueless me thought it might be for us boys, and immediately checked my posture and flexed my muscles. I couldn’t understand why they never gave me or the other boys a second look. One of my coworkers had to point out to me that Lucy had a huge Lesbian following that traveled from all over to see her. We could have done a ribbon cutting ceremony of the alley and named it the New Isle of Lesbos.

We all went to dinner at Palomino’s just down the block after the show. Lucy went out of her way to raise us up and even kissed us on the cheek in front of our fans and parents just to make us look good. My uncle to this day is mesmerized by the lifestyle I lived, and everyone enjoyed the pleasant fiction that I had exotic Amazon women singers and dancers hanging all over me on a daily basis feeding me grapes.

Singing, dancing, and acting all at the same time requires a certain set of skills that relatively few people master. I was so fortunate to be allowed into this elite group of people for a short time in my life.

At the time, I had no clue how rare the opportunity or how lucky I was. I was having a blast and working hard and making more money than I had ever made in my life. 

During college, I had tried a ton of entrepreneurial ways to make money, including starting a jewelry business, buying “tiny little ads” in newspapers, and even buying and selling real estate. I was constantly reading the papers and thinking outside of the box and going to seminars. It was an incredible time of dreaming and conquest for me. 

My friend Gary called me an “Artist-Entrepreneur,” and I began to try to live up to it. I looked into starting a dance school, started an Internet import business before everyone else was doing it, and also took jobs for local ballet companies playing the prince in the Nutcracker or something when I wasn’t working at the 5th Avenue Theatre. I did a couple of runs with a theater on Vashon Island, where the parents and patrons of the theater would house me and feed me while I did the show. I lived out of a backpack and didn’t need much at all to live, so I was very happy.

Also beginning around 2001 I moved to New York City to try my hand there. When I wasn’t in Seattle working for the 5th, I was on an airplane. I found a scholarship that helped with the costs and decided to maximize it. 

I stayed with a college friend, Ryan Jones, or “Jones” as we all called him, who had graduated from the UW drama program and married another artist, thereby landing in the Burrough of Queens. Jones was running a non-profit and starting this own theater projects. He now runs a new dance and performance art physical theater company with his new wife in Los Angeles. 

It was a culture shock for me, but very good. I rode the trains and subways and lived in spare rooms and on couches for months at a time. I took dance classes alongside New York City Ballet dancers (that could mop the floor with me) and singing lessons from an amazing old sage called Maria Farnsworth who trained New York City Opera singers. I auditioned and honed my craft. I was eating, breathing, and sleeping New York and I loved the Big Apple and all its glory.

I ended up sleeping on a futon at my college roommate, Michael Bilikas’ pad in Greenwich Village. Michael was at this point at NYU dental school, and still on his phone all the time. His place was $1,700 per month for a tiny studio apartment in the early 2000’s, and the place was hopping all night. The only hour of quiet was between the hours of 3 am and 4 am, when the nightlife finally died down, and right before the garbage trucks came to clean up to start the day all over again.

A week before 9-11 I was in still in New York, preparing to fly to the gulf side of Florida to visit with my parents who were on vacation to see my aunt’s new place. She had moved to start over and was tired of the rain and cold in Washington State. 

Around that time, Mae had decided on her own to come visit me in our tiny palace of squalor in Manhattan. I was too dense to admit it to myself at the time, but our relationship was going somewhere and she was pursuing me. I had long ceased to pursue anyone and was happy with my only-child alone time, and single laissez-faire lifestyle. I was focused on my fanciful career pursuing the elusive stage.

Mae and I did a little tour and ended up at the twin towers and then decided to have lunch in the financial district. I was comfortable getting around but didn’t really know that area. I decided to take her to lunch, but we couldn’t find even a lowly sandwich place that I didn’t have to take out a mortgage to afford. 

I ended up putting an over-priced soup and sandwich on my credit card and tried to be chivalrous. I wanted to stay in New York City, and I secretly hoped Mae would just stay, but we both knew I didn’t have a real job or any kind of financial security to speak of, and we all know how attractive a man is and how secure his lady feels when the best he can offer is a futon in a dental student’s apartment.

I flew out from NYC and directly into the airport that we later found out the terrorists flew out from. I remember how laid back and relaxed that airport was then. The trip to Florida was short, but again reminded me how much I love the sunshine and palm trees. 

As soon as I got back to Seattle we saw on TV a plane crashing into the twin towers. We were all in shock and completely stunned by the tragedy. The little airport in Florida and every other airport in the country decided to start increasing the security after that.

Life After High School: Chapter 9 Vagabond One day I was stretching in the little space the tiny University Fitness gym allotted for such activity, and Mae happened to be there doing her Yoga.

#Blog-to-Book