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DANIEL SHARMAN in THE MEDICI; SEASON TWO.

#visage ♔ (heavy is the head that wears the crown.)

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Date: Dawn of the Spring Solstice Location: Fey Forest, Spring Gardens Characters: @archeolcgist & @destinedgray Notes: ❤ 💍 ❤

He'd woken her up extremely early that day, which wasn't too uncommon for the two busy leaders. Andreas had made Evy keep her morning open for an early meeting with elves today, a little white lie for what was to come. This place, the Fey Forest, had began as nothing but a natural forest to the world, relatively untouched by magic until creatures of power imbedded it within it's ecosystem and made it their own. It was then that the place had become dangerous and even suffocating. It had taken lives and sewed it's own brand of chaos. Nowadays it was still forever changed, embedded with powerful magic that had the capacity to hurt, but it was also so much more than the realm of danger to others that the fey had made it to be. It had become open and welcoming, a brand new home for a brand new world. The Fey Forest's story was not unlike Aren and Erish's individual journeys - from normalcy to strife and adventure and now to a hopeful peace. It was here that the had both refuged when all the druids in The Pyramid were killed and it was here that Andreas' brother, Alek, made a home and world for the lycans. They'd had their first kiss in this life within Winter's Mountains and they'd made a home in Autumn's Fields for a few months, sleeping underneath the apple trees. Phases of our lives had been seen through these forests. He hadn't expected it to become so special but it was now.

There were millions of beautiful places in the world that Andreas could have taken Evy that day but they had had other lives for that. They had shown each other those beautiful places before. And though these places changed with the centuries, there wasn't any of them more symbolic or meaningful outside of The Pyramid now than this Fey Forest. They walked, first speaking about the responsibilities on their shoulders and the plans in place for those many things they still to worry about. But eventually business fell away, the conversation turning to hopes and desires and playful banter. Laughter filled the air. Andreas let her climb on his back as a gryphon, setting flight over the scenery of flowers so he could land someplace that the Archdruid had found himself, an unused place in the gardens that he had manipulated to suit them. Some of the overwhelming color of flowers gave away to emerald green, only few bunches of their favorite flower blooming as though this place were more natural to the world than fey-like. The little waterfall led down to a burbling stream of shimmering and crystal clear water. It was almost reminiscent of Eden.

Andreas touched down and turned back into a man, not yet letting go of Evy on his back until he'd hopped over the stream and chuckled, letting her off by a cluster of daffodils underneath the willow tree that hung over them. Her favorite songbirds sung in the trees to greet the coming morning. By the look on her face, the Archdruid could tell that Evy was becoming fast aware that he'd had a hand in shaping this little corner of the gardens. "Well, do you like it?" He asked before she could accuse him. "The sun's already rising." Andreas smiled over and ventured to sit on the grass, patting the place next to her so they could watch the color-changing sky. If it wasn't already obvious, he'd clearly lied about the morning meeting.

#// hehe #interactions ♔ (history has its eyes on you.) #& evelina

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DANIEL SHARMAN

📸 making me smile by just existing and being cute af 😘🥺

#visage ♔ (heavy is the head that wears the crown.) #// im giggling over this

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lorenzo & lucrezia + smiling

#visage ♔ (heavy is the head that wears the crown.) #relationships ♔ (heart; what a rare bird you are.) #with evelina #nsfw #// oop

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Andreas, just as one life, had been a tortured people-pleaser. The idea that he wasn't doing 'much' for as much people as possible poked at that mostly-dead part of a destined boy who longed for nods of approval and words of affirmation. It poked at that part for half a second before he found the amusement and remembered that he, for the most part, chose this arrangement and Alek was a little shit who knew all of that. "Political retirement is sweet," Andreas replied, the words coming out like a dreamy sigh, "you'd know that now."

"Okay, but, you're bias and you like him a lot more than anyone I know that likes anyone who they beat to a pulp," he mused with a grin. Andreas was also bias and, deep down, he hoped to see Flora succeed. But even with Alek there was the diplomatic habit of half a dozen lives led Aren to be silent about delicate 'matters of state' that didn't pertain to him. "Unless you also sparred with your boyfriend once. He didn't seem the eclectic fighting type, though. What's all that about with him?"

One thing that Alek loved about Andreas was that his brother always had a little lecture stored somewhere up his sleeve; no one could ever say that Andreas did not love to hear himself talk. Maybe the same could be said about Alek, but the former Alpha wouldn't admit it, he couldn't help it though that he'd become so popular after he was viciously attacked by a wolf in the wood.

"So preachy, but yeah, I guess you don't have to do much these days." Alek's derisive response was a nonanswer; he had heard the archdruids had all retired, and he was shocked Andreas was even here instead of sipping margaritas somewhere with Evy. Was she in charge now? He couldn't keep track; someone was in charge of the druids in Rome, and Alek had nothing to do with it. "I won't miss it." That much he was sure of; it would be hard to miss getting so many people killed. "Serkan's gonna take it this year, I took it from him, and there's no one here that can take him in a fight." The former alpha had been at Dante's for the last decade, and before that, he'd killed when he was only eighteen. Shit was crazy.

#interactions ♔ (history has its eyes on you.) #& alek #& alek 012

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I kiss you — across hundreds of separating years.

@destinedgray

#aesthetics ♔ (how many centuries deep is your wound.) #relationships ♔ (heart; what a rare bird you are.) #with evelina #// just realized i hadnt reblogged it AAAA

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Andreas could tell there was something bitter underneath the surface, or perhaps not bitter but difficult and painful. He didn't know but he didn't have the closeness with his cousin yet to push him for answers when sometimes it was best to let a man open up by their own choice. This was a day of greeting, of reuniting, if Rowan wished for it to be only joyful then he would let it. But he also had the instincts of an older brother and a father; the Archdruid couldn't help extending a hand towards family.

"Oh, yeah, I know the feeling." In a variety of lives, in his own way. "But I'm glad for you; it's a good step. Though, if you want to talk about whatever happened before it, you know I'm here, right? Or even about the after. Regardless, you'll have me on your side."

Rowan's looking at Andreas and he's fine talking about Evy, he's fine talking about everyone else's relationships, but his own are still a soft spot. Because yeah he'd just gone through a break up, but before the breakup there'd been grieving with his other partner. He still can't think too hard about Gabriel, can't help but feel this ache in his chest when he rolls over and the dhampir isn't there because he was adamant he spend the night despite him working late. And then there's this string of dates, if one could even call them that. "Not too much right now, trying to kind of put myself back out there, you know?" For the briefest second, he thinks about Arturo and all of their glances at Flirt and that's all out of the question.

#interactions ♔ (history has its eyes on you.) #& rowan #& rowan 006

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daniel sharman in ftwd

#visage ♔ (heavy is the head that wears the crown.)

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Daniel Sharman for Body and Soul. 

#// WHITE JESUS???????????? #visage ♔ (heavy is the head that wears the crown.)

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I got punched. And, he would know, any other day and any other era of their lives Andreas might have shrugged it off, laughed at him or demanded to know who'd done it. These days he knew lycans lived punching each other, or any other form of violence as a form of civil communication. These days his little brother had endured two brain surgeries already and Andreas was highly tempted to suggest a permanent helmet fixture. These thoughts all crossed his mind as he glared with a mixture of exasperation.

Alek, as anyone should have expected, shrugged it off to change the subject. And Andreas, as anyone should have expected, softened a little at the honesty. The Archdruid was easy to anger but far easier to calm down. “In a matter of speaking,” Andreas replied, before letting the attitude of long-suffering fall away. “Leadership comes in many different forms and no one ever said it was easy,” he sighed. “How you deal with it is just as complex. Why? What's making you think of it now?” He nearly smiled. “Are you going to miss being an Alpha?”

"I got punched." Couple of times, but it was fine, it wasn't like he hadn't been hit a billion times before. It was comforting. "You know," Alek said as he kicked his feet up a bit, "I don't know how you do it." He folded his hands behind his head as he leaned back a little bit and relaxed into the open air of Lupercalia. The sounds of fighting, the conflict that went along with it, man, it was so fucking nice here; these guys were legitimately crazy. "The leadership thing is just-" their dad had told Alek often enough that he wasn't cut out for it, that he'd fail, that he wasn't good enough or smart enough, and when things blew up in his face, the pressure would get to him. Alek used to think that meant he'd never be like, a lawyer or something, turns out things got real when you made yourself Alpha. Alek cut himself off as he looked a this brother, "you know man, you don't look so good. Did you get hit too?"

#interactions ♔ (history has its eyes on you.) #& alek #& alek 010

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There was becoming a pattern among some of his surviving druids, a disconcerting pattern that consisted of devolving change. Or was it evolving? Aren couldn't tell; he couldn't tell if the correlation between losing druidism and morality or depravity was significant. A druid he'd blessed had eventually turned into a vampire and fought against their forces in the war. Now he looked towards this familiar face making its way through the crowds and he knew where he had once seen it before. But where Socrates had once seen a young druid with a gifted mind, now Andreas saw a creature, until recently, he would not be able to name: Illithid. A creature made of the Otherworld and the once opposing forces of the drow, of allies to the Necronomicon.

Aren would have lied if he said his heart hadn't sunk at the sight of Pythagoras' face in another body, and he would have lied if he didn't say he felt looming and almost crushing apprehension as he let him come closer. He not hide the way he stared. But every second Pythagoras looked back at him was another second Aren could tell there was no recognition in his eyes. “Probably because it doesn't get easier. No matter how many times I look at a face that I know and they look back at me with no recognition.” He hesitated a moment before extending a hand, no choice but to introduce himself. The Archdruid could have walked away and accepted the loss of a friend but that somehow did not feel like an option. “My name is Aren,” he introduced himself.

@destinedgray location: Lupercalia, The Wall/Gate notes: giving you a deadpan son is a running theme and idk why

Shame wasn't something that the illithid had developed, at least not yet. His race processed things quickly though and if nothing else he knew to abide by the city laws while within the boundaries of Rome's limits. That meant keeping his appearance glamoured to remain palatable to mortal perceptions, elsewhere? Reid was free to look how he pleased. Reid... Ineri... Identity was a fickle creature, one name held one connotation while the other held a different one entirely. He'd settled on the former but why that remained undetermined, who he was, and who he was meant to be were things that Reid hadn't decided upon.

Through the fey forest, the illithid drifted down the path that had been laid out, psionics kept him afloat as Lupercal came into view. Screaming crowds, raucous banners, and the stench of depravity permeated the air even from this distance. Reid was unsure what to make of it, but it was amidst chaos like this that he'd first taken root in this vessel's form when his ceremorphosis had begun.

Reid's skin melded into itself as his pale, purple flesh and wrangling appendages took shape beneath the plain suit that he'd adorned for the festival. The former druid's shape was discarded as Reid strode through the gate and ignored the press of the alerts that went flagging through the minds of those who witnessed the transformation. He heard a litany of phrases that never made it to their tongues: alien, freak, creep, monster- and so on, he paid them no heed as he looked towards another instead. One of the archdruids.

"You're staring."

#interactions ♔ (history has its eyes on you.) #& reid #& reid 001 #// i wrote these replies for you 10k meters in the air because i love you

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It was that time again. Not Lupercalia, Lupercalia was nice, but Andreas remembered how cool he tried to play off bringing 3 D's home one semester of secondary school though internally he was panicking so hard about their parent's reaction that his anxiety made his muscles ache and his nausea act up and his brain all fuzzy while he was unmedicated and he snapped at Alek for breathing too loud. Except his anxieties leveled up since then and now all he was thinking about was the sensation of a certain draconic diety and Octavian. Alek showing up saying ow and talking about heart eating didn't help, reminding him about last year. Maybe he'd start on his meds again.

"No, don't say that," Andreas groaned, looking more panicked than he should have been. "What the fuck did you do with your head again?"

@destinedgray location: Lupercalia 2024 notes: brudders

"Ow, fuck my head." Alek had gotten into a fight with someone outside the waffle house and while it hadn't ended well, he had learned a valuable lesson: never piss in someone's coffee in front of them and all their friends. "Oh, hey man, what are you doing here?" People were flooding in through the gates, there were participants everywhere, strength challenges, games, and SlipKnot was playing. "Right, Lupercalia, you think anyone's gonna eat a heart this year?"

#interactions ♔ (history has its eyes on you.) #& alek #& alek 012

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Faerie Dragon Event Song

Approximately every 6 hours, seven Fey-Drunk Darters face into the center of the mushroom ring located in Whispering Forest (Tirisfal Glades) and begin projecting lights to the center of the circle. The in-game music changes to this song, which can be heard nowhere else in Azeroth. 

#music ♔ (lost in a february song; tell him it won't be long.)

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Daniel Sharman promoting the 2Lads Podcast (2021) 

#visage ♔ (heavy is the head that wears the crown.)

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He had to be ready by Spring Equinox. The Druids would be celebrating Alban Eilir, one of many little rituals and celebrations they had over the year. But this one, 'The Light of the Earth', was a perfect metaphor for a proposal and only the ring was ready for the day. Or, it had been before Aren changed his mind about something in the design and was getting a part of it redone while also managing the druid lessons, his new part-time job and worrying about Octavian and Oztalun's every move. "What are you talking about? I have tons of Archdruid responsiblities," he argued playfully, looking through his closet while his mind was also on phone call that he had to make privately about the ring once he left Evy. Though it was true Andreas no longer had to worry about Oztalun's tree or Senate politics, both the bulk of what had been his responsibilities, his wayward brain made his mornings chaotic as though he had a million things to do. "I can't find... fucking christ, how many robes did I own?" He tossed 10th century BCE furs to the side of the floor. "Do you know where I put that black jacket with the, err," he mimed a hood to Evy, the word not coming to him in that moment. (The jacket was hung on the door a few meters away.) "Anyway, I have work in two hours and then I have to go check on Valsharra in the Fey Forest... make sure she hasn't eaten any people, say hi, then come back home on time for dinner with you. Very busy. Very much Archdruid responsibilities."

who? @destinedgray where? aren's private chambers notes: doing the randomize top songs thing and got genius by written by wolves

"For some who no longer has Archdruid responsibilities, you seem mighty busy lately," Evy coos playfully as she leans against the head of their bed, eyes alight with mischief as her gaze follows Andreas as he moves around the room. She knows, without a shadow of doubt, that he is up to something. She is very sure of what that something it's too, the tabs on his phone looking for jewelers and the sneakiness adding together with their conversation right before the war had begun.

#// this is an accurate representation of every one of my mornings without meds #// so it became long #interactions ♔ (history has its eyes on you.) #& evelina #& evelina 014

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Eyes widened, lips parted. "Bubbly?" Laughter - loud and unrestrained spilled out. He supposed Rowan hadn't seen Evelina go absolutely feral before. Few were the lives that Erish led in which she wasn't led by some form of violence, but the druidess was also far more complex then that. Gentle, pensive and bubbly could be used to describe her, just not out-loud without Aren thinking of the former Valkyrie charging into battle with a blood-curdling scream of rage. "... Oof," he breathed out, wiping what would have been a tear in his right eye, laughter dying away into chuckles. "I'm glad you met her," he said more sincerely. "I sometimes wonder the same thing." He grinned and sat back a little more comfortably. "What about you? You're never personal on the podcast and I haven't heard about anyone in your life like that. I guess we never really had the best chances to be deep."

The shrug he offers is casual, maybe a little sheepish because looking back on it, it had been kind of hilarious. Andreas had handed him a stick in the woods and told him to set it on fire. Actually, thinking back, a lot of the stuff the two of them got up to was hilarious in hindsight. "I'm figuring stuff out." There's something kind of sad about the statement and he mentally kicks himself for even thinking it. Things are so different now than when they'd first met, since they'd figured they were family even. Andreas is someone important, is busy with druid things and Evy and Rowan is....He's got the shop, he's painfully aware of people stopping in to check on his well being, he's got the Amaranthus coven. He's got this hot demon who he thinks he's probably going to keep seeing. "Evy comes by the shop, how did you wind up with someone as bubbly as her?" It's playful, a return to keeping things light.

#interactions ♔ (history has its eyes on you.) #& rowan #& rowan 006

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They all had their own forms of arrogance. Aren had grown up mortal once, grown up an acolyte thousands of times over and then had wise people by his side to help temper his' own hubris, humbling the Archdruid at every turn. This life had humbled Aren most of all and it made him wish for a peace and quiet that wasn't possible for very long. But while Aren had always been more halycon, Octavian had never misused his natural charisma and power. That success in higher ambitions shaped the world for generations and so life had rewarded him thus. He was a proud ruler and Aren could not take that away from him; he had earned that. But he wished the emperor was the brother he'd known. The prosperity that Octavian made was turning into pure devastation, molded and corrupted by magic that never meant to touch him. He didn't know what to do. Alek had been lost but Octavian wasn't lost; centuries later, the lost he'd might have once been had turned to pure effort and choice and irreversible, unforgivable damage.

Cut it out. Aren wished he could claim he'd do the same to Octavian but the idea and the aggression with which his brother spat those words made him hesitate. It was only as the phoenix rose up in front of him that Aren was one more reminded that this wasn't just his brother anymore, but a threat to the people he had sworn to protect. The earthen Archdruid let his heart harden like the stone that his skin could become. He was a peaceful man, for the most part, but he was not passive and maybe some promises were meant to be impossible to keep. He could not stand aside and let Octavian try destroy the peace that had been so hard won. He had siblings to think about, children, friendships and the love of his lives with him. He had his niece, Octavian's daughter, who had been harmed enough. "So be it," Aren murmured, unsure and uncaring if Octavian had even heard the words as fire blazed overhead. Calcifying his love to stone was a hurt like no other; shards of residue empathy stabbing him as his heart hardened. He took a deep breath and let the wave of grief pass him by, any tears drying long before they reached the blue of the iris.

END.

❂🐦❂

Behind the threshold of Lupercal's borders, Octavian needn't worry about attracting the wrong kind of attention by spreading his wings. The citizens of Rome may have been prepared to turn their backs on him, but Octavian was a blaze that would usher in real change to the realm whether people were prepared to receive it or not. "You're a fool, Aren. A stubborn, powerless fool, and I look forward to showing you the error of your ways. The power of choice is wasted on those too ignorant to make the right ones, and Lucretia is a prime example. All that power and potential squandered over petty ideals, though she thinks the same way as you which is not surprising. You want it all but feel above the sacrifice required to achieve. That's your short coming, and like the infection it is I will cut it out."

A pillar of fire engulfs Octavian, burning away his clothing as his true form begins to rear its head. "Oh, I'm never alone. Remember that when you fail to protect what you hold dear. Because you will fail. Beneath the light of my flame, all will succumb and you are no exception, brother." The term was spat out as more of a curse. They were Octavian's last syllables before his body sprouted into the domineering phoenix, towering over Aren in his burning azure glory. The phoenix's hunter eyes remained the same though, trained cruelly on the Archdruid below. The last time Octavian had the pleasure of gazing upon Aren from this vantage point, it had been to take his soul in a forgotten time. He'd been successful then, as he had been during their prior clash and as he would continue to be in the future. Aren would embrace the light or burn to ash trying to fight it, as all would in time. In fact, Octavian had one reason for transforming and allowing his immense heat to bathe the area surrounding them: he wanted Aren to see exactly what he was up against. The phoenix was here to stay.

#// i cant believe we finished a thread im so proud of us #// but also sad #interactions ♔ (history has its eyes on you.) #& octavian #& octavian 005