#Unwilling Apollo

[quoth-the-goblin-nevermore]

Just getting this back out there again. :)

I’m almost done. Woohoo! It’s been a time writing Unwilling Apollo, but I’m glad to wrap it up soon.

Total word count (counting current WIP chapter): 40522

Chapters: 14/15 (Currently halfway done with the last chapter!) Also working on a one shot following the ‘canon’ after UA.

Brief Description: Grantaire makes a drunken mistake and Enjolras realizes something about him that he already knew. Hurt/Comfort ensues. How would the barricade differ if Enjolras had something to stay alive for, and Grantaire was permitted to do more than simply die by him?

#les mis #enjolras #grantaire #les amis #enjoltaire #barricade boys #ao3 fanfic #fanfiction #fanfic #ao3 writer #ao3 #ao3 link #exr #les mis fanfic #Unwilling Apollo #ao3fic #les miserables

[nay-lon]

*instruments being played badly except for Klavier absolutely shredding on the guitar*

#ace attorney #phoenix wright #trucy wright #apollo justice #klavier gavin #athena cykes #ema skye #apollo justice trilogy #klapollo #Apollo is a unwilling member of this klapollo but oh well #my art #luz-art

[ind1c0lite]

Defense attorneys Magician assistants Athena Cykes and Apollo Justice <3 They are both having an equally good time I promise

#ace attorney #athena cykes #apollo justice #indys art #the midsection was originally supposed to be belts but I thought it would be fun if it was a crop top instead <3 #they can now match with trucy on stage!!! #listen if they're going to be unwilling assistants they can at least slay

[foineswoine]

I fucking love it when characters look in the mirror and see the person they hate the most

#pigeon thoughts #not as a self hate thing but more of like #they see that reflection of [character] in them and are terrified of what that could mean #desperate to prove that they are more than their unwitting unwilling legacy #yes this post is also about kristoph & apollo and william & michael #I just feel a lot about them

[angellfag]

Really sticking my neck out by posting in the d*st*el tag

#it's like i want my art to be popular soooo bad but also sorry im unwilling to not be on my freak shit #apollo txt

[moodyseal]

Meg and Apollo tarot card designs for @ferodactyl <3 I'm not an expert when it comes to tarot cards (this was actually the first time I looked into the full deck) but hopefully I got it right!

The explanation of the cards' symbolism is under the cut because it's a bit lengthy oof

Meg's card is the Knight of Swords, one of the minor Arcana, I think? Upright, the Knight of Swords refers to a person who is action-oriented, determined and unstoppable in what they set their mind to; however, when it's reversed the card also indicates a person who might be blind to the consequences of their actions and charges into things without having fully considered their options. Meg's choices throughout TOA point to her being exactly this sort of person: while her determination and lack of hesitation were exactly what was needed to balance out Apollo's occasional self-doubt, her impulsiveness was also what got them both into trouble multiple times. The fact that, eventually, she learned how to rely on others and slow down when needed goes hand in hand with the warning this card poses.

Apollo's card is instead one of the Major Arcana, and it's Death. The Death card is a symbol of change: it indicates a time of transition and new beginnings that are sometimes unexpected and difficult, but still necessary. Reversed, the card indicates that the person is resisting that change, and unwilling to let go of the past, which makes the journey all the more painful as the transformation that they're going through is inevitable and cannot be reversed. One of the major points in Apollo's character arc, and the biggest change he goes through, is the transition from the god he used to be to the one he would be in the future. It's a slow change, and one he didn't fully lean into at first—after all, if he chose to give up all that he had been up until then, what would he have left? However, ironically enough, death is exactly what set things in motion, and let him finally shed away his past beliefs to embrace his new sense of self.

#i would've chosen the sun for apollo but it seemed a bit uh. cliché i guess? #another option was the hanged man actually #but i liked the little joke about there being a lot of death in his life LMAO #trials of apollo #percy jackson #toa #pjo #apollo #lester papadopoulos #meg mccaffrey #my art #lonely thoughts

[lentendays]

So now that the Underworld saga is out let's talk about TIRESIAS

A funky lil person with different versions of their myth, all a little deranged.

According to one myth, Tiresias killed a pair of snakes and Hera was so mad she turned him into a woman and he birthed several children, before eventually encountering another pair of snakes and either sparing them or killing them too, and was turned back into a man. Another version says Tiresias started out as a woman - a priestess of Apollo - and went through unwilling sex change several times in a row due to Apollo, Hera, Zeus, Aphrodite, and the Muses. Eventually he was turned into a mouse of indeterminate sex.

This was all BEFORE he got blinded and given the gift of prophecy. Which happened because Zeus and Hera were arguing about whether men or women experienced more pleasure in sex, and Tiresias - who regardless of the version had experienced both- was called to be a tiebreaker. Tiresias said female o's were way better, and Hera blinded him(them?) as a result. Zeus couldn't reverse it but he did grant the ability to see the future as a "my bad".

Some time later Tiresias died either drinking from a poisoned spring or getting shot by Apollo.

Why didn't he avoid death with his seer powers? Probably because he was tired of all the BS he had to deal with and wanted to just chill in the Underworld until some random king stormed into his house to ask for directions.

#epic the musical #the underworld saga #jorge rivera herrans #tiresias the blind prophet #odysseus #hera #zeus #apollo #im referring to Tiresias with mostly male pronouns since Epic has him as a man and the sex change(s) wasn’t voluntary

[hopelesslyromanticshark]

HI, HEY, HELLO can i get leo with apollo!fem!reader? (plsplsplsplspls i'm beggin') where she performs a song like solo concert for camp (for inspiration new romantics by taylor swift) and leo is just so in love

i think new romantics is freakingly well describes her personality and exactly the energy that she wants to give to the camp (y'know about circumstances)

take your time, lovely! ♡

⋆ ˚｡⋆౨ৎ˚ He Can't See It In My Face, But I'm About To Play My Ace

content: leo valdez x daughter of apollo! reader fic warning: language, i believe, but that's about it!! author's note: okay okay, this was the secret fic with the explanation. i do not listen to taylor swift, in fact she's a blocked artist on my spotify, and let me explain why. my best friend is her biggest fan, like huge huge fan of hers. and i love in strange ways. my least favorite colors, colors in which i refused to buy anything in, are the favorite colors of my loved ones. because i associate them with those colors and see it as their thing. and id know how id feel it someone was trying to take something i viewed as mine, i guess??? its the same way with music. i feel like if i become a huge swiftie, then we're competing and i dunno. it sounds stupid writing all this out, BUT me and her have had talks about it and she understands and tbh, that's all that matters to me lmao. sooooo yeah that's just what i wanted to say and i wanted to say it here with the fic because i think it would have been strange as a sort of stand alone comment, ya know??? anyways, to surmise, nothing agaisnt taylor swift, huge fan of her like as a person or human being, but unwilling to listen to her music because i love people weird. okay okay im done ranting lmao (also i shouldn't have to clarify this but i will; IT IS NOT FOR PICK ME REASONS FR IF I HAVE TO BEG A MAN TO PICK ME BY BEING QUIRKY I DO NOT WANT THAT MAN)

admittedly, it had been a stupid bet to take. but the stoll's were egging her on and she really wasn't one to let clarisse of all people walk all over her. plus, she had some minor confidence in the athena cabin to keep their flag out of the ares cabin's grimy hands. apparently, it was misplaced. but, really their were worse bets she could have lost, like shaving her head or getting a tattoo, all bets the stolls have had to follow through with.

"can't wait to see your next show, songbird," clarisse mocked playfully as she marched past with her siblings, laurels proudly set on her curls. you sighed, sticking your tongue out at her back. and really, you weren't sure why you were complaining. you loved to sing! but, it's probably tied to the fact that you hated to lose. then, you started to plot, growing more excited with every passing second.

no one said this bet had to be a bad thing.

leo knew something was up from the moment he sat down for lunch. he could just sense it in the air, glaring over at the stoll's suspiciously. they shrugged and leo couldn't quite tell if they were playing innocent or truly were innocent. damn hermes genes. then a beat started playing through the pavilion, everyone looking around in confusion. chrion and mr. d both stood from there seats, also glancing around in confusion.

"what-" mr. d tried but then you were standing from your table, a played up face of confusion plastered on your face. leo squinted suspiciously at the girl of his dreams, having already caught on that this was her doing from the twinkle in her eyes alone. that twinkle that had his stomach doing flips and his lips curling upwards.

"hey, what's going on?" you called over the music, trying to hide your smile as one of your other siblings shot up from his seat.

"i dunno, y/n, maybe someone lost a bet?!" he called, the apollo cabin giggling among themselves as though they were in on an inside joke. and while the rest of the cabins weren't entirely sure what was happening, they couldn't help but smile and laugh too. except for chiron and mr. d, who were growing increasingly more upset at the interruption to their lunch.

"miss l/n, if you will-"

"oh yeah. i did!" you cheered before using one of your sibling's hands and pulling yourself up to stand on the apollo table, eyes scouring the crowd before pulling a microphone to your lips.

we're all bored we're all so tired of everything we wait for trains that just aren't coming we show off our different scarlet letters trust me, mine is better

as per usually, y/n was an amazing singer with a natural stage presence. she was dancing while singing, her siblings doing some choreographed moves. following the end of the first verse, some sunkissed hands shot up and tugged at the girl's sweatpants and baggy shirt, ripping it off to reveal a sparkly, frilly, and short dress that had leo questioning if he needed to take a 'bathroom break' during the performance.

we're so young but we're on the road to ruin we play dumb but we know exactly what we're doin' we cry tears of mascara in the bathroom honey, life is just a classroom (ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah)

y/n now moved from where she was dancing on her father's table, with the help of her siblings. she was now, basically, prancing around the dining pavilion. clearly, a lot of planning went into this, as the apollo cabin perfectly presented their camp necklaces whilst y/n sang about life being just like a classroom. the group had now danced it's way to jason's table, who looked at the group with a raised brow, causing y/n's giggles to waver her voice in a way that had leo falling deeper in love with her.

'cause baby, i could build a castle out of all the bricks they threw at me and every day is like a battle but every night with us is like a dream

whilst singing about bricks, the apollo cabin presented them to jason, who in turn laughed and shoved them away kindly. this caused an uproar in the pavilion, laughter spewing from most everyone's mouths as someone (leo) had made them aware of jason's past with bricks. you patted the ares cabin as you raced by, singing off battles that was met with kind hearted 'boo's. then, whilst singing of dreams, you dramatically draped yourself across the hypnos table, clover hovering a bundle of grapes over your mouth like you were a goddess. which leo was starting to come to the same conclusion as you shot forwards and caught one between your teeth, quickly swallowing it as your next verse came up.

baby, we're the new romantics come on, come along with me heartbreak is the national anthem we sing it proudly

we are too busy dancing to get knocked off our feet baby, we're the new romantics the best people in life are free

by this point, you were waving over at the hermes cabin, which leo has vague memories of being on your capture the flag team last time, who pretended to be surprised before shooting out of their seats and joining in the flash mob. they weren't nearly as fluid as the apollo kids, but their atrociously bad moves brought a lightheartedness to the whole thing. long ago, chrion had given up, sitting back down and enjoying the show like the rest of the campers. but poor mr. d was attempting to chase the flash mob, which they must have predicted as lou ellen, another capture the flag member of the losing team, shot her hand out and caught y/n's, the girl disappearing for a moment before reappearing, this time standing proudly on the ares table.

we're all here the lights and noise are blinding we hang back it's all in the timing it's poker he can't see it in my face but i'm about to play my ace (ah)

y/n danced around on the ares table, hopping and skipping as they pulled their plates out of the way. she made an exaggerated movement towards her wrist while singing about timing, though there was no watch there. then, seemingly from nowhere, she produced a playing card, holding it proudly up in the air between her two fingers so that everyone could see it.

we need love but all we want is danger we team up then switch sides like a record changer the rumors are terrible and cruel but honey, most of them are true (ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah)

with a wink during the final line, y/n threw down the card. a puff of smoke quickly covered the ares table. when it cleared, the girl was gone, along with the rest of the flash mob. everyone looked around, knowing it wasn't the end, many refusing to be jump-scared by a stupid flash mob. then they came running back, basically flooding the pavilion with how many of them there were.

'cause baby, i could build a castle out of all the bricks they threw at me and every day is like a battle but every night with us is like a dream

baby, we're the new romantics come on, come along with me heartbreak is the national anthem we sing it proudly

once more, y/n waved another group over to join in the dancing and fun. this time, the aphrodite cabin bounced out of their seats and raced to join shouting about heartbreak just a little too loud. and you were smiling so widely that leo couldn't help but smile too, completely enamored by the shameless daughter of apollo.

we are too busy dancing to get knocked off our feet baby, we're the new romantics the best people in life are free oh-oh (oh, oh, oh-oh, oh) so, come on, come along with me (oh, oh, oh-oh, oh) the best people in life are free (oh, oh, oh-oh, oh)

the third and final group was summoned, annabeth proudly pulling her siblings up from their table and linking arms with you and piper. percy was laughing loudly from his lonely table, clearly unaware that this was going on, let alone that his girlfriend was involved. then, with another clasp of lou ellen's hand, you were gone. only to appear before leo, standing on his father's table, your eyes darting around until the landed on leo, who swallowed thickly at how pretty you looked in that moment.

please take my hand and

you presented your hand to leo from your higher position and he wasn't even thinking twice before grasping it and allowing you to pull him up to stand on the table as well.

please take me dancing, and

without needing to be prompted, leo spun you and you blushed, which was blurring due to the spinning and leo just barely caught on that it was happening. you then, subtly, pulled him towards the edge of the table, the boy too starstruck to notice until you rested a hand against his heaving chest, the only thing between our lips was a couple of inches and your bedazzled microphone.

please leave me stranded

you punctuated your words with a push against his chest, sending him falling backwards safely into the arms of your siblings. you couldn't help but laugh at the shocked look on his face and leo couldn't help but look at you like you were the whole world, the only thing that'd ever matter to him, and so much more.

it's so romantic (it's so romantic) (ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah)

#postcards from covey ౨ৎ #all my love ౨ৎ #hoo #pjo #heroes of olympus x reader #leo valdez x reader #leo valdez

[celticcrossanon]

BRF Reading - 21st of March, 2024

This is speculation only

Cards drawn on the 21st of March, 2024

Question: Why is Harry still on the royal website?

Interpretation: Because The King refuses to have him removed.

Card One: The Emperor in reverse

The Emperor represents The King, so this card is talking about King Charles.

In the reverse, the Emperor energy is stubborn, rigid, and domineering. It can also represent a tyrant. I don't think that King Charles is a tyrant, but I do feel that he is being stubborn and insisting that Harry stay on the royal website 'because he is my son'. The energy of this card is very rigid. It is the energy of someone who is insisting on having things his own way no matter what the cost.

The Emperor in reverse is the Emperor person acting out of their shadow side or their worst side. In this case, it is King Charles who is acting out of his worst side. The energy here is of someone who is very spoilt, who is used to getting their own way in everything, and they are tired and cranky and unwilling to consider doing anything that is not exactly what they want. If they were a two year old I would be expecting tantrums and early bedtime, but this is a 75 year old man we are talking about.

This is the first time I have seen a similarity between the King's energy and Harry's energy. The energy this card is giving me is a more refined version of Harry's usual petulant, sulky, spoilt brat energy.

Card Two: The Sun

The Sun is a card of optimism, warmth, positivity, success, believing that everything will be all right in the end. It can also be a card for children.

This card is giving me golden child energy. There is no other way to describe it. The energy is of a child who can do no wrong, who will always be protected, pampered and adored, and who will always be cosseted by his parent. This tells me that Harry is the golden child of King Charles and that the King will do whatever he can to cosset, protect, and smooth the path of his favourite child. This reflects the picture on the card, of the god Apollo, who was the favourite son of the chief god Zeus.

In answer the the question, this card tells me that Harry is the favourite child of King Charles and The King is not removing his favourite son from the royal website. I sense that it was a struggle to get Harry in the last position on the page, as The King wanted him right under Prince William, and only other people insisting on having all the working royals first, and all the royals on the page in rank order, prevented this from happening. So having Harry on the page was a compromise to prevent him being listed under Prince William (I could be wrong about this, but there is definitely an energy of being elevated above all others coming from this card).

Card Three: The Wheel of Fortune in Reverse

This card is about your current position and whether you are rising or falling in esteem. In the reverse, it says that your fortunes are falling, you are declining in esteem, you have no control or are clinging to control, and you face unwelcome changes.

Harry has obviously fallen in public esteem, so this card applies to him - he is not favoured by the public and as per his actions there is no reason to favour him by having him on the website or any higher on the website.

The energy of this cardis of someone facing unwelcome changes. I think this refers to King Charles, who is not happy about Harry being last on the website page. I think he may have had to compromise to keep Harry on the page at all, as per the energy of the previous card.

The reversal of fortune energy of this card could be an argument that was used to have The King agree to have Harry in the bottom position on the webpage - that to have him any higher would outrage the general public, who (quite rightly) have no good opinion of Harry after everything he has done, and the BRF can not afford the hit to their reputation if this happens.

Card Four: The King of Cups in Reverse

The King of Cups is a card that represents Scorpio, and in this reading it represents King Charles, a sun sign Scorpio. It represents King Charles as a person, not in his role as King.

The card being in reverse tells me that King Charles is very unhappy about the changes to the royal website with respect to Harry, not just as a king (the Emperor card in reverse) but also as a person. There are waves of unhappiness coming off this card. King Charles did not get his own way with respect to Harry and he is very upset about it.

The card in reverse also tells me that King Charles as-a-person is operating out of his shadow side in this matter. With the King of Cups reversed that means someone who is selfish, emotionally manipulative, over-emotional, making decisions with the heart and not the head, moody, volatile emotionally, and seeking vengeance on all who he sees as wronging him.

I expect repercussions from the decision to put Harry at the bottom of the page (and not return him to under Prince William). The King will be looking for someone to blame and possibly to punish that person in some way for not allowing his darling boy to be in his rightful place as a prince and son of the king.

Underlying Energy: The Five of Swords.

This is my card for duty. As a general card, it is a card of not being able to win for losing, of arguments, aggression, bullying, conflict, hostility, and stress.

This card tells me two things: Firstly, that an argument about duty was used to keep Harry on the website (maybe something like "He is my son and it is my duty as a father to have my sons on the website"). Secondly, that the decision to keep Harry on the website caused a lot of arguments, that The King got his way by 'pulling rank' or something similar, and that this has caused a lot of hostility from his advisors and perhaps other members of the BRF. The King has won the battle to keep Harry on the website, albeit in a compromise position (possibly), but his behaviour during the conflicts that arose has alienated some of his supporters and advisors. The end result was not worth the hurt feelings involved, and everyone can see this except The King.

Conclusion:

Harry has been kept on the website because The King wants him there. The King is not concerned about how this will appear to the general public, he wants his favourite son on the royal website and that is what happened. The King's insistence on this and his method of winning the arguments over this (riding roughshod over everyone) has caused a lot of hostility among his advisors and supporters.

There are suggestions in the energy that Harry's position on the page is a compromise and the King wanted him under Prince William. If this is the case, then The King is very hurt because he didn't get what he wanted, he is brooding over it (?sulking?), and he is looking for someone to blame and punish in some way.

In this reading The King was acting out of his shadow energy, his worse side, both in his role as King and as a person/parent. He came across as overly emotional, emotionally manipulative, almost a bully (pulling rank to get his own way), stubborn, rigid, and domineering. His energy was of a spoilt brat sulking because they didn't get exactly what they wanted, and very close to throwing a tantrum to get it. It is the first time I have seen the same energy in The King and his son Harry.

[kit-williams]

Golden Apotheosis

My turn to finally introduce a Sentience Custode of my own! However, with a twist! Ya'll remember that Shard I made with @sculptorofcrimson and @bispecsual? Well I'm introducing a stand in for her in husbandry... and don't worry the boy in this fic is a stand in for Valdor (or maybe you should worry).

Please big thanks to @bispecsual for also beta reading

Enjoy

WORDCOUNT: 6524

@egrets-not-regrets @liar-anubiass-blog @barn-anon @bleedingichorhearts @gallifreyianrosearkytiorsusan

@ms--lobotomy

Thank @squishyowl for the dividers

tw: Nudity, blood, death (very much on brand with 40k so far) POV shifting

The blood that ran down her naked body was still warm. Aurora trembled with fear as she knew she was destined to die today... there was a horrifyingly calm acceptance of that fact that ran through her. She opened her mouth to breathe and spit out blood that leaked into her mouth. She was blind as she refused to open her blood covered eyes as her arms were held out by large hands... her long brown hair now stuck to her back as it was heavy with blood and all she could hear was the loud booming voice of the "preacher" Astartis... Aurora felt something placed on her head as it dug into the skin of her scalp and chants and jeers flooded her ears.

Large thumbs swiped over her eyelids allowing her to finally open. Her eyes only briefly scanned the gathered crowd of Astartes as she was dragged to a raised platform and her eyes looked to her cell companion. Aurora didn't blame her even if she apologized again and again for what was going to happen... it wasn't her fault that she was being held hostage to get her Astartis to behave, she learned his name was Ari... Aurora didn't blame Ari either. Her hands were held over her head as she was strapped to a metal pointed wheel, a star of Chaos, she somehow knew... she looked over to her fast friend who was silently crying as she was held by an Astartis in black and gold. The unwilling sorcerer approached, glancing at his human.... glancing to the marine holding his bonded... who gave her a squeeze causing her to scream.

The "preacher" kept speaking as Aurora looked at who she assumed was Ari. His body unarmored as she looked over his face and for a moment when their eyes met she could see the regret in them for a fleeting moment before they hardened as he painted her flesh with symbols that made her mind hurt. His hands soon moved and glowed as his voice took on a double voice melding with his own. She felt her body pulse as warp stuff bled from her brown-gold eyes.

They thought it was fitting given the close resemblance she held to many of the depictions of the Carrion Emperor to give her a golden laurel. Several of them could see it... how swollen her soul was... and with Ari pushing more warp into it... it only made it a better sacrifice.

Ari wanted no part of this... he hated this... he was no human killer! But... but... his human was in danger.

Aurora looked up at the sky and there was silent pain that rushed through her body. Something inside of her was pulsing as, unknown to her, more and more of her soul was forced to take in raw warpstuff. Empowering her and making her ripe for an offering to the gods. She felt like the seams of her entire being were being ripped apart to the point she could no longer take it and she screamed, "SOMEONE HELP ME!" Desperately she screamed as she forced her throat raw.

But within the warp that those fallen Astartes were feeding her soul too... all that was there was the laughter of thirsting gods...

Apollo was falling. He blinked as he was indeed falling as his armor was adjusting and informing him of the calculated time till impact. His bright blue eye behind those ruby red eye lenses twitched around in their socket as he was fed information from several sources. He was about to land in a gathering of Chaos Space Marines... during the middle of a ritual... Perfect timing he thought to himself . Apollo twisted his body like a cat, unhindered by his armor, as he was made to move unnaturally. He arched and his armor braced and readied himself as his hands gripped his Guardian Spear. Where he was... will come later he had to eliminate a cancerous growth first. But, as he fell his eyes glanced towards the altar and a breath before impact his eyes caught gold.

It was a baseline human female covered in blood. On her head rested a mockery of a golden laurel that his Master was fond of. His eyes met hers for a split second and pools of gold-brown looked at him... afraid. Vines of warp like energy akin to some violent xenos flora wrapped and latched onto his soul... he was going to save her... he was going to save her regardless... but he was going to save her... for she looked far too much like Him.

Limbs and viscera exploded outwards as Apollo made impact with a traitor marine. As the smoke cleared it was already far too late for them. Before even the words "Custodes!" could leave the mouth of the traitor that spotted him... a dozen of them were already dead.

Ari's eyes widened as he knew he had only precious seconds... his eyes flicked over to the marine holding his human and all Ari had to do was twitch and their head exploded. She was opening her mouth to scream as Ari flooded his body with the lashing warp to fuel his speed. He needed to out maneuver the Custodes. He was kind enough to cut Aurora free as within breaths he was suddenly by his human as the warp wrapped around the both of them and before Aurora realized it... they were gone. They fell to the forest floor as Ari held his bonded tightly... safe.

However, Aurora was far from safe. She was still in so much danger as she scrambled to her feet after being freed. Her heart was beating wildly as she still felt like she was coming undone and her hands covered her ears as she trembled in pain, a scream ripped from her throat. The warp that had bled into reality whipped around her... it hurt! She was scared! And she poured all of her emotions into the currents around her.

Help me please... a voice in his mind pleaded as the Dread Host, Apollo, cleaved a limb free from the traitor in front of him. He danced between the ruptured metal and dying marines. He violently shoved the bubbling anxiety down, a feeling he had thought he had forgotten how to feel, as his eyes drifted towards the screaming and pained human his mind raced something screamed at him... SAVE HER... SAVERHERSAVEHERSAVEHERSAVEHERSAVEHERSAVEHER he gritted his teeth as something in his mind screamed at him in his own voice... he felt compelled to listen but he twirled watching his Guardian Spear slice through metal like it was butter. "Working on it." He snarled out to himself.

Aurora swayed on her feet as she regained some semblance of steadying herself and made to get away! The Golden Astartes could do that right? What help would she be... though she barely turned to run before a hand wrapped around her throat. Her hands looked so tiny as she tried to pry off metallic fingers from around her throat. The Feral Astartis snarled at her in that dark tongue, it wasn't Gothic, and it made something inside of her hurt. The dark apostle looked toward the custodes being swarmed before rushing off with the half ready sacrifice. It was just a minor setback... he would try again.

Aurora reached out to the golden warrior looking at the red eye lenses on that white faceplate... before she moved out of the camp at a sickeningly fast speed. Apollo's head snapped to the direction of his charge. His mind rapidly did the math at how fast he could get to her. He was finally done playing as his spear ripped open bellies before he turned on his heel like a flamenco dancer as he ran after them. Apollo needed to know why she looked so much like Him. He had joked or, now that Apollo reflects, perhaps in His own way admitted that He had many paramours over the years; both before and after the creation of the Primarchs. Apollo remembers him being young and bold enough to ask, "Should we be expecting any secret children my lord?"

He remembers the faint smile that was only in His eyes and not upon his lips as he ordained to answer Apollo, "No Apollo. I haven't had any in thousands of years."

Aurora was sobbing again, her tears cleaning the sticky blood on her skin, leaving their trails against her lightly tanned skin as she felt the hand around her throat squeeze. She was going to die... she had allowed herself to feel a fleeting sense of hope when he fell from the sky like a golden star... no... there was no golden hero here to save her. She opened her eyes as her brain had trouble registering the golden mass rapidly approaching her as... her brain told her.... it shouldn't move that fast... that smoothly... she felt sick as it moved so smoothly and so quickly that she couldn't register properly the fact he had already grabbed the dark apostle's arm and had already ripped it clean from its socket.

She only registered the sudden fact that she was falling now after a horrifyingly instantaneous sound of screaming metal. All Aurora knew was that at this momentum she was probably going to die if she hit the ground. However she blinked as the sound of leaf litter scattering met her ears as she was pressed up against a golden chest plate as she came to a stop. Her heart was beating like the wings of a hummingbird as her brown-gold eyes darted around. She looked up seeing the white facemask of the golden marine... she looked over her shoulder and could see the other dead on the forest floor.

Apollo watched as those gold-brown eyes looked around and back at his faceplate once more before she started to wildly weep against him. He normally wasn't good at handling their outbursts but he focused on the golden "laurel" on her head tangling with her hair was a bunch of scrap metal twisted and painted. His deft fingers moved it free of her scalp and wickedly tossed it at the dead marine watching the "leaves" sink into his skin. He felt her fingers grip his armor as he moves her, slightly wrapping her naked form in the black cloth he has wrapped around his waist. Apollo had many questions but as she started babbling up at him between her tears he realized he did not understand what she was saying... Apollo like all custodes was well versed in many imperial languages but this... this he did not know. He looked over her body as she was dehydrated and slightly underfed but otherwise she was healthy which soothed something inside of him. Apollo knew he wasn't good with baselines but he did his best to soothe her as now... he had to find his way to civilization.

The local Astartes were scrambling as there was a Custodes, an unknown Custodes, heading their way. Traitor and Renegade Astartes retreated from the immediate vicinity and entered hiding. A Custodes was a force of nature and would rip through a community like a tornado. Those at the wall gained confirmation as this was not one of the few that they knew of which meant this was a recent arrival... an unbonded Custodes. They would make things difficult as only bonded Custodes would allow the tentative truce between the Loyalists and Traitors continue... all by their mercy. So they were dealing with potentially two unbonded Custodes... they prayed to the Emperor and to the Dark Gods that no more were sent.

Apollo looked at the fortifications as he approached them picking up on Imperial Fist architecture mixed with Iron Warrior. His eyes narrowed at the joint project as he knew about the Ultramarine approaching him as his hand held the passed out bundle closely to him. He held his Guardian Spear at his side as the Ultramarine finally spoke, "Noble Custodes." Apollo could hear the accent as an old Mcraggian dialect and given the crusade pattern armor he was wearing... Time Displacement. Apollo theorized.

"Ultramarine." Apollo replied emotionlessly. The human in his arm whimpered softly, twitching slightly.

The Ultramarine looked at the Custodian's legs that were covered in dried blood. However his eyes kept glancing at the passed out human wrapped in the black cape of the custodian, covered in blood. He prepared to speak again but Apollo cut him off.

"When am I." He demanded.

"024.M2." He says automatically. The Ultramarine was surprised at the way the Custodian seemed to move in a way as he took a deep inhale.

"Where are we." Apollo turned to face the Ultramarine now, his grip on the spear becoming a little tighter.

"We are on Terra, my Lord."

Apollo stood there processing the conversation; he's never heard of a large time displacement going backwards. Ancient marines being shot forward in time was more common than not but... it could happen just he has no recollection of anything this severe, "When are you from."

"986.M30, my Lord." Internally the Ultramarine knew he was breaking protocols with these lines of question... they were supposed to ease in new arrivals... but then again this was a Custodes... and they had nothing ready for Custodes.

"I see." Apollo said as the silence before coming at him with, "I also see traitor marines in your midst."

"When are you from, my Lord?" The Ultramarine attempted deflection... Apollo could have killed him for such insolence.

"001.M42." Apollo said with a clipped breath.

"I... I see." The Ultramarine replied.

Apollo could see the micro movements of the armor... could see the way he was inhaling... he was clearly on the vox talking to others. He could order his machine spirit to override their encryptions to have full access to their conversation... but he refrained... for now. He glanced back down to his charge? He hardly was an Aquilian Shield to think of her as a charge but it felt right... a warmth that cradled itself between his hearts. His eyes pulled away and returned to their icy gaze as he looked around his mind playing stratagems of how he would dance between target to target he was confident even with her in his arm that he could kill them all. He had sparred with several Captain-Generals even the greatest of them all, Valdor. He was part of the host that was the Emperor's wrath... he was one of his Master's scalpels... and he saw much cancer to be removed.

"My Lord," Apollo looked to the Ultramarine, "if you will follow me... there is a lot we must inform you about." He started walking and Apollo adjusted his charge in his arms. Her golden eyes opened for a brief moment as the bags under her eyes were heavy... the way her hand shook weakly as she slurred out something in the language he did not know... how she curled against him once more before passing out again.

Apollo's eyes flicked about as they walked through the city seeing the baseline's glance about, none of them wearing any signifying colors that they were serfs or a part of some faction that Apollo knew of. The sky was a crisp blue that he knew few worlds had such a blue sky naturally and he is certain that if the Ultramarine was correct... the night sky might have a number of stars he knew by heart. But his eyes flicked to various windows as Apollo made mental notes of the traitor marines and any "loyalists" that would give him trouble should what they so desperately wanted to tell him... was unsatisfactory.

They approached the base as his eyes flicked to the defenses, far more lacking than what would normally be called for, his eyes flicked to the humans there. Negligible variables in his mind as they would die to simple flicks of his spear and they would be gone. He looked at the approaching Salamander Apothecary sizing them up, "Lord Custodes. I can take the human-" He starts slowly moving his arms to offer to take them.

"Dehydration and the beginning stages of starvation." Apollo says quickly, passing the bundle to the Salamander. He ignored the desire to pull her closer... he ignored the desire to rip her back into his arms... he ignored the desire to keep her close and have her stay with him. His icy blue eyes flicked to the Salamander... he would be a simple bump to cut through should he need to collect her; it would be easy to find her.

He followed the Ultramarine still into a meeting room as Apollo looked at the dozen of marines in the room. He stood like a statue in the doorway looking between each one of them planning out how he would kill each one and how he would move onto the next. When Apollo was satisfied with his stratagem he finally spoke, projecting his voice, "I have been here a total of three hours. And for that entire first hour I spent killing Traitor Astartes." He pauses for a moment, "In the past twenty minutes I have seen Thirty-two more. So gentlemen," He said with almost a snarl in his voice, "Tell me what is so important that should convince me to not start slaughtering you all."

It took them an hour to explain the bare bone basics. Apollo then made them stay an additional four to go into detail on every piece of information. He met with Loyalist "traitor" legion marines... A renegade marine... and one very brave Chaos Space Marine. Apollo processed the information in that painful silence, well painful for the Astartes as he was fine. He finally made a calculated move as he took off his helmet and pinched his brow. Utilizing a disarming technique to lure them into a calm but to express a desire to truly emote.

Apollo calculated the time span was roughly one of a ten thousand years with the earliest they were dealing with was one of the Uncrowned Princes fresh from the Unification Wars to the most recent which was a Primaris marine and himself being the latest to arrive from the Indomitus Era. "I'm satisfied with the explanation." Apollo said as there was a silent collective exhale of relief. "Have one of your Librarians determine if the human I brought in is... bonded to me."

"Yes my Lord." Someone said as Apollo stood up to leave the room.

Aurora feels that she's somewhere else... she's in a bed. She opens her eyes looking at the medical bed she is in as she sits in shock just remembering how she had fallen against her 'hero' as she had been calling him. Her hands began to tremble as... it... it was over? A click and a trill bring her eyes over to molten colored eyes of a large Salamander who is holding his hands open trying to look submissive, "Hello there little one." He says gently.

Aurora wanted to be brave... that she had handled being captured for the past few weeks with some dignity... Aurora wanted to be so very brave but she had accepted that she was going to die in some horrifying way... and tears fell from her brown-gold eyes. She wept as it was finally over... oh god it was finally over! "Shh Shh you're okay." She felt a hand on her shoulder and leaned into the gentle touch as she cried into his offered shoulder.

A nurse would come in eventually as she calmed down and slowly explained her ordeal and Aurora asked with a weak voice, "Can we call my mom? I've... I've been missing for awhile. My college probably called her."

"Of course Aurora. Do you want anything?"

Aurora swallowed softly, "A shower."

Aurora sighed happily as she felt fingers against her scalp. The last time she had been cleaned was in the camp by an Astartis that kept leering and getting too handsy.

"Diana." Another Nurse spoke through the door, "Big guy that brought her in wants to see her with the Librarian."

"Tell them I'm in the middle of bathing her." Her nurse said as she gently rinsed her hair.

The next voice through the door was in Gothic and sounded like an Astartes. Diana spoke it back... sounding more and more annoyed before sighing. "I swear for giants from space or whatever they really don't understand the concept of shame or that people don't like to be naked around them." She looks down at her, "They need to check something and don't want to wait I can-"

"It's fine. Just please... can... can you keep washing my hair." Aurora said with a whimper.

"Of course."

Apollo heard the whimper in her voice through the door as it soon opened as he saw those gold-brown eyes looking at him... there was shame in those eyes. He silently took in a sharp breath as he felt something painful rest between his hearts. His master needed to be taken care of. Each one of the Ten Thousand had done their part in lovingly taking care of Him before and after his placement on the throne. Apollo was no different as his eyes scoured her body... spying spots of blood still in her skin... her hair having knots in it... blood caked under her nails... all accompanying that look of shame in that golden gaze. He felt the deep aching need to be the one washing her hair... "Check." He said softly and quickly breaking himself from more thoughts.

As the librarian gazed into the warp... he did not know what he was looking at. There was a mess of "chains" and "vines" all around the Custodian. Writhing, locking, withering, pulling, coiling, unlocking... in a mess that he couldn't find what he sought. He looked to her and found the "tether" for a bond and followed it back... "Yes. She is your bonded."

Apollo turned away without another word and he threw his weight around to get what he needed as he took a "crash course" in the current local language called English. Once he grasped the basics, the noosphere was opened to him, simply called 'The Internet'. Apollo's mind rapidly took in what he learned as with what he saw made ten thousand year old memories danced across his mind. Cultures of ancient Terra became new again back home... ideas and images that are young or even old here and now cling to life and importance twenty-eight thousand years into the future and even older. Ideas were reused, rediscovered, once more lost, and once again found time and time again.

Apollo keeps watch over his new charge, he was made to kill not to coo at mortals like the Aquilian Shields or the Emissaries Imperatus often did, but he was digesting all that he had learned so far as his eyes looked to his charge and that gnawing in the back of his mind... she looked so familiar. Early the next morning an exhausted looking woman is escorted by the nurse to her room and through the window Apollo watches the two embrace and weep. Aurora, he reminds himself of her name as he replays the conversations she had with him after he saved her before she passed out.

"Captain," He voxes the appropriate leader, "Inform the bases near where she lives that I will be following."

"Right Away."

Aurora felt disappointed that she never got to properly thank 'hero' for saving her. Sure she saw him around but she also saw how everyone walked on eggshells, which would be impressive given how most of them were in that armor of theirs, around him. But she was going to be heading back home as she had found out she was a couple hundred miles away from home and where she was going to college... oh college... she started to think about college again.

"Ow." She is pulled from her thoughts as her mom gives the middle of her forehead a flick as she looks at her confused.

"None of that. I will be taking care of everything until you're ready to go back to college." Her mother said.

"But-"

"Aurora." She felt her mother hold her shoulders, "I have been living in limbo waiting to be told you were found dead. Please let me be the mom?"

Aurora could tell her mom had gotten a bit thinner... she always kept herself together even through the roughest parts of her childhood and she could tell she had taken the news about her being taken... badly. "Okay." She relented and hugged her mom smiling as she felt her kiss the top of her head. Aurora knows she wasn't planned for but her mother never made her feel like, as she put it, an oopsie.

"I'm going to finish up your discharge papers. And then I'm sure the nurse will come get you."

"Can you bring me something to eat?"

"I'll ask the nurses, kiddo." Her mom said before leaving the room and Aurora was left with her thoughts.

However, her eyes caught gold moving outside and she quickly rose out of bed and opened the door seeing 'hero' walking down the hall. "Hey big guy, wait." She called out as she moved towards him, oh sure she shouldn't be out of bed but she didn't want to miss this opportunity. She felt so small standing next to him and looking up at him as he now had a black shoulder cape that she vaguely remembers being wrapped up in... but he was looking down at her. She swallowed and smiled, "I'm probably going to be leaving soon but I've been wanting to thank you so much for saving me." She can't help but rise to the tips of her toes as she says 'thank you' just smiling up at the silent guardian.

Apollo, hidden behind the white faceplate and red eye lenses, felt something wash over him... praise. It was the same sort of warmth that he would get when He praised him. She looked ready to leave at his silence but Apollo placed his hand on her head giving her a gentle pat on the head. He removed his hand to not let strands of her hair get tangled in his servos. She smiled up at him, the smile reaching her golden-brown eyes, and once again that ten thousand year old part of him melted in the same way... that he was eager to get again. She quickly rushed back to her room and Apollo watched that waist length silken brown hair, a shade he knew by heart, sway with each quick bouncy step.

Eventually her life had to keep moving back forward and Apollo watched it all. He watched her blossom back to life, like the spring flowers she often loved to wear in the flower crowns. Her golden-brown eyes glittering with joy and laughter; sparkling in a way that stirred something within him. It made Apollo want to get closer... it made him want to touch her in ways that made him hesitate to get closer for he was disturbed by feeling such desires so intensely.

There were a handful of Custodes here and when they were from were also as varied as the Astartes. But they had a smattering of personalities and how they were handling these bonds... Odysseus; he could tell; was still in mourning and handling the bond with suspicion. Kaeso on the other hand urged him to enjoy it and Apollo bit his tongue when he wanted to remind Kaeso how to behave. However, Kaeso was behaving... behaving how he had been during the Unification wars and the Great Crusade... not to how he was used to him acting since those 'happier' times.

"It's you!" Aurora said excitedly as she looked up at Apollo whose armor was now clean and glittering in the light that fluttered between the leaves. Apollo looked at the crown of cherry blossoms on her head and could not help but think of how similar it felt to a laurel...

"Hello Aurora." Apollo finally spoke to her.

Aurora's eyes widened for a moment as she finally heard the soft masculine voice that came from the helmet, she was used to them having deep voices; and his was still deep compared to a normal human; but it was softer than what she expected. He watched her smile soon after taking steps to close the distance between them. And as she smiled at him Apollo watched the gold in her eyes glitter and glow in seeming approval of him. He took a knee and her smile grew once again, rounding her cheeks, as she bore her teeth in that very human gesture of a grin, even showing her gums slightly. "I am a Custodes. I go by many names each given to me for a deed I have completed. My deeds are numerous and my name long but you may call me Apollo."

Apollo smiled under his helmet as she grinned approvingly at his introduction and it made him feel good, but he didn't know why and part of him no longer cared. "I am your bonded." He stated and he listened to the way her heartbeat lept up as she giggled happily even bouncing slightly to show her uncontained joy at his statement. Even going up to him and giving him a hug. Apollo normally did not like mortals touching him or being close to him, but this felt nice.

Words flowed easy between them and when Apollo removed his helmet he heard her gasp. He felt something inside of him savor the way she held his face watching her eyes dart around his features. Cooing about the freckles that danced from one ear, down to the cheek below his eyes, over the bridge of his nose, and ending at the other ear. She looked over his strawberry blonde hair but it was clear she was enamored with his freckles... but she looked at him in a way he didn't know why but it made him crave for her to look at him more... to hold his face still... to look at him... to be so alive... he couldn't stop seeing his dear beloved Emperor in her.

"What's on your mind, Apollo?" She cooed at him.

"You look," He paused for a moment debating on telling her but decided it wouldn't hurt, "like someone I knew."

"Well, I'm certain you saw what my mom looked like. I do share at least half of my DNA with her." Aurora teased as she cupped his face still, running her thumbs over his cheeks.

"What of your father?" He said tilting his head, as he had quickly determined that she enjoyed him being emotive; a thing he noticed Astartes who wear their armor often with their human do... pantomime their expressions. He watched her exhale and roll her eyes as she pulled her hands away. Apollo held back a frown at the lack of contact between them.

"Never met him. Mom literally only met him once. Though it's a really funny story on how he got my mom, for context she never really randomly slept with people, to sleep with him." With her gestures and movements it was an often told story. "She was at some bar and tells me that she looked at the other end of the bar and sees the most handsome man she's ever seen. Tall, strong jawed, silky brown hair going to his... as she puts it 'nice ass', swore that his eyes had to be gold, and just had some European air about him; though... tangent we learned that he might have actually been Anatolian when I took a DNA test. But... " She waves her hand resuming the main point, "She waited a bit as she was certain that no one that good looking was at this bar alone. But he was so she decides to shoot her shot and they get talking." Aurora makes a grand gesture for the next words, "Massive nerd with many fields of interest, so my mom, also being one, saw that as a point in his favor. But that's not the thing that riles my mom up and gets her to sleep with him, oh no... so she asks him his name," She builds the suspense for a moment, "he called himself 'Revelation'." She waves her hands at the reveal. But she soon shakes her head and laughs, "My mom and I have had a laugh at that given how it sounds like she had already made up her mind to have sex with this stranger but it's funny that him being a 'mysterious' handsome stranger named Revelation. Is what cemented it for her. But yeah they had sex and nine months later I came into the world."

Apollo's pupils became pinpricks as he was, as was most of the ten thousand were, privy to many of His names and he distinctly remembers Revelation being one of them. His breathing remained steady, no outward sign betraying his emotions, but his heart was racing as time crawled for him as he finally really looked at Aurora drinking in every detail... he wasn't losing his mind as he could see it. She was his Master's child.

"I might know your father." Apollo said.

"Do you now?"

Aurora blinked as she had been doing so for the past 5 minutes digesting what was told to her after Apollo had info dumped a lot on her. She had to sit on a stump half way through his explanation of her father... "Okay so... let me go through the highlights. My dad is an immortal space warlord, who is also worshiped as a god, but heavily insisted that he wasn't a god... when apparently he liked to play god genetically. He was also a really shitty dad because how else do you get nine people who call you dad to want you dead?"

"That is a gross simplification of everything." Apollo stated bluntly.

"THAT ISN'T SAYING NO APOLLO!" She shouts. Apollo just huffs as he decides to not give her a vocal answer but he is pleased when she presses him for more, "And you want to find him because he made you when he was playing God but its not out of a familial obligation it's because you wholeheartedly serve him?"

"Correct."

She is quiet for several moments before letting out a sigh as she looks to him, "Okay Apollo I won't stop you from finding him. I'll even do my best to help you but I need you to answer something for me."

Apollo preened under her acceptance of his desire to find her father, "Gladly."

Aurora felt mean for what she was about to say but if what he had told her was true... he was like ten thousand years old... he could handle this easily. "What will you do when you find him? The man you know does not even exist yet and he might never exist. Given how he's the one who makes both you and apparently the Astartes and since you," she points to him, "are here and now and you're from the really far future and none of it includes mentions of this happening? Means that this is probably now an alternate timeline, if you believe in that of course. SO Apollo... please tell me... what are you going to do?" Her words struck at something deep inside of his psyche. His mind came to a screeching stop. "Oh God... Oh God... Apollo? I didn't mean to break you." Her voice cut through to his mind as he finally heard her again after being frozen still as a statue looking through her.

Apollo knew that this endeavor was utterly selfish... it was flawed and flimsy enough for a baseline mortal to see the holes in it... but he just wanted to serve a living Emperor again... he just wanted to see the life in his eyes once more... she was right... he wasn't the same man who had handcrafted him into what he was... Apollo felt himself mourning again as his hearts ached in pain as he looked at his bonded... his dearest Aurora... she was alive... oh she was oh so very much alive.

The golden chains that bind him and tether him to his beloved master are violently twisted apart with only few of them loosely hanging onto him as the vines dug and pushed under the claps and cuffs that the chains were wrapped around. Apollo was in that dark grief again as his mind rushed and tried to pull him out and there calling his name looking up at him concerned was Aurora. His thoughts coalesced crashed on that singular thought of how she was his beloved Master's child... and the poison blossom bloomed over his hearts as vines wrapped around his neck... around his being... holding him tightly as even the vines wrapped around the broken chain links leading back to his Master and held them in place.

"Apollo?" Aurora looked up at him concerned as he had stood there looking through her and being completely emotionless.

If he could not love and serve his beloved Master here... then the princess... this tiny Empress in front of him would have to suffice. Something deep inside of him was utterly thrilled at the thought of holding her again... her being so easy to pick up and hold... so small and fragile... her hands against his face again whispering praise to him... so small... and all his.

"Apollo? Are you okay?" She whined softly feeling guilty for causing him to shut down basically but Apollo smiled at her and nodded.

"Thank you Aurora. I needed to hear the truth." He gently took one of her hands and dropped to a knee as a practiced warm smile graced his face, "And with that... I am ready to diligently serve you. I vow to keep you safe. And to be as a bonded should be, my Lady." Apollo said his icy blue eyes watching her face as he then kissed the back of her hand before turning it slightly and kissing her pulse point on her wrist. He contained his smile as he felt it against his lips and heard her pulse quicken. His eyes drank up the blush on her tanned skin.

She squeaked as he picked her up, princess style, easily and once more Apollo regarded her blush akin to being praised! Words once more again flowed easy between them as he carried her back to where she was staying as he could tell she was excited to have him as her bonded... perhaps not as excited as he was but he was certain in time she would be.

Perhaps Apollo could see why Valdor was so enamored by the Shards he often collected... so deliciously small... and all very much his.

#warhammer 40k #space marine husbandry sentience #tales from the barn #intense bond #yandere bond #carnal bond #oc: Aurora #oc: Apollo #adeptus custodes #yandere custodes #Sensei oc #yeah I've pulled out old ass lore for what is going on #there is a lot of husbandry lore #Apollo the custodes #Apollo the dread host #Aurora the Sensei #Custodes bond concept is barn anon's idea

[halloweeneva]

what if when icarus fell apollo caught him before he hit the sea, arms as warm as the sun, but safer.

what if when ariadne cast the rope across a broken branch aphrodite stepped in with a reminder that this, this is not the kind of love you die for.

what if when achilles was ready for war ares appeared with a smile and said “you win well when you win, but what are you unwilling to lose if you lose?” and achilles knew the answer.

if you could retell the tale wouldn’t you want to tell it kinder? wouldn’t you want to give them peace, even love, where you could?

l.s. | I AM TIRED OF RE-WRITING TRAGEDY WITHOUT CHANGE. LET THEM LIVE. LET THEM LEARN. LET THEM LOVE © 2016

#poetry #poets of tumblr #nimona movie #nimona netflix #nimona 2023 #nimona #ambrosius goldenloin #ballister boldheart #balister blackheart #spoilers #nimona spoilers #it is the nature of stories to evolve #images are CRUNCY because i had to stick them together to get past the image limit

[quoth-the-goblin-nevermore]

I’m working on my aforementioned exr cat acquisition fic. I’m far from done, but have been doing some leisurely writing. (For those who care, I will be picking up speed writing again after this week as my theatre production is coming to a close.)

Anyway, enjoy this snippet of what I have so far. :)

Also I’m obsessed with writing cheeky dialogue. Someone seriously needs to restrain me because if I continue to giggle and kick my feet with such ferocity I will injure myself.

#les mis #enjolras #grantaire #enjoltaire #les mierables #barricade boys #ao3 writer #ao3fic #ao3 fanfic #les mis fic #exr #unwilling apollo #writing

[pancakebluess]

no one’s ever burnt you - never grow up

- SBI hero / AU

- WIP

Unlike what his family seems to think, Tommy’s not stupid . He can see the way they ignore the news, he can hear how the windows slid open at night- the shadows that passes by the blondes own before they leave. How they wince and hiss at covered wounds when they come home, how they ignore his questions as if they were poison.

He’s not stupid.

He knows he lives with three criminals, three criminals who appear on the news every other week, claiming a persons life as of it was nothing . He’s not stupid, he sees how Puppeteer has the same curly hair as his brother, how Bloodhound snarls just like his own- and how Nightwing holds the same hair that is a perfect match to his.

Tommy knows he lives with villains; but, he doesn’t think his family realizes how he winces at his own wounds, how his window is left a little open every night so he can slid through, how on some days, he’s so tried that he can’t even get out of bed from hours and hours of training. While he knows that his family is the feared syndicate, he doesn’t think they realize that he’s the new upcoming hero - Apollo - and that they laugh with one of the people they fight every week.

They don’t notice how they live with an underaged hero.

☀︎︎

Tommy pours cheerios into his bowl, frowning once realizing there’s no milk. “Dad forgot to go shopping’, I guess.” Huffing, he grabs a spoon and sits down, eating dry cereal, as he watches amusedly as Wilbur stumbles down the stairs. He snickers, the brunette shoots him the middle finger, which, rude.

“Nice bruise,” Tommy speaks through a blob of messed up cheerios, pointing out the black eye that his brother sports. “Fall down another staircase?” He’s being sarcastic, and Wilbur seems to recognize that as he burrows through the cabinets. “Something like that.”

Tommy, offhandedly, feels some level of guilt at the bruise - knowing the only reason he has a bruise is because Apollo had used Puppeteers face as a springboard last night in a last ditch effort to get away. Oops. He swallows down a chunk of cereal. “Stay away from staircases,” the blonde mumbles out, flicking a dry cheerio at the brunette. “Gremlin.” Is hissed out, as he gets another middle finger in response, and a comment half mumbled about rabies.

☀︎︎

Tommy realized he lived with three villains when he was thirteen, digging through his brothers closets in hopes of a new sweater - instead finding the masks of the most feared villains amongst the city. In all grown out honesty, he couldn’t bring himself to be scared, more so numb at the information. Because in the end, it made sense, the whispered conversations when he left the table- the nights where he wasn’t invited out with the rest of them; it made sense.

Despite that, he used to be bitter at the fact, bitter that he was left out, abandoned every planned out movie night - instead of watching some flashy new musical per Wilbur’s request, he watched as his family destroyed, or nearly get killed on live television.

He used to be bitter when he was thirteen, cold at the fact he was left out; now, he was fifth-teen and a had secret of his own, an unwilling hero.

#writing #writing wip #sbi fanfic #crimeboys #bedrock bros #angel duo #sand duo #twinsduo #superhero tommyinnit #villain wilbur #villain Philza #villain technoblade #hero au #sbi au #ao3 writer #ao3 #mcytblr #mcytao3 #pancakebluess

[obeetlebeetle]

when is honor not honorable? when it is prescribed by a system of nobility that perpetuates itself through the destruction of its subjects. 

rue watched hob sit there bleeding, arrows in his back, waiting until they nearly pierced his lung to remove them -- all for the honor of the goblin court. for the courts. for the system that stole rue as a child and twisted them into a pleasing shape, a desired doll. for the system that has used hob’s body on the field of battle and rue’s body in the field of politics to the benefit of the system, not the bodies being used.

rue spent every interaction with hob this episode saying, Are you okay? Are you hurt? Does anything about your life of service actually make you happy? Are you ever happy? Will you ever let yourself be happy? I hope you will. I hope you find happiness. I wish it was with me.

and then at the very end hob goes, I was miserable until you held me.

hes finally able to say it but the issue is, rue never needed to be told that hob loves them. they clocked it. they know he wants them. so finally learning how hob feels, that doesn’t change anything. what they were really saying is, Can you admit that service makes you unhappy? Are you capable of prioritizing desire? I am offering you devotion.

as long as hob pursues honor as prescribed by the court system, as long as he plays the political game, he can never love anyone. least of all rue; rue who has been so damaged by their obligation to the court of wonder for so long. rue who has chosen to use all their power to dissolve political bonds and facilitate emotional ones, at the hope of destabilizing the system. rue who has finally revealed themselves as both a monster and a dissident, prompted by their love for hob, in a show of force -- they are finally rebelling, openly, against the court and the system that tried to cannibalize them. and they’re watching as hob commits himself more deeply to the goblin court, putting his body in their hands for both battle and marriage.

rue tries tirelessly to get hob to answer this question. You are unhappy; what is it for? Tell me so I can understand. and hob’s response is, I choose to be unhappy because otherwise I would be wrong. 

his defense of the court system is that it tells him what to do. he believes himself to be so fundamentally incorrect that his wants, desires, and instincts cannot guide him -- the only way to be a good man is to serve something greater than himself. this belief, as we can see in his conversations with boil and blemish, has been reinforced through scorn and humiliation. 

hob says, I choose this unhappy life because it is right to serve. I know that it is right to serve because those in power tell me what is right. I know I am wrong because they tell me I am wrong.

upon learning that rue dissolved the marriage between apollo and grabalba, the thing that hurts him the most is the feeling of being used by rue. of being taken for a fool and manipulated in a political game, of falling in love with someone that doesn’t care about him. but even as this misinterpretation wounds him, he tries to defend his service to the goblin court.

and all rue ever wanted was to show him that his life of service is just a matter of being used, being taken, loving those who do not love you but only what you do for them. they wanted him to see that the pain he feels at the perception of  being manipulated by rue is a pain he has felt at the hands of the court system for far longer than they have known each other. 

hob’s real answer can be found in both what he has said and what he’s unwilling to say. For what? Nothing. Not even love. so rue offers hob what the court system has always denied him.

honor, service, obligation, duty -- everything hob has hinged his identity on and everything he ever believed to be good, to make him good -- are tools, not ideals. the court system designed fealty so that it would be easier to exploit people like hob and rue, people that feel like monsters, people who are empty and need to be filled. rue sees that hob believes himself to be a monster, and they aren’t asking him to change that. they know that monsters will always know themselves to be monsters. instead, they are trying to convince hob that being good is not what he thinks it is, when it’s being defined by the court system.

when is a monster not a monster? when you love it. when what is monstrous is worth loving. in their last attempt to wrest hob from the court system, rue tells him they love him, and in the same breath they tell him that love and honor are not the same. rue tells him that they are a monster. that in seeing him, they finally realized that being monstrous isn't being damaged; the damage comes from elsewhere. so they ask him to see them outside the moral structure that has been imposed on him and that he imposes on all others. they ask him to see the ways in which that structure and the system that created it have wounded them for being monstrous.

in doing so, hob would have to acknowledge his own wounds. he would have to acknowledge that he has been wounded for a very long time. that is what he has been resisting; if at any point he had acknowledged his wounds, he would have needed to care for them, and hob is not equipped to care for himself. care is not something afforded via lines of support in the court system; care was never part of the conversation. but when rue speaks of love, and divests it of honor, they offer, instead, care.

this is a love story.

#just the one post tonight . sorry it is so goddamn fucking long i feel like it's just the same sentence eighty times #dont even care if it's good #brennan went you cant dismantle the courts where would the orders come from #and my head popped off and rolled away #this is just. mad rambling in response #he is SO MUCH PAIN my sick twisted little hob....... #as i just texted ari. i am striding around in the rain. i am striding around the moors. i am not crying abt it #(im crying so much abt it) #kprue #ruehob #acofaf #a court of fey and flowers #battlemaster of ceremonies

[tsarisfanfiction]

Family Reunion

Fandom: Trials of Apollo Rating: Gen Genre: Family Characters: Apollo, Lee, Will, Michael, Cabin Seven Apollo-as-Lester wakes up for the first time in Cabin Seven. Having children older than him is just plain wrong, thanks. TOApril day 11 - First Meeting! This is set in the aftermath of an AU of mine that I haven't yet written, and for the sake of avoiding spoiling the whole premise of that AU before I do write and post it, there is a distinct lack of explanation hanging around, oops.

Apollo jerked awake, his breathing shallow and rapid while his weak, mortal body trembled and sweated in a broadcast of distress to anyone in the vicinity – and any hope that his immediate vicinity was, in fact, vacant of company was immediately dashed into tiny pieces by the gentle touch on his forehead.

It was cool, which meant that either they ran cold or Apollo was running hot (and yes, Apollo was always hot, in both senses of the word, but Lester was not, a fact he was still struggling to come to terms with).  Apollo did not consider that a good sign, although the gentleness of the touch at least suggested it was no-one meaning immediate harm.

“Can you open your eyes?” they asked – a familiar voice, and while the identity of the owner currently escaped Apollo (an alarming fact, given Apollo wasn’t used to forgetting sounds, or anything at all), he was reasonably confident that it belonged to a male.  “Blink once for yes.”

There was a wryness to the voice, a thread that might be light-hearted at the joke.

“What if I cannot?” he asked, cringing at the raspy slur that came out of his mouth.

“Well, you can always just tell me that,” his companion pointed out, and Apollo might feel half-deaf but he could still tell there was a new note to the voice – one associated with relief.  “But given I know you’re awake, I’d rather you at least tried before giving up.”

Rather annoyingly, he had a point – and Apollo was also getting rather fed up with not being able to place the owner of the voice by aural clues alone.  He knew he knew that voice.

His eyes resisted opening, perhaps basking in the chance to be lazy for the first time since crash landing in a dumpster and becoming the servant of one Meg McCaffrey, but his companion had more or less asked nicely, so Apollo persevered until his eyelids cracked open and he could make some sense of his surroundings.

The elegant ceiling was the first thing to catch his attention, simple but homely.  It was also vaguely familiar, a feeling that increased as more of the cabin – because that was clearly what he was in – came into focus.  Plain white walls, simple wooden bunk beds, and wide windows with heart-achingly familiar yellow flowers blooming along the sills.

“Curse of Delos,” he rasped, digging a clumsy elbow into the soft material beneath him until he could force his unwilling sack of mortal flesh into something resembling a sitting position, although perhaps a pathetic recline would be a more accurate description.

“Your flowers,” his companion agreed.  “They’ve grown here for as long as I can remember.”

Finally, Apollo’s sight landed on the companion in question.  A young man, tragically older than Lester’s body by a couple of years, with short, honey blond hair and eyes closer to green than blue was perched on the edge of the cot he had awoken in.  His face was thin and drawn, a little too much to be strictly healthy, and there was dark shading around his eyes as though his eyelids had forgotten how not to have bags.

It was a sight that made Apollo’s already aching body ache a little bit more, because it was wrong.  So much of it was wrong, more wrong than right, although he’d seen those eyes before, set into the face of a first chair violinist in the Portland Symphony Orchestra.

“Lee,” he said, the name escaping him in as a breath.  His son – and the fact that his body was physically younger than that of his son’s was one of the things that was so, so, wrong – gave him a glimmer of a smile, tired and weary but a twitch of the corner of his mouth nonetheless.

“Hi, Dad,” he said.  “It’s good to see you again.”

Apollo couldn’t help the scoff that wrestled its way out of his choked up throat, because how could anything be nice about his current situation.  “Is it?” he asked despondently.

“Yes,” Lee said without hesitation.  “Don’t get me wrong, it’s not great that you’re mortal now, but I’ll take that over not knowing.”

He didn’t specify what he didn’t what to not know, but even Apollo’s patchy mortal memory could put together enough of the pieces that he couldn’t really argue that point.

Or perhaps more importantly, that arguing that point would only drag Lee’s mental state down further, and his son didn’t need to suffer any more.

He pushed himself up further, internally grumbling at his reluctant body as it begrudgingly obeyed.  Lee’s hand dropped from his forehead, but settled on his arm instead, a cool touch to Apollo’s forearm.  His son had thick, soft wrist warmers on each wrist, the flicker of gold barely visible beneath the long sleeves of his hoodie.  Had he always liked those?  Apollo couldn’t remember.

Instead of letting on just how many holes his memory seemed to have, enough to make his mind a fully functional sieve, no doubt, he turned his thoughts elsewhere.  “Where’s Meg?”

The smile that crept across Lee’s face was fond.  “Making friends,” he said.  “Connor’s going to need an eyepatch for a few days, and Sherman’s going to be walking with a limp for a while after that kick to the crotch.”  He sounded amused.

Apollo couldn’t say he was surprised, given his brief but intense crash course in the consequences of spending time in the personal space of Meg McCaffrey, but he had to ask.  “Making friends?”

Lee’s smile grew.  “Michael was the same when he was her age,” he said.  “And she’s Kayla’s age.  Either those three are going to tear each other to pieces, or become a gremlin trio.  They’ll be fine.”

He seemed wholly unconcerned at the prospect of Meg potentially tearing apart other demigods – or other demigods tearing Meg apart.  Then again, the necklace around his neck was laden with beads, reminding Apollo that Lee was as close as an expert to camp dynamics as any demigod.

The cabin door crept open and quiet feet pattered across the floor, accelerating the closer they got to him until there was another blond young man in his eyeline, this one still a teenager, although still too close to Apollo’s mortal age for comfort.  “You’re awake!” he said, his hands immediately reaching for Apollo’s head.  “How are you feeling?  I tried to heal you, but-”

“Take a breath, Will,” Lee interrupted him gently, the hand that wasn’t still resting on Apollo’s arm coming to wrap around his younger brother’s shoulders.  “He can’t answer you if you’re still talking.”  Will – his hair had the exact same curl around the ears that that Texan country singer had had, this was her son – obediently silenced, and Apollo found himself the recipient of twin expectant looks.

If he hadn’t already known the two of them were brothers, he would’ve realised then.  Lee’s eyes were greener than Will’s pure blue, and of course he was about five years older, but the look was identical.

“I ache,” he admitted, his voice whining pathetically.  “I have acne and flab.”

“Welcome to mortal teenagerhood,” Lee said wryly, as Will gaped.  “Will, want to give him the rundown?”

“Swollen nose but not broken,” Apollo’s younger son – and Olympus he was not going to be getting used to this teenage son being a similar age to his body, let alone the son that looked to be more or less out of his teenager years and into full adulthood being obviously older – reported.  “Your ribs were cracked but are healing well, and your vital signs are all good for a mortal.”  His voice broke on the last word, and to Apollo’s alarm, his eyes started to dampen.  “I gave you nectar,” he admitted, his voice shaking.  “I didn’t know- your lips started smoking-”

Lee tugged him closer, rubbing his hand along Will’s arm.  “We didn’t know,” he assured him quietly, but that didn’t stop Will’s lip from quivering.  “It’s not your fault.”

Apollo distantly hoped that that explained his fire-and-brimstone-esque nightmare.

“I take it Meg didn’t think to tell you,” he said instead, and got a fond head shake from Lee.

“I think she was too busy screeching at us to remember to give medical critical information,” he said.  “Connor and Sherman winding her up didn’t help.”

“She’s waiting outside,” Will added.  “Along with everyone else.”

As if on cue, the door slammed open, the person responsible clearly not particularly caring that Apollo might have still been passed out.  It was exactly the sort of behaviour Apollo thought Meg would be capable of, but while the height of the figure was about right, the black hair was too long, and there was a distinct lack of glinty rhinestone glasses.

They were also, unmistakably, another boy.

In his wake trailed several other figures, all taller but something told Apollo they were all younger, too.  It might have been the impressive collection of beads around his neck, or – and Apollo was going to persuade himself it was the second option – his memory wasn’t so terrible that he didn’t recognise more of his children, even if some of the newcomers were also the same age or older than his Lester-body.

It took him longer than he liked to put names to faces, but at least they did come, before he had to face the awkwardness of admitting he’d forgotten any of his children.  The two African-American boys, both in their early teens and blessedly younger than Apollo’s current state still, were Elias and Austin – Elias with the long locs, and Austin with the intricate cornrows – while the third boy, the one with a permanent limp and a strangely-dangling jacket sleeve, to say nothing of the trio of slashing scars across one side of his face, was Nathan.  The older girl, liberally freckled with her hair dangling in brown bunches, was Joy, and he was pretty certain the youngest of the group with hair the colour of Greek fire was Kayla.

Then there was the oldest teenager at the head of the pack, striding forwards with all the confidence of someone that was going to get his answers, regardless of anyone else’s wishes – or Apollo’s injuries.

Michael came to a stop next to Will, flanking his younger brother and just about in arm’s reach of Lee if the young man chose to reach out any further, and Apollo found himself fixed with an unimpressed look.

“Where the fuck have you been?”

#trials of apollo #trials of apollo fanfiction #riordanverse #riordanverse fanfiction #toapril #toapril 2024 #tsari writes fanfiction #pjo apollo #lee fletcher #will solace #michael yew #austin lake #kayla knowles #original character #elias robinson #nathan lister #joy norris #cabin seven #apollo cabin

[moodyseal]

I hc that Apollo and Percy reconcile sometime after TOA (if they haven't already — can't remember) and become friends. Apollo then starts coming around more, and for some reason, Hermes does too. the 3 of them become the broiest bros in existence, and love to bro it out. Percy teaches them to make blue cookies. Hermes gives Percy the latest gossip. Apollo takes them in is sun-mobile, and sometimes even races Hermes (w/ Percy obviously, but he ain't fast so he's with Apollo)

NORMALIZE GODS AND DEMI GODS FORMING FAMILIAL BONDS DESPITE THE FACT THEY TECHNICALLY AIN'T RELATED

YOU'RE SO RIGHT ANON

I mean, Apollo doesn't seem to like Hermes that much in canon (judging by his tone when he relates some of his pranks and by how... detached he is in TON, I guess?) however it would be really interesting to see them reconcile post-TOA, what with the potential hurt/comfort of Apollo taking Hermes to see his friends and family in order to help him heal from the whole Luke ordeal after giving him an earful about parental responsibility ofc

And it would be hilarious if they visited Percy specifically, because he's obviously so ready to be finally done with the gods and retire and what are two of them doing on his doorstep again motherfu-

They'd probably get into a lot of shenanigans together, most likely with Hermes as the mastermind, Apollo as the "responsible" guy and Percy as an unwilling participant that somehow got dragged into another mess because of Fate or whatever

I also imagine them babysitting Estelle together from time to time, maybe when both Sally and Paul are away for work trips or just want a break and Percy needs some help

I think at first they wouldn't trust Hermes as much as they trust Apollo (and they trust Apollo because 1. post-TOA he'd probably be very vocal about the respect he has for that family and about how much he's in their debt for all they've done for him and 2. have you seen how that man reacted to Estelle. He'd tear to shreds anyone who tried to hurt her, he's def uncle material) but after a while they'd probably warm up to him too!! Hermes does have the potential to be a good parent/mentor, he just needs a little push in the right direction imo

He seems like the guy to get attached easily too so. Between him, Apollo and Percy that toddler is in good hands

Also spending time together like this would be so, so healing for all of them. Even if they're not exactly family, it doesn't matter. What matters is the bond!!

#trials of apollo #toa #pjo #apollo #lester papadopoulos #percy jackson #hermes #lonely thoughts #ask