#whaler Nation | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

undiscovered-horizon · 1 year

Text

"Femme fatale" - Nikolai Lantsov x Reader

[suggestive themes but nothing explicit]

SUMMARY: When you reveal how you won the suspiciously heavy bag of coins, Nikolai is overwhelmed with anger at the thought of you being intimate with another man. The thing is, he's never told you how he feels about you... until now.

WORDCOUNT: ~ 1.7k

>>Grishaverse-inspired playlist<<

The bag thuds loudly as you drop it on the nautical maps scattered on Sturmhond’s desk. Tolya, Tamar and the privateer in question suddenly fall silent, their excited chattering put to a halt. Three pairs of eyes glance once at you, once at the big leather pouch.

“Did you rob a bank on your way here?” Nikolai asks. Although framed as a joke, his voice reveals that he’s not exactly discarding this possibility.

“I know that look.” Tolya gives you a half-smile, crossing his arms on his chest. Even if he wasn’t a Heartrender, he’d still be proficient at reading people. “She ripped someone off.”

You shrug and wave your hand in dismissal. “Some whaler, roughly the size of a small elephant, was very eager to spend the night with me. At first I wanted to rip his face off but then I realized that I saw a ship docking around the same time we did, so the whalers must have just gotten their wages. I offered the man that if he can win against me in cards, I’ll let him do whatever he wants to me. He got so excited he didn’t notice the stack of aces up my sleeve.”

Tamar nods her head in acknowledgement. The small smile on her lips betrays a sense of proudness. “Beat him at his own game. I respect that.” It was your and Tamar’s thing - the whole crew probably knows that most commonly known methods of cheating were invented by either of you.

“Thank you very much,” you say as you take back the bag. “But I doubt this is anywhere near close enough to get Hyram to take the nightwatch for me, so I’ll be off.”

“Come on, sister,” Tolya taps Tamar’s arm, “we have things to do as well.”

When your hand pushes down the door handle, you hear Nikiolai calling out your name in a rush. “Stay for a moment,” he asks in a strangely anxious voice. You give the twins a questioning look but they only shrug in response - their previous conversation with their captain never once involved even a mere mention of you.

The door closes with a thud behind Tolya and Tamar. What used to be a lighthearted, friendly atmosphere suddenly turns absolutely uncomfortable and tense. You furrow your eyebrows studying Nikolai’s expression. He looks… angry. Slowly, you stroll towards his desk again but the closer you are to him, the more uneasy you’re feeling. Standing maybe a meter or two away from the table, you suddenly find yourself unable to move forwards as though some force is separating you two.

Nikolai sighs. He shakes his head and looks at you with a fiery glint to his eye. "Are you out of your mind?!"

The sudden loss of composure renders you speechless. "I beg your pardon?" Part of you realizes that this conversation is not going to end quickly, so you drop the bag on the floor next to your leg. Besides, the pouch filled with coins does weigh quite a lot.

"What if you lost?” His voice cuts the tense air like treacherous blades. Those bright eyes aren’t any softer. This outburst is already surprising but considering the details of his appearance, this is already a tempered version of the fury residing in his viscera. “Have you any idea what…” he cuts himself off and sighs again. Nikolai closes his eyes, rubs his face and only then resumes talking. “What could have happened to you?"

"What's up, boss?" you nod upwards at him with furrowed eyebrows. "This isn't the first time I'm conning people out of their money through frankly reckless wagers."

"This is different,” he drones his words.

"How so?” you bite back. His inexplicable irritation is rubbing off on you. “I knew I was going to win. Even if I didn't, by some chance, I would have fought them."

"By yourself?” his voice raises again. You’ve never seen him like this before, only further convincing you that something serious must have broken his patience. But considering your history of relatively legal enrichment, it seems unlikely that it’s this little bet that had set him off. “With whalers that make Tolya look like a spud?”

It’s like dancing. Except he’s clumsy for a man of his agility and keeps stepping on your toes. And just like guests do on weddings, the two of you are pirouetting around the main attraction, naively thinking that the other person will miraculously be enlightened. The orchestra is playing the music and yet the dancing guests refuse to tell each other the name of the song.

"Come on, talk to me,” you coax him impatiently. This… dancing is tiring and there’s still quite a few things you need to do before the crew goes to sleep. “Say the quiet part out loud."

Nikolai hangs his head. You see his shoulders slowly raise and fall - he’s taking a deep breath, calming himself down. He walks around the desk and sits on its edge, leveling his eyes with yours. Something about his expression is changed like Nikolai has discarded the anger in place of defeat or compliance; like the steam that urged him to fight simply run out, returning the level-headed captain to you.

His eyes meticulously study the right-hand side of the room, along with the leather pouch, before he looks at you. "Can I be embarrassingly honest with you?"

You vaguely open your arms in a welcoming manner. "I'm all ears, captain."

Nikolai stares at you with a newfound intensity. The words almost escape him but he forces them back down his throat when he presses his lips tightly together. You see his hands grip the edge of the desk he’s sitting on as though he’s looking for something to ground him or just an outlet for his clearly turbulent emotions. Finally, Nikolai speaks but his voice is uncharacteristically low and somber: "The thought of another man having you makes me want to break this ship into pieces."

A strange tightness in your chest and throat; suffocating warmth sets your tired muscles on fire, its flames temptingly brushing against your starved skin. Then, a moment of defiance and doubt - how can you know he’s serious? That he’s not just saying this to keep you close in case he grows bored or frustrated one day? Privateers, pirates, corsairs, you’re all cut from the same cloth; hungry, money-grabbing, opportunist cloth.

"Another?" you ask. Hopefully Nikolai remains oblivious to the effect his words had on you. "You're making it sound like there's already a man I should be spending my nights with."

"There certainly is a man foolish enough to give everything away for the chance at your affection."

"If he's so desperate,” you begin thoughtfully, your voice low, “why has he never said a word?"

"I'm afraid he might just lose his sanity if you tell him no."

Perhaps it’s your own corporeality or the undisputable vulnerability in his words that makes you forget the distrust and defiance you felt towards this consuming notion. Suddenly, the tension that prevented you from coming closer has disappeared if not shifted to be located behind you, dissuading you from leaving the room. The nervous, thrilling atmosphere is nudging you forward, towards the man sitting a mere meter or two away from you, his eyes boring into you with anticipation. Some devious voice in the back of your head notices the romance in the dim candlelight and steady rocking of the boat traveling the seas.

Your legs, betraying your will, push you towards Nikolai. He straightens his back noticing you walking in his direction, suddenly his muscles flexing and creating tension. No matter how one wishes to look at it, he appears ready, prepared to take action.

"Well,” you shrug slightly, “unless he asks, how can he know it's going to be a no?"

"Better safe than sorry, I suppose,” he answers quietly as though the lack of space between the two of you is pushing down his chest, squashing juvenile vitality out of him.

A breathy chuckle leaves your lips. You shake your head in amusement at the atypical uncertainty. "Said the famous privateer Sturmhond, known for his utter lack of bravado."

Then, like you had lifted a curse that clouded the blue sky above his head, Nikolai furrows his eyebrows in a confused expression. "Yes, that doesn't really sound like me, does it?"

"Not in the slightest.” You answer. His lips curve into a smile and you find yourself wallowing in relief at the familiarity of his easy-going, up-beat attitude. “This makes me think that the mysterious admirer simply can not be you."

"When did you become a detective?” he jokes. Whether it’s your lack of straightforward rejection or the fact that you’re steadily getting closer to him, Nikolai’s humor is only improving. “Amuse me. What would I have done?"

"I think…” your voice trails off as you fiddle with the hem of his frock coat, “that you would say something smooth and suave, then have me however you want. And I’d come crawling back every night."

In a quite unprofessional manner, if either of you even thought about that aspect at the moment, his hands slide up your thighs and hips only to rest on the curve of your waist. Then, Nikolai forcibly pulls you closer to him. First you yelp in surprise but soon you hear yourself gasping as his leg brushes against your groin.

A low chuckle leaves his mouth. "That sounds like a yes to me."

You can’t stop yourself from cradling his face, threading your eager fingers through his golden locks. Nikolai’s hot, ragged breath grazes your cheeks when you lean in. His lips are slightly apart, silently begging you to let him indulge in the sweet release of carnal desire. You lean closer to his ear, your voice comes out nearly as a growl:

"I'd say yes even if it's going to be the last thing I'm going to say."

His lips feverishly kiss your jaw and neck. A stifled moan escapes your lips and you swear you can hear Nikolai snickering.

#shadow and bone fanfic #shadow and bone #shadow and bone x reader #shadow and bone fanfiction #shadow and bone imagine #nikolai lantsov #nikolai lantsov imagine #nikolai lantsov fanfiction #nikolai imagines #nikolai x reader #nikolai lantsov x reader #nikolai lanstov x y/n #nikolai lantsov x you #sab

889 notes · View notes

scoundrels-in-love · 2 years

Text

Between having been really into mermaids and underwater kingdoms as a concept during my childhood and the absolutely hauntingly stunning horror movie sequence where you root for the sirens introduction to Talokan, it's not really any surprise that I became instantly and deeply fascinated with this nation and its' people.

Like, there is so much I kept thinking about during the movie and even now, a whole day later. This great post by @thebctman raised even more that I hadn't gotten to.

Until the call to arms scene, I assumed that they cannot speak under the water, so I was quite stunned at the scene. But it does make me wonder just how much of importance does body language carry in Talokanian society! And how hard it might have been to preserve their native language, especially before the establishing of the cave sanctuary(ies).

And I have to think for how long Namor was only one who could only briefly exit the water, how, before the invention of water masks, there could be no sanctuary and he would be the only one wandering the caves. Pushed into role and revered as the leader from birth, fitting in with none of them.

The fact they ended up building this sanctuary and filling it to the brim with parts of their cultures they couldn't practice under the water - like the murals. How they must have lost their national cuisine, without access to ingredients or ways to practice it - or even consume, since they cannot eat above the water. I have no idea how much jade deposits are under water, but perhaps even that became a scarce material.

It makes me think of Namor's speech the first time he meets with Queen Ramonda and Shuri - about how clean and unharmed the land is and how much Wakanda's people have not had to change and compromise who they are, their culture, just to continue to exist. Though Talokan is their new land, it is still an exile. Exile deep into the cold waters that have slowly been poisoned and polluted by people.

Somehow, they've managed to befriend sea animals and even communicate with them (which leads back to my point about non-verbal communication under the water, maybe they quite literally can emit sounds similar to dolphins or whales), there is no way that they do not know the absolute devastation done to the oceans, that it has not impacted them, that Namor or his people haven't personally known whales that have been killed by whalers.

And yes, I do wonder about the pressure - how fast can they raise and lower themselves in these depths, without reprecussions, and just how damn fast can they travel because they seem to traverse incredible distances so very swiftly. One moment they're near USA, then Namor can respond to Queen Ramonda's call very swiftly. Like, just how fast can they all swim, without exhaustion?? Fascinating.

I know most of these things will never be answered, if any at all, but a lot of them are just lot of feelings about things in the subtext and I'm gonna go drown in those kthxbye.

#rainy rambles #there's so much unsaid directly in the movie but that is conveyed nonetheless that my brain might fucken bust open #black panther #black panther wakanda forever #wakanda forever #namor #namor the sub mariner #talokan

487 notes · View notes

benjhawkins · 5 months

Text

American School Oil Portrait, possibly depicting Paul Cuffe. Currently in the collections of the New England Historical Genealogical Society

Paul Cuffe, youngest son of Kofi Slocum and Ruth Moses of the Wampanoag Nation, was born on this day in 1759! He was a successful whaler, merchant, and abolitionist. He ran through British blockages to Nantucket delivering goods during the Revolutionary War, and had a highly successful shipping business up and down the Atlantic Coast.

There are very few surviving images of Cuffe, but I believe this portrait to be more accurate than the other commonly attributed one. Here is a good list of all the portraits known to be Cuffe and those that might possibly be him.

In 2009 the New Bedford Whaling Museum held a public symposium celebrating Paul Cuffe’s legacy, and you can read all the papers right here!

#age of sail #black history #Paul Cuffe

42 notes · View notes

focsle · 2 years

Text

Mutinies Aboard Whaleships

Hello! Here’s a long thing I spent my morning on about mutiny.

An 1840s illustration of an overturned whaleboat, with a skull and a crossed harpoon and lance over it.

With the often terrible conditions on board whaleships, one might expect mutinies to have been a common occurrence, but ones that led to bloodshed and taking command of a ship were actually very rare. Whalers who were unhappy tended to just desert at the next port. Others made their demands sometimes in the form of damaging the ship, or more commonly through work stoppages (which I wrote about more at length here). When it came to work stoppages, the Captain often acquiesced, as the unique pay structure of whaling meant that everyone was equally beholden to the success of the voyage. It was easier and more productive to hear out and try to address the demands of the crew than to resist and have a poor voyage.

There were however, a few notable violent mutinies that found themselves plastered over the newspapers. The Globe of Nantucket, January 1824, and the Junior of New Bedford, December 1857.

Alexander Starbuck, in his 1870s record of the history of the industry made a note alongside the Globe’s doomed 1822 voyage: ‘On this voyage and on this ship occurred the most horrible mutiny that is recounted in the annals of the whale fishery from any port or nation.’

Content warnings for Violence & Death under the readmore.

The Globe mutiny was unique and particularly haunting in that it wasn’t a result of boiling tension or displeasure on a difficult voyage. The instigator, a 22 year old boatsteerer named Samuel Comstock, specifically signed on the ill-fated whaler with premeditated slaughter in mind. His aim was to eventually kill all the officers, take the ship by force, sail it to an island in the South Pacific, and create his own Kingdom on said island over which he would rule (the last bit, as one might expect, did not work out for him).

In January 1824 near Fanning Island, Samuel’s 15 year old brother George was at the wheel, and made move to shake a rattle to relieve himself of his watch. He was harshly stopped by Samuel, who was plotting to carry out his plans that night and didn’t want anyone awakened:

“I had scarcely begun to shake it when Comstock came to me and said if I made the least damned bit of noise he’d send me to hell. This was very sudden and alarming to me his suspecting nothing I began to rattle but was thus suddenly checked by a brother in flesh but not in heart for if he had been he would have put away this wicked design thinking it would ruin me forever for little did he think I would ever get home to tell the fatal news.”

Samuel was accompanied by a handful of other mutineers, but it was he alone who did the killing, murdering the captain and officers by axe, by boarding knife (a three foot double-edged blade used for cutting blubber), by pistol, by drowning. In the midst of this bloodshed he returned to his brother George.

“After killing the mate Comstock came up to light a lamp at the binnacle. I then spoke to him and asked him if he was going to hurt Smith, the other boatsteerer he said yes he should kill him and asked me where he was I told him I had not seen him (although he had been aft talking with me) for fear if I told the truth he would kill him or go in pursuit of him. he perceiving me shed tears asked me what I was crying about I informed him that I was afraid they were going to hurt me he told me he would if I talked that way this rather silenced me from fear of myself.”

Rather than killing the boatsteerer Smith, Samuel, after his particularly brutal display of violence towards the commanding officers, effectively intimidated the rest of the crew into serving under him. Boarding knife in hand, he proclaimed ‘I am the bloody man and I have the bloody hand’.

A 19th c. whaler’s boarding knife.

George was ordered to be steward, and the rest of the crew was first commanded to clean the gore from the cabins. They operated under a set of laws Comstock put forth, as they set course for the Marshall Islands to complete his designs:

“That if any one saw a sail and did not report it immediately, he should be put to death! If any one refused to fight a ship he should be put to death; and the manner of their death, this—They shall be bound hand and foot and boiled in the try pots, of boiling oil!” Every man was made to seal and sign this instrument, the seals of the mutineers being black, and the remainder, blue and white.”

Tensions grew on the ship. One mutineer was hanged on board when Comstock suspected him of wanting to take command of the ship. And the other initial men who joined up with him (as well as, of course, the others who had played no part) also suspected that when they arrived to Comstock’s destination of Mili Atoll, he was going to destroy the ship and kill everyone who came with him. They landed on the atoll on February 14th, and three days later the other mutineers shot and killed Comstock. They sent a party of six of the crew (George among them, and led by the boatsteerer Smith) to secure the Globe lying at anchor, not anticipating those six might strand the mutineers on the island. Hastily, as soon as they got aboard the group of men cut the anchor chain and sailed away for help, eventually reaching Chile.

The surviving mutineers and two young lads, Cyrus Hussey and William Lay, were all who remained on the island. Tension also existed between the mutineers and the islanders on Mili Atoll, who were suddenly met with a group of castaways trying to aggressively impose their control over them. Ultimately, the mutineers were killed by the islanders after they tried to intimidate them. Cyrus Hussey and William Lay were spared. They were mostly kept separate from each other in two different communities on the island, where they lived mostly-peaceably with the islanders until they were eventually retrieved on November 25th by a naval schooner, the USS Dolphin, that was sent to rescue them.

“The Death of Samuel Comstock”. An 1840s illustration of Samuel Comstock falling back in the sand on an island, a cutlass in hand and a gunshot wound it his chest. From ‘The Life of Samuel Comstock, the Terrible Whaleman”

—

The other notable mutiny was that of the Junior, out of New Bedford at the close of 1857. This mutiny was more a result of ill treatment on board reaching a breaking point. The voyage was plagued with the usual bad luck, an inexperienced first-time captain, rotten food, and abusive officers. One man, a 24 year old boatsteerer named Cyrus Plumer, had a reputation of being rash and hot-headed. Prior to his signing on the Junior, he had been on another whaling vessel three years before where at one point he approached a fellow boatsteerer trying to get his support in staging mutiny to overthrow the captain and take the ship but, not finding it, deserted.

On the Junior, he found more support. On December 25th, 1857 Plumer encouraged the men (many of whom had had a bit too much to drink in light of the holiday) to take the ship that evening. The mutineers killed the captain and third mate, similarly as above, with a whaling gun, hatchet, a boarding knife, a blubber spade. The first and second mate were injured, with one taken prisoner by the mutineers and the other managing to stow himself in the lower hold for 5 days with a pistol with three shots, little water, and no food. A confession composed by the main mutineers in the ship’s log after the deed speaks to what happened after:

“This is to certify that we, Cyrus Plumer, John Hall, Richard Cartha, Cornelius Burns, and William Herbert, did, on the the night of the 25th December last, take the ship Junior, and that all others in the ship are quite innocent of the deed. The captain and third mate were killed, and the second mate was wounded and taken prisoner at the time. The mate was wounded in the shoulder with balls from a whaling gun, and at the time we fired we set his bed on fire, and he was obliged, for fear of suffocation, to take to the lower hold, where he remained until Wednesday afternoon. We could not find him before, but we undertook a strict search and found him there. We promised him his life, and the ship, if he would come out and surrender without any trouble, and so he came out. Since he has been in the ship he has been a good officer, and has kept his place. We agreed to leave him the greater part of the crew, and we have put him under oath not to attempt to follow us, but to go straight away and not molest us. We shall watch around here for some (time), and if he attempts to follow us or stay around here, we shall come on board and sink the ship. If we had not found Mr. Nelson the ship would have been lost. We have taken two boats and ten men, and everything that We wanted. We did not put Mr. Nelson in irons on account of his being wounded, but we kept a strict watch over him all the time. We particularly wish to say that all others in the ship but we five aforesaid men are quite innocent of any part in the affair.

Ultimately the mate did not keep his oath, making course for Sydney, Australia once the mutineers were out of sight in their boat. He alerted the shipowners of the situation, and word went round the globe. The mutineers were captured in Melbourne, February 1858, and brought to trial back in New Bedford. They were transported aboard the Junior itself, fitted out with prison cells to hold them. The case went all the way up to the Supreme Court. In April 1859 Plumer was found guilty of murder, and Cartha, Herbert, and Charles Stanley of manslaughter. The others were pardoned.

Plumer objected to his death sentence in a statement to the courts, saying first that he was not the man who killed the captain. That he indeed fired a shot at him but missed, and another crew member, Charles Fifield later killed the Captain with a hatchet.

“[he] stated to another person that I ‘missed the captain but that he did not miss him’ and boastingly showed the blood on his guernsey frock saying ‘it was the captain’s blood, and that he was the butcher’.

Plumer said that in the trial this man ‘wickedly sworn his own crime on my head’. He also stated that he didn’t take life but preserve it, in sparing the other two wounded officers. Officers who he ultimately held guilty for the mutiny in the first place through their complicity:

“The real culprit—the most guilty person in my judgement—the one who’s contriving brain and intiguing heart were the instigating cause of the conspiracy and mutiny on board the Junior”

He found no sympathy and was sentenced to hang, but his sentence was commuted to life in prison by president Buchanan, and then he was later fully pardoned 15 years later by president Grant.

A daguerrotype of four of the mutineers after their capture in 1858: Plumer, Rike, Cartha, and Stanley, sitting in a line against the wall with serious expressions, the first three dressed in dark suits, the last in just a shirt.

—

These two mutinies garnered particular interest because they were so rare. Again because if people were unhappy they tended to just…ditch, rather than shed blood. And also partly because some captains also reacted with their own violence at the prospect of mutiny, and found themselves pardoned by their peers for it. An example of this can be found in an article in the New Bedford Mercury, Dec 18, 1849. I’m curious about captain Issac Hussey’s relation to Cyrus Hussey, if there be one, and if that experience informed his zero tolerance.

“In June last, while cruising in the vicinity of the King’s Mill Group of Islands, the crew of the Planter, led on by a few desperate fellows, refused duty, alleging as a cause that the ship had cruised long enough, and should go into port. Capt. Hussey refused to comply with the demands of the crew, whereupon they armed themselves with knives, handspikes, boarding knives &c. and threatened the lives of the captain and officers unless their demands were immediately complied with. Capt. H. endeavored to reason with them, and upon going forward to do so was met at the try-works and forced back. After several ineffectual attempts to induce the crew to return to their duty, and finding that they had determined to force the captain to return to port or take possession of the ship, Capt. H. ordered the ship’s muskets to be brought upon deck and loaded with ball cartridges. He then addressed his crew, stating his determination to maintain his authority on board if need be at the cost of life, and gave them a half hour to consider the matter and make up their minds whether they would return to duty. At the expiration of the time, he again addressed them, and finding that they still persisted in their mutinous intentions, he very coolly and resolutely informed them that he had determined upon the course for him to pursue—that he was a good shot, and that the first man who, on being commanded by him, refused to obey, would be shot dead upon the spot. He then took up a tried musket and calling one of the ringleaders by name, ordered him to come aft; the only answer to which was defiance. Capt. H. then levelled his gun and fired. The ball entered the temple of the mutineer and passed out the opposite side of the head, and he fell dead upon the deck. The same course was then pursued with another of the ringleaders, who with the remainder of the crew preferred returning to their duty to being shot at—and the ship continued on her cruise. The peril to which the vessel and crew were exposed by the conduct of the mutineers will doubtless furnish to the minds of all a sufficient justification for the extreme measures to which he was compelled to resort, and afford to him ample vindication by the laws of his country.”

It was a bloody world all around—oft times whales, sometimes men.

#awhalin

195 notes · View notes

clove-pinks · 1 year

Text

A serendipitous find: the Autumn 2020 issue of Sea History, publication of the National Maritime Historical Society of New York, with the article "Freedom and Whaling on Nantucket" by Skip Finley. It's all about Black and mixed race mariners, whalers, and shipowners on the island.

Sampson Dyer, early 19th century. A free man of Black and Wampanoag descent, he engaged in the China Trade and commissioned this portrait from the Chinese artist Spoilum, "who specialized in European-style paintings in oil of sea captains and both Chinese and Western merchants."

Captain Absalom F. Boston, by unknown artist c. 1835. A successful whaling captain and businessman, he also supported anti-slavery abolitionists and helped build a church and a school.

Arthur Cooper, portrait by Sally Gardner c. 1830. Cooper had been enslaved in Virginia and escaped to Nantucket between 1815 and 1818. When the Fugitive Slave Act threatened to send Cooper and his wife back to Virginia in 1822, the locals successfully drove away the slave catcher sent to retrieve him. In Skip Finley's words:

Francis Macy, a cousin of the prominent Rotch family, intervened along with “a large assemblage of persons,” including large numbers of both the black and white communities on the island, who had surrounded the house. Sylvanus Macy stepped up to suggest the power of attorney was a forgery and said, “We are not in Virginia now but in Yankee Town, and we want those colored people to man our whale ships and will not suffer them to be carried back to bondage.”

#age of sail #whaling #black history #maritime history #black sailors #nantucket #new england #sea history #skip finley #sailors #sampson dyer #absalom boston #arthur cooper #slavery mention

132 notes · View notes

thebadgerclan · 2 years

Text

Most Precious

Pairing: Aleksander Morozova x reader

Summary: He will never sacrifice that which is most precious to him...

The season 2 teaser set loose the writing bug, so here we are! I might make a post about my thoughts about the teaser later, but when Aleksander says the line, “are you willing to sacrifice that which is most precious to you?”, I think he’s using the tether between he and Alina from the collar, so that’s how I wrote this

Are you willing to sacrifice that which is most precious to you? The question was deliberate, meant to invoke thoughts of her tracker, of her friends, but it also made Aleksander wonder: was he willing to sacrifice what was most precious to him? The answer was immediate and simple; no. No matter how gruesome this fight became, how bloody his search for the firebird would be, how desperate his need to reclaim the Sun Summoner was, Aleksander would never sacrifice you, his beloved wife.

He pulled out of the tether, fully occupying his body once more. You were seated on the bed at his side, draped in your black kefta, your hand on his shoulder. Aleksander looked at you, seeing the concern and love on your face, and shook his head. “Nothing,” he said, pulling you into his arms. “No sign of where she’s holed herself up.” You took his hand and squeezed it, resting your head on his shoulder. “We’ll find her,” you consoled, bringing your husband’s hand to your lips and kissing it. “Give it time.”

You hadn’t been on the whaler with him, you hadn’t seen how Sturmhond and his men had turned traitor on him, how they snatched Alina up and fled, leaving his soldiers and the ship in ruin. You hadn’t seen how Aleksander had set his nichevo’ya loose, the havoc they’d wreaked. But you had seen him return to the Grand Palace, looking broken and defeated.

And you’d done what you did best; helped to pull him together. Just as you had after your husband emerged from the fold, when you’d cleaned and bandaged his wounds, helped to dress him in a clean kefta, and walked by his side to meet his soldiers. That was why Aleksander adored you so, among hundreds of other reasons: you never made him feel weak or lesser, you simply helped him to build himself back up.

Aleksander was soon called away, and shortly after, you were summoned to attend to your own duties. When evening fell and you returned to your rooms, it was to find your husband paging through the portraits from your wedding. Aleksander was so engrossed that he didn’t hear you enter, and you peered over his shoulder. There were scenes from the ceremony as well as the feast, and your husband was lingering over the portrait of your first dance.

One of your hands rested on his shoulder, the other was clasped in his. Your wedding gown was dazzling gold, shimmering in the candlelight, while Aleksander wore his kefta, and the look on his face could only be described as reverence. “Feeling sentimental this evening?” you asked, making him startle slightly. “Yes, I suppose I am,” he replied, tugging on your arm. You happily settled in his lap, sighing when he pressed his lips to yours.

“Do you know what I asked Alina today?” Aleksander asked, and you shook your head. “I asked her if she was willing to sacrifice what is most precious to her. But that made me wonder if that was something I would be capable of.” You remained silent, knowing that whatever your husband was working through in his mind, he would share it when he was ready. For several minutes, Aleksander was quiet, his face contorting into a grimace periodically.

In his mind, he was watching you die. Watching you be dismembered by those traitor Heartrenders, watching that bastard privateer hold a blade to your throat, watching as Alina sliced you in two with the Cut. Aleksander could see it so clearly, the bargain she would make: returning to him in exchange for you, “one of yours for one of ours,” Sturmhond would say. And your husband would raze the entire nation to keep that from happening.

“Y/N, you are what is most precious to me, and I could never sacrifice you, never in a thousand years. There is nothing I will not do to protect you, milaya, I will defend you with everything I am. You are my entire existence, without you, I am nothing.” You shifted in your husband’s lap, and you wrapped your arms around his neck and kissed him deeply. Aleksander’s mind was at once blissfully calm, and when you broke the kiss, you rested your forehead against his.

“Aleksander, I know that you would never sacrifice me, and I know that you’ll do anything to keep me safe. I love you, Sasha, and I am with you, through all of this.” Your husband held you tightly, carding a hand through your hair. “I love you too, Y/N. I will never let anything happen to you.” The Sun Summoner’s whereabouts were unknown, there was a war on the horizon, but Aleksander would never let harm come to you. You were far too precious to him.

#aleksander morozova x reader #shadow and bone fanfiction #the darkling x reader #general kirigan x reader #shadow and bone reader insert

232 notes · View notes

trentreznortuesday · 5 months

Text

every album i listened to this year pt. 1

i listened to 238 albums that were new to me this year. this is the first 119 of them + basic genre tagging.

A Sunny Day In Glasgow - Sea When Absent [noise pop]

ABBA - Volume 25 [karaoke]

Agriculture - Agriculture [black metal]

Agriculture - The Circle Chant [black metal]

Alcest - Écailles de Lune [black metal]

Altar of Plagues - White Tomb [black metal]

Animals as Leaders - Parrhesia [djent]

Another Heaven - 1: You Are Loved [shoegaze]

Art Sorority - Older Boys [folk punk]

Ashenspire - Hostile Architecture [black metal]

Atomic Guava - Peasants of the Future [power metal]

awakebutstillinbed - chaos takes the wheel and i am a passenger [emo]

Bad Religion - New Maps of Hell [punk]

bar italia - Tracey Denim [post-punk]

Basketball Divorce Court - rebound [punk]

Big Black - Atomizer [noise rock]

Big Thief - Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You [alt-country]

Black Ends - Stay Evil [noise pop]

Black Math Horseman - Black Math Horseman [black metal]

Blanky - Blood Harmony [alternative]

Bosse-de-Nage - Bosse-de-Nage [black metal]

Bosse-de-Nage - ii [black metal]

Bosse-de-Nage - iii [black metal]

Bosse-de-Nage/Deafheaven - Split EP [black metal]

boybrain - In The Company of Worms [punk]

Bríi - Último Ancestral Comum [rock]

Cable Ties - All Her Plans [punk]

Callous Daoboys - Celebrity Therapist [hardcore]

Charlie Megira - Da Abtomatic Meisterzinger Mambo Chic [lo-fi]

Chat Pile - God’s Country [sludge metal]

Chat Pile - Remove Your Skin Please [sludge metal]

Chat Pile - This Dungeon Earth [sludge metal]

Chat Pile & Nerver - Brothers in Christ [sludge metal]

Cherub Tree - where are your manners [alternative]

Choncy - Community Chest [post-punk]

Corker - Falser Truths [post-punk]

Crime of Passing - Crime of Passing [post-punk]

Dark Factory - Dark Factory [new wave]

Days ‘N Daze - Rogue Taxidermy [folk punk]

Days ‘N Daze - Songs We Recorded for Splits [folk punk]

Dazy - OTHERBODY [alternative]

Deafheaven - New Bermuda [blackgaze]

Deafheaven - Sunbather [blackgaze]

Deeper - Careful! [post-punk]

Dirty Old Town - No Returning Home [alternative]

Dummy - Mandatory Enjoyment [post-punk]

dust - et cetera, etc [punk]

Eddy Arnold - Cattle Call [country]

Ekko Astral - Quartz [punk]

Ekko Astral - The Quartz Farewell [punk]

Elizabeth Colour Wheel - Nocebo [black metal]

Erik Hall - Canto Ostinato (Simeon ten Holt) [neo-classical]

Erik Hall - Music For 18 Musicians (Steve Reich) [neo-classical]

Explosions in the Sky - All of a Sudden, I Miss Everyone [post-rock]

Explosions in the Sky - How Strange, Innocence [post-rock]

Ezra Furman - All of Us Flames [art rock]

Ezra Furman - Perpetual Motion People [art rock]

Ezra Furman - Transangelic Exodus [art rock]

Ezra Furman - Twelve Nudes [art rock]

Feeble Little Horse - Girl with Fish [shoegaze]

Fela Kuti - Beasts of No Nation [afrobeat]

Fela Kuti - Coffin for Head of State [afrobeat]

Fela Kuti - Expensive Shit [afrobeat]

Fela Kuti - Roforofo Fight [afrobeat]

Fela Kuti - Zombie! [afrobeat]

Feminazgûl - The Age of Men is Over [black metal]

Frail Body - A Brief Memoriam [hardcore]

Fucked Up - Dose Your Dreams [hardcore]

GEL - Only Constant [hardcore]

Genital Shame - Gathering My Wits [alternative]

Gilla Band - Live at Vicar Street [noise rock]

Godcaster - Godcaster [psychedelic rock]

Hatchie - Giving the World Away [dream pop]

hey, Ily! - Internet Breath [bedroom pop]

Hoaxed - Hoaxed [alternative]

Home is Where - i became birds [emo]

Home is Where - our mouths to smile [emo]

Home Is Where - The Whaler [emo]

Horse Lords - Comradely Objects [microtonal]

Horse Lords - Hidden Cities [microtonal]

Horse Lords - Interventions [microtonal]

Horse Lords - The Common Task [microtonal]

Hot Snakes - Automatic Midnight [post-hardcore]

Housewives - Twilight Splendor [post-punk]

Ian Noe - Between the Country [bluegrass]

illuminati hotties - FREE I.H.: This Is Not the One You’ve Been Waiting For [pop rock]

Institute - Readjusting the Locks [post-punk]

Jane’s Addiction - Nothing’s Shocking [alternative]

Jeff Rosenstock - HELLMODE [punk]

Jeff Rosenstock - No Dream [punk]

Jeff Rosenstock - POST- [punk]

Jeff Rosenstock & Laura Stevenson - Still Young [punk]

Josaleigh Pollett - In The Garden, By The Weeds [bedroom pop]

julie - pushing daisies [alternative]

Kitten Forever - 7 Hearts [riot grrrl]

Kurt Vile - b’lieve i’m goin down… [alt-country]

Lamp of Murmuur - Saturnian Bloodstorm [power metal]

Leonard Bernstein - Chichester Psalms [choral]

Leonard Cohen - New Skin for the Old Ceremony [folk]

Leonard Cohen - Songs from a Room [folk]

Leonard Cohen - You Want It Darker [folk]

Liturgy - 93696 [black metal]

M(h)aol - Attachment Styles [post-punk]

M(h)aol - Gender Studies [post-punk]

Malthusian - MMXIII [black metal]

Mamaleek - Cadejos [black metal]

Mamaleek - Come and See [black metal]

Mamaleek - Diner Coffee [black metal]

Mamaleek - Those Who Pass Between Fleeting Worlds [black metal]

Mandy, Indiana - i’ve seen a way [post-punk]

MDC - Live at CBGB’s [hardcore]

MDC - Millions of Dead Children [hardcore]

MDC - Millions of Dead Cops [hardcore]

MDC - Multi-Death Corporations [hardcore]

Meat Puppets - Meat Puppets II [alternative]

Meat Puppets - Up on the Sun [alternative]

Messa - Close [hard rock]

meth. - Mother of Red Light [noise rock]

Midori - Aratamemashite, Hajimemashite, Midori Desu [hardcore jazz punk]

11 notes · View notes

bizarrequazar · 1 year

Text

GJ and ZZH Updates — June 4-10

<<< previous week || all posts || following week >>>

This is part of a weekly series collecting updates from and relating to Gong Jun and Zhang Zhehan.

This post is not wholly comprehensive and is intended as an overview, links provided lead to further details. Dates are in accordance with China Standard Time, the organization is chronological. My own biases on some things are reflected here. Anything I include that is not concretely known is indicated as such, and you’re welcome to do your own research and draw your own conclusions as you see fit. Please let me know if you have any questions, comments, concerns, or additions. :)

[Glossary of names and terms] [Masterlist of my posts about the situation with Zhang Zhehan]

06-04 → Nothing of note.

06-05 → Flora made a tweet showing that On Aura Tout Vu, the design company that posted the previous week about making one of the outfits at the Zhang Sanjian concerts (“for the amazing new collaboration ... for Zhang Zhehan”), had posted photos of the same outfit almost a year ago being worn by a showgirl. Their older posts (plural) are still up. In fact, the oldest post they have of the outfit is from March 2020, advertising it as part of their summer collection for that year. The black suit that On Aura Tout Vu also posted about was likewise a re-embellished older piece and the jewelry they’re advertising as “custom-made” for him is also from 2020.

→ 361° posted a video using Gong Jun’s travel photos to tease the video they would post the following day.

06-06 → Gong Jun posted nine scenery photos to Weibo. Caption: “The heart is steady, the results are good, and the seven-coloured clouds* are for everyone, jiayou!” The caption is presumably because it was national exam day. *symbol of good fortune Fan Observation: The post as a whole, especially the photos, are very similar in style to the 不想匿名 account (see the bottom of this post). The previous day, the account had been restricted by Zhihu and required to change its username; the specific reason is not known at the time of this post, but it was noted that another account with “匿名” in its username had the same happen.

→ 361° posted a video celebrating the second anniversary of their endorsement with Gong Jun.

→ The Instagram posted a video of “Zhang Zhehan” playing guitar.

→ #ZhangSanjian trended on Twitter.

06-07 → #TheRealZhangZhehan trended on Twitter.

→ A post was made by Sina TV announcing the passing of Ma Tao, Word of Honor’s producer, reportedly from liver cancer. A number of other staff who had worked on the show made posts in mourning.

#Word of Honor producer Ma Tao passed away# and #Word of Honor# got on Weibo’s entertainment hotsearch, Word of Honor and Ma-jie trended on Twitter.

→ The Instagram posted three photos of “Ma Tao” and “Zhang Zhehan” because these people have no fucking souls. Fan Observations: None of the photos are real, just fyi—obvious signs of photoshopping and “Ma Tao’s” teeth are wrong. Zhang Sanjian’s hair in the photos is the same as in the 2022-05-04 divorce video, so it’s suspected that these were prepared last year but weren’t used for some reason (likely because Ma-jie would have dragged their asses through the mud for trying to use her in their scam.)

→ The Rising with the Wind Weibo account posted a group promotional image featuring Gong Jun.

06-08 → Lexus posted a fake chatlog with Ma Tao in his Instagram story “in mourning” that claimed Zhang Zhehan had stayed with her while registering his case in 2021. Lexus is reportedly in Japan right now if anyone wants to go punch him in the gut.

06-09 → Tiffany & Co. announced a jewelry line using jellyfish imagery and whalers embarrassed themselves trying to claim that one of the most famous luxury brands in the world is trying to appeal to haizhes. The jellyfish brooch at the centre of the line was designed in 1967.

→ 361° posted three photo ads featuring Gong Jun.

→ A private wake was held for Ma Tao’s funeral, attended by Gong Jun. It is rumored that Zhang Zhehan was also in attendance, but this has not been confirmed in any capacity.

→ Zhang Sanjian paraded around the Shanghai airport in black, nominally “on the way to the wake,” because the scam gang have to make every moment about him. Fan Observation: It’s reported that the wake was held in the morning, while this Zhang Sanjian appearance was in the afternoon. The scam gang either didn’t know the time it was to be held at or they were trying to avoid the possibility of running into Gong Jun, who flew back to Haikou via the same airport after the wake.

6-10 Addition 06-14: The Singaporean paper Shin Min Daily News published an “email interview” article about Zhang Zhehan, taking the Zhang Sanjian scam and concerts as legitimate, with the first line of the article saying that Zhang Zhehan visited Yasukuni Shrine. This article was celebrated by whalers, with some blatantly omitting this first line—when confronted about this, they claimed it was no big deal for the very smears at the centre of 813 to be repeated here. The article also went on to say that Zhang Sanjian was “grateful for the opportunity” that his cancellation gave him.

→ Gong Jun posted a promotional video for 361°. (1129 kadian) Caption: “Walk in love, act in life, and protect beauty with green life. Be a green guardian with @ 361 Degrees” The same was also posted by 361° ten minutes later along with the catalogue of their new line.

→ Gong Jun’s studio posted a video of behind the scenes footage from his recent endorsement ads. Caption: “Happy weekend! A wave of @ Gong Jun Simon's small daily work, gaining a moment of indulgence in a hurry~” BGM is Babe by Evenings.

→ QuelleVous tweeted a thread about Xiao Chu, Word of Honor’s scriptwriter, explaining that her husband has connections to 6Rooms (a livestreaming platform tied to CAPA) and that she has not had a script project since Word of Honor due to a contract dispute at the company she works for.

→ Fresh posted a photo ad featuring Gong Jun.

Additional Reading: → N/A

<<< previous week || all posts || following week >>>

This post was last edited 2023-06-14.

#Lots of upsetting stuff this week :(#Zhang Zhehan #Gong Jun #Word of Honor #woh cast #lld timeline

31 notes · View notes