Weāll see if this will be the thing to get me to finally write fic again, but I feel like the Blood(y)Mary ship lends itself so well to making Iron Lung the ābad endingā of Project Hail Mary. Hear me out.
So the astrophage is like the space equivalent of plankton, on their own, they only dim stars (but ofc still significantly enough to impact life). When the PHM mission is successful, Ryland and Rocky both breed and relocate taumoeba to their respective planets, far exchanging the range of the astrophageās natural predator.
If Grace fails that mission, the taumoeba doesnāt expand to Earth as fast as the astrophage dims the sun. Without a natural predator, the astrophage thrives, evolves and space Cambrian Explosion takes place, resulting in the creatures we see in the blood ocean in Iron Lung and planets and stars to disappear.
I personally think it makes the most sense if Ryland Grace was stuck in his coma too long and he became known as the guy that failed humanity.
Shout out to anyone that ever made a character thatās a āSecret Government experimentā that escapes the lab and is now wanted and misunderstood. Thatās top tier character design, thank you.
Happy Holidays @animatedanalysis! I'm your secret Santa, and here is your piece featuring Tiresias! I hope you enjoy it, even if Grammarly says it's wordy :>
Seven.
Seven has been a recurring number throughout my life. Seven years I lived at Heraās will: a woman, her priestess. That curse only brought more upon me, and her husband compensated with seven generationsā worth of life. Drawn out, as I was, the rage of the sons of seven heroes did bring me to my demise.Ā
Even in death I cannot escape the number. I underestimated my own longevity.
Death is a strange phenomenon. I hardly believed it when I passed. My daughter must have buried me well, for my journey was paid for- to the Asphodel meadows, but a shadow of the vitality Iāve witnessed. In spite of it all, I retain my sentience; I retain my powers. I retain the ability to condemn any mortal to their destiny.Ā
It was my belief the Fates cut oneās thread for permanent repose. I am animated still. My career is a reluctant one. Have I no rest?
I looked up at the sky- it's a watery sky. I am the only one who notices the flickering light. It is dim and cold. I heard the sound, yes, you called my name. I knew it before the summon. Your rowing was not subtle. Yet I did not even have to drink your sanguineous sacrifice.
One.Ā
Two.Ā
Three.
Four.Ā
Five.Ā
Six.Ā
Seven drops of blood.Ā
Neither man nor mythical.Ā
Those were bold words. Perhaps you are something of a seer yourself,
King of Ithaca.
āI am the prophet, with the answers you seek.ā
If seven was a curse upon me, I fear I may have passed it onto you. Your mentor, Pallas Athena gave me augury. But what use is that now? Birds do not sing down in the underworld; I doubt I should hear the feathered voices ever again.
The Thunderbringer Zeus, perhaps had the same foresight he gifted me. Ironic. The same Lord who doomed your morality lends me the power to warn you against its downfall. You are his daughterās favored, and his brotherās despised. What an intriguing solution he has had us entwined within.Ā
āTime- I've unlocked it.
I see past and future running free.ā
Your fate has been threaded. Unchanging, unflinching as the Earthshaker Poseidon's furious pursuit. I can only speculate if your sins do you well. In another time, perhaps I speak definitively. In this, I am better known for my hesitancy.Ā
āThere is a world where I help you get home;
But that's not a world I know.ā
Shreds of his father Kronos linger here. I do not equivocate without reason. My words are cryptic. Intentional. Seven lines? Far from it. I shall add a few more, the number be damned.
āI see a song of past romance.
I see the sacrifice of man.
I see portrayals of betrayal and a brotherās final stand.
I see you on the brink of death.
I see you draw your final breath.
I see a man who gets to make it home alive-Ā
But itās no longer you..ā
Though I suppose that shanāt help, you are already chained to the sentence; bruised by it.
Seven years with Calypso.
Iāve lived seven lives at a stretch, but it could never wipe away the memory of change. The separation from self. I pity you. No, I dread your island cage for you. My mind may be fractured by the weeks Iāve spent in fragmented realities I donāt quite recognize- but this remains constant.
The identity crisis is nothing short of insanity. One attains the helplessness of a phoenix. One becomes as intimate with power as ash.
Provocation. Patience. Perspective.
How come you introduce yourself as Laertiades?
Not father of Telemachus, as before?
Even now, do you truly recognize yourself in this crimson reflection? Your hands are stained as is.Ā
āI'm just a man.ā
Are you, Odysseus?
I've never known a man to succumb to such immorality. To be responsible for the death of an infant boy, prophecy-bearing or not.Ā
Still, I suppose, it is the will of the Gods.
To force a wolf into a corner, to inspire it to lash out, to bite and clawā¦ Only to stifle the action, muzzle the monster like a lesser canine.
Won't it howl?Ā
It's a cruel punishment. Your heart and lungs are bound to give way. You will join the murky waters the ones youāve slain now bathe in.Ā
āI see a palace covered in red;
Faces of men who have long believed you're dead.
I see your wife with a man who is hunting:
A man with a trail of bodies..ā
Goddess of wisdom, master of war. A familial messenger sent in her stead. The divine is a curious force. Pushing you down, lifting you up. The oceanās buoyant waves do as much, bobbing along with the gracious wind.
Become what you must.
A ruthless monster. A beast unlike any you've encountered. A man capable of losing his fraternity, his humanity.Ā
Happy Holidays @onlylivisa! I'm your Secret Santa!
Thank you for the creative freedom! I put together a piece featuring Poseidon blocking Odysseus' way home since you seemed to enjoy their interactions in the Vengeance Saga!
I hope you like it!
erasercloud writing practice,,romance is so hard to write hngggh..
~
it was a routine, by now.
shota'll wake up, groggy, and try to go back to sleep. only for oboro to drag him out, chattering about his plans for the day. he'll make himself tea, and shota coffee with his usual remarks about how this coffee is a crime and you know it, shota.
he flutters around the kitchen and shota sleepily drapes himself over his back, eager to soak up any heat.
("just like a cat, i swear." oboro chuckles softly.)
shota chugs his coffee as soon as it gets passed into his hand, practically inhaling it.
hand resting on shota's hip, oboro laughs, smile dipped in pure sunlight. he throws his head back, and his shoulders shake as his tea sloshes in his mug.
and shota was addicted.
addicted to oboro's snorts and giggles. addicted to the way his eyes squinted into crescents and his cheeks flushed. he couldn't help but love it.
he presses his lips to shota's cheek, still laughing, and he can't help the way his face twitches into a small smile.
shota rests a hand on oboro's cheek and runs a thumb over the scar that sushi had given him during the catnip incident. (something hizashi will forever deny happening because that catnip came outta nowhere, yo!)
he'll murmur a thank you and gently slot their lips together. oboro smiles into the kiss, and they stand there, content to just exist together.
their kiss halts eventually, when, shota couldn't say. the two stand and sway slightly, eyes closed.
their drinks grow cold. oboro had put his tea on the counter, and both his hands just sit there, resting on his hips. shota's hand still lays on his cheek, while the other is on oboro's pulse point.
proof that he's alive, that he's there and this all isn't some sort of fucked-up dream.
they're interupted by a small 'mrrp' as sardine rubs herself all over shota's ankle. oboro lets out a huff before going to get the food for the demanding cat. sardine follows him, and shota is happy to sit himself on the counter and observe.
oboro's hair reaches past his shoulders, pulled back by a plain black headband. he's wearing casual clothes, and his shirt has an unfunny quote on it that shota can't bear to read at 5:AM. his leggings are patterned with black cats, and his socks have a stretched out picture of shota that nemuri got as a gag gift last christmas.
One should always have at least 2 craft projects going. That way, when one of them is messed up and misbehaving, you can switch to another, and let the first one sit there and think about what it's done.
Sometimes (oftentimes), when a creative project is "misbehaving," it's because it is tired, and overstimulated, and just needs a time out to rest -- like toddlers often need.
And sometimes, you should give your creative projects time to talk to each other, as well as to you.
āsome people donāt deserve redemptionā redemption isnāt something thatās deserved, itās something someone does. itās making the choice to change the way you live your life, to be better, to do good things instead of bad things and try to make up for the bad things. and everyone can and should do that, at any time, no matter what theyāve done. we canāt change the past, but we can choose what kind of person to be now and in the future. we have the responsibility to do so. it is so completely not about ādeserving.ā
This is actually hella interesting, bc in simple terms, tigers are extroverts and lions are introverts. Thereās more to it, but thatās the gist.
Whenever zooās tried to put lions and tigers in the same enclosures, the tiger would eventually try to groom the lioness and play constantly. The lioness would lose patience and snaps at them
So basically what Iām saying is that you have a regal and refined gf who stands at the edge of a balcony during parties, sipping champagne
Then you have the other girl who drank all of the little flutes on the servers platter, and is now drunkenly pointing at her gf and telling everyone that thatās her gf and doesnāt she look beautiful I love her so much
You drew them in the corresponding ethnicities for their Geographic locations!!! Bless you, you have no idea how sick and tired I am of white human lion king characters.
