Tagged by @elizabeth-mitchells to share the last song I listened to!
Toni Childs -Stop Your Fussin' (or if we're counting soundtrack, I'm currently watching LotR1 xD)
My mom had it stuck in her head, probably bc it was on the radio, and we looked up the lyrics.
Tagging @hardrockerhippie @jennamacaroni @jackwolfskid @imaginemyhappyplace @observethewalrus @onaperduamedee @sapphicscholar and everyone else who sees this! Also feel free to check out the other tagging memes I did today if you like a different one better or want to do several :D
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Chapters: 2/?
Fandom: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Andy | Andromache of Scythia/Quynh | Noriko
Characters: Andy | Andromache of Scythia, Quynh | Noriko, Nicky | Nicolò di Genova, Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani, Booker | Sebastien le Livre, Lykon (The Old Guard), Keane (The Old Guard), Steven Merrick (The Old Guard), Dr. Meta Kozak, Nile Freeman
Additional Tags: Little Mermaid Elements, Alternate Universe, Minor Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolò di Genova, Princess Andy, Mermaid Quynh, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Declarations Of Love, Angst with a Happy Ending, Falling In Love, Fantasy
Summary:
Quỳnh desperately wants to experience life on the surface and when she rescues Princess Andromache, she is more determined than ever. Having no other options she seeks magical help to achieve her desires, but it has its consequences and when it threatens to take her life she must fight to save the woman she loves and keep the life she's always wanted.
Andromache rests with her head pressed against Quỳnh’s chest, listening to the sound of her heartbeat and letting it soothe her.
On nights like these, when she finds herself lying awake staring up at the stars, it’s the only thing that can calm her own heart- the steady rhythm of her lover’s heartbeat an anchor in the vastness of her life.
It had been centuries since they had lost Lykon, but his absence still aches in her heart. Andromache can no longer picture the faces of her mother or her sisters, but when she thinks of family, she pictures him- part of her wonders how long that will last, how long until she can no longer picture his face, how long until he becomes a distant memory she can no longer place.
She doesn’t dare let her thoughts drift to woman in her arms, doesn’t dare think about what she would do if she ever has to cling to memories of her lover- surely fate will never be that cruel. (She knows better than to believe in fate though, lived long enough to know it’s just a fools version of hope.)
Quỳnh grows restless in her arms, pulling Andromache out of her thoughts, recognizing the signs of a nightmare in her lover’s dreams. Quỳnh lets out a startled shout and suddenly bolts upright.
Andromache mourns the loss of the feeling of Quỳnh in her arms, but sits up beside her all the same.
“What is it, my heart?” She asks, combing her fingers through Quỳnh’s hair in an attempt to soothe her.
Quỳnh turns to look at Andromache, and her eyes are wide and wild, something flashes in Quỳnh’s eyes and then she’s smiling.
“Andromache,” Quỳnh whispers, squeezing her eyes shut again, “it’s happened again- there are new ones.”
For the anon who asked @oldguardficsourcing for slow burn femslash recs - thanks for forwarding this to us, by the way! - a quick ficrec list, sorted by length descending:
Deep in the Tree, All the Locks Click Open by Tam_Cranver
89k, E, Fantasy AU, Andy/Nile/Quynh
Summary: At loose ends after her naval career, Nile Freeman accepts a position as lady's companion for the reclusive widow Lady Andromache.
My heart (is like a haunted house) by moonflowery @daniwouldnever
30k, rated T, modern ghost AU
Summary: Andy finds herself with a job in an old, abandoned building. She doesn't believe in ghosts and never had a reason to believe in love. But then... there's Quynh.
Down The Brilliant Dream by MayQueen517
29k, E, Greek mythology AU
Summary: Quynh has been dreaming of someone for all of her life. When she seeks out the source of these dreams, things begin to change.
Some invisible string (trying me to you) by paupaupi @cryhardanddanceharder
27k, rated T, modern AU, roommates
Summary: It takes some time for Quynh to realize that the mysterious woman she likes is Andy, the new work partner of her friends.
I Can't Think Straight by lilolilyrae @lilolilyr
26+k WIP, T, modern college AU
Summary: Quỳnh moves into a new shared flat, falls out of love and in love again... mostly in that order. (And they were flatmates...)
The Evidence of Things Hoped For by onlymystories
25+k WIP, M, post-canon Andy/Nile/Quynh
Summary: a story of found family coming together through accountability, a lot of therapy, and maybe a miracle or two.
Don't Worry, This Isn't Love by Bedalk05
13k, T, modern enemies to lovers
Summary: Quỳnh hates Andy and that's perfectly fine because the feeling is very mutual. One hate fuck obviously won't change that. Right?
Reunions and Confessions by lilolilyrae
5k, G, post-canon Andy/Nile/Quynh
Summary:they have buried Andromache- but a month later, Nile, who is fighting feelings for both Andy and Quynh, gets a text from the dead.
She can’t speak, she can’t breathe. There’s no possibility, no singular reason as to why oxygen is more important than this. Than any of this. Than the touch of her love melting and opening beneath her. The hands grasping at her coat, sliding beyond, into her shirt, up her neck, around her cheeks, pulling and pulling, desperate, clinging.
Necessary.
It doesn’t cure it.
It doesn’t change what happened.
Quynh had so much she wanted to say. She wanted to scream, to shout. To shake Andromache, to shake all of them until the icy tears ran hot. She wanted to make demands, she wanted to throw them all overboard so they’d know. So that they’d feel the same pain, the same fear. The same terrible constant revival before it happened again and again.
The pain she’d suffered. All the horror she’d endured for five hundred years. Locked. Sealed.
But when she saw Andromache stepping from that car, near running when she spilled from the passenger side, and she felt her in her arms and that body sagging into her like she’d never left, every word, every horrible, awful thing died on Quynh’s tongue.
Andromache’s lips were the only thing that erased the bitter, soiled taste of salt that seemed permanently etched to her healing tongue.
Andromache’s arms dragged away the touches of cold that had never faded.
Even upon coming to land.
She can only speak a hairsbreadth of a second before she falls back into their kiss, Quynh hates how she shakes against her, hates how the moment she felt Andromache in her arms she melted.
You don’t deserve this! You don’t deserve my love again! Her mind screeches.
But oh, feeling her there, seeing her..
Quynh can feel the pain. She can feel it in the hammering of Andromache’s heart, the trembling of her own fingers that sink into Quynh’s long black hair.
I know..I don’t..I never gave up. I never stopped.
You were never just a memory.
You lived and breathed inside me and I hoped and hoped and I tried and-
They’ll have to talk, they’ll have to. Being back together like this, it doesn’t make it all okay.
She knows, they know they both know.
But Quynh’s cheeks are wet, and so are Andromache’s and she doesn’t know where Andromache’s tears start and hers end. She doesn’t know in that moment how to feel anything but gripping, painful relief.
“Andromache..my..Andromache.”
Quynh just wants to rest. She just wants to feel safe.
Andromache’s arms are safe. They’re strong, her eyes blaze and brighten and soak with fresh tears and there’s no way to say how desperately she wants to just sink and feel loved and warm.
“Quynh, my Quynh..”
Tense, erratic, relieved happy laughter bubbles forth. It surprises Quynh with it’s sound. She cannot believe she could make such a noise again. And maybe she’s dreaming but Andromache’s fingers clutch just that side of too tight to be a subconscious hallucination.
Later, later complications may come. No, will come.
There’s inevitable pain, heartbreak, sorrow, all those to follow.
But they’ll be okay.
And in this moment, these seconds, these arms.
Quynh let’s herself fall into the warmth she’s missed and craved so much. And relishes in that, when she breathes again, it’s in safety and there’s not a touch of bitter salt to it.
The sun weighed heavy on the day, oppressive and raw. The desert had claimed their lives before and would likely do it again. The camp was small enough for two, and they began to prepare for the cold night to come.
“We should sleep together,” Andromache suggested.
“Ngk,” Quynh choked on her sip of water. Her eyes were wide, and she looked like she was about to pounce onto her feet.
“No, I kick.” Quynh stood up and capped her canteen. She began to walk off, and while she did quickly tucked her canteen into her belt. Her hands raked through her hair.
“It’s going to be freezing tonight,” Andromache mused. She poked the small they built with a stick.
“Where are you going?”
“On a run. My legs are stiff from all the riding Andromache. I didn’t know you were my prison guard,” She bristled as she began to run away.
“You know what, Quynh?” Andromache snarled. On her feet suddenly she raced after the fleeing Quynh.
“What?”
“This has to stop!” Andromache said as she grabbed Quynh by the collar from behind.
“What!” Quynh fumed. She did not turn, preferring to speak to the empty desert.
“This! You’re always running away from me lately! What did I do,” Andromache swore. Her body hurt as if someone had beat her senseless.
“Don’t push me you’ll only ruin our relationship,” Quynh chided, suddenly cold as a desert in the night. Her hands shook so she knotted them together.
“It seems to me that you’re already doing that! So fucking tell me. Why do you hate me all of a sudden?” Andromache insisted. Hurt blistered in her throat as dust swirled around them.
“I don’t…” Quynh murmured.
“Then why?” Andromache implored. Her hand dropped from Quynh’s collar as her eyes bored into the back of her long black hair.
“Then, why what?” Quynh said.
“Then why are you hurting me” Andromache implored.
“I didn’t mean to, it's just that...that.” Quynh turned to face Andromache with a lead heart.
“That what?” Andromache warned.
“I love you! Okay, I love you, and I know you don’t feel the same.” Quynh announced. She felt the be
“Why would you think that?” Andromache questioned wide-eye and stiff-lipped.
“Because you go about...about saying these things. You torture me with these statements constantly. It’s awful,” Quynh complained. How dare she...how dare she act so cruelly.
“I didn’t think-”
“Well then think next time! I can’t take you flaunting that you know my feelings,” Quynh shouted tears falling now wet and salty on her cheeks. Her hand grabbed Andromache’s tunic.
“Honestly, Quynh I didn’t know,” Andromache admitted. Her face felt wet, and her mouth began to lift.
“You couldn’t! You must be blind,” Quynh croaked. Her heart was in her throat, beating like a mouse heart.
“That’s fair ‘cause… Quynh I-I do feel the same.” Andromache grabbed Quynh’s hand off of her shirt and held it tightly.
“You what?” Quynh questioned in bewilderment.
“I love you, Quynh. I have for a long time, but I didn’t think you felt the same,” Andromache insisted. It felt like a two-ton weight was lifted from her heart as she broke into a teary smile.
“We’re idiots” Quynh laughed through tears. Her tears mixed with Andromache’s as they kissed. It felt good, and after a good hundred years, it was bloody time.
Tagged by @elizabeth-mitchells, thank you very much!
: ̗̀➛ what’s ur fav color: I don't really have one favorite, it depends on what it's for, plus lots of colours are just really pretty, especially combinations! but the one I always claim as 'mine' for board games and such is yellow :)
: ̗̀➛ how long have u been on tumblr for: literally half my life.
: ̗̀➛ wheres a place u always wanted to travel to: I always wanted to go to South Africa because my parents were there during their university days, and last year i got to go as well! :D
: ̗̀➛ what’s ur fav clothing brand(s): I haven't got one. I have 0 brand loyalty. Mostly shop second hand anyway
: ̗̀➛ what’s ur fav singer/band(s): been listening to a lot of classic rock lately (every year a local-ish radio station does a 'top 1000 songs' thing and there is always a lot of classic rock in there and every time I get stuck on it for a while), Deep Purple, Metallica, The Cure, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Queen, Genesis, ... Apart from that the one band I've been listening to entire albums of for a while now is Dirt Poor Robins, they're doing very theatrical rock, I love it! More long term favs of mine are Annie Lenox, Hayley Kiyoko, The Pretty Reckless, MCR, Stevie Nicks, Måneskin, Florence & The Machine, Eric Clapton, Coldplay, Taylor Swift, Sting, Sarah Connor, Amy MacDonald, oh gosh I could go on... Definitely don't have one Fav, just many many great musicians I listen to! :D oh, and the Instagram guy who does the 'green socialist vampire/free range organic humans' music reels, he's so on point and hilarious. Never do remember his name until I come across a video again though.
: ̗̀➛ what’s ur current phone lockscreen: standard fairphone 4 background design. never got around to changing it and at this point it's grown on me... I usually stick to one background the entire time I have a phone, but usually it's at least something I picked xD I've had this phone for two years now, so I think it's stuck now xD
: ̗̀➛ most recent/current hyperfixation: star wars! Specifically, fanfiction either about time travel or mandalorians. Or both. Usually featuring some combination of Obi-Wan Kenobi, Jaster Mereel, Jango Fett, Ahsoka Tano, Commander Cody, Yan Dooku... Well, and others too, but I think those are my favs lately! Before that it was more Anakin/Tatooine centric fics but I'm back on the Mando train now, also have a whole list of all the mando'a vocab mentioned in fic, at this point I probably know more words in that made up language than i do in Spanish (my 3d language in school, nothing bloody well stuck. Should've tried teaching it to me by telling me it's from Star wars hmm xD), if you're interested in Star Wars fics check out my 312 bookmarks on the topic, nearly all of them from this year! Also, NCIS because I've been watching the first seasons on DVD. Also also, twilight memes, specifically all the hilarious fake names for the demon spawn! (& prev re your answer, thank you for telling me who elizabeth mitchell is xD I do try to at least keep up with your urls!)
: ̗̀➛ what’s ur relationship status: single
: ̗̀➛ what’s ur dream job: being paid for tumblrin (more realistically tho, I do genuinely like building social media presences, doing video editing, and a lot of other parts of online marketing, plus it tends to be a job that can be done partially or completely in home office... So I hope I can find some job that a) I don't hate and b) leaves me enough time to actually live my life lmao)
: ̗̀➛ outside of tumblr, fav social app: telegram messenger where my irl friends are <3 also atm Instagram but not for the social aspect, oh no, it's November which means it's my yearly quest of entering every single giveaway in the hope of winning an advent calendar or at least some other trash. Usually works, too, lmao, I mean it's just math, if I enter a couple hundred giveaways each entered by a couple hundred people, I'll probably win sth xD yeah yeah I'm gambling but at least I'm just wasting time on my phone instead of betting money? Instagram has currently restricted me from commenting though for a whole week, apparently it's convinced I'm spam now xD I mean I could switch to my cosplay account but then I'd have to clean that up too in January, I mean I do need/want fo unfollow all those giveaway brand accounts again -_-
: ̗̀➛ do u have pets (if u do have pets, what kind/how many): no
: ̗̀➛ do u prefer tea or coffee: tea, preferably rooibos or green tea, assam in the mornings to wake up
: ̗̀➛ whats ur fav ice cream flavor: this year I discovered hazelnut ice cream and it's brilliant!
: ̗̀➛ tag at least three other tumblr accounts: @toboldlynerd @squishmittenficfan @jackwolfskid @mindless-mars @hereforamediocretimenotalongtime @lavendelhummel @asstraightasau-turn @purlturtle @viharistenno only if you want to of course :)
Blank for ease of copying: : ̗̀➛ what’s ur fav color: : ̗̀➛ how long have u been on tumblr for: : ̗̀➛ wheres a place u always wanted to travel to: : ̗̀➛ what’s ur fav clothing brand(s): : ̗̀➛ what’s ur fav singer/band(s): : ̗̀➛ what’s ur current phone lockscreen: : ̗̀➛ most recent/current hyperfixation: : ̗̀➛ what’s ur relationship status: : ̗̀➛ what’s ur dream job: : ̗̀➛ outside of tumblr, fav social app: : ̗̀➛ do u have pets (if u do have pets, what kind/how many): : ̗̀➛ do u prefer tea or coffee: : ̗̀➛ whats ur fav ice cream flavor: : ̗̀➛ tag at least three other tumblr accounts:
