The Gates of Asgard

I am Heimdall, the keeper of the gates of Asgard. (Roleplay blog affiliated with Beyond the Bifrost.)

[watcheronthebridge]

Up in Flames | Closed RP

The towers of Asgard were burning.

The ship of Asgard’s remaining civilians--those who had made it with Heimdall through the assault of Hela and the rise of Surtur pulled farther and farther away from the landmass they had called home for so many millennia. The place he had been charged with protecting--now ablaze in Surtur’s hands.

His duty, his life’s purpose--his home. Gone.

He had protected a few, but had not been able to stop what had come for them, what had slaughtered their soldiers and decimated their people. At least, he considered as his eyes reflected the burning mass of Asgard’s golden spires--at least his sister had not been here to witness his failure.

Sif, his sigh resonated across the cosmos as his eyes took in the last glimpse of Asgard’s ruination, stay safe.

Asgard has fallen.

[skcgsra]

prometheus aesthetic (requested)

more here // request here

[marvelgifs]

[aclashofcaps]

[7stripes-deactivated20170623]

Golden Eagle by Ronald Coulter 

[myrrhbearer]

stars remember stars above below before the coldest hunting ground then called !seduced! !ensnared! a symbiote afloat our everhungry home nestled nested now in cedars cast down the benighted i will be their dragon soar and slaughter scratch in blood the memory of stars

[forgottengenres]

I have a need of silence and of stars. Too much is said too loudly…

William Alexander Percy (via thatlitsite)

[shieldofasgard]

Blood Ties | Closed RP

[watcheronthebridge]

“How far can you support someone when they are doing something you know will harm them in the long run?” Heimdall replied with his own question.

“Balder was … he was desperate for something he could not rightly identify,” he went on, uncharacteristically voicing his thoughts aloud to his sister. “So when he identified that in his match, he would not hear otherwise, despite how much damage it did.”

“He was as a man dying of thirst on the ocean, who sees the seawater around him, and after such a great deal of time suffering, cannot help but drink what he knows will kill him faster.”

[shieldofasgard]

“It truly did kill him faster, it seems,” Sif muttered, brow furrowing. Indeed, everything seemed, in retrospect, to have been leading up to Balder’s death. All of the close calls, and all of their shared carelessness.

She took in a deep breath, steeling herself finally.

“Thank you, Heimdall…for listening…and for…telling me I was not wrong…” she was not so alone after all, no matter how alone she felt.

[watcheronthebridge]

“I can always listen,” Heimdall said gently to her. “You know that–even if you are far away, it is no strain on my hearing for what you might wish to say.”

“And I know I am not … always available to come to you when you need it,” his brow broke remorseful over the fact, “but the observatory door is always open to you–for more than simply interstellar travels.”

[shieldofasgard]

Sif nodded, feeling her throat constrict once more. So much for steeling herself. She rubbed at the knot in her forehead, taking in another breath.

“Thank you for…stopping me out in the practice shed…I didn’t even realise how cold I was,” she laughed helplessly. “…And I will…I will try to remember that you are willing to listen,” Sif smiled up at her half-brother, hesitating a moment before embracing him tightly around the middle.

[watcheronthebridge]

“And that I am always here,” Heimdall said, setting a hand over her back as she held him. “No matter what.”

[shieldofasgard]

Blood Ties | Closed RP

[watcheronthebridge]

“How far can you support someone when they are doing something you know will harm them in the long run?” Heimdall replied with his own question.

“Balder was … he was desperate for something he could not rightly identify,” he went on, uncharacteristically voicing his thoughts aloud to his sister. “So when he identified that in his match, he would not hear otherwise, despite how much damage it did.”

“He was as a man dying of thirst on the ocean, who sees the seawater around him, and after such a great deal of time suffering, cannot help but drink what he knows will kill him faster.”

[shieldofasgard]

“It truly did kill him faster, it seems,” Sif muttered, brow furrowing. Indeed, everything seemed, in retrospect, to have been leading up to Balder’s death. All of the close calls, and all of their shared carelessness.

She took in a deep breath, steeling herself finally.

“Thank you, Heimdall…for listening…and for…telling me I was not wrong…” she was not so alone after all, no matter how alone she felt.

[watcheronthebridge]

“I can always listen,” Heimdall said gently to her. “You know that--even if you are far away, it is no strain on my hearing for what you might wish to say.”

“And I know I am not . . . always available to come to you when you need it,” his brow broke remorseful over the fact, “but the observatory door is always open to you--for more than simply interstellar travels.”

[shieldofasgard]

Blood Ties | Closed RP

[watcheronthebridge]

“Sif,” Heimdall gentled his voice to her. “Neither your anger nor your words could have caused Balder’s death. It would take far more than one moment of spite to erase the years of support you two shared.”

“And you were not entirely wrong,” he continued. “The match he had made was ill suited–perhaps not in name or in personage, but deeper down … it did not take my eyes to see,” he offered, “to notice that his head was far removed from the goings on he participated in.”

[shieldofasgard]

“Perhaps I was not wrong,” something lifted in her at the prospect. Everyone else had seemed to be on board with Balder’s engagement, and it had been difficult to feel like the only one out of the group who did not approve. “But I – Should I not have…been more supportive?”

[watcheronthebridge]

“How far can you support someone when they are doing something you know will harm them in the long run?” Heimdall replied with his own question.

“Balder was . . . he was desperate for something he could not rightly identify,” he went on, uncharacteristically voicing his thoughts aloud to his sister. “So when he identified that in his match, he would not hear otherwise, despite how much damage it did.”

“He was as a man dying of thirst on the ocean, who sees the seawater around him, and after such a great deal of time suffering, cannot help but drink what he knows will kill him faster.”

[shieldofasgard]

Blood Ties | Closed RP

[watcheronthebridge]

“I am sorry I could not come away often enough to give it,” Heimdall said in his low, ponderous tone that conveyed the deepest sincerity. “But with how you went about things, I do not believe I would have wished to interfere with the path you set yourself on.”

“I had been grateful to your shield-brother for being there to tell you as much.”

[shieldofasgard]

“I should have been more grateful to him,” she admitted, feeling the weight of what should have been hanging heavy about her shoulders once more. “Instead of encouraging his happiness I…I did everything in my power to deter the match that he’d made for himself…” Sif swallowed against the growing lump in her throat.

“I told him that he could die if he wanted, that I – that I did not care…and I did not get to tell him that I was wrong, and had not meant it before he…” before he truly had died.

Part of her, no matter Thor’s assertions, still believed that she had set his death into motion with those words alone.

[watcheronthebridge]

“Sif,” Heimdall gentled his voice to her. “Neither your anger nor your words could have caused Balder’s death. It would take far more than one moment of spite to erase the years of support you two shared.”

“And you were not entirely wrong,” he continued. “The match he had made was ill suited--perhaps not in name or in personage, but deeper down . . . it did not take my eyes to see,” he offered, “to notice that his head was far removed from the goings on he participated in.”

[shieldofasgard]

Blood Ties | Closed RP

[watcheronthebridge]

“They have not been–and were not–grand gestures,” Heimdall attempted to explain. “And they are difficult to be seen when they remain at your side or guarding your back,” he paused in this thumb’s movements, stilling to clasp a little more tightly.

“Or from an observatory.”

[shieldofasgard]

He could have kept an eye, she supposed. This entire time, in fact. Heimdall would be one of the few who could keep a close watch without being close. She wondered what he had thought of her struggle to become what she wanted, who she wanted, to be. Had he stood in the observatory and thought her wrong, as her father had?

If he’d thought he had the authority, would he have tried to stop her? She thought he he did not and had not.

“I could have used your more obvious interference now and again, brother,” Sif laughed a little, sniffling loudly. “But I thank you for…giving me any consideration at all, as well.” Sif clasped his hand back, daring to lean into Heimdall’s arm for comfort.

[watcheronthebridge]

“I am sorry I could not come away often enough to give it,” Heimdall said in his low, ponderous tone that conveyed the deepest sincerity. “But with how you went about things, I do not believe I would have wished to interfere with the path you set yourself on.”

“I had been grateful to your shield-brother for being there to tell you as much.”

[shieldofasgard]

Blood Ties | Closed RP

[watcheronthebridge]

“You thought wrong then,” Heimdall gave correction, “on both counts.”

“Perhaps it remained unseen to you–likely you were not looking for it,” his thumb grazed over the back of her hand in a reassuring gesture. “But you have been cared for, and beloved, in more ways than physical protection can provide.”

[shieldofasgard]

“Tell me then,” Sif suggested, turning a look to her half-brother once more, “so that I might see it in the future.” If she had missed such things it was remiss of her.

[watcheronthebridge]

“They have not been--and were not--grand gestures,” Heimdall attempted to explain. “And they are difficult to be seen when they remain at your side or guarding your back,” he paused in this thumb’s movements, stilling to clasp a little more tightly.

“Or from an observatory.”

[shieldofasgard]

Blood Ties | Closed RP

[watcheronthebridge]

“Some warrant more watching than others,” Heimdall gave a small smile. “I know at least that much. I have tried, through these years, to the best of my ability from where I stand here, to do so for you.”

“And I know as well that with this loss, I have one fewer to aid me,” he admitted, “in seeing you cared for.”

[shieldofasgard]

Sif laughed, unable to help herself, the sound thick with tears still. “I did not think you cared to look after me,” she admitted. It sounded harsh even in her ears, but it was the truth.

“I think that…that I looked after Balder more than he looked after me…” she rubbed at her face with her free hand once more. “But I suppose he did often…put himself in harm’s way for me, even though I asked him not to.”

[watcheronthebridge]

“You thought wrong then,” Heimdall gave correction, “on both counts.”

“Perhaps it remained unseen to you--likely you were not looking for it,” his thumb grazed over the back of her hand in a reassuring gesture. “But you have been cared for, and beloved, in more ways than physical protection can provide.”

[shieldofasgard]

Blood Ties | Closed RP

[watcheronthebridge]

Heimdall’s hand closed around hers as her tears fell, and he waited for her cries, allowing them time to form words, for her to dab her eyes. His grip tightened, a slow squeeze.

“You are not,” he reminded her gently. “You have not been alone.”

[shieldofasgard]

“Am I not..?” the squeeze at her hand made her feel a little less heavy, and Sif allowed herself to lean into her half brother, her bottom lip sucked up between her teeth. “We have not…known one another very well…”

Heimdall knew Sif. He had always been able to see her better than others, but they had not known one another. Not as a brother and sister might have otherwise.

“But I suppose…you have always watched over me,” she gave a half-hearted smile, eyes and nose red and splotchy from her tears.

[watcheronthebridge]

“Some warrant more watching than others,” Heimdall gave a small smile. “I know at least that much. I have tried, through these years, to the best of my ability from where I stand here, to do so for you.”

“And I know as well that with this loss, I have one fewer to aid me,” he admitted, “in seeing you cared for.”

[shieldofasgard]

Blood Ties | Closed RP

[watcheronthebridge]

“It burns less hot in time,” Heimdall said.

“But trying to hold a fire at bay on your own is a difficult process,” he went on. “Sometimes you need assistance to save what needs saving,” he let a hand come near hers, a measured movement so as not to startle her, “and sometimes you simply need to let it run its course and die down on its own.”

“Sometimes both,” his last two fingers nudged hers.

[shieldofasgard]

“I tried,” Sif felt broken and useless, like her hands which she had trained to do so much were nothing but clumsy extensions of herself. The heat of Heimdall’s finger near her own set a twitch through the digits, and Sif let herself hesitantly reach out for him. “I tried but…I think I just ruined…another one of my relationships…”

Tears fell fresh over her cheeks once more, and Sif buried her face in her free hand.

“And I am tired of…being alone…” voice thick, Sif rubbed at her nose and felt the back of her hand come away damp. She wiped it on her dress, unladylike.

[watcheronthebridge]

Heimdall’s hand closed around hers as her tears fell, and he waited for her cries, allowing them time to form words, for her to dab her eyes. His grip tightened, a slow squeeze.

“You are not,” he reminded her gently. “You have not been alone.”

[shieldofasgard]

Blood Ties | Closed RP

[watcheronthebridge]

Heimdall’s brow shifted only slightly, the greatest mark of his surprise that would show through his trained features. His voice only came afer a long deliberation, a pause for words that came slow and ponderous.

“I did,” he answered honestly. “Never more than then.”

[shieldofasgard]

“….Did it stop?” Sif didn’t know if she could handle always feeling this way. She had thought that she’d gotten rid of some of it – that being with Thor truly was a remedy for her loneliness, and her need for comfort. Instead it had only made things worse.

[watcheronthebridge]

“It burns less hot in time,” Heimdall said.

“But trying to hold a fire at bay on your own is a difficult process,” he went on. “Sometimes you need assistance to save what needs saving,” he let a hand come near hers, a measured movement so as not to startle her, “and sometimes you simply need to let it run its course and die down on its own.”

“Sometimes both,” his last two fingers nudged hers.