RACHEL MCADAMS AS SIGRITERICKSDOTTIREurovision Song Contest: The Story Of Fire Saga (2020)

RACHEL MCADAMS AS SIGRIT ERICKSDOTTIR Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga (2020)

VENOM: LET THERE BE CARNAGE (2021) dir. Andy Serkis ››› Naomie Harris as Frances Barrison / Shriek

🪐 — lucius spriggs ​;

grimace deepens,   nose scrunching up with it when stede proceeds to be awfully optimistic about the whole thing.  as if blackbeard hasn’t become a walking time bomb,  as if the fact that he hasn’t thrown stede overboard or stabbed him yet is to be praised.   ❛  oh,  that’s so nice of him,  isn’t it?  ❜   he can’t really help the bite of vitriol seeping into his words.  it’s just there,  making his fingers tighten around the pen he is not really writing anything with and his eyes harden as he recalls being left to drown by the very same man he had tried to help. not something he is going to forget ( or forgive ) anytime soon.

❛  yeah,  sorry.  not really blackbeard’s greatest fan right now.  all i’m saying is that whatever the fuck happened on that ship can’t be all on you.  it was bad and maybe a little pathetic,  yes,  but not that bad.  not i’m going to murder people bad.  ❜   lucius swallows around a much too dry throat,  trying to clear it a little and loose the heat to his tone at least a bit.  for stede’s sake,  certainly not for that madman.   ❛  just.  be careful?  ❜

       HE CANNOT BLAME LUCIUS  for his bitterness;  certainly it must have been a horrifying experience to have been thrown overboard  &  nearly drowned.  &  a sharp pang of regret hits him, slicing through his gut as deftly as any blade. he was the boy’s captain,  &  therefore his protection was stede’s responsibility. he had abandoned his crew as much as edward on the beach that night,  &  so held himself alone at fault for what had been done to lucius  &  the rest of the men. it was a mercy that they had all survived the ordeal  — that he might yet have a chance to fix his mess  —  &  stede didn’t intend to squander it.

                                                           ❝ i know, ❞  he says gently, his hand never falling from its resting place on lucius’ shoulder.  ❝ &  you’re kind to say so, but the fact is that this is my mess.  &  i’m sorry for what happened to you, lucius  —  you should never have been put in danger by it. i am your captain,  &  i didn’t protect you. there can be no greater breach of trust between us than that. ❞  &  stede’s lips curl into a small smile, but it doesn’t quite reach his eyes, their watery blue gaze going steely at the edges as he looks away from lucius  &  out toward the sea. ❝ i don’t expect for you to forgive him  —  or me, for that matter.  but i can promise you that i won’t repeat the same mistakes. i won’t let you or anyone else get hurt because of me again  —  i swear it. ❞

🪐 — edward teach​ ;

were it anyone else standing there,   edward would have brushed aches and discomfort aside.  even more likely still,  he would have turned it into anger,  shouting away at anyone foolish enough to get near him like this.  but izzy has seen him in much more pain that this  —  has seem him nearly delirious with it,  needing to be held down while the crew’s doctor set his knee back into place the best he could,  which was somehow almost worse than getting it smashed into pieces.   ❛  dunno.  maybe.  ❜   he glances down at his leg,  knowing he hasn’t been exceptionally mindful of it lately,  but it’s when he takes another step forward to test the waters that he knows not accepting help is not an option.  the next stab of pain is worse than before,  it empties his brain of anything else and forces him to breathe through clenched teeth.

he counts to five,  then ten,  but it doesn’t lessen,  pain a steady beat that kicks his heart into a furious race and clouds his eyesight.   ❛  izzy—  ❜   fuck,  it hurts.  edward doesn’t think he will be able to take another step on his own without falling down in a miserable heap.   ❛  i can't—  need to lay this down.  ❜   laughter gone, this is as close to pleading for help as he has ever come,  words barely making sense and  breath knocked out of his lungs.  he can’t remember the last time it was this bad.

          HIS CAPTAIN CALLS HIS NAME  &  relief floods him, his captain’s orders finally aligning with his instincts.  &  izzy is there in a flash, his shoulder tucked beneath the taller man’s on the weak side, arm arm bracing him around the waist so that he doesn’t have to put any weight on his bad knee. ❝ here, i’ve got you, come  &  sit, ❞  he mumbles, carefully shuffling the two of them backward to the captain’s chair.  ❝ slowly, slowly now. ❞  &  izzy crouches, his bare hand guiding the braced knee so that it can extend without bending, offering his support until edward is seated. once he is, izzy reaches for a nearby stool  &  drags it into place, guiding the heel of his leather boot onto it, strangely gentle where his captain is concerned.                                     but his hands have no talent for healing,  &  he laments that he doesn’t really know what to do to help edward. still izzy stays where he is, crouched before his chair as he examines the straps of his brace.  ❝ it looks plenty tight already, boss, ❞  he says, glancing up at his captain’s face.  ❝ but i can try to re-brace it, if you think it would help. ❞  a murky memory of his mother, humming as she rubbed some kind of soothing ointment on his legs when he was suffering through growing pains, drifts up from some recess of his memory,  &  izzy wishes suddenly that he could remember what it was that she had used all those years ago. ❝ at least let me pack your pipe for you.  &  i’ll check personally to see if there’s any kind of medicine or something on the next ship we raid. ❞  doctors were few  &  far between while at sea, but many naval warships had a modestly stocked infirmary. izzy made a mental note to bear that in mind when choosing their next target.

🪐 — james barnes​ ;

her touch comes as if he is delicate, contains a delicate nature that he has learnt not to expect, a difference to every other touch he remembers. there’s a soft, bashful nature to the way he smiles, gaze wandering down to watch where her fingertips lie, gentle and unblemished when he can only see his own in shades of red. a better man might draw away, might not let her be tinged with the darkness he knows still resides within his chest, but he’s developed a need to hear her laughter, to let it wash away the remnants of sins that still live in his bones.       ❛  it’s not quite that simple. a nice thought though.  ❜

       FROWNS DO NOT COME EASILY  to her face,  the muscles moving slowly to take on the unfamiliar position of her brow furrowed  &  her lips downturned. james often had an air of melancholy about him that even her sunlight disposition could not always shake him from.  &  suddenly birdie feels that it would be selfish to even try. perhaps she is asking too much of him. perhaps she is only making it harder.  &  the last thing she wants is to cause him any more pain  — james has been through quite enough already. ❝ well, i’ll tell you what is simple; ❞  she says, one hand carefully interlacing her grip with his while her other extends a bit higher. her fingertips are soft when they touch his jaw, softly lifting  &  turning his face until she can look at him directly, her eyes alight  &  hopeful when they link with his.  ❝ when you come back, ❞ birdie refuses to say the word if aloud.  ❝ just know that i’ll be here waiting for you. ❞

🪐 — edward teach​ ;

@musecraft  (   as stede  ) sent #81 to:  help edward style his hair.

his hair smell nice,   still a bit wet and cascading down his back with nothing to hold them up.  he closes his eyes,  every drop of tension to his muscles drained by the warm and nicely scented water of the bath stede had drawn for him.  he can't see stede,  sitting behind him on the bed as he is,  but he can feel his fingers carding through his hair,  thumbs pressing on his scalp in that way of his that makes edward melt under his beautiful,  clever hands.  fingers touch his neck and he doesn’t even stir,  let alone flinch away as he normally would.  no,  he leans back into it,  with a soft,  almost keening sound escaping his lips. 

❛  stede.  'm going to fall asleep right here and now if you keep this up.  ❜   tone heavy and slow,  a pleasant drowsiness already making its way through it.  and well,  with his awful track record when it comes to sleeping more than a few hours each night?  it wouldn't be such a bad idea to just drop his head on stede's shoulder and let sleep take him under.  edward thinks he could do that,  all wrapped up in lavender scent and stede's red robe.  the offer to help braid his hair or something forgotten in a corner of his mind. 

        HE’S MEANT TO BE BRAIDING IT,  but stede’s gotten distracted. edward’s hair is long  &  thick  &  gorgeous,  a dark waterfall shot through with elegant streaks of silver that covers his shoulders like a curtain.  &  after being soaked  &  scrubbed in the bath, it flows through his fingers as smooth as silk. but what’s even more beautiful still is the gentle way that edward seems to chase his touch, leaning into his hands at every opportunity.  &  the delightful responsiveness is only enhanced by the quiet pleased little noises that rise in his throat. stede finds himself chasing those sounds, carefully massaging his scalp. nails softly scratch over the skin, committing to memory the places that elicit a sigh or a shiver. never has he felt so at ease in the presence of another; for the first time in his life, he feels like he might be exactly where he belongs.                                                                     &  he gives a soft hum of affirmation when edward speaks, his fingers never stilling in their loving ministrations as they rub soft concentric circles just above his temple.  ❝ sleep then, ❞ he murmurs, lowering his head so that he can whisper in his beloved’s ear. one hand finally untangles itself from the long damp hair then, looping gently around edward’s waist to pull at him until his back presses flush against stede’s chest. then he leans back himself until his shoulders meet the edge of his bunk, half lying down now with edward still safely wrapped up in his arms  &  one of his softest dressing gowns. ❝ rest now, my darling. i’ll still be right here when you wake. ❞ his lips brush edward’s ear when he speaks, leaving the ghost of a kiss against the side of his face.