#And bram is easily calmed with some music

[walmart-miku]

You know what guys, I think we've been focusing too much on all the love wims/loses and gay in ep 11 I think that we should be paying more attention to THESE TWO

LOOK AT THEM THEY ARE FAMILY HES HER KNIGHT HE WOULD DIE FOR HER IM CRYING

AND ALSO THE WAY HIS EYES WIDEN WHEN SHES ABOUT TO JUMP WHEN HE REALIZES THAT SHE COULD DIE FROM THE JUMP BEING SUCESSFUL AND HIM BEING TO SLOW TO SAVE HER/UNABLE TO

AHHHHHHH it drive me insane

[whathorselegs]

Drink it up 'til you've drowned for the WIP game

(also what type of dog is the pupper 👀)

This one has manga spoilers from chapter 113, so not for anime onlys.

---

Drink it up 'til you've drowned

Hosting masquerades such as these were also a part of his duty, though it was one he took more delight in. Dresses, skirts, coattails all danced along to the music in swirling harmony. The golds, silvers, inky blacks, sanguine reds and midnight blues his guests wore all meshed against each other blending into a glorious display that reminded him of birds of paradise. Occasionally guests would approach his way and shower him with gratitude. Bram would be a liar if he said he didn’t relish in it just a little.

Yes, nights like these, made all his struggles worth it.

That was until he saw him.

There, standing at the opposite end of the hall, glimpsed in the gaps between the crowd stood a ghost of Bram’s past. Fitting that his skeletal mask should resemble the ghastly face of death itself given how much of it this man had brought to Bram’s life.

Bram stalked forward without a word, his boots carrying him across the dance floor without giving it a second's thought. Despite his guests vying for his attention, Bram easily slipped between them, closing the gap between himself and the intruder. 

Closer now, Bram could see more of him. The fine fur-lined white kafta he wore was a stark change from the rags Bram had first seen him wearing. This suited him far more, the coat pulling in at the waistline and flaring out again towards the ground, like a twisted mockery of an eternal corpse bride. The dark tresses of his hair pulled out the way of the mask by two braids running along the sides of his head.

Though the mask covered most of his face, it stopped at the upper teeth of the skull, meaning Bram could see the delighted way Fyodor smiled at having so easily gotten his attention. That smile had a nauseating effect on Bram, his lips turned down in a sneer when he was finally close enough to touch the other man.

“You were not invited.” He stated plainly, trying to maintain some semblance of calm. He didn’t want Fyodor to know just how easily he got under his skin.

Fyodor’s smile never wavered, his hands coming to clasp behind his back, mocking innocence. “As far as I was aware this event was an open invitation, my dear Count.”

---

So, uh, yes, this is FyoBram.

I have no defence, the reveal of Fyodor being immortal and getting himself chained up in Bram's dungeon did something to my brain chemistry, okay?

I wanted to write your classic toxic Gothic vampire/immortal hate courtship and then the plot twists in the manga just kept happening so, this fic ended up on a bit of a stand still for a minute.

---

As for what breed of dog Chuuya's pupper is, it's a rescue so it's not a pedigree but I lean towards either the Kai Ken or the Japanese Terrier in terms of looks.

Which I know are completely different dogs! I'm just torn between big and fluffy or small and scrappy asdfgh

[quolant]

4, samjosh!

Josh, as Chief of Staff, had a lot of rules one would probably call "pointless" (Donna), "ridiculous" (Amy) and "arbitrary (Lou). Things like only using Post-It brand Post-Its, no comment boards (especially if they were politics related, press would kill them, Josh would know) and no surprise parties of any kind. But he stuck to them anyway.

"Not even fun ones?" Donna said, one day, when she'd made the trek from the East Wing to talk about a UN summit. "Not even birthday-related?"

"The last time that happened, I fucked up with Chris Carrick," Josh grumbled. "So, this year, in this administration, it's not happening. It's a rule. It hasn't happened yet, and it's not going to."

"Wait," Sam said, from his perch on Josh's couch. He spent way too much time there, considering his office was a lot bigger than the one he used to have, and he could probably get a couch if he really wanted. Josh didn’t mind, really; he'd never minded back then, when Sam had come over with a "Hey," with something in hand, and they'd end up in his office for hours talking about something. "Chris Carrick? That was you?"

Josh slanted a glance at him. "It's — it was a thing."

Sam considered him for a moment over his glasses. He looked good today, Josh thought absently, and then immediately shook it out of his head. Work. Yeah — he had a meeting with Vinick today. That was going to go great.

"I mean, your birthday is coming up," Sam noted, and exchanged a grin with Donna.

"No," Josh stated. "If you — I don't know, rope half of the West Wing and the goddamn social secretary into filling the Roosevelt Room with balloons and shit, I — I'll —" he paused.

Sam raised his eyebrows. "You'll?"

Donna snorted. "It was the Mural Room, Josh. But, y'know, it's been a while, I'll let it slide."

"What —"

"It's the first year of our second term, Josh," Donna replied, grinning. "We have to set out and find our own traditions. We have to bond! We just got reelected!"

"Like our own Big Block of Cheese?" Sam asked, and Donna nodded.

"Well," Josh said, rolling his eyes, but feeling warm all over. "As long as we keep doing what we need to do." He winced. God, he did sound old. He sounded like Leo — and the thought of that made something ache, just a bit.

The next two weeks started when Amy came by and said, "So, you still hate red velvet, right?"

"I — yeah," Josh said, distracted, before looking at her. "Is this — relevant somehow?"

"It's relevant to things," she said easily, enigmatically, in that way where Josh had no clue what she meant.

He got up. "Amy—"

"I've got a meeting with the House Minority Whip. He's kind of a tough nut to crack," she broke in. "So I'll be out for a while."

Josh blinked. "Uh, ok."

Amy left, and Josh would swear that she was smirking.

Bram asked him, offhandedly, about the schedule. Edie mentioned something about mixology and cocktails and what drinks he liked. Annabeth popped in and asked something about pop music.

It all came to a head, one night, really, really late, when he and Sam were working on some legislation related to the education bill.

"Ok," Josh noted, tapping his pen. "I'll talk to Santos on Wednesday about some more people in Congress we can tap."

"Right, yeah," Sam said. And then: "Hey, uh, irrevelant, but do you know what time the First Lady's going to be meeting with UNICEF next week?"

"Sam, there are things called shared calendars now," Josh said, rubbing at his chin. God, he was tired. "They're on this other thing called the Internet. I know I'm not exactly thirty anymore, but the Admin Office would probably bother me if I didn't tell you."

"No, I —" Sam looked at him, with a kind of faint grin. "It's not really about — that. I just wanted to know when they were using the Blue Room that day."

Then something fell over his face, and Josh blinked. "Wait. Wait. Wait —"

Sam looked like he was going to panic, but a calm settled over his face almost instantly. "It's nothing."

"It's not — nothing!" Josh said. "Why would you need the Blue Room? Why would you need to know?"

"It's — well, actually, it's a very old and beautiful room, with a long and detailed history —"

"Like you would know the history of rooms in the White House—" Then all the pieces fit together in Josh's head. "It's my birthday next week, isn't it," he said, flat. "Are you guys throwing a party?"

Sam had the gall to look apologetic. "It — we could be? We could stall it if makes you feel better." He grinned, small and a little wicked, but still overwhelmingly sincere.

"Sam," Josh said, sighed. "I — It's fine. I mean now I'll guess I'll have to perfect my 'shocked' expression."

"You never did have a great poker face."

"So," Josh crossed his arms. "You're really throwing a surprise party. With all the works. That — explains a lot, actually about the past few weeks.

"I mean —" Sam leaned back. "We were trying to, you know, be secretive. I guess we'll have to brush up."

"Yeah, no kidding. Seriously, though," Josh met his eyes. "I asked if you were having a party. I didn’t tell you to have a party.”

Then Sam's face got a little sad, in the way that made Josh's chest hurt. "You know, Josh," he said. "You do have people here. I know it's not like — back then, but you do. And they care about you."

"I know that," Josh said, and it came out insistent. He thought of all the debates he'd had with Lou, all the whiskeys he'd shared with Amy, the time Bram had solved the problem with Social Security, the time Edie and Ainsley had found a loophole in some dense legislation that helped them with pushing healthcare legislation. Santos — with his unwavering belief and his sense of humor, more apparent than not. The First Lady, who apparently did have the best poker face. Donna — where could he even start? And Sam —

"So let us do this," Sam said, plantively, meaningfully. "You've had our backs. Eat some cake and pretend to be surprised and pop champagne."

"Champagne?"

Sam nodded. "You're kind of a big deal," he replied, teasing, but kind, and Josh —

Josh knew Sam was kind of amazing, even back when he'd been a dorky twenty-year old at Princeton, but even then, he never failed to take Josh's breath away. It'd been years, and he still could.

What the hell, Josh thought. It was 2011, not 1988 or 1998 or 2002, and he got up. Sam got up, too, probably to say something, but Josh leaned over the desk and kissed him.

Sam didn't kiss back, and Josh panicked for a bit before he did, skimming a thumb on Josh's jaw.

When they pulled apart, he was smiling, close mouthed, but his eyes were sparkling.

"So that happened," Josh said.

"It did."

"It — probably should've happened a while ago."

Sam cocked his head. "I was okay with the wait, Josh."

"Really?"

"Yeah," Sam said. "It makes the present better."

Josh looked at him and then: "Sam, is that supposed to be a pun?'

When Sam's mouth ticked on one side, Josh groaned. "You're — you're so —"

"Yeah?"

Josh blinked at him, saw his grin get wider. Sam looked tired, but so was he. It was — probably morning now, god. And he couldn't bring himself to retort, not while Sam was grinning at him like that.

"Never mind," he muttered, but sat down. When Sam sat down with him, Josh leaned over to hold his hand.

(Everyone but Donna was convinced at Josh's face next week.

"Sam told you, didn't he?"

He shrugged. "Among other things."

Her eyes went wide, before her mouth split in a bright smile. "Other things?"

Josh looked over to where Sam was laughing with Ainsley and Lou with a flute of champagne. He tried not to grin but failed. "Yeah." )

[skyystars]

oc info about all my ethermourne stuff below the cut, if anyones interested! it is. a lot. 

edit: after writing this what the fuck thats so much- if you have any questions about them please dont hesitate to ask but i would not blame you if you took one look at this post and ran HSJDFH there’s like 35 listed and thats still not all of them. zoinks

ethermourne is your typical dnd esque world. theres two kinds of people in the world, commonfolk and enchanted, and enchanted are people that can use various forms of magic. in the current story, a secret underground rebellion is going on against the kingdom, in order to free enchanted and bring justice to the world. theres a million and one characters here so bear w me. all characters belonging to my friends are marked with a *

on the black rock pirate ship,

captain shining - a fierce and protective leader. human. she’d do anything for her crew. commonfolk. damn near unstoppable with a sword. lifelong partner to orion ethermourne

johnathan bramwell - the first mate. human. quiet and reserved but goofy when he opens up. storm mage. lover of the sky- hates being in crowded areas on land. intelligent, loves to read and write letters. eventual boyfriend to nordwood thatch

aspen* (no lastname i dont think?) - boatswain. human. somber and stoic, a bit detached. big on family. half blind. ice mage. acts as a father figure to delphi

calvin - carpenter. old soul. human. does a lot of the heavy lifting for the ship. excellent storyteller. fire mage. usually brings some sort of wisdom or moral to someone on the ship.

nellie - cooper. human. misses her family, but has a heart of gold for the ship. scottish- often times hard to understand. ability to turn invisible. has a crush on tobi

galen* - doctor. timid and polite. wants to help people, will sacrifice his own health and safety to look after someone else. human(?). necromancer. arrived on the ship with enmea and quickly became like a brother to kaido

delphi - gunner. a young girl, easily excitable and a bit of a romantic. human. looks out for the people her age on the ship, acts sisterly to them. able to read a few moments into the future. 

kaido - navigator. young, free spirited, reckless. human. flight and telekinesis. eager to fight or find adventure. causes trouble. protects enmea like a younger sister, and is looked after by galen, who he eventually accepts as an older brother.

enmea* - powder monkey. goblin, steals and bargains with the crew for fun but never means any real harm. witty and sarcastic. illusion and misdirection magic. especially loves to bother bramwell and nordwood with her antics. 

faine* - cook. satyr. loves to be the life of a party. has lived many years and mostly achieved peace but like, loves to dick around. plantaemancer. has a big crush on aspen. 

nordwood percival thatch* - bard. half sun elf. cocky, expensive tastes, confidence, and flirty. magic can summon figures of light/magic to do his bidding/can impact emotions of people in vicinity. hopelessly in love with bramwell.

-

on land,

artemis ethermourne - the king of the empire. sun elf. main antagonist. commonfolk. younger brother of orion and husband to rietta

orion ethermourne - original leader of the rebellion. sun elf. warlock (jack of all trades), considered one of the most powerful of his time. was publicly executed by his brother when caught. left apprentice muriel in charge. partner of shining.

muriel becker* (murr) - aasimar enchanted. missing his halo due to an incident he doesnt mention. wants to become skilled in magic and art. raven symbolism- along with having his own companion raven, keeha. very tired and stressed. secretly dating amaris.

amaris hayles* (mars) - hunter/scout, commonfolk. drow/moon elf. dry humor, but a lot goes over his head. responsible and caring, looks out for much of the rebellion. doesnt talk much. dating muriel.

chevel troubleice - inventor, commonfolk. human. low self esteem but he’s Trying. interested in alchemy and learns more about magic through his teacher, murr.

evercon archer - enchanted rebel scout. wood elf. air magic. considers himself a loner. nomadic, feigns a know-it-all attitude. doesnt like cities. under technical responsibility of amaris. eventually falls for woodrow.

tuka archer - enchanted rebel worker. wood elf. fire mage. responsible for helping safe travel for other through the woods. fur trader. big social personality, loves people and doesnt care too much what anyone thinks of him. brother to evercon and eventual lover to phinehas.

phinehas* - aasimar. i assume hes enchanted but now im actually not... sure....???? omg. anyway he’s soft, kindhearted and a poet. loves to write and is into theater. level headed for the most part. in love with tuka, ex of murr but on good terms!! theyre still friends

woodrow jace andes* - enchanted tiefling bard. extremely sad but makes jokes to cope. sad jokes. the kind that make everyone else uncomfortable. necromancer. lives in a fucking dragon skeleton which is kind of badass. is embarrassingly soft for evercon.

vaughn hayles* - moon elf. idk if he’s enchanted or nah. protector, guardian, soft spoken. looks after a village, family means a lot to him (despite being unmarried). amaris’ dad.

elena bramwell - human, commonfolk, deceased. was small and determined. bram remembers her fondly, and recalls that she enjoyed music and dance, as well as having a talent for making flowercrowns and storytelling. bramwell’s mother. 

tobi* - tavernkeep. commonfolk. he is liddol and irish and knows how to play the banjo. has a massive crush on nellie. i love him dearly

-

on the sundancer pirate ship,

captain sylvan skybridge - enchanted human. light magic. is very tired but patient with his crew. false confidence has kept him going for almost a decade and hes not stopping now. only slightly concerned about... everyone on his ship

paige* - first mate. commonfolk witch, able to just barely cast spells and enchant objects. jack-of-all-trades, cunning, and incredibly clever at problem solving. mothers the crew if anyones in need. has a crush on michael.

michael grey* - doctor. commonfolk? enchanted? we just don’t know. a little disillusioned with reality. can see ghosts and has a small gang that follows him everywhere. sylvan and paige are the only crew members hes vaguely familiar with. has a crush on paige. **note: michael has 4 ghosts that follow him but im not listing them here just yet hh

ashton everett* - gunner. commonfolk human. fearless, exhausted of the shenanigans, genuinely just looking for a hot siren girlfriend and dismantling the monarchy. 

oscar* - boatswain. chaotic, will start a fight- but hes pretty terrible at getting himself out of trouble. needs tucked in at night. inseparable from lew.

lew* - boatswain. calm, collected, used to oscar’s antics. helps take care of the ship, has a turtle. 

rhubarb* - cook. human enchanted. plant powers. just trying to get along with everybody. don’t insult his cooking he’s trying his hardest. probably the oldest on the ship.

waverly* - enchanted human. like a bird selkie, can turn into a raven. spends a lot of her time this way. escaped from a traveling circus and joined the crew to help free others like her. 

cloud* - siren. tried to bring down the sundancers crew to prove herself, failed miserably and ended up liking them all. flirts relentlessly but is god awful at it. 

-

additional notes:

-some of them exist in a modern au, mainly involving bram/nord/mars/murr as a ghost hunting gang who always finds themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time. bram and mars form a brotherly bond over time. in modern au elena is discovered to be alive. vaughn winds up falling in love with her (it is very cute).

-i often draw sylvan and captain ryan of the silent requiem. this pirate ship belongs to my friend sept and is placed in her own world, so none of that crew is mine ;w; most of their shenanigans are in a crossover state where a very sylvan begs ryan to teach him what to do as a captain, and ryan looks after him like a son (though he’d fucken deny it). young syl is far too curious for his own good and gets into trouble a lot. sorry dad

creds: galen, aspen, enmea, faine, nord, murr, mars, tobi, phinehas, woodrow, vaughn, and paige are all characters that belong to my friend bee. michael grey belongs to my friend jake. ashton belongs to my friend rueben.  oscar and lew belong to my friend kenzie. rhubarb belongs to my friend pasta. waverly belongs to my friend cal. cloud belongs to my friend sara.