#and ivan...is just martyr

[cloverandstuff]

How the fuck have we reached a point where Till is the most normal character is Alien Stage?

This is a boy who literally smashed his alien guitar on stage. A canonical music genius. A boy who was put through hell.

And he is somehow the most normal person in the cast.

[unhetalia]

any uke america fanfics you want to share with us? 🫶🏽 open to any ship

Sorry for the late reply! I really wanted to give this my best shot and I've had A Time Of It lately. I've tried to rec fics that I don't think have been rec'd as often or have under 500 kudos, just to increase the likelihood people haven't read a certain fic. All fics are complete.

A BOTTOM AMERICA FIC REC FOR THIRSTY, DESPERATE INDIVIDUALS (UKUS and RusAme ver.), a rec list.

If you're a patient soul and know how to read fic on the LJ kink meme, I highly recommend CROATOAN, a 53k story wherein Arthur has to rescue Alfred from the fae - at the end, the only way to protect Alfred is to take his virginity. This story is quite light on the sex in general, but it's a story I've remembered all the way from 2010, when I was first in fandom, and I don't see it recommended as much nowadays. Part 1 / Part 2; UKUS, minor Greece/Japan.

Infinity to One by jedishampoo | UKUS, E, 16k | England and America up the antes on their Halloween contest, and then another situation reaches a critical point as well. Present-day fic.

Precious Thing by alifeasvivid | UKUS, E, 11k, dub-con | The ship on which Alfred F Jones has served as lieutenant for the past two years has just been sunk by pirates. He is the only survivor and now prisoner of Captain Arthur Kirkland, a ruthless pirate who loves only one thing: gold. While Alfred is sure that there hadn't been any amount worth stealing on the ship, Arthur begs to differ.

Norikov's Self-Consistency Principle by Fandoms_Are_Life37 | UKUS, E, 17k | America has found himself in the year 1600 and face to face with England on his privateering vessel. Now what?

All You Can Eat by gummycola | UKUS, E, 2.6k | Arthur's jealous rage at Francis for taking a nibble out of Alfred is dissipating after their fight. Alfred has a problem with that. Third in the Vampire Arthur series.

Coupling, Parting by gummycola | UKUS, E, 3.4k | Prince Alfred is unhappy with his fiance, but not enough to resist a picnic and a chance to be alone with him.

Always. Somehow. by kujocujoh | UKUS, E, 9.1k | A storm forces America and England to share a hotel room. But America has planned this for years.

Weighing Pride Between Scales by DemonicPiano | UKUS, E, 26k | King Alfred's new Queen is a monster in both the streets and the sheets.

The Shape of Seconds by anon | UKUS, E | Kink meme fill, morning sex between England and America.

It's Called 'Special' by Myathewolfeh | UKUS, E, 4.3k | A jealous France decides to find out what makes England and America's relationship so special and gets a pleasant surprise.

Walking Distance by Orestiad | UKUS, E, 11k | Demon Arthur and soulmates and sex.

To Get Something Done, First You Need The Urge by anon | UKUS, E | “Okay… what’s this gonna do to me?” “Permanently? Nothing. In the short term? You may feel somewhat tired.” He smirked slightly. “But I would hope that is normally how you feel after I’ve had my way with you.”

Under the cut is Russia/America.

Ricochet by Spinyfruit | Russia/America/China, E, 9.8k | “You’re going to do this with a guy?” Matthew hisses. “Are you even attracted to men?”

if i die tonight, they'd make me a martyr by membersmark (johnllauren) | Russia/America, E, 7.6k | “You know what I’m here for,” Alfred forces himself to maintain eye contact with Ivan, to act like he has even a semblance of higher ground in this situation.

Hunger by vanceypants | Russia/America, E, 6.4k | After his sister is chosen as the annual sacrifice to the God of Winter and Death, Alfred decides he knows better than the High Priestess, their society at large, and the gods themselves.

Winter Wonderland by Vixenfur | Russia/America, E, 10k | Breaking my rule for this story, which has 760 kudos - Alfred crash lands near a remote cabin in Russia and meets the man of his dreams.

Quicksilver by TheGoliathBeetle | Russia/America, M, 22k | Alfred whimpered, desperate. Ivan had him pinned, holding his hands up and out of the way. But he was also not touching Alfred in any way that mattered. “Don’t be a goddamn tease,” he whined. “C’mon, man.” 

Keeping Warm by anon | Russia/America, E | Hetalia kink meme prompt. Alfred reached up when Ivan passed over him, throwing his arms around him and pulling him down so that he could inhale him. “Mmmm,” he hummed, “you smell so good.”

Totally God's Will and Shit by anon | Russia/America, E | Conference shenanigans - crack fic.

desperate measures by membersmark (johnllauren) | Russia/America, E, 10k | America misses a meeting he was supposed to be hosting. Russia investigates. Omegaverse.

[sadokasochism]

I am destroyed over the whole god/worshipper dynamic and have no idea how to adequately put it into words.

I mentioned in another post that Mizi could not fathom Sua ACTUALLY dying, or comprehend what death really meant, and attributed this to her relatively comfortable and sheltered life as the pet of Shine. She was not taught to conceptualise death as a loss, and she never faced any opposition to that world view. From what we know, she might have never really known true, lasting pain or loss before the end of Round 1.

However, her reaction could also be due to her placing Sua on a pedestal as her personal god and universe. She viewed Sua as her absolute everything, and why would any faithful worshipper believe their god could be killed? Only, while Sua was everything to HER, that perception did not carry over to their captors. Mizi's love and devotion was not enough to save Sua. Forces stronger than them both took her away like she was nothing.

How must Mizi have felt, having her perception of Sua as the centre of the universe shattered that way? Coming to the violent realisation that Sua was just another human, and that humans are indeed that vulnerable and disposable? That Sua could now only exist in memories and in the visions that haunt her? That Sua is not a god, but a ghost?

Now we look at Till's perception of Mizi. Again, in an earlier post I mentioned the tragedy of Till falling for someone who did not have a reason to leave. He had a lot of blind faith in Mizi, and it could be said that he idealised her as a paragon.

It's not hard to see how he reached this point. The poor kid had not been shown a lot of kindness in his life, and so meeting someone who was genuinely good and so full of joy must have had a huge impact on him.

However, his faith is still a blind one, but in a different way to Mizi's blind faith in Sua. He is happy to endure any amount of horrible treatment and does not expect anyone to help him. He doesn't resent Mizi for being so close to their captors, for her dreams stopping at Alien Stage. He doesn't resent her after he gives up on his chance at freedom and is subjected to who knows how many more years of pain and torment at the hands of their captors (Not that Mizi is at fault, Till made his own decision that Mizi likely never even knew about).

He sees Mizi's innocence and ignorance to the cruelty of their reality as something wonderful instead of a character flaw that prevents her from saving herself or her loved ones.

Sua has the same issue, seeking comfort and bliss within Mizi's brightness instead of acknowledging the cruel reality of their world. Maybe she felt sharing her perspective with Mizi would dim Mizi's bright spirit, and so she was more than content to wait out the clock with her god.

Maybe Sua felt that meeting Mizi, loving her and being loved by her in return, was nothing short of a miracle after the life she had lived before Anakt Garden. Maybe she felt in light of that, aspiring for something like freedom or a long, long life of happiness with the person she loved the most was asking far too much. The time she got with Mizi was already a miracle, why expect or demand anything more?

If Sua was afraid of Mizi losing her brightness, no wonder she was so affected by Ivan's lecture about becoming a source of trauma for Mizi after her death.

Ivan's view of Till as his god is a bit different. He is similar in that he doesnt seem to demand his devotion be reciprocated, he just wants his god to acknowledge him as a person, as someone that is at least PART of Till's universe, if he can't be all of it.

He is also very willing to become a martyr for his god while expecting nothing in return but Till continuing to live. He acknowledges Till as vulnerable and falable in a way that Till doesn't with Mizi, and Mizi didn't with Sua. He knows damn well that while Till is the centre of HIS universe, their captors certainly do not hold Till in that same regard. He knows that love and devotion in a vacuum does not save anyone.

Which is why he was always the one to free Till, to try and escape with him, and why he pulled the stunt he did in Round 6. Ivan knew that actually making an impact in this world required personal risk and sacrifice, because their captors don't give a fuck if you're in love or if that other pet-human they're about to kill means everything to you.

Till knew this too, but his idealised version of Mizi is too perfect to be broken and beaten down by this world the same way the rest of them have been. So he's still shattered by Round 5, seeing how far Mizi has fallen and then not knowing if she's alive or dead, but knowing for sure she is far out of reach. I wonder, did he regret not running away with Ivan at that point? Did he wonder what all those years of suffering were for, if he was just going to end up losing Mizi anyway? If this world was able to break her too, no matter what he did?

Mizi is gone and changed forever, and nothing he did could stop it. His love and devotion and sacrifice wasn't enough. He failed his god.

In Round 6, Ivan is faced with the same thing. His god has lost his fighting spirit, is changed forever, and Ivan's love and devotion wasn't enough to save him. The last thing he can give is his life, and hope that will be enough. Just like Sua. But he was never Till's god, was never even part of his universe, he probably won't even leave a ghost behind. So, the choice is obvious, really.

They're all so desperate for hope and connection in this lonely, painful existence that they make a person their entire universe, and then are repeatedly crushed when they are shown again and again that their soul-consuming love for one another is seemingly meaningless in a world that views them as infinitely disposable.

[gaysie]

Do you have any book recs. Trying to read something that isn't rereading trc again

help i’m also known for rereading trc far more times than i should butttt if you haven’t done intermezzo by sally rooney i would highly recommend if you like declan and ronan’s relationship in trc, peter and ivan are very similar and that book is soooo lovely. all of sally rooney’s catalogue i reread often bc her prose soothes me and i love it. my other top favorite author is emily st. john mandel- absolutely LOVE her prose and all her novels but my favorites are station eleven and the glass hotel (that’s where my blog title comes from)

other than that:

sardonic-ish lit fic:

the idiot by elif batuman - made me laugh out loud multiple times LOVE her dry narration

milk fed by melissa broder - if you’re sensitive to reading about eating disorders be careful but this one hit me tooooo hard i was like crying at work. but it was also funny

all fours by miranda july - another funny and witty one. honor of making me slightly understand piss kinks

other off the top of my head

martyr! by kaveh akbar- wonderful poetic prose and really good

good girl by aria aber - another novel by a poet and wonderfulll prose. did drag a bit

tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow by gabrielle zevin - LOVEEEEE this one SO MUCH. if you like markwardo it’s like a similar relationship and i love love the characters and really smart exploration of how communication struggles in class differences and disability and also it made me cry both times i read it

penance by eliza clark - if you have been a tumblr user at any point i feel like this is a must read

the haunting of hill house by shirley jackson - another one of my all time favorites, just such a perfect horror novel

giovanni’s room by james baldwin - i know it’s classic but i only read it a year ago and god just spectacular

[not-too-many-eyes]

Unexplainable Tragedies

(Also Known as: Reverse is a story about the apocalypse)

I always found the concept of The Storm fascinating. When I started playing Reverse I messaged a friend saying that I was really upset that I didn't think of it first since the concept of it is so interesting. A storm of time that (usually) brings the world back in time. It's such a compelling concept for a time travel story.

As a result, I've done a lot of thinking about it and it's place in the game's narrative. So, I have now decided to write this post so that I may articulate my opinions and feelings when it comes to it.

So, with that out of the way:

The Foundational Blocks of Society

Reverse depicts a world in which society is never safe. It's a world where at a single drop of rain the entire world as we know it can be destroyed and reverted back to a "backwards" version of it. Nothing is sacred because nothing ever stays minus a few pockets of the world that were lucky enough to be safe from it.

The Headquarters of St. Pavlov Foundation exists in of those pockets and it has existed even before The Storm. As a result it's a bastion of Pre-Storm Society. They are Worldwide and seek unite humans and arcanists so that they may return the world to it's "normal state" the one they used to exist in before. The one before all this tragedy occurred.

This, on it's surface, is an altruistic venture. But, considering the name of this place comes from Ivan Pavlov. The one who discovered Classical Conditioning. I think the intentions of these people should be questioned, just a tad.

The Foundation have consistently shown themselves as comprised of bad actors and feuding parties. Bigotry runs deeply in the Foundation's...foundations. Their modus operandi for "recruiting" Arcanists is to find the youngest ones who are disenfranchised and "teach" them what is proper in SPDM. Where they are taught the Foundation's ideology. That:

(Chapter 4 Part 2: Frog and Toffee)

Sonetto: We are born to die Martyrs

Later on, Matilda remarks that she was almost refused from the school because she's too old.

(Chapter 4 Part 10: O' Captain)

Matilda: My name is Matilda Bouanich! I am the most senior transfer student in the school- in fact, I was too senior to be taken in, if nor for that special approval. That is to say. I remember the outside world a lot more than you do...

She remembers things that she shouldn't.

Outside of this. Arcanists from the outside world who know the Foundation are critical of them. A lot of the ones we've seen like Regulus and Kakania don't want anything to do with them, and the ones inside have...mixed feelings on them as a whole.

Ms. Mossian: Although the Foundation is well-known for their effective ways of teaching, they always overlooked each student's character and personality. Hmm… I find their teaching philosophy difficult to comment on.

Even Sonetto and Mesmer Jr, some of the most ardent members of the Foundation have Undoubtedly been negatively affected by them. With Sonetto always wanting for freedom, and Mesmer Jr having and being on the verge of a mental breakdown every second of the day.

The world The Foundation creates isn't a just one. But this was Always part of it's institution. It's premise of wanting to unite humans and arcanists has Always had the asterisk that says "as long as we humans rule"

(Revival! The Uluru Games, Part 10: Let's Play House)

Spathodea: Make life better? Get out! You think I never saw the ad of Laplace? Spathodea: "Guide arcanum with science, tame the orderless power with sense." That's what you tell the people!

This isn't a new change. It wants to return the world to how it was before, and the world of 1999 doesn't seem to have been in the hands of arcanists.

They justify themselves, say that arcanists are inherently more emotional and that's why they Must exist. Without them the world would be out of control.

But, frankly, this is a bold fucking thing to say from a Institution who's vice president has beef with a teenager.

Humans cannot claim to be reasonable compared to the "irrational" arcanists when so much of this game showcases human irrationality. Even before the Storm people were competing to make it big in the stock market. Even before the Storm people burned witches and panicked in the streets over Y2K.

As much as arcanists perceive and understand the world differently, any existing evidence in perception or emotion sensitivity is greatly exaggerated to fit the narrative that The Foundation (that Humans) Must Exist to control them.

Greta Hofmann says it best in this chapter.

(Chapter 6 Part 15: With Hope Rekindled)

Hofmann: We have all heard it, humans are more rational and arcanists are more emotional. Hofmann: Their sensitive to the darkness of the world, so they can easily become absorbed in their own emotions and ignore reality Hofmann: But, if we put a human child in the position of an arcanist, who always takes on the world because of his uniqueness, who is never understood for his talents... Hoffmann: Maybe he too will become impulsive, sensitive immature and unstable Hoffmann: And that's why it sometimes dwans on me that if we put an arcanist child in the position of a human being who receives enough love, education, and positive feedback... Hoffmann: These 'instabilities' might be controllable. At least enough to keep them from hurting themselves or others.

This the world the Foundation wants to return to,the one unaffected by the changes that The Storm brought. The one where humans and arcanists were together but we all knew who was Really in charge.

"This the true path to the future!" They say. "We just need to return to the past. The beautiful past that was taken away from us!"

However, The Foundation isn't the only organization in this game.

The Rapture.

The Manus Vindictae are the arcanist parallel to The Foundation. A group of arcanists dedicated to arcanist supremacy in the same way The Foundation is dedicated to human supremacy. They believe that the Storm is actually a cleansing of impurity. Eliminating the bad habits of that era.

The also believe in The Guiding One/Arcana, and that arcanists are the ones Chosen to lead the world into a brighter era and leave this world of humans behind. The chosen ones of the new civilization that will bring everything to a new era of peace, they just need to go far back enough in time until:

(Chapter 1, Part 14: The Eye of The Storm)

Vertin: Which past do you want to return to? Fifty years ago? A century ago? Or... Forget Me Not: The past with the right order, of course

Of course this is rather...unethical, to say the least. However, this is not unique to the Manus in the slightest.

Again, The Foundation wants to return to the past before the Storm, and Matilda was almost refused from the school for the crime of being older than they would have liked her to be.

As the arks of the Foundation become more filled, less people are allowed to enter, and a lot are refused entry due to similar unethical reasoning,

(Chapter 4, Part 18: Road of a Puppy)

Sonetto: Schneider...a friend we met in Chicago Sonetto: She once chose to join The Foundation under the pressure of both the "Storm" and Manus Vindictae. Sonetto: But instead of offering any solution or help, you just gave her a rejection letter. Sonetto: I found this letter in her suit pocket. Sonetto: It had a small line written on it, "Paupers fuck off" (...) Sonetto: I do not understand...why there was such wording on it. Sonetto: Was it because she did not pay enough "shelter fee" to qualify for sheltering? Sonetto: Or was it because the wand she used was transformed by arcanum, which made you think she was an arcanist?

Really, the Manus are just more "honest" about their intentions. There's not much to discuss when there so open about it.

Still, there's a sort of, religious leaning to the way the Manus and it's affiliates talk. The idea that it's a trial, the idea that this is salvation, the idea that they are the ones chosen.

When the Y2K bug was something people were panicking about there was an expectation for it to be an Apocalyptic Event. Religious groups and similar organizations were all about being the ones chosen.

What the Manus exhbits here is it's own form of rationalization, which is funny considering how much they insistent that rational is a human thing.

If a tragedy occurs, then it's a tragedy in the favor of your organization. You will be rid of a world where cruel things happen and be brought up to one where your holiness will be confirmed and you will be happy forever as everyone who has ever committed evil rots below you.

It's a joke to think The Storm cares though.

The Pre/Post-Apocalypse

Something I've been leaving out about The Storm until now is that we do know Why it starts.

It starts due to:

Vertin: Community conflicts, turbulent history, new technology...all of these may lead to the "Storm."

Y2K, The Great Depression, World War 1. All important moments where time reversed, and all events that caused fear, panic and instability in the world.

Y2K isn't even disastrous, nothing actually apocalyptic Happened at the turn of the millennium. But it was such a terrifying concept it made the world go backwards before it could continue. We never see the after of these events, only the start. The panic is enough for a Storm to be caused.

It's a joke to think the Storm cares because the Storm isn't a person. It's an event, a tragedy, a change in the world. A moment in time that consumes anything that's within it's radius. Trying to explain it through something inherent is silly. Arcanists may be able to see through it but they still get consumed by it all the same.

You can formulate theories, maybe even pin down exactly what caused it, but that doesn't change what it did. The characters have been living in the moments before an apocalypse and the moments after one for ages now. You can't bring the world back to how it was before because that world simply doesn't exist anymore.

The Manus may accelerate it but really if it wasn't them it was going to be someone else. You can't keep everything in static normalcy forever. Especially a normal that's so cruel to people. Eventually someone is going to say that this sucks and try to change it, for good or for ill.

But, the beautiful past where nothing was wrong also Doesn't Exist. It's a fiction. But it's one that's easier to believe in than the future full of tragedy and suffering.

(Chapter 6, Part 20: War and Peace)

Isolde: Heads full of holes! Heads covered in shrapnel! Empty Stomachs! Even the ghosts of little children...I can see them all! Cities bombed to the ground, and trains full of people headed straight to death! Isolde: It is coming! IT IS COMING! By then, the guts hanging from the trees will be more vibrant than spring flowers. There will be bullets, helmets, gauze! Hahaha! Isolde: We have no future, doctor!

Everyone in Reverse is marked by that existential terror in a way. That the world is ending, that the world is going to end, that the world has already ended and they just have to pick up the pieces. That nothing really matters because nothing is permanent and nothing can be truly understood.

The Foundation and The Manus believe that:

Sonetto: As the instructors have told us, to live is to lose things around us until the day we lose life itself to death. That's why we should only focus on the supreme missions.

And, if they are right, if to live is to lose things around us. What Should we do? Do we do as they say and focus only on things larger than us? Survive the Storm by detaching ourselves from the world around us?

...

I'll let the end of Chapter 2 present my counter-argument for me.

[eliosvniverses]

Reading log #5

May 2025

GIF by thecabinsixwitch

No Spoilers.

Books are in order of when I read them.

⭐-Favorite Reads of the Month

#1 Perfume by Patrick Süskind

4/5. Absolutely INSANE but written beautifully...

#2 Bonjour Tristesse by Françoise Sagan⭐

5/5. The perfect book to get ready for summer!!

#3 Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

2/5. This was extremely triggering for me, I don't know why I thought I would be okay reading it. I think maybe if I'm in a better space in a few years I may reread.

#4 Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins

5/5. I cried multiple times. This completely took up my brain for at least a few days...

#5 Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar⭐⭐⭐

5/5. This book has my whole heart.

#6 Strawberry Spring by Stephen King

3/5. I didn't have any connection with this; I was just on a short story reading spree haha.

#7 The Black Cat by Edgar Allan Poe

4/5. I liked this one a lot.

#8 Fantastic Mr Fox by Ronald Dahl

3/5. I love the movie and decided I should read this while on vacation. It was a nice read.

#9 Nana Vol 1-21 by Ai Yazawa

4/5. It wasn't amazing but I fell so deeply in love with the characters and the drama... Couldn't stop reading!!

#10 Bunny by Mona Awad

4/5. This book was crazy but so fun to read.

#11 Gibbet Hill by Bram Stoker

3/5. Another short story I enjoyed. Did not really fall in love with it.

#12 The Devoted Friend by Oscar Wilde

3/5. This is actually my least favorite by Wilde so far, I liked the concepts and theming for his other stories more.

#13 A Lodging for the Night by Robert Louis Stevenson

3/5. I think I need to reread this one...

#14 The Death of Ivan Ilych by Leo Tolstoy

4/5. I honestly enjoyed this a lot more than I was expecting.

#15 Circe by Madeline Miller

4/5. I have a lot of mixed feelings about this. I did really like the ending though, so it left off with a good feeling.

#16 Summer by Edith Wharton

2/5. This was not at all what I was expecting.

#17 The Red Shoes by Hans Christian Anderson

4/5. I've always loved this story, I enjoyed reading this.

#18 Paradise Kiss vol 1-5 by Ai Yazawa

2/5. I fell in love with the characters but right as I was getting into the story it was being wrapped up.

#19 Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop by Hwang Bo-Reum

4/5. I think this book is perfect for overthinkers. Opened so many ideas for me and inspired me to focus more on what I want to do.

These are just my opinions and how much I enjoyed each piece; it does not mean one work is better than another.

[eruverse]

Inspired by the (4 or 5) Russian old movies I’ve watched but I think Ivan must be a dramatic person. He’s capable of saying one thing but in 26283782 different sentences and they tend to be poetic/prosaic, BUT he says all of these in a really TIRED martyred way like I’ve seen it 1000 times before so I really am not surprised. He doesn’t yell often, he rarely gets heated, you would rarely see his vulnerable moments during their rawest times bc he would rather khs but you can feel as if you had just kicked a puppy and disappointed your Grandpa both

[cobra-creampuff]

My Whumptober 2023 Fills Masterlist

Day 1: Our Love Is God, Ed/Izzy + Swooning Izzy was the Other Woman (in need of rescue and/or threatening) first. Rated M.

Day 2: things above the ground, Richie & The Losers + Delirium [the one where Richie gets sick and hallucinates Pennywise]

Day 3: Kill Shelter, Izzy & The Crew + Solitary Confinement (Not) Hornigold used to use solitary confinement for punishment. But Ed's not like Hornigold. They're so different, in fact, you could even say they're opposites. Rated E.

Day 5: my lamb and martyr (this will be over soon), Ed/Izzy + Pinned Down Izzy gives Edward another piece of himself. At request. Rated M.

Day 6: At Capacity, Ed/Izzy(/Frenchie) + Made to Watch Blackbeard calls Frenchie into his cabin while he's... doing stuff to Izzy. It's a test. There's no right answer. Rated E.

Day 7: it won't cost much, Izzy & The Crew + Radio Silence [the one where Izzy goes psychologically mute]

Day 9: Plan to Entangle, Frenchie/Izzy + "You're a liar." When the crew insists despite Ed's violent protestations that love is real - Izzy's love, in particular - he demands that one of them make the ultimate sacrifice to prove it. Rated E.

Day 12: another kind of love, Ed/Izzy + Insomnia Ed wakes up from the nightmare in Stede's arms. He knows in reality it's just his own sweat, but he feels like he still has Izzy's blood on his hands, dripping down his face where Izzy in the dream had touched him for the last time. Rated T.

Day 13: Just A Word (I Heard), Ed & Izzy + "I don't feel so good." Ed and Izzy have a talk the morning after their night in pink. Rated T.

Day 15: A Lot to Unpack, Izzy & The Crew + "I'm fine." The crew finally get a chance to Talk It Through, like Izzy wanted. Sort of. Rated T.

Day 17: [untitled], Jamie/Cheryl Barnaby + Touch Aversion [the one where Cheryl wins Jamie in the charity auction when he's just come back to Richmond; on his "date" with her he gets nervous and upset and traumadumps on her, and she backs off and comforts him and has a grown-up kink and consent sex ed 2.0 talk with him. He feels so much better he wants to be intimate, so they hook up. She tells him he can brag, which he does to everyone else's chagrin.]

Day 18: where we begin and end, Ed/Stede/Izzy + Blindfold [the one where Ed and Stede blindfold Izzy and pretend he can't tell which one of them is touching him, because Ed is insecure about treating Izzy nicely] Rated E.

Day 20: hold me fast, Izzy & The Crew + Found Family The grey area is gone. After this, Izzy is one of them. Rated T.

Day 21: [untitled], Ed/Izzy + "Don't move." [the one where Ed does verbal bondage dub con apology body worship on Izzy instead of just saying sorry like a normal person] Rated E.

Day 25: The Changing Water, Ed & The Crew + Storm [the one where they hit a storm and have no choice but to have Ed steer even though it makes everyone very upset] Rated T.

Day 26: don't start counting, Roy/Jamie + Working to Exhaustion [the one where Roy overworks Jamie as a negotiated non-sexual BDSM punishment, that turns sexual during aftercare] Rated E.

Day 27: Light The Candle, Stede/Izzy + Scars When Stede accidentally spills candlewax on Izzy, his first pirating lesson becomes a kink lesson instead. Rated E.

Day 28: ghostin', Izzy & Ivan + "You'll have to go through me." While tending to his amputation wounds, Ivan warns Izzy that he and some of the other crew members brought over to the Revenge from the Queen Anne are planning a mutiny and invites him to join them. Izzy refuses, as Ivan knew he would. But he had to offer. Rated T.

Day 29: that four letter word, Roy/Jamie + "What happened to me?" Jamie doesn't want to be the first to say it out loud. He asks Roy to say it for him. Rated T.

Day 30: Foreshadow, Roy/Jamie + Bridal Carry Cartrick is too intimidated to tell Rupert no. Rated T.

Day 31: [untitled], Jamie & Isaac + "Take it easy." [the one where Jamie tries to get one of Isaac's legendary haircuts, but has a panic attack instead] Rated T.

Alternate #2: some place where there isn't any trouble, Jamie & AFC Richmond + Aftermath of Failure When AFC Richmond is in Manchester to play United, Jamie Tartt turns up at their hotel looking like a puppy left in the rain. Rated T.

Alternate #3: Final Round, Jamie & James + Brass Knuckles Jamie doesn't just fight back this time. He wins. Rated M.

Alternate #9: Tusk, Ed/Izzy + Drugging [the one where Izzy does rhino horn with Ed out of desperation to spend some time with him and it gives him a headache] Rated T.

Alternate #11: [untitled], Roy/Jamie + Panic [the one where Roy has Phoebe at the club because she's out of school for behavior and he yells at her and makes a sudden movement towards her in front of the lads. Jamie says "Don't do that," and Roy stops but tries to say Phoebe's fine with it until she bursts into tears. He immediately apologizes to her, frantically, mentioning what Jamie said about grabbing for her. She 'corrects' him, saying Jamie actually told him not to yell at her. He agrees of course, apologizes again, gives her a big hug, promises he won't anymore. Then he notices that Jamie is having a time of it, with his whole head stuck into his cubby. He sends Phoebe off to see the other coaches to 'decide on his punishment for upsetting her' and then asks Jamie if he owes him an apology too. Jamie insists Roy didn't do anything to him. Roy insists he does; he hurt Phoebe's feelings yelling at her, and he scared Jamie making that sudden move. He comes closer to apologize, touches Jamie's shoulder very lightly, and Jamie jumps hard enough to hit his head on the cubby. He curls his arms around his head, still in the cubby, but Roy slowly manages to pull him out, saying "Let me see." He tells Jamie he's sorry and gives him a big hug too.]

Alternate #12: Among Thieves, Lucius/Izzy(/Ed/Pete) + Broken When Ed tries to ask Izzy if he still loves him but chickens out and asks if he still belongs to him instead, Izzy gets understandably pissed and suggests to Lucius that since pushing Ed overboard didn't make him feel better he should try stealing from him. Specifically, he should take something Ed hasn't properly appreciated having. Like Izzy. Rated E.

Alternate #13: American Spelling, Roy/Jamie(/Keeley) + Miscommunication [the one where Roy wrongfully assumes Jamie has a daddy kink]

Alternate #15: The Nines, Ed & Izzy & Jim + Reluctant Whumper [the one that's a split scene of Hornigold making Ed whip Izzy in the past + Ed making Izzy whip Jim during the Kraken era] Rated M.

View the Full Collection on AO3 -> (Collection includes bookmarks of Whumptober fics by others that I recommend!)

[gegengestalt]

Katerina Ivanovna Verkhotseva! (For the ask game thingy)

2. Favorite canon thing about this character?

5. What's the first song that comes to mind when you think about them?

7. What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you like?

8. What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you despise?

12. What's a headcanon you have for this character?

14. Assign a fashion aesthetic to this character.

25. What was your first impression of this character? How about now?

(You don’t have to answer all of these if you don’t want to, however I love your takes on her and am dying to hear you talk about her more.)

Oooh, finally! Someone sends me something related to the ask game! And about one of my favourite girls, too!

2. Favorite canon thing about this character?

If I had to choose just one, it would be how explosive she can be. I love it so much when things don't go her way and she goes from being so doting to resorting to insults and almost throwing hands. This is not simply the rage of a young woman who shows her true colours when she doesn't have what she wants, she really, really seems to be convinced that things are going her way... And then reality hits her.

5. What's the first song that comes to mind when you think about them?

Oh, Katya Ivanovna, you would have loved Me and My Husband by Mitski. Somehow I imagine the lyrics being about her and Mitya at first, but as the song goes on she's actually talking about Ivan.

7. What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you like?

I don't feel like Katya is talked about much in general, and I can say so confidently after navigating as much TBK related content on the internet as I could. So I don't really know what to say. When she gets attention, I specially love it when her God/saviour/martyr complex is adressed and appreciated. She is a little weird.

8. What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you despise?

Tough question, since there is a lot I dislike about how female characters are treated by readers in general (as well as narratives). I'm going to try to be original and say something I haven't said before. I don't really like it when the girls are pitted against each other, like you have to choose one of them or think one is better than the other. I think a lot of the animosity between her and Grusha come from struggles with themselves and their fears and insecurities, and I feel sympathetic towards both of them, both young women who want to feel some control over their lives. So it breaks my heart a little when other people who prefer Grusha put down Katya and viceversa.

12. What's a headcanon you have for this character?

This is half headcanon half character reading, but knowing that she lost her mother at a young age and that there is a theme of absent mothers throughout the book, I like to think that the loss of her mother impacted how she turned out and why she seems to take on some motherlike, overbearing tendencies herself.

14. Assign a fashion aesthetic to this character.

Hmmm, I don't know how I'm supposed to answer to this, but I associate her with elegant, long clothing in green, blue and white, sometimes with gold accessories. Combined with the light brown hair of my design, it gives her a springlike kind of look.

In The Sims, I gave her a preppy, simple look with light colours. Here she is, I don't know why she's loooking at squids on her phone.

25. What was your first impression of this character? How about now?

Katya was a character who had to grow on me. On my first read, I didn't like her much, but I didn't dislike her either. She was, in fact, one of the harder characters to visualize. I had to make several sketches of her designs because all I could think of was "tall slender girl with dark eyes and a lot of hair". Only after processing what I had read for a longer time I started to pick apart everything she said and started to appreciate her more (and started to appreciate her relationship to Ivan as well). In retrospective, the buildup to her introduction was great. It's not as good as Nastasya's, but it's the work of a good writer. I love Katya, saviour complex and all.

[art-that-fucks-you-up-tournament]

ROUND TWO

Text form and links under read more

Just a reminder, these are one day polls!

SET 1

MATCH ONE: Lament for Icarus vs Untitled (the angel came to me in a fever hallucination, perched upon my bed as I returned from the bathroom)

MATCH TWO: Figures vs Hubble Deep Field

MATCH THREE: Bath Curtain vs Une Martyre

MATCH FOUR: Can't Help Myself vs Rape

SET 2

MATCH ONE: A Walk at Dusk vs Diary Page

MATCH TWO: Dead of Night vs Christina's World

MATCH THREE: Untitled (I’m Turning Into A Specter Before Your Very Eyes And I’m Going To Haunt You) vs Lustmord

MATCH FOUR: Untitiled (Zdzisław Beksi��ski) vs The Fallen Angel

SET 3

MATCH ONE: Device to Root Out Evil vs Fifty Days at Iliam: The Fire That Consumes All Before It

MATCH TWO: Exotic Bodies vs Doubting Thomas

MATCH THREE: Somebody Fell From Aloft vs Anguish

MATCH FOUR: Cat in Obsolete Bath vs Salvator Mundi (Saviour of the World)

SET 4

MATCH ONE: Symphony of the Sixth Blast Furnace vs Tarpaulin

MATCH TWO: Khajuraho Group of Monuments vs ปราสาทสัจธรรม (The Sanctuary of Truth)

MATCH THREE: The Weather vs The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit

MATCH FOUR: Statue of Vincent and Theo van Gogh vs Judith Slaying Holofernes

SET 5

MATCH ONE: Cueva de las Manos (Cave of Hands) vs Chauvet Cave Bear

MATCH TWO: Winged Victory of Samothrace vs Crouching Aphrodite

MATCH THREE: Kūya-Shonin vs Arena #7 (Bears)

MATCH FOUR: Enbu (炎舞) (Dancing in the Flames) vs Belfast to Byzantium

SET 6

MATCH ONE: The Kama Sutra of Vatsyayan vs Nighthawks

MATCH TWO: Electric Fan (Feel it Motherfuckers): Only Unclaimed Item from the Stephen Earabino Estate vs Forgotten Dreams

MATCH THREE: Pixeles (a group of 9 works) vs War Pieta

MATCH FOUR: Ajax and Cassandra vs Nāve (Death)

SET 7

MATCH ONE: Meeting on the Turret Stair vs Stańczyk

MATCH TWO: Closeness Lines Over Time vs The Maple Trees at Mama, the Tekona Shrine and Tsugihashi Bridge

MATCH THREE: Survival Series: In a Dream You Saw a Way vs The Kitchen Table Series

MATCH FOUR: In the Grip of Winter vs NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt

SET 8

MATCH ONE: Blue Plate Special vs Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba

MATCH TWO: Susanna and the Elders, Restored - X-Ray vs Moby Dick

MATCH THREE: how to look at art vs St. Sebastian

MATCH FOUR: Carroña vs The Dog

SET 9

MATCH ONE: David vs The Other Side

MATCH TWO: Starry Night vs Headress - Shadae

MATCH THREE: Woman with Dead Child (Frau mit totem Kind) vs Siroče na majčinom grobu (Orphan on Mother's Grave)

MATCH FOUR: Fighting Against SARS Memorial Architectural Scene (弘揚抗疫精神建築景觀) vs The Hull

SET 10

MATCH ONE: Worship vs Wheatfield with Crows

MATCH TWO: Study after Velázquez's Portrait of Pope Innocent X vs The Tragedy

MATCH THREE: Judith and the Head of Holofernes vs oh god i had a really big epiphany about love and personhood but i’m too drunk for words

MATCH FOUR: I am happy because everyone loves me vs Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan

SET 11

MATCH ONE: Water-Lilies, Reflection of a Weeping Willow vs The Grief of the Pasha

MATCH TWO: Passion vs Two Earthlings

MATCH THREE: Seer Bonnets vs Clytemnestra after the Murder

MATCH FOUR: “Untitled” (Perfect Lovers)/The Lovers (TIE) vs Kedai Ubat Jenun

SET 12

MATCH ONE: The Apotheosis of War vs Mouth

MATCH TWO: The Icebergs vs Maman

MATCH THREE: The Book of Kells Folio 188r: Luke carpet page vs Dome of the Rock mosaics

MATCH FOUR: Rowan Leaves and Hole vs Le Désespéré (The Desperate Man)

SET 13

MATCH ONE: Deimos vs Prudence

MATCH TWO: Siberian Ice Maiden shoulder tattoo vs Transi de René de Chalon (Cadaver Tomb of René of Chalon)

MATCH THREE: The Day vs Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban জাতীয় সংসদ ভবন (National Parliament House)

MATCH FOUR: Juventud de Baco (Bacchus Youth) vs Oath of the Horattii closeup

SET 14

MATCH ONE: St. Francis vs Thunder Raining Poison

MATCH TWO: Among the Waves vs Sagrada Família stained-glass windows

MATCH THREE: Noonday Heat vs Gielda Plakatu

MATCH FOUR: The Garden of Earthly Delights vs Kuoleman puutarha (The Garden of Death)

SET 15

MATCH ONE: da oracle vs Panel from Fun Home

MATCH TWO: La Mort de Marat (The Death of Marat) vs Düsseldorf 4 (Museum Kunst Palast)

MATCH THREE: Capriccio vs José y Maria

MATCH FOUR: Lágrimas De Sangre (Tears of Blood) vs Boy Staring at an Apparition

SET 16

MATCH ONE: The Gran Hotel Ciudad de México Art Nouveau interior vs Unfinished Painting

MATCH TWO: Memorial to a Marriage vs A Few Small Nips

MATCH THREE: Saturn Devouring His Son vs Lamentation over the Dead Christ

MATCH FOUR: Little Girl Looking Downstairs at Christmas Party vs Agnus

ROUND 3

SET 1

MATCH ONE: Lament for Icarus vs Hubble Deep Field

MATCH TWO: Bath Curtain vs Can't Help Myself

SET 2

MATCH ONE: Diary Page vs Dead of Night

MATCH TWO: Untitled (I’m Turning Into A Specter Before Your Very Eyes And I’m Going To Haunt You) vs Untitled (Zdzisław Beksiński)

SET 3

MATCH ONE: Fifty Days at Iliam: The Fire That Consumes All Before It vs Doubting Thomas

MATCH TWO: Anguish vs Salvator Mundi (Saviour of the World)

SET 4

MATCH ONE: Symphony of the Sixth Blast Furnace vs Khajuraho Group of Monuments

MATCH TWO: The Weather vs Judith Slaying Holofernes

SET 5

MATCH ONE: Cueva de las Manos (Cave of Hands) vs Winged Victory of Samothrace

MATCH TWO: Arena #7 (Bears) vs Belfast to Byzantium

SET 6

MATCH ONE: Nighthawks vs Electric Fan (Feel it Motherfuckers): Only Unclaimed Item from the Stephen Earabino Estate

MATCH TWO: Pixeles (a group of 9 works) vs Nāve (Death)

SET 7

MATCH ONE: Stańczyk vs Closeness Lines Over Time

MATCH TWO: The Kitchen Table Series vs NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt

SET 8

MATCH ONE: Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba vs Susanna and the Elders, Restored - X-Ray

MATCH TWO: how to look at art vs Carroña

SET 9

MATCH ONE: The Other Side vs Starry Night

MATCH TWO: Woman with Dead Child (Frau mit totem Kind) vs The Hull

SET 10

MATCH ONE: Wheatfield with Crows vs Study after Velázquez's Portrait of Pope Innocent X

MATCH TWO: oh god i had a really big epiphany about love and personhood but i’m too drunk for words vs Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan

SET 11

MATCH ONE: The Grief of the Pasha vs Two Earthlings

MATCH TWO: Clytemnestra after the Murder vs "Untitled" (Perfect Lovers) and The Lovers

SET 12

MATCH ONE: Mouth vs Maman

MATCH TWO: Dome of the Rock mosaics vs Le Désespéré (The Desperate Man)

SET 13

MATCH ONE: Deimos vs Siberian Ice Maiden shoulder tattoo

MATCH TWO: The Day vs Juventud de Baco (Bacchus Youth)

SET 14

MATCH ONE: Thunder Raining Poison vs Sagrada Família stained-glass windows

MATCH TWO: Noonday Heat vs Kuoleman puutarha (The Garden of Death)

SET 15

MATCH ONE: Panel from Fun Home vs Düsseldorf 4 (Museum Kunst Palast)

MATCH TWO: José y Maria vs Lágrimas De Sangre (Tears of Blood)

SET 16

MATCH ONE: Unfinished Painting vs Memorial to a Marriage

MATCH TWO: Saturn Devouring His Son vs Agnus

[achillesisnotcomingdown]

Hey do you have a favourite painting(or multiple)?

It was tough to choose but I've made a quick list of some of my favourites !

Gare Saint-Lazare (Claude Monet)

Not to sound cliché but I love trains. Train stations are always a symbol of joy to me, and I also really love impressionism.

Ik this art movement is mostly known for the marine/floral paintings, but I love urbain impressionist ; it's such a beautiful way to see daily life.

Ivan Aivazovsky

I can't pick just one of his paintings to love more than the others. Like above, a theme that I love (sea) in an impressionist style...

Aivazosky has been my favourite painter for years. I find so much love in his depictions of the sea. Even in the ship wrecking storms, there is such tenderness.

(the right one has been my phone wallpaper for the last months)

It's tough to choose only one painting from Jacques Louis David, but I'll go with La mort de Marat (death of Marat)

Context : Marat was not only a close friend of David, but also an active member of the Jacobins (political club during the french revolution), which got him assassinated.

David took inspiration from religious iconographies (la pièta, descent from the cross...)(the wound is inaccurately placed, to resemble the Christ's). The unified black background (the pic here is cropped) and the lack of details makes it clear : the painting is about Marat, there is nothing that could take your attention off him.

David treats his portrait like a historic/religious painting (the most "noble" genre), and helps the figure of Marat to become a martyr of freedom in the popular opinion.

Also I saw this one irl eheh that was so cool

Gli Addii (Goodbyes)(Umberto Boccioni)

Oh, look, another train station...

I (like everyone of my generation) have not known the steam engines that Boccioni represents, and yet this painting feels so familiar. To me it represents very well the noises, the agitation, and the overwhelming nature of train stations.

And the figure(s) (in the grey smoke-like areas) reminds me of all the goodbyes I've said on the platforms.

Black Square (Kazimir Malevich)

This is the only one on this list that I don't love for its aesthetic, but its artistic context. I tried to write a brief summary but it was one screen long... So I might just make a whole post for that TT

Also Malevich said "The square is not a square but the feeling of the absence of the object" which is SO COOL

[orthodoxydaily]

Saints&Reading: Tuesday,

may 15_may 28

THE SLAIN CROWN PRINCE DEMETRIUS OF MOSCOW (1591)

Born October 19, 1582 and was the son of Ivan IV Vasilyevich, more commonly known as Ivan Grozny or Ivan the Terrible.

Ivan was succeeded by his much less capable son, Feodor, upon his death in 1584. According to some, the new Tsar Feodor was not only feeble in body, but also in mind. This meant that Feodor was a ruler only in name, and that real power was in the regency council that was established to guide the Tsar. One of the most prominent figures of the council was Boris Godunov, the Tsar’s brother-in-law.

Feodor and his wife, Irina, did not produce an heir, and, according to one popular account, BorisGodunov was hoping to occupy the Russian throne once Feodor died. In order to achieve this, Boris Godunov would have to have to get rid of the last of Ivan’s sons, Dmitri.

In the year that Ivan died, Dmitri, his mother, and his uncles were exiled to Uglich, the Tsarevich’s appanage city.

Wanting to get rid of the rightful heir to the Russian throne, Boris Godunov began to act against the prince as against a personal enemy. At first he tried to slander the young heir to the throne, spreading false rumors about his alleged illegitimate birth. Then he issued a new invention that if Demetrius had inherited his father's harshness Sovereign. As these actions have not brought the desired, the insidious Boris decided to destroy the prince.

An attempt to poison Demetrius was not a success: the deadly potion did not harm the child. Then the villains decided to hide the crime. In Saturday May 15, 1591, the young prince Demetrius walked in the yard with his nurse. The killers, Osip Magi, Danilo Bitiagovsky and Nikita Katchalov, brutally stabbed prince.

Prince Dimitri was buried in Uglich, in the palace church of the Transfiguration of the Lord. Many miracles and healings began to be made at his tomb, especially often healed the sick eyes. A July 3, 1606 the holy relics of martyr Tsarevich Dimitri were found incorrupt.

Source:

After numerous miracles of healing from the holy relics, three feastdays for the Tsarevich Demetrius were established during this same year of 1606, his birthday (October 19), his murder (May 15), and the transfer of his relics to Moscow (June 3).

Source: Russian Orthodox Cathedral of St John the Baptist

SAINT ACHILLES, BISHOP OF LARISSA (330)

Saint Achilles, Bishop of Larissa, lived during the fourth century, during the reign of Saint Constantine the Great. Glorified for his holiness of life and erudition, he was made Bishop of Larissa in Thessaly.

Saint Achilles participated in the First Ecumenical Council, where he boldly denounced the heretic Arius. In his city he strove to promote Christianity, destroyed idolatrous pagan temples, and he built and adorned churches.

Saint Achilles had the gift of healing sickness, especially demonic possession, and he worked many miracles. The saint died peacefully in about the year 330. His relics have remained in Prespa, in today's Republic of Macedonia, since 978.

ACTS 10:21-33

21 Then Peter went down to the men who had been sent to him from Cornelius, and said, "Yes, I am he whom you seek. For what reason have you come?" 22 And they said, "Cornelius the centurion, a just man, one who fears God and has a good reputation among all the nation of the Jews, was divinely instructed by a holy angel to summon you to his house, and to hear words from you." 23 Then he invited them in and lodged them. On the next day Peter went away with them, and some brethren from Joppa accompanied him. 24 And the following day they entered Caesarea. Now Cornelius was waiting for them, and had called together his relatives and close friends. 25 As Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him and fell down at his feet and worshiped him. 26 But Peter lifted him up, saying, "Stand up; I myself am also a man." 27 And as he talked with him, he went in and found many who had come together. 28 Then he said to them, "You know how unlawful it is for a Jewish man to keep company with or go to one of another nation. But God has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean. 29 Therefore I came without objection as soon as I was sent for. I ask, then, for what reason have you sent for me? 30 So Cornelius said, "Four days ago I was fasting until this hour; and at the ninth hour I prayed in my house, and behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing, 31 and said, 'Cornelius, your prayer has been heard, and your alms are remembered in the sight of God. 32 'Send therefore to Joppa and call Simon here, whose surname is Peter. He is lodging in the house of Simon, a tanner, by the sea. When he comes, he will speak to you.' 33 So I sent to you immediately, and you have done well to come. Now therefore, we are all present before God, to hear all the things commanded you by God.

JOHN 7:1-13

1 After these things Jesus walked in Galilee; for He did not want to walk in Judea, because the Jews sought to kill Him. 2 Now the Jews' Feast of Tabernacles was at hand. 3 His brothers therefore said to Him, "Depart from here and go into Judea, that Your disciples also may see the works that You are doing. 4 For no one does anything in secret while he himself seeks to be known openly. If You do these things, show Yourself to the world. 5 For even His brothers did not believe in Him. 6 Then Jesus said to them, "My time has not yet come, but your time is always ready. 7 The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it that its works are evil. 8 You go up to this feast. I am not yet going up to this feast, for My time has not yet fully come. 9 When He had said these things to them, He remained in Galilee. 10 But when His brothers had gone up, then He also went up to the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret. 11 Then the Jews sought Him at the feast, and said, "Where is He?" 12 And there was much complaining among the people concerning Him. Some said, "He is good"; others said, "No, on the contrary, He deceives the people." 13 However, no one spoke openly of Him for fear of the Jews.

[bittersweetresilience]

songs from my playlist kitty section would listen to

ROSE LAVILLANT

arch enemy – reason to believe

You are more than they'll ever know Like sand through your fingers Don't let your life slip away This prison of glass can't hold you back no more Self hatred I know it well, it's dragging you down Listen to me now There's a reason to believe again There's a reason to go on

starting strong with a female screamer, clean vocals, power ballad. rose is an inspiration

august burns red – float

We all move like spirits in the wind We've been stripped of what used to be within If everyone had more soul Maybe we would have more control We're the ones to blame if everything stays the same Stays the same Where's the fire, the desire An inherent right to stand up and fight

she sees metal as empowerment. she and juleka would listen to this band together

LUKA COUFFAINE

polyphia – chimera

he is a guitarist next question. math rock and technical death metal would be his home

animals as leaders – red miso

he loves picking apart instrumental tracks and experimenting with rhythmic and tonal variations. he loves when each member of a band has their own unique flavor and contribution

JULEKA COUFFAINE

dream theater – panic attack

Why do I feel so numb Is it something to do with where I come from Should this be fight, or flight I don't know why I'm constantly so uptight

one of the most impressive basslines in progressive metal and self explanatory subject matter. juleka uses music to express her emotions

la dispute – king park

i don't have anything to say for this one. heavy content warnings.

IVAN BRUEL

slaughter to prevail – bratva

russian deathcore, guttural vocals, and powerful drums. what's not clicking here

slipknot – psychosocial

Sinking in, getting smaller again I'm done, it has begun I'm not the only one And the rain will kill us all Throw ourselves against the wall But no one else can see The preservation of the martyr in me

stoneheart moment for real. do you see this guy's shirt and the poster he was holding in révolution

ADRIEN AGRESTE

avenged sevenfold – the stage

Who is the crowd that peers through the cage As we perform here upon the stage? Tell me a lie in a beautiful way I believe in answers just not today Hope my wheels don't abandon me now Seeing that I'm out here alone I'm running out of fight And the wind speaks a comforting voice Guiding me to her arms Mother, I'm alright

luka showed him this song to ease him into the genre. adrien isn't sure how he feels about it but he definitely feels something

oceans ate alaska – hansha

Detached from everything that lives and breathes Emotions just words on a screen So fabricated is the life we lead So fabricated is the life we lead Side by side You'll watch the whole world pass you by

another fantastic introductory piece. he's really getting into it now

MARINETTE DUPAIN-CHENG

as i lay dying – my own grave

I thought I was an architect, but I was just moving dirt Stacking mud over malice covered up, forming nothing but a pile of hurt I hadn't been building The time was spent digging Boring the barriers that kept others away The deeper the walls, the less anyone could hear me fall So now I know there is no one else to blame

a bonus for all fellow season finale enjoyers. this girl wore skulls on her prom dress

(playlist masterpost)

[merearly]

This fiction is in remembrance of Alexei Navalny, the martyr.

Heaven On Earth

A bone-chilling wind pulled him back to reality. Alexei realized he was not in heaven but had woken up from a doze due to the cold. After prolonged sleep deprivation, his health was even more miserable than vegetables under freezing rain. He remembered that his most recent memory was of passing out unknowingly a few hours ago, while his cellmate was still struggling with his uncontrollable vocal cords. He tried to sleep on the cold, hard pillow, even though it made every vertebra in his neck painfully aware.

He began to observe his surroundings and realized he was on a vehicle. Where else could I go? he thought, nothing but from one purgatory to another. Was this his trial? Like Khodorkovsky, who spent ten years in prison, changing his perception of time. And what about himself? Had he changed anything... He was no longer afraid of the cold; he no longer needed sleep. The image of Khodorkovsky, a round-headed, sharp-nosed Jew sitting on the train, leaning over to him, saying, "This is not the end of the fight, but the beginning of the real struggle.”

Then Alexei remembered a New Year's Eve many years ago, when he was grabbed and spent the night in jail, surviving on thick socks passed in by a friend, before being dragged to court the next day. These horrific experiences were not unfamiliar to him, just the cold. He had returned from Germany after being poisoned, underwear poisoned, doused in green antiseptic – these trials were like the scars on a knight's face, the medals of valor for the brave, and his armor.

"Oh, today is Christmas." Alexei suddenly realized, hoping this wouldn't mean his team would have to work overtime during the holiday. He laughed to himself, remembering the summer he was transferred to IK-6, how his team panicked when they suddenly lost track of him.

What was the point of it all, what meaning did it all have? he asked himself again. The Slavs lived under the yoke of the Mongols for many years, under the reign of Ivan the Terrible and Stalin for many more years. If there was any difference between the present and history, it could be summed up in a joke: Nicholas I was Genghis Khan with a telegraph, Stalin was Genghis Khan with a telephone... There was never any difference, always anachronistic, always a failure. He certainly wouldn't dream "what if" dreams like a cowardly daydreamer: What if Yeltsin wasn't a damned drunk, what if Putin had fallen early in the metals case, what if the winds of freedom had swept the world. Building happiness in illusions is easy, but that wasn't his mission. The tsar tried hard not to crucify him with his own hands, and for this reason, martyrdom became his fate.

Cold, still cold. Moderate cold makes the mind clear, but excessive cold blurs the line between reality and delusion. He saw his tall friend, the eternal 55-year-old playboy, his soul floating in his prison cell, existing in a form of gas and consciousness. "My dear, I won't be able to attend your funeral, alas! Dear Sakharov Prize laureate... I was actually pondering your future, it's quite simple really, either like me or like Khodorkovsky." Nemtsov waved his hand, "You'll be joining me soon!"

"No, I must find the third way, someone has to finish it."

"I no longer care, ideals only attract the living. Sakharov, ah, Sakharov, I met Boris Yeltsin at Sakharov's funeral, he told someone he wanted a son, to pass on his name Boris. I told someone, I'm also Boris, he's missing a son, and I lacked a father, I felt a father-son bond in my relationship with Yeltsin. You see how much I cared back then. Now, much has changed, but not for the better, fortunately I'm already dead, I don't care anymore, the dead have no principles or mercy."

"Do you know what I'm most afraid of?" Navalny propped up his emaciated head with one hand, like a starved kangaroo. The ghost of Nemtsov raised an eyebrow, waiting for him to continue. "I'm afraid that one day I'll drink gin, numbly watching Putin's propaganda on TV, then shed regretful tears. Then I'd truly become a pitiable and despised beast." Tears rolled in his green eyes.

The ghost of Nemtsov wanted to embrace him but couldn't, he could only try to press his head close to him, "You won't, you won't. Do you know why? Because you're alive, you have humor, you are active thought itself, you are a new story, but they are just imitating the old czarist executioners; you are the story waiting to be told, while they are the forbidden words."

Suddenly, his illusion shattered. A prison guard grabbed his leg, dragging him off the prison van, pulling him along a dim concrete path, and locked him in IK-3, at this point Navalny did not know he would spend his last less than two months of life here. He was still prepared to repeat the request rejected by the previous prison; he wanted a balalaika, he wanted to tell his cellmates he was a black belt in taekwondo, it would be great to have a kangaroo, but in this minus 32-degree environment, he wasn't sure if that counted as animal abuse.

Alexei Navalny, he wasn't good-looking at all, the close set of his eyes, casting shadows in their sockets, made him seem more villainous, but anyway, it was all over, he had left the tsar's cruel Earthly heaven for the real Heaven. Peter Aven once wrote of Berezovsky's life: A man's life story cannot be great without tragedy. This also applied to Navalny's life.

It was an ordinary afternoon at first, the president sitting in front of the crowd with a microphone; the political prisoner walking near the Arctic Circle in winter, then he felt heart-piercing pain, he knocked on Nemtsov's door once again.

And this time, Boris opened the door.

[inaaontheskyways]

Since all my OCs come from different corners of the Spiral and are of varying mythological beings, I decided to compile a list of both their origins and occupations!

(Sidenote: some details about certain worlds! Those in purple belong or were reimagined by me, those in green are just canon worlds renamed by me, and those in red belong to @prince-of-khrysalis and @brewbellwizardry!)

Caelum: Eva (Filipina-Palestinian-Calé/angel; astralmancy/Eden caretaker)

Lemuria:

Kalpana (Nepali/cthulhi; spatiomancy/avatar)

David (Jewish American/lich; chronomancy/conman)

Milagro (Dominican/sylph; thaumaturgy/hoop aerialist)

Heroica:

Vontae (Black American; physical, hero trainee)

Iina (Navajo; mental, fashion major)

Airam (Nicaraguan-American; almighty, freelance hacker)

Binna (Korean-American/A.I.; reality/idol)

Melanie (White American/virus; reality/villain sidekick)

Kamiyah (Black-Ecuadorian; disempowered, street racer)

Empyrea:

Eranuhi (Armenian Lom/pixie; solarmancy/Miracle Mitch's assistant)

İnayət (Azerbaijani/pig; divination/keytarist)

Shushana (Georgian Jewish/alphoi; lunarmancy/singer)

Grizzleheim:

K'ila (Greenlandic Inuit/snow angel; thaumaturgy/martyr)

Greko (Finnish/näkki; privateer/Ironclaws leader)

Cedine (Afro Norwegian; musketeer, Wolf ranger)

Othi (Swedish Romani; swashbuckler, Splithoofs fighter)

Sarai (Danish Jewish; buccaneer, wanderer)

Darkmoor:

Sevastjan (Estonian/werewolf; solarmancy/W.C. Forces guardsman)

Vidas (Lithuanian, vampire bat; thief)

Līga (Latvian/gargoyle; chronomancy/bounty hunter)

Greeta (Estonian; necromancy, Rickoyoto student)

Polaris:

Prokhor (Russian; divination, Ravenwood student)

Hadria (French Algerian, arctic hare; La Révolution lieutenant)

Théane (Monégasque/matagot; conjuration/bartender)

Hilol (Uzbek, courtesan)

Nima (Buryat, half-polar bear; cigarette boy)

Gamassa:

Priscila (Cuban/avialtri; umbramancy/researcher)

Jacinto (Afro Venezuelan/changeling; conjuration/Arcana student)

Roshan (Iranian, half-bunny; ex maiden-in-training)

Yuuto (Japanese/cambion; mysticism/hitman)

Karamelle:

Goldie (Austrian Jewish; conjuration, Ravenwood student)

Elise (Papuan/gnome; theurgy/figure skater)

Aulia (Indonesian, half-raccoon; housespouse)

Rayner (German Turk/elf; lunarmancy/doctor)

Avalon:

Vaino (Welsh Romani; pyromancy, Ravenwood student)

Carmel (Welsh Jewish; necromancy, alchemist)

Meriful (Scottish Romani/anthusiai; necromancy/druid)

Darina (Afro Irish, half-deer; budding writer)

Marleybone:

Sestiva (Irish; necromancy, Ravenwood student)

Zakhi (Afro Scottish; buccaneer, Shatterhands tank)

Trainet (Scottish Romani, mouse; Quarrel Mob moll)

Wysteria:

Bisera (Bulgarian Turk; thaumaturgy, assitant librarian)

Peritz (Jewish Canadian; theurgy, Pigswick student)

Monquista:

Zãne (Basque/aidegatxo; divination/smuggler)

Yeniel (Afro Spanish/anjana; theurgy/healer)

Jamilla (Portuguese Jewish/anjana; mysticism/astrologist)

Cosme (Spanish; stellarmancy, aristocrat)

Wizard City:

Tiena (English Romani; lunarmancy/handyman)

Alura (Black Canadian; conjuration/W.C. Forces artificer)

Epimetej (Bosnian/half-draconian; pyromancy/Ravenwood student)

Coloratura:

Ithal (Irish Romani; sorcery, W.C. Forces knight)

Cherie (Haitian/elf; spatiomancy/concubine)

Zulekha (Lebanese/ghost; chronomancy/ex-concubine)

Kinna (Welsh; pyromancy, head priestess)

Dragonspyre:

Ivan (Serbian; necromancy, Dragonhorn Order knight)

Uana (Romanian; divination, Storm Department major)

Yakov (Bulgarian Jewish; thaumaturgy, Chivalric Forces trainee)

Mateja (Slovenian; pyromancy, Dragonhorn Order knight)

Qendräk (Albanian Ashkali; conjuration, Myth Department major)

Eldra (Croatian Romani; theurgy, Life Department major)

Andrej (Macedonian; sorcery, Balance Department major)

Vitalia:

Ariele (Italian Jewish‐Tunisian/half-guinea pig; dualism/Shatterhands bag-boy)

Lereia (Italian Jewish-Tunisian, porcelain doll; hitch-hiker)

Luretta (Sicilian Moroccan, half-unicorn; Resistance spy)

Valente (Genovese, unicorn; Armada soldier)

Aquila:

Titania (Greek; privateer, Shatterhands 2nd-in-command)

Zinon (Greek/elf; mysticism/wanderer)

Spisene (Greek Romani; divination, Arcadia student)

Taysa (Afro Greek/asteriai; stellarmancy/Arcadia student)

Mirage:

Yousef (Saudi/vampire; thaumaturgy/House of Tabbi captain)

Wafae (Afro-Omani/avialtri; spatiomancy/wanderer)

Ku-aya (Iraqi/udug; umbramancy/Silenus' ward)

Krokotopia:

Meresamun (Nubian; chronomancy, Temple of Balance priestess)

Kreianos (Nubian/half-krok; pyromancy/Medjai commander)

Fibruniyah (Copt/undine; divination/ferrywoman)

Wagguten (Berber; sorcery, Temple of Balance trainee)

Zafaria:

Resego (Tswanan; necromancy, Arcanum researcher)

Umklomelo (Zulu/tikoloshe; necromancy/blacksmith)

Mooshu:

Dechen (Tibetan; theurgy, Ravenwood student)

Choua (Hmong; mysticism, Shatterhands witch)

Nengmei (Chinese/huli jing; pyromancy/bride-to-be)

Zayaa (Mongolian/frog; thaumaturgy/Shangri Baa apprentice)

Rajah:

Fulki (Santhal/guhyaka; conjuration/princess)

Zeenat (Pakistani/genie; miraclism/Fulki's contractor)

Yago:

Luntian (Bisayan/kataw; lunarmancy/babylan)

Liwliwa (Iloco/diwata; stellarmancy/loner)

Wallaru: Jiemba (Wiradjuri/mimih; solarmancy/Didgeri dragon caretaker)

Celestia:

Aroha (Maori/ice construct; thaumaturgy/Ravenwood student)

Fielea (Tongan/swan maiden; astralmancy/Eight Legs agent)

Mikaere (Maori/lunari; spatiomancy/bodyguard)

Skull Island:

Julien (White Caribbean; swashbuckler, Shatterhands captain)

Haydée (Puerto Rican/elf; sorcery/Gravulum Order researcher)

Aviarios:

Daniel (Jewish American; underground fighter)

Lázaro (Cuban-American/cagueiro; lunarmancy/private eye)

Audélia (Jewish American, half-canary; tabloid reporter)

Tiara (Japanese-Chumash, ladybug; aspiring starlet)

Cool Ranch:

Otaktay (Lakota; musketeer, Shatterhands sniper)

Jewel (Black American, half ball-tailed cat; magician)

Basilio (Mexican, coyote; sheriff)

Heyra (Mexican/duende; solarmancy/amateur monstrologist)

Coatlán:

Tlacelel (Nahua/nagual; chronomancy/bounty hunter)

Nayeli (Zapotec/cactus dryad; sorcery/photomancer)

Melodioso:

Odalis (Panamanian/myrmeki; theurgy/bride)

Yasmin (Brazilian/boiúna; sorcery/mercenary)

Painé (Chilean/carbunclo; astralmancy/bard)

El Dorado:

Raymundo (Colombian/solari; solarmancy/prince)

Yadira (Colombian/stellari; stellarmancy/princess)

Khrysalis:

Nona (Assyrian/pyros; stellarmancy/shadow hunter)

Isidora (Guatemalan/squirrel; conjuration/war messenger)

Shay (Irish Jewish/sea slug; pyromancy/code breaker)

InvictaMane: Kem (English Romani/incubus; theurgist/court jester)