#deeper into the woods

[not-poignant]

Hi Pia

I was rereading Deeper into the Woods and wanted to ask what ever happened to Cyledr afterwards. Did he ever recover from what Gwyn did to him or did he just die?

Even though he was barely a mentioned character in fae tales, I often think of him.

Hi anon!

Cyledr went mad, and he died mad. He never had any decent quality of life again and he lived kind of as a non-fae until he died.

I'm not sure how he died. He either willed it as soon as he was old enough, or he killed himself. It was an immensely cruel, mind-destroying thing that Gwyn vindictively did to Cyledr, and the thing is, I don't think Gwyn thinks much about Cyledr going forward really. It's just one more thing in his big list of things that he knows make him a not very good person, that he doesn't often lose sleep over.

Fae are kind of like that T.T

[fuannomori]

Haven't posted in years and now posting pics of Molly and reblog Good Omens stuff, that just seems on brand, eh?

[scopophobia-polaris]

i think youre sick and twisted youre sic an twisted you cannot go on here and be like oh monsterfication in hyrule <3 it also happens to the non-humans its not that crazy OH BUT THE GORONS 👀 👀 👀 👀 👀 THE GORONS 👀 👀 👀 and then disappear I'm biting you I'm biting you like fredbear bit that child I'm biting you bithgin you my lawyer will hear from you youre like a little ghost in my ear teasing me about gorons and then I wake up and there's nobody there 💥this is sick n twisted u need to dig your brain just to get the goron lore out I need to stop sending you brainwaves about ganondorf and start sending you brainwaves about the gorns you will hear from me 🫵🫵🫵🫵🫵🫵🫵me when I get you em what I get you me when I get y

OHHHH EZLO WANT A GOOD IDEA???? SOMETIMES THEY START TURNING INTO DODONGOS AND SHit

My best example of this ...IS TIMIE ACTUALLY

[traeumenvonbuechern]

🏴‍☠️ Books To Read If You Love "Our Flag Means Death" 🏴‍☠️

Can't get enough of Our Flag Means Death? Read these books!

Also, check out my list of trans books for OFMD fans here: Trans Books To Read If You Love "Our Flag Means Death"! 🏳️‍⚧️

Book titles:

The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty

Tell No Tales by Sam Maggs and Kendra Wells

The Dawnhounds by Sascha Stronach

The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels by India Holton

The Queer Principles of Kit Webb by Cat Sebastian

In Deeper Waters by F.T. Lukens

Silver in the Wood by Emily Tesh

Til Death Do Us Bard by Rose Black (comes out November 21, 2023)

[sapphire-drawings]

Regarding your swap AU... he's not exactly the most important character around, but what's Wormwood's whole deal? While he's not really a child per se, his naïveté and desire to be friends with anyone and anything kinda come off as childish; what if instead of being friendly and optimistic, he were more reclusive and jaded?

Wormwood is fused with Wx-78 in my Au! So I guess you can say they kind of are reclusive and jaded at times

I like to think the Wx side of them often fights for control while Wormwood is just there chilling and enjoying the company. Maybe when they bloom they miss Wx. idk I don't even own Wormwood to know them a little better. Nor I play with Wx haha

But they exist in the Au and I'll probably come up with a comic idea at some point. It always happens

btw I found a color palette that SCREAMED Wx-Wood in my head so here they are!

[solargeist]

Do you think the first time baby Xel's eyes turned purple he cried cause he spooked himself in the mirror?

Omg I haven’t thought abt that, I don’t think he even knows that his eyes do that

I don’t think there’s any mirrors around for him to see himself, maybe a reflection in the water ?

It would scare him though, he’s not sure why exactly tho, he can only remember bits and pieces of Xelqua’s memories, he gets so sad !!

[scoliosisgoblin]

anyway, here's Jay and Peter au's

based on looks Jay would be Gomez and Peter would be Morticia, though their personalities are switched, sooo

[cat-hesarose]

Someone just pointed out that Hot Fuzz and Night in the Woods have the same plot and now I must sit down

[smilesrobotlover]

Lost for the three sentence prompts?

“You want to know why it’s so easy to get lost in the lost woods?” The skull kid asked solemnly. Rusl titled his head and tightened his hold on her hand.

“Why?”

“The woods aren’t normal, they show you visions; things that aren’t there,” she started, her voice uncharacteristically serious and quiet, “they show you visions of people you lost. You chase them throughout the woods, getting further and further away from reality. Until you get so lost that you can’t bring yourself to try to escape anymore. You lose yourself, doomed to remain a hollow shell of yourself.”

[musicmattersmedia]

Dive into the angelic melodies and profound narratives of Kacey Musgraves' latest album 'Deeper Well' on today's episode of the Music Matters Media podcast. Join us as we unravel the tales woven into each track, we explore Kacey's journey of growth and maturity, and we delve into the spiritual undertones that enrich her music. Tune in for an insightful discussion that promises to deepen your appreciation for this captivating album!

Visit our website: MusicMattersMedia.com All Music Matters Media links: linktr.ee/musicmattersmedia

[not-poignant]

Hi Pia, you said a while back that you might make physical copies of the FT series in the future. Does that mean you'll write a story with/about Gwyn/Augus/Terho to go along with the rest of the published series?

Hi anon,

I don't actually ever plan to write a Gwyn + Augus +Terho story! What I do plan to do is simply have more of that back story in Game Theory.

One of the reasons for that is simply that I hate writing stories with tragic endings (even if it gets a continuation that doesn't), but also that I just don't really believe it's necessary. It would profoundly break with the tone of the rest of the series (even more than the series does already).

The plan was always to just flesh out Game Theory a bit more. For example, instead of meeting Pitch, Gwyn would go and meet Terho. It would still set off the same chain reaction that follows. A couple of sex scenes will get cut (one is OOC - the spanking scene) which gives room for movement there. There's the possibility of showing more of Crielle's and Efnisien's evil, for example, and also of showing more of Augus' destruction. There's definitely places to talk more about what happens between Deeper into the Woods and Game Theory without writing an additional tragic story!

(For those worried, the original version will always stay on AO3 - that was always the plan :) ).

[ryllen]

he who came to Splatville to depend on himself,

adores people who can be resourceful & skillfully depend on themselves for stuff he usually depends on other people (like, fixing stuff)

[mjhartwork]

2,000 year old Protean vessel lid, depicting three Proteans from different stratums of Selhadro. Considering the open mouths pointing towards the lid's handle, it was most likely used to store food. This artifact was dug up, alongside many others, during a mining operation on Lagopus that broke into the remains of a museum.

[krazycat6167]

So @cokowiii made a rise tmnt au called Spirits Reborn and I fell in love with it. Others had been making some really cool art of their ocs/sona in the world and I got thinking. It’s been in my head for some days and slowly evolved into a small Donnie-centric snippet that I will be putting under the cut (along with art of the sona remade for the au). Enjoy :D

~~~

Alright, Donnie’s lost. He’ll admit it. Nothing about this part of the forest is at all familiar. He is positive that he’s never seen that tree before. It’d be hard to forget, the trunk is short and thick with many knobs while the roots look like a tangled mess before they sink into the ground. (Actually, now that Donnie’s really looking at it, he’s not sure about the tree’s species. He had thought it was a type of oak, but now he’s not so sure. Could it be that he has discovered a new tree? Oh, he needs to document all of its characteristics so he can compare them against the trees in his encyclopedia! Oh, it would be so cool if- no wait, task at hand.) 

He’s lost. It’s fine though. The others knew he went to the forest today. Once they notice that he hasn’t returned yet, they’ll know where to search for him. 

He just had to wait in the meantime. 

…And maybe document this tree while he was at it. 

However, even his extensive data collection can only take so much time. Eventually he finds himself sitting on some of the tree's roots and staring at the dirt between his feet. 

It’s evening now. The sun will set and it will be night and he will still be lost. Logically he knows his absence would be only worrying enough for a search by the morning at the earliest. So until then, he’s on his own. In the spirit filled forest. All night. 

He wasn’t panicking. He wasn’t scared. No, no! He was-!

“Would you like some help?”

Donnie let out a (very manly thank you very much) shriek as he scrambles a few steps away from the sudden voice, turns to face it, trips over his own feet in his haste and lands on his butt. 

There, standing amongst the roots, was a spirit (or yokai? Donnie wasn’t too sure where the line was with that) he hadn’t seen before. Their head was made of blue fire with a pair of solid white eyes that stared down at him. They wore a poncho that went past their knees. It had a gradient that went from magenta to orange to a pale yellow on the bottom. They held a wooden staff, topped with a crook, that had an old, kinda mossy lantern attached to the end. The fire inside burned blue as well. In the air around them burned two more blue flames the same size as the one in the lantern. 

“Sorry.” Their eyes scrunch up in apparent apology. “I thought you heard me walk up.” 

Donnie stares dumbly at the spirit (he was going to go with spirit for now) as his heart beats like a marching band percussionist showing off. He placed a hand over his chest and took a deep breath. “I didn’t.” He said in reply to the spirit. “And what did you mean by help?”

“You’re lost.” They walked out from the tree's roots. “I help those who are lost. I can lead you to what you want or what you need.”

The ‘or’ in that statement caught Donnie’s attention. “Wouldn’t those two be the same thing in this situation? I want to get out of this forest and back home. I need to get home or I will die.”

The fire spirit shakes their head. “No, what is wanted and what is needed are not the same. Often, what is needed is more uncomfortable but helps with what is wanted in the long run.”

“Explain that to me.” Oh, that came out more demanding than he had intended. 

The spirit didn’t look offended, thankfully. “Think of it like you’re staying up later than usual to work on a project. You want to work on it because you need the thing. However, you need to sleep. You don’t want to sleep because you’re in the groove of things and stopping in the middle of a groove is hard and annoying. It helps in the long run though, since getting sleep rests your body and mind, resulting in a product that may have taken longer, but is now of higher quality. It just depends on what you feel you need to prioritize at the moment; quality or speed.”

Donnie taps a finger to his chin. “I think I get it? I know what I want, I want to get back, however, what is this thing that I supposedly need?”

The spirit shrugs, “I’m not sure, I just know the paths to take you there.”

“Hm, frustrating. Can you point out the direction my want is in.”

The spirit lifts the hands not holding their staff and points to Donnie’s left, and slightly behind. 

So that’s the way out, but Donnie is curious now. “Okay, okay, and where is my “need”?”

They point to the right, deeper into the forest and away from home. 

Donnie’s tempted. 

Logically, Donnie knows he can’t. He has too many projects, responsibilities, and people relying on him and his work. He can’t drop it all now. He’s busy.

He hesitates. He’s madly curious. His want is to go home, and his “need” leads away from it, but according to the spirit’s analogy, whatever the “need” is, it’s supposed to better the quality of the want. What could possibly be deep in the forest that can increase the quality of home? A deep, yearning part of him wants to find out. To follow the spirit deeper into the foliage to find this thing that’s apparently missing from his home. He knows that if he wasn’t so important to multiple projects, even just one or two projects less, he would give into his curiosity and (surprisingly deep) yearning. 

“As tempted as I am, I need- I have to go back.” 

The spirit nods. “Come along then.” They start walking in the direction of the want they had pointed out earlier. The floating fires seem to playfully dance around each other as they follow. 

Donnie jogs to catch up. The spirit shifts in their path slightly so they are walking side by side. 

After walking for a few minutes in silence, Donnie’s curiosity rises again. “May I ask you a few questions?”

“Certainly, go on ahead.”

“How is it that you know where to lead people but not what you’re leading them to?”

“Simple. I am the spirit of journeys, pathways, the lost. I am the guiding light. I wander the spaces in between the beginning and the destination. I travel the roads and footpaths. I come to those who call or to those who need the help.”

So he was right in his spirit assumption (and now has a few things to look up. Has this spirit guide been told of before? Did they appear in any local folklore or stories?). 

“What’s with the..” Donnie’s gestures to the two flames, one chasing the other as they quickly wind through the air in front of them. “…Fire. Things.”

The spirit laughs. “They’re sprites. They’ve decided I was cool and have tied themselves to me.” She gestures to the two sprites. “They’re called Sparks, Ember,” they then gesture to the fire in the lamp, “and Blaze.”

Donnie stares. “Why is this one contained?”

The spirit chuckles. “They like to feel important. They take turns. Sparks is next. Sometimes I do have to use it for time out, but it rarely comes to that.”

“Huh.”

Another stretch of silence. Donnie watches Sparks and Ember as he turns over the information he’s gotten so far. 

“Has there been anyone who’s want and need where one and the same?”

The spirit hums. “There’s been a lot where they were at the same place, but only only a handful have had it be the same. It’s quite rare.”

Donnie guesses that, at most, there have been five such individuals, seeing as that was how many fingers the spirit had per hand. 

“When you said you were the spirit of the lost, do you just mean physically lost or does that count in the metaphorical sense as well?”

“Sometimes.”

“Sometimes? Why sometimes?”

“It’s hard for someone to be truly so lost metaphorically that I’m needed to help guide them. They usually have some sort of direction or someone in their life who wants to help. Besides, some people who are lost in that way won’t accept any help. Ultimately it’s a choice on their part whether or not they want to be led.”

“So I could leave right now and you wouldn’t stop me?”

“I would warn you of the dangers, point you where you wish to go, but no, I wouldn’t stop you. I can’t help those who don’t wish to be helped.”

The sun has set by now. Their path being illuminated by the light of the spirit and the sprites. Donnie notes that the trees around them have been getting thinner, so definitely getting closer to the forest’s edge. 

Donnie tries not to look too deeply into the foliage. The deep darkness of the space outside the spirit’s light doing nothing to help his classic overthinking tendencies. Anything could be just out of sight. 

Donnie needs a distraction. He clears his throat. “So, uh, would the lost include, like, lost souls? The dead who can’t move on and all that jazz.”

The spirit's eyes crinkle in amusement. “No, I am no reaper. I do not guide the dead.”

“Coooool, cool, cool. So there’s no chance that I’m actually dead and this is a journey towards accepting that and moving on.”

“You are very much alive.”

“Alright, um, if someone had chosen their want or their need and changed their mind, would you guide them to their new choice?”

“Yes. Are you doubting your choice?”

“Oh no!” Donnie is quick to reassure. “No no no noooo no. Not doubting at all, nope. There’s definitely not an inexplicable yearning in my chest to turn around and go deeper into the forest. None at all! Just- was just curious is all.”

The spirit hums in acknowledgment. 

Donnie looks to the side and taps his pointer fingers together. He’s fine, he’s goooood, he’s great even. Definitely told the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. 

Yep. 

…sheesh, how deep into the forest did he wander?

The spirit breaks the silence. “What's your name?”

Ah, they hadn’t done introductions. “I have many names. Othelo Von Ryan, Donatello, Don, Donnie, The Smartest Man Alive, just to list a few.” Donnie says. “And what of yourself?”

“I have been called many things. Wisp, Guide, Wanderer, The Pathwalker, Omen. Call me whatever you like.”

“Were you a good omen or a bad omen?”

“Depends on the people.”

“Right.” Donnie looks ahead. Sparks and Ember chase each other along the ground now instead of in the air. Good news for the forest, nothing is burned in their wake. 

“…Michibiku Hikari.” Donnie says. 

“Hm?” The spirit looks at him. 

He coughs into a fist. “The, uh, name to call you. Michibiku Hikari. It means guiding light. Maybe just Hikari for a nickname.”

The spirit seems to brighten. “Thank you for the name, Donatello. I will treasure it.”

The complete and utter sincerity of the gratitude made Donnie’s face feel hot and his chest near to bursting. He always felt like this when someone truly appreciated his gifts and said so to his face. It’s been a while since he’s felt this though. The high of being honestly appreciated, and just for a name that was a bit on the nose! 

They come to a stop at the tree line. Up ahead a clearing filled with the tents of the temporary base as he and his associates conduct initial surveys of the land. 

“We have arrived where you wanted to go.”

“Amazing.” Donnie whispers. He speaks up and bows to the spirit, “Thank you, Michibiku Hikari, for guiding me home.”

Hikari bows back, “It was my pleasure, Donatello. If you ever want to find what you need, simply call for me. I cannot promise an immediate response, but I will come.”

Thanks given and formalities done, Donnie straightens out, gives one last single nod, and walks to camp. The last Hikari he hears is her softly telling Blaze that it was now Sparks’ turn inside the lantern. 

The night is cold outside of Hikari’s light. Donnie folds his arms tight and speed walks to camp. He looks back once he’s at the edge of the group of tents, but no blue light comes from the forest. 

In his tent, to one side, is a small project he’d been working on. He can feel his hands itching to work on it. 

He goes to bed. In the morning, he pulls out his plant encyclopedia to uncover the species of tree he had found. 

~~~

[spideyhexx]

i loveeee the idea of calling sam by his full name. like “samuel woodbridge (help is that his last name) wtf are you doing”

YEP and we gave him a middle name so it would Samuel Alexis Woodbridge djsnfnsnde you mostly use it as a joke, when you’re feigning annoyance and he both loves it and gets tense for a second every single time

[callmedotseurat]

Bernadette Peters singing Little Red's "I Know Things Now" from Into the Woods at Cameron Mackintosh's Old Friends Stephen Sondheim tribute. (May 2022)