#except the Vikings shirt

[laughingsapphic-creates]

God I don't think I've posted art online since I was active on deviantart

I wanna draw some dpxdc comics so I wanted to get used to drawing my boy

[undying-love]

Paul describing John: A compilation

"I knew nothing about him except that he looked pretty cool. He had long sideboards and greased back hair and everything."

"I’d seen him around a couple of times, because I realised later what it was, my bus route, he would take that bus, but he would be going to see his mum who lived kind of in my area. And then he’d take the bus back up to his Auntie Mimi’s. So I’d seen him a couple of times and thought, ‘Wow, you know, he’s an interesting looking guy.’ And then I once also saw him in a queue for fish and chips and I said, ‘Oh, that’s that guy off the bus’. I’m talking to myself, in my mind I thought, ‘I saw that guy off the bus, oh he’s pretty cool looking. Yeah, you know, he’s a cool guy.’

"I remember John looking... we used to think that John looked pretty cool. He was a bit older than us and he would do a little more greased back hair than we were allowed… so John was quite groovy. He looked like a Ted then - he had a drape. He had nice big sideburns."

"There was a guy up on the platform with curly, blondish hair, wearing a chequered shirt-looking pretty good and quite fashionable - singing a song that I loved: the Del-Vikings ‘Come Go With Me’."

"I know how I saw John. He was just a ted, on the bus – greasy hair, long sideburns, shuffling around like he was Mr Hard. And I saw him on the top deck of the bus often, before I met him. Saw him in the queue at a chip shop once. And I thought, “He looks cool.” Turned out my best friend from school knew him. We went and met. I happened to know this song, ‘Twenty Flight Rock’. John admired that."

"Up on the stage there were a few lads around, and there was one particular guy at the front with a checked shirt, sort of blondish kind of hair... a little bit curly, sideboards, looking pretty cool. [...] He was playing Come Go With Me."

"This Ted would get on the bus. I wouldn't stare at him too hard in case he hit me."

“I just thought, ‘Well, he looks good, he’s singing well and he seems like a great lead singer to me.’ Of course he had his glasses off, so he looked really suave…He was really the only outstanding member, all the rest kind of slipped away.”

"My memory of meeting John for the first time is very clear. … I can still see John now - checked shirt, slightly curly hair [...] I remember thinking, ‘He looks good - I wouldn’t mind being in a group with him.’ … Then, as you all know, he asked me to join the group, and so we began our trip together. We wrote our first songs together, we grew up together and we lived our lives together. And when we’d do it together, something special would happen. There’d be that little magic spark. I still remember his beery old breath when I first met him that day. But I soon came to love that beery old breath. And I loved John."

[wordsbyrian]

Bad Days and Zoo Trips - HarderssonKid!R x Niamh and Jessie

Summary: sometimes all it takes to make a bad day a little bit better is going to see your favorite animals at the zoo. (the request was more hardersson x kid!r)

A/N: who wants to guess how many different ideas this started as before it landed on this?

You are having a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.

It all started this morning when Morsa told you that you had to go to nursery because your babysitter got sick and they couldn’t take you to practice because they had grown up things to do afterwards. Then when you were getting dressed Momma wouldn’t let you wear your Barcelona jersey with Moster Frido’s name on the back (because it's dirty) so you have to settle for wearing one of Tante Simone’s Hammarby shirt’s.

The terrible horrible no goodness continues at breakfast when you have to eat pancakes instead of waffles because there are none. And Morsa doesn’t even put any fruit in it like normally does when you have waffles.

You cry the whole way to nursery, where things do not get any better.

When you get there, a little boy that you don’t recognize is sitting in your normal spot on the rug and Miss makes you sit somewhere else when you ask him to move.

That little boy, Zac, continues to make your day worse at every possible turn.

After the rug incident, he takes the last seat at the lego table even though your friend Jamie had been saving it for you. When your class goes outside, he refuses to let you play football and then when the teachers make him, he keeps shoving you over. But, of course, Miss only notices when you shove him back and so you get put in timeout.

When you get back inside, after naptime, Miss tells the class a story about Vikings from Sweden, and the day improves for all of about 2 minutes when she lets you tell everyone about the Viking museum you went to the last time you visited Stockholm. But it goes sour again when Zac keeps cutting you off and even says that girls weren’t allowed to be vikings, which is just completely untrue.

That unfortunately, is your breaking point and before you even realize it, you’re across the room shoving the boy over. And just as quickly, Miss has grabbed you around the waist and is hauling you over to the timeout stool.

After 5 minutes, she comes back and brings you over to say sorry to Zac, except you don’t. Instead you start a rant in Swedish about Vikings, and well both your refusal to apologize and the Swedish (something you’ve been warned about in the past) land you back in the timeout where you stay for the rest of the day.

You’re not sure how long it really is but it feels like forever before the sound of two familiar voices have you turning around to face the rest of the classroom.

You only need to catch a glimpse of them before you're off the stool and barrelling towards them at fool speed barely dodging the other kids who are still waiting to get picked up.

“Jessie, Niamh,” you all but shout, slamming directly into the Englishwoman's legs, “Why are you here? Where’s my Momma and Morsa?”

Before either of the athletes have a chance to answer, Miss speaks instead.

“Y/N, I know you’re very excited to see your friends but that’s no excuse for running or shouting indoors.”

“Sorry, Miss.” Even to your own ears you don’t sound very sorry. “I’m going to get my things.”

You dart back off across the classroom, only slowing down slightly when Miss calls out after you.

It takes you less than a minute to grab your things and come back, immediately shoving your jumper and backpack into Niamh’s hands.

“No way, kid, we’re under strict instructions to make sure that you wear this,” the defender says.

“No thank you, bye Miss,” you say, taking Jessie’s hand and leading her out of the classroom and the building.

You can hear Niamh laughing as she follows behind, still holding your jumper, and complaining about it, until Jessie eventually stops you halfway down the block.

“Y/N/N, I know you don’t want to but you really need to wear your sweater,” the Canadian says.

“No thank you.”

That earns you a hard stare from the older girl, “I wasn’t really asking you.”

“No.”

“Yes, Y/N.”

With the two of you locked in a very intense stare down, Niamh takes the opportunity to take you by surprise, forcing the jumper over your head. She manages to get it down past your shoulders, making it so you can do nothing but whine as you struggle to get your arms free and through the appropriate holes.

“Not fair,” you say with a stomp of your foot and the slightest pout, once you manage to free yourself.

“Isn’t it crazy how life is rarely fair,” Niamh asks sarcastically. “But since it isn’t fair, I guess that means that you don’t want to come to the zoo with Jessie and I?”

Wide-eyed you look over at the Canadian, who just nods at you very seriously before speaking, “Niamh and I would just have to go by ourselves and it won’t be as much fun without our favorite little girl there to tell us about all the reptiles and amphibians.”

You pretend to take a moment to think about it but anyone watching from the outside, specifically Jessie and Niamh, can see the way you’re practically shaking with excitement.

“Well, I suppose that we can still go,” you say as calmly as a kid your age can, “the two of you need someone to help you see the differences in all the salamanders and newts.”

The two footballers exchange a knowing smirk over the top of your head as you allow Niamh to take you by the hand.

The trip to the zoo takes too long in your humble opinion but you do your best to not bounce up and down in your seat. Once you reach the zoo, all sense of pretense is lost and you just barely agree to see some of the other animals before you attach your face to the glass in the reptile exhibit.

You allow yourself to be dragged to the different primates (where you do your best not to make faces back at them), then to the big cats (where you happily explain that lions aren’t kings of the jungle because they live in the savannah) and finally to the giraffes (where you crack jokes about them being even taller than Millie).

Eventually though, you do make it to the reptile exhibit just in time to see one of the handlers taking a baby alligator out of its habitat.

Immediately, you rush forward with the other kids, getting as close as possible to the zookeeper.

“Hello, I’m zookeeper Jack and this here is my friend Billy, he’s visiting us from America.”

From the second the zookeeper starts talking, you’re hooked, staring in silent wonder as the animal is held on display. The only movement you make is to raise your hand in an attempt to answer almost every question.

Near the end, Jack asks if anyone would like to hold Billy and your hand is the only one that goes up.

“We’ve got a brave one. What’s your name,” he asks, while showing you where to put your hands.

“Y/N.”

“And who brought you to the zoo today?”

“Niamh and Jessie,” you say, slowly point Billy’s head towards them. “They promised to let me show them the newts and salamanders.”

“Niamh and Jessie are your sisters?”

“Yea.”

You’ve completely returned your attention to Billy the gator, so you’re not even aware of the shock that your words have given the two athletes.

“One more question for you, Y/N, and then we’ll let you and your sisters take a photo with our friends here,” Jack says. “What do you want to be when you grow up?”

“A herpetologist,” you say. Then after a moment, “Or maybe a viking, I haven’t decided yet.”

“Well, if you’re as gentle with all animals as you were with Billy, I think you have a pretty good chance at it,” he says, choosing to ignore the bit about becoming a viking, not wanting to break your little kid heart.

Jack the zookeeper then quickly ushers both of the footballers to the front to take a photo. He tries to make them stand next to you only for both of them to stand behind you and as far away from Billy’s teeth as they could.

When he takes the alligator back, you thank him before dragging Niamh and Jessie over to one of the vivariums you noticed on your way in. The large glass habitat is set up to resemble the ecosystem of the rivers and creeks in the pacific northwest and there, peeking out from underneath a rock, is the very animal you’ve been wanting to show them, the rough skin newt.

“Look,” you say, pointing the black and orange creature out, “That little guy is one of the most toxic animals in all of America. Just one of them contains enough toxin to kill 12 adults.”

“That’s scary, why do you know that,” Niamh asks.

“It’s not scary, it's cute,” you tell her. “And cool! There’s only one animal that can safely eat them and most of the time that snake decides it isn’t worth the hassle.”

The smile on your face only grows as you continue to gush about the tiny amphibians and its cousins. It doesn’t go away until well after you return home.

When you do get back home, now armed with a stuffed Smooth Newt and your face still sticky with the ice cream you had leaving the zoo, you excitedly tell your mothers about Billy, completely missing the look Momma sends the two younger players.

What you don’t miss is the way Morsa quickly ushers you out of the room under the guise of helping you find a spot for your new friend, affectionately dubbed Bäcken (She goes right next to Älg in your bed obviously.) And you definitely don’t miss the way Niamh tries to hide behind Jessie to avoid Momma’s wrath as you walk away.

But in the end, you decide not to pay it too much attention because you’re far too busy telling your Morsa the names of all the different reptiles and amphibians you saw at the zoo as she helps you get cleaned up before dinner.

She's not very impressed with the amount of dirt you're covered in, so she makes you change while asking you about it. And she's even less impressed when you tell her about your day at nursery but you immediately change the subject back to the zoo, so she let's it go.

When your clothes are changed and the dirt and ice cream are wiped from your skin, the two of you head out to the dining room joining the others.

Where you realize that you have to start your story telling all over again because Momma didn't hear the part about the snakes and everyone else realizes that this is all you'll be talking about for weeks.

[misguidedasgardian]

The Last Raid

MASTERLIST

Summary: You are a norsewoman, a Viking shieldmaiden from Norway, you were riding with the brothers Erik and Sigefrid, when Uhtred takes back the princess the army disbands, and you go on your own. 

Pairing: Osferth x Shieldmaiden!lreader 

Warnings: TLK AU, war, death, smut, profanity, religious themes, pagan rituals, and much more

Wordcount:  1.5 k

Notes: Is this a story? or a one shot? nobody knows hehe 

The army of Danes that you were riding with had been annihilated, completely destroyed by the army of King Alfred and the command of Uhtred the Daneslayer, that is what you got for making an alliance with the Danes, you should have stayed with your people, with the Vikings from the North, from Norway.

After someone in the middle of the fight hit you in the head, you fell limply in the middle of the battle, when you regained your bearings, you could only see what was left of your “army” running for the hills, leaving you alone. 

So you decided to go your own way, you didn’t fit with them anyways, but now you were alone, you luckily had time to gather your things, your horse and your weapons before the camp was completely destroyed. You rode until you came across a huge river, you didn’t have a clue of where you were, but you needed to wash away the blood from your enemies and the dirt from the fight.

You haven't come across anyone so you gathered you were alone, so you discarded your coat of mail, the leather shirt underneath, your boots and your thick leather pants, you only left the long shirt to cover in case someone did come along. You didn’t even have the heart to undo your braids. 

You let yourself relax as you cleaned your face from the dirt and dried blood, you even submerged your head under the water, and when you emerged you let yourself hear the birds chirping from afar and even though the water was freezing, it was beautiful, calm, peaceful.

Were you going to try and make a life here like your grandfather had intended? you were growing weary of the fight, you wanted to settle, to plant, to farm, to have a house of your own with a big hall in which you could gather your friends and family… which you were lacking.

If you came close to one of those Saxon villages, would they let you stay? Would they give you a job? or would they hate you and pursue you for being a Viking?, the only settlement the vikings from Norway had in England had been destroyed, to find more of your people was going to be difficult… 

You were so deep in your own thoughts that when you noticed the presence behind you, it was too late. You turned around quickly and you tried to run to shore, to your belongings, to your axe and sword, but a smiling man stood right by them, his hand in his own sword, so you took a step back, in fear. 

You were still in the water, but you still had something. You extracted a small knife from a Garter you had tied in your thigh, and came face to face with four men. They had singular appearances, they did not look Dane, not at all, but they didn’t look Saxon either. 

“She is a Dane, Uhtred”, warned one, that by the looks of him and his accent, was one himself 

“Aren’t you a clever one?”, you mocked, “nothing escapes you, except, I am not a Dane” 

“With a sharp tongue”, mocked the one who seemed to be the leader

“She is pretty Lord”, said a blonde, with wide innocent eyes and strange clothes, they all laughed, they made your skin crawl and you tightened the grip on the handle of your blade

“Baby Monk fell in love!”, mocked the one that was near your things, perhaps you should take that one first, grab your ax, you could at least take another one with you, they did not had a bow, so, they will have to come close to you to attack you, you looked at the path you were going to need to run by, careful of the sharp rocks under the water. Three long jumps and you could take him…

You took one step and the one they called Uhtred raised his hand, you looked into his eyes and you could tell he had all but read your mind, looking at the path in front of you and then at his man.

“Finan”, he called, and then he also seemed to notice, and he took a defensive position, so your plan was ruined, then you looked at the other Dane, and then at the priest looking one, who would be easier to kill?

“We will not hurt you”, Uthred said, showing you his hands, you were surrounded, and they were four warrior men, you did not believe him

“Four men, one woman, I know how this ends”, you growled, you looked to your knife and even though you wished a glorious death in battle, taking your own life seemed a better choice than to be… taken by these men. So you turned your knife and turned it towards you

“There is not need for that”, said Uthred hastily, truly scared

“I think there is”, you said defensively, holding the knife to your own chest

“We will not hurt you”, their easy way of carrying themselves turned serious, all four men looking at you wide-eyed, “I give you my word”, he said, taking a step back, his men followed him, as a sign of peace, so you relaxed your stance, “who are you?”, he asked, looking at your things

“A Viking shield maiden”, you answered quickly, “From Norway”, you said looking at the one that called you a Dane

“What is your name?”, he asked

“(Y/N), Bjorndottir, daughter of Bjorn Ironside”, his eyes went wide, as the dane’s, he all but wanted to kneel

“Bjorn, King of Kattegat? King of Norway?”, he asked, you nodded, “I’m Uhtred”, he introduced himself

“I know who you are, Uhtred of Bebbanburg, or Uthred Ragnarson, or the Dane slayer, or the Godless”, you listed 

“You heard of me”, he said with a mocking smile

“I like to “hear” of my enemies”, you said, “or my leader’s enemies”, you continued

“This are my men, Finnan, Sithric, and Osferth”, he said pointing at each of them, you nodded, acknowledging them

“Why are you alone? I saw you in the battlefield”, said Finnan, “your army is far away by now, or what’s left of it”

“Those bastards left me for dead”, you said simply, “they only wanted me for my influence, that is gone now, along with my respect”, you said quickly, you relaxed the arm that held your knife 

“Where are you heading?”, Uhtred asked

“I don’t know”, you answered truthfully

“Where would you like to go?”, he asked then

“First? dry land, I’m freezing”, you said bitterly, and they all seemed to notice, and they took another stepback, Finan walking away from your things and standing by his leader, so you walked to your clothes, drying yourself with your bloodied shirt, and then disposing of it. 

“Do you mind?”, you asked, looking at them over your shoulder, and they turned around, so you could dispose of your wet dress, and changing quickly into clothes from your bag

Once you were comfortable, you turned to the men, who turned back to look at you

“So, you have something to eat?”, you asked

Two hours past, a fire was lit, the night had fallen, and you were roasting a couple of rabbits

“Why are you here? Bjorn Ironside is not in this country”, asked Sithric, you looked back at him

“My father is a bastard who left me me as soon as he noticed I was a girl and when he got tired of humping my mother”, you said dismissively, “He is terrorizing lands further than Frankia”, you saw them share looks

“So, why are you here?”, asked Uhtred

“I wanted to make a name for myself”, you confessed, “battles, glory, lands…”

“So, what happened?”, asked Finnan, by his accent, you realized he must have been from that country they called Ireland 

“Couldn’t find any of those things”, you said simply, “who would have thought that slaughtering farmers and their families was not going to be as glorious as everyone said?”, you mocked, “I don’t like it”

“What do you want?”, he insisted

“A land to sow, a house to live in… something quiet, but I do like a good fight, I guess… I’m a sellsword now”, you whispered looking at the meat between your greasy fingers 

“Pledge your sword to me”, he demanded, “fight for me and you can settle in Cuccham, the lands I’m the Lord of”

“I don’t want to kill more innocent people, or taking things I have not earned”, you said, as terms for your allegiance 

“Good, we will not have you do any of those things”, he said, certainly, you barely nodded, “we are not very elite men, Finan here was a slave when I met him, Sihtric if the bastard son of Kjartan, and the baby monk, is the bastard son of King Alfred, turned monk, and now turned sword”

“King Alfred?”, you asked, “And Earl Kjartan?”, they only nodded, “Alright, I like this, a group of misfits, bonded by loyalty, I like it”, you said, clapping your hands, “My sword is yours, Uhtred Ragnarson, as long as you not ask of me anything that will bring me dishonor” 

He only smiled, as did their men

[youcalledsworld]

Danny Phantom across the Multiverse

Vlad never learns and like always left his 17 year old nemesis to clean up his mess. So what did Vlad do? He opened the sarcophagus of forever sleep again.

At least he didn't do it for ultimate power again. No he did it because he was desperate, because the Observants finally wanted to lock him up for opening the sarcophagus the first time and releasing Vortex.

So Vlad ran but he didn't want to run forever so he thought he could gain favor from Pariah by releasing him. But that didn't work he just ended up swapping imprisonment for 3000 years for ceasing to exist.

This led to Danny fighting Pariah again, this time without the ecto-skeleton. It was a fierce battle that had the Infinite Realms shaking, the effects of it could be felt in every dimension.

Battered and bruised Danny stood infront Pariah Dark ready to finally end the fight. He crushed Parish's core, but while the old King was fading he didn't want Danny to feel victorious. So he opened up numerous portals behind the halfa that was beginning to suck him in.

While Danny was fighting against the portals with the last of Pariah strength he blasted Danny where his core was and it split into 10 pieces and Danny's energy and body was sucked into them when all but one piece was sucked into the portal.

Clockwork made sure to save one piece so that his grandson could make it back to him and his family.

Once the pieces were spat out the other end of the portals in different dimensions, 9 different Danny's emerged from the pieces.

One Danny found himself stumbling into a Camp that had the campers wearing orange coloured shirts and running around with swords and other kind of weapons. They welcomed him into the camp and helped him recover. He spent 2 years training, questing and trying to find his way back home. Sadly Danny lost his life in the war against the Titans to save his fellow campers.

When he died his core went back to the piece that was being held in Clockworks lair

Another found himself on an island that had dinosaurs and two giant Viking warrior friends fighting to prove who had caught the bigger fish. When they weren't fighting they were training Danny. Sadly he had to leave them in order to find a way home, so he left with a small pirate crew that was led by a man with a straw hat. They had many adventures, they laughed and cried, fought in many battles, fought against the world government and completed their dreams all except Danny who instead of making it home, made one for himself and had lived long enough to meet his great grand children.

Then he passed peacefully in his sleep and made his way back to his grandfather.

Another Danny found himself in a crime ridden city called Gotham instead of helping he decided to find a way home, he knows he should help but this wasn't his dimension he needed to get home. So he started stealing from tech companies in hope to build a portal home. After a few years when he was almost done with the portal the city gained its own vigilante called Batman and he was trying to catch Danny already. The rookie vigilante was well trained but Danny found out that Batman was actually Bruce Wayne (what's with billionaires and their secret life?). Sadly Danny found out that the veil was too thick to punch a hole into the infinite realms so he gave up and became a teacher at Gotham Academy. He eventually married one of his students mothers. A wonderful woman named Paula Crock, they met by accident and got along well. They told each other about their past and decided it didn't matter. Plus she loved it when he broke her ex husband's nose arms and legs. He even punched Bruce Wayne in the face for sending his step daughter on a mission that got her sent to the hospital. Sadly he was gunned down by a criminal while he was shielding his students. On his death bed he promised Paula he would come back for her.

Clockwork promised that he would help Danny reunite with the families he made.

When Max opened his eyes he couldn't remember who he was or how he ended up on the side of the road. Thankfully the Tennyson's gave him a name and adopted him. They even helped him pursue his dream of becoming an astronaut. But thanks to a certain incident he found out he could become something more if he joined the Plumbers. Joining the Plumbers gave him the best and worst times in his life. He made friends he couldn't have met if he didn't join but he also lost friends in this line of work. He also met his ex-wife Verdona who had given him his sons. Then he remembered his past but he couldn't leave his family he made so he didn't look for a way home. His grandson then became a hero like he was when he found the Omnitrix so he trained him. Hoping he didn't make the same mistakes he did, of course Ben made mistakes but at least he was around to help him. Until he wasn't, he was on a mission until he was discovered and had to ask Ben to step up and complete it for him and he did. He was so proud of his grandson, who became a better hero than he ever was. He still helped his grandson when he could even if he didn't want his help. Then one of his grandsons enemies accidentally made a portal to the Infinite Realms and it was going haywire, so he told his grandson and great grandsons to leave so he could shut it down. The only way he could make sure it didn't destroy the world was making it implode which would suck everything in a 10 mile radius into the Infinite Realms. He said good bye to his family and allowed himself to be sucked in.

Max met his Grandfather on the other side and gave him the biggest hug he could. He asked Clockwork if his family was still alive in his original dimension. Clockwork told him that what felt like decades to him over there was only hours here. Then he went on to tell Max that other fragments of him scattered across the Multiverse and would come back when they died or like him enter a realm portal. He also told him that now he had to put the core that was in him with the other core fragments in his lair.

[mclennonlgbt]

John and Paul commenting on each other's appearance

John about Paul

I was very impressed by Paul playing “Twenty Flight Rock”. He could obviously play the guitar. I half thought to myself – he’s as good as me. I’d been kingpin up to then. Now, I thought, if I take him on, what will happen? It went through my head that I’d have to keep him in line, if I let him join. But he was good, so he was worth having. He also looked like Elvis. I dug him. (Hunter Davies’ The Beatles: The Authorised Biography (1968))

John: It [topless swimsuit/topless frock] sounds like a vaguely good idea but I wouldn’t have my wife or any friends wearing them.

Paul: Well, you’ve got us wearing them.

John: I know, Paulie, you’re so well-built!

3. John (Thisbe) talking about Paul's (Pyramus') appearance during "Midsummer's Night Dream" rehearsal: Dead, dead. A tomb must cover thy sweet eyes! These lily lips... His cherry nose. He's Cherry Wainer. His yellow cowslip cheeks!

4.

(although I also know the version that it was during the making of the movie Help!)

5. A pretty face may last a year or two/ But pretty soon they'll see what you can do (How Do You Sleep? (1971))

(Side note: I know that in this case John tried to discredit Paul by claiming that he only had a "pretty face" and nothing more to be proud of. It doesn't change the fact that he probably thought Paul was hot, too)

6. At one stage I went out, and when I came back he was talking to this woman and he said “She said, ‘I thought he was Paul, meaning McCartney.’” So John turns around and says, “No, he’s prettier than Pauly. He’s got a nicer mouth than Pauly. Pauly’s got a small mouth.”  (Tony Manero on meeting John Lennon in 1974, in Glass Onion by Geoffrey Giuliano (1999))

Paul about John

"I remember John looking..hmm.. we used to think that John looked pretty cool. He was a bit older than us and he would do a little more greased back hair than we were allowed… so John was quite groovy. He looked like a ted then - he had a drape. He had nice big sideburns." 

"Ah yes, I remember it well. My memory of meeting John for the first time is very clear [...] I can still see John now: checked shirt, slightly curly hair, singing ‘Come Go With Me’ by the Del Vikings. I remember thinking, ‘He looks good – I wouldn’t mind being in a group with him’. A bit later we met up. [...] Then, as you all know, he asked me to join the group, and so we began our trip together. We wrote our first songs together, we grew up together and we lived our lives together.”

"I’d seen him a couple of times [before the fete] and thought, ‘Wow, you know, he’s an interesting looking guy.’ And then I once also saw him in a queue for fish and chips and I said, ‘Oh, that’s that guy off the bus’. I’m talking to myself, in my mind I thought, ‘I saw that guy off the bus, oh he’s pretty cool looking. Yeah, you know, he’s a cool guy.’ I knew nothing about him except that he looked pretty cool. He had long sideboards and greased back hair and everything. [...] This ted would get on the bus, and I wouldn't stare at him too hard in case he hit me." (1997)

Paul: Nobody was remotely interested in this idea of I wrote songs until I met John! I said: I’ve written a few songs. And he said: Oh, so have I! So it was like… someone was interested at last. And I’d seen him around Liverpool, he’d got on a bus once and I said: Woah, look at this guy! At the big sideboards, you know, the hair swept back. I thought: He’s got something going. 

Howard Stern: Good look.

Paul: Yeah, he definitely had a look! (2020)

5. “I used to do caricatures of John. He was the only person I knew with an aquiline nose. When I painted him recently, I found myself saying: 'How did his lips go? I can't remember.' Then I would think: 'Of course you know, you wrote all those songs facing each other.'”

6. “If I'm going to see a face in a painting, it's highly likely to be his.”

7. “And I would often sketch John when we worked together, often without him knowing it. It was so easy doing John because he had glasses, those sideboards – what you call sideburns – and that long, aquiline nose.”

8. "I would often sketch John when we worked together, often without him knowing it. It was so easy doing John because he had glasses, those sideboards –or sideburns – and that long, aquiline nose.”

Source of quotes 5,6,7,8: https://www.tumblr.com/undying-love/748219983302098944/paul-mentioned-that-john-was-often-the-subject-of?source=share

9. “A young boy's bedroom is such a comfortable place, like my son's bedroom is now; he's got all his stuff that he needs: a candle, guitar, a book. John's room was very like that. James reminds me very much of John in many ways: he's got beautiful hands. John had beautiful hands." (Barry Miles, Many Years From Now (1997))

10. “But I don’t have any regrets, we were good friends when he died so… that’s something. And he was a beautiful boy!”

11. “Beautiful boy, beautiful memories…”

 12. “So I loved him dearly. He was a very beautiful man.”

Thanks to @undying-love, they had a lot of useful quotes!

Pls add more quotes if you know any.

[youcouldmakealife]

SOTM: Luke/Andreas; bugging out

For the prompt: Anything Luke related, preferably with Andreas Andreas loving on Luke! Just seeing that big sweet lug getting the love he deserves!

Relearning someone is different than learning them, different from knowing. Andreas doesn’t know if it’s better or worse — he’s never experienced it before, knowing someone so intimately, and at the same time, having to relearn the most basic things about them.

There are things that haven’t changed a bit in over a decade. Many of them: Luke’s always been set in his ways. He’s been wearing the same brand of underwear for as long as Andreas has known him. Some of the shirts he refuses to stop wearing were already ragged when Andreas met him. Back then, Andreas wondered aloud why he didn’t throw them out — now he’s just impressed they haven’t disintegrated in the wash.

But of course, things have changed. The obvious physical things; Luke’s career has caught up to him, and he’s got the aches and pains of someone decades older, especially his knee, which can keep him up at night on bad days. No gray in his hair yet, but there’s some in his stubble, which is probably one of the reasons he shaves every day now, though Andreas is sure he’d argue that. He’s mellowed out, the way Andreas finds most people do over time, when they don’t do the exact opposite. Andreas would probably fall into the latter category, but Luke doesn’t seem to mind.

Luke isn’t sporting mysterious cuts and bruises all the time, which Andreas thinks is an improvement, and suspects Luke does too. He’s happier, and some of that, Andreas is sure, is the so-called honeymoon phase, even the second time 'round, but he doesn’t think that's all of it.

Luke was happy at the beginning of their relationship, but there was always an edge to it, something he wasn’t saying, something Andreas knew was there, but didn’t know how to ask about, or, maybe more accurately, wasn’t sure he wanted whatever the answer was. Now it’s been said. Now they’re decades from it instead of years, and it’s still there, but Luke isn’t haunted by it anymore.

But there are less obvious changes. Sometimes they’re a nice little surprise, like finding out Luke’s culinary skills significantly improved since he was in his thirties. He’s not a gourmet chef or anything, but he’s not slapping something with a bit of table salt and calling it seasoned anymore.

Sometimes they’re utterly neutral, and the most surprising thing is that Andreas still remembers well enough to clock the difference, like how Luke was a casual Vikings fan, but now he’s an equally casual Packers fan — Andreas is pretty sure that's a felony in the midwest —or that he's mostly switched from lagers to reds.

And then there’s one that Andreas sticks on. Luke never eats shellfish. That wouldn’t be strange — plenty of people don’t, for various reasons. Except when they were dating, Luke would inevitably order any shellfish dish on the menu, regardless of where they were. It was helpful, honestly — Andreas just had to check the menu for shrimp, or scallops, or lobster, and if it was there, Luke would be happy. But he hasn’t any of the times they’ve gone out, and the one time Andreas ordered a shrimp dish, offered to share, he was vigorous in his denial.

“Sea bugs,” he said with a shudder when Andreas asked, something that struck a vague chord with Andreas, tugging until, halfway to sleep, Luke pinning him to the bed with an arm and a leg, somehow always twice as heavy when he’s asleep — Andreas doesn’t know how the physics of that work, and he’s frankly curious — he remembers Luke, years ago, making faces at Andreas over an ostensibly romantic dinner at a French bistro with a six month waitlist because Andreas ordered escargot.

*

The restaurant is beautiful, the sort of place that seems transported from France a century ago, waiters in black tie and dim lighting, candles playing off everyone’s faces. They’re surrounded by couples, mostly middle-aged or older, here for milestone birthdays or anniversaries. It’s a special occasion sort of place. A place that turns a date night into an occasion in itself.

It would be more romantic if Luke wasn’t constantly looking around, checking if anyone’s paying attention to them. He’s not sure if Luke simply worries he’s sticking out — admittedly, he’d fit in better if he wasn't sporting a shiner from the game against the Lightning last week — or if he’s expecting to be recognized.

They’re in New York City. He plays for the Devils. On the third line. Andreas thinks he’s likely safe.

He says that — more diplomatically, of course — and Luke mumbles, “It looks like we’re on a date.”

“It could just be a business dinner,” Andreas says, rather than pointing out that they are, in fact, on a date, so it’s not like anyone would be getting the wrong impression. It’s not like Andreas would like that known either — he can imagine Dave’s face if he found out he was at a Michelin star restaurant with a client off the clock.

“Really?” Luke asks. “Here?”

The ambiance is admittedly romantic. Andreas doesn’t know why Luke suggested it. Maybe he didn’t know what it was like. More likely he didn’t think it through, thought it’d be nice at the time, in a particular mood, and regrets it now. That whim that makes him occasionally ask Andreas to move in, but never bring it up again outside of bed.

The whim that means that he dropped the gloves against Hicks even though he promised Andreas he’d try to avoid fighting at least long enough to let his nose properly heal. The good news is Hicks somehow avoided his nose, which was either good luck or good sportsmanship. Andreas has decided on the latter — Hicks is signed to their agency, and Andreas would prefer not to hold an irrational grudge against him. Especially considering Luke was the one who started it in the first place.

Their appetizers arrive — escargot for Andreas, scallops for Luke — and Luke blanches at Andreas’ plate.

“I thought snails was just some shit people ordered in movies,” Luke says. “You’re really going to eat that?”

“They’re delicious,” Andreas says.

“They’re bugs,” Luke says, for a moment looking like the most oversized toddler of all time. Andreas wouldn’t be surprised to hear the word ‘yucky’ come out of his mouth next.

“Snails are actually in the same family as shellfish,” Andreas says. “And you don’t seem to mind them.”

Luke looks down at his own appetizer, blanching, and Andreas coughs a laugh into his napkin.

“Maybe I’ll wait for my steak,” Luke says.

“Suit yourself,” Andreas says. “I’ll just be here with my delicious bugs.”

“Dre,” Luke whines.

The escargot is superb. As are Luke’s scallops, which he no longer has the stomach for.

*

“Did I ruin shellfish for you?” Andreas asks.

“What?” Luke says. “Andreas, what time is it?”

“Late,” Andreas says. “Was it the escargot?”

Luke squints at him, then sits up, and Andreas no longer crushed under his weight. He misses it a little, but that’s his own fault.

“I don’t want to ruin things for you,” Andreas says.

“You don’t,” Luke says.

“So it wasn’t the snails?” Andreas asks.

Luke makes the exact same face he did years ago, the one Andreas can only describe as ‘yucky’. Andreas was annoyed with it then, but now all he feels is affection. That and guilt.

“It was the snails,” Andreas says.

“More me reading way too much about shit after,” Luke says.

That’s still the snails.

“I’m sorry,” Andreas says.

“Nothing to be sorry for,” Luke yawns, lying back down. “I hadn’t thought of it in years.”

Perhaps he hasn’t, but Andreas still thinks ruining shellfish for a crustacean lover deserves some level of penance.

“Next time I’ll order the foie gras,” Andreas says.

Luke sits up again. “Did you know that foie gras—“

“Or not,” Andreas says, slinging his own leg over Luke’s, and Luke settles, enough that Andreas can wrap an arm around his chest, put his head on his shoulder. It’s comfortable. He can see why Luke likes it.

“You’re heavy,” Luke mumbles.

Andreas considers pointing out that Luke does this every night, and he’s a fair sight heavier than Andreas, but who knows what would happen? It might just make Luke stop doing it entirely, and Andreas would miss it.

“Do you want me to move?” Andreas asks.

“No,” Luke says, and Andreas presses a smile against his collarbone, closes his eyes.

[sleeplesssmoll]

Before summer ends how about hcs of a pool day with the timekeeper fam? >:]

I did a summer thing before but it was beach focused:

However, pools are very different because they tend to have a lot of heavy gatekeeping. I think Vertin might try to create a “pool” in the Wilderness so her less human-esque arcanists can play around freely without judgment. Since the “pool” will be a section in the Wilderness the water will be stable and free of contaminants (loading screen lore). This is great since there is no chlorine/bleach that could affect Jessica's fur or Getian's feathers. Also, there's a strict swimsuit policy. Sweetheart and a few other bold arcanists make this a necessity and Vertin has to explicitly warn her crew that they have kids amongst them. While everyone's wearing swimwear, Vertin's dressed like a lifeguard. Shorts, t-shirt, cap, whistle, everything.

The pool area has more than one pool!

There's a shallow one for the smaller arcanists and it's surrounded by toys like water noodles, balls, etc. La Source claimed this pool as her territory and permits the children arcanists to join her (also because Vertin told her to play nice). She'll spray the “adults” with water to keep them away. Erick and the others follow suit. Erick is pro at making big waves because of her strength.

Erick and La Source also create currents for their handmade toy boats. Erick's looks like a viking ship, Eagle's is a more traditional but well-made sailboat, and Mondlicht's looks like a pirate ship because Regulus got involved. They play with the ships when they need time to recharge their batteries for more pool battles.

Pavia likes to bother them, specifically Mondlicht and they engage in dramatic water gun duels.

Then there's a larger pool that has varying depths. Jessica likes shape-shifting as aquatic monstrosities and messing with the others (except Blonney). Regulus has taken it upon herself to “capture the beast” in an intense game of tag. Blonney finds the whole thing cute and hilarious but Vertin had to step in when they nearly scared Sonetto half to death. Getian sticks to the shallower end and uses it like a refreshing bird bath. He splashes around exactly how you're imagining it.

The old souls hang out in the last pool, which is more of a hot-tub/hot-spring. Eternity, Shamane, and a few others linger here. They drink and converse. Apple loves drinking and talking about philosophy but he stays with A Knight on edge of water since he's afraid he'll get cooked. 

Tooth Fairy hunted down the people without sunscreen and forced them to wear it. She's especially strict with Vertin since the Timekeeper isn't in her suit so she's fully exposed to the sun. Vertin tries to explain that the Wilderness’s sun isn't the same as the real deal, but TF doesn't care. The only thing she knows for certain is the damage the sun can do and Vertin has negative melanin. Even her hair doesn't have color! TF also looks great in her swimsuit and Vertin's been giving off “Stop ogling my mom” energy when anyone looks too long. 

That being said, Vertin's been caught staring more than once but plays it off. This is based on Vertin's interactions with other people she finds attractive. For example, the way she perceives Eternity and Tennant in AS, and the language she uses when describing Sonetto and Schneider. She’ll also compliment people without thinking much of it but gets flustered if she’s the one receiving the compliment.

Horrorpedia likes to laze around in a big floaty. The ghosts (Click, Poltergeist, etc) push him around the pool for fun and he lets them.  Lilya and Druvis are off to the side under an umbrella. Occasionally the others hear Druvis laughing, which is very rare. Druvis does eventually enter the water and Sotheby ends up stealing her away to play.  

Vertin ends up falling into the pool because she was staring again and didn't pay attention to where she was walking. Sonetto runs over to not realizing she's the reason Vertin slipped. The others pretend they don't see what's going but they're definitely going to gossip about it later. 

However, some of the other crew members are seeing Vertin's scar for the first time since the water made her shirt transparent. Sonetto's covering her front by hugging her but her back is visible. Also, Vertin’s first instinct when hugged is to return the hug. Lilya saves them from their awkwardness by bringing Vertin a towel. The cute scene of Sonetto and Vertin being flustered together is marred by the scar. 

Bunny Bunny brings out refreshments and snacks! Bette helps her carry them out. I feel like they'd be friends. 

Sweetheart doesn't get in the water. She'd rather sit in a chair with her shades on and vibe where people can admire her.

[saintalectoshomeforwaywardgirls]

8/4/2024: As you've likely noticed, we've had some new faces popping up around here, and they hail from none other than the show True Blood, because we make dolls out of canons that would never, ever be dolls otherwise.

Pam (Pamela Swynford de Beaufort if you're going to be formal about it) is a vampire of 100+ years and Eric's progeny, Willa's sister, Nora's niece, Tara's Maker. She's Southern as far as you know, an undead Barbie, a sarcastic bitch, and a surprisingly astute businesswoman. She was played by Kristin Bauer van Straten.

Pam was born a classic mold (not sure which doll originally) and given a little faceup (lipstick, birthmarks) and a new wig from ZazouCustomDolls. She's currently wearing a tracksuit from ILuvMCreations.

Nora (the former Lady, former Chancellor, always perfect Nora Gainesborough) is a vampire of 400-600+ years (...long story) and Godric's progeny, Eric's sister, Pam and Willa's aunt, Tara's grandaunt. She's British, a shrewd politician and unrepentant intellectual, and she's working on her impulse control. She was played by Lucy Griffiths.

Nora was born a Chrissa and given a slight faceup (birthmarks, lipstick). In the group photo, she's wearing a purposely silly outfit for Pride; in the solo shot, she's wearing the Purple Party Outfit dress.

Eric (former Viking prince Eric Northman) is a vampire of 1000+ years and Godric's progeny, Nora's brother, Pam and Willa's Maker, Tara's grandsire. He's Swedish, a playboy and unwilling Sheriff as well as a business owner. He was played by Alexander Skarsgard.

Eric was born a Just Like You 74. Someday he'll probably get a better wig, but that hasn't happened yet. In the group photo he's wearing a purposely silly outfit for Pride; in the solo shot he's wearing the generic tank top he arrived in.

All of those three are, per the above photo, bisexual icons.

We also have best friends Sookie and Tara!

Sookie Stackhouse is the protagonist of True Blood and a well-meaning neurodivergent queen. She's a small-town Southern waitress who also happens to be a telepathic fairy. She was played by Anna Paquin.

Sookie was born a Joss and given a DandyDollDesigns wig. She's wearing a dress/shirt by dolltoybox on eBay and the sneakers she came in.

Tara Mae Thornton is a vampire of a few years and Pam's progeny, Eric's grandprogeny, Willa's niece, Nora's grandniece. She's another small-town Southern girl, except she was recently turned after almost being murdered and she's working through her trauma from that and 1000 other things. She's also a bisexual icon. She was played by Rutina Wesley.

Tara was born an unidentified Sonali mold and given a slight faceup (lipstick, camouflaging some scars) and a ZazouCustomDolls wig. She's wearing sneakers by thedollboutique8 and shorts and a tank top by lovvbugg, both on eBay.

[stephofromcabin12]

I went to like a viking site today for a festival, bc I am an ex-archeology student (we parted ways lovingly, turns out I’m just not built for digging) and I love a chance to go look at old stuff and smell like a bonfire and get some jewelery and stuff

However, it always reminds me just how chaotic living in those close quarters is. Like in HOO when the romans camp out on HBH, it’s like— I’m medicated but even still my ADHD ass was having a time™️ walking around the camp. It’s loud, because you’re in open air and tents don’t provide any sound proofing. Its also hot AF if it’s sunny, so everyone’s sweaty. People are making food in various places so theres smoke and dust in the air, which not only created a lovely coating on your skin when you sweat but also hurts your eyes. I actually found myself wondering if archers would be bothered by it in the long term, since watery eyes are a minus if you’re going to aim at things. Ig dust and stuff is also bad lol.

I know the viking settlements were a bit less structured than the romans but no amount of symmetric lining up of the tents will remove the noise, smell and dust of living in tents on a field. And the smoke.

Also the people dressing up like vikings always confuse me. Because yeah I get you’re showing how they would dress but my guy it is 28 degrees and there’s not a cloud in the sky.

And you’re wearing three layers, leather shoes and a hood. Take the hood off, Leif. Please, Søren, you’re going to get heat stroke, take the pelt off. And the women wearing both the underpants, kirtle and the little apron thingies that go over the first dress AND the hats. Like??? Bbg you look so slay, please just take the hat off or remove the long underwear. I was actually concerned for some of them lol.

Like, as it is with archeology, we can’t say for sure, but I would wager in my most humble opinion, that the vikings took their shirts off and dressed down in hot weather too. Or it’s probable that they picked up some ideas on hot-weather clothing on their travels to warmer climates. There were for example two lovely vendors at the festival I chatted with who’d travelled from Bulgaria and while they were both dressed time-appropriately they wore lighter, white linnens that hang losely, compared to the heavier knits that the scandinavian vendors wore.

I appreciate comitting to the historical accuracy as much as any other nerd, but I also used to wear a 3-layer, heavy uniform (that included leather boots and a hat) in all kinds of weather, including extremely hot, for hours at a time and I got second hand heat-exhaustion looking at those people lol

And we know some of the vikings’ clothes were breathable, however that factor gets ruined if you’re wearing layers upon layers. Thank you for coming to my archeology tedtalk lol

With all that said I had fun, and the people looked great, no comments there, except the guy with the pelt idk what he was doing— some kind of pirate viking maybe idk….And I got some jewelry so that’s fun. I regret not getting two things….luckily I got their cards so I can check their online shops >:>

What kind of questions do you have for me about archeology? (Rhetorical, unless you actually have any lol)

[crossedsabers10s]

I don't know if you see those or not but everytime I need a pick me up I always go and read your fanfics. "Quill dipped in red" is a particular favorite since it's a sort of anthology of the genius happening in your head and I just wanted to say thank you 🫶

The stories you elaborate on have been breathtaking and the snippets are perfectly teasing for more. I've been going over Quill and I would very much love more of "blood of the covenant" if you have extra thoughts on it. It's just a wonderful concept with Kol knowing them beforehand and sharing some kind of affection towards them, especially your version of Damon and Enzo. It feels fun.

Oh and thank you for sharing your talent -🥀

Thank you!!!!!!

Having an Original Vampire turn up on the doorstep and wait for entry like it’s something owed—again—leaves a bad taste in Stefan’s mouth. Damon, who somehow knows this one and refuses to elaborate as to how, stares at the problem lurking on their porch, eyes narrowed, face unreadable.

Unreadable, except, it appears, to the problem himself. “Well?” says Kol. “Are you not going to offer hospitality to an old friend? I’ve had a long night of stabbing Niklaus, I’d like some refreshment.”

Blood flecks his hands, his shirt—a get up straight from the seventies, complete with the haircut to match—is crusted underneath his fingernails. Judging from the smell and the silver dagger held loosely in one hand, he’s telling the truth.

Damon eyes him a second longer. Then turns a deliberate look Elena and Stefan’s way before looking back at Kol.

“I will,” Kol says, bloodstained hand over his heart, “of course, refrain from afflicting your little brother and the doppelgänger with permanent harm for the duration of….” He thinks for a second. “Oh, let us say a week.”

Damon’s eyebrow arches.

Kol sighs, but concedes. “Any harm, permanent or no. Physical only, mind you.”

Damon nods, apparently satisfied. He looks at Elena, who shakes her head. She’s the one that needs to invite the Original in. “Damon, I don’t think—“

“I’ll buy you your own Original proof house,” Damon offers before she can say no. “The others already have invites into this one anyway. What’s one more?”

“I think this is a terrible idea,” Stefan announces, knowing no one is listening. As suspected, he’s ignored, save the short glances they both give him.

“A new house?” Elena says, unimpressed. “That’s, what? Three now? I don’t need a new house, Damon.”

Cajoling, Damon says, “But do you want one? I’ll throw in an in-ground pool.”

“What am I going to do with a whole house? I have a home. And this house. Remember?”

Damon’s nose wrinkles slightly at the reminder. Stefan can read that expression—Damon dislikes having a place he considers his in another’s hands. Elena’s little invite game could have easily ended in blood rather than laughter. “Vampire proof safe house! You can have your friends over for sleepovers. I won’t even ask for an invite, I swear.” He pauses, then throws her a grin. “Unless you want me there.”

Elena frowns harder.

Smile dropping off his face, Damon glares.

Elena glares right back.

Both Damon and Elena keep looking at each other, locked in a battle of wills, reading each other's minds just to argue about what they find there; he’s glad Elena, at least, seems to have an idea of what’s running through Damon’s head, because Stefan doesn’t have a clue.

He’s still kind of hung up on maybe or maybe not having an adopted brother that no one bothered to tell him about.

How legal can this adoption be anyway? Does it count if their family branch is dead?

“Salvatore,” the Original says. Stefan doesn’t flinch—because he has remained very much aware of the 70’s themed Viking standing on the porch—but he does turn to Kol, leaning back on his heels and crossing his arms. “This is pathetic. Is this not your house?”

Damon breaks his staring contest with Elena—the one he was losing—and looks at Kol and gestures to Elena. “Yeah, well.”

Kol shakes his head, smirk curling at his lips. He resembles Elijah more than Klaus, but that expression could have been copy pasted right from the Hybrid’s face. To Elena, he says, “I’ve already sworn not to harm you. If you’d like to negotiate further: I do believe I have information you’d be interested in knowing.”

“Information?” Damon questions. He frowns at Kol, tilting his head and studying the Original. Stefan can’t see what Damon sees—Kol looks perfectly at ease, standing there, blood splattered and smug—but Damon is obviously picking up on something. If he didn’t know better, he’d call his brother concerned.

Concerned. For a vampire quintuple times their age and no doubt just as capable of destruction as his siblings.

Damon turns to Elena, eyes the slightest bit wide. “Elena….”

Elena studies him for a beat. Her sigh sounds a lot like concession. “You really are friends, huh?”

Remaining silent, Damon nods.

She nods back, something passing between them. “Alright. Alright. Kol—Kol, right?—I invite you in.”

Kol grins. “Thank you, doppel-dear.”

In a split second, he’s off the porch, suddenly inside the house. Stefan hadn't seen him move.

Their newest guest has scrubbed up and availed himself to some of Stefan’s clothes—as they're closer in height than the Original and Damon. Stefan isn’t all that great at judging ages normally, but Kol looks young, sitting on a sofa in borrowed clothes with a mug in his hands.

“So,” Stefan starts, wanting to get this oh-so important information out of the vampire before he conveniently forgets. “You said you have information?”

Taking one last sip from his mug before settling it aside, Kol hums. “Yes. Elijah undaggered us, as you well know—“

“Yeah,” Stefan bites out. “We were there. I almost got shoved into a fireplace. I remember.”

Kol ignores the interruption. “—but, somehow, it turned into an even more surprising family reunion.” Without further ado, he informs them, “Mother has been resurrected. Somehow. Bogus, isn’t it?”

“Your mother,” Stefan says, flat.

Elena echoes his disbelief. “The Original Witch?”

“Yes,” Kol says, waving a hand. “Her. Very freaky. I bugged out before he could go totally whack-job or Mother could finish the guilt trip she was on.”

Elena almost chokes on an inhale. When Stefan jerks his head towards her it's to find her mouthing the words bugged out to herself.

Stefan frowns in thought. “Do you know why—?”

“Or how,” Damon interjects.

“Why or how your mother has been brought back to life?”

Kol smiles brightly. “No.” He claps his hands together and turns to Damon. “Now! That’s my price paid. Tell me what I've missed. Give me the skinny.”

Elena makes a wheezing sound. Stefan pats blindly at her arm.

Damon thinks for a second. “Let’s see… you disappeared in ‘78.”

Kol wrinkles his nose. “Yes. My brothers caught up with me.”

“Right. And then shoved you in a box for a few decades.”

Damon nods thoughtfully to himself, then offers up a brief summary of world events. One that focuses mostly on musical development and random facts that Stefan cannot fathom the reason he included them. Kol pipes up with questions about this or that or what happened to them—a few of the names Stefan recognizes. The rest have faded into history.

Elena, who has been up all night and the night before, is yawning. She almost nods off once Damon starts listing musicians.

Damon finishes with a promise to get Kol a phone with internet and a matching computer.

For someone who has had three decades of random facts shoved down their throat, Kol seems nonplussed by the deluge. He’s probably used to missing years worth of developments. How many times have he and his siblings had to adapt to a new century? “And your brother?” he asks, glancing at Stefan for a second before dismissing him. “Not that one, the other.”

Stefan does not twitch. He’s not sure how he feels about Damon suddenly having another brother, but he doesn’t think he likes it.

Not because he’s jealous.

It’s just concerning. Damon’s spent a century complaining about not being an only child and suddenly he adopts some random guy? Some random guy than an Original knew about before he did?

“He’s fine,” Damon says. Elena suddenly seems much more awake, and is looking at all of them in turns, like she’s not sure who she should be paying the most attention to. “In Spain like I said. Actually, uh, what’s the time? He might have caught his flight out by now.”

Kol makes a go on motion.

Damon shrugs. “He’s on the way here. Told him I found you.”

“Found?” Kol repeats, drawing out the word like he’s unsure about its meaning. “Found implies you were looking for me.”

“Yeah,” Damon says with no hesitation. “We did.”

Kol blinks. “You… did?” Whatever shock he’d suffered is swiftly recovered from. “Of course you did, no doubt you missed me.”

“Eh,” Damon tips a hand back and forth. “Sometimes.”

“You missed me,” Kol asserts.

“Fine. A little. We searched the city for almost three months.”

“Lucky you didn’t find me,” Kol says. “Or, rather, find my brothers.”

Damon shrugs again. “Maybe. We, uh, kept looking for a while”—Stefan isn’t sure how long a while is, but suspects it’s longer than Damon feels comfortable admitting—“before we bit the bullet and asked a favor from Bethany.”

“Bethany?” Kol says, sounding surprised. Stefan doesn’t recognize the name, but he seems to. “London’s Ripper?”

Stefan goes still. A Ripper?

“Yeah,” Damon says, not looking Stefan’s way even as he tries to burn a hole through his brother’s head. “Charged us through the nose for it. Got her girlfriend to do a locator spell, one of the good ones, the kind that should have given us your exact address plus your social security number. Except it didn’t do jack. Valentine doesn’t fudge spells. So, we figured you were dead.”

“What did you pay?” Kol asks abruptly, gaze intense on Damon. “For the spell.”

“Nothing.”

“Do not lie to me.” There is a killer in Stefan’s living room. One with a straight backed stare that has seen this world turn for centuries. It doesn’t matter that Kol looks like he should be in school, that he is wearing borrowed clothes, had come to their doorstep to escape his family imploding, and speaks in outdated slang. All of that has been stripped away to reveal a monster in their midst. “It doesn’t matter if it didn’t go as planned. Bethany is cunning as she is ruthless. She would have had you agree to pay for the attempt.”

“Nothing,” Damon says again, unperturbed. “We just… owe her a favor. To be collected when she chooses. You know her, she’s probably going to sit on it for a century or two.”

Some of the intensity fades from Kol’s face. But not all. “That’s not better,” he says lightly. “You realize that’s worse than a straight exchange.”

Damon only rolls his eyes.

[undying-love]

Paul talking about John's looks

"I’d seen him a couple of times and thought, ‘Wow, you know, he’s an interesting looking guy.’ And then I once also saw him in a queue for fish and chips and I said, ‘Oh, that’s that guy off the bus’. I’m talking to myself, in my mind I thought, ‘I saw that guy off the bus, oh he’s pretty cool looking. Yeah, you know, he’s a cool guy.’

"I knew nothing about him except that he looked pretty cool. He had long sideboards and greased back hair and everything."

"And I saw him on the top deck of the bus often, before I met him. Saw him in the queue at a chip shop once. And I thought, “He looks cool.”

"There was a guy up on the platform with curly, blondish hair, wearing a chequered shirt, looking pretty good and quite fashionable - singing a song that I loved: the Del-Vikings ‘Come Go With Me’."

“I just thought, ‘Well, he looks good, he’s singing well and he seems like a great lead singer to me.’ Of course he had his glasses off, so he looked really suave…"

“My memory of meeting John for the first time is very clear. I can still see John now - checked shirt, slightly curly hair, singing ‘Come Go With Me’. I remember thinking, ‘He looks good - I wouldn’t mind being in a group with him."

"When I look back and think, I have to say, “Wow” – we did all that, and we were just kids from Liverpool. And here it is in the photographs. Boy, how great does John look?"

[20dollarlolita]

I really enjoyed reading about your latest embroidery exploit. My mom and I recently bought an embroidery machine together. We've been on the fence about getting a magnetic hoop. I'm assuming your endless hoop is magnetic. Do you think it's worth the money to get a magnetic hoop? It seems to make repositioning easier when multi hooping. We're also having issues with hoop burn. Fortunately I'll only have to pay for half if we do get one. I'm here for all the overly detailed embroidery talk.

The mega endless hoop is a clamp hoop, but this would have worked a whole lot better if it was a magnet.

You can see how I had to fold the fabric and stabilizer to get it under the hoop here. It was quite a pain. This is because the mega endless hoop is intended for doing borders, and I'm using it at a 90 degree angle from how it's intended to be orientated.

Magnet hoops are great, because the whole issue of where you put the clamp doesn't exist. The clamp just stays on with a magnet, so no clamp needed. However, some magnetic hoops (like the ones Viking makes) assume that you're using them for quilting. They don't have enough grip to grab something thin like quilt calico, and assume you're putting a whole batting sandwich in there. If you can find one that works well with thick and thin fabric, snap it up. The DIME snap hoop monster seems to be popular at my store, because the magnets go all the way around the whole edge. On other magnetic hoops, the magnets are often several separate pieces. While this is a lot easier to hoop for endless and edge-to-edge pieces, sometimes it doesn't grip thin fabrics as well.

That said, the mega endless ALSO doesn't grip thin fabrics too well. I decided to handle this just by stacking stabilizer onto the back of the project until it decided to behave.

As for hoop burn, in almost every project except for endless, I float the fabric on top of the hoop. Most machines have a program to automatically run a line of basting stitches outside the design. So, I hoop stabilizer, then lay the fabric on the stabilizer, and then baste it down.

If the line of basting will leave holes in the fabric when it's removed, I'll break out the sticky stabilizer. This is some silk noil on top of some offbrand Wet'n'(not quite)Gone (sorta)Tacky. No hoop burn, because the hoop isn't holding the fabric. I'd like to say that the number of times that I've had to break out the sticky stabilizer instead of just using the basting line is very small.

I also do this floating method with the basting line because it really reduces puckering. It's also a lot easier to get things on straight. If I'm matching some stitching lines, I can hoop the stabilizer and then turn the fabric around all that I want, before basting it down. It's a lot easier to match stripes or something when you can freely move the fabric independently of the hoop.

Other advantages of basting line is that you can easily use a piece of fabric that's smaller than your hoop, or use something that's hard to hoop like a t-shirt. Also, running the basting line works like a corner check to ensure that the hoop won't hit anything. It gives you a preview of where the design is going to go, so you can also fix position issues before you actually commit to stitching.

I do use sticky or fusible stabilizer for endless/repositionable projects, because you have to move the hoop and the fabric together. It's such an annoyance, but I don't think re-hooped projects are meant to be anything other than annoying. If you want to save a bunch of money, you can always baste regular non-sticky stabilizer to your endless projects.

If your machine has auto presser foot up/down, it probably has a function like this where it'll sew a single basting stitch when you tap the foot pedal. If your machine has a knee lift, you can also set it to a wide zig zag and just tap the foot control a couple of times before raising the foot control and moving it.

So, if you don't want to spend $84 on real Wet'n'Gone Tacky, you can get some regular Wet'n'Gone for $19 and then spend some quality time with your machine to baste it down.

Or you can go bother your friend with a machine with a free-motion stitch regulator (mostly the Berninas with BSR), set it for 1-2 stitches per inch, and then just pull the fabric through the machine as smoothly as possible. The machine will sew big stitches across the fabric and you'll save yourself a ton of time. I'm not about to buy a Bernina just for this function, but I'll definitely borrow one at work for this function.

So yeah, the short version of that is that, if you want to do multi-hooping projects, you probably want to invest in some kind of hoop that makes adjusting the fabric easier than re-hooping over and over. If you're having hoop burn or trouble orienting a single-hoop project, try to avoid putting the fabric in the hoop.

Thanks for listening to my machine embroidery ramblings! :)

[teehiicat]

Minnesota Vikings X Nike 2024 NFL Crucial Catch Shirt

Minnesota Vikings X Nike 2024 NFL Crucial Catch Shirt

We do it Christmas morning, after everyone is awake, and has eaten breakfast and is dressed. We don’t open any on Christmas Eve, we do them all on Christmas with an exception his year. This year I bought my son a Minnesota Vikings X Nike 2024 NFL Crucial Catch Shirt for school, as his was in rough shape, and had to keep going in for repairs. I actually let him open it the morning of his school concert, so that he could play it. Other then special circumstances, everyone opens their gifts Christmas morning. We let the kids get stockings and Santa presents first, they play with their new toys for a little while. Then we clean up and wrapping paper and boxes, and set the toys aside, and open presents they’ve given to each other. After about a half hour of that, we clean up a little, and move on to presents from Mom and Dad, and if the hhikdren have something for us, we open those too. After we do one more present clean up, the kids get to spend the day playing with their new toys and gadgets and whatever they got. I do know of a few families that open one present on Christmas Eve. They will give their kids new pajamas that they open to wear Christmas Eve to bed. It sounds fun, and I’m thinking I might start up that in my home for next year.

[teddyniffler]

Mercy in Defeat

Chapter 10

He didn’t have to attend Easter service that day, Alfred didn’t want to put too much on him at once, he was free to go back to his room to change into normal clothing, which he was only too happy about, back into the long-sleeved shirts that came to his wrists and pants that fitted him perfectly, Saxon clothing. He guessed he was a Saxon now.

‘But I am still me’ he thought with a smile, he was still himself. He was still in control of his body, no force had taken him. Nothing had changed in him other than what people were calling him, but to him he was still Hvitserk, the son of Ragnar. There appeared to be no Christian magic at work inside of him, did it work?

He reached up and touched his forehead, some of the dampness was gone, having dried in the air, his skin felt the same and looking into the mirror he didn’t see anything new with his appearance except for the silver cross around his neck, the chain shone against his green clothing, reflecting the sun into the mirror. Once he used to wear an arm ring to show which gods he worshipped, to show he belonged to a community, to a king, but now he was to wear this to show other Christians he was one of them. It felt strange to him but by wearing this any of his own people, the Pagans, would attack him for it. That thought weighted heavy on him, making him pause for a moment to reflect on this.

They was to be a party later, an after Easter feast but also a celebration for him joining their faith. While he was waiting for the church service to end, he stared at himself some more in the mirror. He looked a world apart from the young man he had first seen reflecting back at him for the first time back in the Mediterranean. His face was now scared where before was smooth skin, untouched by any blade or arrow. The eyes shone just the same, but now the green held the things he has witnessed these last few years. Where once was perfectly braided hair was hair that was just combed back and tied in place in a way that was acceptable by the Saxons. Where once was a clean-shaven young man who couldn’t grow too much of anything now had a beard. Alfred, the guards, the sisters and the servants hadn’t let him anywhere near a blade, just in case he used it as a weapon, on them or on himself, so he couldn’t shave and hadn’t in almost a year, maybe now he was one of them they would let him. That young adult from before who got excited at unknown food and the one who looked back at him now were so unalike, one full of hope for the future and the other who had overcome a lot of pain just to survive. He tore his eyes away and went back to his bed and swung his legs around to rest on the chest at the foot of his bed, his favoured way to sit when he wanted to think. His eyes lingered upon the table in the corner of the room, his pendent was still in there, he would have to hide it somewhere.

Why did Floki, his mother and the others all fear the Christians so much?

Was it because they were so used to killing they didn’t want it to stop? He had seen his mother torment Christians and then ordering them to be killed while growing up, all of his people thought killing was a good thing, he remembered how Sigurd once wished him well on his first real raid by wishing his blood would get soaked with blood. What kind of farewell was that? He thought about when he was a kid, going to Paris felt like a big adventure with Ubbe, but now when he looked back, all he could see was an introduction into killing. How could they not see how messed up that was? Why didn’t see it before?

Did Ubbe also come to realize this too? Was that why he was so desperate to get out of Kattegat and his family away from such an environment that raises them to be killers. Both Ubbe and Torvi wanted to leave all the Viking life behind them. Hvitserk could relate to him now, he would want to leave such a place too if he had children, Ubbe had the right idea, get away from everything. Hvitserk just hoped his life from now would be better, less painful.

Ubbe wasn’t bewitched, that was the hard truth Hvitserk now mulled over. There was no enchantment upon him, no other reason he had turned on Hvitserk. He had simply returned to Kattegat with clear eyes for the first time in his life and had walked into the aftermath of yet another battle in the endless line of battles, to a drunken brother who had betrayed him one too many times. No wonder Ubbe didn’t want anything to do with him once he had turned to alcohol and drugs, and when he had killed Lagatha, Ubbe had cut all ties to him, because Ubbe thought Hvitserk would never change.

He walked down to the throne room, Alfred was waiting for him, they walked in together, the atmosphere had changed towards him, before today people still muttered around him, not too many but some did, some people of the church cast looks at him as if his presence was condemning them all by him just being there among them, and still there was the odd sister who crossed themselves when he walked passed, now however it was so different. Everybody was warm to him and greeted him as if they had known him all his life.

‘I have changed’ Hvitserk thought sadly, imagining Ubbe’s face.

He laid back on his bed and absentmindedly played with the cross around his neck, it had felt cold when Alfred put it on him, not like the leather cord he had been used too, but it had warmed to his body heat. He was watching the way the stones shone in the light when there was a knock on the door, the church service was over. From next week he was to attend church with Alfred and go to Mass, and then go on any special holy day, it was going to be a lot to get used too.

“Your Highness, your presence is requested in the court” The servant bowed and waited to the side. Hvitserk was startled, technically as the son of the king and queen of Kattegat he was considered a prince back home, but nobody ever used the title to address him, his father would roll his eyes if anybody had tried, but the Saxons were much more formal, he had forgotten he now bore a new Saxon title too, as well as a new name.

“Coming” Hvitserk said.

“Ah Prince Athelstan” One noble said, coming up to him, he was an older man, Hvitserk had seen him around Alfred a few times “My Prince, it pleases me that you have given up your savage ways and embraced the true God at last.”

“Um” Hvitserk said at a total lost as to what he should say to that. “Thank you?”

Alfred looked uncomfortable and created a reason for them to move away, for which Hvitserk was grateful for, being next to Alfred felt better than being away from him, however it was not long until Alfred had to go talk with other people, with an apologetic look, Alfred left Hvitserk after touching his arm, meaning Hvitserk was left alone with the crowd of people all chatting among each other, it appeared Easter was another cause for celebration but much less rowdy than Christmas and more formal, he didn’t think the people would be getting drunk this time. He was hungry so he picked up something to eat.

“Prince Athelstan” It was a churchman who had approached him this time, Hvitserk quickly swallowed the food he had been eating.

“Hello” Hvitserk said.

“It must have been so hard to walk away from one’s family and culture, but you did the correct thing, they are burning as we speak and Ivar the Boneless? He is suffering the most for what he did to this fair God-fearing island, but you have found salvation. That takes great courage. It is my hope that one day all Pagans will find salvation as you did. I will keep that in my prayers”

The man smiled as if he had said the loveliest thing to Hvitserk, Hvitserk just smiled and moved on. Behind them, Alfred glanced over at the Churchman.

As he walked through the crowd, he noticed a sister standing by a wall, her head was mostly down, not making eye contact with anybody in the room, but she looked up as Hvitserk passed and he couldn’t help but notice she looked familiar to him, but he couldn’t place why. She had a youthful face and was likely the same age as him, she had noticed him looking at her so he turned away fast, he didn’t want to scare her, remembering how the other sisters had acted nervous around him, however she smiled warmly. He returned the smile slightly awkwardly, not sure if he was meant to speak to her or not.

“Hello” He said to be polite, but quietly as he wasn’t still sure if this was allowed.

“Hello Your Highness, it gladdens me that you are looking more well now” she said, bowing her head.

Now he realized why she looked familiar; she was one of the sisters Alfred had asked to sit with him when his wounds were horrifically painful during those early days and weeks, she had sat with him during the nights. She had held his hand and showed him how to breathe through the pain and calmed him, she had cleaned up when he had vomited from the pain, talked to him softly in those endless hours when he was only half awake from his medicine. Thankfully, she had never washed him in his bed or give him a bath, that was the sisters during the day.

Hvitserk felt himself blush in embarrassment, his checks burned and he suddenly wished he was back in his room. Countless times had she dried his tears when his exhaustion made them spill or tried to get him to lie down while he shook with pain in those early weeks, of all the sisters in this villa, in Wessex, in England, why did she have to be here now.

“Thanks” He stuttered out, not knowing what to say “For sitting with me.”

She smiled again and nodded her head, most of her was hidden under those clothes she wore, but he could see her face and he couldn’t help but notice how pretty she was, he had never noticed that about her since today, Hvitserk felt bad for thinking that, he tried to think of anything else, she was married to his new god and here he was thinking she looked pretty.

“I should go, oh, King Alfred wants me” He mumbled with a smile and moved as far away from her as he could. Alfred and the Bishop had mentioned how he would have to attend confession in future to cleanse himself of any future sin, he really hoped that the sister wouldn’t be ever on his list of sins to confess too.

As he moved around, various people stopped him, but their words of congratulations just confused him, leaving him stumbling for a reply.

A woman’s voice hit his ear but he didn’t realize they were talking to him.

“Athelstan?” Elsewith asked when he walked past her without looking at her. He blurted out his automatic response.

“Yes I made the right choice. I am glad I am not a heathen anymore” He said automatically, as he knew that was what they all wanted to hear him say. Elsewith looked confused for a second before he noticed who had spoken to him.

“Oh sorry” He mumbled, the amount of people stopping him to talk was starting to bother him, maybe he could stay near the queen for a while. He always felt odd in any festive setting, in the past he would have gotten drunk and fell asleep at a table, or left the party to be by himself, but he couldn’t do either of them right now.

“Yes you did make the correct choice though, in time you will see that” She smiled, then she dropped her voice to a serious tone “The magic of our Lord is working on you, I can tell, it should be complete by tonight.”

He froze. The music seemed to go quite as he looked at Elsewith, his mouth opened slightly, everything slowed down around him. The Christian magic was real? but they all said it wasn’t true. Did this mean he really would lose himself? Then he noticed Elsewith had a funny look in her eye, the same glint she had in her eyes when she sent a crying Edward among the Nobles, and he realized she was joking with him as she started laughing.

He joined her, shaking his head, she had got him that time. He would have to watch out for her less serious side in future.

“Is everything okay though? Alfred mentioned some people were being a little insensitive with what they were saying to you” She looked concerned for him.

“No, it’s nothing much. I’ve just been commended on not being a savage, for admiration at my bravery at renouncing the devil, for taking myself out of the fires of hell” He listed “One of the Monk Physicians told me the pain I was suffering before was penance for my sins and I should embrace that time fondly”

Elsewith shook her head and Hvitserk could have sworn she had rolled her eyes.

“Zealots, the whole lot of them, most of them are hypocrites and should look at their own lives, just let me know when you want this to end and I will have my son brought out”

Hvitserk had liked Elsewith for a little while, but now he had true respect for her. He grinned.

“Can he come now?”

Lucky for Hvitserk, Alfred came to find him not long after.

“Would you walk with me?” He asked

Hvitserk nodded and said goodbye to Elsewith. Alfred wasn’t at all surprised to have found them together, he didn’t particular like parties himself, if it were up to Alfred he would be in his study with a scroll of Roman accounts, however as the king he had a duty to be there, but that didn’t mean he had to stay entirely, part of this walk was to talk to Hvitserk, but part was also to get away from the busy environment.

They walked out of the court together through the main entrance, normally they would have used the private royal entrance at the back, which told Hvitserk they were going for a real walk and just not to Alfred’s personal rooms.

“I thought it would be good to get some air” Alfred explained, he was feeling well but he needed some fresh air after the warm air of the court “Also we can be alone, for I need to talk to you.”

Alfred paused and looked around him to make sure they were alone and that there were no small structures anybody could be standing out of sight. Only once sure they were alone did he talk.

“This is important Athelstan, I’m not expecting you to suddenly change overnight, that would not be possible and a cruel unrealistic expectation, but other people expect you to be different now, even if they didn’t know you before. They will expect you fully to have a Christian mindset now, to act like you are one of us right away, from this moment, you will need to try as hard as you can to not give any of my nobles, the Bishop, or anybody else around you any cause for concern, that means you can never slip up and say something from your past life, don’t mention your brothers, your parents, your homeland. I don’t say this to be cruel to you, but out of my desire to keep you safe. Do you remember what I told you about Apostates? The common punishment is to crucify them, they did that to my father when they captured him. I can protect you while you are in my household, but in years to come when you are king in East Anglia, there is only so much protection I can offer you while you are there, by then you will need to have this new life perfected, not just you but any children you may have, anybody who knows who you were before this will still be watching you and your children, you must leave no doubt in their minds that you are a Christian Saxon, and your children too must have Saxon names and be raised in the Christian faith, you can never slip up and mention anything Pagan, not even to speak Norse. Do you understand Hvitserk?”

Hvitserk nodded. He understood exactly what this meant. He still had enemies who would wish him harm.

“Yes”

“You just answered to your old name.” Alfred pointed out to Hvitserk’s look of horror. “Try not to even stir at the mention of your old name, for they will be looking out for that.”

“Sorry” Hvitserk mumbled.

“I don’t mind, I mean it for your safety” Alfred looked around to make sure they were still alone. “I will help you; you will never be alone for this. My own nobles tried to murder me once just for being sick, there will have zero reservations about killing somebody they suspect is a Pagan, regardless of who you now worship. I will keep you safe and protected. You have my word.”

Alfred reached out and moved Hvitserk’s collar over, yes there was no sign of his corded necklace.

“I told my servant to take the pendent off, where did you put it?” Alfred asked him.

“It’s in the draw near my bed” Hvitserk answered. “Ivar give me it. I don’t want to throw it away.”

“Okay” Alfred told him “It will need to be hidden somewhere more secure if you wish to keep it, bring it to my chambers tonight, I will keep it safe for you in my private archive, nobody but me is allowed in there, not even my guards are permitted in there.”

“Where you hide all the Roman stuff” Hvitserk whispered with a grin. He had been in Alfred’s archives himself many times with the king to study Roman history, Alfred was very enthusiastic about the ancient civilization.

Alfred smiled guilty.

“That is why I understand your struggle” He said, it was true. He did have his doubts, he remembered the day his grandfather showed him everything in there, all the similarities between their religion and the Pagan’s religions, all the contradictions, all the words in those texts that just didn’t match up with each other. Then the underlaying anger in Alfred at what the holy men once did to his father, the way the Church was ran on corruption rather than faith, some, such as Bishop Heahmund had been honest and genuine, but even he had faults and sins. In a way, keeping the Roman documents felt like an act of rebellion, his grandfather had felt the same. If anybody had ever found out such articles were hidden and regularly read by the ruling king in England… Alfred used to have fears the Pope’s own army would invade Wessex when he was younger. He told his grandfather his fears, but Ecbert told Alfred never to worry himself over that.

“There is something I wanted to ask” Hvitserk asked him

“What is it?”

“I haven’t been allowed to shave since I got here” he said, fully giving Alfred the hint with his eyes. Alfred noticed and hesitated for a second.

“I suppose it won’t hurt, but for reasons I’m sure you understand I will have a guard present” Alfred said, he wasn’t too fond on the idea of Hvitserk having anything sharp around him, he appeared cheerful enough, but it was hard to tell what mind set he was in.

“I’m not going to hurt anybody” Hvitserk said “Those days are behind me”

Alfred paused for a moment.

“I meant for your own safety. I trust you enough to know you don’t mean anybody harm”

There was a silence between them.

Oh.

He had told Alfred weeks ago about trying to die of exposure that night in the woods after he had killed Lagatha when he was at his lowest, when he had confessed what he had done. Did Alfred still believe he wanted that?

“You don’t have to worry about that” Hvitserk said, reaching over to touch Alfred’s arm without thinking he was touching the king. “I’m not going to the ‘other place’ anyway, so you don’t have to worry about me trying to get there”

Alfred apricated his honestly, and his attempt not to say ‘Valhalla’.

“Come see me later tonight” Alfred said “And go find my servant, he’s standing behind the throne by the wall in the court room, tell him I’ve given my permission for you to have a shave, and Athelstan, make sure there’s a guard present, I will know if there wasn’t”

Hvitserk grinned at him and hurried back into the villa. Alfred watched him go before walking on along the path alone. He sat on a bench and looked up at the heavens above him. The path he had set Hvitserk on was going to be a hard one for the both of them, but they would make this work, this son of Ragnar he would keep alive, he was determined. He couldn’t have kept Ubbe safe, but he could protect his little brother.

He was finally clean shaven again.

It had been far too long since he had last been hair-free, he felt more himself again, he had never liked too much hair on his face. He ran his hands down his soft skin on his face and chin, as Alfred had asked, they had been a guard there to make sure Hvitserk didn’t do anything. Back in his room, the reflection looking back at him looked familiar again.

He left the mirror and took out his pendent from the drawer, then sat on the floor in front of the chest and for a few minutes he remembered the day Ivar had gifted this to him. Ivar had been crawling around in the market that day, he wanted Hvitserk to come to his ‘room’. His room was in the corner on the floor in their shared cabin the brothers all stayed in when they got too old to share a room with their mother. Ivar had a soft mattress raised slightly off the ground, low enough that he wouldn’t break any of his bones getting in and out, but raised enough to keep him away from the draft.

Ivar had reached under his bed and pulled out two pendants. One was Mjolnir and the other a tringle broken from some crown belonging to some Saxon queen. Ivar had said it was a gift for Hvitserk, for Hvitserk was the only brother who had never picked on him. Hvitserk had been moved by his gesture. Sometimes Ivar was scary, but at times he was loving and this was one of them.

Hvitserk looked at Mjolnir and smiled, no doubt Ivar wanted that one and was hoping Hvitserk would pick the other, he knew his brother so well. Mjolnir was the best one, but Hvitserk just knew Ivar had picked that out for himself, so his eyes travelled to the broken crown’s tringle. Picking up the tringle pendent, he asked if he could have this one. Ivar’s smile confirmed Hvitserk’s gut feeling. They put their foreheads together for a moment of affection, then placed the cords around their necks. They never took them off ever again.

Until now.

Hvitserk blinked away the tears. He wasn’t throwing it away, just keeping it safe. He placed it deep into his pocket in his pants and went to see Alfred.

The king was in his chambers, Elsewith wasn’t here. Hvitserk didn’t understand a Christian marriage at all, because to him it sometimes felt like Alfred and Elsewith didn’t share a bed all the time. They had been a few nights when Alfred had invited Hvitserk here to play chess or just talk and Elsewith had never came in. Alfred rolled up a scroll as Hvitserk came in and he knew at once it was one of the Roman ones.

“I will keep it in a box, that way it won’t get lost or damaged” Alfred said, taking a small container from the corner of the room and placing it on the table. Hvitserk took out the pendent and looked at it. He rubbed his thumb down the tringle before placing it into the box Alfred was holding.

“Any time you want to see this, you just have to ask” Alfred told him.

Hvitserk stayed for a while, Alfred didn’t seem tired.

“How are you feeling?” Alfred asked him.

Hvitserk shrugged

“I’m not really sure. Happy, I guess. I’m alive, but it’s a lot to take in at once. Not that this feeling is new, I’ve always felt so lost, so maybe this new start will make more sense to me”

Alfred nodded.

“It will get easier for you. Just remember if you need any help, anything at all, just let me know”

Hvitserk thought of something that had been bugging him. He bit his lip.

He thought of all the Saxons he had ever seen, almost every single one. He looked at Alfred, he remembered the day they had first met, he had his hair long, but never as long as Hvitserk’s. Alfred’s hair at its longest came to his shoulders. Hvitserk’s hair reached his elbows. All Saxons were neatly groomed, Hvitserk’s hair was normal for a viking, but among the Saxon’s, his hair looked unkempt and straggly. If he needed to start looking and acting like a Saxon, then…

“There is something” Hvitserk hesitated, he wasn’t sure how to say this. “I was thinking of cutting my hair, but I wasn’t sure how. I’ve never cut my hair”

Alfred glanced over.

“I can cut your hair if you want.”

Anxiety of a different sort ran through Hvitserk’s stomach, his hair was the last part of him that was still who he used to be, letting it go would be saying goodbye entirely, but he had already come to terms with letting everything go.

Hvitserk nodded.

Alfred went over to a cupboard and brought out a small blade and a comb. He came to Hvitserk’s side and took out the bands keeping all his hair back and started brushing his hair. He picked up a strand and-

Hvitserk felt the slight tug on his hair as the strand came down. And again, and again he felt strand after strand being picked up.

Each strand cut away his Viking identity.

The comb ran through his hair again.

More strands came loss.

He remembered how his father and Bjorn had altered their hairs, it wasn’t really too much of a big deal. Right?

His hair was starting to feel very light.

Each strand cut away who Hvitserk had been.

Ivar always kept his hair short.

More cutting. The part at the front of his face was lifted and… Hair fell onto his forehead. It hadn’t done that since he was a young boy. When he looked up, he could see dark golden threads of hair.

Alfred’s hands were running through Hvitserk’s short hair, styling it up. It felt really soft now it was free of almost a life time of deadends and blood splatter. It went fluffy as if it was being freed at last from everything that was weighting it down. The same way Hvitserk felt in his mind.

“Done” Alfred said “Want to see?”

Alfred placed a mirror down for Hvitserk to look.

Hvitserk braced himself. He picked up the mirror and looked at his hair. Now the reflection looking back at him looked nothing like the young Viking boy on his first raid.

Hvitserk was truly gone, looking back at him was a Saxon Prince.

[luxuryandsports1]

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