#given my blot is back pls

[lifsheep]

Translation:

Pili: Hey this song is so Pangi from the realms

The song is Love of my life by Queen

[m1ckeyb3rry]

Series Synopsis: When the husband you’ve never met returns from the war you’ve never understood, he comes bearing a strange and inexplicable gift — a prince in chains who he refuses to kill.

Series Masterlist

Pairing: Mydei x F!Reader

Chapter Word Count: 17.0k

Content Warnings: pls check the masterlist there is. a lot. and i’m not retyping all of that LOL

A/N: okay so two things a) sorry for the wait (i thought i would get this out quicker but then my professors decided to kin reader's husband and trapped me with a multitude of exams...) and b) i am. truly shocked by how many people ended up reading/enjoying part one?? like it's crazy to me SLKJFH i hope you guys don't hate where i go with this 😭 and like ik i gave a ton of ooc warnings in the main warning section but they bear repeating LOL so. PLEASE DON'T HATE ME IF BRO IS OOC IDEK HIM LIKE THAT 😓💔

The Southern Sea was unsettled again, thrashing against the shore like a bird tangled in netting, beating itself into such a frenzy that the waves broke silver on the sand. This was atypical of the cerulean waters, and you crouched, fragments of seashells digging into your bare heels as you ran your fingers through the tide. Expecting your father to reprimand you for putting yourself in unnecessary danger, you glanced up, but his mind was clearly preoccupied, as distant as his soft gaze.

“Father,” you said, standing and taking a step back, clutching his arm to steady yourself against the wind. “The sea is strange as of late, isn’t it?”

“They say it knows more than we do,” he said, staring at the horizon, where ships gathered like thunderheads. “Perhaps this is its way of protecting us.”

“I thought the empire was friendly,” you said, narrowing your eyes at the crest painted on the coming boats. “Do we not have some understanding with them?”

“I wonder,” he said. “My darling…you know, sometimes, I wonder.”

 You lay in your bed, a sheen of sweat glistening on your skin as you stared at the ceiling. The blankets covering you were suddenly overwarm, though you could not bear to cast them aside, and your eyes welled with scalding tears that threatened to spill out of their corners. Swallowing and turning over, you used the edges of your pillow to blot at them before they could fall, burrowing further and further into the confines of the tangled furs which padded your bedding. 

Your vision often swam nowadays, for you were dizzy with exhaustion, but you could not bring yourself to sleep, not when your mind had taken up this new form of torment for you. As if it were not enough that you were imprisoned here in your waking hours, as well! Over and over, it would replay that same scene, everything clearer in recall than it had been when it had actually occurred, the colors brighter, the details sharper, stabbing into you with their cruel poignance. 

There were some things, however, which were blurred, the image fading at the edges with time, and this was worse than the remembering, because these were the only things you wished to recall, and this thieving empire would not even let you have that. Even your memories were not safe from their pillaging and their curses, and so their crest was burned into your mind while the rest of it slipped away like river-water through reeds.

You had known as soon as you had awoken that you would not be able to fall asleep again, but that did not stop you from yet another futile attempt. Your lower lip trembled as you waited, fisting your sheets and holding them to your heart as you tried in vain to ease its panicked thumping, which kept time with the furious crash of waves on a far-off shore.

You wanted your home. You wanted to sleep. You wanted your father. You wanted the sea. You wanted to go back. You wanted to have never left in the first place. You wanted, wanted, wanted, but only that which you could never get. Your husband, who was so wealthy in so many ways, who had given you the prince of Kremnos himself, wrapped in chains and delivered at your feet, would never grant you those few wishes which you truly desired, had neither the fancy nor the ability to do so.

Taking one of the lighter blankets and swaddling it around yourself like a shroud, you slid from your bed and fumbled around in the dark for a lantern, which you lit with the embers of the kept hearth. Holding it close to yourself, for luminance and for warmth, you tiptoed through the hallways, your previous flush fading in favor of shivers, which ran up and down your spine the farther you got from your chambers.

There was some invisible force which tethered you to the prince. Certainly there must’ve been, for you could not fathom any other reason why your feet were tracing that familiar path down to the cellar, the blanket still tossed over your shoulders, your stomach wringing itself out from the weight — both of the palace above you and the prince before you.

You thought he might be asleep when you came, but he was as he typically was, as much of a statue as the one you had stood across from on your wedding day. His eyebrows knit together when he saw you, and it was such a sweet, dear expression that you were taken aback, for you had in truth believed him incapable of anything but that dark, glowering scowl which he maintained as if it were the sole representation of the few shreds of self-regard he had left to his name.

“You’re back,” he said carefully. You set the lantern down in between the two of you and, as he always did, he crept closer to its meager incandescence. You pretended not to notice, affording him the grace of ignorance to his innate instinct, and then you nodded.

“Yes,” you said. “I’m sorry, I don’t have anything. It’s still late at night.”

“I thought as much,” he said, nodding at your empty hands. “Time is different here, but even then, I think that I know the difference between a few hours and an entire day. Has there been some development, then? Is your rotten husband finally freeing me?”

“No,” you said, and though he disguised it with a blank frown, you noticed how his face fell. “I don’t have news in any way, for better or worse. Sometimes, I think my  husband is entirely determined to forget that you exist at all.”

“If I were to guess, he means to deprive me to death,” Mydeimos said dispassionately, as if he were talking about someone else, a distantly historical figure whose fate had no bearing on his own. “Should I face a proper execution, I will haunt him from beyond the grave as a banner for Kremnos to rally behind. As it is, he must be hoping that I will fade quietly from the annals of history — the last in another line of princes subsumed by his empire.”

You folded your arms over your chest, a shield against his blunt line of thought. “He is prone to it, I suppose.”

“Is he?” Mydeimos said, like you both were sharing some private joke. He spoke daringly, slyly, as if he were attempting to nudge you into honesty, and you imagined that if you were somewhere else, in a place where the sun shone and the tides eddied about your feet, you would’ve found his manner a temptation. Yet you were here, in this dark cellar, and so all you could muster was a kind of mournful heartache at the impossibility of it all.

“I am sure it is what he intends for the kingdom from whence I hail. Though neither death nor deprivation are required there; the princes are still young, and so if it comes to it, they will…” you trailed off, overcome, before you steeled yourself to continue once more, though a bitter resentment crept into your tone like poison when you did so. “Anyways, the eldest child of the kingdom is a daughter, and she is a spoiled, brattish thing who cares for little but her jewels and her dresses. She will pose no trouble to such an empire as my husband’s.”

“I see,” he said. 

“Ah, but regardless,” you said. “It matters little. I shan’t allow him to kill you in such a way.”

“And your word, of course, is law,” he said, and you wondered at his constitution, which allowed him to scorn you even when he was, in a sense, nothing more than a corpse, a vessel bound for funeral and finality. Was he like this with the others, too? The many men who came to gouge at him with their glares and their abuse, did he strike them with his whip-sharp tongue? Or was it that you were the only one — the only one who deserved it, or the only one who took it with your tail tucked and your head bowed?

“Do you ever sleep?” you said, for if it was the case and you were the sole person he dared to rail against, then how could you take it from him? When it had been taken from you, how could you turn around and do the same to another? “You are always awake when I come to see you.”

He stared at you incredulously, as if you were quite mad. You waited, thinking that he must be choosing his words carefully, but when he finally did speak, it was with a breathy laugh, like he could not quite believe that he had to say it aloud.

“Do I ever sleep?” he parroted. “If I sleep, dear lady, I am certain that I will never wake again. How many men would happen upon me and not dare to slit my throat in such a state, when they can be assured that I will not be able to retaliate? Do I ever sleep, indeed!”

You wished you could tell him that it was the same for you — different, because that which spelled your end came to you only in your dreams, and so you were chased from repose as surely as he ran from it, but the same nonetheless. The bruises carved into the hollows of his cheeks and painted under his dark lash-line were identically replicated on your face, although you were better about hiding it, staining your skin with all manners of concoctions so that your husband did not question what ailed you.

“It will kill you regardless, won’t it?” you said, furrowing your brow. He shrugged, and despite the atrophy of his mind and body alike, it was a powerful gesture, all the more intimidating for its halfheartedness.

“Who will weep if it does?” he said.

“Every manner of thing in this place is meant to kill you, in fact,” you continued. “It is as you said, then: they mean for you to meet death by deprivation, to suffer until your very end. You cannot sleep, nor can you eat…but as I have brought you food, so, too, shall I bring you rest.”

“And how do you imagine you’ll do that?” he said.

“I will stay here,” you said, the strength of your conviction shocking yourself. You hadn’t known until you had said it that you would, but as it left your mouth, you became utterly sure that it was the right decision. “I will watch over you, prince of Kremnos, and should — should someone else come, then I will wake you before I flee, so that you may defend yourself.”

“Why would you do that?” he said. “What good does it do for you to protect me when my end is decided?”

He said it with curiosity, not deprecation, although there was an edge of despairing anger to it. Why? Why do you extend your hand to a doomed man? If I must die, then let me die now instead of later. If he were more honest, then perhaps he would’ve said something like that, but instead he only gazed at you levelly and waited for your response.

“If we both are to meet our deaths in this palace, then let at least one of us meet that demise with a head held high,” you said.

For a moment, it seemed like he might question you. You prepared rebuttals that you could never make but which would swish around in your mind like an impenetrable defense — a death of the body is not the only way to die, after all — but then, miraculously, he only hummed

“You think that it must be me?” he said.

“The Kremnoans are known for their pride, aren’t they? It isn’t the same for my people, who roll over and show their stomachs at the slightest incitement,” you said, taking the blanket off of your shoulders and holding it out to him. “I have made my vows already. What can I do but accept this fate? Yet it needn’t be the same for you.”

He peered at you with eyes that saw far more than they should, far more than you had allowed him or anyone else to, and then he nodded. Shortly, curtly, but he did it, taking the blanket and unfurling it like a war-banner in the meantime.

“I understand,” he said.

“Do you?” you said, for you could not tell what, exactly, it was that he understood. He did not elaborate, however, tucking himself away in the corner, draping the blanket over himself like a mantle and resting his head on his arms. Although he did not close his eyes, watching you even still, you could see them fluttering against his will, and you knew it would not be long before he succumbed, whether he wanted to or not. There was only so long he could survive without sleep for, after all — at the end of the day, he was still a man, and thus prone to humanity’s shortcomings.

“Turn around,” he said gruffly. “Watch the stairs, not me. I will not be the one to bring you harm.”

You apologized, sitting with your legs crossed and your back to him, watching the shadows cast by the lantern as they flickered and danced, waltzing about to the soundtrack of his breaths, which slowly evened into a soft rhythm of inhales and exhales as the time dragged on.

Minutes or seconds or hours passed, you could not be sure, but when your legs grew numb from inactivity, you shifted so that you were hugging your knees to your chest, muffling your face in the fabric of your nightgown.

“Are you asleep?” you whispered.

He did not respond, and when you glanced over your shoulder, you saw that his eyes were closed, his face smooth with innocence as his chest rose and fell under the thin blanket. It was as if he were another person entirely, a more forgiving person, a kinder one, the sort of gentle prince that stories were written about instead of the violent beast who killed as many men as were thrown at him.

“That’s good, then,” you said, a weight on your tongue dissipating now that you were, in effect, alone. “Huh? I didn’t realize…”

Even your vows could not police your thoughts, or, if they could, they had not yet attempted to. Your stream of consciousness was still unfettered, and now that Mydeimos was asleep, you could say what you pleased, could tell him everything you wanted without fear of reproach. It nearly brought you to tears, the mere thought of it, and you had to take a deep breath to steady yourself.

“I understand you more than you think,” you admitted. “You know, just as they’ve taken the sun from you, they’ve taken something precious from me as well. I speak of the sea — oh, but I never told you that, right? Nobody here knows, or at least they pretend that they don’t, but it’s true that I am from the shores of the Southern Sea, where the sky is always clear and the people are as beautiful as the tides.”

You half-expected him to startle awake and snap at you, or for your voice to suddenly die away in protest at your rebellion, but when neither of these things happened, you slumped down in relief.

“It’s often said that the Southern Sea is beyond compare, the closest to paradise that can be found on the living earth. Perhaps I’m biased in agreeing, but I really think it’s the case. I love it, I love it as much as you love the sun — and how you miss the sun, so, too, do I miss the sea. Daily anew I ask myself how it is that I am still alive when I have been so far from it for so long, but somehow I persist, though there are times…ah, but I digress. It isn’t your concern,” you said.

If he were awake, he would’ve jeered at you. How dare you, who were the empress of this entire place, speak of struggle? When he was locked away like this and you were left to your own devices, how dare you pretend as though you understood him? You were suddenly grateful that he could not hear you, or else whatever opinion he had of you would be irrevocably lowered.

“You would find it strange and inexplicable, as Kremnos is entirely inland, but for me, the sea is parent and friend and confidante alike,” you said. “You see, I was my mother’s first child, and so my birth was rife with difficulties. For two days and two nights she labored, until a wisewoman recommended she be taken to the Southern Sea.

“Of course, my father was frightened, for who would trust a wife and a babe to the treachery of the currents? But it’s an odd thing…the waters have never been calmer than they were that day, when my mother was taken to a cove where the seaweed held her hands and the monk-seals played as her midwives. You know, the whales sang when I was finally born, a clear-eyed slip of a child cradled in my father’s arms.”

The mention of your father made you pause, for you had not said that word in so long that it was all but foreign. Father. Your father, your father, you would tell the sleeping Mydeimos all about your father if you had the time and the energy for it. But where would you start, and where would you end? 

“I miss the Southern Sea in the way a bride must miss her mother,” you said. “My actual mother never had much time for me, far too preoccupied with the rearing of the younger ones, and so I was left to the waters and my father, both who cared for me with great consideration, and both who I — who I miss most ardently.”

Your chest felt near to caving in, and you tightened your grip around your knees, as if by holding onto yourself, you could prevent the further spread of the burrowing sensation emanating from your heart, which would dig and dig until there was nothing left of you but blackened, gangrenous innards that rattled around in an empty carapace. 

Mydeimos awoke some time later, though you only knew because he cleared his throat, prompting you to turn and find that he was crouched on the ground, folding the blanket with a neat precision, matching the corners with mathematical accuracy. You watched him in bewilderment, the exactness and nigh-domesticity all but jarring, and in turn he ignored you, fascinating himself with the work so that he could avoid your gaze.

“You stayed,” he said when he could no longer pretend like the blanket required his attention. Dropping it in your lap, he looked down at you with arms crossed, a silent and clear refusal to offer you his hand in the way of a nobleman. You did not insist, taking the blanket and scrambling to your feet on your own.

“Yes, I told you that I would,” you said. “Did you sleep well?”

“‘Well’ is a stretch,” he said. You averted your eyes, lips tugging into an involuntary frown, and he sighed. “But at least I slept. For that, I am…grateful.”

“I didn’t really do anything,” you said, in an attempt to disguise the disproportionate pleasure the simple acknowledgment brought you. “But since you found it to be of some help, I will come back tomorrow.”

“If that is what you will,” he said, albeit lacking his typical sardonic bite. “By the way, you referenced your home.”

“I did?” you said, trying to think back to what you had said before he had fallen asleep. It felt as though you had lived very many lifetimes since then, and everything jumbled together in your mind, so you only blinked at him expectantly, waiting for him to elaborate.

“You said that the people of your home are known for their yellow-bellied cowardice,” he reminded you, and dimly you recalled saying such a thing, though you hadn’t expected him to latch onto such a random, stray line. 

“That’s right,” you said. “Why do you mention it?”

“Where are you from? I haven’t heard of a place so opposite to Kremnos. It’s unfathomable, the thought of somewhere with people who do not burn for the glory of their egos and esteems. What — what is it like?” he said, attempting to sound entirely unaffected but incapable of camouflaging the sheen of curiosity glazing over his irises, childish inquisition melding with a more mature, scholarly interest. 

“It is an ordinary and unremarkable place,” you said, pursing your lips and turning away from him again, your blanket over your back in the way of a shield, a barrier in between yourself and the kindly prying that you might’ve called uncharacteristic of the prince, if you were someone could claim to know anything about him and his character. “That’s all I can say.”

You lingered for a moment longer, thinking — or perhaps just hoping — that he would say something, that he would poke and poke at your dull, wounded answer, that somewhere deep in his beastly heart, he would understand what you really meant. But he only exhaled, bidding you farewell with the same inflamed terseness that he typically infused into his every word, and the moment was lost.

In the daytime, your husband’s voice had this quality of cheerfulness that, at least to you, seemed specifically designed to grate at your nerves. This was an especial cruelty, as the mornings were the worst for you, worn from the toils of the night as you were, but your husband remained blissful in his unawareness and so continued to chatter on without heed. 

You sat curled into your chair, the sun bright in your vision and his voice bright in your ears and everything all so bright, bright, bright. You considered gouging your nails into your eye sockets for the slightest bit of alleviation, or maybe scratching your fingers into your ears deep enough to bleed and drown out the speech he was giving about his plans for securing the Kremnoan border.

“...they have been severely weakened without Mydeimos, of course, but naturally that doesn’t mean they are entirely defeated; stubborn bastards, those Kremnoans, never know when to quit—”

“My lord, have you decided what you will do about him?” you said, your voice dragging on the vowels as you muffled a yawn. “The prince, I mean. Mydeimos.”

The name dallied on your tongue, sweet as the fruit you chewed on, syrupy like the juice of it on your lips. Your husband raised a brow at you, and you cursed him in your mind, cursed him for being so oblivious to so many things but this familiarity, this delicacy, this one thing you had left to savor.

“How flattered he would be, to know that you are so concerned for him!” he said. “I doubt he has ever had such a beautiful woman fawning over him so devotedly. I am sure his face would be as red as those crude markings of his if he heard of it.”

“Don’t be a boor,” his cousin interjected, the quiet control of his voice a welcome reprieve from the variances in your husband’s tone. “She’s only wondering, right, lady? He is her prisoner, after all. Why should she not ask?”

“Her prisoner,” your husband said, with a particular and unprecedented emphasis on the possessive nature of the word. “Yes, he is, at that. Fear not, dear lady; as I have said before, and so I will say again, I shall execute him when the time comes, but that time is not yet. Believe me, you will be the first to be told when it comes to it.”

“Very well,” you said, for there was no merit in further discussion of the topic. You understood when to back off as well as anything, and anyways, as you had told the prince, the people of the Southern Sea weren’t the confrontational sort. You were the worst of them, once, a barbarous lionfish in a sea of picarels, but now, by virtue of your vows, you were just like the rest, as pliant as a clamped oyster buried in the sand.

“Anyways, brother,” your husband’s cousin said when there was an awkward lull in the one-sided conversation, which was really more of a monologue on your husband’s part than anything but was still uncomfortable in its absence, “I was thinking.”

“Were you, now? And was it incredibly difficult?” your husband said. His cousin, who was one of the great military minds of the empire, smiled politely, well-used to the jabs that your husband doled out with a fraternal frequency. 

“On the contrary, your lady eases my mind. There is no difficulty when she is the one my thoughts tarry upon,” he said coolly, just serious enough that he was almost definitely in jest. “I thought she might find some amusement in visiting the elephants from Kremnos; they do not have those where she is from, I am sure, and seeing such rarities might be of some benefit to her health. Certainly the air will be.”

“You speak with wisdom…but I do not have the time to supervise such an excursion,” your husband said. “I have war-councils to attend, and an empire to manage besides.”

“Isn’t that what I was born for?” his cousin said. “I am your second, brother, and at your disposal entirely. If you cannot accompany her, then I will surely do it in your stead.”

Your husband’s eyes narrowed, so imperceptibly that it could easily be dismissed as a trick of the light or a defense against the sun. You ran your tongue along the back of the teeth as you waited for his response, a natural symptom of fretting that you could not help, but it came to nothing, as he only reclined back in his chair with an imperious nod.

“Who else can I rely on but you, hm? Thank you, then,” he said. “Dear lady, I hope you are not opposed.”

He phrased it as a question but meant it as a command; you were not so stupid as to think otherwise. Anyways, it might not be so horrible, so you only hummed in agreement and pretended like the berries in your mouth were the reason you did not say anything aloud.

The path to the stables where the elephants were kept was made of packed dirt, looping through the gardens in a meandering route far from the palace and any onlookers. For a while neither you nor your husband’s cousin spoke — he was lost in thought, and you busied yourself with admiring the scenery you had thus far only seen through the windows of your room. It was not the Southern Sea, could not be further from it, but there was a pastoral, picturesque charm to the blooming bushes regardless. Honeysuckle climbed over wrought-iron trellises, the slender vines curling in between the twisting leaf motifs of the metal, and the blush-white flowers perfumed the air with a melancholic sweetness.

How lovely you would’ve found it, if it did not all belong to you. If you were a visiting dignitary, a guest of the empire’s…if you walked alongside your husband’s cousin as a companion or friend instead of a sister-in-law…how lovely it might’ve all been. 

The sun beat down on your back nearly to the point of discomfort, but instead of complaints, all that came to your mind was Mydeimos, who you thought might’ve luxuriated in these things that you were irked by. So you bore it in his stead, the suffering, the burning, drinking it in with zeal, imprinting the sensation into your skin instead of shrinking away from it, a punishment to yourself as much as a favor to the prince that might never again wear the crown of day upon his handsome brow.

“I remember that first letter my brother’s advisor wrote to us about you,” your husband’s cousin said, ripping you from your reverie. There was a hint of shrewdness to his voice, one that you had never heard from him before, and it made you instantly wary, though he had never given you reason to doubt him before.

“Pardon?” you said.

“It was all such a surprise,” he said, though of course it had not been anything of the sort. “To think that you were to marry him. What a solution to the problem at hand.”

“Yes,” you said, picking at the frayed skin of your cuticles absentmindedly, ripping at them until they stung. “And here I am, having done just that.”

“Indeed,” he said. “It was about time he found a wife, anyways. Heirs are not born overnight; as of right now, all he has in the way of succession is me, but of course that’s not sustainable, is it? He needed a wife to beget a son most of all; everything else you have brought us is a perquisite.”

“Yet it was those very perquisites that made it all so much easier, I am certain,” you said.

“Who would not marry for as many advantages as they can come by?” he said. “You cannot blame us for that.”

“Perhaps,” you said noncommittally before shifting so that your shoulders did not face him. “But these are old things, which have long since happened. The elephants. Tell me about them.”

He wasn’t the last person you wished to discuss your past with, but if there were a list, then he was definitely near the bottom. It was conflicting in a way, nonsensical, almost, but you were sure that even if you could talk about it, you would not, for as much as you longed to, you also could not stand the notion. There was a sort of fortitude in your isolation, in your knowledge that in this place, the Southern Sea belonged solely to you. Not your husband nor his cousin nor their armies and their advisors; you, you, you and only you. So even if you had the means to speak of it with a loose tongue and ready words, you would not —  you would guard it instead, guard it and its people, keep them close to your chest, folded into your swooping collarbones where the empire could not cast its filthy gaze upon them. 

“There are three,” he began, holding up three fingers for emphasis. “The cows, Dromas and Lucabos, who were used only for the transport of goods and have taken well to their new keepers.”

You had reached the elephants’ temporary stabling by this point, and he pointed at the twin elephants in turn. Their tusks were short and blunted, and their trunks waved in the air as they reached for feed from their troughs; keepers milled around their feet, but neither Dromas nor Lucabos paid them any mind. There was an enduring temperateness to the depths of their dark gazes, and even to you, who knew nothing of elephants, it was obvious that these were not creatures of war but benevolent pack-animals in the way of your homeland’s donkeys.

Separated from the cows, the third elephant stood alone, sullen and unmoving. If the keepers dared to so much as look at him, he would rumble out a feral challenge, and unlike Dromas and Lucabos, he was tethered to the ground by ropes braided around his legs and torso. Faded red paint swirled on his forehead, a universal symbol of protection which was flaking off but had not yet turned illegible, and there was a mean slant to his eyes, his ivory tusks honed into swordpoints that he brandished before him.

“Verax,” your husband’s cousin said when he noticed that your stare had not budged from the savage bull. “The war-elephant of the prince himself. After we captured Mydeimos, he fell to his knees from grief and was easily corralled, despite his inordinate strength in battle. A loyal creature, to be sure, albeit a foolish one — you’d think he’d have ceased his struggling by now, when it so clearly will come to nothing! But still he fights, though I know not what he hopes to achieve. Even if he does somehow free himself…he must know that the one he loves has gone to a place he can never reach.”

“Perhaps he seek comfort in refusal,” you said. “There is courage and heart to be found in intransigence, after all.”

“Would you know very much about that?” he said, leaning with his back to the fence surrounding Verax, who stared at you with barely-concealed hatred, the expression so utterly human it made you shiver. 

“Should we stand so close to him?” you said, neatly avoiding the question by posing one of your own, batting your eyelashes in an attempt at naivete. For a second you thought he might not fall for it, that he might be possessed with a keen enough intellect to see through the farce, but if he was, then he did not display it, only waving you off dismissively.

“He may charge at us, but he will trip on his restraints before he reaches,” he said, and then he extended his hand towards Verax, waving his fingers at him teasingly. “See? They’ve taken every precaution; I wouldn’t have been permitted to bring you if they hadn’t. Nothing can happen to my beloved brother’s wife.”

“Let us go,” you said, tugging his arm with far more familiarity than was earned. He raised his eyebrows but did not reprimand you, allowing himself to be pulled along as you set course for the palace proper once more. “This is doing nothing for my health. I don’t wish to stay here any longer.”

“I know that Verax is frightening, but Dromas and Lucabos are as meek as horses,” he reassured you. “You needn’t fear when it comes to them. Don’t you wish to pet them?.”

“No,” you said. “No, I don’t. I am spent, and I think it’d be best if I retire until dinner. Thank you for accompanying me; I appreciate that you thought of me and my wellbeing, even though nothing much came of your attempts.”

“I will keep searching,” he said, a smile playing on his lips, taunting you as he had taunted Verax, waving the feigned gravitas he afforded the situation in your face as boyishly as he had waved his fingers at the elephant. “Until I may find what cures you, I will keep searching.”

“I wish you luck in your endeavors,” you said. “You will need it, I am sure. I do not think this ailment is one which will easily be alleviated.”

“Were you so feeble before you came here?” he said.

“On the contrary, I was healthy and strong,” you said as you passed Dromas and Lucabos’s enclosure again. Neither elephant took note of you, and you found they were easy to ignore, melding into the background like mountains on the horizon. They did not have the same demanding quality of presence as Verax, who commanded one’s attention as surely as his counterpart, Mydeimos, did.

“Perhaps there is some clue to be found there,” he mused. “I will earnestly reflect on it, and if I happen upon some answer, I will surely tell you.”

“Very well,” you said. “Though I—”

Before you could tell him that he would not find much if anything in his reflections, a fact which he most certainly already knew but was pretending to be ignorant to, a commotion broke out. Men’s voices layered over one another while Verax trumpeted and swung his great head about in a panic before lowering it, his ears flat against his neck as he strained against his constraints, his eyes focused on you and your husband’s cousin as he dug his feet, each the size of a chariot-wheel, into the muddy, rutted ground.

“Stay back, lady,” your husband’s cousin said, his arm barring your path forward and his brow knitting together in alarm.

“I thought you said he couldn’t do anything,” you said as the keepers swarmed about Verax, waving bullhooks and bindings at the elephant, who took no head of their warnings, his frenzied stomping causing the ground to shake and his bellows rending through the sky itself. 

“Would you like to find out if that’s the case?” he said. “He’s never been so belligerent before, at least not to my knowledge. I know not what he is capable of, not in such a state, and it seems as though we are his targets at present, so we must make haste and return to the palace at once. Allow the keepers to manage him, for they have been trained in the art and are doubly qualified for it!”

Was this what Mydeimos’s enemies had seen? When he took to the battlefield, had they recognized him as a harbinger of their destruction? For Verax must’ve shaken the earth then, too, the very world itself bowing to the combined might of their arrivals, to the power which was rumored even as far as the Southern Sea.

They say he is more of a god than a man, the prince who sits upon the throne of Kremnos, people would whisper in the streets. All we can do against that strength is pray that he does not turn it towards our shores.

Verax shrieked, and you paused, a terrible thought crossing your mind, unsolicited and unwelcome yet more and more appealing as the seconds mounted. How horrible would it be? You might die quickly, at any rate. One more burst of suffering, as acute as the final glimpse of your home when it vanished over the sunset, and then you would be reunited with the tides, turned to seafoam and silt by the elephant. Whether your end came at his tusks or his tread, wouldn’t it be better this way? 

“Lady?” your husband’s cousin said, and he reached for your hand, but you continued as if you were in a dream, a fog creeping over your mind as you took one step and then another towards the staggering Verax. “Lady, don’t—!”

The pulsing march of your heartbeat resounded in your ears like a wardrum, and as you grew nearer and nearer to the fearsome beast, whose tusks were already stained with crimson at their tips, a fist clamped around your stomach, squeezing and squeezing, yanking on your spine in a desperate attempt to halt your momentum. Fear, that must’ve been its name; you were no battle-hardened general, to be able to face your death without such a steadfast companion. You were only a girl, and you were afraid, but more than afraid you were weary, the kind of weary which seeped into your bones and resigned you to your fate.

“He recognizes scents!” one of the keepers shouted at you. You were aware of it in the way that a drowning man was aware of that which occurred above the surface; thickly, faintly, muddily. “He recognizes scents, lady — if he smells his majesty the emperor on you, he will — you must leave at once, or you will surely die!”

Verax stood with the sun behind him, his sides heaving as he regarded you with an imperious animosity. You stood and waited for his verdict, finding the anticipation to be more excruciating than the action itself but trusting his deliberations, trusting that whatever decision he arrived at would certainly be the right one. They were wise creatures, elephants, even the ones like him who were trained only for war.

He swung his trunk towards you like he meant to knock you down, and you did not flinch away from it, closing your eyes, wringing your hands to stop yourself from shying away, from running to the safety of your husband’s cousin and the elephant keepers. You could not let such a basic impulse impede your freedom, the freedom that you could only win through this agony, this tribulation, this death.

Yet instead of a crushing, bruising impact, he brushed it against you delicately, fondly, a featherlight kiss of a touch. You held your breath, but when nothing else happened, you cracked your eyes open, your brow pinching together as you looked at the elephant.

Verax exhaled out a rumbling whine of a breath, and then he fell to his knees, his trunk winding around you in what you could only describe as an embrace and was surely the tenderest affection you had received since coming to this bleak, cheerless empire. For a moment you did not understand it, and then, as surely as anything, it came to you, and you stroked your hand along his rough grey mouth.

“Does it cling to me even now, the spoor of that cellar, that prince?” you whispered in amazement. “No, you are not mistaken, Verax, it is him. Even now, Mydeimos lives; I swear to you that he does.”

“Lady!” your husband’s cousin said, wrenching you from Verax, his nails carving half-moons into your upper arms. “What foolishness is this? Have you a death wish? What would become of me, if something were to happen to you while you were under my care?” 

“It’s irrelevant, isn’t it? I’m unharmed,” you said.

“A small miracle,” he said, clicking his tongue. “You and my brother were right. It is for the best that you remain in the palace until you are in your right mind. Do forgive me for assuming to know you better than you knew yourself.”

“What will they do to him?” you said as he guided you away, his arm hard, unyielding against your waist. The keepers had set upon Verax, who, in the reverse of his earlier demeanor, only lay there and took it, as if the faintest traces of Mydeimos which he had picked up from you had been enough to soothe him into yielding. 

“To Verax?” he said. “I hardly know. You shouldn’t concern yourself with it; likely he will end up in the same way as his former master.”

“In the way of Mydeimos?” you said. “What do you mean by that?”

“Dead, of course,” he said. “What else?”

You turned for one final glance at Verax. He had nestled into himself, his cheek in the dirt and his legs tucked neatly against his enormous body. His ears fluttered weakly against the clangor of the many rebukes, but this was all the resistance he showed. The fight had left his eyes; they were now glassy and torpid, twin whelk-shells which sparkled at the corners with something that, if you were not more learned, you would call tears. But who had ever heard of an animal that cried? Still, as you left him behind, you could not shake the feeling that, whether from sorrow or jubilation, he was most assuredly weeping.

That night, you did not bother with ceremony or announcement when you returned to the cellar. You collapsed to the ground with a huff and slid the plate over to Mydeimos’s feet. Unlike the first few times you had done such a thing, he did not hesitate to sit across from you, using the silver cutlery you offered him to cut the meat into small pieces that he nibbled on with a daintiness which was almost pretty to watch.

“I saw the elephants today,” you said. He froze mid-chew before increasing his pace, swallowing it down in a gulp and canting forward, his expression feline, intrigued. It pinned you in place, staying your tongue and any retorts that might come to life by the sheer force of it. 

“The elephants? Then Verax—?” he said, so hopefully that all you could do was nod.

“Yes, him. Dromas and Lucabos, too,” you said. 

“Is he…alright?” he said. “Verax, I mean, though of course I worry for the others, too. But Verax is special.”

“Because he is yours?” you said. “You rode him into battle, did you not?”

He cocked his head at you, and for a long time he was silent, measuring the length and breadth of your mettle with his sweeping scrutiny. You did not move, afraid of what would happen if you failed this test, although he had proven so many times over that he had no intentions of harming you — just as you could not brave Verax without that old friend, however, so, too, could you not brave the searching, seeking Mydeimos.

“It is not customary for princes in Kremnos to ride elephants,” he said finally, evidently judging you worthy, though you knew not what you had done to deserve such a designation. He continued to eat in between sentences, every phrase constructed with a painstaking accuracy that he mulled over as he chewed. “We have cavalrymen for that. An elephant is a grand mount, but for a nation that thrives on bloodshed and conflict, such grandness is an extravagance that is frowned upon for those of us who are meant to be the ideal of that very turmoil.”

“Ah,” you said. “So it is that sort of place, then. I see.”

“Verax’s mother died as he was born,” he said. “So he was meant to be culled, for there wasn’t a soul in Castrum Kremnos, our fair capital, that had the time or the temperament for such an involved undertaking as raising him from infancy.”

“Culled!” you said, your hands flying to your mouth in surprise. “Such a small, darling creature, having just lost its mother, and they could only think to cull it?”

“They are without mercy,” he said, and unexpectedly he did not chide you for interrupting him as you thought he might’ve. In fact, he seemed to welcome it, your interest spurring him to continue instead of faltering into surliness as he often did. “Only those with the wherewithal to grasp at survival with both hands are deserving of this life, or so it is said; oh, don’t make such an expression, of course I don’t believe in the school of thought myself. Who do you think raised Verax? To my father’s eternal dismay, it was me.”

“You raised Verax?” you said, trying to envision it and finding you were unable. Was he capable of such parental warmth, this menacing, hulking figure sitting across from you? Had he handled the young calf with the hands of a warrior, coarse and unsympathetic, or had he managed to palliate them, so that they might resemble the compassion of the mother that the elephant had lost? Was that the extent of the love Verax knew, and was that why he mourned the prince so deeply, so consumingly? 

“Every night for a year, I slept in his stable,” he said, his eyes faraway, a small smile hovering at his lips — not entirely there, his frown still resolute in its position, but threatening to manifest at some point in the future. “He would follow me around in the daytime, a toddling, awkward mess of limbs that attended my lessons and watched my sparring matches with a sagacity that even most men can never hope to attain in their lifetimes. We were young together, Verax and I, and when the both of us ventured forth to the battlefields beyond Kremnos, we became men together, too. He is my child and my brother alike; thus, he is my particular concern. Tell me anything. Do they treat him well? Is he agreeable in his new situation? He is difficult, I have always scolded him for it — well, he is an elephant at the end of the day, so there is only so much he can understand, but I like to think he knows what I am saying more often than he doesn’t. They aren’t riding him, are they? His back is sensitive, in truth; I would not take to it for more than a few minutes at a time even if I were a simple cavalryman, for despite his size and strength, he does not have the necessary muscular development to carry a man for much longer than that. I could not bear to train him, you see, as I always found the methods of breaking too harsh to inflict on another in good conscience.”

“He…” You bit your lower lip. Would it be better to give him the truth, or would it be worse? How could you tell him that death, too, he would meet with Verax at his side? Yet how could you lie and say that he was alright? Because that false hope also seemed like a cruelty. When he had bared himself to you in this small way, when he had drawn back just one corner of his past in exchange for nothing of your own, how could you repay him with blithe misdirection? “I think that he longs for you.”

His eyes crinkled at the corners. “Then he is as he always is. Thank you, dear lady. I am relieved to hear it.”

This time, you had brought him a better blanket, the heaviest you owned that was not overly unwieldy as you dragged it down the stairs behind you. It was large and quilted, scenes from a hunt embroidered into it, the vibrant threads dipped in woad and madder, a pack of hounds chasing after a saffron-stained lion as he lay down and pulled the swath of dark wool over his shoulders. Tonight he did not stall or argue, only giving you a halfhearted reminder that you had sworn to be vigilant before rolling over without waiting for your response.

“You sleep so quickly,” you said. “I am almost envious, though of course for me to say I envy you in any sense is…in poor taste, as the case may be.”

He had left a little bit of food untouched, as tidily cut as what he had eaten but portioned and kept away from the rest. You didn’t want to be presumptuous, but skipping dinner every night was taking its toll, and so the pangs of your stomach insisted that he had left it for you, that he pitied or sympathized with you and so had given you this unsaid gift. You had no reason to think that he would do such a thing, of course, but eventually you could not deny yourself any longer, not when it was so tantalizing, so fetchingly plated.

“I wonder if I will ever understand you,” you said, chewing on the cold, pearly rice, rolling the white grains around on your tongue and squinting at his motionless form. “How many strange habits you have. What would the people of this empire say, if they knew that the prince of terrors was also the mother of elephants?”

You laughed under your breath for the both of you, finding refuge in the brief, catty amusement you had allowed yourself. You had no idea if Mydeimos would find it entertaining; likely he would not, considering the joke was at his expense, but you comforted yourself with the image of him sharing your humor, of one other person in this entire desolate place finding some value in straightforward repartee instead of conniving witticisms.

“But speaking of elephants…” you said, sobering immediately, all traces of levity leaving your body. Now that he was asleep, you could tell him the truth, could allow the burden of your earlier reticence to be alleviated by confessional honesty to his body, if not his waking mind. “Oh, Mydeimos, the situation is so horrible I could not stand to say it aloud to you, not when you were so — so sincere in your anxious querying, but Verax’s fate is not so dissimilar to yours.”

You pushed the plate, now empty, away from you, turning your attention to the stairs, both so that you could fulfill your promise to him and so that you did not have to acknowledge his presence when you spoke. Even his sleeping frame held a sort of judgment to it, an accusation to his silence, as if he were blaming you for everything that had yet occurred to him. You supposed he wasn’t wrong to do it, but you ran from that blame regardless, unable to take it, your back as unused to the task as Verax’s.

“They might put him down soon. They thought he was going to kill me, after all,” you said, tracing circles in the dust on the ground, coughing when it plumed into the air, blinking rapidly to clear your irises from the irritation. “I thought he was going to kill me…but, you know, I think that I wanted him to, a little bit. Or maybe a lot. I don’t know, I don’t — I don’t want to be here anymore, I never wanted to come at all, and if death is the only way I can go home, then—!”

You broke off, shame enveloping you, unable to fathom what you had just blurted out. Weren’t you self-absorbed for it? Weren’t you miserly for seeking out something that had been thrust upon him unwillingly? Something he would surely meet if it were not for you? His life, his existence, it was all tethered to yours, and yet you had tried to throw it away for your own brief deliverance.

“It was the worst season of my life, Mydeimos,” you recalled. “And, also, the last. I speak, naturally, of the one with the storms, when the empire’s ships first cast anchor in the Southern Sea.

“Once, my husband’s empire was a genuine ally of my home. We were friendly enough, or maybe a better way to describe it would be that we had an understanding with them: as long as we continued to trade with them, to bow to their whims and their prices, they would protect us from the abominable — ah, well, it was your people we feared most of all. I am sure you are not surprised by it? Maybe you are even glad that stories of your deeds precede you so far…but I should not continue to assign such reactions to you. I don’t know you any more than you know me, after all, so for all I know you find this offensive.

“Anyways. The empire was always a foreign, distant consideration, especially for me, who was always so sheltered, so guarded. I knew of them — who does not? — but they were not an immediate concern.

“My father was always suspicious of them, however. He was always suspicious of everyone, in fairness, it’s a characteristic of men like that, but against such an enormous entity, what could he do about it? For as wealthy as we are, the Southern Sea has little in the way of an army. Our men are either too young or too old or not brave enough for fighting, and that is our greatest secret, which even my husband does not know for certain but, I believe, has long since guessed at. 

“You know how covetous he is. When he came to conjecture that we were so defenseless, he sank his teeth into our underbelly, unflinching as he throttled us in the coils of his strength. It was wealth he wanted, my father’s vast stores of gold and jewels that he eyed with a feasting hunger. I do not doubt that he was fully prepared to bleed us of it, and indeed as the ships grew closer and closer they sent us a messenger on a small wooden boat.

“‘Each ship contains five hundred men, all ready to die for their empire. Surrender your greatest treasure to us, and we will spare you.’ That was what we were told. My father had no choice; he would rather give up all the gold in the world than let anyone suffer for a moment longer than they needed to.”

You bit the inside of your cheek until you tasted salt, so similar and yet so different from the sprays of brine that had infused the air by the beach on the day the messenger had come. You could recall even now what a sinewy, aquiline man he had been, his flat blue stare affixed on your damp features as he recited the emperor’s words in his stead. He is busy in Kremnos, the messenger had explained. A bloody crusade to defend you from that loutish prince of theirs. Yes, yes, I am speaking to you, lady — pray that that brute never lays eyes on you. Such a pretty little bird, so beautiful…he will most assuredly hunt you down and tear into you with rapturous vehemence.

“My father scrambled about, offering them as much as he could. Chalices of gold coins; jewels from my mother’s dowry; a hundred of the finest Eastern horses; spices that only grow in one place, for one week; yet all of these were refused. ‘You think the emperor will be satisfied with something so paltry?’ We were at a loss. It seemed as though nothing short of the entire kingdom would be enough to please them, and despite how generous my father is, he could not give them that.

“I was the one who understood first. At least, I accepted before the rest what it was that the empire truly sought out. The tides, the kingdom, these were all unreachable — even if they conquered us, we would never do their bidding, not in any way that lasted. Thus, they needed a more concrete claim, a child born of sand and sea. My child, which, upon its conception, will have a right to the empire and the ocean alike, uniting both under my husband’s name for good.”

You wrapped your arms around yourself in a facsimile of a hug, pretending like your father was there, clinging to you as he had on that final night. The wind had howled and he had cried and you had sat there, stoic, your expression motionless but for the faintest sheen in your eyes. You had refused to let yourself waver, knowing that if you showed any hints of hesitation, your father would never release you from his arms, and so the Southern Sea would fall to the fire and brimstone of the ceaseless empire.

“He didn’t want me to leave anymore than I wanted to go,” you said. “My poor father. He would’ve given up the world to keep me by his side, so I made the decision for us both and insisted upon it. I promised him that I would find love here, even in this loveless place, and whether he truly believed me or if it only soothed him to do so, I do not know, but regardless he eventually allowed it. So I boarded that wooden boat with that wooden messenger, and as the sea tossed about in lament, I came to the ship which would take me to my new home, to the statue I would wed the moment my feet touched the ground.”

You laughed again, but it was resentful and acrid, scalding the back of your throat in the way of vomit. Flexing your fingers and digging them into the gaps between your ribs, you waited until you could feel your pulse, feel the proof that you, too, had not turned to stone in the time since you had come here.

“Yes, a statue,” you said. “A real-and-true block of marble. That is what I wed, and that is what I swore to my father I would come to love. What he would think, if he could see me now…”

You yawned, your eyelids heavy, spots painting your vision as it blackened at the corners. Eventually your body would repay you for your weeks of insomnia, for the massive debt which you had incurred and kept increasing day by day, but pinching yourself, you sat up straighter, for if it was here that you conceded, you would never forgive yourself, and neither would Mydeimos.

“Lady.” The firm address cut through your daze, and you shifted to see Mydeimos at the end of his tether, holding the blanket out to you, his forehead creased into something a little kinder than a grimace but still expressing that same distaste. “Will you be able to survive for much longer in this way?”

You shook your head to clear it, swaying a bit from the effort you put into the gesture, taking a hold of the blanket to disguise your momentary lack of balance. He did not let go of it, watching your charily, as if you were wont to spook or collapse, and you would’ve protested, but what he did not know was that you really might’ve fallen if it weren’t for his stolid grip on it and, by extension, on you.

“I will be alright,” you said. “Do not fuss. If you can endure such conditions without becoming disconsolate, then should I not do the same?”

“I am hardened to it from years of campaigning on the battlefield,” he said. “I will not grouse until the last.”

“You are…” What was he? Estimable? Laudable? There were not words enough in this language for you to describe it, and you did not think that he would appreciate them, anyways, so you merely held him by the shoulders, your fingertips stressing to him all that you could not say aloud. “If it were you instead of the princess, perhaps things would not be so dire for my home. You would not have absconded as she did, would not have forsaken your people for wealth and wedding. If it were you…if it were you…”

“Do you have some vendetta against her?” he said. “This is not the first time you have spoken ill of her.”

“She had everything I could ever want,” you said. “Yet she threw it away at the slightest provocation, prancing off to her new husband without care for all that she was leaving behind. I hate her for it, in truth. What if she had had a stronger will, a prouder spirit? If she had been from Kremnos, as you are, then instead of capitulating immediately, might she have fought?”

His eyes widened slightly, and then, inscrutably, enigmatically, they softened, twin suns on a summer evening settling into a comfortable, radiant twilight. You were enthralled by them, by their vast, golden tranquility, and for the briefest moment, entirely unbidden and illicit though it was, the notion of taking him into your arms crossed your mind.

“There is honor in concession, too,” he said, lifting your hands from his shoulders and setting the blanket in them before turning away. “Sometimes it is more difficult to live than it is to die; is persisting regardless, then, not bravery? At any rate, it’s a lesson the Kremnoans, many of whom do not live until they are dying, could stand to learn. Perhaps that princess of yours has more tenacity than you give her credit for after all.”

You held the blanket to your chest; it was still warm, the heat of his skin lingering in the wool even now, transforming it into a cinder which flickered against the hearth of your breast, coaxing a smoldering, dormant fire back into feeble life even as you attempted to outrun the effect. You stumbled up the stairs with the poise of a drunkard, like the proximity to him was what mattered, like there was some distance you could put between yourself and Mydeimos which would cure you of this new revelation, which you had not experienced before but could nevertheless recognize to be unwanted, dangerous, despicable.

What was its name, this clawing, rending sensation that took root in your stomach and fought desperately to tear out? Was it another version of consternation, made delicious and tangible from its immediacy, its familiarity? Had you grown so used to him that your fear had matured into something else, something that you sought out for its nigh-pleasurable thrill? Or was there another explanation, an aspect that you were missing in your callowness?

“Lady, were you listening to me, or shall I repeat myself?”

You startled at the voice that yanked you from your contemplations, which even so late into the next afternoon had not come to a satisfactory conclusion. Your husband’s cousin was staring at your expectantly, wisps of steam from his teacup billowing in his serene face, and when he realized you were blinking at him, he set it down and folded his hands in his lap. Your face growing hot with shame, you placed your own across from his and nodded to indicate he could continue.

“Are you still perturbed by what happened yesterday, such that it even disturbed your sleep?” he said. “Rest assured, if you are so troubled, then I can command them to halt their efforts at domesticating the recalcitrant animal and slay it for its crimes posthaste.”

“Verax?” you said. “No, no — it was my own — it was my own mistake, it definitely was, and I would hate to see such a valuable treasure destroyed for my foolishness. Please ensure that he is kept soundly and well; an elephant is not easily obtained, especially one such as Verax, who is worth ten each of those pack-types like Lucabos and Dromas. We mustn’t let him go to waste.”

“How forward-thinking,” he said. “Is this how your family’s wealth has accumulated? Perhaps we ought to learn from you, if you have the mind for investments and returns.”

“No, my father was the one who managed those things,” you said, swallowing back a yawn. “I was not privy to it, nor did I have much interest. I think that this is just an example of what my people call common sense.”

As soon as you said it, you realized how rudely it had come across, and indeed you were surprised that you had been able to do it at all. Of course, it was easier with others who were not your husband, the easiest of all when it was Mydeimos, but he was not Mydeimos, and was the closest person to your husband besides he himself, so you were in truth taken aback that you could speak as you willed. Perhaps it was the intention, or perhaps it came down to the fact that no matter what, he was not your husband, and so as long as you kept that basic little decorum, you were free to do what you liked.

“There is also that explanation,” he allowed. “But the fate of that elephant is not what I wish to discuss with you.”

“Then?” you said. 

“I am speaking to you, of course, as a family member — a relative of your husband’s, with a natural concern for the fate of his line and his empire,” he began. “You know that my brother is ever-busy with his celebrations and his councils, so the task of broaching this sensitivity falls to me.”

“You are his second, are you not? Who else would it be?” you said, raising your glass to your lips and peeking at him over the rim.

“That is exactly what we must discuss,” he said. You cocked your head at him; he cleared his throat, picking up his teacup, stirring in a lump of sugar and putting it back down without taking even a sip. Steepling his fingers, he pursed his lips at you. “He has been home for long enough that there should be news of an heir’s impending arrival by now.”

Fragments of crystal flew into the air with a crash of protest, scattering and embedding into the rich weave of the carpet below your feet, the stain of tea spreading dark and bloody over the cheery floral motifs. You immediately dropped to your knees, pressing the ends of your dress to it in a desperate attempt to soak it away before the damage was permanent, but all your efforts awarded you were cuts littering your hands and knees, translucent shards digging into your palms and slicing thin, stinging streaks which might, if they scarred, change the read of your fate-lines permanently.

“I am sorry,” you said. “My hand slipped — I didn’t think it would break — and now I have ruined it! I have ruined it, I did not mean to, please forgive me, I am so very sorry—”

“Why do you apologize so incessantly?” he said, helping you stand and picking the glass out of your hands with academic precision. “This carpet is yours. You can do what you want with it.”

“It is my husband’s,” you corrected. “As with everything in this empire, it belongs to him. By destroying it, I am destroying a small piece of him, and I do not want to do that. I am not permitted to do that.”

“Ah,” he said. “Well, if you are apprehensive about learning his reaction, don’t be. He will forgive you. He has finer carpets than this one, and needs more excuses to use them. Anyways, he won’t know of it unless you or I tell him, and I shall keep my silence if you swear to as well. Does that pacify you? Then let us continue with the earlier subject.”

“Yes,” you said. “You are commanding me to fulfill my obligations to him. I know I must, but…”

“Allow me to finish,” he said. “I understand that you have no desire for my brother. You needn’t affirm it, I know you cannot, but I am sure when I say that you cannot deny it, either, not if you are being honest with yourself. You hold neither love nor lust for him, and so any children born of your union will be puny, perhaps not even surviving past infancy.”

“How can you be so certain of that?” you said.

“It is enough of a trend in our family that some wonder if it is a genuine curse,” he said. “Those kings who are born of joy are robust, vigorous men, while those of withering wombs are invalid and infirm from the start.”

“I see,” you said. 

“You will not come to love him,” he predicted. “He pays no special attention to you, and the only gift he has ever given you is a ghastly prince you are forbidden from so much as seeing. What basis is there for love? So there is only one thing which can be done: you must find someone else, someone who will lie with you knowing that they will lose their life for it, and then you must pretend as though the ensuing child belongs to my brother alone.”

“You mean for me to commit such a sin?” you said incredulously. “You would endanger three lives for the sake of one? For you must know that my husband would not spare any of us — myself, the father, or the son — if he were to discover that he had been deceived in such a way.”

“He will never discover it,” he promised you. “I personally ensure that he won’t. Choose someone beneath notice, or someone who you trust with your entire being, and he will never come to know of it.”

“There is no one like that,” you said.

He smiled at you, dropping your hands and calling for a servant to fetch a broom. You eyed him, taking a skittish step backwards, but he did not match it, did not chase after you with an insistence that you listen to his idea, which was so far-fetched as to be closer to genuine fiction than probability.

“Don’t be so sure,” he said amiably. “You might be surprised at what suitors you will find, if you only think to ask.”

How was it, that in this entire palace, this entire empire, so filled with noble, genteel lords and refined, elegant ladies, you could only find sanity and solace in the cellar? How was it that until the sun set and you ran down those stairs, the stone slick and dense beneath your racing feet, you found yourself living in the type of delirious dream characteristic of fevers, and it was only there, in that dark, contained world consisting of nothing but yourself and Mydeimos and the chains which bound him, you could, for even a second, wake up?

“You wish to ask me something,” he said when he was about halfway finished with the food you had brought him. You were sitting on the blanket, the one with the lions and the hounds, and although you were pretending to be engrossed with flipping the corners up and down like a child with a new game, you had indeed been observing him from beneath your lowered lashes. “If it is so, then you should just ask. I will answer as best as I can.”

“Do you have a wife?” you said, deciding that if it had plagued you for this long, there was nothing to be lost in asking, especially as he had given you the permission for it.

He choked on the piece of fish he had just bitten into, thumping on his chest and coughing to dislodge it.

“What?” he said.

“A wife,” you said. “Do you have one? I mean, are you married? 

“No,” he said. 

“Really? But you are a prince,” you said.

“So?” he said, sneering as he regained his composure. “That doesn’t mean anything. I have spent my entire life far too busy with the care of my people to pay any mind to such a trivial construct as marriage.”

“Then you will not be able to understand my dilemma quite as well,” you said, both because it was the truth and because you wished to hide that you were, for some reason, relieved by this development. “But I will tell you anyway.”

“Your dil—you intend to seek my counsel regarding your marriage?” he said. “Surely you jest.”

“If you did have a wife,” you said, ignoring the scoff he let out at that. “If you did, and she bore a son by another man, what would you do to him?”

“I suppose I would put him to death, as would be expected of me,” he said.

“What if it was not his fault? What if your wife was the one who begged him to do it?” you said. “Would you kill them both?”

“No,” he said, sliding the still half-filled plate over to you and wrinkling his nose when you tried to give it back. “I would not kill her. Even if she were entirely to blame, I would not. It is easy to give the order for a nameless, faceless man’s death, but when it is someone you love, it is difficult.”

“Say you do not love her,” you urged, giving in to his unspoken behest and spearing a cooked vegetable through with the silver fork he had left atop the plate.

“Then I would not have wed her, and so she would not be my wife, in which case this entire situation would never occur in the first place,” he said, and rather smugly at that. “There you have it. Is that all, or must we continue this game? I thought that you were in some genuine trouble and required proper advice.”

“I…” you trailed off into a sighing exhale, suddenly finding yourself entirely foolish for expecting something like condolence from him. “Never mind.”

“Fatigue can drive someone to the brink of madness,” he said, and behind the gruffness was a note of solicitude. “Why don’t you sleep?”

“I can’t,” you told him. “I try, every night for a few hours after I have returned to my chambers, but inevitably it ends the same: I am caught in the throes of a nightmare which leaves me more debilitated than before. I cannot escape anguish, it seems.”

“Sleep here,” he said, crossing his arms over his chest and sticking his sharp nose in the air — an affected show of haughtiness that even a child would not fall for. “You have given me much, so in return, for just this one night, I will guard your dreams and defend you from that which troubles you.”

“Here? You mean the floor? What sort of proposition—” you broke off, wilting at the dull look he gave you. “Er, my apologies. I meant no offense, and really, I am appreciative that you would offer to do such a thing, but I am sure it will come to nothing, so let us not waste any time with an attempt. My woes are self-inflicted, after all, and thus undeserving of pity, of your pity especially.”

There were many mysteries contained within this prince — of terrors, of victory, of sacrifice and of subjugation — you knew this well, so well that by now it should have ceased to surprise you when he did something odd, when he proved himself to be so opposite to the philistine warrior everyone claimed he was. Yet that did not stop perplexity from washing over you when he exhaled heavily, extending his legs and leaning his head against the wall.

“Come,” he said. You narrowed your eyes at him, not from anger but out of a genuine desire to understand his method.

“Where shall I go?” you said patiently. “I am already here with you.”

“You will not sleep on the floor,” he said. “I do not know — well, I mean, one of my legs has this infernal chain about it, so it’ll hardly be any better, but perhaps it will be enough of an improvement?”

“Pardon?” you said. “I must confess I am still confused.”

A muscle in his jaw twitched, and when he elaborated, it was through gritted teeth, each word bullied out with a diffidence so at odds with his imposing posture and broad physique.

“You may use me for your own measures,” he said. “You will meet your end if you do not, and then what? So let us make this one attempt. Lay your head in my lap if you cannot accept the floor, and, even if it is fleeting and fraught, come to sleep.”

Your mouth opened and closed soundlessly, and then you were laughing, burying your face in your hands as you giggled helplessly, because wasn’t it such a joke? All the vows and magic that your husband had needed in order to tie your tongue, and yet here was Mydeimos, his greatest enemy, who had managed to steal your voice with merely the offer of his lap for you to lay your head upon.

His thigh was hard, muscular against your cheek, and although he was abnormally hot, it was not in the way of a fever; rather, it seemed natural, as if he were born to run at this temperature, a streak of fire that had deigned to coalesce into the shape of a man for some time. In comparison, the links of the thrice-blessed chains were freezing, and you shifted so that they did not push into your forehead, wanting nothing of the empire to touch you, wishing that nothing of this place would touch him, either, even if that could never be the case.

“Why do you trust me so much?” he said after a while. “You have from the beginning. I could have killed you so many times, dear lady, in so many ways — I even told you that, and yet you have not faltered.”

“Hm,” you said, rolling over so that you were on your back and could peer up at him. “I don’t know.”

His palm met your stomach with the lightness of a butterfly, splaying over it as he used his other hand to cover your eyes so that you had no choice but to close them. Your breaths grew shallow from that same ache as the other night, that ache which you were beginning to think did not originate from fear but another source entirely.

“The fork you give me to eat,” he said. “I could tear you asunder with it. It’s good silver, and sturdy — of course, it’s no spear, and I am nowhere near my full strength, but against you it would be more than sufficient as a weapon.”

He traced a path up your sternum, and then he encircled your neck with his fingers, placing no pressure upon it, only rubbing up and down along the furrows between your tendons.

“There is enough slack in my chains,” he said. “I could draw you close, throw them around your neck, and pull them taut until your throat is crushed.”

He hummed, and then his hand slid to your heart, which pounded and pounded until you thought it really was a puzzle that it did not burst forth and make its home in his fist.

“But all of these accoutrements are superfluous,” he said. “If I want, I can tear your heart out with only my hands — or, if your husband is to be believed, my teeth. I can do it now, and all too easily.”

“Yes,” you said. “You could.”

“You are frightened,” he said rhetorically.

“I’m not,” you said.

“Your heart is beating so fast,” he said. “And I have just explained to you how simply I could kill you, as well as how frequently I have considered it. Surely you are.”

“That isn’t why it’s beating,” you said. 

“Then?” he said.

“It’s because you’re here,” you said. “I can’t explain much beyond that, but I do not think — I do not think it would beat like this for anyone else.”

“No one has ever said that to me,” he said. “I am the one who silences hearts. Never have I been accused of accomplishing the inverse.”

“That is the reason,” you repeated. “I feel that it must be.”

He lifted his hand from your chest and patted your cheek, refusing to move the other from where it still soothed over your sore eyes.

“Well, no good will come of pondering it any longer,” he said, and if you strained, you could hear the faintest traces of a smile in his words. “Sleep now, and do not worry about your nightmares; the savage prince of a savage land is far more frightening than any visions your mind can come up with, and as you have conquered me, so, too, can you conquer them.”

You did not even have the wherewithal to ask him what he meant by that before the darkness and the warmth he afforded you lured you into the deepest pits of unconsciousness, where you had not been since you had come to this empire. And whether it was his presence or his reassurance or some magic — well, likely not the latter, the gods of this empire held no love for either of you — you really did not wake for many hours, sleeping, for the first time in months, without a single dream to haunt you.

“I apologize, brother, but it really is impossible to secure the south from the sea,” your husband’s cousin said from position at your husband’s right. “I have consulted with the best naval captains this empire has to offer, and they all give the same answer.”

“Consult them again, then, or find some better advisors. How is it that the kingdoms by the Southern Sea have flourished for as long as they have, and yet we cannot so much as make a foothold without it being swept away?” your husband snapped.

They had been going back-and-forth in this way for some time now, running in circles and saying the same thing over and over, neither satisfied with the other’s perspective. Ordinarily, you would’ve been brought to tears by the grating, cyclical nature of the discussion, as well as the rapidly rising volume, but today you were far too content with the bliss that a proper night’s rest brought to let them sully your happiness.

“Perhaps we should ask your darling wife,” his cousin suggested. “How about it, lady? Any maritime wisdom or common sense you’d like to share?”

“They say the sea knows more than we do,” you said, alarmed by the sudden address but disguising it well. “Perhaps it’s sending a message.”

“A message?” your husband said. “About what, exactly?”

Leave this place. Never return. The sea is not yours. The sun is not yours. I am not yours. He is not yours. Leave, leave, leave, you damnable man, leave these waters at once, leave me at once, leave and rot in the eternal winter of your solitary empire. The sea is not yours. The sun is not yours. I am not yours. He is not yours. Mydeimos is not yours, he’s not, he’s not. Leave while you still can. Leave while I still allow it. You thought it might be something like that.

“I cannot say, my lord,” you said, bowing your head so he did not notice that your eyes smarted when you were, once again, rendered mute and dumb before him. “But might I recommend that you turn your attention elsewhere for the time being? The season of the storms approaches rapidly once more, and the waters will only grow more and more treacherous. It may be better if you wait until it is over.”

“Let us concentrate our efforts on Kremnos and leave the south for now,” his cousin said. “We will be all the better for it.”

“Kremnos,” your husband repeated, his countenance unreadable, everything about him carefully neutral. “I do not foresee them being a problem for much longer, but if you both think that we should withdraw from the sea for the time being, then who am I to continue in my mulish refusals?”

“Have you come up with some new strategy?” his cousin said. “I thought that we were at somewhat of an impasse with the Kremnoans, our last victory being the capture of Mydeimos.”

“It is not new, necessarily, but finally nearing fruition,” your husband said. “Patience, brother; as I tell you and my dear lady so constantly, all will be revealed in time.”

“You preach patience far more than any man endowed with so little of it ought to,” his cousin said, although he said it more to you, flashing an innocent grin that you did not reciprocate in the slightest. 

Ever since he had recommended you find another to father the first of your sons, you had begun to see your husband’s cousin in a new light. Your husband was the more obvious of the two, so charming that he could not be anything but false, his comeliness in the way of a brightly-petaled flower, warning those who knew the signs that he was a peril, something to be avoided or, if touch was inevitable, then treated carefully, with the utmost of prudence. His cousin, on the other hand, did not have that same showmanship, that flair — he didn’t need to, not when he could somehow wheedle out one’s greatest secrets without ever divulging any of his own. 

He did everything with the sort of deliberate scrupulousness that only a second son would, and the more you thought about it, the uneasier you grew that you were an object of some contention between the two of them. Neither your husband nor his cousin would ever say it, but you could tell from their wily, duplicitous exchanges that they both wanted something out of you, and furthermore that whatever it was each wanted was different, at odds with his counterpart’s desires, setting them against one another even as they continued to behave as though they were true-born brothers of blood and body and mind alike.

“There’s news from the Southern Sea, by the way,” your husband said, his hand on the small of your back as he walked with you to your chambers, where you would spend the day as you always did, with idle amusements that did little to occupy your mind but would at least pass the time until you could go to the cellar once again. “About the king. Do you wish to hear?”

“The king?” you said. “Yes, yes, what is it? Of course I wish to hear. Is he alright?”

“They say he is gravely ill,” your husband said.

You thought you had known despair. You thought you had known anguish. You thought that pain and suffering were things that you were deadened to, that you had learnt how to live with, but everything you had ever experienced paled in comparison to this. It was as if a million needles drove into you at once, the tips a scorching white, melting away at every carefully constructed layer of armor you had drawn over yourself, boring into the veneer of magic that prevented you from screaming and wailing and shaking your husband until he let you go home.

“What is it?” you said. “What has beset him?”

“The southerners are such silly, high-strung folks,” he said, shaking his head in amusement. “Believe it or not, but apparently, his physicians say that his affliction is none other than grief.”

“Grief?” you repeated, and then you were grabbing his arm and you hated yourself for it, but if you did not hold onto something you would crumple to the ground, you would crumple and never get up and you couldn’t — you couldn’t — “Grief? What do you mean?”

“His eldest daughter,” he said. “She has left him, and now he is dying of his longing for her.”

“I—” Your hands came to your neck, and they felt so different from Mydeimos’s, which had claimed that very same place only hours before — a constraint instead of a consolation, a sentence instead of a supplication. 

“He never loved anyone the way he loved that girl, after all,” he said, his eyes sparkling, like he was daring you to say something and finding exorbitant glee in the way you couldn’t, in the way your throat closed whenever you tried to curse him. “It’s a sorry thing, really. Perhaps seeing her even once might be enough to cure him…but we both know that’s not going to happen, is it? Oh, we have arrived at your chambers! Good day, dear lady. I shall see you for dinner.”

The worst was that you could not bring yourself to shed even a tear. You lay in your bed on your back, staring blankly at the ceiling, numb to the world as the scene played over and over in your mind. The king. They say he has taken ill. At one point, your husband’s cousin knocked on your door and told you it was time for supper, but you ignored him, or maybe it was more accurate to say that you didn’t even hear him in the first place. Perhaps seeing her even once might be enough to cure him…but we both know that’s not going to happen, is it?

You couldn’t move. You couldn’t cry. You couldn’t breathe. The sun set and the moon rose and still you were immobile, because what did it matter? The Southern Sea was lost; it had been from the start, you supposed. Your marriage had only been a delay of the inevitable, but you had known from the start that things would end like this, had known that the empire would never settle for anything less than total suppression.

Yet if that was the case, if you would meet your end regardless, then why could you not at least meet it at your home, as yourself? Why instead were you here, metamorphosed into this soulless doll, removed from all you had ever loved? Maybe you deserved it. Maybe this was your punishment for taking the easy way, the simple route, for caving to the empire instead of staying true and fighting as your father had wanted to. Maybe you should not have been surprised, and maybe you might’ve tolerated it if you were the only one bearing the consequences — but it was not just you, it was everyone, and this was what hurt you the most, what felt like twenty consecutive blows to your stomach, to that vulnerable flesh which would so easily rupture, which you thought really might rupture the longer you spent ruminating on the throwaway conversation which had irrevocably changed the course of your day, of your life.

Where you found the strength to stand, you could not say. It was instinct at this point, the act of sliding out of your bed, gathering a blanket and whatever food you had stashed away for Mydeimos before trudging down to the cellar where he awaited you. This must’ve been the reason, then — you were so accustomed to the work that your body operated even in the absence of your mind, such that you were handing his plate to him before you even realized where you were.

“Thank you,” he said before tilting his head at you. “Would you like some?”

“What?” you said. He held up the plate, and a second later, you registered his question. “No, I don’t want to eat anything from here.”

He raised his eyebrows but did not comment on it further, and so the two of you sat in quietude. You had so much you might’ve told him but could not; as for him, you guessed it was the inverse, in that he could say whatever it was he pleased, but there was just so little he wanted to say that the effect was the same.

“This empire has such finicky gods,” you said finally, focusing on the red of his throat, the way it crested and then ebbed with every swallow. “They will grant you any wish, as long as it is done in some form of three. Creation, preservation, death — father, man, son — this world has a propensity for the number, it seems, so doesn’t it make sense? And what amazing things you can do when you understand that. Repeat a phrase thrice over and think of the messenger lord; he will afford you the ability for it to be heard anywhere in the world, as long as you have been there once. Make your wedding vows three times under a portrait of the lady of matrimony; you will be bound by them until death.”

“We don’t believe in these miracles in Kremnos,” he said. “They are explicable by coincidence and cunning.”

“Even where I am from, we only recognize one god, and it is less god, more entity,” you said, speaking, of course, of the sea. “One we do not worship, but who loves us regardless. It is a more sustainable approach in my mind.”

“That is how it is for us,” he said. “Our religion is found on the battlefield, and victory is our only prayer. Sometimes, I wish it were not the case, that our devotion was not so violent, so all-consuming…but that is how it is.”

“Perhaps it is violent, but at least it is fair,” you said. “Not like here. Not like these gods, who will enforce even cruelty if it is asked of them.”

“You resent them,” he said. “You cannot confirm it, I am sure, cannot speak ill of them any more than you can of your husband. But I have come to understand your ways, and so I am sure you resent them.”

“If only there were something I could do to them,” you said, reassured immeasurably by his comprehension. “Some way I could — some way I could —”

“Rebel?” he completed for you when you clearly could not. You nodded, and he pouted in thought, pushing his now-empty plate away and reclining back against the wall the way he always did when he was finished. “I am sorry. I am a heretic in these lands; I do not know their traditions well enough to blaspheme them.”

“Oh,” you said. “Oh, that’s it.”

“Hm?” he said, watching you as you shuffled over so that you were sitting beside him, the blanket covering you both, his arm all but scalding against yours. “What are you doing?”

“You are the antithesis of this empire,” you said. “You are everything my husband hates, everything he wishes to destroy. With your mere existence, you imprecate his gods, and so I shall force those deities to defend your every sacrilegious breath. Those celestial beings who bore silent witness to your capture, to my wedding…by my will, for how much they have cursed you, they will now be bound to defend you with threefold the vigor!”

Mydeimos was motionless as you combed your fingers through his hair, his expression reverent like you were not just channeling a divinity you had no claim to but in fact were that divinity yourself. Your movements were careless, your knuckles banging against his chin, your palm skimming along his neck, but he did not complain, only staring at you with that same gentle admiration that would’ve made you flush with heat if only you were not so terribly focused on remembering everything you had ever read on the religion of your husband’s empire.

Brushing the rest of his hair over his shoulder, you took a lock from near his nape, twirling it around your finger and then holding it to your lips, murmuring words from a language neither of you held claim to but which you had memorized before your wedding, words which opened the both of you to the surveillance of the gods that would fulfill your commands.

“Integrity,” you said, separating the tress of hair into three sections and pulling the leftmost taut. “May your causes be ever strong and true; may you always be just and forthright in your actions; may you never waver from the path of honor.”

You crossed it over the middle strand, and then you took the rightmost, which was like silk in your grasp, dancing like sunbeams in the lamplight. 

“Loyalty,” you said. “May your people never betray you; may your men follow you until the bitter end; may you always have the might of your kingdom at your back.”

This, too, you crossed over the middle, the careful weave of a braid beginning to form, the neat v’s that would mark him as forever blessed, forever watched over by gods, by you. 

“Love,” you said, swallowing as you took the final piece, finding that your mouth was dry from more than overuse. “May you alway be loved, prince of Kremnos.”

A knot in your stomach unraveled as you worked, your fingers remembering the motions despite how long it had been since you had played with the hair of a friend or cousin. It was the knot of repression, of every single thing you had shoved down in the name of propriety, in the name of all the vows you had sworn, and as the warmth radiating from him sank into your bones, warding away the cold of this place for the first time since you had come to it, your vision began to swim with tears.

“I wish it were you,” you said, tucking the braid back amongst the rest of his hair, mussing it up so that it was as wild as a lion's mane, allowing your hands to fall into your lap as you wept in earnest, the break of your voice as much a product of your compounded grief as it was a supernatural effect. “I wish it were you, oh, how I wish that you were the one who had — who had —”

Married me. That was what you wanted to say. How I wish that you were the one who had landed upon the shores that day, how I wish that you were the one I had met with the sea at my feet and the sun on your shoulders, how I wish that you were that one who had married me.

“Don’t cry,” he admonished, holding your jaw with the care one might afford to a sculpture made of glass, using his thumbs to wipe at your cheeks and eyes. “Y/N, Y/N, don’t cry. Please don’t.”

You froze, and then you were grabbing his wrists, holding them in place, holding onto him like he was the only thing keeping you in this realm. It must’ve bruised him, the weight of your fingertips against his veins, but he still gazed at you with that same mildness.

“What did you just call me?” you said.

“Y/N,” he said. “It is your name, is it not?”

“I never told you, so how…?” you said.

“Even in Kremnos, we have heard of the princess of the Southern Sea,” he said. “I was very young when news of your birth came, but I remember it as if it were yesterday, hiding behind my father’s throne so I could hear the announcement. Y/N L/N, they called you, a fine babe who will grow into the most beautiful girl the sea has ever whelped. I loved you then, I think; I loved you as soon as they said you were born to seals and whale-song.”

“Say it again,” you demanded. “My name, which no one else in this wretched place knows or cares to learn — say it again.”

“Y/N,” he said.

“Again,” you said, and then you were sobbing, viscerally and searingly and pathetically. “Say it again, please say it again, I miss it, I miss my father and all these things I cannot speak of, you do not know but I miss them so much I sometimes think I will be ruined by it—”

“I know,” he said, and then he was prying your hands off of him and gathering you in his arms, holding you to his chest and stroking your hair as you bawled. “Y/N. I do know. The sea, who is your mother; the king, who is your father; the home, which you left to protect. I do know.”

“How?” you choked out. He pressed his lips to the crown of your head.

“I am not such a sound sleeper,” he said. “Everything you have ever wanted to say to me, I have heard. I know you, Y/N L/N. Beloved princess of the Southern Sea, if nothing else, I swear to you this: I know you.”

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[wonderlandcrown]

Well That's a Big Cat

Hello everyone I'm very much alive, just been extra busy w/ school lately and been getting too much sleep

There's been a lot of chimera/overblot Grim on my dash lately so I'd like to contribute : Chimera Grim's Design

So starting off, Grim has a ring of blue fire surrounding his neck, much like a lion and its mane, this could either reference the chimera, or it could be referencing the King of Beasts - Scar.

Also it's interesting how the Shroudbros and Grim both have blue fire, with the Shroud family curse being that they burn away blot and how Grim has an addiction? to eating the left over Overblot stones (and seems fine after eating it) I remember seeing a theory about how Grim might've been the monster that killed Ortho, (given how Grim doesn't remember much about his childhood) Forgetting about your childhood is a actually also a sign for childhood trauma, no idea if it applies to cat-monsters though. .u.

Also, see those tentacles behind the mane? Does it remind you of someone? Our favourite octo-capitalist perphaps?

Ah yes, the snake tail. Again, this could either be referencing the chimera or the snake in the Scarabia icon. (both maybe?)

Dragon wings!!! The chimera doesn't reference dragon wings so this is definitely referencing Malleus' dragon-fae lineage. Interestingly, I don't see any references to OB! Riddle or Vil, those two could be harder to reference since they don't have a clear "animal" motif, I would appreciate it if anyone notices anything lol.

But we're still missing the goat, the chimera has a "goat protruding from it's back" but I don't see it anywhere on Grim (again, if you notice something or know someone who is better than analysing stuff pls tag me ToT)

@prince-kallisto has posted about how Twst has LOADS of religious symbolism(specifically Christian symbolism), so check them out for a clearer analysis on the stuff I'm abt to say. Goats are a symbol of Satan/The Devil in Christian mythology, and given how Maleficent(a dragon) herself has demonic symbolism the dragon wings on Grim's back could symbolise the "goat protruding from it's back".

[rrasado]

Random TWST thought Pt II :: Yuu/MC is Mickey's TWST counterpart

Written on December 19, 2021

Summary: A shower thought regarding the prefect being the mouse's twsted counterpart. It came from a crack discussion with a dear friend and ever since then I felt like I was thrown in the matrix/lh

Think about it, only Yuu has ever been the constant factor across overblots, yes all of them, and understandable why- they are an oddity in the norm of twisted wonderland. Yet they get those dreams of those scenes from the movies that correlate with the OB victims. Mickey has only ever appeared in ramshackle so im concluding that ramshackle is where mickey would thrive- bare with me here.

Mickey is the mascot of disney. and disney was the one who made those movies and scenes yuu dreams of. As the creator or rather the reteller of these old myths and legends- you as the creator would know these stories. Now who else gets tidbits of stories regarding the twsted versions of these disney characters?

yuu in their dreams.

now hold that thought for a moment- going back to the OBs we have to remember that in every single OB they only happened because Yuu and Co. manages to push and open the traumas and pasts of the OB victims, and if we really look at it- everything that happens in their dreams mirror the OBs which is a given- since they are twsted off of these characters. but only Yuu has ever gotten these visions and they seem to be the only one to sense the blot as shown by the dropping sfx. what if the reason they are the only ones who see these dream tidbits is because they as mickey/disney would by default know how the story goes since mickey/disney made these stories they are based off of.

Yes, mickey as well, because remember that mickey without a sorcerer's hat is inherently magicless, without that hat they cant tap into their conjuring magic. who else is magicless without a companion? Yuu.

Mickey has met all the villains in house of mouse according to my friend so yuu having met most of the OB victims and possible victims...do yall get where im getting at.? Mickey in house of mouse is special he is able to interact with almost everyone no matter what franchise.

Yuu is a prefect they are able to go about most of campus with their position. Their position is unique from the dorm leaders and vice- heck they might even be the one and only prefect at school pls correct me if im wrong

The main duty of prefects is to maintain an atmosphere of friendly cooperation, peace, discipline and unity in the School.

Yuu has to keep things orderly no matter the chaos.

Wasn't mickey technically also doing the same thing in house of mouse where he met and interacted with the villains? Not just to the villains alone but in every episode—

Each episode focuses on a story involving Mickey and his associates facing an issue during an evening's operation of the club, and their efforts to overcome it.

*Looks at the episodic format of the twst story line so far*

What if Mickey here in twst "failed" with keeping the unity hence why the seven are suddenly glorified figures when us the MC/yuu have visions of their much more "darker" stories aka the original movies. If we're really mickey/disney then of course we'd know the true course of the great seven's legends.

So what if nrc and twst itself is like a generational repeat —

hence why leona is based off of scar, vil from the evil queen, Riddle from the queen of hearts etc, but since mickey "failed" there's no next gen mouse to try and keep the peace and unity- so what if fate decided on calling someone from another world to be mickey's figure piece on the chess board- it wouldn't technically go against the rules since Mickey himself isn't trapped in a single franchise, as the mascot of the one who made said franchises.

But this is just a far off guess since even mickey in game looks confused.

The only reason I feel like he's in the same state as those visions of the great seven in their true series is because of the art styles. The dreams and mickey himself when shown in gane are in that disaturated simple 2d line work and minimal shading we're all familiar with in the OG movies. What if Mickey was also stuck in a dream limbo of some sorts.?

In the house of mouse series it's mickey who hosts the whole thing, in a way he's organizing the whole thing, he's the one who is able to server everyone in the dinner club and cater to them as needed.

This is the part where we mirror mickey, in Twisted Wonderland, it's us/yuu/MC the prefect that gets summoned/invited to the twsted characters, opposite to Mickey's situation where the characters go to him in the dinner club.

Mirroring the mouse might be a far stretch but hey we talk to him via mirror anyways uwhdidhdkdj

[girlbookwrm]

i DO recommend these fics, but this ISN’T actually a rec list

a while ago i did a meta about Bucky Barnes and the Winter Soldier and Hydra and the headcanons I put in The Terror of Knowing, and I mentioned that I wanted to compile a long-ass list of fics that inspired The Hundred Year Playlist and ppl (hi @conlatio and @marveluc) asked about it SO HERE, AT LONG FUCKING LAST, IT IS.

Fanfiction, like every other art form that has ever existed in the history of ever, is all about synthesis: combining pre-existing elements to make something new. It’s the making something new thing that’s exciting. (If you’re not making something new with your found material, that’s called plaigiarism and it’s distinctly uncool.)

When I was in college and grad school, if we used material from other scholars to make a new idea, we made sure to include a bibliography. 

Now this is fic, so like. Everyone knows that we’re using found material. We put the fandom in the tags and everything. But there’s a lot of unseen inspiration, because it’s harder to tag all the fics and metas you read that gave you ideas and inspiration along the way.

I’m... making an attempt.

These are some, SOME of the fics that inspired the headcanons and characterizations and whatnot that then got incorporated into THYP. I’ve been reading MCU fic since 2014 (possibly earlier) and I didn’t even start thinking about THYP until 2017, so there’s probably a lot of stuff that went into my subconscious that I’ve forgotten about. I’m @ing the authors and sources when I know them, but if any of yall want me to like, un-@you (is that a thing??) or if any of you know of authors who have tumblrs that I DIDN’T @ but should have, pls let me knoooowwww

A (Probably Incomplete, but at least Attempted) Fanfic Bibliography for The Hundred Year Playlist

by Seriously I Don’t Have More Important Things To Do? Astonishing.

PLEASE HEED THE WARNINGS IN THE FICS THEMSELVES. THYP may be rated T for Teen (and even that I debate about tbh, given all the swears and violence) but most of these fics are very emphatically not.  some of them will probably squick you out, some of them might be triggering, so take care of yourselves.

I’ve divided the list into sections by the story they inspired, but all of these stories inspired all the parts of THYP, this is a very very very rough categorization. Think of it as my fanfic n headcanon spice rack. some stories are going to have more or less of one spice or another.

Dreamers With Empty Hands

All the Angels and the Saints by @cesperanza

"You're a brutal person, you know that? You're always rummaging through my guts with your bare hands!" and then Bucky turned away, his long, muscled back curving as he sat on the edge of the bed, hunched and struggling for breath. Steve wanted to draw him, and he also wanted to blot the image from his memory: this picture of Bucky in despair.

Speranza’s Socialist Steve is deeply flawed in a way that people don’t usually write him and i love it so much??? He’s angry, and egotistical, and righteous in a way that’s hard on the people around him and I was like YESGOOD MORE PLS. It’s also a masterful example of how to write a story that’s ostensibly Steve-POV but still manages to make Bucky not only a main player, but a driving force. It’s about Steve, on the surface, sure. But it’s also about Bucky, because Steve is about Bucky and I just *clenches fist* love it.

cascades. 

This fic. THIS FIC. Hngh. Okay so this fic is good on so many levels, but for THYP, the takeaway was me very gently lifting the Bucky-Steve-Barnes Family dynamic and then adding more swears to get to my take on the Bucky-Steve-Barnes Family Dynamic. Namely: 

“Steve was a bit of a Barnes, too, wasn’t he,” she says.

“He was ours,” says Rebecca, shrugging. “We were his.”

i crie???

More Man Than You

“You’re very pretty,” she said, and Steve tensed up.

“I’m not a fairy.”

“No, you’re not, are you?”

this fic has a study guide. and that’s literally all I feel I need to say about it. It’s an exploration of queer culture and masculinity in the 30s and 40s, thinly veiled as stucky fanfiction. (It’s also pretty brutal so I’ll reiterate that you need to heed the goddamn warnings)

Also, lest yall think I came up with Billy Thompson in a vacuum, I didn’t. In this fic, there’s a violent mob runner called Duke, and Steve comes up with a plan to take him down, and Bucky makes sure that there’s a Different plan that Steve doesn’t know about.  It’s all executed a little differently in this fic, but the idea lodged in my brain and got reused in THYP, and kind of became a central theme.

Good Morning Heartache, What’s New?

The Night War by @praximeter

IF YOU HAVEN’T READ THIS WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH YOUR LIFE. This is... honestly, just one of the finest pieces of fiction i just 

HNNNNGH

I don’t know that I can point to any specific part of this fic and say “this gave me that idea” it was more the... the feel of it. The way the Normandy invasion is written and the way the trauma is handled and the way Steve is just slightly to the left of being a real soldier and especially this:

He asked me with a smile on his face what goes through my mind when I line up my shot—God and country? Pearl Harbor? Uncle Sam? —and I stared at him struck dumb from the question so long that I think he thought I was just plain stupid. The fact is that it is none of those things—not even close. It is sick, numb fear and careful, barely breathing so that I don’t miss. I must never miss. And then when I shoot, an awful thought curls up from my trigger finger to my heart “how many mothers must be praying I will miss?”

The Thirteen Letters

oh you didn’t really think that Not Easily Conquered wasn’t going to be on this list, didja? OF COURSE IT’S ON THE LIST. But possibly not for the reason you might think. That fic is legen-fucking-dary of course, and the scene where Steve gets stabbed was obviously very inspirational for that bit in GMHWN where Steve gets shot in the thigh, but the scene that really got teeth into my brain and Would Not Let Go was the one where the Howlies meet the Winged Victory of Samothrace and 

Bucky knows the truth now. It is a deep and insurmountable truth. She has no face. Like the operative whose head he beat in, like the boy who he killed one month into active duty, even like Bucky himself, Nike is faceless. Bucky feels unprepared, or like he should have brought an offering.

Beside him Steve quakes before the oldest and the only god.

look my fixation with statues didn’t come from nowhere is what i’m saying ok

Sincerely, Your Pal

This fic haunts me because i hate the ending. not because it’s not good (It IS good) or because it’s not the right ending for the story (it IS the right ending for the story) but just because i  h a t e  i t. I just like happy endings is all, and resolutions, and this fic is why THYP will have a happy ending.

But also, I really liked the way this fic dealt with Bucky in Basic and lines like this really caught in my brain:

And of course I want to kill some Nazis I guess but not because they’re people. Not because I actually want people to die because I don’t.

And that sentiment definitely fed into how I write Bucky especially.

The Terror of Knowing

there must have been a moment by @redstarwhitestar (magdaliny’s marvel sideblog)

Listen, I’ve been trying to make sure that there’s a good spread of writers on this list but magdaliny is the exception. Magdaliny is the exception for a lot of things and there must have been a moment when we could have said no is always the first fic I think of when I think of a fic about Bucky’s time as the Soldier. Which is ironic, because it’s very much about his time after that, but that first chapter made uhhhhhhhhhhh an impression.

The fractured nature of the narrative, the way that the reader can piece together a coherent timeline but the main character can’t... that was very influential on TTOK. example:

“Kill him,” the officer says.

The subject says: “Why?”

☙

“Kill him,” the officer says.

The subject makes a mess.

☙

“Kill him cleanly,” the officer says. “Good! Good lad.”

I’ll build a house inside of you

Another magdaliny G I F T, an AU where Nat is much younger and Bucky is her dad, and if you think that didn’t affect the way I write Bucky and Nat’s relationship in THYP, then you are dreaming. 

Past the praises of the handlers, above the hot wet smell of cordite and blood, Natalia can hear crashing and shouting down the hall.

“—goddamn animals, they're little girls, they're just kids, you fucking—”

Her father screams in English, in Mandarin, in Russian, and then he just screams.

I know that’s a super sad excerpt but listen and hear me when I say this fic is actually really good and wholesome and it’s got A+++ OCs and All The Widows and it’s just really good ok

Memory

Bucky is hard AF to write and very few people write him half so well as magdaliny but one of those people is emilyenrose and this fic is M A S T E R F U L. Bittersweet and achingly perfect. It contains this beautiful moment that really stuck with me, where Steve is comparing the post WS “James” to the Pre War “Bucky” and realizes... 

He truly hadn't known James all that well. James hadn't let him. Hadn't wanted him to. Hadn't wanted anyone near him, ever—

—the way Bucky went, when he was miserable, when he was angry...

and that, to me, was kind of key when I went on to write the Soldier, because the Soldier IS Bucky, even when he isn’t.

Fool For Sacrifice

Dona Nobis Pacem

THIS GODDAMN FIC came to me outta FUCKING NOWHERE, I’d already written the first draft for FFS, I’d already started posting it, for crying out loud. And then all of a sudden I stumble upon THIS and i just

It’s already fading, just hours after the skirmish.  And the wounds Sam stitched will heal without a mark.  And the welts on Steve’s chest will disappear.  Like all of it never happened. 

Fuck the serum. He keeps thinking it, saying it.  Maybe if there were some goddamn scars, it’d be easier to process the damage.

This fic is heavy af, it’s like the 65k word version of That Chapter in FFS Where Steve Hits Rock Bottom. This was the fic I read when I was ramping myself up to tackle That Moment

three white horses

This is the other fic I read to ramp up for That Scene, and I think that probably shows in the way I wrote it. It is also is a Strong Contender for the title of Heavyweight Fic That Convinced Me Buck Is Jewish. Honestly I cannot praise this fic enough.

I think the thing that stuck hardest about the Steve in three white horses is the way he feels ghostly himself, like he’s only drifting through the present, and somehow most of his living happens in the past. It’s very beautifully done, and very subtly done, and it’s my go to fic if I am in Dire Need of a Good Clean Crie.

It’s getting an extra long excerpt because This Is My List And Neither God Nor Man Can Stop Me.

Steve's fingers touch metal when he reaches into the second-to-last box, and he feels the blood drain out of his face even before he's looked down. He knows the feel of it too well. He'd know it blind, a hundred years from now. It's Bucky's not-a-medal.

It'd been Bucky's grandfather's, or maybe his great-grandfather's, made of the kind of sterling silver that tarnishes if you look at it funny, so Bucky had always been polishing it; he'd traded cigarettes to the mess staff for baking soda and vinegar, during the war, but the thing was still soot-black half the time, like it is now. It'd been a fool's errand, wearing a thing like that in Axis territory, but Bucky'd worn it on his chain like the rest of the guys wore their Christophers and Michaels, and HYDRA'd ignored it. It was a subtle thing, though: nothing like wearing a Magen David, or the implacable H on Bucky's tags, just a thin slice of metal with a stylized branch and an oblique squiggle Steve only knows is the Hebrew word for life because Bucky told him so.

Bucky'd had a curious mix of reverence and irreverence about it, the same mixture that seemed to colour the whole of his religious life. He'd teased Steve sometimes, saying, “No, wait, you gotta kiss it before you enter the building, you schmuck, what are you, some kinda heathen?” with his legs around Steve's waist. Bucky hadn't complained when Steve had carried on with an inch of silver between his teeth, but Steve had offhandedly called it Bucky's good luck charm once, and Bucky'd blown up; it's not a superstition, he said, it's not a fucking amulet. He'd apologized later, and he'd explained, and said it was a touchy subject, just ingrained. Jews weren't supposed to believe in luck. Bucky'd thought maybe it was the opposite: maybe luck didn't believe in Jews.

Sparked Up Like a Book of Matches

AH YES, THE FIC THAT TAUGHT ME ABOUT LIL AUDREY JOKES. SIPPY CUPS OF SUPERBOOZE! A ROBOT CALLED SHITCAN!! WHAT MORE COULD YOU NEED IN A FIC??? I really like the way it addresses Steve being in the future is all

This one could probably also fall into the list of fics that inspired DWEH, in part because of This, which stuck with me Hard and heavily influenced the opening:

“...You ever have scarlet fever?"

Sam shakes his head.

"It starts in your throat, like an itch, and as your fever starts to climb, your tongue swells up and turns white and that's when they know, really, even before the rash, that it's scarlet fever. You can't swallow, it hurts so much. You're freezing and your joints ache and your fever keeps spiking and you start to hallucinate. I, uh, I thought things were crawling on me and there were voices that I didn't recognize whispering things that didn't make any sense. My mom had to fight me just to get me to drink broth, but I threw it up most of the time, anyway. Then I got pneumonia from being so worn down from the scarlet fever and I was so lucky, Sam. Nobody seems to understand how I lucky I was to make it through. Talking to people today, to make them understand I'd have to tell them I survived bird flu only to fall sick with Ebola."

listen. For reasons I can’t fully explain, I really wanted to read that happening so i wrote it, and this is what being a writer is All About.

Actually, on a second thought, I might be able to explain it: it’s because an experience like that is Capital F Formative, and I really wanted to explore how there’s a tiny sick kid rattling around inside Captain Beefcake’s souped up bod.

(And an additional shoutout to Steve Rogers’ American Captain, a webcomic that now exists only in the Wayback Machine, but which was L O V E L Y and I sincerely hope that the artist knows that)

No Hope for the Weary

Strays

This fic? is so fluffy?? Like literally so fluffy. But this fic (and, obviously, Infinite Coffee) were very much behind the inclusion of the God Damn Starbucks, and also the source of a lot of my headcanons about Barnes & Rogers: Secret Millennials. For Example: Bucky’s Notes on How To Be A Millennial:

- Lots of coffee. Travel mugs or paper cups from Starbucks place. Often looks guilty for drinking, obv derive pleasure from doing so. Unknown as to why. Investigate further? Why is there one every two blocks if no one wants it there? 

Infinite Coffee and Protection Detail

This is another fandom classic that needs very little introduction. A+ characterization, A+ OCs, Utterly Charming from start to finish, and the originator of a very distinct way of talking that got very strongly coded in my brain as Winter Soldier Bucky.

He passes within 4 m of Barnes on his way back to his building. The mission imperative achieves a Doppler effect.

contactContactCONTACTContactcontact

Aw.

If They Haven’t Learned Your Name by @silentwalrus1

If I had to point to one (1) fic and say “Blame This Fic for THYP” it would be this one: the Fic that my roommate and The Gal Pal know as “The One With the USS Motherfucker.” This might seem like an odd statement, because if you’ve read them both, I don’t think you’d necessarily put them in the same class. silentwalrus is a genius of hilarity and THYP is a big pile of The Sads. ITHLYN is delightfully unassuming and I’m sometimes embarrassed by how pretentious THYP ended up being. 

I would technically put this under the list of fics that heavily influenced NHFTW on account of the way it portrays Bucky going by gradual degrees from murderbot to mostly human person, but listen I could never write Cryptid!Bucky the way Silentwalrus has. It’s magnificent. And TBH the level of Intensity in ITHLYN’s Steve has is something I aspire to, and the Sam Characterization is On Point, and both those things influenced FFS, 112%. Nat’s Chaotic Slav Energy in this fic is OFF THE GODDAMN CHARTS and I LOVE IT. Every single side character, down to the spaceship is given the kind of care, attention, and characterization that just... it cannot be beat, my dudes.

16/10 highest recommendation. I could not possibly pick a single paragraph from this behemoth but uhhhhh

Two minutes in there’s a grunt and a slippery, gritty noise somewhere to her left, and then the Soldier barrels past at breakneck speed, vanishing down another tunnel. A second later Steve careens around the corner, bounces off the opposite wall and crashes away after him, so fast he’s nearly a blur. Natasha’s brain, entirely of its own accord, provides her with the utterly unhelpful accompaniment of a Yakety Sax soundtrack.

that’s it. that’s the fic.

Also, this fic is Stoutly To Blame for the playlist aspect of the hundred year playlist? Silentwalrus really got me good with Grounds for Divorce by Elbow, one of my all time favorite songs, which was then paired with one of my all time favorite chapters. By the time Caravan Palace’s Lone Digger made an appearance, I was sunk. This fic introduced me to Lyube, and gave me a new appreciation(?) for dubstep. So many of the songs ITHLYN used ended up in my Very Long Stucky Playlist, though I think the only one that then went on to become part of the Hundred Year Playlist: Upside Down and Inside Out by OK GO.

And Finally, the Coup De What The Fuck Ever:

Ain’t No Grave by @spitandvinegar

yet another fandom classic... I wasn’t sure where to put this fic, but I couldn’t NOT include it in the list. Spitandvinegar’s Steve is charming and so? Sweet? and the ANG Bucky is a delightful foulmouthed mess of a person, and the Sam/Claire pairing is something I DIDN’T KNOW I NEEDED, BUT I VERY MUCH NEEDED IT and I don’t know that I can point to a single thing and be like: Ah Yes, This Bit, but this is definitely one of my faves:

Imagine you live in this country, right? And there's a brutal war, and you witness and maybe participate in a horrific amount of violence, and you lose absolutely everyone you care about. Then you end up in this other country, where the culture and ways of doing things are completely foreign to you, and random assholes make fun of you for how you dress and act and talk while you're still coming to grips with the fact that everyone you love is gone and you can never go home again. Meanwhile, everyone around you is like "smile, motherfucker, you're in the Land of Plenty now, where there's a Starbucks on every corner and 500 channels on TV. You should be grateful! Why aren't you acting more grateful?" So you have to pretend to be grateful while you're dying inside. Sound like an traumatized, orphaned refugee? Also sounds like Steve fucking Rogers, Captain Goddamn America. Except that most refugees were part of a community of other people who were going through the same thing. Steve is all alone, the last damn unicorn, if the last unicorn had horrible screaming nightmares about the time when it helped to liberate Buchenwald.

Usually this explanation yields a "huh." People don't want Sad Refugee Steve: they want Captain America, Indestructible Defender of Freedom. But that doesn't mean that Sam isn't right, because he is right, goddamnit. So yeah, Sam's a little protective of Steve. And if the last unicorn finds out that its best damn unicorn friend in the whole world is actually alive, then damn straight, Sam's heading out with a tranq gun and bringing that damn unicorn in and starting a goddamn unicorn wildlife refuge in his backyard. Or something like that: at a certain point the metaphor kind of gets away from him.

Til The End of the Timeline

I’ve recced this so many times you’ve probably all gotten sick of hearing about it, but it’s an invaluable goddamn resource and you should all check it out. 

A Shit Ton of Metas and Blogs, some of which are tagged with THYP Research but especially @steve-rogers-new-york and @hansbekhart‘s How To Brooklyn and @historicallyaccuratesteve

and last but certainly not least

LITERALLY EVERYTHING @quietnighty READS HOLY SHIT

If you’re looking for a common thread through all the above recs, it’s that almost all of them have podfics, and the vast majority of those podfics are by Quietnight. I am, and always have been, an audio learner. I read my writing aloud when I’m editing, I listen to audiobooks when I’m commuting, and when I’m cleaning, and when I’m playing computer games, because I like stories, and I especially like listening to stories. Quietnight’s podfics are Of The Highest Quality, and her taste in fic is Impeccable.

hooooly shit this post is long wow okay. I can’t promise I won’t add more to this later, but I’m leaving it for now because goddamn. it’s as complete as I can make it at this time. I’ve added a “THYP Fanfic Bibliography” tag in my bookmarks, and incidentally I really need to make sure I’ve gone through and kudosed all of these because goddamn.

[nightingaletrash]

📖 for Valkari pls!

[The journal’s binding is old, worn brown leather and some of the pages are visibly yellowing. Otherwise it looks well looked after, valued even, and the lock holding it in place is in the shape of a bird cradling a dark sphere. The earliest entries are unkempt and messy, with crooked, smudged writing. Blots of ink are frequent, as if written by a careless hand.]

3rd Hearthfire 4E 191

Bersi Honey-Hand: 100g Paid with some persuasion, should keep him in line for now

Haelga: 150g Paid for Dibella statue’s safe return, I’ll never understand these religious types

Keerava: 100g Paid with no trouble, seemed anxious, probably heard about Bersi and Haelga

Madesi leaves the key to his stall in the pouch on his belt, usually kept on his person at all times. Unsurprising considering what Beggar’s Row is like. Market square only has two guards patrolling tonight, should be easy enough to clear out the stall between patrols.

Pa said that we’d do something special for my name day tonight, so the sooner I get this done, the better. If I bring back enough coin then Mercer is bound to let me do my trial. I’ve worked too hard not to be in the guild.

1st Frostfall 4E191

Watching Pa swindle idiots in the market again. Boring. Cons are no fun, there’s no window to break in through, no locks to pick. Just telling lies and making sure you don’t trip over them. Saw Maven earlier. Still gives me the chills. Put her next to the hagraven and you wouldn’t know the difference.

[There are doodles covering the next page. The most noticeable is a rather crude portrait of Maven Black-Briar looking like a hagraven. It is not flattering in the slightest.]

Mercer finally assigned me a job to act as my trial for entering the Thieves Guild as a fully fledged member. It’s just the small task of pulling off what VEX failed to do. No pressure right?! I know Mercer’s testing me. With the luck the guild’s been having, we need the best thieves that Tamriel has to offer. I’m just going to have to be careful and plan ahead, and actually listen to Delvin’s intel for once.

5 vials of kindlepitch

15 arrows

Dagger, just in case

[In more recent entries the smears and blots of ink fade and the handwriting becomes neater, more professional. The rude doodles of Maven Black-Briar persist, joined by Mercer Frey drawn with numerous arrows sticking out of him. A rude name has been written over his head.]

15th Last Seed 4E201

Some miners are behind on their protection fees, Delvin needs me to steal their ledgers and a prized family heirloom - some bear carving apparently. I don’t see what’s so prized about that. Still it’s definitely one of the easier jobs he’s given me lately.

Karliah said she spotted some people straying a bit too close to the Sepulcher. Might be worth checking in over there, just to make sure they don’t get any ideas. Don’t need that damn Key getting stolen again.

[There is a surprisingly detailed sketch of the Skeleton Key below this entry. The next entry is undated and is only two words long.]

Kill Delvin

[There is a drawing of an arrow-riddled Delvin being eaten by a dragon.]

[minyoongittaemune]

5

KPOP TOP 5 | 5 THINGS TAG

Tagged once again by my loves @chimdeer​ and @apandasmind​.

➸ K P O P  T O P  5

top 5 groups (in no particular order) :

BTS

Infinite

GOT7

Big Bang

Day6

top 5 bias:

Yoongi (BTS

Myungsoo (Infinite)

Lisa (Blackpink)

Jae (Day6)

I.M (Monsta X)

top 5 bias wrecker:

Jung Hoseok

None in Infinite

Jisoo? Rose?? Jennie??????

Brian Kang better stay tf away from me

Wonho 

top 5 favourite songs of this year:

Don’t Wanna Cry - Seventeen

I Smile / It’s Winter - Day6 (Do not fight me I am struggling)

You Never Walk Alone - BTS

Fine - Taeyeon

Fool - Winner

top 5 favourite songs of all time:

Young Forever - BTS

Pricked - Winner

Another Parting - Melody Day

Daydream - Kim Sungkyu

Beside Me - Davichi

top 5 albums:

Sunrise - Day6

EXODUS - EXO

Reality - Infinite

My Voice - Taeyeon 

27 - Kim Sungkyu

DESCNDANTS OF THE SUN OST IDGAF THAT THIS IS #6

➸ 5 T H I N G S  T A G

5 things you’ll find in my bag:

wallet

blotting sheets

too many napkins

receipts floating around

at east one pen

5 things you’ll find in my bedroom:

currently, boxes everywhere and no wall swag bc i am moving tomorrow

too many cards, notebooks, and stationery

at least 3 plushies at any given time

... at least one bag of lime hot cheetos

clothes everywhere usually oops

5 things I always wanted to do:

get into photography

read the entirety of Harry Potter in both French and Chinese

record and put out a cover 

finish and be happy with a full length au

make enough money to send my parents back to Taiwan for vacation

5 things that make me feel happy:

going to bed and waking up completely refreshed

hearing my dad laugh

0625

receiving positive feedback abt my writing

seeing real improvement in my playing (cello)

5 things I’m currently into:

Lookism on Webtoons. This comic is so good pls go read it. 

p r o c r a s t i n a t i o n

sleeping at 5 am to wake up a little before noon

posting on instagram ( i put up two posts in as many days i’m telling u this is a lifetime record)

penpals (hmu)

5 things on my to-do list:

cut my nails bc i keep forgetting 

figure out an audition piece. or two.

turn in the router tomorrow

finish packing up my life

finish ploting out these two aus i’ve been stewing in my brain since forever

I’m not gonna tag anyone but if you see this and wanna do it too pls tag me and say I tagged u :3 because people’s answers are interesting and i’m a lazy bum 

[fuegosdeoctubree-blog]

Fascination About egg white face mask

The orange powder is an essential and important part ingredient of the comprehensive course of action. It may be well prepared conveniently in your house by building the use of following actions. Go away the mask on for 15 minutes. To avoid the mask from dripping just about everywhere, think about laying down or sitting down in a comfortable chair using your head tilted back. You may also use this mask during the bathtub while you're soaking or having a enjoyable bath. Subscribe to The usa's greatest dictionary and obtain 1000's more definitions and advanced look for—advert totally free! Your face would be the ‘showroom’ of your life that lens initial effect on anyone you meet. If the exact same is just not favouring you, you seriously need to workout for an improved face. Our natural beauty face masks are uncomplicated to use and remove. This at your home facial therapy is simple, rapid and delivers easy and exquisite skin For each and every age. Be careful never to scratch yourself With all the egg shells. Look at Every single egg batter for shell chips right before software. Check out some respiratory workout routines. This can drive your intellect to deal with the exercising and may allow you to neglect whatever it's that's stressing you out. Orange is highly useful on your skin because it has anti-growing older, toning and astringent Attributes. https://www.pinterest.com/pin/722616702689546949 will help make improvements to skin texture and complexion. These are definitely really attention-grabbing honey masks. I utilized to do honey and yogurt years in the past and it labored terrific with my skin. I will be sharing this good hub and passing it along! > Who doesn’t would like to smell great all day lengthy? A great scent can not simply cause you to smell great, it can enhance your self-assurance manifold. Given that these egg white masks are typically runny and may drip, use an aged T-shirt to stay away from spoiling your excellent apparel. Supply The easiest body scrub of them all, this scrubs away lifeless skin cells, and softens and hydrates your skin. Combine collectively olive oil and sugar until finally it forms a paste Skip to search We use cookies to give you a much better on line working experience. By continuing to search you accept our privateness and cookies.

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Is there a particular way you have to dry your face after you wash from the egg white? Like pat dry or wipe off? While the banana cleanses, avocado will keep your skin moist and supple. Mash half an avocado with 1 ripe banana, apply and leave on your own face for 20 minutes, after which you can rinse. Butter, yoghurt and honey is natural moisturizer that can help in locking the moisture on skin even though olive oil and banana neutralized the undesirable outcomes of free of charge radicals on skin in addition to exfoliates useless skin cells. Other Unwanted effects might include things like dry skin and general discomfort, particularly if additives for instance pure lemon juice are utilised. Only your dermatologist will help you decide if the use of an egg white mask is best for you. Think about using oil blotting sheets throughout the day instead of loading on far more powder or foundation. After it's sat on your own face, rinse your face off with a few warm h2o, and pat your face dry with a towel.[5] Since turmeric can stain quite easily, take into account applying this mask with a make-up brush. This way, the yellow colour in the turmeric received’t dye your fingers. Thanks for his article. My teenage son has struggled with acne and we are attempting a variety of different things today. Insert handful of drops of olive oil or therapeutic massage your skin with olive oil immediately after applying this face pack to nourish your skin. Im going to check out your mask this week I just choose to explain heat drinking water to open pores, utilize mask overwhelmed egg whites with witch hazel, usel facial cleanser and moisturizer right after Handle by yourself to an expensive wax treatment method like they are doing in posh spas around the globe. Dip palms into heat wax then peel absent leaving arms smooth and supple. "I recognize that all the things in this article will operate. I am hoping for the best! Thanks a lot!" https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facemask "It really is genuinely quite interesting to find out about skincare ideas. This article can help me to beat my dry and uninteresting skin. I'd like to learn more about strategies for dry skin."..." a lot more RT Raven Tson I am on an organic kick at this moment And that i desire not To place anything at all on my skin that I couldn't, nicely, eat. What this means is I'm moisturizing additional with oils (Feel sweet almond and coconut), I am scrubbing my skin and lips with brown sugar and coconut oil, I'm steaming my face around my teapot and I'm taking baths in milk and salts. I exploit this mask frequently! I just take applied the morning’s coffee grounds blend in olive oil or maybe a cream and Mix into a paste. I also place in a little turmeric powder. In India turmeric is always used in face masks to help make the skin glow and to forestall skin eruptions.

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On this page, I share eighteen awesome uses for essential substances you will find inside the kitchen. Make your very own infant wipes, obtain a recipe for your lip scrub, give yourself a steam which has a teapot plus more. Just past night i acquired curious & tried out that mix on my face. Then Soon after i seemed up if coffee scrubs r excellent for face. Luckily for us i found This website, or else would’ve regretted it haha I figured if It’s superior for cellulite, wager it's perfect for my face. This can be a actually basic mask which i delight in routinely. It only has 2 elements so it only requires minutes to generate but the consequences are incredible. I've a really negative face tan and my skin is very delicate.. What ought to I do for it? And how much time will it just take for that tan to go? It is possible to implement banana alone or together with other pure elements to take care of healthy and delightful skin. When you are feeling your skin tightening up, gently clear away the egg white, by using a fabric soaked in warm water. Turmeric is really an historical times dried root herb and baking soda operates as a highly effective cleanser and exfoliant. Recently I'm seeing dry skin all-around my eyes and my lips. Could you make sure you advise any property treatments for that. Any methods for eliminating black head for my teenager daughter…Enjoy your reply and thank you very much for posting excellent recommendations. Quite beneficial.. 2. Be gentle. Tend not to rub the sugar face scrub way too tricky with your face. This will provide you with a burning feeling and also purple, Unattractive skin. Sure You should utilize the suggested face pack with out egg yolk. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbBrSMpQPvk is likely to make your skin gentle and glowing.. I’ve been utilizing the used coffee grinds from my keurig and coconut to generate a rub for cellulite. I freeze it in little balls and afterwards consider just one with the freezer Once i shower. Now I’ll utilize it for both applications. It’s also a good or mild scrub much too. Enable it continue to be for ten or 15 minutes. While in the meanwhile carry out some skipping rope right after this clean your face and pat dry. Hey Wasifa! Just read through your posting to verify that instant coffee can be employed instead of grounds. In no way applied instantaneous just before, however it’s all I’ve received at this time. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ToDVKZp7fmk what a aid! Meditate. This is certainly an historic practice that has been all-around for hundreds of years—and permanently cause! Lots of individuals realize that it helps them clear their minds and rest.

Rumored Buzz on skin care

I've compiled some wonderful facial scrubs that operate just plus the pricey scrubs, but all certainly all natural and organic and cost actually pennies. "My face desired just a little help with moisturizing, and this served me with that. " Rated this article: Do you have any recipes for undesirable acne employing cinnamon and coconut oil? I actually need support for my actually seriously terrible acne.. Making use of clean up fingers, apply the mask onto your face and therapeutic massage it systematically all through your face for sixty seconds. Then reapply a thick coat on the mask onto your face and lie down for 15 mins. Breathe calmly and Imagine positive thoughts whilst letting the mask do the job its magic! Banana definitely assists in receiving vibrant, honest and youthful skin. I use refreshing banana pulp on my skin everyday and it grants my skin an amazing lustre a lot more than a facial can provide. Hello, pls allow me to know how often we must always use the mask specially for lightening the skin. is it a daily mask or as soon as in each week mask ? Packed with citric acid, lightens dim skin and evens out discoloration. Diminishes dim spots and pimples blemishes. If it may possibly lick Mr. Edwards’ unpleasant bug, think about what it can do to acne, which stems from inflamed sebaceous glands inside the skin that may become contaminated by micro organism. Address yourself to an opulent wax therapy like they do in posh spas worldwide. Dip arms into heat wax and afterwards peel absent leaving fingers gentle and supple. Below are a few really uncomplicated Do-it-yourself face mask recipes that are becoming very talked-about between honey fans. The methods and elements associated with Every single mask are really easy which you could prepare it in a couple of minutes. If you will get the mask with your eyes, It'll be quite annoying. When you ingest it, the Uncooked egg inside the mask can cause meals poisoning. (i) Whilst applying a organic face mask similar to this, help it become confident to stand in excess of your sink or in toilet to stop slippage on the floor. A little cinnamon oil can be employed Using the coconut oil, but I would only use a fall or two in a small jar of coconut oil–more than that could burn off the skin. Can you mix baking soda, turmeric, yogurt, and orange juice with the banana and obtain the advantages all in a single for your wrinkle and acne masks?

5 Simple Statements About honey face mask Explained

This will prevent it from finding sticky. To safeguard your clothes, think about draping a towel more than your chest and shoulders. And In case you have Sunshine burned or sun harmed skin, you’ll be definitely delighted to are aware that coffee allows reverse the injury of UV rays! So surely Be sure to slather this on in case you come about to have far too much sun or When you have Solar destroyed skin. It will help restore your skin from hurt! "My face desired slightly help with moisturizing, and this assisted me with that. " Rated this information: Last but not least, whisk the combination together with a fork and use it for your face using your fingers or a cotton ball. To learn how to make a nourishing egg facial mask, scroll down! Carefully pat your face dry using a cleanse, dry towel. Be gentle when you pat your face dry. If https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facemask scrub your face with the towel, you could result in skin irritation, together with breakouts. Allow me to share five basic recipes to obtain you commenced. Find the just one that works on your skin variety or the issue you want to tackle. Wash the mask off and pat your face dry. Use lukewarm drinking water to rinse your face off. Try not to scrub much too hard. Carefully pat your face dry that has a smooth, clean towel. This is accustomed to identify individual browsers or units once the accessibility the company, and is utilized for stability reasons. Do it after per week, ideally If you have your 'spa day at your house'. When you have time, get it done each individual other working day. Be sure you exam to be certain your skin is not really delicate to lemon. Attempt diluting the lemon juice with h2o to reduce irritation. Hope this helps. You can do the egg white facial as component within your weekly skin maintenance schedule. For face masks targeted to blocking excessively oily skin, look at this hub as a substitute: ... i would want to know the properties solutions for tumaric from india for itchy skin within the face in addition simply because I realize the proper Answer I need to know urs smilrs You’ll get the most Positive aspects applying raw honey. And if you’re ready to splurge, you may’t defeat Manuka honey. This honey in the Manuka tree in New Zealand and Australia is surely an antibacterial superfood with plenty of immunity and first-assist Gains. New-year ought to-haves: the most effective magnificence products and solutions for all Skin & Physique New-period should-haves: the most beneficial magnificence solutions for all favourite28 three. To save lots of time, set to the face mask before carrying out something like acquiring breakfast All set or soaking inside a bath, so that you destroy two birds with a person stone.

https://twitter.com/steptoremedies/status/1087107481564823552

This is often an enhancement in excess of the conventional Aloe Vera Honey Mask for the cure of acne and it may significantly increase the results. If you say Egg White, will it actually need to be an genuine egg white or can I use egg white from the carton? I've an Egg white Carton and I choose to inquire whether it is similar to employing an Actual Egg white Egg. Is anybody receiving this? LOL! Specifics: Honey has antimicrobial Homes and antioxidants which happen to be beneficially sticky. This stickiness pulls away the dust, lifeless skin, and microbes in the pores when the antimicrobial Houses keep the skin from turning into infected all over again. This provider makes it possible for you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you could earn dollars from ads on your content articles. No details is shared Except you engage with this characteristic. (Privateness Policy) Combining egg whites with orange juice and natural and organic turmeric powder would make a really efficient mask for skin lightening and brightening. Coffee and cocoa face masks have extended been a favorite of splendor aficionados. As a mix, they lessen puffiness within the face as well as eye region, brighten skin and get up a boring complexion (good day caffeine!). This facial mask recipe performs great regardless of your skin kind. (You are able to choose and add upto 5 photos within a comment. The total dimension of all your pictures should be a lot less than one MB. Click on button and ensure to choose all the photographs you need to upload.) Preparation: Once again, the preparing is quite simple. Just combine The 2 elements and produce a uniformly combined paste. Put on dim clothes when you're working with this mask because it stains the clothes (I learnt it the challenging way!). I've never utilised it on my skin although, but I'm going to consider it. Thank you for sharing. I have bookmarked it to refer again I Voted it up and valuable. Avocado has excellent moisture in it and it hydrates the skin which makes it supple and smooth. Banana is helpful in opposition to inflammation and skin cracks. Utilize a ripe avocado so that it is simpler to mash it right into a lump-absolutely free paste. It's also possible to freeze, then thaw it right before mashing to create matters easier. When you've got a blender, utilize it as opposed to a fork to swiftly and proficiently Mix the avocado into a lump-free of charge puree. Avoid the eye and mouth place when applying the combination, as they are a lot more sensitive in comparison with other parts of your face; along with the tightening and stretching in the mask may lead to wrinkles. Pamper on your own with this skin-lightening egg white face mask. This recipe uses turmeric, a root herb which includes amazing skin-lightening Homes that assistance even out the discolorations and darkish spots due to acne!

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3. To save time, set about the face mask just before undertaking one thing like obtaining breakfast All set or soaking in a very bathtub, so you kill two birds with one particular stone. In an inexpensive and easy splendor treatment method that may be also sufficient to take in, a Do it yourself banana face mask can help to tranquil and clean up skin for your adjust of the seasons. I wish to uncover something that help the skin to go back to a firmer state… it just started to turn into a bit… euh… slack… at particular place. Instructions: To variety this anti getting old skin care face mask which also features a lightening result, put the many elements in a very blender, or mash by hand in a very bowl. Use your fingers to spread the mask over your face and neck and leave it on for at least half-hour, preferably extended, before taking away. Every one of these substances have their own Tremendous powers and will help you cleanse your face in the oil and dirt and the acne causing cells. Coconut oil is a hydrator, it is going to provide nourishment to skin that dehydrated and dry. This can reduce it from receiving sticky. To shield your dresses, look at draping a towel about your upper body and shoulders. I've troubled skin which include clogged pores on my forehead and several blackheads on my nose, what would you recommend is the best all-natural treatments for extracting the dirt and oil in my pores? my skin will get dry really quickly however it has a tendency to be pretty oily :(( As you could see, using an orange peel face mask has multiple strengths that get the job done for various skin sorts. No matter what you'll need it for, orange peel powder is undoubtedly a blessing. Go straightforward over the lemon juice. Lemon juice can dry out and irritate your skin. Should the scrub contained olive oil, you can use a lot more lemon juice, but since this one particular doesn’t, persist with just a few drops of lemon juice. hey I've pimple marks left on my skin from last one thirty day period and now am taking tablets but I'm not able to eliminate All those places from my face and am also owning tanned skin on account of my get the job done within the fields. An impressively stylish nonetheless straightforward hairstyle that any one can do Hair 6 An impressively stylish still uncomplicated hairstyle that any individual can perform favourite53 Dr. Boling reminds us that bananas have medicinal Homes that can be utilized to soothe quite a few inflammatory skin disorders, which include acne. Dr. Boling claims, “Based on a 2012 report during the Journal of Pharmacology and Phytochemistry Holding your skin wonderful does not have to cost you a fortune. You may devote a lot of cash if you purchase facial masks from boutiques and spas. In accordance Along with the regulation of 8th December 1992, you may access the databases made up of your personal knowledge and modify this details at any time by speaking to Backlink to Media (facts@linktomedia.Internet)

coffee face mask Options

We may possibly use conversion tracking pixels from marketing networks like Google AdWords, Bing Adverts, and Facebook in order to discover when an ad has properly resulted in the desired action, like signing up for that HubPages Services or publishing an post about the HubPages Support. Rites of passage, like initiation of young members of the family, or funerals, have been carried out within the shrine underneath the view on the ancestral masks. At funerals, Skilled actors would use these masks to perform deeds of the lives with the ancestors,[24] Hence linking the position of mask for a ritual object and in theatre. Tips: It really is far more successful if you employ organic tea tree essential oil. Use the mask as swiftly as is possible just after preparation as the important oils are frequently risky and infrequently oxidize when subjected to air, which brings about them to shed some, if not all, of their Advantages. Imagine what a luscious mixture it is actually! Take a comprehensive massive tbsp of coffee powder and include in one tbsp of honey. Combine nicely and utilize over the face and neck in round movement. Caution: Prolonged usage of aspirin or hefty doses really should be avoided, as it may go away the skin excessively dry and make it glance yellow. Aspirin doesn't go well with all skins, and this also needs to be carefully considered When selecting which face mask to implement. Honey, On the flip side, is actually a pure humectant that can help the skin keep its humidity. It works equally as correctly to be a pure cleanser and exfoliant to advertise obvious and glowing skin. Nice piece. Good to have back again to basics and out on the chemical laden cosmetics. I will be striving honey tonight. The masks usually are extremely exaggerated and formalised, and share an aesthetic With all the carved images of monstrous heads that dominate the facades of Hindu and Buddhist temples. These faces or Kirtimukhas, 'Visages of Glory', are meant to beat back evil and are affiliated with the animal environment in addition to the divine. > Onion juice is widely utilised as being a all-natural cure to treat hair reduction and hair thinning. It consists of vast amounts of sulfur, that's a ingredient of the amino acids present in the hair. Just give these masks a check out. They are really basically cost-free and you don’t have to have to look the earth to get the necessary elements. In short, you have nothing to shed other than your acne. Why not give it a attempt? Consuming a very good amount of h2o day after day allows quite a bit. Also, clean your face and get off all make-up every night time. This is accustomed to recognize specific browsers or devices when the access the company, which is useful for safety good reasons. It can be in case you implement the ice straight to your skin. It's best in the event you wrap the ice in the washcloth, then utilize it on your face for one moment. Banana is considered as Just about the most tasty fruits all across the globe. In addition to The good taste, there are several skin great things about banana.

How skin care can Save You Time, Stress, and Money.

OEM ODM rorec aloe vera olive pomegranate blueberry honey pure skin mask for face masks skin care I've experimented with coffee honey nd lemon combined face pack nd it is really effective to my skin….u will have to check out it the moment ?? You'll want to always discard the used facial mask since it may have the micro organism from the former facial. Consume many fruits and vegetables. They don't seem to be only good for One's body, but they are perfect for your skin. They may be brimming with nutritional vitamins and antioxidants. I take advantage of yellow Component of the egg for thirty mins just before inportant occasion. it will take the dead skin away and would make my skin smooth and glowy In this oneHOWTO article we will explain how to produce a coffee face mask using utilized ground coffee beans - we are all about a no-waste Way of life, after all. You'd often notice that yogurt gives you that cooling relaxing emotion when used, that’s mainly because it has that anti-inflammatory agent. Go away the mask on for ten to quarter-hour. This mask is runny and could drip down your face. To avoid by yourself from finding much too messy, think about laying down or sitting down back again within a chair with the head tilted again. You may as well use this mask within the bathtub while you're taking a stress-free bath. Rinse your face with water, Carefully pat dry utilizing a comfortable towel and utilize a light product to seal during the absorbed nutrients. Report SummaryX To just take care of your respective skin, clean your face 2 times each day with heat h2o and a mild facial cleanser, then Carefully blot your skin dry which has a tender towel. Use a toner and moisturizer When you wash your face, and when you’ll be outdoors for a lot more than 20 minutes, use sunscreen. Use normal oils to moisturize your skin. A few of the finest are: vitamin E oil, jojoba oil, coconut oil, and shea butter. Olive oil is perfect for some skin styles, but it surely might cause some flaking for Some others. Carefully pat your skin dry that has a towel. This applies to equally the skin on your face an on Your system. It might be even better to depart your skin marginally moist. This way, your skin can absorb the surplus moisture and re-hydrate itself.[2] Independent the egg and help you save the yolk. Crack open an egg more than a bowl and transfer the yolk backwards and forwards among the two shells. Every time the yolk falls into a shell, a little bit of the egg white really should fall in to the bowl. Preserve executing this until finally all of the egg white is during the bowl. That’s a very good concern. I’ve been using coconut oil for the final ten (probably nearer to 12?) decades for my face/entire body and inside the shower for shaving and to this point so excellent. We haven’t experienced any drain issues. Does anyone else have any while knowledge – fantastic or negative that can share?

The 2-Minute Rule for coffee face mask

For Sophisticated Dermatology, that affiliation features collaboration in creating, preserving, and funding this site. For Formulyst, the affiliation incorporates that we get paid a percentage of the proceeds on gross sales of Formulyst products which are ordered by means of our internet site as part of our affiliate partnership. The interactions with Sophisticated Dermatology and Formulyst may possibly impact how products are reviewed and ranked on the positioning. After making use of honey compresses for 8 days, he observed the microbes had totally disappeared without having his taking a single antibiotic. It is actually conjectured that the first masks might have typically been employed by primitive men and women to associate the wearer with some type of unimpeachable authority, like "the gods" or to usually lend credence to the person's claim over a provided social role. Just before we go forward to how for making the mask, let us have a look at the necessity of Every of the opposite included ingredients: Retinoids (like Retin-A or the greater moisturizing Renova) also operate by eradicating the very best layer of lifeless skin cells although also building collagen within the skin. "Collagen would be the skin's structural fiber," dermatologist Dennis Gross stated in O Magazine The Iroquois created stunning wooden ‘Bogus face’ masks, Employed in therapeutic ceremonies and carved from dwelling trees. These masks appear in a great selection of designs, based upon their precise function. I typically use it during the evening. https://www.facebook.com/steptoremedies/posts/2099810723445530 feel my skin usually seems to be greater in the morning After i use it during the night time. click here may well use conversion monitoring pixels from promotion networks for instance Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook so that you can determine when an ad has efficiently resulted in the specified action, including signing up for that HubPages Service or publishing an posting over the HubPages Provider. For most effective success, often wash your face using a delicate face wash initially to get rid of the Dust and impurities amassed in your face during the day. This will advertise much better absorption of your proteins and nutrients from these egg white masks. Notably awkward kinds, for example an iron mask, as an example the Scold's bridle, are healthy as gadgets for torture or corporal punishment Who suggests egg whites are only for all those with oily, acne-vulnerable skin? This hydrating egg white mask is great for those with dry skin, also! It includes potent components for example avocado, a food items full of various natural vitamins and nutritious fats, that are perfect for hydrating and moisturizing your skin to really make it supple, soft, and smooth. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6wZH0-SlA0 will feed your skin with nourishing nutrients like protein and riboflavin. Additional augmenting the restorative effects of this treatment are two complementary ingredients, particularly, yogurt and honey. Sugar: It is Light to be a scrub and does not clog pores. Honey: It's a very good moisturizer and aids encourage wound therapeutic. No HTML is permitted in reviews, but URLs will likely be hyperlinked. Responses are not for promoting your content or other web sites.

Everything about banana face mask

Supply Combine all components jointly in a small bowl. Apply a thin layer in excess of your whole face and neck. Relaxation for 20 minutes and rinse with warm h2o. Repeat the mask weekly or make use of the combination as a daily spot therapy by dabbing it on to discoloration. Effects will choose 2-three months. There are lots of banana face mask Gains just one just should concentrate on which mask is ideal for what skin sort. For this, we've been listed here to assist you to as Now we have classified the face masks determined by the different skin care wants. @Llzziforan: It isn't really proposed to keep on any face mask on right away. Ideally you ought to continue a face for 15 minutes. Another person really questioned me about retaining their yogurt face mask on for The entire night time and I gave exactly the same response. You can find the remark in this article: ... Exfoliation is the step the majority of people skip within their weekly skincare routine. However, if You begin correctly exfoliating your skin, you will see an Pretty much rapid big difference. Must you use most of the combination and can you help you save The remainder for an additional use? Also, how frequently should really it's utilised? Prevent skin-damaging foods. This consists of processed or refined carbohydrates in addition to harmful fats. Consuming too many of these make your skin age quicker. Prevent consuming too many sugars in addition.[14] Every one of us need each other to advertise our Hubs and obtain the word out. Have a next to stick to me, and unwell adhere to you suitable again. Thank you! Banana really allows in having dazzling, truthful and youthful skin. I use fresh new banana pulp on my skin every day and it grants my skin a wonderful lustre a lot more than a facial can provide. Include the honey into the egg white and lemon juice, and mix almost everything once more. home remedies via steptoremedies will need ½ tablespoon of honey. Guantee that it is the translucent, runny sort. Honey is antibacterial and acts as a pure antiseptic. It is usually moisturizing and allows replenish the skin.[three] The vital oil must usually be utilised with the basic oil in preferred amount. This maintains an excellent balance! Orange vital oil is actually a natural refresher. What's more, it invigorates the skin and it has smoothening effect on the face skin. This is employed to gather knowledge on visitors to content articles along with other web pages on our web site. Except if you are signed in to your HubPages account, all personally identifiable facts is anonymized. This content is precise and legitimate to the top in the creator’s awareness and is not intended to substitute for official and individualized suggestions from a qualified Specialist.

The 2-Minute Rule for strawberry face mask

Sorry, we just really need to be sure to're not a robotic. For finest results, be sure to ensure that your browser is accepting cookies. Disclaimer: The content on This web site is generic, informational and adjunctive at best, but cannot serve as a substitute for Expert healthcare tips. It’s been an aggravating quest to determine my ‘HALLELUJAH!’ elements that just erase all my pimples, blackheads, whiteheads and scarring/hyperpigmentation away. Not surprisingly I know that drinking lots of water and not feeding on too much junk food/sweets also plays a crucial aspect, Which’s why I’m wanting to drink additional drinking water (and green tea lol). Just another working day I produced a scrub with with green tea leaves and honey and my face felt very nice and clean, complexion appeared a tad a lot more even, and by the subsequent morning, my pimples and redness experienced calmed down. Very little extraordinary, but it absolutely was noticible, my skin likey ^.^ This provider permits you to join or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, to be able to generate income from adverts with your articles. No knowledge is shared Except you have interaction with this element. (Privacy Coverage) Your not too long ago seen merchandise and showcased suggestions › See or edit your searching history Apply the combination on to your face making use of cleanse finger recommendations in a very circular movement. Enable sit for 15 minutes. With this time, you will take A fast soak in the tub or read a chapter of that e-book you’ve been intending to finish. Keep you calm. For ideal outcomes, constantly wash your face with a gentle face wash initially to eliminate the Filth and impurities gathered in your face each day. This may boost better absorption in the proteins and nutrients from these egg white masks. In an inexpensive and easy beauty remedy that may be also adequate to eat, a Do it yourself banana face mask may help to tranquil and clean skin for the change on the seasons. Thanks in your write-up. I much like the way. You described the honey mask Directions. Your mask is not hard to produce. I am about to try out it in my upcoming spa treatment. I like it. Mister healmunsta. Thanks so very much!! All the times of my lifeI hhave been fighting acne. Tried every thing out there and nothing is effective. I am certainly gonna attempt these! Thanks so greatly for these all-natural cures Decide one that satisfies your skin style and you are on the method to getting several benefits of honey for your skin! But this nonetheless raises the problem: Why the face mask vs . taking in your favorite fruit? Dr. Boling clarifies, “Most nutrients are shipped to the skin by means of the bloodstream, but some is usually used topically. On the other hand, the highest layer of the skin — known as the stratum corneum — is manufactured up of lifeless skin cells (about fifteen – 20 levels) and acts for a barrier to shield the fundamental skin from infection and harmful substances. These masks are ideal for an at-residence facial. Begin with clear skin and in advance of making use of the mask, lay a warm, wet wash cloth on your face to open up your pores. Just after rinsing off the mask, clean your face with chilly drinking water or make use of a toner to shut the pores. Then implement an excellent face oil. Start out grinding the peel in your foods processor. The first photograph shows the peels soon after three pulses. The next photograph reveals the finely powdered peel, immediately after about 40 seconds of grinding.

The yeast face mask Diaries

These banana face mask recipes are usually not produced only for acne sufferers. in the event you utilize them on the normal skin you obtain moisturized, soft and beautiful hunting skin. To your skin care purely natural face masks, there isn't any organic component that may be a reasonably close substitute for turmeric. Am i able to combine mashed banana with sugar, orange juice and avocado oil ? And if Of course can I shop in a sealed container? Thanks Pimples or acne is called one of the most irritating and stubborn skin considerations of the two Gentlemen and ladies all around the world. I'm Just enthusiastic to utilize this face mask right now and wish to discover The end result can we use this face mask each day Banana, Honey & Lemon i have compact pours on my cheeks and nose as well as acne problem…. remember to aid me to get rid of this.. I really like it.do i really need to mix it wit sumtin else like egg?or simply the orange pill alone.Next:can we also grind it in mortal? That’s as the position of cinnamon is to wash your skin from underneath, it delivers out the many germs along with your skin will get far more acne firstly as it is acquiring rid of everything beneath but following that your skin will glance good–it works similar to Proactive, it cleans every thing underneath advert maintains that cleanliness In short, you do not should use brand-new coffee beans. This is a terrific way to reuse, recycle and possess a far more sustainable coffee habit. Thank you for his article. My teenage son has struggled with acne and we try all kinds of different things today. Yoghurt, as we all know, is actually a prosperous pure source of protein in addition to is made up of lactic acid. This makes it the top component to hydrate and moisturize the dry skin. After eradicating this mask take an ice cube address it having a cleanse fabric and apply this into your face as it'll clog the open up pores and offers you a fresh new hunting skin. Egg White Face Masks—Egg whites are noted for their capacity to tone big pores and minimize excess sebum, making them perfect for individuals with By natural means oily skin. Disclaimer: TheHealthSite.com would not assurance any precise benefits as a result of the treatments outlined below and the outcome may vary from Individual to individual.

How yeast face mask can Save You Time, Stress, and Money.

Following removing this mask just take an ice dice address it having a cleanse cloth and utilize this into your face as it is going to clog the open up pores and provides you a contemporary on the lookout skin. Hello there. I'm a novice in employing Do-it-yourself wellbeing cures, so I actually liked your facial recipes! I have discoloration on my face (which isn't as well poor) from the human body allergic response. Oats not simply nourishes skin of all sorts but also absorbs extra sebum from in your pores as it really is an absorbent. This acne-fighting mask presents nourishing, exfoliating and cleaning Positive aspects to skin. In the event you use every one of the combination and might you help save The remainder for another use? Also, how often should really it's made use of? Check out a spa day. Most spas will Enable you utilize some in their amenities devoid of obtaining a pricey treatment method (As an example, they can cost a individual entrance price), so If you would like to occasionally check out a sizzling tub or steam space, and even go Japanese European model with a cold plunge and afterwards a sauna to invigorate your skin, sweat out toxins, and enhance circulation, It really is totally doable and you would possibly like it! Applying orange peel for skin care has numerous Rewards, one among which happens to be lowering blemishes, particularly when combined with honey. This fantastic mask is extremely effective in having rid of excess face oils. In case you have dry skin, please refrain from utilizing this drying and tightening face mask. In its place, try out an egg yolk face mask recipe. Pat dry. Soon after washing or bathing, gently pat or blot https://www.wikihow.com/Make-Face-Masks-out-of-Fruit with a towel so that some moisture remains on the skin. Shower soon after. Should you shower right before, the eggs will have nothing to "grab on to". Following, you wish the mask to generally be well and actually off your face, in addition to a shower can help with that. Hi, many thanks for The nice short article! I are actually utilizing egg-white now for many yrs, but it absolutely was instinctive as opposed to having read about it on the web. Yet again, many thanks loads for all of your practical articles! You’ve completed more for me this yr with my skin and snooze than any health practitioner has!! Remember, the skin on the face is considerably more sensitive compared to the skin on your arms and legs. Opt for exfoliating scrubs carefully. The much larger the grains, the more abrasive the scrub will probably be. Avoid scrubs with walnut shells Should you have sensitive skin. Aloe Vera Gel with at the least ninety% pure aloe barbadensis leaf juice in it truly is great for sunburned or irritated skin. https://www.wikihow.com/Establish-an-Effective-Skincare-Routine is recognized for its healing Attributes and will do wonders to the skin. Resource

Indicators on sugar face mask You Should Know

Application: Use the mask on your face (particularly on influenced places), and go away it on for 10 to 15 minutes. Then, rinse off your face with lukewarm drinking water. Adhering to that, wash your face once more with cold drinking water. You can just hold it in an air-restricted container and place it from the freezer. Then subsequent 7 days, just take out it about an hour before you decide to apply it in order for it to thaw. I've compact pours on my cheeks and nose and likewise acne difficulty…. please aid me to eliminate this.. Gently perform the sugar into your skin using your fingers. Working with gentle circular motions using your fingers, function the sugar into your lather. If you're able to and you've got the necessary elements, then It is necessary. Even so if you don't have the necessary substances or time, then allow it to be frequent although not daily. Can you combine baking soda, turmeric, yogurt, and orange juice Along with the banana and have the advantages all in a single for the wrinkle and acne masks? -After you rinse your face with lukewarm drinking water, wash it yet again with cold water a few minutes later. This will likely tone your face and enhance the firmness of your face muscles. Preparing: Completely mix all of the ingredients in a very bowl to obtain a uniform regularity to your lotion. I'm questioning if You need to use these facial masks just for the sake of having fresh new skin? Or can it be a good idea only to utilize them for acne or other skin irritations? Are you interested in the most beneficial of science-backed overall health & nutrition information with your inbox? If Indeed, be sure to share your e-mail to subscribe. I have an exceedingly lousy face tan and my skin is very delicate.. What must I do for it? And simply how much time will it take for the tan to go? This mask might glance relatively strange on This web site meant for organic goods, but making use of Aspirin – Honey Mask for dealing with acne is also a good and simple Remedy. Extensively rinse your face with great h2o. Rinse your face with interesting h2o till the scrub is completely absent, after which you can pat your face dry using a clean up, dry washcloth. I exploit weekly when Multanimitti with Rose h2o, Sandal with Rose h2o and tried out Papaya fruit pulp with Banana , lemon , cucumber mask, only papaya with Besan Powder and tomoto juice with lemon. I really fed up with this acne and oil on my fore head

An Unbiased View of skin care

Awesome post! I really like a very good Do-it-yourself, would you be capable of go into element regarding why these items do the matters they are doing It really is up to you. You need to get it done immediately after washing your face, which happens to be Ordinarily done in the morning and evening. A lot of people use masks inside the night, as which is whenever they have quite possibly the most time. You might not see the outcomes you'd like instantly. Try out a mask for approximately one thirty day period prior to determining if you may proceed utilizing it. -Whenever you rinse your face or other body components just after making use of these masks, will not use any sort of soap. In actual fact, soap just isn't advisable for your remedy of acne, because the situation goes far over and above easy dirt or oil. (the scientific title for the prevalent sort of acne) is an Nearly universal problem, with almost Every person in the world suffering from some sort (gentle or severe), quicker or afterwards within their lives. Implement the combination on to your face making use of clear finger recommendations within a circular movement. Enable sit for quarter-hour. During this time, you normally takes A fast soak inside the tub or browse a chapter of that ebook you’ve been meaning to finish. Retain yourself comfortable. To complete your registration be sure to enter the verification code you received with your cellular. In the event you have not been given the verification code, be sure to SMS REWARDME to 9223347100 Dermatologists like baking soda mainly because it’s each anti-inflammatory and antibacterial. Incorporate it with exfoliating lemon juice and calming honey and you've got a delicate but productive mask to assist stop acne. https://steptoremedies.com/ginger-body-scrub-benefits/ support nourish and firm your skin, but it surely will likely enable tighten the pores[one] Discard the egg yolk or reserve it for an additional recipe. You can utilize the egg yolk to create a nourishing face mask. Check with https://twitter.com/steptoremedies/status/1087123555727405058 in this article on earning a nourishing face mask to find out how. Recommendations: The apple honey mask operates best when it’s refreshing. Quite simply, after planning, you shouldn’t retain it while in the refrigerator to use afterwards. Because it is so fast and easy to get ready, ensure it is just prior to deciding to decide to utilize it. You need to use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in on your Hubpages account. No knowledge is shared with Facebook Until you have interaction with this attribute. (Privateness Plan) Usually do not select your pimples. You can also make the inflammation worse and you've got a means bigger threat of obtaining a scar even right after it goes away. There are a number of fine solutions for having rid of pimples in this post on wikiHow. There are a few days that appear to fly by, after which you can there are actually those who seem to get endlessly. This was among the latter. I built some pastry cream and cookies and wound up with 7 egg whites. I failed to Meditate. This can be an historic exercise which has been all-around for hundreds of years—and for good rationale! Lots of people discover that it helps them clear their minds and loosen up.

The best Side of egg white face mask

Learn what skin kind you have got. Here is a little tip that handful of persons know: The majority of us have blend skin, which suggests a number of our skin is oily whilst Significantly of it truly is dry. Is it essential to adhere to using a moisturizer after rinsing off the honey mask? I exploit Neutrogena Healthier Skin moisturizer. • Only rubbing fresh orange peel on your own face assists lighten skin colour. Also, it tightens the skin and increases the texture. Yoghurt shares these antibacterial Homes and likewise gently smooths the skin minimizing great strains. > Who doesn’t wish to scent superior all day long lengthy? An excellent scent can not simply cause you to smell great, it could possibly enhance your confidence manifold. four. Rice flour is a speculate component when it comes to tan removing. Making use of rice flour to the skin will assist you to in acquiring rid of stubborn age places and tan and In addition, it lightens complexion with standard use. "My face desired just a little assist with moisturizing, and this aided me with that. " Rated this informative article: marketing every kind of oranges. Every single time that I check out the marketplace for procuring, I don’t forget to pick a packet of oranges to quench my enjoy for this favorite fruit of mine. So, by now you will need to have comprehended that currently’s article is about how to create a good face mask for oily skin employing this marvel fruit. Women have already been employing orange since ages to pamper their skin and it is one of the insider secrets guiding flawless skin For several Ladies, who not just eat it consistently, but will also implement it in different kinds like pulp, juice and in some cases inside the dry peel powder sort on their skin. “ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRVzsWuMWek have demonstrated that honey is a powerful wide-spectrum antibacterial agent. It’s bought a great deal oomph that it may even halt the ‘superbug’ MRSA from rising. Skin purists believe faucet h2o is negative for your personal skin as it includes severe minerals and additives like fluoride and chlorine. Raw honey was prized for its healing Qualities in historic civilizations. In Egyptian And Ayurvedic traditions, honey was utilised to deal with skin wounds and Diseases (read through more details on The traditional works by using of honey listed here). Maintain the mask apart for 50 percent one hour. Lastly, use it on the face and neck and rinse it off with warm water following 20 minutes. Abide by up by using a toner and moisturizer.   Repeat when every week. Only try this mask the moment a week. Carrying out it much more than that may cause your skin to be dry and irritated. The mask really should boost the standard of your skin and lower the appearance of acne. But don’t believe that this causes it to be a grasp of none – this mask is as productive on dry skin as it really is on oily.

egg white face mask for Dummies

पत्रलेखा ने कैंसर मरीजों के लिए धन जुटाने में मदद की Other masks that have exaggerated lengthy faces and wide foreheads symbolize the soberness of one's obligation that comes along with electricity. War masks can also be well known. The Grebo on the Ivory Coastline and Liberia carve masks with spherical eyes to characterize alertness and anger, With all the straight nose to stand for unwillingness to retreat.[30] Pacific Northwest Coastal indigenous groups have been commonly extremely qualified woodworkers. Their masks were being typically grasp-pieces of carving, from time to time with movable jaws, or maybe a mask in just a mask, and components moved by pulling cords. If you aren’t implementing the mixture in your total face, you are able to almost certainly get away with implementing it on your face over 2 times a week. Just be sure you quit making use of it when you observe any irritation. The cone-shaped mask specifically is determined Using the Ku Klux Klan within a self-mindful work to mix the hiding of private identity With all the marketing of a strong and intimidating graphic. Masks can also be common as items of package connected to realistic functions, ordinarily protecting. There have been a proliferation of this sort of masks lately but there's a lengthy historical past of protective armour and in some cases clinical masks to keep at bay plague. By Mary Smith. Up to date: June 5, 2018 An excellent cup of coffee is, for Lots of people, the only thing that gets them to wake up in the morning. Great news, coffee enthusiasts - your preferred viewed is additionally a superb Alternative to produce your skin glance brighter, fresher plus much more vital. Spoon the mixture into your storage container and shop. Make sure to near the lid tightly. You could keep the mixture with your refrigerator for around 2 weeks. Goaltender mask, a mask worn by an ice or discipline hockey goaltender to protect The top and face from injury Masks are sometimes employed to avoid recognition. Being a disguise the mask acts like a sort of safety to the wearer who needs to presume a role or process without becoming identified by Many others. Vitamin A – Allows in lightening the dark patches and blemishes in addition to smoothens the tough flaky skin. Masks and puppets were being often included in the theatre work of European avant-garde artists from your flip with the nineteenth century. Sugar: It truly is Mild being a scrub and would not clog pores. Honey: It is a very good moisturizer and allows endorse wound healing. System: Combine these two in equal portions to make a paste. Implement it about your face and neck and Enable it perform for thirty min, as soon as the mask feels dry, clean your face totally. This mask eliminates that extra oil from your skin and in addition lifeless skin cells.