#lark is a character who is always with me

[msviolacea]

4 skips!

So, this one turned out interesting - I used my "Big List of Favorites" playlist, and four shuffled skips in was Poe - Control. Which has been associated in my mind for YEARS with an OC whose story I've never written, mostly because I've never quite managed to work out all the details of the plot.

But, she's the one who appears in my head when this song plays, so I decided to try to put her down on the page, at least a little.

Original fic here - a space opera setting, one I'm slowly (VERY slowly) adapting from an AU fanfic I wrote in ... 2008? Thereabouts.

~~

Oh no, Lark thinks, you're not winning that easily.

"Return to previous level," she tells the computer, as she reaches up to move a piece of code from one screen to another. "We'll find a different entrance."

"Fourth level," the computer announces, a moment later. Its voice is cheerful and feminine, and Lark mostly tries not to think about how much it sounds like Serena. She built it that way, but sometimes it's hard to remember why.

Her hand reaches up to touch her cheek reflexively. She no longer feels a phantom ache around the irregular ridges in her skin, not while awake. The feel of them grounds her.

"Move to position 3509.4," she tells the computer, "and deploy at half speed."

Gareth's team built this security system. They're better than the last time, she notes, but they still won't be better than her. Honestly, Gareth should thank her for all the training she's giving his people. No training simulation would teach them how to code a security system better than trying to keep a step ahead of a hacker. And Gareth himself taught Lark the basics, all those years ago.

She shakes her head. "Why the nostalgia today?" she asks herself.

"I do not recognize that command."

"Disregard, I'm not talking to you." Lark slaps her own cheek lightly. "Let's see what this section looks like."

Another hour passes without her notice, as she analyzes the code, line by line, symbol by symbol, looking for the weak point. She's almost resigned to pulling back to the previous level again when she finally sees it - a simple juxtaposition, two symbols switched. It's a mistake anyone could make, even the most expert of programmers. It doesn't affect the way the code runs at all; what it does, though, is give someone like her a millimeter of space to squeeze through.

A millimeter is all she needs.

It takes several more hours, but the work from here is a well worn path for Lark. The virus she leaves will do its job the next time the system reboots, sometime within the next twenty-eight hours. At that time, more than two dozen people will receive a notice that their debts to Den-Tarr have been forgiven. The Den-Tarr system will have no record of those debts ever existing. And more than two dozen people, along with their families, will have the means to save a bit of money and get the hell off of their miserable planet.

It would have been nice to free more, she thinks, but this was as large a group she could manage without exposing herself. She'll come back later, she promises. Her next target is another recruiting company, a way to stop the exploitative assholes from ever funneling the desperate to this planet in the first place.

Oh, yeah, and to take the Den-Tarr recruiting fees for herself. Her hardware doesn't pay for itself, after all.

"Process complete," the computer says. "Execute?"

"Yes."

As her primary screen goes blank, Lark sees her own reflection - and for a brief second, another face imposes itself on top. A hallucination, she knows it, but she still sneers at the memory of it.

"Hi Mom," she murmurs. "Get fucked."

[art]

Creator Spotlight: @66sharkteeth

66 is a comic artist and the creator of City of Blank, a WEBTOON original series. They worked in the game industry at companies such as 2K Games before entering the field of comics. They began their career in comics at Tapas, where they worked as an editor and lead typesetter, before being signed to create their own original series on WEBTOON.

Check out our interview with 66 below!

Have you ever had an art block? If so, how did you overcome it?

The short answer is yeah, I’ve definitely had one. Overall, I feel like doing a lot of style studies during that time and trying to use new brushes helps a lot. In addition, because I’m a comic artist, I feel like writer’s block is in the same field, and with that, I’m really fortunate that I have an editor that I can work with, who helps me a lot there. Whenever I am stuck at a plot point in my comic, I can always go to my editor, who helps me hammer things out.

What medium have you always been intrigued by but would never use yourself?

Animation. Of course, everyone loves animation. I went to school for game art and design and even did some animation courses, and I am just not cut out for it. I don’t enjoy the process, and I am not good at it. Animation is beautiful, and I admire people who can do it. I’d love for my work to be animated some day, I’m just not capable of being the one to do it haha.

Warm tones or cool tones?

It really depends on the scene! Especially in my comic, I really go with both of them, just depending on the moment in the comic. There was a major character death, and that scene was almost black and white. But normally, the comic is very vibrant, and people really like it, so when I switch it to a more cold tone, it makes the scene that much more impactful.

What is a recent creative project that you are proud of?

Honestly, my current comic, City of Blank, takes up 100% of my time. But recently, I did a plushie campaign where I worked with Makeship through Webtoon to design the plushies and do a little bit of marketing for them. So that’s fun and different from what I normally do!

When planning a comic or a story, what do you do first, character design or character outline?

Normally, I have a design, and I fall in love with the character design, and then I find a role for them. That’s how a lot of my characters have started. Also, that’s how I’ve been tackling new projects that I want to work on after City of Blank. I just came up with a character, and I’m trying to make a story around them.

What is a convention experience that has stuck with you?

Meeting readers and realizing how much my work means to some of them. Some of them have started their own comics, having been inspired by mine. Learning that I’m part of the reason they started their own comic journey, the same way I looked to other inspiring comic artists to start mine—it means the world that I’m in that position now.

Top tips on setting up an Artist Alley booth?

Let’s see…bright, sparkly colors! I think just trying to make sure that the booth is eye-catching. I ended up making a big shiny banner for New York Comic Con, and I know many people stopped by because it caught their eye and they’re curious about what it is. I know a lot of people are selling merchandise of popular media. Even just a banner of your brand to get them curious about who you are and maybe interested in seeing what you make and taking a business card so they can look you up later. It’s better than someone just buying a pin and forgetting you exist. Lastly, put out a tip jar. You never know just how generous your fans are feeling.

Who on Tumblr inspires you and why?

I’m mostly involved in the webtoon sphere! I am definitely inspired by my fellow Webtoon creators, @lark-wren, who created the series Woven. I love their work and seeing them interact with their readers on Tumblr. Same with fellow Webtoon creators, @miranda-mundt-art and @astrobleme-enterprises, who created Lovebot.

Thank you so much for stopping by and sharing, 66! Be sure to check out their Tumblr blog over at @66sharkteeth and follow their webcomic, City of Blank, over at WEBTOON.

[willow-lark]

lark's recently-read byler fic recs

thought people could use some uplifting 💕🫶 please remember to hype up your favorite fics and art and other creative work & remember there's always something new to enjoy!! browse the tag or ao3 page & give someone's work a some love!! xoxo

If Time Runs Out by @rainypebble07 (T, ongoing, 14k+) - BYLER PIRATE AU!!! 🏴‍☠️ i literally just discovered this one today and i'm actually obsessed. i have never seen any other pirate aus (🤨) n i just wanna say u guys are missing out on the concept and on this fic bc i'm so invested. i'm so excited to see where this fic goes. royal mike x pirate mike is SO GOOD.

how to get your crush to believe you love him: a guide by mike wheeler by @newlesbianprideflag (T, 3/4, 11k+) - mike goes across the country to visit will at college in an attempt to confess his feelings to him. will, who has a boyfriend already and would like to think himself very over mike, thank you, is not impressed. this one deconstructs a lot of popular/fanon tropes and is really great so far!!

california show your teeth by @fireflywitch (T, 8/19, 63k+) - ok this one mayyybe only has background byler but i'm reccing it anyway bc it's one of my FAVORITE regularly updating fics maybe EVER. in early 1985, chief hopper and his average, normal family move from lenora hills, california to hawkins, indiana--the latter of which has had multiple tragedies over the past few years, to which the new chief's family may or may not be linked. LIKE WHATTTT 👀 go read it RN. masterpiece

All Good Dogs by @hellfiremike (T, 1/1, 3.8k) - this one actually made me cry. featuring: an EXCELLENT character study of will byers, a heartfelt examination of canon and what comes after, and chester the dog getting the attention he deserves and never got in canon 😭

kiss me (try to fix it) by birthofv3nus (T, 1/1, 4k) - will has kissed every member of the party except for mike, who is, understandably, taking this news *SO* well and is not jealous about it at *ALL.* but maybe his situation is not quite as dire as he believes it to be....ugh this one was such a fun read, and you know i loveee party dynamics!!

drank my poison all alone by silverluminoqity (T, 1/1, 4k) - mike is going through it, and, though vecna seems to have been vanquished, maybe he's not so completely gone as everyone thinks.... this is an excellent exploration of both mike's guilt as well as his evolution as a character, and how he views himself. super in-character and super good!!

high tide came and brought you in (and i could go on and on) by silverluminoqity (T, 1/1, 8k) - MOTEL FIC MOTEL FIC MOTEL FIC 🥳 or, mike and will have yet another heart to heart, and some things are revealed. this fic is just so completely heartfelt and UGH i was MELTING the ENTIRE TIME, holy SHIT. probably in my top 3 motel fics EVER tbh.

Chasing Heartlines by @cherryisgone (T, 1/2, 6k+) - i was so excited to read the first chapter of the sequel to maybe one of the best byler fantasy aus ever!! knight mike pining after prince will is something that can actually be so personal to me. i love a good mike-won't-shut-up-about-will fic. the attention to detail in this fic is actually INSANE.

[hannagoldworthy]

I’ve been on a Greek mythology kick lately, so, as a lark, here’s a quick list of a few Star Wars characters and Greek characters I think they resemble:

Obi-Wan Kenobi: Oedipus. Both men are noble of character and have heroic intentions. They are devoted to their adopted families, remarkably competent in their jobs as generals and leaders, and they always try to do the right thing in any situation they encounter. But, both are doomed by the narrative to take part in the downfall of their families and cultures, and all of their heroic efforts come to naught. Both of them ultimately end up punishing themselves for circumstances beyond their control, and perishing in exile.

Anakin Skywalker: Heracles. The most physically powerful heroes of their respective mythos, they earn reputations of renown for their feats of strength and ingenuity. Both men fall under the influence of powerful beings who want to destroy their souls, and end up murdering their entire families in fits of madness. But, both men also eventually come to their senses, and though they can never erase the horrible things they’ve done, they devote the rest of their lives to attempt to make some recompense for their crimes, and ascend to godhood as a result.

Darth Maul: Sisyphus, natch. Local bastard keeps cheating death, and it’s really starting to piss death off. Sentenced to always be working towards a goal that can never be achieved.

Princess Leia: Antigone. Devoted daughter-figures to Obi-Wan Kenobi and Oedipus, respectively. Doomed to deal with the fallout of their predecessor’s choices, and not happy about it. Stubbornly do the right thing in defiance of the law, knowing full well that it will cost them their lives. Ultimately they die before they can see the benefit of their life’s work, but both go out like complete badasses, and their deaths cause chain reactions that eliminate the families of their enemies.

Luke Skywalker: Perseus. “I’m just the simple adopted son of a farmer/fisherman who wants to fight injustice. Oh, my family is now being harmed by that injustice? Game on, motherfucker, I’m gonna punch you out with the help of this cool new sword my mentor got for me. Oh, there’s a princess in danger of being consumed by a monster? Well of COURSE I have to rescue her! And…wait, what the fuck do you mean, my bio dad’s an asshole god?”

Rey: Psyche. Both abandoned by their families because of a curse, both get sucked into a never-ending cosmic family drama that has caused yet another war. Their character arc involves winning over many of the other players in this family drama to try and reconcile them with each other, to mixed effects. Both are brought back from the dead by their love interests, and go on to rebuild their lives after the war’s end.

[luckthebard]

A question about Midst. I know this is specific and you might not be able to answer, no worries if you can’t.

I don’t usually listen to podcasts because I have trouble recognizing voices and since I knew there were two male narrators I was worried that I couldn’t tell them apart. I decided to try the first episode and was right. Unless I really tried, I could’t really tell who was speaking. I can distinguish the female voice but the men sound too similar to me.

Do you think it matters in Midst which narrator is speaking? Is it going to become a ”this person always voices this character” or ”the POV changes with the narrator” or ”similar accents with no dialogue tags”. I don’t want to get invested in something that is not accessible for me.

I totally understand what you’re saying regarding vocal tone but I also want to take this time to let anyone who wasn’t aware know that one of the Midst narrators is non-binary. But in response to the question about telling the narrators apart:

I will say that it mostly doesn’t matter, because tone and context tells you who is speaking most of the time rather than which narrator is. They change sometimes mid-scene (I promise the flow makes sense). There are only three characters who have consistent narrators, and those are Lark, Moc Weepe, and Phineas Thatch.

To avoid this problem entirely though, I might recommend watching on YouTube with the subtitles. Those always indicate which narrator is speaking and which character they’re speaking as if they’re doing dialogue, so you can know for sure when they switch.

[kaseyskat]

Okay so related to my post from last night, I wanted to elaborate on my thoughts very specifically regarding Sparrow and Hero and the messy messy nuance surrounding their relationship that often goes overlooked in the name of simply attaching the "bad parent" label to Sparrow and calling it a day. I've talked about this before, but I'm feeling it again lmao.

Sparrow's relationship with Hero is nuanced. It was destined to be nuanced the moment it was revealed that a prophecy would deem her the Chosen One. Now, I know we still don't know exactly when the prophecy was given to the twins or even what the full prophecy entails, but we do know it shaped Hero's life in an irreparable way. I don't need to tell y'all that much though, because everyone in this fandom knows that, they know what the prophecy did to Hero but I've been surprised time and time again that nobody thinks to dig deeper into their motivations: aka, why did the twins feel it was necessary to raise Hero the way they did? The easy way out is to say they are both horrible parents and call it a day (if anything is said of Lark at all- it's kind of appalling that most people absolve Lark of all blame and solely pin everything on Sparrow when they've always done everything together).

So let me explore one of the what-ifs. Say you are a kid raised as a normal kid having a normal life. One day, though, when you're a teenager, you suddenly inherit the legacy of your parents- their monsters, the end of the world, everything. Pretty akin to how s2 starts, in fact! Except while this is so sudden for you... turns out they knew the entire time that you would inherit this mantle, and they did nothing, said nothing, and now you're completely unprepared to face an eldritch monster that even your father and uncle couldn't defeat on their own. That would be pretty bad, right? Bad parenting on their part, knowing that this would happen and doing nothing?

"But that didn't happen!" you tell me, arguing in my tags and in comments under my posts. "Hero didn't have to face the Doodler!" Sparrow and Lark don't know this. As far as we know, they received a prophecy either right before or right after Hero was born saying she would be the one to face the Doodler. Normal wasn't in the picture, it isn't a question of if that would happen, it was when. What if Hero was a toddler? A child? A teenager? What if the two of them died and she was all alone in this fight? This prophecy was the only tell of the future they have, and it said that their firstborn would be the one to face the Doodler and finish the battle Lark started.

And speaking of Lark; I've said this before, but one of the more underrepresented aspects of Lark's character in the fandom is him feeling helpless as a weakness of his. He doesn't like being put in a position where he can do nothing- this being very apparent in recent episodes, when Sparrow was taken and Lark was left alone panicking. This is how the rogue card took affect on him in the first place, because he hated feeling helpless when Walter was injured and it invoked his rage at Henry for putting him in that position in the first place.

And the twins are no stranger to being dropped into a situation unprepared. They were only kids in s1, thirteen years old at the oldest, younger than the s2 teens and yeah they did their best and rose to the top but that doesn't mean they weren't kids in a world they knew nothing about. They have both been in Hero's shoes, with one caveat: they were the ones who could prepare her in a way that they were not, to ensure that no matter when she faced the Doodler, she would be ready, she would never feel as helpless as they had when they were also just kids.

And yeah, maybe they took it too far, pushed her too hard. But that's never the argument I see online- that the twins should've been more in tune with Hero's mental state and adjusted her training accordingly. Instead, all I ever see is people bashing them for training her in the first place, comparing them to the other kiddads... except even then, the other kiddads didn't have nearly as big of a stake in this as the twins did, nearly as much of the pressure. The world at the time when the kiddads inherited DADDIES didn't need Taylor or Link to be ready to face the Doodler, but the twins knew for sure that it would need Hero, and they had to raise her accordingly. What if it had happened when Hero was six? Or ten? Or thirteen? Would it have been fair to her then to go into that fight untrained? The twins could never have known that it would be Normal and his friends to actually step in and help the Doodler, at the time they couldn't have known that Normal would need to be involved at all!

And, in the end, Hero's training did stop. Again, we don't know exactly how it happened, but we do know Lark and Sparrow, and I can imagine we all agree that it would've been Sparrow's call, not Lark's, to prioritize Hero's mental health and let her finish her teenage years as a normal kid. And accepting that they shouldn't involve Hero meant they had to find an alternative solution. That solution, what we see in canon, was genocide.

It's very fun to me personally to see Sparrow's arc come full circle in that way. He gets the love wolf talk from Henry because the twins were going to kill a lot of people in their own quest, he agrees that would be wrong, and then he gets a full arc of realizing that he can't force himself to care about the rest of the world but he does care about his family. He cares about his family enough that he enacts Code Purple to send the Doodler to Faerun and save the lives of Henry, Lark, Hero, and Normal. And, later... well, we know what the kiddads plan was for reentering Faerun and collecting magic items. We know their plan was to blow up the Doodler using the Sun and inevitably wiping out an entire realm in the process. That's not an easy choice to make, and it goes against everything Henry taught Sparrow in s1... but Sparrow was willing to do it because it would mean that Hero wouldn't have to be involved. Sparrow loved Hero so much that he was going to go against his own morals to protect her and stop the Doodler himself.

And like to me. To me? That makes Sparrow a far better parent than anyone else on this app ever gives him credit for. He pushed her too hard, realized he did so, and was willing to commit genocide to ensure she never had to be the Chosen One, to prove the prophecy wrong. Like I said; it is nuanced and there's no telling how different things would've gone if the s2 teens hadn't gotten involved, if Hero had faced the Doodler in combat before she was ready, if the twins had tried the genocide plan sooner. But it does prove my point from my earlier post: everyone wants a morally grey character who is willing to commit atrocities in the name of protecting their family, and here we are with Sparrow Oak Garcia, who fits that bill to the letter, and yet he is villainized, portrayed as a horrible person and a horrible father, and more! And it's really frustrating cause I know if Lark had been the one to make these decisions it would be accepted under the guise of Lark just being "like that" as a character, or people would find it attractive because everyone agrees that Lark is morally grey in an acceptable, attractive way. Lark is nuanced, but Sparrow is nuanced too- but we know, we know that Sparrow loves his kids more than he loves himself, that he'd burn the world down for BOTH of them, and I think it's about time we stop sleeping on him as a character and stop portraying him as a villain in Hero and Normal's story when I truly believe Sparrow stands the biggest chance of all three of Hero's parental figures to reconcile with her and when he's expressed countless times that he wants to make things right with Normal if only Normal gave him the chance.

[spade-riddles]

So I had some thoughts about an old message

One step forward

1 2, 3 4 steps back 

For the first twelve albums of her career, and the first 34 years of her life, Taylor has had to take four steps back for every one step forward. Whether it's a step out of the closet or an attempt to push forward musically, or to progress her image - she always had to appease others first, and make compromises. Like the bearding.

As windows glow through darkness

Like candles on a snack 

The windows represent home and hope. Something Taylor is keeping in her view as she moves forward through the dark. 

"Candles on a snack" seems like a reference to a birthday though. The end point of all of this is a birthday? Possibly. We've all noticed how Taylor keeps referencing Karlie's birthday. 8 and 3 everywhere you look. It could just be a silent way to express her love, like the daisy motif. Or maybe it's something we should be keeping an eye on?

Another possibility is that the windows are the hope Taylor is giving Kaylor fans, by offering us "windows" into the truth. Windows like the polaroids at Drake's 30th birthday party, or like all the birthday cakes we suspect were Karlie's doing. The Milk Bar cakes everywhere you look, or the cake with the cats and red roses for Taylor's own thirtieth, that just felt so much like a cake Karlie commissioned for her. 

Cap the lamp, put the goat back 

Frivolous, tenfold, 3 desires 

And until the clock strikes midnight

Light the ground with fires 

"Cap the lamp" - extinguish the flame. Put out the light. Taylor is back under cover of darkness?

"Put the goat back" - This could have any number of meanings. GOAT as in "greatest of all time". Goat as in "scapegoat". Goat as in "Judas goat" (a goat that unsuspecting animals follow into the slaughterhouse). All we can really say with this is that some important part of the plan got put back. Not time. Not yet. 

Alternatively! It's possible this whole portion of the riddle references Disney's Aladdin. 

"Cap the lamp" - the genie in the movie is imprisoned within the lamp by this mechanism. 

"Put the goat back" - the genie transforms into a goat at one point in the movie. (So the goat here is the genie.) The genie wants to be freed from the prison of the lamp. He grants wishes and performs illusions for others, but is imprisoned back in the lamp when not fulfilling this purpose. 

"Frivolous" - the genie is a comedy character but his enslavement within the golden lamp is a darker existence than people realize. 

"Tenfold" - there is a saying that the things you do "will come back on you tenfold". It's probably the most common use of the word these days, and relates to the concept of karma. Anon wanted us to take note of this word in particular. 

"3 desires" - the genie in Aladdin had the power to grant three wishes to the person who let him out of the lamp. Aladdin's wishes were: to be a prince, to be saved from drowning, and finally, to set the genie free. If these correspond to Taylor's three big wishes in her life, then "be a prince" might translate as "find fame"; "be saved from drowning" might translate to "hold onto love" ("I'd hold you as the water rushes in" / "Help me hold onto you"); and finally . . . "free the genie" is freedom.  For both herself and Karlie. No more performing for everyone else while kept in a gilded cage. No more making a lark of the misery. 

And until the clock strikes midnight

Light the ground with fires

"Midnight" here could mean album number twelve. The album Midnights invited us to meet her at. Until then, she's setting fires. The imagery of burning the Lover house has appeared all through the Eras Tour, but setting fires also creates smoke. Smoke can shield you and create a diversion, allowing you to move unnoticed through the haze. Or it can create attention. As in the saying "there's no smoke without fire" - or, some truth in every rumor. A lot of little fires can end up creating a big cloud of smoke, that is hard to ignore. 

Be as clever as a god

Translating seeds of hope

There's purpose in confusion

Slowly untangling the many ropes 

The Greek goddess of wisdom and war = Athena. 

The translating is being done by us, as we decipher Taylor's hints to find the seeds of hope in them. She's telling us the confusion is purposeful and in service to a bigger plan, and asking us to be patient. 

Just some thoughts I had while rereading old riddles! The Aladdin thing especially struck me. I haven't seen anyone else interpret the lamp and the three desires this way

Interesting read! Here is the 🫚 poem:

[grantwilsonenjoyer]

dndads spoilers

idc about anything but the oaks right now. not even grant or nick rn i literally just cannot stop thinking about mercedes and lark and sparrow and normal and hero and :(((

i am going to go so fucking hard into my oak centric fics (sparrow </3) if i can get the willpower to write within the next few days we will SEE.. . hmm. i also just think overall i am the happiest with how the oaks arc ended .

i think will campos knocked this episode (and just normal's character in general ) out of the park. the ending showing that normal isn't particularly happy reconnecting with a place that hurt him is So important to me actually. sometimes healing is forgiving/making peace with the people and places and things that hurt you. but also sometimes healing is accepting that you don't Have to.

also i think it's especially important to point out that like. normal is Sad, yeah, but he's not letting that stop him from doing things? he's not limiting himself with those emotions and i think that is such an important step for his character, actually! especially coming from a household with lark and sparrow who were almost always controlled by their emotions (specifically their fear).

to only ever see people succumb to their emotions or suppress them entirely, and to decide for Himself that he is going to work alongside them instead, actually!. he doesn't shove down all his negative emotions and pretend to be happy nor does he let it entirely consume his night. he just. is sad . and you know what? he can go have fun with his friends anyway.! and he does!

anyways. i love normal oak and i love will campos thank you

[jackalspine]

HEY so I’m like low key soober doober sick rn BUT

I wanna talk about my brain rot can I talk about my brain rot oh please pleas eplesoelspelapepaplpleasepla

SO I WAS ruminating on mine fuggin DP ftp AU and I was trying to come up with an antagonist that could potentially BLAST DANNYS CORE INTO 100000 LITTLE PIECES but felt kinda meh about Vlad doing that

But then I was like AH WAIT I CAN M AKE MY OWN CHARACTER.. SO I DID. But ehhhg what kind of motivation would this random ghost have for fucking up the poor ghost boy this time ahAH!

Cut to me blacking out and finding this on my iPad

OHOHOHO FUCKINNN WOUGH OK

if you look at Pariah Dark’s canon design

I thought this was a little strange… he doesn’t really scream… regal? Does he? Like.. he’s got renaissance boot flaps, a postiche??, skull tits, a loincloth, and obnoxious shoulder pads. This bitch is all over the place

Uhhv I forgot my point but EVENTUALLY I concluded that he wasn’t Raised the Ghost King but TOOK THE POSITION BY FORCE

Which is sick and adds a smidgeon of Nuance to his 1dimentional experience doesn’t it?? He took the power from some other king or power or even United the GZ eons ago wnbbb woah ok no that’s cool ok wait

So eons and eons ago,, ghosts were left to drift aimlessly on earth and the GZ without guidance which caused general mayhem for both the living and the dead. It was chaos. But a ghost who had lived in that Chaos and Disorder had died with a deep Obsession with CHANGING THAT

Enter: King Lark who’s ascension to Power was earned all post mortis. He was Obsessed with keeping Order and for a long time this aided him in his quest to unite the restless dead. BY HIS SIDE his faithful friend Thraal who handed the technical side of his rule. To help him rule Thraal made him the the crown and ring

They implemented Rules to the ghost zone that prohibited ghosts from crossing over to the mortal realms. And for a long while it was going pretty well

Except even after tightening his iron fist hold on everything in the GhostZone his core would ache to Fix the source of chaos (the continued existence of living things that would keep making more things that would also die) and so to rectify this he was all like oh yeah ok so if I kill every living thing on earth then no more problem :) WHICH IS BAD

and the ancients who were kinda pretty chill with everyone being chill in the GZ absolutely drew the line at fucking up the balance between the realms so they were like eeeehg put him in tha box. AND THEY DID

And now his friend Thraal (who over the years has been treated less like a dear friend and more like a Thrall) who had always had a sort of Obsession with following Lark (now pariah dark) like a good little sheep- has been going a little crazy waiting for Pariah to get out of his timeout box

Wait idk what I’m talking about nm good night h

[risetherivermoon]

heres my (not composed at all) composed thoughts from today !!MAJOR dndads spoilers for ep47!!

first of all, hermie :(( THE INTRO??? JUST EUGH I WAS TRYING NOT TO CRY IN PUBLIC- the hand holding part? im just...god, anthony burch why would you do this to me

then theres linc helping norm carry the body, just accepting that thats what he needed then...god, and scary was so soft with normal this episode about everything the feelings were biggg, normal trying to do the spell with the coins- just ugh

(then theres the twins hotwiring a car together in perfect sync? i just love the two of them sm so i loved that detail, the fact anthony outright says that they move as one force too, just- god their twin codependency makes me ill)

them traveling to what im assuming (lot of context clues) is the remains of oakvale....the old man being barry?? im so happy will remembered that henrys an elf with his aging thing too, the fact he runs a refugee camp on old earth?? im in love with that, and just how they went with his character, it makes me so sad tho... mercedes :(( pls im in shambles

scam? scam likely caring about hermie?? im just- fuck man. scam apologizing repeatedly saying he cant do anything, admiting he was a terrible father? i just- him not realizing that something he created would grow into a person with a personality and people who care for him, then that being ripped away... normal punching scam? (deserved) and i just cant get over the way normal is carrying his body everywhere, and holding hermies hand-

HENRY AND DOOD?? ARE YOU FUCKING WITH ME?? "for some reason you feel like home" GOD. henry asking if everyone wants tea and his hands trembling- lord.

will campos ripped my fucking heart out with that sob- i cant, it was so fucking raw.

the burial? them all gathering flowers?? the twins helping too??? im fucking ill im sick im done GODDD.

the words they all said? normal calling hermie his sweet prince? everything scary said??? normal saying that they should put the sun back because hermie never got to see the sunrise- IGFEIufh

HENRY SAYING HES FUCKING PROUD OF NORMAL IM GONNA JUMP OUT A WINDOW!! OH MY GOD NORMAL SO NEEDED THAT- im just im so ill about the oak family

HENRY MENTIONING THAT HIS FAVORITE TV SHOW WAS CANCELLED AND ITS FINALLY COME BACK?? GODDD

the fucking shades witch- i was cackling oh my god,

lark shaking henry's hand and sparrow hugging him?!!? HENRY BARELY HUGGING BACK??

lil hero and norm at a shooting range?? six year old norm shooting the ground omg, lark was so gentle with him someone kill me- im a firm lark-is-normal's-dad-believer honestly

NORMALS THE FUCKING CHOSEN ONE??? YALL??? i saw this coming but i was still so caught off guard

literally wtf was that fleshy thing, mr burch im in ur walls

the last "NORMAL WHAT DID YOU DO??" shambles im in shambles

god this episode was so much...im losing it, it was great, the oak family episodes are always so amazing i love it...rip hermie, i miss him so much already

[develation]

Eldritch/Cosmic Horror AU: Ink Inkwell

"The most merciful thing in the world, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents. We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far." - H.P. Lovecraft

Inkwell, originally Ink, was taken from his modern home by an eldritch beast known as ABERRATION, who turned the shy skeleton into a creature of rot and decay so he could have the strength to save its lost twin, ARCHANGEL. Although its intentions were of goodwill, the following downward spiral shows how much a simple dose of the wrong type of power can ruin a person.

"The Fragments of Reality" is a story of redemption first and foremost, the overall theme is one of atonement and finding oneself beneath a dark smog of gruesome actions.

(Outline is 98% complete, fic continuation soon)

Eldritch Creatures

ABERRATION: Eldritch "Nightmare"

ARCHANGEL: Eldritch "Dream" (deceased)

THE NEON GOD: World parasite

TAZOULOTH: Watcher

CAINSUBYTHAL: Soul Hound

THE KING IN YELLOW: Bearer of madness and damnation, the possessor of the eight eldritch terrors

ALDARNOTH: Tunneler between worlds

TYTO: The night

YOG ELARBASTOTH: Bearer of death and finality

YOG RYNORATH: Bearer of primordial existence and apparition

CARNHOLT: Alchemist

DAGON: Lark of decay and rot

CARCOSA: Harbinger of fatality

(Place your bets on who cursed Inkwell)

Inkwell

"I know always that I am an outsider; a stranger in this century and amount those who are still men." - H.P. Lovecraft

Inkwell himself goes through multiple character evolutions throughout his story. The references shown here are at the peak of his arc, showcasing his uncontrollable rot, creature companions, and the full effects of the curse.

Though being a multiverse hopper, he becomes unable to use all he's seen as warning for others, and instead a telling of the future. When common inhabitants approach him, all Inkwell can see is the dead and rotting face of what awaits the unfortunate soul.

There is no light at the end of his mission, no joy at the obtainment of ABERRATION's goal, only the nothingness of the infinite dark, and the creatures that lie beyond and between.

-

"I spent too long hearkening to the whispers that brushed against my skull, carving their call of purpose and fulfillment. Becking with black tendrils and seafoam eyes. I heed the call like some desperate dog with its leash loose and its tail broken.

Even now I still chase those whispers and phantoms, as useless as it may be. I have chased for so long that I have become one of them, a ghost, a creature of foreign realm, a bad omen to not be spoken of.

Do not be the dog Cross, do not chase the murmurs against your skull, do not heed to the blackened tendrils and ceaseless eye. Turn around. Before death and decay follow your every step." - Inkwell

-

(Ask and fanart are welcome)

(Inspired by SCP and H.P. Lovecraft)

(In collab with @sunlit-witch 's 50/50 au (Equiverse). Huge thanks to them, @phinix53 , and @pastelaspirations for letting me brainstorm and hash out ideas.)

[sol-draws-sometimes]

Unrelated to this episode but as a twin, everytime I remember Lark had an affair with Sparrow’s wife, I’m just… in disbelief. Like, I hate when people ogle at my twin and I, and are like “WHAT’S IT LIKE BEING A TWIN!” “I WISH I WAS A TWIN!” “WOW! HAVING A TWIN IS HAVING A BUILT IN BESTFRIEND!” However, weird objectification aside, they’re not wrong. I DO have a close bond with twin that I don’t with anyone else. For most of my life (and all my childhood), we were on the same wavelength emotionally speaking. Obviously we had put diffrences, but the way we viewed the world and reacted to things emotionally was almost the same. In middle school, we both were struggling mentally, but we understood each other, she felt like the only irl person who truly understood what I was going through, because she was going through it too. To me, our relationship is taken for granted. No matter what happens, how much we fight or bicker, I have never once in my life doubted whether she loved me or not. Her love has always been, and still is, the strongest constant in my life. And even though the way we view the world and act emotionally is no longer exactly the same, she is still the one person I feel understands me the most.

And that’s why, I can’t wrap my head around the fact that Lark did that. How could he have done that. I could NEVER, see myself betray my sister like that. And yes I’m young, and ace (and on the aro spec), so you could argue it’s not the same but like, even if I were allo, I just, can not see myself having an affair WITH MY TWIN’S S.O.! (also I just hate the idea that cheating is just a thing that happens sometimes like, I’m sure there are relationships that recover from that, but come one, seriously it’s so easy to not cheat) The worst part is that I still think Lark loves Sparrow. Scratch that, I know he still loves Sparrow. I’m not good at wording it, but the best example I can think of, is Lark pretending to be Sparrow so that he could fix Sparrow’s relationship with Normal, so that Sparrow doesn’t have a bad relationship with their son. I’m thinking of that person who made a post about how Lark shows love and I wish I could remember so that can point to that, but it mentioned Lark sewing bulletproof into Normal’s suit. Anyway, Lark LOVES Sparrow, and they are each other’s world. The problem is that they’re codependent with each other, which can make them enable their worst attributes, or let them brush things off that shouldn’t be brushed off.

I can’t imagine doing what Lark did to Sparrow, to my sister. Idk how my sister could EVER forgive such a betrayal. I know some romantic couples can genuinely work together to overcome an affair, so I guess that can be applied to platonic and familial situations as well. But still, Sparrow TRUSTED Lark more than anyone else in his life, for Lark to break that that trust, it just… idk. Also, I definitely understand why Sparrow forgave Lark, they can’t lose their only family left. They are each other’s world. Especially after everything they’ve gone through. Tho I will say, I don’t think Sparrow’s just completely over it either. His wife and brother had a fucking affair together. That has to hurt. Plus, there are little lines when referring to Normal that Sparrow’s said that leads me to believe that Sparrow has some unprocessed feelings about the affair pushed deep, deep down to keep peace.

I wonder how much thought Anthony put into to that plot point. Most of the times it’s played as joke but if you think about it for 2 seconds it’s so fucked. But Anthony cares too much about the kiddads for me to believe it was just a joke, like the Hermie’s dads situation. I wonder what made him think this is a thing Lark would do.

This isn’t supposed to be an “I HATE LARK” post. I think he’s a very interesting character, the way he’s reacting and processing to everything that happened in S1 and S2 is fascinating. And just to reiterate, I know he still loves Sparrow. But still, I keep thinking about how do you betray the person who’s your whole world, who you arguably love the most. Or guess, my real question is WHY. What has going on in his head that led him to doing that. Even from a more selfish standpoint, I don’t think Sparrow currently trusts, or will ever trust Lark the way he did pre-affair. And I don’t think Lark is stupid enough to believe having an affair with Sparrow’s wife wouldn’t irrevocably change their relationship.

I wish I could be more eloquent, but I always forget and every time I remember what he did I just don’t know how to feel about it. Idk, I just keep thinking about them. I can’t help it, I’m a latino twin, they were handcrafted for me.

If you have any thoughts on this, PLEASE DO SHARE THEM WITH THEM WITH ME. (also idk if this conversation’s already been had but I haven’t engaged)

Ps: something, something Lark hates himself so much he tries to ruin his relationship with Sparrow because he feels like he doesn’t deserve love, not even from Sparrow. Yah started thinking about it outside my perspective. I can see that being his reasoning, but still…I just, I can’t image actual doing that. But yah, I think I’m satisfied with that reasoning.

[willow-lark]

lark's underrated byler fic recs

i went through my bookmarks to find the gems in this fandom that need more appreciation! let's uplift our community--pls check out these fabulous fics & give the authors some love!! 💕

beneath these boughs, my devotion blooms by @perexcri (T, 1/1, 11k) - drop whatever ur doing and read this fic RIGHT NOW. i'm not joking when i say it's one of the most transformative works of the 21st century. gorgeous, heart-wrenching prose & characterization. god!will & devotee!mike--except this fic turns that entire concept on its head. this fic killed me dead. you won't regret it.

Last true mouthpiece by @miwism (G, 1/1, 2k) - in which will and hawkins are one and the same. this fic opened up my eyes to a take on will-has-powers that i had never before considered but i have not stopped thinking about since i read it. i need more of eldritch will byers in this fandom & everybody should read this fic

don't leave me here alone by @strangeswift (NR, 1/1, 3.4k) - ok this one is EVIL. this one is GOOD. essentially: mike tries to convince will to run away with him to keep will safe from vecna, but will might not be the one who needs protecting... i am a sucker for some s5-speculative angst and this fic DEFINITELY delivers!

all I know is pouring rain (and everything has changed) by @willelfanpage (T, 1/1, 3.2k) - a character study of will, particularly in relation to life moments he has in the rain. ugh, will byers my love will byers my light... this fic is so gorgeous and so beautifully done, i think everyone should check it out! i love the canon moments mixed in with non-canon ones.

take me to the lakes by @afterglowsssss (T, 1/1, 2.1k) - FANTASY BYLER EVERYONE CHEERED!!! prince will x knight mike is something that can legitimately be so personal, you guys. they have so much love and affection for one another that i'm literally throwing up (/pos). cleradin's been getting a lot of love lately and i am enjoying it but u guys need to hype this one UPPPP!!

come to me again (in the cold, cold night) by @perexcri (M, 3/3, 16k) - i've been on a vampire kick lately and this is the fic that started it for me. featuring: estranged byler, vampires, dystopia, angst, reunions, and CONSISTENTLY BANGER prose. would not expect any less from a perexcri fic. this one is a little creepy and dark and is absolutely gripping the entire way through.

there will come a poet (whose weapon is his word) by @fizzseed (T, 1/1, 3.2k) - fics that include mike as a writer are always some of my favs. and when he writes for WILL??? ahhhh my heart!! he's just so sweet and dedicated and this fic is just SUCH a gem. i think byler's relationship with each other when it comes to D&D (separate from cleradin AUs) is so interesting and i'm so glad this fic explored it!!

Every eye trained on a different star by @ohfallingdisco (G, 1/1, 2.9k) - ok so just thinking ab this fic as i'm typing this is literally making me tear up. in short: will comes out to bob. why don't we have more fics like this in this fandom??? will byers & bob newby my beloveds. r u kidding MEEEEEEE. like WHAT. all y'all take NOTES bc i want more of this shit

[perexcri]

What are your favorite fantasy aus/aus in general for byler? :)

hi anon!! i have several fantasy aus for you~

tip-toeing on lily-pads and chasing heartlines by @cherryisgone!! it's got beautiful prose and off-the-charts pining. plus who wouldn't love reading about Mike getting cursed by El to turn into a frog just so Will could kiss him and turn him back to a human hehe

fireball him! (cast protection) and tell me again (you said yes) by @willow-lark!! Lark has such a good grasp of these characters and has done a wonderful job of basically rewriting s1 as a fantasy au. i spent most of a plane ride reading the last chapter and losing my mind over how beautifully Lark writes established byler :]

ley lines and shadows by AabH!! this one's an atmospheric witch/familiar fic. it's just very cottagecore-y and soft with a beautiful ending

also hangman (slack your rope awhile) by AabH!! i liked this one just a bit more than ley lines and shadows, but that's because it's a more intense, d&d-inspired fantasy au that deals with necromancy. it only has a few chapters and is unfinished, but it remains one of my fav fantasy aus i've read for byler!

i am. direly behind on this one, but your paladin, your apostle by @scribbleworms is another wonderful fantasy au!! i have been Going Through It and haven't been reading fic as much, but when i get back into my groove, this is one of the first ones i'm gonna be going after~

i'm also a huge fan of the dark mirror series by sevensided, in which the third installment, the vale of shadows, is a fantasy au! sevensided's writing has been a big inspiration to me (a dream always the same remains the only book-length thing that i have read 4+ times in the span of a year), and they don't disappoint in a fantasy setting

and idk if you've read any of my fantasy aus, but if you don't mind some self-promo, may i offer up a couple of my own?

a flower that resembles you is my favorite fic that i currently have posted - its got a lot of my own self poured into it, and it deals a lot with magic, healing from the past, and growing close and learning to live with the faults of others <3

and beneath these boughs, my devotion blooms - another one of my favs that i've written! the basic premise is Will is a cleric that gets godhood thrust upon him, and Mike is the ever-loyal paladin that pledges loyalty to him

hope this helps!! there's a lot of good fantasy aus for this pairing out there that deserve so much love :] 💜💜💜

[cookinguptales]

I would just like to state again, for the record, that freaking no one does opening paragraphs like Shirley Jackson does opening paragraphs.

Like everyone knows The Haunting of Hill House, but it bears repeating:

“No live organism can continue for long to exist sanely under conditions of absolute reality; even larks and katydids are supposed, by some, to dream. Hill House, not sane, stood by itself against the hills, holding darkness within; it had stood so for eighty years and might stand for eighty more. Within, walls continued upright, bricks met neatly, floors were firm, and doors were sensibly shut; silence lay steadily against the wood and stone of Hill House, and whatever walked there, walked alone.”

And that is incredible enough, that is already one of the best openings to a novel in history, but THEN.

Then we have We Have Always Lived In The Castle!!!

"My name is Mary Katherine Blackwood. I am eighteen years old, and I live with my sister Constance. I have often thought that with any luck at all I could have been born a werewolf, because the two middle fingers on both my hands are the same length, but I have had to be content with what I had. I dislike washing myself, and dogs, and noise. I like my sister Constance, and Richard Plantagenet, and Amanita phalloides, the death-cup mushroom. Everyone else in my family is dead."

Has any opening paragraph ever made me want to know more about a character? No! I don't think so! I am fucking obsessed with Merricat and I want to put her in a jar and study her like a bug!

Like I'm always impressed with Jackson's craft, but opening paragraphs are so hard. They are so hard! And she always seems to craft one that draws you right into the web of horror that she's creating in that book. You're always pulled right into that house, whether it's lurking the halls of Hill House, not sane, or the incestuously isolated Blackwood residence. You're drawn into that madness instantly, and instantly you understand these characters who will not be understood by those around them.

I love the way she can draw you into the POV of protagonists who simply do not interact with reality to the point where you become comfortable living in their version of reality, too. You get them even as it fascinates and horrifies you. I feel like that's one reason why her books are so effective.

Every mind can break, but every mind does so in such a specific way. And it's the specificity of the madness and the ability to convey it in a way that makes you feel it, too, y'know? You come to realize that these women could never have been anything else, could never have been sane, because they live in homes that are... well, not sane. Their world is not sane, so how could they be? How could any of us be?

So you get pulled into this whirlpool of reality-shifting madness and deeply unreliable narrators and when you finally free yourself at the end of the book, you feel like you're walking back out into the sun squinting, dazed. Confused to find yourself back in a reality that makes some semblance of sense, but unable now to ignore the seams in it.

Goddamn, what an artist.

[barkingbarghest]

okay okay the promised lark post now that s3 ep4 is out now. Under the read more because spoilers GO LISTEN TO MIDST look at me look at me ~~listen to midst podcast~~ ~~maybe look up a list of possible triggers and ask if you want to know if it's right for you~~ ~~but then if everything is gucci go listen to midst podcast~~ I am beaming directly into your brain. ok? ALSO SHOUT-OUT TO @ionomycin for the art this episode it FUCKS verily!!!! You do SUCH a fantastic job of creating atmosphere in your works I'm losing my mind in the faded tones and neon hues. Phineas' apartment is much more garbage in my head so thank you for upgrading his living space for him. The color blue.... is good.

Lark is iirc in her 60s or 70s? And she said that 12-year old Tzila is right around the age she was when she went on the run. That's like... 50-60 years always watching her back always running never being able to put down roots never letting herself make connections. When we get that look into her head at the end of season 2 and we're told how afraid she is?? Hello??????????? We're told right off the bat, right from the jump, how Lark is gruff and that "any given Clint Eastwood western film character but a wrinkly old sun-darkened woman with dreadlocks" vibe but it's not just because "that's how she is" there's a girl in there who wants to have friends - she finally admits it to herself that she was willing to kill Fuze* just to be able to have her life on Midst for just a little bit longer - she just hasn't let herself. And now that she does know she wants it, she doesn't know how to behave about it! The scene where she is lashing out at Tzila slapping on that sandpaper mask and pretending she doesn't care when she cares so so so bad she cares so much. *FUZE. FUZE!! Who was maybe one of the ONLY people left ALIVE who KNEW Lark who KNEW Clara Mire who not only knew what she did but maybe WHY she did it. There's no way the other workers at the factory didn't know something of what was going on with Max Lox and Lark's mom. Lark SAYS that she liked Fuze, that he was nice, she remembered that. But she still killed him. Just to avoid having to flee Midst like she's had to flee so many lives before. GOD she's SO heartbreaking.