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cosmicjoke · 10 months

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Ooookay, chapter 207 of "Vinland Saga"!

Ohh man, another amazing chapter. All of Thorfinn's worst fears realized.

But I think what stands out to me most here, and what I appreciate most, is the realism of how this situation with the Lnu is unfolding. Thorfinn's pacifism is an ideal worth striving for, always, but it's an ideal nonetheless, and we see once again how reality has an ugly way of intruding on that ideal. That pacifist ideal can't always, and often doesn't, account for other people and their warring nature.

We finally see Thorfinn forced to fight, for the first time in I don't even know how many chapters. Since well before the current arc, since before leaving for Vinland, since before returning to Iceland, even.

What I like about this is that the story once again isn't hiding from the complicated reality of war, and violence, and how sometimes, no matter how much we might wish it, or strive for it, peace and passivity isn't always an option. Sometimes we really are backed into a corner and violence is the only way out, and it isn't really a failing on our part, but just a reality of the world we live in.

Still, given Thorfinn's recent vow's never to resort to violence again, seeing how easily that vow was put to an impassable test, I wonder how that will affect his philosophy and world view from here on out. He selflessly sacrifices himself by jumping in front of Einar and Bug-Eyes to take the arrow the Lnu shot at them, and it's interesting to see how quickly his own instincts kicked in afterward, the way he so quickly took down the three pursuers with Hild's assistance. He hasn't had to kill anyone, yet, but I wonder if he'll really be able to hold to that pledge, given what's going on back at Arnheid's village.

Before I get to that though, I want to talk a little about what's happening to Thorfinn's relationship with Einar.

It seems like there's serious and potentially permanent erosion being done to their once unbreakable bond, and the tragedy of that erosion being instigated by war and violence isn't lost on me. There's the possibility that their friendship will be forever altered, and maybe even destroyed, depending on how things play out here, which is a devastating thought, given Einar is Thorfinn's first and truly best friend.

But we see something like resentment starting to bleed into Einar's regard for Thorfinn. Where before, he had understandable and reasonable disagreements with Thorfinn's approach, it being logical why he wouldn't want to just give up the land they'd cultivated and go back to Iceland, giving up on their dream on Throfinn's say-so, here, we see him start to accuse Thorfinn of acting as their master, with everyone else being his underlings. He's beginning to mistake Thorfinn's desire to protect everyone for Throfinn acting as some kind of dictator. When Thorfinn calls out to Einar, just before he and Bug-Eyes finally leave the scene, trying one last time to explain that he only wants to withdraw from Vinland to avoid war, we see Einar look back at him with what I can only describe as real anger and, yes, again, resentment. I can see this suddenly and rapidly widening rift between them spinning out of control, and it may lead somewhere truly ugly. I think that's especially a possibility when Einar and Bug-Eyes make it back to the village, and see what's going on there, that the Natives are already attacking the villagers. I wouldn't be surprised if some sort of scenario unfolds in which Einar takes up sides with the men like Ivar that want to go to war with the Natives to fight for the land, etc... If that happens, then it could mean an end to his and Thorfinn's friendship.

Again, this is really brilliantly executed, for the ways in which it demonstrates the tragedy of war and the things lost to war. Throfinn's and Einar's friendship would be a heavy loss, if it were to dissolve because of what's happening now.

So, back to what's going on in the village. This is bad. Really, REALLY bad.

First of all, poor Cordelia. I feel so bad for her. She tried to take up arms against the attacking Natives, and I'm sure some people wanted to see her open up a can of whoop-ass on them. But what actually happens is much more realistic. Cordelia might have Thorkill's size and strength, but she doesn't have any of his fighting skill. To expect her to actually put up a real fight against a bunch of experienced warriors wasn't fair. But it was absolutely horrifying to see Cordelia get shot full of arrows, and to see her start crying out for Thorfinn to save her.

I wonder if Cordelia is going to be the first real casualty of this war, meaning if she's the first character we've grown attached to who's going to actually die. And if that does happen, I wonder further still what that's going to do to Throfinn, and how he'll react.

He's determined right now not to kill anybody, still grasping to the hope that he can get away with simply injuring their attackers. But if he makes it back to the village and sees his own people have been slaughtered, will he be able to maintain that stance? Especially if anyone he's close to ends up dying?

It would only be natural for Thorfinn to relinquish his vow to not kill in that scenario. But no doubt it would come at a great, personal cost to him too.

"Vinland Saga" has definitely found its mojo again, and I think this entire arc has been the best since probably before Thorfinn and co. returned to Iceland the second time. I'm both extremely excited and extremely nervous about how things are going to go from here. Things aren't good. War's already broken out, so there's no avoiding the violence and loss that comes with it, only stemming the tide of it, if possible.

Bravo all around. I just adore this series.

#Vinland Saga #thorfinn karlsefni #einar vinland saga #Chapter 207 #spoilers

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delightfulastariontreat · 2 months

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Continuation from part 3:

Tav would do well to remember to be grateful to Astarion for all the pleasure he poured into her this night, once she got back her voice, that was. The series of trysts in one night leading her to this point of wave after wave of bringing her to orgasm again and again --that would now rival her wildest of dreams! She hoped this was a dream, for she desired to never wake from it. Every stroke of his hands and fingers emitted from her a series of musical moans---electrically arousing and tingly. Ahh, they were music to his pointed ears! Heatedly, his hands and fingers eagerly explored generously every heated smooth peak and valley of heavenly body, until a part of his most prized strength entered her most sensitive sacred place. This belonged to him again and again since the tiefling's celebration party, when they connected so beaurifully in the forest his flesh on her flesh. This time around, her cries of his name rivaled the accolades that escaped her lips, than the ones that had escaped on that night! He enjoyed heightening that pleasure--challenging it within her to rise above the one, from the tiefling party. Oh, to hear her cry out his name again, a most worthy end to another passionate night!

Tav remembered with a soft moan---her body's response to the memory of his very strong and skillful body had emitted from hers the precise ring of moans from her desirous lips, plunging into her body every ounce of his pleasure and ecstasy into her ; though, in his opinion he barely touched her. According to the power that slept in Astarion, he barely even delved into the soft interior of her body. Ohh, but he longed to dive deep into see if she, by reading her expressions, if she would handle " all of him " . In time , yes, she will learn to. Others like her had once, but failed. Not because of his bite or loss of blood, but because of his "power " , and the one time it had stirred " awake " from its slumber they died peacefully in his arms. He regretted that event for a long time, having difficulty to forgive himself for that tragedy that befell such a beautiful creature. Never again! He had to be more careful this time. Astarion was a creature entirely different from any elf or vampire existed in Faerun that had ever been--even Cazador had sensed this in him. Dare anyone believe he was quite possibly an incarnation of the god of ecstasy himself and wielded that formidable power over others? One could wonder!

But, for the moment anyway, he had rocked her body and caused those sweet exudings of her moans in response of just a drop or two of his immense power of ecstasy into her. Ahh, Astarion held it deep within him, to read her expressions of rapture on her lovely face and enjoy causing her to sing on the air beautifully, again and again and again--his name. He smiled like an imaginary cheshire cat when he felt the gentle squeezes of her body in appreciation of that small gift of ecstasy , that came in a big package--that he gave her generously. It was the glimpse of his frivolity that had yet to prove to her, his potential to give and give again overwhelming and disarming pleasure! No wonder Cazador chased and chose Astarion for his own prized vampire spawn. It made sense. Even that bastard had sensed such power in the young elf--he could wield to use for his own evil plans. And sadly did. Those thoughts he pushed out of his mind, as he continued his rhythmic rocking of his hips into hers--with that same frivolity and was kind enough to show his lover just how overwhelming the pleasure he could give could be! Astarion enjoyed watching every expression of heightening ecstasy on Tav's face and reveled in hearing each moan, and then delving his mouth and tongue into hers to swallow them every time he heard them , with a hungry kiss.

To be continued

#baldurs gate astarion #baldur's gate 3 #fanfic mature #graveyard scene #romance #astarion x tav #response to YT post #bg3 astarion

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springlock-suits · 1 year

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"Ooh, tell us about Dave"

(To start, seeing so many aus and versions that made use of "Dave Miller" during actual events in Freddy's, instead of as some random mall guard DEFINITELY inspired me, I had never before considered that potential Dave had)

Dave works at the 90s location. As William was very much Not Allowed in Freddy's after '87

(Now, I haven't read the book in. Literal years. But I think my Dave might? actually be pretty similar to TSE canon? A bit less creepy though. And more seemingly trustworthy. Take this with a grain of salt though as again, its been many years since ive read the book)

He's very dramatic and showy while kinda pretending not to be

He never really outright lies, he doesn't make anything up, its more of just not telling the whole truth and leaving out (incriminating) details

He definitely considers himself "one of them" like canon Dave does. And will walk around the place just wearing the Springbonnie mask when there's no one to see him

When I think about what I personally want from a fnaf story, want it to be in the classic 90s location, when all the murders are already said and done. And I want the employees there to start trying to unravel the mystery after realizing the animatronics are alive. It ends up being like a murder mystery, unfortunately, I can't hide from anyone familiar with fnaf who the killer is, but at least I can still keep it from the characters! Letting them discover it in the end >;]

(Fun fact! In my design, Dave's haircolor is the same as Springbonnie's fur)

My William wears glasses, and while he can usually get away with not wearing them as Dave, he still needs them for reading. So I had a (scrapped) comic idea where Theo sees a glint of light and walks into the backstage area to discover Dave wearing glasses, queuing a flashback where we see William n the same pose wearing the same glasses! A delightful hint for Theo on who Dave really is!,, that he ends up ignoring because Dave has already established himself as a Trusted Friend and coworker-

"Any original FNaF characters and a bit of their lore?"

Fnaf ocs? Yeah! I've ah, only actually made and designed one character for my version so far, Theo!

Since the 90s location never had a missing children incident, but still had newspapers about them from previous locations, I imagine there are in universe "fnaf theorists" trying to figure out what happened, especially since Fazbear Ent is really determined to cover everything up

So I made Theo! (Theodore Emmet)

He's a works along with Dave at the 90s (fnaf 1) location! Any lore snippets you see in the area were most likely put up by him, his favorite animatronic is 90s Bonnie

He was alive and in the area when the original missing children's incident happened, so when he saw how Fazbear ent was trying to convince people it never actually happened, it sparked his interest in finding some indisputable proof. And keep the fact that such a tragedy happened common knowledge

He's around 45 I think! Ohh wait 30ish is better. And um, theres not much else about him! ľm trying to give him some more personality and interests, but right now I can't help but keep comparing him to my version of phone dude;-;

He's really not that finshed or fleshed out yet bdjsndks

#darlingsfnafau: lore rambles #darlingsfnafau #dave miller #oc: theodore emmet #purple guy #my art #fnaf #five nights at freddy's

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llycaons · 1 year

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ep38 (1/3): that which resembles a romance but is in fact a horror short film

lsz is eager to help ofc, but wwx doesn't know who he is yet

wwx asking for jl and the jiang bell matters - his connection to his old home and family. and apparently the jiang bells are powerful? they were more described in the book. I actually forgot they were even in the show since they're barely talked about

THERE SHE IS!!!!!!!! I love a-qing, such a strong personality, her own goals and motivations, curious and intelligent and out for herself and brave. it is shitty to pretend to be disabled, but I'm going to blame the author for that instead of a 16 yr old orphan girl living on the streets. it's not like it doesn't backfire on her anyway

also she's so funny. 'why do men dress nice when they're poor, this is an attack on me specifically'

FIRST MEETING!!! that blindfold is alarming but the blood looks a little pale (fake)

ohh I could swoon. saints and heroes don't really exist in this world, it's too complicated and brutal for them to survive. but xxc was as close as anyone else ever got and I think a-qing knew she'd never meet someone as special as him again

not to say he doesn't have flaws - his naivete is disastrous for all of them and he overlooks her concerns out of a patronizing dismisiveness when he should be respecting her instincts, which helped her survive all her life on the streets. also, it's admirable of him to be nonjudgemental but xy just has odious vibes and it's a tragedy he was so charmed by him that he didn't pick up on that. sort of a xxc jgy situation except xy was fully in love with him or whatever approximates love for him and I still think jgy was mostly using lxc to survive. so another dark foil to wx just as songxiao are a lighter (but still tragic) parallel

anyway he thinks a-qing is funny and is clearly endeared by her, and she clearly likes him a lot despite lying to him. their dynamic has so much chemistry and potential for being great family, it's a shame they're not more popular to write about. this is probably one of the only reasons he's had to smile since he and SL parted ways

smart girl! this guys sounds like bad news, so get outta there

ah! curse the hyperdeveloped senses of a cultivator!

unlike the tragedy of wwx, this could literally have all been avoided if not for a single person - there are many ways to rewrite this and just have them never cross paths. of course, that misses out on the richness of this story and the themes at play, not to mention their significance for the wider narrative, so I don't particularly like yi city fix-its before the fact. but they're definitely easy

christ he's bleeding like craxy. what did they do to him. and why didn't they do it better

of course as soon as he sees xxc he's like FUCK

yeah and if xy lets xxc touch his hand he'll know he's missing his pinky

...not that I like to think about them having a relationship but IF they had sex I wonder how he managed that

god this is so kind 😭 why couldn't it have been wwx that xxc found and they just had a nice little family time (they're cousins or something) for a decade or so before wwx was comfortable enough to leave. MAN

a-qing sleeping in that coffin then hopping out is so cute I love her

it's only been a day and already he looks perfectly groomed clean robes clear skin fully hydrated etc. the man knows how to look good I gotta say

and he starts right off by being a piece of shit to a-qing. I think the siblings dynamic can be really funny but lbr in canon he terrorized her and she hated him for it

I thought this was kind of dumb. like even if she was blind anyone would feel a SWORD. and if he learns she's not really blind, what, xxc is disappointed? I suppose it means he's less careful around her. bc she was able to witness a lot of his crimes bc he wasn't as watchful, assuming she couldn't see (and therefore could never understand what was happening? ableist of him)

a-qing: please don't leave me alone with this scary stranger we picked up by the side of the road, he's really aggressive and he's lying about who he is and I think he's dangerous

xxc: oh you silly girl. he'll be leaving soon *immediately starts flirting with him*

actually xy comes at this with a very specific angle. it's almost like he's emulating wwx - he presents himself as someone hardworking, uncomplaining, and good-hearted despite the hardships he's clearly gone through. of course xxc was taken in

haha no big deal! I'll just casually drop this little fact! it's definitely not something I want you to know about me so you can sympathize with me while admiring how blase I am about it! MAN

on the one hand I can see why xxc is being so open-minded and I appreciate his kindness. on the other hand he IS misled by his own feelings and she is also literally right. she gives him good reasons not to trust him and he's like *pats her on the head* we'll be fine

the head-pats are sweet when coming from adults to their kids (or jyl to wwx) but it just feels patronizing here

literally this is blatant flirting. a-qing off to the side going 😭 he has a crush what I am supposed to do now!!

and THIS??? I was so shocked the first time I saw this I was like THIS is allowed but wwx and lwj can't hug??? huh??? idk the exact specifications of the censorship but in some ways xy/xxc hits you harder with the gay subtext than any other couple including wx which is so wild to me. and also deeply tragic obviously

I think it helps that the writers have a very solid idea of what this relationship is and exactly how each character felt at every moment of it. meanwhile for wx interactions can be very inconsistent and confusing. anyway GET YOUR HANDS OFF HIM YOU FREAK

so yeah overall super eerie and frightening to see xxc fall so readily in love with someone you KNOW is cruel and sadistic and lying to him and deceiving him. like this could have been a cute second-love kind of deal with a new family in a new city. fresh start. but then again, no it couldn't have

#cql re-rewatch

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matrose · 2 years

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Caranthir Celegorm and/or Turgon ? 🫶🏻🥺

HEHE… thank you 😚

caranthir 🌹

Sexuality Headcanon: oooh maybe gay? or bisexual:) idk!!!! elf sexuality!!!!!!!!

Gender Headcanon: elf gender. this is exhausting!!!! elf gender is giving me a headache!!!!

A ship I have with said character: i do really like him with your tindawen 🥺🥺🥺

A BROTP I have with said character: obsessed with his dynamic with the dwarves!!!! i want more info!! the text says the disliked them for their looks but tbh those are lies :/ i knowww he had atleast one close dwarf friend :(

A NOTP I have with said character: mh..never really saw anything between him and haleth 🤷

A random headcanon: i feel like he gives very generous gifts…like you visit and he acts kind of cold and brash but then you leave and he gives you three jeweled rings and a pearl necklace as a guest present:))

General Opinion over said character: tried sooo hard to mind his own business most of the time. sadly not enough :/ i like him though!!! so much potential with him!!

celegorm 🐩

Sexuality Headcanon: 😭😭

Gender Headcanon: 😭😭😭😭😭 theres more wilderness in his gender than the usual elf gender thats for sure

A ship I have with said character: the inherent fucked-up-ness of the dynamic between him and orome…interesting 🧐 what IS going on there

A BROTP I have with said character: the dynamic between him and curufin!! ride or die too literally!!! evil brother duo!!!! did resentment ever build between them or did they outsource all of that onto their other brothers? oh oh ohh…. theres so many compelling sibling dynamics in the silm 🥺 also aredhel!!!

A NOTP I have with said character: leave luthien alone 😕

A random headcanon: him and caranthir are really really close in age, second only to amrod and amras. this led to a lot of rivalry between them growing up, and many little contests and fights that celegorm usually won. many fights were caused by celegorm feeling like nerdanel favored caranthir over him

General Opinion over said character: evil. interesting. dog person. blondieee

turgon 🦋

Sexuality Headcanon & Gender Headcanon: ARCHITECT!!!! ELF GENDER AND ELF SEXUALITY IM RUNNING AWAY FROM YOU!!!!!!!! NO GENDER LEFT ANYWHERE

A ship I have with said character: turgon and elenwe 🫶

A BROTP I have with said character: im interested in turgon and maeglin….very difficult all around :( such a bad situation but he tried to reach out but it just wasnt enough and everything went terribly…he loved maeglin & trusted maeglin and im sure the reverse was true as well. how would they reunite in the halls of mandos?

A NOTP I have with said character: 😣

A random headcanon: he tried to keep earendil inside as much as possible every winter. he didnt like seeing him in the snow ❄️

General Opinion over said character: i like him a lot…so much tragedy in his life plus i just love a hidden city concept. he was so real for going to live in the mountains :)

#its so funny ive been doing this ask game for three days!!! hehe im having sm fun thank you everybody for sending so many characters:)))

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venom0usbarbie · 2 years

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Ohh um.... Fleur/Ginny please.

FLEURINNY - SHIP IT

What made you ship it?

In Half-Blood Prince, chapter 5 ("An excess of Phlegm"), Ginny says this:

“A cow,” said Ginny, nodding. “But Bill’s not that down-to-earth. He’s a Curse-Breaker, isn’t he, he likes a bit of adventure, a bit of glamour... I expect that’s why he’s gone for Phlegm.”

I mean, come on. My girl Ginny is fucking jealous. In fact, two books earlier, she doesn't seem all that interested in bashing Fleur. In Goblet of Fire, chapter 23 ("The Yule Ball"), she's quite elated to see Fleur turning down Ron. She laughs about it!

“He — er — just asked Fleur Delacour to go to the ball with him,” said Ginny. She looked as though she was fighting back a smile, but she kept patting Ron’s arm sympathetically.

Those are the crumbs canon gives us. And they are more than enough for my little gay heart! What's not to love? Little sister obsessed with her older brother's wife? The tragic potential is absolutely rife with these two!

Personality-wise, we have two women who are both quite strong-headed and opinionated, from different cultures and backgrounds but also meeting in the middle, with Fleur marrying Bill. Of course, the dynamic could also do without Bill playing a role in it, but, so what? I like it when things are fucked up. Sue me.

What are your favorite things about the ship?

French/Brit, they're lesbians your honour, but also one of them is married to the other's brother, TRAGIC, two hot strong-headed women who hate-fuck but also??? fall in love??? more please.

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

This ship is barely enough of a ship for there to be discourse about it! That's the fucking tragedy. Like, excuse me, what do you mean 56 works? And I alone am responsible for 5% of those! Fleurmione (love them but come on, they make less sense than Fleurinny) has 1,010 works. PLEASE GIVE ME MORE FLEURINNY!

A final note

Since I'm trying to make fetch this ship Happen...

Let me try to convince you with my own work! For @hp-rarepairs, I wrote a series named Water & Earth.

If my little Tumblr diatribe hasn't convinced you, then I hope my own work will! Part 1 - Yours

“I’m yours,” breathes out Ginny—it’s almost unwilling, like the words are torn from her throat. She can’t take them back now. She has always been Fleur’s— even as she watched Roger Davies make her spin across the dancefloor even as she stood in a pale gold dress while Fleur was exchanging vows with Bill even as she waited at Hogwarts while a war was unfolding before her very eyes even as she heard news of Fleur’s pregnancy Always.

Part 2 - Mine

Ginny doesn’t protest, doesn’t push—five years later, she’s still ravenous for scraps, for crumbs. She allows herself to be dragged along, forgoing her spark and her will to rebel. She’s tired of fighting, tired of finding herself entangled in wars. For now, she just wants to enjoy the supple silk of Fleur’s skin, the warm whispers of her voice dripping in her ear, the liquid ecstasy of her mouth on her body, on her lips. She revels in knowing that she is Fleur’s and no one else’s, in the guttural r’s that roll off her tongue when she holds Ginny tight and says, “You’re mine.”

Part 3 - I'm the Land You Flooded with Your Waters

Her spirit floats, runs away. Runs to the memories, where the pain meets the pleasure, where the sadness meets the euphoria, where things are bittersweet rather than outright bitter. She swims—no, she runs—no, she drowns— She travels back. Back to the first time Fleur sank into her arms, weeping uncontrollably, a fountain bursting and leaking against her chest; the first time her lips found Ginny’s, insatiable and trembling with sadness. The kiss was sloppy, animalistic—almost surreal in how little it made sense. “Do you, Charlie Weasley, take Fleur Delacour—”

#harry potter fandom #meta #ship talk #fleur delacour #ginny weasley #fleurinny

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ddarker-dreams · 3 years

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A question about jealousy and yanderes. Which types are better at parsing out the differences in one-side suitor rivals and true rivals (potentially reciprocal on darling's part)? Which types assume one way or the way by default? (But also which types would react the same regardless and which types are more likely to blame the darling for this?) I would love and appreciate your opinion! It's okay if you don't answer. No pressure

OHH interesting ... i'll give little blurbs so as to include more characters.

childe is weird about it. he can tell the difference, but that isn't the deciding factor for him. you could love them to the moon and back for all he cares, if they're weak, then it's inconsequential. man thinks like an apex predator. he wants to prove his strength to you so he can show he's the better partner. so it'd take someone with equal or more strength for him to care much about it.

diluc is not gonna be able to tell the difference. he sees you talk to one person with a smile and assumes they're a Threat. immediately goes on the personal shitlist which continues to grow. he's of the impression that you got him to fall in love, a man who thought he closed all his emotions away, so everyone else might do the same. he's not risking it.

scaramouche can tell the difference but it doesn't matter. they are regarded with the same level of cruelty whether they were your lover or some far off admirer who stared at you for .001 seconds too long. into the electric dungeon. he'd convince himself using some insane mental gymnastics if you liked them back. because there's no way you'd deny him, a fatui harbinger, and care for... that thing. it hurts his pride. he'll find a way to force his narrative.

zhongli is still getting used to human life and customs. he has a vague enough idea of how to navigate things, but when it comes to modern courting, he's figuring things out. you could send your admirer a flower that meant reciprocated love 1,000 years ago and his alarm bells will be ringing. so while he can generally tell the difference between an actual rival and some fella with a crush, they'll both be treated as serious infringements.

albedo... oh albedo. he'd only be able to tell the difference if you outright hated the person who liked you. his brain naturally works to fill in gaps of information. that means he'll read too far into your mannerisms, since at this point he hasn't had the courage to approach you, and sticks to observing from afar. the way you awkwardly laugh upon receiving that person's compliments? obvious biological response for love. they must be removed immediately.

xiao can't tell the difference if his life depended on it. he's one of the most possessive yans, someone looking at you is an infringement as far as he's concerned. you're the one good thing in his life. his long, hard fought life, filled with tragedy after tragedy. no way he's risking some shmuck coming to sweep you away. all it takes is you interacting with them once, whether you reciprocate the person's feelings or not, and he's seeing red.

kaeya is able to tell the difference. he can read your body language like a book, it's second nature to him. that doesn't mean he'll be happy about either scenario. of course, you returning their feelings is infinitely worse, but that can be dealt with. he's good like that. a little misinformation here, some planted incriminating evidence there, and that person's reputation is dirt low. kaeya's more annoyed that this person caused extra work for him that could've been spent playing around with you.

#childe x reader #diluc x reader #scaramouche x reader #zhongli x reader #albedo x reader #kaeya x reader #xiao x reader #genshin impact x reader #yandere #concepts #answered #Anonymous

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thecrazyanimegirl · 4 years

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Fall anime 2020

And wow, it’s the last season of 2020! May the new year be a lot better, not just anime related!

{ Winter ‘18 } { Spring ‘18 } { Summer ‘18 } { Fall ‘18 } { Winter ‘19 } { Spring ‘19 } { Summer ‘19 } { Fall ‘19 } { Winter ‘20 } { Spring ‘20 } { Summer ‘20 }

Alongside the continuations and new seasons like fire force, danmachi, mahouka koukou no rettousei, golden kamuy and so, these are the new shows that we started:

100-man no Inochi no Ue ni Ore wa Tatteiru

It is pretty typical isekai anime, just that it has twist and they can go back to their world every time they do a quest. I could see potential in characters and their development, but they aren’t kind of characters I would care about or watch something with meh plot for. Maybe they are building up for something cool, but for now, it was kind of boring for me.

Akudama Drive

Overwhelmingly cool show about criminals in a dystopian future world. There is not much to say about the story without spoiling other than being so unnecessary cool that I loved it an unnatural amount! The characters, the setting, the action scenes, the animation and conversations, everything is just so aesthetic! I looked forward to it every week! Gonna miss them a lot. Just beware of a lot of violence and blood scenes (even though they are mostly censored).

By the Grace of the Gods

A really soft isekai with a boy who tames slimes. This is that one (at least) show of the season where you can just turn off your brain, watch some cuteness and forget about everything. It comes with no strings attached, you can drop it halfway and not think twice about it, it won’t make you feel bad in any way, just happiness and rainbows, and sometimes that’s what I need.

Hypnosis Mic -Division Rap Battle- Rhyme Anima

Women rule the world and pretty boys rap to assert dominance. That’s it, that’s the premise and if you think that ridiculous, yes, it truly is haha If you want to have a laugh, listen to some rapping (can’t say much about the quality of it, but I enjoyed it immensely, good va’s!), go watch it. The plot quality is debatable to say the least, but it’s not really an anime about the story, rather about the 12+ guys and their friendships and rivals and well... rap.

Ikebukuro West Gate Park

Although a little bit on the improbable side to happen IRL, Ikebukuro WGP showcases multiple situations where we dive behind the back of many realistic happenings in bigger cities. There is always some company in conflict with another thinking solving it in their way is the best possible choice, not taking into consideration what happens to the little people bearing their consequences. It is of course up to the “good mafia” guys to solve it. If you are reading the Webtoon Weak Hero and are in search for some more realistic gang divisions, then feel free to give this anime a try. It has a pretty lovable and crafty MC minus the high-school setting.

Jujutsu Kaisen

Ohh my where to start xD yes, you are looking at the fan favorite anime of this season and there is no doubt about it having that title. I can go on and try to convince everyone saying it has the perfect animation, soundtrack, appearance of the characters and so on but to truly experience it, you will have to watch it. Character development is on the slower track but it is understandable since it is obvious that the series will be a “long distance runner”. What impressed me the most is the perfect balance of humor and tragedy, so if you are one to typically enjoy shonen anime, give it definitely a try through the 3 episodes rule!

Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear

A girl got isekai’d in a game and now finds friends and people she cares about. Oh and she’s in a bear suit. This was one of those shows I watched for relaxation. There are no bad emotions coming from it and you can just relax, watch something that doesn’t need you to turn on your brain and try to be happy. If you are looking for something serious, you won’t really find it here.

Majo no Tabitabi

A witch that travels the world, visiting many cities and meeting a lot of people, hearing their stories and moving on. Not action packed, but has things happening throughout the eps. I thought it would be another happy show, but it turned to be quite dark in some episodes. Most episodes have their separate story with minimal connection to the previous ones and some are heartwarming and some are downright grim. Overall, the plot is interesting and the MCs development and way of thinking is interesting too!

Maoujou de Oyasumi

I KNEW this one is gonna be good when I first read the description of the manga in the bookstore 2 years ago xD What you see above is a small princess who wishes nothing more than a good sleep and a bunch of demons who decided to capture her. It becomes clear early on that she isn’t your typical prisoner as she sets out on quests to find stuff to make her rest more comfortable and NOTHING is gonna stand in her way. Your time watching this anime will be filled with heartfelt laughter and love for the all the characters. Yes, some people might be triggered by her actions and personality but I do believe since I (as a person who prefers to watch shonen) am impressed with it, a great number of people will like it.

Munou na Nana

I really love this anime. MC is an antagonist, pretty much an antihero, but she was made to believe that she is the hero. She is very smart, so anything she plots end up interesting. This show always keeps me on the end of my seat. And it’s a great combination of everyone has supernatural abilities + high school setting, but with a darker twist to it. It’s one of my favorites this season!

Noblesse

I read the webtoon and I am fan of it, so I am really happy to see Noblesse became an anime! Characters are really awesome and plot is action packed. I’m sure you won’t regret watching it! The humor, the lore and the action is very well balanced and it’s just a good story. If you feel like you really like the anime, but something is missing and you have some time, the webtoon is amazing! Of course, they actually did the anime quite well, but some jokes or additional train of thought that goes in the characters head cannot be all transferred into the animation. Oh and - watch Noblesse: Awakening before this! That’s like the crash course of the first arc of the story.

Taiso Samurai

A MAPPA anime about a japanese gymnast on the verge of retirement, his daughter and a ninja they adopted! That about covers it! It’s a soft and heartwarming story that really leaves a good feeling after watching it. The characters are lovable and the drama side of the story levels out with humor pretty well, without glossing over stuff too much. I can’t say much about the sports aspect since I don’t know much, but it was worth the watch even though it isn’t the most amazing action-packed anime ever. But it was a solid story, good charas and was just soft.

With a Dog AND a Cat, Every Day is Fun

One and a half minute of a lady with a cat and a dog being incredibly relatable.

Yuukoku no Moriarty

Ah yes, I’m a sucker for every possible variation of sherlock homes, so it’s no wonder how much I enjoyed this. It’s centered about Moriarty, but Sherlock has his time in the later half of the show. The animation is just so beautiful, I loved the stories and mysteries and the way they handled Moriarty as a character. Also a good mixture of mystery, people being hideous creatures, main characters being pretty af and humor. I should continue to the manga now.

Dropped: MAGATSU WAHRHEIT, The Day I Became a God

#fall anime 2020 #season review #jujutsu kaisen #akudama drive #yuukoku no moriarty #noblesse #ikebukuro west gate park #100-man no inochi no ue ni ore wa tatteiru #taiso samurai #munou na nana #maoujou de oyasumi #majo no tabitabi #magatsu wahrheit #kuma kuma kuma bear #hypnosis mic: division rap battle - rhyme anima #by the grace of the gods #with a dog and a cat every day is fun

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shimmershae · 3 years

Text

My thoughts on Episode 5--Out of the Ashes.

Okay, though. I’m already excited about this one because Carol and Lydia are on the little guide picture thingy, lol. My girls.

As usual, I’m going to put the rest underneath a cut to save you lovelies potentially being spoiled should you not want to be.

Wow. Look at that full moon. And the colors in the woods.

I’m telling you. These cold opening scenes have been generally pretty awesome this season.

Aaron with Gracie always gives us such sweetness but this time maybe not.

Omigosh. Now *that* is a nightmare--the Walkers, the Wolves, the Saviors, the Whisperers, Mays. Did I miss anybody? And then Gracie gone just like that? Poor Aaron. All he wants is to keep his little girl safe and happy.

So. Is Gracie sleeping right next to her daddy because she had a nightmare or because her daddy’s been having them? Because either way, oh my freaking heart. Especially at her still sleeping with her stuffed bunny. I’m really, really hoping that bunny isn’t a bad omen of sorts for our Gracie, because little girls with bunnies haven’t fared all that well--going all the way back to the first episode and as recently as the subway episode where Daryl found that picture of the two siblings after they’d already found the bunny from the picture amongst the bodies. Please not Gracie. Aaron has already been through so much.

Are they all just communing together now? Because I can see how that would harken back to Season 4.

Jerry! Not even 3 minutes in and already two of my faves are present. I can tell this is going to be a good episode.

That really sucks. Not even being able to take a peaceful piss because you can see Walkers shambling past your window, lol.

There goes my queen running straight at danger as real queens are apt to do. ;)

Were there always lights coming on in the windmill during the opening credits or is that a new thing for this episode?

That orientation video was so surreal. Had to laugh at the political touch of having “this message is approved by Pamela Milton” at the end.

Okay. So they’re getting their work assignments, huh? Orientations are the worst, lol. All that damn paperwork.

Retail clerk--Princess being excited at the prospect of working in a mall, even having a mall again, has me LMAO even as I’m like girl. No. You’ll love it ‘til you hate it.

I didn’t catch Eugene’s job. But Ezekiel doing animal control kind of cracks me up. For reasons.

So. Essentially Eugene and Princess and Ezekiel got blue collar jobs while Yumiko’s got an invitation to join the upper crust.

I love Lydia being accepted as part of the community. About damn time.

For a second I thought Rosita said what’s left of the horses plural and I was fixin’ to go OH NO.

This is where I’m at on the Maggie/Negan issue, for better or worse: Maggie absolutely, IMHO, has earned the right to stay mad at Negan for the rest of her days. Because Glenn. Because her little boy was robbed of his daddy. That said? I don’t think I have it in me to watch 5 more episodes of this beaten horse antagonistic conversation much less a whole season. It would be one thing if it hadn’t already stolen valuable and earned screen time from other characters that seem to have been pushed to the periphery to spotlight it like it was the marquee event or something. I don’t want want 2/3′s of the final season so heavily focused on the conflict between these two when there are so many characters that are already woefully underutilized. It’s only compelling if it doesn’t become commonplace.

It’s a sad business having to put down people you know, I’d expect. Funny, though. We never knew them so the impact is kind of artificial. I appreciate the intent of the scene, though.

Where the hell are all the Walkers coming from? Like, I thought most of them went skydiving off that cliff without parachutes.

Judith training the other babies. If only her parents--every damn one of them--could see her now.

Gus! How cool and awesome for him!

ASZ is just full of asshole teens isn’t it? How dare that little dipshit push our Asskicker down like that and say such hateful things? To be fair, though, the kid is probably just repeating what he’s heard from others and I’m glad they’re being realistic here even if I don’t like seeing Judith cry.

Cailey Fleming’s expressive face and eyes! This kid has my heart, ya’ll.

That perfectly pretty cake wasted! LMAO. Seriously though. How does a cardiothoracic surgeon end up assigned to work in the bakery? Yumiko’s reunion with her brother Tomi honestly was on par with what I’d expect from someone seeing the sister they’d long given up as dead.

Freaky still how the Whisperers choose to herd the dead even without Beta and Alpha.

Was that the real Stephanie in the scene with the ice cream? Right under Eugene’s nose while he’s with Fake Stephanie? They have a connection, ya’ll. Eugene felt it.

Okay, though. I wanted the kids having their first ice cream cones. If I were Eugene, though, I probably would have inhaled that thing after being deprived for so long.

The Milton Hotel? Alrighty then. Somebody feels self-important.

Aww. Eugene’s thinking of Rosita and Coco. They really have evolved into such a sweet, good friendship and I miss them together.

Literally, I love Princess more each time I see her and hear her open her hilarious mouth. LOL at her with the ice cream cone.

Is everybody in ASZ staying in the same damn house? Whoever broke the board with Carl’s and Judith’s handprints on it needs an ass kicking.

“Me, too.” Welp. Guess RJ’s already met his line quota per appearance 24 minutes in, LOL.

Aww. My heart. A Rosita/Judith scene. I’m already loving it but not gonna lie. Who do we have topay to get a Carol/Judith scene because she’s been there since Judith was an embryo?

“Now it’s broken. He’s gone. Everybody is.” The way this scene is unexpectedly gutting me right now. Because Rosita’s right. It never really gets easier. It’s just something you figure out how to carry. How many people devastated by Covid or other illness or tragedy are carrying these same feelings of loss and hurt everyday?

Give us more of those heartfelt moments, dammit. This girl at least craves them. Not the endless Maggie/Negan conflict.

Ouch. “I think I haven’t met a Whisperer who wasn’t a liar.” Damn Aaron. Lydia’s right there beside you.

Angry Jerry hurts my heart in ways I cannot explain.

On a completely shallow note, Miko’s brother is attractive too. I quite like his accent, lol. I wonder why he’s so hesitant to put his skills as a surgeon to use.

“Want some cake?”/”Hell, yes.” Yumiko=me 99% of the time. LOL. Just kidding. In reality, I have to say no.

“They clearly got a gym in this joint. Your chiseling is perfecto.” LMAO. I’m all for Princess/Mercer. She flusters him a little and I’m loving it. When she told him he had beautiful eyelashes, I howled.

Oh my sweet Aaron. I’m in the same kind of pain and disbelief as Lydia watching you interrogate that Whisperer.

Thank you, Carol. Melissa McBride? I effing LOVE you. My heart hurts.

I’m sure she’s gonna get hate from the usual crowd while they cheer Aaron further along his dark and desperate path. Yes. Ya’ll are *that* predictable.

But Maggie, though? How long you gonna wait? Because you gonna be waiting on Daryl’s ass a long time.

“Cheesy video guy.” LOL. Leave it to Princess. Somehow that Lance dude looks even cheesier in RL.

By the screaming cave? What the hell is the screaming cave?

Ohh. Next episode actually looks interesting. Thank goodness it’s not a bottle episode strictly focusing on Virgil/Connie though because no matter how much I like Connie/Lauren? I don’t think whatever story she’s stuck in with Virgil is enough to keep me riveted to the tv.

Overall impression of this episode--again, I enjoyed it. Aaron’s dream was dark AF. Hell. Aaron was dark AF in this episode. Ross Marquand did some really strong work and I’m glad he finally got a moment to shine even though I hate seeing him leaning into the darkness instead of his inherent goodness. Judith and Rosita’s scenes were touching. Carol/Melissa made me bawl in the span of two minutes. That’s why she’s the MVP of this show, lovelies. She does so very much with so little. I’m just glad we didn’t have to see Leah and her band of bitchass brothers this episode.

I’m going to miss this show when it’s gone. At least I’ll have the Carol and Daryl spinoff off to ease my heartache.

#The Walking Dead #Season 11 #TWD spoilers #things that make me smile and cry #for reasons

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niche-bitch · 3 years

Text

-Gender is an alien species bestowed upon humanity.

-Alternatively, gender is the product of a recent experiment held in Japan, where a kid surpassed the barriers of knowledge and became a separate entity who decided to fuck up with humankind for fucking up with them first.

-Genders are like pokemon. We gotta ash Ketchum all.

-I was thinking Akira, but pokemon has more comedic potential.

-Yeah what you said def sounds like what I know about akira. Which is a trailers worth. Laugh if you want but as a child I was scared of many things.

-I have never watched the movie in its entirety. Bits and pieces and when i took a plane last, i watched 41:36 minutes, it's kinda still in my gallery since then lol.

-Ohh, gallery trapped akira

-Tragedy

-Yes, tragic

-Akira himself could totes be a gender ya know. Both ash Ketchum and Akira have gender master qualities.

-Definitely. Actually, Akira takes place in 2019.

-It would explain Ash's eternal youth. Wait, 2019?

-Gender master qualities xdd. I think so, 2019.

-What if It did happen but Japan covered it up?

-Probable

-And Akira is trapped in area 51 (cause US can't keep out of anything ever). We must save the gender maister. The gender blaster.

- Now when i write Gender, the word prediction says i should use Business next.

- Gender bussing Business be bussing. Gender communism.

- HAHAHA

- "so, I had my gender right there.." "your gender?" "Yes, my gender, now have you..." "OUR gender you mean"

- Pfffft. I imagined it as a conversation in a restaurant like: "Sorry I'm late! I left my gender in the car, so i had to use the little one in my purse. Hope you don't mind, thought i see you're rocking the agendar lifestyle, good for you." Little gender, Too much?

-Ngl, little gender sounds dope. Also consider: pocket gender.

-Yes. Just yes.

-Like the small travel sides versions of stuff you carry.

-Travel sized gender ohhhhhh

-Like pocket soap, pocket spaghetti, pocket change.

Pocket knife.

- Very important

- Pocket holy water and pocket wooden stake

- Yes, yes

- And pocket pocket gender. For the littlest/softest of gender owners. Also, poly pocket gender, For those suburban femme people.

- I'm gonna cry

- Of fun??

- 100000/10

- Dude, I wanna post this. Just so it can live on the flaming trash can of tumblr.

- Do it 👌

- Reviving with every breef sneeze that is a Tumblr reblog

#gender #gender envy #gender fuckery #gender conspiracy #lgbtq #lgbtqia #lgbtq+#trans #i wish everyone reading this a very good day #also if anyone of the alphabet mafia reads this #you are valid and worthy #keep going

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motherstone · 3 years

Note

When you have the time could you share the bad au?

Anon, I am deeply grateful that you asked, but I must warn you that this is LONG (16+ arcs long and that’s because I havent conceptualized the others yet) and i am only sending you pt.1 Be warned.

More under the cut:

Deviation from canon:

· Anything involving the aliens is dropped

· Algos island won’t be a gas station, but an actual fucking island

· The Voice is spiritual in nature.

· The Old is New scene occurs around Book 5

· Trellis eventually gets some fractions of his memories, but I dunno how yet

· The Resistance at Frontera won’t be THE Resistance but the Elven resistance – they refused contact with the human resistance because they’re very discriminatory and hostile. The ER is composed of the researchers/engineers/etc and their kids that the Elf King failed to purge when they revolted once they fully realized that they are actually creating weapons of mass destruction

· Emily gets trapped in the Void

· There’s a whole lot more, but I can’t recall all of them

Note: Do take that these are not yet properly developed. Many of these are ideas I just enjoy playing around with. It WOULD not put much attention to most characters because a.) I haven’t nuanced their roles nor what part they should play in the story and b.) the narrative focuses on Trellis because I’m biased and ngl the potential of the story he could create is a LOT. He has sooo many potential conflicts, be it in self, society, and nature I couldn’t help myself. Also, do take note that this story is meant to be a tragedy – it’s going to explore Trellis and his reign, and the burden and subsequent consequences from it. The narrative doesn’t seek to “punish him” because 90% of the problems he encountered are out of his control and there is barely a perfect solution to anything, so he is bound to create ruthless and even questionable decisions as a result of his inexperience and young age despite his intelligence; all of these I am intrigued to explore about because all of it I just made up lmao.

In addition, my head blurred between what is canon, what I want canon to be, and what you know about the “canon” in my head (which is likely, not a lot because I never post abt it), so I may suddenly spout things that may seem out of context because you guys lack the background behind it. So if you have questions, pls feel free to send them my way. These arcs are INCREDIBLY condensed because if I spout too many details, I’d forget the details in other arcs. So. Yeah.

ARCS

STONEKEEPER TRIALS

- Guardian Council arrives at Algos Island which contains the knowledge to purify the Voice from the Elf King (which should weaken him and thus easier to kill him)

- Stonekeepers of past made sure to put security measure to prove the worthiness of the person seeking said knowledge and using it responsibly for the right reasons by subjecting them to a Trial (they will experience their deepest greatest desires and greatest fears as well)

- Technically, the knowledge isn’t a concrete thing – it only works once per keeper, but it modifies itself to fill in the gaps of the knowledge they lack but seek (so like if youre seeking how to heal, the Temple will give you that knowledge and THAT knowledge only)

- Lacking time, all three decided to take the Trials separately but at the same time.

- This is supposed to be the fic on ao3 is about, even had an outline n all but its too long so I’ll post it later

- tl;dr: Tellis finished first and is the one who gained the knowledge, and Vigo finished second, but Emily isn’t waking up at all. Eventually they all got attacked by the shadows

- Trellis sends Vigo up to get the airship to them as he stays behind to protect Emily from the shadows

- He’s getting super desperate as the enemies increase but Emily isn’t waking up until she suddenly transforms and tries to kill him

- He barely survives but the Firebird gets away. The rest of the crew retrieved him, but when he retells them what happened…

- They didn’t believe him. They think he sabotaged Emily.

BURNING OF IPPO

- It more or less goes the same in Supernova, except the memory thing doesn’t happen and none of the Amulet trusts him except Riva and Vigo. Leon Miskit and Karen are still on Cielis while Navin n Aly are on Frontera but they don’t know that yet.

- So the firebird attacks as usual, but instead of taken out early in the game, he is pushed to the limit protecting the city and its citizens as he’s the only one who can create a barrier while Vigo distracts FB and Riva evacuates the people

- Trellis also bothers to release the elf soldiers in prison when it burns so they would be able to evacuate (will be important)

- He nearly dies from exhausting himself, but manages to repel the FB to leave Ippo alone after much of it is burned. He is devastated by the aftermath because most of the people burned right in front of his eyes (will be important)

- Worried at FB’s destructive power, they argue between pursuing it or ending the war. Riva argues trellis can’t go around protecting every city as its too fast for them, so it leaves only one viable option; end the war as quickly as possible to focus on Emily before she burns everything and kill everyone

- They eventually reunite with the Cielis army, but eventually gets abandoned again alongside the human resistance because they refuse to serve under Trellis, who was going to command the assault

- Lacking an army, the elven, Luciean, and Ippoei soldiers then offers to help

- They reconvene with the ER on Frontera, finally reuniting with Navin, Aly and Pil, who were all horrified by the news. Navin has mixed feelings but ultimately agrees it was his fault and is optimistic Em will be ok. Aly on the other hand is apprehensive but continues to trust him.

- Meanwhile, Vigo departs to convince the CA to change their minds and get more allies, while Trellis, Luger, and the rest forms a plan…

BATTLE OF VALCOR

- Trellis pretends to be captured by Elf Army to get close enough to the Elf King to kill him – avoiding as much bloodshed as possible. Unfortunately, he was decided to be executed before he could confront him so all hell breaks lose as the disguised soldiers ditches their disguises and fights the remaining EA on the king’s side

- Note: Trellis is waaay more powerful and skilled here although his destructive powers are nowhere near Emily’s

- He tries to make his fights as curt and decisive as possible to avoid wasting precious energy for the confrontation (I swear to god the fight sequence is more elaborate in my head but hnng I’m busy rn). Eventually he does make it at the temple of kings – where his father was waiting

- Trellis was nowhere weak, but he barely holds ANY dice against his father’s power and was very close to nearly dying

FALL OF THE KING

- He was saved by the timely intervention of Vigo and Riva – who has finally arrived with the CA (who got threatened into cooperating)

- They barely get the upperhand, but they manage to get Trellis close enough to enact the Scission but, got uphold by the fact that the man they were trying to kill wasn’t dead in the first place but ALIVE

- The Elf King begs Trellis to end it all, the mercy of release, for death, and it horrified him into freezing into place – MISTAKE

- He gets a fatal wound being stabbed because the EK was tricking him (he is alive, but he was not really manipulated by the Voice – He was always evil all along), sneering at his softness that was never quite wrung out by the abuse

- But that also gave Trellis the perfect opportunity to cast the Scission, which he then does at nearly the cost of his own life

- The Voice gets cut off from the EK and retreated to the Void, and the EK dies from his wounds, and Trellis was about to meet the same fate

- All three of them are barely held together by threads, but Vigo uses the last of his power so trellis could survive. At this, Trellis just has a mental breakdown and he doesn’t want to go any further, being so close to his breaking point because of all the horror he has to endure (ohh boii and it doesn get better from here)

- But Riva was pleading for him to get up, get the mask and get to the other side, to show the mask, the soldiers that he WON and Gulfen surrenders and end the war. These two stumble slowly, but steadfastly, Riva practically the only thing supporting Trellis as they try to get to the fighting

- They eventually manage to reach it, but trellis has to stand alone, composed, undefeated, because if it were anything less, people would challenge him. He declares a surrender.

- The battlefield silences. One by one, the weapons drop.

#ask #asks #amulet bad ending au

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musingsofaperpetualdaydreamer · 4 years

Text

Folklore first listen✨

There’s no other magical experience like listening to a new taylor album for the first time. It’s like being immersed in a whole new world. Idk does anyone else like just make themselves cosy in a little listening cave somewhere so you can really take it in? There’s so much and it’s so exciting to see where she’ll take you on the journey and how the songs flow together. I love coming on here and seeing everyone else’s take on the new album, I imagine it’s what a Christmas morning feels like to a little kid. Anyhow, I thought I’d just drop this here for my own memory mostly to look back on. *presses play

Ok i’m super nervous, idk why. Like excited nervous. I just know it’s going to be so magical and beautiful and make me cry. Ahhhhh ok here we go.

the 1

ohhhh the piano

miss taylor…yessss girl

if my wishes came true it would’ve been you oh my god

it’s so honest and raw

WE WERE SOMETHING DON’T YOU THINK SO

AND IF MY WISHES CAME TRUE IT WOULD HAVE BEEN YOU

IN MY DEFENCE I HAVE NONE

BUT IT WOULD’VE BEEN FUN IF YOU WERE THE ONE

i’m crying…BYEEEEEE

cardigan

ooooooooh I’m in a movie, it’s like james Morrisony

her voice is so velvety

I am wearing this song and never taking it off it’s a song that actually FEELS like a homey cardigan HOW?!!!!

speechless i am speechless

*slow dances around room holding self

the last great american dynasty

oooooh orchestra…drums

a STORY…AHHHHHHHHHHH

WOW WOW WOWWWWWWW

HER SMILE when she sings

my heart is beaming but also sad and nostalgic for a time I can’t remember..ohhh I am just gonna close my eyes and just wow my heart is SMILINNNNN

exile ft bon iver

more pianos? A DREEEEEEEAM

OOHHHHHH yesssss it’s dark and velvety

LORRRRRRRRD THE FEELS my heart

Taylor….ohhhhh god her voice

noooooo they misunderstood each other ohhhhh nooooo

*curls up on the floor and drowns in tears

my tears ricochet

angels…I am in heaven

lyrics lyrics LYYYYYYRICS

TAYLOR ALISON SWIFT, HER PEN IS SHARPER THAN A KNIFE

my heart…nooooooooooooo

I didn’t have it my self to go with grace

IF I’M DEAD TO YOU WHY ARE YOU AT THE WAKE CURSING MY NAME WISHING…LORD

I CAN GO ANYWHERE JUST NOT HOME

BYE BYE BYE I have left the planet….

mirror ball

oh my god, the guitars

oooooohhhhh

her voice is a dreammmmm

I am in a bohemian dress dancing under the night sky under pretty garden lights with tears streaming down my face

seven

HOLD UP i have never heard her sing like this

I AM DOWN

Sweet tea in the summer cross my heart won’t tell no other oooooooh YES YES

LOVE YOU TO THE MOON AND TO SATURN YES YES YES

IT IS BEAUUUUUUUUUUUUUTIFUL HAUNTINGLY BEAUTIFUL

HER VOICE IS SO SOFT….I AM DISINTEGRATED

August

Lana del ray vibes

I am in a 1920s holiday great gatsby dreammmmm

August slipped into a moment in time …meet me behind the mall

you we’ren’t mine to loose

remember when i said get in the car and cancelled my plans just in case you call

living for the hope of it all

DAAAAAAAAAAMN THE LYRICS ARE SUBLIME

this is me trying

wow wow wow wow the synth rhythm

i feel like this is like those indie coming of age movies where they go on a late night drive but it’s also so grown up in how honest and raw up it is

they told me all of my cages were mental, so i got wasted like all my potential…DAMN

THE LYRICS….i’M WOW

I’m speechless

illicit affairs

wait hahaha cheating but like made to sound so cutesy and like ‘it’s nice to have a friend’ sweet

this is so mature, clever and the lyrics are so deep

ohhhhhh wowwwww the LYRICS

ALSO THE BIG WORDS…YES MY LITTLE LITERARY THESAURUS…BROADEN MY HORIZONS

THE BRIDGE? THE DAMN BRIDGE….TAYLOR THE BUILDER IS HERE

The transition…BYE

invisible string

oooooh this is like INTHAF

IT’S SO DREAMY

isn’t it just so pretty to think All along there was some invisible string tying you to me

ooooooooohhh

her voice is sooo soft and luxurious

LYRICS LYRICS

ONE SINGLE THREAT OF GOLD TIED ME TO YOU

HELL WAS THE JOURNEY BUT IT BROUGHT ME HEAVEN

GOOD LORD SHE IS ON TOP FORM SHE IS ON TOP FORM…BYEEE

mad woman

More pains and sting i am winning

a scorpion sting when fighting back they strike to kill and you know i will

it’s like dark vintage velvet and the tone she’s singing in

F U? HO HO HO HAHA MISS TAYLOR DID YOU JUST-

Every time you call me crazy i get more crazy, what about that? I AM HOLLERING

you made her like that damn

THE LYRICS THE LYRICS THE LYRICS

THE WAY SHE SAYS MADDDD THEN WOMAN

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN I HAVE BEEN MURDERED

IT IS SO BEAUTIFUL AND VINTAGE AND DARK AND DANGEROUS

I HAVE BEEN MURDERED

TAYLOR IS AT MY FUNERAL IN A KILLER OUTFIT RED LIPSTICK STUNNING SUNGLASSES AND A GORGEOUS LARGE BLACK HAT SMIRKING AS I AM BEING LOWERED INTO THE GROUND

IT’S WHAT I DESERVE

epiphany

the orchestra…I am in heaven…this is HEAVENLY

SHE SING’S LIKE AN ANGEL SHE IS AN ANGEL….

it feels like a war song, like you’’re watching him go off to war and die

ohhhh it is

hold you’re hand through plastic…

some thing’s you just can’t speak about

I am genuinely in tears…wow it hits so deep

I don’t know why it just makes you cry…wow

betty

ooooh it reminds me so much of never grow up

ooooh a story

would you want me…would you tell me to go F myself

I’m only 17 I don’t know anything but I know I miss you

ohh the hope beauty and tragedy of young love

I’m just gonna lay here and beam…STORY TELLING SWIFT HAS OUT DONE HERSELF

will you kiss me on the porch in front of all your stupid friends

Standing in your cardigan again kissing in my car again

awwwwwww

peace

ooooh i love the melody

I have never had the courage of my convictions as long as danger is near

darrrrrlin ooooh i love it

i’m a fire i’ll keep your brittle heart warm if your cascade ocean waves blues come

all these people think love’s for show but i would die for you

MY GOD THE LYRICS

*chef’s kiss chef’s kiss chef’s kiss

I’M CRYING THIS IS TOOO MUCH TOOOO MUCH OH GOD

GIVE YOU MY WILD, GIVE YOU A CHILD…. A BABY?!!!!

GIVE YOU THE SILENCE ONLY WHEN TWO PEOPEL UNDERSTAND EARCH OTHER

SEE YOUR BROTHER AS MY BROTHER??????

BYYYEEEEE

I’M GOING TO CLOSE MY EYES AND LAY HERE FOR A 100 YEARS AND DROWN IN THESE TEARS AND JUST DRINK THIS IN

I AM IN LOVE I AM IN LOVE I AM IN LOVE

hoax

POETRY POETRY POETRY EQUISITE POETRY

THE PIANO…OH SWEET HEAVEN

YOU’RE FAITHLESS LOVE IS THE ONLY HOAX I BELIEVE IN

THE BRIDGE…THE HEAVEN SENT ARCHITECT HAS BUILT US ANOTHER MASTERPIECE

MY ONLY ONE MY KINDGOM COME UNDONE

I AM IN A GLASS CASE OF EMOTIONS… oh my god

the lakes

IF THIS IS A WEDDING SONG ANNOUNCING THEY GOT MARRIED BY A LAKE I WILL LEGIT GO INTO CARDIAC ARREST

I’m actually speechless. I- wow. Excuse me while I drown in this ocean of tears. Wow.

#taylor swift #taylurking #folklore #first listen #i am obssessed #excuse me while i drown in this ocean of tears

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candlelightridge · 5 years

Photo

Second draft of Olive Fenn & the Dead Hen. I cleaned up some of the janky metaphors and gave it a solid ending.

Thornton Farm sat far from the main town of Candlelight Ridge, out past the train tracks, past the trestle that laid over the river. It was as far as one could be from the busy main street of town while still being considered a Candlelight home, and that was the way that William Thornton had wanted it when he built it all on his own those many years ago. Tragedy had threatened the fields many times—there was the blizzard of ’77, the fire that had nearly taken their little, red home in ’85, and the fate strung deaths of little Olive and Ruth’s parents within days of each other in ’91. The eldest daughter, Olive, took to the farm as her mother had and married with children while keeping her sister close as a sort of housekeeper—a role that Ruth demanded for the sake of her guilt-ridden heart.

Then there was the most recent tragedy of Thornton Farm: The death of Noah Fenn. Olive--now Olive Fenn--had to bury her husband in a lonely funeral, and now stood as a single mother with her two children, Jill and Quincy. The farm had grown dusty and dead from prior years of neglect, and the two sisters took to working on the reaches of the fields for a potential income—something Noah had promised to do himself, but never had the chance before his vanishing. Many things needed to be picked up in the wake of his death, governed by a schedule of taking care of children and a tedious maid job, but the two sisters were nothing if not adaptable. The farm was organized into specific plots for different crops. First there was the root field, meant for potatoes and such, then the corn field, and another half-acre for pumpkins in the fall, all of which refused to sprout much of anything... but then there was the apple orchard. Despite the neglect, the orchard grew hearty trees with plump yellow apples, but had been fed on by critters and mushrooms, thus thick with debris and briar. The orchard was the perfect place to start, Olive decided, and she could nearly hear her mama telling her to sell the fallen trees for timber, to use the mushrooms for fertilizer. She wasn’t as smart as her mama—she never had the chance to be—but Olive could learn, she could teach herself new tricks. She wasn’t the old dog she was thought to be, she told herself this all on her own. With a wheelbarrow in tow, she took to raking between the trunks of those overgrown trees—but after many hours of work, she hardly made a dent in the mess of it.

“Oh…? Oh? Hello?” a voice called to Olive just when she was about to call it a day. “Ooolive? Olive Thornton?”

“It’s been Olive Fenn a long while now,” Olive sniffed, turning every which way, but not finding the source,

“Has it?” the voice said, clucking incredulously.

It was then that a crack echoed beneath her boot, through the wide, lonely orchard, and she lifted her foot to reveal the empty eye socket of a chicken skull, halfway hidden beneath the dirt. There was a moment of stillness then, hesitation giving Olive a long pause. The voice did not speak again, but Olive stooped herself low to unearth the rest of the tiny skull, brushing her fingers along its fragile frame, fruitlessly battling ages of dirt.

“Oh, that feels much better,” the skull spoke suddenly, tiny beak clicking against itself, each oh like that of a happy, chittering hen. Ah. There was her newfound company. How long had she been out here…? Olive couldn’t even remember the last time they kept hens on the farm.

“I’m sorry,” the woman spoke, “I didn’t know you had been out here.”

“Do not worry your pretty, red feathers,” the hen said. “I was not alone.” Olive glanced around the orchard, feeling a lot less alone herself now.

“I have many friends,” the hen went on, “and we all know your secret.”

With heart beating cold, Olive stared down at her feet.

“What secret?” she asked. Her voice was barely a whisper.

“We all know your secret and we will tell everyone,” the chicken said. “That is, unless you do us four favors.”

Olive knew two things then—the very secret dangling over her, and the chilly sweat that formed from the mention of it. She knew them far too well. If Thornton Farm needed a final nail in its coffin, it would be this, and it would be Olive’s fault—her undoing would be the farm’s undoing. Olive felt there was a time in every woman’s life where she would need to make a choice she didn’t want to have to make—for the sake of not herself, but the people around her… or the people beneath her feet, dead and gone but not forgotten. Maybe this time wasn’t a singular time, but it was funny how it always came down to those moments when she was already at her wits end. Her secret was something she thought she’d never have to address again... so, of course it was coming back to haunt her.

“I’ll do anything,” Olive agreed, eyes squeezed shut. She was certain it was a fool’s errand to trust a stranger, but she had no choice. “Just tell me what you need me to do.”

“Ohh! You must save the farm,” the hen said, chittering with excitement. “You must do as we say to save the farm, or we will tell everyone.”

“Okay…” Olive started, “and how will I do that?”

“Noah Fenn must be buried in each field,” it said, and Olive’s brow quivered.

“What?”

“Take Noah Fenn apart and bury him. Limb from limb. Bury Noah Fenn in the farm.”

Noah’s purple skin, torn apart, hacked apart, scattered in the garden like fertilizer. The mere thought of it was enough to make the woman gasp with fright.

“I… I can’t--” Olive stopped and shook her head, her gut twisting with sick.

“You can,” said the hen, “and you must.”

The skull began to cluck happily as it roosted on its plan, and Olive held her pounding heart with a tense hand. Bawk-bawk-BAWK. It was almost like the thing was laughing at her, taunting her; nothing nice ever came from delight in other people’s suffering. This wasn’t funny, it wasn’t simple. To unearth her late husband and disperse him… it was a cruel joke for an otherwise tragic situation.

“Let us go to the root field,” the hen finally chirped, “we can start there.”

Olive didn’t want to take the chicken anywhere close to the farmhouse, but she felt numb and spellbound as she carried it along the dirt path back. In the distance, Ruth had finished taking down the linens from the clothes line, and she called to the little ones to follow her inside, her handmade pinafore billowing with the breeze with delicacy only Ruth could embody. Two heads of copper came charging after her without question, too far away to see their mama in the distance with cupped hands to her chest. Olive knew they were much too young to understand their mama’s mistakes, but maybe someday they would. By then, would they be forgiven? Time could mend many wounds, and it could cure hatred and bitterness and hurt, but maybe her mistakes were like an apple orchard. Maybe her guilt was the fertilizer keeping it all alive. But now there was a skull of a hen in her hand, affectionately nipping her thumb nail like any other playful bird--living, or unliving, proof that what she did was real and that it had consequences. The critters were eating her apples and she was just handing them over.

The root field was overgrown and boggy, and Olive couldn’t help but sigh at the sight of it. The amount of work she would need to do to fix the rot and rain was daunting, almost too much for two sisters, and Olive really didn’t want to ask any townsfolk for help. The hen seemed to sigh along with her, trilling in disappointment.

“What a shame,” it said. Olive answered by kicking a clump of dirt into the silty mess.

“Mm.”

“There used to be potatoes larger than me here,” it went on. “Whatever happened to those large potatoes?”

Olive knew the answer, but she elected not to say it, instead pursing her lips together in silence.

“Bury Noah Fenn’s legs here. Take them off Noah Fenn, so we can have potatoes again,” the hen told her, “and carrots and onions, don’t forget!”

“Here?” Olive asked with a shutter, kicking another clump of dirt.

“Right here.”

There was an unspoken betrayal to disturbing her husband’s resting place, an act that Olive took to in the dead of the night, all on her lonesome. Her knees wobbled beneath the hem of her nightgown, sweat dripping from her cheeks despite the chill. She could never ask another soul to help her, as this was her dirty laundry and no one else’s. And… and, despite that, who would ever want to watch a widow--such as she, especially--bury her ax in her husband?

The deed was done before dawn, and the body was returned to its resting place. Olive found no sleep before her children needed to be fed. She spent hours staring at the empty spot beside her on the bed instead, mind numb and too loud to comprehend.

There was peace, if only for a little while, after Olive did as she was told. It was only a few days when they discovered the root field had cleaned itself up, and sprouts were growing in place of what was once an ugly, barren plot. No bog, no rot, no mess. The fence had even been fixed, to keep wandering deer away from the carrots--carrots that already smelled so sweet on the wind. Ruth squealed with delight upon waking up to the sight of it, and called to Olive in admiration.

“So fast!” she said, “you’re some sort of superwoman, aren’t ya’, Oli?”

Olive didn’t feel like she had anything to be praised about. A part of her wished she could have simply done this by her own merit, rather than her own folly. It felt, in a way, that this could be Noah’s way of given back to the family--finally getting to cleaning up the farm, just as he had once promised.

However, as the plants grew bigger and bigger, Olive lost any sense of relief. Their first harvest of potatoes and onions was large, and each vegetable was fat and healthy, just as they had been when the sisters were children. But something was wrong, and it wasn’t just Olive who noticed something deeply off with them.

“They look like feet!” Jill exclaimed with a giggle. “Eww! I don’t wanna eat feet!”

Her brother, younger than Jill and much more impressionable, followed her lead. “No feet!” he said. “No toes!”

When her children were outside playing, Olive skinned the potatoes quickly, removing each stubby toe, halving each arch. Her body was trembling by the time she had a pot full of them, and she boiled them so tender, the little ones would never know. Olive mashed the shape out of them, with butter and milk, and there was no talk about feet again. No more feet. No more toes. No more talk of eating them.

In the dark of the night, when her children finally drifted to sleep, Olive removed herself from the kitchen with her knuckles bloody from choring. It was so quiet, Olive couldn’t even hear the crickets outside, only the soft taps of her bare feet on the wood floor. It was only when she paused to turn off the hall light, blackening the house completely, that she heard footsteps from behind her.

“Ruth?” she whispered.

There was no answer, and no footsteps… until they started again. Shfft, shfft, shfft, shfft, like heavy calloused feet being dragged against the floorboards. A chill grasped Olive’s spine as she peeked out into the hallway from the threshold of her bedroom, trying to find any form in the pitch-black house. She knew that sound.

“Noah…?” she murmured, breath quavering. There was no answer, but the steps continued.

Like peeling off a bandaid, Olive flicked the light on in the hallway, dark wood leading into the living room, the dining room on the far side with crafts still decorating its table… and nobody there.

Olive may have been alone when she laid down, but the pacing of her late husband’s feet echoed down the hallway and into her bedroom, she felt like he was there again. Noah was there, pacing the living room over and over and over in another sleepless night. Too restless to join her in bed, too stuck in his head to talk. Olive had read too many books to count to find the words that could bring him back into the bedroom and stop that endless circling. None of them had ever worked, and they wouldn’t work now.

She didn’t sleep that night.

Only a few more days had passed before the hen called to Olive again, this time from shed, where she had left it so the kids wouldn’t find it. The last thing she’d ever want was for her children to come across something dead. Death was common on farms. They’d probably poked a dead squirrel or two already, but it was a mama’s job to keep dead things away from her children.

“Oooolive.” It sounded very happy to see her again, clucking more than a chicken that laid an egg. Olive held the skull to her chest again, locking the shed tight behind her.

“Did you see what we did, Olive?” the hen asked. “Of course you did.”

“Of course I did, yes,” Olive repeated.

“You sound tired!”

“That’s ‘cause I am.”

“Well,” it clucked, “you’ll feel much better once we have some corn in you! Nothing better than corn.”

The corn field was the closest field to the road, and had been since dilapidated by litter and the family’s old truck, which was driven over it far too many times. It wasn’t so much a corn field anymore, as it was just a field. Overgrown grass, tire marks, and an embarrassing amount of beer cans. Olive cringed as they approached the edge, worn hand palming her forehead.

“It’s about time we threw away all this trash,” the hen said. “Right?”

“Right…” Olive muttered. It was nice in theory, but the task before her wasn’t. The family needed corn, however. Festival season was about to start, and corn paired all too well with lobster and butter. She could make a steal down in Bar Harbor if she wanted, and that could put enough cash in her hand to fix up the old tractor--or even simply keep the house afloat for a good year or so. She needed corn, just as she had needed potatoes.

Olive gave the hen a knowing nod.

“Take the arms of Noah Fenn, take them right off and bury them here,” it told her. “Bury them, so we can have lots and lots of corn!”

Olive could still hear her husband’s feet scraping across the floorboards. His pacing echoed throughout the empty farm, known to just the three of them: The hen, Olive, and Noah. Did she really want to do this? Was this worth the pain? She didn’t know what could come next, and she didn’t know what would happen once she was done for good. The bird nibbled happily at her, waiting for her acceptance. There was no other answer. She had to, for the sake of the farm.

Without sleep, Olive rose from her bed in a daze to complete the second task. She could feel the skull watch her as she procured her ax from the shed, and though it had no features, she felt a sick enjoyment radiate from its empty sockets. It was like chopping wood, Olive promised herself, it was nothing to feel so ill about. In the night, her husband was a tree, and his feet were but branches dragging against the paneling, and his arms were mere kindling for fire. And she completed it before she could know otherwise.

They were buried before a single soul could ever see her from the road. It was a secret between her and the morning birds.

A week passed before the corn field was in full bloom, to the absolute delight of the children. The two of them weaved in and out of the tall stalks, chasing each other mindlessly, giggling despite how the reaches whipped their pale faces red. They were thick crops, almost as thick as an arm, and they grew taller than any corn Olive ever saw herself.

“Your mama shoulda called you Jack, huh?” Ruth joked as she whisked Quincy up and into her arms. “Lookit all your beanstalks!”

“Magic beans!” Quincy answered, “but I don’t like beans!”

“Well,” Olive met her sister halfway and kissed her son on his red forehead. “It’s a good thing you’re Quincy, and this is corn. You like corn, right?” He gave her a sloppy kiss back, which seemed to be the funniest thing he had seen all day based on his laughter.

It started to grow dark by the time the sisters took to shucking the corn, the little ones in the living room as they sat in the dining room. For a moment, Olive thought to ask her sister if she had been hearing anything abnormal at night, but Ruth wasn’t the type to hide her fright from her sister. In fact, Ruth looked happy as could be, with her cheeks pinched back and dimpled as she started their chore. Olive decided to keep it to herself, and she focused on her own husk before her.

Olive’s eyes were away from her sister for just a moment before she heard Ruth gasp and drop the vegetable onto the table. “Oh, jiminy!” Ruth cried, “I- I thought…”

Olive stood quickly, leaning over the table to take a look. Ruth had peeled back just enough to reveal a thick, green grip on the corn, leaving indents like fingers around the kernels.

“It felt like it tried to grab me,” Ruth said. “Goodness, I must be tired.”

“Why don’t ya’ go to bed a lil’ earlier than usual, hun?” Olive asked, slowly sitting back down, eyes stuck on the corn.

“Maybe I should. I’m sorry.” Ruth’s eyes fell with shame, as if she were deadweight. Olive didn’t know how to reassure her otherwise.

Every stalk of corn was just like the first. Long, thick, and grasping the corn like hand. Olive tossed the rest back into the bucket. There would be no more corn on the table, not like that. No arms, no hands, no fingers. She’d sell it all. None in the house. None on the farm.

Olive was the last to bed once more, and she buried herself in her sheets. She suspected it’d be another night of pacing, in the very least, and she waited for it to come for so long, she hadn’t realized she had fallen asleep. The night was cold, and Olive woke to herself shivering above the covers. She lifted, glancing around the empty room, unsurprised that she knocked her sheets off, but irritated that she had. Snatching her blanket back from the other side of the bed, she covered herself once more. It was merciful to finally get some sleep, and to forget what she had done, and to forget her mistakes.

She was almost asleep once again, when the blanket was suddenly pulled from her shoulders, practically off of her once more.

Olive laid there, frozen, eyes focused on the wall across from her. The moon illuminated nothing but her form, and yet she knew there was no way she was alone.

“Quincy?” she whispered. Of course there was no answer.

Instead, she felt a rough sensation on her arm. Up and down, up and down. It was warm but made Olive’s stomach twist. Slowly, she turned her head, hoping to catch a glimpse of whatever was stroking her arm… only to find nothing there.

Olive ripped herself from her bed, grasping her arms in horror. Bile built up in her throat then, and there was a moment where she felt as though it would spill out onto the bed. There was nothing there, but Olive knew. She knew. Noah was in bed with her, with one too many drinks, and was waking her just like he always did. One too many drinks, a hand that wouldn’t leave her skin. Too rough, too noisy, too irresponsible.

Olive didn’t sleep that night, either. Or many nights after that.

The hen didn’t need to call to Olive this time, she spoke first, waking it from its slumber in the shed. She carried it to the orchard where she found it, upon its request, and she waited in jaded silence for its third task. Olive felt weak just looking at the work in front of her, having hardly slept in months now. How much worse could it possibly get, Olive thought? Was this the true punishment for her mistakes? Her betrayal? How she slept so soundly in their bed afterward, like nothing had happened, and that nothing was wrong.

She didn’t want to finish the hen’s request, but her legs had brought her here, her heart held the chicken’s head close, and she would bury her troubles with her husband’s body. A ghost in her walls would be the least of her worries if everyone knew why.

“Behead Noah Fenn! Bury his heart here, bury his chest. We need apples!” the hen cooed. “Ohh! Apples! Apples were my favorite.”

“We have apples,” Olive offered meekly,

“Do we?” the hen asked, “would you eat one of those?”

No, she supposed she wouldn’t.

Olive didn’t even bother to dress for bed that night, nor did she feel a shiver in her legs as she reared her ax back. It felt almost pointless to put what was left of her husband back in place, but she left it without second thought. She wanted the touching to stop, she needed it to stop. It wasn’t her husband, but a ghost of a bad memory, of something she couldn’t bear to think about or relive. She buried his heavy heart deep into the soil of the orchard, and she did not hesitate to wash the stench from her body once she followed the trail back to the house.

The orchard was much further from the house than the other fields, and so the family didn’t keep an eye on it normally. The days were going fast, despite how slow they otherwise felt to the woman. She was tired, and she found no rest in the house, only brief naps during the day when Ruth could watch the kids. Olive always woke with a start, always brushed her arm like a bug just crawled up her sleeve. Olive had never been an emotional woman, despite what others would say about her--no, what Noah would say about her. Mama would be so disappointed if she knew how blank Olive was now. Fear was all she could feel.

The woman took to choring throughout the day, despite her sister’s guilty grievances. There were only so many times Olive could hear her sister scold her for doing housework, so she finally broke from the house to take a walk to the orchard. The air was perfumed with apples, and Olive breathed in with a grin, giving herself a moment of peace before what would inevitably be another storm.

Every apple in the orchard had turned a vivid, blood red. Olive wasn’t a fool, however, she knew what a heart looked like versus a pretty, red apple. She missed the yellowy, orangey hues, but supposed this wasn’t so bad. She plucked one from the closest tree, admiring how it smelled, breathing it in with a loving sigh. And she took a bite.

Thick, red juice poured out from the apple, down her chin, onto her shirt. Olive removed it from her mouth curtly, eyes wide. She let it drop onto the ground, where its juice pooled beneath it like a puddle of blood. She thought, for a moment, she could hear the beating of her husband’s heart.

She ran from the orchard, wiping the blood from her lips as she went.

Olive was hesitant to go to bed that night. The only reasonable thing that could happen, she felt, was that the hand would stop, just as the footsteps had. Would she feel his pulse? Would she feel his heart? Would she hear it in her ear, like when they once laid together, happy and in love? Olive was a strong woman, she felt like she was strong. She could handle it, whatever this ghost threw at her. If she could handle Noah’s death, she could handle this.

But, as Olive laid down, she felt something lie down with her. She squeezed her eyes tight, hoping this would be the worst of it. Her husband’s presence in bed. There was a point where she no longer wanted it, she knew that, she held that with guilt for quite some time, but she could deal with it. She could deal with it. She could be fine, she promised herself that she would be fine.

Then the weight shifted, falling onto her small frame, heavy and cruel. Arms wrapped around her waist, rough and unwelcome. Warmth on her neck. A hand on her mouth.

It took everything in Olive not to scream, just like when Noah was alive.

Olive stood and broke the invisible hold, her small feet pattering against the floor as she whisked herself through the hall. Just like that night. Just like that night, her gown was silky and white and it felt like she stepped out into the darkness in nothing. Vulnerable and uncertain. She followed Noah’s path into the woods, where he would smoke before coming inside after a long day of avoiding his family. It was so dark, but he kept a lantern there, which was broken and dim by the time Olive retraced her steps.

Further into the woods, hen in hand, Olive continued with purpose. The hen chirped in confusion, begging her for answers: Why she was up now? Where she was taking it?

In a damp tarp down toward the abandoned sled track, she finally stopped.

“How do I know he won’t come back?” she demanded,

“What do you mean?” the hen asked. “Who?”

“How do I know that when I bury Noah’s fuckin’ head, that he won’t go talkin’ to me, too?” Olive said, tears welling in her eyes. “I don’t want him back, I don’t.”

The skull didn’t answer, and Olive peeled back the tarp, revealing what was left of her husband’s remains. It was shattered, scattered even, not much to look at, nor much left to see. Mama’s gun made sure of that.

“I don’t want him talkin’ to me.”

“Olive…” the bird trilled, and its voice was uncharacteristically quiet. “That’s not our intention…”

“Ain’t it? Then why—?”

Something shined over Olive’s shoulder then, interrupting the two of them. Olive quickly turned to the source, fearing for the worst.

“Oli?” a delicate voice called. Olive breathed out in relief.

“Yeah, I’m… I’m here.”

“You ain’t supposed to be here,” Ruth replied, stepping down the slope, meeting Olive’s side with a little help from her sisters guiding hand.

“I know. You ain’t, either.”

“I heard you go out… you’ve been actin’ really weird, y’know?” Ruth said. “What are you doin’? We promised each other, we ain’t go out here…”

“I had to,” Olive said. “I think he’s been hauntin’ me—hauntin’ the farm.”

Ruth hesitantly cast her light over the tarp and flinched back. “Oh, jiminy, what happened to his body?”

With deliberation, the two sisters took Noah Fenn’s wrapped head up from the woods, to the pumpkin patch, and they buried him together with careful hands. This was the second time now that Ruth stood by her sister when she dealt with dirty deeds, though there was a sense of closure now—and much less questions that needed answering.

“You had to,” Ruth told her sister as they rose from the dirt. “If you didn’t, where would you be? Where would Jill be…?”

“You’ve done enough cleaning up my mistakes,” Olive told her. “I don’t know if this is the last of them, Rue.”

“Ain’t no mistake,” she said. “Don’t say you ever made a mistake. You had to.”

Olive laid down with Ruth beside her, back to back. Her sister’s heavy breaths were white noise in the darkness, but sleep would not come easy until Olive knew what would come next—if she would face her husband, as he was, or if she would hear his voice once again. The awful things he used to say to her, to their children—his cruelty toward whimsy, toward womanhood, things that a child could not understand, but feel. Olive shivered at the thought.

Time passed, and so did the seasons. Pumpkins began to grow in the patch, and they grew bigger and bigger, beyond the size of any pumpkin Olive had ever grown… and that was the only excitement Olive found in them. They looked like pumpkins, tasted like pumpkins, made lovely pumpkin pies and toasted seeds. Then, the potatoes were potatoes; the corn was corn; the apples were beautiful and yellow, sweet to the taste, juice like any other.

For once, Olive could sleep.

Olive retrieved the chicken skull from the shed, and she offered it a “hello.” She was answered with silence. Its jaw fell slack as she lifted it, loose and fragile, completely unlike its playful beak before. She buried it where she found it, with the apples it loved, deep and cozy like a proper grave, one that she had never given to anyone else. It never spoke to her again.

#mine

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