#the verse description is in my card

[blradley]

A powerpoint introduction to Liesmyth!

(I swear the next one will actually be in Comic Sans... shout out to @incandescent-creativity for popularizing this medium!)

Anyway...

Do you wanna read a dark, Norse-inspired Adult Fantasy?

Do you wanna read about queer gods causing mayhem?

(literally every single character is queer lmaooooo)

Do you wanna support a queer, multiply disabled author?

Look no further than Liesmyth! We're out on subs at the moment - so, pretty-please reblog this powerpoint if you like the concept! Let's prove to all those prospective publishers that there's an audience for my book!

Image IDs:

All eleven images are power point slides.

Image 1: Title card reading 'Liesmyth: or, how Sigyn ruined everything, by B. L. Radley'. The words are displayed over a person in (...vaguely) Viking-era garb, against a green background. Only a slice of their torso is visible.

Image 2: A picture of an ash tree against a green, cool, mountainous scene. In a yellow text box, words read: Welcome to a world inspired by Norse mythology, where witches can climb through the cosmos using the boughs of an ancient ash tree, and any magic is possible, so long as it is cast with a suitable sacrifice. Yes, it’s basically a Viking Isekai. Shoot me. Then, a quote in italics: I know an ash tree named Yggdrasil, Nine realms cradled in its loamy arms… Prophecy of the Voluspa, verse 19

Image 3: Meet the characters! An image shows a white woman in Viking-era dress, leaning against a fence, looking pensieve. She is introduced as Sigyn Narisdottir. Her quote is: “It’s a God-eat-God world out there…” Below this, there is a description of Sigyn, reading: Just a nice, normal Christian woman from a nice, normal Christian village. (Totally not a gay witch, haha no, why would you suggest such a thing.) After her father is killed by his own God, Þórr, Sigyn has only one chance to free his trapped ghost from eternal torment. She must confront Þórr and slay him in combat. But how can a mortal defeat a God? Traits are bullet pointed at the bottom of the page. Hers are: Ruthless, ambitious, cunning, and desperate.

Image 4: The next character description is of Loki. His quote is “Monsters lost their menace when they huddled crying in the corner. And when you might use them for your own ends.” His image shows a clean-shaven half-naked man sat against a scandinavian-esque backdrop of rugged rocks and dried grass. He is white, with curly red hair, and is looking curiously off to one side. His description reads: The savior of the Gods, or their bane? A framed innocent, or a prophesized murderer? A victim, or a monster? Loki is a man of juxtaposed polarities, not least of which being that he isn’t a man at all. At least, not when it doesn’t suit him. Sigyn knows he’s dangerous. But in the viper nest of Ásgarð’s royal court, he might be her only ally… or her downfall. His traits are: Sly, wily, and 'not to be trusted'.

Image 5: The two characters introduced on this slide are Freyja and Thor. Freyja's image is of an Arab woman staring directly at the camera, expression serene, curly hair falling around her face. Her quote is: “Goddess of beauty. Goddess of desire. All who saw Freyja fell a little in love—but though silken longing stirred in my belly, I wrung it dead, reminding myself that Freyja was a goddess of bloodshed, too.” Her description reads: Queen of the Vanir, Freyja is an ancient and powerful goddess who takes Sigyn as her indentured servant. Her traits are: Proud, cold, and vicious. On the opposite side of the page, Thor's image shows a white, bearded man in an iron helmet glaring into the camera, viking sigils scrawled across his face in charcoal. He is shadowy and menacing. His quote is: “I saw a rainbow flash over a church. I saw a broken sky. I saw the end of everything.” His description is: Eldest prince of the Æsir. Murderer of Sigyn’s father, and countless more beside. The living embodiment of berserker rage, he is the strongest god around – and next to inherit Ásgarð’s throne. Unless Sigyn can stop him. His traits are: Violent, mighty, and 'a storm made flesh'

Image 6: introduces Angrboda and Baldr. Angrboda's image shows a white woman with blonde braids, wearing chain mail and warpaint (black streaks over her face), with a huge axe over one shoulder. Her quote is: “ ‘Sigyn, meet Angrboða: witch of the Ironwoods, god of a lost nation, relic of an elder age, master of magics that not even my darling brother dares dabble in, cosmopolitan worldwalker, mother and father of my children, and—if I might say so—a practitioner of truly superlative strap-game.’ ” Baldr's image is of Assad Zaman, looking wistfully, beautifully, into the camera. His quote is: “Out strode the most beautiful man in all the Nine Worlds. His gentle smile, his topaz eyes, his black curls, the fawn velvet of his cheeks… Oh, warmth radiated from him. I looked at him and felt, for the first time in oh-so-very-long, safe.”

Image 7: introduces Saga and Menglod. Saga's image shows a Black woman in darkness, with facial tattoos and a nose ring. She raises her eyes to the camera, pulling back a dark hood, her expression difficult to read. Her quote is: “In another version of this tale, I stayed with Sága. We travelled to Ljósálfheim every winter—one for every six of Vanaheim’s years—and raised foundlings as our own (for ever were the elvish freer with their loves than those of my world). But in this tale, we reached Freyja’s palace, and I had a dream.” Her description is: Prophet, witch, worldwalker. The woman Sigyn left behind. Menglod's image shows a Black woman smiling slightly, slyly, as she looks back over her shoulder, her natural hair framing her face. Her quote is: “If I tended the hearth in Freyja’s chamber, I left ash on her floors. If I swept the ash, I left streaks invisible to any eyes but Menglǫð’s. If I breathed, I did so far too loudly and regularly, and if I were a considerate soul, I would stop.” Her description is: Freyja’s attendant, and Sigyn’s main rival for her favor.

Image 8: So, like, wtf happens? Set against a background of dramatic red-on-black fire is a description of the book's plot, as follows: Crumbling kingdoms. Hungering Gods. One woman who will end the worlds. Loki, Norse god of fire and mischief, will be tortured until the end of time. And he shall deserve every minute. At least, that’s how the story goes. Behind every great man is a great woman, and behind every genderfluid trickster-god is a spouse who darns his socks, plots his victories and keeps his secrets, as well as her own. After a thousand years of agony, Loki looks to the woman who kneels by his side – his jailer, his torturer, his wife – and asks for a different story. Hers.

Image 9: a continuation of the plot from the previous slide, this time with a cool blue lake as the background, with a viking-style ship floating atop its surface. The image feels less calming, more unnerving in its stillness and the lack of human life. The description reads as follows: Down with the gods. So swore Sigyn, a young mortal woman, after watching her father die at godly hands. One millennium later, she has joined the same pantheon she once despised. Now, as Ragnarǫk approaches – the end of all Nine Worlds – Sigyn narrates the tale of the Norse Gods’ fall, and her own.

Image 10: Themes. A picture of two crossed axes accompanies a list of themes, which are: 1) Revenge. What is a life worth? And what would you give up, to avenge the life of someone you love? 2) Corruption. Can you ever fix a broken system from the inside? Or will it, inevitably, consume you? and 3) Divinity. What does it mean, to become a god? What might you lose along the way?

Image 11: A picture of Loki as a woman, with red hair, dressed in a Viking-style dress and sat on the edge of a Scandinavian dock, accompanies text that reads: This book is for you if you like... Queer-led, queer-written fantasy, with main wlw and nonbinary characters! Court drama and political intrigue, mixed with a sizzling dash of mythology! A prophecy that cannot be averted; a tragedy that cannot be outrun…

[late-to-the-party-81]

The best laid plans

AN: It’s so fluffy!!!! This is my first fill for this year’s ‘Into an alternate Juni-verse” and when I got Surgeon AU on my card I knew I had to revisit this pairing from last year's event…You don’t need to read it to understand this fic, but it will give you more context.

A big thanks to @metalbvcky for spitballing and cheerleading

Beta’d by the wonderful @drabbles-mc

Likes are loved, reblogs are golden

Mood board by me and dividers by @firefly-graphics

Bingo Fills - 

@stuckybingo G3: Migraines

@steverogersbingo D2: Monica Rambeau

Build a Bucky Bingo by @buckybarnesevents: Feb: Forehead kisses

Into an Alternate Juni-verse by @buckybarnesevents : AU: Surgeon

@caplanbuckybarnes Weekly Writing Challenge Week 1; “Holding you like this is where I’m happiest.”

Master list | Alternate Juni-verse Master list | Stucky Bingo Master List | SRB Master list | BaBB Master List

Summary: With Steve’s hectic work schedule, their relationship was never going to be plain-sailing, but they have an uninterrupted 48 hours coming up. Surely nothing will go wrong?

Relationship: Small Doctor Steve Rogers x Bookstore Owner Bucky Barnes

Word count: 3.8k

CW: Modern AU, Fluff, Insinuation of spicy time, Bucky and Nat friendship, Teasing, descriptions of migraine, caring Bucky, Hurt/Comfort, suggestive and happy ending, implied bottom Bucky.

Steve was well aware of how his life was currently a study in contrasts. On the one hand there was the hustle and bustle and bright lights of the hospital and on the other, the cosy warmth of the bookshop where Bucky worked and Steve spent a lot of his off hours. There was the inherent stress involved in working in the ER, with the requirement he always be ‘switched on’, but then there was the gentle pace that life with Bucky forced him into.

Bucky.

He couldn’t believe how much his life had changed since those two chance encounters nine months ago, one in a bar and the other right here in the ER.

Steve hadn’t been looking for anything, heart still raw from a break-up that had seen him upsticks and relocate from Los Angeles to New York, but something about Bucky had gotten under his guard. After their unexpected reunion in the hospital following a very memorable one-night stand, Steve had known there was no way he could go on without the young bookstore owner in his life.

They were taking it one step at a time though. Steve’s job was obviously full-on, especially so as he’d decided to continue working towards becoming a surgeon, something he’d done most of the work for out in California. Between his ER shifts, and the work for his qualification, both practical and theoretical, they sometimes went days without seeing each other and Steve didn’t want to force Bucky into something he wasn’t able to cope with - there was a reason why a large number of people in the medical field struggled to maintain relationships.

Therefore he maintained his apartment, and Bucky still had his own over his shop. Admittedly that warm, lived-in space, as small and covered in white cat fur as it was, felt more like home to Steve than his larger, pristine loft that still looked like something out of a brochure. Also, Bucky’s place was a lot closer to the hospital than his. It made sense, really, to spend most of his time there. He kept thinking about ‘taking the next step’, but something was stopping him.

Steve let out a sigh. He hadn’t seen Bucky in a full 48 hours now, and there was still another six to go until he could leave.

Today was an observation day, where Steve would be watching his mentor while she performed a heart by-pass and she would ask him questions as she did so. He was excited for it, but even that couldn’t dull the ache within him which he knew would only be soothed by a Bucky-hug ™.

He watched Doctor Rambeau - Monica - scrub up, dexterously turning off the tap with her elbow, and then waited for her to move out of the space so he could do the same. He might not be performing the operation, but he still had to follow all the protocols. He knew what an honour this was, having her as his mentor. She was one of the best in her field, and under her tutelage he knew he would be able to make a difference to so many people. With his own history of health issues, he knew what it was like to have his life saved and was ready to pay it forwards. 

“You ready, Doctor Rogers?” He turned to see one perfectly shaped eyebrow rise at him from behind an eye-shield.

“Absolutely. Lead on, Doctor Rambeau.” He knew his smile was hidden behind his mask, but hopefully she would hear it in his voice and see it in the crinkles around his eyes. He suspected not much got past her. The junior doctors were always making remarks about how Doctor Rambeau could see things that other mere mortals couldn’t.

“Soooo,” Nat drawled out and Bucky got ready for another round of being teased. “You’re seeing him tonight?”

“Yes,” replied Bucky. “He’s coming over after his observation shift and then he’s off for the next two days. Don’t expect to see much of me outside of work hours.” He waggled his eyebrows at his best friend and grinned as she rolled her eyes in return.

“Don’t I know it. If it wasn’t for his shifts I doubt I’d see you at all.” Despite her words, Bucky could hear the joking affection in her voice. However, what was the point in being best friends if you didn’t wind each other up at every available opportunity?

“You’re one to talk? How are you and Doctor Wilson going? I know he knows his way around….” Bucky’s dig at Sam’s field of specialisation was cut off by Nat placing her finger over his lips.

“Shush, you. We’re going just fine. Keeping it casual. He’s busy. I’m busy. Who wants to put labels on things?”

Bucky’s lips twitched. “Whatever you say, Natty-Nat-Nat. I believe you, thousands wouldn’t.”

She stuck her tongue out at him and then grabbed another armful of books to reshelve. “So apart from fucking, what have you got planned?”

Bucky shrugged. “Not a lot. Depends on how wiped out he is. Dinner tonight - I’m making lasagne - and a film. Probably far too much wine. Tomorrow? Maybe the Brooklyn Museum, and lunch. I know he wants me to test him on some theory, so I need to limber up my tongue so I can say complicated words I don’t understand.”

“Please don’t tell me how you’re going to limber it up,” Nat said with a snort, and Bucky squashed down the urge to throw a book at her. He knew from his own painful experience what it felt like to have a hardback, or several, bounce off his face. The only upside of that situation had been that he’d seen Steve again and gotten his number, even if it had been mortifying at the time.

“Things are still going well, then?” Nat questioned more softly.

“Absolutely.” Bucky let out a sigh as he thought about his diminutive blond boyfriend. Even before their eyes had met across the bar he’d been intrigued. There had been something in Steve’s movements, the way his fingers had held - near caressed - his beer bottle, that had filled Bucky with want.

That feeling hadn’t waned over the past months, and while he inevitably got frustrated when Steve’s shifts kept them apart, he also had an inkling that the periods of separation were also what had kept them in the ‘honeymoon’ phase so long. It heightened the anticipation, and when they did get to spend time together? Well it was a good thing that Bucky had no neighbours and Steve’s apartment had thick walls.

Bucky had always had voracious… appetites… but had been more than pleasantly surprised when Steve proved that he could, most of the time at least, keep up with him. He also hadn’t thought that such an outwardly respectable doctor could be so kinky, but….

“Earth to Barnes!” Nat snapped her fingers in front of his face. “Stop thinking about Steve’s dick on work time.” 

He pouted at her. “Spoilsport. And anyway, it wasn’t his dick I was thinking about, it was his fing–”

Nat threw her hands up over her ears. “LA-LA-LA,” she shouted before walking back towards the front desk and the customers who had just walked through the door. Bucky giggled and continued to restack books while indulging in his daydreams.

Steve slowly pushed the surgical gown down his arms with a sigh and winced at the bright lights in the scrub room. He hadn’t even been doing any of the heavy lifting during that op, but he still felt absolutely wrung out. However, it had been the most wonderful experience, getting to see Monica performing the by-pass so assuredly and asking her questions as she did so. He was also proud of the fact that he’d been able to answer her questions too, although those had been more inquisitorial than plain curious like his. But it was the end of his shift now - more or less on time too, for a change - and he couldn’t wait to get to Bucky’s apartment and relax in the arms of his boyfriend for two whole days.

He washed up and said good-bye to Monica and the rest of the surgical team and headed towards the staff room and the locker containing his street clothes, keys, and wallet - he hadn’t spent this much time in scrubs since medical school. As he made his way along the white walled corridors, the sounds of a hospital at work swirled around him - the beeping of machines, pained cries of the young and old, the urgent, hushed conversations of other medical professionals, the weeping of family members and loved ones. He liked to think that he was partially immune to these noises - they were the soundtrack to his daily life after all, but for some reason, they felt rawer than usual, scraping across his bones like nails down a chalkboard, and Steve couldn’t hold back an involuntary shudder. The fluorescent lights in the ceiling appeared to be taunting him too, their beams piercing his eyeballs and the almost inaudible humming making his teeth itch.

“Bucky,” he muttered to himself. “I just need to get home to Bucky, then I’ll feel better.”

When Steve finally made his way outside the sky was dark, but the streets were lit up with street lamps and car headlights. Each shaft of light felt like a needle sliding into his brain via his temples and he took a deep breath in through his nose to stave off a wave of dizziness. 

There was a light drizzle in the air, making it blessedly cool, and despite the damp Steve decided to walk to Bucky’s apartment instead of schlepping it on the much dryer, but ultimately more cramped and warm, subway. It took him longer than anticipated though, his shoes feeling like lead weights upon his feet, getting heavier and heavier with every step.

Finally, he reached the bookstore, the interior shrouded in darkness, but with lights shining from the windows above. Steve walked, half staggered, down the alley at the side and let himself in through the door that would lead him up the stairs and to Bucky. He was glad that Bucky had given him a key a few months back, otherwise he would have had to wait in the rain while Bucky came downstairs to let him in. That had happened enough times at the beginning that Steve was now very much over that part of their relationship. Having keys felt good. What didn’t feel good though were his sodden socks, or his throbbing eyeballs.

He trudged up the stairs, each step harder than the last, until he reached the top and all but fell through the interior door. Bucky must have heard him because Steve’s name was called out joyfully, a sound that normally made his heart leap in his chest, but in this moment, all he could do was let out a pained whimper as Bucky’s voice cut through his brain like a chainsaw.

He heard Bucky’s footsteps get closer and he squinted against the brightness of the room.

“Hey, Stevie!”

Bucky pulled him into a rough hug, squishing Steve’s face against the ubiquitous black t-shirt he always seemed to wear on days he was working. The smell of Bucky’s cologne, normally one of his favourite scents, assailed his nose, combining with the smell of garlic that permeated the apartment and Steve felt his stomach roll.

“Buck… please,” he slurred as he uncharacteristically pushed himself away from his boyfriend’s embrace. Everything around him just felt like too much and he felt himself tip backwards against the wall.

“Oh, Steve. You don’t look too hot.” Bucky’s voice was full of concern, and Steve was sure that if he could manage to focus properly, he’d be able to see Bucky’s dark brows pulled together in a frown. 

“Jeez, thanks,” he managed to push out with a small upturn to his lips. “Just what I wanted to hear after not seeing you for two days.” He closed his eyes, intending to do so for just a moment, and felt the ringing pain in his head lessen minutely.

Bucky’s body brushed against him as his holdall was taken from him by gentle hands and his coat was slipped from his shoulders.

“Is it a migraine?” Bucky had modulated his voice to a whisper and Steve decided that he hadn’t ever been so glad for anything in his life.

Eyes still closed, he nodded and let out a noise of confirmation from his lips. “Mmm-hmm.”

“Okay. Let’s get you to bed then. I’m prescribing Advil, earplugs, an eye-mask and an early night.”

Steve snorted and instantly regretted it. “I thought I was the doctor here?” he quipped, his voice low and gravelly.

“You are,” Bucky replied, his lips brushing Steve’s temple. “But I’m the boyfriend, so what I say, goes.”

“Is that so?” Steve queried, a note of amusement in his voice.

“Very much so,” Bucky confirmed. “Now you keep your eyes closed if you want, I’ll guide you.”

Steve rolled his eyes, but still kept his lids closed. He had a feeling it was the only reason he wasn’t throwing up right now.

“Such a mother hen,” he chastised without any real bite and allowed Bucky to steer him, arms looped together, through the small apartment. A soft bump against his ankle let him know that Alpine was now part of the proceedings.

“It’s why you love me. Right, you just sit down here…” Steve felt his shoulders clasped by Bucky’s hands and he sat down, completely trusting that he wouldn’t fall on his ass. “Can you manage to get undressed while I go find the pills?”

Steve cracked one eye open. “Sure. I love you, you know that?” Bucky shot him a soft smile, pressed another kiss to his forehead and then went through to the small bathroom, rattling around inside the cupboards.

Steve kicked off his shoes, glad he had on loafers that came off easily, and struggled out of his shirt. It felt like an octopus trying to envelope and suffocate him. He flopped down onto the mattress and squeezed his eyes shut again, feeling the bile begin to rise in his throat. Not only did this suck, big time, but he also felt so guilty, a feeling he vocalised when he felt the bed dip on Bucky’s return.

“I’m so sorry, baby. I know that this wasn’t what we had planned. What were you making for dinner?” He felt Bucky’s hands on the waistband of his slacks, deftly pulling them from his body in the most un-lust-filled, and therefore strangest, way possible.

“Lasagne, but it will keep until tomorrow. And you don’t need to apologise. These things happen and you have been working really hard. I’m actually surprised you didn’t have one of these sooner.”

Steve shuffled under the coverlet, letting out a sigh at the coolness of the sheets against his skin. Bucky pressed two tablets into his hand, and he propped himself upon his other elbow so he could pop them in his mouth, swallowing them down with a drink from the glass of water Bucky proffered him.

“I’ll make it up to you, Buck. I promise.”

“I know you will, you lug. But for now here’s the eye mask.” Soft satin was placed over his head, settling over his eyes and helping to black out the last of the light making it through his eyelids. “And here are the ear plugs.” Bucky dropped them into Steve’s palm and curled his fingers shut over them. “Now don’t worry about me,” he placated. “I have a whole garlic bread and a salad to make my way through, plus a date at Stars Hollow with Lorelai. I’ll be fine. We’ll pick this up tomorrow if you’re feeling better, and if you’re not I’ll just pump you full of drugs until you are.”

Steve smiled into the darkness. “You know that’s not how that works?”

Bucky placed his finger over Steve’s lips. “Ssh, sexy Doctor Boyfriend has spoken. Sleep now.” He moved his finger and replaced it with his lips, kissing Steve softly.

“Sir, yes Sir,” Steve replied, bringing his hand up in salute.

“Punk. Sleep well. I’ll come cuddle you later.”

“I will, jerk. And thank you.”

He heard Bucky mumble under his breath and then pad across the room before he pushed the earplugs into his ears, cocooning himself in silence to go along with the darkness, and snuggled down into the sheets to pass out.

Bucky closed the bedroom door with a soft ‘click’ and padded back through to the living room, trying to quell the disappointment. It wasn’t Steve’s fault. It wasn’t anybody’s fault. Migraines happened, and he hadn’t been lying when he’d said it was a surprise that Steve hadn’t had one already - he really had been pushing himself to the limit. But, Bucky supposed, that was one of the things that made him love Steve. His tenaciousness, bordering on stubbornness, was endearing, and was probably one of the main reasons they were still together. He wasn’t going to lie - those early days had been tough, but Steve had found every spare moment he could and made it available to Bucky, whether that was hanging out at the bookshop during the day in the middle of a split shift, or rolling into the apartment just to curl up beside him in bed for the eight hours between the end of a late shift and the start of an early one. There were the surprise DoorDash deliveries when a shift had run over and dinner plans had had to be cancelled and Steve knew Bucky wouldn’t have anything in. There were the long nights of loving and the frantic, heated quickies and everything in between. And he couldn’t be prouder of what Steve was achieving right now. Once he’d passed his surgeon’s qualification things should get better for them - less double shifts, although probably more that would run over. Swings and roundabouts he supposed.

Crossing to the small kitchenette, Bucky pulled out the lasagne, watching the cheese and white sauce bubble on the top as he placed it on a trivet to cool. He was glad he’d cooked something that wouldn’t spoil from not being eaten right now. He then picked up the bowl of salad, and the garlic bread that had been keeping warm in the toaster oven, and meandered over to the couch. As he ate and watched the residents of Star Hollow navigate complex family relationships, Bucky realised that even though he was in this room and Steve was asleep in the bedroom, he didn’t feel alone. He could feel Steve’s presence in his home and it just felt so right.

A couple of hours later he snuck quietly into the bedroom, the only sound the soft snores emanating from Steve’s mouth. He brushed his teeth in the bathroom, careful to only turn the light on after he’d entered and turn it off before he exited, and then tip-toed over to the bed with only the light from the street outside to illuminate his way.  He slipped in behind Steve and gently tugged him into a hug. Steve mumbled in his sleep, but didn’t wake.

Bucky reached up to lightly stroke over the top of Steve’s head and pressed a kiss to his bony shoulder blade.

“I love you, Stevie,” he whispered. “Holding you like this is where I’m happiest.”

Maybe tomorrow would be the day he took a leap of faith and asked Steve to move in with him?

When Steve woke he felt entirely disorientated. It took him a moment to remember what had happened the night before, and when he pulled out the earplugs and lifted the eye-mask he was happy to note that the stabbing pain in his head had reduced to a dull throb. He blinked a few times to get the sleep from his eyes and then focused on the clock next to the bed. 

12:37pm

He’d been asleep for almost eighteen hours!

The bed beside him was cold, indicating that even his slug-abed boyfriend had gotten bored with sleeping at some point and decided to get up. He had vague recollections of being pulled against Bucky’s front in the night, but that was it. He frowned to himself - he’d gone far too long without consciously touching him, something that he needed to rectify immediately.

He pushed himself upright, and took a long drink from the water glass next to the clock. He still remembered the first time he’d woken up in this bed, in the middle of the night and getting ready to make a hasty exit after an alcohol fueled hook-up. Now he didn’t think there was anywhere he’d rather be than right here. 

From the end of the bed, Alpine lifted her head and narrowly opened her eyes, obviously not happy to be disturbed from her slumber. Steve reached out and scratched her under her chin in apology.

When he stood, it was on slightly wobbly legs, and he took a moment to grab a pair of sweats from Bucky’s drawer, taking care to pull the drawstring tight and roll the waistband over. Steve then walked quietly through to the living room, stopping to lean on the back of the sofa as he watched an oblivious Bucky, also only in sweats, singing along to the radio, a spatula in hand acting like a microphone, as he made a grilled cheese sandwich. It was the cutest thing Steve thought he’d ever seen and it just made him want Bucky more.

Steve padded closer, and when he reached out to touch Bucky’s shoulder, Bucky jumped with a shriek.

“Jeez, Steve. You scared me.”

Steve grinned at him and looped his arms around Bucky’s waist, drawing him closer and nuzzling at his neck.

“I’m sorry, baby. Maybe I can make it up to you?”

Bucky let out an amused chuckle. “So you owe me twice, that’s what I’m hearing. You feeling better then?”

Steve fastened his mouth to Bucky’s throat and gave it a suck, creating a dark pink patch on Bucky’s already flushed skin. “Absolutely. Although I can think of something else that will make me feel even better.”

“I bet you can,” replied Bucky with another giggle. “Do I have enough time to eat my grilled cheese, or…” he trailed off as Steve pushed his hand under Bucky’s waistband. “Oh! L-let me just turn this off…” Steve smiled into Bucky’s skin as he leant across to turn the stove dial and move his pan onto a cold ring. “Okay - you were saying?”

God, how Steve loved this man. The hand he had down Bucky’s sweats and shorts moved - encompassed -  and Steve watched as Bucky’s eyelids fluttered, his dark lashes fanning his cheeks, and how his mouth dropped open into an “O” shape. First he was going to do what he hadn’t been able to last night and then he was definitely going to ask Bucky if they could move in together.

Tag list: @christywrites, @alexakeyloveloki, @doasyoudesireandlive, @galactusdevourerofworlds, @crayongirl-linz, @km-ffluv, @wheezy-stucky, @kmc1989

[tartrat]

Concept based on my previous post where i suggested Queen's Killer Queen as a Night Swan and Cygnus duet. i didn't want to make something super detailed so its mainly a sketch with basic colouring, and darkest hour's background

I said in that post that i saw it as taking place sometime around Darkest Hour, so Night Swan has her Leda appearance from there. I didn't know how to make cygnus look younger so i just removed his hat

The poses above would be struck when Freddie Mercury sings "killer" (imagine that Leda's hands are actually in a claw shape here) i probably should've had cygnus point at leda for this instead of into the air, followed by them moving to the opposite side whilst spinning their hands round their faces to "Queen". Lastly at "Gunpowder, Gelatine, Dynamite with a Laser Beam" They'd start doing a marching on the spot motion whilst pointing to the top right and bottom left like in Woof's chorus but more like in the style of a marching band, if you understand what i mean its kinda awkward to explain that motion (theres another map that uses that move in a way thats closer to my description but i can't remember what one it is. I tried to do pictograms in the corner to illustrate what i mean.

During the verses they'd probably have different moves, but i don't know what they would look like. I guess it would sorta be Cygnus acting out certain words and Leda doing more exaggerated movements akin to how she moves in witch. The lighting would probably be darker and the background would probably change location throughout.

Whats funny is that i always envisioned that if they were to do this song that it would be a quartet with three guys fawning over a Killer queen figure. Like it would be the three acting out how she acts wih her mimicking the moves of the one who is currently "speaking", but more exaggerated. The moves that i mentioned above are what i thought would work with this original idea and it just stuck and they're all i can think about when i hear the chorus.

I guess a good way for this hypothetical routine to end would be it turning out to be a memory that Cygnus is having, and him looking ashamed. I definitely do see the relationship that they probably had as sorta romantic, but whether it be romantic or platonic, beggin does make it out that he regrets what he's done and more than likely the time he spent with her. He'd look back on this memory with guilt after seeing what she did during Locked Out Of Heaven and her further plans that come up.

Someone else has definitely suggested this song for the series before, probably during 2017 and 2018 when Don't stop me now and another one bites the dust were relatively new to the series and some were expecting another queen song for 2019, (Though in all the fanmade songlists i've seen on youtube i haven't seen any queen songs mentioned). I'm not sure if i was the first one to suggest this song for these two particular coaches either, maybe someone did last year when Beggin' came out and Sweet Dreams was still believed to be released at some point.

This was just something quick to show what i think it would look like. probably should've made a title card but i might make a more detailed version at some point and include one.

[youhavetosmile]

Karedevil (Taylor's Version)

Thanks @kdheaven for the prompt! Apologies for the delay.

The most Karedevil song on each Taylor Swift album, with rationales, according to me:

Debut: Tied Together With A Smile

I think this song encapsulates how both Matt and Karen present the image to others that they have their sh*t together, but on the inside they're really hurting. The second verse really gets me: "I guess it's true that love was all you wanted / 'Cause you're giving it away like it's extra change / Hoping it will end up in his pocket / But he leaves you out like a penny in the rain / Oh, 'cause it's not his price to pay." You can think of Matt's relationship with Stick and Karen's relationship with her dad this way. I like to think that by the end of the show they each have a more real vision of the other.

Fearless: Come In With The Rain

This feels very post-Defenders/early Season 3 from Karen's POV. At that point, everyone but Karen thinks Matt is dead. She doesn't get any proof of this until several episodes into S3, but she always has that hope. She's also dealing with a lot of complicated emotions toward Matt - she still loves him (obv) but she's also really mad at him and grieving the fact that he's not around. I'm sure even Karen questioned whether Matt was still alive at some point. I can see her going to bed with her window open just in case.

Speak Now: I Can See You

I love @kdheaven's pick of "Sparks Fly" but this one is so spot-on in my mind. I love the irony of the title because Matt is blind but he can "see" Karen in a way no one else can. "And we kept everything professional / But something's changed, it's something I like" fits them, as well as "I can see you being my addiction / You can see me as a secret mission / Hide away and I will stop behaving myself." I love this one for them!

Red: Forever Winter

I think this song is a great musical representation of S3 Karedevil. The facades have fallen and they've gotten to see each other's self-destructive tendencies and said "I love you even at your darkest / And please don't go." "He seems fine most of the time, forcing smiles and never minds" is an apt description of Matt.

1989: You Are In Love

Again, love @kdheaven's pick of "This Love." But the chorus is what really does it for me: "You can hear it in the silence / You can feel it on the way home / You can see it with the lights out / You're in love, true love." 'Nuff said.

reputation: New Year's Day

To me, this song represents Matt and Karen's commitment to support each other, no matter what. Again, all the cards are on the table, and they're still willing to show up for each other, "When you're lost and I'm scared and you're turning away...When it's hard or it's wrong or we're making mistakes." The second verse seems particularly applicable as a message from Karen to Matt: "I'll be there if you're the toast of the town, babe / Or if you strike out and you're crawling home." Daredevil is morally gray, and I'm sure lots of people have lots of different opinions about him. But Karen has always stood by him. Also, New Year's Day is a day typically associated with New York here in the U.S.

Lover: Cruel Summer

This entire song screams Karedevil to me. I think it's particularly applicable to their early relationship, when they're still figuring each other out. There's a lot of feelings there, but it's fragile because it's new and they're hiding so much. "Breakable heaven" indeed. And then there's "He looks up grinning like a devil." ;)

folklore: peace

I'm 100% with @kdheaven on this one. The only thing I can say that they didn't already is that Matt and Karen both have chaos in their souls. This song is basically them saying "Here I am. This is me. Is this enough?" I also really love the "sit with you in the trenches" line for them. They're both willing to get their hands dirty for each other.

evermore: willow

I think this song follows the arc of their relationship really well. The first verse makes me think of their first meeting, when Karen is "rough on the surface" because of the charges leveled against her but Matt "cut through like a knife" and believed she didn't do it when no one else did.

The second verse coincides with when they start dating. They're idolizing each other, seeing each other as "a mythical thing." "Head on the pillow, I can feel you sneaking in" always gives me the image of Matt coming home after a long night of Daredeviling and crawling into bed next to Karen.

Then the last verse: they know the truth and have shown each other "the places where the others gave you scars." I also love the legal references throughout the song: "open-shut case" and "every bait-and-switch was a work of art." I can imagine Karen sitting in the gallery of a courtroom with a huge smile on her face as she watches Matt absolutely kill it.

Midnights: Karma

"Karma is my boyfriend" propels this song to the top of the list. Is there a more fitting description of Matt from Karen's POV? I will die on the hill that Karen was never mad at Matt for being Daredevil. She's always been a fan, even before she knew who Daredevil really was. And after that, her issue was that he didn't tell her. She's always been and, in my opinion, will continue to be proud of him and what he does on both sides of the law.

TTPD: The Albatross

In an effort to not end this post on a super sad note, I'm picking this song (though MBOBHFT is, unfortunately, also fitting). This one has a similar vibe to "peace," though I see this one a little more from Matt's POV than Karen's. Stick taught Matt that relationships are dangerous--for him and for the other person. So he tries to keep everyone at arm's length. Karen ignores all of that. She still loves him, even though she knows who Matt is and that being associated with him is potentially dangerous for her. I hear Matt in the lines "The devil that you know / Looks now more like an angel / I'm the life you chose / And all this terrible danger."

Thanks again to @kdheaven for the opportunity to combine my two obsessions!

[inner-viper]

What are their kinks? Their sexual intimacy? An overview of their sex life FS (18+ ONLY) PILE 3! (PART 2)

ORIGINAL POST HERE

Hello, my name is Viper and I am an intutive seer/oralce tarot reader. I am well versed in finding information through divination and using my intuition~ Today I wanted to do a spicy topic because its so fun. I haven't started explaining some piles and I already feel the heat. Damn, a lot of passion and fiery enegy in this reading.. Its making me horny LMFAO. THIS TOOK ME 2 DAYS AND I WAS NOT EXPECTING FOR IT TO TAKE THIS LONG. All three of these piles wanted me to do MORE DETAILS. My channeling DRAINED ME. That’s why I took so long because afterwards THEY SUCKED MY ENERGY. (Do not worry, I just received loads of messages. It gets overwhelming). Anyways, remember nothing is set in stone. This is for entertainment purposes only. NO MINORS. 18+ ONLY.

TW: MENTIONS OF KNIFE PLAY, and CHOKING. SEXUAL CONTENT!!

CHECK OUT MY SHOP AT: https://innerviper.etsy.com

I’ll be adding cheaper options in the future. I will be updating descriptions too, so SHOP WILL HAVE A NEW LOOK🔥.

They love giving though, this person is A GIVER. They want to do everything for you. Not only in bed. They are into edging too. They want to make you almost reach your high and then denying you for reaching it. I’m seeing that it’s either you or them that are into that. They also have a NICE BODY. Guys this person works out a ton. For the majority, your FS works out and has amazing care of their body. They also go at a stable pace in sex. So it’s not a rushed quickie or rushed sex at all. They need to take their time when doing it. Otherwise, it’s not good for them or at least not enjoyable. They may like to do it outside too (I think almost all piles were outside sex?💀). They also want to open your legs. I’m seeing they are into thighs and the leg area. They are extremely attractive. LIKE DAMN. They also have an attitude during the act. What I mean, is that they only want you. I’m getting and image as I channel this, they want to fuck you in front of people to assert dominance. They want to let the world know that you are theirs. This makes sense because this is where the community card comes through. Remember when I said they are into threesomes? This is where some conflict might appear for some of them. They are very selfish but they still fantasize about doing it with others. They are possessive too, they could use their anger out on you sexually. They use their anger as their sexual outlet. They have deep pent of anger. I’m seeing that they can get wild, when they just want to fuck you. Some of y’all might be into knife play/threatening. Seeing some choking in here too. I think you guys want to be choked by them? (DAMN THIS IS LUSTFUL FICJEJSI). When you meet them, you guys will have STRONG SEXULA TENSION. (It’s the most out of these piles). Their favorite positions could be seated oral (not really a position but yes), face sitting, and reverse cowgirl. Some other fantasy they have is someone having a vibrator in their underwear and them having the controller. (DAMN-). Some of them really like ass, they will love your butt. Ok, they really want me to go into more details.

AFTERCARE: They are pretty normal about it, nothing out of the norm. I see that it will be draining like an succubi/Incubi drains your energy after. So they will prefer to sleep.

Thank you for reading! Send suggestions and questions in the ask box!~

[ohwormwood]

random thoughts i have while playing isat pt. 3

(compiled so i dont keep spamming others and my own blog, o7)

[woe! spoilers be upon ye!]

yippeee the king killed us all :DDD now begins the suffering

ok, so like. the lets talk about the tarot cards. because this shit hurt me PERSONALLY and i need other people to think REAL HARD about this. i've only gotten 2 (there's 1 "true" card for each act, any others drawn after the first will be random if I recall???); six of swords and a reversed draw of the star.

six of swords is a pretty simple card- it's a transitionary card, marking the start of a journey that will impact the drawer (i use biddy tarot for reference occasionally, they base their descriptions on the Rider-Waite deck's meanings, which is standard for most), specifically "moving forwards towards the unknown". the change "may be your own doing or forced upon you", but overall it is meant to make you a better person as you work through the struggle of change. you get this card in act 2, once the loops start and you have to start doing the puzzles to figure out how to get up to the king. at this point, siffrin is pretty convinced that the loops are a gift, but given the indication by the card that the journey may not be pleasant this kind of sets up players for the second draw;

the star reversed is much, MUCH more interesting in it's meaning. i say reversed because it's made pretty clear that siffrin draws it upside-down the first time, then flips it over to see the text. for people not really well versed in tarot, draw a card upside down (aka reversed) can cause the card to have different meanings. in the case of the star, when drawn upright it is a sign of hope and faith, as well as purpose and spirituality. however, when drawn in reverse, it means the opposite: "lack of faith, despair, self-trust, disconnection". this is all well and good, but what really punched me in the gut was reading the first sentence of the biddy tarot description for this draw; "The Star Reversed can mean that you’ve lost faith and hope in the Universe."

And boy, if that doesn't perfectly describe how Siffrin begins to crumble after act 2? the use of Universe with a capital U is also very important to note. there's some other notes for this card too, specifically about feeling "overwhelmed", "questioning why you are being put through this", "desperately calling out to the Universe to give you some reprieve but struggling to see how the Divine is on your side", and the card being a "test of faith". further reading also notes loss of enthusiasm for life and experiences you may have liked prior to your challenges, boredom, and disconnect. It's so heavy-handed that i legit had to put down my computer when i read it. the beginning of the complete disillusionment of siffrin after act 2 and the slippery slope of act 3 fits this card SO WELL, i applaud insertdisc5 for including this

Another note: we're all gonna point out the obvious- loop, being themself a star, is a pretty overt reference to this card as well. i mean, they literally have similar experiences, but their loops went on for so much longer. an important thing to note is that part of the page on this draw says something REALLY interesting; "you can either crumble like The Tower or stand firm in your conviction that the Divine is everywhere". the tower is a SUPER interesting card to bring up with, expecially given the context that loop gave in. they were tired, and they wished for an end, in some way shape or form. in a weird sort of way, by succumbing to the "bad ending" of the reversed star card, they become a sort of representation of the upright card as well, being a helpful figure and guide, giving siffrin hope. it kinda rounds out their whole character really well for me in that context

back to bullshitting;

i would die for mangala fritter frin. pure of heart. dumb of ass. they are the light of my life

i wanna know how everybody in the party would make a change god statue, since everybody makes their own, right??? like, as an artist i'd love to see what little personal touches and details they'd add to crafting one for themselves

[forerussake]

Pleased to show off my finished card and badges for the @guardianbingo! Thank you so much for organizing this. I had an absolute blast coming up with ways to fill all the prompts. I don't think I have ever been as productive in fandom as I have been in the past year, and it's all thanks to you and this wonderful event ❤️❤️❤️ I'm sad it's over, but I am so so happy that I got to participate!

The story will keep on going indeed.

List of all my creations, with links and descriptions, under the cut:

B1 – Bears Art of bear!Shen Wei napping on the couch with his head in Zhao Yunlan's lap.

B2 – Role reversal Raw: novel-canon fic in which the Ghost Slayer's ghostly side comes out, and Zhao Yunlan takes care of him for once.

B3 – Alternate first meetings Exchange: fic in which a young Zhao Yunlan approaches Hei Pao Shi with an impossible request.

B4 – Powers Reconnections: fic in which Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei struggle with the trauma of returning to life after canon, and a desperate Dixingren takes matters into her own hands.

I2 – One bed Art of Shen Wei, Zhao Yunlan and Da Qing curled up in bed.

I4 – Guo Changcheng Learning curve: fic in which Guo Changcheng struggles with his new job, and professor Shen gives unexpected advice.

I5 – Cooking Art of Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan preparing for an SID team dinner.

N1 – Alliance Reconnections chapter 5.

N2 – Summer to bring the sun down to his knees and have him taste the rainbow: Zhubai RPF fic that is an hommage to the sun and to love.

N3 – Free square Art of Shen Wei as Hei Pao Shi wrapped in Christmas lights.

N4 – Students The grace of care: fic in which Shen Wei isn't coping, and neither is Jiajia, but they figure things out together.

G1 – Revelations The shared art of drowning: Zhubai RPF fic in which I wax poetic about Zhu Yilong from Bai Yu's perspective.

G2 – Saving the world Reconnections, chapter 6.

G3 – Sofa The starlight after rain: fic in which Cheng Xinyan takes care of Shen Wei after the infamous rain scene.

G4 – Kitchen The easy part: fic in which Zhao Yunlan cleans the kitchen after the equally infamous kitchen scene.

O1 – Alternate Universe Art of a verse in which everything is the same, except Shen Wei wears heart-shaped glasses.

O2 – Interrogation Art of Da Qing who definitely doesn't know where all the fish snacks went.

O3 – Flirt Petrichor: fic in which Da Qing is witness to Zhao Yunlan flirting with Hei Pao Shi.

O4 – Betrayal Art of the bag of sugar-free lollipops that is the reason why Shen Wei is not allowed to do the shopping alone anymore.

O5 – Light Twi(n)light: fic in which Shen Wei and Chu Shuzhi get to know each other, and come to an agreement.

Bonus Prompts

March – Take a leap A painted face, a window to the soul: Zhubai RPF in which they meet Ni Ni, and an experiment takes place.

May – Acceptance Art of Weilan's final promise in the void.

June – Twins Art of Shen Wei definitely coping with his brother's death just fine.

August – Constellations Measured, charted, seen: sequel to the starlight after rain, in which Shen Wei learns and teaches about stars, and Cheng Xinyan goes on that camping trip anyway.

September – Moon Art of Kunlun and Shen Wei on the cliff under the moonlight.

October – Disguise Art of novel!Shen Wei showing Zhao Yunlan his real face.

December – Renewal The light of new beginnings: fic in which Zhao Yunlan watches Shen Wei sunbathe, reflects on the meaning of light, and they make a promise to step into a bright new future, together.

[silverbladexyz]

hello!!! I'd like to request some hcs for my believed Ayatsuji Yukito with a gn!reader who's not very good in things related to calculations, chem and all that but very well versed in creatives fields? like plays instruments, draws a lot and knows a lot of literary references :D thank u sm and have a nice day keke

Helloooooo!!! Reader is kind of like me; while calculations and chemistry and anything to do with maths is doable, I'm actually more of a creative person lmao.

The image used is not mine. It belongs to it's original owner.

TW: None

Ayatsuji with a GN!S/O who is well versed in creative fields

-Okay, well Ayatsuji teased you a lot at first about maths, science, just anything in that field which requires the left side of the brain

-Like he knows that he's smarter than most people, but he's never met a person who couldn't find the integral of 1/2x^2. Sometimes he wonders if he should get a tutor for you

-But one day you actually helped him solve a case, despite his impressions of you. Ayatsuji was ready to tear his hair out because he just couldn't get an impression of the perpetrator, but you actually managed to draw a very vivid and accurate picture of the perpetrator according to the witness's descriptions and clues

-This caused Ayatsuji to think twice of you. You'll find that after a little while, he would start asking you for your help on his cases. Your drawings were always accurate and never failed to help him catch the murderer. It wasn't long before he fell for your creative side

-When you two got into a relationship, he was curious about your creativeness, and often asked you about your hobbies. I feel like Ayatsuji is one to appreciate art and artistic talents, but he's never had that much time to admire art in general because of his occupation

-Play some pieces for him on your instruments! Doesn't matter if it's a Bach fugue or a nocturne by Chopin, Ayatsuji will love it, because he seems like the type to like classical music as it's more complex and fun to analyse. He likes listening to you play in silence, while sipping a coffee or gazing at the sunset. You even offered to teach him how to play your instruments, and he took you up on your offer, but he still prefers listening to you play

-I feel like Ayatsuji finds the trait of using literary references in appropriate places attractive. Like it makes the person seem more fancy and sophisticated, and he definitely likes people like that. So he might even have a battle of literary references with you sometimes just to see how much you knew actually he does that because he thinks your smexy when you’re saying them

-Also likes to look at your drawings when you’re done with them. Now he will actually critique them a bit, but he mostly praises you and tells you what a good job you’ve done. You drew him once and now Ayatsuji treasures that drawing forever

-Since you’re creative, Ayatsuji is so going to make dolls with you. Now you actually add some extra decorations and style to the dolls that you create, and it’s a fresh contrast to the usual dolls that are stored in his basement. He loves your creativeness when it comes to dolls, and he shows it to nobody else apart from himself

-Now he will actually try to teach you math, science, physics, just anything that needs logic to figure the answer out. While he will still tease you every now and then, he’ll be chill and find out how you learn the best. Also gives you breaks when he sees your brain about to explode from all the calculations

-Your strengths fit with his perfectly; him being logical and you being creative. With this mix, no criminal dares to go up against you two now. Talk about a soft power couple, am I right?

-You two are Tsujimura’s OTP and she is already making all the wedding cards and organisation for your marriage with Ayatsuji already invite me please

@pixyys @pianotross @nekokinax @i-just-like-goats @xxelfmamaxx @yuugen-benni @yukitomybeloved @sariel626 @lakeside-paradise @arisu-chan4646  @catzlivedforbsd

[via-the-ghoul]

A Hanging Dying dream forever repeating

AKA: the Via-Verse’s version of Alagadda’s origin.

After working off and on on this for months and debating whether or not I should post it, it’s finally, finally here! This takes some elements from other tales, but I made it my own lol.

Anyways, TW: mind-altering, body horror, death by childbirth, heavy usage of blood, emotional child abuse, plague (which has descriptions of killing people), religious themes, child abandonment, mild gore, medical themes, suicide by hanging, slit throats, and someone snaps their own neck at one point, a knife’s briefly mentioned, cosmic horror, chains, brief mentions of drinking, someone plays with another person’s trauma in an attempt to manipulate them.

Sorry about the long list of TWs, but it’s just text, no pictures.

Anyways, here we go! (The document this is saved on is 12 pages long what is wrong with me lol)

Have you ever heard of Alagadda? Probably not, most haven’t these days. It was a kingdom long ago, before it became something else at the cost of memory. Do you wish to know what happened? …Good.

It all started as most stories do: before anything noteworthily weird happened. There was a king, there was a queen, she was pregnant, they loved each other very much, and the kingdom loved them. Nothing that made it seem too different from most kingdoms.

Except, of course, for one thing. The king had a certain secret, one that would hand the ink and pen to the hands of fate for Alagadda.

He had a love for forbidden magics. His nights spent at the Wanderer’s Library, writing the names of Gods and various sights across the sea of universes. Eventually, the Way he used just closed up, but that didn’t matter. He already had what he needed to grant his greatest wish.

Dyo’s surroundings felt like a dream to him. A faint memory of a dream from centuries back, that was what this was. He knew he wasn’t in Alagadda anymore, and he felt off. Was this fear, or bewilderment? And what were these colors? And why wasn’t this entirely unfamiliar?

He could hear birds chirping somewhere on his left. Why was the sound’s location so clear? And what kind of birds were these, with a song so beautiful and clear, something he could sing along to if he possessed vocal chords?

What was this strange, new, beautiful world? The sky above him, it was blue? Was that the word for it? Why did he know the word?

Gosh, if only he still had his body. Then he could investigate this strange new world he was thrown into. See the birds. Maybe sing.

The king wished that him, his queen, and his future child would live forever. The kingdom loved them, and he loved his queen, so there was no problem he could think of. Plus he had a common trait to most mortals: thantophobia. He was a strange man driven by fear. Not very strange, actually, when comparing him to others.

He whispered into the abyss, and three brothers answered. The youngest draped in darkness, his pale face standing out with a sliver grin. The middle a strange mismash of armor and arms, dust and clutter. The eldest of pale colors, faced in pure shadows and towering over the night sky. Three ways to die. A deal was made, a game of cards for immortality.

He fought for this immortality, he really did. He was able to top the two younger. But the eldest defeated him, far, far too easily, crushing the built up hope. And then they returned to the shadows without a word, leaving him alone.

The queen gave birth three days later. The child survived, but she faded away. The child didn’t cry, covered in their mother’s blood. The king didn’t understand why, and did not hold the child. So they remained, wrapped in dark clothes by the midwife, for someone else to take care of.

Time seemed to return to a familiar melding for Dyo. He couldn’t tell how many hours it took before the sun began to set. He knew that soon, a familiar night would appear. He felt strangely sad, he rather liked this new day. But he couldn’t really hear the birds anymore, and he was rather tired of being stuck in one place. Perhaps something familiar would help this horrid wait for some poor soul to come across him.

However, a new sound came from his right. Faint, but approaching. He had heard variations of this sound back home, and it sometimes appeared in this new daytime, but never was the crushing of leaves back home, and never was it approaching him here.

Footsteps. The stepper was probably wearing boots, from the sound of it. He honestly couldn’t wait, he really wanted to move around this new world. See the birds. He wondered what new colors they would be.

The footsteps got closer and closer, until finally a shadow covered Dyo. He could feel himself smiling. He never smiled back home. He could get used to this new world. He felt a gloved hand grab him, and hold it up to the mysterious face of the new being. The face…

It was probably the most horrific face Dyo had ever seen.

The plague came after that. Sores spotted the people of the kingdom, blood and bile coming from screeching mouths. The screams of the people echoing in the streets for years. The inescapable smell of death. But the king never heard them, never smelled rot or tasted bile.

The king had hidden deep in his castle, sobbing, mourning his queen, and only his queen for all those years. Unaware of the state of his people. He had put the lords in charge of it all, the kingdom and his child. His child…

His child grew strange. They were quiet, and rarely smiled, but weren't mean. They did try to help the people, as much as a child could. Sometimes, when there was no hope that someone would survive, they would sit by their side until they fell, no matter how the doctors warned against it. Strangely, the child never grew ill themself. Despite most people accepting the child, there were… rumors about the kid. Whispers of being the devil’s child and witchcraft, which the child somewhat heard. They didn’t believe it, but… it explained why their father never played with them like other fathers did.

10 years after it all, the king finally listened, having returned from his sorrows. He heard the screams. He saw the blood, and he saw the corpses. But he didn’t blame himself, no.

He blamed the child. He accused them of not being his child, of having been a spirit possessing them sent by the brothers to torment him, bringing the plague with them wherever they went. A monster that must have killed the real child.

The child didn’t understand. They had never met their father before this, but they heard they weren’t supposed to do this. They were supposed to love their children. That was what they saw with the fathers in the street. Was this why he never showed himself? Were they really a monster? A fake? Were those whispers right?

The king ordered the child to be locked away in their room, and never let out. Proclaimed them to be a contamination spreading monster. Some believed and some didn’t, but the ones that didn’t didn’t do anything to stop it.

Perhaps they were supposed to be locked away, perhaps there was something wrong with them. That was what they wondered, anyway. Their father hid away from them for so long, after all. Perhaps this was the reason. Perhaps they were born of dust and shadows, their mother unable to bear the beast she created. Perhaps everyone was right, perhaps they doomed the townsfolk they loved by existing.

The child began to cry.

There was something completely off about the figure’s face. It had the same mask-face as the people back home, but there was something off about its construction. The mask felt too organic, the yellow eyes uncovered, sunken deep in its head. Too expressive, too wrong, that was the eyes. It’s eyes, something changed in Dyo upon seeing the creature’s eyes.

Memories began to appear in his head, of long before, of a state of wakefulness, of trees and blue birds, and colors! So many forgotten colors, bright orange paints like the sky when the sun rose, the green grass and trees he could get lost in, a blue sky, a blue sky! And purple, purple was his closest friend’s favorite.

His childhood friend. The king’s child. By the stars, the king had a child! Why couldn’t he remember more about this lost child?! What happened to them?

Dyo didn’t see the strangely beautiful abomination for long, as it wordlessly put it in a dark brown bag. Brown, he could remember the color of tree trunks and dying leaves and the child’s eyes. The child…

Though now he was in darkness, he could tell the entity would let him out sooner or later, it had too. Perhaps there were more wonderful joys he had forgotten that the entity would show him. Though, why weren’t all these joys back home? Why were they hidden away? And what happened to his friend…

The king tried again the next morning. He knew he may not be able to resurrect his wife, or his child, but he was willing to try to give himself immortality again. Not with the brothers, of course. He simply called into the void, hoping someone, anyone would answer.

Something did come out, draped in dark robes and with a hidden face behind bandages, if it even had a face. They called themself an ambassador of a faceless being. They promised the king much more than immortality. They said they could make the king a God. A God… a God could bring back his wife and child. A God would never die. He could have it all, as long as he did what the thing said. The king smiled for the first time in ten years.

Meanwhile, our child looked out their window. A small wave to a boy their age they got along with, but the boy didn’t see. Perhaps the boy would forget about them. And they’d be up here forever. If they weren't such a clever child, perhaps they would try to jump out the open window. Alas, the child didn’t wish to die. Maybe not wanting to sacrifice themselves for the kingdom was part of being a monster. Not wanting to kill the twisted, sick devil that cursed the town-

It was at that time a crow landed at the window. The child liked crows, even though their father didn’t, as they were always nearby when they went to visit their mother’s grave, back before the tower. It was strangely comforting to them. So the child then took a piece of lavender from their shelf. It died when they plucked it, and it was rotting, being here for years, but the child didn’t care. They placed the lavender in front of the crow, and it picked it up. It almost seemed to smile before flying off. The child felt better. Maybe they were not a monster. Crows seemed more trustworthy than the king anyway.

Time was melding again in the bag. Or perhaps it was Dyo not liking the dark. It felt like he was floating in the darkest void, where no one could hear him scream, even if he had the vocal cords necessary. Gosh, perhaps the entity would give Dyo a body so he could actually talk!

A sudden blast of light and another gloved hand later, he was out of the bag. Apparently the entity lived in some sort of cave. He could make out some sort of cloth in the background. He didn’t know why, but Dyo figured it was called a blanket. People… slept on blankets. They never slept back in Allagadda.

He saw a table with another cloth on it, this one not a blanket for sleep. It was soaked in red blood. Medical cloth. This was a doctor of some sort. The entity placed him on said table, laying on the cave’s wall. The blood was dry, but the blanket was somewhat wet. Attempts of cleaning blood that never really worked. The doctor stared at him, before staying one sentence, in a dark, echoey voice.

“I know you are alive.”

Three years passed, and the kingdom grew strange. The king started to paint over anything that wasn’t black, white, yellow, or red. His favorite colors. More people started to wear masks, masquerade masks, forever. No one seemed to question any of this, and just went along.

The child meanwhile, disappeared. They had attempted escape twice before, and the lack of fighting back once they were caught again made them think escape wouldn’t be much of an issue. As the plague had been fading out, the king simply assumed they returned to the darkness they came from. This is not what happened, they merely escaped, without anyone noticing this time. Though some suspicion was casted on the new young court jester, theories they let out the kid, nothing ever came of it.

The child had grabbed a mask and ran off with it. No one was to see their face, no one was to know who they were. They cut their hair and changed their name. They ran to the town doctor, and claimed to be an orphan child seeking apprenticeship. The doctor took pity on the kid, and took them in. No one realized who they really were. No one claimed them a child of the devil, or a witch.

Dyo wished he could respond to this, he really could. He really wished that he and the entity could have spoken this whole time, about the sky, and the birds, and all these questions that were in his metaphorical brain. But he had no host, and he couldn’t look into this thing’s mind. Maybe he was still getting used to this dimension? He simply frowned. The entity tilted his head a bit.

“Huh, I thought you could still speak in this state. I must have overestimated you, my apologies. Hold on.” The entity picked him up again, and flipped Dyo around. Now they could only see the cave wall. The entity better have a good explanation for this when he actually gets a body.

He could still hear, however. He could hear the bag opening, tools being taken out, as well as something soft. Sewing, wet tearing sounds, soft fleshy noises? How did he not feel any of those in the bag!? And why did the entity think he wouldn’t want to see this over a boring old cave wall?

After what seemed like hours, he was flipped back around to see the entity’s crude creation. Flesh draped over bones, a tear in the “face” to simulate a mouth, bulging eyes and no hair. A small mannikin of flesh.

“I could have done better, but you will just destroy it anyway. No use wasting more spare parts than necessary.” The entity sighed before placing Dyo over its face.

Finally, he was getting pretty bored.

The years went on. No one mentioned the king’s child anymore. It was getting harder to see any colors that weren’t the king’s favorite, even in the yellowing sky.

The people began to change as well. They seemed to be losing themselves, more and more thinking merely of parties and wine. It didn’t affect everyone, but most that weren’t inflicted ran to other kingdoms. Eventually, the only people not affected were the town doctor, and our child. Our child…

Our child wasn’t much of a child anymore, and despite having hid it so well, they never forgot their past. They could still be found laying the last bits of rotting lavender at the Queen’s grave. Sometimes, they’d talk to the crows, simple little greetings, but still.

You see, that one crow in the old prison, it would come back. The child would talk to it eventually, when they ran out of lavender. They were friends. Once, the crow even gave a piece of rotting lavender to the child. They never forgot that. They even took it with them when they escaped, though they had now lost that decaying flower. The child spoke better with crows than people since then.

Though one day, 20 years after the day the king first invoked the three brothers, it was time for the final step of the thing’s plan. No one could have guessed. No one but the king knew the thing. And the king was too entranced to question its word. No one could have guessed what it wanted.

“Thank you, you do not know how frustrating it is to need to talk but have no mouth! I am sincerely grateful-”

“Why are you here?”

“...Huh?”

“Why are you here and not… there?” The entity’s voice was cold and stern. Clearly not a fan of Alagadda.

“Oh, right, I was so ungratefully thrown out of my home for daring to be worried about my king, daring to question the ambassador, daring to care about my people!” Dyo was still, admitting, getting used to puppeting a body in this world, and this body didn’t have all the necessary parts to move, but he tried dramatically throwing his hand to his face and his other hand where his heart would be. The intent could probably be read however, judging by the entity’s reaction.

“Sounds about right. There is no care in that kingdom, no sense. The moment someone begins to fall out of line…”

“Not a fan huh?”

“Of course not! That kingdom is an artery in the body of the pestilence. It is filled with animal instincts, only chaos, consuming, destruction with no rhyme or reason, and that ambassador would not have it any other way.”

“...Have you been there before?” A potential way back. As much as he liked this new world, he did want to go back. He couldn’t get revenge without going back. The entity hesitated before giving their answer.

“Yes. I am waiting until I have made enough progress on my cure to retur-”

“How did you get there? Have some unfinished business I need to, well, finish.” The entity froze. Something about that question thawed away all that cold from the entity. In there, somewhere, was something afraid to lose him.

“You… Want to go back there? What could there be to justify entering that place again, when you have just begun to find yourself again?”

Dyo tilted the fleshy thing’s head, and paused.

They found the king in the middle of his court, hanging by a rope. But no one seemed to care. They simply threw him in the grave, not bothering to remove the rope or even bury him. He just laid there, as crows feasted on the body. Even the town doctor, so far unaffected by anything, found herself uncaring to the king. Her apprentice never really cared for the king at all anyway.

That night, however, they still couldn’t sleep. They still wondered what could have happened to prompt this, so they looked out the window. What if the king really did love them, and this was their fault? No, that couldn’t be the case. Perhaps they’d see a crow outside, something to ground them in reality.

However, they didn’t see that. Instead, they saw… something slowly moving, for walking or even stepping didn’t feel right, through the street, rope around their neck. They couldn’t make out a single other feature, but enough was enough, and they could read context clues, they were not sticking around any longer. The town was going mad, and the apprentice and the doctor could not do anything about it. They had to leave, they had to. They panicked, putting on their mask, before they ran downstairs in an attempt to get their superior out with them…

The doctor was dead. Simply lying there, throat slit. Knife next to her. Blood was everywhere around her. Far too much blood for this type of wound.

The apprentice was horrified, and ran outside. It didn’t matter how, they had to get out of here as quickly as possible, and never look back. They’d mourn later.

But as they ran, they heard something behind them. Something was chasing them, but that wasn’t what they heard. It must have been floating, as they could also hear faint sounds of wind. No, the apprentice heard the thing talk. The voice sounded like a wind chime, neutral and sing-song. The apprentice didn’t want to listen to what it was saying. It clearly had bad intentions.

“THIS IS MY KINGDOM NOW. ACCEPT YOUR DESTINY AND TURN AROUND.”

The apprentice just kept running, and running, and not turning back. This wasn’t a home anymore. They didn’t know anything about the thing, but they knew the thing didn’t have good intentions. They knew their kingdom wouldn’t be a good place to be. Especially with the blood they felt on the ground.

And they did it. They ran all the way out. Perhaps they were tired, perhaps they thought they were safe, but they looked back. They’d never been anywhere else before.

A chain wrapped around their torso. Knocking them down, pulling them back into the kingdom, back with that… thing.

“YOU FOOLISH, FOOLISH CREATURE. YOUR DYING BLOOD WILL FLOW TO THE HIDDEN ONE, AND YOU SOUL WILL ROT IN YOUR COT FOREVERMORE. NO ONE WILL REMEMBER YOU. IT IS YOUR PURPOSE.”

The apprentice was terrified, they really were, but they didn’t show it. They knew damn well that no matter where this was going, they would die. But they knew the thing wanted them to bleed as they died. So maybe, if they died bloodlessly, they’d be safe from the… thing. They didn’t know, but they didn’t want this thing to have their soul. If they were right, perhaps they’d be somewhere safe, far away from this thing. Perhaps their mom would be there. Their knowledge of anatomy left them with one real option now, even if they were scared to die. It was on their own terms, at least.

Before the apprentice could fully be dragged back into the town, they wrapped their shaking hands around their own neck, and turned it as hard as they could.

“...what do you mean by finding myself? I’ve always known myself!” Dyo smiled, trying to ignore how much he only remembered after waking up here. That didn’t mean he wasn’t the same old Dyo. The entity’s head tilted.

“Alagadda used to not be a dream-state pocket world. It was a kingdom here once, until the Ambassador appeared. He changed people into caricatures of themselves obsessed with the king. Take yourself, for instance.” Dyo wasn’t smiling anymore. He could remember it now, figments of what Alagadda was. Blue sky. Their friend, the king’s child, a child around his age at the time, who he was close with, but disappeared one day, and then everything was foggy.

“When I knew you, you loved theater so much. You were so happy, I remember your smile so well, even after all this time. You wanted to be an actor. You became the court jester instead, suddenly obsessed with the king. It took a toll on you. You were miserable the last time I saw you, and when we met again today, I assumed you were warped so much that you were just… gone.”

Dyo remembered a lot more as they said this. The theater. There was a theater, where no actors killed themselves at the end. Where dying in the play didn’t mean anything for you. He had wanted to be there, with the actors themselves. They seemed to be having so much fun, and he’d practice his silly little improvised monologues to his friend. His friend, his only friend at the time…

They still couldn’t remember who this entity was. Strange. Maybe if he played his cards right, he could get the entity to jog his memory…

“I missed you. I mourned you. I, I should stop. This is a lot to take in-”

“No, please continue. Who, who was I, to you?”

It didn’t matter, it didn’t matter, it didn’t have to matter! The king doubted this kid even existed, they didn’t have to be in the kingdom. It wouldn’t affect the plan at all. They were entirely optional, and had willingly thrown away a chance at eternity. Strange. They did not accept the purpose of being locked away forever. So they left the child to rot away, feasted on by bugs and crows.

The king was hanging at their throne again, twitching, faint breaths, but no words. The three lords and the court jester each also hanged in a different corner of the court, each noose done too tight, blood dripping from their necks. The Ambassador held up a golden cup, and blood, all of the blood throughout the entire kingdom, flowed into it. The Ambassador went to the twitching, shaking king, who began to slowly reach for the figure.

“WITH THESE, THEIR BLOOD, IT IS THE HANGED KING’S.”

They held up the cup for the king, who held it himself. He held the cup behind his veil, to his small, rotting lips. He began to sip from the cup.

And then he dropped it.

“...We were close, very close.” The entity said. Dyo simply waited for them to continue, but they didn’t.

“...And…”

“My apologies. I tend not to dwell on the past, considering how warped the kingdom has become, so I tend not to talk about it. No one has heard of the kingdom anyway.”

“Heh. Strange that I can’t remember you though. Can you turn into a bird or something?” the entity let out the smallest of laughs.

“No, no, I just was successful in leaving my old life behind.”

In all fairness, Dyo wasn’t entirely honest anymore. His disappeared friend and this mysterious person claiming to have been his friend… it couldn’t entirely be a coincidence. But something felt… off. Something else happened. This wasn’t just an Alagaddan who left, something changed about them. Sure, there was no influence from the Ambassador, but there was something else Dyo couldn’t put a metaphorical finger on. Maybe if they played their cards right, he could get the figure to reveal it. Reveal if they could be friends again.

“Well then, what’s your new life like? This boring old cave doesn’t really jog the imagination, you know?” Maybe they’d give away a God or two with the details.

“I seek to cure the pestilence.”

“For anyone in particular?”

“Humanity.”

“...Why, though?”

“I believe that curing such a horrible ailment is simply the right thing to do, and it is why I am still here.”

Ok this wasn’t going anywhere. Why they are still here, though…

“What do you mean, why you’re still here? What happened to you?”

The hanged king was dead, the hanged king was alive. The kingdom was dead, the kingdom was alive. No one was truly dead, and the only one truly alive was the Ambassador, the real one in control. Everything was on repeat. Everyone would go through the motions of partying, drinking, forever and ever. The kingdom didn’t exist and it did exist. It was somewhere else. No one back on Earth remembered it.

Everyone would go through their motions, like a play, of sorts. Everyone had their roles to play. The lords walked with the people, and the king wrigged and withered chained on his throne, but the Ambassador was the one in charge. It was like a dream for them. Everyone only remembered what they wanted them to remember, and that didn’t include that child.

That child… the Ambassador barely thought about them. They were dead. They were dead, and they’d never know what the kingdom became. That was that.

The Ambassador was intelligent. They knew everything that had gone done in the walls of the kingdom, the many that entered, the few who’d left. They had trapped another goddess, one of the moon, in a cycle of trying to destroy the king, being attacked and almost killed by them, before returning to the sky to rest, before coming down again once per year. They even had found a use for the prison meant to contain that child, keeping the bird who’d betrayed the queen in there before repeating the cycle. They knew a lot.

But they were not entirely correct about that child.

“Whatever do you mean by that, Dyo?”

“It sounds like something should’ve killed you, but didn’t. Whatever happened-”

“Enough about me. I am afraid I have come across much more selfish than I truly am, I do not wish to dwell any more on me, let alone my past.”

“No, no. Tell me what happened. Now.” Dyo was getting impatient. This being clearly was hiding something. Dyo didn’t like when things were hidden. He needed to know it all.

“No.”

“I don’t think you know what’s really happened to me, do you? I… I am royalty these days! You better explain exactly who you are now!” Dyo forced the body up, and stared down the being. They didn’t look like much, muscle-wise.

“No.”

“You have no one, do you? That’s why you’re all alone here. No one would miss you if I were to-”

The entity ripped the mask right off the body, cutting Dyo off.

“I really let myself hope…” it said. Its eyes were filled with fire. But now, Dyo felt a bit more… comfortable here. He could speak in the entity’s mind.

“How rude. I bet if your father cared about you he’d be very disappointed.”

Dyo couldn’t really see where the entity was taking him, but that remark seemed to make them go faster. Seemed to, as they were rather slow either way.

“Why are you gripping me so hard? I thought we were friends!”

“We were, yes. You have made it clear that we are not now.” They did loosen up a bit though. Nice to know Dyo had found a way under their skin.

“Didn’t you miss me?”

“Yes, and I still do. Here we are.”

They were back in that field. A couple of dark birds flew off as they arrived. Maybe they were the same ones from before, maybe not.

The entity left him on the ground, face down, before beginning to leave. Dyo could not believe this rudeness!

“Hey, don’t leave me like this! At least let me see the stars!”

The entity didn’t respond.

It all started unlike how most stories do, with a young human snapping their own neck in a final act of defiance towards a God. Said God had then returned to their kingdom, but the human had woken up somewhere else.

Said somewhere wasn’t too different from the place they left, but there were more trees, and there was no kingdom. Or was there? It was very dark, the person couldn’t tell. Was this what death was like? They slowly got up, putting a hand on a tree. No reason to stay here all alone, when they could explore this strange world. …Until he heard a coo behind him.

Turning around, they saw someone. A crow. The person let out a small smile.

“Hello,” Said the human. After everything that happened that night, it was nice to see something, anything familiar. They sat down in front of the crow.

And then it wasn’t a crow. It was a being wearing shadows like a robe over their pale body. Its gray eyes stared into the person, into all they ever were. Horrible and beautiful.

“Oh.” The human did not react with fear, or even shock. Strangely, the figure still brought them comfort. Perhaps the being had been there their whole life, under the appearance of the crow. Perhaps it was some sort of guardian angel. Or perhaps it was one strange coincidence. It didn’t matter anymore.

“GREETINGS.” A voice akin to if whispers in the darkness spoke loudly instead came from the thing.

The two simply sat there for a bit. Until they began to talk again. About the kingdom, and about the thing that warped it in its own image. About the thing that drove it. About the curse that was still in the human’s blood, even if they escaped the kingdom. Even if their mind was clean. This burning red malice, it still lingered in the kingdom. In humanity. And whether they liked it or not, the human was a part of this now.

A deal was struck there. The king was never correct about their child’s identity, they were never some spreader of disease sent by the brothers to torment the king. They were merely a child who wanted to help the people of Alagadda. But they were not a mere child anymore, and the people of Alagadda could not be helped anymore either. They were consumed by a plague of madness, one the human could never hope to stop with what they currently knew.

So, the human would perfect a cure to the madness of spilt blood, eradicate it, and then they would return to the darkness they were in now. Or die trying. This was to be the human’s purpose, to cleanse the red-stained madness, one they took without hesitation. Only once it was gone, or if the physical burden on their rotten form grew too much, should they return here. To be a savior, to free the people of Alagadda, and help this… thing, that the king was wrong to use as an insult, who was better family than the king. This was something that the human accepted.

…Oh, who am I kidding?

They were not human anymore.

Come on, where was it? They knew it was somewhere in this journal- aw, there it was, right at the beginning. A simple list of names. Not every name, just the ones they could remember. A collection of them, lined up neatly. So many still unaccounted for.

The people of Alagadda. All gone from life and from memory. They couldn’t hope to remember every single name, but they put the ones they could here, as a memorial. It was necessary, since they were the only one who could mourn Alagadda.

They had hesitated at first, reading his name again, but it was needed at this point. His name was one of the first ones written, as the memories of him were some of the fresher, even now. They were close once, very close. But he changed. Sure, the kingdom changed everyone, but once away from the kingdom, he was still much more cruel. They did not wish for any part of this man to be remembered anymore, but they couldn’t just erase it. They couldn’t erase that boy who saw he was having a bad day and created poetry on the spot just to make them feel better, playing in the flowers, laughing together…

The doctor crossed out Dyo’s name. Never again, not even in death. Never ever, ever again. That boy was gone.

…Though, they figured the old them was gone too. They were not a quiet child worried about a father who never looked at him with love. They couldn’t care less about the king anymore. They were helping people now. They were untraceable to the kingdom now, no one needed to know, no one, no one.

No matter. It still hurt, just how much the two had grown apart. Perhaps it was meant to be, the two being driven apart. Maybe they should’ve stopped being sentimental and smashed the damned mask to smithereens.

This was why they didn’t sleep that night. What if Dyo came back? What if somehow, he saw the light? Or what if he came back to attack them again, and they had another chance to crush him?

But all throughout the night, Dyo did not return. It was quiet. Under different circumstances, they believed it would have been calming. But they couldn’t relax, Dyo could show up again, or someone sick could show up at their door needing help.

But as the sun rose, no one showed up. A part of them was sad Dyo didn’t show up again, but they buried that part of themselves. Their time as a child, as an allagadan, ended centuries ago. They were a professional, a doctor, they couldn’t keep thinking about the past, there were people they needed to save.

[meme-streets]

gbu playlists director's commentary

@trifoliate-undergrowth asked and now i am going to give the full track by track breakdown + general commentary because i have been waiting for someone to give me an excuse

(be warned before opening, this is long as hell)

overview

ended up making all of them 21 songs long–no particular reason for the number, it just worked out that way. i didn't originally intend for playlist times to matter, but when i realizes blondie's and tuco's could fit onto a cd, i fiddled with angel eyes's to cut down the length as well (specifically by dropping "riders on the storm" and replacing it with "people are strange"). i do definitely intend to burn these at some point; i'm thinking i'm going to start them each with the respective character's variant of the main theme and end them with the quotes i put in the descriptions. i structured blondie and tuco's by starting and ending each with a townes van zandt song. i had originally intended to do the same with angel eyes, but i couldn't find any townes songs i liked for him; i briefly considered starting and ending with the johnny cash songs instead, but i didn't like how that would've flowed, so i discarded the idea entirely. my main priority was getting things to flow musically well, but i did want certain themes in certain places.

breakdown: il buono

"where i lead me", townes van zandt: the opening verse especially.  “where i lead me, i will follow / where i need me, i will call me / i’m no fool, i’ll be ready / god knows i will be / and in the meantime make a little money / and buy a little mercy.”  really this is a blondie/tuco or even general gbu song, especially “or you can clench your fist, shake your head, and head to the country / i got no doubt about it, friends, that’s where they’ll find me” as tuco tracking blondie down for revenge.  i felt the vibe suited blondie best.

"elements and things," tony joe white: mostly my joking reference to the clint squint with “i would, but the sun’s in my eyes.”  that said, the music itself has the right vibe for him–makes me imagine him riding through the countryside–and the grandeur of it seems to suit him.  “you lay back and think about things,” too.

“the changeling,” the doors: “i’ve had money, and i’ve had none, but i’ve never been so broke that i couldn’t leave town.”  and also, blondie as a changeling, impossible to know or define or pin down.

“call me the breeze,” jj cale: a desert breeze, untethered, tied down to nothing?  “i ain’t got me nobody, i ain’t carryin’ me no load”?  that’s blondie to a tee (or he’d like it to be, anyway).

“spoonful,” willie dixon: a parallel with tuco, who has the howlin’ wolf version.  “could be a spoonful of water, to save you from the desert sand / but one spoon of lead from my 45 will save you from another man.”  this version strikes me as a little more romantic/sincere with the piano and dixon’s crooning vocals, and it also doesn’t mention gold like the wolf version, something i think blondie cares less about by the end.

“walk away,” tom waits: walking away, aka blondie’s favorite pastime.  “i always get out of the trouble i’m in.”  also, “a yellow dog knows when he has sinned” reminds me of him abandoning tuco and then being marched through the desert for it.

“secret intention,” the william loveday intention: blondie at sad hill specifically.  the religious overtones of both song and scene especially.  the ritual of it all.  the treachery.

“dancing with mr. d,” the rolling stones: another sad hill song.  it opens with “down in the graveyard where we have our tryst,” for god’s sake.  playing with blondie as an otherworldly and sinister figure.  “he never smiles, his mouth merely twists.”  not entirely true of him, but evocative.

“calling card,” rory gallagher: “whatever you do, brother, don’t show that hurt.”  i almost put this on tuco’s before ultimately switching it to blondie; he strikes me as being lonely deep down, and determined not to let on.  if you like, think of it as him advising tuco.

“the spy,” the doors: “i know the words you want to hear / i know your deepest, secret fear.”  finding out tuco’s secret(s).  also, “a spy in the house of love” just feels right for blondie.

“fire of love,” jody reynolds: “the sun beats down with its fiery glow  / knows i won’t see my love no more / i’m sorry for the things that i’ve done / forgive me dear, my only one.”  the desert!  also, the general idea of being burned/hurt by love strikes me as appropriate.  i think it hurts him, in a way, that he loves tuco.

“waiting for the sun,” the doors: mostly vibes, but the image of “it’s time to live in the scattered sun” reminded me of him for some reason, and the “waiting for you to come along / waiting for you to hear my song / waiting for you to tell me what went wrong” made me think of him and tuco (every gun makes its own tune, the ending).

“written in your hair,” robert lester folsom: this one is mostly vibes, and also something something buried gold/golden hair, but also “you can’t do a thing if you ain’t there” reminds me of him.

“don’t let me be misunderstood,” the animals: pretty self explanatory; he’s cruel perhaps without always wanting to be.  also, “no one alive can always be an angel / when things go wrong i seem to be bad” reminiscent of the missed shot and his subsequent ditching tuco in the desert.  a sort of apology.

“all along the watchtower,” bob dylan: a very blondie & tuco song to me.  the second verse especially.  “there are many here among us who feel that life is but a joke / but you and i, we've been through that, and this is not our fate / so let us not talk falsely now, the hour is getting late.”  tuco’s near hangings and blondie’s near death in the desert (but you and i we’ve been through that), and the exchange of the secret at the bridge (so let us not talk falsely now, the hour is getting late); ironically, blondie lies.

“hunger child blues,” townes van zandt: one of THE top blondie songs to me.  i almost ended with this one for the “do you think that you know my name?” but it didn’t flow well.  it’s ethereal, and a little threatening, like him.

“(ghost) riders in the sky,” johnny cash: also on sentenza’s, who has the ronnie dawson cover.  i wanted to lean into the supernatural aspect, and “cowboy, change your ways today, or with us you will ride” felt apt.  i actually liked the dawson version better for blondie but the cash version flows very well musically.

“wand’rin’ star,” lee marvin: from paint your wagon.  if the title itself isn’t convincing enough, “i’ve never seen a sight that didn’t look better looking back.” 

“don’t fence me in,” clint eastwood: pretty self explanatory.  had to pick the clint cover for obvious reasons.

“state trooper,” bruce springsteen: “maybe you got a kid, maybe you got a pretty wife / the only thing that i got’s been botherin’ me my whole life” immediately makes me think of him.  as does “hi-ho, silver-o, deliver me from nowhere” and the echoing cries at the end.  the crushing loneliness of the open road.

“snake song,” townes van zandt: the other top blondie song to me.  “you can’t hold me, i’m too slippery / i do no sleepin’, i get lonely / you can touch me if you want to / but i got poison, i just might bite you.”  that’s blondie, baby.  the line “lie in circles on the sunlight” is also very evocative and “i’ll be there when you start sinkin’” reminds me of the ending.

breakdown: il brutto

"lungs", townes van zandt: another general gbu song, but “salvation sat and crossed herself and called the devil partner” makes me think of him and pablo.  “jesus was an only sun and love his only concept / strangers cry in foreign tongues and dirty up the doorstep” makes me think of his relationship with blondie, given their weird interplay as jesus and judas at various points.  as a bonus, “seal the river at its mouth, take the water prisoner / fill the sky with screams and cries, bathe in fiery answer” gives me branston bridge vibes also.

"wanted dead or alive," warren zevon: pretty self explanatory just from the title, but i thought "all i'm trying to do is find a peaceful place / but they say i have an outlaw's face" is particularly apt.  that, and the parallel of "fifteen states" to tuco being wanted in fifteen counties.

“do it again,” steely dan: “but the hangman isn’t hangin’, so they put you on the street.”  any song with a noose in it is a tuco song to me, especially if said noose is escaped, but the rest of the lyrics fit well too–revenge, trouble with the law, water in the desert, seduction and lost love (the wives!), gambling, making money.

“black widow blues,” townes van zandt: “i got the hands, pretty lady, gonna make you grieve / and the lovin’ gonna make you mine.”  a specific kind of drifting, hedonistic romanticism that suits him, i think.  something something a wife in every town.

“ventilator blues,” the rolling stones: “when you’re trapped and circled with no second chance / code of livin’ is your gun in hand / can’t be browed by beatin’, can’t be cowed by words / messed by cheatin’, ain’t gon’ ever learn.”  the line about “everybody's trying to step on their creator” and the opening verse about being agitated and beat down.

“goin’ out west,” tom waits: “they got some money out there, they’re giving it away” and “all my friends say i’m ugly, i got a masculine face.”  i feel like the braggadocio and the musical sound of it suits him.

“highway chile,” jimi hendrix: “now you’d probably call him a tramp, but i think it goes a little deeper than that”–tuco calls himself a tramp on the wagon.  “ain’t seen a bed in so long it’s a sin.”

“born under a real bad sign,” albert king: pretty self explanatory.  “if it wasn’t for real bad luck, i wouldn’t have no luck at all.”  that’s tuco, baby.  i used king’s original over the cream cover namely because of the line “i can’t read, never learned how to write.”

“laundromat,” rory gallagher: “what do you think of that? / i’m sleepin’ down at the laundromat” and the line about “come and meet my friends, they’ll be with me to the end” reminds me of his “if you work for a living, why do you kill yourself working?” scene

“who do you love,” townes van zandt: the morbid, boastful lyrics and themes of seduction suited tuco very well imo.  i love bo diddley but i picked the townes cover as i felt it fit better musically.

“brown eyed handsome man,” chuck berry: the braggadocio and the romanticization of brown eyes fits already, but the line about the judge’s wife setting a man free especially caught my attention, because it seems like it would happen to tuco (or he’d make up a story about it, anyway).

“hate street dialogue,” rodríguez: the song’s about growing up in inner city detroit, but it fits well, i think, with tuco’s line “where we come from, if one did not want to die in poverty, one became a priest or a bandit.”  also, “i’ve tasted hate street’s hanging tree.”

“snake mountain blues,” townes van zandt: the general lost love, “no one to care for me” thing, but also: “and it’s goodbye to this yellow-headed misery i’ve known.”  remind you of anyone?

“should’ve learnt my lesson,” rory gallagher: never learning, and “my first mistake was when i thought that you’d be true / now i realize that was a foolish thing to do” as everything with blondie.  “when you don’t fit, you know that’s the time to move.”  “you must be prepared to lose if you choose to toss the dice.”

“just a bum,” michael hurley: a wistful, romantic take on the life of a hedonistic drifter.  “just a tramp / call me what you like / see me travelin’ down the pike / and singin’ love songs / sittin’ by the fireside dreamin’ all night / makin’ love drunk in a meadow ‘neath the pale moonlight / travelin’ over land like a natural born man.”

“paper mountain man,” linda perhacs: the chorus, the line about “sewn by the love many ladies’ hands” and “you like delicate ladies with real fine skin / you’ll touch ‘em but you’ll never love / that’s the way you’ve always been,” the line about curly hair.  “heavy-booted walk tappin’ low funk blues” also feels fitting for reasons i can’t quite describe. 

“spoonful,” howlin’ wolf: also on blondie’s, who has the willie dixon version.  this version mentions gold, which is apt, and i think the mentions of being satisfied with just a little love work more ironically here than for blondie.  something about all this strife over a little wealth (before the gold comes along anyway...)

“driftin’ blues,” lowell fulson: “well i’m drifting and i’m drifting like a ship out to sea / ain’t got nobody in this world to care for me.”  need i say more?

“get behind the mule,” tom waits: one of the best suited songs for him, imo.  “i’m diggin' all the way to china with a silver spoon while the hangman fumbles with the noose”–sad hill!  but also, the idea of “you've got to get behind the mule in the morning and plow” is about how it goes for him.  he's just got to endure.  blondie leaves him in the desert seventy miles from town and tells him to manage it, so he does.  what else is he supposed to do?

“dirge,” bob dylan: this is the other peak tuco song for me.  the verse that starts “can’t recall a useful thing” which i made a web weave out of, but also, “i’ve paid the pride of solitude, but at least i’m out of debt.”

“rake,” townes van zandt: i wanted to end on kind of a grim note because there’s something very tragic about tuco as a character to me.  he ends the movie alive and with the gold, yes, but humiliated and abandoned by his partner.  reminds me of his relationship with pablo, too: “have you accomplished anything but evil?”  his drifting and hedonism can only take him so far before his past catches up with him eventually.

breakdown: il cattivo

"dead before dawn", vaguess: “please burn my rotting flesh / and don’t give me a grave / buy yourself something nice / with the money that you save / cause i’ll be gone”.  sad hill!

"sinister purpose," ccr: THE angel eyes song to me.  “burn away the goodness, you and i remain / did you see the last war? well here i am again.”  specifically, angel eyes to blondie.

"big in japan," tom waits: this one's all about the "i've got the [blank], but not the [blank]" structure.  as in, the cemetery, but not the grave–which could go for all of them, but i felt this fit sentenza best given he's trying to get both of these things; tortures it out of and forces a partnership on blondie since he suspects torture won't work on him.  that, and the "i've got the whole damn nation on its knees."

"people are strange," the doors: a time-constrained replacement for "riders on the storm," which i felt would’ve really suited him with the sinisterness of it and the thing about the drifting killer.  regardless, i think the idea of being cruel and apart from other people as a self-reinforcing cycle feels pretty fitting.

"thirteen," johnny cash: a song about a nameless killer.  “bad luck wind been blowin' at my back / i  was born to bring trouble to wherever i'm at” and “the list of lives i’ve broken reach from here to hell.”

"sympathy for the devil," the rolling stones: a song about a sophisticated devil?  come on, that’s angel eyes for sure.  i think “so if you meet me have some courtesy / have some sympathy and some taste / use all your well-learned politesse / or i’ll lay your sole to waste” is very fitting especially.

"whistlin’ past the graveyard," tom waits: this could've gone for any of the trio, honestly, but i picked angel eyes as this specific brand of sinister, supernatural braggadocio seemed to suit him best.

"i’m the devil," the william loveday intention: i feel like this one’s just self explanatory, to be honest.

"old judge jones," les dudek: one of my early adds; his (italian) name’s sentenza, after all, so i’m a sucker for pairing him with any song about judges/judgment.  “old judge jones never gave a man a break / on his hanging tree the leaves don’t shake.”

"the snake," al wilson: the theme of accepting someone else’s help and then crossing them because “you knew darn well i was a snake before you brought me in” feels very right for him.  something with how he betrays tuco.  hell, this could be a blondie song too.

"money talks," jj cale: “you’d be surprised with the friends you can buy with small change.”  the goons he hires.

"dead man, dead man," bob dylan: a tuco’s-eye-view of angel eyes, specifically.  the lines about “the glamor and the bright lights and the politics of sin,” “the tuxedo that you’re wearing, the flower in your lapel,” and the choruses with lines like “pretending that you’re so smart” and “what are you trying to prove?”–all his false sophistication and arrogance covering that he’s just another lowdown coward.

"hoist that rag," tom waits: the horrors of war (specifically, the prison camp stuff).

"wolf teeth," jd mcpherson: “i leave a little magic every place i go” (the inhuman vibes of him) and “leave a little blood so the grass can’t grow.”

"rotten to the core," the builders and the butchers: while i initially listened to this song assuming it was about a guy who sucked, it’s about seeing the world as an inherently cruel and dangerous place–which, funnily enough, i think also fits pretty well.  case in point, when he tries to justify his brutality to that prison camp official by claiming they have to have “respect.”

"bad seed sown," the bellfuries: “the kinda people hip to my kind of evil / are few and far between / it lurks, it lies, it feeds on cries / it’s sophisticated and mean.”  self explanatory.  additionally, “there won’t be omens or signs / just a smile and a line / then the swing of the axe”–betraying tuco.

"love of hate," st. john green: sad hill.  this one’s partly just vibes.  “shall die alone, without privilege of a stone” does fit nicely.

"riders in the sky," ronnie dawson: also on blondie’s, who has the johnny cash version, so i ended up using this for angel eyes.  blondie may have changed his ways, but angel eyes doesn’t, and he strikes me as the type not to stay dead and buried.  i just like the idea of him as a ghost.

"god’s gonna cut you down," johnny cash: the delicious irony of sentenza as a figure of judgment, and of him being then cut down by blondie (golden haired angel).

"the werewolf song," michael hurley: a slightly softer, sentimental take on the violence, if that makes any sense.  vibes mostly.  i wonder if he ever gets lonely.

"death don’t have no mercy (live)," hot tuna: reminds me very strongly of his intro at stevens’s place; “he comes to your house and he won’t stay long / you look in the bed and somebody will be gone.”  felt this was a good, grim note to end on, and i felt the hot tuna cover fit very well musically.

[universestreasures]

Chasing Shadows Verse Mokuba KS Bio

Note 1: This verse is a non-closed (meaning it's open to all mutuals) canon-divergent alternate universe based off a what-if scenario that branches off from my post-DSOD verse. That setup allows for anyone who chooses to interact with this verse to have it be connected to any of our interactions prior to this point in time, have it be not connected at all, or even allow for interactions in the alternative timeline (because this verse does involve time travel). This can be discussed at the individual level and all interactions in this verse will be separate in it's own canon with each mun unless specified by a storyline tag, as with any open verse. Note 2: This verse is very, very dark by design. It will explore themes of grief, death, survivor's guilt, regret, hatred, and more. Things will be kept at the PG-13 level, as per this blog's rules, but just be aware of that going in.

Character Description:

Name: KS, aka Kaiba Shadow (Mokuba Kaiba)

Age: 20

Hair: Long & Auburn via a wig (Short & Black)

Eyes: Cobalt (Purple)

Height: 6'1 (assisted by robotic legs. Actual height is 5'6)

Build: Lean, Athletic.

Position: CEO of Kaiba Corporation

Clothing: The spitting image of the card Kaibaman; features a white coat, blue-eyes themed helmet mask, a blue-eyes themed duel disk, tall black boots with hidden robotics to make him taller, and locket necklace with a bloody photo of a young Seto Kaiba inside.

Voice Claim: Kenjiro Tsuda (Voice Filter), Hiro Shimono (Normal Voice)

Deck: Chaos Blue-Eyes

Ace Monster: Dragon Magia Master

FC: Kaibaman (Masked), Seiya Ryuuguuin (Unmasked)

Story Description:

The Dimension Duel System was an untested system that had risks associated with it's use. That was something Seto Kaiba knew before trying to use it to reach the afterlife, but despite his genius and power, he wasn't able to overcome the strain such a thing would have on his body. For when he did end up returning to the land of the living, only...his corpse made it back, devastating the lives of all who knew him, especially his younger brother, who wasn't able to stop him from leaving and was now forced to continue on without his only family.

With the CEO of the company now dead, Mokuba had no choice but to take command. The burden of filling the shoes of a legendary man on a grieving child was immeasurable, but he was determined to do it. To continue his brother's legacy, Mokuba decides to shun his existence. He decides to become what the company, the world, needs: his brother and not him.

Aided by Kaiba Corp's technology and utilizing the persona of the character Mokuba had initially created for Kaibaland, Mokuba becomes KS, dawning an outfit similar to his brother's and a mask equipped with a voice filter that would make him sound identical. He, the shadow of Seto Kaiba, casted his own identity aside to become the one he lost for the sake of the future. He no longer went by Mokuba, not even among his closest friends or even Isono or Yugi. And if addressed that way, he'd lash out in anger comparable to that of his brother's. In fact, the persona he dawns was more than just looking and sounding like his brother. Mokuba's own personality had shifted, becoming cold, isolated, and always angry and frustrated. It was as much a necessity as it was a coping mechanism to deal with his grief. Though, he didn't accept this new reality, much like his brother wouldn't if things were reversed. Most of his time is spent locked away in Seto's old lab, trying to develop a solution to fix things. Bringing his brother back via revival didn't appear to be possible after running countless simulations, and even upon perfecting the original tech and going to the afterlife, his brother was not there. The only solution then was to prevent this event from ever occurring, even at the cost of his current life, via time travel.

7 long years are spent perfecting and upgrading the Duel Dimension System to the Time Duel System. It utilizes both the Millennium Cube in combination with advanced tech and aid from the parallel Buddyfight World Star Dragon World via his connection to Tasuku Ryuenji. Once completed, KS doesn't hesitate to go back in time in hopes of preventing his brother's death and changing the future. He won't let anyone, not even his brother or his younger self or anyone else he knows or loves, stand in his way. He doesn't care what he has to do. He will change the future to ensure his brother will live on. That isn't a promise. That's a fact.

[apis-floreaa]

Hello! Could I have description of who my Main Guardian Angel is? Thank you! Though I sensing he's a Male? N.V.W.

Cards: 2 of swords, 4 of pentacles

I am not well versed in angels but I’m getting the vibes of someone who is helping with decisions closely, steering you towards the right path. A male or genderless. Very protective. Could be an angel of high standing in their respective area. I’m sensing someone who is quiet and guides with very little. I’m not getting a very specific description, like they feel hidden from me I’m just sensing the general vibes. I’m sorry, I hope this helps some.

[dragonbleps]

Which tarot card best represents Dalamus?

Easy! I actually drew a tarot card for Dal a loooong time ago!

That said, I only looked into the Major Arcana group of cards. I know there's a lot more, and I only know them in a superficial manner.

But my answer is The Hanged Man!

Key words for the Hanged Man include: Surrender, letting go, and new perspectives. As well as resistance, stalling, and indecision.

The description that made me choose The Hanged Man was this:

The Hanged Man signifies that your situation may best be improved by letting go. This can involve a sacrifice of something you love in favor of your best interest, or it may mean that your struggle to manipulate and control things has made your situation worse. The action you should take in this case is to choose to be passive. When you relax and let events unfold, rather than second-guessing others and their motivations, you discover the true meaning behind the scenario. The Hanged Man can indicate that you should do the opposite of what you would typically do, or what would be expected of you.

Dalamus, in almost all verses, has a habit of wanting control, of himself, of others, of how people perceive him, of his environment. Relaxing and letting things happen is very difficult for him. He also holds onto his his past and his way of thinking with claws rather tightly. And this often causes problems! Resisting change creates inflexibility and makes new experiences difficult, and it creates schisms when trying to form bonds.

For TES Dal, he improved his life when he let go of the past, when he forgave himself for what he had done wrong, so that he could focus on improving himself.

For BG3 Dal, he has yet to take this leap, still clinging to rigidity and his previous life in Menzoberranzan. He has yet to accept that he cannot go back, and this makes moving forward more difficult and painful.

I'm sure it applies to Modern Dal, too, I just haven't thought of the details.

[inner-viper]

What are their kinks? Their sexual intimacy? An overview of their sex life FS (18+ ONLY) PILE 3! (PART1)

ORIGINAL POST HERE

Hello, my name is Viper and I am an intutive seer/oralce tarot reader. I am well versed in finding information through divination and using my intuition~ Today I wanted to do a spicy topic because its so fun. I haven't started explaining some piles and I already feel the heat. Damn, a lot of passion and fiery enegy in this reading.. Its making me horny LMFAO. THIS TOOK ME 2 DAYS AND I WAS NOT EXPECTING FOR IT TO TAKE THIS LONG. All three of these piles wanted me to do MORE DETAILS. My channeling DRAINED ME. That’s why I took so long because afterwards THEY SUCKED MY ENERGY. (Do not worry, I just received loads of messages. It gets overwhelming). Anyways, remember nothing is set in stone. This is for entertainment purposes only. NO MINORS. 18+ ONLY.

TW: MENTIONS OF KNIFE PLAY, and CHOKING. SEXUAL CONTENT!!

CHECK OUT MY SHOP AT: https://innerviper.etsy.com

I’ll be adding cheaper options in the future. I will be updating descriptions too, so SHOP WILL HAVE A NEW LOOK🔥.

Classical Tarot Deck: Three of Cups, King of Pentacles, Page of Cups, Page of Wands, Queen of Pentacles, Justice (in reverse), Ten of Pentacles (in reverse), The Tower

Oracle Deck: The Thinking Woman, Deceit, Yin/Yang, Goddess of The Moon, Community, Victory (in reverse), Envy, Man Holding a Coin, Archangel Micheal/Root Chakra (THIS EXTRA CARD WENT FLYING).

Ok, GUYS, THIS PERSON IS A SWITCH. THEY CRAZY ASF. They definitely are into threesomes, that’s a fantasy of theirs. They probably want to be surrendered by multiple people. Specifically 2 girls, for some 2 men. I also see that they can BOTH DOM AND SUB. This person knows exactly how to switch. They are fucking experienced well. They can please anyone. They will take it as a challenge if you say you never came before. (They going crazy, this person is a master at sex🫣). They firmly believe that sex is about letting loose and it’s a part of being human. They say fuck the taboos, they definitely don’t care about conservative views. They might have grown up with conservative views and this caused their sex life to manifest that way. I’m seeing that you, the one reading this, might have grown up with extremely conservative views as well. I think you guys might have issues with being intimate and vulnerable with another person. This person will make you open up to a heart-to-heart connection. During the act of making love, they will want you to give them their heart. To pour your honest feelings out, to lay there naked and bare in front of them. Honestly, it would be very sweet and passionate. I’m seeing that they will kiss you deeply and passionately. It will be very romantic, expect to feel loved by them. This will be a very intense experience honestly. They will probably either appear to be innocent and shy on the streets but in the sheets, they are nasty asf. (LITERALLY, THEIR APPEARANCE WILL BE THE OPPOSITE OF WHAT THEY ACTUALLY ARE LIKE LOLLL). You MIGHT be that way too. They will like how you will challenge them.

I think if you guys are innocent looking but freak on the sheets, then they will love that you bring this other side of them out. The dominant side of them will want to push you to extreme highs. They will love to chase after you. In bed, they are into changing positions constantly too. WORSHIPPING HERE IS BIG. They will worship you as a god/goddess. They will trail kisses all over you. They may like your feet because they think it’s beautiful. (I’m seeing an image of a dark skin woman with beautiful feet being kissed on their feet by their FS). I also see that once you guys are more comfortable, they will like your dominant side. I’m seeing that you definitely have a dominant side. They will think it’s so fucking hot when you command them to do something. I think people get confused about dominant and being submissive VS giving and receiving. Being dominant doesn’t necessarily mean you are the giver. (For some people who might read this and be like “What! no way!” LMFAO).

CLICK HERE FOR PT 2

(yes, i tried to fit it in one post with no intro and still couldn't upload.....)

Thank you for reading! Send suggestions and questions in the ask box!~

[sir-freminet-official]

A taciturn young man and an expert diver, his heart remains as innocent as the fairytales that never cease to absorb him.

—Description from the Official Website[1]

Personality

A reserved young man who is well-versed in diving. Beneath his distant, icy demeanor lies a pure heart bereft of all flaws.

—In-game character attributes and profile page text

Compared to his adoptive siblings Lyney and Lynette, Freminet is introverted, finding it very hard to speak with people he deems talkative, such as Estelle.[2] Freminet enjoys diving, finding the ocean a way to get away from the stress and express his feelings. Freminet has poor self-esteem, as he frequently believes himself to be useless outside of anything other than diving and tinkering with clockworks. He is also notably bad at lying.

He is attached to his mechanical penguin, Pers, who he hopes to modify so that it could fly one day. He also has an attachment to his diving helmet, which he kept even after acquiring his Vision as it allows him to block off outside noise and makes him feel safe.

Appearance

See also: Icy Skin

Freminet uses the medium male model. He has gray-blue eyes, dark navy eyelashes, pale, freckled skin, and pale blonde hair. His hair is choppy and neck length. Part of his bangs cover his left eye.

Official Introduction

Version 1

Alone under the cold light of stars

Did you see that? As the dove emerged from the hat, the corner of Freminet's mouth turned up very slightly. Imagine how he'd react if we could find a way to make a whole flock of them fly out! After all, as his big brother, it's my duty to make him laugh.

—Lyney winked as he discussed with Lynette after a rehearsal.

As the realm of Hydro, Fontaine's underwater vistas are positively breathtaking. But not everyone gets to enjoy this mysterious world beneath the waves. Even for those who have mastered the basics, diving can be full of peril to say the least. Among the ranks of able divers, Freminet is renowned for his outstanding professionalism, exceptional ability to stay focused, as well as his abundant maritime knowledge. It's just a shame that, as a classic lone wolf, he never accepts commissions from others.

As the younger brother of Fontaine's famous magical duo Lyney and Lynette, Freminet prefers to stay out of the limelight. Other people's gazes, responses, and comments make him uncomfortable and interrupt the rhythm of his breathing. He prefers instead to slip away and bask in the weightlessness of the ocean, pouring his heart out to a Romaritime Flower.

He looks indifferent, but in fact it's just that his passion never comes back up for air.

Version 2

Alone under the cold light of stars

You have two choices before you. You can either wallow in the past until you drown in its miseries... Or you can join hands with your 'family' and open your eyes again.

—Arlecchino

In his early years, Freminet always preferred to be alone. His unassuming appearance would make people drop their guard, which was something that the House of the Hearth used to their advantage, sending him in behind enemy lines to complete the missions they had assigned him swiftly and without mercy.

"All I have to do is put on my helmet, shut out the background noise, and carry out my orders." Freminet began to see himself as an unfeeling clockwork toy.

It was only later that the House of the Hearth changed into something else entirely. Under "Father's" orders, Freminet joined up with Lyney and Lynette to form their team of three at the Hotel Bouffes d'ete. At first, Freminet often felt at a complete loss.

It was almost as if they could read each other's minds, such was the tacit understanding between the pair of siblings. He felt like a spare part in comparison, worthy only of lying around in some dark corner, accumulating dust.

"Freminet, pay attention! What does this look like to you?"

"A... card with a picture of Pers on it?"

"Hehe, are you sure? It's Pers alright... Here you go, take him! Alright, your task this time is very tricky. I've prepared an especially crucial role for you and this little 'hero'! The plan is as follows..."

Freminet very rarely feels anything when he's carrying out his missions. But when they were celebrating their success, a smile crept onto his face after his first taste of one of the Hotel Debord's delicious desserts.

"Here, have mine too." said Lynette as she filled his cup with tea. "We're family."

Character Stories

Character Details

Whether you're a tourist visiting Fontaine for the first time or an adventurer who's set their heart on finding legendary treasures, you're sure to be captivated by the enchantments of the underwater world. But those who attempt to explore the depths without first undergoing rigorous training or making the necessary preparations are gambling with their lives. Treacherous underwater currents, unexpected bodily reactions, and monsters lurking in the deep... Peril always comes without knocking. Seeking the help of a professional diver is always a wise choice.

If you ask people who's the most talented diver around, you're likely to hear the name of Freminet. Even old veterans, bronzed and toughened by long exposure to the elements, never tire of lauding his skills. They speak not only of his familiarity with Fontaine's complex hydrological systems, but also of his prowess in coping with different underwater environments and seasonal conditions, as well as his expert control over his breathing. He seems to swim wherever he pleases — even through caverns deep down on the ocean floor, where no one else dares to venture...

When many people hear this, they suddenly think of something or other that Freminet could do for them. But no matter how great the promised rewards, the veterans always respond the same way – with a shake of the head and a regretful sigh.

"The boy wouldn't hear of it... He's a nice lad, just a bit too shy."

The conversation usually stops here.

As Freminet sees it, other people's compliments are as capricious as the weather. He finds it hard to fathom their true intentions, and is constantly worried that he'll put his foot in it by saying something wrong.

Perhaps his true friends are the Tidalga and Romaritime Flowers that he spends so much time with. They hold a much dearer place in his heart than do reputation and reward, which float around on the surface. When he dives, he stays silent for long periods of time in the company of his old friends, and lets the silence swallow up his fears and anxieties. In so doing, he lets out all the things weighing on his mind, all the things that he can't say to anyone else.

The reason he chose to dive was that simple — to find some peace and quiet, and escape everything happening in the world above.

Character Story 1

Item Companionship EXP Friendship Lv. 2

Even before he received his Vision, Freminet used to love wearing his diving helmet and exploring the underwater world like a penguin.

He was never a very talkative child, and whenever something upset him he would plunge into the ocean, leaving his worries on the dry land far above. Over time, the quiet seabed became like a cradle to him, somewhere where he could curl up and feel safe. As the rings of a tree grow outward with each passing year, so too did his curiosity for the underwater world. He listened to the ocean currents with his body, and with each breath grew closer to the water around him. He committed every aspect of Fontaine's hydrology to memory, as if he were memorizing roads around a new home, albeit with far more relish. Eventually, he discovered a place of extraordinary beauty which captured his heart, and built a little secret underwater base nearby. Here, he could let his sunken emotions shine forth with a radiance akin to that of a Lumitoile.

To this day, when faced with a particularly thorny problem, Freminet's first thought is to escape to this deep blue sanctuary — so vast and magnanimous that it could embrace all things.

Free, tranquil, safe, and content... If Freminet were to tell others how the underwater world makes him feel, he would most probably be met with more than a few raised eyebrows.

But Freminet would never do this. In his mind, this is his ocean, and his alone. These feelings, hidden deep in his heart, are like sunken treasures buried in the depths.

Character Story 2

Item Companionship EXP Friendship Lv. 3

In the eyes of an onlooker, Freminet doesn't have much of a presence, and comes across as cold almost to the point of being pessimistic. He's always silent, alone, and doesn't seem to enjoy the company of his peers. Compared to his older brother — the legendary Great Magician Lyney — Freminet seems as dull as a piece of old, soon-to-be-forgotten jewelry. But he doesn't care what they think.

A long time ago, Freminet began trying to strip away excess emotions to prevent his being affected by external pressures.

As if building an igloo in his heart, he piled up block after block until he had constructed a translucent refuge, and curled up inside. Clutching his knees, the only thing that gave him solace was reading fairytales.

If diving underwater was a way to steal a moment of peace, then sealing himself in a sanctuary of solid ice was actually a way to stay warm.

Freminet would only ever invite his closest "kin" in, and even then, he'd insist on tidying up first, making sure to lock his fairytales away.

By the time Freminet left, he'd already turned into a clockwork toy — exquisitely made, yet silent as ever.

He once found himself floating on his back upon the waters, unconcerned with his own safety, listening to the unknown songs of Violetgold Angler Gulls circling overhead. In hindsight, it was fortunate that they hadn't mistaken him for a fish...

It was in that moment that he discovered how easy it was to just let the currents carry him away.

No matter who was asking, and no matter what they wanted, as long as he followed orders unquestionably without a thought for the consequences — like an angler bringing home their catch — he would no longer have to face the endless cycle of castigation and punishment.

In the years that children from ordinary families ran about laughing, showing off the latest clockwork toys or picking up phrases from The Steambird, Freminet's heart was gradually becoming numb. Orders filled the void and became like a clockwork spring driving him forward.

He used to fantasize about turning into a cold, cruel machine, driven only by the imperative to execute commands. But as he matured, he became increasingly aware of his essential weakness. He wanted to leave emotions behind, but there were too many feelings that he couldn't just cast aside. They would always come back in the dead of night, suddenly gripping him like seaweed wrapping around his limbs. His habit of avoiding problems, his worry that he would not complete his tasks well, his fear of annoying people with his lack of enthusiasm, and his dread of disappointing others — those who meant something to him, most of all...

He wasn't an outstanding child, but he simply became hypersensitive to everything in the world he grew up in.

He hid himself within a thick shell and yielded to his timidity, until he could only express himself underwater.

Character Story 3

Item Companionship EXP Friendship Lv. 4

Freminet was born in the Fleuve Cendre region of Fontaine. Each night he would fall asleep to the sound of drunkards belting out off-key shanties, and wake up to the shrill cries of neighbors cursing outside his window.

Freminet never met his own father, but he heard from his mother that the man was knee-deep in debt. He had little idea what all these numbers meant, and they were as hard for the little boy to conceive as a dinner in the Palais Mermonia. What he did know was that they were the reason his mother worked from dawn till dusk, day in day out.

When he was home alone, Freminet would often quietly fiddle about with the few devices there were in the house — a portable lamp that never lit up, a wall clock that never ticked, and so on...

These things had been lying around for as long as he could remember, as if they were guests who had stopped by for a quick rest after a long saunter, but had never woken back up. Freminet found some tools and, one by one, carefully took them apart. To him, the inner structures of these mechanisms were like mysterious labyrinths. Turn this part here, and another would move as a result. Tap that bit there, and something else would spring out...

When he was with these machines, Freminet felt the same way he did when he read fairytales — like he had taken a magic potion that shrunk him down to the same size as the components. He was moving through a world of cogs and clockwork parts where time seemed to pass without his knowledge. These friends of his, silent yet intriguing, kept him company through many a lonely day.

One day, when his mother returned home, she suddenly heard a strange noise that stopped her in her tracks. It was the sound of their clock, which Freminet had unwittingly fixed, ticking away almost as if to celebrate the new lease on life he had given it. She caressed his head and praised him, filling his heart with joy. But when he woke up the following morning, the clock was nowhere to be found. When his mother came home that evening, she brought him two slices of a type of bread he'd never had before. He still remembers the taste to this day.

From that day forth, his mother brought back all kinds of different devices for him ��� everything from clockwork toys to miniature clocks. Freminet liked his new friends a lot, and would spend a long time "waking" them from their slumber, even though they always vanished the following day.

But one day, when Freminet ran over excitedly to greet his mother at the door, he had something very special with him — an exquisitely-made music box pendant, about the size of a person's thumb. It had been in such a terrible state when she had found it by the roadside that it was to their great surprise to discover that it still worked.

A beautiful melody jingled away between them, and seeing Freminet's innocent face light up with pure joy, a rare smile broke out on his mother's, too.

This pendant would not leave him, for every evening, his mother would carefully take it off her neck, and together they would listen to its sweet lullaby as night fell.

Character Story 4

Item Companionship EXP Friendship Lv. 5 • UI Quest As Light Rain Falls Without Reason

One day, without uttering a word, Freminet's mother took him by the hand and led him away. As he tried to keep up behind her, little Freminet's palm began to hurt from the strength of her grip.

"Mom, where are we going?" He asked. She didn't reply.

"Mommy, why are you crying?" He asked her again. She suddenly stopped and let out a sob, but only a single one.

Afterwards, as if resolved to plunge into the freezing depths of the ocean, she took several deep breaths and continued onward. Not another tear fell, but in the oppressive silence Freminet had a vague sense that an ominous current was about to crash against the reef of his future.

Finally, they arrived in front of an unfamiliar house. As the thick door opened, it let out a harsh creak. It was the type of door that you intuitively knew that, once closed, could never be opened again.

Still, his mother remained silent. It was as if her expression, weighed down by her heavy heart, had sunk into a bottomless ocean.

"Freminet, correct?" Said a woman as she stepped out. "Come with me."

Confused, Freminet looked up at his mother. He could feel the tide surging beneath him.

Calling herself the "director", the woman took his other wrist and began to pull him in.

All of a sudden his mother's grip tightened, becoming even tighter than when she had led him over. Freminet felt like a boat caught between two waves, completely helpless as they each pulled in opposite directions and showed no sign of letting go.

At last, his mother slowly bent down, half-kneeling before him. This was what she would do each day when she said goodbye to him before leaving the house.

"Be a good boy," she said, kissing Freminet on the forehead in the way she always did.

These tender words rose up like a barrier before the jagged reef, instantly turning the raging current into a soft, warm flow.

So that's all this is, Freminet thought to himself. Perhaps, like ever and always, this was just to be a brief parting after all.

He nodded to set her at ease.

The director continued to pull him inside, and this time, his mother didn't try to stop her. Just like that, she let go...

For a long time after, Freminet truly believed that as long as he behaved and performed well enough, his mother would come to bring him back home. That her kind face, disappearing behind that thick door, would someday reappear. And parting his fringe, she would kiss him on the forehead once again to tell him how well he'd done.

But that day never came.

"Still haven't figured it out? You were sold to settle a debt."

As he grew up, Freminet started to have doubts about where his mother had gone and his own fate. After he finally plucked up the courage to ask the director, this was the heartless response she gave him.

"You were abandoned, child. This is the only home you have." "If you don't follow orders, your mother's safety can't be guaranteed..." Such were the words of the previous director, callous as spiked shackles, locking his wildest hopes inside that door forever. These invisible fetters left a mark of utter abjection on Freminet. In those days, the ocean depths were his sole escape.

Engulfed by icy-cold seawater, he always felt that little bit closer to her. After all, when those events had transpired all those years ago, had she not sunk to the bottom of the ocean herself? Yet those waters must have been far colder than any he had ever dived in.

Character Story 5

Item Companionship EXP Friendship Lv. 6 • UI Quest As Light Rain Falls Without Reason

After "Father" replaced the previous director, Freminet's thoughts began to turn to finding his mother once again.

At first, Freminet assumed that she would rile up a still greater storm of brutality, for he knew that her methods were brutal, and he expected new orders to be given just as pitilessly as they had been in the past. But he soon discovered that "Father"'s way of doing things was utterly different.

With "Father," the home was a place of refuge for all the family's children, and as such required a collective effort to maintain. It was up to each of them to complete their tasks in the way that best suited them. Even if they failed, they wouldn't be subjected to the searingly painful punishments they had been previously.

This taste of freedom finally gave Freminet the chance to breathe deeply, and he started searching for his mother's whereabouts in his free time.

But a long time passed and he still wasn't any closer to finding her.

Perhaps I really was abandoned, Freminet thought, trying to convince himself to accept reality as he strained to summon the already vague memory of his mother's face.

But just as he was thinking of giving up, Father threw him a pendant.

"I found this at the base of operations of those scum. Keep it." said "Father."

Freminet looked back at her, perplexed, which in turn seemed to confuse her.

"What it is? I'm talking about those usurious scoundrels. It belonged to your mother..." She frowned, suddenly seeming to realize something. "What were you told about her?"

Freminet told her what the previous director had said to him, about how he had been abandoned. As he did so, she said nothing, but her eyes began to burn with wrath.

After Freminet was finished, Father fell silent for a rare moment. "Do you want to know what really happened?" She asked, fixing him with a piercing stare.

Freminet nodded almost unconsciously. But once he had heard what she had to say, he wasn't sure which story he'd rather believe.

"Father" told Freminet that his mother hadn't abandoned him, but on the contrary, had acted to protect him...

That year, the debt that his family owed finally reached the point where they would no longer be able to repay it. Those greedy moneylenders had not only forced Freminet's mother to hand over the house that they lived in, but had also demanded that she hand over Freminet as well. But she was his mother — how could she let this happen? In the end, she had no choice but to entrust Freminet to "that orphanage" — somewhere they could never get at him — and then face them alone.

"This was all I found. As for your mother..." As she looked at the young boy in front of her, still gripping the pendant tightly in his hands, "Father" trailed off and left the ensuing silence to speak for her.

Freminet's head hung low, but knowing his personality, Father slipped out of the room without another word. The boy was left standing there, shaking as he gazed down at the pendant in his hands. It had long since rusted and could no longer produce sounds, and the clockwork components seemed to have been stained dark brown by dried blood. She must have been holding it at the very end, he thought. In his despair, Freminet continued to stare at the pendant, desperately looking for even a thread of his mother's warmth.

That evening, Freminet dived down to the bottom of the ocean and let it all out. He couldn't remember the last time he had cried like this. Other than the Romaritime Flowers that wept alongside him, not a soul heard the sound of his sobbing, for the ocean smothered it utterly.

From that day on, his grip on his greatsword tightened. He made an oath to himself that he would never again let another member of his family meet with misfortune.

Tales of a Snow-Winged Goose

Item Companionship EXP Friendship Lv. 4

Freminet has been captivated by fairytales since he was a child.

In contrast with the real world, the little world inside a picture book is always full of color. Castles can be made from candy, rivers from the juice of Bulle Fruits, there can be talking Hydro Crystalflies, and Redcrown Finches and ragdolls can become the best of friends...

When he closes his eyes, takes a deep breath, and then opens a storybook, Freminet is able to dive into a magical fairytale world – a world where he can push the boundaries of what exists through a combination of reading and his own imagination.

As he goes, he picks up on scattered phrases or illustrations tucked into the corner of the page and turns these over in his mind. He learns something new every time he reads, and loves the variety of dazzling colors and textures that different subject matters seem to evoke for him.

...

When Freminet starts to feel lonely, "Pers the Penguin" waves to him with his black and white wings and slides around on his round little belly as if it were a skateboard. He skids along the surface of the ice until he plops into the sea, challenging Freminet to a fish-catching competition.

When he's feeling timid, "Princess Marcotte" with the long, pink hair stares out at him through the window. He knows that when the princess was but a seed, she rode across the ocean on the claws of a crab, abandoning her birthplace for the promise of a better life...

When he's feeling troubled, the inimitable adventurers "Mr Fox and the Clockwork Guardsman" appear there in front of him, standing side-by-side. Mr. Fox's great big bottle-brush of a tail raises a cloud of dust as it sweeps the floor, causing the Clockwork Guardsman's nose to become all itchy, but he keeps standing there, as straight and tall as ever. "Everyone faces challenges," they say to him. "Don't let them win. You're a brave, brave kid."

...

Even as he matured and grew older, Freminet still stubbornly held on to the fairytale world of his childhood.

He truly believes in these beautiful stories and the friends he met in his books.

In Freminet's heart, they really do exist in that poetic dreamland of his. There is a place where sadness and worry cease to exist, and all that remains is the unending sound of joyful laughter. It's a place where dreams come true, and justice always triumphs.

But of course, he can't actually reach out and touch the things in this imaginary world. Perhaps he'll find a way someday though...

Vision

Item Companionship EXP Friendship Lv. 6 • UI Quest As Light Rain Falls Without Reason

That day, Freminet and some other children were out on an underwater mission. At first, everything went perfectly smoothly, just like it had done on countless other occasions.

All of a sudden, however, Freminet noticed that something was off.

Creatures that know their own weakness always seem able to stay focused in places of great peril, and Freminet is no exception. He has always been skilled at self-reflection, even to the point of picking up on minute changes in his breathing. Without them even being aware of it, his unique powers of perception have helped them evade all kinds of danger.

Freminet made an emergency gesture to his friends telling them to surface. He still didn't know what the actual peril was, but his nerves had taken hold and his heart began to beat faster and faster.

His friends didn't object and, with Freminet at their center, the group began to ascend.

For these children, who had yet to receive the gods' favor, ascending was something that had to be done slowly. But at the same time, the feeling of unease in Freminet's heart was becoming unbearable. His vision grew hazy, and he couldn't tell whether it was the reflection of some monstrous leviathan or a sign that he was on the verge of fainting.

No. Wait. The diving equipment was malfunctioning! Was it just him? If not, how many of the others were affected?

He tried hard to open his eyes, but he was gradually and uncontrollably slipping out of consciousness.

No, I have to lead them back, he said to himself. As long as my arms and legs keep working...

He began to feel sleepy.

His thoughts were becoming sluggish... If this carries on, he thought, I'm never going to make it to the surface.

Even if I make it, what good would it do? That thought suddenly flashed through Freminet's mind. I'd just go back to living day after day after day, eternally devoid of hope.

He felt tired. Tired of forcing himself to keep going.

He was unsuited to having so many "family members." There was no real warmth or feelings between them. They were simply a motley crew of clockwork meka, each of a slightly different model and outward appearance.

Perhaps the seawater was where he belonged after all. To drift off into blissful sleep... Was it really so bad? He gradually let his eyes fall shut.

A sound suddenly jerked him back awake. Freminet... Freminet. The voice was slow, solemn, and seemed to be coming from the other end of the earth. It also carried a slight stutter.

Pers?

Freminet stretched out his arms to a blank landscape in front of him, opening his eyes in puzzlement.

There was no Pers the penguin in this underwater realm. The children had all slipped into a dreadful torpor.

I must save them all! Freminet screamed without making a sound. So what if we're not all of the same mind? I won't abandon anyone in my family! No matter what hazards lie ahead, only with the courage to put life itself on the line will I live to see the blue sky that comes after the storm.

In that moment, his body seemed to be imbued with power, and even his breathing became grew easy once more. He quickly swam over to his companions, who were each of them drowning...

In the midst of a tempest, he saved all of his friends — a miracle of heroism worthy of the legendary Pers from the stories he so loved...

It was only then that he realized that a Vision as clear as crystal now hung from his divesuit.

He never told a soul what really happened that day. After all, true heroes aren't in it for the recognition.

[deehellcat]

My first moodboard! and my first fill for @tonystarkbingo mark VII!

Title of Fill--A World Where People Like Me Don't Have To Hide

Collaborator --deehellcat

Card Number--7014

Square Filled (Letter AND number AND prompt) R3, anthropomor-fic

Ship/Main Pairing (romantic, platonic, or none) none

Rating (Gen, Teen, Mature, Explicit) gen

Major Tags/Warnings/Triggers (AO3 Tags are a great example) Shifter Verse, Prejudice, Cat!Tony

Summary (brief description of fill) In a timeline where shifters are an oppressed minority, Tony Stark struggles to balance his roles as part of a team that defends against their backlash, and a shifter himself.

Shifters are rare, it’s said; but no one knows if that’s true, or if they just hide well. Society hates and fears them, so often they reject the normies and, seeking to lash out for their mistreatment, join fringe groups like Hydra. The Avengers fight to protect innocent civilians from shifters’ rage, but one Avenger has a dark—and furry—secret of his own. Even Tony’s friends look askance at him for his championing of shifters’ rights; he guards the reason for his actions so closely that their shock when it’s revealed knows no bounds. Can the team accept that Tony is one of the very beings they clash with?