#I don’t think Skrimm’s getting out of this one

[echoing-locations]

Spoilers for 29 of icebound!!

Fear response.

[andro-dino]

a very eloquent breakdown on my thoughts and feelings about various icebound dynamics I think about a lot bc I love them and I miss them and if I keep these in my head for too long I will blow up:

this one I think is pretty simple. the whole party genuinely means everything to me they r THE family every and make me sob and cry and throw up constantly with how much I love them.

when it comes to ships, I DO NOT FUCK AROUND ABOUT SKRAISY AND JORQUEEN they r seriously everything to me, and then for barnabos skrimm and taishen, I just think they’re silly. all of them have their own moments together at separate parts that I came to each of these conclusions separately.

For a more in depth breakdown of those bc I really like them actually:

Barnabos and skrimm are pretty self explanatory I think. Those two are incredibly endearing together, both in the sillier moments but also just work together really well as a serious relationship and their dynamic is just so so good

Barnabos and Taishen are like, tooth-rottingly cute and I think it’s a crime that they aren’t more popular as a ship. I think barnabos’ maturity and protectiveness combined with taishen’s naivety and sweetness just make for a really cute dynamic and their duo moments together make me smile every time without fail

Skrimm and Taishen are like, the least serious one I have of the three. there is obviously the whole “pumped up” bit that was actually like insane, but they’ve had a couple moments throughout pretty much the whole series that have just made me have my eye on them for a while. I do not know how functional they would actually be together but I like to think that they both at the very least acknowledge that they find the other attractive and refuse to think about it any harder for both of their own sakes

Do not ask me how many times the term “queenie and skrimm/taishen bestieism” has come up in my priv livetweets of icebound (the answer is a lot). seriously like queenie’s friendships with both of them r everything to me they are just so insanely endearing. I like how skrimm and queenie absolutely bring out the worst (best) in each other and are just absolute rapscallions together every time, and I just like queenie and Taishen!!! like I don’t have the full words to put to their dynamic but I love them and I love that they r best friends and love and support each other always I LOVE THEM!!!!

These guys also mean everything to me. Queenie and her boyfriend and her best friend!!! That timestamp is a clip that just shows off the absolute silliness of these three together. I am so obsessed with jornir’s obvious favoritism for queenie and just how much he loves and cares about her and trusts in her and her abilities but is so insanely concerned for her safety and prioritizes it above all else, meanwhile emphasizing how incredibly much he does NOT trust in skrimm or his abilities and how he is there only to help queenie and nothing else. it’s genuinely really hilarious and I love them sm. Jornir and skrimm in general are just really hilarious but when you juxtapose it with jorqueen it’s just that infinitely better. I think also queenie and skrimm’s aforementioned duo dynamic and how insanely silly they are with each other, combined with jornir’s jornirness is also just such a funny dynamic and I love it very much

I dont really know how to elaborate on how much I love them together like you either get it or you don’t. Queenie and her boyfriend and her best friend part 2!!! They r such a comfort trio for me just bc I really like the idea of them all bluetooth syncing to each other and just understanding each other and communicating really well. Also this came to me last night but yk that one tiktok that’s like “‘doesn’t matter what you think, a different gender best friend is a red flag’? I’m sorry Emily, we can’t be friends anymore. and tell your boyfriend I fuckin hate him too”. that’s them to me. (Side note I cannot find this tiktok fucking ANYWHERE now??? it existed at one point I swear)

yeag. that about sums it up I think. queenie’s protective instincts for everyone around her all the time in general make me sob but when it comes to her and Daisy I am genuinely gonna blow up a building about it I love them so much. the way she so instantly jumps to take care of her after honey’s passing and how insanely protective she is over her and is constantly looking out for her I’m just like ooughhhhhhhhh my god. they make me sob I love them dearly

these could’ve been separate images but i didn’t feel like making more separate images lmao

Jornir and barnabos as a duo are really great I love remembering that these guys are like actually awesome and really cool like genuinely. Both of them have different qualities to them that make them so good when they step up into leadership positions for the party and I just think they’re both absolute fucking badasses when they really wanna be and I love when they come together and maximize their joint slay it’s really great.

When it comes to both of them with Daisy, I have the same feeling about it which is oughhhhhhhh my god I love them. Again both of them being some of the coolest and most mature members of the party when they really wanna be really comes out with both of their individual dynamics with Daisy and I just really love how they both take up such a protective and supportive role with her. They r so. I dare say fatherly. I just oughhh I love them I love them lots.

[obsidiancreates]

Memory In The Froglight

(Shared Souls AU is back babey)

Shepherd shakes his head. “This is gonna be a fuckin’ disaster.”

“I can’t watch.” Felix pulls his hat down over his eyes. “Poor guy never gets a break.”

“Whattya talkin’ about?” Skrimm is perched up on Torbek’s shoulder, mimicking a preparatory neck rub. Torbek feels nothing, of course, nor hears. “He’s gonna kill it!”

“The crowd?” Marius eyes Skrimm’s proximity to the Witchlight canisters.

“Not the crowd, sheesh, are you ever not a downer?” Skrimm nudges nothing but air with his elbow– the habits of Life, where he would have someone for the joke to either land or fall flat with, still a part of him even after all this time. “He’s gonna do great! It’s in his soul!”

“Skrimm.” Shepherd knocks his hat brim up with one knuckle. “I know you ain’t the most attentive–”

“Nor clear-minded,” Marius mutters.

“Or intellectual,” Felix shrugs. 

“All I’m sayin’ is,” Shepherd says, “Torbek ain’t great with crowds.”

“And? I’m tellin’ ya, this guy has a showman somewhere deep down in there!”

“You’re just saying that because you two sound most alike,” Marius says, quirking an eyebrow.

“When you get stressed your voice fully turns into his,” Felix adds, gesturing at Torbek.

“Which means the opposite can also happen. He can have my lovely and beautiful voice if he tries.”

The other three share skeptical looks just as a bullywug pops in with offers of Song Syrup.

“Don’t need it,” Skrimm says confidently.

“Take two,” Felix says.

Torbek hears nothing. “Torbek is beyond help.”

“Killed by a hag over a theatre play.” Marius’s expression is sour. “I’m still unconvinced that we didn’t fall back into Druskenwald.”

—-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Uh, just a word of waaarning, remember that nothing rhymes with orange, purple, or silver. Don’t fall for that trap twice, Torbek!”

“Orange? What about uh, doorhinge?”

“That’s-that’s a cheap cop-out. Get outta here, Frost.”

“HA! Look at that, he’s learning!” Skrimm claps his hands together and then rubs them in preparation. “He’s got this!”

“Did either of you know Skrimm had such a… fondness, for Theatre?” Marius asks his companions.

Shepherd shrugs. “Makes enough sense I suppose…”

“Skrimm.” Felix can’t remember the last time he provided this much input on one of Skrimm’s… episodes? Moments of enthusiasm? Manic switch-ups from despair to optimism? “Do you have a background in this kind of thing?”

“You kiddin’? My friends and I put on the best play Drakkar has ever seen! No-one has topped it in the last thousand years, I’m sure of it.”

“Y’all put on a play… in Drakkar.” Shepherd crosses his arms. “Is this like how you’re sure you were six-foot-five and two hundred pounds before yer death?”

“This is way more real- I mean, I was, but that’s not the point! I was Mr. Bones, and I was so professional it’d blow your ass right off your body!”

The three others share skeptical glances again.

“Just watch!” Skrimm scrambles back as the curtain rises. “Torbek’s got that skill, I can feel it in my bones!”

Felix sighs deeply. “You don’t have bones anymore.”

“My ghost bones.”

“... Sure.”

—-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“So did it just fix his tone-deafness, or did it actually change Frost’s voice?” Felix watches from where he sits on the bottom of the box-tower as Torbek waits to be rolled onto the stage.

Shepherd shrugs, and Marius shakes his head, unknowing.

“Ah.” Skrimm has his arms crossed, one foot tap-tap-tapping so quickly that if he was physical he’d be wearing a hole into the soggy wood of the floor. “Maybe the big guy should’ve taken one of those. I mean I still think he’s got this but, that was pretty damn good. Stupid cat.”

The tower is rolled out, the tiny curtain covering Torbek’s face parted. His ever-present and ever-imperceptible spirit companions wait with baited breath. 

“Uuuunnnnggggghhhhh, it’s Torbek’s time to shi-ine!”

“Not a promising start,” Marius whispers. “Please let him do well enough to live…”

“Torbek is playing Princess Torbeka toniiight!”

“Oh, phew.” Skrimm wipes his brow. “Good thing he remembered to tell the crowd who he is! Heh, that was almost a terrible misstep.”

“Almost?!” Felix brings his hat low over his eyes, unable to watch.

Torbek brings out a tiny tin whistle and blows a single note. “Torbek Torbek Torbek, Torbek

Torbek Torbek!”

“Ain’t you supposed to do them warmups offstage?” Shepherd looks at Skrimm, who’s just nodding in invisible encouragement.

“What? No, ya take your script out there with you, you do your warmups, you embody your character! Me and my friends did our whole play without any rehearsal! Total dry ru– … Mostly dry. I don’t wanna talk about it anymore.”

Torbek takes a deep breath. Everyone but Skrimm braces.

“... Miiidnight, not a sound from the paaavement, has the moon lost her mem-ry, Torbeka’s smiling a-lone…”

In the wings, Frost’s jaw is dropped wide open, and Felix, Shepherd, and Marius are hardly different. Skrimm, however, whoops and jups as high as his little goblin legs allow, swinging a celebratory fist in front of him.

“In the lamp-light the withered leave, collect at her feeeeet… and the wind, begins to moan…”

“He’s got… range.” Marius blinks in pure befuddlement. 

“Where’d all his gargglin’ an’ rasp go?” Shepherd walks up, unseen as he is by the audience, and peers at the Witchlight canisters sticking out from Torbek’s princess costume. “These ain’t lowered…”

“I’m tellin’ ya, goblins are made for theatre,” Skrimm boasts, scrambling up Torbek’s back and sitting between his shoulders triumphantly. “I was the only one who stayed on script the whole time! Even when it was weird and perverted and definitely not me misunderstanding what pump meant.”

“What?”

“Forget it.”

Torbek takes a deep breath. “Mem-ry, all alone in the mooooonlight! Torbeka dreams of the old days, life was beau-tiful theeen…”

A pang of grief and nostalgia strikes the hearts of all in the theatre, living and dead. Shepherd looks towards Gricko, no, around Gricko, wondering what Sarnax must be thinking of this play his… ward, of sorts, has written. Marius looks to Frost, wondering how Lethica’s voice might sound singing a tune such as Torbek sings now. Felix can’t see Kremy, backstage somewhere preparing for his own part, but he imagines Toa is away from Kremy’s side to watch the show, smiling wide. 

Skrimm looks out at the living vessels his friends all follow, and hopes they’re remembering their play too. It was a mess, a haphazard disaster thrown together in the ruins of a beautiful and warm lethal lie turned to rubble– and it was the most fun they’d had in months by that time.

“Let the mem-ry, live a-gaiiiin.”

As long as Torbek has a better understanding of the intent of the stage directions than Skrimm did, this might shape up to be even better than Ogreton’s Last Play.

—-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Wow, Jornir!” Toa nudges the firbolg next to him, applauding for no-one but his ghostly companions. “Isn’t this play great so far?”

“It is… certainly better than what we did.” 

“You did a play too?! I wish we could’ve done a play. Someday when we all reunite, let’s all put one on together.”

“That would be… very crowded.” Jornir watches Torbek cover his mouth with exaggerated shock as Hootsie pulls out the red scarves tied around rat snacks from the snake costumes. He gestures to Torbek. “That, makes it easy to see Skrimm, in the bugbear.”

“The overractin’?” Briggsy laughs a little to himself, having only Clayton to elbow for his ‘get-the-joke?’ movement as Clayton watches with more Confusion than anything else.

“Yes.” 

“Oh. … No fun when you agree, you know.”

“I am not trying to be… fun. You are right. Skrimm is… animated. Loud, and… bold. I did not think, I would see it here, in this life.” Jornir… smiles, just slightly, barely enough to tell. “It is… nice, to remember.”

—-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“AYE, GOOD JOB LADS!” Barnabos cheers and pulls Jericho and Sarnax into one-armed hugs, pressing both to his side as he bellows proudly. “LOOK AT OUR MR. GRIMGRIN! HA-HA, AS FINE AS A TALE AS TROTHACK SHARK-PUNCHER’S SEVEN VOYAGES!” 

“I-I do like the jaunty tunes!” Jericho’s fingers move like they would if he was playing his banjo along with the pit orchestra. “And everyone’s singin’ real nice! I never did hear Sir Marius or-or Lethica carryin’ a tune!”

“Nor I, Shepherd.” Sarnax’s tail comes up to slap Barnabos’s shoulder, in reminder more than annoyance, and Barnabos loosens his grip for Sarnax to slip out. “I wonder how he is feeling, watching this unfold.”

“Aye, not the kind of travels for singin’, you two had.” Barnabos laughs, pointing at Torbek. “An’ look at that! That’s a Mr. Stabbaskotch expression if I’ve ever seen one! Some of us migh’ bleed through to the living after all!”

—-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Daisy is laughing, leaning on Lethica as she watches the tube-sock-costumes Kremy, Gricko, and Gideon all “disemboweled” by Sir Morgo Hootise as Torbeka watches in shock. The silent shaking sets off Caprice as well, who’d gone from despaired horror to elation as soon as Frost’s song-syruped voice had melted the tension of the audience with it’s shocking beauty. 

Lethica is not mirthless herself, imagining Marius in Torbek’s place, and when Daisy raises her hands for a moment to sign “He looks just like Skrimm,” she knows she’s not the only one picturing another life, another time.

—-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Taishen is laughing well, but there’s a hint of worry to his expression as he eyes Torbek.

“Is something wrong?” Yorgrim casts a careful eye of his own over the crowds. 

“Oh, nothing… too, terrible.” Taishen shuffles his feet. “Its just, Torbek is reminding me quite a lot of Skrimm right now, not with the singing Skrimm couldn’t sing that well, but well, when we did our play things went a little…”

Yorgrim waits as Taishen looks in the distance, trying to find a careful way to phrase things.

“... Skrimm was very confused, about some things.” Taishen shivers. “Very, very confused. And Torbek isn’t a stranger to… confusion…”

“... Did someone die?”

Taishen thinks back to how he’d felt towards Skrimm in that moment of revelation. “... Almost.”

—-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Least Kremy’s stickin’ to the script.” Queenie stands on top of Twig’s hat to have a good view of the play from the wings. “Jornir sure didn’.”

“I thought you were all stranded in an icy wasteland,” Iris looks down at Queenie, even with Queenie standing on Twig’s head.

“Yeah but we did a play anyway, for the ogres.” Queenie looks at Torbek. “Skrimm probably did the best up until he had to pump his fist.”

“Pump his fist?”

“Yeah, he thought it meant pumpin’ his pe–”

“Eugh!”

“Do they really think this will work?” Strahdanya looks up to the hag in the box. “If they send Twig to us early…”

“I’m sure if she dies, they died hours ago,” Queenie says. “She’s a tough one.”

—-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As Torbek sings his second song about the (allegedly) murdered Agdon Longscarf, Skrimm grins smugly down at the other three from atop Torbek’s back. “Told you he’d do well.”

“I hate when he’s right,” Felix huffs.

Marius nods in agreement. “A thankfully rare occasion.”

Shepherd snorts, watching Torbek finish up as Skrimm starts to huff and puff at Marius’s insult. The applause of the crowd drowns out the offended shouting of the goblin as Torbek steps back from the spotlight. Maybe things might work out for this band of chucklefucks after all.

[luna-the-cretar]

One of my favorite ways to explore a character is how they like their coffee or tea. As in; which one do they prefer, or do they like both? How much sugar and/or cream do they add, if any? Hot or cold? It’s something so niche and minuscule that you probably wouldn’t ever think about otherwise, and yet imo it can tell you a lot about a character.

(Examples below)

1) Mollymauk prefers coffee. He tends to add a lot of sugar and creamer—to the point where it’s more cream than coffee—and prefers it iced rather than hot (my explanation for this in my fic was bc tieflings run hot, they need iced drinks to level it out). Essentially, the way I see it, he likes his coffee the way I do lol.

2) Caleb prefers tea. He adds a bit of sugar to cut the innate bitterness, but no cream, and almost exclusively drinks it hot. This being said, he is known to switch to apple cider on occasion, if he wants to switch it up.

3) Shepherd prefers hot black coffee. Ik this makes no sense considering my logic for Molly drinking iced coffee, but…idk, I can’t see Shep drinking iced coffee. He does drink iced tea if he can get it tho (yes I am implementing my southern roots onto him, what of it)

4) Sarnax almost exclusively drinks hot tea (don’t remember the name of the specific type he carries). No sweeteners or cream or anything, just the pure tea.

5) Skrimm likes apple cider. I mean, he prefers booze, but if there’s no booze available, then he’ll subconsciously go for the cider if given the option

6) Gricko likes apple juice. I can’t really explain why, but my brain has latched onto this idea and won’t let go. So yeah. Gricko likes cold apple juice.

7) Torbek also likes apple juice but like. Room temperature apple juice.

[lionhart-w]

Ezekiel Rave

Desmond woke up the next morning next to his bed. Either he had fallen out while he was sleeping or he was so drunk last night that he fell asleep next to it. It didn’t matter anyway. In both scenarios, he had a stiff neck from sleeping on the floor. He still had an hour and a half to get to work so he cleaned himself up found himself not remembering how he bruised his knuckles so severely. Someone must have been on the lookout for a beat-up, he thought to himself. He ate a stale bowl of oatmeal for breakfast while he watched the sun rise and fill his apartment with honey-colored light. He lived at the edge of Rimlika Harbor so he took the ferry to Skrimm, the first one of the three shopping islands.

On the ferry to Skrimm he took a seat in the sun but though he could certainly feel the warmness of the sun rays he couldn’t help but feel a little cold. Since Olivia died he felt alone and cold. 

His shift at the grocery store didn’t start until ten o’clock so he still had about half an hour to kill. He walked up the Haven Boulevard and bought himself a hot coffee to suppress that coldness inside of him. His hangover wasn’t really bad - he felt a little sick but that was just life for Desmond. He walked past a group of Subrian tourists in which he spotted an oddly familiar looking young man. He caught sight of Desmond as well and threw him a dirty look. 

He shrugged it off and turned around as he realized it was nearly time to begin his shift. Jan and Bruno, the two men who had taken the second half-night shift which started at midnight and ended at ten, looked thankful for finally getting superseded.

“Tough night?“, Desmond asked as they collected their things.

“Nearly got robbed by the babushka.“, said Jan.

“The babushka?“

“Yeah - that old Auquocian woman from next door.“, explained Bruno.

“She tried sneaking out a bag of dog food by putting a collar and leash on it, covering it up with a blanket and saying ‘Me chiem cola, mosta' which probably means My dog is cold.“

“Truly devious“, said Desmond.

After they’d left he settled down behind the counter. He didn’t know where Vernon, the guy who should be taking this shift with him, was. Maybe he was sick. It didn’t matter. He could handle this shift by himself - the sunshine from earlier quickly turned into a full on storm. Thick raindrops were knocking on the store window.

There were only very few people outside - they probably all took cover in the Cafés and restaurants of Haven Boulevard. It was an uneventful day until 8 o’clock in the evening shortly before his shift-end.

Because around that time, a group of people came up to the store. The little bell over the entrance door jingled happily as they entered one by one. They were all wearing raincoats but as the closest one to Desmond took off his hood he recognized him. It was the Subrian man from earlier. He looked grim. Bruises all over his face.

“Can I help you?”, asked Desmond.

“Gardner, you have made a huge mistake.”

“Have I?”

The Subrian man retrieved a gun from his coat and aimed at Desmond.

“Apparently I have”, said Desmond looking down the shaft of the revolver.

The gun clicked. Desmond closed his eyes. 

Jingle.

Desmond opened his eyes. He was, as far as he was concerned, still alive. The Subrians looked at the entrance. Someone must have entered. He couldn’t see the person that entered, though, because the mass of coated Subrians obscured his view. 

“Just need one little thing”, said a male voice.

The Subrians obviously didn’t think this through and didn’t expect to be interrupted.

The new man pressed forward through the group grabbed a bread roll and handed it Desmond.

He took it cautiously, glancing at the gun bearer who looked confused. The man followed Desmond’s glance and looked at the gun and then at the Subrian.

“Quite a situation you got there, friend.”

“That would be two Drekuna.”

“Here you go.”, He handed Desmond a five Drekuna bill. “And keep the rest.” He winked at Desmond.

BANG!

A shot was fired. Desmond’s first impulse was to check if he had been shot. No blood. He looked up just in time to see the Subrian man fall over. The startled crowd looked down and then 

BANG - BANG - BANG - BANG- BANG - BANG - BANG!

The rest fell as well. 

“You owe me, mate. This jacket was new.”, said the gum man, revealing a few holes in the back of his coat and a gun. He must have shot them through the fabric.

He looked over his shoulder. “Might wanna get out of here”, he said.

Desmond was speechless. 

“Don’t worry - I’ll stay with you so nothing will happen to your beautiful mane. What’s your name?”

“De- Desmond.“

“I’m Ezekiel. Where do you live, Desmond?”

“Harbor.”

“How long will the fastest way take?”

“Uh..”

“Uh? C’mon - someone could have heard the gunshots.”

“ ‘Bout twenty minutes.”

“Excellent. You lead the way.”, Ezekiel gestured towards the door.

“I… You… You just killed those men.”

“Indeed, good sir. But those someones who might have heard the gunshots might call the law enforcement”, Ezekiel said sounding a little impatient and, once again, gesturing towards the exit.

“But-“

“Let’s go!”, Ezekiel raised his voice a bit.

Desmond wouldn’t resist the armed man. As they left the store, Ezekiel stowed away his firearm in his gray coat. Desmond started breaking into a sprint but was promptly stopped by Ezekiel.

“Don’t wanna look suspicious. Relax a bit.”

He slowed down. But he couldn’t relax. They took the next ferry to the harbor and quickly made their way through the entwined alleys to Desmond’s apartment. 

They burst inside and Desmond let himself sink into a chair - panting a little; Ezekiel hung his coat on the coat hanger. Underneath he wore an expensive looking shirt with silver cufflinks.

“I shouldn’t have left.”, said Desmond.

“I’ve thought about that too. We should have hidden the bodies.”

Desmond glanced up at him and then buried his face in his hands. 

“Who are you?”

“Ezekiel Rave.”

“Like the- the uh… writer?”, Desmond had heard about a book called Just for the Hell of it by an Ezekiel Rave. “Wait. Are you him?”

“It seems you’re familiar with my work, Mister…”

It took Desmond a few moments to realize he had asked for his name. “Gardner. Desmond.”

“Pleasure to meet properly, mister Gardner.”, he offered his hand and smiled. Desmond shook it and fake-smiled politely.

“You killed them.”, Desmond looked up at Ezekiel - he didn’t show much shock or regret for that matter.

“They almost took you out, my man - you have something to eat? Oh! Wait.”, He pulled out the bread roll and started eating. “Forgot about this little guy.”

“There’s a hostel down the street. I can give you some money for the night.”

“Oh don’t worry about that. I won’t be sleeping much tonight.”

“Uhm.”

“It’s fine. You will. Now can you lay still for over five hours or should I knock you out?”

“You can’t-“

“You gonna resist the gun bearing man that obviously has no hesitation to kill and, slightly less obvious, more weapons hidden all over, and to be completely honest, inside his own body?” 

It was silent for a moment.

“I - will not.”

“Clever boy. Now!”, He clapped his hand together. “We will have to stage a kidnapping.”