#I lived on a farm for a long part of my life and sometimes we would scare of the coyotes from the chickens

[faggatini]

i’m actually an idiot,, I just realized why the bone under my eye feels a little bumpy 😭

[nerdygaymormon]

Sometimes you mention that you've lived long enough to see changes in the church on LGBTQ topics. What are some of the major changes you've experienced in church?

I feel like I've lived in 3 eras of the LDS Church.

When I was a child, it was an era that now seems very far away. Black people weren't allowed to go to the temple or have the priesthood (which also limited which callings they could have in church). Church met twice on Sundays, once for Sunday School (children attended Jr Sunday School) and I think priesthood quorums met prior to Sunday School, and then we came again later that day for Sacrament meeting. This part is fuzzy to me, but I think youth activities were on Tuesday, and Primary was on Wednesday (and I think Relief Society was also on Wednesday). In addition to paying tithing, my parents were asked to contribute to the local ward budget, and we raised money to build the local church building. I remember my family working on the local church farm (I'm not sure if it was part of the welfare system or was a fundraiser for the local stake/ward budgets, perhaps both). There was a BIG emphasis on food storage. Social life revolved around church as there were many activities such as the annual Gold & Green Ball (dinner and a dance for the married folks, it was a big deal, they'd dress fancy for it). The church members were socially and politically conservative.

My teens and young adult years were spent in a different era. The church had undone the restrictions on Black members. Church was now consolidated to a 3-hour block on Sundays (except for youth activities on Wednesdays). Temples started getting built in big cities outside of Utah but still were a far drive for many members, instead of going on a temple trip once a year, as a youth we could go twice a year when a temple was built a few hours away. There were still a lot of activities, especially for the teenagers, such as big stake/regional dances, sports competitions, road shows, and a big youth trip in the summer. The ward budgets came from the church (from the tithing) and not from individual members of the ward giving more, and we no longer had to contribute (either money or labor) for local church buildings to get constructed. We didn't work on farms anymore, but worked in the cannery (I remember hearing adults talk about operating machines that bottled ketchup). While the membership was still very conservative, a more moderate approach was being taken by top leadership, and President Hinckley made big steps towards being more open with the world.

I'd say that President Nelson has ushered in another era. Two-hour church on Sundays. Wednesday youth programs being less rigorous or programmed. Temples within a relatively short drive of members and encouragement to go often. Teenagers can have their own temple recommends. No home or visiting teachers and instead a conversation and informal friendship counts as ministering. Few church activities outside of those for youth and our regular church meetings. More accommodation for differences in beliefs of what were considered core doctrines & principles (this started before the Nelson era). The internet has caused the church to be more open about its past, including some issues which are hard like racism and polygamy (again, this predates the Nelson era). There's also been steps to undo some of the patriarchy in the church structure (like women can serve as witnesses and changes to the temple ceremony).

I definitely would not want to go back to the era of the 1970's when I was a child. While there are things I miss from the era of Hinckley & Monson, I don't think I'd like to revert back. The one effect I worry about from the recent changes is people have weaker social ties to their church community. I've heard leaders say that church isn't a social club, but for a long time it was and I think the church underestimates the importance of social connections.

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As for LGBTQ history in the LDS Church, Nathan Kitchen, the former president of Affirmation, did an excellent job in describing the changes in the church on these topics. I have lived through 5 eras of the church on LGBTQ issues.

The era from when I was a child was brutal. Even saying you're gay was seen as sinful. You were expected to fight with everything you had to completely erase these feelings. Attempts to remove these “tendencies” included electro-shock therapy at BYU. Most families would reject the queer family member.

The death of President Spencer W. Kimball in 1985 led to the next era for LGBTQ members. Rather than insist on complete erasure of homosexual feelings, gay members were to behave like straight people--get married and have kids and DON'T TELL ANYONE. This is the invisible generation who felt isolated and alone, hidden from other members and each other. Every so often we still hear about a former mission president or stake president who finally comes out after decades of living as a straight person. Most of the mixed-orientation marriages failed, the queer person eventually spoke their truth, picked up the pieces of their shattered dreams, and moved on and out of the church.

In 1998, President Gordon B. Hinckley did a widely-viewed interview with Larry King in which he said said we love "so-called gays and lesbians" and put forward the idea that gay thoughts aren’t a problem, but gay actions are. The church's view was that some of us are struggling with unwanted same-sex attractions, much like people who have other addictions. Even as the church led a major effort to defeat marriage equality, queer members no longer had to remain hidden, so they found each other and attended conferences together and encouraged each other. Members would admire queer members for their wrestle against their attractions. Because they were trying to make this path work and were admired for it, these queer members mostly didn’t share their struggles & mental health challenges with their family, friends, or other members. They were visible, but largely were silent. A generation seen but not heard.

Beginning in the early 2010's, a growing number of gay members receive media attention, and groups like Mama Dragons and North Star are formed. By the mid-2010's the church shifts its approach and starts highlighting and celebrating gay and bisexual members who are single & celibate, and also a few who are in mixed-orientation marriages. The church starts softening its former positions as it officially rejects conversion therapy, advocates for no violence and doesn't require members to deny their queer identities. As long as you are single & celibate, you are welcome. This is also when trans members start entering the consciousness of the church as in 2015 Emmett Claren (now Emmett Presciado) starts a YouTube channel where he documents his transition and in 2017 Kris Irvin makes national news for having a bishop threaten to withhold a BYU ecclesiastical endorsement if Kris receives top surgery. LDS families no longer automatically reject their queer children, but tend to leave the church together if their queer child doesn't feel welcome or safe at church. One last effort to pull membership back occurred in 2015 with a policy against gay couples and their children, and it received a LOT of pushback and generated a wave of members leaving the LDS church.

I think we entered a new era in 2019 as the Handbook policy of 2015 is reversed. In 2020 the now-publicly available Church Handbook softens the approach to gay and bi members but puts in more rules and restrictions of trans members. It's the beginning of a dichotomy where we see progress for people who aren't heterosexual and regression for people who aren't cisgender. In 2024, there are now married gay couples quietly attending church and not being excommunicated (which wasn't a thing even just 2 or 3 years ago), and trans members are facing severe restrictions due to more changes in the Handbook. It's hard not to believe more positive changes for gay and bi members will be coming, even as the church ratchets up its fight against trans members.

[panoffrying]

My Dr. Sozonius LORE Headcanons

✨Warning this is a bit long✨

Sozo is a character that has lived for a very long time. Whatever that mushroom was on their head not only influenced Sozo but kept them immortal. We know really nothing bout Sozos past so I made some headcanons for silly fun and for me to visualize who Sozo was and what his life may have looked like. I want to do my best to keep this as game accurate as possible, so there will be quotes from the game. The quotes are not at all in order! I kinda just bring up random Sozo quotes as I go. Also I apologize if this doesn't make sense or if I ramble (I get excited about certain topics) 

thank you so much @7moonbird for going over and editing this for me, Love ya Pookie!

And so we start:

Sozonius was born in the days of the old faith. He was present the day the Bishops declared the genocide of the lambs and he actually played a big part in assisting the lambs survival. However, he almost got caught and had to stop helping the lambs to keep his family safe. He's never seen any of the bishops(maybe) but his village was part of Darkwood and therefore under Bishop Leshy’s ruling.

VILLAGE 

Sozonius village was mostly a colony of Carpenter Ants, there were a few other species living there too but it was mostly Carpenter Ants. I imagine there are different races of ants depending on the region they’re in; so there could be fire ants, pharaoh ants, and more! Most ants get along nicely and work together but sometimes other races of ants can be more temperamental and cause conflict between colonies. Carpenter ants are a more calm type of ants, they aren't aggressive but they are incredibly strong. Carpenters ants are known to live in trees; they hollow out trees to make their homes and they like to stay off the ground as much as possible in case of floods and other dangers.

In the colony they had their ruler, the “Queen,” who looked over the village and did queenly business (not gonna go too deep into it). Everyone had many different jobs, ants are hard workers and very strong. They made marvelous structures, farmed a lot of crops, and knew how to work together when there was a threat. Sozo’s village was one that many others would try making deals/trades with. I would talk more about his village but that's not why y’all are here lol. 

Sozonius was a fellow damn near everyone in the village knew. He loved his work and he loved to talk about it to anyone that expressed that they wanted to listen. He was that guy that you could get stuck in a conversation with and struggle to end it. He liked to ramble about his work and kids. Other than that though he never really started conversations with others, he would keep to himself unless someone interacted with him.

And I could definitely see him having a science rival but nothing too bad lol.

FAMILY

“Where am I…? Where is… my family…?”  are the words Sozo says when he turns back into Dr. Sozonius. I like to think he had a wife and two children. They didn’t have the best marriage but they made it work out for their two sons. His wife was a bit stubborn and very honest. She would say things before thinking which did cause issues, but Sozonius let it slide because he loved her so much and wanted a happy family for his sons. 

Sozonius was a very funny dude. He made dad jokes all the damn time, his family would pretend to hate the jokes but in reality they did love them. 

Sozo Dialogue “Now all Sozo can think about is mushrooms, mushrooms, MUSHROOMS… They don’t leave mush-room for anything else! Ha!”

(Also, this next idea is inspired off of @kuphulwho headcanons for Sozo. I loved her ideas and I recommend y'all look at her headcanons too!) Aside from Sozonius being a mycologist he had a side hobby of art! He wasn't the best artist, but he was really talented with sketching plants/fungi, he liked to make art of anything that interested him. He most likely wrote an educational picture book about Fungi, there's probably an old copy of it somewhere.

This art hobby caught the interest of his two sons, and they also started to pursue art. Sozonius would take his free time teaching his sons how to draw plants and such. Sozonius would hang his kids' art everywhere in their house, it was like walking into an art museum haha.

JOB

Sozonius studied mycology which means he studied fungi. Sozonius knew fungi could benefit his society and he wanted to help educate others about the importance of fungi. Soon he learned enough of a new discovery of mushroom people, neither plant nor animal…Sozonius then made the decision to go on a solo mission to study the Mushroomo people.

THE MUSHROOMOS 

Dr. Sozonius Dialogue “My name is Dr. Sozonius. I was researching the Mushroomos that live in Spore Grotto… strange creatures, Neither animal nor plant…” 

Sozonius went to Spore Grotto and at first, he studied the Mushroomo people from a distance setting up a campsite near the Mushroomo Village. When the Mushroomo people discovered Sozonius they welcomed him into their home, cheerful happy little things. Sozonius was given the chance to learn more about these strange creatures up close! How could he say no? Sozonius was welcomed into Spore Grotto and was treated like a god. 

Sozonius asked the Mushroomos many questions, but getting any actual answers from them was difficult. The Mushroomos treated Sozonius like he was their most special guest, they danced and sang for Sozonius. They would mimic Sozonius and follow him around, making sure to do anything he asked of them. There would be many times when the Mushroomos would offer to feed Sozonius menticide mushrooms but Sozonius knew a lot about fungi and declined their offers. However, there seemed to be a special Ritual the Mushroomos took part in… 

Sozonius had been in Spore Grotto for many weeks now, it was time for him to leave, he had studied enough and was ready to return home but the Mushroomos were surprisingly sad when he announced this. They wanted to show Sozonius a sacred ritual to them before he left, he wasn't aware of the menticide mushrooms being part of it…

Dr. Sozonius Dialogue “They gave me Menticide Mushrooms, and then… that’s the last thing I remember…”

After Sozonius was tricked into eating menticide mushrooms and also gave Sozonius a crown, a crown that would grow into Sozoniuss mind, he shall be the Mushroomos leader… And the new Sozo was made. (literally just think of Ice Age 2 when the lil sloths take Sid to be their fire king, however they don't sacrifice him)

The mushroom on Sozos head is very powerful, it makes me wonder what it is exactly, it gives the person wearing it immortality, but also causes the user to go insane (don't forget that Sozo is also being fed menticide mushrooms) the mushroom crown kinda reminds me of Chemachs crown. It seems to have a mind of its own and a face. I feel like the Mushroomos for days straight made sure to give Sozo a diet of only menticide mushrooms to make him forget everything and to possibly power the mushroom crown. They would constantly tell Sozo that his mind would be open and free, that it would make him feel better, and Sozo being under the influence of the mushroom listened to them.

A Mushroomo Dialogue "Once you taste the Menticide Mushroom your mind will be opened." 

As the years went by so did all the sanity Sozonius had left, but in some moments Sozonius seems to still be aware but not all there. 

Sozo Dialogue “Sozo had friends... Followers... family... now Sozo has mushrooms..."

Sozo over time seems to start to dislike his followers and call them liars. He even becomes quite cruel to his followers. Yet he also mentions that he trusts the lamb and wants the lamb to protect him from his followers which makes me believe that Sozonius is somehow a little aware and fighting against the mushroom crown’s influence. He is mad at the Mushroomos for lying to him, tricking him, making him into who he is now.

 Sozo Dialogue  “No need to thanks Sozo. Build it at your Cult then come back to me. Sozo shall grant you one last gift. Sozo is always fair. Always repays this debts. Not like those LIARS out there."

"You did it! Now I know I can trust you... not like those nasty liars outside. They are always watching, always listening! Here take this. You are Sozo's best friend, you are Sozo's only friend."

"Sozo can trust you now, Sozo will pledge himself to you! You will protect me from those liars outside and bring Sozo mushrooms!"

(Also a side note that my gf brought to my attention last second lol! Apparently parasitic mushrooms rely on insects to spread. That is probably why they tricked Sozonius into staying and eating menticide mushrooms. Maybe it's been that long since they've seen an insect)

SOZOS IMPRISONMENT

So, this next little headcanon of mine is an interesting one and might be confusing to explain. Was Sozonius imprisoned within his own mind while under the control of the mushroom crown? If he was, I can see him being stuck in a sort of loop, imagining his family and friends. Think like Mabel's Bubble from ‘Gravity Falls’ weirdmageddon. Sozonius is trapped in a mental bubble, stuck in a false reality as the now mushroom-infected Sozo takes over his body and actions. 

In Sozonius’s mental bubble he is in a place where trees are big, tall mushrooms and flowers are mushrooms, everywhere he turns its mushrooms. He knows something is wrong, everything is too strange, everyone he loves is there with him but is it real? It feels like he's living in a dream. Sozonius proceeds to talk to his friends and family as if they are actually there in which I noticed that Sozo will talk to the menticide mushrooms as if they are actual people.

Sozo Dialogue “Precious, perfect little mushrooms, Sozo is here now, Sozo will always be here…”

”Sozo is busy now… Sozo must commune with the ‘shrooms.”

As time passes more mushrooms grow in his mind prison, and they keep growing and growing until they start to grow on the people he loves. He knows something is happening, he's going mad, and he starts to search for an exit, he needs to escape this false reality that the mushroom crown has created for him. 

He starts fighting the mushroom crown’s hold on him which causes him to regain some awareness. This is when a part of him realizes he’s been tricked, and he starts refusing everything the Mushroomos give him and becomes cruel to them. However, the lambs have never done him wrong before and the lamb (from the cult) begins to be the only person he can trust. At least until it becomes too much and well… we know Sozo’s fate.

SOZO’S REVIVAL 

So Sozo doesn't get resurrected until all the bishops become mortal (at least in my playthrough)(I might change this to he was part of the cult before the bishops I’m not sure). So all the bishop siblings are in the cult and learning the ways of mortal stuff and Sozo appears around the same time, still the crazy Sozo we know and love. However, he’s still very addicted to the menticide mushrooms and both the Lamb and night workers have found Sozo digging through the mushroom crops like a lil racoon.

Based on the game, Sozo likes to run around the cult and do his own thing; he often looks very spaced out but the moment someone talks to him he starts spitting nonsense before yelling at them to go away. The only people Sozo will talk to are people that give Sozo what he wants, which is menticide mushrooms! If you do that for him he will talk your ear off with nonsense, in conversations with him he will often talk about his followers, them being liars and disgusting little creatures. One day though Sozo’s personality seems to change? He starts to tell the lamb,

 “Sozo was just here, all alone, thinking about mushrooms... Uh, Sozo means Sozo's little Mushroomo followers!”

”Yes,, they must be so lost without Sozo. They love Sozo! Everyone loves Sozo - especially Lamb!”

“Without their great and beloved Sozo, Mushroomos must be so scared... YOU! You must save them! Save them and bring them to Sozo.”

”They will be trapped in Anura. They are always getting captured when they don't have their great Sozo to protect them. Rescue them and bring them to me.”

But when you bring the followers to Sozo he ends up eating them. At first glance you can assume it's just his addiction, in which it most certainly could be! He sees a big mushroom and he's like oooo~ delicious but there's also a possibility of this being Dr. Sozonius’s anger coming out. The whole fighting against the mushroom crown’s influence and realization that he’s been tricked. Maybe a mix of his addiction and anger for what they did to him? I’m not too sure if Sozo eating the Mushroomos was a problem before he joined the cult.

Of course, this addiction must be stopped so the lamb decides enough is enough and refuses to get more Mushroomos. This causes Sozo to dissent and, with little choice, the Lamb has to put him in rehab. I imagine it would’ve been a struggle getting Sozo to the prison without the Red Crown’s help. With the power of an ant that is Sozo’s size it's a miracle he didnt break that pillory while he was in it. Sozo just stayed silent and didn't fight; the person he had put his trust and hope in has imprisoned him. Sozo is a bit depressed at that moment. 

After Sozo has been re-educated, released, and cured of his addiction the mushroom crown finally falls off his head. Which, like I said before, makes me wonder, was it being powered by the menticide mushrooms Sozo has been eating or is it something else?

But Dr. Sozonius talks about some stuff before saying,

Dr. Sozonius Dialogue “I can’t help but feel that I have you to thank for… something. You have my loyalty, I will remain here and serve you. Please, take this!”

Sozonius was ready to live his life rather than reunite with his family in the afterlife. He wasn't expecting to be resurrected after dying in the cult from old age. But Sozonius gave the lamb their loyalty and promised to stay in the cult and serve them. The Lamb had been so kind as to give Sozonius an immortality necklace, the Lamb didn’t want Sozonius to go yet… and Sozo’s heart was too kind and soft. He will have to wait a bit longer to return home to his family, but maybe some good things will come out of staying longer~

Also! Who do we think Sozo was talking to? 

A Mushroomo Dialogue "Who is Sozo talking to when he whispers in the dark...?"

Is he talking to himself? The mushrooms? Or the Fox?

[tanoraqui]

Dungeon Meshi Liveblog: I THINK BEING A NECROMANCER WOULD FIX ME, TOO

HOLD THE FUCKING PHONE, ARE WE GOING TO EAT HIM?!

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I think my boy Laios just headbutted a phoenix?

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He's so fucking clever under stress, I love him so much!!!

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/laughing

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Dad energy.

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Book's awake!

You: What?

Me, loading a gun to go kill this motherfucker before it messes with Marcille and to a lesser extent Laios: Book's awake.

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This is normal sibling behavior on Falin's part, actually.

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holy shit I'm about to meet the rabbits everyone was :)ing about. The rabbits that haunt Chilchuck's concept of monsters. THE Rabbits.

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oh my god the rabbits

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MARCILLE NO! (MARCILLE YES!)

(Chilchuck is going to be so. pissed. when he finds out about this.)

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MOVE ASIDE, CHIMERA GIRL, I'M MARRYING THIS WOMAN!

what a line, too. Oh my god I really do want to play a Necromancer wizard sometime...

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I'm laughing hysterically. This is the best. I'm just going to keep some of the best panels but oh my god they're all the best.

I'm getting strong Candace Flynn (Phineas & Ferb) "Squirrels In My Pants" x "Queen of Mars" vibes?!?

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SHOUTOUT TO IZUTSUMI FOR KILLING A DUNGEON RABBIT WITH HER BARE TEETH!! And also for enduring this, uh, zombie nightmare. Necromancers amiright.

(/sobs - I wanna play a necromancer wizard in a long-plot D&D game SO BAD...)

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IT WORKED, THOUGH! Marcille, it worked. You did it. Laios had total faith in you (Laios had total faith in a friend again and he was right again), and you did it. You saved them all. And you're going to make a stew for Falin, which is the language of love and life-giving, and save her, too.

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And! the fact that this is all happening in this room where Thistle has been desperately trying to retain a masquerade of life just as grotesque, though slightly more pretty, as Marcille's mass animation there! Except it wasn't really more pretty at all, because absolutely everything was a mess - our heroes were the ones who made it nice enough to actually live in. But everyone is still just as dead ("alive" but un-hungering, even when conscious) as Laios, Senshi, Chilchuck, Izutsumi and these rabbits - mimicking the motions of life, of walking and moving or of growing crops, raising farm animals and sitting down to eat... Thistle is in blind denial; Marcille is weeping.

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ohhh my god she's not just taking measures to avoid personal loss, or to prevent anyone else from avoiding personal loss... She, too, is aware of the interracial politics... (And it's lifespans specifically to which she doesn't want to lose anyone ever again. That's why the monster appeared in the background when Chilchuck told her that halffeet lifespans are 50 years, that's why Laios was specifically dying of old age in her nightmare... It really was SPECIFICALLY old age that terrifies her... Death by monster or murder or whatnot is one thing, but she Does Not Want to outlive anyone she loves, and she doesn't want anyone else to have to do it either.)

eyes eyes eyes eyes eyes

[deepestnightcolor]

Hello! I just recently found your account while searching for alex/reader and love your one-shot of him!!! I was wondering if you could do another of him and reader and their lead up to a relationship? I haven't seen many of fics with and reader sadly wish he had more! And maybe a Lil freaky deaky scene? Obviously no rush or if your not wanting too! Love your sam fics too❤️❤️

ᴀ/ɴ: Hello there!~ Thank you so much for your request and the Alex love! We must admire our athletic king, mustn't we? I have a little something here for you, the freaky deaky scene might follow at some other point! I started it off with somethin' in my mind and then it got all fluff and mushy...I hope you will enjoy either way! <3

ᴘᴀɪʀɪɴɢ: Alex (SDV) x GN!Reader

ᴡᴄ: 1973 words

ᴍᴅɴɪ ✧ ᴡᴀʀɴɪɴɢꜱ: we like some good ol' fluff, I have decided.

☾ ᴇɢɢᴇᴅ ☽

Alex had always thought that he would only have three priorities in life: Working out, gridball, and his family. Sure, he had had interest in some people here and there – Hayley, for example. She was pretty, and they sometimes were able to share some good times, but it never seemed to go deeper. Some of the guys in town had also made him curious, yet he always felt… a lack of motivation to pursue things after a while. Nothing enthralled him more than these three priorities, and he was a man of principles, simple as that.

That was until a certain farmer decided to take reign over the old, abandoned farm. At first, he didn’t think much of it. A new farmer, so what? You weren’t even living in Pelican Town, but outside of it. He was pretty certain that you wouldn’t ever really become a big part of the community, living in sticks of the sticks like that. Of course, he was polite when you actually swung by. Nodded his head at you, sometimes he even said “hey”. That didn’t mean he paid much attention to you, though. At least that was what he was telling himself.

Something about you always made his head turn, no matter what. Whenever he caught you out of the corner of his eye, he would crane his neck to get a better look at you. He found it amusing that you ran around town with whatever you had farmed that day, dirt covering your sweet, reddened cheeks and sturdy hands. He would watch you as you went to the beach, just to return with buckets of fish hours later. His eyes followed your path to the blacksmith’s house to get Yoba knows what upgraded or whatever geodes you had found broken open. He decided it was your determination that caught his eyes, nothing more, nothing less. After all, you were building up a ruin of a farm with your bare two hands, filling it with the life it hadn’t seen in years.

That theory didn’t last long, either. It ended when you stopped in your tracks one day and gave him this look. It was one of consideration, of doubt. Yet the fog seemed to lift, and instead of uncertainty, a smile blossomed on your plump lips. You crossed your arms behind your back while you approached the athlete, tipping your head to the side as you stood right in front of him. And fuck, didn’t you look adorable? Alluring, almost, with the way you fluttered your lashes at him. A sense of friendly innocence radiated from you, and it hit him right in the gut. “Hey. It’s Alex, right? I have met your grandparents.” It was unfair, really. Even your voice seemed to be drenched in honey, immediately luring him into a conversation he hadn’t been interested in having. “Yeah, Alex…So, you are the new farmer.”

You gave him a grin; one of the kinds he always found attractive. It was challenging, but still so, so polite. “Have you seen any other person running around with dirt on their cheeks?” Alex whistled through his teeth, cocking his brows at the sudden sass being thrown his way. “Alright, then, I guess that answers it.”

The grin on your face didn’t falter in the slightest, quite the opposite. You seemed to enjoy that you had thrown him off guard, that you had made an impression that he hadn’t expected. You let him simmer in silence for a while, before revealing the egg you had hidden behind your back. Given the way his eyes lit up, you assumed you had hit the nail on the head with that one. “My chicken Cluck and Brood were busy, and now I have some extra. Do you want an egg?” The smile that spread on Alex’s face was big, and you were quite sure that you had seen something shift in him. “Really? Yeah, thank you! They are great sources of protein!” He took the egg with a gentleness that took you by surprise. “Yeah, it is no pro-“ The sound of an eggshell meeting a set of pearly whites shoved your words back down your throat. You watched in horror as the brunet broke the shell of the egg and slurped its contents down his throat. What horrified you even more was the sole fact that he didn’t even seem to find the taste disgusting or off-putting, quite the opposite – he seemed to enjoy the taste of raw egg. Which indicated… that he had done this before. Alex apparently didn’t take note of your expression, or if he did, he was used to it and had decided to pay it no mind; he licked his lips like you would after having your favourite dessert. “That was great, thank you, farmer!” He grinned, giving your back a clumsy smack. “I’ll see ya ‘round.” Alright, maybe Alex had thrown you off guard. Yet that wasn’t a problem, because he had been right in one assumption about you – you were determined.

Alex hadn’t expected for you to return this fast, and what he had been expecting even less was you showing up to him working on his gridball techniques – at least that was what he called it; usually he just threw the ball for Dusty to fetch it, just like he was doing now – but there you were, propping yourself up on the fence and throwing a smile in his direction. For a moment. Alex didn’t quite know what to do, so instead of ending his little workout session, he threw the ball again, waving in your direction. “He can go far,” you noted, shielding your glistening eyes from the sun as you watched the animal chase after the ball with great elan. The brunet grinned a little at your comment, pearly whites showing for a split second. “’Course he can, he’s got a great buddy to train with.” “Huh, is that so?” You asked back, mustering the egg in your hand. “Is so.” “So…you could even train someone as incompetent at sports as me?” That had piqued Alex’s attention. He walked over to the fence, green eyes now falling on the gift you had brought him. “Mh…maybe. You’ve got potential, after all. We would probably need to get you to eat more protein,” he began, thick fingers of a large hand wrapping around the animal produce you were holding out. The egg looked tiny in his hand; it would have been possible for you to become distracted by the way he managed to shrink a large chicken egg to one of the size of a quail’s if you weren’t so focused on the words that were about to tumble out of his mouth. “Maybe you could start out with eggs as well?” There it was, the words you had been anticipating and yet hoping he wouldn’t say them. Still, the way he was seriously considering it as if anyone else in this small town ate raw eggs made him kind of endearing to you. “Oh…uh. Maybe. You know, I will start with…uh, something less crunchy? Leave the eggs to the pros like you?” A grin appeared on his face again, warm palm landing on your shoulder with a small smack. “You get it, farmer.” There was an appreciation in his voice that he would have never expected to carry. But then again, he hadn’t gotten up this morning and awaited a sweaty farmer bringing him yet another chicken egg, had he?

You were working yourself into his routine; slowly, but surely. You weren’t set in stone like his strict workout regime, but he knew that at some point, you would show up. Sometimes you caught him in the middle of weightlifting – he had grown accustomed enough to you to allow you to wander into his room -, sometimes you met him while he was walking Dusty. Talking to you came easier and easier, not that he had any trouble talking to anyone, but he just felt…more comfortable. Finding someone that got him, that didn’t necessarily have high expectations. Someone who genuinely cared. That’s why he was hoping that you would find him today. He was sitting at the beach, cradling a music box that seemed so delicate in contrast to Alex’s broad shoulders, chest, and strong arms. A soft melody chimed from the box, luring him into some sort of trance that he was never able to break free from for some reason. He just had to stare, and stare, and stare. Every now and then he also wondered, wondered if his life could have gone differently, better. He loved his grandparents; he loved them with all his heart! But sometimes… sometimes he wondered if he had had a better chance at life- “Alex? You okay?” Something heavy and warm was placed on his shoulder, making the tall man snap upwards just to see your face. You gave him a smile, one that he had grown fond of in the past months. “Oh, hey.” “Sorry, I didn’t want to startle you, but you didn’t react to all my screaming, so I just- I wanted to check up on you.” Alex gave you a smile. It looked strained, but also so, so lost. It made you sit down next to him slowly, keeping your hand on his shoulder, arm now wrapped around the muscular broadness of his back. Much to your surprise, Alex rested his head down on you, green eyes trained on the ocean, following the draw and pull of the waves. The melody from the music box still filled the air with its soothing gentleness, though also thickening it, leaving the bitterness of memories and hopes that were never fulfilled behind.

Your head slowly dropped on the brunet one’s, allowing him to bask in the silent comfort he seemed to need. At some point, his hand wrapped around yours, a deep sigh leaving his lips. “Sometimes, when I miss her…I come here, playing the music box. It brings back what little of an image I got to create of her…makes me feel close.” You hummed, allowing your eyes to wander about the delicate box. The tune was still playing, the little figurine starting yet another round on its little spring. “And I feel weird about it sometimes. I know she’s gone, after all. So why should I keep doing this?” “Because it makes you feel better, you don’t need any more reasons,” you answered, words l

rolling off your tongue in a velvet “matter-of-fact” voice. Alex seemed to relax a little, his gaze falling back on the box as if he only now had dared to look at it again.

 “See, that’s why I like you.” “Like me?” You asked, genuine surprise coating your words, sticking to them in a way that made it impossible to hide it. It was such an abrupt change of topic – not that it didn’t intrigue you. “Yeah, ‘course. Didn’t you notice?” Well, there had been a change in Alex’s demeanour towards you, like you had hoped. He had been more open, more…interested. There weren’t only talks about him anymore, and he didn’t act like you were a simple source of petulance while he was doing what actually mattered to him. “Huh, I thought I was bad at readin’, and now here you are, suckin’ at readin’ signs.” It was a weak attempt at humour, making your fingers wrap around his more tightly. “You became one of my priorities and didn’t even realize.” Hands closing tighter around one another’s’, you smiled to yourself. “I knew the eggs would get you.”

So maybe Alex did have four priorities, and for once, the thought didn’t make his stomach churn. For once it made him feel settled, and soft. Like he could be soft. Like he deserved to feel.

[pokemonshelterstories]

Even after reading your FAQ and a bunch of asks you've answered, I'm still not sure if a shelter blog is the best place to ask this, so do feel free to delete this (or tell me privately that you won't post it, but only if you have the time and energy), but I can't think of anyone else, and if you do post it, you or some of your followers might have some interesting thoughts, so here goes:

How would you feel about using Pokeballs to catch Pokémon you're planning to eat?

For context, I and my siblings grew up in a small, mostly off-grid community, and while most details aren't relevant, we did hunt for food occasionally. We never used pokeballs, but instead bow and arrow, fishing rods, nets and traps.

These days I live closer to a big city, sharing a house with my brother, his husband, and their teenage son (my other nibling, their older child, has moved out a while ago, so they're not part of this story).

Last month, we visited the community my brother and I grew up in, and during our two week stay, I took my nephew on a hunting trip. He was decently enthusiastic to train his archery, but he asked why we don't just use pokeballs. Wouldn't it be easier? I didn't have an answer for him then, only that we'd been taught this way and that I'd never considered using pokeballs.

But I've been thinking about it. It would be easier, but wouldn't it also be more cruel? After all, by catching it in a pokeball, you're giving the pokemon false hope of a nice life with a trainer, only to then kill it. I feel like killing it quickly while it's still in the wild and doesn't know any better is more, like, honest maybe?

What do you or your followers think?

(If any angry vegans find this post, don't even waste your energy on a mean response or lecture, because most likely I have you blocked already, and if I don't, I'll correct that when I see you being rude to me)

oooh, this is an interesting ask to get...

i think this is really more of a matter of personal comfort with the idea of eating a pokemon that's been caught in a ball, but as long as it's done properly, i don't see anything wrong with it. after all, pokemon for the most part don't really have any concept of what's going to happen to them in the future.

as someone who hunts, you (i assume) understand our duty to give the pokemon we eat as painless of a death as possible. then, as trainers, we have a duty to maintain the 5 freedoms for our pokemon, which includes freedom from psychological stress. provided you meet those requirements, i think it's ok to catch a pokemon in a pokeball for the sake of eating it. it's more humane than certain types of traps that leave the pokemon struggling until the hunter comes to check them, and pokemon tend to relax in pokeballs, since they mimic the way pokemon curl up when healing. when the pokemon is released from its ball, you then just need to humanely slaughter it. there are some pokemon that i wouldn't do this with, since they don't immediately take well to being caught in a ball; buneary is a good example. but many common game pokemon do just fine.

i've actually used a different tool to help out with culling food pokemon- my styler! there are a lot of farms out near artazon, and rangers do sometimes get asked to help with keeping livestock mons calm in the moments leading up to slaughter. i've met rangers who aren't comfortable taking on those cases, and i've definitely gotten fussed at by my share of pokemon rights activists, but i think pokemon raised as food deserve as calm of an environment as possible. so, no, i dont think using pokeballs to trap game is cruel as long as you know what you're doing and don't stress the pokemon out. but if you're used to the way you already do things, don't feel like you have to change it up either.

[chinomiko]

hi! i know it must be kinga boring for you recive questions about castiel bc ppl are obsessed ober him for years but like the other person who asked you a few days ago, i follow you (and ply mcl) for like 10 years and ever since day one my fav boy has been tiel. till this day at the age of 22 he's my favorite and my comfort boy so i joke that he's not a fictional character anymore for me and that i know him personally at this point lol

with that being said, i bet you can imagine that over the years i've been elaborating his personality beyond what the game gives us but he's your boy, you created him therefore you know him and your word is canon, so i'd like to ask a few stuff!! nothing too big, dont worry but here we go.

tiel is an amazing songwriter and since he's very emotional not very good at express it (he does it a lot better now that he's an adult 🥹) i bet his lyricism is very deep and poetic so i have this headcanon that he at first wouldn't like taylor swift because obviously lol but then he payed attention to her lyrics and ends up basically being a swiftie since he likes her writing a lot. what you think about that?

and what kind of music crowstorm sings? like there are any bands that you listen and think "hey this would be in a crowstorm album!" (i have a playlist with this name btw lol). im probably wrong on this one but since this is my fav band i like to think that catfish and the bottlemen are the irl crowstorm, musically speaking

and the last one: another thing that gives me so much comfort is the lystiel friendship. not having present parents, being so closed off i know that lysander is such an important presence on tiel's life because he was basically the only close person he had (specially after the debrah fiasco); if lys didnt had taken the farm and went to college and bla bla bla do you think he would still be part of the band with castiel? im not sure if im mixing the canon with a fanfic i read a while ago (lol) but the band was more of a fun thing to lys, right? he liked writing most (i always imagined him getting into a literature degree or something like this). i also like to think that he helps tiel with lyrics at times, even if he's out of the band (in my head the canon is that they are best friends and pretty close till this day, i pretend lys never left our lives just like armin)

anyways sorry for this big ask 😭 i dont even know if you will read it all but if you do, thank you! and dont feel like you have to answer, i know its too much its just that mcl is my hyperfixation till this day like for real, i have a fanfic that i write still and i even plan on making it into a book sometime. except from the main characters (who is my oc) all the characters will be based on the game's ones :)

ilysm take care and stay hydrated!!

Hellow !

Aww thank you so much and for all your love for Castiel ^^

What a long ask, I'll try to answer in order.

Castiel being a swiftie. No sorry, I don't think he would be. If candy likes her, I'm pretty sure he would try to listen. Also he is an open minded person for sure, so I'm sure he would be curious to listen and study what all the hype is about, it could also help as some sort of far away inspiration, but I don't see him being a fan.

What kind of songs Crowstorm sings This is hard to answer because my musical knowledge is pretty limited and I'm sure I would miss on lot of potential groups or singers that would fit well. And it would require too much research time to have a real detailed and clear answer, but I still did check a bit and here is a little list of songs/groups that I think would have a fitting vibe for Crowstorm

City of the dead - Hollywood Undead The worst in me - bad omens Paranoid - I prevail Trauma Just pretend - Bad omens Ice Nine Kills - A grave mistake Catfish and the bottlemen sounds nice but I think its a bit too soft for what I imagine for Crowstorm.

What is his voice like I think something similar to this (not necessarily the song itself, just the voice. )

bonus, I think this song is so so fitting for Castiel's breakup song, I love it. Dial Tone - Catch your breath

Castiel and Lys friendship. It was'nt mentionned much in UL/LL because I didnt wish to bring too much drama by mentioning Lys when he was not there for the players, but of course Lys and Cast always kept in touch. It is very clearly mentionned in Lys' AL that they keep in touch, that Lys helps Castiel write songs and Cast also like to come to his farm to have a break and spend time together. You should play it if you havent, you'll have a good chunk of Cast and Lys friendship :) However yeah I can confirm that Lys would not like to do it serisouly and professionally, but he'll be all the way around to support and help Cast.

[soaps-mohawk]

Kyletober was fucking amazing. I'll admit I haven't gotten through all of it, part of it being personal preference regarding some of the kinks, but what I have read was fun and sexy as hell. And I'd definitely enjoy it if some of these were turned into full length fics. But it's also great to hear that CRCB is back on the menu, because I'm not proud of this, but it's still a thing I think about non stop. The lack of updates has not eased the burden of the brainrot at all. Feel free to take this as a chance to ramble about the world building in general, but my god my heart goes out to every Omega in your universe. Because the more I thought about the more the treatment of Omega's starts to eerily resemble how we treat pets in our world. Specifically institutes. And I have to ask, to soothe myself that Omega's don't have it all that bad in this universe.

Just how commonly are Omega's sent off to institutes? Because from the way it's talked about it seems like that's the norm which seems complete bonkers to me, because bad or good parents I doubt most of them would be okay with sending their child off to what is essentially a boarding school and never hearing from them again, not knowing what packs they end up in and what life they live.

The high school I went to has a dorm for students from nearby farms, and the parents of 18 year olds still hesitate to send them there even though they come home on the weekends and y'know, they don't go no contact, so I doubt these parents would be okay with an even stricter arrangement. I wouldn't believe it if there's no pushback from families of Omega's, especially if one of the parents is an Omega themselves. Speaking of that, are Betas and Alphas completely okay with this system too? Just choosing a life long partner from a list of candidates? In another post you did mention some families keeping Omega's until their old enough to search for packmates organically, which I fucking hope is the norm, but even if that's the case does that mean the Alphas and Betas that turn to institutes are in fact the "bad" ones that don't exactly value Omega's as people?? Because I can't decide if that's worse. There has to be some pushback against both betas and alphas, but also if the perception around Alphas is analogous to "not all men" in our world I'm guessing it's not very likely.

And I guess this leads into my last point which is if bonding with between an Alpha and Omega is scene as a lifelong thing in this world, do institutes give any protection to Omega's that have just been sent off to packs? I'm going to assume that they at least have the courtesy of doing background checks, but what about after that? Is there some kind of system where they check in on the pack and the Omega? Since you did also mention that sometimes a bond doesn't form and an Omega is returned, so it's not like an institute completely forgets about the Omega they just let off into the world. Like if an Omega is sent off to a pack that ends up being abusive there has to be some system in place to not just prevent that but stop it if it's already happening. Like in another post you mentioned about Alphas having multiple Omega partners. Especially since I'm guessing the whole reason Omega's have no rights on their own is a spin on the fact they're so sacred and need to be protected and monitored (and you can throw in the usual their too emotional and weak minded to function on their own). If not then I'm praying this is a rare occurrence since I guess in packs Betas would be the ones to stop this kind of behavior, and essentially serve as mediators between Alpha and Omega, especially when an Omega is being integrated into the pack. But still it would be reassuring to know that even if they don't have rights there's at least systems in place to protect them, even with institutes, because my god I don't know if this was intentional but Omega lives just sound so depressing and dystopian in this universe. It's part of the reason why our 'Megas story is so tragic too. Not a single choice she could have made to prevent what happened to her. (And NGL is part of the reason I'm still so pulled into this fic. I've reimagined with countless of my OC's who would be Omega's, rebellious or not.)

I hope this was at least somewhat comprehensible because it's the result of many late night brain worms and many rereads of your work. I'm looking forward to more updates but also no pressure! And I hope above all else you are doing great and all these big changes coming in your life will go well and with as little turbulence as possible :DD

Aww I'm glad you enjoyed Kyletober!! Like I said, there's no pressure to read any of them that aren't your thing. Not everything is for everyone and I respect that.

Yess CRCB is back, or will be back as soon as I can get the next chapter done. But anyway, omegas do really have it hard in this universe I've created.

As far as institutes, it kind of depends on the situation. I'd say it's kind of split pretty closely between sending an omega to an institute versus keeping them at home to allow bonds to grow more organically. It kind of depends on the location too. Some areas don't have very many institutes so the more common way packs are formed are through organic relationship building. Some areas, typically richer areas, will have more institutes and it's more common to send omegas to institutes there.

Most of it is just personal preference when it comes to families. Some omegas know from before they present that they'll be going to an institute if they present as an omega. Others wind up there by accident in less favorable circumstances. A lot of packs might choose to send their omegas to institutes to give them a chance at a better life. Again, it just kind of depends on a case by case basis.

Most betas and I'd even say alphas, don't really know what institutes are really like. They kind of have this understanding that doesn't branch beyond common knowledge and what they hear, etc. I can imagine there are a lot that are against institutes and as is mentioned in the fic, there are some emerging studies being done on institutes and better ways to handle omegas. On the flip side, there's a lot of alphas that like institutes because it's a good way to find a good omega and know what you're getting before you decide. A lot of institutes are okay with sending omegas off with just anyone who's willing to pay the price. Some institutes, like the one 'mega went to, do have more extensive processes for alphas, but again, like we've seen, they're not above corruption either.

Institutes do check in with alphas after omegas are sent, and there is like a time period where the alpha has the ability to return an omega if things don't wind up working out for whatever reason. It's less checking up on the omega themselves and how they're doing, and just more how they're performing and if the alpha is satisfied with the product. Some institutes don't check in at all. It's kind of a sign, sealed, delivered kind of thing and once you walk out the door that's it. Once an omega is sent out from an institute, it's entirely up to the alpha they've been sent to, to make those decisions on whether or not they stay. An omega can't decide they want to go back to the institute since omegas don't have that right once they're with a pack. It's entirely up to the alpha since alphas are the ones in charge of the omegas once they leave. Institutes don't care at their core. It's all about making good omegas and making them attractive to potential alphas who will put money in their pockets.

Yeah. It's gross.

Outside of institutes omegas do have more of a choice as far as alphas go. It's more organic in that omegas get to meet alphas and do more of a dating type thing. It's not all good though, as being an unclaimed omega in the world leaves you vulnerable to alphas that aren't above being despicable human beings. Omegas can still wind up in very bad situations, and even then they don't really have rights. They're under the control of their family pack and that control gets signed over when they find an alpha they want to form a pack with.

I hope this made sense and answered your questions. My brain is mush right now lol.

[hangmanbradshaw]

Happy ho-ho-holidays everybody!! As a celebration, I'm going to be posting fic related treats (new chapters, new fics, one shots, story add ons, snippets, etc) each day, a chaotic advent calendar of sorts full of my (and your so voted) favorite things. I hope y'all have as much fun with this as I do. Some of it I have planned, some I'm taking the inspo as it comes so ;) you never know what I'll run with

Day 1: i find myself running home to your sweet nothings (IWTBY Part 3, chap 1) tumblr post

Day 2: sometimes all it takes is a thursday (javy pov one shot: After the mission, Javy watches Jake and Bradley become Jake and Bradley again, and then become more, OR, Jake and Bradley become friends again, and sometimes love is actually easy.)

Day 3: that little farm where every wish comes true chap 5 (hallmark sugar daddy au) tumblr post

Day 4: i talk a big game that i'm scared of losin' (one shot: Jake's a professor ready to jump back into the dating pool, Bradley's a little rough around the edges, and Nat swears they're perfect for each other. She might be right. OR Jake dumps his loser ex and moves to California to be near Nat and Javy. Nat knows a guy, and sometimes opposites attract.)

Day 5: and i feel like my castle's crumbling down (Bradley POV add on to rival princes au. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know where else to go.” All it took was nine words for Bradley's heart to rebuild and break again.)

Day 6: santa, can't you hear me chap 2 (Jake Seresin didn't want to live the lyrics of Last Christmas, but in the aftermath of a breakup, he finds himself meeting someone different, someone maybe even special, in the form of a reporter sent to do a profile on him. Bradley Bradshaw wasn't what he expected, but maybe that's a good thing. The rest, well, he can honestly say he never saw it coming.)

Day 7: take me home where we met so many years before (one shot: On the day of Jake and Bradley's wedding, three best friends look back on how they got there. OR the Seresin-Bradshaw guide to laying under the stars through all stages of life) (aka the FGCC's fault lmao love you guys)

Day 8: cuz you know i love the players and you love the game (one shot: Jake's the star quarterback, Bradley's the star baseball captain. They both like playing games, turns out they want the same prize. OR. Bradley dresses as a cheerleader for the team and Jake hates him (except that he totally doesn't))

Day 9: the set it up/football/baseball/fall in love with the city idea that almost was (before I went with IWTBY which I'd been dreaming up for so long)

Day 10: santa, can't you hear me chap 3 finale

[winterstellars]

sins of the son | part iii

15,506 w (entire fic is 55,619) | aemond x nameless fem oc (can also be read as reader insert) | 6.14.24 | the first two parts can be found in full on ao3

content warning for violence in this excerpt. if reading the full fic on ao3, please be mindful of the tags!

What could you possibly kill that you love so much it would make the sun rise again?

—Succession S2E10, written by Jesse Armstrong

Harrenhal stands out from the gray-brown muck of the Riverlands like a lonely gravestone: bitter, ugly, twisted. Aemond can just barely see the broken towers and melted stone walls, the work of his ancestors, as Vhagar pierces the clouds and descends upon the castle. It is for the best that the weather has put a thick haze between them and the countryside. If it were clearer, he might be able to see the villages. The farms. Small huts where simple people live. It is best not to think of them as people, what with the orders he and Criston have. It is best not to think of them at all.

Her hands, which have been anchored to his tunic since they left the capitol, finally uncurl when Vhagar touches the ground. The tension dissipates as he helps her down from the rigging. She is a bright bloom of life against the dull backdrop of snow and steel. Soldiers cross the courtyard carrying supplies, lighting torches, draping green-and-gold banners with the three-headed dragon sigil emblazoned upon them. Nightfall is close—the clouds hide the glow that should be a sunset—and every bone in his body aches for a bed and a pile of quilts and furs.

“My prince.” Cole, though muddy from the march, is as sharp and meticulous as ever. “The castle is secure. The scouts have not seen any men within a league of here. They likely retreated when they saw our advance.”

She makes a small humming noise in the back of her throat. “They know this land better than we do.”

Cole makes no reply, but Aemond can see a small muscle by his ear go taut. He will not do any of them the disservice of pretending as though Cole would approve of her presence. To him, she represents an uncomfortable inconvenience. Neither as shameful nor as easy to overlook as one of Aegon’s whores, but still. Inconvenient. A blemish on Aemond’s honor, if such honor ever truly existed.

“My lady.” It is a generous allowance coming from Cole. “Perhaps you would be more comfortable inside.”

“I’ll stay,” she murmurs, holding Aemond’s arm, thumb stroking over the crisp leather. He can feel her gentle stability, the sureness of her presence. His wife, he thinks, his queen. 

“These are the prisoners?” He gestures to a pack of men in fetters, closely guarded. Many sport gray hair and long-healed scars from wars of the past along with fresh cuts and bruises. Others are barely old enough to swing a sword, scrawny and unsure of themselves, the same age as Luke had been—

He kills that thought in its infancy. Storm, sun, blood. It feels more like a nightmare than a memory now.

“What’s left of House Strong,” Cole replies, disdain dripping from his words. “They await the king’s justice.”

He can feel her watching him. He dares not look back. He and Cole know full well what their orders are. They know that the king’s justice knows nothing of mercy and everything of retribution.

“I’ll have the servants make up a room for us. You can rest. I’ll find you,” he tells her, but as soon as he speaks, she shakes her head. Firm, sure, unflinching. Sometimes her conviction ought to frighten him. 

“I rode to war with you,” she says. “I expected war.”

“Have you ever seen a man die?”

Her mouth moves, almost resembling a smile, but her eyes are far too steely for there to be any hint of joy. “You won’t scare me.” 

He couldn’t, he realizes, even if he tried. There are no shadows in which he can hide from her gaze. All of his rage, his grief, and his love has been laid bare in front of her, and she has not fled from him. What he must do will not change anything. She has seen him as a killer and still loves him all the same, still touches him as though his hands have never committed any sin.

The first man the guards bring forward has a mop of brown curls with spots of gray by his forehead. His doggish nose is split with a fresh break. He does not look at Aemond, but that is for the best. This man is a ghost from another world, some wretched glimpse of what Luke might have been like had he lived. A silver wedding band perches on his ring finger, and a piece of red ribbon is tied around his wrist. It is a simple thing. A little trifle. Something a child might gift a father.

Traitor, traitor, traitor, Aemond chants to himself, embedding the word into his heart. It does no good to let himself imagine what kind of person this man might be. He makes himself think of his mother, of Helaena, of Jaehaera and little Maelor. Their safety comes at a price he will always be willing to pay.

“Your name, Ser?” Criston asks for him. He is silently grateful; if he tried to speak now, he would not know what to say.

The man keeps his face lowered, shoulders hunched, all signs of fight drained out of him. “Harrold Strong.”

“You command the garrison here?”

“I do.”

Aemond draws his sword, the steel singing in the crisp winter air. He sees her standing off to the side. Her breath turns to mist as though she could breathe smoke and fire, fiercer and darker than even Vhagar. If she can be a dragon, he must be one too.

“Harrold Strong, your house has betrayed the crown and has conspired in treason against the king. In accordance with the law, your lives are forfeit. You and your men have been sentenced to the king’s justice.”

So slowly, as if he has all the time in the world, Harrold Strong looks up at him. Stares. Raises his chin.

“You the king, lad?”

Aemond ought to offer him better dying words, but when he searches inside himself, any pity has evaporated. He has his sword raised in the space of one heartbeat, and in the next, head falls away from body and blood coats the earth. Though he can see Criston’s mouth moving, there is nothing but a great, piercing silence in his head. The guards bring another man—no, not a man, a boy not even Daeron’s age—forward. The boy is crying. A pair of soldiers come for the pieces of Harrold Rivers. One drags his body off by his arms, the other scoops his head up, careful not to touch his neck. Aemond breathes in and tastes metal on the air.

It is past nightfall when they finish. His shoulders burn from the effort of it all. Blood pools along the cobblestones, draining outwards in little rivers. She is there when it is over, arms crossed, serene as a statue, the hem of her dress stained indelibly red.

read the rest on ao3

[happyk44]

hi happy! whats ur interpretation of jason graces character? be as short or long as u want <3

The way I immediately knew my answer would be long as fuck as soon as I read the question 😂

Thanks for asking though -- I have a lot of interpretations of Jason's character. My default is wolf!Jason, which is to say I think due to his young age the effects of being raised by wolves, he retained some more animalistic behaviours that were then forcibly repressed due to the leadership requirement. Some people have argued Jason wasn't in the Wolf House long enough to retain those traits, which, okay, fine, that's a valid argument, but I say Jason having a problem with biting people is infinitely funnier so who cares.

I'm variable on when he leaves the Wolf House. We know he was there for at least a few months - sometimes I place it at a year or make him leave around 6, 7. Either way, he always leaves alone. I think of the venture from the Wolf House to Camp Jupiter to typically be a group activity, the newbies learning how to work together as a pack, as a team, in a real-life environment, but Jason is different, he's special, so he has to walk it alone.

If he stays at the Wolf House until he's about 10, 11, then we move into feral!Jason territory, where Jason has essentially become a feral/wild child. There's two variations of feral!Jason I like.

The first variation is Jason lives at camp and is often taken on quests to be used as weapon. He's not really a camper and no one interacts with him besides Reyna and a couple older campers. He lives alone in a hut near the river. He's learned some people skills but he doesn't see or think of himself as human.

The second variation is also known as the underworld Jason au because in this one Pluto "adopts" him as a pet. Essentially Jason is so feral that the people at camp can't handle it. He's convenient on quests, but he's also a wildcard and extremely aggressive, so sometimes it's not worth it. So they call on Pluto to please help them get rid of them since, well, do you know how to kill a tornado? But instead of putting him down, Pluto takes Jason in. Jason lives full-time in the underworld as Pluto's dog. He's much happier in this AU because he has a dedicated pack, where in the previous versions he's constantly being dropped and forced to take on a lone wolf lifestyle.

He's severely devoted to Pluto, and is loyal to the other members in the underworld crew. He loves to chase the chickens and creep up on the cows and basically irritate the fuck out of Menoetes who wants this little brat to stop fucking with the farm animals. Pluto treats Jason 100% like a pet dog, and the others treat him between the varying layers of "this is a human child" and "this is a definitely a wolf pup disguised as a human child".

Then there's the DID!Jason AU, where Jason develops DID due to the trauma of growing up the wolf house. His psyche essential fractures into four parts:

Jason, the host, ages with the body, looks like the body, albeit with less scars

JJ, traumholder, little, he's about five to seven years old and nonverbal, he looks like a young Jason with bandages

Grace, protector, he's around late thirties, early forties, shapeshifter (can only shapeshift into a wolf for obvious reasons), he has black hair

T, caretaker, partial introject of Thalia, her age slides from ten to nineteen (i wanted to make her an age-slider since Jason was very young when he was taken from Thalia and young kids do not generally have an accurate understanding of people's ages, ya know?), she's also a partial introject because she's modelled after Thalia as a caretaking figure but her personality and appearance differ in aspects, such as T has long hair, Thalia (as far as we know) has always had short hair, T is much brighter and enthusiastic where even when she was younger, I imagine Thalia was probably more sullen due to the complications of her home life and maybe more anxious when it came to Jason and his safety

Other bits and pieces:

suffers from depersonalization - even outside the DID AU, he lacks a solid sense of identity. It's one of the core problems in the series (one that I don't think was well explored or finished well tbh). He was raised to be a specific way and has never been allowed to anything else

autistic with an extreme sense of justice and obsession for the rules

dog boy

alexithymic with a severe emotional disconnection from his traumas. He can and will talk about wolf house training, situations where he almost died or was left for dead, times where he was tortured, etc, very easily and contentedly. He lacks the emotional connection that tells him these events were painful and traumatic, and cannot understand why people may get upset with him for talking about it so candidly. He doesn't bring it up willy nilly though, but if you ask him, he answers honestly and bluntly because he doesn't have social awareness to understand that there may be some things that should be held back

suicidal but in denial about it. Suicide is shameful and disgusting. He would never kill himself. He would, however, throw himself into every sacrificial option presented to him because dying for your loved ones is an honourable death.

low cognitive empathy, but strong emotional/compassionate empathy. He doesn't always understand why most people feel the way they do, especially if he disagrees with the situation they're experiencing a feeling over. For example, say someone killed themselves and their partner is crying about. Jason does not have the ability to understand to their partner's sadness because he sees suicide as shameful and cannot separate that from his capacity to care. However, he is still a very compassionate person, and will quickly jump into action to soothe them over their loss, even if he personally thinks, "why are you crying, they were clearly immoral and pathetic" the whole time.

side note: You may see people talk about having high cognitive empathy but low compassionate empathy - this is basically the opposite of Jason, where you have a strong understanding of why someone feels the way they do, but there is no internal drive to help them. Jason has the drive to help, but lacks the understanding/ability to relate

he is not very visibly expressive. I headcanon that he used to (and probably still does) practice making facial expressions in the mirror after everyone else had gone to bed. He's very good at mimicking human expressions and "acting" the part, even if he doesn't get why

experiences chronic pain, but due to a general disconnection from his personhood he doesn't pay much attention to it. He also thinks that its normal and trying to convince him that its not never works because if it wasn't normal then why has he been feeling it for so long. In the DID!AU, T is the one who is most disconnected from their pain and has to consciously do her best not to aggravate it when she's at the front. Grace is the one who is most connected to the pain and feels it more strongly than the other three

despite his adherence to laws of the land, hierachies don't make too much sense to him. This can be because of being raised by wolves, or just a general autism thing, but he actively treats everyone equally and has to consciously remember to treat people ranked higher than him in a different way than he'd treat people equal or below him in rank. Unlike other people though, Jason often gets a pass on this "insubordinate" behavour because of his status as Jupiter's son. It does mean that a lot of the time he fucks up on certain things and has a reputation among some campers for being an asshole because he doesn't know how to sugarcoat things for people younger or beneath him in rank

he's religious! I heacanon that the Romans are more inclined to follow their gods spiritually and religiously. They follow the old holidays (often modified for modern times), they follow the traditions, they have shrines of different gods, many kids will often pray to their parent and maybe one or two other gods. However, if they were to leave New Rome, some would likely not continue this practice, or at least not to the degree they did previously. Jason, however, is not like that. He is very connected to Religio Romana and follows the calendar, the daily rites, etc, etc, very closely. His gods of choice are Juno and Lupa (aka his moms). He does worship his father, but that's more of a respect, he's my dad, I have to kind of thing. After the events of BoO, Jason slowly starts to scale back in his worship of his dad while he researches older and forgotten gods. He may choose to adopt gods outside the Roman pantheon into his worship, but he will continue to follow the Roman traditions as he does so.

part of why he scales back his worship of his dad is that he becomes very disillusioned with who his father is versus the image of the man he'd grown up with. Jupiter is law and order, sound logic, the face of Rome, and yet, in person, Jason sees a paranoid old man who can't take criticism or admit when he's wrong - this can be seen as part of his inability to fully understand/respect the hierarchy of things. His father is king of the gods, none of his decisions are incorrect, and how dare you ever insuinate that especially in front of the people who are supposed to respect, fear, and revere him, but where someone like Percy would argue against that because they rebel against authority, especially when that authority has been a pain in their ass from day one, Jason can't make that connection because he doesn't fully see other people's authority in that way. To him, his dad is a god, yes, but like any god, like any person, he is still just some guy and can be unwise at times

This is really funny to me because I also think of Zeus/Jupiter as being autistic as well, so at the end of the day it's his fault his son doesn't respect him lol

he's very physically affectionate and loves so so much when people play with his hair (aka when they pet him. he is. a dog at heart)

he has a lot of sensory issues. the main one I usually mention is his hair. he keeps it cropped short because he physically can't stand it when it grows longer.

And I think this is long enough plus my brain is stalling so I am going to end this here. Depending on the story, these things may or may not be present in how I write him, but in general, yeah.

Thanks for asking! I had a lot of fun rambling 😂😂

[tristikov]

My dad passed away recently after a nearly year-long battle with cancer. He was 65. His wife took this photo a number of years back, and it sublimely captures so much about who he was, while instilling a mystique that I think is also fitting. I wrote the following to read at his funeral:

---

If you’ve ever seen my father in a crowd, you’d know he wasn’t hard to spot… Though his clothing tended to be modest, and his manner gentle, his 6’6” stature meant he usually stood head—and often shoulders—above those around him. That isn’t to suggest he wasn’t a down-to-earth individual, and I’m sure most anyone who knew him could attest to his kindness and can-do desire to help others.

Physical height runs in his side of the family, but even as a full-grown adult I’ve continued to look up to him in more ways than one (…an appreciation of wordplay also seems to be in our genes, but I shouldn’t jump the pun). As a kid I remember riding with him in “the Chev,” a woods vehicle he built himself, collecting, splitting, and stacking firewood for the winter. Through him I learned to appreciate the simple pleasure of working outdoors, roaming the quiet woods, and being considerate of the land.

As I grew older, I also worked with him on his cranberry bogs for a number of years. I learned much in that time, and though I chose to pursue a different career path, I have always looked back fondly on the time I spent working with my dad… Installing sprinkler heads in the busy thaw of Spring, battling weeds and fixing irrigation lines in the blazing Summer sun, setting up the berry pump, corralling the cranberries, and harvesting the crop under the brilliant skies of Autumn, then driving his hand-built ice sanders over the frozen bogs in the chill of Winter. Thanks to him I also have an undying appreciation for the local pizzeria, iced coffee in every season, and taking a nap after lunch (at least when time permits).

A farmer’s life is a demanding one, and each morning, fueled only by a cup of Lipton tea, my father rose to the thorny challenges of every season: Watching over the crop on little sleep through Spring and Fall frosts, maintaining our vehicles and the myriad of farm equipment, or building whatever was needed with the resources at hand—often sawing a few 2-by-4s, welding some angle iron, and bolting on an old motor… Sometimes all three.

Though my father designed and built the house I grew up in, the shop barn we relaxed and did projects in, the shed he kept his dirt bike and later ATV in, the horse barn, the camp in Maine, and at least half a dozen other sheds and outdoor constructions, his most recent endeavor—a new cedar log house--was his masterpiece… Thanks in no small part to the hard work and dedication of his dear wife, the two of them built a lovely home together overlooking the very bogs he had spent so many years tending to.

She also helped him to complete the camp in Maine which he had begun all the way back when I was a child. I took many winter trips there with my father over the years, to relax, ride the snowmobile trails, and to break fresh snow searching for elusive moose antlers. My dad loved the north woods, moose, and a day of both hard work and leisurely puttering… Maine’s state slogan is “the way life should be,” and I think my dad agreed.

I’ll miss greatly those trips with my father, more so even than working with him on the bogs. I treasured the time to connect and learn from him. I’m probably not the only guy to think highly of their dad, but with the wide breadth of skills, depth of knowledge, and social presence he possessed, it was, and still is hard to not be in awe of him. I am a father myself now, and as I remember the impressive size of the trusty old snow boots my dad wore every winter, I feel that his shoes are going to be very large ones to fill.

While my dad no doubt lived a full life, it was far too short, and I weep for the time he cannot spend with his loving wife, his young grandson, and all of his family and friends, with joy and warmth in his newly built home. He was a great father, role model, and mentor. He was one-of-a-kind, and made an indelible impression on those who met him. He will be missed by all, but when the warm late-summer nights give way to cool early-autumn evenings and the cranberries ripen scarlet under a clear blue sky, that is when I will miss him most.

[foone]

I don't have a story to for them yet, but I wanted to write this down so I don't forget: my One Hundred and One Magical Pistols setting has an animal called Cyclic Cats.

They externally look much like earth/regular cats (which also exist in this setting), except their fur always has red/orange patterns in it, though sometimes they're mostly black and you can only tell them apart from regular cats by the redness of their toebeans.

They have the same diet and attitude to humans as regular cats, but their life cycle is very different: they're not born live, they hatch from eggs. These eggs are usually hatched within their parents' old skin.

See, Cyclic Cats molt. They shed their old skin when they reproduce. The original cat lays a sort of caterpillar cacoon and the shed skin will be attached to it. After a few days, the cacoon breaks and a kitten (looking much like a kitten of a regular cat, but not a newborn: they're about the size of a newly weaned kitten) will hatch from it, but this isn't the offspring of the cat: it's the same cat, just reverted to kitten form. If the cat laid fertilized eggs, they'll hatch from the body of the shed skin. They'll appear similar to their parent, but smaller and more like a newborn regular-cat kitten.

These hatchlings are blind like regular cats, but don't feed of their parent, at least not directly. Cyclic Cats aren't mammals, there's no milk. Instead the parent will chew up food and give it to their hatchlings, much like how baby birds are fed. This'll usually included the parents old skin, as they'll eat it to avoid wasting the food.

Anyway, slightly weird reproductive strategy aside, Cyclic Cats are much like regular cats in terms of ownership. They enjoy living around humans (especially because we feed them) and have long been a part of many human activities: they're a quintessential part of any brewery, bakery, or farm, as they help keep mice away from the grain and hops. They don't get along with regular cats, with both sides being territorial, but it rarely causes direct violence: both types of cats tend to avoid each other's territory, presumably through smell.

If keep alone or they've been fixed, they'll molt every couple years, while fertile Cyclic Cats will usually molt & lay eggs once a year, usually in the early winter. Their litters are usually only 1-2 eggs, though egg caches as large as 5 have been reported.

Their lifespans are longer than regular cats: 20-30 years for wild/outdoor cyclic cats, 30-40 for domesticated indoor cyclic cats.

Their distribution is slightly different: although both types of cats are domesticated and live with humans (even outdoor "wild" cats being descendants of domesticated cats), Cyclic Cats are more common in cities and largish towns, while regular cats are more common in farms and small villages. It's not known why this is.

In general conversation (in Unity, the most common human language) both cyclic cats and regular cats are just called "cats". When it's necessary to distinguish which type of cat they are, the two species are called "milk cats" and "cyclic cats". In the religious language of Old Tower, there's no singular word for both types: milk cats are written feles, while cyclic cats are murikeps.

Oh yeah, one final thing: cyclic cat gender is complicated. Traditionally they were considered a single-gendered species but it's now believed they have either two or three genders. It's basically impossible to tell their gender externally, as they don't have external genitalia. They reproduce sexually (through cloacal kissing like many birds) and any of the genders can be the "mother". Usually when two cyclic cats mate only one will become pregnant, but double pregnancies are not that rare. All two or three genders can mate with the other genders.

As for what the genders are, it's tricky. One theory is that it's male and female: males stick to "home" areas, defend it from other animals, and raise the young. Females travel farther and tend to bring food back, while males catch "vermin" animals entering the home.

The other theory states that "male" and "female" are meaningless labels for cyclic cats (especially given that both can lay eggs) and there's actually three genders: parents, soldiers, and hunters. Parents are more likely to lay eggs, and always stick to the home. Soldiers stay closer to the home, but will wander a bit to catch vermin and fight other animals getting too close to home. Hunters travel farther from home, primarily to catch food, and will avoid other large animals rather than fight them.

There is also a less accepted theory that this isn't a gender thing at all, and it's more based on ages: hunters tend to be younger "teenage" cyclic cats, then parents are mature adults, with soldiers being the elderly cats.

They've got some compelling evidence in terms of their observations on cyclic cat ages and their lifestyles, but it's hard to tell the ages of cyclic cats (they turn back into kittens every year or three!) so we only have their word that they tagged then properly and are correct about the ages. More research is ongoing, as always.

[muzzleoleum]

ᶻ 𝗓 𐰁ִ ࣪𖤐My Enclosure࣪𖤐ᶻ 𝗓 𐰁ִ

Hello :) For the sake of this blog you can call me Bones or Carrion, or honestly anything that's just what i could come up with. This is my Non-Human blog and there will be more info under the cut :)

As I said this is my non-human blog!! However I will be posting more than just non-human related things. Please don't refer to me as human, and I use he/him pronouns :). I also have a partner!! My DMs are also open if you would like to chat!! (18+ only though for dms thank you :))

My non-human identities are as followed:

࣪𖤐 Lycanthrope

࣪𖤐 Werecreature

࣪𖤐 Wolf

࣪𖤐 Dogkin

࣪𖤐 Irish wolfhound Therian :)

tagging system (in the works)

#rambling inside the enclosure (my personal ramlbling tag)

#bloody fangs (nsfw tag MINORS BLOCK THIS NOW)

#clawing at paper (drawings or other art)

I do not wish to debate any kind of identities whether that is my own or someone else's, my time can be spent worrying on other things and i'd rather not waste my energy on discourse.

I am diagnosed with autism, OCD, c-PTSD, Prolonged psychosis and manic and depressive episodes, and other symptoms like dissociation and derealization that don't fit into a disorder. I am suspected to have schizoaffective by my therapist and psychiatrist, but we have not gone through the diagnostic process. I am also recovered from anorexia, do not interact if you are pro ED or sh, or if you are anti recovery. With all that said, I will talk about my experiences, and I will sometimes need extra clarification or tone tags, I might not always be articulate but I will try my best :)).

I am also physically disabled. I have been disabled my whole life, most of my family is disabled, so any ableism will either be called out or blocked.

Uh more about me, I was doner conceived (egg), and I am very very passionate about doner conceived rights for everyone, and I probably will talk a bit about that. I have a lot of weird genetic and like other shit that i don't really want to get into but that's something about me. I'm very queer, I'm trans, I am taken by my lovely partner <3 I love posting about them and stuff like that. I love to draw, even if i'm not super consistent with it. I love painting as well. I love punk music, and folk music a lot. I go to a lot of local shows in my area, and i love my community. I love cowboys and cowboy culture considering that a whole part of my family are modern day cowboys (ranchers and rodeo cowboys, plus some livestock farming). I'm very into wolf conservation and ecology, as well as studying wolf behavior and social patterns, and pack systems ect. I will probably be going back to the wolf sanctuary I visited last fall but i've been meaning to find one close to where i live where i can volunteer. I also have a lot of strong opinions about a lot of different things.

I will post about my opinion on things, my personal experiences, Mood boards, Cute wolf and other animal photos, and probably other random stuff too.

My DNI is not suuuper strict, Just absolutely no bigotry, No racism, Queerphobia, Islamophobia, Intersexism, anti-semitism, pro israel, ect. I am pro Palestine and I am pro Palestinian resistance and liberation always. Any bigotry or dog whistles will be blocked. I also don't want people coming on here with anything like "humans deserve to die" or "humans are the cause of everything bad so they deserve to cease to exist" Yall that so quickly turns bigoted and I will not stand for that, I will not allow stuff like that that can so quickly become eugenics or other beliefs like that to fester on my page.

Please don't flirt with me even as a joke, or make sexual jokes or comments to me personally, it makes me incredibly uncomfortable.

With that as well, Minors can like and repost things, I do not want any minors messaging me, it makes me uncomfortable, While this blog is not an nsfw blog, I will curse and I will talk about things that are more mature in nature things like my experiences with trauma and mental health, and other things that might not be the most appropriate for a minor to look at in detail, Please keep yourself safe, and don't follow if you are only looking for cute wolf content, because i might post some cute wolf photos but i'm also an individual who talks about my own personal experiences and other shit.

I will block if I feel necessary, it might not be anything personal to you.

Thank you and I hope you enjoy the blog :)

[unloneliest]

my tmg song sorters are once again up to date! you can find them all under the cut. i added a total of 5 new song sorters this year, as well as an album sorter that's comprehensive of all of the mountain goats' releases, not just what's on streaming!

the rest of the sorters include only what's on spotify, but with each new (old) addition to streaming, it's looking like making the jump to a more comprehensive sorter situation is going to be easier and easier!

if you attempt the all spotify songs sorter, i’d recommend using a computer to do so - it takes a very long time to do & will sometimes refresh on mobile browsers, which starts you over from the beginning.

anyways! hope yall enjoy ^_^ let me know what you think! post your results and tag me! etc!

GENERAL:

all spotify songs

album sorter (just what’s on spotify)

album sorter (all albums)

songs released on eps/exclusively as singles (spotify playlist)

MERGE:

jenny from thebes

the jordan lake sessions 5

bleed out

the jordan lake sessions 3-4

dark in here

the jordan lake sessions 1-2

getting into knives

songs for pierre chuvin

in league with dragons

goths

beat the champ

transcendental youth

all eternals deck

4AD:

the life of the world to come

heretic pride

get lonely

the sunset tree

zopilote machine 

we shall all be healed 

tallahassee 

LOFI:

all hail west texas 

devil in the shortwave

jam eater blues

the coroner’s gambit 

isopanisad radio hour

new asian cinema

full force galesburg 

nothing for juice

nine black poppies 

sweden

beautiful rat sunset

bitter melon farm 

ghana 

protein source of the future… now! 

...

possible future changes:

adjusting the comprehensive song sorter to be in the same order as my all tmg in chronological order playlist on spotify, & linking it

including the EPs that were compiled in to ghana/protein source/melon farm as their own separate sorters

separating EPs and albums more fully in my lists of sorters & in the album sorters i've created

including EPs and albums not (yet?) on streaming

including unreleased and live only songs? pros: people can have a tool that helps people who've heard them before in figuring out their favorite mountain goats songs. cons: removes new fans' need to go searching for unheard gems, & that's a huge part of the enjoyment

[qsmpcensusbureau]

The woman walks delicately through his farm, dress between her hands, lifted as she walks, barefoot, towards him.

“Lovely farm, Chayanne.” She says, gently. Her voice is elegant, eerily echoing as though trapped in a room, even though the sky stretched on above her. "It reminds me of a friend."

He remains silent. He didn’t know her. When she reaches the end of the farm and crosses onto the yard, he steps back.

“You do not have to fear me, little warrior. We are closer than you realize.”

“Who are you?” He asks. 

“Hasn’t my husband told you about me?” She chuckles lightly. Chayanne thinks she is very beautiful. Her hair falls like rivers around her shoulders, ebony black and shining in the sunrise’s pale light. She wears a large sunhat, stark white against her dark hair. “I am Kristen, Goddess of Death.”

“...Kristen.” Chayanne repeats quietly. “...If you are Death, have you come to take me away? Do I get to play on your dragon?”

She laughs, and he briefly wonders if there is anything about her that is not elegant. Was Death really so beautiful? She did not seem like something to fear, she did not seem like the end of a beaten road. 

“I haven’t come to take you away. But you know about my friend, do you? Very good, very good. Philza is a very good storyteller, no?” 

“You know my father?” Chayanne eyes her up and down, and she reaches out her hand for him to take. After a moment, he does. It is soft and warm, large where he is small. “How?”

Kristen blinks warmly, turning the hand Chayanne holds slightly. Glinting on her finger in the sunlight is a silver ring, the gem inside as dark as her hair and cut in the shape of a skull. 

“We are wed.” She explains. “Your father made a promise to me. The rings are the physical manifestation of that promise, our love to eachother, and to the glory of death.”

“It’s beautiful.” He gasps. “I thought death was supposed to be scary and sad. But I’m not scared of you.”

“My dear, I can be scary, and I can be sad. But death is a part of life, so I may appear in all forms.”

“What about my dad? Is he Death too?”

She signals for them to walk. She walks close to the fence, as if surveying the island below. Chayanne holds onto her hand, trying to match their footsteps, although hers outreaches his.

“Would you like to hear a story?”

Chayanne nods. 

“Once upon a time, a long, long time ago, there was a massive kingdom underneath the earth. It was called Tartarus. It was dangerous to get there, but it was an oasis, a paradise, where souls could go on and live peacefully for all eternity.” She blows into her palm and from smoke a kingdom appears, just as incredible as she described. “And in this kingdom there was a Princess.”

They stop, overlooking the spawn area. It stretched on for miles and miles. She watches it quietly for a moment.

“This Princess didn’t want to be queen. She wanted to command the Royal army. After decades and decades of asking, her father- the king- finally relented, and she was given command of a special branch of the army. The reapers. 

They were the most involved with the upside, tasked with bringing the souls from the dead to the underworld. Sometimes, if they died in war, they were allowed to join the forces of the army. Sometimes, they were born down here. Just like the princess, and like her favorite soldier.”

She sighs, a gentle smile across her face as she continues. 

“He was rowdy, a rulebreaker, but loyal. He was going to be taken off the reapers until the Princess arrived. They bickered and bickered and bickered until eventually she saved his life on the front. After that, he followed her until the end of the earth, vowing his life to her, and eventually, she vowed hers to him. 

 She eventually had to become Queen, and with that she would have to abandon her life at the front, and her love. Unless, he suggested, they wed. And he becomes king. It was unthinkable to the princess. Usually royalty only married royalty. But she loved him more than law, so she agreed. And he promised her. He promised her that he would never turn his back on her, he would never leave her, and even in death, they would be eternally in love.”

Chayanne stared up at her in awe. “That was an amazing story. Is it about you and Dad?”

“Yes, little one. It is.” She sighs, getting down on one knee. “I must go. The island does not want me here for long. Please tell Phil that I miss him, and that my heart longs for him, always.”

“Yes, Mother, I will.”

She presses a kiss to his head, cupping his face in her warm hands.

“Goodbye, little reaper.”

And then, he wakes up.

NO BETA. WE DIE LIKE MEN. I AM CRINGE BUT I AM FREE