#ITS QUICKER AND EASIER TO EAT YOUR YOUNG ?:!:??/?:!

[illbecreativelater]

I’m having a normal one

[jfkisonthemoon]

listened to eat your young.

[sorinethemastermind]

It is traditional, it is inherited, predispositional

In which Soren isn't as sneaky as he thought. Co-written and edited by the amazingly talented @honeii-puff. I write the Soren POVs, they write the Corvus POVs Also on Ao3 and it has a playlist!

Soren’s feet hurt. Not that he was complaining. He wasn’t. Soren didn’t complain. He was just thinking how it sure would be nice to know where they were going, especially after all this walking. Everybody else seemed to. But it had reached that point where asking where they were going would make it really obvious that he hadn’t any clue this entire time. And that would just be embarrassing.

So he didn’t ask. And he didn’t mention that his feet hurt. (Callum did. Callum mentioned that his feet hurt quite a lot, actually.)

But they were making good progress towards, wherever it was they were going. Rayla definitely knew. Runaan seemed to. Callum… probably did. But it was also possible that he was just blindly following Rayla and had as little of a clue as Soren did.

The lovebirds had fallen into step side-by-side almost as soon as they set out, whispering and giggling to one and other. Rayla kept reaching out to play with Callum’s scarf. Soren tugged at his own, pulling it tighter around his neck. It was nice to have a little piece of Corvus with him, even out here. 

“Are they always like that?” Runaan asked, pulling Soren back to the present. 

“Yup.” Soren nodded, glancing over at the elf. He’d fallen back from the front to walk beside him. “Pretty much.”

Runaan sighed. “I suppose I’ll just have to get used to it.” 

“After a while, it fades into the background.” Soren lied. 

“Hm.” Runaan seemed unconvinced. After a moment, he cleared his throat. “I’ll admit I was surprised when you assisted in my rescue. I understand my daughter’s motivations, of course. And those of your High Mage. But last you and I met…”

He trailed off, as if he didn’t want to relive that night any more than Soren did. 

“Yeah, well.” Soren tried to search for a simple explanation but pulled a blank. Very little seemed simple these days.

“Yeah.” He just said again lamely. 

They walked in silence for a moment, Soren’s footfalls feeling loud to his own ears despite the muffling moss and leaves underfoot. Especially when Runaan kept glancing back the way they’d come, eyes scanning the ground. 

“You and the tracker seem close.” He said suddenly. Soren felt his step falter for a moment. He couldn’t know, could he? Soren had been so careful. 

“How did you know he was a tracker?” 

“In my line of work, it pays to be observant.” The elf said. 

Soren’s fingers twitched towards the back of his neck, pulling the scarf higher. Runaan’s gaze lingered. 

“We’re on the Crownguard together,” Soren explained. “And he’s one of King Ezran’s most trusted advisors. We’ve spent a lot of time together over the last few years.” 

“You seem to trust him, and he seems to trust you. He did about me, anyway.”

“Well… yeah,” Soren said, realizing that the words were true even as he spoke them. “We’ve been through a lot together.”

“I’m sure you feel you could tell him most anything, and he you,” Runaan said sagely. 

“Yeah.” Soren paused. “I hope he knows he can tell me stuff.” 

“As I’m sure my daughter and your mage hope you know about them. They seem to think rather highly of you.”

Soren turned to him in surprise. “They… did?”

“Did you not expect them to?” 

“I don’t really know what I was expecting,” Soren admitted. 

“Well, they trust you. And I’m sure they would be receptive to anything you had to tell them. I doubt anything would change what they think of you.” 

Soren wondered for a moment why he cared, and then it dawned on him. Oh. 

“It’s hard, sometimes.” Soren told the elf. “To tell people stuff when you think they might not look at you the same after. But what’s important is staying true to yourself.”

He held a finger up before him as he finished the little speech, feeling rather pleased with himself. It was Runaan’s turn to look surprised. 

“I couldn’t agree more.”

“I’m sure the same is true for you.” Soren added. “Rayla cares about you a lot. And she really respects you.”

“Ah. Yes.” Runaan had paused for a moment, but now he fell back into step beside Soren. “I am grateful for her patience. And open heart. She reminds me of my husband in that way.” 

Soren’s eyes widened. “Your-“

“Yes,” Runaan said dryly, a slight smile playing at the corners of his mouth. “I look forward to seeing him again.”

“So that’s where we’re going,” Soren said, finally piecing it together.

“I… suppose it is.” The elf said. “I’m glad that you and I are finally on the same pa-“

“The Shinygrove!” Soren exclaimed, pointing at him. 

“Silvergrove,” Runaan corrected. 

“Uh, yeah.” Soren shrugged. “That’s what I said.”

Runaan sighed. Just then, Rayla called out from up ahead, glancing back towards the pair of them. 

“Either of you know a way across this river?” 

Runaan quickened his step, catching up to them. But before he did, he threw one last look back at Soren. 

“I’m sure you’ll like the Silvergrove. Expect a warm reception.” Runaan said, turning back towards Rayla and Callum. “And I’d suggest fixing your scarf. The others might see.”

Soren stared at the elf, dumbfounded. Then, he quickly twitched the scarf up higher, practically swallowing his entire face with it. This… this was not good. 

Or was it?

[honeii-puff]

I knew the pathway like the back of my hand

In which Corvus realizes something. Co-written and edited by the wonderful wonderful @sorinethemastermind. I write the Corvus POVs, they write the Soren POVs Also on Ao3 and it has a playlist!

Corvus didn’t bother to travel through the night. The moon didn’t reach down here, so at best he’d loose the trail. At worst…

Well, he didn’t want to think about that.

Early the next morning, he mounted Buckeye an resumed following the trail. 

There wasn’t much to look at on the journey; all the trees and bushes looked the same, the only irregularity being the trodded down grass from the trail he was following.

From the way it was formed, the person in the back of the group was making it more obvious. The sureness in the path made it look like they had a clear destination, so either Rayla, Callum, or Runaan were leading it. 

Which meant Soren was the one paving the way for Corvus to follow a safe distance behind.

Around midday, he stumbled upon a small clearing. He dismounted from Buckeye and crouched to the ground. Footprints were more visible in the dirt compared to the tall grass he was travelling through before, and he recognized the imprints from Soren’s boots.

Corvus had remembered Soren telling him about that. The standard issued boots had too thin of soles, in Soren’s opinion, and when he had become captain, he had gotten a new pair with thicker soles. Before that, Soren had told him, he had gotten the shoes half of a size larger and wore two pairs of socks.

A circle of stones and charred remains of wood made up a burned-out firepit in the center.

This is where they stayed the night prior.

He tied Buckeye’s reins to a nearby tree, giving his tailbone a break from riding a horse.

Corvus glanced at one of the trees, surveying its branches, before starting to climb it. He figured getting a glimpse at the treetops might help him find the group.

He also just wanted to climb a tree. He hadn’t had time to just do that for a long time.

His feet found small curves in the branches to latch into, and his hands pulled him up further and further. The branches got smaller the higher he went, and the ground further away. He could still faintly hear Buckeye’s breathing and light knickering from below.

He finally saw a bit of sky for the first time in several days. There were plenty clouds, but he could see the hues of blue breaking through them and feel the warmth of the sun on his face.

From the top of the tree, he could see the treeline cut off to make way for a flowing river, then resume on the other side. The trees on the opposite side of the river were less thick, and past that, he could see large mountains.

They were headed to Xadia.

Why where they-

Corvus paused for a moment. Runaan and Rayla were both elves from Xadia. They probably had lived in Xadia before all of this.

Things actually decided to make sense if he stopped to think about it.

Soren should do that more often.

But he knew that Soren did. He had asked him before, and even though his thought process was always all over the place, the pieces connected like a puzzle.

Whether it looked like it or not, Soren always had a plan.

It was one of the things he loved about him.

Wait what?

Corvus almost lost his footing on the branch he was standing on, scrambling to grab onto another as he fell a few feet down. He caught himself on a thicker branch, the wind getting knocked out of him from the way he had landed.

What was that?

Did he love Soren?

He paused for a moment, staring at the ground through the branches, yards below him.

He was in love with Soren

Soren. His best friend.

His only friend.

Well shit.

Carefully, Corvus climbed back down the tree, making sure not to slip as he made it to the bottom. 

Buckeye knickered knowingly, nudging his arm with his snout.

“You’re not helping.” He deadpanned, staring at the horse.

He stared back at him, unblinking, before nibbling on Corvus’ sleeve.

He blew out a breath, petting Buckeye on the muzzle before mounting again and to the other side of the clearing, where the grass was freshly trodden.

[reyalvr]

not avatar related but this song is so hunger games/tbosas coded i’m so srs like … AUGH i’m so excited for november <\\3

[lezarus]

im not enough of a succession fan to make it myself but i think a roy family eat your young amv would slap. anyone who fancies it can have that one for free

[litrallytyrus]

new hozier so good i fell to my knees

[bloom-me]

I love how this funky looking man comes out of his cave every once in a while, drops an absolute banger of an EP and peaces out and fucking dips <- angry that hozier's "unreal unearth" tour doesn't reach their country

BUT ANYWHO; THERES SEVEN NEW WAYS FOR YOU TO EAT YOUR YOUNG AND YOU BET IM GOING TO COLLECT ALL OF THEM LIKE POKEMON

eat your young has 4 minutes but i swear it feels like only a minute long with how much i vibe to it, dear moon--

[lesbicosmos]

six of crows is so incredibly hozier coded and to prove it ive assigned each character/couple a song and given a specific section of the lyrics

(i feel entirely normal about this i swear)

the books in general are 100% eat your young

There's money to be made, whatever's still to come Get some Pull up the ladder when the flood comes Throw enough rope until the legs have swung Seven new ways that you can eat your young Come and get some Skinning the children for a war drum Putting food on the table selling bombs and guns It's quicker and easier to eat your young

kaz brekker - arsonist's lullabye

When I was 16, my senses fooled me Thought gasoline was on my clothes I knew that something would always rule me I knew the scent was mine alone All you have is your fire And the place you need to reach Don't you ever tame your demons But always keep 'em on a leash

inej ghafa - would that i

With the war of the fire My heart moves to its feet Like the ashes of ash I saw eyes in the heat Feel it soft and as pure as snow Fell in love with the fire long ago With each love I could lose I was never the same Watch it still live in roofs Be consumed by the flame I was fixed on your hand of gold Lay in waste of my lovin' long ago

jesper fahey - someone new

There's an art to life's distractions To somehow escape the burning weight, the art of scraping through Some like to imagine The dark caress of someone else, I guess any thrill will do Would things be easier if there was a right way? Honey, there is no right way

wylan van eck - through me (the flood)

Any time I've struggled on Against the course Out on my own Every time I'd burn through the world, I'd see That the world, it burns through me

nina zenik - angel of small death and the codeine scene

Feeling more human and hooked on her flesh, I Lay my heart down with the rest at her feet Fresh from the fields, all fetor and fertile It's bloody and raw, but I swear it is sweet With her sweetened breath, and her tongue so mean She's the angel of small death and the codeine scene

(this is so nina post-parem)

matthias helvar - foreigner's god

Her eyes look sharp and steady Into the empty parts of me But still my heart is heavy With the hate of some other man's beliefs

kaz/inej - work song

When my time comes around Lay me gently in the cold dark earth No grave can hold my body down I'll crawl home to her

(this is just so i would come for you and if i couldn't walk i'd crawl to you i cannot)

matthias/nina - in a week

A thousand teeth And yours among them, I know Our hungers appeased Our heartbeats becoming slow We lay here for years or for hours Thrown here or found To freeze or to thaw So long we become the flowers Two corpses we were

(they're also incredibly work song coded, it was a struggle choosing between helnik and kanej for that one)

wylan/jesper - like real people do

So I will not ask you Why you were creeping In some sad way I already know I will not ask you where you came from I will not ask and neither should you Honey just put your sweet lips on my lips We should just kiss like real people do

[st-whalefall]

@bobauthorman

“I put myself in the tower there’s no way Salem could misunderstand my desperate but fatally cryptic call for help.” - Ozma when he finished building Beacon tower and put his office at its apex

[cybunii]

YOU NEEDED LOVE, I NEEDED YOU !!

a/n: i got sad and wrote this LOL but people wanted a part two to the other one so i hope this one is just as good !!

pairing: Leon kennedy x Gn!reader

cw: sad leon, maybe ooc?

-

Leon didn't like being alone after he met you. 

He clung to you as soon as he met you, doing everything in his power just to get an ounce of your attention. It's almost like a puppy begging their owner for treats or toys, he needed you, it was simple.

He’d walk to the ends of the earth for you, maybe even haunting you after death.

Even if he was cranky, or didn't understand the little things you did. He still loved you with every single piece of him, his heart belonged to you. 

And that was enough. 

Holidays have always been odd for him, his work never let him off around these days and he's so used to all of the stress that comes with the job. 

He felt almost empty, or maybe useless. 

He put that energy into almost everything he did with you, helping with baking and decorating. Even taking the time to decorate the outside of the house. It made him feel content, at least it made you happy. 

After helping you bake the first time, he was practically hooked. One bite of the desert you made and his fate was sealed, you had baked his heart and served it up for him to eat. 

He didn't think he minded that thought that much, maybe it was self-destructive or obsessive- But he would let you do anything to him, then again cannibalism always had weird hints of romance in those books he picked up. 

Decorating was fun at times, your pushy nature about how certain things needed to be done made you seem cute. 

He didn't understand the hype behind real christmas trees or specific ornaments on them, then again he didn't celebrate christmas growing up. Not that he never wanted to, but Santa and presents were off the table from a very young age. 

The way the ornaments lit up when the lights were plugged in was stunning. 

He decided that was his favorite part, well maybe one of them. Seeing your face break out into a smile once you stepped back from the finished tree may as well be burned into his memory. He wished he could've taken a picture.

-

He knew the holidays would be different this year, he was warned about a dangerous mission about a week ago, and the possibility of him coming back was less than none. 

He didn't like those odds. 

Not that he feared death or his job, but the first thing that came to mind was you. I mean he fought for you, secretly laid on his deathbed a few times, and thought of coming home to you later. 

He could never tell them no though, who was he to go against them? He was at their beck and call, a mindless robot who goes on missions and returns with less and less of his sanity intact. 

You weren't the jealous type, or at least he didn't think you were. He could handle you hating him, but he didn't want to feel the hatred at the moment, coming up with a desperate plan at the last second. 

He used Ada as an escape plan, thinking chasing after a woman on christmas would make you hate him, that way it was easier for him to leave. 

You didn't give a reaction, just staring at him with a blank expression. 

Every silent minute felt like hours, the seconds slowly shattering his heart the longer he stood there. Not like you knew that, he had been trained to keep a straight face, this was nothing.

-

He knew what nothing felt like when he left you. Leaving out the door with nothing to his name, no car, no clothes, and absolutely no money. Only a throwaway phone he used. 

He didn't want to look back at you, even if you showed no reaction, he didn't want to break down crying at the sight of your blank face. 

His only destination was the location they gave him, punching the place in and groaning when its hours away. 

He made it there the next day and to his surprise? 

They no longer needed him, the mission was a success by some other agent who was able to get there quicker and finish the job. They didn't know what he did to get there, and quickly ushered him out, saying they'll call if they ever needed him for something else. 

If leaving you didn't break him, knowing he could've come back to you absolutely crushed him. I mean even to the point of dry heavy sobs in some random hotel that he managed to get a room at, grabbing at the sheets as the tears ran down his red face. 

He never was the type to show his true emotions, always bottling them up until they turned to anger wasn't exactly the best thing for him to do. 

They always led to moments like these, a bottle exploding under the pressure and going everywhere, unable to be fixed or glued back together. 

It took him hours to stop crying, only because nothing else would come out anymore. 

His puffy eyes and disheveled hair made him frown, he never was one to look so pathetic, at least not in these situations.

He just wanted to lay somewhere, letting all of his emotions out and not having to do anything else. He never was the best type to be alone, his thoughts never made it easy.

-

He never did leave the state, coming back to your town with the promise of a small job at some weird office. Didn’t matter to him, it made decent money. 

He was observant of his surroundings at all times, his broken heart controlling his eyes as he walked the town, hoping to even see just a glimpse of you. 

He never did. 

He wondered if you had moved away. 

He hoped you didn't, with enough money he didn't mind going everywhere to find you. There's no limit to what he would've done to find you. 

There wasn't a day that went by that he didn't think of you, or how sorry he was for leaving. He would look out the window at night just staring at the moon, hoping you were too, at least you'd be doing the same thing he was. 

That would be enough for him. 

With the extra money he had, he would just walk around the town for hours. Going to the most popular restaurants and parks. Supposedly those were fun things to do, but he knew he only went there because he went there with you. 

He couldn't even shop without thinking of you, buying the small snacks and not thinking about it until he got home, leaving them sitting in the cabinet for months because his mind tricked him you were still around. 

It was sad, and he knew that. 

It was heartbreaking to know christmas was next week. How had time slipped by him that fast?

He may not have had his own traditions, but he’d never forget what he did with you. Practically burning a hole in his wallet as he bought a real christmas tree, buying the same ornaments and lights, and every single ingredient for the stuff you baked. 

The finished tree never did look as pretty without your smile paired with it.

And the deserts tasted empty, it wasn't like they weren't good- But they could be so much better if you had made them. 

He had bought you something too. 

It may have been corny, and also pathetic- He seemed to like that word, being hard on himself had to be his favorite pastime at this point. 

But he bought you a ring, one you had pointed at on a random day saying you wanted it. It hadn't even been a week since you started dating when you said that, and he remembered it ever since. 

He was definitely using that memory for later. 

But now it sits under the bright, but also dull tree, the lights bouncing off the shiny wrapping paper. He dreamed of giving it to you, maybe even placing it in your mailbox with no return address. 

He decided that was creepy, a good call on his end.

He wasn't a stalker, maybe not in a bad way. 

That’s beside the point. 

He missed you that night, maybe more than any other night. His mind decided to be real nice to him that night, creating a dream of you being together again and being happy, celebrating christmas like old times. 

He may have woken up that next morning and bawled his eyes out, but that was okay.

It felt real to him. 

And that was enough for now. 

-

word count: 1.5k

[scrambled-eggsed]

oh god cannibalism may be grotesque but so is war and hunger and poverty in the society we live in nd its all the same. lies and hypocrisy womt change a thing it all exists as a form of cruelty and injustice its a circle. do you understand. its quicker and easier to eat your young

[cleolinda]

(For our purposes, listen to it without the visuals first.)

I wasn't going to keep posting about Unreal Unearth, but something happened yesterday.

It's been five months since I first heard this song, and I'm still astonished by it. You know the tiktok skit about the Star Wars wedding music, and the guy is grooving along until the Imperial Death March filters in, and then he's kind of alarmed, like, wha—? And then he realizes it slaps anyway and he keeps dancing? That is "Eat Your Young."

It's the morning of March 17th. The EP with the first three singles from the new album has dropped. I've got my phone blasting the song on the bathroom counter, I don't understand half what the man is saying nor did I expect to, I'm cheerfully mumbling along in the shower, grooving along,

wait they did what for a war drum

Get some Pull up the ladder when the flood comes Throw enough rope until the legs have swung Seven new ways that you can eat your young Come and get some Skinning the children for a war drum Putting food on the table selling bombs and guns It's quicker and easier to eat your young

What the fuck, this song goes so hard. That's the chorus. The conceit of the whole album is that it loosely follows Dante's Inferno, so this is the third circle of hell, gluttony. Hozier himself says that he wasn't specifically thinking of Jonathan Swift's A Modest Proposal—

“I don’t know how intentional the reference to Jonathan Swift was in this. That essay [Swift’s 1729 satirical essay A Modest Proposal in which he suggests the Irish poor sell their children as food] is such a cultural landmark that it’s just hanging in the air. I was more reflecting on what I felt now in this spirit of the times of perpetual short-term gain and a long-term blindness. The increasing levels of precarious living, poverty, job insecurity, rental crisis, property crisis, climate crisis, and a generation that’s inheriting all of that and one generation that’s enjoyed the spoils of it. The lyrics are direct, but the voice is playful. There’s this unreliable narrator who relishes in this thing which was fun to write.” [Apple Music album notes]

—and I believe him. The song's not a suggestion, a proposal; it's an invitation to atrocity in progress. I also believe he probably wasn't thinking of Greta Thunberg's iconic speech at the UN Climate Action Summit, not specifically, but that's what I hear in the song, like the flip side of a coin:

You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words. And yet I'm one of the lucky ones. People are suffering. People are dying. Entire ecosystems are collapsing. We are in the beginning of a mass extinction, and all you can talk about is money and fairy tales of eternal economic growth. How dare you! [...] You say you hear us and that you understand the urgency. But no matter how sad and angry I am, I do not want to believe that. Because if you really understood the situation and still kept on failing to act, then you would be evil.

I feel like on some level, even coincidentally, "Eat Your Young" is the answer to the question, what would you sound like if you were that evil? Who would you be? I can think of a dozen possibilities just off the top of my head or looking around my blog, from something as petty as studio executives mangling trees to deprive striking workers of shade (while hoping they lose their homes), all the way up to the US school-to-prison pipeline. The National Rifle Association keeps politicians in its pocket while the US has more mass shootings than days in a year, Nestlé fucks shit up around the world as a way of life, even ChatGPT sucks up water while threatening jobs—and for what? And yet, I promise you most of these things weren't the inspiration for an Irishman’s song—some of them hadn't even happened yet. There's just that much fresh You Would Be Evil to go around. I am certain that Hozier wrote the song partly about (as one article puts it) "Ireland's housing crisis: Millennials, a generation sacrificed," given that time back in the day when he helped occupy a building—a housing crisis happening in multiple countries. There's so much of the world I'm not touching on. I can stuff a paragraph with links and it's utterly inadequate.

I haven't even mentioned war.

There's an overwhelming sense this decade of the future being fed into a meat grinder. That sense is in this song. What would it sound like to be in the head of someone who didn't give a shit about anything but profit? Well, it might sound like this.

And if you haven't heard it, well—I'm going to sound absolutely out of my mind after saying all that, but "Eat Your Young" has a beat and you can dance to it. It's sexy. And I'm certain that's on purpose. You get seduced into the sound of it, as if by something demonic, something that enjoys sucking down the future and is not going to stop. And the sheer fucking catchiness of the song keeps you listening to it—thinking about it—when maybe you push away the dry headlines we get everyday. If you let this song stay in your head, it becomes a lens. Five months later, I still think about it when I read the news. Maui was on fire and tourists stayed. Within days, the prospect of developers swooping in to buy up land reared its head. If there's something still to take, there is ground to break, whatever's still to come. Get some.

I was born in 1978 —I'm late Gen X. In my forties, I'm young enough to worry about the future still; I’m neither so rich that I can just plan to retire to Mars, nor so old that I can know I'll be safely gone before the world might go up in flames. But I'm also not my nephew, whose school year just started back up, or the neighborhood kids who race him home down the sidewalk in the afternoons. Yesterday, he had his very first mass-shooter lockdown drill. He’s six.

I think music can put the feeling back into numb fingers, and I think that's why "Eat Your Young" works so well—Hozier calls the song fun and playful, and I think you have to have that, something you can live with rather than just switch off for your own mental survival. We need music to feed spirit at protests; we need something to keep our feet moving. Don’t give up, don't close your eyes and slip away. Those kids, they have dreams we could try to steal back for them.

Since I mentioned Maui:

Why Hawaiian sovereignty has undeniable context for the Maui fires

The Climate Crisis and Colonialism Destroyed My Maui Home. Where We Must Go From Here

How You Can Donate and Help Support Maui Communities Right Now

The Maui Strong Fund

[honeii-puff]

I'll hang on 'till the chaos is through

In which Corvus, by order of King Ezran, starts to track the rouge group. Due to TDP s7 coming out today, we're releasing this chapter early! Co-written and edited by the wonderful wonderful @sorinethemastermind. I write the Corvus POVs, they write the Soren POVs Also on Ao3 and it has a playlist!

Corvus was just as good at covering his tracks as he was leaving them in the first place. That came in handy when making sure that only Rayla, Callum, Runaan, and Soren’s tracks were the only visible ones outside the window to the room Runaan had been in at the Banther Lodge.

“And you’re sure you didn’t see anything?” Opeli asked, staring at him, her eyes narrowed.

He nodded. “Soren and I finished our shift, and I told him to go to bed. I mean, I didn’t expect him to listen, but I also didn’t expect him to go and stage a breakout.”

She blew out a breath, pinching the bridge of her nose. “We need an emergency council meeting.”

“I disagree.” King Ezran said, causing the both of them to turn and look at him.

“What?” Opeli raised her eyebrows.

“An emergency council meeting will only make people panic. We need to get them back as soon as possible.” He said, before looking at Corvus. “I need you to track them.”

Corvus looked back at the tracks that led from the ground under the window to the tree line, then back at King Ezran. “Are you sure?”

“Yes.” His voice was firm– too firm to only belong to a 12-year-old. “My brother doesn’t know what he’s doing.”

That, Corvus agreed with him on. He knew that they didn’t know what they were doing, but he trusted them.

Probably more than he should.

He just hoped that they stayed safe.

That Soren stayed safe.

He knew about Soren’s self-sacrificial tendencies, and really hoped that he didn’t do anything stupid for the sake of protecting Rayla and Callum.

“I’ll pack my things.” He said to King Ezran.

“Thank you, Corvus.”

——————————————————————

Corvus ducked into Soren’s empty tent, glancing around. He had expected to find nothing, expected Soren to have at the very least grabbed his things, but he was wrong. 

In the corner of the tent was a small satchel that he recognized as Soren’s.

You have got to be kidding me…

He snatched up the bag, tucking it into his own before ducking back out of the tent and walking to one of the horses.

He recognized this horse from the stables– a dark brown horse with a black mane. His name was Buckeye, he recalled as he stroked the stallion’s mane.

Considering that Soren, Callum, Rayla, and Runaan had at least half of a day on him, the horse would help him to catch up.

In theory.

In reality, he didn’t bet on it. He was just glad to be able to ride a horse on solid ground again instead of another flying animal for once.

Without a second thought, he was off, weaving through the trees with Buckeye, carefully keeping an eye on the matted grass and footprints.

They seemed… heavier than normal footprints. Due to the observation of the prints prior, both of the elves walked lightly, leaving only a small indent on the ground behind them. Callum and Soren didn’t walk this heavy, either.

Were they making it easier for him to track them through the woods?

There’s no way.

If they were, then that was a very risky plan, all built on the hunch that he would be the one they sent after them.

He was the only tracker, though…

Probably less of a hunch than he originally thought.

Smart.

Buckeye knickered as they continued walking, weaving through the trees alongside the trail. The sun was high in the sky, but very little sunlight filtered through the branches of the trees, the foliage blocking out most of the light.

This was only the beginning.

[rotting-and-so-beautiful]

sharing this here even tho nobody’s gonna really care but it’s my blog and i can do what i want

the hozier brainrot has been mingling side by side with the TMA brainrot and this playlist is the idiot baby of that.

explanation of why i chose each song under the cut :p

The Eye 👁️ - Take Me To Church: despite being first on the playlist i actually struggled a bit to find a song that would fit, but i felt like TMTC had some really good lyrics for the Eye (“I’ll tell you my sins so you can sharpen your knife,” “let me give you my life,” etc)

The Lonely 🌫️ - To Be Alone: i feel like this one is pretty self-explanatory. even though it’s technically about being with another person, it really emphasizes the “no one else is around” vibe. also…like, the title. yknow?

The Desolation 🔥 - Arsonist’s Lullaby: again, even more self-explanatory. the theme and lyrics of burning and fire and destruction. very Agnes Montague coded.

The Buried ⚰�� - Work Song: this one was mainly chosen for the chorus lyrics. “when my time comes around, lay me gently in the cold dark earth. no grave could hold my body down, i’d crawl home to her.” it feels very reminiscent of Daisy and Jon crawling out of the coffin.

The Vast ✈️ - I, Carrion (Icarian): for me it was either this or Sunlight, since both have references to Icarus and falling from the sky into the ocean, which all scream Vast. but I, Carrion places more emphasis on the actual fall, the wind rushing by and watching the sky expand, so i felt it was a better fit.

The Dark 🌑 - Son of Nyx: this one was hard. all the songs that i felt like could fit the Dark better I had already assigned to other fears, so this one is really off vibes and the title alone since SON doesn’t actually have lyrics. i still think it fits though, as the song does have a very “dark” feel to it.

The End 🪦 - Abstract (Psychopomp): originally i was going to assign the End to All Things End, but i actually feel like this song fits better. it feels so close and zoomed into the actual theme of death. “the fear in its eyes, gone out in an instant.” yeah…very End vibes.

The Corruption 🪱- It Will Come Back: this one too is based very much on the over all vibes as well as the literal lyrics. the idea of showing something kindness (being a host) until it will not leave feels very much like an infestation of sorts. where do we draw the line between a lover and a parasite? yeah this is Jane’s song.

The Flesh 🥩 - Eat Your Young: do i even have to explain? i can see this one also working for the Slaughter, but the Flesh is all about meat, eating, cannibalism, etc. “it’s quicker and easier to eat your young,” “i’m starving, darling,” “old and young are welcome to the meal.” it also touches on how people just want to consume, to own, and to have.

The Slaughter 🪖 - Nobody’s Solider: another one which is pretty self-explanatory. the fear of being seen as nothing but a tool for violence, the disdain for fighting. it’s an anti-war song, ofc it’s perfect for the Slaughter.

The Hunt 🐺 - In The Woods Somewhere: fun fact this song is actually the reason i decided to make this playlist. i just felt like it reminded me so much of when Basira had to hunt down Daisy in s5, putting her out of her misery. it just radiates Hunt vibes as well with its lyrics, both the pov of the hunter and the prey. “i turned and ran, to save a life i didn’t have.”

The Spiral 🌀- To Noise Making (Sing): this one was also a bit tricky but i actually think it fits pretty well, though it does lack the sense of fear that a lot of the others capture better. the idea of singing without a rhythm or purpose but just to make noise feels very Spiral-esque. also the obligatory “how would a melody describe itself?”

The Stranger 🎭 - Foreigner’s God: it was a tough choice between this and Someone New, but i think FG has a lot more of that fear and heartbreak that the Stranger stresses. A few of the lines are just so Stranger it’s ridiculous. “always a well-dressed fraud,” “wondering who i copy,” “all that i’ve been taught, and every word i’ve got, it foreign to me.”

The Web 🕷️- Swan Upon Leda: the Web was also a bit hard for me to pick because i was so caught up in the mindset of the Web being arachnophobia, but then i realized that such a big part of it manipulation and the loss of control over your own body. That control and loss of bodily autonomy is obviously a theme in this song, so i think it fits.

The Extinction ☢️ - All Things End: i actually wasn’t going to include the Extinction in the playlist, but i just felt like ATE fit it so well, i threw it in there anyways. the idea that all things are finite, everything will end, and we will all return to dust we were made from can feel pretty End (like i said, i was originally going to assign it to that one) but it just feels so much bigger than one person, and much closer to the Extinction imo.

[daddymortfest]

Daddymort MasterList 2023

Here are the submissions that made it for the Daddymort fest this year! I had so much fun plotting and chatting with you all. Hopefully we will see you all next year <3

In no particular order....

Mary Magdalene

vash (hanamichi)

For youknowmevj.

Based on a prompt for the Daddymort fest: when Harry tries to destroy four of Voldemort's seven Horcruxes they turn into babies instead and latch on to Harry like ducklings. or: SCANDAL! Young Mother Of Four Claims Dark Lord Hasn't Been Paying Child Support

How I Met Your Mother

apocalypseWallflower

These are all the times that Harry Potter met Voldemort but hated him, and the time they fell in love. OR Set to the backdrop of someone who has never seen nor interacted with the show/or otherwise “How I Met Your Mother” but still took very light inspiration from the memes.

For a War Drum

Saeva

Get some Pull up the ladder when the flood comes Throw enough rope until the legs have swung Seven new ways that you can eat your young Come and get some Skinning the children for a war drum Putting food on the table selling bombs and guns It's quicker and easier to eat your young - 'Eat Your Young', Hozier Discovering that Harry Potter has been left to the pitilessness of the Muggle world and its hate for magic, Voldemort decides there might be another way to deny Albus Dumbledore his child weapon. After all, killing the boy would be such a waste of powerful potential.

what he truly wanted

acydpop

For greenmegsnoham.

When Voldemort adopted Harry, he was given everything he could ever want or need, so imagine Harry's surprise when his adopted father kept him from dating. After his 7th date running out of the manor crying, Harry confronted his father. The confrontation became heated in more ways than one. ;)

(You) Set Me Aflame

rgemma

For greenmegsnoham.

When snakes emerge from brumation, they mate. Parselmouths are much the same.

His Brave Boy

LiquidLuckandStuff

Harry should have died when Voldemort came to his house all those years ago. He should have died under his relatives care, but now there was a voice in his head guiding him and teaching him. Sometimes, he even gets bedtime stores about heroes who befriend giant snakes and save the things they care about the most. Harry loves his father until he is forced to forget him for their own safety. Now, years later when he should have died by Lord Voldemort's hand yet again, Harry sees the broken form of the horcrux at Kings Cross station and remembers. ______ Scarcrux raises Harry. Hurt/comfort and a happy ending as promised.

He Will Slay You with His Tongue

evaleon70

Prompt fill for Daddymort Fest 2023: "Harry distracts Voldemort (without thinking) by calling him "Daddy" in the middle of the battle in Parseltounge. It works and Voldemort loses his mind. People ask him what he said but he is too ashamed to admit it, only that "hey it worked." Harry's comments keep getting filthier and filthier when they fight until Voldemort can't take it anymore."