#To Be Alive: Short Story

[daisyswift3]

So I think I may have cracked the code. Listening to Clara Bow w this context in mind from the 4th, 9th, and 10th 🎃 messages makes the lyrics cut even deeper and explains the purpose of the anthology.

What Taylor is essentially saying is that above all else she is proud of her humanity. “Human. Human. Human.” “Flesh and blood.” Unlike some ppl in Hollywood like greedy big suits (cough SB^2 cough Big Machine cough) she’s managed to keep her humanity intact and didn’t let these negative experiences corrupt her or turn her bitter. She was able to find peace and courage in spite of it. And she’s saying I am abt to come out of the closet and while I am hopeful I’m also a little fearful. But isn’t that an amazing thing? Because being fearful, sad, furious, insecure, hopeful—these experiences are unique to humans! “Your heart beats red and hot and furious in your chest.”

“And most importantly, they will know about the human heart.” THIS is the purpose of the anthology. This is why she released 31 (13 backwards) songs for her fans to dissect and decode. Bc she wants them to understand that she’s not a god. She’s a flawed human just like the rest of us.

I think there’s a very good chance that THIS is what her movie is going to be about. Her journey out of the closet and all the hardship that came along w it and helping other ppl to understand the human heart. And I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a memoir that was released w it—“the professor said to write what you know.” And it makes sense too why the manuscript lyrics match perfectly w the all too well short film. Bc they’re talking abt the exact same thing!! She has a relationship w a much older man, experiences heartbreak, heals, and then writes abt it in a book—the story of us AKA the manuscript.

And this is why 🎃 kept referencing the story of us. I couldn't make sense of it a few months ago but now in hindsight it all makes perfect sense. Message in a bottle was probably a red tv vault track for this reason too. Bc the message in a bottle is the manuscript. The puzzle pieces really do all fall right into place.

[meatball-soup]

aint even lying there buddy, my name checks out

[dkniade]

Fanart of @blood-orange-juice’s early Fatui Ajax fic “Transcendere” that I did not long ago ^^

This part’s from chapter one.

It is, as the fic’s tags say, Fluff and Angst and Humour, Slice of Life, Hurt No Comfort

(Or, like snapshots of a boy with a toy knife becoming a weapon himself, with a vaguely fantastical lens over the story♦️…to put it nicely ^^”)

[ohshitsherry]

Girl who's somewhat obsessed with blood not in an edgy psycho kinda way but rather in a quirky grown ass child who likes to observe a mosquito feeding off of her arm kinda way

[what-have-i-unleashed]

don't feed the hungry spirit

inspired by my dream-eater nightmare post. another horror story for you guys for spooky month :3

(note: my rushed writing again, also the characters here are probably ooc because it's based on my own personal au for them lol)

👻🎃👻🎃👻🎃👻🎃👻🎃👻🎃👻🎃

sans couldn't sleep. it's nothing new actually. dreams, bad and good, always plague his slumber. just like the voices of the dead, or the dust and blood that sticks to his clothes. but just like the living, sans has to sleep eventually. and no matter how much he delays it, the darkness claims him every time. and that's when the dreams start ravaging the his mind again.

but one day sans remembers a folklore he heard as a child. about the dream-eater.

call for the dream-eater and he shall eat your nightmares.

what a silly tale only children would believe... but it doesn't hurt to try, does it?

so sans, in a chilly night, alone in his bed but not his head, prays for the dream-eater to come.

and the dream-eater does come, much to sans' surprise.

he's a figure in the shadows, refusing to come into the light. all sans can see is a turquoise eyelight staring back at him. for a moment, he thinks it's just another of his imagination.

"you call for me, mortal?" the dream-eater's voice ricochets in the room and pierces through sans' skull like a ringing bullet. sans can do nothing but nod. the formless voice chuckles.

"you offer me a delicious meal. i'd be a fool to refuse it."

and so, it is the first night sans has a peaceful dreamless sleep.

but it doesn't mean this is the end of his nightmares. countless resets. countless killings. countless deaths. again and again. in a cycle he cannot stop.

so he asks for the dream-eater. again and again. and the dream-eater consumes his nightmares. again and again.

"do you know why they call me the dream-eater?" the dream-eater asks sans one day. sans is lying prone on his bed, idly watching the shadows inching closer to him, until he can feel the freezing cold emanating from the dream-eater.

"it's because i eat not only nightmares, but also dreams," the dream-eater continues. the turquoise light travels near sans' own eyelight. in this close distance, sans could see the flowing black tar covering the deity. he could smell an earthly smell.

"do it," sans says, apathetic. "my dreams. i don't need them anymore."

the single turquoise eyelight crinkles, as if amused.

"with pleasure."

and so, night after night, the dream-eater comes to sans without any summoning from his end. as if that permission is enough for the dream-eater to come to his room, his house, his universe. sans feels... better, or at least he thinks he is. there is no more nightmare or dream plaguing him. and isn't that what he wants? no more haunting voices. no more distractions. just him doing his job. day in, day out. punctual and efficient like he's never been before.

but now, living his life and repeating his tasks again and again feels like a waking dream. he moves like a ghost in his own life. he still experiences insomnia - a habit he cannot break. reality and dream now blur together - it's like he cannot wake up from all of this.

"i won't come here anymore," the dream-eater says one day. sans is sitting among the echo flower field, looking up at the false stars, as the dream-eater hovers behind him. a dull sense of panic and alarm flares in him as he hears those words.

"what do you mean?" he asks, not as frantic as he hopes.

"i have no more use out of you. all you nightmares. all you dreams. all your hopes. i have eaten them all. you're but a husk now, empty of life that i could take."

"if you go, then the nightmares will happen again."

"that's right."

sans stares at glowing lights above him. everything feels so far away, yet so close.

"... what do i need to do to make you stay then?"

sans feel something touching his shoulders. he doesn't flinch away, but it's a surprise and and relief that the dream-eater is actually real at all.

"work for me. i have no use for you as you are now, as my food source. but i can have some use out of you as a murderer."

"... can i still come back home if i go with you?"

"maybe. maybe not. such is the life of a wandering ghost. you never know where you'll end up next."

"... can i have some time to think about it, then?"

"take your time. i'll expect your answer the next time you call for me."

and so, sans lies in the flower field, alone. he has a feeling what his answer will be. funnily enough, he finds out that skeletons can still cry after all.

[pastlivesandpurplepuppets]

Every morning Dad got up early and made breakfast for her. If it was the dead of winter he pulled Mom’s car up to the front of the house, cleared off the snow, and turned on the heater for her. Every night after work Dad had a cocktail with Mom and they chatted about the events of the day. We went to family gatherings, where Dad was always well liked and lively. He was a great dad—very loving and attentive. He doted on my mother and was very much in love with her. I never heard him use profanity or witnessed him losing his temper. He never raised a hand to us kids when we didn’t deserve it—and there were plenty of times we did deserve it and didn’t get it.

~ Michael Sobel (Sobel's son)

[seldompathic]

And then a really fucked up AU was born 🫠

[write-kin]

hunting gear.

duke met a bigger predator. and found a new meaning to the term 'trophy husband'.

behold: the only whumptober piece i actually got done. battled with this one through a nasty respiratory infection 😔

this is based on a... fairly long standing (huh) RP with a friend! duke, the redhead, is mine. maksim, the blonde, is theirs! with their permission, he's probably gonna show up in more places with duke. they make a very good antagonist duo.

for a little more context (because i am . big fan of these two). duke is a cannibal chef from the woods of the pacific northwest, and maksim is a hunter of the most dangerous game from the high society of russia. theyre hannigram coded but duke, the cannibal, is the will coded one.

they met after maksim kidnapped duke to hunt him for sport and they ended up bonding over mutual appreciation of dogs, the outdoors, and being better than everyone else. the relationship is making duke a better person (arguably) on account of the fact that maksim is probably the only person he's ever met who is worse than him.

[aelswiths]

I am here to avenge my father's death

aka Eadgifu being a #Girlboss in 5x02

[nicoscheer]

SIIIIIIRRRRRR ?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

especially cause he ain’t linked nowhere in the post

Always great fun when official sites use edited Milex pics for their posts 🤣🫠

[ask-the-invincible-crew]

rule #231 on the invincible: never. EVER. mess with a girl's hair products.

[lady-harrowhark]

*trying not to think too much over the fact that we still don't have Alecto to read, after wrapping up Nona*

I have so many thoughts. So many feelings.

God is an all powerful entity in which everyone depends on and he's just some guy. Normal looking and bad puns and all. He's awkward. He's trying his best and failing is hilarious.

Palamedes and Camila WILL make me shove my whole foot down my throat oh my goodness their relationship is so. IS SO. SOOOOOOOOOOOO. And I love that is was never romance-implied cause is so much beyond that. Dulce was never treated as a disturbance for them, Tamsyn when I catch you (positive)

If I think too much about Gideon I'll cry. Uglyly. Or Harrow. My pookies. Oh no my dork pookies. They do not deserve it. Tamsyn when I get you (threatening)

Pyrrha got me all hot and bothered 😳😳 *twirling my hair* my good sir have mercy on me. oh I have a type, and it shows and it shows.

I'm also fascinated for the structure of the story. Is so brilliantly made without being overwhelming. The change to 1st person > 2nd person > 3rd person depending on what's going on with who, the theater play model at the end of Nona, the books being careful not tell you, dear reader, information that the characters themselves don't have because YOU will know what THEY know, and sometimes that's jackshit.

I'm thankful for me, for taking the step of trying something new for a change, and thankful to you 🫵 for taking your time to explain what the series was about and linking me the stuff 🫰 oh my heart is full, really what a time to me alive 💕

There is not a single aspect of these books that does not cause me to feel shrimp emotions and I'm so so so glad that you are having the same experience 🥹 It's been so fun getting to see your reactions - watching other people react to the series for the first time is this fandom's national pastime tbh. And now you get to join us!

[wine-dark-soup]

my favorite gridanian Moment is when e-sumi-yan admits he overlooked the birth of a padjal. GRANDPA WHAT DO YOU MEAN. THIS IS YOUR ONLY JOB. GATTY WAS BORN IN THE CITY HER MOTHER ONLY LEFT AFTER GIVING BIRTH. HOW DID YOU MISS IT. HOW DID THE ELEMENTALS MISS IT. THERE ARE LIKE TEN OF YOU AND THEYRE ALL BORN THERE. YOU ARE WISE AND KNOWLEDGEABLE AND THE OLDEST LIVING PADJAL WE GET TO SEE IN THE GAME. THIS IS YOUR JOB. AND YOU SUCK AT IT

[jamiethebeeart]

Dannymay Day 5: Nails. Not bad parents au, just misguided >:]

[third-king-of-salmonids]

why are you a cannibal joe

BECAUSE IM SWAG AND COOL :)

[veloriium]

spotify cover for my little rainbow factory au thats marinating in my brain