#Wayfaring Daughter

[raindrop-on-a-spiderweb]

Is there a time in which you plan to share the plot/ending of stories that have been shelved, like Wayfaring Daughter? I finished my second reread of the chapters published and I am soooo interested to know what happens next and what is the endgame for those well-developed characters!!!

Or is that something you want to keep close to you? I imagine long, multi-chapter original stories are so difficult to finish, it is insane you already have one completely finished and one nearly done! Props to you!!

Keep up the great work!!! 💗

Answering these both at once if that's ok!!

I've come to a sad conclusion that Wayfaring Daughter will never be completed. It's a hard pill to swallow, but I bit off more than I could chew with this story. The world circumstances at the time in which I was working on it intimidated me, and I made the worst decision an author could do--I let fear and self-doubt creep in, and inspiration get away from me. So I'll tell you what I had planned for Wayfaring Daughter.

Here is what I had planned:

Rosannah gets pregnant while in the attic and is forcefully married to Robert, while Jeremiah still prowls around. Leland threatens them into a threesome because he knows that Rosannah is still wanted by the FBI.

Meanwhile, it also turns out that it wasn't Robert who was fucking his mom Perdita. It was her brother Harland. Rosannah had the two rooms in the back wing switched. The argument that led to Josiah's death was that Robert was Harland's son, and not Josiah's, as he had the recessive pale hair of the Beauforts instead of Leland, who was a brunette and Josiah's legitimate son–and that's why Josiah hung himself in the coat rack room.

This was revealed to Robert and Rosannah during a scene with ranting, dementia-riddled Ezra in his bed, who had walked in on his brother and sister fucking each other.

Knowing that if Leland–the only legitimate son–would inherit Bethlehem Hall that it would fall into ruin, Rosannah smothered Ezra, as Robert was unable to do it. Connected to that, it was also gradually revealed that as a child, Rosannah had purposefully slit the threads that sewed the rattlesnakes' mouths shut so they couldn't bite during church services. Resulting in that the next time her Pentecostal father had a snake-wielding service, the snake got its mouth loose and bit him fatally. 

Rosannah finds a diary in a nook, about a house slave girl named Philomena, who was the unwilling paramour of her half-brother Clement. She is the many-greats grandmother of Noah Broughton, who had inherited all the land in Savannah from the Beauforts and is why Letitia had hated the Broughtons so much. Clement had gotten Philomena pregnant, who hated Clement and was sickened by his abuse because she regarded him as a brother.

Philomena fell in love with a field slave called John, who is the many-greats grandfather of Arletha. This was the crux of Noah and Arletha's love, the descendants of two star-crossed lovers who could never be together.

This ties into the basement plot. Uriah was a serial killer and rapist of the slave women of Bethlehem Hall, as well as Maudelynn at a party when she was a young girl, as she had retreated into PTSD when she was asked about him. As the Union forces approached Bethlehem Hall, the fathers and brothers of the women who'd been murdered and raped by Uriah rose up, stormed Bethlehem Hall, caught him in the wine cellar and burned him alive. That's where the dark scorch mark comes from, and the spirit in the basement is him, trapped there forever. While the slaves are freed, Philomena is already pregnant and doesn't dare approach John, feeling unworthy of him as she is already pregnant. They part without ever seeing each other again. This is where it was implied that the Broughtons got their fortune, from Clement willing his land to Philomena and her son.

Liza Ann, Linney Belle's mother, arrives at Bethlehem Hall to take her daughter back at one point. While Rosannah liked her and she was completely apologetic and looking forward to connecting with her daughter, Rosannah was wary and angry that she would dare take Linney Belle away from her, and got Robert and Leland to strangle her to death and bury her in a grave out in the Bethlehem Hall lands.

When Linney woke up the next morning and asked what happened to Liza Ann, Rosannah tells her that her mother abandoned her again, and hugs her.

While investigating Liza Ann's death, Jeremiah finally makes his way back to Bethlehem Hall and confronts Rosannah, Leland and Robert.

From there, there were a lot of endings that I had in mind.

1. Rosannah was executed by hanging, but her spirit still haunts Bethlehem Hall. Linney Belle, an impoverished old woman, gave tours of her dilapidated old home Bethlehem Hall, and after one of the tour groups left, she walked into an empty room and saw Rosannah in her familiar dress turning to meet her, and she died on the floor.

2. Rosannah holds the men at gunpoint, kills Jeremiah, and restrains her husband Robert and Leland with rope. She flees into the night, but even after Linney's entire worldview of her is shattered, she still runs after her, begging to come along with her. Rosannah kisses her and says when she is old enough, they will be reunited. On Linney's 18th birthday, she receives a postcard of an American state and a PO Box. She travels there, and the PO box contains another postcard of another state. On and on it goes until Linney crosses the border to Mexico, riding donkeys across the Darien Gap, traveling hundreds of miles until the final postcard is simply an address. She walks into the Colombian forest until she comes across a gate, and a pale-haired little girl (Robert and Rosannah's daughter) greets her and tells her she knows who she is. Linney follows her up the winding road to a house, and in the distance she sees a figure with curly black hair, and Linney lets go of her suitcase to burst on the ground to scatter clothes all over, and she runs.

3.  The 3rd ending is the worst one. The same series of events happen with Rosannah killing Jeremiah and running from Bethlehem Hall, but this time she accepts Linney coming along with her. They leap on a train going out west, then it segues into a flashback of how Rosannah's first baby died. It's from the point of view of Jack Semple, and he spies through a sliver of door Rosannah pushing her daughter under the water and drowning her with a blank look in her eyes.

After the funeral of their baby, they trudge back to their shack, and Jack hesitantly asks if she really did it. Rosannah seems inhuman in that moment, and tells him he saw nothing and was imagining things.

And then he went to the liquor cabinet and swigged from a bottle of whiskey to forget his memory, although he had never done so before. Implying that he had started drinking because of Rosannah's manipulation and to forget what he had seen, and that what we've seen from Rosannah's point of view had been totally false, and that perhaps she had been the real villain the whole time--manipulative enough to get Leland and Robert to kill Liza Ann, manipulative enough to kill her father, and brutal enough to kill her husband.

Then the scene cuts to Rosannah and Linney on the train, Rosannah pregnant and Linney resting her head against her belly as Rosannah caresses Linney's hair.

The last scene is Rosannah, not pregnant and no longer with Linney, coming across a rural Mexican village. She smiles, says she's from out of town, and asks if she can take a teaching job. After all, she loves children.

[ironrye-afterdark]

So...I think I'm on to something.

My fankid senses were itching.

[silkenedstars]

Hi this got way more attention than what I initially expected (5 hearts) so I took the liberty to rewrite the entire essay, hence why it was delayed for… almost a month, I’m so sorry about that skjdgns

Anyway, as Sunset Wayfarer and Ardour Blossom Moth are both abnormalities with little information available for them (Sunset Wayfarer more so than Ardour Blossom Moth), there will inevitably be people disagreeing with what I've concluded from both abnormalities. I had that very experience with my friend who was helping me edit this essay and honestly? If you have any interpretations of these two that differ from my own, please let me know! I love hearing other people’s thoughts on things.

I will also be referring to both abnormalities by their initials (SW and ABM) to preserve my sanity since this is going to be a long, long post. (As of editing, this essay is 27 pages on google docs god help me) I will also be referring to both abnormalities with feminine pronouns because I love doomed yuri (but you're free to refer to them with masc pronouns for doomed yaoi, or like, literally any pronoun bc it doesn't matter).

Also special thanks to the limbus company wiki (wiki.gg not the fandom one) as this essay would've taken even longer to write without their work.

Okay okay so to start off: what Sunset Wayfarer is supposed to be.

There's barely any information about her, if at all thanks to her remaining an encounter-only abno (unlike ABM, who has a lot going for her) but we can still get the general gist of what she's supposed to be.

This is the only image we have of her and look at how peaceful this scene is? I'm not the best at describing pictures by any means but I think we can all agree that SW here gives off a friendly vibe.

If you come from lobcorp then you know that just looking friendly isn't enough, but fortunately SW acts just as friendly as she looks. Regardless of what you choose to do for her mirror dungeon event, she'll heal your party and her dialogue all throughout is understanding of your choice.

Now for her personality, yes, she has one. Most abnormalities in the mirror dungeon encounter do but I digress.

Starting from the first set of dialogue you're given when you first come across her, SW's personality is pretty straightforward.

"Look at those butterflies! Aren't they just beautiful?" - This is the very first thing that she says to Dante the moment her encounter starts. Not only is she acknowledging Dante's (and the sinners') presence with that sentence, but she's also bringing their attention to the butterflies surrounding her, beings that she deems beautiful.

Here, with these two sentences, you already get the sense that SW is someone who appreciates the beauty of the world around her; someone who focuses on the positive side of things.

"And gander at that sunset, too! Really makes you want to go for a stroll." - Here again, she's bringing attention to something that she likes seeing. The second sentence also indicates that she prefers the outdoors, but considering that we encounter her in the woods, I feel like that's a given.

"Why don't you stop for a moment and take a breather here?" - And here, not only is she asking Dante and the sinners to take a moment to rest, but going off of what she has said previously, she's also asking them to take a moment to take in their surroundings.

"Something yellow gestures warmly at you." - Dante that's rude. Interestingly though, and do correct me if I'm wrong, but this is the only instance when an abnormality that's offering help has their action described to be warm, or any other synonym of friendly.

For Fairy Long Legs, we only get dialogue from the abnormality and no commentary from Dante.

For Faelantern, we only get Dante's narration but they don't use any adverbs. Sure, the small fairy is smiling, maybe even dancing, but it tells us nothing of their intention. For all we know, the fairy could be planning to murder Dante and the sinners... which they are, but I digress.

Next up is the first choice we get to pick, as well as the rewards for it.

"Wasn't it tiring coming all the way here?" - SW is being compassionate here. She had the option to stay quiet and leave Dante and the sinners to rest by themselves, but instead, she asks about the group to see how they're doing.

"Really, check out those butterflies. Just watching them will warm your heart." - And right after, she tells them something that will help them. "Do this, it'll help you" is what she's saying here pretty much. Even though SW doesn't know anything about the group, she still wants to help them: she's caring.

"You looked at the butterflies as the voice suggested. They indeed fill the heart with a certain warmth." - Aside from this proving that Dante is really gullible (nothing new, we all already knew this) and showing us that SW was being honest, this also implies that she has healing capabilities. This I will get back to in detail later.

"Looks like some of them want to tag along!" - This part is relatively clear. SW has spent so long in the place of her encounter that she can understand how the butterflies act.

"A kaleidoscope of butterflies started following you, even after you left that scenic spot." - This part is a little difficult to figure out in relation to SW, but I think I worked out something. Even if they're two separate entities, SW and the butterflies surrounding her are connected at the end of the day. They are a part of her just as she's a part of them. It's difficult to say if they are the same being, but they share a connection which is why I'm confident that the butterflies decided to tag along with Dante because they were acting on SW's worry and concern over the group.

And at last, the ego gifts and healing. She heals all allies regardless and those with lust skills additionally heal their sp. Firstly, since sinners with lust skills got additional healing, this must mean that SW is an abnormality related to lust. This I will get into later too. Secondly, the ego gift:

There's another mention of lust, so SW being related to lust is even more likely. But do you see it, the ego name?

Eclipse of Scarlet Moths.

I'll be honest, when I first thought about SW and ABM being a perfect ship, I didn't think about this ego at all at first. Seeing it later was a funny coincidence though.

Eclipse of Scarlet Moths... huh? It's an interesting name for the ego since we know that the scarlet moths in question are the butterflies that were hanging around SW, so why the name change? I think there's a point to be made about the eclipse part of the ego name too, but I'm not familiar enough with astronomy to make that point.

And lastly, we have the option to ignore her and leave:

"You must be very busy then!" - She's understanding from the get-go. She doesn't try to get the group to stay, if they want to go then they go.

"It made the same gesture as when it first greeted us. Perhaps it was waving goodbye all along." - These two sentences are interesting as they imply that she's used to seeing people come and go. This is a theory of mine, but I like to imagine that SW used to be an abnormality in one of the side branches of L Corp, one that the employees visited frequently because of the respite she offers them in a way that allows them to extract energy from her, but I digress.

"Another time, I suppose!" - She's still positive here, and judging by her words, she's willing to let the group rest with her the next time they drop by, whenever that will be.

And at the end, she heals the group in an unconventional way, but healing is healing so it doesn't matter. This does imply though that SW likely noticed that the sinners were feeling "tired" (her words) from the get-go. This means that she's observant as well.

I do want to point out here that her healing, both for when you accept her offer or reject her, isn’t only literal but metaphorical as well. Specifically, it’s a symbolism for how kindness affects other people. If you accept it, if you let yourself be vulnerable so you can connect with another person, you're rewarded for that connection via that person helping you out. That's also why identities with lust skills get bonus sp healing, thanks to lust and its themes of wanting to connect with others.

On the other hand for rejecting, you're never punished for doing so because it's understandable why you wouldn't want to open up to a complete stranger, regardless of whatever their intent may be. But the healing is still there, because that original kindness that stranger offered was there. It shows that even if you reject any offer from others to help you, you'll still carry that small kindness shown to you wherever you go.

Or like, you'll remember for 3 turns then forget about it but I digress.

So what is her personality? What about her healing capabilities? What does her being associated with lust mean for her?

Her personality is a mix of the traits she has shown us so far: she's an optimist who takes the time to appreciate the world around her and its beauty, she likes taking her time to do just that, she likes spending her time outdoors, she's caring even towards strangers, she's warm, friendly, she's compassionate, she's helpful, she's honest, she's understanding, she's gentle and she's supportive.

There's an obvious lack of character flaws, but she doesn't need them. As of now, SW is an abnormality that's the manifestation of goodwill, it wouldn't make sense for her to have character flaws. That said, you can definitely give her some, or even better, write her in such a way that even her positive character traits end up fucking up a situation.

...Sorry I said that like there's going to be anyone other than me writing SW x ABM content. Anyway.

Her healing capabilities are next. I'm sure most of you guessed this already by now but she heals, because her healing is a reflection of her care and kindness. This isn't just that though, her ego gift shows that she's capable of harm as well, it's just that she'd much rather help others rather than harm them.

And lastly: What does her being associated with lust mean for her?

If I made this before the check up event came out, I wouldn't be able to answer this. Buuuut since I'm making this after the check up event, I can answer it!

Remember how Hohenheim described the lust pettaclum? Here are the screenshots in case you don't:

Ironically Yi Sang's explanation in particular is closer to SW than Hohenheim's explanation. SW might not exactly be sharing her knowledge or her ideas, but we do know of something that she likes sharing with others, don't we? That being the beauty of the world that she lives in.

There is one problem with this though, that being that while SW does want to spread her joy that she finds in the world (thus a desire to propagate), it's not to the where she's obsessed with doing that. We established earlier that she's not forceful.

Despite this, she's still associated with lust. But what if instead of that, it was love that she actually has a connection to? Sharing the beauty of the world with others, helping along strangers that she comes across are both forms of love, aren't they?

Anyway enough with this love stuff and enough with SW, it's time to talk about Ardour Blossom Moth!

To start off, she has soooo much more information available: observation logs, three different events, 3 ego gifts, Ishmael's ego for her, Faust's LCE ego for her, background art, enemy information, several sprites and attack animations.

ABM is also the one who puts in the doomed part of the doomed yuri she and SW make up.

Anyway, due to the sheer amount of information available for ABM, I'll explain everything there is to her first then I'll connect them all. And after that? The yuri explanation all of you have been waiting for.

So to start off, Ishmael's ABS ego:

Let's analyse the art first!

The first thing I noticed is the lack of ABM herself. I checked Ishmael's sprite and there's nothing that could indicate that ABM is hiding on her in this art either. I will come back to this later, this is important.

The next thing I noticed was the environment, specifically the corpses that are surrounding Ishmael. Some of them are reaching out towards her as well, maybe seeking redemption of sorts? I'll get into this later too.

Notice how everything is burnt? This does fit in with what ABM is on the surface, but I believe there's a deeper meaning to this as well. (Hint: it's doomed yuri)

I think someone could make a point with her clothes too but that definitely won't be me since I know next to nothing about fashion. If anyone that’s an expert on fashion is reading this, I’d love to know your thoughts.

"Though I can't guide you... I can offer a warm embrace."

Now we have her quote here. This is where I mention that egos aren't all that reliable to learn the story of an abnormality since they're more about how a sinner connects to a certain abnormality, but I don't think we need to worry about that in this one instance since I believe that there's a strong connection between how Ishmael openly acted on her obsession during her canto and ABM's personality in general. This I will get into later, of course.

But the line itself is interesting.

"Though I can't guide you..." has interesting implications. If we go with the corpses reaching towards Ishmael in hope of redemption, then doesn't this mean that Ishmael (or ABM in this case) believes herself to be too far gone for redemption herself, or not the being of salvation that the corpses thought her to be?

Then the following words; "I can offer a warm embrace." Yes please I want the hottest embrace you can offer— I mean what who said that? Ahem. It's an offer, a compensation for something that she can't offer. It's interesting that she offers this, too. Did she see that the corpses were yearning for salvation and her warm embrace will be the closest thing she can give them, or is it that she herself yearns for redemption and is unable to reach it, so she can empathise with the corpses' desires as she offers her embrace, something she desperately yearns for herself because she cannot have it to any meaningful degree?

Next up are the stats for the awakening version:

The ego's risk level is HE while the abnormality is WAW, so the connection with ABM is a little bit weak though I'd assume this is because Ishmael is a person capable of changing and ABM is an abnormality stuck in her ways.

As the lobcorp manual points out, HE class abnormalities can easily kill a number of employees so you need to pay more attention to them, but they're still relatively easy to manage so there's no need to be concerned over them.

WAWs, on the other hand are very devastating and can easily kill huge groups of people. You'll need to pay a lot of attention to them and be very careful with them if you want to avoid a huge loss.

All this is to say that ABM's level of obsession far exceeds Ishmael's. But... why obsession? Where did I get obsession from? I'll explain it more in detail later, but it's kind of obvious, isn't it? Ishmael's ego is wrath and ABM is associated with it, and wrath is a form of obsession, isn't it?

The ego resources further point to this. If just ABM being associated with wrath isn't enough to prove that she's associated with obsession, then the ego resources for ABS certainly should. It has two more sins associated with obsession: the desire to spread what you are and the desire to become something else entirely.

Ardour also means great desire/passion so there's that.

And the resistances: wrath is ineffective, lust is endured, sloth and gloom are both fatal. The first two check out, ABM is a fire related abnormality after all, the weakness to gloom is also understandable since the greatest counter to rage has to be depression; you can't feel angry if you're struggling to feel anything in the first place.

But sloth? Though not as much as wrath or lust, sloth still has some association with burn. Faust's LCE id even has sloth as its first skill, so why does this ego give Ishmael sloth weakness? Not even just Ishmael, ABM herself is weak to sloth.

Well, sloth and gloom have similar meaning to one another and while they are different at their core, they still share their similarities with their symptoms. It's like people who confuse greed and gluttony with one another. They're two different sins, but they have enough similarities with each other to be confused for the other nonetheless.

So the weakness to sloth further enhances the meaning the weakness to gloom has.

I won't really talk about the stats of the ego since they're really inconsistent even when sharing an abnormality (both pursuance ego heal, fluid sac only has one ego that heals), they + the passive might be important to mention (passive specifically explains why the ego has lust as a resource) but I won't get into it because this essay is already very long and while I am neurodivergent, the more I write the more I lose my sanity so I'll just move onto the next thing to preserve what little sanity I have left writing this.

Now, for the corroded version of ABS!

There's barely any difference between this and Ishmael's, as is the case with most ego. The only thing noteworthy about this is that unlike other ego art where the sinner missing means that the abnormality has taken over, for ABS we go from only having Ishmael to only having ABM.

This is technically still the sinner being taken over by the abnormality, but I do wonder if this is actually to showcase Ishmael becoming ABM. Specifically, Ishmael losing herself in ABM's obsession and becoming her in the end, similar to what happened in her pquod captain id.

Take a look at their idle sprites, too.

Notice the similarities between them? Ishmael is still there, but she has been corrupted (corroded, if you will) beyond recognition. Notice how similar she looks to ABM as well. I wouldn't be surprised if this corrosion is just the transition, and the next stage is becoming ABM herself. (Diversity win!!)

Next is her corroded line:

"Do you see? My writhing struggle, hoping the world is cocooned in flames with me..."

Well now, doesn't that sound like someone who's full of resentment and wants to bring the world down with them?

Personally this line is very obvious in its meaning (it's very much screaming hatred if you ask me) but let's analyze it a little bit anyway.

The part that pops out here for me is "hoping the world is cocooned in flames...". Cocooned, like how larva become moths via cocoons? ABM's association with lust gets stronger the more we look into this ego.

It also fits in with the narrative that Ishmael is becoming the abnormality via the corrosion. ABM wants to spread her hatred and does exactly that by either turning humans into abnormalities just like her, or leaving them a charred mess.

"Do you see? My writhing struggle," - It's a pain that Ishmael/ABM seemingly want to be acknowledged, but so far no one has. That makes her resentment make sense. Her pain is ignored by countless others, no wonder why she wants to spread it around so it'll finally be acknowledged.

Last for this section is her attack animation for both awakening and corrosion.

The animation for awakening is her swooping down to kiss the enemy then pulling away just as they explode. The one for corrosion is largely the same; she sucks away at the enemy's energy/blood/whatever but she doesn't pull away from the explosion this time.

Kissing the enemy.... is certainly a choice, though it could be the embrace that she was speaking of.

Anyway, that's all done, time for the next part! Now we go to our next piece of analysis, Yi Sang's observation logs regarding ABM! It's still not exactly reliable, that'll be when we get to the abnormality events and ego gifts, but Yi Sang's thoughts on ABM should still give us some insight.

I'll gather the important lines from the first observation here:

"Nay, allow me to rearticulate. It would be more evocative to say that the flame itself has taken the form of such an insect."

"Watching the little bonfire, watching the twigs turn into bright red lanterns, then into black soot--I could not help but reach out to appreciate its warmth."

"Many share this sentiment, no? We need not touch the fire to know it blisters our skin and burns our bones. Yet we still yearn for its heat, to grow nearer to it."

As a quick note, I think Yi Sang  going right up to ABM and coming right back burnt into a crisp is more so Yi Sang being the weirdo (affectionate) he is than anything about ABM herself. It could also be a play on the words "moths to a flame" with how Yi Sang walked right up to ABM and got burnt.

On that note, based on these lines, she really does seem to have a pull for certain kind of people. The metaphor was always there, with one of light's symbolism being that of guidance and fire is a source of light. Those who are lost, who have lost hope, who don't know their place in the world and anyone who shares a similar feeling were always going to find ABM's light attractive and cluelessly walk towards her without realizing the danger they were in.

Here is the second observation log. The first half only confirms what we knew of ABM through Ishmael's ABS ego so I won't talk about them, but the second half is interesting. Below is the only important part I'll be focusing on:

"Thus, it follows that breaking its wings would allow us to take the offensive in this battle."

For those of you who haven't played lobcorp or watched any of the story on youtube, here's a fun fact for you about abnormalities: They can't die, they're basically immortal, but most of them still feel pain.

That is to say, while Yi Sang's suggestion of breaking ABM's wings is justified and the only option that they really have, it's still extremely cruel, especially so coming from Yi Sang. Not only is ABM going to feel the pain of that, but she'll also have her freedom taken away from her.

But maybe that's not so much of a bad thing as one might initially think. What do I mean by this? It's doomed yuri related, I'll get to it later don't worry.

Now, onto the 3rd observation log that's connected to the 2nd one:

Rather than pointing out the important parts, I'll make a commentary of everything that has been noted.

In the 2nd observation log, Yi Sang points out that the embers the sinners get from ABM's embrace do not burn and only bring warmth. However some of the sinners have experienced painful burns with a cause he doesn't know about.

In the 3rd one however, he realizes that these embers spark when ABM fans them with her wings; thus the need for her wings to be broken.

This does highlight some of ABM's personality and, despite how cruel it must be, violence is needed to win against her.

Maybe it's manipulation on her part; acting helpful by bringing people warmth only to pull the rug from right under them by sparking the embers, forcing them to burn alive. Or maybe it's just instinct for her to keep any flame from extinguishing. The embers are small after all, barely capable of hurting anyone, and it's only through the powerful flap of ABM's wings do they become a devastating force.

I believe it's the second interpretation that's actually happening as it fits right in with the belief in ABS; that she is incapable of guidance due to her very nature, but she can still offer some comfort thanks to that exact nature.

There's also another connection with lust here. ABM spreads her embers to others, turns those embers into powerful flames which then spread onto more people, so on and so forth. In a way, that's also propagation, isn't it?

Faust's LCE id is also interesting. At first I was thinking of skipping it because I didn't think it had anything of importance (even back in lobcorp, ego equipment themselves have minimal information on abnos) but then I remembered the very brief word she used for ABM, "self-destructive", so I came running right back.

"Subject's engagement threat level: moderately high. However, considering its self-destructive nature under specific circumstances... Ardor Blossom Moth final designation: WAW-5."

This is the line you get when you first obtain her LCE id. It's clear that the subject in question is ABM since, this is her ABS ego id. Would be funny if she was actually talking about Dante but I digress.

Self-destructive nature under specific circumstances... From my own experiences, I've always taken self-destructive (behaviours) to be just another form of self-harm, which it is. Any act of sabotaging yourself is self-destructive, be it smoking, pushing away your friends or literally exploding.

This is also why Ishmael has a direct ego that resonates with ABM. We saw how she acted during her own canto. But Faust also has this ego. Even if it's not to the same degree as Ishmael, how much does Faust resonate with ABM?

Well for her, it's less resonating and more empathising. Take a look at this:

This is the narration given to us by Carmen. Faust resonates with and achieves a higher attunement level because she's willing to understand and empathize with ABM. It's hard to say if Faust has a connection besides empathizing with ABM since we're not given further info on her id story nor have I read Faust's source book. Her canto isn't out yet as of now either so I might come back to this if it is.

But this is pretty much it for Faust's LCE id. The rest of the information we can gather from her id either concerns every other abnormality or is something else entirely.

Also as a fun fact, LCE Faust's sin affinities completely match with ABM's, though I don't know if that's a result with her empathizing with ABM or if it's in regards to her own feelings.

Now that we're done with that, time to move onto... ABM's various events! I'll start with the easiest and shortest one, that being the LCB check up dungeon event:

Only two lines from this matter for us.

"The flaming wings die out one moment, only to roar vigorously in the next."

"An incessant attempt to set fire to everything around it."

This reads as desperate to me, unusually so. I'm going to have to bring up a point I was planning on discussing for the part reserved for it, but ABM doesn't even fight like this. Sure, her movements aren't exactly what someone would call levelheaded either, but it's certainly not frantic.

Then again, during the fights with ABM, we're in her ideal environment while a containment unit in LCE is the furthest thing from an ideal environment for her.

Next is the mirror dungeon event. Unlike with SW, I won't analyse the ego gifts since a quick look tells me that they only reinforce what we already know.

"Orange circles float in the air before your eyes. The lights flutter and dance in the air, creating a haze." - I believe that the orange circles Dante mentions aren't actual circles but instead several other ABMs. How do I know this?

This is the artwork we get for this mirror dungeon event. You might be inclined to believe that the orange circles in question are very obviously the circles in this image, but that's not the case.

We know from this image (that is ABM's background art for her battle) that the orange circles we see in the event art are mini volcanoes (I don't know if that's what they're actually called but I digress).

And it'd be one thing if Dante really was talking about these, but the way they describe the orange circles as "the light flutter and dance in the air, creating a haze" would fit into ABM much more than the mini volcanoes. Going off of this, we can safely assume that the haze in question is formed by the army of tiny ABMs flying about in the event art… which is the case.

"Something is burning to death within. Would you be scorched as well if the flames touched you?" - This is something I'll get to again later, but we've seen this before, haven't we? Ishmael's ABS ego, specifically the corrosion. I already pointed out the similarity in sprites and how you can still see Ishmael within the corrosion sprite, but how she's still beyond recognition.

Now is where we get to the choices:

"Enchanted by the haze, you extend a finger, waiting for one of the lights to land." - There isn't much to say here, I've already said this during Yi Sang's observation log. Despite seeing the danger, Dante still reaches out their hand for... something. Though Dante's case is very different from what I mentioned in Yi Sang's observation log since reaching out was a choice that Dante made, and they were more interested in the haze itself rather than the light and warmth provided by ABM.

There are definitely faults in this take, but I don't think the details matter all that much.

"A glimmering ball gently perches on your digit. Then, a fire engulfs it." - I'm a little unsure of this one, but it seems to me that one of the ABMs took this as invitation. It feels similar to the corpses back in Ishmael's ABS ego art reaching out towards Ishmael/ABM, and Dante's finger immediately catching fire without any pain further enforces this to me.

"Another glow attaches to your body, then four, then eight. They multiply until you have been entirely shrouded in light." - This piece of information clarifies that the small lights aren't exactly ABM, but instead a child abnormality of her, in a way. The ABM we know is big, but these child abnormalities are likely the size of an actual moth.

Judging by how the event was resolved, I doubt that the smaller moths gathering on top of Dante was a good thing by any means. Sure, they came out of it unhurt, but any sinner who had an id without a wrath skill equipped got hurt.

Which makes me wonder if this exact event happened to the sinners as well, by which I mean the small ABMs surrounding their body. Losing 10 HP is practically nothing, so I'm assuming this means that the moths aren't capable of doing serious damage. This would explain why ids without wrath skills got hurt while those with wouldn't; they'd be able to withstand it thanks to having an affinity for wrath already.

This option is very anti-climactic but the safest thing to do.

"Resisting the temptation to reach out, you decide it's better to stay away from such dubious warmth." - There's not much to say here aside from the temptation to reach out towards ABM's flame is instinctive, maybe innate, it's still a pull you can resist. Though I doubt how resistable it might be to certain kinds of people.

"You feel a cold wave crawl up your spine in an instant, but it may be the right choice." - It is, leaving is the right choice, at least in terms of keeping yourself safe. The coldness that Dante feels the moment they turn around is exactly why ABM's flames are so dangerous. Flames are warm, and whatever is warm is also comfortable. It's far too easy to stay where it's comfortable despite how dangerous it might be.

"Even children know not to play with fire." - But that doesn't stop them from doing so, does it?

And here is the high risk high reward choice.

I'm not going to bother analysing this choice one by one but comment on it as a whole. Aside from this choice giving me vibes of someone who doesn't care for their own life, ABM forming within the haze is curious.

While it's a little hard to decipher what this is supposed to mean, I know from other abnormality encounters that an option that lets you obtain 2 ego gifts at the cost of a fight are options where you piss of or upset the abnormality you encountered.

What does this mean for ABM, though?

Faust's LCE says that ABM has a self destructive nature, we established that before. If someone has reached a point where they act self-destructive over something, I doubt that person has any sense of self worth. For an abnormality like ABM that's associated with wrath as well as what we know of her so far, I'm willing to bet there's a lot of self hatred involved as well.

What I'm trying to say here is that Dante in the 3rd option (something draws you into the haze) likely reminds ABM of herself. As an abnormality, she's bound to her fate and cannot defy it (otherwise she wouldn't be an abnormality in the first place). Seeing someone who has control over their own fate have a lapse of judgement and be drawn to your existence as a result would be an insult.

She knows that Dante isn't overcome by the instinct to reach out towards her flames in search of warmth, because Dante would've reached out, instead they walk right into the haze and it pisses ABM off. Here she is, bound by her own nature and unable to escape it, and this human who would know nothing about her pain is in awe of her existence. That just pisses her off.

This is also why we get the Ardent Flower ego gift together with Hellterfly's Dream. I can't comment on the latter much but I can say for sure that Ardent Flower is a representation of this exact feeling; of feeling belittled because of how someone perceives you and feeling angry due to it. Yes, ardent is a synonym of passionate, but passion can be fueled by both love and hate. Feel free to guess which one ABM has plenty of.

Now onto our last section for ABM before I tie everything together. Her enemy information:

First a quick look at ABM's stats. The resistances for her body line up with Ishmael's ABS ego, with the only difference being that ABM also endures envy but that makes sense, it's one of the resources for ABS.

Her wings are more or less the same with the only difference being that they're more fragile.

Onto her attacks. Yi Sang already got her attack patterns down but there are still some things that I want to bring up. Aside from the cycle of putting people on fire, stoking the flames to create stronger fire, then spreading more fire, her attacks also have a focus on wrath; namely inflicting her enemies with wrath resist down then converting her non-wrath skills to wrath skills.

She's basically a limbus player if a limbus player knew how to read instead of winrating every encounter lol. (It's me, I'm limbus player.) She's also what Nclair wishes he was, but I guess a human's hatred was never going to be on par with an abnormality's hatred.

Her skills are 2 sloth, 2 pride and 2 wrath respectively. What does that mean? For sinners, the sin affinities for their attack skills represent their feelings for the current mirror world they're in. To make a quick example: Heathcliff. His canto is already out so I don't have to go in depth with this explanation, but up until his KK id (which seems to be the happiest he has been, ever, do correct me if I'm wrong though) every single id Heathcliff had features an envy skill. This was a way for PM to show his feelings of inferiority born from his past, and that manifests the strongest in the form of envy because he's not allowed to have Cathy (the only person who didn't treat him like shit), but someone who's better than him in every aspect is.

What does that mean for ABM though? I interpret her sloth skills to mean that she has resigned herself to her role. She's destined to live an existence where she brings harm upon anything that comes too close, it's instinctive for her, so why even fight it at this point. But you know who else has sloth skills and has given up on defying their fate? That's right, Hong Lu! (this isn't about him)

Next, her pride skills. I interpret them as her response to her fate. Although she was born like this, she still yearns to be free; to escape. That's why it's such an insult when someone like Dante steps right into her domain like they're offering themselves up to be one of her. It's a personal slight, it's an insult to her ego, her pride.

And lastly, her wrath skills. I interpret them as another kind of response to her fate, as well as her feelings towards it. She's stuck with her role? Fine, she'll do such a good job at it that she won't be the only one suffering from her existence by the end of it. Her wrath skills also represent her frustration for her circumstance, but that one was obvious.

Her battle event goes like this:

I won't talk in depth here, but Dante is right that it's the core of ABM; it's the scorched remains of who she once was if that person ever even existed, if ABS Ishmael's corrosion is anything to go by.

Also note that this is one of the few events where you're asked to roll under the designated number and not above it. It's almost as if suppressing your emotions is what gives you an advantage, I wonder what that could mean?

Notice a certain line here: "Their fingertips begin to blister and bubble, but perhaps [Sinner]'s passion burned hotter than the flames itself."

With someone as self destructive as ABM is, you're bound to get hurt trying to help her. It's only by having a strong will, one that's stronger than ABM's hatred for herself and those around her can you truly reach out and help her.

It'll hurt, it'll be painful, but it's the only way to really touch her heart.

So then why does the chosen sinner throw away ABM's core? Didn't I say that was the remains of who ABM was?

These two questions are related to one another. The chosen sinner threw away ABM's core because Dante rightfully perceived the core to be what fed ABM's flames, thus it had to go. Following this decision, ABM's flames immediately calm down. She loses her ember and the sinners all lose burn.

All this to me is what proves that the core is ABM's remains. Part of her consciousness is still in there, somewhere. It might be dormant but the emotions that part feels (namely wrath) is exactly what acts as fuel for ABM. It's only by separating who she once was from the flames that are literally consuming every second of her life does the fire grow weaker.

So what happens when the chosen sinner fails the check?

The pain is simply too much, the will to help isn't strong enough. You can't be blamed for pulling away after realizing you'll get hurt, but pulling away from the person hurting won't make their situation any better.

It's an understandable choice, an understandable reaction, but in the end it just hurts more.

ABM's reaction isn't exactly clear here. Is she acting on instinct, is it a defense mechanism that triggered the moment she realized someone reached out not towards her flames, but to her heart for once?

Or is this anger in response to what has been attempted? That someone would dare reach out to her only to back away because of the pain, when the pain she's constantly in is so much worse than what they have been temporarily through?

It could be both, it's definitely one of them, but we'll never know for sure.

Now with all of that analysis done, what is ABM? Who is she? What's her deal?

ABM is, to put it simply, a form of corruption. Specifically a hatred so strong that it eventually takes over every aspect of your life, until you're left completely miserable. Sometimes the hatred you feel will be weak, sometimes it'll be so strong that it'll be painful just to experience it, but the feeling will always be there until you hurt yourself and your loved ones. It's the kind of hatred that makes you resent yourself, it's the kind of hatred that you'll take to your grave but most importantly, it's the kind of hatred that exists as a never ending cycle.

But as much as you resent yourself for being so hateful, deep down, you still want an out for this situation. You might've sunk too far to ever get out of the hole you dug yourself in, but that won't stop you from wishing for someone to reach out and drag you out of it.

That's why the scorched bodies in ABS Ishmael's art are reaching out towards her. They're all hurting, they have hurt others, but they still wished to be saved from the cycle they're stuck in.

But Ishmael cannot do that herself. She's stuck in that cycle as well. If she were to grab their hand, it'd inevitably end up with more pain. Her embrace; her understanding, her empathy is the only thing she can offer. It's the only thing she has to offer.

The same can be said for ABM as well. When Dante reaches out towards her, she's quick to "embrace" them; shrouding them in light as the smaller ABMs attach themselves to Dante. It hurts, it must hurt. Maybe not Dante specifically, but it's a painful experience for the sinners who haven't felt the pain that naturally comes with wrath.

There's more to say, but I feel like anything more I add will just reinforce what I've said about ABM being and representing a cycle of hatred and corruption.

And who is she?

ABM is someone who has been born into and stuck in this cycle of hatred all her life. Though she is capable of showing compassion to others and can help others out in her own way, she'll almost always end up doing more harm than good due to her very own nature.

She's irritable, she's prideful, she hates herself, hates those around her too, she's resigned to her own fate and the only way to pacify her is to contribute to the very cycle she's stuck in and responding to her violence with just as much (if not more) violence.

...wow, she's almost the exact opposite of SW, huh? A majority of her personality is just negative traits with just a few positive traits that end up doing harm anyway.

Wait hold on a second, everything I described sounds more like toxic yuri between the two and not doomed yuri? Well then, allow me to explain exactly why they are doomed yuri and not toxic yuri.

You know how I talked about ABM essentially being and representing a cycle of hatred (while SW is a representation of goodwill)?

SW is both the end to that cycle as well as a contribution to it.

She's the only one who shows unconditional kindness towards ABM, the only one to never resort to violence with ABM even if it hurts her.

It'd surely piss ABM off, after all, how could you just love someone like her? Someone who's the epitome of hatred? And given her temper, SW's kindness would inevitably end in her death... but remember! Abnormalities are immortal so SW's death will be temporary. And considering SW's personality, I don't think she'll stop being kind towards ABM just because of one death.

It's that very fact that turns SW's and ABM's relationship from a toxic one-sided yuri to a slowburn doomed yuri.

It's inevitable that the two would feel love for one another, SW towards ABM because of all the small things that ABM does, and ABM towards SW because she's the first being to treat ABM with unconditional kindness and without a hint of violence.

And this is where the doomed part of the yuri comes in. Though they may love each other greatly, ABM is destined to burn SW to death eventually, over and over again. I don't think SW would particularly care about this given how many times she would have to burn to death to even reach this point in their relationship, but that doesn't make ABM feel any less guilty or horrible for her very own nature.

Imagine the guilt you'd have, the kinds of thoughts that would follow you when you try to touch your beloved only to burn and hurt them. Imagine how horrible it would feel when they tried to reassure you saying they don't mind the pain, when you really should be the one reassuring them.

They cannot kiss, they cannot hold each other, they can't even touch one another without one of them dying.

Sunset Wayfarer is the answer that would free Ardour Blossom Moth from her cycle of suffering, but given their very nature as abnormalities, all she ends up doing is putting herself and Ardour Blossom Moth in a different kind of cycle; one that's still full of suffering.

The only way for these two to have a moment of peace... is through violence. Only by ripping off Ardour Blossom Moth's wings, only by extinguish her flames by force and leaving her in a vulnerable state is it possible for the two of them to touch one another and hold each other without fear of pain or death.

Their relationship, no matter how much they love one another, will always end with one of them being hurt.

Also um,

notice how similar the butterflies surrounding SW and one of ABM’s ego gifts look??

even projmoon themselves ship these two abnormalities they're literally meant to be

[dragonologist-phd]

Desta- Paladin of the Kind Wayfarers, Reluctant Daughter of Galawain

Another amazing wild card commission from @mellifera38, this time featuring my nature godlike Watcher, Desta! Thank you again, she’s spectacular!

[blueiight]

“what can the damned really say to the damned?” is what this episode asks. and well… “nothing.” is what the show answers us with.

we are introduced to louis and claudia as ultimate outcasts to the mortals around them and vampiredom: louis attempts to maintain the illusions of humanity in similar structures once more, casting grace as his lost wife and claudia as his daughter, as claudia seeks to find other vampires. armand, clearly pissed about the interview as is, decides to draw upon 150 years of prior work experience as a playwright toward the end of this episode, which is quite frankly, a bit much considering how daniel’s already scared shitless. and theres a terrible romantic specter in europe following louis thats named lestat. its a lot going on here, and im bound to not cover everything. i do want to cover dreamstat, and me and you(5x) but i will wait for the season to progress to do that^_^

‘He asked me if we could go home. Home? Can there be a more offensive question? Run back to New Orleans. Pry up his bones, why don’t you? Louis de Pointe du Lac, dead weight.’

louis and claudia’s tension in this particular episode revolve around the killing — or the betrayal that prevented the killing — of lestat. et tu, louis? stowaways on ships, trains, and wagons and a totally alien environment where even the blood is hostile to them, is it any wonder louis dreams of lestat? is it any wonder, having access to louis’s mind, in pursuit of some understanding of vampires beyond the facismile of the nuclear structure, that claudia continues to feel betrayed? i always think to myself, if claudia had qualities that made the average fan more sympathetic to her, would they understand how she was betrayed by louis specifically that night? would they be able to sympathize with claudia’s incredible perserverance despite, and because of, everything thats happened to her? and how that betrayal is the underlying tragedy and romance alike of the narrative that made 1940 mardi gras’s aftermath so haunting that louis in dubai did not remember it or was made not to until the other night?

following that in the flashbacks is when dreamstat first appears, clearly an extension of louis’s own mind at this own point, and he asks louis:

Four years of grim wayfaring, and still no sight of the benevolent vampire. So how does denial manifest itself tonight? … Was she worth it?

its so telling that lestat is the image louis calls upon to embody his most bitter feelings toward claudia in this sequence. dreamstat deserves his own breakdown, especially in relation to louis& claudia’s conversation when she first finds the revenant, as well as the wider events in dubai…

speaking of revenants, morgan in the show is a proto-daniel of sorts an abandoned journalist whos interest in photography exposes the illusion of grace the wife and claudia the impossible daughter, and tries to understand louis through the perspective of the mortal hes been given — did he go AWOL, or is he a black bolshevik? louis when questioned absconds, and closes up what little of himself he’s sold to morgan. its a smart way to include him in the narrative, as morgan is witness to emilia’s beheading after she was attacked by said revenant… and louis turns his head, truly embodying the detachment of the vampire in this moment. human affairs, their problem. this is a really good example of whats meant by ���human affairs’ in the show, by the way. this episode features claudia & louis facing racism from military to children, and thats not framed as a ‘human affair’, but as one of many haunting aspects of their immortal existences.

claudia, in the pursuit for vampires, continues the metaphor of adoption in how she tries to find some sort of companionship and her current understanding of romania as this ancestral home to the vampire. whats also noticeable here is how claudia trying to make sense of centuries of legends is a striking parallel to how louis in the present day attempts to make sense of whats ‘true’ and ‘untrue’ from her diaries. claudia’s private accounts in the present that she never intended to be so deeply analyzed as anything other than her internal narrative in the moments she wrote them has become, to louis, a similar sort of legend thats necessary to decode for his own sense of self.

She writes here, ‘I do not dream.’ I can confirm that. At least, that’s what she said to me once when I was talking about one of my dreams which were erratic and often in those years. Of course, she might’ve just said that to shut me up, but yet… she writes it here so… let’s believe it. She continues. ‘We traveled light in our ancestral home. We slept in the earth, took circuitous routes around the mad army goose-stepping its way toward mother Russia…’

I woke that night to the sound of chaos erupting nearby. Claudia was, uh.. . she was dreaming. Her head twitching like you would. […] No, I can feel her. I can feel her next to me. She’s having a nightmare. What’s worse than a nightmare? If your soul’s projecting out its fears, at least it’s up and running. But the absence of anything? The void, the nothing, pieces… coming back. Hours, nights, objects surfacing in water… It was just something she’d wrote. But it wasn’t true. She could dream.

dubai louis’s recollection of claudia and the existential dread of eternally being damned, the terror of lacking a soul, a rather catholic fear but still having a sequence of memories that cycle back into an immortal brain, replay in this inversed sleep cycle, can be malleable, forgotten, poke a hole in louis’s attempt to utilize claudia’s diaries as but an extension of his own narrative, and offers a glimpse at what is truly at stake in this second interview.

[tradfolkpoll]

american traditional folk song tournament

welcome to the american traditional folk song tournament! round 1 will begin shortly. a complete list of upcoming matchups is under the cut

i've been working on the railroad vs jay gould's daughter

all the pretty little horses vs gallows pole

omie wise vs virgin mary

jelly jelly vs green grow the lilacs

stewball vs rising of the moon

lily of the west vs rose of aberdeen

there is balm in gilead vs john hardy

erie canal vs mi y'malel

sept ans sur mer vs skip to my lou

hob ich a por oksen vs feuilles-o

the e-ri-e vs roll the old chariot

the cuckoo vs samson and delilah

santiana vs wild mountain thyme

blind man lay beside the way vs wind and rain

el cañutero vs haul away joe

old blue vs lauterbach

rock island line vs rye whiskey

motherless child vs black is the colour of my trule love's hair

roving gambler vs turtle dove

jesse james vs oh miss i have a very fine farm

down by the riverside vs blackest crow

arkansas traveler vs hold the fort

streets of laredo vs one morning in may

liza up a 'simmon tree vs st james infirmary

sloop john b vs we shall overcome

the crawdad song vs the wagoner's lad

cotton eyed joe vs foreman monroe

wade in the water vs wild goose grasses

go tell it on the mountain vs careless love

i bought me a cat vs sea lion woman

jubilee vs froggie went a-courting

single girl, married girl vs the bailiff's daughter of islington

go down moses vs little joe the wrangler

the water is wide vs go tell aunt rhodie

storms are on the ocean vs come along john

frankie vs roll jordan roll

captain kidd vs midnight special

worried man blues vs the chickens they are crowing

joshua fit the battle of jericho vs jam on jerry's rocks

did you feed my cow vs trail of tears

jane jane vs colorado trail

take this hammer vs long lonesome road

dink's song vs molasses

five nights drunk vs pay day

make me a pallet on your floor vs cape cod girls

john the revelator vs all her answers were no

engine 143 vs every time i feel the spirit

diamond joe vs call of the moose

michael, row the boat ashore vs farther along

buffalo gals vs boston come-all-ye

wayfaring stranger vs undone in sorrow

the unquiet grave vs the moonshiner

the longest train i ever saw vs banks of the ohio

shenandoah vs this little light of mine

how can i keep from singing vs i ride an old paint

little black train vs this train is bound for glory

the riddle song vs railroad bill

grey goose vs goin' down the road feelin' bad

when first unto this country vs cripple creek

pretty saro vs song of the boatman

cotton mill girls vs wildwood flower

fatal flower garden vs cumberland gap

twelve gates to the city vs git along little dogies

sliding delta vs darby ram

when johnny comes marching home vs down in the willow garden

down by the bay vs darling corey

oh freedom vs old chisholm trail

another man done gone vs deep blue sea

john brown's body vs matty groves

wabash cannonball vs ell corrido de gregorio cortez

down to the river to pray vs casey jones

tom dooley vs la delgadina

the old soldier vs cindy

the e-ri-e vs poor working girl

avondale mine disaster vs sun will never go down

greenland whale fisheries vs the dodger song

way down the old plank road vs railroad boy

lost jimmie whalen vs shady grove

watercresses vs remon

stagolee vs clementine

pay me my money down vs la rancherita

bulbe vs young hunting

little brown bulls vs we shall not be moved

i never will marry vs the dying soldier to his shipmates

golden vanity vs scarborough fair

bury me not on the lone prairie vs ox driver's song

little moses vs didn't my lord deliver daniel

what shall we do with the baby-o vs twelve gates to the city

handsome molly vs cigarettes will spoil your life

whisky johnny vs pretty polly

when the stars begin to fall vs solidarity forever

in the pines vs bootlegger's story

buffalo skinners vs siss net alli daag luschdich leewe

hallelujah, i'm a bum vs ain't it a shame

silver dagger vs bring me a little water, silvie

i'll fly away vs evil hearted blues

las posadas vs no more auction block

the diggers' song vs sitting on top of the world

green grass grows all around vs big rock candy mountain

corrina, corrina vs columbus stockade blues

hold on vs wreck of the old 97

old joe clark vs soon be over

follow the drinking gourd vs de colores

peggy-o vs house carpenter

springfield mountain vs the foggy dew

come all ye fair and tender ladies vs don't let your deal go down

johnny has gone for a soldier vs steal away

railroadin' some vs jan jansen

love is pleasing vs the devil's nine questions

lonesome valley vs we shall be free

geordie vs when i first came to this land

red river valley vs leatherwing bat

scandalize my name vs boll weevil

you are my sunshine vs down in the valley

audubon zoo vs poor paddy works on the railway

on top of old smokey vs the cherry tree carol

three ravens vs schpinn, schpinn

she baked a hoecake vs see that my grave is kept clean

barbara allen vs take a whiff on me

polly vaughn vs skip to my lou

nine pound hammer vs the wild wild berry

no hiding place vs deep river blues

hares on the mountain vs der rebbe elimelech

john henry vs jenny jenkins

didn't old john cross the water vs bury me beneath the willow

skin and bones vs the fox

knoxville girl vs house of the rising sun

mary don't you weep vs going across the mountain

[faun-the-hound]

thinking about Aphmau characters in a dnd-esque setting and made a few in dndbeyond using the 2024 ruleset

here's the characters I've done so far:

Aphmau - Aasimar - lvl 10 Ranger(2)/Warlock(Celestial patron, 8) - Wayfarer background - Chaotic Good 14 str, 14 dex, 13 con, 12 int, 14 wis, 15 cha An urchin on the streets of Phoenix Drop, a small coastal town, who accidentally gets the attention of a divine entity who commands her to help protect the region as an Adventurer, leading her to start putting a team together to help her

Zenix - Human - lvl 8 Rogue(Thief) - Criminal background - Chaotic Neutral 12 str, 16 dex, 13 con, 14 int, 13 wis, 14 cha genuinely just a little shit. an urchin on the streets of Phoenix Drop who steals to survive, and sometimes also for fun. Completely by accident, he gets himself wrapped up in the adventuring business when Aphmau starts putting a team together

Garroth - Human - lvl 14 Paladin(Oath of Devotion) - Noble background - Lawful Neutral 18 str, 10 dex, 14 con, 12 int, 12 wis, 15 cha Originally, he swore his oath to his younger brother, the heir to O'khasis, but after both of them abandoned their home, they were suddenly recruited by an ambitious new adventurer to join her team, accepting without any other real options

Zane - Human - lvl 13 Cleric(Grave Domain, 10)/Warlock(Fiend patron, 3) - Noble background - Neutral 8 str, 10 dex, 12 con, 15 int, 16 wis, 18 cha The former heir of O'khasis who may or may not have made a deal with a literal devil (oops). On the run with his other brother and sworn protector, eventually getting recruited to a newly forming adventurer's group

Laurance - Half-elf (woodland elf) - lvl 10 rogue(Arcane Trickster, 4)/fighter(Eldritch Knight, 6) - Merchant background - Chaotic Good 12 str, 15 dex, 13 con, 14 int, 11 wis, 16 cha A charming merchant's son from Meteli, also extremely cursed. He was driven from his hometown because of the destructive nature of the magic he was cursed with, eventually being accepted into the little adventurer's group in Phoenix Drop

Katelyn - Human - lvl 12 Monk(Warrior of the Elements, 8)/Barbarian (Berserker, 4) - Soldier background - Lawful Neutral 16 str, 16 dex, 14 con, 13 int, 14 wis, 10 cha A former guard in O'khasis, was dismissed after the sudden death of her closest friend, now caring for his daughter in the quiet town of Phoenix Drop. Until that daughter disappeared one night, and Katelyn was scouted by the newly gathering adventurer's group

Aaron - Human(??) - lvl 14 Barbarian(Wild Heart) - Noble background - Neutral 16 str, 15 dex, 15 con, 14 int - 13 wis, 10 cha Doesn't live in or even near Phoenix Drop, a feral man living in the tundra to the south who gets picked up by the group a little later on their adventures. Once, he was the Lord of a prosperous town, until a fateful night that the whole town either vanished or died. Rumours say the former lord is cursed with lycanthropy and killed them all himself in a blind rage

That's all I've got for the moment. Gonna make more later, also might turn it into a fanfic, idk

there is like, the vaguest semblance of a plot in my head rn

I have no idea if this is actually gonna go anywhere, but it was fun.

anyway, let me know what classes/subclasses I should make other characters cuz I am 100% making more of these it's very fun

edit: here's part two now that's its up

[theoihalioistuff]

Nurses and Caretakers of the Gods. Part II: Ares and Hephaistos.

(As always, if you know any more sourced versions, I'd love it if you let me know!!!) Part I here.

Ares:

A quick overview of versions of his birth: he is almost universally the son of Zeus and Hera both (e.g. Hom. Il. 5.893, Hes. Th. 922–923; Apollod. 1.3.1), though he is also attested as solely born of Hera (in response to the birth of Athena after touching a prodigious flower from Olenos: Ovid. Fast. 5. 255), solely born of Zeus (after drinking the "male begetting" waters of the Nile: Schol. Aesch. Suppliant Women 855–856) or born of Enyo (Schol. Il. 5.156, Cornutus. Greek Theology. 21, see bellow, Enyo is curiously also attested as an epithet of Hera in Tzetzes ad Lycophron 493 and 519, perhaps in an attempt to reconcile both accounts). He is frequently said to have been born and/or raised in Thrace (e.g. Statius Thebaid 4.786). A fragment from a lost play by Aeschylus perhaps intends to paint a picture of his younger days:

DIKE: (...) Hera has reared a violent son whom she has borne to Zeus, a god irascible, hard to govern, an one whose mind knows no respect for others. He shot wayfarers with deadly arrows, and ruthlessly hacked ... with hooked spears ... he rejoiced and laughed ... evil ... scent of blood ... [Two lines unintelligible] ... is therefore justly called ..." (Aeschylus, Fragment 282. The passage likely seeks to etymologises the name Ares from ἀρή [bane, ruin, curse]) the vicious little psycho

1. Nursed by Thero (Beastly): "Of all the objects along this road the oldest is a sanctuary of Ares. This is on the left of the road, and the image is said to have been brought from Colchis by the Dioscuri. They surname him Theritas after Thero, who is said to have been the nurse of Ares. Perhaps it was from the Colchians that they heard the name Theritas, since the Greeks know of no Thero, nurse of Ares." (Paus. 3.19.7-8)

2. Nursed—among other things—by Enyo: "Accounts of Enyo differ; for some she is the mother of Ares, some his daughter, some his nurse" (Cornutus Compendium of Greek Theology, 21). Elsewhere she is also his sister (Quintus. Fall of Troy 424) or his lover, begetting Enyalios (Eustathius on Homer p.944) she is his everything, literally.

3. Raised and taught the arts of dance and war by Priapos (incredibly enough), a deity originally worshipped in the city of Lampsakos (in the northern Troad), who after spreading throughout the classical world was primarily known as a rustic god with massive genitals:

"According to a Bithynian legend, which agrees well with this Italian institution, Priapos, a war-like divinity (probably one of the Titans, or of the Idaean Dactyls, whose profession it was to teach the use of arms), was entrusted by Hera with the care of her son Ares, who even in childhood was remarkable for his courage and ferocity. Priapos would not put weapons into his hands till he had turned him out a perfect dancer; and he was rewarded by Hera with a tenth part of all Ares’s spoils." (Lucian. On Dance 21)

Hephaistos:

Versions of his birth are more or less split evenly between him being the son of both Zeus and Hera (e.g. Hom. Il. 1.578, 14.338, 18.396. Od. 8.312.) or solely of Hera (Hes. Theog. 929, Apollod. 1.3.5, Hygin. Fab. Praef.), likely in response to the birth of Athena, or else preceeding it due of an unexplained quarrel (Hes. Fragment 343 MW). Regarding detalis of his parthenogenic conception: "Hera, without any man, being lifted up by the wind gave birth to Hephaistos" (Lucian. De sacrificiis 6), and regarding details on the the birth, it's sometimes said to have been from her thigh (Serv. Aen. 8.454). A quaint tale that tries to reconcile both traditions (Schol.bT. Il. 14.296) claims that Zeus and Hera secretly slept together on the island of Samos before they were married. After being oficially given in marriage to Zeus by Okeanos and Tethys, Hera bore Hephaistos, and to conceal their premarital dalliance she pretended that she'd birthed him without need of a father. To finish off, odd genealogies abound which I'm not really going to include, for example Paus. 8.53.5 or Cicero. De Nat. Deor. 3.22.

1. In most accounts he's raised for nine years by Thetis and Eurynome, after being thrown off Olympos at birth by Hera for being lame (main source is Hom. Il. 18.394-405):

"She [Thetis] saved me when I suffered much at the time of my great fall through the will of my own brazen-faced mother, who wanted to hide me for being lame. Then my soul would have taken much suffering had not Eurynome and Thetis caught me and held me, Eurynome, daughter of Okeanos, whose stream bends back in a circle. With them I worked nine years as a smith, and wrought many intricate things; pins that bend back, curved clasps, cups, necklaces, working there in the hollow of the cave, and the stream of Okeanos around us went on forever with its foam and its murmur. No other among the gods or among mortal men knew about us except Eurynome and Thetis. They knew since they saved me." (Trans. Lattimore)

I ship them. Many later accounts confuse both versions of his fall (see below), and so sometimes Thetis and Eurynome recieve him after he's hurled off Olympus by Zeus, presumably as an adult (e.g. Apollod. 1.3.5). Also a variation is found where Hephaestus is raised by Thetis and the rest of the Nereids:

"But my son Hephaestus whom I bare was weakly among all the blessed gods and shrivelled of foot, a shame and disgrace to me in heaven, whom I myself took in my hands and cast out so that he fell in the great sea. But silver-shod Thetis the daughter of Nereus took and cared for him with her sisters: would that she had done other service to the blessed gods!" (Homeric Hymn 3. 311-330)

2. According to the other main variant of his fall, Hephaistos is hurled off Olympos by Zeus after he tries to intervene on his mother's behalf during one of their quarrels (Homer, Iliad 1. 568), presumably to save her from a beating (Plato, Republic 378d), or specifically to free her after she'd been chained and hung from heaven (eg. Apollod. 1.3.5). In this version he falls on the island of Lemnos, and is nursed back to health by the tribe of Sintians (V. Fl. Argonautica. 2.8.5, Hom. Il. 1.590 is quoted below):

"There was a time once before now I was minded to help you [Hera], and he [Zeus] caught me by the foot and threw me from the magic threshold, and all day long I dropped helpless, and about sunset I landed in Lemnos, and there was not much life left in me. After that fall it was the Sintian men who took care of me." (Trans. Lattimore)

As mentioned before both versions were frequently mixed up, being basically doubles of eachother (either Hephaistos is cast out because he's lame or lame because he's cast out), so sometimes he is raised as a child by the Sintians (e.g. Serv. ad. Eclog. 4.62, where he is cast out by Jupiter because Juno rejects him at birth, and so comes to fall on Lemnos).

3. Finally, there is a version where he is entrusted by Hera to the obscure Kedalion, a daimon who had his workshop on the island of Naxos. Hephaistos apprenticed and learnt to work bronze under his tutelage (Eustathius ad Homer, Il. 14.296a). Elsewhere Kedalion is an assistant in Hephaistos' workshop, who is given as a guide to the blind giant Orion so that, standing on his shoulders, he may lead him to the Sun and be healed (Serv. Aen. 10.763, Ps. Eratosthenes. Catast. fr. 32, Orion = Hes. Ast. fr 4, Hyg. Ast. 2.34.3, Sophocles also told this tale in a lost satyr play that bore Kedalion's name).

4. (Edit) Not necessarily raising, but I thought the detail of the Kyklopes teaching him and Athena "all crafts, as many as the skies contain" is really cute (Orphic Fragment 179 Kern)

[strcinedhecrts]

LOCATION: crow's nest motel. FOR: open!

ANOTHER NIGHT, ANOTHER DOLLAR. while constanza knew what the phrase actually was -- in the case of her life, it was completely the opposite. while the rest of the world slept ( some peacefully, some not ), she was tasked with overseeing the inn to the best of her cognitive ability, fueled by coffee and sheer spite against herself. she was doing this for nora, to give her the best the world had to offer. it was enough to get buy, enough to give them a life. but where the job lacked, noticeably, is any kind of stimuli. anything to hold her interests, when her tasks were said and done. the lobby is desolate, that is, besides the sounds of her worn book pages -- and she can feel herself sinking into the chair she presides in. another night of nothing.

that is, until the sounds of worn boots announce a visitor. constanza quickly moves to adjust -- perhaps the signs being a hair too clear that she was zoning out. the world felt far too overwhelming these days to even begin to comprehend or make sense of -- the aftermath of the swarm owning the air much like the ghastly bugs themselves. connie had considered herself lucky that she wasn't anywhere near it -- that her daughter was okay, that her siblings were okay. and yet, this rebel heart finds herself caring far too much. connie accompanies her sister when she can to offer food and water -- and the sights of those faces, in overwhelming pain, have stuck with her for far longer than she cares to admit.

back to the boots. the wayfaring stranger? a friend? an enemy? regardless, the time for connie to offer herself relief from always being on her gaurd is over. she's focused, processing the face as it treads closer and closer.

" lookin' for a room? or is it just a wandering kind of evening? "

[boymanmaletheshequel]

Crystals for Poseidon

Hello my dear coven, as you may know, I have been a devotee to Poseidon for some time now, and one thing I feel I often see people struggle with is finding the right crystals to devote to him! So I wanted today to share with you, as a geologist and a witch, some of the stones and gems that I feel have intrinsic ties to lord Poseidon! Let’s explore these together:

• Larimar

Discovered in an extinct volcanic chamber in the 1980s in the Dominican Republic, Larimar is a vibrant blue variety of the mineral pectolite. It was named by its discoverer, who named it after a combination of the name of his young daughter “Lara” and the Spanish world for sea: “mar”. It is renowned for its striking resemblance to the ripple of waves reflected on sand in tropical seas, and has become synonymous with sea magic in the neopagan community! This stone makes for a great offering for a god of the oceans, and his lord Poseidon is no exception!

• Ocean Jasper

Discovered on a coastal shelf in Madagascar in the late 90s, ocean jasper is a unique composite mineral of chalcedony and various sediments, which are matrixed in chalcedony resulting in a suspended orb effect, or densely dotted pattern. It is one of my favorite stones, and despite having been mostly mined out since it’s discovery, is still an exceedingly sought after material! It’s various colors and patterns are versatile, so it can be more personalized to Poseidon depending on what specific stone draws the devotee!

• Pearls

Probably one of the most valued and prevalent decorative natural materials in history, pearls are synonymous with wealth and beauty, and in turn with the ocean that bares them. Although salt water pearls are rare and extremely expensive, cultured pearls are, in my opinion as a geologist, just as valuable, and in my opinion as a studying marine biologist, generally more ethical as well! Any pearl of any value is a pearl fit for the lord of the seas and rivers! They are also the birthstone of June :)

• Coral

Speaking of ethics, here’s a “stone” that makes for a great offering, if you have an ethical means of procuring it: coral has been used as an ornamental material for millennia, but in the last 80 or so years, as climate concerns and conservation efforts have, understandably, been put in effect to preserve our dying coral reef ecosystems, it has become harder and harder to acquire it ethically. Generally speaking, most coral over 50 years old, or sourced off shore from beach-combing, has been acquired relatively ethically, and there are ways of collecting naturally dead coral for ornamental purposes as well. just make sure you check with sellers for transparency. It’s a gorgeous material if you can get it responsibly!

• Aquamarine:

Probably the only stone on this list directly attributed to Poseidon from the Greeks themselves besides pearls, aquamarine was actually believed by Greek and Phoenician mariners to offer protection in wayfaring from Poseidon’s wrath if worn underway, and many sailors wore talismans or rings of aquamarine! And due to its relative commonality, it comes in a variety of prices and qualities that can be calibrated to your price range! It’s also the birthstone of March :)

• Nacre

Nacre, or as it’s much more commonly referred to “mother of pearl” is the iridescent material that makes up the inner layers of mollusk shell, and like pearls, have been a popular material in jewelry and decoration for thousands of years. It can be acquired from many species of mollusk, but abalone, oyster, and conches seem to be the most common sources of it. Due to be being generally more affordable than true pearls, it is a popular choice for sea magic, and a great offering to king Poseidon!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hopefully this might give you some inspiration for creating an alter for Poseidon, or for some offerings or components in magic or ritual, thank you for reading, and gods bless! 💙🔱

[raindrop-on-a-spiderweb]

Wayfaring daughter could've been such a killer live action, pun not intended. It's riddled with everything the Gothic genre, especially southern gothic, stands for. Television definitely could use more southern Gothic tales

Really sweet of you to say this! Makes me want to write Wayfaring Daughter again 😢

Thank you anon. I still feel pretty bad about not putting these ideas into words; they were so vivid in my mind and I couldn't help but visualize them as television scenes also. I really love Southern Gothic media and for the life of me can't find any quality ones either. For some reason, I think the best ones were filmed in the 90s.

If you've not seen Southern Gothic by Tyminski (MV) I highly reccommend it, I've mentioned it a couple times but it was a huge inspiration to Wayfaring Daughter. I just really love all those old tropes too, the hanging Spanish Moss, the families and their dark secrets, the peeling plantations, the grande dame (or monsieur in Bobby's case) in a decaying mansion, and the cyclical reinvention that comes in every form as wandering preachers, itinerant workers, robber barons and doe-eyed maids. Something about Southern Gothic will never go out of style.

Outcast the TV series is pretty good if you like Appalachian Gothic, although it skews squarely contemporary.

[thebutterflyofthemojave]

Like Real People Do (Year of OTP 2025 February prompt)

Hi lovelies, finally after a while I managed to find the inspiration to create something for Valentine's Day from the "Year of OTP 2025" (you can find the prompt here). I decided to bring my otp into the Fallout universe and create a sappy one shot (because I need it). I hope you enjoy this fluff read😌💕.

Valentine's Day, Simon had never celebrated anything. Who the hell would celebrate such a holiday in a post-apocalyptic world? Between radioactivity, ghouls and Mojave crap, the thought of having to give something to a loved one was something he hadn't planned on.

That was until he had heard Eden reading with his daughter Diana a book on the subject.

"One of the legends concerns a priest named Valentinus who, during the empire of Claudius, contravened the latter's ban on young men of draft age marrying. Well, the priest celebrated the marriage between a young man and his beloved one February 14 and for that he was sentenced to death“

”Well that's not so different from what happens now"

Yes, it wasn't. Somehow the Legion remembered those dark times and his daughter Diana was right. That little girl was perceptive, so much so that he had begun to have a thousand thoughts. Was he really wondering whether or not to celebrate such a ridiculous holiday when every day he was showing his love for Courier 6?

He was thinking about it, the thought was hammering him until he gave in.

While Eden was trading with some wayfarers to secure some caps the mercenary called his daughter aside. He looked like a fool and yet she being a woman could advise how to act.

Diana when she heard her father's confused confession did not know whether to laugh or something else seeing him mutter.

“Let me get this straight old man, you want to give her a Valentine's Day present?”

“Help your old man out and don't say a word”

He found it irritating to be teased about something he had never done, but eventually after struggling to compose himself Diana came up with an idea.

After finding encampment in one of the many abandoned buildings, apparently an old apartment complex stormed by cockroaches and a few ghouls, very laborious to clean up but they had succeeded in their purpose in the end.

“Why are you giving me this dress?” Eden grimaced doubtfully, wearing such a dress was the prerogative of the Strip and certainly not of an apartment building falling apart. When Diana explained to her that her father was preparing something special for the brunette and him.

Eden contemplated two options: make fun of him because never was someone like Simon inclined to such acts of romance (and it wasn't out of malice, it was more a way of thinking of him as awkward) or be fascinated by it, like being confronted by a deathclaw locked in a cell starting to talk.

The courier looked at the dress, inspecting it thoroughly before sighing. For love she was overstepping her bounds. Only for love

“Give me a few minutes”

A few minutes that instead became an hour for the mercenary, he was almost giving up when three touches from the door almost roused him from the nap he was breaking in.

“Surprise old man,” his daughter introduced him to Eden, prepared for the evening. That dress seemed tailor-made for her, and even Diana had settled in.

"What is it you're going to serve us? Have you prepared for the occasion?" he messed up the little girl's orange hair, catching a glare of the usual. She was indeed his daughter.

“Ha ha, funny: I just came to do that' she lit candles to create a romantic atmosphere. The plan seemed to go well, but the embarrassment was there because he had never thought of anything like this. To a romantic dinner.

“Try to enjoy the evening, I'll cover your ass.' You know…”

Diana stopped Eden by putting a hand in front of her, “I've always eaten milk and bullets, enjoy the evening with the old man like real people do on these holidays. I have my Brahmin fillet" The two adults looked at each other as the young girl walked away, but a smile escaped the lips of the woman who was about to sit at the table.

Like a true gentleman Ghost handed her the chair, made her sit down and began to eat with her: BlamCo Mac & Cheese and InstaMash, a bargain, considering the traders had started to raise the price.

The two ate in silence, some music had been put on to create some atmosphere, but neither of them seemed to want to talk. Not that they had much to say to each other, but to ease the tension it might be a start, until Eden started to laugh.

“What? I look like an idiot?”he sighed, letting her wipe the sauce from his beard with the cloth “that's a very nice thing you've done, it's not the ideal situation, but having this” she indicates the table “makes it normal”.

Ghost was smiling, he looked like an idiot with a first crush, the kind inside old romance novels that he read from time to time. He loved to get educated, loved reading in general and was always happy to find books while on the road.

"In all this mess I wanted to have a different evening, I'm not a very romantic man"

Eden shook her head looking at him incredulously "Well doing all this is an indication of romance Mr I'm a tough guy but the heart of sugar"

A scratchy laugh, the kind he rarely showed rumbled through the room "Okay I admit it, I'm a bit of a romantic. Just a little bit"

Their gazes met, both of them initially couldn't stand each other, worse, he literally had to hand her over to those responsible for what would be the Mojave's downfall. But the caps couldn't buy the affection, the warmth of those fingers that were caressing his hand, the warmth of that look so familiar and domestic to him.

"You know this whole mess has made me realise something: after I kill Benny I need something quiet"

The blond man nodded his head, kissing her knuckles. She was absolutely right, and already he was imagining their little home in the village together with Diana.

Sitting atop his lap the courier's index finger contoured his defined jaw, taking her face with both hands. The ruthless courier 6, feared by the Legion, Mr House and the NCR was so different from the description everyone talked about. She was human, she had a heart. And she was his. His soulmate.

He smiled and moved a lock of her hair. "And to think, the first time we met, you wanted to shoot me"

"Well, that's how a normal romance starts. At least in the Mojave Desert" Eden laughed for a while, perhaps one of the few times she had let herself go. For her to trust after all the events that were happening was a challenge, genuinely however Ghost and his daughter Diana had given her a new sense of life.

In silence the two of them exchanged a look of complicity and understanding. That familiar gesture, as if she had known him all her life. Like that loving kiss that made the two forget they were in a world where love did not seem to be contemplated.

Upstairs contemplating the stars was Diana, she had always hoped to have a family and that moment seemed to have arrived. Having a dad and a mum after her parents had died seemed like a miracle.

"Mum, dad. I know you are watching me, thank you for helping me find two special people who are taking care of me. I hope you are proud of me"

From the sky the little girl saw two stars shining, a sign? Absolutely yes, it meant to her that her parents were listening to her. And that they would protect that special family.

[rapha-reads]

IWTV rewatch

(spoilers for the whole show and the books)

Season 2 episode 1 [What Can the Damned Really Say to the Damned] - part 2/4

- *solemn music*, thanks subtitles, and Louis' breathing getting all ragged. Aaaaaaah, DREAMSTAT MY BELOVED.

[Dreamstat] "Bonjour, mon amour", sorry, laughing again, but this time because of the bloopers and Jacob going "don't smile at me like that". I can't watch this scene normally any longer.

- [Dreamstat] "Is it the same question?"

[Louis] "Go away."

[Dreamstat] "Or do you miss me? I miss you. Despite our recent unpleasantness... Still missing each other."

[Louis] "Claudia!"

[Dreamstat] "Hm. Four years of grim wayfaring and still no sight of the benevolent vampire. So, how does denial manifest itself tonight? Sniffing German brandy?"

Oof, Louis automatically and immediately turning to Claudia when his consciousness-as-Lestat appears, Claudia still playing the part of the bandaid for a shitty relationship, except this time the shitty relationship is between Louis and his own mind. Claudia deserves betteeeeeer.

And the way Louis is so cruel with himself... Hallucinating your presumed dead-by-your-own-hands husband to not only punish yourself for your (and your daughter....) shortcomings but also say outloud the things you cannot, will not say outloud is a new kind of self-flagellation, methinks.

Also, timestamp! Four years since they arrived in Europe. So somewhere between 1944 and 1945, right before the end of the war. I think we'll get more precise time indicators later.

- [Louis] "You're not here, I'm just fucked in the head."

[Dreamstat] "Quite fucked. Was she worth it?"

[Louis] "Yes."

[Dreamstat] "You say it like you believe it."

[Louis] "I do, I do."

[Dreamstat] "I do, I do. I do."

[Louis] "Stop!"

Oooooooooooooh. Can't lie to yourself, Louis. Especially if you're literally manifesting your consciousness outside of you. Hard to get your mind to shut up and carry on the pretense when it's prancing around you.

Ha, I keep imagining what Claudia must be thinking hearing Louis arguing with himself like that. Poor dear must have really been fed up with her companion.

The way Louis shuts his own mind by imagining Lestat choking on his open throat is... Violent. Wait, what ? Did. Did Louis just imagine a bat flying out of Dreamstat's open throat? What???? Lou baby, um, are you alright??? Obviously not but I still gotta ask.

- [Dreamstat] "Oh. Purgatory is a lovely room for music. I have a new piece, Concerto for Gashed Throat and Orchestra."

[Louis] "I'm sorry."

[Dreamstat] "Don't say it again. You ruin it with remorse. It was a perfect betrayal. You gave me a death of distinction."

[Claudia] "Trucks!"

[Dreamstat] "But in answer to your question. Yes. I'm gonna bloody kill you."

[Louis] "If you were alive you'd have done it already."

[Dreamstat] "Hmm. Oh, love. I'm merely waiting until you're happy . So hurry up, mon cher."

*pterodactyl screech* Oh, this is so fascinating! Not just Louis' guilt and grief and how he misses Lestat so much, but also the way he does know him so well, every line spoken by Dreamstat is both Louis and something Lestat could say, yet it's also very clear this is Louis' mind because Lestat, as us watchers know with hindsight, would actually never consider taking revenge on his husband and their daughter... And it's also how Claudia's keeping watch, not interrupting Louis' psychosis session unless there's danger approaching, still playing the part that she was made for, Louis' companion, Louis' caretaker, Louis' shield in front of his self-destructive tendencies... And then it's Dreamstat tearing into Louis' throat, an actual visual representation of mental self-harm. I am fascinated and mesmerised.

- [Louis] "He came by invitation. My distraction from a monochromatic landscape. The gray of an obliterated road, the gray-brown of a charred and bullet-ridden city." - I just love the writing, that's it.

- Louis' face as the Soviet soldiers are shooting up the coffins is hilarious.

And also, welcome to Romania I guess. Garlic and crucifixes and staking corpses. Folklore never dies.

Aaaah, Romanian! Do you guys know that Romanian is a romance language like Italian, Spanish, French and Portuguese? So if your native tongue is one of those, there's a good chance you might recognise some words or the sonority of Romanian when you hear it. Mainly French, Italian and Spanish tho, 'cause I have no idea what Portuguese is doing, sorry friends. Anyway, end of linguistic rant.

- Louis and Claudia telepathically arguing while meeting Emilia and Morgan is hilarious. They're family your Honor. Emilia is fun, Morgan already annoys me with his higher-than-thou attitude. Yo, asshole, broken English whomst? Go on, speak Romanian, let's see if you can do better! She's speaking your language, the least you could do is respect her instead of belittling her for minor errors that don't even matter because she's perfectly comprehensible!

... Sorry. Monolingual people needlessly correcting multilingual people is a pet peeve of mine. Ahem.

- [Louis] "Go ahead, Mary. Go and meet the other children. I bet they know everything about this place." - yo, Lou, even though it's a smart way to gather intel, maaaybe you can remember that Claudia's actually 40 and avoid laughing at her when she's forced to recon with what she hates the most, her perceived age and status? Thanks.

- [Louis] "Wait, that's wrong. She didn't say that in front of Claudia." - listen baby, I take everything you tell us with a grain of salt because we all know, the odyssey of recollection is flawed and messy. Do your edits, ain't gonna change much.

I do love how Louis is enthusiastic about correcting his own memories, tho.

- Oh,the following conversation is interesting; take extra notice of how both Armand AND Daniel look at Louis during that passage:

[Louis] "Yes. Yes! That's how it went. We should get every detail right."

[Daniel] "In total agreement."

[Armand] "Perhaps this would be a time to take a break, Louis."

*Armand looks at Louis with slight trepidation; Louis looks at Armand with anger; Daniel looks at Louis with concern and suspicion*

[Daniel] "You know, Real Rashid, I'm pretty good at my job, 'a bright young reporter with a point of view' [!!!!!!]. Interviewed a fallen Catholic archbishop, four Enron vice presidents, and if they've got something to hide, they always start with some kind of disguise. Not literally, not some dumb Halloween costume [turns to Armand and looks at him with disdain], gloves, contact lenses. They tell jokes, they're charming. And then at some crisis point, when I get close, it drops away and I see a flash of the truth."

Round of applause for Real Rashid doing his job so well he's even mastering pretending he's interested in what Daniel's saying. And round of applause for Daniel taking shots at Armand so skillfully. Love how zen Armand looks even as Daniel's basically calling him a liar and a master manipulator, do you think inside he's crying and shaking?

[Louis] "Armand didn't want me to do the interview, Daniel."

[Armand] "Still don't."

We wonder why!! Daniel's right, and Louis knows he's right, look how conflicted he appears as both Real Rashid and Armand leave the room. He knows he can't trust his memories, but he wants to tell his story as authentically as possible, and it's killing him to realise how much he's lost, forgotten or twisted over the years. The enthusiasm he had five minutes ago is gone, the liveliness in his voice at the beginning is gone, we're back to perfectly flat and controlled Dubai!Louis' voice.

- Ha, Louis' using Grace photo to pass as his wife, now there's a kind of irony I don't have the brains to decipher right now.

- Oh, boy, Morgan is insufferable. The perfect picture of the British coloniser. "This is an old country, with old things in it" - maybe you should listen to Emilia and stop looking down on her...

"Something out there, with soul disturb'ed. Disturb'ed?" *Louis nods* SEE, that's how you do it. Louis knows multilingualism, his husband was French, even his own family being Creole NOLA juggled with languages like there's no border between them. Emilia speaks perfect English because she's perfectly understandable. Sorry, I'm hung up on that tiny little thing because I'm from a multilingual household and I've lived more years in countries whose languages were my second, third, fourth or even fifth tongues than in actual France, so anything regarding languages and how some people barely even talk their own mother tongue but have no qualms correcting you when you speak multiple languages feels very personal. Had a bad experience at my previous job last December because of this kind of people so yeah, fuck Morgan actually.

- Europe: getting to the end of the worst war ever. Claudia: meeting a revenant and being thrown into trees. Emilia: fluently translating English to Romanian like the perfect queen she is (I'm very attached to her). Morgan: being insufferable. Louis: *aight, time to relax and get drunk on vodka, this is the perfect spot and time for that*. Lou darling I love you but you really got to check your priorities and sense of reality. "Baboons in Romania", seriously, love?

- [Louis] "Mortals are scared of vampires, in a part of the world known for vampires, ain't a surprise or evidence of an actual vampire!" - he's got a point.

[Claudia] "There's one of us out there! But if he can't take you ballroom dancing and tell you you're pretty, hell with him, is that it?" - she's got a point...

[Louis] "Hello, grudge!"

[Claudia] "No! Mh-mm! I forgave you for messing up my plan, I did not forgive you for bringing him with you."

[Louis] "In a landfill with five years of garbage on top."

[Claudia] "In here! You carry him in here. You slow us down."

To be fair to Louis, he did tell her when they were planning the murder that if he lets Lestat back in and he lets himself be dragged back into Lestat, there ain't no way he can find his way back out after. At least he was honest about that.

[Louis] "What you gonna ask him, if he could talk?"

[Claudia] "Change the subject when the truth blinds you."

[Louis] "Who made you? And then what? Who made the one that made you? I mean, what are we looking for here, Adam and Eve of the damned? God? Are we looking for God, Claudia? Yeah, get in the hole."

So their names [spoiler alert] are Akasha and Enkil and I just realised their initials are also A and E, I'm slow (and raised atheist), and they're actually not good news at all and Lestat already knows them, but the lore is complicated and honestly you're better off not knowing them. Also if we want to get really theological you could say that the vampires have a sort of Creator God and his name is Amel but that's even more complicated, and I have no idea how much of this part of the books Rolin Jones will adapt. Anyway. It's funny because in later books canon Louis continues not giving a fuck about where vampires come from and how. It's Lestat that almost destroys the world once or twice seeking these answers. Like father like daughter I guess, Claudia really is a De Lioncourt.

- [Claudia] "I've known exactly four vampires in my life, and you've all been the worst. Lestat, Antoinette, the motherfucker and you. I'm looking for one, just one, that ain't a goddamn bastard!" - Claudia deserves BETTER! Also I'm sorry my queen but it's not gonna get better after that.

season 1 masterpost

part 1 | part 3 | part 4

episode 2 | episode 3 | episode 4 | episode 5 | episode 6 | episode 7 | episode 8

[mermaidslabyrinth]

I think I may have confused myself, but how many times does Daemon get married in your story? 💕

First off, thank you for the question.

No worries I more than likely haven’t made it clear. And that's on me more than anything. Mostly because I’ve never talked about Geda.

Daemon does marry 5 times in my story: 1) Rhea Royce. She dies as she does in the show. 2) Igreyn Belmore (my OC). She dies from childbed fever. 3) Laena Velaryon. She dies as she does in the show. 4) Rhaenyra Targaryen. I haven’t revealed how she passes in my story. 5) Geda Vance of Wayfarer’s Rest (my OC). She outlives Daemon.

Geda appears way towards the end of my story.

I can go into a little bit about her under the cut.

Her face claim is Gaia Mondadori. She just gives off the mixture of Igreyn and young Rhaenyra for me.

I have no clue where her name came from. Idk if I was going off of Gyda, Geta, Gada. Not a clue. It's lost to me. But Geda fits her and so it's who she is. I chose Vance of Wayfarer's Rest for two reasons: 1) their history connected to the Targaryens and as well to the Blacks in the book. 2) I was going to have Igreyn be a Vance but changed it when I saw the sigil to House Belmore and thought it was an unnamed house. So Igreyn is a Belmore by chance.

Geda was created because I knew Rhaenyra would die in my story. And Daemon had some years left to live. So I gave him a fifth bride. She was at first just a prop for Daemon but she quickly became so much more. She had a voice and was going to be heard.

Geda is the daughter of Hugo Vance of Wayfarer's Rest. She was born in the year 127 AC. She has one sibling. A much older brother named Kevyn (118 AC) who is heir. Geda doesn't come into my story until Aegon III ascends the throne. She was at the coronation with her father and brother.

I won't go into detail on Rhaenyra's death. But she does sit the throne and is Queen. After her death Daemon was a widower. In my story he is not one who is the type to be alone. He always has to have someone near him.

I haven't fully fleshed her out mostly because she is like a character that would appear in the appendix of a story. But I will say she is kind and understanding. However, she also has a strength to her character that she does not take others guff so easily. She will fire back at others if possible. If not she will find Daemon and let him know how a person behaved. She sometimes borderlines on “brat behavior”. She knows who she is married to, the Rogue Prince, rider of Caraxes, and knows what he is capable of. Even in old age.

She may be devoted to Daemon but she also isn't a “silly little girl” that he can maneuver around for his pleasure. While she lets Daemon make a lot of the decisions, she also knows that he enjoys a little push back. A little push and pull. Almost how Daemon was with Rhaenyra when she was around that age. But at the age Daemon is when he marries Geda, it's more of an indulgent that he wants to dabble in and Geda easily rises to the challenge.

As a mother Geda is as fierce as any dragon would be protecting its clutch. She loves each of them dearly. Though she does have a favorite (Rhaerra). She doesn't spoil them but she doesn't discipline them either. She figures they're Targaryens and they can do as they please.

When Geda enters the picture, all of Daemon's children are either away from him or just “over” him. Baela is living on Driftmark. Rhaena is engaged to Garmund Hightower and soon to live in Oldtown. Rhagerys is on Dragonstone and then would live in the Vale a few years later. Aegon strongly dislikes his father on how he handled his mother's death. And Viserys has always been indifferent to the man. So, Daemon was alone and he had that need to have someone in his life. Who, in a way, revolved their life around him. Enter Geda.

Daemon has some personal growth in my story but not enough to fully change his ways. Geda is 14 when she marries Daemon. He is 60. Daemon honestly could have married anyone, within reason. But why pick someone who is set in their ways? When he could have someone be molded to his ways?

Daemon did not know how long he would live but he knew he wanted someone there to take care of him as he aged. Geda graciously stepped into the role of a wife and caretaker mixed into one. Almost a parallel to Alicent and Viserys. But unlike those two, Daemon never did make Geda feel less than or used. And to Geda, Daemon could do no wrong. In her eyes he raised and set the sun. Just what Daemon wanted. The back and forth they develop as the marriage progresses is jut an added bonus.

The marriage was not so much scandalous but it was met by his children with strong side eyes. Along with exasperated sighs. Especially when Daemon and Geda started having children.

That is all I have of Geda as of now. I do really like her, it's just she plays such a minor role that I don't talk about her much. But I should. Because she is quite the character. Particularly as she grows into her own and settles into her marriage with Daemon.

[hamlets-bootycheeks]

Hello! I'm Tesh! (My previous URL was phantomspren.) I'm an adult, aroace, American, use any pronouns, and am going to school for literally like five different things.

I crochet, do HEMA (smallsword mostly, though a bit of rapier and longsword too), and write! I'm also a Nerdfighter and involved with the TBFighters, as well as being a mod with the Podcast Book Club. And theoretically I'm learning Welsh and German.

I mostly reblog things I think are silly, but also plenty of serious stuff and fanart and things.

Media I am currently working my way through:

Books: The Stone Sky by NK Jemisin

Games: Slay the Princess, I'm always playing Hollow Knight on and off

Shows: Doctor Who (season two), Arcane (I will get around to season two eventually), Owl House (17th rewatch I think)

Audio dramas: Welcome to Night Vale, Hello From the Hallowoods, Hi Nay (very slowly on all of the above)

(Last updated 7/1/25) (In case I disappear or forget to keep this fairly up to date.)

DMs/asks: I really love talking to people. I'm kinda shit at asking good questions to facilitate conversations, but feel free to DM me or send me asks and tell me about your projects or to talk about media we both enjoy or anything like that. Or ask me what I think the meaning of life is, I do have an answer and like talking about it and hearing other people's thoughts. :) I will probably not DM you first because my social anxiety is quite bad with that, but that does not mean I do not want you to say hi.

Media I really enjoy and occasionally post about:

Books: The Cosmere (my first real fandom it is forever in my heart), The Locked Tomb, Lord of the Rings (also the movies), Phantom of the Opera (musical and other adaptations as well), Percy Jackson, Septimus Heap, The Raven Cycle, The Anthropocene Reviewed, The Wayfarers series, House of Leaves, The Dark is Rising Sequence

(My favorite genres are fantasy, gothic horror, older dystopian/sci fi/speculative fiction (I am a HUGE Ray Bradbury fan), history, and sociology. I have books recs. Ask me for book recs. Unless you want romance, I don't really read romance.)

Games: Hollow Knight, Outer Wilds, Slay the Princess

Shows/movies: The Owl House, Amphibia, Gravity Falls, Psych, Good Omens (fuck Gaiman), the 1996 Hamlet, Over the Garden Wall, The Muppet Christmas Carol (I kinda wish I was joking but I'm fucking obsessed with this movie), Barbie in the Princess and the Pauper (I am mostly joking but also it's so funny)

Audio dramas: The Magnus Archives, Welcome to Night Vale, Hymns for the Road, Camlann

Musicals: Les Miserables (also the book), Come From Away, The Hunchback of Notre Dame (I have not read the book yet), Hadestown, The Count of Monte Cristo (also the book), Wicked (not the book), Treason, The Clockmaker's Daughter (there is no relation between the book and the musical), Frankenstein (also the book), Jekyll and Hyde (only portions of the musical, but also the book), Epic (I haven't read the book since I was fifteen but I enjoyed it)

Other music: The Mechanisms, The Amazing Devil, The Mountain Goats, The Narcissist Cookbook, The Crane Wives, To Kill a King, Sparkbird, Fish in a Birdcage, Poor Man's Poison, Bug Hunter

Some things I know a weird amount about: Phantom of the Opera (a lot of the adaptations and the original book), tuberculosis, The Owl House lore, the Cosmere, Louis Le Prince (the guy who took the first video), and parrots

A note on tags: I tag all Locked Tomb stuff with "The Locked Tomb," not tlt (it's short for a different thing in a different community I'm in). My personal tag for when I talk about shit is "Tesh talks." Other than that I think I do pretty normal things when it comes to tagging, feel free to let me know if you'd like me to change how I do stuff to make it easier to avoid spoilers or anything like that.

[tradfolkpoll]

round 1 matchups

round 1 matchups are listed under the cut. since there are so many, i can't make a bracket chart right now; i'll probably make one once we're down to 64 songs and they can all comfortably fit on a chart in a font size that you don't have to strain to read

i've been working on the railroad vs wreck of the six wheeler

all the pretty little horses vs gallows pole

omie wise vs virgin mary

jelly jelly vs green grow the lilacs

stewball vs rising of the moon

lily of the west vs rose of aberdeen

there is balm in gilead vs john hardy

erie canal vs mi y'malel

sept ans sur mer vs skip to my lou

hob ich a por oksen vs feuilles-o

the e-ri-e vs roll the old chariot

the cuckoo vs samson and delilah

santiana vs wild mountain thyme

blind man lay beside the way vs wind and rain

el cañutero vs haul away joe

old blue vs lauterbach

rock island line vs rye whiskey

motherless child vs black is the colour of my trule love's hair

roving gambler vs turtle dove

jesse james vs oh miss i have a very fine farm

down by the riverside vs blackest crow

arkansas traveler vs hold the fort

streets of laredo vs one morning in may

liza up a 'simmon tree vs st james infirmary

sloop john b vs we shall overcome

the crawdad song vs the wagoner's lad

cotton eyed joe vs foreman monroe

wade in the water vs wild goose grasses

go tell it on the mountain vs careless love

i bought me a cat vs sea lion woman

jubilee vs froggie went a-courting

single girl, married girl vs the bailiff's daughter of islington

go down moses vs little joe the wrangler

the water is wide vs go tell aunt rhodie

storms are on the ocean vs come along john

frankie vs roll jordan roll

captain kidd vs midnight special

worried man blues vs the chickens they are crowing

joshua fit the battle of jericho vs jam on jerry's rocks

did you feed my cow vs trail of tears

jane jane vs colorado trail

take this hammer vs long lonesome road

dink's song vs molasses

five nights drunk vs pay day

make me a pallet on your floor vs cape cod girls

john the revelator vs all her answers were no

engine 143 vs every time i feel the spirit

diamond joe vs call of the moose

michael, row the boat ashore vs farther along

buffalo gals vs boston come-all-ye

wayfaring stranger vs undone in sorrow

the unquiet grave vs the moonshiner

the longest train i ever saw vs banks of the ohio

shenandoah vs this little light of mine

how can i keep from singing vs i ride an old paint

little black train vs this train is bound for glory

the riddle song vs railroad bill

grey goose vs goin' down the road feelin' bad

when first unto this country vs cripple creek

pretty saro vs song of the boatman

cotton mill girls vs wildwood flower

fatal flower garden vs cumberland gap

twelve gates to the city vs git along little dogies

sliding delta vs darby ram

when johnny comes marching home vs down in the willow garden

down by the bay vs darling corey

oh freedom vs old chisholm trail

another man done gone vs deep blue sea

john brown's body vs matty groves

wabash cannonball vs ell corrido de gregorio cortez

the wild wild berry vs

down to the river to pray vs casey jones

tom dooley vs la delgadina

the old soldier vs cindy

the e-ri-e vs poor working girl

avondale mine disaster vs sun will never go down

greenland whale fisheries vs the dodger song

way down the old plank road vs railroad boy

lost jimmie whalen vs shady grove

watercresses vs remon

stagolee vs clementine

pay me my money down vs la rancherita

bulbe vs young hunting

little brown bulls vs we shall not be moved

i never will marry vs the dying soldier to his shipmates

golden vanity vs scarborough fair

bury me not on the lone prairie vs ox driver's song

little moses vs didn't my lord deliver daniel

what shall we do with the baby-o vs twelve gates to the city

handsome molly vs cigarettes will spoil your life

whisky johnny vs pretty polly

when the stars begin to fall vs solidarity forever

in the pines vs bootlegger's story

buffalo skinners vs siss net alli daag luschdich leewe

hallelujah, i'm a bum vs ain't it a shame

silver dagger vs bring me a little water, silvie

i'll fly away vs evil hearted blues

las posadas vs no more auction block

the diggers' song vs sitting on top of the world

green grass grows all around vs big rock candy mountain

corrina, corrina vs columbus stockade blues

hold on vs wreck of the old 97

old joe clark vs soon be over

follow the drinking gourd vs de colores

peggy-o vs house carpenter

springfield mountain vs the foggy dew

come all ye fair and tender ladies vs don't let your deal go down

johnny has gone for a soldier vs steal away

railroadin' some vs jan jansen

love is pleasing vs the devil's nine questions

lonesome valley vs we shall be free

geordie vs when i first came to this land

red river valley vs leatherwing bat

scandalize my name vs boll weevil

you are my sunshine vs down in the valley

audubon zoo vs poor paddy works on the railway

on top of old smokey vs the cherry tree carol

three ravens vs schpinn, schpinn

she baked a hoecake vs see that my grave is kept clean

barbara allen vs take a whiff on me

polly vaughn vs skip to my lou

nine pound hammer vs the wild wild berry

no hiding place vs deep river blues

hares on the mountain vs der rebbe elimelech

john henry vs jenny jenkins

didn't old john cross the water vs bury me beneath the willow

skin and bones vs the fox

knoxville girl vs house of the rising sun

mary don't you weep vs going across the mountain