#artist: frightened rabbit

[haveyoulistenedtothisalbum-poll]

Tracklist:

The Modern Leper • I Feel Better • Good Arms Vs. Bad Arms • Fast Blood • Old Old Fashioned • The Twist • Bright Pink Bookmark • Head Rolls Off • My Barkwards Walk • Keep Yourself Warm • Extrasupervery • Poke • Floating In the Forth • Who'd You Kill Now?

Spotify ♪ Bandcamp ♪ Youtube

[faggotdraws]

I Wish I Was Sober - Frightened Rabbit

[c-kiddo]

I started listening to Mount Eerie thanks to your posting and, god, jesus. I just listened through A Crow Looked at Me and I'm making my way up through the albums after that, and then will go back to listen to the older stuff (and eventually branch off to the Microphones). It's immediately become one of the best things I've ever had enter my life. Incredible. Thank you, thank you

oh man, brutal heartbreaking painful place to start but also. .yea. its also a masterpiece i think . soria moria especially absolutely floors me every single time. hope you enjoy Now Only , i love that one a lot. i listen to it so so much. so much good stuff on there too, its sort of lighter and airier but still heartbreaking too (the second half of Earth comes to mind) , but ye . love that one and the long songs on it (Two Paintings By Nikolai Astrup especially i've listened to a lot) and tintin in tibet and all of them i guess. some rly nice stuff on Lost Wisdom pt.2 also :'''' ) i keep thinking about this bit from Real Lost Wisdom

actually all the lyrics from that song rly get me right in the chest.. i keep thinking about it + it keeps playing in my head on its own. i also really like When I walk out of the museum , and also Widows. his duet albums with julie doiron are just rly good. Lost Wisdom is amazing i love it sooo much. one of my faves of his , its an earlier mount eerie one so you'll get there soonish i think ?

but anyway , im so glad you listened to his music and connected with it and everything else :'' ) hope u enjoy the rest !!!

[aldieb]

realizing that in my initial excitement abt the cr2 show, i totally overlooked the most important aspect: i can make a use her professional video editing skills to create the imaginary music videos i have in my head for soo many songs/characters

[bosbruined]

happy spotify wrapped to those who celebrate

[normal-enderman]

I couldn't stop thinking about my favourite piece of cbeeduo art ever so I woke up and wrote a piece about Tubbo trying to emulate Schlatt and homoromantic tension in New L'Manburg at 3am. I would @ the artist who made it, but.... they fugckin dieded :(

Warning for probably ooc, I'm a "consume the media once and get fundamentally changed by it and then never have the emotional fortitude to consume it again" kinda guy, so it's been years since I watched the DreamSMP. I'm also rather rusty, so apologies for ham-fisted imagery and overabundance of crutch words.

Smoke from the cigarette between Tubbo’s fingers made its way in slow, lazy coils up to the darkwood ceiling somewhere up above, obscured by the thick nicotine haze that had already collected there. They'd been there for hours. The air was hot, humid, oppressive: they were due for a summer storm, but for weeks the storm hadn’t come. Sweat clung to the young president’s skin as he gazed up at the minutes man.

Ranboo met Tubbo’s one remaining eye, and Tubbo noted it, the way the usually shy and unimposing new employee met his gaze with something like determination, even as he looked like he wanted to crawl out of his skin. Interesting. Tubbo filed the observation away for later.

His eye wandered lazily down from Ranboo’s face, to rest on his neat red tie.

A fist strangles a green tie, the sharp snap of Tubbo’s head being yanked down. “You lookin’ at me funny, kid? You got something to say? DON’T - fuckin’ answer that - everyone in this cabinet is fUCKIN’ USELESS-“

Tubbo took another puff of his cigarette, staring at the close weave of the red fabric. Schlatt had the guts, the nerve, the sheer strength of ego to enforce his will on people. How did one get up the nerve to become a man like that?

Tubbo glanced back at Ranboo’s face. Still so uncomfortable. He looked like he was barely able to force himself to hold Tubbo's gaze. Ranboo wasn’t a threat.

Tubbo could get away with doing anything he wanted to him, and Ranboo wouldn’t have the guts to complain, Tubbo thought. He caught the absent thought as it crossed his mind, and was almost surprised by it.

In one swift motion, Tubbo’s hand darted out and looped itself twice through Ranboo’s tie. A sharp snap, Ranboo’s claws scrabbling abortively at the desk to steady himself, and then they were face to face.

“You lookin’ at me funny, kid?” Drawled Tubbo. It was ridiculous. Ranboo was twice his size. They were the same age.

“N-no, Mr President” stammered Ranboo.

Tubbo put the cigarette between his teeth for a moment, took another drag, savouring the role reversal. He blew out smoke into Ranboo’s face. Ranboo coughed quietly.

Tubbo’s chewed his lip thoughtfully as his eye roved across Ranboo’s face, taking in his split-toned colouration, the delicate dusting of freckles across his cheeks, his skin raw and irritated by the sheen of perspiration that glistened on its surface. Ranboo’s eyes were wide and anxious, watching him like a rabbit in the headlights. He blinked slowly, and hard, scrunching up his face like a frightened cat before meeting Tubbo’s gaze again, trying desperately to appease, and Tubbo was lost for a moment in a startling kaleidoscope of red and green.

The cigarette smoke, the lack of sleep, the thick and sultry air, something was making a heady feeling come over Tubbo. Holding Ranboo in his hands was like a lifeline, like a hit of something strong, making him feel high, making his heart beat. Tubbo wondered if this was what power felt like. If this was how Schlatt felt.

He couldn’t tear his eye away.

He suddenly felt a little unsteady. Even though Ranboo was in his hands, at his mercy, he suddenly felt as though he was the one who was pinned down, a bug in a jar, restrained by those ruby-emerald eyes. Ranboo’s gaze softened, shifted somehow, even as his eyes remained fearfully locked onto Tubbo's face, the sudden change in the air palpable to both of them. Tubbo felt as though he was tumbling headlong into those eyes, into a tunnel of red and green that he couldn’t pull himself out of. He watched, enchanted, as a red and green blush bled across Ranboo’s cheeks. He felt his own cheeks prickling with heat, spreading up to his ears, and suddenly got the sense that this interaction was spiralling entirely out of control.

This wasn’t how things were supposed to go.  He had meant to yell at Ranboo, maybe rough him up a little if he could get up the nerve. At the thought of it, he felt nauseous. His mouth was dry. The hand still wrapped in bandages trembled, just for a moment, before he stifled it.

He let go of Ranboo’s tie.

“Well, alright then,” he muttered, breaking eye contact with Ranboo and curling away from him, cradling his cigarette. Ranboo straightened, wobbling a little. Tubbo couldn’t meet his eyes.

“Anyway,” said Tubbo brusquely, “carry on with what you were telling me, about those food supply reports.” He grabbed a pen. “We’re not done until it’s done.”

“O-oh, right!” Ranboo scrambled for his notes.

They don’t talk about it after that. At the very least, Tubbo considered, he has mastered Schlatt’s art of moving on without offering either apology or explanation. A small step on the journey to becoming the sort of man this country demands he be.

[judgeitbyitscover]

Singing Hills Cycle by Nghi Vo

Cover art by Alyssa Winans

Tor, 2020-2024

The Empress of Salt and Fortune (2020)

A young royal from the far north, is sent south for a political marriage in an empire reminiscent of imperial China. Her brothers are dead, her armies and their war mammoths long defeated and caged behind their borders. Alone and sometimes reviled, she must choose her allies carefully.

Rabbit, a handmaiden, sold by her parents to the palace for the lack of five baskets of dye, befriends the emperor's lonely new wife and gets more than she bargained for.

At once feminist high fantasy and an indictment of monarchy, this evocative debut follows the rise of the empress In-yo, who has few resources and fewer friends. She's a northern daughter in a mage-made summer exile, but she will bend history to her will and bring down her enemies, piece by piece.

When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain (2020)

The cleric Chih finds themself and their companions at the mercy of a band of fierce tigers who ache with hunger. To stay alive until the mammoths can save them, Chih must unwind the intricate, layered story of the tiger and her scholar lover―a woman of courage, intelligence, and beauty―and discover how truth can survive becoming history.

Into the Riverlands (2022)

Wandering cleric Chih of the Singing Hills travels to the riverlands to record tales of the notorious near-immortal martial artists who haunt the region. On the road to Betony Docks, they fall in with a pair of young women far from home, and an older couple who are more than they seem. As Chih runs headlong into an ancient feud, they find themself far more entangled in the history of the riverlands than they ever expected to be.

Accompanied by Almost Brilliant, a talking bird with an indelible memory, Chih confronts old legends and new dangers alike as they learn that every story—beautiful, ugly, kind, or cruel—bears more than one face.

Mammoths at the Gates (2023)

The wandering Cleric Chih returns home to the Singing Hills Abbey for the first time in almost three years, to be met with both joy and sorrow. Their mentor, Cleric Thien, has died, and rests among the archivists and storytellers of the storied abbey. But not everyone is prepared to leave them to their rest.

Because Cleric Thien was once the patriarch of Coh clan of Northern Bell Pass--and now their granddaughters have arrived on the backs of royal mammoths, demanding their grandfather’s body for burial. Chih must somehow balance honoring their mentor’s chosen life while keeping the sisters from the north from storming the gates and destroying the history the clerics have worked so hard to preserve.

But as Chih and their neixin Almost Brilliant navigate the looming crisis, Myriad Virtues, Cleric Thien’s own beloved hoopoe companion, grieves her loss as only a being with perfect memory can, and her sorrow may be more powerful than anyone could anticipate...

The Brides of High Hill (2024)

The Cleric Chih accompanies a beautiful young bride to her wedding to the aging ruler of a crumbling estate situated at the crossroads of dead empires. The bride's party is welcomed with elaborate courtesies and extravagant banquets, but between the frightened servants and the cryptic warnings of the lord's mad son, they quickly realize that something is haunting the shadowed halls.

As Chih and the bride-to-be explore empty rooms and desolate courtyards, they are drawn into the mystery of what became of Lord Guo's previous wives and the dark history of Doi Cao itself. But as the wedding night draws to its close, Chih will learn at their peril that not all monsters are to be found in the shadows; some monsters hide in plain sight.

[strawberryblondebutch]

Take two because I had a brain fart the first time. Albums listed in alphabetical author by artist name.

[fuckyeahclassiclink]

I think the Enemy profiles in the first two Zelda manuals were drawn in a more detailed manner than the rest of the artwork to emphasize how terrifying the enemies are supposed to the characters in the story.

Like I remember being a terrified as a kid that had played OOT time and the NES Zelda's, when I found the Zelda 1 manual at an older relatives house and looked at the artwork of the enemies, even the Pol's voice was frightening. (This was before I could easily look up fan wikis and other sites for game manual scans.)

Otherwise the enemies would just come across as "Bunny Rabbit", "bulldog", "Cartoon slime, "Cartoon Skeleton", ETC.

You can see enemies in their regular artwork style of Zelda 1 in a official poster and the artwork of Zelda 2's regular style in the story profile.

But overall, my guess is the artists wanted them to look scary and giving them alot of detail helped with that.

I guess that's a fair theory.

I was thinking that the Zelda 1 monsters looked a lot like the art style for the original Metroid, even down to the style of shading.

But in that very same manual, you have an art style like this.

it kind of mirrors how the enemies in the Zelda 1 manual look so freaky but then Link is just like

[elianasleeping]

if you get this answer with your top 5 music artists and send it to the last 7 people in your notifications <3

Hmmm, yah im gonna cheat

1. The Boys 💕💕

2. The crane wives

3. MUNA

4. Frightened Rabbit

5. Chappell Roan

[haveyoulistenedtothisalbum-poll]

Tracklist:

Acts of Man • Backyard Skulls • Holy • The Woodpile • Late March, Death March • December's Traditions • Housing (In) • Dead Now • State Hospital • Nitrous Gas • Housing (Out) • The Oil Slick

Spotify ♪ Youtube

[wildflower-otome]

[Translation] Clover no Kuni no Alice ~Promise Red~ Light Novel - Chapter 5

Writer: Sana Shirakawa Artist: 文月ナナ

ACT 5 - Hearts that must be spoken to be understood

This was impossible. It couldn’t be.

‘…..You don’t need to deny it all of a sudden, love isn’t something that happens on one’s own. It comes into being precisely because there is another person involved.’

‘You really do turn up with the worst possible timing, don’t you?’

‘Fufufu. It can’t be helped, when you are in a dream, your voice always ends up reaching me after all.’

It seemed both bright and dark.

In the slumbering dream space, the dream demon’s shoulders lightly shook with laughter. In contrast to Alice’s discontented facial expression, he seemed to be enjoying himself.

‘Eavesdropping as a hobby, you have pretty bad taste for a territory leader.’

‘I don’t peek in on just anyone, you know. It’s a natural response to being worried for a precious friend.’

Even though there wasn’t any wind, his silver hair fluttered and swayed. A black suit and a white shirt. However, the colour of his complexion was incomparably pale in contrast with his clothes.

The way Nightmare looked right now, he seemed about to melt into the atmosphere around him.

‘So then, what will you do, Alice?’

‘What do you mean, ”what will I do”?’

As she purposely feigned ignorance, the leader of Clover Tower gave the girl a sly and meaningful smile.

To the man that could read hearts, Alice’s emotions must have been as clear as day.

When she awoke from dreaming, she would be able to throw him off by thinking of something else, but while she was sleeping and face to face with the dream demon, hiding her heart was an impossible task.

‘The White Rabbit may be crazy about you, but with this, do you now understand he hasn’t realised how you feel? Despite passionately wishing to know more about you than anyone else, he understands nothing.’

‘Yes, all too well.’

If she thought about it, the things Peter said were almost always confessions of love. It seemed to her that he only ever one-sidedly gave voice to his own feelings, he never asked Alice what hers were.

If you were close friends, you didn’t need to go out of your way to purposely confirm your friendship.

And when it came to Peter, who had been her acquaintance ever since she had fallen into this world, Alice had never felt it necessary to reiterate herself. Rather, she was always letting the words he said go in one ear and out the other, she never directly responded to the things he said.

‘That’s correct. And for Peter White, who has always treated even his own emotions as insignificant, ascertaining your feelings must be something more difficult than anything. No, it must frighten him.’

‘…..…..Nightmare.’

Gazing at the dream demon’s white face, Alice spoke words inside her heart. The world of reality, where hearts other than hers came and went aside, in the dream place, just thinking something was an easy way of asking him a question.

Is that because he isn’t confident he’ll be able to get the answer he’s hoping for?

He’s afraid of being rejected?

Alice had always thought that such emotions didn’t have much to do with someone like Peter. He was a Prime Minister, the White Rabbit who behaved heartlessly towards everyone, she hadn’t thought he would have the same kind of weakness that Alice did.

‘That’s exactly right. However, it isn’t just him. It’s the same for all of us, Alice. We have nothing inside of us. All the more because we are empty, a part of us has given up, feeling that even if we want something, it will never be obtainable.’

‘But if that’s the case, then it’s almost as if-‘

-You’re like me.

Just like that, the murmur in her heart was taken in by the dream demon. As if to say that no matter how small the doubt or worry, nothing could escape his eye.

As if responding to Alice’s heart as she stood with eyes downcast, the dream demon smiled self-deprecatingly.

‘Even so, you are different from us. You have a definite substance to you.’

‘…..…..’

He poked at Alice’s chest with a pale white fingertip.

Despite prodding at her chest, the dream demon and the White Rabbit were alike in that—it didn’t feel sexual.

‘Only I can see your heart. However, I cannot necessarily see everything. Neither can you completely see yourself. The boundlessness of your heart is vaster than this dream, and at times unclear.’

‘Nightmare.’

Though as a dream demon he should have been a fearsome existence, the gaze with which he looked at Alice was always somehow kind. However, a man who was always only kind could not fulfil the role of a dream demon. Ever since she had met him for the first time at Heart Castle, that there was something unfathomably frightening about him remained unchanged.

Although, ever since the move to Clover Tower, there were many occasions when it was more his pathetic side that caught the eye, rather than his eeriness.

‘Wh-Wha-, aren’t you being rather harsh? I’m an amazing boss that’s good at my job, all my subordinates respect me, you know-’

‘Tell me that once you’ve become a bit healthier, please.’

Although, it was hard to imagine a healthy, hearty Nightmare with a sparkling smile on his face. Rather, just thinking about it creeped her out.

‘Ugh, how cruel. Even though I’m so important. And I’m Clover Tower’s leader, too-‘

‘Yeah yeah, if you’re really such a great important leader, make sure you work a bit more on your stamina before the next Assembly.’

If you keep on worrying Gray so much, someday that man’s hair might turn completely white from stress, you know.

As she spoke with a sigh, the dream demon laughed a little and shook his head.

‘…..If that’s what you think, then you too, before the next Assembly, make sure to have your personal affairs in order.’

‘What do you mean “you too”, I’m not the one always causing trouble for everyone around me…..’

‘You might not vomit blood as I do, but try not to keep saying “What’s wrong with me, I can’t be in love with Peter” over and over, even inside your dreams. It makes me worry and want to give you unnecessary advice.’

Not mocking her, but speaking in a tranquil sounding voice, the dream demon shrugged his shoulders.

Even though he was normally the one causing a ruckus among those around him with his childish complaints, at times like this the face with which he looked at Alice seemed terribly mature.

Seeing that silver gaze, she took a momentary breath and then—

‘N-Nightmare!!’

As she raised her voice inside the dream, her face turning bright red, he gave her an amused smile.

***

Alice was aware that she was the stubborn type of person that didn’t know when to just give it up.

Particularly when it came to romantic relationships, which she should have had a deep-rooted reluctance towards. She’d even thought that she no longer wanted anything to do with such things. It was the plain truth that even when necessary, she had wanted to refrain from them.

All the same, what she was doing right now was in incomplete opposition to her previous attitude.

‘…..It’s not like that invalid talked me into it or anything.’

Muttering alone to herself, right now she was in a guest room at Heart Castle. She was in the overly large room that had been given to her for the duration of her temporary stayover.

Sitting on her bed, Alice was staring fixedly at the item she had in her hands, an unusually serious expression on her face.

‘After all, if I don’t tell that idiot rabbit outright, it doesn’t ever seem like he’ll get it.’

Ah, she hated herself for being such a sore loser even at a time like this.

She was unable to straightforwardly accept her own feelings. Despite readily accepting her faults to the point of servility, to be so dawdling when it came to simply liking someone, she really had quite the troublesome personality.

Glaring at the item she held in her hands, after taking a single deep breath, Alice slowly began to speak.

‘Listen carefully, Peter. I’m in love with you.’

There was no one there to reply to Alice’s words. Even so, the girl continued.

‘So that’s why, I want you to believe me when I tell you that I like you-.....no, that’s not right! Saying something like this doesn’t suit me at all-’

Falling flat onto the bed, she buried her face into it. The ears peeking out between the gaps in her long hair were flushed a light red.

Before her was a torn out sheet of white paper. Its surface showed signs of words having been repeatedly crossed out and rewritten.

‘And anyway, why do I have to be the one to confess….Can’t believe Peter was able to say such embarrassing lines.’

Squirming restlessly, as she sat up and smoothed down her hair, what Alice held in her hands was a single stuffed toy.

It was in the shape of a rabbit, and mainly red and white in colour.

When the goods that Vivaldi had bought were delivered to the Castle, it had been included as a bonus for a good customer.

It was rather cute, but the red Queen had taken a single glance at it and frowned.

‘We do not need a plush toy such as this. It would only remind us of a certain Rabbit and that displeases us.’

When it comes to white rabbits, that annoying Rabbit is more than enough to put up with.

Even now Alice wasn’t sure what impulse had led her to take the plush toy that had been about to be thrown out.

Alice had taken up the toy that had just been decorating her room up until now…..and was desperately practising her lines.

That’s right, she was practising her lines.

She was—to borrow Peter’s words, practising her love confession.

‘…..…..-’

Realising all over again just how embarrassing what she was doing was, her face only grew redder and redder.

It was embarrassing. To the point that right now she just wanted to disappear.

Alice thought that if she were to tell Peter how she felt in her current state of mind, her weak heart might just about stop.

While rewriting her lines, she had thought to herself over and again that she should just give up.

Countless times she crumpled up the memo she had written and raised her arm to throw it into the bin…..but ultimately ended up rewriting it.

It couldn’t be helped, after all.

To keep on not having her feelings get through to Peter pained her.

It saddened her that he felt that just being together was enough, and she didn’t want to let him continue on like that.

‘…..Perhaps it might be better to be more direct.’

Taking up the pen that was on her side-table, she rewrote her lines.

‘I love you, Peter—So, I want you to love me more too…..something like that?’

As she rewrote the words on the paper of which there was now not much blank space left, Alice tried speaking them out loud.

‘…..…..’

Nope. Depending on how you took it, it sounded like nothing more than mere frustration.

Above all else, a pushy sounding confession wouldn’t be well-received by the other person, even if they did understand that you liked them.

She musn’t be too direct. She probably needed to dress it up a little, but Alice, whose romantic experience was close to nil, wasn’t sure how far she needed to go.

Each time she rewrote her lines, she tried saying them to the plush toy—and shook her head.

‘This is no good at all…..Peter won’t get it at this rate.’

The reason she was unable to be at ease no matter how many times she made corrections and adjustments, was because Alice had the same weak point that Peter did.

No matter what words she used, no matter how she felt.

It might not get through to him. He might not accept her feelings. She wasn’t able to wipe away her fears so easily.

Even now the bitter emotions she had experienced at the end of her previous love were still smouldering away deep within her heart. Unable to be sure in the way a dream demon would, until she felt confident enough to be able to competently get her feelings across, she could only keep trying over and over again.

For the diffident Alice, obtaining that confidence was a difficult task.

‘…..Ah, this really doesn’t suit me at all…..’

Her sighs were unending, each time she had to make a correction, they only increased.

It didn’t seem like Alice’s practising would ever be over.

‘Ah, sheesh—it’d be so much easier if I could just say, “Just fall in love with me already”-’

Perhaps unconsciously. Not even attempting to keep quiet, her irritated voice was audible even outside her room.

The residents of Heart Castle were all people that held good will towards her. Hearing that Alice had holed up in her room and was keeping to herself, they were all doing their best to not intrude.

However, the Queen, who was in essence the highest authority at this Castle, was a different matter.

‘Hmph.’

At that very moment, the Queen had been walking past Alice’s room unaccompanied by her usual attendants. Vivaldi, who had been walking on her own, straightened her shoulders.

‘…..Damn you, White. If Alice comes home crying after all this, we shall cut off your head immediately.’

She was a busy woman, but so too was her subordinate the Prime Minister.

Not long after returning to Heart Castle, the normally busy Peter had secured the next time period as a rest period.

It was unlikely he would be so assertive about taking a break if it didn’t involve Alice in some way.

Wondering exactly what it was they were planning on doing, she had come to check in on her, but from what she could hear of the voice from beyond the door—it appeared any inquiries would only embarrass Alice further.

‘Ah, sheesh…..what are you making me say, you stupid Rabbit!’

‘…..…..’

A voice that sounded as if it were venting some frustration. If it had been anyone else, it would only have been an irritation to her ears, but the face of the Queen as she listened to it looked somehow amused.

The figure continuing down the hallway with light footsteps was that of someone with absolute power, that of a Queen.

However, the expression on her face was sweet and soft, like that of a young girl.

‘Fufufu, keep trying your best, Alice.’

To persuade that Rabbit would certainly be a feat requiring a great deal of effort.

Such a gentle look had never been seen before on the Queen, who was normally bad-tempered by day.

***

‘Hey, do you want to go on a picnic together?’

The one who had made the invitation after returning to Heart Castle once the Assembly had finished was Alice.

The promised time having arrived, Alice had put some light crackers and tea into a basket and met up with Peter.

Just by being face to face with the White Rabbit, who it appeared had just arrived in the Castle hallway to pick her up…..the lines of the confession she had spent so much time practising seemed about to fall apart in her head.

‘Alice, my apologies for making you wait so long! And this must be your luggage…..I shall carry it for you.’

Seeming happier than anyone had ever been, the smiling Rabbit stretched out his hand to take the basket, but Alice held out a hand to stop him.

‘It’s fine. I’ll carry it.’

‘That can’t be…..To have you carry everything would be out of the question-!’

The girl smiled at the shocked Rabbit to hide her embarrassment and slightly shook her head.

‘No can do. I’m going to have you get inside it, after all.’

‘Eh?’

With a smile.

‘Turn into rabbit form, Peter. If you do, you’ll be able to fit into this basket, won’t you?’

As she asked the clearly puzzled Prime Minister to turn into a rabbit, although still tilting his head in confusion, he obeyed.

With a small popping sound, the white-haired youth instantly turned into a soft-furred rabbit. His large pocket watch, which remained the same size, looked as if it were a bag.

‘Is this alright?’

After nodding yes to the White Rabbit that looked up at her with large staring eyes, she put him into the basket and began to walk.

At first she had thought he might have disliked taking this form, but the obedient Peter obligingly remained inside the basket. She would have thought it might be difficult to understand the emotions of an animal, but strangely the emotions of the White Rabbit alone she was able to read.

‘.....Do you enjoy being in the basket that much?’

Quizzically tilting her head at the White Rabbit, who seemed to be in an even better mood than she had expected, Peter looked at her with big red eyes.

‘I am on a date with you, after all-! No matter where, or in what form, if I can be with you, I’ll be happy.’

Hearing the White Rabbit excitedly raise his voice, in high spirits, on the contrary the girl gave a lonely looking smile.

‘Being with you makes me happy, too.’

‘Was that so! Then, we should have spent much, much more time together…..I’m sorry Alice, I….. didn’t realise at all.’

Having left the red Castle, she was walking towards a slightly elevated hill a short distance away.

The weather was flawlessly clear. It was perfect for going out on a picnic. Although, to begin with, the weather in this world was almost always good, so she hadn’t been worried about it.

‘I wonder if this is far enough?’

The place Alice had stopped at was a quiet grassy field, at a distance from the bustling noise of the town.

She carefully put down the basket that the White Rabbit was in. Seeing his little nose twitch in the exact way a small animal’s would, he looked adorable.

At the heartwarming sight, she began to smile, but then schooled her expression and spoke.

‘Um, Peter. There’s something important I need to talk to you about.’

‘Something important? What is it, Alice? If it’s for you, I’ll do anything. Please tell me whatever you wish.’

The White Rabbit who up until now had looked as if he belonged in the grassy field, gave an immediate response to Alice’s words.

His red eyes were slightly larger than normal.

They hadn’t changed at all since the moment she had seen them up close the night she was attacked— a gaze that was so completely clear it was frightening. They were eyes so pure she felt guilty at even being reflected in them.

‘I’ve been wanting to know for a while now too. Recently, you haven’t seemed very cheerful somehow, you know? And also…..during our Assembly date I wasn’t able to do as you asked.’

‘I don’t really mind about that now.’

Don’t follow me!

If you do, I’ll hate you-!

‘..........’

In actuality, rather than hating him, it was only becoming even harder to leave him, she was surprised she’d even been able to say such a thing.

‘No, it is not fine at all- I want to do anything I can for you. Anything, if it will make you happy—So, please tell me. What would you like me to do?’

‘.....You’ll do anything?’

Confirming his assent, Alice asked him.

But at the same time, she became anxious.

Peter was always persistently conveying his affection for Alice in a way that was easy to understand. She got that his stalker-like pushiness was because he loved her without understanding emotions.

However, Alice had never once said anything to him with an affection that went beyond friendship.

I love you, Peter. You’re the one I love the most right now.

The words that would instantly bring an end to everything if she were to say them, were for some reason stuck in her throat, and she couldn’t get them out.

‘Of course, please leave it to me! If it’s for your sake, I will do anything-’

The affirmation she had expected.

Seeing him look as if he didn’t have the slightest thought of refusing anything she had to suggest, Alice became more and more uneasy. If he didn’t accept the words she was about to say, there would be no going back. A bitterness incomparable to the time when she had just arrived to stay temporarily at Heart Castle would remain.

‘Um.....Peter.’

She was the one wanting a response. She was the one who wanted to be sure of his heart.

For those like Alice who could not read hearts as the dream demon could, it was impossible to even establish a relationship without it being put into words. Her throat was so dry she wanted to drink some of the tea she had packed into the basket. However, if she missed her timing right now, Alice would lose her nerve.

Pressing the sweaty palms she had been gripping against her skirt, she at last opened her mouth to speak.

‘Peter White.’

‘Yes.’

Perhaps having sensed her solemn mood, the Rabbit’s voice as he responded was in a higher key than normal, his face serious.

Still feeling nervous enough to want to run away, Alice finally spoke that single sentence.

‘I want you and I to become lovers.’

‘..........’

Red eyes. The eyes that had not changed expression at all even when he had been wounded by the glass, were now greatly widened with surprise.

‘.....Wha-’

‘Because I like you, and I’m in love with you. So, I’d like you to be more.....’

More in love with me.

She wanted Peter to want her to love him too.

Ever since they had returned from the Assembly, they were the lines she had thought of over and over again. The words she should have memorised to the point that she had practised them beforehand seemed about to crumble apart.

She had thought it would become easier once she started talking, but the longer she spoke the more the heat rose to her head—and she was no longer sure exactly what she was saying.

‘Even I know it’s weird to be saying something like this to someone who suddenly appeared out of nowhere to bring me to this world. And Peter, you were the one to get me caught up in all these strange rules too.....that’s why I thought you were nothing more than a pervert. Well, even now I don’t really think you’re all that normal either.....’

‘..........’

As he listened to Alice's words, Peter’s eyes remained huge and he had stopped moving. There was the fact that he was in rabbit form too, but when he looked like that, he had the same appearance of the plush toy she had used as a practice partner in the time period just before.

Nonetheless, the twitching, moving ears and red eyes indicated that he was indeed breathing.

‘Even I don’t get why I fell in love with you, even now I’m not sure how things ended up this way but.....when you tell me just being together is enough for you.....it made me feel lonely somehow.’

Her first love had ended without anything being desired of her.

There was no guarantee that history wouldn’t just repeat itself. Because Alice was still the same stubborn child without any charm that she had been back then.

Which was the reason why, somewhere in her heart she was prepared to be rejected. While thinking to herself that she would be able to take it, the anxiety seemed about to crush her.

‘Because, just like I want you to love me, I want you to feel the same way about me. As my lover.’

‘..........’

Still looking dumbfounded, the White Rabbit was listening to Alice’s words.

As far as she could tell, he appeared to be correctly comprehending their meaning.

She wasn’t yet sure whether he was so surprised he was unable to speak, or feeling put on the spot.

‘I want you to be my lover, Peter.’

‘..........’

Her heartbeat felt unsteady.

Gripping bloodless fingertips, Alice slowly repeated herself.

Now the final part of her confession, that she hadn’t been able to decide on until the very end.

That’s right, what she truly wanted. The wish she most wanted granted—when it came right down to it, was only this.

‘Peter White, please become Alice Liddell’s lover.’

The White Rabbit still hadn’t moved.

He was unmoving to the point that she began to wonder whether he really had become a stuffed toy.

‘..........’

‘..........’

As for Alice, who had finished her confession, she was so desperately trying to calm her wildly beating heart that she was unable to speak.

The silence was painful. She was only becoming more and more anxious.

‘I want our love to be mutual, Peter.’

‘..........’

With a small pop.

Faster than speaking a reply, the White Rabbit changed form.

From the form of an animal, to that of a young man with a handsome face.

His red and white colouring remained unchanged. Still, there was a difference in the height of his line of sight.

Slightly turning up the face that had been looking below just a moment ago, Alice spoke.

‘If you say you’ll do anything for me, then grant my wish. I don’t need anything else. The only thing I want, the only wish I want you to grant is—for you to be my lover.

‘..........’

‘Hey, are you listening, Peter?’

It did appear that the stupefied Peter’s gaze was meeting Alice’s, but also as if it wasn’t.

As she looked at the seemingly dazed face, unsure as to what to do, her mouth ended up running ahead of her.

‘Didn’t you tell me at Clover Tower, that you’d be with me forever? That's what you told me, but from the moment I arrived at Heart Castle you said stuff like you didn’t know what to do and got all distant, so if you don’t make up for doing that, it wouldn’t be fair compensation…..’

If he turns me down, there’s no going back.

Don’t say no. Don’t reject me. 

Because Peter continued to remain silent, the voice of the person that had broken up with her back then repeated itself inside her head.

—I can’t go out with you anymore—

She wondered why her past self had never thought of the possibility that she wouldn’t be accepted.

‘Peter, hey, are you listening to me?’

If the words, “I love you” that he had said to her again and again weren’t a lie-

‘I’m in love with you.’

Alice didn’t want to think she had fallen in love with this Rabbit because he accepted her.

That time, that place. She wanted to believe the reason she hadn’t been able to get the red that had been more vivid than the spilled blood out of her mind wasn’t simply out of self-preservation.

‘Alice.’

At the end of a long, long silence.

Hearing her own name called, she started and trembled.

As she focused so that her gaze wouldn’t leave his face for even a moment, an awkward sounding voice called her name once more.

‘Alice, can I…..hold you?’

Red eyes that had never disappeared from her memories ever since then.

Alice was definitely reflected in them, as he called her name.

‘.....Eh? Ah…..Y-Yeah, sure.’

And then.

It started as a gentle hug, but as if to say that wasn’t enough, he increased the pressure and held her more tightly.

His white face was on the other side of hers. The strength of the arms that clung to her made the inside of her mind become pure white.

The only thing she could sense was the pleasant smell of soap.

She was enveloped in the arms of the spotlessly pure-white Rabbit, who had never accepted anyone up until now.

‘…..…..’

‘…..…..’

Not sure how to respond to the embrace, Alice was unable to make a move.

And not only that, because she couldn’t see his face, the White Rabbit’s answer was still unclear to her.

If someone who was normally so loud about telling you how much they loved you fell completely silent, it would be more strange to not feel anxious about it.

She moved back a little so that she could timidly take a peek at his face, but the red arms pulled her closer.

‘Please, don’t look at me.’

‘Peter?’

His arms were trembling. His arms had also been shaking when he had stopped her back at Clover Tower, and at the door in the Forest.

His movements right now were the same as the times when he had gone to get her back.

However—there was something different. Although what that difference was, Alice herself didn’t know.

‘Are you, crying?’

‘Please don’t run away.’

A hug so tight she couldn’t move. It didn’t hurt, it simply…made her feel warm inside.

She hoped these emotions weren’t just her own self-conceit.

‘Let me hold you…..’

His voice. His arms. His warmth.

In the white world that she was gently enveloped in, unable to speak yet again, Alice closed her eyes.

Neither she nor the White Rabbit could read hearts like the dream demon could. That was why they became anxious, and even irritated at being unable to be sure.

All the same, on the other hand, she now knew that it made the emotion of the moment you finally understood one another all the stronger.

‘…..…..’

She had a feeling she understood how the dream demon had felt when he had told Peter that he envied him for not being able to read hearts.

Even though when she had been trembling from the anxiety of uncertainty, she had been in a world of ice where she hadn’t been able to feel a thing-

Right now there was no place that felt better to be than in these arms.

***

In the Country of Clover, Mafia organisations other than the Family Blood lead existed. Those who were friendly with Hatter Mansion, and those who were their enemies…..their relationships with each of them differed, but it was rather rare for one of them to have the guts to fight with them head-on.

The Hatter Family was by no means a war-like mafia group. In reflection of its leader’s personality, though they never let the things they wanted escape them, they did not spend their time purposely harassing the weak.

It would have to be an exceptional incident to cause the top brass to take the initiative in crushing an enemy organisation.

A large mansion not far from the Forest of Doors, towering above its surroundings. Inside, at this very moment, the sounds of gunshots and screams intermingled.

The interior of the vast mansion was filled with the sounds of angry bellows and voices dripping with hatred.

As they yelled out, the members that belonged to this organisation were dashing about.

‘Where are they?! I heard they were on the upper floor just a moment ago, but the bastards have gone and disappeared.’

‘Whaddaya mean, no matter how good these guys are, if we come at them with these numbers…..Guah-!’

Mixing in with the sounds of panicked footsteps, the heavy sound of a gunshot fell over the area.

Startled, as the black suit wearing men turned around, standing in front of them was the figure of a tall man.

‘“If you come at us with these numbers”-what was that again?’

He smelled of gunpowder smoke and blood. His dangerous aura working to his advantage, the corners of the man’s mouth lifted into a grin. The golden gun he held in one hand swayed a little, fresh smoke rising from the muzzle.

‘You picked a fight with us. Don’t tell me you were stupid enough to think this would be enough to settle the score?’

‘Th-The March Hare!?’

‘.....Hmm?’

In the next moment after the blood-spattered hair lightly shifted, the finger that had already been on the trigger quickly moved.

Blam, blam-!

‘G-Gyaah-!’

‘Guah-.....Ugh-’

Once the sound of the successive shots was over, all of the men who had been standing in his line of sight were lying face-down on the floor.

From the unmoving bodies large pools of blood spread outwards, staining the floor around them.

‘Sheesh, what about me looks like a Hare? …..Too many guys with poor eye-sight around here.’

There was no-one to answer Elliot’s complaint as he turned around looking unfazed.

‘He’s over there-!’

‘He’s alone, right now’s our chance-!’

As if to block his vision, about ten men ran at him, holding guns.

To begin with, the difference in power level between the role-holding Elliot and the men who were not role-holders was too great. No matter how they tried to overwhelm him through sheer force of numbers, that degree of difference was not so easily changed.

‘Man, where do all these guys keep on coming from…..?’

Raising his gun to shoot in the same way he had just a moment ago, he suddenly stopped.

With a sneering grin, he leisurely turned his back and began to walk away, as if he had forgotten all about the men behind him.

They were not the kind of people to turn down such an obvious golden opportunity.

As they all brandished their guns at once thinking that now was their chance, about to pull the trigger—the guns disappeared from their hands.

No, more precisely, it was not the guns, but the arms that had been lifting the guns that were falling to the floor.

‘Wha-.....Gyaah-!’

‘M-My arm-!’

At the end of an instant of silence, they screamed in pain at the wounds that had been inflicted on them. Their bodies writhed in agony at the overflowing red that gushed out, but it did not continue for long.

‘You guys are supposed to be grownups, but you’re being so noisy. Isn’t it just embarrassing to do nothing but scream? I could never act like that, right, Brother?’

‘Of course not, Brother. So pathetic…..Let’s hurry up and finish them off quickly.’

Whoosh.

Effortlessly swinging supremely sharp blades were two young men. Flexibly making use of their long arms and legs they appeared like a storm.

Their blood spattered figures proved that their second name was a fitting one.

‘We gotta take care of them quick so we can pick up Big Sis. We’re definitely gonna be able to get a special holiday since we’ve been working so hard. I can’t wait to play with Sis once she comes back, Brother.’

‘Yeah, it’s been so boring without her. Playing with Boris isn’t too bad, but playing with Sis is fun in a different way. And if we keep working so diligently, I’m sure we’ll get a bonus out of it too.’

The one with blue eyes and tied-back long hair was Tweedle Dee.

The one with red eyes and a short haircut was Tweedle Dum.

They were the Gatekeepers of Hatter Mansion, the Bloody Twins.

‘What are you guys getting all worked up about? There’s no way you’re getting special holidays or bonuses standing around chattering like that.’

Elliot exasperatedly scolded the Twins who had come closer to him after stepping over a number of enemy corpses.

However, the two simultaneously pouted and protested.

‘No way, that’s a labour law violation right there. It’s a boss’ duty to give proper rest time to employees that’ve been doing good work. Well, I suppose a rabbit like you wouldn’t understand.’

‘That’s right, stupid rabbit. Not like we were expecting anything from the likes of you anyway.’

‘You guys…..exactly what part of me looks like a rabbit?’

The Twins didn’t appear to be the least bit frightened of Elliot, whose distinctive brown ears twitched and trembled as they pointed straight upwards in indignation.

Rather, speaking as if it were only reasonable, they continued to mouth off.

‘Just so you know, once Big Sis comes back, she’s playing with us first. There’s ab-so-lute-ly no way we’re going to hand her over to you. It’d be a problem if Sis went off to Heart Castle again because of a chick rabbit.’

‘Yeah, she’s gone out to play here and there for the first time in a while, so once she comes home we’re going to go to the bath together. We even bought new toys for the occasion…..and we’re not gonna let you come with us, stupid rabbit.’

Seeing the youths stick out their tongues at him with a ‘bleh’ in the way children would, Elliot had already reached his limits. You could say it was a miracle he’d kept it together even this long, since he had the kind of personality that never thought longer than three seconds.

‘Quit saying I’m a rabbit-! You shitty brats!!’

‘Ohh…..so you wanna go? That’s fine by me, these guys were such pushovers, I was getting so bored.’

‘A rabbit’s probably not worth picking a fight with, though.’

As they glared at each other, the muzzle of the golden gun and the axe blades glinted dangerously.

However, faster than they could swing them at each other, they turned in a different direction.

The gun was pointed just ahead, towards the area he had just been about to walk in. The two axes in the direction of the path they had just walked down.

‘Don’t let the Hatter Family keep doing as they please! We have to stop them here-!’

‘Yeah-!’

As the men surrounded the March Hare and Twins from the front and the rear, intending on attacking them from both sides, at the same time as they called out, readying their guns to fire, they were already on the move.

‘Tch-.....Guess I’ll have to discipline you brats another time.’

‘Us too, it’s a shame we’ll have to leave the rabbit training for later-’

‘And it was such a good opportunity too, what a pain.’

The sounds of gunshots and metal.

The neverending sounds echoed across the mansion’s interior like a storm.

If that was the case, then the three of them right in the middle of it were like a typhoon personified. They ran on, unhesitating in the midst of the rain of bullets, swinging around their weapons.

It was around the time the crimson-dyed time period changed into night that the three bloodstained shadows finished bringing the building’s ability to function to a stand still.

‘Ah, dammit, this dragged on longer than I thought it would…..damn assholes making me go to such trouble. You guys, do your jobs a little better next time, alright?’

‘What are you on about, chick rabbit? We were totally working hard, you picking a fight with us? What about you, sure those arms of yours haven’t gotten slower?’

‘Yeah. Just as I thought, those long ears must get in the way of aiming properly, right?’

If you sweeten the deal by giving us some days off and a bonus for doing outside work, we’ll cut them out for you.

Listening to the black suit wearing Twins, Elliot once more gripped the gun he should have just put away….and then stopped himself.

‘You lot. I won’t stop you if you’d like to volunteer for clean-up duties with Pierce, but exactly how long do you plan on remaining here?’

Smacking the tip of his cane into the palm of his hand, the man who was their leader made his appearance.

His white overcoat was also tinged a faint crimson, as if it had absorbed sprays of blood. Only the hat he wore on his head maintained its jet blackness, looking like it had assimilated the darkness of the night itself.

‘Elliot, Gatekeepers. You have finished your work here, have you not?’

‘Sure have, Blood! We’ve finished taking control of the situation here, there should be no issues leaving the rest to the other guys.’

‘Of course, all done and dusted! We wanna go home as soon as possible too, we hate working overtime.’

‘You’ll be giving us a special bonus for working outside, won’t you? Don’t forget.’

Shrugging his shoulders at the Twins’ saying whatever they pleased, the man unconcernedly turned his back on them and began to walk away.

‘Then, do as you please later on. I’m tired. Let’s hurry up and get back to the Mansion.’

‘..........’

In the end, both the March Hare, who was his right-hand man, and the Twins, followed after Blood as he walked on with brisk footsteps.

Exiting the mansion they had just conquered, as they were about to head into the Forest-

‘Aw jeez, I wonder if Big Sis is coming back soon. I wish the Assembly was over already so I could play with her whenever I want. Don’t you think so too, Brother?’

‘Of course, Brother. I want to go get her from Heart Castle, but if we went now she might end up going through something scary again. It’s not easy being grown up, we have to be patient.’

Since the Assemblies had begun after the move to the Country of Clover, the Hatter Family had destroyed a fair number of organisations.

Despite being in the middle of a mafia feud, the axe carrying Twins spoke nonchalantly, but hearing what they said made the back of the man walking in front of them momentarily pause.

However his reaction was buried by the darkness of the night, and went unnoticed by his subordinates.

‘I’m with you there, I really wanna eat the carrot sticks Alice used to make for me again…..’

‘He really is a rabbit, isn’t he, brother.’

‘Totally a rabbit.’

‘You guys…..who are you calling a rabbit!?’

Despite sensing the beginning of a ruckus behind him, this time the Hatter said nothing.

He was remembering the face of the smiling red Queen at the rose garden.

It appears that girl has become interested in our White Rabbit, you know?

It was as if the amused laughter of his older sister was echoing in his ears.

While listening to the sounds of gunshots and metal, he made his return to Hatter Mansion.

Entering the grounds of the Mansion, he began to head towards his room.

If he were following his usual procedure, after washing off the blood, he would normally first take a glance at any paperwork that had been delivered in his absence, but this time he did not.

‘..........’

The territory of Hatter Mansion was his territory, but even inside it, the Mansion was the place where his power was at its strongest.

And to know what was occurring within its boundaries was the special right of a territory leader.

As if he had sensed something as he was about to return to his private room, he changed directions and headed to a different place entirely.

The place he arrived at was the red rose garden the woman had been laughing in back then.

‘.....Sister…..’

‘Oh, so you’re back. We had not thought you would return until the next time period. That was faster than we expected.’

‘What do you want? It’s unusual for you to be here at night, Sister.’

The light that filled the red garden was enveloped not with the red that the woman loved, but the dark of the night that was the preference of the man.

In his experience, when the Queen who often visited at dusk came to the rose garden at night, it was never a sign of anything good.

As he spoke, not even trying to hide his disgruntlement, Vivaldi gave a broad smile and said, ‘I’ve come to tell you something interesting.’

Seeing a smile that was brilliant enough to not lose out to the roses around them, Blood got even more of a bad feeling.

‘Something…..interesting you say?’

‘Indeed. Of course, it is about a subject that cannot help but interest you, about Alice. You will listen, we are sure?’

‘—Has something happened to the young lady?’

The tone of voice of the younger brother who had suffered complete defeat at their last conversation instantly changed.

As the Hatter he was good at hiding his true feelings and did not attempt to make them known to others. That was how he preferred things to be. Nevertheless, the rose garden was a different matter.

The expression on his face shifted as if he had gone back in time, to the disposition he had had before becoming a role-holder.

‘I believe I warned you that I would destroy the Castle if anything happened to her. I assume that means Peter White has no attachment to the place he lives in.’

‘Heheh, heheheh.’

He gave a momentary sharp glare at the laugh that had escaped her, as if she couldn’t quite help it, but the expression on the woman’s face remained the same.

‘Sister?’

‘Too bad for you, Blood…..The one to make a move wasn’t White. It was Alice.’

‘.....What?’

Smiling broadly at the suddenly sour mood of her younger brother, the Queen continued to tell her story.

‘Not so long ago, at noon, they went out together, just the two of them. And when they returned, Alice had the sappiest look on her face. She looked so sentimental standing next to White we just wanted to tear him into a thousand pieces.’

‘..........’

‘In the time period before that, she was even practising how to seduce White in her bedroom. Goodness, do not you think her ever so adorable?’

For Vivaldi, noon was normally a time period when she became completely unable to suppress her irritation. That she had been watching with curious eyes as the girl and the Rabbit she had placed in her basket had left to go out together was something no one else in the Castle knew.

And not just that, the fact that on the way back the aforementioned Alice had returned firmly holding the hand of the White Rabbit who had been in rabbit form when they had left—had not escaped her notice.

‘So then, what will you do, Blood?’

‘What do you mean “what will I do”?’

The Queen who likely knew that her little brother was in a bad mood, purposely spoke to confirm his thoughts on the subject.

‘If that girl were to say that she wished to remain at Heart Castle, and not return to this Mansion…..what will you do?’

‘It’s not like you to be so roundabout when asking a question, Sister.’

Still wearing his blood-drenched coat, it looked as if roses were blooming all over Blood’s body.

No, he looked almost like one of the garden’s roses himself.

And all roses— had their thorns.

‘The young lady herself knows that the current situation is only a temporary one. I find myself unable to believe she would say such a foolish thing.’

‘Hoh, confident, are you?’

‘Confident? No, perhaps I should call it trust.’

Hatter Mansion was a place that guests rarely visited, and on top of that, for an Outsider to have been invited to a Tea Party there was a miracle in and of itself.

It wasn’t just that she was an Outsider. Her presence at Hatter Mansion had become something significant. That the entire family, of which Elliot was an example, was united in wishing for her return as soon as possible, was something that would have been unthinkable up until now.

My home is Hatter Mansion.

Those words were not just Alice’s thoughts alone, they all felt the same way.

‘Alice is one of my Mansion’s people.’

The words they had exchanged at Clover Tower. There had been no lie in the judgement she had made just before going to the Castle.

‘And the next absurd Assembly will be the third one. They will be over before long. Once the young lady has returned to my Mansion, she will come to her senses.’

‘So you’re saying that Alice is not in earnest, Blood?’

Like a red rose, the face of the red Queen stood out against the background of the darkness of the night.

As if to confirm his thoughts, as if to whisper whether he was certain.

‘But, if that girl really has fallen for White…..what will you do?’

‘..........’

The Hatter did not reply.

Still wearing his dark red stained coat, he departed.

As the Queen watched over him as he walked away, she had nothing further to say.

***

‘It seems all went well, Alice.’

‘You really do just appear whenever you want, don’t you.’

The usual dream space.

The pale-faced dream demon smiled faintly as he looked at Alice, just as he had in the dream before.

‘I don’t think I was talking to myself out loud like before, though?’

‘You’re right, your voice this time is much calmer than it was then. I was just feeling lonely because an important friend’s been taken from me.’

‘..........’

Are you the father of the bride or something?

Alice couldn’t help but glare at him in annoyance, but the dream demon was undisturbed. Snickering, his shoulders shook with amusement.

‘Maybe so. I have known you for a long time. As your friend, I cannot help feeling lonely.’

‘Yeah right.’

In any case, someone like you…..must be able to see right through me, right?

The murmuring voice inside her heart. That formless voice must be conveying a truth that was more certain than anything.

Just as she had thought, after his eyes had widened a little, he nodded.

‘That is correct. You have many things you are unable to abandon. It appears you are unable to completely leave behind that which is important to you.’

‘.....Wha-.....’

The face of a gentle person, smiling in the middle of the sunlight.

She wondered if that person was still smiling happily even now, as they did in her memories.

‘I really am a half-hearted person.’

This mad and strange world was the one that she had decided to remain in. At the point that she had chosen this dangerous world of flying bullets, it was impossible that she should be forgiven.

Her hesitation, that made her feel as if she had to return. Her feeling of responsibility, that made her unable to forgive herself for saddening that person. 

Either way, they were emotions that were excessively bitter.

‘You are too kind. There is no need for you to bear the responsibility for absolutely everything.’

‘It’s in my personality. I’m the one who decided to stay here after all.’

She was the one who had made the decision, so she mustn’t depend on anyone else.

As if he had heard that voice in her heart, Nightmare slightly shook his head.

‘It would be perfectly fine to put the blame on someone else…..I am sure that White Rabbit would happily become the guilty one for you, don’t you?’

’No. Peter was the reason I ended up coming to this world, but I’m the one that chose to be here. It’s not anyone else’s fault.’

‘..........’

Hearing what she said, with a smile that seemed somehow sad, somewhat troubled, on his face, the dream demon shook his head yet again.

‘If it’s just nostalgia, I really don’t mind. If you must go astray, make sure to do so only within my dreams.’

‘Nightmare?’

While she was tilting her head in puzzlement at the mysterious words, as if he had just remembered something he held out both hands.

As he arranged both hands as if scooping up water, a small card appeared before Alice’s eyes.

‘One of these will also be delivered to the Queen next evening. I am sure she will let you know as well, but I thought I might give this to you a step in advance. It is the invitation for the next Assembly.’

‘The next Assembly?’

A wry smile rose on her face at the thought of the beginning of another of those tiring Assemblies, but at the same the thought of something continuing on made her feel relieved.

In this world, both land and the people on it ended up moving. There was no telling when the time to part would come.

That which never changed, that which continued on. There was definitely a part of her that wished for things to remain the same.

‘My apologies for betraying your expectations but…..the next Assembly is likely to be the last one.’

‘Huh? What do you mean by “last”?’

The dream demon carefully explained to the surprised Alice.

‘Assemblies are originally held by the organiser during periods of instability. Even the instability after moving will eventually settle. And once things return to their proper flow, there is no longer any meaning in holding them.’

Everyone said that after moves things were somewhat unstable.

That was something Alice herself had also experienced when she had gone on her outing with Peter not so long ago. Even though she should have been somewhere near Clover Tower, it was still fresh in her memory that she had ended up getting lost in the Forest of Doors.

She never wanted to experience something like that ever again. That was what she thought, but the fact that the rhythm she had at last grown used to would soon no longer exist made her all the more anxious instead.

‘It’ll simply be returning to how things used to be. Just the same trifling occurrences repeating themselves as before.’

‘..........’

‘It’s written in the invitation too, but you will most likely be coming to my territory in about ten time periods.’

—I shall be awaiting you at my Tower, Alice—

Click.

As always, at the sound of his finger click, Alice’s consciousness awoke in an instant.

Looking up at the ceiling she had grown completely accustomed to, she dazedly moved her lips.

‘The Assembly is going to be over…..?’

A quiet voice. It was barely loud enough to faintly shift the air of the night, but it was a solid sounding voice.

Alice was only to stay here in this Castle until the Assemblies were over.

That had been the promise she had made with her employer Blood. Even though at the start she had told herself she would only be here temporarily, Alice had asked the White Rabbit to be her lover and been accepted.

Ah, in the end, love really did make a fool out of her. She wondered why she hadn’t thought of what would happen next. She wondered why she’d been unable to think things through a bit more rationally.

A temporary residence with a time limit. Once it was over, they would have to part.

She had wished for them to be together forever, but that she would be separated from the White Rabbit had already been decided.

Nevertheless, that it would be painful for the both of them was something Alice already knew. She hadn’t forgotten the sorrow she had felt when Peter had been avoiding her when she first came to Heart Castle.

She never wanted to feel that way again. She didn’t want to let him feel that way either.

All the more because he was someone that had only just become able to accept that she loved him, she didn’t want to make him feel as she had.

How could she ever do anything that would sadden him?

Nothing had changed in how she felt about Hatter Mansion. It was still a place that was important to her, where she had been accepted for the first time in this world. No matter the danger, it was impossible that she would ever come to hate it.

It wasn’t just the principal people of the Mansion.…. like Blood, Elliot, Dee and Dum. The maids she had become friendly with and the other Family members too, she loved all of them.

It was only that the affection she felt for them, and the feelings she had for Peter, were pulling her in different directions.

It wasn’t a matter of choosing, it had already been decided. Because of the debt of gratitude she felt, including for the kindness of her fickle Master, she could never betray them.

She could just visit Heart Castle during her work breaks. It would be a simple matter of going back and forth from there as she had before.

However—it would mean that after she was greeted with the words, “Welcome”, they would always end with words of parting, “See you next time.”

‘..........’

Before she had realised it, in her hand there was a single sealed letter she hadn’t seen before.

Her fingers trembled at the solid feel of the paper with the green wax seal.

‘What am I supposed to do...’

Alice hadn’t expected that she herself would start to think that she didn’t want to leave him.

The afternoon she had confessed, Peter had looked so happy as he took her hand and walked the road home together.

Until now there had been many occasions where he had led her by the hand. The one to come for Alice whenever she had hesitated at the doors was always that white hand.

Up until now, it was usual for him to be the one guiding Alice.

Normally Alice walked behind him as he held her hand, but that time it had been different.

“Let’s go home together.”

There had been joy, mixed with a slight bashfulness in the red eyes.

The White Rabbit stood next to Alice, and walked so they were side by side.

In a position so that whenever they looked to the side, they could see each other's faces. Even without waiting for him to turn back, or even if he didn’t look back, they were able to smile at each other.

Even such a small thing had made her so unbelievably happy, she had wanted the road home to continue on forever.

Back then, the path they had been on had led to the red Castle.

However, to begin with, Alice’s road home did not normally continue on to this Castle, but to that Mansion.

‘.....What on earth am I supposed to do…..’

The girl who possessed a strong sense of responsibility, caught between duty and love, was alone as she looked down and held her head in her hands.

[existentialcrisistime]

I would like to know more about your favourite Scottish indie/folk musicians, please.

I'm not gonna lie, after nearly twelve years up here I'm still just dipping my toes into the music, so I'm far from knowledgeable, but here's a non-exhauative list of bands & artists I've been enjoying:

Frightened Rabbit — of course, especially the albums The Midnight Organ Fight & Pedestrian Verse. Sad I never got properly into them at their peak, but I very much enjoy them now

Aidan Moffat (of the band Arab Strap) — his song/poem The Copper Top has been on loop in my head lately

One you've most likely heard of — Belle & Sebastian. One of the bands I loved when I moved up here, introduced to me by a friend, and I've still got a soft spot for their older songs now

Ballboy — possibly one of my all time favourite bands/artists, that I've loved for nearly two decades, and I've never met anyone else who knows of them without me introducing them. At least 50% songs mention being unable to sleep, I think, and with the main guy being Gordon McIntyre who I believe has a day job as a school headteacher, that absolutely tracks. Club Anthems 2001 & A Guide For The Daylight Hours are my favourite albums, but I adore them all. I've never seen them properly live, but I did see them play some Mountain Goats covers as part of a charity TMG cover festival in like 2015? and I caught Gordon McIntyre's solo album release gig the other year too (he's still writing songs about being unable to sleep)

Chrissy Barnacle — an artist I've never caught a headline gig of, but I must have caught her supporting at least five different bands over the years (including the aforementioned TMG covers event I believe). Great voice, deserves more than 45 Spotify listeners for sure

The Spook School — I got into these because a friend was/is dating one of the members, but I'm a massive fan now and they're great ! Very queer jangly indie-punk, they've split now (or rather, gone to the moon), but their tunes are excellent and their members are doing some great things individually

Admiral Fallow — I got into these guys purely through Spotify in the last year or so, and I'm yet to listen to their full discography, but the three songs constantly rattling around my brain are: Squealing Pigs (in my head that's an AOS Kirk song too), The Paper Trench, and Guest of the Government

Mogwai — another one you're more likely to have heard of. Definitely more post-rock than indie, or as I like to say, music to lie on floors to. Take Me Somewhere Nice was the first song I heard by them, shown to me by an ex before we started dating (so it must have been good). They also have a song called George Square Thatcher Death Party if that helps sway you. I was friends with I think the bassist's partner for a while (that's the thing about Scotland, it's two degrees of separation with everyone), and I've seen them live countless times. Albums close to my heart are Rock Action, Come On Die Young (CODY), and the Les Revenants soundtrack (an excellent show too)

I'm sure there are MANY more I'm missing, especially the 2010s Edinburgh indie scene that I always used to catch at small gigs and Record Store Day events when I lived there, but hopefully this is a good starting point and an introduction to a few bands you haven't yet heard of!

[butcherbacterium]

Fic asks!

#13 and #23

hi!

13. favorite writing song/artist/album

it will definitely be ethel cain. Always an Angel fully belongs to Preacher's Daughter/Inbred. The idea come from Western Nights/Thoroughfare, the entirety of Remus' character came from listening to Family Tree (Intro) on repeat, Sirius is Gibson Girl/Unpunishable. All credit to her she wrote the fuck out of those songs.

special shout out to Let's Get Loud by J-Lo for that one chapter of Twin Machines and Noah Kahan for the long fic I almost wrote. RIP

23. fics you wanted to write but didn't

In memoriam moment for the following:

MCD band fic

Maine/Noah Kahan long fic spanning 10 years following 7 of them

a philadelphia story au

the stripper au

a 50s stock car racer fic (the first idea i ever had for a fic)

an entire series based on Painting of a Panic Attack by Frightened Rabbit set after the war

A twilight zone Monsters on Maple Street inspired wartime fic

a surreal fic that was very Rocky Horror/I'm Thinking of Ending Things inspired by the music video for Karmacoma by massive Attack

evil James murdering for Regulus during the war

a lily/mary high school romance fic based around mary's unreal classic car and a house party

"his daddy's on death row" a prison wife remus extravaganza

a brothers fic for regulus and sirius based on organized vs. disorganized chaos

a time turner jegulus fic where regulus is trying to fix things before the war kicks off and he and james spending a lot of time discussing the meaning of time, the value of it

a fic inspired by francesca about the last moment before death for remus and then sirius and what they think about

The remus proposal for twin machines

EDIT 7:03 pm: could not forget dirtbag rock climber remus (with heavy lyall 80s climber influence)/professional sports photographer sirius that eventually lead to the bondage body high chapter.

Those are the marauders ones i can remember but I had a lot of little bits written

xx

[longlivelindsay]

Hi. I'm the problem. It's me.

I'm Lindsay, I'm 37, living in Texas, and I love writing poetry, listening to music, binge watching TV, wasting my time online, and reading. My top five artists are Taylor, Sleeping at Last, The National, Bon Iver, and Frightened Rabbit (in no particular order).

I'm a Twitter refugee, and just trying to figure out Tumblr.

I made a Tumblr for my poetry @wearethepoemspoetry after two lines in one of my poems "we are the poems / we are writing." I post once a day. I've been writing poetry since I was five, and it's my second love after reading. I would greatly appreciate it if you would check it out.

I also made a Tumblr for my political topics -- @liberaltakes which I'll be hopefully using along with my Twitter @liberaltakes12 and my blog, Liberal Takes.

“I wanna love glitter and also stand up for the double standards that exist in our society. I wanna wear pink, and tell you how I feel about politics. I don’t think those things have to cancel each other out.” -- Taylor Swift (and me!)

I made a list of my Top 125 Taylor Songs in Order, but they change all the time -- except hoax is ALWAYS first and exile is ALWAYS second. (In actuality, they're tied.) Actually, the top five are pretty much always the top five!

Apple Music:

(It says there are 123 because some were self-uploaded.)

Spotify (I update this less because I exclusively use Apple Music):

I used my blood, sweat, and tears (and hours) for this, and I plan to do it for my other artists!!!

My bio could be stated in Taylor lyrics:

"They said all my cages were mental, so I got wasted like all my potential... I was so ahead of the curve, the curve became a sphere. I fell behind all my classmates and I ended up here."

Not so great being ahead of the curve on everything...

Anyways, that's me. Feel free to message me. I'd love to get to know you!!!

[soot-and-salt]

1, 5, and 28!! :]

Spoon, dearest! Hello!!

(Questions from a music ask, come ask me things!)

A song you like with a color in the title

So, one thing to know about me, is I'm a dyed in the wool emo kid. I grew up in the epicenter of one of the big emo locations when I was in high school. One of the bands that was like omnipresent in my area is called Thursday. Their lead singer, Geoff Rickley, actually produced My Chemical Romance's first album, in fact.

Thursday has a song called "Jet Black New Year" which has become traditional in my friend group and among fans of the band. They usually play a December home town show and end it with this. The lyrics "THIS YEAR WILL BE BETTER THAN THE LAST!" has become the rallying cry of every New Years Eve I've had since I was a teenager, part prayer and part desperate wail. It's been screamed in a venue full of people, clinging to friends I never saw again, and played in quiet rooms as the clock changed from 11:59 to 12:00 on a brand new year.

During the pandemic, Thursday did a series of live stream shows and they held one in December when they'd do their traditional home town show and ended it with this song. I remember sitting in my room sobbing because I wanted it to be true, even though I knew it wouldn't be.

5. A song that needs to be played LOUD

I am an absolutely piece of trash metal fiend. I dunno, I find the screaming cathartic? Anyway, I could have a lot of answers to this, but for now I'll pick "Götterdämmerung" by Zeal & Ardor, who are a huge favorite of mine. They're an insanely good band with such a fascinating premise. The band is basically one guy, Manuel Gagneux, who likes to play around mixing very different music genres. Zeal & Ardor is what came from the idea of "what would have happened if African slaves in the American South found Satanism instead of Christianity?". So the band is a BLISTERING mix of African-American spiritualism and screaming black metal.

I saw them in concert a few years back in a basement venue in my city and had a completely terrible time, one of the worst crowds I've ever been around, which is saying something. Sucks being a tiny girl getting slammed around by a very drunk mosh pit.

28. A song by an artist with a voice that you love

How many music genres can I list here, lmao.

I think some of my favorite singers are the ones who don't hide their vocal imperfections. I don't need a singer to be perfect, and in fact that's incredibly boring, I want to hear all the weird things their voices do instead.

I'll list two favorites here who came immediately to mind. The first is the sadly deceased Scott Hutchison of the Scottish folk band, Frightened Rabbit. I always loved how much Scott used this accent when he sang. There are vocal and cultural reasons why a lot of foreign singers default to an American accent when singing, so I am always excited to hear a different accent come through. Scott's voice is emotional and all the more beautiful for it. Listen to the way his voice just CURLS around his words in songs like "Woodpile". The way he sings "a lit torch to the woodpile, aye" eviscerates me. Or the way he uses his Scottish lilt in the lyric "forgive me, I can't think straight" in the song "I Wish I Was Sober".

What a talent that man was.

The other singer I thought of immediately was Colin Meloy of the Decemberists, possibly one of my all time favorite bands. I've seen them like... eight times in concert. I can not get enough of them. He has such a UNIQUE voice, it's bewildering sometimes. I don't know how he does it. I've been singing for years and years and some of his vocal lips and trills straight up floor me. It's such a perfectly compelling voice for what his band does, lyrical and dramatic but conversational. I think you can hear this a lot in "June Hymn", just the timbre of his voice is so special. I mean, the way he sings in "On The Bus Mall" makes me nostalgic for things and places I've never been. It's equally crisp and clear and clean live too. I'm not too proud to say I've definitely cried seeing them live.

I could easy throw in Hozier and Florence Welch here too, while adding in left field singers like Davey Havok of AFI or Gerard Way of MCR. Listen, I have like a full ass terabyte harddrive full of nothing but music. There's far too much in my head. I sing and play guitar, if I didn't fall so hard into writing you can bet your ass I would have done something with music.