#because of course I did

[lightbluesleeper]

benrey b. benrey album

[obiscribbles]

Week 34 - November 19th, 2023 'Castle on the Hill' - Ed Sheeran Spotify / YouTube

Tired padawans, best friends. Quinlan is complaining about everything except for Obi-Wan’s feet draped over him; and Obi-Wan is listening to every complaint with the amusement of someone who has the exact same thoughts. Enjoy!

[incesthemes]

considering each episode as an allegory for sam and dean's story has done irreparable damage to my psyche. if bugs is about cursed land and if bugs is about sam and his relationship to his father, his family, then bugs is about how sam's body (his "land") has been cursed, later even confirmed to be by his ancestors just as oasis plains was cursed by its ancestors. mary sacrificed sam's body to azazel, poisoned him, sent him to the slaughter. you can't break a curse, you can only outrun it. the fact that sam and dean were stuck within the curse only solidifies the connection: they're fruitlessly fighting the literal curse while sam fights the metaphorical curse within him. it's an episode about sam and his anger at john, about dean and his loyalty to john, about how they're both wrong in different ways. it's an episode about family and ancestors and killing your children, making your lands infertile so no future generations can survive on them. it's an episode about sam.

and it comes right before home, the episode which presents with full, explicit confirmation that sam has developed psychic powers. there's evil inside him and he's scared—"what's happening to me?"—and he's uncertain about himself, his past, and his future. the episode that reveals his psychic powers is the episode they return to their childhood home, is the episode where mary's ghost makes an appearance. sam was cursed by mary and their home was made inhospitable; she forced them out like the white man forced out the euchee.

and it comes right after hook man, the episode which wraps sam's feelings of being cursed in sinful, evil, religious language, which shows his deference to the christian god, which implies there's something evil within him that's hurting the people he loves. sam is evil, sam is cursed, sam is harboring something bad within him and the way to absolve him of his sins is to pray for divine retribution and punishment, for death, because the thing inside of sam is inextricable from himself, is bound to him.

all three episodes are about family and repeating curses, the echoes of harm carrying through generations. all framed through sam's relationship to john, to his past, to the people who came before him he knows nothing about. all culminating in the revelation that sam's fears are coming true and the curse he mentioned two episodes ago is real and it's getting worse and no one knows how to stop it.

but you can't break a curse. you can only get out of the way.

[maisonaime]

The Star Who Listened [Azriel x Reader]

My little contribution to @starfallweek 2024 ✨

Prompt: Character A is a fallen star, Character B finds them

Note: Angst with a happy ending. This prompt immediately reminded me of this quote from a very beautiful but heart wrenching spoken word poem about the power of friendship and of friends who dream together. Happy Starfall Week!

“You kept a rock on a satin pillow on your bookshelf and told me ‘It’s a star.’ You said you found in a junkyard. And it had been broken down for quite some time because too many people wished on it, and that’s a lot of pressure for one little star.” Shane Koyczan and the Short Story Long, For Instance

There was no telling how long he had lain there. Long enough that the ground had given way to valleys and mountains, snow and grass, fire and rain. Long enough that the wind and the moon cooled his skin, warped from the burnout. Long enough that the bones that cracked on impact hardened in the same position they had come to rest. Long enough that he learned all of the parallels of nature.

First he learned the way the ground vibrates during an earthquake is almost indiscernible from the thundering of hooves and feet as armored men trample over him. His tears flow into the rivulets of blood from fallen warriors, which flow into the river that rages through the carrion. He wants to wash away with it.

Then he learned how the earth would split and crack and flow bright and hot, creeping across the ground like candlewax. It looks like his beautiful, ruined hands. He remembers the skin dripping off of bone when he could no longer hold the burning dreams they piled into his arms. So bright, and so beautiful, but so heavy.

Then he learned how the air would hang heavy before the sky cracks open. It reminds him of the weight that hung around his shoulders in the moments before he tumbled from the sky. Feels the despair, the failure in being unable to remain afloat. He waits for Hera’s wrath for his forsaking of Astraea.

Azriel could’ve recounted all the lessons he learned in all the hundreds of years he’d lain there. Could’ve stopped someone to tell his story, to beg pity or forgiveness, or simply for a listening ear. But how could he have proven his tale?

Who would believe that a small, rough-edged, unassuming rock was actually a fallen star?

How could he even begin to explain the thousands of dreams he had forsaken when he fell? He had seen some of those dreams dashed personally. Had seen the men whose safety had been prayed for fall screaming on their swords. Had seen a woman who wanted nothing more than a child bury seven silent born at the riverbed. Had seen the children who dreamed of their prince or princess and were instead sold into marriage beds with monsters and carted away from their homes.

So he could not move, he could not speak. He could only relive his failure and all the lessons he’d learned from it. Lessons he would never get to use. Lessons that meant nothing to anyone, because lessons don’t mean as much as dreams do.

Rocks don’t mean as much as stars.

But to you they do.

You, who look to the stars to guide you. But who also looks to the ground to see how far you have come. You who use rocks to mark the trail the stars take you along. You who collect the ones you find most beautiful, the ones that remind you of the stars.

You too have a gift for seeing the parallels in nature.

And yes, dreams are beautiful. But so are the lessons we learn when they do and don’t come true.

And so, this is how he finds himself in your pocket, after so many years in the dust. After so many years on the cold ground. The wool of your skirt is warm and soft, and it cushions Azriel’s hardened heart.

The next thing he knows he is resting on a satin pillow, high on a shelf in your room where he can watch over this strange savior. He watches day and night. Watches as you work and write and wander by day. Watches as you dream by night.

He wishes you had left him on the ground. He is stricken and terrified to be so close to another’s dreams, even as his very essence cries out to caress them. It is worse agony than he ever faced. At least before didn’t have to be so close to the humans who once depended on him.

He feels perverted because you haven’t even entrusted him with your dreams and here he is fantasizing about them. Prostrate before you trying to hold himself back, because he cannot warp your dreams with his horrible hands. Cannot bear the responsibility of ruining even one more dream. No matter how large or small.

He doesn’t even know why he is there. Why you plucked him out of his quiet obscurity and forced him to endure this proximity to such a vociferous dreamer. He loves and hates it in equal measure. Loves and hates you in equal measure.

And then the strangest thing happens one day. You are showing a friend around your room. And your friend points to him and laughs “Why do you have that rock on that pillow?” and Azriel would blush if he wasn’t a rock. But you smile knowingly and say “That’s not a rock, it’s a star I found. It fell from the sky when too many people piled their wishes onto it. Too much pressure for anything, don’t you think?” and the friend nods understandingly.

And Azriel glows. And Azriel cracks. Because he is awash with the forgiveness of a dreamer. And he remembers the child with eyes like yours but different, the first who looked up to him and wished. The one who made him want to take as many wishes as he could carry, and then take more after that.

And when the friend is gone, you reach up onto the shelf and bring down the satin pillow. You set it on your desk, and observe the crack that that splits your star down the middle. You gingerly separate the two halves, and behold the bright blue gemstone in the center.

You smile. “Do you think the weight of one person’s dreams is bearable? I promise to leave plenty of room for your own.”

Azriel glows as brightly as he once did in the sky.

[krazys-ass-emporium]

So this happened.

I'm Wolfwood, @davidkage is Vash, and my sister is Meryl.

[gingersnapwolves]

how did I make it past the age of forty and through several major dental problems before finding out that clove oil is a natural dental anesthetic and if you dilute it with some olive oil, put it on a cotton ball, and hold it against the agony, you stop wanting to punch your own face off

this shit is for real and everyone needs to know

[z-mizcellaneous-z]

Bro I just read a bkdk fanfic and holy moly-

y'all are never starving. You guys get constantly fed. How!?!? This is amazing!! I can feel the start of a new hyperfix

YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

if bkdk bad why do we keep winning

BECAUSE DUDE

WE KEEP WINNINGGGGGGG

join us comrade. hop aboard the bkdk brain rot train.

[g0ldgauntlet]

Redownloaded this game after almost 2 years just to get her, god bless

[illiana-mystery]

Colorized photo stills from Coffee and Cigarettes (2003)

[itsflappletimeyippee]

hey that sou guy seems pretty obsessed with fortnite

[hellodarjeeling]

Hell yeah hell yeah

[lokiinahornyjail]

Your arms are my castle...

[hustlemeanokay]

So, I preordered Veilguard. And I don't care who knows it!

[meaningtotellyou]

the way that my most sentimental tattoo thus far is taylor themed is so funny

[beartitled]

How did you know i started with crappy pony drawings.

🤝

I feel like that at least half of artists nowadays started in the same place 🦄

[saberwitch]

Commander Week Day 5: Love

She woke, and immediately wished she hadn't.

Her mouth felt like hot sand. She was restrained, somehow. Legs and one wrist. Something covered part of her face. She tried to call out, but could only manage a raspy croak.

"Captain Elliss," came a warm and vaguely familiar voice. "Please be still. It's taken me three days to put everything back more or less where it was supposed to be, and I really don't want to have to do all that again."

She froze.

"Thank you. Here, drink this."

The water was warm and tasted of metal, but she gulped it down as well as she could.

"Who," she managed.

"Doctor Tikka, at your service. You were badly injured. The Commander brought you here. Carried you in here herself, in fact."

Elliss grunted and pawed in the direction of the voice. Her hand connected with skin and she grabbed and pulled.

The warm voice, Doctor Tikka (or so she claimed), sputtered in protest. Elliss dragged the owner of the voice in front of her and held her in place.

Doctor Tikka was an Asura, and now Elliss realized why she sounded familiar. She was the Chief Medical Officer at Fort Trinity.

"H--" she began, but the sand was back in her mouth. Fireworks of pain were popping off around her, but she couldn't tell what they were attached to.

"How bad," she rasped.

"Now isn't the time," Doctor Tikka said, her voice warm and calm again. There was a single small bright blue firework that seemed to come from her right side. The rest of them faded into grey.

"This will help you sleep," the voice said again, as the bloom of blue sparkles swirled around her, pulling her down into a vortex of cool water. She felt her grip loosening and she fell, fell backwards, and there were...there were...rotting limbs...pawing at her, and then...

Darkness.

It was some three days later when she found herself sitting somewhat upright, watching the doctor putter around, finally able to sleep and talk and even more or less feed herself.

"Doctor," she said. "I think I'm ready."

She saw the doctor's shoulders droop. The Asura put down an information tablet she'd been tapping at, turned, and came over to Elliss's bedside. She had a small stool to climb on so she could look her patient in the face.

She had enormous, deep brown eyes, large floppy ears, and a prim mouth. One three-fingered hand came up and rested on Elliss's forearm.

"How bad?" Elliss asked again.

"Both of your legs were broken," Doctor Tikka said. "Three ribs. Your left wrist was shattered. Your back and right side were slashed down to bone. There will be heavy scarring there. Your right eye is...gone. There was nothing there to save."

"Any good news?" Elliss asked weakly. Gone? What did she mean, gone?

Doctor Tikka blinked like she didn't understand the question.

"You're alive? You'll heal. You may not get full use of your left hand, but you'll heal. And be alive. Did I mention that? I feel like that's important."

"Yeah," Elliss sighed. "No, you're right. I'll heal."

"As I said. Now, I need you to do something for me. Are you listening? I need you to get that awful woman out of my field hospital."

"What?"

"Captain Elliss. Please listen very carefully. The Commander has barely left this room since she carried you in here. She has been sleeping in here. She is very large and very VERY in the way. Please get rid of her."

"What," Elliss protested. She understood most of the words Doctor Tikka was saying, on their own, but together they made no sense.

"I can hear you, Doctor," came a very familiar deep voice.

"Yes, yes, you have the hearing of a murellow. I have other patients to attend. Move, you towering oaf!"

And then the Commander was there, next to the bed, purple eyes locked on Elliss's face.

"Commander," Elliss stammered.

"Captain. I am glad to see you awake and aware."

She carried you in here herself.

"Zhaitan?" Elliss asked.

The Commander nodded.

"You did it," Elliss said, feeling a weight lift. "You killed Zha--"

"We," the Commander said, and Elliss clamped her lips shut on the rest of her words. That was a tone that brooked no argument.

She looked at the Commander. The Commander looked back at her.

"You heard the Doctor," Elliss finally said. It wasn't a question.

A warm, slender hand came up to the side of her face that wasn't swathed in bandages. Elliss closed her eyes, barely managing to keep from leaning into that touch.

"I did. I am sorry."

Elliss opened her eyes, but she couldn't look up.

"Commander," she whispered. "Please don't pull me off active duty. Yeah, this sucks, but I can't sit here and just-- I can't. I need--,"

You.

"...this. I need this. I need to get back into the field."

The hand fell away from her face.

"We will have this conversation later. After you have healed."

Elliss looked up.

She has barely left this room. She has been sleeping in here.

"Commander," she said. There were more words, but they didn't seem to want to come out.

"Melody," the Commander said. Not 'Captain'. Not 'Elliss'. Her first name. It sounded so strange. It sounded...

Comfortable.

"After you have healed. And rested. A hero's rest. You have earned it."

There was a long silence.

"I'm going to be scarred up," Elliss finally said. Her voice felt small and not comfortable at all.

"Among my people, scars are considered attractive," the Commander said.

Elliss tried to digest that one. What did that mean? Was she saying...?

"Out," said a different voice. Doctor Tikka. Elliss bit her lip as she watched the Asura, who was just barely knee height to the imposing Norn, shooing her out of the room with a folded piece of paper.

She's barely left this room.

Elliss watched the Norn bend almost double to get through the door. Remembered seeing her on the deck of the ship, facing down an Elder Dragon.

she carried you

"Ahh, shit! Fuck, gods-damnit!" Elliss shouted.

Doctor Tikka came running, her floppy ears pointed skyward in concern.

"What? What is it? What's happened?" she cried waving her tablet.

Elliss kept staring at the door the Commander had just left through.

"Gods," she said again, ignoring the doctor. "I think I'm in love with that woman. I am so fucked."

Doctor Tikka rolled her enormous eyes.

"Alchemy save us from idiots and fools," she muttered.