#but i think marius is dedicated to one person at a time

[the-crooked-library]

okay so I gotta say, I don’t believe the whole “vampires cannot make good art” thing. I just don’t buy it. Like, call me biased, but as a writer, I don’t think you could talk the way they do and not be good at least at writing. There’s no way.

(you are a challenge every sunset, Saint Louis)

(I had powers now, and decades of rage to process - and so it was both random and unfortunate the man picked that night to dabble in fuckery) (I mean are you kidding me, that line is MUSIC)

(THE NAME! The name, unuttered in our home for twenty-three years - said over and over, until it was pounding in my head like a hammer!)

As such: what I personally think is actually happening is something far more mundane. Picture this - you've just been turned. Vampirism has enhanced everything about you, so your senses are like 10 times more distracting, you're stronger, faster, you're murdering nightly, you're most likely born out of some sort of trauma, and on top of that you've got years to compound whatever issues you already had - which, surprise surprise, are also somehow more intense now, whodathunk, mainly because your senses/murder/immortality are fucking with them BIG. Seriously, think about it: how much would vampire senses exacerbate symptoms of ADHD or autism? Would the species change, the nocturnal lifestyle, the mind gift contribute to dissociation, psychosis, schizophrenia? Would the killings and the loss of community be a factor in the way your depression might develop - or religious scrupulosity? OCD?

It's not that vampires cannot make good art. It's just that it becomes supremely difficult to do so, especially given that they cannot take human medication/finding a nocturnal therapist would be a bitch even if you're modern/Louiiss mon cher what eez a coping mechanisme y'know. I am convinced with 100000% certainty that, given enough time and dedication a vampire could absolutely make good art again* - though, in all fairness, very few of the ones we know possess the patience. Mind gifts/vampire speed + strength/inherited riches tend to destroy that sort of skill real fast; still, though, it's not a curse. It's symptoms disease.

* It is also possible, just as it is for humans, to develop all sorts of technical skills and still lack the “eye” for art (cough Marius cough) - but in that case, maybe try music?.. start writing? Get into ASMR? you’ve got an eternity to fuck around. Do whatever.

[nightcolorz]

Imagine Armand killing Marius the same way he kills his victims, by convincing him he doesn't actually want to live, he doesn't deserve to live, everyone would be better off without him

To the outside observer it would look like Armand briefly moved in with Marius to support him because Marius is going through a rough patch but in reality Armand is the reason for the rough patch, he slowly but surely erodes Marius will to live and Marius doesn't even realise it is happening because he doesn't think his Amadeo is smart enough nor does he have a reason to harm him

It would take a long time, but Armand has plenty of time and eventually he makes Marius drive away everyone else and convinces him he is worthless and his input is not needed and nobody likes him, he is annoying, his art is no longer good, he lacks inspiration and maybe he was never good on the first place, maybe he just tricked people into thinking it was good by copying mortals with actual talent and he has no reason to be without the parents (who also never liked him in the first place even tho he dedicated his life to them)

Eventually Armand is the only thing he has left, his only reason to live and that's when Armand hits him by making clear he also considers him a burder and is only staying with him out of pity, Armand would prefer to spend his time with Daniel and the others and Marius is holding him back

And when Marius finally kills himself Armand disappears for a year or two, everyone thinks he is grieving but he is celebrating

HOLY SHITTTT THIS IS MF GENIUS OH MY GOODDD. So in character too omg, Armand does play the insane long game. Omg genuinely pls write this (I keep telling everyone to write the ideas they r sending me but u don’t understand I need to read them so bad).

one of the best parts of this is it would work!!!! Like Marius is a genuinely self hating, fragile person like this would absolutely mf work!!! omg that is incredibly satisfying, I’m so obsessed. There’s smth so cathartic about Armand forcing Marius to rely on him so that he has no way to live without him (bcus that’s what Marius did to him ‼️‼️). Just wow a billon times, PLS WRITE THIS!!!! Anon I am literally kissing u

[justrightofanevening]

It's the only thing that makes sense. You've been there before, you know what to expect, and at this point you would give anything for a sense of familiarity to rely on. Having made up your mind, you get dressed and leave your room, for the first time in weeks, with a purpose.

You pass a few people on your way there, but your thoughts are too busy worrying about your upcoming trip to really notice them. What if no one is there? What if someone is there, but they don't want to see you? What if something horrible happens like the last time, and everything falls apart, and then they'll kick you off the ship, and-

You find yourself standing at the door to the kitchen. Taking a breath to steady yourself, you shake off your thoughts and step inside.

Your worries about the room being empty are immediately dispelled, as the sound of laughter echoes loudly through the room. The half of the room dedicated to proper kitchen equipment is deserted, but the half consisting of one large table is currently occupied with three people playing what appears to be a simple card game. Two of them look up when you enter.

"Lyf!" It's Marius who speaks first, standing up from his seat the second he sees you. "You actually came!"

You simply nod, trying to think of what to say. The person on the left- Brian- seems surprised at your appearance, but greets you pleasantly. "You look well. It's nice to see you up and about!"

You laugh nervously. "Y-yeah...It's nice to see you too." Was that it? Was that all you had to say? Surely you had something better.

The person in the middle- Tim- hasn't even looked at you. He seems too focused on the cards he's holding in his hand. Marius looks quickly back and forth between you and the cards before running to your side, dragging you to the table. "If you want to, we can deal you in! We just started, it wouldn't be a problem at all."

Unsure of what else to do, you nod again. Brian hands you a small group of cards, and you sit in a seat offered to you by Marius.

You realize too late you didn't ask which game they were even playing.

"You sure you're doing alright?" Marius places his hand on your shoulder, and you hold back a flinch. "I can explain the rules if you-"

"No! No, it's fine." Why were you refusing? You had no idea what you were doing! "I'll figure it out. Maybe...You should go first?"

He laughs, and proceeds to place down a few cards. You follow his lead for a few turns before you begin to relax.

Brian and Tim both seem fairly nice, and you remember that the whole point of this trip was to talk to new people. You can't hide behind Marius forever. But as you continue to copy his movements in placing cards on the table, you begin to grow worried.

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[dreamerinthemoonlight]

Tears of Themis Guys with an Artistic S/O (Vyn, Marius

These are slightly edited, since I've been playing longer and have a better idea of the boys' personalities.

CW: None

Note: Reader is a messy artist. neat art? what is neat art?

Vyn x gn!reader, Marius x gn!reader, Artem x gn!reader

Vyn

He's of two minds

First, he really does appreciate the arts and likes that you're into them

He's always very happy when you gift him something you did. it doesn't matter what it looks like.

Let's face it, in any other thing he'd be more of a perfectionist, but really, he can't help but think that anything you make is perfect the way it is, even if it isn't art gallery worthy

On the other hand, he has a heart attack every time you do the "messy hands" run to the sink

His house is nice and neat and he seems to really like and even though I'm convinced that a light fixture can always be improved by a couple smudges of paint, I don't think he really is.

At the same time, he's probably laughing a little, because the frantic, hands out in front of you run really is pretty amusing

That being said, he loves you, so he'll just go through and clean it up.

Eventually he gets used to it and starts finding some amusement in the mad dash to the sink. Or just has a sink installed a little bit closer to your work space

speaking of which, he makes sure you have a proper work space. In his opinion the kitchen table is not the best place for messy art, so he'll make sure you have a place where you can be as messy as you want

Marius is so 100% on board. When he realizes you're an artist, he's like a kid on christmas

Marius

Of the three he best understands the fun and the mess

He also knows every possible way to either clean up quickly or to hide the aftermath of messy art. It's something you both make use of because there is absolutely no way there aren't paint fights.

I also get the feeling that you often have smudges on your clothes because he saw you deeply focused and just absolutely had to give you a hug from behind

The one down side is actually for you. He takes your shared creative time as another opportunity to tease--I mean, he's the biggest little shit you'll find. He'll absolutely take advantage of your focus and the fact that you're used to him clinging to put smiley faces in random places on you.

It's chaos. It's fun. But it's also relaxing and quiet. You both get to de-stress and if that means sitting on opposite sides of the studio painting away, that works for both of you

Artem

To start with, is there anything besides a life of crime that Artem isn't supportive of?

He and Thoma are partners in supportive husband types, ok

Like Vyn, he makes sure you have a dedicated work space. It's not because he minds a mess, but because he wants you to have the space and comfort to express yourself to the fullest

He'll often stand in the doorway, watching with this fond smile on his face. like he always does

His mom has actually dropped by and seen this and she thinks it's adorable. She makes sure to tease him about it

After you're finished he likes helping you clean up. It falls under his "care for s/o" thing so well and he's so gentle about it.

When you give him paintings or pottery is always so happy. It could look like a two year old did it and he'd still appreciate the thought.

[4th-make-quail]

May I ask a clarifying question on your boundaries? I don’t consider myself “proship” or “anti” as I think those terms are reductive, and two people who may both fit under one label could have incredibly different opinions. However, I believe that the way I interact with media could be something that someone would call “anti”, in that I find it more interesting to look at fiction through the lens of reality rather than “fiction doesn’t effect reality”, by which I mean when reading Lolita I like to go “okay so what is this saying about how the psych profession saw csa at the time?” “How was this influenced by Nabokov’s own experiences?”, I see Marius and Armand as a reflection of child sexual abuse and enjoy analysing it under a more realistic lens, and would find wincest more interesting as a look at enmeshment between siblings under an abusive parent, rather than a ship (although what people mean by the term “ship” is also really vague and can differ wildly).

Based on that, and what you say in your pinned post, would you prefer I don’t interact? I wouldn’t want to make you uncomfortable!

Okay so to preface this, I don't go into much detail in my pinned because I hate the whole thing, and I hate spaces which are super dedicated to the pro/anti discourse. I try to keep my online spaces free of discourse and drama because its simply not fun! I don't want to spend my days steeping in negativity.

This got very long, so I'm gonna put it under a cut!

So. The thing is anon, the proship label originally came about as a response to antis, to describe people who don't actually care what other people ship ("ship and let ship", "your kink is not my kink and that's okay" and all that), but it's been massively conflated these days and now people take it to describe what they call problematic ships or art. You're right about them being reductive terms - and in fact, I have a lot of freak friends who are super into things I personally dislike or am outright squicked by (and vice versa), because we're not a monolith.

My stance entirely is this: I don't care what other people ship. I don't care how they ship it, or how they want to analyse and engage with that source material. I think what people ship and what art people enjoy has no say at all in what their morals might be.

What you describe as how you engage with those pairings is a completely valid interpretation! Preferring to look at a relationship through those lenses is perfectly fine, and in fact lots of people do this under the umbrella of meta.

What I personally mean by "ship" is the usual description - I want those two characters to have a romantic and sexual relationship. However, I also have no issues with people who don't have that viewpoint because it quite literally doesn't affect me unless they go about harassing others.

Liking a "problematic" ship dynamic doesn't mean you also condone that thing in real life. There's a reason one of the top sexual fantasies is noncon (see: any women's magazine list of these), and it's not because the person secretly really wants to be raped in real life. It's because human beings enjoy exploring taboo subjects in a safe and fictional environment.

Where my opinion stands on this is simple. If you think it's okay to harass people for the ships they like, if you think it's acceptable to write call out posts and smear people's names because of the ships they like, then I don't want to know you. If you think liking Marius/Armand makes that person a paedophile, or that liking underage ships leads to the person eventually moving on to real life kids, or that being an incest shipper means you're gonna go fuck your own sibling, again, I don't want to know you.

The same goes for both sides of this frankly stupid issue - far too many people who call themselves proship proudly love to dunk publicly on antis or people who don't share their viewpoints, which imo makes them just as bad! If someone's out there being awful to people who don't ship their problematic ships, then it's just as bad!

This is also why I don't do any DNIs or anything like that. If I see someone start to follow me and they have big obvious "PROSHIP DNI" in their info, then I will go ahead and block them, but otherwise I'm not interested in policing who can interact with me in that way. It's not for me to decide whether someone else wants to interact with me, it's on you to decide if you want to.

I'm not gonna be going out and ripping on people who dislike a ship I like, or who engage with art in a different way to me. However, if I come across posts in my tracked tags or on my dash expressing anti sentiments, or going on a negative rant about something I love, then I will also probably unfortunately be blocking that person. I don't like seeing negativity about shit I love on my dash or in the tags (really, does anybody? lol) so I'm proactive about that because a) it depresses me, and b) I spent a long time in the ffxiv fandom, where people think liking Garleans makes you a nazi apologist, and where they love to go on ranting screeds about how my favourite characters should die painfully, and I'm honestly not about that in my fandom life.

Anyway, all this to say: if you're comfortable interacting with me, a Marius/Armand bitch who does indeed enjoy their fucked up relationship because of how fucked up it is (and finds it incredibly sexy, actually), then I'm fine with you interacting with me. I'm not gonna be sharing or posting about that specific ship anyway, and I'm certainly not gonna be awful about people who find it distasteful or triggering or even just plain don't like it for whatever reason. It won't make me uncomfortable in any way to interact with you because you engage with those things in a different way to me, as long as you don't also engage in the other activities I discussed further up.

Sorry this got so long, anon! Hopefully it all makes sense. As an aside, I'm not interested in having any debates about these issues with anyone and will not be engaging with arguments about it. Sensible discussion, yes. Arguments, discourse and wank? No. Thank you for understanding! 💚

[hekateinhell]

I'm always thinking about the ways other characters describe Armand vs how he describes himself. They all seem to agree on the basics (angelic, ethereal, radiant, Boticelli angel, most beautiful boy alive/among the undead, etc.), but what can I say I love nitpicking 😌My findings are as follows:

Marius: the only one who describes Armand as actually having slavic features, I believe he uses the phrase "sharp" to describe his high cheekbones ("sharp yet delicate" or something along those lines). By the time I read B&G I had already read all of the previous books in the series (up until that point) so this is what stood out to me the most and I rarely see people mentioning it! And it might be one of my favorite descriptions of Armand ever, you can actually feel just how astonishing his beauty is. Had Marius so thoroughly shook.

Lestat: Angel boy, angel mouth, cherub, so beautiful it's stupid, this is SURELY what love/desire must feel like, "I just beat the shit out of him and I should probably kill him but GOD HE'S SO FUCKING PRETTY I CAN'T". PRINCESS AT THE BALL. NOT ONE BUT TWO PRINCESSES. Also calls him a "sad(?) waif" which is fucking hilarious when you consider Armand is later like "I'm not a fucking waif" but Lestat definitely called him one in TVL AND YOU KNOW WHAT. I BELIVE HIM!!!! I do 😌

Louis: Simple yet undeniable beauty, seductive asf, got him horny and in bad parent mode in record time yet ever the gentleman, he only used the most sophisticated adjectives to describe him. I would have LOVED to have gotten more stuff from Louis POV post-IWTV, specially because Anne did a bit of a retcon when it came to Armand's looks (iirc Louis described his hair as being straight??? Though his hair was always auburn). I wanna know what Louis thinks of Armand as we all know and love him pls 🤧

Daniel: hottest bitch alive, can't even think straight because of how horny I am all the time. Even when I'm tryna talk shit about him I CAN'T because he's so fucking hot, dammit (paraphrasing but "he looked normal... if you call looking this fucking hot normal 🥵"). Props for mentioning how cute/dorky/human his laugh is and how pretty he looks when his hair falls on his face AND how effortlessly stunning he looks with long OR short hair. Daniel never recovered from this, obviously.

In summary: he's a teeny tiny pretty baybay 🥲🤏 but will also awaken kinks you didn't even know you had 🥵🥵🥵 15/10 would hit again except Lestat yk

Armand, in TVA: HOLD😠THE FUCK😠 UP😠. I'M NO WAIF. I'M STRONG AND ATHLETIC AND MARIUS' LANKY ASS LOOKED FUNNY AS HELL WHEN HE CARRIED ME UP AND DOWN THE STAIRS AT THE PALAZZO. YOU HEAR THAT LESTAT 😡 I'M NO. FUCKING. WAIF. But also wow I'm hot 🥵 even as I laid dying jfc no wonder why everyone in Venice hit it 🥲🤏

Would love to hear your thots 💭 as usual xoxo DA ❤️

DA, my love! ♥️

I was stewing on this for an entire (hectic) day because I think about it a lot — almost all of Anne's vampires appear to fall within the conventional range of attractive but she really went overboard with Armand and the sheer amount of prose dedicated to his ethereal, captivating, otherworldly appearance.

Marius really said: 'abandoned angel' while Lestat went, 'Cinderella at the ball'. And you're correct, Lestat does call Armand a waif in TVL in one of my favorite passages:

"Grotesque he seemed, among all the candles and the swimming colors of the flat, this filthy waif of the netherworld, and yet his beauty held sway. He hadn't needed the shadows of Notre Dame or the torchlight of the crypt to flatter him."

I do generally default to waif meaning skinny and unhealthy, but I looked it up and it also means 'a homeless, neglected or abandoned person, especially a child'; which ties into how Lestat thought of Armand as an orphan:

[...] this quiet and forceful one, the one who would survive, no matter how the orphan in him wept.

That's my all-time favorite Armand description btw. 🥹

Since we're talking TVL, I'll refer back to what you said about IWTV, which was published almost an entire decade earlier! Armand was in his 20s in the original IWTV short story, and therefore his appearance isn't described as having all the exceedingly youthful qualities that are later endowed to him in TVL and onwards. Here's a few examples from Louis in IWTV:

"I had a strong sense of him [Armand] then, the separate being that he was, the calm and collected creature with the straight auburn hair and the large, sometimes melancholy eyes [...]."

"I looked at Armand, at his large brown eyes in that taut, timeless face [...].

"[...] Armand was beautiful and simple, and no intimacy with him would ever have been repellent."

So I think the descriptions we're given does a paint a more mature physical image than TVL-era Armand. TVL is also the first time we're given Armand's mortal age as being 17 years old. If you've read CoSB, which Anne wrote in between IWTV and TVL, some of my friends and I have this theory that she based Armand's later physical characteristics off of the character Alexi (a young sex slave). 🫣

Marius's first impression of Armand:

And there I saw beauty, beauty which has always been my downfall, beauty as in Pandora, as in Avicus, as in Zenobia, as in Bianca, beauty in a new and celestial form. Heaven had cast down upon this stone floor an abandoned angel, of auburn curls and perfectly formed limbs, of fair and mysterious face.

I reached down to take him by the arms and I lifted him, and I looked into his halfopened eyes. His soft reddish hair was loose and tangled. His flesh was pale and the bones of his face only faintly sharpened by his Slavic blood.

In universe I attribute this distinction to Armand's Slavic features to the fact that he was a malnourished little thing when Marius saved him from the brothel. It makes sense that the bone structure in his face would be more defined versus after Armand's been living well in Venice for a couple years, becoming in his own words, 'a plump and juicy young man'. Lestat describes Armand's cheeks as going 'apple-perfect' when he smiles in MtD, meaning that they're full and rounded, Armand still has that fat in his face.

I agree with you — I would have loved to see more of Armand from Louis's POV post-IWTV, once Anne had fully settled on what his character would be like! But here's a line from Louis to Armand in TVA that tells us this much:

"And like a dream, you've come back. We all had inklings of it, wild whispers that you'd been seen in New York, as handsome and vigorous as you ever were. But I had to lay eyes on you to believe it."

'Handsome and vigorous' is how post-IWTV and pre-PL (Trinity Gate era) Louis describes Armand!

TVA is definitely not everyone's favorite VC novel, but it is mine, because it's the only one where we get to see inside Armand's head. And it's an excellent example of how differently we see ourselves, even superficially, compared to how others see us.

There's also a concept that I see play out a lot irl that basically dictates that oftentimes our brains tend to freeze people as they were when we first met them and this can be a difficult perception to break. A notion that perhaps can be applied here, for example: Marius first saw Armand as this angelic, broken child and Lestat first saw him as this being that's simultaneously horrifying and beautiful and begging him for his guidance. In contrast, Louis and Daniel meet Armand in a position of power and possibility that doesn't waver until further down the line. Armand is a different person to each one of them (just like how none of us are exactly the same nor seen exactly the same by anyone in our lives).

What is interesting too is the parallel between Lestat and Daniel using words like grotesque, awful, loathsome (in addition to the beautiful, captivating, angel, etc) in TVL and QotD re: Armand. And yet Armand is someone whom they both love and find themselves attracted to (for Lestat it's been an ongoing thing for 200 years and he can't figure out what to do about it - let us never forget 'good to embrace, good to love').

One of the key differences to me here is that Daniel romanticized vampirism and Lestat romanticized humanity and they're at opposite sides of the spectrum at these respective points in time. Lestat was a newborn vampire who was turned against his will and then almost immediately stumbled upon a cult of Satan worshippers advertising the worst that vampirism has to offer. Yes, Daniel did have to run for dear life for a good while there but in comparison he saw a much better side of Armand than Lestat ever did in Paris, no contest.

A final thing that stands out when I think about all this is how alluring all of them find Armand, and yet he spends so much of his life either alone, pinning, or losing whatever connection he might have had to those he loves. And this can be said for Marius and Lestat as well but it's just the juxtaposition of Anne making Armand this insanely bewitching, seductive creature to virtually all he encounters, but things rarely play out in his favor in that regard, and then when they do, they don't last.

(Until PL trilogy, you know what - thank fuck for those three books, it was rough being an Armand girlie back in the day and never knowing what happened to him after the events of B&G and Merrick, just absolutely horrendous).

[mr-nauseam]

TIME HAVEEE COMEEE. 🙏

Casca's father is a rather liberal politician by Capitol standards. A senator if we are more specific, (he noticed the tensions growing in the districts and recommended to do something about it, nobody listened to him because his proposals were pretty mediocre if we are honest). He doesn't have a very good relationship with his children because he was absent, he feels disappointed that none of them followed in his footsteps in politics. His relationship with Casca is lousy <3 and also with his sister (in fact Casca is similar in personality to his aunt and has a special relationship with her). He and his sister enter into a legal suit over the family inheritance later on.

Lucretia. Casca's mother. She is a museographer <3 and a professor at the Capitol Arts University. Quite intelligent. Not as absent as her husband but not a dedicated mother either. Still she is the one who has a good relationship with her children and who influenced them the most. She likes the districts in an abstract way if you get me, and although she loves both of her children clearly she has certain affinity with Junius, she reproached to Casca that he choses study pedagogy.

Junius. He is Casca's older brother. An anthropologist obsessed with the times before Panem. He has traveled through the districts and talked to people there but has misunderstood everything they say 😔

He works in a museum. Nerdy and very passionate about his field of study, he's a yapper and loves Casca very much. Junius is overprotective with him since he found out the reason why his little brother threw up in the middle of the night is because he's been drinking cough syrup.

Junius doesn't like Crassus at all because the Snow Family is very old fashion and homophobics they can be a danger for Casca. Crassus in specific is in his opinion an idiot with big muscles that could hurt him. He's really confuse why they are friends and while he tries not to be intrusive in Casca's life, he end up talking to Marius Snow just to find out what those two were up to (Marius is not a great help bc he don't care what Crassus do but he have try to say he should not be worry because everybody at home have hear Casca call Crassus "yOU fucking donkey!") He also interrogue poor Julia to know what they are these two doing.

Casca. Oh my dear Casca. I think Casca is such a complex character. He has so many sides and this is my attempt to reconcile most of them. Casca had absentee parents, as a typical rich kid he was raised by nannies, and spent a lot of time at his Aunt Theodora's house. A somewhat bitter, sarcastic, intelligent yet compassionate woman. She always wanted children but was never able to have them and that's why she got divorced. She spoiled her nephews and worked in real estate. Her family had several properties in D4, a touristic place. She liked poetry and is the one who taught Casca about it.

I think Casca as someone a bit self-conscious. His family is quite snobbish and a part of him thinks he is smarter than everyone else. Misunderstood genius, tortured poet with a deep concern for subjects that his silly peers were not interested in. In an attempt to rebel against his father, he becomes more conservative. Replicating the speeches of his political rivals just to prove that he is above the man who spent so many years ignoring him. An edgy young man who thinks people at heart are perhaps savages pretending to be well-mannered. He doesn't have many friends and his older brother and mother are too cheerful for his taste.

Then he meets Crassus who approaches him because Casca is one of the few people who is not easily intimidated by him.

Crassus is very cocky but there is something different about him that Casca will take time to put a name to. In the most unlikely way they are friends. They grow close because they believe they have a lot in common, aren't their older brothers annoying and unbearable? Aren't their parents the worst in the world? Aren't they better than the others? Because they can tell the raw truths to each other's faces and they perceive themselves as rivers going against the current.

A Snow who does not respect his legacy. Who is not so desperate to put his name up. A Highbottom who more reasonable than his family. The only sane one of his line says Crassus.

Crassus likes to get into trouble. Casca follows him because deep down he gives in to Crassus just because he looks handsome under the club lights. And the years go by and Casca who always knew why meetings with Julia with such a pretty face and charming manners were never interesting no matter how much his father and grandparents before they passed away insisted it was good for him. Crassus was always more fun even if he said the most idiotic things in the world and one day they meet Pluriblus and Crassus asks him to confess: "Have you ever kissed a boy?"

Casca ends up in love with the worst man in the world. The same one who will ruin his life but that happens years later. In their college.

Casca for me is a character who learns the hard way. His family has more or less positive opinions about the districts but they are still extremely dehumanizing. His mother loves the art of the districts but couldn't care less if they starve. His brother is very concerned about recapturing a past that is too distant and does not believe the districts have a high culture now in the present. And his father just wants to avoid unrest. His family is far from being like the Snow's and despite its flaws I think that's what influences him to develop some empathy later on, together with the experience of the war and the games, even though his complicated feelings and youth making him very conservative and have a complex of superiority is the reason why he would end up getting closer to someone like Crassus. Someone who has so much hatred and bigotry not only against the districts but feels rejection against aspects Casca is and grow up seeing as normal. All of this influence why Crassus' betrayal haunts him because in some ways it was always predictable.

I also believe Casca's substance abuse starts with harmless things like cough syrup and other things to add to his drinks at parties. It is only until the trial in his family that the stress and the loss of Crassus that gave him the back lefting him alone for his own issues that he abuses his antidepressants. Specifically he suffers a slight self-induced lithium poisoning and after one incident he goes in and out of rehab until he gets his life back on track. It is only until the beginning of the games that he relapses and gradually falls into an addiction he can never recover.

[lostonehero]

What remains after eternity

Did you get what I hinted at?

They've been back in New Texas a year. The gods decided to let them relax for a moment as they adjusted their bodies to deage them because, like hell, they would let them die. Thomas is the oldest, only by 6 minutes, who was humming along to a recording of his father. Thankfully, the five of them managed to get a job at this museum while the fucking deities fix the pesky problem of aging. Thankfully slowly so it's not as painful as last time.

"Hey fuckface." Mae comes up from behind slapping the back of Thomas's head. "Did you hear the news?"

Thomas huffs. "Nice to see you too, Sallie Mae." He turns to face his twin. "No? Aren't you with Alex? You know how they get when left alone."

Mae rolls her eyes. "Alex is fine. There's some massive commotion right by the edge of town. Something about a giant ship landing."

"So? It's not as if we don't get no visitors. The museum is popular." Thomas crossed his arms.

A woman runs between them. "Fuck you guys! Fucking shit!"

"Damnit, Janet, I told you to stay with Alex and Trevor!" Mae huffs.

"The ship! The fucking ship!" Janet takes a breath she ran as full pace to them. "It's the fucking Aurora!"

Mae and Thomas stare at her.

"Ex fucking scuse me?" Thomas looked around to the empty museum floor which only happened at closing. "What the fuck do you mean it's the Aurora?"

Mae shakes her head. "No impossible, that ship was destroyed, and dad was the only one left. I don't give a shit what this museum claims. We all fucking know dad left because that inspector came and picked him up. He wouldn't leave for any other reason."

"Mae's right. The gods would have to get involved to make him leave. If it's him I'm eating my fucking hat." Thomas huffs. "Might as well see what the fucking hype is."

Janet scoffs. "I know damn well what I saw, Tommy. We've seen the impossible." She starts to head back, and her two older siblings follow.

.......

"So what is this important thing you want to share with us?" Nastya raised her brow.

Jonny stares into the curious crowd that has formed about their ship. "You'll realize once I take you there." He frowns and reaches out to hold Tim's hand. "It's not exactly something I have ever shared. I don't even think this museum they built has that information."

"Sad?" Tim's voice was quiet as he was relearning to talk.

"Bittersweet." Jonny sighs. "I'm happy it happened. I'm not happy how it ended."

Tim nodded seemingly understanding, but it was hard to tell as he regained more of himself it was a very slow process.

"Sand Skipper, whatever it is, we'll all be here for you." Valerie ruffles her hair as she steps out barefooted on the burning hot sand.

Marius pats Jonny's shoulder. "I wonder what your museum is like. Did you tell them to call you captain?"

Jonny elbows Marius, but there's a smile on his lips. "Fuck you. I ain't as full of myself as you."

Lyf chuckles, pulling Marius out of the ship. "For once this is a moment I can appreciate my species is practically extinct. I would die from the embarrassment alone for having a museum dedicated to myself."

"I would love that inspector. It would be my personal sanctuary." Marius's nose bleeds red as Lyf punches him in the face, but there was a slight green tinge. "Oho, are you flirting?"

"Fucking shit Jonny look at what you started." Ashes snickers. "Also, your shadow has already wandered off into the sands."

Jonny blinks, staring at the spot Tim was in. "How the fuck does he do that?"

"My theory is the plants." Carmillia sighs. "Mostly because I literally don't understand how they work."

Raphealla tugs Carmillia along. "He still doesn't know what it means to make noise."

Jonny shakes his head. "Ivy?"

"I'm going to grab every book they have on you." Ivy says quietly, walking out of the ship.

"Of course you are." Jonny shakes his head and is the last one to leave Aurora. Brian left silently, giving him a hug. He should probably find Tim first before he shows everyone the memorial cave.

........

"Like Jonny." Tim's voice was incredibly soft.

Trevor and Alex both shriek in surprise.

"Fucking shit. How the in the world did you sneak up on us?" Trevor rubs his face. "Wait fuck me, you're Gunpowder Tim."

"Just Tim." Tim tilts his head staring at the two.

Alex was the odd one with both a male and female set of horns and mixed features, but she obviously takes after Jonny, both of them do. "Ok, just Tim, what are you doing?"

"Look like Jonny." Tim seems to be studying them.

"Right, well, we should." Alex looks to Trevor, who just shrugs. "Why are you here?" They try to ask again.

Tim tilted his head. "Museum."

Trevor raised a brow. "You mean the D'ville museum?"

Tim nodded his head and smiled. "Husband museum."

"He does view you as his partner." Trevor smiles softly. "Alright, you're lucky we work there."

"Yeah we'll show - what the fuck!" Alex slaps Tim's hand off their tail. "What the fuck is wrong with you?"

"Don't get lost." Tim pauses and frowns. "Don't want to get lost."

Alex takes a breath. Something was clearly wrong with him. They knew better than to pry, and he seemed actually scared to get lost. They groan and hold their tail out. "No pulling."

Tim lights up. "Ok!"

Trevor raised his brow at his sibling. "Seriously?"

"Oh fuck off something is clearly wrong with him." Alex huffs. "Besides, there has to be a reason they're here. He can't be the only one on the ship."

"Well, I know that, but still." Trevor sighs. "I know that's a sensitive issue for you. I can just let him grab mine."

"No, it's fine." Alex crosses their arms as they move forward. "He's obviously way too out of it to truly hurt me, and I can defend myself. You're here too, so I'm not worried."

Both look back at Tim who seems completely unaware that they are talking about him.

"Right.... yeah, I really don't think he's a threat. Also, what's up with the greenery?" Trevor looked over Tim, who was wearing a sleeveless version of his trench coat and jorts. He didn't have shoes on and both knee that human feet aren't made for the blazing sand.

"I have no clue. Anyway, we're here." Alex stops, and Tim nearly crashes into them.

Tim points at the building. "Museum?"

Trevor nods. "Yeah, this is the museum. Hopefully, Thomas is here to figure this out, or even Mae."

"Janet fucked off before this ass showed up, so I highly doubt she would be help." Alex turns and yelps in shock.

"Jolly Good, You Made Friends Tim." A wooden being in uniform salutes.

"Hi TS." Tim waves.

"I thought dad made that up." Trevor blinks.

"Mae told us she saw it, but I didn't believe her." Alex shakes their head.

"Nastya Asked Me To Find You On Behalf Of Jonny." TS grins.

Trevor and Alex stare at each other.

"Da- D'ville is here?" Trevor stares at the wooden creature.

"Husband is here." Tim smiles. "I went faster than him."

"You Share Similar Features To Jonny." TS marches forward. "Keep Up Timothy. We Have Much To See."

Alex rushed forward. "W-wait, we work here. We can show you guys around."

"Jolly Good." TS smiles.

Trevor clears his throat. "We can start at the beginning and move from there. It's a lot, so please do follow along and stay close."

Tim nods and holds onto his tail.

Alex mumbling. "Ok, he does that to everyone. I feel less gross now."

.......

"Hey." Ashes stood over the three talking among each other who were looking at Aurora.

Thomas spins around. "Hello!" He glares at his sister's who giggle at him.

Ashes looks to Nastya next to them and raised a brow.

"Don't look at me. You wanted to ask the locals." Nastya rolls her eyes. "I wanted to know what they were planning with Aurora."

Mae snickers with Janet.

"Fuck off both of you." Thomas huffs and his tail lashes behind him. "We ain't doing shit to your ship."

"Not that he can. Ass can't even figure out how to fix a table." Janet snickers.

"He fucking set a toy set on fire." Mae starts to laugh. "There wasn't even any electricity."

Thomas groans. "You both are fucking useless. I'm going back to work."

Ashes smirks. "Where you work, kid?"

"The fuck you calling a kid?" Thomas narrows his gaze at both who are clearly much taller than him.

"You obviously." Nastya rolls her eyes.

The two women stop laughing.

"Relax, Thomas, we ain't here for trouble. We work at the D'ville museum." Mae sighs. "Most foreigners always stop there when they visit anyhow."

Janet shrugs. "We can show you both if you want. It's nothing spectacular if you don't enjoy history." She nudges Thomas.

"Yeah, yeah." Thomas cracks his neck relaxing. "What are you guys even doing in New Texas? It's not exactly a great tourist trap. Most species can't handle the heat."

"I'm normally cold, so this is a much needed change." Nastya smiles. "Why talk so lowly of this museum? I've heard many amazing things D'ville has done to this planet."

"Because it ain't special." Thomas rolls his eyes and marches forward. "We know for a fact that D'ville never wanted a museum and wanted his legacy to fade to dust."

"As everything dies except him." Mae continues. "What's the point of saving it if death forgets you?"

"The people should be smart enough to not fuck up and repeat past mistakes." Janet has a small smile. "And if not, burn it down and start again."

Ashes hums. "Have you practiced that?"

Thomas snorts. "It's a bedtime story. We grew up on them."

"It ain't nothing." Mae clicks her tongue. "The people here will tell you the same shit."

"If yer local the memorial is where you actually visit to be respectful not the fucking museum." Janet crossed her arms. "Everyone should know that."

"They ain't local." Mae elbows her. "Besides, I highly doubt they want to visit a graveyard."

"They could be into that." Thomas shrugs.

"We are not." Nastya says as curiosity eats at them.

"You literally fuck Aurora." Ashes scoffs.

"And?" Nastya rolls her eyes as they reach the museum.

Valerie was outside smoking, seemingly waiting for Jonny to join her. "Everyone else is inside minus my boy. It seems the tour guides have drummed up quite the spectacular show." She looks up, staring past Nastya and Ashes. She nearly drops her cigarette. She easily covers her shock and takes a deep inhale, and blows out smoke.

"Fucking shit they promised no grand shows without us." Thomas rushed in leaving his sisters behind.

"He always gets pissy when he can't lead." Mae chuckles. "However, it's been a while since we've put on a show."

"A show?" Ashes looks bemused.

"Stories, tales to be told, history laid out to behold." Janet motions with her arms. "Entertaiment for the gods and beyond."

"Weather you believe it or not, it happened, and history bares the ugly true of time." Mae continues. "So welcome to the tragic show, and even with endless time, happy endings are near impossible to find. So sit, relax, and don't leave till the tales are finished." She chuckles. "We should probably join them. You three are welcome to watch." She grabs Janet's hand.

"Yeah, come on, it's always good fun." Janet smiles and heads inside with her sister.

Nastya blinks as shock washes over her. "I... you.... they..."

"No fucking way." Ashes stares mouth agape.

Valerie smiles. "I'm a grandmother." She heads to the door. "My sisters are going to be pissed they refused to come."

.......

Jonny frowns as he enters a cave just a ways off from the museum. Something was wrong. This place shouldn't have been touched. He set traps that he knows would last thousands of years. He made his way deeper into the cave to find the memorials. What he didn't expect was to find it to be lived in.

At each of the names he carved lay a makeshift bed. There was a collection of personal items by each bed. And Jonny felt his breath catch in his throat as he saw items that he knew he gave to his children. There was a banner hanging that read. "God's are letting us rest but won't let us fucking die. Our humble home."

Jonny can feel tears stream down his cheeks. They were alive, they vanished because of some bored deities fucks, but they were still alive. The stuff.... oh fuck the stuff. It was worn, yes, but from use, not abandoned time. Oh fuck that means.... he had to get to the museum.

........

The crowd goes wild as the five finish.

"See, I told you." Thomas smiles wide.

"Told us what? We were doing fine without you." Alex rolls their eyes.

Trevor sighs. "You guys weren't even here at the start." He motions to the crowd. "They came without you."

"You wish pea brain." Mae sticks out her tongue. "Ain't that right, Jan.... where did Janet go?"

Thomas scans over the crowd and shrugs. "Who knows, probably to get snacks or something. She's the motherly one."

"No, that's you." Trevor playfully tugs his horns.

"Maybe she just had to fucking pee? Don't make a big deal about it." Alex sighs. "Speaking of which, what bathroom am I feeling today?"

"They aren't even divided by gender." Mae scoffs.

"Oh fuck off." Alex snickers.

Valerie approaches the four. "That was quite impressive."

Thomas pulls to the front. "Thank you, ma'am. We've had a lot of practice."

"I can tell. What's your name, young man?" Valerie smiles.

"Thomas, my twin sister is Sallie Mae, but she goes by Mae."

Mae waves and smiles seemingly studying Valerie.

"Next is Alex. Their full name is Alexander, but they perfer Alex."

Alex smiles and nudges Mae. "It's rude to stare."

"She looks like dad." Mae whispers back.

Alex pauses as their eyes widen. "Bullshit."

"After that would be Janet, but she slipped away, and the youngest is Trevor, but he happens to be the tallest, which compared to other species isn't tall." Thomas chuckles.

Trevor shrugs. "I don't need to be tall. I just need to be taller than you asshat."

Thomas pushes him. "Oh, shut up."

......

"You are way too big for me to carry you." Jonny says but still holds his daughter in his arms. "Do you guys like to give me a heart attack?"

"Can't you've got a ticker." Janet giggles through happy tears burying her face in her father's shoulder.

Jonny chuckles. "Oh, you've got my wit still. Where are your siblings, you little monster."

"Ah! You missed us performing." Janet, let's go and stands. "Dad, holy shit we have so much to tell you. The gods are a bunch of fucks but that doesn't matter."

Jonny sighs. "Use the bathroom first."

"I don't have to."

"Yes, you do. Why else would you split off?" Jonny gives a knowing look as his daughter stomps off to the bathroom and returns after she finishes.

"Don't look so smug." Janet huffs.

"I'm allowed to be smug. I'm your father, and I'm right." Jonny chuckles as Janet hugs him again.

"Yeah, yeah." Janet grabs her father's hand, and they run off to the main showroom.

Valerie was talking to Alex. "Your horns are quite impressive."

"Oh, thank you, it's not that impressive. I merely identify as both of our parts yaknow how it goes, our bodies adapt." Alex shrugs.

"Oh, I understand. I just never seen such a perfect example like yourself." Valerie chuckles as Alex lights up red.

"W-well, thank you." Alex goes to ask about Valerie's scars when a loud crack silents the room.

Thomas was laughing as he shook his head. He ran full force, and his horns collided with his father's. "Fuck." He stops and pulls Jonny into a tight hug.

"Still got that thick skull of yours." Jonny chuckles, patting his back. "Come on..." He stops as that crack alerted the others, and he lay under the co.bined weight of his five kids. He chuckles. "Aren't you lot a bit too old for this?"

The five giggle.

Valerie walks over and smiles. "Seems like you've got your hands full, my little Sand Skipper."

Jonny manages to squirm out from underneath. "Alright, spawns line up." He smiles wide, watching his kids scramble to their feet and line up in age order. His crew was behind him, curious, waiting with baited breath. "These are my children, different parents obviously, but they are all mine don't have those marks anymore but ya know."

"Five times." Valerie smiles and pats her son's back.

"No three times, these two fucks decided to fight for first place." Jonny points to Thomas and Sallie Mae.

"I won." Thomas chuckles until Mae elbows him in the stomach.

"That's what you get for bragging." Jonny smiles. "Ain't ya learn to be humble by now?"

"He ain't." Trevor snickers.

"He's just a mother hen." Janet smiles.

"Eh I told you fucks to take turns." Jonny crosses his arms never losing his smile. He shakes his head and turns. "These are my kids. Apparently, the gods have taken a liking to them and refuse to let them die. Guess we got that in common. Don't you say a fucking word you awful cunt of a doctor."

Carmillia opens her mouth, and no words come out as Valerie puts away her smoking gun.

"Again, you have to teach me how to shoot that quick." Jonny shakes his head. "Anyway, this is my mother, the actual first mechanism, and your grandmother. And this is my crew, and a former space cop."

"Asshole." Lyf mumbles with no real bite still in shock from the fact Jonny has children, and they love him. Also, the fact that apparently he gave birth to them, he was in no way prepared to learn that about the man.

"That is Lyfrassir Edda, as you know from the bifrost, and Yog Sogoth special little man." Jonny snickers.

"Again you're a fucking dick." Lyf rolls his eyes. "How the fuck did you even have kids?"

"New Texans are a hermaphrodite species. We have both working sexes. Our horns present on what gender we prefer." Alex raised a brow like this was common knowledge. "How long have you've been traveling with my dad?"

"Wow, there a bunch of yous." Nastya smiles. "I like them."

"That is Nastya." Jonny smiles. "Next is Ashes. They can tell you how to run an empire and hoard gold for tax purposes."

Ashes tips their hat. "You're going to have to teach me how to do that smokey eye, Trevor."

"It's actually genetic, but thanks?" Trevor shrugs.

Jonny sighs. "Their asking how you get your eye markings to pop."

"Ohhhhh yeah I i can teach you." Trevor nods.

"I want to test all of them." Raphaella is held back by Lyf from going forward.

"I will gut you." Jonny scowls. "That's Raphaella. Stay away from her lab. Yes, Mae, you can stab her if she tries anything, but no biting."

Mae crosses her arms. "That just ruins the fun of it."

"That goes for Marius as well. He is actually poisonous, and it will kill you." Jonny points to Marius who waves.

"Is that the same Marius that made you grow mushrooms in your mouth?" Thomas asks, looking over at Marius.

"Yes." Marius smiles

"Weird." Thomas hums, and Marius deflates.

Lyf snickers.

"Now the one with red hair and not at all suited for this environment is Ivy. She's going to probably steal your journals." Jonny shrugs.

"I will give them back after they are uploaded to my archive." Ivy replies emotionless.

"I Am The Toy Soilder." TS salutes.

"You're still as creepy as ever." Mae frowns.

"Thank You." TS smiles.

"Our pilot, drumbot Brian, who is now not entirely metal but bio metal due to the gods keeping him as a pet." Jonny motions to Brian, who waves.

"Do you still have the switch?" Janet smiles with curiosity.

"No?" Brian raised a concerned brow.

"Damn, that would have been cool." Jannet snaps her fingers.

"And finally, this is Tim, my husband. He's still recovering, but he can talk again and answers to his name." Jonny smiles softly as he could at Tim.

Tim smiles. "Babies?"

"Tim, they're adults." Jonny sighs. "It's a."

"Your babies." Tim seems to correct himself.

Jonny seems to light up. "Yes, they are my babies. Tim's recovering, as you can see, there isn't anything quite like human cruelty." He pauses. "You fucks can move I ain't your keeper."

Jonny's kids giggle and begin to crowd around Jonny.

......

"What happened to Tim?" Mae sat next to her father.

Jonny frowns and leans back in his seat. Tim was sitting with Trevor and Janet. Alex was talking to Ashes, and Thomas was in a debate with Lyf and Marius. "As I said, humans are cruel creatures. He's recovering from the removal of toxins and uranium removed from his brain, preventing it from properly healing for thousands of years. He's slowly regaining his memory, and Raphealla just gave him back his voice, but it's not.... I'm trying to adjust and wait."

Mae leaned on her father's shoulder. "That sounds like something you hate."

"Well, I've changed. I fell in love with you guys first."Jonny smiles softly.

"I think marriage is supposed to come before kids." Mae elbows, Jonny who chuckles.

"Since when do we ever do anything properly?" Jonny sighs. "So is what Janet said true? These deities really stopping you guys from aging and dying?"

Mae nods. "Yeah, picked us off as soon as however turned 25. That's why we disappeared." She frowns. "For what it's worth, none of us wanted to leave."

"Well, kids are supposed to branch out from their parents." Jonny smiles, brushing a stray lock out of Mae's face.

"Since when do we ever do things the normal way?" Mae smiles back gently, headbutting her father.

"I suppose you're correct." Jonny smiled, pulling her into a half hug. "So tell me of your travels."

"I think the weirdest thing was seeing a you before us. Also TS is really fucking creepy. The gods don't excatly care about timelines." Mae smiles. "You were a real violent prick."

"Of course I was." Jonny hums. "And TS grows on you."

"I don't like that." Mae makes a face.

Jonny chuckles.

........

Tim was following Alex around, not saying anything, but it was obvious what he was doing. He was humming something that only made sense to him.

Alex sighs and stops, and Tim crashes into them but doesn't fall. "Why are you following me? Look, dad already explained whatever is going on with you, and I get that it sucks but why are you following me?" They growl.

Tim tilts his head. "Jonny's baby." He points at Alex.

"Yes, Jonny is my father." Alex pauses watching Tim get frustrated. "That isn't what you meant." They sigh. "Come on ill help you find my dad."

"No." Tim crosses his arms, and the vines seem to move and twist. "I'm Jonny's husband."

"Yes, and I'm happy for you two. Haven't seen dad happy with someone in a long time. Or, like ever, to be honest." Alex raised their brow as Tim grabbed their shoulders.

"My babies now?" Tim stares down at them.

Alex pauses a moment for it to register. They smile softly. "Oh, dad doesn't like to share."

"My babies?" Tim seems to be getting excited.

"Sure, why not? Second dad, then I uh Whoa." Alex breaks out into a wide grin as Tim picks them up.

"My baby now!" Tim grins walking off carrying Alex.

Alex is giggling as Tim carrys them into the next room.

Thomas raised a brow, spotting the two. "So what's up with that?"

Brian pauses and follows his gaze. "I really don't know, but they both look happy."

Thomas sighs, approaching Tim and Alex. "What did y- fuck."

Tim has adjusted Alex on one shoulder and put Thomas on his other shoulder. "Babies."

Alex starts to laugh.

Thomas red faced. "W-what? Put me down!"

Brian can't help but smile. "Hey, Tim what are you doing?"

"Jonny's babies, now my babies." Tim smiles brightly.

Alex laughed harder.

Thomas groans. "I appreciate that you want to take us in, but we are adults and just put us down. We have a dad already."

"My babies now!" Tim grins. "Gonna collect."

Brian sighs and smiles. "Tim you can't carry all of them."

"Babies!" Tim marches forward.

"I don't think that will stop him." Alex sighs.

"This is humiliating." Thomas groans.

Brian follows them along. "I, for one, want to see how this goes."

Trevor snickers spotting the three. "Oh, are you two in time out? This is fu- Ugh." He lets out a soft groan being thrown on top of Thomas. "What the fuck?"

"One of us!" Alex giggles.

Thomas sighs. "You are way to fucking happy with this."

"Babies!" Tim giggles, not slowing down in the slightest.

"I... is this how humans adopt?" Trevor sounded incredibly confused.

"The fuck if I know, but dad's gonna be pissed, and I for one can't wait to see that." Alex chuckles. "I think he thinks that we're his now because he's married to dad."

"So that means he's going to carry us?" Trevor huffs.

"To be fair, I thought he would collapse by now. Dad always talked about how skinny he was well is." Thomas sighs.

"If he collapses, we're going on top of him." Trevor sighs. "Oh hey Brian."

Brian waves. "I want to see where this goes."

"All aboard second dad train!" Alex pumps their fist, not paying attention as Janet is scooped up and on top of her. "Fuck."

"Hey guys, so why are we being carried?" Janet hums, holding down a bag of chips. "Want some?"

"Why are you fine with this?" Thomas huffs.

Janet shrugs the best she can in her position. "I know Tim's mind isn't all back, and he seems happy. Also, I can't wait to hear what dad has to say about this."

"Am I the only sane one here!?" Thomas groans.

Trevor chuckles. "You're just anti fun."

"Am not. He's going to hurt himself." Thomas sighs. "Just because they can't die doesn't mean they can't get hurt."

"To be fair to Tim, he hasn't actually broken a sweat, let alone stop." Brian muses.

"Tim hasn't sto - Ah." Mae barely has a chance to register as Tim scoops her up. "Why are we being carried?"

"Babies are mine now!" Tim smiles wide.

"That doesn't really explain this." Mae blinks in a bridal carry.

"Tim married dad, so he is claiming us as his own kids or babies." Thomas rolls his eyes.

"I honestly thought he would collapse with two of us." Alex grabs the chips from Janet.

"I wonder how much he can actually carry now." Trevor muses.

The sound of Valerie laughing is heard. She is cackling bent over.

Jonny stares. "Tim put my children down."

"My babies!" Tim smiles wide.

"First, they're adults." Jonny sighs. "And they aren't yours." He shrieks when Tim grabs him with a vine and holds him up as well.

"All mine!" Tim smiles.

Valerie laughs harder.

"Fucking put me down! For fucks sake Tim." Jonny huffs.

"No." Tim hums.

Jonny's kids start laughing.

Brian takes a few photos.

:Aurora chat:

Brian posted a picture.

Ashes: When the fuck did Tim get shredded?

Ivy: This is actually cute.

Lyf: That's really adorable.

Marius: now I miss my kids

Lyf: you had children?

Ashes: What the fuck

Marius: I adopted, and they died in the civil war regardless kids went first yaknow taken out and shot.

Nastya: That's really depressing

Lyf: I'm gonna find you now.

Raphealla: that's really fucked up.

Ashes: yeah fuck it I'm joining you two fuckheads

Brian: the more I learn about your life on your homeworld the more I want to blow up an actual planet like Tim.

Valerie posted a picture of Tim with all of Jonny's kids and Jonny on top laying on top of him.

Valerie: All my children in one place. Also, Marius, I'll make you some stew with a nice warm mug of tea.

Marius: fuck yeah stew

TS: I Have Joined The Pile.

......

"So I've been meaning to talk to you." Thomas leans against the wall of the cave. "You're Yog Sogoth acolyte, or whatever you call yourself."

Lyf furrows his brows. "What?"

Thomas raised a brow. "The god picked you and made you immortal. You're not the only one of them yaknow. We're actually waiting for them to be fair. Think this is the first time they've dropped us off here to deage us slowly? Nothing but toys to those fucks but eh we got to see our father again so it ain't that bad. Real tempted to take his offer to join yaknow, but someone has to keep the four others from killing each other."

"There's others like me?" Lyf blinks stunned.

"Yeah, did you think there was only one god? I mean fuck there's the god killer running around the stars and you think there's only one? Fuck I would kill to meet the god killer." Thomas shakes his head. "Can't reverse what's been done yaknow, you'll be alive till the end of time itself, so will everyone else. Hopefully, the gods keep us around. We can spend that end with our dad."

"God killer?" Lyf frowns. "There's a person like that?"

"I know it's a woman, but besides that, she's impossible to track, but the gods adore her even with a name like hers." Thomas sighs. "So what are your plans for eternity?"

"Figure out what the fuck it means to be an acolyte." Lyf frowns. "Stay with Marius and the others. How long do you guys stay here?"

Thomas shrugs. "It really depends on how old we are when we are dropped off. We were in our 70s, and now we are approaching 25 again. Normally, the others are here within the first decade to chill and spend time on New Texas while they wait for us to deage."

"What's it like getting older?" Lyf crosses his arms.

"Peaceful. I like the gray hairs I get, but it never lasts." Thomas motions to head back deeper into the cave. "Come on, we've got enough stuff. You guys can stay here with us as long as you like instead of going back to Aurora."

Lyf nods and follows him deeper into the cave.

Jonny is nodding off next to Janet and Mae. Tim was using his legs as a pillow. Marius was on the other side. He made a nest of the blankets and pillows he was given. Valerie was reading a story quietly to Trevor and Alex, who were doing their best to stay awake to listen.

"Lyf, join me." Marius whines. "You belong in my nest."

Thomas raised a brow.

"Don't ask, his species apparently nests when expecting or in heats, and he has been doing that for that past decade and can't explain why his behavior changed. Raphaella thinks it's his body healing, mistaking it with child, or he's horny. At this point, I can't tell you the answer either." Lyf sighs.

"Huh, I thought our friends were the fucking weird ones." Thomas pauses. "I really thought dad was exaggerating."

Lyf shakes his head, heading close to Marius, and he is grabbed and put in the nest. Marius is purring loudly latched onto Lyf.

Thomas wanted to ask healing from what, but he decided that's a question for tomorrow.

.......

Hands nudge Jonny. He huffs and screws his eyes shut tighter. "Is anyone dying?"

"Well, no.. but." Mae stops.

"Is anyone violently ill?" Jonny sighs.

"Well, maybe." Mae pauses.

Jonny sits up, raising a brow. "The fuck you mean may-" his ears twitch finally hearing a soft haunting melody from a violin. He could feel his stomach drop and bile rise in his throat. "Mae, wake your siblings and get them out."

"Dad?"

"Sallie Mae, listen to me. Wake up your siblings and get out of this fucking cave." Jonny's tone didn't leave room for am argument as Mae rushed off waking everyone.

Besides quiet confusion, one glance at their father made them line up and out of the cave.

Tim sat up, confused. "Violin?"

Jonny watched Lyf slowly wake up. He rubbed his eyes.

"Marius, I told you this is an awful way to wake me up, especially after everything I told you." Lyf yawns nudging Marius.

Marius stops playing and smiles, staring at Lyf. "Hello there, I'm Marius Von Raum. Who are you?"

Lyf swallows. "Marius, this isn't funny."

"Do I know you?" Marius pauses. "I'm waiting for my friends."

"No, no, no. No!" Lyf snaps as a rainbow static fills the cavern, killing every living thing in its path.

Jonny wakes up to singed clothes, and thankfully, nothing else is ruined, there wasn't even blood stains. "Hello?"

A haunting violin begins to play.

The sound of Lyf crying is heard. "F-fuck. I'm sorry. I'm so fucking sorry. I didn't mean to... Marius, I'm sorry. I'll wait for you. I'll wait for you like always."

Tim tilted his head. "Marius is sick."

Jonny nods. "Yeah, he is." He gets up. "Come on, I have to make sure my kids didn't get caught in the crossfire."

Tim nods and grabs his tail, and follows him out.

.......

Valerie raised her brow. "Why are you five up and outside at this time in the morning?"

"Why are you?" Alex retorts.

"Nightmare, and to use the bathroom." Valerie crossed her arms. "Now tell me again why are you out here?"

"I woke up dad because Marius was playing his violin and didn't stop. Dad told us to leave, and so we're waiting." Mae sighs.

Valerie frowns. "Shit." She lights up a cigarette. "Lyf isn't going to handle this well."

"What do you mean?" Janet raised a brow before jumping back as a rainbow static shoots out of the cave, thankfully not hitting any of them.

"That mostly." Valerie sighs. "Lyf has no control of his powers when strong emotions take hold, and he's been practicing using his powers as well. I ain't certain, but Marius probably is gone again."

Trevor frowns. "He did mention something about a bioweapon."

Everyone is silent as Jonny stumbles out with Tim. The haunting violin follows the two as Lyf is directing Marius to exit.

[apoptoses]

Different anon but I recently watched crash because of your james spader posting and I loved it!! I also am exclusively picturing daniel as him now, he’s the perfect face claim. Also would love to hear your film recs!

yessss, it's such an insane movie, it's SO good! and it's not vampire-relevant at all but somehow a man who chases vampires and dates one and a man who chases the sexual thrill of car accidents are just two sides of the same coin imo

(and he is perfect, right?? welcome to the club 🥹)

so my offical spader recs are:

Sex Lies and Videotape

Spader plays Graham, a gentle weirdo who is impotent and has a kink for interviewing women about their sex lives and then watching the videos of said interviews back when he's alone.

watch it for: the interviewing the impotency combo have huge vampire!daniel vibes. he's so non-threatening, so politely weird, so eager to lie back and let a pretty auburn haired person touch his face. 100% molloy vibes.

Crash

you've already seen this, anon, but for anyone who hasn't: Spader is James Ballard, a guy who gets into a car accident and discovers a whole underground culture of weirdos who are horny for car crashes, and keep escalating their dangerous sex acts to find new thrills

watch it for: listen this movie is so outrageously horny and all about putting other people's lives at risk to get your own thrill, and if that isn't vampire adjacent i don't know what is. also the wife of spader's character is so emotionally flat and full of clinical vocabulary. the scene with her and spader in bed, talking about him sleeping with a man- it's armand and daniel, just trust me.

Secretary

a CLASSIC. he's the original Mr. Grey, deeply repressed dom who hires maggie gyllenhal as his secretary and ends up in a bdsm relationship with her. it's a very sweet movie with lots of kink, it's a lot of fun.

watch it for: the theme of letting your guard down and being fully understood. he's not at his most molloy here, but it's just a great film and gives you lots to think about in terms of what constitutes a relationship and letting another person in.

Dream Lover

Spader has a one night stand turned marriage with Madchen Amick, with all sorts of psychological twists and guessing games about who is the insane one and who is lying about their entire life.

watch it for: he's gorgeous, the sex scenes are 🥵 and if you squint you can blur Madchen Amick into looking like Armand lol he goes from gentle lover to mentally unhinged to murderer and looks beautiful the whole time, what else do you want?

Jack's Back

i don't even know how to explain this movie except to say that it's an 80's serial killer flick that's so bad it's good. Spader plays twins so you get to see him as the good boy and the bad boy here.

watch it for: the twin he plays in the first 1/4 of the movie is very molloy, so sweet and flirty and dedicated to his job. he does a lot of great eye rolling and arguing and then gets into the most weirdly kinky bad spot before his brother shows up. lots of nice shots of spader bloody, sweaty, smoking, exhausted, or some combination of all four. pure 80s trash but molloy adjacent in that he's a beautiful eyeful getting into trouble.

Bad Influence

More schlock in which Spader strikes up a friendship with bad boy Rob Lowe and gets his life ruined/is convinced to do some awful shit before embarking on a quest for revenge.

watch it for: Spader looking gorgeous in glasses, starting out innocent and then doing lots of unhinged things. it's more 'so bad it's good' stuff and seeing him be gentle but also get violent gives me so many thoughts about vampire daniel.

Stargate

A sci-fi flick in which he plays a physics nerd who is able to open a portal to another planet. Basically ancient aliens meets terminator.

watch it for: his character is literally named daniel and he's so sweetly passionate about his science stuff/ancient languages, very 'daniel molloy: pupil of marius' tbh

Other fun movies, but which are scraping the bottom of the barrel in terms of quality or how often he appears:

•Tuff Turf (he is SO pretty in this one) •Cocaine: One Man's Seduction (watch a compilation of his scenes via youtube for some 80's daniel/angry daniel fodder) •Pretty in Pink (he's a wealthy 80s bad boy who's only in part of the film, the visuals are nice for picturing Night Island Daniel) •The New Kids (an awful movie in which hs plays an awful person but he gets covered in blood and has the kinkiest scene where he gets tied up, when you see it you'll know) •A Killer in the Family (more god awful stuff, but he's so so pretty and so permanently annoyed I couldn't look away) •Storyville (so, so dry but the jiujitsu scene and the kiss scene with the lawyer lady are worth seeing) •Curtain Call (really, really hard to hunt down but it's a cute romcom where he lives in a haunted house and is permanently annoyed, also him dancing with his love interest is so sweet and lovely i'm still picturing armand and daniel dancing like that)

I think this breaks down 80% of his filmography lol But really, watch sex lies and videotape, crash, and secretary for sure!! The rest are just excellent oggling material/potential smut inspo ♥

[fenicenera83]

Would I be here or anywhere else if it were not for you?

Oh boy, to think I've been wanting to do this post for a long time, but I always put it off. Now it has already happened that for the Marius/Daniel ship I have argued, mainly because of what is written in those two lines in, I simply call it, 'Atlantis'. Forgive the little dedication I have for that book. I was told that 'Marius lost Daniel to Armand' has only one meaning, and only one way of interpretation, that there is no room for anything else, except of course the throwing away of one for the other. And I make no apologies for saying that this pisses me off. First of all, because I love Daniel's character, and his journey of pain and loss of self is something that has always made me think a lot. The thing that causes me more annoyance, however, than those who support this theory, is the fact that in my eyes, it creates a Daniel Molloy, who is a profiteering, carrion, and emotionless bastard, and Daniel IS NOT THAT. We can talk endlessly, meta, canon, headcanon, there is no way you can convince me that this is the case and that it is justified that it is so. Daniel has his flaws, like everyone else, but he's a loving, giving character, even when it hurts. What actually happened, I personally think, is because of Daniel's good heart. In fact, at that moment in the story, everyone was against Armand, no one shared his vision, no one wanted to listen to him, so much so that, as we know, even Marius gets into a very serious discussion with him, which leads to harsh sentences. What I think, is that Daniel understood Armand's loneliness and isolation and also his anger and frustration, that he sensed how he was suffering from that situation, how being openly against Marius marked him, because only Marius has the power to generate such strong feelings in Armand. Conflictual and non-conflictual. I think that the moment Daniel understood, he decided to comfort Armand. Perhaps, it could be that even Daniel himself shared Armand's view on this problem. Be that as it may, I am not talking about love in the romantic/passionate sense but about a different kind of love, seeing someone we love suffer is destructive, seeing their pain and inability to make themselves understood, together with the fear of what they fear might happen to those he loves as well. This is a Daniel I like, one who is him, a Daniel who, in order not to leave someone dear to him alone, decides to separate himself from the One who saved him, and loved and protected and cherished him. An act of altruism, dictated by the need to live up to the one who brought him back to life. Marius taught him to trust again, to open up again, to love again. So what I think those words mean is this, that Daniel followed Armand because he feared for him, so as not to leave him alone.

Also because in fact, those two lines do not speak of love, no romantic/sensual love is mentioned. There are no references to anyone's heart or need. Yes exactly I'm drawing a parallel with Blood Communion and where Anne Rice, clearly spoke of, an Armand needing Marius and an Armand reopening his heart to Marius. In 'Atlantis' there is none of this. I firmly believe that the only reason Daniel decided to follow Armand is out of empathy, and it is perhaps also because seeing Marius so convinced, so committed, so dedicated, he thought that at that moment Marius did not need him there. Which, as we know, is not true, Marius suffered greatly from that detachment. I believe that in good faith Daniel did not realise this. And obviously, because I always have to put tenderness between Marius and Daniel, Marius let him go, because he loves him, respects him, trusts him and his judgement, and would never impose anything on him. And this is love, the dedicated kind, the strong and pure kind, where you are afraid, you feel pain, but you leave it up to the one you love to embrace his or her own life, with his or her own decisions.There, that is my final and personal thought on this. The way I see Daniel Molloy, and the way I see how he would never hurt Marius, how he would never go against him, how everything they went through together supporting each other created a unique and unbreakable bond between them, blessed by love.

[inapat17]

Animation shows: The art of drawing society (4/4)

Grandpa Walrus

Cartoons are a colorful medium that creators like to use to depict their vision of our modern world. Therefore this series of articles will be dedicated to animated TV, internet shows and movies of this last year which humorously describes our contemporary society. Today a short film that explores different ways of grieving. Children find death to be a brutal and incomprehensible experience. “Grandpa Walrus” explores the imagination of children who struggle to cope with a tragic event: the death of their grandfather.

Grandpa Walrus or Pépé le morse is an animated short film directed by Lucrèce Andreae which was awarded best animated short at the 2018 César awards. The movie starts with a panorama of the cold and grey beach. Twelve-years-old Lucas, our narrator, explains the expression “grandpa walrus”: “One of my friends told me that in Russia, there are some kind of huge guys who spend their lives tanning, even when it’s cold. They are called walruses! I think that Grandpa was a walrus. And now he is dead”. Olivia who is the mother, Granny, the twins Jade and Mélissa, and Lucas who is carrying his baby brother Marcus are out in the middle of October on a cold and windy beach to pay a last tribute to their grandpa. The atmosphere is not at all ceremonious. The twins are talking about boys, the grandmother falls on the ground in devotion every two steps and Olivia is just trying to get through this nonsense. Finally arriving on the beach the family is faced with the horrifying vision of tons of cigarette butts spread on the sand forming the silhouette of the grandfather’s body. Then each of the characters split upon the immense beach mourning their grandfather in different ways. The young character’s imaginations come to life. Lucas is facing a frightful vision of a humanoid walrus smoking a cigarette. The twins live a near death experience when they get attacked by plants and little Marius is running away in the oceans.

It’s a deeply poetic animated film which explores dark themes such as death and mourning through visions that are both beautiful and nightmarish. Nevertheless, the characters remain very realistic. They shout, insult each other and argue. Although they are experiencing the same tragic event, they don’t understand each other. While Lucas and the grandma seem to have the same admiration for the patriarch, Olivia remains  resentful toward a man who for her was selfish and who died a pathetic death just like he lived a pathetic life.

On this large beach, the characters are reduced to their littleness. Lucrèce Andreae's film is a story that is both personal and universal. For the film, she drew inspiration from her personal life. In an interview, she said that the idea for her film came from a friend that lives in Saint Petersburg. She told her the story of the “walruses”: men who spent their lives sunbathing whether it’s winter or summer. For the beach, she was inspired by the Atlantic coast where she spent time with her parents. Finally, the small eclectic group was more or less a depiction of her family.

Death is a universal subject. Lucrèce Andreae also used international references to make this poetic animated short film. She chose to set the movie on a beach in reference to Shoji Ueda’s photos. The beach setting is something universal. For Lucrèce Andreae Shoji’s photos are both poetic and absurd.  These two adjectives can also be used to qualify her film. The vulgar and grotesque characters of Italian cinema were a source of inspiration for the characters of this animated short film. Moreover, the fantastic visions in a realistic setting are a clear reference to Hayao Myasaki's Japanese animated movies.

© Shoji Ueda

Spirited away, Hayao Myazaki, 2001

In the film statement of intent, the director writes her motivation for making this film. These words can also serve as a conclusion to this series of articles: “As Charlie Chaplin once said: “ Life is a tragedy in close up, but it is a comedy in wide shot ” and I am convinced that you just need a little distance from things so you can laugh at anything”. 

In this series of articles I wanted to show that cartoons are mediums through which we can talk about anything. If I haven't convinced the readers, I hope at least you've been able to discover some great animated movies or TV shows.

[la-pheacienne]

What are your thoughts on Eponine? (I haven’t read the novel, I have only watched the Liam Neeson movie (which didn’t have Eponine) and a recording of the musical).

Thank you for the ask I love getting Les Mis asks 💖

So keep in mind that I have read this book 13 years ago so I don't remember a lot of details. I remember the core idea of her character though and she was one of the most badass characters in the book, I loved her.

So Hugo initially had another named planned for her but changed it after Baudelaire dedicated a poem to him (Les petites vieilles from Les Fleurs du mal) that goes like this:

These dislocated wrecks were women once,

Were Eponine or Lais! hunchbacked freaks,

Though broken let us love them! they are souls.

And that is a very good introduction to her character.

Her first trait that needs to be mentioned is hunger. Eponine was a hungry, very hungry young teen, starved, to be more exact, she had a horrendous appearance, some teeth missing, she was extremely dirty, her clothes had huge wholes, she walked barefoot I think. Hunger was so absolute and omnipotent in Eponine, as in a lot of characters from the book, that it seemed to completely erase any hint of personality, or agency, or personhood really. She seemed to not even be a human being at all, she was just a starved girl who resembled a starved animal more than a person. And that's the thing with hunger, it's so catastrophic and definite that it completely annihilates a person. You can't have free will, you can't have spiritual autonomy, you're just that, hungry. Hunger in Les Mis is the ultimate and most substantial form of violence, and Eponine embodies that.

"The grace of her youth was struggling against the hideous old age brought on by debauchery and poverty".

What hunger also does is it gives birth to the lowest, most debased, most inhuman form of monster. That's Eponine's parents, les Thenardiers, and I honestly cannot recall a single literary character that is more appalling than them. They were appalling people before they became so poor, but poverty turned them into actual vultures. So in this "cocktail Molotov" of moral depravity plus extreme poverty and hunger, what chance does Eponine have of becoming something more than a vulture herself? A vulture, or a living, lifeless, soulless corpse, like her sister.

Yet that's not Eponine's arc. Eponine starts as a bully to Cosette while she was a kid, then becomes this hungry street smart kid, then an accomplice in a gang of criminals (burglars, thieves etc) then she goes to prison for a short time. She is in love with Marius, and so she's torn between her jealousy and the desire to make him happy, that is why she helps Marius find Cosette's house and leads him there, then she observes them every night they meet in the garden. She even prevents her gang from entering Cosette's house, because she knows that Marius would be destroyed if anything happened to Cosette. That's the part of the book where she stops them :

"Please yourself, you won't get in. I can't be the daughter of a dog seeing as I am the daughter of a wolf! There are six of you. What's that to me? You're men. Well, I'm a woman. You don't frighten me, that's for sure. I'm telling you, you won't get inside this house because I don't want you to. If you come any nearer I'll bark. I told you, I'm the 'cab'. I couldn't care less about you. Now be on your way, I've had enough of you! Go anywhere you like, but don't come here, I won't let you! You use your knives, I'll use my feet, it's all the same to me. So come on, then!"

And then, after this very selfless act, she actively manages to separate Cosette and Marius. She scares Valjean so he decides to move, and takes Cosette's letter for Marius with no intention of giving it to him, then leads Marius to the barricades so that they can die together there. And then, she dies for him after giving him Cosette's letter :

“She let her head fall back upon Marius' knees and her eyelids closed. He thought that poor soul had gone. Eponine lay motionless; but just when Marius supposed her for ever asleep, she slowly opened her eyes in which the gloomy deepness of death appeared, and said to him with an accent the sweetness on which already seemed to come from another world:

"And then, do you know, Monsieur Marius, I believe I was a little in love with you."

She essayed to smile again and expired.”

So Eponine was a morally ambiguous person but an exceptional character, moving from debauchery, spite and depravity to bravery and love. She doesn't believe in the Cause, but she loves Marius and she dies for him in the barricades, thus her death is as honorable as any other person that gave their lifes in the barriades. I think Eponine's function in the narrative is to show that it is in fact, possible, for an exceptional character to be born out of total material, moral and spiritual decay. It is possible for a human being to preserve the quality of a person, even an exceptional person, and rise above theIr horrendous circomstances. She's a tragic character but the underlying message is ultimately optimistic, in a way.

Of course she was not presented accurately in the musical, she was sexualised in a way that the supposed "conflict" between her and Cosette looks like the conflict of a the popular high school girl vs the high school underdog which is SO not the case in the book.

[saintarmand]

i really want to read the vampire chronicles (I’m halfway through book one) but whenever I find snippets or pdf files of the sequels, the writing seems…bad.

Are these just bad uploads, or are the books actually written like??? it seems unlikely AR wouldn’t have had an editor but the writing just seems very hard to follow after book 1.

lmao... yeah those are not fake uploads the quality of her writing varies WILDLY not just book to book but chapter to chapter. she is very much capable of amazing writing but also just doesn't do that a lot of the time. this is also a series where fucking anything can happen (jesus AND aliens) some of the buckwild shit in there is the stuff of legend. the general wisdom in the fandom is that the first three are the ones you have to read if you wanna sit at the table and the rest only if you're really dedicated.

the vampire lestat is mostly good although also very cringe at times and i personally don't give a fuck about the parts with marius towards the end lol. if the first chapter is too unbearable to get through (shut UP lestat!!!) you can just skip to the next one where it really picks up as he gets into the "real story" meaning his backstory, cause the beginning is just an intro that won't matter until it loops back at the very end. i do think this book is very much worth reading! the best stuff in it i like more than the best stuff in the first book.

with the queen of the damned, that's the one that actually made me question if i was reading a first draft at times but then it does also include one of my favorite parts of the whole series which is the story of daniel aka the devil's minion it's sooooo fun and known to make ppl go crazy AND because part 1 of the book is basically an anthology you can read it separately as a short story if you want! my other fav from that book is the story of baby jenks and the fang gang which can also be read separately. the rest is take it or leave it for me, there's some cool fun stuff but it was a huge chore for me to get through the whole book... so if you wanna take it on be warned!

the rest of the series similarly also does have some good stuff in it but you kinda do have to sit through a Lot of garbage to find it 😔 and some of the garbage is garbage in a fun way and some is not

and yeah she did actually fire her editor is the story i've heard so that explains that

[tunichtgxt-archive]

            there's usually some stragglers after work hours . . . some trying to finish up on their reports  ,  others preparing for trials . . . but a normal staple of the night crew is always one ARTEM WING  .  liqiu would sometimes be one of the few people that stayed beyond opening hours of the firm  ,  though during those times  ,  she's accompanied by artem  ,  working on either a NXX case or another joint case they picked up  .

            having decided that she couldn't focus anymore on her work  ,  liqiu gathered her items and got ready to leave but a quick glance towards where artem's office situated  ,  she could see the lights are still on  ,  the beams pouring through the large windows that formed his personal office  .  there's a brief moment of pondering before liqiu makes up her mind  .

            bidding goodbye to her colleagues  ,  liqiu walks towards artem's office  ,  she spots him buried deep in his work  .  she hesitates in disturbing him . . . so she stands quietly  ,  leaning against the doorframe  ,  head resting against the door as her arms hug her coat and purse to her figure  .  she's always found this side of artem to be hot  ,  handsome . . . being so focused in work made him look handsome  ;  but the slight DISHEVELED image he had on right now  --  perhaps thinking the office to be empty and being alone  ,  had undid his tie and rolled up his sleeves  --  makes him hot  .

            her eyes flickers to the clock on the wall  ,  hand moving to knock on the door to gather the other's attention  ,  ❝  it's late . . .  ❞  she murmurs  ,  still leaning against the door  ,  ❝  and i don't wanna go home alone  ,  ❞  she hums  ,  hoping to entice artem to call it a night early . . .

artem was still working on a particular nxx case which seemed tied to the theft of money by a rather young burglar. he had taken up the case because he believed the perpetrator was not the young male. too many hints pointed towards someone else, the same sort of hints that also seemed evident in the nxx case. it could be that it was the same person; leaving particular clues behind or it was simply coincidence. perhaps even admiration for a case that had been part of the news. artem knew that people could become real monsters, worse than those in fairy tales or fantasy stories. the world could be a lonely and cruel place.

he had loosened his tie, ran a hand through his hair as he took down a few notes but when he heard the knock on the door, did he lift his head to look at liqiu. why did she stay behind so late? sometimes she was too dedicated for her own good. it irked artem a little, but for nothing in the world would he send her home alone, when he could accompany her. artem nodded, throwing on his black jacket and grabbing his bag before following the lady outside. "I'll give you a ride home."

he opened the door for her with a small smile, letting her tinier frame enter the car before he followed suit, making sure she was buckled up before staring the engine to driver her to her flat. one of these days, he had told himself, that he'd perhaps follow her inside, but only if she were to invite him... and artem knew as well as marius and the others that liqiu was rather out of reach...

[vampire-sugar]

Hi there! Just popping by to reply to your post on using s02 to present Lestats backstory. So season 2 is officially a Louis centric season (mentioned by both the showrunners and the actors) where Louis will be psychologically be dealing with losing Lestat, meeting the Paris coven, falling for armand, losing claudia and losing lestat again in a way. Also we will spend quite a lot of time meeting the paris coven, claudia meeting Madeline and the relationship that will go down, plus Daniel-Armand-Louis in Dubai. (Also potentially devils minion). That is quite a lot for one season already. The thing with the Vampire Lestat aka book 2 and what will be season 3 is that everything regarding lestat that we see in season 1 and 2 is not exactly the real lestat. It's a version and a heavily biased one at that. The tidbits shown in season 2 ( lestat meeting armand) will again be though armands eyes or Louis eyes. Season 3 must then be lestat doing what book 2 the vampire lestat set out to do, showing us who lestat finally is without looking at it from someone elses' perspective. And in my personal opinion you can't do that without spending time at his ancestral home showcasing the familial abuse he went through or meeting Nicky or killing the wolves and what that meant, Gabrielle, finding freedom in paris only to lose it so cruelly, Magnus, and the tragedy that followed. 2 episodes won't cover it. Anyway apologies for the rambling hope you find it a little bit interesting and fun!

Very true! A lot going on in s2 already, and they did say that s2 is gonna be a Claudia season ✨ and obviously an Armand/Loumand season ✨ and a lot of Claudia and Louis stuff going on✨ Very Louis heavy love to see it. I just think that there’s not enough going on in TVL for s3 to be solely dedicated to it. It’s Lestat’s backstory (which I found so interesting) and then vampire lore through Marius (which low key I found less interesting I gotta be honest 😭), and if the casting rumors are true (I’m pretty sure Nicki’s cast, but there’s also rumors of potential Marius and Gabrielle, and also the pic of Lestat in his red coat 👀), I feel like that means they’re gonna show us some of that backstory already which we don’t get in book iwtv. Also I have no clue what Louis’ role would be if they do end up doing solely TVL for s3, which is why I feel like they’d prob combine TVL w QOTD material focusing on Those Who Must Be Kept 🤔 But we’ll see!

[midasinc]

do you by chance have any canon era courfius hcs

i do but i might bum you out in the process (this is also more of a timeline than hcs, sort of like with montparnasse/courfeyrac)

canon era courfius:

-i think in canon era courfeyrac is a closeted bisexual and he dabbles with men on the side, but he really overcompensates in public with women so people don't think he's of a certain persuasion. he's incredibly paranoid about it and he has reason to be

-marius pops into his life and it really fucks with him because this dude migrates into his own lodgings and confides in him and courfeyrac thinks he's incredibly handsome and yes he dresses oddly and is easy to tease and all of his friends despise him, but there's something earnestly endearing about marius

-when marius comes round saying this and that about an "ursula" that he's in love with, courfeyrac is admittedly distraught that somebody else has caught marius's attention and that it wasn't him. it was something that he often dreamt about in classes and even at night, but now this dream was being shattered right in front of him

-still, courfeyrac has appearances to keep up so he helps his friend. he instills hope in marius as much as he teases and he takes him out and about paris to find other things to do than mope around because he can't find this woman of his dreams and it hurts.

-they do share the same bed. it makes things difficult sometimes. courfeyrac won't be able to sleep and he turns and sees marius's cheek squished against the pillow and it makes his heart ache

-sometimes marius borrows his hats or cravats or even a blouse and courfeyrac is just vibrating at this point. it's a miracle that he hasn't punched a wall. he has it so bad and it's killing him

-the increasingly close revolution enjolras is determined to have keeps him busy, at least. he does his tasks and helps enj and combeferre and it keeps him from wallowing. wallowing is his last resort because courfeyrac is not a wallower

-if we're going by brick timeline im just gonna switch some stuff up because after marius's grandfather says absolutely not to his possible marriage with cosette, he goes to courfeyrac's apartment and wallows (lol) on the bed and when he wakes up courfeyrac is there with the others about to leave and asking if he's going to the funeral. we can edit this a little and have the funeral at a somewhat later date and courfeyrac is there to try and mend marius's broken heart

-"she's going to be gone forever" / "maybe it wasn't meant to be" / "it was"

-marius is just very huffy and upset and his head lays against courfeyrac's shoulder. courfeyrac just plays with his hair and lets things be quiet for a moment. marius doesn't pomade his hair the way courfeyrac does- it's soft and dark and unstyled. he threads his fingers through the front of his hair to reveal marius's face. the pad of his thumb brushes against his cheek, just gently tracing the line of marius's face

-marius glances over at him with his big ol dark eyes and lashes and courfeyrac has never been good at hiding secrets anyway. his head softly bumps against marius and he tilts his forehead to see him better

-"you still have me, you know"

-marius is frozen when courfeyrac first kisses him, mostly in shock, but after a moment he relaxes into the touch. they kiss and it's good and it gains momentum and marius is the one to push open courfeyrac's lips and courfeyrac brings a hand to marius's waist and hoists himself onto marius's lap and there are hands on his waist now and courfeyrac breaks their kiss so he can move onto the side of marius's mouth, then his jaw, and then trail down his neck but-

-courfeyrac gets pushed off as marius scrambles to get off the bed

-"i don't- you're-" marius isn't sure what else he can stammer out, but he's beet red and instead just takes his hat and leaves the apartment

-courfeyrac wallows.

-courfeyrac goes to the barricades with the rest of his compatriots.

-he's disappointed in himself most of all, truly. he shouldn't have done it, he shouldn't have been so forward. marius might be here if he hadn't. marius was in love with a woman and not courfeyrac and he might as well accept that

-marius is confused. he loves cosette, he knows that much, but he had never thought courfeyrac was... it didn't make sense to him. i also think he's a closet bisexual but perhaps a bit too closeted in canon. it happens to the best of us. he's chosen cosette this time but when she's gone he sees no reason to live. when he goes to the barricades, it's because of that. he doesn't expect himself to threaten to blow them all to hell, but it happens. he's confused, he's angry, and he's willing to make a stand after all

-courfeyrac sort of gets the wrong idea and thinks that maybe marius is back for him. marius saved his life, marius is here to save his life and be here with him. that's why he greets him so enthusiastically. marius is rigid, though, and courfeyrac begins to get the hint

-it's in the night when he sits alone on what used to be a rather nice table. the sky is turning an inky black and feuilly is humming and prouvaire is reciting poetry and courfeyrac feels irrevocably empty

-marius comes and sits with him, and things are quiet for a moment. courfeyrac doesn't want him to speak, but marius had never been able to pick up on others' desires

-"i'm sorry" / "you have nothing to be sorry for" / "i cannot betray cosette" / "i figured as much"

-marius is unsure of how to make courfeyrac feel better

-"in another lifetime," courfeyrac says with his chin rested on his palm, "do you believe that you might love me in return?"

-perhaps. courfeyrac is kind and amusing and generous. marius had saved his life because he cares for courfeyrac and wouldn't want to be in a world where he'd have to see him die. courfeyrac has been his kindest and most loyal and, truly, his only friend. perhaps in another lifetime, things would be different. perhaps in another lifetime, marius wouldn't be spoken for

-he leans over and kisses courfeyrac's cheek before leaving and finding eponine in the alley

-at the final battle, marius is hit and comes to terms with the fact that he is dying. he is frightened, he is terrified, but he can see courfeyrac fighting on. he hasn't noticed yet that marius has fallen. he thinks that it might be okay. he's sorry that cosette will never have gotten to be with him in this lifetime, but perhaps in the next, he will see courfeyrac again

-marius wakes up in the real world, however, and courfeyrac does not