#cause again very much human tango

[mbirnsings-71]

the focusing brain cells did not want to work! So all we get is a silly tango doodle for my au because I saw his create mod series skin and He deserves to wear it more actually-

[tubbytarchia]

Etho doodles in which I let my inner dinosaur nerd take over 😔 and also have no idea how to shade

Get it cause he's old and washed up haha... ok but actual raptor Etho hybrid justification below cut

To be honest the main reason was because I really wanted a hybrid in the mix who wasn't some furry creature and a reptile or amphibian or smth instead. Etho still ended up feathered but whatever it's close enough! But for ACTUAL reasoning:

He does feel damn ancient, like an old deity of the mcyt space that no one can dislike. Dinosaurs are the same!! They're old but still thought of with great fascination and fondness, everyone loves dinosaurs...

Dinosaurs are ever so mysterious, as many advancements as we make there's still so much we don't know. Just as we know jackshit about mister Kakashi skin man. Also, there are so many incomplete skeletons out there. I didn't have a particular species in mind for Etho, because where's the mystery in that? He can be one of those 5% skeleton 95% speculation dinosaurs like this guy!! Missing jaw and all

"I'm a runner, not a protector" - so, a raptor, or more specifically the Dromaeosauridae family, which literally has "running/runner" in its name

But! I'm always a fan of stuff going against its nature, especially in this case! Etho states he's not a runner yet protects his allies rather fiercely even in total silence. Eg refusing to kill Cleo in SL or to give away Tango's location during the LimL manhunt, same for Grian in SL. He was a bit flaky in 3L I think? And he only started to have genuine care for allies in LL with Bdubs? Though he is still very much a runner in many cases like during the LL Wither fight. Research also strongly suggests that most if not all raptors were solitary hunters, and the way I see Etho (through my shamefully limited watchtime of his POVs...) he feels a lot like someone who ultimately only trusts himself at the start even if he's pleasant and allying with others, and doesn't seem to think he can carry his weight in groups though he doesn't voice this a lot. That's just how Etho is, very composed, but it feels like there's an insecurity there, showcased especially in SL but again I haven't seen almost any of his POVs in full so maybe I'm talking out of my ass!! Sorry ethogirls I'm only a sidegig ethogirl myself... But yeah tldr to me he gives off the vibe of an otherwise solitary animal struggling to find 100% sure footing in a pack. In whichever ways he does go against his nature, its not usually made a show of

At the mention of a raptor, a lot of people will probably think of the glamourized Jurassic Park Velociraptors. But those awesome guys from the movies are actually the size of chickens. In general though, dinosaurs tend to be a bit.. exaggerated in media, despite how inherently fascinating they already are. And I think it fits Etho because we all know how the Lifers seem to fear and mancrush on him when he's just some dork with perfect capability to become pathetic at a moment's notice. Still, he's a clearly skilled player and still respected without question Etho's not some killer machine like some people make dinosaurs out to be. He's just a fellow creature fulfilling his role in the ecosystem 👍

dinosaurs are cool

The hook-like sickle claws on the feet... something something fishing rod

I swear I'm not turning all my Lifers into hybrids I'm not!! Still plenty normal humans in the mix I swear....... But Etho is such a radical dude, I really wanted to do something more for him. The whole Kitsune thing that I often see associated with him is really cool. I don't actually know the reasoning for it but I assume something something naruto, but also, him being this ancient mythical cryptid who people know so little about, you know? It makes SO much sense. So anyway I turned him into a dinosaur instead rawr

As a herbivore advocate I also considered stuff like the triceratops (known for how they protect themselves and their own) but nah the raptor symbolism...

[sleepy-grav3]

Glitching issue

So I was getting distracted again. I heard Masochism Tango and Stalker's Tango, wanted a yandere playlist with intense ballroom songs, that types of thing.

And then I thought of another story idea for my current hyperfixation: DCxDP

One of my favorite ships in that fandom is Dead Tired/Brain Dead, cause I love them... so much...

Anyway-

With the context of the yandere ballroom playlist, you should know where I'm going. And I read a few fics/prompts/whatever else you'd call them where it portrays a normally pretty toxic relationship but they're actually in a really healthy relationship.

There was one about mutual stalking, another with kidnapping shenanigans, one that mentioned attempted deprogramming- you get it. (don't ask me for them, I don't know what they're called and there's too much to sift through to find them, very sorry, do feel free to reblog/comment the authors of them or ones that hold some relevance)

But yeah, now I'm making a fic with a playlist as storyline inspiration. Idk the layout yet.

1 Long Chapter : 1 Song

or

Story Arc (probably short) : 1 Song

Always a 1:1 ratio, maybe a special 2 songs here and there? Not sure.

But so far!!! I have the usual: Masochism Tango and Stalker's Tango.

Got the Cell Block Tango ready. El Tango de Roxanne will be there too. I got some waltzes and looking into other types of rhythms like them. Tango, Waltz, thinking about Salsa and Swing, got a few others too

Looking into some less yandere themed songs since I can't solely do it on yandere themes. I want it to be drama filled but with some healthy doses of attraction, y'know?

Yeah, that whole thing is going on a headcannon and an idea.

Ghosts feel things more strongly, so some unhealthy things to humans are meh or minimum level things to ghosts. Because of this, Danny's a bit unhealthy in what he considers love (his vigilante life didn't help with that, especially with Vlad), but his human side keeps it more on the downlow

There's a different species of beings that are immortal in a way: The Undying. Life loves them or they're obsessed with Life. Tim is one of the only true Undying. They're as rare as true Halfas.

So... yeah. Love this little idea. Been working on it for a few hours now. And I need help. Song recommendations mostly, storyline ideas are welcome.

I'll be posting a playlist once I get it all sorted out, chronologically, and the outline of the story put up. The summary will be a genuine summary and not just some background info or a quick sentence like I usually do.

But I want a happy ending. No bittersweet, no hurt/barely any or no comfort, no fully angst-

I need some kind of betrayal for someone to go to jail TvT

Will it be Tim or Danny? Who fits best as a viewer for Cell Block Tango, just casually listening to people talk about killing (and that one framed murder).

Who's the one that lives off the thrill of getting hurt (I'm thinking more of the bdsm way, but also the "I'll only let you hurt me" type of way too? Doesn't have to be physical or verbal or even intentional... I'm making this sound worse-)

I got this one part for the Roxanne one

The yandere is "cheating", no idea if it's fake or a previous relationship, or whatever. still under planning for that.

And the "victim" is the one who's begging the yandere to not deceive them. Maybe they've been lied to a bunch of times, maybe they really don't want false hope, maybe they're fine with an open relationship as long as the yandere doesn't leave- idk, but the "victim" is the one who's pulling the strings during then.

I'm trying to think of who's the other person, the yandere, and the "victim". Who's who? Not sure. And how does it fit with the rest of the songs too... Ugh, I really should just do oneshots T^T But I can't at the moment, not with the ideas-

So yeah

Ideas? Song recommendations? Character ideas? Scene prompts????

Please?

Oh, and this post is named glitching because it broke my fucking computer. I don't have a mouse anymore. Luckily, it's touchscreen and the keyboard still works. Still annoying though

[blicketdabest33]

Y'all remember that MCYT PJO au I asked for help with awhile ago? WELL HERE'S THE CABINS AND MY EXPLINATIONS BEHIND THEM!!

#1 Zeus Cabin: Jimmy, Joel Jimmy: He's a Zeus kid, but everyone somehow forgets about it. Joel: He's competitive and strong. Also, because Jimmy is his half brother through godly parent, i get to make a fun bit about him dating Lizzie. And one of his origins in Afterlife SMP was a thunderborn

#2 Hera Cabin: Scott Scott: Scott's whole thing is loyalty. Hera is the goddess of marriage and is insanely loyal to Zeus. However, I feel like Hera should get at least one affair. So now Scott can use peacocks as weapons.

#3 Poseidon Cabin: Skizz Skizz: Poseidon kids tend to be really, really loyal to a fault and heroic, both qualities I think Skizz possesses.

#4 Demeter Cabin: Sausage, Shelby, Bdubs, Stress Sausage: This man built Sanctuary in a jungle and has flowers in his hair. He sells wood. There is no other place to put him. Shelby: Mushroom gnome, spooky mangrove witch, powerful storm witch, i need not continue. Bdubs: Moss man. Stress: SHE HAS FLOWERS

#5 Ares Cabin: Martyn, False Martyn: His planet is Mars, which is the roman version of Ares. He ended Limited Life in such a violent way, i can't help it. He was also red for the majority of Secret Life. False: I just feel like False should get to kill people more often.

#6 Athena Cabin: Grian, Pix, Owen, Xisuma Grian: This sums it up pretty well

Pix: Smart man. Archeologist and definitely a nerd. I wanna see him skipping out on training just so he can read history books. Owen: He likes to explore and discover new things in Pirates. In Rats, he's a tinkerer. In New Life, he's an explorer who wants to study hybrids. In Empires, he's a Llama who's curious about how humans work. Just a very curious character overall. Xisuma: Admin. I'm not elaborating.

#7 Apollo Cabin: Gem, Oli, Lyarrah Gem: She is an Apollo kid because of her Empire in S2. She's the sunlight princess. Apollo kid. Oli: MUSIC. MAN. Lyarrah: She writes the captions for the hermitcraft recap.

#8 Artemis Cabin: Pearl Pearl: Y'know, Artemis could've just like... had a kid, even though she took that oath. It wouldn't even have to be with a guy. Gods can change to whatever gender they want. Anyway, Pearl gets to be an Artemis kid because her symbolism is moon, she loves dogs, and will commit murder and hunt at night.

#9 Hephaestus Cabin: Doc, Mumbo, Tango, Impulse, Cub, Zedaph, Fwhip, Iskall Doc: Redstone Mumbo: Redstone Tango: Redstone Impulse: Redstone Cub: Redstone Zedaph: Redstone Fwhip: Redstone AND has a red scarf (don't ask me how that's relevant) Iskall: Redstone

#10 Aphrodite Cabin: Keralis Keralis: Okay, I don't know why, but Keralis gives me the vibes of a very charming person. His voice is nice to listen to, so imagine how useful it'd be if I gave him charm speak.

#11 Hermes Cabin: Scar, Etho, Joe Scar: Trader Scar, scammer extraordinar. Etho: All i must say is Shady-E's. I get "jack-of-all-trades, master of none, often better than master of one" vibes from him. He's funny, he's mischievous, it just works. Joe: Comedy man. Excellent delivery. And, yet again, i look at this man and go "That right there is a multi-talented man with a habit for mischief."

#12 Dionysus Cabin: Joey, Beef Joey: *points at his season one empires theme* i need not say more Beef: Idk, food. I don't really have a reason. I don't know too much about Beef.

#13 Hades Cabin: Zloy Zloy: Zombie man. He writes the Hermitcraft recaps in the dark at 2am with nothing but pure spite.

#14 Iris Cabin: Katherine Katherine: SHE. HAS. COLORS. and also I couldn't put her in Demeter cabin because Shelby is already there and i am NOT excluding Nature Wives from this au

#15 Hypnos Cabin: Bigb, XB, Wels Bigb: Sleepy stuff, right? WRONG. Gaslight. Go in everyones dreams, make fake prophecies, peace out, and cause chaos. XB: I look at his fanon design, I see an alien, and I go "aha he sleeps" Wels: This guy (@dingdinghq) said so and i completely agree. Something about sleeping in S6.

#16 Nemesis Cabin: Edit: wels not here no more

#17 Nike Cabin: Ren Ren: VICTORY. I don't know much about Ren's story in the Life Series, but I look at this man and see someone who has won a lot.

#18 Hebe Cabin: 

#19 Tyche Cabin: TFC TFC: Man goes mining and gets really lucky. That's it.

#20 Hecate Cabin: Lizzie, Cleo, Jevin Lizzie: Witchy vibes. Also, Arson. Cleo: Arson. She uses her magic for Arson. Jevin: He's a magic slime. Also, Arson. All Hecate kids love Arson.

[oshawottarchive]

[Pt 1] [Pt 2] [Pt 3] [Pt 4] [Pt 5] [Pt 6]

More because I am bored again

————

Jimmy: *standing at the top of the stairs* What are you all doing at the bottom of the staircase?

Impulse: I accidentally fell down

Tango: Skizz PUSHED ME down the stairs because I refused to pay HIS part of our rent!

Martyn: Scar bet me fifty bucks that I couldn’t reach the bottom of the stairs faster than Impulse did falling down them, so I slid down the banister

Pearl: I don’t know how I got here. One moment, I was sleeping in my bed, three floors up, and then suddenly I was waking up here, just in time to get crushed by Martyn

————

Grian: Hey guys, today Jimmy pushed me so I’m starting a kickstarter to put him down

Grian: The benefits of killing him is that I would get pushed way less

————

Tango: *pulls a glass of water from out of nowhere*

Scar: Where did you get that?

Tango: My pocket

Scar: How do you keep a glass of water in your pocket?

Tango: Skills

————

Pearl: The four Gs

Pearl: Gaslight, Gatekeep, Girlboss, and Gem

————

Etho: Life is like Bdubs. It’s short

————

Gem: Do you see yourself as a glass half-full person or a glass half-empty person?

Grian: Half-full, definitely

Grian: Half-full and constantly rising

Grian: Soon the water will escape its container and consume us all

————

Etho: Today at 7 AM, Impulse poured a monster energy drink in his coffee, said “I’m going to die”, and drank the whole thing

Skizz: I watched Impulse brew his coffee with monster instead of water. Three cups in two hours. I think he ascended into the astral realm

Tango: The survivability of the human race never fails to amaze me

————

Tango: Who would you swipe right for, Imp or Skizz?

Etho: I would delete the app

————

Tango: We can bake these cookies at 400 degrees for 10 minutes or 4,000 degrees for 1 minute

Etho: No, that’s not how you make cookies

Skizz: Floor it!!

Tango: How about 4,000,000 degrees for 1 second??

Etho: You’re gonna burn the house down!

Tango: I’M GONNA HARNESS THE POWER OF THE FUCKING SUN TO MAKE COOKIES!!!

Impulse: Do it!

Etho: NO—

————

Impulse: Small creatures are much more vicious because they have a smaller body to bottle up all their emotions

Bdubs: Ridiculous. Give me some examples

Tango: Wasps?

Skizz: Terriers?

Etho: Bdubs

————

Etho: You were stabbed. Do you remember anything?

Impulse: Only the ambulance ride to the hospital

Etho: That wasn’t an ambulance, I drove you

Impulse: But I heard a siren. . .

Tango: That was Skizz

Skizz: Sorry, I got nervous

————

Scar: I wouldn’t put it in those words, exactly

Grian: Why not?

Scar: Cause I don’t know what they mean

————

Scar: Dude, I will never forgive Craigslist for banning me after I wrote a post seeking a sworn nemesis. Whoever reported it is obviously my nemesis but I was so pissed

————

Skizz: Can we go to a haunted house?

Impulse: What’s wrong with the one we live in?

Skizz: Wh-what?

Scar: *through an intercom* Goodnight, Skizz

————

Tango: Are you busy?

Impulse: Yes

Tango: Okay cool. Hey listen to this—

————

Skizz: Man I’m so glad we didn’t forget the marshmallows

Impulse: Yeah, imagine if we got lost in the forest without s’mores ingredients

Grian: I still say that if everything goes south we should eat Skizz

Tango: *being used as a campfire* Screw you guys

————

Impulse: Everyone has a toxic trait. Except Skizz, he’s cool like that

Skizz: WRONG. My toxic trait is how badly I want to domesticate a raccoon

————

Skizz: Hey, G-Man! Where’s Top, Dipple-Dop, and Scarface?

Grian: They’re playing hide and seek

Skizz: Where?

Grian: I don’t think you get how this game works

————

Skizz: If you put “violently” in front of anything to describe your action, it becomes funnier

Skizz: Violently practices

Grian: Violently studies

Tango: Violently sleeps

Impulse: Violently shoots pictures

Zedaph: Violently boxes

Scar: Violently murders people

Tango: Violently worries about the previous statement

————

Grian: Why are you two always out during rainstorms?

Skizz: It’s very peaceful and refreshing. I love the smell of rain

Tango: Scar bet me that I couldn’t get struck by lightning, but he’s WRONG

————

Scar: Truth or dare?

Zedaph: Dare

Scar: I dare you to kiss the hottest person in the room

Tango: *catches fire*

Tango: I’m ready, Zed

————

[elrondsscribe]

Okay so here’s the thing. I freely admit I am Big Stupid. I forget things constantly. The Vampire Chronicles is a layered tale packed with constant retcons and gaps getting filled. Whole chunks of characters’ stories slip my mind on the reg.

So I understand I may be missing something major.

But.

From where I’m standing … I know that Armand was v upset when it happened, and given everything he’d been through to that point he’s absolutely allowed to be upset; but did Marius do wrong by turning Sybelle and Benjamin?

Hear me out: the rule of this universe wrt humans who tango with vampires is there’s only three eventual outcomes: death, madness, or vampirism. Obvs if Armand had his choice at that point in the series he’d have preferred them to have regular human lifespans and eventually die, but 1) given his history with Daniel, who knows if he wouldn’t eventually have changed his mind, and 2) it might not have been what they necessarily wanted for themselves. Cause the way both Sybelle and Benji talk makes it sound like they might’ve actually asked Marius to get vamped??

(And Pandora? Or wtf was Pandora even doing while all this was happening? She was there, what was she doing?)

Because here’s their response to it:

(…) Sybelle rose from the piano, and with her arms out ran to me. And Benji, who had been watching all the while, rushed to me also, and they imprisoned me gently in their tender arms.

“Oh, Armand, don’t be angry, don’t be, don’t be sad,” Sybelle cried softly against my ear. “Oh, my magnificent Armand, don’t be sad, don’t be. Don’t be cross. We’re with you forever.”

“Armand, we are with you! He did the magic,” cried Benji. “We didn’t have to be born from black eggs, you Dybbuk, to tell us such a tale! Armand, we will never die now, we will never be sick, and never hurt and never afraid again.” He jumped up and down with glee and spun in another mirthful circle, astonished and laughing at his new vigor, that he could leap so high and with such grace. “Armand, we are so happy.”

“Oh, yes, please,” cried Sybelle softly in her deeper gentler voice. “I love you so much, Armand, I love you so very very much. We had to do it. We had to. We had to do it, to always and forever be with you.”

Like, in the immediate aftermath, they’re both over the moon about it; they’ve even fed already. Later in the Prince Lestat era, they both seem fine; like I’m not recalling any major fledgling angst.

Claudia was eternally unlucky, and she was intensely lonely. Her relationships with both Lestat and Louis were complicated and strained (to the point that she tried to kill Lestat), she didn’t really have peers, and by the time she finally got a companion Armand was already engineering her death.

Daniel gradually went unhinged for a decade before becoming a vampire, and Armand might’ve blamed himself for Daniel’s full-fledged insanity afterward but it sounds to me like even if he’d somehow survived that horrible night he’d have lost his mind anyway. (By the way, who was it that kept Daniel fed while he was in that madness, huh?)

Benjamin and Sybelle are super lucky, relatively speaking; they have each other as peers, and Armand is somewhere between a peer and a guardian. From what we see in the PL era, they have their pursuits, they have a place in the vampire world — as fledgling vampires go, they seem to have as close to an ideal life as fledgling vampires get.

And like,, they got what they wanted: their Forever With Armand, with the sweet bonus of less physical harm to fear. And in the long run, after the … Veil-induced mania? wears all the way off, it seems like Armand isn’t that unhappy about it either.

So.

As much as Armand is totally allowed to have his feelings about it in the moment, all things considered it doesn’t seem like Marius “ruined” much of anything by turning them. At least not to me.

(Marius and Pandora? Tf was she doing?!)

[arc852]

about the third human dude. (I'm probably very wrong)

I couldn't stop myself from creating little hypotheses with your recent poll thing.

I don't think it could be Etho? Unless if Jimmy is really oblivious, 'cause I'm pretty sure that Etho was there in 'Lost Doll', so if our resident borrower was at least somewhat aware of his surroundings, he might've been able to see that he was the same human that had gotten drunk. The narrator did say that it still affected him, in the one-shot where Grian and Joel drink. (If my memory serves me correctly, but that in itself sucks so-) Also, Etho's character just doesn't seem like the type that would get drunk like that. I'm fairly sure 'Lost Doll' said he had quite a few shots, but he still didn't seem too drunk?

It could potentially be Tango, then again, I think the third human would have had to have a few important interactions (whether that be in the life series, hermitcraft or empires. I dont get to watch them often) with Grian, Joel and Jimmy that would tie them all together, and while he might have that with Jimmy and Grian, I don't think you've written Joel and Tango interacting much. Scar, on the other hand, has been mentioned by Grian, so that made me a bit iffy, but if we ignore the 'somebody else' option on the poll for just a moment, I think he might be the best bet. You've written him interacting with all of them, I think? Maybe I'm imagining it with Joel. Again, my memory doesn't work all that good nowadays. But even then, I'm fairly sure Scar and Joel have interacted quite a bit in the life series, with the Bad Boys and The Family being neighbors in Limited Life and all. I have some rewatching/rereading to do.

and lookie! I've ranted once more. I'm so sorry that you have to read that, and for any grammatical errors you may come across. :]

Very interesting!

Alright, I'm gonna go ahead and say...yeah, you're right about Etho. He isn't the human. Jimmy definitely would have noticed if Etho had been the drunk human in the past. And yes, Etho doesn't drink very much if he does at all. He had some at the party in Lost Doll but definitely not enough for it to affect him.

Now, about Scar and Tango. I don't think I'm wrong about this, hopefully, but I've mentioned the two of them the same amount so far in my bbbcau fics and that is exactly once each. Scar, as you know, in Childhood Friends, and Tango in Plush. I did this on purpose.

As for written interactions I have for them in other fics, I wouldn't look too far into those. Or interactions they've had canonically in hermitcraft/the life series. They are both equally as likely to be the third human side character.

...Well, maybe not equally. Maybe some of my other fics could give you an idea on who I've gone with as the third main side character.

[barrenclan]

Been too afraid to suggest this for a while bc... social anxiety,, so I'm going anon.

Just another music ask!! "The Line" by Vera Sola feels like a very Barrenclan song to me

Oooh, this is a good one, I can definitely see it. A lot of vibes for original RoseClan/early BarrenClan.

She was the first one to go <- Wheatstar I'll be back for you, the final words she spoke He was the second one to leave <- Ladybugstar Whispered, don't you worry

Because time is a warm dark circle Day is returned to the looping of the line Night is only a passing thing We'll be back again when it's right

Fellas, is it gay to feel like this about your boss?

I don't show it but I quiver whenever you come near And I cannot decipher between the thrill and the fear I wanna stop it but like it too much to let it stop here It's wrong but I want you tonight It's not my own volition but I fell in deep By running the distance I've been advised to keep I trot to the wolf as a doting sheep It's wrong but I want you tonight

Rainhaze works with like 50% of songs ever made. He is my most Ashfur-esque character in that way.

There's a scavenger on the wind alone Where he roams in the land of the dust and bones

Nobody wants to be your friend when you're a scavenger on the wind

My mom is an oldschool fan of Laurie Anderson, and I listened to her growing up, so I was quite surprised to see that this song has become viral on TikTok. I highly recommend listening to the whole song, and her others as well.

And I said, "Okay, who is this really?" And the voice said "This is the hand, the hand that takes"

And when justice is gone There's always force And when force is gone There's always Mom, hi Mom

As long as people keep sending me songs, I'll keep doing them.

Maybe it's just a stupid dream I know you'd never change your life to be with me Six hours north in a city by the sea I want you herе right now I want you here with me

If I were closer, would you remember The way I made you feel in September? You said it's too cold in San Francisco But I keep you warm so you'll take me where you go

I am always here for a musical song, especially Into the Woods. Anything witchy character works for Nightberry.

THREE DAYS GRACE MENTIONED! The actual inspiration for the song came from an El Tango de Roxanne lyric, specifically this one:

"You're free to leave me, but just don't deceive me And please, believe me when I say I love you"

I like this song a lot too. Cormorantpaw works with any thrash-type music.

I have to ask cause I need something to last Too many times I've been left behind <- ohh... the corm......

Will you love me or leave me forever? Will you love me or leave me forever?

HAH I love it.

Yeah I can see it!

My parents sold me to a preacher Now I miss my mom and dad I heard they joined a cult They say, mass suicidal death I’m locked inside the church They say the prophecy’s foretold

They’ll preach salvation as they tie my limbs And rip out my teeth They’ll soak their daggers In the pigs blood As I beg and I plead

The Garden is actually already on the PATFW playlist! For the reasons which you listed, and I agree with you. :) Never Love An Anchor is also Slugpelt's themesong.

It looks like this one has been suggested before, probably for Rainhaze or Deepdark! I love Saint Motel's music.

Nobody has ever seen his face But fear his smile I heard he'll drink your blood just for the taste

Everybody tends to disagree On just how evil A single human being should ever be And all your bones, they scream for more

[themculibrary]

Loki/Natasha Masterlist

Advantage (ao3) - FauxGateaux loki/natasha, clint/maria G, 10k

Summary: Set near the end of Avengers Assemble. After Loki has been scraped up off the floor of Stark Tower, the Avengers keep him in Nick Fury's glass cage on the helicarrier while awaiting for transportation to Asgardian justice. During his overnight stay, he is monitored and interrogated by Natasha Romanov. How much does Loki share with the her, and what impact will this have on their futures?

An Endless War (ao3) - Eustacia Vye (eustaciavye) T, 23k

Summary: The Watcher dropped Natasha Romanoff into a world where she had died. It is very similar to the world she lost, with very significant differences. She's not about to let this world go down the same path that hers did, and will do whatever it takes to save it. Including dealing with a war criminal.

Broken Underneath (ao3) - Eustacia Vye (eustaciavye) E, 23k

Summary: Loki might have had some plans for Natasha, but that didn't mean he didn't intend to have a little fun with her first. It was only too bad that she didn't figure that out until it was far too late.

Chasing This Starlight (ao3) - tobemadeofglass M, 32k

Summary: When Natasha loses her memories after being targeted by an unknown enemy, there's only one person Thor knows who has the capability of bringing them back. A pity Loki asked Thor to never interfere in his life again after dropping to Earth half a year ago.

Closure (ao3) - Eustacia Vye (eustaciavye) E, 26k

Summary: I don't wanna hurt you but you live for the pain I'm not tryna say it but it's what you became You want me to fix you but it's never enough That's why you always call me cause you're scared to be loved

Didn’t Know I Was Lost (ao3) - eustaciavye E, 47k

Summary: Natasha and Loki had a thing, no emotions or strings attached. Until they accidentally created one.

Full Circle (ao3) - Iamnotreal T, 9k

Summary: Natasha's day off is ruined when Loki shows up at her doorstep claiming to be stuck in a time loop and acting suspiciously out of character.

Hanging By A Thread (ao3) - ladyofnightmaresandheartache T, 6k

Summary: Loki comes to stay with the Avengers unexpectedly, and inner turmoil, along with outside chaos breaks loose. None other than the Black Widow herself tries her best to understand him.

No Grave Can Hold My Body Down (ao3) - Eustacia Vye (eustaciavye), tobemadeofglass E, 27k

Summary: When Natasha, head waitress and barista extraordinare, gets a visit from a new client at SHIELD Cafe, the last thing on her mind is that he’s anything different. Certainly, he’s paler than she is, and hardly eats anything when he comes in, but that doesn’t mean he’s something other than human. Does it?

Palace Without Time (ao3) - Eustacia Vye (eustaciavye) N/R, 51k

Summary: Setting up New Asgard on Earth takes up a lot of Thor's time, so he asks old friends to check in on Loki. Natasha was always up for a challenge.

Pieces Form The Whole (ao3) - t0bemadeofglass E, 40k

Summary: Loki and Natasha decide to experiment with a few kinks they haven't gotten a chance to try yet.

Syrgja (fanfiction.net) - Lady Charity M, 262k

Summary: None of this was supposed to happen. SHIELD wasn't supposed to find Thor and Loki on Earth three years after the battle. Loki wasn't supposed to be a silent shadow of who he once was. And the Avengers...weren't ever meant to have to endure the madness that would follow. "Cry, Loki. Cry."

Take My Heart Back (ao3) - Maximoff (britishatheart) T, 5k

Summary: Loki has been banished to Midgard once more, stripped of his powers and taking on an every day life as a powerless, fallen god. Adapting to human life, Loki begins to witness what he had feared - love. Natasha, the cold soviet, falls victim to his charm once more and things take a turn for the worse. One-Shot.

Tango (ao3) - mzamethystcrow E, 9k

Summary: One insanely hot tango ratchets the sexual tension between the God of Mischief and the Black Widow… Which one will give in to their desires first?

The Cavern of Time (ao3) - MistressOfMalplaquet M, 67k

Summary: Loki's mischief causes Natasha to disappear into the past. Now he must seek her through the ages in the Cavern of Time, before an old enemy reaches her first. Blackfrost.

The Woman Who Tricked The Trickster (ao3) - TheFeistyRogue E, 31k

Summary: Loki becomes fascinated with the only woman who managed to trick him, and they begin an intricate game of cat and mouse that only gets more complicated the more they meet. Who is the prey, and who is the predator? And what happens when the lamb and the lion fall in love?

Starting from Natasha and Loki's conversation in the helicarrier, Loki watches Natasha through the collapse of SHIELD and battling Ultron, until he finally confronts her. They continue to meet and their relationship becomes increasingly complex, and Loki realises he may have a heart after all.

Watching Your Shattered Edges Glisten (ao3) - kittyhazelnut G, 19k

Summary: Natasha's training didn’t account for this.

For gods.

For beings so powerful, they could tear the world apart with their bare hands, yet they still crave more. 

They always crave more.

[haveyouseenthisskeleton]

Swapfell Sans and Papyrus (Updated presentations)

NOX (Swapfell Sans)

Backstory : To assure his brother and his own security, Nox joined the Royal Guard at 13 years old. Considered too young and fragile by most of his companions, he proved them all he was a force of nature that they would better not deal with, quickly climbing the hierarchy to become captain. Noticed by the Queen after he arrested 27 notarious criminals in one night, she made him his general and counselor, firing Alphys who had the job before him. That caused him to have a lot of enemies and rivals, both in the guard and in the population, soon known for his absence of mercy and how he tortures those he's catching. He's not a very popular general. His own brother, Rus, took a step away, not approving any of his methods. That almost break the bond between the brothers, Rus finding a shelter in alcohol, while Nox was too busy to care. But soon, the seventh human child was about to change that. Chara was not a nice kid, only wanting to cause chaos and hurt monsters who took everything they have. The brothers had to work together again to stop the resets for good. They never forgave Chara, who let them scarred for life. Now on the Surface, the brothers are learning to live with each other again, even if it's still not perfect. The only thorn in Nox's foot is still Toriel, who is now insisting to make him her heir and the next ruler of monsterkind. Nox can't take it anymore, and his brother either, and Rus is this close to tell the old bitch what he thinks of her. Despite wanting to quit the royal guard, Nox is too much under the control of the Queen, who convinced him he would not be able to do anything of his life if he leaves her. Nox is believing her blindly, but Rus won't lose his brother again this time and finally finds the courage to tell her to leave his brother alone and that he quits. Nox has now to readapt to a normal life.

Personality : Cold, criticizes everything and anyone, serious, loyal, natural leader, ambitious, arrogant, adapt to anything, charismatic, brave, cynical, honest, strict, proud, deceitful, cautious, annoying, bitter, manipulative, inexpressive, doesn't like to be alone, organized, observant, protective, moaner, scared of paranormal.

Job : Former general of the royal guard, goldsmith

Hobbies : Ruining the life of his Karen neighbour, martial arts.

Loves : Independance, cats, expensive suits, clothes in general, taunting Alphys, shows off his fight skills, pretend to be alright.

Hates : Obeying to Toriel's orders, ghosts and demons, black cats, ladders, storms, people he knows suddenly acting like they're possessed or something, the dark, insomnias.

The S/O of his dream : Someone who doesn't get mad when he's a bit rude. He's still learning social skills and sometimes he's not the best at comforting people or saying nice things. Someone who doesn't hesitate to tell him when he's going to far and to forget Toriel with.

Dealbreaker : Not understanding what he had been through Underground, trying to separate him from his brother.

Contacts :

Family : Rus

Best friend (but would never say it outloud) : Edge

Close friends : Grillby - Muffet - Demon

Friends : Red - Undyne - Copper - Tango - Creeper - Fang

Friendly rivals : Blue - Edge - Chief -

OK/Neutral : Sans - Alphys - Burgerpants - Coffee - Nugget - Pumpkin - Moon - Dune

Would better avoid : Asgore - Gaster - Papyrus - Gerson - Honey - Oak - Willow - Sun - Rambo - Salsa - Rumba - Ben - Delta

Absolutely hates : Toriel - Mettaton - Killer - Sam - Error

Would kill on sight : Frisk - Chara - Flowey - Ink

Nemesis : Wine - Torpedo

____________________________________________

RUS (Swapfell Papyrus)

Backstory : Rus never fitted quite right in the monster society. He has his own vision of life, which leads him to be a problematic kid. He was stealing, talking bad to people and he even insult Toriel once and almost got executed for this. But somehow, he has an insolent luck that helped him to get away with everything. It changed when his brother entered the Royal Guard. Now a target, Rus suffered in silence for years, forced to learn to defend and protect himself from his brother's rivals. He became paranoid, depressed, and lonely, as his brother lost all interest in him. Rus gave up at one point and fell into alcoholism, which lead to even more conflicts with his brother. When Chara first fell, they abused his trust to kill his brother the second he lowered his guard, right in front of his eyes. It was a shock, and Rus suddenly realised he was caring for him more than he thought. Forced to ally with him again to find a solution, he finally found time to tell him everything he had on the heart for years, which made Nox realised how bad he abused his brother and how bad Rus' mental really was. Once they reached the surface, Nox promised him to be a better brother and to help him get out of his addictions, which he did eventually. Rus is enjoying this second chance he has with his brother now, closer than ever, but he still had to open his mouth to tell Toriel to leave his brother alone, which she didn't take well and tried to kill him a few days later, but that's fine. He's not scared anymore, and he wants to live for real now.

Personality : Jokester, dreamy, loves physical touch, no social skills, sweet, bully, extroverted, lucky, pain in the ass, kleptomaniac, tattletale, chilled, scammer, drama queen, very clever, clumsy, impulsive, opportunist, lazy, optimistic, bragger.

Job : No thanks.

Hobbies : Very elaborated pranks, watching TV, playing video games.

Loves : Chicken mc nuggets, weird looking pets, putting himself in danger, make Nox believe there are ghosts in the house and watch him lose his mind, unaesthetic things, carry his S/O.

Hates : Toriel, Chara, people who treat him like a child, people talking behind his back, being kidnapped by his brother's rivals, blood, responsibilities.

The S/O of his dream : Someone who wants him is already enough honestly. He knows he's not exactly easy.

Dealbreaker : Using his addictions against him in an argument, trying to separate him from his brother, manipulating him for bad purposes, talking to him like he's a child.

Contacts :

Family : Nox

Best friends : Honey - Coffee - Ben - Killer

Close friends : Grillby - Red - Edge - Pumpkin - Fang - Dune

Friends : Undyne - Alphys - Muffet - Willow - Copper - Chief - Rumba - Demon - Delta

OK/Neutral : Sans - Asgore - Burgerpants - Gerson - Nugget - Moon - Rambo - Tango - Creeper

Would better avoid : Papyrus - Gaster - Oak - Sun - Salsa - Sam -

Absolutely hates : Toriel - Frisk - Chara - Mettaton - Flowey - Wine - Torpedo - Ink - Error

[bluiex]

hi uh. It’s 2 am, I got back from my side job two hours ago, I was planning on sleeping early BUT 🌸🐚🌹 was on some conspiracy thingies has me up, and telling about which characters like what kinda of people depending on cannon ships and our favourite ships(I love/p her but please…) So while I’m sleeping, she’s writing this with my ideas thrown in.

SCOTT pulls blonde men.

3rd life obvi flower husbands

Last life flower husbands(hinted), (one sided for now)mean gills, (one sided for now)Tango/Scott(WHATS THEIR SHIP NAME???) (-🌺🪸🥀)

Double life really hits Scott hard cause he could’ve at least flirted with Jim but now that he can’t he’s sulking. Flower husbands, (hinted) flower ranchers(-🌺🪸🥀)

Limited life I think we all know the mean gills(Martyn totally had a crush on Scott the whole time but now that he could he immediately tries to get closer to him), Flower ranchers(angst cause flower husbands angst, and Jimmy totally cried to Tango about how he messed up -🌺🪸🥀)

JIMMY pulls teal haired men.

Scott obvi, ESMP2 Scott let his demons out and flirted worth every man in a 279.58 mile radius

decked out Tango(that has him being icy like ESMP1 Scott) came through the portal and they were definitely flirting. Can’t tell me other wise.

MARTYN pulls non humans

3rd life, him and Ren were something else(they totally fucked at least once.) Ren? Werewolf.

Last life, him and Mumbo were definitely flirting. Mumbo Jumbo? Definitely a vampire, just a very awkward and kinda “UUUUHHHHH- what’s was I meant to do to get blood again?” Vibe(auto correct calls him Jumbo Jumbo)(-🌺🪸🥀)

Double life, Martyn was trying to win back Cleo. Cleo? A zombie.

Limited life, MEAN GILLS FOR LIFE BABY!(They mean very much to) Scott? Definitely a mermaid or siren. Which ever has sharper teeth. (-🌺🪸🥀)

TANGO, we aren’t sure what he pulls cause we’re still learning about how to write the hermits so we take them one at a time to ensure we know how they act and what makes them them. We haven’t reach tango yet so like- help us out?

-written by 🌸🐚🌹, storyline ideas by 🌺🪸🥀!! Okie byie!!

SO TRUE FOR SCOTT (he is like, all my comfort characters are blonde, i got a thing for blondes💀) but IDK- I dont think they have a ship name, id imagine something like majortango cuz thatd be super silly

Martyn do be pulling all the nonhuman LMAO

TANGO- tango gets all the "smol beans" for a lack of better term cuz ykno, we got Jimmy whos just so sad in the life games LOL always dying first and trying his hardest to appear tough

[testicularmanslaughtrr]

Hey to round out this new year I wanna bitch about something quick. This is so purely personal I don’t expect anyone to care but I’m trying to like actually heal in the new year. Also I’m a few glasses of wine in and don’t care this is my blog you can read or not

I started the process which took some self reflection cause I had to come to terms with one of the people who hurt me most was someone I made into a “favorite person”. (Hi I have bpd if you don’t know)

This person came on to me, this person flirted with me, this mother fucker confessed feelings to me, fucked me, and then turned around and called ME manipulative and then just tried to forget about me.

Was I at my best during this? Absolutely not. I was an emotional and angry thing who was watching several people I had really cared about slip out of my life. I was acting irrationally and that’s on me.

The saddest thing is honestly I wish I could apologize for a lot of how I handled things. It wasn’t great.

But it takes two to tango and I’m still so angry that this person got to have their fun with me and toss me aside. Get all this flirting and affection, tell me you want to make my heart soar (their words not mine) even get to fuck me and I’m the one who got the backlash. I’m the one who was so easy to throw away…I specifically told this person I was scared to reciprocate feelings because not only do I have BPD and these stupid issues about romance but literally a few months before this I was manipulated into a thankfully very short but very gross relationship with a person who waited till I was stupid tired to confess feelings and convinced me I felt the same. This person knew that happened to me and even talked about being careful and we still both rushed and went too fast. Which is equally my fault but don’t get fuckin JEALOUS and say how much you care about me when this was supposed to be “”casual””

It hurt. It hurt and it sucks that I’d still apologize and want to talk about things.

I know that they’ll never unblock me. I know a lot of people don’t miss me. And that’s okay

Truthfully this was already a couple years ago but it’s still something that’s left a really long scar on me.

I’m glad in some ways I managed to salvage a few things, keep my closest friends and somewhat earn back the friendship of someone I really care about. Who if you’re reading this idk hi, I do think you’re a good guy and I consider you a dear friend who I’m very scared to lose. And I’m again so fucking sorry about everything.

I’m not always a good person. I try. I fail, I’m human. I know everyone else involved is human too, but I do NOT think anything that happened was fair.

Some sad fuckin part of me hopes to wake up to a message every day like “hey. I miss you can we talk?” And I know it’ll never happen so maybe by the end of 2024 I can stop hoping for that lmao.

[creole-cappy]

While much of this (particularly the parts about many men's unwillingness to mature and value women respectfully and compassionately) are true, as another voice in the world, I would like to add that there's obviously cultural/value differences at play in the shaping of these dynamics as well.

I agree that the male loneliness "epidemic" is almost entirely self-imposed, but let's not forget that the trends of women's reactions and responses to their treatment by men is just as direct or indirect as men's reactions and responses to their treatment by women, with the added influence of socialization, economic stability (because why wouldn't feelings of existential security affect social attitudes and personal priorities?) and any relevant kind of abuse or manipulation people face at large in both cases.

The patriarchal ideas of social norms affect everyone equally damagingly. It serves neither men nor women for people not to be able to trust and respect each other. Men are very obviously in a cultural/cross-cultural trial of sorts, THANKS TO the liberalization of social norms that countered the fascistic, patriarchal trend of women (and children) being the property of men. That is where the entitlement comes from. It's not the more liberal values that encourage entitlement, it's clinging to ideas of women as means to an end that supports their commodification in things like porn for instance. If anything, the divergence from men being "providers" is a humanization of their being and something which (rightfully imo) supports their emotional autonomy and maturity as humans with natural rights. It's not good to treat women OR men as simply means to an ends.

Never used dating apps much, never really cared to involve myself in "hook-up culture". It seems to be vapid and the driving force behind the situationship problem where people can't openly attach to one another while acknowledging they truly desire emotional intimacy. I won't speak much on it because that's just something I know little about. The comments about the "DL epidemic" also seem just like an opinionated distaste for non-hetero norms. If it's not your thing, why bother with it? (What's odd to me is I hear FAR more about women's non heteronormative trends in recent times, but again, never really substantiated with research or something to make it more than anecdotal claims)

Regardless of how anyone feels or thinks, if men and women can't find a way to manage maturity and respect, everyone's gonna feel the consequences. Men in particular have to really see this manosphere bs for what it is (narcissistic misogyny) and understand their mother is a very significant relative who is NOT a model for how all women should be seen or related to.

@ men, grow up, actually tap into those feelings you were trained to ignore, humble yourself, stop trying to be kings and superheroes and start being good friends and kind people.

The parental-relationship thing also goes for women and their fathers. Treating a man like a security measure is a sure way to embody the exact same kind of narcissism, entitlement, and lack of compassion that causes men to treat women like toys and breeding tubes. You're not obligated to respect somebodies choices without your own boundaries, but you are obligated to acknowledge their humanity and their struggle to make something out of their life. This is everybody's first time on earth. Neither women nor men can cherry pick what parts of the patriarchy are "good" for them and get away with it. It was explicitly made to destroy emotional maturity and trust, because that (compassion and trust) is not what superiority looks like. So if a man is a pathetic pos and a danger to others, other men should check him and keep that ego small. If a woman is entitled and emotionally abusive to the men in her life, I'd like to ask other women to find a way to help each other not ruin your own chances for healthy relationships and happiness. It takes two to tango. It takes a village to raise a child.

Since we have to deal with the influences from others, we may as well start adding some positive influences into the equation ourselves. If you aren't sure what that looks like, now's always a good time to learn. My recommendations to anyone who wants to make sure they have the healthiest relationships, romantic or not, are to learn about your attachment style, learn about your personal or cultural values and the dynamics that support them, to think about your childhood and figure out what you learned or internalized from it, and lastly, to really ask yourself if you want mutual respect or power over others. If the solution to you is wielding power against men/women, I hope you know why.

Tldr, a lot of men are fucked up and it's their fault they aren't getting better, but maturity takes learning and effort. Many women (probably less egregiously common than the men) are also immature af and the cause of their own problems if they refuse to learn & grow. Discriminate accordingly for your personal relationships. Don't look to people you don't like for connection, and don't act like being narcissistic is gonna make you happy.

P*rn, dating apps/hook up culture, and 50/50 normalization are the three main culprits as to why the men of this generation seem so different than men from previous ones, and why so many beautiful and accomplished women are unable to secure a relationship without settling. Men always had their issues collectively, but it was never to the degree that we see today, and it’s largely due to the normalization from an early age to those three things.

The brains of men these days have been wired in a completely overly s3xualized manner. They don’t view women as people but as objects of strict desire and nothing else. Consumption of p*rn has not only given them unrealistic expectations of intimacy, it has influenced their s3xual orientations (see DL epidemic), and their social behaviour. Nowadays many don’t find regular girls attractive, which is why they choose to engage in “taboo” activities to feel some arousal. This leads them to becoming socially inept and to falling easy prey to manosphere content that only reinforces the objectification and dehumanization of women.

Dating apps then come in as an easy way for these men get the illusion of options, because while they might be generally not attractive, in the apps they get instant access to women they otherwise would never have in real life. And because many women have become desperate, by entertaining these men and giving them easy access to their bodies, the men no longer feel like they have to improve and work on themselves to attract a quality partner. It also gives them the idea that women are disposable because at any point they can ghost them for no reason and then swipe right to get another one. It makes them devalue access to us.

This easy access is then transferred to their expectations of relationships. They abuse the concept of equality to manipulate women into financially abusive arrangements where she’s expected to provide fiscally while also performing her feminine duties and taking care of a grown, able-bodied man. Naturally this continues to reinforce men’s lack of respect and gratitude for women in their lives, while increasing their own sense of self-importance, narcissism, ineptitude, and ungratefulness.

Obviously women are not responsible for the actions of men, but we do have the power to not reinforce and condone their sick ways. By deleting dating apps, standing our ground when we oppose 50/50 dating, and choosing to remain abstinent until marriage, we are taking the power dynamics back to our advantage. No, you are not unreasonable for not wanting to be with a man who consumes p*rn, or who wants to be sexually fluid with other men, or who views red pill content that dehumanizes you, or seems unwilling to provide things for you and cherish you in his life. It’s on you to stand firm in your decision to only entertain the gentlemen whose mindsets haven’t been completely fried by modern societal trends.

The “male loneliness epidemic” that we hear so much about is entirely self inflicted (not that anyone cares when it’s women who are lonely), and it’s a direct response to women saying no more to men who exhibit the behaviours outlined above. Hold the line, because they either leave their toxic ways and get better, or they will doom themselves to a life of solitude. Either way, that is their responsibility to fix, not yours.

[cherubikscube]

I want to write about my grief in an informative way because I think there aren’t many people who feel they can be open about their pet loss and the effects (because it’s downplayed so much compared to other kinds of loss) but I’m worried it will read wrong and I don’t want to sound stupid but so far it’s like:

1) you will be fine and then you will be not fine and you will never be able to predict when or what will cause it but it will kick your legs out from under you every time and you just have to let it I think!

2) you might be angry, I’m angry. especially if the loss was premature (my cat wasn’t even 3) it feels like a true injustice and though you’re well aware the world is full of those and you are not special, that doesn’t help you. that doesn’t change your hurt. & we all know sometimes it’s easier to be angry, even though you’re not sure who to be angry at (you might find yourself a worthy target, though for no good reason).

3) you will want more than you have no matter how much you have. paw prints, nail clippings, fur, whiskers, ashes, bones, everything. I am kicking myself over the things I let go without thinking. But also — photos and videos. I have almost 4,000 and I still feel like I missed so much. Please please please document your pets’ lives INCLUDING the most mundane pointless things you’ve watched them do millions of times. That is what I miss most and what I fear I will one day forget, because since Tango walking around and meowing and breathing and living was something I thought I’d witness every day for another decade at least, I took it for granted and didn’t preserve it.

4) you may feel incredibly jealous of other people and their pets, especially if theirs survived some sort of ailment (especially especially if it was similar to what killed yours), but you might actually be comforted to see their love. and know that you gave that love to your pet and they were happy and that kind of love will continue to exist in the world so so so long after you. and the bonds between animals and humans is such a beautiful thing.

5) along the same lines, you may be comforted by animals while also feeling vulnerable around them, like you’ve realized how much their loss can hurt you so you almost don’t want to feel that love. But you also know how deep that love is and how many times it saved you and how much of a shame it would be to never let yourself feel that again.

6) you might want to feel bad. You might even feel guilty for enjoying life at any point for any brief moment. You’ll probably feel guilty about a lot of things. Everyone will tell you you did everything you could and you were a great pet parent but you will have nagging thoughts and what-ifs and it will be very hard to let yourself let go of that. Please try. (I am.)

[activate-shadow-of-the-window]

Let the Syllables Fall Out at a Steady Trickling

Lapis Lazuli - Boreas - The Oh Hellos

-

Chapter 4 of Cracking like a dry branch in a westward wind, in which Ren gets jealous and pissed, and threatens some people with a pointy stick before taking diplomatic action. Grian and Cub are concerned about this, before hatching a nice plan. Contains a character threatening other characters with a bladed weapon and intimidating them without causing physical injury.

Available on AO3 here.

-

It was raining.

It was always wet and damp and generally dreary in the Tangle, but rain always made it worse. The only good thing it did was make the drowned more efficient, since it eliminated the need for dunking them in brackish water dragged about in buckets by their fellow waterlogged dead, or what few humans were outside at any given time. Besides that, the precipitation just made the metal more rusty and the mud more sucking and the slime more gross. Nobody in the Tangle likes the rain, especially its ruler.

“Blast this rain! Blast the mud, the slime, the moss and— ruuuaaagh!” With a frustrated shout, Ren threw his halberd onto the floor, its blade ding-ing onto the metal plates. He resumed pacing back and forth, ignoring his weapon and glowering at nothing from behind his dark crystal glasses. Every time his ears as much as twitched, the subjects in attendance flinched in fear of his legendary temper.

“I swear that rain is the worst sort of weather! The sun dries the mud, the fog cools the skin, even the earthquakes sometimes raise new artifacts from the muck! But this downpour is good for nothing!”

He suddenly rounded on the gaggle of onlookers, snatching up the halberd and swinging into a fighting stance with one fluid movement. A bespectacled technician was suddenly staring down its shining metal spearhead.

“You! Trim, isn’t it? How progresses the work on the portals? How fares the production of the fungi?”

Trim’s mouth hung open for no more than a second as he scrambled to answer his lord. “Th-The work has progressed very well, sire. Very quickly too! We have two more gateways ready for testing, and three more in construction. At present, the production of fungi has been upped considerably from three months previously. And when the two new gateways come online, the production is expected to increase tenfold!”

Ren lowered the halberd, nodding in satisfaction. “Good, good! We must decrease the amount of food we import from Great Acacia. Breadbasket they may be, but Pearl holds too much of our gold already! It is good that the drowned are content eating mushrooms.”

The Vine Lord suddenly spun again, a blur of movement that ended with the axe head of his weapon resting next to the neck of a diplomat. “Elith, right? Tell me about Grian Sunset, Sitter of the Dusk Throne, ruler of the Sunset Coast! We must establish diplomatic ties with them now that Tango has!”

Elith’s hands gestured wildly as she spoke, and her eyes carefully avoided the haft of the pole arm. “Sitter Grian is an odd ruler, from what I saw while in Sovereign Voidstars’ hallways, sire. He claims to not want responsibility, yet he is very good at delegating to the other parrot-folk. He must be importing great amounts of material, sire; rumor has it that Permafrost Springs shipped out a large amount of wool recently, and Iceberg Metropolis too sent out several barges filled with quartz. He is eager to trade and eager to make friends, sire.”

Again, Ren withdrew the blade from Elith’s neck, resuming his pacing with the weapon in the crook of his arm. “Very good! We need as many friends as we can get, though if Blackbone is any indication, we must make sure that Tango does not hamper us. That End-blasted Nether-exile holds too much sway with his gold and his basalt! None know that we too hold the secrets of the obsidian portals, aye? But he does! Blast that flaming snow-born hoglin-foot!”

Miraculously, Ren didn’t throw his halberd to the ground. No, he threw it into the ceiling. And it stuck.

Grumbling, the king of the Tangle stalked up to his throne, and his courtiers breathed a sigh of relief. Sitting down meant he was actually going to do something instead of just yelling and throwing weapons about.

“Piren!“ The admiral jumped into a salute. ”Get ready to send a small fleet to the Sunset Coast. Without cannonry, mind you! Put Undertow at the head, and fly the colors proudly!“

“Denora!” The scribe straightened, eyes widening. “Pen a request to Grian for proper and open relations. Don’t promise anything more than safe passage through the Tangle! Nothing more!”

On and on he went, picking out officials to rustle up provisions or mend uniforms or load cargo, sending each off at a fearful scurry through the echoing metal of the palace. When they had all left, Ren sighed and slumped against the tangle of metal and roots that he called a throne.

“Goodness gracious, how much longer? How much longer can I keep this up?”

After a few more grumbles, the exile swung his feet onto his throne. He leapt up and yanked his halbard from the ceiling with ease, only to land on his own tail and tumble it over teakettle. He managed to turn it into a tumble of sorts, though, rolling upright with a grunt. He shook off the mud dust (or at least attempted to do so) and strutted out of his grand hall with hardly a backwards glance.

-

“What?”

Grian’s face was a study in complete disbelief and more than a little bewilderment at Cub’s words. The sovereign just sighed.

“Yep. Ren’s sent a fleet of diplomats and welcome gifts and probably spies too. It’s not that unexpected, really.”

“What do you mean it’s not unexpected? Why would he all of a sudden send a fleet now, several months after we arrived?”

“Oh, right. You don’t know about the feuds…”

Grian took off his helmet and cocked his head at Cub. “What feuds? Should I know about the feuds? They sound important.”

“Well, you do know about Jevin and Cleo’s whole thing, right? Well, Ren and Tango have a kinda similar thing going, except far more open and less passive aggressive. It’s pretty one sided honestly, as its mostly just Ren being jealous of Tango for some reason.”

“For some reason?”

“Yeah, Ren doesn’t like talking about it, and all his hangers-on are too scared to talk.”

Grian gave a humph and sat down hard on the ledge of the tower. “Too scared to talk? Does he threaten them or something?”

Cub leaned against the wall next to the Sitter. “Sure seems like it.”

“Well then, I’ve got a problem with people treating their workers badly, so then I’ve got a problem with this Ren Dog already. What is a canid doing in the swamp anyway?”

“He’s an exile from Iceberg Metropolis. The old mayor couldn’t stand him rabble-rousing and trying to throw hilariously bad coups, so he got exiled.”

“I’m liking him less and less every time you tell me anything about him.”

“That’s a pretty common sentiment. If I were you, I wouldn’t want to meet his diplomats one-on-one. They’ll try to weasel you into some binding agreement.”

Grian cocked his head again, and somehow brought his foot up to his chin to scratch it. “Hmm… Are there any big festivals coming up? Big enough to warrant throwing a little, oh, I don’t know, reception? After all, it would be very nice if they could see the first of the finished towers.”

Cub smiled, or perhaps bared his teeth, a little, as the parrot’s plan clicked. “Oh, that is a good idea. Let’s see, there’s High Summer, but that’s too soon. Then there’s St. Wisteria’s Day, but it isn’t a very big deal. That leaves Eversun, in around a month. It’s not actually a solstice, but rather the day when the Solar Lights usually paint the night as bright as day.”

Grian grinned widely. “Oh, that’s perfect! Flare Tower has so much glass, so it’ll be really easy for them to see the lights! I shall invite as many leaders as want to come for Eversun.”

The bird hoisted himself off the ledge, spread his wings, and offered a hand to Cub. “Sovereign of Climbing Spires, Cub Fan Voidstars, I formally invite you to a reception at the Flare Tower, on Eversun. I would be most honored if you would attend.”

Cub grasped his hand with a smile. “Sitter of the Sunset Coast, Grian Sunset, I would be honored to attend your reception on Eversun.”

After a quick shake, Grian let go and spun around, laughing. “Finally, finally! I’ve got an excuse to start properly talking with other rulers! I’ve been so bloody stir-crazy these past few months!”

He jumped onto the ledge and dove off the unfinished tower, yelling an “I trust you’ll see yourself out” to Cub as he wheeled around the building and dove through its tall cutout. Cub saw the light of the sun reflecting off the bird’s brilliant feathers as he made his way to the edge.

“I suppose I might as well use the gates too,” Cub said to himself, “after all the trouble he’s gone through to make them work.”

He took a deep breath, feeling the opacity drain from his hair and skin, flicking his tail at the familiar sensation. He tucked his glasses into the inner chest pocket of his long coat before flicking his wings into existence and gliding back to his own land. It was good to feel the wind rushing through him again.

[doctor-von-raum]

Alright. Limlife UDAD au. Sorry for taking this long to get around to this, I originally posted this all to tiktok but because that is the least tumblr friendly format in the world i essentially had to type it all up again. Orz. This is all going under a cut because it is uhh almost 2k words long

Anyway. I assume you, sender of this ask and reblogger of this post, are familiar with the worldbuilding of Ulysses Dies at Dawn, but I’ll share it with the class anyway. The setting is cyber-noir, so technology is at a modern or near futuristic level, but aesthetically, it pulls from the very late 19th/early 20th century. All of the characters and stories are based around Greek mythology, but there are no gods or magic or mythological creatures, just people and machines. The world as we know it has been taken over entirely by one big city, and it has wiped out every plant and non-human animal in existence. There’s vague mentions in the album of off-planet agriculture farms, presumably run by robots, but it's super vague and also not plot relevant.

But on to the actual AU stuff. The most defining part of limited life is, of course, the limited…ness of it all, and in this AU, that is brought about by a modified version of the Sphynx virus, the clocks curse (you know when I said no magic exists? I lied. One magic exists). This world is overseen by beings known as Watchers, who aren’t very happy about how their planet is being treated, so they give everyone a time limit. Ten years exactly. It has been ten years since then. People figured out pretty quick that you could take time from others, either willingly, or through violence. The already in place hierarchy just gets stronger, with the rich and powerful getting extended lifespans, and everyone else dropping like flies. When your timer runs out, your ghost is sent to the Nether to work for king Hades.

But all is not lost! There are rumours of a vault hidden deep underground, guarded by four locks, which is meant to contain the means of fixing the clock system. This is where we find our four protagonists, Tango, Cleo, Grian, and Martyn.

Team Ties is the Oedipus of this AU. They’ve been working tirelessly for years to try and find a cure, a way to stop the clocks, but none of them work as hard as Tango. It’s his life’s work at this point. Every spare minute of his time is spent researching, experimenting, and trying to find a breakthrough. Of course, test subjects are hard to come by and not many are exactly *willing*, but he tells himself that it’ll be worth it in the end. Until one day, Skizz comes up to him, says he’s really fucked up this time. He’s down to a couple hours left, if that. He wants the rest of his time to go to a good cause. Besides, he says, if anyone’s gonna get us out of this mess, it’s gonna be Tango. So he does it. He doesn’t have time to sit and think about the moral implications, nobody has any time at all, so he flips the comically large switch that makes the science work, ad he’s terrified.

And he’s right to be terrified.

Because it doesn’t work.

And now he has to break this news to Etho and Impulse, and they are understandably devastated. But no one expected Impulse to get this… mad. He accuses Tango of murdering Skizz, of being reckless and selfish. And Tango tries to say that no, he would never, Skizz volunteered, he loves Skizz. Well- loved Skizz now. But how much he loved him doesn’t matter. This stupid pointless research took away the only good thing any of them had left, the only point of happiness they could find in this stupid city. And they didn’t even get to say goodbye.

Tango can’t exactly do anything as he watches the other two leave. He can’t disagree because theyre right. He fucked up, and there’s almost no way he can take this back. 

Until two weeks later, Etho comes back, and he’s got something with him, asking Tango to not ask any questions about where he came from. He says it’s not a cure, but it’s something, and at this point, Tango is desperate enough that he’ll take anything.

So, turns out, the clocks aren’t a perfect system. Giving and taking time can sometimes come with side effects, some physical, some mental. The Clockers are a found family of people affected by these side effects. Scar has his scarring and his muscle weakness, Cleo has flesh that appears to be almost rotting, Etho loses vision in one of his eyes, and Bdubs can’t remember the last time he got a good night’s sleep. They’ve been working on trying to find some way to mitigate these effects, or stop them from happening to other people.

Some time during that entire process, Etho and Cleo decided to get married. Maybe it was for tax reasons, maybe it was genuine love. Who knows, but they were gonna get all cleaned up and pretty, and they would look so handsome and Bdubs would be the best best man there ever was (look, he’s been planning this wedding for years before Etho even proposed, let him have this). But the night before the wedding, Etho disappears, all of their research goes with him, and it doesn't take a genius to put two and two together.

Thankfully, when you’ve already put in the majority of the work, you cram in a *lot* of sleepless nights, and you have two wonderful sons helping you out, you can brute force a paper to be written. And if you can publish your paper before the guy who took your stolen research, you’ll get the credit you deserve, right?

Wrong.

Turns out, the conclusions the papers reached is one that isn't very profitable for the higher-ups, so the powers that be took the opportunity to shut both of them down, reject all of their findings, and cut their funding while they’re at it. So tentatively, Cleo and Tango work agree to work together. There’s rumours of a solution down in a vault somewhere, and they’re both on their own. Etho high-tailed it out of there when he realised they were gonna get caught, and neither Scar or Bdubs are in a particularly fit state to go vault hunting, so for now, they only have each other.

Elsewhere in the city live the Bad Boys. They’re a group of half-brothers. Different mothers, same father. That father is Zeus, one of the richest and most powerful men in the city. This position comes with benefits, like an almost unlimited amount of time, and a wonderful mansion to live in, of course, with the caveat that he can burn down it and everything inside of it whenever he feels like it. To stay in his good books, they have to work for him. Occasionally this means more serious things, but mostly it just means working at the Bread Bridge, a bakery that functions as a money laundering front for an organised crime ring.

One of these more serious jobs sees them going to the nether to slay the dog of Hades, which, you know, it’s gonna suck to kill a dog, maybe the last dog on the planet, and they don’t know why they’re doing it, but their time is on the line so they don’t ask questions.

Of course, when they get down there, they’re quick to realise that it’s not an actual dog.

No, Ren the Dog is taking up the moniker of Hades, and is taking great pleasure in ruling over the souls of the nether. Joel stabs him before he can even finish his monologue. “That was easy,” he says, “someone should have done that years ago.” But of course, Ren doesn’t stay down, he’s a mechanism. The robot parts that the Doc put in him won’t let him die. But he’s in good spirits, and he can see that these are just three boys in over their heads. He offers them a deal. See, the clocks system is working out real great for him, and there are people that are trying to get rid of it, and he can’t have that. If they can put a stop to it, he’ll let them go freely, maybe even free them from Zeus’s control while he’s at it, he’s a generous king after all. So Grian takes the deal.

But of course, Ren has three people on this case already, he only needs one more. He should probably just keep the other two down here as collateral. Make sure the job actually gets done.

Martyn and Scott are Nymphs, or Sirens (I’m not entirely sure if there’s a difference, the lore is vague). I don’t think it’s ever explicitly stated what they do, but they’re implied to be escorts. They work for Dionysus, and deal in information they get while working. They met on the job and rely on each other a lot, eventually falling into a relationship.

It all comes falling apart when Scott gets one particular client, Martyn can’t even remember who it is. He wakes up one morning and the other side of the bed is cold. Scott ran out of time in his sleep. Someone poisoned him, and it was slow enough acting, that no one noticed until it was too late. Martyn became kind of a wreck after that, and in a last ditch effort, decided to go straight to Hades to make a deal.

Meanwhile, Ren is not having a great time being king of hell, all things considering. It’s kinda boring. So when some guy comes up and swears his undying loyalty in exchange for a single soul to be returned, he decides to humour him. Says the only loyalty he needs is the promise that he’ll get one job done for him, of course, again, the vault.

Also. breaking the flow a little bit but I made Martyn the Orpheus of this au, the guy who sings a song about going down to hell, as an homage to the amazing InTheLittleWood minecraft parody, Screw The Nether, and no one in the comments of the original picked up on it. I need to make it more explicitly clear this time.

Anyway! Last up are the nosey neighbours. They function as Daedelus here. They are acolytes of the Watchers, and their main task is just to watch over everything and report back on the progress of the world. The vault job was an interesting case because they were allowed to interfere. Just in little ways, screwing up one of Tango’s experiments here, swapping one of Scott’s drinks there, and giving Etho some really bad advice when he’s already down on his luck. They don’t even know what’s inside the vault, the watchers haven’t told them. They’re as curious as everyone else. But they might never find out, because our protagonists are down to the last hours of their timers, and if they don’t get this job done now, they’ll all be dead by dawn.

Hermitcraft and Mechs!

I've been staring at this ask for the past hour. Yes, those are two of the things I post about 👍

Uhh have I posted about my limlife ulysses dies at dawn au here? Is that something I can talk about?