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scifrey · 2 years ago

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Hold Tight (1/6)

Status: Complete. Unbeta'd, we die like Hob doesn't.

Fandom: The Sandman (TV 2022) Includes some comics canon, and some cameos from the wider Gaiman-verse, but it’s not necessary to know to enjoy the story.

Rating: Mature

Warnings: Discussions of grief and in-canon character death. Also includes some erotic content. Please curate your internet experience accordingly.

Relationships: Morpheus | Dream of the Endless/Hob Gadling, Past Eleanor | Hob Gadling’s Wife/Hob Gadling (past), Hector Hall/Lyta Hall (past)

Characters: Dream of the Endless | Morpheus, Hob Gadling, Matthew the Raven, Desire of the Endless, Lyta Trevor-Hall, Daniel Hall, Rose Walker, Jed Walker

Summary:

Hob is tasked with his first quest as Vassal of the Endless, Morpheus is bad at using his words, Destiny thinks he's so clever, Desire makes a confession, Rose Walker meets her Uncle's boyfriend, and Lyta Hall punches Dream of the Endless in the nose. Or, the one where Hob Gadling turns into everyone's therapist, and honestly, he ain't mad about it.

Set at the end of Cling Fast - after the premiere of “Elizabethan Manor”, but before the Epilogue.

READ ON AO3 or below:

~~~

It’s not like Hob’s been walking around with a ring in his pocket.

After six-hundred and sixty-seven years of… well, he wouldn’t call it pining, obviously he hasn’t been steadily and consistently lusting or moping after Morpheus for the better part of seven centuries. And he’d been married and very much in love with his late wife, thank you very much.

Maybe better to call it ‘carrying a torch’, or ‘wistfully wondering’ or, or any other euphemism to explain the tender affection and exasperation he felt toward the King of Dreams and Nightmares before he actually got to know the anthropomorphic personification.

The point is, Hob hasn’t spent the greater part of his life wishing he could formalize the tying together of his life and heart with that of said affectionate and exasperating anthropomorphic personification.

At his most bold, Hob had imagined himself as a liegeman, or a romantical knight-errant experiencing the adventures and quests of human life on behalf of his otherworldly Lordling Stranger. He’d worn his Lord’s colours in gallantry without knowing his name, and ached for their once-a-century meetings, and never dared to daydream for more than that. Except for in 1789. But if you had seen Morpheus in those breeches, you’d hardly have been able to keep your lewd little fantasies from springing into existence, either.

But then had come the TV show, and the resultant scouring of Hob’s soul, and the missed messages of flowers, and hideous bouquets, and vaguely kinky monsterfucking sex on the shores of a sea full of dreams and nightmares. And after that had come a year of experiencing the joys of the Dreaming together, exploring the Waking together, and reaffirming their passions in the liminal space between the two that was Hob’s bed, and then a promise of retirement and domesticity, and honestly, you can’t blame Hob!

Being both Unaging and Immortal, and therefore obligated to move on from his established life every forty-or-so-years, Hob Gadling gets to keep so little: only his name, his memories, and his word. So now that he has Morpheus to call his own, he wants to keep him as close as possible, for as long as possible.

Hob Gadling is, and always will be, a clingy bastard.

But it’s not like he’s carrying a ring around in his pocket.

“Uh-huh,” doctor Harriet Butler says from the other side of the table in the university’s canteen. Everything about Harri’s expression–the twinkling gaze, the mirthful curl of her lips, the little shake of her head–makes it very clear that she’s taking the piss.

She’s popped by the school to pick his brain and leave him a copy of her new manuscript for him to review. It’s a narrative nonfiction about court life in the heyday of Elizabethan England, and while Hob didn’t personally know the courtier the tale follows, he knows that his red pen will likely be of some use to Harri. And he’s delighted to do it, besides. He can’t wait to see what their time together on set has wrought in her prose.

“Should I be getting a ring?” Hob asks, derailing himself when he realises that he’s been banging on about this for the whole of their little lunch date. “I mean, he was married before, but that was to a Grecian goddess.”

“The ancient Greeks wore wedding rings,” Harri points out.

Hob lets the noise of the crowded canteen wash over him as he contemplates that… that Morpheus would know what it meant if Hob ever presented him with a ring.

It’s too soon!

Is it too soon?

Hob’s already pretty much demanded that Morpheus move in with him. And to be fair, while he hasn’t been pining for the last seven centuries, now that they are together, he is as sure about Morpheus as he is about not wanting to die.

But does that mean that Morpheus is sure?

The rambunctious shouts of excited students, the clatter of lunch trays and flatware, the muszak playing gently over the tannoy, it’s all just so noisy. He sometimes forgets how quiet the world used to be. Taverns were loud. Festivals were loud. Full churches were loud. But the ever-present music and white noise permeating every moment of existence hadn’t been woven into all the terribly small and mortal parts of his life.

It reminds him, all of a sudden, of how… well, how not grand Dr. Bob Gadlen’s academic little world is. What time isn’t taken up by marking and preparing lectures is devoted to guiding malleable young minds, or to influencing city and historic councils (which takes a lot of research and a lot of passionate speeches at after hours meetings), or to researching and practicing guest lectures, or to spending a weekend with cobwebs in his hair and a hammer in his hand and sweat on his brow as he personally repairs the disintegrating parts of The White Horse, or putting on a stupid suit to go into the City to sort out his real estate investments and charitable donations, or taking a spare shift at the Inn to cover for a sick employee, or… or any manner of small, boring, uninteresting mundanities that make up the life of Doc Bob.

And maybe that’s not something that Dream of the Endless, Morpheus the God of Sleep, the Lord Shaper, the Prince of Stories, the King of Fantasy and Nightmares, the Oneiromancer wants.

“Maybe he doesn’t even want a ring, maybe that’s not something that…” Hob says, slouching back in his chair and feeling very suddenly like a small, silly, over-excited child. “That anthropomorphic personifications of the human unconscious do.”

Harri points at him with her salad fork. “You also said that you didn’t think that he would want down-and-dirty sweaty animal sex and–”

Hob groans and covers his face with his hands. “I can’t believe you got me drunk enough to tell you about that.”

He could drown himself in his soup. That could be a thing. It would get him out of this conversation. Unfortunately, it would not deter the only mortal friend who knew what he was. She’d just wait around for him to wake up, probably with her camera out to catch the pieces of noodle sliding from his cheeks.

“Be honest, Hob, is this angst about Morph maybe not wanting a ring? Or is it about your fear that Morph may not want to be tied down before he’s even really lived as a human? Or are you worrying that once he is human and free of his function, with all the world at his feet, he may not want marriage with you?” Harri asks, painfully astute, as ever.

Painfully.

“Godswounds, I didn’t even think of that,” Hob groans and swirls his soup dejectedly. “I mean, I told him that I’d take care of him, when it was all done and he was… you know…”

“Dead?”

“We’re not using that word,” he says sternly.

Harri shrugs and doesn’t let his grumpiness get to her.

Hob tugs on his ear. “But it never occurred to me that… that he might deserve the chance to live apart from me, you know, get his own flat, cook his own meals, travel, maybe meet someone else, someone–”

“Okay, okay, this is spiraling,” Harri says, and slips around the table to wrap Hob in a crushing hug.

Hob lets his verbal torrent dry up, and presses his forehead into her shoulder. She gives him another good hard squeeze, and then sits back to meet Hob’s eyes.

“Listen, you asked him to move in, and he said yes, so don’t second-guess yourself. He’s made it abundantly clear how much he enjoys being yours,” she adds with an eye roll. “I’ve never ‘accidentally’ caught sight of so many bruises and hickies in so many interesting places as I have in the last six months.”

“He could make them go away, you know,” Hob mimics Morpheus’ dramatic sand-flinging finger wiggle. “Before he wears a low-cut shirt or reaches up for something on a high shelf.”

“And he doesn’t, so what does that tell you?” Harri squeezes his shoulder once and shakes him a little. “Come on, Doc Bob, you’re supposed to be the wise old one here.”

The thing is, Hob is human. And therefore he has that very human urge to find love and cleave to it. And Morpheus is very slowly, very gradually becoming human himself. Night after night, a little more of Morpheus’ power trickles from him into the infant Morpheus has only ever called “the child” or “my heir” as the little boy sleeps.

It’s literally a trickle, and Hob knows this because the day the baby was born, a massive hourglass appeared in the middle stained glass window behind his lover’s throne.

In the left-hand pane, a stylized depiction of Morpheus-as-Dream gazes magnanimously down upon any who enter the hall. The rightmost pane depicts an infant dressed all in white, hair and skin as colourless as his clothes, eyes the colour of shamrocks. And every night, when Hob meets Dream at the seat of his power, the lad in the right-hand pane appears older, brighter, his gaze more otherwordly. And every night, the Morpheus in the left-hand pane appears more human, his eyes less fathomless, his skin less eldritch-white and more pink with health.

And every night, there is more sand in the bottom of the hourglass than there was previously.

Hob still hasn’t met the child, nor Morpheus’ mortal niece and nephew. He hasn’t insisted either, figuring that Morpheus will share his family, and his successor, with his lover when he’s ready. But he’s becoming less and less the master of the Dreaming with each passing hour, and Hob can’t help but wonder if maybe Morpheus doesn’t want him to meet them. That maybe he’s deliberately keeping his Endless life separate from his soon-to-be-human one.

So that when it’s all… all over, then there will be nothing tying him back to his Endlessness.

Maybe that’s what Morpheus wants.

Or… or maybe Morpheus just doesn’t trust Hob with his own Endless family. Maybe he’s keeping them from Hob, the way that Hob hoarded Eleanor, and Robyn, and Wee John (though he hadn’t, not really; if Morpheus had appeared in the welcome hall at Gadlen House at any point of his marriage and demanded to be introduced to Hob’s wife and children, he would have fallen all over himself with pride to do so.)

No, Hob’s being ridiculous. Morph’s just busy. Turning over the entirety of your kingdom and selfhood to an entirely different person, while also training that other person how to be you, while they are already, in essence, completely you, is… well, it sounds like a lot. Morpheus has just been distracted, that’s all.

“It’s too soon for rings, anyway,” Hob hedges, voice rough and brain spinning. Although, Too Soon has a different meaning nowadays. He’d met and married Eleanor within the span of three months, and they’d only waited that long because the banns had to be read on three consecutive Sundays before they could be trothed.

But in the twenty-first century, it seemed like dating for anything less than a year before popping the question was considered inordinately fast. And as much as Hob likes to tease his lover and call their centenary meetings’ ‘dates’, they weren’t. Not really. Not in the way that it means now.

“And there’s so much happening, I don’t want to be a distraction, or a… a burden, or–”

Harriet pinches him.

“Okay, okay,” Hob capitulates. “I’m overthinking it.”

“You are,” Harri agrees, and goes back to both her seat and her salad. “You want to be with him. And he wants to be with you. You will be. You are. So there’s no rush. You both have literally all the time in the world.”

If Hob had to bet which of the Endless would ask a boon of him first, his money would have been on Desire. He knows Desire and Dream have a rivalry, which Hob figured the former would have capitalised on the second they had free reign.

And to be honest, Hob spends a lot of time in their realm since he’s worked out how to translate Morpheus’ overdramatically, swoony Victorian flower messages. Hob is obviously pretty well known to the each of the Endless, and thought Desire in particular would have a favour or just a prank or a snipe they’d want to pull.

Yet, it’s been months, and none of Morpheus’ siblings have formally introduced themselves to him. That he knows of, of course. He wouldn't even begin to guess at what they looked like in human form—though he figures they’d all be as Otherworldly beautiful and easy to pick out of a crowd as Death and Morpheus had been.

No one has approached him for strange little favours, or pulled him aside for awkward conversations, or appeared mysteriously over his shoulder while he’s marking in his office. The only folks who’ve buttonholed him lately are some of his students wanting him to sign autographs or chair their Alphabet Army Club, now that it’s been splashed all over the media just how terribly queer Hob is.

(Hob had been right, and that photo of him smoldering at Morpheus on the red carpet had put Oscar Issacs and Jessica Chastaine’s similar shot to shame. He’d had it professionally printed and framed to hang in his bedroom.)

But like the tinny, annoying buzz of the fridge on days when a headache or stress has made the white-noise impossible to ignore, every once and a while, Hob remembers that he’s pledged to service to six entities he doesn't know, doesn’t trust, and doesn’t have any way to contact. Having been made vassal to each of the Endless, Hob was at their beck and call, sworn to serve them where he could, in exchange for permission and approval to be courted by Morpheus. And yet…

Hob hadn’t actually been party to those negotiations, which at that time had felt insultingly high-handed of Morpheus. His lover had not only made promises of subjugation on his behalf, but did so without Hob even knowing the talks were happening. Acts of Service, especially in the guise of feeding people and wheedling his lover to try new foods, might be Hob’s love language, but being sworn to serve something and someone without his consent had been… he’d been well and truly miffed.

Especially since he hadn’t been present to negotiate limits. Hob was willing to do pretty much anything and everything Morpheus asked of him (or any other iteration of Dream of the Endless who came calling, honestly), Hob was not about to fuck someone for Desire, or kill someone for Death, or slip roofies into someone’s drink for Delierum, or… or whatever else an anthropomorphic personification may ask of a human.

He was absolutely unwilling to harm anyone else.

But Morpheus had reassured him that whatever boon may be requested, it would not be in service of hurt or pain, either to other sentient beings, or to himself. Mollified by that at least, Hob had begun to envision what sorts of heroic quests or deeds he may get to embark on in the name of his de facto in-laws. Perhaps saving some damsels, or participating in a spy sting, or going on an epic adventure to retrieve a lost artefact.

So far though... nothing.

So when his first Endless comes knocking, so to speak, it takes Hob a few minutes to figure out what it is that he’s looking at. He had assumed messages from the other Endless would come on scrolls, or sealed letters written on parchment, or through some sort of animal herald like Matthew.

But no. And it is not via a herald.

It is not Desire.

Destiny contacts Hob through, of all things, text message.

Hob is enjoying the mild evening out back of the Inn, in the section of the property that is Hob's private garden.

Out front and around the side of the building, the gravel parking lot is peppered with more picnic tables, bike racks, and flower-choked planters than spaces for cars, which is Hob's subtle way of encouraging his patrons to not drink and drive. The forsythia that Morpheus' regard had caused to spontaneously grow all along the borders is just starting to show little yellow buds, and it's quite pleasant out there this year.

Pleasant. But busy.

At the back of the building, Hob's garden is ringed in with an old-fashioned bramble hedgerow, planted with blackberries, raspberries, and roses. Matthew had eaten his roly-poly fill the previous autumn, competing with the New Kid, who'd foraged fresh ingredients for cocktails and tarts. The carpet of clover that makes up the yard is thick, resilient and just beginning to spring back to life from its time crushed under the winter snow. In the centre of the little green field sits a circle of flagstones and fine red graven, just large enough for three curved loveseats and a small fire cairn.

It's an excellent place to watch a brisk spring sunset, and right now Hob is torn between wanting to start a fire, and being terribly comfortable cozied up on one of the loveseats under a blanket. Morpheus won't be back from his heir’s afternoon nap for at least another hour, and it's starting to grow too dark to proofread any more of Harri's manuscript.

Hob's just decided that maybe he'll pop inside and pester Patrick for a laugh when his phone pings. He doesn't recognize the name or the number, and when he swipes the message open, he has to read it three times over before he clues in who it might be from.

Vassal - I task you with this quest: heal the rift that lies between Rose and Jed Walker’s friend Lyta Trevor-Hall, and Dream of the Endless. It would behoove us all to strengthen the ties that bind.

The contact appears in Hob’s phone as D#1, which makes Hob snort. Sure enough, when he opens his Contacts, he’s got Ds 1 through 7 listed, though D#4 has no associated phone number. He immediately changes D#3 to Best Beloved. Morpheus has no cell phone, of course, that Hob knows of, so he wonders how the Endless are actually managing texting.

He considers showing the text first to Morpheus, and then to Matthew, and after deliberating both possibilities, decides to undertake this doing for Destiny on the sly. After all, if he’d wanted his brother to know, the Destiny would have looped either one or both of the fussy black birds Hob calls his own into the communication.

This is a task for Hob, and Hob alone.

The call of adventure thrumming in his blood, Hob collects up the manuscript, blanket, red pens, phone, and empty pint glass, and patters inside. He knows Rose Walker and her brother Jed live in New Jersey, are the grandchildren of Desire and the late sugar heiress Unity Kincaid, and they became the sole benefactors of her fortune when she died. Beyond that, he has no idea where they might be, or what they might look like, or even how he would go about getting in contact with them.

And through them, this Lyta Trevor-Hall.

But he is a researcher in profession, and a horrible nosy busy-body in life, and wealthy enough to hire all the private detectives he might need. So he drops his stuff on the sofa, slides his laptop out of his hunter-green leather satchel, and gets to work.

Turns out, though, that Hob needs none of those advanced research skills or wealth. A single Google search turns up Rose's social media profiles, a dozen news articles about Unity and the Sleepy Sickness, a further seven articles in industry magazines about the Kincaid Sugar Trust, an announcement in Publisher’s Weekly about Rose’s forthcoming YA novel, and a single newspaper article about the brutal serial-killer death of a couple named Barnaby and Clarice.

He spends the next hour reading and making notes. He stops only the once to punch a sofa cushion while wishing it was Barnaby's face, then pour himself a careful measure of whiskey. Not too much, though. He wants to do this next bit sober.

Hob writes and deletes about five different versions of an introductory email before deciding to YOLO FOMO YEET whatever-it-is-the-youth-say-today is, and slides into Rose Walker's DMs.

Hi! You don't know me, but my name is Bob Gadlen and I'm a professor at the University of York in London. I'm reaching out because my boyfriend is a buttoned-up, emotionally constipated twat, and though he'd never say it, I think he misses you.

It’s enough information for Rose to Google him, and get a good idea that he’s who he says he is, and is a public enough a figure that he may be trustworthy. Hob then attaches a selfie he took downstairs in the pub of The New Inn. In the photo, Hob is laughing with crinkled cheeks and an open-mouthed smile, leaning back against the banquette. Morpheus is tucked in behind his shoulder, scowling at the camera with glacier-blue eyes, face resting against Hob's neck. Matthew is visible in the corner of the photo, perched on the sill of an open window, beak stuck in Morpheus' glass of wine.

It's just coming on the end of the work day in New Jersey, so Hob assumes that he's not going to get an answer right away. Especially if Rose has her privacy settings jacked all the way up. So he sets down his phone and starts researching flight costs and hotels.

A few seconds later, though, his phone pings.

Yeah, Rose Walker has replied. That sounds like Uncle Dream.

NEXT PART

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moorishflower · 2 years ago

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10 Stories/10 First Lines meme

Okay oh gosh I was tagged by a BUNCH of lovely folks, including @softest-punk @xx-vergil-xx @that-banhus @pellaaearien and MORE holy shit

So the rules are: post the first lines of your 10 most recently published AO3 stories. I am going from most recently updated here!

If I Please You (Dream/Hob, 1389 AU, WIP) The pendulum swing of the ruby is what catches Herry’s eye.

Imprimatur (Dream/Hob, Gutenberg oneshot, complete) It's the ink, maybe.

Radio Silence (Dream/Hob, The Last of Us fusion, complete) Ten years ago, the world ended all at once.

Foundations (Dream/Hob, epilogue to Hallmark-Adjacent, always human AU, complete) “Shit,” Hob says, looking up at the exceedingly posh, exceedingly clean, exceedingly well-appointed houses of Alexander Square.

Here there be dragons (Dream/Hob, siren/scifi AU, complete) Hob is off-planet when the story hits the galactic news crawl.

Hallmark-Adjacent (Dream/Hob, always human Hallmark movie AU, complete) Morpheus finds himself thinking about the liminal spaces of the world.

Ab instrumento ad corpus (Dream/Hob, the one where I succeeded in writing fisting but it took 27k to do it, complete) Dream has come to enjoy the tactile pleasures of the Waking.

I Wanna Hold Your Hand (Dream/Hob, the one where I kind of succeeded in writing fisting but it turned into angst first, complete) His Stranger's hands are beautiful.

Fey Divorce Court Isn't A Thing (Dream/Hob, established relationship 'performing for the Fae court', complete) What no one tells you about being married to an Endless, eldritch, unfathomable being is that, eventually, once those three things become sort of incorporated into your worldview, the rest of it becomes rather domestic.

Maybe sprout wings (Dream/Hob, inspired by The Odyssey/Hob dies and achieves immortality through the Dreaming AU, complete) "You know there's a new man in the Dreaming, right?"

Honorable Mentions (i.e not written completely by me or not posted yet)

Fuckboi Hob vs The HR-Worthy Confrontation (always human AU, which I co-wrote with @dancinbutterfly <3) It is a perfectly beautiful late winter afternoon.

Oreo Sandwich AU (my current WIP which is a retired!Dream/Hob/Daniel getting together fic currently parked at 119k of three-way longing and misunderstandings) Hob wakes to the sour bite of bile in his mouth, a pounding head, and the sound of his doorbell ringing.

If you see this floating around feel free to participate my head hurts too much to tag people rn <3<3<3 love you all~

#tumblr meme

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watercolorwench · 2 years ago

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tune into today’s episode of meet my ocs! here’s ten (ish) facts about isaac, everyone's favorite time traveler!

his full name is isaac andrew rafferty, he's currently 379 years old, and he's a scorpio. he's also a bisexual disaster, uses he/they pronouns (i think)

he's half-elven warlock, pact of the blade, great old one patron (if we're being technical) with a lovely cork accent

he's not quite immortal but his weird powers and his curse seem to have afforded him some strange measure of pseudo-immortality and if it gives him more time in this world, he's really not going to complain

in a past life (or just one absurdly long one), he used to be the cabin boy on a sailing vessel with his older brother (read: pirate ship). other occupations over the years have included: barkeep, mapmaker, fence, a sell-sword, an honest-to-yeehawness cowboy, a glorified mailman (herald), and a part time carpenter. current occupation? temporal assassin for a syndicate, though he's very tight-lipped about it.

he's got a small family — blood relatives are his mother, paloma, and his older brother, ash. but he'll tell anyone that thea is family. and annia too, though he's less vocal about that.

his dating life is...complicated but!!! he's madly in love with the aformentioned (and absolutely wonderful) thea seabright, AND they eloped by the sea and exchanged little tokens of love a few centuries back. he regularly brings her trinkets he finds (seaglass, smooth rocks, bits of pottery, even bits of gold here and there! anything he can stash in his pockets til he sees her next). though his curse keeps him from seeing thea as often as he'd like, he'll always find his way back to her, fight it back to her if he has to. he loves her and always will. little more difficult to pindown but he and annia have...something or could have had something...at some point...idk he's as confused as you are. immortals, amirite?

his sleep schedule is royally fuckt. you've never met a more tired man. but when he can grab some sleep? it's naps here and there, for whatever time he can afford, always in the strangest places. he has a habit of falling asleep clutching a compass tightly in his good hand

isaac love love loves film photos and hand-written letters. his handwriting is atrocious but he's been known to write very heartfelt and romantic letters (he'll deny this to most who ask). similarly, every letter he's ever gotten from thea he keeps bound in a leather journal in the breast pocket of his coat. he's never misplaced a single one, not even the time he was in the path of an errant fireball. dumbass immediately put the flames out and made sure the journals were safe. whenever he is, wherever he is, he makes a point to check the little safehouses and safeboxes they have around the world, both to pick up things from thea and to leave her notes and little presents. two crows in love.

sand. so much sand. his hair, his eyes, his clothing? sand-coloured and also often he's shedding sand. it's part of the weird magic he possesses or maybe it's part of the curse, we're not sure. but he's a very nondescript and colourless individual. almost completely unassuming, unless you have a reason to be looking for him

he's fairly skilled with herbs (centuries of knowing two very capable women have helped him immensely) and any time he runs into annia, he tries to convince her to make some poultices and things of the like for him, to help ease the aches of his joints. turns out, even near-immortal half-elves ain't immune to osteoarthritis! impacting mainly his hands/wrists (with the right being worse) and also his left knee, which caused him to limp slightly when he walks. he wears wraps or braces, depending on how he's doing.

okay wait one more! he's most often found appearing in the most liminal sorts of spaces. train platforms, gas stations at night, empty laundromats first thing in the morning, etc. and when he appears/disappears, there are always more grains of sand left in his wake. what an eerie bitch we love him

thea belongs to @tazunari and annia to @shutokushintaro (thank u for the ask i love the chance to ramble about my ocs)

#oc: isaac #prophs: isaac #asks #answered asks #niko you know it was nearly impossible for me to pick one single oc right la;ksjd #jester.txt #did i FINALLY remember i drafted these? y e s #oc tag #brynn this had me weeping all day about isaac and thea #tbh this is way more than ten facts but hey! extra fact for the long wait #group: the immor(t)al trio #also i could write about isaac all day long i'm sorry if a lot of these were facts you already knew alskdfj #his favorite of the jobs was absolutely barkeeping #i can elaborate on any of these if anyone wants to know more #(also i say cork accent bc he's a fantasy man but he'd be from co cork if we were talkin real locations)#oh i love him so dearly

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betty-bourgeoisie · 2 years ago

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I really want to know more about your headcanons about magic and the supernatural aspects of hws if I can bother you for them! (draw-a-circle-thats-the-compass)

I tend to treat the nations as a sort of go-between for humans and mythical creatures.

Nations, as a concept, are made up by humans. At the end of the day the land is just land. Linguistic and cultural communities are fluid and move around and exchange information naturally without a need for borders and nationality. A country has no more tangibility in the real world than a mermaid or a dragon. The difference is that unlike mermaids, who are usually relegated to children's books, humans have a habit of trying to enforce nationality through structure - they write laws that they enforce with police and militaries, they draw lines on maps, and distribute resources and violence based on who they've arbitrarily decided is or isn't a citizen.

So in Hetalia, in a world where fairies are real, and every country has its own representation, the nations have been forced into a sort of liminal space between the tangible and the mystical. And where each individual nation falls in that space differs.

While all nations are somewhat supernatural, some nations, the ones we see use magic and interact with mythical creatures in canon, have leaned into that mysticism to the point that they take on aspects of their culture's mythology. Vlad has little vampire fangs because he is a vampire. Arthur's love for the sea and sailing is a result of the fact that he and his brother are all part selkie. Of course, Emil would never acknowledge publicly that he can see magical creatures, he's a huldufólk, it only makes sense to hide his more mythic qualities.

Other nations have adjusted over the years to be a little more human in nature. Even Jack's more supernatural abilities are mostly just a case study in why immortals shouldn't be left alone on an island full of poisonous animals, and if the good neighbors show up on occasion that's really none of his business. Feliciano loves Roman mythology because it reminds him of his grandpa, but at the end of the day, he's a good catholic boy who happens to run at inhuman speeds.

Some nations *cough* Alfred *cough* are in some pretty serious denial about just how supernatural they really are, and if they're just a little too strong even by nation standards, or if the corn in a field parts for them to walk by it, then thats just gods gift to them and there's no reason to question that at all is there?

I also think mythical creatures existing canonically in Hetalia is really interesting because presumably, they all live longer than humans. Even the nations that fall on the more human side of things probably have some sort of relationship with their culture's mythological creatures (except for Alfred who is far too rational to acknowledge the things he can see with his own damn eyes) because those creatures will have a life span much more similar to their own. Building relationships with the supernatural hurts less, there is less of a deadline involved, and a friendship with a supernatural being is something a nation might actually be able to rely on long-term even when they don't have other countries around to support them.

#thanks for the ask!#hws romania #hws england #hws iceland #hws veneziano #hws australia #hws america #hetalia #aph #thanks for sitting through my Anarchist Theory Meets Hetalia nonsense #I'm aware that I have brain worms

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cascadiums · 2 years ago

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Okay, the question of how much Vampire Lucy is still Lucy is a cool one I think. there's a lot of murkiness and it relates back to some things I find really interesting (long post, I have many thoughts)

Seward is very set on the belief that Dead Lucy is not Lucy. This is a monster wearing Lucy's face. But Seward also witnessed her preying on a child and is reckoning with killing her and desecrating the corpse, so it makes a lot of sense for him to want to put a lot of mental space between the Lucy he knew and Dead Lucy. everyone involved adores her, they don't want to think of themselves as murdering her. the suitors have also never encountered a vampire before; it's worth bearing in mind that they don't know how this works. even Van Helsing, operating as the authority on the matter, doesn't exactly have a wealth of first hand experience here (as well as being very selective about what information he shares and when, and I don't fully trust him not to say whatever will serve his aims best). so I don't know how far we can take Seward's words as fact here.

he describes her as "Lucy's shape without her soul", which for me just raises even more questions. do we take "without her soul" to mean the soul is absent, or that it isn't the soul of the woman he knew anymore? if whatever makes Lucy herself is either changed, replaced or removed, Seward's words would still be true. there's ambiguity there.

Dead Lucy as changed works pretty well with a reading of vampirism as corruption, but then you have to ask how much her soul needs to be distorted before she isn't Lucy anymore. for me, the implication that she has been tainted and has therefore lost her personhood is. Not Great. especially when it's followed narratively with "and so we will murder her to restore her honour." it makes it hard for me to read the suitors as heroes rather than men who reject a woman for the traumas she's been put through.

if you follow the latter option, that Seward et al are right and Lucy's soul is gone, you get a different problem. Lucy Without a Soul is not necessarily the same as Not Being Lucy. she still knows Arthur, she still has her memories and experiences. and like a spiritually corrupted Lucy, soulless/replaced Lucy is still a woman who has been mutilated on a spiritual level. I don't want to get bogged down Ship of Theseus-ing Lucy's immortal soul, but where do we draw the line to say definitively what is and isn't her? when does she stop being an injured woman and start being a creature?

metaphysical ambiguity aside, with limited perspectives and the unreliability of the accounts, I don't think we can really know. it's definitely easier to believe that Dead Lucy isn't really Lucy when we know what the others will do to her, and it's more comfortable than reconciling the monster that is with the sweet girl that was. but there is still room for doubt.

personally, I favour a reading that the only one who really knows is Lucy herself (or Not-Lucy, as the case may be). a strict delineation between identities is too easy, it makes everything that follows morally black and white. it's comfortable. but that grey area? the question of if they're doing the right thing, the blurred boundary of Lucy's transformation? that's so much scarier to me. I cannot and will not shut up about monsters disrupting borders and inhabiting liminal spaces because I love it. a Lucy who is possibly lost to us and possibly Becoming ticks so many more boxes for me than a Lucy who is definitively one or the other

#dracula daily #29 sept #we got souls we got unreliable narrators we got collapsing binaries its everything i ever need

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str-essi · 3 years ago

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Compatible Hearts: A simarkus essay

Cover pic by @rumithe

This is for simarkus week day three, Compatible hearts. Thank you @sheyshocked for organizing<3

I'm tired of listening to people talk about Markus’ route as less than. It’s always about how incoherent everything is. I’m not trying to deny it, but I also think there’s no such thing as a perfect game, or a perfect story. It may be because I’m a fan, but to me the plot doesn’t have to be revolutionary as long as it conveys emotion.

What gets me in the sense of the game’s ‘flaws’ and if they are flaws at all, is the unfinished ‘Simon’s route’ aka. everyone’s favorite theory!. The follow-him-instead-of-North-choice that has no impact, the fact that he’s the one to give Markus his heart if she's unavailable: what does it tell us? The ship’s popularity indicates that a lot of players picked on it: Simon seems almost obviously in love with Markus, yet it isn’t explicitly there. If Simon was supposed to be a romanceable character, the plan was scrapped.

So why? There are these two people that scramble trying to relate to each other, whose relationship is never made entirely clear, whose bond seems to blossom on the moment of the other’s death. Why is it so captivating? The writing doesn’t support them, but the incompleteness itself makes it. What we are not given emphasizes the question: is love less meaningful if it’s not explicit? Because it’s certainly present in these narrow windows of time, the liminal spaces; it is to love within few resources, in the context of death, in the eye of the storm. Are theirs not a love story in its barest of forms, never to have each other truly? I feel like the less there is the more power this ship has: it’s love persisting… And I don't think it exists only in the eye of the beholder. How could the choice to ‘follow Simon’ be meaningless when later on in the church he tells Markus “We’ll follow you”... Isn’t that all the reciprocation we craved?

I can’t stop thinking about how perishable they are. How many different ways Simon dies for Markus. That’s half of the most maddening thing: combined with the lack of actual romance it’s just crushing. It’s like he’s there just to die. Like he is an afterthought to his creators.

You’ve probably heard this Iliad quote before: “Gods envy us. They envy us because we’re mortal, because any moment may be our last.” In their case it has double the weight because in principle, androids are immortal. They just chose to give it away by deviating. Connor-60 asks the question: “Why did you have to wake up, when all you had to do was obey?” Why did they? When Markus converts androids, they don’t hesitate to take the offer. Why would they risk everything in seconds?

Besides the awareness of themselves as a person, I think half the appeal is in the meaning of it. Not even in the wilderness life is all about self-preservation and completing tasks: you know, like bears like to sit down and enjoy the view! It’s the ability to see beauty and acknowledge it: to care for someone and be cared for in return: to have meaningful experiences and after the fact, appreciate your memories. All tales of immortality revolve around the person’s memories, filtered through “I don’t want this feeling to end”. Our experiences make us who we are: we’re constructed from our emotional reactions to rejection, connection, longing, love.

The pursuit of these experiences, to feel something meaningful, is at the core of being a human and what I think drove us to create androids in DBH; to continue the pursuit of it, or to give it to someone else. Just think about homecare androids! In Liminality I wrote: “What he’d been built for and what he wanted was the same. He was made to love the same.” about Simon, and that's what I feel like the affinity of deviants is: they’re us.

Our hearts are compatible.

To have all that in a course of a single gameplay was beyond amazing to me. I wish I could see it again for the first time. I saw all of their loyal honesty, the raw, modest, quiet love. They have something deeper than a companionship. It was devotion.

And the most appealing thing about it is never what you'd expect it to be -they fall in love and live -but what it is, and that's a struggle. Simarkus is an illusion of player's control, a half-collapsed route, the ruins of a linear romance… It's a struggle to understand and stay alive, the struggle of which makes it, that defines it… It’s the delicate fragility of their togetherness -they don’t get to say “I love you” and walk away. There are vanishingly few endings in which they do.

To me, the most beautiful route is: Markus meets Simon, loses him, Simon returns to him, he gives him his heart. And intended or not, despite what it came to be or did not, all of it between them seems inherently romantic, the promise to at least be with you until the end, the thing most of us crave innately.

Even if he wasn’t given the chance to show it, it’s there in all of his deaths. Even if he does it all for just one person: he risks himself to be known by him and us the same. And so, we see Simon die over and over again because it has an impact on us. The reaction is human, and that is the beauty of story-driven games even if they are not revolutionary: and it’s the same beauty in every piece of art.

Maybe I'm just cheering for the underdog, relentlessly searching for beauty in the little things. Even so, I wouldn't change my experience for anything; I love simarkus<3 And if you read this far I assume you do too. <3 Cheers for us!

Ps. If you vibed with this, read Liminality <3

#Ahh I hope this is alright #great job everybody with the week's artworks!!#simarkus #simarkusweek2022 #simarkusweek #detroit become human #DBH #dbh simon #dbh markus #simon pl600 #markus rk200 #ship talk #essay

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atropaanimus · 2 years ago

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[ GIVE ME MILO! the masses demand them i swear ]

10 FACTS TIME [Accepting]

[Now that I'm not super busy LOL]

Milo loves to talk. A lot. What they love more is listening to someone talking about their passions. They could listen to someone ramble for literal days nonstop so long as it is something the other person enjoys. This is one of the reasons why they and Dahlia are best friends.

Empathy is great for sensing other friends' emotions. Unfortunately the nastier side of it is sometimes Milo's own emotions get lost in others. Even eons later, it can sometimes be difficult to regulate. Sometimes Milo picks up on other's emotions and reflects particularly intense ones back at them.

They have so. Many. Fucking. Plants. They didn't choose the name Belladonna for nothing. Milo takes care of all of them at home and in each of their villa's, have sun rooms dedicated to indoor gardens.

Wandering through ghost towns and empty cities, liminal spaces is one of Milo's favourite hobbies. It's a different kind of death for them and is a rather euphoric experience.

While Milo cannot be killed without a hyper specific tool, Atrophic can be without such things. It is part of the reason why they hide away from the world.

One of Milo's methods of relaxing is just laying in loam and letting plants grow on them. It's the only similarity of Atrophic that they don't hate.

Yes, they are ticklish. They won't explain where. They refuse to let me explain further.

If they did not keep the undercut, Milo's hair would be very fluffy and wavy. They can change their hairstyle at any time, but if left unattended to, it returns to that.

There is an office Milo has at work but they hardly use it. It's rare to ever find them in there between being an influencer and doing gigs.

Sentimental gifts are the best gifts you can give Milo. Material comes and goes but thought and emotion are immortal. They have some of the silliest items in their gift collection from over the centuries but it's important to them to keep them.

#dead tell tales;headcanons #behind the 'gram;ooc

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sinclairsolutions · 3 years ago

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Ty for the ship game ! 4, 5, 11, 17 please <3

Thanks for the ask~

Holy fuck these ended up longer than expected but I tell you what I’m on a Meddling Minutes kick and you get to deal with it

4. What physical trait do they love the most about each other?

Dan really loves Clockwork’s hair—he’d never imagined that it was so long and pretty under that cloak, and such a gorgeous, stark white. He plays idly with it more often than he’d like to admit, because that would make him look like a sap. But what he likes the most, to be frank, is that none of Clockwork’s physical traits but the scar are set in stone: he can have that weird glass panel in his chest one day, then a totally human body the next. He can change his look, his features, even his sex, and he does so frequently and with unabashed delight. That’s what Dan loves most about Clockwork’s body: not just that there’s always something new and fascinating to explore, but that Clockwork seems to revel in that. His own body brings him so much joy, and that’s infectious.

Clockwork’s favorite part of Dan’s body is his arms. They’re fucking massive, and strong, and could probably crush him if his body was fragile like a human’s. But when he’s held in them, despite the theoretical danger, he feels safe and warm and loved. He feels small, but unlike the last time he was so utterly dwarfed by another ghost, there is no fear in it. Those arms around him are, more than anything else, trust—Clockwork trusts Dan not to hurt him, and Dan trusts Clockwork to know that.

5. What personality trait do they love the most about each other?

They both love each other’s chaotic energy, which is just as well, given the whole “both of them are total chaos gremlins” thing. That sort of thing lends itself to adventure and spontaneity, which are things they both crave—Dan because he likes living on the edge, and Clockwork because spontaneity is something of novelty to him.

11. Are they a healthy couple? If no, why not?

On paper, they really really shouldn’t be. Dan is, you know, a violent murderer, and Clockwork has an… interesting view of morality. Not to mention the fact that Dan was literally imprisoned in a thermos in Clockwork’s lair for several years—and, oh yeah, Clockwork knew for eons before Dan was even created that they were “destined” for each other. (This was due to some… time travel shenanigans that future!Dan got up to—you know the ones I mean, Gally ;P) So yeah, all in all, this should not add up to a healthy couple. A deity, a monster, and weird power dynamics? Not exactly a recipe for a good relationship. And to be fair, they definitely do some messed-up shit. But they make it work somehow with understanding, trial and error, actually genuinely caring about each other, and a healthy application of that special blue-and-orange morality that immortals tend to have.

17. What do they have in common?

Very little. Clockwork is as old as the universe; Dan will be 24 forever. Dan lived and died; Clockwork was born a ghost. Clockwork creates timelines; Dan lays waste to them. Dan is a force for evil; Clockwork is widely perceived as a force for good. They have very little in common except for their raw power. But also… They’re both outsiders in a way, aren’t they? Clockwork is not really a person, but a force of nature, and Dan is a paradox, a thing that shouldn’t exist and somehow does. They meet in the liminal spaces between existing and not, and find comfort in each other there.

#meddling minutes #clockwork #dan phantom #sinclair.txt #nsft #i mean... a little? i guess? it's borderline

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lightsonparkave · 3 years ago

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HAPPY TWO-YEAR ANNIVERSARY TO LIGHTS ON PARK AVE! 🎂🎉 In celebration of LoPA’s birthday (August 22, to be exact), all of the prompts from the previous year are up for grabs.

Round 24 will end on August 31, 11:59 PM ET (what time is that for me?).

As always, you’re free to jump in whenever you’d like during the round, a wide variety of work types is accepted, and there are no minimum work requirements. Unfinished works and works for other fandom events are allowed. You can find more information about Lights on Park Ave and the participation guidelines here.

Here are all 149 prompts. Go crazy and have fun! 🎈

ROUND 13: TIME

A quote about being infinite in the present moment from The Perks of Being a Wallflower

“Vellichor,” the the strange wistfulness of used bookstores

“How long is forever?” dialogue from Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

“Time” - Hans Zimmer (Inception OST)

A quote and gifset from Denis Villeneuve’s Arrival (2016) about the nonlinear structure of time

Agnès Varda’s portraits when she was 20, 36, and 80 years old

A John Irving quote about what time does to the people who matter to us

Ten traveling back to see Rose on New Year’s Day in 2005 before he dies and reincarnates in Doctor Who

Future inventions in 2015 as seen in Robert Zemeckis’s Back to the Future Part II (1989)

A quote about what time does for wounds

ROUND 14: LIMINALITY

A photoset of various liminal spaces

Illustration of a black cat in front of a red-lit house with the caption, “They say no one is living here—but the lights come on, once every year”

A photoset of Victorian-era spirit photography, an art form that attempted to capture the ghost of a deceased loved one

Information on the famous Mojave phone booth, a lone telephone booth in the middle of the desert that received calls from all over the world

Rosemary Ellen Guiley’s The Encyclopedia of Ghosts and Spirits Third Edition’s definition of “witching hour”

Illustration of a ghost train on an abandoned trestle bridge in the Pacific Northwest

A quote by Isabel Allende about spirits coming out at night in the library

Gifset of the spirit world in Hayao Miyazaki’s Spirited Away (2001)

Illustration of a neon roadside sign of a motel that only appears at night by a long-forgotten highway

“Pacific Coast Highway” - Kavinsky

A gifset quote from The Twilight Zone (1959)

Scenery from Twin Peaks season 1 (1990)

A quote about something shifting into a strange, new place inside of a person from Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado

ROUND 15: LOSS

A quote about being lost and found by someone special by Sue Zhao

A photo of the Mildred, wrecked off Gurnard’s Head, Cornwall in 1912

A quote about ephemerality and the beauty of it from Troy (2004)

Two paintings of people visiting ruins by Caspar David Friedrich

A quote about desire and loss by Lara Mimosa Montes

A photo of an overgrown, abandoned conservatory

A passage about what disappears and what remains in ruins from Suicide by Édouard Levé

Dialogue about gratitude for people who aren’t meant to stay in your life but shape who you are from BoJack Horseman

A scene from Fleabag where the Priest chooses God over Fleabag and gently tells Fleabag that her love for him will pass before they part ways

A prayer to St. Anthony, patron saint of lost things, people, and souls

Oscar Wilde’s tomb in Père Lachaise Cemetery, Paris, covered in lipstick kisses from admirers

Photos of a cemetery statue in Austria, wrapped in branches and dead leaves, holding a single flower

ROUND 16: DEVOTION/SERVICE

A gifset of Kevin on the phone, telling Chiron he’ll cook food for him from Barry Jenkin’s Moonlight (2016)

Buttercup’s monologue to Westley about how she would do anything for him from The Princess Bride by William Goldman

Gifs of Merlin saying that he was born to serve Arthur from BBC’s Merlin

An excerpt about giving all of oneself to someone despite what it costs from House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski

A gifset of various times Jaime and Brienne demonstrate their loyalty to and love for each other in Game of Thrones

A gifset of all the different ways Cliff is there for Rick in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019)

A gifset of Nadia deciding to be by Alan’s side no matter what in Russian Doll

“Devotion” - Ocean Vuong

A gifset of Bond comforting a traumatized Vesper in the shower in Casino Royale (2006)

A gifset of Sookhee refusing to leave Hideko, saying her job is to look after her in Park Chanwook’s The Handmaiden (2016)

ROUND 17: DREAMS

A dreamscape gifset and quote about repressed thoughts in dreams and the Internet from Satoshi Kon’s Paprika (2006)

A gifset of Mitsuha and Taki finally meeting in their own bodies in a dream from Shinkai Makoto’s Kimi no Na wa (Your Name) (2016)

A quote by Tinker Bell telling Peter Pan where he can find her and where she’ll always love him in Steven Spielberg’s Hook (1991)

The scene where Keating tells his students that poetry, beauty, romance, and love give life meaning in Peter Weir’s Dead Poets Society (1989)

An animated illustration of a storefront called “Hauntings” with a flickering “99¢ dreams” neon sign

Various dreamscape scenes and a quote about ideas being the most resilient parasite from Christopher Nolan’s Inception (2010)

A quote about how all living beings must dream to survive reality from The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

A comic about people we love taking turns to visit us in dreams every night

Lovers and Sleeping Couple, two drawings by Egon Schiele

A quote about belief in a better world by Robert Frobisher to his lover, Rufus Sixsmith, in Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell

A quote about the feeling of falling in love lingering when you wake up from a dream in Alexis Dos Santos’s Unmade Beds (2009)

A photo of subway graffiti by an unknown author insisting that they’ll never give up making the world a better place to live in

ROUND 18: PHYSICAL TOUCH

A scene about how to return a stolen kiss from Daniel Ribeiro’s The Way He Looks (2014)

A line about kissing someone the way a flower opens from “I Know Someone” by Mary Oliver

A gifset focusing on showing affection and care through hands from Park Chanwook’s The Handmaiden (2016)

A passage about two people leaving invisible marks on each other through the accumulation of touches over the years from A Single Man by Christopher Isherwood

Two conversations about never being touched before and only being touched by one person from Barry Jenkins’s Moonlight (2016)

Going from yearning to touch someone but stopping oneself to being allowed to touch them from Richard Linklater’s Before trilogy

Moving art of two bodies made of stars and the cosmos embracing

A quote about maintaining sanity by touching someone but being separated despite proximity from The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje

A line about proving that one still exists and is real through touch from On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

Different touches between Villanelle and Eve expressing violence, threat, sexual tension, comfort, and companionship in Killing Eve

A juxtaposition of two scenes from Wong Kar-wai’s In the Mood for Love (2000) of Su Li-zhen rejecting and accepting Chow Mo-wan’s hand

A compilation of marble sculptures by Gian Lorenzo Bernini

Syd (Chris Evans) trailing kisses down London’s back in London (2005)

ROUND 19: IMMORTALITY

James Baldwin talking about how art helps you discover that people before you have experienced the same thing as you and you are not alone

Dr. Brand saying that love transcends time and space in Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar (2014)

Nadia and Alan meeting for the first time as they’re about to die and relive the same day again in Russian Doll

The loneliness of losing everyone by having a long life as expressed by Ten in Doctor Who

The doomed eternal time loop romance of Simon and Alisha from Misfits

A quote by Edvard Munch about becoming eternal through the flowers that grow from his body after death

Nagai Kei recalling the traffic accident that killed him and triggered his immortality, making him one of the rare persecuted humans to possess the power, in Ajin

A collection of moments from Jay Russell’s Tuck Everlasting (2002)

A quote by Mary Wollstonecraft hoping for something that lasts inside the heart

Various scenes with Jack Harkness from Doctor Who

Aya telling Asou-kun to live on and live forever as she nears the end of her life in 1 Litre of Tears

An excerpt about the immortalization of the self through love from “Love of the Wolf” in Hélène Cixous’s Stigmata

A collection of scenes from the Black Mirror episode “San Junipero”

Naoko telling Toru to always remember her and remember that she existed in Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami

Dom explaining to Ariadne that he uses the PASIV to dream as it’s the only way that he can be with his wife and children in Christopher Nolan’s Inception (2010)

ROUND 20: POETRY

“I’m Going Back to Minnesota Where Sadness Makes Sense” - Danez Smith

A line about wanting to forget how much you loved someone and then actually forgetting from Bluets by Maggie Nelson

“Perhaps the World Ends Here” - Joy Harjo

“In Time” - W. S. Merwin

“By Small and Small: Midnight to Four A.M.” - Jack Gilbert

“Magdalene: The Addict” - Marie Howe

“Wild Geese” - Mary Oliver

“Morphology 2″ - CJ Scruton

“20″ from Moscow in the Plague Year by Marina Tsvetaeva

“To Hold” - Li-Young Lee

ROUND 21: LONGING

“I Loved You Before I Was Born” - Li-Young Lee

A poem about longing for someone through worlds by Izumi Shikibu

A gifset of Marianne and Héloïse falling in love from Céline Sciamma’s Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019)

“Make Me Feel” - Janelle Monáe

A quote about living in longing being better than realizing that longing from 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami

“I Want You” - Mitski

Orpheus and Eurydice in Hades - Friedrich Heinrich Füger

Long definition of the word “saudade”

Definition of the word “hiraeth”

“Something About Us” - Daft Punk

Two lines about burning quietly from the poem “The Pillowcase” by Annelyse Gelman

A conversation about wanting each other after decades of separation from Pedro Almodóvar’s Pain and Glory (2019)

A Hanahaki disease mood board

“Shrike” - Hozier

Two lines about wanting someone to return from Herakles by Euripides

“Love of My Life” - Queen

“Eyes, Nose, Lips” - Taeyang

A screenshot of Kathy and Tommy holding onto each other desperately from Mark Romanek’s Never Let Me Go (2010) and a quote from Kazuo Ishiguro’s eponymous novel

ROUND 22: YOUTH

“Perfect Places” - Lorde

A piece about realizing you’ll never be this young again, but it’s the first time you’re this old by Kalyn Roseanne Livernois

A conversation between Neil and Mr. Keating about Neil feeling trapped and unable to live the life he wants because of his father from Peter Weir’s Dead Poets Society (1989)

An excerpt about being too young to know how to love properly from Le Petit Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

“I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor” - Arctic Monkeys

Elio’s father telling Elio not to try to rid himself of his sorrow and pain—and with that joy—which he feels so strongly because he’s so young from Call Me By Your Name by Andre Aciman

A quote about how everything feels final to young people because they’re experiencing it for the first time from Middlemarch by George Eliot

Lara Jean telling Peter that she had to make it seem like she liked him to deal with her love letter fiasco in Susan Johnson’s To All the Boys I Loved Before (2018)

Rue and Jules dancing together and partying it up in Euphoria

“Le Plongeoir” by Laurent Roch

A quote about being pushed into adulthood and not being ready from Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami

A photo of a roller rink illuminated by pink and purple lights

Pastel photo series of Coney Island by Mijoo Kim and Minjin Kang

“Hips Don’t Lie” - Shakira feat. Wyclef Jean

“Young Dumb & Broke” - Khalid

Different moments accompanied by the letter to Mr. Vernon at the end of detention from John Hughes’s The Breakfast Club (1985)

Various scenes and a quote about growing up and realizing life isn’t like a fairy tale from Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)

Stills of the young lesbian couple in love from the music video of “You Know” - Jaurim

Lines by Effy about her emotional and mental struggles from Skins

Nathan chiding the group for not taking advantage of their superpowers as young offenders from Misfits

ROUND 23: HEDONISM

A passage about giving into passion and losing control from The Secret History by Donna Tartt

“Thot Shit” - Megan Thee Stallion

An aesthetic photoset of the Greek god Dionysus

A quote about living for ecstasy rather than balance from From a Journal of Love by Anaïs Nin

A photo of an anonymous person in nothing but a silk robe and lingerie

A photo of Donatella Versace lounging in a chair, surrounded by shirtless, muscular men sunbathing around her in Capri, Italy in 1994

An aesthetic photoset based on The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

The music video for “Heartless” by The Weeknd

A plea for summer to never end from Call Me By Your Name by André Aciman

“Plastic Love” - Mariya Takeuchi

A gifset from the music video of “Blinding Lights” by The Weeknd, a continuation of the “Heartless” music video

“XS” - Rina Sawayama

A gifset from the music video of “Body” by Mino

Photos of people dancing at the legendary Studio 54

Photos and a description of the party scene at Studio 54

Chris Evans and Evan Rachel Wood hooking up in a car in the “Gucci Guilty Black” commercial

#stevetony #steve/tony #superhusbands #stony #stevetony prompts #stony prompts #lightsonparkave #round 24

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prettywarriors · 3 years ago

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Ok ill bite whats the worst mg series

alright, whats the worst magical girl series in your opinion?

Thanks you two for letting me do some yelling. The obvious guess would likely be one of the recent edgelord shows right? Magical Girl Site or something similar? But nay I say, for while MGS and Day Break Illusion and such and what not generally tell you what to expect right away. Don't like super violence and suffering? Watch something else is the clear message from the get go. One of the bait and switch series then like Madoka or maybe Yuki Yuna? For what faults they may or may not have, at least these series do something and are interesting, even if you're not huge on what goes down in the series. A parody then? They range from affectionate to banned in New Zealand but regardless of quality and their feelings for MGs, it's a parody. It's a joke and shouldn't be taken seriously (plus they're usually short so you can just forget about them forever).

So what makes a series terrible then, I am sure you are asking. IMO? Setting expectations for an interesting and enjoyable series, and then dashing them to hell.

Come with me below the cut, as I talk about Key Princess Story: Kagihime Eternal Alice Rondo!

Spoilers abound so if you care about those for a 15 year old series, click away.

Background: Kagihime was a 4 volume manga that ran from 2004-2006 that was picked up for a 13 episode anime adaptation near the end of its run. The manga is created by a pair (Kaishaku) who you may know for making Magical Nyan Nyan Taruto. Kannazuki no Miko, and Steel Angel Kurumi, and the anime had a script written by the same writer (Mamiko Ikeda) for Tenshi Ni Narumon who also did some script writing for Princess Tutu and Seven of Seven. The anime also had 6 character music videos which are fairly simple but a nice addition to the series for the main girls. Discotek has been publishing the anime in the states in recent years, and the manga was brought over by *squints at book spine* Dr Master Publications.

The Premise: Girls transform and enter weird outside of reality spaces to fight each other with giant keys to take each other’s stories to create a third Alice In Wonderland story.

Well, an off-brand Alice story written by Alternate L. Takion, rather than Lewis Carroll/Charles Dodgson, that while the series uses all the aesthetic hallmarks of the tradition Alice, the little we see of the in universe Alice story is clearly different. Which is fine, at the end of the day, it’s still about someone who loves the Alice stories and wishes there was more, and even makes his own fanfiction version. His? Oh yeah, while the girls do all the fighting, the main character is Aruto, a teen boy who loves Alice, and for reasons we don’t know till late game, can enter the liminal spaces that the ‘Alice Users’ fight in. He chases a girl who looks like the Alice he sees in his story, who is named Arisu, and gets roped into this fanfic battle royale. He is also the older brother of the very needy Kirihara, who also ends up being and Alice User. As does Kirihara’s bff Kisa. To round out the group of enemies-turned-friends-who-will-work-together-to-collect-the-Eternal-Alice-without-having-to-fight-eachother group is a young genius researcher Kirika who wants to know more about Aruto’s connection that allows him to enter the spaces where the girls fight.

Then there’s all the other girls, some of whom still have real importance to the story and some who have a few panels or 2 scenes total. But with a whole bunch of girls to design, the creators reached out to a whole lot of other people to have them create designs! Eventually the battle gets down to the last few girls, there’s a confrontation with the guy running the whole thing, and while the anime and manga vary quite a bit the whole time, in both version Aruto ends up with Kirihara. Oh and Arisu was created by Aruto’s super imagination powers.

The Promise: Here on is subjective, particularly with what I personally saw as potential from this series. because I need you to understand how much I want to like this series.

~Alice in Wonderland themed: I know some people aren’t alice fans and that’s fine you do you but as a big alice fan this is great. We have a few alice episodes and themed characters amongst series like CCS and MGRP, and even Alice themes in other series like Tweeny Witches and Alice 19th. But damn it I am down for Alice series.

~Giant Keyyyyyyyys: Yeah yeah Kingdom Hearts but these keys are much more staff like for a lot of the characters which ads and air of elegance rather than the KH ones that for me at least feel well designed for big ol props rather than actual weapons. We also get...

~Weapon variety: It counts as a key if it’s a thorn whip that can be shaped like a key right? How about a giant pocket knife? Crossbows can also be keys. Hush. And we have this variety because

~Guest Artists: For magical girl series where we have a variety of outfits designed by different people, we have Kagihime, Uta~Kata, and uhh I guess Magia Record? But that’s a mobile game with a hella number of characters and with how mobile game works I wouldn’t count it just because it’s less the intent of the series to have variety and more the nature of having lots of girls. (Precure doesn’t count because unless I missed a memo each season’s set is still by one designer). If a series isn’t about a team and therefore doesn’t need cohesion, bringing in other artists is a great way for variety and new looks.

~The long term goal: Fighting with other people who love the same piece of media you do in hopes of creating new material that will be viewed as official? That’s just fandom nowadays. But it’s a legitimate interesting concept, and opens up so many doors for a message for the series, be it ‘what you create is no less valuable than the canon work’ or ‘it’s hard to let go when something you love doesn’t have more to it but you can still love it for what it is’ or ‘bond with the people who like the thing you like ya idiot instead of fighting about it’. The concept is interesting and there are so many narrative ways you can take this.

~Gays: Between the anime and manga, we have at least 5 wlw. Is it a magical girl series without some gays? (side note- the manga had a short thing where the MC wears a girl’s uniform and is pretty comfortable in it and while there is no way this was the intent, between that and the emphasis on the stories that live in girls and how the fight zones have no men, I’m just saying, Trans girl Aruto.)

~Greater Fairy Tale Premise: We meet a Little Match Girl based MG who is obsessed with Andersen rather than the Alice books, and touch on a Sleeping Beauty character in the manga. The manga at least implies that classic stories and fairy tale authors uh. Live on in a liminal space as immortals with world warping powers within that world and there could be opportunities for other girls in the real world to fight for Little Mermaid 2: Electric Boogaloo.

The Good: Everything has positive points, no matter how bad it is.

~Character Designs: Some of those looks slap. As do most of their weapons.

~Backgrounds: I have a strong opinion on backgrounds in anime that can be easily boiled down to old watercolor backgrounds good, modern filtered photos as background bad, and as a 2006 series, this might not be Memole nice but they’re quite attractive.

~Splash Pages: Easily my favorite thing after the designs, each chapter’s title page for the manga just has a character standing in a setting. Which is not everyone’s thing I’m sure but it’s a nice simplistic way to let the characters breathe imo. Even if at least some of the settings were deffo traced. But that’s how backgrounds work to some extent? If I ever get to the Met again, I am tracking down this exact photo, but here is a likely candidate for an example.

~Different Versions: I do not understand the need to make an adaptation that tries to be a 1:1. Kagihime had the same ideas and characters and did some of the same beats but very much had a different finale story and a lot of changes in the middle (like the Alice cops in the manga). Again, not something everyone probably wants I’m sure, but I very appreciate this, especially since the Anime kept good pace with the number of Manga chapters (reading the manga again while watching the anime at 3.8x speed just now was very interesting to see the different interpretations of events in a different medium.)

The ‘Fine’: Yeah.

~Anime Visuals: Look 2006 was still early enough into digipaint that I will give it a total pass on these. The colors are too bright but in a very bland way, the lineart is nothing interesting, and the faces are. Iffy. But it’s not total garbage to look at (probably helped by backgrounds and character designs...) it just came out in an era where not enough people knew how to stylize things to account for the weakness of the tools of the time. (It was 4 years earlier but I feel Kagihime is the polar opposite of Chobits with its painfully bland color palette while still being just. Flat. Sorry for the drive by Chii.)

~Music?: There sure were songs. Obviously, they are nothing to me.

The Bad: CW for.... somehow all the big things to an extent.

~Fanservice: Look, I am fine with fanservice, especially for a series that’s, ya know, not targeted at kids, big Mai Hime fan here even if I would recommend skipping the panty thief episode. And honestly the series generally isn’t fanservicey, at least by the modern standards of having the camera choosing under the skirt rather than an over the shoulder shot like I’ve seen plenty in other shows. Even the sexier outfits like the rose whip dominatrix aren’t bad BUT. When the girls fight. One takes her phallic key and drives it into another girls chest between the boobs while the loser cries in pain and then her book comes out and when the victor rips out pages, the loser’s clothes also rip. It is very SuperS Amazon Trio assault metaphor-y. There’s also a bit of fanservice with the sister becauseeeee....

~Incest: If you read the premise up there, first wow good job because I’m sure not re-reading that, you might have noticed I said MC ends up with his sister. As someone who is a big mythology fan and watches plenty of anime, I have a decent tolerance for your obligatory ‘oh we’re siblings but actually cousins so our feelings are okay’ or whatever the fuck Citrus has going on I don’t know that series and I don’t vibe BUT. I have limits and boy did this series go beyond that because multiple episodes are dedicated to the sister being in love with the brother? And the brother returns her feelings but knows that they are wrong so he put everything he likes in his sister into his version of Alice who, of course, physically manifests as Arisu who he creates accidentally with his uh. Magic imagination powers. But again in both versions MC still ends up with his sister. Hey, at least the manga eventually said the boy was adopted when the sister was like, 3, so if nothing else no blood relations? The anime did not ad this. -_-

~Under Utilized Characters: Arisu’s gradual revelation that she has no childhood memories because she isn’t a real person is so interesting and they don’t do nothing with it but also? That’s the kind of thing I personally would love to dig into and Kagihime, while touching on this world shattering revelation, easily loops back to So Anyway She Should Fight For The Man and to hell with developing a life or personality outside of what has been written for her. The rest of the main 5 were 2 note characters which. Could be worse? The most interesting character ends up being the child genius who accidentally murdered her childhood bestie (and/or lover? depending on version) and her coming to terms with that (the friend is alive but the version changes how and why she thinks she’s dead). Then the villain has the motivation of ‘i lost my creativity and now have become an immortal living outside of normal space and am getting girls to fight each other because that’s like a story so I’m still relevant right?’. But shoutout to the anime for then taking death of the author literally. The numerous other girls are canon fodder outside of like. The manga version of the dead gf and the little match girl.

~Battle Royale: This is not a thing I have an issue with generally. Again, but Mai Hime fan, I need to read MGRP 11, BUT by not developing the non-main girls there is no emotional connection which makes them just canon fodder and that’s boring as sin for a royale system. The initial main character fights revolve so much around the MC guy being there that they fall flat, and the 2 or 3 final battles in both versions still feel without any stakes. Also for a royale thing most of the characters don’t actually die, which cool! Neat! Except when they do? Some nobodies and a somebody are murdered (at least in the manga) and the tone never feels like it’s supposed to be upping the stakes, it’s just. Some people are dead now. And do you want to guess which of the main characters died?

~Gays: Oh boy the best friend of the brother-complex sister is in love with her and (in the manga) dies. She does apparently get better for the last chapter but the death itself is only felt by the rest of the cast for a page or two before we go back to feeling sad big brother wants to kiss his mentally generated sister clone rather than his actual sister u_u. Bury your gays is nothing new, but I wonder if it was also intended to be justified because Guess Who Is Creepy and a bit Perverted? Oh look the lesbian keeps the used swimsuit of her beloved and manipulates events to get an indirect kiss and when she sees the sister trying to strange Arisu for a moment she decides to do it for the sister? It’s not good. You want bad gay rep in a magical girl series, well here ya go. We also had a nobody in the first(second?) episode whose story pages reveal her having a kiss with a girl, and then we also have the prodigy again and- in the manga- her. Uh. childhood lover who she thought she killed but the girl has been wiping her mind over and over so prodigy remembers ‘killing’ the friend and not the she’s alive so she can keep? fucking with her? Toxic!

~Sexual Content: But wait you say, you already covered fanservice! Ah but that is sexual content for titilation. This is sexual content for dramatic backstory! The red riding hood character was sexually assaulted, another character was manipulated into sex first as a teen and then more often to ‘get into the publishing industry’, and the same writer forces some aggressive kisses on the MC. None of it is gratuitous which is nice, but also, was it necessary? Not making a new point for this but read riding hood’s dog was also murdered so unnecessary animal death gets tossed on in there.

~Male Lead: You can have a male, non magical character as the main character surrounded by magical girls. This is not how to do it. If I can make a vicious and hopefully not understood reference, Aruto is basically Tate from the Mai Hime Manga. If you understood that, I am so sorry. If you didn’t, congrats! Don’t read the manga. Or do and send me asks about the iconic final page of the first volume (18+). Anyway, this dude is boring, everything revolves around him, BUT I’ll be generous and say at least this isn’t a harem series? It looks like it out of context but it’s just a triangle with a fun attached scientist and token lesbian.

~Premise: They didn’t make good use of it. The initial goals of ‘take other girls pages from their soul books because if we get enough we unlock a third alice book’ is good! And then we add the twist that that was never going to happen and either if we get all the pages we can grant a wish, or these fights are just happening for the amusement of and asshole. Either way, yeah okay I guess. But at no point do we ever achieve this forbidden wish granting book and the asshole just. Lives. Nothing happens to him. His peers don’t even dunk on him. The only real changes from the beginning and the end of the series are: the siblings are now chill with dating, and the scientist lady won’t turn into a child in magical spaces. Oh. Yeah.

~Why did we make this adult a child sometimes?: I think we know why. Stop trying to get those types of folks to watch your already meh series. I also could have sworn at points in the past looking up images for this series I’ve seen extra art for Yuuri the Thumbelina-y Alice User that seemed like it would fit alongside anything by POP. You know, the Moetan guy. If you don’t know, god I wish that were me.

Wrap Up: I have definitely forgotten some points and am well within my rights to ad to this whenever I remember more points but uh. Yeah.

Listen you want an alice themed battle royale with nice outfits? Rozen maiden is right there. Battle Royale magical girl series that’s good with fanservice? Mai Hime. Series with different outfits while being based on a classic story? Pretear.

Hope anyone who read all of this at least got what I was saying, even if they don’t agree with it. And thanks for reading because whoops.

#why do ya'll let me write so damn many words #thanks ya'll for letting me write so many words #kagihime eternal alice rondo #long post #text #not fashion #whoops 3k words

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bigcats-birds-and-books · 3 years ago

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for the writer asks, 4, 11, 17?

Hi!! Thanks for the ask!! Love these things.

Referencing this post.

4. What’s a word that makes you go absolutely feral?

Full disclosure (again): I saw this question and promptly forgot every word I’ve ever known. When they started slithering back into my brainpan, the one I latched onto was “shambling,” because it makes me lose my mind and always gives me a very visceral reaction (in horror headspace, whomst?? Not me….*sweats in starting to think about Driscoll revisions*).

11. Do you believe in the old advice to “kill your darlings?” Are you a ruthless darling assassin? What happens to the darlings you murder? Do you have a darling graveyard? Do you grieve?

I’ve actually come full circle on the Darlings front: As a baby!Writer, it sounded like bullshit to me, and then I leveled up some and was like "Oh Absolutely I Can Do This, Look At Me Go As A Mature!Writer," and now I’m back to Consider Why It’s A Darling And Perhaps Reevaluate Your Revision Priorities (or, rephrased: If it’s a Darling, what is your story ACTUALLY about??). Darlings are, like, my Fundamental Writing Building Blocks—those are what I use to shape a story. If it doesn’t spark joy, it doesn’t get to stay, but what are Darlings if not Joy Sparks Incarnate?

I do, occasionally, have to transplant a Darling, because it doesn’t fit with the rest of the story after all (I frequently move around puns, or sometimes a character), but honestly not as much as the kill-your-darlings adage would have you believe? I think this is partly because of how I magpie all the pieces of a new project before I dive into writing it, and partially because I have, uh. So Many, Very Different WIPs—I’ve deffo got a Brand and Faves, but I like to play, too, and Darlings can always find a place to fit in.

tl;dr: Darlings are Good, actually, and it’s good when writing Sparks Joy, and it’s okay to build a project around things that Delight you without feeling obligated to ruthlessly murder them.

17. Talk to me about the minutiae of your current WIP. Tell me about the lore, the history, the detail, the things that won’t make it in the text.

Uh oh, nerfed myself by reblogging the original post while between projects XD I spose I shall answer one project Forward instead of Backward, because I have more lore stacked up about Driscoll than Rell. So, about my purple monster child living in an interstitial liminal space:

Turns out this kid is gonna be immortal (they absolutely do Not realize that, where we leave them at the end of book, although Astute Readers may suspect something along those lines, given the parallel Crimson situation). Fortunately: Tam-Tam can ALSO be immortal, as long as nothing eats her when she’s a tiny spiderling. (“Tiny spiderling” referencing how large she is in-book, which is the size of a four-slice toaster.) (Because she’s buddies with Driscoll, she will absolutely not get eaten.)

Both Tam-Tam and Driscoll, they longer they’re around, undergo Physical Changes. Turns out raknids (Tam-Tam’s spideresque monster variety) continue to molt and grow their entire lives, so eventually she’ll end up Shelob Size or Bigger, except more neon and friendly, which I love for her. Absolutely a rideable amount of monster. (Driscoll likes walking too much to ride her, but it remains an option.)

By the end of the book, Driscoll (spoilers) has already started to get cooler monstery parts, like vertical beaded purple eyes (Google gecko eyes, they’re so cool) and some sharper teeth to go with their once-dyed hair that’s grown purple since they got to In Between. When they’re much older, they are also gonna get some impressive antlers, and they stretch out even longer than their currently gangly teenage self is, and they turn purpley-silver with skin like lightning, and they blur into and out of the landscape, and their eyes fucken glow (because that’s also so cool). I wrote a whole two-page short story/descriptiony drabble thing about the gradual transformation, and I had a grand time doing it! (Said discriptiony drabble is also soaked in sadness, though, because Driscoll’s human second family is not, in fact, immortal. Losing people one by one sends Driscoll wandering for a while, and every time they come back a little stranger.)

When they’re that much older, they still do the Leading Misplaced Humans To Town thing, but they no longer need to be physically present to do so (honestly: For the best, because they hit a point where they no longer look passably human before the hit the “worth trusting anyway” point). Instead of walking people physically back to town, they can lead them there with strange purple wildflowers sprouting up in a trail from where the misplaced person is to where town is. The flowers get weirder, the longer Driscoll is In Between—like distorted memories of flowers instead of the real deal.

….turns out I have a lot more lore about my purple child than I thought I did, so I’m gonna stop here before this gets out of control. But thanks for asking!! Love talking about this kid!!

#text #answered #ask game #ask meme #writing #in btw #driscoll #tam-tam #kill your darlings #seriously thanks this was so fun!!!

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rapha-reads · 3 years ago

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WHAT ARE YOU WRITING ABOUT (affectionate) (not really yelling)

I'M GLAD YOU ASKED !!!(affectionate) (super excited)

It's a fic I started imagining and wrote the prologue back in 2019, when I was living in Glasgow. I had a huge Torchwood phase back then, and one day, I had this idea.

It started with a silly joke. Why do we put space in front of things that are in space ? Like, a spaceport, a space station, a space ship... And then I started thinking that Captain Jack Harkness would find this really annoying, until he'd met Ianto Jones, who, despite being super clever, would find this super funny and make jokes about retiring to tend a space bar. Then I made myself sad imagining Jack telling that story to the Doctor, ages after Ianto has died.

So to make myself happy, I went back and imagined. What if Ianto does get his wish and a space bar ? But what if the space bar is a limineal space at the crossroads of all the universes ? What if it's not just a space bar but a whole resort with a hostel, a library, gardens, cafés, pubs, dance floor... What if many people, fictional or real, would end up at this place at some point in their life, meet with other people from other universes, who have a similar story to them... ? Like, Wonder Woman singing a karaoke with Marylin Monroe and Gabrielle from Xena. An "immortal warlock party" with Merlin, Magnus Bane and Co. "It's hard to be a king" meeting between Arthur, T'Challa, Peter Pevensie. Little crossover stories like that, taking place in one complex spatial resort.

And where does that place come from? Well,that's a long story. A favourite of the regulars of the place. One that has been told countless times in this place where time doesn't matter... One that tells of a man from Earth who fell in love with an immortal alien who refused to let the greatest, truest love of his life pass away...

That's enough details ! I'm really excited to write this one. I adore Ianto Jones, he's one of my favourite character, and to write for him... I'm loving it.

Oh, I forgot. I'm writing in French. Usually I write fanfic in English, but for this one, I can't. It's important. It needs to be good. And I'm a better writer in French than in English, to the surprise of no one (native language >>>>> second language).

#replies #sans-rancune-sans-regrets #rapha talks #rapha writes #my writing #stories

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the-light-finds-its-way · 3 years ago

Text

Lazarus

Guardians name: Lazarus

Age: Infinite

Race: Jovian

Call signs/alias: The Gloomstalker

Pronouns: He/him

Class: Warlock

Preferred subclass(es): Void

Ghost’s name: Rasmodius

Their Vanguard: Zavala, Ikora, Cayde-6

Fireteam name: Fealty of Light

Fireteam teammates: None yet! He’s still searching for some people who’ll be his friends and join up with him!

Favorite legendary weapon: Twilight Oath

Favorite exotic weapon: Whisper of the Worm

Favorite exotic armor: Karnstein Armlets

Favorite ornament armor set: Steeplechase

Favorite weapon ornament: Eye of Osiris

What stats do they focus on: Recovery, Resilience, Mobility

Are they offense, defence, or support: Offense

Do they prefer being close, mid, or long range: Any and all of them

Do they lean more “Element of Surprise” or “Upfront and Aggressive”: Upfront and aggressive

Strikes, Gambit, or Crucible: Strikes

Who was their mentor(if they had one. If it is a character you created, tell us about them!): Asher Mir

Who are they mentoring(if they are. If it is a character you created, tell us about them!): Nobody at the moment

What ship do they have: A Thousand Wings

What is their Sparrow: Eon Drive

Favorite Ghost shell: Eris Morn shell

Favorite shader: Corrective // Protective

Favorite color: Black

Favorite food: Ramen

Favorite piece of Pre-Collapse tech(if they’ve seen any): The cell phone

Favorite Pre-Collapse music(if they’ve heard any): Amon Amarth

Favorite place in The Last City(if it’s a place you created, give a little description!): The 3rd District. It’s a place where many poor and homeless people live, and Lazarus likes to cook exotic meals and general food for them at every chance he gets. He likes helping give food to those without any.

Favorite NPC(s): Asher Mir, Ikora Rey, Zavala, Cayde-6

Favorite patrol location: Anywhere on the Tangled Shore

5 things your Guardian likes(can be anything): Stoicism, spontaneity, creativity, justice, cooking

Least favorite food: Hamburgers

Least favorite shader: Nailbiter (it’s too colorful for him)

Least favorite patrol location: Anywhere on Titan

Least favorite Pre-Collapse tech(if they’ve seen any): Landlines

Least favorite NPC(s): The Spider, Emperor Calus, Oryx, Savathun

Least favorite weapon ornament: Heretic Robe

Least favorite ornament armor set: Liminal Voyager

Least favorite legendary weapon: Avalanche

Least favorite exotic weapon: The Queenbreaker

Least favorite exotic armor: Transversive Steps

5 things your Guardian dislikes(this can be anything): Stupidity, mistreatment, evil, bad food, negligence

Your Guardian has to rest. What is their living space like: A humble little apartment with minimal things. The walls are painted a dark grey, almost black, and the carpeting is black but soft, and the lighting is low. There are Vex trinkets everywhere, and broken Vex parts scattered about.

Does your Guardian have any casual wear?(Y'all remember Polyvore? The website URSTYLE works very similar if that helps!):

What hobbies and/or skills does you Guardian have: Cooking is his main and only hobby. Specifically, making gourmet meals.

What would your Guardian’s lore book be called: Breadwinner of Stars

Where was your Guardian reborn?(If you created the location, give us a little description!): The Tangled Shore, near a Vex cave

What were they wearing when they were reborn: A button-down black shirt, khakis, black loafers, and a cheap watch

What was their reaction to being reborn: Confusion, loss, and disconnect

What was their reaction to their first rez: Awe. He felt invincible, and everlasting. Immortality comes with no price but the weight of defending the innocent, and he was glad to immediately take on that duty.

After being reborn, did they meet friendlies first or hostiles: Friendlies. Asher Mir found him, and rescued him.

Who was the first other Guardian they met?(Same thing! If you made them, give a little description!): Asher Mir

Did your Guardian get reborn with, or find, any indication of their past life? If so what do they have/found: Lazarus found no indication of his past life besides the clothes he wore. He assumed he came from wealth of some sort, perhaps a high society member of the Jovians, though he’s unsure. He has tried finding out more about his life, but no Jovian recognizes him before he was a Guardian.

How did your Guardian get their name(if they didn’t rez with past life momentos): The cave Lazarus woke up near was a labyrinth, and without knowing the word for it, Laz called the place “a lazarus” instead of labyrinth. Asher laughed, genuinely, and said he’d call the man Lazarus for such a comment. But eventually, both took pride in the name, and it became a strong name with lots of positive meaning to them both.

Going back to your Guardian’s lore book, what would be some some quotes or passages from their book: A lot of recipes, including one on cooking Ahamkara properly. Lots of exploration into the Vex, and adventures to figure out how to cure Asher Mir’s arm and save his teacher. Some quotes would be: “The Light hurt me at first, but eventually, it wasn’t so bad. I adapted it to suit my needs, and made a tool from a weapon against myself.” “Jovians wince at the Light, but me? I will embrace it forevermore. It is a gift unto me, and I will reach my tendrils into eternity to wield it if I must.”

Does your Guardian have a significant other: No

Did your Guardian go explore first before going to The Last City? If so, where to: Lazarus explored the Vex labyrinth, and learned its ins and outs. It took quite some time to get used to it, but his intelligence is high, and thus, Laz learned them faster than Asher could.

What was their reaction to first seeing The Last City: Awe and wonder. It was as beautiful and lively as he’d imagined it being.

Is your Guardian a part of a clan: Mithrax’s House Light

Does your Guardian’s clan have a back story? If so, what is it?(if you want to or able to share): N/A

If your Guardian would have a quote as a flavor text for a weapon and/or piece of armor, what would they be: “Light be with us all, for Darkness is but an inescapable dive into a jaded infinity.”

If your Guardian has had any interactions with any civilians (The Last City/The Farm), Eliksni, Cabal, Vex, Hive, Taken, Scorn, Rouge Lightbearers, or Iron Lords/War Lords(if your Guardian is an Old Light) tell us about it!: Lazarus disagrees heavily with the Iron Lords, and always has. He didn’t like them when they were warlords, and he still disagrees with them to this day. Laz gets along with other races, specifically Eliksni, as they are close neighbors to the Jovians, both living on the Tangled Shore. He saw their Collapse, when they lay siege to The Last City, and felt pity and sympathy for them rather than hating them. Laz has only ever fought Vex, and studied them, and sees them as a bane and plight, since they hurt his teacher. He struggles to trust the Cabal after what they did during the Red War, but he’s slowly trusting them. He doesn’t trust the Hive whatsoever, and disagrees with Darkness as a whole.

Does your Guardian have any unconventional allies or connections(By Vanguard standards): The Eliksni. Lazarus has befriended them long before House Light was a thing, and spent lots of time with them on the Shore.

How does your Guardian feel about themselves or others using Stasis: Horribly. Lazarus does not trust Stasis, as it’s Darkness, and he thinks it’ll corrupt everyone at some point. Some are more resistant to the corruption than others, but everyone who uses Darkness will succumb to it someday.

Did they run The Last Wish raid? How did they react to seeing a live Ahamkara a.k.a Riven: N/A

Did they run The Deep Stone Crypt raid? How did they react to the Crypt and seeing Exo Eliskni: N/A

Is your Guardian from D1? How did they react to seeing Taniks alive once again: Lazarus was shocked beyond measure, and was ready to kill him again to defend the innocent people.

Where did they go and what did they do during The Red War: Lazarus stayed on the sidelines, giving resources to the Lightless, Guardians, everyone, and mainly provided support and healing as necessary. He couldn’t put himself in danger, and advised others to do the same.

Here are some characters that are either polarizing or have created a strong enough mass emotion within the community. What opinion does your Guardian hold on each of them(These are only a handful of characters!)>>>

Osiris, First Warlock Vanguard, originally exiled: Lazarus struggles to trust Osiris, and believe him to be a better person today. He’s well aware of the old, self-centered Osiris with a whole cult, and is dismayed by this man’s sheer selfishness.

Eris Morn, Bane of the Swarm: Awe and amazement at her persistence. Laz admires her deeply.

Cayde-6, Sixth Hunter Vanguard: A young soul, and foolhardy, but a great person nonetheless.

Ikora Rey, Second Warlock Vanguard: Wise, trustworthy, a great friend.

Commander Zavala, Second Titan Vanguard: Someone Laz can confide in, and trust to have his back at all times.

Saint-14, legendary Titan, First Titan Vanguard: A great person, someone with conviction and will, with the best interest of others in mind. Lazarus loves Saint, and trusts him deeply.

Lord Saladin, Iron Banner handler, One of the last remaining Iron Lords: Distaste, hatred, loathing. Lazarus can’t forgive what Saladin did.

Lord Shaxx, Crucible handler, Hero of Twilight Gap, living megaphone: Admiration, aspiration to be like him, and he is proof that anyone can change for the better.

The Crow, New Light, Ex-Enforcer to The Spider: Wary, but willing to give aid and help however he can. Crow isn’t Uldren, and he’s better. Lazarus must constantly remind himself of this.

The Spider, The Shore’s Only Law, founder of “House” Spider: A con artist, and someone to sparingly trust only when absolutely necessary.

Uldren Sov, Prince of the Reef, Master of Crows: Never trust him, never believe him. The man only spews false promises.

Mara Sov, Queen of the Reef, Queen of the Awoken, Ex-Kell of Wolves: Never trusted her, never believed her, and never will. She is a con artist as much as Spider.

Variks, the Loyal, founder of House Judgement: Trusts him, and believes him to be a good person. Lazarus likes that he mistrusts Stasis as much as he does.

Mithrax, the Forsaken, Kell of Light, founder of House Light: Trusts him completely, and believes him to be a savior and the Light of Eliksni.

The Exo Stranger/Elizabeth “Elsie” Bray, Granddaughter of Clovis I and Sister to Ana Bray: Wary to trust her, and hesitant around her. Laz believes someday she’ll succumb to the Darkness, and fall victim to its influence. He pities this day.

Eramis, of House Salvation, Kell of Darkness: A fool, misguided, so desperate and damned. She dug her grave, and she now lays in it.

Empress Caiatl of the Cabal Imperial Empire: Struggles to trust her, but after what she did for Zavala, he’s willing to give her a chance.

Taniks the Scarred, the Perfected, the Abomination, the Shadow Thief: He’s a scourge on everyone, and a threat to be eliminated.

The Darkness is fast approaching. How is your Guardian handling it: Lazarus is ready to fight, and will go against it tooth and nail. He doesn’t hesitate to take things head on, and will do the same against the Darkness. Whatever must be done to protect the innocent, Laz will do it.

And finally, does your Guardian have any advice for any New Lights: Never give in to Darkness, and always walk with the Light.

#my guardians #long post

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tomatograter · 5 years ago

Note

Do you have a list anywhere of your favorite hs fics?

I suppose it’s appropriate I make one now! will prolly come back to add on at some point, but as it stands

HERE’S THE FIC RECS: (it is quite long, click the readmore)

Last updated Sept 10 2021 !

Perpetuity => https://archiveofourown.org/works/12835047

Written pre-epilogues, largely about mending damaged bridges after the game. I always mention this fic as what settled me back into hs as a fandom and dirk/jake

A Palate Cleanser => https://archiveofourown.org/works/21642637

The jake eulogy we missed on candy. it’s real good. (now with a podfic version on the second chapter!!!!)

It’s only a canvas sky

==> https://archiveofourown.org/works/28718544

Their guardians dead at the hands of the Condesce, growing up in the shadow of her slow takeover of the Skaian Federation, Dirk Strider and Jake English have spent their whole lives alone up until shortly before their twelfth birthdays.

Or: Dirk fixes a transmitter, makes a friend, builds a robot, and tries to communicate affection over distance to the barest possible minimum.

(A good mix of fluff/angst/yearning, captures early & friendship dirkjake REALLY well, a good analogue au to their canon upbringing!!)

Sburgatoria => https://archiveofourown.org/works/20726822/chapters/49242167

What if we were four lesbians stuck in an uncanny valley real housewives purgatory-esque-suburbia and we bickered then kissed 😳

Prologos

https://archiveofourown.org/works/23961157

“Sadstuck for the discerning jakeliker”

Magnesium Ion, Porphyrin Ring => https://archiveofourown.org/works/21787465/chapters/51988876

Jade + Jake exploration throughout their growing up years, the relationship they had to their guardians and to one another between split realities and time.

I Know What You Think Of Me => https://archiveofourown.org/works/21516589

You never knew you wanted vriska and jake to be friends but now…. you do! and they’re going to gut a mountain of salmon to get there. Hilariously masterful vrisrezi to boot.

What Happens In-Between =>

https://archiveofourown.org/works/24240424/chapters/58409713

i KNOW you aren’t done with jaded fisheries observer vriska just yet and for that i’m thankful to say, we have a sequel, and dirk is in it to her great annoyance

Drive it home with one headlight => https://archiveofourown.org/works/19281412/chapters/45856705

The Hitchhikers Guide to Your Ex-Boyfriend ==>

https://archiveofourown.org/works/25747519/chapters/62875855

EXTENSIVELY ILLUSTRATED!!!! Post-canon fanadventure focusing on jake, brain ghost dirk, and a very concerned third party inhabiting jake’s brain that isn’t all too happy with the current turn of dubiously canon events. Still updating, very fun and smart.

The Four Kings, the God Thief, and the Black Diamond Pirates =>

https://archiveofourown.org/works/17886581/chapters/42220607

DIRK AND VRISKA. PIRACY. SONG. HOES (JAKE)

Sea shanties for Thots (Four kings sequel) =>

https://archiveofourown.org/works/22210135/chapters/53028541

jake needs to adjust to his new life and occupation overseas, ft; more songs, more piracy, and schrodinger’s hoe. Extensively jake-introspective, told through his POV.

Song of the Pyre =>

https://archiveofourown.org/works/10875459/chapters/24161439

EPIC SCALE vrisrezi space opera ft. hardass legislacerator Terezi & outlaw Vriska being forced to work together after they sort-of-accidentally kill terezi’s shitty clown ex. Feelings are caught, trials are held, there’s a revolution coming. Delightfully written. Reads as pretty solid and complete despite the 19/21 chapters done - ACT 1 counts as a book of its own, ACT 2 is solid.

Pilot Light, Pale rapture (full series) => https://archiveofourown.org/series/1403233

“They want you on Olympus, they want you on a faraway star watching the planet turn benignly. They want the original Gods in the four corners of the earth, protectors in an invisible palace. “And the Witch sat vigil in her southern eastmost realm, looking down upon her descendants,” they’d say, “and saw that it was good.

You do not have an Olympus. You have a house that smells like burnt toast, because Davepeta did just that only an hour ago.”

Prospit kids + Really Good and Fun earth C shenanigans ensue. Incredible insightful exploration on Jade, her childhood, and mostly what happens after the curtains close and she finally has time to be awake.

After Meat, Aftermath. (full series) => https://archiveofourown.org/series/1420354

In one universe, college!au Rose lalonde takes barre classes. In another, arguably more relevant one, Rosebot peers into her life. this will lead to inevitable chaos. incredible rose + kanaya + vriska + jake + dirk focus and one of my fav AU’s.

*below are my favorite dirk-focused works:*

Detective Pony

https://archiveofourown.org/works/2427119/chapters/5371283

At first I didn’t include this one, having taken for granted that everyone had read it already, but I think as of ‘21 the fandom is a bit different and not many have. Facts being: this is the definitive solo Dirk Strider story; seamless with the detective pony book dirk edits in homestuck-proper, deeply indulgent, funny, and cathartic, one might even say. Also an audiobook and a webseries, if that’s more up to your speed!

A Eulogy for Laplace’s Demon (After Meat, Aftermath spinoff) =>

https://archiveofourown.org/works/20047735/chapters/47475769

A good jump-in point for AM,A but hugely more focused on dirk arguing with his own demons. Doesn’t pull any punches.

Dualshock Desertbloom =>

https://archiveofourown.org/works/18428552/chapters/43651733

Dirk wakes up in a scalding liminal space and splinters his beta self out of his body like an amoeba parting in two. It’s a Predicament. They have to learn how to cohabitate if they want to try to figure out what the fuck is going on, and Dirk can’t help but prod and poke around to learn more about his twisted-funhouse-mirror-self along the way. Really meaty character-study, some of my favorite dirkvoice (and brovoice) passages are definitely all over here.

House of Dirk => https://archiveofourown.org/works/19156126/cha pters/45530146

dirk and caliborn, in a sitcom, holding hands. nothing bad could ever possibly happen

Timaeus, Testified. => https://archiveofourown.org/works/19479223/chapters/46368625

“go crazy go stupid!!!!!!” - dirk strider, metamonster

*Fun / short / thoughtful stories:*

Two idiots at Homoville, N69, TX

==> https://archiveofourown.org/works/26130925

Dirk freaks out and goes on r/relationships to try and figure out how to mend the semi-relationship he has with his weird roommate. (hint: his name starts with J)

Light Without Effulgence

==> https://archiveofourown.org/works/25986289

Rose is having a writer’s block. Jake is bored in the middle of his family’s own vacation. They sit down to mercilessly pick at each other’s brains, and the results may surprise you (not clickbait)

Interrogating the text from the wrong perspective => https://archiveofourown.org/works/615521

(Calliope and Rose have fandom wars. Its really funny)

Witching Hour => https://archiveofourown.org/works/12620732

Eschewal => https://archiveofourown.org/works/4284384

jake goes ham

Dreamscapers => https://archiveofourown.org/works/22455073/chapters/53653849

Stygian blue =>

https://archiveofourown.org/works/23946412/chapters/57588850

Terezi and brain ghost Vriska have a conversation. (illustrated!!!)

Bitter =>

https://archiveofourown.org/works/30871334

Jaw-dropping JadeRose comic oneshot; meta, jealousy, crushes, and girls being a little off.

*FANADVENTURE CORNER:*

CHOICELESS HOPE

==> https://archiveofourown.org/works/28100313/chapters/68850048#workskin

Your name is TEREZI PYROPE.

You have been searching the depths of the FURTHEST RING for CHILDHOOD BEST FRIEND, PRETEENHOOD NEMESIS, TEEN SWEETDIAMOND, and POSSIBLE LOVE OF YOUR LIFE, VRISKA SERKET, for what may or may not have been THREE MONTHS.

Near the start of her search for Vriska, Terezi is offered a choice.

KITTYQUEST

==> https://mspfa.com/?s=32792&p=2

Centuries in the future, the daughter of jade harley and davepeta pierces together what it is like to grow up knowing your parents and much of your extended family are immortal beings. Incredible art, lots of really really fun cameos and incredible worldbuilding (Not epilogue compliant, barely credits compliant, remains one of my favorite extended pocket universes to this day.)

FAILURE TO LAUNCH

==> https://mspfa.com/?s=34750&p=1

It’s june egbert’s first night out! From the official TV programme summary; “Starring the one and only JUNE EGBERT! Who knows what shenanigans will ensue… Wild hootenannies? Late night pizza picnics? ROMANCE??? Tune in and find out on FAILURE TO LAUNCH!” this can only ever end well, right?

THERAPYSTUCK

==> https://mspfa.com/?s=36345&p=3

That’s right, buckos. The lot of you are going to therapy. Turns out after a member of the tight-knit god community (Sollux) decides to seek a little help, more shenanigans were sure to follow.

#fic rec #updated sporadically

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