#the muse of nightmares

[dorkthyon]

Ruby, from Laini Taylor's duology Strange the Dreamer

[theoppositequeens]

i'm the albatross (i swept in at the rescue)

Fandom: Strange the Dreamer Pairings: Korako & Eril-Fane, Eril-Fane & Sarai, Azareen/Eril-Fane, Korako & Novali, Eril-Fane/Isagol (mentioned) Rating: E (for safety) Warnings: Canon-typical violence, Non-con, etc. Please read the full tags on Ao3. This one is the one with the happier ending - no Carnage.

Read the fic here on Ao3.

i'm the albatross (i swept in at the rescue)

"It's alright," Korako said. "The big man, Sarai." "Big man, " Sarai repeated, and started walking towards the warrior covered in blood. Her gait was no longer unsteady, and she crossed the distance easily. Eril-Fane visibly wrestled with his instincts for a bit, then handed his sword to the man beside him and knelt down on one knee to receive his daughter. She climbed trustingly into his arms when he opened them hesitantly, snuggling against his chest, and he lifted her off the floor, rising immediately. Eril-Fane shifted the girl to his left arm, balancing her on his hip like he had done it a thousand times before. He reclaimed his sword, and then stood still for a moment, undecided. "Within hours?" He confirmed. Korako nodded, then leaned her head back against the wall. It would be a waiting game now, and she wasn't sure she'd be allowed to stick around for it. "Mhmm," she hummed, offering up her throat. "They could be sent away," she suggested softly. "To orphanages far away from here. Just let them live, Eril-Fane." He didn't answer. ----- A Christmas gift for @tunguszka20

[exhausted-electron]

"Blood was flowing from the holes in their armor, pumping out in spurts and mingling between them, catching and pooling where they pressed together. Azareen thrust her hands against Eril-Fane’s chest to try to keep his blood inside him, as though she didn’t notice her own was escaping."

— Laini Taylor, The muse of nightmares

[lemm-moxx]

Yes killer i believe you do.

[ohdorothea]

The Tortured Poets Department (song) is I think is very clever at showing a deeply toxic painful unhealthy relationship then it covers that up really well with the “Charlie Puth should be a bigger artist” and so on because the silliness/quirkiness distracts from the lines that show how harmful this relationship is

[cloudysarts]

TICK-TOCK, TEDDY-BEAR! TICK-FUCKING-TOCK!

[thiscoldheart]

"What are you doing?"

"What does it look like? I.. am taking a picture. Something to remember you by."

ONE DAY (1.01)

[queen0fm0nsterz]

So, (sits down at the table) (lights up cigarette) are we all ready to discuss how Six's lack of gender conformity in the beginning of the franchise can be read not only as an expression of her nonbinary identity but also an inherent refusal of what their assigned gender requires of her, which is why they are put in contrapposition with the Lady, whose name and role is inherently tied to her identity as a woman, and by refusing to abide to that standard Six challenges not only the structure of the Maw but also the basic concept on which the Lady based her entire life and identity on

[ultimateplaylistmaker]

Kokichi gives me the kind of vibes of having the right personality traits to accidentally end up doing stalking. He finds himself interested in someone, so he tries to learn more about them, which includes finding out schedules, and then he wonders what he can find online with them, and then it just keeps escalating until someone looks at him and goes "stop, get some help" because he never realized it had long since past the point of going from quirky to creepy because it just constantly felt like the most logical progression was to be like "name, age, phone number, social media, schedule, address, where they sleep, what kind of clothes they like, what are there parents names, do they have medical issues" and it just keeps going and going until someone is like "kokichi you cant just, make a flow chart to establish their grocery habits by breaking into their house and checking their fridge over a period of time"

[saucy-mesothelioma]

Me and the boys when we Heart. Lungs. Liver. Nerves. Heart. Lungs. Liver. Nerves. Heart. Lungs. Liver. Nerves. Heart. Lungs. Liver. Nerves. Heart. Lungs. Liver. Nerves. Heart. Lungs. Liver. Nerves. Heart. Lungs. Liver. Nerves. Heart. Lungs. Liver. Nerves. Heart. Lungs. Liver. Nerves. Heart. Lungs. Liver. Nerves. Heart. Lungs. Liver. Nerves. Heart. Lungs. Liver. Nerves. Heart. Lungs. Liver. Nerves. Heart. Lungs. Liver. Nerves. Heart. Lungs. Liver. Nerves. Heart. Lungs. Liver. Nerves. Heart. Lungs. Liver. Nerves. Heart. Lungs. Liver. Nerves. Heart. Lungs. Liver. Nerves. Heart. Lungs. Liver. Nerves. Heart. Lungs. Liver. Nerves. Heart. Lungs. Liver. Nerves. Heart. Lungs. Liver. Nerves. Heart. Lungs. Liver. Nerves. Heart. Lungs. Liver. Nerves. Heart. Lungs. Liver. Nerves. Heart. Lungs. Liver. Nerves. Heart. Lungs. Liver. Nerves. Heart. Lungs. Liver. Nerves. Heart. Lungs. Liver. Nerves. Heart. Lungs. Liver. Nerves. Heart. Lungs. Liver. Nerves. Heart. Lungs. Liver. Nerves. Heart. Lungs. Liver. Nerves. Heart. Lungs. Liver. Nerves. Heart. Lungs. Liver. Nerves. Heart. Lungs. Liver. Nerves. Heart. Lungs. Liver. Nerves. Heart. Lungs. Liver. Nerves. Heart. Lungs. Liver. Nerves.

[dorkthyon]

Sparrow, done in watercolors

[theoppositequeens]

Drabble

Fandom: Strange the Dreamer

Pairing: Azareen/Eril-Fane

Rating: T

Warnings: implied/referenced non-con

Read on AO3 here

i didn't love to lose (somebody like you)

Azareen puts her foot down when Eril-Fane starts talking about releasing her from their marriage vows.

The first time, she slaps him. "How dare you?" She hisses, and that is the end of that conversation.

"No," she says, the second time, and turns on her heel.

"You don't get to run before you talk to me," she says the third time. "I know we're both traumatized, and we're not making any big life choices now."

The fourth time, they argue like cats and dogs. Azareen knows nothing of what his last three years have been like, except what she's seen herself, because he won't say a word. "You're a coward," she throws at him. She pulls out all the cards she knows will hurt, just in case they might break through to him. "Your mother cried herself to sleep for years, I cried myself to sleep for years, and now you won't comfort us or accept our comfort. You tell the others not to be ashamed of what was done to them, and then you blame yourself for the same thing. Hypocrite!"

The fifth time Azareen kisses him until he shuts up. Literally just presses her mouth against his. He doesn't struggle, doesn't seem to know how to react.

He doesn't try a sixth time.

Instead, he sits down next to her on a dusty bench on a quiet morning. He presses closer than he has since Skathis took him to the citadel, shoulder to shoulder, hip to hip. He stares into the wall and his voice is wooden, but he talks.

Azareen gives him her silence, her time. He talks until he is hoarse and then he talks some more. He talks for three whole years worth of horror. And when he is done he hangs his head, and she's never seen him so defeated. He is proud, her husband, and strong and steady and larger than life. Azareen hates Isagol for bringing him so low. Hates all of the gods for their cruelty.

Azareen doesn't say anything. She simply rests her head on his shoulder, letting him carry all of her weight, trusts him with it. Lets him feel like he's doing something for her.

That is when he confesses that he doesn't trust himself any more. To tell right from wrong. Hate from love.

"I trust you with my heart," Azareen says, and that is that.

[smimon]

Magnificent Jesse at Allas Sea Pool

Credit to starkowo on insta 💚

[birdmitosis]

Since you sometimes make a distinction between the two different versions of The Fury and The Wraith as well as the Beast and Witch versions of The Wild, would you care to discuss how you interpret the two versions that makes them worth distinguishing?

Oh, sure!

Honestly, I tend to differentiate the shared Chapter IIIs more often than not in my head, even if I don't always specify in writing. This is because I tend to think of all the Chapter IIIs as continuations of their Chapter IIs -- which is why I also find it increasingly hard to ship things like, say, Witch/Thorn and I find it harder to imagine Adversary & Eye of the Needle interacting, unless it's a case of two alternate universe versions meeting.

But I also make more of a distinction between Chapter IIIs that are, in my opinion, very different from one another in some key way. This is definitely most obvious with the Greys, who flat-out have names specifying which is which in fandom (Burned Grey and Drowned Grey are by far the most common in my experience)... But the two Furies and two Wilds also have very obviously different driving desires and motivations, in my opinion.

Adversary!Fury feels empty. She has lost you. If you make it through her torment, she makes it clear that's what she's so upset about. She had a moment of fleeting happiness with you she's clinging onto, she thought she understood something about you, and you left her feeling alone and empty.

On the other hand, if you make it through Tower!Fury's torment, she makes herself clear as well, and it's different. She was furious that you denied her, furious about what you did to her. And now she has broken your will, the way Tower wished, but she's found it to be hollow. It hasn't made her happy. "I am forever a piece unfinished," she says, "A song with no refrain." The song that she wished for, of you choosing to free her, release your goddess upon the world... That can never be. And she is in despair thinking that you will never be able to understand her.

With the two Furies, their differences are also more obvious in The Pristine Cut given the drastic differences between their routes. Yes, there are some similar endings you can get in their chapters (if you have the right voice with you in Adversary!Fury, that is). But it's only with Cold or Broken in Adversary!Fury that you can leave with her, or leave without her, or bury your blade in her heart. And Adversary!Fury's reaction if you defeat her with Contrarian is very different from Tower!Fury's reaction if you defeat her with Cold. And, notably, Broken and Cold only reach the stage of empathizing with Adversary!Fury.

The differences between the two Wilds are more subtle, but IMO are still a significantly different driving force. In Beast!Wild, if you look at what is in your now-shared heart, after she begs you not to make you remember what she was, you find your own fear. But in Witch!Wild, if you choose to look at that concealed thing, after she begs you not to make you remember what you both were... It's hatred. It's both of your hatred. Beast!Wild doesn't want to go back to "the fear and the hunger and the pain"; Witch!Wild doesn't want to go back to "the doubting and the hatred and the schemes." They are both avoiding different things, Beast!Wild seems to more be wanting to avoid thinking about what she had been while Witch!Wild wants to ignore what both of you had been, and while both Wilds feel like it's right to be a single being now, Beast!Wild is the one who specifically talks about having put things back how they were supposed to be. While Witch!Wild shouts about remembering herself, going back to hating and hurting you, before... "I wish I didn't have to."

In comparison, the two Wraiths aren't as blatantly different, but they still definitely have different dialogue before possessing you. It's also possible to get to them in... similar, if backwards, ways. While you can get Spectre!Wraith by just straight-up trying to slay her first thing every time you meet her, well... You can get to Spectre!Wraith by killing her ASAP and then trying to abandon her, and get to Nightmare!Wraith by trying to abandon her and then killing her ASAP. It's easy to just not bother differentiating between the two! But I think the fact that Spectre, even the harsher version of Spectre, has such a different personality and approach from Nightmare, means that Spectre!Wraith and Nightmare!Wraith are still definitely different people even with their strong similarities. They've become quite a bit like each other, though, after everything you have done to them.

...TL;DR honestly I always tend to make a distinction between the different versions in my head, since I think of them still as part of/an extension of their specific Chapter IIs. But some of the shared Chapter IIIs are very very different from each other, in a lot of ways or in a few key ways, and so I tend to differentiate more often with some of them than with others. Because it feels way weirder to talk about "the Fury" without saying which I mean than to do that with "the Wraith." (And I can't imagine doing it with "the Grey" at all.)

[ghost-bxrd]

So , i recently read a fic called "across the sands" by lulurythmea and has a thought . its shown at some point in the fic that Talia had conditioned Jason into fiercely protecting Damian while he was still catatonic and she had instilled into him phrases like "i command you" and it got me thinking what if Damian got de aged to the age where he remembered Jason as "Ahki" his nanny and Talia had given him the phrases so hed know how to prompt Jason into action. Like im imagining he wakes up as a much younger kid and hes scared and sees Jason, the only one he recognises and just not knowing any better he says one of the phrases and Jasons conditioning just SLAMS into him and for the while hes not letting anyone get close to Damian. Maybe the spell wears off after a few days so there stuck with an overprotective jason who will throw them across the room if Damian gets scared . Sorry for the long ask.

I had a similar prompt a while ago where Jason is terrified of a similar scenario! (The Talia spite fic, iykyk ksksks)

So while it would be very cute for us (and everyone else at first) I think Jason would panic finding out about this. It’s basically like brainwashing, conditioning someone to the point where their actions are largely involuntary.

So the end effect would be similar, with Jason trying to keep as much distance from Damian (or anybody else who might be able to trigger that response) as possible, afraid of himself and whatever else might be hidden deep inside his consciousness :/

[what-have-i-unleashed]

stealth lesson

just a little play of hide-and-seek with our favorite soldier boy cross.

unbeta-ed and unedited as always.

(cw: exhibitionism (kinda?), some hunter/prey going on)

"hide-and-seek?" cross asks, incredulous, to which killer gives a nod.

"you're decent at fighting. but stealth-wise? terrible. we need to work on that."

cross raises his eyebrow ridge and looks at the two skeletons behind his 'handler'. they're all standing in the training ground near the forest. it's the first time cross sees them up this close, and they're just as intimidating as seen from afar. horror and dust, cross remembers from the brief introduction nightmare gave him the other week.

killer notices where cross is looking at, and not very helpfully adds, "they're here as... additional support."

"for what?" cross questions, squinting his eyes and folding his arms across his chest. he doesn't want to admit feeling a bit apprehensive by the situation.

"not for you, that's for sure," horror chimes in, giving cross a dreadful smile with a small tilt of his head. cross scowls at him in return.

"no need to scare the newbie, egghead," killer says, though he sends horror a light smirk, clearly finding the antic amusing. turning to cross, he continues, "let's say, we're going to be seekers and you're the one hiding. no shortcut allowed. more challenge for you, isn't it, soldier boy?"

"no fun if there's no prize though," dust, being quiet the whole time, finally speaks up, as the other three turns to him.

"you're right," killer hums. "maybe we should add something as... incentive."

"how about," dust steps past killer to stand face-face-face with cross, tilting his head up at the monochrome skeleton and sporting a grin, "every time we find you, you lose one piece of clothing? how does that sound?"

"what?!" cross blusters, his face flushing purple. killer and horror exchange an indescribable look behind dust's back. cross tries to regain his composure as he speaks to the skeleton in front of him, "are you- what- why did you say that?!"

"scared, crossy?" killer whistles at him jeeringly.

"how about we play for two hours only?" horror muses, his eye locked onto cross.

"five-minute head start for you too," dust adds. "it's just a little bit of fun."

cross looks from one skeleton monster to another, his face heating up at the unwavering attention he's getting. he knows what he's going to say before he opens his mouth to answer.

it's been an hour and cross is getting more and more desperate as he waddles through the forest to find a place to hide. he didn't expect either killer or horror to be such skilled trackers. which should make sense honestly - they're nightmare's hounds after all. horror has found him most of the times, and gleefully watched as cross was ordered to take off his clothes piece by piece. thank the stars cross' usual uniform has many layers, or else he would have been butt-naked way too soon in the game.

but at least, cross can admit that this game is teaching him something. footprints are the most obvious way to be tracked down. any disturbance is the trail or dirt would lead his pursuers to him. he needs to be as quiet as possible while traversing the areas, else they would hear him moving around and clock exactly where he is.

however, learning facts is easier than coming up with solutions and applying them. it's not long before killer catches up to him, a taunting smile on his face as he leisurely watches cross take off his belt.

"aww, i kinda want to see more there," killer whines in the most fake annoying voice ever. his smile is unchanging as he rests his chin on his fist.

"oh shut up already," cross shoots back, unable to stop his embarrassed blush appearing on his face.

"heh, how many times have you been caught already? you're down to your sweater and shorts there."

"urghh," cross groans. "you and horror are so insistent it's starting to get annoying."

"dust hasn't caught you yet?"

"not once."

"... hmm you know, crossy," killer says after a while. "if you want to call it quits here, then no problem."

cross gives killer a strange look. "i'm not a quitter."

killer shakes his head, seeming amused. "your loss, soldier. better start going before anyone else catches up."

and catch up someone does. not even ten minutes later, horror captures cross again. and this time cross furiously takes off his sweater as horror taps his fingers on his forearm.

"you should probably give up. what? you only have your shorts left."

"i'm not quitting."

it is quiet. too quiet. it's been half an hour since he sees any of the others. it doesn't usually take them this long to find him. so either they are dawdling around somewhere, or they are taking pity on him.

... as if.

maybe this time his hiding attempts are finally paying off. practice makes perfect and all that. cross feels a giddy feeling in his soul, threatening to buzz over his body. finally.

but he can't celebrate just yet. carefully shifting his position on the tree branch so as not to rustle the leaves too much, he tries to look down around him to see if there's any sign of the murderous trio. nothing as of yet.

oh, maybe he'll actually win this infernal game, and then they wi-

ping!

cross doesn't realize his soul has been turned blue until it's too late. he's thrown off the tree and into the dirt below. lifting his head, he sees dust casually jumping off from somewhere above and walking towards him.

"how long have you been here?" cross bemoans.

"doesn't matter," dust shrugs his shoulders, his eyes intensely locked onto cross. "you lost."

"... do i really have to take my shorts off?"

"that's the rules. though," dust stops at cross' feet and crouches down, his face near cross' heated one, "i accept other punishments."

cross breathes out, hesitantly, "... like what?"

dust doesn't say anything. he takes one of his gloves off with his own teeth, eyes looking at cross the entire time. cross watches, dazed, as dust glides his ungloved hand up from the soldier's chin to his cheeks. his thumb traces small circles around the corner of cross' mouth, silently asking for cross to open his mouth. cross obliges, and dust leans in, fingers exploring the rows of teeth under him. his thumb stops at one of cross' fangs and stays there. cross looks up at dust inquisitively. but dust again doesn't say anything, only staring down at him from above, his hood obscuring his face.

finally, dust breaks into a wide grin, "cute."

what. cross blinks. and before he can question any further, dust's hand leaves his mouth with a trail of saliva. dust wipes it on cross' shorts before standing up and dusting himself.

"... that's it?" cross asks, surprised by how breathless and timid he sounds.

dust puts his hands in his jacket pocket. "you want more?"

cross startles. "no! no, i mean- you're sure you-"

"yeah, that's enough for me," dust cuts him off. "you reactions are amusing enough. see you later, lover boy."

with that, he shortcuts away, leaving cross flustered in the empty field.

"you know, you're kinda mean to the newbie, dusty."

"... i don't know what you're talking about."

"really? stalking him from up above since the beginning and sending us his locations is not mean behavior?"

"nothing in the rules says i can't do that."

"like i said, meaaaan."