#who is faust and why do they have several sons

[ancient-qveen]

EMPEROR in Petrified zine issue no. 2, winter 1993

-Samoth interviewed. transcription below

(fuck that font fr also lmfaoo at what Samoth says about Chuck from Death XD rip. And this interview takes place around autumn of 1993 after the arrests)

Here is an interview with Samoth of Emperor!

1) When was Emperor formed? Why was the name Thou Shalt Suffer changed?

Samoth - Emperor was brought to existence during the grey depressive autumn Anno 1991. Thou Shalt Suffer is a different band… When the gathering of Emperor took place, me and Ihsahn continued with Thou Shalt Suffer, but in the spring of Anno 1992, I left Thou Shalt Suffer and from that time, Ihsahn has worked alone, so Thou Shalt Suffer still breathes… Await the satanic symphonies of Thou Shalt Suffer

2) Who are the current members of Emperor?

Samoth - Samoth - Ihsahn - Tchort - Hellhammer

3) Since Mortiis was kicked-out, and Faust has been jailed, who have taken their places?

Samoth - After Mortiis “passed away”, Tchort joined our horde and last week Hellhammer from Mayhem took Faust’s place (since Faust is arrested and charged, and has also confessed to burning down one church and murdering one human pig (brutally-stabbed to death) he is unable to continue in Emperor… hail Faust!

4) Who are the unholy black-metal bands in the circle? And why have bands such as Immortal and Fester disassociated themselves? Can you also list some of the black metal bands from Norway, and list the “false” black metal bands?

Samoth - All bands who praise their art and will live and die for it. About Immortal and Fester… None of these bands claim to be black metal. Maybe things got to extreme for them… I don’t know, I haven’t talked to any of these guys for quite a while. Emperor, Darkthrone, Burzum, Mayhem are the bands who “Sit on the throne”. (The future of Burzum and Mayhem are unsure)… Grishnackh will spend his next 20 years in jail, but he still has 2 unreleased albums/ Mayhem are “dead”, but “De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas” will be released, and Mayhem is immortal… They will forever exist one way or another). There are newer bands, such as Mysticum, Hades, Satyricon, and Gorgoroth. Also other bands, such as Arcturus, In the Woods which are not black metal, but dark music… And Enslaved, the epic metal gods of Norway which also “Sit on the throne”. To be honest, there aren’t many false bands here, they have been destroyed.

5) Satanism has become a big problem (haha!) in Norway, what do the common peasants think of you Unholy Sons?

Samoth - Black Metal and Satanism is hated like the plague!

6) Since the formation of the circle, how many churches have been burnt-down?

Samoth - About 10 churches have been burned in the name of black metal… And there have been other satanic cirmes such as ritual rape, church/grave desecrations, two murders, several attacks on christians (Tchort will go to court for one of these attack cases). And after the formation of the Norwegian Black Metal Circle, also other countries have been inspired… In Sweden, they have burned 3 churches, in Germany there have been two murders and one church-fire. in England there has been one church-fire, and in the U.S.A… I think there is more to come… The battle between good and evil is eternal… It is the nature itself…

7) Are you constantly being harassed by the police? Have you been accused of church burning?

Samoth - The police have watched us for a while, Grishnackh was arrested earlier this year, but was released because of the lack of proof, but after the murder on Euronymous, he was arrested again. Over 100 people went into the police station for questioning… That led to a lot of arrests, like Faust, and me… I am charged for burning down a church (“Skjold” church… One of the biggest wood churches in Norway… Only ashes are left…) together with Grishnackh… I have now confessed the crime (that is why I am out for jail), my case will go to court sometime next year. Other than Faust, Grishnackh and me, there were 6 other people arrested and most of them have confessed their crimes. So the police have really started a Black Metal Satanist hunt; anyway, this will not stop Emperor whatsoever!

8) What is some of the merchandise available from Emperor?

Samoth - The only stuff available from Emperor Horde are the “Wrath of the Tyrant” demo (a blank tape + 2/3 IRC’s), our mini album and shirts are available from Candlelight and several distributors.

9) What will be the future Emperor release? Will your style change?

Samoth - Our full length album “In the Nightside Eclipse” is recorded and is to be released as soon as possible. Also our demo will be released as an LP, only 666 copy’s by Necropolis Records… About our style… We will always progress, “In the Nightside Eclipse” is without any doubt the best thing we have done so far… It is more or less in the same way as our mini album, but with some progressions and more professional/atmospheric sound… A masterpiece of Pagan Black Metal art!

10) What are your favourite bands?

Samoth - I listen to a lot of different music, I like bands such as Bathory, Fear of God, Bel Canto, When, Dream Theater, Burzum, Darkthrone, Arcturus, Coil, Diamanda Galas, Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Skyclad, Emperor, Mayhem, Katatonia, Dissection, Tiamat, Mordor, Abruptum, Morbid Angel, Rotting Christ, Deicide, Immortal, Necromantia, Thou Art Lord, Vangelis, Dead Can Dance, Manowar, GGFH, Sisters of Mercy, Eterne, The Church of Babylon, Enslaved, Tangerine Dream, Venom, Hellhammer, Celtic Frost, Destruction, Software, Opeth, Munch, Mefisto, Das Ich, Malleus, and the list goes on, I also worship a lot of sound tracks. So I ain’t really close-minded when it comes to music, but I’m still quite fastidious when it comes to bands, the must “give” me something.

11) Are you planning on touring in the U.S. or in Europe?

Samoth - We have already done a U.K. tour (with U.K.’s black metal gods Cradle of Filth), and we were offered to join Dismember and Morbid Angel for a full European tour, but we let it down… We are not interested in supporting fucking Dismember, anyway Morbid Angel have my full respect, and I admire all their music… We have now been offered a tour (in Europe) with Samuel, we might do it… But as you know, things have happened here in Norway lately, so it depends on different things…

12) What do you think about Death Metal? And the scene here in Florida?

Samoth - I like real death metal, but I hate all this trendy bands that just keep on cloning each other all the fucking time… About Florida… Deicide and Morbid Angel are great bands, I also like the debut album of Athiest (I totally hate their crap lyrics… Life metal bullshit…) Florida is crap, I don’t like U.S.A in general (even though I have never been there…) And please someone get this Chuck “Flower Power” of Death killed… Fucking hell, he might be Jesus Christ!

13) Upon your death, will you rule in hell among evil…?

Samoth - I will rule in a medieval like realm of darkness… I will sit proudly at my throne with my blacksword at hand in my grey silent castle into the eternal forest…

Thorns - Thanks Samoth for the interview!

[chevvy-ryder]

OC INTERVIEW

got tagged by @alphanight-vp. Thank you sm 🤍

As I got four boys I will only pick Ryder for now, as I assume he's the secret crowd favorite. If it happens I get tagged again I'll pick another as I do not have the energy to do all four atm.

—

Decided to let Ry answer. All in italic is what he thinks for himself as further answers as he usually doesn't like these sort of rather boring and timewasting questioning and even more so doesn't tell that to strangers. So it's not a must to let the oc speak but I felt like doing it for this one. It's just Ryder thinks a lot for himself especially with strangers. He holds back his true wants and interests very often and only gives harsh answers to them that don't tell much about him.

—

///_NAME?

"You scanned me, right? It says 'Ryder' — and that is how you are allowed to call me. No last name, Just Ryder. Is all you need to know." — I'm a fucking von Scharfenberg, some high royal German Corpo. If I would spit that into your face you would probably only laugh and your answer would be "This is a joke right?". Kein Scherz, I'm the son of the CEO of Militech. The useless boy who disappeard several years ago. I had reasons enough to leave this shitty live.

///_NICKNAME?

"You are a rando so for you I am still 'Ryder', ist das klar?" — My nickname is 'Ry' but I only allow my closest friends and loved ones to call me like that. Thyjs calls me 'snoep' and I think that sounds beautiful. He only says it when we are just for us. So ein Süßi.

///_GENDER?

"Cis male."

///_STAR_SIGN?

"It spans 210–240° ecliptic longitude under the constellation of Scorpius, so it's Scorpio." — Sometimes though I feel like a cancer in a leather jacket rather than a true Scorpio.

///_HEIGHT?

"I'm 1,88m tall. Translate it to inches, feet or whatever you count in by yourself." — Why can't this world have a consistent meassurement system? Geht mir so auf die Nüsse! Apple hat's doch auch vor gefühlt 50 Jahren geschafft Thunderbolt dem USB-C Standard anzupassen und heut' gibts das nicht mal mehr!

///_ORIENTATION?

"Gay. Top only."

///_FAVORITE_FRUIT?

"I rarely eat fruits. They are expensive as fuck these days."

///_FAVORITE_SEASON?

"Clearly Fall. I like the wet rainy air way more than hot sweaty summers."

///_FAVORITE_FLOWER?

There we go— the standard questions are popping up once again. Wieso jetzt Blumen? This is getting lame. — "I always forget the name. Ask Thyjs, not me. He knows it for sure. It's pretty. Dark purple is all I can remember."

///_FAVORITE_SCENT?

"The smell of a thick dark and green German forest. Cedarwood, moss and earthy scents. That paired with rain? Beste!" — I miss that a lot. — "If you want to know a fragrance instead: Aramis. Its notes? Like the way I'm smelling for you right now minuse the cigarette smoke." — I see you start sweating. Unübersehbar. Aramis never fails.

//_COFFEE_OR_TEA?

TEE? — "Brudi, Tee kommt mir gar nicht in die Tüte! Give me a fucking beer! Faust. Astra. Or a Tannenzäpfle. Man, I even take your lousy American beer or a Heinaken if I have to but please — no fucking tea!" — Coffee in the morning is alright though and gets me going.

///_AVERAGE_HOURS_OF_SLEEP?

"Man, why always these lame questions? Fucking hell. I do not track my sleep. If I sleep, I fucking sleep! If it's 4 or 8 hours – I do not care!" — To be honest, I rarely got a good sleep – not before Thyjs came into my life as he distracts me a lot. I mean if I found sleep, i slept, but there's been a time I slept like two hours and I needed booster meds to stay awake. Beast pounds almost 24/7 in my head — try find some sleep with it. almost impossible …

///_DOG_OR_CAT_PERSON?

-Sighs rather agressively- These questions are getting on my nerves. — "Dogs."

///_DREAM_TRIP?

SEH ICH SO AUS ALS WÜRD ICH DAS NEM RANDO WIE DIR MITTEILEN WOLLEN!? -tries to stay calm- — "Just be somewhere alone with my soldier visiting several spots in Europe. Where is none of your business." — I would love to show Thyjs where I've grown up and played as a kid. Back then life was easy and carefree. I would love to see Amsterdam. Love to travel up to Sweden or Norway and see the Aurora Borealis, have a great look at the stars as Night City's massive lighting during the night blocks nearly ever star up there. I miss Berlin and the clubbing there. Want to go back and lay down onto the old tarmac at Tempelhof. Explore old ruins along the Rhein and I want to do it all with my soldier.

///_FAVORITE_FICTIONAL_CHARACTER?

"None. Don't read. Not much of a tv or movie fan either." — I wasn't allowed to read or watch anything that has to do with 'fandom' as it was only distraction and nonsense. I was told TV programs are there to keep people dumb and busy from looking away from what happens in the world and from edjucating themselves. But once I met V and he did his 80s retro movie nights I liked Indiana Jones a lot.

///_NUMBER_OF_BLANKET_YOU_SLEEP_WITH?

"Next question!" — Only one blanket and Thyjs in between. At least for a bit because we separate fast as the heat, our bodies emmit, becomes too much waking us up all the time. But I love to fall asleep with him this way. He calms me and it's like he pushes Beast into a corner, silences it for a while just by his presnece. No one else is able to do that.

///_RANDOM_FACT?

"What would you do if I told you I am a cyberpsycho?" — -stares at you with a steady gaze and bared teeth- Now, pack your things an go before it gets worse. I'm holding back already.

—

tagging:

@imaginarycyberpunk2023, @elvenbeard, @morganlefaye79, @ouroboros-hideout, @aggravateddurian, @dreamskug, @wraithsoutlaws, @gloryride @cherryrockpops and @streetkid-named-desire

as always not a must and idk if u been tagged already or not, but feel free to do anytime, especially if you got more blorbos than one!

[kirschbluetenregen-ao3]

🖤 Eclipse 🖤 — Second teaser

As I’m sitting home sick and need some distraction, I’m sharing another glimpse on the first chapter of Eclipse. 😊

Those who flew high could fall low, and this was what had happened to him. In the most painful way he had to learn that his life was worth nothing and how insignificant his existence was. He was just a tiny insect that could be crushed so easily, and he had thought he was powerful enough to stand above all. But then he had become almost one of those skulls and everything had changed for him. He might have a talent for binding devils, but his powers were limited and not as outstanding as he and others had convinced themselves they were.

The ritual for the fallen member of their circle ended and the group dispersed. They would continue as if nothing had happened, as if they didn’t just add a skull to the pillars of the vault to forget about the person behind it immediately. He hadn’t even known her name or if she had had family who could miss her. Her existence would vanish as if she had never been a part of this world. And this would be his fate, too.

Nacht waited for a moment and watched the others to bide his time to leave for this night. There was nothing for him to do, nothing he wanted to do. Why should he find the trace of new relics to bind yet another devil? Why should he work on improving his skills for the devil binding process? It had only been months ago that he had risked his life again to not make his father suspicious. That had added the seventh devil to his collection—Mephistopheles. Plus, there was another reason for him to leave.

He just wanted to slip into one of his shadows when a cold shiver ran down his spine and someone appeared in front of him. Nacht looked at his father, the dark hair hidden under his cowl, the wrinkles on his face, the neatly trimmed moustache. From the outside, Wolf was the perfect image of a nobleman, but from the inside he was the exact opposite. Every royal and noble family had their skeleton in the closet, no one expected the Faust family to actually have several skeletons in their vault—in the true sense of the word.

Mentally, Nacht braced himself to play his role. He had to pretend to be the perfect son, the one who supported his family’s secret eerie business while all he wanted was to finally be free from all of this. He was not a stupid man, of course he knew that he would never be free from this completely. His devils had to stay at his side, all days until he died and would always remind him of his own failures.

[insectsys]

Get to know 9 people ask game

Tagged by: @teddytoroa (Thank you!)

Last song listened to: Hot Faced - Margaux (Now I'm thinking about it... Eli if you're reading this, this is sort of a Sybelle song)

Currently watching: Killing Eve (I've seen all the other shows with toxic gays so it's time to complete the lineup. Liking it so far but I don't watch TV very often so it's taking me a long time)

Currently reading: Rhythm of War by Brandon Sanderson. Fourth in a series with some outstanding worldbuilding. I'm also reading a bunch of essays on different iterations of the Faust myth and portrayals of the Devil in Victorian literature for my Masters dissertation.

Sweet/spicy/savory: Teddy wrote "why are we pitting three bad bitches against each other though theyre girlfriends and kissing" and he was so right for that. But gun to my head I'd have to say savoury

Current obsession: The Vampire Chronicles. I literally think about these insane little bisexuals constantly. Also I'm going through a bit of a Christian theology hyperfixation and I'm also thinking constantly about my party of OCs in my girlfriend's homebrew Dungeonworld game and the insane story we've got going on. It's the best campaign I've ever been in hands down and my sweet son Lariat is probably my favourite OC I've ever made

Relationship status: In a happy open relationship with my partner of 7 years!

Last thing I googled: Priscilla (2023). I saw a clip from it floating around and wanted to find out when it was in my local cinema. It looks very triggering/intense but I'm glad it's coming out especially with the overwhelmingly positive response to that romanticised Elvis biopic last year

Currently working on: The Master's dissertation I mentioned earlier. The title is Faust in the Victorian Imagination. I'm also working on several PhD applications!

Gonna tag: @autisticstannis @complicitsacrilege @eeriedeer @ldpdlesbian anyone else who sees this and thinks 'hey I wanna do that!' just pretend I tagged u. Also no pressure to the people I did tag!

[archivist-crow]

The Haunted Atlas

Hull-House - Chicago, Illinois

41°52′18″N / 87°38′51″W

A Chicago landmark, now a museum, which in 1913 was widely believed to house a living "Devil Baby." Hull-House is still included in some haunted tours of Chicago and is said by some to exude an uncomfortable atmosphere.

Hull-House was built in 1856 as the residence of Charles J. Hull. Located in what was then the southwestern suburbs of Chicago, the house became surrounded by factories and tenements that housed thousands of immigrants. In the late 1880s, the house became the United States first welfare center, founded by social workers Jane Addams and Ellen Gates Starr. The center provided numerous services to the large numbers of immigrants who settled in the area. Hull-House was an oasis of comfort. It became so successful that a third floor was added. Eventually, 12 more buildings were added.

Addams had become interested in social work while traveling abroad in England. In the slums of Whitechapel, the setting of the famous Jack the Ripper murders, she went to work helping the poor and championing social reforms. When she returned home, she was fired with a zeal to do the same work in Chicago. She leased Hull-House and turned it into a settlement house for the poor, the abused and the homeless. She campaigned for funds among the wealthy women of the city.

Addams died in 1935. Her work has been continued by the Hull-House Association. Hull-House moved to new quarters in 1963, and the original house was preserved as a museum.

In 1913, a strange rumor about a so-called Devil Baby hidden away inside Hull-House seemed to come from nowhere and gather great speed as it spread throughout the communities of immigrants. For about six weeks, throngs of women descended upon Hull-House demanding to see the Devil Baby. The perplexed and vexed Addams explained and reexplained that there was no basis to the rumor.

In interviewing women about the story and why they believed it, Addams discovered that it seemed to be based on fears of the plight of immigrant women, especially older women with Old World mores and superstitions that involved religious beliefs and the treatment of women.

The story had various ethnic versions. According to the Italian version, a young Italian woman defied her family and married an atheist. She became pregnant right away. A few months later, she hung a picture of the Virgin Mary on the wall. This angered her husband, who tore it down, ripped it up and swore he would rather have the Devil in the house. The couple was punished with the birth of a baby who looked like a miniature Satan, with horns, cloven feet, pointed ears, a tail and a scaly body. It could walk and talk and would run about the house threatening the father. It danced on church pews, laughed hideously and smoked cigars. Finally the father took it to Hull-House and beseeched Addams to take it in.

Other ethnic versions varied only in the sins that brought on the monstrous birth:

* An Irish girl failed to confess to her priest that prior to her marriage she had conducted an affair with
another man.

* A Jewish girl married a Gentile without her parents' permission. Her enraged father said he would rather have the Devil as a grandchild than have a Gentile for a son-in-law.

* A Jewish woman, who had several daughters, became pregnant. Her husband, desirous of a son, told her that he'd rather have her give birth to the Devil than to another girl.

* Two young Jewish women, one of them pregnant, attended a performance of the play Faust. The pregnant one looked too intensely at the stage devil.

* An Orthodox Jewish woman hid the truth about an illegitimate child, claiming that her second child, born in wedlock, was her first. Her third child was the Devil.

The visitors who came to Hull-House were convinced that Addams had taken in the Devil Baby and locked it away in the attic. Rumors circulated that discounts were being given to view the child. One man from Milwaukee called to say he wanted to organize a tour. Another woman, from the poorhouse, borrowed a dime to ride the trolley to Hull-House in hopes of seeing the monster, only to be crushed to hear the truth.

The rumor finally diminished. Addams wrote about the event in her book The Second Twenty Years at Hull-House, in which she theorized that the story had fired the imaginations of women who largely felt excluded from mainstream life in America. The Devil Baby was something they could grasp and understand. Seeing it would elevate their status.

The story has refused to die, however. It was rumored that the child remained locked in Hull-House until it died or that it was removed to a retreat in Waukegan, north of Chicago. Reports continue in present times that the Devil Baby still can be glimpsed in an attic window of Hull-House.

Other haunting phenomena have been reported. Addams's ghost is believed to haunt the premises, as well as the ghost of a woman who allegedly committed suicide in an upstairs room (no documents exist to substantiate the suicide). Individuals also have claimed to photograph ectoplasm and phantom monks inside the house.

The story of Hull-House was an inspiration for Ira Levin's 1967 novel Rosemary's Baby, in which a young wife is tricked into giving birth to the Devil's child.

Text from The Encyclopedia of Ghosts and Spirits, Third Edition by Rosemary Ellen Guiley (Checkmark Books - 2007)

[the-firebird69]

40K - THE EMPEROR OF MANKIND IS A FALSE GOD | Warhammer 40,000 Lore/Spec...

You can see him on the cover and it's the Yankee faust the reason to use that name is that these Max say the wrong thing about us you're not saying. What the saying is Terry cheesman is like our son and JC is like the emperor of all mankind was just Trump which is his role and they are kind of making fun of our son sort of saying that his game is a bit smaller and the counting on ships and since they have. And saying that we will have none and so forth but only what we took is what the counting on and for some reason they are stuck on the fact they think that we can't make ships. And there are several ships that are nearby the sites where's the palaces are going to go in the future and those are big by the way and that's not really too soon but it will happen and those are different ships and they say they don't care it will say JC and Mary made them and also that JC and Mary took half the cavium on Earth no more and the rest of it's going now into the huge ships which they don't have it means the max do not have those. Warhammer. You is the end of it. You'll see that the emperor of all mankind is destroyed sprains fried and it's from feedback and that Terry cheeseman did it and he's considering himself to be the new emperor. And he goes on to do things that are much more logical it was saying that her son has analogous to him the whole time because JC and Mary sort of had her son come about and allowed it and helped it along and is his brother just as Terry cheesman and Trumper Brothers and Trump checks out but to be the de facto leader but it was a small group dangerous people and the story is that he tries to make the laser on Titan and fails and he does get hit a few times and finally he is killed an attempt to board a ship and has a bad guy and not as Vader but it's what they always do is make it analogy and then threaten our son and he's very tired of his people. And they're constantly threatening by the way and the sun doesn't want to argue this is a waste of time and they just will continue doing it I'm so interesting orders now but for real this is what happens to Trump and Terry she's been follows soon after a whole bunch of people die and Warhammer and Warcraft and starcraft including Stan and he gets hit pretty bad before but the analogy is extremely important and potent

WHAT ARE ANNOUNCED YESTERDAY IS WHAT THE MAX HAVE PLANNED FOR HE AND US AND THIS PARTICULAR SERIES SHOWS IT THAT JC IS TOO FAIL AND BE DESTROYED AND THEY IGNORE MARRIED AND HE HANDS OFF THE REALM TO US AND THE CHARACTER DOES BUT IT'S NOT RELEVANT TO OUR SON AND I SAY IT A LITTLE BUT THAT'S WHY THE FLEETS DISAPPEARED THEY SAY

And responses are phenomenal

Thor Freya

Olympus

These Macs sound sick to us and that's what they sound like. Jesse and Mary and they're expected to he's the one who built the ships that are made out of one piece of petrified Stone and it's really from wood but it's petrified wood it's extremely tough stuff and his blocks of his palaces do not contain this material and he is known to be handling ent and the petrified version too but it's not a master of those creatures and find it hard to believe the mass would be so foolish just to say that they will repeated no matter what if they knew of these ships that I'm speaking to

Zues Hera

You don't know about the ships and we don't care and yeah I guess we don't know the capabilities that might matter cuz we don't need weapons we just need propulsion and I've had enough of this s*** we're not having them do all that yeah we are and I'm tired of them laughing at us no it's motivational who says your seperetssts you can leave and nobody would know it's like a tree in the woods. Yeah we don't care about that either I said it's a tree falls in the woods and it's petrified and you can't defeated you might but you don't seem to be have any brains left .. he says all that and it makes a difference but we think it's JC and Mary

Macs

This is evidence and we will keep it and we're going to find out if it's true

Mac daddy

Olympus

[catscraftsandcommentary]

I need to reread several of these, especially the newer ones, BUT here's a quick and dirty synopsis of each book -

The Colour of Magic/The Light Fantastic: a pair of novels about Rincewind, a truly TERRIBLE wizard but a world-class sprinter...at least when something nasty is chasing him (and so very many things fall under "something nasty" on the Disc). He's tasked with being a tour guide to the most clueless, naive, and rich foreigner in Discworld's most dangerous city, Ankh-Morpork.

Equal Rites: a dying wizard passes on his staff (and wizarding powers) to a newly born baby, who will the eighth son of an eighth son (guaranteed to be a wizard!) Except, uh, he didn't check the baby's gender first, and she's not a boy. Still determined to be a wizard, though.

Mort: Death (8 foot tall skeleton, carries a scythe, greets you when you die, THAT Death) takes an apprentice. He also has a teenage daughter (she's adopted). It goes horribly.

Sourcery: Everyone on the Disc learns why a wizard having eight sons is a TERRIBLE idea. Spoiler - wizards use existing magic. Sorcerors create NEW magic. In a world which owes its existence to magic, upsetting this balance is...unwise.

Wyrd Sisters: Macbeth on Discworld, with snarky witches, an excellent playwright, a very sad fool, and a usurping pair of dumbasses who get what they deserve.

Pyramids: Ancient Egypt, if those giant pointy stone tombs actually DID confer immortality. Remember, belief is a real thing on the Disc.

Guards! Guards!: Some idiots summon a giant dragon to Ankh-Morpork to help them find its destined king. It goes very, very poorly for everyone involved.

Faust Eric: You know all those stories about demons granting wishes that are technically accurate to what you wished for, but totally miss your intent? Yeah. Eric never heard those, or he thought he was smarter than all those chucklefucks.

Moving Pictures: Someone invents silent movies! Unfortunately, they do it in a particularly unstable (re: highly magical) area of geography. Guess what happens.

Reaper Man: The auditors of reality (who are massive assholes and we hate them) try to fire Death for being inefficient. And too human. He fights back.

Witches Abroad: The witches of Lancre take a vacation - and land in a place where fairy tales are horribly, distressingly REAL. Obviously, this just Won't Do.

Small Gods: Gods are powered by belief. What happens when people stop believing, and only go through the motions of religion? And what would happen if a god met its last true believer?

Lords and Ladies: Elves invade Lancre. They are not nice, friendly elves. They are the fae, who take everything, and some more, just because they can. The youngest and soppiest of the witches, soon to be the queen of Lancre, finds she has a spine of steel after all.

Men at Arms: This is a story about guns and kings. Pterry feels very strongly about both these things, and it is not a positive feeling.

Soul Music: A small town lad makes some new friends, buys a magical instrument in a sketchy pawn shop, and starts a band. It's going well...until it really, really isn't.

Interesting Times: There's an ancient proverb - well, it's more of a curse. "May you live in interesting times." Rincewind the terrible wizard finds out what his friend the foolish tourist did after he got home.

Maskerade: Small town witch girl goes to the big city and becomes the understudy to the Opera's leading soprano! And thus, Phantom of the Opera starts on Discworld...

Feet of Clay: The golems of Ankh-Morpork start dreaming of freedom! Of a life beyond exploitation! But their plan has a fatal flaw...

Hogfather: The auditors of reality (remember: we hate them) want to kill the Hogfather, Discworld's version of Santa Clause. This is very difficult and has unforeseen consequences.

Jingo: Remember what I said about Pterry hating guns and kings? That goes double for imperialism and warmongering. But he's very good at cutting the tension with humorous little scenes, so this has been one of my personal favorites for DECADES.

The Last Continent: Rincewind visits Australia and somehow saves the world. Again. He would very much like to stop doing that, please.

Carpe Jugulum: Vampires invade Lancre. Sorry, "were invited to." It goes about as well for them as it did the elves.

The Fifth Elephant: Sam Vimes, captain of the Ankh-Morpork city watch (for his sins), is sent on a diplomatic mission. He has no diplomatic skills, hates everyone he's supposed to be meeting, and then he finds out that they're covering up a crime. Well, he's a copper, first last and always.

The Truth: A delightful young man trips over some dwarves who have just invented the printing press, and accidentally invents the first newspaper.

Thief of Time: A young clockmaker is building the disc's first truly, perfectly accurate clock. As with all new technology, this will Cause Problems.

The Last Hero: The aging heroes of legend - Coen and the Silver Horde - are going to climb the mountain at the center of the Disc and return fire to the gods. Explosively.

The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents: You've heard the tale of the Pied Piper? This is that, mashed up with, like, Trixie Belden.

Night Watch: Sam Vimes goes back in time and teaches himself everything he knows. He also saves - stops? diverts? - a civil revolution.

Wee Free Men: Having completely failed to steal a kingdom, the fae queen tries to steal a toddler. Unfortunately, the toddler's big sister is a fledgling witch and VERY PROTECTIVE OF HIM.

Monstrous Regiment: Pterry repeats the lesson "war is BAD" for the people who didn't get it in Jingo. He also adds "LGBTQ rights are human rights, fight me."

A Hat Full of Sky: Fledgling witch is back! Tiffany goes off to learn witchcraft from a rather unusual witch. She also makes some friends!

Going Postal: The patrician of Ankh-Morpork decides to resuscitate the post office by placing a condemned criminal (and professional conman) in charge.

Thud!: Trolls and dwarves have been fighting for generations, and a big anniversary of That Famous Battle is coming up, so of course every good troll and dwarf is planning to reenact it. But what if the history of the big battle...was wrong?

Where's My Cow: A children's storybook that Sam Vimes reads to his son in Thud. It's super cute.

Wintersmith: We all make mistakes as teenagers, right? But when you're a trainee witch, those mistakes can be a lot...bigger. "Everlasting winter" bigger.

Making Money: Having successfully revitalized the Post Office, ex-conman Moist von Lipvig is forced to take over the Royal Mint. He ends up creating an entire new economic system along the way.

Unseen Academicals: Wizards play football. Which also goes from wild, dangerous, unregulated street ball to an actual sport.

I Shall Wear Midnight: Tiffany Aching finds her way as a young witch pulled between the people she grew up with and the lessons the witches have taught her.

Snuff: Commander Sam Vimes is absolutely incapable of going on vacation without tripping over a giant criminal conspiracy and then aggressively solving it. Usually while pissing off every powerful person in a fifty mile radius.

Raising Steam: A young inventor creates the first steam locomotive. Horse carriages are the past, trains are the future!

The Shepherd's Crown: The fae literally. Never. Learn. But that's okay, Tiffany will be happy to TEACH them.

one o these days i will get around to reading more terry pratchett and the book u reccomended has been bumped to the top of the list ✨

I made this chart 5ever ago, to keep track of which novels center around (X) or include-in-passing (•) which (sets of) characters. Feel free to save it, share it, etc.

Maybe one day I'll get fancy and add a column for themes, literary parodies, summary, etc.

[hellsvestibule]

Apparently Moriarty in Traum took the Norn, the 3 fates of Norse mythology, into himself, so he could weave together the threads of fate, presumably to regain some of the control over his future he lost. This immediately stood out to me, because the other crime butterfly spider clown, Mephistopheles, carries around a pair of scissors which I theorized way back whenever, are actually the shears of Atropos the inflexible, one of the moirai, fates of Greek mythology, specifically the one who cuts the threads of fate and determines your exact moment of death. So if I’m right he long ago did a similar thing as what Moriarty did. For. Reasons? The opposite reasons even. To sever fate.

Pictured: person whose eyes function in a similar way to Atropos, specifically annoyed by said scissors, and focusing on them as the subject of curiosity through the event (calling him scissors as a nickname) although if I’m right he’s absolutely using them the wrong way, which might be why Shiki struggles to pinpoint what bothers her so much about them (when she meets other heroic spirits in this event and does not give their weapons this kind of attention)

On the other hand if he stole them to cut the threads of fate it’s odd that he concocts an entire scenario here for you to beat him up until he turns good, since you’d think he could have just severed the fate of his bad self and killed him with the scissors or that when teaming up with you to do so he’d at least use them the right way to show off how he’s The Strongest (TM CR). So there are some things that feel Off about this theory I admit. However since the shears of Atropos work as an authority which can undermine even Zeus, I can still maybe come up with a few justifications as to why they’d give him this motif.

The boy who hands out explosives in the form of insects is actually a distinct character in the play Faust. He is basically a manifestation of Fausts subconscious desire to escape into a dream world, a reality he can control and manipulate. said character has a more beautiful, youthful form than Faust, so others are naturally drawn to him and trust him. Faust calls this character “son” and loves him quite a bit even though he’s basically a nameless one off character introduced briefly in part 2. Since our Mephy is not a devil, but a homunculus Historical Faust raised, part of the basis for him probably comes from this character, among several others in the play. Of course, characters who represent everything in the story are pretty commonplace in fate, but scissors are not at all relevant to the play, while pretty much every other motif on Mephy I can pinpoint as something particular mentioned on some character or other in Goethes Faust. but in particular this “charioteer boy,” who hands out fake gold which turns into explody bugs, is within his scene, associated with the Greek god of wealth, Plautus, a god who was blinded by Zeus so he could not tell right from wrong, a decision meant to benefit the already fortunate, since Plautus would just as readily bestow his wealth on an already wealthy person as a broke one. Fausts Plautus is, of course, just a conman version of himself. But he really seems to believe in this kid and want him to succeed.We see in fgo Mephys voice lines imply he struggles to tell good from bad in a way the devil in the play is not at all preoccupied with understanding, but a false construct based on Plautus might be, as Plautus is not actually a bad person, and in mythology there are tales written meant to rectify what Zeus did to him.

At the very least, the sheers of Atropos renders decisions made by the fates immutable even to Zeus, so the input of any other authority in the Greek pantheon regarding who the fates choose to kill is basically irrelevant, they have the final say. However even if that’s the case, either he can’t use them properly as a death tool, is purposefully destroying them by using their ”determines time of death” shtick to instead make his dinky little time bombs, or he’s saving the reveal they cause instant death for something special although it’s hard to rationalize he’d be able to keep it secret this long if that’s the case, since he can’t shut up about literally anything else. I’d say it doesn’t have anything to do with the Greek pantheon specifically and more to do with a desperate bid for agency, the same way Moriarty uses the norn. It’s possible he just doesn’t know what they are, or forgot what he’s even doing with them. Or it’s possible I’m just entirely wrong and they are, as his artist says, just a random decision! But considering how well researched the rest of the motifs on him seem, I still have doubts it’s irrelevant, I especially had to bring it back when Moriarty who assumed all this adjacent clown symbolism to Mephy, also made the choice to absorb the Norn. Since if I’m right Mephy here has the specific tool which could undermine what Moriarty has done. One spider clown to weave fate and another to sever it

[loosesodamarble]

The Most Painful Conversations

Summary: The night that Morgen and Josele propose to one another, they speak with their future in-laws. Morgen is confronted with a choice. Josele speaks as much of the truth as she's allowed.

Genre: slight angst

Word count: ~3000

..........

It was the evening of April thirtieth. Nacht’s birthday and the day before Morgen’s own. The occasion was marked by a ball hosted to celebrate the nineteenth year of the twins’ lives.

At the center of the ballroom, Morgen parted from his kiss with Josele, sighing as he did. He grinned at Josele, now his betrothed. Josele grinned at him, eyes sparkling with joyful tears. Her whole being outshined all the lights of the ballroom.

“Thank you, for the most wonderful gift of all,” Morgen whispered before kissing Josele’s temple.

“I should be thanking you.” Josele intertwined their fingers together as she spoke. “It’s an honor to even be considered to be your wife but to actually…”

“I assure you, the honor will be mine to have you as my wife,” Morgen said while giving Josele’s hands a brief squeeze.

The moment was interrupted when several guests approached Morgen and Josele. Congratulations and well wishes were given. Morgen accepted the words and shook hands with each person who came up to them.

In the midst of the exchanges, a hand landed on Morgen’s shoulder. Morgen turned his head. Thomas stood behind him. The aging man gestured away with his head and Morgen nodded in understanding.

Looking at Josele, she was busy being overwhelmed by ladies wishing to see the engagement ring. Morgen used the chance to sneak away and follow Thomas out of the ballroom.

Thomas, despite limping on one leg, walked with dignity that went beyond his station. They didn’t walk far, only to a neighboring sitting room. Thomas turned to Morgen and gestured to the door. Understanding his meaning, Morgen closed the door behind him.

Morgen’s heartbeat started to pick up.

Why did Thomas pull him aside? Right after the proposal no less? Morgen didn’t do anything wrong, did he? Thomas always thought well of Morgen and treated him kindly. But he was also a doting and protective father with little to lose.

Putting on a brave face, Morgen quickly bowed to his future father-in-law.

“Thank you for your blessing, Thomas. Your approval is greatly appreciated.”

“Of course. I trust a good man like you to treat Joey well,” Thomas answered. “But…” The warm smile on his face then dropped. His eyes were stern. “There’s something I want to discuss now that the engagement is official.”

Morgen tensed up. “And what might that be?” What could it possibly be? He seemed so eager when I asked for permission to propose. But now… He almost looks like he’s going to take it back.

“Would you ever consider leaving House Faust?”

Morgen felt his breath catch in his throat. “… What?” He had to force out the word as his mind was still reeling. He can’t possibly know about the devils! I’ve been investigating that in secret. Not even Josele knows! “What do you…?”

“You heard me, son.” Thomas crossed his arms. “Perhaps you should take up the Canty name when you marry.”

“A-ah. Is that it?” Morgen asked, letting himself relax. He was merely paranoid, nothing more. Please let it be that. “I suppose it’s not unheard of for a man to take his wife’s name…”

Thomas shook his head, making Morgen’s heart sink. “I don’t just mean the name. I really do think it’d be best if you left House Faust entirely.”

“And abandon my family?!” Morgen didn’t mean to shout but he couldn’t control himself. He bit his lip even though it was too late to take back the words.

Thomas frowned and grunted. “Your folks and that brother of yours.” His frown deepened into a scowl. “They never sat right with me. They got bad news written all over them and you don’t fit in.”

“I…” Morgen couldn’t exactly disagree. Thomas didn’t even know how right he was in his assessment. But it still hurt to hear Morgen’s fears confirmed by someone else. “Suppose you’re right.” I know better than anyone the sins that my family’s name carries. “My parents made it clear Nacht would be inheriting despite his…”

“Actions that border on criminal?” Thomas spoke harshly, his whole body tensing with the very thought of Nacht.

“Unsavory behavior,” Morgen insisted, lightening the accusatory connotation. “They’re stubborn in traditions and their own ways.” Their ways of making deals with devils. If I have any say in it, I would make sure Josele never crosses paths with that Forbidden Magic. “I’ve long since accepted that I’m not the heir they wanted. There’s nothing to be done about it.”

“Then you understand.”

“But, Thomas, I—”

“I know it’s a big ask,” Thomas said plainly. He looked around the room. “You’d be giving up such a nice place. All the best in life right at the tips of your fingers.” He smiled but Morgen saw how empty it was, not truly impressed with the luxuries in the room.

Morgen remained silent. His hands clenched into fists at his sides. I’m not thinking about my status here. It’s far more important than that. He swallowed hard then spoke. “Sir, I… I want to give Josele the best possible life.”

“It ain’t like Joey is with you for the money. She’s happy with a simple life,” Thomas replied, his smile a little more genuine. It didn’t take long for it to fade. “If you truly love her, you could adapt.”

Again, it wasn’t about the lifestyle. It wasn’t about money. It was about the people Morgen valued above anything material. But to bring that up, especially Nacht…

“I’m not the only one. Josele could be happy anywhere if she put her mind to it,” Morgen said instead. “But I see your point. Josele isn’t… popular with the noble circles.”

“Thank you for understanding.” Thomas walked up to Morgen and patted his shoulder. “I know this conversation was sudden but please… Consider what might be best.” His eyes locked with Morgen’s. The look inside them was stern. “For you and Josele.” With that, he left the room.

Morgen was left in silence, only his thoughts there to keep him company.

If I cut ties with House Faust, I’d be taking Josele away from Nacht. Morgen was not blind to the way Nacht looked at Josele with the greatest tenderness. And depriving Josele of Nacht’s presence. Nor was he ignorant of the gentle tone Josele had when she spoke of Nacht. They’re so terribly fond of each other. I couldn’t.

How would Morgen even broach the topic, if it ever came to that? “Josele, when we marry, I will cut off ties with my family so please never speak with Nacht ever again”? No, that would be too sudden and would raise too many questions. Not that it mattered how it happened. Morgen knew such a request would be impossible.

Josele would never abandon Nacht so easily. Not even for Morgen.

The danger was that Nacht walked down a path of darkness. If Josele insisted on staying close to him, then she would find out. What would happen if, or rather when, she did?

It would be a betrayal plain and simple. Morgen could only imagine it. Josele would be shaken to say the least. Would she cry? Would she fear Nacht? Hate him even?

Morgen didn’t want to think of it. He couldn’t think of it or rather didn’t want to. There was a fear of what would happen if worse came to worst and Morgen wouldn’t allow himself to fall prey to it. And he wanted to hope that Nacht would find his way to a better path.

But what’s best for Josele…

Morgen raised his hand and looked at the ring Josele had given to him. Silver inlaid with gemstones the color of his eyes. The sign that Josele had chosen to be with him. He was the one Josele was engaged to. As her husband-to-be, Morgen wanted to do whatever it took to make her safe and happy.

Would it be selfish of him to ask that Josele cut ties with Nacht? Or would it protect her from the darkness of House Faust?

Whatever was best, Morgen didn’t know. But he hoped he would figure it out soon. For everyone’s sake.

.....

Josele stared at the ring, her ring, for what felt like the hundredth time. The glittering gem that was the same shade as her eyes. The polished gold band. The perfect fit on her finger. Stunningly beautiful.

She hadn’t expected Morgen to be on bended knee offering his own proposal when she finished giving her own speech to him. For a moment, she thought her heart might’ve burst from the joy of the moment. Then to see him wear the ring she had picked for him made it all the more wonderful.

On the topic of her boyfriend—No, it’s fiance now, Josele thought with an excited tremble—she noticed that he had mysteriously vanished into the crowd.

Although, the more she looked, the more she noticed the absence of either twin. It was odd considering that the ball was for their birthday.

Their birthday… Josele’s hands clenched at her sides. Maybe it wasn’t right to propose tonight after all, even if Nacht allowed it.

Picking up her skirt, Josele slipped out of the ballroom in search of the ones dearest to her heart.

Nacht first, she told herself. So where would I go if I were him? Somewhere dark, isolated, and quiet too… And for tonight…

The perfect place to be away from the crowd was the courtyard. And there Nacht stood, his hair glowing silver in the moonlight.

“Decided to brood on your birthday, Nacht?” she asked teasingly as she drew nearer.

Nacht looked in the opposite direction of Josele and grunted. Such a non-answer wasn’t unexpected.

“Nacht.” Josele reached out, hesitating before her hand touched his shoulder and she settled it there. There was a heaviness, a sorrow, to his presence in that moment. “If you were uncomfortable with me proposing you should’ve said something.”

“It’s not…” Nacht pinched the bridge of his nose before facing Josele. She drew her hand back to give space. His face was stern, not angry but upset all the same. Yet, his eyes were slightly puffy. “It’s not that at all. I’m just fine.”

“Liar.” That’s all Josele had to say to make Nacht’s stance deflate. As much as Nacht tried to hide it, she could sense the unease in his heart. He knew that and yet he still tried. “Do you mind if I stay with you until you’re more than fine?” She spoke so softly, her words were more like a passing thought than something spoken aloud.

Nacht smiled faintly, eyes gazing upon her with gentleness. “Not a bit.”

They stood in silence, watching the moon and stars hanging in the sky above. Occasionally, Josele stole a glance at Nacht, admiring his appearance. Dressed in a fine suit and with his hair braided back, he looked remarkably different but no more or less handsome than he usually did. Josele was sure she would be the only one to think that.

By chance, when Josele glimpsed at Nacht one time, he had looked at her too. Their eyes met. Josele wasn’t sure why but she hastily turned away.

“So… Congrats. You and Morgen had a real cheesy moment back there.” Nacht gave a huff but there was no bitterness or scorn to it.

“Oh. Thank you.” Josele whispered. She hesitated for a second, trying to find words. “I mean it. For encouraging me to go through with it.” She leaned against him. “And I bet you told Morgen to propose tonight as well.”

“Guilty as charged.”

Josele hummed then mumbled, “This party is meant for you too, and yet you let me and Morgen take the spotlight.” She touched her ring. “Can I ask… Why?”

“Eh? Why wouldn’t I? I’m not a big fan of being the center of attention,” Nacht answered flippantly. “It makes sense to let you two take it instead. Plus I didn’t want Morgen to put it off and then come to me babbling about some nonsense like timing or what to wear or—” Nacht stopped himself and groaned. “You get the idea.”

“I do.” Josele nodded. “And I see how kind you are.”

Nacht snorted, shaking his head. “You’re the only one—”

“Morgen would say it too,” Josele interjected, voice firm with belief. “Everyone else is either blind or choosing to ignore this side of you.” Josele smiled to herself. Then, to Nacht. “At least I get to see that side of you. Lucky me, huh?”

“Mhm.” A playful smile came to Nacht’s face. “Must feel nice to get special treatment from the devil of the Faust family.” He turned so the two of them were face-to-face and caressed Josele’s rosy cheek. “Maybe you should marry me instead.”

Josele’s heart thumped painfully in her chest and she had to fight the urge to pull back. Why am I like this? Why do I feel this way with Nacht? She put a hand to her mouth and laughed. “That would be quite the scandal!”

“Is that a yes?” Nacht chuckled. He moved Josele’s hand from her face then traced her lower lip with his thumb. He leaned in ever so slightly.

Does he realize what he’s doing to me? Josele took Nacht by the wrist and removed his hand. “Unfortunately, not.”

“Hmph, thought so.” Nacht’s smile waned as he pulled his hand back. He turned, not enough for his back to be to Josele but enough to at least face away from her. Like he was trying to deny her. “Well at least I’m not actually trying to compete with Morgen.”

“Oh… So it wasn’t the timing…”

Nacht bowed his head. And then Josele sensed them, his emotions like a storm. One with gray skies and rain that stings as it hits your back.

“What a fucking friend I am.”

“The same could be said of me if I’ve upset you.” Josele placed her hand on Nacht’s shoulder. She would hug him but feared he’d pull away from such a forward action. He was so incredibly tense, like a bowstring pulled taut.

She pursed her lips as she searched for words. After a moment’s thought, she determined she only had to tell the truth.

“Nacht, I said it once before but I’ll say it again, even if I’m with Morgen, you are just as dear to me. I don’t know what I’d do or where I’d be without you,” Josele said while moving her hand down Nacht’s arm. “Being around you made me freer, more confident.” Her hand found his. It was chilled from the night air but she didn’t mind at all. “I learned from you that a good thing isn’t always a nice thing and sometimes it’s better that way.” Josele eased her hand into Nacht’s. “And I’m pretty sure it was you who encouraged me to kick ass at the Magic Knight Exam.”

Josele wove hers and Nacht’s fingers together.

“Thank you for giving me a chance that day. And for sticking by me since.” Josele smiled, even if he didn’t see, she couldn’t help but smile for him. “Just… Thank you. For everything, Nacht.”

“Josele…” Nacht’s eyes were on her again. His expression was unreadable. He neither smiled nor frowned, seeming confused yet understanding. “What’re you…?”

“It means so much to have you in my life,” Josele whispered. “And to be a part of yours. So, please, let me stay close to you?”

Though Nacht hadn’t responded before, he now clung to Josele’s hand. His gaze softened and Josele thought more tears might come to his eyes.

“Yeah, let’s stay as we are.”

Slowly but surely, Nacht drew Josele in. He let go of Josele’s hand to wrap his arms around her waist. She wrapped hers around his shoulders.

Josele was tempted, far more than she should have been, to pour out all the love and yearning in her heart. The feelings that compelled her to not only embrace Nacht but to kiss him and hold him like a lifeline. The stubborn feelings of longing to be his. She wanted to give her heart to him despite already giving it to Morgen. Every touch of their hands, shared smile, and tender moment. She wanted them to mean to him what they meant to her.

But that can’t be. Josele knew by now that her heart would never let go of Nacht. It held onto him as tightly as it did to Morgen. Even if I confess… He doesn’t love me, not the way I love him. Even if he did…

Morgen’s love should’ve been enough. Yet Josele still sought out Nacht and leaned just a bit too close when they were together. Nacht made Josele happy, in a way that was different to Morgen’s happiness but no less precious. At first, Josele thought her heart was just too big for her own good. Maybe the real case was that her heart was greedy.

Josele wanted, with so much of her being that it hurt, to tell him. But he wouldn’t accept her. And it wouldn’t have been right.

For now, they would stay as they were.

[sparktls]

Rhapsody of the Greenhouse of Smiles and Sunset ~Eastern Country & Central Country~ 2 | Event Story Translation

Translation under the cut!

Heathcliff listened quietly to Arthur’s words.

Shino: Teach me that magic. I want to cast protective magic over Blanchett Castle.

Heathcliff hurriedly looks up and takes a step forward.

Heathcliff: Uhm, I’d appreciate it if you could teach me too.

Though he spoke timidly, you could see the determination in his eyes.

Riquet: I see the two of you want to protect Blanchett Castle. Then why not have Oz cast protective magic, just like he did with Granvelle Castle?

Heathcliff shook his head.

Heathcliff: That might be the most efficient way, but if a Central wizard is directly involved with Blanchett, it could cause diplomatic issues.

Heathcliff: And it is my homeland, after all... I want to learn this magic and be able to protect it myself.

Akira: Heath...

Arthur: I understand how you feel. I too always yearn to be able to protect places important to me.

Cain: Though your positions and countries of origin are different, I’m sure you two feel the same way.

Arthur: What do you think, Master Oz? Would you be willing to teach Heathcliff and the others protective magic?

Oz: ...If Faust is alright with it.

All the wizards instantly turned to Faust. He was surrounded by eyes glittering with anticipation.

Arthur & Riquet & Cain: .......

Shino & Heathcliff: .......

Faust: ...Well, if it doesn’t interfere with the lessons for the Central wizards...

Arthur & Shino & Riquet & Cain: Hooray!

Heathcliff: Thank you so much.

Faust, who was pressured into the decision, just sighed and gave a vague nod.

Nero: You can’t say no to that, can you.

Akira: Ahaha. You just end up nodding yes.

Cain: Now that that’s decided, we better start making plans. When should we do it? Let us know if you have any conflicts.

Riquet: You’ll come too, right, Master Sage? I’m so excited!

The students were all very excited about the newly planned joint lesson. Suddenly, Shino grinned as though an idea had just come to him.

Shino: Hey. We should have a practical lesson too.

Central Wizards: ?

Faust & Heathcliff & Nero: Practical...?

———————————–

Several days later. The Eastern and Central wizards were gathered at Blanchett Castle, where Heathcliff grew up.

They planned learn the protective magic and then go ahead and cast it onto the castle.

Akira: (It really is rather practical...)

Shino: It’s quicker this way, isn’t it? This is a class we’re having so we can protect Blanchett Castle, after all.

Faust: It’s not unreasonable, but...

Nero: I’m always amazed by your ability to take action.

Cain: Well, I don’t see any problems with it. We train at Granvelle Castle, too.

Oz: It’s not a bad idea. Magic is easier to grasp when the real thing is in front of you.

Riquet: It’s good that Heathcliff’s family agreed to this.

Arthur: You’re right. To think they would agree not only to training here but also give us these clothes... Your parents are very kind.

Heathcliff: I’m sorry it had to become this kind of grandiose event. When I told them about what we were doing today, they just got so excited...

Heathcliff’s parents thanked the other Sage’s wizards for ‘always taking care of our son’ and gave us all a warm welcome.

They even went as far as giving us all new clothes so we could further enjoy our stay.

Heathcliff seemed embarrassed, but their kindness warmed our hearts.

Heathcliff: If possible, let me give you a tour of Blanchett Castle before class.

Heathcliff: You all have come here a couple times before, but for our protective magic, it might be better to give you a more in-depth tour.

Cain: Oh, sounds good. I wanted to take a better look around where you grew up, Heath.

Shino: You better feel honored. You’re getting a tour of the exceptionally beautiful Blanchett Castle by the young master himself.

Shino: Take a good, long, grateful look and burn it into your memories.

———————————–

Guided by Heathcliff and Shino, we went through Blanchett Castle.

The beautiful castle, the well-made faraway buildings, the excellently tended-to gardens... While walking, Riquet suddenly stopped.

Riquet: What is that?

We saw a small building in the corner of the courtyard. It was simple and made out of brick, with large windows. It looked small and cute.

Akira: That’s...

Cain: Is it a storage room?

Heathcliff: It’s not. I mean, it is now, but... it used to be an orangery.

Akira: Orangery?

Heathcliff: A greenhouse. I heard that it was built for plants which couldn't handle the cold.

Faust: Is it not in use now? It doesn’t seem that old.

Heathcliff: When my master was still coming here, it kind of turned into storage for him...

Nero: Your masters’ the one you and Shino used to learn from, right? His name was Jack, or something.

Heathcliff: Mhm. He said he wanted a place to put the luggage he brought, so he started using this place.

Heathcliff: He would always tell me how he had dangerous magical items too, so I shouldn’t let anybody get too close.

Heathcliff: Because of that, I think it’s been left alone for all this time.

Shino: It used to be young master Heath’s favorite place.

Shino: You were moping for a while when our master first starting using it, weren’t you?

Heathcliff: No I wasn’t.

Heathcliff gave a wry smile in response to Shino’s teasing.

Shino: But he isn’t here anymore. There’s no reason to leave that place alone.

Shino: This is a good opportunity to go ahead and clean it up.

Heathcliff: Hey, wait...!

Heathcliff stopped Shino from opening the door of the orangery.

Shino: Heath?

Heathcliff: ...You don’t know what kind of shady magic items our master left behind, and it’ll take time to clean out, won’t it?

Heathcliff: We have training after this, so let’s not today.

Cain: You were warned not to get too close to it, after all.

Nero: There could be something dangerous in there.

Oz: .......

Oz stared at the orangery, then opened his mouth to speak.

Oz: There is something. However, it is not that dangerous.

Shino: Really?

Faust: Whichever one it is, this isn’t what we’re here for. Let’s have our tour, then move onto our lesson.

Previous / Next

[blackswaneuroparedux]

Anonymous asked: I noticed you did post to acknowledge the death of Uderzo, the co-creator of the Asterix comics. I have to ask Tintin or Asterix? Which one do you prefer?

It’s like asking Stones or Beatles? I love both but for different reasons. I would hate to choose between the two.

Both Tintin and Asterix were the two halves of a comic dyad of my childhood. Whether it was India, China, Hong Kong, Japan, or the Middle East the one thing that threads my childhood experience of living in these countries was finding a quiet place in the home to get lost reading Asterix and Tintin.

Even when I was eventually carted off to boarding school back in England I took as many of my Tintin and Asterix comics books with me as I could. They became like underground black market currency to exchange with other girls for other things like food or chocolates sent by parents and other illicit things like alcohol. Having them and reading them was like having familiar friends close by to make you feel less lonely in new surroundings and survive the bear pit of other girls living together.

If you asked my parents - especially my father - he would say Tintin hands down. He has - and continues to have in his library at home - a huge collection of Tintin comic books in as many different language translations as possible. He’s still collecting translations of each of the Tintin books in the most obscure languages he can find. I have both all the Tintin comic books - but only in English and French translations, and the odd Norwegian one - as well as all the Asterix comic books (only in English and French).

Speaking for myself I would be torn to decide between the two. Each have their virtues and I appreciate them for different reasons.

Tintin was truly about adventure that spoke deeply to me. Tintin was always a good detective story that soon turned to a travel adventure. It has it all: technology, politics, science and history. Of course the art is more simpler, but it is also cleaner and translates the wondrous far-off locations beautifully and with a sense of awe that you don’t see in the Asterix books. Indeed Hergé was into film-noir and thriller movies, and the panels are almost like storyboards for The Maltese Falcon or African Queen.

The plot lines of Tintin are intriguing rather than overly clever but the gallery of characters are much deeper, more flawed and morally ambiguous. Take Captain Haddock I loved his pullover, his strangely large feet, his endless swearing and his inability to pass a bottle without emptying it. He combined bravery and helplessness in a manner I found irresistible.

I’ve read that there is a deeply Freudian reading to the Tintin books. I think there is a good case for it. The Secret of the Unicorn and Red Rackham's Treasure are both about Captain Haddock's family. Haddock's ancestor, Sir Francis Haddock, is the illegitimate son of the French Sun King – and this mirrors what happened in Hergé's family, who liked to believe that his father was the illegitimate son of the Belgian king. This theme played out in so many of the books. In The Castafiore Emerald, the opera singer sings the jewel song from Faust, which is about a lowly woman banged up by a nobleman – and she sings it right in front of Sir Francis Haddock, with the captain blocking his ears. It's like the Finnegans Wake of the cartoon. Nothing happens - but everything happens.

Another great part is that the storylines continue on for several albums, allowing them to be more complex, instead of the more simplistic Asterix plot lines which are always wrapped up nicely at the end of each book.

Overall I felt a great affinity with Tintin - his youthful innocence, wanting to solve problems, always resourceful, optimistic, and brave. Above all Tintin gave me wanderlust. Was there a place he and Milou (Snowy) didn’t go to? When they had covered the four corners of the world Tintin and Milou went to the moon for heaven’s sake!

What I loved about Asterix was the style, specifically Uderzo’s visual style. I liked Hergé’s clean style, the ligne claire of his pen, but Asterix was drawn as caricature: the big noses, the huge bellies, often being prodded by sausage-like fingers. This was more appealing to little children because they were more fun to marvel at.

In particular I liked was the way Uderzo’s style progressed with each comic book. The panels of Asterix the Gaul felt rudimentary compared to the later works and by the time Asterix and Cleopatra, the sixth book to be published, came out, you finally felt that this was what they ought to look like. It was an important lesson for a child to learn: that you could get better at what you did over time. Each book seemed to have its own palette and perhaps Uderzo’s best work is in Asterix in Spain.

I also feel Asterix doesn’t get enough credit for being more complex. Once you peel back the initial layers, Asterix has some great literal depth going on - puns and word play, the English translation names are all extremely clever, there are many hidden details in the superb art to explore that you will quite often miss when you initially read it and in a lot of the truly classic albums they are satirising a real life country/group/person/political system, usually in an incredibly clever and humorous way.

What I found especially appealing was that it was also a brilliant microcosm of many classical studies subjects - ancient Egypt, the Romans and Greek art - and is a good first step for young children wanting to explore that stuff before studying it at school.

What I discovered recently was that Uderzo was colour blind which explains why he much preferred the clear line to any hint of shade, and it was that that enabled his drawings to redefine antiquity so distinctively in his own terms. For decades after the death of René Goscinny in 1977, Uderzo provided a living link to the golden age of the greatest series of comic books ever written: Paul McCartney to Goscinny’s John Lennon. Uderzo, as the Asterix illustrator, was better able to continue the series after Goscinny’s death than Goscinny would have been had Uderzo had died first, and yet the later books were, so almost every fan agrees, not a patch on the originals: very much Wings to the Beatles. What elevated the cartoons, brilliant though they were, to the level of genius was the quality of the scripts that inspired them. Again and again, in illustration after illustration, the visual humour depends for its full force on the accompaniment provided by Goscinny’s jokes.

Here below is a great example:

There’s a lot of genius in this. Uderzo copied Theodore Géricault’s iconic ‘Raft of the Medusa’ 1818 painting in ‘Asterix The Legionary’. The painting is generally regarded as an icon of Romanticism. It depicts an event whose human and political aspects greatly interested Géricault: the wreck of a French frigate, Medusa, off the coast of Senegal in 1816, with over 150 soldiers on board. But Anthea Bell’s translation of Goscinny’s text (including the pictorial and verbal pun ‘we’ve been framed, by Jericho’) is really extraordinary and captures the spirit of the Asterix cartoons perfectly.

This captures perfectly my sense of humour as it acknowledges the seriousness of life but finds humour in them through a sly cleverness and always with a open hearted joy. There is no question that if humour was the measuring yard stick then Asterix and not Tintin would win hands down.

It’s also a mistake to think that the world of Asterix was insular in comparison to the amazing countries Tintin had adventures. Asterix’s world is very much Europe.

Every nationality that Asterix encounters is gently satirised. No other post-war artistic duo offered Europeans a more universally popular portrait of themselves, perhaps, than did Goscinny and Uderzo. The stereotypes with which he made such affectionate play in his cartoons – the haughty Spaniard, the chocolate-loving Belgian, the stiff-upper-lipped Briton – seemed to be just what a continent left prostrate by war and nationalism were secretly craving. Many shrewd commentators believe that during the golden age when Goscinny was still alive to pen the scripts, that it was a fantasy on French resistance during occupation by Nazi Germany. Uderzo lived through the occupation and so there is truth in that. Perhaps this is why the Germans are the exceptions as they are treated unsympathetically in Asterix and the Goths, and why quite a few of the books turn on questions of loyalty and treachery.

Even the British are satirised with an affection that borders on love: the worst of the digs are about our appalling cuisine (everything is boiled, and served with mint sauce, and the beer is warm), but everything points to the Gauls’ and the Britons’ closeness. They have the same social structure, even down to having one village still holding out against the Romans; the crucial and extremely generous difference being that the Britons do not have a magic potion to help them fight. Instead they have tea, introduced to them by Getafix, via Asterix, which gives them so much of a psychological boost that it may as well have been the magic potion.

I re-read ‘Asterix in Britain’ (Astérix chez les Bretons) in the light of the 2016 Brexit referendum result and felt despaired that such a playful and respectful portrayal of this country was not reciprocated. Don’t get me wrong I voted for Brexit but I remain a staunch Europhile. It made me violently irritated to see many historically illiterate pro-Brexit oiks who mistakenly believed the EU and Europe were the same thing. They are not. One was originally a sincere band aid to heal and bring together two of the greatest warring powers in continental Europe that grotesquely grew into an unaccountable bureaucratic manager’s utopian wet dream, and the other is a cradle of Western achievement in culture, sciences and the arts that we are all heirs to.

What I loved about Asterix was that it cut across generations. As a young girl I often retreated into my imaginary world of Asterix where our family home had an imaginary timber fence and a dry moat to keep the world (or the Romans) out. I think this was partly because my parents were so busy as many friends and outsiders made demands on their time and they couldn’t say no or they were throwing lavish parties for their guests. Family time was sacred to us all but I felt especially miffed if our time got eaten away. Then, as I grew up, different levels of reading opened up to me apart from the humour in the names, the plays on words, and the illustrations. There is something about the notion of one tiny little village, where everybody knows each other, trying to hold off the dark forces of the rest of the world. Being the underdog, up against everyone, but with a sense of humour and having fun, really resonated with my child's eye view of the world.

The thing about both Asterix and Tintin books is that they are at heart adventure comics with many layers of detail and themes built into them. For children, Asterix books are the clear winner, as they have much better art and are more fantastical. Most of the bad characters in the books are not truly evil either and no-one ever dies, which appeals hugely to children. For older readers, Tintin has danger, deeper characters with deep political themes, bad guys with truly evil motives, and even deaths. It’s more rooted in the real world, so a young reader can visualise themselves as Tintin, travelling to these real life places and being a hero.

As I get older and re-read Asterix and Tintin from time to time I discover new things. 

From Asterix, there is something about the notion of one tiny little village, where everybody knows each other, trying to hold off the dark forces of the rest of the world. Being the underdog, up against everyone, but with a sense of humour and having fun, really resonated with my child's eye view of the world. In my adult world it now makes me appreciate the value of family, friends, and community and even national identity. Even as globalisation and the rise of homogenous consumerism threatens to envelope the unique diversity of our cultures, like Asterix, we can defend to the death the cultural values that define us but not through isolation or by diminishing the respect due to other cultures and their cultural achievements.

From Tintin I got wanderlust. This fierce even urgent need to travel and explore the world was in part due to reading the adventures of Tintin. It was by living in such diverse cultures overseas and trying to get under the skin of those cultures by learning their languages and respecting their customs that I realised how much I valued my own heritage and traditions without diminishing anyone else.

So I’m sorry but I can’t choose one over the other, I need both Asterix and Tintin as a dyad to remind me that the importance of home and heritage is best done through travel and adventure elsewhere.

Thanks for your question.

[gascon-en-exil]

Dark Deity Pre-Release Character Opinions

This isn't actually a tier list, but someone helpfully created a template for this game and it's as good a way as any to do a little visual showcase for this cast. Characters are listed by their class sets, which are fixed but offer a nice variety in terms of promotion options. My opinions on each are as follows, from left to right in each row. Most characters have introductory profiles written up on the DD subreddit, if you'd like to check them out yourself.

Warriors

Alexa

You know those buff female blacksmiths in Echoes and Three Houses that some people wish were playable characters? That's pretty much Alexa. Can't say I'm too hyped about her myself, but warrior + tomboyish female character will do that for me...or not do it, I suppose.

Benji

Seems to have been written to become a meme, and I still can't decide whether that's clever or stupid. Kind of like Raphael only with a bigger emphasis on training than on eating, and with brotherly devotion replaced with brotherly angst that might theoretically go somewhere if the character isn't reduced to being a goofy joke all the time.

Fenton

Doesn't have a character profile, so as far as I know he's just a generic dwarf because DD swaps out its inspiration's loli dragons and other vaguely fetishistic shapeshifters for the two most cliché non-human races in Western fantasy. I wonder whether his VA will voice him with a Scottish accent, to go all in on the (ironic?) laziness. There are a handful of elves in the playable cast, but Fenton is the only dwarf so for better or worse he's representing.

Helena

She's the embodiment of the FE exotic swordswoman archetype, but curiously DD seems to have turned that broad ethnic brush inward. Helena's last name is apparently a Japanese verb, her art shows her with a spear (as in the association of the naginata with women), and she studied and trained in a monastery that seems to blend elements of Buddhism and Shintoism. Not sure how all that fits into the larger setting yet, but at this point she's still got more background development than Petra.

Irving

Our Hero, the one front and center on the cover art. He sounds a bit on the blander side as far as lords or lord equivalents go, with his most promising hook for me being his established friendship with Garrick (see the ranger section). At best I can hope for a bit of a romantic friendship dynamic, although they sound a bit rougher overall as they're military academy schoolmates I wonder why DD went with that instead of lordlings of different territories.

Rogues

Brooke

Looks like Camilla; has a backstory like Niles. Cleavage aside though the sexual element of both is toned down here, and there might be some sapphic bodyguard shenanigans to be had as her current employers are a pair of highborn sisters further down this list.

Cia

For some reason she reminds me of Tressa from Octopath Traveler, only bustier and a bartender rather than a merchant. She's still just a small town girl with big city dreams, and this being a tactical war game following those dreams will inevitably involve stabbing people.

Corvan

Hard to judge him at the moment, as his profile was only the second written and so isn't terribly detailed. He's a moon elf with scholarly interests, apparently. Still, as of right now he's the only rogue who doesn't slot loosely into either a ninja/assassin or pirate aesthetic, so that's kind of neat. Also, he's one of several characters to have FEH-esque beach fanart made of them already, so clearly someone's into elf twinks.

Ford

A former officer at the military academy Irving attends and a smuggler who dotes on his niece, Ford has major dad energy. Per developer reveals he's also bi, and as I mentioned before I'm totally fine with that. More bear sex, please - but what guy in this cast would hop in the sack with Ford? Only time will tell. His personal skill makes him extra dodgy, which combined with the mug of booze in his art makes me think of WoW brewmasters who dodge-tank through the power of being wasted.

Wren

Like Brooke, he's an assassin from a foreign nation - in his case the same one as Helena so presumably he's a not!Japanese ninja. I'm not really feeling him at the moment. What is it about Hao'Fen (the city/territory he and Helena come from) and massive families? That comes up in both their backstories.

Rangers

Caius

I feel like this is the third or fourth character to grow up in some slum or other; at least they've all been in different towns so far. The relative rarity of noble characters is certainly different from FE, but it reduces the political stakes which leaves me wondering a bit about the story. Anyway, Caius is a small town desert hunter who learned how to make arrows out of animal bones. How aerodynamic is bone, I wonder?

Garrick

Irving's BFF and seemingly the Hector to Irving's Eliwood, only with more flirting (his intro doesn't specify that Garrick is flirting with women, but I'm not going so far as to say that indicates anything). He's the academy headmaster's son, with a strained relationship with his father for some of that hotheaded lead tension. Notably, his VA is the one I'm most familiar with in this cast, as he's the voice of Revali from Breath of the Wild as well as love interests in two different erotic gay dating sims I've played. In other words, I know what this guy sounds like making awkwardly simulated sex noises...and I have no idea what to do with that information.

Maeve

She's a half-elf with a very storied background, so much so that it's all rather hard to follow her exploits when little of what's being described has been fully revealed yet. I'm expecting her to be a mid/lategame recruit, unless she's dropped in early on to reveal that (sun) elves exist or something.

Rose

Imagine if Bernadetta were a commoner, although we can only hope they'll be less screaming. Alternatively, Neimi without an obvious boyfriend. She won the beach contest so now she has official swimsuit art, which I guess makes her a top-tier waifu in the eyes of players who care about such things.

Sophia

A ranger in the "has animal companions" sense, although whether that will come into play mechanically aside from her personal skill - Butter the ferret can attack with her! - remains to be seen. Her preference for the company of animals is explained by a lack of social graces, so prepare for klutz-related humor. Of note to those interested in F/F is that her introduction specifically brings up her connection with Sloane (see the mage section) and how close the two of them are.

Clerics

Faust

Doesn't have a profile yet, so not much to go off other than his decidedly unhinged look. The cleric class set does feature some darker-flavored options, so presumably he's more naturally aligned with those. His VA was announced to be the YouTuber behind So This is Basically Fire Emblem and other similar videos, so I'm picturing a kooky and somewhat demented Henry type.

Lincoln

Also lacks a profile at time of writing...clerics get so little love. The Discord has identified him a bland blond paladin sort, but as we know from the likes of Perceval and especially Dimitri that doesn't necessarily mean he'll be boring (or not gay).

Maren

The soft-spoken healer type, and also a childhood friend of Garrick although her intro sibling-zones him but then this game is inspired by FE so who knows if that'll stick. She may have some interesting thoughts on the theology of the setting, as there seem to be several faiths and she's said to have a complicated relationship with her own. I will be utterly shocked if she's not either Irving or Garrick's eventual love interest.

Samara

One of two princesses of the country of Aramor, which appears to be loosely inspired by the Middle East. Heaven help us if the Khalidstans ever get wind of this game. Unfortunately aside from her bond with her older sister (in the mage section) and the knowledge that Brooke has been hired as their bodyguard there's not much to Samara at the moment. Hopefully the clerics all do some comparative theology in their bond conversations, and this isn't like Sacred Stones where none of the clergy characters from different countries ever compare notes. The succession crisis involving Samara and her sister vs. their less-loved cousin the king's son might be a major plot hook? It's still too early to tell.

Vesta

Much like Maeve her backstory has entirely too much going on to really follow at the moment. Basically she's a human who grew up in a sun elf city because Reasons (seriously, I don't know what they are) and was called to a clerical vocation and also something about taking a journey. Has an unfortunate case of silly boob armor, which unlike a certain other character probably won't be rectified this close to release.

Mages

Alden

Maren's precocious younger brother, also basically Ricken up to and including the comically oversized hat. As a unit he follows the tradition of Donnel, Mozu, and Cyril of having a personal skill that buffs his stat gains, so it's safe to say he's a growth unit. At least he'll probably join early.

Liberty

Comes with dead brother angst and a connection to the "aspects" system that will hopefully make more sense once I've played the game and know how it functions both mechanically and from a storytelling perspective. Otherwise she looks to be a busty older - as in, not a teenage - mage in the vein of Calill.

Monroe

Got the first ever character profile, so it's really short. He's the son of a duke and sounds like a bit of a snob, albeit one that can make explosions happen to back up his haughtiness. He's got some scarring around his eye that surely must come with a story. Someone also made featured fanart of him in Heroes summer banner style, so I guess he's got somebody horny already.

Sara

Samara's half-sister, with comparable fantasy Middle Eastern flavoring. Has an interest in discovering magical artifacts and being a just ruler in the event she winds up on the throne (so, almost definitely), and she and Samara travel around with the assassin Brooke as their bodyguard. There's maybe some lesbian possibilities there? Either way, Sara has enough development where I could see her as a major supporting character.

Sloane

Comes with a genuinely fascinating backstory involving manipulative double-crossing parents, an education in the cruelties and deceptions of social life (reflected in her personal skill), and disinheritance - and yet it's all likely to be overshadowed because she may go down as DD's equivalent to Fates's face-touching. Her initial art is even more revealing than Camilla's, and while the developers later gave her a more modest redesign after negative feedback I get the feeling that this controversy may live on. Her introduction mentions her hunting for both heirs and heiresses and she's now been linked to Sophia, so safe to say she's another confirmed bi character.

Adepts

While the other class sets are standard fantasy fare adepts require a bit more explanation. They have innate magical abilities and appear to be feared and distrusted most places in the setting. Functionally they remind me of adepts from the Golden Sun series, if anyone is familiar with those games. The classes in the adept group tend more toward physical/magical hybridization than those of other sets, so that will probably be their mechanical niche. Oh, and their default weapon type is lances, which is a plus in my book.

Aurima

Along with Caius and the royal sisters, he's another one from the desert nation of Aramor. An arena fighter who got touched by a god in what I assume was a non-sexual way and came out of it with a new appearance and adept powers. Also, he's confirmed to be over 40 - how often do you see that in games like this?

Bianca

Looks like a more carefree Mathilda from Echoes. She's a ranking officer in the Delian army which sounds like it'd sit uneasily with her adept powers. Her profile describes Lincoln as her close friend, which is still about the most we know about him at this point.

Elias

This guy's writing plays more into the fairly standard coding that comes with adept powers, as we know they manifested shortly before he was going to confess his feelings to a male paramour and afterwards he was forced to flee his homeland and wander the world. He also spent time among dwarves, so insert short bear jokes here? In the present he's attached to Cia in what seems to be a platonic way; maybe she's a fruit fly, or maybe she just likes having a friend who can light drunken assholes on fire? Elias is definitely into guys, but I would still be a little surprised if he turned out to be totally gay as that's such a rarity in these sorts of things.

Iris

Oof, another lengthy and rough backstory. Iris had better parents than Sloane, but she also had to deal with permanent facial scarring (hence the mask) after a bandit kidnapping and the stigma of manifesting as an adept pretty much eliminating the prospects of her making a good political marriage. Also, she and Elias both come from Neullais, which is prominently featured on the continental map on the DD subreddit but doesn't seem to come up all too often in backstories. I think it's a not!France? Hard to tell.

Thae'lanel

A World of Warcraft blood elf, flowing anime hair and apostrophe'd name and all. I like WoW so that's not terribly grating, but as he has no profile yet there's little else I can say. Thae'lanel is mentioned in Maeve's introduction as a member of a sun elf group called the Exiled, which I'm guessing is tied to his adept status in some way. He and Maeve form yet another adventurer/bodyguard duo.

[tothedarkdarkseas]

The way Vampire AU has taken off has really warmed my heart! So many great thoughts all round. I sent you some elaborations on my own personal headcanons for it as a submission, just for the fun of it. Enjoy!

Hi! I got your submission last night and read over it-- it's very elaborate, you've clearly put a lot of thought into fleshing this AU out and it sounds like a ton of fun. I know you mentioned at the end that you had no intentions of writing it because you're busy with other fandom projects, but I'm sure there are many who'd be interested in reading your ideas if you ever decided to make a sideblog for it. I'll post your submission for others to read below a cut here so that the post won't be too long on the dashboard, and I'll reply to some of the specifics underneath!

Yes! I have so many more thoughts on a vampire AU, I figured it would be easier to put them in a submission. Hope you don't mind.

The concept is just so fascinating to me, because so much of it lines up perfectly with the character dynamics we're given in the canon, and what doesn't has the potential to expand on and explore those dynamics in a really interesting way.

I agree 100 percent about the tone it would have to be written in. An actual brooding, dark prince Murdoc type of thing wouldn't work for me. (Murdoc would try to play up that persona, but in reality, he'd be far from it.) In my mind, the tone would be half What We Do In The Shadows and half Being Human UK. Four misfits living in a mouldering mansion somewhere, getting on each other's tits - but deep down they've got each other's backs. There's a bond, even if they can't quite explain what it is.

In my mind the bloodlust would function as an addiction. Murdoc is no Mother Theresa but he's not comfortable with indiscriminate murder either. (Guilt and self-loathing is not a good combination in Murdoc.) Knowing there is no in between for vampires - you can't have a sip here and there, it's abstinence or nightly slaughter - he stays teetotal from blood and tries to channel his desires into other addictions instead. Any and every addiction, really. Drugs, booze, sex, theft, you name it. Which is how he comes to be doing donuts in a stolen car in a Tesco car park, at the exact same time Stuart Pot is making a midnight run for condoms and Tango.

I picture Murdoc's turning of Stu would be this confusing moment that even he can't fully explain, so he's always switching his story about it. One day he'll say he didn't want to deal with the police, another day it'll be vampire enforcers he was afraid of - "total killjoys, they'll bung you in a blood-filled coffin for a hundred years over the TINIEST infraction". Other days he comes close to admitting he felt guilty, that he flipped out over the idea of killing someone after all, when he's dedicating all his energy to avoiding doing just that. Sometimes he just calls it a moment of madness.

But in every vampire movie, there's that moment. The moment where the newly-turned vamp rises from the grave as this beautiful unearthly creature of the night, and I mean . . . this absolutely would be Murdoc's experience of it. He's almost convinced himself there aren't real vampires like that, that it's all Hollywood bollocks, and then Stu rises up in front of him like some black-eyed, blue-haired god, and the part of Murdoc that isn't utterly gobsmacked by it can't help resenting the little sod for making it look so easy. Murdoc likes to take the piss out of him and claim he's like one of those Lost Boys California pretty boy vampires, but he's jealous really.

I imagine Murdoc would be similarly mercurial about how he was turned. There's always some hyperbolic story about it, designed to paint Murdoc in the best light. Sometimes he was the premier occultist of his day. Sometimes he sold his soul to the devil for immortality. Sometimes he was turned by a beautiful vampire seductress, who was bitter he broke her heart. It's all bollocks. The truth is definitely something less glamorous, and I would imagine actually much sadder as well? I'm not sure what, but I'm picturing something like Murdoc's father being some small-time occultist who sold his son to vampires, or maybe Murdoc was working some menial job and was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. Maybe he was turned by some vampire who would have drunk him dry, if Murdoc hadn't fought him off. Or maybe it's a bit of mystery, like the mystery of his mother in canon. Someone did this to Murdoc, someone made him what he is, but he has no memory of it. And all the different stories are actually partly a coping mechanism for that, as he tries on different explanations for size. (It would also explain why he would refuse to abandon Stu after turning him. Because navigating this new reality alone is something he wouldn't wish on anyone, even some dumb kid.)

I think the supernatural element would also be a great way to expand on and deepen Murdoc's relationships with Russell and Noodle. In supernatural fiction there are always two types of beings that hate each other. Usually vampires and werewolves, but often vampires and ghosts too. As, obviously, vamps can't drain ghosts, and they spend their lives running from the guilt of all the people they've killed. Ghosts are a constant reminder of that - and of the afterlife they both fear, and resent that they were denied. I can picture Russell maybe helping Murdoc exorcise the ghost of Hannibal or Jacob, and that's how they meet. (And why he has more patience with Murdoc than most. He's seen him at his most vulnerable.) Noodle would be great as a vampire hunter too. Her dynamic with Murdoc would be fraught as on the one hand, she respects Russell and venerates him for his connection to the spirit world, so to a certain extent anything he says she'll try to respect. And Murdoc is supposedly reformed, and she has moments where she even almost quite likes him. But her instinct is not to trust him. Her instinct is to put him down, and they both know it. As much as he battles his bloodlust around her, she battles her urge to put a stake through his heart, Van Helsing style.

Finding out he turned someone would be a MAJOR ruck in their relationship. But I think Murdoc would use 2-D to convince her and Russell to stick around - because he turned him, but it wasn't like he was chowing down on the lad, it was practically an act of charity, really. Practically an act of atonement. And if they both leave now, Stu is only left with Mr Bad Influence Murdoc Niccals, to teach him how to be a vampire, and restrain his urges and whatnot. And Murdoc has never been much good at all that AA, 12 step stuff, so unless they WANT poor sweet Stuart Pot to wind up spending eternity as some kind of crackhead . . . it would be a kindness to him, really, to stick around.

I could not agree more about how Murdoc turning Stu would mirror their Phase Two dynamic, with Stu literally having become "the thing Murdoc turned him into", and resenting that. But also, having moments of perverse gratitude for it? Stu is vain, and vampire Stu would be gorgeous, which I reckon he'd love. And though I think he'd hate that his normal life of footy with the boys and Sunday dinner at his mum's was over, I can also imagine him feeling this whole new world has opened up in front of him, something most people aren't special enough to gain entry to. And he likes that.

I can even see the fame thing and the band happening. Music would be a great, healthier way to channel the urges he can't act on. And I can see Murdoc agreeing. Admitting that he's been playing in bands for years, because it's actually a great cover for a vampire lifestyle. Being nocturnal is practically a prerequisite, when you're a rock star, and you can get away with looking all kinds of weird when you're in a band, because people just chalk it up to the aesthetic. Still, until he met 2-D, none of the bands he'd been in were actually any GOOD. 2-D reawakens his love of music, the same way he is the turning point for Murdoc's career in the canon.

Vampirism would also be a great way to explore Stuart's flaws. His vanity is an obvious one, but I can also see him avoiding his family and not letting them know why he'd disappeared for years. Just too self-absorbed to appreciate the harm it's caused. I can also see the pill problem happening as he imitates Murdoc's habit of abusing substances to try and blunt his bloodlust. I can imagine him saying stupid stuff like "you never even took me to the hospital!" and convincing himself he experiences phantom headaches, because he doesn't want to admit he's becoming just like Murdoc, actually. He tells himself the pills are medicine and he really needs them, and it's not the same at all.

And I can see him getting too carried away with his lusts, and having several near misses or disastrous incidents where he brings girls home and loses control of himself. Where Murdoc jumps in and saves it from getting too out of hand, but at the same time exposes how he's basically been stalking Stu "for your own protection", with a side of decidedly voyeuristic intentions. Stu has . . . strong (and somewhat confused) feelings about this.

I think Murdoc would be the same trouble magnet in the vampire underworld that he was in the criminal one. Feelings about Murdoc range from "this unwashed oik should NEVER have been allowed to become one of us" to "I WILL STAKE MURDOC FAUST NICCALS IF IT'S THE LAST THING I DO". Murdoc would definitely continue his streak of petty crime any time he entered the hallowed halls of the vampire hoi poloi. He'd be pilfering left and right. And I can't imagine he'd ever kowtow to the aristocracy, which, in a subculture as obsessed with class as vampires . . .  yeah, he's insolent, to say the least. And they hate it. They just hate Murdoc, generally. I imagine 2-D might consider crossing over to the dark side to join them, to spite Murdoc, before eventually he realizes that - amazing as it sounds - even Murdoc has higher moral standards than these people. Maybe he's better off with the devil he knows.

I love what you said about Murdoc and Stuart being hung by the same rope, for all eternity. That's exactly the dynamic I think a vampire AU would bring about. I also think Murdoc being Stu's vampire sire would be interesting in the romantic sense, as part of them would always second guess if that was the reason for the bond they feel. Are they developing feelings, or is all of this just the blood bond? I can imagine Stuart hating his own inability to judge why he feels so drawn to Murdoc, and I can see Murdoc trying to convince himself any possessiveness or pride or protectiveness he feels over Stu is just what all vampires feel when they turn someone. (Even though it's not.) It would be a potent brew.

Anyway, this was long but I will never have the time to actually write this (I have five WIPs in other fandoms already) so I thought I'd let it out somehow. Thanks for giving me the space to talk this over!

(If anyone wants to run with this and make something of it, by the way, have at it! Just credit me somewhere for the idea. That'd be good.)

This was quite a ride! I love the idea of Stuart Pot's mortal life ending when he's mowed down in a Tesco car park buying condoms and Tango. It's cruel to say it's what he deserves and frankly the complete antithesis of the whole conflict I'm begging for, but... it's what he deserves. I'm also very intrigued by the angle of treating bloodlust as an addiction: it could theoretically be overcome, but practically speaking, rarely is. This makes it easy to see how Murdoc spins off into such a cartoonishly extreme life of debauchery. I love the bit about Murdoc changing his story of what happened, both the night he hit Stuart and his own origin-- the difference being that Stu does know what happened to him, whether he ever chooses to believe Murdoc's ever-shifting justifications for it or not, but no one can ever really know where Murdoc came from except himself. I definitely agree that the truth has to be less glamorous, less thrilling, less worthy of tales and legends. I like Stuart and Murdoc best when they are not men born into greatness nor men born for greatness, not inherently, and I love the private grappling with the belief that they are special and the fear that they probably aren't. Your explanation of the foil-like dynamic between vampires and spirits/ghosts is interesting, I don't know if that's an established piece of vampire lore or if that's your own invention, but I think it's a really solid one. I don't know if I've truly seen those two creatures explored in a world together with such a direct emphasis on that ghoulish ecosystem, so to speak.

And, well, I'm quite predictable but I'm ready to invest $5k in a full novel exploring Stu's estrangement from his family and friends following the transformation, the psychological toll it takes to choose-- though he may feel he has no other choice at all-- to abandon those relationships, how his own descent may mirror Murdoc's as he shelters himself in chalk-tablet excess and a vibrant, at times frightful carnal life to distract himself from the guilt. I'm dying to see how he could approach mending those fences again after years away. It isn't something one sweeps under the rug, isn't something that he can make amends for. This sort of thing shatters a family, and in my imagining of Rachel and David, it certainly shattered his. This kind of permanently-marred family drama really captivates me and is something I don't think we should shy away from in stories about addiction, and it would be fascinating to explore the human element of that against the metaphorical monstrous one.

I love what you mentioned about the "blood bond" and how it factors into the pull between them they're too unsettled to really name. This adds an extra layer of confusion, as you say, and better justifies why they find themselves orbiting each other, pretending there's a blood-coloured chain tethering them and ignoring the heavy weighted padlock in the middle that pulls them down, down, down. I've spoken a lot on this blog about why Stu is participatory in the relationship when he dislikes Murdoc in such a profound way, and while I absolutely never tire of the messy, bleak human weakness and ego of that, it would be quite special to explore that with something that almost feels like an excuse for Stu, a macabre justification entirely out of his hands; it gives him permission to be part of this broken spiral and absolves him of the responsibility of acknowledging his choice. I'd like to think he still lives with it, as Murdoc does too, but they may appreciate the safety of the smokescreen as much as they struggle to see through it.

Thanks for sending me your ideas, I hope other readers will enjoy seeing your elaborations, and if you're having fun thinking about these two goons I'd encourage you to consider making a blog. Sometimes you get lucky and draw in people who are incredibly kind!

(Lastly, unrelated fun fact about vampirism in my life: my first job was playing a vampire at a haunted amusement park. Our "Scare Zone" was designed as a junkyard taken over by a vampire gang, and I was the "queen" with a throne made of old tires. It was... a fun job and also not a fun job, haha.)

[ill-skillsgard]

Okay, I love a little angst, and I could see Faust visiting Faith at work and some prick keeps flirting with her and she’s very oblivious and doesn’t realize it. Or she has a tutor for college, and Faust walks in on him teaching her something, but the guys clearly flirting with her. Or lastly, her father setting her up with a family friends son who’s picture perfect and Stan making Faith go out with him for the night. But all these scenarios lead to a good banging lol.

Warning: 18+ anti-religious/anti-Christian themes/angst etc. **jealousy, angst and possessiveness in this part**

Faust x Faith Masterpost [x]

Faith awoke with a sharp intake of air. She glanced at the digital clock on Faust’s desk through misty eyes and paled when the late morning hour came into focus. She was due to meet her father in twenty-five minutes, and he expected her at the campus—not a half-hour bus ride from her dorm in an area of town known for its street crime. Even if Faust borrowed his roommate’s car to drive her, she wouldn’t have time to shower and dress before her father arrived.

A text from her dad warned of his impending arrival. She should have known better than to spend an entire Saturday evening humping her boyfriend, or at least set an alarm to wake up with ample time to get back to her dorm. In her panic, Faust woke up, looking ruefully unconcerned while she rushed to get dressed.

“What’s your deal?” Faust grumbled as Faith slipped on her black tights and lilac blouse, a worried expression on her face.

“We slept too late! My dad’s supposed to pick me up at school in like twenty minutes!”

Faust rolled onto his side, propping his head on his elbow as a dreamy smirk snagged his lips. Faith clicked her tongue. When it came to disappointing her father, Faust had nothing but encouragement to give, but his playful stare could not snuff her genuine panic.

“You won’t make it to school on time. Why don’t you just ask him to pick you up here?” Faust suggested.

“Hell no!” Faith exclaimed. “You don’t realize the amount of shit I’ll be in if he finds out I spent the night with you. Premarital sex is... No, I just can’t.”

Faust rolled his eyes. “It’s not like he’ll kill his own daughter.”

She rolled on one sock, then the other, grimacing when she noticed one was on inside-out. “You still don’t realize that he can and will pack up everything and move us away. Or he’ll make me go to a different school next semester. Trust me. You don’t get how strict my parents are. They’ve already made me read several pamphlets from church about the sin of fornication.”

“Well, clearly, you’ve learned nothing. We fornicated all night, babe. I fornicated all over that shirt, too,” he snickered.

“Faust! I’m serious. Now is not a time to joke. Wait... What?” Faith stopped in the middle of the room and stared down at her top, gasping. “Oh my god! There’s cum all over me! I’m so screwed.”

He got out of bed and went to the low-boy, pulling open the third drawer while Faith panicked.

“I am literally covered in your jizz! Why did you have to blow on my shirt?” Faith groaned.

Faust stifled a laugh as he pulled out a black t-shirt from the drawer. “Babe, you’re the one who wanted to suck my dick first thing after you got here. I can’t be responsible for where my unborn children go to die. Maybe you need to catch my loads a little better.”

She scoffed then scoffed again when he held up a faded t-shirt with a macabre design on the front and an illegible logo cresting the imagery. 

“Wear this,” Faust offered.

“I can’t wear that in front of my dad. What does that even say?” Faith asked.

“Obituary.”

Faith shook her head. Faust shrugged and stuffed the shirt back into the drawer before grabbing a different one. “How about this? No pictures on it or anything.”

She grimaced again. “It just says Death. I’m going to church, Faust.”

“All right, all right. Give me a minute,” Faust said, rifling through another drawer.

The phone buzzed in Faith’s hand, warning her that time was running out for her to make herself presentable and come up with an excuse as to why she was nowhere near campus grounds. Faust pulled out a plain black t-shirt, offering it to her with round, sympathetic eyes.

“Will this work?”

She took the shirt and gulped. “It will have to do. It’s still all black, and my parents won’t be happy.”

Faust nodded, seeming to understand her predicament. “Why don’t you say you’re sick?”

“The only time I ever got away with missing church was when I had Chicken Pox,” Faith said.

“Say you have too much work.”

She frowned. “There’s never an excuse large enough to appease them. I appreciate the suggestions, but I’d rather you just help me with a plan.”

The man towering over her nodded, turning to select his outfit for the day. “I’ll take you to the diner down the block. You can say I picked you up for breakfast.”

“I’d rather not tell them I was with you at all,” Faith said as she gathered her purse and stuffed her soiled blouse inside.

“Ouch,” Faust flinched.

“I’m sorry... That was rude,” Faith replied, covering her mouth for a moment, eyes wide. “You’re right. We should do that just to make it look like I didn’t spend the night.”

Faust ducked into a dark long-sleeve shirt, pulling his black hair out to fall over his shoulders. “Might want to wipe the dried cum off your chin then.”

When Faith slid her fingers through Faust’s as they walked down the street, his grip fell limp. He stared ahead and didn’t take any casual glances at her. In fact, Faust had been silent since they left. Worry piled on top of anxiety over what she would tell her dad, and she dropped her gaze to the sidewalk, counting the cracks as they walked. She doubled her steps to keep up with Faust’s until they reached the front doors of the quaint diner he and his buddies went to after nights of partying and hungover mornings. He let go of her hand and stepped away from her.

“See you later,” he said, spinning on the heel of his boot.

She reached out and grabbed his arm. “Wait! You’re not even going to kiss me goodbye?”

Faust shrugged, his leather jacket bemoaning the gesture. “Wouldn’t want your dad to catch you kissing your boyfriend.”

“Faust... Please. I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings.”

He snorted, pulling out a pack of cigarettes and his lighter. “If that’s what you think.”

His pointed response stung, but Faith wouldn’t let him walk away without addressing the tension. “Seriously... I’m sorry. I wish you understood how hard it is for me to navigate this. You think I’m exaggerating when I say my father will stop paying my tuition and make me go to a different school, but I’m not.”

“No one can make you do anything you don’t want to do,” said Faust, inhaling a cloud of cigarette smoke. “You just let them run your life.”

Heat built up behind her eyes. She took in a deep breath and sighed hopelessly. “I don’t have the income to be independent. It’s not as easy as you think. Not for me.”

Stan’s car pulled up at the curb, and Faith’s heart dropped. Faust glanced at the vehicle, then back at Faith fidgeting with the hem of the black t-shirt he gave her. He nodded toward the street.

“I should go before your dad gets the wrong idea about us.”

“Faust—” she whimpered.

“We’ll talk later.”

Faith hurried to get into the backseat of her father’s car, staring out the window as they drove off and passed Faust on the street. Her mother sighed and shook her head.

“Smoking is a disgusting habit,” she muttered.

Faith’s sisters stared at her from their seats, then looked away when she met their eyes.

“What?” Faith asked.

“You’re in trouble,” one of them sang.

Stan glared at his oldest daughter in the rear-view mirror. He didn’t keep his indignation quiet for long. “Since when is it okay to wear all black in the house of Christ? We’re not attending a funeral, Faith. We’re going for worship.”

“I know,” she said, rolling her eyes. “It was the only clean outfit I had. I haven’t done laundry because I’ve had too much schoolwork.”

“Maybe if you didn’t spend so much time with that man, you’d have a proper outfit to wear on Sunday.”

“That man is my boyfriend. Am I not allowed to ever fall in love? It’s not like you and mom didn’t date before you got married.”

Reneta continued shaking her head. “Your father was a respectable man. He didn’t smoke and listen to evil music.”

Faith scoffed as her sisters listened with wide eyes and mischievous smirks. “What are you talking about, mom? You had nothing but nice things to say about him when he came over for dinner!”

“He was our guest, and a lady is always a kind host.”

“So, you don’t like him either?” Faith asked.

“Sweetheart, that’s not what I said. I just wish you would find yourself a nice boy. One who knows the importance of God—”

“If I smell smoke on you or catch you making a mockery of His word, I promise on His good name, I will make sure you never see that boy again,” Stan vowed.

Faith clammed up. Though she had plenty to say, she knew better than to push her luck. Her sisters whispered next to her, but Faith ignored them too. She fished her phone out of her purse and sent a text message to Faust.

You’re right. These people are fucked. I have to get away.

The service dragged for what seemed like hours, and when it ended, Faith was eager to leave. But instead of piling into the car to go home after the last prayer, Faith waited as her family mingled with others. As a revered minister of the church, Stan often welcomed conversation from those who sought his guidance and blessings. She sat in an empty pew, sighing with impatience as the churchgoers waited their turn for a private conversation with her father. 

Faith peeked at her phone to see if Faust had replied, but the message remained unopened.

Though he hadn’t said much that morning, she feared her err had caused Faust to reevaluate his interest in her. A troublesome mass weighed in her stomach. Texting him again might result in him dubbing her “clingy,” Faith decided, so she turned off her phone until it was time to leave. 

They piled into the family car and turned down the road in the opposite direction of the school campus. When Faith noticed, she perked up in her seat. 

“Where are we going?” She asked. 

“We’re having the Esders family over for dinner this evening,” said Stan. 

Faith tried not to voice her displeasure, but nothing prevented the furrowing of her brow. “Well, that’s very nice, but I have to go home to work on my paper.” 

Stan glanced back at his oldest daughter. “Your home is under our roof. And you can spare a few hours for your family.” 

“Dad, I can’t spend the entire day doing nothing. It’s due tomorrow!” Faith whined. 

“I won’t hear anymore, Faith. Bobby is your age, and you’ll be kind and cordial.” 

“Oh, so that’s what this is about? You want me to spend time with another boy?” 

“Faith, you’re helping host the Esders’, and you will be on your best behaviour.”

Faith kept to herself during dinner, helping set and clear the table, answering questions with curt replies, and after dessert, she stepped onto the veranda to call Faust. The line rang and rang until it cut off. Faust didn’t have voicemail, and he still hadn’t replied to her message from earlier. Dejected, Faith sighed as she looked out over the suburban street, the stained glass crosses hanging in bay windows and wind chimes tinkling in the cool breeze. The sound of footsteps rounded the corner, and she turned to find Bobby Esders approaching. 

“Hey, Faith. What’re you doing out here all by yourself?” The flaxen-haired boy asked. 

She forced a brief grin and leaned against the handrail. “Being by myself.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have interrupted. I was getting sick of all the church-talk in there.”

Faith nodded. “Same.”

Bobby tucked his hands into the pockets of his beige chinos. “I noticed you haven’t been to group in a while.” 

“I have a lot of schoolwork. It’s a little more important than making arts and crafts and babysitting kids while they cry over which Veggie Tales movie to watch.”

“Yeah, I get that,” Bobby snorted with amusement, stepping up to the handrail beside her. “So... What did you do all Summer?” 

The only voice Faith wanted to hear was Faust’s whispering in her ear, gently poking fun at her, calling her babe and stating interesting yet useless facts about his favourite bands and horror movies. Though she was polite, she turned to Bobby with a tight smile and sighed impatiently. 

“I don’t know... Stuff? What everyone else does during the Summer.”

The boy accepted her response with a solemn nod. Bobby Esders was not oblivious. He sensed her discomfort and unspoken need for solitude the moment dinner began. With a nod, he backed away. 

“Well, I hope you have a good night, and good luck with your schoolwork.”

Faith frowned. “I’m sorry, Bobby. I shouldn’t be so short with you. My parents have been treating me like a child lately, and it’s getting on my nerves. I should be studying, but instead, I’m here—” 

“Pretending like you give a shit about church?” Bobby said with a secretive smirk. 

“Um... Well, yeah,” she replied, blushing. 

Bobby chuckled, maintaining his distance but relaxing his shoulders. He was tall like Faust, with zero body fat, bony arms, and a mop of blond curls. Faith hadn’t spoken more than a few sentences to Bobby since joining the church, but she always smiled at him when they passed in the corridors. He was pleasant and had one of the best singing voices in the congregation. His parents were wealthy business owners who donated large sums to the church and took a liking to Stan the moment he commanded the podium for his first service. Since then, Faith’s parents cultivated a friendship with the Esders family. Faith even heard them discussing how perfect it was that the two respective families had a daughter and a son of the same age, as though it was some kind of miracle. She dreaded the day Stan might suggest she try spending time with Bobby. And perhaps if she had never met Faust, she might entertain the idea of Bobby courting her, but that chance was long gone. 

“Don’t worry, Faith. I might look like a goody-two-shoes, but it’s just the clothes my parents make me wear for church. I don’t really buy into any of this bullshit either.”

Stunned by his admission, Faith tilted her head as Bobby’s expression turned sly. 

He continued. "And I know what our parents are trying to do with us. They’re trying to play matchmaker like it’s the eighteenth century or something. Trust me; I wouldn’t be out here bothering you if your dad hadn’t encouraged me. I can tell you want to be somewhere else, and I don’t blame you."

Faith looked up at him with a growing appreciation for his honesty. His bluntness still took her back, but she smiled with relief. 

“Well, I appreciate your observation. My dad doesn’t seem to realize that I’m a person capable of making my own decisions.”

“I’m in the same boat. Do you think I want to spend all my free time doing church stuff? Right now, my friends are at home playing Call of Duty together, and I’m here, pretending like I give a shit about this stupid religion and all its oppressive rules.”

“Wow. I never pictured you as anything but...” Faith trailed off, flushing pink.

“But a Bible-toting nerd? Yeah, I get that a lot.”

Reneta called for Faith from the side door. She sighed, smiled at Bobby again, and smoothed her hands over the black T-shirt that still smelled like Faust’s bedroom. Bobby stepped aside, motioning for Faith to go first before he followed.

Faith turned on her phone after she collapsed in her bed in the corner of her dorm room. To her shock, Faust still hadn’t answered her message from earlier. She called him, but the line rang until the call dropped. Fighting back an onslaught of burning tears, she rolled over, stuffing her face under her pillow to absorb the sounds of her whimpers.

She worked an evening shift at the bookstore the next day. It was the last thing she wanted to do, but she decided that morning if Faust didn’t want to answer her, she wouldn’t press. If he couldn’t accept her apology and saw silence as an acceptable form of punishment, then she would return the favour. 

However, by the time Faith made it halfway through her shift, her heart had grown twice as heavy, and she longed to hear Faust’s gravelly voice more than ever. She ducked away for a minute here and there to stifle her tears, returning to the floor with watery eyes and a sagging expression. Even her boss noticed her sunny disposition trampled upon by something she refused to disclose.

The only relief she found was when Bobby Esders strolled into the bookstore, surprised to see her working behind the counter, sorting discarded books to return to their proper shelves.

“Faith! I didn’t know you worked here,” Bobby said with a broad smile.

“Yeah, I started here in the Summer,” she replied, returning the grin.

“This is my favourite bookstore. I’m surprised we haven’t run into each other before.”

Faith forgot her melancholy for a time. With twenty minutes until close, she focused her time on helping him locate a copy of a novel he’d had no luck in tracking down. He purchased the book and offered to wait until Faith punched out to walk her to the bus stop. Her first impulse was to decline, but Bobby was too kind to allow her refusal, claiming he was going to the same stop, and he might as well accompany her there.

The last thing Faith expected to see was Faust parked outside of the mall’s entrance, leaning against the side door of his friend’s car, waiting. She flashed a concerned look at Bobby, who stared at the leather-clad man with a touch of disdain.

“Oh, that’s um... That’s my boyfriend,” Faith pointed out as Faust glared ahead.

“That’s your boyfriend? That mean, scary-looking dude with the hair?” Bobby scoffed.

By the time Bobby took another breath, Faust had launched forth with long strides, clearing the cobblestones in a second. His glare burned hotter as he approached them.

“Who are you?” Faust asked Bobby with an air of mocking disinterest.

“Uh—”

“This is my friend from church,” Faith stepped in. “His name’s Bobby.”

Faust narrowed his eyes on the man who was only an inch shorter than himself. “Your friend, huh?” He asked.

“Faust, don’t start. He was just walking me to the bus stop.”

Bobby took a step back, relinquishing the closeness with Faith he had enjoyed for the last half an hour. He’d heard stories of Faust and his buddies, as they had beaten up and antagonized his friends throughout high school. Anyone associated with the church was subject to the circle’s cruelty, and despite Bobby’s size, he was no exception.

“I don’t want to see you sniffing around my girl ever again, you got it, bible-beater?”

Faith frowned as Bobby cowered from Faust’s smouldering contempt. She pushed on his leathered arm and stepped between the two men, glaring up at Faust with her own scorn lighting her features.

“Stop it, Faust! He didn’t do anything. We were going to the same stop, anyway. Stop being such an asshole!”

Faust pushed his jaw forward, swiping his tongue over his teeth as she challenged him. He’d never seen Faith look so angry, and though she was laughably small in comparison, her scowl was enough to make him take a step back.

“Let’s go, Faith,” he muttered.

“No. I’m not going with you. I’m going home,” Faith refused.

“Fine, I’ll drive you,” he insisted.

“No! I’m taking the bus. You can’t return my messages or answer your phone when I call? Then I don’t need your help getting home.”

The city bus pulled around the corner, rumbling to a stop at the depot to pick up the people leaving the mall. Bobby watched, frowning, then looked back at Faith.

“Sorry, Faith. I have to go,” Bobby said.

Faust sneered. “Yeah, get lost. She’s fine.”

��I’m leaving too,” Faith said, turning, shouldering the strap on her purse before stepping away.

Before she crossed the road, Faust stepped in front of her. His expression softened when he noticed hers hadn’t. Faith was angrier than he thought. When he showed up to intercept her, Faust assumed she would drop everything and run into his arms, happy to see him despite the tension he’d allowed to rise. But her disgust was potent. She wasn’t about to be pushed over by his feeble attempt at soothing the situation.

“Don’t,” Faust punctured his firm stance as Bobby crossed without her. “Please.”

“Why would I go with you? You’re not even nice to me. I tried texting and calling you, but I guess you were too busy doing your own thing to care.”

“Yeah, ‘cause you pissed me off!” Faust hammered. “That whole ‘I don’t want my dad to see us together’ was a real dick thing to say.”

Before Faith launched another complaint, she closed her mouth and looked to the ground, then back up, glaring harder. “I said I was sorry. It’s not like you haven’t said awful things before. The only difference is you never apologize for them. I’m just expected to accept your unsolicited opinions about my life and my family.”

Faust offered no rebuttal. The couple stood staring at each other until Faust relented, scooping his hand into her hair to kiss her firmly. He hated that she was right, and he refused to admit it out loud, but the kiss acted as his justification. 

It wasn’t good enough for Faith. She pushed him away.

“You can’t just act like a total asshole, then kiss me and expect it all to be okay.”

Faust rolled his eyes to the darkening sky. “What do you expect me to do?”

“Oh, I don’t know. An apology might be a good start.”

“Why would I apologize for you pissing me off?”

“Apologize for making a scene in front of my friend. Apologize for not answering me. Not accepting my apology when I had the maturity to realize I was wrong.”

“All right, well, I’m sorry. Happy? Now, let’s go.”

“No, Faust. I don’t think we should hang out tonight.”

Her refusal hit him hard. Faith always jumped at the chance to spend time together, so her steadfastness came as a shock. His shoulders slumped as he sighed.

“Please,” Faust said.

“Why? You seemed happy ignoring me yesterday.”

“I wasn’t happy. I was upset. What you said really fucked with me. Now, I’m over it, and I want you to spend the night.”

A flicker of sympathy sparked in Faith’s chest. She noticed his green eyes reflecting something she had never seen in him before: sadness. Faust reached out for her hand, and she stared at his outstretched palm, heart aching. Maybe what she said had hurt him more than she realized. She always figured Faust was above such emotions, that the only passion that lived inside of him was menacing anger that only came out when somebody threatened him or his territory. The regret tugging at his mouth proved her theory wrong. 

She took his hand and he pulled her close. Streetlights illuminated as the parking lot emptied. Stars poked through the violet sky in clusters. They stood wrapped in each other’s arms for a minute before he held her out before him, staring into her eyes beseechingly.

“If you really don’t want to come over, I’ll take you back to your dorm.”

Faith shivered. When Faust noticed the goosebumps on her arms, he let her go and shrugged out of his jacket. Underneath, he wore a black t-shirt with a severed head spewing forth a waterfall of blood and entrails. The carnage spelled out the name of a band whose logo was utterly unintelligible. She smiled as he swung the heavy leather jacket around her so she could push her arms through the sleeves. The hem ended at her thighs, and only the tips of her middle fingers poked out from the armholes, but it was comfortable despite being several sizes too large for her body.

“Fine. I’ll come over. But I wanna have sex, and I don’t want you to hold back.”

“Faith—”

“Those are my terms. I don’t want you to treat me like a little flower. I want to fuck... hard.”

Faust snorted, biting his bottom lip as he rolled his eyes again. He placed his hand on the leather at her back, guiding her toward the car. “You might regret that request, you know.”

Faith smirked. “We’ll worry about that in the morning.”

[dreaming-gamer]

Eyy! Now, I have a proper V HC request, hihi!😍😍😍❤❤❤🙈🙈🙈 The gang ( include anyone you want ) introducing V to his very first cosplay convention!😍😍😍❤❤❤ I'll patiently wait, my dear. I love your V HCs so much😍😍😍❤❤❤

Hello dear! <3<3<3 Thank you so much for liking my headcanons and the request! :D :D :D I’m sorry this one took so long, I should have posted this one much earlier but better late than never? *sweats* 

In any case, here we go! <3<3<3

Random headcanon: Cosplay convention

Nico:

Nico is the first one to jump at the idea when she finds out V has never been to a cosplay convention. She loves those because people just let their creativity flow and she is among them. Creating an impressive cosplay that lets her display her genius, oh that’s right up her alley.

Of course the work on the van and Nero’s Devil Breakers go first, but the Queen of Machines can juggle that and more if needs be. If she’s going to a convention, you can bet she’s going to show off something that’s flashy and functional.

She’s all for helping the others find something they want to dress up in as well, they don’t even have to take something as spectacular as she does, if they don’t want to. If they do, she’s all for helping them with something on the more mechanical style as sewing and fabrics aren’t her thing.

Honestly, she just wants her friends to come along, try the event out. If someone really doesn’t want to dress up, she won’t push the suggestion too much but if she can work on them for a bit, they might open up to it. She’s the one to convince V to come along, claiming she can find just the right character for him.

Though Nico is able and considered fixing a workable Gundam costume (complete with rockets and guns, could it get better?!), she ultimately chose Mei Hatsume from My Hero Academia as her own cosplay character because let’s face it, it would let her show off more of her creations.

The costume itself she found online, cheap and the inventions are the important part, so that’s all good for her. A prototype is customized to function as a flying skateboard for anyone who wants to try, an Overture is remodeled to set off (harmless) fireworks rather than demon-killing sparks, a Dr Faust replica with built-in video and audio to teach you Michael Jackson moves on the go, she brings an array of different inventions and many are a success with younger audiences.

Nero (& Kyrie):

Nero’s never been to a cosplay convention, he’s just as new to them as V is. As a kid, he wanted to dress up and go to gatherings like that because it looked fun and hopefully no one would look at him funny, as they did in the Order.

Now that he feels more secure in his own skin, having come to terms with his heritage and how he can use it to protect his family, Nero doesn’t feel the immediate need to dress up for the convention but when Kyrie mentions it might be fun, he falls for the suggestion.

Whenever the orphans’ clothes get holes, Kyrie fixes them with her sewing but she is uncertain she has the skills and the time to fix herself and Nero matching outfits in time for the convention, when they have both decided they’ll go. And Nico has convinced them that they’ll have the most fun if they dress up.

Nero is supportive, he’s fine with whichever costume Kyrie wants to do, he doesn’t push and he’s fine with just going as they are as well if it spares Kyrie some trouble, but the kids are very insistent. And Kyrie sometimes has a hard time saying no to them.

Knowing it’s one of Kyrie’s favorite Disney movies, Nero suggests Beauty and the Beast for the two of them. Kyrie wants Nero to have fun and get the whole experience by dressing up, but at first, she is a little bit hesitant about his suggestion. She never wants Nero to feel like she doubts him or his humanity ever again.

They have been through a lot and so, they just talk it out, ending the discussion with soft whispers of love and care and in agreement over their choice.

As for their costumes, they don’t buy anything new. They check their closets for anything unused or something that can just be adjusted. In their eyes, the details don’t have to be perfect as long as they are both having fun. Kyrie also has a field day trying to put make-up on Nero’s face for the Beast look. Honestly, she does a good job. And the clothes she adjusted for Nero’s blue Beast attire, as well as her own blue and white dress for Belle, look great and she feels proud over her work.

At the convention, Nero will make sure to keep an eye on her, make sure she won’t be dehydrated or stay on her feet for too long in queues. It’s mostly unexplored ground for both of them, but they have a lot of fun just people-watching and following the three orphans under their care around, as the boys point out characters that they know everywhere. If the boys don’t recognize someone, they’ll run right up and ask.

Their camera roll is full of pictures of other cosplayers and the kids posing at the end of the day. And Nico snuck in a few pictures of Nero and Kyrie as well.

Dante:

It’s a party, Dante’s interested, enough said. He doesn’t mind grabbing the most ridiculous outfits if it gives him the love of the crowd. At a convention, people of all ages gather so it will be some simple, awesome fun.

As for him choosing a cosplay, the Dr. Faust hat has made him realize he rocks wearing a hat so he initially thought of cosplaying Alucard from Hellsing but after realizing V would cosplay another Alucard, he switched gears. Actually, Dante might just prefer cosplaying a character that likes having fun, just like he does.

By coincidence, he found Vash the Stampede from Trigun and though there is no hat involved, hey, the guy rocks red just as well as Dante does and he uses guns. Does Dante know anything about the character? Not really but that doesn’t stop him from rocking it. Plus, Dante already has red clothes, it’s just a matter of going into character because adjusting those clothes, he knows not how to do.

At said convention, he instantly clicks with a Deadpool cosplayer and they dance to Michael Jackson songs. They also photobomb some cosplay shoots, all in good fun. He lives for the spirit of people just having fun and humans just being humans, gathering thanks to a common interest.

Dante is the type who comes to a convention with several outfits. Or at least he would, if he had enough money for it. Since most of his paycheck goes to keeping the gas, water and electricity at Devil May Cry running, he resorts to simple, but effective ways to show off character, both his own and from other series.

V:

When the idea of going to a cosplay convention is first introduced to him, along with what it actually entails, he’s a bit skeptical. Nico telling him that there will be a ton of people doesn’t really sell him on it as he’s not that fond of crowds. But hearing that many will dress up as characters from stories they enjoy catches his attention. If he agrees to go, maybe he should be sure to make the most of it. And when Nico notices that shift in his demeanor, she keeps pushing him to join, juuust a bit.

For V, cosplay sounds like a way to show appreciation for characters and the stories they star in. Being the big fan of literature and poetry that he is, this aspect of the event does trigger his interest but when Nico gives him the idea to try out cosplay himself, she suggests that he shouldn’t go with cosplaying William Blake. Griffon laughs out loud at the mere idea but his suggestion of V cosplaying as a Disney princess (the orphans under Nero’s and Kyrie’s care have tried to show the avian various Disney movies, further adding to his arsenal of nicknames for V), is equally shot down.

V does want to put some thought and care into who to cosplay, but he also acknowledges his lack of sewing skills and is not too into the thought of buying a costume for himself with his limited funds. Kyrie offers to help but he is hesitant to accept it, seeing how she is trying to make something wearable for both herself, Nero and three little boys.

Ultimately, Nico and surprisingly, Dante become his greatest helpers. The childhood home of the sons of Spardas might have mostly fallen apart, but there are still some of their father’s old black robes in one of the rooms. It needs some adjustments, being too big on V’s lean frame, but the length is pretty spot on.

Nico demonstrates an automatic multi-tool that includes both measuring and sewing capabilities, as well as a laser pointer and a demon alarm that accidentally trips when Griffon is present. V doesn’t ask why she saw the necessity to put all of those functions together, but in the end, two of them are helpful for their situation. And she will show it off at the convention, as part of her genius.

How Dante does it, V doesn’t know, but one day, a long blonde wig is delivered to Devil May Cry, perfect for his decided cosplay. Turns out Dante’s flirt with the lady at the costume shop was helpful.

Ultimately, V feels very satisfied with his appearance as Alucard from Castlevania. The black robes are a different material from his regular leather vest but it’s still in black and thus, he feels right at home in it rather quickly. The long blonde wig takes some more time to adjust to.

What he had not anticipated were people asking to photograph him in this getup but thankfully, V took his time to research his character’s lines and mannerisms. Alucard is a gentleman, so V doesn’t find it very hard at all.

During the convention, Nero and Kyrie have enough on their plate, keeping an eye on the boys, so Nico usually stays close to V. Their chosen media are not anything alike, but that hardly matters. Nico is easily swept up in the excitement of the convention and seeing her makes V think that letting loose once in a while isn’t so bad.

Griffon stars in V’s cosplay as well, dressed up as a bat.

The next day, V will be a bit socially exhausted. Expect him to keep to himself with his book and tea for a good remainder of the day.

[teriwrites]

the big manuscript search tag

I’m compiling a bunch of different tags from @cecilsstorycorner and @akindofmagictoo so this might be a long one!

My words to find: lonely, cup, drown, routine, deep, feather, rich, contact, kick, sun, pair, whisper, king, chord, chip, prove, mix, spin, water, color, need, fade, everyday

...yeah, that’s really long, so I’m going to throw the results in a read more to spare all your feeds from a wall of text

There’s a few words that don’t appear in one project or another, so I’m going to use both Castle on the Hill and Beneath Alder Creek! Because of that, the order won’t be quite the same

Castle on the Hill:

Lonely:

For the first day of break, Hans spent the entire day lounging around his house. His mother said nothing about it, except to suggest moving to a new spot every few hours so that he wouldn’t cramp up. She was in and out of the house a lot, which Hans took as a good sign. The harder days were those in which his mother spent most of it upstairs, locked away in her room. Hans had been allowed to join her, if he wished, but he’d preferred not to see her in such a state. Still, it had led to many a lonely afternoon.

Cup:

The following morning, Peter made the short trek over to the familiar cafe for his second date with Ursula. Despite having left five minutes early, Peter arrived to find Ursula already waiting at a table, with a cup of coffee in hand. He beelined for the table and tossed his blazer onto the back of the chair across from her. “Sorry to keep you waiting.” “No worries, I enjoyed the walk,” Ursula said brightly.

Drown:

“You seemed pretty smitten with this tutor girl,” Peter mused. The sounds of a dramatic breakup on the television nearly drowned him out. He fished the remote from the coffee table and muted the television. Klaus looked between Peter and Georg, who were both sending him matching smug expressions. Georg dramatically batted his eyes at Klaus, who shoved him in the shoulder and nearly sent him toppling over the side of the couch. “Come off it,” he dismissed with a snort. “I barely know her. She’s a fox, sure, but I’m not going to lose my head over a girl I’ve met once. Klaus Müller is always on the make.” Georg leaned forwards to look at Peter. “He’s speaking in the third person again.”

Routine:

“Alrighty, now that that’s out of the way, who wants to tell me what year the European Economic Community was established?” Prof. Dietrich asked brightly, shifting back into his regular routine of starting a lecture with an oral quiz. Josef avoided the man’s eye contact, choosing instead to pretend to be desperately jotting down notes. “Herr Weber? How about you give it a shot?”

Feather:

The rest of the class shifted their attention back to the lecture, but Josef’s face flushed as he fished out his notebook from his bag. He could practically hear the stories that would be circulating later. Josef Weber, the snobby inheritor to his father’s auto company, got scolded in front of a whole class. Wouldn’t that just put a feather in quite a few caps?

Rich:

“Tell me why I didn’t decide to work as a janitor,” Klaus muttered. “You’d never succeed as a janitor; you never even had to clean your own messes growing up.” One of Klaus’ arms snapped forwards and a smack that was aiming for Georg’s shoulder instead slapped smartly against the wooden back of his chair. With a sharp intake of breath, Klaus straightened in his seat. As he rubbed at his knuckles, Klaus shot back, “That’s rich, coming from a lawyer’s son.”

Chord:

“It’s a little complicated right now,” Hans said calmly. “Look, I’ve talked it all over with my mother, and she agreed that it would be best for me to stay here. It’s not that long, Josef, don’t look at me like that.” The doubt etched into Josef’s features was enough to warrant the comment, and he shook his head to try clearing it. Nothing in Hans’ demeanor pointed towards it being a lie, but something in the idea struck a false chord in him.

Water:

Though he'd managed to subdue most of his panic, Peter felt it all rushing back. A sudden pain at his hand drew him out of his thoughts, and he realized that he'd been aggressively stirring the pasta, and some of the water had splashed out of the pot.

Fade(d):

As Hans spoke, Professor Abend’s face lit up with recognition, which quickly faded into a solemn mourning. The exam lay on the desk between the two, forgotten. “I knew I had a Faust in one of my classes, but I never thought to make a connection,” Professor Abend said in a low voice.

Beneath Alder Creek:

Deep:

A deep breath, and then Winnie followed through, dragging her other foot into the creek. The water rose halfway up her calf, and continued to rise as she made her way forwards. To her thigh, then her hip, and finally up to her waist. It was the second dress she’d soaked that day, Winnie thought with a wry smile, and, in her distraction, she failed to notice a large rock in the creek bed. It could hardly be considered a fall. Winnie pitched forwards, plunging her face into the creek for only a moment before she caught her balance and straightened up. But she’d opened her mouth as she tripped, and her rise was met with a violent coughing fit. Loose strands of hair clung to her face, making it impossible to see, and Winnie pushed forwards carefully by feeling along the bottom with her foot. The progression was slow, but Alder Creek was by no means wide, and it wasn’t long before Winnie found the water beginning to ebb away. As she pulled herself out of the creek, Winnie brushed the hair from her face and finally opened her eyes. Looking to where she’d seen the fairy ring, she froze.

Contact(ing):

Contacting the fae was no easy feat; they only made appearances of their own volition, not subscribing to any convenient timetable. While it was said that certain holidays brought the mortal world closer to their realm, years had passed before any signs revealed their presence. By then, the couple had been so eager that they’d wasted no time in seeking out a deal. They were the fourth and fifth victims within the fifteen years. Nobody had been so hasty since.

Kick(ing):

Back into the bog. Winnie no longer worried herself with her skirts, allowing them to drag through the stagnant water. It was a mistake, she soon discovered, as the drenched fabric weighed her down and made the progress even slower. With an exasperated groan, she stomped at the ground, kicking up a spray and lodging her boot into the mud.

Sun:

Time steadily passed as they traveled, though how quickly or slowly it went by, Winnie couldn’t say. She could feel the blisters beginning to form on her feet, the slight ache in her shoulders where she’d slung her bag, the warmth that spread across her back as the sun’s ceaseless rays washed over them. When she fell slightly behind Taliesin, he was shining so brightly that her eyes began to burn, and she had to quicken her pace to keep in step with him.

Pair:

The first thing Winnie noticed was the boat they were standing in. It was like a skiff, sitting low in the water and directed by a pair of oars. The figure rowing seemed to be wearing some type of headgear, a hazy and elongated shape still a little too far to make out. Taliesin moved back from the shore, forcing Winnie to do the same to provide space for the skiff to breach.

Whisper:

“Don’t stare,” Taliesin reminded her in a whisper. He raised a hand in greeting, and the figure dipped their head slightly, though how they could’ve seen it without eyes, Winnie couldn’t say. “Hail, Ferryman!”

Prove(n): 

Turning away from the Llion, the group soon found themselves returning once more to the thick fog of the wetlands. Winnie took the middle, knowing better than to have Taliesin and Enid side-by-side. In one hand, she took the long sleeve of Enid’s robes, and in the other, Taliesin’s cloak. He dragged his feet the whole time, still sulking, and it took all of Winnie’s self-restraint not to let go and leave him behind as punishment for his pettiness. Being proven wrong did not suit the golden man.

Mix(ed):

It was nearly a week later when Winnie found herself back at Alder Creek. The water level had dipped back to its usual shallows, which lazily drifted by. Winnie could see her face reflected as she stared down, features blurred in its [flowing surface]. The hem of her skirt had dipped into the water, which lapped at Winnie’s bare feet. Her shoes were somewhere behind her, abandoned, a sign of her troubled mind. For the most part, Winnie had abandoned the practice of walking about barefoot - how her mother would’ve shouted if she’d seen her. The thought of her mother brought a fresh wave of mixed humiliation and frustration as the events of the day replayed through her mind.

Spin:

A light flickered in the trees. When Winnie looked up, she stared at the sight. Taliesin was crouching on a branch, catlike, with his hands holding the branch between his feet. Somehow, he did not sway but remained perfectly still, patiently watching Winnie spin in circles to look for him, all with an amused half-smile.

Color(s):

The opening of the cavern shifted through several colors, like an ever-changing kaleidoscope of light through a prism.

Need:

She offered Enid no response, so after a stretch of silence, the statuesque woman continued. “This is out of some attachment to the Dusk fellow, then.” Winnie bristled at her tone. “Of course it’s not. I merely need him to ensure that my brother and I are able to depart the Fae safely.”

Not found:

King (Apparently my writing does not support monarchies lol)

Chip

Everyday

This was excessively long, so I’m going to leave it an open tag. The words for anyone who feels like it are king, chip, and everyday because I’m sure somebody out there has them, even if I don’t.