#~{hmmm trespasser stuff maybe?}~

[dreadwxlf]

@tangledfate sent: ❛ no more lies, no more secrets. ❜ { from Fiore }

~ Solas bowed his head quietly, almost with shame. Fiore was right, he knew; he had lied and kept far too much from her. If anything, she deserved the truth. ~

~ " ...Very well. What do you wish to know? " ~

[ink4spots]

@laugtherhyena

Putting this here so other ppl can see it.

When a spirit hangs out on earth too long (for whatever unfinished business reasons or they just don't want to go) they are automatically considered a criminal and sent to hell regardless whether they were a good person or not. Like hmmm... For example.. could be a ghost that is looking out for a family member. They're well intentioned, but they've been on earth past the period where it is legal (ghost *do* have some time to sort their issues out and pass on but it's pretty short. Like a day or something) and tried to communicate and accidentally spooked the person they were looking out for.

In a case like this, SIL wouldn't care about their good intentions and reap their soul. They used to be ruthless... but now that Chiyo is around, they both try to help them pass on peacefully (and go to heaven) Skshsksb silver still doesn't love the idea but chiyo persuades her.

Letting ghosts go to heaven is probably... Illegal. But uh. Maybe Beni has an agreement with corporate heaven thru her angel friend.

+little sidenote. The more a ghost spooks a human, the more powerful they get. People that have recently died can't do much at all except knock some light stuff over or open a door. On the other end of the scale... there's really powerful ghosts that can do wild shit. Like possess someone full time.. + ALSO be seen clearly thru the naked eye which is a Problem bc that makes that ghosts stronger + ghosts in general (like what happened in csm with gun devil sjwhwj) 💥

+ another little thing I wanted to add. Not really super relevant? But Silver, unlike demon reapers, can be seen by regular humans (she just appears like a run of the mill human to them.. No stitches) so she can be caught by police for trespassing, breaking and entering.. or harassment (of possessed ppl) so she has 2 be careful. I have a angsty scenario idea for that where SIL has few time left and she goes to jail. She's got one hour left and they've resigned to their fate. But Beni shows up to break them out and they get a soul in the nick of time.

[mrs-harkness]

Ocean Eyes (Part 1)

Pairing: Tammy x Fem!Reader

Word Count: 2.6K

Taglist: @peggycarter-steverogers @imgayandmymomdoesntknow 

A/n: Hey guys. Sorry for the wait. Life has been so busy as I just became a certified therapist and just life stuff in general. This is just going to be a mini fic for fun while I work on writing my next big one- which will be for Cordelia! Literally nothing like Run to Me, so I hope you don’t find it disappointing. Just a little filler while I work out the plot for my next story!

You pulled out your phone, checking the time. 1:53 PM. Your interview was at 2 o'clock and if you didn't figure out where you were quickly, you were going to be late. You walked faster, panic dialing your best friend who had gotten you the interview.

"Hello?" the sweet voice chimed on the other end.

"Sarah! Help! I'm lost," you pleaded, looking at the address on the piece of paper in your hand and trying to match it to the towering houses around you.

"How did you get lost? I gave you the exact address. Did the driver put it in wrong?"

"No. I made the Uber drop me off at the entrance to the neighborhood because his car looked super sketch and I didn't want the mom to see me step out of a car that looks like it was used in a 70's porn film. I started walking and I got lost."

You heard Sarah shuffling around in the background, and what sounded like the tapping of keys.

"Okay, give me the address for the closest house," she said. Your best friend was a life saver.

"Uhhh... 768 Elm Street," you told her, trying not to look suspicious in this wealthy neighborhood.

"Hmmm. Okay you're literally two streets over. If you go to the end of this street, take a right and walk less than two blocks. You'll make it to maple from there. You somehow managed to be right behind her house. It will take you about ten minutes."

Shit.

"No! There has got to be a quicker way! I am going to be late!" You whined, stomping your feet on the sidewalk in frustration.

"Yeah, Tammy is not going to like that. She is very patient but she's got three kids so she really only has enough patience for them. Well wait, hang on a second."

"What? Did you find a quicker route?"

"Sorta. You should have just stayed in the Uber."

"Sarah I did not want to pull up like Will Smith from the Fresh Prince of Belaire, now spit it out already!"

"Well that house you are standing in front of? Technically if you could find a way into their backyard and through the trees... you could get to Tammy's house in half the time."

You looked at the house in front of you. It looked more like a post office than a home. Large marble columns, real gas lamps framing a shiny oak door, and a second floor balcony that seemed larger than Sarah's whole apartment. This is not the type of property you just meandered around on, but this job was also not the type of opportunity you just let slip away by being two minutes late.

You walked a little to the side of the house, and there you found your favorite thing of the whole house: A gate to the backyard.

"I'm gonna do it," you say to Sarah, who had been quiet this entire time.

There was more silence, before you heard your best friend draw in a breath.

"Don't get arrested please. Call me when you're done, or in lock up. Either way, be safe."

Sarah had always been someone who just supported and loved you no matter what. Whether it was moving on a whim to another city and crashing on her couch indefinitely or trespassing through a rich family's yard to get the job that would help you get started on your dreams. She was that type of friend and you loved her for it.

You didn't even say goodbye as you hung up and checked the time again. 1:55 PM mocked you on the screen. You shoved the phone in your pocket before quickly looking around. No one was out and about thankfully probably due to the heat picking up, so you walked briskly over to the gate.

You said a prayer and begged the universe to be kind to you under your breath as you forced yourself to find the courage and flung open the lock to the gate, letting it swing open. You looked around the yard really quickly to find it empty as well. Maybe this wouldn't be hard at all.

You closed the gate behind you and you quickly jogged into the yard. There was a picnic table close to the other side of the fence and you would be able to hop right over! You breathed a sigh of relief because everything was going to plan, until the dog.

A ear piecing yap began sounding through the yard like an obnoxious security alarm. You turned and saw that the back of the home was basically one big window and there inside was the ugliest looking purse dog you had ever seen, notifying every living creature with working ears within a mile of your presence.

You watched horrified as the owner of said ugly dog appeared in the view of the window like some horror movie on a tv screen. An older woman, dressed as if she had been in the middle of a workout, was also now yapping at you angrily and  making her way to her giant window wall.

Your feet started moving before you realized what was happening and you bolted to the back of the yard and onto the picnic table, jumping and throwing one of your legs over the fence. The little old woman made it to a sliding glass door, releasing her dog and profanities towards you.

The dog tore across the lawn, but thankfully was no actual threat. You looked at the woman as you threw your other leg over the fence.

"I'm not a criminal! I'm sorry! I just got lost on the way to a job interview. You have a nice home!" you yelled, trying to prove to this stranger you were not bad, just had poor execution of your ideas. You dropped over the other side of the fence and into the wooded area behind the home, running as fast as your feet could carry you from the angry woman and her angrier dog.

It only took you about a minute of running full force to make it to another fence, a fence you were praying was Tammy's. You ran around the length of it, following it to the front of the house. You shakily pulled out the paper from your pocket and checked the address. You had made it. This was the house. You laughed, more relieved than anything, and jogged to the front door.

You knocked and weren't even able to take a full breath before the door opened.

There before you stood the most beautiful woman you had ever laid your eyes on. Her hair was the color of sand on the beaches of heaven its self and her eyes looked like brownies fresh from the over, and you had the strange thought of wanting to burn your mouth on them.

Y/n, that's weird. Stop it.

You stared at her, trying not to look to heavily at her gorgeous smile at the fear she may think you were looking at her lips. Even though you kind of were. You forced yourself to smile back.

"You must be Y/n," she said, looking at her watch, "and you are right on time. Let it be known I find that super attractive."

You chuckle nervously, unable to process a coherent thought. You really just hoped she couldn't tell you had just ran through the woods to stand stupid on her doorstep. Thankfully it didn't seem like she did and stepped aside, letting you in.

The home was gorgeous and lavish, but also homey and seemed lived in. You could hear the distant laughter of children somewhere in the house and portraits of what you could only assume were those children hung on the walls. You did notice though that there was a lack of family portraits probably due to the husband no longer being in the picture.

Sarah had filled you in a little bit about the family situation. She had worked with them over the summer and was working for them when they filed for divorce. Supposedly neither of them seemed upset by it, but he had still decided to move into another town. Tammy supposedly worked a very busy job and with three rambunctious kids, help was needed. Sarah had helped them occasionally, but Tammy needed something more permanent and hopefully that's where you would come in.

You followed Tammy into a big open kitchen and sat down with her at the kitchen table.

"Can I offer you some tea or water?" she said sweetly.

Even though you were parched from the mini marathon you had just ran, you politely declined. You pulled your resume out of your bag and put it on the table. Tammy reached over and took it, looking at it before smiling back up at you.

"I know Sarah said you had just moved here, so what brought you to town?" Tammy asked.

You hoped the look of confusion was not obvious on your face because you were expecting only questions about the job. You were unsure how useful you would be talking about yourself right now.

"Uh, well I came to town for a fresh start, and with Sarah here, it just seemed like the best place to restart."

"Running from something?" Tammy asked, putting down the resume and taking a sip of something in a mug that had been sitting on the table.

"N-no ma'am. Nothing illegal. I am not a criminal. I told the old lady the same thing," you stuttered.

Tammy raised her eyebrow at the last part, but you kept going to breeze over it hopefully.

"I just- I got my heartbroken and got kicked out of the apartment we shared. I didn't feel like I was making anything of my life where I was and I have such big dreams, but all I found there was pain and complacency, so I came here in hope to change that."

You voice sounded small and you ringed your hands in your lap, nervous that you may have said too much. Tammy's face softened even more somehow though and she smiled at you over the edge of her mug. She stared at you for a moment, her eyes seeming to sparkle. She nodded and looked down at your resume again.

"Well, you certainly have quite an impressive track record here. You seem like a kid expert. And because I already did a background check on you, I feel comfortable saying, if you would like the job its yours."

You sat there at the table, now not trying to hide the stunned look on your face. You had a harder time getting over the fence than getting employed by this woman.

"That's it? You don't need to ask me anything else? You're giving me the job?" you ask, stumbling over your words.

Tammy laughs and it feels like butterflies flutter in your belly. You like to make her laugh, but you aren't sure if she think's you're funny or stupid.

"With my life and my job, Y/n, the thing that is most important to me is being able to trust you. With my kids, my day to day life, and if I need your help with something. Trust and honesty go a long way with me, and you proved that with one question," she said, coming over to you with a glass of water.

You took it with a smile, forcing yourself to take a slow slip.

"Well, you can definitely trust me. And I'd be honored to by your nanny," you say, excitement and nervousness flowering inside your chest.

Tammy smiles sweetly at you.

"Consider yourself part of the family Y/n. Now you do know this is a live in position right? Sarah told you that?"

You nodded, that having been one of the main reasons you wanted the job. As much as you loved Sarah, you did not love sleeping on her couch. Being a live in nanny presented its own set of challenges, but it wouldn't be forever.

"Good. Can you move in today?"

You choked on your water, coughing and spitting it all over your shirt. Tammy laughed at you, and your cheeks burned red. Now you were embarrassed and Tammy sensed that.

"I'm sorry Y/n, I didn't mean to shock you. I just really need your help around here as soon as possible. And it would be better if you just came on in and got to know me and the kids since you're going to be a big part of our lives."

She handed you a paper towel, looking down at you with a comforting expression. Your cheeks burned red again, but not from embarrassment. You looked away and cleared your throat, unsure why you were so flustered.

"Sure. Yeah, no problem. I just need to run home and grab my clothes and things, but I don't have any furniture so-"

"Oh don't worry. You'll have the whole attic. Its renovated and fully furnished and you'll have your own bathroom. You don't need to worry about buying anything."

That was a relief. It would have taken you a while to afford those things.

You got up and walked with Tammy to the front door, her opening it for you.

"Thank you Ms. Tammy for hiring me, you will not regret it. I will take good care of your kids and make your life as easy as I possibly can," you say, brushing a piece of hair behind your ear, attempting to look confident and wanting to ensure Tammy she had made the right choice.

She chuckled again, putting a little hole in that confidence, but it was quickly repaired when she wrapped her arms around you. It shocked you and you stood there, frozen for a second before hugging her back.

"I know you will. You're going to be a wonderful addition to our lives, all of our lives," she said. Her voice had a hint of something in it, making it seem like silk, but then you felt her pulling on your hair a bit and you felt like your legs may fall out from under you. Who was this woman?

Before you could assume anything further though, she pulled back and revealed she had taken a small branch with green leaves from your hair. You laughed nervously. Tammy cocked an eyebrow at you and smiled cheekily, holding it up.

"That is a funny story... I can explain that. I promise I bathe."

It was Tammy who laughed this time thankfully. She nodded and played with the branch in between her long, manicured fingers.

"That's alright. You can tell me about it tonight over drinks once you are home. I'd like to get to know you better while we get you settled."

Something about the way she said it made your breath catch in your throat. She smiled at you and you two said your goodbyes. You would text her when you were on the way back home. How strange that felt.

You sat in a much cleaner Uber on the way back to Sarah's, your head pressed against the glass. You couldn't stop thinking about Tammy and it seemed like you also couldn't wipe the smile from your face either. It seemed almost like a dream.

Just then, your phone buzzed and you were pulled from the thoughts of the woman to see that her name was on your screen. You quickly held the phone up to unlock it, suddenly overcome with the need of answering her at a moments notice. Thankfully it was not a message of her changing her mind.

Btw, just call me Tammy. Ms. Tammy is a little formal ;)

You smiled and bit your lip, quickly responding.

Okay, Tammy :)

[lichposting]

lenya and varaildis for the ask game!

Full Name: Just Lenya

Gender and Sexuality: nonbinary woman, bisexual

Pronouns: she/her, they/them on occasion

Ethnicity/Species: sceltrfolc

Birthplace and Birthdate: ?? Deep Winter/Late Winter 2777 AI, central-ish Aedyr

Guilty Pleasures: oversized beds with expensive bedding and ridiculous amounts of pillows

Phobias: hmmm…any form of horror relating to eyes or the midsection, she’s also pretty avoidant of direct sunlight but that’s more of a practical concern

What They Would Be Famous For: she could be a pretty good diplomat

What They Would Get Arrested For: using her mind control adjacent powers on the wrong person

OC You Ship Them With: crossing fandoms, I’d say Viranor. Vira is actually somewhat similar to her, except Vira’s response to danger or fear is to become a new person, as opposed to Lenya’s just disappearing. They’d make each other worse

OC Most Likely To Murder Them: Nialamide. Nia is very adamant about controlling who has access to mentally affecting magic and Lenya would be her next target

Favorite Movie/Book Genre: romance

Least Favorite Movie/Book Cliche: she wouldn’t like found family due to personal hangups

Talents and/or Powers: watcher stuff, lockpicking, theft, stealth, she’s an empath, cipher stuff, archery

Why Someone Might Love Them: on the occasions where she chills the hell out, she’s a very good listener and always knows the right thing to say

Why Someone Might Hate Them:

^ she’s like this but unironically

How They Change: she becomes way more comfortable with herself, and her interactions w/ the grieving mother and then w/ ondra in the white march leads her to view other people’s memories and thoughts less as potential tools and more as the intricate and deeply personal parts of life that they are

Why You Love Them: she truly is blorbo from my brain

Full Name: Varaildís Einasdottir

Gender and Sexuality: trans woman, bisexual

Pronouns: she/her

Ethnicity/Species: glamfellen

Birthplace and Birthdate: somewhere in The Land, 11 Majauton 2759 AI

Guilty Pleasures: rich foods, esp savory ones

Phobias: she doesn’t like areas w heavy tree cover, makes her feel claustrophobic (although actual small enclosed areas don’t freak her out)

What They Would Be Famous For: literally the only thing coming to mind is like one of those tv faith healers except it’s actually real when she does it

What They Would Get Arrested For: trespassing while attempting the defense of “actually officer the stars have it fated that I would go into this guy’s house and rifle through his closet”

OC You Ship Them With: hmmm…i think her idealism would balance nicely with Charlene’s more pragmatic nature (once chuck stopped freaking out about the fuckin blue elf lady in her house)

OC Most Likely To Murder Them: that’s a tough one, as (unlike lenya) she’s generally a nice, pleasant individual. maybe shelue? if they ended up on different sides of a conflict (or even just slightly different stances) shelue would just merk her

Favorite Movie/Book Genre: action

Least Favorite Movie/Book Cliche: does “you either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain” count

Talents and/or Powers: she’s a chanter, later a chanter/shieldbearer paladin, so all that stuff, speaks several languages, fairly good artist (usually works in brush pen)

Why Someone Might Love Them: she can actually hang, and she’s a really reliable person

Why Someone Might Hate Them: she’s not good at managing money, at all, if you shared a company card w her or something she’d spend it on something dumb on impulse

How They Change: she becomes a lot more grounded and practical during the events of the first game

Why You Love Them: she’s very fun to play as a mystical, confident character, since I usually play weirdos and losers in RPGs

[fairfaxleasee]

[Slow] dancing + Fenris/Cass? someone needs to take this boy out on the town!!

For @dadrunkwriting (Thanks to @xqueen0fhellx for letting me use her Damien Amell in this and my AU!)

CW: Anxiety, panic attacks, autism spectrum, Modern (University) AU

Cassia Hawke couldn’t quite believe what she was seeing in her hallway.  Not only did she have no idea how her cousin Damien had found her apartment (although her younger sister Bethany was at the top of the suspect list), but she had even less of an idea what he was doing with his arms full of stained papers and a single sneaker.

“Cousin Cass!  I did what you asked me!” Damien didn’t wait to be invited and strode into her apartment.

“Uhhhh... no you didn’t.”  Cass was positive she hadn’t told her cousin to do anything, let alone something that would involve him showing up at her apartment with... whatever it was he was holding.

“I did though!  Don’t you remember?  At the Dumar’s party last month you said we were going to spy on Danarius.”

“Uh, no, at the Dumar’s party I said I was going to look into Danarius’ business dealings.”

“Well... yeah, and while you did that, I did this!” he lifted his arms slightly to offer her whatever it was he was holding.

“Damien, I have no idea what that is.”

“I went through his trash!  And it was annoying because I had to climb over this really high fence to do it.”

Cass pursed her lips and tapped her fingers on her forehead.  “Okay, well we’re going to just pretend you didn’t confess to trespassing and theft...”

“See, these are a bunch of receipts for... well, I don’t know what they’re all for.  Oh, wait, and this looks like a coffee filter.  But I think the rest of these are receipts-”

“Damien...”

“I know he’s getting extra income from somewhere-”

“Damien!”

“So I brought them here because you’re good at all this thinking stuff!”

“DAMIEN!  When I said I was going to look into him I meant I was going to search through public records for his corporate filings and do a bit of catfishing.  The corporate stuff is public information and the catfishing is things he’s willingly telling me.  Or, well, willingly telling Cecelia.  But still.”

“Ohhh...” Damien sounded like he was finally listening to what Cass was actually telling him instead of the voice-over in his personal action movie.  “That sounds like a better plan now that you say it.”

“Yes.  And it’s also doesn’t involve trespassing or petty larceny.”

“Can I help with that?”

“No!”

“Do you need me to hack into anything?”

“NO!  That’s still illegal, Damien!  And I need whatever I’m going to use to be clean.”

“Well, what about catfishing?  Can I do that?”

Cass barely resisted the urge to throttle her overly-enthusiastic cousin, “I- yes, fine if that will get you out of here.  But no hacking!”

“So, what kind of profile do you think I should make up?  Can I see the one you’re using?  Can we hang out while I make it?”

“Damien, I am going to give you three seconds to get out the door before I push you out a window!  Fenris is coming over-”

“Can I meet him this time?”

“NO!” if Cass had her way about things Fenris would never be subjected to any of her relatives.  It was bad enough he’d already met Carver and Bethany (albeit briefly), Cass wasn’t about to impose another Amell on him.  She started shooing her cousin towards the door.

“Well, I guess I should leave to let you get ready.  You probably want to put something nice on.  Where are you going with him?  You should take him dancing!  Ooh!  Have you ever heard of the Hanged Man?  It’s this club-”

“Damien, just go back to your house and throw all that stuff out somewhere.  And don’t do anything else illegal!”

“Bye, Cousin Cass!  Let me know how your date goes!  I’ll call you when I have something-”

Cass gave her cousin one last shove and closed the door behind him.  She looked down at the clothes she was wearing and frowned.  They were clean, but that was all that could be said about them.  They were her usual combination of a tunic and leggings, and she liked them and was comfortable in them, they were far from nice.  Or pretty.  She’d never worn anything nice or pretty on any of their dates.

Although maybe it was unfair of her to consider what they did together ‘dating.’  He just came over to her apartment and they’d order carry out and watch movies.  She liked watching movies and eating carry out in her apartment, and she loved doing it with Fenris, but... She was probably boring him.  He’d been in a band; they’d met in the Hanged Man (even if Cass hadn’t wanted to go to the fucking club in the first place).

She bit her lower lip and tried to force herself not to cry.  She hadn’t managed to fuck anything up yet.  Maybe she had time.  She opened her phone and called Fenris.

“Cass?”

“Mm-hum.”  Great, of all the times for her throat to decide not to work.

“Cass, is everything alright?”

“Mm-hum.” She squeezed her eyes shut in an attempt to force herself to talk.  “I... um... I’ve got to do this quick thing.  I... I should be done before you get here, but I’m going to leave the door unlocked just in case.  So you can come in.  And I’ll have Dante and Squall with me so you don’t need to worry about that.  But it’s fine, okay?  I- I’ll see you in a bit.”

“Cass...”

“I’ll see you in a bit.”

She was slightly afraid he would try to call her again once she hung up, but didn’t have time to be relived he hadn’t as she tore to her bedroom in search of something that wouldn’t make her look like, in the endearing words of her brother, a ‘crazy bag-lady.’

It took a while to find.  Most of her regular clothes were similar to what she was wearing already and she had a few suits for competitions that she wore.  She’d tried on one of the dresses her mother had bought for her to wear to the parties she was supposed to go to, but it made her skin burn and crawl so she’d yanked it off before she’d even zipped it up.  She eventually found a knee-length black skirt (she had a fleeting thought that it might have been from her high school uniform, but as long as it didn’t look like it was from a high school uniform she wasn’t going to be picky) and a scoop-neck split sleeve blouse.  She glanced at her phone and cursed that it had taken her all but five minutes of the time she’d had between her cousin running his mouth (he obviously hadn’t meant anything by it, and while she wasn’t mad at him for causing it she was still furious it had happened) and Fenris’ arrival.  She rushed to the bathroom in a desperate search for make up.  She owned some basic stuff for her competitions, but it was to make her look professional.  She flung open cabinets and drawers in search of something as she tried not to focus on the sting of shame at what was in her medicine cabinet.

She heard the door to her apartment open and shook her head as she tried to apply what she’d found in a way that wouldn’t end up with her looking like a toddler who’d gotten into its mother’s purse.  She couldn’t enjoy the fact that she’d managed it because when she looked at the reflection in the mirror, she couldn’t recognize the woman staring back at her.  Actually, that wasn’t true.  She knew exactly who was staring back at her.  ‘Cassia Amell Hawke’ was staring back at her.  The daughter her parents wanted was staring back at her.  Someone normal was staring back at her.  Someone Fenris deserved was staring back at her.  The woman she could never be was staring back at her.  She felt tears begin to prick the edges of her eyes before a voice from the living room distracted her.

“Cass?”

She wiped her eyes quickly as she answered, “Yes!  Sorry, Fenris, I’ll be right out!”  She grabbed the only pair of heels she owned as she tore from the bedroom.

“Cass!”  She watched Fenris’ expression change as he took in her appearance.  She bit her lip as she admonished herself silently for not being able to understand what any of it meant.  “Cass, why are you wearing that?”

“I... um... do you not like it?”  She hadn’t even considered Fenris may not like what she was wearing.

“I - no!  You look... stunning but, it’s not what you usually wear.”

“I... well... I thought... I thought maybe we could do something different tonight.”

“Like what, Cass?”

“I... like we could go... out to dinner?”

“Hmmm... we could do that.”  He was smiling.  She didn’t think anything was off about the smile so she smiled back.

“And then we could go somewhere nice after?  Like a club or a bar or something?”

Something was wrong with his smile as she finished.  “Are you sure, Cass?”

“Mm-hum.”  She nodded.  She was sure, she just couldn’t bring herself to actually claim she was sure.

“Let’s see how you feel after dinner.”

“I... okay.”  She hung her head as she tried to keep smiling.  She’d obviously done something wrong.  Maybe if she could figure out what it was she’d be able to fix it.

They had a fairly nice time at dinner.  Fenris mentioned he knew a Seheron restaurant he liked that didn’t do carry-out so they went there.  It was definitely noisier than Cass’ apartment, but it wasn’t overwhelming.  As they left, Fenris reached a hand around her waist to press her gently to him and whisper, “Should we head back, Cass?”

She turned to him, “I - No!  I said we could go dancing.  So let’s go to a club.”

“Cass...”

“Do you not want to?”

“Do you want to?”

“Mm-hum.”  She wanted to want to.  That was close enough.  He turned away.  She reached out and grabbed his collar as she felt her breathing get heavier.  She pulled him towards her as her eyes drifted away.

“Cass...” she felt him sigh above her.  “If you’re sure, Cass.”

She nodded and pulled him closer.

“Alright, I know a place that’s not far.”

Cass had no idea what club Fenris had taken her to, but she knew she hated it.  It was just as bad as the Hanged Man (although for all she knew, it was the Hanged Man again, she’d blocked most of the specifics of the place out): flashing lights, crowds of people, loud music, somehow louder voices, the stench of cigarettes, alcohol, and cologne.  It was as though the entire place were determined to make her as miserable as possible as quickly as possible.  She thought Fenris was trying to talk to her.  She couldn’t hear him.  She tried to focus on looking happy; pretending to belong.  Keeping up her desperate façade of normalcy for as long as possible as the fire the overstimulation set off in every nerve in her body overwhelmed and consumed her.

The next thing she was fully aware of she was outside with her head pressed against a concrete wall as she gulped lungfuls of cold night air.

“Feeling better, Cass?”

She turned her head slightly to look at Fenris.  His whole expression was funny - he wasn’t trying to smile, and he didn’t look angry, but she couldn’t for the life of her understand his slightly furrowed eyebrows.  She closed her eyes and tried to catch her breath.  She didn’t want to make him wait any longer so she bit her tongue to try to force it to start working.  “Yeah... um, just give me a second and we can go back in.”

“We’re not going back in, Cass.”

Her eyes flew open and she turned to Fenris in a panic, “I can do it better, Fenris!  Just tell me what I did wrong and I can make it right!”

“Cass, you were miserable in there.”

“I’m sorry!  I know I’m not supposed to be.  I can- I can get better at pretending it’s fun!”

“Cassia, listen to me,” he reached out and hovered a hand over her cheek.  She knew she shouldn’t - she didn’t deserve it - but she leaned into his touch.  He rubbed his thumb over her cheekbone.  “You don’t have to pretend with me.  I don’t want you to pretend with me.  I want to be with you, not anyone else.”

“I don’t understand, Fenris...”

“Do you believe me?”

“Yes.”  She reached up to grab his wrist.

“That’s enough, Cassia.”

“But...  but I want to do more, Fenris.  You deserve more.”

“Hmm...” he slid his hand off her cheek and around her back to press her to his chest.  “Is there anything you think we didn’t get to do tonight?”

“I... we didn’t get to dance.  That’s what people go to clubs for, right?”

“We don’t need a club to dance, Cass.  Here, give me your phone.”

She slid it out of her pocket, unlocked it, and handed it over.  She saw his eyes narrow at the screen.  “Fenris?”

“It’s nothing, Cass.  I’m just going to have to have a long talk with this Cousin Damien of yours at some point.”

“Fenris, nothing good ever comes from talking to my Cousin Damien at any length.”

“Well, I agree with that, but I don’t intend to let him off the hook.  But let’s leave that for now.”

Cass watched the light of the screen reflect on Fenris’ face for a few seconds before music began to play.  ‘I see trees of green; Red roses too.’  She leaned into him and wound her arms behind his head.  He reached down with the hand that wasn’t holding the phone to reach around her waist as they swayed to the music.  She wasn’t sure it counted as ‘dancing,’ but she was sure she wasn’t able to do anything more just then.  She leaned away from slightly so she could press her forehead to his, “I think this is the first time I’ve liked this song.”

She felt him laugh, “My thoughts exactly, Cassia.”

[impracticaldemon]

Under the Stars

Fairy Tail fanfiction by impracticaldemon for @nalufever​

Words: ~ 1000   | Rating:  T (this is fluffy stuff with a tiny hint of spice)

Under the Stars

They’d become even closer, since the war.  More silent, though.  It was as if the pain and destruction had left them each with a need to simply be together without words.  Or maybe it just felt safer, since words might trespass into things neither wanted to discuss just yet.

That particular night, they were hiking up a nearby hill to go stargazing.  Natsu’s fingers were threaded tightly through Lucy’s, warm and reassuring.  Loving.  She’d been conscious for a long time that he loved her, although exactly how and in what way had often been in doubt.  Her own feelings were quite clear to her -- she loved Natsu in every way.  

The trees suddenly grew sparse, and then gave way to grass.  As soon as the sky was open above them, Lucy stopped and turned her face up to the stars.  She avoided looking out over Magnolia at night -- the extended dark areas were too eloquent of recent loss.

“So, Lucy...”  Natsu’s voice was uncharacteristically hesitant.  He might be a little quieter now, but he’d retained the fierce confidence that inspired his friends and frequently baffled his enemies.

“Yes?”  Lucy glanced sideways, then turned more fully when she saw the serious expression on Natsu’s face.  It was full night, and dark, but she didn’t need much light when it came to reading those particular features.

“I’ve been trying to think how to say this, and nothing seemed quite right.”

“Mmm?”  Lucy’s outward calm was all for show, and she knew that Natsu could tell.  Her heart was suddenly beating so fast that for a moment it seemed all she could hear was the blood rushing through her body.  Don’t get your hopes up.  You cherish what you already have.  She always told herself the same thing, and she always failed to follow her own advice.  

“I love you.  You are the most important person in the world to me.  And if it’s okay with you, I’d like to kiss you.”

Lucy stared at him.  Was she hallucinating?  Projecting?  

“...Kiss?”  

“Is that a yes?”

Time sped up again.

“Yes!  That’s a yes -- but -- does that mean --”  She felt the warmth of Natsu’s arms around her waist and shoulders.  “So -- just to be clear -- are we -- “

Natsu’s forehead rested lightly against hers.  His face took up most of her vision, surrounded by darkness and a few twinkling stars.

“I heard this line in a ballad a while ago, Lucy; and it got me thinking.  Because it sounds like us, you know?”

“Natsu?”

He cleared his throat, but didn’t actually sing the words.  Instead, he  bent his head further and quoted the line to her softly, his warm breath tickling the top of her ear:  “Let us be lovers, and marry our fortunes together...”

It was impossible to tell, who kissed who after that.  Their lips met, fervent, if not yet practised.  Their arms twined about each other, holding their bodies as tightly together as clothes would permit.

They ended up in the grass, still together,  their belongings strewn about them.  Lucy felt Natsu’s hand running tentatively over her curves, caressing her from her hips to the swell of her breasts. She returned the favour in kind, tracing the hard planes of his chest and back with one hand, while the other gripped his hair and kept his mouth tight against hers.  She was amazed at how good -- at how very hot -- it felt to have his tongue twine with hers and then probe deeper into her mouth.

Time passed.  Their breathing grew more rapid, and their movements less controlled.  Natsu was half on top of her now, his weight, and his knee between her legs, promising intimacies yet to come -- if not tonight, then in the not too distant future.  Lucy felt as though her body was burning with heat.

She blinked her eyes open, and looked up at the sky above them, magnificent with stars.  Natsu’s lips and teeth -- sharp teeth! -- moved to her neck, and she licked at puffy lips as she automatically picked out the constellations among the sparkle and glitter overhead.  

“Looking at the stars instead of me?”  Natsu’s voice was huskier than usual.  Lucy thought she saw the tiniest flicker of uncertainty in his expression as their eyes met.

“No... At least, not exactly...”  Lucy moved a little under and against him, deliberately sensual.  “It’s more like looking at the stars and you.  A perfect moment...”

“Hmmm.”  Natsu nipped at her earlobe, and then pressed a hot, sharp kiss under her ear.  She saw his lips twitch into a smug -- or at least happy -- smile when she couldn’t prevent herself from voicing a breathy moan.  “That’s a pretty good answer, I guess.”

Lucy laughed up at him.  “Thank you, I guess.”

Natsu grinned, but silenced her laughter with a passionate kiss on the lips that made her toes curl and her body long for a lot more touching.  When he finally drew back a little, she tried to get a look at his expression -- was he as thrilled, as turned-on, as she was?  His face was too deep in shadow to see clearly, but she was once against struck by the profound joy of being there with him, in this way, under her beloved stars.

“There you go again...”  Natsu’s words held a hint of complaint, but his tone was all warmth and happiness this time.

“Deal with it,” retorted his lover and best friend.

“Well, if you put it like that...”  

Always ready for a challenge, Natsu pulled Lucy closer, prepared to woo her away from the celestial heavens.  Lucy smiled inwardly.  While she was delighted to be wooed, her mind was already very much on earthly matters. 

[END]

[frosted-cinnagrifs]

For the ship ask: grimmons and/or solavellan with ur lavellan!

👀 ~Grimmons~

Who said “I love you” first Neither lol  probably Grif, i feel like? 

Who would have the other’s picture as their phone background Simmons already has Grif as his screensaver so 👀

Who leaves notes written in fog on the bathroom mirror both, but mainly Simmons- gotta remind Grif of the work that he should be doing lmao. grif mainly just writes stuff in response wheezes

Who buys the other cheesy gifts Simmonssss~

Who initiated the first kiss Both maybe? i feel like it’d be a mutual heat of the moment type deal

Who kisses the other awake in the morning Simmons, KIND OF. he tries it but usually grif won't get up so he has to resort to something else. sometimes pushing him onto the floor, who knows.

Who starts tickle fights Grif. i don't know why i feel so strongly about it but i do.

Who asks who if they can join the other in the shower Grif- i cannot imagine simmons asking that with a straight face lol

Who surprises the other in the middle of the day at work with lunch Simmons mosty, though sometimes grif is nice enough to share his food when simmons is having a tough time or is really busy

Who was nervous and shy on the first date Simmons. that's it, no explanation needed.

Who kills/takes out the spiders Grif. i know simmons hates snakes, but i feel like he wouldn’t like spiders either tbh.

Who loudly proclaims their love when they’re drunk hnn i wanna say grif since he drinks more often? but i think Simmons tbh. 

~Solavellan ft. Ellaryn~

Who said “I love you” first aaaa solas! gotta love that balcony scene ;w;

Who would have the other’s picture as their phone background Ellaaaa, you know she wants to see her bf as often as possible

Who leaves notes written in fog on the bathroom mirror oooh honestly, I feel like that's solas~

Who buys the other cheesy gifts Ella! Gift-giving is one of her main love languages, shes always getting or making gifts for Solas, as well as her other close friends and siblings

Who initiated the first kiss Ella- girl making those moves in the fade  👀 plus tbh shes just. a very forward person.

Who kisses the other awake in the morning Ellllllla~ we all know solas probably sleeps longer since he loves the fade so much, so Ella wakes up first. she usually lets him sleep a while before waking him tho <3

Who starts tickle fights hnnn, i don't know- both and yet somehow neither? it probably only happened once but neither of them are ticklish so *shrugs*

Who asks who if they can join the other in the shower I'm torn here tbh- maybe both? Ella is def the type of person to suggest t most often. but solas is lowkey very- idk, physical? he's always grabbing her ass in cutscenes at least lmao

Who surprises the other in the middle of the day at work with lunch hmmm both? both. bc I love the idea of her taking lunch to him and relaxing together while he’s reading or whatever, but Ella is also v busy being inquisitor, so I also love the idea of him getting her to take a break over lunch <3

Who was nervous and shy on the first date Neither, but I lean more towards solas since ya know- he’s been lying to her the whole time about who he is :)

Who kills/takes out the spiders Both! i can’t imagine either of them being overly bothered by spiders, though Ella doesn't exactly want them in her room lmao

Who loudly proclaims their love when they’re drunk Oh, Ella for sure tbh- she doesn’t drink a lot, at least not before the trespasser dlc. after which she probably drinks more often, honestly

[hmel78]

In conversation with Anthony Phillips ...

1967 – the World watched on as San Francisco experienced it’s ‘Summer Of Love’, and listened on as music reached the dizzy heights of psychedelic rock; Classical music seemed to be drowned out by the screams accompanying  The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who … Meanwhile, at Charterhouse school - one of Great Britain’s finest ‘public’ educational establishments in the idyllic English county of Surrey - a handful of budding young musicians, were busily trying to prove to their masters that banning guitar practice as a punishment for missed homework, would not stop the musical revolution that had begun to happen within it’s own splendid Gothic walls! Unsurprisingly, there is a noteable list of ‘Old Carthusians’ – including the composer Ralph Vaughan Williams, amongst numerous artists, actors, poets , sportsmen, TV personalities, journalists, politicians, and Bishops! – but we doubt that they could ever have imagined that they would also nurture, and eventually include in that list, the founder members of a band called … ‘Genesis’. Perhaps you have heard of them?

Peter Gabriel, Michael Rutherford, Tony Banks, Christopher Stewart, and … Anthony Phillips. Despite his departure from the band in 1970, Ant has never strayed from his musical path.   His solo discography boasts in excess of 30 albums; in addition to that he enjoys an incredibly busy, and successful career as a TV and ‘library’ composer; and has been involved with a number of musical projects including collaborations with fellow ‘Genesis’ band mates Mike Rutherford, Phil Collins, and Peter Gabriel -  but it hasn’t all been plain sailing …   Helen Robinson, caught up with him to find out more : HR - So where did your musical journey begin?

AP - I was pretty much self taught at school. I studied music later, but in the beginning I was self taught. I briefly had guitar lessons from a chap who was very impressive. My mum used to buy me the Beatles sheet music, and kindly send it down to me at ‘Charterhouse’ – and this chap  would just look at them and read from the piano score, with guitar ‘shapes’ written in fret numbers as opposed to tablature – and he would play the chords and the melody on this beautiful classical guitar. I just wanted to be able to strum the chords to the songs and sing along really, and I think at the time he was a bit disappointed that I wasn’t prepared to go the classical route … Anyway I didn’t.   Then formed a band at school – doing Rolling Stones,  Beatles, Kinks, Animals, The Shadows  - Hank was a big influence - and that took me up to starting to write my own stuff; A lot of it with Mike Rutherford. I met Mike when I was 13 – the other Genesis guys were quite a bit older so we didn’t get together with them for a couple of years. The school band – The Anon - was people more my age. I was the babe of Genesis!

HR - Indeed – and with that in mind, how much input did they allow you to have on the debut album – “From Genesis To Revelation”?

AP - The first album I didn’t do an enormous amount of writing – it was very much dominated by Peter Gabriel and Tony Banks.   The second album – “Trespass” -  was much more of a ‘group’ album. In fact, myself and Mike were responsible for the basis of 3 or 4 of the tracks on “Trespass”. “Visions of Angels” was my piano track originally. Songs like “Looking For Someone” were Peter Gabriel songs that the rest of us developed the instrumentals around. I had a reasonable amount of stuff on “Genesis To Revelation”, but Mike had very little – we came much more into play on ‘Trespass’.

HR - You’d left the band by the time their 3rd album was released. Did they take any of your ideas forward into “Nursery Cryme”? AP - Actually, I was responsible for mucking about with a few ideas that ended up on the album, way before I left   - Mike had this weird tuning of F# which we played about on.  That song became “The Musical Box” later – so, yes, a couple of ideas made it.

HR - Do you ever listen back to the first two albums, and hear things that you would change?

AP - I don’t often listen, no - and I haven’t listened to them enough to have any really strong thoughts. I think if you don’t listen for a while then it’s quite pleasant. If you have a period away from these things, you tend to forget what you thought was wrong,  so then it’s not so bad – but I must say that when you listen repeatedly, then you start to think “oh dear”, I could have done that differently. We all felt that the business of putting strings on “Genesis To Revelation”  - which necessitated reducing the backing track to mono -was a bit of a disaster.   Whilst our playing wasn’t the best, the album had a rough, raw power to it which, that process of adding these high wheeling strings to, made it lose something, and anodyne, perhaps. I know that our producer was trying to give it a more commercial edge, which I understand, but I don’t think it really came off -  and it was at some cost too!

HR - Would you re-record or re-mix any of it again now, in your own way?

AP - No I don’t think so.  I think it is of its time really.   The other thing of course is that it’s physically impossible now.   That reduction process, means that things were erased, so we can’t get back to the original stages even if we wanted to. That’s all changed now, mercifully, with computers . You can get back to any stage these days – providing you remember to save it!

HR – Ah, yes!  The wonders of modern technology.  And … NOT saving things! [laughs]

AP - Yes – we’ve all done it!!!  It’s all so easily done. We take too much for granted with technology. You can become over reliant on it, and lazy! I do fall into that trap myself sometimes actually – musically. I don’t think enough about original sounds I just tend to buy virtual instruments. T hey are wonderful, but if you think back to albums like  [The Beach Boys], “Pet Sounds” and [The Beatles] “Sgt Pepper”, those sounds were created, they weren’t just there at the push of a button!

HR - I know you’re quite experimental with your solo work … Once you’d left Genesis , how easy was it to move into a more classical sound with your compositions?

AP - I found it difficult! I could play by ear, but learning to read music at the age of 18 was incredibly hard to grasp. It was a different discipline of course, of not looking at the guitar or the piano, whilst reading music. My motivation in doing it, was because I wanted the ability to orchestrate ; Not having had that set of skills in Genesis , we couldn’t really have any input into the orchestral approach because we simply didn’t really understand it. Tony Banks did more than the rest of us, although he wasn’t orchestrally trained, but he could read music. So I wanted the power to orchestrate. It wasn’t simply about being able to read music, or being able to play piano pieces – It was definitely to understand notation, so that I could write orchestral pieces. I had a ‘Road to Damascus’, if you like,  after I left Genesis, and listened to all sorts of composers. “The Karelia Suite”, by Sibelius, was my epiphany. I suddenly thought “this doesn’t sound like classical music!”. I must have listened to the wrong things, or maybe my ears weren’t ready to listen as a child, so I had a lot of catching up to do. There was a huge ‘pop’ / ‘Classical’ divide as I was growing up in the 60s – it was rancorous between the establishment and the young tear-aways, and hippies.   It was a wonderful voyage of discovery though, but frustrating at the same time –  technically -  I loved doing Bach ‘Chorales’ and things like that, but some of the exercises I had to do, I found quite dull.

HR - Having honed your skills then,  did you find that it made a difference to the music that you wanted to write? Did you find yourself wanting to bridge the gap between pop and classical – through a ‘progressive’ angle?

AP - Hmmm, Bridge the gap is interesting. It didn’t make a great deal of difference to me in terms of the progressive wing of my writing – I think I would have grown into that anyway.

With Genesis - There were some moments which were quasi classical, but I don’t think they bridged the gap really, no. Tony Banks was very familiar with the classical repertoire, so you could argue that his chord sequences were classically influenced. What studying  did for me, was give me the ability to do - with the more markedly classical wing of things (although you may argue that it’s a fine line to distinguish which bits are prog, and which are classical!) –  was cope with them better.

On “The Geese And The Ghost” for instance, having studied orchestration, and knowing how to write the parts, I didn’t have to get an arranger in. I could think for myself and make my own judgments on which instrument to add where. Plus – arrangers inevitably, like anyone else, tend to have their own styles which then reflect on the piece, which might be good, but it might not be necessarily what you want. So it really did help me in that respect.

HR - Genesis certainly didn’t carry any of that vibe forward, into their commercial phase …

AP - No! Well, the post Gabriel group gradually became more and more commercial didn’t they. Phil Collins and Peter Gabriel were quite different animals really - Obviously Peter did some successful commercial things afterwards. To be fair to them [Genesis], it would have been very difficult to carry on that way – especially post punk, and disco eras. There was almost a unilateral, multilateral, Palace revolution, that everyone had to start doing that! It became very unfashionable to be ‘prog’ and have such complicated long and drawn out pieces of music.

My timing was peccable -  I’m not sure there is such a word, but I like it anyway! - coming back into the business, because I walked straight into the teeth of punk! Whilst I had nothing against it, in the sense that if I had been 10 years younger I would have been doing the same thing –what I did object to, was being asked to go into reverse gear, and start doing simple pop stuff, because I’d out grown it.

So I think it actually, for the purposes of the market, became very difficult for groups to stay true to their former selves and continue to produce classically based music. I don’t think it was a conscious direction on behalf of a lot of groups to start to simplify their music, they just were not given much choice.   It didn’t do England a great deal of credit the way that everyone cashed in on that - there was so much clichéd nonsense around and people were saying “this music hasn’t got any balls!”. In a lot of European countries and the States, different styles were able to co-exist much better, than here in the UK. It was the fault of the record companies rather than a lot of the punk musicians really - they were just happy doing their own thing, but there was a lot of unpleasantness at that time. There were a lot of people who were heroes one day, and then being knifed in the back the day after by the people who had been adulating them! Which wasn’t anything to be terribly proud about …

HR - Not at all! But, something to be proud about is this lovely re-issue of your debut solo album “The Geese And The Ghost”!

AP - Yes!  Absolutely! It’s just come out again, and in surround sound too, which is the first time I have had a surround sound album, and they have done a fantastic job with it! Particularly the instrumentals – it really does make a difference to have that experience of surround sound. And they’re releasing limited editions on Vinyl too, which is fabulous because that is when the artwork really comes into it’s own. Vinyl seems to be having a bit of a revival, which is great! MP3s are OK, but the sound is pretty impoverished really one you’ve narrowed the bandwidth of the sound. It sounds like a different album really, with that treatment! HR - When you started work on “The Geese And The Ghost” originally - Did you write it from a fresh perspective or was it something that you had brought forward from Genesis?

AP - It was actually written from a period as far back as 1969 / 1970. Things that Mike [Rutherford] and I had played around with then. There were some additions and refinements made between 1973 / 1974. Recording began in 1974, although the main body of it was done in 1975 – which is actually 40 years ago, isn’t that terrible?! And then, because they were now unfashionable times, we really struggled to get it released - so it didn’t come out until early 1977, by which time some of that material was over 7 years old!

HR - When you were selecting musicians to work with, what influenced your decision to ask Phil Collins and not Peter Gabriel?

AP - Well, Mike and I wrote together, and Peter and Tony [Banks] wrote together -  when we came together as a group, that modified a little, but that initial pairing pretty much stayed the same way. So, because Mike and I had all this unreleased music – which was frustrating –at the earliest opportunity ; at a time where solo albums looked like a possibility - we wanted to use this material. We had done a single with Phil in 1973 which ironically was written about the previous Genesis drummer, Jonathan Silver, who was on the first album.  I had written this with Mike – a very uncharacteristic kid of loose country song called “The Silver Song” and Phil came down and sang the demo and did such a great job of it. You see, Peter was married, so whenever we had any time off - he went home to spend it with Jill ; whereas Phil was foot loose and fancy free and had tons of energy. The single never got released for various reasons, but when it came to “The Geese And The Ghost” he was the obvious choice because the three of us had worked together before. HR - I’m glad you mentioned Jonathan Silver there –  with regards to him, and John Mayhew – were they just hired guns for the early Genesis albums or did they have creative input?

AP - No, they weren’t hired guns as such, but by the same token they didn’t have a huge input, but we did group compositions on all the tracks on those first 2 albums –  so whilst they weren’t writing huge swaythes of chord sequences, they were putting in little bits here and there. Jon Silver was full of energy and ideas about arranging and how things were connected. HR - We never really get to know the dynamics of the early stuff, which is why I was curious. It has always seemed to me, that Phil Collins became Genesis … or is that an unfair judgment?

AP - Well he had the big commercial success and I don’t think it would have been easy to keep him unless he had the lion share of the writing credits, although I think they’ve shared the credits pretty well … I think it’s sad to see him fall so far from all of that these days, with the press in particular, but he was colossally successful, and I think the group would have been looking the gift horse in the mouth if they hadn’t run with Phil.

The media can be so cruel. I remember a duel review of “The Geese And The Ghost” being handed to me from the states. One called it a “mellow rock classic”, the other said it was “music to wash dishes to” … and sadly you seem only to remember the bad ones!

And do you know, that it was the album that very nearly never came out?!! It sat on a shelf whilst punk roared away, and I’d given up on it to be honest. It was 15 months between finishing it and it being picked up to be released.   For the first 3 or 4 months I was quite hopeful;  by new year  1976 I was beginning to lose hope, and by the summer I was definitely starting to think about other things, and applying to go to music college full time.  

It was a pretty soul destroying time – I’d spent a lot of time and energy on it; a lot of angst , and thought, apart from hard work, had gone into it … And then right at the 11th hour, while I was going for auditions to music college for the following year  - suddenly it was picked up by an American record company. It was never actually released on a formal English record company label - it was released by the Genesis management company with whom I was with at the time – ‘Hit And Run’ – so like I say it’s the album that nearly never was!

HR - If it hadn’t been picked up then, do you think you’d have given it another shot down the line?

AP - No … I don’t actually. I think I would have gone to music college, and ...   Good point! What would I have done at the end of it?   I think I would have carried on composing, definitely, but I’m not quite sure where I would have come out at the other end, because the progressive scene had long gone, when I finished college in 1979– [laughs] Yes - in a parallel world what would I have done?   I have absolutely no idea! I would probably have ended up as a music teacher.

HR - Did you teach, at some point?

AP - Yes … yes I did funnily enough. Whilst I was studying, I taught classical guitar - which helped me a lot. I had always played acoustic guitar, but didn’t play proper finger style - my right hand was quite basic, so I studied classical guitar as well as piano when I left Genesis, and teaching then helped me to pass the Classical Guitar teachers exams (as opposed to the performers diploma). I taught at a couple of different schools. One was Pepper Harrow ; which was like a progressive borstal for kids who were very bright, but who’d fallen foul of authority - not so badly that had to be interned, as it were.   A great number of them had come from some pretty horrific backgrounds, but a number of them have gone on to do great things. Some of them were brilliant musicians!   I remember wondering what I was letting myself in for initially, but it’s something that I look back on with a great deal of affection. They weren’t just guitar lessons – they were much more -  the music was a vital part of these guys rehabilitation.

HR - Sounds like you’d have made a fantastic teacher, had all else failed! Given that “The Geese And The Ghost” almost didn’t happen – did that fill you with confidence to carry on to do the next album straight away, or had it discouraged you a little?

AP - Oh I’ve had more than my fair share of discouragement over the years! The album that came directly afterwards was “Wise After The Event” and I was immediately told that it had to be an album of songs – the writing was on the wall for these straggly instrumental albums -  and it was time to crank up the electric guitar into a heavier rock genre, or don’t bother turning up, kind of thing.

“Sides” was originally going to be called “Balls”, which was cocking-a-snook at people for saying that my music didn’t have enough balls! At the time it seemed to me to be so ludicrous to have this blanket approach across all music  - so that’s why we had the cover with the table football table on it - But the powers that be, over-ruled “Balls” and we had to change it to “Sides” ; because it did have one side that was more overtly commercial than the other, which is a little more instrumental.

I was lucky at that point, because the “Private Parts and Pieces” idea just came out of the blue really. I had been recording and stockpiling quite a lot throughout the year when nothing was happening with “The Geese And The Ghost”, and I asked if it might be possible, as a foil to this more rock orientated stuff, to be able to release an album of piano pieces, guitar pieces – sort of home recordings, which made up in their atmosphere and mood, what they lacked in technical perfection - and they said yes!  

The first X of “Sides” was released as “Private Parts And Pieces” - as a freebie.   It wasn’t actually “Private Parts and Pieces I” because it was a one off, but that numbering thing became sort of a generic term for my albums which were more homespun and simple – you know, small scale, as opposed to the more magnum opuses.

Not that I was able to do a Magnum Opus for quite a while! There was the “Invisible Men” album, which had a certain amount of record company backing, but that was again released around the time of the ‘New Romantics’ – more bad timing! I’d just bought my first house, and was under huge financial pressure with about 18 lodgers to pay the mortgage!   So there was big pressure on to have hit singles and get paid, and so I didn’t do another full scale album for about another 6 years. I was lucky to still have this  ‘outlet’, with the small scale releases, to continue to get some music out there during the 80s  - when the climate was very much against the more classical stuff -  at least I did continue to get piano, guitar, synth - slightly more imaginative stuff - out there, but all very much on a small scale.

Thinking about it, it was actually a full 7 years gap before I had the opportunity to do another large scale album at the end of the 80s. It was a frustrating time that too,  I can tell you. I had rather a chequered career for a while. I was doing a lot of songwriting, and aiming it at other artists. We would keep getting close, but then, the management would lose the artist, or the album was canned. They weren’t collaborations or anything, but we had some placements in the works for Sheena Easton, Roger Daltry and people like that, but they never worked out. We had a song covered by Bucks Fizz – who promptly had a coach crash! So I had a run of bad luck with that really. It was an interesting time –  I was trying allsorts of different things whilst my own music wasn’t making much money, and whilst trying to pay for the new house. It didn’t quite come to being a cat burglar, or an assassin, but I did give it some serious thought!

HR - Your celebrity friends could have hired you to assassinate the music press …

AP - [laughs] Yes …

HR - Is there anyone in particular, that you would like to collaborate with? AP - I thought you were going to say Assassinate! I don’t know these days … about collaborations … Mike and I were always a good team but we have gone in different directions now.   I’m not sure that he’s interested in doing complicated instrumental stuff any longer.   He did ask me if I wanted to be involved with the Mike and Mechanics albums, but I knew that I couldn’t see the whole project through with the touring and everything, which is what he needed.   And it’s not necessarily my bag if I’m honest, although I very much respect what he’s achieved. I think maybe we’ve gone too far down different roads now to make anything work. Steve Hackett and I have talked about writing together a few times, but it’s always risky when someone is your friend. Working relationships do change things, and I’m not sure I’d want to risk my friendship with Steve!

With my TV library music, I do collaborate with quite a lot of people then anyway, so I’m not one of these musicians who doesn’t want to work with anybody else.

HR - When are you at your happiest then?  When you’re working on solo stuff and you’re completely in control of it (and I’m not insinuating that you’re a control freak!)  …

AP - Ha, NO! Actually, a great friend of mine calls my studio the spaceship! And I’m completely happy in there when I’m just mucking about with all the wonderful synth sounds, creating tapestries of colour with sound – Love it!

And also playing guitar, which increasingly seems to happen late at night in front of the TV. Just picking up a guitar – 12 String or Classical – when these ideas enter my head at absurd times of the day. On the recordings you can invariably hear Alan Hansen and Match Of The Day commentary in the background! And I do actually present demos to my library producer, with TV programmes going on in the background.

HR - What  sort of boundaries are in place with your Library writing? Can you remain true to your ‘album’ style, or are you tied  to a  brief?

AP - I have a lot more freedom these days to create some varied pieces – guitar, synth – it’s very varied, and that’s what I love about it, but it’s hugely competitive, and the recession spawned a lot of ‘under-cutting’ -  the market is flooded, and the rates of pay have dropped! I feel very fortunate to have done well at a time when it was less competitive, and to have continued to do it. It’s incumbent on me to keep writing as much as possible -  I can’t afford to take my foot off the peddle. So when things come up, I don’t ever really have a blank page because of the stockpile of guitar, piano , synth, and orchestral library pieces already down – I have all of this material ready to go, rather than start from scratch. Some of them are slightly rough and would need to be redone, but the mood is there, and if someone came to me tomorrow asking for such and such, I would hope that I have something that would suit. Unless they asked for a bagpipe concerto. I haven’t got one of those. It’s unlikely to happen, but you never know …

HR - So when we end this conversation, you’re going to go and write one …

AP - [laughs]They’re not a pretty sound when people turn them off you know! What they don’t tell you is that when they’re warming up and cooling down they sound like a sick cow! It is a racket! We had a funny incident on the road with Genesis actually. Peter Gabriel was a little bit accident prone, and slightly absent minded on stage, and used to play the accordion in Stagnation, a bit – in quite an unconventional way, not like jolly French stuff with the onions and the beret - but he would put it down during a very quiet section and if he didn’t put it down properly, it would make this kind of squealing noise going off into the distance, and suddenly we would sound like a John Cage outfit! People would look up completely startled! Another thing he would do – he was a good flute player but struggled with an A flat in “The Knife” which was our closing song – and Tony Banks had to remind him before we went on, that you had to tweek the flute to tune it by a semi-tone. Occasionally Tony would forget to tell him, and Peter wouldn’t remember;  The lights would dim, and we’d be ready for this lovely moody bit, and BANG! He would come in a semi tone out!  That was pretty tense I can tell you! I love all of those instruments …

HR - What’s your favorite instrument?

AP - Ooooh Tricky. I think pushed to answer that, I’d have to say 12 string guitar 1st, followed very closely by piano, Classical guitar 3rd, and underwater sousaphone 4th …

HR - And, may I say you play all 4 brilliantly!

AP - Aww thanks …

HR - I’ll look forward to your underwater sousaphone symphony at some point, amidst the forthcoming re-releases! Were you looking at reworking your back catalog, or was it something that you were approached to do?

AP - They approached me!  [Cherry Red / Esoteric Records]. Not to put too finer point on it but I make the majority of my living from my TV music, and the album work has always been a very nice foil to that, but it’s not been my bread and butter, as it were. I’m probably one of the only artists who has ever said to a record company – “are you really sure you want to do this?” And they did, so I was a bit surprised really! I gathered they were in the business of picking up back catalogs– and I hate the world ‘cult’ – but of people who have ‘cult’ followings, and it felt like entirely the right thing to do. It feels a safe place to be, and with a decent company who have their act together; after having had so many years of uncertainty with this stuff.

HR - How much influence did you have over the way that the 2014 anthology “Harvest Of The Heart”, was put together?

AP - Not a lot actually, but entirely by choice. I wrote a little bit for the blurb on the boxset, but as far as choosing what songs to include – I couldn’t make the decision. It was too difficult – I mean, I dither anyway, at the best of times!  And I’m not in any way trying to imply with arrogance that this is all so wonderful, but it was just too hard for me to decide. I’m not a good judge of what other people would have wanted, and to be frank I don’t like listening to a lot of it anyway, once I have done it, otherwise I start to pick it all apart and convince myself that I could have done better … So I was very happy to leave it up to Jonathan Dann, who runs my website ; and Mark Powell (Boss of Cherry Red), who went through all of it. He deserves a medal for that!

HR - I know it’s unfair to ask an artist what their favourite piece of their own music is, but – do you have one?

AP - The albums I’m most proud of , would be “The Geese And The Ghost”, and an album called “Slow Dance” ; which was the first album that I did when I came back after that 7 year hiatus in the wilderness, as it were …

HR - Was that [Slow Dance] released under your own steam outside of record label jurisdiction?

AP - It was actually! I did that off my own bat, and once again ended up having a bad time of it! We’d done an album called “Tarka”, and there was a bit of an upturn in the 80s with the ‘new age’ boom. I’d been doing what was effectively ‘new age’ for a while, but suddenly people realised that, after about 5 years! So I borrowed some money from my management company to crank up my gear, in order to enable me to do a larger scale record. This was in lieu of a small advance from the record company, who then went bust! So the rights to my songs were impounded, under US laws, and my catalogs were frozen (as assets) in the states for a number of years and I couldn’t get them back -  so it was a pretty chaotic period in terms of America, but also I had to finish what I had started here! So I pressed on with this album, very much in debt, because I’d bought the gear, but then hadn’t got the advance to pay it off! Looking back I’m not sure how I kept going really because the record was very complicated … But I did have an ulterior motive which was to try and secure a publishing deal with the then’ Virgin Publishing’ under Richard Branson. I don’t to this day think he realises what he let go of when he sold it on to EMI – it was such a wonderful company to be a part of. Ultimately, I got a deal, which got me out of the mire;  I finished what became “Slow Dance” and then Virgin came in and released ALL of my albums onto CD for the first time, so I was very fortunate then. I owed a lot to that record in the end. But it was a real blood, sweat, and tears album, and it wasn’t just mentally painful to listen to afterwards – it was literally physically painful too ; I would writhe around and cringe listening to it because I spent too long on it, and it sounded awful to me. It tried to do too much. It’s quite filmic, and unabashedly lyrical - It’s very orchestral at times and some of it is artificial; the sounds at that stage weren’t particularly brilliant and in hindsight it would have benefitted from more real orchestra. I think I could listen to it now … There is a two year rule – don’t listen for something you did for two years, and you’ll forget what was wrong with it!

HR - Would you re-record it, now?

AP - Well – it’s one of the things that will come up for discussion, funnily enough,  because we are planning to release some more in surround sound, but it has to be practical to do because it’s a very expensive process, and Cherry Red are very fair, but they know we possibly won’t sell a million copies. I would like to do “Slow Dance” yes. I think any of the orchestral albums would really benefit from being in Surround Sound. The bigger it is, the more there is going on, and the more you can throw around the room. The re-release schedule is a bit torturous actually. Up next is “Private Parts and Pieces” with a bonus CD of material from the time, and  … I don’t want to give too much else away really, but we will be doing more … maybe “Tarka”, eventually.

HR - Would you like to get any of your compositions to a point where an orchestra could perform it live? AP - Oh You bet! I’d love it!! There was a performance of “Tarka” in Australia, but it was with a scratch orchestra, so a rather mixed affair. It’s quite hard [Tarka] although it’s not an incredibly difficult score, but it needs some very good players to do it justice. These things are just so incredibly expensive to put together though, aren’t they?

HR - Yes, they are! Do you ever perform?

AP - I don’t … no. My experience with Genesis made me very tentative about performing, but to be honest - the thing that I enjoy most is composing. I’m a terrible practicer! The process of playing something over and over again, just bores me to tears!

HR - How about conducting then? AP - Gosh no, I’m not a good enough conductor – I did study it for a while, briefly, but I’d be much better on a bus! I know the moves, and the beats, but it’s that business of making the left hand totally independent of what’s going on with the right hand – that’s really difficult.  It’s an extraordinary art! And when I go to see an orchestra, the conductor always seems to be so far ahead, that I can’t ever put it together!! When I was first studying I used to get the orchestra seats behind the Albert Hall proms, which are  the ones behind the Orchestra where you’re looking directly at the conductor – and some of the conductors seemed to be so far ahead of the orchestra, that we used to joke that the conductor would be in the dressing room toweling down, whilst the orchestra were still finishing off! I don’t understand it!! It’s one thing that I do regret in life actually – I would have loved to have been in the middle of a big phat orchestra when something like the  “Rites Of Spring” [Stravinsky]  or “The Planets” [Holst] is being played.  That must be amazing! Even to just play the triangle or something!  I’d love to do that …

HR - There’s always time!  What about your life outside of music? Do you ever divert from your musical routes?

AP - [laughs] It would seem not to the untrained eye eh? I have a lot of friends and probably spend too much time socialising, and eating out, so I burn the candle at both ends too often. I spend a lot of time with my nieces and nephews, and God-children – I don’t have kids of my own but keeping up with all of them makes life pretty full! It is a difficult balance to keep because I really can’t afford to fall behind with work stuff and that involves an endless amount of mind boggling admin with the album career, and for composing for the library - I have to keep up with all the new technology in the studio, and the new sounds – endless changes! I love sports ; all sorts of sports … I’m a big film man  - love films. Probably my favourite music is in film scores these days. My big musical heroes are film composers – amongst many, my favourites are  Ennio Morricone : particularly ”Cinema Paradiso” and the wonderful ”Gabriel’s Oboe” from ’The Mission; John Williams, ”Schindlers List”; George Fenton , ”Shadowlands”; Thomas Newman ,  ”Shawshank Redemption”; Hans Zimmer,  James Newton Howard,  Alan Silvestri and many others … so, yes! How do I actually find time to work? That is the question ...  Not too long after we’d had this chat, Ant got the opportunity to work on a re-release of “Slow Dance” ; here’s the verdict ...  HR : So the ultimate question is, forced to listen to it again, have you grown fonder of Slow Dance during the re-mastering, for this re-release?AP :  My own view in general, which I appreciate may be very different to that of other musicians, is that when you come back to an album not having heard it for ages, it has novelty value and you think ‘that’s not bad at all’….! That’s why i prescribe the ‘two year rule’. Don’t listen to a piece, album, whatever, for a while and you will forget what it was that you are aspiring to that made you feel dissatisfied with its original outcome !Alas, repeated listens gradually bring back the issues that worried you at the time ! And the more time spent on an album (in my case Slow Dance, Geese were particular long campaigns) the worse it is. QBG and I flew through PP3 in the lovely summer of 1981 and it all remained fresh and therefore untarnished in one’s memory. This naturally makes us completely unobjective when it comes to judging our work ! Slow Dance was such a painstaking haul that when I finished it I found it excruciating to listen to.You have a mystical image of how a piece should sound and capturing this remains tantalisingly elusive !   Perhaps this very frustration is what drives you on to try and do better …?So yes, at first pleasantly surprised, with a few reservation, then gradually I began to feel ‘could have done that better - in many instances !But there are sections that I am still quite proud of and I know it is a piece that has been a moving experience for number of people……. HR : When last we spoke, You were enjoying the opportunity to take your recordings into the surround sound arena - has this one surpassed your expectations?AP : The Surround was a tough one : the toughest of all the re-releases thus far….Perhaps not harmonically but certainly in terms of the arrangement, the album was in parts very intricate and both the balance and flow hung by a thread. Any slight change and the wheels would come off. And they did ! It presented an almost insurmountable challenge to Simon Heyworth and Andy Miles, as there were effects on outboard gear (now either absent or defunct !) that weren’t recorded to tape and therefore had to be somehow ‘reconstructed’.  On the other hand instrumental albums such as this and particularly 1984 ( a feast for the guys with all the weird, tricky sounds lending themselves well to sonic spatial manipulation !) do benefit from  the size and ambience that 5.1 affords. So my considered view is that the more ambient, floaty parts benefit greatly whilst other sections slightly less so….But what does the musician / composer’s view count…..? It is only the audience’s opinions that ultimately counts ! I am happy that we try to give anyone repurchasing these albums enough extra material to make it feel worth it !

[astral-rendezvous]

Joke in the Middle of the Caracal Dawn (Part 1)

A continuation of the Travelling Teamaker series  

Below the cut, enjoy!

Sometimes adventure brings wanderers into incomprehensible places and situations. The False Cliffs were not quite incomprehensible, but they did defy intuition. Mountains comprised of oozing, viscous mud should be unable to hold a solid form and yet they did. Obelisks and cliffs of mush littered the landscape as far as the eye could see. Not a tree, bush, or even a weed seemed to grow from the slick ground. Suction formed under the adventurers’ feet. Each step grew more challenging than the last.

“Cyrano,” Brandy gasped, “can we take a break? We’ve been walking through this muck for hours. My thighs are killing me.”

Cyrano glanced back at her and grinned. “I would have expected your thighs to have more endurance, Brandy.”

“Oh shut it, my work requires different muscles than this,” Brandy panted and looked around, “ Are we even close to our destination? There’s nothing here.”

Fiddling with a crumpled map, Cyrano nodded. “Yes, yes, it should be just another...um...I think…”

And so they sloshed through the soupy ground as the sun moved across the sky, nearly reaching the horizon. As Brandy was on the brink of suggesting they turn back, they came upon a path that snaked up a craggy mountain. Solid rock poked through the goop. Cyrano jumped at the sight.

“This is it!” he cheered.

“Are you sure?” Brandy couldn’t bring herself to share his enthusiasm. 

“It has to be it!

“Well, at least that path looks easier to tread.” She dragged her feet out of the cloying mud and thanked the gods for solid ground.

As the sun dropped and darkness prevailed, a bitter chill swept through the canyons. A shiver travelled up Brandy’s spine. She had dressed for the moderate climate of the day, thinking they would be back to their camp by nightfall. To make matters worse, she had worked up a sweat while trudging through the mud, resulting in cold and clammy skin. She looked at Cyrano, who was a few strides ahead of her, and forced herself to think of the reason she joined him in the first place. That unbridled optimism and unfettered determination sparked a sense of adventure that seemed like fantasy from the dull corners of the inn she worked night after night. The ugly and unwelcoming landscape, the seemingly endless trek, being led by a harebrained elf — it all had to be better than making dispassionate love to the same dozen or so drunkards week after week. Surely, some greater sense of satisfaction would come from her wanderlust. 

“We’re getting close now! Look at those caves ahead!” Cyrano pointed a small distance ahead.

Relief washed over her as she put faith back in her adventuring companion. His ear to ear grin, and his smiling eyes exuded foolishness, but Brandy couldn’t help but smile back.

“See, I told you!” Cyrano said gleefully as he inhaled deeply, “These are the caves that home the rare and delicious stalactite sugar.” 

Brandy nodded to signal her approval as she caught her breath. The final portion of their ascent had been steep, leaving them both winded. Cyrano reached for a flask and handed it to Brandy. 

“Drink, it’s been a long day.”

She unscrewed the cap and took an ample swig as droplets poured down the corners of her mouth. Rather than water or tea, the flask was filled with a potent alcohol. A hacking cough accompanied her gulp. 

“By Gods, Cyri! You really should drink something other than alcohol once in awhile.”

“I do, I drink tea. I have water in here too, if you would prefer that.” He rummaged for a second flask. 

“Yes, please. What is this heinous stuff anyway?”

“Branchwood Liquor. It’s a specialty in my hometown,” he stated with an assured nod. 

“It’s horrible,” she retorted.

Before entering the cave, Cyrano lit two torches and handed one to Brandy. Upon discovering that she had never been in a cave before, he gave her a short lecture on the dos and don’ts of spelunking. Due to exhaustion from the day and skepticism about the elf’s expertise on the topic, Brandy zoned out while he spoke. 

“Alright then, let’s go! So long as we don’t run into any cave caracals, this should be uneventful. Isn’t this exciting? Rumor has it, not a single soul has traversed these caves for decades.”

Brandy’s hands and forearms numbed. Not a single soul had traversed these caves for decades. What a fantastic and terrifying thought. She filled her lungs with air, straightened her back, and followed the dauntless elf into the guts of the mountain. The first thing she noticed about the cave was its damp coolness, it did not sting the skin like the brisk cold on the surface. Next, she listened. Aside from the muffled thuds of their footsteps, there was a deep, almost soothing quiet. She had expected booming echoes, but instead was met with silence. 

Dark paths spiraled deeper and deeper into the earth, but no sign of sugar crystals appeared. Brandy lost faith in her travelling companion yet again, and she started to lose her will to trek on. 

“Cyri, hun, I know you’re really hopeful about finding this sugar, but this cave seems endless.”

Cyrano stopped in his tracks and sighed. “Yes, sometimes adventure seems that way.” He turned to face her. “I hope you are having a nice time. I know this environment isn’t exactly idyllic, but it has its own charm. I promise when we reach those stalactites, it will be beyond magnificent!”

“I’m sure it will be.” She exhaled through her nose as she kicked dried mud off her boot. 

“You sound dubious,” he remarked. 

“I’ve been dubious for some time now.” She stiffened her lip and just as she was a hair's breadth away from asking to turn back, a glimmer in the distance caught her eye. For an instant, the light from her torch reflected a silvery shimmer from the otherwise dull cave wall.

“Did you see that?” she urged.

“Hmm?” 

“There was something shining on the wall.” She hurried her step and waved her torch to recreate the shine.

And what the light revealed was not one bright point, but an entire wall of twinkling crystals that shone like countless stars in the blackest of nights. The adventurers gasped simultaneously and silently agreed to run towards the spectacle.The path turned and they found themselves in a large cavern dripping with points of crystallized light. Brandy slowed and gawked before the hundreds or more stalactites. Cyrano, less proficient at containing his excitement, skidded to stop himself from crashing into some of the lower-hanging formations.

Chuckling with arms crossed, Brandy confessed, “I was wrong to doubt you, this is truly magnificent.” 

“Isn’t it? It’s more spectacular than I imagined! I don’t think I’ve ever seen such illuminations before!” He paused to sniff the air. “And can you smell it? It’s sweet and almost...minty?”

“Yes, yes I can smell it. Perhaps there’s a hint of cherry too?” Brandy asked with a smirk.

Cyrano wafted air towards his nose and closed his eyes. “No, no ...hmmm maybe? Yes, yes I do catch some subtle cherry undertones.” 

Nearly vibrating with laughter, Brandy let out an abrupt snort, “I’m just kidding. I don’t smell any cherry.”

He brushed off her guffawing as he reached for a small chisel in his satchel. “I see you’re testing my gullibility. Well I’ll have you know, I’m extremely gullible!” 

She buried her face in her hands and muttered, “You’re not supposed to admit that to people.” 

“I have a difficult time keeping my gullibility clandestine; I’ve chosen to embrace it.” He chipped away at the stalactite sugar as he captured its shavings in a cup. “Make yourself comfortable. Let’s try this new brew before we head back to the surface.”

The floor was smooth albeit damp, not the ideal place for tea time, but Brandy’s aching legs yearned for a rest. She placed her knapsack on the ground and flopped on top of it with an unseemly moan. Her sore muscles thanked her for the relief. She smiled at Cyrano as she watched his joy at collecting the sugar and preparing the tea. 

Unbeknownst to the adventurers, their peaceful respite was soon to be unpleasantly interrupted. The map and knowledge that led them to the stalactite sugar was quite a bit outdated - the False Cliffs and their sugary caves were far from uninhabited. Had Cyrano and Brandy traversed the leeward side of the mountain, they would have encountered an entrance to the sugar mines with a steep fee for a guided tour. 

“Euwā umȉnna,” Cyrano cupped his hands and whispered into his palms before pouring the piping hot brew.

“Is that Elvish?” Brandy asked.

“What’s this about Elvish in my mines?” a voice boomed from across the stalactite room. 

"It would seem, we're not alone," Cyrano stood from his spot and called to the stranger, “Yes, hello! We are adventurers who've come seeking stalactite sugar. My name is Cyrano Alfvenias, I’m a wood elf and a teamaker. I travel the world —”

“That’s enough! I’m not interested in your story, Elf. All I want to know is what gives you permission to trespass here.” Out from the shadows, the owner of the booming voice emerged. 

A stout figure with a robust beard, torch in one hand and a large pickaxe in the other, frowned and tapped his foot. He wore fine leather, and was adorned with gems and gold. Brandy quickly started collecting her belongings, readying herself to leave, at the very sight of him. 

“Oh, you’re a dwarf!” Cyrano remarked, “Nice to meet you, sir. But It seems you are misinformed. These caves have been abandoned for years. If anything, they belong to the caracal, but certainly not to any dwarves.”

Brandy hid her face in her hands. She had never met a dwarf before, but she knew enough about the basics of communication to know that Cyrano was off to a very bad start.

The dwarf turned a deep, indignant red and galumphed over to the adventurers. 

“Elves have dictated our territory for long enough! We claimed these mines two years ago. Both of you are trespassing in my territory and that’s final! It also looks like you took some of my sugar! If you don’t—”

“I’m very sorry, sir! We’ll be on our way now.” Brandy pleaded and tugged at Cyrano’s sleeve. “Return the sugar, Cyri. We don’t want to cause any more trouble.”

“No, hold on. We came all this way! Can't I just take a tiny, nearly imperceptible amount? It won’t hurt anyone.” The elf was committed as ever to obtain that which he had sought. He erroneously had the expectation that the miner would be sympathetic to his request. 

"Taking any amount is considered a criminal offense. So tell me, Elf, do you know the Dwarven punishment for theft?" the miner snarled. 

Undaunted by the threat, Cyrano’s levity persisted."If I had to wager a guess, I'd bet it's a relatively short senten—" 

"No!" Brandy swiftly interjected as she elbowed Cyrano in the ribs. "No he doesn't know! We both don't know and we sincerely apologize for any offense we may have caused." 

The dwarf eyed the teapot and cups on the ground. “The sugar that’s been boiled into that tea can’t be returned to me, now can it?”

“No, but you’re welcome to have some tea.” Cyrano smiled widely while he reached for the pot. 

Just before Cyrano rested his hand on the teapot, the miner stomped the elf’s fingers down to the ground. Cyrano winced and bit his lip to stop himself from yelling out. Brandy cried out his name and kneeled by his side.

“Do you think this is a joke, Elf?” the dwarf snapped.

“No, I-I can see that you are very serious.” His characteristic optimism had vanished from his voice as he squirmed to release his hand.

“The punishment for theft is that I get to smash all of your fingers with a hammer of my choice. I lied when I said it was a Dwarven punishment. It’s really just my punishment.” He grinned.

“That’s fine, just let her go.This isn’t her fault. She’s new to adventuring, but I’m experienced. She trusted me as her guide, and I failed her. I should have done more thorough research on this location." Despite his fear, Cyrano forced his voice to be steady.

“It would be a shame to ruin those pretty hands. Fine, the human is free to go.” The dwarf nodded and motioned for her to shoo.

With trembling lips and tears in her eyes, Brandy called out to her adventuring partner. “Cyrano, don’t do this. I’m just as guilty as you are.” 

~~~

Thank you for reading. 

To be continued in Part II

[enchantment1385]

OC interview meme ... Pt 2

I was tagged by @dickeybbqpit @keeperscompanionsdai and @shield-maiden-of-sherwood You guys are all beautiful and lovely for thinking of me ;)  So, let’s ask post trespasser Faeron some questions, shall we?

1. What is your name? Faeron Tamlith Lavellan 

2. What is your real name? Ummm... That... That is my real name... 

3. Do you know why you were called that? My mother once told me it means "Bright in Mind and Spirit" *he giggles* I expect they really chose it because they liked it though.

4. Are you single or taken? *he almost winces at the question* I... WAS with someone... It... We...  *he sighs sadly* Single.

5. Have any abilities or powers? Hmmm... I can cook? Although... The lack of arm hinders that somewhat. Need more help nowadays with the preparation and stuff. *A small sweet smile graces his face* Or.. did you mean stuff like this...? * He waves his hand and it begins to snow inside...* 

7. What’s your eye colour? *he chuckles* Good question! You tell me *he winks* I once got told they were the colour of magic...  That was very sweet. I’m honestly not sure if they’re periwinkle blue with golden flecks, OR, golden with periwinkle blue flecks?

8. How about your hair color? *He blows his hair in front of his face* From what’s left of it... Still looks to be blue black. Someone once called that ‘raven’. *he says sweeping his hair back again* 

9. Have you any family members? Nico is well, if that’s what you’re asking? *he smiles*  Father is still as strong as an ox... I... I have been a little... reserved as of late... There are people I should have visited now there’s time again... It’s just been... Difficult... * He seems to fade away for a moment staring at the floor* The clan is well. Varric keeps asking for a visit too! ...I should probably save him from the paperwork at some point... 

10. Oh? What about pets? *sigh* No one let me keep the dragon egg we found *he says with a pout* I told everyone it would be fine, but... They still said no.  I still have my Halla, Ghilas? He’s such a good boy! He likes it when I let him sleep near the fire when we are traveling and rub his tummy... Nico, doesn’t like that so much though... She just... glares at him, and mutters things like ‘Just try scaring me, you shit horse...’  ... It’s uncomfortable. Father says he’s not a ‘pet’, but he is! He likes to be spoilt. *he gives a big smile*

11. That’s cool I guess, now tell me about something you don’t like. That’s... A BIG question... Isn’t it? Do.. Do you mean big life things like, pain, and sadness? Or, more trivial? Like... The fact I don’t like wearing clothes? 

12. Do you have any hobbies/activities you like doing?  I feel like... *he clutches the stump of his missing arm.* Like, I’m relearning how to do everything at the moment. The first cake I made was... Lumpy and when I tried to dance and spin Harding... I lost my balance... and ended up in her arms! I still love Varric’s books?And can read them one handed! .... No, wait that sounded wrong... *he blushes* 

13. Ever hurt anyone before? I... I hope not. 

14. Ever… killed anyone before? *he looks ashamed of himself and looks at the floor.* Yes... 

15. What kind of animal are you? Oooo! Ummm... Hmm... Maybe... Maybe a stag? Or a raven? Ooo! What about an owl? 

16. Name your worst habits. I... I have been told I’m too soft, too kind, and too self sacrificing... *he give a humorless chuckle* I also cry a lot.

17. Do you look up to anyone at all? Oh yes! Nico, is strong and beautiful, clever, and brave.    Varric is smooth and funny. Blackw- Thom, is Noble and kind. Cassandra is pure and wise. Josephine is sweet and friendly and soooo diplomatic! Bull is strong and unshakable.  Cole is gentle as a breeze Lady viviane is... Well, she scares me... But, She is amazingly shrewd. Sera is brave and funny. We... We don’t talk about the others... It... It’s too fresh. 

18. Gay, straight, or bisexual? *his eyes widen and he blushes bright red* I... I’m gay. 

19. Do you go to school? Not... In... the traditional sense? Me and Nico were taught in many things though. Even when we didn’t want to be... Father, he... He wanted us to have every opportunity, so we learnt most of the trades of the camp.  

20. Do you ever want to marry and have kids one day? *His face falls and it looks like someone has just ripped his heart out. He places a hand to his mouth and sits quietly for some time* More... More than anything... *he snuffles* 

21. Do you have any fanboys/fangirls? Tut! Have you been talking to Nico? *he chuckles* Don’t pay any attention, it’s not true. 

22. What are you most afraid of? I... I think the worst thing that could have happened, HAS... *he looks sad again* So now... Now I supposed I’m scared of pain... Loneliness... That my life will now be a void... 

23. What do you usually wear? As little as possible. Clothes are always... Rough against my skin... I don’t like it... So, soft things?

24. Do you love someone? Of course. *He smiles* I love lots of people. 

25. When was the last time you wet yourself? I have no idea... I expect when I was out with this? *he holds up what’s left of his arm*  I mean... It’s not a regular thing, I can say that! *He smirks*

26. Well, it’s not over yet! Okay! *he smiles*

27. What class are you? (High class, middle class, low class) Ummmm... I... I’m an elf? I mean... I know people are nice enough to us now because we saved Thedas and everything, but... Still an elf. *he giggles*

28. How many friends do you have? Lots! I made friends with the soldiers... *his face contorts into confusion* Want to know something really weird? So many of them were call Jim... It got creepy!

29. What are your thoughts on pie? I have made many! Why? Did you want one? I can probably make you something if you’re hungry?

30. Favourite drink? Anything with apples and elderflower. Meed is yummy... and jasmine tea.

31. What’s your favourite place? There’s this little nook behind the waterfall in the undercroft... It’s nice there. 

32. Are you interested in someone? I adore them... *he gives the saddest smile you’ve ever seen, his eyes glassy* But... Love isn’t always enough... so I have learned....

33. What’s your bra cup size and/or how big is your willy? *Faeron’s ears flick (which only happens when he gets realllllly flustered) and he goes beet red* I... Ummm... I.... I don’t know how to answer this... I’ve seen bigger... But no one has ever complained? 

34. Would you rather swim in the lake or the ocean? Lakes. I love swimming in them. 

35. What’s your type? I would say I don’t have one... Nico says I have a weakness for rogues and redheads... 

36. Any fetishes? *He pouts and looks up thinking* Don’t think so... I mean, depends what you call a fetish I suppose? I LIKE certain things... But nothing ‘weird’. *he giggles*

37. Seme or uke? Top or Bottom? Dominant or Submissive? *he chokes and sputters going as red as ever*  I ummm.... I’m not great at being dominant... Ever! As for... Ahem... I ... I like both... 

38. Camping or indoors? I like both, but... Outdoors has the stars. *he smiles* 

39. Are you wanting the interview to end? I don’t mind. *he gives a soft shrug and a smile*

40. Now it’s over! Oh. *he giggles* Okay! Was... Was it okay?

Tagging: @dreadhobo @tessa1972 @dinah-myles @queen-of-the-crows @john-cousland @long-liv-prairies @sassylavellen @hoehoehoelt @gugle1980 @inquisitorsmabari @inquisitor-julia @mamawolf0714

[fantroll-purgatory]

hi!! im aware that you guys are on hiatus but i just polished up his fantroll and would like ot get him reviewed!^^ happy to wait for when Life Stuff stops happening constistantly

Thanks for understanding. Hope you didn’t wait too long, and I hope you’re satisfied with this review because honestly??? I don’t have a lot to fix. This is a really good dog troll!

FIRST: Alternia or Beforus or some type of AU?

AU Alternia with a different empress. Adult trolls have still been banished, but for different reasoning. Canon trolls don’t exist.

Theme: Kyonni was originally based on Canes Venatici, but his theme got scrambled up into the generic hunting/guard dog. Some of the original ideas are kept.

Name: Kyonni Iosito [Kyonni comes from one of the Greek variations for dog, κύων/kon. Iosito is a scrambled up part of a Greek variation for bark, istoús.]

Age: Roughly 6 sweeps old.

Strife Specibus: gunpowderkind [it might seem strange reading at first, but since riflekind is kind of overused and a better suited for his dancestor, I kind of just pictured Kyonni throwing gunpowder at opponent’s eyes to blind them and give him enough time to summon a weapon. He carries it in pouches, tied to his waist with an old rope.]

Sdjgfljlajg that’s hilarious. Consider maybe he carries a small keg of gunpowder around a collar around his neck like a St. Bernard with whiskey?

Fetch Modus: scent modus [it works quite similarly to how policemen train dogs to find drugs; basically, three options are given inside safes/boxes. the item Kyonni wishes to retrieve has a certain smell. he has to locate the item by sniffing the boxes. if he chooses the right one, yay! you’ve got your item. if he fails to choose the correct one, he often gets something ridiculous and irrelevant to what he needed, e.g. an empty pillowcase when he needed a gun.]

Blood color: Sage

I think it works especially since we’ve seen with the new troll call that olivebloods are more likely to be animal-like.

Symbol and meaning: Hobo symbol for “barking dog here.“

Trolltag: californiumCadre [CC]

Hmmm you haven’t given your reasoning for this trolltag and I can’t really see one intuitively? If you want the same assignation maybe cuddlyCanid?

Quirk: Replaces v/V and w/W with vV/Vv and capitalizes X to replicate symbol. Sometimes “barks” when angry [e.g. GET IT DONE!! BARK]

Ex; the quick brovVn foX jumps ovVer the lazy red dog.

Lusus: A two-headed barkbeast with jagged teeth Kyonni coined Orthrus [i’m aware that the whole duolusus thing is overused, but i’ve got reason! Orthrus was a guard dog in Greek mythology who was killed by Heracles. his role is fitting for Kyonni’s theme, and his caliginous crush has ties to Heracles, so i thought it could work].

Personality: Kyonni’s simply a troublemaker who’s fiercely loyal. He usually steps asides from large jobs if someone else wishes to have it, preferring to put his friends’ wants in front of his own. In the case that he is appointed leader, he takes it eagerly, and seriously [because he has such a lack of experience in the area, Kyonni does it only to find himself stressed and often snapping]. He jokes around a lot, doing stuff like pulling pranks on disrespectful high-bloods, usually resulting in him hastily fixing the situation. Kyonni’s impulsive and passionate, seeing his hassling as the baby steps to Alternia’s turn against blood. After basing his entire life on serving and appreciating his friends more than himself, Kyonni has come out as insecure. It doesn’t affect his impulse for change or strong beliefs, but when overthinking things, a common thought is that he isn’t the right leader that the history books portray.

Hemoloyalty: Pretends to respect it for his moirail’s sake, but honestly, Kyonni hates the hemospectrum. He has a lot of books that tell of revolutions against blood casting and wishes to start a new one. Aware that his friends would never agree, though, he sticks to pranking high-bloods. His loyalty is much more important that his opinions.

Important Relationships: Kyonni has a purple-blooded moirail named Gnavis Raedon, a more responsible delinquent who steers Kyonni from high-bloods and death threats. Since Gnavis saved Kyonni’s butt so many times, the lower-blooded troll claims that he should do something in return. Gnavis has never asked for anything, though, so the two just mess around and pap each other most of the time.; Kyonni also has a strong caliginous crush on a rust-blood named Achemon Tarius. [i might submit these guys too if I ever sprite them..;]

Interests: Chasing/hunting down animals and trespassing trolls; forgery; history of troll revolution; dog treats and biscuits; people watching; practice shooting; meowbeast videos people post on GrubTube.

Title: Knight of Space [I’m uncertain about this classpect—i took a classpect test for this one and although I think it fits, but not sure;;]

Given his loyalty to his friends and his almost dual personality (wanting to be a revolutionary leader but not to rock the boat with his friends), I feel like Bard of Heart might work for him?

Local classpect expert jumping in here- it might be a little obvious, but loyalty and bonds and stuff like that are really associated with the Blood aspect. I think Page of Blood might be a really good situation for Kyonni! It represents a great deal of potential. He’d start out kind of bogged down by his bonds and relations, obsessed with loyalty. He does want to break out, but doing so is really, really, really hard. But once he’s able to kind of get through, he’d be able to passively exploit those bonds to really amazing ends. Utilizing his relationships and the links he’s formed with others and his loyalty itself as a weapon to Lead! Lead a massive formation of people who trust him. His inverse, Thief of Breath, means he’d be able to steal the direction and explorative energy away from others and redistributed it as he pleased, too! Freedom is his for the taking. -CD

Land: ???

Land of Tulips and Bridges (LOTAB). Given such a strong theme around loyalty and friendship, I chose Tulips because blue tulips represent loyalty, and bridges to represent repaired relationships. This can be used in a very literal sense of repairing broken bridges for the consorts to reach one another and for Kyonni to reach his denizen, but it’s also kind of important for him to realize that friendships in which he just goes along with whatever the other person says are fundamentally less whole than ones in which he takes the time to be vulnerable.

Dream Planet: Derse

Ancestor: The Rifleman; A former protector of the Monarchy [AU empress—just a bitch for blood], who generally scouted the area with two barkbeasts and a rifle. He was killed later on when found taking a part in the [Ancestor-Who-Has-Yet-To-Be–Named]’s rebellion against blood caste separation and laws.

Dancestor: Skylos Iosito [Skylos comes from a Greek variation of dog; σκύλος/skýlos.]

Beforan self: The Gunsmith; A passive rebelling troll who sold weapons to lowbloods in the rebellion. Escaped killing narrowly.

Appearance Notes; in case this boi gets any physical aspects modified; i wasnt going so much “feral guard dog!” w Kyonni as im planning to for Skylos. Kyonni’s more “doggo who eats spiders” with growling on the side. just (please) keep his curly hair, freckles, and apparent innocence. danke!

I wouldn’t change a THING about this good good boi he’s GREAT. You sent in your sprite a little later so I added that to this post but for real his visual design is perfect.

[20cm]

monsta x !!!!!

SOOOOO true thank you coby 💓💓

do i already stan them? yes literally<3 imagine if i didnt | only for the music | attempting to | no

my bias + bias wrecker*

rly its ot6/7 bc i love them all + wonho BUT if i had to: hyungwon <3 w/ both min and honey being wreckers

first time i heard of them

id def heard of them before this but the first time i can Place that i heard of them was sometime after all about luv!!

when i became a fan

late 2020.. showed up late sorry everyone</3

favorite (and least favorite) title track

fave: shoot out or follow!!! least fave: rush im sorry </3 i genuinely enjoy all their music but if i have to choose

favorite (and least favorite) b-side

fave: SO hard to choose but roller coaster rn i think.. she just makes me so happy least fave: fallin'

favorite (and least favorite) mv

fave: three-way tie!! because Find you/Dramarama/The Connect: D is probably one of my absolute fave things theyve ever done :") least fave: uhmmm also rush. im sorry rush

favorite (and least favorite) album

fave: follow: find you !!! i'd be a fraud if it wasnt i think but also genuinely i just. cannot make it thru find you/see you again without crying, follow fucks hard, monsta truck is my confusing slut music.. and ofc the other tracks are just so good<3 least fave: trespass </3 i feel mean picking on their 2015 stuff kfd its really just not necessarily my kind of noise but i still like it <3

a concept i wished they’d try*

hmmm tbh they fulfilled it w/ OOAK kinda dkf i really wanted to see heist from them and they did it ... maybe a sort of sci-fi? i really liked the time travel stuff they did in the ^^^ find you series i'd like if they did plotlines more.. i think u said this too coby kdff

what i like most about them*

if you ask the jerver or val or rory i've literally gone on hours long webinars about mx truly what dont i like 🤡 i love the music to the point of creating a playlist of everything theyve made to shuffle. :\ love all their respective selves and i appreciate the work they put in and the hobbies they enjoy on the side they share its just fun. theyre fun <3 and i like that they all Genuinely seem like close knit friends :")

[umbrahighpriestofgiratina]

Yangverse Michronicles, Volume 1

Basically, microfics. This set contains a Haloween and Thanksgiving special, among other things.

Triggered On a quiet day in a small house in Unova, a human-ified Reshiram woke up from a nap, yawned, and looked around. "...Where's everybody else? Hopefully they haven't gotten in troub-" She was interrupted by a loud "Not again!" from Roger in another room. "...I should probably check that out." She rushed into the house's living room and let out a sigh of relief to see Roger playing a video game on what he had told her was an "Super En-ee-ess." As she sat next to him to watch, she heard him grumble under his breath. "Cobaliondammned Lavos fight gets me every time..." Reshiram blinked. "Lavos?" Roger started at her suddenly speaking next to her, but then grew annoyed again gesturing to the screen. "This game's called Adamant Trigger. That thing on the screen is Lavos, evil space monster who wants to suck out all life on the planet after crashing in on a meteor - and puts up one hell of a boss fight." Reshiram gazed at the pixelated monstrosity on the screen, her brow furrowing at it curiously. Roger furrowed his own brow at her. "...Something about the giant space pinecone Joltik get your attention?" "Yes, actually," said Reshiram; "What you said about it coming in on a meteor, it sounded... familiar..." Roger shrugged. "Tom said Lacunosa had a myth about Kyurem being like that, but he, you, and N all found out a lot of Lacunosan stuff about Kyurem was bullshit. Plus, Kyurem was part of the same dragon you and Zekrom were, right?" "Yes..." said Reshiram, frowning. "Though, I don't remember much of what we were like before the split or how it happened... It's all a haze..." Roger snickered. "Maybe you all are from space or something." Reshiram didn't respond at first, instead thinking back to the dream she had had just before. ---- Falling, falling, you rip through the sky, flame surrounding you. Before long you crash to the earth, ripping it to pieces and sending shockwaves throughout the land. You lie still a very long time, until something deep in the earth feels the shockwaves, crawls, stalks, slithers, stomps toward you. It digs its teeth, fingers, tendrils, claws into you and fills you with energy, strange and powerful, making you want to burst forth anew someway, somehow... ---- Reshiram shuddered, then covered it up with a forced chuckle. "Roger, don't be ridiculous. I'm the goddess of truth." "...And as such I'm pretty sure the truth's more complicated than me being a glorified Lavos."

Heated Tensions

In Sootopolis' Cave of Origin, a green-haired, teal eyed young woman with Kyogre-esqe earrings, facial tattoos, and matching spear felt her way through the cave, a light-blue-haired, green-eyed young man lacking such adornments nervously following.

"S-So, Narissa?" said the young man to the woman. "What's this visit for again?"

"The other Sootopolis villagers have been reporting very odd things happening around the crater... Pools of water boiling over, strange rumblings in the ground, the peaks' huts are built on shifting without warning... As the Chieftain, I have to figure out if the volcano's active again."

The young man looked around, noting the increased amount of steam, heat and, oddly, glowing red crystals compared to blue ones. "...And why did you bother bringing me along?"

Narissa looked at him and raised an eyebrow. "Apollo, we've known each other for years, we're in a relationship, and from both those I trust you and I know you can help me out here?"

Apollo stared at her for a few seconds, all the possible answers to her rushing through his mind.

I don't think I can help you. I'm useless.

You saved our tribe and founded this village. I barely did anything.

I don't deserve your trust or respect. I don't deserve anyone's. He gulped slightly, then smiled half-heartedly at her.

"Alright... Thank you."

Narissa furrowed her brow briefly before giving a small smile herself and nodding. "Alright, let' go."

She headed off; Apollo stared after her a while.

And I can't even tell you the truth of it all still.

I'm worthless.

...I'm weak.

He sighed and followed.

The two advanced through the cave only to stagger back and yell at the sight and heat of a pool of lava having formed where the central pool of water normally was.

"Oh no..." said Apollo. "The volcano, it's getting active again..."

"Last it reignited was when the meteor that Mega Evolved Rayquaza hit it;" said Narissa; "I don't know if anything we can stop caused it thi-"

They both yelled again as an incredibly loud roar echoed through the cavern, followed by a booming telepathic voice that was nonetheless distinctly feminine. ~Who's causing this obnoxious racket?!~ A massive, red, reptilian Pokemon with thick armor plates embedded with markings that flashed blue intermittently steadily emerged from the lava as Apollo and Narissa backed away slowly. Her yellow eyes snapped open, and upon seeing the two her expression grew furious and she gave another roar and telepathic yell. ~Humans?! Who let humans into this cave?!~

"Don't panic," whispered Narissa to Apollo.

"Too late," whispered Apollo back.

Narissa hesitated before stepping forward to address the behemoth. "Lady Kyogre did. She gave us this crater as sanctuary. It's our home now, and I'm the chieftain."

The red beast before them only seemed to grow more enraged. ~That bitch Kyogre always screws things up! I made a deal with her on swapping out using this cave as a resting place, and what does she do with it while I'm gone? Invite a bunch of fucked-up perfectly good monkeys to crash at the place when it's supposed to be private!~

She leaned in close to Narissa and snarled.

~This is Groudon you're talking to now. I'm no softie, and I don't like trespassers. I suggest you and your other human friends get the fuck out.~ Narissa flinched at the massive heat Groudon radiated, but scowled back.

"We earned this crater. We fought off our worst enemies to get it. You can't just take it back."

~Of course I can! I'm Groudon! You ain't gonna sway me human, chieftain or not! Get out before I blow this place to kingdom come to get rid of you personally!~

Narissa stammered, but hesitated at Groudon's words and intense glare.

At her previous words and Groudon's response, however, something stirred within Apollo, and his mind started racing.

Groudon... She could easily...

No, I I can't let her... I...

He gulped a third time, then stepped forward and gave Groudon a truly icy glare.

"You'd really be that cruel, Groudon?"

Groudon's attention snapped to him, and she leaned in to Apollo, glaring and snarling again. He could feel the same heat radiating off her Narissa did, and suspected it was taking all her self-restraint for her to not use it to sear the flesh off his bones.

~Cruel? I'm dealing with trespassers here!~

"Your "trespassers" are villagers who lost their homes to vicious raiders and had to hole up here to stay safe, and then fought them off again, and now you're willing to murder them all just for being around?"

Groudon huffed a cloud of steam, then put a claw to her chin.

~When you put it that way... Yeah, blowing you all up is harsh even by my standards.~

She glared at him again.

~But how can I trust you apes to take care of this place? I decidedly still have the option of escorting you out of here less lethally.~

"We have been taking good care of this place. We've been keeping the water clean, making sure the village huts are built to align with the cliffs, growing more berry gardens everywhere we can..."

At his last words Groudon grinned. ~Berry gardens? Now we're taking! Always told Kyogre we needed more plant life around here to soak up the sun...~

She looks between Apollo and Narissa and nods.

~Hmmm... From everything you've been saying I suppose you humans get my permission to stick around too. Just don't screw the place up.~

She turned to Apollo and grinned.

~And I like you kid; you've got spunk when you wanna show it. Keep that up.~

Apollo simply stared at her shocked in response as she descended back into the lava.

He was similarly shocked when Narissa hugged him.

"Apollo, thank you,I wasn't sure what to say to her at all..."

Apollo hugged back. "Thank you, it... It just seemed like the right thing to do..."

Narissa broke the hug and grinned. "Tell you what, why don't we get you some Groudon adornments like my Kyogre ones to celebrate?"

Apollo blinked, then grinned back. "Sounds like a plan to me."

They both pumped their fists in victory and rushed out of the cave.

~~~

No Good Deed

Kyurem crept warily through the trees of the forest around the Giant Chasm, noting the melting snow everywhere as spring approached. Good time of year to get some fresh air outside their cavern, they figured, so long as they weren't spotted by the local huma-

"Help, someone help!"

Kyurem froze, and not in the manner of their Ice typing either; the voice was distinctly  that of a female human, but she sounded scared, panicked, desperate.

Kyurem stalked toward the source of the noise, until peeking out from the trees they discovered the source - a human woman, surrounded by several others, looking down at a small human boy floundering in the meltwater of one of the small canyons surrounding the Giant Chasm.

"Ron, don't panic,someone's getting help!"

Kyurem hesitated. The humans of Lacunosa, they'd hurt them so many times - but they couldn't leave this boy to drown. Leaving all fear behind they charged straight down into the canyon after the boy, ignoring the screams from the humans above.

"It's Kyurem!"

"It's going to eat him!"

The boy saw Kyurem coming and backpedaled only to stumble and choke on more water. Kyurem hesitated, and, realizing their claws were too small to carry the boy safely, haphazardly tried to grab the collar of the boy's shirt with their teeth and drag them quickly out of the water. The boy and the onlookers only screamed more. Kyurem froze again, realizing backpedaling out of the canyon would be difficult but that the other humans would likely attack if they proceeded forward. They decided to  take a third option by trying to lift the boy and carry them to their side of the canyon.

Suddenly, they noticed a yellowish-green blur out of the corner of their eye. A Haxorus, they quickly realized, before they were cut into deep by the other Dragon type's axe-like tusks, glowing with blue-green flames in a Dual Chop. Maintaining their grip on the boy but swinging them around wildly, Kyurem retaliated with a Glaciate, sending a flurry of icicle spikes through the earth and cold air toward the Haxorus, knocking him over and pinning him in a refrozen chunk of meltwater.

Suddenly, Kyurem heard the whirr of engines. They looked up to see what appeared to be a rescue helicopter, only for bullets to impact with several loud cracks into the icy crest on their head. Giving a screech-like buzz of agony, they finally dropped the boy just as the Haxorus cut himself free of the ice and scooped said boy up, clambering back to the other humans as Kyurem fled in the opposite direction, more bullets impacting nearby and into other parts of their body as they fled out of the canyon and back into the forest in panic, running until the noises of bullets and helicopter blades and screaming humans could be heard no more.

Kyurem huddled into a corner of their cave in the Giant Chasm that night, barely moving as the parts of their body hit by the Haxorus' strike and the bullets regenerated. They always healed quickly, but the pain always lingered, and the scars lingered even longer.

Eventually Kyurem mustered themself to lope over to a rocky outcrop where a Crimson Lady action figure lay, clutching it gingerly in their claws and inspecting its features as the words of another being that had hurt them long ago echoed through their mind.

You were always too attached to those humans! You trusted them, tried to lead them, guide them, even walk as one of them! But look where that got you - they revered and respected you, but now they fear and hate you - and they always will.

Kyurem gazed at the figure, trembling, before clutching it to their chest tightly and letting out faint buzzes that if any other being were around to hear them sounded almost like sobs.

Notes:

Dedicated to Harambe the gorilla

No Survivors The boy in the blue jacket ran. He had only himself. His Pokemon team were all dead, murdered by those of the maniac. The maniac that was stalking him now. He ran, hid between the pillars, barely let himself gasp for breath lest he hear. He turned a corner and saw the maniac in front of him, the teeth of his crazed smile glinting in the darkness. He barely had time to scream as a chainsaw rent his limbs from his body, then his head, his dismembered parts and his blood spilling to the floor. The murderer let his chainsaw fall silent, the blood dripping across his white shirt and green hair. He smirked. "Some Hero Of Ideals you are." And stalked off. --------- The assembled Gym leaders further outward into the castle heard the screams. "What in the name of Jiminy was-" Clay started to say. He was cut off by Skyla being dragged into the shadows screaming, the screams being muffled then growing louder as blood soaked the floor from within the shadows, followed by a flying leg. The other Gym leaders all backed away as they reeled in shock and vomited, but then heard a growl from behind them. They turned to see a snarling Reshiram, who immediately incinerated Drayden alive as he screamed. The rest turned to flee the white dragon, only to see N approaching, bloody chainsaw buzzing, as he grinned. "It's her or me, you all." The Gym leaders huddled together as the two approached them from each side, N chuckling all the while. ------ In a dim room, Giovanni, Maxie, Archie, Cyrus, and Ghetsis were tied to a series of chairs, N circling around them with his chainsaw, smugly smirking. "Well well well! If it isn't all those dreaded crime lords of various regions who find themselves superior to me. How amusing." He stepped up to a quaking Giovanni. "You... You're just an annoyance. Let's deal with you quickly." Before Giovanni could scream N's whirring chainsaw came down upon him, splitting him clean in two as the others squirmed and yelped. N approached Maxie and Archie next. "Oh! I've heard tell you two are lovers!" He quickly chainsaw-sliced both their chests open. Their agonized yells were shortly cut off by N ripping both their still-beating hearts out with his bare hands and shoving them in the other's chest, grinning. "How adorable!" He approached Cyrus next, who cowered and whimpered. N scoffed. "And you tried to remake the universe? Cute." He shoved the chainsaw into Cyrus' gut and twisted, Cyrus screaming as N ripped out his organs to splat in a dismembered mess nearby before he fell limp. N grinned again. "I made a galaxy out of your entrails! Pretty neat, huh?" At last, he rounded on a gibbering, terrified Ghetsis, grinning even more maniacaly than before. "Ah, daddy dearest! I have a special fate in mind for you..." "No... No please..." N lifted the whirring chainsaw above his head and cackled. Ghetsis screamed as- ------- "Tom, that is officially enough!" Tom turned to his companion Roger with a confused expression as the campfire before them flickered amidst the looming trees and dim moonlight. "But... But I was getting to the good part!" Roger scoffed. "Yeah, of a chainsaw murderer story about a guy sitting right next to us!" Indeed, N sat to the other side of Roger, pointedly avoiding Tom's gaze and shifting around uncomfortably. Roger turned back to Tom with a glare. "Why are your weird stories always about N anyway?" Tom paused, blinked, then turned to N. "...You're inspiring." N grimaced. "Perhaps you should find me inspiring in some other manner?" A burst of orange flames headed in Tom's direction as he yelped, only for them to stoke the campfire as he looked up at the white-feathered draconic source. ~Okay,~ said Reshiram, ~This is clearly a sign it's MY turn for a scary story.~ Tom gulped, then gave Reshiram an over-the-top sneer. "Bring it." N gulped himself. "Tom, you probably shouldn't-" Reshiram smirked. ~It's called The Belly Button Eater.~ Roger scoffed. "Like that old folk tale about Thundurus?" ~Thanks for the reminder to check up on him. But worse.~ "How?" said Tom, still forcing a sneer. Reshiram made a broad gesture with her wings. ~One night, a lonely man named Dave was working late at his office, when a Glalie suddenly appeared and said, "I am Solonn. Follow me..."~ ----- It was broad daylight. The trees were dappled in the rays of the sun as bird Pokemon continuously chirped. Reshiram awoke, yawned, then preened herself. She then blinked, looked to the house she and the others were living at, then to a nearby shed and sighed. She opened the shed door to find N, Tom, and Roger, clutching each other close trembling and cowering. ~Okay, guys, look, I may have gone over the top with the story but it's been two days and-~ "Belly button eater!" they yelled in unison. Reshiram sighed again and closed the door. *** Happy Halloween.

Life's Bounty

Pandora was in a hurry like no other.

She was used enough to her human form to set out much of the plates and silverware herself, cheating a little by letting her psychic power right the position of a bit of tableware occasionally, but the other people and Pokemon helping them out were essential in cooking and laying out the food.

Nevertheless, when they were done and Pandora sensed multiple presences near the door, she turned to them with a grim expression.

"I'm sorry, you all, but you must leave now."

A villager assisting her blinked. "Right after?"

A Machamp assisting crossed her bottom set of arms. <We were going to get paid here!>

At this Pandora extended a hand pulsating with psychic energy as the double helix symbol on her head between her pink bangs glowed. "As Kanto's Lady of Life I command you to leave! You shall all receive full compensation when I get the chance!"

Startled at the display, the workers all fled out of a side entrance, leaving Pandora to sigh and turn to the door of her temple.

"You can come in now, everyone."

The door burst open to reveal a young platinum-blond man with rainbow highlights in a black and blue robe, accompanied by an entourage of people with hair as pink as Pandora's in a variety of physical ages, shapes, and sizes.

Pandora rushed forward and hugged the platinum-blond man then her fellow pink-haired individuals in quick succession. "Father, siblings, welcome!"

She moved back and closed the door with psychic power. "Now Farther, remember you can't assume your natural form here... You keep breaking through the ceiling!"

The young man rubbed the back of his head. "Well, got it."

Pandora smiled. "Other than that, enjoy the feast all you want. And the rest of you, feel free to be who you are!"

At that, with a cacophony of pops, the various assembled pink-haired people shifted to Mew, and started flying around, snatching bits of food from the table and gobbling them down. Pandora had assumed Mew form herself and smiled, before being embraced by two Mew with crystalline flowers hanging around their necks.

"Mithos, Collette, you're here!"

"Hi sis!" said Collete.

"Dad found out how to get us far away enough from our Trees to visit!" said Mithos.

"Oh, that's wonderful!" said Pandora, hugging them back.

She then noticed another Mew in glasses sulking in the corner, which she floated over to.

"Bartelby, are you all right?"

Bartelby hesitated before responding. "Not really."

Pandora frowned. "You're still upset about... Her, aren't you?"

"...Yes."

He diverted his attention to the feast, with the Mew plucking various items of food from their plates to eat and toss at each other.

"Why do we even do this every few hundred years? We're spirits of life incarnate, we don't even need food."

"Well, it certainly tastes good at least," said Pandora.

She looked over to the platinum blond young man gorging himself. "But everyone enjoys it - especially Father, he loves seeing all his children together in one place."

She smiled. "And... I do too. With how hectic life has gotten it's just nice for us to be a family."

Bartelby thought a bit and cracked a small smile.

"I guess I empathize with you there..."

Pandora floated in and gave him a hug.

Meanwhile, the platinum blond young man was about to bite into a large, ripe berry when Mithos gleefully snached it from him and soared up into the air.

"Hey! Mithos, you get back here this instant!"

His body stretched and glowed and changed into Xerneas, whose antlers gouged huge gashes in the ceiling as he tried to snatch the Berry back.

Everyone froze. Pandora stared aghast. Bartelby put his paws to his forehead in exasperation.

Xerneas simply chuckled nervously. "Um... I can fix that."

***

Happy Thanksgiving

[lavalampelfchild]

K, I, N, G?

That spells “KING.”  Did you think I would notnotice?  AHEM.  Anywho… (Also, this is late, and I apologize!)

K: What’s the angstiest idea you’ve ever come up with?

Oh, for Dragon Age, it was definitelythat time that I considered having Aja get caught by Quentin and used to helpmake his Frankenstein’s monster bride.  (Being an Amell, I headcanon thatshe has some similar features to Leandra.) I had an idea that he would take her eyes, leaving her blind before shewas able to escape.  And then the fic would be her learning to cope withit.  There was also an idea that Jem, while investigating the eluvians inTrespasser for Leliana, gets hit with Qunari arrows laced withsaar-qamek.  Thankfully, he manages to pull through, but the poison doessome serious nerve damage to his left arm, where he was hit, and it leaves himincapable of using a bow.  Both of the ideas are coping fics… I suppose myidea of angst is putting my characters through something that they can’t fixcompletely; they just have to try and move forward. 

I: Do you have a guilty pleasure in fic (reading or writing)?

Happy endings.  I love wheneveryone is happy and healthy and better for the experience.  I mean,maybe that’s not exactly the guiltiest of pleasures, but there are plenty of times I get a little embarrassed for indulging.  Sometimes I justlike the feel-good stuff, though, just some nice Hollywood endings for the sakeof my feelings.  Also sometimes I enjoy reading seriously schmoopsy romance. Yes, the tooth-rotting kind.  OOH!  A big one: emotionalvalidation.  Now that one is a guilty pleasure because it’s so easy tojust write it to be viscerally satisfying in the short run instead of weavingit carefully into a narrative or character development arc.  There arealways going to be characters that I interpret as desiring love, affection,respect, etc. in a story, and then not getting it.  And my instinct,especially when I feel they deserve to have that positive connection withsomeone else, is to write it in for them.  Thing is, this can lead a lotof times to excessive hurt/comfort, to using suffering as a catalyst for somekind of realization on another character’s part that they really cared allalong, or what have you.  I still read it occasionally, but I don’t writeit anymore as much.

N: Is there a fic you wish someone else would write (or finish)for you?

That is a good question.  There are many fics that I’m currentlyreading that I’d love to see more of, and a lot of them are already underwayand being written by several of the people I follow.  If it’s a general question of the kind of ficI’d just like to read coming from someone else, then there is ALWAYS room in myheart and on my fanfic schedule for backstory fics forOCs/Wardens/Hawkes/Inquisitors.  I cannotget enough of that sweet, sweet OC backstory. If it’s specific stuff I’d love to see written by specific people, then I’mlooking forward to @celeritassagittae’s DAI fic, I’m excited for more of @trulycertain’sDorian/Gal stuff, and I would love to see @thegreyestwarden’s interpretation ofFergus mounting a counterattack on Arl Howe to retake Highever

G: Care to share a favorite crack fic?

Hmmm… I don’t think I actually knowthat many DA crack fics?  This isembarrassing to admit… But if anyone does have any crack fics they’d like torec (especially of the clever or humorous variety), then feel free to send themto me!  The range of fic genres that I’veread for DA is embarrassingly small.

[journeysintowebcomics]

Trespasser Liveblog #1

UPDATE 1: Intruder Alert

You feel that? It’s the feeling of starting a new liveblog. This will be the sixth liveblog in this website, and it’s happening less than a month before the two-year anniversary of this blog. This time I have decided to go ahead with a work that’s likely to be less known for the general public: Trespasser. Once again, thank you story author Justin Michael Ryan for the plot, Kristian Rossi for the illustrations, and D.C. Hopkins for the letters. This is bound to be good, so let’s go ahead and start the very first update of what’s likely to be a short liveblog!

As said before, Trespasser has a total of five issues, including the epilogue. First than all, take a look at the cover of the first issue.

Now that’s impressive. We’re not dealing with amateurs here, folks. This is definitely a professional job. The style does fit the style comic books tend to have, leaning more towards the realistic end of the spectrum. I like the coloring, Rossi managed to make it rather appealing to the eye. I’m guessing the silhouette between the trees must be the trespasser…all hints it’s going to be introduced early here in the story. That’s promising.

I'm guessing Trespasser doesn't have loads of characters like the rest of the stories I have read here, chances are it’ll all revolve around three specific characters: the two seen here – unnamed as of now – and the alien being that’s the trespasser. Should I suppose this all starts becausethe alien got shot? It’s not an outlandish guess, in my opinion. Trespassers will get shot, there’s a warning right there.

Food is not abundant in this corner of the world. Going to hunt the food seems to be something this man here is used to, he gets the dog…a rather big dog, may I add…and goes hunting. They’re getting lucky tonight, there are tracks on the sand that hint there are birds nearby. And indeed, they do hit jackpot! The sequence of actions here is nicely-paced, going straight to the point with every action, that’s good. At least there’ll be dinner tonight, as long as the dog doesn’t mangle the bird too much.

…nevermind, this won’t be dinner tonight. It opens the door to all kinds of speculation, though. Now, I’m no expert in this kind of topic, but that object here? It reminds me of a Geiger counter. Unnamed adult here carries a Geiger counter with him and uses it to scan the food, for one reason or another. A quick Google images search confirms my guess is rather accurate:

So there must be a good reason to check the food in case there’s radiation. Hmmmm...what kind of place is this? What kind of life does this father and his daughter have, where food is scarce and this type of portable machines are a necessary thing? My very first thought is somewhat mundane, simply that they’re in proximity to a place where nuclear fallout happened, in which case I have to wonder just how far away from the rest of civilization they are. Hmmm…this is something I’ll have to continue thinking about.

Not long after that, they hear the sound of a trap snapping and catching something, so the man hurries to check what’s happening. Oh, here it comes! The moment the plot starts! The setting, the characters, it all was more or less established, so here we go!

Here it is! It seems this fella here just arrived to this place, judging by how it has  the helmet here. Scouting around to see what’s in this area, perhaps? How unfortunate it stepped on a trap and pretty much allowed themselves to be found. Unnamed Man seems surprised to see an alien, reacting with ‘holy hell’ and ‘what’, so I suppose aliens aren’t exactly commonplace around here. That’s good to know!

The alien goes to take a gun it’s carrying, but is quickly subdued so it doesn’t shoot anyone with strange technology. It seems more scared than antagonistic so far…but I don’t think it’d be prudent to lower one’s guard here. Who knows what it’s capable of.

‘Graaa’, says the alien over and over no matter what. Guess communicating isn’t going to be possible! Still, Unnamed Man isn’t letting such thing discourage him. Since his trap is what injured the alien and leaving it could be dangerous – or at least I’m guessing that’s his train of thought – he decides to take the alien with him. Back home? Hmmm…a bit risky to have an alien in your home. I’m starting to have serious ‘no good deed goes unpunished’ vibes here. This story isn’t called ‘My Alien Tenant and Me’ or ‘Life with an Extraterrestrial’, this is Trespasser. Judging by the covers of the other issues and the tagline of this series, this is bound to be dangerous. It’s depressing how much trouble can happen because one has compassion of other people.

Everything is in order back at the home, Unnamed Daughter is okay. Boy is this going to raise questions once the alien is brought inside.

A song about tomatoes, you say?

There’s no time for songs about tomatoes because Unnamed Dad arrives, bringing the alien with him. It’s left on what I’m guessing is Unnamed Dad’s bed, and is briefly interrogated. You got more weapons? I don’t see any, so they may be safe on that regard. What were you doing out there? That one’s harder to think an answer to…and the alien doesn’t even try to communicate. You know what’s a question I’d be more concerned about?

If there are more like them nearby.

This man here has good intentions about helping the alien his trap injured, but I don’t think any alien comrades would take kindly to one of their own being taken away like this. There’s nothing indicating there are more aliens around here, but it’s a possibility I can ignore. It’s not like this injured alien here’s going to bring any answers to that question, that’s for sure. They’re not saying not even a single ‘graaa’.

Ah, finally, a name! Unnamed Daughter is from now on called Maria. Maria brings a few rags and a bucket of water, necessary tools for cleaning the wound that’s going to be sewn in just a moment. Oh, that’s going to hurt. This alien is not of the variety that’s allergic to water, so the wound is cleaned without any problems further than groans. It’s worth noting that so far…it has been rather calm about all this, being taken to the abode of a random human and trusting Maria’s Dad to help it. I suppose…maybe it understands the human language even if it doesn’t seem able to communicate with them?

It could be. That’s a possibility. I’d say it all depends on how soon it recovers from this injury. The stitching seems to go without any problems, despite how much it must have hurt. All in all, so far it seems almost harmless. Then again, it had a weapon. Whatever this alien here is, they’re advanced and intelligent enough to make weapons of the gun variety. Who knows what it’s capable of, if it has access to materials and stuff.

Since the scene is changing I think this is a good stopping point for this first update. So that’s Trespasser! Looks great, don’t you think? I’m liking what I see, the art style is pleasing and nice to look at, and the events so far aren’t confusing or repelling. There’s also room for speculation, such as what kind of environment is this, and why an alien arrived around these parts. Does that mean there’s an alien ship nearby? Or a capsule, or a crater where it impacted once they arrived?

What’s going to happen to Maria and Maria’s Dad? Of course something like this will bring consequences, the question here is how bad the situation will turn out to be. Knowing the rules of conflict in fiction…things are bound to get ugly in here. I just hope they’ll be okay…

Next update: next time

[ohmyshownu]

Love at First Sight tag

Tagged by my most precious chicky @soooldout <3

rules: list 5 to 10 of your favorite kpop groups. put your very first bias of each group and the name of the m/v that you first saw the member in.

B.A.P:

first bias: I wanna say it was Dae pre-matrix era, then Jongup during Matrix era bc bless that hair and ripped jeans (now Dae ruins my life while I run to Yongguk for safety)

first mv: fairly certain it was Warrior (maybe even the Japanese ver bc when I watched the Korean version I was like “where’s the water scene???” lmao)

BEAST/HIGHLIGHT:

first bias: JUNHYUNG. For the longest time I listened to their music/watched their MVs, but I only knew Hyunseung and Yoseob lol. Then “It’s still beautiful” came out and RUINED me T_T photography has always been a very integral part of my life, so seeing Jun as a photographer in a darkroom completely stole my soul. Plus he looked incredible with that white hair T^T then I watched more of their stuff and he’s such a soft marshmallow I weep over him every day I watched a 3:16 minute video of his cute moments during PDBS era and cried into my slushie...I’m gonna stop now I still have other groups to do lmao 

first mv: Hmmm pretty sure it was Fiction bc I heard it on pandora and was like “WHAT IS THIS” and looked up the MV

INFINITE:

first bias: Myungsoo since day 1 <3 I still remember @unorthodox-senpai constantly sending me gifs/pictures of him T_T 

first mv: Bad! I was just getting into kpop around the time it came out and thought it was really cool. It took me a whole year of repeating only the “bad” part before biasing them OTL

BTS:

first bias: The one who first caught my attention was Tae in WoH. I don’t think I chose an actual bias until somewhere between Dope era and Run era (Jimin).

first mv: I kinda binged all of them at once so everything from debut to Dope lol

EXO:

first bias: Minnie Minseok <3 Now it’s a three-way between him, Yixing, and Suho

first mv: Overdose I think? Call Me Baby? Love Me Right? One of those lol

BTOB:

first bias: It’s always been Ilhoon ^^

first mv: I have no earthly idea honestly lol but I remember seeing Ilhoon in Hyuna’s “Roll Deep”

VIXX:

first bias: I think it was a tie between Ken and Ravi for awhile

first mv: Error and still one of my faves

SHINee:

first bias: Jonghyun (Taemin now)

first mv: View omf they looked so good

2PM:

first bias: Wooyoung, bc he was shirtless in ADTOY and I’m pretty simple

first mv: ADTOY bless that video

Monsta X:

first bias: hmm I couldn’t choose one for a long time but I think I leaned more towards Jooheon

first mv: Trespass 

Thanks for tagging me <3 Not really sure who all to tag bc I’m not certain who all is multifandom OTL but I will tag @unorthodox-senpai // @dal-queen // @taehyungs-ho3 // @killmehobi // @ohmgee16 // @sebutz // and whoever else feels like doing this