icaruspendragon

[icaruspendragon]

it is rotten work. but i love you purposely and ardently, so i’ll do it anyway. it’s rotten work because i don’t like to see you hurt. so stain these hands, i can wash them clean. i will wash them clean so you can stain them again. tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow. because i chose to love you. rotten parts and all.

#for the evening crowd pt 2

[icaruspendragon]

it is rotten work. but i love you purposely and ardently, so i’ll do it anyway. it’s rotten work because i don’t like to see you hurt. so stain these hands, i can wash them clean. i will wash them clean so you can stain them again. tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow. because i chose to love you. rotten parts and all.

#for the morning crowd

[icaruspendragon]

the were three reasons this poem got the axe:

1) i had to be mindful that not all readers would be familiar with the myths being referred to and that if they weren’t familiar, there was a chance they wouldn’t look them up. i didn’t want to confuse and/or alienate anyone. i try to write in a way that most folks can understand without having to think too hard about it. this one felt a bit counterproductive to that.

2) i didn’t want the greek mythology references to become redundant.

3) originally, i wanted the poems to be published chronologically in the order i wrote them. however, as there were several instances where i wrote multiple poems that explored the same idea in one sitting, i couldn’t without being it terribly repetitive. so to combat that and also reader fatigue, i spent around 30 hours figuring out the order. it was in doing this that several poems got cut simply because they interrupted the flow or there wasn’t a good spot for them that didn’t make them feel repetitive or out of place.

So Berk posted a video of some poems that never made it into Lazarus Rises and I wanted to talk about my favorite one.

It's this, it's this one.

If you're just here to read the poem, fair, it's amazing and stands on it's own, honestly click the link and read the rest of them, because they're all so good!

If you're here as a fellow-feral-unhinged-raccoon and want to read my honestly unneeded analysis, it's below the cut.

Oh my god. Are you kidding me?? This was a poem that didn't pass the cut??? And it's this good?????? (Once again I feel justified in telling literally every person who spends five minutes in conversation with me about how good of a poet Berk is)

Honestly though, this is one of my favorites of the poems in that video, because it's so short, it's so simply written, and this says so much that I feel like I could write an entire essay on each of the lines themselves and their meanings (I honestly might anyways but I'm not gonna subject you guys to those rambles)

"Life loves Death"

In the same way you can't help but love an impossible task you just want to give up but that at this point is the only company you truly remember and the only thing you know how to work towards.

"Life loves Death"

In the same way we can't help but try and find meaning in beauty in the thing that truly only takes from us, because if there isn't meaning and beauty in our pain, then why the fuck do we have it?

"Life loves Death"

As something we can't take seriously. As something we truly don't understand the risks of until it's too late. As something that for some of us, we rush forward to with joy and open arms because we think it'll feel like the warm embrace of the sun but instead all we are met with is the cold cold ocean.

"Life loves Death"

As a burden, a burden that some claim is a gift. A burden enforced upon us poor poor sinners by a god in punishment. Am I talking about Apollo or Jesus? Both, neither of them, I don't believe in either, but I mean no one believed Cassandra either.

"Life loves Death"

As a needed tool, as a part of every flower we decide to put in a vase, as every dye we put in paint, as every food we are forced to consume and as the tool that at the end of the days ends up changing us.

Also something something, gods punishing poor sinners for wanting to enjoy life something something an apple and a weaving contest being the show of ultimate pride something something I don't have religious trauma you do

Like do you get it???? Do you see how insane this is??? How much information they've packed into six lines???

And I'm not even gonna go over the way Life and Death are capitalized and personified, you all already know how I feel about how impressive it is they do that, but regardless, this poem is amazing and you can pry it out of my coffin-bloodied-cold-dead hands.

As always, the source is always more interesting than anything I have to say, so if you haven't yet, go read Lazarus Rises(amongst other things) and follow them on their Tumblr @icaruspendragon because they write so many cool things beyond just their published book.

[icaruspendragon]

i have been young and i have been small. but i do not think i have ever been a child.

#lmao idk what i’m on tonight #or why i’m like this #sorry y’all

[icaruspendragon]

[icaruspendragon]

it is rotten work. but i love you purposely and ardently, so i’ll do it anyway. it’s rotten work because i don’t like to see you hurt. so stain these hands, i can wash them clean. i will wash them clean so you can stain them again. tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow. because i chose to love you. rotten parts and all.

[icaruspendragon]

lord the peasants are so loud today

[icaruspendragon]

[icaruspendragon]

today's children are gonna become teens and clown the shit out of us for 'eepy' and 'blorbo' but they'll say it in cocomelonese so we won't understand them

[icaruspendragon]

rereading my own writing is just a constant fluctuation between “damn, girl, you wrote this? (affectionate)” and “damn, girl, you wrote this? (derogatory)”

[icaruspendragon]

Welcome to MerMay - Vampire Chronicles edition! Vampire lovers, please join us in celebrating another category of mythological creatures and monsters: mermaids, sirens, rusalkas, selkies, and so on, combined with the VC characters we know and love all month long! 🫧🐠

Create fic, art, playlists, moodboards, photo manipulations, and anything else you can think of that relates to the theme of bodies of water and their inhabitants! 💙

Base it on the characters of the books, the movie, the show, the musical, or even that other movie! Genderswapped and trans versions welcome! Whatever ships, pairings, genres, tropes, and ratings you feel like doing! 🐙

𝕽𝖚𝖑𝖊𝖘 & 𝕲𝖚𝖎𝖉𝖊𝖑𝖎𝖓𝖊𝖘

1. MerMay VC will run for 4.5 weeks with each week featuring FOUR THEME PROMPTS and a bonus FREE SPACE prompt where anything in the spirit of MerMay goes! Prompts can be interpreted as SFW or NSFW — go nuts! Pick one or combine them or rearrange them, it's up to you!

2. Tag your posts #vamptember so that we can reblog! If your post isn't showing in the tag please don't hesitate to send us the link in our ask box! Delayed submissions are always welcome!

3. AO3 collection for fic will go live sometime during the last week of April. There will be another post announcing it then with instructions on how to add your works!

4. Follow @vamptember to see everyone's incredible creations and keep up with our latest fandom events! Our sister blog @priapus-at-the-gate will also be a hosting an exclusively NSFW MerMay event, so feel free to give us a follow there as well for more fun stuff coming soon! And as always, let us know if you have any questions about anything, we're here for you!

𝕿𝖊𝖑𝖑 𝖞𝖔𝖚𝖗 𝖋𝖗𝖎𝖊𝖓𝖉𝖘 𝖆𝖓𝖉 𝖘𝖍𝖆𝖗𝖊 𝖙𝖔 𝖘𝖕𝖗𝖊𝖆𝖉 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖜𝖔𝖗𝖉! 𝖂𝖊𝖊𝖐𝖑𝖞 𝖕𝖗𝖔𝖒𝖕𝖙𝖘 𝖇𝖊𝖓𝖊𝖆𝖙𝖍 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖈𝖚𝖙! 🪼

WEEK 1 (May 1 - 7)

fishing net / stuck on land / gore / pearl / FREE SPACE

WEEK 2 (May 8 - 14)

lighthouse / curse / knots / thalassophobia / FREE SPACE

WEEK 3 (May 15 - 21)

sea cave / pirates / specimen / myth / FREE SPACE

WEEK 4 (May 22 - 28)

rescued / song / bioluminescent / depth / FREE SPACE

WEEK 4.5 (May 29 - 31)

tentacles / under the moon / eggs / shipwreck / FREE SPACE

#horny freaks this one’s for you

[icaruspendragon]

hit it, Neil!

[icaruspendragon]

Neil Banging Out the Tunes (2023)

Air-dry clay over foil and wire armature, EVA foam, acrylic paint, paint marker

[icaruspendragon]

dean [voicemail]: hey, cas. it’s dean. again. just calling to see what you were up to… feels like i- we, haven’t heard from you in awhile. would it kill you to give me- us, a call every now and again? haha. heh. anyways. like i said. just… checking in. i- we. we worry. when you go awol like this. me and sam. the both of us….. you know you can always call us if you need us, right? uh. me. you can call me. if you need me. we’ll be there. i’ll be there. jesus. uh. anyways. that’s all. i guess. call me when you get this. please. or don’t. whatever. uh, talk to you soon, man. i hope. bye.

text message from cas, several days later: 👍

[icaruspendragon]

everyone make sure to set out cheese & crackers for neil tonight <3

[icaruspendragon]

[icaruspendragon]

yall remember that time misha collins did this shit to me?

(also, love the little sidebar of him expressing his condolences abt my brother dying on my birthday only to switch right back to menace mode)

#mishapocalypse 2.0 #what a silly thing to have happen to me