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#plus drawing horses takes forever
recalled11 · 6 months
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Journeys part 3! part 4 coming soon!
pt 1/ pt2
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xadian-daydreams · 8 months
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Leola - Startouch elves and Unicorns.
I'm a big fan of the Leola is Aaravos' daughter theory, and as I was making a different post I had one of those what ifs that went weird places. Plus, there's a lot of speculation about shapeshifting unicorns because the child Startouch elf holding the Leola's Last Wish in the star map is confirmed to be Leola, who is also mentioned as a unicorn in Tales of Xadia handbook.
So, this theory is full blown tinfoil hat.
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Here's a unicorn as depicted in Puzzle House. They have a diamond blaze under their horn. Aaravos' conjured horse also has diamond blade, but hornless. Notice that the shape is the close to Aaravos' missing chest piece, his "white heart".
From the Death of the Immortal poem;
Kazi: "...and though undying, took last breath, immortal Laurelion was no more." Callum: That's good, right? I mean, when someone "was no more," that-that's dead, yeah? Kazi: It's a bit confusing, but that is the clearest implication. Though, it is somewhat odd they call them undying and immortal. Callum: Well, that doesn't sound so immortal? Laurelion "was no more." Right. But how? How did they...? Kazi: Right here. "White as the star's heart it pierced, ivory draconic brought death's bite known ever forth as Novablade." Callum: It's a sword. A weapon that can end a Startouch Elf's mortal existence. The weapon. We did it. We found the answer.
(ivory draconic - wonder if that's a reference to the star dragon bone mentioned in a legend in ToX).
So, here comes the wild speculation part...
What if "took last breath" and [Leola's] "Last Wish" are connected? What if Startouch elves lose their immortality because they have massive amounts of power drawn out of them (aka last breath) by the Novablade to perform a "great wish." What if the drawing takes a twisted form that solidifies, erupting from their heart piece...
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And the Startouch is transformed into a unicorn who can die, with the horn being the mark of their final wish.
Why unicorns? Well, part of it's the western fantasy familiarity with unicorns and pure-heartedness. I think only pure hearted Startouch were selected for this...
Going with this, as a child Leola was stabbed with the Novablade, which created the brightest star in the sky - Leola's Last Wish. Now, I think this has something to do with the "heavens" the Startouch elves disappeared to. Using Leola's sacrificed immortality the Startouch created a cosmic home for themselves, which Aaravos ends up getting cast out of.
But what if this isn't just Leola, what if this is just how Startouch effect the world and every unicorn was created this way. Using a (star?) dragon bone blade to sacrifice a pure hearted child's immortal future in order to benefit the greater community. Maybe that's how primal magic was created from deep magic - a child's wish to make life better for others. Unicorns are described as "selfless" - a most cherished value in elf culture.
Take Rayla's example. Doing her duty to her community, by giving up her family, by risking her life to keep others safe, by doing the unpleasant tasks while trying to save other that burden, that's what she's been taught is love. She's sent on a dangerous mission at 15 to reclaim honor and help lift herself out of the shame of her parent's failure - when she had nothing to do with it. She has to prove she's worthy to Silvergrove. When she fails in her duty to her community, she loses their love and is castout.
Extrapolate to a culture where the greatest act of love is sacrificing your forever.
But if Leola is Aaravos' daughter, he probably was less than pleased she lost her immortality just so others could live the life. Even if everyone else praised and honored her, he still lost her. She's depicted as uniquely kind amongst unicorns and he may have felt the others took advantage of her great empathy - and being just a kid. Even if she volunteered, he would have felt the culture pressured her. He might despise the whole practice and culture that benefits from it.
Which makes his action with Sparklepuff more of a dark mirror held up against Startouch practices. Deliberately creating a child purely for sacrificial purpose to benefit from their power is evil... so how can a culture justify brainwashing children to get the same result?
(Kinda headcanoning Leola as a bit of a mash-up of Rayla and Ezran).
Then Leola became humanity's helper, gifting the people of Elarion primal stones and knowledge of primal magic, which led to some learning primal magic, and the Elarion culture flourishing. This appears to have gone against Startouches' warning and to have eventually incurred the Startouches' ire - at least according to Aaravos, who obliques says in Ripple short story that the Startouch killed all the human primal mages by dropping a small star (implied to be Aaravos) and creating the Sea of the Castout. Another slight against Leola that Aaravos may feel the need to rectify, on top of them casting him out. Que introduction of dark magic, plans of vengeance against Startouch etc.
So this theory is pretty out there, as it's not really based off much - Leola on star map & mentioned in ToX, weird wording in the Death of the Immortal poem, odd observation about Aaravos' horse, that only those of pure heart can see the unicorn map, and the "self-sacrificing for duty is love" nature of elf culture. But it was mentioned in an interview that most of Aaravos motivation stems from his relationship with an individual, and losing a daughter to elf culture's emphasis on self-sacrifice that mainly benefits those he finds unworthy of such love? I kinda like it as a motivation.
(Side note, kinda feel Aaravos is making a dig for his own amusement with his mount looking like a hornless unicorn, given that he doesn't have a white heart to stab and isn't pure hearted anyway. Plus, some stuff about why Aaravos is pleased about a unicorn horn being used in the Weapon of Vengeance spell, but that gets off topic so I might come back to that later).
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chthonicgodling · 2 months
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how many kids does your Loki actually have?
(hi everyone I am right now accepting eLoki’n’kids questions, pre-Elysium, past-Elysium, current-Elysium— pls. please please. pls pls pls pl—)
[prev question over here too!]
WELL i’ve actually been tentatively retconning one Elysium-child out of existence (no one cared about him anyway shshsh) and been back and forth with myself on doing that to another one so the current *but subject to change* count is 14!! ALL accidental it’s worth mentioning dggkfg
(plus - who knows if any more children might be in his future! Who knows!!! anything could happen!! anything at all….)
I’ll go through them all in order of oldest to newest!* (weird wording due to* Libby*) Please enjoy this blend of Norse mythy realness & Elysium brand chaos, under the cut cause it’s soooo extremely long of course; I mentioned it at the bottom but special warnings for some Dark Mentions in here of things like child death,/ murder/ miscarriage / & of course less dark but general pregnancy talks—
1- Sleipnir! Loki’s first born, the eldest son, also notably one of just two amongst all of them who has not been able to move into Elysium :(( Sleipnir- true to myth - is an eight legged horse, carried by Loki (in the shape of a horse) after being sired by Entire Horse Svaldifari. it’s… a long ridiculous story that ended up in an oopsie baby spider foal (you can just look up this Norse myth lmao) and that was all well and good until Loki finally returned to Asgard with toddler horse and Odin took him away. This first event - the first of what would be many tragic circumstances to follow surrounding his first six kids - was the start and beginning of Loki’s deep-seated trauma and paranoid caginess surrounding all of his pregnancies/children. to this day Sleipnir remains in service of the Aesir as Odin’s personal stallion, where Elysium can’t just take him since Odin would obviously notice and Loki is technically a wanted escaped fugitive in his home world so 🙃 horrifically sad and traumatizing forever. uhhh anyway!
2- Hela! Loki’s eldest daughter. I literally just drew her yesterday over here!! She’s the other one of all the kids who has not moved to Elysium. Loki is Hela’s mother, & she was sired by the Frost Giantess Angrboda, with whom Loki had begun to rendezvous with solely as an act of general rebellion against well, everyone. Loki uhhhhhh had not expected to somehow get magically pregnant from these encounters, biologically nonsensical as it was, but he’d delightedly rolled with it after the first time (and would return to her twice more hoping for more accidents - and receiving them - before she finally shooed him away). Like I said in her drawing, Hela was half dead once she was born, and half of her decomposes, regenerates, decomposes. As a teenager she and her younger siblings (the next two bullet points) were ripped from Loki by Odin and each respectively banished away in isolation out of fear of their growing powers. Hela is the queen of the Norse Dead and resides in their Underworld of Niflheim, where she has made a home and an obligation for herself that she will not abandon, even for the chance to reunite with her mom :(
3- Fenris! (also known as The Fenris Wolf….. also known as Fen), the former GIANT WOLF born to Loki & Angrboda again, nowadays shapeshifted into your run of the mill big hulking werewolfy Viking. Once again birthed by Loki as a puppy:) before growing extremely big with no sign of stopping. yes wolf-shape-Fen is larger than even Cerberus. Growing up as a gigantic bloodthirsty ravenous wolf but truly just misunderstood and unfairly judged Fen too was separated and banished during Odin’s scourge, imprisoned in isolation on the island of Lyngvi for many many years… until the coming of Ragnarok in ~2014ish (as Eisa and Einmyria were being born) - which Loki during canon Elysium events circumvented by freeing Fen, transforming him into a human shape, finally bringing him home to the Elysium palace. Fen is like ~palace adjacent~ he and his brother Jör are near inseparable and prefer to spend their time roaming the Underworld rather than confining to one place after so many years of being locked up.
4- Jörmundgandr! (also known as The World Serpent, The Midgard Serpent….. and also known as Jör) - the former GIGANTIC SEA SERPENT born ALSO to Loki and Angrboda, the last of their children before they “broke up” (had they even been dating??) Like By the time Jör was born - again to Loki yes as a big snake even then but. Quite a bit Smaller thank god. - Angrboda was finally like Jesus christ ENOUGH stop using me to sire children leave me alone??? and that was the End of that relationship or lack thereof. Jör was the last of the three kids that Odin banished away at once, he was thrown into The oceans of Midgard (EARTH) to wrap around the world nine times, ending with swallowing his own tail in one big ouroboros……. Like his older brother, Jör was freed and transformed humanoid to prevent Ragnarok in 2014 and lives Elysium-adjacent with Fen. Fun fact Jör was friends with mermaid Glaukos even as a big snake - from living in the oceans! Glaukos was able to reunite them when Loki first fell to Elysium yaaay. Also. it’s worth mentioning that even humanoid Jör is constantly biting his nails some things don’t change…. The ouroboros continues……
5 & 6- Vali and Nari! Who I just drew as teeny newborns over here and whomst I have drawn many MANY times. Normal human shapes except in the modern day Elysium canon….. they’re ghosties, eternally ten years old :(((( Loki carried the twins too though they’ve always called him father; their mother was the goddess Sigyn, nowadays Loki’s Big Ex (one of em.) after being Loki’s longest committed relationship, wife adjacent. the twins were conceived by accident of course very shortly after their previous three siblings were taken away, but Loki & Sigyn had been in a relationship for QUITE some time before that, as she’d acted as step parent to the trio since their early childhood. When Loki killed Balder as revenge for the loss of the trio, Odin magically bewitched ten year old Vali and Nari to kill each other and left their horrific remains for Loki to find (enough left for Loki to enchant the pieces himself and sEE WHAT HAD HAPPENED AND BY WHO).
This was one of the most horrifying and traumatizing things to have ever happened to Loki, now SIX losses of his beloved children— a catalyst for his period of supervillainry in which we allll know what happened. Sigyn also left him - an incredibly ugly breakup that didn’t help anything, as she’d blamed him fully for their deaths. When Loki ended up in Elysium, Tory transferred their ghosts from one Underworld to another and reunited them at long last :’)) finally the beginning of a happy ending!! As cheerful ghosts, solidified and recolored by their new bestest friend Meli (the goddess of ghosts) the twins DO live a happy and fulfilling life, and their return to his arms was the biggest step to Loki in Elysium finally starting to pull himself together. yay!!! and now the Elysium continuation kids!
7- Fjöer! son of Loki and Laphi, Loki’s first baby in the Elysium palace! Fjoer is half owl like his dad Laphi and is the shape of a big blue feathered. uh. thing. Fjöer like alllll the rest of them was an oopsie baby, after screwing arounddd and finding himself pregnant in the palace wth NO idea who the other parent could be. Loki panicked and ran away, preferring ALWAYS to be pregnant alone anyway (leaving secret instructions to find him just with Vali and Nari, though Epi was able to contact him through dreams.). Within a month Loki had given birth to… an entire bird’s EGG, narrowing the other parent down to ONE specific half-owl-god lmAO. He returned to the palace at that point, and Fjöer hatched two months later. Fjöer was actually the first cross couple baby of all the palace let alone with Loki (lmao look at us now!) but Laphi and Jesse took this in stride especially once Laphi’s owl-parent instincts took over. Fun fact!! Fjöer speaks only in chirpy bird talk, but all of his siblings and parents can understand him seamlessly! NO ONE ELSE, THOUGH
8- Rane! Daughter of Loki and…….. hmmm redacted due to in-progress retconning.(also she has never had a twin shhhhhhhhhhhgg). Let’s call her Flower Nymph for now. Rane’s humanoid but the first of Loki’s kids to LOOK and act Jotunn, as she came preloaded with a super low body temp and ice powers (which she hardly uses in favor of playing with mortal card tricks as a better form of magic), and was powerful enough in utero to knock all of Loki’s magic haywire. Soooooo back when Loki had left with Fjöer in utero, he’d somehow befriended a stray Flower Nymph residing newly in the palace, detached from everyone else; Vali and Nari had brought her to him to make friends lmao. what followed for the next few years was a friendship turned sort of romance, as she was COMPLETELY in love with him - he was not - he humored her for a while - it was a bad pairing all around - finally they broke up. They…. hooked up a few more times against their better judgement. Aaaand of course then Loki found out he was pregnant.
Loki’s relationship story with Flower Nymph is in the process of major retconning but they remain NOT together as a couple, just finally friends after many years of turmoil, and Rane shares split custody between the two of them (most of her time with Loki in the oalace). MOST fun fact about Rane of all time is!! she was actually born IN the avengers tower😈😇 which is a whole other story that I will not include here bc this length is so stupid already but. lmao! This is also Loki’s least favorite fact
9 & 10- Eisa and Einmyria! …Haha oh boy. they are Loki’s daughters with TORY, and the first EVER babies who Loki didn’t carry himself - while Loki was about eight months pregnant with Rane, on accident he had knocked up Tory, who had given birth to baby Raz himself not long before. Eisa is made out of molten lava - Einmyria is made out of smoldering ash. Before I talk about All this here is a DISCLAIMER that everything is fine with them and everyone NOW in terms of coparenting and a happy family!! but the series of events surrounding their surprise conception and birth was nothing but CHAOS. Maci had allowed Loki to sleep with Tory one time - NOT GET HIM PREGNANT, and she was BEYOND furious. Generally Maci AND ALSO TORY are NOT calm people they are both Very quick to anger!! Loki, bugging out of his mind from not carrying the babies himself, also feeling cornered from Maci meltdown rage and Tory’s anger and panic, responded to all of this by- perpetuating an all out war right back at them.
from all angles there was SO much screaming and yelling and fighting and custody battling— For like a solid four months of Tory’s pregnancy there was just utter turmoil, including events such as Tory fully leaving the palace (falling ill as the babies powers surged too strong for him to handle and returning); separately Maci leaving the palace in a fit and returning when Tory got sick; then separately again Loki himself getting kicked OUT of the palace after another explosive blowup— Tory and Loki PUNCHED EACH OTHER AT ONE POINT — oh my god it was a dramatic NIGHTMARE. You have to remember back then Loki and Maci HAAAATED EACH OTHER!! But finally tempers cooled and everyone calmed down, agreed to coparent and make nice for the babies’ sake, Tory allowed Loki to name the twins himself, everything was fine.
Everything is fine today! lol Maci was so bitchy about the kids and took one look at them and fell in love so bonus babies no issues. All that fuss and for nothing. …. By the way during Tory’s pregnancy with them had been when Thanatos had escaped and been exploded by Loki, and THEN— due to the stress of all these events of the past year— Ragnarok was triggered to begin. right around when Tory’s water broke (prematurely). Oops. Just uhh Loki things. This is when Fen and Jör came to the palace though!
11- Vrykolakas! Aka Vryk. Most of you probably know Vryk cause this was around the time I had started updating everyone on Elysium goings ons! Vryk is Loki and Epi’s son - sired by Loki and carried by Epi, and his claim to quirky fame is his action of traumatically dying in utero, and then clawing his way back out of his own grave to carry on forever undead. Vryk’s conception also came with a great deal of drama even before Epi had miscarried him. Epi and Loki (&Eury) slept together with the intention of possibly getting Loki pregnant, whatever happens happens, new free baby since Epi and Eury’s previous pregnancies had not been easy for either of them, but it was a panicky shock when Epi ended up pregnant instead. (None of Loki’s genetics or biology make any sense lol.) Though Maci and Loki had been playing nice with Eisa and Einmyria by then, Maci immediately started a fight with Loki with the misguided intention of protecting Epi who was terrified to be pregnant - to which of course Loki retaliAted back at her and ALLL THE DRAMA OF PREVIOUS STARTED UP ALL OVER AGAIN. Epi ended up barring both of them from being near him and hid in Chal’s house - this was when all that was going on too! - until unexpectedly miscarrying.
This was devastating of course I mean do I even need to say that. Aaughhhhh god and- Loki had lost so many children before, but never in this way, and he reeled as well. With even worse emotions at play now and those previous tensions only Barely having been smoothed, Loki and Epi got into a vicious fight - but reconcilied soon after over Vryk’s coffin. Aaaand then Vryk came back to life later that week and was fine ever after :)
Fun fact Vryk was the FINAL actual key for Maci and Loki to actually finally start to tolerate each other with any degree of warmth - for the reason OF warmth, actually. Vryk, being DEAD, does not give off body heat, and cried for days and days straight with no one able to tell what was wrong…. Until Maci, fire goddess, picked him up and immediately got him to stop. Vryk has always called Maci Mama :) shockingly Loki did not kill her over this— if only because Vryk would cry any time Maci put him down OR Loki left the room. They had no choice but to be together AHH lmao once again everything is fine now but! harrowing series of events!!
12- Kaia! may or may not exist still but I’m leaning forwards yes for now… lol Many years after Loki and That Flower Nymph aka Rane’s mom had broken up and accidentally had a baby and had a whole custody battle and then tentatively agreed to be platonic friends and never date again, they. then had sex anyway years later during one more lapse of judgement. Aaaaand this time that Flower Nymph herself ended up pregnant goDDAMMIT. She was pregnant with Kaia at the same time everything with Vryk was going on for time perspective and they were born around the same time! I have very little to say about Kaia actually - she’s got the same sort of partial custody thing worked out as Rane does, as That Flower Nymph does not live in the palace anymore and uhh. beyond that she’s just very baby! Normal pregnancy normal events just very awkward to have TWO babies post divorce - okay moving on!
13- Sæunn! Sæ is the current youngest of all of Loki’s children right now! Also appearing Jotunn-like, Sae’s most exciting feature is the ability to turn into a giant squid for NO reason, an ability only recently discovered. She is the daughter of Loki and Jesse (yknow. Laphi’s husband. whoopsies.) Jesse and Loki hooked up, on birth control bc Loki had too many fucking kids. Because Loki is Loki, that birth control did not work on Jesse And!!! Jesse found himself pregnant!’ The big thing about the birth of Sæunn is that - Before Jesse had ended up pregnant Loki had thought he’d been handling processing the events of Vryk’s almost loss quite well but suddenly having another baby IN someone else right after he’d watched Epi lose Vryk made Loki twitch out of his mind a little bit. He drove Jesse absolutely crazy treating him like he was made of glass for all nine months even with Jesse’s assurances that everything was totally fine. In fact the ONLY unusual thing about Sæ before she was born was that Jesse was inexplicably drawn to water and the pools the entire time. Otherwise the whole pregnancy was healthy and uneventful! Six years later (she’s six now!) the reason for that became extremely clear…. Squiddy :)
however. honestly. a quick aside. lmao the REAL lasting result of Sæunn’s birth was that Loki ended up taking like a three year celibacy hiatus due to EVERY FORM OF BIRTH CONTROL failing either him or any of his partners and oh my god this is so many babies back to back to back. celibacy in the… loosest sense of the word as Loki can just make clones of himself so 🙄 lol. up until - what with Maci being naturally infertile - well. was it possible she was the ONLY person Loki could actually sleep with without knocking up!!? yes😈 hence Loki’s long-standing grudge against her finally snapping, leading into that very first time in 2021…… and then, the next year! everyone discovering an,,, herbal birth control dealio….. that not only did successfully prevent pregnancies in Loki due to trial and error but also doubled as a….. sex pollen-esque aphrodisiac…… whose consensual yet probably hilariously irresponsible use by ALL parties can probably be single-handedly blamed for the blossoming of THE NOT THROUPLE DYNAMIC that we are dealing with today SO LMAO UHH— thanks Jesse and Saeunn?? ANYWAY-
FINALLY the last Lokikid currently is! of course! drumroll!!
14- Libitina! Aka LIBBY who we all know and love! Yes, Chal’s Libby! Most people say that Loki adopted Libby but Loki’s adamant that he gave birth to her and— he kinda did. Technically chronologically, Libby fits in before Vryk, because she was “born” when Chal was first caught by the palace and everyone discovered that she was sleep deprivedly hallucinating an entire girl as her best friend and conscience. When Chal healed her sleep deprivation and thus lost Libby, Loki was commissioned by Ty and Bel to bring her formally to life straight out of Chal’s head, and the real tangible Libby was created! Even from that moment they’d all joked that Loki was Libby’s mom. However it was some time later - hence this chronological timeframe - that Libby clarified with Loki— hey, ARE you my mom? “Do you want me to be?” “…yes?” “Then yes :)” and since then Loki has unequivocally treated Libby completely like one of his own.
Actually secretly Loki had wanted to formally adopt Chal too, he’d been the one in the first place who’d found Chal floundering around and had pushed most strongly For her rehab. but Chal and Loki’s relationship had never been parental or close due to both of them being little shits - in different ways. For that matter - When Tory and Maci (Maci and Chal are little shits in the SAME way) formally adopted Chal, they’d actually tried to loop Libby in, which is the exact moment they discovered that unbeknownst to anyone that Libby and Loki HAD established a parental bond and Loki refused to “toss her aside” to them (Libby didn’t even know this had come up Loki shut it down SO immediately 😅). So!!’ Libby Lokidottir!!! Even though no one will ever be closer to her than Chal is, Libby HAS been wholeheartedly welcomed and embraced by all of her Lokikid siblings, who are all completely ride or die for each other and Libby is no exception. She loves them and has so much love to give! And they all love her back!!
It is Chal’s sulky belief that Libby appears to have joined a cult and you know what? The Lokikid clan is. not far off.
thank you for joining me on this EXCEPTIONALLY LONG essay journey this was an absolute delight to write up. I’ve drawn all these guys except for Sleipnir so feel free to ask for links and pics if u wanna see any of them!! And so, Loki’s lucky 14!
only time will tell if the count will ever increase! like I said… anything could happen, even though Loki hasn’t been pregnant for SO long (since Rane a decade ago!!) and he IS on working birth control right now so…… but who knows!! WHOOOO KNOWS—
phew thank u again If you actually made it to the very bottom. If you can’t tell. I like to write just a bit…,,
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almost-a-class-act · 4 months
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8, 12, 23, and 27 for writer asks :))
Hi hi, happy new year!
8. Pairing you wrote the most for this year?
This was extremely close. Luztoye by word count, Sid/Mary/Eugene - the late-in-the-year dark horse - by number of stories.
12. How many WIP’s do you have in your docs for next year?
We're going to call this "WIPs I'll probably actually finish" and the answer is maybe four or five. Specifically in the next couple of weeks I want to finish and post my postwar LiebTabGrant and Chuck/Ron in space co-starring translator Liebgott, plus I have some odds and ends of slice-of-life Sid/Mary/Eugene that I keep squinting at like is this anything?
I'm very interested in working on some more Pacific fic this year - specifically Snafu/Burgie, SidSledge, always and forever more Lena, and Runner/Leckie.
I'm also going to take a crack at some Justified fic (givenson of course), although my Tim voice needs Work. Lol.
23. Did you do any collaborative works this year?
Damn. Yeah, actually - @cody-helix02 drew a kick-ass drawing for my modern AU luztoye fic and @coldarena drew this picture for one of my AndyEddie stories that blew me away. Also, @mutantmanifesto made an incredible moodboard for my luztoye zombie AU!
Sometimes in the group chat we discuss things that several of us take an individual crack at - @latibvles and I writing two different versions of the Pacific band au for example - and I have bounced ideas off of @fayestardust, @aloraundomiel, @bobparkhurst, @cody-helix02, hilldane anon, the hivemind at Heavy Artillery, and probably lots of others I'm forgetting as I'm a hack and a fraud.
Sometimes I rp with someone for both fun and working on my character voice, so thanks @fayestardust and @cenyiere for that, it makes fic writing a million times easier.
27. What do you listen to while writing?
Silence, mostly. Lol. I have some ship or character playlists but I mainly listen to them while I'm driving or walking somewhere to I can think about the story a bunch, slowly lose my mind, and then write like a demon when I get home.
From this ask game.
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televinita · 5 months
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Ten Random Books From My Physical TBR: Round 3
a.k.a. "a random number generator picks unread titles from my book catalog and I explain why I haven't read them"
(I just felt like playing again and saw this half-done in my drafts. still no cover images)
International Velvet - Bryan Forbes
Well, I have to read National Velvet first, don't I? (also I have just at this moment confirmed for the first time that this is a novelization of the movie, and was never actually a proper book sequel. Still wanna wait though since I assume it draws something from the original)
2. Forever Free: Elsa's Pride - Joy Adamson
For one thing, I've only read the first book in this trilogy of nonfiction about rewilding a lioness, and I probably need to reread that before I continue even to the second (and this is the third). Still, good stuff.
3. A Tale of Two Besties - Sophia Rossi
A young-end-of-YA novel about two incoming freshmen, 100% being saved for precisely when I want a bright, light-hearted story about high school freshmen. I've been in that mood before and it's harder than you'd think to find books that match. Publishers are mostly allergic to characters over 13 but under 16.
4. Moonrunner - Mark Thomasan
At this point I'm actually scared to read this Australian boy-plus-wild-horse book. I've owned its beautiful pristine self since 2010 or 2012, and it's been on my bookshelf in the original horse-book shelf all that time; my shelf will look wrong if I ever take it off but...what if I don't like it?? I mean, I'm sure I will...but what IF.
5. The Law of Loving Others - Kate Axelrod
I'm honestly not sure why I haven't read this yet; every time I pass it I'm like, oh yeah, that looks like a super-solid YA read, better than most of what I could find at the library these days...
6. Unwanted Girl - MK Schiller
Oh, this is a '23 acquisition and immediate albatross around my neck 'cause like, it's not going to be great, it's self-published, but because it's self-published I will never be able to read it again without buying it (for more than the $1 I already spent), and I am just intrigued enough by the way this summary pinged my brain with "solitary/reclusive writer-dude falls for his delivery girl, is drawn to help her when he learns she also wants to write a novel" (also there appears to be a bit of age difference, my immediate weakness). But it's gotta be cast properly, or the characters won't outweigh the writing. And so, we wait.
7. Elephant Bill - J.H. Williams
I read Bandoola in a college, which is a sequel to this; I'd like someday to read the original.
8. Sit! Stay! Speak! - Annie England Noblin
Woman inherits a house (and adopts a puppy), sold.
9. A Bird in the Hand and a Bear in the Bush - Judy Hughes
A 70s memoir of one of the earlier wildlife rescues, if I recall correctly.
10. Kessa - Steven Levenkron
Sequel to The Best Little Girl in the World, which I was obsessed with in my brief looking-for-(th)inspo days. I didn't know the sequel existed until I saw it a couple of years ago. I've lost most of my enchantment with the original and this looks meh, but curiosity compels.
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thebakerbuns · 2 years
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How To Build Your Own Rabbit Run
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I wanted to share with you how me and my Dad built the rabbit run. It took a little bit of planning and drawing out plus sourcing the materials we were going to use. It is home to both my buns, Malibu & Zaya now they are both bonded.
One thing I did really want was a hatch door, so I can get in and out to clean the run and get to the buns if I need to pick them up and spend time with them. It's also a bit of a funny shape as we've made it to fit the space by our fence and a bit of the patio that no one uses. My parents didn't want it taking up too much of the patio space but also have it big enough for the rabbits to use.
It was trial and error in some places but it looks really good now and they both love spending time in it. They have hidey houses in it along with a tunnel and box of toys and they're forever doing zoomies and binkies in the run and spending time in it during the night.
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Here is a rough sketch of the run and the measurements.
THE MATERIALS
- *2.4mx18x28mm Untreated Wooden Rods. We bought Planed Softwood - You will need quite a lot of these. We had to keep buying more. - *22mm x 13mm Galvanised Chicken Wire - *Wire Staples - Hammer - Hand Saw - Sandpaper - *Hinges - *Screws - Pencil - Ruler/Measuring Tape - Right Angle Jig or Try Square
HOW MUCH THINGS COST
*All items were bought from Homebase in the UK, everything else we had already.
25mm x 13mm Wire = £19.95 Spax Screws = £8.00 18 x 28mm Wooden Rods x8 = £30.00 18 x 28mm Wooden Rods x2 = £7.50 25mm Wire = £19.95 Wire Staples (pack of 100) = £3.25 = £88.65
MEASUREMENTS
The shape of the run is a little bit odd as we had to make it to fit around our fence which isn't the same as nextdoors fence as their's is falling down. The run is 3ft high to allow plenty of space for standing on hind legs and jumping around. The main measurements of the run are 75cm long and 57cm deep and it hugs around the hutch for more security. You can see in the picture below where our fence panel ends. We decided to put up a new panel on this side as theirs is falling down and looks rubbish but we haven't continued it along this side yet. That may be a project for next year.
I am thinking of painting their run and hutch a nice colour in the summer so it looks more cohesive, what do you think? I'm thinking maybe a nice grey as they have quite a few grey accessories and it will go nicely with their hidey houses which are painted a sage green.
FINISHED RUN
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I've painted their hutch and run both inside and outside using the Cuprinol Garden Shades paint in Dusky Gem which is a really nice light grey colour. This is a paint recommended for people with animals especially rabbits as it's water-based and non toxic if your buns chew the wood. It also protects the wood from mould which helps with it being outside and exposed to the elements. I've gone for a grey and green theme with the buns hutch and run and picking up decorations and painting others in those colours as well.
To celebrate my buns Gotcha Days, I bought this handmade bunting to go on their run that says "Happy Gotcha Day". It has a mixture of green and grey flags with white letters. On the other side is plain, so I can use that during the rest of the year for decoration. I plan to get other decorations as well for their run and hutch. Other bits added to finish the run: Interlocking Horse Matting = £112.00 PVC Covers for the sides = £74.00 Polycarbonate plastic sheet for the roof = £42.40
Let me know if you've done anything like this for your buns or what you think of my run?
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elles-writing · 3 years
Text
Dragon Heart - IV.
Taglist: @guardianofrivendell @anjhope1 @legolasoftherings @kumqu4t @grunid @elvish-sky @artsywaterlily @alexloveskili
If you want to be added to tag list, send me a message or comment please.
Warnings/triggers: -
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She looked over at Bilbo, who was stirring, and decided it would be a good idea to prepare him a cup of warm tea with some honey and milk. Y/N remembered Bilbo loved this as a child.
So, her next steps took her to the hobbit's kitchen.
Before she stepped inside, Y/N noticed one - perhaps from the older ones - dwarf, who prepared a steaming cup of tea already.
The dwarf didn't seemed to trust her - of course - but his eyes little softened, because she knew Gandalf and Bilbo.
"What tea is that?" Y/N asked instead, genuiely interested.
"Charmomile, for Master Baggins." Y/N hummed and the dwarf quickly left the little hobbit kitchen. You looked around, more concentrated this time. Then, you looked over the hall, pantry, and living room, where was Bilbo, Gandalf and some of the dwarves.
Baggins', now Bilbo's house, has never been un-practical. Maybe for Y/N by it's size, but other than that, there was everything one would need for life.
When Bilbo catched her eyes, Y/N could clearly see he was uncomfortable, upset and absolutely, absolutely done with the subject.
The dwarves.
But most importantly...
Gandalf.
You shrugged, and decided to leave him his burglar-not-burglar game. Bilbo would not be patient forever, but he was mannered and clever enough to know what to do. You were sure the hobbit would feel his Took side with desire for an adventure again.
And take his chance to escape Sackville-Baginses.
As you walked around, you noticed some of the pictures. They seemed to be new - or at least you didn't remembered them.
You walked closer, and stepped on something. You looked down, and noticed it was a dagger. You've never seen the design before, but assumed it must be one of the dwarves'. You picked it up and studied it, when you overheard a voice next to you.
"Careful with this, it's been just sharpened." You turned to see a blonde, blue-eyed dwarf, with braided moustache. He seemed to have the same twinkle in his eyes as Kili.
"I can handle sharp things," Y/N said and looked back at the knife.
"It's nice. Not too light, but not as heavy either." Y/N was thinking aloud. She completely forgot the dwarf next to her, as she studied the dagger.
"You know Master Baggins," He suddenly said. Y/N turned to him.
What the-did he just-
"I do," You nodded, and placed the dagger to his hand.
What the-no, he just didn't-
"You don't look like you are related," he continued.
"That's because we aren't." You ended the topic. Instead, it was your time to ask.
"Who are you?"
"Fili, at your service m'lady," he gently took your hand and kissed the back of your hand, his eyes not leaving yours.
"Y/N, at yours...Fili," You said.
"Oh, Y/N, can I-can I talk to you, for a second?" Bilbo came and you gladly walked aside with him, while Fili send you a wink.
"Bilbo, to answer some of your questions - no, I didn't knew-"
"I'm not talking about the, the dwarves," Bilbo looked over the room with frown on his face.
"Then what is it, my little friend?" You said quietly in attempt to brighten up the situation. Bilbo was almost adorable with frowned pouty face, hands folded on his chest, patting the floor with his foot...only if you could stand straight in his house. Your back thought the size of his house was not adorable at all.
"Well, um...did Gandalf told you to bring them along?" You looked at him with scrunched face, and rolled your eyes.
"I wouldn't be coming if I knew there were dwarves involved. So, if anything, I share your unpopular opinion." And ruffled his hair. He jumped up.
"I'm not a little hobbit anymore, you don't have to do this," Bilbo said through gritted teeth, and you grinned.
"Well, you still are kind of little," You teased him futher, until a dwarf with sharp blue eyes, long, dark hair, and the biggest grumpy and pouty face you've ever seen (not even Bilbo could do that, when he was angy little hobbit).
That dwarf shot you a glare, and also to Bilbo, who was taken aside by him and Gandalf, again.
You felt sorry for Bilbo.
When he was free, you overheard him muttering something about 'surely not going', 'not going anywhere', 'wizards', and so on. You decided to go to sleep, because all of the dwarves were asleep already, and you needed to be up early.
You woken up quickly. The first thing you've heard was the snoring. You scrunched your face, and quickly packed your things. Then, you walked out of Bag End, and decided to wait for them there.
The sunrise was nice time, especially to prepare your horse for the day.
"Shh," you cooed her quietly. It was beautiful mare, tall, and very, very clever.
"It will be okay. We will find dad, and we will go away, to live far away...everything is going to be just fine," You muttered.
"You ready?" Kili stood next to you with a grin on his face. You jumped up a little.
"I am." You said, and noticed Kili's expression as he looked at your horse. You let out a laugh.
"You've never seen a horse before?" Kili walked back a little.
"Not really," he said and you noticed his blushed cheeks.
"Kili!" You both looked over to Fili, standing between two ponies, who called him.
-
"Do you think Bilbo will come?" Kili asked you.
"That hobbit won't show up," Balin said. He was on his pony next to Kili, so he thought he talked to him.
"It's no surprise. Why would Master Baggins leave his home," Thorin (as was the grumpy dwarf named) said.
"I wouldn't understimate hobbits, and especially not Master Baggins," Gandalf said as he smoked his pipe.
"I am sure he is going to come," He said.
And that's when the bet started.
-
It wasn't even five minutes after you left Shire, when you overheard Bilbo's voice in the distance.
"Waaait!"
You looked over to Gandalf, who was hiding a laugh.
"You planned this?" You quietly asked and motioned to the hobbit, who was breathing heavily.
"Well, perhaps," he said, and you scoffed a little and shook your head, as the dwarves seated Bilbo on his pony.
-
The day was beautiful. It was actually quite warm, just warm so you could put down your cloak.
As the evening was approaching, and the sun was setting into palette of gold and velvet, and the sky was getting darker, Thorin decided it was time to set up camp. After a quick argument with Gandalf, the wizard left to seek company of himself. So, there was nothing easier, than to just finding the best place to place your bedroll.
You, Fili and Kili were on first watch. You laid down on your bedroll, and watched the stars. It was cloudless night, plus the crackling sound of fire, and smell of fresh night air was relaxing.
Bilbo was just coming back from his pony, when a sound in distance made him freeze.
"W-what was that?" He pointed to the distance, while looking at Kili.
"Orcs," he said in low, deep voice. You sat up. Bilbo had a part of Took in himself, but he was not that much of a Took.
"There is going to be plenty of those," Fili said, and, obviously, Kili continued.
"They come at night, no screams, just lots of blood," He looked at Bilbo, and the shadows in his face, along with his deep and low voice made it come out horribly scary. Him and Fili started chuckling, but you sighed.
"The way you two snore would make them run for hills, so I wouldn't be that worried," You said, and noticed Bilbo to relax by the corner of your eye.
Kili looked over at you. You pulled out book from your pack. He quickly recognized it, even in the darkness of the night. It was that book you flipped through back in Bag End.
You sat comfortably down, and looked over the illustrations on the pages, and softly touched them.
"What is the book you are reading about, lassie?" Balin asked. You didn't looked up.
"It's a book with tales and stories my...father wrote down," you answered.
"He used to read them to me," you shrugged.
"Would you read some of them-ow, what was that for?!" Kili whisper-yelled at his brother, who chuckled.
"You're a child, Kee," He muttered to himself, and Kili pouted. But Fili was curious as well, which Kili didn't needed to know.
"Well...this one," You flipped a few pages futher.
"This one is called Strange thief and the stars," Y/N comfortably sat and started reading.
"There was once a man. He wasn't very known by name, but by his eyes. His eyes, deep and dark, with sparkles, reminding of stars. Nobody has ever seen eyes like this before, and people were whispering he has stars themselves in his eyes," You slid the tips of your fingers over the drawing, remembering the precision your father has made into repairing them.
"Many women tried to grab his attention, but anytime they didn't sucsceeded, the sparks in their eyes were less visible, but in his as well. And that is why men has decided to call him 'the thief of stars', or a 'strange thief of stars'. He was wandering through the lands, until he found what, as he realized, was looking for,"
"What happened next?" Bilbo asked.
"That girl didn't want to talk to him. She was very kind and caring, but not naive. One day, however, she found a dragon. Big dragon, who seemed scary, but saved her from orcs. The beast's eyes reminded her of someone, yet she didn't knew of whom." You realized everyone was quiet, listening to you, as you spoken.
"The next day, she met the man. He runned into her, in a rush, in a fear - and asked her "Did you see the dragon too?". The young maiden nodded, and helped him to get to safety, as he was very nervous and scared. Since that day, they became closer and closer. One day, when a few years passed, her father - an old, wise and kind man - said, his daughter will marry someone, who gives her something very special. The young man came the next day in their house they lived in. He said," you flipped the page.
" 'I do not have much to offer - gold, silver, or gems - but I do have this," he took out a notebook out of his coat, and offered it. The girl's father took the notebook, and opened it. It was full of drawings of flowers, animals and people - but mainly of one special maiden, when she was laughing, collecting flowers, brushing her hair, cooking, reading...When she came there, and looked throught the book, her father looked at her, and she nodded. So, he looked deeply into the young man's eyes, and said 'She chose you.' "
You finished the story, and Kili giggled at how interested his brother was.
"Now who's the child here,"
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waywardimpalawriter · 3 years
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“Kissing me breaks the promise… remember?" with Javier and can I please have a happy ending, I know it's angst prompts but.... :D Thank you!
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Crazy Love
Pairing: Javier Peña x Plus Size Female Reader
Characters: Javier Peña, Steve Murphy, mentions Connie Murphy
Setting: After season one episode 7 ‘You will cry tears of blood’, five months after the events in ‘Heels’,
Rating: M (Mature), E (Explicit), NSFW, 18+ only please
Warnings: mentions of gun violence, almost killing a child, self hatred, smut, unprotected sex, Angry Javier (yes he needs a warning), angst, slight fluff at the end,
Summary: One slip up, reacting too quickly he could’ve ended the life of one way too young to fight the wars of old men. Thoughts filled with darkness, what if’s and self degradation. Wanting to loose himself in the only way he knows. To find because of you he can brave the dawn and the coming war.
Word count: 5,985 (with lyrics)
Notes: Thank you so much for the request sweetie, @autumnleaves1991-blog I hope you enjoy. Prompt in bold. The song used is ‘Crazy Love’ written by Van Morrison and preformed by various artists. This also a sequel to “Heel’s part 1” written some months back.
Tag List:
Forever’s: @chickensarentcheap @jedi-mando
Knuckles white with the grip he’s got on the steer wheel, eyes darting between the thin packed streets and Murphy with the baby in his arms. “What about the kid? Any ideas where to take her?”
Missing the shrug, with his eyes back on the road, “For now I’ll take her with us.” Smirk twitching his dark blond mustache with the look Javier pins him with at a stop light. “Don’t worry Javi she ain’t gonna stay with you. Poor darlin can’t live on whiskey and cigarettes. Though the parade of women might slow with her at your apartment.”
“There’s no parade jackass,” trying to focus on the road ahead and off what almost occurred three hours ago.
Subtle tick to his jaw knowing something’s bothering his partner about what went down. More to the point of how it went to shit and letting two high ranking Sicario slip through their fingers. “Wanna spill what’s eaten at you?”
“No just take care of the kid don’t need you play shrink in my head,” pulling up to the embassy, Javier kills the engine turning fully to look at Steve. “Care to share your explanation to Noonan or will you wing it?”
Shrugging Steve glances down into her sleepy eyes trying to figure out just what he’ll say. More importantly what he’s going to tell Connie. “I’m not,” looking back over at Peña seeing a raised brow. “I’ll take her home to Connie, figure out this shit as we go.”
“I’m sure Y/N would babysit,” mentioning you name cut deeply as the last month he’s put distance between the two of you. Continuing the relationship based solely on your sexual needs instead of the feeling he keeps buried.
“Doubtful, she’s working on transferring out. Packing I’m sure takes her time up right now,” seeing the scowling confusion drawing his brows down. “You knew she asked for a transfer right?”
“When?” Curses fill his mind. Directed fully at himself for letting the situation spiral out of control to the point you’ve become that notch on his bed post. Telling himself he’s going to let you go but never finding the courage to actually cut the strings. “She never mentioned taking a transfer. ”
The nights spent together you never mentioned a transfer. But then words rarely left either of your lips that’s not in passionate pleas wanting more or demands for completion. Conversations the first to go in the crumbling relationship, embraces followed not long after and the final straw added a month and a half ago. No kisses on the mouth anyway a promise you made him invoke to separate the past pleasures from the present stalemate.
Revisiting those thoughts often, Javier understood why you made the decision. One he hated but respected. Wondering most nights why you still let him inside your soft plush body instead of putting up a wall between the two of you. Shoving him out of your life fully. But then the transfer you didn’t speak of talked louder than any uttered words could.
“Two weeks ago, something about returning back to the States. Damn shame Y/N’s a fucking amazing secretary even better person. Why’d you go fuck things up for us both?” Wanting to knock some sense into Javier but a part of Steve understood the other man’s reasons for pushing you away. “Just let her go man this job she’s not fit nor can put up with the stress. I know I pushed at first but whatever you did to shover her away it’s for the best.”
“She’s a lot stronger than you know,” said more to himself than Steve. Other mans words hitting deeper than Javier would say, his fingers tightening around the leather steering wheel. “You don’t know shit Murphy.”
“I know a month ago things changed between the two of you.” Switching the baby to his other arm cradling her close to his chest. “Whatever happened she become withdrawn, stopped smiling as much,” piercing him with a hard stare. “Reverting back to the woman I first met when coming Bogota.” Glancing out the windshield Steve drag a hand over his face exasperated sigh leaving his lips. “ piece of advice either fess up explain what’s eaten at you or let her go.”
Selfishness claws at his mind wanting to keep you from leaving. From getting away not only from Columbia it’s self but from him. The realistic half needing you safe a world removed from the war starting to build back up. This afternoon’s events flash through his mind of how he almost killed a kid. A fucking kid who tried to protect the Sicario scum he chased and cornered. Would’ve had him had the kid not pulled a gun on him. The decision not to pull the trigger an easy one this time. But what about the next? Making him no better than the men he chases if he decided to take the shot so easily. Affirming those thoughts to let you go for your greater good and health.
“Javi?” Snapping fingers to gain his attention. “Deep in thought or just swimming the shallow waters?”
Scowl taking up home over his features, “Don’t worry about it doesn’t concern you.”
“Fuck you say, she’s my friend to Javi.” Shaking his blond head wondering how much pushing it’ll take before Peña would break. “Besides I think Connie has a good chance at kicking your ass if you do anymore damaged. She’s wanted to get her hooks into you for a while now.”
Almost chuckling at those words though it’s mirthless and self deprecating. “She’s next in line,” tossing the words out while starting the Jeep. Silence reigns on the drive over to their apartment, pulling up to the curb and letting Steve out.
Who pauses in the open door, “Heading to Y/N’s? Or back to the Embassy?”
“Paperwork,” impatiently waiting for Steve to shut the door.
Eager for some peace and time to think. He sees you standing in the doorway arms crossed under your generous breasts. For once actually studying your features taking in the fact you look somber, dressed in well loved jeans and baggy T-shirt. No makeup, though Javi told you a thousand times how beautiful you look without all those cosmetics painted on your face. Heart kicking up at the way your staring at him. Barely seen with you so far away but he knows there’s a softness shining in your eyes. Emotions he’s never tried to decipher in other women till you. Thoughts now run into each other, fears chasing after wanting so much but feeling undeserving.
Soft chuckle echos around the Jeep’s cabin making Javi glance at Steve, “Time better served explaining than useless paperwork.” Looking over his shoulder to find you gone, “Before it’s to late and she’s gone.” Door slamming shut, Steve leans in through the open window with a meaningful expression on his handsome face. Patting the inside slight nod of his blond head before turning to go inside leaving Javier with to many thoughts.
Pulling away from the curb happening to glance back towards the apartments catching you standing at the window. Hand pressed to the glass unreadable look on your face one he’s sure shows signs of displeasure and anger. With a blink your silhouette disappears heart clenching at the thought he’s just imagined you standing there. Another curse flies from his lip, palm forcefully slamming down on the steering column doing nothing to temper the anger boiling inside his mind. Instead Javier guns the engine taking off at a high rate of speed receiving numerous honks in irritated warning.
*************************
Letting the curtain fall back in place wild thumping of your heart pulsing out a rhythm that aches with every pound. Partly hating yourself for getting involved with a man incapable of having any kind of relationship other than sexual. Asking yourself why you keep letting him back into your bed, into your heart knowing it’ll just break in the end. Only one answer comes to mind and you push it firmly back into the dark abyss. Focusing on what you needed to done. Having struggled for the last two months with the decision to finally put in for a transfer home, away from Columbia and Javier Peña. Never an easy choice especially when you’ve fallen in love with a man who would never love you back.
Heavy knocking makes you jump in spot leaning against the wall by the window. Hand coming to rest against the quickly beating organ threatening to thump right outta your chest. Taking a breath trying to calm down from the freight you take small steps to eat up the distance towards the door. Another round of pounding has a scowl appearing wondering who would beat your door down at this time of evening.
“Hold your horses I’m comin’ already,” raising you voice loud enough to at least pause the noise.
Grasping the doorknob right when, “Hermosa,” his voice pulls your hand back almost as if the knob burned you with that very endearment. “Open up you can’t hide I know your there.”
“Go away Javier I’m not in the mood,” arms crossed glaring at the door. Pivoting on bare feet to track towards the kitchen going back to sorting through what your keeping and leaving behind. Freezing in place the unmistakeable sound of a key sliding into lock. Cursing the fact you never asked for the spare back and giving him one in the first place. Try as you might to make your feet move instead there rooted in spot when the door opens. “I didn't invite you in Javi turn your ass around and leave.”
Breath escaping quickly, eyes narrowing after searching the apartment he’s spent the last months in. Catching sight of half filled boxes, newspaper scattered over the coffee table, before landing on your furious features. Hands gripping wide hips, soft chin jutted out in annoyance while eyes spit anger burying the true feelings deep. “It’s true?”
“Why do you care?” Countering his words biting the inside of your cheek to keep tears from sliding coldly down your cooling skin. “Leave Javier,” exasperated and tired just wanting to move on, putting the relationship in the past.
Not two steps away his warm gun callused hand incloses around your wrist tugging and turning your plush body around to face him. “Not till you answer me.”
“We don’t talk about feelings remember Peña, your rules,” yanking your wrist free glare firmly in place.
Flinching at the harsh tone eyes scorching him with there intensity, his own somber and filled with regret. Deserving of those very words no matter how much they hurt. He moves forward for you to take one back reaching to grasp both shoulders. Taking another step out of his reach slow two step pattern finds your back pressed against the bar counter. Reminiscent of the first time you made love all those months ago. Except this time you’d stand strong push him away and not fall prey to those warm russet eyes filled with so many indescribable emotions.
“Stupid rule I never should’ve put in our relationship,��� three feet of space between the two of you. Both chests heaving breaths eyes locked and searching. His eyes close drawing in your familiar scent letting it wash all the days stress clean for a single moment in time. Ear’s picking up the quick beating of your heart wishing as his eyes open a smile would bloom over those kissably soft lips.
“But you did and there’s no taking it back now,” firm stance starting to crumble under the weight of emotions filtering through his dark eyes.
Half way to reaching out his hands drop back to fist at his sides, “I’m sorry hermosa I didn’t mean…” unsure how to fix what’s broken. Never good at speaking his feelings even when the need presents its self.
I can hear her heart beat for a thousand miles
And the heavens open every time she smiles
And when I come to her that's where I belong
Yet I'm running to her like a river's song
“What’d want from me Javier?” Pleading tone arms crossed to close your body off. Putting up a defense against the one man who’s managed to crumble every wall surround your heart. To starve off the bubbling emotions threatening to spill over and consume you.
Closing the small gap, callused hands cup both cheeks, fingers spread from apples to jawlines. Brushing his thumbs under your eyes his own pleading and soft ‘the puppy’ look you nicknamed it two weeks into the relationship. “To kiss you.”
Swallowing harshly, “Kissing me breaks the promise… remember?" Willing your body not to react, not to turn and place kisses to his palm. Nuzzling the warmth drawing peace from his comforting touch. “We made rules you know how I feel about kissing Javi.”
Almost two months ago things started to fall apart. Always asking yourself why you still let him into your bed and body. Part of you knowing the space carved Javier hole in your heart will never close. Not even denying the both of you those intimate kisses could change the fact he’s wormed his way through defenses long held too fall in love with your DEA agent.
“I know mi amor,” sliding one hand down from your face to wrap his arm around your thick waist. Pulling you flush into his embrace and against his body. Turning the both of you so it’s his back pressed into the counter. Savoring the softness wishing you’d hold him. Run your fingers through his hair and chase away the stress currently resurfacing with your tense posture. “I don’t want you to leave.” No truer words spoken ones that cut his very soul with the implications of what could happen if he didn’t take Steve’s advice.
Agony rips a new hole in your heart at his words, at the endearment dripping from those sinful lips. “You don’t mean that.” Eyes close to keep from staring into russet browns. Trying not to give in and foolishly hope he means what he speaks.
“I do hermosa,” eyes popping open at the barest brush of his chapped lips against yours, widen orbs find his shut, brow furrowed. “I don’t want to loose you.”
“Javier,” breathlessly whispering his name. The intensity of Javi’s declaration scares you not wanting to believe for a second his words ring true. Not when so many broken promises lay at your feet. Yet, if there’s one thing you know about Javier Peña he’s honest, never lying to you about what he wanted. Holding back sure, not letting you in those tightly held defenses of his own fuck yes, but lie to you never. Those thoughts make others chase after. Ones that scare you into thinking you’ve made a huge mistake by asking for the transfer. Could you leave his man who holds your heart? Walk away from a relationship that’s possibly just hitting a rough patch? So engrossed in those thoughts you don’t realize he’s tipping your chin up to angle your head in the prefect position to slot his mouth over yours.
Javier’s restraint having snapped with his name slipping from your bitten lips, wanting to meld the two of you together in the only way he knows how. Showing you with his body what his words couldn’t express. Javier captures your mouth in a bruising kiss filled with demands. Teeth biting at your lips, dragging plump bottom in to abuse with nibbles and soothing over with his tongue. Harsh gasp blown from your mouth giving him access to the warm cavern. Drinking from your well, tasting your flavor on his tongue always returning for more. Tangling together as his arm tightens around your soft waist.
Garnering a moan of need from deep within your chest. Attacking his mouth with your own, fingers coming into play by carding through those thick mahogany strands tugging harshly. Receiving a growl in return that vibrates down to your very core clit throbbing in response to his rough actions.
Mouths parting to gather air, “I need you hermosa please,” desperation coloring his tone foreheads resting together. The hand still cupping your cheek slides around to gently cup the back of your head. “I need…” swallowing hard, fighting to keep from taking you hard and fast right there. Burying the fear and pain, the anger and worry into your soft gentle body. Letting you sooth the demons threatening to consume his soul. But he couldn’t, promising to never show that side of himself to you.
Those thoughts in mind Javier moves in to kiss you only to chase your mouth till you place fingers over his searching lips. Seeing a spark of need in he eyes that’s closed away before fully blooming. Leading you to remember a conversation the two of you had at the on set of your relationship. Knowing what he needed and how, you step back watching his features fall with his arms to the side.
Only to have confusion replace the crestfallen expression as you tug the t-shirt up and off your body. Standing in just your panties and jeans, “I told you a long time ago Javier I’m not made of glass this body…” hands gliding up from your waist to soft tummy and generous breasts. “Won’t break if your rough with me.” Heat sparking in eyes that will him to listen, give in and take you. “If I’m staying and we work this out you’ll have to let me in.”
Each word hits him hard square in the heart, “I don’t want to hurt you cariño.”
“You already have Javier,” head dropping you go to tug your shirt back on. Only to have it ripped from your hand and tossed somewhere unseen. That soft gasp making his heart beat triple time. Strong arms wrap around your body to bring you back into his warmth. “Fix what you broke.”
There’s no gentleness to the possessive kiss Javier captures your mouth with. Large warm hands grip your plush ass to press into your tummy the thick ridge of his jeans covered erection. Low growl slipping passed parted gasping lips that angle for the right spot to draw those whimpers and moans he can never get enough of. Separating long enough to have you rip his tan button up open, little plastic disks pinging off the wall and tiled floor. Scoring your short nails over his soft tummy, toying with the button of his jeans.
“Fuck,” hissing through kiss swollen lips that attack your neck with bitting teeth. Wanting to mark each inch of you in reminder to himself of who you derive your pleasure from. “Do that again,” demanding cadence gets a soft smirk to spread over your bitten lips.
Keeping your eyes lock, breath existing quickly because of the passionate kiss. Short nails rake up his chest and leave little red lines behind. Detouring to pinch his pebbled tight nipples receiving another low growl against the skin of your collarbone. Where his mouth sucks a purpling mark laving his tongue over the bruising skin. Enjoying the shutter he feels race down your spine.
Pushing the shirt from his shoulders Javier raises his head to stare into your desire darken eyes. “Fuck me Javier till I can’t walk tomorrow.”
Simple words ignite a passion and deep seated need inside his body to claim and wreak you. Clothing becomes nothing more than obstacles in the way of having naked skin against his own. The two of your fumbling with buttons and zippers. His parting on a sigh of relief as you push the fabric to pool around his ankles. Nimble fingers brushing through course little hairs. Leading your hand to wrap around his shaft. Thick girth barely covered by your hand that you pump along heated velvet skin.
Smirking at the groaning string of Spanish curses falling from his lips. Only replaced by the pout, when he brushes your hand away. Mouth still just inches from yours brushing taking another sip from your lips. Drowning in the taste of your mouth, the feel of your plump lips against his. Devouring the pout and only breaking to whisper, “Later princesa.” Toeing off boots and soak covered feet pressing out of jeans, naked as on his born day for your eyes to devour.
Becoming insnared with his beauty far too long for Javier’s liking. Lips licked slowly watching the bob of his jutting cock. Mouth watering in want of a taste. Quick breaths expanded his soft covered muscular chest your hands itch to dust over. His handsomeness distracting you to the point a squeal issues from the back of your throat when he pulls you by the belt loops towards the couch. Skilled fingers making quick work of getting your jeans undone warm palms sliding the fabric down your body.
Javier drops back into the couch bringing you between his spread knees and placing kisses to your tummy. Nuzzling the underside of your breasts. Looking up to ensnare your vision with his own desire filled gaze. Strong arms holding you in place while eyes close, nose rubbing into your soft scantly skin resting his head on your tummy. Hands coming up to card through his hair gently this time tugging the locks and wrapping his shoulders with your arms. Emotions clogging your throat burning with the need to release the tears of mixed feelings.
Moaning head tossing back when his warm tongue peeking out to teasing the taut nipples his hands tug your panties down. Becoming impatient and ripping the thin cotton from your body. Making you gasp and look down into those desire blacken eyes you choose happily to drown in. “You’ll…” swallowing your words on a moan as those thick skilled fingers draw through your folds. Tapping your clit several times and retreating to slide inside your clinching walls.
She give me love, love, love, love, crazy love
She give me love, love, love, love, crazy love
She's got a fine sense of humor when I'm feeling low down
And when I come to her when the sun goes down
Take away my trouble, take away my grief
Take away my heartache, in the night like a thief
“I’ll buy you more cariño and go with you to help pick out certain ones,” giving you a cheeky wink. Groaning with the feel of slick coating his fingers, smirk in place when your hands brace on his shoulders to keep from tipping over into his arms. Pulling his fingers out to suck them clean making sure your watching his every move. The resounding whimper he draws out brings the same smug grin too tug at his lips. Gripping the back of your thick thighs to spread your stance and slot his own knees between.
Pulling you down against him knees on either side of his thighs. Hiss issued at the contact of your dripping folds coating his shaft trapped between your bodies. Rolling hips to tease your own hands gripping the back of the couch to brace yourself while raising up. Deep moan breaks from your chest when Javier draws the fat cock head through your folds. Circling your clit as your hips match the movements. Waiting till he’s notched himself at your entrance before slamming down against him.
Head tossing back at the stretch and burn of him splitting you open gasps of delight echo and play with the groans from Javier. Who grips your hips, holding you against him for a time face buried in your chest. Hot mouth searching out blindly latching onto your right nipple to bite down just hard enough to make your quivering channel squeeze him tightly.
“Fuck,” single word mumbled against your skin. When you start to move setting a quick pace that’s hard and demanding. Head dropping back between your gripping hands. String of curses and praise leave his lips. “Just like that hermosa, so fucking wet for me,” grunting into your mouth that came to fuss to his. Sharing breaths while you move against his body.
Taking possession of his pleasure with a kiss that’s deep and hungry. Devouring the sounds he makes with each quick roll of your hips. Pressing your generous breasts against the hard plains of his chest, nipples brushing his skin as his own hands grip your thick soft waist. Leaving behind bruises with how tightly he holds you. One hand gliding over sweat slicked skin to cup a full ass cheek giving a squeeze before landing a hard slap.
Movements falter with the stinging pleasure coursing through your veins, “Javi.” Kiss breaking breathlessly to catch his eyes. Seeing the indecision clearly written, you nod leaning to brushing your lips over his ear, “Again please.”
Mouth buries against the spot where shoulder and neck meet, planting his feet firmly to thrust into your welcoming cunt quicker. Letting a moment pass till he lands another smack to the other ass cheek. Soothing the pain with his warm palm, “Like that princesa?” Drawing his nose over the sweaty expanse of his throat tossed back on a gasp. Bearing your neck to his hungry gaze and mouth.
Taking advantage to bite and suck, thick mustache abrading your skin in the most delicious of ways. Sending tingles to dance across your skin making your clit throb with each hard pound of his cock deep inside your quivering walls. Wrapping your arms around his shoulders for leverage as your knees sink into the couch and you bounce on Javier’s cock. Thick thighs shaking as orgasm builds quicker than you thought possible.
“Yes,” whimpering out in answer. Both hands cup your ass helping you move against him. Sweat slicked shoulders make for a tough grip movements becoming choppy and sloppy. Low whine bubbles from the back of your throat needing more but unsure how to say.
Javier picks up on the destress, pulling out making the whine lengthen. “Lay back on the couch for me hermosa,” seeing the confusion in your gaze. Javi tugs you to sit in the corner of the couch, pulling till your almost flat and he crawls between those thick thighs he wants wrapped around his waist.
Sliding back inside of you on a groan, “Still so tight for me princesa I could stay buried in your pretty pussy forever never growing tired of having your surround me.”
“Javi,” heat flares across your body at his words, face buried in your palms. Only to have them pulled and placed on his chest. Shocked yet pleased with his sentiments, the way he growls out the words setting off tingles dancing down your spine.
Gasping when he pulls out resting just the tip before surging back angling to hit that little spot only he’s managed to discover inside you. Right leg draped over his hip left dangling off the couch as your hands scrap and grope at his shoulders. Strong arms press on either side of you holding himself up while rocking his hips into yours. Setting a fast and hard pace that has you gasping, moans of incoherent words tumble from your mouth that hangs open trying to gather breath.
Watching with hooded eyes, drinking in the way you look, the passion morphing your features never wanting to let you go. To always see you in the throws of pleasure he delivers to your body. Praying to whoever will listen that you’ll stay. Those thoughts creating a fire inside his body that moves quicker.
Wanting to show you his feelings by repeatedly burying his cock deep inside your throbbing cunt. Loving your soft thick body with his mouth latching onto a breast. Nipping skin and taunt nipples, curling his tongue before biting down and switching to the twin. Feeling your nails score his back and shoulders only driving on his own pleasure.
Needing you to cum first though, Javier slides one hand between your slick bodies to caress your clit with tight circles of pressure. Smirking into your flesh when you gasp and squirm under him. His name breathlessly spoken to the heavens your back arching off the couch. “That’s my girl cum for me amor soak my cock.”
“Javier,” fingers card through his hair pulling his mouth back to yours. Tender and sweet nothing like the previous kisses as you pour your heart out to the man pounding you into the couch. Foreheads rest together, moans dripping from your lips brushing against his trying to hold back to draw out the pleasure. Afraid of the final moment he finds completion and walks out of your life maybe for good this time. “I love you,” unable to stop those three words from tumbling out. Orgasm slamming through your body with the hard thrusts of Javier’s hips. Crying out his name, arching against him breath stuck along with tears in your throat.
Swearing he heard things, Javier’s pace stuttered but his heart pounds quicker. Hips having a mind of their own as his body rushes to completion. Cumming harder than he’s ever in his life, filling your clinching walls with hot stick seed. Strength evaporated from his arms collapsing into your embrace. Burying his face in your neck, hot moist breath fanning out over your skin. Small after shocks roll through both your bodies garnering whimpers and moans from both of you.
Time, unsure of how much passes while you card fingers through his sweat slicked hair. Enjoying this moment, basking in the after glow of your love making while praying it’s not the end.
“Don’t leave,” words whispered into your skin so low there barely caught. Wondering if you’ve heard things your fingers pause watching on stuttering breath as Javier raises his head to stare into your eyes. Wondering if you meant what you said or just caught up in the pleasurable sex and let it out. It’s on the tip of his tongue to ask when you beat him to the punch.
“I… I…” words lost in the jumble of your mind unsure what to say. Fearful your passionate declaration went unheard or worse ignored.
Cupping your cheek surprised to find tears tracking down your cheek, “Don’t leave me Y/N please.”
Searching his bright russet eyes confused till you see what he’s really saying. Realization blooming across your mind your own hand coming up to embrace his cheek. Thumb swiping over the apple, “I’ll speak to Noonan.” Bringing his mouth down to yours for a soft sweet kiss.
“Do you really love me?” Foreheads resting together breath held, his eyes closed tightly fearing the answer.
Shocked he’s asking. Remembering the times you tried to get him to talk about his feelings becoming shut down pushing the conversation away or distracting you with kisses and sex. With the lengthening silence Javier dares to open his eyes catching the soft expression in yours that cracks his frozen heart.
“I wouldn’t say those words if I didn’t mean them Javi you know that,” continuing to brush your fingers over his stubbled jaw. Up into his soft sweaty hair to gently scratch his scalp knowing how much he enjoys when you do. Rewarded with a low purr from the back of his throat. “What happened today baby?”
Fear keeps him quiet for a moment till, “I almost killed a kid.” Lowering his stare to map your skin with his eyes adding the marks he left behind to his memory. Fear returning now that you’ve heard how much of a monster he’s turning into.
“Did you shoot?” There’s no accusations or incrimination, voice softly seeking a way to help sooth the demons you saw when he first arrived.
Carefully pulling from your warm depths and embrace to sit on the edge of the couch face buried in his hands. Missing the whimper at loosing his touch. You grab for the blanket draped over the back to cover yourself in self consciousness. Moving carefully to sit up and lean against his shoulder. Fingers carding through his hair slowly while placing the other around his waist. Waiting till he’s ready to start speaking not wanting to push.
She give me love, love, love, love, crazy love
She give me love, love, love, love, crazy love
Yes I need her in the daytime
Yes I need her in the night
Yes I want to throw my arms around her
Kiss her hug her kiss her hug her tight
Welcoming warmth enveloping his body that cleaves into you. Baritone rough with emotions, “No I couldn’t pull the tigger, didn’t want to shoot some kid who’s stupidly following the orders of a man who doesn’t care about him.”
“Listen to me Javi you’re not Escobar you’ll never have that narcissistic attitude.” Turning his face to look at you, brushing the stubble with your fingertips. “Yes you’ve done some questionable things for good reasons to take down this asshole who would gladly see all of Columbia burn just to get and keep what he wants.” Leaning in to brush your nose against his, “I couldn’t love a man who killed people for kicks Javier. That’s not what you do. You save people, protect them as best you can.”
Unworthiness filtering through his thoughts never expecting to find someone who loved him faults and all. Intertwining his fingers with the hand previously on his cheek bring the back to his lips to place a kiss. “I don’t deserve you hermosa,” swallowing harshly letting your hand go to stand. Unconcerned with his nakedness Javier stretches popping his back then looking down at you.
Worry etched in those beloved eyes that stare unblinkingly at the spot he just vacated. “Leaving now?” Biting off the words tears clouding your vision mistaking his declaration as rejection pulling the blanket tighter around your plush body.
Forefinger and thumb pinching the end of your soft chin raising your gaze to meet his, “Why would I leave when everything I want and love rests with you.”
“Javier?” Voice wobbling with unshed tears.
Pulling the blanket from your body taking in the curves and dips, the softness he’s itching to get his hands back on. But right now Javier brings the nearest hand to his lips, brushing the knuckles with his mouth mustache tickling your skin. Keeping your eyes locked as he tugs you up into his arms. “I’m serious Y/N I don’t deserve you but without you I’m a shell of a man,” bringing his free hand up to cup your cheek deep russet eyes burning with love staring into yours.
“What are you saying?” Fear coating the words, afraid it’s all a dream and you’ll wake without Javier beside you.
Drawing your mouth closer, strong arm wrapping around your thick waist, “I’m saying I love you Y/N and if you’ll have me I’m yours till you kick me out for driving you crazy.”
“You already do that Javi,” watery giggles escaping your lips that brush his twice. Reaching up to card fingers through the soft strands at the back of his head tugging just a little harder than normal. “Say it again.”
Grunting at the tugs sliding a hand down to cup a generous bare ass cheek to give a squeeze. “Drive you crazy.”
Just barely holding in the squeak, “No,” eyes rolling at his cheek. “You know what I mean Javier Peña.”
“I do,” slotting his mouth against yours stealing the breath from your lungs as he kisses you with a passion never felt before. Barely breaking to mumble those three simple words into your lips, “I love you.” Getting lost in your kiss while silently vowing to never let you go or break your heart.
And when I'm returning from so far away
She gives me some sweet lovin' brighten up my day
Yes it makes me righteous, yes it makes me feel whole
Yes it makes me mellow down in to my soul
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shepard-ram · 3 years
Note
Let's go third ask of the day honestly plot bunnies are running rampant in my head today so let's do a second part to the Mulan ask.
Technoblade was starting to lose his patience how hard could it be to find the soldier that had won his affection? It turned out to be very hard since the nation in questions record keeping was appalling even months later he was no closer to finding them. If this continued the voices would drive him mad before he had even figured out what part of the army your armour even belonged to begin narrowing down his search which ya no he kind of had to do he couldn't just visit every single person on the conscription lists considering A he didn't actually see your face due to the standard issue helmet you had on and B you never spoke so he could even go off of Reginal accents. Seeing his eldests growing rage over this (and to be far he was starting to lose it as well since it's rather hard to fight wars without your best general or plan a wedding with one party missing) asked Wilbur to assist. Wilbur did arrive within the month but kept getting into arguments with his elder twin about why did they have to spend their time on this singular soldier even if they did injure Techno it's only when Techno quietly confesses the extent of his injuries and the fact that his piglin instincts had decided that you were the one to be his that Wilbur throw's his full weight behind solving the issue of finding this soldier (People often forget that they are twins by blood and that despite how human he looked and acted compared to his twin he had just as much piglin blood in him, he knew how much Techno's instincts declaring you as his mate really ment) and within a few weeks he had made more progress than Techno and the captive government did in the months that had being trying by using both the information on what part of the army the armour was from and cross-referencing that with information he had managed to get from Techno about the type sword that they used he had finally narrow down the search area enough so that Techno could find them in person. Wilbur had only just finished telling his brother this when he saw Techno rush of to the stable to grab both his horse Carl and his personal squad of soldiers on his quest to find you.
You were a hairs breath from a complete meltdown the Arctic Empire's bloodthirsty crown prince was going around the region fighting every soldier conscripted in the nations army to the death apparently he was looking for revenge against a soldier that injured him, who ever that was and there were only a few villages until he reached yours. You couldn't just grab your brother plus your friend and run not only was your brother to ill to make the journey but someone else had tried that and not only had the prince hunted down the runway soldier and kill him but he had wiped out the village as an example so no you couldn't run. A thought did enter you head you had beaten that general maybe you could pull off the same trick again no if you killed the prince they would just wipe your village off of the map in retaliation. As the days until the prince's arrival drew near you saw others saying goodbye to their loved ones and you saw your friend come to terms with their impending death you wanted to scream in rage at this prince's cruelty at his callousness towards a defeated people. You couldn't find your sword when the day came, your brother hobbled out of your house leaning heavily on his cane and your friend conversed with him while you searched for a sword to use in place of your own. Now however you could hear the names being read out, a pause, a clash, a scream and then repeat grabbing a training sword (better than nothing you supposed) after all your name would be soon. Stepping outside just as someone was cut down ( the bakers husband your mind supplied as you saw his corpse get dragged away by a soldier he had two small children you remembered you hoped that they hadn't witnessed their fathers death) sweat covered your palms as they worked their way down the list drawing ever closer to you name until they called your brother's name instead.
Why did they say your brother's name you were the one who went did they never update the conscription after you went in his place? You had to correct this,you had to stop them before they killed you brother due to a mistake you stepped forward to voice this only for a hand to quickly pull you back and cover your mouth preventing you from stopping your brother as he hobbled through the crowd with your sword in hand how,how long had he had that? You could hardly hear you friends apologies about how they and your brother refused to let you throw your life away when you had so much life left to live compared to them over your heartbeat echoing in your ears. Though when the prince loudly declared he would grant your brother a swift and painless death ( as if that was any comfort to those who loved him, to you) you thanked every god you could think of that your friend was physically weaker than you as you elbowed them in the gut and ripping your self free, charging through the crowd and raising your training sword to meet the blade about to crash down in your brother's head finally laying eyes on the prince only for you to recognise the general you left for dead instead.
Technoblade recognised the eyes currently meeting his with rage melting into fear once you recognised him in turn. He had finally found you after all this time, his eyes traveling over you face and body burning every detail into his mind. However one thought dominated his mind. Why did you charge out to face him now he had slew many unworthy opponents today? Why did this sickly mans imminent death cause you to stand and fight? What was he to you? It's only when your clash unfortunately ended him stumbling back as (for the first time he heard you voice after this it would never leave his head) you yelled at the man to run you called him brother, oh he couldn't kill him then, your loyalty to protecting those dear to you added to the list in his head of things that made you more than worthy as far as the voices and his instincts were concerned but also it was something he could now exploit. So he gave you an offer as you protectively stood in front of your brother come with him and nobody else has to die it was such a generous offer in his opinion after all if you refused he would have every villager killed and take you by force . He could see someone who had just pushed their way to the front of the crowd begging you not to ( the soldier that you had stopped him from cutting down when you first met the voices told him) but you looked at him trembling ( in fear or rage he couldn't tell) and told him that you accepted his offer. With barely contained joy he strode up to you as you discarded your weapon, and picked you up in a bridal carry as he went over to Carl and lifted you on to him before mounting up himself before riding out of the village his men falling into line behind him. That night as he held your sleeping for close in your shared tent (as if he would allow you to leave his sight now that he had finally found you) after sharing a meal with you ( though he had made sure to add a sleeping potion to your meal to help you sleep after such an eventful day) he just held you in his arms nuzzling the top of your head as he took in your scent burning it into his mind in a pure state of bliss as he finally had you and he could scarcely wait until you both returned to the capital to where his father had every ready for your wedding.
Ender-anon
This was not supposed to be this long my brain just took it and ran away with it before I could stop it.
He recognized you instantly, how could he not? Everything you do is so distinct, so perfect. You're so kind and bold and amazing- and now you're his, forever.
67 notes · View notes
violetrose-art · 3 years
Text
Corpse Bride Headcannons, Theories, and Ideas
This is just a list of the theories, headcannons, and ideas I came up with for Tim Burton's Corpse Bride. I might add more later on, so watch out
-Victor and Victoria were born and raised in a small English village close to the Atlantic Ocean called Burtonsville
-Victor’s full name is Victor Ichabod Van Dort
-When he was about four years old, Victor found Scraps as a mixed-breed puppy in an alleyway. Nell and William refused at first, but William saw how his son quickly became attached to the dog, so he let him stay. Sadly, when Victor turned eight, Scraps was brutally mauled and tragically killed while trying to defend his beloved owner from a bigger, nastier dog
-Victor’s favorite toy as a child was a stuffed horse he called Usher. He begged his mother to let him keep Usher until he was fourteen
-Victor learned to play the piano when he was about five years old. He was a fast learner and he picked up on it very quickly, and his tutor was greatly impressed by his skill. His favorite musicians are Mozart and Beethoven
-Victor works as an artist to draw many types of butterflies for the Lepidoptera Community, as well as a professional pianist. Originally, his father wanted him to work as a fish merchant and take over the family business, but Victor politely told him “no thanks” because he wanted to follow his own dreams. William was disappointed, but deep down he wanted his son to be happy. So he usually encouraged him, especially when Nell wasn’t around
-Outside from his butterfly works, Victor does paintings during his free time at home. The color theory that he studied was written by Eugene De La Croix·         Victor has been drawing since he was a child. His favorite things to draw are animals, butterflies, and other insects. He also does landscapes and people sometimes. He also likes to write sometimes, mostly a few poems and a couple musical compositions. Nothing he took too seriously, though. He also likes to sing when he thinks he’s alone
-In his childhood, Victor used to have a somewhat regular playmate named Humphrey. They were almost friends, but when William’s business became very successful and Victor’s family became rich when Victor was about eleven, Humphrey stopped coming over and the two boys haven’t seen each other since
-When he was a boy, he learned how to speak French because his mother thought it was “high-class” to be bilingual. Victor was diligent in his studies and thus has a good knowledge of spoken and written French. He may not be perfectly fluent, but he can carry on a decent conversation
-Victor is severely allergic to walnuts and poison oak
-Victor had a cousin named Mary whom he was very fond of, but she passed away when she was seventeen and he was six. She got lost in the woods and was attacked and devoured by a pack of wolves
-Victor doesn’t drink anything more than the occasional glass of champagne or wine. The reason? Mayhew once got him drunk and it turns out Victor is a CHATTY drunk. As in, he’ll tell you his life story at the slightest provocation. Victor was so embarrassed when he sobered up that he nearly swore off all alcohol forever. It’s very unlikely he’ll ever knowingly get wasted again·         After he and Victoria were finally married, Victor gained confidence and he stood up against Victoria's parents earning him some respect
-Victor HATES smoking. He was secretly offered a cigarette from Mayhew when he was fourteen and after the first inhale, he was coughing and gagging so much that he nearly threw up
-Victor is the tallest member of the Van Dort family, making him stand out quite a bit during family reunions
-He may not be a sporty person, but Victor enjoys cycling. He also loves a good game of chess
-Victor adores reading. His favorite writers are William Blake, Charles Baudelaire, Lewis Carroll, Edgar Allan Poe, and William Shakespeare
His favorite books are “Les Miserables”, “Dracula”, “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland”, “The Fall of the House of Usher” and other works by E.A. Poe. The play/book that he hates the most is “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” because he strongly dislikes this style of a love triangle in the plot line. He also has a fascination with penny dreadful. Yes, he knows the serial stories are really nothing but lowest common denominator trash, but he loves them anyway. He got hooked on them as a teenager thanks to Mayhew’s nephew, and he used to keep a secret stash under his mattress
-When she still rather young, Victor noticed that his daughter, Emily, became very interested in music, so he taught her how to play the piano as well as the violin
-Victoria was the one who taught her son, Edward, how to read and they bond over books and stories they both enjoy
-The worst day of Victor’s life happened about three weeks after Scraps died. Victor’s parents had some business friends over for tea, and forced a still-grieving Victor to come down and be social. Poor Victor made a bad impression, being quieter and clumsier than normal, culminating in knocking over one man, tripping his wife, and insulting said wife’s coat in apologizing. Nell, humiliated and enraged, turned on her son once the guests were off, screaming at him about what an embarrassment he was while they were still standing on the front steps. Victor was so horrified, embarrassed, and depressed that he came too close to taking his own life. He got his hands on his father’s straight-razor, snuck into the bathroom, and actually had it to his neck when a noise from outside the bathroom spooked him and he dropped the razor and ran back to his room as fast as he could. Fortunately, the distraction gave him time to realize suicide wouldn’t fix anything, and he made a promise to himself never to stoop that low again. His parents also apologized the next day, which helped a lot. Victor avoids telling anyone about it unless he feels he has to, certain they’ll think less of him for it
-Victor was born June 9th, 1867
-Victoria’s full name is Victoria Elizabeth Everglot
-When she was very little, Victoria had always wanted a pet (like a cat or a small dog) but her mother said that having a pet in the house was uncivilized and improper and that all animals were filthy and uncouth creatures
-Victoria’s favorite hobby is sewing and knitting. She often designs most of her husband’s clothes and others in her spare time
-As a child, Victoria tried to be closer to her parents, but often found the family maid Hildegarde as more of a mother figure
-Victoria loves to read in her spare time… even though most people call it scandalous for a woman to do such a thing. Her mother even said reading was too passionate for a young lady. At a young age, Hildegarde, taught Victoria how to read (something her parents never found out about)
-Her favorite books are “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland”, “A Christmas Carol”, and any classic fairy tale. And her favorite writers are Charles Dickens, Lewis Carroll, Charles Perrault, Hans Christian Andersen, and the Brothers Grimm
-Victoria’s favorite toy as a child was a china doll she called Miss Liddie. By the time she was about eleven, she had grown out of it. Even though she knows she’s too old for toys now, she still misses Miss Liddie
-Victoria isn’t allergic to anything, but she does tend to sneeze if dust is in the air
-When she was a little girl, Victoria was nearly trampled by a horse-drawn carriage, which made her develop a slight fear of horses
-Victoria likes to sing whenever she thinks she’s alone. She doesn’t believe it, but she has a surprisingly lovely singing voice
-When she was a little girl, Victoria was entranced by the piano in her house and she immediately wanted to learn how to play but her mother had told her daughter many times that music was improper and too passionate for a young lady. But Victor always tells his wife that music is a wonderful way to express oneself and that he would be more than happy to teach her how to play
-Victoria used to have a regular playmate named Gwyneth in her girlhood. They were good friends, but when Victoria reached her pre-teen years, Gwyneth stopped coming over to play for some reason and she never heard from her since
-Victoria is the most beautiful member of the Everglot family
-When she was in her early teens, Victoria secretly dreamed of becoming a writer someday
-Victoria was born February 3rd, 1868
-Victor and Victoria had two children. Their names are Emily Alice Van Dort (age 15) and Edward Daniel Van Dort (age 10)
-When Victor and Victoria were married, they moved out of their parents houses and bought a beautiful two story house that sat at the edge of a large meadow that was right next to the forest… plus, the house was a good mile or so away from Burtonsville
-The Corpse Bride’s full name is Emily Charlotte Cartwell
-Emily was born into a wealthy family. Her parents, Lord and Lady Cartwell, couldn’t say ‘no’ to their daughter and they practically gave her everything she asked for, so she became incredibly spoiled, selfish, and incredibly naïve·         Emily was a hopeless romantic, often spending time reading romance novels and daydreaming about her wedding when she was alive
-When she was alive, Emily was blonde
-When she made it to Heaven, Emily was finally reunited with her mother and father
-When their daughter disappeared, Lord and Lady Cartwell were so sad and depressed that they wasted away and passed away in their sleep
-Before ascending, Emily considered Bonejangles to be one of her best friends. They used to sing and dance together all the time. He even taught her how to play the piano
-When she was alive, Emily knew how to ride horses. She even had a pet white mare she called Aphrodite
-Emily Cartwell died at age eighteen
-Lord Barkis’s full name is Barkis Finbar Campbell Bittern
-Emily met Lord Barkis while she was on an outing with her parents. Her parents had their backs turned while Emily was talking with Barkis. After only a few minutes of talking, she was instantly smitten with him and she accepted his immediate proposal of marriage… and her mother and father were not happy about it at all. Emily and her father had a huge fight and she decided to elope with Barkis… but for her, it didn’t go as planned
-Barkis told her that if they were going to be together, they would need money. Emily wasn’t sure, but in the end, she agreed
-On the night she was running away, Emily stole not only her mother’s wedding dress, veil, gloves, and best shoes, but she also stole the jewels from her mother’s jewelry box and a large bag of gold from her father’s office
-As Emily was waiting for her fiancé that night, Barkis snuck up behind her, stabbed her, knocked her out cold, took all of her money and jewels, and buried her alive. She woke up in a shallow grave and tried to claw her way out before suffocating to death. That's why her hand was sticking out of the ground
-Barkis was married six times in his life. He and his first wife were married out of love until he found her cheating on him and killed her. The second was an elderly widow for her money. The third one got away before he could even hurt her, but she drowned herself in a deep, rushing river. The fourth was a drunken lonely woman who “accidentally” fell out of a two story window. The fifth being Emily and the sixth being Victoria
-In the Land of The Dead, Barkis was brutally beaten and ripped apart before he was imprisoned in an iron coffin chained seven feet underground with other criminals like him for all eternity
-After he ran away, Barkis studied linguistics in French, Latin, German, and Russian in order to impress others… or use different fake accents to fool them with
-Barkis’s original first name was Bradford and he had a rough upbringing. His father was a violent alcoholic and his mother was a reckless prostitute and they both abused Bradford as a child until he ran away from home at age sixteen and changed his name to Lord Barkis
-Barkis has a twin sister who had a son named Hector. Hector greatly looked up to his uncle and when he heard about what happened to Barkis, he was taken aback, but he also felt he could use that to his advantage. When he turned 30, Hector came to Burtonsville to exact revenge on the Van Dort family… but he also developed a vile infatuation with Emily. Whenever he tries to woo the young girl (which always fails since Emily finds him repulsive and cruel), Victor gladly steps in the way every time and he always sternly tells Hector to stay away from his daughter
-Mrs. Van Dort’s full name is Eleanor Minerva Fitzackley Van Dort
-Nell came from a lower class family. She lived with her father, mother, and three sisters. However, Nell wasn’t happy with her place in society and she wanted to became something more
-Nell and William first met when she was caught in the rain one stormy day and he offered her a ride home in his fish merchant carriage. She declined at first, but quickly gave in when it started to bucket down. As they rode together, they started chatting and soon became very interested in one another
-Nell and William made their way back to the village just in time to witness Emily's soul disappear into the night as a swarm of blue butterflies
-When she learned about Mayhew’s death, Nell quietly wept in her room about it. She might be overbearing, but deep down, she truly does care for the ones closest to her. She also adores her husband and son, even if she does find them a bit irritating. She just has a hard time showing her emotions
-Mr. Van Dort’s full name is William Oscar Van Dort
-William loves talk about fish and his business, he always tries to weasel in the topic whenever possible to his wife and son's annoyance
-William used to take Victor on fishing trips when he was younger, which practically bored Victor to death
-While he tends to be the more passive one in their relationship, William does put his foot down when the situation calls for it
-It may not seem like it, but William adores Victor and he tries to do whatever he can to be there for his son
-When Victor turned sixteen, William gave him a silver pocket watch with a design of a fish on the front and his initials
-Lady Everglot’s full name is Maudeline Hortense Glottberg Everglot
-Maudeline and Finis didn’t plan on having a child in the first place and Victoria came as more of a surprise
-Maudeline had a sister named Marie who loved playing the piano. They didn’t get along in their youth and they drifted apart as they grew up. Maudeline wasn’t even invited to Marie’s wedding to Lord Frederick Cartwell
-When Marie died, she left her piano to her sister, but Maudeline never touched it. She felt it brought back too many memories and forbade Victoria from going near it was well
-Lord Eveglot’s full name is Finis Augustus Everglot
-While he was disappointed in not having a son, Finis deeply cares for his daughter. He just doesn’t know how to show it
-Even though they’re not good at sharing their feelings, Maudeline and Finis do care for each other to some extent
-Hildegarde has lots of grandchildren and she visited their home in the countryside as often as she could before she passed away
-When he was alive, Bonejangles was a freelance jazz musician from America and his original name was Dexter. He was finishing a gig in England when he died in a horrible carriage accident (he was run over), which also caused him to lose his eyeball
-General Bonesapart and General Wellington were actually General Napoleon Bonaparte and English General Wellington, two real historical figures. However, even though they hated each other at first, they became real pals eventually
-Although they don't say it out loud, people in Burtonsville make fun of Maudeline's hair cut, calling her names like "Rump Head" or "Hairmungus"
-Elder Gutknecht is one of the many Afterlife Lords, responsible for managing the dead after they pass. Among them include God, the Devil, King Vince, Hades, Hel, Osiris, Odin, Freya, and, the Hindu God Yama
-The Underworld is actually thousands of miles underground and due to the magic surrounding it. Mortals can't access it unless they die themselves
-After his death, Mayhew kicked the habit of smoking altogether and is very glad he did
-Elder Gutknecht has a fearsome Hellhound by the name of Infernius, his fierce and ever loyal pet. He guards the entrance to the Land of the Dead and can breathe fire that heats up to 900 degrees
-The fellow who was cut cleanly in half was an English gentleman by the name of Herman, who lived in Burtonsville years before. He ended up meeting his death due to an accident involving a rather large guillotine
-Generals Bonesapart and Wellington are the leaders of army of the Land of the Dead, but are only called into combat in times of great peril
-The people of Burtonsville sometimes call Lord Everglot “Everglut” behind his back
-Victoria has a cousin by the name of Dolores. Dolores is something of a freeloading con artist who moved to America when she left home. She considers herself a very attractive woman, but she just wears too much makeup and rather revealing clothes and is actually rather sleazy in reality. She also smokes, which Victoria and the rest of the Everglots are strongly against
-When he was alive, Elder Gutknecht used to be a wise sage that helped people in their time of need. He passed away when he reached the age of 102
-The Everglots were a family of nobles with a significant amount of money, but due to a bit of excessive gambling (by Dolores), they lost almost everything
-Almost every member of the Everglot family is rather ugly due to bad genetics. Victoria considers herself very, VERY lucky to have not inherited such genes (she unknowingly received her natural beauty from her late Aunt Marie)
-Pastor Galswells was raised in a strict environment. He was taught that kindness was weakness and to be stern and firm with everyone. He passed away shortly after the official wedding of Victor and Victoria and a new pastor took his place. His name is Pastor Ivan Blackthorp and he’s much kinder and friendlier than Galswells ever was
-The reason Victor named his dog Scraps was because he only ate table scraps
-The people of Burtonsville have a secret inside joke about the squatty walk Finis Everglot does where they assume that he would jump like a toad and snatch up a fly at any moment
-Burtonsville is well known for its raven population and there's an old legend saying they're messengers to the Land of the Dead
-For some weird reason, William Van Dort is known to mutter the words "Fishy, fishy, fish" in his sleep and it honestly creeps Nell out
-Paul, the decapitated head waiter, was actually a French man who served Marie Antoinette during her reign. Unfortunately, he was unjustly executed by association with the queen when the French Revolution broke out and he was never able to find his body after he died
-Several people have assumed Maudeline's hair is an actual wig and she's bald under it… only to be mistaken, resulting in a whooping
-Lord Barkis was a master of disguise in life and was never caught by the police as a result
-The Underworld has a prison known as the Iron Tomb and it holds some pretty infamous inmates who include Bluebeard, Caligula, Henry VIII, Mary I of England, and many more
-The Town of Burtonsville was actually built on an ancient burial ground, which is possibly why the Land of the Dead is connected to it
-After her death, Emily was made the official guardian angel of the Van Dort family
This is all I've got so far, but feel free to tell me what you think and tell me which one is your favorite
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lumilasi · 3 years
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So...I thought it’d take me a while to finish all these, but it turned out I had a very clear area for Rayna’s new look, and with Scarlet I really just adjusted details. Plus my flu actually started to ease up today so I had more energy to work on this.
It was fun to redesign and draw some of my fav girls since forever. Also Avara and Lumi have no surname as they don’t really use surnames. I do have plenty of other characters (girls included) that could do with a design revamp, but I’ll get to them someday. I have a list of ideas practically (fanart and non-fanart) that I want to do but I always struggle to choose what to focus on lmao. (not including my fics, those I can work on anytime as writing for me is muuuch faster than drawing and I rarely struggle to choose with what to write)
If you wanna learn more about each character I have some notes below:
Avara and Lumi are sisters, but not blood related; they also live in a large old abandoned palace ruins in snowy mountains that they repurposed as their home. 
Avara is Pan, Lumi is Demiromantic/sexual, Rayna and Scarlet are lesbians
Avara tends to prefer more masculine/butch/boyish types romantically speaking, and she’s far more likely to big sister/mother over more feminine or androgynous folk
Rayna’s preference is PETROCK (her nickname to her GF who’s a brought-to-life statue lady (technically a gargoyle as she has the wings and horns, my friend’s OC) overseeing their Kingdom’s library)
Scarlet tends to find people somewhat opposite of her the most attractive, meaning more quiet, mature and serious types (though they still need to have a sense of humor, even if its just dry)
Avara is single, Lumi is single as well and not really interested in a relationship, Rayna has a GF, and Scarlet is single
Avara is flirty and playful, Lumi is mostly serious and no-nonsense type, Rayna is down to earth and mischievous, and Scarlet is eccentric and confident
Lumi and Rayna sometimes spar for fun, though Lumi never admits she’s having fun and just states it’s logical for her to train with another strong warrior. (Rayna sees right through it but doesn’t call her out on it)
Scarlet’s brother Alexei is much quieter and down-to-earth than she is, but has the same mischievous sense of humor and relaxed attitude to life.
Avara’s wolves are roughly horse-sized and if they trust you, they’ll let you ride on their back. Orion and Lupus are male, Lyra is female
Kiro can change his size from an average eagle to being large enough for you to ride on his back
Rayna’s surname comes from the family who adopted her once she finally gained her human transformation to start her next life-cycle as a shape-shifting  white tigress. (originally she was just an animal spirit that guarded the family in question)
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sybilius · 2 years
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Okay I experienced a TMAEW thought - Darby, like Georgie, can't feel fear. He was exposed to the End at an early age (the whole "the moment you die will feel exactly the same as this one" thing re: crash) but rather than draw him to it it pushed him away from everything. His stunts and spots aren't attempting to be close to his Fear but to find any at all, to chase after any kind of feeling to try to prove to himself that he didn't actually die in that crash. Sting is an avatar of the End and can feel its influence on Darby and so that's why they're together - how beneficial or damaging to a Fear could someone who's fearless be? And how close would a Fear want someone who escaped to remain to them? - but also because they're able to understand each other in a way the other avatars maybe can't.
(I'm also trying to experience some thoughts on Darby and the Vast similar to your Ibushi "Vast as chaos" point - A plus v good btw trying to experience a thought about that too - in a same hat different vibes way but it's not quite crystalizing into an actual concept, more just an inkling of the variance in controlled entropy versus the free fall of the expanse, but also the contrast in Sting as Buried/Darby as Vast is very tasty and I can't figure out if I'm putting the cart before the horse because of that)
EYES EMOJI @electricshoop TASTY CONCEPTS
I'm forever down for "feelings of fear/feelings of no fear" concepts especially as it relates to something like this. This is such an interesting idea my goodness. I enjoy Sting's presence in this as like-- avatar of the End but trying to understand how this guy is an avatar without experiencing fear. It also reminds me a lot of MAG 71, underground, the way the subway rider was left, seemingly because she had no fear to feed on? would be really interesting to see that folded into Darby's brainspace.
honestly, Darby as The Vast is a tasty as hell concept, given all his "jumping off high buildings" kayfabe, I'm super duper here for it. I'm forever going to be making Darpunk remarks since that's just where my brain is it, but I think like-- the vertigo of experiencing the Vast as a Beholding avatar trying to take everything in...fascinating dynamic (maybe I just think shipping with the Vast is interesting and I'm not quite sure why).
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sinceileftyoublog · 3 years
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30 (Technically 34) Albums We Loved That Happened To Come Out in 2020
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So much has already been said and written about this cursed past year, but a few good things came out of it, including the music. Album-wise, like many before it and many to come, it was an embarrassment of riches. But even with so much time on our hands to devour new tunes, it was often old favorites, songs of comfort or familiarity that garnered the heaviest rotation. For many artists, too, it was a year ripe for revisiting or reissues of old material, looking at existing songs with fresh and new perspectives. Simply put, with so much to listen to, new and old, the prospect of ranking a finite number of albums felt not only daunting, but frankly a bit stupid. Maybe we were late to the game, but 2020 taught us that music should and can be appreciated in multiple contexts, not limited to but including when it first came out and when it was heard again and again, even if years later. The records below--listed in alphabetical order--happened to be released in some form in 2020, whether never-before-heard or heard before but in a different format. And the only thing I know is that we’ll be listening to them in 2021 and beyond.
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Autechre - SIGN & PLUS (Warp)
The legendary British electronic music duo surprise released SIGN a mere month and a half after its announcement and then PLUS 12 days later. The former was a beatific collection of soundscapes that belied the band’s usual harsh noise, while PLUS embraced that noise right back, drawing you in with the clattering chaotic burbles of opener “DekDre Scap B” and lurching forward. -Jordan Mainzer
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Against All Logic - 2017-2019 (Other People)
The perennially chill ambient house artist Nicolas Jaar had a busy 2020, as usual, releasing two albums under his name, Cenizas and Telas. But it was 2017-2019, the follow-up to the debut album from his Against All Logic moniker, that came first and throughout the year helped to illustrate Jaar’s penchant for combining inspired samples with club beats and tape hiss. Take the way the lovelorn vocals of “Fantasy” or soulful coos of “If Loving You Is Wrong” war skittering, scratchy percussion and cool arpeggios, respectively: Jaar is coming into his own as a masterful producer almost a decade after he released his first full-length. Oh, and bonus points for including none other than Lydia Lunch on a banger so blunt it would make Death Grips blush. - JM
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Bartees Strange - Live Forever (Memory Music)
Like many, my introduction to Bartees Strange was through Say Goodbye to Pretty Boy, his EP of The National covers. Creativity and shifting perspectives shine through each song’s reimaging, like flipping the coarse, almost manic “Mr. November” into something softer, more meditative. It felt like a mere peek into what was to come on Live Forever. Bartees Strange is a world-builder. Each track on his debut unfolds and welcomes you to a wildly engaging tableau, a fully constructed vision. “Jealousy” opens with soft vocals and birdsong. “In a Cab” is the slick soundtrack to racing through a cityscape in the rain, seeing the blurred lights of the high-rises above as you pass by. “Kelly Rowland” warps wistful pop song feelings. “Flagey God” takes you into a dark, pulsing club while only a few songs later, “Fallen For You” wraps you in echoed vocals and romantic, raw acoustic guitar.
It’s an accomplishment to craft an album of individual songs that stand strongly on their own but still feel cohesive. 2020 wasn’t all bad. It gave us Live Forever, a declaration of an artist’s arrival. - Lauren Lederman
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Charli XCX - how i’m feeling now (Atlantic)
Back in the spring, many of us wondered who would put out something great in 2020’s quarantine. It was hard to imagine that the intensity of a global pandemic would really allow for artists to embrace creativity. That thought carries the same eye-roll inducing feeling of “We’ll get some great punk music out of a Trump presidency,” but of course, Charli XCX delivered. Through live workshops with fans and longstanding collaborators, she delivered songs to dance alone to in your bubble. Charli embraces the unknown of the moment but clutches onto what’s familiar. Under the glitch-pop veneer of the album, she digs into the anxieties of not just this moment of time but of the bigger questions we all confront: trajectories of relationships with friends, romantic partners, ourselves. Album standouts “forever” and “i finally understand” embrace that feeling of both looking for control and accepting the lack of it. Charli is a master at balancing this. - LL
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Christine and the Queens - La Vita Nuova (Because Music)
Named after a Latin text by Dante Alighieri about missing a woman who has died, Chris’ La Vita Nuova is not about mourning a death but instead about loneliness and isolation, post-relationship or otherwise. It doesn’t bang quite like her previous two albums, but it hits harder than ever.
Read our full review here.
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Dogleg - Melee (Triple Crown)
Released on March 13th, right as the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Melee was supposed to be supported by three cancelled tours–SXSW, an opening slot for Microwave, and an opening slot for Joyce Manor–and an appearance at this year’s cancelled Pitchfork Music Festival. Listening to the songs on the record, you can only imagine how they translate: the jerky momentum of “Bueno”, build-up of “Prom Hell”, gang vocals of “Fox”, clear-vocal anthem of “Wrist”, and odd groove of “Ender”.
Read “Buckle Up, Motherfucker”, our interview with Dogleg.
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Dua Lipa - Future Nostalgia & Dua Lipa/The Blessed Madonna: Club Future Nostalgia (Warner)
Where Dua Lipa’s much-anticipated second album Future Nostalgia succeeded was in its disco anthems and retro, club-ready beats, so who better to bring out the best of the record than The Blessed Madonna? The turntablist masterfully curates a mix of heavy hitters of the charts and the underground that not only offers an essential complement to Future Nostalgia but transcends it. Sending the tracks out to various producers and singers for features and then adding her own samples on top, she invites you to peel back the layers, enter a YouTube rabbit hole of sample searching as much as bopping along.
Read our full review here.
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Emma Ruth Rundle & Thou - May Our Chambers Be Full (Sacred Bones)
Roadburn Festival has long been on my bucket list, and since the pandemic showed me how much live music can be taken away in a flash, when it’s safe again to travel and go to a festival, I may just pull the trigger and go--especially considering it’s the springboard for such fruitful and inspired collaborations as the one between Louisville singer-songwriter Emma Ruth Rundle and Baton Rouge sludge dwellers Thou. Rundle embraces the heavier opportunities on the follow-up to her incredible 2018 record On Dark Horses with the ever-flexible Thou backing her up vocally and instrumentally. Slow-burning opener “Killing Floor” offers a familiar introduction to fans of both--sort of what a Rundle/Thou song would sound like--before grunge chugger “Monolith” introduces huge, catchy riffs and “Out of Existence” a True Widow-esque dirge, newfound inspirations for both artists bringing the best out of each other. - JM
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Fiona Apple - Fetch the Bolt Cutters (Epic)
What makes Fetch the Bolt Cutters stand out among Apple’s catalog and music in general is the clarity with which Apple seethes at those who have wronged her, whether ex-boyfriends or patriarchal oppressors, and looks to her relationships with other women for peace of mind.
Read our full review here.
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HAIM - Women in Music Pt. III (Columbia)
For HAIM, the title Women in Music Pt. III is suggestive that, more than their previous two records, their third centers around the experiences of being an all-female band in a historically white cis male-dominated scene, at least one that wouldn’t call catchy riffs written by a man “simple” or call attention to the faces a man makes while playing. What it doesn’t let on to is how deeply personal the record is, how, by unabashedly embracing genres and styles of music that they love, HAIM have made far and away their best album. Co-produced by the usual suspects, Danielle Haim, Ariel Rechtshaid, and ex-Vampire Weekender Rostam Batmanglij, it’s instrumentally and aesthetically dynamic and diverse, consistently earnest without devolving into cheese.
Read our full review here.
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Irreversible Entanglements - Who Sent You? (International Anthem)
I’ve been captivated by Irreversible Entanglements ever since I first saw them at Pitchfork Music Festival 2018. The radical poetry of Camae Ayewa (aka Moor Mother) is the perfect front for a ramshackle mix of Luke Stewart’s spidery bass, Tcheser Holmes’ weighty drums, and a horn section that concocts tones that range from hopeful to desperate. At their best, Who Sent You? is a shining example of celebratory Afrofuturism and metaphysics that makes the urgency of Ayewa’s more concrete and political words all the more necessary. “No Más”, composed by Panamanian-born trumpeter Aquiles Navarro, is a declaration against imperialist oppression, while the stunning title track flips the switch like a Kara Walker painting, as Ayewa’s the one interrogating the police officer terrorizing her community. “Who sent you?” she repeats, never spiraling, grabbing a hold of the power and never letting go. - JM
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Jeff Parker - Suite for Max Brown (International Anthem/Nonesuch)
It’s Jeff Parker’s mom’s turn. After 2016′s The New Breed ended up being a tribute to the guitarist’s father, who passed away during the making of it, Parker decided to pay tribute to Maxine while she was still alive. Suite for Max Brown (Brown is his mother’s maiden name; Max is what people call her) is a genre-bending collection of tracks inspired by Parker’s DJing, juxtapositions of sequenced beats with improvisation that certainly sound like the brainchild of one individual. Indeed, Parker plays the majority of the instruments on it and engineered most of it at home or during his 2018 Headlands Center residency in Sausalito, CA; though all of the players and the vocalist (Jeff’s daughter Ruby Parker) on The New Breed show up, plus a couple trumpeters (piccolo player Rob Mazurek and Nate Walcott of Bright Eyes) and cellist Katinka Kleijn, Suite for Max Brown is a distinctly Jeff Parker record.
Read our preview of Jeff Parker & The New Breed’s set at Dorian’s last year.
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Jeff Rosenstock - NO DREAM (Polyvinyl)
Jeff Rosenstock throws us right into the spinning, manic energy of NO DREAM, his latest release from a seemingly endless well of music that never lacks urgency. It’s a reminder that though it’s been a strange year, the issues Rosenstock tackles here aren’t new. There’s no interest in making you feel comfortable here. On the album’s title track, Rosenstock sings, lulling you into a false sense of security, “They were separating families carelessly / Under the guise of protecting you and me.” But reality sets in, and the hazy guitars spin out as he spits, “It’s not a dream!” and, “Fuck violence!”
My image of Jeff Rosenstock in the year 2020 is masked up with “Black Lives Matter” scrawled across the fabric of his mask in Sharpie, performing album highlight “Scram!” on Late Night with Seth Meyers as high energy as ever. It felt like watching someone send out a beacon, both a distress signal and a call to arms. - LL
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Jessie Ware - What’s Your Pleasure? (PMR/Friends Keep Secrets/Interscope)
I am not someone who goes to clubs. I don��t “go out dancing,” preferring to let loose in the privacy of my own home or a trusted friend’s house party. But Jessie Ware’s What’s Your Pleasure? makes me think I could embrace a night out like that, once the world opens up again, of course. The album is filled with syncopated disco beats that feel fresh and classic all at once. The abundant horns and strings on “Step Into My Life” are decadent, like light bouncing off sequins in a dark room. Ware’s voice is slinky and velvety one moment, windswept like her album cover the next. It’s songs like “Save a Kiss” that embrace both, allowing her to show off her range. - LL
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Laura Marling - Song for Our Daughter (Partisan)
With sparse production, mostly from her but with additions from Ethan Johns and Dom Monks, Marling foregoes the comparative maximalism of the Blake Mills-produced Semper Femina, her last proper full-length, and 2018′s LUMP collaboration. The songs aren’t simple, but they’re succinct, and every element, from Marling’s finger-picked guitars, the occasional slide guitar, and that unmistakably calm voice, sometimes alone and sometimes layered, fits. It’s her most universal set of songs yet, centering around the times when we’re apart from one another but reflecting on when we were together and when we might be together again, with no guarantees.
Read the rest of our review here.
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Les Amazones d’Afrique - Amazones Power (Real World Records)
The groovy pan-African collective expands upon their debut Republique Amazone and then some with Amazones Power, a tour-de-force statement of female empowerment in the face of oppression against women throughout the African diaspora. Indeed, the album is more than just songs boldly decrying FGM, though those demands ring heavily. Instead, the group goes further, delving into gender power structures in marriage on “Queens” and selectively finding strength in tradition on “Dreams”. And this time, they include men to stand alongside with them. “Together we must stand / Together we must end this,” sings Guinean musician/dancer/artist Niariu on opener “Heavy” in solidarity with features Douranne (Boy) Fall and Magueye Diouk (Jon Grace) of Paris band Nyoko Bokbae. But perhaps it’s her kiss-off on “Smile” that hits hardest: “I shut up for no one.” - JM
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Lianne La Havas - Lianne La Havas (Nonesuch)
The British singer-songwriter’s much anticipated follow-up to 2015′s Blood was better than I could have ever imagined. A song cycle about life cycles--of nature, of lives, of a relationship--inspired by an actual breakup, Lianne La Havas is a contemporary neo soul masterpiece. Overview opener “Bittersweet” is an instant earworm, La Havas’ coo-turned-belt filling the space between classic and increasingly emotive slabs of piano and guitar. Funky, lovestruck strut “Read My Mind” is the soundtrack for the unbridled confidence of finding new love. Yes, the doubts begin to sow on the fingerpicked melancholy of “Green Papaya” and “Can’t Fight”, and where the album goes from a simple narrative perspective may be predictable: They break up, they don’t get back together, La Havas enjoys her independence. But the depth of the arrangements and assuredness of La Havas’ singing is a product of an artist starting to really show us what she can do. And how many people can pull off a Radiohead cover like that? - JM
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Lomelda - Hannah (Double Double Whammy)
What does it mean to title an album after yourself? Lomelda’s latest album is centered around discovering more about yourself while not always having the answers. Despite the lyrical content, the album is self-assured. Hannah Read’s voice feels as steady as ever as it navigates these twisting questions, like the way the world can shift after a kiss. She finds power in softness and reflection throughout the album, like when she explores the mantra-like words of “Wonder” or through a reminder to do no harm in “Hannah Sun”. In a year that allowed for perhaps more reflection than usual, Hannah makes space for the questions that arise out of figuring yourself out, of making sense of the messiness of it all, wrapped in warm guitar, balanced vocals, and steady drums. - LL
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Moses Sumney - Grae (Jagjaguwar)
“Am I vital / If my heart is idle? / Am I doomed?” Moses Sumney famously sang on his stunning 2017 debut Aromanticism, an album that saw him developing his acceptance of being alone. grae, his two-part 2nd full-length, and his first since officially moving from L.A. to the Appalachian Mountains of Asheville, North Carolina, doubles down on themes of heartbreak, but instead of being sure in his seclusion, he embraces the unknown. The album teeters between interludes of platitudes about isolation and ruminations on failed human connection, and maximally arranged clutches of uncertainty. “When my mind’s clouded and filled with doubt / That’s when I feel the most alive,” Sumney coos over horns and piano on slinky soul song “Cut Me”; it’s an effective mantra for the album.
Read the rest of our review here.
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Norah Jones - Pick Me Up Off The Floor (Blue Note)
At the time we previewed Norah Jones’ 7th studio album, she had only released a few tracks from it. Turns out the rest was just as powerful. From the blues stomp of “Flame Twin” to the rolling piano stylings of “Hurts to Be Alone”, Pick Me Up Off The Floor is an album full of jazzy orchestrations and soul and gospel-indebted arrangements, Jones’ silky, yearning voice tying together the simple, yet lush and deep instrumentation. And that other Tweedy feature, that closes the album? It’s a heartbreaking portrait of loneliness, one of many on a record that still manages to celebrate being alive all the while. - JM
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Phoebe Bridgers - Punisher (Dead Oceans)
Phoebe Bridgers is a master of details. Her lyrics shine when they get specific. They range from the mundane to morbid: A superfan’s ghost-like wandering under a drugstore’s fluorescent lights, a skinhead likely buried under a blooming garden, reckoning with the you in “Moon Song”’s lines, “You are sick, and you’re married / And you might be dying.” Bridgers has always been able to set a scene meticulously, and Punisher arrived with 11 songs that expanded that skill, both lyrically and musically, with her dark humor intact and a fuller sound that includes her boygenuis collaborators’ harmonies. - LL
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PJ Harvey - To Bring You My Love: The Demos & Dry - The Demos (Island)
Yes, revisiting Dry’s demos as a separate entity is still worthwhile. Harvey’s powerhouse vocal performance carries the acoustic strummed “Oh My Lover”, while the comparatively minimal arrangement of “Victory” highlights bluesy riffing, call-and-response harmonies, and layered guitar and vocals. The singles, the slinky and sharp “Dress” and propulsive anthem “Sheela-Na-Gig”, hold up to their ultimate studio versions, too. But it’s the To Bring You My Love material that provides novelty because it’s never been released and more so because it encompasses the greatest aesthetic contrast from the album. From the warbling hues and guitar lines of the title track to the tremolo haze of “Teclo” to the crisp snares of “Working With The Man”, the demos show a continuity and level of cohesiveness with the diversity of Dry and Rid of Me not shown on the studio version of Harvey’s more accessible commercial breakout. (Predictably, the album’s most well-known song, “Down by the Water”, is the closest to its eventual version.) “Long Snake Moan” is simultaneously more spacious and more noisy, its garage blues a total contrast to the lurking “I Think I’m A Mother” and swaying shanty “Send His Love To Me”. And “The Dancer” fully embraces its flamenco influences, hand claps and all.
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Porridge Radio - Every Bad (Secretly Canadian)
Is there a better opening line than “I’m bored to death, let’s argue”? That kind of duality is found across all of Every Bad as it grapples with the frustrations and anxiety of trying to figure it all out, whatever that might mean for you. “Maybe I was born confused, but I’m not,” vocalist Dana Margolin repeats throughout the opening track, roping in listeners with the dizzying feeling of trying to make sense of yourself. The band’s guitar and synth sound coupled with Margolin’s howl makes for a dance party filled with dread, rendering Margolin’s already strong, repetitive lyrics even more spiraling. And yet, by the time we get to “Lilacs”, a glimmer of something else shines through as the music gets more manic and Margolin’s voice begins to soar: “I don’t want to get bitter / I want us to get better / I want us to be kinder / To ourselves and to each other.” - LL
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Sault - Untitled (Rise) & Untitled (Black Is) (Forever Living Originals)
Yes, Black Is still pulls plenty of devastating punches. “Eternal Life”, a segue from the gospel boost of “US”, juxtaposes a deliberate drum beat with zooming synths, both ascending like a chorus of angels, as they sing, “I see sadness in your eye / ‘Cause I know you don’t wanna die,” presenting the oppression of Black life at the hands of white supremacy in inarguable terms. Ultimately, though, it’s the anthemic nature of the songs, resistant of platitudes, that shines through. “Nobody cared / This generation cares,” says Laurette Josiah on “This Generation”. Whether she’s talking about young people in general or the latest generation of young Black leaders, the sentiment is reflected on songs like “Black”, wherein over dynamic, sinewy instrumentation, the singers alternate between encouragement, support, and love of the self and others.
Read our full review here.
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Shamir - Shamir (self-released)
Shamir’s voice is a bright beacon in a sea of conventional singers. Shamir captures the effervescence of pop music and weaves it together with elements of country, alt rock, and diary confessional lyrics all supported by the emotion and range of his vocals. There’s something for everyone across the album’s 11 shimmering tracks. Lead single and opener “On My Own” feels like a declaration of self and self-sufficiency, an anthem of a breakup song. The almost pop-punk bounce of “Pretty When I’m Sad”, paired perfectly with lines like the angst-ridden, “Let’s fuck around inside each other’s heads,” feels impossible to not bop along to. The twang of “Other Side” would put a country crooner to shame. That’s the power of Shamir. His voice has the ability to smoothly convey joy, resilience, and humor. He uses elements of several genres, not just the dance-pop of his debut, to build a unique album that gives listeners so much to sift through and, of course, dance to. - LL
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Songhoy Blues - Optimisme (Fat Possum)
If Songhoy Blues’ second album Resistance lacked “the grit of its predecessor,” it’s clear from the hard rock stomp of the opening track of Malian band’s third album Optimisme that they rediscovered their mojo. More importantly, they couple this maximal brashness with tributes to those who make their world a better place: fighters for freedom, women, the young. It’s perhaps the first Songhoy Blues record to truly combine the celebratory nature of their desert blues with a balanced mixture of idealism and vigor. - JM
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Spanish Love Songs - Brave Faces Everyone (Pure Noise)  
How can you find hope in hopelessness, or optimism when every news story points to cruelty? Is it naïve to keep searching for light in the dark? I don’t think so, and I don’t think Spanish Love Songs does, either. I’d like to think we both believe that’s not naivety, but power. It’s the embers you need to really ignite a flame. After all, this is the band with a song titled “Optimism (As a Radical Life Choice)”. It’s a band whose crunching guitars and earnestness insist that despite death and depression and addiction, the instinct to survive shines brightly above all. That relentless hope resurfaces across Brave Faces Everyone’s 10 tracks even as it works through the bleakness of everyday life. - LL
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Tashi Dorji - Stateless (Drag City)
The magnum opus from the Asheville-based picker is a group of evocatively titled, disorderly songs about the desolate hellscape of America for outsiders and immigrants. Enigmatic in its nature, not exactly narrative, Stateless combines Dorji’s urgent strumming with moody motifs, captured beautifully in a studio setting for maximum emotional wallop. - JM
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Touche Amore - Lament (Epitaph)
Is this what an almost uplifting Touche Amore album sounds like? It’s cathartic in a newer way for the band, especially after the beautifully rendered grief of Stage Four. Lament loses none of the band’s aggression or urgency. “Come Heroine” thrusts listeners into that urgency and introduces a moment of warmth, Jeremy Bolm’s vocals still rasping and insistent: “You brought me in / You took to me / And reversed the atrophy.” The bounciness of “Reminders” may seem close to optimism, but a sharper look at the lyrics uncovers more than blindly looking to the things that bring joy. “I’ll Be Your Host” is reflective, a few years removed from Touche Amore’s previous album and the immediacy of loss, self-aware and growing, but still raw. The album closer, “A Forecast”, takes a turn, a lone voice and piano acting as a confessional before giving way to thrashing guitars and the realization that growth and reckoning with trauma doesn’t mean minimizing it. It means learning to keep moving forward and to stop for help when you may need it. - LL
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Waxahatchee - Saint Cloud (Merge)
The best album yet from Katie Crutchfield is inspired by positive personal change (getting sober, dealing with codependency issues, her blossoming love with singer-songwriter Kevin Morby) and reflections on family and friends. Named after the suburb of Orlando where her father’s from, Saint Cloud is a genre-hopping collection of stories and feelings that doesn’t necessarily follow any semblance of narrative. On opener “Oxbow” and country-tinged ditty “Can’t Do Much”, Crutchfield’s increasingly aware of the need to pick your side and your battles, whether in the relationship between two people or between the allure of the bottle and the next-day hangover. Some of the best songs on the album see her finding commonalities with others as a means towards self-love. Gentle strummer “The Eye” refers to her natural creative relationships with Morby and her sister Allison. “War” she wrote for herself and best friend, who is also sober, the title a metaphor for one’s fight to remain substance-free. “Witches” is an ode to her best friends, including Allison and Snail Mail’s Lindsey Jordan, all equally frustrated by the toxic nature of the music industry and the world at large, ultimately lifting each other up because they simply have each other.
Read our full review here.
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Text
community wild west au
okay, it’s a bit different from what i posted in the rough draft of ideas thing, but here it is!! this is part one, bc i think the whole thing is gonna end up longer than i thought lol
     Annie knew she couldn’t stay here forever. It was a small town, and she always knew, somewhere deep down, that she would move on to bigger things someday. But that didn’t make it easier to be forced to leave. This was all she had ever known- playing kick the can with the younger children of her father’s patients while they got their medications, playing dress up with her mother, beating the dust out of their clothes during windy season with her brother. She knew she had to face the truth. She wasn’t welcome here anymore. If she had just known when to quit, she wouldn’t be in this situation... that’s what she beat herself up on while she silently bagged the cheese and apples her mother had paid good money for. If she wasn’t such a petty child, she could have stayed here forever... that’s what she thought while she stole the medication from her father’s office that could have helped so many people. But it was too late now, she thought as she reached the town’s limits, just before sunrise, wearing a form fitting vest given to her by her mother for her 18th birthday, taking on last look at the life she lost.
     Troy never cried. That’s what he told himself, anyway, tilting his hat so that Abed wouldn’t be able to see his face. But looking at that poor horse, wincing in pain as Abed cleaned his wounds made a tear run a path down his dusty cheek. Abed was gentle with the animal, of course. Troy’s boyfriend would never ever hurt anyone, regardless of what the townsfolk used to whisper behind Abed’s back. Troy felt a flame in his stomach just thinking about them. And how terribly they always treated Abed. They were gone now, just memories of the past. Troy was free; that’s all he ever wanted.
     Abed wondered where this horse had come from and how he gotten hurt as he gingerly wrapped his bright red bandanna around the horse’s front leg. It was almost the same color as the blood dripping rhythmically into the dirt. He glanced up at Troy standing a few feet away from where he was kneeling by the light brown horse. He could tell he was trying and failing to control his deep emotions, something Abed never had much trouble with. This horse represented Troy in a way, he thought. A little bit in pain, but nothing he couldn’t fix. Abed never expected to “fall” for his best friend. Especially since he didn’t fall in love- more like slowly slid into it. Drawing his attention away from Troy’s face, solemn yet “ruggedly handsome”, as the women in town would say, he realized that when the horse was healed, he would long to run again. To be free. But Abed was already rather attached to the poor thing. He wanted to see if he could bond with him so that the horse could have a way to survive and Troy and Abed wouldn’t have to continue their journey on foot. But would the horse ever outgrow their relationship? What would happen to Abed if this horse one day grew dissatisfied with his life, even though Abed had become reliant on him? He pushed the insecure questions out of his head and instead gave the horse some water to drink from his canteen, to try and gain his trust. 
There wasn’t supposed to be any run ins on the way to Annie’s grandma’s house in Greendale County, a few towns over. She had heard stories of the people who would be on these kind of roads. Bandits, thugs- people who Annie didn’t have much experience with in her sheltered life back in town. But when she saw two figures and a horse laying on the ground, she knew she had to keep going, even if it killed her. This was the only way to get to Greendale where, hopefully she could stay- maybe even get a job and start her new life. With that hope in mind, she trudged on under the hot sun. She was tiring quick. She clearly didn’t know what she was getting herself into when she left, just hours ago. But she had no choice. Who knew, maybe these strangers could help her get to Greendale.
Troy and Abed exchanged a glance as the strange girl explained her situation.
“My father is a doctor, that’s why I have all these medications, I’m bringing them to Greendale,” Annie lied, fluttering her eyes, trying to look innocent. “But a few miles back, I crossed paths with some bandits! Th-they stole my dear horse, Ruthie and if you could spare just, just a few-“ Then she cut herself off, throwing in some tears for effect, really pouring in what her mother would call, “the sugar and honey”. Anybody you met would take pity on a sad sight like that, with her doe eyes and quivering lip.
“Look, ma’am, we don’t have any extra money, just barely enough for ourselves,” Troy told her. “Surely a girl like you could run those meds back to your daddy without any difficulty.” It was true that they had nothing to spare, but the girl didn’t have much to her and Troy felt a pang in his heart as he turned away from her and to the horse.
“No, you don’t understand! I need to get to Greendale!” Annie pleaded. She was only a day into her journey and her feet were throbbing in her boots, her throat dry.
“I’m sorry. I wish we could help you, but we have other things on our plate right now,” Abed said in his usual monotone voice (that didn’t make him sound very sorry, Annie thought), gesturing to the horse Troy was petting reassuringly.
“I-I can help your horse! How about a deal? You take me to Greendale, and I’ll help your horse,”she said. Troy perked up and glanced at Abed.
“An intriguing offer,” Troy murmured to himself.
“How would you help him?” Abed wondered aloud. The horse was looking worse by the minute.
“The medications! It works for people, it must work for horses, too, right?” she said, not even bothering to hide the desperation in her voice as her head pounded from dehydration.
“I thought that was for the people in Greendale,” said Troy.
“They... they don’t need it that bad,” Annie stammered, caught in a lie. The truth was she had hoped to sell the meds on the way to buy some food, but striking up a deal would work even better. Troy and Abed looked at each other, seemingly reading each other’s mind. The girl was obviously lying about why she needed to get to Greendale. Annie cleared her throat, bringing their attention back to her.
“Give us a minute to discuss it,” Abed told her. The men walked over to where they had dropped their supplies- sleeping bags, water, and food- leaving Annie with the horse.
“She’s desperate,” Troy said.
“She’s lying” Abed replies.
“We can’t push her; if she doesn’t want to tell us why she’s going to Greendale, we can’t make her.” Troy knew what it was like to want to shut down from the outside. Abed considered this for a moment.
“Okay. If you trust her, I’m with you. We were going that way, anyway. Plus, the horse needs help.” Troy grinned. He went on his tiptoes to kiss Abed’s cheek. He smiled at him.
“Thank you Abed,” Troy said, in that tender voice that Abed slid into love with.
“Let’s bring her some water, she looks like she’s going to pass out any second.”
Thanks for reading!! Reblogs are appreciated if you enjoyed it! Part two will be where they meet the rest of the group so stay tuned!!
(thanks for the inspiration @understandably-odd!!!)
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yokelish · 3 years
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Worth millions II
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✏ Fandom: Bungou Stray Dogs ✏ Characters: Chūya Nakahara, Dazai Osamu  ✏ Word count: 1,977 ✏ Warnings: Ansgstober in November. ✏ Part I.
Dazai abandoned him after promising he wouldn’t. “People change, Chūya.” What a devious bastard. This miserable vagabond is incapable of change. Nakahara wasn’t disappointed. Not that he had much strength to hold on to disappointment, only persistent resentment. That crafty bastard was twisted to his very core. Nothing changes, and nothing can touch him. Maybe that quality was fanning the embers of Chūya’s hatred: Dazai’s ability to escape any sort of retribution. Slippery like a snake, crafty, and absolutely unscrupulous. The moment you think the hand of fate is about to touch him, it’s absolutely nullified. Dazai didn’t lose any people to Q’s curse, while Nakahara had to count the body bags. Dazai was never stabbed in the back since he was doing the stabbing, always. He was the one making the deals and collecting dues. He never lost, even in silly arcade games. Always unaffected, always unhurt, always a perfect player. The taller they stand the harder they fall. Deep down Chūya knew it was no longer about what his ex-partner deserved. It wasn’t about rivalry or revenge. He rather sadistically wanted to witness there was something that could touch Dazai, something that could hurt. Something to prove the bandaged bastard was just a tiny bit capable of feeling pain. Pity Chūya couldn’t do it himself. It would bring him immense satisfaction. No money he wouldn’t pay to see an expression of hurt, of pain, on Dazai’s face. To behold such masterpiece. Unfortunately, he can never buy it. He cannnot bring it to life, can’t push for it. Perhaps, it was time to admit he couldn’t hurt Dazai the way he wanted him to hurt. That sort of anguish Nakahara could never inflict to begin with. To twist the sinews of that rotten heart only for it to begin to beat? To bear witness to that moment, to look him in the eye… That would be truly marvellous. Chūya would relish in that moment if only he could. But it wasn’t in his power.
If there was no enemy who could take on Dazai — if karmic retribution was just a fancy tale to soothe a grudging soul, — then there could be only way for Chūya to get what he wanted. He refused to believe Dazai could forever remain untouchable. It had to be just the right sort of…touch. “Plus, I don’t know how I would look them in the eye.” It was never an issue before. Dazai was a perfect machine, an Executive with mafia-black blood. Hesitation wasn’t a part of his nature. The Agency might be riding the high horse, but why would it stop someone like him? Lie, writhe your way out. Dazai detested Q and their ability, Chūya knew firsthand. He felt the same, especially after the massacre. So why did that bandaged wretch resist it? People might change, but people and humanity have nothing to do with Dazai. “A logical decision.” No, it couldn’t simply be that when it came to someone as crafty as Dazai. He held himself back and it had to be for some selfish, miserable reason.
The only person who was good at getting to Dazai was he himself. His own arrogance got him wrecked by that inhuman thing from the Guild. His taunting what got him punched in the face. The only person who could bring down Dazai would be Dazai himself. People might be capable of change. Dazai wasn’t. Something about tonight’s escapade made Chūya sure of that. The bastard said it himself, and his prediction do always come true. “But relationships are built on trust and honesty.” The things Dazai could never offer: trust, honesty, loyalty. And nothing has changed. The vagabond could never run away from his shady nature, he wouldn’t this time either. Shadows only grow longer at the end of the day. Someone would have to wipe that sickening smile off his face. And Chūya would do anything to see that. If he couldn’t do it himself, he would still gladly watch as Dazai becomes his own undoing. For that one single sweetest moment of Dazai’s self-realization and anguish of knowing he did it himself, Chūya would gladly give millions. And the thought of it alone brought a sweet, vanilla ice-cream taste to his mouth.
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Dazai was returning to his laughably cheap Agency-issued apartment somewhere before dawn. Still snickering about what had happened with his ex-partner. But aside from humour, he also felt a long-forgotten satisfaction from taunting the small dog. A good book is always good, no matter how many times you read it. Something about taunting Chūya was of similar nature, never getting boring. The anger painting a face sharp and vivid, the resentment amplifying now estranged voice. Lovely and complete picture. Dazai walked up to the door of his apartment, humming a soft melody of amusement. Yet the best moment was hat rack’s horrible realization dawning slowly yet powerfully. Knowing that he was toyed with, read with ease like a children’s book. That expression took away some of the pain from the punch thrown. Dazai turned the doorknob. The metal felt cold against his skin. “You like them, don’t you?” He found the answer as he was phrasing the question. He knew his ex-partner all too well. Nakahara really did not have a good enough mask to hide behind. Nothing had changed there. Was it strange to know they happened to be drawn towards the same person? Hm, ‘drawn towards’ isn’t quite the expression Dazai would use in his case. He sighed as his amusement disappeared, gone without a trace or even an echo to follow it into the distance.
“Oh god, finally.” All too familiar voice inside his apartment. It echoed, filling him with dread. “I was worried.”
He entered without much noise, expecting nothing. Yet they were here, waiting patiently despite sounding exhausted. He didn’t expect to see anyone. He didn’t want to see anyone.
“Are you alright?” they asked, worried. “Let me turn on the—”
“Don’t,” Dazai interjected, making half a step towards them. But that was the end of it. Two silhouettes frozen in the splitting darkness of the room. The first light of the day beyond the horizon creeping inside.
“I have first aid kit with me,” they offered. Dazai could feel the shaking of disturbed silence like a slumbered beast prodded. And he couldn’t make himself move or say anything. He felt blank, optionless, knowing, perhaps, that any choice he’d make would be the wrong one. Of course, they entered his apartment. Amusingly good pick locker that one. What grated him is that he didn’t notice the disturbance or predicted this situation. And that, somehow, that felt like a betrayal.  
“You are both blessed and cursed that you can’t rely on Yosano’s help to fix you up,” they continued talking, moving towards him cautiously. “I hate to do it in this light, but…” The willed objected floated behind them suspended in the air, beckoned by their ability.
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“I’m sorry,” they spoke quietly, cautiously. There was a light touch against his forehead, he used it as an excuse to turn away, create more distance. Looking askew, anywhere but at them. As the light of the day was slowly filing the room and creating long shadows. The silence between them was a tame beast, stirring but not waking.
They draw a long shaky breath as a telling sign of unease. “I shouldn’t have gone behind your back like that.”
Every possible choice he had was a wrong one, Dazai knew. What should he say in this situation? Claim that it didn’t bother him would only make them more suspicious of his truthfulness. A too easy forgiveness would seem dismissive. There was no umbrage to admit to either. But he doubted that would be taken at face value. Their sudden presence inside his apartment was a greater grievance, but he would only come across as ungrateful and reticent.
“I just thought,” they tried to continue, voicing failing and fading out. “I just thought I could get—”
“Information,” Dazai finished the sentence passively. It didn’t really bother him. There was no surprise to this, no disappointment, no resentment. He would have done the same. It was just… lacking. Perhaps, something in him knew that this would happen and soon. But he felt nothing, feels nothing regarding the matter as if it was something awfully routine.
“To know you,” they corrected him sternly. So sternly, in fact, it sounded comedic. He barely contained his laugh. But despite the steadiness of their voice, Dazai didn’t buy into that false confidence. He heard their breathing moments before, the hesitation, the care put into their words. It didn’t flatter him the least.
He sighed. What a kind yet empty attempt to appease on both sides. “To know about me. To know me, that’s—”
“I meant what I said. To know you.” Gentle hands dropped from his forehead and on their knees as if in defeat. “You left, Dazai. You left Port Mafia. People don’t just leave those sorts of places on a whim. Especially, someone like you… You were something there, Dazai. Someone.”
“I was just one of the Executives,” he brushed it off. As if that sort of chip on one’s shoulder could be so easily snubbed. “You want to know what I’ve done.”
Their uneasy laugh surprised Dazai. “No, I am not devoid of imagination,” they said with a touch of humour in their voice. It wasn’t funny, both knew. One hand was placed on his shoulder, the other gently wiped the wound on his forehead. There were many minor cuts and bruises, but they only touched those visible and easily accessible. Gentle, non-invasive, almost respectful.
“You can’t hold it against me,” they continued to talk never ceasing to take care of him. Dazai could hear the smile in their voice but couldn’t see it, wouldn’t dare. For such close proximity and physical contact, they had yet to meet eye to eye. “Wanting to know why you came there and why you left later. But I admit that I went about it the wrong way.”
They never asked him why he came to Port Mafia or why he left. And, truthfully, he couldn’t blame them for not asking. He wouldn’t be able to meet an expectations of a full and honest answer. Dazai didn’t have such answer himself yet, and what words he could offer would never touch another person’s heart. The answer he could give right now was anything but guileless or cordial. To meet expectations he’d have to look inside himself and he hated doing that. Wasn’t it enough that he did?
“No,” they answered. “You have to say something.”
What could he say? Every option would turn out to be wrong in the end. There was no desired way out of this situation. It could only be buried as an unspoken thing between them. Then it would sprout into something else — something dichotomous — and eventually grow bigger than them. What could he say to kill the seed before it sprouted? “You like them, don’t you? You like them.” As bitter as it was, Dazai had to admit one thing Chūya was better at was being simply human.
“I better go—”
“I accept your apology,” Dazai stated neutrally. He couldn’t take a moment longer to pitifully ponder his answer and try to predict less messy outcome. He knew that if he simply let them leave it would be the end of it. His own undoing delivered in a single precise blow.
“And I don’t blame you for wanting to know,” he placed his hand on top of theirs, taking it away from his forehead. For the first time their eyes meet. And he lost confidence in his plan. A simple lie to meet their expectations melted in his mouth leaving a sweet aftertaste.
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freddieslater · 3 years
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oh god oh fuck i’m on s7 e12 send help
literally why is the whole thing of ryan working in the stables so wholesome help
ok i know i said i wanted to kill mr dumbleby more than any other person ever but i stand corrected, i would kill ryan and chloe’s mum in a heartbeat if given the opportunity
to be honest, ryan’s little rampage of annoying everyone and ruining everything so they’ll help him leave is… kinda out of character? i mean they’ve made it clear he thinks everyone hates him anyway, what’s the point making them hate him even more? although he doesn’t do things by halves so i guess it’s vaguely in character. plus it was kinda funny
TYLER AND RYAN OH MY GOD- those gay idiots will be the death of me i swear
oh my god i forgot how forced everyone’s making ryan look good is. i know it’s supposed to be funny but it is n o t
god, despite all of that this episode fucking kills me. i’m saying ‘ryan and chloe’s mum’ very loosely because she is absolutely not a mum. that bitch really deserves to just be thrown off a cliff or something wOW-
aaaghhhh i forgot how much ryan and tyler content there is in this episode. my hEART-
oh my god there is some bad green screen in this episode i didn’t notice before, i guess they had to reshoot ryan’s conversation with his mum outside the old apartment? because that green screen is r o u g h
ngl if this episode had gone in a different direction and their mum had ended up falling out that same window in a wonderful twist of fate i would not be angry. cbbc are COWARDS
*overanalysing mode activated* that moment where she suddenly changes her tune and goes all ‘fresh start’, i bet she thought he was recording her, because that’s also exactly how they portray it every time someone in this show realises they’re being recorded
i honestly kinda look forward to jody leaving because i bet she’ll have a heartfelt leaving conversation with may-li and the parallels i’ll draw between that and ryan’s with mike will be i c o n i c
fucking r y a n m a n. and now i can’t take this seriously anymore because that was such a stupid fucking nickname oh my god-
oh my god i forgot how much i hate the whole ‘the real ryan’ thing. that’s- not how anything works? bitch is mentally ill, that doesn’t suddenly get cured because he stood up to his mum. but that last scene with him walking the horse is pretty wholesome i guess
literally i have to make a gifset comparing moments in this episode to his scenes in previous episodes because there’s so many good parallels?? although i may have to also include him lying that someone’s breaking into the car in his first episode vs him breaking into mikes car to steal the files. that ones my favourite
Oh god. I feel like you did not survive this.
It is extremely wholesome, and I wished he could have seen more of him with those horses. Just seeing him so happy coming back from the stables was so sweet and cute.
Oh yeah, Ryan and Chloe's mum is one of the worst characters on that show.
I think in his mind, he couldn't be sure they'd help him leave if he made it clear that's what he wanted to do, so he had to make sure they had a good enough reason to absolutely want him gone for good. Hence why he ruined all of their stuff. To me, it was perfectly in character and, as you said, hilarious.
God, yeah, it was so forced lmao. Other than Tyler wanting to help Ryan, THAT KILLED ME. When he saw that Ryan had overheard Jody saying she didn't want to help him?? The way he immediately went over to assure him that she would anyway, that he'd make sure he got what he wanted. He was the only one who actually wanted Ryan to be happy!
Yeah, their mum definitely does not deserve to be anywhere near them.
The Ryan/Tyler content is beautiful and that episode was a blessing for it.
THANK YOU. I kept wondering WHY that scene was so badly green-screened?? They clearly filmed some of the episode on that street already, why couldn't they just have reshot it as many times as they needed so that they didn't have to greenscreen it??
As much as I agree with you, I don't think CBBC wanted to traumatize a bunch of kids the way they already did with Eastenders. (I will never be over Bradley's death. Horrifying. Cried for hours as a child.) And also poor Ryan would have been extra traumatized and possibly blamed again!
You're probably right about why she suddenly switched attitude, actually. It's exactly what Ryan has done before, and it was done the exact same way as that. God, that kills me.
Nah, I cannot even consider Jody leaving because I will bawl my eyes out and probably just refuse to watch the show for a whole year. I know the heartfelt conversation with May-Li will be beautiful, and there will probably be many heartwrenching goodbyes, and they might even do in a way that makes me cry as much as I did when Tyler left, but I just cannot handle it. Do not want it.
Yeah, as soon as they say "Ryanman" the serious tone is lost forever.
And yeah, standing up to his mum does not curse his mental illnesses. Would be very nice of them to maybe, I don't know, actually get him proper help? Counseling, like they're doing with Jody? Just a thought. Oh, and him walking the horse!!
That is a good idea and a good parallel.
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