Something about a bottle of vodka that (almost) jogs your memory
“Scar…” Grian’s exasperated voice rings through monopoly mountain. He quickly peeks down into the first level. His friend is holding the bottle of vodka he had managed to find ages ago. “Where on earth did you find this. How on earth did you find this. What even are you doing with this.”
None of his ‘questions’ are actually questions; his inflection does not go up, as Grian is not actually curious as to where he got the alcohol, rather he is tired of his shenanigans and trying desperately not to lose his mind. Scar kicks his feet and giggles, his hair leaking over and dangling in the air.
“Why, I got it from the village, of course! Before I burnt down that house— you remember the one, don’t you, Grian? It seems those pesky villagers knew how to distill alcohol. Have you ever seen that before, Grian? Distilling alcohol? In a village? It’s madness!”
Grian’s beady little eyes glare up at him from the ground floor. “Scar, I don’t think either of us have seen villagers before we got here. There’s not much we’ve seen.”
Of course they have. They’ve had to. It was only natural— he knows it in his heart. But they can’t remember this fact. When Scar tries to hold onto the memory, it floats away from him. Things he should know dissolve between his fingers. Things he shouldn’t know linger on the back of his neck.
He picks up his cane and walks downstairs. The slats of the window are tiny but if one squints and tilts their head in the right direction, then they can see the entire desert and forest sprawled out in front of them. The sands sometimes hold their footprints until the wind blows them away, covers the paths they’ve taken. They’re still working on building up a cactus wall as defense.
The sandstone awards them a bit of coolness in the day. At night it becomes unbearable, as they both flock upstairs to try and conserve as much heat as possible. There’s always a careful distance they keep from each other in the day, but during the night it becomes impossible to do so. When Grian grumbles and pushes his nest towards Scar’s sleeping bag, curls up right next to him and nudges at his arms until they open and he can be enveloped by him, that’s when Scar truly feels like he’s back to being a person again.
If they could mend the self inflicted rift that exists in the daytime… well, maybe Scar wouldn’t feel so prone to drinking. As it stands, though, Grian’s found his bottle of alcohol and he is not looking impressed.
“Say, have you ever had a drink before?” He asks as he peels the bottle out of Grian’s hand. He smells like the sun. He’s been out all day.
Grian scoffs, his pretty features twisting a bit as he obviously thinks about it. “Of course I have! I-- well, I haven’t had one here, but I can only imagine I have before. In another life.”
In another life. If only they got to have that. Another life seems like an intangible dream.
He hums thoughtfully. He’s only had a few drinks from this bottle. Just enough to stave off the gnawing anxiety and bloodlust that grows underneath his skin everyday.
He starts to toss the bottle from hand to hand, watching the way the liquid inside jostles. “The taste was at least a little bit familiar to me when I tried some. I’ve definitely had it before! No clue when. I wonder what I liked to drink before I got here? That guy… the other me. I wonder what he was like.”
He laughs but it doesn’t have much humour.
And Grian’s eyes look softer when he finally peels his stare away from the droplets racing down the bottle. “Yeah, it would seem that bits of our past bled through into this life. Like, I can’t resist pressing a button or flicking a lever no matter how dangerous it may be. Other me must’ve been a right moron, don’t know how I lived to be… here.” A hum. “And redstone makes me… sad. As if I’ve lost something close to me. Something really important." His face falls. “I don’t get it.”
Normally Grian only gets like this when the sun falls. Normally he’s guarded, witty, sharp; and Scar is much the same, each of them trying so desperately to preserve what little bits of dignity they have left here. Prideful people. Pride is such a sin, he can see it now.
He sits down, stares at the swirling shapes of the sandstone on the wall. “Sometimes I can feel my brain try to remember my memories. Things important to me. People important to me. But it’s like there’s a… a block.”
A strange warble comes from Grian. He makes those sounds sometimes-- bird sounds, that is, which makes a lot of sense given that he is a hybrid, but they only happen in specific circumstances. They’re different each time, from chirps to melodies to whistles to clicks. It happens when he’s bored, when he snuggles up next to Scar at night, when he accidentally hurts himself, when Pizza is being extra cute.
This sound is sad. It rings in his chest.
“I’ve tried to ignore it.” Is what he admits after a few minutes. “I, um… grabbing this gave me one of those feelings like you described. It was as if I’d done this before. Not just with anyone. With you...” His voice gets real quiet at the end.
Scar fights to keep his voice even as he responds. “Do… do you think we knew each other before?” Before we got thrown into hell.
For Scar, the answer to that question is obvious: yes. He felt it as soon as he saw all of them. He felt something deep in his chest when he saw Grian, flashes of memories trying to bubble up to the surface but unable to. When Bdubs first spoke to him, he felt an immediate instinct to comment on his height-- which would have been very rude of him! They’d just met, after all!
Except they hadn’t. They’d known each other before. An election. A moon. A home. What even is he trying to remember?
“I…” Another sound worms its way out of Grian. It’s more desperate, uncomfortable. He laughs it off awkwardly. “Can I try a sip of that alcohol? I think I suddenly need it.”
For the first time since they began talking, Scar really looks at Grian. His face is tight with stress, eyes shiny, nose flaring. His feathers are all fanned out, his ears twitching. In another life, Scar thinks maybe he also had wings. He can feel an absence on his back, like something has been missing all along, a vital piece of him.
Grian’s wings don’t work. None of the avians have actual working wings that can sustain them for a long period above the ground; they can all flutter, sure, but it’s as if their bodies aren’t made for it anymore despite them having these traits.
He tries to make his smile as gentle as possible as he passes him the bottle. “Of course, of course! Would be downright cruel of me to make you handle this while sober!” He aims for a humorous tone, but the situation is so fucked up and strange that it falls flat. His smile is pulling painfully at the edges.
Grian unscrews the bottle, smells it. He makes a face. He looks at him.
“I recommend not smelling it.”
He rolls his eyes, then takes a swig of it. The face immediately turns to disgust. He swallows it, gagging, coughing, pounding his fist onto the table. It looks just like he did when he tried for the first time. It makes him start to laugh.
“Scar!” He wails. “It tastes horrible!”
“It does.” He swipes it from Grian, steeling himself before taking a sip. He only flinches a little bit this time. He looks to see if it impressed Grian, but the avian is flapping his hands, eyes screwed shut. Dangit. “It’s not supposed to taste nice, Grian! Because then you would drink all of it and it would be horrible. It’s the alcohol’s defense mechanism, y’see? It makes itself so bitter when you first take a sip that you run away immediately! That way you don’t drink it all right up and end up gettin’ yourself killed! But it doesn’t work on me.”
For better or for worse.
Peeling his face off the table, Grian turns to glare at him. “Well, it could stand to taste a little less like… that. Maybe then it would hurt less people.”
“I guess.” He studies the way the bottle glints in the diminishing daylight. “So… are you gonna have anymore?”
“Are you kidding me?” He scoffs. “Of course I am. Pass it here.”
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It appears the last two (2)….times I’ve tried creating this post, tumblr thought I was too wordy, so I’m going to attempt to get in and get out before it eats itself again
this playlist (a Dream of the Endless™ character examination via my silly brain and sad ass music) took me entirely too long and I'm going to throw my laptop out of the window if I have to look at it any longer so pls pls take it and I hope that if you listen or even read the lyrics that you find something new, or hear something you like.
This absolutely would not have ever seen the light of tunglr.hell if not for the beautiful souls of the Sandman fandom, and a few of my new friends and mutuals. So special internet cookies and hugs to these inspirational, encouraging, and beyond talented individuals; @wordsinhaled , @weirdfishy , @wizardofgoodfortune , and @xx-vergil-xx - i love y'all dearly and I hope this is even HALF of what you would have expected, or a quarter of the amazing content y'all have bestowed upon my lil eyeballs. Now Onward! to words that personally injure me!
Florence + The Machine -Too Much Is Never Enough
And the crown, it weighs heavy
'Til it's banging on my eyelids
Retreating in covers and closing the curtains
One thing's for certain, oh
A year like this passes so strangely
Somewhere between sorrow and bliss
Oh, who decides from where up high?
I couldn't say "I need more time"
Oh, grant that I can stay the night
Or one more day inside this life
~I first encountered this song in it's source material FFXV, and there it destroyed me. Now, wearing my dumb lil blorbo glasses yet again, it is back with vengeance..goth royalty sad wet cat flavored (gross), vengeance. "too much is never enough" .... oh sweeties...
VIRA - God Complex
God, I could try
To be the one
To be the one
I'll tear down the sky
What do you want?
I'll do it all for life
My love, my alibi
Tonight, tonight
I'll try to do it for you
I'm gonna be where you are
Doesn't matter how far
Because we are meant to be
I'm gonna be what you need
Darling, please worship me
Unless you prefer to plead
~pretty sure this is the angriest sounding song on this thing? but it is fitting.. and desperate.. and wanting and... painful. when she grits out 'try' and 'sky' the way she does.. god the emotion. this just brought to mind Dream and falling for someone hard enough to the point of destructive devotion...
AJJ - Body Terror Song
It will betray you
Be used against you
Then it will fail on you, my dear
But before that, you'll be a doormat
For every vicious narcissist in the world
Oh, how they'll screw you all up and over
Then feed you silence for dessert
~ I love seeing people explore the idea of Dream just...not vibing with being fully corporeal. At least not in the way he is while in the Waking.. what a mood, and especially after the fishbowl...whew.
Philip Wesley - Lamentations of the Heart
[Instrumental~]
~I wanted to include a few instrumental tracks in here and this one felt apt because I used to fall asleep to this album all the time. Like it was one of the only ones I could fall asleep to with any certainty. The feeling and title for this one tho struck me with Dream specifically so I went with it. The rest of the album is so nice though, highly rec.
Iris Lune - Paper Mache
Save me from myself
I've been in the dark too long
Paper mache love
Make me believe that I can change
Make me believe that I'm not strange
At all
~ this song!! it sounds so so ethereal and her voice is GORGEOUS but the lyrics!! have mercy the lyrics! big ole owwie! "save me from myself" , "make me believe that I can change, make me believe that I'm not strange" hhhh (also if y'all couldn't tell, this will be dreamling flavored, I think I'll tag them too jic but. yes...)
Penny and Sparrow - A Kind of Hunger
tremble, recognize the distance
Go try and murder every preference
I’ll keep hangin' ‘round for reference
come care about me
come care about me
changing, watching you with wonder
you’re less and getting even younger
dying is just a kind of hunger
come care about Me
come care about Me
~this is... such a heavy song. hadn't heard it before starting this playlist but found it and immediately had to add it.. just. come care about me. changing, watching you with wonder. Dying is just a kind of hunger. that line specifically. -lays on the floor for 3hrs-
Carly Rae Jepsen - Gimme Love
Gimmie love (Oh)
It's the way we are together (Oh)
Wanna feel like this forever, forever (Oh)
It's the way we are together
And I never thought I'd ever say forever
~originally was gonna be a joke song to lighten the mood but haha! nope! I mean it is lighthearted but it still absolutely, in my mind, fits Morpheus. beautiful babygirl of the endless...smooch
Jon Bellion - Stupid Deep (Acoustic)
What if who I hoped to be was always me?
And the love I fought to feel was always free?
What if all the things I've done
Were just attempts at earning love? Yeah
'Cause the hole inside my heart is stupid deep, oh, stupid deep
~this song fucks me up! 😀 for real though, I highly suggest watching the acoustic performance of this that he has on youtube cause the vibe is so.. intimate and dreamy and gorgeous.. and the lyrics.. jon bellion, sir.. smh.. the ending..
Marika Hackman - Undone, Undress
They heard my heart for miles
The air inside
Was seeping out
In silent shouts
It crumpled in my chest
~this is definitely... a nightmarish..creeping kind of song, and the lyrics are, according to the Genius annotations, rather distressing but I don't really see them the same way. I can't really explain it but hopefully y'all will see what I mean. love this one specifically "Load me heavy, I can't bend. Break me better, so I won't mend" break me better.... hhhhhh
DBMK - Switchblade
Did you hear I coughed my heart out?
It never fit me so I'm likely to drown
My body yearns for something real now
Suggesting kitchen counters, can openers, and close encounters to hold me down
Ain’t no one's boyfriend, wow
I'm busy up in my brain but they don't see anything, yeah
I open up too easily, look at me
Single sided blade of insecurities, yeah
I open up too easily, speak to me
Cutting through my comfort like its misery, sad
~this. SONG. he just like me fr 😔 azdcafs nah, honestly idk if this is projecting, but to MEE I like to think about Dream being so ready for a partner, and he gives so so much of himself to them and loves so passionately but he also has just... so many issues. just ugh this song..
Blegh - His Hands
He feels handcrafted just for you
But he's a little bit too far away and
You can't, you can't
His hands are on you
And you know you'll be gone by the morning but you know he loves you
And you know you like his strong hands, strong hands
You're too real for me
You should go to something better
I'll give you to someone better
I have friends that'll be on earth for longer
I have friends that won't feel like monsters
~another song that I was not prepared for before hand that ruined me so viciously, that I had to scream at multiple ppl about it, most of which were mentioned in this post, but Verg's reaction was very memorable because I believe she told me she was on public transportation and the way she phrased it had me rolling around on the floor. but yeah y'all just gotta hear this fuckin,... bear mace of a song (with your Dreamling Glasses™ on pls, as i believe it is meant to be asxacsgdcvc)
Agent Fresco - Wait for Me
I can’t see clear
The rage of rivers roam every tear
They all fall through vague and vast tunnels
With hurts of hatred came blinding years
Will they disappear?
I’m far away, treading a path I’ve made and it’s laid with stones of fallen love
I need to feel and to make atonement before coming home
~-motions to song- I mean... c'mon... this alone? nah nah nah..I gotta lay down.
Talos - Endgame
I’m drawn across
An empty space
This dreamland now
A tired waste
O it’s the endgame
A blackout heart
A seething truth
There’s nothing in me
Left for you
We’re lies
~ Talos...Talos Talos Talos... y'all. if you don't know him, but like indie-ish electronic music with beautiful angelic Irishman vocals? pls... he makes me insane. He also just gives me Morpheus vibes in general, I'm not exactly sure why, but... I also think the cover art on his first two albums are very Morpheus energy, could just be me tho
Emma Ruth Rundle - Savage Saint
I held him, his whole life
In my hands, in my heart
Don't be ever forgotten, Savage Saint
Never draw blood in the garden, faint
Don't be the name that's drawing shame and
Never let your heart harden, little flame
~I knew I had to have Emma Ruth in here somewhere, but it took me a second to find the perfect song.. and I was torn between a few, but I saw this one and. Immediately my heart was out of my body. Thinking about Orpheus.. and Dream thinking about Orpheus.. draw blood in the garden,,, I held him his whole life.. in my hands in my heart.. little flame.. it seems I am upsetti spaghetti.
Sleeping at Last - Neptune
Stitch by stitch, I tear apart
If brokenness is a form of art
I must be a poster child prodigy
Thread by thread, I come apart
If brokenness is a work of art
Surely this must be my masterpiece
I'm only honest when it rains
If I time it right, the thunder breaks
When I open my mouth
I wanna tell you, but I don't know how
I'm only honest when it rains
An open book with a torn out page
And my ink's run out
I wanna love you, but I don't know how
~Sleeping at Last my beloved <3 ... if I could snort 'atlas pt 1 the album' I fuckin would. also there's a song on there for literally any blorbo. i could bet my life on that. somewhere on there! "if brokenness is a work of art, surely this must be my masterpiece" ah hah.. hahaha..
Sea Power - Want To Be Free
Now we're under the stars
Smoking cigars
On top of a motorcar
Hanging out
Like some kind of nebula
We
Want to be free
Want to be free
It will last forever
Eternally
~this one was more for vibes and because it's beautiful, but also if I think too hard about Morpheus and how he just wants to be normal and rest for a little while, then I will have to go eat a whole bag of chocolate chips and cry myself to sleep.
Clem Turner - Divine Loser
"Connect yet stay opaque,"
I cannot have it both ways
Please do not tell the time
I can't be trusted with the date
My god, you break the skin
But may I be thy heaven?
Will you take my sickness
While I deprive you of your health?
~haha Divine Loser..defo Morpheus (jk. or am I) that second part I included.. I keep having to re-read those lyrics, cause.. my goodness. there's a part later that says "baby just let me bleed in peace" like... whoof. Clem Turner is the only person on here twice, mostly cause these two songs are just so phenomenal I had to and the lyrics... SHMACK.. and Clem's VOICE?? pardon me?
Clem Turner - Honeywell
Get it through your pretty head
Take me with you instead
Forget her, she's gone
So, tell me, dear stranger
What's got you distraught?
Mm, here I am to bring
Psychosomatic freedom to your head
May I be of service, newlywed?
See me as a host to all your greatest dreams
And then some change
As long as your compassion stays the same
~"So tell me, Dear Stranger, what's got you so distraught?" Um..is that in a dreamling fic, cause... 👀 and then "see me as a host to all your greatest dreams and then some change, as long as your compassion stays the same." running in circles, sobbing, hopping out my window, running into the woods...etc
Mustapha Kamel - Can You Feel Me
[Instrumental~]
~ this song just makes me -lays face down in the carpet for 2+ hrs- and the cello is gahdamn gorgeous..
The New Basement Tapes - When I Get My Hands On You
When I come home to you
Gonna take you down to the riverside
When I come home to you
Hold you in my arms all night
And now you know
Everywhere on earth you go
You're gonna have me as your man
~ Mushy Dream Rights!!! let this inconceivable being be a sap!! I love seeing him clingy and sweet and so so in love and just AAAHHH I could literally weep, I love this weird scrungly man.
Glass Animals - JDNT
I'm all armored up
I've got my old helmet on
Keeping out an eye
Puffing all my feathers up
One more little blow
One more tap and I collapse
~heehee another nightmarish song. not only is this a fuckin BANGER, but Glass Animals has such a.. Sound. that's dreamlike most of the time, but sometimes can be so.. tense and creepy, and the lyrics can be violent and just downright odd. mostly from the zaba album, but regardless. I could talk about Dream + Glass Animals for hours, as proven with N (@wordsinhaled) because we have done exactly that, I think twice now lolololol (also I thought the line abt the helmet was.. hehe funny)
ABRA - Pride
Palms up, no crown
You wanna mess around
I wanna hold you down
It's not okay
I need you everyday
I lost all the pride
That I thought I could keep
Can you see me
Say you feel me
It's a big world
But I fall at your feet
Reach out and touch me
~ this was originally an entirely different song! but I switched it out last minute and I am v happy that I did because this song..this song fucks severely, but also it lets me put a facet of Dream on this playlist that I love seeing, which is the needy and seductive lil bastard that he can be. i think i could make a whole other playlist dedicated to that aspect tbh azcacdfavcg
Purity Ring - Asido
Oh, the madness in weakness
Doubled o'er on the plate
Fill an ocean with weaponry
Hurricanes of our grace
Feel as lonely as I do, as I do
Feel as lonely as I do, I do
Feel as lonely as I do
~I wanted some Purity Ring on here because I know their genre is sometimes described as dream pop or witch house, and their lyricism has this... poetically visceral aspect to it sometimes that I adore while also being very ethereal. Love them. also tho, feel as lonely as I do?? of course it had to be in here.
Hozier - It Will Come Back
Don't let me in with no intention to keep me
Jesus Christ, don't be kind to me
Honey, don't feed me, I will come back
It can't be unlearned
I've known the warmth of your doorways
Through the cold, I'll find my way back to you
Oh, please, give me mercy no more
That's a kindness you can't afford
I warn you, baby, each night, as sure as you're born
You'll hear me howling outside your door
~ okay look, I know everybody and their mother who has made a playlist like this has put Mr. Andrew Hozier-Byrne on it, but like - come on.. look at those lyrics. He just Gets It™ and the music slaps ass! I have like, an actual Dreamling playlist in the works as well, which I'm sure will be... longer. but hopefully I'll have the foresight to work on it a bit at a time, and PERHAPS prepare a word document, since I cannot seem to help rambling at any chance I get 💀
Son Lux - Labor
I will break with you
For your body to be freed and pleased
Take the weight of you
For your gravity to be erased
Come to life, my hungry arms are begging you
But what more can you do?
Labor reveal before our eyes
Into our ears
Unfurl with light
The stars around us disappear
Just what is torn
What comes alive inside of us
~ I wanted.. something big on here. I don't necessarily have a desired order for this to be played in, but this was the last one I added, if that tells you anything. The opening of this song is a little jarring, but the piano is so. beautiful. Son Lux has such a way of composing their music that just leaves me breathless and astounded at the feelings music can bring forward in me, and speaking in Dream terms, I feel like that would be the kind of song he really appreciates. I'm not gonna end this with rambling about the complexity of human emotion, because I don't believe tumblr could handle me doing that - operation-wise, i feel like it's abt to stab me as is- It's also not why I'm here lol. "I will break with you. For your body to be freed and pleased. Take the weight of you, for your gravity to be erased." the rest of that line literally mentions a phantom muse.. I think, viewing this in terms of Morpheus' marriage, and maybe even how he thinks about marriage as a concept is interesting. On Genius they mention that on a Son Lux insta story they talked about the first half of the song being about helping a friend die, and the second half about the birth of Ryan Lott's son. Looking at in that framing is also,,, WHEW.. okay this paragraph has been long enough lmao
WELL GEEZE.. looks like I've finally made it to the bottom without tumblr shitting itself again, so I'm gonna wrap this up before it gets the chance to. HAH.
If anyone has bothered to read this far; I cannot thank you enough nor can I tell you how much I appreciate you reading my inane mangling of the English language to be overly emo about music and a spindly nightmare of a man, but REGARDLESS. Thank you, I love you, and I would absolutely take a stab wound for you and make you cookies. 💕🖤💕🖤✨
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