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beanghostprincess · 3 months

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I've been thinking for a while about why I like Sabosan so much as a ship (even though I don't talk much about them. My mistake, honestly. I should do it more). Because we all know that out of the ASL brothers, Ace and Luffy are the ones who seem to make more sense when it comes to shipping them with Sanji. But there's just something about Sabosan that makes me go insane...

(Long post)

Lusan is quite obvious: Captain x His cook. Cook who starves as a metaphor for selflessness and who's always giving instead of taking x Captain who devours the whole world because he appreciates selfishness and freedom but is willing to starve to save his cook. Careless x Anxious. Sun x Ocean. Both are always sacrificing themselves but Luffy is at least aware of the value of his own life while Sanji sees himself as dispensable. They both work so well together because Luffy sees Sanji as kindness itself and what a cook truly needs to be (keep in mind that food is crucial for OP's story and it represents happiness most of the time) and he makes him want to seek freedom and his own desires. Sanji is a dreamer and he's hopeful yet extremely pessimistic when it comes to his persona, and Luffy is equally as hopeful but he despises his nakama seeing himself as unworthy of being in his crew. They both get each other's weaknesses and strengths and, okay, Luffy might not truly get Sanji completely but he doesn't need to as long as he sees the kindness in him and realizes everything he does, he does it for others. While Sanji sees Luffy as an escape from the prison he's always been locked in. My beloveds. Perfect dynamic (not going to make a whole analysis because I already talk about them enough here).

The thing is, Ace is also a perfect match for Sanji for a lot of reasons: You see, I think we can see a lot of similarities between them, especially the ones Luffy can't understand by himself but can link to both. Ace's way of dealing with depression and self-deprecation is to lean on his brothers and find a reason to live on them. If they love him, then at least it will have been worth it being alive. The same thing goes for Sanji, I think. It's not that he's actively suicidal. I don't think either of them seeks death, but they do think about it a lot and what the world would be like without them. Sanji sees himself as dispensable while Luffy can't believe a word he's saying, but Ace? Ace understands. He's been years thinking he shouldn't be alive. That he was a mistake. And the same thing goes for Sanji, growing up in a family that constantly told him he shouldn't exist and even faked his death. Once again, same thing with Ace and hiding his identity from the world. Ace knows he's loved, even if he has a hard time admitting why people like Sabo and Luffy would love him. But they do. It's a fact, even if it's hard to believe. And he keeps going thanks to their love and to protect them. Ace, although his personality might seem cocky and selfish and careless at first (which it is, but you know), he's extremely selfless when it comes to the people he loves. He literally lives thanks to them. Sanji basically does the same thing. Both of them cope with sabotaging themselves and they don't really value their lives unless it's someone else (cof cof Luffy cof cof) the one giving them a reason to keep going. I think Acesan works great as a ship because, from a more psychological point of view, like- Ace was born to be a brother. His whole character is created and introduced as Luffy's brother. Of course, he's more than that, but his chill and laid-back personality with sprinkles of emotional maturity only comes from growing up too fast because he desperately needed to take care of his little brother. Sanji desperately needs that type of connection with somebody and instantly feels attracted to protective people because he has never been protected before. Sanji has only been hurt by his brothers, so of course it's natural that he's astonished when he sees Ace for the first time being oh so kind and loving to Luffy. That's what he wanted. And it makes his heart melt instantly. Besides, going for a more personality thing here, Sanji is pretty repressed (when it comes to his memories. His gender. His sexuality. His feelings) while Ace (although he hides a lot of issues) is wayyy more proactive when it comes to what he wants. Sanji is scared to walk on earth, and Ace takes the world as his personal playground because he wants to be something that people remember that won't include mentioning his father. He wants to do something for himself. And talking about fathers, even if their daddy issues aren't the same, they both have grudges. And you know what else they have in common? Their gorgeous, blonde, dead mothers who died for them. Instant bond. They fit perfectly.

Now, about Sabosan:

If we're starting with the things they have in common, this is gonna be a wild ride. Both are nobles born in a family that absolutely did not love them but wanted them anyway for different (failed) purposes. They both escaped from those families but people thought they were dead for a long time, and their parents easily just found a substitute for them without caring much about what happened. Saying they have trauma is an understatement. They both escape from those lives completely, form new bonds with new people, and start a family somewhere else. And then they have to deal with that again and, not only that but suffer from the beautiful survivor's guilt that comes from not being able to save their siblings. I know Sabo's survivor's guilt is even worse because his bond with Ace was way stronger, but I think there's a part of Sanji who feels awful for Reiju and what she chooses to be a part of when she's actively different from their brothers too. Once again mentioning the self-sabotaging behavior and self-sacrificing acts because they're extremely selfless and have strong morals that lead them to these things. It's fundamentally different because I think Sanji is way more of a feeler than Sabo, but-- But the core of their personalities really is being extremely protective of the things they love and their ideals. It's not only the fact that they could bond over their pasts (and could easily be the only people understanding each other completely) but also the fact that their personalities fit perfectly. They balance each other. They're not the most mentally stable people in the world, but I think Sanji's issues are more similar to Ace's, and Sabo would know how to handle them. While Sanji is a natural caretaker and would not hesitate to take care of Sabo's breakdowns and episodes (because, sue me for being realistic, I think this guy has a personality disorder and depressive episodes and a bunch of other stuff. Just like Sanji, really. I mean- To me they're a very people pleaser BPD haver who has probably an eating disorder and anxiety x very overprotective Bipolar insomniac with memory issues. Maybe that's just me and my headcanons).

I am not going to be a nerd about them. But I am going to be a nerd about them. *pulls out MBTI profiles*

Sanji prioritizes connecting with other people. He's extremely empathetic and his core needs are to be liked and to help others. His ideals are focused on the suffering of others and how to help them. He's very structured when it comes to what he wants to achieve, but he often puts others before his own needs instead of actually taking what he wants, and that affects him negatively. Not to mention his sense of depersonalization and hatred towards himself and where he comes from. And how that makes him sabotage himself and think he's not worthy of the love people offer him. This is kind of exactly what Ace goes through too and that's why I think Sabo would be able to help him. He's loyal and trustworthy and he would do anything for his loved ones and morals. Something that, again, matches Sabo completely. His sense of ethics is very intense and focuses mainly on empathy. He seeks love, attention, and praise from others. And he's also extremely hopeful for his dreams. He never stops believing in the All Blue or Luffy, just in himself. Which shows his sense of trust and loyalty but also his low appreciation towards himself.

Sabo, on the other hand, is a more meticulous person. I know he seems like he loses control often, but he doesn't follow his feelings as much as it looks. He's more logical and he doesn't follow what he wants but what he thinks it's right for others and society. That being said, he also will do whatever the fuck he wants if he feels like it because he's chaotic like that. He has very strong morals and focuses on finding solutions to the world's problems. Instead of focusing on one thing, he sees the whole picture and specializes in many things at once and chooses what to fight for instead of following his feelings. He often has to make difficult choices regarding his loved ones, and even if he would do anything if Luffy was in trouble when it comes to the greater good, he doesn't hesitate to do what's more reasonable regarding his ethics. However, he has a strong sense of protection and his anxiety also is a huge part of his personality, so that's pretty much when he loses control. He feels mostly responsible for what happens around him and always wants to be the one in control and fears losing the ones he loves.

The main difference between them, I'd say, is that Sabo is pretty much revengeful and his personality has a strong part of hatred towards humanity and the ones who have hurt him and society. His whole thing is fighting against them, too. Unlike Sanji, who even if he is able to hate people, he doesn't seem to be able to actually hurt them in a meaningful way because his kind personality makes him unable to do so (unless the people he's fighting go against his morals. Like having hurt a woman or wasting food or whatever). Not that Sabo isn't kind, but he knows how to stand up for himself and his morality and he can tell perfectly between right and wrong in a very black-and-white sense, while Sanji (even if he goes to extremes quite a lot) lets himself be used and he doesn't harm others the way they harm him (not to confuse with "played with" because Sanji is not that easily manipulated. He knows what's going on all the time. He just lets himself be used if it will protect the ones he loves or if it goes against his kindness and morality).

So I think (and this is the part where I explain how this relationship would work) that Sabo would be able to protect Sanji. It's not that Sanji needs protecting because at the end of the day, he can fight back and he can stand up for himself, but that's only when it comes to fights that don't have to do with him personally and only with his morals. Sabo has a very calm facade. A very gentleman-like personality, even if he's still as chaotic as his brothers. But he's more gentle. He's softer, too, in a way, because he analyzes what people need. He approaches things in a very protective but soothing way. Like, he could burn disgusting men alive for Sanji, turn around at him and say everything's fine and Sanji would straight-up believe him and then blush uncontrollably and then hit him for being reckless. In that order. I don't think Sanji likes feeling weak, because he has this thing in common with Sabo in which he doesn't like not being in control. But I think he needs this. He needs to be held and taken care of sometimes. He needs to let himself be weak around others. And Sabo wants somebody to protect because he couldn't do it with his siblings. I think Sabo would be gentle and patient with Sanji while also bringing silliness and the typical brightness the ASL brothers have in common. He'd be chaotic with him and Sanji would definitely get mad at him for stealing food or wanting to do the deed (keeping it safe for work my pals, but yeah, Sabo would be horny 24/7 and would not let Sanji cook. He wants to fuc-) while he's busy. But! But also Sabo would take care of him and would analyze the patterns. He would notice when he eats. What he eats. If he eats at all. He would worry about his sleep schedule and whether he's overworking himself or not (because surprise! He does the same thing). And Sabo would also love every part of him and have such deep hatred for the ones who have hurt him. I think Sabo would want to take revenge but Sanji would strongly refuse and Sabo would absolutely love that about him. "You're better than me, I would've set your family on fire. But this is what makes you so kind" type of thing. Basically, Sabo is fucking batshit crazy but he's silly and kind and talks like a revolutionary French man in the 18th century and Sanji loves him. Also, Sanji has a history with craycray people because Pudding is not okay mentally either and look at him, being down bad. Sabo loves Sanji for the same reasons Luffy does, he's just kindness itself and Sabo is so full of hatred that he truly, really needs somebody like him.

And Sanji? Sanji just absolutely loves how protective Sabo is. When it comes to his family and his friends and his morals and beliefs. After being surrounded by people who did not care about anything during his childhood and also being extremely scared of ending up being like them, Sanji appreciates that strong sense of protectiveness and the humanity that comes with loving something/somebody so much. That's what Sanji needs, basically. Sanji likes that Sabo is caring and gentle and always keeps an eye on literally everyone and everything. He likes the brightness and joy that comes with Sabo too, because he might be calculative but he's also impulsive when it comes to his needs and likes. Luffy might be the representation of liberation in a godly way, but Sabo is the realistic personification of freedom. And as much as I love Lusan and making religious imagery metaphors, I think those fit Zolu way more because Sanji needs to be realistic with this and Sabo is the one who can make him see life this way. He would also care a bit too much about Sabo's health because everyone knows it's fucked up and he's willing to die if it's for the revolution. It's not like he doesn't appreciate his life, in fact, he does. He knows he is crucial to society and can't die. But if it's for the greater good he would leave Sanji and Koala and Luffy behind and die. He doesn't want to do that to them and he'd desperately try not to because he values his worth, but... Y'know. It's not that he doesn't care about living, but he cares too much that he ends up hurting himself and overworking. And Sanji does that too, but seeing it from the outside with an empathetic personality like his is just... Painful.

So while Sabo shows Sanji how to be free and feels hatred for the both of them, Sanji is the kindness in the world Sabo is looking for and gives him something to put his mind at ease when it's filled with demons. And also, they get each other's pasts and trauma on a fundamental level that not a lot of people do.

I don't know how their relationship could start, really, but it could happen in a simple way such as: Sabo pays a visit to the crew (fuck the timeline btw, choose whichever arc you like or just ignore canon) and meets Sanji. Offers to help him cook (fails because he fucking sucks at cooking and he just wanted to help and actually he just ends up flirting with him and eating the ingredients) and stays with him to clean the dishes (something he can't do either because he won't stop talking and being overly distracted). And Sanji just- He's just so similar to both Ace and Luffy but in a more mature and gentle way, somehow? He brings peace to him but there's just something wrong with him deep inside Sanji can't quite catch, but feels connected to. Like they both just get each other, pretending they're fine but knowing they're not and also just enjoying each other's presence. Sabo feels captivated by the cook because he feels like there's just so much more he's hiding from him, and Sabo has always liked analyzing every little thing (<- writer behavior. We as a society need to talk more about how Sabo wants to be a writer canonically). Maybe Sabo starts visiting more often or stays for a while, but the thing is they grow closer because they keep wanting to know each other more. Perhaps a fight against some marines happens and Sabo goes full protective of him or Luffy and Sanji is extremely turned on by that (who wouldn't after seeing Sabo break skulls like eggs). And maybe they end up fucking, and it's not rough, but it's not extremely soft either? It's the perfect mix of possessiveness and care and somehow Sanji still feels in control all the way through. And I don't want to mention the cigarette of doom but Sabo lighting up Sanji's cigarette for him would be extremely intimate but also would make Sanji worry because every time this happens, he ends up creating a strong bond with that someone and something goes wrong. So they like each other a lot but there's always this layer of anxiety? Like they care too much for the other to say what they are but they refuse to lose each other. And Luffy either keeps telling Sabo to not still his cook or teasing Sabo for liking his cook, no in between. But yeah, let's make them go into a relationship:

Clingiest mfs on planet earth. Can't stand them. Sanji is down bad and is turned on by every little thing Sabo does but also can't stand him when he gets annoying and ends up yelling at him like an angry housewife. Sabo often takes that as flirting and starts teasing him more, being really into PDA and also being extremely soft. Sabo says the most romantic things in the world and expects Sanji not to fall for him??? Okay. But it's not only Sanji who blushes because then he keeps feeding Sabo his favorite food and smiling at him and Sabo suddenly feels dumb and weak in the knees and has the need to laugh like a high school girl in a rom-com. Sabo is extremely possessive and I think as a fandom we all agree on that, but it's not even in a toxic way. Sanji likes it. Let them be like that. And as I said, they'd take care of each other when one is overworking himself or having nightmares or not being able to sleep or function properly. They'd be each other's anchors and they would completely understand the other.

I don't know, I just think they fit perfectly <3 Killer Queen and Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy? Yes. Anti-Hero and Mastermind? Yes. Sky x Ocean? Of course, fuck other dynamics, this one hits different. They mean the world to me 🩵💙🩵💙🩵

To end this, I gotta say that they also look extremely hot together. I think the post would've been shorter if I just said I want both of them to kiss because it would look good, but I love analyzing the shit out of my favorite characters.

Tagging my awesome mootie @tinukis because he gave me the idea for a Sabosan analysis!!!! Thought you might be interested <3 Also, here's the post that made me think about it !!!!

#i could've made a better analysis but this is what happens when you wake up at 6 am to go to work #anyway they're my beloveds #also sabo being taller than sanji grrrrr bark bark woof #i've been avoiding focusing on the sex part here but DO YOU KNOW HOW HOT THEY'D BE TOGETHER???#sabo king of flirting i just know sanji's dying #i can't believe i write an analysis like this and then i start talking about sex shame on me #i'm going crazy about this two and they haven't even talked #they make me go insane #one piece #black leg sanji #revolutionary sabo #sabosan

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infranthrax · 2 months

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helo. im one they call 🍂 and id like to. make a request. i hope ur doing okay (*＞∇＜)ﾉ ur free to write this or not

i would like to request an angst w/ a good ending type of thing if its okay. a platonic f!reader&heartslabyul (seperately. if its limited to one character, you can go with riddle) headcanon that has the following plot;

mc is a pessimistic person, a very tired, overworked one. all they want is a bit of peace and quiet, but they care about the heartslabyul gang very much. they have kind of become a mom/older sister to the group (kinda like trey). anyway, one day the gang realizes that mc seems more irritable than usual which results in them making a snide remark/get in an arguement about the guy's flaws (like how riddle hurt many pre-overblot, how ace runs his mouth at the worst times, how deuce is not the brightest around, cater being addicted to his little social media sites, and trey ignoring the problems regarding riddle because he didnt want conflict, etc etc) that would hurt them.

they kind of ghosting everyone for a couple of days to calm down, and then they awkwardly come back with a box of sweets (that they managed to purchase by scraping by lmao, girlie's poor as hell...) to apologize, and eat them over tea! mc apologizes directly and wants to make up for their words, but they are not the best at speaking their mind.

ive seen countless fics where the main cast gets to be the agressive and sad, sopping wet cats, and reader comforting them. ngl, i wanted to write a piece where MC is the "sad little pathetic shrimp" but i just didnt have the time. anyway, i hope you like this prompt

oh my god I love this prompt! the mc is definitely the therapist of the group and I can imagine this happening… I restricted it down to just riddle given how detailed this prompt was, the rest of the dorm is self explanatory.☺️/pos (and thank you for your kind words! I hope you’re having a good day/night!)

generating new memory… please, one moment… ✨

𝐁𝐈𝐓𝐄 𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊!

Heartslabyul x f!reader — headcanons!

sypnopsis: mc has had enough of the anal shenanigans after a near traumatic event, and she lashes back out at riddle, who is left bewildered and heated at the event.

light tw // domestic conflict, implied traumatic event

riddle rosehearts

riddle is just anal and sometimes he comes off as bossy and or ungrateful. that’s not really his intention however. that’s just an act of conditioning he’s been through.

so when he sees that you’re overwhelmed, at first he blind sighted to it. riddle isn’t great per se at emotions— let alone the ones of other people.

he gets on you for being late to class one day and it all piles up. You’re in a dorm full of boys— what girl wouldn’t have enough? at the time it was little around the time in which riddle overblotted, and he just went on with daily life like none of that ever happened.

he fucking hurt your ass. quite frankly that was the first (of many) overblots you’ll have to go through, and that’s how you’re gonna handle it? hell no, especially after the fact that you had to play superwoman to get the goons out of a near death situation.

before this, you had gotten into tiffs with the redhead on numerous occasions, trying to ground him down. never really did it work though as he was always stuck in his perfectionist ways. and you hated that about him because his mannerisms reflected into you.

he expected you to be able to carry yourself in a manner that would suit him. he expected you to dress a certain way. he expected you to follow his orders, his rules, his ultimatum. that you couldn’t stand any longer.

when he got on you for being tardy, the melting pot overflowed… and it wasn’t pretty either. let’s say you were in pain, in addition to your mental health plummeting due to not really having anyone to talk to, and then when mother nature calls upon you for your monthly drain you must attend.

you shouldn’t mess with the wrath of a woman on her period. this, riddle learned the hard way… with you.

“riddle… i swear… on god’s green earth, if you don’t shut the hell up… i’m fucking TRYING. I’M TRYING! FUCK YOU, YOU UPTIGHT PIECE OF SHIT, GO ON SOMEWHERE!”

and then the fire brewed. and then it exploded. (quite literally.) it would be hellish screaming match between you two, despite riddle claiming he is above such things. he really isn’t, he’s got a temper that’s about as fagile as glass. (no, it’s not microwave safe.)

after your blow up with riddle, you both proceed to give each other the silent treatment for the better part of a month. during this time you find comfort in your other classmates, spending time with other students outside of heartsllabyul, namely vil and rook, just for a boost of female empowerment.

and while riddle was contemplating all the bullshit that went down between the two of you, he began to feel a little bit of guilt. mattered if fact, both of you did. you shouldn’t have been so aggressive and he shouldn’t have been so… well, himself.

before class one day you enter your lab room to see a small box at your seat with a little note attached to it.

it was from riddle— a little chocolate potion bottle with those biscuits— the exact ones from the disney movie. little did he know, you happened to pop by sam’s shop to get him some mini fruit tarts and snuck into his class early to put them on his desk. you ate his little gift up, in a little bit of worry. would he accept that?

at the end of the day though, you had to return to heartslabyul to see him. and what a surprise, he wanted to talk to you.

call it him playing kiss ass— no, he’s not. he’s sorry. to be true, he should be more careful and more intuitive as a dorm lead to ensure the comfort of his students, and he does understand that sometimes he can come off as overbearing or, dare i say dictatorial. it’s really not meant to cause harm. it has a lot to do with his upbringing.

and you were sorry too. and you both hugged it out. every couple has their tiffs, right? just something he’s gonna have to work on.

#📍|| infra is logging…#twisted wonderland #memory bank #quick access #files application #twst #twst x reader #riddle rosehearts #riddle rosehearts x reader #riddle x reader #heartslabyul #twst angst

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daughterofcain-67 · 6 months

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𝕽𝖆𝖎𝖘𝖊𝖉 𝖎𝖓 𝕭𝖑𝖔𝖔𝖉 (𝔭𝔱7)

(Dean Winchester x Female Reader)

(masterlist)

𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲: Dean has now become a demon and he’s convinced you to travel with Crowley and himself. Afterwards, you and Crowley notice the changes Dean is going through and Crowley convinces you to try and persuade Dean to try and be a little less cocky with his killing sprees and tone things down a bit. How far are you willing to go with Dean and his downward spiral into his newfound demonic nature?

𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬: implied smut, no graphic detail, intimate negotiations, Dean and the reader killing a demon… I think that’s it? This chapter’s a little shorter than the last couple of chapters.

You were back in Cincinnati where this story began for you. Your clients at your little tattoo shop wondered where you had been all this time and you simply said you needed a short hiatus. Of course you couldn’t tell them the truth with this sort of thing. How could you? What kind of a normal human in their right mind would believe you when you say you had been helping two monster hunters in an angelic war?

Yet you were still replaying the events of two days ago in your head.

Dean Winchester’s death affected you more than you thought that it would. It was ridiculous, honestly, especially since you were still hurt by the idea of the Winchesters using you and tossing you aside so easily one day like they did to Crowley. You hated that you were even feeling the way that you did.

In order to distract yourself from your thoughts of your previous adventure, you went right back to work. You were drowning yourself in client’s designs and other tattoos or piercings. Your work was enough to keep you occupied at least for the time being.

You were sitting in your chair while you were working on a tattoo on someone’s back. The lady in front of her had asked for different colored dragons along with different jewels of the birth months for the loved ones that had passed on. You were focusing on the delicate details as much as you could while you listened to the music in your building.

“Y/N? Can I ask you something?” Your client asked, causing you to hum and thus giving her a signal to ask.

“How come you never really talk about yourself with your clients? Like obviously there’s more to you than meets the eye. But what is your family like? Do you have any loved ones that live here? Do you have a boyfriend or some sort of significant other?”

You were a little shocked by the client’s inquiry but you supposed it gives you something to talk about to kill some time, “I don’t really talk much about family because we aren’t exactly close… My mom died several years ago but we both hated each other and I never met my father.”

“Wow… that really stinks to hear. I’m sorry. What about siblings or even lovers?”

“Neither one. I don’t have brothers or sisters and… I guess over the years no one’s caught my interest. Never wanted to look because I hear too much about people’s heart breaking over something going wrong.” You admitted.

Then you recalled the way you felt when Dean betrayed Crowley. After that your mind went to Dean’s death and Sam’s reaction. You remembered realizing just how strong humans are, and in a way you admired them. But still, you didn’t need that type of attachment, nor the sentiment.

“I’ve seen what love does to people… and I’ve seen what happens when someone you love dies. It’s not worth the attachment.”

Your answer, though seemingly logical to you, was almost unsatisfactory for the lady in front of you.

“Well that’s a pessimistic point of view, isn’t it? Sure people’s hearts break but after those heart breaks there are lessons learned. Those lessons make you stronger. It’s better to love eve with the risk of getting hurt or losing someone. Feelings aren’t a thing to be fearful of. They’re what make you human, they make you appreciate life no matter the ups and downs.”

You stopped what you were doing and listened to each word your client said. You hadn’t expected to hear some sort of lecture on emotion on someone who’s supposed to act as a canvas.

When you were finally done with the client’s tattoo, she paid you and walked out of the door. The next thing you knew it was closing time and you were still thinking about the conversation with her. Maybe she was right… Maybe caring wasn’t so bad. The Winchesters taught you a lot about humanity and you could see why even Castiel appreciated life.

The adventure you were on is in your past, though. The Winchester brothers surely wouldn’t come looking for a demon. Even if they did, you weren’t sure you’d go with them.

But the moments where Dean actually smiled at you, gave you that sense of peace, making you forget about the eternal pain of what you were cursed with.. those moments stuck with you even if they were only a handful of moments.

Then you remembered the vision with your mother. What if you were becoming weak after all? You were learning to appreciate everything and yet those murderous urges were still there. You couldn’t help that. But what would happen if you chose to be human after all? Was an option like that even possible for you? And would you go to the bunker?

You shook those ideas from your head. That had to be the stupidest idea you’d ever come up with… being human to be with the Winchesters again. Even if you decided to be human, they would never take you.

While you were cleaning up your shop, you heard the door open. You must’ve forgotten to lock the door, so when you turned to see who was entering your shop you were shocked to see who was there.

“Dean?”

“Hey, Sweetheart.”

The next thing you knew, Dean had his hand on your hip and he pulled you closer, taking you by surprise. Was Dean always some kind of ladies man - or acted like it? That was something Sam hadn’t told you about when you met the boys. But that was when you realized there was something off about him.

“You’ve changed….”

Then you watched him begin to smirk before you saw the way his eyes turned black, realizing that the mark finally changed him to what it wanted him to be. “You like the new me? I think it’s starting to grow on me a bit.”

He certainly had changed, He wasn’t the same Dean that you had been thinking of earlier that day when your client was giving you that pep talk. You knew the mark wouldn’t let Dean die, you knew that inevitably he would become a demon, but you didn’t know that it would happen this fast.

“What are you doing here, anyway? I told you not to look for me, remember? Just because you’re a demon doesn’t mean I wanted to see you again.” You said, pulling away and crossing your arms over your chest.

“Well, I’ve got a bit of a proposition for you.” Dean said, then he pulled out The First Blade.

“Where did you get that? I left it behind after your fight…”

“Crowley retrieved it and brought it back to me.” He spoke, “Now, about that proposition…”

“I’m listening?”

“Come with me. I left Sam at the bunker and told him not to look for me. He’d hold me back from all the fun stuff we could do. We could live care free, no regrets and nothing to hold us back from doing whatever we want to do.” He said as he took your hand and he handed you the blade.

Once you felt the blade again you remembered how good it felt to stab Metatron even if he hadn’t died. All of those things Sam and Dean taught you were nice and all, but you remembered the warning from your mother. When you were learning about humanity, maybe you were forgetting what you were meant to be. Now that Dean was a demon too, what would be so wrong with killing together?

You were conflicted, did you want to hold on to the lessons you’ve learned from the Winchesters or throw all of it away and forget about it?

You looked down at the blade and you could feel Dean’s gaze on you as if waiting for an answer, “How do I know you won’t just use me like you did Crowley when you were human?”

“Is that what’s holding you back? Please, that was just something I had to say to get Sam off my back to let me use the blade. Do you really think it matters how it’s done?” He asked you and you sighed for a moment before looking up at the taller demon again.

“Fine, I’ll go.”

Three months have gone by since Dean found you in your tattoo parlor. Obviously you had to shut down since you wouldn’t be there and you didn’t have an apprentice or anything to take over.

Needless to say, you had succumbed to your demonic nature and embraced your past but only to a certain extent. You killed but you didn’t feel quite as ruthless as you thought you would feel. It was a mixture really. It was like you were on an emotional fence ever since you left with the other two demons.

You both, much to your dismay and irritation, were traipsing around with Crowley. The King of Hell seemed to like calling your little group the Three Musketeers from Hell. It had a nice ring to it even if you did hate the man’s guts.

The three of you had been dodging and even killing Abaddon’s demons when they came after Crowley and Dean. If not that, you three were in bars, you would watch the other two demons play pool with humans for money, goose ball, they had the time of their lives and you could tell Crowley was having a ball having a Winchester by his side.

You were watching Dean in one of the many bars you two had gone to over the span of these few months. He was singing karaoke and you were finding out with a quickness that Dean wasn’t very good at it when he was drunk. If he wasn’t singing to make a human’s ears bleed, you he typically slept with as many girls as he wanted to.

He clearly wasn’t joking when he said he wouldn’t be held back.

Typically, however, whenever Dean was done slumming it with some slutty blonde in a skin tight dress you would take the opportunity to get your fill of the first blade. Naturally Dean wouldn’t know too much about your own fun you had with the humans. You knew he wouldn’t care if you killed them or not, he just didn’t really have enough interest to ask so you had some fun of your own.

And it was delightfully therapeutic to take out your frustrations of your internal struggles on these humans.

“What’s got you all lost in thought, Chipmunk?” Crowley asked you, causing you to turn towards him.

“When did you get- oh why do I even ask?” You rolled your eyes and watched as Dean was being escorted off the stage and he made his way back to the bar.

“Wait - since when do you call me Chipmunk?”

“Eh, it was similar enough to the squirrel. You’re close enough to Dean. Might as well give it a shot.”

“Okay well I’ll cut out your tongue if you call me that again.” You said, causing Crowley to put his hands up in defense.

“Alright, alright. Point taken.” He said, “Just wanted to talk about these recent developments with Dean.”

You lifted a brow as you took a sip of some beer that you’d been drinking that night while the other demon spoke, “You aren’t the only one that thinks he’s taking things a bit far with his carelessness. We need to find a way to harness it.”

“We? Oh no, you were the one that got him into this mess in the first place. So you get to be the one that finds a way to harness it.”

“You know he won’t listen to reason. The only one he’d listen to is most likely you. Especially since you two have some kind of chemistry. Maybe if he doesn’t score with one of the locals tonight, you could use your… feminine charms.”

“What makes you think that I’d even be willing to use those certain charms you’re suggesting?” You asked and Crowley motioned to Dean who was already starting to get himself into trouble with security. He was already getting into a fight and they had to call more than one security guard to assist.

“Because he seems to respond more with action than words.” He answered.

“And what exactly are you wanting me to tell him or persuade him to do?”

“Tell him he’d get a lot more satisfaction working with me instead of slumming it in these bars. I’ll give you both more details if he’s willing to comply.” He continued as he buttoned up his jacket, preparing to leave.

“I know you’ve been putting on more of an act to pretend you’re, what the Winchesters say, full metal demon. But I know you’ve changed ever since your first encounter with the Winchesters. You may be one hell of a murderer but you’re a lousy liar. You’re more like your father than your mother.” He said and he looked down at you.

“Don’t take that as weakness. Your father, even though he is the Father of Murder and the king of his trade, he still cared and he even got married because he loved. Feelings, because you know what they are like, can be used to manipulate others. How do you think demons have been able to manipulate the Winchesters over all these years? It’s through the love they have for their brothers and adopted family members.”

You listened carefully, taking each word and you recalled the conversation with the last client you ever had before Dean came to your shop. You had learned a lot from the boys, and maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to learn about what more of those feelings are like.

“Is it wrong to worry about Dean?” You asked and both of you watched the former hunter walking out of the bar.

“I wouldn’t say that it’s wrong. I even worry about him from time to time. Especially since he’s no longer the Squirrel I know. He’s more brazen, reckless, and he makes a hell of a mess for me to try and clean up.” He said and you let out a slight chuckle.

“Yeah, rookie demons are always so messy aren’t they?”

“That’s why I’m.. sharpening him up so to speak. So he can work on those skills of his before he gets himself killed, or turn into a full demon. He’s only half at the moment.” He said and you looked at him.

“Wait… Abaddon’s demons… you sent them?”

“Lower your voice, will you? I haven’t broken the news yet but I will eventually. It’s a means for our professional future you know.”

“Professional future?”

“Of course! I have a kingdom to run, you know. I can’t go partying around here forever. And having Dean by my side may prove to be beneficial. And the offer is extended to you as well, given you’d like the job offer.”

You scoffed for a moment, “You both just have a thing for double crossing each other, don’t you?”

“Hey, it’s sort of in my job description. You can’t expect me to be on the straight and narrow all the time.”

You chose not to respond, and you weren’t even sure if you wanted to know exactly what his plans were for this ‘professional future’ he was talking about. You didn’t really feel like asking about it either, not at the moment but you knew you had to keep this a secret from Dean, otherwise who knew how he would take it.

You and Crowley walked out of the bar to keep an eye on Dean. You started to wonder about something, “You used to be doped up on human blood, right?”

“Yes, although it clearly wasn’t my finest hour. Regrettably I think it was the lowest point of my long lasted lifetime.”

“I heard about that. Abaddon almost got the best of you then, huh?” You saw the discomfort on his face when he remembered that time but you continued anyway, “Could… could you tell me about what that was like? How much did it change you?”

“Why are you asking?”

“It’s just… I had this vision. My mother was in it and there was a human version of myself. I traded my life to save Dean’s or at least attempt to. And in the vision, my mother said that caring for anyone, especially a Winchester, would be the equivalent to some kind of torture.” You began.

“But ever since I saw the way Sam mourned for Dean when he initially died, I realized that humans… they have to be strong to deal with something like death, right? I mean, given that they aren’t hunters and constantly raise people from the dead on a regular basis.” Crowley looked at you with interest and he hummed a little.

“Well, I can admire some humans for their strength. As for what changes you can feel, well… You definitely start feeling those uncomfortable emotions like regret, maybe even worry, etc. Then there are other emotions that aren’t so bad. I’ll let you discover those on your own.” He told you.

“Now, I’ll leave you to it. Remember, we want to get Dean to harness his recklessness. Try to convince him somehow if you won’t stand in for one of the hookers he goes to the hotel with.”

The next thing you knew, he disappeared and you sighed. You honestly hated when he did that but oh well. You walked out of the bar and Dean pulled up with the Impala.

“Come on, let’s get out of this dump town already.” Dean said in his usual grumpy little grumble he had when he didn’t get his way.

“I swear, you’re just like a child. Maybe you shouldn’t even drive.”

“I can drive just fine. I can hold my liquor better than all those people in that bar.”

You just roll your eyes and got into the vehicle and stayed quiet while he drove off. Maybe Crowley was right too, maybe it wasn’t wrong to worry. You even wondered if you should call Sam.

Several hours went by and you were in Montana now from whatever state you were at before. It was still dark out since it was the early hours of the morning but you were able to make it into the hotel. You both shared a room but you groaned a little when you realized you were stuck with one bed instead of two like normal, but you tossed your little backpack and wallet to the side.

You heard a plop on the mattress followed by Dean’s groan. You supposed being in a car for so long was a bit draining even for him.

“It’s a shame there aren’t any bars open right now.” Dean said.

“There aren’t many people in the world that want to be drinking at three in the morning you know.” You said as you sat down on the bed next to him.

You could feel more movement on the mattress and you felt Dean’s presence next to you, “Yeah I guess that’s true. Everyone else is either sleeping off the booze or having their own fun.”

You felt his arm snake around your waist, causing your insides to churn. Surely the human Dean didn’t want to become something like this. Something wasn’t right but you remembered what Crowley asked you to do.

“Speaking of having our own fun…” You began as you shifted on the bed to face him better. He lifted a brow as he looked at you, “You’re being a little reckless, aren’t you?”

“Reckless, huh? How’s that?”

“Well, you’re just a little new at this demon thing and I was just thinking that maybe Crowley and I could show you how to make things… a little more clean.” You said.

“Awe, Sweetheart, you know being neat doesn’t matter that much, and it doesn’t matter how reckless I am. Did that bastard Crowley put you up to this?”

You bit down on the inside of your cheek as you tried to think. Maybe Crowley was right yet again, and you were starting to hate how he seemed to be right about some things lately, but maybe Dean really wouldn’t listen if you just talked to him. And with the way he still had a hand on you, maybe being physical would be the only way to get through to him after all.

You had to admit, you could see why some girls at the bar found him so appealing. You weren’t sure if this would be a good idea. You had no clue if there was any way that Dean would be okay with this if he was human. But if this was the way to get through to him, then maybe it was worth a shot.

You moved to where you were straddling Dean’s lap and you placed a hand on his shoulder, “Does it matter who says it? Remember, I know how that mark feels. And I know how exhilarating it is to do whatever the hell you want.” Then you carefully let your hand down before letting your fingertips graze his own mark.

You lifted his arm up and placed a kiss on his mark, then you could feel him start to lose some of the tension as he watched you before you spoke again, “On the flip side, there’s a right and a wrong way to do things so you won’t get yourself in trouble with whatever hunters come your way.”

“Don’t tell me you’re worried about my tactics. There’s nothing wrong and you know that.” Dean said as he had his free hand on your hip before scooting you up more. But then you felt his touch on your own mark. But this time was different from all of the others. It felt good when he touched it. Maybe it was because he was a demon now too. Anyway you were trying not to get distracted.

“Well, I know that Abaddon’s demons are still after you because you killed her. And personally, I love killing them with you. Kind of rejuvenating.” You said as you leaned in before you started planting kisses on his neck.

“But with you being reckless in places like gas stations or with security cameras..” You said before you held his hand, “You’ll have human Feds on you along with other demons or hunters. We can’t have that, otherwise it’ll ruin the fun of this little adventure, won’t it?”

Dean intertwined your fingers, relaxing as he felt your lips along his neck and jawline, “You really like this so called adventure, huh?” He chuckled deeply.

“I do, and that’s why we can’t let you get caught so easily.” You reminded but then you felt Dean flip you over to where you were on your back.

You could feel your heart racing as you gazed up into those gorgeous eyes of his. You nibbled on your lower lip as he took the arm with the mark and placed it beside your head while his other hand was on your hip, gradually finding its way beneath your shirt. The feeling of his fingertips touching your skin was growing more exciting, yet so wrong in so many ways.

“You’re holding something back…” Dean said and you lifted a brow.

“Am I that easy for you to read?”

“Let your desires win for tonight, Doll. The mixture between feeling right and wrong? I’ve been there. Why don’t we use tonight so you can explore that feeling.” He said and his large hand went down to your thigh, guiding it so your leg would make its way around his waist and he’d have access to your covered core.

“How did you know I had mixed feelings?”

“Because you don’t know how much human is left in me. You don’t know if the human me would be in bed with a demon. Newsflash, Doll… I’m really starting to like this little condition of mine. No regrets. So there’s nothing for you to overthink about.” He said as he dipped his head down into the crook of your neck before planting hot kisses on your skin.

“We’ve killed and tortured demons together… we’ve been traveling the road and raising hell together… why don’t we try a new aspect of this adventure you love so much and then I’ll think about toning down that recklessness you’re so worried about.”

You moved away so Dean would get off your neck and you looked up at him. You could tell that there was very little humanity left in him. If you did this, there would be no strings attached on his end after all.

“So this is the way we’re negotiating?” You asked with a chuckle and Dean smirked.

“I get the feeling you had an agenda wether we have sex or not. But I gotta tell ya… I may be open to listen if this is where it’ll go. Besides, getting you laid might help you lose some of that worry you’ve got over nothing.”

A negotiation… that’s all this would ever be for either of you.

You bit your lip before you reached up and pulled him down by the back of his neck, your lips collided as you closed your eyes. His lips tasted of cinnamon, whisky, and some cherry pie he must’ve consumed sometime that day at the bar. You could smell the alcohol and smoke from the bar but you didn’t care. You felt him nibble on your bottom lip, causing a heat rise to your cheeks. Just how experienced was he with this kind of thing?

The kiss continued to grow more heated and hungry as the two of you discarded your clothes and proceeded to explore one another in ways even you never thought imaginable…

Dean was sitting at the bar, drinking yet again after a bar fight. His knuckles were still a little bloody but he didn’t care. He could feel the stares from the patrons inside but it didn’t matter. He did what he had to do. Some random guy was being a dick to a lady and he had to defend her honor. Maybe it was a little more violent than it should have been but who cares.

He couldn’t ignore the stares of a certain demon that was there, it wasn’t you and it wasn’t Crowley.

However, he was meeting with Crowley and he just found out some news.

“You mean to tell me, you’ve been sending demons to kill me?” He asked, brows narrowing as he shifted in his seat to face the King of Hell.

“To make you sharp. If it weren’t for me sending the demon chum your way you would have been killed. The mark needs to be sustained and you need to get better at using it, otherwise..”

“Otherwise I turn into a full demon, yeah I get it. I got that six weeks ago. You lied, Crowley.” Dean said before taking a sip of his beer before he stood up.

“Who do you think you’re talking to, I’m not a saint so of course I lied.” Crowley said, “Now sit down, will you?” Dean just gave him a look, almost one of defiance as he continued to stand.

“Alright, I needed to keep you sharp for our future, of which we need to talk about.”

“Our future? Really?”

“Our professional future. If I have to spend one more night in this ‘feated party dish of broken dreams and ‘b’ ‘o’ I will cut off my own face.” Dean rolled his eyes at the dramatic remark, but the dramatic reactions are a part of Crowley’s character he supposed.

“Well I don’t know what you’re talking about because I’m good. Hell, I feel fantastic.” He said, holding his arms to his sides while he spoke. He was so sick and tired of people commenting on how they thought he was doing, questioning his skills in combat and whatnot. He wasn’t an idiot and he was tired of being treated like a child.

“Oh really? How many one hit wonders can you sing to death? How many of those stupid challenges on the menu can you consume?”

“Alright listen,” Dean said as he sat back down next to the demon, “the deal was we howl at the moon. No time stamp, no expiration date.”

“And we’ve done all of that. We’ve had our time of fun and all, and I’ll treasure these fleeting moments forever, but this is not what we should be doing for the rest of our lives. It’s time for us to accept what we are and go back to work. You, me, Y/N, the three of us.”

“Oh the Three Musketeers thing? As if…”

“Think of it, the King of Hell and Dean Winchester both by his side. Together the two of us could create the perfect Hell. We aren’t ending the party, just moving the party is all. Just a thought.” Crowley said as he got up.

“Right, and where exactly does Y/N fit into all this? She mentioned something about me being too reckless or whatever. What the hell was that about?”

“First of all, she’s more concerned about whatever none sense you’re putting yourself through than I am. I just gave a suggestion so she could help you get your head on straight. Speak to you in a way you may be able to understand after all.” Dean rolled his eyes.

“I offered a similar job offer, being by my side as well. It gives her something to live for rather than living amongst bloody humans and a Winchester that can’t get a grip of himself.” Crowley grumbled.

“Trust me, she knows I can get a grip of myself.” Dean smirked and the other demon acted like he was going to hurl.

“Please, spare me the details.”

Just as he was about to walk off, he realized there was something he should also mention to Dean, “By the way, I spoke to Moose earlier.”

“Um, what?” Dean asked and he turned around, looking at Crowley and he leaned his back against the bar counter.

“Seems he’s been tracking us for some time now. Apparently he got some phone from one of the demons you killed. Some things were said, perhaps too many things. Sorry about that. He may be here by morning.”

“So you sold me out. Perfect.”

“Look, I don’t know what’s going on with you. Y/N doesn’t know what’s going on with you. I don’t know how she feels but I know that I’m sure as hell tired of it.” He said starting to get ticked off.

“I sold you out, try doing you a damned favor. Everything I’ve done for you and for Y/N has been nothing but a favor. The mark, the First Blade, nursing you back to health, offering you a place by my side has all been a favor. Whether you see it or not.” He said, Dean simply looked at the demon and listened, not really sure if he should take it all to heart.

“Take the night. Think about it. You know where you can find me.”

Dean watched as Crowley walked away to go off who knows where.

He thought about last night with you. He figured that Crowley may have talked to you otherwise he knew you probably wouldn’t have thought to sleep with him in the first place no matter how good the night turned out to be. It was one hell of a way to get him to listen though. But he couldn’t help but wonder if you were against him too, if Sam had tried to contact you like he ended up contacting Crowley.

He stayed at that bar table for a few more hours and saw a few girls here and there he could hit on but then he saw you walking you through the door. He rolled his eyes and turned around to the bar and told the bartender to get him a refill.

“Well you look like Hell.” He heard you say and he scoffed a little.

“Did you know about Crowley’s sons of bitches coming to kill me?” He asked you as you sat next to him.

“He decided to take it upon himself to have a little discussion last night, yes.” He heard you reply and he rolled his eyes again.

“And did you know Sam’s been tracking us and now he’s looking for me?”

“No, he failed to include that detail. But are you surprised? You and Sam have this thing about going after each other for years. Of course he’s after you and you should’ve known that since the day you left.”

Dean hummed a little as he took a sip of his whisky before he looked at you again.

“So, you think I’m reckless, huh? I think Sammy’s on my tail because of those demons I killed so you may actually be right.” He said and you tilted your head a little.

“Was there any doubt?”

“You don’t want me to answer that.”

“Oh Dean… you and your trust issues.” You sighed as he watched you take a sip of your brandy.

“Can you blame me? The sex last night wasn’t even for a good time. It was just so I can dial things down a little.” He grumbled.

“For the record, even if Crowley did had something to do with it, or even if he hadn’t talked to me at all, my point would have still been the same. I’m not a liar like Crowley. I’m right about this and deep down you know it.” He heard you speak and he rolled his eyes with annoyance.

“What are you, my wife?”

“Oh shut up. If you want this howling at the moon thing with you and Crowley to continue, I get that. But a part of enjoying whatever life this is and whatever you’re deciding, at least be smart about it. Everything I said last night was to try and help you before you get yourself in trouble.”

“Fine, fine. What do you want me to say? Thanks for having a heart? You spoke your piece. Can we move on?”

He heard you sigh and when he glanced over at you again, his gaze softened a little, “Why don’t you and I get out of here? Sam’s probably on his way as we speak so we may need to get on the road again. I’d rather not have him find me and take me back to that blasted bunker.”

“You still want me to travel with you after you made the stupid assumption that I stabbed you in the back?”

“Well… Killing those demons by myself won’t be half as fun. Plus you aren’t nearly as big of a pain in the ass as Crowley.”

“Um.. thanks? I think?”

Dean got up and he tipped the bartender for the both of you and you guys got out of the bar so you could go to his Impala.

“You know… I guess I should thank you for picking me up in Ohio. This has probably been the most fun I’ve had in years.” Dean smirked a little.

“Speaking of fun.. I couldn’t help but notice we’ve had another demon with a death wish watching us the whole time we’ve been in the bar today.” He said and he watched you look up at him and it seemed to peek your interest.

“We’ve got some work to do, huh?” You asked and Dean smirked as he pulled out the First Blade.

Both of you turned around and saw a vessel that was about as tall but not quite as muscular as Dean walking towards you with an angel blade.

Dean started to fight off the demon and knocked him out before you managed to teleport the three of you to some abandoned alley where there would be no cameras around. Somewhere that wouldn’t get Dean into any kind of trouble, nice and secluded.

When the demon finally woke up, you held your hand up and pinned the demon up against the wall. Watching the demon struggle was already fun in itself.

“You and Abaddon’s followers… you know Crowley already told us he was sending you. All for the sake of exercise… He thinks you’re nothing but worthless scum. Which… you are, but I bet that makes you feel so small.” You said.

Then Dean walked over to the demon with his blade before he started to stab the demon repeatedly. You released the demon when it was initially wounded. It tried to swing at Dean but then Dean blocked the attack before pinning him against the wall and he stabbed the demon in the neck with the blade.

After a few moments of slicing and dicing with a bit of overkill, Dean stepped away from the body. His clothes were covered in blood and you looked at him. He was relentless but, it was what the mark wanted him to be.

You snapped your fingers and the demon went up in red smoke and you looked at the hunter in front of you.

“Let’s get you cleaned up. We can’t have cameras catching you all bloody.” You insisted and you snapped your fingers yet again and it was like the demon blood turned into red smoke and disappeared as well.

“There. Clean slate. That’s how you have fun killing without leaving evidence behind.” He heard you and he watched you walk away to the car, making him smirk a little.

Then, once you two made it into the Impala again you got into the car. Dean backed the car out of the parking lot and began driving away.

The first part of the ride was silent and Dean was growing lost in thought before he heard you start to speak again, “You know Sam isn’t going to stop looking for you. And you know you won’t be able to run forever.” He assumed you were referring to the discussion of Sam tracking the three of you down to find Dean.

“So?”

“So… what do you plan on doing about it if you don’t want to be found?”

“That may have to be something I think about another time. At this point I’m thinking of changing my number just to stop getting calls from the guy.”

“I just hope you know what you’re doing with your brother…”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing. Let’s get out of here.”

Hey there!! Thank you for reading if you’ve made it this far in the fanfiction! Sorry this chapter was a little short, it’s more of a filler chapter but there is more Demon Dean to come within the next chapters. Will Sam contact you before Dean changes for good? Or will Dean accept Crowley’s offer to stand by his side as a ruler of Hell?

Tag List:

@roseblue373 @deans-spinster-witch @chriszgirl92 @johannelis2302nely @alternativeprincess94 @doctorlexilouwhosblog @justtrying2getby-blog

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inbarfink · 8 months

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For a while now I’ve been considering the option of, like, what if… There’s a new DHMIS season or like a whole new version/adaptation - and they’re not not gonna follow up in any way on the stuff with Lesley from the first season in DHMIS TV. And the final few episodes of that new season are gonna have, like, Duck or something come face-to-face with some totally different ominous secret about how the World of DHMIS works that seems to totally contradict both the stuff with Roy and the machine in ‘Dreams’ AND the shit with Lesley and the stairs in “Electricity”.

Like, I’m not just thinking about it as a ‘haha funny troll!". My thoughts are… So, one of the recurring themes of “Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared”, especially in the TV Show, is like the Existential Horror of Being a Fictional Character. And Creativity has been a theme since, well, the very start. And DHIMS always loved its 4th-Wall-Break, always loved to remind us that this is a show.

So what if the Hidden Truth about why their world is so Wrong is just… the real actual truth? You know, that they are a bunch of fictional puppets for a show created by Becky Sloan, Joe Pelling, and Baker Terry?

And for the characters that would be just as much of a horrifying eldritch revelation as anything we could dream up for them, y’know? That they’ve been created basically just to entertain strange unseen beings via their misery, that they are being watched 24/7 in the sense that when they are not watched they basically don’t exist, that their life and wills are totally controlled by these unknowable strange beings who possess a level of free will they can’t even conceive of.

And they can’t even really perceive this truth fully or reach the actual real world cause, well, they can’t exist in the actual real world or interact with their real creators. Because once you take them out of the context of the show, they just go back into being puppets and costumes. The DHMIS creators could probably pretend to have a conversation with their puppets, or hypothetically the DHIMS characters could talk with a fictionalized version of their creators - but a real interaction between them is metaphysically impossible.

So the climaxes of both the Webshow and the TVshows are, like, Red Guy and Yellow Guy (respectively) coming as close to understanding the nature of their reality as their little fictional brains can bare - which they process as these weird surrealist metaphors because that is as far as they can grasp it before their brains literally become felt and cotton.

Red Guy, especially in the Webshow, was always the one most exacerbated by having to deal with the Teachers. He very much does not enjoy being the Main Character in a story. And he’s generally kind of a cynical pessimist. And so for him, Reality - the DHMIS Webshow - seems like some sort of ominous and impersonal machine that exist for nothing but tormenting himself and his friends.

Roy might be involved because, being one of his friends’ parents - that makes him both a sort of authority figure, and a creator of sorts. So for Red Guy’s mind he’s like a stand-in for their actual creators (since Red Guy doesn't know his own parents - he's at least the closest he's got. Plus it is Yellow Guy that has become the target of the torment by the final episode. That whole thing with Yellow Guy and Roy really is a creator tormenting his creation) . Or maybe it has something to do with Roy being credited on all of the episodes?

Implying he’s some sort of liminal being with connections to both the real and fictional world?

Meanwhile, Yellow Guy is a lot more willing to play along and try to enjoy the Lessons he is given. He’s not as stressed about being free as Red Guy is most of the time. And we know his sense of imagination can be very sweet and adorable.

But at the same time,Yellow Guy suffers a LOT as a result of the Lessons. And when he is fully charged, he pretty quickly becomes uncomfortable with the teachers’ condescension and the strangeness of their lives. So Lesley’s whole setup showcases his more conflicted feelings about the Reality. On one hand there is something charming and whimsical about Lesley, but she’s also kinda ominous and creepy.

And Yellow Guy’s Enchanted Cyborg Intelligence gives him a… slightly more accurate understanding of the situation. Yellow Guy’s Reality, with the Big and Bigger Boys, shows he has some understanding that this world exist for some sort of edutainment (where Red Guy only saw it as torment for the sake of torment) and his idea for the Person Behind Everything is… at least Mostly a live-action human.

Making her a step closer to the actual creatives working on DHMIS compared to Roy.

And the extra set of stairs might show that, like, Yellow Guy at least has the potential to understand that his Reality is not quite the end of the story. Like that, yeah, there IS another level of understanding above meeting Lesley - and that is the Real World with the real creators, the one he could never actually meet.

And now the question is, what would Duck’s Reality be? What would he see, if he had a chance to peek behind the curtain?

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vigilskeep · 1 year

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Ok i just realized i've never played a non-mage hawke! If you don't mind, what are your thoughts on bethany? She always seemed like, nice, but with a less compelling relationship to hawke because they get along?

when i saw this ask i had to stand up from my seat because i got so excited agshjsksks, this is a Bethany Hawke Propaganda Station and i have so much to say

the thing about bethany is that you have to look beyond the nice little sister trope she outwardly plays into. you want to know about bethany? she’s not sunshiney. sure, she’s bright and inquisitive and kind and maybe a little sheltered, but she’s also pessimistic and bitter and lonely and envious and she blames herself and her magic for every bit of suffering her family has had to undergo to keep her safe. her voice actress does such a good job of all her wistful heartbreaking act 1 dialogue. i also think a lot of people would be surprised about scenes where a red hawke can be in total agreement with her, for example when she suggests breaking into the amell estate to find the amells’ real will. they’re not polar opposites at all

bethany is the opposite of carver: she gets along with you from the start, and then the sibling conflict comes in later in the game. send her to the grey wardens, and she won’t forgive you for it! not for a long time, at least. bethany loves adventure and beauty and dreams of the noble’s life she might have had, and getting consigned to the ugly grey work of the wardens for the rest of her shortened, tainted life is a much higher price than she ever wanted to pay for her freedom. send her to the circle instead, and as hawke you have to watch the sister who you tried so very hard to protect act like she’s happier in that prison, like all your sacrifices meant nothing. and you also have to watch as the chantry’s teachings get to her and there’s nothing you can do. i don’t think bethany’s lacking in conflict at all, it just comes in at a different place in the story

here’s a world of thedas quote about her that i really love: “she was masterfully reserved, a trait many mistake as weakness. restraint is a flavour of command. holding power within is the foundation of focusing it outward.” bethany’s nature is that there’s a lot more going on under the surface than you’d think. as a mage, that’s the source of her strength. so i absolutely encourage anyone who’s always played mage hawke to give her (and non mage hawke my beloved) a shot! spend a little more time with her and you’ll see there’s more to her than you’d think

#bethany hawke #my angelllll #she also gets along with pretty much everybody in the party so it’s a great opportunity to see more from everyone that’s less antagonistic #she’s very curious and asks a lot abt the others and it tends to be revealing even if its more in how they react than what they say

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kiss-inthekitchen · 2 years

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just what i needed | steve harrington

summary: you've never really felt at home anywhere. when your parents pick up and move you all to Hawkins immediately after you graduate high school, you resign yourself to having a lonely summer. then you meet Steve Harrington.

wc: 3.5k (your girl finally figured out how to do exposition!!)

a/n: so much yearning. pining. fluff. a lot of mentions of Alien (1979). title is from the song just what i needed by the cars and it could unironically save me from vecna

this whole fic exists bc i saw the gif below and lost my mind

You still remember the first time you met Steve.

You were new to Hawkins, a rare occurrence for the little town– someone arriving instead of leaving. You’d managed to stay in one place for all of high school at least, and you tried to tell yourself that that made it better. It was a natural ending point, right? People graduate, they drift apart. They go to college. They move. It was a normal thing to do.

And you tried to reason with yourself that you weren’t leaving that much behind. You’d never really felt… comfortable in your friend group. It had its moments, it was definitely better than being alone, but… sometimes you felt like you were just there. Like if you left, things would probably continue on exactly as they had been.

Even still, it didn’t make you feel much better about trading in your old life for one in Hawkins. Your friends may not have been the greatest, but at least you guys did things together. Concerts, mall trips, movie nights. You had just become an adult, finished high school and were finally feeling like you had some freedom– and what were you supposed to do with that freedom now? It was almost funny.

On your third day in Hawkins, you’d walked into Family Video. Friday nights were movie nights, and your friends had promised to call you every week while you all watched the same movie on VHS. The pessimistic– or was it realistic?– part of you wondered how long that would last, convinced you it wouldn’t be long. You’d tried to silence it, but it was hard to imagine anything good coming out of this move. You just didn’t have the energy to be hopeful.

You’d pushed open the video store door, eyes downcast as you watched the ground change from cement to carpet under your shoes. You’d almost jumped when you heard his voice.

“Hey! New girl.”

Your eyes shot up to the desk, seeing him behind it. His tone was discerning, as if he’d been waiting for you and you’d finally showed, his hand gesturing in your direction.

“I–” you stopped short. You had no idea what to say to that.

He read your expression easily. “Ah, yeah, small town. Not used to getting new people, so, y’know. Word travels.”

You nodded, cringing inwardly at the idea of your arrival being big news.

“It’s not that bad,” he chuckled. Okay, so apparently you hadn’t cringed inwardly. “Well, you get used to it,” he amended his earlier statement. “I’m Steve, by the way.”

You finally managed to unfreeze, taking the last few steps up to the counter. It didn’t help that Steve was so casually beautiful, standing there in his Family Video work vest, looking altogether too attractive. His hair, especially. You don’t think you’d ever looked that put together, and especially not at work.

You realized a little too late that he was still waiting for you to respond. You told him your name, an easy smirk tugging at his lips at your slow response time.

And then he’d asked if he could help you find anything, and it dawned on you that you’d have to ask the first hot guy you’d seen in Hawkins– and probably the only hot guy, you’d thought to yourself bitterly, even if you knew that truthfully the town wasn’t that small– to rent you Sixteen Candles. He was probably going to make fun of you and then that would be it.

Of course, Steve Harrington would never. At least, not until he knew you better.

“Ah, an instant classic,” was all he’d said, quickly grabbing it for you from a shelf and beginning to log it into the system.

You watched as he typed on the keyboard, pressing so many keys you were sure their system had to be a mess. God, even his hands were pretty.

“So, how are you liking Hawkins so far?”

You scoffed. “What’s there to like?”

He raised an eyebrow at you, tamping down the defensiveness that rose up, opting to fire back with his own question. “So you didn’t want to leave home then?”

“I–” you frowned, cutting yourself off. Where even was home? Had you ever really felt at home anywhere? “I didn’t– I just lived there for high school. But no, I didn’t want to leave.” So that was kind of a lie. But it was easier than trying to work out your feelings enough to make them explainable to a stranger.

He’d leaned across the counter, bracing himself on his forearms, a silent request for you to continue.

And that’s just the thing about Steve. He’s always giving you his full attention, always wanting to know more. It’s dizzying, honestly.

The first few times you talked to him you had to fight to keep the conversation going, your words catching in your throat, stuttering out of your mouth, making you wonder whether it had always been this hard for you to put a sentence together. Maybe it was how rarely anyone had let you get to the end of a thought uninterrupted. Maybe it was just something about Steve. A very annoying, very compromising something.

But, oh, it was addictive. The way he looked at you when you spoke, leaned into you, searched your face with his soft brown eyes. That’s another thing about Steve. He was so soft and angular at the same time. The sharp cut of his jaw juxtaposed with the fullness of his cheeks, the fluff of his hair. Every once in a while something would surprise him, his mouth dropping open, drawing your attention to his perfect full lips and– god, you needed to stop before you embarrassed yourself.

Every time you saw him your heart took off running and you had to physically hold yourself back from going straight for him, had to pretend to be casual. You were too used to setting yourself up for disappointment, couldn’t believe that Steve’s interest in you would last. You were just the shiny new thing in Hawkins, you reasoned with yourself. He was probably just bored.

But even as you told yourself that, you found that you couldn’t stay away. He had a hold on you like no one else ever had.

To your unending surprise, Steve met you more than halfway. For all the effort you put into holding back, he was right there, calling your name when he saw you in the grocery store, inviting you to hang out with his friends– some of whom were children, but for the most part you found that sweet.

After a few months, you finally got used to it, your heart rate increasing only slightly each time you saw him. The problem, if you could call it that, was that Steve Harrington made it nearly impossible for you to avoid falling in love with him. You told yourself not to get too greedy. He’d already given you so much more than you were used to. You couldn’t risk it.

Now, Steve might’ve admitted to himself that it was just the shiny new toy thing at first. What would be so bad about that? He’d gone out with nearly every girl in Hawkins with no luck, so sue him if he got excited when he’d heard there was a new girl in town. Someone different. Someone who might actually be right for him.

It was just wishful thinking, anyway. He knew that. Putting on his classic Steve Harrington charm when you finally came by the store, not truly expecting anything to change.

But boy was he fucking wrong. As usual.

He’d been captivated by you as soon as you looked up at him. He couldn’t even say why, exactly. He just felt it. That feeling he’d been waiting to feel for someone. It threw him off. He didn’t know how to do this, how to start something real.

That first day, when he’d finally managed to get something out of you about your life before Hawkins, inviting you to hang with him and Robin had been a no-brainer. Steve thought it would be more meaningful than just asking you out. You’d tried to play it off, to hide how desperately you wanted to take him up on his offer, asking what there could possibly be worth doing in this town. And then Robin had come out of the back room, throwing some teasing remark at Steve about how she’d have to start a new chart of his dating failures since their old one got torched– you didn’t know what that was about– and Steve had given her such a look, somehow both boyish and withering at the same time, that you couldn’t help but laugh. And that was it.

After the third group hang he’d invited you to, Steve figured it was just too late. He’d waited too long. Now there was something at risk that he wasn’t comfortable losing. What if you said no? What if it ruined your friendship? He’d brought too many people into this now. You’d met the kids, for god’s sake. If you rejected him and they found out, he’d never live it down.

Sure, he’d almost blown it at least a dozen times. With the way you looked at him, it was almost impossible not to. His fingers were always itching to touch you, hold your hand, tilt your chin up so he could–

Yeah. He didn’t know how he’d made it this far without telling you. And then that made him wonder if maybe you already knew, because he damn sure wasn’t doing a good job hiding it. Maybe you already knew and you weren’t into him like that, and that thought made him even more resolved to just keep his stupid mouth shut.

–

Steve’s starting to question why he’d ever trusted Robin.

She canceled on your group movie night at the very last minute, when she knew you’d already be on your way over, so there could be no attempts at rescheduling. At least she didn’t bother coming up with a fake excuse, telling Steve he needed to “fucking get on with it already” just before hanging up, to which he’d scoffed and exclaimed “real nice!” into the already dead line.

Your knock rings out through the empty house not two seconds after he’d slammed the phone back on the receiver, making him jump. He runs a hand down his face, trying to control his racing heart as he heads for the door. Of course, you couldn’t give him even a minute to recover. Why should Steve have anything easy?

“Hey,” he says, pulling open the door for you. As annoyed as he may be with Robin in this moment, he still can’t help the smile tugging at his lips as you come into view.

“Hi!” you say back, your own smile overtaking your whole face.

Tonight was going to be a fucking struggle. “So, uh, Robin’s not coming,” he says to the door as he closes it behind you, too afraid to look for your reaction.

“Oh? Is she okay?” your voice comes out a little too high, strained.

“Yeah, she’s fine,” Steve says in a tone that confuses you, but you’re already too busy overthinking to bother questioning him.

“Okay, okay, that’s good,” you’re staring off into the distance, only half aware of the words coming out of your mouth.

Steve turns, afraid to find something like disappointment clouding your features. He takes in your thousand yard stare, the way your fingers intertwine, knuckles turning white. He reaches out to lightly grasp your wrist, rubbing his thumb gently across the underside.

He’d figured that one out a few weeks in, and it drove you crazy in every possible way. The amount of attention he paid you, the fact that he’d figured out how to break you out of a thought spiral without startling you, the thrill it sent through your body every time he so much as brushed his skin against yours.

“So cool of her to ditch when it’s her weekend to pick the movie,” you say, coming back to the present. “Well, she’s not getting her turn back.”

“No, definitely not,” Steve readily agrees. You both pause, Steve feeling inexplicably awkward for a moment, reluctant to pull his hand from yours but knowing that he probably should have by now. He drops his hand to his side, your gaze going with it.

“Oh, I got the–” he starts, gesturing to the kitchen table where he had your usual movie snacks laid out.

“My snacks!” you exclaim, kicking into gear, back to your usual routine just with the absence of Robin. That’s fine. You can work with that. You grab a couple items, heading over to the couch as Steve goes over to the VCR. “Wait, what are we watching again?”

Steve winces a little bit. “Alien. It was Robin’s turn to pick, so…”

Of course she would pick a horror movie. You groan, and Steve gives you that annoyingly pretty little half-smile in return.

“You can hold onto me if you get scared,” he teases, sitting on the couch with you, just slightly too close to claim it was coincidental.

“Sure, Harrington,” you scoff. “I think I should be the one saying that to you, with how well you handled Friday the 13th last month.”

“Fine, I’ll hold onto you then,” he says casually, as if he just might, and your brain short circuits again.

This is torture.

No offense to Alien, but it is not capturing your attention in the slightest.

If you moved your leg two inches, you’d be touching him. Should you do that? Would it be too obvious? No, yeah, it would. Steve’s hand rests casually on his thigh, and you’re staring. You know you should stop. You want to reach out and touch him, intertwine his fingers with yours. You want to throw your legs over his lap, lean back against the arm of the couch like you didn’t have a care in the world. But you have so many cares.

You’ve already convinced yourself that there was no way he hesitated back there in the doorway, no chance he let his touch linger on your wrist longer than was necessary. Just your imagination, it has to be.

Your body thrums with so much unused energy, you’re scared Steve can feel it. You’re painstakingly aware of him– he shifts his weight and you sense it. And why did he have to sit so close to you? The smell of his detergent combined with the cologne he always wears, as intoxicating as it always is, both comforts and afflicts you.

You try to force yourself to focus on the movie, realizing you have no idea what’s going on, and everything’s too quiet, too slow, and the movie isn’t even scary yet–

“It takes so goddamn long for the alien to show up,” you complain a little too loudly, frowning slightly at yourself.

Steve chuckles, shaking his head. “Is that the only thing you care about?”

“The movie is literally called Alien, Steve.”

“Yeah, but what about the suspense? The lead up? If the alien was just here, there wouldn’t be any pay off.”

You shrug. “Nah, I came here to see one thing and one thing only.”

He laughs again, a warm sound, and you have to fight to keep your eyes on the TV screen even though your focus is absolutely not there. “I dunno, I guess I’ve always been a fan of a slow burn.”

You turn to him then, and he’s not looking at the screen anymore. He’s looking at you, your faces so close to each other it almost shocks you, his eyes all soft and warm, and you can’t breathe, let alone speak.

“Don’t you think?”

Steve doesn’t know what he’s doing. He hadn’t even consciously decided to say that slow burn thing to you, it just slipped out. He can’t help but find it ironic that his patience has finally run out while he was teasing you for not having any.

He worries for a second that you’ll play it off, smack his arm and call him a weirdo and he would have to go right back to pretending he wasn’t aching to reach over and trace shapes into the skin of your thigh, so fucking close to him he could reach you if he so much as fully extended his fingers.

But the way you’re looking at him, all wide-eyed and nervous, it makes him just that little bit more confident.

He knows you haven’t been paying attention to the movie. He hasn’t either, he’s just apparently better at hiding it. Or you’re so distracted by him you don’t notice the way his gaze keeps sliding over to you, catching you with your teeth nervously sunk into your bottom lip, staring at the space between your bodies as if you could will it to close. Either way, it works in his favor.

Fuck it. He’s gonna take Robin’s advice.

He reaches out to you, finally, grazing the backs of his knuckles against your thigh. You shiver. Good. “I said, don’t you think?”

He’s giving you that irritating, heart-stopping smirk again. You nod silently, stunned by him. You’d probably agree with anything he said right now, as long as he kept looking at you like that.

He reaches out with his other hand, tucking a lock of hair behind your ear. You exhale the breath you’d been holding, his gaze drifting down to your lips.

Your faces are even closer together now, his lips millimeters from yours and he can't help but think finally. “Can I kiss you?” he asks.

“With Alien on in the background?” Your eyes widen as the words leave your mouth, hanging in the air between you. You'd probably smack a hand to your forehead if he wasn't so close to you. Could you ever respond to anything normally around this man? Just once? Just once would be so nice.

Steve just huffs out the slightest bit of a laugh. “The alien’s not even on screen yet.”

You can’t think. You can’t speak. You can’t let him kiss you when the last you talked about was Alien. “Wait.”

He backs away immediately, but you stop him with one hand fisted at the collar of his shirt before he can get too far. Even through the layer of cotton, his skin tingles at your touch. He usually makes Robin sit between you two so this doesn’t happen.

“Ask me again.”

“What?”

“I ruined the moment, just ask me again,” you say, more than a touch impatient, and it just makes him want you more.

His fingers trail from the spot behind your ear, down your jaw, til he’s tilting your chin up just the way he’s wanted you, mere inches from you now. “Can I,” he breathes, drawing closer, just barely separated from you, “Kiss you?”

An almost involuntary whisper of ‘please’ leaves your lips before they meet his, closing the rest of the distance between you.

And sure, you’ve been kissed before. But never like this.

Steve’s kissed a ton of girls, but never like this.

You pull back, your eyes wide and revealing, and Steve's still looking at your lips like he’s having some kind of revelation.

He looks into your eyes again. “I’ve wanted to ask you out since the first day I met you,’ he blurts out hurriedly.

You respond in kind. “Every time we hang out I have to stop myself from kissing you.” His eyebrows raise at that, but he doesn’t say anything, so you continue, “It’s really been very difficult.”

“We’re idiots,” he says, reaching for you, and you're already halfway in his lap when you respond.

“Total.”

A little while later, you’re distracted by a squelching sound, followed by a chorus of screams. You pull away, twisting in Steve’s hold to see the screen. “Hey, the alien showed up!”

He throws his hands up from their place on your hips in mock exasperation. “Oh, don’t mind me, didn’t mean to interrupt your viewing.”

You turn back, a sly smile tugging at your mouth. “You have to appreciate the payoff, Steve. Otherwise what was all that build up for?”

Steve’s looking at you like he can’t believe you’re really there, and your cheeks heat even further, if it’s even possible. “You’re impossible.”

You grin. “I changed my mind. I think we owe Robin another turn at picking the movie.”

His hands slide up the curve of your waist, pulling you further into him, warmth seeping through your shirt where he touches you. The tenderness in his gaze knocks the air from your lungs, and then his eyes are crinkling at the corners as he tells you, “I don’t think Robin’s gonna want to hang out with us again for a while.”

You laugh, brushing his hair back with your fingers, all too appreciative of the fact that you get to touch him now in ways you had only daydreamed about. “Oh? Why’s that?”

“She found us insufferable enough before. And if you think I’m gonna be normal after this, you’re sorely mistaken.”

Your forehead drops to rest against his, and you're still in disbelief that this is even happening. “I’ve never been normal about anything,” you say in agreement.

“Mm, no,” he hums, nudging your nose with his, “No, you haven’t.”

“Hey!” you laugh, swatting his chest, pulling back far enough so he can see your glare.

Just then, a loud screech emits from the TV speakers, making Steve jump and grip you just that little bit tighter.

You can’t help but smirk. “I told you so.”

“Shut up,” he laughs, nodding his head in the direction of the remote, abandoned on the other cushion. “Turn that shit off and get back here. I haven’t gotten enough of you yet.”

You’ve never moved so fast in your life.

And okay, you can admit it. Maybe small town life isn’t so bad after all.

#steve harrington #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington fanfic #stranger things fanfiction #stranger things 4 #steve harrington x you #steve harrington fluff #my fics #steve stranger things

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captain-peanut110 · 1 year

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Imagine if things in Gondolin used to be like, “old fashioned” and stuff

Everyone wore long robes, long pants and long sleeves, intricate armour and such

There was little touching outside of one’s family and most conversations were had in a formal way, even amongst friends

Glorfindel died before any of that began to change and in the hustle of being back from the dead and a war going on, he did not give much thought to the whole norms of socialisation business

After he settles in Imladris nothing seems to different, until one evening he is staying up late, talking to Erestor in his office. It is a hot summer night and Erestor is incredibly tired from all of his work.

He rests his head atop a pile of duty reports and reaches to undo the buttons of his long sleeved robes, pushing the heavy fabric off his shoulders.

It drops with a quiet rustle, attracting Glorfindel’s attention and a moment later he feels his face heat up and his eyes dart over Erestor’s exposed neck and collarbones, his white undershirt looking way too translucent in the candle light.

He rolls his sleeves up and rubs his temples exhaustedly, too distracted to notice Glorfindel’s reaction.

Glorfindel starts praying to the Valar to take him back, doing his best not to look at Erestor.

He does not notice Erestor’s concerned gaze, nor does he realise that his friend got up from his chair, until he’s standing right in front of mortified warrior.

“Your face looks very red, are you unwell from the heat?” Erestor asks and before Glorfindel can answer, reaches out to touch his forehead.

Glorfindel freezes, not sure what is going on and Erestor brushes a strand of his hair away from his face.

At that Glorfindel gets up faster than should be possible and runs away, muttering something about a sudden urgent guards business he forgot all about.

Erestor tries to stop him and grabs his hand, which absolutely short-circuits the poor ellon’s brain.

Erestor is left standing in his office, absolutely confused and in his usual pessimistic manner concludes that Glorfindel doesn’t like him.

Glorfindel sits down under a tree right outside and tries to catch his breath, wondering what has gotten into Erestor’s head. How could they possibly hold hands without being married.

Celebrian finds his there during her evening walk and for a moment fears something ill had befallen the captain.

Yet Glorfindel just looks up her with an absolutely scandalised expression and whispers. “Erestor made advances towards me.”

Celebrian is naturally shocked, Erestor being the last person she would ever suspect of anything untoward.

“He touched my forehead. And my hair.” Glorfindel’s face turns red again.

“And before that, he… He discarded his formal robe and pulled his sleeves up.” He turns to Celebrian with eyes wide with horror, as she is doing her bestest not to laugh. “I could see his collarbones. Collarbones!”

Celebrian is now the one praying for strength not to embarrass herself and Glorfindel with sudden laughter, remembering her mother’s stories about the peculiar ways of the old.

“And then…” Glorfindel does not seem to notice her struggle, his thoughts still undoubtedly way too focused on Erestor’s shameful collarbones.

“Then he tried to grab my hand and at that point I wasn’t even sure what he was saying, I made up some flimsy excuse and ran.”

Celebrian nods solemnly, not daring herself to speak and calla in her mind to her husband, hoping by some miracle of Eru’s he would not be asleep yet and could come to her aid. There is simply no way she is going to have the conversation with the Valars’ blessed emissary all by herself.

“I think I’m going to have to marry him now, to keep both of us honest.”

Celebrian shakes her head, fighting another bout of laughter, thankful it had not been Lindir or one of her beloved children that happened to witness Glorfindel’s breakdown. Or better yet, Ereinion back in the day.

She imagines the High Kings face lighting up with an involuntary smile, seeing the legendary Glorfindel of Gondolin loose his wits over a councillor’s collarbones and feels a warm and happy feeling flood her chest.

“How can I ever face him again?”

Glorfindel seems to be talking directly to her now and she snaps out of her thoughts before the warmth memories of Ereinion always bring is shattered by an icy cold reminder of his fall.

Thankfully and perhaps with divine intervention, that is the exact moment Elrond steppes into view, looking at his wire clearly struggling not to smile and Glorfindel, sitting on the ground and looking mortified.

He recounts the indecent experience once again and Celebrian is grateful for Elrond serving as a distraction and turns head away to laugh silently with no one but the stars to witness.

She is about to excuse herself and leave her unfortunate husband to deal with his friend’s embarrassment, when she spots a lone figure in the distance and follows the familiar shape after a short word with Elrond.

It indeed turns our to be Erestor, looming the gardens like a shadow, his hair hanging loosely and obscuring his face from view.

He is wearing no robes over his white shirt and one of its sleeves appears to be torn.

“Erestor?”

Celebrian steps up to the councillor, announcing herself not to startle him.

He turns to face her and in the dim starlight his eyes are dark and endless voids of sadness upon his pale and indifferent face.

“My most revered lady.” He greets her with a bow or his head and a smile, though it looks out of place next to the sorrow in his eyes.

“To have been blessed with your fair presence is a gift this wretched evening.”

Celebrian takes a step closer to lay her hand upon his cheek. He looks about to run from her, and perhaps had it been anybody else, he would have, yet the friendship that grew between them over the years meant she was perhaps the only one he would honestly speak his troubles to.

“I believe the noble Lord Glorfindel of Gondolin desires to be wed to you, councillor.”

“I beg your pardon, my lady?”

Erestor looks at her in astonishment.

“He believes it is the only way to preserve your and his own decency after the absolutely scandalous and entirely inappropriate way you behaved towards him in your office.”

Erestor’s eyebrows shoot up with astonishing speed.

“What?”

“Collarbones, councillor.” Celebrian can no longer keep herself from laughter, taking in the councillor’s bewildered expression.

“It is all very simple - you have shamelessly displayed your collarbones and both of your entire forearms to the noble lord, as well as attempted to hold his hand before marriage, which compels the noble lord to wed you and spare both of your from this shame.”

Erestor appears about to start laughing or perhaps crying, Celebrian is not entirely certain of that.

She pats his shoulder gently, giving him a look similar to the one her children would get after getting into inevitable trouble due not knowing something vital in their young age.

“He is a lord of Gondolin from the first age. The last time he socialised with people rolling your sleeves up would be akin to taking all your clothes off in public. He might have gotten slightly traumatised by your collarbones, but at least we now know he wants to marry you.”

“I wish I was dead right now.”

“Elrond is the one I left with Glorfindel. He is going to have to tell him you are allowed to hold hands before marriage now.” She laughs once again. “I do hope he does bring Ereinion up. It is doubtful the noble lord could ever recover from that conversation.”

Erestor laughs.

“I think I ought to apologise. Clear everything up between the two of us.”

She is about to tell him what a terrible it would be to go talk to Glorfindel at the moment, yet does not have the time before he is already off, waving his sleeveless arm at Glorfindel, who attempts to hide behind the nearly laughing Elrond.

Idk what this is, ahahaha

The only reason this exists is because i imagined the first age having victorian era style ankle freak-outs and because I desperately believe Erestor and Celebrian are best friends.

It’s 2:20 am and I have to wake up at 5 :)))

And so i wrote whatever the fuck this is instead. Cheers!

#erestor #glorfindel #glorestor #imladris #elrond #celebrian #first age #third age

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ramen2jpeg · 1 year

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My linked universe designs! I don’t think I would get too into my version of my story, because it’s super long, but I still have a personal AU 😁

Time: 18 y/o, supposed to be 25 but grew up normally after Majora. Still very childlike and loves to play games. Besties with Wind

Wind: 19 y/o, continued sailing the seas as a pirate when he turned 16 since his grandmother passed away and Ariel grew up a bit more to be alone. Besties with Time, loves traveling back into kids with him.

Legend: 19 y/o, extremely pessimistic and negative after everything that happened in LA. Finds the worst in things and has some pretty deep beef with Time. Still taking some interest in Ravio though and besties with Four + Hyrule

Twilight: 18 y/o, sweet country boy who stays humble and can humble others. Gave up on love and is surprisingly individualistic. He tends to take the hardest workloads, and is physically the strongest Link. Besties with Wild.

Sky: 17 y/o, the kindest and most loving Link. He is easily taken for granted due to his passive nature but don’t underestimate him. Best swordsman out of them all, and is a great shoulder to cry on. Besties with Warriors

Hyrule: 16 y/o, shy but the most talented Link by far. Can use all sorts of magic and can learn from other Links as well. Enjoys his alone time and stays positive, looks on the bright side of everything. Very determined in nature and takes nothing from nobody. Besties with Legend + Four.

Four: 16 y/o, but outwardly looks 12. Personality depends on who you’re talking to. Link: leveled and easygoing, but can often be stoic and calculated. Red and Blue: Angel and Devil dynamic, Red is the good cop Blue is the bad cop. Red tends to go off of logic and morals while Blue tends to use his emotions the most and is spontaneous. Vio: laid back tiebreaker. Vio is the decision maker in everything because he is the most reasonable component of the Four Sword. Four is besties with Legend + Hyrule.

Warrior: 20 y/o, most cold and calculated link there is. He finds little time to joke around and is routinely the commander of many armies. Can come off as mean, but on the inside is just like every other loving and kind Link. However, if anyone is found to be out of line, trust that they will be dealt with. Involuntary besties with Sky.

Wild: 117 y/o, erratic and unpredictable, is called the “wild” card. While can mostly maintain a calm state of mind, it doesn’t take much to trip his wire. A 100 year nap messed up his inner workings considerably, so most social skills are nonexistent. Fits of rage, running off to do dangerous stunts, and destructive behavior are some of the reactions he has to triggers. He is lovely when calm though, and really enjoys playing hide and seek with Time. Besties with Twilight.

All of the Links together! If u read this all, thank u so much it means so much to me 🥹❤️

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enderwoah · 2 years

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CLASSPECTING DOUBLE LIFE

i've finally got it. a complete, comprehensive, optimised list of classpects and lunar sways for all of the double life members (and a couple of others). by "complete and optimised," of course, i mean it's a complete list of my opinions! if you disagree, nifty! there are too many class/aspect/lunar sway combos for everyone to come to an agreement, this is just the result of my (and some lovely tumblr users) character analysis!

not only is this a list, it's also explanations for each choice i made, so this is going to be long as hell. hopefully it's a bit easier to understand for people that don't know tooooo much about homestuck (or maybe just not knowing too much about classpects bc lets be real that stuff is CONFUSING).

the little (+) and (-) at the end of each class is simply to mark it as an active (+) or passive (-) class. personally, i don't put too much weight into it, but some people might vibe w/ it idk. the other aspect at the end of each aspect is it's opposite.

unlike the twelve classes and aspects, prospit vs derse is a very black and white classification, making it difficult to fit every character perfectly in one slot. as such, you may notice that some people don't fully fit in their assigned dream moon! which is fine—that just means i feel as if they fit more in one over the other. derse and prospit were also said by Hussie to sort of indicate a player's active/passive role in the game, respectively. if someone has a passive class but are a derse dreamer, that probably means that they're utilising the qualities of their passive class in a very distinct and active way—same goes for the opposite. this is not always the case, however, because i honestly forgot about derse and prospit being active/passive until way after i was done slotting them all in. if it works, it works!

as there are fourteen double life members, expect a few characters to have the same class or aspect as someone else! that's just how the cookie crumbles.

hope ur ready. im not.

[disclaimer: technically, these in-depth analyses could be considered SPOILERS for the comic, as they're not fully explained until act six. there are no actual plot spoilers, though, so do what you would like!]

DREAM MOONS

Prospit - Flexibly optimistic, Prospit Dreamers are reactive and intuitive. They exist in the present, rather than looking to the future or obsessing over the past, and when making decisions they tend to rely on gut instincts and whatever they're feeling int he moment to guide them. They are quick to act and reliable in crisis, but they have difficulties thinking things through and are often seen as flighty. They are less rebellious than they are adaptable, instead finding away to coexist with authority than fight against it. They are naturally trusting and often project a self into the world that isn't necessarily them. ("-")

Derse - Derse Dreamers are marked by a distinct and restless skepticism. Rebellion is in their blood, and they are prone to fight against everything that moves, regardless of perceived importance to other people. They are cerebral and self-aware, and as such their identities are built on the control they have over their surroundings. They are often inflexible and pessimistic, but they are great problem solvers that face conflict with shrewd, calculating minds. They find sincere vulnerability difficult and often keep people at an arm's length. Living in the moment is hard for a Derse Dreamer; they look towards the future and analyze the past. ("+")

[adapted from the official extended zodiac page.]

CLASSPECTS

[all aspect descriptions were stolen from dahni, who probably has the best homestuck class/aspect analysis in the fandom. several of the descriptions of powers were stolen from kess, who probably makes the best descriptions of classpect-specific powers in the fandom. they also do lands and fraymotifs. check both of them out for all your classpecting needs!]

[if i call anyone an asshole or a dickhead, please understand that i am referring to them in a /rp sense. i am well aware that they're all lovely people irl! ^^]

Grian - Derse - Witch of Time

Witch - Starts off by breaking the rules and boundaries of their aspect, pushing and manipulating it to its limits at their whim. Must learn when use/manipulation of their aspect is really needed and when it isn't; self-regulation/control. (+)

Time - Repetition, mechanical. Destruction, endings. Precision, impatience, choice. Movement, velocity, music. Literal time. (Space)

Time players are very "fuck the system, fight everything" types of people. They're defensive, impulsive, empathetic and determined problem solvers. They're constantly in motion and it physically pains them to take things as they come, even when doing so may be the safest option. So basically, every iteration of Grian ever falls under Time.

Even if we ignore his current "literally interacting with a rift in space-time that drags things into my base from alternate timelines" lore on Hermitcraft, he's generally that sort of restlessly active, "doesn't know when to stop" kind of person. Goal-focused, values the destination over the journey...he checks all the boxes.

Witches also have that "does things for shits and giggles" swag, and they start of their journey very carefree and shirk responsibility in favour for messing around. Being a Time player, though that quality would probably get sucker punched out of him once their timeline spirals into a doomed timeline and he has to fix that.

In terms of powers, Witches can Manipulate their aspect—being a Time player, that is ridiculously powerful. When fighting an enemy, he could manipulate the timeline of their life—i.e., age them until they're nothing but dust or crank it back until they're a squealing infant (or just plain doesn't exist). All Time players can also time travel, so hopping from timeline to timeline would be absolutely no problem.

Scar - Prospit - Heir of Life

Heir - Starts off with an abundance of their aspect, basically inheriting it and having a natural proficiency regarding it. Must learn how to properly embrace their aspect and learn to manipulate that abundance of it to aide themselves and others. (-)

Life - Healing, positivity, energy. Growing, increasing/raising. Authority/power, luxury, wealth. Rebellion, recklessness, liberation. Literal life, plants, animals, food, youth. (Doom)

I feel like in every bit of content I have ever seen Scar in, he's always got some aspect of Life or another surrounding him. He's been the mayor, he's a savvy businessman, both of which fulfill luxury, authority/power, and wealth requirement. He's apparently a "luscious elf" in HCS9, whatever that means, and his base was a giant tree and he made cookies—plants and food. He's generally just an energetic, happy dude that dies laughing time and time again, always coming back with a grin and that same pep in his step that he always has.

Given these circumstances, I felt as if the Heir of Life was a title that suit him! He just radiates the energy of Life everywhere he goes, and it would make sense for him to need to learn how to wrangle in that innate recklessness that gets him killed over and over—you never know when the death might matter a bit too much and you don't respawn.

Power-wise, Heirs have full agency with their aspect and can sometimes literally become it—while I don't think it would be especially helpful to become a tree, it would make sense for Scar to be able to eventually control plants or even grant them their own agency to help him. Another idea is that he always magically takes on a form to help him just before he dies—i.e., growing gills right before drowning, boosting strength when he desperately needs it, which all might develop into him being able to properly shapeshift into any animal (eventually).

Scott - Derse - Prince of Mind

Prince - Often starts off ghosting their opposite aspect, but not always. They have a tendency to reject their aspect and actively work to fully destroy it within themselves and their surroundings. Must learn to harness their destructive tendencies and utilise them, either to systematically and purposefully destroy their aspect or to destroy using their aspect. (+)

Mind - Rationality, rational decisions, reason, logic, unbiased, impersonal. Apathetic, indifference, equal possibility. Disguises, blending in, perceptions, worldviews. Literal minds, brains, thoughts, memories. (Heart)

Princes are often assholes! Moving on.

In all seriousness, though, Scott gives hella Mind player vibes. He's probably one of the most analytically minded members of this entire group, to a point where it's kind of freaky in comparison to everyone else, but he does kind of do the whole "ghosting their opposite aspect" thing in a sense that he throws the impartiality aspect of Mind out of the window. He'll root himself in stubbornness based on one happenstance, he'll go through ridiculous lengths to maintain a partnership he has (even if it may not be the most beneficial thing in the world), and he's a serial, chronic flirt.

He's also a liar, manipulator, and he does it to benefit himself and his very close teammates. Princes destroy their aspect, and fucking with people's minds and gaslighting them sounds pretty damn similar.

Powers for a Prince of Mind are fucking raw. Destroying someone's mind could literally mean driving them to insanity, and destroying someone's perceptions could mean making them go blind or deaf. He could probably also destroy people's memories, making them an amnesiac in a particular place of his choice (think making them a full amnesiac vs making them forget how to fight). Destroying with Mind gives vibes of sending terrible images into someone's mind, or just plain Mind Spike-ing using telepathy and making people go into shock. Crazy ass mf.

Pearl - Derse - Mage of Blood

Mage - Starts off immensely suffering because of their aspect, be it an overabundance of it, a lack of it, or something in between. Must learn how to overcome that suffering and use the knowledge obtained from it to help themselves and guide others. (+)

Blood - Unity, connection, interpersonal bonds. Commitment, attachment, obligation, promises. Responsibility, dependence. Inflexibility, material, tangible. Literal blood. (Breath)

This one is pretty simple. Pearl has really had the ups and downs of Blood—and in terms of Double Life, it's mostly the downs. Being rejected by not only her soulmate, but also both members of her former team...ouch. Fans of the three Gs wept.

Throughout DL, she tried for alliances time and time again and failed basically every single time, but instead of being destroyed by it—or, at least, instead of being completely destroyed by it—she harnessed her loneliness and channeled it into strength and spite and won the entire game for herself. Suffering because of bonds, unity, connections, and overcoming that suffering to do herself some good? Very Mage of Blood, through and through.

Powers are vague, since Mages are probably the most elusive of the classes we know about, but something like being able to make Literal blood contracts that the game itself wouldn't allow you to break without severe repercussions sounds about right. Probably able to immediately point out what matters to a person most (be it a person, place, or thing), could also very possibly actually be able to see soulmate strings.

Tango - Derse - Heir of Rage

Rage - Unconditional anger, hate, fear. Refusal, defiance, rejection, skepticism, doubt. Negativity, despair, denial. (Hope)

Another decently cut-and-dry one, Heir of Rage Tango. A very, very fucking dangerous classpect.

As Heirs have an inherent abundance of their aspect, and Rage is, well...Rage, you can easily see what I was going for and why it fits Tango. The man is perfectly amicable sometimes but is prone to flying off the ragehandle and going absolutely off the shits when it comes to bad things happening to him and his allies/friends. He constantly has that bubble of anger underneath his skin that may or may not be be especially useful when it's out of control. Heirs need to learn when to and specifically when not to embrace their aspect in a crucial moment, but I think Tango's probably got it down pat.

That being said, it wouldn't be a good thing for him to smother all of that, either—inverting to a Hope player would do nobody any sort of good, mostly because he would be bad at it and probably bring Down the Hope by forcing himself into apathy. There is a healthy middle! This is why Jimmy and Tango are moirails.

In terms of powers...Jesus Christ. And I really do mean Holy Fuck. As previously stated, Heirs can often turn into their aspect—I would like for you to sit down and imagine what someone turning into the physical embodiment of rage, anger, fury, and every negative thought and feeling you can think of would look like...and then imagine the destruction they could unleash on an entire army of enemies. He would also be able to inspire Rage in others and manipulate it, cranking it up for his teammates to give that boost of righteous justice or cranking it all the way down for enemies, leaving them either hollow and useless or friendly and unnervingly pleasant towards them. He could project his own negative emotions onto others, so if he felt even the smidgen of fear his enemies would feel a horrible anxiousness and terror. Heirs are incredibly versatile, I could make a whole post taking about how fucking wild these powers would be, but one thing is for sure—be very afraid.

Jimmy - Prospit - Page of Doom

Page - Starts off with a lack of their aspect/lack of control of their aspect/at the mercy of their aspect. Must learn how to tap into their full hidden potential with their aspect and provide it to others. Once that full potential is released, they are one of the strongest players in the game. (-)

Doom - Harm, negativity. Caution, control/limits, necessity. Acceptance, withdrawal, equality/wisdom. Things decreasing/lowering. Literal doom, death, technology. (Life)

Pages! Pages are very odd in a sense that "having a deficiency in their aspect" is not exactly the most specific thing ever. It can range from someone with the "freedom, movement" aspect being literally crippled to someone with the "beliefs, optimism" aspect being actually pretty happy and joyful but a complete fucking moron at the same time and overcompensating.

Which basically means I can do whatever the fuck I want lmfao.

We all know about Jimmy's "canary curse," and a curse (or a virus COUGH) sounds like a very Doom-y thing to me—especially considering this curse literally makes him die, or at least become a catalyst for horrible things to happen in the Homestuck sense. He brings about Doom onto himself and others, a Page vibe through and through.

It would make sense to assume, then, that if Jimmy managed to get a handle on this curse, to tap into that inherent aura of destruction and death that he has within himself and simply can't control, he could be pretty fuckin' scary...if it ever happens. There is no guarantee that he will.

Aside from the death part of Doom, he's pretty garbage at all the other parts, too—caution (no), control/limits (no), necessity (no), equality/wisdom (no)—seriously, limits? Rules? The man tried to team with everything that breathed on Double Life, whether they had wronged him or not, and then turned around and remembered "oh yeah, this person wronged us!" and would start working to mess with them. Sir. Please.

Pages are very funny in a sense that they start off as the weakest class that is the least in-touch with their aspect, but as soon as they grasp that spark and utilise it, they are described as one of the most powerful classes. Period. Doom is a very versatile aspect, ranging from literal death to destruction to explosions to corrosion to coding and technology (including the coding and tech of the game itself). Because of this, the powers of a Page of Doom would be pretty nuts—basically being able to harness any sort of destructive, corrosive energy you can think of to fight, and also benefit other teammates with that (think making his teammates' weapons do more damage or deal corrosive damage). He could also somehow manage to exploit loopholes in the game or break shit to make the game skewed towards his favour, but that is DEFINITELY a very high-level thing and doesn't even need to be considered.

We're still talking about Jimmy, here.

Ren - Derse - Sylph of Space

Sylph - Starts off intensely meddling with their aspect, getting into other people's business with it (that is to say, about it and using it), never shutting up about it, forcing their ideas/ideals about it onto other people, and interfering and trying to help others with it in a way that often hurts more than helps. Must learn how to utilise their knowledge and abundance of their aspect in a way that actually helps and heals people and helps and heals their aspect. (-)

Space - Biology, beginnings, creation. Destiny, fate. Variation, ambiguity, patience. Creativity, big picture, literal space, physics. (Time)

Ren is such a good vibes guy, I just had to give him a good vibes Class. And his Aspect is easily the most important one, so the guy is particularly special when it comes to his session! Sylphs have a tendency to go on tangents about their aspect and basically shove it into everyone's faces, and I sort of just connected the fact that Ren is incredibly dramatic and wrangles people into his eccentric bits all the time to his inherent kindness and healer vibes. By "healer vibes" I mean the cool kind of healer, the kind of healer that would heal you and then whirl around with a sword and slice an enemy in half behind them. He gives those vibes.

Also, the canon description of Space players says that "[they understand] that sometimes you have to let something burn to the ground in order to build it back better and stronger than before" and that just reminded me of the whole "Rentheking" thing going on in Hermitcraft. They are endlessly creative and innovative, and they are focused on the big picture rather than the fussy little details...which sometimes makes them a bit vague and hard to pin down, but it's certainly not intolerable in Ren's case.

In terms of powers, Space players obviously have the whole "space, physics" thing going on for them, but a Sylph of Space would be able to do all of that whilst maintaining the least damage to Space itself. They could easily teleport and mend tears in space while also being able to create pocket dimensions if they so pleased. They could heal people by binding shit back together at the molecular level and also probably create healing-based objects.

BigB - Prospit - Rogue of Void

Rogue - Starts off with a feeling of awkwardness surrounding their aspect, believing that they aren't fit for it or it isn't suited for them or believing that it would be better off with someone else. Must learn to embrace their aspect, as it is a part of them, and trust their instincts regarding it and further their innate understanding of its applications so they can take it and redistribute it to help their team. (-)

Void - Secrets, doubt, confusion. Irrelevance, infinite possibilities, indifference. Literal void, lack-of-something, darkness. (Light)

Unfortunately, I cannot say I know too much about Bigb, but from what I can see he seems like a very nice, genuine dude with a penchant for generally being kind. On that same note, I don't think his little "secret soulmates" thing with Grian was born out of maliciousness—becoming "secret soulmates" with someone only to like gossip and trade items and give each other cookies and not actually have it be a substantial secret gives Rogue of Void vibes, especially considering how he seemed to let Grian initiate most of their "secret" interactions.

Ultimately, one could say his unfortunate demise came from him being too active, both as a passive class and as a Void player. Him rushing into a fight in broad daylight with Ren is pretty unbecoming of a Void player, and a bit of irony might be the fact that a) it was Ren died and not him, and nobody really saw him when he died because he was trailing behind and b) it was his "secret soulmate" that did the deed.

In terms of playing the game, I'd probably say that Bigb would have to fall back on and trust that aspect of being low-key that he has, as it will most likely end up being very beneficial for everyone considering a Rogue of Void's skillset!

A Rogue of Void would be able to Steal Nothingness in order to aide others. To steal the absence of something would be Making something, so he can just...create items. Very important items, if need be. Stealing secrecy and darkness and applying it to himself or others implies being able to turn himself and his teammates invisible or something along those lines, also possibly being able to travel through shadows like those mfs from the Princess and the Frog.

Bdubs - Prospit - Seer of Hope

Seer - Starts off passively observing and recording their aspect, forming their own stubborn opinions surrounding it. Must learn to be more open-minded to be able to learn every possible aspect of their aspect and use that knowledge to aide others and guide them into making the right choices. (-)

Hope - Unconditional love, trust, belief, literal hope. Confirmation, acceptance. Optimism, naïve optimism, positivity, euphoria. (Rage)

Hope—beliefs, optimism, trust, literal hope—plus a Seer—knows too much about and doesn't shut up about their aspect—equals someone really good to talk to about your problems and get advice from.

Bdubs simply has that Hope player swag, and he's got big eyes so he's a Seer move on. No, but seriously, he's very thoughtful and cunning sometimes, and I'd say that he often has pretty good plans and definitely has that "relentless fountain of knowledge" vibe that Seers do, especially considering the...[glances at bdubs and hermittwt] recent developments.

In terms of powers, Seers don't really have too much going for them. A Seer of Hope would most likely be able to see people's beliefs, people's loves (take that as you will), and most helpfully, people's intentions. If this was honed to a fine point, it could make him a literal PVP god, but he would probably do best working as a strategist or even a mole/spy. He could also possibly See the happiness level of someone, perhaps having a mood bar over the people he meets (just because it sounds funny). He could most likely also see the most Hopeful outcome in a situation/for one specific persona and guide that situation/person to the best possible outcome. As is a Seer's job!

Impulse - Prospit - Bard of Blood

Bard - Often starts off ghosting their opposite aspect, but not always. They often passively (accidentally/unknowingly/unintentionally) get rid of their aspect in some way or another before having something akin to a reckoning moment where they violently snap back to their aspect and use it to destroy. Must get a firm grip on their destructive tendencies and act more like a catalyst for the destruction of their aspect or destruction through their aspect. (-)

Blood - Unity, connection, interpersonal bonds. Commitment, attachment, obligation, promises. Responsibility, dependence. Inflexibility, material, tangible. Literal blood. (Breath)

Impulse's classpecting is probably one of the more tragic ones on here.

As stated, Bards often inadvertently destroy their aspect in some way or another, and Impulse certainly is no exception. In both 3rd Life and Last Life, Impulse basically got kicked in the ass by/because of his connections, attachments, and bonds—3rd Life being him getting betrayed by Bdubs for one (1) singular clock and Last Life being him being the last member of the Southlands that stuck with Grian and then dying in their wither fight.

Fortunately for Impulse, he's learned from the past two times—now that he is legally obligated to be paired with someone, he's sort of had his "aren't you tired of being nice" moment and proceeded to work with Bdubs, his own bond, to destroy other people's bonds—using Blood to destroy Blood. The man has gone for it both ways. All of this gives hella Bard of Blood vibes, and it's nice to see a Bard not being a complete and total dickhead for once!

Powers are sort of vague, as it is with Blood, but it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to say that while Pearl is able to create blood contracts that people are inclined to uphold because of a threat of something terrible, Impulse would be able to make contracts that are Made To Be Broken. Devil's deal type beat, I would recommend not shaking his hand because one way or another, you're going to fail to uphold your end of the deal...and it will not be pretty for you when you don't. Being able to destroy blood in a literal sense certainly makes one think of several violent things that I probably shouldn't type out—you can get the picture. Destroying connections and unity and bonds gives vibes of someone just making things go wrong around him—machinery and electronics simply stop working, and eventually his very presence could make an entire society break down. Rebel leader Impulse and Oh My Fucking God I just remembered his whole "I'm tired of being nice" thing on HCS9 GUYSSSSS THIS IS GENIUS

Etho - Prospit - Thief of Breath

Thief - Starts off rather selfish and/or self-absorbed, literally or figuratively stealing their aspect from people to benefit themselves without much of a second thought for who they're disservicing. Honestly, they don't really change that—they mostly have to learn how to not be a complete douche with it and grow and further their abilities to become the strongest they can be. (+)

Breath - Freedom, disconnection, detachment. Apathy, indifference. Independence, flexibility, options, liberties. Movement, separation. Literal air/breath, ethereality, intangibility. (Blood)

Etho simply gives vibes of a Breath player. A true Hermit that really gives no shits and teams with who he wants to team with and avoids who he wants to avoid and everyone just sort of has to deal with him or get fucking destroyed by him and Joel. You might even get destroyed by him and Joel while actively trying to appeal to them. Who the hell knows?

Big Thief vibes in him not caring about who he affects and even exploiting it sometimes, and I wouldn't say that he's necessarily selfish, but he certainly doesn't just give things away if it's not going to benefit him in return. Would probably make a pun about himself being "breathtaking."

Obviously, a Thief of Breath could literally steal someone's breath away—manipulating the air in their lungs to come Out of their lungs and making sure none goes back In. Breath also represents freedom and movement, so he could possibly magically slow people down to speed himself up like some sort of fucked up Sonic that actually makes the world around him slow down while he's moving super fast. He could probably eventually lock people in place and use the movement from them to boost himself—if he freezes six people, he can move with the combined speed of all six people. He can probably flash step, the fucking weeb, and can probably dash through the air like the Hollow Knight mc. Stealing using wind and breath, however, gives him more of a stealth aspect—he could move quieter than the breeze, his steps are light as a feather, you wouldn't be able to hear him if you were breathing, etc, etc. He could probably manipulate wind to steal items from people, maybe even doing a windy thing that takes stuff directly out of someone's sylladex (inventory).

Joel - Prospit - Maid of Rage

Maid - Starts off relying on others for advice regarding/for their aspect and having little to no agency surrounding it themselves. Must learn to seek it out on their own and create it where there is none, utilising it for their own needs whilst serving it for others in turn. (+)

Rage - Unconditional anger, hate, fear. Refusal, defiance, rejection, skepticism, doubt. Negativity, despair, denial. Physical pain, suffering. (Hope)

I think out of everyone listed, Joel already had his arc regarding his classpect the longest time ago. He's been acting out the vibe of a Maid of Rage probably ever since Last Life, or even before—I can't say I watched his POV or any surrounding POVs for him during 3rd Life, but I distinctly remember him just Having A Bunch Of Wolves by the end and going apeshit with that.

If Joel does anything at all, it's Creating Rage within himself and within other people. The man went red in session two of Last Life and was a menace until the very end—he stayed alive until the very end after being the first to go red. Rage is Anger, yes, but it's also Conviction and Strength, both things Joel has in pleasant abundance.

Maids make sure their aspect gets the furthest reach possible, which means a Maid of Rage would be spreading hatred, anger, and fear anywhere they can. Sounds Joelish (/mostly joking). He would most likely be able to make enemies feel fear, doubts, regrets, etc. He could amplify pure suffering in people, basically creating pain inside of them, eventually possibly being able to straight up make someone have a heart attack or go into shock from all of that raw pain. He could possibly be able to bring to life people's greatest nightmares and drive people a bit bonkers with that. He could probably root someone to the spot with mere eye contact, and he probably has endless strength and passion or something and simply never gets tired.

Cleo - Derse - Thief of Light

Thief - Starts off rather selfish and/or self-absorbed, literally or figuratively stealing their aspect from people to benefit themselves without much of a second thought for who they're disserving. Honestly, they don't really change that—they mostly have to learn how to not be a complete douche with it and grow and further their abilities to become the strongest they can be.

Light - Reality, awareness, perception, information, knowledge. Illumination, literal light. Luck, probability. (Void)

Thieves are often assholes! Moving on.

Okay, fine. Why, pray tell, did I give Cleo the classpect of one of the most hated character in the series? Well, you see.

She's manipulative. She lies. She hides things. She obfuscates. She's got the bluntness of a Light player and the knack for fucking with people (and proceeding to get away with it) of a Thief. Her constant tendency of blatantly lying to people's faces is, to put it in a metaphorical way, pulling the wool over someone's eyes. Shrouding them in darkness, the lack of knowledge of her shenanigans with Scott and what she's doing to people. Fucking with people's realities, awareness, perception...gaslighting...yeah. Thief of Light.

Powers for a Thief of Light basically had only one aspect of them explored in the comic despite being The Most Prominently Featured God Tier...which is the manipulation of luck. Cleo could steal the luck of other people to increase her luck, which, to put in video game terms, means that she'd boost her chances of getting eight critical hits in a row whilst simultaneously making it so her enemies have a much higher chance of missing eight times in a row. She could literally steal light, probably being able to grant herself night vision of sorts (and, if she felt like it, blinding everyone else in the room). Actually, blinding people would probably be another power, as would stealing knowledge from people, being able to make them useless in battle or even literal babies in terms of brainpower.

Great, that's two people that can basically remove the brains of anyone they come across and make them go blind. This really bodes well for this session. /s

Martyn - Derse - Knight of Heart

Knight - Starts off with a decent grasp on their aspect but a crippling lack of self-confidence in regards to it (also in general, sometimes). Must learn to trust themselves and their instincts in regards to their aspect and protect it/use it to protect others. (+)

Heart - Emotions, feelings. Personality, bias. Passion, impulses, instincts. (Mind)

Martyn, I feel, is one of the most passionate members of the Life series in general. He basically has a casting type of being a protector/defender and has ever since 3rd Life, where he was Ren's right hand. His passion and his handle on his instincts in a skilled manner really portrays how Knights use their aspect as a weapon: Martyn fights with his whole being and soul behind what he believes in, and he protects anything he's passionate about defending with just a bit more oomph than anyone else could.

Of course, being a Knight, they feel as if they have some sort of deficiency in their aspect despite them just...not. His relationship with Cleo in Double Life could be a good example: his stubbornness to change his mind about his actions in session one being helpful is Heartish, but the inherent confusion that came with Cleo not immediately changing her mind is sort of Knightish. His increasingly desperate attempts to "get her back" (including that horrendous red...box) all the while trying to maintain that idea of him being in the right when it's becoming more and more obvious that he very much might not have been actually gives vibes of a Knight who's powering through his Knight Arc (or whatever) and putting his foot down and trusting his gut about the matter. And lo and behold, even while he was blatantly refusing to accept responsibility, he and Cleo still managed to become acquaintances faster than Scott and Pearl did.

Him managing to pull that off just shows how good of a handle on his aspect he has, especially when he absolutely refuses to waver on it like he may have done in the past. I think after the situation with Cleo, he would learn that he has his own agency to make his own decisions about who and what he wants to protect instead of only relying on others for it like in the past. That isn't to say he can't latch himself to people and groups like he did before—it is in his nature after all—but post-this arc, I belive he would realise that he's down to break away from those or start his own shit at any moment he wants.

Powers for a Knight of Heart most obviously includes soul weapons. He left his sword at home and forgot to put it back in his strife specibus Oh No He Didn't. That Is A Glowing Sword Come Out Of His Chest. It could change into any style of weapon he wants, and once it becomes easier to maintain, he could probably just make any necessary tools or weapons he can think of. Heart players have this silly ability to splinter, which is basically fracturing their soul to make manifestations of themselves. Eventually, Martyn could possibly be able to summon a shitton of those guys with all their own strengths and weaknesses and individual prowesses. He would probably get a really sick boost of strength when defending himself and his friends.

BONUS (SPRITES):

Mumbo - Prospit - Knight of Mind

Mumbo is sooo Knight-coded it's insane. Yes you little skroinkle bimble-doo you are so good at everything you set your mind to and you do it with ease but you will never acknowledge it will you. You are so silly and Knightish. (<- going insane. this is the last analysis i have to do.)

This isn't to say that Mumbo has low self-esteem or anything, he's just fucking brilliant and he really never seems to embrace it or say anything about it. The guy is smart, maybe not necessarily clever, but certainly smart, and he's decently rational when you compare him to the rest of the Hermits. He could probably out-logic anyone that decided to try and argue logic with him, but as soon as someone like Grian comes in with his nonsensical roundabout reasoning, I'd suspect that Mumbo would crumple like a tin can.

Unfortunately, for this type of Knight, I can't really say "HE PULLS A BLADE OUT OF XYZ," but I will say that he'd most likely have some sort of mind control/brainwashing nonsense he could implement in people. His brain would process things like a supercomputer, and while Mumbo seems like he would be a pretty passive player, if it came down to it in a fight, he'd be able to analyse the enemy's fighting style like fucking JARVIS or basically slow-mo an attack in his mind to figure out how to expertly dodge bullets.

Lizzie - Derse - Witch of Light

Light - Reality, awareness, perception, information, knowledge. Illumination, literal light. Luck, probability. (Void)

Okay to be completely real I don't have an in-depth explanation for this one with examples and everything you're just going to have to trust me alright.

Lizzie individually has the swag of both a Witch and a Light player, and together it forms a person who's as clever as they are vaguely ditzy. That is to say, she could outsmart your ass at any given time of day, but once the knowledge that would allow her to do that is deemed irrelevant, it's basically forgotten until an "oh shit, I forgot about that" moment happens.

Witches are generally friendly people that really enjoy messing around with their aspect towards the beginning of the game. As Light deals with knowledge and whatnot, this classpect implies dicking around with people (but not in a particularly malicious way, Unlike Some Other Light Players I Know) and knowledge and information, and having some sort of connection with light and manipulating attention. Bright pink hair and also fairy vibes, anyone?

Powers for a Witch of Light vary as much as the aspect does, but the first think I can think of is the fact that Lizzie can literally deal radiant damage. She could make lazerbeams of pure light or open up the colour spectrum to things Humans Shouldn't Be Able To See. She could also manipulate luck, which is hilarious—"hey, Lizzie, what are the chances of a comically oversized anvil dropping on this hoarde of imps in front of us rn?" "uh...id give it a good 100%" [CLANG]

Skizz - Derse - Knight of Blood

Blood - Unity, connection, interpersonal bonds. Commitment, attachment, obligation, promises. Responsibility, dependence. Inflexibility, material, tangible. Literal blood. (Breath)

I watched two hours of Skizz content (a few eps. of his Last Life POV) to formulate this so kindly forgive me if it is inaccurate.

In the context of Last Life (as that is basically the only frame of reference I have), he assigned himself to the position of leader of BEST and took it incredibly seriously, dedicating valuable time to setting up plans, maps, and failsafes for the team—i.e., the secret respawn room in the bunker. He prided himself on making sure the team was a completely well-oiled machine that would stay functioning and stay together no matter what happened.

It did happen once or twice where he'd pushed the team a little harder than necessary in a very "just in case," "this needs to be perfect" kind of way, especially considering the practice regarding the TNT cannon. There were also moments when a team leader probably would have been most fit to step up and help the members sort through something (especially regarding interpersonal ordeals) and he did little to nothing at all, sitting back and letting Bdubs or Etho take care of it.

Overcompensating for and underestimating their ability to handle their aspect is a very Knightish thing, and as had been made clear, he was a very team-oriented guy. I mean, the man was such a good leader that the BEST team even managed to fully maintain itself while he was red and actively against them, and only started falling apart after he fully lost all of his lives, and even while he was red, he said himself that he couldn't bring himself to really hurt his team—his brothers—and still wanted to see them succeed.

So many damn Blood players...why did I repeat the aspect that we know basically NOTHING ABOUT.

As Knights weaponise their aspect, Skizz having a similar thing to Martyn would make sense, except instead of being able to draw weapons from his soul like a goddamn Crystal Gem, he could manipulate his own blood to turn into cool weapons instead. Alternatively, if the mental image of giving yourself a wound to make a weapon isn't your cup of tea, I could also potentially see him getting a specific weapon based on who it is he's fighting alongside. Hemokinesis is an obvious one, which can be used in several versatile ways—from healing to straight up bloodbending.

Skizz is a sprite because the universe had to fucking NERF HIM

CONCLUSION

This session is fucking doomed.

There are two Thieves. Two Active Rage players. A Thief and a Prince in an alliance. A Bard of Blood. A Page of Doom that's probably cursed/virused to Doom whatever session he's a part of or something like that.

The members of the team that would probably benefit their more unstable participants are all sprites.

Yeah, no. They all die at the end.

Thank you for reading!

CREDITS

Scar's Class - @sincerely-unidentified

Bigb, Bdubs, Implulse, and Cleo's Classes - @caubool

Reading Homestuck and Dragging Me Back Into this Hellscape - @chrisrin

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oldshrewsburyian · 2 years

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Greetings, Respected Tumblr Elder. I am curious to hear your thoughts on Colonel Brandon's character in Sense and Sensibility (all hail Alan Rickman, first of his name, etc). I recently read some Hot Takes(TM) that described him as "creepy" due to the age gap between himself and Marianne. The Hot Takes(TM) also criticized Brandon for what they perceived as his projection of his past love onto Marianne, rather than acknowledging her actual personality. I don't find the age gap argument convincing--seems like a matter of personal taste and cultural context--but I have not reached conclusions about the "projecting your obsession onto this girl" accusation. I'm inclined to say that Brandon recognizes Marianne's naivete and her vulnerability to Willoughby's manipulation precisely because he's watched his former love go through something so similar. But I'm not sure. Thoughts?

Greetings! Being greeted as a respected elder makes me feel as though I should live up to this more strenuously, but thank you. Also, yes, all hail the late lamented Mr. Rickman; as a prolegomenon to this reply, let us contemplate:

These appropriate ceremonies concluded, I shall continue, disavowing (as usual) any special knowledge. My qualifications consist entirely of 1) non-zero grad coursework in modern British history 2) a habit of overthinking things.

At the risk of digressing too much from the point at hand (!), I do think that Colonel Brandon suffers particularly from Jane Austen's reputation for writing romance novels. Austen is writing in/about a context where the marriage market as such is a thing and romance -- to say nothing of Romanticism -- can be actively dangerous. Outside the working class (obviously a caveat that leaves out the majority), marriage is simultaneously the only way for many women to achieve economic stability, and something that renders them acutely, terrifyingly vulnerable. And personally, I think Sense and Sensibility may be Austen's most pessimistic novel. In absolute terms, for this cultural context, I would say that Colonel Brandon's age is neutral. It renders Marianne less likely to view him as a prospect, and this is treated as natural. Also, it makes Colonel Brandon view himself as a less likely prospect for her! No one in this novel views a 20-year age gap as normal. But simultaneously, Elinor views him as a Nice Steady Option for her very sweet younger sister, someone who would not only look on Marianne's enthusiasms with tolerance, but for whom they would be a welcome source of joy and pleasure... of both of which he has had very little in his life. (This is where it becomes obvious that I love the Marianne/Brandon pairing because it gives both halves of a somewhat unlikely pair everything they most need and deserve in the other. I'm emotional about it.)

For comparative evidence of a Creepy Older Man in the Austen corpus, we need look no further than General Tilney. And I mention this because it is evidence that the potential for middle-aged men to be gross and predatory towards young women is not something which Austen overlooked. The fact that Willoughby is the unsuitable suitor is something of a narrative subversion: he is young and gallant and well-read and extremely hot. But whereas readers, especially those with romantic sensibilities, might expect Brandon to be the one with too close an eye on the financial dimensions of the marriage market, using his estate to make a bid for the beautiful but impoverished Marianne, it is Willoughby (ugh) who makes a mercenary upward marriage, and who comes very close to ruining Marianne's reputation in the process. Brandon, meanwhile, has very profound romantic feelings. We just don't see them very much because he acts "whatever he might feel... with all the firmness of a collected mind."

As for the projection thing... no, I don't think so. Brandon is, certainly, influenced -- I don't think traumatized is too strong a word -- by Eliza's experiences, and thus particularly sensitive to the dangers Marianne faces. Also, arguably, we see in Eliza's marriage to Brandon's brother a sort of alternate version of Marianne's future: would marriage to an older man doom her to boredom and thence to scandal and thence to ruin? But I think Colonel Brandon's backstory can be read part of an Austenian jest... or if not a jest, at least a narrative subversion. Because Marianne is looking for a Romantic hero! She gravitates towards Willoughby: tall, dark, handsome, unjustly kept from an inheritance, given to riding around in thunderstorms. Full marks. But meanwhile, we have Colonel Brandon! He had an early, passionate attachment which was disapproved of by society! He has a backstory of pining and loss! He swoops in to rescue tragically abandoned women! He even fights a duel! When Marianne learns of this, she is sufficiently softened to speak to Colonel Brandon "with a kind of compassionate respect." It just so happens that all these characteristics of a Romantic Protagonist™ are found in the person of a slightly sad, very steady, unshowy man on the threshold of middle age. And then there is the fact that he does not press his suit. He is friendly and kind to all the Dashwoods, so neutral that people presume he is interested in sensible Elinor. He could swoop in with a Heroic Offer Of Marriage because Marianne's beauty and health have been spoiled, but no, he just sits around assorted drawing rooms, yearning. Well, yearning and finding outlets for his feelings in enabling for others (Edward and Elinor) the happiness he believes he will never have. I love him.

#jane austen #sense and sensibility #asks and answers #colonel brandon

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pinkriaji · 16 days

Text

Sooooo on the note of me not being able to sleep, I will give you my experience on not consciously manifesting for an ENTIRE year

In a ✨️non aesthetic post✨️😗

Trigger warning⚠️: mention of bad mental health, bad experiences, unaliving, long post too btw

Do you guys remember how your life was before you found out about manifestation?

Well I didn't, I found out subliminals in 2018 and Loassumption in 2020, so all this time I've been manifesting, changing limited beliefs, reprogram my mind and all of it.

Last year, exactly around this time, I felt stuck, I've had success in manifesting things but my life hadn't had a BIG change, I've seen posts here about people waking up in their desired reality, manifesting out of thin air, incredible changes in their beauty or body, etc

While I haven't, and that really affected me, so I decided to start a little challenge for myself, not manifesting for an entire year, exactly as it sounds. Not that I wanna scare you, cause ay the end of the day, it was my experience. But 2023 was a really hard year, it sort of felt that manifestation sort of became this veil that kept things in my reality under " a positive control" (for a little context in 2020 I had a really really really bad awful mental breakdown and at the same time I was struggling with a stalker) when I found Loassumption, that man did got out of my life, but I noticed that my focus was to sort of recover my mental health and maintain it, and sort of nothing happened in the years that follow, so when I decided to stop consciously manifesting, that sort of veil got lifted and i had a really bad year.

I struggled with loneliness, I lost friendships, my family got into debt, and more things that just made life difficult. It was my last year in college and I had lots of problems with that too, I had to do a bunch of things and I couldn't rely on consciously manifesting anything.

Now I can't come in here and tell you that after all of that, I had a fairytale ending where I woke up in my desired reality/dream life, and suddenly, everything was perfectly ok. Sadly, that wasn't my experience, I had to face my emotions and the experiences that I went through instead of escape. I had to see and experience all of my limiting beliefs, and ultimately come to terms with the idea that even if I don't live the life I want, there's still life.

I was sooo attached to the idea of a dream life, that when I started asking myself what exactly is my dream life, I noticed that it was empty, it was based on ideas and prompts that could be aesthetically pleasing and desired by many, but it didn't have something important, it didn't had my actual genuine desires and wants.

So let me ask you, do you really know your dream life? Do you actually know what you want? Cause that could be what is stopping you from seeing results.

Don't take this in a way of me telling you that some things are impossible to manifest or that you can only manifest what is "meant" for you.

I believe that since we all create our own realities, we also create our own destinies, but that doesn't stop our souls from desiring something specific that we may not be in the right tune to know about it.

Meditate if what your manifesting is something that you naturally want and desire or if is something that everybody told you to desire

+ also meditate on the idea of not getting what you want, it doesn't have to be pessimistic nor a sentence.

For example, if you are manifesting being a model, try to think how it would be if you became a teacher? Or a chef or a writer. Not because you can't manifest that desire path, but as a way to show yourself that whether you get what you want or not, life will keep happening. If you mediated on that, think, "Yes, life continues, but nothing else feels right." Then congratulations, I think you have really found what is meant for you 🫂💖✨️

#self concept #manifestation #law of assumption #loassumption #neville goddard #dream life #motivation #spirituality #desired results #lawofattraction #thewizardliz #meditation #instant manifestation

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dismemberment-on-a-tuesday-night · 6 months

Text

I made a playlist for @oliversrarebooks' main series.

Full annotation under the cut (quite long)

Strange Doings in the Night:

This one has a strong vibe suiting the auction house. Very creepy, with undertones of wealthy patrons and secrecy.

"We get more done in the dark than you can see -- Starlight shadows the sunrise like a thief"

Right to Die:

A song about having one's freedom and very sense of being stripped away for a profit. Lots of vivid imagery, making it one of my personal favorites.

"Take me down the silver river and sell my hair for food -- Sell my independence first so there's no fight -- Take my little things away -- So there's no memories -- And hey! -- When you're done you can just sail into the night"

Pain and Pleasure:

This is technically about some D&D campaign or whatever, but it reminds me of the cast of this story.

"He's got blood that flows with magic -- He's got eyes carved in his skin -- We are soon to see his ending -- But we don't know where he begins"

Farewell Wanderlust:

A melancholy song that fits a lot of details on Alexander that have been hinted at throughout the story.

"Our gods have abandoned us, left us instead -- Take up arms, take my hand, let us waltz for the dead"

Red River:

A song with a constantly shifting tempo and intriguing lines. Technically romantic but suiting Oliver's captivity just as he is first brought under mind control and crushes Emily's hope.

"I'll tell you I love you and need you -- And cherish you over them all -- But my effort gets small as I talk to a -- Ball and my words are all crumpled and torn"

Danse Macabre:

An instrumental song with a lovely tune. Sounds like something that would be playing from a character's record player or radio during the story.

Good Life:

A song all about false promises and propaganda, keeping all sorts of people under control by more natural forms of mental suggestion than those in the story.

"They will tell you your future is lovely and certain -- They will sell you a dream for a dollar ninety-nine -- Oh, they'll make you repay it or call it a crime"

Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This):

A pessimistic view of the world, with focus put on abuse and keeping hope despite it. Could fit most of the characters.

"Sweet dreams are made of this -- Who am I to disagree? -- I travel the world and the seven seas -- Everybody's looking for something"

Old Lace:

Melancholy and metaphorical. Plenty of lines referring to becoming a new person and struggling with one's feelings.

"I wish they'd drop the bomb, I’m wearing thin -- And if I'm drowning in my sorrows, I say bathe in them"

Turn Out the Lights:

Lines about needing to not trust your thoughts (even when they sound like you) take on a new meaning when applied to Oliver's enthrallment.

"You don't have to believe every single thought -- That tumbles through your head -- Just 'cause it sounds like you talking"

Another Great Day:

A song about self doubt in the act of pursuing happiness. It suits multiple characters including Oliver and Alexander.

"And what gives me solace, damages my brain -- Again the sun rises, not any more wiser -- My mind is a geyser, the world is just rain"

Bring Out Your Dead:

A slow melody about losing what you love and hoping for more from life. It reminds me of Emily.

"Make your peace -- A pocket of posies can help -- In the silence that comes with the -- Presence of large predators"

Toccata and Fugue in D minor:

A spooky classical melody, often used in movie soundtracks. I could definitely imagine it playing if this story were on telivision rather than tumblr.

The Headless Horseman:

The roaring 20s style of spooky story telling is similar to the revelations Oliver goes through about the existence of vampires and other monsters.

"There's ghosts with horns and saucer eyes -- Some have fangs about this size -- Some short and fat -- Some tall and thin --And some don't even bother to wear their skin!"

Catharsis:

This one was included mostly because of vibes, but it reminds me of Alexander's... whole thing.

"The cracks had always been on show -- The spirit always broke -- The bottle always emptied well before the candle smoked"

Inkpot Gods:

For Emily and Oliver, right after Lily gets in Oliver's head. It has romantic overtones, but could fit friends or even siblings.

"And I can hear him break -- And he doesn't understand -- And I wish that I could take his hand -- But where I'm going is for me and me alone"

Hey, Little Songbird:

From the musical Hadestown, all about false promises dragging a hero down to hell. It suits the chapters dedicated to Lily's mind control.

"Hey, little songbird, you got something fine -- You’d shine like a diamond down in the mine -- And the choice is yours if you’re willing to choose -- Seeing as you’ve got nothing to lose -- And I could use a canary"

Faerie's Aire and Death Waltz:

I listen to instrumental music a lot while reading, and this is one of my favorites. I often put it on for this story.

The Quittin' Kind:

A cabaret song from a singer with a beautiful voice. It reminds me of Oliver, and his lamentations over the life he could have had. Though the song refers to art as escapism, not books, it has the same effect.

"There's a corner you painted yourself in -- I'm not sure what was your intention? -- Now you're trapped alone on an island and you can't swim"

Passerine:

The use of metaphors regarding nature and human history paint a vivid picture. Though honestly, I included it because I have sysnesthesia and this song is the same color as much of the first chapter.

"When he comes a knocking at my door -- What am I to do, What am I to do, oh lord -- When the cold wind rolls in form the north -- What am I to do, What am I to do, oh lord"

Have a Seat Misery:

Honestly, this could fit almost every major character. It's all about relapsing into depression and bad habits, especially in times of loneliness.

"Have a seat, misery -- Lord how I've missed you -- Don't go crying to me -- That I kept you away for too long -- Just put your feet up, friend -- 'Cause I read all your postcards -- And in a way I am happy to say -- That you've never been gone"

Remember Something Beautiful:

A song about holding onto hope for a better future during bad times. It reminds me of Emily's old life, among other things.

"When you're jaded, and you're lonely, and the world's about to end -- Just remember something beautiful is just around the bend"

Opening Themes: Dark Shadows:

This is a niche joke. The 60s show Dark Shadows introduced the concept of a "sympathetic vampire" rather than making Barnabas Collins pure evil. It had a drastic effect on how all modern writers handle vampires, whether they're aware of it or not. But Alexander is much nicer than Barnabas.

The Lesser of 200 Evils:

This could be Alexander's theme song, as far as Oliver is concerned. The premise is viewing someone as the lesser of evils, but still knowing them to be truly evil, even if they're your best option.

"This house is a rotten place -- Where you don't believe a thing that your worth -- The lesser of two hundred evils -- But you're still evil"

Ancient History:

A song about drowning under the emotional weight past events that should be water under the bridge by now. At least, according to the people around you. It reminds me of all of Alexander's angst.

"My body's aching like a knock-down drag-out -- And my poor heart is an open wound -- It's ancient history that's bleeding out of me -- So what am I supposed to do?"

Devil May Care:

The lyrics referring to the biblical fall of lucifer, and where he might be hiding now, quoting expressions like "the devil's in the lyrics". Another vibes based inclusion.

"The Devil can deal any hand you choose -- Damned if you don't, damned if you do"

The Louisville Shuffle (RIP):

All about changing from one thing to another, maybe for the better and maybe for the worst. Becoming unrecognizable to those who once knew you.

"But the scenery won't change until you die -- The scenery won't change and nor will I -- Rest in peace to the me that you had in your head"

Welcome to the Circus:

The premise of this song meshes well with everything Oliver and his fellow humans go through during the auction. Being dolled up and put on display, expected to put their best foot forward while having their trauma completely brushed aside.

"And we will pick apart your mind -- As you are breaking down -- And we'll continue laughing -- After all, you're just a silly clown -- Pay attention to what you're saying -- Make sure it's entertaining -- Lights. Camera. -- Welcome to your life"

Under the Willow:

Another melancholy song I included for reasons of [checks notes] sysnethsesia. But as I think more about it, it could be yet another Alexander song.

"But I believe I'm worth redemption -- 'Cause thunder, thunder shook me to the core -- While I was hiding under the willow"

The Vampire Masquerade:

A good tune with a fitting name. Don't ask me to explain, but it's the same color as Lily and a few of her patrons. It's also a good song to listen to while reading.

The Simplest Words:

Like a lot of songs on this playlist, this one is about doubting your own feelings, and not knowing which are real and which are fake.

"This body is built on the ruins of -- All the people I have ever been -- Wise men build their houses on rocks -- While the rest of us settle for skeletons"

Bloodsucker:

Other than bloodsucker being a fictional slur used against vampires, the symbolism in this song tracks with Lily's business and the keeping of her own thrall.

"It's so quiet, oh my god -- Thanks for inviting me in, you won't feel anything -- Red rich blood, let's drink up -- I want your thin skin, i know what you're trying to tell me"

And there it is. My full playlist. It may be changed and updated in the future, but I'll try to leave it be.

#Spotify #Music #Oliver's Rare Books #Playlists

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