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rwby-encrusted-blog · 10 months

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Hey, can we talk about how Weiss is the luckiest Member of RWBYJNPR?

Just real Quick?

Like no one should compare traumas, it's not a competition. But. like.

Weiss has suffered the least of them all? But was somehow also the worst of them in the beginning?

Because She had

Abusive father

absent, alcoholic mother

threat of being attacked because of her name

Has a scar over one eye, doesn't show signs of impairment

And then she got better as a person and personally suffered

Forced 'home' by evil father

getting kidnapped

getting stabbed with a spear

...

Home literally falls into the water

Watched her team fall into the void.

Ever After shenaningans?

That's it.

That's all her own personal suffering, and for a lot of that she had friends and family, like Klein or Winter, or RWBY! She even left WHitley alone when she was young, clinging to winter!

Compared to;

Ruby

Mom presumed dead

Dad was depressed

uncle was alcoholic

Raised mostly by sister

entered into a combat school early (This one IS negative for her)

Jumped into and active cannon

hunted for her eyes

watched a friend die in front of her. Like. Four times, even if one was a mouse and the other was an illusion

Watched Yang Take a hit and Fall into the coid, assumed she was dead.

a friend that came back to life died to another friend

feels the weight of the world is on her shoulders

LITERALLY ATTEMPTED SUICIDE

Yang

abandoned by mother

step mom presumed dead

father was horribly depressed

uncle was an alcolholic

had to raise sister

lost arm

abandoned by partner and sister.

Had to kill to survive

Self sacrificial tendencies.

Watched Sister she had raised attempt to Commit suicide

so yeah she's got abandonment issues

Blake

Is a minority, suffers from peoples racism.

Abusive, genocidal ex-boyfriend

Said Ex attempted to murder her and Yang, forcing them to kill him instead.

More Racism

Watched the woman she loved sacrifice herself.

AND JNPR

Jaune

His parents actively kept him from pursuing his dream

Criminally negligent, literally didn't know the basics of Hunting

Given Terrible romantic advice by dad

bullied, blackmailed, beat down on.

constantly belittled and denied by his crush (I don't blame weiss for saying no, but it still hurt him)

First person to believe in him Kissed him, Didn't believe in him, ran off to her death.

Suffered severe imposter syndrome and survivors guilt, along with depression and suicidal thoughts

never felt good enough

Nearly got Weiss killed because of Cinder

Took anger out on oscar, Regretted it

Nearly got his team killed because they agreed with his plan to steal an airship

Neo beat up his team! Stole the Relic of Knowledge!

Watched so many of his Friends fall into the Void

had to assist in a Friend's suicide

Family Sword (And therefore legacy) Broke

LEFT BEHIND BY WINTER, WHO COULD HAVE VERY EASILY SAVED HIM.

Lost in a Goddamn fairytale world for a decade or two, alone. on a beach. ALONE.

Drank poison because that's what the story said to do. Couldn't even fucking die right.

The Paper pleasers. Just everything with the paper pleasers

His friends, once reunited with him, thought he had gone insane (He kinda had lost it, but really who wouldn't have?) and They didn't believe him. That hurt.

Pyrrha and Penny Illusion by NeoCat

Damn Jaune really is the Spider-man of RWBY, isn't he. His story is fucking sorrowful.

Pyrrha

Put on a pedestal above her Peers, very lonely

Object of affection focused on someone else

Given a nonchoice to protect people.

Fucking Died. Has remained dead. haunts the narrative.

Ren

parents died

lived on the road most of his life

His power is literally emotional repression

only had Nora

Lost his new family in the Void.

Nora

presumably never had a dad

abandoned by Mother

Lived on the road

only had Ren

That Shock-Force-Field thing in Atlas, left with permanent scarring.

Family Fell into the Void.

So, like. Can Weiss spread the wealth a little bit? In terms of luck?

The rest of them could probably really use it.

OF COURSE

None of this is to say Weiss Hasn't Suffered, she really has suffered in her own ways.

But like.

Not as much as any one other individual in her group.

#rwby #jaune arc #ruby rose #yang xiao long #weiss schnee #blake belladonna #nora valkyrie #pyrrha nikos #lie ren #rwby meta

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myhauntedsalem · 6 months

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6 Dark Places Aleister Crowley Performed His Particular Brand of Magick

Born in the late 1870s, England, Aleister Crowley was one of the great characters of the 20th century—a poet, a magician, a journalist, an alchemist, a philosopher, a spy, a self-affirmed drug fiend, and a sex addict. He was also known as “The Great Beast” and the “wickedest man in the world.” He played a major role in the creation of alternate religions like Wicca, the A∴A∴, and the Ordo Templi Orientis, and he founded the Order of Thelema, a semi-Satanic cult whose famous edict was “do what thou wilt.”

Crowley is to the occult as Tolkien is to fantasy—he set the stage that everyone else plays in. Basically, if you’re dabbling in things dark and dastardly, Aleister was probably there first.

In all of his doings, Crowley traveled a lot. He pursued exploits in Egypt, India, the Far East, Australia, all over Europe and North America, dotting the map with sex magick and weird stunts. Here are a six places in the Atlas where the infamous occultist left his mark.

1. 36 Blythe Road

LONDON, ENGLAND

Though he was interested in the occult from childhood, Crowley’s first foray into organized magic (or “magick,” as he preferred to spell it) was with the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. Well liked by its co-founder, Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers, Crowley advanced in the ranks very quickly. However, not everyone was a fan. The London chapter, which had already found faults in Mathers’ leadership, particularly disavowed him for the eccentric, bisexual Crowley. This caused a decisive rift between two factions of the Order, but Mathers wasn’t ready to concede his leadership.

In 1900, while the poet and London chapter leader W. B. Yeats was heading a meeting, he was attacked by an “astral siege” from none other than Aleister Crowley. Crowley, wearing a black Osiris mask and a kilt, and his mistress burst into the temple, casting spells and brandishing daggers. They intended to take the temple for Mathers’, but were unsuccessful. The police came, the scuffle went to court, and the London chapter of the Golden Dawn won (as they paid the rent on the space). Now the nondescript George’s Cafe resides in the former site of the secret society’s temple, with no indication of its former life.

2. Boleskine House

INVERNESS, SCOTLAND

Boleskine House was steeped in darkness long before Crowley moved in. The manor is allegedly built atop the ruins of a 10th century church that burnt to the ground during a service, killing all the congregants inside. Crowley bought Boleskine House to seclude himself and perform magic from The Book of Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage. It was during this period that Crowley became famous for his occultism and black magic, both around the Scotland and later, the world. Sometime during this period Mathers called Crowley to Paris. He left without dispelling the “12 Kings and Dukes of Hell” he had summoned, and many locals blame the house’s unlucky history on evil spirits left behind.

First, Crowley’s housekeeper’s two children died mysteriously and abruptly. Crowley also bragged that one employee of the estate who had long abstained from alcohol got drunk and attempted to murder his entire family. After the house had changed hands, it still wasn’t free of dark energy. In 1965, the army major who owned the house committed suicide by shotgun. The next owner, Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page, spent very little time at the estate, instead bequeathing it to a friend who didn’t mind the unexplained creaks, groans, and various ghostly apparitions, but was bothered by the Crowley and Page fans who frequently attempted to break into the house and defile the grounds. Later owners dismissed any notions of hauntings or witchcraft at the house, but in 2015, the residents returned from a shopping trip to find the house completely in flames.

3. Crowley’s Magickal Retirement

HEBRON, NEW HAMPSHIRE

In 1916, Crowley spent four months at the home of renowned medium Evangeline Adams in what he called a “magickal retirement.” This didn’t mean taking a break from cocaine, heroin, sex magick, and prolonged rituals. Quite the opposite in fact. In Hebron, Crowley doubled down and did a great deal of writing, poetry and magical instruction alike. He was even a ghost writer on several of Adams’ books of astrology.

4. Esopus Island

HYDE PARK, NEW YORK

In another magickal retreat, Crowley spent 40 days and 40 nights (a la Jesus Christ) on a tiny island in the Hudson River. His mission was translating the Tao Te Ching, a 4th century Chinese philosophical text. He hadn’t brought much food but had packed plenty of red paint, and also put himself to work painting Thelemic graffiti on the island’s rocks. Curious families watching the bald, robed man on the island from the banks of the Hudson began bringing him rations. He was also visited by fans and artists, who brought him food, drugs, and company.

Much later Crowley reported experiencing visions of his past lives during his stay on Esopus Island, all of which were somehow very influential figures. His former selves included legendary Taoist Ge Xuan, Renaissance Pope Alexander VI, alchemist Alessandro Cagliostro, and the magician Eliphas Levi. Today, the island is open to the public so long as they can reach it by boat. There are even camping amenities for those who wish to follow in the footsteps of the infamous occultist.

5. Boca do Inferno

CASCAIS, PORTUGAL

Any eccentric worth his salt has to fake his own death at least once. When visiting Portugal in 1930 and feeling annoyed by his current mistress, Crowley gave appearance he had committed suicide at the Boca de Inferno (“Mouth of Hell”) caves. His friend, poet Fernando Pessoa handed Crowley’s suicide note to newspapers, helpfully explaining the magical symbols and translating the mangled Portuguese to police and media alike. Three weeks later, Crowley reappeared at the opening of an exhibition of his works in a Berlin gallery, suggesting this whole affair was more publicity stunt than anything else. Today, there is a small white plaque mounted on the rock provides the text of Crowley’s note: “Não Posso Viver Sem Ti. A outra ‘Boca De Infierno’ apanhar-me-á não será tão quente como a tua,” which translates roughly to “Can’t live without you. The other mouth of hell that will catch me won’t be as hot as yours.” That might be touching if any of it were genuine.

6. The Abbey of Thelema

CEFALÙ, ITALY

Crowley’s magickal career came to its peak in a little Sicilian town. For a small amount of money, he, his two lovers, their small children, and miscellaneous followers moved into one story house facing the Mediterranean sea. They called it the Abbey of Thelema. The common room was dedicated to ritual practices and held a scarlet “magick” circle marked with the sign of the major Thelemic deities. Crowley’s own bedroom, labeled by himself as “la chambre des cauchemars” (or “the room of nightmares”) was entirely hand-painted by the occultist with explicitly erotic frescos, hermaphroditic goblins, and vividly colored monsters. This private room was used for specific night initiations involving psychoactive drugs which gave terrifying cinematic life to this Bosch-like vision of hellish debauchery.

Crowley considered his temple a school of magick, and gave it an appropriately collegiate motto: “Collegium ad Spiritum Sanctum”—”A College towards the Holy Spirit.” The Cefalù period was one of the most prolific and happy of his life, even as he suffered from drug addiction and had to write the scandalous Diary of a Drug Fiend to finance his community. The growing interest in dark magic and the occult provided him with an ample student body (pun intended). But in 1922, the experience in monasticism ended when Raoul Loveday, a young disciple, tragically died from typhoid fever contracted from drinking contaminated spring water, though Loveday’s wife maintained it was from drinking cat’s blood.

Crowley and his people were evicted by Mussolini’s regime in 1923. The dictator had no sympathy for pornographic art or mysticism. Once the Abbey closed, the villagers whitewashed the murals, which they somewhat correctly saw as demonic. This erased much of the history and work of Crowley in Cefalù. The Abbey of Thelema is still there, a hidden monument of mysterious, magickal decay.

#6 Dark Places Aleister Crowley Performed His Particular Brand of Magick #aliester crowley #ghost and hauntings #paranormal #ghost and spirits #haunted locations #myhauntedsalem #haunted salem

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silverlininghills · 4 months

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top 10 death cab songs i want TØP/tyler to cover:

(put in album order bc no way am i ranking them skjldfdskl)

passenger seat

when you feel embarrassed then I'll be your pride when you need directions then I'll be the guide for all time

what sarah said

love is watching someone die so who's gonna watch you die?

talking bird - demo

but oh, my talking bird though your feathers are tattered and curled I'll love you all your days til the breath leaves your fragile frame and it's all here for you as long as you choose to say it's all here for you as long as you don't fly away

unobstructed views

there's no eye in the sky just our love no unobstructed view no perfect truths just our love, just our love and there's no verse no monument of words for our love for they can't hold all I know about my love, about my love

st peter's cathedral

st. peter's cathedral built of granite ever fearful of the answer when the candle in the tunnel is flickering and sputters and fading faster it's only then that you will know what lies above or down below or if these fictions only prove how much you've really got to lose at st. peter's cathedral there is stained glass there's a steeple that is reaching up towards the heavens such ambition never failing to amaze me it's either quite a master plan or just chemicals that help us understand that when our hearts stop ticking this is the end and there's nothing past this

(literally pasted the entire song bc i just love it so goddamn much skdjfdskl)

you've haunted me all my life

you've haunted me all my life through endless days and countless nights there was a storm when I was just a kid stripped the last coat of innocence you've haunted me all my life you're always out of reach when I'm in pursuit long winded then suddenly mute and there's a flaw in my heart's design for I keep trying to make you mine

when we drive

climb into the back seat and close your eyes I've got the wheel and dream of all the places only we will find I can't expect you to be honest or to be faithful every day 'til the end I just need you to always be a friend until the engine kicks and sputters until we roll the rubber off the tires know I'll always need you by my side when we drive

man in blue

can you hear my voice? in a high, lonesome rejoice sing a song for you in and out of tune and I just want to understand you I don't need to be your man in blue I just want you to see yourself the way I do I don't need to be your man in blue

rand mcnally - acoustic

with this rand mcnally atlas, dog-eared and frayed like old testament verses that don't make sense in this decade don't let the light fade I won't let the light fade chasing these roads into dawns I won't let the light fade falling asleep in their arms and I'm holding on

i'll never give up on you

I've given up on confrontation and I've given up on every politician too and I've given up on affectations and the dilettantes they all consume but I'll never give up, never give up I'll never give up on you

and for anyone unfamiliar w these songs/death cab in general:

#twenty one pilots #tyler joseph #death cab for cutie #dcfc #death cab #plsplsplspls tyler #pls do a death cab cover #im BEGGING you #also yes i did specifically put the demo version of talking bird + the acoustic version of rand mcnally #obvs tyler can do whatever he wants but id KILL for a ukulele cover of talking bird + a piano cover of rand mcnally #Spotify

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val-athenar · 1 year

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( @slayersweek ) Hi @bitter-byte! Sorry I’m on the later side. I’m your Secret Santa this time. Enjoy! (I’m a Tumblr noob so I hope I don’t mess up the formatting of this post whaha)

Title: A cherished fragment of a vanished past

Fandom: Slayers

Pairing: Amelia/Zelgadis

Rating: T

Prompt: (Idea from a discord conversation:) Lina and Gourry cop out and don’t remember what happened at the end of Next (the liars), but what do Amelia and Zelgadis remember? Does she remember dying in his arms?

A cherished fragment of a vanished past

Amelia sat at her vanity, staring at her reflection in the mirror. Just this morning she had returned from a two-month diplomatic mission to several kingdoms, and without even greeting her father, she had retreated into her personal quarters to freshen up and get ready. Tonight would be the start of the Four Dragons festival, the annual event in honor of the Fire Dragon King, Water Dragon King, Earth Dragon King and Air Dragon King. Seyruun would be crowded with people from all across the world. And she wondered… She hoped…

And she snapped out of her thoughts. “First things first,” she said to her reflection and picked up her hairbrush. Amelia had been preparing for the festival during her trip. She’d bought a new tiara in Zoana, where she met with the queen and king. Martina, Zangulas, and their entire litter. Once, she’d been kidnapped by Martina, but that was in in the past and while the queen still had her… loudness, she at least followed the righteous road of justice.

Amelia had bought her shoes in Atlas city. Being back in those streets brought a smile to her face, yet also made her eyes prick. Atlas was where it all began. Where she met Lina and Gourry.

And then she got her dress in Sairaag. A blue one, not too flashy, but pretty enough to show her stature. Sairaag is where she had met Zelgadis. The city looked very different since it was rebuilt, but the ghosts of the past still haunted the streets. The house that was now a dressmaker used to be a restaurant. She’d been there with her friends, but she could never revisit the restaurant. She wondered what Zelgadis would think of the dress.

She hoped that she would see him again. She wondered if he remembered, too, what happened when they were in Sairaag the last time. The memory was her personal ghost of Sairaag. A cherished fragment of a vanished past.

---

A drumbeat marked the start of the festivities, and Amelia raywinged out of her window as the sun sank over the horizon. Not only would walking through the palace take forever, she also didn’t want to run into Duke Such and Duchess So. She would perform her duties later. Besides, lately there has been an increase in princes and noblemen in Seyruun trying to court her. For now, she was just Amelia. Warriors of justice needed nights off as well!

From up here, Amelia had a great view of the marketplace. The Sorcerer’s Guild organized a magic show, featuring the elements in honor of the dragon aspects of Ceifeed. Amelia landed on a peaked roof and watched.

The drums turned faster—louder. They beckoned everyone to the marketplace. Sanddancers from Almekia leaped in circles around a bonfire, some of the sand staying magically suspended in the air. Whilst magnificent, Amelia’s gaze turned to the darkness. The outer ring of the gathering crowd. So many faces—but she only observed the people that obscured theirs. Hoods and masks. She squeezed the sides of her dress, just to keep her hands steady. She needed to stay optimistic. Think of wonderful things.

Then, between two food stands, she saw a familiar figure. She jumped off the roof, only startling the foreign visitors in the process of nearly crashlanding, and she dashed to the other side of the marketplace before the guards would spot her. They’d be honorbound to protect their princess, but she would manage just fine.

The woman and the kid didn’t see Amelia coming.

“Miss Filia! Val!” Amelia said and waved. Filia looked over her shoulder, holding a napkin with a grease stain she just wiped from Val’s face. He must be about five or six now. “It’s been such a long time.” One year to be exact, since Filia took it upon herself to properly educate people of Seyruun on the Fire Dragon King during the Four Dragons festival.

Filia beamed. “Amelia! It’s so good to see you. I heard you live a very busy life. Shall we watch the show together?”

Amelia smiled awkwardly and held her hands up. “Thank you, maybe tomorrow. Have you seen anyone from our old friends?”

Filia folded the napkin and put it into her skirt pocket. “I saw Miss Lina and Gourry a few months ago, actually, wreaking havoc in Alto’s restaurants. They mentioned they were heading to the far south in search of some artefact.”

“That sounds like Miss Lina alright.” Before Amelia left for her diplomatic mission, she hired twelve extra cooks in case Lina and Gourry would attend the festival. Amelia made a mental note to donate the abundance of leftovers to orphanages the day after Four Dragons. “How about…” Amelia began, her voice trailing off as she searched the crowd for any sign of him. But she didn't have to finish her sentence. Filia's smile had turned somber, her eyes filled with sympathy.

"I’m sorry. I haven't seen or heard anything about Zelgadis," Filia said, her voice soft.

Amelia's heart sank, her stomach churning with a mix of emotions. She had hoped to see him here, to finally talk to him after all this time. "I see," Amelia said, her voice barely above a whisper. She forced a smile, trying to hide the disappointment and hurt that was creeping up on her. "Well, I have to go. I have duties to attend to." She turned to leave, but Filia reached out and touched her arm.

"Amelia, wait. Are you okay?"

Amelia shook her head, her eyes misting over. "I'm fine, really. I just have a lot on my mind." She pulled away from Filia's touch, not wanting to break down in front of her old friend. "I'll see you tomorrow." And with that, she walked away, her heart heavy and her mind a jumbled mess of thoughts and feelings.

Of course he wasn’t here. He wasn’t here last year, or the year before. Zelgadis hated crowds—hated to be stared at, and the Four Dragons Festival brought in people from all over the kingdom. Amelia couldn't blame him, not after everything he had been through. But she couldn't help but wonder if he was avoiding her too.

The drumming was increasing in tempo, building to a climax, but Amelia left that all far behind as she pushed through the crowds towards the palace. On the way, in the circular park connecting two neighborhoods, a minstrel stood on a dais, singing to the families. Some children wore bright-colored dragon costumes in fluffy fabrics, others had paper crowns or held meatballs on a stick.

Amelia didn’t stop to listen, but she caught on the minstrel’s song was about Lina Inverse with a little bit of Gourry by her side. Quite positive too, with no mention of ritual sacrifice or eating monsters for breakfast. Amelia had worked hard on improving Lina’s reputation here in Seyruun—partly because she might be associated with her. But there was no mention of Zelgadis or Amelia in the song—

Her arm was snatched with a fierce grip, spinning her around in a whirlwind of shock and disbelief. The suddenness of the movement sent her heart pounding as she looked into the eyes of the person who had hold of her. She couldn't believe what she was seeing, her mind struggling to process the reality of the situation. There, before her, stood Zelgadis, the lower part of his face indeed covered by a piece of cloth, and a hooded cloak casting a shadow over the rest.

She felt a lump form in her throat, her mind reeling with the weight of all the emotions that threatened to overpower her. She didn't know what to say, or how to react.

“Hey,” he said, and although his voice was muffled, Amelia could have sworn he sounded slightly flustered.

“Mister Zelgadis.” And she felt her face burning—after all this time, she didn’t even know what to say.

They look at each other for a few eternal heartbeats before Zelgadis broke the silence. “As much as I enjoy hearing about how Lina ‘lights up the night’, I’d rather be anywhere else. Would you like to grab a drink together? Or fancy a meal if you haven’t dined already?”

“That would be lovely. Drink—dinner… both. I know a quiet place, close to the city walls.”

He nodded.

Amelia led the way, still mentally adjusting to what just happened. Every step seemed surreal, yet he was there, walking beside her. She breathed in slowly, then out. Something she’d learned to do before a speech to ground herself in the moment. He was here now, and might not be here tomorrow. That’s how it always went.

For the longest time she would try to convince him to accept himself as he is—to finally see that he should live in the now, but the discussion had always driven them apart.

And although she’d put it away initially, a vivid memory accompanied her on the loneliest of days. A memory from when they went to Sairaag to defeat Hellmaster. Lina and Gourry forgot what happened, but Amelia remembered.

Back then, Amelia had felt a strange sensation wash over her, as if her body was slowly shutting down. It was a feeling of finality, of impending doom. Her vision grew hazy, and her thoughts became jumbled and disjointed. She could feel the chill of death creeping over her, wrapping its icy fingers around her heart. Hellmaster, the Claire Bible… none of that mattered anymore in that moment. Not her duties as a princess, or even all the injustices in the world. She remembered how Zelgadis held her in her final moment, the desperation in his eyes. She wanted to reach out and touch him, to tell him what she felt for him, but her body refused to obey her commands.

Those feeling had never gone away—if anything, they had bloomed into more. No prince or lord would look at her like Zelgadis had.

Some nights, she has nightmares about dying again, but death itself didn’t frighten her. She feared he would not be there. That she would be old and have had an entire life without him.

---

Amelia and Zelgadis made their way to a secluded corner in The Boozy Bard. Amelia had been right—being this far away from the festivities, the restaurant was very quiet. There were no travelers, only a few locals at the other side of the dining hall.

Zelgadis removed his cloak and sat down. Amelia took in his features, the details she had almost forgotten. It had been over a year—a year and three months to be exact. That time he’d suddenly visited Seyruun to access a library. He had only stayed for three days.

Amelia fidgeted with the hem of her dress as they waited the banquet, ordered for old times’ sake.

Breathe in. Breathe out.

Amelia said, “I saw Miss Filia at the festival with little Val. It sounds like Miss Lina hasn’t changed at all.”

Zelgadis smirked and Amelia could have sworn she saw a twinkle of nostalgia in his eyes. “Lina won’t change. She and Gourry are far too content with their lifestyle.”

“Killing newly-formed gangs of pirates and bandits, treasure hunting, eating, leaving a trail of chaos…” Amelia had to smile too as pictured it. She’d send Lina and Gourry a personal invitation for Four Dragons, but if they were on the other side of the Desert of Destruction, the courier would have never found them. Even rookie couriers could catch the trail of rumors to track Lina Inverse, if she were in the north.

The server brought in the first few plates. She was polite enough not to stare or ask questions, and while Amelia thanked her, Zelgadis kept his eyes on Amelia.

“How have you been, Amelia?”

She forced herself to be cheerful. A warrior of justice. Amelia Wil Tesla Seyruun. “Oh you know, doing my duties. My father is the king since my grandfather’s passing, and now some of his previous responsibilities fall onto me. But I’m happy I can change the world from this position of power.”

“I heard you’ve managed to calm down the tensions between the coastal states.”

“Yes, well—it wouldn’t be just if the people suffered because of the bickering of those above them. I couldn’t let that happen, and intervened by waving my fist of justice into the air and putting them to work on a trade agreement.”

Zelgadis had to laugh.

Amelia pricked her fork in some food and transferred it to her plate, just to be doing something with her hands. She wasn’t hungry at all. He’d heard things about her. Did that mean he asked about news about her during his travels? Or did he stumble upon that piece of information?

She squeezed courage out of her fork. “What else did you hear about me?”

His smile turned into a subtle frown. “I heard you turned down every marriage proposal so far.” The fork fell to the ground.

She couldn’t look at him, but she didn’t move to pick up the fork either. Because her sister wasn’t coming home anytime soon—if ever, members of the court have been raising concerns. Her father would not have it, but the pressure was rising, and apparently, the common folk have been wondering as well. A diplomatic marriage would be one of the best things she could do for the kingdom. It could form a strong alliance or prevent a war, yet this was her only duty she had actively avoided.

“Amelia, I found a lead on how to cure my affliction, a very promising one this time.”

She looked down at the table, but the lines of the wood turned blurry as tears welled up in her eyes. There was no point in holding them back anymore. This is how it always went. “So you’re here to do your research, and in a couple of days you will leave again.”

“I’m here because I needed to speak to you.” He reached over the table and grabbed Amelia’s hand. “I wanted to see you,” he added.

The skin of his fingers was rough against hers. She wanted to savor that feeling, but the memory of his face when he watched her die flashed by. He had looked so defeated. Pained. She had always been so certain she understood what it meant, but maybe it was just something she read into it. Maybe her memory wasn’t that accurate, after all, she died. Maybe her death was the only reason he had realized how important she was to him.

He continued to speak. “So, what I wanted to say to you… what I need you to know is that this lead points to a land further away than I’ve ever been, someplace in the far south. Amelia?”

“Mister Zelgadis,” Amelia started, fully aware he must be able to feel her hand tremble in his, “do you remember when we went to Sairaag to defeat Hellmaster Phibrizzo, when we were there—”

He flinched. “You died.” Amelia wiped the tears from her eyes with her free hand and finally looked at him—and there it was. An expression a prince or nobleman wouldn’t give her. She saw Zelgadis for who he truly was, and he her. “It’s burned into my memory. You died, and there was nothing I could do as your body went limp in my arms. Seeing the life fade from your eyes… I was powerless. For the longest time I tried to forget; the damage was undone, after all.”

It didn’t matter to him she was a princess. He would have felt the same for her if she’d been lowborn. He had no interest to rule. Maybe that was exactly why he couldn’t stay.

“Amelia, following this lead would take months at best, but it could end up costing me years.” And there were no trade routes yet that reached so far into the Outer World. There would be no letters. Only silence. “I wanted to ask you to come with me.”

Time seemed to slow as his question fully registered her. She couldn’t just leave.

Zelgadis leaned in closer, his voice a low whisper. "Amelia, I know this is a lot to ask. But I want you by my side. I need you to be my rock. I cannot do this without you.”

Amelia pulled back her hand to cross her arms and looked away. “Miss Lina and Mister Gourry are heading to the far south, Mister Zelgadis. I don't think I'm needed.”

Zelgadis remained quiet for a while, before saying, “I mean, I came to realize I’m not willing to travel that far without you. Sleep a couple of nights on it, all right? I will not leave without you."

Amelia's heart skipped a beat as she heard the raw emotion in his words. She knew that he was not just asking her to come with him, but to take a leap of faith with him. She knew that this journey would change them both, and that there would be no going back.

Amelia nodded. “All right. I will sleep on it. But I want you to attend the festival with me.” There. She said it.

He smiled and sat back. “All right, I suppose I can do that.”

---

As the King, Phil believed there was plenty of diplomatic opportunity to be found in the far south, and who better to go than Amelia. As a father, Phil believed Amelia should go because she was young, and seemed to be missing something in her life—adventure. As a fellow warrior of justice, Phil knew evil has no borders, and Amelia would be a blessing for humanity wherever she went. So, Amelia stepped into the carriage that would take her and Zelgadis to the coast with a guiltfree heart.

And as they sat, side by side, Amelia glanced at Zelgadis. He looked at the window, to the road ahead—no frown or brooding. He looked content. And she wondered… perhaps this journey wouldn’t be so much about finding a cure. Perhaps he needed to justify dragging her out of her castle. To spend time with her. To live a life with her on the roads.

Amelia’s breathing grew unsteady as she moved her hand slowly, until her pinkie touched the side of Zelgadis’s hand. He didn’t pull back, and instead interlaced his fingers with hers. For the next hour, they didn’t say a word to each other, and they didn’t let go.

This journey would truly be different.

#slayers secret santa 2022 #zelame #the slayers

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sapphicmsmarvel · 3 months

Text

2023 reading catalog

January

a million to one by adiba jaigirdar 💜

Iron widow by xiran jay zhao 💜

An encore of roses by st gibson 💜

Im a therapist and my patient is going to be the next school shooter by Dr. Harper 💜

I’m a therapist and my patient is in love with a pedophile by Dr. Harper 💜

I’m a therapist and my patient is a vegan terrorist by Dr. Harper 💜

The disturbing incident at lonesome woods boarding school by dr. harper 💜

One dark window by rachel gillig

February

The twisted dead by darcy coates

The house across the lake by riley sager

Renegades by marissa meyer 🤍

Archenemies by marissa meyer 🤍

Supernova by marissa meyer 🤍

Daisy darker by alice feeney

March

The lost apothecary by susan penner

MHA 37 by kohei horikoshi

The pronoun lowdown by nevo zisin

The queen's english by chloe o davis

MHA team up 1 by kohei horikoshi and yoko akiyama

To make monsters out of girls by amanda lovelace

MHA team up 2 by kohei horikoshi and yoko akiyama

JJK 0 by gege akutami

MHA team up 3 by kohei horikoshi and yoko akiyama

Hell bent by leigh bardugo

Spice road by maiya ibrahim

The stardust thief by chelsea abdullah

The london seance society by susan penner 💜

All the dangerous things by stacy willingham

April

The fae princes by nikki st crowe

Carnage by sarah bailey

Final offer by lauren asher.

Glitch by briana michaels

Never lie by frieda mcfadden

The locked door by frieda mcfadden

The inheritance by cassie cole

Emily wildes encyclopedia of faeries by heather fawcett

The stolen heir by holly black

May

Chaos by sarah bailey

Corrode by sarah bailey

Cataclysm by sarah bailey

Howl's moving castle by diana wynne jones

Fourth wing by rebecca yarros

Cursed crowns by catherine doyle + katherine webber

Girls of fate and fury by natasha ngan 💜

We free the stars by hafsah faizal

A war of two queens by jennifer l armentrout

The crown of gilded bones by jennifer l armentrout 🤍

Malice by heather walter 💜

Misrule by heather walter 💜

June

MHA vol 38 by kohei horikoshi

Sofi and the bone song by adrienne tooley

jjk vol 21 by gege akutami

jjk vol 22 by gege akutami

lore olympus vol 4 by rachel smythe

the fiancee farce by alexandria bellefleur 💜

the only survivors by megan miranda

what lies in the woods by kate alice marshall

the last word by taylor adams

you’re invited by amanda jayatissa

ward d by freida mcfadden

once returned by darcy coates

double pucked by lauren blakely

mated to the monster by sarah spade

July

the thicket by noelle w ihli

the good lie by ar torre

a naughty lesson by mika lane

love creekwood by becky albertalli 💜

the heartstopper yearbook by alice oseman 💜

demon in the wood by leigh bardugo and dani pendergast

the young elites by marie lu

nick and charlie by alice oseman 💜

a haunted road atlas by christine schiefer and em schulz

the rose society by marie lu

the midnight star by marie lu

a wicked education by mika lane

a sinful classroom by mika lane

the girl from the sea by molly knox ostertag 💜

August

how to sell a haunted house by grady hendrix

the foxglove king by hannah whitten

seven faceless saints by mk lobb 💜

divine rivals by rebecca ross

sing me to sleep by gabi burton

silver in the bone by alexandra bracken

foxglove by adalyn grace

assistant to the villain by hannah nicole maehrer

September

a broken blade by melissa blair

bonesmith by nicki pau preto

the angelmaker by alex north

the family across the street by nicole trope

October

the sun and the star by rick riordan and mark oshiro 💜

lore olympus vol 5 by rachel smythe

the chalice of the gods by rick riordan

fangs by sarah anderson

throne of the fallen by kerri maniscalco

kingdom of the wicked by kerri maniscalco 🤍

kingdom of the cursed by kerri mansicalco 🤍

kingdom of the feared by kerri maniscalco 🤍

the priory of the orange tree by samantha shannon 💜

catwoman soulstealer by louise simonson, samantha dodge and sarah j maas

starling house by alix e harrow

November

savage hate by amanda richardson

a curse for true love by stephanie garber

forged by blood by ehigbor okosun

if i have to be haunted by miranda sun

heart trick by kristen granata

the legacy by elle kennedy

odd man rush by kristen granata 💜

that one night by emily rath

pucking around by emily rath 💜

pucking ever after vol 1 by emily rath 💜

iron flame by rebecca yarros

my hero academia team up missions vol 4 by yoko akiyama and koehi horikoshi

December

spin the bottle by stephanie alves

as good as dead by holly jackson

the lightning thief by rick riordan 🤍

the sea of monsters by rick riordan 🤍

i am not your final girl by claire c holland

the titans curse by rick riordan 🤍

the battle of the labyrinth by rick riordan 🤍

#reading #booktok #books #bookblogging

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juniperhillpatient · 3 months

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pass the happy ! :) when you receive this list 5 things that make you happy and then send this to 10 of the last people in your notifications !! :D

Thanks friend 😊 okay I always say obvious stuff like “my cats!” “my family!” like yeah of course that stuff too - but I’ll try to think of more hyper specific stuff for fun haha

1. Let’s just say ATLA (the og show specifically) in general & especially whenever I get to see my favorite girl Azula which is relevant because I just finished season 1 of my rewatch 😉

2. Hiking! Neat that this was one of yours too!

3. Hm a good comedy. Just watched Murder Mystery 2 for movie night at work & the other day my family watched Diary Of a Wimpy Kid Rodrick’s Rules & I do just really love a movie that actually makes me laugh 😆

4. I love a good abandoned location. Was just reminiscing about when my friends & I used to go to this abandoned incinerator all the time to smoke & take pictures. Those are bittersweet memories for various reasons but I do love a place that was once something & is now overgrown & crumbling.

5. Road-trips! I love taking a day to go somewhere be it a hiking spot, a small town, a place that’s rumored to be haunted, a specific historical spot or whatever I’m a fan of a good day trip. Haven’t done anything like that in too long!

#ask games #❤️❤️

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growing-yet-into-magic · 1 year

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Metaphysical/supernatural books I didn't finish fully before sending back to the library but I made an opinion on before DNFing, go! ✌🏽

The Devil Came to Saint Louis, by Troy Taylor

The author spent about a third of the book at least on exorcisms that had nothing to do with its title subject, couldn't remain impartial on the subjects he was covering, and seemed way more interested in the spectacle of the supposed possessions rather than the utilitarian covering of the subject matter. As someone who's worked with disabled persons, mental health subject matter, and medical topics, the coverage of the exorcisms is super fucking weird and exploitative in tone, even without the real names being used! Considering that this is a secondhand source that's translating the material for viewing from its primary sources, I would have expected better from the author. 1/5. Go find the primary sources if you like the topic so much.

A Haunted Road Atlas, by Schiefer and Schulz of "And That's Why We Drink".

It basically only covers already popular cities like New York, Philadelphia, etc. I was hoping for something more...actually road-trippy? No one's crossing the country along this path, that's for sure. People die in NYC all the time; there's only like five murders covered in the whole section on the city? I'm aware that this is largely just meant to be a book on alcoholic beverage recipes, but I don't drink and I take the titles for what they promise. This doesn't deliver. For a real road trip experience, try Atlas Obscura, or something more local, like Weird NJ, or something regional, like Magical Destinations of the Northeast, which I HIGHLY recommend! 2/5, get one of those local indie-published murder books from those tiny bookstores instead. Unless you just like alcohol, in which case, I don't have enough experience to form an opinion.

The Art of Scrying and Dowsing, by Jenny Tyson

(Apparently forgot to take a picture of this. Whoops! I had a library copy so it's gone now.)

I think that some of the more fiddly semantics didn't hit right with me, but that may be a difference in our social circles or in our training. Otherwise, the author gives a large range of techniques to try to refine one's inner eye, including blind or double blind divination training techniques and tips and tricks when working with tricky subjects (or querents). This book is largely what I would consider "dowsing" more than scrying, but it has a sense of reason that is well-established, offers advice worth trying, and I believe my original goal when checking it out was to test at least a few before the library recalled it. Alas, I overestimated my abilities to finish it on time. 😅 4/5, seems very helpful for intermediate practitioners looking to hone this specific skill; would be a higher ranking but I haven't tested the techniques yet.

Blessings!

#yeah this is why I haven't done a review in the last three months I said I would do one; most of the books were....obnoxious #and my new library doesn't have HALF the range of the original libraries I did these in :'(#books #witch books #witchblr #growing-yet #metaphysical book

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redhairedwolfwitch · 2 years

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29. Braid - OC x Platonic!Reader - Football!AU

@purple-dahlias' Seven sentence fic July day 29 braid

a/n: this is set after the events of tears, but before the events of sunlight.

"Your braids like a pattern, love you to the moon and to saturn, passed down like folk songs, the love lasts so long... and I've been meaning to tell you, I think your house is haunted, your dad is always mad and that must be why..." You loudly sung the lyrics, trying to withhold the sobs that wanted to leave your mouth, Atlas' eyes were luckily on the road as you swiped away any possible tears trying to run down your cheeks.

"Wait, wait, are you crying to Taylor Swift?" Atlas' eyes widened, having glanced at you whilst checking it was safe to turn a corner, your eyes were glossy as the song continued to play, leaving you to sigh.

"Maybe... it's a really good album, okay? Oh my god, the phone's been recording us for snapchat and insta stories the entire time-" a squeak left your lips as you tried to delete the video, not needing to be teased about your love of Folklore by your other teammates, who the two of you were going to meet tonight.

"Why don't you change the song to something that won't have you crying the whole way until we get to where we're going?" Atlas suggested, raising an eyebrow as another Taylor Swift song came on, leaving you to hurriedly change the music to something more upbeat.

The smile on Atlas' face was unmissable as you knew that spotify shuffle had finally ruled in your favour, even without premium, much to your friends and teammates complaints.

Your teammates who were following you and/or Atlas found that later on, that there were instagram stories of the two of you mouthing the lyrics to Telephone, followed by Poker Face, by Lady Gaga on the way to meeting up with them team bonding.

The footage of you crying to Taylor's Folklore album was luckily buried, the two of you forgetting whose phone the footage was even on, with the hopes that everyone had forgotten the incident during the 24 hours it was on social media...

#sevensentenceficjuly #oc x reader #oc imagine #own character #inspired by the women's euros #football au #football!AU #alternate universe #i am staying in my woso hole as i do not want to climb out of it yet

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bookgeekgrrl · 1 year

Text

My media this week (7-13 May 2023)

ᵗʰᵉ ᵗʳᵘᵉ ᵏᶦⁿᵍ

📚 STUFF I READ 📚

😍👂‍Gilded Cage (Lilywhite Boys #2) (KJ Charles, author; Cornell Collins & Victoria Aston, narrators) - I fucking love Susan Lazarus so much. Love a prickly, irritable female character that ISN'T softened by 'true love'.

🥰The Scandalous Letters of V & J (Felicia Davin) - an epistolary historical fantasy romance with two nonbinary main characters - read this via email and it was great, can't wait to reread in book form

🥰Do Not Meddle in the Affairs of Grad Students (for They Are Caffeinated and Quick to Nerd Out) (theemdash) - 46K, stucky no-powers modern AU - roommates-to-lovers where they're both HUGE LOTR nerds

🥰when i don't touch you it's a mistake in any life, in each place and forever. (antithetical_dreamgirl) - 48K, steddie AU - actual AU where Eddie dies (apparently) in the Upside Down and then wakes up 10 years in the future in an alternate universe, more or less married to Steve - lots of good angst with an HEA

💖💖 +140K of shorter fic so shout out to these I really loved 💖💖

Lucky Screwdriver (Zenaidamacrouras1) - MCU: stucky, 6K - a ridiculous bit of fun, riffing on that grindr screwdriver borrow tweet/post - just left me with the biggest grin

Gold Sunlight and Deep Water series (justanotherStonyfan) - MCU: stucky, 19K - great short series with mer!Steve; the 2nd installment in particular has some really, really quality monsterfucking

my soul's adorning grace (goseaward) - KJ Charles' Lilywhite Boys series: Jerry/Alec, 1.6K - Jerry buys some lingerie for Alec - hot af + nailed the character voices

No School of Desire (drunktuesdays, michaud) - AEW: OC/Chuck, 6K - I know zero about wrestling but I do know this is a hilarious and hot af fic

The Haunting of Harrington House (Kedreeva) - Stranger Things: steddie, 8K - Steve Harrington inherits a haunted house - absolutely DELIGHTFUL (and tho it's tagged with MCD it's not actually sad)

📺 STUFF I WATCHED 📺

Finding Your Roots - s9, e3 (Carol Burnett & Niecy Nash)

The Brokenwood Mysteries - s9, e5

Ted Lasso - s3, e9 [x2]

Um, Actually - s2, e10, e12-16; s8, e4

Eurovision 2023 - Semi Final 1

Eurovision 2023 - Semi Final 2

Dirty Laundry - s2, e12

Eurovision 2023 - Grand Final

🎧 PODCASTS 🎧

Re: Dracula - May 7: Stranger in a Strange Land

Re: Dracula - May 8: Foul Bauble of Man's Vanity

Into It - 'Mrs. Davis' Just Wants You to Be Happy

Re: Dracula - May 9: Castles in the Air

Switched on Pop - The Jonas Brothers' Yacht Rock Revival

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - National Poo Museum

The Sporkful - The Musical History Of Jelly

⭐Decoder Ring Plus - Who Owns the Tooth Fairy?

ICYMI Plus - We’re Sorry

Pop Culture Happy Hour - Best TV Series Finales

Strong Songs Bonus Episodes - The Light and Dark of Music, with Lily E. Hirsch

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Close to the Edge

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Iowa Remnant Prairies

Vibe Check - Britney Spears Was Onto Something

⭐99% Invisible #536 - Nuts and Bolts

Re: Dracula - May 11: Pray for my Happiness

Richmond Til We Die: A Ted Lasso Podcast - A Guide to Midwestern Conversation (with Taylor Kay Philips)

Ologies with Alie Ward - Invisible Photology (INVISIBILITY CLOAKS) with Greg Gbur

Dear Prudence Plus - My Co-Worker Repeatedly Ignores My Boundaries. Help! (with LeVar Burton)

⭐Endless Thread - #BlackFaeDay

Into It - Are We Into a New 'Zelda' Game, the End of MTV News, and 'Jury Duty'?

Re: Dracula - May 12: What Manner of Man is This

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Butter Sculptures

Twenty Thousand Hertz+ - Songbugs

American Hysteria - Munger Road | Urban Legends Hotline

Overinvested - Ep. 279: Jurassic Park

American Hysteria - Hysteria Home Companion: The Vanishing Hitchhiker

🎶 MUSIC 🎶

lofi hip hop radio 💤 - beats to sleep/chill to [LoFi Girl]

synthwave radio 🌌 - beats to chill/game to [LoFi Girl]

Dub Instrumentals

Back To The Yacht

Eurovision 2023

The Album [Jonas Brothers]

The Family Business [Jonas Brothers]

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holeynightsky · 1 year

Text

overthinking albums: midnights 3am expansion pack

hello friends, and welcome to part three of me making the entire midnights album about RWBY characters and ships! today, we'll address the songs from midnights (3am edition) by taylor swift. this is part three of this series, so be sure to check out parts 1 and 2!

with that said, let's jump right in!

14. the great war - once again, we begin with a bumbleby song. what can i say, i'm weak and this is *perfect* for their gradual trust building in vol 6/7/8. you drew up some good faith treaties / i drew curtains closed could go in either direction, depending on which part of their arc you're in. and maybe it's the past that's talking / screaming from the crypt is adam haunting them through vol 6. and the repetition of hand-holding imagery? my hand was the one you reached for, but every time the line occurs, we cut to a different scene where that matters: lying on the ground post-adam vol3, standing in the classroom during the trauma dump vol2, dancing in the atlas dorms getting ready for a night out. and don't get me started on the whole somewhere in the haze / got the sense i'd been betrayed verse--if that doesn't scream their fractured dynamic through vol5 and 6, i don't know what does. we've burned for better / i vowed i would always be yours.

15. bigger than the whole sky - okay this is gonna sound a bit out there because we know so little about her, but stick with me: a song for summer rose, dying in battle somewhere in remnant, thinking about never getting to see her little girls grow up. i'm never gonna meet / what could've been, would've been / what should've been you. for bonus points, and to align with i've got a lot to live about, this can be for both summer and raven--leaving in different ways, with different degrees of choice, but leaving nonetheless, thinking about how they will never see what becomes of their children. every single thing to come / has turned into ashes.

16. paris - another bumbleby song, because i'm shameless and obsessed. specifically, this is yang/blake from @thirteenyasmin 's rockstar/hollywood au fic, let you see my wilder side, which has been one of my all-time favorites for years now so if you haven't read it please go do that immediately. i'm so in love that i might stop breathing is that exact dynamic, and they are absolutely so wrapped up in each other that they pay no attention to the outside world. ksdjfhaslkj i have to move on or i'll start crying because they deserve. so. much.

17. high infidelity - this one's for team STRQ as a whole, because i am absolutely certain that every non-sibiling member of that team has had a romantic/sexual relationship at some point. so this song, at various points, could be any member singing about any member--put on your records / and regret meeting me / ... / put on your headphones / and burn my city. i don't even have to go into i didn't know you were keeping count, that's so obvious from literally everything qrow does and says and implies about his old team. or tai and summer and raven, all tangled up, and you know there's many different ways that you can kill the one you love / the slowest way is never loving them enough. and the slow-dawning horror of storm coming / good husband / bad omen / dragged my feet right down the aisle, over shots of summer fighting on a desolate farm road, raven turning away, tai and yang in the kitchen at night. ugh, absolute chills.

.18. glitch - i actually think this is a salem/ozma song! i mean, come on--a romance that was never meant to be, fast-growing love, the breathless wonder at it all? i was supposed to sweat you out / in search of glorious happenings of happenstance on someone else's playground? that's so salem, i cannot even believe it. and i'm not even sorry / nights are so starry, blood moonlit. beautiful romance and ominous foreshadowing. 10/10 fits with their whole messy situation.

.19. would've could've should've - winter schnee. i'll say it again, louder: *winter schnee*. oh my god is this winter at the end of vol8 singing to ironwood. i'm having trouble isolating lines because that's how much of this fits. if you'd never looked my way / i would've stayed / on my knees / and i damn sure never would've danced with the devil / at nineteen, and the god's honest truth is that the pain was heaven is her breaking out of that toxic mansion, joining the atlas military, finally existing out of that space. but then you hit the second-guessing as ironwood spirals into paranoia: and now that i'm grown / i'm scared of ghosts / memories feel like weapons. or, or, or! you're a crisis of my faith, watching her turn her back on everything she's dedicated her life to for years? the tomb won't close / stained-glass windows in my mind, looking at the trauma her siblings have? asdfksjdhfkla please put me out of my misery, i'm so emotional thinking about this.

.20. dear reader - i've thought about this one a lot, and i keep circling back to ozma/oz/oscar (oz, for the sake of this post). watching his slow progression through time, trying to escape his past: desert all your past lives / and if you don't recognize yourself / that means you did it right. his eons-long fight against salem: the greatest of luxuries is your secrets / dear reader / when you aim at the devil / make sure you don't miss. the lives he spent hiding away from that fight, crushed by the weight of it all: i prefer hiding in plain sight / my fourth drink in hand / these desperate prayers of a cursed man. and throughout it all, the plea at the root of it, the why-is-this-my-problem, the please-let-it-end: never take advice from someone who's falling apart.

and that, at last, concludes overthinking albums: midnights! thank you if you read that absolute insane amount of text. and even if you didn't, hey, i hope you're having a great time regardless. really, i just hope everyone is hanging in there in this roller-coaster world

#taylor swift midnights #lyric analysis #lyric musings #overthinking albums #rwby #rwby bumbleby #bumbleby #blake x yang #team strq #i was genuinely so afraid i was gonna hit the text limit again #the fact that i'm even worried about that is probably a sign that i'm misusing this medium #but hey i gotta scream into the void somewhere #3am tracks #midnights 3am version

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