do one good thing before you go

welcome, friends and fellows, rooks and crooks! | [i have never had a name; if you recall one it's a falsehood. shout some syllable-string and see if there's an answer] | 23 | kofi | the rest will come in due time

[erstwhilesparrow]

in most of the ways that matter, i am a coterie of ghosts. here's one of them: https://sparrowlark.neocities.org/owen

[candiedspit]

my only goal of the day was to write a singular paragraph

[erstwhilesparrow]

and/or perhaps some sort of abolish-related drabble. because i’m predictable like that.

The boy comes to you before he is twelve, and you find his quiet manner suited to the purposes of you and yours. The boy is, quietly, desperate for you, which makes sense for an orphan and a child and then doesn’t make sense at all. Nonsensically, he remembers your hands on him, drawing meanings. It’s a relief when he asks you suddenly about your doctors, acting informants. A tide turns gently: you promise he can do as he pleases so long as it doesn’t interfere with the work. He is your boy. Or, yes, your girl, if he insists.

[erstwhilesparrow]

Hello it’s Birdy. Could you write something about Legundo because he’s my favorite

Legundo stands at the edge of another half-named town and says to the shadows of the trees, “I wasn’t going anywhere.”

Owen murmurs, “Just checking.”

Legundo laughs. “Where could I go that you wouldn’t come after me?”

Owen does not draw near and touch. Owen does not speak in front of others, does not sleep in the beds Legundo pays for. Legundo turns back the direction he’s meant to and does not search for Owen’s hand, face, or mouth, which could be there in the corner of his vision like a bird’s silhouette, here, lambent against dusk, and then gone.

[erstwhilesparrow]

people love to be like oh no one's actually thinking that hard about it no one wants to kill you for being a little strange or annoying <3 WRONG i do! i want to hurt you very very badly,the ideal outcome is actually if i can drive you to suicide and if you don't want that to happen you have to make me kill myself first!

[satorussaturn]

yeah, well, okay I need love to lose

[quezify]

gut instinct

[rawpastas]

Experimenting with different techniques and doodled up this v!legs :)

[ajga-artz]

Something small while I don't have a lot of time

[sorensongbird]

The humans of Oakhurst snuck into each other's houses constantly.

It started as a way of proving they weren't vampires. Climb through a window, enter through the back door, break in through an overhang porch. As long as the house didn't have signage or already open entrances, it was proof the intruder wasn't under vampiric entry rules. It was scary, the first few times Apo suddenly had Martyn sitting in her living room, or Abolish found Ren going through his things.

But they got used to it. It was a promise of safety more than anything else. After somebody was out in the woods for a few days, seeing them in your house unprompted became a gentle reassurance that they were still trustworthy. Oakhurst's residents would often fall asleep alone and wake up with several others strewn about their room. A pitiful lunch for one would turn into many showing up with their own food, sharing amongst one another. For a long time, it was one of the few good things they had in spite of the vampires.

Not all good things last forever, of course. Humans were turned. Distrust was sown. But when the humans learned that they still had an ally in certain vamps, little signs started popping up on every entry. "Apo, Cleo, Legs, Sausage welcome". Every house was different, as everyone was close to different people. The signs would be backed with silver so that no unwanted visitors could adjust the wording.

Pearl and Cleo still keep signs like those on every entrance, for their friends who lived, and for the ghosts of the ones who didn't.

[erstwhilesparrow]

Something about Drift purposefully blanking out a conclusion that she's come to for the sake of "peace"?

Everyone’s so busy. The castle’s under siege, after all. When Shelby says something fast and bright about locking all the doors behind you, not that that could really stop a vampire, haha, there isn’t time to ask for clarification; Pyro’s stopped by to whisk her off somewhere and leave Drift to carve out her own alcove, set down her own unnecessary bed. When Avid jumps at the sight of Scott, when Owen goes to bats because Drift touched his shoulder, when Scott puts his arm around her and Drift finds herself automatically covering up her yelp with a too-loud laugh—

[erstwhilesparrow]

i always remember scowen… perhaps a drabble about them if you’re still doing the drabbles

“Doctor Legundo seems to be getting ideas,” Owen reports.

“Mm? What kind of ideas?” Scott slips his fingers under coal-black fabric, but Owen stops him from pulling the blindfold off entirely.

“About me,” Owen manages in the stillness that follows. Scott watches Owen’s jaw work.

It was a little cruel of Scott to try to make Owen say it while kneeling at his feet. “And here I thought it was something important,” Scott laughs.

Owen’s hands drift down into his lap. Scott reaches around to tighten the blindfold’s knot. When he’s done, he arranges Owen’s hair to fall more prettily.

[bonivers]

pushing back against oldest child stereotypes by making unwise choices and not being dependable

[trickstarbrave]

[erstwhilesparrow]

this won't be for a while yet but: would it be okay if i linked to one of your pieces on your neocities (https://sparrowlark.neocities.org/vanity_of_staying) as inspiration for a fic? bc i know some ppl don't want their websites being spread around

[i adore your neocities in general btw! especially the 3rd life mechs au :3]

wow holy shit yeah???? that's so allowed yes :3 and i would love it if you could send the link to your fic my way whenever it gets done!

[erstwhilesparrow]

drabble request that is more of a series of vague images and characters that you can pick from?

bandages long since past expiration (or usefulness); scalpels or needles; touch starvation; sometimes when i get I.V. fluids it burns my lungs; smoking in a nonsmoking room; ghosts in a place of worship (churches, temples, schools, hospital chapels); going outside without a coat on in the winter; touching a hot stove on purpose; flinching; biting

owen; scott; shelby; pyro

“I didn’t realize this was a smoking car,” Pyro blurts. The two men at the otherwise-abandoned bar turn their heads to look at him. Cigarette smoke like a veil.

One man smiles at Pyro, beckoning. The other unfolds from his seat like a heron of perfect geometries, and moves.

It’s a beautiful train. Everything that isn’t shining dark wood is crimson and plush.

Later, Pyro stumbles out into the fresh air and nearly topples over the railing. The whole world rattles around them, moonlight on them like liquid. They promised themself. They’d promised themself they wouldn’t let this happen again.

[erstwhilesparrow]

i miss living weapons . i should write something stupid and self-indulgent about living weapons.

[chopshajen]

Many hours and ten million billion lines later, here is my piece for @mcytblraufest!

I was lucky enough to get to draw for the wonderful @stellarfoam’s fic shy as the oyster / troubled as the tide, a selkie AU of Legundo’s Haunted Winter SMP. Moody, sweet, with warm seal coats on a rocky beach, and a lonely traveler finding connection in his fragmented reality. Check it out! :D