Nik. Polyamorous. Writer. Crafter.

Visual aesthetic, fairy tales, cats and fandom. Currently circling back to the VC obsession from my teens

[faerywhimsy]

This is the masterpost for The Forgotten Years universe collaboration being written between @cbrownjc and I - being updated weekly (more or less)

We Dared Eternity and Won (4/4) - Louis stalks an unknowing Daniel Molloy leading up to the Interview, Armand sets him on a chase afterward; Louis and Armand shared PoV

Now or Neverland (4/4) - Winter of 1979, faced with the idea of being a father unexpectedly, Daniel reminisces about the early chase and falling in love with both Armand and Louis; Daniel PoV

Lost Islands of Hope (1/1) - Summer of 1977, Daniel overdoses while with human friends and finds out why it's dangerous to keep human friends when the person who loves you is a vampire; Daniel and Louis shared PoV

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (1/1) - Daniel’s years long reporting on the AIDS epidemic takes a personal turn, sending him into a downward spiral as he wonders if his immortal lovers really love him in return, or are content to watch him die and move on without him one day; Daniel PoV

A Harsh and Terrible Silence (1/1) - Daniel is steadily losing his humanity in October 1985, when Louis and Armand begin to compose a plan to let him go in order to have a human life; Louis PoV

Promises, Promises (1/1) - Lestat and Louis’ reunion with the added twist of Lestat learning why Louis can’t join him because of a promise Louis made to Armand. Lestat gets it into his head to try and go find Daniel and turn him because he wants Louis back, while Louis and Armand race to stop him; Lestat POV

You May Ask Yourself, "How Did I Get Here?" (1/1) - Over the course of 2021-2022, the plan to bring Daniel to Dubai to see him one last time before he dies is hatched under the premise of redoing the 1973 interview; Louis POV

Ready to Return (1/1) - Early S2 Louis comes clean to Armand about why he's brought Daniel to Dubai and what this means for the relationship between the two of them; Louis PoV

Half-Forgotten Dreams (2/2) - Late S2 Louis attempts suicide, Lestat wakes up in a panic, Daniel has regained a few memories... enough to think there was a 'one night stand' in Pompeii between him and Armand; Daniel PoV

Why Can't You Stay 69? (1/1) - Daniel's helped Lestat out dealing with the body thief, but now he's left with consequences he never considered he'd have to face to that course of action; Daniel PoV

Where the Truth Lies (1/1) - Daniel returns home to Brooklyn, still reeling from the events of Dubai and the monumental change his life has now undergone.

Thief of the Sun (1/2) - After Daniel leaves Dubai, Armand is lost to memories from the Venice years to Memnoch, before finally choosing to go after Daniel and reuniting with him once and for all.

The Forgotten Years - A full timeline of events (0/1)

[cybergata]

Kitty Skill

[whencartoonsruletheworld]

guys i am fucking crying i got an old copy of pilgrims progress from a used booksale and i just opened it and there's a handwritten dedication to a girl from her grandfather from christmas 1888 and she put a little fucking drawing in the back and im sitting on my bed losing my fucking mind over a hundred years ago a grandpa gave this book to "miss maggie" and she loved it and it's lasted a century and im holding it right now

[whencartoonsruletheworld]

i showed the book to my mom when she came home from a trip and she reminded me that in little women (1868) each of the march sisters got a copy of pilgrim’s progress under their pillow for christmas there is a high, high, HIGH chance that this little girl was a huge fan of little women and talked to her grandfather about it and he got her a classic book just like her 1880s blorbos i am flailing on the ground humanity is so special

[thoughtportal]

[a-foxo]

I absolutely love the language of my mother’s people

[sahonithereadwolf]

I believe linguistically the term is called Comparative Reduplication! And while a lot of languages have it, including many Indigenous American ones, Yoruba culture holds a lot of influence over how Black Diaspora and AAVE have been shaped. It’s a good video.

[dunroamins]

This is SO COOL thank you for sharing this!

[atlinmerrick]

AAVE: African-American Vernacular English

Love this man’s way of explaining language, it’s perfect. Thank you @babatunde-hiphopera!

[tiktoks-for-dead-pope]

[anonymous-sea-lion]

Many west African languages also have a habitual be! With that grammatical function existing in both Irish and that group of languages, it's no wonder it stuck around in AAVE.

[duine-aiteach]

The interesting thing is, like someone else pointed out in the notes, that this habitual be continues to exist in Hiberno-English. However Irish people don’t say “I be climbing mountains on Mondays”. Instead they’d say “I do be climbing mountains on Mondays”. Teachers all over the country tell kids to stop their does be’s and do be’s.

[what-shitfuckery-is-this-ew]

"Why are you reading Shakespeare fanfic"

Maybe i'm just sad ok. Maybe i like the idea of Othello not having to deal with Iago's shit. Maybe i like watching Hamlet be a college student. Maybe i like Romeo dying painfully while Juliet lives happily. Maybe i like the idea of Lady Macbeth fucking me. Let me live.

[dreamdolldiary]

[kryptiqa]

“you’re seeing yourself as spike sees you” 🌟

[bamababygirl7-deactivated202603]

[runawaytrain]

“When someone comes into your life, they are here for a reason - you either learn from them or be with them right till the end.”

—

[strokeofserenity]

[everythingsbetterunderthestars]

Please please please I know we all love Friends and Chandler was our favourite character and Matthew always put a smile on our faces and that’s all amazing but can we please please please talk about this:

“I've had a lot of ups and downs in my life. I'm still working through it personally, but the best thing about me is that if an alcoholic or drug addict comes up to me and says, 'Will you help me?' I will always say, 'Yes, I know how to do that. I will do that for you, even if I can't always do it for myself! So I do that, whenever I can. In groups, or one on one.

And I created the Perry House in Malibu, a sober-living facility for men. I also wrote my play The End of Longing, which is a personal message to the world, an exaggerated form of me as a drunk. I had something important to say to people like me, and to people who love people like me.

When I die, I know people will talk about Friends, Friends, Friends. And I'm glad of that, happy l've done some solid work as an actor, as well as given people multiple chances to make fun of my struggles on the world wide web...

but when I die, as far as my so-called accomplishments go, it would be nice if Friends were listed far behind the things I did to try to help other people.

I know it won't happen, but it would be nice.”

- Matthew Langford Perry

(August 19, 1969 - October 28, 2023)

[ruinedchildhood]

When he realized red is the good part of the watermelon.. 😅

[burningsilence]

PLEASE HIS LITTLE FACE 🥹

[the-big-mood]

[cheesy-cryptid]

A small child visits the Fae king in the forest after he just finished trick or treating 🍂🍂🍂🎃

[faerywhimsy]

Day 2 - Ritual

“Come on, Daniel. Indulge me.”

“No. I’m not doing it,” Daniel said. “Not this year. Not again.”

“But… it’s Halloween.” Armand gave a pretty little pout, his lips twisting in a way that managed to be both bratty and alluring somehow, all at once.

Daniel knew he was gonna give in. That he always gave in. This particular television show had come out during their years of separation yet, for some reason, Armand remained obsessed with it. Even in the year 2017. It had just become another part of Armand’s fascination with things of the present day. Microwaves. Blenders. And Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

His gaze flickered to the prop Armand seemed to have on hand for the last three years of this pantomime; a porcelain doll that might have been from the collection of those Lestat had once liked to gift to Claudia. Louis had told him the resemblance was quite striking in that pained, held back manner Louis had only ever managed to manage when the topic of Claudia came up.

Once a theatre kid, Daniel supposed, always a theatre kid.

He sighed anyway, the sound long and deliberately pronounced. Who said he stopped being long suffering as soon as Armand actually gave him the Dark Gift?

In answer to that, Armand leaned into him, winding his arms around Daniel’s neck, and pressing their lips together just for a moment before moving again away with a restless, eager energy.

Armand hugged the doll into his chest, at the same time as making doe eyes up at Daniel.

“Miss Edith needs her tea.”

“Come here, poodle.” Poodle. Poodle? But that was the expected line, and Armand wouldn’t accept an alternative. He offered a dreamy little smile as he swanned towards Daniel.

The writing of the ’90s had a shit tonne to answer for. Seriously.

Armand pressed two fingers lightly against the two eyes of the doll, as gentle as though he was fondling the thing, rather than threatening the inanimate object a light bit of dismemberment. Then his eyes flashed up to Daniel.

“Do you love my insides?” Armand asked, his voice low as he delivered his most favoured line. The line that always had him forgetting about the doll on this recent Halloween ritual. “The parts you can’t see?”

Daniel had to admit; this part, he didn’t mind so much. He allowed himself to press completely into Armand’s personal space, earning himself a sigh of approval from his maker. He plucked the doll out of Armand’s grasp early and set it aside. Last year, when he’d grabbed Armand around the waist around this point, Armand had seemed to forget about the doll entirely and it had shattered on the tile floor when he dropped it.

It broke the scene utterly in other words. And Daniel, who had been dragged into it against his will that time as well, had nothing positive to show for it as Armand had groused about having to call his mortal servants to see to this mess.

This year, because of just this change, the scene was already turning out quite different.

Armand’s lips parted, his auburn curls that he’d left uncut for tonight a flurry around his face. As Daniel stared down into those brown eyes, he felt himself leaning into the role of powerful fledgling offering to his maker the attention he rightly deserved. He felt the bloodlust rising up in him.

Maybe this Halloween ritual wasn’t so bad after all.

“Eyeballs to entrails, my sweet,” he murmured, before pulling Armand against him, relishing at every point that their bodies touched one another. It didn’t matter that Armand’s plump form surrendered into the stark juxtaposition of the far leaner body Daniel had been left with when Armand finally broke his vow. Armand draped himself across him, making a pretense that he was too weak to fight against his pull.

The entire rest of the scene from the ’90s dramedy about a teenage vampire slayer faded away into the background when Armand leaned his head to the side, an open invitation to the neck as Armand’s curls fell away.

[faerywhimsy]

Day 1 - A Druid

"Will you tell me a story?" Daniel asked, at the end of a long night, at what was the second anniversary of his turning that Daniel and Marius had spent together.

The last year had been... rather more difficult. Marius had made both of them the silent promise that this year would not again be the same.

"Whatever you wish, young one," Marius said softly. "What would please you? A ghost story? One of a necromancer, perhaps?"

"Will you tell me about when you became a vampire?" Daniel asked softly, still not meeting his eye. "There was a druid involved, wasn't there?"

"A God of the Grove," Marius uttered, his voice still soft but now for a different reason. Marius did not like to think of his beginnings.

He supposed he was a little like Daniel in that way. The past still had such power to cause such pain.

"That's right." Daniel frowned, as though he was trying to remember something, then he let it pass as though accepting his brain still wouldn't work the way he wanted it to. The way he still sometimes expected it to nonetheless. "Would you tell me about that?"

"Will that help?" Marius asked him, lifting one fair brow.

Daniel gave a shrug, retreating back into quiet. Marius didn't know if it was because he'd lost his words to answer, or whether it was simply just Daniel did not know the answer to Marius' question.

And so Marius moved into granting to Daniel what he had asked for. With his soft, even cadence, Marius articulated the story of how one called Mael brought an aging scholar of the age of forty into the wood where the burned and crippled vampire known only as the God of the Grove could no longer inspire the devotion his followers required of him.

"I was to replace him," Marius murmured in his carefully measured tone. "I did not know that at the time. I did not even yet know of such immortals existed."

"Apart from the Greek Gods," Daniel acerbically inserted, having found his voice again for a moment, to Marius' delight.

He smiled. Daniel's engagement made unpacking this story for him all the more worthwhile.

"Apart from them," he agreed. Not Gods of the Grove those. A god of the sky, and lightning. Another of the sea and all its creatures. Still one more of darkness and underworld. And so, so many of their siblings and lovers and offspring.

Marius wondered how much his life would have been changed had even just Hades proven demonstrably real; capable of overcoming the druids who had kept Marius until his escape.

Alas, it had been many long centuries since Marius had believed in any god.

Marius learned the language of the druids, he told Daniel. The language that would enable him to converse with those of a world Marius had been unable to previously imagine.

Nobody had ever told him that a human couldn't hope to live with the knowledge of what they were without going insane.

Marius hadn't remained human long enough for that to become any real issue.

And then on the night of the Feast of Samhain, Marius was walked to the great oak tree, where the blood drinker in that place taught him what lessons he could of their kind before bringing him into the blood. It was he who gave Marius the purpose that turned into him becoming the caretaker to the Mother and Father of them all, long before Akasha's bloody rise.

Daniel was silent a long time while Marius was locked in his own thoughts. "Feast of Samhain," he said, breaking into Marius' darker thoughts. "That's... Halloween, yeah?"

Marius ensured that he could speak without his voice breaking before he ever opened his mouth. "It is. Yes."

Daniel smiled, his eyes seeming to go far away for a moment. But not too far. He didn't seem to struggle to come back. But, finally, Daniel observed softly, "You became a vampire at the same time of year as me."

Marius stared at this one so young in the blood, the fledgling of his own fledgling. He felt a softness rise in him for the first time, then, for a very long time. How simple Daniel made it. Bypassing entirely the shared trauma all blood drinkers seemed to carry, just that of being brought into the blood.

It had been something he tried to spare Armand many centuries before and, perhaps, in that one aim Marius had succeeded. But there were so many other ways he had failed him, and Marius keenly held onto each.

Ways that, centuries later, Daniel had somehow gone on to paying for on Marius' behalf.

There were times Marius could barely look at Daniel wouldn't feeling the guilt of ages washing over him. Was endless pain and suffering their only legacy?

And then Daniel, in a momentary reprieve, would say something so utterly genuine and simple that the reframing could bring beauty to something Marius had only seen as ugly before. He managed to bring Marius back to himself when he struggled to find his own purpose in this too modern world.

"I did," Marius said, unable to find the words to articulate the gravity of feelings Daniel had unwittingly stirred in him. "Yes."

Daniel nodded and smiled gently as his eyes began to flutter shut. It would not be dawn for some time yet, but Daniel still felt its coming far sooner than Marius.

Marius only watched the young one as he slept, this boy who contained multitudes that may have gone overlooked if if another lost vampire hadn't decided to offer him an interview.

[thelatestkate]

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