A Little Bit Louder, Now.

A little bit louder, now. 🔥

I think it's time for a refresher about what a "trickster" is and what makes a character or deity one.

A trickster is a boundary-crosser; an entity who highlights the rules and conventions of society by calling them into question, usually with their actions, and usually by breaking said rules and conventions. This helps us assess why these rules are in place and if they even serve us.

Because of this, tricksters tend to be transgressive and subversive. Sometimes this can be very delightful and other times can be very uncomfortable, even repulsive.

"Trickster" is a function, not a personality type. Sure, many tricksters are cocky and possess a devil-may-care attitude, but so do other beings who aren't tricksters, and there are many tricksters out there that don't have these personality traits.

Tricksters don't exclusively deal with absolutes. Everything they do changes depending on the situation they're dealing with and the goal they're trying to achieve. And unfortunately, this is what many people seem to misunderstand.

For example, I often see people say, "Tricksters are never trustworthy," or, "Tricksters always have ulterior motivations," when the truth is that tricksters are situationally trustworthy, and tricksters situationally have ulterior motivations.

Tricksters are capable of being selfish or selfless, helpful or harmful, constructive or destructive, kind or cruel, etc. all depending on what it is they're trying to achieve. We may not always know what they'll choose because they're operating at a higher level of meta than we are.

This is the nature you're dealing with when dealing with a trickster. They're not "secretly a villain" or actually an "unconventional and misunderstood hero." They're a trickster, and that moral gray is what you're going to get when dealing with them.

was rereading lokasenna and i this came to me in a vision

Hello there! @solostinmysea I found a thingy. 😏

I can finally share the pieces I did for @variant-zine! This one is of Laurits from Netflix's Ragnarok.

Chaotic Simon & Garfunkel Moments

I just really love them okay😭

This is so sad and so beautiful.

there's a story.

it's a sad one, this.

it starts - well, it's hard to say when it starts. maybe it started way before music was even a thing. maybe it started before time itself. maybe it doesn't have a start: suddenly everything just fell into place when those two teenagers sat in front of each other with guitars on their laps and played music for the first time. but, on record, one can say it really starts to be told out loud in the middle, towards the end. that's when it starts to truly be spoken of, sang of, wide open, undeniable. almost a cry for attention, for communication, "look, now i'm going to sing about this", because when everything else fails, they had music - they have always had music.

so it starts right before the big plot twist, before the season finale, before the breakup. or it starts right after that. nobody truly knows, really. real life stories are not divided in seasons, and this one is real. very, very real, very human. either way, this story starts to be told with two of us. it starts towards the end, but cries for the beginning, for the very beginning.

We're on our way home We're going home You and I have memories That stretches out ahead

and then, it goes on, it goes on to plead, to beg, scream, to desperately reach:

Oh! Darling, if you leave me I'll never make it alone Believe me when I beg you Don't ever leave me alone

the story sees confusion, it sees defeat, it sees someone who wants. someone who is trying, but failing because they don't know the way. someone who needs, who desperately needs, but doesn't know how to ask. they were on their way back home, but now, they've lost the way, they can't find the road. or, rather, the road is there, but it's all foggy. where's home? but they're trying. the many ways i've tried.

The wild and windy night That the rain washed away Has left a pool of tears Crying for the day Why leave me standing here? Let me know the way

it sees heartbreak.

I don't believe in Beatles I just believe in me Yoko and me And that's reality The dream is over What can I say?

it sees anger,

That was your first mistake You took your lucky break and broke it in two. Now what can be done for you? You broke it in two.

A pretty face may last a year or two But pretty soon they'll see what you can do The sound you make is muzak to my ears You must have learned something all those years

and desperation, always desperation, a need to know, please tell me why-

Well, I wake up in the morning, I'm still dreaming 'bout you Tell you, pretty baby, I'm blue Wake up in the evening, I'm still screaming out Over you, over you Well, tell me why, why, why do you treat me so bad, so bad When you're the best friend a man ever had?

and questions, a perpetual need to know, followed by a perpetual failure to ask-

Dear friend, throw the wine I'm in love with a friend of mine Really truly, young and newly wed Are you afraid, or are you blue?

and apologies - because they were just lost. lost. and frightened. why? because i was afraid of losing you. am i afraid? yes, i am. are you blue? yes. yes i am.

I was feeling insecure You might not love me anymore I was shivering inside I was shivering inside Oh, I didn't mean to hurt you I'm sorry that I made you cry Oh no, I didn't want to hurt you I'm just a jealous guy

and the story, after all of that, sees understanding. it's because i couldn't speak, and neither could you. but i know now. and it's getting better all the time.

And I know and I'm sorry (yes I am) But I never could speak my mind [...] And I know and I'm guilty (yes I am) But I never could read your mind I know what I was missing But now my eyes can see I put myself in your place As you did for me Today, I love you more than yesterday Right now, I love you more right now

and, after so long, it sees the spring coming after a long winter. a friend that will never fade away, a love that will never disappear.

You want a friend you can rely on One who will never fade away And if you're searching for an answer Stick around, I say It's coming up, it's coming up It's coming up, like a flower

and finally, it goes back to where it first started when they sang it aloud, open and clear, in two of us: there's pleading for the start, for the past, we have memories longer than the road that stretches out ahead, let's go back to that road, let's walk it again, let's escape, you and me. we've been through it all, we've been apart for far too long, it's okay now, we're okay now, i miss you, let's get it together, let's walk that road again like we used to. let's get back home. because when i see you, it's like we both are falling in love again.

It's time to spread our wings and fly Don't let another day go by my love It'll be just like starting over Startin' over Why don't we take off alone Take a trip somewhere far, far away We'll be together all alone again Like we used to in the early days

and then there's a bright future ahead. there is. hapiness and promises. for love, for acceptance, for family. i'm okay now, i can handle this, i want to see my kid growing up. and we can start over. it is coming up, like a flower. it's getting better all the time.

Before you go to sleep Say a little prayer Every day in every way It's getting better and better

and there's: i want to spend the rest of my life with you. whatever happens. i want to look you in the eye when we're eighty and make sure you know i love you just as much.

Grow old along with me Whatever fate decrees We will see it through For our love is true

and then. well.

then the story sees tragedy. unexplicable, cruel, devastating tragedy. unjustifiable loss. it sees, for the first time, not music but silence for a while, silence.

just silence and hidden-away, chest-aching sobs.

and then it sees music again. this time to mourn. it's not two of us, it's the one who remains. the one who wishes the other was here. always, always reaching for the start.

But as for me I still remember how it was before And I am holding back the tears no more I love you

now, music is still desperate, still trying to reach. but, now, it will never be able to get to the other side. or is it?

in real life, we don't have happy endings all the time. most of the time we don't. we're left with what ifs. what if. what if i had been braver. what if i was born a girl. what if. what if. could we have been together? could i have saved you?

What opportunities did we allow to flow by Feeling like like the timing wasn't quite right? What kind of magic might have worked if we had stayed calm, Couldn't I have given you a better life?

it's a story of what if. what if whatever fate decrees had been different? was it fate who decreed it? could i have given you a better life? because you deserved a better life. you did.

and it keeps coming back to it: the past, the desire to still be on that road going back home. going back home. we'll be together all alone again like we used to in the early days / i live through those early days

And they can't take it from me, if they try I live through those early days So many times I had to change the pain to laughter Just to keep from getting crazy

and then, and then, the story sees magic, sees love, as it has always done. so much love. it keeps seeing love. after sorrow, after darkness, love. even though fate was mean, even though it's sad: the love is still here. the love never left. a love so true it endures. it endures in song and it endures in the way paul keeps talking about john to this day, reafirming it, making sure people know. whatever fate decrees, our love is true. will forever be.

there's a story.

it's one that is so real. so painstakingly human. as beautiful as it is sad. it's all there, in the music, in the silence, in the words and in the what ifs. music speaks when they don't. music reaches. it reaches. it has always done so. always for them. they changed the world just with how much their music reached each other. and you’re in my song.

And if I say I really loved you And was glad you came along Then you were here today For you were in my song

there's a story, the story of a love so strong it changed the world.

it's like you and me are lovers.