Mine to Guard, Not Mine to Keep
(A ballad of love and longing and doing your best against the impossible.)
Backstory
So one day, I open up my DMs to find that @FreijaFoxy (yes, THE FreijaFoxy!) had made a song inspired by my dear Tagwe and her winding, lives-long romance with Treasure, summing up her part in the Labyrinth Under Lesbos story in ways both poetic and inspiring, making a gorgeous and powerful ballad that got me choked up.
@FreijaFoxy is very good at what she does. If you did not already know that, check out her YouTube channel and see for yourself!
And then, as if she had not already been generous enough already, @FreijaFoxy asked if I could do some visuals for the video presentation on her YouTube channel and I just about fell out of my chair.
You're seeing this, so clearly I said, "Yes".
It was probably a bit more like "omg omg omg this is so good thank you so much i'm dizzy with it omg", but that's a whole other matter to be managed in private.
But, not content to merely be super kind and generous with her time and attention and skills, @FreijaFoxy even asked me to do the premiering of the video (which you're looking at right now) and I hope I'm not making a hash of it falling over myself to talk about how thankful I am for the efforts and the attention.
And along the way, I learned a few things about Forge's region prompting, Forge Couple, and various img2img functions and even if I didn't put it all in the final result (because that would have slowed me down even more than I was already being slow), it was still a welcome bonus on top of getting to work with @FreijaFoxy and have beautiful songs made about my mythlesbians.
And now, before I give the post over to @FreijaFoxy's excellent lyricism, I want to offer a massive and heartfelt thanks to @FreijaFoxy because the song is just so lovely and the visual polish on the video so clean and I am well and truly humbled by it all.
Lyrics
They call me mighty, call me brave
But those are only things they say
"The Bull of Lesbos blocks the way"
That mighty heart was softened,
when one just taken, truly gave
Born from a wish, that wasn't mine
Yet I have loved you all my lives
Each challenger I turn aside
Is one more moment in your eyes
These walls of stone I don't control
I wander ever on patrol
A labyrinth of memories and scars
With you ever waiting at its heart
My Treasure, who belongs to time
My lover, who isn't truly mine
I am nothing but a shadow
As I linger in these halls
Nothing but a moment
In these endless shifting walls
You look at me, and see my soul
Or maybe those who came before
How can I give you something
That will last after I'm gone?
A shell from beaches you won't see
A gift from places you can't be
I'd give you every precious thing
But what can help you carry on?
Only once each coin is claimed
And every gem pilfered away
Will you ever leave this place
But each step closer to that day
I fall vanquished, and lose my face
How often must I fail you
To finally set you free?
And someday after I am gone,
And so many others have carried on
When at last you rise,
like the sun above the sea
What is left of this old stone,
the one we called both friend and home?
A guardian without a cause, a trial without a prize
Were we doomed to lose you, from the very start?
And what are we without you, a Treasure in our hearts...
--Image post here--