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lenitriedtowritestuff · 11 months ago

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Keeper of Shadows

Wanda MaximoffxReader // Series

Series Summary: An odd series of fatal attacks in Upstate New York piques your interest, especially when they seem to be related to the strange powers you received when you were 10 years old. By some stroke of luck or misfortune, the Avengers too are investigating the case, and you are their number one suspect. In a temporary alliance, you work together to discover why people are dying, unraveling a line of love, secrets, and betrayal.

*Image is not mine, credit to the creator

Chapter 1: The Agent, The Witch, and The Sword

(Chapter) Summary: With a strange rise of murders in the outskirts of New York, Natasha and Wanda are sent to investigate. While scouting the scene, they meet a rather curious figure, one they have not determined if they are friend or foe.

Trigger Warnings: descriptive murder details, crime scene details, guns, blood, injuries, cannon typical violence, I think that's it

Word Count: 3,714

A/N: This has been on the backburner for about 2 years, I think, and only now got around to writing it. Like, there’s a whole 10 page doc about this idea. I don't know if its any good but hopefully it makes sense.

Also, there’s a line here that feels topical and I wanna say Free Palestine.

Chapter 2 →

KoS Masterlist | Main Masterlist | Reblogged Fics

Wanda’s room at the Avengers Compound still felt rather… uncomfortable. She had spent months trying to find authentic Sokovian trinkets, crafts and cultural items to remind her of home, but they were hard to come by out here in the states. She filled it with other things, generic room decor like blue candles, and blue shaded lamps, a small hourglass with red sand, and a globe that she had added red push pins to, marking the places she had been to. A guitar with a stand and sheet music laid beside her bed.

She has a pin board that hangs over her desk, salvaged photographs of her family reminding her of a life short lived. One was a family photo, her mother carrying a four-year-old Pietro while her father carried a four-year-old Wanda, bright goofy smiles over the children’s face. Another, an image of her mother holding a baby Wanda and baby Pietro, as well as a photograph of a young Pietro, a mess of toys and household objects scattered about.

She hoped that keeping mementos of home would bring her comfort. Instead, it brought waves of bittersweetness and nostalgia. Although there was comfort in home, she was also reminded that she would never return there. There was nowhere to return to. Where once stood a war-torn yet proud country remained a pile of ash, and rubble, and death.

She sighs deeply, dropping her clothes in her hamper, having had swapped it out for a somewhat loose fitting, black, repurposed S.H.I.E.L.D. uniform. She finished adjusting the standard issue gauntlets and belt, before sitting down on her bed to put on her boots. A soft knocking came from the door.

“Come in,” Wanda’s accented voice calls out as she laces up her boots. “You ready?” Natasha asks as she poked her head through the door.

“Yeah,” she replies as she stands from her bed.

“Alright then, let’s go, Hill’s contact is waiting for us,” the red-headed assassin says as Wanda approaches her. Natasha also wore a similarly fitting S.H.I.E.L.D. uniform, except she wore her own customized gauntlets and belt, along with her usual weapons.

“Why exactly did we get called in by the FBI?” the brunette asked as both women walked through the corridors of the Compound.

“Well, one of Hill’s old contacts called in a favor. They’re working a case that seems to be… more aligned with our type of work,” Natasha says cryptically. “You mean aliens, godly beings, Hydra experiments and genocidal robots?” Wanda asks at an attempt at humor.

“Yep, just about sums it up,” Natasha gives her a small smirk as they walk towards the garage.

“Is there anything we know about the case?” Wanda asks as both Avengers approach Natasha’s Black-colored Corvette.

“There’s been a series of murders at one of the national forests. Fourth body was found about three hours ago. Here’s the file,” Natasha opened the driver’s side door, and handed Wanda a yellow file folder as she sat in the passenger’s seat.

“Since when do we investigate murders?” Wanda asks curiously as she takes the file from Natasha’s hand.

“You’ll understand once you read the file,” she sighs as she begins to drive out of the Compound.

The file details a series of gruesome attacks, most of them having taken place just a few miles away from the Finger Lakes National Forest, the investigation being led by Special Agent Gregory Miller. All of them had happened in the span of the last four months, each body was found approximately 25 miles away from each other. The file included the postmortem reports of three victims, detailing blackened scratches and long cuts throughout the victim’s entire body, as well as odd, swirl-patterned burn marks along the upper body. Bruises circled the victims’ necks and one of the victims had a sprained ankle, believed to have occurred as they attempted to run from their attacker. The file included forensic photographs of the victims, much to Wanda’s discomfort.

Interviews with the victims’ kin all described them to be acting angry and erratic, before leaving without notification. No victim was known to take any illegal substances, nor were they diagnosed with any ailments that could potentially cause their sudden change in behavior.

Forensics reports that the attacks seem to be almost animalistic. The blackened nature of the wounds was not due to decay and were not consistent with regular burns. They did not exactly understand what it was. The official determined cause of death for all the victims was strangulation.

Lastly, the report included newspaper clippings describing the attacks to the general public:

Bear attacks or murder? Odd series of fatal attacks in Upstate New York confound authorities

Concerns among citizens of the Upstate area rise as another body is found near the Finger Lakes National Forest.

The body of Elijah Brown, a 46-year-old accountant from the Upstate area, was found 10 miles away from the outskirts of the National Forest. This is the third victim to be found in the area.

Local law enforcement informed investigators that the injuries and cause of death for the three victims are consistent with bear attacks. Citizens voiced their concerns over the wild creatures making their way to residences and potentially hurting them, their loved ones or neighbors.

Despite this, private sources indicate that authorities are considering it may be due to a new potential serial killer, despite the allegations of the deaths being caused by bear attacks. All three bodies have been found within approximately 25 miles away of each other, all within a four-month time period.

When confronted with the allegation that it may instead be a serial killer, officer Davis stated, “We are currently waiting on the coroner's report of the victim to determine whether this was a tragic accident or a potential murder. Our investigation team is waiting on these results before determining what is going on.”

Investigators learned from the victim’s son that Mr. Brown was not known for hiking or hunting, putting into question why he had been out in the forest in the first place.

As the community waits for answers, Park officials and The U.S. Fish and Wildlife department advises hikers to remain on clearly marked paths when out and to wear bright or reflective clothing, and hunters are urged to take every necessary safety precaution, including staying in designated hunting areas, avoid refuge areas, and to make sure your certifications are up to date.

“This is…” Wanda interrupts the comfortable silence they had been riding in the last 30 minutes.

“Yeah,” Natasha says, her lips pressed tightly.

“I can see why he called in the favor,” Wanda comments as she closes the file, “do they have any leads?”

“Don’t think so, they would’ve included it in the file,” Natasha answers with a slight shake of her head. Wanda watched as they zipped through a winding road, a lush, autumn-colored forest stretching both in front and behind them. Up ahead, she notices a large “Finger Lakes National Forest” sign, along with other road signs nearby.

“Do you have any idea what it could be?” Wanda presses tentatively.

“Honestly? No. I’ve never seen anything like this,” the Widow replies.

Wanda hummed in acknowledgement. Both women carried on a pleasant conversation, talking about Wanda’s training progress before settling into a comfortable silence as they approached their destination.

Natasha begins to drive off the main road, following a marked-out path into the forest. The car hit a few bumps as they drove through the beaten path. “I should've taken one of Tony’s cars,” Natasha muttered, earning a silent laugh from Wanda.

After about five more minutes, both Avengers saw the FBI trucks, agents spread throughout the forest in front of them. Natasha pulled up behind one of the trucks, leaving a generous amount of space between them.

“Here, put this on,” Natasha tosses Wanda a navy-blue jacket with yellow letters spelling “FBI” in the back as they get out of the car. “Hill’s contact wants us to blend in as best we can when we get here. Doesn’t want the public finding out that they had to call in the Avengers.” “And the S.H.I.E.L.D. uniform?” Wanda questions as she puts on the jacket.

“Won’t stand out as much among the other uniforms, and Tony isn’t really funding clothes for missions. We make due with what we’ve got,” explained Natasha as they leave the car and head towards the crime scene.

Bright yellow police tape was wrapped around the trees surrounding the victim. Evidence markers were scarce, whatever evidence of who or what did this was near non-existent. People in white hazard suits investigated the body, taking samples and photographic evidence of the area and victim. Outside the police tape, some agents checked the perimeter, others were working away on laptops. Other forensic investigators seemed to be preparing to transport the body.

Natasha spotted Hill’s contact, a tall, brown-haired man with pale skin and a lean build. His hair was combed back, he wore black framed glasses, and he wore a large jacket, similar to the ones Natasha and Wanda had on. “Perfect timing. Special Agent Gregory Miller, thank you for offering your help,” the man introduced himself with a pressed smile, extending a warm hand to both women, “forensics is finishing up their investigation and sending the data to base as we speak.”

The man subtly cocks his head to the side and lets out a short chuckle. “What’s so funny?” Natasha asks, cocking an eyebrow at Gregory.

“No, no, it’s just,” he gestured to the Avengers’ uniforms, “if S.H.I.E.L.D. was still around, this case would’ve been taken off our hands a while ago.”

“Based on the information you sent us, definitely,” Natasha agrees.

“Yeah, well, anyways, this is James Gutierrez, age 34. A group of hunters went off the designated hunting area and found him. Wounds are consistent with what we’ve seen on the other three victims. Burns, bruises, scratches, all of it. We’ll still need to wait for the coroner’s report to establish the cause of death, but it will most likely be strangulation, just like the rest.”

Wanda was supposed to be listening to what Gregory was saying, but she was not. He repeated everything that had been in the file and although he was discussing the details of the fourth victim, they had still not gleaned any new information.

Wanda looked around the scene as Gregory continued to talk. She saw the forensics team discuss something between them, and a few were putting away some equipment. A different forensics team was preparing to bag and transport the body. Other agents stood outside the bright yellow tape, discussing things Wanda could not hear from this distance, while others seemed to continue to verify the perimeter.

There was one agent that caught her eye, though. She could not see any distinguishing features from this distance, but she noticed they wore a black hat and jacket, printed with big white letters spelling “FBI.” She tilted her head to the side curiously as she observed the figure that simply stood there, alone.

The figure seemed to be observing the crime scene, before pulling out a notebook from inside their jacket and writing something down.

“Who’s that agent, the one in the hat?” Wanda asks out loud, interrupting Gregory from his monologue. “I’m sorry, what?” he asks, his eyes landing on Wanda.

“The agent up there. Their uniform is black and white, not blue and yellow,” Wanda explains.

Natasha follows Wanda’s gaze and clocks the figure immediately.

The figure approached the yellow tape but did not pass it. They subtly craned their neck, observing the victim, before writing something down again.

“That’s the incorrect uniform,” Gregory says, furrowing his brow.

The figure looks up and accidentally makes eye contact with Wanda. A sudden rush of cold runs up Wanda’s spine, making her shiver involuntarily. They stare for a few moments, their head subtly cocking to the side in curiosity.

Until something pulls the figure’s attention away as they suddenly look off to their right. Wanda follows their gaze but sees nothing.

No, not nothing. The trees to the figure’s right were oddly distorted, moving from side to side in small, short waves. Best Wanda could describe it would be that it resembled heat waves radiating off hot pavements and cars. Wanda furrowed her brow in both confusion and curiosity.

But in the blink of an eye, the distortion disappears, the trees standing still behind the crime scene.

“That’s not one of my agents,” Gregory states.

Wanda watches as the figure quickly puts away their notebook and begins to back away, their eyes never straying from whatever they saw to their right. They turn around and begin to hike up the small hill in front of them. Wanda saw out of the corner of her eye as Gregory reached for his communicator.

“Wanda, go from the right, I’ll take the left,” Natasha commands easily as she begins trailing the suspect.

Wanda nodded as she began running, circling around the right side of the yellow tape. The figure was already up the hill by the time they began their pursuit. Wanda found it odd, though, as the figure did not seem to be running away from them. Their faces gave away no signal of being caught, instead, they had looked at her in curiosity. Their focus was entirely placed on something beside them, beside the crime scene. They did not seem to be running towards something either.

No, they seemed to be leading something away.

Natasha and Wanda ran as quickly as they could, doing their best to avoid tripping over tree roots and rocks, the loud crunch of dead leaves sounding off with every quick step. The figure was fast, maintaining a good distance away from Natasha and her. That was before the stranger came to a sliding stop, staring at something in front of them. They stood quickly and backed up a few steps, their head raised as they stared at something slightly above them.

Wanda herself began to slow down as she watched the figure do a subtle hand motion, followed by a bright light. A white light flashed in the figure’s hand, a sword magically appearing in their grip. The same cold shiver settled at the base of Wanda’s spine.

The figure swiftly raises the sword as if to block themselves from something. She watched as the sword was met with brute strength, making it swing to the side forcefully. The figure backed up once more, before throwing an uncoordinated strike at something Wanda could not see.

Wanda tried focusing on whatever the figure was fighting, and suddenly the odd distortion, similar to the one at the crime scene, reemerged. The distortion was large, seeming to be at least three feet taller than the stranger they were pursuing. It moved swiftly, as it seemed to take a swipe at the stranger that stood in front of it, but the figure jumped out of the way just in time.

A low, bellowing sound resonated through the trees, but it sounded faint and far away. Wanda turned her head towards Natasha, “did you hear that?”

“Hear what?” Natasha looked at Wanda with furrowed brows.

“There was this sound, and there’s something, over there,” Wanda stammers through her words as she turns back to watch the figure. They swing their sword again, and this time, it looks like it made contact with the odd distortion.

“I don’t see anything,” Natasha replied, giving Wanda a confused look.

Wanda continued staring as the distortion seemed to rise and come crashing down over the figure.

They yelled as it fell on top of them, knocking them onto the ground forcefully, their weapon falling out of their grip and their hat falling off their head. Whatever was on top of them had them pinned down as they were struggling to get up. They placed their feet firmly on the ground, attempting to squirm out of the distortion's hold to no avail. They begin kicking up into the air, as if hoping to get the mostly invisible creature off of them.

Wanda hears as Natasha takes out her gun and sees her point it forwards. Her finger hovered over the trigger but did not shoot.

The figure suddenly screamed in pain, but Wanda could not exactly see what was happening. She watches as they struggle to reach for their sword, the weapon a few inches away from their fingers. The figure still kicked their feet up onto the air, but the distortion would not budge from place.

Another faint, bellowing noise was heard, followed by the figure’s pained groan. Wanda’s irises flash a dark red color as she extends her hand out, urging the sword to fly into the stranger’s hand.

The figure’s head turns towards the sword, before gripping it tight and stabbing it into the air above them and twisting the blade. The figure kicked up into the air once more with a forceful yell, digging their weapon deeper into the creature’s presumed wound.

Wanda hears the creature roar again, this time louder and clearer than the other times. For a split second, Wanda swears she saw something. An inky black mass that almost resembled a giant canine, but as quickly as she saw it, it disappeared. She almost assumes she imagined it.

The distortion seemed to bob upwards, no longer pinning down the stranger. They crawled backwards quickly, sword still in hand.

“Shoot,” Wanda said suddenly, glancing between Natasha and the odd display in front of them.

“Shoot what? I can’t see anything,” Natasha said, a mixture of confusion and frustration subtly ringing in her voice.

“Straight forwards, about 5 feet over the suspect,” Wanda instructs, her eyes staring sharply at the scene before her. Natasha shot off two bullets and Wanda watched as the bullets disappeared into thin air. “Hit,” Wanda reports.

The figure jumped up to their feet, not looking back at the two Avengers that stood a couple of feet behind them. They slashed their sword twice into the distortion, and Wanda can only assume that they hit it.

The distortion moved and Wanda saw as it was about to come down on the stranger once more. They swung their sword upwards, the blade facing up to defend themselves from whatever was about to hit them.

The creature made an impact with the sword, the force strong enough to make the figure scream and buckle under the pressure. The same bellowing sound came again, this one louder than the one before. “Shoot, two feet above the suspect’s head,” Wanda commands, watching as the figure rightens themselves and backs up a few steps.

Natasha aims and takes a few seconds before shooting, taking the necessary precautions to not hit their only potential lead.

She shoots off three more bullets, and Wanda sees as they ricochet off of the distorted creature. The stranger then charges, sword at the ready and seems to stab at the creature. They yell as they try digging the sword in deeper, and then forcefully drags the blade to the side. The figure did not stop until the blade no longer felt any resistance and cut freely through the air. A low, guttural sound reverberated through the forest and the distortion suddenly fell with a hard thud, the figure swiftly moving out of the way before impact.

The two Avengers watched as the figure breathed heavily, staring off into nothing. After a few moments, they groaned loudly, their free hand flying over to their shoulder, their sword in their other hand. Wanda could see as crimson began seeping through the stranger’s fingers. They turned and stared down at where Wanda last saw the distortion on the ground and nudged it with their foot.

Oddly enough, Wanda could no longer see it, the ground and the trees of the forest remaining as still as ever.

The figure continued to stare down at the ground, lowering their sword, the tip of the blade touching the dirt and leaves of the forest floor. With a sudden flash of white light, the figure drops the sword into the ground, the blade no longer visible. For the third time, a familiar cold shiver ripped through Wanda’s body.

The figure slowly turns and makes eye contact with Wanda and Natasha, fatigue evident in their face. They continued to breathe heavily as they stared. Without breaking eye contact, they extended their free hand off to the side and made a subtle circular motion. Once again, a bright flash appeared and both Avengers watched as the figure took one step to the side and dropped entirely from their view.

Natasha and Wanda looked at each other, before running up to where they last saw the stranger. Natasha bent down to the ground, running her hand over where the figure had been last, trying to find some explanation of how the stranger disappeared.

Wanda, in turn, approached where she last remembered seeing the distorted figure. She reached out and her hand came in contact with something. She startles and backs away slightly, not having expected to feel anything.

She shakes her head, throwing away the nervousness and hesitation, before feeling around again. She feels it again, an odd, slimy, sticky texture that makes her grimace. “Natasha, there’s something here,” Wanda announces as she retracts her hand from the invisible creature.

“What is it?” Natasha asks as she approaches the young brunette. “I-I don’t know, it’s sticky,” Wanda replies, cringing as she rubs her thumb over the rest of her fingers, still feeling the gross texture on her hand. She forcefully waves her hand downwards, trying to get any of the excess goop off of her hand.

“Today keeps getting stranger and stranger,” Natasha mutters, her brows furrowed together, having reached out with her index and middle finger to touch the invisible creature herself.

“They left their hat behind,” Wanda comments as she notices the piece of clothing laying on the ground.

“We’re gonna need forensics over here,” Natasha announces as she backs away from it.

“And find that person with the sword,” Wanda adds.

“I know just the right person who can help us with that,” Natasha replied as she pulled out a phone and made a call.

Chapter 2 →

#marvel #marvel fanfic #wanda maximoff x reader #wanda x reader #wanda maximoff fic #wanda maximoff #keeper of shadows

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otherside-wanderer · 11 months ago

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Hybrid sorter hub and its three branches - read more about its structure, how it works, and the development process below the cut!

General Structure

For this survival world, my friends and I decided to split up our resources in three different branches, all connected by one central hub. The fourth "branch" is an access hallway (not shown) that contains minecart rail stations. As of now, only one station is built, but the hallway also contains a room where any unsorted items flow out to - this room also contains its own sorter input!

You might notice redstone bulbs in the copper pillars along each hallway - activating these will reveal both a crafting table and stonecutter at the base of the pillar for easy crafting access. Also, the three branches have their own quirks since they were each organized and completed by a different builder - see if you can spot any differences (aside from the items being sorted)!

Redstone & Underbelly

During development, we decided that the sorter didn't need to be fully automatic like our last one - instead, we wanted a way to combine automatic and manual sorting, hence this hybrid design. Only the top rows (and about a dozen barrels in the middle and bottom rows) along each branch leverage automatic sorting - this was to simplify the sorter design and allow for better scalability. This is also why some of our most plentiful items are placed on the top row. We love Minecraft updates, but adding new blocks and items to a sorter can be tough!

Including manual sorting allows us to store unstackables as well as different kinds of items in the same barrel. Although there are some great designs out there for unstackable or multi-item sorters, we wanted this build to be our own and not have to worry about chunk alignment, minecarts, or having to construct it with build assist tools. If you're interested in the redstone for our automatic sorter modules, check out this post about our previous sorter! Our current one applies the concepts in similar ways.

Like our last sorter, @shewholistens has been doing an amazing job standardizing and decorating the Underbelly, which is still in progress. Having all of our sorter modules and hopper lines accessible (and good-looking) is such a boon, especially when doing work behind the scenes. Currently, the Underbelly is accessible via hidden doors at the end of each branch!

Development process

This was a big project. Since building our last sorter, we learned a lot about what works and what doesn't, and decided to carry that knowledge over to this one. In our new world, we put together a document detailing things we wanted in our sorter and how they would all fit together. These included item organization, a hybrid sorting system, input and output chests, crafting access points, a player-friendly underbelly, and - of course - decoration.

This prep work was by far the most important part of the sorter building process, and it allowed us to break the project into small, manageable pieces. It reminded me a lot of the work I do as a software engineer, and it was so exciting to see the sorter get built module by module, branch by branch.

Before I forget - huge thanks to @indigoforiver for convincing me that we needed a sorter! Our chest/shulker monster was... very bad...

#minecraft #survival #sorting system #redstone #architecture #art #shaders #complementary shaders #mineblr #minecraft build #my build

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occatorcreator · 1 year ago

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Second Chances

Links - 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6

5 - Difficult Reconciliation

After the fight, Purple just wishes to forget everything about his old friends. Easier said than done when all he finds is reminders of them everywhere and he's lonelier then ever. Perhaps there is still time to reconcile?

The first thing Purple did when he got home was destroy the portal frame. If they had decided to break it off, then he did not want them back for any surprise visits.

He blocked their number too, once they began bombarding him with texts.

The villagers watched on as he stomped about in rage, like a stick figure possessed, and gave him a wide berth. Purple made avoiding him easier for them by digging straight down into the desktop until he hit the mines, wanting monsters to fight.

Instead, he landed on the tracks of Yellow’s roller coaster. He remembered how excited Yellow was to show them all their elaborate coaster, practically shoving Purple in the front seat in their excitement. The utter joy on everyone’s faces burned in his memory.

Purple kicked a track piece so hard it reverted it back into an item, and he tore off into a random direction in the caves, far from Yellow’s memory.

Once he got his mindless slaughter out of his system, he returned to the surface with more gunpowder, rotten flesh, and bones than he really knew what to do with. He climbed up towards the castle, wishing to return these kills in his chest and to flop on his bed. Yet everywhere he looked around, he saw those little added touches to his village: the lovely rebuilt tower Green decorated, the redstone elevators Yellow set up for the villagers, the lush farms and animal pens Blue and Red took care of…

“Remove it,” Purple said to the villagers in his throne room many days later.

“Remove it?” A villager asked, “but why? Lord Purple, what happened?”

“Do you question your Lord?” Purple snapped. “I said to remove it.”

The villagers turned to mutter to each other, not doing as he ordered them, and he felt his anger rising.

“I said to remove it all!” Purple snapped. “Everything that they crafted is polluting our village!”

“But, your friends made these gifts for us…”

“They’re not my friends anymore! They abandoned us,” Purple said, reveling in the shocked gasps of the crowd. “I no longer wish to be associated with them. And if they dare set foot in the village, detain them.”

“But, why would they abandon you?” Another villager asked, several more chimed in in disbelief. “Purple, surely, we could speak with them!”

“That’s Lord Purple to you, and there is nothing left to discuss!” Purple snapped, standing up sharply, “I’m going out on a supply run, and if I don't find everything removed by the time I get back, then I will be sentencing people to exile!”

He marched past the crowds and back into the mines again. He longed to go to the nether, but he couldn’t risk making a portal now, just in case the others come entering the portal later.

Not like they haven’t tried making their own, Purple thought, they have the means to, yet they never tried. I guess that shows that they didn’t really care.

He wondered if Minecraft had other places to portal to, take him somewhere that didn’t have any connections to his former friends. He’d need to research it, but the thought of researching felt taxing at the moment.

When he surfaced with diamonds, he discovered that the villagers honored his request and had removed all the additions the gang had made.

“We did as you ordered, my lord,” the villager said, though they did not hide their displeasure from him. “Is it to your liking now?”

No, Purple thought with a heavy heart, I don’t get it. Seeing it hurt… but seeing it all stripped away…

“It’s satisfactory,” he bit out, trying to sound pleased, “I’ll be in my room now.”

He lay in bed, staring at his ceiling and finding no rest. He could hear the phantoms screeching outside…

“Purple, I got an email from someone named Alan Becker,” Alana asked on the rare day she checked in, “He was asking if you were doing okay?”

While the number was blocked, there were other ways to contact the computer he was on. Purple wondered if the Animator actually sent something or if it was Green or Yellow instead.

“I’m fine,” Purple lied as he wrote.

“Are you and your friends getting along?” Alana typed, “He asked if you could go to their computer to chat.”

“Some other time,” Purple said, not wanting to admit to Alana of his loss of his friends. “I’m busy.”

“If you say so…”

“Also! Don’t open any attachments from him?” Purple added, “stick figures sometimes try to sneak on and… that can be dangerous.”

“Ok? I guess I’ll tell him to triple check before he sends,” Alana typed and then left.

After that, Purple didn’t hear much activity from them. He focused on researching other dimensions in Minecraft. There was a place called ‘The End’ and there was a final boss to fight, a dragon. He went to work prepping a way to go to the End and fight the dragon, desiring to take its coveted egg as a prize. Yet, despite his new goal to distract him, he found it a chore to prepare for it. Minecraft lost its luster without looking forward to what challenge Green came up with or what exploit Yellow would find in the code or Red’s humorous attempts of acrobatics or Blue’s rather bizarre, yet creative use of potions…

The prospect of fighting the dragon all by himself left him feeling adrift.

“Is this what you felt, mom, when dad left?” He asked out loud one day, when he was the most alone. The villagers have been keeping their distance from him ever since they tore down the village’s amenities, and he found himself equally detached from the cold place his village became. All he had left was himself to talk to.

“There were ups and downs,” he admitted, “it was the longest I ever had friends. With people that chose to be with me…”

He felt his eyes burn, but he refused to cry. He wouldn’t be like Orchid, sobbing after Navy when he marched out the door.

“I guess that is it then,” Navy said, “I’m leaving.”

Purple gasped at the memory, for the last words Navy ever said to them sounded painfully familiar.

“No…” Purple muttered, shaking his head in realization, “that– Was this how dad felt? Because he walked away… I walked away… I even repeated what he said…”

He never considered how his father felt that day. He didn’t want to because how could Navy’s feelings matter more than his mother’s tears and his own grief. Yet suddenly, in that moment, he realized that, perhaps, Navy was just as frustrated and hurt like Purple was towards his own friends. Perhaps he was frustrated that the relationships with his wife and kid were not going how it should have, that he could have felt lost as he became unable to connect with Purple or Orchid.

Purple wondered if Navy chose to walk away and never look back because he couldn’t handle the heartbreak. Did Navy ever miss Purple, despite being the one to walk away, just like how Purple missed his old friends?

“What have I done?” Purple whispered, the tears he suppressed were free falling, “Mom, I wish you were here. I still don’t know if what I’m doing is the right option. I felt awful, but…”

Should he reach out to them? Could he rebuild the village? Or was it too late?

Purple was scared. He just sat there paralyzed.

No, do the thing Navy couldn’t do, he told himself, reach out to them.

He took out his phone and unblocked the number.

‘hey it’s me. i needed some time to process and im sorry. for walking out like i did. if you guys still want to talk it out, could you come to my computer?’

He then shoved it back in his pocket and waited for a response. He waited, he paced, he waited some more. When he could no longer bear to, he checked the group chat. It was on read, but there was no response. Even after the next day, and the day after that. None of them reached out.

His heart broke to pieces. He was too late.

Then again, if Navy texted me out of the blue, Purple thought, arms going limp to his side, I don’t think I would want to respond either.

Purple was geared up. He built the ender frames beneath his castle, hidden by a redstone door. He had all the supplies, enchantments, and potions to help him with his fight.

His goal was to kill the dragon, grab its egg and… well, he hadn’t figured out what to do with step three yet. All the egg would be would be bragging rights.

Bragging rights to who? To the villagers who hate you? He thought, to your nonexistent friends?

He took a breath and bade his villagers goodbye. He heard the end dimension was vast so he would be gone for longer than usual.

He approached his redstone door and raised his fist to knock--

“Let go of us!”

Green? Purple stopped and turned around.

“It’s us! Green and Blue!” Blue shouted. “Why are you grabbing us?”

Purple raced over to see the villagers grabbing at them.

“Wait! Let them go!” he demanded.

The villagers and stick figures stopped in their struggles and looked at Purple in shock and confusion. “My Lord, what about your orders?”

“Orders?” Green demanded.

“I changed my mind,” Purple said, “Let them go.”

And with that the villagers let them go, causing them to drop on the floor. Green and Blue pushed themselves up and dusted off the grime. Purple could feel his heart hammering wildly, though he kept a calm expression.

“I didn’t expect you to be back,” Purple said after a moment.

“We got your text a while back,” Blue said.

“You took a while,” Purple said, “I thought you didn’t want to talk.”

“Gee, I wonder why?” Green snapped. “You ghosted us for weeks and now you want to talk? You know we could have returned it in kind.”

“Green, please,” Blue said, before Purple could open his mouth, “remember what I said? We’re here to talk, not fight.”

“Where are Red and Yellow?” Purple asked.

Green and Blue shrugged. “I remember seeing them chilling on our web page last I checked,” Blue said.

“Yeah, and I caught her,” Green jabbed a finger at Blue, “building a portal to get to you. Without telling us!”

“If you didn’t want to come, you could have stayed back at the desktop,” Blue huffed.

“I didn’t want to see you get into trouble,” Green said, crossing his arms.

Already this was a messy start. Only Blue came to reach out?

“I wish everyone was here,” Purple said, shuffling his feet, “I need to talk to you all… about my behavior that day.”

To that he saw Green and Blue’s shoulders droop, if only slightly. Blue appeared the most saddened while Green’s expression was eerily cold.

“It hurt, you know,” Blue confessed.

“I know,” Purple said.

“We missed you,” Blue said, “We all did.”

Purple couldn’t help himself, bitterness let out. “It didn’t feel like you did to me.”

Green turned around sharply, moving to leave but Blue grabbed his arm and halted him. He resisted only a bit against her grasp, but he had no fight in him.

“Doesn’t feel like you missed us either!” Green snapped, voice warbling, “I almost wanted to rush here the moment I saw that text, but I didn’t know how it would go! And now that I have, I see–” he looked helplessly around, “–everything is different! You really removed everything we built here?”

Purple cringed, unable to say anything to that observation.

His silence only caused Green to hang his head in disappointment. “This was a mistake. We shouldn’t have come, Blue,” Green said, ripping his arm out of her grasp.

“Wait, please,” Purple reached his arm out. “I really want to talk to all of you. I made some bad decisions when I left, and you all need to hear it. Blue, can you reach out to Red and Yellow? Ask them to come here?”

“And we’ll talk it out?” Blue asked.

“I will. Promise.” Purple said, crossing his heart.

There was tension, both looking to Green for a response. Green still had his back turned away from them. Then he sighed and pulled his phone to text something.

“They’re not answering yet. Yellow’s laptop probably isn’t nearby,” Green said, “it’ll be awhile.”

So they needed to wait, which would be awkward with just the three of them standing here. Purple looked at the door he was about to enter.

“Say, I guess until they text us back, do you want to do something with me?”

Green shot Purple a weary look while Blue shuffled, unsure.

“What did you have in mind?” Blue asked.

Maybe fighting a dragon boss should have waited after the talk. Turns out trying to fight while you were recovering from one with your party made fighting in a coordinated fashion impossible. Somehow, Green ended up on top of the dragon and was steering it off into the void, while Blue and Purple hung by a fishing rod beneath it.

Purple could see that the egg had spawned once the dragon was out of bounds.

Great! We just need to somehow fly back, grab it, and close that portal! Purple thought. But how do we–

SMACK

Purple and Blue hit the mast of a hovering ship. How convenient! Blue quickly discovered the switch to pilot the ship and pursue the dragon, while Purple found the elytra wings in the hull after dodging a shukler’s attack.

“Purple, help me tie the rod to the boat!” Blue shouted.

“On it!” Purple ran up and helped Blue tug the fishing rod around the mast.

“I’m going to reverse it and keep the dragon from those pillars,” Blue said, yanking the lever back.

“Right, then I can get the egg with these on,” Purple said, flapping the wings on his back.

Blue frowned, looking upward at Green and the dragon. “But what about-”

Blue didn’t get to finish her statement before Green was sent down careening into Blue’s arms.

“Ow,” he groaned, rubbing his head.

“Okay, I’m going!” Purple said.

He made it a point to not look down in the void below. If the wings didn’t work, he’d know for certain. He’d rather not psyche himself out. He leapt off the ship, the wind roaring in his ears as he flew across the void towards the End Island.

Yes! It’s working! Purple grinned at the way the wings swooped. That egg is mine!

“Purple!”

Blue’s distressed scream paused Purple in his flight. His wings flapped wildly, trying to stabilize as the dragon swooped right above his head, untethered.

The dragon’s free? What happened to the boat?

There was no boat, somehow it was all gone. Only Blue and Green remained, floating and clinging to each other for dear life.

“Please help!” Blue yelled, “We don’t have much time!”

Time seemed to slow down, and in that split second, Purple entertained the thought of leaving them to grab the egg. If he didn’t, then the dragon would guard the entrance, possibly killing all three of them. Besides, death wasn’t permanent in Minecraft, they’d just respawn…

But that would require turning his back on them. If he chose the egg over them, then he’d be telling them that their friendship is truly over. There would be no apology, there would be no reconciliation.

Really, there is only one right option, Purple thought.

He dove after them.

Time resumed as normal and he saw them drop suddenly. He went down and clasped Green’s outstretched hand. Green and Blue smiled up at him in relief, but then the moment the effect wore off and their weight dragged him down. Purple tried to flap his wings, but it was clear that it couldn’t handle the weight of three stick figures without any momentum.

No, no, no! Purple strained as they fell down towards the void below. Not like this! Not like this!

Then, suddenly, he felt hands clasp his ankles, and they stopped with a painful jerk. The sudden stop almost had Purple drop Green and Blue, and he dug his nails into Green’s arms in his panic.

“Good catch, Red!” Blue shouted.

“You are so lucky we were able to reach you!” Red said, with a strained voice.

Purple craned his neck back. He couldn’t see well, but he saw Red was holding him by his feet, while Yellow held her by her torso.

Is that the entire village? Purple thought, noticing a long chain of villagers holding Yellow and on to each other. The whole village saved them from certain death.

“Pull us up!” Purple didn’t bother to mask his panic. “Hurry, hurry! I can’t hold them much longer!”

They were quick to heed his warning, pulling them out from the gaping void that called them below. Upon meeting the obsidian stone, Purple plopped face down on its surface, gasping for breath. He did not let go of Green’s arm, even now that Green and Blue were safe.

“Oh, cursors! Are you all okay?” Yellow asked, picking Blue up to her feet.

“Yeah, shaky, but not hurt,” Blue said.

“I’m glad Yellow checked his laptop,” Red helped Green to his feet. “We might not have made it.”

“Thanks for the help,” Green said. As he stood, he lifted Purple to his feet. He looked at Purple, relief without his guarded expression from earlier. “You too. You saved us!”

“Hardly, I couldn’t even lift you,” Purple said, shaking his head.

“Nah, it was good that you grabbed them!” Yellow said, “I think if you didn't, we wouldn’t be able to reach them when they fell.”

That made Purple feel all the more shakier. Because he could see where he did that, leaving them behind...

“Well, now that you’re all here, I wanted to say–”

The dragon let out a bellowing roar, halting any attempts of starting his apology. The dragon was perched around the portal, guarding its egg. The villagers were starting to sweat, ill equipped to handle a dragon.

“Yeah, we’ll talk later,” Blue said, “We need to get everyone else out and the dragon is blocking the way.”

“What do we do?” Yellow asked, pulling out their sword, “You have any plans?”

“We tried steering it away from here and doing some damage,” Green said, “but those crystals heal it.”

“Are you unable to break them?” Red asked.

There was a beat of silence and Green let out a beleaguered sigh. “No, we didn’t even try to break them.”

“Look, our main goal is to leave,” Purple said, “We need to get the dragon distracted and that’s easier said than done with it guarding its egg.” He snapped his fingers, “If we move the egg, then surely the dragon would move out of the way!”

“So, we need to somehow grab the egg and play keep-away long enough for everyone to go back home?” Yellow said.

“Yeah. Yellow and Red, you focus on getting the villagers back in the portal,” Purple said, “Green, you and I will play keep away with the egg, while Blue can take out the crystals with her bow. Does that sound good?”

This wasn’t Purple’s first time sharing a plan of his, but it was after their break up. He really didn’t expect to see the determination and trust in their gazes as they acknowledged his plan.

“I’ll follow your lead,” Green said.

And, with that, Purple climbed up to a nearby tower while Green and the others waved and distracted the dragon on the ground. Once its head turned, exposing the egg, Purple flew down to grab at it, only for it to vanish upon contact.

“Wha? Where did it go?”

No one had time to answer him as the dragon knocked Purple across the island. The dragon too was moving about frantically, looking for the disappeared egg. Its large feet and tail made the ground tremble and crushed several endermen in the process. When it found nothing but angry endermen biting its heels, it took up to the sky flapping around and looking down from an aerial view.

“Now’s your opportunity! Go!” Purple called to the villagers, wheezing as he stood up. While Red and Yellow focused on getting the villagers through to the portal, he kept his eyes up at the soaring dragon.

“Found the egg!” Green called.

“Wait, don’t touch it!“

But Green already grabbed it, and the egg ended up teleporting right into the path of a villager and tripping them. The dragon swooped down, its breath swirling in its jaws.

“Nevermind! Touch it! Get it away!” Purple screamed, running towards the egg.

Red was closer and touched it. The egg vanished, but the dragon was already sending out its breath attack. Purple was sure that he would see the villager and Red both burn before him.

Kaboom!

An explosion rang from above and the dragon flinched in pain, changing the course of its attack and narrowly missing Red and the villager. Blue had moved closer to the center, firing down the crystals with quick precision. Every healing beam that exploded caused the dragon to flinch in pain.

“Thanks, Blue!” Purple said, helping Red hustle the villager back in the portal.

“That’s everyone!” Yellow shouted.

“Get in! We’ll follow!” Purple said, shoving Red right in the portal.

Red opened her mouth, about to argue, only to disappear as her leg touched the portal.

“Gah- uh- alright?” Yellow looked from the portal to Purple before following after Red.

Purple turned, seeing Green and Blue surrounded by the dragon’s breath. The dragon had landed before them and was swiping at them with its claws.

No! They won’t be able to dodge for long! Purple thought and looked around for the egg. Luckily, he found it by a pillar further away from Green and Blue. Purple raced next to it and pulled out his bow.

“Hey, ugly!” Purple yelled as he fired an arrow at the dragon. It landed its target and caused the dragon to turn to Purple. It let out a fearsome growl as it saw Purple by its egg and armed with a flint and steel. “Stay away my friends or else the egg gets poached!”

The dragon roared again, charging down at Purple, breath streaming.

“Purple!” Green cried, “No!”

“Run to the portal, you fools! Go!” Purple snapped, turning heel as he ran away from the dragon too. “I’ll see you at my castle!”

He meant it, but he was too slow to run to the portal; the dragon fired its breath and consumed him. The burning stung painfully, but without any armor, death found Purple quickly.

Death in a game was like a blink. There was pain, confusion, the moment where things were still before resuming at a bed like it was all a dream. He hated it, for that moment in between death and respawning, he was in the void of falling petals.

So stupid! He closed his eyes. Did I make the right call?

A petal touched his head, and Purple swore it felt like a hand petting his head.

“Don’t keep your loved ones waiting.”

“Mom?” Purple said, opening his eyes. But he was back in his bed. Items were gone, and so was the pain.

Quickly, he sprung out and raced back to where his portal was. He had to make sure, did Green and Blue make it?

There was a large crowd before him, Red and Yellow towering over them all. Purple craned his neck and let out a sigh of relief when he saw Green and Blue with them.

“You made it!” Purple couldn’t help but smile. “You all made it out!”

Everyone turned around to Purple, silence falling amongst everyone as they stared in shock. Then, with a burst of speed Green raced up and tackled Purple in a tight hug. Blue, Yellow, and Red joined in, causing everyone to fall on the ground with a thud.

“You're okay! You’re okay!” Blue sobbed.

“Don’t you ever sacrifice yourself like that again!” Green yelled, and sure enough, Purple could feel his tears wiped in his shoulders.

“You absolute mad lad!” Yellow croaked. “You saved everyone from a dragon!”

“Y-yeah, erm,” Purple was overwhelmed by their hugs. “Could you stop crushing me? It might kill me again.”

The pressure was relieved as Purple was pulled to his feet. Their hands didn’t leave him, rubbing his back and arms, as if to assure themselves nothing was wounded or broken.

“That was so scary,” Red said, “Thank goodness for respawns!”

“Yeah,” Purple looked around, seeing his villagers crowding around as well, looking to see if Purple was okay through the stick figures surrounding him.

“To Lord Purple!” A villager exclaimed.

“To Lord Purple!” The chorus of voices joined in.

The warmth in their voices that he thought lost returned. Purple felt like crying himself.

“So, since everyone is here, can we talk?” Purple eyed his villagers. “Alone?”

They were in his room. Purple set up some logs for them to sit on. Now that the adrenaline wore off, the atmosphere felt awkward again. Red’s leg was bouncing, and Yellow shifted in their seat nervously. Blue was slumped in her seat, exhausted, while Green was still as stone.

No one looked each other in the eye.

“I guess I’ll start,” Purple said, “I am terrible with apologies, but you guys needed better than me just… walking out.”

He paused, in case any of them had a question. Instead, they watched, quietly awaiting his response.

“I… I want to explain something. I was… jealous of your friendship with Orange,” Purple admitted. It was stilted, finding the words felt like pulling barbed wires from his chest. How it tore his heart. “Yellow told me that they were someone you’ve met before you met me. They were important to you. So when you guys started to hang out with them more often, it felt like I was being ignored.”

Red raised her hand, for once not jumping in like usual. When Purple nodded at her, she asked quietly. “I know I asked this last time, but this is a genuine question: why didn’t you tell us sooner?”

“Look, ever since I was a child, I found it hard to make friends,” Purple admitted, “We moved a lot, and I guess I never learned how to? When I had no clue, I tried to be someone others would like: took on their interests, gave them gifts… but, over time, we ended up disagreeing or I messed up– no, I couldn’t keep pretending to be what they wanted, and we fell out.” He looked at them all with an earnest expression. “You four were the first friends that stuck around me for so long. The first time I didn’t feel like I was pretending.

“But old habits die hard,” Purple said, gulping, “It’s still hard for me to explain how I feel, because I never say it right. Or my friends hate what I say. It’s easier to avoid. Easier to pretend that I didn’t need you when I felt like I was just the replacement, the second best option to your ‘real’ friend.”

“Purple, no…” Blue was wiping tears away.

“I'm sorry.” Purple sniffed. He held his tears back. “You don’t know how much I regretted cutting you out. I feel rotten for blowing up like that, and I still feel jealous of Orange! So I don’t know if we can be friends after that… I don’t know how to fix this…”

He sniffed again, falling silent. He closed his eyes, awaiting his judgment.

“I’m sorry too,” Green said.

“What?” Purple asked.

“I’m sorry too, because it’s not your fault,” Green said, jawing wiggling, “We noticed you were acting off, but we should have asked. We shouldn’t have neglected you when we met up with Orange again. Because you have always been our friend.”

“We missed you so much,” Yellow said. Purple never saw Yellow cry, even now, but his head was low and eyes glimmering. “We realized we took you for granted. The amount of times I had to stop a redstone project because I thought about how I’d like to show it to you… only to realize you wouldn’t even want to see it and didn’t want to see me, us.” He looked up at Purple. “I’m sorry that I didn’t try harder to reach out to you.”

“I’m sorry, too, for our neglect,” Blue said, struggling to speak, “For us blaming you for how you felt rather than working something out.”

“I’m sorry, we didn’t tell you how much we love you,” Red said, “Because, Purple, even when we thought you didn’t want to see us again, we still loved you.”

“You still… love me?” Purple said. Now the tears were free flowing.

“Can we still be friends?” Green asked, standing up, “We all want to do better for you.”

Purple was heaving, overwhelmed by sheer relief that he couldn’t speak.

So he went up and held Green in a hug. He felt the others reach out and hold him too in a much gentler embrace then before.

Purple confessed after a while. “I love you guys too.”

#occatorart #alan becker #animator vs animation #animation vs minecraft #ava purple #ava red #ava green #ava blue #ava yellow #second family au

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xadianglyphs · 1 year ago

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The Dragonscale Amulet: Theory

And finally... literally the reason I made this entire blog. Basically, back in March we had this:

Anyway, I dropped literally everything to catalog the entire breadth of writing, runes, glyphs, etc. in the series so far, all in order to figure out what the hell this means. One theory that has evolved in the meantime is that the symbol on the amulet represents an acorn or seed, but I would like to propose another.

First, let's look at the amulet and symbol, themselves.

The amulet is composed of a dragon scale (allegedly, at least... we haven't seen dragon scales separated from dragons anywhere else) that is red, highly reflective (whether naturally or polished after the fact), and about palm-sized. By that scale, it probably comes from a dragon about Pyrrah's size or a little larger, unless it was carved down to a smaller size when crafted into an amulet. The scale is anchored in a gold setting, with a shape and decorations that have a fair amount of similarity to the Staff of Ziard. (Maybe we should have anticipated an Aaravos/Startouch association.)

As for the symbol, accounting for perspective (to the best of my abilities), we have this:

The symbol is etched directly into the scale's surface. Its lines are less smooth than the ones decorating the setting, which could indicate that it was added at another time (earlier/later) with a less precise tool, or just that gouging designs into dragon scales is hard.

In terms of similarity to other symbols we've seen so far, it could come from a similar system as the symbols in Infantis Sanguine. It also has similarities to a primal rune, though the sharp, wide corners are unusual. Either way, I think this is a pictographic symbol representing an item or concept as a whole, not an alphabetic character—this isn't Laurelion personally going around with a blinged-out "L" necklace.

So what could it be? Well, I propose that it's a heart. Like so:

My initial impression had the horizontal top "crossbar" as the pulmonary arteries, and the vertical center line as the aorta/vena cava, but you could also look at the crossing vertical and diagonal lines as dividing the space into the four chambers of the heart. However, I think there's another direction to go with that diagonal, so let's put a pin in that for a moment.

Why a heart? Because there has a sizeable amount of fairly convincing speculation post-s4 that the dark space in Aaravos's chest is either figuratively or literally representing his heart having been removed. @raayllum's are a lot more coherent, but I've also done my share.

I'm sure someone had this thought before I did, if only because I was super late to the fandom. But I had it!

... okay right, back to the amulet.

Aaravos's heart is also a key part of the "Laurelion and Aaravos are the same person" theory, in part because Laurelion's heart is the center of everything we currently know about them.

Laurelion's heart was pierced by either the as-yet-unnamed Novablade itself or a piece of draconic ivory (i.e. a dragon's tooth) that was later forged into the Novablade, after which "immortal Laurelion was no more."

Aside from creating an additional connection between Laurelion and dragons, making the dragon scale of the amulet even more interesting, let's go back to the symbol in light of the whole "pierced" thing.

Now, TDP has a fair amount of Christian symbolism and imagery to it, some purely because of how deeply Christianity is embedded in western culture but some also definitely intentional. Aaravos was initially framed as a Prometheus figure, but it became progressively more clear that he's a Lucifer one—a tempter, a rebel angel, out to destroy creation. They absolutely know what they're doing with things like the *checks watch* 2019 Aaravos birthday post:

So don't think it's completely insane to take that, Laurelion's death[citation needed], and the amulet symbol, and think of this:

Depictions of the Sacred Heart don't seem to usually show the spear, just the wound, but I wasn't raised Catholic so work with me here. (If you want to get even more Catholic, there's also the Immaculate Heart of Mary, which is almost always depicted with a sword piercing it diagonally all the way through because she's... sad? Look, I don't know.) The idea is that it represents the boundless and fervent love of God expressed through the suffering of Jesus, which... whatever.

I do think it's interesting, however, that we are primed to question Laurelion's "death" and concepts of mortality/immortality, death of identity, etc. in the context of Startouch elves because while there's definitely a possibility that an immortal being stripped of their immortality is a punishment, there's also... a lot of cultural precedent for that as a willing gift of love to a mortal/mortals, whether you're looking at Jesus, Castor and Pollux, or Arwen and Aragorn. So we'll see how that plays out.

Anyway, that's my weird fringe theory: the amulet symbol represents Laurelion's pierced heart.

Probably time to worry about Claudia. (As if we weren't, already.)

Bonus:

#this actually wound up shorter than i thought it would be #scale of shiruakh #analysis #meta

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lemonberry-syrup · 7 months ago

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Small Business masterlist for myself and a streaming community I'm in

I will be adding to this list as I go. If you have any suggestions, please let me know!

EDIT: I am copying every list over to @weirdlxxks and deleting every other post on there. For some reason, the links to the posts are being iffy so I'm hoping transferring that over will eliminate the problem.

Not a small business but this is essentially Craigslist or Ebay but free and local https://freecycle.org/

3D Printing Files

Accessories

Animal Sanctuaries

Artists

Artists I'm a fan of

FOR Artists

Calisthenics

Clothing

Cosmetics

DIY

Weed

History (things to look up)

Jewelry

Shower + skincare

Scents

Kitchenware

Household stuff + decor (wardrobe things, paint, etc)

Information

^Not a list of shops, just things that are good to know

Occult

Other (mostly yarn crafting supplies)

Plastic Recycling

Plushies

Tattoo Artists

Things to Know

Safety items

Accommodations

If some of the shop links aren't working, it's probably an etsy link taking its time. For most of these you can look up the shop and it's the first link that pops up.

(an aroace terminology masterlist that is usually my pinned post)

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too-many-rooks · 1 year ago

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42 Reverdy Road, The Rider Household.

Follow up from This post

Can be found on the gallery under '42 Reverdy Road' ID: rebecca707

Some things about the house that occurred to me whilst building this, under a read more to restrain my ramblings.

General background first;

This is the end of a row of pretty classic English Victorian terrace houses, these are the sort of buildings I've lived in most of my adult life in the UK, and if you ever take the Thameslink south of the river in London you'll see tons of houses like this; especially with the modern extension with skylights and large sliding doors on the back.

They film Alex's neighbourhood in Bermondsey, which is not quite as affluent an area as Chelsea, (because, honestly, would be wild if Alex actually lived in Chelsea) but is still definitely quite wealthy, houses like this one in this neighbourhood would sell for upwards of a £1M in the current market.

Onto design choices for the build;

The downstairs is fairly open plan, and In the show we see several scenes that more or less show the whole thing, so I tried to replicate it as accurately as I could. In the lounge, it looks like there's a desk in the back corner, and since we see Ian has an office, and Alex has a desk in his room, I thought maybe this was for Jack to study, so in the build I added some case files for her to be reading. Also, I added bikes for Ian and Alex and put them under the stairs.

I found the upstairs really tricky - we only see Alex's room, and a brief look at the hallway outside his room, which seemed to lead to more rooms, and the stairs. This made me think he was at the back of the house, as most terraces taper at the back for access to the garden. Also, the window seems to line up with a window we see on the upstairs floor in an exterior shot of the kitchen. I feel especially proud of Alex's room - I think it gets the vibe of slightly messy but active high achiever - there's a certificate by his front door in Hebrew (presumably a Krav Maga thing), so I added lots of rosettes and medals and certificates. He's also got a row of hooks above his bed with like a snorkel, and climbing rope, so I used some of the snowboarding stuff to replicate that, and gave him a desk full of hobby items for boy scout spy crafting.

Jack's room was total conjecture, and also a bit of a challenge, since I don't feel I have a sense for her aesthetic taste in furniture, I tried to think what her room would be like considering she's lived there for presumably most of her early twenties, but this also being not her house/not her family/not permanent. I definitely think it would be nice, and comfortable, and personalised to a certain extent. So I gave her some kinda Ikea-ish furniture, and decorated it with small, movable clutter, and posters, pictures, and tapestries, tapped and blue tacked to the wall rather than nailed in.

Ian's bit was also a challenge, despite being the other room upstairs that we see. His office is categorically in the wrong place, the entry door should be on a different wall. Conceivably, it should be where I put Ian's en-suite, and there's a little corridor leading there, but I couldn't make that work without squishing everything together too much. So I put it in the modern bit, thinking that Ian might have built in some extra protection when doing the extension to add more security to what might be like the 'spy hub' in the house. We also see that there's another door inside Ian's study - for the level of privacy that room would need, it only really made sense to me for that door to lead to his bedroom, which also shows how he never really gets away from his work, when he sleeps right next to his study. So I gave him this kind of self-contained suite of rooms, which makes him somewhat shut off and isolated from the others. Considering how immediately Jack complies with a request for a moment of privacy when Ian is in his office, I imagine there's some pretty deeply ingrained house rules about disturbing Ian's office for 'confidential banking reasons', which makes him harder to access when he's in his bedroom. Also, Jack and Alex share a bathroom, but Ian has an en-suite. His bedroom is nice but bland, with a few souvenirs of his travels and a rack of monochrome clothing for his grey casual wear, and his bathroom is modern and dark, with some medical supplies by the sink for patching himself up after a mission.

The garden, on reflection, is a bit chaotic - I think it should actually be larger, and have a little shed. But what we see of it in Season 3 is different to season 1, it's smaller, more enclosed, and has some pretty high walls all around. I wasn't sure which way to go so left it fairly blank, with space for the wheelie bins round the side, a little patio, some grass, a drying line, and a football. The chaotic bit comes from the bbq I gave them in the corner which, looking at the photos, my Rider Sims must have managed to set on fire and burn immediately. Oh and also to make Ian Alex's uncle in CAS I had to make a John to be Ian's brother and Alex's father, so I Immediately killed him and put his headstone in a corner of the garden, so they can all be haunted by John's ghost. Neato!

#alex rider #wow the powers of hyperfixation. If only I could use this level of concentration dedication and focus for good #Alas it can only be used for dumb shit #sims 4

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sunmoon-starfactory · 8 months ago

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New Feature - Story Mode

Moving forward, we are unlocking the "testing options" that beta users and ourselves use for various cheaty testing quickness. This should make it easier for everyone to get into the" supply chain" aspect of Sun&Moon sets.

We are dubbing it "Story Mode". Mostly because cheating sounds icky, but the Sims 2 is a single player game...so no one should care if you cheat anyway but also there is no need to make a player feel called out if they used a shortcut to get to the good parts of a single player game am I right?

Sun&Moon was always a project meant to simulate realistic supply chains. As we made more sets, things have become more intertwined than ever. We get that this is confusing for newcomers and truthfully, it can sometimes complicate testing. Story Mode can make it easier to get into the gameplay and get your supply chain started, or allow you to skip that entirely and still enjoy the sets.

Please note this is intended for sets from September 2024 forward. There are still intentions of updating older stations to the Crafting Points system and as that is done, this feature will be added in. A proper update notice for each set will of course be announced.

Options that can be found under the Story Mode pie menu option will include:

Fully Stock Station - This will stock the station with everything needed to make a product, no need to direct a sim to stock or even have the items gathered. Your sims will still need the proper skill levels, writs, or traits to complete the task.

Receive All Products - Don't want to even go through the manufacturing motions? Or wait for a timer to run to get to the end products? Or build up skill levels/have writs in your inventory? This action grants all end products to the sim's inventory, no fuss. This will include any Skill Level reward, such as Writs of Mastery. Warning, this can result in cluttered inventories.

Spawn - This is to force a spawner to reproduce or summon the attached item, bypassing timers in items like hunting spawners, or self propagating plants.

Action! - Makes a sim complete the animations associated with a station, but results in no ingredients needed, and no products made. Just for the looks and photoshoots really.

Of course as things develop, more options may be added to Story Mode. Note, that Decoration options are not part of Story Mode and will stay on the standard pie menu.

Turning On Story Mode

Story Mode is OFF by default, and can be activated by one of three ways:

Trait Restrictions - Built into the code already, if you use traits and don't mind adding one more into a sim's inventory add in the Story Mode trait and these menus will auto show. This method allows you to restrict by individual sims.

Lot Controller Object - Built into the code already, if you place the Sun&Moon Lot Controller Object on a lot then all the menus will auto show. This works on all sims per lot.

SimPE Edit - In the object you want to turn Story Mode permanently on; Navigate to the TTAB, select the Pie Menu Functions resource, and select a story mode option you wish to edit. Select the Pie Menu Option you wish to enable, select all numbers/text in the Guardian BHAV box and hit delete to clear the box. Commit and Save.

Recompress.

Lot Controller Object & Story Mode Trait

Including these two files here, as they directly affect this feature. Both can be found in the Misc>Misc category for $0.

Using the trait is simple, just put it in a sim's inventory and forget about it.

The Lot Object Controller however, has had several features coded into it so it's not just useless deco. More features will be added as they come up.

Hide/Show all Blocks of Blocking and Mini Blocks of Blocking

Hide/Show Sun&Moon made specific OMSPs

Inventory Transfer tool between sims. Code taken the original by mike_1102, using the mesh and texture features of Fractured Moonlight's version. Also has an invisible option.

Download

View Use/Instruction Manual

#ts2 #s2cc #sims2 #sims 2 #custom content #mod #sun&moon #star factory

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skyrimfuckery · 1 year ago

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Oh hey guess what you wouldn't believe it but it's true! A new outfit made within a year? No way!

Yes way. I had the concept sketch lying around since last summer. Originally, the design was intended for Fadiyyeh, the redguard showcasing my Dragonstar armor. I wanted it to be a more Indian inspired witchy dress with more colours, decorative stitching, and jewelry everywhere. But her story was told and the Dragonstar armor project kinda drained me. So I decided to turn it into somewhat of an elegant gothic dress with coarse medieval armor parts! You know I can't resist adding historical armor to everything I make.

So here it is. A black brocade dress with a mix of 14th and 15th century armor (I did my research) and modern(ish) jewelry and boots. The gauntlets sport fake nails for extra goth. All in all, a pretty good mid-late game dress for a mage up to no good!

In hindsight, I should have added more lace pretty much everywhere, as the design is pretty simple at this point. Then again, that allows for more customization with accessories from other mods, in a similar vein to the Brigandine set. Texture wise, though, the dress is a bit boring. It's just the single fabric texture. But it works, I guess, and all the other parts look amazing so it evens out. This outfit was also my first venue into baking normal maps from high poly models instead of manually painting them. I think it turned out especially nicely on the boots and the gauntlets. I hope you think so too.

The armor is female only. It has no quest. As much as I want to give my items a place in the world, it seemed like an effort spent in vain. Plus, I had no ideas I liked for this dress. It's just something people wear now, I guess. The skirt on the dress will be physics enabled. I'm also experimenting with that now, spooky stuff.

This dress will be released on the Nexus somewhere next week. I have the weight painting and BHUNP sliders done, so all that's left is the inventory models, the crafting recipes, and tweaking the physics.

Oh yeah. I moved to SE because of data loss somewhere last May. This means this outfit will be SE only. I still have the mesh without physics, so technically I could make an LE conversion. Will that be worth it? If literally one person asks me in DMs I will do it, bet.

I already got plenty ideas for my next project. I'll have to focus on other things after this, but I'll make sure to keep you guys updated. I'm kinda thinking of remaking the Squire's plate...

Till the next one!

#skyrim #armor #clothing #armour #mage #dress #gothic #skyrim modding

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snackodev · 8 months ago

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🎃 Patch 0.9.4_9576 is now live

Snacko is 20% off for the spooky season!

Celebrate Lunarfall by learning about the customs and history through new quests and decorate your town and home with new items crafted with the new Pumpkin crop!

Vintage Set has been updated to be completely dyeable. Now, not only are the usual dyeable parts customizable, so are the wood trims.

✨ New Quests

[story] Precipice of the Moon: prerequisite for Pumpkin items, requires MSQ to be completed until post "Two Eyes for Nothing"

[story]** Old Traditions, New Decorations**: unlocks Pumpkin Lanterns

[story] Ghost in the Squash: unlocks Pumpkin Scarecrow, requires MSQ to be completed

Gourd at Work: unlocks Pumpkin Seeds

Squashed Hopes: prerequisite for Pumpkin recipes

Sugar, Spice, and I Forgot: unlocks Pumpkin Pie, Pumpkin Porridge, and Pumpkin Spice Latte

De-fenceless: unlocks Ornate Fence, requires Frozen Tundra materials

📬 Changes

Grilled Mushroom HP restore was a little high for how early you can learn and get the materials for the recipe. Heart Restore: 2 → 1.5

Changes to tool movement to make pickax bounce feel better and trigger less when you're just hitting things

🗣️ enraliYapping

I didn't want to really call it "Halloween" inside the game since that's sort of based in real-world belief systems that don't exist in Snacko. After all, Snacko has their own beliefs and deities already well established in the lore…so I figured it deserved its own version of "Halloween". Keeping the idea the same where it's helping souls move past purgatory, Lunarfall is just the more, um, Snacko version of it.

I had a lot of fun writing the banter between the characters for these new quests, including the quest descriptions. As time goes on and more Guild quests get added, the Guild leaders or reps also end up getting more of their own personality that makes them easier to write more interesting descriptions for.

So, I hope if quests and reading are your thing, you enjoy the work I've put into the narrative aspect of this update!

Ah, and, I was going to do Pumpkin Soup at first, but then I realized it looked exactly like Carrot Soup… So I made hobakjuk instead. It's a type of pumpkin soup thickened with rice flour and rice balls. Honestly, working on this update just made me really want to eat pumpkin pie. Maybe I can get my hands on some soon.

The Ornate Fence is set up in a way that in the future, we can make it dyeable. We're still working on our next major update with the build mode upgrades, so for everyone who really enjoys getting creative, please look forward to it! 🙇

Thank you very much for reading! Happy Lunarfall!

#snacko #indie game #cozy games #snackodev #farming sim #game dev #pixel art #lowpoly #patch notes

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m4iya · 5 months ago

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ᝰ.ᐟ✮⋆˙ Matchup #11 @yukimiyaswiife ˙⋆✮ᐟ.ᝰ

My very last matchup for a while! This has been in the drafts for... so long.

So, I've decided to match you to Akaashi Keiji!

If you've read any of my other matchups, you'd probably know that I tend to match opposite personalities together; I've said this more times than I can remember. But in some cases, I find that many couples I know have very similar personalities, so it isn't all that rare.

Since we know how Akaashi can be hard on himself, he's relatively experienced in keeping himself in check, although he can let it get out of hand sometimes. I can see this as being something you and him can work on together, with him being able to point it out to you and tell you. In the same fashion, you might be able to calm him down when he's feeling a little out of it, using the advice he'd given you.

From what I can tell, you seem like the type of person who's sticks to themselves (which I might be wrong about!). This leads me to imagine that most of the hangouts between the two of you would probably take place at someplace quiet; one of your homes, a large park, small cafe or something like that. But every once in a while, you'd go somewhere else more open; an aquarium or an amusement park like what you mentioned. On that same note, I could see you two probably going to an escape room together, or even to one of those cafe's that you can do arts and crafts (cake decorating, keychain making, phone-case designing, painting e.g.,)

The reason why I mentioned my assumption is that I can see him a person who might be able to bring you out of your shell a little. Out of the two of you, he definitely seems more like the open type. I can see him indirectly telling you about different things that he thinks you might take note of; "I saw this Ad for a free outdoor theatre, what do you think?" Something a little different to what you might do, but he’ll change it up each time. I can see Akaashi as the type of person who really looks into the growth of another person. Though, he wouldn't force you to go to one of these new places if you're genuinely uninterested or uncomfortable.

I'm not sure if this is something that he does, but I can definitely also see him as a person who has his school items organised. (when I think organisation, I usually think of stationery, notebooks - stuff like that). From what I've seen, a glimpse into someone’s bag might be reminiscent of what goes on in their head. That might sound confusing or random, but it’s sort of an aesthetic thing I imagined that also matches between the two of you. That being said, I can see you two having some matching stationery items; pens, notebooks, erasers. It'd probably be because you two went to do your stationery shopping together and ended up picking similar items.

Heres a small scenario I've imagined:

The sound of raindrops hitting the roof filled your ears as you lay on your bed, eyes closed and taking in all the sound. All day, you were thinking of the moment you'd get to slump onto your bed. So the sound of the sudden rain soothed your fast-pacing brain as you prepared to wind down.

Your phone suddenly sounded from your bedside table. Shifting to the side, the light emitting from it shone brightly over your half lidded eyes, forcing them open. After turning down the brightness, you checked the notification that sounded moments before.

"Are you free?"

It was Akaashi; you had barely gotten to speak to him all day. You had your head down in the books during class, working away in preparation for exams. Sure, you had said good morning and spoken to him a handful of times, but you weren't able to hold a lasting conversation with each other even once.

'He'd probably be walking home by now.' You thought to yourself as you checked the time before responding.

"Yeah, just taking a rest"

You scrolled through social media, waiting for a response which arrived in the form a call. Answering the phone, his voice spoke, the sound of the trickling rain lingering in the background. He asked you about your day, if you had eaten properly, made sure you were resting comfortably, asked about how you were handling exam prep and so on.

He made plans with you to come over another day once it was sunnier. He offered to take you to a cafe, joking about being the subject of your photography.

You could've done all of that today. It wasn't as though you'd never gone anywhere in the rain together. But even without asking, he considered that you were probably tired.

He knew you wouldn't turn him down, but even if you were to go, you'd be half the person you usually were on a normal day. He was all about taking you new and different places, but he also thought of you and how you'd feel about it, especially when you were exhausted.

Suddenly the sound of rain emitting from the speaker alongside his voice, subsided.

"Finally got home." He chuckled.

"Are you going.. to have dinner..?"

You might not have noticed it, but your speech was slurring, your eyelids becoming heavier with each blink.

“..Yep.” He sighed.

Eventually, you stopped responding as he realised you’d fallen asleep on the other line.

Once you had woken up, you noticed the phone was still beside your head, in the same place you had left it before dozing off.

"..Hello?" You spoke, seeing that the call had lasted multiple hours without the line being closed.

Though, instead of a response, soft breathing was all you heard from the other end. Waiting for you to wake up, he too had fallen asleep.

other works

#anime #haikyuu #fluff #haikyuu x reader #haikyu fluff #manga #akaashi #akaaski keiji #keiji akaashi #hq akaashi #hq akaashi fic #akaashi fic #matchup #akaashi x reader

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