#appearances in TITLE ALPHABETICAL ORDER

[splicejunction]

spreadsheet situation so diabolical i had to pull out the library(tidyverse)

[theanglesstories]

~ polytrix x reader ~

kpop demon hunter

inspired by : @sweetgothpeach - original work

Nails

The moment you stepped into the safehouse, Zoey’s voice hit you before the door fully closed.

“Did you get them done?!”

Her words echoed down the hallway.

You barely had time to take off your shoes before she appeared—barefoot, hoodie half-on, eyes wide with excitement.

“Babe, show me!”

You laughed, setting your bag down.

“It’s literally been twenty minutes since I texted you.”

“Yeah,” Zoey grinned, grabbing your wrists gently, “and that’s twenty minutes too long.”

You held out your hands.

Fresh gel polish. Glossy. Long. Almond-shaped tips.

Clean, pale pink base.

And at the end of three nails?

Tiny black initials: M, Z, and R.

Zoey gasped like you’d just proposed marriage.

“Oh my god.”

Her thumb brushed the little Z, her grin softening.

“Look at you,” she whispered, her voice dropping into something quieter.

“All claimed and cute.”

Mira appeared next, calm as always, but her eyes flicked to your hands.

Her lips curved—not quite a smirk, but close.

“Subtle,” she teased, brushing a fingertip over the M.

Her gaze stayed locked on yours.

“Mine’s first.”

Zoey pouted.

“Alphabetical order! Not favoritism.”

You were still laughing when Rumi came into the room, barefoot, hoodie sleeves too long, her gaze soft but sharp as always.

She caught one look at your nails, head tilting slightly.

“Pretty,” she whispered, reaching out to stroke your hand.

Then—quiet but deadly, eyes glinting:

“Guess this means you’re keeping the pillow princess title tonight.”

Your face burned instantly.

Zoey wheezed.

“Oh my god, Rumi!”

Mira chuckled softly, taking the opportunity to pull you closer.

Her fingers laced with yours, her breath warm against your ear.

“Long nails,” she murmured.

“Can’t have you working too hard.”

[its-me-levi]

Title: “The Forgotten One”

Chapter Six: Do Not Come Closer

Warning(s): Obsession, Stalking, mentions of knives, etc

Masterlist Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three, Part I Chapter Three, Part II Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten Chapter Eleven

They were being watched again.

{Name} had grown used to paranoia in their past life—used to shadows moving just a beat too late behind them in the halls of the manor. But this was different.

This was real.

The feeling of eyes didn’t go away now. It lingered. It burrowed under their skin. They started carrying pepper spray everywhere, then a knife. Then both.

But it hadn’t been enough.

Because they wouldn’t let go.

The first time {Name} saw the silhouette on the rooftop across from their apartment, they had frozen, breath caught in their throat.

Black cape.

Long.

Wrong.

They closed the blinds. Didn’t sleep that night.

They told themselves it couldn’t be Bruce. Not really. He wouldn’t stalk someone he claimed to care about—right?

But the next day, the deadbolt on their front door had been scratched. Just a little. Like someone had tested it.

And {Name} remembered: Batman always left no trace… unless he wanted someone to know he was there.

The following week, a flower appeared on their doorstep.

They nearly screamed.

It was a white dahlia—beautiful, perfect, with a card that simply read:

“We miss you.”

No signature.

Just that.

Their hand trembled as they crumpled the note and threw it into the sink, burning the edges with a lighter until it turned to ash.

They went to the police.

They tried to file a report.

The officer at the desk smiled too politely, then typed slower than necessary, and said, “There’s no proof of trespassing, sir/ma’am.”

{Name} leaned forward. “They are following me. Someone’s breaking into my home. I know it.”

The officer hesitated. “You say someone might be… stalking you. But there’s no footage. No witnesses. Do you have a name?”

{name} stared. Then whispered, “They’d just erase it.”

And they realized—no one could help them.

Not against them.

They finally snapped when the books on their shelf were rearranged.

Not stolen.

Not damaged.

Just… placed in a different order.

Chronological. Alphabetical. Exactly the way Tim liked it.

{Name} collapsed to the floor, chest heaving. Their world tilted. Bookshelf to wall to ceiling.

“Stop it,” they gasped, not even sure who they were speaking to.

But they knew someone would hear it.

Sharp words on paper.

Each stroke etched with trembling fingers.

If you care about me, stop. If you ever loved me, stop. I am not your project. I am not your lost toy. I am not someone you can control. Leave me alone.

Do not come closer. This is not love.

They taped it to the inside of their front door, so whoever kept entering—would see it.

They didn’t expect it to work.

But they hoped.

That night, they slept with the knife under their pillow.

They didn’t dream.

But a single knock echoed at 3:17 a.m.

Soft. Deliberate.

They didn’t answer.

And the door didn’t open.

But when morning came, the note was gone.

Taglist:

@p1nkh3artz @lilyalone

[simdertalia]

✨🧁 Pastry Puffs 🧁✨

Sims 4, base game compatible | 16 items 💗 all info in package files / many extra swatches added by me!

Some decorative cupcakes for your bakeries, parties, etc!

I hope you enjoy! ☺️💗

Always suggested: bb.objects ON, it makes placing items much easier. For further placement tweaking, check out the TOOL mod.

Use the scale up & down feature on your keyboard to make the items larger or smaller to your liking. If you have a non-US keyboard, it may be different keys depending on which alphabet it uses.

Download below, all in a zip file or pick & choose!

Set contains: Buy (in alphabetical order): -Autumn | 1 swatch | 1368 poly -Birthday | 5 swatches | 1364 poly -Cherry | 7 swatches | 1061 poly -Cherry Swirl | 7 swatches | 1051 poly -Chocolate | 4 swatches | 1002 poly -Chocolate Swirl | 4 swatches | 992 poly -Citrus | 3 swatches | 1020 poly -Citrus Swirl | 3 swatches | 1010 poly -Mint | 3 swatches | 1042 poly -Mint Swirl | 7 swatches | 1044 poly -Plain | 8 swatches | 958 poly -Spring | 1 swatch | 1260 poly -Stars | 6 swatches | 1196 poly -Summer | 3 swatches | 1458 poly -Swirl | 8 swatches | 948 poly -Winter | 4 swatches | 1466 poly

Type “pastry puffs" into the search query in build mode to find  quickly. You can always find items like this, just begin typing  the title and it will appear.

As always, please let me know if you have any issues! Happy Simming! 💗

📁 SimFileShare (no ads): HERE

📁 Alt Mega Download (still no ads): HERE

🌻 Download on Patreon

Will be public on April 19th, 2025 💗 Midnight CET

Happy Simming! ✨ Some of my CC is early access. If you like my work, please consider supporting me (all support helps me with managing my chronic pain/illness & things have been rough as of late):

★ Patreon  🎉 ❤️ |★ Ko-Fi  ☕️  ❤️ ★ Instagram📷

Thank you for reblogging ❤️ ❤️ ❤️

@sssvitlanz  @maxismatchccworld @mmoutfitters  @coffee-cc-finds  @itsjessicaccfinds  @gamommypeach  @stargazer-sims-finds  @khelga68  @suricringe  @vaporwavesims  @mystictrance15 @moonglitchccfinds @xlost-in-wonderlandx @jbthedisabledvet @fischottersims

Other CC Pictured: -Dessert Case, displays, and cakes

The rest of my CC

[erinwantstowrite]

Hey! :) I’ve really been wanting to get into reading comics but I have no idea where to start 🥲

Do you have any recommendations or references for how to start reading about different dc characters? I mainly want to start reading about batman and the rest of his clan but I want to branch out to other characters as well

hi!! i've gotten this question a lot and i'm so sorry it's taken me so long to answer all of y'all! but i wanted to make sure if i made a list, it would be with the best references i could find, and that it made sense for even a beginner

what i've found is that... there's apparently no right answer? mostly, you'll find people recommending you to start with their favorite collections, like Batman: Hush, etc etc. from what i've been able to tell, getting into comics is about choosing one that sounds the most interesting to you, and going from there. if you like the collection you've picked up, then someone will recommend another collection, so on. a lot of people recommend that you start with a certain character, someone that you really like. so if Tim Drake is calling to you like many... many people, then you can find a reading guide for him and pick and choose from a collection. like this one from this blogger that helped me. one of my favorite characters is Cassandra Cain (though I don't write her as often, which kind of happens when I really like a character?). she has a Batgirl run!! Batgirl #1. (((please note that this link takes you to readallcomics.com, which you should use an adblocker for if you want to use this website. however!! it is very different from readcomics.com))) look how cool she is!!

however I personally like to try and read in chronological order because I don't like missing out on anything. in my search, i found an amazingly ordered, extensive website called comicbookherald.com

i started using this because they have a list in chronological order for many, many, many characters in the DC universe:

https://www.comicbookherald.com/reading-dc-comics/

one of the very first options on this list is Batman (listed in alphabetical), and when you click on him, you'll find exactly what you're looking for:

https://www.comicbookherald.com/reading-dc-comics/batman-reading-order/

the links on the actual titles in the list will take you to Amazon to buy the comic, but there are other ways to find these comics either online (like seen above with Batgirl #1) or through your local library (recommended). if your library doesn't have them, you might be able to find them at a nearby one or you can ask the librarian how a request works. they'd probably be happy to get it for you (support your local libraries!!!) you might find that you prefer going to a comic shop, and that's great too

i also looked up the publication history of the Batman comics using Wikipedia, just to make sure that I knew what i was doing, and i started with the very first on the list: Detective Comics #27. this is Bruce Wayne/Batman's very first appearance.

i also found some helpful videos that i personally have tried to follow:

"BATMAN 101: A GUIDE TO HELP YOU START READING BATMAN COMICS!" by History of the Batman

"Where to Start Reading Batman Comics | Best Batman Comics for Beginners in Collected Editions!" by Near Mint Condition

the issue is that it's pretty hard to read all of the characters at once and stay in order, which means you'll probably want to stick to reading one character at a time and piecing it together like that. but if you're feeling brave, i'd cross reference the years and publication history and go by the order of when each character shows up: start by reading Batman, and when Dick Grayson appears, look up his list and see how the publication history looks, and i guess start trying to read them side by side? the same would go for when Jason appears, then Tim, etc etc. but this might be VERY difficult, so i am very much recommending beginners to start by reading Batman's and branch out from there

my personal favorite right now is Batman & Robin: Year One because Dick Grayson is in it and he's so cute here in his Robin days

edit: adding on this ask i got about hoopla

[putschki1969]

Wakana to Appear at "Memento Mori 1st Live ~The Singing of Laments~"

Wakana will be appearing at the first music event that's being held for the smartphone and PC RPG "Memento Mori," for which she contributed Florence's "Lament" (= character-original theme song) titled "Flag"! A large number of artists will sing their "Lament" accompanied by an orchestra. Please look forward to it.

[Event details] Memento Mori 1st Live ~The Singing of Laments~ Venue: Tokyo Garden Theater Date: Saturday, October 25, 2025 Time: Doors open at 15:00 / Show starts at 17:00

Performers (in alphabetical order): Amane (Fia) ayaka. (Richesse) +α/Alfa-kyun. (Moza) Ohashi Ayaka (Rusalka) Saito Shuka (Cerberus) Sasaki Eri (Title Song) Shimotsuki Haruka (Amour) Daoko (Illya) Haruna Luna (Cordie) Wakana (Florence) …and more, coming soon! ※Performers may change without notice

Website: https://mememori-game.com/live_202510

Tickets: SS seats: 21,000 yen S seats: 14,000 yen AA seats: 9,500 yen A seats: 8,500 yen

Benefits: - SS seats/S seats Event-limited penlight Priority access to merch booths and exits (※VIP15) Welcome drink voucher (※VIP15) Serial code to receive in-game items - AA seats/A seats Serial code to receive in-game items

① Advance sale for VIP15 players Only those with a VIP15 status in their Memento Mori account can apply (VIP15 status required by May 25, 2025). Eligible players will receive individual instructions in the Memento Mori game. Please apply according to the instructions. Application period: May 29, 2025 12:00~June 5, 2025 23:59 Lottery results: June 8, 2025~

※The number of applications is limited to 2 per person ※The accompanying person does not need to be a VIP15 player ※AA and A seats do not come with VIP15 exclusive benefits ※The winners are determined by lottery. No first come, first served

② Advance sale in the game You can proceed to the application page from within the Memento Mori game. Anyone can apply. (The game "Memento Mori" must be installed and an account must be created.) Application period: June 9, 2025 12:00~June 16, 2025 23:59 Lottery results: June 18, 2025~

※The number of applications is limited to 3 per person ※The winners are determined by lottery. No first come, first served

Further sales planned for the future.

2025/05/26 Instagram post by Wakana

A day with lots of walking. (Source)

[icypantherwrites]

Coran, Coran the Gorgeous Man: Favorite AU Role

So we all know how much I adore Coran and love being able to feature the gorgeous man in roles that showcase his compassion, his protective nature and his many, many talents. As such he's become a bit of a wildcard when I write Alternate Universe fics as he is capable of popping into so many roles wherever he best fits the story and having wrapped up my final AU fic it's got me feeling nostalgic for all of his appearances and I thought in support of Coran Appreciation I'd highlight those roles AND ask to see which one(s) was your favorite (and why!)! Super special hugs and love to anyone who feels inspired to go back and read any of the fics and engage with them via a comment; those always make my day 🧡

Coran's roles are sorted here alphabetically by the title of the fic he appears in AND I've noted via a scale of 1-5 🧡s how major his role is in the fic. (I did not realize how many of these titles started with S 😅)

The Deadliest of Sins

Coran's Role: Social Worker / Coffee Shop Owner

Role Visibility: 🧡🧡

Story summary: (Police/Detective AU) There’s a serial killer haunting the streets of Garrison City. Detective Lance is assigned to the case, trying to solve the killer’s motive and identity before another victim shows up in a week. He can tell there’s something very personal to the killer about these crime scenes and how each victim is killed, but even Lance has no idea how personal this case is about to become.

The Orange Grind (series)

Coran's Role: Coffee Shop Owner

Role Visibility: 🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡

Story summary: Coffee Shop AU series where Coran is the owner of The Orange Grind and Keith is the runaway foster kid he finds picking through food in his dumpster.

Sea of Stars

Coran's Role: Doctor

Role Visibility: 🧡

Story summary: Lance is a college freshman at Galaxy Garrison University on a swim scholarship taking classes to put him on the path of his dream to be a NASA pilot. In order to do that he needs to maintain his grades and his calculus class is proving to be an obstacle. But Lance’s TA, Shane, is a great resource and he’s feeling confident that with the senior’s help he'll achieve the grade he needs. Except it seems Shane is interested in more than just helping Lance get an A. He’s very much interested in Lance. And 'no' is not an acceptable answer for this tutor and failure is not an option.

Shooting For the Stars (But Crashing Back Down) (series)

Coran's Role: Detective

Role Visibility: 🧡🧡 (All 5 🧡 for the third fic in the series)

Story summary: (Alternate Universe - College Lance's family had sacrificed so much to get him to the Galaxy Garrison University, had so much pride in him: the first to go to college, the first to have a chance to make something of their family name. “Dispara para las estrellas, mijo,” Mamá whispered to him every night before he went to sleep, “porque tú perteneces con ellas.” (Shoot for the stars, my son, because you belong among them.) Well, Lance went for the stars. And he crashed and burned. And now he has to somehow pick up the shattered pieces of his hopes, his dreams and his life. But the ship is still burning and he doesn't know how to get out. He... He isn't sure he can.

Sleeping Somewhere Cold (Until You Lead Me Back Home)

Coran's Role: History Teacher

Role Visibility: 🧡🧡

Story summary: Lance’s family was dead. And he… he had killed them. It didn’t matter what anyone else said, didn’t matter that he wasn’t the cause of the accident. He knew he’d killed them. And while Lance may have survived he wasn’t living. His dreams died alongside his family and his world has become a dark, cold nightmare. He isn't sure he is ever going to wake up from it. He… he isn't sure he wants to.

Someone's Gotta Pay 

Coran's Role: Detective

Role Visibility: 🧡

Story summary: What should have been a fun evening celebrating the conclusion of winter finals with his friends takes a sharp turn when Lance receives a far lower grade than expected in the class he had worked so hard on. Rather than ruin everyone’s night, Lance leaves on his own, intending to go to their shared apartment and be miserable there. He doesn’t make it. He’s waylaid by muggers who, after discovering Lance barely has a few dollars to his name, teach him a lesson for wasting their time. And now Lance is gasping for breath, dying in the blood-stained snow, vision dark and world going quiet. And he doesn’t know if he’s ever going to wake up again. Or; the AU fic where Lance is mugged, violently beaten, and both he and his friends learn a lot on the road to his recovery.

[snarryauctoberfest]

2024 Snarry AUctoberfest: Creator Reveals (Part 1) 💚❤️

Thank you to all the wonderful participants who made this year so special, and to all the Snarry fans who have helped celebrate and enjoy the works created for this fest. View the collection on AO3.

We wanted to put together a final list of all the works, but it appears this year it is too much for a single tumblr post to handle! Tumblr is weak, Snarry is strong, so the post has been split in 2.

This is part 1, which covers Podfic, Art and some of the fic.

Part 2 can be found here.

Thank you to every one of our amazing contributors: Aeternum, armassy, blackwhitelight, Cailynwrites, Coconutice22, DaniPantsu, danpuff, enoby_w, Faithless_3105, Goddess47, HNWitt15, Klari, Likelightinglass, lone_amaryllis, LoveCrumb, lumosatnight, maraudersaffair, originella, razz, sillybeans, Somn, SquibNation10, Thestingratporcupine, Trueliarose, WeAreTheLuckyOnes.

Podfic

Title: Lively Days at Potter House by khaleesisophie - a Podfic Creator: Cailynwrites Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Length: 2:12:47 Summary: Podfic of Lively Days at Potter House by khaleesisophie Harry, who has a misplaced understanding of his own skill in matchmaking, attempts to strike a match for his dear friend, Draco Malfoy. A tale of misunderstanding and romantic misadventures. Or, the Emma Snarry AU we always needed. 💚❤️ Listen on AO3 💚❤️

Art

Title: A Dragon's Treasure Creator: sillybeans AND Trueliarose Rating: General Audiences Word Count: ART and 278 words Summary: It is only in the world of legends and myths that dragons live today. They are matters of stories and tales told to children at night, fantasy so wondrous only the bravest of us dare to let our minds wander. 💚❤️ View on AO3 💚❤️

🧡

Title: Fanart: You Are... Creator: SquibNation10 Rating: General Audiences Word Count: Art Summary: What does Harry have to do to get Severus' attention? 💚❤️ View on AO3 💚❤️

🧡

Title: Illicit Goods Creator: DaniPantsu Rating: Mature Word Count: Summary: Harry is very interested in what is in Snape's pants… and his bag, and his coat, and… 💚❤️ View on AO3 💚❤️

🧡

Title: Muggle Adventures (Alligators Edition) Creator: DaniPantsu Rating: General Audiences Word Count: Artwork Summary: You want alligators? I'll give you alligators. 💚❤️ View on AO3 💚❤️

🧡

Title: positions of love Creator: Thestingratporcupine Rating: Explicit Word Count: Summary: A few pages of a gay wizarding version of the kama sutra, starring Severus and Harry 💚❤️ Read on AO3 💚❤️

Fanfic - In alphabetical order

Title: A Prize Worth Any Price Creator: razz Rating: Explicit Word Count: 7.7k Summary: Defeated by the Rogue King and his army, the remaining nobles of Voldania sacrifice omega Severus Snape as a war prize. They know the propaganda about the Rogue King's marauding ways and discarded lovers. The nobles laugh about sending an old, 'ugly' omega and taunt Severus with predictions that he'll be hate-ravished or killed outright for the insult. Meanwhile Harry thinks he's agreed to an arranged marriage for the peace contracts. He knows about the spy who worked for the resistance during Voldemort's reign. He's excited to have such a dashing spouse. 💚❤️ Read on AO3 💚❤️

🧡

Title: After Spinner's End Creator: enoby_w Rating: Mature Word Count: 4.2k Summary: When Harry left his aunt and uncle's he hadn't meant to end up in Cokeworth. But he'd fallen asleep on the bus; it was late, and now he needed somewhere to stay until morning. While the crooked, empty house on the corner looked like it would do just fine in a pinch, had Harry bothered to ask, the locals would have told him the house at Spinner's End might look empty, but it wasn't. Something lived there; whatever it was, it was best left alone. 💚❤️ Read on AO3 💚❤️

🧡

Title: After the Orchard Creator: originella Rating: Mature Word Count: 20.8k Summary: Prompt 2024-110: Newly widowed Harry has trouble getting his son to sleep. One night Hermione sends him a podcast of Severus Snape talking about his time during the war, and it puts his son directly to sleep. Even though the man had never answered any of Harry’s letters through the year, he decides to reach out and tell him about this new development. 💚❤️ Read on AO3 💚❤️

🧡

Title: Bad Ideas Creator: Klari Rating: General Audiences Word Count: 684 Summary: A romantic weekend gets run aground when a hunt for mythological creatures finds “something.” 💚❤️ Read on AO3 💚❤️

🧡

Title: baring my arse (baring my heart) Creator: blackwhitelight Rating: Explicit Word Count: 5k Summary: "Why do we have to be naked again?" 💚❤️ Read on AO3 💚❤️

🧡

Title: Beginnings Creator: Trueliarose Rating: General Audiences Word Count: 3k Summary:  In the beginning there was nothing… A retelling of the beginnings of time and the world as we know it. 💚❤️ Read on AO3 💚❤️

🧡

Title: Blonde Tresses Creator: HNWitt15 Rating: Mature Word Count: 1.2k Summary: Same as prompt. 💚❤️ Read on AO3 💚❤️

🧡

Title: Chance Creator: armassy AND Trueliarose Rating: Explicit Word Count: 27.8k + art Summary: Severus did not receive a lot of text messages. Especially not to his work phone. Especially not from unknown numbers. Especially not dick pics. 💚❤️ Read on AO3 💚❤️

🧡

Title: Chords of Affection Creator: Coconutice22 Rating: Explicit Word Count: 18k   Summary: Severus is distracted by his newest admirer. 💚❤️ Read on AO3 💚❤️

🧡

Title: Conditions To Bloom Creator: LoveCrumb Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Word Count: 9.8k Summary: Severus lets his gaze fall to the sagging aloe plant in front of him, and it hardly takes a cursory glance before he has his diagnosis. “Root rot,” he says. The man’s eyebrows shoot up on his forehead. “But how do you–I’ve hardly been watering it at all!” Supporting a drooping leaf with the tip of his pen, Severus eyes the unnatural lean of the stem and gives the customer a disbelieving raise of one eyebrow. 💚❤️ Read on AO3 💚❤️

🧡

Title: Deceit and Debauchery Creator: Faithless_3105 Rating: Explicit Word Count: 13.8k Summary: Severus' curiosity as to who Tracey Davis is going to try to entrap into marriage pays off when he see's that it is none other than Harry Potter. He knows he has the chance to save his friends son from what will certainly be a disastrous marriage but what will be Severus' rewards for his efforts? 💚❤️ Read on AO3 💚❤️

🧡

Title: Don't You Wanna Mess With Me? Creator: razz Rating: Explicit Word Count: 3.3k Summary: Things get messy when rival bakery owner, Severus Snape, pays Harry a visit in his kitchen. 😘 💚❤️ Read on AO3 💚❤️

🧡

Title: Fate's Blind Date Creator: Faithless_3105 Rating: Explicit Word Count: 29.8k Summary: When Severus indulges himself with a walk along the West End after work, the last thing he imagines is that he will get invited to a show by a gorgeous young man. Things only get more astounding after that when their casual meeting evolves into something more and Severus finds himself pulled into a family feud that threatens to bring his dark past to light. 💚❤️ Read on AO3 💚❤️

🧡

Title: First Impressions Creator: Aeternum Rating: Explicit Word Count: 24.6k Summary: When Harry is forced to marry a complete stranger, he tries to make the best of things. After all, he's a Healer, he can take care of himself. And his new husband seems nice enough… But why, exactly, has Severus already been married three times before? And why have all three of those previous spouses died unexpectedly? Is Harry next? Or will he fall in love with his new husband after all? 💚❤️ Read on AO3 💚❤️

Creator reveals part 2 can be found here.

🧡 2024 Snarry AUctoberfest Entries || HOS Tumblr || Discord 🧡

[encyclopediacr]

Hello, Encyclopedia Exandria readers! We the administrators requested to have the wiki included in stress testing for CirrusSearch as it is being rolled out to Miraheze. As the name implies, it is an extension that enhances the search bar and search page. We don't necessarily have all of its features (yet?), but a lot of nifty things are already available to us!

What does that mean for readers? The mechanics of searching still works the same from the search bar, so things mostly appear the same and your normal searching habits should not be disrupted.

CirrusSearch indexes articles faster, meaning that changes made to articles are reflected in the search results page much sooner. It also improves page weighting in the suggestions as you type, attempting to list articles by relevancy using a number of factors (pageviews, number of matches, length) rather than displaying results in strict alphabetical order. It also expands templates and wiki-markup in the search suggestions, meaning that all rendered text is now properly included in search results.

The advanced search page also uses a new UI. This includes some new filters that allow you to search for articles with certain phrases in the title or belong to specific categories. We can now search for, for example, articles containing "de Rolo" in the title. The "deepcat" filter isn't enabled, so you will run into issues if you attempt to use it; however, using the "incategory" filter, we can find articles that are in both the Lycanthropes and Gnomes categories.

If you're interested in what else CirrusSearch has to offer or in looking into its more technical details, you can check out its help page on MediaWiki. We hope that it makes it easier for you to find what you're looking for on Encyclopedia Exandria.

[hqinstinct]

This is a series of Haikyuu!! fanfics set in my interpretation of an omegaverse! I've detailed the pairings, schedule, and universe mechanics below, and you'll find a detailed navigation at the bottom of the post.

I decided to start this fic as an exercise in both utter self-indulgence and blunt-force writing, even on days I'm not up to it. If anyone else happens to enjoy it, that's a delightful bonus! 🩶

BASICS

Series Title: Instinct

Rating: Explicit

Schedule: 500 Words / Day | Revised & Posted to AO3 Monthly

Warnings: tagged on individual chapters

PAIRINGS

Pairings are listed alphabetically, not in order of dynamic. The below pairings will be included in the series, but I haven't necessarily decided all of the particulars yet. More pairings may be added (or a third person added to a few of the ones listed below).

Akaashi Keiji / Bokuto Kōtarō

Azumane Asahi / Nishinoya Yū

Kita Shinsuke / Ojiro Aran

Kuroo Tetsurō / Tsukishima Kei

Miya Atsumu / Sakusa Kiyoomi

Miya Osamu / Komori Motoya / Suna Rintarō

Oikawa Tōru / Ushijima Wakatoshi

Sawamura Daichi / Sugawara Kōshi

Shimizu Kiyoko / Yachi Hitoka

Tsukishima Akiteru / Yamaguchi Tadashi

BIOLOGY & MEDICAL

GENDER

Primary Gender: determined by chromosomes, physical appearance

Secondary Gender: determined by genitalia

PREGNANCY

CAN BECOME PREGNANT

Female Betas

Female Omegas

Male Omegas | have eggs but cannot carry to term

CAN IMPREGNATE

Male Betas

Male Alphas

Female Alphas

MEDICAL AIDS

BIRTH CONTROL

has no impact on the heat cycle beyond preventing pregnancy

taken by almost all male omegas, for safety's sake

SUPPRESSANTS

to be taken continuously, beginning early in pre-heat, to delay the onset of a full heat cycle for two to six weeks

difficult to predict exactly how long it will stave off heat

keeps patient in a state of pre-heat

BLOCKERS

pheromone blockers which work to minimize social disruption during heat/rut and alleviate symptoms such as fever and fogginess

there are patches and creams for younger patients, but blockers are most efficient when taken orally or via injection

PHEROMONES

All people emit pheromones, all people can pick up on them to some degree.

Alphas and Omegas are both more sensitive to pheromones and tend to emit stronger ones.

Pheromones tend to convey general emotional state and are not highly specific. They get stronger when someone's emotional state is highly elevated.

During pre-heat and pre-rut, pheromone production and emission will see a significant increase in both omegas and alphas.

Teenagers tend to be quite reactive to each other's pheromones, as the influx in them during puberty is quite extreme. Adults have usually adjusted well and don't react too strongly unless they are exceptionally compatible with someone or overstimulated.

Alpha pheromones, especially from a particularly compatible or familiar alpha, can help to ease pre-heat symptoms in an Omega, but once in a full heat, to have only the pheromones without a physical alpha tends to make the symptoms worse.

PRESENTATION

OMEGAS

occurs during primary gender puberty

omegas experience their first heat cycle, both their first pre-heat and heat tend to be shorter than typical

triggered independently, but the likelihood of an early presentation can be increased if omega is often in close proximity with several mature alphas who do not use pheromone blockers

ALPHAS 

occurs during primary gender puberty

alphas experience their first pre-rut, which typically becomes a full hormonal rut which is shorter than typical, as they are not usually with an omega - all future ruts will occur only in the presence of a suitable omega in heat

triggered by omega heat in close proximity - can be triggered independently if alpha is nearing the end of puberty and has yet to be in close proximity to an omega in heat

TRAITS & CYCLES

OMEGAS

GENERALIZED TRAITS

independent

aggressive

protective

patient

personally territorial

socially reserved

CYCLE | 2x / Year

Proestrus | 7-10 Days | ovulation & PMS mashed into one for the purposes of this universe • Physical: climbing fever, mild weight gain • Behavioural: irritable, sex averse, restless, hungry • Cultural: personal grooming, considering alphas

Estrus | 14-21 Days | heat • Physical: swollen vulva, touch sensitivity, fever, state of arousal • Emerging Bestial Traits: elongated canines, elongated nails/claws, altered pupils • Behavioural: promiscuous, flirtatious, erratic, reckless • Cultural: initiate courtship close to onset of estrus • Nesting: happens w/ chosen alpha or alone if no heat partner

ALPHAS

GENERALIZED TRAITS

goofy

clingy

attentive

competitive

spatially territorial

easier to socialize

CYCLE

Pre-Rut | triggered by omega pre-heat/proestrus • Physical: sharpening senses, mild to moderate increase in muscle mass • Behavioural: aggressive, competitive, hungry • Cultural: flaunting selves as potential mates

Rut | begins with omega heat/estrus if chosen to mate • Physical: diminished refractory period • Emerging Bestial Traits: knot, barbed phallus, elongated canines, elongated nails/claws, altered pupils • Behavioural: territorial, attentive, assertive, domineering • Cultural: provide in all senses • Nesting: happens w/ omega

Rest | intermittent during rut & omega heat/estrus • Physical: midway between everyday & rut appearances • Behavioural: attentive, diligent • Cultural: ensure omega's needs are met and they are healthy between phases

BETAS

Betas are people who lack the recessive gene (or in whom it lies dormant) that alphas and omegas carry, and thus do not manifest a secondary gender.

If the gene lies dormant, there is the possibility - albeit slim - of it manifesting later in life.

RELATIONSHIPS

MATING | the act of sharing heat/rut cycles

PROCESS

The Omega's proestrus cycle begins, their increased pheromone production triggers a pre-rut phase in any alphas they're often in close proximity with.

During the pre-rut phase, alphas tend to exhibit more competitive, peacocking behaviour, while also doing their best to be of service and show themselves off as being good potential mates.

Simultaneously, omegas tend to become more irritable and aggressive, interested in sex, and focused on their health and appearance during their pre-heat/proestrus.

As their estrus/heat approaches, it's up to an omega to initiate a courtship with their chosen alpha.

Once an alpha has been chosen, they and the omega will nest together while the alpha focuses on ensuring all their needs will be met and provided for leading up to and during their shared heat/rut.

When the omega enters their estrus/heat, the alpha will biologically respond by entering their rut.

Throughout an omega's heat, their alpha will cycle between rut and rest cycles. During rest phases, they will focus on cleaning, feeding, and generally caring for their omega first and themselves second.

If bonding is to take place, it will take place toward the end of an omega's heat cycle, and will only succeed if the couple are sufficiently compatible.

BEHAVIOUR

Omegas in heat remain generally cognizant, but display increased promiscuity and recklessness, alongside an elevated temper and sharper sensory perception. The combination doesn't cause incoherence, but can cloud judgment and result in rash decision making and uncharacteristic behaviour.

Alphas in a rut cannot safely be in communal spaces during an active rut phase, but are safe to be around others during rest and pre-rut phases. During said phases, however, they tend to experience an elevated desire to remain in what their instincts deem to be their territory, with no visitors, throughout.

BONDING | the act of forming a permanent, mutual bond

Any combination of alphas and/or omegas can bond, provided they display sufficient compatibility. However, because that level of compatibility is most common in alpha/omega pairs, as their cycles function to be inherently compatible, they bond successfully most often.

Bonding takes place toward the end of a heat/rut cycle, once sufficient compatibility has been established and while pheromones and hormones are still peaking.

Bonds are exchanged via a bite over the neck (received by omegas), and claws dug into the pulse point of the neck (received by alphas).

Bonds are permanent, but not exclusive, though people tend to find multiple bonds overwhelming if the relationships are not harmonious.

IMPRINTING | the act of forming a one-sided bond between an alpha or omega and a beta

Betas cannot form a biological bond in the same way alphas & omegas can, however, an alpha or omega can effectively bond themselves to a beta by exchanging marks.

SOCIETAL STANDARDS & POPULATION PERCENTAGES

BETAS | 40%

Betas make up the largest majority in the population. They are not beholden to a secondary gender and tend to be favoured for mediation positions in fields where large numbers of alphas and omegas are present, and in medical and emergency positions where personnel cannot be swayed by base instincts or prone to unexpected absences caused by a heat or rut.

FEMALE ALPHAS | 10%

Female alphas are relatively rare, but still common enough as they have historically been able to carry out their biological imperative without issue. Historically, they have alternately been seen as interlopers in both male and female spaces, and the perfect balance between genders, able to embody the best of all generalized traits. In the modern era, their reception remains divided, but they tend to excel in both typically male and female fields.

MALE ALPHAS | 25%

Male alphas make up the largest quotient of the secondary gender population. They have historically been viewed as simultaneously the ideal masculine and barbaric, too animalistic to be trusted while simultaneously coveted and aspired to. In the modern era, the double-edged stigma still shows in the fact that male alphas tend to dominate in professional sports and entertainment but otherwise struggle to be taken seriously and can be accused of undue aggression for relatively normal reactions that exhibit anger.

FEMALE OMEGAS | 20%

Female omegas make up almost the same percentage of the population as male alphas. They have historically been coveted as ideal women, and as a result, have also been held to intensely stringent societal expectations, punished severely when deviating from them, and taken advantage of when their heats make them vulnerable. In modern society, they still struggle to be taken seriously, especially outside of typically female and/or omega spaces.

MALE OMEGAS | 5%

Male omegas are the most rare as the near-guarantee of death following pregnancy has come close to breeding out the trait. In the past, depending on the culture & era, having a male omega child could be seen as a bad sign, or, at times, it would be seen as a gift as their inability to bear children would result in male omegas being seen as built for a higher purpose and a life of piety. Rarity did breed a certain amount of fetishism that has become more prominent in the modern day when pregnancy is more avoidable than ever.

NOTES/DISCLAIMERS

IT'S ALL A LITTLE HAND-WAVY While I did take inspiration from animal heat/rut cycles, and I tried to make the population shake out in a way that makes sense, ultimately, this is a silly, self-indulgent little AU whose primary purpose is being horny. Don't examine it too closely.

THERE WILL BE EXCEPTIONS The 'generalized traits' given in this post are meant to convey that sexism is alive and well and very multi-layered in this universe. Those are the traits thought of as typical, and while they are fairly common, they're a massive oversimplification with many exceptions.

THE NORM IS NOT SO NORMAL Again, I wrote this post to try and convey the overarching societal views in this universe, and just like in our universe, it's a very black-and-white view of a much more colourful society. There are plenty of people in this universe who don't fit neatly within the most basic view of sex and gender.

IF SOMETHING IS PROBLEMATIC, IT'S PROBABLY ON PURPOSE Societies are problematic, cultural norms can be problematic. Some of that absolutely manifests in this universe because I think grappling with it is an inescapable part of existing within a larger community.

SEE INDIVIDUAL POST TAGS FOR WARNINGS Some chapters will include triggering content. There will always be applicable warnings in the tags for that specific update.

MAJOR LINKS

Revised & Edited Series on AO3

Main Blog @bitchbot3000

SERIES TAGS

Story Posts | #hqinstinct

Q & A Posts | #hqinstinctqa

Meta/HC Posts | #hqinstinctthoughts

Bonus/Alt Posts | #hqinstinctbonus

BROWSE CHRONOLOGICALLY

In order to browse a tag chronologically, add /chrono to the end of the web address. For example: hqinstinct.tumblr.com/tagged/hqinstinct/chrono

[ljones41]

Favorite Streaming Productions From 2024

Below is a list of my favorite productions that appeared on streaming channels in 2024 (in alphabetical order):

FAVORITE STREAMING PRODUCTIONS FROM 2024

"Belgravia: The Next Chapter" - This sequel to Julian Fellowes' 2020 limited series, "Belgravia", aired on MGM+. Set thirty years later, the limited series starred Benjamin Wainwright and Harriet Slater.

"Cross" (Season One) - Starring Aldis Hodge, this crime thriller television series about a Washington D.C. forensic psychologist and homicide detective is based on James Patterson's "Alex Cross" novel series, now airing on Amazon Prime Video.

"The Empress" (Season Two) - Devrim Lingnau and Philip Froissant star in this Netflix historical drama about Empress Elisabeth and Emperor Franz-Josef I of Austria.

"Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist" - Kevin Hart and Samuel L. Jackson starred in Peacock's limited series about an infamous armed robbery held on the night of Muhammad Ali's historic 1970 comeback fight in Atlanta. Don Cheadle, Taraji P. Henson and Terence Howard co-starred.

"Mr. & Mrs. Smith" (Season One) - Donald Glover and Maya Erskine starred in this Amazon Prime Video remake of the 2005 comedy thriller about two strangers and trained espionage agents, impersonating a married couple, while working for a mysterious organization.

"The Penguin" - Colin Farrell reprised his role as Oswald "Oz" Cobb aka the Penguin from the 2022 D.C. Comics movie, "The Batman", in this HBO/Max limited series about the titled character's rise to power in Gotham City's underworld.

"Shōgun" - This second adaptation of James Clavell's 1975 novel about a shipwrecked English soldier and his association with a powerful daimyo in early 17th century Japan aired on the FX on Hulu channel and starred Hiroyuki Sanada, Cosmo Jarvis, Anna Sawai and Tadanobu Asano.

"Star Wars: The Acolyte" - Amandla Stenberg and Lee Jung-jae starred in this Disney Plus limited series about the Jedi Order's investigation of a series of crimes during the High Republic era.

"Star Wars: Skeleton Crew" - Jude Law starred in this Disney Plus limited series about four children, who make a discovery on their home planet, get lost in the galaxy and go on an adventure to get back home. The series is set during the early New Republic era.

[starwriterulia]

Tomb of the Goshenite Stargazer Dragon - Chapter 4

SUBJECT MATERIAL WARNINGS FOR THIS FANFICTION ARE INCLUDED IN THE MASTERLIST POST OF MY BLOG AND THE FIRST CHAPTER OF THIS FANFICTION.

Bat dividers by @violetbudd

Minors DNI, scene cut and creator support banners by @cafekitsune

Latest revision: August 18, 2024. Added minors DNI, scene cut and "Support your creators by reblogging" banners. Added ⏭️ emoji below end of chapter banner with text explaining its function as a navigational button.

Chapter summary: Faith, nude, is experiencing a lucid dream when Ra's, also nude, appears, and holds her left breast from behind while talking with Faith about how she could make this easier on everyone if she submitted to him. Faith reminds Ra's that it was a shared wet dream, and she follows her curiosity and sexual hormones, and allows Ra's to use her mouth. Before Ra's moves on to her vagina, the eight pairs of neon red eyes of a spider-demon appears in the darkness, and uses a tentacle to throw Ra's far into the sky. Faith flirts with the demon, who speaks Nerobzal, the language of the Nero Sprits of Faith's fictional galaxy, Thalassic Space, and they have sex using the demon's tentacles in Faith's mouth, vagina and anus. But Faith loses motivation and dispells the illusion, revealing to her that she had burned part of the forest near Wayne Manor, and is in shock.

Urania comes down from the sky in a beautiful cluster of stars within a beam of light, and scolds Faith, and inserts a finger into Faith's vagina to remove residue from the dream world to prevent a Nero Spirit from manifesting or possessing Faith. She leads Faith into the forest, where Batman was waiting, telling him to call if she's needed and Zatanna is unavailable, and they go to the mansion, where Urania departs. Stephanie waited inside, and helps Faith dress before making breakfast for the two girls, during which Faith tries to talk about her Fairy Persona, Solas, and her Mermaid Persona, Ønske, but instead talks about the alphabets and translation and pronunciation rules of Neofom and Nerobzal. Batman interrupts after this, saying they were late to the Belfry, and the girls put their dishes in the sink with water and leave with Batman. After Faith's training, while Barbara escorts Faith to the bathroom to shower while Tim and Stephanie prepare dinner, Dick reflects about the session, Ra's' actions earlier that day, and the other world-ending disaster that Ra's could initate with knowledge of its ritual. The Batkids eat dinner together, then Stephanie and Faith go upstairs to have some fun.

Fandoms: DC Comics, Batfamily, no Batcest, Thalassic Space (OC; takes inspiration The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Assassin's Creed: Black Flag, Silent Hill 2, Silent Hill 3, and other sci-fi, fantasy and horror titles, as well as original concepts, such as the science and lore of the galaxy.)

[In order of appearance] Characters: Faith Lawson (TBA; self-insert), Stephanie Brown (The Spoiler), Bruce Wayne (Batman), Barbara Gordon (Batgirl), Dick Grayson (Nightwing), Tim Drake (Red Robin).

Word Count: 11570 (Back to having a long chapter due to how much dialogue I tend to write, WHOOPS.) 15439 (August 10 revision, HOLY SHIT, I mean of course it got longer 'cause I added part of Chapter 3 onto it, but HOT DAMN)

Chapter 1 - Chapter 2 - Chapter 3 - Chapter 4 - Chapter 5

Content warnings: Nightmare related imagery, brief non-consensual breast holding, oral (male receiving), vaginal and anal teasing and penetration with a lucid dream manifested tentacle, face teasing (female receiving) with a lucid dream manifested tentacle, rough consensual vaginal and anal sex with a lucid dream manifested tentacle, dirty thoughts à la Dick Grayson about Faith's ass, thighs and boobs (it it may be slightly OOC, but then again... it's probably fine LOL)

I approached my high school that was also UNBC Prince George and the most horrifying yet thrilling indoor water park that could ever exist, taking large strides towards the front doors of the school and entering, slowing my pace as I neared the gymnasium hallway. The canteen to the left was open and tended by familiar faces, and to the right was a Japanese subway station clad in neon pink, and down that way, on the left side of the hall, was a McDonalds. The way its white, red and yellow lighting merged with the neon pink gave me a headache. I entered the gym, which no longer captured its appearance as I remembered it, basketball hoops, metal support structures, the laminate flooring and the bleachers with an opening to the locker hallway, and from there two stairs to the mezzanine, and displayed the water park with white tiles and blue tiles of various shades, cautionary signs on the floor and walls, and two massive pools that were probably from Vancouver or Surrey. I had flashes of going down the waterslide of too many impossible tubes, the drain-slide of doom, and the shocking feeling of my foster dad not quite catching me, and the curiosity of what would have remained if I had died, that day. Would my subconscious be trapped in the pool, or would it become one with the water and cease to exist?

I heard a man hum lustfully behind me. He slithered an arm over my left shoulder and cupped his hand around my breast. "Are you usually naked in your dreams?" It was Ra's, of course. I didn't even need to turn around to confirm that.

"No." I felt my body awaken as we were transported to the street in front of the high school at night, the yellow light of streetlamps keeping away the creatures and spirits that I couldn't name or describe, but the goosebumps on my skin had felt. Ra's had attracted an audience of Nero Spirits, and they would love a show. I rubbed my eyes and yawned while I said, "But, yawn, whenever I check what I'm wearing, or make any conscious effort to get information or change the Script, things break, and I wake up violently." Ra's hummed. "Are you bothering me because you've found my dragon tomb on Earth and want to tell me you're coming back for your new wife?"

"No, although I do very dearly want that. I was wondering if you could tell me how to get past that spider of yours so I can make that come true, and you won't have to worry about training for what would be a short, futile and rather painful battle, for you."

"Like hell I'm telling you that. Ra's, when I say, 'Stop, or it'll kill you', I mean it, and it won't be me who kills you."

"Oh, aha ha ha, how cute. You think anything in your little galaxy can hurt me or take my life?"

"You brought this upon yourself. You should have recognised how dangerous Platonia is, when you first stared into it. If you continue, and if you manage to defeat me, or whatever, I literally will be unable to stop what comes next until I'm resurrected, and Earth won't have much time for the heroes to gather the Four."

"What are you talking about?" Ra's said, curiously. He moved to stand in front of me. He was naked, too. I couldn't help how my face reacted, my lips parting and my eyes locking onto his cock, six inches and quite girthy. "You like what you see."

"I mean, I do like older men, and it was a shared wet dream."

"Then make this easier on yourself," R'as took hold of my shoulders, and forced me to my knees. His dick was becoming erect, and was close enough to my face that I could smell his pheromones. "And let me fuck you, Faith."

I was lost for words. And I was really curious. Also, it might make Ra's stop pursuing me. "I have a gag reflex, by the way." I said, taking his dick in my right hand and stroking it as I licked and kissed around his tip.

Ra's moaned in his throat. "Yes, mm. Why don't I help you with that?"

"I'm open to that." I said. Ra's started to insert his cock into my mouth, his left hand holding the back of my head. I sighed, my shoulders relaxing.

"Feels good, doesn't it?"

"Better than my dildo. You have a pulse."

"Oh, yes. Relax, relax everything, and just breathe through your nose calmly. I'll do the rest."

"Do you want me to swallow?" I said, making eye contact.

"Yes."

Oh God, my hormones. "Mm, fuck me." I slackened my jaw, inhaling. R'as pushed his dick into my mouth, and as I gagged and my eyes fluttered, he laughed with a smug expression.

"Good?"

"Mhm." It kinda hurt and was really awkward, but holy shit if wasn't a good hurt.

"Good." Ra's said. He grunted, and began to fuck my face. I moaned and concentrated on the rough feeling of his cock using me like a fleshlight. Breathing through my nose was so, so awkward and uncomfortable for the first fifteen seconds.

"Yes, like that. You've got it, now." I moaned, and reached my arms to hold the back of Ra's' legs. "Yes, good. Good, girl."

Ra's persisted, never easing up on his treatment of my mouth, and I felt the wetness of my cunt, and imagined how it might smell with the scent of Ra's' dick in my face. "You're wet for me, Faith." Ra's said, sultrily. I nodded a little, softly moaning. "Are you going to get on your hands and knees so I can fuck your little pussy?" I moaned.

"Nanoz." Said a masculine voice from the darkness behind Ra's.

"What was that? What did he say?"

I pulled my face down, removing Ra's from my mouth. "He said 'no'."

"Who was that?" Ra's looked over his shoulder as eight pairs of neon red eyes appeared.

"The demon I call Nerobzal. I don't know his actual name."

"It isr toz' preciozuzsr phzozr yabozuz toz knanozwz, labozve." I fluttered my eyes and blushed. I looked at Ra's face. He looked pissed.

"He said, 'It is too precious for you to know, love'."

"Well, get in line, pal."

"I azmam thze labinane."

"He is the line." I said. Ra's scoffed.

"Iphz yabozuz ever tryab toz tozuzchz mamyab labozve azgazinan, I wzilab' give yabozuz pazinan eternanazlab."

"'If you ever touch my love again, I will give you pain eternal'." I translated.

Ra's scoffed louder. "No pain you could ever give would qualify as pain to me." The eight-eyed demon was silent. "Makes you think twice, doesn't it?" Six. "Your 'love' is my bitch now, you hear me? I'm going to take her home a-AAAAND!" Ra's was lifted into the air by a scraggly neon red arm with a clawed hand, and swung about in tight circles like Thor winding Mjölnir.

"Send him home, honey." I said, kindly.

"Glabazdlabyab." 'Gladly.' The eight-eyed demon threw Ra's, whose scream followed his body into the silence of the dark.

"And the next time he tries to search for my dragon tomb, hunt him, and do anything but kill him. Batman wouldn't be happy about that."

"Yabesr, I uznandersrtaznand. Wze mamuzsrt plabazyab bzyab thze ruzlabesr ozphz ozthzersr, srozmametimamesr." 'Yes, I understand. We must play by the rules of others, sometimes.'

"Thank you. Do you… want anything from me as payment for this?" The demon hummed seductively. I felt his voice vibrate throughout my body, and I moaned loudly, my torso suddenly so heavy that I had to bend forward, leaning on my arms with my ass raised as I looked into the highest pair of the demon's eyes. "Labet mame plabeazsre yabozuz phzozr thze timame wze hzazve labephzt." 'Let me pleasure you for the time we have left.'

"Oh, yes! Yes, please!" I opened my mouth wide, licking the air. Three neon red tentacles, each with a tip the size of a naval orange and growing in width as they disappeared into the darkness, and another lanky arm came from the shadows. One tentacle placed itself in front of my face, and I desperately licked it and used my lips and jaw to put it my mouth to suck on, moaning. The demon grumbled four times. "Does that feel good, honey?"

"Yabesr." 'Yes.' I continued licking and sucking on the tentacle as the other two slathered my feet in the demon's liquid. The two tentacles traced up my legs, covering them in slick. When they reached my ass, the two arms he had produced grabbed my ass cheeks tightly. I moaned, sticking my tongue out. The tentacle I had been sucking on playing with my tongue, and moved around my face.

"Ohhhh, yes, honey, yes. Use me, honey, use me!" I pleaded. The tentacle pushed itself into my mouth, and I relaxed my jaw as it entered, flickering around, making me drool onto the asphalt. The hands spread my ass cheeks, and the two tentacles teased my holes, around and in the beginning of each opening. I moaned and gasped in pleasure, looking into the highest pair of eyes, and the demon hummed to me.

The tentacle lingering around my cunt entered, and I released a long, sputtered moan around the tentacle in my mouth. "Yes! Ohhhh!" The tentacle in my pussy began to thrust, the liquids that began to fill me making my head light with ecstasy. I tilted my head to the right with the sensation, the tentacle in my mouth beginning to pass into my throat, and I moaned softly.

The tentacle near my ass hole plunged in. "OH!" I gasped, moving my head back suddenly, leaving behind the tentacle in my mouth. "Oh, fuck yeah!" The tentacle in my ass worked quickly. "Oh, yes, honey, yes!"

The demon's tentacle that had been in my mouth travelled around my face, and I grabbed onto it with my left hand to lick it. "Wzhzazt wzilab' yabozuz doz wzhzenan hze chazlab'enangesr yabozuz azphzter yabozuz hzazve received trazinaninang phzrozmam thze mamozrtazlabsr yabozuz hzazve bzephzrienanded?" 'What will you do when he challenges you after you have received training from the mortals you have befriended?'

"I will try to win."

"Wzhzat iphz yabozuz labozsre?" 'What if you lose?'

"Will I not wander the darkness and find you?"

"Yabozuz wzilab', iphz thzazt isr wzhzazt yabozuz truzlabyab wzaznant." 'You will, if that is what you truly want.' The demon moved the tentacle from my face to my breasts, bringing forth two more tentacles. "Bzuzt yabozuz azre nanozt wzhzozlab'yab mamazde phzozr mame, labozve." 'But you are not wholly made for me, love.' The new tentacles wrapped around my waist and upper right thigh, hoisting my leg. "Yabozuz azre mamozrtazlan." 'You are mortal.' The tentacle that was in my cunt moved rougher, but not violently, aiming downwards and making me moan.

"Oznanlabyab yabozuzr srpirit isr eternanazlab." 'Only your spirit is eternal.' I hummed in acknowledgement, nodding. "Iphz yabozuz wzaznandered thze dazrknanesr' wzithzozuzt cozmamplabete cozmam'itmamenant toz phozrever be boznanded wzithz mame, azsr thze Labazdyab Wzhzoz Srozuzghzt thze Azrmamsr ozphz az Nanightmamazre, yabozuz wzozuzlabd never labeazve Inanphzernanoz." 'If you wandered the darkness without complete commitment to forever be bonded with me, as the Lady Who Sought the Arms of a Nightmare, you would never leave Inferno.'

"Wze wzozuzlabd be tozgethzer inan thze Perimameter ozphz thze Naninanthz Circlabe, buzt yabozuz wzozuzlabd be uznanazblabe toz die toz beginan ozr enand Red Srtozrmam Eazrthz, mameaznaninang wze wzozuzlabd hzazve creazted thzazt srcenanazrioz phzozr nanothzinang, aznand Thzalabazsr'ic Srpazce wzozuzlabd labozse oznane ozphz itsr Plabazyabwzrighztsr. I doz nanozt thzinank yabozuz srhzozuzlabd sreek mame." 'We would be together in the Perimeter of the Ninth Circle, but you would be unable to die to begin or end Red Storm Earth, meaning we would have created that scenario for nothing, and Thalassic Space would lose one of its Playwrights. I do not think you should seek me.'

I sighed. "You're right. Ra's has learned about Red Storm Earth now, right?"

"Yabesr, hze hzazsr. I hzeazrd hzimam labazuzghz phzrozmam thze roz'mam wzhzere yabozuz aznand Azrgozphzazelab wzere labazid toz resrt. Hze szazid it wzazsr perphzect." 'Yes, he has. I heard him laugh from the room where you and Argophael were laid to rest. He said it was perfect.'

"Thanks for letting me know. If I lose, Red Storm Earth will have to be ended, as it normally would."

"Yabesr. Aznand I wzilab' azccept mamyab rozlabe azsr oznane ozphz thze demamoznansr yabozuz mamuzsrt depheazt." 'Yes. And I will accept my role as one of the demons you must defeat.'

I nodded, and raised my cheeks to smile. "Oh, to finally see the climax of Thalassic Space!"

"Yabesr, it wzilab' bze quzite thze srpectazclabe." 'Yes, it will be quite the spectacle.' I nodded more. "I labike thze nanazme yabozuz gazve mame, labozve. It hzazsr aznan inanteresrtinang buzt srimamplabe ozriginan." 'I like the name you gave me, love. It has an interesting but simple origin.'

"Thank you. You won't leave me after this, will you?"

The demon laughed. "Nanoz. Wze hzazve beenan tozgethzer phozr srix hzuznandred aznand eighztyab srevenan yabeazrsr, aznand I hzozpe wze azre tozgethzer phzozr srix hzuznandred aznand eighztyab srevenan mamozre. Azsr equzazlab creaztive maminandsr wzhzoz srozmametimamesr mameet toz hzazve srex, inan dreazmamsr." 'No. We have been together for six hundred and eighty seven years, and I hope we are together for six hundred and eighty seven more. As equal creative minds who sometimes meet to have sex, in dreams.'

"Hm," I smiled. "This isn't a dream."

"Nanoz, it isr nanozt az dreazmam. Raz'sr azlab Ghzuzlab creazted az pazthz ozuzt ozphz thze tozmamb azsr hze phzlabed, wzhzenan hze wzozke mame phzrozmam mamyab wzeb aznand reazlabisred mamyab srize aznand pozwzer. I phzozlab'ozwzed hzimam toz az mamaznansrioznan aznand enantered thze roz'mam yabozuz srlabept inan azsr hzisr shzazdozwz. Wzhzenan hze remamozved hzisr clabozthzesr, I mamozved bozthz ozphz yabozuz hzere. I wzazited phzozr hzimam toz be nanuzde sroz hze cozuzlabd phzyabsricazlab'yab phzeelab mamyab Lawbzal, wzhzenan I grazbbed hzimam." 'No, it is not a dream. Ra's al Ghul created a path out of the tomb as he fled, after he woke me from my web and realised my size and power. I followed him to a mansion and entered the room you slept in as his shadow. When he removed his clothes, I moved both of you here. I waited for him to be nude so he could physically feel my Lawbzal, when I grabbed him.'

"Cool! Big, strong demon!" I giggled.

The demon hummed. "I azmam sroz veryab phzozrtuznanazte toz hzazve phzozuznand srozmameoznane sroz kinand, bzeazuztiphzuzlab aznand inantelab'igenant toz hzazuznant." 'I am so very fortunate to have found someone so kind, beautiful and intelligent to haunt.'

I smiled with my cheeks. "I'm glad to have met you in person, in this life. And I'm glad that we love each other."

"I azmam glanazd phzozr thzazt, toz', labozve. Nanozwz, hzozlabd oznan. Labet mame phzinanisrhz inan yabozuz." 'I am glad for that, too, love. Now, hold on. Let me finish in you.' I hummed, eagerly. "Labet mame cozmamplabete yabozuzr wzisrhz, aznand I wzilab' tazke mamyab pazyabmamenant." 'Let me complete your wish, and I will take my payment.'

"Let's do it, honey." I said, cheerfully. The demon pushed the tentacle in my vagina as far as it could go. I laid on my stomach from the overwhelming situation. "Oh! Oh, oh!"

"Isr thzazt toz' mamuzchz?" 'Is that too much?'

"Oh, I think you're right against my cervix, please try not to go further, it hurts as it is, and I don't think I would enjoy a dance with death that intimately."

"Veryab wzelab', labozve." 'Very well, love.' The tentacles continued to pump into my pussy and ass. But I was having trouble staying in the fantasy, and three seconds later, I released the illusion. I laid on a small clearing in the forest near Wayne Manor, and my solar magic had melted the snow and scorched the grass, and six layers of trees had been turned to ash.

"Oh my God, I did that!"

A cluster of golden stars spanning fifty kilometres (31 miles) gathered in the sky, and from the cluster came a golden beam of light that shot to the ground, four feet away from me. Urania must have given a Celestial Globe to Batman or the League. "Daughter," She said melodically, as she closed the distance, standing with her arms on her hips at my feet. "Were you not only pretending to have self-cestuous intercourse with your Animus in the forest, but role-playing as demon-spider and its wench?"

"Yes." I said, sitting up and crossing my legs. "I don't feel sick anymore, though."

"Tsk. Do you need me to look at your vagina and make sure you are not dying?"

"No, Mother. I lost motivation, just now. I didn't finish, or penetrate myself too deeply."

"Good. Still, I will clean you of any residue from the Dream World on Paper so that no Nero Spirit possesses or follows you." Urania knelt before me, and inserted a finger into my vagina. A soothing warmth captivated my body. Five seconds later, Urania removed her finger, and wiped it on her toga. "Oh, look at what you have done, in two minutes! You know how quickly your O-star eye burns everything around you, if you have lucid or waking fantasies without supervision! We are fortunate you had a sexual fantasy only involving yourself and your Animus instead of a destructive one like Red Storm Earth!"

"Yes, Mother. I'm sorry, I was dreaming and forgot I'm not on Earth-33 anymore, and that I have magic now."

"Mhm." Urania nodded firmly.

"I should have recognised the illusion I created, but I didn't because I wanted the fantasy so badly."

Urania held my hands in hers. "I know why you fell into the design of your subconscious, sweetheart. You are a lonely woman, and yes, most fault lays with your foster parents and some with your adoptive parents for not guiding you or talking to you about the how and why of relationships so you could at least use that knowledge to better your life. This was true during your life as a demigoddess, too. This dilemma of loneliness is also in part your fault, in this life. You understand the rules of monogamy, and the reasons for those rules, but when presented with online dating, you broke the rules of trust and exclusivity. You have not dated since August of last year, though that was two boyfriends later."

"Yeah." I exhaled. "Yeah. I keep making myself fictional love interests, but it never has, and never will, fill the hole I made."

"Precisely. Tell me, how did it actually feel to have intercourse with your Animus, in that form? What did your narration not describe?"

"I felt the strange, heightened sensation of having sex in a dream, but it went on for too long. That's when I remembered I don't have any real experience to base the scenario on. My depression broke me out of it, and, uh, I think that's fortunate."

"Yes, you are fortunate that your consciousness remembered its truth, albeit heavy on your emotions and health." I nodded, looking down. Urania sighed and lifted my chin with her left hand. "Ulia, I know you were only trying to please yourself and not have to ask for help. You have always had a hard time asking for help, even as a demigoddess. But this is something you should ask for help with. You are very lucky that your Animus has a tether of five kilometres (3 miles) to your physical location so that this short-sighted decision could not take you into the city, where all of the world would have beared witness to your debauchery and the natural horrors that the solar fire and gravitational vaccum sealed in your eyes that you were gifted to use for creation by your father can bring. Ask for help, next time. And not just when you need to be touched."

"Yes, Mother." I said, meekly. "I will ask for help, next time."

"Thank you. And I better see it! I do not want to see you put yourself in any more compromising situations, situations that will make the people who are supposed to trust you doubt your intentions, who you want to use your powers for, why you want to use magic, and I know this is especially important to you right now, why you are worthy of being Batgirl, if part of the Batfamily at all." I frowned as Urania said the last clause of her argument.

"You're right." I said, defeated but not broken. "I won't do this again."

"Thank you, Faith. Thank you." The second time, softly. Urania inhaled, stood up by pushing on her knees, and offered her left hand. I lifted my cheeks in a smile, and accepted the help to stand. "Let's get you back inside." We walked into the forest, where the grass became snow.

"Thank you for coming to help, Mother."

"It was my pleasure, Ulia." Urania wrapped her left arm around my right, and leaned close to whisper into my right ear, "When you do have sex with a penis, your IUD, Kyleena, won't do anything because of your reawakened spirit." I groaned into a laugh, smiling. Urania laughed in the way a mother who knows she's won would. "I love you." She said, melodically.

"I love you too, Mother." I said, kindly, and leaned into Urania, smiling with my cheeks and eyes. Urania hummed, pleased, and moved her weight away from me.

"Is all well, Batman?" Urania said, looking to her right. I inhaled and looked that way, and saw Batman emerge from the snowy trees.

"Yes. The only thing affected was the clearing, and those trees."

"Good. Her flu has been conquered, so I expect you will give her a meal and proceed with training?"

"Yes."

"Good. If she does anything like this again, but in the city, and you for whatever reason do not want to ask for Zatanna's assistance, or are unable to have her aid, please summon me with the Celestial Globe that I gifted you."

"I will, Urania. Thank you."

"Thank you, as well. For your patience, this morning, certainly." Urania said. Batman hummed. We reached the front yard. "All right, daughter. I will leave you, now. Until next time. Please try to behave yourself."

"Yes, Mother." I said, blushing bright red. "Thank you, Mother." Urania sighed with content. A smile came to her face, and she hugged me. I returned the hug, and several seconds later, Urania separated her body from mine.

"I will be on my way." Urania left for the sky the same way she appeared.

"Come on, Faith." Batman said, and walked with me inside the mansion.

"You're friggin' crazy, girl!" Said a feminine voice from upstairs. I looked, and there was—

"Stephanie!" I called out, beaming. Stephanie was not in costume, and leaned against the centre railing of the great hall stairs.

"Hi, crazy!" Stephanie replied. I laughed. "So like, you pretended to fuck your male-self, and you went out in the cold snow naked?"

"Yeah. I mean, I was sleeping naked, so."

"Faith!" Stephanie parkoured over the railing, and came towards me and Batman. "Faith, Faith, Fa-hey-haith." She put her hands on my shoulders with a smug grin. "You're crazy." I laughed. "And I will eat you out, tonight."

"Stephanie." Said Batman.

"Shut it, Bruce. Let's get you not naked, some food in your stomach, and then we'll get you to the Belfry."

"Oh-kay." I said, in my silly-time-at-work voice.

"OK?" Stephanie tilted her head forward, eyebrows raised.

"Yes, OK." I said, normally, with a light laugh.

"OK!" Stephanie linked her right arm with my left, and tried to skip, finding immediate resistance. "La—! Hey, why—?"

"I can't skip, either."

"Oh, right! Physical disability! You can't do shit, right now! I'm sorry."

"It's OK." I said, laughing. "We'll just walk, briskly, like the gays do."

"YES!" Stephanie and I began to walk at a fast pace. "Yes, we will walk briskly, like the gays do!"

"Woo hoo!"

"WOO!" Stephanie and I laughed. I heard a little something from Batman.

—

Faith and Stephanie entered the guest bedroom, and Faith searched in her dufflebag for something to wear. She chose black leggings and a full-length sleeved olive green shirt, vivid blue boxer briefs, a light blue sports bra, and black socks. Stephanie looked at the contents of the bag without touching anything. "Hm, you like earthy and jewel tones, eh?" Faith had brought a short-sleeved olive green shirt, a burgundy tank top, a dark blue shirt with a large rose pattern, two purple shirts, one full-sleeved and the other a T-shirt, and a brown tank top. She had brought two other pairs of black leggings, two pairs of black shorts, a grey pair of shorts, a pair of dark grey jogging pants, and a brown skirt that caught Stephanie's eye. Faith had brought two weeks' worth of black or dark coloured boxer briefs and a handful of loose-fitting bikini briefs, also black or dark coloured, black and grey socks, a pink sports bra and a purple sports bra that were the same style as the one Faith had picked to wear, and a grey sports bra with spaghetti straps and two darker shades of grey and black making a pattern of small lines.

"Yeah." Faith said, putting on the undergarments she picked. "Check out that brown skirt with the brown tank top, that's my favourite outfit."

"Yeah, I was looking at the skirt, lemme get a better look at it." Said Stephanie. She produced the item, letting it unfurl. "Ooh! That is so cuuuute!"

"Right? Thrift store find, along with the top I pair with it."

Stephanie pulled out the top, and gasped, seeing the dark olive green crochet work on its front. "Oh, that's so cute! I bet you look fabulous in it, with the skirt."

"Oh yeah!" Faith said, putting on the shirt she had chosen. "They look so good together that I get asked if it's a dress, and then I pull on the top of the skirt to show it's a skirt."

"Oh yeah." Stephanie said. Faith pulled on the leggings. "All good?"

"Uh, lemme brush my hair and wash my face."

"Sure, baby." Faith's cheeks reddened as they rose to smile, and Stephanie smiled in acknowledgement. 'I don't think she's ever been flirted with by a girl. This must be really special to her. Don't fuck this up, Steph!' Faith picked up the black vented hairbrush in her bag, strode to the bathroom, and went to work. "You're being so rough to your hair!"

"Yeah, well, if the curls win, it's a rat's nest, except for some parts in the back and front that stay curly."

"Mind if I help?"

"Sure!" Faith said, extending her right arm backwards. Stephanie entered the bathroom and accepted the brush. "I haven't had someone else brush my hair in a long time, that would feel nice."

"Yeah, it does, doesn't it?" Stephanie said, beginning to gently work the brush through Faith's hair.

"I'm getting it dyed, on Thursday."

Stephanie gasped. "Ooh, what colour?"

"Red."

"Ooh, that'll look nice! Are you just getting it on what's grown out for a bit of an ombre look, or are you getting it all bleached and dyed, or just some streaks that'll get done?"

"What's grown out, plus a bunch of streaks."

"Nice!"

"Yeah. It'll be bright, but when I do it again, it'll be burgundy."

"Oh, that's going to look amazing on you."

"Mhm." Faith nodded, humming and smiling with her cheeks.

"You should let Bruce know, so he can make your costume match!"

"Oh, I will."

"Good." Stephanie continued brushing Faith's hair for another minute, then dangled the brush over Faith's right shoulder.

"Oh, you can put it back in my bag, if you want."

"Sure." Stephanie exited the bathroom, and Faith opened the cupboard under the sink. She found a white face cloth, and ran it under hot water as Stephanie returned. "You don't use soap, or anything?"

"Eh, I use a face-cleaning wipe in the evening, if I feel gross or put on makeup for once, but this is usually enough to wake me up." Faith wrung out the cloth and applied it to her face.

Stephanie laughed. "You're not already?"

"Sorry, should've said "clean my eyes". I get eye mucus pretty bad."

"Oh yeah. So you don't sleep well?"

"No. Even with my meds, it takes about three hours if I'm on my phone, which I usually am, just to watch a YouTube video." Faith folded the cloth, and set it on the edge of the sink. She walked out of the bathroom with Stephanie, towards the door to the hallway. "It takes two, or less, like, sometimes I'm asleep in the first half hour, if I'm really tired and just need background ambiance."

"What do you like to watch to help you sleep?" Stephanie asked, as Faith opened the door, the pair leaving the bedroom. Stephanie closed the door, and the girls went downstairs.

"People playing or talking about video games, horror analysis videos, be it about a movie, game or what have you, and now and then I'll watch something funny. I usually gravitate towards whatever SMOSH uploads I've missed."

"Oh yeah. You like their modern stuff?"

"I like their modern cast, yeah." The two crossed the open part of the hallway, passing the great hall stairs and nearing the reception room. "I think they're funny, and they seem friendly enough. Sometimes I watch a MARVEL movie on Disney+, or an episode of Young Justice, Justice League or Justice League: Unlmited on my TELETOON+ subscription through Amazon Prime."

The girls rounded the corner, to the right, walking through the servery to a narrow hallway, and taking the first door on the left to the kitchen. "Have you watched the Netflix Gotham show yet?"

"I watched two seasons, I think? I forget where I left off. I thought it was really good." Faith opened the door to the kitchen, Stephanie following and closing it.

"It was! Whatchu in the mood for?" They stood near the island.

"Good question, my stomach doesn't like eggs, but it does like hashbrowns and meat."

"How do you usually cook your eggs?"

"Uh, well-cooked? The yolk is hard. I flip it over to cook it."

"That's over-hard. Have you tried scrambled?"

"That's sort of how I make an omlette? It doesn't make a difference."

"Maybe your tummy just doesn't like eggs."

"Yeah, it doesn't like lactose or gluten, either."

"Well, that's a bummer."

"Gluten is more of just a pasta thing though. I feel bloated, and if it's not cooked all the way and I don't eat carefully, it gets stuck in my eusophagus and I have to puke so I can breathe again."

"Aw! Why do you eat like that, then?"

"'Cause I'm usually trying to get back to writing, or solely watching whatever I was watching."

"Ohhh, OK."

"Also yes, gluten and sugar are why I'm overweight."

Stephanie clicked her tongue. "Hey. Your weight is just fine, Faith."

"I mean, I guess it is, but my joints and feet don't like it. I can stand for even less time because of my weight."

"Hm. And I guess you don't work out because of your disability."

"Yep, that's the thing."

"Aw, that sucks. Well, we'll take it slowly with you, and we'll get you into a shape that works for you!"

Faith lifted her cheeks to smile. "Thanks."

"So, no egg?"

"Well, I do need the iron."

"Meat has iron."

"Honestly, with my anxiety today, anything I eat this morning might not stick with me."

"Ah, that's why your stomach doesn't like eggs, or breakfast, I'm guessing, in a more broad term."

"Yeah." Faith nodded.

"Well, you should still eat." Faith nodded more. "How about I do the cooking, and you do the dishes?"

"Sure!"

"OK, have a seat at the island." Stephanie said, walking to the fridge as Faith rounded the corner of the island.

"Yeah, no."

"'No', what?" Stephanie placed ingredients from the fridge on the counter.

"I can't sit here." Faith sounded stressed. "They're too tall, and they don't have backs. My back'll get sore, and I'll have anxiety from sitting high up."

"You know we're gonna work on that, right?"

"I know."

"Oh, who am I kidding? There's a little table set, over in the corner, baby." Stephanie obtained a frying pan from the cabinets.

"Oh yeah, I saw." Faith went and sat at the table.

Stephanie laughed, turning on the burner. "Why didn't you just go there instead of stopping to have a panic attack about the stools?"

"Because I always make things difficult for myself."

"I think you told me that before." Stephanie opened the butter plate and cut into the butter with a spatula, plopping it on the pan.

"Oh, probably. If not, you figure it out pretty fast, from knowing me."

"Yep." Stephanie turned and leaned her back on the counter as the burner heated up.

"Haven't watched Titans, and I think I'll keep holding off on that."

"Yeah." Stephanie and I laughed. "Do you have a favourite Batman or DC movie?"

"Ooh, honestly? I thought Matt Reeves' The Batman nailed what it was going for. It was nice to see Robert Pattinson have a role that he was good at, well, at least I think he was good at." Stephanie turned to move the melting butter on the pan. "Sure, you could argue he's missing the massive build that Batman has, but he got the eye expression and mannerisms pretty spot-on, and they actually wrote Batman to care for people, that time. I'm looking forward to the next one."

"Nice." Stephanie cracked two eggs on the edge of the pan, and opened their contents onto the butter, tossing the egg shells into a green plastic bin beside a wood panelled bin under the island.

"I haven't watched any other DC film besides the first Aquaman movie with Jason Momoa."

"Oh, OK." Stephanie stabbed one of the yolks, and reached into a cupboard for seasonings. "What seasonings do you like?"

"Garlic, and a little bit of seasoning salt."

"OK!"

"It wasn't bad, honestly. Yes, seeing a whore with no common sense made me wanna eat her intestines every time she was on screen,"

"Pffft, oh my God, Faith! Savage!" Stephanie was placing bacon on the pan.

"Oh, bacon?"

"Yeah, you don't like it?"

"I'm picky with it. Do you have something else? Like Canadian bacon, or sausages?"

"I think I saw sausages in there, yeah." Stephanie sealed the Ziploc bag that held the package of bacon, and went into the fridge. "Yep! How many do you want?"

"Two, please!"

"And how much hashbrown?"

"Oh, it's the cut up kind?"

"Yep. Is that OK?"

"Yeah! I usually buy the patties. Um, but go with about a quarter of a cup."

"Sure, baby." Faith exhaled happily, Stephanie watching her happy expression and smiling back before focusing on opening the Ziploc bag containing the package of sausages and placing two on the pan.

"But she could have been a worse actress. She did the minimum, but I know sure as fucking shit that Mera deserved better."

"That's for sure." Stephanie leaned her back against the counter, glancing at the pan.

"I think a new star with the same beauty and a lot more talent would've made all the difference."

"Oh, absolutely."

"But other than that, it was not a waste of my time. It scratched the itch I had of a decent underwater fantasy adventure, but the itch was still there."

"Ooh, nice way of putting it."

"I hear Lost Kingdom was a mess, and I don't wanna waste my time when I could read something on Tumblr or AO3 that would be so much better."

Stephanie laughed, and turned to flip the eggs and meat. "Do you mostly reblog DC and MARVEL stuff?"

"Mostly DC, and now and then a smut fic with the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare or 2023's Mortal Combat 1 men."

"Pffft!"

"I have a type, but I also don't. It depends on what the horny needs." I laughed.

Stephanie removed the food sealing clip from the bag of hashbrowns and shook its opening over the pan. "Sorry, but I'm eyeballing this."

"Oh no, that's fine, I do that too."

"I couldn't see what you were doing, after your shadow-spider-demon disappeared and there was a beam that came down from a cluster of really pretty stars," Stephanie turned to Faith as she replaced the clip on the bag. "Which, hey, um, why did it have tentacles?"

"Because I wanted tentacles. My Animus is a shapeshifting Neo Spirit."

"Right, OK." Stephanie put away everything into the fridge. "Are you still a virgin, though?"

"Yeah, it was just an illusion."

"Ah."

"You know how, when you hump something, for me it's my bed or maternity pillow,"

Stephanie choked on air. "Yeah."

"Your body like, really gets into the fantasy?"

"Mhm."

"It was like that, but it was me and the ground."

"Ah, OK. How did you not wake up while crawling out of the window à la Kayako into the cold snow when the sun was just barely rising and then scampering off I think almost 1000 feet away to then hump and not only melt the snowy ground, but burn it along with a bunch of trees?"

Faith laughed with Stephanie. "Expert-level Dreamer mages, really meaning you have the skills equivalent to twenty years of training, are able to be so entranced by their own spells that they won't wake up without outside interference. But, like with sleep-walking, you must only wake a Dreamer if they're about to harm themselves, another living being, or a residential building, or have already done so. The best way to do this is with your voice and gentle physical contact, though the latter may not be effective or safe for the interrupter, and the former may not be effective with a normal voice. This is one of the reasons that Dragon Kin who can use the Thu'um and merfolk who can use the Mother Chords are so useful in Thalassic Space."

"Ooh, so someone like you, or a mermaid?"

"Dragon Kin include Dragon Form, Dragon Skin and Dragon Born people. Each are self-explanatory. Merfolk are, too, but some are born directly from Mother Mermaid and are called Mother-Born, and some Dragon Kin are direct offspring from Father Dragon and are, of course, called Father-Born. I'm not either of them."

"Oh, OK. I was gonna ask, 'cause that sounds cool!" Stephanie turned off the burner, reached up into a cupboard for plates and down into a drawer for cutlery, and filled the plates with food. "Do you want juice, milk, no, sorry, no milk for you," Faith laughed. Stephanie chortled. "Or just water?"

"What kind of juice is there?"

"Uh, let's see." Stephanie looked in the fridge. "Orange, apple, and peach mango."

"Orange."

"Same." Stephanie grabbed the jug and placed it on the counter. "Do you want a big glass or a little one?"

"Eh, a little one." Stephanie located a tall glass and a short glass from the cupboards, and filled them, then put the juice back. She brought the plates over, a fork on each plate, then the glasses of juice, Faith saying 'thank you' each time. "Wow, you've got really good table manners."

"For that part." Faith said, cutting the burnt pieces of egg away with her fork as Stephanie sat in a chair across from her. "Everything else I take after my dad, R-I-P."

"Pfft." Stephanie cut into her egg, and ate it. "So you eat like a redneck?"

"I eat like I'm in a hurry, again because I've got things to do,"

"Mhm."

"And because of my little arms and how I can move my wrists," Faith put down her fork and touched the area of her forearm above her wrists on the underside of her arms with the pinkie and ring finger of both hands. Stephanie's jaw opened. "I sometimes make messes when moving things. Even at work, that's how I drop stuff. Plus, having small hands." Faith cut into her egg, this time to eat it.

"I see." Stephanie chuckled, eating more egg. "What does that feel like?"

"It feels like I'm pulling on a muscle. My wrists are little sore, now, but it's not bad." Faith shook out her hands, and massaged the underside of her forearms.

"Are you flexible elsewhere?" Faith scooted back her chair, held her left foot with her right hand, and held it up to her head, her back barely having shifted. "Damn! Not bad."

"Yeah, my leg ain't straight, but it can go there."

"Nice. So really, the only issues here are your hypotonia, scoliosis, and your weight."

"No, my deformed feet, too."

"Right. I saw, when you were walking around naked. It looks painful."

"Only when I walk for too long, or I bump it against something."

"Right, I think you said that in the group chat." The two were silent, for about ten seconds. "Oh, how does your Fairy Persona work? 'Cause your Mermaid Persona works with your magic pearl, right?"

"Yep! Do you remember her name?" Faith drank some juice, then began eating her sausages.

Stephanie paused, chewing bacon. "I don't think you said that, in the group chat."

"Oh yeah. It's Ønske. And my Fairy Persona is named Solas."

"Ønske. What's that mean?"

"Desire."

"Ooh. Does they have their own stories, like your Dragon Persona?"

"Solas was earned by my demigoddess self after she saved some people for Danu, the Celtic Fairy Queen. Sunrise coloured wings until a new moon, then black and sparkly.”

Stephanie hummed with a mouth full of food, and swallowed to talk. “Cool!”

“And Ønske’s story is Anastasia, but in Thalassic Space."

Stephanie gasped. "I love that movie!"

"Honestly, who doesn't? Losers, that's who."

"Real."

"People who don't like musicals."

"True."

"And probably some guy named Daren."

"Ha! Some guy named Daren, ha ha!"

"No offense to my uncle Daren, he's a nice guy, I'm talking about the neckbeard Daren."

"Mhm."

Faith rested her fork, still in her hand, on the plate, just before she move onto the hashbrowns. She looked into Stephanie's eyes, making the other pause. "Do you want me to try and tell Ønske’s story, or is that enough for now?" Faith released her fork, and drank juice.

"Yes! Yes, I want to know the story, hee hee hee." More of a cackle than a giggle. Stephanie stabbed some hashbrowns and ate them. Faith giggled at Stephanie's cackle. "Ønske was born on planet Bafsina, meaning 'basin' in Neofom." She began to eat hashbrowns, too.

"What's that?"

"Oh, I think I only told this to Bruce, so I'll say it again. Man, I hope the others read the lore from TSRPG so I won't have to say this a third time. You know the rule for repeating exposition, in stories, right?"

"Yep! Three times is the max, unless you want your readers to get annoyed and bored."

"Unless it's for comedic affect."

"True."

"Neofom is the language of Neo Spirits, who are the opposite of Nero Spirits, who speak Nerobzal, and originate from the Suspensions of a person's Soul Bridge, while Nero Spirits are from the Underside. They represent self-love, dreams, and good memories, and again, Nero Spirits are the opposite."

"And you said your Animus is a Neo Spirit?"

"Yes. My Shadow would be a Nero Spirit. My Ego, which is just me, is the Canon Spirit."

"Oh, so the Map of the Soul is part of the lore, too?"

"Yeah, it helps to explain what everything is in terms that people would be more familar with."

"Who are 'people'?"

"The future readers of my novels."

"Ohhhh, oh, of course, sorry."

"It's fine." Faith chuckled. "Oh, I should say, though, since Bruce is definitely listening right now,"

"Yep."

"Argophael was speaking Nerobzal."

"He was?"

"Yes, but in character, because we were role-playing."

"Oh, OK. So Neo and Nero Spirits know each other's languages."

"Yes, and there's a petty rivalry over which is more natural for the Soul Bridge born Spirits of Thalassic Space to speak. As a reminder, and please repeat this to everyone, when anyone is doubting if I'm doing this to torment people, or if the Spirits are actually in control: the characters of Thalassic Space, meaning those named in the novel, are all Actors of the Rondo Theatre, and some come from the other eight Theatres that are run by the other muse children. All of us are friends and colleagues, and most of us are dead, in a coma, or are lucid dreaming. The only person, right now, who could potentially ruin the Theatres and their Actors is Ra's."

"Right. I'll remember that, Faith, thanks." Faith nodded. "Can you run me through the alphabet of each language, if that's not too complicated?"

"Sure! It's just a letter substitution language. Each has twenty-six letters, like the English alphabet. Rule number one: when writing and speaking either language, if you would repeat a translated letter, you do not write or speak the second letter, and put an apostrophe in the place of the second, and speak a light exhale, like," Faith vocalised a short exhale through her mouth. "Which you would right out as h, if you were to substitute the apostrophe for a letter." Stephanie mimicked the exhale. "Yes, just like that."

"Cool!"

"Rule number two: when reading or speaking either language, keep the tone of the word in English while merging the pronunciation of the translated letter, unless it conflicts with the tone of the syllable in the translated language. For example, mommy and daddy in Neofom is mam-ot-mam'-yab af-nad dafd-dyab. Note how the translated words now have more syllables, as we are wanting to speak each translated letter, secondly, that the expected e sound associated with the letter y becomes the translated letter entirely, which is common but not always applicable, hence why we keep in mind the tone of the word in English to guide how we speak a translated word, and third, that the accent and pace becomes breathy, slowed, and romantic, in the case of Neofom, or intimidating, in the case of Nerobzal. This is also meant to evoke memories of the bonds between Neofom and Neo Spirits, and Neofom when used in Elevifeb spells, as it is with Nerobzal and Nero Spirits, and Nerobzal when used in Eledisfeb spells.”

"I think you lost me, there."

"Oh, that's fine. It's in the planning document. I think the only people in the group that this will be interesting to are Bruce and Tim."

"Yeah." Stephanie laughed with Faith.

"So, for Neofom: af, spelled a-f, in reference to the word after, b, c, d, e, ph (fuh), spelled p-h, pronounced like the Vietnamese pho, again referencing the word after," Stephanie hummed. "G, ho, 'cause Santa, and yes, spelled h-o," Stephanie giggled. "K, la, chosen because it's a melodic word, ma, associated with motherhood, na, sounds like the babble of a baby, ot (oht), spelled o-t, and you say the o like a Skyrim Nord, not aught,"

Stephanie giggled more. "Not aught, OK."

"And chosen because the English word it sounds like, oat, of course, is associated with deities of agriculture, p, q, r, si (sigh), not see, because when you first come to the North Pole, you will sigh in relief that you are literally in the safest place in the galaxy,"

Stephanie hummed. "Wow, two Santa Claus references."

Faith giggled. "I dunno if I told you this, or Bruce, or none of you, but Santa is one of the eldest three Astral and Ebony Giant Elves, specifically an Astral Giant Elf. Do you know who Nerobzal is?"

"Yeah, he's the big bad of Thalassic Space, right?"

"Yes. Do you remember what his angel name was?"

"Uh. Uh."

"I'll take that as a no. It was Erophael, like ey-ro."

"Erophael. And your Animus is Argophael."

"Yes. Do you know what Argo was, in Greek Mythology?"

"Uh. No." Stephanie heaved a laugh. "I'm so sorry!" She swallowed the last of her hashbrowns, and drank more juice.

"Oh, it's fine. It was a ship built with the help of the gods that Jason and the Argonauts sailed from Iolcos to Colchis to retrieve the Golden Fleece. Part of the main novel is supposed to be an analogy of that because Thalaassic Space has pirates, and the captain who sails some of the main characters from Canada to England has a similar life story." Faith finished her meal. "Her deadname was Jason." Faith chuckled.

Stephanie laughed. "Oh, OK. Cool! Are there lots of trans and gender-queer people in your stories?"

Faith nodded. "Oh yeah, lots of 'em."

"Is ero Greek, too?"

"It has multiple meanings. In Creek, it means squirrel. In Esperanto, it means 'a bit, a single element, piece or component of a large mass or collection'. And in Finnish, it means 'difference, distinction,' is an ellipsis of avioero, meaning 'divorce', and also 'resignation, discharge, dismissal, separation, parting, and rid'. All relevant to who Erophael was, and became as Nerobzal."

"Huh. Wow, that's really well-thought out."

"Honestly, I typed out something that sounded like Argophael, and then I discovered it meant all those things, so I've kept it."

"Is that how you come up with everything?"

"Yep!"

Stephanie went limp in her chair, jaw open. Faith laughed. "Are you serious?"

"Yeah, most of the lore is me picking up a random thing from either Norse, Greek or Egyptian mythology, and rarely Buddhism and ancient Chinese mythology, even though Vishnu and the Four Symbols are most powerful, I don't actually have much fleshed out for them. I see if it fits, and try again if it doesn't. I usually get it right on the first or second try. And I connect things as I go, taking inspiration from my actual dreams and from all the media that I like, all so that people can both find familiar things and new things when they discover Thalassic Space."

"That is brilliant and so fucking cool, Faith!"

"Thank you! Uh, where was I? Oh! ut (ooht), like in root, v, wa (wah), like the baby from the "Look at the little baby" asdfmovie,"

"Wah!" Stephanie giggled.

"Wah!" Faith giggled. "X, yl (yihl), z."

"Mm, no footnotes for yl? Also, I wanna see all this written out, so I can see it in my mind."

"Yeah, nothing to note about yl. Also, uh, sure, I didn't bring my phone with me, though."

"I did! Here, lemme give you my Notes app." Stephanie produced her phone, unlocked and interacted with it, and offered it to Faith.

"Thank you."

"Mhm!" Faith typed on the phone. She set it down on the table.

"Ohhh, OK, I see. You even typed out the other language, and labelled them for me."

"As you can see, for Nerobzal: az (ahz), which doesn't have lore relevance but is supposed to sound like Black Speech from The Lord of the Rings,"

"Hell yeah!"

"Bz, which is literally part of the word-slash-name Nerobzal, c, d, e, phz, the sound of insect demons, collectively called The Hive, and is where lots of the rape porn comes from,"

"Eugh."

"Yeah, as a monster fucker, I actually fear infestation. The phallic parts I'm OK with, but they're always too big, and then there's the whole nesting part, and I just," Faith shuddered with her whole upper body. "Nope. No thank you. Sex is not supposed to be painful or life-endangering, much less non-consensual."

"Damn right."

"Next is g, hz, again, insect noise, k, lab, mam, nan, all three are Black Speech inspired, oz, which, if you say awz instead of ohz, fuck you," Faith said, casually. Stephanie guffawed. "P, q, r, sr (sir), which is relevant lore-wise because sometimes Nero Spirits call the Four Princes of Hell Sir or Sire instead of Master or Prince, t, uz (ooze), which evokes images of plague, relevant because of the undead of Nerobzal's army, also insect demons again, because ew," Stephanie made a vomiting noise. "V, wz (whz), meant to remind of the wicked voice of the Domain of Platonia, somewhere between a whisper and a rumble, x, yab, Black Speech inspired again, and z."

"Wow! That's cool! Thanks for the big, fun lesson, he he."

"You're welcome! You now know a little more about the chaos in my brain, yippee!" Faith mimicked the meme.

"Yippee!" Stephanie echoed. The girls giggled.

"And, uh… oh. Oh, we got here because you wanted to know the story of my Mermaid Persona, and then I was also gonna tell you Solas' story."

"Oh yeah, right." Stephanie laughed, Faith joining.

"You can do that later." Bruce said, stepping into the room. "You wasted almost ten extra minutes, just talking about lore, and we have to get to the Belfry."

"Whoops!" Faith said. She moved her eyes to Stephanie. "Later."

"Yes, later. Let's go." The girls put the dishes in the sink, Stephanie running water over them, then they exited the mansion with Bruce. Faith stared, mouth wide open, as the three walked to the black 2024 Rolls-Royce Spectre.

"Have you ever been in a car like this?" Bruce asked, a little smile on his face.

"You mean one that probably costs at least half a million?" Faith replied.

"Yes, actually, it was over half a mil'."

"No, never."

"Hm, well. Do you want to ride in the front?"

"Yes, please." Faith said. Stephanie giggled, and entered the right back door as Bruce and Faith entered the driver and passenger doors.

The Spectre slowed as it rolled into the Belfry and came to a stop and its ignition was killed. Stephanie quickly left the vehicle and opened the passenger door while Bruce exited at a normal pace and walked ahead. Faith's laughter echoed in the garage as Stephanie helped her out. Faith stumbled, and Stephanie, already holding her arm, snapped her other hand to support Faith's back.

"Is she OK?" Dick chuckled, as Bruce stopped at the computer screens, where Dick, Barbara and Tim had gathered, Barbara giggling along.

"Oh, just ask her." Bruce said. Stephanie guided Faith for a few strides, then released Faith. She was still laughing as the girls came to the others.

"YOU GUYS GO THAT FAST ALL THE TIME?!" Faith said, laughing. The others laughed. "I mean, I guess you do, with all the stuff you do on the rooftops, but holy unsprayed cat in a crate," More laughter from the others. "That was insane, and really fun!"

"We were running late because Faith decided to yap about the languages of Thalassic Space, and almost was going to yap about the stories of her Fairy and Mermaid Personas, which is what she was originally going to yap about." Bruce said.

"I'm still kinda confused on the rules, but Faith just confirmed to me how friggin' cool and smart she is." Stephanie laughed.

"Thanks." Faith giggled.

Tim said, "Yeah, I read, like, everything in your planning document, and you were super thorough with every possible detail, but all of it was easy to understand. Well, at least to people who can see the whole picture as you describe every last detail."

"Thank you! Yeah, big brains are who Thalassic Space was made for."

"Oh, it shows."

"I bet the rules of the languages made sense to you immediately."

"Oh yeah, that was easy to understand. And I mean that as a compliment." Tim said. Faith nodded.

Dick said, "You ready to start, Faith?" Faith nodded more. "Awesome." He gestured with a hand for Faith to follow him and Barbara to a more open part of the room. "First things first: stretching."

"She's actually kind of flexible!" Stephanie said. "She can touch her head with her foot, if she holds it."

"Oh?" Dick said, eyes returning to Faith.

"Not standing up, yet." Faith laughed. Barbara chuckled.

"Well, that'll make things a little easier, even if you can't do it while standing, yet. Still, this is day one, so we're just going to see what you can and cannot do, and do some exercises together. If you feel like it, we'll show you a few moves. We'll get to making you stronger and faster as the days roll on, 'kay?"

"OK!" Said Faith.

Faith dropped onto the couch on the upper level of the Belfry with a cold, wet rag on her forehead, wiping it around her face and neck, the pits and neckline of her shirt wet with perspiration, her chest heaving but slowing down. Barbara sat beside her, and Dick beside Barbara, Stephanie taking a seat on the arm of the couch to the right of Faith, Tim and Bruce standing in front of the couch. The sun was beginning to dim. Bruce handed Faith a bottle of water. "Thank you." Faith said.

"You're welcome."

"You still feeling OK, hon?" Said Barbara.

Faith nodded. "Yeah. Still feels better, but also super strained."

Dick said, "You only fell from your knees popping five times."

"That's a lot for one day, much less a week."

"And hey, we caught you, the other eight times." Tim said. "And! No knee dislocations!"

"Woo hoo!" Faith raised her stiff, tired arms in celebration, only able to reach her forehead. "Ow."

"Woo hoo!" Tim raised his arms at the elbow. The group laughed.

"Like we said," Said Dick. "At some point, you should be able to carry on, despite whatever your body does. Even if that's to safety." Faith nodded. "But you did good, today! Really good!"

"Yeah!" Said Tim.

"You sure did, Faith." Barbara said.

"Yeah, that was kind of impressive, your legs obviously aren't weak right now, you've just got a situation." Stephanie said.

"If you keep this up, it shouldn't be long before you'll able to go out with us." Said Bruce. Faith smiled with her cheeks. "How's that sound?"

"Sounds great! Thanks, everyone."

"You're welcome."

"You're very welcome!" Said Dick.

"We're here for you, hon." Barbara said.

"Heck yeah!" Said Tim.

"Always, baby." Stephanie said.

"'Baby'?" Repeated Tim, with a chuckle.

"What? I told you I'd pick her up, if she wanted." Stephanie said. Faith giggled.

"Yeah, you did." Tim, Dick, Barbara and Faith laughed.

"I brought your bag in the car, Faith." Said Bruce. "I thought you might want to stay here, so we don't have to bring you back and forth."

"Oh, perfect. Thanks, Bruce." Bruce hummed.

"I'll get it out for you and bring it up here, and then I think I'll head out."

"Thank you." Bruce nodded, then walked to the stairs to the lower level.

"All right, who's hungry?"

"C'est moi." Faith said, with a scoffed 'moi'. The group laughed.

"All right, you and me, Steph, let's get dinner out of the oven, and make a salad."

"OK!" Stephanie slid off the arm of the couch, and went with Tim.

"Shower time, miss Faith?" Barbara said, making eye contact.

"Yes, pliz." Barbara giggled, then rose to her feet, offering her hands to Faith. Faith accepted the help, and the two walked to one of the doors upstairs. Dick watched. Watched.

Hummed to himself. 'Babs has a perfectly formed ass, but Faith has a lot of ass. So much that it's part of her thighs, and mm, her thighs! Barbara's thighs are so, soooo good, don't get me wrong. And I'm not trying to say I'm going to jump into Faith-alley just for a taste, a feel. But I would. I totally would, if I wasn't trying to be loyal to Babs, for once, aaaand if she wouldn't beat the crap outta me.'

Bruce had ascended the Belfry and knocked on the bathroom door, giving Faith's dufflebag to Barbara, who closed the door afterwards, Bruce leaving for the stairs and his car.

'Barbara's got nice boobs, though.' Dick almost whistled, releasing the breath as an exhale instead. 'Hoo, that was close! Bab's got an even bigger personality, though, and a big mind and heart. I know her. She's just a beautiful, gorgeous woman.'

'Faith had a reduction for a very valid reason. I'm not saying I wish she hadn't had work done. I am curious to look at what she looks like, though. They bounce just as well as any other boobs do. She kept frowning at her legs and stomach, and Faith said she feels so bulky and bloated.'

'Babs told her that was OK, that it's a normal thing to feel that even she and Steph feel. It's a womanly experience, to do something and feel your body do something you don't like. Hell, even men feel that way, but in different places and with different thoughts behind the 'ick'. And Faith looked at her arms, and told us that she hated them 'cause it was taking more effort to connect hits with them. She has to lean and lunge for it to work, and right now, it's arguably her hardest task, aside from re-learning how to run and jump. But she'll get there. We all know that time is key, here. She's got a good attitude about it all, aside from that. She sure likes to make jokes.'

'Tim, Babs and I talked before Bruce, Steph and Faith got here. I'm sure Steph has realised this, too. I don't even need to think if Bruce has, I just know he has. But the reason Faith does it so frequently has to be her way to cope with anxiety. Her experience as a child who was told to stay in her room and be quiet, sometimes without toys or even permission to read or write. She had to sit and think until her mom came in, or called her out, and…' Dick sighed. 'All of us know what isolation like that is like.'

'I'm not saying we should steer her in the direction of using comedy less often, no, that's a part of her that we all enjoy, and she's not bad at comedy, either! She makes herself laugh because silence reminds her of that isolation, and she wants to make others laugh to try and make friends. It's not a stretch to think that's why she became a stortyteller, too. Friends; that's something we all know, including Faith, that she desperately needs. I think our strategy of not just going along with her jokes but guiding her back towards the relevant topic has been working out. And, while Faith was in the bathroom earlier, Bruce said that in a casual conversation where she isn't using laughter she might say something really out of nowhere that might hurt our feelings, and respond to that being called out with anger. I don't think so. Neither does Tim, Barbara or Stephanie.'

'Tim and I think she would freeze up and be unable to even apologise, but her face will say everything, and Babs thinks the frozen state will have a break, but her face will stay the same, except for her eyes, and she'll say 'sorry' then. Stephanie said Babs had taken the words right outta her mouth. That made sense to Tim, Bruce and I, too. Bruce told us what she did, around 5 AM. Hoo, wanna talk about someone who needs Zatanna as a tutor! And I mean that respectfully. She has Sagittarius A, a black hole for her left eye, and the O-type star from her now non-fictional galaxy for her right eye, if she uses, I think, her demigoddess powers! That's just wicked cool!'

'Sure, she burned some of the forest near the mansion, but as a creation dragon, she could have reversed the damage, right? And we haven't even seen her use the black hole, yet! All of us agree that, if Faith can be taught to control when and how much she uses her magic, and gets her strength back plus whatever else we can give her, she'll be golden! And that's really, really exciting. All of this is probably on her mind too. She'll be counting on us to remind her of it, until she won't need it, or at least as often.'

'Let's be honest, it'll be the latter. And that's OK. We all know that the past isn't something you can just leave behind. We carry it in different ways. Faith carries it in her heart, and is trusting enough to share it with others, as is in great need of doing so. She's a wonderful fit into the team.'

Dick sighed, Ra's face and retellings of his actions flashing into Dick's mind. 'I sure hope all of this will be enough to tell him to leave her the hell alone. If not, and he actually kills her in that one way, we're all going to be in deep trouble. We talked about who could summon which unicorn, too. It's one hundred percent possible to stop Red Storm Earth before the one hour mark, hell, the ten minute mark. But I have a sinking feeling that it won't be that easy. And I don't even know why. Tim doesn't either, and he read all of the lore.'

'Oh. It's that Ra's could use Platonia again, right? Is that how he entered Faith's dream? That led to her Animus leaving the dream world to defend her, among other things. I'm sorry, are we sure that was an illusion? It probably was just an illusion, Dick.'

'Platonia recognises Ra's as a demon, not a human, so after the first time he passed through, and found Faith's dragon tomb, it stopped trying to eat him. And, if he has a Nero Persona, it sounds like we're royally screwed. The Invitation of Nerobzal sounds just as scary as Red Storm Earth, even if it works differently. I have to make the comparison that I know everyone else has probably made: Faith is like Raven, in that if things aren't under control, things will be really bad. Could we even prevent all of that? Could Faith prevent all of that? We were going to ask her, during dinner. I bet there's lore that Faith hasn't written down, yet. She should write it down, and some more, so it's all there and Ra's can't cheat. Or cheat again.'

Dick's eyes were drawn to the bathroom door as it opened. He drew in and held a breath as he beheld Faith: her hair was very curly and voluminous, although the lower half was mostly still wet, and, bra-less, Dick could make out what her boobs were like, better than he had before. She had changed into black shorts and a purple short-sleeved shirt. 'Damn! Oh my God, her legs are so yummy looking.'

Barbara cleared her throat. Dick closed his mouth and blinked, making eye contact with her. "Sorry." He said to Faith, "Sorry."

She giggled. "You're fine with me, I'm too tired to sing Ashnikko lyrics right now."

Barbara said, "Pffft."

"And I'm not the probably slightly angry redhead." Faith walked to the stairs.

"Oh wow! Would you look at that!" Barbara said, approaching the couch, Dick swiftly standing up. "That would be me!"

"I swear that my eyes are the only thing that will go anywhere near her, Barbara."

"Oh, good! I'd hate to have to punish you for infidelity." Barbara patted Dick's upper chest. Dick just nodded. He followed her downstairs and to the table.

They heard Faith cheering, Stephanie echoing her and Tim laughing at them. Dinner was ready. Barbara sat at the left head, next to Tim, Stephanie at the right head, Faith occupying the chair to her left. Dick had three options: take the empty chair beside Tim, and play it safe but always have to look at Faith when he raised his head, or sit beside Faith, and accept Barbara's challenge. 'Oh, hell.' Thought Dick.

He sat beside Faith, who had her right foot crossed over her left thigh. She looked at him, her hair thankfully too wet to graze his arm, and she smiled with her cheeks at him. He returned the smile, then Faith sighed, looking at the meal before them. They were having chicken wings, salad and baked potatoes. Dick looked at Tim, who made an expression with one side of his face, looking at Barbara. Dick looked at Barbara, who rested her chin on the back of her hands, elbows on the table, and flashed a smile at him as they made eye contact. 'Oh boy.'

Barbara mouthed, 'I love you.' And scrunched up her eyes, smiling.

'I love you too.' Dick mouthed back, and smiled, his eyes failing to get with the program, blinking for help to the ceiling instead.

Barbara parted her lips to respond when Faith said, "Man, ya'll didn't think to get fixings for the baked potatoes?" There was only butter. No ranch dressing or sour cream, and no cheese, green onions or bacon bits. Stephanie wheezed a laugh.

"Sorry, we were on a budget." Tim said.

"Fair enough. Still, my dad would be sad." Faith giggled. Stephanie and Barbara laughed.

"OK, well, dig in!" Said Tim. Faith unfurled her leg onto the ground with a thud, and used her hands to move four chicken wings onto her plate. Tim laughed. "You know there's tongs, right?"

"Yeah, but this is faster." Faith said, while the others began to fill their plates. "Also, I don't care. I'm not putting them back, and I didn't lick my fingers or touch a dog or cat, or have a dog or cat lick my hands, and I just got out of the shower." Faith took a bite, the others laughing.

Dick thought, 'I guess she's also just a natural comedian. I'm sure she's learned how to be this funny, but it's still a good part of her personality.'

"OK, all right." Tim said. "Are you gonna scoop the salad with your hands, too?"

"No! What am I, a dog in a sweater controlled by a human?" More laughter from the group. Faith reached over the table. The group started to chuckle. Her arms were short by about a foot. "May I please have the salad?" Faith said, chuckling. Barbara and Stephanie giggled with her.

Dick laughed and said, "Sure." He moved his plate a little to make room for the bowl, then Faith used the salad tossers to put salad on her plate.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome." Dick moved the bowl back. Faith picked up the chicken wing she had started. She stared at the wall for one second, and the next second, she tucked in her lips and her cheeks became red. "Uh-oh. What are you thinking, miss Faith?"

"I'm not a dog in a sweater," Faith's sentence devolved into wheezing laughter. "Controlled by a human." She pointed at Tim. "Silent Hill 2."

"Oh God." Tim said. Faith laughed. "The dog ending." The others laughed.

"I'm gonna write in the planning document that the next time Ra's goes into Platonia, it shows him the Door of Nonsense and triggers that ending, but the credits all say names of the Batfamily."

"Oh-ho-kay!" Tim laughed with the others.

"A-ha-and," Faith sniffled. "When he exits, the door will keep cycling him through different horror and JRPG titles until he demands to go home." She giggled, and bit into the chicken wing she held.

"OK, hon!" Said Barbara, the others laughing a little.

Tim asked, "Do you have any ideas on how to cut Ra's out of Thalassic Space that would work long term?"

"Mm, besides the Invitation of Nerobzal? We all know he won't agree to have the Departed take his memories and knowledge of Thalassic Space." Tim and Barbara hummed in agreement. "But if Ra's doesn't find out about the ritual, which is the only other disaster-level event he could learn about and trigger that I implemented in the lore so that zombies and demons felt more natural and important to the possible events of Thalassic Space,"

"It fits nicely." Said Barbara.

"Thank you. Uh, yes, I have one other idea, but it's not in the planning document."

"What's your idea?"

"I would commission the Father Born and Mother Born to hunt him non-lethally, and not only remove that information from him but program his brain to ignore it and deny it as true, no matter what methods he or others may try to use to restore it." The others hummed in interest, Faith taking another bite of her chicken wing.

"That sounds like it could work. You should write it down." Barbara said. Faith nodded.

"How would you convince the Father Born and Mother Born to help you?" Dick asked.

"I would give them each a treasure or sexual pleasure, or assist them in other ways, in exchange for this. I wrote down the names of the current Father Born and Mother Born somewhere."

"Yeah, it's not in the document." Tim said.

"I think it's currently exclusively in a story called Realm of Album, in which I'm summoned to help the Mages Guild there because the elf king is having problems that only a Jester Playwright like me could help with." The group hummed in interest. "I can't remember their names, off the top of my head. I'll open the document later and tell you before I put them in the document, Tim."

"Sure, OK."

"Like I said, the idea isn't written down, but it would work because of how the Guilds serve the people, and that's why it would pass the legislation of At'fman Lawbzal."

"What's that?" Stephanie asked.

"It means 'Amen to the Fate of Man, Law of Beyond Zone Acceleration Lord'. The first clause-word is what people who worship the O-type star's spirit say while raising their right arm, then left arm, diagonally." Faith did this motion. "It's the 'Praise the sun' gesture from Dark Souls, but as steps of a contemporary jazz choreography." Barbara wheezed, choked on her food a little. "Da da da," Faith sang breathily, lowering her right, then left arm, the others laughing and Barbara drinking water from a glass. "Da da, da da." Faith ended the routine with her arms raised, two da's per arm. Faith rested her arms and took a second to eat again.

"The second clause-word reminds worshippers of the O-star's spirit that Nerobzal is not evil and is actually an Actor, who is so dedicated to and perfect for his role that he fools hateful people, who I'll just call Kaleido because it's accurate to the lore, into believing he's real and the true God, hence the 'Lord' part of the clause-word, and why he's called Hebzal, Himbzal and Hisbzal by Kaleido, who believe in a literal theatrical act. Other Actors, like Neo and Nero Spirits, call Nerobzal's Actor he, him and his because they're Actors, too. The idea is for the Neo and Nero Spirits to shock Kaleido time and again by using those those pronouns and revealing that he's just an Actor, discrediting their claims that Nerobzal is God." Dick and Barbara hummed with intrigue, and Stephanie hummed in awe. Tim hummed, nodding. "'Beyond Zone Acceleration' is a reminder that the magic Kaleido are using is from Sagittarius A, meaning it's Eledisfeb, and Kaleido want to use it for evil instead of to naturally balance out Elevifeb, because that's just how magic systems works, and ecosystems, hence why Kaleido are so crazy and unwilling to listen, just as radical right-wing people are."

"Oh OK," Stephanie said. "So, the politics in Thalassic Space that you're arguing for is left wing."

"Yes." Faith gave a firm nod.

"That makes sense."

"You can't be gay or an ally, much less dress alternatively, in particular goth, and be conservative."

"That's right!" Said Barbara. Tim hummed in agreement.

"It is the people who take advantage of the Actor's in-story powers as a Fallen Angel who are the enemy."

"Right." Dick said.

Faith started her second chicken wing. "Kaleido was chosen as the name that conquered the mostly vampire cult of Kitsch in northern Italy, which worshipped demons and Satan respectfully and safely, because the people who abuse and murder those who don't fit their expectations of a human and-or a Christian look into chapels of God through the kaleidoscope created by the painted glass often used in churches rather than looking at the Bible and recognising its merits and faults in modern times."

"Ohhh. I actually really like that."

"Thank you! That confusion and misdirected anger is what the Cult of Asherah was supposed to clarify so the crimes that have happened across time could be prevented. But the Yahwehists, all those years ago, proclaimed Asherah to be an idol and the people who served her idol worshippers. The career of prostitution has been bastardised by too many men and women for too long."

"That's true!" Stephanie said.

"Even in modern times, when prostitution makes a lot of money, it's not safe to be a prostitute." The others hummed and nodded. "So, I fixed that, in Thalassic Space." Faith bit off and chew more chicken. "The Thieves, Assassins and Mages Guilds all support and shelter prostitutes and those at risk, allowing the revived Cult of Asherah to educate people about safe sex and how to protect themselves and others from predators."

"Kitsch wasn't a malicious organisation until the Cànova siblings fulfilled the Fool's Promise, which is the part of the Fool's Poem that describes what happens to people who submit themselves to Nerobzal. It was just supposed to be directions for the makeup artists and costume designers of the Theatres in the Dream World on Paper to use for Actors. Magdalene and Malakai took it seriously, and they roped Mamazsr'azcre into it too." Faith looked at Dick, Barbara and Stephanie. "His name means 'massacre', in Nerobzal."

"Oh!" Said Dick.

"Grand Vampire Lady Brunetta heard Father Dragon shout it in the sky in the dream she had, the night she went into labour, and she and Grand Vampire Lord Müth interpreted it as a challenge to overcome, which he was doing until Magdalene and Malakai came to drag him into their plan to murder their parents and seize Kitsch. They didn't know why Müth and Brunetta were in the master bedroom and didn't fight back. The reason was hidden by the Four Symbols of Chinese astrology until the third incarnation of the O-star's spirit returned to Thalassic Space to help the people stop Kaleido once and for all."

"Oh!" Said Dick, as Faith ate more. "Sorry, are you the third incarnation of the O-star's spirit, and that's why you have it for your right eye, when you use your demigoddess powers?"

"Eh, sort of? I'll get there."

"No worries."

"Why were Brunetta and Müth vulnerable?" Barbara asked.

"Brunetta was pregnant while Magdalene and Malakai counselled with dark sorcerers to find a portal to the Lightless Realm, where Krampus used to reign over the Astral Elves and where the siblings discovered a copy of the Fool's Poem in Krampus' hut."

"Oh, that answers a question I had." Said Dick.

"Oh, good." Faith giggled. Dick chuckled with her. "So, if you're wondering, there's no way for Ra's to learn about what he's getting himself into, in my dragon tomb."

"He deserves to find out the hard way."

"I hear that, yep. Um, the flight of the Astral and Snow Elves from the Lightless Realm and Lightful Realm, which Santa used to reign, is a story for another time. Believe it or not, I can stay on topic, when it comes to my lore." The others laughed. "Brunetta had an intersex child named Maury, a derivative of Maurice, which means 'dark skinned', because they were the first and only Obsidian Infant, their body made from one of the Eledisfeb-filled asteroids of the asteroid belt to the west of Sagittarius A. Its existence was seen as proof that Sagittarius A was not a destructive astral object as it is in the Milky Way galaxy. There's an asteroid belt of Elevifeb-filled asteroids to the east of the O-type star, too, but I can't tell you who has the first Goshenite Child because spoilers."

Barbara said, "Wait, is it your demigoddess-slash-dragon self?" "Nope! It's a child born in The Double Eight of Thalassic Space, but it's not my child."

"Hm, all right."

"There's also lore about the Oracles finding out what Sagittarius A* actually is, thanks to Hirokou, a member of the Cloud Casters, seven students who met when they enrolled at Cedillo Imagination Magic Academy in Princess Georgina, which, yes, is UNBC, Prince George. The Cloud Casters volunteered and were chosen by the Oracles to help the third incarnation of the O-star's spirit feel more welcomed. Again, skipping the lore."

"Thank you." Said Tim. The group chuckled. "As simple and good as the reveal is, thank you for skipping it this time."

"Maury had been sensed by the Four Symbols upon his conception, and when they were born, had split them into four Crowns, which they gave to the Guilds to present to the people of Thalassic Space for them to hide until the third incarnation of the O-star."

"Where was um, Mamaz…?"

"Mam-az-sir-h-az-cre. There's an apostrophe after the translated s, so there's a short breath."

"Mamazsr'azcre."

"Yeah, you got it!"

Dick said, "Mamazsr'azcre."

"Yep!"

"I don't even need to try." Tim said.

"Yeah, I don't doubt that." Faith said. The group laughed.

"I'm gonna skip on that, thanks." Stephanie said. Faith giggled. "Mamazsr'azcre was helping his cat anthro friends, Dohannar and Wysherah, free anthros and elves from the human traffickers that Magdalene and Malakai had wriggled into, thanks to their vampiric charisma, before they got frustrated with certain human traffickers for being fake radical right wingers and decided to find the Fool's Poem to put everyone under their boots."

"Right." Said Tim. "Faith, why don't you eat for a couple minutes, and I'll take it from here?"

"OK, yes, thank you." Faith sighed. The group chuckled.

"No problem. Magdalene and Malakai started a fire on the farm that Mamazsr'azcre, Dohannar and Wysherah sheltered people at."

"Uh-oh!" Said Dick.

"Malakai disembowelled Wysherah, who was nine months pregnant."

"Holy smokes! That's just evil!"

"Magdalene and Malakai won a mixed magic and melee duel against Dohannar and Mamazsr'azcre, and as Dohannar laid unconscious, Magdalene whispered into her brother's ear the Fool's Poem. Mamazsr'azcre tore off his jaw and gouged his eyes as Magdalene and Malakai had."

"Eugh!" Said Stephanie.

"That's what the Fool's Promise demands of the living to accept Nerobzal's as their God. Before the siblings returned to Italy to kill their parents, Mamazsr'azcre gifted Dohannar's soul to Nero Ba'al Berith, a demon whose name means Lord of the Covenant. Like Baalzebub, he's called the Lord of Flies. Ba'al Berith is a red-skinned soldier in red who rides a red horse and wears a crown."

Faith said, "It was literally the decisions of two awful people that began the First War for the O-star’s Spirit."

"Yep. She was first incarnated as Nith, the first daughter of Santa Claus, born September 4th, 1949."

"Oh, that's your birthday!" Said Stephanie to Faith.

"Nith was murdered by Magdalene, disguised as a Glacial Fairy, at two days old." Dick, Barbara and Stephanie clicked their tongues and made noises of pity. "The Snow Elves, Astral Elves, Santa and Mary Claus cast a spell at the catacomb chapel of Kaleido, directly hitting Magdalene. Malakai was doing his thing, which I can tell you about next, and Mamazsr'azcre worked with dark sorcerers to grow and improve the army of undead, vampires and werewolves that festered in the catacombs of the chapel until the end of the Third War. The elves and anthros came together to form the Guilds under the command of Father Dragon and Mother Mermaid and the Father Born and Mother Born, after the first war, and their human allies helped them. The O-star's spirit was quietly reincarnated twenty years later as Eal Volen, the first child and daughter of a mermaid mage named Eerie Glory and an astral elf mage named Lanech (ech is pronunced ehk, like echo) Volen who worked at the circus at the southern harbour of England, together."

"Hey, circus mentioned!" Dick said. The group laughed.

"Eerie had been stalked by Malakai since her early teenage years, but she had known Lanech for even longer, and she never faced Malakai alone, in the dreams where Malakai tormented and raped whoever he wanted." Barbara, Dick and Stephanie sounded disgruntled.

"Sorry," Faith said. "It was the most natural way for me to make Malakai a horrible person. Same with Magdalene."

"No no, it's fine, it works well for him."

"How was Magdalene a horrible person, besides killing a two-day old baby?" Dick asked.

"She got off on watching people get kidnapped and tortured by human traffickers."

"Oh, geez!"

Tim said, "She was a control freak, just like Malakai. Both were racist, sexist, and homophobic. Faith wrote Thalassic Space so everyone would feel safe and welcome, but some people learned about the awful things that happen on Earth through Nero Spirits who watched criminals from Earth that visited the Dream World on Paper. It's like how Ra's found out how to open a Door to Platonia, and all that's led to Faith being here, and the situation we're in."

"Ohhhh, OK."

"I hope it makes sense." Faith said. “Nero Spirits relaying information that wouldn’t have been otherwise available to people through the functions of the Soul Bridge.”

"Oh, it does, absolutely. You did a good job with that."

"Yeah, that's good writing, Faith."

"Thank you."

Tim said, "The Oracles were afraid of Malakai because he effortlessly and brutally manipulated Dreamer mages who were close to the power of the Oracles, many of them family members of the Oracles. Faith wrote a bit more about the crimes of Malakai, but we'll skip that for now. Eal was in the arms of Eerie after the circus had closed, Malakai having taken the disguise of a large black dog, and he leapt up with such force and speed to bite Eal's neck that neither Eerie or Lanech could react in time."

Barbara clicked her tongue. "Aw! No!"

"May I ask why the O-star's spirit died as a baby, twice?" Dick said.

"Yeah, yeah." Faith said. "Because babies are vulnerable. That's it."

"Oh OK, so it's a simple thing, this time."

"Yes."

Tim said, "Eerie and Lanech tore Malakai apart, each destroying a quarter of his spirit with their magic, but the other half of his spirit and his entire soul escaped to the Ninth Circle of Inferno, joining his sister and the demon they were actually giving souls to: Canon Lucifer."

Faith said, "If Ra's triggers either event, that's who the souls will be working to free from the ice."

"Oh shit." Said Stephanie.

"Yeah, that's bad." Dick said.

Faith said, "And why either has to be stopped as soon as possible."

"Right." Said Dick.

Tim said, "Specifically, the number of souls needed is 8^8 (eight to the power of eight), which is 16, 777, 216. In the First War for the O-star's Fate, 1, 809, 178 people were killed in the span of one month, two weeks and two days, though the ice barely melted, and the souls were freed to the afterlife of the 28 Mansions at its end."

"Oh OK, so it resets."

"Yes, it has a twenty-year cooldown, which coincides with how long it takes the O-star's spirit to reincarnate. In the Second War for the O-star's Fate, 2, 391, 955 people were killed over the course of two months and three days, and the ice melted a little more, but Lucifer still could not move, and the souls again were freed to the 28 Mansions. This won't be an issue, if he triggers Red Storm Earth or the Invitation of Nerobzal."

"Scary." Said Barbara. The others nodded.

"The third and current incarnation of the O-star's spirit—"

"That's you, right?" Said Dick, looking and pointing at Faith. She and Tim shook their heads. "Oh."

"It's Faina Laward, one of my Soul Fragments. She's autumn, I'm winter, Solas, my Fairy Persona, is spring, and Ønske is summer."

Dick said, "Oh, OK wait. So, your memories have like, fragments, and that's how your Personas are connected to you, and how you have the O-star as your right eye?"

"Yes."

"Ohhh-kay. Cool."

Barbara asked, "Why are you winter, and not autumn, if you're the Canon Persona?"

"I'm winter because of my depression and mental health, and that my physical disability means I can't enjoy the outdoors. Faina is autumn because she's my memories of having a working body and my hopes of having a happy mind."

"Ohhhh." Said Barbara, Dick and Stephanie. Tim nodded.

"Solas and Ønske are both seasonal expressions of the joys I associate with each season. Solas is my lesbianism, and Ønske is my desire to have adventure." Faith said. Stephanie giggled. "Faina was born on Earth because the Four Symbols realised she would be killed again if born on Yotutrnaeyl. She's summoned by Dohannar to the Dream World on Paper instead of to the throne of Nero Ba'al Berith, who is one of her possible love interests, as Dohannar and the Demon Hunters who patrol the Perimeter of the Circles finally met after eighty-three years of trying to free Dohannar so the O-star could fight for the people again instead of for evil. That dream is the first chapter of the novel, and in the second chapter, Faina settles in to CIMA, meets the Cloud Casters, and falls in love with Karma Brestin, who, major spoiler alert,"

"Ohp!" Dick covered his ears, then laughed and lowered them. The others laughed.

"Karma is the youngest of Bartholomew's triplets."

"Oh, she's an Astral and Ebony Giant Elf?"

"Yes, an Ebony Giant Elf, like Bartholomew is. Krampus is an Ebony Giant Elf, too. Santa is the only Astral Giant Elf, of Nerobzal's sons. Bartholomew's triplets and Krampus' twins are mixed race. Karma is a dark mage, not to be mistaken for a dark sorcerer,"

"Ah, OK."

"And it's olive green to signify that she's not evil. Earth tones are always a good sign. It's the neon colours you have to be scared of."

"Right, OK."

"Karma is also a vampire, and the companion star of the O-star."

"Huh?"

Tim said, "O-type stars have smaller, companion O-stars that orbit until eventually merging with the larger star, creating a bigger and brighter star."

"Ooh, OK. Does that happen when they meet, or later?"

"Later, when they hook up." Faith laughed. The others joined. "The Third War starts because Mamazsr'azcre is commanded to lead an attack on CIMA by Nero Ba'al Berith, but it goes too far, and a lot of students and teachers die. Sorry, spoilers."

"Sheesh, woman!" Dick said. The group giggled.

"And, uh, I think that's all the lore you need to know, regarding every branch of the main topic? Whatever it was."

"We started when Stephanie asked what At'fom Lawbzal was." Said Tim.

"Ohhh, right!"

"It was more 'the main topic and its family relatives'."

"Yeah." Faith said. They all laughed.

Dick said, "Well, thanks for all of that! Always fun to learn more."

"Oh yeah." Barbara said, nodding.

"And I get to eat the ass of this creative genius!" Stephanie said, the others laughing loudly. "Lucky me!"

"Real. Real." Faith said. The laughter quieted down. In the next two minutes, everyone had finished eating and washing their food down, and wiping their hands on napkins or getting up to use the kitchen sink.

"Well, you going to sleep right away, Faith?" Barbara asked, as Tim and Dick began washing the dishes.

"I think so." Faith said, yawning.

""Sleep", in quotation marks." Stephanie said with a smile, coming up behind Faith and squeezing her left ass cheek.

"Aa!" Faith exclaimed, and laughed with the girls. "Are you that spicy, baby gorl?"

"Mm, yuh," Stephanie replied. Faith and Barbara laughed, Tim choking out a laugh from the kitchen. "Yuh, I'm real spicy righ' now, gorl. Mm, le'go."

"Le'go." Faith echoed. "Goodnight, everyone!" She and Stephanie began towards the stairs.

"Goodni-ight." Said Barbara, walking towards the computer.

"Goodnight, Faith!" Said Dick.

"Don't worry about the noise, OK?" Said Tim. Faith giggled.

Click emoji to navigate to next chapter. ⏭️

[jynxeddraca]

Languages in BG3/D&D

No one asked but have some language stuff. Not gonna be too long. I have lost the original resources for the stuff on Thorass by the way. Minor spoilers for Wyll's early quest and some early game dialogue/locations.

Thorass

In D&D, most people speak Common, but everything is written in Thorass (side note, in the D&D movie, the wanted posters are also in Thorass which was a wonderful little detail). While this is technically the current alphabet of Common and apparently several other languages in-universe - when I look up languages in D&D it appears there used to be a language also called Thorass that is no longer in use and is generally considered like how we would Old English.

Which of course got me thinking. Most people can't read Old English today, and while most of the letters are the same, that isn't necessarily true for all the lettering. So I have this though that older Thorass script (say 200+ years prior) is not the same as modern day Thorass on top of the language itself has shifted. You can more or less make out what it says, but it's equivalent to someone who speaks modern English trying to read Old English.

Honorifics/Addressing People:

I also noticed while playing BG3 a couple of terms that stuck out to me: 'Saer' and 'Fellow'. The only reason they stuck out to me was because I was playing a Tav that was she/her and normally people in game are really good about using the right pronouns. So when I got called 'fellow' by Volo and later what I misheard as 'sir', I was very confused. Here's what I found about them in context of D&D:

Saer: “saer” is not “sir;” it means you want to be polite and respectful, but don’t know someone’s rank or official title.

“lord/lady saer” is more humble/reverent).

Fellow: means “fellow sufferer”

Which makes way more sense now. 'Fellow' would be somewhat common among ordinary people but I could see service/retail workers using 'saer' quite a bit just because you never know who's walked into your doors.

Tiefling/Infernal:

Infernal is the language of the Hells and by proxy, the language of most tieflings. In my mind, Infernal is notoriously dependent on context and double meaning to really gain what is actually being said. Infernal Legalese is even more so dependent on these as well as literal translations of words in addition to generally understood meanings - and example being Mizora's contract with Wyll saying he'd hunt "Devils, demons, the heartless, and the soulless." with "heartless" being the phrase used to order him to hunt down Karlach who - literally - does not have a heart.

Not all tieflings know Infernal due to many of them being raised by non-tieflings or having been abandoned. Generally though, tieflings raised by other tieflings will be fluent in Infernal, and those that weren't raised by tieflings normally will gravitate towards tieflings in communities where they can and often pick up infernal even though they may never be fluent. Because of this I honestly imagine that there are many pidgins and local dialects, though they are generally understandable between speakers. I have also learned that some tieflings are born with an innate understanding of Infernal and never had to be taught it - I imagine these tieflings have a noticeable accent to other speaker of Infernal.

In-game there really are only like 4 words that I remember hearing that are specific to Infernal:

Sharee: Meaning 'cheers' or maybe 'turnip'

Source: Danis at the tiefling party. My Tav (a tiefling) did furrow her brow when Danis said 'Or maybe turnip' so I don't think it would mean the later, though maybe the two words are very similar though.

Mragreshem: Going with the idea of 'shit stain'. 'mrag' = shit 'reshem' = stain

Source: Tiefling at the Risen Road watching the githyanki kill the Flaming Fist. She calls Tav this and it doesn't sound nice. Tav says "You're the mragreshem for taking that tone with me."

Komira also says "I don't give a mrag" while at the druids' grove which is why I think this is probably a compound word.

Hrasting: Could be like 'dang', 'darn', or 'damn' depending on context

Source: Tiefling on the Risen Road watching the Githyanki kill the Flaming Fist. "Nobody, just another hrasting fool trying to stay alive."

Zurgan: An expletive, probably 'fuck'.

Source: Rolan uses this in the druids' grove.

Just based on this, Infernal seems to have a very open, round sound to it and not the harsher, staccato sounds that I would have imagined. But I still like those sounds so I still use them if I need to make up a word.

Elvish:

What I can find of D&D Elvish is sparse (I always get Tolkien results), but apparently has at least 8 different dialects. Sources:

Source 1: http://www.candlekeep.com/library/articles/diction_elf.htm

Includes dialects of: Aquatic Elves, Avariel Elves, Lythari Elves, Moon Elves, Sun Elves, Wild Elves and Wood Elves

Source 2: https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Elven_dictionary

Source 3: https://web.archive.org/web/20230113060544/https://twitter.com/TheEdVerse/status/1613775838209806338

Screenshots of Ed Greenwood's tweets with different words of Drow and Elvish for love.

Thoughts:

Elvish seems to conjugate in a way that there doesn't seem to be specific words for 'you' or 'I' which makes figuring how sentences very difficult. Though I am running with 'Ai' as 'you' for most things.

Also looking at the Forgotten Realms wiki, it seems compound words are flipped from English like "moon whisper" is "galanodel" and "moon brook" is "siannodel" - assuming I guessed right and 'nodel' means 'moon'.

Candlekeep dictionary does not distinguish between dialects for the most part, and Forgotten Realms wiki definitely doesn't - it simply sources where it got the word and I am very frustrated by this. As mentioned above, Elvish seems to conjugate but the dictionaries are making things difficult. Example: I/my Talas: ‘Body / Soul / Self’ Ai armiel telere maenen hir: "You hold my heart forever." Reading this, assuming it's the same dialect, you could easily read 'talas' and 'telere' as conjugations of each other. But then you have this phrase: Gys Sa Salen: ‘Give Me a Drink/I Need A Drink’ It doesn't follow up with the same pattern and the official dictionaries don't have another word. Now it also doesn't seem to have the same rhythm/pattern as the first phrase so I think these two are different dialects.

Elvish is something I'll have to do more research on, but for now I'm kinda cobbling together stuff as I write fanfiction if I can't locate something specific.

[accirax]

A Brief and Highly Speculative DRDT Thought

This damn character order. I don't get it. It vexes me.

Because, as far as I can tell, they aren't ordered in any particular way. It's not alphabetical first name order, alphabetical last name order, alphabetical talent order, death order, order of introduction, Class Trial seating order, gender order (like doing all the girls, all the boys, and then Nico), rainbow order of official colors... And, as far as I can tell, that remains true if you do any of the options in reverse, or if you remove Teruko.

I don't think they work if you remove Xander either, or even Charles too. I say that just because I think those three could be first as, like, a top billing sort of thing. At the start, I think you're meant to believe that (following standard Danganronpa protocol) Teruko is the protagonist, Xander is the support character, and Charles is the antagonist. As arguably the three most important characters, it would make sense to put them first. Of course, that's not exactly how their roles actually turned out, but that's what you want the audience to believe as a spoiler-free first watcher.

So, if it's not any of those things, what is it? I started thinking about what the most likely possibilities are.

#1: The Order is Completely Random

As in, DRDTdev took the finished cast, put all of the names (minus Teruko, and maybe Xander and Charles) into a randomizer, and this is how it turned out. That would be a good way to avoid giving us any hints as to the characters' development or stories. Honestly, fairly likely, but bear with me here.

#2: The Order is Something Story-Relevant We Haven't Learned Yet

And thus, once we get to Chapter 6 or whatever, we'd be like, "oh, so that's why they were put in that order." This could be something like "order in which characters were accepted into Hope's Peak" or "order in which characters met Mai." Potentially interesting, although such an open sandbox that trying to pin down what it means is basically as good as it being random.

#3: The Order is Order of Creation

This is the real "Brief and Highly Speculative Thought" the title promised. I think there's a chance that this order appears random to us because it's the order that the characters were developed in. We know from the July 31st Q&A that Arei was the subject of the "first ever drawing of DT," which could imply that she was one of the characters who was created/confirmed first. However, she's currently fifth, so, what about the characters before her?

Well, Teruko is the protagonist, so it would make sense if she was the first character DRDTdev created. She also has a lot of mysteries and secrets surrounding her, which, as the protagonist, are surely strongly interconnected with the main plot. Hell, it's even possible that the protagonist of altDRDT is Teruko's brother! Having brainrot about Teruko may have been what inspired altDRDT in the first place, which would mean that Teruko would have to exist for longer than altDRDT has. Why am I talking so much about Teruko. This is not a hard sell.

It might seem strange that your literal first death, the character with the least screen time, is the second one you create, but when it's a character as intriguing as Xander, it becomes less of a hurdle. The dramatic scene that occurs to bridge the silly times of pre-first death and the oh-shit entirety of post-first death is an important enough moment that I would believe it was conceptualized very early. It's a big tone-setting moment. Xander also seems to be pretty interconnected with Mai, as "Unnamed Student" once asked him to find something for her (it's uh... in that document somewhere). That implies big overarching plot relevance, which potentially implies early creation.

As stated above, Charles is meant to look like the antagonist archetype of DRDT, so it would make sense if he was developed third. Basically, "I have my protagonist and my support character, so who should my antagonist be?" Charles is alive for at least two Class Trials, and his fear of blood and bodies seems like something that would need to be planned around long in advance. He also has a lot of parallels to Teruko, which could be important to her development. Charles third doesn't seem like a stretch.

Ace fourth, however, feels like a bit more of a stretch. I still don't think it's impossible, though. Many people (including myself, more or less) believe that Ace will be a survivor. Being at the sixth Class Trial is reason enough to be important, but if Ace was designed to do something important at that Trial (god knows what), it could make sense if Ace was created early. Ace also has a number of important relationships-- Levi, Nico, and Hu, to name the most prominent. The fact that Ace is at the center of most of those conflicts, being the one inciting the main problem, makes me think it would have been much easier to plan out the daily life if he were in it from very early on.

And then, we're back to Arei. I wouldn't have guessed that our apparent second victim was developed as early as fifth place, but, that's canon, baby! I don't have to explain this one!

The characters being listed in order of creation would have a number of interesting implications on the roles that characters play. For instance, you would probably imagine that the mastermind would be amongst the characters you would develop first, right? If so, that would diminish the likelihood that characters such as Veronika, J, Whit, or Nico were the mastermind (that actually covers a lot of really popular options, damn). Conversely, it could implicate that characters like Ace, Rose, Hu, or Eden are more likely to be the mastermind.

From a writing standpoint, later characters may have also been created for the purpose of solving problems. Going back to Ace, let's say that (as Hu has already been developed 7th at this point), DRDTdev knows that Ace and Hu need to have a big conflict in Chapter 3 that, I don't know, leads to Hu being the blackened and Ace starting to regret his foul mouth or something. To solve that problem, let's create Nico, a character who Hu likes and Ace hates, who does something highly controversial. Hu defends this "Nico", Ace insists they're in the wrong, and the arguing causes Hu to snap. That's 1) a huge oversimplification of the character creation process and 2) wildly speculative about the future of DRDT's plot, but my point is to say that one character can be inspired by the needs of the plot and still be a cool and beloved character that perfectly fits in regardless.

(To be clear, I am of the firm belief that there are no losers/unimportant or underdeveloped characters in DRDT. That's part of what makes it so great!)

(And, when I referred to "loser" characters there, I am referring to my own writing, not anybody else's fangans.)

That's not to say that there aren't any issues with the concept that the characters are in development order, though. The one that most immediately jumped out to me was David being 12th. Like Charles, he also has a lot of parallels with Teruko, and his big reveal could be something that was in the cards from early on, like Xander's death. Honestly, though, I could seem him being a surprisingly late addition. If DRDTdev perhaps realized that Charles wasn't as antagonistic as he initially intended, he may have wanted a new character to become an antagonist in Chapter 2 to replace Charles. Or, once DRDTdev decided that Teruko wouldn't (outwardly) mourn Xander, he may have wanted a character that would to keep the idea of Xander as a good guy in the audience's minds. Maybe that's just me being delusional, though.

Min's 11th place creation is also kinda weird to me. On one hand, she is the Chapter 1 killer, so a character with a short lifetime and limited important character relationships could have been added closer to the end. Then again, if Xander (the victim) and Teruko and Charles (major baits) were created so early, it kinda feels like DRDTdev would have come up with the actual killer earlier too, right? Min also has connections to XF-Ture tech, which, if not that important to DRDT, certainly seems to be important to altDRDT. However, I guess those could have been "problems" too-- "who can I create that would kill Xander to save Teruko?" and "how can I incorporate XF-Ture tech into the story in a natural way?"

The inclusion of Bonus Episodes also adds some spice to the discussion. We don't technically know that the Chapter 2 victim and killer will get their own episodes once the chapter is over, although I think most people are assuming it at this point. Min, for example, could have also been conceptualized based on a need for an early bonus episode to drop some lore about American Hope's Peak. Thus, her talent of "Ultimate Student" could have been designed to lead to a conversation about the school in the future. The same could be true of some later killers and victims as well.

Also, going back to the "actual killer" bit, things may have also been confused if any characters were ever replaced. Maybe there was originally a different character intended to be the Chapter 1 killer. This hypothetical character could have been discarded entirely or moved somewhere else-- like how, in THH, the original Chapter 1 was Hifumi killing Hiro, but after the plans changed Hiro became a survivor, and Hifumi a third victim. It's another way to potentially explain the gap between first victim and first killer.

Anyways, in conclusion, I don't know if I really believe in this theory or not. I just thought it was interesting, and decided to serve it up to y'all as food for thought.

The creation and writing of DRDT is fascinating to me, so I'll have to ask you to bear with me as my theories get less concrete and relevant and more speculative and meta as the hiatus goes on. That's just the manner in which my brain is rotting at the moment. Are my discussions of reasons for character creation peeling back the layers of the Matrix, or am I just donning my tin foil hat and pretending to know more about writing than I do...? I guess only time will tell. Thanks for reading!

[nordleuchten]

A Guide to La Fayette’s Papers: Paris Archives

The Paris Archives are a true treasure trove for all sort of things and since so many liked the guide to the Archives of Seine-et-Marne, I wanted to give a little tour of the Paris Archives for everyone who might need it. I will be focusing on the official documents like certificate of birth, marriage and death.

So first, we go to the webpage of the Paris Archives.

Next, we go to the section Archives Numérisées.

Once there you can actually access the Paris Archives own guide further down on the page.

But we are mainly here for the État civil de Paris, the very first box on the page.

We are scrolling down to the end of the page and now need to know what we are even looking for. If we are looking for an event (birth, marriage or death) that happened up until 1859, we have to choose the État civil reconstitué (XVIe-1859). For everything else, the État civil à partir de 1860 is just the thing for us. Most documents that are relevant for La Fayette and his immediate family are to be found in the État civil reconstitué (XVIe-1859).

Onwards we move and can now choose between the Fichiers de l'état civil reconstitué or the Actes de l'état civil reconstitué. The Fichiers are basically the short, alphabetically sorted version of the Actes and in my opinion much easier to search, especially if we do not know exactly what we are looking for. They are also only one page and present only the most basic information in short without much detail. We start with the Fichiers here.

We can now enter the type of document we are looking for (death, marriage and birth, displayed in that order) and the name of the person we are looking for. Now, here is the reminder that La Fayette was the families title, the surname was du Motier – depending on the archive we are using, sometimes both title or surname will yield results, sometimes just the one or the other and sometimes you even need a very specific spelling. In the case of the Paris Archives, I found that Dumottier works best – but I encourage you to always do some fiddling.

As you might have already guessed, we are looking for the certificate of marriage for Adrienne and La Fayette. These are our results:

With a click on the “eye” we can access the documents. They are indexed alphabetically and the first and last name found within the file is listed. If a name appears more than once, they are sorted by date.

As we can see, Fichiers only display the most important information, but they are easy to search … and look, the third entry is the certificate of Adrienne’s and La Fayette’s marriage that we were looking for. Now, the great thing about Fichiers is that they are sorted by name. Therefor, on pages four to seven we find the marriage certificates of Adrienne’s and La Fayette’s grandchildren.

With the symbol on the very right in the header we can download our finds as a PDF.

I really like that the Paris Archives mark which files have already been looked at by us.

Now lets us have a look what happens when we choose the Actes and not the Fichiers.

We can again choose the type of document but search for a date now and not a name. The more precise we are, the better, since this happens, if we only know the year an event took place.

Now, with an exact date (a date we knew from the Fichiers) we find this:

I know that the La Fayette’s marriage certificate is split over both pf the two 5Mil 2003 files.

Et Voila! Happy researching!

[cassiaraa]

Drarry podfic recs - length 1-3 hours

A list of podfics I've enjoyed. Sorted first by length, then alphabetically.

This is the list with podfics that are 1- hours long. I also have lists for Length 3-6 hours, Length 6-10 hours and Length 10+ hours or you can check out the masterlist.

1+ hours

Title: Newts Read by: Lazulus Authour: astolat Length:~ 1.5h Rating: Explicit Summary: “I’m twenty-eight!” Harry said. “I’ve been an Auror for ten years! You want me to go back to Hogwarts now?" 

2+ hours

Title: In Evidence of Magical Theory Read by: Sandstripe Authour: bixgirl1 Length:~ 2.5h Rating: Explicit Summary: When a hex meant for Draco accidentally catches Harry as well, they're forced to learn to understand each other in ways they previously might have thought impossible. In which Harry and Draco can't fight, so they fall in love instead. Wonderfull read of a wonderfull story! Accidental bonding and forced proximity in a Hogwarts 8th year story hits all the spots.

Title: Burning day: A Tale of Rebirth Read by: fire_juggler Authour: tealeaf523 Length:~ 2.5h Rating: Explicit Summary: Looking for a bit of solitude over his winter holiday, Harry Potter rents a home in Scotland, only to end up in the middle of adventure amongst the snow-blanketed hills. There is a local in Castle Valley who looks uncannily like his Hogwarts school rival, but he has no memory of meeting Harry in the past. However, Harry is determined to find out what happened to Draco Malfoy between his disappearance and finding his new identity as a charming unicorn trainer at the Scotland Unicorn Reservation for Lost Youths. Unicorns and memory loss and falling in love? Sign me up! fire_juggler did a brilliant job bringing this to life.

3+ hours

Title: An Owl Named Romeo Read by: fire_juggler Authour: Rickey Length:~ 3h Rating: Explicit Summary: Draco breeds owls, Harry’s an Auror, and an owl named Romeo is going to bring them together. This one has Auror!Harry and Owl breeder!Draco, and it’s a wonderfull mix of humour, mystery, angst and fluff. Romeo is an amazing owl, and fire_juggler reads the story wonderfully.

Title: Blue Roses and Other Impossible Things Read by: Sandstripe Authour: Cassiara Length:~ 3h Rating: Explicit Summary: After Harry saved Draco from the Room of Requirement there was a moment when Draco gave Harry a look. Harry didn’t know what to make of it, and he had a war to fight so he ignored it. Now though, they’re back at Hogwarts sharing a dorm and Harry is obsessed with seeing that look again. I wrote this fic, but I had to rec it here anyways because Sandstripe does such a wonderful reading of it. It's an 8th year fic with coming out and first times and a little angst.

Title: Higher and Higher (Temptation) Read by: birdsofshore Authour: cailynwrites Length:~ 3h Rating: Explicit Summary: Only Harry Potter could manage to put on a magical collar on impulse and find himself unable to take it off again. Now following Draco’s direct orders gives him intense pleasure, and Draco has a whole heap of troubles to deal with, not least the way Potter looks when the collar has him gasping with bliss. The whole situation would test the morals of a saint... and Draco’s no saint. This fic is HOT, and the reading of it only adds to that. Absolutely brilliant.

Title: Open for repairs Read by: RattleandHum (ThirdEye1234) Authour: FeelsForBreakfast Length:~ 3h Rating: Mature Summary: After the war, Draco works at a tv repair shop and Harry breaks things.Feat. sad boys in jumpers and more ABBA than is probably necessary. I forgot how much I loved this fic, but the podfic made me fall in love all over again. I loved all the voices and the portrayal of the emotions.

Bonus (podfic from my tbr)

A Mist That Appears (For a Little Time) written by dodgerkedavra read by reveriepi 2.5h