#cosmoknightchaos

[artblock-tm]

For the ask game, SINF :))))

Blorbo: Josh Newman

For those who don’t know, “SINF” is short for the series The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel, and Josh is one of the protagonists. A lot of the story and suspension of disbelief depends heavily on his point of view, and some of the BEST foreshadowing in the series surrounds his character and the eventual plot twist with him. Kicking my feet and giggling…

(I can’t put actual pictures of the characters here, unfortunately, so I’ll just find quotes from the books of them that I really like ^^)

“I was just wishing we could go back in time, to before all this happened.” “Why?” “So I wouldn’t have to be like this… so we wouldn’t have to be different.” Josh looked into his sister’s face and tilted his head slightly. “You’d give it up?” he asked very softly. “The power, the knowledge?” “In a heartbeat,” she said immediately. (Book 2, The Magician)

Skrunkly: Billy the Kid

This might be an odd choice of characters that I find cute, but I think there’s just something charming about this adaptation of the outlaw! Especially his later dynamic with Machiavelli- they’re a fun duo, and the contrast between their characters is really great.

But instead of pulling away, Billy took a step toward the Elder, slashing out with the Macuahuitl. The razor-sharp glass whistled as it cut through the air. Kukulkan immediately sucked his tongue back in and then coughed and gagged, choking on it. The Macuahuitl had missed it by inches. “Do that again and I’ll cut it off!” Billy yelled. “I know you’ll grow a new one, but I bet it’ll hurt.” (Book 4, the Necromancer)

I am skipping the scrimblo bimblo category because it is almost the exact same as the next one.

Glup shitto: Cernunnos

It’s a shame that Cernunnos was only in book 3, but by GOD did it have the most AWESOME entrance and description ever. It was an excellent way to introduce Archons, what they were, and the effect they had on others just by being there. I love every single detail about it… from Dee slowly figuring out how it operates, to even the pronouns it’s described with changing as the reader becomes familiar with it (going from purely “it” pronouns to “he” later on.) Cernunnos my beloved I miss you every day,,,

A wave of stinking fur, claws, teeth and eyes made yellow by the lights flowed down the streets, boiling out of the houses, leaping through windows, flattening fences, pushing up through sewers. Filthy foul-smelling creatures gathered in a huge silent semicircle behind the Archon. They had the bodies of enormous grey wolves… but they all had human faces. “Turn,” Cernunnos said. Without moving its body, its head swiveled at an impossible angle to regard the silent army behind it, and then it looked back at Dee. “You are strong. You will last a year before you become part of the Wild Hunt.” (Book 3, The Sorceress)

Poor little meow meow: Gilgamesh

…listen.

This is a very different interpretation from Fate Series’ Gilgamesh. SINF’s interpretation of the character is much more pleasant, and much more blatantly tragic. The driving force of the 3rd book technically revolves around meeting with him, and conflicting ideas of him are given throughout the story before he is actually introduced- until you finally meet him. It’s an anticlimactic meeting… he’s not a kingly figure, and despite being the oldest immortal human, he’s far less impressive than any other immortal human they meet. He can barely hold his thoughts together through the jumbled overflow of memories that he holds in his mind. Everything important to him needs to be written down because he is always at risk of forgetting everything dear to him. And,,, oouuughhghhh,,,,

“The Alchemyst leaned forward, and for a moment, it looked as if he was about to put his hand on the king’s shoulder. Then he drew it back and asked gently, “What are you remembering now, Gilgamesh?” The king pressed his index finger into the page, rubbing silver tears into the paper. “The day someone cared enough to shed a tear for me.” (Book 3, The Sorceress)

Horse plinko: Scathach

I love Scathach as a character but I feel like the struggles that she was put through were a little bit inconsistent? I wish that we’d gotten to see more about her relationship with Aoife from her side- it makes sense why we didn’t get to see that, but having her focus on other aspects on her family in the final books doesn’t feel as impactful when their sister relationship had so much intrigue surrounding it in Book #4. I assume that the focus shifting to Scathach’s parents has to do with keeping up the parallels to the twins since their story shifts to having a conflict with their parents.

But I still think that Scathach should’ve gotten more of a spotlight on her emotions on Aoife. She’s too optimistic. I think I need to hit her over the head with a massive metaphorical hammer.

Then Scatty strolled out into the yard. She was twirling her nunchaku as if she were Charlie Chaplin swinging a cane. There wasn’t a hair out of place or a mark on her body, and her green eyes were bright and alert. “Oh, I’m in a much better mood now,” she announced. The twins looked past her in the corridor. Nothing and no one moved in the darkness beyond. “But there were about ten of them…,” Sophie began. Scathach shrugged. “Twelve, actually.” “Armed…,” Josh said. He glanced sidelong at his sister, then back at the Warrior. He swallowed hard. “You didn’t kill them, did you?” Wood snapped and something collapsed in the shop. “No, they’re just… sleeping.” Scatty smiled. (Book 2, The Magician)

Eeby deeby: Niccoló Machiavelli

Oh my god. I LOVE Machiavelli. Everything about his arc is executed so wonderfully- I love from the moment he’s introduced, there is a very clear distinction between him and Dee, how the two operate, and how the two act. Dee is a terrifying villain, sure, manipulative and cunning, but Machiavelli has a striking subtleness to him that contrasts his layers to Dee being a less mysterious villain. I love how even though they are both manipulators, we see what makes Machiavelli a master in how he expertly controls situations- he’s able to direct the interests of Elders themselves to get what he wants, while Dee is constantly getting into trouble thanks to his brash and rushed decisions.

I also hate him and want him to be eaten alive.

“I don’t…,” Josh began, his voice echoing distortedly in the narrow tunnel. I really don’t like small spaces.” “Neither do I,” Machiavelli added tightly. “I spent a little time in a prison, a long time ago. I’ve never forgotten it.” “Was it as bad as this?” Josh asked shakily. “Worse.” Machiavelli was walking behind Josh and leaned forward to add, “Try and stay calm. This is just a maintenance tunnel; we’ll get into the proper sewers in a few moments.” (Book 2, The Magician)

[altblock-tm]

Hi I think you should give Doc the login information to your Tumblr account. No particular reason why. It would be funny

Hm? Did you seriously think that I didn’t already have access to my creator’s tumblr account? My dear Marci, you are sorely mistaken ^^

[ahatintime-oc-competition]

Round One

The Skyscreamer ( @cosmoknightchaos ) VS Elaine ( @dustedrosedraws )

Read about the Skyscreamer here

Read about Elaine here

[therealnoot]

Hey, same anon here! You're posted about a big orange bird-dinosaur thing, a purple creature, and a woman. Any of those work

Sorry I just got back from scrolling through my reblogs to find the post you were referencing, at least I think I found it!

Anyways if you’re talking about the one with the orange feathered bird person fighting the purple person then that would be Dysphoria and SkyScreamer! (SkyScreamer belongs to a friend of mine, @cosmoknightchaos you should totally check out their stuff)

But the bird person is my character. Her name is, as previously mentioned, Dysphoria! She’s apart of a species I’ve been working on making called Harpy Aviarnus! Although she’s technically not a wild Aviarnus and instead was lab-created to be used for their original purpose (that being war weapons of mass destruction) however that didn’t exactly go to plan for the scientists. Dysphoria was found and raised by another character of mine (Jinx, I’ve posted an old reference sheet of her before) and works as a sort of mercenary for her and any of her business friends, though mostly she’s the champion of the Arena I have yet to give an official name.

Anyways, Dysphoria is currently married to a man named Oliver! Dys and Oli have children, two twin boys and a younger daughter named Magnolia. I’m actually working on an art piece of their family I plan on posting at some point this week hopefully. Dysphoria my golden child, despite being a living weapon she’s really just a severely overgrown (she’s 8’5 ft tall 💀) budgie bird. As for the Aviarnus species she would be a part of the conflagrant subspecies, meaning she’s essentially a fire type Aviarnus instead of water, lightning, ice, etc and she possesses the unique ability to set herself on fire, which actually is part of the reason her skin is darkened In patches and spots across her body! Conflagrant Aviarnus, over their lifetimes get darker, thicker skin that is used to and tempered by extreme heats, but due to Dysphoria’s unique case of being lab created and not having an avian parent to teach her the basics like feather care and growth they don’t cover her entire body like they should, so her skin tempers unevenly and in patches.

Despite her rough childhood and dangerous lifestyle, more recently she has settled with her husband and children and in current lore she’s slowly pulling herself out of the arena and what not so she can spend more time with her children and husband, despite Jinxes clear demands she doesn’t. I’d keep talking about current and future lore but I don’t want to spoil anything I want to keep (mostly) secret.

[dustedrosedraws]

Doodle of my oc Elaine and @cosmoknightchaos 's oc, Skyscreamer

I love Skyscreamers poncho design, its so cool! Also she has a pet Roughpatch? Adorable :3

@ahatintime-oc-competition

[artblock-tm]

Hi love. Can I get 7, 14, and 30 for Caleb Scratch please 🥺

You goddamn SIMP. Slash affectionate slash silly.

7. Describe them in 3 words. Now let them describe themselves in 3 words.

Let’s see… if I had to choose 3 words for my mad scientist sona, they’d be “erratic,” “amoral,” and “desperate.” But I’m sure that Doc will have something else to say so let me hand the mic off to them.

Describe myself in three words, you say? Hmm… I suppose I’d have to go with “loving,” “generous,” and “intellectual” ^^

14. Would they agree with the term ‘guilty pleasure?’ Do they have any?

Caleb has mixed feelings about the term. It believes that things that bring you joy shouldn’t also bring you shame, but understands why people might be embarrassed over things they like if those things are looked down upon.

As for guilty pleasures of their own? Of course she has those. Not that he’d ever admit it, or would be able to, but she considers being able to exist as a guilty pleasure, as well as being able to love.

30. What would they do if they knew it would be forgiven?

The same things they’re already doing.

Because they are being forgiven. And they can force people to forgive them. It’s as easy as that.

[altblock-tm]

Crawls into your inbox covered in a mysterious thick substance vaguely resembling blood. What would Thirio and Lux think of each other

Guys please you need to stop giving Thirio the time of day. He doesn’t deserve it and he’ll hate you all regardless.

Lux and Thirio lock eyes and…. yeah, they don’t get along either. Both of these are beings that are either gods or have god-like powers and both of them assume that they are better than the other. (Thirio because that’s just his natural assumption he makes, and Lux because she is literally god. Thirio thinks Lux is pathetic because she is trapped in the heavens; she thinks he is pathetic because he is a measly black hole and she is Everything.)

However! There is a timeline where- if they take the chance to open up to each other, they might find some levels of respect! If Lux explained how she got in this situation and what she’s doing to get out of it, Thirio would respect the lengths she’s taken. And if Thirio talks about his history with Nova and his feelings on that, Lux would sympathize. And their friendship would be terrifying. Both of them are awful people with insane amounts of power.

That’s an unlikely timeline, however. Thirio would much sooner talk about his time in the Syndicate in an attempt to open up, and then Lux would hate him even more.

If emotions run so hot that they fought, the winner would depend on who catches the other off guard. Lux’s natural affinity is with light, which Thirio swallows up, but she can efficiently wield the one thing that can beat him: time. Lux far surpasses Thirio in terms of magical power, but she wouldn’t be mentally strong enough to resist some of the damage he could inflict with illusions alone.

Conclusion: Also don’t put these two in the same room. Or in this case, make sure Thirio stays far away from Lux’s prison.

[ahatintime-oc-competition]

Losers Round Two

The Skyscreamer ( @cosmoknightchaos ) VS Cape Kid ( @mantiswithlusciouslocks ) VS Bandit ( @xurkitry )

Read about the Skyscreamer here

Read about Cape Kid here

Read about Bandit here

[therealnoot]

“ I’ve been lookin forwards t’ fightin you. I wish you good luck, chick, you’ll need it. “

Looks at current ahit tumblr action, looks away sweating.

this is completely unrelated to the fun stuff happening rn in the ahit community cough ahit-oc-competition cough

Anyways this goes with with a post by @cosmoknightchaos that I’ll be linking. Hiii bestie kiss kiss hug hug xoxo

Let it be known SkyScreamer belongs to bestie @cosmoknightchaos . I wonder how many times I can ping @cosmoknightchaos before tumblr bans m- BANNED

SkyScreamer vs Dysphoria. Casual fun friendly oc fighting. It’s not like one of them horribly died and trauma happened. Not at all.

THIS TOOK ME FOREVER TO COMPLETE. I LITERALLY DIED HALF WAY THROUGH AND ITS NOTICEABLE I THINK????

Anyways, again, thanks for viewing my post! Don’t have a good day, have a GREAT day!! - Love, Noot.

[artblock-tm]

Blorbo bleebus thing for Kadoc and/or Salami please!

Can you tell that I loved LB1….

[altblock-tm]

Hi!! Infinity sign goes here!!!

“This unexpected gift of time alone Can stay upon the shelf If it's not obvious I'd like to share it with somebody else.”

From Goodbye Monday by Caleb Hyles.

I love everything about this song- such as the buildup, and how melancholy it is- but the delivery of the above line to me feels sorrowful and bitter.

These are the words of someone that’s alone, not by choice, and is suffering for it. The person that forced their solitude is not someone they want to be parted from and they can’t help but resent someone that they want to be with.

……..anyway this is a Jaide song— (I am impaled by a massive spear of ice)

[ahatintime-oc-competition]

The Skyscreamer!

belongs to @cosmoknightchaos

Sky is a resident of the Horizon, where she lives with her pet Roughpatch. She doesn't get many visitors, but when she does, she tries her best to protect them from the dangers of the Horizon and its other inhabitants. She's many things: A master magician (specializing in crystal magic), a gardener, a fighter against King Moonjumper (the crazy self-proclaimed ruler of the Horizon), and an adopted older sibling to Bow Kid and Mu. Most of all, she's determined, kind, good to trauma dump on, and willing to do whatever it takes to stop King Moonjumper and protect her world.

[artblock-tm]

OH EM GEE??????? Wauuuuggghhhhh ???!!!!!?? ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Desperately needed to draw them

Jaide belongs to the amazing @artblock-tm!!! Go check them out, they've got amazing art <3

Individuals and alt text, as always, below the cut!

DP sent me this ages ago and I've been meaning to draw it for a while. Thanks bestie :)

[artblock-tm]

I have colourful spheres on the brain. You should give me some Kirby headcanons/thoughts

Oh god I don’t think hard enough about Kirby for this. I’ll try my best but I’m honestly only a casual Kirby enjoyer and it’s not on my brain that often. The characters I think about most are Galacta Knight and Morpho Knight and the former isn’t even canon.

That being said. Let me try and scrounge up some headcanons.

-I do think Magolor, in some ironic, twisted way, would like DND. In fact I think he’d make a good DM. A theoretical DND session with the RTDL crew would be funny probably.

-I think when Meta and Galacta first fought, Galacta was covered in stray leftover crystals, and in every recurring fight they grow less and less. (On a whim I made a gijinka design for Galacta a while ago that kinda has this!)

-On that vein of thought, Galacta’s first few fights after being freed from the crystals was like fighting a cornered animal. But as Galacta was summoned again and again, they progressively became more and more tired as they let go of their title and worth.

-I think Kirby wouldn’t mind being used as a dodgeball. Like sometimes when you throw kids in the air and they giggle and laugh and tell you to do it again. Kirby would do that when you throw them as hard as you can across the room and they hit the wall with a thwap and stick to the wall like putty.

-Morpho Knight kinda reminds me of the phrase “like a moth to a flame” with their fire and butterfly theming going on. Not exactly a headcanon, but if I were to further develop a character for the few Morpho gijinka ideas I had, then I’d center them around that phrase.

-Morpho would jaywalk by the way. And if you called them out on it, they would correct you and tell you that they flutter, not walk. And then they’d flutter away before you can argue any differently.

Yeah that’s all I have. Hope it suffices 👍

[altblock-tm]

Hi. This is a serious question. Give me a coffee shop AU of any of your characters right now (read: whenever you feel like it)

Wh. What is a coffee shop au. Like I understand what it is but I literally have no idea how to make one or what tropes go into it. This is territory I have never even thunk to tread into.

Well, I’ll try my hand at it, I suppose.

…first of all, I would need to decide which characters to use.

Masked characters are out of the question- I would just default to the AHiT coffee shop au and wouldn’t be able to come up with ideas of my own. (Although Mak has made that au into an OC story! Good for them.)

Maybe my OCs? I have a lot of groups of OCs, but not many that I can even imagine transitioning into a coffee shop au. Almost all of my ideas are fantasy, so stripping away the magical elements feels boring. Ambivalent Souls is fantasy, And Then It Dawned On Him is fantasy, Demigod Dumbasses is fantasy I think, and Show Time…

Show Time is sci-fi.

…

So imagine a coffee shop in a post-apocalyptic world.

Humans are long dead, but the spirit of capitalism has survived.

Enter our main character, Vexx. She works in one particular yet unimportant coffee shop that is just one in the chain of many. As a Vixen (a bipedal wild dog species) in a TV-Head-run world, she’s unfortunately not paid enough to enjoy her job.

Well, it’s not the job she has a large problem with. It’s the environment. In an ideal world, this coffee shop would be a refuge from stress and the crumbling buildings outside. It would be a place for her fellow Vixens to relax and enjoy themselves.

Unfortunately, the coffee shop’s manager is a TV-Head, Dislan, and he immediately rejects any ideas that Vexx proposes. Her frustration with him increases steadily, but she puts a smile on her face and says nothing.

Until she works the closing shift and she sees a strange figure outside. Vexx squints out the windows and cracks the door open- they stumble over, but their face is hidden by a hood, so they are still indiscernible. Still, there’s something not right about them…

The hooded person asks Vexx for help, but before Vexx can even deny or refuse, they collapse. The hood falls away and Vexx realizes what was so wrong.

This person is human.

Vexx, realizing this is her opportunity to turn the coffee shop into a safe, comforting place, drags her in. She waits until early the next morning until the human wakes up, then provides her with food and water (thank goodness there’s plenty in a coffee shop!) before questioning the human.

The human’s mere existence reveals that not all of humanity has died out, but this individual is very tight-lipped on where she came from, how many are left alive, or even what her name is. But she does reveal that the ruined town that Vixens have inhabited used to belong to humans- the surviving humans have been tentatively testing whether or not they could inhabit their old homes again and were surprised to find them taken over by Vixens and TV-Heads alike.

The human assures Vexx that humanity doesn’t want to drive Vixens or TV-Heads out- they just want to live in their old homes again and hopefully to return to some sense of normalcy. And the human asks Vexx for help.

Vexx thinks for a moment, unsure of what the price of this might be. What if-

Dislan walks in the room, and spots the other two. All three of them freeze up.

The first to move is the human- she leaps from her spot on the floor, bodies him, and almost breaks his screen clean in two.

Vexx’s heart sinks as she realizes that she no longer has a choice- the human just committed a crime. And Vexx still wants to shelter her. She has no choice but to help her now.

And so, Vexx and the human go into hiding. Oh, and they bring Dislan with them and fix him as an apology-kidnapping. I imagine the plot progresses the same way that the original does- they face down the CEO of the (coffee shop) company and bring him to (coffee shop) justice, and whatnot.

Fascinating. This coffee shop au is somehow both the same and opposite of the original story.

[cosmoknightchaos]

hi I dunno if you’re taking requests for the drabbles but,,, “Be you. No one else can.” with anything you want,,,,

Um actually I'm not taking requests. Yeah. Sorry.

Word Count: 1362 feat. Paisley Harris, Kat, Marci, and Vincent Sonemeir (Project Scepsis OS)

Prompt #50-

"Be you. No one else can."

Kat stared at him. "What?"

"Well, there's only one alien girl living on planet Earth who looks and talks like you." Vincent looked over his shoulder, waving the screwdriver in the air. "That's who you are. No one else can be that."

"This isn't how I look. Or how I sound. I stole from others.”

"And those people aren't going to come after you wanting those appendages back, now are they?"

Paisley, who was sitting on the ground in front of Vincent, turned around and frowned at him. "What? I'm correct. Now turn back around before you disconnect something."

Vincent turned back to his work. During their last fight, the Creator unit that was hunting the group had electrocuted Paisley in the right shoulder, shutting down the entire right side of their upper body and frying their vocal implants. After narrowly escaping, Marci had "commandeered" an empty apartment in a nearby town for the four of them to recover in. Vincent had managed to get Paisley online and partially fix their shoulder joint after a few days of work, but was struggling to fully repair the machine without any extra parts. Now, they were sitting in front of Vincent, the plates for the right side of their back removed so he could work on their circuitry.

"That doesn't matter. I can't 'be me' because I don't have a ‘myself’. I don't have a way I'm supposed to look or sound the way you or Paisley do. I'm just... whatever I take from other people."

"I'm not talking about how you look." Vincent switched to sitting on his knees. "Harris, bend over more, I need to reach your spine."

Paisley did as they were told. Vincent put down the screwdriver and dug his hands into their back, locating their vocal box. "Oh, shit."

The room went silent as Vincent continued his work. He moved from the vocal box to Paisley's arm, assessing what to do next.

"Is that it?" Kat snapped.

"Huh?"

"You don't mean how I look? Is that all? Do I have to figure out the rest on my own?"

Vincent turned to look at her, keeping one hand inside Paisley's arm and an uninterested look on his face. "Your personality, Kat. I mean your personality."

Kat crossed her arms.

"That's what makes people different. Everyone else has had their own experiences and choices, and it's how they respond to those experiences that make a personality. Sure, your physical appearance might be the same as someone else's, but guess what? So is Paisley's."

Paisley started to turn around and Vincent promptly grabbed their shoulder with his other hand, forcing them back. "My hand is in your right shoulder joint, Harris. Don't move it."

He leaned over Paisley's shoulder and started fiddling with the inner workings. "Paisley is one of many mass-produced machines, all made with the same intent, for the same purpose, and with the exact same technology. And yet, they function entirely different than any other Creator unit would, because they've been given the chance to have feelings. And opinions. Regardless of how awful they are."

Paisley twitched their shoulder and Vincent yanked his hands out. They tilted their head and shook, as if laughing.

"You asshole. Don't do that. You can cut my fingers off if you move too much.”

They gave him a pouty face and Vincent glared at them. “Do you want me to fix you or not? Because I will gladly leave you like this.”

Paisley sighed silently and relaxed their arm, allowing Vincent to continue. “Paisley, despite having some misconceived assumptions about how the world works and some poor opinions because of that, has developed a strong personality. They’re irrational, impulsive, and the biggest optimist I’ve ever met. Which isn’t a bad thing,” he said through gritted teeth, as Paisley moved their left arm as a quiet threat. “It makes them their own person. And I’m sure if they could speak right now, they’d list off a whole bunch of insulting adjectives that make up my personality, such as arrogant, sadistic, and selfish.”

Paisley gave the other two a thumbs up.

“So… I have to make my own personality,” Kat stated, unsure of her words.

Vincent was still for a moment, then sighed. “No. You already have a personality. Everyone has a personality from the moment they are able to think.”

“But everything that makes up me I took from other people. Including how I act. I just copied other people until I figured out how to fit in.”

Vincent didn’t respond. He had moved back over to the top of Paisley’s spine, and was working on their vocal box.

“...I just don’t get it. How do I be myself while being made of everything but me? Who even am I?”

Still no response. Vincent reached for the screwdriver again, stopped, and turned to look at Kat. “That was a rhetorical question, right? Please tell me that was a rhetorical question.”

When Kat didn’t speak, Vincent scoffed and stood up. “Kat, I’m an engineer, not a philosopher. But, if you really want to know, I think you're a cannibalistic shapeshifter alien whose entire species is considered a high-level threat on this planet. You’re a wanted criminal on most of the planets we’ve talked to, and if you weren’t already, you’re certainly a criminal here on Earth for kidnapping a high security programmer from one of the most safely guarded establishments in this solar system!” He paused and took a breath. Paisley had turned around and was sitting criss-cross, watching Vincent lose his cool with a shit-eating grin. “You’re also incredibly insecure, and you worry enough to cover the three of us. You’re uncomfortably introspective and you’ve looked like you’re on the verge of a mental breakdown since I met you. Is that good enough or should I continue?”

Kat opened her mouth and then closed it, a dejected look in her eyes. Vincent stood with his arms crossed.

“So… that's who I am?”

Vincent’s arms dropped to his sides. “Fucking… no?? Well, yeah, that’s everything I know about you, and it’s all factual, but that doesn’t have to be.. you. It doesn't have to be all of you. You can be more. Or, if you’re fine with that, then yeah! That's you!” He shrugged, clearly fed up. “But you have to figure that out yourself.”

“But… what if I can’t? Or what if people don’t like it? At least with whatever I am now, people like me, but if I change that, what-”

“Paisley Harris,” Vincent said firmly. “Do you consider me to be a good person?”

Paisley, incredibly giddy, pointed their thumb down.

“Do I, in your opinion, have any sort of redeeming qualities?”

Paisley gave that a vigorous shake of the head and a thumbs down.

“And, from what you remember of your time in the Preservation, did any of my coworkers like me? The investors don't count."

They paused, thinking, then shrugged and pointed their thumb down.

"Off the top of my head, the only person I worked with there who would actually like me would be Daniel Ederudge, who I've known since college. Now, Harris, do I give off the impression that I dislike any of those facts?"

Paisley gave a slightly-less-eager thumbs down.

"Thank you Harris. Now, my point is, who gives a damn what other people think about you? As long as who you are makes you happy, it doesn't matter. You don't even have to be someone big. You don't have to make any sort of impact on anyone else. You don't have to be something special. Just... be what makes you happy. Be... yeah. Be you."

Behind them, Marci, who had been asleep on a table, opened one of its eyes. "That's easy for you to say, doc."

Vincent's jaw snapped shut. He stood very still for a moment, then bent over and picked up his screwdriver. Paisley quickly turned around as Vincent sat back down, resuming his work on their arm.

"So... I just have to figure out who I like being?" Kat asked.

Vincent did not respond.