#glyph rectifier

[rectifier-vn]

MC with a third eye comes in handy!

[saturninemartial]

Not enough lawlu daddy kink for my tastes imo...

[vnhiuetsjohfgodovsifjldkfjvmf]

worst part of the popification of cyberpunk as an aesthetic is that they've finally realised that the yellow-fever-ish tendency to cram random katakana into whatever negative space they can find is kinda culturally insensitive. so to rectify this they just use nonsensical, fictitious glyphs that nonetheless are very recognisably based on asian glyphs. great job guys you're definitely going to beat the racism allegations now

[flipping-the-coin]

[Inquisitorial Report: Subject - Head Archivist Orion Pax]

[Authorization Level: Prime]

[Listed Authorizations: Optimus Prime]

[Assigned Inquisitor: Jazz]

[Three deca-cycles into assignment]

═════════════════

Listen, OP.  We need to talk.  Is there any particular reason why I wasn’t briefed that there's a whole other inquisitor here? She does her job pretty well for the most part, didn’t notice her at all till she climbed out of the slaggin’ wall and started cleaning up the hab!!! I don’t know what’s going on in the new training methods that Smokescreen is running, but I am pretty fragging sure that the person you’re spying on is NOT supposed to know you exist. Megatron definitely knows she’s here. Seems like he’s fond of her. I saw him leaving out a slagging snack for her before he escorted Orion to the Archives! What the actual frag, my mech? WHY WASN’T I TOLD SHE WAS HERE?! Now that that’s out of the way: onto Orion. I can’t get my servos on his medical records, they’re sealed up tighter than a stripped screw on your oil pan, but he takes some medications every cycle, one is some kind of sedative, that he takes before recharge (probably to help with nightmares, if I am guessing correctly. He’s had two since I’ve been watching so far, and they seemed pretty severe), and the others are mainly used for field suppression and anxiety. His field is… I dunno how to describe it…. It’s messed up, OP. Something happened to him cuz his field is different than I remember. When he’s out in public, it’s like he doesn’t even have one. He was always a bit reserved in expressing himself, but now it’s like he doesn’t have a field at all. But when it’s just him and Megatron in their hab, sometimes Megatron encourages him to let his field out and… Primus, OP it’s like slamming into a wall at mach 2 how thick his field is. I’ve only felt it a couple of times, It’s overwhelming, so I tend to stay back from the vents as much as I can when he’s emitting, and rely on my cams and audio. I hope you don’t mind. 

It doesn’t seem to bother Megatron at all, though. In fact, he seems to enjoy it. But he was always a little weird, so I’m not really shocked he’d find comfort in something that feels so… smothering? (That’s probably not the right glyph, but I’m going with it.) He dotes on Orion Pax even more than he did before the war, and I gotta admit that it's a little humorous to see Lord Megatron dutifully preparing fuel every morning like some kinda housewife on those old Earth sitcoms.

Anyway, Orion is well cared for. Megatron attends to him dutifully, and Orion happily returns that favor to his Conjunx. As strangely as they present on the outside, their relationship dynamic seems quite healthy, if not a bit codependent. They touch each other a lot more now than they did before the war. I haven’t seen them go through any form of serious disagreement, and the minor one they did have was discussed and rectified (Megatron was frustrated with Orion for not putting the lid back on the rust sticks.)

Orion is odd, and his habits reflect that. I’ve watched him pick up more rocks than I can count on his treks to and from the Archives, and chemical analysis shows they are just… rocks. Sometimes they are in strange shapes, but usually just… rocks. He is very fond of crystals, though as far as I know, he only has two he cares for personally; a small potted one he keeps in his hab, and another, more rare aquamarine cluster that he keeps in his office at the Archives. I’ve heard him singing to that one, a couple of times now. Seems it's very important to him. 

He rarely brings his work home. Seems he tries to keep work and home life separate as much as he can, though he does discuss things from work with Megatron at length some cycles, especially if he has to deal with the Council in any fashion. If I can be blunt… Orion Pax is not fond of most of the Council, and when I say ‘not fond’ I really mean ‘he fragging hates them.’ Seems there's been issues with Council Members intentionally goading him into emotional responses.

On a typical work Cycle, Megatron comes online before Orion, and busies himself preparing their fuels. Orion usually comes online just before the fuels are ready, and Megatron sometimes brings it to him in berth. Sometimes Orion wanders out to the table and they refuel together there. Megatron helps him prepare for work. Once at work, Orion tends to finish his official duties relatively quickly. He spends at least two joor a cycle assisting and mentoring his apprentice, Red Alert. The two seem to get along well enough, but there’s some strain there I haven’t quite worked out yet. They both are anxious things around each other, but their working relationship seems warm and friendly. He spends his fuel break on comms with his Conjunx.  Afterwards, he spends most of his time, ah… poking around in data he’s probably not authorized to be poking around in. Mostly military records from the war and things in the Decepticon Archives. Before the end of his shift, he spends a joor or so helping the archivists tidy up and organize everything before he goes home. 

If Megatron doesn’t pick him up from work and escort him home, he meets him at the door. Regardless, they spend a great amount of time being lovey-dovey with each other once the door closes, talking about how much they missed each other, which can last for quite some time if they kiss their way to berth… or the sofa… or a wall. Once they finish with that, they tend to relax together, usually wrapped up in each other in some fashion until one of them, usually Megatron, goes to prepare fuel.  

After they fuel, they either retire to berth or settle to watch something on the holoscreen. Unexpectedly, Orion seems to prefer watching horror, suspense and thrillers. I expected him to be a ‘romcom’ sort of mech. Go figure. 

Their berth-time habits are a bit much, honestly. Megatron almost always has some new poem to recite for Orion. Most of the time they’re about how much he loves Orion, how beautiful he finds him to be or ah… what he wants to do to him, if you catch my drift.  Sometimes they fool around for a while after that, but once they settle in berth, they’re always as close to each other as possible. Sometimes, Orion will read aloud while they are snuggled up together. He reads a very slowly, but that seems to help Megatron fall into recharge. Sometimes Megatron reads to Orion, though, there’s really no way to tell how it will end up. 

On the cycles he’s off duty, both he and Megatron recharge later than normal. Orion seems to enjoy doting on Megatron on his off cycles, especially in the earlier joors. He’ll prepare fuel for the two of them to share in berth. Their behavior during this period of the cycle can only be described as playfully silly. After fueling, they flirt with each other in the strangest way I’ve ever seen. It starts with playful nudges and jabs and ends with them grabbing and tickling at each other until Orion inevitably ends up subdued, either beneath Megatron’s weight or by being trapped in an embrace. There’s plenty of laughter from both parties during the whole exchange. 

After that, once they’ve cool off from their game, Orion leads Megatron to the washrack where they thoroughly groom each other. I honestly am not joking when I say those two can’t keep their servos off each other. They will find any excuse to touch each other. Anyway, after grooming they tend to break apart for a while. 

Orion works on his pet project of translating what little Kaoni literature survived the war for a few joor, sometimes asking Megatron for assistance in his glyph usage. He takes his work very seriously, though I highly doubt the Council will allow his translations to be integrated into the Archives as he wants. Megatron usually interrupts him at some point, with pleas for attention or reminders not to work too hard, usually with a snack in servo. 

Evenings depend on whether Orion has a social call or not. I didn’t actually realize he had any friends, considering his reputation, but it seems First Aid and his gardener, ‘Melody’ (who I am 99.9% sure is the SPY I WASN’T BRIEFED ABOUT on HER off cycles) are fond of him, and come over for energon and goodies on some of Orion’s off cycles. Sometimes they gossip and sometimes they discuss literature. Orion Pax has no clue that his gardener lives inside his walls… 

When he doesn’t have guests, he spends his evenings engaging in his various hobbies. He’s very fond of the crystals in his garden and will sometimes help the gardener tend to them. (all things considered, it seems this gardener is his closest friend. I wonder if she feels as weird about spying on him as I do?) He also really enjoys calligraphy and often transcribes Megatron’s poetry in the most exquisite of glyphs. He was good at calligraphy before the war too, you know? Though he didn’t practice it as much back then. I’m glad to see he’s still getting joy from it. The crystal thing is new, though, I never saw him do anything like that before the war. When it’s time to refuel, they have a brief conversation that essentially boils down to whether or not they can bear to part from each other’s company, which decides if they order fuel for delivery or not. 

It also seems like both he and Megatron enjoy the human inspired ‘jigsaw puzzle’ as well. Some evenings they work on one together while watching something on the holocreen or chatting. They have quite the collection, and always new ones seem to pop up. I think Megatron orders them as a surprise because Orion is always excited to see it. They only work on these together. (They work on these during the work cycle evenings as well, sorry OP I forgot to mention that. It’s just so common to see that it slipped right through my processor until I was specifically thinking about Orion’s hobbies.) 

As for his general interests, I’d say his number one interest is his Conjunx, if I’m to be honest. Megatron is the single most important thing to Orion Pax. I haven’t even been here that long, and I can see that plainly. If something can be done with Megatron, he will do it with Megatron. He chooses Megatron over all of his other interests and hobbies EVERY TIME. He has joked with Megatron several times that it is to ‘make up for lost time.’ He knows more about Megatron than probably anyone else in the entire universe including Megatron himself. In fact, Megatron often has to encourage or remind Orion to pursue his other interests. 

Other than that, he has a pretty wide range of things he’s interested in. He’s deeply invested in Kaon: the language and culture, as well as preserving what’s left of it. He has twice now brought up the topic of wishing to live in Kaon like they had originally planned to, before the war. Also, he enjoys crystals and their tending, calligraphy, poetry, holofilms, jigsaw puzzles, and politics (he has OPINIONS, let me TELL YOU). He spends a good deal of time reading about a variety of topics, such as history, mythology, poetry, romance, etymology, cyber-geology, crystals and their assorted sciences, mineralogy, medicine, politics, pro-Decepticon and Neutral works, graffiti and street art, erotica, memoirs, mystery, cyber-biology, and self-help. 

He has some less prevalent, superficial interests as well. I’ve either heard him mention an interest in these topics or heard him give some factoid that only someone with some level of interest would know. I admit, some of these come from my pre-war history with him, (considering the ah…. Extremely wide scope you’ve given me, I think it’s relevant): theology, earth plants, drawing, hymns??? I dunno how else to describe it… Ancient songs, gladiator subculture, sparklings and their care, semiology, symbology, linguistics, justice, psychology, ethics, fuel preparation recipes, turbofoxes, warframe maintenance and first aid, archival sciences, relics, decryption, urban exploration, and dance. 

That’s about all I got for ya OP. I wasn’t lying when i said he’s a pretty boring mech. He has a few quirks about his romantic life, but other than that, he’s kinda a nerd. Just like he was before the war. He’s just… more clingy and has medical problems now. As with the last one, I’ve enclosed a journal entry. Same as last time, I have no idea when he wrote this. Honestly, I just picked one at random. 

═════════════════

I had an appointment with Ratchet this cycle that once again did not go very well. I truly am trying my hardest to understand what he wants from me. It seems no matter how I answer his questions, he is displeased by my words. I fear for him. His hatred of Megatronus and his disgust with me seem to be mixing with his grief for Optimus Prime, driving him mad. 

Megatronus has repeatedly pleaded on my behalf for another doctor to take my case, but Ratchet insists that I am too volatile and dangerous to be seen by anyone else, which… honestly, may be true. I cannot always control myself, especially when I feel backed into a corner or feel Megatronus is being threatened. When I fear for his safety… I cannot control what I do anymore. I am so terrified of losing him that I can’t control myself. 

Before the war, it was the opposite. Megatronus protected me from dangers, and I had little reason to believe I had the power to protect him from much of anything. He was so righteous and strong… almost like a deity in my optics. Though I never worshiped my champion in a traditional manner, I nonetheless found myself deeply devoted to him and his cause. 

His touch has always been different from the touch of any other to me, even before I realized that I wished to belong to him. The first time he touched me was merely a servo upon my shoulder as he greeted me and welcomed me to Kaon. I cannot even recall what he spoke to me considering the nearly explosive reaction my spark had to that simple touch. 

Of course, I had no frame of reference for what affection or love felt like, so all I really understood was that I liked it when he touched me. His touches were always patient and gentle, a stark opposite to whenever Alpha Trion would touch me, with little concern for my comfort and completely lacking in any sort of tenderness. I was accustomed to my comfort being disregarded by those around me, but Megatronus cared. 

I think he must have sensed it, somehow; how repressed and unhappy I was. I had buried so much of myself in my attempts to please my Sire that I barely had any personality when we initially met. Yet he enjoyed my company regardless and urged me to pursue what I wanted, instead of what was expected of me. I had no way of knowing, in the beginning, that I would ultimately realize that he was what my spark wished for above all else. 

There are so many moments I should have realized it… I can still recall how eagerly my spark pulsed with excitement and trust the first time he settled between my thighs… the way his field wrapped around me like a promise as he teased me to ecstasy with digits and glossa… I was so deeply in love with him, yet so oblivious of my own emotions. How foolish I was to not see it for what it was. 

I am no fool, however. I know exactly who my lover was and is. I knew that he made a living via extinguishing sparks. I knew that he was known for his brutality in the arena. I witnessed more than enough of his gladiatorial matches to know the violence he was capable of. If I am honest… I think part of his allure is that violence, that he never has turned upon myself. To be loved so dearly by one who is known for their violence, to draw out the gentle in one that most see as a monster… to be touched so lovingly by servos still stained with the energon of his foes… I cannot even begin to describe how that feels. 

I knew he would start a war the moment I came online strapped to that table in the tunnels. I could feel him trying to cover up his panic to soothe me as he tried to rescue me from my inevitable fate, and I know that he continues to view it as his greatest failure that he did not reach me in time. My champion started his war far sooner and with far more brutality than he wished to because THEY TOOK ME FROM HIM. He still dreams of that cycle I was taken… and how he felt my agony and terror.  

Some cycles I ponder what would have happened if he had reached me in time. Would the war have continued if I had been allowed to stand at his side the way I wanted to? I do not know, but I do know that he never would have lost himself to madness. I know that Cybertron never would have been rendered uninhabitable. I know that our war would not have reached the stars had I been at my lover’s side. 

We had promised each other eternity and were ripped apart after only a vorn. He grieved for me, and I felt every bit of his anguish. I was there when he spiraled into brutality. I was powerless as I felt his spark grow colder and colder as his rage took hold of him. Our separation was painful for Megatronus. Both physically and mentally. To have our bond severed so forcefully wounded his very spark. So very few seem to understand that ache as we do. 

I begged to be allowed to comfort him.  I understand that many believe comfort is the last thing Megatronus deserves, but it would have stopped his rampages. If only he knew I still lived. He would have at least had hope. Instead, he saw a new Prime, wearing his deceased Conjunx’s frame and speaking in his voice like an unholy abomination. Optimus Prime spoke lies about willingly accepting the Matrix, of duty, and freedom, spoke as if he were me, when my love could see and feel so clearly that he was NOT. How could they not expect Megatronus’ wrath?

I know that many hold contempt for me for continuing to stand at his side, but how can they expect anything else? He was the ONLY ONE who saw through Optimus’ lies. He was the only one who fought to FREE me, though he was under the impression I was gone. He still wished for my frame to be laid to rest properly, not to be desecrated by the Council’s puppet Prime. He fought for me… How can they not understand that? He was the only one… 

He and I have tasted each other's sparks in the most intimate and forbidden of ways. We have been a united being in both spark and frame. Megatronus did nothing during the war that I did not predict and try to stop. I could feel him spiraling deeper into madness the longer the war dragged on, and along with that, his moral standards fell away. I am not proud of the things my lover has done. There are many things I wish I could have stopped. There are memories of him that are terrifying, disgusting even, especially after he began his dark energon consumption. He forgot who he was, just as I had forgotten who I was before I knew him. There were so many times I thought I had lost him for good…

But then Unicron awoke, and I got the chance to live again. I saw that my Champion was still there, merely buried under millennia of grief and war. And he still loved me as deeply as I loved him. He feared that I would not love what he had become… but to me, he will always be my Champion, for I understand him as none other does, and he likewise is the only one who truly knows me. I know his spark as clearly as I know my own, and I cannot condemn him for his actions while spark-broken. He fought for me just as hard as I fought to get back to him, if not more so. His actions were simply much more visible, and affected far more than necessary. 

I am told I am selfish for not allowing the citizens of Cybertron the execution they feel they deserve, but has not Megatronus already perished at the servos of my own sparkling for his crimes? Was he not tormented by the Unmaker before an act of divine intervention brought his spark back to life? Is he not still bearing the weight of his crimes by being restricted more than any other citizen of Cybertron? Megatronus has already been and is currently being punished for his crimes. He wears the frame to prove it. 

I don’t care what they say about him, I know his spark. I know he speaks true when he says he wants nothing more than peace and freedom for all Cybertronians. I am proud to be his Conjunx, not ashamed, as so many insist that I should be. He is one choice I will never feel shame for and one I will never regret choosing. I promised him eternity, and I meant that. 

[Report Received: Visibility Status - Seen]

[a-fantastic-time]

She glared down at here, her hand now stroking her thick shaft. "Is that so, then I suppose I should rectify that." She raised her hand and used her glyphs to flip Rin over, her hands and legs bound as her tight ass was exposed to the Schnee.

Closed RP @multi-muse-transect

Winter smiled as she walked into her home. Her body was stiff from Mantle's winter. Even if she had aura, the chill always seemed to seem into her bones sooner or later. She had been on duty for nearly a week straight, and needed her beloved now. "Rin?!" She called out almost desperately. She slowly began to undress, removing her uniform meticulously. From her weapons, down to her clothing until she was nothing but her underwear.

She looked around, peeking into each room, before she finally reached their bedroom. Which she had turned into her office ever since she moved in with her in Atlas. "Honey~ Im home~" She sauntered into the room, presenting her flawless pale body. "I think its time you warmed up your ice princess."

[lets-try-some-writing]

In the AU where sound wave treats the trio like human cassettes does he have different cybertronian names for them than team prime does and if so what are they?

That he does! After all, they are his little cassettes and thus deserve proper names! Previous post here.

Cassette Designations

Soundwave loves his little organic cassettes. They don't transform, nor are they as durable as their newfound sibling in Laserbeak, but they are sparklings. Soundwave already has plans to rectify their weakness of flesh. It may require Shockwave getting involved, but his little cassettes will be safe, this time he will ensure it. The Autobots may also need to be convinced, but that is something Soundwave is willing to do for the sake of his charges. He does not care at all if the human children's organic creators object to his designs, the children are his now.

And of course since they are his little cassettes, they deserve proper designations worthy of their places. Their poor human names simply to not encompass all the beauty and glory that they show to him. They may be human, but Soundwave is a firm believer that they were meant to be Cybertronian.

Rafael is his littlest one and by far the most fragile. Soundwave fears for him, but he can see the child's inner light and increadible will. He can sense the power resting within the boy and as such has chosen a name for him that encompasses that.

[Child-of-the-Stars-Little-Keeper-True-Sighted-Warden] is the name he chose, one that roughly translates into Steeltrap in English. Since developing the name Soundwave has taken every opportunity to present Rafael the glyphs to his name and utter it using a mix of recordings. Rafael can't mimic the sounds yet, but once Soundwave's plans are set into motion he is near certain the child will have no issue speaking the name Soundwave so lovingly chose for him. However every time Rafael tries, Soundwave is always quick to praise him with head pats.

Miko is his most rambunctious little cassette, so much like Rumble and Frenzy that it nearly hurt to watch her play with her instruments. But Soundwave loved her all the same. She was his and he adored her and her passions, and so he chose a name that spoke of her gifts.

[Pure-Song-of-Freedom-Whisper-of-Truth-Echo-of-Eternity] is the name he selected for her based of her opinionated nature and her joy at fighting for what she believed to be right. The name turned out to be something along the lines of Aerowire when turned into an English word .He loved her enthusiasm and pure intent and wanted her to know it every time she heard her name. As such he turned her name into a song for her to listen to and learn to play since she couldn't speak it with her frail human vocal chords. She took to learning the song happily when he introduced it, to which he similarly always praised her for her efforts.

Jack was the oldest of his human cassettes and by far the most stubborn and damaged. The child was hurt, scarred and damaged from a rough childhood without a Sire and a Nurturer always at work. And yet despite it all, he was wise, he was strong, and he was far more mature than one would first think him to be. Soundwave saw this and incorporated all of it into his name, the name he wanted to forever remind his cassette of his inner strength.

[Stoic-Guardian-of-the-Innocent-Wishful-Warden-of-Peace-Dreamer-of-Bright-Futures] is the name he selected for his dear little cassette, one which turns out to be Razorcharge when translated. His hope is that once Jack learns its meaning, he will know his own strength every time his name is uttered. Since choosing the name he has taken every chance to teach Jack to write it out and utter the easiest parts of its pronunciation. Jack doesn't know what it means, but Soundwave is more than pleased by the boy even trying to speak despite his lackluster voice.

One day, one day he will make his little cassettes stronger. He will make them last so that they might remain with him and be kept safe from the horrors of the universe at large. It is his wish, one that he will make come to pass... with time. One day...

[rectifier-vn]

Love how Glyph and Celene look together sm 😭 💙

[tanadrin]

A short timeline of the dawn of worlds game so far

To catch myself up, I put together as best I could a timeline of the Dawn of Worlds game so far, with a list of races, avatars, and orders at the end. Fellow-players, if you see this, please correct me if I got anything wrong, or help me fill in any missing details if you can.

Turn 1

The dead skin of the former world gives rise to Naakrsh, the Forgotten Scales.

Zaaz-Ghvash, an orphan from another plane, arrives.

Velarië is born from starlight on the waves. She creates the Isle of Velarië as her home.

Laneth… exists, a chalk mountain in the midst of an otherworldly plain called the Process of Dying.

Haebarik the Rootless awakens. He creates the continent called Haebrach, and a chain of islands betwen Haebrach and Velarie’s isle.

Turn 2

Fiery Erland is born from primordial embers deep beneath the world. He makes a series of volcanic islands.

Naakrsh cuts the Abyss into the Isle of Velarie and the sea around it.

Dark, secretive Omeara wakes; she shapes an extensive underground labyrinth, populated with cavern-dwelling flora and fauna.

Velarie does her best to mend Naakrsh’s violence; she creates the land of Incarien to the northwest.

Haebarik creates Baled, the Home of Monsters, and spreads some of Naakrsh’s abyssal life to it.

Laneth makes a lifeless realm of ice in the north.

Naakrsh creates a spark of his own essence that may engender something later.

Turn 3

Omeara creates a second underground layer beneath the first.

Erland works to rectify some of the underground flooding caused by the creation of the Abyss; he scatters volcanic vents and channels across Baled; he creates living creatures out of stone, and uses some of them to scattered seeds to the four corners of the world to encourage life to take root elsewhere.

Zaag-Ghvash creates two locations of eldritch power with alien glyphs at their center, and an unusual continent in the southwest.

Velarie creates the Ataila, whose first home outside her isle is Tehwatzin aka Etevassin.

Haebarik delves into the Abyss, and returns with the first human beings, snakelike humanoids born of Naakrsh’s spark.

Corobel, the personification of the sky, creates the Mirrorvaults beneath the oceans of the Moon.

Laneth creates the barren south polar region.

Tepponilamek names itself out of the cold wind of the north. It creates twin landmasses east of Baled.

Omeara creates the land of Morne, northeast of Incarien.

Turn 4

Corobel fills the Moon with life.

Omeara creates the avatar Ohm, The First of Worms, the Finger Pale, the Beast of Morne.

Laneth creates Kuollut Kulma, the Wandering Isle, beyond the reach of all the gods, even Laneth itself.

Naakrsh creats the Ebon Priesthood of the Flayed Skin, an order which attracts both human and atai members.

Erland creats the Potter’s Guild, the Keepers of the Secrets of Fire and Earth, to teach the humans the arts of civilization.

Velarie fills southeast Incarien with thick jungles to protect Tehwatzin/Etevassin, and to the south creates the land called Tuula.

(IS) Saarimuuta, one of the seven maidens appointed by Velarie to watch over the waters of Tuula,  hoards the waters of Saarima, in southern Tuula, for herself.

Haebarik spreads more life along the coast of Incarien, and creates the land of Laerel adjoining Laneth.

Corobel raises a continent to the west of Incarien and Tuula.

(IS) Mohäimä escapes Laneth’s domain and takes up residence in Saarima.

Tepponilamek creates a new landmass southwest of the two it made earlier, and surrounds it with helpful prevailing winds.

Omeara uses shape climate to make a temperate coastal region around Morne and Incarien; creates a more boreal area in the north of both, and fills the region in between with thick coniferous forests. Ohm is busy eating things out of existence.

Turn 5

Erland floods the barren interior of Incarien in the northwest using magma; after being washed with water, an enormous lake whose bed is glass and basalt forms.

(IS) Rav, the glancing light, takes up residence in Saarima.

Erland calls a conference of the gods.

Zaag-Ghvash creates an Eldritch Orrery on her island from which horrible secrets can be divined from the stars. She fills the region with a huge wealth of natural resources, both organic and mineral, before setting off for the divine conference.

Naakrsh bleeds a lake of blood on the moon.

Haebarik makes a bridge to the Moon that opens during a total eclipse, providing a way for mortals to travel back and forth.

Corobel fills the sky with 29 planets and moons to track the cycles of time.

Turn 6

Corobel reshapes the flooded portion of Incarien into the Glass Steppes

(IS) Rav creates a magical oasis in Saarima.

Omeara crates the Sea of Spires, a dense fogbound archipelago between Haebrach, Lekesh, and Rasira.

Naakrsh creates the Hatestar, doom of the world.

Laneth creates the Order of the Last Hearth, which teaches that mortals must prepare themselves well for death. Under its influence the human towns in eastern Incarien become preeminent in the funerary arts.

Corobel uses Shape Climate on the Occident (the land west of Incarien and Tuula).

Tepponilamek creates the Windwhisperers, introducing writing to humans and weather-magic to the world.

The First Age ends with the conference of the gods, at which diverse topics are discussed.

Turn 7

Something very disturbing involving a tree on the Moon happens at Corobel’s instigation?

Tepponilamek creates the Messonir and Eppethikuja, mantalike wind-dragons that can control the weather and the sea.

Haebarik creates the Tarbra on Haebrach, five-limbed beings who live via herding.

The Ebon Priesthood construct shafts all over the world, and on the moon, to aid in the potential passage of the Hatestar.

(IS) Saarimuuta gifts a snowflake to Mohäimä, Rav, and Rav’s oasis, and buries another in a secret place.

Erland invites some of the Ataila underground; under his tutelage, these become the chthonic Kautaila. He also creates the Tiktik, who build the city of Chivik.

Haebarik creates an avatar, Maretik, the Void Whale. Maretik abducts a bunch of humans and a few ataila, and deposits them on Lekesh, founding a new civilization there.

Erland makes the Queen of Chivik immortal, at the price of turning her to stone. A group of dissident Tiktik found the city of Neskot.

Corobel uses command avatar on the Great Flowering Tree to create the Sun-Divers. They build the city Azimuth around the tree; beneath the city in the Omphalos, an entrance dug into the underworld.

Laneth creates the Den-Seekers among the Tiktik.

Turn 8? (not sure exactly where turn 8 began)

Tepponilamek creates the Qurri, arthropoidal creates of the equatorial isles. The Kukan, a flightless offshoot of the Messonir, settle in the mountains of Tuula.

Laneth inspires humans to build Aesinhauta in eastern Incarien.

The Azure Reach becomes home to the world’s foremost sailors and navigators. Humans expand eastward, establishing the city of Palk.

Erland creates the Págar, shell-bearing crustaceans, on Morne. The Tiktik of Chivik build the city of Vennesnes.

Omeara extends the underworld to underneath Azimuth, and fills this new region with appropriately-adapted flora and fauna.

The Order of the Last Hearth creates the city of Vorond; this becomes home to the Hewn, or Memnarks, a human subrace.

Laneth creates a new land in the north of the world.

The Messonir found a city (name?) that develops advanced magical smithing techniques.

Explorers from Azimuth venture to the Moon, where they are transformed into a new race, the vampiric, amphibious Calyptra that live in the lake of blood.

Corobel creates an avatar in the form of the False-Lights that emanate from the Sun; he commands the avatar to create the race called the Aphotics; he also commands the Great Flowering Tree, unleashing a golden age among the Sun-Divers.

The worm Ohm comes to Tehwatzin/Etevassin, and seizes it, intending to hold it hostage. Rather than let the worm eat his fill, and totally erase the legacy of the Ataila who labored there, Velarie destroys the city by calling down a burning star from the heavens (Turn 9); from the fallen star the avatar Ängiläimö is created (Turn 10).

Turn 9? (not sure where turn 9 began either)

Tepponilamek creates the algaekin.

Omeara creates an order called the Wardens of the Earthen Oath, dedicated to protection, community, and agriculture, who have a kind of magic called Oathbinding.

Corobel creates an avatar, Coryphaeus, the Beast of Faces; Coryphaeus in turn creates the Night-Singers, amphibioid marshdwellers prone to unusual mutations. Occidentals (?) colonize the northeastern coast of the Occident, and grow preeminent in divination and prophecy.

Págar society on Morne develops the Seven Schools.

(?) creates an order (name?) among the Tarbra (?). The Tiktik of Chivik build a city (name? location?).

Tepponilamek creates the Titans.

Omeara uses command avatar to have Ohm create the deplorable Ohmlings.

Haebarik creates the order of Those Who Walk Beside God among the Titans.

Turn 10 (so far)

Laneth teaches First-Bell the Arts of Release, which involves knowledge of poisons, magic of semiotic dissolution, and euthanasia.

Omeara creates an avatar, The Omens, and uses this collection of dreams and visions to direct Hulat of the Hewn to found the city of Tondor.

(IS) A tribe of Ataila called the Ruohaina come to Saarima, fleeing the ruin of Tehwatzin/Etevassin. Mohäimä prophesies they will one day build a great city, Tehwatzin’s equal.

Major gods and their avatars:

Naakrsh

Zaaz-Ghvash

Velarie: Ängiläimö

Erland

Haebarik: Maretik

Laneth

Tepponilamek

Omeara: Ohm, The Omens

Corobel: Great Flowering Tree, False-Lights, Coryphaeus

Orders and their founders

Ebon Priesthood of the Flayed Skin (Naakrsh)

Potter's Guild (Erland)

Order of the Last Hearth (Laneth)

Windwhispherers (Tepponilamek)

Wardens of the Earthen Oath (Omeara)

Uncertain Tarbra order (Erland)

Those Who Walk Beside God (Haebarik)

Den Seekers (Laneth)

Races and their creators (or avatar’s creator, if created via avatar)

Ataila (Vel.)

Humans (Hae.)

Messonir (Tep.)

Eppethikuja (Tep.)

Tarbra (Hae.)

Kautaila (Erl.)

Tiktik (Erl.)

Sundivers (Cor.)

Qurri (Tep.)

Kukan (Tep.)

Págar (Erl.)

Memnarks/Hewn (Ome.)

Calyptra (Hae.)

Aphotics (Cor.)

Algaekin (Tep.)

Night-Singers (Cor.)

Titans (Tep.)

Ohmlings (Ome.)

[vegastig-the-scrapper]

“Well, you’ve stopped struggling, at least…”

Stig knelt down, peeking back towards the direction of the base and flattening his wings against his back, an unconscious sign of worry.

He looked back at Chief quickly. “I am Vegastig, ex-Decepticon territory explorer and locator. I am from Cybertron! And no one sent me! I just happen to like you little weirdos.” He poked at John’s chest with one finger a little roughly.

“And you stabbed inside me! That was rude!” He blasted air from his vents, stirring up the sand.

“All I did was show you a few glyphs, and you stab me!”

Stig turned his face away, utterly displeased. “And your little bang bang put holes in my paint job. Have you got any idea how difficult it is to match paints?” He looked back to glare at the human. “And such a dreary color too. You fleshies couldn’t choose something a little less drab? No wonder you’re all depressed.”

Stig lowered Chief towards the ground.

“Don’t run. If you run, I’ll have to stop you, and as much as I find you entertaining, I can just as easy squish you and find someone else.”

Stig didn’t want to be discovered like this, and this ‘section III’ this little guy mentioned sounds worrisome. Stig was a little shaken at how easily it would have been for any of the flashings to force him into root mode with a well-placed cutter….a weakness he will rectify after he clears up this issue.

It was late. Or was it early? He didn’t know. Something woke him up, though.

Vegastig nearly stretched out into root mode, but stopped last second.

‘That’s right, I’m incognito..’ he shook a bit instead, adjusting his sensors and EM field to ‘look’ around. Something woke him up.

It took him a few seconds to figure it out, but when he did, his internal screens lit up gleefully.

His new favorite flesh-creature was here again! With that silly data pad again but honestly Stig didn’t care.

What did he want? Probably more pictures and scans. Stig didn’t care, he didn’t much pay attention to what the fleshies talked about.

He shifted slowly, to not make any noise. If the green-armored fleshling would step an inch to the right, he could snag the flashlight on his helmet with one of the straps again… or if he moved a bit to the left, he’ll find that the floor plating there is tilted just a bit, perhaps enough to make him slip…

Vegastig had been living undercover with these flesh-ape-creatures for a while now. He liked their spirit! And they remind him of how things used to be, during the war, even if other Cybertronians would give him flack for getting attached to the short-lived creatures. He didn’t care. They were so silly and interesting! And his favorite one has come to visit him early early in the morning! He was pleased.

Vegastig, ex-Decepticon tracker and Scrapper, waited in anticipation to see which trap the man would find first.

@mxchineandnerve

[i-am-megalodonna]

Collector's Curse AU - Liar Revealed

I'm typing all of this out on my phone because I don't have a computer anymore.  Pray for me.

Anyway.  After rotating this issue in my brain for a few weeks, I’ve decided how I want to reveal the Collector to the other characters.  Remember when I talked about all that mindscape stuff?  That’s the plan now.

I don't have an exact time in mind, but let's just say somewhere in season 2a.  In my journal I wrote somewhere between Yesterday's Lie and Elsewhere and Elsewhen.  I don't remember why I wanted that specific range but yeah sure.

The exact situation I have in mind: during an unspecified event someone is suddenly under threat of falling debris.  Who it is doesn't really matter, but it's someone who cannot immediately defend themselves against falling debris.  So really anyone except Willow and Amity.  In an act of reckless desperation, Luz throws herself in front of them and the Collector uses their power to neutralize the threat.  However this happens, it's enough of a strain to put them out of commission.

For a while people around Luz have been noticing odd behaviors and occurrences, and this one is the final nail in the coffin. They had a good view of the entire thing, and they saw Luz use magic - powerful magic - without the help of glyphs.  There's no denying now that something's going on.  So why does she keep trying to do exactly that?

They get to worrying that Luz is being manipulated somehow.  Luz isn't always the most open about her struggles, but it's getting a little ridiculous at this point.  What if something, some force they can't see, is keeping her quiet somehow?  They're in the Boiling Isles, it's not like it's a huge reach.  So, after considerable consideration, they hatch a plan to go right to the source - Luz's mindscape.  If something is wrong, they'll surely find it there.

As far as who actually enters the mindscape, Amity and Gus are a definite, and Willow is a maybe.  If Willow goes in then we have her and Amity working together, and I'm not sure how that would affect their arc.  Also, either Eda or Lilith goes in with the kids.  As long as they have two adults on the premises, there's no reason to not have a chaperone.  I can see benefits to either one being on either end, so that's still up in the air.

They take the walkie talkie to have a constant line of communication on both ends.  The spells are prepared beforehand, and the second Luz falls asleep it's go time.

I've already described what happens when they enter Luz's mindscape.  In short, everything looks fine and normal until they find the inner Luz, who's looking a little jacked.  Just like the outer Luz, the inner Luz is evasive, but eventually relents, realizing there's no way out.  The group is led to the split between the two mindscapes and told that beyond the split is where they'll find what they're looking for.  She refuses to elaborate any further, citing that they chose to enter the mindscape, so they can figure it out themselves.

As a final note, the inner Luz tells them that Luz will be mad at them for doing this, but that she understands why.

With only the inner Luz's cryptic descriptions to guide them, they make their way into the strange new mindscape.  There they meet the inner Collector.  He is significantly less friendly.

Unbeknownst to them, all their running and hiding actually does them a huge disservice.  Not knowing their identities, the Collector reacts to them as unfamiliar intruders (plus, if they're in his mind that means they initially invaded Luz's).  Which is to say, he quickly becomes hostile.  He only realizes the identities of the intruders at the very last second, and at that point they're leaving and it's far too late to rectify his mistake.

Luz wakes up the second they get out of there.  As the inner Luz says, she is very displeased.  She knows her friends were worried but what the heck guys you can't just waltz on into someone's head.

They apologize and don't blame Luz for being upset.  They didn't need the inner Luz to know she would be.

But now that they've seen first hand what's really in there, there's no longer any way out for Luz.  She needs to come clean.  So come clean she does.

[necarion]

Cursed Discourse idea:

The placement of English glyphs at lower numbers in the Unicode library represents American imperialism, and Unicode should be changed so as to rectify past injustices for overlooked alphabets.

[etched-in-stone-rosetta]

Mettaton is a False Prophet [OLD THEORY]

To start things off and make sure we have a reference, we need to list off the eerie yet superficial similarities between Mettaton and Asriel:

They both have multiple forms, with Mettaton having his normal form at the beginning, his EX form during his fight, and his NEO form in the No Mercy run. Asriel has his flower form throughout most of the game, his child form at the end of the True Pacifist run, and his “God of Hyperdeath” form also at the end of the True Pacifist run.

This is a minor detail, but they both possess the power to change the application’s name, with Mettaton turning it to “Undertale The Musical” during the track Oh! One True Love and Flowey turning it into “Floweytale” during his boss fight at the end of a neutral run. With the ability to change meta elements like this being traditionally associated with possessing determination in fan theories, we can conclude that there’s a case of overlap here. Another minor detail is that they’re the only two characters who can audibly speak, with Flowey’s creepy “that’s a wonderful idea!” and Mettaton’s famous “oh yes!”

One big similarity is that they’re both products of Alphys, with Mettaton being an attempt to purposefully enfuse a monster soul into an inanimate robot initially with the purpose of being efficient at killing humans, while Flowey was an incident caused by injecting determination into an inanimate object that had the remnants of a monster soul within it.

This is a bit of a stretch, but both characters are artificially inserted into your journey in an attempt to please an ulterior motive, with Flowey enacting his agency at the level equivalent of a player to toy with the same experiences and reconnect with whom he believes to be Chara while Mettaton was conscripted by Alphys to set up an elaborate stage play where she can rescue from him to feel better about herself, acting only at the level of agency as a monster.

The biggest emotional similarity is that both possess a mournful attitude towards a lost sibling, with Asriel on an endless quest of ironic spite against Chara for severing their old friendship by dying while Mettaton leaves Napstablook behind to pursue hedonistic dreams of fame and beauty, destroying the potential they had as a performance duo. Both rectify the holes these relationships left in them, with Asriel destroying the very thing that led to Chara’s death and Mettaton humbling himself reconnecting with Napstablook.

Goal-wise, they both obsess over humans but for very different reasons: Asriel has an obsession with only one human, and the reasons for this are very deep-seated and personal. Mettaton’s obsession however is more vain and is concerned with growing his audience beyond the borders of the Underground and being seen as a sort of vanguard for monsterkind among humanity. Or more insidiously, he feels as if he can assimilate into them. Both seek a form of transcendence that comes with obtaining a human soul: Asriel, as Flowey, seeks one so he can restore a bit of what he lost when he became a flower. Mettaton wants one again for vain reasons; those being to deprive Asgore of the opportunity and claim the title of the “Savior of the Underground” to himself.

Despite this being the most superficial similarity, it’s likely the most important: Both of their ‘ultimate’ forms—Mettaton NEO and God of Hyperdeath—have some interesting similarities between their designs. The most obvious is that they have these large wings jutting out, with Asriel’s having intricate color patterns while Mettaton’s flash between a brighter and darker shade of grey. Other similarities include excessively large shoulder blades and heart patterns on the chest area that are also shared with Undyne the Undying, indicating that this design motif is a trend among all major bosses considered to possess determination. Finally, this form also vaguely resembles the Delta Rune symbol, which I will elaborate on what they mean later. Despite all of this, it’s mainly the wings that are the contentious point of comparison, which I’ll get into later.

Lastly, they both seek a form of integration outside of themselves, with Asriel seeking once again the fusion of their soul with Chara’s, while Mettaton seeks total unification of their soul with their new body, and this is represented in the designs of their ultimate forms, with Mettaton’s ensignia featuring two hearts (one empty and one a monster soul) opposing each other, while Asriel’s features an empty soul within another empty soul. This is likely a metaphor that, despite all of the power he possesses, he’s still empty because he doesn’t have his friend with him. Conversely, this can apply to how Mettaton, despite achieving everything he basically dreamed of (as written in his diaries), feels empty because he abandoned Napstablook.

We’re finally done with comparisons to lay down the evidence for the main point. Now, we’ll get onto the Deltarune prophecy and what it means:

As most of you probably know, the Delta Rune is an emblem that represents the Kingdom of Monsters and is seen on the garments of every Boss Monster. In Waterfall, there are glyphs that describe a prophecy: “The Angel… The One Who Has Seen The Surface… They will return. And the underground will go empty.” If you ask Gerson to elaborate on what this means, he says that some monsters believe that this refers to a bleaker outlook: That the angel prophesied is actually a harbinger of death, and that this freedom actually refers to death.

If you connect the dots, you end up with two conflictingly obvious solutions: The first is that the player is the prophesied angel who appropriately fits both outlooks, being able to destroy the barrier and free monsterkind or free them mortally by attempting to slaughter all of them. However, another conclusion that can be drawn is that the angel prophesied is actually Asriel, and that you’re merely a vessel for his unwitting divine plan. While both are valid interpretations, the second is far more relevant to my point.

Also mentioned in those glyphs is the fact that not a single human soul was taken in the war between humans and monsters, alongside this is the missed opportunity to uncover that one can achieve godhood if they combine a human and monster’s souls. This implies a type of dualism as to whether or not the angel symbolizes the player or Asriel, as it’s more accurate to say that both the player and Asriel—the fusion of their souls—is the angel. This makes sense in both the contexts of the True Pacifist and No Mercy runs (and technically neutral), as both are attempts by Asriel to integrate with Chara again, with the former favoring Asriel’s determination while the latter favoring the player’s.

Now, what if I told you that Mettaton’s character in the story is his attempt to fulfill this prophecy artificially, thus making a false prophet of himself?

It seems hard to believe at first, but considering all the weird similarities between the staging and capabilities of both Asriel and Mettaton, it seems to imply that there’s some similarities between them in the context of the fate of monsterkind. Not only is it common knowledge among all monsters to speak of the prophecy, we also know Mettaton grew up in Waterfall alongside Napstablook and Shyren, meaning that this prophecy could’ve had more meaning to him specifically.

Now, it’s unknown whether or not the intentions to save monsterkind came about because of his hubris or because they were suggested to him by some higher command like Asgore, but considering that he states directly that he wants to kill you to prevent Asgore from taking your soul, it implies that Mettaton’s attempt at fulfilling the Delta Rune prophecy is entirely selfish.

One point of evidence in the camp that Mettaton was intentionally made to fulfill the Delta Rune prophecy is that Mettaton was made to impress Asgore according to Catty and Bratty. If this is true, then his position as a celebrity implies that he was made to be a beacon of hope that could be predictably grown and made to accomplish a purpose that fulfilled everyone’s collective desire. But the hair covering his right eye and its further concealment in his NEO form tells that, if he was created to fulfill the prophecy, then he wasn’t finished for this task and still required further tinkering from Alphys.

It may be entirely coincidental that Mettaton’s motivations as a character parallel and complement Asriel’s, but I find that hard to believe especially given the similarities of being separated from a lost sibling, seeking an integration of souls that’ll grant extraordinary power to embrace humanity to a degree, and possessing soulless objects. What I think really drives it home for me is the similarities between Mettaton NEO and the God of Hyperdeath, both of which are depicted as being angelic with prominent wings, which I’ll go on record to state are the only two boss fights in the game that feature wings prominently.

If Asriel is fulfilled as the angel of death, then the depiction of Mettaton NEO is given a newfound authenticity as he serves as the image of a guardian angel meant to stop you in a place where there is nobody to onlook, forcing him to act in authentic spirit. He now has the duty of protecting both monsterkind and humankind from you, even if he utterly fails at it.

One thing that’s hard to answer is how Mettaton is able to perform actions that imply metatextual awareness of the game and other similar actions Flowey does despite never being implied or hinted at possessing determination. Does this imply that, like Flowey, the process of integrating monster souls into inanimate objects grants them some form of determination? If so, it would grant greater proof as to why Mettaton has such a vested interest in fulfilling the Delta Rune prophecy beyond merely hearing about it. Yet, we know from the True Lab logs that Flowey was injected with determination while there’s no such implication that the same was done with Mettaton. However, we can gather from Napstablook being able to avoid being absorbed into Flowey as he transforms into Asriel that ghosts, as a type of monster, are seemingly immune to things other monsters aren’t. Perhaps this implies that they have metatextual powers like monsters with determination?

Now, here comes the really fun (and fortunately last) part where I draw parallels between these characters and the real-world mythology that may have inspired them:

Now, it’s a factoid among some that Asriel’s name may be inspired by Azrael, who is described as the angel of death in Judaism and Islam, and as part of that title, he separated souls from their bodies. His appearance has been described as being cosmically large, having an insurmountable amount of wings, and possessing a body formed of an amount of eyes and tongues representing every human being. Right away, we can see parallels to the God of Hyperdeath, who also has very large wings that appear to project a cosmic pattern within them. While its appearance may not correspond literally, he is a being composed of every human and monster soul in the Underground, eerily matching the description. Not to mention that Asriel absorbed Chara’s soul into them, equivalent to Azrael’s job of severing souls from their bodies.

Another factoid is that Metaton’s name is possibly inspired by Metatron, another angel of Judaism that, unlike Azrael, isn’t found in the Tanakh but is mentioned briefly in the Talmud. He has a similar job to Azrael in that he records the sins and merits of men, similar to how Azrael was able to see which names were blessed or damned. However, Metatron holds an even more lofty title in Kabbalistic mysticism as God’s mediator between men, being described as one “whose name is like that of his master”, even going as far as to be called “the lesser YHWH.” This is obviously a heretical dualistic proclivity in an otherwise monotheistic Judaism. Further, Metatron is related to Enoch, being described in Jewish apocrypha as the name Metatron used to have before he was transformed into an angel. Now, for all of that backstory, it parallels to Mettaton specifically in transformation: It seems as if Mettaton’s obsession with human reciprocation and the very humanoid appearance of his EX form imply that he wants to integrate into humanity similar to how Enoch entered angeldom.

The hot topic is whether or not Metatron’s power compared to that of God given the texts stating he was a secondary power in heaven with YHWH, but the answer most Rabbinistic scholars give is that he obviously wasn’t despite that it was written that all other angels bowed before him. However, this idea of there being dual power in Heaven is what later laid the groundwork for understanding the nature of Christ in Christianity. But in most Jewish sects, this doesn’t fly and is seen as a dualistic heresy, implying that there’s a falseness to Metatron’s power. Just like how there is a falseness to Mettaton’s power and intentions in all runs of the game. Another neat thing to note is that, as part of accepting Metatron as a real angel, one believes that any time a human believes God has directly spoken to them, it’s actually Metatron acting as his vessel. Perhaps this is parallel with how Mettaton is the voice of the Underground and it’s desire to be free despite himself possessing relatively lacking power?

The angel required a fusion of both a monster and human soul, and while Mettaton is the fusion between a monster soul and a soulless object akin to Flowey, it wasn’t enough to fulfill the role of the angel, falling short of his lofty dreams of being a savior. However, this disillusionment isn’t cruel, especially when you spare Mettaton and he receives a call from Napstablook (implied) that reminds him of his importance to monsterkind, making him reconsider his lofty ambitions to appeal to humanity. This is telling Mettaton that he is not a mediator between monster and humankind that he thought of himself as, for he never had the ability to combine both human and monster soul like Asriel. Perhaps he had the determination to be able to foresee the realization of the prophecy but not enough to put it into effect?

That’s just about everything I have to potentially support this theory, including referents to Jewish mythology. I firmly believe that Mettaton’s presence in the story was to serve as a false prophet to fulfill the prophecy of the Delta Rune, and that explains why his character and origin is so similar to that of Flowey.

[lunarreaper-ut]

“Where I grew up...” Pt.3

(Here’s part 3! I’m not as confident about the way this chapter was written, but I hope you enjoy anyways! I suppose I should put some kind of warning... there’s nothing graphic, but the girls do go through something traumatic, so if you’d rather not read, that’s ok!)

             Patience was woken up by the sound of the girl across the hall yelling. Her mind was too foggy to properly hear what she was yelling about, and before she could clear her head, the door to her room was opened. Two physicians came in, one of them telling Patience to get up and follow them. Patience stared at them, fear gripping her Soul as she noticed two more had pulled the other girl from her room kicking and screaming. Patience hesitantly got up, and her arm was seized by the one that had spoken to her.

            The girl and Patience were dragged down several halls until the path back to their rooms became too confusing to remember. The girl was kicking and screaming the whole way, Patience only letting out occasional whimpers. By the time the older girl had calmed down, they were brought into a room with two of those cold metal beds. 

            Patience could see though, that these beds were different than normal. There were strange inscriptions in the middle that seemed to hum with stored energy. Patience was picked up roughly and laid on the bed, her hands quickly being tied down by leather straps. The physicians were talking to each other, but Patience couldn’t hear them over the girl’s screaming. They struggled more with her, but they had her strapped down to the bed next to Patience nearly just as quickly.

            Patience felt panic swell in her Soul. What was happening? Why were they doing this? Patience felt that now familiar feeling of her Soul being pulled from her body, and it didn’t ease her panic. She tried to look at the other girl. She was struggling against the bonds, but they had already removed her Soul as well. It was a bright crimson. Patience remembers that color from the books she read. Determination.

            Patience felt her voice catch in her throat as she tried to call out to the other girl. To reassure her maybe, but what reassurance could she offer? One of the physicians had to gag her to stop her from screaming. Once her screaming was stifled, Patience saw a strange man walk into the room. He wasn’t wearing white. The man was old and balding, what hair he had left was almost as white as the physicians’ robes. He wore expensive clothing, from what Patience could tell, and he had a cold look in his eyes. Despite his age, he stood tall and proud.

            “Well now, children, I’m glad to see you two are in good health. This procedure’s success rests on you two being healthy after all.” He said. His voice sent chills down Patience’s spine, and she began to struggle against her bonds, if to get away from him at least. Despite her fear, Patience surprised herself with her own voice speaking up.

            “W-Who are you..? W-Why are you d-doing this?” She stuttered out, her voice small. The man’s eyes shot to her and she felt herself shrink even smaller if possible. His eyes were a sickly green, and held no kindness behind them. He chuckled at Patience, and walked closer to the beds.

            “Me? Well, I’m the one who designed this procedure, and who will be performing it. As for why? For the future of mankind. You see, my dear,” He raised a gloved hand towards her soul and brushed his fingers over the surface of it. The feeling made Patience sick, as if her soul was repulsed by his very being. “Humans are rather weak creatures. Physically inferior species, and compared to Monsters? Magically inferior as well. I wish to rectify that. To bring power to the Human kingdom so we need not fear those beasts any longer. You two will be helping us!” 

            He grinned, waving a hand towards the physicians. They began to scramble to circle the beds. Patience began to tremble, looking again towards the girl beside her. Her eyes blazed with fury as she glared at the man in front of them. She didn’t seem afraid, and somehow that helped ease some of Patience’s fear. Some.

            “This will be over quickly, children. If it succeeds, you two will be sent right back to your rooms stronger than you’ve ever been!” The man spoke, his arms spread out in a grand gesture. Patience felt herself pale at his words. She didn’t understand. She didn’t want to understand. For the first time in her life, Patience wished she was back in her room, or anywhere but this room they were in. 

            “Well, I’ve spoken for long enough. Let us begin the procedure.” The man said, his hands beginning to glow with his magic. He raised his hands towards the girls’ souls, pulling them closer towards him. From what Patience could see, the physicians were casting a spell as well, but she didn’t recognize it. The glyph was pure white, and the symbols looked similar to the ones that were one the beds the girls were laying on. It wasn’t in any of the books she read. The girl next to her had begun struggling again. Patience tried to look around the room as much as she could, but there was nothing of much help.

            Streams of magic were pulled from the various glyphs the physicians had cast. The magic drifted towards the man who now held the girls’ Souls in his hands. The girl beside her struggled more desperately, but Patience remained still. There was nothing to be done but watch, hope, and learn from this. Despite her own attempt at reassuring herself, Patience could feel her cheeks becoming wet from her own tears. Patience didn’t want to die.             As the magic from the glyphs seemed to pour into the man’s hands, Patience felt a searing heat at her back as the inscriptions on the bed began to light up. Patience cried out. It burns, It burns, it burns, it burns!  Patience arched her back to try and avoid the heat, tears streaming down her cheeks. The man walked between the beds, ignoring her cries. He began to speak, but Patience couldn’t hear his words over the pounding of her own heart in her ears. She looked at the man who held their Souls, her vision blurring with tears, as he brought their souls closer together. Patience tried to tell him to stop, to beg, plead with him to let them go. 

            The moment their souls touched Patience heard herself scream just as loud, if not louder than when the other girl would scream. Her whole body felt like it was on fire, the pain centered on her chest. She looked down at her chest, convinced it was burning, only to see a stream of magic coming from her chest. She could see the same stream of magic coming from the girl next to her, but she wasn’t struggling. Patience shut her eyes tight, her vision blurring even more. She could barely register the man yelling.

            “She’s dying! You idiots, her Soul shouldn’t be this weak!” He screamed. Patience was sure he said more, but all she could feel was her body going limp, her head lolling to the side to face the other girl. She wasn’t moving. Was Patience dying? The other girl didn’t look like she was in pain. Patience was glad for that at least. She didn’t like seeing people get hurt. Patience was tired. Maybe if she slept, this would all be a bad dream. The muffled voices around her didn’t bother her anymore. 

            Patience just wanted to sleep.

[bornspellcaster]

Taako is just gonna knock on the door. Which is already a level of boundaries he doesn't normally adhere to. "So. Phil. Normally I don't offer to help with magic and stuff for free, that ain't how you run a business after all. But. Since we're gonna be in-laws... I could give you a hand with trying out some wizard magicks? It's different then this 'draw a circle' witchy stuff, but it might help out?" No, he will not bring up that he knows how it feels to fuck up a spell big time. (Or, to at least believe he did.) "Offer's on the table is all I'm saying."

The ever present fear of abandonment from his brother that’s lingered since his early youth is what makes Philip dislike the man, (and Krav….Kraft Dinner? What’s the other one’s name?), but the young man knows his petty anxiety needs to be rectified since they are going to be in laws. Maybe this is…a good area to start. He certainly needs help with magic, after all.

“It’s different than the spell circles? And glyphs?” Oh there really are different types of ways to perform magic now, huh? “Interesting. W-well a leader of a magical realm should be…relatively knowledgeable on all forms and I suppose I do need to get to know you, so..certainly. Much appreciated.” Fucking help me Sir.

[katcadecascade]

New Qrow fic WIP

It’s a bit of a character study but mostly RWBY/JNOR/more doing shenanigans.

The only problem, I can’t think of a name for this fic.

Anyway here, Chapter One/Round One: Throwing Down the Gauntlet

Blake will admit, she’s a sucker for romance.

How could she not be?

In a world where morbid emotions attract monsters, where injustice breeds from hatred of culture and birth traits, something as simple and layered as love is beautiful and strong and can power people through their darkest moments but also bring them to their knees.

She should say she just learned this all from her books but honestly in the last year or so, Blake has certainly lived through some crazy shit.

But let’s not get into that right now.

Sure her tale begins with her people’s suffering, her parent’s pacifism, a poor boy’s spite, and her own frightful shadows. She could go write to great lengths on how the journey gained her treasured friends, bonds forged through fire, and how it lead them to the coldest place of the north.

That’s where this game begins.

Yes a game indeed or maybe a war by the sharpness in the Valkyrie’s eyes or the telltale song notes of glyphs charging up.

It began with a series of events that piqued the interest of the eight (and later on more) charges under the wings of Qrow Branwen.

The first thing they noticed took place on their very first night in Atlas, where one General James Ironwood hugged the scythe master. The two thought they were alone but the nieces back tracked to get their uncle.

While they made the wise decision to leave the men alone, the girls immediately blurted their findings to the rest of their friends.

Their reactions were of surprise and cooing but it only trigger their radars to look out for more of these moments. None of them could recall ever seeing Qrow be so vulnerable with anyone else. Granted they didn’t spend the most time with him but even Yang and Ruby were caught off guard.

This was their uncle so ultimately this was under Yang’s and Ruby’s discretion or wonderment.

That didn’t stop the rest of them from being curious to see what else will happen between Qrow and Ironwood.

Small and subtle were the ways of the General, lingering eyes or the quietly inviting the huntsman into his office. Ruby’s sniper skills were used for observations like these. Her skills in stealth could’ve been better to muffle her cooing.

Things were going steady, slowly seeing the man underneath the steel. Maybe then the kids could decide to trust him with the truth from the Lamp. Not that Qrow’s compromised in anyway, but seeing this spark between them certainly helps the kids trust the general a little bit more.

James Ironwood appeared to be able to offer up his heart to Qrow.

So imagine their surprise when Clover Ebi entered the game.

There’s that word again: game.

It’s a little immature to describe it as so but Blake couldn’t think of any other word.

Blake and the others keep noticing certain events focused on Qrow, usually engaged by one man or the other.

Small side glances, a brushing of hands, coffee treats and many more that can be listed as intimate or thoughtful or purposeful. Although, Clover’s flirting are rather forward. Most importantly, Qrow’s happiness is the growing outcome.

And pray tell what game is this? Where two men woo a common thread that is slowly becoming enamored by these actions?

A courting game.

Hands slam down on the kitchen table. “Everyone, place your bets!”

“We are so not betting on this!” Weiss crossed her arms, perfectly poised and unmoved.

“Come on,” Nora whined, “There’s nothing else to do here.”

“Aside from doing our jobs and brainstorming how to save the world?”

“All I’m saying is that we need a break from all the seriousness and focus on Team Dad.”

On the couches, only Blake noticed the resident nieces share a glance. They don’t argue against their uncle’s title, instead they quirk their lips in a knowing look.

(Blake later understands their silent exchanges when a game changer occurs)

“Nora’s right,” Jaune agreed, “and I usually never want to say that.”

“Hey!”

“You’re the one who broke the coffee machine by trying to fix it,” Oscar pointed out. Behind him said device has a despairing groan.

Ruby follows up, “And then got the rest of us blaming each other for it.”

“Enough, enough,” the redhead shouted, “We’re getting off track!”

“We are not conspiring on Qrow’s love life!” Weiss proclaimed.

“She’s right,” Ren said with the composure of a sage, highlighted as he sipped his tea, “There’s no need to.”

Yang raised an eyebrow, both curious and surprised, “What do you mean?”

Everyone waited for their resident ninja to finish another long drink, for dramatic effect Blake must note.

Then simply enough, he answers, “Qrow would fall for the General.”

That was clearly not the answer Nora wanted.

She’s a sputtering mess while next to her, Weiss holds her head high.

“Thank you, someone else sees my point,” the ex-heiress nods.

Sharpness in Jaune’s voice catches her off guard, “Your point? You think Ironwood’s gonna get with Qrow?”

“Is it not obvious?”

Nora butts in, a strange tension in her shoulders, “Sure yeah but look at Clover!”

Her team leader listed off, “They’re mission partners but also hanging around each off in their downtime.”

“Yes,” Nora nods enthusiastically, “Just like Jaune with Marrow.”

“H-hey wait-“

“You haven’t seen Qrow with James alone though.”

Again, everyone is quiet as they stare down their resident cute wizard boy.

Oscar squirms a little under the attention, backtracking, “Oh, um, I only mean um I would see them right before James tutors me? And Qrow would sometimes be there too and,” he sighs heavily, “honestly it’s like my aunt’s romance novels.”

Blake immediately guesses the classic tropes of longing, quiet vulnerability, trust and intimacy. She doesn’t voice her thoughts. No need since Weiss happily regales her own findings.

“Winter says that she’s never seen Ironwood so relaxed before. Sure she’s a little teed that it was Qrow’s doing but the results are still good.”

“But what about Qrow’s ‘results’ when he’s with Clover,” Nora argued.

Ruby does her little head shake, musing over her thoughts, “He is a lot calmer or relaxed.”

Nora cackles at the fuming Weiss, affronted at her girlfriend not on her side.

That’s rectified as Ruby taps her chin, scholarly and not noticing Weiss’ heat, “Although he is a lot more teasing around Ironwood.”

“See!” Weiss grins as if this is victory. Her current rival is unbothered.

“He’s the same with Clover,” Nora counters and honestly Weiss can’t possibly argue with that.

Too many times have the kids witness Qrow becoming a bumbling, blushing mess when Clover compliments him. There’s so much bi/gay tension there to even think of denying.

“Qrow must be taking his time then,” Blake voiced. “With both Ironwood and Clover, maybe he’s a bit overwhelmed.”

Next to her, Yang sighs, “Knowing him, he might not realize what’s going on unless someone tells him.”

“Or he’s aware of all of this happening and dismisses it as something that can’t actually happen to him,” Jaune painfully accurately describes as what is probably going on.

This type of denial of happiness, this consuming pit of numbness and pain, people who loved and lost and felt guilty for even loving and losing need to be told they’re deserving of love.

Maybe Jaune’s speaking for himself or maybe Blake’s interpreting for her own experiences.

But one shared glance with the knight confirms her thoughts. Qrow must have talked to him too about this type of grief.

The blame and the guilt and the responsibility of losing someone, be it person of goodness or of spite, it’s a heavy feeling that Blake, Jaune, Qrow and possible the others too have carry.

So while the huntsman tries to assure the two kids of their grievances, there hasn’t been an opportune time to ask how he’s coping. As the young adults under his care, they all worry about him, especially his nieces. At first he was the mysteriously cool uncle as proclaimed by Ruby and later on the secretive and paranoid uncle explained by Yang but in their shared time together, each kid gotten to know the crow by their own definitions.

It’s like that little thing Blake does, associate a word with a person.

She told Sun about her girls, Earnest, Defiance, and Strength.

Then there’s team JNPR, Tenacity for Jaune, Zestful for Nora, Ascendancy for Pyrrha and Acuity for Ren. It took some time but eventually Oscar became Perseverance.

As for Qrow, well, she jokingly thought Mother Hen but now she’s satisfied to call him Memory.

It’s mostly because of all the Muninn parallels but there is just so much history behind Qrow Branwen. Carried in the creak in his bones, dips in his scars, the grey of his feathery hair, the surprise in his laughs, like he’s relearning how it is to walk with ghosts and angels.

So yeah, Blake sometimes worries about him and then she and Weiss worry about Ruby and Yang getting worried too.

But maybe there’s no need to.

From the soft gazes he sets on James and Clover, maybe they’re the ones making sure their Team Dad/Uncle is doing okay.

Now if only Qrow’s love life can move to the next stage.

Their conversation during breakfast was more than enough as food for thought, analyzing everything they know of Qrow Branwen and how he interacts with two men in particular.

Early mission meetings are obviously designated Clover Flirting Time as they get to their seats.

“I wouldn’t mind having another match with you,” Clover said casually as if it didn’t take weeks of near begging for a one on one fight.

“Really? You enjoy falling on your ass that much, lucky charm?”

“Sure do,” Clover slides close, letting his hip press against Qrow’s. “But I like seeing you down on the mats just as much.”

That flirt was meant to be whispered, low and teasing and it definitely sends a blush down Qrow’s neck. It’s a real shame that Blake has an extra set of ears to hear this.

Then from the sight of Marrow almost choking on his coffee, he probably heard it too.

The dog faunus and the cat faunus exchange silent misery.

“Ooh, another match?” Nora, being her glorious self, pops right at Qrow’s side and the two men nearly jump. “Hah, that’s a bit boring by now.”

Clover raises a brow, slightly wary and challenged, “Boring?”

Nora nods her head as Ren-like as possible, “Yep, I mean, training doesn’t have to be combat does it?”

Qrow blinks at her, and so does her teammates because hey, this is Nora complaining about combat training. “Nora, you got something else in mind?”

This encouragement, openness and trust, Blake wouldn’t have noticed it before but Qrow has been putting a lot more faith in them since Argus. It’s really nice to have an adult take them seriously. Then again this is Qrow. He encouraged Yang and Jaune to start a prank war.

Their resident lightning in a bottle had a million volt grin, “Parkour and freerunning! We all saw the Ops jumping around in the mines and that time Qrow and Winter destroyed the campus.”

“Miss Valkyrie,” hissed the ice queen, “I advise you to refrain from telling that anecdote.”

“What, feeling sore since you lost?” Qrow grinned.

“I did not lose, Qrow,” she glared, “it was clearly a stalemate.”

“Wow, now I’m really curious,” Clover said.

“I’ll tell you all about it then,” Qrow winked, “like how I clearly would’ve won.”

Next to Nora, Jaune added in, “There was a recording of it going around campus, like from the moment Qrow bushed back his bangs to the end where the General stopped the fight.”

To Blake, it’s a little odd to see Jaune gush about this since majority of them choose to ignore the usually mushiness of Clover Flirting Time. But then she notice the way Jaune subtly elbowed his teammate.

“Brush your bangs?” Clover’s focus on that little detail had him reach over to do said action, “Huh, you don’t look that intimidating like this.”

Like this, as they all observe, is Qrow blushing madly at the close contact and gentle action, the way Clover’s fingers glided through his dark hair like water.

Oblivious to the two men, everyone else in the room saw Jaune and Nora fist bump each other. They don’t even hide their smugness. No they toss it over at Weiss and Ren.

Ren is slightly alarmed.

Their resident ice princess on the other hand is silently fuming.

Like Blake mentioned before, this is a game.

It may be petty, invasive, and a tad immoral.

And yet it has begun.

-

So yeah, I need fic title suggestions and ideas

pls

[dnd5a]

Patch 2.5 - Rune of the Deus

 This patch focuses on the reworks of two classes, as well as a core feature of the game: Inquisitor, Runeshaper and races, respectively. Each of these classes/features are widely liked aspects of the game, and have been frequently utilised, but all three are fairly sloppy in a variety of ways that I’m looking to fix.

CLASSES

INQUISITOR Inquisitors have been the sinister-but-clunky offspring of cleric and paladin since day one. They’ve always had a clear theme, but have been held back by overcomplicated subclasses, a poor spell list and low overall power. This major overhaul seeks to improve on that power significantly by providing not-insignificant buffs to every major aspect of the class.

Buff - Judgements Most judgements have received minor buffs across the board. Judgement Decrees are regained on a short or long rest from 1st level, instead of 5th.

Buff - Spellcasting Experimenting with whole classes that are third casters has been interesting, but has largely proven to be awkward, underpowered and unfun.

Inquisitor is now a half-caster, like paladin, with a vastly improved and expanded spell list. Following the design philosophy introduced with Runeshaper and Shaman, half-casters that do not specifically focus on martial combat will gain access to cantrips.

Rework - Divine Boons Originally, divine boons were meant to be a minor, tertiary aspect of inquisitor, but they all proved to be too awkward to be worthy of inclusion in the class itself

New Divine Boons grant inquisitors access to: a single warlock spell slot, extra attack, or the ability to use their Devotion feature on others.

Rework - Exalted Judgement Now gained at 7th level, but you may only choose one judgement to exalt, choosing more as you gain levels.

New - Zealous Devotion A high-level ability that allows you to more effectively conserve devotion.

Rework - Holy Inquisition: Conversion Originally a support-themed subclass. Conversion now focuses on enemy-disruption and charm effects

New - Holy Inquisition: Judicator A new subclass that focuses specifically on entrapping the spirits of the dead to act as your servants, augmenting your spells and attacks

RUNESHAPER Runeshaper has been a favourite pretty much since its inception, but has always suffered from its lack of balance in its core feature: the runes themselves. This major update streamlines the main class more clearly, whilst balancing the runes out more effectively.

Buff - Spellcasting Runeshapers now use their artisan’s tools as their arcane focus, and gain one new spell every level, instead of having a set curve.

Rework - Runes The runes have been completely redesigned from scratch. All subclass, dependant runes have been removed as, whilst some were interesting, most were only there to fill space. Certain staples, such as Mark of Force, Mark of Speed, and Glyph of Enchantment, have remained largely the same. However, notably problematic or underpowered runes, such as the infamous, Glyph of Precision have either been shifted around in tier, or removed entirely.

Rework - Runic Discharge One of the core aspects of the runes, runic discharge, despite there being three ongoing runeshaper character across multiple games, has been used a grand-total of once. This is largely down to the discharge effects not being at all worth losing the passive benefits.

Now called ‘Runic Surge,’ this feature no longer has the rune disappear, and can be used a set number of times per day, once per rune.

Removed - Arcane Ingenuity Losing your runes for spell slots was nowhere near worth it

Buff - Mathematical Precision Moved to 11th level

Buff - League of Artificers Mechanical servant’s bonus to hit is now equal to your spell attack modifier. Additionally, certain augmentations have been altered, and Enhanced Strike Servos has been moved to a 10th level feature, instead of an augmentation.

Buff - League of Bloodcarvers Now get Extra Attack, instead of the previous, more situational version. Bloody Focus introduced as a new 14th level feature.

New - League of Cardsharps Live out the only good anime trope and throw magic cards at people, whilst rolling a frankly, unreasonable amount of dice.

Rework - League of Demonologists Dark Slots made very little sense and were quite bad. Features now have their own set uses.

New - League of Eldenshapers Invoke ancient giant runes and take on their power.

Buff - League of Rune Warriors Now get Extra Attack, instead of the previous, more situational version. Arcane Bulwark now does not require you to lose runes, instead costs spell slots.

Rework - League of Scriveners Maybe learning literally every rune was a bad idea? New feature now allows you to swap spell and rune damage types.

RACES

The races document has needed updating quite desperately for years now, and it’s finally been done. Outside of setting-specific races, each race has been tweaked or altered in some capacity to fit better within the game, with many races either getting the axe, or being revamped in some capacity. 

Only major, overarching changes will be listed here, because otherwise this section would be ridiculously long.

Nerf - Aarakocra Now have the physiology of the Rito from Zelda, in that their wings and arms are one and the same. They cannot fly and wield weapons or use somatic components simultaneously, reducing their overpowered nature at low levels.

New - Aasimar The revised, official introduction of the aasimar, who are now flavoured as celestial tieflings, their inversion.

Rework - Centaur Equine Build added to to prevent T H E  S T A C K

Rework - Darkvision Far too many races just *had* darkvision for the sake of having it, which rendered a major aspect of dungeon-delving and stealth more or less a non-factor. Many races that previously had darkvision now instead have “Low-Light Vision,” which only affected dim-light, and not darkness.

The Half-Races have been dropped down to low-light vision

Gnomes have been dropped down to low-light vision

Mousefolk have gained low-light vision

Orcs have been dropped down to low-light vision

Silva  have been dropped down to low-light vision

Rework - Dragonborn An old change, but this is the first time it’s been officially written in a patch note to my memory

Breath weapon now has charges, which can be expended to massively increase it’s damage and overall impact, making it worth using ever. They also have natural weapons now too.

Rework - Dwarves, Halflings, Hval & Mousefolk Each of these race’s subraces were fair too tied to cultures and statistically irrelevant to need existing. They have all been removed, with one of them being fused with the main class.

Duergar and ratfolk have been added as variants for their respective races

Rework - Goblinoids Each goblinoid subspecies has been combined into one super-race. Verdan, whilst nerfed, have also been added.

Nerf - Hval Cold resistance removed as they were too over-loaded, especially after the subrace fusion

Rework - Kobolds In their original form, kobolds are a horribly balanced mistake of a race. This new version seeks to rectify Wizard’s of the Coast’s horrible design into something more reasonable.

Pack Tactics replaced with Gang Tactics which increases your ability to flank, and enhances the benefits you and one other creature gain from flanking. Ability score improvement changed to +2 DEX, +1 CHA

New - Merfolk The triton are stupid, so here’s something better

New - Naga The yuan-ti are stupid and incredibly overpowered, so here’s something better

Rework - Satyr Magic resistance changed to Limited Magic Resistance (once per day), because jesus fucking christ. Added fey ancestry, because they’re literal fey.

Buff - Silva Now have Hybrid Nature (plants) because they are actual plants. Reworded their Photosynthesis, so it actually represents what photosynthesis means. Now can root themselves in place as an action, once per day allowing them to gain tremorsense

SPELLS

Many spells from the first Archive have been completely reworked, but listing all the changes would take fucking ages, so I just won’t

New - Ray of Stupidity Reduce mental stats

New - Timewalk 1U - Sorcery - Take an extra turn after this one.