dapplesndruids

[dapplesndruids]

1. Elizabeth and Catherine were biological sisters (this was way before Catherine’s memories came out, like 2018. weird, ik but thought at the time that explained Justin’s wild whispering abilities)

2. One of the previous soul riders was Maya’s mother (that circulated around ssoblr and sso theory yt for a bit, more speculation than anything obv)

What's a sso theory you used to believe in or really liked that has since been disproven/forgotten by the community?

[dapplesndruids]

The wild weave is so interesting. I don’t recall any exact dialogue but wasn’t it also mentioned to be akin to blood vessels for the island? Like its lifeblood or something, which is why it’s important that all the wild warden trees roots stay connected? So much to go into there tbh.

big fan of Pandoria being a mirror to Jorvik, and the weird in-between world between portals a mirror to the wild weave. cause like wild weave, including its portals, are all trees and sunlight and the in-between, including its portals, are all rocks and void. We mainly use the in-between to go to and from pandoria, but it's possible it's just a transportation highway the same way the wild weave is, especially if that one place on the wild weave map is Pandoria, cause that means both places do connect to each other's opposites, but that's not their main purpose.

[dapplesndruids]

Part of me wants them to commit to him being dead, but another part of me loves Sands as a villain.

But more technically speaking, if they go along the “he was 100% human before fusing with Garnok” trope, I think then his immortality would have only been linked to his bond/linkage with Garnok.

And if my assumption is correct and that bond began breaking after Sands defied Garnok and chose to allow us to save Justin, his immortality would have ultimately become null and void.

Fun to think about.

if the journal claiming mr sands to be immortal is actually right what if his ass just crawls out of some portal later really mad at darko or smth ... they chucked that old man into hell just so they got more time to update his model

[dapplesndruids]

This was the end - the true end after so many near misses.

Darko, in all his psychotic glory, stood before the 4 soul riders while the fifth was restricted by his one-arm chokehold, a syringe filled with bright green viscous liquid pointed at the veins on her neck.

Dark Horse serum, and a perfected version at that according to Darko. One dosage delivered IV of that poison would be enough to allow him to meld her mind in his hands and modify her body as he saw fit. Having the very same power that Aideen brought the island into existence with and utilized to imprison Garnok all at his disposable - he was so close to crafting his true magnum opus, the reason behind the extensive research to perfect the drug; his perfect weapon.

The soul riders could do nothing; one step forward from any of them, Darko warned, and he would plunge the needle straight into their friend's neck. Do nothing, and, well, you could delay the inevitable. Either way, Aideen's power was going to fall into his hands; and there was nothing they could do about it.

"Seems we've all come to an agreement, yes?" Darko smirked, his voice lilted and nearly playful, "Don't worry my dear, the pain won't last too long." He spoke into the fifth's ear in an ill-mannered attempt to soothe her trembling and quiet sobs. All that incessantly flashed through her mind was Mr. Anwir - what he became.

Darko slowly brought the needle closer to his target vein, his signature smirk seeming to grow closer and closer to his eyes the closer he become to the injection site - he was just having too much fun to make it any quicker. The fifth squirmed, jolting her head and body in a feeble attempt to release herself from his grip. However, his grip strength was seemingly unhuman, and did not match his average build. She realized then and there that he was more than likely no the type to be above experimenting his own drug on himself. The deep track scars up his arms from years of injection abuse proved her theory. There was truly no way out.

"5, 4, 3..." Darko nearly whispered in her ear, enjoying the psychological torment he was delivering. Joy encapsulated his heart - soon, he would have what he had worked so hard for -

His counting was cut off by the sudden inability to speak due to lack of oxygen deliverance to his lungs. Both of his arms went limp, allowing the fifth soul rider to escape his grasp. She lurched forward and tripped, falling on the ground and rolling over, body and mind still locked in a complete state of shock. Looking up at her previous captor, she figured the hallucination was just a side effect of shock. But, peering around at the soul riders' faces who were equally as horrified and stuck, unsure of what to do, she knew the scene before her was not merely a psychological creation.

Darko, serum now having dropped out of his hand and long forgotten, grasped and scratched desperately at his neck as a long purple tentacle slowly wrapped itself tighter and tighter around his neck, it's snake-like movements reaching closer and closer to his chin.

With one hard tug, another tentacle that had wrapped itself around his midsection pulled him down to the ground, the man landing on his back with a hard 'thud'.

As Darko blinked the tears of shock away from his eyes in an attempt to clear his fading vision, he felt every last drop of blood drain from his head, and it wasn't do to only the constriction.

A man peered down at him, a smirk with much more respect and power behind it than his own plastered on his face. The wrinkled features and one bright green eye (SSL look) were two things that Darko would recognize anywhere, as he despised the beholder of them for years.

"Did you really think my master would kill me so easily? Did you think that I would let power that belongs to me fall into your hands?" Mr. Sands smiled in finality had he stepped on the vermon's mouth below him with his boot, slowly applying more and more pressure, the enthralling feeling of facial bones slowly cracking beneath his weight. His 4 subordinates circled around him, an equally bright gleam in their eyes at the beholding of Darko's torture.

"You fool."

[dapplesndruids]

STOP MAKING ME DO CHAMPS IM GOING GO KRILL MYSELF

[dapplesndruids]

There is such a morbid tension now in the current state of the storyline.

Sands is gone - I hesitate to say 'dead', but at least gone for the time being. Darko has seemingly taken over DC operations and the whole of the continuing fight for Garnok's release.

We knew where Sands began and ended, for the most part. We knew what his morals were and that they were indeed existent, however fucked up in nature they were. Point is, he had some level of care for his ex-wife and family (and the new line that was updated a couple of years ago as we fly away with Justin on the starter "Now that HE (Garnok of Darko?) has seen you, you will never be safe on this island" just further leads me to believe that Sands was starting to 'wake up' from the trance Garnok had put him in). Sands also had a clear motive for his actions - doesn't make them right, but losing a loved one and spiraling is something anyone can acknowledge.

Darko on the other hand, is a complete unknown. Of course we know generally that he seemed much more extreme than Sands - he was the one who kidnapped Anne and threw her into 'hell', who attempted to murder Justin (in one of the most brutal ways possible), he was behind the Dark Horse serum experiments and the creation of the Nightmare Institute. Although this is more personal theory than anything, I really think Darko was either some sort of doctor or scientist before his stent with DC. Creating an institution for the study of what is essentially a mind and body-altering drug/steroid? There is so. much. potential. with his character.

All that being said, Darko is a much scarier villain than Sands could've ever been. Yes, I know he was a major creep in the older comics and SSL, but we have that motive there for him; we don't have one for Darko.

Darko is a wild card. We know he's willing to go to extreme lengths, but we don't know just how far he's willing to go, yet. I do hope they spend time working with and developing his character rather than just making him some goofy write off in the end. I love the game's concept of 'girl power' which was a fairly new concept in the video game sphere in the early 2000s, but unlike in SSL where the girl's had actual challenges that they overcame, SSO has started to go down the route of every other opposing character being completely incompetent so no real challenge is presented. We've seen the power the Soul Riders have - let them have actual challenges in the story.

[dapplesndruids]

The godawful Aideen reincarnation family tree from covr

[dapplesndruids]

the first of a few drawings I’ve been working on of the starstable soul riders and ofc I had to start with my girl Linda 🌜

[dapplesndruids]

Loss

Jasper receives the news about his daughter’s death - he doesn’t take it well.

a/n: I’ve had this one sitting in the drafts for over a year now. A lot of this is personal hc/theory about the truth behind Catherine’s death, so I suppose it wouldn’t be considered canon-compliant. Just enjoy the angst ;)

“Good work today Brutas.”

The large Irish Draught horse nuzzled into his owner’s hand, savoring the nose scratches he was receiving. Hay was swiftly tossed into his stall, Brutas just as quickly throwing his head down to dine on the delicious alfalfa.

“Ah, I see where your priorities lie,” Jasper Holbrook chuckled at his - rather fat - horse’s indulgence. It had been a hard day’s work out in the pumpkin patches, the fields needing tending after the plentiful harvest of the concluding fall. 

Jasper turned his head toward the open barn door, a small smile creeping on his lips. The man was in a period of bliss - a true happiness he had not experienced since the death of his wife. Plentiful harvest (which meant many delicious pumpkin pastries from Esmerelda) and his beautiful family were all he needed to maintain this blissful state. He chuckled at the thought of his little year-old grandson with the fluffy hair plopped atop a bright orange pumpkin for pictures, his mother fussing over his appearance.

“’Suppose I’ll see you in the morning than Brut. Don’t choke on that hay ya hear?” Jasper called back to his steed as he walked out of the barn.

As he stepped out into the nippy Jorvik October evening, a cold chill was sent up his spine. Normally during this time of year, beautiful sunsets crested the horizon over the Forgotten Fields which were just in view from his small home planted right inside the Goldenhills Gate. The sky this evening was shrouded in dark gray clouds, giving the appearance of an impending snowstorm. He picked a small fallen Golden Delicious apple up that was in his path, sighing as he tried to poke his fingernails into the very tough apple skin.

“Gonna be a rough winter this year.” He threw the apple to the side, continuing back on the small dirt path towards his front porch.

So lost in his grievances over the cold winter ahead, he failed to notice his son-in-law leaning beside his front door, his features crest-fallen and weak.

“Tommy! Trying to scare me son?” Jasper chuckled, not picking up on the body language of the younger man as he made his way up his front steps.

Jasper raised an eyebrow as he examined Thomas - the man’s eyes were red and puffy, his hair looking as though it hadn’t been kempt by a comb in weeks.

“Thomas, is everything-”

“No. No it’s not... I- God I’m so sorry.” Thomas stared hard at the weathered wooden paneling of the exterior wall supporting his shoulder, not wanting to look his father-in-law in the eyes as more hot tears streamed down his cheeks. 

Nothing would ever be ok again.

Jasper’s mind immediately went to the worst- something had happened to Justin, or-

“She’s dea- gone. She’s gone. I don’t know where, I barely know why...” All the man could see was his wife’s pale face as she disappeared into the night on horseback. The explanation he had got was barely enough- she had to hide, she had to be away from them. She might die in the process, he knew that- especially if they found her. If his fucking father found her... Part of him almost wished he knew her fate, so his mind would stop its incessant wandering.

“I- What now?” Jasper numbly opened his front door, gesturing for Thomas to come inside. He did so, his body moving begrudgingly through the doorway.

“So did you two get into a fight or-” Jasper lightly stroked his chin, his mind trying to rational the message delivered to him. She was fine, this was just some silly argument, characteristic of a rather young couple-

“No. It has to do with- it’s the druids. The dark riders, all of that-” Thomas gestured meekly with his hand, placing his head in his palms as he completed the sentence. Jasper swallowed hard, balling his hands into a fist. He hated those bastards, all of them.

“She said she had to hide- had to get away so they wouldn’t take her or her connection to the island away. I know you don’t know much, but- We’ll never see her again.” Thomas trailed off, stifling sobs and watching Jasper’s expressions change violently. He knew he man was processing a load of information and thought it best to stay silent.

“So what role did you play in this?” Jasper spoke quietly, staring down at his balled fists. Thomas looked up, a deep shockwave of hurt surprise hitting him.

“Did you lead him to her- Did you threaten my daughter, told her you’d hand her over to them?” Something had taken hold inside the grief-stricken man. A part of him knew he was acting irrationally- but all of his doubts about their very young marriage and pregnancy took over his every emotion.

“No, Jasper you know I would never-”

“You did! That was the whole goddamn reason you wanted to marry her so quickly- get in with your daddy who never wanted you in the first place. You used her.” Jasper ran a hand through his hair, salty tears burning the back of his eyes. He blinked them back, the hard anger preventing any sort of rational emotion from surfacing.

His doubts about Thomas hadn’t really begun until the revelation of his heritage. He knew from his daughter’s tearful ramblings that the ever so present ‘Mr. Sands’ character was a powerful source of his daughter’s grief. However much he didn’t want to admit it, he had always kept an extra eye on the boy ever since that fateful confrontation between the snake oil salesman and himself.

“I- I loved he- I do love her. I always have. Sh- She was my bestfriend before anything Jasper- you know that.” Thomas, giving up on holding his tears back, spoke with a plead in his voice. The man standing before him was all he - and his young son - had left. Without him, they wouldn’t have anyone-

“I knew I should of kept her away from you. You’re just as much of a slimy piece of shit as your father is.” Jasper looked Thomas dead in the eyes.

Thomas suddenly felt a way he had never felt in front of the man before him- fearful, small, weak. Being compared to his father in such a way burned him on an unexplainable level- his hushed fears of becoming the true spawn of a monster crept back into his mind.

“Get the fuck out of my house.” Jasper took another step forward, Thomas leaning against the inside wall now. In the last 24 hours, his entire world had crumbled down around him. His dreams of a stable family - something he had only gotten to experience for a short time after being adopted - were smothered with those final words.

“I- be mad at me, fine. But please don’t take your anger at me out on Justin. That little boy needs to know his fam-”

“You listen to me boy- keep yourself and that little demon spawn of a child off of my property and out of my sight. It ain’t gonna end well if you don’t.” Jasper threatened in a deep, violent tone. This was a side of his father-in-law that Thomas had never seen before. It scared him.

Jasper backed up suddenly, his rational mind not believing the words that had just left his mouth. The sound of his grandson’s high-pitched giggle flashed through his mind, along with the more mature laugh of his daughter.

She was ok, she was his family. If he had kept his little girl away from Thomas, if he had never sold part of his land to the Moorlands-

But, he was a firm believer in the hardened cement that is spoken word. 

“Y-Yea, fine. I hope you can see through this one day and realize I didn’t do anything, and Justin damn sure didn’t. But fine, we’ll stay away.” Thomas met Jasper’s eyes, his monotone voice chilling Jasper to the core. A stabbing pain of grief hit him in the chest as he looked at the younger man’s face, uncontrollable tears streaming down his cheeks.

“I mean it, Thomas. I don’t want to see you or-or that boy around here ever again.” Jasper truly believed his mouth and words were betraying him at that point; that boy, the newly adopted title for his beloved grandson.

The older man couldn’t understand what otherworldly being he had pissed off enough to do this to him; take both his wife and daughter, the only two people who made his life worth living.

He’s lying, she’ll come home, she has to come home.

“Understood. Loud and clear.” Thomas swallowed hard, turning around and walking towards the door, but before he turned the handle, “thank you for everything you did for me and my parents. I-I’m sorry.” He thought the burning tears would never stop as he walked through the threshold of the door. He made it down the three wooden steps of the front porch before letting a couple of the stifled sobs escape ever so quietly.

“Thomas, my God what did he say to you?” Esmeralda Holdsworth, who had been waiting in her car with Justin, now rushed to the younger man’s side, “I swear to Aideen I’ll walk in there right now and beat the-“ a hand being placed on her arm cut impassioned words short.

“Please don’t. He needs time. W-We all do. He’ll come around, he’s just upset.” Thomas gave her a broken smile which only made the older woman more upset.

“He has no right-“

A soft pitter patter of little shoes against the rocky soil cut her off this time. Justin had maneuvered his way out of his partially undone car seat. He ran over to his father’s legs, nearly tripping multiple times die to his faulty newly found balance.

“Da, ufs.” The young boy, who had not yet mastered the ‘p’ enunciation, lifted his little arms in a request to be held by his father. Judging by the somewhat worried expression that graced his features, Thomas could tell his little boy picking up on the whirlwind of emotions around him.

“Hi bubs.” Thomas lifted the boy into his arms, settling him in the crook of his arm. Justin nestled his face into his father’s neck.

Although still too young to fully recognize complex emotions, Justin could tell his dad was different. He wasn’t laughing and emitting that rumble in his chest that the little boy found so comforting, and the ‘thump-thump’ sound in his chest was going much faster than it usually did.

“Justin-“ Mrs. Holdsworth started, ready to scold the young boy for sneaking away from his car seat. But upon looking at the two, Thomas resting his head lightly on his son’s as tears fell faster and faster, she thought it best to save the safety lesson for a later time.

“I’ll be in the car, dear. Let’s head home.” The woman placed a comforting hand on Thomas’s shoulder before turning back and walking to the car, dabbing her eyes with a small handkerchief that had been hidden away in her pocket.

“Ma home. Ba.” Justin spoke brokenly. Thomas let out a wet chuckle, once again struggling to stifle the sobs in front of his son. Catherine had usually been the one to bottle feed their son, and so he had gotten into the habit of reaching for his mother and saying ‘ba’ for bottle when hungry. He didn’t understand yet that his dad would now have to take over that role, permanently.

“Y-yea ok bubs,” Thomas lost the battle with his tears, hugging his son tighter, “mama’s home.”

Maybe if he said it just one more time, she’d be there to welcome them home with a hug and a kiss each for both of her boys. She did always give the best hugs.

And he could really use one right about now.

[dapplesndruids]

Introduction & Masterlist

dapplesndruids (formerly pandoricpies)

Hello, everyone!

This blog is dedicated to Star Stable Online content. Here, you will find lore deep-dives, fanfiction, and community content reblogs. Below, you will find a lore post and fanfiction masterlist, as well as a short info section about me.

My ask box is always open to any fandom questions or requests.

As always, any support is appreciated 🤍

⋆˙⟡ Masterlist ⟡˙⋆

Fan Works:

As I Lay Flowers on Your Grave - Justin visits his mother’s grave

Catherine

Justin

Nightmares - Catherine has a nightmare; Thomas comforts her

Farewell, My Lord - An address by Gunnar Thyrmson to Jon Jarl

Dearest Beloved - Sands is visited by an old love

Lore Deep-dives:

(to be updated soon! many of my previous lore posts are 3+ years old and outdated)

[dapplesndruids]

Such an interesting idea.

Someone somewhere needs to take the reins of the sso storyline and just run with it. There is so much potential for a whole separate game designed for more mature audiences that could delve into the violence, otherworldly sicknesses, and eldritch demons. No, none of that would be appropriate for the current game, but there is so. much. potential.

Ever since reading this post, the whole idea about how Pandorian energy affects the human body aside from scarring has not left my brain, so I've been developing a lil idea sort of stemming from it!

The general idea I have at the moment is that Pandoria has caused characters like Evergray and Anne to suffer from chronic muscle tension and pain, since the remaining Pandorian energy in their bodies interferes with the neuron signals in the body (I've termed it Chronic Pandorian Myopathy at the moment).

Since Evergray is much older (and spent a lot more time in Pandoria, leading to the condition spreading to all parts of his body), his condition has much more frequent and more intense flare ups. He almost always carries his staff to help manage it.

Anne, on the other hand, works frequently with whatever the Druid equivalent of a physiotherapist is, and is advised to keep as active as she can. However, when the chronic tension and pain flares up, she uses a cane.

I know nothing of biology, nor do I have any experience with chronic muscle diseases or disabilities: all the research I've done thus far to inspire this idea has come from Google. I would be really interested to see others' additions/developments on this idea!

[dapplesndruids]

Guys from horse game but in a my au or somethinglikethat way 1 am drawings fun no serious needed

The only person who wants justin in a good way is montana

I saw a lot of jaylinda stuff and end up throwing that into this but its not happy for them there

These guys died but dark riders still exist but they are full alien kinda different characters (well not that totally cut off cuz they use the "original ones" to be able to punch people)

More under the cut if you want to read or look at it or idk what

Also bad englishwarning

So Jay got interested in cases of stolen bodies from Jorviks cementery and they wsnted to know why when and why and cuz police kinda have that in ass they started digging into that on their own and flexing the work and new findings to Linda (Linda wasnt sure about this but at the same time she was curious what Jay will end up finding out before the police lol)

but Sabine didnt like that at all and told them to stop it before something bad happen cuz Sabine had a feeling this shit was deep and indeeed it was a deep shit cuz when the person who did that lil cementary stealing marathon (It was Sands ofc) find out someone was digging into this more than police and after the intense disscucion with red haired psycho decided to send aliens after them

Unfortunately for sabine she ended up as a victim cuz she died in the car accident caused by alien when she was driving with jay as a passenger

Jay survived and got send to hospital (lucky)

Sabines body was taken away but alien decided to steal her from the car that took her (and that will cause another sensation on the news cuz that thing crushed the doors of the van like origami)

Alien arrived at the hospital and gently took Jay for a tea party (minutes before that Jay was trying to call Linda but she was not answering)

And jay also end up being used by the second alien

I made post about aliens some time ago but will write here again

Aliens the garnok servants cant shape a proper form on earth especially influenced by Aideens stuff they need human skeleton to be able to do bigger tasks they prefer to use unalive ppl cuz they have no force to fight back

Exception is Nihili cuz its sick and it needs to heal and they chosen to use Justin cuz he has some aideens light mixed with garnok magic tricks so he seems to be a good medic kit for unnormal beings

No idea what to write more so bye

[dapplesndruids]

breaking the news

[dapplesndruids]

🔮 ⤷ Random and Unimportant Soul Rider Headcanons [Pt.1]

These are all mostly based on my own OC-ified versions of the Soul Riders, but I thought it would be fun to share nonetheless >:)

Linda collects plushies. Her bed is absolutely full of them, all different sizes, colours, styles, etc - as well as a lot from different fandoms she's in. For those that already came with names, she reassigned them names, and probably writes them all down in a designated notebook with cool little stickers and doodles of them.

Lisa is THE plant mom. They all buy her plants for her birthday, and they are like her children. Sometimes she’ll come home from long trips and find that some of them have wilted, and it’s the most heartbreaking moment for her as she tries desperately to revive them.

Anne will often get someone's attention by calling them by their last name only. ("PETERSON! What the HELL are you doing??")

In Linda's backpack, she has pretty much anything she could ever need. 4a. One of the things she carries is a small pocket notebook, where she writes snippets of poetry from random thoughts she has throughout the day, which she will inevitably look back on hours later (having forgotten what she'd wrote) and sit there thinking “Damn, that’s really shit why did I think that was cool and aesthetic”.

Alex has her friends saved in her contacts under the silliest of names. Linda as 'Sister of the Cheese', for example, or Anne as 'Sunshine [derogatory]'.

Lisa wears odd-coloured shoe laces. The most notable are her Converse, which are also covered in colourful patches, doodles, and embroidery that the whole group has contributed to.

Anne and Alex engage in aggressively cheesy, jokey flirting with each other, despite their relationship being purely platonic. This is probably down to the fact that they have the dirtiest minds. Sometimes they’ll just greet each other like: “Hey, sweetcheeks.” “Hey, sexy.”

Anne just has really cold hands?? Like, all the time??

Wall-hangings and tapestries are a big trade-off between Linda, Lisa and Anne.

There was definitely a moment where they all found out that Alex can rap really well. Eminem better watch out fr.

Linda collects scarves ready for the Autumn and Winter. Like, imagine her just browsing lil shops in Jarlaheim and she comes across a scarf she really likes, is just like UUUUEEE >:)) She is the Pinterest girly.

Lisa can't swim, but would really like to learn how. Until then, she is the designated rubber-ring dweller.

Alex cracks her knuckles. All. The. Damn. Time.

Anne absolutely loves card and dice games, and will challenge the others to a game or two if they have the stuff available. She probably carries around a pack of cards with her.

Alex is a WhatsApp sticker FIEND. She has a bank full of meme stickers to send in response to anything.

[dapplesndruids]

As I Lay Flowers On Your Grave

“The purple carnations, please.”

“Alrighty! I- wait, how did you know those were her favorite?” Kirsty, the bubbly florist, asked the young man standing before her.

“I found one of her old flower pressing books in the attic one time, and the majority were carnations. So I’ve kinda rolled with it.” Justin offered her an awkward smile, wringing his hands out habitual nervousness. Talking about his late mother always made him clam up, for whatever reason.

“Aww, that’s sweet,” she paused just before trimming the stems of the bundle of flowers now in her hand, “sorry if that came off rude. I don’t want to make it seem like I know so much more about her than you do.” Kirsty offered an apologetic look.

“No, it’s fine. I mean, you definitely do. She babysat you for years. I’m not even sure she held me for an hour.” Justin chuckled, trying to use the dark humor card to steer the conversation in a lighter direction. Kirsty grimaced, then giggled as she shook her head.

“Tell your pa I said hi, and give your ma a happy birthday wish from me.” Kirsty smiled warmly, handing the boy the bouquet of purple flowers. Justin nodded in thanks, reaching in his pocket to pull out his wallet for payment. Kirsty stopped him mid-movement with a quick wave of her hand.

“It’s my birthday present to her. I suppose I owe those and more to her, since she’s the one who inspired me to follow my passion with the flower shop,” Kirsty stopped, her eyes becoming misty with the recollection of past memories.

“Thank you, Ms. Kirsty. Will do.” Justin smiled, nodding to her once more before turning to head out of the flower shop.

“And Justin?” He turned his head to acknowledge her, “Tell her Kay still misses her, a lot.” Kirsty spoke as she wiped away a few stray tears. It was always hard remembering the girl who took on the role of mother for her, after Kirsty had lost her own.

“Yes mam.” Justin waved a final goodbye before turning and walking through the threshold.

He sighed, letting out a breath he didn’t realize had been held for so long. Talking about dead people was not a fond pastime of his. Especially not now, when he himself had come so close to meeting the grim reaper at the hands of one of his supposed grandfather’s subordinates.

Reaching his truck, he opened the driver’s door and pulled himself in, situating the flowers in the passenger seat and turning the key in the ignition. The vehicle came to life, settling in a soft purr that stirred with the soundtrack of the CD he had in the old stereo. He reached up to the volume knob and turned it to the left until the music was muted. The sound of that and his racing thoughts were just too much to handle simultaneously.

He drove along the gravel backroads to the Silverglade cemetery in silence, leaned back in his seat with one hand on the steering wheel and the other occasionally rubbing his forehead. A tension headache had plagued him for days now, what with the stress of summer camp starting back up and, well, very fresh trauma.

It had only been a month and a half since returning from that place. Although his dad insisted that he take a rest for as long as he needed, Justin watched wearily as his father ran around doing 20 different jobs day after day. There was no way he could peacefully relax after putting his dad through the grief he had by disappearing and then simply spectate his hard labor - so he returned to his usual work with the lessons, camp kids, and farm maintenance around a week after coming back. His body was sore and mind foggy from lack of sleep and the harsh treatment he had received at that place, but that didn’t matter; he wasn’t going to cause his father an iota more of pain.

After a short, silent trip, he pulled into the gated entrance of the cemetery. His eyes grazed over the rows of concrete tombstones as he pulled into the side parking lot designated for visitors. He grabbed the flowers, nearly slumped out of the truck and shut the door.

Row after row of the dead greeted him with a somber silence until he located his mother’s grave, which was right next to the resting place of his maternal grandmother. He crouched down, bending at the knees before sitting back, legs tucked underneath himself as he kneeled before her.

“Hey mom.” Justin spoke softly, placing the purple flowers at the foot of the upright concrete slab. There were slightly wilted flowers placed around the grave from his father’s more recent visits, as well as a small gray horse plushie that had apparently been won for her at the Harvest Counties fair by his father when they were kids.

“I um.. happy birthday.” Justin continued, looking down at his hands. He felt the moisture growing in between his fingers as he interlaced them and fidgeted. He felt his leg beginning to twitch out of nervousness as well - still being so on edge. It felt like a dam of emotions and thoughts that had been so restricted and pushed down was about to break in his brain. And, what better time than now, where no one could see him cry and his father wouldn’t be burdened by his issues anymore.

“I really need you momma. I just wish you were here.” Justin mustered out through hiccuping sobs, hands on his knees and shoulders slumped forward as he cried, the dam finally collapsing under the weight of it all.

“I’m so sorry. I’m such a stupid, selfish, horrible person. I hurt dad so much. I don’t deserve anything. I know you would hate me for what I did, what I put dad through, I was so mean, I just- I don’t know- I’m not okay.” He continued rambling through the sobs, a stream of incoherent words spilling out between the wet hiccups. He was grateful that it was late in the evening and the cemetery was empty. After all, this whole show would ruin his happy-go-lucky facade.

He wrapped his arms around his sides, continuing to let the tears fall. It was all he could do to imagine his arms as his mother’s, giving him the comforting hug he so desperately needed.

“I don’t want to talk to dad about any of this, he doesn’t need any more of a shit put on him. And my friends don’t either. But I just- I don’t know what to do.” Justin wiped his eyes, willing the tears to stop and the lump in his throat to go away. But it wouldn’t. Too much had been pushed down for too long.

In the midst of his grief, it took him longer than normal to register the feeling of a hand being placed on his shoulder. Only when this calloused hand gave a soft squeeze did he become aware of its presence.

The hand attached to an arm with years worth of of sun-damaged skin evidently belonging to a farmer. This farmer stood quietly, one hand on the young man’s shoulder as he too stared down at the two concrete slabs, marking the resting places of the two most important people to ever bless his life.

“I’m sorry, son.” An older gentleman’s voice spoke quietly, an aged roughness that still maintained a distinguable gentleness. The apology the man offered held far more weight than showing sympathy for the boy’s current state. He held two bundles of flowers, one consisting of purple carnations and the other displaying crisp red roses.

Justin knew whose hand now rest on his shoulder, but didn’t have enough of a relationship with the owner of that hand to care about ceasing the show of his anguish to save face. Instead, he let silent tears fall as he stared blankly at the engravings on the stone, his mind an unrelenting whirlwind.

The two men, one old and one young but both plagued with indescribable hardships, remained in silence for hours, save for slight crinkle of plastic bouquet wrapping as the flowers were placed and settled at their final resting places.

[dapplesndruids]

I fucking hate AI with a burning passion. It has taken and will continue to take millions of jobs from creative individuals. I cannot describe my absolute disdain for the creature.

a writing competition i was going to participate in again this year has announced that they now allow AI generated content to be submitted

their reasoning being that "we couldn't ban it even if we wanted to, every writer already uses it anyway"

"Every writer"?

come on

[dapplesndruids]

My partner is trying to explain the lore and plot of Star Stable (the horse computer game) and I’m just like-

WHAT DO YOU MEAN THEY’RE RESURRECTING A DEAD GOD????

I THOUGHT THIS WAS ABOUT HORSES