#*rubs my little gremlin hands together*

[darkgifted]

pls tell me what sort of imagery you associate with your character bc i live for that stuff

[littlestarbigfangs]

Narrator: "Your guilt is safe, for now."

[mem-fr]

sheppo's ( #519686 ) very neat and totally normal tundra

[loquaciousquark]

Just got my card for Hurt/Comfort Bingo from @sweetspicybingo! Info & signups are here!

Hilariously (sadly?), I think the oneshot I just sent @jadesabre301 to beta could qualify for about six of these. No bingo yet, but...closer than I'd like, lmao.

[coconut530]

HE HAS RETURNED TO US

[cahirdyffryns]

haven’t recovered yet from this btw

[joelsdagger]

late night talks with @papurgaatika

[jrueships]

Jabari, Alpey wants cuddles to celebrate their hard win.

HELDMSKNZ THIS IS NOT AN OPTION, IT IS A DEMAND

YEA, JABA!! YOU HEARD THE MAN!! IT'S CUDDLE TIME <3 !!!

[thatdeadaquarius]

I virtually adopted bennet, noele and all the little kids >:)

THEY ARE MINE *cues evil laugh*

HAHAHA BUT THATS EXACTLY WHAT I WANTED U TO DO, YOU FOOL!!! You've fallen right into MY TRAP, ALL IS GOING ACCORDING TO PLAN-

📃✍️ okay, and sign here..

📜✍️ ...and here...

📄✍️ ...one last time aannnndddd

You're all set!

Congratulations! You are now the parent of many children and teens!

Thank you for adopting, and remember!

Adopt, don't shop! 🥰

Cheers,

💀♒️

[i3utterflyeffect]

The Pearl Problem

ITERATION 2: THE REBEL

All That Beckons tries again with some new friends, and finds that not everyone is willing to go along with what he wants. And that isn't just these animals, either. He also discovers that creatures without glass bones are much, MUCH more dangerous. - chosen time. :] [AO3 Link]

"Log four! I've gotten some help from other iterators who go by Aberrant Creation and Programmed Interference. Me and Programmed Interference go a while back, but we haven't talked in a while. Glad that they're helping me with this. We've gotten a chance to catch up a little, but it's a bit awkward since it's been... Uh... I can't remember the exact number of cycles, but it's been a long time since we've talked."

"I'm making some progress now. I've gotten a plan together for a creature that will hopefully NOT self-destruct, and one that's going to be able to efficiently create the bone I need for a pearl. They should be pretty sturdy, too, which means they can survive the extraction and regrow the bone! Man, this is cool."

"Hopefully this'll actually work. I'm trying it right now; Hopefully in about 50 cycles or so it'll be ready. Feels like a long time, but I can wait. This has to work, right?"

---

"Log five. The creature is complete."

"I think I followed everything right. I, um... I tried to play it safe since I don't want to give myself rot by screwing this up worse than before. I'm feeling pretty good about the result, though. It's been wandering around for a few minutes-- doesn't look like it's limping or anything, and I'm pretty sure that's a good sign. Let me just... poke it with an inspector and make sure it doesn't die as soon as I touch it."

"Just gonna..."

"Oh. That's-- what is it doing? What is that?"

"Is something on fi-- THAT'S THE CREATURE THE CREATURE IS ON FIRE WHY IS I-"

---

"Log five, continued!"

"I am very fortunate that genetic engineering uses a lot of water... because that thing tried to set me on fire."

"I genuinely don't know where it got the ability to do that-- I mean, I put in some lizard genes just to make the bones more sturdy. That shouldn't have given it the ability to set fires! Much less be immune to it! And-- honestly, I'm kind of regretting not keeping the first one in general! That thing was a thousand times less likely to kill me than whatever this is!"

"As for what happened... I contained it. For now. But I need to figure out how to neutralize that thing. I think I have an idea, but I need to contact the others first."

"Hopefully I can get it done before it wakes back up."

---

"Log six."

"I've got it under control, I think. It's not exploding now, at least. I made something that I can trigger on command to release a biological coolant in their blood, because! It looks like lowering its body temperature prevents it from sparking any fires."

"...however... Aberrant Creation has stopped talking with us, because apparently keeping a creature from killing me is 'immoral'. It's not like I'm killing it, though."

"Actually, I don't think I could even if I was brave enough to. It killed, like, two of my inspectors. I didn't even know a creature could do that."

"It's kind of sluggish right now, but I'm hesitant to extract the bone pearl while my equipment is still damaged. And also while I'm down two inspectors. And while there's... structural damage... and..."

"I need to go repair things. I need to fix... all of this. Saints below. I'll update on the situation when I'm in better shape."

---

"Log seven."

"It's been a few cycles since I created... The creature. The slugcat. Should I have a name for that thing? I'll... I'll think about it."

"But it's going well. Seems like the coolant method's working to keep it controlled. I'm still wary to let it around any important components, but at least I don't feel like it's going to immediately try to blow a hole in my can."

"I also managed to extract the pearl, and even if it's not the best material, it's better than nothing. It's kind of porous but it'll work for art, I think. It's also shockingly colorful for bone; it's colored the same way any pearl would be. That was an accident, but they're nice to look at. I kind of wonder if their skeletons are colorful, too."

"Anyway... I've been trying to encourage it to cooperate with me, but I don't see anything behind those eyes. Completely vacant except for apparently the thought of killing me."

"...I'm sure it'll come around eventually."

"Log eight. Discordant Joy said I should name them, and we came up with a great name... The Chosen One!"

"Heheh... Pretty sure the Ancients would NOT be happy with that name, but screw them; I like it. They've been pretty cooperative lately, by the way. I've gotten them to do a bit of pest control after a couple of white lizards crawled inside. They got chomped once or twice, but I think they enjoyed killing those things. Maybe I just need to get The Chosen One things to kill that aren't me?"

---

"Log nine..."

"...Programmed Interference has gone silent. They won't respond to any messages."

"I'm starting to get a bit worried. They've been having issues for a while, but suddenly they just seemed to disappear."

"...These slugcats are meant to be messengers, right?"

"...I wonder..."

There's a long pause in the audio. All That Beckons is clearly deep in thought.

"...This might be a bad idea. I shouldn't be doing this."

"I think... I'm going to see about making one for its intended purpose. And this time, I'm not going to screw it up."

[soulsxng]

As soon as he lays eyes on her, it's as though the fog has lifted somewhat, and he feels his breath catch in his throat. His heart pounds in his chest, and though the feeling it brings is an uncomfortable one, it's...not necessarily unpleasant, either.

In fact, the more he thinks on it, the more he comes to feel that it might even be enjoyable.

...She truly was beautiful, wasn't she. More-so, even, than he recalled from the fragments of memories that had bubbled to the surface of his mind over these last six years. (Or had it been even more than that? He didn't know, anymore.)

It was no wonder he'd once sought to make her his own. And she would be. She was.

So long as he could pull this off.

[arachnidiots-a]

me receiving a reply to a thread: good! great! arguably the best feeling in the whole wide world!

me having to reply to said thread: bad! evil! arguably the worst feeling in the whole wide world!

[cinnamostar]

exes to lovers is speaking to me right now *hehe*

[his-red-right-hand]

*cackles madly to myself as I put a fake out jump scare in a chapter, carrying on the great traditions of the genre*

[scargivr]

some kora headcanons that've been swirling around in my noggin & need to be put down here ;

A. their training under the imperium included a heavy conglomeration of strength building , martial arts / weaponless combat ( with emphases derived from denominations like aikido [ a japanese martial arts sect characterized by redirection & harmonizing an opponent’s energy through joint locks , throws , & immobilization techniques ] & arnis [ a filipino martial arts sect which emphasizes  weapon - based fighting ] , & marksmanship with guns varying from long - range to pistols .

B. kora's dynamic with princess issa was very similar to that of a parentified older sibling . they viewed issa as a little sister , but often played the role of a guardian . their relationship is vastly important to me because for many people , issa represented a new age of compassion & diplomacy among the universe - for kora included . issa was a beacon of light & grace , of giving life & restoring beauty . even through kora's hope for what good remained in the universe was beaten & bruised , issa & the change that she inspired in the king was a real glimmer of hope . the king's motivations shifted out of alignment with general balasarius's , who deemed forceful expansion necessary - & the coup that claimed princess issa's & her parent's lives is something that kora will never forget . they will never stop blaming themselves for not being able to protect issa . it's what hangs heaviest on their shoulders after all this time . there's an ache in her chest where that hope used to be ; a wondering of how things might be different if she'd kept issa safe . there's so much guilt .

C. kora is a very skilled pilot . it was something ingrained during basic training for the imperium , & while it was solely centered around imperium - engineered vessels , the transferrable skills make it rather easy for them to navigate differing vessel types .

[voidfell]

Okie dokes getting to my inbox call now! Mutuals who liked it will get 2-3 asks of which there's absolutely zero pressure to respond to any of them, it's just for the sake of variety!