#I still like it. ^_^

[karoiseka]

9) Lend an Ear

((Some 5.2 timeframe introspection!))

The white crystal, topped with gold, now sported a blood red base.  Its creation had taken more time than G’raha would have liked, but the first of six was now laying before him.

Six, he said in his mind, as if he could take it for granted that Karo could, and would, just whisk his soul and memories back to the Source with all the rest and it would be happily ever after.  That type of thing happened in the tales he read–not to him.  Or so he would have chastised himself even just a year prior.  Ever since she had arrived on the First, Karo had him believing as he once did in his youth.  That magic could do more, that faith and prayers could be answered, and good would triumph over the evils of the world.

He needed to ground himself.

He needed to make plans.  The Ocular door shut behind him as he wandered down the long staircase in the center of the Tower, not bothering to teleport since he needed to think.  The other five crystals would take time to imbue with his blood, making the transfer successful–or so he hoped.  That could not be done in bulk, no matter how quickly he wanted to try.  The crystal creeping down his left arm was a testament of that fact, and Karo was going to notice sooner or later.

He had to tell someone his plan though–even if the details were still a bit blurry in his mind.  Nodding absently at the door guard, his ears flickered at the feeling of the wind against them again after being hidden under his cowl for so long.  The main concern he had with his plan at the time was the fact that instead of just being an incorporeal soul with memories, he had the frustrating issue of having a body on both sides of the rift.  This created the issue of if he wanted to attempt at least a visit the way the Scions had the First, and then returning to his Crystal cage, or moving into his old body.  That of course left the crisis of if he would be replacing his old self or merging–and in either case whether it meant he’d be able to return to the First at all.

His tail lashed under his robe as he wandered through the city.  The last option was the option he wasn’t sure if he could go through with.  Which was allowing the Crystal Tower to fully take his body here on the First, entrusting that whatever happened with the merge or takeover on the Source with his soul, something would turn out.  Even if it was nothing more than Karo waking his old self up with no memory of the First–or what happened after the Eighth Umbral Calamity.  In essence all his current memories and self dying. 

He had loved her before retreating into the Tower the first time, that he could acknowledge finally.  It has boarded on more akin to hero worship, tinged with star-struck friendship, but rooted in deep respect and awe at the woman behind the label. Would she be content to attempt to continue their relationship? Or fall back in the friendship with the painfully young man he was at that time, returning to Thancred alone?

Thancred. That's who he could–and needed to talk to. He would be the perfect person to discuss what plans needed to be made–mostly as he was going to be planning his own departure with Ryne and now Gaia.  Pausing for a moment, G’raha leaves against the gaping doorway leading to the markets, sinking himself into the Tower and city.  Flashes of aether and personalities flower by until he found his quarry, down in the Cabinet of Curiosity with Ryne.  Good.  They would be easy enough to find there, Gaia lurking nearby a quiet shadow pretending still not to care. 

Still taking the time to walk rather than expend extra energy with teleports, it still did not take long to reach the library, and find his target.  Leaving Ryne in Moren’s expert hands, the two gentlemen made their way back out of the lower levels, and G’raha quietly led them out the main gates across the chasm.  Not far, but just to the Exarch Gate, climbing to the top of one of the lookout posts, they stood, keeping watch, and talking deeply.  Thancred thankfully seemed just as in need of an open ear, and they found themselves in deep discussion until after the sun started to set.  Realizing the time, they wandered back to the Crystarium, but continued to talk late into the evening, spending time at the Wandering Stairs sharing a meal, yet happier to be spending time with a friend.

[pirateprincessjess]

When I was early on in my transition I got in a Lyft, and the driver was this big country guy. I was a little nervous so I just sat quietly in the back.

After a moment he changed the music on his phone to what sounded like a Hatsune Miku song. Curiosity got the better of me, so I finally spoke up and said “is this Hatsune Miku?”

And he said “Yep. You looked uncomfortable, and I know Transgender women like Hatsune Miku, so I thought it might help.”

I think about that interaction a lot.

[podcastwizard]

my most toxic trait is i fucking love work gossip. i play neutral not to be the bigger person or take the high road but to hear slander and hearsay from every side. two coworkers complained about each other to me in the same afternoon and i nearly blacked out from the rush

[thegeekgene]

Someone at an old job asked why I wanted to write up the meeting minutes for our team and I said 'i wanna control the narrative' and they were like 'what' and I pointed out that no one was gonna remember what we said in six months and so my interpretation of the meeting would dictate the assumed reality of what happened

"none of you ever send corrections when I offer the draft so y'all have consented to my version"

"we don't read that shit"

"you must trust me implicitly to create our shared reality that's so sweet"

That's how several coworkers decided I was a supervillain and how I learned several coworkers didn't understand record keeping as like a CONCEPT

[ahotknife]

the thing is that childhood doesn't just end when you turn 18 or when you turn 21. it's going to end dozens of times over. your childhood pet will die. actors you loved in movies you watched as a kid will die. your grandparents will die, and then your parents will die. it's going to end dozens and dozens of times and all you can do is let it. all you can do is stand in the middle of the grocery store and stare at freezers full of microwave pizza because you've suddenly been seized by the memory of what it felt like to have a pizza party on the last day of school before summer break. which is another ending in and of itself

[pkaykim]

Valentines gift for my girlfriend

Please don’t repost on other platforms!

[bixels]

As gen-AI becomes more normalized (Chappell Roan encouraging it, grifters on the rise, young artists using it), I wanna express how I will never turn to it because it fundamentally bores me to my core. There is no reason for me to want to use gen-AI because I will never want to give up my autonomy in creating art. I never want to become reliant on an inhuman object for expression, least of all if that object is created and controlled by tech companies. I draw not because I want a drawing but because I love the process of drawing. So even in a future where everyone’s accepted it, I’m never gonna sway on this.

[curiosity-killed]

There are truly very few forces in the world as strong as the inertia of staying up way too late doing fuckall

[inkskinned]

i love you vaccines i love you research i love you reading the book instead of having chatgpt summarize it i love you critically thinking rather than reacting to a headline i love you investigating the source material i love you science i love you math even though you are personally my enemy (math/yn slowburn) i love you writing even though you try to stab me a lot i love you Experts in Your Field i love you Using The Brain

[great-and-small]

The majority of the Earth’s rodents: How do you survive environments with practically zero oxygen, feel no pain, and live for decades when none of the rest of us can???

Naked mole-rats:

[canidbutch]

fuck it, i'm curious. reblog and tag with the first fictional death to ever rewrite your brain chemistry and/or make you cry like a baby. mine was ares from the underland chronicles (who, for context, was a giant bat.) to this day i will weep if i think too hard about it. okay, go.

[shrubsparrow]

It's in the eye of the beholder

[mochasucculent]

Dumb thing that would not leave my brain

[everythingwasnormalhere]

pls rb if you think cuddling doesn't have to be s3xual

im tryna prove a point to my bf's mother help me out

[tawnysoup]

Finally now that the comic is fully public on comicfury, I get to share it with all of you here, too <3

If you enjoyed, please consider supporting by buying a PDF of the comic on itch.io: https://tawnysoup.itch.io/home-in-the-woods