#Ration Challenge

[retrofuturistics]

This was a lesson in restraint, creativity, compassion and even ecology. I did this over the summer and only typed up the first two days so last month I managed to type up the rest of the challenge.

I am not a writer, I am not a historian but I am trying. 💕

[m1nts]

Soup king

[aq2003]

benedick challenging claudio to a duel, 2011 version vs the 2001 radio play version

[tswwwit]

i have a counter argument to the 'only one person can boop bill' thing, mabel. she's the type of person to slap stickers on people, she would definitely be the type to also boop others occasionally and bill would be no exception. she probably doesn't do it to annoy bill like dipper would, but maybe as a form of a friendly gesture, kind of like those people who will lightly punch friends in the arm when they hang out.

You know what? Good point. Mabel would get away with more than most, as a fun-loving lady! Bill understands those impulses, and being a touchy person! He indulges in similar ones himself.

Though when Bill's not in the mood to be playful and gets booped anyway? The 'sister-in-law' status grants her considerable grace.

[grimm-haven]

And they're engaged!

Beginning of Lemon Gen // Previous // Next

[alphinias]

How ironic that in a clear effort to be more feminist they completely watered down katara’s character.

She’s meant to be bossy and short tempered and smothering and annoying and traditionally feminine and trying to mother everyone! Women are allowed to be all that and also caring and strong. Her strong connection with Aang was practically nonexistent until the very end (with a couple exceptions), and where was all the physical affection Katara has always given?

They totally sucked the passion out of her and I think that’s really sad to see that in such a well developed female character.

[tiddiesoutwhenthetisout]

not me curling my laptop charger wire the way you curl band equipment cords HAHAHA god i miss it

[philosophybitmaps]

[zincbot]

wish they made more games for people who's favourite part of botw and totk is the climbing

[puppetmaster13u]

Day 8: Jester

[constelationprize]

My interest is piqued (as always). PLEASE tell us about rational creatures

ration creatures is the Kevin/Jean/Thea werewolf au! I got the idea for that after Nora's post about their Nest dynamics (and before TSC told me how old Jean actually was during that, so Im currently torn between aging all of them up or just him. Im probably going to go with the 25/21/19 ladder we currently have because I think it will jive with my ideas.)

I am a person who has read way too many paranormal romance and I have OPINIONS about werewolf pack dynamics. And one day I might make that YOUR problem! Exciting.

I won't lie to you, this is one of the most bare bones WIPs I have right now, but the basic premise goes as this: turned wolf Thea has been fighting to climb the Raven pack ranks for years, and when she finally thinks she earned herself a position in command, she is instead offered a marriage to the next second-in-command of the pack, and by offered I mean it's an order to try and get her to shut up. As far as Kevin's life goes, he's sure there could have been worse developments, but it's hard to woo your future wife when you only know how to flirt by bitching (which is also what you do when you're not flirting) and also suspect your adoptive brother that's completely normal about you might kill himself her and you if this engagement thing starts going too well. Jean literally wanted nothing more than having nothing to do with this mess and to mind his own business, but unfortunately he is in love with Kevin Day and incapable of denying him anything, so he lands himself as a carrier pigeon and oh no Thea's hot and smart and she starts teaching him how to fight. Oh no.

Like any good paranormal romance it's way over-the-top and melodramatic. It's gonna out my KU history so hard

[enden-k]

ngl i kinda missed doing this, havent done these since childe and my thoughts and analysis of him and his childhood trauma/his past and how it changed/affects him now 😭

[shrikebrother]

the fact there are a few ppl on twitter who have a seething hatred for mike faist is so funny to me . guy doesnt even have any social media . shows up once in a blue moon outside of movies & like mandatory press events or interviews . theyre just screaming at nothing

[starsonmarsy]

bpd irrationality and paranoia does not mix with being high

[delucadarling]

May Writing Challenge - Day 8

I ended up cutting myself off in the middle of a fun bit, just so I'd have more motivation to write again tomorrow.

[blackjackkent]

Like so many others before him, W'wargaz and all his training is still nothing before the dark urge. Rakha gives herself up to the anger that has been bubbling within her ever since they entered the creche, ever since the zaith'isk's cleansing turned out to be a convenient lie. She destroys the githyanki inquisitor and leaves him a smoking heap on the floor.

We will leave this place now. Halsin was right after all. We will traverse the Underdark and go to Moonrise Towers. We will find the heart of the cult and we will tear a cure out of their skulls.

But before she can speak - before she can even clear her mind of the slowly fading bloodlust... a new voice speaks, from the empty plinth that stands in the center of the room.

"Inquisitor W'wargaz was potent," it intones - a deep contralto, booming like thunder. "We are impressed."

The room flares suddenly with intense light like a supernova, then slowly coalesces into the enormous image of a githyanki woman clothed in armor and a silver crown. Her face is pale and alien and Rakha recognizes it - the image from the painting outside the ghustil's chambers.

Vlaakith.

Lae'zel's eyes go wide. Her sword falls to her side and she drops to her knees, trembling. "My Queen..." she whispers shakily. "Shkath zai!"

"You are permitted to look upon me," the githyanki queen says coldly. Her eyes narrow at Rakha. "You are invited to kneel."

"The Deathless Queen has spoken," Lae'zel hisses. "You will obey."

Rakha does not move, but stares up at the god-queen's image appraisingly. Once again, she finds herself wondering about the past that she has no memory of. Was there once a god she looked at with such reverence? A force for whom she would have fallen on her knees as Lae'zel does?

She finds it hard to fathom. This goddess speaks with a voice that can be heard, a face that can be seen. Rakha owes her no more respect than she owed the thunderous tones of the Absolute in her head.

After all, it was in Vlaakith's name that the ghustil almost killed Lae'zel - almost killed them all.

Stay standing, exactly as you are.

Vlaakith's image scowls. "I expected little of istik education," she snarls. "But here we kneel before our Queen!"

The image moves, shifting past Rakha and focusing on Lae'zel behind her. Vlaakith lowers herself slowly until her enormous face is directly in front of Lae'zel's.

"Your choice of allies is most vexing," she says. Her voice still booms like thunder, even though it is lowered. "They do not become you - Lae'zel."

Rakha can see Lae'zel's olive skin go pale. Her eyes, impossibly, seem to widen further.

"Ch'mar zal'a Vlaakith..." she whispers. Rakha has never heard her voice so shaky. "You know me."

(A/N: God, look at her FACE. Poor Lae'zel. :( :( :( She's so fucking young and is being faced with the upheaval of everything she's ever known and she already knows, deep down, where it's going... but Vlaakith herself is speaking to her and how can she not listen, even after everything...)

"Urlon of K'liir speaks most highly," Vlaakith says gravely. "As did Al'chaia before him." She draws back and looks the group over coldly. "You seek purity. I may yet grant it."

She turns her attention back to Rakha, who has not moved a muscle since the conversation began.

"Istik," she growls. "You bear that which is ours. But are you friend, or are you thief?"

The flat truth of the matter is that she is neither. She did not take the artifact from the githyanki - but nor is she a friend here. W'wargaz may be dead but the danger lingers.

Vlaakith is lying. I may yet grant purity, she says. But Lae'zel made it clear this was supposed to be a protocol, something granted by default. And who is to say Vlaakith's purity is any different from that the zaith'isk offered - an agonizing death?

"Neither," she says bluntly. "It is mine by rights." Not strictly true - but as true as Vlaakith's words, at least. More so, really, for the artifact returned to her deliberately, when she tried to give it away.

"No!" Vlaakith roars, straightening abruptly. The room's temperature seems to drop several degrees. "It is not yours. To own something is to know it! That weapon you carry - the Astral Prism - it is corrupted."

"I will cleanse it for you, my queen!" Lae'zel cries eagerly. "Tell me how!"

Vlaakith lifts a hand. Pale light sprouts between her fingers - an image of the Prism rotating slowly over her palm. "There is someone inside," she says. "Their mind is warped, broken - a blight. They are an agent of the Grand Design, sent to sabotage the Astral Prism - our last defense against the return of the Illithid Empire. As long as they live, the Prism is corrupted."

She snaps her palm closed around the image, shattering it apart. "KILL THEM!" she thunders. "Do this, and I will cleanse you and your allies. Do this - and ascend!"

Lae'zel has begun to tremble all over, the whites of her eyes showing on all sides. "Ascension?" she murmurs. "My queen... an honor gained, a burden borne..."

Then she hesitates. Her eyes flick to Rakha... and her gaze clears, just slightly. She remembers her words only a few minutes earlier. Your path is mine to follow...

"Choose," she says hoarsely. "But know this - the cost of refusal is great."

"Not merely great, Lae'zel," the goddess says icily. "Eternal."

Rakha says nothing for a long moment. It is difficult to parse out what is happening here, what bits of this are truth and which are falsehood.

Vlaakith is describing the guardian, certainly - but the guardian has shown no signs of corruption. The guardian has protected them. The guardian has calmed both the worm and the beast in Rakha's mind. Meanwhile, Vlaakith's people have tried to destroy them.

Frustratingly, she finds her concern keeps coming back to Lae'zel. She should be - she is - angry with the young githyanki for bringing them here in the first place. Why is she still concerned for Lae'zel's well-being?

It would be easier if she could simply turn the beast loose, carve their way out of this place and leave it behind. But she is still bound to Lae'zel, whether she likes it or not.

"I can't do that," she finally says slowly. "The person inside protects me from the Absolute."

"YOU ARE BEING LIED TO!" Vlaakith roars, seeming to swell to even greater size. "I WILL BE OBEYED!"

"Tsk'va!" Lae'zel cries out. "Do not defy my queen!"

And there's something new in her voice now. Not the eager obeisance, and not her normal cool confidence either. Something else.

Fear.

Lae'zel is terrified.

Again Rakha hesitates. Her fists curl at her sides. Her eyes flick to Wyll on her other side, uncertain, questioning. But he just shrugs. He doesn't know what to do either. They are trapped - as they have been from the moment they entered the creche.

Rakha draws a slow breath, lets it out between her teeth. Fine. "Yes," she says evenly. "I will enter the Prism and kill the occupant."

She has no such intention. But Lae'zel is on the edge of panic. And if they can enter the Prism, if they can speak to the guardian... she will have another moment of peace, of her mind clearing, another moment of safety, and perhaps the path will become clearer. Perhaps the guardian will know what to do...

Perhaps she will finally have answers, at this moment of crisis.

She can see Lae'zel relax slightly, and Vlaakith smiles harshly.

"Use the planecaster's power to enter the artifact," the queen instructs. "Be wary of the creature's lying tongue. Cut it out if you must. You will not leave this room until it is done."

"Ba na'zin," Lae'zel agrees. Her voice is suddenly tight with control again, her eyes narrowed. "Our each step with purpose. Vlaakith has spoken - do not leave this room except to enter the Prism. Turn your back on me, and you will feel my blade against it."

Rakha looks back at her steadily. You threaten me again. But do you mean it?

It is tempting to simply go, to find out for certain whether Lae'zel's words have bite as well as bark. But... no. They will enter the Prism. And one way or another... she will find the answers she needs, and then she will act.