#bottomless-pit-dweller

[nopanamaman]

What’s up with the City?

Loredump. September 2023

What do we really know about the City the characters inhabit? Aside from it being located right next to the Zone, not much. And to be fair, the song series format doesn’t leave a lot of room for exploration.

But it’s an interesting place in its own right. Today we’ll learn a little bit about its history, life, and how being right next to the strangest area of the planet has affected the lives of its 400,000 inhabitants. Let’s dive right in.

View of the City’s edge in winter. Unexciting.

Where is the City located?

The City has no concrete location: it can be placed on almost any territory within Russia, Belarus, or Ukraine. Despite a lot of the realia and places within it being drawn from my own lifetime in Minsk, it’s not meant to represent it specifically.

The City is part of a larger totalitarian state. Housing hundreds of thousands of citizens, it used to be the largest settlement in the vicinity of ЦКР-5 (TsKR-5), a closed town declassified after its own destruction and the emergence of the Zone.

Closed city TsKR-5. In reality, the military town Knyaze-Volkonskoye

Who lives in the City?

The City is mostly inhabited by people of various slavic nationalities. The main spoken language is Russian, though there are folks who know and communicate in other slavic languages. The government treats those who do so with suspicion, so it’s not common practice.

Smoke above the City. In reality, Nekrasovka, Moscow

The majority of people living on the periphery of the town are employed in factories. A significant industrial centre before the Zone’s emergence, it remains a stable producer of vehicles, electronics, and environmental waste.

However, the proximity to the Zone and the massive research centre have attracted a lot of scientific talent and entrepreneurs to the place. The latter usually choose banditism or smuggling as their business model. Unsurprisingly, the crime rate is high.

Most of the population, adult and child alike, has had some contact with gangs. It’s not uncommon for kids to actively want to go into banditism, as it’s seen as one of the few avenues for achieving some sort of financial stability.

How is the City affected by anomalies?

The City is no stranger to bizarre meteorological, metaphysical, and otherwise logic-defying events. One day it can rain tar. Another day the air will smell a little sweet. Another day a dead pet will rise from its grave. Another day a street will distort, then go back to normal. Another day everyone born on May 11th will cough up ammonia.

Sky anomaly. In reality, a mirage above Jiangxi

There are at least a dozen anomalous events every year. It’s generally believed they occur because of precipitation, affected particles and/or artefacts travelling outside of the Zone, as well as City dwellers unknowingly ingesting anomalous particles into their bodies.

Few environmental anomalies outside the Zone are permanent or dangerous, but some do require containment. On paper, public access to any life-threatening anomaly needs to be cut off as soon as it becomes known. In practice, places deemed dangerous often get little more than a police ribbon and a couple of warning signs around them.

What are some restricted anomalous areas within the City?

The Lazurny (Azure) Pool

The most notable one in the context of PAFL itself is the pool KT inhabited during her two weeks on the run. Abandoned, but neither guarded nor fenced off, the building had all its entrances and windows welded shut and left at that.

Mosaic by the main pool

The reason for its closure was the main pool’s basin becoming what one could only call a bottomless pit. Its water cannot be drained or pumped out, and everything alive entering it disappears underneath, never to be seen again. Only pieces of plywood, garbage, sports and research equipment now float atop the surface.

The Anomalous Forest

As far as less relevant places are concerned, the workshop Ivan and Arthur work at overlooks a large restricted area just on the edge of town. It’s part of a bigger forest that fell victim to the local wind rose: a lot of clouds coming from the Zone have rained various suspicious liquids on it.

As a result, the treeline became ridiculously uneven, with some parts looking lush with greenery, some being inappropriately naked, some standing pale and sickly, and some even emanating a faint glow come nightfall. There is little official information about the dangers of local flora and fauna, but more than enough urban legends. Though, most seem to agree that eating anything from the pale zone results in awful diarrhoea.

Affected trees. In reality, the Drunken Forest in the Curonian Spit

A popular theory for why such areas are never cleared or properly restricted (aside from money pocketing) is that the facility uses them for resources.

For instance, a pine tree whose needles cause people to develop tumours can be a valuable asset for various research, medical or otherwise. Or take a small stretch of an impossibly warped landscape – that one can be a great place to test the physical attributes of anomalous objects. Would be a waste to make those things nearly impossible to access, no?

What about the artefact trade?

As was stated multiple times before, unregistered possession of anomalous artefacts is strictly against the law. The only exceptions are the anomalous souvenirs produced and sold in the Facility and shops around the city (small floating toys, balls of glowsmoke, standing needles).

Sorting of artefacts (batteries) in False Disposition

Actual artefacts are acquired and sold illegally by stalkers. They are usually traded to either gangs, police, or government officials who, in turn, resell them to faraway regions or abroad, where they go for an even higher price.

This is a large part of why crime continues to flourish in the City: the underground trade is simply too profitable for everyone involved, including those who are supposed to fight against it.

Where do the main characters live?

All of our main characters live on the edge of town, in an area that’s relatively close to the Facility located just outside of the City. The rough map of the main locations would look something like this:

Approximate map of the area. Apartment blocks sure look crazy from above

Yura and Sanya live about 15 minutes away from each other with Sanya’s house, in turn, being a 10-15 minute walk away from the Molodzyozhny club. Following the road South from Molodzyozhny will lead you to the orphanage, Ivan’s house, and his dad’s workshop overlooking the anomalous forest.

Following the same road North will have you pass by Nikita’s house and eventually lead to Olya’s – though, she lives relatively far, being around 35 minutes away from Sanya’s place by foot. Yana lives even farther, in the city centre way to the West.

Going to the East will lead you to a more forested area. That’s where the abandoned Lazurny pool is located. It’s also where buses and railroads travel through to get to the Facility located right on the border of the City and the Zone.

The estacade in False Disposition

The estacade where Sanya catches up with Yura in False Disposition and, subsequently, the meeting spot with Olya and Nikita are also located off the little map (sorry): they're to the East of the orphanage, next to the train tracks.

The road to both the Facility and the Zone has plenty of buildings on the way (industrial and otherwise), but getting to the border checkpoint by foot from, say, Yura’s house would take at least an hour and a half. It’s not somewhere you wander to by accident.

[queersrus]

haiii !!! if possible can i get either dragon based or cryptic/void/liminal based titles? stuff like 'the coiling one' 'the fire breather' and 'he who stares back' 'the one who lies beyond' as some examples. pls n thank u !!!

heres a bunch with all the different themes! if you need more let me know!

sorry for the late response /g

Dragon Titles:

the scaled/scaley one, the hoarder, the mighty dragon, the dragon, re red dragon, the fire breather, the one who breaths fire, the dragon of myth, the dragon of lore, the gold keeper, the gold hoarder, the fierce beast, the fierce dragon, the prideful dragon, the greedy dragon, the cunning dragon, the one who roars, the dragon ruler, the dragon warrior, the slayer of dragons, the dragon slayer, the dragon rider, the dragon tamer

(prn) who soars, (prn) who hoards, (prn) who roars, (prn) who breaths fire

dragon slayer (name), dragon ruler/lord (name)

Cryptic Titles:

the cryptic one, the mysterious one, the one of obscurity, the one from obscurity, the obscure one, the unknown, the one who is unknown, the one who waits, the one who awaits, the who one waits below, the one in shade, the one in shadows, the one in the dark, the hidden one, the hidden message, the hidden messenger, the mystery man/person/woman+, the mystery maker, the ambiguous, the enigma, the enigmatic, the equivocal, the vague

(prn) who is vague, (prn) who is unclear, (prn) who speaks in riddles, (prn) who speaks in code, (prn) who is hidden, (prn) who waits in the dark, (prn) who is mysterious, (prn) who is full of mystery, (prn) who waits

Void Titles:

the empty, the void, the voided, the bottomless, the endless, the ever expanding, the ever expansive, the one in the void, the one from the void, the void that stares, the void that stares back, the endless void, the entity of the void, the dark void, the black void, the vacant, the null, the nullified, the revoked, the blank, the gap, the space, the spacious, the vacuum, the lacuna, the hole, the cavity, the chasim, the abyss, the gulf, the gorge, the pit, the one of nothingness, the one of emptiness, the nullity, the vacancy, the oblivion

(prn) of the void, (prn) who is null, (prn) who is null and void, (prn) of oblivion, (prn) who is vacant, (prn) of emptiness, (prn) who is empty, (prn) of nothingness, (prn) who comes from the abyss, (prn) who comes from the vacuum of space, (prn) who has been revoked, (prn) who revoked, (prn) who never ends, (prn) who stares from the void

void dweller (name), void explorer (name)

Liminal Titles:

the liminal being, the abandoned space, the abandoned one, the eerie creature, the liminal space, the dweller of liminal space(s), the creature from liminal space, the backrooms, the thing in the backrooms

(prn) who roams, (prn) who roams liminal space(s), (prn) who wanders, (prn) who wanders the liminal space, (prn) who i trapped in uncanny nostalgia, (prn) who clipped, (prn) who fell into the backrooms

[dcladies-secretsanta]

Bats In The Belfry

TO: @bottomless-pit-dweller

FROM: Your Secret Santa 

"Who are you?" A quiet voice asks hours later, Steph drenched in sweat and fists wrapped but still aching something awful. If she weren't a bat she wold have jumped; she was a bit caught up in her head, didn't even hear the girl come in. She couldn't be Batman.

"I'm the new Batman." She answers with a resigned sigh, turning to face the girl.

"Hey Steph, can you do me a Solid?" Tim's voice started when she picked up the phone, and she groaned in frustration because that voice was the 'I'm going to ask you do do something you don't want to do' voice, but it was Tim, so it was also the 'You'll do it anyway' voice, and she just wanted A Day Off.

"What's up, Tim?" She sighed, and got gratification from the 'ah' that always accompanied that uncomfortable-guilty cringe he did. Good. If she had to deal with his bullshit, then he probably deserves the discomfort.

"So. Don't hang up-" he says, and, if Steph was stupid enough to believe Tim hadn't done something to remotely disable the Hang Up button on her phone, she definitely would have. Heck, she kinda wanted to try anyway, and he hadn't even said anything yet. "But.Um. So."

"Get to the point, Tim." Steph gritted out, and Tim heaved a sigh of his own.

"So. Dick's off planet with Duke and Babs for some peace talk." He started and yes, she already knew this, and he was clearly and blatantly stalling for time, and she didn't want to deal with this bullshit.

"Yes, Tim. I was there when Ol' Batty went over the plan. You're Batman- sorry for your luck-, Damian's Robin and training that girl from his school- that's honestly kinda cute- and Cass is flying back in to fill in for Nightwing. Cullen gets to try his spot at Oracle. Harper stays Batgirl, I stay awesome, Jason stays Redhood, and Bruce stays in bed on Alfred's orders. Seriously, Get To The Point or I'll just drop the phone and leave." she threatens, and Tim is silent long enough that she almost starts celebrating a rare bullet dodged, because whatever he's trying to ask is not gonna be good. But, Alas-

"Damian snuck onto the ship with the others. And Zeta beams as well as Communications were quickly disabled." Tim doesn't know how to blink first. Figures. She mutters a curse as she figures something else out, fingers turning white in her grip of the phone, because-

"They left a week ago, Tim. Ever think that maybe this is information you're supposed to share with the class?" She nearly growled, because she loved Tim, but he's also the absolute worst sometimes.

"I didn't want to worry anyone! We can't really do anything about it besides hope everything's fine and try to fix it from our end, and The Leauge is already working on that. I've been training Olive, and it's been a quiet week. I didn't need a Robin." He defends himself, and there's a bit to unpack and talk about there, because he must be woried out of his mind and it's bullshit that he didn't tell any of them, but there are more pressing matters.

"I'm sensing a 'But' here." she says hesitantly, reminded of Pandora and her Box.

"But," he obliges, "I'm a little...Shot, right now. Ok. Maybe a lot shot. I'm on bed rest for the foreseeable future. Bart dragged me to Titans Tower because Alfred's so busy with Bruce. I had to blackmail them into letting me have this call instead of passing out." He admits reluctantly and yeah, now that she's listening for it instead of just being angry at him for talking, she can hear his breathing and he's talking a little slow, which is the Bat Equivalent of slurring your words.

"What the hell Tim." she groans, feeling a headache start to form.  "Seriously, spit it out. What do you want? What is this about?" She asked, anger masking worry.

"You are my last hope." he starts, and that's not good. "I swear Steph, I wouldn't ask if you weren't. I need you to be Batman."

Steph is silent. She freezes. she's clenching one fist hard enough to draw blood with her nails, and the other hard enough to crack the phone in half if it wasn't a BatPhone designed to keep sturdier then a fucking Nokia. It makes sense, given ho angry people get when talking to Bruce. After the seventh that broke being thrown against a wall and the 12 that was snapped in half and the 3rd ground into bits under someone's heel, they went through some revisions.

"Please Steph. I'll delete that blackmail from Star City, you know the one. I'll give you eternal access to whatever you want. I'll dress in drag and do the Hula. I'm actually begging here. Harper can't be Batman. Jason *laughed* at me when I asked. Cass is dead set on Nightwing, something about a bet. Kate doesn't have time to be Batwoman right now, let alone Batman. No one can get a hold of Azreal. Jim's too old, even with the mech suit. You're the only option." He rants and wow, either pain or drugs is really getting to him because he sounds almost hysteric.

"Fuck you." she snarls. "Fuck you sideways. Fuck Everyone in this god forsaken family. Fuck Damian in particular, little brat. Fuck you." She spits, because she;s a fighter and this is the best she can do. "Seriously. Fuck You. My revenge will be slow and painful, and you owe me so many things, and I'm dying the BatSuit purple out of spite. All of them. Except Cass's, because I love her. Once you heal, I'm kicking your ass." She grumbles and promises and goes on, but it all boils down to her reluctant defeat.

"Thanks Steph, yes I know I suck, you're the best, Goddess amoung Mortals, yes I know you hate me, sorry steph-" Tim indulges her rant because he's a good friend and a smart guy like that, and she only stops when he actually starts slurring words.

"Go The Fuck To Sleep, Boy Wonder." She growls and he hums a good bye and hangs up. She almost buries her head in her knees and pities herself, but instead goes to the BatCave and works through her anger with a good old fashioned punching bag.

Fuck This.

READ ON AO3

[calder]

everyone hates the fallout 2 tutorial but im lowkey fucking obsessed with the idea that nondescript vault dwellers left on the surface for a few generations would start building full-on indiana jones temples with dart traps and scorpions and bottomless pits and giant stone faces and shit

[miqojak]

Wish

(( In which @ketsuchikotetsu​ inspired a bevy of emotions Jak doesn’t really know how to process, so of course she handled it in the weirdest/kind of endearing way possible.))

His words sting - though, perhaps, not for the reasons he wants them to - I’ve touched a wound, and it’s only natural that he’d snarl and snap. I don’t know, really, how the topic came about, but we end up here, again. The way he speaks of himself hurts me, though - it’s like a gut-punch that takes my breath away. He’d rather forgo any attempt at happiness, and moving forward, and just...stagnate until death claims him. He’d rather sit and punish himself for matters long since beyond his control, than even attempt a single step forward, at risk of having it all stripped away yet again.

It hurts me...and yet, who knows that feeling better than I do?

It’s not as though I don’t know the taste of his grief; I may never have held a lover as close as he held his late wife - after all, it’s not like I’ve had that many - but I lost all of my immediate family, save one, at the hands of the Garleans. Slowly, and painfully, at that. I know what it is to spend every single day punishing yourself; I know what it is to beg death to take you next; to demand of the world to know why you lived, and not them; to devote yourself to your family...and have absolutely nothing left to show for it in the end as they’re ripped away from you.

But I also know that...he helped me drag my head above water, and see that there’s more than just pain...if I let myself do so. The twisted irony of it is coming to care for the man who won’t let me care for him - who refuses to live, in the shadow of death.

We have to try, don’t we? To live, because the others didn’t get to.

He leaves me reeling - working hard to steady my breath, with an oncoming headache from the slammed door, and withheld grief that stings my eyes. I’m not much better off emotionally, than he is. I’m just...afraid of wasting a life that I feel like I only have at the expense of others. If they died, and I lived, I have the responsibility to do something with it, right?

I don’t know what to do with myself, and my chest hurts - I’m angry. I’m mad at him, for refusing to take even the first step. I’m mad at her, for leaving him - strange as it may sound, for one who’s grown to care for him as much as I have. I’m mad at me, for not knowing what to do for him; at the sheep, who sleep soundly in their pens knowing nothing of the grief that the two of us wrestle with every moment of every day.

I find myself on the doorstep of a flower shop, in the Lavender Beds - it’s what he and his wife had planned on, right? Settling down into something like this, before that flame of hers flickered out too soon. I don’t know...why, but I just...it seemed right. I don’t even know her name, but I don’t need to, really. She meant everything to him, and still does - and the genuine sorrow writ on his features when he speaks of her death...

I don’t know what to do with this grief...for me, or for him. So I fumble around the shop, feeling more the fool with every second that passes...I hate flowers, really. They’ve never been my thing - beautiful for a heartbeat, but they’re wilted and dead before a day is out.

It’s not really about me, right now, though.

I’m a bit overwhelmed - by the colors, the smells, and the variety of flowers in all shapes and sizes. The Lalafell that runs the shop asks if I need any help, and I stare down at her blankly - the silence stretching on a bit too long, and I begin to feel more and more as though I don’t belong here. I feel like this little woman can tell I don’t belong in this place, like an ugly, red blemish. I can likewise tell that this compulsory grief won’t give me long, so I mutter something vague and tell her it’s fine - I’ll take these purple ones here, and it’s okay, I can get them myself. It’s a spur of the moment decision...but purple seems right. It’s his color, after all. She’d probably appreciate that...but who knows? It’s the thought, right? I hurriedly pay the little woman, red in the face the whole while, and carry the bouquet from the shop as if it were an infant - carefully, gently...awkwardly, as if I might crush it if I’m not hyper-aware of its existence in my grip.

It takes some time to find a suitable spot - the moon high overhead before I settle in beneath half a towering, over-turned log. It’s heavy, grief. Heavy enough that even my paranoia, and fear of the forest, is forgotten, this night. 

“I was going to go to the burial mounds, but...that seems too...clean. Too boring for you or me.” I feel small, here - with the night sky full of diamonds, stretching on forever, alongside towering trees that would make even a Roe feel like an ant. I feel a bit silly, talking to no one, but from what he’s told me...and from what I’ve gathered from her decor left behind in his home...she’d have liked it around here. It’s peaceful - even a desert-dweller like me can admit to a serenity that steals over you in the night’s chorus of insects, burbling of water, and the general ambient sounds a forest makes as parts of it fall asleep, and other parts only just begin to awaken.

“I don’t really know what to do for him...or me, if I’m honest. It’s hard to argue with him, and tell him he’s wrong for not wanting to have such a hurt again; for refusing to budge from the bottom of such a deep well of grief. How can I, who’s not even out of the same seemingly bottomless pit, hope to shine a light in darkness that feels like it goes on forever? He helped me up, but won’t take a hand up, himself, so what is there to do?”

No response comes, save for the far away crack of wood, as the forest settles in for the night.

“I miss my mother’s strength, and my father’s wisdom. I miss my sisters’ laughter. I miss racing across the desert sands, and laughing in the heat of a bonfire.” It’s a crushing weight, and one that bows my back even here. I drop my head into my hand, as its twin continues to cradle those purple and white blossoms, “I suppose his grief has become mine, as well, by virtue of proximity and affection alike. I hate that he hurts for you. I hate that you’ve left him so hollow. I love that he smiles, however, when he speaks of you, at times...I just wish that...” My visions blurs, but I turn my eyes to the stars anyways, and the twisting nebulas that paint the dark canvas of the sky. Wishes are for fools, just as much as flowers are.

“I wish that he cared about himself even a fraction of as much as either of us have, and do. I wish he smiled - for real - more often.” I shift those flowers in my lap, and trace the pad of a finger over the velvet of one of those indigo petals. “I don’t know if it’s true, that some piece of us lingers on, in the lifestream, semi-aware of the world - but if so, I find that I hope it doesn’t hurt you, to see him so, as it does me. I find that I...admire the specter of you, as much as I resent that he seems to cut himself on the memory of you. The way he speaks of you, I almost wish I’d known you, even.” 

For a time, I simply watch that little purple flower spin and drift away, before it’s lost behind a rock, tugged towards that bottleneck that will carry it into the heart of the forest, “I don’t expect him to stop hurting, or stop thinking of you. I just wish he could learn to live with that grief, and accept that he’s allowed to be happy. Honestly, I’m working on that too, even if I don’t really know how to be happy. But there’s something like it, with him.”

I slide off the mossy stone, pluck a purple flower from the bouquet, and leave the rest of them atop the rock on which I perched; I then take that flower, and squat next to the nearby pool that leads back, and away, into another creek that joins yet another river - there’s something to it that makes me think of the lifestream, and the souls adrift in it. “I’m trying, I suppose, to take care of him, in my way. But he’s stubborn...and I’m pretty bad at it, honestly - I feel I failed my family the same way he feels he failed you. Realistically, I know neither of us are failures - life is simply chaotic, and beyond our control. Death is a force beyond any of us. By his own logic, we both waste time in blaming ourselves for things long past that were never within our control to begin with...but it stands that no matter how hard I’ve tried, no matter how much I’ve loved...it’s never enough, really. I fail, and I fail, and I fail. The people around me that I’ve held close either die, or leave of their own volition.”

I let myself enjoy the little flower’s scent briefly, before I set it adrift, to be gently pulled back, and away, where it will join with the rest of this forest’s lifeblood. “I think...I think I love him, - ” It gives me goosebumps, to say it out loud...and just the twinge of a bellyache, “ - and I hope that’s okay with you, at least. I don’t think either of us want to look it in the eye, but it doesn’t change anything. I won’t let him die, though, if it’s within my power to prevent as much. I guess I’ll promise you that much. He’d probably hate me, if I gave my life for his, whether or not he actually gives a shit about me. But I’ll protect him, hm?” I dust myself off, and re-claim my legs, “As much as a man like him needs protecting, anyways. He’d scoff at me, for that one...but no one is immortal.” 

When I look at the stars, it’s my family I think of - how these are the same stars we looked upon years ago, in a desert far, far from here; how these stars existed then, and now, and will continue to wink down at the Spoken long after I’m gone.

No matter how many calamities, this star of our own keeps spinning - so why can’t we?

“I’d bend the laws of magic - the laws of life and death itself - if it’d light his own fire again...but I’ll have to settle for what these little hands can do on their own, I’m afraid.” I look at them, for a quiet moment - hands that have stitched wounds, torn out throats, and traced his every scar. They’re capable of much...but perhaps they’ve met their match, in one just as hard-headed, and broken as I am.

It’s never stopped me before, though - I’ll simply have to keep trying.

[ultimatemusicians]

to be swallowed up in this way,

in the abyss is not simply to collide or to lose one’s shape. it is, rather, to be lost, to fall—to collapse. it is to disappear into a bottomless pit and into impenetrable water from which nothing can retrieve us. to go down there—”sescent into the mael-strom,” or descent into the abyss—means that one will not draw back or, at the very least, that there will be no quick exit. there is in humankind, as also in the world, something dark that can hold onto us, weather we call it Chaos, tohu-bohu, or the “bottomless.” it makes of us more than we know. it makes us lose our way...

THE WEDDING FEAST OF THE LAMB: EROS, THE BODY, AND THE EUCHARIST BY EMMANUEL FALQUE

|      gentility is verbose and makes a jester the wiser— or so,     she thinks.

to the world, speaking and feeling your authenticity deranges you. to be playful is synonymous with naivete and to be foolish condemns you to the title of imbecile.                                                                                                but the truth is     :     life makes fools of us all. who could ever believe that a lifetime is long enough to learn all the lessons that come with an eternity of tomorrows?

life goes on and ingenuity tears the soul asunder, down to a place that robs you of— strange     …      WHAT WAS IT AGAIN ?

                                            H — ?

across the sandy beach, waves crash as the high tide rolls in. strands of hair dance wildly about her face and in the distance, a low hum of static reverberates.

RESTLESS! it’s been days since she’s managed to get a full night’s sleep. even in slumber peace remains unreachable. what callousness it is to ignore the call of the tired mind.

          “ 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙸𝙽𝙽𝙾𝙲𝙴𝙽𝚃 𝚂𝙻𝙴𝙴𝙿 𝙸𝚂 𝐃𝐄𝐀𝐃 ! —

                         ᴹᵁᴿᴰᴱᴿ SHE CRIES ! ”

&.   when she wakes, the stillness that entombs her room weighs heavy on her heart. it’s not about seeking solace in darkness, in fact, the musician can remember being afraid of it from a very young age— but she’s got a lot more to recollect now.

between the flashbacks and imposter syndrome, magenta eyes glaze over. and what about survivor’s guilt? may she lay claim to it? the mindless gaze makes room for an imaginative mind. a familiar pattern begins to form on the wall      :

a loud voice through a speaker, delivering a sinister message she wished to never hear.

   the iron smell of blood and the heat of flames.

           corpses bound to unspeakable crimes.

                      ticking sounds of a clock.

     killing just to stay alive. voices in the dark.

 a fantom noose that’s ingrained into her skin…

            “ [ … ] out, out— brief candle ! ”

if ghosts are night-dwellers, then what is she? full of trepidation, a tight ball continues to bloom in her chest. it’s a fair question— but it does have a rather unfortunate answer.    𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐀𝐍𝐓   /   ˈrevənənt (noun)   :  a person who has returned, especially one who is thought to have come back from the dead.

          she can’t remember the limbo.

but would death have been such a terrible fate?

AMONGST THE OPTIONS, SHE REMAINS PARTIAL TO NONE. to have died and finally be free of the pain and disease that was holding her hostage. or to live carrying the memories of your soul being ripped out from under the skin you worked so hard to finally find a home in. what reprieve could come from the loss of a friend or the recollection of becoming a monster?

her arms relinquish their position around her knees while she swaps the view of an expansive ocean for an endless sky. grains of coarse sand are cool against her back, at this hour the warmth given to them by the sun is long lost  …  a slender finger rises to connect stars as if they were dots. in all that vastness there were shimmers. each one armoured with an aura of individual brilliance, an army to fight back against the gloom. ibuki wonders what they would have to say if they could speak. what would their songs sound like? when you think about it— space is a graveyard. maybe they would tell the stories of dead friends, who burned too bright to last. they live for billions of years after all, though maybe that’s only a blip in time for them. but they forge onwards, floating all around them are the particles that remind them of what they grieve.

she thinks about how gravitational pull can turn those floating pieces into the rings around planets and stars, like pieces of jewellery they keep close to their hearts. sure, it’s morbid but it’s like a cosmic version of a keepsake. keeping the memory of a friend alive and moving forward. ibuki’s eyes being to pour out from the sides, the drops make their way down her hot cheeks before falling further down her jaw and disappearing into the sand. she continues to count the stars— she loses count several times due to her eye makeup mixing with her tears…

slow to stand, the multi-colored haired musician’s frame is small. now beings the trek home. 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙳𝙴𝚂𝚃𝙸𝙽𝙰𝚃𝙸𝙾𝙽 ? — not to a room and most certainly not to the past. ( ... reader, you may not recognize it just yet but you too, know where. the crawl is familiar on even your own skin ... )

                            it is a lifelong quest  ,

one that’s full of terrifying monstrous peaks and valleys. the journey to find the self. for now memories take the place of a compass, guiding the weary and uncertain traveler. but she’s refused to go at some preordained pace. to live life turbulently is the only viable option. ambiguity, arbitrary, and the capricious are where you lie. to fall is her calling just as much as it is to soar. not with wings, but with

                                                        HOPE.

[cardest]

Melbourne playlist

There is no other city like Melbourne! It sure is a stand out city. I go there at least once a year and always look forward to going back as soon as I left it. But it’s more than just a city. It’s the music from this place that is undeniably awesome.

So I put together a playlist of bands, artists from Melbourne and beyond the city limits. It was one of the more fun playlists I put together and I hope you enjoy it. Maybe there is a song or a band from there I overlooked. Let me know!!

MELBOURNE, Australia

001 Big Pig - Hungry Town 002 King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - Robot Stop 003 Magic Dirt - daddy 004 Models - I Hear Motion 005 Suss Cunts - Temper 006 The Birthday Party - Release the Bats 007 Cosmic Psychos -  The Man Who Drank Too Much 008 Pseudo Echo - Beat For You 009 Amyl and the Sniffers - Some Mutts  (Can't be muzzled) 010 TISM - Greg! The Stop Sign! 011 Abramelin -  Human Abattoir   012 Hunters and Collectors - Say goodbye 013 Damaged  - Nails 014 Weddings Parties Anything - Brunswick 015 Spiderbait - Fucken Awesome 016 Skyhooks - Balwyn Calling 017 Eddy Current Supression Ring - Modern Man 018 Real Life - Send Me An Angel 019 The Eternal - Down 020 The Triffids - Wide Open Road 021 AC/DC - Dog Eat Dog 022 Ne Obliviscaris -  Of The Leper Butterflies 023 Mantissa -  Mary Mary 024 Kids In The Kitchen - Bitter Desire 025 Deströyer 666 - Australian And Anti-Christ 026 The Stroppies - Celebration Day 027 Hobbs' Angel Of Death - Crucifixion 028 HOSS - The Tiredest Man Awake 029 Paul Kelly - Leaps And Bounds 030 Fuck the Fitzroy Doom Scene - Blind Faith 031 Inverloch -  From The Eventide Pool 032 Painters & Dockers - Die Yuppie Die 033 Gay Paris - Ash Wednesday Boudoir Party 034 HIGH TENSION - COLLINGWOOD 035 Dan Sultan - Old Fitzroy 036 Voodoo Lovecats - Killed Her in St. Kilda 037 Jason Donovan - Nothing Can Divide Us 038 I'm Talking - Do You Wanna Be 039 BELAKOR - Roots To Sever 040 Dead Can Dance - A Passage in Time 041 HONEY BUCKET - Patch of Grass 042 Masters Apprentices ? - Melodies Of St. Kilda 043 Cosmic Psychos -  Can't Keep A Good Man Down 044 The Fauves - Sunbury 97 045 Black Bats - Shining Haze 046 Even - The Melbourne Beat Parade 047 King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - Big Fig Wasp 048 Boom Crash Opera  - Onion Skin 049 Tropical Fuck Storm - Lose The Baby 050 AC/DC -  Whole Lotta Rosie 051 Laura Imbruglia  - Tricks 052 Huxton Creepers - Autumn Leaves 053 Kylie Minogue - Got To Be Certain 054 The Black Sorrows - Chained To The Wheel 055 Uncanny X Men Everybody Wants To Work Remastered Audio 056 MACHINATIONS - No Say In It 057 Jackson Reid Briggs & the Heaters  - Seaside 058 Big Pig - I Cant Break Away 059 Kit Convict - Watch Your Skull 060 Cosmic Psychos  - pub 061 King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard -  Gamma Knife 062 Real Life - Catch Me Im Falling 063 Stonefield - Delusion 064 FRANKENBOK - Never To Return 065 Dreadnaught -  The Push 066 Dead Can Dance - Anywhere Out Of The World 067 LITTLE DESERT  -  CAPTIVE 068 The Living End - Roll On 069 ORB - A Man In The Sand 070 Elm Street-Metal Is The Way 071 Parsnip - Health 072 The Berzerker -  Caught In The Crossfire 073 School Damage - Gasbagging 074 Romper Stomper - Pulling On The Boots 075 Men At Work - Who Can It Be Now 076 Harem Scarem - Last Stand Man 077 The Peep Tempel - Mister Lester Moore 078 Mark Seymour - Westgate 079 Primo - You’ve Got a Million 080 Magic Dirt - amoxycillin 081 Ali Barter - Please Stay 082 Boom Crash Opera - City Flat 083 Buried Feather - Mind of the Swarm 084 Mortification - Scrolls of the Megilloth 085 TISM - Fourteen Years in Rowville 086 Pseudo Echo - Listening 087 Wrong Turn - Johnny Collingwood 088 Mondo Rock - Come Said The Boy 089 SUBTERFUGE - Unhinged 090 Split Enz - Message To My Girl 091 King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - People-Vultures 092 The Eternal - All Hope Is Lost 093 Sunbeam Sound Machine - Real Life 094 Superheist - Bullet 095 1927 - Tell Me A Story 096 Chantoozies - Wanna Be Up 097 Bad Boy Bubby OST - Bubbys Song 098 Drown This City - IM NOT DIVIDED 099 Augie March - This Train Will Be Taking No Passengers 100 AC/DC -  It's Long Way To The top 101 Rowland S. Howard - Lifes What You Make It (Talk Talk cover) 102 Crazy Pussy - Drink at the Tote 103 Teeth & Tongue - Dianne 104 Blood Duster - Northcote 105 Taipan Tiger Girls - Motion 106 Paul Kelly - From  St.Kilda to Kings Cross 107 Cemetery Urn -  The Deepest of Graves 108 Grinderman -  Worm Tamer 109 The Masters Apprentices - War or Hands Of Time 110 Magic Dirt - She-Riff 111 Hunters and Collectors - Inside A Fireball 112 Hierophants - Fagg Hopp 113 Lost Animal - Lose the Baby 114 Essendon Airport - No Quarter 115 The Lucksmiths - Tale Of Two Cities 116 TOTAL CONTROL - The Hammer 117 Endless - Lord Deceptor 118 Eddy Current Suppression Ring - Our Quiet Whisper 119 Bits of Shit - Patrol 120 TISM - Mourningtown Ride 121 New War - Emerald dream eyes 122 Hiatus Kaiyote - Breathing Underwater 123 Alien Nose Job - Buffet of Love 124 Tetema - Haunted On The Uptake 125 Uncanny X Men - I Am 126 King - Coldest of Cold 127 Spiderbait - Cracker 128 The Cat Empire - East 129 Ausmuteants - Mates Rates 130 The Living End - All Torn Down 131 The Church -  Destination 132 Skyhooks - Toorak Cowboy 133 Carlton Streets - Brian Brown Quintet 134 Silverlight Shadows - Headspace 133 TISM - I'm Interested in Apathy 134 Dumb Punts - Headfuck 135 SNOG - Business As Usual 136 The Dirty Three - Better go home soon 137 Crowded House - Nails in my feet 138 Rebel Wizard - Voluptuous Worship of Rapture and Response 139 U-Bahn - 'Beta Boyz' 140 Bestial Warlust - Dweller of the Bottomless Pit 141 The Murlocs - Young Blindness 142 CHRISTBAIT - Yeast 143 HTRK -  Ha 144 A Basket of Mammoths - Unkept And Matted 145 Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds - Avalanche 146 Mondo Rock - State of heart 147 The Meanies - Punchin Air 148 Mad Max OST Brian May - Mad Max Main Title 149 Bananagun - People Talk Too Much 150 TISM - Get Thee In My Behind Satan 151 Cosmic Psychos - Dead roo 152 The Models - Out of mind, out of sight 153 Mantissa - Dream alone 154 Australian Crawl - Things Don't Seem 155 The Boys Next Door - the nightwatchman 156 John Farnham - One 157 Air Supply - Love and other bruises 158 Abramalin - never enough snuff 159 Billy Thorpe - It's almost summer 160 Disembowelment - Your prophetic throne of ivory 161 Amyl and the Sniffers - Got you 162 Abominator - Black Mass Warfare   163 Things Of Stone And Wood - Share this wine 164 Inverloch - distance collapsed 165 Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds - Deanna 666 Kath and Kim TV show theme song

Cya at Strangeworld Records! Cya yesterday!

[seokiloquy]

Sink - Hinata Shoyo

AU: Fantasy / Merman

Revamp

GN! Reader, hardly any plot (it’s like nothing i’m sorry)

Word Count: 2.2K+ 

Pirates can be helpful sometimes. If you do anything to tick them off though, you're thrown overboard. They were self-serving, violent to a fault, and would only help outsiders if they got something of greater value in return. Profit, they said. Most pirate ships were run by humans, taking to the sea after being forced off of land by other groups. For this reason, the whole time on that ship was spent with their scorching gazes burning into the back of your skull. Being an elf, one doing work for the queen no less didn't help your cause. If you hadn’t been seasick you would’ve seen it coming. 

Now here you were, sinking down into the depths of the ocean hardy able to see the light through the crashing waves above you. Your wool cape weighed you down, getting heavier as it soaked in the salty water. It wrapped around your body, restricting your movements and thwarting any hope of being able to swim upwards.

Your chest hurt once your knees hit the sand at the bottom. The throbbing of your heartbeat in your ears was loud but didn't stop you from hearing the swishing of movement around you. Somehow, life underwater was the loudest and most silent experience. It was deafening.

"Hey there, person!"

You squinted your eyes as you tried to see despite the stinging from all the salt. About five, maybe less, metres ahead from where you pitifully kneeled, a merman swam over to lean against an algae-covered rock as if it was a bed. You bent backwards to get away from him, but it became useless since your torso just floated back up.

"Are you stuck? Odd. What is that? A tarp?"

The merman’s orange tail flicked, propelling him forward toward you with incredible speed. His webbed hands pulled at your cape and his long pointed ear twitched through the water, listening for something. You felt as though you were being sat on by a giant, the pressure on your chest grew stronger as you struggled to help the sea creature free you.

Once untied from your dark cape you were able to swim upwards toward the surface. You felt your chest expand as you swam higher making it easier to hold your breath.

Just as you broke through the surface of the water you gasped, grateful that you could finally breathe. You heaved in as much air as possible, trying to not let the splashing water get in your mouth. As you kicked and waved your arms through the water the aquatic man floated up next to you. He poked his head out of the water before ducking back down.

"Woah! You don't have a tail! Or fins, or anything! What are you?"

Treading the water with both arms and legs you kept yourself floating high enough to speak.

"Take me to shore and I'll speak to you then. This cape is weighing me down."

Nodding his head, the merman’s orange hair shook off some of the water in it. The movement made some water fly into your mouth, which you quickly spat out, not enjoying the taste. His hands hooked under your shoulders, hoisting you up to his chest.

"Hold your breath."

"I am (Y/N) (L/N) of the Elven Domain. I am an explorer and have direct orders from the queen to track down an artifact to keep it safe. And you are?"

"You're an elf?"

You sighed, staring the merman directly in his eyes. The two of you currently sat/stood on the sand, drying off. In front of both of you was the ocean that you had just crawled out of minutes before.  The merman flicked his tail happily and looked at you with a curious smile that seemed to eat away at his cheeks.

"You don't socialize, do you?"

He shook his head as he picked at the fins on his arms. “No, not really. I’ve been the personal worker for the princess since I could remember. Only the royal family makes connections with those on land. The rest of us barely remember the word for your people. Let alone seen one. And because I’m working for the princess all the time I don’t really have any friends or explore."

As he spoke, his tail had fully dried and began to morph into a set of thin legs. The colour from his tail seemed to take shape and become a pair of trousers that ended directly below the knee with a small frill. He slowly bent them with a large smile, wiggling his toes into the sand.

"We know of our abilities, but only those who attend world meetings use them. I've never had the chance."

Grabbing your hand suddenly, he pulled himself up and onto his feet.

"Now come on! You have an adventure to be on don't you?"

Marching forward Shoyo managed to take a couple of steps before his knees buckled inwards and he fell forward. His butt stuck in the air and both his lower legs and face were covered in sand. He was quick to adjust, flopping onto his back.

"I got to get used to this," he said smiling up at you

"I'm more surprised you managed to even take one step. What’s your name?"

His mouth popped into an ‘O’ shape before giving you another sharp-toothed grin, “Shoyo Hinata.”

You sat on the edge of a rock, cape splayed out by your side. Hinata splashed around in the water, bathing in the cold liquid against his skin and tail. A laugh would nearly escape you every time his head bobbed out of the water to either shake his hair dry or send a long trail of water out of his mouth in a tall arch. He occasionally would toss water your way in an attempt to get you wet, before going back to whatever he found entertaining at the bottom of the pool.

"So you are an elf. And there are other species out there like you. How many are there?" he asked.

Hinata pushed himself up on the rock next to you and let his tail begin to dry.

"There are humans and wizards. They are from the same family, but wizards have either become interested in the magic of others or are hungry for power. There are other water dwellers I'm sure. But no one has seen them since the War of Weapons. Along with some forest creatures who have small colonies instead of creating a large Empire like the Fae or Giants."

Hinata swung his tail trying to get off the last of the water so his legs would appear. As he did, drips flung your way, making you much wetter than any of his targeted splashes did. You scoffed, wiping your hands over your hefty clothing. Once dry, a silk-like material took the place of scales and legs, replacing the tail with pillowy clothing. You stared at them for a moment.

“Are those pants attached to your body or…” 

As you spoke Hinata's ears twitched as he heard every word along with any noise that came from the woods behind you. He ignored your comment, far more interested in the previous conversation. "Creatures like what?" he asked.

You looked to the woods thinking of the people and animals you have and will encounter on your travels. "There are centaurs, gods, dragons, nymphs and dwarves. Some that don't have specific names but recognizable features. Most of them fled to the woods after the war. The gods, well, there are no gods here. Not anymore, not really."

Hinata nodded and played with the large gem that was attached to your cape. His head tilted, "War of Weapons? What happened there?"

"I can't remember the exact details of course. It was almost three hundred years ago after all. And if you haven't connected with other races you were definitely born after."

Hinata nodded "I'm only a teen. So it makes sense that I wouldn't know. As I said, I’ve spent my whole life with the princess."

Sighing, you felt the sudden urge to throw yourself into the water. You cringed in disgust and looked into the deep ocean. The dark blue seemed much more welcoming now than it did when you had been thrown in. Maybe if you wished for it the dormant god would welcome you with open arms. 

"You're so young," you commented.

"And you're not?" Hinata tilted his head and looked toward you. He set down your cape.

"In age of body, I am. But of mind and experience, I have aged 400 years."

"400!" Hinata jumped back at the confession, hands holding tightly onto your gemstone. "But how? You look 14!" 

"People of Elven descent age much slower than the rest of the world. It's a gift and a curse. My own siblings are reaching their 900th years."

Hinata sat closer and rested his chin on your shoulder, pouting. You smiled and turned your head slightly toward him, getting a glimpse of the youthful expression that pulled at his lips.

"But the war. What happened?"

You looked to the horizon where you couldn't see the landmark or city.

"Humans, finding the magic of others made them power-hungry. They began to build troops in hopes of defeating other kingdoms and gain control of the world. Wizards, witches and the occasional warlock or enchantress began to appear. They had to go through deadly rituals to gain their power. And when they found out there was more to take, there was no stopping them. It was a war of not only hardware but of magical prowess."

Hinata rested his weight against your body as he listened to you tell the story of an old war.

"Elven, Mer, Demon, Wood, and God banded together to stop them. Each of them protecting the gems they had in their care."

Hinata stared at your side profile, his eyes reflected the light from the setting sun and portrayed admiration as he listened. The eyes of the mer glowed a brilliant gold colour with hazel accents and brown lining.

"Gems? Like the stones?"

You nodded.

"Some, although rare, have magic stored in them. There are three held by the gods, with them from birth to rebirth. Others are forged over hundreds of years on sacred ground. Often places are abandoned before a single gem is produced."

Hinata's orange hair tickled your neck, his webbed hand rested palm up on your knee. You took his hand and gently pressed your thumb into the center of it.

"(Y/N), what did you do in the war?"

Your eyes dropped into the water before you. Another urge, stronger than the last, wanted to pull you into the bottomless pit of water. It felt like you were about to choke.

"I watched friends and family live and die at the hands of the people we all treated so well. I can only wonder if they took our kindness as pity."

Hinata squeezed your hand with a slimy but gentle touch and dug his head deeper into your shoulder. He whined pitifully.

"I am an adventurer. So that's what I did. I went searching for clues, hideouts, anything I could find on the other side of the war. Along the way, I made a friend. His wings were a beige colour, very light. But his overall aura was much darker. His wings gave him little to no help because if he flew too high up, he would fall out of fear of being shot down."

You turned your head to the merman, shifting slightly to fully face him and avoid catching his pointed ears with your own. You raised your free hand up toward the darkened sky, pointing to the bright light from the moons above the two of you.

"His name, Kageyama Tobio. God of the moon."

Hinata sat, eyes larger than before as he looked up to the two shining dots of light in the sky. The moons, which he had never gotten the chance to see until now, danced slowly around each other as they spun around the world. He admired the still image of the two unequally sized moons.

"Where is he now?"

"Home, I assume. But his sister is young and missing. So there is no doubt in my mind that he is still searching."

The sun had fully set by now, letting the moons cover the forest in cool light and dark shadows. You lowered your hand to Hinata's shoulder and added some pressure to your fingertips.

"Rest for tonight. You've drained your energy enough for today." You smiled and pushed him down on the flat rock where your cape was, acting like a makeshift bed.

"And what of you? Are you not going to rest?" He asked, holding your hand as it dropped the edges of your cape over his shoulders.

"My mind is now plagued with thoughts. If I rest now I cannot guarantee you'll see me at dawn."

Hinata's brow furrowed as he questioned you. "Why would that be?"

You sighed and brushed his hair with your free hand. "My turning would toss me into deep water." You smiled slightly as Hinata's expression turned sour. "Now sleep. I’ll see you in the morning."

I honestly love this one cause the world is one I’ve had in my head for years... but have yet to actually do anything with... - Bacon

Posted: 03/08/2020

[fire-the-headcanons]

"You'll also take any opportunity to dress up that you can get," Tai said.

"I spent a long time on that costume!"

"Why don't we all match this year instead?" he asked, grinning. "I was thinking it'd be funny if we all went dressed as teachers. Qrow could be Ozpin since he's so skinny, Raven could go as Professor Mesánychta, and I think I would make a dashing Peter Port." He held his hands near his mouth, wiggling his fingers in a strange approximation of his mustache.

"What about me?" Summer asked.

Raven knew exactly what Tai was thinking, and hovered her hand below shoulder level. "Professor Carmine," the three of them said in unison.

"Hey! We have other traits besides height!"

Follow the Beacon Raven—Qrow Wins

[Link to Masterpost]

[If you missed it, make sure you read the bonus chapter from Saturday! I actually updated the masterpost for once so you can get to it from there. Also there will be another Saturday bonus chapter this week since the non-First crowd doesn’t have an episode then either]

"Oh my GODS, what is WRONG with this thing?" Tears streamed down Summer's face as she struggled to catch her breath. The controller slid to the floor with a muffled thump.

"This isn't how it normally goes?" Raven asked. Qrow's Semblance was a nuisance—or a hazard—but once in a while it was fun to sit back and watch the show.

Tai watched with a stoic sort of exhaustion as his character fell down the bottomless pit for a ninth time. "Please. I just need, not a 7. Any other number. Literally any other number."

And what a show. He appeared to have broken both of them.

"Okay. Okay." Summer took deep breaths, forcing the laughter down. "It's been… almost an hour, and nobody has any Dust shards. I'm calling it. The game station wins this one."

Raven smirked with a half glance at her brother. "I think Qrow won by not playing." Unable to do anything else, he only glared back.

"Wish you'd played before now," Tai said, "it's not as funny if you don't know how it's supposed to go."

"Any ideas of what we want to do in town tomorrow?" Summer asked, drawing her feet up off the floor to sit cross-legged on top of the blanket. "Halloween's coming up. We could look for costume ideas."

"I thought Halloween was a kids' holiday," Qrow said, clearly relieved to be off the subject of luck.

"Trick or treating is for kids. For adults it's about drinking, from the way Mom complains about it—but for us, it's all about the scares. ...And pumpkin cookies."

Gods, Raven missed drinking.

"You'll also take any opportunity to dress up that you can get," Tai said.

"I spent a long time on that costume!"

"Why don't we all match this year instead?" he asked, grinning. "I was thinking it'd be funny if we all went dressed as teachers. Qrow could be Ozpin since he's so skinny, Raven could go as Professor Mesánychta, and I think I would make a dashing Peter Port." He held his hands near his mouth, wiggling his fingers in a strange approximation of his mustache.

"What about me?" Summer asked.

Raven knew exactly what Tai was thinking, and hovered her hand below shoulder level. "Professor Carmine," the three of them said in unison.

"Hey! We have other traits besides height!"

Raven smiled. "Boundless energy, for starters."

"Isn't that the truth." Tai rolled his eyes.

"Okay, but what do you mean 'scares'?" Qrow asked. "What do we actually do?"

"Beacon always throws a huge party," Tai explained. "The seniors put it on—the teachers get them to go all-out and try to do better than the previous year. Most of them are twenty-one so it's really just a way to keep them from getting drunk or in trouble."

Summer nodded. "The haunted house is legendary. They used to do it in the CCT Tower, until the accident…"

"Accident?"

"Nobody was hurt!" she said quickly. "But global communications were down for almost an hour and a few people nearly got arrested. Now they use the Grimm Studies building."

"So… it's a party where we fight Geists?" Qrow asked, but their teammates only frowned in confusion.

"Geists." Raven repeated. They were rare, but they weren't that rare. Even city-dwellers should have heard of them. "Ghost Grimm that possess objects?"

Her eyes widened. "Those are a thing?!"

Qrow shrugged. "Well, they're not exactly common, but yeah."

"Now that's spooky," Tai said.

She sprang off the bed, running to her desk to retrieve their Grimm Studies textbook and flipping through it. "Huh. Never been spotted in Vale, uncommon in Solitas and eastern Anima."

Ah, that explained it then. There seemed to be a lot of Grimm from home that didn't appear here... Was it the other way around too? "What kind of Grimm do you get here that are unique?"

"I think Professor Mesánychta said Boarbatusks are only found in eastern Sanus," Summer said, frowning. "Back when we were at Signal, not here. But those are not rare. And a royal pain."

"We get some of the biggest Ursa and Beowolves in the world, though," Tai said, rifling through his box of games. "Even if they're not that unique. Let's play something skill-based next, since the gamestation's haunted today." He held up a cartridge. "This is our favorite fighting game, Fatal Fray, and if you're gonna live here you're gonna have to learn to play it."

What?

Summer snorted, elbowing him. "Tai!"

"Just kidding! But it's super fun and we get tired of only playing each other."

Next Chapter: Taiyang—COSTumes

[gracedman]

The Book of Life

Psalm 87:6 (ESV)

The Lord records as he registers the peoples, “This one was born there.” Selah

 Exodus 32:32 (ESV)

But now, if you will forgive their sin—but if not, please blot me out of your book that you have written.”

  Revelation 17:8 (ESV)

The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to rise from the bottomless pit and go to destruction. And the dwellers on earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world will marvel to see the beast, because it was and is not and is to come.

  Revelation 20:12 (ESV)

And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done.

  Revelation 20:15 (ESV)

And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

  Philippians 4:3 (ESV)

Yes, I ask you also, true companion, help these women, who have labored side by side with me in the gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.

  Revelation 21:27 (ESV)

But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

  Revelation 3:5 (ESV)

The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels.

 In the Bible there seems to be an inconsistency about the term “Book of Life.” Moses at one point asked to be blotted out of the book of life. So the reasoning proceeds, that if Moses can be taken from God’s book of life, is anyone secure? If a great man of God like Moses can be taken from the register of the redeemed, who can be sure that they are saved? And then the door is opened to all sorts of doubt and questions as to the basis of our salvation and who then can be saved at all.

 First, I would like to share with you that Christ has done everything that is necessary to be done in order for anyone to be saved. There is nothing left for us to do but to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and his finished work on our behalf. He died in our place. Believe that you should have been punished for your sins and that he stood in your place and died for your soul and you are saved. He trades your sins for his righteousness. All of them. Those in your past, the present, and the future, the blood of Christ atones for them all. God stands outside of space and time and views our lives apart from time. He sees us either in Christ as 100% righteous or in the fallen nature of Adam, as 100% unrighteous.

 To be justified by faith, by the blood, and by grace, means that God, the Father, has gone on record declaring that we are legally perfect before him. He goes on public record before the universe that we are to be treated and viewed as 100 % perfect and holy. It doesn’t mean that we are changed to any discernible level of moral righteousness. That will and should come as we properly grow. But justification is a once for all action. You are either justified or you are not.

  Romans 5:1 (ESV)

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

 Secondly, it would seem that there are more than one books termed with “the book of life” label. I would like to suggest that one is a registry of those who are living and breathing air. Sort of a list of those who are alive. So Moses was essentially saying, take me from among the living. The second “book of life” is the “lamb’s book of life” which is that registry of those who have been saved by the Blood of Christ. Those who have been justified by faith in Christ. And from this last book, you are never removed.

  Lord Jesus, thank you for the blood that saves us. Thank you that your records are sealed in the Lamb’s book of life. Our lives can get so inconsistent and we vacillate as we grow but we can rest securely in what you have done for us on the cross and in your eternal records of our salvation. Amen!!!

[frederickwiddowson]

The Acts of the Apostles, the history of the early church, by Luke the physician - Acts 1: 12- 26 comments : choosing Matthias to replace Judas

Acts 1:12 ¶  Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem a sabbath day’s journey. 13  And when they were come in, they went up into an upper room, where abode both Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew, Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon Zelotes, and Judas the brother of James. 14  These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren.

 A sabbath day’s journey, according to John Gill and Matthew Henry, was about 2,000 cubits from any town. The restriction from traveling on the Sabbath is found under the Law.

 Exodus 16:29  See, for that the LORD hath given you the sabbath, therefore he giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two days; abide ye every man in his place, let no man go out of his place on the seventh day.

 The distance one could travel based on tradition was based on the distance from the ark of the covenant the Hebrews were to walk crossing the river Jordan.

 Joshua 3:4  Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure: come not near unto it, that ye may know the way by which ye must go: for ye have not passed this way heretofore.

 Like modern Christians the Jews were always looking for loopholes in the Law.

 These events transpired on the hill called Mount Olivet or the Mount of Olives where David ascended mourning at Absalom’s rebellion in 2Samuel 15:30. It plays a significant part in the end of history as per Zechariah 14:4 when Christ returns. Jesus sat on it when he talked about end times in Matthew 24. It is where He was arrested before His crucifixion as per Matthew 26:30 with the Garden of Gethsemane at the base of it. So, interestingly, God’s king ascends Mount Olivet in mourning, Christ speaks of the end of history from it, is arrested on it, and ascends from it, and will land on it.

 The eleven remaining Apostles and the women, along with Jesus’ mother, Mary, pray together in a upper story of a house that was one of theirs or was provided for them by someone. Either Jesus’ brothers are referred to specifically here or it is a reference to His followers as brethren. There were no buildings specifically set aside for church worship until late in the second century.

 Acts 1:15 ¶  And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples, and said, (the number of names together were about an hundred and twenty,) 16  Men and brethren, this scripture must needs have been fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David spake before concerning Judas, which was guide to them that took Jesus. 17  For he was numbered with us, and had obtained part of this ministry. 18  Now this man purchased a field with the reward of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out. 19  And it was known unto all the dwellers at Jerusalem; insomuch as that field is called in their proper tongue, Aceldama, that is to say, The field of blood. 20 For it is written in the book of Psalms, Let his habitation be desolate, and let no man dwell therein: and his bishoprick let another take. 21  Wherefore of these men which have companied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, 22  Beginning from the baptism of John, unto that same day that he was taken up from us, must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection. 23 And they appointed two, Joseph called Barsabas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias. 24  And they prayed, and said, Thou, Lord, which knowest the hearts of all men, shew whether of these two thou hast chosen, 25  That he may take part of this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place. 26 And they gave forth their lots; and the lot fell upon Matthias; and he was numbered with the eleven

apostles.

So, the early Christian church begins with a few dozen people, a hundred and twenty as the text says. Peter is quoting or alluding to prophecy in the Old Testament, also teaching us how to view certain passage in their prophetic significance. Read Psalms 55:12-13 and 109. Read Matthew 27 about Judas’s physical end of life.

Peter, in verse 20, takes Psalm 69:25 and 109:8 combining them for a prophetic statement about Judas guided by the Holy Spirit. Word substitution between Old and New Testaments gives us the meaning of Bishoprick as the office held with Bishoprick being the office of a bishop, what we call a pastor today.

Psalm 69:25  Let their habitation be desolate; and let none dwell in their tents.

Psalm 109:8  Let his days be few; and let another take his office.

Now, Peter is trying to replace Judas as an Apostle. This is very interesting because we are only told about twelve Apostles, the women who supported them, plus an unspecified number of disciples throughout Jesus’ ministry but here Peter names two who were disciples all along. They cast lots for which one will replace Judas Iscariot, Joseph “Barsabas” Justus or Matthias. Acknowledging that God has sovereignty over chance and that there is no randomness in the universe they know that when they cast lots God controls the outcome. They may have used pebbles, a potsherd, or a piece of wood as we would today roll dice or flip over cards or flip a coin. They may have put names in a pot and drew them. But, the Bible teaches that the outcome of all such things is in the hand of God. That’s kind of tough for a modern person to wrap their minds around. Go ahead and flip a penny. The result is an act of God? It boggles the mind but just read the book of Job carefully.

God allowed the Israelites to cast lots in certain situations to determine His will. See Numbers 26:55; 33:54; 34:13; 36:2; Joshua 18:6-10; 1Chronicles 24:5, 31; 25:8,9; & 26:13,14. In addition, heathen also cast lots to determine the will of the gods. See Jonah 1:7.

What does this say about the ideas of chance and randomness in reality?  A person reading the Bible carefully could easily say there is no such thing as randomness or luck, as all events are from the hand of God either by His direct will or by His permission.

Judas is referred to by John as the son of perdition.

John 17:12  While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.

Paul refers to the Antichrist, the Beast of Revelation, which are John’s terms, as the son of perdition. Some commentators imply that Judas will be resurrected in the form of the Beast.

2Thessalonians 2:3  Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;

They will see this reference to his own place and suggest that he will be the Beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit in Revelation 11:7 and 17:8. We will not know if this is so until the end so there is no point in spending too much time on such speculation.

[kdmiller55]

Until the Words of God Are Fulfilled.

Until the Words of God Are Fulfilled.

7 But the angel said to me, “Why do you marvel? I will tell you the mystery of the woman, and of the beast with seven heads and ten horns that carries her. 8 The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to rise from the bottomless pit and go to destruction. And the dwellers on earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world will marvel to see…

[dcladies-secretsanta]

Gifts Revealed!

Thank you to everyone who participated in our first Secret Santa! It was a ton of fun and we hope to have even more people participate next year!

1. @harleyquins made this gifset for @kat-astrophic-todd

2. @quicksjesses made this video for @mcgrxth

3. @kat-astrophic-todd wrote this fanfiction for @daphneblakess

4. @prettybirdlaurel made this playlist for @wardenroot

5. @bottomless-pit-dweller made this art for @teenageplaiddonkeytree

6. @zatanna-maximoff wrote this fanfiction for @dccomicsbookshelf

7. @daphneblakess made this graphic and fanmix for @harleyquins

8. @mcgrxth made this video for @prettybirdlaurel

9. @quicksjesses made these graphics for @cyancrab

10. @the-lost-ravens-writing-desk wrote this fanfiction for @bottomless-pit-dweller

11. @lion-cheshire made these icons for @quicksjesses

12. @dccomicsbookshelf made these graphics for @zatanna-maximoff

13. @snowyblake made this gifset for @midniter

14. @quicksjesses made these graphics and fanmix for @the-lost-ravens-writing-desk 

15. @wardenroot wrote this fanfiction for @lion-cheshire

16. @midniter made this art for @blackcanarydinah

[psychicdinneranon-blog]

Five Times Shou Eats Something He Shouldn’t (And 1 Time He Doesn’t)

This is part 6 of a series based off the MiB AU! From bakanohealthy and qcatter Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5

(And the one time he didn’t)

The door swung open and Reigen greeted the two cheerfully and ushered Serizawa and Shou into his apartment.

“Come in, come in. You two know where the ice is.” And Reigen was so very thankful that bottomless pits like starchildren liked cheap plain old ice as a snack.

Serizawa smiled and looked around, noting the curious lack of other apartment dwellers. “Are we the first to arrive for movie night?”

“Yep, Mob and his brother are doing something and they said that they won’t be here for another hour at least. And Hanazawa is probably seeing if he can manage to buy some snacks before we start.” Reigen’s smug grin made the edges of Serizawa’s lips twitch upwards as he tried to hide a chuckle behind his hand.

“Did you buy more rechargeable batteries?” Serizawa gave up trying to hide his mirth and smiled widely at Reigen.

“Yep, along with a few other precautions to keep his thieving hands away from my stuff.” The words were harsh but Reigen said this jovially. So Serizawa continued to chuckle as Shou broke off from his side and shifted into his starform.

Reigen suddenly turned his gaze toward Shou, a slight smile still playing on his lips.

“Hey Shou,” he waited calmly for Shou to turn his three eyes toward him, then Shou’s body twisted to face him as well. Shou cocked his head like a curious bird. Reigen handed the Starchild a box of four florescent lightbulbs. “Do you want to go around and doublecheck the ceiling lights for me? I thought I got them all, but I don’t want to have to deal with getting the stepladder out again. I’ll even let you eat the extra lightbulbs that you bring back.” Reigen offered to sweeten the deal.

After using the test lamp with Hanazawa and hearing how he yelped and left the next lightbulb alone instead of scarfing down the lightbulb and the rest of the pack; Reigen happily bought enough to replace his entire apartment with them.

It was worth it if not to lose another lightbulb.

Even if he did have to give up the rest of his normal lightbulbs to the second bottomless pit that had so recently graced his home.

“Cool!” Shou chirped happily, his bird whistles trailing off as he floated down the hallway to check all of the lights.

Reigen glanced over to Serizawa before clapping his hand to his shoulder. “Don’t worry Serizawa I’ve got some ice cubes for you in the freezer. I’ll go grab them.” He smiled, figuring that Shou would take a bit of time hunting down all the light fixtures in his apartment. He decided to snag some pre-movie popcorn as well. “And popcorn.”

Serizawa had no desire to stand in the kitchen while the microwave was going so he decided to tail after Shou. He was certain that Shou would double-check every single socket in order to get some of what he claimed were treats, however Serizawa knew that Reigen wouldn’t say no to a third set of eyes.

Shou had a headstart and so he meandered from room to room noting the new lightbulbs in every fixture and waited for Reigen to finish dumping the ice out of the trays.

Shou laughed as he found a third lightbulb that Reigen had missed and quickly substituted the old one for the florescent, eagerly tossing the older lightbulb into his mouth and crunching on the glass and filament.

Then he floated down towards Serizawa, grinning wildly. “Well I think that’s all of them!” He chirped and again the sound of whistling birds filled the room.

“Good, I’m sure Reigen will be happy to have kept Hanazawa from eating his lightbulbs. Let’s go back to the living room and we can set up camp there.”

Serizawa had turned and was about to leave when he noticed Shou was still holding the last florescent lightbulb. “Oh and you can give that to Reigen, I’m sure he’d appreciate the spare.”

“What? No way, he said that I could have the extras. So I’m gonna eat it.” Shou squeaked like a guinea pig in his mirth, not seeing Serizawa’s puzzled frown.

“But Shou-!“ Serizawa cut himself off, reaching up to grab the lightbulb from the Starchild. Shou hovered confused and surprised. He had never seen Serizawa grab anything from him before.

“Don’t eat this it-“ Serizawa began before he was cut off by the weight of Shou’s starform pushing against him. The high pitched squeaks and whistling from earlier suddenly replaced by a much deeper growl. Serizawa reacted to the obvious demand in Shou’s noise.

His gentle waves began to become louder, rivaling Shou’s growling, as he struggled to keep the florescent lightbulb away from Shou.

Shou had tackled him to the ground but in the blink of an eye Serizawa had flipped their positions and used his smaller form’s density to his advantage. Serizawa sat on Shou’s back as the Starchild under him squirmed desperately, trying to find some sort of grip to get Serizawa off of him.

Meanwhile Serizawa psychically propelled the florescent lightbulb to the far end of the room.

Reigen walked into the room. He was greeted with the sight of a sunset colored struggling Shou pinned by Serizawa’s density.

He decided to glean the facts of the situation before he did anything more than lean against the doorframe. Because this was his life now. And if he going to walk in on two tussling starchildren he ought to know just why they were fighting.

Though it was more common to see Teruki and Shou fighting. Seeing Serizawa deciding to stand his ground made a thread of worry run through him.

“Okay, what happened in here?”

Shou answered with the growl of a pissed off house cat, squirming and writhing under Serizawa’s dense starform.

Then came Serizawa’s flustered reply. “Erm, Shou was going to eat a florescent lightbulb and I know from experience that those hurt!”

Reigen was about to say that Serizawa’s answer didn’t explain why the two were currently in their starforms, nor why Shou was trapped against his floor. But Shou’s voice snarled out a reply to Serizawa before he could even get the words to come together.

“What right do you have to tell me not to eat something? You get sick off a pack of batteries! I’ve eaten worse and been fine.”

Shou dug his clawed fingers into the wooden floor of the apartment. He was tired of being pinned to the floor. And Reigen cared about the state of his apartment so maybe he would tell Serizawa to get off of him.

However Serizawa merely shifted and tucked Shou’s arm underneath him before he could do any real damage.  

“I remember being sick for two days!” Serizawa curled his tail around Shou protectively suddenly worried. “What do you mean you’ve had worse?”  

“Exactly what I said. The florescent lightbulb just has a nice crunch with a lingering afterburn. Nothing like the microwaves.” Shou squeaked a little as tried to wiggle out from under the other starchild.

Even though Serizawa had three eyes, paws for hands and feet and very little to go off of for fascial expressions Reigen could see the look of utter disbelief that had overcome his friend.

“Microwaves?” Serizawa choked out. “What possessed you to try eating a microwave?”

Even without his delicate stomach Serizawa knew full well that microwaves just screamed bad news. Even standing in front of a leaky one could be enough for their fuzzy clingy energy to rub off on you. Eating one was unthinkable.

“Try?” Came Shou’s insulted scoff. “Excuse you I ate two microwaves! We can eat anything. Sure it wasn’t all that great at first,” Shou paused looking down at the floor for a moment before he looked back up, grinning fiercely like he had just won a race. “But I figured out how to eat the second one!”  

“Shou that’s- How are you- What I mean is-” Serizawa’s questions overlapped as he tried to spit all of them out from the jumbled mess inside of his head.

Reigen decided that as of the only other guardian of a starchild, that they knew of anyways, he would help his friend. And maybe get a few answers for himself too.

He knelt down so that he a little closer to Shou’s eye level and looked him in his three glowing eyes.

“Shou why did you decide to eat a microwave?” Even Hanazawa the least picky being Reigen had ever met had balked at the idea of even thinking of eating Reigen’s microwave.

Shou glanced downwards, suddenly interested of the grain and the slight indent his hand had made on the floor. “It was there. I found it. And then I ate it.”

“You found it? What do you mean by that?” Reigen took a deep breath trying not to guess at what exactly Shou had meant by “found” not until he had heard the boy out first. Even if he could imagine in horrifying clarity Shou eating things he had simply found tossed away on the curb.

Even stuck under Serizawa Shou squared his shoulders. “Look I didn’t eat anything important, okay? Nobody wanted it. And we can eat anything.”

Reigen felt a shiver run down his spine as he heard the same four words that Shou had repeated to anyone who knew what he was. The first few times anyone caught him eating dirt covered rocks or pens empty of ink, he would always cackle with laughter and say “We can eat anything!” Looking back now the once playful words were tinged with the new horror and sickening flop of his stomach.

Because Shou really did mean that he would eat anything.

Serizawa made a low pained noise, almost like a wave crashing over you while you were underwater.

“Shou…” He trailed off, unsure of what to say. He settled for just curled his tail more over Shou’s as if he were attempting to protect Shou from the memories of things that he had eaten.

And the worst part of it all was that he couldn’t bring himself to scold Shou for eating such things- except for the microwave of course, no starchild in their right might would look at that tangled mess of energy and think it was a good idea. But eating things no one wanted?

Serizawa had worked for Touichirou for almost three years. He knew full well that the man did not like to share his food.

But he had fed Shou. Serizawa had seen it. So what drove Shou to such desperate measures?

The sounds of crashing waves filled the room as Shou squirmed again from underneath Serizawa.

“Listen Shou, you don’t have to eat things like microwaves anymore. Or whatever you find that people don’t want.” Reigen said. And his voice was even and level, like he was around a skittish horse.

Shou frowned and all of his eyes got big and wide. Then he glanced down and away from Reigen’s gaze and spoke in a quiet hesitant voice. “Then what should I eat?”

And Reigen’s heart broke in his chest because if he was telling Shou that he didn’t have to eat the scraps of things that no one cared about and Shou couldn’t think of anything else to eat… It painted quite the picture that Reigen wished had never been dreamed up in the first place.

Serizawa made the sound of waves crashing under the water again and entwined his tail with Shou’s. Shou made no move to resist or push into Serizawa and that forced him to speak with one word almost blurring into the next with how quickly he spoke.

“Shou we’ll buy you a cartful of groceries or you can have some of my food or you can raid the kitchen like Hanazawa does with Reigen you don’t need to eat garbage.”

Reigen nodded. “We can feed you when you’re hungry, I mean look at me and Hanazawa. Surely you know that we can give you food, right?” If that last word was had a little bit more desperation in it than he wanted well no one had called him out on it.

“Yeah, I know.” Shou said this with as much certainty as he had when he said that he could eat anything.

So why did Reigen’s stomach give an uneasy twist as he said those words?

“So you’ll come to us if you’re hungry?” Serizawa said hopefully, and Shou gave a wide practiced smile at the words.

“Of course.”

And so it seemed like that was that. But Reigen knew that he would be making sure the kid ate a lot more in the future. Even if he had to hand Shou the food plate by plate.

Then he looked at Shou again and resisted the urge to smack his forehead. “Serizawa.” He said, getting the other’s attention immediately. Reigen made a small shooing motion with his hand as he pointed down to Shou.

“Oh! Sorry Shou, here let me help you up.” He quickly jumped off of Shou and detwined their tails. Shou declined Serizawa’s offered hand and floated back into his upright position.

“Now, I know I have a bowl of ice in the kitchen, do you wanna go get that Shou and start snacking?” Reigen smiled brightly and Shou raced off towards the kitchen.

As he did so Reigen stepped closer to Serizawa, who had shifted back into human form and had a very morose expression on his face.

“I-I’m sorry I didn’t know I didn’t realize I didn’t, didn’t think- And Shou he looked fine I-“ Serizawa’s voice broke and Reigen slung an arm across his shoulders.

“Hey, listen, I know. You didn’t know. I know you want to go back and change the past, but what’s done is done now.” Reigen gave his friend a gentle squeeze on the shoulder and smiled softly. “But we can shape the future. Together. We can feed him ice and other better things on hand. And he knows that we’ll feed him if he asks now.”

Serizawa smiled and reached up to hold the hand that was on his shoulder, squeezing Reigen’s fingers tightly. “Thanks Reigen. I’ll remember that.”

Reigen smiled widely, and pulled the other into a hug. “We’ll figure this out, you and me both.”

Then Reigen heard the tell-tale sound of a piece of ice splattering onto the floor and he pulled away from Serizawa a half smile playing across his lips. “Come on, let’s go make sure Shou leaves enough ice for you too.”

Serizawa laughed quietly and followed Reigen into the kitchen.

[mulletwings]

Bottomless-Pit-Dweller

-> -> blehmybatpencilbroke