#but maybe i need to see how it fits in to the larger hole so i can respect that even more

[pinkeoni]

Maybe I need to see season 5 so I can appreciate season 3 more

[phan3145]

Title: Slippery Slope. Fandom: Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. Rating: T. ( Cursing, intensity) Pairing: Eventual Noa x Human!Reader

***Note: I have no idea how this became 6.6K words, I just like writing in Noa’s POV apparently 😭

Chapter 3: Homes and Shelters

Noa

He heard what she said, but could not understand the meaning behind the words. She was too intelligent to think he would fit in the hole with her. He would rather weather the rain than try to fit both of them under that piece of wood. Surely, she would as well. Was this an empty offer in hopes of a peaceful end to their meeting? Was he meant to decline? She was watching him closely, but did not offer any assistance as to how he should respond.

Huffing, he chose the safest option, “Will not…fit.”

She looked confused for a moment before letting out a series of noises, which he assumed was her version of hooting. It certainly wasn’t a cackle, but the noise was still pleasing to his ears. Her hand covered her face then, she seemed to be thinking. Finally, she shook her head, letting her hand slide down before dropping back to her side, “Not here. Do you remember the massive rock formation before coming here? I assume you had to climb it to follow me.”

Climb it? He more or less just leapt to the top, but he supposed for a human climbing would have been necessary. She didn’t need to know that though, so he agreed, “Remember it.”

She showed her teeth, Echo’s version of smiling. She nodded her head in that direction, “Good, go there. I’ll meet you.”

She crouched on the ground then, leaving him confused once more as she dropped down into the hole. He took quick steps to approach her, watching her hands reach for the wood that would cover her. He found himself in the same position as before, his strength halting any progress she made to pull the heavy object on top of herself.

She looked up, only slightly surprised, sighing, “Not this again. What’s wrong?”

“How do we…meet there?” He wondered, “Why not…go together?…Why are you…back in the…ground?”

“I have to open the door,” she said, as if that somehow explained everything. He felt his brow furrow with frustration. Seeing this, she continued, “The entrance is blocked, you can only open it from the inside. To get in I have to go through here.”

That’s when he noticed. It wasn’t just a hole, a larger pathway underground laid behind her, so dark he hadn’t seen it before. He assumed this was a hiding place, not thinking anything of it when he had stopped her from covering herself before. This was a way into her nest, no wonder she had seemed so afraid when he stopped her.

“A…tunnel?” He offered.

“Yes,” she nodded. “I’ll meet you at the front of the rocks…Noa, let go, you’re letting water in.”

At that, he noticed the rain had picked up and water was indeed soaking into the dry dirt beneath her. The scraps of cloth she used to cover her body were already smeared in dirt, but with the rain it soaked through and clung to her legs. Her chest covering was also wet, he assumed from when she had hauled him up from the river. He hadn’t noticed before, but now he could see there wasn’t a single part of her that was dry. Even her hair had quickly taken in the rain, branching strands allowing individual drops to fall down her face, just barely missing her eyes.

It…bothered him. He knew Echo’s got cold easily, and they were frail as a species. This rain had a biting chill to it, still being too early in the season to be comfortable. He worried that without fur she would get sick from cold. She was smart, he admitted to himself, surely there would be a fire in her nest. If not…maybe he should make one for her so she could stay warm.

With that thought, he let go and took a step back. She gave him a curious look before she decided not to waste anymore time, shutting the wood over top of herself. The noise he heard once it came all the way down surprised him. It sounded almost like…metal.

He leaned forward, wanting to get a closer look at the cover to her tunnel. He saw the edges, having run his hand over it enough to know that it was wood. A second glance revealed that it was actually a trick. Rusted metal was slotted into wooden branches, and rope was hooked around notches carved into the branches. He pulled at the rope, feeling no give. His fingers traced the ridges, following it’s length to the top of the covering.

He stopped, reaching the middle to find more layers of rope, tied and crossed over one another. They held dirt and tiny sprouts of plants that would mimic the floor of the forest. He moved to the opposite end, remembering that he couldn’t pull the object off of her completely. It had been connected to the ground somehow. Brushing rocks and dirt aside, he could barely glimpse two stumps buried next to one another. Holes had been carved into each one, and more rope was threaded through and tied to the back end of the cover. He wondered how much upward give there was, attempting to raise it once more when his arm was jerked downwards.

Shock was immediate. Why could he not open it now? He paced back to the front, pulling upwards only to find a finger’s worth of space. He lowered himself to the ground, squinting his eyes to see there was rope tied to a metal protrusion on the inside. Unless he wanted to break it, which he easily could, he couldn’t get in from the outside. She blocked off her entrances after she was done using them.

His instincts warred inside of him. This Echo was similar to Mae, very careful and seemingly very mistrusting. He had practically forced her to speak, only now realizing that she had never answered his question. Why had she saved him? Why avoid the question when she seemed so honest about everything else? Perhaps, she did not know herself. In that way, she would be different from the two humans he met before, doing something good just because it was right. Not all humans were alike, just like how all apes were not alike. Would it be fair to pass judgement on her so early?

He sniffed, acknowledging how complex all of this was. While the Echo had been honest with him, from what he could tell once she did start talking, he had doubts that her claim of being alone was true. She was intelligent, but she could not have done this by herself, she must have had help.

Backing away from the cover, he began to walk in the direction of the rock ledge he had followed her from. After a few paces he stopped, looking from the cover to the stone structure, only now seeing the direct path. There were no trees or bushes, just grass and a few wild flowers. Roots would have gotten in the way of the tunnel. That seemed obvious now, but he was truly impressed by how simple it was.

He wondered how long it would take the Echo to get inside of her stone nest, imagining moving while crouched was slower for her than it was for him. Thinking back though, she hadn’t been crouched, she’d been on her hands and knees. It was unusual, not something ape would do…but then again she wasn’t ape.

Reaching the rock edge, he did not have the running start he had before, and from the back it was even steeper. The rain had picked up enough he could feel it on his skin beneath his fur, so he decided scaling up would not be in his best interest right now. He found himself scaling the side instead, which was considerably dryer. The rocks formed in a naturally slanted edge, the top keeping the side he was climbing from being water logged.

Choosing to go around instead of up would also allow him to get a better lay of the land. He would need to remember that this is where she can be found. For safety reasons. He had no intentions of coming back here unless the Echo posed a threat. If she remained true, then after this he would leave her be to live out the rest of her days…how ever long that may be.

He swung himself around the side, landing towards the front of the stone structure. He paced for a moment, wondering where her ‘entrance’ was. He still saw only stone, no opening big enough for something Echo sized to pass through. Hesitating, he wondered if she had tricked him, if this was a trap. Or, perhaps he was in the wrong place?

A noise caught his attention. Eagle Sun was overhead, alerting him with warning chirps as he descended gracefully, looking to land. He quickly raised his left arm, but to his surprise, Eagle Sun glided past him. It landed on a stone ledge to his left.

“Stubborn bird,” he grumbled.

Eagle sun took no offense to the term. The rain left his feathers oily, the water sliding mostly off of him as soon as it landed. He dared not bother the bird further, only recently getting in its good graces. Eagle Sun meant a lot to his father, and now, in a short amount of time, he had come to mean a lot to Noa. Eagle Sun preened at a wing before turning to chirp once more, pulling him from his thoughts. Seeing Noa’s gaze returned to him, Eagle Sun began to peck at the rock next to him.

He huffed, the bird probably found a tasty bug to munch…

No.

That’s when he saw it. A rock, whose layers went against the grain of the other rocks around it. It was surrounded…but not attached. Had Eagle Sun just showed him the Echo’s nest? He approached tentatively, scratching Eagle Sun under his chin as a reward. Feeling sufficiently praised, the bird then launched himself back into the sky. Odd, to leave so suddenly, but not his concern at the moment. He would return.

Over the pounding of the rain around him, through the bottom of his feet, he sensed movement. A heartbeat. He tracked it, sensing it closer to where he now stood. More sounds of movement became audible to his ears. He waited, not actually knowing what to expect. Water dripped down his face, threatening to slip into his nose. Wiping it away, he called the Echo’s name. A new muffled sound was heard from the other side of the rock.

“Just wait, I had to change.” Her voice soothed, “I’m about to move the rock, don’t stand too close.”

He heard more metal, a grunt from the echo, and then the rock was pulled aside. In front of him was an opening, it was wide enough for him to fit, but he would have to bend as he entered. The height only reached to the middle of his chest. He hoped it was bigger on the inside, otherwise he was starting to believe this Echo enjoyed being in small spaces.

He bent at the waist, allowing his head to enter first, comforted once he saw the mouth of the rocks open up. He would be able to stand with ease, even stretch if he so desired. His first few steps were hesitant, scanning his surroundings to make sure there was no ambush waiting for him in the dimly lit space.

She stood in the center, hands in front of her, as if she knew that he was scanning for potential threats. The way she read him made shame burn in the pit of his stomach. He felt it was justified at first, and perhaps it was, but the more he thought about their situation, the more he saw how unbalanced it was. She was the one putting a lot of trust in him; inviting him into her nest and saving his life. Between the two of them, he was the one who hadn’t shown her trust.

Thoughts of Proximus and the events that took place in his Kingdom weighed heavily on him…and now it was causing a chasm sized rift between him and this new Echo. He never expected to meet another one, but that was not the point. The one in front of him was watching him, eyes searching his for some sign he didn’t know how to give, confusion consuming his mind.

He wondered what she had meant by ‘change,’ but looking at her now, it made sense that she had changed the cloth covering her body. He was unsure what to call what she was wearing. Mae had worn pants, which he found this Echo wearing too, but Mae had also worn a shirt. What she wore looked similar but not quite the same. There were two layers now covering her torso. One piece of cloth covered her chest and stomach, and the second layer wrapped around her arms and sides. It was similar to his mother’s robe, but…more. He had never seen an Echo wear two. Was there a purpose?

She tilted her head and raised her brow, questioning his too long stare. He looked away then, taking a moment to shake the water off his fur. From the corner of his eye he caught her raising her arm up, shielding herself from any splashing. He thought to tease her for that, but was distracted before the words had even formed in his mind. His attention had been pulled towards the massive stone next to him. This…was what she moved?

Unconsciously he felt his hands raise, gripping the rock to test its weight. His arms opened wider, wanting a better hold as he attempted to move it. He was able to, but only just. His concern equaled his confusion, how did she move this?

“It’s easier to seal than it is to open.” She offered, taking small steps towards him. He didn’t move, allowing her to explain, “I brace my back up against the wall, and I use my arms and legs to push it in place. Moving it to where it is now, I use the chain wrapped around it. Sort of a lever and pulley system. It’s still really heavy though.”

His eyes scanned over the chain, wrapped around ledges of rock and looped over several times. The metal is rusted, much like the cover outside had been. He noticed she had wrapped cloth around the length of the end. That is probably where she grips it from….still very dangerous.

“You…can lift…by yourself?” He questions.

Her eyebrows raised in a mocking way, “I lifted you, didn’t I?”

He made a sign of annoyance with his hand, arguing, “I helped.”

“Oh, did you now?” She hoots again, that same sound from before making something inside of him sing.

“More…than rock.” He huffs in a sort of finality.

She swivels her head in a sort of half agreement, turning away from him to go deeper into her nest. He decides to follow her like a shadow, curious as to how she survives living under a rock.

He must admit, whether she carved this herself or the formation was already like this, the space was impressive for an Echo. She kept a small fire going off the ground, on a natural shelf next to a worn spot in the rock. The smoke exited from there cleanly, and behind the fire was something shiny that bounced the light of the flames off of it and around the nest. It was not as much light as a torch would give off, but it was enough to give vision in the darkness. Echos did not like the dark, he remembered this from Mae. She always huddled by the fire on their journey, choosing to look away from Noa in favor of facing the darkness.

You never know what’s out there, she had said. Usually, nothing was out there that an ape had to fear, but an Echo? Echo had to fear everything. He moved on from the fire, noticing an alcove below it with woven baskets, three of them to be precise. One was filled with peaches, another with apples, and another almost empty basket that held…

“These, are grapes.” She explained, picking up the basket and plucking a fresh one out of it. She popped it into her mouth, “It’s a shame that I have to walk so far to get them, but where they grow is amazing. I go every few weeks and bring back a basket, I’d bring more but they would turn into raisins before I could finish them.”

Strange, he had never seen these before. She noticed his curiosity, offering him the basket. He hesitated a moment before taking one. It was round, and felt like it could be easily crushed, like an egg. He knew it wasn’t poisonous since she had already had one, but he was still hesitant when he allowed it to fall into his mouth. He was careful to bite it with his canines in case it was harder on the inside than it looked.

It was not hard. Juice exploded inside of his mouth, the outer layer of skin barely tougher than the inside. He could see the appeal, sweetness coating his tongue differently than a peach or an apple would. He liked it, it was a new flavor of sweet. New and different, but not unwelcome, much like the Echo in front of him.

“It’s good, huh?” She asked, looking like she already knew the answer.

He nodded, wanting more but not daring to take what she did not offer. He still felt as if he was standing somewhere he should not be, that slight level of danger not leaving the back of his brain. Looking down at the basket in her hands, she sighed, “Why don’t you finish them for me? You’ve had a rough day, seems like you could use a treat. Besides, if I don’t start working on these, they’ll spoil.”

He took the basket from her with unsure hands, looking from side to side as if he was meant to do something with it other than hold it. She turned her back to him, grabbing an apple before making her way to the corner opposite him. It was away from the fire, but he could see raised from the ground a slab of stone. Not round like a normal nest, long and rectangular like a drying table. There was cushioned material on top of the slab, many sheets of cloth piled on top. She lowered herself onto it, crossing her legs before taking a bite out of her apple.

They stared at each other for an endless amount of time it seemed. She was waiting for him to do something, but much like before, he didn’t know what. He broke eye contact with her to look at the new fruit she had presented him with. Grapes…dictionary…cackle. He was learning quite a lot from her. He plucked a few more of the fruits from the basket and shoved them into his mouth, chewing thoughtfully. Noticing her lowered position, he decided to follow her example, crouching on all fours on the ground. The basket was placed in front of him so he could grab handfuls at a time. His gaze traveled to the open mouth of the cave, the rain still coming down.

After a moment, his eyes turned back to her and found her also looking towards the outside world. She took another bite of her apple, eyes distant as she seemed to be thinking on something. He understood that, turning his attention back to the rain outside. He was not always able to stop his head from thinking sometimes. He would think of how to finish a project he had started, or come up with a solution to a problem that was not directly in front of him. Sometimes he needed that, his body and heart becoming still in a way that would help him figure out what he should do. The new responsibilities weighed on him, wanting to be the best thing for his clan but not knowing how he could accomplish that. Fixing things was easier.

Then there was Caesar. Raka’s tales would keep him up at night, wondering how one ape could make such an impact that he was still known after all this time. The first elder…possibly the wisest. His laws were simple, but even the core of his clan held similar beliefs to his original laws. And there were more…more that would be lost to time in Raka’s books that no ape could read.

Fear struck him then, would the true Caesar be lost to time? Raka was the last of his followers, trying to teach Noa in his last few days of life what he knew, but it didn’t make any sense. Raka had been a follower his whole life, surely he could not have covered everything in a few short days.

What was he to do? Caesar had a vision, living in a world where apes and humans lived side by side. That vision was lost somehow. Why? What had happened? Even Mae hadn’t filled in all of the gaps, she had given him more pieces to the puzzle, but it was incomplete. He knew, if he could complete the puzzle, he would understand the vision, the answer that would bring peace among the species. The idea alone, of apes and humans living side by side, was nice.

Like this. This was nice.

The quiet was…peaceful. She did not feel the need to speak any more than he did, so they both sat eating their fruits. They were not fighting, or trying to kill each other. In fact, she had done the exact opposite as she had saved him. She had even fed him…when was the last time someone else had given him food? Probably not since he was a youngling. Of course, food was collected in large amounts, whether it be fish or fruit, but they all had to add to the collective once they were no longer younglings.

He found his eyes returning to the Echo, taking the time to look at her while she seemed entranced by the rain. Does she even realize the compassion she showed him today? The mercy in saving his life? She was more of a follower of Caesar than he was, not knowing for certain that if their roles were reversed that he would have done the same. Maybe he could teach her of Caesar? Maybe they could learn together?

Her eyes suddenly shifted, locking with his, surprising him with the quick turn from distracted to focused. “Your eyes are burning a hole into me. If you have something to say, you should say it.”

His eyes widened in shock, and his mouth decided it didn’t want to work. All he could do was continue to stare at her, trying to put all the words he wanted to say in the right order. He found he could not, and the longer the silence stretched the more he felt the courage to tell her his thoughts slipping away.

She hummed, standing to bring the core of her apple to the fire. She placed it in carefully and watched as it burned. Her arms came to wrap around herself, and the shift in her posture told him she was uncomfortable…nervous. What had he done? Was his staring that insulting? He didn’t mean to.

A deep sigh escaped her, then she swallowed, “What happens now?”

She had not turned to face him, and he found himself even more confused. How did she expect him to answer that? Did she mean in this moment or in the future? Was she thinking about the future?

“Apes are…territorial, yes?” She asked, attempting to clarify. He grunted in way of answering, picking up the basket as he pushed himself into a standing position. She swallowed again, “Am I in your territory? I knew your clan was somewhere nearby, but I have no idea where you’re actually located. If you’re on the other side of the creek…would me staying on this side be a possibility?”

This surprised him, he took a few steps towards her, “You would…leave?”

She turned to face him then, her eyes widening. She must not have heard him stand; her uneasy gaze trailing from his feet, to the basket in his hands, and then back up to his face. Whatever nerves she felt at his closeness seemed to ease once she met his eyes, sensing no immediate danger. Still, she took a step back, fingers digging into the material of the cloth around her arms, “If you tell me to. I don’t really have a choice.”

“This is..your home.” He said, though it sounded more like a question. He returned the basket to its place, eyes squinting at the Echo’s sudden change.

She huffed, “This is not my home. This is a shelter, a safe haven…but a safe haven can be as temporary as the rainy weather. I would miss it, sure, but I can’t go against an entire clan. I’m just one person, and even if I wasn’t, it’s your world Noa…I’m just trying to survive in it.”

Her words, her body language, it pulled at something within him. Though she had said she was the only human here many times, now, in her eyes, he could see that she was truly alone. For all her courage before, she saw what he had not until this very moment. He may not have harmed her, but her very existence could potentially pose a threat to his clan, meaning that this peace between them only lasted as long as he allowed it. He had the power here, she was at his mercy.

“S-Stay…” he found himself saying. It was gruff and weak sounding. He tried again, much clearer, “Stay…there is no reason…to leave.”

“There’s not?” She takes a step towards him, “Then I’ll ask again, what happens now?”

“Do not…understand,” he was able to say this time around. “There is peace between us.”

“Yes,” she agreed. “What about your clan? Surely you have to inform them of my existence, the two other apes at the river saw me. They’ll report me to your…leader? Council? Highest ranking ape?”

He chuffed, “No one higher…than me.”

Her entire face fell at that, eyes widening, “You…wait…you are the leader of the Eagle Clan?”

His chest puffed out at that, “Yes… I am the Master of Birds…there are elders…they provide council…but it is my decision whether you… stay or go…I say…you stay.”

Her breathing seemed to become more shallow by the second. She nodded her head, walking over to her nest and sitting down. His head tilted, confused by her actions. Her eyes darted left and right, not truly seeing anything as she wrapped her arms around herself even tighter. He took small steps towards her, crouching once he was close enough to push his face into her line of sight. Only then did she truly see him.

“You are…alright?” He asked.

She opened her mouth, only to close it. She shook her head, “I’m scared.”

His head tilted again, brow furrowing, “Why?…Said you could…stay…you are safe.”

She laughed humorlessly then, the sound making him want to curl his lip. That sound was awful, like eating non-ripe fruit. “Noa, you can’t possibly know what it’s like to have everyone and everything you love ripped away from you. To have a home and a family one day, and then the next day you are alone and surrounded by death. When you are alone, like I am, there is no safe. And you…you’re…”

She did not finish, shaking her head again. He was sure he knew what she was thinking despite her hesitation to say it. He was ape. A very powerful one at that. She was human. Vastly different, and yet not so different that he did not understand her fear.

His hand nudged her knee, “Understand…more than you…think.”

Her eyes searched his then, “If our roles were reversed, how would you feel? What would you want me to do to show you that you could trust nothing but my words?”

He thought about it, only coming to one conclusion. He stood, towering over her at his full height. Her head craned to look at him, not afraid but curious about his sudden movement. He extended his arm then, waiting for her to take it. She did, very hesitantly. He pulled her up, a small gasp of surprise as his other hand came around to grip the back of her neck. She stiffened immediately, and he allowed it as she locked her other arm against his shoulder in an attempt to keep her distance from him. He would not force her, wanting her to understand on her own that there was no danger with him. He stood still, keeping his muscles loose but firm in their hold, waiting for her to relax on her own. It took her longer than he would have liked, her breathing quick and harsh as his eyes remained focused on hers.

He tried to keep his breaths even, scenting her fear now that they were this close. If he was calm, she would be calm. He hummed slightly, a few sounds he would use when around newborns. It was meant to calm them when they were meeting new apes for the first time. It seemed to work, he felt her body relax. She let out a long breath through her mouth, the arm against his shoulder going slack, trailing down his forearm before dropping all together.

He was pleased by this, but still wary as he noticed her eyes were unable to meet his. They darted from her hand in his, to his opposite arm that snaked around her shoulder, out of her line of sight, and back to his face. He would have to continue without her eye contact for now, deciding instead to close his eyes as he began to bring their foreheads together.

He needed to bend his knees to match her height, but he didn’t rush it, slowly tilting his head downwards so she would understand what was happening. She did not fight him as they met skin to skin, her breathing even and her scent neutral. He could feel her heartbeat, slightly elevated, but not much more than it had been before. Then he felt it, on her next exhale of breath she increased the pressure, resting her forehead against his. He felt a smile tug at the corner of his mouth, allowing his breathing to match hers.

“Thank you,” he breathed against her, eyes opening.

Her eyes flicked open in surprise, finally meeting his. He hadn’t realized she had closed them as well. She held his gaze then, her voice a whisper as she asked, “What?”

He slowly pulled away, watching her match his movements, “You saved my… life…have not said…thank you yet…Rude of me…you have…my trust.”

“Trust?” She parroted.

He brought their heads together again, a brief touch as he reassured, “Trust.”

She nodded slightly, and he felt the up-down glide of her skin against his. It made the hairs on his neck rise, her skin so much softer than an apes. He felt her pull away, head turning towards the cave opening before she announced, “The rain stopped.”

He pulled away, taking a step or two away from her for good measure. She didn’t seem fearful anymore, which he was grateful for, but he noticed a pink tint across her face. He shrugged it off, ape ran warmer than human. Better that he warmed her quickly in this cold, wet weather. He bent down, leaning forward to see better outside.

“I should go now,” he reluctantly admitted. “Said I would…return by nightfall…Sunset has started.”

“I’ll walk you out,” she offered. His brow rose at that, watching as she returned to the fire, grabbing the basket that still contained a decent amount of grapes. He was ashamed to say he did eat at least half of them. She made her way to the exit, carrying the basket in her arms. She ducked her head and passed through the open mouth, turning and giving him an expectant look, “Whenever you’re ready, Master of Birds.”

Her teasing put him at ease, deciding this ‘walking him out’ was an Echo custom. He reached the mouth of the cave, but before he could bend she thrust the basket into his arms, something she was in the habit of doing it seemed. He chuffed, “Ate more…than enough.”

She brought a single shoulder up, “Then take them with you, share with your clan. Or, save them all for yourself. You can return the basket to me the next time we see each other.”

Next time.

He hooted, “Have no choice…but to share…if I take them now…Sunset Brother will…scent food before…I step into village...he is like…vulture.”

The response he received made him stand up straighter, proud to hear the cackle she released. She let out a contented sigh as she stepped away to make room for him to leave. He lowered himself then, ready to depart on a joyous note, but stopped short when he scented something familiar.

He straightened, scenting the air.

“Noa?” The Echo questioned, “What’s wrong?”

Anaya…and Soona…but where…SOONA!

Without realizing what he was doing, the basket was flung from his grasp, and a full open-mouthed snarl ripped from him. He heard as well as saw the Echo scream when he lunged for her, grasping her shoulders and pinning her to the ground below him. The whizzing of the weapon past his ear gave him enough time to shield the Echo’s left side as rock met stone and exploded into many shards around them.

He heard Anaya and Soona then, hooting and hollering as they made their way towards them. He sighed through his nose, Soona was a little too good with her sling. He remembered the Echo below him then, raising himself off of her to make sure she was not hurt.

The sight below him hurt worse than if Soona had struck him. When he had taken her to the ground, he had immediately framed his hands around her so he would not crush her. He could also leverage his body more to one side to protect her from any falling rock. In that time, she had brought her arms up to wrap around her head and her throat in a protective manner. Her legs were curled inward and he could see her body trembling.

To make matters worse, though it seemed such a small thing, her body was wet again from the soaked ground beneath her. He remained frozen, unsure what to do. Anaya and Soona were practically on top of them now, the sounds of their footfalls pounding against the ground.

“Noa!” Soona gasped, “You are…alright!”

Anaya added, “We saw…you go into Echo nest…but did not see…come out!”

Before they could get close enough to touch him, or the Echo, he screeched out several warning hoots, shocking both of his friends into stillness. Unfortunately, it caused the Echo to flinch and curl in closer to herself. He sighed through his nose then, leaning down to nudge her shoulder with his knuckles. She let out a high pitched whimper that made him quickly tear his hand away from her.

Shit.

Anaya grunted then, forcing his attention back to his Sunset Brother. Without making a sound, which was rare for Anaya, he signed, Echo is scared. Need to move away. Slowly. Do not touch again.

He normally wouldn’t mind being advised by Anaya or Soona, but at that moment something inside of him bared down in his gut. He wanted to ignore him, he wanted to tell them both to leave, that the Echo would be safe with him. She was scared of them, not him.

But then he saw Anaya’s expression, and he was reminded of that night his brother had admitted to being scared in Proximus’ kingdom. Whatever she was going through, Anaya would understand better than anyone else. His head also reminded him of the events that took place before he and the Echo found themselves on the ground. He had reacted, like an ape would, but with no time to explain, the Echo probably only heard his snarl and saw his canines as he lunged for her. She was scared of them right now, all of them.

He did as Anaya instructed, backing away and motioning for them to take the same amount of steps back. Soona, looking guilty, signed, Did not mean to scare her. Thought you were trapped or hurt.

He quickly signed back, Not a threat. Saved my life. Could be helpful to Eagle Clan.

Soona hesitated then, signing back, She is Echo. Could be dangerous. Helpful how?

Not sure yet. His hands slowed before he signed with vigor, Something tells me that if we trust her we will find out.

Soona huffed through her nose, Do not understand. Another Echo. Could end badly like the last one. Will trust her for now. She saved your life.

He clasped his hand on Soona’s shoulder, her hand coming up to hold his. Trust, just like he had told the Echo. This is why he trusted Soona and Anaya above all other apes, with the exception of his mother. Speaking of Anaya…

He tensed and snorted his nose at Anaya, who had snuck away during his and Soona’s silent conversation. He was in front of the Echo now, who had not moved a muscle outside of her trembling from the position she had been in. He moved towards Anaya, but Soona held him back, signing to him, Wait.

Anaya, crouched on all fours, moved to his belly in a similar way he would sleep sometimes. His face was close to the Echo’s, or at least where it would be if it was not for her arms. Anaya made small hooting and humming noises, similar to what he had done back in her nest. Anaya’s sounded far more playful than his had, where he was trying to soothe, Anaya was trying to encourage.

He was stunned when he saw her slide her arm away from her eyes, the one covering her neck soon following. Anaya hooted happily but did not move from his spot. He was sure he had never seen his Sunset Brother hold this still since they were both newborns. The Echo looked Anaya up and down in the face, and something in her eyes must have alerted Anaya that her attention was his. He saw Anaya slowly rise up into a sitting position, almost losing his balance but hooting happily when he caught himself.

Then the Echo smiled, easing her body up into a sitting position. She didn’t quite mirror Anaya, she was still guarded in her place on the ground, but she had opened up to his noises. Her eyes blinked rapidly, for what purpose he wasn’t sure. Once she was done, he saw her take in the scene around her. Her gaze swept from Anaya, to Soona, and then to him, and something in him softened when he noticed she visibly relaxed more when her eyes found him.

He nodded towards her, attempting to assure her that Anaya was fine. Said Ape noticed her new posture, looking between her and Noa before pointing to him, “That is Noa…and Soona…and Anaya.”

Anaya pointed at himself to finish off the trio, hooting happily as she seemed to follow. She swallowed, on edge before she breathed out, “Hello, Soona. Hello, Anaya.”

Soona practically fell over, looking to him as if he had been untrue with her. He supposed he had not explicitly informed her about the Echo’s ability to talk. At this point, meeting two humans already that could talk, this should not be such a surprise to her. Anaya took it in stride, raising a hand in greeting, “Hello, Echo.”

[freezingmcxn]

hey.. how you doing.. can you maybe make a lil thingy about toby like you did with the eyeless jack thing I'm just really focused on Toby right know idk why but like write it however you want I just want to see your writing on how you rhing he looks and acts take your time you dont even have to do it I love you I love you i love you I love you I love you I love you I lovw you

TOBY ROGERS APPEARANCE (AU)

AHH YES I CAN my motivation is so bad but these always make me really happy and are easy to write so OFC ILY!!

Toby’s hair is a pale, sun-bleached brown, almost blonde, falling to his neck and curling around his ears.

Naturally curly, his hair has become dry and unkempt from bathing in river water and using cheap soap. His curls puff out, lacking any defined shape.

Occasionally, in a fit of frustration, he shaves it all off or trims it, often in a dingy ass gas station bathroom, depending on how much he despises it at the time.

Standing around 5’7” (5’8” in boots), Toby’s constant slouching makes him look as if he might topple over at any moment.

His most noticeable feature is the gash on his mouth, though it’s not as large as one might think.

The wound is just big enough to expose his upper teeth, which are rotted and decayed. Despite its size, the injury reeks of infection, with pus occasionally oozing from the diseased tissue.

Toby often picks at it, making the wound larger over time.

Originally, it was a small bite he inflicted on himself, but his constant fiddling turned it into the gaping wound it is now.

He no longer bites at it, disgusted by the taste of his own decaying flesh. He usually covers it with a large plaster—often supplied by Jack or just lets the air hit it, depending on his mood really.

Toby has a small gold hoop earring in his left ear, a relic from a day when he and Lyra decided to pierce it with a needle. He didn’t feel the pain but kept the earring all these years, occasionally fiddling with it as a reminder of her.

His trusty hatchets dangle from a hardware belt around his waist, always clattering when he moves, a sound he makes sure to emphasise because he knows it irritates people.

The hatchets are mismatched, one is large with a dark oak handle, carved with doodles, while the other is smaller, with a plastic handle, but much sharper—often the one he uses for the first hit.

Both handles are wrapped in duct tape, one of his go-to solutions for everything.

Toby’s skin is sallow, marked by long exposure to the sun. Freckles and moles speckle his body.

His hands are scarred and battered, with half of his left pinky finger missing, and his right hand covered in self-inflicted bite marks. His palms are calloused, his nails ragged—some bruised black, others completely gone.

His teeth are a mess—sharp, chipped, and broken, with gaps where some have been knocked out from fights or lost to decay.

Toby doesn’t bother brushing his teeth, as he often forgets or simply doesn’t care. Eating people doesn’t help either, wrecking his teeth further.

He typically wears the same tattered hoodie for as long as he can stand it, only washing it at a laundromat when absolutely necessary (when it’s bloody and stinky).

He also has an old Joy Division t-shirt layered over a white long-sleeve, both full of holes, though Toby doesn’t mind, he wears it on warmer days.

He’s been wearing the same pair of jeans for five years, patching them up whenever needed—he’s surprisingly good at sewing thanks to Lyra.

On his feet are either old Timberland boots, once his father’s, now worn with a hole in the sole, or a beat-up pair of red Converse, duct-taped at the top.

He alternates between them.

Toby owns a fleece jacket, fingerless gloves, and two beanies—one grey and one black.

The black one is torn and faded, but he likes the way it adds to his look.

He carries everything in a worn blue Jansport backpack he once stole from a kid at a bus stop, where he rams all his clothes and supplies.

I think that’s enough 😭😭 I rambled I’m sorry, I didn’t want to say too much because I fear he won’t be as interesting but yeah! Hope you like him :)

[mumms-the-word]

May prompts: I need borrowed clothing involving either ardynn/halsin or freyr/minthara

I was going to say “bold of you to assume Freyr can fit into Minthara’s clothes” and then I was like “oh wait” not that Halsin can fit in Ardynn’s clothes either but that’s what my brain gave my first lol

Ugh both are so good how am I supposed to CHOOSE? that’s a rhetorical question I know exactly what I’m gonna do

Edit: Also I’ve been informed that this event is meant to be written about other people’s Tavs and Durges but for the purposes of this request I'm just going to respond with a normal little fic!

But because I appreciate YOU I'm including some of your awesome photos of Ardynn in this :>

Story under the cut!! Warning, it is super silly.

~*~*~

Ardynn and Halsin had finally settled into their new home in the Reclaimed Lands, making a home out of a haphazard cabin that was formerly the ruins of a farmstead. To say that Ardynn loved her new life here was an understatement. She and Halsin had worked together to patch up the walls of the cabin, using a combination of old boards and climbing vines, mortal ingenuity and natural solutions. Thaniel had helped raise the collapsed roof of one room by growing a tree inside the structure, allowing dappled sunlight to stream in through the branches of the tree and the hole in the ceiling. Their home was a living home, built up and bending around a healthy tree and its roots, with flowering vines creeping up the sides and sunlight streaming in through the windows and roof. It was everything she dreamed it could be.

On this day, Ardynn was continuing to work on their home, arranging furniture and organizing their few (but growing) personal possessions. Halsin was out with the children, ambling about as a bear to give them rides on his back and play with them, and she didn't expect him back for some time. She sat cross-legged on the floor, folding away her clothes and his, thinking idly to herself that they would have to obtain warmer clothes for the winter.

After a moment, she picked up Halsin's leather and green fabric shirt, running her thumb over the patterns carved into the leather. He had taken the Emerald Grove emblem from the front a few days ago, so the front looked almost...empty. She wondered if there was something she could replace it with.

As she was examining the shirt, she noticed other markings she'd never noticed before. Pressed into the leather, near the collar, were little magic symbols, runes that were somehow familiar. After a moment of studying them, she realized they made up an enchantment to disappear or morph the shirt during his wildshapes, so that when he turned into a bear, or perhaps something even larger, or even stopped wildshaping halfway through to become a kind of hybrid man, the shirt wouldn't just rip into shreds.

She wondered...

She glanced over her shoulder, as if he might be walking into the door at any moment, and then stood up. She pulled off her own shirt and then hesitated, standing in nothing but her trousers, feeling silly all of a sudden. But the curiosity was greater, and she pulled Halsin's shirt easily over her head.

For a moment, it was comically large on her, the armholes alone big enough to fit several arms of her size instead of one. But then, just as she suspected, the shirt shrank down, fitting itself to her body until it pressed against her breasts and ribs. A perfect fit.

She moved to stand in front of a dingy-looking glass they had recovered from some wreckage a few days ago, turning this way and that. She had to admit, she looked pretty good with Halsin's shirt hugging her body. Add a few leather arm straps and maybe...

In the looking glass, she saw movement near the open front door and whirled just in time to see Halsin ducking into their home. She froze and then he froze, staring at her with eyes wide with surprise.

She didn't know what to say, and she could feel her face getting as red as her hair. This had to be the most embarrassing thing she'd ever done in front of him, bar none. But she couldn't move or unstick her tongue from the roof of her mouth.

He blinked once, twice, and then lifted a hand as if going to gesture to her. "My heart. Is that..."

"I can explain," she blurted out, and that just made things worse because no, she couldn't actually explain. She wasn't just wearing his shirt, she was wearing his shirt that was now shrunk down and shaped as if it was tailor-made to her body.

Halsin closed the door behind him--something they rarely did except when they didn't want to be disturbed--and took a few slow steps forward. He stopped just a foot away, looking down at her. She held her breath as his eyes roved over her form, following the patterns on the leather and fabric as they curved over and around her body.

"It suits you," he said quietly. Huskily. Her eyes widened slightly as she realized that the look in his eyes was no longer confusion or surprise but...hunger. He reached up and skimmed his fingertips along her side, causing her to shiver. "In fact, I think you wear it better than I do."

She swallowed, trying to keep track of her thoughts. "I was just...I saw the enchantment runes and I..."

He didn't seem to hear her. He smoothed his hand down her arm, seemingly distracted by her. "I am tempted to let you keep it. But, I fear, it would become a distraction."

"A distraction?" she breathed.

A faint smile graced his lips and he leaned in, bringing his lips down close to her ear. "I shall be unable to think of anything but you in my clothing, my heart. Even now, it is difficult to focus."

Her heart began to race in her chest. As he pulled away to look down at her, she met him gaze for gaze and found herself torn between wanting to diffuse the situation (it was the middle of the day) and wanting to tempt him further.

Her baser nature won, in the end.

She tilted her head, trailing her fingers along the bottom hem of the shirt. "Should I...take it off?"

She felt a little proud of the way his eyes followed her fingers, only to glance back to up to meet hers, hazel eyes already faintly glowing with a thin ring of gold.

"Yes."

~*~*~

More pictures to cool everyone off 🥰

[redstrewn]

Hi! Its musa :) This is kinda random but i suddenly came up with hc’s on how to LI’s live. (With the correct pronouns😭)

Mhin

- i think mhin has a small appartment somewhere in lowtown. Its likely relatively nice bc Leander helped finding it. Leander offered paying the rent but mhin refused.

- Mhin has the absolute minimal amount of necessities in his living space. They likely dont rlly stay there much (only to sleep, eat, and wash). I think mhin prefers doing smth bc they seem rlly restless to me. They probs dont consider their appartment a home. They have added extra locks on the door tho.

- They dont clean a lot, but the place doesnt get dirty either bc they dont use it much. So its overal quite clean

- Maybe they have a bit of a shiny shit hoard somewhere idk (crow stuff)

- They own some cat toys and items to take care of them. I think mhin occasionally takes care of strays when the animals get sick.

Ais

- he lives in the building by the seaspring

- The floors are probs tatami,, so he has to take of those boots hahaha

- Ais probably only has a minimal amount of furniture, but a lot of small items he’s collected (maybe stuff he kept from those choosing to drink from the spring, as a memento :(

- I think the place is a bit messy. He arranges/cleans as it strikes his fancy,, he doesnt have a strict routine

- He probs tries to keep his place relatively neat tho. Ais seems like he tries to take care of his mental health (not isolating himself,, beating ppl to stave off the rage. Hes not the best at it tho) so its an organized mess but a mess still.

- The style of the home is likely classic japanese? I think the furniture is probs pretty old and shows some signs of aging

- I think he sleeps in a futon. Maybe princess sometimes naps with him there :)

Vere

- vere is caged, but its evidently a golden cage (proof: his fit)

- He lives in a fancy place in hightown and doesnt pay rent. He doesnt own the place,, its provided by the senobium. He likely doesnt live in a complex with normal folks tho,, i dont think they would like that. So its likely a senobium building or just a small home. (Still larger than an appartment)

- The place is kept quite clean,, vere is fussy about that

- The place is like a fancy hoarder house (think howls room in the ghibli movie). Idk i just think he has at least one hoarder room filled with a bunch of fancy stuff

- He has place dedicated to art in his place

- His bed is rlly comfy with a lot of pillows

- Everything smells nice

- Theres probably some chewing marks on some of the furniture,, a product of a shitty shift :(

Leander

- if he owns a normal appartment , then its not where he rlly ‘lives’ and is just for show

- ‘Living’ is a relative term. He sleeps and washes in his surface appartment. Hes probably thoroughly enchanted the place to keep out intruders so he feels save staying the night there (plus hes arrogant)

- But leander lives when others can see him, so he has no connection to the place and he kinda hates being there

- I think leander has a hidden living space, maybe underground or connected to his fake home somehow. Or he has a secret room or smth

- His fake living space is perfect but quite standard. The hidden place is an absolute mess. Like a depression hole.

- Its full of stuff but its all functional. A lot of books and artifacts. The place is messy and not rlly clean tbh. Leander would rather research or train instead.

- I think we’re gonna find this place and hes gonna lock us in here or smth <3 (swoons)

Kuras

- kuras doesnt need to eat, sleep, or wash,, so its just a place to be alone and relax a bit

- He does have a bed and all that stuff, but he doesnt use it much

- The place is rlly neat and clean. Its also quite minimalist but it feels warm somehow (its kuras himself :)

- I think his place somehow gets a lot of sun despite its placement. Like in a supernatural way

- He has a lot of books, some medical, some on history (he stole them from the senobium library)

- He has a hidden endearing side, but i wonder how that will manifest. I think he has a hidden plushy collection bc he thinks toys are fascinating or smth :)

I love the idea that mhin has a stash of shiny shit like a crow lol. And that theyd reason its for emergency money purposes or sth. I also picture leander's real room would be "damn bitch, you live like this?" levels of catastrophic, like a tornado hit it. Thank you for these hcs

[gainerstories]

Lifetime Supply: Chapter 4

Written by: Gainer Stories

Lifetime Supply is a collaborative story penned by Gainer Stories and Gaining Fiction.

Ryan didn’t notice there was a hole in the crotch of his pants until he spilled Taco Bell on himself on the way home from school. There was no denying these jeans were getting snug. Hell, he could barely even button them. But for how long was he walking around with a solid three inches of thigh fat bulging out? 

In the last several weeks Ryan had undeniably gained a good deal of weight. Nothing was fitting right, everything was jiggling, and he was constantly hungry. It almost felt like that damn Adesco box was conspiring against him. No matter how many times he tried to cancel with that customer service representative, Luke, more boxes showed up with better and better treats. 

Nevertheless, Ryan knew he couldn’t blame everything on Adesco. Perhaps the snacking had kickstarted his weight gain, but it wasn’t forcing him to pig out like he had been. For some reason he was simply hungry. He wanted food all the time, the more the better. Pizza, ice cream, burgers, burritos, he couldn’t get enough and the weight was catching up fast. 

It wasn’t only his wardrobe that was pointing out how chubby he was getting. Ryan was also making a concerted effort to go on dates in an effort to get over his ex. In fact, he had just left one when he noticed the tear in his jeans. The guy was attractive and nice, but seemed uninterested and now Ryan was worried if the fact he was busting out of his jeans might have contributed to that. 

Returning to the apartment, Ryan tossed the Taco Bell wrappers into the neighbors trash so that Ahmed wouldn’t see them. He didn’t know why, but he tried to hide his piggishness from his roommate, even though Ahmed often joined in. In fact, Ahmed had put on some weight himself, but he was also gaining muscle so it was less noticeable. 

“Woah there chubs,” Ahmed greeted Ryan as soon as he walked through the door. “Was gonna see if you wanted to go in on some wings, but looks like you just ate.” 

“Why do you say that?” Ryan was incredulous. 

“Well besides the fact your pants are literally bursting at the seams, you have a sauce packet stuck to your ass.”

“Christ,” Ryan muttered and grabbed a snack from one of the many Adesco boxes littering the house. “I guess it’s that obvious. Maybe that’s why five out five dates won’t text me back. Am I really that fat?”

“You’re looking thick my man, but don’t sweat it. It suits you!” 

“I gotta get out of these pants. I’ll get in on that order, just double whatever you’re getting. We have any beer?” 

Ryan grabbed a beer from the fridge and headed to his room. He felt great relief removing his denim and tossing them in the trash. Unfortunately, even the sweatpants he put on felt a little snug. Looking in the mirror, they left little to the imagination. Ryan’s had definitely gotten cakier, and the elastic waistband sunk beneath his muffin top. Ryan resolved he’d have to purchase some new clothes once again tomorrow morning. But tonight, he and Ahmed would feast. 

Ryan wobbled through the fast fashion chain browsing the racks. He had no idea what size he was anymore. He didn’t even know what would look good on his body. After multiple humiliating experiences in the dressing room, he settled on the fact that it was best to buy a little bit larger than he needed. The extra room would conceal the weight he gained, and besides the clothes were cheap and would probably shrink in the wash anyway. 

It was the same cashier at the counter as last time, Antoine. Antoine couldn’t keep his eyes off Ryan. He glanced at the college student’s swollen midsection every few seconds, stirring insecurity in Ryan. Was he being judged? Did this guy remember him? Was it embarrassing he was buying such large sizes? By the time the transaction was over, Ryan was sweating bullets and made a beeline for the food court to quell his anxiety. After a corn dog and cinnamon roll he was headed back home. 

Unloading his purchases, Ryan began to doubt himself. Why did he buy horizontal stripes? He should have known better. And he accidentally grabbed a button up in the wrong size. He had gotten this specifically to wear to the LGBT mixer that evening with Ahmed, and although it fit Ryan was afraid it was a little too snug.

Luckily a cold breeze came in that evening and Ryan was able to cover up by throwing a zippered hoodie over the button up. Standing next to Ahmed, Ryan’s insecurity heightened. Ahmed was developing broad shoulders and baby biceps that framed the swelling at his midsection, whereas Ryan’s belly pushed outward dramatically. 

Once they got inside, Ryan felt a bit of relief. Most of the guys there were gawky and awkward. In fact, no one really caught his eye. He originally hoped he might get a date or two out of this event, but Ryan was quickly discovering the only perk was the free food. Catering was supplied by one of his favorite Mediterranean spots in town and Ryan couldn’t get enough.

He found himself piling his plate high and returning for seconds and thirds before continuing to graze for the rest of the night. Occasionally Ahmed would leave Ryan to flirt with some boys on the dance floor, and so Ryan just stationed himself at the buffet. As he was chomping down a stuffed grape leaf, Ryan spied a hot guy from across the room. 

The man was fairly fit with broad shoulders and a defined chest, floppy brown hair, and great legs. Ryan washed down his food with a drink and took a deep breath. Looking down, he became self conscious again. The buttons on his shirt were straining. He couldn’t believe it. They were fine at the beginning of the night! 

Still, Ryan had forced himself to go in for the kill. Guzzling a rum and coke he approached the sexy stranger who only became hotter up close. Just as Ryan was about to say hello the guy turned to the bathroom and waved. Ryan’s eyes followed the action, and his heart sank. The guy was waving at none other than his ex, Jason. Ryan was trapped as Jason approached and stared at him oddly. 

“Oh my god, Ryan, I didn’t recognize you at first. You’re looking… good?” 

The question mark at the end of that sentence made Ryan want to scream. 

“You look good,” Jason reiterated, unsure who he was trying to convince. “This is my boyfriend, Luke.” 

“Nice to meet you,” Luke said and shook Ryan’s hand with a twinkle in his eye. 

Ryan’s head was spinning. Was this the same guy from Adesco? It couldn’t be…

[mal1ntent]

You know, at the start I was pretty against the whole ‘Matrix theory’ where they’re in some sort of virtual reality, it felt like a copout and that it invalidated characters’ experiences, but as more things are added to this story the more it feels like it’s the only way I can feasibly take in all the plot holes and make them make sense. Of course there’s going to be improv rp mess ups, that comes with this brand of storytelling, but god the contradictions on a larger scale are just too much for me to rationalize. And I get it, too many cooks in the kitchen, there’s a lot of people collaborating on this story, so this isn’t really a complaint or anything. I just think for me personally, no matter what gets canonized or not, I will always be headcanoning that this is a fake reality designed to experiment on the psychology of the residents. And I mean a lot of the themes within the story fit with it, so as of now the theory fits pretty snugly, but even if somehow we get complete confirmation that it’s false, I just don’t think I’ll be able to deal with all the contradictions it implies. And the room to explore all the implications of it being a virtual reality is also very appetizing

However I still don’t like invalidating character experiences too much so I choose to believe that most memories from before the island are real, but can definitely be fucked with and/or erased completely. So characters like Bagi and Cellbit that “grew up” on the island just have their memories altered, likely everything would be accurate except for anything relating to the federation. I like to think that the home they had is the same, it was just virtually reconstructed here to suit the fake story implanted in their heads. Also this would imply that EVERYTHING is a pawn in the bigger picture, the rebellion, the federation, even the eye guy are all controlled by a bigger entity or force just playing with toys to see what happens (though I imagine it’s more professional than that). But that’s quite the big assumption so I’ll leave it at that

For characters like Baghera or Jaiden there’s room for a lot of cool concepts, but I won’t ramble too much. I guess at the end of the day it all boils down to something that has absolute power over their minds and the world they are stuck in going “wouldn’t it be funny if this happened/I wonder how it would play out if this was the case” which honestly is kind of just a representation of the content creators and the admins themselves which then gets really meta but is also really cool within it’s own right and I said I wouldn’t ramble but here we are

Welp.

Hope this was coherent enough, and if it is please let me know what you think about it! I’d love to hear anyone’s thoughts on this stuff, there’s so much more to consider with it, like the eggs and the workers and the codes. And honestly if it were to ever become fully canon I think it would have to be handled very delicately and presented in a way that doesn’t just feel like a copout, which is honestly why I prefer it as a headcanon for now, and if it is actually currently true within the admins’ heads then I hope it continues to be subtly hinted at and maybe never confirmed. A good story has mystery that doesn’t need to be answered, there’s no better conclusion to a mystery than one you as a consumer of the story come up with yourself (like exactly what I’m doing now!)

ah I never know how to conclude something like this so I end up making a conclusion that rivals the length of the actual post

hm

okay well thanks for reading this far down! <3 you’ve got great resilience to written out brain mush

and uh I guess there’s only one real way to end this off

I hope you enjoy the island :)

[sacrificethemtothesquid]

Ssp top hits - AO3 era

Tagged by the lovely and talented @thebyrchentwigges, who is a gorgeous human being I adore.

The preamble: So, wanted to get some hiatus rec lists going and encourage some self promo in my friends so how about sharing your top fics no matter how big or small - give us the links to your wonderful words with the Most hits/Most kudos/Most comments/Most bookmarks/Most words/Least words.

Sadly it has been AGES since I've touched fic, but this is a good opportunity to go poke through unfinished projects. (She says, fully aware of the unfinished novel burning a hole in her browser tabs...)

Most Hits/Most Kudos/Most Comments: The Length and Breadth of Fury Road. Mad Max: Fury Road, Max/Furiosa.

Max leaves, and Furiosa stays.

I posted the first chapter of this exactly two weeks after the movie came out when there were like six other fics in existence anywhere, so I was very very lucky to catch the new-fandom wave of interest. (Why did you wait two whole weeks, you might ask? Chop chop, time's a-wasting. I was too busy seeing the movie four times in the theater, but after that fourth screening, my poor husband was like, "...can we maybe see something else?") This fic defined my entire life for three years, introduced me to some of the most amazing people I've ever met, and my life has never been the same.

Most Words: The Moth. Horizon: Zero Dawn, Aloy/Erend.

Moths seek out light, he thinks, and die for it. Maybe they know, but they still can’t stay away. He feels like that, a slow, inexorable urge to set himself on fire in the wild blaze of her hair.

I would have bet money that L&B would make a complete sweep of this, but apparently Moth edges it out by almost 4k. I'm not as proud of this one, because I don't think it's written as well. It spanned the year I was in a protracted bipolar breakdown, including the period where I was in an intensive outpatient program, so while it did a good job keeping me afloat, when I go back and reread it, it's very obvious (to my eye) I wasn't at the top of my game. It was great fun though.

Least Words, overall: DAI Drabbles. Dragon Age Inquisition, gen.

Random drabbles of my headcanon. I reserve the right to move them to other works as they fit.

Technically, these are not drabbles (not exactly 100 words, but ah well) and they're not technically their own fic, just fragments of the larger DAI epic that I never quite got into. (You can thank Fury Road for that abrupt pivot.) I have a ton more DAI that I never uploaded, so maybe at some point I'll get bored one day and tackle that disappointing mess.

Least Words, completed fic: The Things Left Behind. Dragon Age Inquisition, Blackwall/Female Trevelyan.

“Thom Rainier?” she hears herself say, her voice calm and collected and very, very far away. “No. I didn’t know him at all.”

I never would have let my Inquisitor have anything other than a happy ending, but some itches just need to be scratched.

Now, for the tagging! I am so shit at picking people, because I know SO MANY excellent fic writers and I have no idea who has already seen this meme. So, at complete random: @silver-dream89 @aubade @theherocomplex @fuckyeahisawthat and anyone else who is even vaguely interested. Love you all!

[redrobin-detective]

i just relistened to rabbit heart (raise it up) with billy in mind after reading how quickly the glaumor fades and your are so right that is such a billy batson song

I think I got into the Florence the very first time I fell down the Billy rabbit hole (see what I did there ;) )

I know it's about Alice in Wonderland but the idea of the whimsical fantasy world becoming dark works for Bill as well.

The looking glass, so shiny and new / how quickly the glamour fades is the opening lyrics and it fits Billy so well. Being Cap is cool and amazing at first but then it's lies, PTSD, struggles to find time for his own human needs when the whole world needs him. I chose the later line for the fic bc, to those who are looking, it's fairly obvious that what they see of Marvel isn't entirely real. Just a glamour, a fantasy.

You made a deal, and now it seems you have to offer up / But will it ever be enough? Billy agreed, even under duress without full knowledge of what was happening, to be the new Champion but is slowly realizing just how heavy that burden is. And the bean! The utter bean isn't concerned about himself but if HE will be enough for the world my heart.

We raise it up, this offering. The Wizard did knowingly sacrifice Billy's peace and potentially his life to be another tool of the God's which goes into the next lyric.

This is a gift, it comes with a price / Who is the lamb and who is the knife? We talked about how Marvel is both a gift and a curse but I love the implications of the next. In the same breath, Billy is both an innocent and a weapon. As Billy he needs protecting, as Marvel he can beat down some of the League's heaviest hitters. So as the result of his mixed blessing he has forsaken his ability to be solely protected in order to become something dangerous.

Here I am, a rabbit hearted girl / I must become a lion hearted girl. The contrast of these two lyrics reflects that. He cannot afford to be the scared little rabbit. He must be the lion now, be the defender of others. And who is defending him? No one because he's all on his own.

Before I make the final sacrifice. And this.... In some versions (@cannotgiveafuck Work Life Balance is my favorite example) Billy doesn't face Black Adam so there's this sense of anticipation. He knows he needs to fight this great evil and he's not sure he's going to or even supposed to prevail. Maybe he only gets this power and magic to clean up the gods' messes and take each other out. Either way, I think Billy half expects to die facing his fated rival.

And in the spring I shed my skin / And it blows away with the changing wind. I liken this to his physical transformation. Of there being a sense of relief in Billy being able to shed his small, weak, useless child body and become godlike. But like everything else in the song and about Billy, it is just an illusion. Cap may be bigger and stronger but he's still Bill at heart. He doesn't know that's where his strength truly lies.

The rest of the lyrics kind of repeat from that point but every time I hear this song I get Massive Billy feels. A lot of FatM song's have that dark fantasy feel to them but this one seems to strike at the heart of Billy's story and conflict.

I'm stealing another lyric from this song, Gold in the Sunlight for the larger Billy fic Ive been writing on and off. If I'm being honest, the fic last night was a bit of an attempt to jumpstart me back into it.

[shraqsmuses]

Would Sarah ever get fat for the money?

"Realistically? Nah. Hypothetically? I could! I'm sure that, regardless of how much weight my client would want me to gain, I could easily burn all of it away with my usual exercises! Jogging a few miles across sidewalks, hopping over fences, running up and across walls and swinging on any branches if they happen to be nearby... I think Bibi would have to actively grab onto my shoulders and push me down if she wants to get any of the money I'm working toward. With how much weight I would gain, I bet she would have more to grab and wouldn't need to push me down as much! She would have more parts of my body she could grab onto as well. Heeheeheheheh~ I would have to wear something that'll always fit me no matter how far my body ends up sticking out! As for what exactly I would wear... Hey, Bibi! If I were to become fat enough to outgrow all of my clothes, what kind of clothes would you imagine me in when I'm struggling to tuck my breasts into my bra and my stomach keeps pooling out of my panties?"

"Hmm? Weren't you worried about gaining weight earlier? I know how particular you can be with clothes that aren't disguises. There's your daily exercises too."

"I was! It was mostly because I was worried I wouldn't ever fit into my old clothes again but I think I would be able to exercise enough to wear them again, even if they'll be damper than they previously wore. I might end up missing wearing my new clothes too... If I knew what exactly they were. Can you tell me what they might be?"

"Oh. I see. Hmm. I believe you would end up wearing... A button-up dress shirt without a vest whose buttons are constantly straining against their slots and a pair of slacks that, despite being oversized at first, would somehow manage to perfectly hug against your huge, flabby thighs, clearly exposing their flabby, rotund forms."

"So you think I would wear the same clothes I'm wearing right now but larger?"

"Would you want to wear anything else?"

"Well... I was thinking of wearing a plain white shirt with short sleeves that would drape over my thighs and a pair of blue... No, black sweatpants. Maybe I would wear pantyhose underneath them if you manage to think of a way to make me exclusively gain weight around my thighs~"

"... Pantyhose underneath sweatpants?"

"Torn apart with small holes that are all separated with patches of saliva~"

"Stick with white panties."

"And miss out on the adorable face you'll make when you see my pantyhose patterned with verticals stripes that have all been stretched into vastly spacious pillars~? Maybe they should have hearts between them so you can see how wide they'll become too."

"... You should at least wear lace panties if you're planning to wear something that intricate."

"What color would catch your attention the most then?"

"I'll leave that to you. From the way you talked about it, you seem to have a pretty good idea of what you want to wear if you were ever to gain weight for financial reasons."

"I do? Hmm... I guess I do, don't I? I'll have to see which one of our ideas would make blush harder."

"Is there a reason you're concerned about making me blush with what you want to wear when you gain weight?"

"I just think it would be cute if I could make you blush by wearing a different set of clothes than you're used to, especially with the way you answered my question earlier."

"I... See. Mmm. If that's the case, you shouldn't be that concerned about what you want to wear regardless of whether or not you're... Becoming..."

"Becoming what? Prettier? Cuddlier~? Don't tell me you think I would become uglier if I were to--"

"NEVER say you'll become uglier if you gain weight ever again."

"Ahahahaha, geez, alright, alright~ I'm glad you were there to stop there to ward off that terrible thought that would've desecrated my innate beauty if it were to slash its crooked, miasmic talons across it."

"I just hope we won't ever have to see it again."

"We won't! Given how I was the one who summoned it in the first place, I think I might need to apologize to you."

"It's fine, Sarah. I just want to make sure you still love yourself regardless of how much you might change."

"Mhmhmhm. You shouldn't worry about that as much as you don't want me to worry about what I should wear after I outgrow my old clothes~"

[ladyswillmart]

Serpent Isle Companion #6: Stefano Base Stats:

Strength: 17

Dexterity: 12

Intelligence: 19

Combat: 2

Default Combat Style: Random

Carrying (16/34 Stones): Backpack x1 (Filari x8, Guilders x12, Bandages x2); Sword x1; Plate Armor x1; Leather Leggings x1; Plate Boots x1

❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧✤☙☙☙☙☙☙☙☙☙☙☙☙☙☙☙☙

“Well, do make yourself at home, Juh-selle,” said Stefano as he crossed his own little Piece of Hell, as it were. His middling hearth provided adequate warmth and light, which down here were components of survival as fundamental as breathable air and food. He seemed to have plenty of those as well, but the latter in particular. In fact, judging by the spread on the table he had somehow dragged into this space, Stefano, the notorious Dandy Thief of Moonshade, was about to tuck into a relatively substantial breakfast.

Giselle had to wonder how much of that epithet was truly warranted. She had a feeling she would probably find out more sooner than later.

Meanwhile, Stefano pulled out the accompanying chair—a rather burnt-out thing that had clearly seen far better breakfasts—and very gingerly settled his backside into it, hoping to distribute his weight in a way that did not send him crashing through the large hole in its seat. He made it all look so casual and natural, Giselle half expected him to produce this morning’s copy of The  Moonshade Daily Herald and start digging around for a pencil so he could do the Junior Jumble.

Instead, he produced a blunt but almost serviceable butter knife from his coat pocket, then glanced back at the woman, apologetically. “Alas, I only found the one chair so far, madame. But feel free to sit on that bed,” he said, adding a wink. “I promise I won’t try anything funny.”

“Not on the first date, right?”

“Oh ho!” He laughed, giving the blade a little swirl through the air. “Brassy one, aren’tcha? That’s alright, I like a little brass. A little bottle, eh? Stars know you need it to survive down here, for sure.”

The offered bed looked an even more unappealing prospect than the chair, an unimaginably filthy pallet that traded the barest implication of comfort for a very heavily foreshadowed encounter with any given genre of vermin.

Giselle knelt before the hearth instead, and held out her hands to bask in its radiance.

“How long have you been down here?” she asked. “That robot out front said since yesterday when I got here, and that was two days ago. I think.”

“Hard to tell, yes? Luckily I still had my pocketwatch on me when Filbercio bunged me into the pit like so much rubbish,” said Stefano, brightly. “Thank goodness for that! Er—the watch, I mean. You’ve seen it, yes?”

“Why would I have seen your watch?”

“I show it off to everyone who comes to my parties!” he replied as he reached into his apparently bottomless pocket and pulled out a round, golden object. By firelight it resembled one of his coat buttons but even larger, and a loose, underhanded toss was all he needed to ensure its safe arrival into Giselle’s hands. “It’s a marvelous thing, a real darb. Take a look!”

Indeed. The pocketwatch felt smooth but warm to the touch. In style it was unexpectedly unpretentious, 18 size, gold or more likely gold-filled and open-faced. The design engraved into the back appeared to be some kind of emblem, perhaps a family coat-of-arms. The details of it were too exacting to identify by the fitful light of the hearth, but she did notice something embedded near the eschuteon’s sinister edge, a little gem or a bit of glass.

Almost like a lens.

“See, and it’s got that clever little mechanism down there that tells you the exact date. Assuming one knows the exact date when one sets the watch, anyway.” Stefano paused, suddenly realizing. “Goodness, was that rude of me? Sorry, I assumed you must’ve been one of my fellow revelers at one point or another.”

“Not exactly rude, maybe a little presumin’,” Giselle said. “I’m not from Moonshade. Guess you could call me an outsider.” 

“Ah! I see. Hmm. Interesting. Very interesting, Miss Juh-selle.”

Using his knife as a sort of shovel (and in desperate want of a fork, no doubt), Stefano began to work on his meal—one sad strip of jerked meat and a small bole of suspiciously spotty bread.

He excavated one such spot and flicked it towards the hearth; it rebounded against the dirt and joined its brother crumbs somewhere beneath the table.

“Why do you say my name like that? Juh-selle,” she repeated. “Like it’s gonna bite you or somethin’.”

“No offense to you personally as I am sure you are a lovely individual, but Giselle Gizzard sounds like the name of a horrible swan or some such. Ever meet one of those? Swans, I mean?” He shuddered with a mouthful of bread. “Almost as bad as those giant spiders. Old Filbie has a whole bloody fleet of the bastards patrolling the lake outside of his palace. Let me tell you, they may look beautiful but they'll break your arm if you so much as look at one the wrong way. Bread?”

“No thanks.”

“Are you sure?”

“Nah, I’m alright, Stefano.”

“I really meant no offense, truly.”

“I’m not offended!”

“The bread’s not that bad, just pick the black spots off. Or eat around them.”

“I got my own rations, it’s fine, I’m not hungry,” she insisted. “Good golly, I forgot what we were even talkin’ about.”

Stefano shoved another chunk of bread into his mouth. “Swans?”

“Before that.”

“My watch?”

“It is a nice watch,” agreed Giselle, regarding it once more.

“Ducio crafted it for me. I had it commissioned, special. Cost me a whole job’s pay, but worth every Guilder for sure. It has a little secret!” Stefano delivered a most avuncular grin. “See that tiny glass lens there, right at the 9 ‘o clock tick?”

“Mm.”

“Hold it up to the fire and look through it.”

Giselle, prescient as ever, already knew exactly the kind of image she would see when she looked through the lens. Her raunchy uncle Carl had a pocket knife—fashioned to resemble a woman’s leg in fishnet hose and a red high heel, natch—boasting a similar feature and he was just as keen as Stefano (if not, more) to show it off to anyone who ended up trapped in a conversation with him that lasted longer than the time it would take for him to pull it out of his pocket.

Sure enough, there she was on the other end, illuminated by the fire—a microscopic pin-up in full color, a nameless but terribly well-endowed brunette showing off the whole flower show, so to speak.

A bit of tail to get one through a difficult day. Well, she couldn’t blame the guy.

“Cute,” she commented as she gathered the trinket back into her palm, preparing for the return pitch.

“Ah! You may hold onto that for now! Keep it in your pocket as proof of our partnership. Besides, I’m not sure if I fully trust myself in this place,” Stefano told her. “The way I see it, if anyone here is liable to get eaten by a corpser or some such, well! Between the two of us, no doubt I’d make the heartier meal.”

“Aw, don’t start that kinda talk.”

“No, no! It’s true. Most people who get sent down here do not last the week. Sooner or later—and almost always sooner—something gets them. The traps. The monsters. The other felons. For this is the great Filbercio’s interpretation of Freedom, my dear. Better to accept it and try to adapt, eh?” Visibly straining at the jowls, Stefano tore a portion of jerky (or possibly boiled shoe sole) off with his teeth and started to chew. “Besides, if I cark it down here, I want to make sure somebody bequeaths that hot little number unto my heirs, or whatever.”

“Heirs?” Giselle perked in genuine surprise, and maybe a little horror. “You have children?”

He shrugged. “I don’t rightly know, honestly speaking. I don’t think so. I hope not, anyway. I do have a couple hounds, though, back at my bungalow. Some terriers, shaggy little fellas, expert mousers. Loyal as all get-out. I mean, you throw the stick, they bring it back, smiling to boot. What else could one want from a companion?” he went on. “I wanted to bring them to my manor but they were, shall we say, mutually incompatible with my automaton valet...”

...and dogs do not like us at all, Petra’s voice meandered through Giselle’s memory. I believe it has something to do with the oil we use to keep ourselves running. Rocco says the oil smells strongly of aniseed, and you wouldn’t believe how it drives the dogs around here absolutely bonkers. Sort of like catnip and cats...

Giselle imagined one of those dour automaton butlers becoming a walking, talking chew toy for a pair of hyperactive Norwich terriers and couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Alright, Stefano. If you meet with some hideous end down here due to the traps or the monsters or one of the other felons—”

“—or that dragon I was telling you about, don’t forget.”

“Or that dragon, yes,” she added, “but I happen make it out of here alive, then I’ll make sure to bequeath your pocketwatch to your terriers. If that’s what you want.”

“It is! Mm.” Stefano dabbed at his mouth with the ruffled collar of his formerly fine silk shirt. “Feels good to get that all sorted out now, you know? I knew I had you pegged as someone I could ride the river with,” he said. “Not every day you find somebody willing to play executrix with your prized possessions. Especially when terriers are involved.”

In reality, that sort of thing was all in a day’s work for the Avatar, though not exactly listed in the job description. Giselle just smiled and waved it off.

“Aw, s’nothin’. We’ll make it out, honey. Just keep thinkin’ about the look on Filbie’s face when we do.”

“Ha ha! Too right, Miss Gizzard. Too right.”

❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧✤☙☙☙☙☙☙☙☙☙☙☙☙☙☙☙☙ 

Side Notes: One of my favorite characters in Ultima and a generally very entertaining fella. In reality he’s the “game-sona” of Steve Powers, who worked on this game’s graphics and world building. No surprise then, his dialogue in the beta version is a lot meatier—unfortunately the bulk of it got cut, perhaps because some of it is just aimless rambling (a habit he admits to having in the final version). If you want to read his beta dialogue though, I’ve transcribed it and put it here. In particular, he offers some amusing insight into the Seminarium and his history as a “mageling”.

As a total aside, unlike the others (who start with zero) Stefano joins your party with one whole experience point, perhaps hinting at his trials and tribulations in his ~72 hours of “Freedom”... 🤣

His treasure box in his Freedom “hideout” is rigged with a trap; it contains some money and gems, a couple potions and food items and some torches. Nothing you really need but still kind of impressive he already managed to hoard all that stuff in so little time, to say nothing of the hideout itself. Resourceful guy!

Previous Stories:

#1: Gwenno

#2: Petra

#3: Wilfred

#4: Selina

#5: Mortegro

[messymorals]

I dreamt of a play place. Like the one they have at a McDonalds, with assorted coloured tubes all connected. It didn't start there and what I remember is a little hazy but usually there is a story behind it, and In this case there was a person who was a gatekeeper of a sort. I dont recall what he looked like or what he was wearing, I don't recall if there was anyone else with me. When the dream started, I don't remember it being a room with walls, more like a plateau of a sort high in the air. On a colourful plateau. The floor was like a quilted blanket everywhere. Then either due to a choice of my own or with pressure from this gatekeeper figure, I was brought to the edge of this plateau where there was a mysterious hole. You could not see what was down the hole, I only knew that this character would force me down it, so I went down and after I came through the veil it was the aformentioned play place slide. It was assorted in colour, it looked plastic, it had twists and turns but I could not exit the slide that was going down further and further. On a side note I recall passing through a yellow part of this slide, and for the first time in my life that I can remember, I had a vivid smell in my dream, I can not remember having that in a dream before but it was the greasy smell of Mcdonalds, just like how you would smell it from the parking lot. I haven't even eaten mcd's in quite a long time. So what happened next startled me, disturbed me, made me question the meaning of dreams, the afterlife, and also question if I got enough sleep last night. The slide came to an end and it was not in any way what I expected, it was not a ball pit, or another colourful area, the slide pitched 90 degrees and sent me into another room, maybe 6 or 7 stories high, maybe red walled I don't remember but I did know that it was an inescapable room where you could only exit through the way you came in and that was not possible. It was a pit, the room had large spikes sticking up from the floor, long wooden spikes all around, all facing up and all waiting for the arrival of another person, I was impaled. it was an impaling pit, equivalent to punji stick booby traps that you see in movie's or read about in war history, but on a much larger scale. It was hell, and I could not feel where I was at that point but I was at the bottom, and I had to watch as more people came down the slide to join me. The gatekeeper was also there too but watching from above. I woke up suddenly and my heart was beating hard, but I was not scared like how an instant fright may scare me and I cant get back to sleep, it was truly disturbing. I did some research on what other people have said about the meaning of impaling in dreams, and this is what I found.

According to Dreams Directory:

A Dream about someone being impaled is unfortunately a warning for some anxiety and fear of coming trouble

You have lost your self-identity. It does not take much to make you happy. The dream is sadly a warning alert for long and hard work for little compensation and pay. There is some resentment or unexpressed anger that you need to confront.

Someone being impaled is a signal for your anxieties about trying to fit in or being well-suited for your changing role. You are ready to confront some painful emotion. You have an skewed perception of your own image which may stem from low self-esteem. The dream is sadly an admonition for minor irritations and annoyances. Your character will be put under scrutiny and called into question.

[pxgblog]

4 Questions to Ask Yourself When Searching for Your Next Driver

A good driver is the foundation of your golf bag. Confidence and performance with your driver set you up for success on every hole. So, when it’s time to upgrade, you need to know what to look for, and finding the best driver is about asking yourself the right questions. So, the next time you head to your favorite golf store Chicago, Houston, or another city has to offer, use these questions to help guide you to the right driver.

What Are My Goals with This New Driver? It’s important that you specify what you want to accomplish with your new driver. Not every driver is designed to do it all, so it helps to have your priorities in order to narrow down your initial options. Do you want a driver that’s going to deliver the most distance? Maybe you’re fine with sacrificing distance if it means your drives are consistently straight. Do you just want the latest technology available? Whatever your goal is, make sure to define it clearly. When comparing clubs, you can ask yourself, “Which driver helps me achieve my goal?” and move on from there. Asking this question first is like finding the X on the treasure map. Now it’s time to grab a compass and start searching. What Improvements Do I Want Over My Current Driver? Comparing two new possibilities can be helpful when looking at new drivers, but it’s more practical to compare any club to your current driver. That way, you can see how it’s going to improve your game. Maybe your current club face is just too small. You can look at new drivers with larger faces and heads that promote more forgiveness. Or maybe your shaft is too stiff, and you need something to provide some extra “whip” in your swing. Write down what you don’t like about your current club. Then, you can search for drivers that solve these problems and elevate your golfing experience. What Details Are the Most Important to My Game? Now it’s time to look at your swing and the way you approach each drive. A good driver should work with you to highlight your strengths and support you in the weaker areas of your game. Maybe you’re a power hitter who can get good distance, but accuracy has never been your strong suit. An extra stiff shaft alongside a more forgiving club face with precision weighting that keeps your club in line with the ball is a great way to balance out your game. On the other hand, if you are consistent with your swing and have pinpoint accuracy, you might need a driver that helps add distance to your game. There are so many different ways a driver can play to your strengths, especially custom ones. This means you’ll have to ask yourself… Where Can I Schedule a Club Fitting? A custom golf club fitting is one of the best ways to ensure you get the best club for your game. If you find a driver you like, the next step is to work with an expert who can analyze your swing and adjust every part of the club to meet your needs. The best golf store Houston, Chicago, or any major city offers will set you up with a Master Fitter to help customize the perfect driver for your game. Schedule an appointment for a driver fitting, and you will meet with someone who will look at your swing from every angle to fine-tune the driver based on your strengths, weaknesses, and tendencies. About PXG Nothing beats the sweet sound of a perfect drive hitting off your club and soaring down the fairway, setting you up for an easy iron shot right onto the green. PXG clubs were made for moments like these. Their clubs feature the most advanced technology, intuitive design, and spectacular aesthetics for a golfing experience that can’t be beat. From the moment you meet with a PXG Master Fitter to your first hole with your 0311 GEN6 Driver, there’s no doubt that you’ve found the best clubs for you. Whether you need a complete golf club set, new hybrid golf clubs, or golf apparel from the best golf store Houston, Chicago, and cities across the country offer, PXG is the place for you. Learn more about PXG’s drivers and schedule a fitting near you at https://www.pxg.com/ Original Source: https://bit.ly/3RvVDhL

[jonathankatwhatever]

It’s 14 July 2023. I’m very unsettled, what my father called free-floating anxiety, or what it’s like when an animal needs something more before it can park itself.

It’s difficult to switch over the line from one area of focus to another, and I think that’s a very good question to analyze because maybe Regularization helps. I’m seeing that Boundary appears and that Boundary has the Dimensional Reduction ‘hole’ of an n-gon, and that it thus has Attachments to structures on the inner and outer edges, so changing focus can be within a Boundary, and thus over a Boundary within that larger one, which doesn’t help unless we include SBE and fCM because without those concepts we don’t have organization. Or rather, organization reflects these concepts.

What if I’m actually correct? I could never catch a fingernail hold on Regularization, until it suddenly popped open into a truly beautiful and undeniably correct understanding which actually, if you think about it, enacts interpolation. Let me see that better.

As I think about interpolation, it means you can insert between any two, which is the generally the same as taking out the middle third (and thus a Cantor set), and the construction of Triangular to the Boundary edges is exactly that, and more. I believe the exact answer is cooler than that by a mile: since we have an fD, and an fD represents CR and thus a Boundary, then we have all the possible interpolations which accompany any interpolation. That is, stick something between two and that something is in CR and thus there is a Boundary, and that Boundary is going to insert all that into any point because that is what an fD does.

This goes back to the very fundamentals of the work. The literal basics when I was trying to work out what became 1-0-1 using interpolation, meaning some form of what Cantor did. I could not get to a truly satisfactory answer. I just did. This is a fundamental proof. It’s stunning to see the basic Triangular conception work this well. It just understood interpolation.

This object we’ve made has become extremely agile and strong. It answers very deep questions with very clear answers. We can now Attach all external structures, can generate tangent structures - like balls - because we have Regularization and Triangular working together.

I’m going to post this and keep working.

———-

Now I’m seeing compression: the layers of this compact and thus can become dense. What is compaction when it’s all 1Space Triangular? Scale, which means the Ends scale so their ‘current’ existence fits while their potential existence if it were ‘current’ or in the moment of now might be way too big. This also means something can appear to fit because it would blow up, but it actually doesn’t.

I’m thinking about how my dad couldn’t judge fly balls: he’d think it was a home run because it looked like it was crushed off the bat but I guess he never learned the trick is to watch the top of the ball because the spin off the top tells you where it’s going. If you can’t see the top, it’s going over your head. That’s an upper edge versus lower edge. And you think it’s going to blow up to be a home run when it’s a regular fly ball out.

In other words, this is true in abstraction, meaning across all these ideas, not just as math or logical constructs. This is how reality actually works: we see objects which we think will get big, like a political candidate or you, which means there’s clearly an attractive force in size, up to a natural limit, which you’re approaching, which you show by expanding your universe of activities which can construct more.

Is that why Liverpool? Back to the roots of the modern musical era? It’s constructive from there. That’s a really nice idea, subtle and deep.

These ideas fit together with null and the way that infinite counting fits to what we perceive, what we see as ‘real’, both in terms of reality and as real numbers and related spaces, meaning topology. As to null, I’m seeing contradiction emerge, which is one of my deepest goals. Let me try to get into that. There are people in my house and I’m nervous.

——————-

Realizations are coming too fast to collect. Slow the process down. I saw an article and a short discussion about how a virus can steal DNA from an immune cell by sticking out a tube, inserting, and removing, and then developing at least some capabilities from the extracted DNA. I assume it’s actually processing a simple level of 1 and -1 and 0 and the underlying calculations occur within the gs process space of the DNA and other levels. This makes sense because I also recently saw an article which demonstrated that an electron is an absurdly perfect sphere, which is what CR would do. These together mean less than that amount of CR, less than an n-gon at the infinite, allows this kind of perceptive link. That’s what’s happening: a trade of information, a form of perception, enabled by CR not making every object the same. Was that clear? There is a ‘single’ electron in the sense they are all so exactly alike, and difference emerges as the ‘hole’ in the n-gon closes in.

If I’m not mistaken, I think we just made a major contribution to science.

I need to take a walk. Oh, and I stood up before writing that last sentence, and this happened: I allowed my chest to rise and expand fully, which means my shoulders came all the way back and my spine fully allowed the movement, meaning I could feel it but it wasn’t restrictive (so there is room for growth still), and then I pulled my shoulders forward and it seemed to make an ideal male pose. So I went to the bathroom, repeated, and it did exactly that. Simplified to 2 moves that are so extremely complicated it’s absurd in one sense to say ‘2 moves’, but all that complexity is actually those 2 moves.

[yamneko]

I’ve noticed im much more grumpy and agitated on the weekend than I should be, and I think it’s an overload of choices going on and lack of direction. There’s a lot of things I would like to do but haven’t picked one, or each option has so many choices within it in order to do it, I just get overwhelmed.

Like i”ve been wanting to make my own lounge/sleep pants, as the pairs I have keeps developing holes along the crotch seams and try to repair them doesn’t really seem to be helping. But what fabric do I pick for this? I don’t know a ton of different fabrics (I am trying) and even with swatches it’s like “Will this hold up? Is there another reason why the seems are failing on the pants (like how I sit) that would help? And I worry the fabric I chose will not be up to snuff and then I’ve just wasted money!!! So this whole thought process is paralyzing. I did get swatches of fabric which has helped, but it’s still “will this be good?” thoughts and at $15/yd, I really want to be sure in my decision!

I’ve multiple things that are like this.

Just know I’ve spent several days thinking about an ironing board and what I want from it, and they are expensive! I have a cheap one, but I Want something better - maybe just getting a replacement cover would have been enough who knows  (I’d then have to try and find one that fit this old one I got at the grocery store years ago and how will I know it will fit? Will it actually be better than what’s on there now??). I practically had to close my eyes to hit the check out button on the board. I figure I’ve had the other one for years, I’ll have this one for years too if that’s any indication, so something nicer to iron clothes on, and will be larger so maybe it’ll be easier to iron fabric. If not, look into the ironing mats later.

And that’s just hobbies. I have frustrations over cleaning too - hubs hasn’t been keeping up with his stuff outside of the kitchen so things are dirty and gross and I would like to see LESS BOXES but that’s not happening soon so I have this pent up energy and I feel like no where to really direct it. I’m not setting up the house to how I really want it because we are going to be moving again in a year or two. Neither of us are in love with the house or town enough to make it work. So it’s a weird holding pattern on most of the rest of the house. There’s no closet to unpack anything and I want to go through my Lolita wardrobe but there’s no where to hang it, so anything I pull out needs to go right back into the bags I’m storing them (OH! WHICH I GUESS MIGHT NOT BE THE BEST WAY TO STORE THEM??? BUT LIKE THERES SO MANY BUGS IN THIS HOUSE I DONT WANT TO PUT THEM IN A BOX FOR A YEAR TO FIND OH LOOK THINGS MADE A NEST IN HERE)

I am just worried about my choices being Wrong or the Incorrect Choice and I feel frustrated and I can’t go see anybody or go anywhere because COVID IS A THING AND NO ONE WEARS MASKS AND ITS TOO COLD TO BE OUTSIDE 

I really need to make a lot of effort this summer to go see people.

[dykesynthezoid]

4, 57, and 80?

Ahh ty!! This got long so I apologize in advance

4. What is the plot bunny you've been carrying for the longest? optional bonus question: do you ever wonder why you haven't written it yet and experience deep existential dread?

Hmm of the stories I actually still plan on writing? Pretty soon after I got into CK I got three ideas off the bat, and I’ve written two of those but there’s still one left over; it’s basically just about Carmen miscarrying, her and Johnny breaking up and then her leaning on Amanda for support as she adjusts to her new normal (with a side of eventual Carmanda). Also featuring a lot of just. Diving into her and Amanda’s characters the show never lets us have. (I should mention it would take place in the same universe as this fic)

As for why I haven’t written it yet; one, it’s a difficult topic, obviously, and I want to do it right; I also know writing it will bring up some emotions of my own that like!! Are not easy to sit with!! Plus I’ve gotten so many other ideas since then and I think a lot more of those are like; things that I’m specifically writing from a place of joy? Whereas this is. Just as important and I very much feel like it needs to be written; but it’s more cathartic and explorative, not so much about enjoyment.

Also I know I want it to be less structured and more loose and flowing than a lot of what I’ve been working on, which is fun to do, but harder to plan for going in.

(Also I fear that as soon as I start writing it, I’ll make myself so angry I’ll need to beat the ck showrunners personally in a fit of feminine rage. It is what it is)

57. What is the last thing that a fic made you google when you were reading it?

While reading it? Probably looking up an 80s song or movie I somehow happened to not be familiar with. Thanks, karate kid fanfic

On the flipside I will fall down absolutely ridiculous research rabbit holes when writing. Like it’s. Frankly inadvisable? The other day I genuinely considered calling a museum in Amsterdam to see when exactly they acquired and started displaying a particular painting (was it before or after spring 1985, to be exact) and then was like. Hmmm. Maybe this is a little too much for one fanfic. Maybe I should calm down

80. Do you try to put themes, motifs, messages, morals, etc in your writing? if so, how do you go about it?

For sure! Sometimes it just sort of?? Happens?? And I’m aware that it’s happening but I’m not trying to push it in any one direction. I’m a details person, though, so when I’m being more deliberate it really just becomes this thing of planting all the little details I can, in such a way that a larger pattern becomes noticeable. I’m also not above putting a good epigraph in at the beginning to make the message even more clear, lol

Ty!! Here have a candy 🍬