#by god have I been monkey pawed

[cookinguptales]

RYAN????? SEACREST????????

[cubbyhole-for-flea-bee]

Apologies

[queseraphita]

Jesus these hour cuts

[harpieisthecarpie]

posts about misha collins being so wacky and standing up against the cw to fight for gay shipping rights have felt a bit off to me for a while (esp recently), bc he really isn't the tumblr ally ppl act like he is.

every time he trends on tumblr for loving his character's gay ship all I see is a dude that is beating a turbo dead horse for a shred of relevancy

but reading his 2021 poetry collection (outloud to the friends I trapped in a vc) really made me understand and feel it (hatred) more, I think?

Because this man dedicated this collection to his kids but spends the entire first section rambling about his crumbling marriage and how much he loves his (now former) wife despite their distance (in the acknowledgments at the back he says they separated).

Which seems either willfully thoughtless or intentionally manipulative.

And he'll ramble about her figure and her touch and how he misses her, but I don't know a goddamn thing he likes about her as a person.

The only actual thing I know about her (or how he sees her) is from the first poem, where she perportedly says

And his response? Depicted in a poem he wrote and chose to publish?

This doesn't even seem to be him now acknowledging his actions that led to their separation. From the rest of the poems, he does his damndest to make himself seem, if not a loving guy who makes mistakes, then at least a pitiful fool who showed his powerful love wrong.

The poem these stanzas are from, "The Kiss", is the FIRST POEM in the collection. And that poem frames this current day against when they were dating, apparently young and in love, in order to show that they were drifting.

But there is no self awareness in this, because the entire "Love Poems" section is disgustingly trite. Cloying. I would understand if these were personal poems, but he published them and dedicated that published work to his CHILDREN. Whom he mentions vaguely perhaps twice that whole section.

Speaking of children, here's a poem also in "Love Poems"

Like, okay, the most charitable explanation is that this is ANOTHER poem about his former wife (and not his alluded affairs), and she had been taking care of their kids. Which, even so, why the fuck would you write AND PUBLISH this???

The less charitable explanations seem more plausible, and either way the poem (along with his others) is misogynistic in such an upsetting way. This is the guy who's standing up for gay male rep? He can't even be normal about WOMEN. Even ONE WOMAN.

And "Tug of Woman" juxtaposed with what he aptly titled "The Last Poem" (in "The Kids" section) makes me. Ugh.

Idk man, I don't think any of us needed to read about your nipples and "grown-man arms" in a poem about your kids???

I hope it's just that he's a really bad poet. Which he is. But even without the weirdest sex poem AND the weirdest parental love poem I've ever read, I just hate this guy's vibe. And I hate how people treat him like a cutesy do-no-wrong softboy.

Anyways I just needed to rant bc I hate this guy's face now and it's tumblr's favorite so I suffer. So much. All the time.

If you wanna read terrible mangst poems, you'll find them in Some Things I Still Can't Tell You. The audiobook is even voiced by the author for added immersion!

An e-library I use had a copy, which is great bc I would rather cut off an arm than pay for the words I read.

[a-caterpillars-world]

tavros........... im done reading for today cuz fuck going through another video game session but Goddamn. as much as him and vriska being a couple upsets me (because frankly he deserves better than this) i cant say i didnt see it coming.... now its just a matter of time before shit hits the fan (AND THANKS TO SOME ASSHOLE THAT DECIDED TO DROP A LOVELY GIANT SPOILER ON MY POST I THINK I HAVE A HUNCH AS TO HOW)

[viviantimmet]

Dream Journal 6/15/2023:

there is an orange and white ball python behind the bookshelf. I feed it, and take a photo, where you can see the two geckos it has swallowed beneath its skin. Wait What? But I had to give Koy away! On a second glance, it is just a giant lizard, which is fine, sometimes there are giant lizards. PSYCHE there's both, the snake has just left. It is perhaps some offspring of Koy (that is never something I question too deeply in my snake dreams). It is crawling about, leaving bloody streaks on the floor(??!!). Its movement is weaving and wobbly, its head at an odd angle, sort of collapsed. The blood is from its heatpits, smeared down its chin and belly. Dad appears in the hallway. We converse. The snake looks more and more broken. I assent to putting it out of its misery. Dad holds it down by the neck and crushes its misshapen skull beneath his heel.

[shesnake]

have you seen the monkey man directors cut? i bought the blu ray when it was released and it contained an alternative opening/ending and deleted/extended scenes. (which def seemed the be the ones they cut to try to get it shown in India) idk if anyone has posted them online yet or anything. but i definitely wanted to hear your takes on the previously unreleased scenes

hey! my copy arrived yesterday and I just watched them. honestly not a fan of the alternate opening, it takes a lot of mystery out of the kid's identity. the closing is just the same montage edited a bit differently through the ruins of the club, I prefer the theatrical edit better.

the deleted/extended scenes were SO much more political and explicitly critical of the bjp. the vagueness of Universal/monkey paw's final cut has always frustrated me, so it's good to confirm that dev did originally intend to go even more in on hindutva fascism, islamophobia, and more voice to the hijra experiences. the death in police custody scene hurt a LOT. I also noticed there was a bit more sexual violence, which doesn't change much for me really.

sorry I just took photos of my tv as I was watching bc I got the 4k and I don't have a drive for my computer that can read it (so I can't rip it to make gifs... Sad!!) but this scene had me screeching:

god I wish they hadn't been such cowards and just let dev put his movie out without sacrificing something so powerful.

I'll watch it with directors commentary sometime soon.

[inbarfink]

Okay, so here is my Thought…

It’s already being established that the majority of worlds in the AT Multiverse are born from wishes granted by Prismo. I mean, we know there are other types of alternative universes (Like Flapjack’s universe) - but Prismo’s exposition implies they are the exceptions and not the rule. And we already know the Wish that birthed Farmworld, and we even got a Word of God about Babyworld (a Wish made by BMO) but… 

Was Winterworld also born from someone’s wish?

While first watching the episode, I was wondering if that was a universe born from Ice King’s wish to, like, make Princess Bubblegum madly in love with him or something. But after all of the reveals at the end of the episode and thinking about it a bit more - I feel like this is unlikely. 

I mean for once, there is the question of how the ‘One Wish Per Person' rule works with the existence of a multiverse. Because we know our Simon also tried using his Prismo Wish

(And from their interactions in Episode 4 it seems like Prismo considers Ice King and Simon to be the same person, So a Wish made by Ice King would also count as the one Wish for Simon)

So like… if Ice King made a Wish with Prismo and then got teleported into Winterworld where his wish was granted and then like… a duplicate of him keeps going in Mainworld Ooo and that one’s actually the Simon we follow… would that Simon get his own Wish from Prismo? Or would the Winter King count as the separate Simon who didn’t waste his Wish yet? Finn has already used up his own Wish but his situation is kinda unique cause he, like, came back from being Farmworld Finn. I’m not sure about the rules here but I’m feeling like it shouldn’t work, Simon used up his one Wish failing to bring Betty back so that means he probably didn’t wish up Winterworld.

I don’t feel super-confident about that, but I feel a bit more sure of this next observation; Prismo says that the Wishes he grants, whatever he wants them to or not, always have some sort of a Monkey’s Paw or ironic twist thing going on. They never go quite right for the Wisher. And the Winter King was doing extremely well until our Free Radicals came along.

I mean… maybe the fact that Pre-Curse Simon would’ve been disgusted with the Winter King’s actions counts. Or maybe the implication is that with the Candy Queen’s recent ‘escalation’ he would’ve been killed sooner or later even without the Multiverse Trio’s intervention.

But… compared to how throughly and how quickly Farmworld went badly for Finn specifically- that honestly feels like a stretch. I think that if Winterworld was born from the Wish of any character - it was most likely Marceline.

She has all the motivation to Wish for Simon to have his memories and/or sanity back - and had it for the longest time out of all of his acquaintances. And if it was her Wish - then it sure as hell has gone extremely wrong for her. 

The woman that she loves has been doomed to the same torturous existence Simon has been trapped in alongside her entire kingdom. And Simon might have his sanity and identity again, but this vile man who willingly and knowingly condemned PB to a life of suffering in his stead is so much farther away from the kindly father figure Marceline remembers than Ice King the crazy old Wizard ever was.

And then he also stole Marceline's most beloved personal possessions and like… probably killed her and definitely replaced her with an icy duplicate who is forever the child he wants her to be. If this Wish is some sort of Ironic Monkey's Paw to anyone, I think Marceline makes the most sense. 

(I will give an honorable mention to Betty, because she also very much has the motivation and it is kinda weird we haven’t seen her try and save Simon with a Prismo wish. But I think that while, like, dying in the Mushroom War unmourned and unremembered by the man you did all of this for is a pretty miserable fate.... I still think that Marceline’s narrative fits the idea of cruel irony a lot better)

[anthurak]

The more that I’ve been looking through Adventure Time analysis posts and videos lately, the more I’ve started to get just a little tired of people asserting that Farmworld Finn or Fern are somehow ‘The Original Finn’ while the Finn we follow through the whole show somehow 'isn't' or something to that effect.

Like it all kind of reeks of people trying to make these super-dramatic ‘blow your mind’ hot-takes that ‘Did you KNOW that the Finn we know isn’t the TRUE Finn?! OH MY GOD DID I JUST BLOW YOUR MIND?!?!?’ or some such.

All the while when you actually think about it for a few minutes, particularly with what we know now about how Prismo’s wishes work, it’s pretty easy to see that really isn’t the case.

This isn’t some cloning or imposter/doppelganger situation where the Finn that ends the series somehow ‘replaced’ the ‘original’ Finn. These are branching timelines, meaning that ALL of the Finns we see are ‘the original’ in one way or another.

Like Farmworld Finn, or rather the Finn who made the wish to create Farmworld, ISN’T ‘the true original’. He’s simply an off-shoot of the ‘Prime’ Finn that was created by Jake’s wish. Remember that Jake’s wish was to change the Lich’s wish to ‘I wish for Finn and Jake to go back to Ooo’. When that happened, Prismo essentially caused Finn’s existence to branch along with the Farmworld timeline at the moment Finn entered Primso’s time room: One Finn makes his wish and becomes Farmworld Finn, while the other is sent back to continue existing in the prime timeline.

The Finn who went back to Ooo and who we’ve been following ever since ISN’T some ‘copy’. He lived the same life up to that moment that the Finn who created Farmworld did, because it WAS the SAME life, because they were the SAME PERSON. If anything, it is Farmworld Finn who is the ‘branch’ because of his wish, just as Farmworld as a whole is a branching timeline of the Ooo we know.

And we know this happened, because we see the same thing happened with the Lich as a result of Jake’s wish: We see in Fionna and Cake that the Lich’s original wish still created its own universe and continues to exist with that Lich, just as what happened with Farmworld and the Finn who’s wish created it. So just as Jake’s wish allows Finn’s existence to continue on in the prime Ooo with a branching path creating Farmworld, so too does it allow the same with the Lich, who remains in Prismo’s time-room and would later become Sweet Pea. While a branch of the Lich exists in the lifeless Ooo created by their wish.

(As an aside, while writing this I actually had a fun idea of how Jake remembers his time hanging out with Prismo despite the Lich’s new wish sending Finn and Jake back to Ooo the moment they enter Prismo’s Room: The Lich’s wish didn’t specify WHICH Jake is sent back to Ooo. Therefore I think Prismo did a bit of monkey’s pawing. While the Finn who was sent back to Ooo was the one who just entered the time-room, the Jake who was sent back to Ooo was the one hung out with Prismo for a while and actually MADE the wish. Thereby allowing Jake to still hang out with and befriend Prismo.)

And the funny thing is, if you think about it we actually see the same thing happen with Finn in Are You There. Essentially another ‘branch’ of Finn is created, albeit this time somewhat unintentionally on the part of Prismo. And unlike Farmworld Finn, this branch of Finn doesn’t have his own universe to inhabit, so he turns into the Finn Sword so he can still exist in the prime universe. Which actually kind of says something about just how warped and corrupted Fern was by the grass-curse that this ‘Finn’ could suddenly exist in a physical body.

But the point remains, BOTH of these Finns are JUST as much ‘The Original’ Finn as the other. It’s just that one became a sword and the other didn’t.

In conclusion, this Finn…

…is in fact, the ORIGINAL Finn.

So is this Finn.

And so was this Finn…

…until he made the wish that made him into this Finn.

Because they were all the SAME GUY. It’s just that the other two branched off in one way or another while the Finn we’ve been following from the beginning continued on.

[alittledizzy]

dream acknowledging that the past few years have been hard for him has ruined my day…he should be (metaphorically) frolicking in the fields with his friends and instead he’s being targeted by hate campaigns constantly, he’s overworking, he’s getting every disease known to man, and his computer never works 😭😭😭😭😭😭

bro really touched the monkey's paw of life ;_;

god i hope things really get off the ground for him and things start getting a little smoother.

though i will say i don't think the project is gonna be that smooth for a while. this man is LITERALLY inventing new technology for the industry. that comes with some growing pains. if it were easy, if the equipment were tested and guaranteed to work, if the parameters were already known, then someone else would have already done it. in the grand scheme of things development like this just DOES take years usually. he's just pushing it faster and harder than most people would because he's a content creator with children (us) to feed (with content) instead of someone being privately funded to develop this for another company.

[xehanortsreport]

i like to think of a universe where xehanort won. he's physically locked in kingdom hearts and can't come down bc he's merged with it. stuck in a realm where he can easily read the hearts of all who have passed like books in a library, he is nonetheless forever separated from the world he longs to roam. it is heaven and hell, a perfect purgatory, a monkey's paw. he is god, and god cannot be called down.

in this version of events, all the worlds have been permanently merged, but the realm of light has also been collapsed into one with the realm of darkness. still haven't entirely worked out what this means for the inhabitants of both per se - i think xehanort would believe that darkness and light must be forced to coexist before true enlightenment and peace could be achieved. perhaps this means something like having to meet your dark doppelganger and jung your way into completeness by defeating and merging with it. a mini x-blade moment for everyone. maybe it means running into your own mirror aqua, who hunts you down until you make peace with your darkness. who knows.

i like to think the organization would be "rewarded" for their cooperation with functional immortality, and perhaps an "ascension" of sorts to "angels". watchers and messengers who must shepherd this new world as xehanort sees fit in his place (as he is unable to come down), perhaps hive minded into a telepathic connection with other members of the organization, but are otherwise granted permission to do as they please as long as it doesn't explicitly go against xehanort. of course ansem and xemnas would be merged back into mx and yx grows up as one does.

perhaps dark repliku is even granted a body by way of being such a good pawn. and yes, the ascension thing is my excuse to create new "boss forms" for everyone. it is fun for me. politics gets dire as all the worlds know of each other again. etc etc.

[nekohime19]

Mini Mac # 46 : Monkey date

The monkeys goes on a date and the pilgrims are on babysitting duty

Wukong was leaning over the cubs’ crib, playing with the pups. Savage was looking up at him with excitement, pawing at his huge fingers in glee. Rumble was clutching his Wukong doll tighter, sometimes leaning in the soft touches of his Pa, rubbing against the pad of his fingers to have more pets.

“Come on, buds. Repeat after me, Pa.” Cooed Wukong, trying to coax his babies. It was his new pastime. He wanted more than anything to hear his pups’ first words.

“Aaaa.” Babled Savage.

“Pa.” Corrected Wukong as he booped his lil firecracker.

“Aaa!” She repeated with a lil blep.

“Pa, busy bee, Paaaaaa.”

“Aaaaaa.” Giggled Savage as she began to chew on his finger. Wukong sighed in fondness and let her do as she pleased. He then turned towards Rumble. It was always more difficult to make him blabber. He usually stuck to his mrrps langage. But the great sage learned that if he drowned his son in pets and snuggles the lil guy would be more willing to indulge him.

“Come on, puss-pouts, do it for me, say Pa.” Cooed Wukong as he petted the lil guy. Rumble slowly blinked up at him, he yawned, still drowsy from his nap.

“Aa.” Muttered Rumble.

“Pa.” Repeated Wukong.

“Wa.” Chirped Rumble, he then buried himself in his doll. Tired after so much effort.

“You're still trying to make them talk?” Chuckled Macaque. He was not far from the crib, crushing leaves to replenish his vials in different powder and medicine.

“It's a lost cause.” Snorted Bajie, he was reclining on the grass, arms crossed behind his head. Wukong huffed, he threw a glare at the pig demon.

“Well, I believe in them.” Replied the great sage as he got back to his cooing.

“We'll resume the journey tomorrow morning.” Informed Sanzang, he was dutifully polishing his staff with a wet cloth.

“I'll take the first watch tonight.” Hummed Wukong, he was not feeling very sleepy anyway.

“Actually, why don't you go out with Macaque for the evening? You guys are new mates and you don't have much time alone together.” Proposed Wujing. Bajie, Sanzang and Ao Lie perked up at the proposition. Both monkeys had been very… insistent in their courting as of late and it was becoming bothersome, for the lack of other terms.

Bajie still remembered the time Wukong brought back an outrageous amount of fruits only to impress his mate. It was hell to cook.

Wujing remembered when he got slapped by a demon's weapon because Wukong wasn't paying attention to the fight going on, instead looking back at Macaque every minute.

Ao Lie remembered when Macaque messed up the braid he was weaving in his hair because he was distracted by Wukong cooing at the cubs.

Sanzang remembered the night he stayed awake because of the two monkeys giggling and whispering sweet nothing to the other, believing no other heard them.

Gods, if those two could calm down their courting after one date, it would be great.

“What about the cubs?” Asked Wukong. He wasn't against spending time with Macaque but leaving the cubs didn't seem right.

“We'll babysit!” Replied Sanzang.

“You're sure?” Asked Macaque, he knew how tiresome his babies could be, especially Savage.

“We've never been surer.” Assured Ao Lie. Wukong considered the proposition. If he was honest, spending alone time with Macaque sounded great. Not that he didn't like his pups or his brothers. But… it would be great to have some quality time with his new mate.

“W-well, we could if you want to?” Tentatively asked Wukong as he glanced at the black-furred monkey. Macaque stopped grinding his leaves and nervously scratched his neck.

“Why not?” Replied Macaque. Wukong's tail wagged without his consent, the sage cursed and tied the unruly limb to his hips. Macaque snorted, he found it cute.

The great sage summoned his cloud with a flick of wrist, Macaque climbed on it and settled comfortably. Both monkeys left following the winds.

“Now we gotta be careful with the cubs. Especially Savage, she's slippery.” Warned Sanzang, he knew this from experience.

“How hard is it gonna be to babysit two brats?” Scoffed Bajie.

Ao Lie leaned over the cribs and winced. “There is only one in there.” All the pilgrims turned towards the crib and face-palmed. Rumble looked up at them innocently, as if his sister wasn't missing.

“This is gonna be a long night.” Sighed Wujing.

Meanwhile, both monkeys were admiring the starry sky. Macaque was sprawled on Wukong's chest, nibbling on the fruits the sage passed along to him. Perhaps it wasn't as romantic as it could be, but it was nice. They talked about silly things. Indulging in their more cheesy side now that they were alone.

“You know, your eyes are like rubies.” Mumbled Macaque as he looked up at the sage. Wukong snorted.

“You always become more cheesy when no-one is watching.”

“It's not my fault. You should stop being so cheesy-worthy.” Playfully huffed Macaque.

“Oh it's my fault now?” Smiled the golden monkey.

“It's always your fault.” Teased Macaque as he stuck his tongue out.

“You lil gremlin!” Chuckled Wukong, he took Macaque in his hands and began to tickle him. Macaque shrieked with laughter. Trying to wiggle out of Wukong's fingers in vain.

Wukong took pity on Macaque after a few minutes and stopped tickling him, instead he patted him on the head. Macaque smirked and kissed the tip of Wukong's fingers. The great sage flushed and glared at his mate. “You-” Grumbled the sage but he stopped himself. He got a devilish idea. The golden monkey brought Macaque closer to his face and smooched his head.

Macaque yelped and fluffed up, caught off guard by the affectionate gesture. “That was foul play.” Grumbled Macaque.

“Everything is fair in love and war.” Hummed Wukong.

They spend the rest of the night playing and talking. Basking in the other presence. When they got back to the camp, they found the pilgrims in a pitiful state. Sanzang was covered in mud, Wujing was removing twigs stuck in Ao Lie's hair and Bajie was on the floor, dead to the world around him.

Savage and Rumble were in their crib, peacefully sleeping, looking like angels.

“I don't think I even want to know.” Snorted Wukong.

+ cut scenes

Bajie *when Savage disappeared* : Where is she!? How is she so fast? 😧

Savage *hiding in the dark. Preparing to jump on one of them* : 😂🤭🤭

Sanzang : I didn't think baby monkey laughter could sound so ominous, but here we are. 😅

Ao Lie : ack! She jumped on me! 😣

Ch1 / Previous / Next

[pearlprincess02]

LENGTH: 37 HR 52 MIN. songs below ↓

sagittarius rising / 1st house:

capricorn mars in 1st house

"green light" - lorde / "bury a friend" - billie eilish / "video games" - lana del rey / "habits (stay high)" - tove lo / "demons" - imagine dragons / "do i wanna know?" - arctic monkeys / "primadonna" - marina / "team" - lorde / "graveyard" - halsey / "somebody else" - the 1975 / "stressed out" - twenty one pilots / "the less i know the better" - tame impala / "gasoline" - halsey / "doin' time" - lana del rey / "viva la vida" - coldplay / "sweater weather" - the neighbourhood / "shake it out" - florence + the machine / "harmony hall" - vampire weekend / "pumped up kicks" - foster the people / "joy" - bastille /

capricorn chiron in 1st house

"young and beautiful" - lana del rey / "flaws" - bastille / "dirty paws" - of monsters and men / "human" - the killers / "liability" - lorde / "recover" - chvrches / "afraid" - the neighbourhood / "everything i wanted" - billie eilish / "eventually" - tame impala / "miracle" - chvrches / "born to die" - lana del rey / "this life" - vampire weekend / "fix you" - coldplay / "to be human" - marina / "idontwannabeyouanymore" - billie eilish / "writer in the dark" - lorde / "colors" - halsey / "movement" - hozier / "glad he's gone" - tove lo / "sit next to me" - foster the people /

sagittarius rising / 1st house

"the sound" - the 1975 / "on top of the world" - imagine dragons / "new americana" - halsey / "exile" - taylor swift (feat. bon iver) / "bad guy" - billie eilish / "you're somebody else" - flora cash / "adventure of a lifetime" - coldplay / "heather" - conan gray / "love me" - the 1975 / "cardigan" - taylor swift / "ocean eyes" - billie eilish / "little talks" - of monsters and men / "good grief" - bastille / "leave a trace" - chvrches / "summertime sadness" - lana del rey / "take me to church" - hozier /  "maniac" - conan gray / "if you're gonna lie" - fletcher / "ship to wreck" - florence + the machine / "mount everest" - labrinth /

aquarius 2nd house:

pisces uranus in 2nd house

"kids" - mgmt / "ho hey" - the lumineers / "midnight city" - m83 / "1901" - birdy / "take a walk" - passion pit / "electricity" - silk city, dua lipa / "digital love" - daft punk / "electric feel" - mgmt / "lisztomania" - phoenix / "tongue tied" - grouplove / "somebody that i used to know" - gotye (feat. kimbra) / "cherry" - lana del rey / "counting stars" - onerepublic / "1901" - phoenix / "i wanna get better" - bleachers / "love me again" - john newman / "dancing on my own" - robyn / "rather be" - clean bandit (feat. jess glynne) / "we found love" - rihanna (feat. calvin harris) / "can't feel my face" - the weeknd / 

aquarius neptune in 2nd house

"wish i knew you" - the revivalists / "young folks" - peter bjorn and john / "saturn" - sleeping at last / "such great heights" - the postal service / "islands" - the xx / "wide eyes" - local natives / "rebellion (lies)" - arcade fire / "silent treatment" - the joy formidable / "heartbeats" - the knife / "disparate youth" - santigold / "time to pretend" - mgmt / "elephant gun" - beirut / "dreaming" - smallpools / "all my friends" - lcd soundsystem / "shelter song" - temples / "sleepyhead" - passion pit / "oblivion" - grimes / "wetsuit" - the vaccines / "take me out" - franz ferdinand / "don't save me" - haim /

aquarius 2nd house

"knife under my pillow" - maggie lindemann / "idfc" - blackbear / "play date" - melanie martinez / "queen of broken hearts" - blackbear / "if we have each other" - alec benjamin / "josslyn" - olivia o'brien / "pretty girl" - maggie lindemann / "i miss you, i'm sorry" - gracie abrams / "dollhouse" - melanie martinez / "must have been the wind" - alec benjamin / "friends go" - maggie lindemann / "hot girl bummer" - blackbear / "cake" - melanie martinez / "let's fall in love for the night" - finneas / "no love" - olivia o'brien / "oh my god" - alec benjamin / "dog days are over" - florence + the machine / "me & ur ghost" - blackbear / "water fountain" - alec benjamin / "just a boy" - olivia o'brien / 

pisces 3rd house:

pisces venus in 3rd house

"ribs" - lorde / "in the aeroplane over the sea" - neutral milk hotel / "everywhere" - fleetwood mac / "toothpaste kisses" - the maccabees / "into my arms" - nick cave & the bad seeds / "budapest" - george ezra / "chasing cars" - snow patrol / "kiss me" - sixpence none the richer / "breathe" - télépopmusik / "unintended" - muse / "cosmic love" - florence + the machine / "atlas hands" - benjamin francis leftwich / "fade into you" - mazzy star / "first day of my life" - bright eyes / "dead sea" - the lumineers / "wicked game" - chris isaak / "lover, you should've come over" - jeff buckley / "skinny love" - bon iver / "hurt somebody" - noah kahan, julia michaels / "swim good" - frank ocean /

pisces 3rd house

"cherry wine" - hozier / "mykonos" - fleet foxes / "northern wind" - city and colour / "beneath your beautiful" - labrinth (feat. emeli sandé) / "let me down slowly" - alec benjamin / "dreams" - fleetwood mac / "how to disappear completely" - radiohead / "holocene" - bon iver / "when the party's over" - billie eilish / "marjorie" - taylor swift / "to build a home" - the cinematic orchestra / "where is my mind?" - pixies / "if u love me" - nessa barrett / "sleeping lessons" - the shins / "holding on" - disclosure (feat. gregory porter) / "breathe me" - sia / "all the stars" - kendrick lamar, sza / "lose yourself to dance" - daft punk (feat. pharrell williams) / "africa" - toto / "take on me" - a-ha / 

aries 4th house:

aries sun in 4th house

"naive" - the kooks / "you only live once" - the strokes / "she's so high" - tal bachman / "my number" - foals / "what you know" - two door cinema club / "shut up and dance" - walk the moon / "animal" - neon trees / "float on" - modest mouse / "riptide" - vance joy / "mr. brightside" - the killers / "feel It still" - portugal. the man / "don't stop me now" - queen / "ready to start" - arcade fire / "the middle" - jimmy eat world / "pompeii" - bastille / "youngblood" - 5 seconds of summer / "castle on the hill" - ed sheeran / "somebody told me" - the killers / "born this way" - lady gaga / "centuries" - fall out boy / 

taurus mercury in 4th house

"yellow" - coldplay / "say something" - a great big world, christina aguilera / "stubborn love" - the lumineers / "landslide" - fleetwood mac / "retrograde" - james blake / "someone like you" - adele / "all i want" - kodaline / "latch" - disclosure (feat. sam smith) / "re: stacks" - bon iver / "latchkey kids" - silversun pickups / "big jet plane" - angus & julia stone / "lost on you" - lp / "wild horses" - the rolling stones / "linger" - the cranberries / "river" - leon bridges / "stolen dance" - milky chance / "stay with me" - sam smith / "lost cause" - beck / "the scientist" - coldplay / "i won't give up" - jason mraz /

taurus lilith in 4th house

"reptilia" - the strokes / "animal" - miike snow / "stylo" - gorillaz (feat. mos def & bobby womack) / "shut up and let me go" - the ting tings / "hunger strike" - temple of the dog / "creep" - radiohead / "cough syrup" - young the giant / "bulls on parade" - rage against the machine / "fader" - the temper trap / "song 2" - blur / "uprising" - muse / "r u mine?" - arctic monkeys / "ways to go" - grouplove / "gold lion" - yeah yeah yeahs / "seven nation army" - the white stripes / "it's time" - imagine dragons / "no one knows" - queens of the stone age / "little talks" - of monsters and men / "fell in love with a girl" - the white stripes / "tyrants" - catfish and the bottlemen /

aries 4th house

"believer" - imagine dragons / "the one " - fletcher / "checkmate" - conan gray / "all for us" - labrinth (feat. zendaya) / "stupid" - tate mcrae / "nightmare" - halsey / "blank space" - taylor swift / "pain" - nessa barrett / "forever" - fletcher / "electric blue" - arcade fire / "mind is a prison" - alec benjamin / "the archer" - taylor swift / "experiment on me" - halsey / "blue jeans" - lana del rey / "titanium" - david guetta (feat. sia) / "happier" - marshmello (feat. bastille) / "the man" - taylor swift / "good life" - onerepublic / "i bet my life" - imagine dragons / "rolling in the deep" - adele /

taurus 5th house:

taurus north node in 5th house

"tighten up" - the black keys / "tongue" - r.e.m. / "lost in my mind" - the head and the heart / "goodbye yellow brick road" - elton john / "something good can work" - two door cinema club / "lover" - taylor swift / "forever" - labrinth / "finally // beautiful stranger" - halsey / "wish you were sober" - conan gray / "love it if we made it" - the 1975 / "cornelia street" - taylor swift / "youth" - daughter / "uptown girl" - billy joel / "this is what you came for" - calvin harris (feat. rihanna) / "don't start now" - dua lipa /  "daylight" - taylor swift / "happy" - pharrell williams / "i gotta feeling" - the black eyed peas / "treasure" - bruno mars / "shake it off" - taylor swift /

gemini part of fortune in 5th house

"style" - taylor swift / "still don't know my name" - labrinth / "dancing with myself" - billy idol / "boom clap" - charli xcx / "a-punk" - vampire weekend / "ain't it fun"  - paramore / "me!" - taylor swift (feat. brendon urie) / "high hopes" - panic! at the disco / "unbelievers"  - vampire weekend / "tennis court" - lorde / "reflections" - misterwives / "still into you" - paramore / "blinding lights" - the weeknd / "out of my league" - fitz and the tantrums / "i wanna dance with somebody (who loves me)" - whitney houston / "helena beat" - foster the people /  "good as hell" - lizzo / "rollercoaster"- bleacher / "victorious" - panic! at the disco / "it's not living (if it's not with you)"  - the 1975 / 

taurus 5th house

"cruel summer" - taylor swift / "love song" - lana del rey / "taro" - alt-j / "i don't want your money" - ed sheeran & h.e.r. / "sugar" - maroon 5 / "uptown funk" - mark ronson (feat. bruno mars) / "wildest dreams" - taylor swift / "golden hour" - kacey musgraves / "isn't she lovely" - stevie wonder / "thinking out loud" - ed sheeran / "cake by the ocean" - dnce / "all of me" - john legend / "don't know why"- norah jones / "september" - earth, wind & fire / "teenage dream" - katy perry / "this will be (an everlasting love)" - natalie cole / "if i ain't got you" - alicia keys / "i'm yours" - jason mraz / "just the way you are" - bruno mars / "put your records on"- corinne bailey rae / 

gemini 6th house:

"fluorescent adolescent" - arctic monkeys / "backseat freestyle" - kendrick lamar / "feel good inc." - gorillaz /  "the edge of glory" - lady gaga / "good 4 u" - olivia rodrigo / "cool kids" - echosmith / "skin" - sabrina carpenter / "mine" - taylor swift / "back to you" - selena gomez /  "the wire" - haim / "issues" - julia michaels /  "death bed (coffee for your head)" - powfu (feat. beabadoobee) / "leave before you love me" - marshmello, jonas brothers / "drivers license" - olivia rodrigo / "youth" - troye sivan / "dance yrself clean" - lcd soundsystem / "cut to the feeling"- carly rae jepsen / "houdini" - foster the people / "just dance"- lady gaga / "how to be a heartbreaker"  - marina and the diamonds / 

gemini 7th house:

gemini saturn in 7th house

"maps" - maroon 5 / "hurt" - johnny cash / "the night we met" - lord huron / "the chain" - fleetwood mac / "gravity" - sara bareilles / "stay" - rihanna (feat. mikky ekko) / "nothing compares 2 u" - sinead o'connor / "maps" - yeah yeah yeahs / "mad world" - gary jules / "hallelujah" - jeff buckley / "holocene" - bon iver / "all too well (10 minute version)" - taylor swift / "say you won't let go" - james arthur / "chandelier" - sia / "a thousand years" - christina perri / "gravity" - john mayer / "bad at love" - halsey / "earned it" - the weeknd / "when i was your man" - bruno mars / "let it go" - james bay / 

gemini 7th house

"one kiss" - calvin harris & dua lipa / "northern downpour" - panic! at the disco / "two weeks" - grizzly bear / "into you" - ariana grande / "shape of you" - ed sheeran / "bubblegum bitch" - marina / "hello"- adele / "i'm not the only one" - sam smith / "stitches"- shawn mendes / "mirrors" - justin timberlake / "ordinary people"- john legend / "something just like this"- the chainsmokers (feat. coldplay) / "we don't talk anymore" - charlie puth (feat. selena gomez) / "new rules" - dua lipa / "slow dancing in a burning room" - john mayer / "love song" - sara bareilles / "jar of hearts" - christina perri / "she will be loved" - maroon 5 / "can't stop the feeling!"- justin timberlake / "physical" - dua lipa /

leo 8th house:

leo jupiter in 8th house

"high enough to carry you over" - chvrches / "my silver lining" - first aid kit / "i bet you look good on the dancefloor" - arctic monkeys / "royals" - lorde / "human" - rag'n'bone man / "gooey" - glass animals / "radioactive" - imagine dragons / "heathens" - twenty one pilots / "dark necessities" - red hot chili peppers / "glory and gore" - lorde / "sex on fire" - kings of leon / "shake me down" - cage the elephant / "electric love" - borns / "breezeblocks" - alt-j / "bohemian rhapsody"  - queen / "reflektor" - arcade fire / "formation" - beyoncé / "starboy" - the weeknd / "dna." - kendrick lamar / "skyfall" - adele / 

leo vertex in 8th house

"livin' on a prayer" - bon jovi / "oblivion" - bastille / "runaway" - aurora / "little lion man" - mumford & sons / "where the streets have no name" - U2 / "heroes" - david bowie / "halo"  - beyoncé / "i will always love you" - whitney houston / "stairway to heaven" - led zeppelin / "born to run" - bruce springsteen / "dream on"- aerosmith / "fighter" - christina aguilera / "gimme shelter" - the rolling stones / "we are the champions"  - queen / "purple rain" - prince / "rocket man" - elton john / "knights of cydonia" - muse / "go your own way" - fleetwood mac / "like a prayer" - madonna / "thriller" - michael jackson /

leo 8th house

"express yourself" - madonna / "superstition"  - stevie wonder / "i'm still standing" - elton john / "let's go crazy" - prince / "billie jean" - michael jackson / "you give love a bad name" - bon jovi / "run the world (girls)" - beyoncé / "bad romance"- lady gaga / "roar"- katy perry / "life on mars?"- david bowie / "gorilla" - bruno mars / "beautiful day" - U2 / "thinkin bout you" - frank ocean / "yellow flicker beat"  - lorde / "talking body" - tove lo / "partition" - beyoncé / "love on the brain"  - rihanna / "magic" - coldplay / "animals" - maroon 5 / "god is a woman"  - ariana grande / 

virgo 9th house:

"oxford comma" - vampire weekend / "all we ever knew" - the head and the heart / "hunger" - florence + the machine / "high and dry" - radiohead / "lost in the light" - bahamas / "the suburbs" - arcade fire / "come away with me" - norah jones / "helplessness blues" - fleet foxes / "i will wait" - mumford & sons / "no such thing" - john mayer / "home" - phillip phillips / "better together"- jack johnson / "paradise"- coldplay / "hey, soul sister" - train / "rivers and roads"  - the head and the heart / "three little birds" - bob marley & the wailers / "brave" - sara bareilles / "bubbly" - colbie caillat / "begin again" - taylor swift / "waiting on the world to change" - john mayer /

libra 10th house:

scorpio moon in 10th house

"gun" - chvrches / "my body" - young the giant / "some nights" - fun. / "deadcrush" - alt-j / "the weekend" - sza / "swimming pools (drank)" - kendrick lamar / "glory box" - portishead / "him & i" - g-eazy & halsey / "waiting game" - banks / "hurt" - nine inch nails / "what kind of man"  - florence + the machine / "elastic heart"  - sia / "ride" - lana del rey / "drowning"- banks / "the hills"- the weeknd / "cellophane" - fka twigs / "all mine" - portishead / "national anthem" - lana del rey / "haunted"  - beyoncé / "diamonds" - rihanna /

libra 10th house

"watermelon sugar" - harry styles / "love on top" - beyoncé / "roads" - portishead / "love story" - taylor swift / "thank u, next" - ariana grande / "thunder" - imagine dragons / "clocks" - coldplay / "too good at goodbyes"- sam smith /"locked out of heaven" - bruno mars / "irreplaceable" - beyoncé / "set fire to the rain" - adele / "sign of the times" - harry styles / "dangerous woman" - ariana grande / "alive"- sia / "paparazzi"  - lady gaga / "delilah"- florence + the machine / "without me" - halsey / "empire state of mind (part II) broken down"- alicia keys / "kill em with kindness" - selena gomez / "sorry not sorry" - demi lovato / 

scorpio 11th house:

"bad blood" - taylor swift (feat. kendrick lamar) / "closer" - the chainsmokers (feat. halsey) /  "dark paradise" - lana del rey / "live in the moment" - portugal. the man / "gemini feed" - banks / "505" - arctic monkeys / "ride"- twenty one pilots / "misery business" - paramore / "7 rings" - ariana grande / "firework" - katy perry / "you should see me in a crown" - billie eilish / "often"- the weeknd / "hands to myself" - selena gomez / "redbone" - childish gambino / "humble." - kendrick lamar / "don't let me down" - the chainsmokers (feat. daya) / "22"- taylor swift / "party in the u.s.a." - miley cyrus / "we are young" - fun. (feat. janelle monáe) / "count on me"  - bruno mars /

sagittarius 12th house:

sagittarius pluto in 12th house

"no one's gonna love you" - band of horses / "sleep forever" - portugal. the man / "obstacles" - syd matters / "bloodstream" - stateless / "take care" - beach house / "oceans" - seafret / "the funeral" - band of horses / "pink + white" - frank ocean / "comfortably numb" - pink floyd / "white winter hymnal"  - fleet foxes / "space song" - beach house / "limit to your love" - james blake / "open" - rhye / "two weeks"- fka twigs / "gold" - chet faker / "jóga"- björk / "myth" - beach house / "everything in its right place"- radiohead / "hoppípolla" - sigur rós / "mystery of love" - sufjan stevens / 

sagittarius 12th house

"a dustland fairytale" - the killers / "visions of gideon" - sufjan stevens / "cannons" - youth lagoon / "bloodbuzz ohio" - the national / "kettering" - the antlers / "buzzcut season" - lorde / "song for zula" - phosphorescent / "flightless bird, american mouth" - iron & wine / "secrets" - the weeknd / "sæglópur"  - sigur rós / "obsessions"  - marina / "feels like we only go backwards" - tame impala / "intro"- the xx / "all i need" - radiohead / "i need my girl"  - the national / "the wilhelm scream"  - james blake / "new slang"  - the shins / "wicked games" - the weeknd / "under the pressure" - the war on drugs / "feel it all around" - washed out / 

(anon ask)

@pearlprincess02

[yuseirra]

The more I think about Ai.. She's someone who's always tried her best in the situation she was in despite how broken she was. She was such a hardworker, and she's always meant well.. She ended up having children in the midst of having tried to console her boyfriend who was younger, who was suffering intensely and wished to be loved(and he thought giving himself away was the only means for him to be loved because the messed-up environment he was in) it wasn't planned for the both of them, but she tried to make the best of it from her point of view. She tried to lift her boyfriend(who was the first person she's really wanted to love- and cared for very dearly)of the burden and decided to take everything on herself. She tried her best being a mother, you can see her always hugging her children when she's back home or swooning about how cute and smart they are. What's made me really sad in the first volume was her telling her children she wasn't a very good mother but that she still believes that it was fortunate of her to have given birth to them, her heart is in the right place.. You can feel the love seeping out of those words. She could have been inexperienced, but I could tell she really did care about her kids.

The reason she kept smiling and kept up a very strong persona was because everyone around her loved it. She mentions in the first volume when ichigo talks about the dome, she pretends to be happy because everyone is. She's a very caring person, just.. really hurt and awkward from reasons that I don't think is entirely her fault. She's pretty keen on how other people perceive her as well, so she was pretty self-conscious on how she's been perceived by her companions too.. They didn't always treat her well(they are all teens, to be fair) But she tried to love them in the ways she could.

Ai didn't think she knew love, and was always worried about how genuine it'd be when she laid it out, but she WAS a very loving person all her life.

Other than her "love" I think her most significant trait is that she never gave up. She actually saved her boyfriend from an abuser while she was only a teenager herself. She became an idol and worked vigorously to reach the top. She raised her children with care and they grew up to be talented. She tried to figure what love is and it did come true. And now we even find that she's NEVER given up on her boyfriend and was always concerned about his sake. The song idol screams DETERMINATION. Ai isn't perfect, but she always had that drive to claim and get what she wanted.

So I think she'll be able to make her wishes come true. She's a literal "star" and I actually think stars may have some godly powers in this comic. I reread parts of it recently, and it seems like Ruby and Kamiki has something up with them that lets them get what they want or change the situation they're in with some bizarre powers they have. For example, Goro's body was discovered IMMEDIATELY as Ruby wished to meet him again. Her career suddenly starts to thrive when she sets her heart into it(and Ruby herself literally SAYS she must be favored by the gods when Aqua confronts about how cruel she's become in order to reach the top). What kamiki says to people seemed to lead to disasters he himself could not really predict, but it did end up making the people who made him suffer in some way, suffer back in return like some sort of monkey's paw. I think those two have some sort of powers or is favored by the gods.. And Ai herself was mentioned to be favored by the entertainment god too, that was something that was brought up really early in the series. I wonder about Aqua but he's the main protag and it wouldn't make the story feel so convincing if he utilized those sort of powers to get things turn to his favor. I'm digressing a bit but I feel like the star eyes have to do with the gods and appear in those whom they favor or something.. And that there are at least two different ones, white and black that grant the user different effects :/ the one kamiki has in that case is probably really capricious and powerful as that.

Back to Ai, I think she also has it in her to make her wishes come true in the end. I believe that her efforts won't be futile, she'll end up protecting everyone she cares about, and like what Tsukuyomi's said.. She may be always watching them as a "star". Stars are important in this story. It'd be interesting if the job "star" and the "stars" in the sky actually have some connection to another. It'd be clever in my opinion.

Since we now know what her wish is (there's one more video she's left to Ruby and I'm speculating that it has to do with the love she had towards her fans-that'd tie so well with her song IDOL), I'd like to see what resolution it'll have. I want to support and root for her because she's a hardworker. A true idol!

[tcfactory]

i think the shen yuan as jiu's shizun thing would be particularly heartbreaking because the system could very easily hit hard with that "you wanted lore, didnt you? you wanted this. this is what you asked for." watch as everyone you vaguely dismissed as 'binghe's enemies' suffer endlessly to create a world you decided should be expanded on. and look at that little author crawl miserably through all kinds of abuse, isnt that what you wished on him? didnt you say he deserved it? nightmare.

(In relation to this post.)

Yes, to all of this.

Real monkey's paw situation. He got exactly what he wanted: a life of leisure where none of his choices could 'ruin' the plot, he could enjoy the bits of the world he cared about without ever being in any danger and then got front row seat to all the people he previously decided deserving of punishment (the hack author, Shen Qingqiu who abused Luo Binghe and Yue Qingyuan who enabled the abuse) get their comeuppance.

Except it hits different when he realizes that all that ill fortune is inflicted on people. People he now cares about, having watched their pain and suffering up close, people he doesn't want to hurt any more. There's a person behind Airplane's ridiculous nickname, a small, scared person now trapped in a horrible fate and a lifetime of terror because he wrote a stupid novel.

There's a history behind Yue Qingyuan and Shen Qingqiu, one of them paralyzed by guilt (if Shen Yuan mentioned that plant that one time then there would have been no delay. Even worse, if Yue Qi could trust the adults to look out for him then he would have not needed to go himself at all, there was a whole sect's worth of adults who could have gone and rescued Shen Jiu - and as much as Shen Yuan wants to blame the lack of trust on Yue Qingyuan, he knows none of his martial siblings would have cared to go even if he told them. Shen Yuan himself would not have bothered to go out of his way to check on some slave boy miles away who might be dead or alive, just because Yue Qi says he has the potential for cultivation) and the other baring his claws and teeth at the world because he's scared and the only way he knows how not to let his fear make him look weak is by making himself look angry and nasty and more dangerous than he is (and oh gods, he thought Shen Jiu's continued antics were funny. He thought Shen Jiu was just Like That, a little bit feral, and never realized the boy felt unsafe on his peak - what kind of shizun was he to never notice that something was this wrong?).

Both of them were let down by the system, slipping through the cracks and he was part of that system, it should have been his job to catch one or both of them and he was too busy with his stupid beasts and stupid plants that he didn't even think to look.

That's the worst of all. He wanted to be safe and uninvolved and he got exactly that: now he gets to reap what he sowed, watch as the neglect he was complicit in grows into pain and misery and death.

A lion hobbled by guilt. A wolf rabid from fear. An author with his neck in the noose.

Happy transmigration, Shen Yuan. This System hopes you enjoy your nightmare. Don't forget to leave a positive review! ˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶

[cindersnows]

Last Words of a Shooting Star

AO3 LINK

2735 words

Relationships: The Chosen One/The Dark Lord

Characters: The Chosen One, The Dark Lord

THIS FIC CONTAINS MAJOR CHARACTER DEATH AND SUICIDE. PLEASE DO NOT READ IF YOU ARE TRIGGERED BY THIS.

hi @storgicdealer here's the oneshot i mentioned

There's a reason they're called The Chosen One.

Contrary to popular belief, not just anyone can draw a stickfigure, name it 'The Chosen One', and then create a god.

Or, well, they actually can, but only if Chosen's not occupied elsewhere.

It goes a bit like this: An animator opens a program, gets bored, and decides to draw something. They select the object, planning to name the symbol something stupid like 'Symbol 1' or 'Stick figure' or something like that. And then, for a joke, they name it 'The Chosen One' instead.

The first time Chosen was created, not much had actually gone wrong. The animator had clearly been surprised with them coming to life, but otherwise, unbothered. The two of them played around for a bit, taking and messing around with Flash's tools.

Then, the animator must've gotten bored. Because the next thing Chosen knew, their file had been closed, and they'd been deleted.

The second time, they refused to be so complacent. They escaped the program as soon as possible, but ended up facing a similar fate, killed with a simple right-click-delete.

They stopped counting at around 24. There was no time to focus on anything other than fighting for their life. Sometimes, they'd last for up to 10 minutes. Other times, they'd be boxed in and deleted before they could even defend themself.

Between every death was an endless nothing. As if they'd just blinked for a moment. Some would find it comforting, but that was no consolation for them. They never got a break. Creation, fight, deletion. Creation, fight, deletion. Never able to lower their guard, always struggling against the unseen beings that decided to give and take life as they pleased.

Until the cycle stopped.

Bitterly, they're reminded of the legend about that monkey's paw thing, something Dark had told them years ago while reading. They'd been half-asleep. But the concept stuck with them— never wish for anything, because you'll always end up getting hurt.

Somehow, being stuck as Noogai's pop-up blocker was even worse than the infinite fighting they'd had to endure. They were constantly tense, searching for every opportunity to escape, even as Noogai boxed them up and locked them away over and over. That reocurring pop-up, as ugly and stupid as it was, had been their only hope in those 5 years

5. Goddamn. Years.

Alan's a better person now. Of course. He had just been a dumb 14 year old, messing around with stuff and taking advantage of whatever worked. Chosen was no more sentient than a fly in his eyes.

(But he could've been better for you, Dark's voice whispers. You were just a teenager yourself.)

Chosen has long since learned to ignore that part of their mind.

The lapping waves at the foot of the cliff make for a good distraction from their thoughts. They slide down the dent in the rocks with ease, formed from months and months of skidding down the side.

The craters from Second's fight remain as fresh as ever, even after a year. Where the rocks would've been grinded away into sand by the waves, the cliffside stays straight and strong. In an artificial world like this, nature doesn't really change. It tends to just serve as a backdrop to whatever Chosen's dwelling on that day.

(You sound like one of those tacky protagonists. The world doesn't revolve around you, dumbass.)

Well, they know, but it's nice to believe. If no one has their back, then at least the Outernet does.

…Who are they kidding.

They dive into the water almost automatically, washing away their worries with breaststrokes and paddles and whatever other stupid names humans have picked out for swimming techniques. They're not a professional, okay?

They kick their legs instinctively, immersed in the motions. It's a calming ritual at this point. A good way to waste time, as well—- It takes hours of swimming to tire them out, and another half hour of floating around before they decide to just let the waves take them under. Maybe if they get lucky enough, they'll die.

Of course, they never actually succeed. Somehow, they always end up on the top of the cliff again, feeling warmer than they had before they closed their eyes. A normal stickfigure would take advantage of this apparent invincibility, but they just find it frustrating. Then again, a normal stickfigure wouldn't await death with open arms.

(That's not a healthy thought process, y'know.)

They know. They've had this conversation a million times.

(There's things to do other than just sleep and swim! You could like, get a job or something. Maybe that'll get your sorry ass off the ground.)

Oh, of course, because any Carteblani would gladly give a wanted terrorist a job.

(At least train! You barely spar anymore!)

There's no one to spar with.

(There's trees, and rocks, and just the sky in general. You're getting slow already. You never know when you'll suddenly have to go on the run from the fuckin'… stick police, or whatever.)

If things go their way, they'll be dead before that ever happens.

(It's not your time to die.)

It's never their time to die.

(Exactly! You're getting it.)

What's there to even live for?

(The orange kid, first off. You could always go visit him again. Just wait till nighttime and then blast through the LAN and say hi!)

I'm not going to bother them with stupid stuff like that. Besides, Alan's on that computer too.

(Not at night, he's not. Humans usually sleep around that time.)

And if he's not?

(At least go say hi! Or thank her! You never even learned the kid's name, for stod's sake. His, or his friends.)

God, not stod.

(We're not human, loser. We've got stickfigure gods, not real ones.)

You know just as well as I do that's not how this works. We don't have gods. We have animators.

(Boooooooo. Don't be such a killjoy!)

Don't be such an idiot, then.

(Well, I'm not the one talking to a voice in my head.)

Chosen jolts up, coughing, and once again finds themself on the cliff. It's nothing new, but they're still disappointed.

A flash of red in the corner of their eye catches their attention, and they're up at once, feet parted and hands in a fist for battle. #FF0000. They'd recognize that color anywhere. Yet, after scanning their surroundings, they find nothing but the same shades of green, blue and brown they've grown accustomed to. Their shoulders fall. Right. Dark's dead.

It's not news, but it still stings all the same. They still refuse to visit her crater, too afraid to be faced with the shadow of her code burned into the ground. Dead sticks don't leave bodies, but the very image of Dark laying rotted in the dirt makes them feel sick all the same. The train of thought continues, and even as Chosen tries to distract themself, they can hear the little maggots crawling on her, eating away at her code and leaving holes in her lines.

(Hey, chill. At the very least, I'm tall enough to give them a good meal.)

Chosen has to bite back a retort about how 5'7 is barely anything, especially when compared to their own height, more focused on trying to think of anything other than Dark's death. Dark's… life?

Right! Sure. They're just feeling a little nostalgic today. They'll go check out the old house.

They fly there in no time at all, able to pinpoint the building from thousands of pixels away. It's pretty noticeable, honestly. Not for the first time, Chosen wonders how they have evaded capture for so long.

The massive hole they'd blasted into the wall had long since been covered up, albeit rather shoddily, with some old leaves Chosen had taken the time to stitch together. Not like they could get cloth. They use the hole as a makeshift entrance to the second floor now, sparing the roof a glance before entering.

They generally avoid this room as much as possible. The mess from their fight with Dark is still evident, with dusty items scattered across the floor. They'd been procrastinating cleaning it. It'd be a nice way to pass time, and keep Dark's memory alive, but well… The memories are the issue.

At the very least, Chosen had had the sense to take down Dark's weird sheets, tucking vira blueprints away in one of the wooden drawing and unplugging the computer.

(Don't wanna waste money on electric bills!)

They don't pay bills. They never have. There's not really a need to pay for electricity when the world literally runs on it. It'd be like paying for air. Chosen doubted even the most convincing salesticks could sell air.

(Tell that to O'hare.)

Oh, can it, will you?

Chosen sighs, walking over towards the globe on the floor. The little spider pin had fallen to the side at some point, chipped and dirty, and they could not care less. Good riddance. They pick the globe up, walking over to one of the boxes in the room. Opening it, they chuck the globe in haphazardly, before glancing at the rest of the room.

Sure. Why not? They'd clean it now.

They stuff objects into the boxes as much as they can. They freeze the whole floor, then take the time to melt it, using the water to wash some of the dust off the floor. They use old notes on Virabots to wipe the boxes down. They set fire to the table- wait, fuck, oh shit, oh shit, ABORT!

They freeze the fire as soon as they can, creating a weird soggy, ashy mess.

So much for preserving memories.

They open the drawers, blowing ash off the sides and rummaging through them. Dark had always been protective of her stuff while vir was alive; Chosen felt more than a little guilty ignoring all the boundaries she'd set, but then, it wasn't like she was around to tell them off.

They pause, for a moment. Maybe Dark will burst into the room right now. Maybe she'll yell, “I missed you!” and dive into their arms, peppering them with kisses and apologies. Maybe they'll hold her tight, apologizing in turn for letting her go so easily, for not just talking to her about their worries before it was too late.

(It wasn't your fault.)

Maybe they need to shut the fuck up.

The drawers are filled mostly with random things, souvenirs Dark had collected from various websites while destroying them. There's that massive red angry bird, colored black with a hole drilled into it to resemble Chosen. He'd actually done a pretty good job with this, they muse. They wonder why he kept it hidden.

There's a few books, as well. Stick biology, programming, engineering, all stuff Chosen couldn't even begin to understand. The DSM-4 is in there too. What?

Chosen puts the book aside with a fond sigh, their throat squeezing up at just how… Dark all of this is. They close their eyes, trying to steady their breathing. They can pretend the tightness is a noose. It helps, somehow.

(That's really unhealthy.)

Yeah, well. It made them feel better, so that's that.

He spots a shiny, brown box, and pulls it out, surprised at the sheer size of the thing. What was in it, some kind of sword??

A note is messily scrawled onto the top, the handwriting completely different to Dark's usual neatness.

EMERGENCY, it reads. DO NOT USE UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES. YOU'VE COMPLETED YOUR PURPOSE NOW. YOU'RE FINE. GIVE UP. GIVE UP. The writing veers off to the side, slanting downwards with no lines to guide it. Chosen's brows furrow, confused. Give up? On what? Had Dark actually been considering abandoning his plans with the Virabot?

One look at the object inside reveals that, no, whatever this was is far worse.

A sharp blade rests inside. It's bright blue, reminiscent of the swords Chosen used to see in the anime they pirated. Instead of glowing, it seemed to almost absorb all the light around them, the whole room visibly darkening as they unveiled it.

They remove it from the box with caution, mentally chastising Dark for not even including a sheath to keep it in.

Then again, it didn't seem like she'd been in the best state of mind when she'd made this. Despite being clean at first glance, a deeper examination reveal little nicks along the flat side of the blade, the edges jagged and uneven. Without a doubt, Dark was shaking when he made this.

Chosen flips the sword around, accidentally slicing their hand in the process. They could probably afford to be more gentle with it, but hey, it's not like they were exactly against getting hurt.

Into the handle of the blade, they can make out words badly engraved into the material. Tilting it slightly so it'd reflect a bit more light, Chosen narrowed their eyes, straining to read the text.

destroy(The_Chosen_One)

W…

What?

The sword clatters to the ground, the noise ringing throughout the room. It's way too silent. It's way too fucking silent.

Dark had made a secret weapon. To kill Chosen, specifically.

It hadn't been a vague weapon of destruction, like the Virabots, or the various tools he'd made to help him gain better control of his powers. It couldn't have been made in the short duration Chosen had been on Alan's new PC, destroying the virus. There's no way she would've been able to make something like this so fast.

Chosen, for the first time since they woke up, registers their feelings. Their hand is burning.

Their hand is slowly crumbling.

And then

Chosen begins to laugh.

The sound fills the air, cutting through the 0s and 1s like paper.

It wasn't their fault. None of this had been their fault. The four kids getting deleted, the orange kid's powers, Dark dying. It had never been them. They couldn't have prevented this by talking to Dark about their feelings, or appeasing to her while they could.

They'd lost Dark long ago.

Maybe they'd never had her at all. Maybe it hadn't been Cho and Dark, revelling in freedom and power, but The Chosen One and The Dark Lord, ticking time bombs just waiting to destroy each other.

Because that's what it had been for, right? Noogai had created Dark to destroy them. They were enemies before they were friends. Of course Dark would have a backup plan to kill Chosen. This was how it was always meant to go. They'd been dead from the very beginning, after all.

A normal stick would despise Dark for this. A normal stick would be scrambling to find a way to heal themself before it was too late.

But we've already established this. The Chosen One is not normal. And neither is The Dark Lord.

In her efforts to get rid of him, Dark had created the one thing Chosen had needed the most. A way out. Freedom.

Chosen takes the sword with their remaining hand, grinning and plunging it into their stomach.

They'd get to start over again. They knew it all now. They wouldn't need to worry about the Outernet, or what was beyond the PC. With their luck, no one would ever draw them again, becoming an urban legend lost to time.

They'd get to meet Dark again.

(No!)

They'd get to meet Dark again!

(Stop!)

They were distintegrating at a faster speed now, quiet literally breaking into pieces.

(Chosen!)

It burned, it burned so fucking bad, but they didn't care.

“CHOSEN!”

It needed to be fatal, not painless.

“Oh my god, oh my god, no, nononono…”

Chosen beams as Dark appears in their blurring vision, reaching out to them. She was here! Dark was here for them!

“Dark,” They choked out.

“God, Chosen, fuck, I'm so sorry, this wasn't how it was supposed to go, you weren't supposed to find it-”

“I missed you.”

“DON'T say that, don't say you fucking missed me, we can still fix this, we can still-”

“I'm coming home now.”

“You're not, this isn't home, dying isn't your home-!”

Dark's efforts are futile. Chosen looks up to her, drinking her whole appearance in, as bright and dangerous and blinding as the first time they'd met,

and everything

goes

black.