#dagger had a tutorial

[paperzest]

WIP origami dragon from the 1 meter square that has been in progress for the past month. Still need to do detail on the legs and maybe some other parts. But they're getting closer to being finished!!

Thinking of folding a number of items for a treasure hoard to display them with when I finish. Decided to start by making a dagger for today.

EDIT: finished here

[ganondoodle]

back on my zelda thoughts

idk about you but i got sick of zelda running after people with big sorrowful puppy eyes begging them to listen to her(they wont) or to help link in totk pretty fast

[etherealrin]

Hey! Love your works, it's really nice to read them and I just love your style💖, may I request an isagi x reader but the reader is kaiser's little sibling? It sounds fun ☺️

⋆｡˚꩜ a comprehensive tutorial on how to piss off michael kaiser in his penthouse; by yoichi isagi.

yoichi isagi just wants to hang out with you...but your brother is making it quite uncomfortable

warnings: slight violent descriptions (as a joke), michael kaiser gives you no privacy, one mention of google translated german // wc: 957

note: i was giggling the entire time writing this LMAOO imo such a funny dynamic, the rivalry goes crazy.

your bubbly laughs that echo through the penthouse allow isagi to relax, just a little bit. the environment is new to him, and he’s afraid that the smallest slip-up will result in his head being chopped off by one of the rather large, menacing butcher knives lined against the marble kitchen walls.

but what’s even more threatening is the way kaiser is glaring at him, blue gaze more piercing than any dagger.

“micha, you’re making yoi uncomfortable,” you begin, shooting the blonde haired man your own look of annoyance. you turn your attention away from the mixing bowl in front of you to interlace your fingers with yoichi’s, trying to offer him some comfort. isagi wonders if theres nervous sweat on them.

“he’s in my penthouse, with my sibling? am i meant to leave him unattended, to let this donkey roam around with free will?” kaiser huffs, arms crossing.

yikes, was he in a mood today.

“you’re calling my boyfriend a donkey?” yeah, you were ready to throw hands right there.

isagi had practically jumped for joy when you’d invited him over to bake cookies. he somehow managed to forget that you were rival’s little sibling, and that your house was technically also michael’s—of course he would own a penthouse with a city view. michael was an oddly protective elder brother, or maybe his rivalry with yoichi just ran that deeply; was it not enough for isagi to steal the soccer ball on court? did he have to steal michael’s bloodline too?

“go, um, read a psychology book or something,” you say, wanting to get your brother off the scene. “hang out with ness! i’m sure he’d love to!”

yoichi nods his head hurriedly in agreement.

“you think you two are getting rid of me that easily? that’s-“ your brother is cut off mid-scoff, his phone ringing loudly and persistently. you snicker, knowing that you were about to win.

“was zum teufel,” michael spits, picking up the line.

“no, ness, i’m busy…what? you seriously can’t drive yourself? can’t i…uh….i guess you’re right,” he seems to be arguing with ness, going back and forth.

“you two lucky idiots are getting your wish,” michael snaps as he hangs up, hurrying out the door. before it closes, a warning: “isagi, if you try anything, i’ll screw you over before you can blink twice.”

“yeah yeah, shitty rose.” yoichi’s ego gets the best of him. great, now he’d been rude to your brother in front of you!

but you don’t seem to mind, maybe you didn’t care, humming softly as you add chocolate chips to the mix.

"you need to move out," yoichi doesn't think he can visit you if this is how your brother was going to be.

“hmmm, could be worse. what if we made s’mores cookies?” you reply excitedly.

“the ones with marshmallows?”

“yep! i think i have them somewhere,” you pull him into your startling large pantry. the size is almost that of a grocery aisle, and it’s stocked with an insane amount of protein powder—likely your brother’s doing—but you find the small package of the fluffy white sweets tucked away in a corner.

except, you can’t quite get to it, the nook being far above your head.

“let me,” yoichi says, reaching up. he has to be on the tips of his toes, curse michael kaiser for being so damn tall!

as yoichi fumbles above you for a bit, he doesn’t notice the odd position he’s forced you into, your back flush against the shelves. you’re not that much shorter than him, but he’s gripping onto your shoulder for support, and the proximity makes you flustered. he smells good, crisp and clean, a hint of citrus in the mix.

with a small flop, the bag finally comes crashing down, along with yoichi’s balance. he lets out a startled yelp, hurriedly latching onto your other shoulder.

oh.

you blink, fazed by his deep aquamarine eyes, and the way that your noses are practically touching. his breath is ticklish, irregular from the earlier struggle, and a cherry red blush painted across his entire face.

you’re both too scared to move, stuck in the haze, should you move? closer? maybe further?

it’s like that for an agonizingly long second—still—until yoichi chooses for the both of you, his fingertips make contact with your jaw and they’re warm, hot like the kiss he suddenly pulls you into.

you’re far too eager to reciprocate, hands finding their way into his soft dark locks. the cookie batter stays neglected on the sleek white countertop, both of you distracted and lost in another world.

when your lungs threaten to implode from lack of air, that’s when you pull away, gasping softly.

your boyfriend’s face is ten times redder now.

“sorry, i- i should’ve asked first,” yoichi stammers, flustered and unable to meet your eyes.

“it’s fine, i like you when you’re confident, yoi,” you smile, twisting a strand of his hair.

you fail to notice how the front door had opened, and you’re greeted with michael kaiser standing in the hallway, gawking at the two of you.

“why’s he in my pantry?” michael’s pissed now. “of all damn places, could you two not make out in the middle of my protein powder? seriously, that is gross. i won’t be able to drink that shit now!”

“oops,” you giggle. “you’re just upset that you don’t have someone.” your brother lets out an indignant huff, ready to start hell as he marches closer. you’re still snickering.

unfortunately, yoichi cannot find any of this nearly as funny as you do—no, he’s already thinking about the hell your brother’s going to give him during the game tomorrow, convinced that both of the kaisers would be the death of him.

a/n: michael says "what the hell" in german, i just wanted to make it diverse idk. like genuinely isagi is lucky if he makes it through the week dating a kaiser sibling...kaiser is not giving his blessing for the wedding LMFAO

masterlist!

[codacheetah]

The Loop Dialogue Spreadsheet

RELEASE 1.0 BABY!!!!!!!

SHEETS LINK

WEB LINK (I don't recommend this one, but it's also here)

✦ WHAT IS THE LOOP DIALOGUE SPREADSHEET? ✦

As I'm sure you could guess by the name, this sheet is a compilation of (to my knowledge) all of Loop's dialogue in the game, sorted into tabs for easy access.

✦ WHAT DIALOGUE IS ON THIS SHEET? ✦

Currently, the sheet is divided into:

Generic dialogue - Dialogue for starting and ending a conversation with Loop, calling them, basic dialogue options

"What should I do next?" - Loop's advice regarding story progression.

"Let's talk about something..." - Optional conversations with Loop, relating to the "Behind the Scenes" achievement, also known simply as "loop chats"

"I had a question about..." - Loop's advice regarding sidequests

Predialogue - Automatic conversations with Loop preceding the regular dialogue options

Tutorials - Occasions in which Loop gives information to Siffrin in brackets.

Item interactions - Loop's reactions to using Souvenirs near them, as well as to using Your Dagger near them

Story events - Loop's introduction, Beginning of ACT 3, Loop hangout, Forgetting Mirabelle's name random event, ACT 5 Loop confrontation, and the Epilogue

(...plus the intro, where the key comes from)

✦ WHY USE YOUR SHEET? ✦

So you can be obsessive over Loop the same way I am (◕‿◕)

Also so you can take screenshots and see stuff you missed! Yippee!

Anyways, with that out of the way, thank you to anyone who has helped with this project along the way, ESPECIALLY @felikatze and his script project. 💖 You're free to copy anything out of this sheet without credit because, well, I didn't write any of this dialogue.

Fair warning ahead of time that this sheet contains unmarked spoilers for the entire game, including several optional achievements.

[multiversalburnoutclub]

𝘏𝘦𝘳 𝘗𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘢

warnings?: just some fluff.

Klaus Mikaelson was not known for his softness.

He was known for daggers. For vengeance. For centuries of blood-soaked stories whispered about in corners of dark rooms.

But now?

He was best known — at least in certain circles — as the man walking around the French Quarter with a tiny toddler on his hip, a tiny sparkly purse over his shoulder (her idea), and glitter stuck in his curls.

She was three.

Big eyes. Ridiculous lashes. A pout that could crumble kingdoms. And she looked like a storybook character — the kind with a crown and a dragon and a happily ever after.

She spent more time at Klaus’s house than her dad’s. Not that Marcel minded. In fact, he swore she preferred him. Something about the art supplies. Or the endless snacks. Or the fact that Klaus once ripped a vampire’s arm clean off because he swore too loudly near her.

And she adored him.

Called him Poppa, in a wobbly little voice that destroyed him every single time.

Not grandpa. Not Nik. Not Klaus.

Poppa.

He never corrected her.

He just knelt every time, arms open, voice impossibly soft. “There’s my girl.”

She rode on his shoulders through the Quarter like she owned it. They had a standing date every Saturday for ice cream. One time the parlor was closed and Klaus nearly bought the entire building just to open it back up.

He bragged about her constantly.

To strangers.

To enemies.

To people he was about to kill.

“She painted this,” he’d say, holding up a glitter-drenched, questionably-shaped elephant. “Look at the detail. Brilliant, isn’t she? Only three.”

Or worse:

“She told me she wants to be a princess and a doctor. That’s ambition.”

Or the time he looked Elijah dead in the eye and said, completely serious, “She’s smarter than you were at her age.”

But nothing destroyed him more than the hair.

One morning, she padded into his room, dragging her little brush behind her, curls sticking up in every direction.

“Mommy said you can try today,” she said, yawning.

Klaus sat up like he’d been handed the Holy Grail.

He’d practiced.

He watched tutorials on his phone. Took notes. Asked her mom twice about leave-in conditioner.

And when he finally got that braid right — smooth, not too tight, tied with a purple ribbon she picked out herself — she looked in the mirror, clapped her little hands, and grinned at him like he’d just handed her the moon.

“I love it, Poppa.”

Klaus Mikaelson, feared hybrid, actual monster, nearly burst into tears.

He cleared his throat. “Well. Of course you do. I’m excellent at this.”

She made him do it again the next day.

And the next.

He would kill for her. He would burn down cities. But more than anything, he would live for her.

Because in a life full of chaos, she was his peace. His purpose.

And when she wrapped her tiny arms around his neck and whispered, “I love you, Poppa,” against his cheek, all the centuries behind him faded.

He loved her back so loudly it echoed.

And always would.

[joi-me-hoi-me-noi]

Featuring Sukuna and Itadori as brothers teehee

A/n: I got this wonderful idea from nessieart's artwork of sukuna and megumi... I love nessieart but I'm not tryna bother them by @ing them like a mad woman...anywho enjoy

MODERN-DAY SUKUNA CRUSHING ON READER

You were looking for Yuuji around the building, he told you he wanted to talk to you.

You round a corner and there's 2 of them

Itadori just laughs and introduces his older brother to you

"Uh..nice to meet you. I'm L/n Y/n."

You hold out your hand for him to shake when he walks over to you. He just stares at you, no emotion on his face. Did he not like you or something? All of a sudden, his hand shoots out of his pocket and plops down on your shoulder.

He keeps eye contact with you and then smirks.

"Hey."

You looked in shock and Yuuji couldn't even look at the scene in front of him.

"Bro, you're cringing up the place."

Sukuna had to skedaddle even if he didn't want to but being pushed by Yuuji just reluctantly helped him to leave.

You wanted an explanation after that whole cringe fest.

"Yuuji, I need an explanation. I never knew you had a brother." You place your hands on your hips, staring daggers into your friend.

"Okay Y/n, imma explain now."

He explains that his brother wasn't here, he was in Kyoto for some studies and came back just now. He pulls a picture out of his wallet of them smiling with the words 'happy graduation' above them.

You take the picture from his fingers and look closely at it.

"H-He went to school?"

Yuuji nods, smiling wide.

"He graduated?"

Yuuji nods but looks to the side like 'of course'.

"Impossible."

"What do you mean impossible?"

The way you look at him tells him everything he needs to know.

"Nevermind but you should hang out with us while you can. He might leave again and he can probably answer your questions better than I can."

So with that, you began hanging out with both Yuuji and Sukuna

They had the cutest relationship to you, even though Ryomen would call his brother a brat sometimes which would cause a small quarrel.

During this time, you had a sleepover at their house.

When you awake in the morning, you overhear a conversation between the two siblings...

You press yourself against the wall near the kitchen and listen in on their conversation.

"Aniki [older brother], have you seen my-" Yuuji pauses and then makes a noise. "What are you doing?"

"Making lunch."

You peek around the corner, making sure you aren't seen by Yuuji or Ryo.

Yuuji quickly pads over to his brother's side and peeks over his shoulder.

"Careful. You almost burned down the kitchen last time you cooked."

He looks closely at the counter. "Why are there 3 boxes?"

You hear a small thump against the floor, signaling that Ryo pushed Yuuji back.

"I watched tutorials this time...one's for L/n."

Yuuji opens the bento boxes and lets out a snicker with his hand covering his mouth. The bentos are decorated so it looks like different animals.

"This is so corny but cute as hell. What are you, 5?"

"What's that supposed to be?" He points at one of the bentos.

"It's a F/a!" He slaps Yuuji's hand away from the bento.

Yuuji lets out another laugh and then a long 'aw' while approaching his brother.

"Who would've thought that my big scary brother has a crush~?"

"Fuck off brat!"

Ryomen has a big blush on his face, focusing on finishing up the bento boxes. You blush at the fact that he might have a crush on you. You decided that it's time to stop eavesdropping on their conversation.

You stand and make yourself let out a loud yawn to announce yourself to the both of them.

"I smelt food."

Yuuji is about to say something but Ryo elbows him to quiet him.

"This bento is for you L/n."

You take it from his hands with a smile.

"Thank you Ryo but remember, you don't have to call me L/n. Y/n is fine."

You open the bento box and smile at the animal he created for you.

"Is this a F/a?!" You smile while eating the food on the top of the bento.

He smiled and nods proudly...you sadly, really couldn't tell what it was, thank God for him telling Yuuji.

You and Yuuji were originally supposed to train with Gojo-sensei but now Ryomen is babysitting the both of y'all

Gojo is such a child...

"All you have to do is just help them train, physically."

"So, pretty much beat them up?"

He looks back at Yuuji with the most fiery expression, showing off his cursed technique.

"Yeah pretty much. Sorry kids, I got a date with destiny!" He kisses the side of his phone and leaves the field as quick as possible.

You and Yuuji's mouths become agape then you both turn toward Ryo. He laughs and removes his top layer to reveal...a tank top. You were really hoping he would be shirtless but whatever, it still works.

Yuuji takes his top layer off as well, revealing his red hoodie. You removed yours as well since everyone else was doing it.

"Well losers, let's fight."

And fight y'all did. FIGHT FOR Y'ALL LIVES THAT IS!! BRO IS GOING CRAZY!!! HE'S GONNA KILL Y'ALL IF HE AIN'T CAREFUL.

You both end the training session breathing heavily on the floor, fistbumping Yuuji. Ryo pulls you both up onto your feet. He pushes Yuuji's jacket into his hands while he gently hands you yours.

"Come on brats, I'm hungry and y'all need to change quickly. We're done for the day."

You tag Yuuji and run back inside of the school before he can catch you. You two change quickly and walk back outside to his brother.

"Let's go, I'm paying for the ramen."

You guys walk through the streets, just conversating with each other. Then Itadori spoke up.

"If Aniki and I were drowning, who would you save?"

You don't think long about your answer, you smile and blurt it out.

"Well because of my cursed technique, I could save you both."

———

Masterlist —> link

[silvyavan]

i saw ur zanka post abt being disowned by his cop family. and i bring u the theory he mightve became a giver on accident .. n they hate him for that

Truthfully, I thought most people become givers like that, on accident.

Because there's no real method of achieving a jinki or a tutorial, just that you have an object you cherish and at one point, bam, transforms.

Which makes me wonder WHY and how Zankas transformation into giverhood happened.

Cause we know the academy doesn't ACTUALLY have you become a giver, just train hard enough that you can go toe to toe with one.

And the weapons selection process is just that, a selection of what you feel most comfortable with.

In essence, Zanka's dried up well time and Follo's lying half dead on a cliff time is similar to each other, because neither of them have a glow in their eyes, they're not quite givers yet but they've begun a process.

That and it wouldn't make sense for his family to hate him since Kyoka and Goka are also givers? They also don't have any light in their eyes.

Which makes me wonder if they DO have a jinki, but... don't know they're givers? In the same way how their Jinki is on their person but isn't on their skin or they don't know how to activate it. That or they have some SERIOUS self-hatred going on. Or they're stuck in the "attached to an object while half dead but never putting your soul into it" phase that Zanka and Follo had.

I'm just imagining that Zanka came back, half dead of thirst and hunger, said he wanted to beat Hyo and activated his Assistaff in front of them by accident and his family flipping their shit so bad that Kyoka and Goka swear to never slip up like he did. Or just ragging him for having a jinki, not knowing they're also givers.

It makes me wonder WHAT their jinki might be, as Kyokas dagger-whip might just be a weapon and not a jinki. I'm not even sure if you CAN turn a weapon into a jinki, since most of the jinki we see aren't weapons, they just turn into weapon adjacent forms (headphones, manhole, gloves, umbrella, rings, onesie, glasses, comb). I even in the North ward flashbacks Follo had, the blades might just be kitchen knifes, foldable razors and straight up grass or wheat cutting scythe or walking stick.

I don't think we've ever seen anyone with a genuine weapon? Even Riyos gun, which she supposedly had for a long time, didn't turn into a jinki. Which makes me wonder what a weapons object jinki would even look like...

There's no doubt that the Nijiku family has some serious beef against givers, but we have no idea if they disowned him because he didn't want to follow the family tradition in becoming a hellguard, dropping out of hellguard academy or just straight up accidentally activating his jinki in front of them. Definitely something worth looking forward to in this arc, since we're gonna have some serious Zanka lore time.

[vulpixisananimal]

TWO HATS

(Warning for violence, two hats stuff.)

(Siffrin)

[A:0 C:0]

"So let's fight! You and I~"

(You're taken aback. Loop was sitting so calmly at the base of the Favor Tree. Putting on a face that was once comforting, but, in this moment, you could feel the malice behind it.)

(You open your mouth, Loop interupts you.) "Let's have a cute, minuscule, old-fashioned little fight like a bonded couple, okay~?"

(This, t-this is dangerous. You should leave.)

(You don't want to fight Loop, that's, that's YOU.)

(If they wan't to fight, fight.)

"Ha, nothing to say, still. . .?" (Loop clasped their hands together. Smiling at you.) "Haha. . ."

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!" (They stood up, their mask cracking, you could feel the violent intentions, the want for, for-)

"STA-STARS!! Killing you is going to make me SO HAPPY!!" (You blink. For a split second, you saw yourself. You saw your own face in Loops.)

(You're going to have to fight. You'll see who is favored.)

(You don't WANT to fight!!! But, but you, you-)

(You take a step back, clumbsily grabbing at your dagger. You, you weren't ready, you were exhausted, you, just wanted, to say-)

"No, you don't get a choice! We're doing it!!!" (Loop lead out a giddy laugh. Those hands that always looked so friendly and expressive were suddenly so, so much scarier.)

"Let's go, stardust~!!!!"

(Loop moves fast. Dashing at you with an almost claw-like hand. Without even thinking your blade was in your hand, reaching out to defend yourself. Loop grabbed your dagger by the blade.)

"Stage! Lights! Action!" (You saw the stary blood run over their hand. With a twist, Loop yanked the dagger from your hands as they talked.) "Teehee~"

"L-loop!" (You cry out. Your voice doesn't, sound like your own.) "Loop you, don't-"

"You know, in a way, I am so very proud of you!" (Loop twirls your knife threateningly.) "You did so good, stardust~! I am so proud, stardust~!"

"But-" (You weren't allowed to talk. Loop charged at you with your own knife. Something took over, you jumped to the side, feeling the knife miss your fave by a hair.)

"You beat the King! You got out of the loops! I'm so, so, PROUD!!!" (They screamed and held out a scissors sign. A wave of craft hit you like a ton of bricks, sending you flying back. You could barely get to your knees again when Loop charged at you.)

"Do you know how long it took for me to beat him?" (Swing, swing, swing, swing-) "Hundreds, thousands, TENS OF THOUSANDS!!! I lost track!! AhahaHAHAAAAAA!"

(JUMP NOW.)

(You jump. Loops swing barely missing you. You land on their arm. You see them wince, now! Go for the knife!! Grab it!!)

(You reach for the-)

(Loop grabs you be the throat and slams you against the Favor Tree.) "And I wished it all away!! All so you could beat him on your VERY. SECOND. TRY!!!!"

"L-loop-" (You try and say, please, please-)

(You feel metal in your mouth. Loop had your dagger to your lips. Your voice catches. You can't speak. You. Headache, harder to, think. You look at them with your one eye.)

"No, no talking, stardust! I'll kill you! I'll kill you right here!!" (They raise the dagger) "You feel it, don't you?!? You burned up your wish!! AHAHAAAA!!! No more second chances, Stardust~"

(You raise your feet as they bring the knife down and kick loop in the chest with all your might. They cough and let you go, rolling to safety and getting to your feet.)

(What. What just happened. You. You just did that. Like you blinked and. You're standing here- you should run now! Now you can run!)

(You breathe in, and out. You run at Loop, holding out a sign, Rock Bottom. The craft skill hits them like a ton of bricks. You use that to swoop in and twist your knife out of Loops hand. Before your brain catches up, you stab Loop.)

"Aah--!!"

(. . . . . . . . . . .)

(Loop looped back.)

". . . Teehee~ Here's a tutorial for you~"

[If I die, I can loop back!]

(The words rattled in your head. Stars could you stop doing that?!?)

(Interupting your trains of thought.)

(Nothing different from usual then?)

(Loop charges at you with that claw like hand. You breathe in, and out, and dodge it this time. You don't attack, you open your mouth---)

(---Are elbowing loop in the side to get them off of you- what? WHAT?!? You had a wound in your side, Loop stumbled back, looking at you in rage, your dagger had their star-like blood on it. You blink, did, what, what just---)

(Loop looped back.)

(?!??!?!! You were, you were skipping time again. Like zoning out but, hard to controll or, oh you felt dizzy. Not now, come on-)

(Loop was standing there, they looked, looked ragged. As much as a star could BE ragged. Their eye, it has, that shade. . .)

(Stop being an idiot! You don't want to die!! FOCUS!!!)

"I finally saw your party, earlier." (Loop says. Watching you.) "I did so good the whole time, they never, ever saw me~"

(Loop attacks. Screaming as they do.) "Those, those PALE COPIES!!!" (A swipe, a claw, a blast of craft.) "They're YOURS, Stardust! Nothing like mine! They never will be!!!"

"Loop, b-but-" (You try to start.)

"I forgot their names!!!!" (Loop, it, it looks like they're, crying?) "I forgot who they were!!! Just actors in a play!!! JUST LIKE US!!!"

"And when they looked at me, Stardust, they only saw a stranger, do you even know how that feels?!?!?"

(Yes.)

(No.)

(You don't know.)

(Loop attacks again---)

(---You've pinned Loop down, dagger at their throat. You flinch, realizing where you are.)

(You were about to kill them.)

". . ." (Loop isn't looking at you. They look, tired.) "Stardust, Siffrin, whoever we really are. . ."

". . . Just kill me."

"W-what?!?" (HUH?!?!) "Why!!"

"WHY?!?" (Loop yelled back.) "I tried to kill you! Just, get rid of me and get on with your life!!!"

(You're, not sure what to say. You want to reply, but. . .)

"You won!! You have your family!! You have what I WANT!!!" (You could feel something shift in the air.) "I wanted to kill you!!! To take it, to take what's mine!! STARS I still do!!"

(You lower your knife to the side. That'll be a mistake.) "My self-hatred isn't that strong that I'd literally kill another me."

(Loop scoffs.) "So killing yourself is fine, but killing other selves is off limits~?"

(No.)

(But you can't kill Loop, you can't. You shake your head.)

"What if I want you to." (Loop says, defeated.) "What if I want you to end it all. To just let me die? Can't you see?!? I can never go back to how it was before!! I've lost it all! I-I, I-"

"Loop. . ." (Your voice sounds alien.)

"Why did it have to be you." (Loops voice was giving out, tears, a sea of tears.) "Why. . . Why didn't I, I just hold on for a little longer. . . Then. . ."

"Loop." (Your voice sounds off key.) "But, don't you get it?"

(Get what?)

(Loop's looking at you, confused.)

"The reason I succeeded, why, w-why I got out." (You smile, you're starting to cry.)

"It was you, Loop."

(Loop looks at you like you're some stranger.) ". . . What?"

"I would have given up too." (You say.) " "You were here, at my side, telling me to keep going. Telling me what to do. Guiding me, helping me, keeping me sane."

(Keeping you from loosing yourself.)

(Reminding you who you were.)

(Reminding you to eat.)

(You continue.) "Even if you didn't tell me everything, and, even if you--"

"You're Lying."

"Nope."

"YOU'RE LYING!!!!"

"Nu-uh."

"YOU'RE-"

"Mira says thanks, by the way." (You help Loop up, bringing them into a hug.) "They all do."

". . . Thanks?" (They sound like. . .) "To me. . .?"

"Thank you." (You repeat.) "They say it, I'm saying it. Thank you, for everything. For helping me. For helping them. For stopping me from making the biggest mistake of my life." (You say with a half-laugh.)

". . . Stardust. . ."

(You squeeze a bit tighter.)

(It was that easy?)

(Of course it was, you're strong!)

(You breathe in, and out.) "I'm sorry."

". . ." (Loop is quiet.)

"I'm, sorry that it couldn't have been you." (You pause before continuing. Get the right words.) "You deserve it, You deserve that happy ending too. I just, I, I wish-"

"Ah-!" (Loop cuts you off.) "Careful what you wish for~"

(You both laugh at that, then cry. You feel something weird.)

"W-where, will you go now?" (You ask. Dizzy.)

"Oh, Stardust. . ." (They squeeze you tight.) "I don't know. I'll die? I'll stay under this tree forever? I'll join you so we can be one? Who knows!"

"I don't want you to die. . ." (You squeak out.)

"Stardust. . ." (You're feeling dizzy. Loops words feel distant.) "I promise. I promise that I wont die, not this easily, anyways. Okay?"

"Okay." (You rest your head on their shoulder.) ". . . I hope I see you again, Loop."

"I have a feeling, I'm sure we will."

(You feel dizzy---)

"Siffrin?"

(You snap to attention. You had wandered back to where your Family was waiting. You, you lost time again. Mirabelle was talking to you.) "Is everything alright? Talk to everyone?"

(You rub your head.) "Y-yeah I did, I'm just, a bit tired."

"You had a big day!" (Mira speaks with a smile.) "Is Loop alright? Where they still there?"

"Y-yeah. . ." (You feel two silver coins in your pocket.) "They're, they say thanks back."

(For getting you through this.)

"For, helping me through all this." (You say, smiling.)

[stardustgates]

Author’s Notes: Possibly OOC behaviour? I’ve done my best to stick by Canon as much as I can, but given I’m a newer player, I don’t know the relationship between Kafka and Silver Wolf or the characters individually as well I’d like to. Though I did do my best, please be aware that I may have taken some creative liberties in their characterisation and inner thoughts regarding each other. Also I am aware that this may just be 5.5k words of nonsensical BS but I haven’t written proper fanfiction in a hot minute so take it with a grain of salt. Not so much of a reader/canon thing and more like a reader AND canon thing currently. Perhaps that will change in future works, who’s to say? Oh yeah this is a SAGAU.

Warnings: Canonical In-game violence, references and descriptions of dissociation via player-induced body possession, references to drug use (one sentence), yandere tones if you squint really hard (shes a slowburner ya’ll), and a single swear word :3

Beyond the mind, within your body.

Description: Unaware that your presence has been made apparent to the eccentric duo during your first run through of Honkai Star Rail, you happily indulge yourself in the immersive (tutorial) world before your eyes. Kafka and Silver Wolf attempt to adjust to the feeling it brings, which leaves their minds constantly switching between distrust and euphoria, and all the things in between.

Word Count: 5.5k

Hoyoverse’s newest game hadn’t seemed much to your liking when you’d first heard the announcement. For one thing, you weren’t particularly pleased with the constant stream of ‘HONKAI STAR RAIL - PLAY NOW’ interrupting your YouTube doom-scrolling every other ad; Not to mention, you weren’t very keen on the gacha aspect. 

Within your small circle of friends, you’d been known to cave easily when attractive anime characters were involved and you weren’t planning on another hyperfiction to solidify your position as the group’s resident simp. That being said, with such a title swaying above your head like a shiny silver dagger, you’d held a metaphorical death grip on your wallet, solemnly swearing that you’d keep your distance from the game for as long you were able.

Ultimately that so-called iron will of yours didn’t last so much as a year, as just seven months after its release a simple character trailer was enough to break your steadfast resilience. Well, it wasn’t ‘simple’, if you were being honest with yourself- It was a brilliantly unique masterpiece, tailored to the exact essence and spirit of his character. You were sure Argenti wouldn’t be released for a good while, so you decided to pick up the game and grind what you could before his arrival.

That was your plan at least. Your friend had warned you a few months prior (Though admittedly, you hadn’t been paying much attention at the time.) that the download and installation would take an exhaustingly long time. Well, it was better than Genshin Impact had been- but still, you were getting bored and subsequently decided to fetch yourself something to drink in the meantime.

With your back turned to the loading screen, you waltzed out of your bedroom with little care in the world- oblivious to the ominous glowing cracks slowly sprawling across the screen of your device.

As you returned a few moments later, you found that it had finally finished installing! You’d certainly waited long enough. Sure, it wasn’t as soul-sucking as Genshin had been but your patience wasn't that of a saint’s either. With a renewed sense of anticipation, you hit start and breezed through the usual terms and conditions without reading anything and let out a sigh at the beautiful change in scenery.

It perhaps wasn't the smartest idea to skip it completely- but you had spent so long waiting already that you weren’t going to bother wasting time reading a document filled with dolled-up words you could barely pronounce.

✄————————————————

 Herta’s Space Station’s defences hadn't been particularly difficult to slip past surprisingly, though Kafka didn’t recall any mention of difficulty regarding entry in Elio’s script, so she supposed the lack of security wasn’t of any particular importance.

Despite the calm confidence that usually accompanied her on these little operations, Kafka couldn’t shake the strange feeling of being watched. It wasn’t the usual sort of lingering gaze or sharpened stare, but a vague pulsating heartbeat that faded in and out, as though blinking through blurry vision. 

Needless to say, she kept her guard up. Playing none the wiser and bowing mid-air to the tempo of a rather graceful tune. She forced her shoulders to relax and gently swayed her body, controlling her every little move with practised ease- even as that strange pulsating presence slowly sped up and stroked the fires of an oncoming headache- as the elevator descended to the station’s ‘ground’ floor.

 (You remained none the wiser to her sudden awareness, the rapidly changing scenes flashing past your eyes far too quickly to pick up on a single, brief second of stillness in her body.) 

A sudden explosion reverberates across the station's cold, metallic body and brings Kafka’s impromptu air-violin session to a screeching halt. Simultaneously, that presence settles over her body like a thick blanket of fog. That ‘gaze’ she had felt becoming so vivid she could feel its weight pressing down on her tongue.

She has little time to process the feeling before the usual blueish glow of Silver Wolf’s communications screen flickers into existence before her very eyes. 

“... Seems I came at a bad time.”

“No, No – I think you couldn’t’ve timed it better. Twenty-three-fourty-seven-fifteen system time. Very punctual, Kafka.” Silver Wolf almost sounds impressed, though Kafka suspects she’s only trying to butter her up so she’ll let the girl go off task again. Perhaps, under different circumstances, she would have been kind enough to allow it, but with the nature of their current mission and this inexplicable presence, Kafka doesn't find herself in a very generous mood. 

Kafka merely hums in response and ignores the empty praise.

“Elio always tells the exact future. So What’s with the explosion just now? Was that part of his script?” Silver Wolf picks up on her cue to focus without any fuss.

“Twenty-three-four-four-fifty-nine system time: The pulses from the explosion cause a massive breakdown from the master control system.”

Pulses. Perhaps it’s linked to the feeling curling itself around her senses?

“You did that?” Kafka doubts that Silver Wolf would waste effort on something so minor.

“No, the antimatter legion did it. They completely invaded the space station two system hours ago.” She whistles in response and glances down the glass panelling to the approaching ground floor. A small group… annoying, but manageable.

“Alright, so do we need to fight the legion?”

“Dunno, Elio didn’t say anything about it, so it doesn’t matter.” Hmm. Silver Wolf made a good point. 

“Got it. So from now on, I'll be in charge of this operation.” She feels that tingle of a smirk reach the corner of her mouth, and smiles a little wider in anticipation.

“Copy. Can you let me have some fun this time? Our last few operations turned out to be pretty dull.” Kafka lets out a playful hum as she ponders over her colleague’s request with faux consideration. She can practically hear Silver Wolf’s stifled groan in the second of silence that passes.

“...Sorry~ I’m afraid there’s not much I can do for you- our task this time is just to ‘place’ the target properly.” 

Her choice of words is careful, though not enough to cause any alert in potential eavesdroppers. The feeling still hasn’t left. 

“But if you wanna go look for some fun yourself, I won’t stop you.”

“I mean… after all…” she chuckles lightly as the blue hologram blips out of her vision, and reaches for the holsters tucked into her lower back. “After all…” Kafka readjusts her footing just in time to watch the elevator’s doors slide open, the sound of metal dragging against metal pinching at her ears.

“Elio didn’t put it in the script… Why would it matter?” 

Just as the impact from her gunshots flitters across her skin, Kafka feels her mind being pulled back to the edge of her skull. 

The group of voidrangers in front of her feel distant and smudged, the sockets of her eyes creating a blurred tunnel of vision that refuse adjust no matter how much she tries to blink it away. Their dark forms bleed into black speckles that crowd her already limited vision until she’s staring directly into the singed edges of the universe.

Kafka’s body… is no longer hers to command.

✄————————————————

She returns to her mind with startling swiftness. Her memories of the brief battle suddenly bubbling up as though pushing themselves through a thick soup of aether. She feels disconnected from the memory but can at least recall that she’d lost control of her body before blacking out. 

She attempts to think back on that burnt, golden memory but is stopped by a sudden wave of nausea. She opts to set that aside for another time and refocus on the operation. Elio had not mentioned this happening anywhere in the script- so either this had no significance or… 

Still, those Voidrangers hadn’t proved to be much trouble- in fact, they’d been less of an annoyance than she had prepared for. Either she’d been far more ruthless than intended or the antimatter legion had lost its touch.

“When did the anti-matter legion become so weak?” She asks out loud.

“I could only attract this much. Did you really want the entire legion to come here?” Silver Wolf speaks in feigned annoyance, her usual behaviour. 

She hadn’t even realised. Kafka chooses not to mention anything for the moment, instead opting to subtly gauge the extent of control this presence… or rather... Entity, seems to have over her. 

“This lot won’t be able to slow down the Astral Express crew.” Silver Wolf sighs in response on the other end of the device.

“Relax, a doomsday beast is also here.”

As she approaches one of the station’s automatic doors, Kafka feels it slip back into her body as if wearing her like a coat. Its influence feels… less heavy than it previously had been a few moments ago.  At the very least she remains conscious this time; A strange lightness in her feet as she feels herself stealth towards a lone voidranger lounging about the area.

Her movements come to her now like instinct, striking down enemies with admittedly far more efficiency than she was naturally capable of. If it weren’t for her body being strung along like a puppet against her will, she’d almost be grateful for the power and resiliency it granted her. 

Kafka has barely had her fill before a euphoric sense of power seems to swell up all at once; Killer instinct pumping through her veins like a well-oiled machine. 

Ahh. Now this… this particular feeling wasn’t so bad.

Truthfully she’d liked to have toyed with this one a bit longer, but she knew all too well that it wouldn't manage to survive her next attack. She chatters to no one in particular, the ecstasy in her mind clouding whatever decorum she would have usually displayed. 

“Good times never last… time to say bye.” 

“Ah- She’s so cool…”

Kafka tenses up at the stranger’s voice, just as the swirling dark mass in front of her collapses into itself. 

She sheathes her sword and adjusts her gloves, ignoring the voidranger approaching her from behind. Just before its darkened claws reach her, Silver Wolf’s ability activates no more than a hands-width from her shoulder blades.

“Cleaning up other people’s mess isn’t in my job description… y’know Kafka?” Silver Wolf huffs out, but her voice has no real bite in it. Was it her? She wasn’t usually one to doubt herself, but that fog of exhilaration certainly could have played with her mind. 

“Yeah, yeah. Where did you send it Silver Wolf?”

Kafka turns in time to hear the gooey pop of the silver-haired girl’s bubblegum as she hops to her feet. She isn’t sure if it's Strawberry or Grape, but the artificial sweetness and scent of no-fruit-in-particular is so strong it actually grounds her mind for a moment. 

She sighs for no real reason, but it brings her relief regardless. 

Oh.

She hadn’t realised how bad her headache was. 

“Some random Co-ordinates, not important.” She avoids Kafka’s gaze for a reason she couldn’t care to name before taking on an adorably defiant stance, her hands placed at her hips as though it would help her short stature in any way. 

“You care about where that voidranger ended up?” She doesn’t. But she’d rather think about that than, well… She didn’t know what to call it at this point. But it was distracting and she needed to focus on literally anything else for the sake of what sanity she had left. 

Though some could argue that she wasn’t sane at all- which was only half true because most people’s definition of sanity varied greatly from her own. 

Oh, Silver Wolf was still blinking up at her expectantly.

“Of course not- I’m just amazed at this fancy technique of yours, as usual.” she smiles down at her colleague, who only rolls her eyes in response. To the girl’s credit, she’d been dealing with Kafka’s empty flattery for quite a long time.

“Just a little trick of tampering with the data of reality, I wouldn't call it fancy.” Kafka smiles a little wider, following behind as Silver Wolf strolls down the hallway. Her tells were always so obvious.

“What were you looking at just now? Let me see.” Silver Wolf huffs a bit as she settles herself onto a desk and faces her.

“Herta’s toys,” she begins in an almost mocking tone 

“A catalogue featuring the space station’s collection of rare items.” Her fingers briefly tug on the white fluff of her jacket as she speaks “They’ve got quite a looot of interesting gadgets~”

Kafka’s previous interest (however feigned it may have been) dies down a little at the prospect of these ‘gadgets’ but nonetheless she indulges Silver Wolf’s unspoken desire to share what information she’d dug up.

“Like what?” 

“There’s this gun, it can rate any creature within its crosshair as a score from 0 to 100.”

“... Doesn't sound very interesting.” Her brows pinch together and her mouth stretches into a thin line of clear disappointment. Not one to be disheartened so easily, Silver Wolf continues on

“Aren’t you curious how much you would score? I kinda wanna know mine.” 

So this is what she’d been hinting at since earlier. Kafka crosses her arms and takes on the tone of an exasperated mother having finally given up after being nagged at for far, far longer than the reality of it. 

“Fine. I guess we can swing by and play with it, if it’s not too far. What’s our destination?” She redirects Silver Wolf’s distractable attention onto their current objective with practised ease. 

Hmm. 

She feels a little cold for some reason… and those watchful eyes haven't left during the entirety of their conversation. Kafka’s guard raises a little further than before.

Her colleague’s eyes flit down to a small blue hologram, her fingers swiping past various screens until arriving at what Kafka could only presume was a list of directions given to her by Elio.

“Go down the corridor, behind the door… ooon the left. There’s a room where some kind of rare item is stored.” 

Kafka feels the entity strongly now, she stares just beyond Silver Wolf’s shoulders where it feels most concentrated. The feeling she is met with is a dense smouldering hotness. It’s like melting iron dripping down her throat and burning it in the process. It feels almost itchy.

She redirects her gaze back to Silver Wolf far quicker than she’d intended to and resists the urge to scratch at her throat.

“So that’s where the Stellaron is?” Kafka is somewhat relieved when the feeling seems to simmer down. She once again debates speaking on the sensation during the slightest lull in their conversation but when Silverwolf turns her head back to face her, she finds the girl’s gaze to be much sharper than before.

“That's where we can find out where the Stellaron is.” 

Kafka immediately knows that Silverwolf has finally caught on to this feeling and says nothing as she readies herself for the next half of their mission. Almost instantly, she feels the presence shift and roll over her shoulders, like a cat stretching out its limbs. 

It's languid and smooth and she feels her tense- She had been tense this whole time?- muscles slowly relax until she finally feels that usual calm focus she’s so intimately familiar with. She hadn’t realised the extent of how cold she’d felt when it had stepped- strange, it feels like a person?-  away.

Kafka decides that her feelings towards this... Being- She isn’t totally sure if it feels sapient, but it certainly has some form of will… That much she can tell- are mixed, to say the least. She wonders one more why Elio hadn’t mentioned anything about something so foreign and strange but sets the thought aside and refocuses on the task at hand. 

She locks eyes with Silverwolf briefly, and just as she thought, Silverwolf is most definitely aware of it at this point. 

“The central area of the space station is up ahead. There’ll be loads of Legion Void rangers there.” Silver Wolf hops to her feet and saunters toward the door’s control panel. A bit too casual to be natural, but it doesn't cause the feeling to stir, so she says nothing. 

“Okay.” Kafka breathes out. 

Then that feeling of puppeteering seems to stitch itself into her mind once more, albeit in a much more faded sense- it feels more like muscle memory than it does being pulled from her own body. She allows it to pull her along and lead her toward whatever it wants. As her fingers glide over the room’s control panels and her heels click against the cold steel of the station, she feels that fog of exhilaration settle over her again- that almost euphoric surge of strength from earlier suddenly vivid and fresh in her mind. 

Silverwolf seems to feel the building strength in her own body too, as she quickens her pace when they turn the corner to find themselves at the back of a particularly strong-looking voidranger. She huffs out in bemusement and half-heartedly mutters out some encouragement to her colleague.

“May as well kill them all.” 

Not needing much more encouragement than that, Silverwolf leaps forward with as much grace as her short form can allow her and drags her digitally enhanced blade across the muscles and sinew of its chest. She leaps back beside Kafka as it staggers on its feet and tries to regain its footing. Kafka’s arm pulls itself up, gun in hand, and fires out a cascade of bullets that each burrow and pierce into its flesh. 

“This… seems a lot easier than it should be.” Silverwolf comments under her breath quietly. 

“Well, let’s count our blessings–” Kafka is cut off as her arm is singed by the blast of the voidranger’s fire canon. 

“Tch. Didn’t hurt.”

Silverwolf pulls out her holographic system at such speed that Kafka feels the static waft across her skin.

“Hmph, still. This combat needs optimising.” Just as the creature aims its weapon once more, it’s hit with a blast pulled from the loosened strands of reality itself. 

“At that speed? Too slow!” 

Kafka almost feels sorry for it, as she watches its body disintegrate while collapsing into itself.

Unfortunately, the girls are not left with time to bask in their victory- Silver Wolf lets out a small yelp- the entity has left its place on Kafka’s shoulders and draped itself over her companion it  would seem. Her short colleague adjusts to the sensation of its guiding hand far better than she had, if her losing conscious was anything to go by.

Kafka follows behind silently, eyes trained intently on the girl in front of her for any indication of danger.

“Hold it. Someone.. Or something is up ahead.” she warns quietly, arm extended out to her side like a makeshift barrier. They both come to a sudden halt as the entity violently rips itself from their bodies and settles just beyond their skin. 

Goosebumps this time. 

The cold seems to get worse and worse each time it separates from them… well, her. Silver Wolf grits her teeth. Kafka notes the tiny pearl of sweat rolling down the side of her face. Still a shock to the system then. 

“Looks like we’re the ones getting ambushed.”

“...But they’re the ones getting besieged.” 

✄————————————————

The game has felt pretty cool so far, and you quite like this Kafka woman. You don’t recall her being part of the main cast your friend had rambled about however many months ago it was, but you hoped you’d get to see a lot more of her. 

Her design was really nice- though strangely familiar?- and her voice was pretty too! Silver Wolf was alright, but she hadn’t really caught your interest so far, so you werent sure what to make of her yet. 

They did seem to be close though, but less like friends and more like tired workmates who’d been stuck in the same dead end job for a decade- that is to say, it definitely felt like they were used to dealing with each other’s nonsense. 

Were they a ship? You could see it. Ah, another battle, sweet!

The combat system Star Rail used wasnt particularly innovative or anything, but it’s playstyle was strangely addictive- especially the Ult animations! Kafka’s especially had you nearly squealing with how badass it was. Did the MC have a cool one too? You could hardly wait to see. 

✄————————————————

The mood is light despite the circumstances, they both feel a sense of safety and confidence while the presence pulls them along, as though leading them in a dance. The Voidranger’s movements stand out like a pindrop in an empty room. Predictable, and delectably so. 

Silver Wolf barks out a short, quick laugh- a taunting thing that aggravates the musclehead stomping around in front of her- before decapitating the creature in a single, swift move.

“You took the bait, just like that?” Her jubilance is cut short by an attack from her blindspot, it isnt fatal- hell it barely counts as a battle wound- but its enough to flip her mood in the opposite direction. “Tch.”

Kafka laughs lightly at her, amused with her momentary lapse in spacial awareness. Silver Wolf scoffs and scowls lightly at her. Really, like she hadn’t gotten hit before? 

Just as she opens her mouth to hurl a barely-an-insult-but-im-still-annoyed-with-you comment towards the magenta haired woman next to her, Kafka’s aura shifts somewhat. Time seems to slow down for a second as Silver Wolf watches the woman’s pupils dilate in slow motion. 

Had she appeared like this? When that wave of energy had swelled within her?

She receives no answer to her unvoiced question, and instead hears Kafka’s voice ring through out her ears.

“That breathing sensation. Remember it.” Silver Wolf gulps in a breath of blood-scented air and breathes out a sickly, golden-sweet taste. As Kafka’s bullets rain down upon the bodies of their would-be-ambushers she can't help but feel pure ecstasy in the moment. Truly…if this was a drug she’d be hooked like a fish to water. 

Even just being near it is enough to cloud her mind.

“Alright, now that that’s over with…” Silver Wolf’s body relaxes significantly as Kafka speaks, the strength of whatever had possessed them slowing dripping out from their bodies like tree sap. She feels like she just got a massage. 

“I could get used to that.” She isn’t sure who she’s talking to, but it feels appropriate to voice. Kafka ignores her and spins her around to face the door, and Silver Wolf seems to go into auto pilot as she unlocks the control panel blocking their path, stepping lightly as her taller colleague gently pushes her forward without a word.

 The monitoring room is completley empty. Nothing but the quiet beeping of a few monitors and the rustling of swaying leaves, courtesy of the air conditioning unit humming softly above them. 

“Huh. not a single soul here. Impressive evacuation work. Did herta organise it herself?” Kafka seems mildly impressed- and entirely unaffected by the sensation Silver Wolf is still trying to shake from her skin. 

“According to the access history, she hasnt logged in her for over six months. The evacuation was directed by the acting lead researcher - a girl named Asta.” 

“Doesn’t ring a bell. Oh, right. Elio said we wouldn’t run into herta. It seems she really isnt here.” Though something else definitely was, but Silver Wolf supposed they weren’t going to be making any conversation on that topic.

She sighs, and scrolls through her holograms nonchalantly.

“Elio’s Script doesnt include any info about the location of the stellaron. Which means in the future he foresees…”

“... we would find the stellaron in a non-physical way?” Kafka crosses her arms, easily having picked up on her train of thought and already dipping her metaphorical toes into several different plans of action. She was always efficient like that. Silver Wolf strolls over to the water cooler and pours herself a cold cup. She gestures to Kafka who only shakes her head in response.

“This space station is packed with extraordinary objects, I wouldnt be surprised if theres one that can make it happen.” She takes a long sip, the cooling sensation bringing relief to her sweltering body. The combat efficiency was nice, but she was left feeling like an overheating graphics disk everytime it took control of her. She idles on a page in her hologram briefly before continuing on her scroll-fest.

“Hiding something extraordinary with something extraordinary… this is pretty Herta. I assume you know what to do? I mean, You’ve been reading that cataogue for a while?” Ah. Perseptive as ever, Kafka never changes. She ignores the heat building in her ears at the prospect of being caught slacking-off, and bins the styrofoam cup as she turns to the older woman.

“Hmph. I’ve got all the clues we need. The only piece missing is a simple trick- maybe this entity thats been stringing us along could lend a hand? After all, it doesnt have a physical form.” 

(You didn’t expect them to involve the player like this! What an awesome storytelling device, and it would hopefully grant a lot more player agency too! Hoyoverse had truly out done themselves this time. Feeling a surge of excitement at being learning you’ll be able to lend a helping hand ‘directly’, you decide that Silver Wolf is also really cool.)

Kafka says nothing in response, only staring down at Silver Wolf in consideration.

“Why dont we have it help us investigate the terminals around here, that item we’re looking for may be inside.” The magenta haired woman only sighs, internally cursing the girl’s lack of caution. Though… she couldnt deny that it had only been helping them so far. 

“Alright, lets give it the spotlight.” 

“Oh god, I hope I don’t fuck this up…” Kafka stills. The same voice from before. So it can speak? She tucks the information away in her mind for later.

She watches it guide her along the messily arranged desks and flickering monitors. Stopping at a memory storage cart- which is, of course, missing its memory. Not useful for her current objective, but it at least told her that whatever it was could see the same things she could.

“...I cant see the memory storage for this terminal.” Her body shifts slightly.

“This is the monitoring room, the must have deleted the records and made a run for it. Classic.” Silver Wolf is still scrolling through the holographic catalogue, idling against a desk in the middle of the room. She doesn’t look up, even as Kafka is strung along past her towards a monitor on the other side of the room. 

“You don’t seem to be very affected by it? Its control over you, I mean.”

“And you? You seemed a little weary earlier.”

“I wouldn’t say that. It’s just new, thats all.”

Kafka’s hand reaches out to flick through various active surveillance cameras, interesting but ultimately fruitless. 

“Hmmm… I can see the whole space station on the surveillance screen. But not the Stellaron.” Silver Wolf scoffs indignantly behind her, she almost sounds offended.

“Even if you could it’d be a trap. Herta doesn’t display her collections.” She turns to her hologram once more.

“This thing isnt very good with investigating, is it?”

Kafka expects some form of insulted rage to squeak in her mind’s ear, but she hears nothing. Though faintly she imagines a rather adorable ‘Hey! I’m trying my best!’ echoing in her skull.

Kafka staves off the sudden urge to get defensive in response and clamps her mouth shut.

Silver Wolf sighs at her lack of response and shifts onto her feet. 

“Make your way over here then. There’s no point in trying to search like this.”

“So? Got a master plan? I’m all ears.”

Kafka’s tone takes on a slightly irritated edge, for a reason she herself doesn’t quite understand. If Silver Wolf picked up on it, she chooses not to say anything and instead gestures to the warping static of the holographic screens lining the walls of the office.

“Its a matter of hacking the surveillance system directly.” She says matter-of-factly, smirking playfully as her iconic vandalism plasters itself onto every screen in sight. 

“Aha, I see. Herta’s collections aren’t in the system so anything unaffected should be our target.”

Their heads are guided to turn and face the back of a lone monitor by the main desk. Ah. that one then. As they both stroll over to investigate, Kafka feels a strange sense of pride bubble in the back of her mind. Not for Silver Wolf’s accomplishment- that much would be expected from the shorter girl- but for the entity curling along the edge of her mind. What exactly she was supposed to be proud of she couldnt tell, but the feeling was pleasant regardless.

Silver Wolf slips into a chair and slides forward to the desk, cracking her knuckles and wiggling her fingers as she readies herself for some data mining. 

“Crude, simple, but effective. Look, found it.” The computer’s cursor circles a line of code tauntingly. Kafka doesn’t understand what any of the values mean.

“Item number two-eleven, ‘Blind Spot’ : a simple light-deflecting field. It allows an object in its field to pass unnoticed, but if a different item ceases to be obvious, the object gets revealed.” 

She isn’t sure which set of numbers.. Or letters? That item is supposed be, but it does seem like a very… uncomplicated form of security for someone like Herta. 

“So, Herta the genius… hides her collection with something as simple as this?”

“the simplest method is the hardest to spot, isnt that our motto?” 

“Huh? How is that simple?” Kafka nearly chokes on her saliva while trying to hold back a bark of laughter and wonders why she’d kept her guard up for this thing. She follows Silver Wolf towards the glitching hole in the wall and sighs bemusedly. 

“The data suggests its just an ordinary hologram. But it has an added layer… “ Silver Wolf eyes the frayed edges of the hologram cautiously, despite the confidence in her voice.

“Lets take a look. Dont worry, this place wont be our grave.” The girl only puffs her cheeks and steps forward, ignoring Kafka’s words of comfort completely. Well, she’d expected that much at least.

As she follows behind, her vision melts into a stark change of scenery. 

The bright, ethereal glow of the Stellaron coating the walls of the closed off room in a golden-blue light. A strange combination, but one that was all too familiar; the everchanging strands of reality warping and stretching around itself, as the Stellaron sat patiently- sealed away- in the center of the room. Such an otherworldly treasure was exactly what all Stellaron hunters across the universe strove for. Though admittedly it was a mere front for their true purpose, a fact that Kafka was intimately aware of. 

Their true goal would see this stellaron- sealed away, courtesy of Herta- to another use. Once said seal was removed by Silver Wolf, all Kafka would need to do was take hold of it and place it inside that vessel. 

It had been laying in wait for this exact occasion…Kafka smiles fondly at the memory of it. Silver Wolf makes a small noise of surprise, catching her attention. She steps over towards the girl and the control panel, asking a question without speaking.

“It has its own security system… I guess even for herta, a Stellaron is no ordinary rarity.” Silver Wolf sounds genuinely surprised at this fact, though Kafka feels this was a rather likely outcome.

“Can you get it?”

“Of course, even the genius Herta cant compete with me when it comes to hacking.”

“Good. Then I’ll also count on you for the preparation of the receptacle.” Not to mention, she was quite sure this being wouldn’t be able to provide much help if Silver Wolf couldn’t figure it out herself. Speak of the devil, she feels the entity waft away like smoke in the wind and settle in the air around them as she lifts the Stellaron from its prison. She turns to her Silver haired companion and unspoken words flicker between their eyes.

This is Kafka’s decision.

Or perhaps it isn’t, she corrects herself over the distant sound of Silver Wolf’s voice.

 When it enters her body, it no longer feels like being puppeteered or controlled. 

She recalls that first feeling of possession, and the bleeding darkness making way for glowing golden edges of a burnt milky way. Her mind is dipped like an apple into the thick syruppy taste of synethesia. The amber eyes of the vessel- piercing into her soul and leaving her tongue sizzling in an almost addictive sort of pain- briefly flash open before collapsing to the floor in Kafka’s arms. 

The Stellaron has found its place. And something else entirely has made its home there too.

(What an amazing tutorial and intro! You get the feeling you’ll be playing this game for a very long while!)

[stirthewaters]

Too Sharp to Touch pt.7

Word Count: 4.2k (I gotcha covered besties)

Warnings: Swearing, mentions of guns, vomit, violence

Summary: After a long week of back and forth between you and Wednesday you have to go into the woods in search of your hidden textbooks.

Pairings: Wednesday x Reader

Too Sharp to Touch Masterlist

When you sat down at the dining hall for breakfast the first thing that happened before you even got to take a bite of your cereal was that what appeared to be a freshly-sharpened dagger was thrown with deadly accuracy straight at your shoulder. 

Of course, you were able to dodge it; you were a werewolf - you basically had spidey senses thanks to your heightened hearing and sense of awareness but you still practically jumped out of your seat as you did so, your eyes landing on the hunk of metal now embedded in the wooden support behind you. When you glanced at the exit to the dining hall for the culprit you saw nobody there. Though you knew exactly who it was.

Your week had been a living hell. Wednesday knew. Of course she had found out. You knew your acting had been shit. And you had been an idiot to think you weren’t going to pay.

You had started out your lovely morning the day before, awaking to a hissing sound in your dorm room. It was subtle, and definitely not something you noticed at first. You had sat up in your tangle of blankets and looked around with groggy eyes, checking your watch and looking out your window to try and estimate the time, trying to figure out what had woken you in the first place. You’d slid out of your bed, and that’s when you heard a sickening rattling sound from right under the bedframe, knowing enough from your time in the woods exactly what it was. 

You had performed what you personally thought to be a ninja skill level dodge, twisting on your heel in that new move Wednesday had shown you during lessons the other day, jumping out of the way and over onto the other side of the creature, grabbing the rattlesnake firmly behind the head while it thrashed about, hissing furiously and snapping at air. You had planned on disposing of it outside in the woods where it belonged but when it almost bit one of your fingers off you simply cracked it in half with a huff. 

Rumor was the teachers were horrified to discover a dead snake in the trash cans.

You knew who it was the second you had seen the snake anyways. It wasn’t like you had left your window open and a rattlesnake so happened to somehow slither up a two story building to slip inside, half a mile away from where most snakes inhabited the woods. 

No, you knew better than to think that.

And sure, you knew that you deserved this but you were never one to pass by some competition. 

You had gone to YouTube on a search for some things, and after a painfully long day of watching multiple tutorials, with the help of a newly vengeful Thing (still mad over being falsely accused), you managed to not only replace Wednesday’s cello strings with guitar strings but you also managed to un-tune it, screwing the knobs not to the point of breaking, just enough to annoy the Addams. Thing had reported detail by detail that night his dramatic recollection of Wednesday’s annoyance and slight confusion when she picked up her bow to play the cello and was met with the realization that not only was her instrument untuned but somehow replaced with the wrong kind of strings.

You knew it was suicidal but you loved it. 

After classes that same day you had headed back to your dorm to finish up a paper for tomorrow but when you sat down at your desk to start working, upon pulling open your drawer for your school supplies, not a single piece of paper or notebook was to be found. And instead, all that you saw were dog toys. The drawer was packed top to bottom with squeaky toys, tennis balls, and rawhide bones. You had been in surprise for a moment and honestly you thought it was a little funny, not really that offended. You’d been able to get rid of most of the toys, (you gave them to a thrifter in Jericho later on), but you did end up keeping one of them for yourself, though you didn’t tell anyone about it.

Your retaliation in response to the dog toy stunt was to put creamer in her coffee when you were sitting beside Wednesday at the study group, waiting giddily for the raven’s return from the shelves of the library. The goth had returned a few minutes later and sat down beside you at the desk, returning to her work. You had to wait a couple minutes before you saw her glance at her coffee to take a sip, and the look of disgust from the now sweet taste of what once was such a bitter coffee was quite enjoyable to you. Maybe you were a bit of a sadist, but you still had to pinch your inner thigh to keep yourself from giggling at the sight of the raven’s glare slowly shifting over to you. The rest of the group, if they’d noticed, would surely be confused but both you and the Addams knew exactly what was going on.

It honestly wasn’t too bad of a week now that you thought about it. Sure, you had to be on alert constantly but that was what your relationship with Wednesday typically consisted of. Just with a slight bit more murderous intent. Which, honestly, you didn’t mind. It felt good to be enjoying yourself, even if what you did consider ‘revenge’ was a little watered down compared to what Wednesday did. The only real time you had been in serious danger was yesterday.

You had been in botany class, doodling on your notes as you half-listened to the teacher, when you’d spotted a granola bar left discarded in the section under your desk, much to your relief. You hadn’t eaten much that day so it was a pretty damn lucky coincidence. You were completely unaware when Wednesday watched you eat the granola bar, eyes trained on your every move.

You’d been awake all night that night throwing up. Although the goth didn’t actually make an appearance that night you knew that Wednesday had tampered with the sealed granola bar you’d eaten, although when Thing arrived in your dorm with a bottle of water for you and some lame excuse that ‘it was his idea’, you had felt a little bit better. You had sent the hand back with a couple spare inks you had laying around as a thank you. That night overall had been somewhat of a trainwreck though. Only Wednesday Addams of all people could somehow tamper with a sealed granola bar. It was still puzzling to you how in the hell she’d managed to do that.

Not many students knew about the ongoing ‘war’, so you called it. It was a loose term and you didn’t take it very seriously. Enid and Thing knew, of course, and they just stepped back and let you two do whatever it was you were doing. As for the others…well…it was also funny to see their reactions. For example, when you were playing the game Mousetrap with Ajax, Bianca, and Divina in the quad the other weekend. It was your turn, and you’d accidentally set off the trap. Much to the others surprise the traps that’d been set up throughout the game were rigged, and when you turned the crank a small blade shot out from one of the plastic pieces, taking out a small chunk of flesh from your finger. It wasn’t deep but it still stung like a bitch and you had to go bandage your hand before you even considered playing the game again. A small compensation, though, was the look of horror and shock on the others’ face when the whole ordeal had occurred. Oddly enough that night you’d found a small tube of some sort of mystery cream on your bed, which, when smeared on your wound instantly took the pain away. You had no clue what was in it or where it’d come from.

So, today, you had to go and find where in the hell the vengeful Addams had put your school stuff. Although you had gotten all of those dog toys out of you way after a quick search of your dorm your textbooks were nowhere to be found, which, admittedly was a problem. Sure, you didn’t like to do schoolwork but it wasn’t like you didn’t need to do it. You were already late on a couple assignments so if you didn’t get your ass in gear you were going to be in trouble. You’d already looked in all the places you’d thought of but had come up dry, and you had no clues or context as to where they could be so you gave up and decided to just go to Wednesday and ask.

You knew that since it was early morning the Addams was awake. You had time before class to talk. Especially since you had just had a dagger practically thrown at your face. Well…your shoulder. Odd, considering you knew that a dagger in the shoulder definitely wouldn’t be a fatal wound. 

After yanking said dagger from the plank of wood it was embedded in, you carefully held it so you wouldn’t accidentally stab yourself as you walked quickly out of the dining hall, cereal left behind and uneaten. The hallways weren’t as crowded as usual due to the early morning so it wasn’t hard for you to manuever through them, headed for where you knew Wednesday was. The Addams always sat every morning in the quad with a cup of bitter coffee, either writing in one of her notebooks or reading. And when you entered the almost gray area when you eyes fell upon the familiar spot, there she was. 

The raven was seated stiffly on one of the benches by the wall, a book in hand and a cup of coffee at her side, still steaming and clearly fresh. She hadn’t been here long. And the second you stepped into the quad you didn’t miss her glance over in your direction. You had to stop yourself from starting to long as you shook your head and approached the goth, your eyes narrowed, huffing with frustration as you halted directly in front of her. Frustratingly enough, she didn’t make eye contact with you, purposefully ignoring you as she slowly and delicately turned a page in her book.

“Tell me where they are.”

“What a warm welcome,” Wednesday quipped with a raise of her eyebrow as her dark eyes never strayed from the pages. “It’s quite early for you to be awake. I expected worse of you.”

“Cut the shit and tell me where my books are, Addams.” You tapped your foot impatiently, silently debating whether or not to push her book away. “I don’t have all day.”

“Oh really?” Wednesday turned another page, perfectly manicured black nails lingering for a painfully long amount of time. “I assumed that you had an interest in playing games, Y/N. And though you might be somewhat adequate at playing your trivial…amusements on others, I, on the contrary, can assure you that you are inferior when it comes to being the subject of my dissatisfaction.” A hint of a smirk passed over her deadpan expression as she tilted her head slightly to finally look up at you. “Besides, I assumed you would appreciate my…tokens of appreciation towards your stunt.”

A small huff of annoyance passed your lips as you frowned slightly at the raven. “Look, we’ve been going back and forth all week and I just need my stuff back. Would it make you feel better if I said that I forfeit?” 

Another page turned slowly, making your fists clench as Wednesday responded, “it was inevitable that you would accept defeat. Your blows were remarkably inferior.” She paused to take a sip of her coffee before her eyes once more met yours. “Seeing of your abilities I assume that you should be able to track out your possessions; I might recommend searching the north-western quadrant of the woods.”

Your eyes widened in frustration and annoyance. “That’ll take me half the day to search, how much ground to you expect me to even cover in the period of time that I have to work with?”

“Your senses are more than satisfactory for uncovering your works. If you use what you have of a brain then you should be fine.” The raven gave a slight roll of her eyes, returning back to her book, muttering. “Just don’t do anything foolish.”

“Yeah, yeah, glad to know you care so much.” You were poking at her now but you weren’t really paying attention when the Addams shot you the deadliest of glares, jaw tightening with frustration before returning to her book. You exited the quad, swerving down the hall. How in the hell were you going to do this alone? You had a lot of area to cover and only so much time before class started. Huffing, you picked up the pace as you powered through the halls. Your ears picked up a familiar scuttling sound from somewhere behind you, followed by a small tugging of your pants leg, making you turn and see none other than Thing.

“What do you want, Thing? I don’t have much time.” You paused your walking so the appendage could tap rapidly without having to move at the same time. “Yeah, yeah, I’ll deliver your lotions tonight, okay? I can’t right now but I promise I will.” An idea sparked in your mind before you started to walk again and you slowly glanced down at Thing. “You want another nail filer, right?” A couple of taps easily affirmed your question as you brightened. “Perfect. Then help me find where the hell Wednesday hid my books in the woods, and you’ve got a deal.” Thing paused for a moment before rapidly tapping again. “You weren’t with her when she hid them…” you slightly deflated before shaking your head and continuing. “Doesn’t matter. Two heads are better than…” you trailed off before trying again, “two hands? Two hands are better? Wait…” you counted your own hands for a moment, feeling extremely dumb for a second. “Three- three hands are better than one.” You were met with a couple smug taps and you bristled. “Shut up and help me look.”

The hand grabbed hold of one of the straps of your backpack to pull himself atop it, and you took that as a sign to continue, weaving through the halls until you hopped off the back steps and onto the lawn. The early morning sun was just starting to tip over the trees that still somehow bore leaves, though the grass was scattered with said foliage, crunching underfoot as you made your way across the lawn, shivering slightly as you silently wished the sun would just hurry the hell up.

The protection of the woods dimmed the light further, despite the lack of protection from the trees, what little light there was quickly darkening as the cover of the forest encapsulated you. It wasn’t as peaceful as usual. The woods had an almost eerie vibe, one that you couldn’t place but one that you could sense. That little patch of fur on the back of your neck? Standing on end, like your spidey senses. You caught yourself looking around on multiple occasions, having to shake off the wariness as you tried to focus on the task at hand.

Wednesday had said it was in the north western part of the woods. Perfect. You were already there. But how would you be able to track down textbooks? What kind of scent trail would that even be? Sure, you’d maybe spilled a tad of soda on a page or two but surely that wasn’t anything strong enough to track down. You let your bag down so that Thing could emerge and the hand was instantly scuttling off into the woods, searching one section so you could continue yours. 

No, you were not going to get on all fours like an animal and sniff. The mere idea sent a shudder of repulsion and disdain down your spine, as you simply crouched down on the balls of your feet, closing your eyes as you tried to focus on what you were honing out. All that you could scent at the moment was pine, fir, durt, and the regular must odor of the forest, overlayed with old scent trails of animals that’d passed by long before. Underneath it was a scent you couldn’t quite place. It was almost a sulfuric scent; it was definitely faint and you had to really focus to even get a good whiff, but it was there. 

You started half walking half jogging around to try and get some sort of scent trail, rolling your eyes as you silently regretted your action of stealing the Addams’ typewriter. How in the world did she even expect you to-

A faint hint of vanilla.

You caught the scent abruptly when you passed a particularly large clump of undergrowth, stopping in your tracks as you slowly backed up to confirm what you’d just detected. Sure enough there was the scent of vanilla - a good strong whiff of it. Easily scentable. You crouched down again, not caring for once about dirtying your pants as you tore aside a couple clumps of pine needles and dirt, revealing a cardboard box, slightly bigger than a shoebox. Upon opening said box your books were revealed, and you let out a sigh of relief. As you pulled the box from the undergrowth you realized that the box had been lightly doused in vanilla extract, explaining the source of the trail.

Tucking your box safely under your arm, you started to pull your backpack back over your shoulder, dusting dirt and forest debris from your uniform when you suddenly heard the sound of multiple birds taking flight. Your head snapping upward you saw briefly through the thick trees a good number of said birds startled into the air, flying away with what to you sounded like a loud flapping of wings and an alarm call.

A faint scuttling broke through your thoughts as out shot Thing from the undergrowth, clearly scuttling as fast as he could as the hand dashed over to you, trying to sign through his scampers toward you. 

“Thing, what’s wrong?” You glanced at the appendage, worry thick in your tone, trying to understand what he was trying to say, but before you could try and make sense of anything a sudden sound broke through the woods, causing you to jump.

A gunshot.

The sound cracking through the still early morning forest air was enough to make your stomach curl as the fur on the back of your neck instantly stood up, your fingers gripping your backpack strap so tight that your knuckles began to whiten as your eyes widened. Thing leapt atop your bag, signing rapidly, but you were in too much of a daze to even process anything he was saying, practically frozen on the spot like a deer in the headlights as you tried to work through the current fog that was your mind at the moment.

You couldn’t hear anymore gunshots, thank god, but now dread hung thick in the forest air, tension strung tightly from branch to branch as if it was something palpable you could touch. A thick stench of sulfur returned to your nose and you recoiled, taking a step backward that broke you from your daze, instantly reminded of the sulfuric scent you’d smelled earlier. You were backing up now, Thing clutching tightly to your bag as you turned and ran.

You knew there was nothing, nobody behind you but you were beginning to hear things, imagining the rapid footsteps and the crunch of dry leaves underfoot other than your own as you strained for every ounce of speed your body possessed. You were in flight mode. 

Lungs aching and mind focused only on getting out of the forest, you burst from the cover of the forest, racing across the lawn as Thing held on for dear life just so that he wouldn’t fall off. You weren’t paying much attention as your feet got tangled up, and you took a tumble to the ground, skidding a couple feet in the grass as you felt the dry autumn terrain tear at your clothes, most definitely skinning a knee in the process. Thing went flying, landing a couple feet away from you as you stilled on the ground, taking in short breaths.

Your breathing was hurting. God, it hurt to breathe but every second you didn’t it felt like your lungs were going to shrivel and die. Struggling, you huffed in short, cut off breaths as you tried to register everything at once and calm yourself down.

Your body stilled when you heard the dreaded crunch of dry leaves underfoot growing closer. Weren’t you just imagining things? You were supposed to be safe here, Nevermore was supposed to be safe.

“Y/N.”

You slowly dragged yourself to a sitting position, trying to force an expression of calm on your face despite the icy panic you were still experiencing as you slowly looked up to see Wednesday, dressed in uniform with her bag over her shoulder standing beside you, eyes examining you as if you were a scientific experiment. Were you? Was that was this whole… treasure hunt in the woods had been? 

“What happened?” The Addams tone was neutral but oh so barely softer. Her glare wasn’t as piercing as usual. She could tell. Like a shark smelling blood in the water, she could somehow tell how panicked you were? Was it the fact that that damn patch of fur you had was still sticking straight up and bristling like a hostile dog? Was it your struggling to take in breaths as you groaned at the new pain in your muscles from the fall you’d taken? It definitely wasn’t as bad as it could’ve been but it still stung.

You struggled to answer as your voice came out much softer than you intended, “I- it- there was-” you had to drag in a couple more breaths as the raven slowly knelt down beside you, cold knuckle coming under your chin to lift your face to meet yours, her eyebrows furrowing as she met your eyes. “I would suggest attempting to control your breathing and refraining from talking until you do so.”

Instead of responding with a witty remark you simply took her advice, trying to do a breathing exercise as you silently counted in your head, closing your eyes to help your focus as your chest began to rise and fall in a less erratic pattern. Slowly, you regained your focus and the panic seeped away, and you were able to speak regularly, though your voice had a slight shake to it. Damnit, you were supposed to be better than this. You didn’t want Wednesday’s pity.

“I found the books but when we were about to leave we heard a gunshot in the woods.” Wednesday’s hand was gone almost as soon as it had come; you hadn’t even noticed. The Addams raised an eyebrow. “We?”

“Thing and I. We were together,” you stood up painfully, rubbing your skinned knee as you retrieved your fallen items, gesturing to Thing who was on the ground still, dazed. You silently promised yourself to bring him an extra nail buffer for the appendage as an apology later that night, watching him slowly crawl over to the two of you. Wednesday straightened as her eyes flicked from Thing to the woods, clearly in deep focus as she remained silent for a moment. “Approximate the distance between where the gunshot originated and the academy.”

You thought for a second, math racing through your brain as you tried to make a connection. Damnit, you were sucky as hell at your math. After a moment you responded uncertainly. “I’d say two miles. The sound wasn’t as sharp as it could’ve been.” You were pacing now, mind racing as you recalled the sound itself. “I think it was a shotgun.”

“I see.” Wednesday’s eyes narrowed slightly and you noticed her jaw tighten slightly as she glanced at Thing again. “And what did you witness?” The appendage began tapping slowly at first, shaking off the daze of his own fall before his signs became more rapid in pace. The Addams sighed slightly as she folded her arms before muttering, “at least you made a wise decision in splitting up to cover ground.” She paused before turning to you, eyes glancing up to meet yours. “If I may offer a suggestion, I’d recommend that we bring this to Weems.”

Your eyes widened slightly and you felt a small flutter in your chest as you spoke, trying not to sound too hopeful. “You mean we’ll work together?” Wednesday gave a roll of her eyes, muttering something under her breath with gritted teeth before finally glaring at you again. “Yes, but only for the fact that half of this school are incompetent adolescents who would perform quite poorly compared to… you.” The Addams reluctantly admitted, her voice becoming strained at the end of her sentence. “Strictly a professional relationship shall be required. Understood?” She offered her perfectly manicured hand to yours, waiting for you to shake with a raise of an eyebrow. 

You didn’t hesitate one moment, grasping her cold, stiff hand in hers and shaking it.

—————

pt.8 here!

[hypnos-tized-ao3]

Some screenshots I took while grinding on my first floor run, mainly noting how Isabeau actually starts to level up faster than Siffrin over time. (Before this Siffrin had gained a few battles worth of exp that the others didn't have. Also you can't actually loop back to Dormont for a bit, I think loop has to finish giving tutorials. I think it was the first years death where I noticed this, not sure. Once I had the save point from having keys I could go back.)

Other than that, I've been using memory of fishing for the attack boost, gotten some other memories (I'm away from my switch for the moment, will post a screenshot in a bit) and annoyed loop with the flower. I can call them, I'm going to see if I can get dagger usage, I got the long thingy thing in my quest for barrels, I got the npc behind the locked door to speak, I got the daydreaming one event, Odile's commented on the gear disappearances and Isa thinks it's weird that I told him I needed to do the tree thing and then asked him about the tree. Siffrin's very much aware of the whole shoulder touch thing and has asked about it. There's more I can do, I think. For now, I grind.

Also the first time at the clocktower Sif eats a lot and Bonnie notices and gives them more food. The second time, even if you don't zone out, Sif doesn't eat much. After that, I saw Sif eat a lot without drawing attention to themselves. Also Sif has a favorite change god statue.

(btw yes I did wish for Isabeau)

Aaand a screenshot looking at damage numbers with type effectiveness. Did some math in my head while grinding.

Neutral attack is 1x, effective is 2x, ineffective is 1/2x. Also Sif's paper and rock attacks do the same amount of damage as each other. It's slightly more than knife to meet you when they're effective I think, and buy one get one three is about as effective as knife to meet you when it gets at one crit, more if it gets multiple crits, and worse with no crits. If knife to meet you crits, it's always more effective than buy one get one three.

I also listened to some isat playlists people made on YouTube while grinding and y'all are cooking.

That's it for now I think.

[alinaastarkov]

✨ fave creators art challenge ✨

for the second in this series who else could it be but @nataliescatorccio

becca, there are simply no words for your talent and the ways in which you have inspired so many people on here, not least yours truly. i mean, my colouring was definitely a lot worse before i found your tutorials and they changed my whole process. your blending tutorials helped me beyond belief, and i swear every set you make blows me away in new ways i didn't think possible and makes me want to create in the ways that you do seemingly effortlessly (even though i know all to well just how much effort goes into it). i'm sure there are so many creatives on this site who would say exactly the same, your impact is insane. and to top that all off, you are the nicest, funniest, sweetest, wittiest person ever with the most immaculate taste and the greatest patience for my questions and thoughts i happen to burden you with. i'm so grateful to know you in our little corner of the internet (and the planet! you being my british twin honestly just makes so much sense) and i am so excited to keep supporting and gagging over your talent, even when i don't know the show (and the power your sets have to make me watch pretty much anything should be studied). so saying all of that, here are just a few of my favourite sets of yours (narrowing this down was so so hard my goodness!!)

snowbaird + wuthering heights: a lot of this post will be me gushing about how you use colour because oh my goodness! knowing how much trouble i had colouring this movie gives me even more respect for you, you made it your own!! nothing you can't do you make every scene bend to your will! and i know very well how difficult it is but you make it look easy. and this quote?? for THEM??? insane inspired incredible show-stopping

yennefer + all aretuzan witch: RED RED MORE RED !!!! i'm obsessed with this set and red is so yennefer's colour (besides purple) and that's all because of you!! the bold typography perfectly matches the whole vibe and brings it together and this is just the perfect song for her.

rhaenicent + taylor swift: i don't know if there are even enough words in the english language to describe this??? i mean first off you know purple is my weakness so this was an instant win for me. the amount of effects and creativity on display here - this set has everything! shattered glass, ripped paper, ink drops i can't keep up! truly showing off your range of skills and my eyes are so happy about it.

annabeth + nikita gill: i love red sets and you do them so well!!! the shapes - hearts, daggers, geometric patterns - elevate this set to new heights. matching up different shots of annabeth so even her eyes and expressions match up is just insane??? how did you even know which scenes to pick it's crazy!! i'm actually obsessed like i keep looking and there's always something new to love about this

percy jackson season 1: incredible show-stopping spectacular!! the effort! the COLOURS! the SHAPES THE LAYOUT! EVERYTHING! i can't wait to see what you do for s2 of this show because s1 already gave me everything i've ever wanted. looking at this set alone is filling me with inspiration to get back to giffing that's your power.

percy jackson characters + the elements: another set you executed flawlessly. it shows off your ability to make any colour just WORK and the shapes are just perfection to match each element. your blending is off the charts i'm seriously in awe.

yellowjackets + loss: i still don't fully understand all of this set yet (just finished s1, slow watcher i know) but it's a good job i don't mind spoilers so i can appreciate this masterpiece. the glitches alone have my jaw on the floor. it's hard to comprehend the work and effort and the little touches of red in the text bring it together.

yennefer + family: i love purple i love flawless blending i love found family!!! so this set is just perfection to me it's so soft yet stunning (like yen hehe) and i could literally watch it for hours. fitting so many shots of these pairings into one gif each is a skill in itself.

chappell roan anniversary: SUCH a fun concept and it's executed to absolute perfection!! yellow and pink is the PERFECT combo for her and once again you prove your colouring mastery. the creativity here is off the charts and it's such a good tribute for a banger album!!

rhaenyra + madeleine l'engle: this whole set is actual insanity and i still can't believe it's real. you made older and younger rhaenyra practically indistinguishable from each other and i just don't know how. the patience to find these shots. the skill to make them match up. the skill and patience and creativity to colour them all (even here eyes!!!) so you can barely tell the difference is just!!!??? i'll lose my mind just thinking about it. your insane and crazy and i love that about you sm.

[jenna12381]

Thieves In Time Redux: Rewriting the tutorial

Episode 1: Here

You guys likely already know how Thieves In Time Redux begins. Penelope gets dragged into the events of the game against her will. Let's go over how she does during the story's opening...

We open near the museum, same as in canon. The only difference? There's four figures instead of three. The opening exchange now includes Penelope.

I'll just go ahead and show you the entire thing...

"Okay, you three remember the plan, right?"

"Of course! My mind is like a steel cap!"

"Uh, that's 'trap', Big Guy. And everybody relax! We've been over it a million times. What could possibly go wrong?''

"Famous last words! Look, we're only going to get one shot at this, so we can't mess up!"

"Alright, no messing up allowed. Now stop worrying! This is gonna be a piece of cake!"

"Question. Is it too late for me to back out?"

"I'm afraid so. You're coming with me, remember?"

"...Fine."

"We won't be out here forever, Sis! All we gotta do is take that dagger, do our thing, and clobber some fools into next week!"

"...Right. I'll keep that in mind."

"And with that, I'll see you all inside. Now let's get going!"

Penelope will be joining Bentley in the sewers. Before the opening, she had been targeted by kidnappers. She told Bentley about them in a panic, and... that's why she's here. She doesn't get enough time to vanish without a trace. Oh, and her blueprints for Le Paradox's blimp went missing.

Spoiler alert: They were stolen.

Sly's section is identical to canon, save for a few new lines. Same deal for Murray.

Bentley's section is changed up to accommodate Penelope. She'll only be following him for now... at least until her segment begins.

Just like in canon, Bentley falls deeper in the sewers... and gets separated from Penelope.

"How's that security system coming, Bentley?"

" Uh... Great! Perfect! I'll be done in a jiffy! *moves forward, only to realize he didn't land where he was supposed to* H--how did I...?"

"I thought you said 'no messing up allowed', old friend."

"I'm... taking the scenic route tonight!"

"Uh-huh... *short pause* You haven't forgotten Penelope, have you? Aren't you supposed to be watching her?"

This leads to a tutorial section for our favorite mouse girl. Her objective is finding Bentley. She's also given a title: The Wild Card.

"Sorry, I'm a little nervous. Nearly losing you to kidnappers does that."

"'A little', you say? You've been a nervous wreck ever since we left HQ."

Since this happens to be Penelope's very first solo outing, poor Bentley is freaking out. Penelope, meanwhile, isn't nearly as uneasy. She's just annoyed that she's been dragged into this adventure against her will. Not that she can tell Bentley why...

She instead tries to reassure him that yes, she can take care of herself... only to immediately follow that up by trying to run off. Bentley, of course, thinks she got lost and turns her around. She plays along and evades suspicion.

Since running off is no longer an option, Penelope goes off to find Bentley... When she does, he's in the process of almost getting jumped by a guard. She responds by knocking said guard out... because nobody touches that turtle except her.

Now reunited, they move onward to the same control room from canon.

Everything after that is nearly identical to vanilla. Yes, even Murray's segment. And yes, even Carmelita catching Sly in the act of thieving around.

The only difference is Penelope now being in the van with the boys as they all drive into a time portal.

Not a bad intro, huh? I've already talked about everyone's character arcs in previous posts, so here's a quick recap...

Sly learns that maybe ditching his friends on Kaine Island wasn't the best idea.

Bentley learns that he needs to not be overprotective of Penelope, but rather supportive.

Murray... doesn't go through much of a arc. He's focused on being a good older brother towards Penelope.

And Penelope? She's got a lot to learn about friendship. I bet you can't wait to see how she goes from distant and not wanting to be here to willing to take responsibility for what she's done. Because yes, she is still responsible for the Le Paradox incident in this rewrite.

I won't be writing Penelope as a sociopath, but rather as someone disconnected from her friends and what she actually needs.

I kind of neglected to mention that since Penelope is still behind the events of this game, she's going to be a bit confused about how Le Paradox's evil plan has gone ahead without her.

Lastly, I want to address how long it's been since the end of Sly 3. It's been roughly 19 months since Sly started faking amnesia.

At the beginning of this rewrite, Sly and Bentley are 22, Murray is 23, Penelope is 21, and Carmelita is 25. No clue about Dimitri or the villains.

[trickstarbrave]

i actually do like the hit and spell chances in morrowind. it does help balance the game (though i wish you gained a minor amount of exp if you fail. there is a mod for that but i think it would work fine in the base game). the issue i think is that people dont like seeing their weapon models collide with enemy models and then nothing happens. but if there was like some way to show the enemy blocked or dodged or parried the attack it would make more sense and feel fine. you didn't miss the hit because your dumb little baby arms cant do any damage when hitting an enemy, they just parried it.

removing the hit chance instead of reworking it i think actively hurt oblivion. the balancing they had to do to make it work was atrocious. and because it was so annoying and the leveling such a mess they just axed even MORE stuff from oblivion when they made skyrim.

i think morrowind's system worked, it just needed some tweaks. and probably an in game tutorial on how combat works bc way too many people just pick up the first iron dagger, run until they get low on fatigue, and then try to fight an enemy when they have basically nothing in shortblades while spamming short attacks. which is a sure fire way to ensure you cant hit anything for shit and even IF you do it will do basically no damage in the 1 in 20 chance your blade connects with the enemy. the average person who picks up morrowind tho doesnt know that and will proceed to get their ass kicked and then say hit chance is god awful and terrible and how glad they are oblivion and skyrim dont have it. the problem isn't hit chance its that the game doesnt rly explain all the mechanics

[theflintwarlock]

Flint knapping and practical magic

Now that we have discussed the basics of history and properties of flint, how can flint knapping be used in practical magic?

First, a few disclaimers:

1. Please do not try this indoors, without proper protective equipment

2. You will need some thick gloves- leather or gardening gloves that are designed to prevent cuts.

3. Protective eye gear is essential, especially when you're learning (which I'll admit I still am)

4. A thick towel on your lap will help prevent you bruising your legs as you work (I have done that before)

5. I am not an expert, this is just me sharing why I think more people should learn about flint knapping and magic. Please watch more detailed tutorials before attempting anything. It evolves sharp edges and the possibility to accidentally start a fire if you do it wrong.

That being said, hopefully I haven't scared too many people off. I am not a dextrous person myself and I have managed to do some rudimentary knapping, I even created a flint crow statuette. The tools that you can make can be extremely useful for Witchcraft, a handaxe for example can be used as an alternative to a ceremonial dagger. I use my flint tools for wood carving, simple stuff like creating touchwoods and small things. Another use if you're an artist is as a charmed pencil sharpener, to add some intention and protection from your ancestors into your work. But I am getting ahead of myself

How to find flint

Finding flint depends on your geographical location. For me, i collect flint from my family home in the east of England. East anglia is rich in flint and chalk as well as clay, anywhere you go you will find big chunks of flint on the ground. Look up your local area's geological background and this will help determine where you can find flint- in volcanic areas you are more likely to find obsidian than flint! Which is very cool, I'm jealous of you. The beach, however, is generally the best place to start wherever you are:

Look for large grey or white stones, flint generally has a coating of sedimentary rock.

It is especially fun to look for rocks with cracks down the middle that go all the way around- as they often have deposits inside. If you're not sure if it's flint, you can hit it with another rock on the beach (another HARD one, using chalk or sedimentary rocks will just break the chalk open.) And if it is flint it will shatter into pieces. Again please be careful. I like to chuck them a good deal away to open them up, and let gravity do the work when it hits other stones. A newly opened egde will look something like this:

The usual shine of flint tends to mattify on a fresh edge, but it still very smooth. When flint is being used as a brick to build a wall, this is as far as knapping goes. But for someone trying to make tools, you need to break it up again into smaller pieces.

For me, I just like breaking stones apart. I find it very therapeutic apart from the magickal elements. There is, however, something unquestionably magical about sitting outside and breaking open a stone, slowly learning with the gentle and rusty hand that a child in the stone age might have had. When I first did this, after watching an episode of digging for Britain, I had the genuine feeling that the people of the past were guiding my hands, teaching me how to work. It is an excellent, practical way to get closer to your ancestors during ancestor work.

I don't tend to worship my ancestors, but I do certainly lean on some of them for advice and guidance in times of strife.

Anyway, when you have a piece like this

On the further edge you can see that there are jagged edges where it has been knapped unevenly. This is a good way to get a sharp edge: you tap with another rock that is roughly the shape of your hand several times and eventually the flint will give. Here it broke into three pieces:

The iron deposits make this rock a slightly unusual one, but the principal applies for any piece of flint. Here it is especially important to be careful and wear gloves (in the picture I'm not wearing gloves because I'm a dumb dumb who cut my hand after this).

This piece is essentially a knife. You can see the slightly transparent edge, serrated. Generally an antler or bone would be used to shape this piece further. (I used chewed up antlers from the family dog)

You can see on the picture to the left there are cracks running down the larger piece. You can carefully remove a smaller piece from the larger by hitting it a few times with the same rounded stone, acting as your hammer. Here a piece came off that could be easily shaped into an arrowhead.

Laver flakes are created by hitting a larger piece precisely until a small, sharp flake falls off. These are difficult to do for beginners. Most of these sharp pieces shown are now on my altar, to add protection to the space and connection to my ancestors. Razor sharp small flakes have a tenancy to fall off, I collect these in a jar and use them for spell bags and jars. It is important to not leave them on the floor anywhere where pets walk, as they will cut into their feet. (And yours if you have a habit of walking barefoot in your garden/outside).

The best part about flint knapping in magical practice is that it's entirely free. Like I've said before, some of the best magical tools come not from commercialised stores but through your own practice and historical techniques that never required buying materials. Go forth and Forage, my flintlings.

For more information and a more detailed guide on things I can't do, check out this website:

https://exarc.net/issue-2016-3/at/recycled-flint-cores-teaching-tools-flintknapping-archaeological-open-air-museums

This YouTube video is also helpful:

Wessex archaeology flint knapping basics

[dorianpavus]

I want to play the new Baldur's Gate 3 but I've never had an exposure to the franchise and barely any knowledge of D&D. Do I need to have that in order to properly understand the game, or...?

oooh!!! i'm very excited you're interested in bg3, it's SUCH a fun game. :')

the short answer is no, you don't need any knowledge of the previous games or dnd! the game takes place about 100 years after the events of the second game, and it functions as a stand-alone. and because it's a video game, the game comes with tutorials and explanations of mechanics! if you want to jump right into it, many other people have, that's totally an option! 😊

the longer version is this:

FRANCHISE LORE

although no knowledge is necessary, some would help.

there are many people out there who've done let's plays of the first two games, or have summarized the plots. you can find relatively short or very in depth versions of those on youtube! take your pick. or don't watch at all! :)

because this is dnd, and there are some creatures that can live for centuries -- through magic or natural lifespans -- there are some characters you'll come across that were in the first two games, even though that was 100 years prior!

you yourself are a new character, though, so it's not like you're expected to know who they are. it's more like it's exciting for people who have played the previous games, but they function as normal characters for everyone else! this is also true for familiar locations making a comeback. for a new player, they're just cool new places -- no previous knowledge necessary! DUNGEONS & DRAGONS LORE

what will help you most of all while playing the game, imo, is knowledge of dnd. both mechanically, how the game/combat works, and some knowledge of this setting.

people play dnd in all kinds of different settings. lots of people make up their own, but there are some "official" settings, that published content is made for.

one of these settings is called the "forgotten realms," and that's the one this game takes place in!

there's this great ongoing lore series on youtube that goes over a lot of the lore (specifically relevant to baldur's gate 3) that leads into the game. if you want to know about the big players in the world, religion, the fantasy-talk the characters drop, this is the playlist for you! each video is about 10-15 minutes long, so they're great to watch quickly while eating lunch.

(i would really argue watching those videos will get you more prepared for bg3 than just a recap of the first two games.) COMBAT

then there's combat.

the good news is, if you play other video games, lots of them were modeled after dnd! it probably won't be too different from other fantasy rpgs.

there's gotta be thousands of videos explaining how dnd combat works, but i'll break down the important bits here:

almost anything you do in dnd boils down to rolling some dice and adding some numbers. usually, for combat and skills, that means rolling a d20, and adding any relevant numbers afterwards (that come from your own stats). when you're making your character, it will be useful to know what ability score affects what!

example: most melee weapons use strength. that means if you're using a longsword and invested in strength when creating your character, you'll have a higher number you get to add to your roll when you're attacking (so more likely to hit your target), and a higher number to add to its damage.

there are some exceptions to this -- some melee weapons have the "finesse" property, that allows you to use your dexterity instead of strength. (daggers, rapiers, scimitars, shortswords, etc.) that's useful if you're playing a high dex character rather than high strength!

ranged weapons, like longbows and shortbows, use dexterity.

classes that use magic have a "spellcasting ability" that they use for magic. for wizards, that's intelligence; for bards, sorcerers, and warlocks, that's charisma; for clerics and druids, that's wisdom. investing in those abilities as that class will let you add a bigger bonus to you rolls, or to the number enemies have to roll against you.

combat is turn-based. at the start of combat, every character (enemies and allies) will "roll initiative," which comes from their dexterity. (higher dex = higher initiative). then everyone takes their turn in order of their initiative.

dexterity is also used with armor -- without any armor on (and lots of spellcasting classes cannot wear armor), your base AC, or "armor class" is 10 + your dexterity modifier. that's the number an enemy has to roll to hit you. the higher your AC, the better!

different armors will have a different base AC. some of them you can add your dexterity modifiers to, and some of the heavier armors you cannot. (realistically, it's saying you're not gonna be too nimble when you're clanking around everywhere).

for characters who cannot wear armor, there are spells and buffs in game to help raise their AC! if they're getting hurt too easily, you might want to invest in one of those -- for instance, the Shield of Faith cleric spell adds a +2 to AC, and the Mage Armor wizard/sorcerer spell makes your base AC 13 + Dex Modifier (instead of 10 + dex!) when not wearing armor. Very very useful!

"Concentration" is when a spell must be passively maintained by the caster. You can only concentrate on one spell at a time, but you can cast other non-concentration spells with no issue. If you attempt to cast a second concentration spell, however, the first one will drop, and you will lose its effects.

If this is all overwhelming, I know! I just threw a ton of information at you that's all probably meaningless until you're playing the game. Don't sweat it too much, and feel free to come back to this if/when you're making a character.

Regardless, the game will try to teach you everything that you don't know. At the top right corner of the screen, little tutorial icons will pop up as you play, explaining some new feature -- don't skip those!

And my inbox is always open. If you ever have any questions or are having any difficulty or confusion, hit me up! Tl;dr, NONE of that extra frou frou I just gave you is necessary. You could hop into the game right now and start playing. You'll figure things out as you go!! Most importantly, HAVE FUN!!!!! It's an incredibly rich game with very vibrant characters and so much to explore and delight. :')

I'm sorry if my wall of text was too much sldgkhslkgh 😭😭💖💖💖💖 I LOVE this game and I'm so excited anyone else wants to give it a go!!!