#elsie :: visuals

[readtilyoudie]

Edens Zero Vol 2

[aughts]

e. muller

[alphynix]

Modern mammals are the only living representatives of the synapsids, but back during the Permian there were numerous other evolutionary branches – first the pelycosaurs, and later their descendant the therapsids.

Some of the first non-mammalian therapsids were the biarmosuchians, mid-sized carnivores with a more upright posture than their pelycosaur ancestors. They had large canine teeth in their jaws and powerful bites, and some of them also developed elaborate ornamentation on their skulls, with various bony bumps and crests adorning their faces.

Pachydectes elsi was a 1.5m long (~5') biarmosuchian living in what is now South Africa during the late Permian, about 265 million years ago. Bone texture indicates its head ornamentation was covered by either tough thickened skin or a keratinous sheath, and the large bulbous bosses on the sides of its snout had a particularly rich blood supply, suggesting these structures could have been continuously growing throughout its entire life.

But despite how well-protected it looked, Pachydectes' skull was actually relatively fragile and wouldn't have been able to withstand the impact forces of using its headgear for fighting or defense. Instead it may have been mostly used for visual display – and the blood supply to the snout bosses might even have given it the ability to "blush" them if they had a soft-tissue covering.

———

NixIllustration.com | Tumblr | Patreon

References:

Benoit, J., et al. "Early synapsids neurosensory diversity revealed by CT and synchrotron scanning." The Anatomical Record (2024). https://doi.org/10.1002/ar.25445

Rubidge, Bruce S., Christian A. Sidor, and Sean P. Modesto. "A new burnetiamorph (Therapsida: Biarmosuchia) from the middle Permian of South Africa." Journal of Paleontology 80.4 (2006): 740-749. https://doi.org/10.1666/0022-3360(2006)80[740:ANBTBF]2.0.CO;2

Wikipedia contributors. “Biarmosuchia.” Wikipedia, 13 Feb. 2024, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biarmosuchia

Wikipedia contributors. “Pachydectes.” Wikipedia, 7 Feb. 2024, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pachydectes

[illarian-rambling]

Thanks for the tag @elsie-writes! (Finally getting to it lol)

OC in 15

How bout we give Twenari some love?

“Oh, get over yourself. You’re alive. Everyone’s alive."

“Emotion has no place on the battlefield. Better to get it out now.”

“It’s brilliant; they combine the magical with the mechanical and get a miracle. Gods, if I could just get a peek inside one of those fans….”

“Staring! I wasn’t…. Oh. Oh gods, but they were a masterpiece though….”

“Are you going to need any additional supplies? I know a little about book magic, so perhaps, uh, perhaps I could be of assistance?”

“Well, you can change that number to four and a half, because my hand really aches."

“Rich people love souvenirs. I’ll bet one of my kinsmen has something that can get us at least nearby.”

“It has been an honest pleasure, Master Bi’em. I must take my leave now, but I do hope to study under you further. Perhaps once times are not so dark.”

“Sorry, guys. Teleportation’s not so easy when you can’t visualize the destination.”

“I have water, I have organic material; I can make soup."

“I’m stronger than I was four years ago. We’ll see if that’s enough.”

“I’m going to have to teleport us there, so I won’t be going into battle at my best anyways. And overdrawal poisoning is a chance we already decided to take. It might kill me, but End definitely will. I’ll try again.”

“Spirit of the desert! I gave you the luxury of a discussion last time, but you have worn my patience thin. You have no choice in this matter—you will apportion a piece of your power to me and I will leave with it. Give it willingly and I will not have to resort to force.”

“Couldn’t have put it better my fucking self."

<It’s pretty rare for a siren to not have any bioluminescence. Considered unattractive according to my sources.>

I'll tag @literarynecromancy @fadingrealm @cssnder @terriblepersongreatseamonster and anyone else who wants to play :)

[i-loathelucy]

Eugenia-Louise “Lucy” Elbertson

Class Title: The Doll

Class Emblem(s):

Full Name: Eugenia-Louise Elsie Elbertson

Age: 16 as of 1969, 19 as of 1972

Female, She/Her pronouns

Lucy is the younger sister of Scout. She is seven years younger than him, and was born in early august, making her a Leo.

She works very closely with Miss Pauling and the Administrator, but is authorized to do “field work” with the mercs due to her combat history. Apart of her combat history is the ability to cause auditory and visual hallucinations via bringing the subconscious mind to the conscious mind.

Lucy sees Miss Pauling as her older sister. Sniper she considers to be one of her closest friends. Spy became a (reluctant) mentor to her.

lucy’s story is much more detailed in this doc. in it, several fics that i’m working on have been linked in that. i’ll be posting updates on any fics i may write on this blog, and like probably on my main @eld-red

my lucy pfp was drawn by @ homkamiro on instagram, and i have been losing my marbles ever since i saw her. i love lucy, if you will.

[gaystims]

elise from bsd for the stim thing?

I love Elsie so much, she lives in my head and eats all my candy.

For general stims: I think she's a vocal and visual stimmer, she stims via coloring and singing/humming. I also think she'd stim via spinning and hand movements (ie hand flapping)

As for GIF types:

x | x | x

Fashion, coloring in with crayons, dolls (although I used a BJD here I think she's prefer porcelain dolls) and teddy bears

[frogblast-the-ventcore]

Ensign Gela - The USS Sorcerer's Chief Communications Officer, and the newest member of the Sorcerer's senior staff; the only member of the senior staff to join after the Iconian War, in 2413. At 28, she is nearly the youngest member of the senior staff - that title is jointly held by Lieutenants Sayako-34 and Elsie Madison at 27 years old.

Gela is a member of the mammalian, canid-chiropterid Kurowan species, a recent member of the Federation, and is one of the first of her species to join Starfleet. Using her species' extremely large hearing range has made Gela extremely adept at many communications tasks, and she is skilled at non-assisted simultaneous translation. Furthermore, Gela is an amateur artist - composing multisensory musical compositions (incorporating sonic, olfactory, and visual components), producing sculpture in the Kurowan "echo-sensory" method, and producing paintings in a multitude of styles.

[twittercomfrnklin2001-blog]

M

The best film I watched in August and probably the whole year will probably be a no brainer since I showed a friend Fritz Lang’s M (1931, Max, Prime) last night. Lang’s first sound film was a breakthrough in its use of tracking shots and a musical leitmotif to tell the tale of the hunt for a child killer (Peter Lorre) by the police on one side and the criminal underworld on the other. The film’s cynical view of power structures and cinematographer Fritz Arno Wagner’s painting with light and shadow would become major influences on the rise of film noir in the 1940s, while, with Alfred Hitchcock’s THE LODGER (1927), M would inspire decades of police procedurals with its panoramic view of the social effect of Lorre’s crimes. It also contains an unforgettable performance by the actor, who manages to make his character both animalistic and surprisingly sympathetic. His climactic monolog, delivered to a kangaroo court of criminals whose livelihood has been threatened by the police search for him, is one of the greatest acting moments on screen.

What surprised me on re-viewing the film for the first time in years was how much humor Lang had injected into the film. Scenes of the public panic, as anybody seen talking to a child or in police custody is presumed to be the killer, are mordantly funny, while the quirks of the various legal and criminal authority figures create a great gallery of comic grotesques.

As an early talkie, the film maintains a lot of the visual story telling of the silent era. You can tell the washerwoman featured early on is the mother of young Elsie just from the way Lang cuts between the two, and Elsie’s death is communicated through simple details — her ball rolling across the grass and the balloon Lorre had bought her tangled in some power lines.

Lang also uses editing for social criticism, as he repeatedly cuts between a criminal meeting to discuss the murder investigation and a meeting of the city’s leaders. This is one of the film’s most subversive elements, the equation of the city government and police force with the criminal underworld. Is there that much difference between the police indiscriminately raiding underworld hangouts and the criminals breaking into an office building and torturing the night watchman? And when Elsie’s mother says at the end, “One needs to keep closer watch over our children, all of you!” the film becomes almost prescient, or at least benefits from our knowledge of the children (and adults) who would be slaughtered when the Third Reich came into power.

[sanddusted-wisteria]

Adventures in MTAS datamining (pt. 1/?: art assets)

Because I am incredibly normal about this game, I’ve been poking around in the game’s files (and MTAP’s, too) pretty much ever since I got it. Unity games are pretty easy to datamine, since tools are already out there, which is incredibly fortunate for fueling the hyperfixation. I wanted to share some of the more interesting things I’ve found on my travels. Spoiler warning: There are some midgame spoilers below (i.e. starting with the water tower). There’s also one thing that might be a future spoiler, which is at the very end and marked accordingly.

General disclaimer: If you’re curious to try datamining out yourself, feel free to ask me for how-to’s, but please be careful! Never edit the game’s files directly. Make copies and back up your save files. You’ll also need a good amount of RAM (I recommend at least 16 GB) to be able to handle tools like AssetStudio, since you’ll be loading assets directly into memory. And MTAS has a lot of assets. You may also encounter unreleased future content in there...so preemptive spoiler warning for that as well.

Since there’s so much to dig through, this post will only focus on some of the art/visual things. These can either be found under StreamingAssets > AssetBundles, or StreamingAssets > AssetBundles > art_asset. I can’t really comment too much on the 3D assets (meshs, textures) since I don’t know too much about modeling, but here are some other interesting things I found!

Cutscene thumbnails

You can find thumbnails of the cutscenes without the builder in them. The in-game album uses different thumbnails, which look like screenshots taken when it’s playing for the first time (hence why skipping a cutscene won’t put it in your album). Some of them actually really nice. Wallpaper-worthy, even.

The one they use for the kidnapping cutscene is incredible.

(ask people who don’t play mtas to caption this image.)

Newspaper photos

In The Tumbleweed Standard, the monthly issues are accompanied by these photos. Something about the filter makes it look pretty. Here are my personal favorites:

Family photos

You ever wanted to see the photos in the NPCs’ houses up close? Now you can! They’re all super sweet. Welllll, most of them.

(My favorite one’s the one with babby Heidi 😭 [far right, midway down])

It’s still unfortunately kinda blurry, since they’re meant to show up pretty small in-game. Hopefully you’re still able to see them.

Here’s a bit of a buffer before the last thing I have to show, since it’s probably the one thing that could be a future spoiler. If it is, it’s probably fairly minor. Hop off now if you don’t want that.

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Fine with maybe being spoiled? Alright, here we go...

Lastly, I leave you with a forbidden image:

...I’m sorry, who is this???

So, uh...Qi has an alternate set of character art. No other character has one (except Elsie for story reasons). I assume this’ll be a DLC outfit, like those in MTAP? Kinda weird how only one would be loaded into the files so far. The asset name doesn’t really give any pointers, it’s just marked as “Qi2″. It only exists as character art, no model or texture or anything like that.

So is this past Qi? Future Qi?? Qi for one day if he’s forced to wear something nice for a change??? It looks like the neat and complete version of his normal outfit. You can see the same shirt and tie, same pants (except they aren’t rolled up at the ankles anymore?), same shoes. I’m also just now noticing that his suit jacket’s the same color as the mobile suit, haha funni joke. Again, not a single other character besides Elsie has an alternate outfit yet in these files. What is this for?! I have no fuckin clue, but I can say that Qi cleans up pretty nicely 👀

(kinda wish he kept the messy hair, tbh. doesn’t really look right without it)

And that’ll wrap up this little datamining dive! I’ll probably come back to the art in the future, once more gets added, or if I find some other things to share. In the next parts, I’ll be showing off some of the audio and text data, but I do want to wait until future game updates for some of it. Hope you found this as interesting as I do!

Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to continue reeling from the psychic damage that full-suited Qi’s done to my poor little brain.

ETA: i just realized that it looks like the fucking onceler’s outfit. i am deeply sorry for putting the image of onceler qi in your head

  or am i

Edit 2: Unfortunately, as of several beta builds pre-release, full suit Qi has largely been removed. The full art version isn’t in the files anywhere, but there are still some map icons of him. Not sure if this is something for postgame content or a romantic mission they didn’t have time to add. We’ll have to see :P

ngl i kinda prefer scruffy qi over this lol

[veronika-tserber]

🍰 Astro Bite: What are Sabian Symbols?

Sabian symbols are a set of 360 symbolic phrases, one for each degree of the zodiac. They were developed by astrologer Marc Edmund Jones and clairvoyant Elsie Wheeler in the 1920s, and astrologers believe they provide additional celestial insight and guidance. 🔮

If you are like me, and your thinking is more abstract, or you feel like the dry explanations of your placements don't hit home, you will love the metaphorical, visual language of Sabian Symbols! The stories they tell can easily speak directly to our subconscious minds and souls, which is incredibly powerful.

Their meanings are valuable both in birth chart analysis and during transits/collective events such as New/Full Moons, Eclipses, and even the daily Sun transits. When we don't consider degrees in astrological readings, we neglect important details and pieces of our personal story, psyche, and life lessons.

We aren't able to extract the most out of the reading, and the words seem to glide off the surface of our conscious minds, unable to stick. However, when we leverage the power of metaphors, visuals, and stories, we engage our powerful subconscious mind, and we are able to REMEMBER what our souls already know, which is way more potent than consuming paragraphs with general explanations and treating them as pieces of new "information".

After all, we are talking about our Soul's path and evolution, not a generic list of features on the back of a toaster's packaging. 😂🍞

If you want to quickly and easily find out your natal Sabian Symbols and even read briefly about their meanings, you can calculate them HERE.

The artist who created the original drawings for each symbol is called Ruby, and THIS is her website. For my Sabian posts, I will use my own digital art, generated with the help of Midjourney AI Software. ♥

- Foxbörn

ᴍᴀꜱᴛᴇʀʟɪꜱᴛ 1

ᴄʜᴀʀᴛ ʀᴇᴀᴅɪɴɢꜱ

ᴡᴀɴᴛ ᴛᴏ ʙᴜʏ ᴍᴇ ᴀ ᴄᴏꜰꜰᴇᴇ?

[sillyname30]

Darren Criss Says MAYBE HAPPY ENDING Will Be 'A Spectacle and A Half'

Maybe Happy Ending will begin previews on Wednesday, September 18, 2024 and open on Thursday, October 17, 2024 at the Belasco Theatre.

Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winner Darren Criss will return to the stage alongside Helen J Shen in the Broadway premiere of the new musical Maybe Happy Ending. According to the Emmy-winning star, the "wildly original"new musical promises to be "a spectacle and a half.

Recently, Darren stopped by Z100's Morning Zoo in support of the upcoming Elsie Fest, and took a minute to discuss his latest Broadway venture.

"I think people think this is going to be a small, cute little show about robots in the future." Darren said, "This is a balls-to-the-wall spectacle in the way that in the 80s, we had Miss Saigon and The Phantom of the Opera-- these huge, theatrical spectacles that like, when you went to the theatre it was like, 'Whoa, how did they do that?'"

Host E;lvis Duran asked the star if audiences could expect anything akin to the iconic Phantom chandelier as part of the production. Darren replied, "I think there will be something like a chandelier that will be the new version of, 'Oh my God, that's the big thing to see on Broadway.'"

The show features music by Will Aronson, lyrics by Hue Park and book by both Aronson and Park. Direction is by Tony Award-winner Michael Arden. Maybe Happy Ending will also feature Dez Duron who makes his Broadway debut along with Shen.

Maybe Happy Ending will begin previews on Wednesday, September 18, 2024 and open on Thursday, October 17, 2024 at the Belasco Theatre (111 W. 44th St.). Final casting as well as ticketing and on-sale information will be announced at a later date.

Having led the visual development of the piece since 2018, Tony Award-nominee Dane Laffrey (A Christmas Carol, Once on This Island) will design the Set and Additional Video, while Costume Design is by Tony Award-winner Clint Ramos (KPOP, Eclipsed), Lighting Design is by Tony Award-nominee Ben Stanton (A Christmas Carol, Fun Home), Sound Design is by Tony Award-winner Peter Hylenski (Moulin Rouge!: The Musical, Beetlejuice),

Video Design by George Reeve (Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends, UK), Deborah Abramson (The Gardens of Anuncia) is the Music Supervisor and John Yun will be the Music Director. Casting is by Telsey & Co, Craig Burns, CSA and Justin Scribner is the Production Stage Manager.

Inside a one-room apartment in the heart of Seoul, Oliver (Criss) lives a happily quiet life listening to jazz records and caring for his favorite plant. But what else is there to do when you’re a Helperbot 3, a robot that has long been retired and considered obsolete? When his fellow Helperbot neighbor Claire (Shen) asks to borrow his charger, what starts as an awkward encounter leads to a unique friendship, a surprising adventure, and maybe even...love? Winner of the Richard Rodgers Award, Maybe Happy Ending is the offbeat and captivating story of two outcasts near the end of their warranty who discover that even robots can be swept off their feet. Helmed by visionary director and Tony Award winner Michael Arden (Parade, Once on This Island), with a dazzling scenic design by Dane Laffrey (A Christmas Carol) and book, music, and lyrics by the internationally acclaimed duo Will Aronson and Hue Park, Maybe Happy Ending is a fresh, original musical about the small things that make any life worth living.

[cookiewoli]

Moon's whisperer - chap 3

"So? Well? What did you say to each other?"

Panah waved her legs back and forth under the table. This annoyed Elsie, but out of respect she said nothing. Panah's energy was annoying for once; she stared at her intently with a big, goofy smile..

She finished her mouthful of meat and sighed:

"Nothing much. I just mentioned my life in Sandrock."

The day before, Elsie had shed every tear in her body when she confided in Cassius. That idiot. She'd rather have told Panah, maybe she'd have comforted her, or said something. Cassius, on the other hand, said nothing. But he just listened until the end. When Elsie finished crying, he walked her back to her tent, retrieved his jacket, and said:

"See ya."

She didn't know how to react. Maybe, inside, he was laughing at her, at seeing her cry. Or maybe he didn't care about her story. Or both? Both, no doubt.

"Panah… I was wondering, why don't you stop defending Cassius in every situation?"

Elsie stared intently at Panah. She jerked her head back, as if she hadn't expected the question. She deflected her gaze several times, before looking Elsie straight in the eye.

"What do you mean by that?

-You're always saying how nice he is, that we shouldn't hold his behavior against him, that we should get to know him…"

Panah's cheeks began to flush. She let out nervous little giggles; it was clear she was uncomfortable.

"I say that because this morning he smashed one of the merchants to the ground, for some reason. With him, it doesn't take much to piss him off… What's your excuse this time?

-Maybe he was… He was in a bad mood? Or maybe the merchant did something to him!

-You see, Panah? You're defending him again!"

Elsie pounded her fist on the table. Sure, she was a lot younger than Panah, but she wasn't dumb. Panah clearly seemed to have feelings (whatever they were) for Cassius. But what were they? Pity? Friendship? Amusement? Love…?

"I… It's just that… Everyone keeps calling him with every rude name that exist. Everyone sees him as a freak, ass*ole, no one wants to go near him, and that's why he's always alone. On top of that, all the boys in the camp hate him just because he has a certain popularity with the girls…"

Panah had lowered the tone of her voice for this last sentence. She sipped her berry juice, looking off into the distance.

"His… Popularity with the girls?

Elsie repeated.

-Hmm… you know… He's not… He's… He's kinda…

-Handsome? Is that what you're going to say?

Panah spat out her mouthful of juice.

-No! Well, yes a little! I wouldn't have said it like that…"

Elsie thought about it. She thought about him, visualized him in her head. Physically, he's very tall and muscular. His hair looks soft, the fact that it's badly combed adds to its charm, his eyes are bright as a flame, his voice is deep and imposing… His earrings and low-tied ponytail suit him perfectly. Yeah. He's handsome. Elsie thought so. But aside from his good looks, he's a jerk.

"If he's so popular with the girls, why is he always alone? He never has company."

Panah rested her elbows on the table and ran her hands through her hair. That face, that sigh, Elsie already knew her next phrase. "It's complicated."

"It's complicated…

Bingo.

"Let's just say he's someone who appreciates… Temporary company.

Elsie didn't seem to understand. Seeing her expression, Panah searched for better words.

-A certain kind of company.

Elsie didn't react.

-One-night stand."

Elsie opened her mouth slightly to make a little "oh" before turning red. Strangely, this didn't surprise her coming from Cassius. Anyone would be popular with his appearance.

"I… I see. But… Do his partners know? That he… Has many partners?

-They all know. Cassius makes it clear that there are no romantic feelings involved. So in itself, it's not cheating I suppose…?"

To tell the truth, Elsie didn't know much about the subject. Love? The… "One-night stand." In Sandrock, apart from couples who'd already been together for years, she'd never had the opportunity to see the creation of a couple. But… what is a couple? What is love? What about cheating ? When does it start? Elsie shook her thoughts from her head and left, having finished her berry juice and dish. She seemed confused.

That evening, there was the usual gathering around the campfire. It was reminiscent of Sandrock gatherings in front of the town hall, or at the blue saloon listening to Owen's incredible stories. Ah, how she missed those gatherings. She even missed the arguments between Cooper and Hugo, and wanted so much to hear X's screams again, or Pen bragging about how perfect he was.

The meals were already ready, and everyone ate and drank to their hearts' content, laughing and chatting happily. Elsie always sits next to Panah, since she's the one with whom she has the most affinity. But her role as leader means that she has to pay attention to the whole group, one by one. She doesn't always get a chance to chat with Elsie. But she doesn't mind. She ate her yakmel ribs in silence. At first, eating them disturbed her, as she imagined the poor ranch yakmels on her plate. But hey. You've got to eat! She glanced over at Cassius, who stood across the fire from her in the distance. He was sitting next to a girl, a bottle of alcohol in his hand and a lollipop in his mouth. She couldn't hear their conversation, but the girl seemed very tactile with him. She was stroking his arm, ruffling his hair, talking into his ear… Cassius didn't react, but he didn't refuse. At one point he put his arm around her shoulders, smiling. But… That smile didn't seem real. He seemed to have a look… Empty. But maybe Elsie was just imagining things. Cassius wasn't someone who showed much emotion after all.

Towards the end of the meal, she glanced again in Cassius's direction. The girl, still at his side, grabbed his hand and spoke into his ear. Cassius laughed nervously, but the duo got up together and left. Elsie thought back to the discussion she'd had with Panah that morning. She had an idea what they were going to do this evening… It's impossible to not blushing when thinking about this. This kind of thing… Is embarrassing.

Tired, she got up to go to her tent, but froze in place. Her tent is right next to Cassius'. And he's doing some… Activities. Probably noisy. Elsie quickly turned around and returned to her seat around the fire. Panah noticed her strange attitude.

"Are you all right, Elsie?

-Y-yes! Perfectly!"

Panah turned to her. She noticed that Elsie was all red, with a panicked look on her face. She kept playing with her hands, looking around and stamping her feet on the floor…

"You don't look well. Do you want to talk about it?

She hesitated for a moment.

-Um… Cassius left with a girl, and, uh… I don't dare go to my tent.

Panah gave a nervous laugh. She'd taken the hint.

-I promise I'll find you another tent… Like I said, nobody wants to be near Cassius because of the noise. And when I said that the first time, I meant two kinds of noise."

Time passed. Elsie had time to chat with other members of the camp. She had eaten a little more and was now full. She saw Cassius' companion back around the fire, but… Alone. She had a big smile, her hair a little dishevelled, but she quickly put it back in place with the help of her friends.

"Someone got lucky tonight, as usual."

Exclaimed someone nearby.

"Fucking chad."

"He doesn't deserve this much affection."

"Pfft, he's all about looks."

Elsie was hearing all kinds of remarks. And she knew very well who was the subject of them…

Indeed, everyone here seemed to hate Cassius.

Having had enough, she got up and headed for her tent.

||

||

She passed Cassius's tent, and thought she heard a noise. It was like… Anyway, she didn't know and didn't want to know. But curiosity got the better of her, and she opened the tent to take a look inside. Cassius was sitting on the ground, bottle in hand and… He was crying. Elsie couldn't take her eyes off him. So he has emotions… she thought. But why is he crying? Did the evening go badly? Yet his partner seemed satisfied…

"I'm fed up…" he whispered, bringing the bottle to his mouth.

His sobs were light, as if he was careful not to be heard.

Elsie had to do something? Intervene? Comfort him? But if she did that, it would be to admit she was spying on him… She closed the tent and started to take a few steps away, but stopped dead in her tracks. She couldn't leave him there like that! Should she go and see Panah? No, no… She couldn't handle all his problems for her. Elsie had to stop depending on her for all her choices and actions. She turned, then turned back, before freezing and turning around. To go? Not go? Do something? Do nothing and pretend she hadn't seen anything?

She had no time to think as the tent opened. Cassius stepped out, wiping away his tears. Elsie stiffened on the spot. Uh-oh… He looked at her, eyes wide, when he realized she'd been there since… He didn't know when. His face tightened, and he said in a loud tone:

"When did you get here?!

-Um… Since…

She didn't dare answer. You have to take responsibility for your actions… It's not an easy thing.

-SINCE WHEN?

She gasped when he raised his voice. She looked down at her feet.

-A few minutes! 1 or 2!

Cassius seemed to be seething with rage.

-What did you see?!

-N-nothing…

Elsie shifted her gaze to the side. Of course she was lying. Cassius threw his empty bottle into the distance. The sound of crashing was heard. The tension was rising dangerously. Elsie found the courage to raise her head and face his gaze. It was terrifying.

-Cassius, if you want to talk about it, you can…

-It's not your business!

He shouted. Elsie wanted nothing more than to leave. But she wanted what was best for him, to know what was bothering him, even if it was none of her business. She had to stay. She couldn't leave him like that. She stared at him intensely. There was no escape. Even though she could feel her whole body trembling.

-GET.LOST.

He'd never looked so imposing. He stood straight in front of her, his shadow covering her entirely. His gaze was inflamed, enraged. But you could still see the red marks under his eyes, a sign that he had been crying. Elsie was more than determined to stay here. Cassius shouted even louder:

"LEAVE! GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE! Leave me alone!

-I just… Just wanted to help…! I thought we… We'd become buddies. Friends support each other, don't they?

-We're not buddies! I'm not with anyone, and I never will be. Now lea-

He stopped dead in his tracks as Elsie released her first tear. She seemed terrified and offended. As if this truth had just destroyed her.

The tears continued to flow. Between sobs, she said:

-I… I was… Was beginning to think that maybe you were a good person.

She didn't even bother to wipe her face. She nodded:

-Maybe I was wrong… And that you really are a heartless freak who only cares about himself.

-Elsie… I didn't mea-

He'd lost the words. His throat tightened. This was the first time it had happened, he was now unable to produce any sound at all.

-I'm leaving now. I just wanted to be nice."

She pulled a lollipop from her pocket and threw it at his feet, before disappearing in a fraction of a second, still crying.

Cassius saw her off in the distance, away from their tents.

He screwed up. He acted like an ass-ole. Just like everyone else. He picked up the lollipop from the floor and stared at it sadly. Elsie had only been here a few days, but she was already trying to make friends with him. Usually, people called him an ass*ole and never spoke to him again. But she… She wanted to get closer. But why? He's cold but hot-blooded, he doesn't know how to do anything but mess around, fight, drink and be the life of the party. She didn't deserve to be terrorized by him, when she was the only one (along with Panah) who looked for good in him.

He returned to his tent, his head bowed. It was the first time he'd ever been angry at himself for acting this way. Usually, he's proud to go and piss other people off. He's used to people hating him. Maybe that's why he felt a pain in his heart. Maybe he didn't want Elsie to start hating him. But it's probably too late, he thought.

previous chapter <-

Next chapter ←

[mk-writes-stuff]

OC Interview

Rules: answer the questions as an OC

Thanks @pluppsauthor and @somethingclevermahogony for the tags! I genuinely can’t remember which Seven Stations OCs I’ve done this for so I’m going to do this one for Tatum from the Pirates’ Roost and go look through them later :). This interview is set a bit after the current fics I’ve written so there’s some stuff in here the other characters don’t know about, but it’s all on the wiki timeline so it’s not really spoilers

For maximum effect, please imagine these responses read in a slightly slow and incredibly monotone raspy voice

Were you named after anyone?

“No. My birth name means, ‘Blessed of the Suns,’ but Tatum was just a name I liked. I think that suits me better, anyway.”

When was the last time you cried?

“I fought with Corbin after an incident with the Legion of Dusk. He and the captain are the only people I’ve cried in front of in recent memory.”

Do you have any kids?

“No, but my brother’s almost twenty years younger than me, so you might count him. I send him money after he got disowned? I don’t know if he counts.”

Do you use sarcasm a lot?

“No. Maybe if the situation calls for it and it won’t make things escalate.”

What is the first thing you notice about people?

“I recognize voices faster than anything visual, so how they talk. Leftover habit from before I got my glasses.”

What is your eye color?

They frown visibly. “…Green. Thank you for making a fuss about it.”

Scary movies or happy endings?

“I don’t have any guess what a movie is, but I’ll admit I like happy endings. Only if they don’t feel fake.”

Any special talents?

“I’m a tidemage. Best on the Stormwreck Sea.”

Where were you born?

“…I guess I have no reason to lie anymore. Patachupa. Capital of the Sun Empire.”

Do you have any pets?

“No. If I got anything that fought with Malcolm’s Suns-forsaken bird, I’d never hear the end of it.”

What sort of sports do you play?

“I used to duel a lot. Quit when I left the Sun Empire so I’m out of practice, and with my back I don’t think I could pick it up again even if I wanted.”

How tall are you?

“Five foot ni-no. Sorry. Six feet now.”

What was your favorite subject in school?

“I always enjoyed working with the dinosaurs. I used to daydream about having a sharpclaw once I finished my apprenticeship.”

What is your dream job?

“I’m happy as a tidemage. Had some rough years with it, but that was because of the captain. Couldn’t imagine changing now.”

@elsie-writes @autism-purgatory @rkmoon want to play? Blanks below the cut

Were you named after anyone? When was the last time you cried? Do you have any kids? Do you use sarcasm a lot? What is the first thing you notice about people? What is your eye color? Scary movies or happy endings? Any special talents? Where were you born? Do you have any pets? What sort of sports do you play? How tall are you? What was your favorite subject in school? What is your dream job?

[abruptlymystic]

hello, writeblr

i am a tumblr native but since twitter is dying-dying, replacing my big girl professional account can't hurt...

AbruptlyMystic / Elsie Bea

Finding magic in the mundane through story and craft. I am writer of fantastical fiction, dabbler in visual arts, and fiber arts enthusiast. Here for the odd and overlooked.

My current genre obsession is gamelit and litRPG, but I am a fantasy girlie through and through... unless of course we're genre bending westerns.

Cryptmother: Bride of the Dungeon Core Dungeon Core LitRPG on RoyalRoad

In the Hollows of the Wilderbog Sword & Sorcery Slice of Life on Kindle Vella

*addendum I forgot to make, this IS a sideblog, if perpetualnovelboyfriend interacts with you hi that's my main

[xplainthexmen]

In which the St. Croix family is constructed largely of retcons; Generation X adjusts surprisingly quickly to a massive status quo shift; Psi-War is coming soon to a podcast near you; Snow White – I mean, Bianca LaNeige – has an intriguing but exceptionally minimal backstory; and if you die in this podcast episode, you die in real life.

X-PLAINED:

Hellfire Club history

Generation X #40-43

MillXnials

Mercy General Hospital vs Our Mother of Mercy Hospital

Ambiguous psionic overlap

Nicole & Claudette & Monet & Marius St. Croix

The Downtown Stomp

Synch, agreeable and bland (for now)

Vincent Adultman

The nature of Penance

A glacial but effective pace

Bianca LaNeige, evil Snow White from space

Warpy, Stinky, Spiky, Windy, Greasy, Brainy, and Blurry

The Enchanted Forest of Oregon

Claremont:Body Swaps::Hama:Getting Stuck In Other Dimensions

Jay vs. Accents

Terminal Dream Syndrome

A surprisingly gruesome fill-in

An underrated era for Emma Frost

Betty & Veronica, presenting like mandrills

Zak the Neutrino

Albert & Elsie-Dee (briefly)

The Dodsons vs Mike Allred

Dr. Bronner’s uncredited Marvel career

Our coverage of Ultimate X-Men (or lack thereof)

Dr. Phil Zimbardo’s xplainthexmen study

NEXT EPISODE: Queering Wolverine with Dr. Christopher Michael Roman!

Check out the visual companion to this episode on our blog!

Find us on iTunes or Stitcher!

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[tiptoesims]

“I miss my boy. If they’d let me out of here, I would hut that green-haired woofum down and slice her skin off layer by layer.”

Elsie swallowed hard and tried not to visualize that comment.

“But he betrayed you. Hunted you down. And you tried to kill him, many times.”